Entry tags:

authors, entitlement, fandom: twilight, haxxorz, interrogating from the wrong perspective, smart bitches trashy books, this is the wank that never ends

Sparkledammerung: The Continuation
Since cleolinda has had more than enough Twilight, it seems, I thought I'd take her up on her offer to move the growing wank to a new post.

Previously, on the Sparkledammerug: People weren't happy.

Entertainment Weekly, previously best known in the Twilight fandom for its extensive coverage of the hype and for this monstrosity of a cover, reviewed Breaking Dawn in the issue released today. The overall grade was a D.

The review was posted to lion_lamb, the Edward/Bella comm. Commenters quickly divide on the issue: some agree with the review, some find it "too harsh," and some think EW missed the point entirely.

A few hours later, this interview with Stephenie Meyer is posted.

EW: Fan reaction to Breaking Dawn has been wild in both directions - they have been like "I love this book" and some people were like "I have questions about this book" Why do you think that is?

SMeyer: Well, I've actually named it the "Rob Effect." For some reason, it seems like the fans take a couple days to get used to something. And it was most obvious when they announced who was gonna be playing Edward and everyone freaked out, and there was all this online controversy and now everyone completely loves Rob. So, I knew that it was gonna be an interesting ride for a lot of people, they had their idea of what was going to happen, and if the book didn't match up they were gonna have a problem with that, and of course the book didn't match up to what everyone imagined, so I was expecting. And I'm hoping that after they have a chance to think about the ending I wrote, it'll grow on them.

Most fans roll their eyes at SMeyer, and others agree that the "haters" will probably love the books in a few weeks. Unfortunately, this mod post prompted comments to be disabled, but this exchange was saved (thank you, greenconverses!):

vip4321: People, it's HER BOOK. She will write it however she likes it and if you have a problem, DONT SAY ANYTHING. Frankly, nobody cares. I like the book and so do a lot of people.

poetrytoprose: Please don't be so condescending and generalizing. It really hurts my brain when any criticism towards the book degrades any fan to anything less than "a true fan."

vip4321: Oh so you think being a true fan means putting the author and her work down? Wow, what's with the world? I know people are entitled to their own opinion and congrats to them, but im just so tired of all the SM, BD and Robert bashing. It's about time to get over it. Seriously. Don't you agree? All this negativity over stuff you can't change is stupid.

Most of the deleted comments were along those lines, with the mods vainly trying to tell everyone to be respectful.

lion_lamb isn't the only place where the wank is, though.

SMeyer tells MTV.com that the backlash "hurts." Most comments run along the lines of "LEAVE STEPHENIE ALONE!!!!"

The Twilight Lexicon takes a position on BD, and disallow character-bashing, expressing disapproval at SMeyer's writing, and calling Jacob a pedophile.

And if you're tired of the wank, have an extended Twilight parody in which Edward is turned into a cranky, scrapbooking virgin?

It's going to be a long August.

EDIT THE FIRST: Nora Roberts smash!

EDIT THE SECOND: Dissapointed 'Breaking Dawn' fans organize protest. Twilighters in the comments claim that the haters only make up 10% of the reader base.

EDIT THE THIRD: The Twilight Lexicon is hacked! EDIT THE THREE-POINT-FIFTH: One of the Lexicon mods posts about it on her journal. Is the Lexicon no more? ETC: Screencaps of a troll post made to the Lex shortly before the hacking. ETC THE RECKONING: The hacker speaks? ETA SQUARED: Lexicon admin claims it's not an inside job, posts messages from the hacker. ARE YOU KIDDING ME: ~~And the hacker speaks again!~~ (deleted) THIS DESERVES ITS OWN POST: Amazon.com boards on the hacking, with a surprise guest appearance by Laurel K. Hamilton's personal assistant?

EDIT THE FOURTH: ... off-topic, but were we just deleted for a bit?

EDIT THE FIFTH: Twilight Moms have possibly gone underground. FIVE-POINT-FIFTH: Confirmation! YEAH, WE'RE STILL GOING: The TwiMoms have returned, and ready to stroke Steph's ego all over again!

EDIT THE SIXTH: The Washington Post review of BD. Not wanky, just hilarious.

EDIT THE SEVENTH: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books weighs in. Smug Twilighter alert in the comments.

EDIT THE EIGHTH: Twatlympics?

EDIT THE NINTH: The haters draft a petition!

EDIT THE TENTH: You don't know the history of Twilight. Darla Cook does. TEN-POINT-FIVE: And she keeps on going, too.

DOES IT EVER END: Publishers' Weekly article on the protest. They think Twilight's audience consists entirely of teenagers. Ahahaha... ha.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

	swordmage 2008-08-12 12:21 am UTC (link)
	TwilightMoms are back online. Seems also, the latest admin post suggests everyone go and sign the Stephenie Appreciation Thread. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	eilisliana 2008-08-12 01:45 am UTC (link)
	Or they'll what, ban everyone that doesn't post in that thread? (Reply to this)(Parent)

keri
2008-08-12 02:02 am UTC (link)

Oh, wow. There's a newish post about HOW TO TALK ABOUT BREAKING DAWN

I think it would be perfectly okay to say you don't like the book. I never have liked the word "hate" but that's just me. Where I see a problem is when the comment reflects on Steph. "I didn't like the book" vs. "The book wasn't written well." (cringe, sorry again) "I am mourning Edward" vs. ""What was she thinking? Where is Edward?" "I wish there was a battle scene at the end" vs. "She sure let me down with the anti-climatical ending!"

Maybe there isn't a difference to some. But to me, it's all in the wording. I think that we all agree that regardless of how we feel about the book, we all still love Steph and wouldn't want to hurt her feelings with comments that could be take rude toward her.

Isn't that special?

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

deludedvision
2008-08-12 02:34 am UTC (link)

"She sure let me down with the anti-climatical ending!"

That isn't even that insulting. Seriously, grow a pair, and while you're at, ask your author do the same. Criticism happens when you're a writer. Some of it will be scathing; some of it will be uncalled for, but no one needs to jump off a bridge if someone says something as even-tempered as "I was let down by the ending."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	xylophone 2008-08-13 04:30 am UTC (link)
	this has nothing to do with the wank but: I love you icon. oh Donna :( (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seraphtrevs 2008-08-12 02:36 am UTC (link)
	Jesus Christ. These people aren't just n00bs to the internet, they're n00bs to life. (Reply to this)(Parent)

julian_black
2008-08-12 03:10 am UTC (link)

Where I see a problem is when the comment reflects on Steph.

So if you don't like the book, or at least don't like certain things about it, you're not supposed to point out that the author's crappy, amateurish writing was (at least partially) to blame? You're supposed to take all the blame upon yourself for not liking it?

The owners and mods of TwiMoms will stoop to anything to keep Stephenie Meyer's favor, won't they?

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	_goblin_ 2008-08-12 03:35 am UTC (link)
	You have put your sparkly finger on it. They're saying it's rude to admit that SMeyers did, in fact, write all that stuff in the book that no one likes. (Reply to this)(Parent)

abharding
2008-08-12 04:04 am UTC (link)

That's how I am reading it as well. That if you didn't like the book, it is because of you...and not the book itself. So in no way is it Meyer's fault.

Now at times, this is a legitimate argument. After all, a writer can't please everyone and if a reader is unhappy his/her favorite character didn't get the guy/girl, died or it didn't have the ending that that particular reader wanted, that is not the fault of the writer...no matter how good that writer is.

Here though, the sheer number of people who are having problems with what has happened, it is more likely that poor writing that is the problem and not that readers did not get what they wanted.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	cyndra_falin 2008-08-12 03:13 am UTC (link)
	They make my brain hurt. rubs temples (Reply to this)(Parent)

	insanitys_place 2008-08-12 03:27 am UTC (link)
	I don't see any difference in the wording. These people must be new to literary criticism. (Reply to this)(Parent)

swordmage
2008-08-12 03:44 am UTC (link)

I just found a decently worded response (sane even!):

OK, here is my one remaining comment. I am, frankly, extremely disappointed that we have been divided up into separate threads, as if we are unable to have a civil discussion. I believe it is OK for people to disagree. I also feel offended at having rules about how to convey our opinion, e.g. it is ok to say you "disliked" the book but not that you "hated" it? Free speech encourages dialogue and diversity. One of the reasons I was reading the discussions was because I truly wanted to see what other people enjoyed about it. I am open to and enjoy conflicting opinions.

And I do not believe that my strong feelings about BD make me less of a fan. The greatest writers in literature all made missteps at one time or another. Would it have been prudent for all criticism to have been banned? How else do writers--or any of us--grow? Some of the saddest examples of talented writers/singers/performers have been when an individual is surrounded by fawning supporters, to the point that the individual loses sight of what is and isn't quality.

Guess I may still contribute humor to the site, but these discussions have lost their appeal for me.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	seraphtrevs 2008-08-12 03:58 am UTC (link)
	Guess I may still contribute humor to the site ...there's humor at Twimoms? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	feenix 2008-08-12 05:38 am UTC (link)
	This is the forum that brought us a cleaning contest to keep their minds off of Breaking Down. I suspect that there is quite a bit of humor at Twimoms. Intentional humor, on the other hand, I've yet to see. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	issendai 2008-08-12 06:55 pm UTC (link)
	Countdown to banning in three... two... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	xylophone 2008-08-13 04:35 am UTC (link)
	The greatest writers in literature all made missteps at one time or another. I should no longer be suprised or even shocked that they are implying that SMeyer is one of the "greatest writers in literature" at this point, but I am annoyed anyway. Twimoms. wtf. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	blancdoeufs 2008-08-12 09:22 pm UTC (link)
	So, these people never had jobs, right? (Reply to this)(Parent)

aka_paloma
2008-08-12 11:57 pm UTC (link)

From the Stephenie Appreciation Thread:

Thank you Steph for teaching me:

“You are worth it” (Jasper, Twilight p. 404)

“…just because we’ve been…dealt a certain hand…it doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to rise above –” (Edward, Twilight p. 3070

“I just had to decide what to do with what I was given.” (Carlisle, NM p. 35)

And so much more!

Daily affirmations from SMeyer's books? I just... Okay, I need to step away from this for a few days or my spleen really will explode.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cleolinda 2008-08-13 12:07 am UTC (link)
	“I just had to decide what to do with what I was given.” Why am I hearing this in Gandalf's voice? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	aka_paloma 2008-08-13 12:26 am UTC (link)
	Noooooooo! D: I don't want to make a connection between that and the whole "all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us" bit that Ian McKellan does so beautifully. (I think even my keyboard freaked out over that as it flipped to Canadian French from US! Or it's possessed.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	bienegold 2008-08-13 03:03 am UTC (link)
	I don't know about you, but I learned that I'm worth it from L'Oreal. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	xylophone 2008-08-13 04:38 am UTC (link)
	you're lucky; I learned that I only might be born with it from Maybelline. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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