Bella should
be with Edward, no ifs ands or buts about it.
A recent
exchange of emails with LJ Summers (links at end) got me thinking about just
why do I have such a strong reaction to Bella being with a member of the wolf
pack. I thought about this as I went about daily tasks and came to a couple of
conclusions.
To me the pack
is a bunch of male chauvinist shape shifters. They need to protect and take
care of their people and especially their imprint if they have one. The other
tribe members are mortal humans and need protection from supernatural beings
that only they can provide. It is as if the other tribal members are victims or
possible victims already and need protection and taking care of. Now,
fortunately their legends apparently instill some sense of duty, burden,
humility and ground them so they are not arrogant and acting all superior to
rest of tribe.
The imprinting compulsion seems to be tied to mates for making
better wolves or at least continue the gene. They don’t like the fact that
there is a female shape shifter able to take care of herself and others. However
grounded they may be, it does seem to me that their mentality is ‘keep their
mates pregnant and barefoot and in the kitchen’. To me that is part of the reason
why Rebecca and Rachel Black left, with only Rebecca being totally successful.
The idea of
thinking of others as possible victims is one thing that bothers me in regards to Bella
staying human and a mate of a pack member. She is so much stronger than that,
not physically but inside. Would a mere human go to a sadistic vampire to try
to save her mother? No. But Bella does. She has the strength to face James,
even terrified as she becomes she still faces him. If Bella stays human with
Edward or a pack member, physically she would need to be protected. She would
be stuck being a victim, needing to be rescued at times from her own clumsiness
or supernatural beings. That is degrading her strength. If with a pack member,
she would be limited by staying on the reservation or in Forks. She would not
be able to become all that she is capable of. That is so wrong!
Bella with
Jacob has some additional problems for me. He is two years younger than her, no
matter that he looks older once starts shifting. He manipulates her. He
physically attacked her. They really don’t have much in common. He really is a
better friend than anything more.
Is my
perception of the pack accurate or fair? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it is how I
see them from just the original books. Am I giving fan fiction stories with Bella staying
human and with a pack member a fair chance? Likely I am not, but I’ve not been
able to get around my strong feelings for a strong Bella to read much more than
a few one-shots like LJ Summers’ Do You
Remember? There are enough other fan fiction stories to keep me busy
reading.
She deserves
to be a supernatural being herself. With her ‘silent mind’ she was meant for
Edward. With her inner strength she was meant to be a vampire with the physical
strength to match. No, she won’t grow and change, but she will learn and
experience a lot more as a vampire. She will find a way to make use of that
knowledge. I personally think she’ll have all of the Cullens out of school and
working more often than not.
LJ Summers
has written a number of fan fiction stories. She has a series under Imprinting: the Mating Imperative. She
kindly responded to some questions I had about the series after telling her I
won’t read them. I’ve read a number of her other stories. We already agree to
disagree about this issue. Those exchange of emails is what got me started
thinking about my strong aversion to Bella with a wolf shape shifter. She
helped keep my mind busy the other day. Thanks for that and by extension worked
up enough to post on my blog again. Here are the links for her fan fiction
profile and the first story of the Imprinting series and the other story mentioned.
A warning that bittersweet is her favorite flavor and some ironic twists and
endings really fit bittersweet.
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