Saturday, November 21, 2009

Hey Team Edward! Welcome to the.. erm...Black Side?  

My name is Nameless Wonder and I am a self-proclaimed member of Team Edward. You know the kind, “Edward and Bella forever” and all that.

Total vamp girl all the way - no ifs, ands or buts about it.

But deep down within my soul there is a very dark secret that I must confess – I am in love with Jacob Black.

Now before all you Team Edwards form a lynch mob and come after me, please allow me to tell you my story. The truth is I am probably more shocked than you at this sudden revelation because not only was I a devoted member of Team Edward, I was a very outspoken advocate AGAINST Team Jacob – I literally hated his character. And yet here I am, going “dark side.”

[SGP NOTE: She speaks truth, when we first started admitting to each other that we were Twilight obsessed and I admitted to being Team Jake...she nearly lopped my head off with a shovel.]

My only excuse for this sudden change of heart can best be explained by the following photo:

I mean, hello Taylor Lautner (enter heavy sigh here)

Okay, so I’m a little slow to jump on the Taylor bandwagon. But come on, just look at him (however be forewarned, you may not be able to STOP looking) Just like our favorite heroine of the saga, I too am human. And Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob Black) definitely “speaks” to my most basic of human needs…and I know y’all know what I’m talking about...

So there you have it. I’ve gone dark side simply because Taylor Lautner is HOT!

Don't be ashamed Nameless...just LOOK at him, we understand.

Well, okay. So there definitely is some truth to that statement, but putting those ripped six-pack abs aside, lets look at Jacob from a less distracting point-of-view, that of Stephanie Meyer’s.

In my own opinion, The Twilight Saga is written in a way that we as readers experience the story mostly from the same perspective as Bella. We read Stephanie’s words as they are being told through the eyes of this one character and for me, it became very personal. The more engrossed in the story I became, the more I found myself becoming the character of Bella. And because of this, it wasn’t just Bella that fell in love with Edward, I myself did as well. When Edward leaves in New Moon, every emotion Bella experienced, I experienced. He didn’t just leave Bella, he left me.

However, Bella must be stronger than I, because as she was able to at times forget and find comfort in Jacob’s friendship, I simply couldn’t. For me, it was Edward or nothing. New Moon was almost torturous for me to listen to (clarification on this – I listen to the audio books, not hardcopy). I fought back the urge to just “skip a few cd’s” and get to the point of the story when Edward has his comeback. But I didn’t give in, and I suffered through the Jacob-centric storyline. And I didn’t enjoy one bit of it. Even the big “Jacob is a wolf” reveal (spoiler alert if you haven’t read the books, – which if you haven’t, why the hell are you reading this?) was rather predictable and not satisfying at all to me. Just give me my Edward back and all will be good. And then Alice shows up, they take a quick trip to Italy and all is well once again.

As far as I was concerned, I say to Jacob Black - goodbye and good riddance.

[SGP SAYS: How in the FUUUUCK do you say good riddance to this?]

Oh, but Jacob doesn’t say goodbye. He just keeps coming back. As the story progresses through Eclipse, all is well with Bella and Edward. I have the love of my life back and all is bliss once again. But this annoying little hot head of a kid just won’t go away. Through-out Eclipse, Jacob develops into a very stubborn, immature guy that doesn’t know when to back off. He’s too competitive, too driven by jealousy, and at times he’s very close to crossing a line of being too forceful with Bella. Even when she tells him to back off, he doesn’t. Damn you Jacob - no means no. Deal with it. At this point, I REALLY don’t like Jacob Black.

Then Stephanie changes it up a bit in Breaking Dawn. No longer is the story told solely through the eyes of Bella, but now we have Jacob’s perspective as well. And listening to the audio version of the book adds to the overall effect this has on the story, mainly because the Jacob perspective is presented through a male reader, really separating his story from Bella’s. And I will admit, stepping into his shoes and understanding his motives and thoughts really got me rethinking my hatred towards his character. Of course, at the same time Edward is just flat out annoying and at times unbearable (but that’s a whole other blog) which makes it very easy to begin sympathizing with and enjoying Jacob. And then of course when Renessmee comes, Jacob Imprints on her. Suddenly his once undying obsession to win Bella comes to an end and we’re left with a Jacob that is kind-hearted and well…lovable. No longer viewing him as a threat to Bella and Edward’s happiness, I was finally able to “relax” and just enjoy Jacob for who he was.

[SGP: This photo makes me hyperventilate.]

And it is with this mindset that I entered my first re-reading of the Twilight Saga. Reliving all the emotions that is Twilight, I loved Edward more than ever and although it still hurt when he left, the devastation of his absence was almost non-existent. I think having experienced the entire Saga from a Bella perspective, on the re-reading I was able to detach myself from her and read the story from my own perspective. And I must say, my perspective of the Twilight Saga is rather different than Bella’s. I won’t go into much detail on that, but what is important here is that during New Moon, I really enjoyed Jacob’s character.

Thinking back on it, I honestly can’t really say why I missed all this the first time around. I think I was just so hooked on Edward Cullen that everything else just didn’t matter. But now, Jacob made me laugh, he made me cry; he made me feel for him. And by the time I was onto my second run through of Breaking Dawn, Bella and Edward both just annoyed me and it was always a refreshing change when the story shifted to Jacob once again.

I found a new-found appreciation for Jacob Black as I re-read the Twilight Saga, and now with the release of New Moon the movie, this appreciation moved to a whole new level. Let’s just say that when Bella goes to Italy to save her beloved Edward, I was thinking “Ah let him die…” I just wanted more Jacob (okay, lets be honest here – I wanted more of Jacob’s body : ) Edward in New Moon really didn’t do much for me, and I think this is for two reasons:

1 – Because you’ve got Jacob hanging around with his shirt off all the time, talk about a major distraction. I laughed my ass off when they finally get to Italy and Edward dramatically takes his shirt off as he walks towards the light. After watching Jacob prance around half naked for the past hour, when Edward shows off his stuff, it’s like “seriously, that’s all you got?” Here Jacob is Death by Chocolate and Edward is some prepackaged, not even home-made chocolate chip cookie. You can’t even compare the two. Now I know in the book Edward is described as being almost as muscular as Jacob, but in the real world, Mr. Rob doesn’t even hold a candle to Taylor.

Airbrushed abs just aren't doing it for me Edward...sorry.

And 2 – (on a more serious note) because for the first time, I was able to enjoy this story completely detached from the story emotionally. I was finally able to experience this from a completely outside perspective, and witnessing it visually just made me think to myself, if I were Bella and Edward left me the way he did (hell the whole damn family left me the way they did) I would not just run back into his arms at the first chance I got, all being forgiven. Hell no, I would have kicked his ass! And to have her tell Jacob that “I’d choose him, it’s always been him” man that just hurt. Here Jacob has been her friend, picked up the pieces and put her back together and she turns her back on him the second Edward is back in the picture. And yes I have read the books so I know that emotionally, it’s not as simple as this. But right now, with those six pack abs staring back at me, all I know is that if Jacob were standing in my window begging me not to go, he’d only have to ask me once : ) Hell, he probably wouldn’t have to ask me at all.

So, now to really confuse the hell out of y’all -

After all I have just said, I have to say that I am still, and always will be a devoted member of Team Edward. And I say this because at the end of the day, for me the true beauty of Twilight is the love that exists between Edward and Bella, and the magical quality it has (yes, I said magical…yes I know that is extremely corny). And when it’s all said and done, I will always want Bella and Edward to be together. Just as Bella said, it has always been him.

But for now, I’m enjoying the eye candy that is New Moon the movie and for the time being, I’m going Jake-Side...and I know I’m not the only one...

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10 comments: to “ Hey Team Edward! Welcome to the.. erm...Black Side?


  •  

    Awesome post....Welcome to Team Jacob! Where we like our men young (disclaimer: not illegal), muscular, and (literally)Hot! I'd totally have his puppies......


  •  

    I am Team Edward all the way, but I was thinking that the next time I get to see NM I might wear a t-shirt that says "Team Jacob, and yes, I am a pedophile." Ha! Well, he does have a really important birthday in February, so that's close enough, right?

  • Anonymous

     

    I understand completely. The magic of Twilight is Edward & Bella's love. However since it is told from Bella's point of view, I grew to love Jacob too.

    I call myself as Team Threesome.


  •  

    Nameless Wonder....you are awesome!

    I will always be Team Edward......but when I'm in the theater watching New Moon I quickly morph into team pedophile!!! One of the biggest contributing factors to my Taycob lust is the red skin. The color of his skin combined with those muscles just does something to me. He's cute and all, but I still can't get over his little baby face and the fact that he is the same age as my little brothers and resembles on a bit too much. UGGHHHH! I really do hope that Rpattz hits the gym a little more before he does any shirtless scenes in BD. It's just so hard to swoon when Jacob is standing there all hot and ripped like a hot and gooey cinnamon role and then you have a cold bowl of walmart brand vanilla ice cream.

    Damn New Moon for making Jacob so irresistable! Don't worry Rpattz in real life I still find you to be the most incredibly sexy man, and I love the fact that you are a complete and total goober sometimes! Last night when Stoney and I were at the movies yet again, I had a moment of enlightenment just before taking a shot of Stoli, I no longer find it enjoyable to entertain thoughts of seducing you Rpattz because you are a taken man,(as a "taken" woman this is acceptable ...everyone has an elevator list...Rpattz just happened to be the only one on mine!) but it would be totally fun to be your friend. I think you'd fit right in with all of us crazies here in the blog-world!

    Go Team Threesome!!!


  •  

    @TwiNabler - LMAO at the visual of hot cinnamon role vs. WalMart brand vanilla. Unfortunately, I have to agree. I saw NM again last night, and I think about 50% of the Team Edward audience going in, came back out Team Jacob.


  •  

    @Z - I know....even my totally conservative sister-in-law admits to gasping when Jacob took his shirt off. She even roped my brother into going to see it a second time while skipping out on part of her sister's bday.

    That little cinnabun has some power over the ladies!


  •  

    I was exactly the same, suffered through the NM Edwardless chapters the first time I read the books, but second read-through I really liked the Jacob bits and every read since I've liked him more. And yes, Taylor's bod def helps even more in the film! I've cast aside my shame now and just go with it, I got sick of apologising for myself.
    Since I started writing a fanfic with Jake in too, I feel even closer to the character. I still have my Edward love though, and although I embrace my Taycob crush now that doesn't extend to feeling able to put the corresponding posters up, My Rob Corner is safe for now! Yep, Team threesome here too :o)


  •  

    I think Twitarded Mom was onto something here......this team threesome thing seems like the way to go. Hmmmmm....I might have to make myself a "Team Threesome" t-shirt before we go to the Eclipse premeire!

    @stan.....Jacob does grow on me a bit more every time I read New Moon. Ooooh a fan fic.....I can't get enough of those things! Stoney is almost finished with hers and it is ALL about Jacob! Have you posted any of yours yet?


  •  

    @ Twinabler - Yep, I have indeed! It's here: Natural Satellites & Shooting Stars

    I'd be grateful for any reviews, it's not getting many, despite having readers!

    Is Stoney's posted anywhere?


  •  

    Stan- no, Stoney has not gone public as of yet. I was only recently granted the pleasure of reading what is completed thus far. I'm pretty sure she will man up and put some out there for everyone soon enough. That first fanfiction cherry seems to be a difficult one to pop!

    I absolutely love the title of yours Stan and am going to read it.

    My vw is VAGNOPO I am dying of laughter right now!