Breaking Dawn: Chapter 13: Good Thing I've Got A Strong Stomach

[zelda_queen]

Projection Room Voices: Ready to start?

ZeldaQueen: As I'll ever be. Just five more chapters left God help me...

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Chapter 13: Good Thing I've Got A Strong Stomach

ZeldaQueen: Well, after last chapter's...unusual ending we jump right into the action, as Jacob follows Rosalie and Carlisle into the kitchen and watches as they start rooting around for some blood to feed to Bella. They discuss how best to prepare it and I’m kind of siding with Jake on how creepy it all is. Meanwhile, Edward stays with Bella and holds her hand and they stare into each other’s eyes in a hopeless way and Jake says that it reminds him of Sam and Emily. You know, I hate that pairing also. He feels all hurt again and - SON OF A WITCH!

I knew what it was like for Leah, having to see that all the time. Having to hear it in Sam's head. Of course we all felt bad for her, we weren't monsters–in that sense, anyway. But I guess we'd blamed her for how she handled it. Lashing out at everyone, trying to make us all as miserable as she was.

I would never blame her again. How could anyone help spreading this kind of misery around?

How could anyone not try to ease some of the burden by shoving a little piece of it off on
someone else?

And if it meant that I had to have a pack, how could I blame her for taking my freedom? I would do the same. If there was a way to escape this pain, I'd take it, too.

ZeldaQueen: CHRIST ON A POGO STICK JACOB, DID YOU JUST REALIZE THAT NOW? SHE WENT TO YOU IN FRIGGING ECLIPSE SAYING THAT SHE KNEW HOW YOU FELT AND YOU MOCKED HER THEN! YOU’VE BEEN WATCHING BELLA AND EDWARD CUDDLE AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP’S BEEN COMPARED TO IMPRINTING BY WAY OF SOUL MATES! GOOD LORD ALMIGHT, YOU ARE DENSE!

Personal anecdote time, viewers. Not too long ago, I was assigned to read a children’s version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for my Children in Culture class. It was focused on the middle part, when Tom lives on a plantation with the St. Clare family who has the little girl, Eva. Towards the end of that part of the story, Eva’s father makes a bet with his bigoted sister, Aunt Ophelia. He buys a little slave girl named Topsy and tells Ophelia that surely she could raise such a wild kid to be a respectable person. Ophelia tries, but eventually is close to giving up because Topsy just won’t stop causing trouble. Then one chapter, Eva’s father and Aunt Ophelia overhear Topsy and Eva talking. Topsy confesses that she knows that Ophelia hates her, which is why she is so wicked. Ophelia is shocked that Topsy knows this.

My friend in that class hadn’t quite finished the reading that day, so I filled her in. When she heard about Ophelia’s revelation, her reaction was more or less “How stupid is that woman? She all but said ‘I hate you’ to Topsy’s face”.

That situation above was what ran through my mind when I read that. Leah has been with the pack for some time and the wolves surely knew about her being dumped even before she joined. According to Jacob, they all felt sorry for her - which I do not believe, incidentally. What evidence is there for that? - but felt that she mishandled the situation. Do we ever hear about anyone talking to her about things or help her work through it? Anyway, we then get Jacob getting “dumped” by Bella and going all angst and angry and self-destructive. And he only gets how Leah feels NOW?!? Do Meyer’s dream men all include the intelligence of a dead fish and the empathy of a pile of garbage? And on top of that, he never acknowledges that he was being sulky and making people miserable himself when he was rejected!!! AUGH!!!!

Oh, and so nice of you to inconvenience yourself to let her hang around, Jake. I mean, it’s not like you weren’t already going to let Seth mind link to you. Never mind, Seth doesn’t actually challenge you.

Well, I’d best move on before I pop a vein. Jake and Edward hear Rosalie running around in the kitchen and Edward mutters “not clear”. Jake and Bella start on the bedside manner routine and start talking about this and that. He mentions that Leah’s shown up and Bella gets all gaspy and scared.

Um…what? Why? Was there ever some point at which Leah threatened Bella? I know she saw Leah in wolf form in Eclipse and heard stories about the imprinting, but that’s the extent of their interaction, so far as I know. Could someone clue me in if I’m mistaken? Anyway, why is Bella so scared at the sound of Leah’s name? It’s not like Leah’s in the room or anything, and it’s rather pathetic. Jacob comments on how weird it is that Bella is so scared of Leah, but is perfectly fine with Rosalie hanging around. Bella goes into a snit fit over this, because how dare he insult one of the vampires?

Carlisle and Rosalie show up with a cup with a lid and a bendy straw and Jacob figures out that the “not clear” was referring to that. Bella takes the cup and slowly starts getting ready to drink it. She admits that she thinks that it smells good. What? Meyer that’s…that’s just wrong! And creepy! Is that supposed to be some weird foreshadowing that Bella’s good vampire material? Because the rest of the world probably has a different idea about what it says when someone finds drinking a cup of human blood appealing. She starts chugging down the cup and thinks it tastes good too, shoot me now, and asks for more when that’s done. Oh, and Rosalie figures that the cravings for blood and the fact that she thinks it tastes so good are a sure signs that the fetus does in fact want blood. Again, isn’t it only the nutrients that the fetus gets, in which case shouldn’t a rare steak work just as well as a cup of human blood?

While waiting for more blood, Bella notices that Jacob looks tired and tells him that there are a number of beds upstairs that he can take his pick of. Rosalie gets defensive at this which presumably means that the beds in question belong to the actual Cullens. In which case, that seems rather presumptuous of Bella, doesn’t it? She’s basically telling Jake to help himself to something that technically isn’t even hers.

Bella’s starting to feel better now and Carlisle decides to see if she can eat normal food now. She asks for eggs.



As Bella sucks (the blood), Jacob gets annoyed with Edward for reading his thoughts and notes "Jeez, how did anyone stand living with him? It was really too bad he couldn't hear Bella's thoughts. Then he'd annoy the crap out of her, too, and she'd get tired of him." Actually Jacob, I think the exact opposite would happen. Edward would realize what a selfish, shallow idiot he married and dump her sorry butt.

Suddenly, a shot rang out! No wait, it was a wolf howl. Jacob shifts back into wolf form and is informed by Seth and Leah that three wolves from Sam’s pack are showing up. Leah also grumbles a bit about being third in command while Seth’s second, but I guess I’ll let that one slide because it’s apparently first come first serve and Seth got there first.

Turns out that they’re being greeted by Jared in human form and Paul, Quil, and Collin as wolves. It turns out that they were sent to get the three to return to Sam’s pack. I do like how Seth, Leah, and Jake are all on the same page and not belittling and bickering with each other for a change. Then Jake turns back into a human to talk to Jared and things get really…well see for yourself:

Jared turned to face Seth, concentrating on him now, separate from me. “Sue asked me to tell you–no, to beg you–to come home. She's brokenhearted, Seth. All alone. I don't know how you and Leah can do this to her. Abandon her this way, when your dad just barely died–”

Seth whimpered.

“Ease up, Jared,” I warned.

“Just letting him know how it is.”

I snorted. “Right.” Sue was tougher than anyone I knew. Tougher than my dad, tougher than me. Tough enough to play on her kids' sympathies if that's what it took to get them home. But it wasn't fair to work Seth that way. “Sue's known about this for how many hours now? And most of that time spent with Billy and Old Quil and Sam? Yeah, I'm sure she's just perishing of loneliness. 'Course you're free to go if you want, Seth. You know that.”

…

Leah very deliberately looked at her brother and then at me.

“So you want to watch out for Seth, I get that,” Jared said. His eyes touched my face and then went back to hers. Probably wondering about that second look–just like I was. “But Jake's not going to let anything happen to him, and he's not afraid to be here.” Jared made a face. “Anyway, please, Leah. We want you back. Sam wants you back.”

Leah's tail twitched.

“Sam told me to beg. He told me to literally get down on my knees if I have to. He wants you home, Lee-lee, where you belong.”

I saw Leah flinch when Jared used Sam's old nickname for her. And then, when he added those last three words, her hackles rose and she was yowling a long stream of snarls through her teeth. I didn't have to be in her head to hear the cussing-out she was giving him, and neither did he. You could almost hear the exact words she was using.

I waited till she was done. “I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Leah belongs wherever she wants to be.”

ZeldaQueen: Right.



ZeldaQueen: SAM ULEY, YOU HAVE BALLS THE SIZE OF TEXAS! WHERE THE FLYING FRIG DO YOU GET OFF USING YOUR OLD NICKNAME FOR LEAH? THAT IS SICK AND WRONG AND CRUEL! YOU KNOW FULL FRIGGING WELL SHE STILL LOVES YOU AND IS HURT! AND WHAT, YOU CAN’T GET HER TO COME BACK UNLESS YOU FLIRT WITH HER? BAH!

As for the bit about Sue, look to my rant about how Meyer described her at Bella’s wedding. If you missed it, I went on a rampage because the recently-widowed Sue was described as being harsh and like Leah - in other words, Meyer seemed to be implying that a single person is unapproachable and bitter.

Here, we see that Sue is apparently not above tricking her kids to get them home. Right. Like she’s a manipulative woman. Well guess what? Tough or not, why does it have to be said like she has ulterior motives? Don’t you think that, ya’know, she’s honestly worried about her kids? Jared’s right, her husband just died and then Seth disappears and then Leah vanishes, leaving only a note, and so far as she knows, both of her children are alone with Jacob and hanging around with a group of vampires who may or may not be dangerous. And she’s being painted as heartless for wanting them back. Yes Jacob, I’m sure that Sam and Billy and Old Quil are fine replacements for her own flesh and blood. But yet again, we see that family ties apparently mean horse pucky to these people!

Anyway, why does it have to be such a big deal for them to go home for a bit? Will Sam and the rest of the pack try to lock them in a closet if they do? It’s not like Sam has any command over them or can force them to return. And Jacob’s been describing himself as “homeless”. So apparently his life with Billy doesn’t count? Are his dad and sister really such fuckers that they’d kick him out of the house for making his choice? You could argue that Paul would put up a fuss, but again would Rachael really choose Paul over her little brother. God, what am I saying? This is the Twilight universe, she probably would.

That all being said though? Once more I admire Leah and how she actually calls out Jared and Sam on the bull that they tried on her, instead of whimpering and going back like Bella probably would have. And I kind of like Jacob too, because again he’s actually being pretty cool and standing up and supporting her for a change. Can’t wait to see how long that lasts.

Jared and the wolves go off and Jacob wonders why Embry wasn’t sent as well. Seth speculates that Sam was worried that Embry would have been tempted to jump ship and join Jake’s crew as well.

And before the chapter ends, Jake catches up Seth and Leah on how Bella’s going to be “nourishing” the fetus. Leah is, quite reasonably, freaked. Seth tries to rationalize it, saying that it makes sense for vampires and it’s fine so long as it’s helping Bella. Of course. Anyway, the chapter ends with Leah and Jake making some sarcastic comments about Seth’s views on the matter and again I’m sort of pleased with it because it’s less Leah bashing and actually has the three of them acting like fairly normal, snarky teenagers instead of angsting rebels without a cause.


ZeldaQueen: Tune in next week, when I get permanent brain damage from the idiocies of this book. Ta!

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Onward to: Chapter 14: You Know Things Are Bad When You Feel Guilty For Being Rude To Vampires

Back to: Chapter 12 - Some People Just Don’t Grasp The Concept Of “Unwelcome”

Return to: Table of Contents

Comments

[southerngaelic.livejournal.com]

Sam, that was uncalled for.

*shoots him with many silver bullets*

What? I like Leah. She's the only girl in this dreck with any spine. I'm gonna get violent with anyone who bashes her. YOU HEAR ME, JERKOFF? DON'T MAKE ME BREAK YOUR KNEECAPS AGAIN.

And OH LOOK. IT'S THE PAEDOPHILE.

*shoots him with many silver bullets in his unmentionables*

Damnit, BD is making me so violent -_-

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"What? I like Leah. She's the only girl in this dreck with any spine."

I agree. She basically points out how idiotic everyone in the series is being and doesn't take any bull from people.

Need a refill on the bullets? :D

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

Which is why I hate the fact she's constantly "in the wrong".

She's bitchy-awesome and Meyer goes around kicking her instead of indulging on her awesomeness. Terry Pratchett would have made Leah into an awesome character. She would be part of the night watch and hang out with Adora Belle.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

I know. Like I said, that's one of the reasons I hate the series so much. Bella and Edward are whiny and vain and nasty characters who everyone would hate in real life, yet all of the other characters put them on a pedastle and give them a Happy Ending they don't deserve.

Meanwhile, there are characters that are genuinely nice and normal - Jessica, Eric, Mike, Charlie, pre-wolfing Jake, and of course Leah. And those are the characters that we are supposed to think are selfish and shallow and laugh at as our Designated Heroes trample over them. Jacob only escapes by turning angsty and stupid himself. The human friends and Bella's parents are all but cut out of the equation altogether. And Leah's treated like a jerk when everyone else is too stupid and insensitive to figure out why she's so miserable all of the time.

[southerngaelic.livejournal.com]

GLADLY.

*accepts refills and loads up*

Got any Holy Water? I need something to drown the Death Baby in.

And JESUS CHRIST, BELLA. THAT IS HUMAN BLOOD. AGAIN, MEYER: WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU SMOKING.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

Hmm, might take me a bit to get some Holy Water. Still, about four chapters or so until the Demon Baby actually shows up (God help us all...)

I strongly suspect that Meyer has some penned-up issues that she's using all of the blood and weird sex to express. Sort of like an outlet. In which case, she ought to realize that therapy's always an option. XP

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/And he only gets how Leah feels NOW?!? Do Meyer’s dream men all include the intelligence of a dead fish and the empathy of a pile of garbage? And on top of that, he never acknowledges that he was being sulky and making people miserable himself when he was rejected!/

Because he's a self-centered jerk who has a delayed sense of empathy.

/Anyway, why is Bella so scared at the sound of Leah’s name? It’s not like Leah’s in the room or anything, and it’s rather pathetic. Jacob comments on how weird it is that Bella is so scared of Leah, but is perfectly fine with Rosalie hanging around. Bella goes into a snit fit over this, because how dare he insult one of the vampires?/

There's also the fact that Rosalie likes her now. Bella's afraid of Leah because she knows that Leah doesn't like her and can't stand the thought that somebody might not worship the ground she walks on. Remember how she was so upset when Edward glared at her back in "Twilight?" Bella was also afraid of Rosalie in "Twilight" and "New Moon" because Rosalie didn't try to hide the fact that she couldn't stand her. That's what makes Bella such a spineless, snobbish coward: she can't stand it when non-pretty people are nice to her (Mike, Eric, Jessica, etc.), but the minute that somebody doesn't like her (Lauren, Leah, Rosalie), she cowers and hides behind the big strong men.

/Bella takes the cup and slowly starts getting ready to drink it. She admits that she thinks that it smells good. What? Meyer that’s…that’s just wrong! And creepy!/

Not to mention that, again, back in "Twilight," Bella had made such a big deal over the fact that she was afraid of blood. She freaked out when Mike pricked his finger, fainted, and had to be carried to the nurse's office. But all of a sudden, when faced with the idea of *drinking* blood, she's perfectly fine. How does that make sense?

/In which case, that seems rather presumptuous of Bella, doesn’t it? She’s basically telling Jake to help himself to something that technically isn’t even hers./

Maybe, in her mind, she reasons that since she's a Cullen now, she's entitled to their property and whatnot. But since when has Bella taken other people's wishes into consideration? She has constantly let Edward sneak into her house without her father knowing, she threatened to move out if Charlie didn't accept Edward, she parked her car outside of Jacob's house and just *waited* for him to come out (if that's not creepy, I don't know what is) even though Billy had made it clear that she wasn't welcome, she harassed the Blacks by incessantly calling them, and she barged right into Jacob's room while knowing that he was sick despite Billy telling her to go away. Bella feels that she is entitled to *everything* and doesn't care about other people's feelings, which is why I believe that she is just as much of a sociopath as Edward is.

/WHERE THE FLYING FRIG DO YOU GET OFF USING YOUR OLD NICKNAME FOR LEAH? THAT IS SICK AND WRONG AND CRUEL! YOU KNOW FULL FRIGGING WELL SHE STILL LOVES YOU AND IS HURT! AND WHAT, YOU CAN’T GET HER TO COME BACK UNLESS YOU FLIRT WITH HER? BAH!/

Which is why I wholeheartedly agree with southerngaelic's wish to shoot him with silver bullets. Not only was that uncalled for, that was beyond *low.* Sam has been disregarding and belittling Leah's feelings this whole time and *now* he feels bad and wants her back? What's wrong, Sam? Feel bad that you don't have a scapegoat anymore, a convenient whipping boy (or girl, in this case) to bear the burden? That's right, Leah's not there anymore to criticize you or be less-than-happy with your arrangement with Emily, so if anything goes wrong, you don't have her to blame for it. You can't justify or excuse the madness of imprinting by saying, "Oh, Leah's just a whiny, bitter sore loser" anymore. You know what people tend to call the individuals who rail at and verbally abuse their spouses/partners and then whine and sulk when they leave and try to use passive-aggressive pleading to cajole them to come back? ABUSERS.

You make very good points about how Meyer devalues family and how Jacob and the Clearwaters should go home, but to be honest, I don't blame Leah for wanting to get away.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

"That's what makes Bella such a spineless, snobbish coward: she can't stand it when non-pretty people are nice to her (Mike, Eric, Jessica, etc.), but the minute that somebody doesn't like her (Lauren, Leah, Rosalie), she cowers and hides behind the big strong men."

Right! And she's supposed to be so mature beyond her years! Plus she's laid up on the sofa with every vampire, Seth, and Jacob hanging around to protect her and she thinks that Leah is what she ought to be worrying about?

"Which is why I wholeheartedly agree with southerngaelic's wish to shoot him with silver bullets. Not only was that uncalled for, that was beyond *low.*"

It's also REALLY stupid. When Leah tells Jacob that she wants to get away from Sam, she explains that she doesn't want to be the clingy ex-girlfriend that no one can get away from (seriously, those are pretty much her exact words). And here we have Sam acting like the crazy jilted ex-boyfriend who stands under the girl's window, screaming to be taken back. Meyer, do you know who else did that? Ed "Plan 9 From Outer Space" Wood. Really. I guess if you really wanted to be fair, it's more of a case of Sam wanting to get the three of them back rather than running around as possible opposition. But that just makes what he did even more despicable. He tries to use their grieving and widowed mother to guilt them into coming back and then tries to use Leah's feelings for him to manipulate her. I wholeheartedly support southerngaelic's decision to shoot him and I might recommend aiming for his unmentionables. Imprinting be buggered, let's see him continue on his bloodline after THAT.

"You make very good points about how Meyer devalues family and how Jacob and the Clearwaters should go home, but to be honest, I don't blame Leah for wanting to get away."

Me neither, but they were just all acting like they could never go home again ever. Not even for like a quick visit or to get more clothes or food or something.

Thanks for reading! :)

[kawaiicow.livejournal.com]

And with paragraph where Jacob finally realises that maybe he shouldn't hate Leah for things that aren't her fault, I am inclined to scream BULLSHIT. This revelation was literally out of nowhre, Jacob sees Bella nd Eddy all cuddly and suddenly realises he was a prick? Why now? Why did you not feel this way at the wedding? Or in Eclipse? Why did you even need to see them, have you no empathy? (LOL JK no, you don't)
Do we ever actually hear Jacob apologise to Leah for being a stupid, seld centered blind, downright mean cunt?
I hate you Jacob.
But I love you Zelda Queen, you seriously deserve some body scrub after reading this filth.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

Well there is some Jake/Leah interaction later and if you wanted to be charitable, you could say that he was just shy and unable to talk about his feelings with her. But I'm not charitable and I'm not. Anyway, he was perfectly willing to talk to Bella in "New Moon" about Edward leaving, but the instant the Mary Sue isn't around, he gets squeamish. And yeah, there were about five million places were Jacob ought to have made that connection. I say that Meyer just wanted to take down yet one more bit of conflict.

Aw, thanks! :) And I love you, thank you for reading!