Summer Snowflakes

Hey everyone! How was your Thanksgiving? I had a nice (though exhausting) break, ending in a fantastically long conversation with my sister about Harry Potter. So. This week’s song is not just a song (though the song is wonderful) but a fandom video for my fellow Harry Potter fans (I refuse to say Potterhead. Apologies, but it just sounds ridiculous)

So what’d you think of the song and the video? Would you like me to share more stuff like this in the future? What’d you do for Thanksgiving? CAN YOU BELIEVE NANOWRIMO IS ALMOST OVER???? Can’t wait to see you all in the comments!

Oh, and I'm doing is another Tag Week! *insert cheers and confetti and cake* So I should be back at least two more times this week with tags my fellow bloggers have so graciously bestowed upon me. :) Can’t wait to share them with you!

Hello peoples! Over the past few days, I have become wonderfully obsessed with the band Daughtry. They are fantastic, and I think that with them and word wars, I might actually make it till the end of NaNoWriMo. :)

On to the posts!

Stop Skipping November by Emily Tjaden. An early Thanksgiving reminder that I think everyone could use everyday.

WBI: Victoria by Heather. Yeah, it’s old, but it kinda corresponds with my recent Twilight posts, plus it’s a fascinating character study. So here. Read it.

Objectifying Boys (And Men) by Keturah. We always talk about guys objectifying girls (which is definitely a problem, don’t get me wrong), but how often do we consider that we females sometimes do the same thing? I mean, it's totally okay to have guy friends and to like boy bands and to like guys in books, but the problem comes when you let those boys become your complete focus (and I'm totally preaching to myself here, :p. Guilty as charged).

Why I Write Books Like A Movie by Alea. SOMEONE ELSE SEES THEIR WRITING THIS WAY, lol. But seriously. I have always seen my writing (and reading) not as words on a page, but like a movie playing in my head. So comforting to know that I'm not alone. :)

Letters To My Fellow Wrimos by Liz. In which she pens two beautiful letters to her fellow geniuses sure to change the course of the world.

The Dreaded Damsel In Distress by Jessi. In which she talks about how to make your FMC into a person and not just a plot device.

To The Weary and Overwhelmed by Ciera. Another lovely letter! Only this one isn’t just for writers, but anyone who has something beautiful they want to share with the world.

God And Writing (Or: A Public Confessional) by Carlyn. In which she talks about what it really means to give your writing to God, and her journey to discovering the truth about it.

12 Ridiculous Questions Non-Writers Ask Writers (And 12 Ways To Respond to Them) by Hannah Heath. Self-explanatory title, hysterical post, and just plain awesomeness all around. Seriously. You must read it.

How To Translate What The Writer Creature Is Trying To Say by Cait. L.O.L. That is all I have to say. Share this with everyone you know, folks. They will finally understand us ;)

***

And that’s all for this week! Hope you enjoy the posts! Tell me about your FMC and how you’ve turned her from plot device to person. Are you ready to win NaNo? (CAN YOU BELIEVE THE MONTH IS ALMOST OVER?????) Oh, and do you too see your book like a movie in your head? Can’t wait to see you in the comment section! :)

Also, Summer Snowflakes is officially closed for Thanksgiving! I’ll be back periodically to answer comments (I do love chatting with you guys :) ), but there won’t be any new posts until the 30th. So Happy Early Thanksgiving everyone! I wish you much pie, much rest, many books, and all the wonderful things to be thankful for. :D

When I first read the Twilight series, while there were a lot of things I didn’t like about it, I think that my overall reaction was more positive than negative (though I’d never have admitted to that as most of my friends despised the series). The farther I got from my original reading though, and the more I read other’s opinions and noticed things about Twilight that I hadn’t seen when I was twelve and thirteen, the more negative and annoyed my thoughts became. And the more I broadcasted about them.

I tell you all of this so that one, you understand my long and complicated history with Twilight, and two, so that you understand how difficult it was for me to swallow my pride and gush about it last week. That was around four or five years of bad opinions that I had to retract, so when I said I was choking on my pride, I wasn’t exactly joking. Well, maybe a little. But anyways, now that I finally get a whole post to rant about the things I don’t like in Twilight now and never did, rather than softening my opinions and giving a gentle critique like I normally do, I shall be unashamedly snippy, sarcastic, and honestly rather rude. I hope you are prepared.

Also, there will be spoilers. You have been warned.

Without further ado...

1. Edward’s Horrible Mood Swings: Remember how I said last week that up to a certain point, I really liked the beginning? Well, that certain point is the entrance of Edward “Mood Swing Master” Cullen. This guy is the ultimate “I love you, I love you not.” It’s like he hates her, then he likes her, then he saves her life, then he hates her again... Obviously she’s getting whiplash trying to follow this numbskull’s moods, and it’s only making her more interested in him rather than allowing her to just forget about him and move on, like Eddie keeps saying she needs to do but isn’t particularly helping with.

Now, yes, having read the whole series, I understand the reasons behind his moodiness--if you don’t, he’s a vampire, went to school while he was “thirsty,” and all of the sudden Little Miss Bella pops out of nowhere and her blood is the most delicious thing he’s smelled in over a hundred years. In his own words, “It was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me.” (Flattering, really.) Then he fell in love with her (somehow, still not sure how that went down), saved her life with his sparkly vampire powers (and she saw it), and then couldn’t decide whether to tell her the truth... or just kill her (because apparently that was an option). Understandably, there’s some turmoil there. But you want to know something? I don’t care. He was an idiot for going to school while he was “thirsty” in the first place, and besides that, he’d been doing the vamp thing for a hundred years. One would think he’d build up some kind of acting skills by then.

And I mean, seriously if she bothered him that much the first day, instead of sitting next to her and glowering for a full forty minutes, why didn’t he just pretend to feel sick, or like he was gonna faint, or like something he ate at lunch didn’t agree with him? Just check out, genius. I may not go to public school, but I’m pretty sure hall passes are a thing.

2. The Cullens’... Lack of Intelligence: For having lived several hundred years collectively, the Cullens are not very smart. Or perhaps more fairly, not very good at blending in. From the moment they come onto the page, it’s crystal clear that everyone in the school thinks the Cullens are weird. From the insanely “graceful” way they move to the fact that they never eat at lunchtime: they just sit alone with their trays in front of them, chat amongst themselves, and then toss the food on their way out their door. THERE ARE HUNGRY KIDS ALL OVER THE WORLD THAT COULD’VE EATEN THAT FOOD, but no, they just sit there, drawing attention to themselves by ostracizing the general populace and not eating a single bite. Ever.

And I mean, yeah, I know that they didn’t like eating real food because to them it tasted like dirt, but you know something? I don’t care about that either. If you are physically capable of putting food in your mouth, chewing it, and swallowing it, then do so. If you want to keep your differences secret, blend in. Don’t force yourself to stand out! DO YOU WANT TO BE DISCOVERED OR DON’T YOU?

Actually, you know what, I take that back. Just forget it all, and homeschool the lot of them. Problem solved.

3. All The Boys Are In Love With Bella: Most of my opinions on this subject are really another post for another time and they’re probably not what you’re thinking, but I’ll do my best to summarize: as I’ve mentioned in other posts, some girls have trouble feeling good about their looks. So the fact that people fall in love with Bella and tell her she’s beautiful even though she doesn’t see it isn’t necessarily cause to roll one’s eyes and throw said book against the wall. It happens.

HOWEVER. From the moment she enters Forks, Bella has like every boy in school begging for her attention, and it’s ridiculous. I can roll with her having body image issues, then having a boy or two come along and tell her how pretty she is in their eyes. That would be cute. That would be sweet. I would like that a lot.

But nearly every boy that had dialogue? Please. Let’s be serious.

4. Edward Is Downright Infuriating: I’m sorry to come back to this, but seriously. His ridiculous, not-really-mystery routine is absolutely maddening. Honestly. Bella actually had personality and potential at the beginning, but YOU WITH YOUR EXASPERATING SPLIT PERSONALITY, AND YOUR I-HAVE-A-SECRET-BUT-I-CAN’T-TELL-YOU-BUT-I-LIKE-YOU-SO-I’LL-JUST-HAVE-A-HUNDRED-MOOD-SWINGS-AND-DRIVE-YOU-INSANE-HEHEHEHEHE IS RUINING IT. Just make up your mind and stick to it: either you’re going to start a relationship with this girl or you’re going to disappear and let her move on with her life. Just make the choice and follow through.

(I did say that I would complain extensively about him in this post. Did you think I was lying?)

5. Bella Is Pathetic: Before they’re even in a relationship, back at the part where they’re still just annoying the heck out of each other all the time, a thing happens: Bella gets kinda sick, and Edward ends up driving her home (don’t ask questions, it’ll take too long to explain). When he drops her off, even though they’re not even friends and it can barely be said that they like each other, Bella is apparently “engulfed with gloom” at the thought of not seeing him until the next day.

But she doesn’t even like him. All they ever do is argue and smirk and glare at each other. I mean, is he really that beautiful? What about him draws her? I don’t understand, someone please explain it to me. WHY IN THE WORLD DOES SHE CARE?????

Which brings me to...

6. Bella Is Strangely Obsessed With Edward: Like seriously. This need to figure out the truth about him is not normal. Edward’s the sort of weird guy you spend a little while try to figure out, then eventually write off because he clearly only exists to annoy you to the very edge of your sanity. But no. Bella must know the truth. And I don’t understand why. I mean, yeah, Ed is clearly keeping a secret and he’s highly annoying and there’s something about him that’s just not quite right. But the extent to which she is obsessed with him? Researching constantly, thinking about him endlessly, dreaming about him? I mean, like I said, he’s definitely weird but he’s not killing anyone, so leave the boy alone. Why does she have to know? Did she read too many Nancy Drew novels as a kid? Is she in the same withdrawal I am because Sherlock hasn’t been on in forever? What is with her? I don’t understand why she cares this much, and apparently, neither does she: there’s a part in the book where she says she knows she’s being stupid and pathetic, but she just can’t help herself. But I say, negative. If you know you’re being stupid and pathetic, then stahp. For my sanity, if nothing else.

But no. My sanity was not to be saved.

7. Edward Is Also Strangely Obsessed With Bella: I mean, he freaking stalks her. And watches her while she sleeps. Who does he think he is, Santa Claus?

tumblr

8. Bella Swan Is Quite Possibly The Stupidest Person To Ever Walk The Earth: I think when she met Edward, her brain died and oozed invisibly out of her ears. There are several moments in the book that totally support this theory, but the worst one of all is right when they’re starting to get to know each other. Once Ed has finally given up his mystery routine, told her the truth already, and I’m starting to see the part where I actually might like him, there’s this scene where Bella wants Eddie to show her what happens when he’s in sunlight. He eventually agrees, but as this is still around the beginning of their relationship, he’s kind of worried about getting a little peckish during their outing and sucking all her blood out. So even though he agrees to go off into the woods and show her (because, you know, there’s no way he could just refuse and keep her safe that way), he’s kinda hoping she’ll get cold feet and back out, so he won’t have the pressure of possibly killing her.

Of course she refuses to back out, because she trusts him--supposedly. But what she does do is lie to all of her family and friends saying that she won’t be with Edward that day, so that if Edward does kill her, he won’t take the blame.

...

In case you were as confused about that as I was, Bella is worried that Edward might kill her. But she’s not worried about the fact that she’ll be dead. No, she’s worried about the trouble it will cause for Edward if he kills her. One might argue that maybe she wasn’t too worried about him killing her, but if she goes to the trouble of lying to all her family and friends (and she’s not a pathological liar), she’s obviously at least a little bit concerned. But instead of, I don’t know, not hanging out with a vampire, the logical course of action is obviously to lie to everyone you know, so if you do happen to end up in the woods somewhere, completely drained of your life substance, at least your new vampire boyfriend will not get the blame.

giphy

9. Small plotholes: This might be a little nitpicky, but I’m on a roll, so I’m going for it anyway: there are a few small plotholes that I noticed and, as I was already rather annoyed with everyone, the plotholes bothered me way more than they probably should have. Like that part where Bella’s been bitten by a vampire and they need to suck out the poison and Eddie’s all “Carlisle, I can’t do it. I might kill her,” and Carlisle’s all, “I gotta take care of this bleeding in her leg, Ed, so you’re on your own.” Well, Ed is later revealed to have two freaking medical degrees. So why couldn’t Edward stop the bleeding and Carlisle suck out the blood? I mean, regardless, Ed was going to be around her sweet-smelling, life-giving liquid. So why not put him in the situation where he’d risk her life the least?

Also, Carl, you’re a vampire with super speed. Why can’t you manage both simultaneously?

*sighs* Perhaps there is a really good reason for all of this, and I’m just being mean now. But I have allowed myself one day to be completely rude, so I’m not going to care.

10. The Lost Potential: Maybe this isn’t actually a thing I disliked, but I really want to mention it so I shall: People say that, without the love triangle, Twilight is just about a whiny girl who moves to a rainy town and cries a lot, and that may or may not be true. But without the love triangle and the supernatural elements, I think the story had the chance to be a very interesting contemporary about moving, making new friends, and, well, finding yourself, for lack of a better term. Sure, there are a billion on that, but I think this setting and these characters really could’ve brought something new to the table. Like I was saying last week, I really enjoyed the beginning before things got all supernatural and crazy. And I just feel like, had Eddie never come into her life, Bella’s story really had the chance to be a deep and entertaining contemporary.

But I suppose we shall never know what might have been.

***

And there is my super long, possibly incoherent Twilight post.

To sum up my thoughts from this post and the last, I think I’d give Twilight a solid 3 stars out of 5, even though it’s not a mediocre book. It has some really good parts that super stand out to me and make me want to love everything, and then some really bad parts that make me disgusted and infuriated with everything and everyone within a twenty-mile radius. In the end, all that evens out.

I’m still not feeling the hype, though. I can see it, waving at me from afar, surrounded by a group of fangirls, but I personally cannot feel it. If you do though, don’t let my opinions hinder you. These are the rantings of only one girl, and truth be told, she’s been a part of some pretty crazy fandoms. :)

So, have you ever read Twilight? Do you agree with my assessment? Disagree? What’s a book you’ve read that annoyed you like crazy but gave you feelings at the same time? I would super love to hear from you. :)

I adore this cover. The original song is very pretty, but I think I like this cover even more. The piano melody coming together with the strings (is that a cello? violin? someone who knows more about music, help me), it’s just lovely. Perfect writing music, especially for those soft, sweet moments or for writing rich descriptions. And of course, since it is NaNo, one can hardly get enough of fine music to write to. ;)

Speaking of, I must scurry off to other projects if I shall have any hope of winning NaNo this year. But before I poof back to the miserably marvelous land of endless words, let’s talk about this song (no, I’m not procrastinating, don’t be ridiculous): what did you think of today’s pick? Do you listen to a lot piano covers? What’s a new song you’ve discovered recently that’s just perfect writing music? (I actually didn’t discover this song during NaNo, but it is my blog so I shall ask the question anyway). How’s NaNo going for you, by the way? Can’t wait to hear from you all, and hope you enjoyed the song! :)

If not for word wars, I think NaNo would kill me. But there are word wars, so I am not dead. Lucky me.

On to the posts!

How Can Characters be Powerful If They're Not Real? by Tori. This post of posts. Because she answers this question and she answers it perfectly.

Don’t Fear The Undertow by Sarah. In which she talk about how God’s been using her lately, and how He can use every one of us, if we just take that step of faith.

Words Cease To– and A Peculiar Volume – Dictionary Portrait [m] by Safah. Two gorgeous poems. Seriously, I don’t know how this girl does it, but the way she crafts her words... it’s just lovely.

MBTI Blog Challenge: How To Write An INFJ by Hannah Heath. I do adore self-explanatory titles. Also, this is a really cool idea, though I don’t think I’ll participate as I’m not entirely certain I can properly represent my personality type. Still, it is brilliant.

As Beautiful As Music and Green by Chard. Two short and sweet life lessons on the beauty each of us can create, both around us and in our own lives.

Guest Post: An Author’s Thoughts On Labels In Literature from Mariella’s blog. Another fairly self-explanatory title. But this post... *just applauds*

The Best Part of Being a Blogger by Heather. If you’re feeling discouraged about your blog, this is the post for you. Sometimes, all you need is to take a step back and remember all of the wonderful parts about doing what you love. :D

The Autumn Prince by Mariella Hunt. This is just the link to the first chapter, but I’ve nearly finished the entire story and I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s a nice, sweet fairytale, and I’m quite interested to see how it’ll end. :)

***

And that’s it for this week! Hope you guys enjoy the posts!

So how’s NaNo going for you? Do you know your MBTI type? (I test INTJ, but I’ve discovered that I might have some S tendencies, which is why I’m not positive I can accurately represent my tested type). What are your thoughts on some of the labels in literature? Read the posts, let me know, and I shall see you in the comment section!