The Movement of the Earth -- Author's Note

[audreyii_fic]

Title: The Movement of the Earth
Author: audreyii_fic
Fandom: Twilight (Team Jacob)
Rating: T
Characters: Bella, Jacob, Charlie, and others (J/B)
Genre: Romance/Angst/Wolfpack!Humor
Warnings: Language, violence, and references to adult behavior

Comments

[elle_blessing]

I laughed out loud several times. And then I read it out loud to my sister, who laughed at me for being a nerd, and then laughed at what I was actually reading.

Yay for endorphins :D

but the extent? In spite of all the awfulness I'd seen, I still didn't realize how much my eyes had simply skipped over until I made myself sit down and go line... by... line.

This. I didn't realize how bad it was until I went back and tried to read them again (and I never did make it through Breaking Dawn. *shudders*).

: this is the smartest fandom I have ever participated in. Hands down. I loved chatting about the themes that came up.

I tend to agree. I've had a lot of fantastic discussions in my native fandom (Harry Potter), but this particular corner of Twilight fandom is very rich and smart. I think it has a lot to do with - yes, how badly the books themselves were executed and didn't resolve any of the real conflicts and themes she tried to explore, but also because that Jacob and Bella aren't canon. We have dig deep into what is there, what could have and should have been there, and really look at the characters the way they are.

In any case, I enjoyed your story. I look forward to more (short, or otherwise ;), and I love how in depth you went on this author's note. It was enlightening not only of the story itself, but of you as an author - which is always interesting to the rest of us who are muddling through and trying to get better at not only dissecting a story, but learning the parts and how to put it back together :D

Thanks!

[audreyii_fic]

(and I never did make it through Breaking Dawn. *shudders*)

Me neither. I've read snippets of relevant parts and it turned my stomach every time.

We have dig deep into what is there, what could have and should have been there, and really look at the characters the way they are.

I think that's probably it, yeah. It's necessary to have a pretty high level of skill at literature interpretation to see anything worth salvaging in this mess of a series. (Or maybe a really low level of skill. Hmm.) When you have to spend all your time thinking about reconstructing a piece of writing without making it suck, well... you've got something going on in that lump above your shoulders, is all I'm sayin'.

In any case, I enjoyed your story. I look forward to more (short, or otherwise ;), and I love how in depth you went on this author's note.

I'm really glad you liked it :) It wound up, in its own weird way, kind of working... which is something that still stuns me. There will be more drabbles, but I don't know if I've got anything left in me for something bigger. And glad you liked the A/N. It's... freakishly self-indulgent, but I kind of wanted to report on how the experiment went, if you can believe that.

[elle_blessing]

When you have to spend all your time thinking about reconstructing a piece of writing without making it suck, well...

... yes, this. Basically. I never write fanfiction for stories that were done just right, that left me satisfied in the end. This? Though I've never actually written in this fandom, I could pick it apart and theorize how it could be put back together (or in this case, read yours) forever. There's so many ways she could have not ruined her own writing. I think the only thing that Meyer kind of did right was make us care - and how she managed that, I'm not sure. I think, maybe, because I didn't read the massacre that was Breaking Dawn, but still. Though a lot of her characters outright suck, and Bella is a travesty of fictional heroines, Meyers made us care about her getting her head out of her arse, about Jacob's cute crush and nicknames for her, about the pack, and the Cullens... and I don't even want to touch on Edward. She ruined so many young minds with him.

But yeah. She got enough right for us to care about it, but enough wrong for us to fix it forever.

There will be more drabbles, but I don't know if I've got anything left in me for something bigger.

I understand that. Especially after what you've just gone through with this one. It's been nearly a year since I wrote a long story myself - you just need the recoup time.

But I will read your drabbles, or anything else you choose to write. Your Jacob and version of the pack is pricelessly awesome.

[audreyii_fic]

Meyer is mystifying to me. Seriously. I cannot figure out how I can simultaneously hate the material and yet care about it so much. If it wasn't for the fact that we're a pretty large group, I'd assume that I'd finally become completely unhinged. Surely we can't all be suffering from mental or emotional imbalances... right?

I just. don't. get. it. And I'm not sure that I ever will, even after spending ten weeks on this story.

I'm happy you'll read my stuff :) We'll see what happens. Right now I can't imagine ever writing anything again, but I say that after every story, so I can't claim that that necessarily means anything.

[elle_blessing]

I cannot figure out how I can simultaneously hate the material and yet care about it so much.

I KNOW.

*sighs and shakes head*

[ronjacobfan]

I cannot figure out how I can simultaneously hate the material and yet care about it so much.

Sorry for intruding on this conversation, but this line struck me.

I think that's where I have actual sadness rather than annoyance and rage about this series. I come to fan sites like this devoted to the series. I clearly don't completely hate it, otherwise I wouldn't want to have anything more to do with it. It's the tragedy of it. Because we all care.

For me, it truly starts with Jacob. I didn't care for Twilight. I continued to New Moon because I'm a little OCD when it comes to finishing series. But what really made me continue to read, what made me continue to hope was Jacob. He was a mistake, in a way. She only intended to have him tattle on the Cullens. When he became something more, I don't think Meyer knew how to handle him. The surprise was possibly the best thing to happen to her as he really is the best thing in her series (in my own opinion. And that intrigues me. (But the voice of reason in Meyer story must be destroyed.) The fact that she didn't do him justice, that she really let him down is what makes me care. It made me also consider the other lost characters - Charlie, the wolf pack, Billy, even Victoria etc. And I care. I could care less about Edward, the Cullens, or even the Volturi. I don't even care about Meyer's Bella. But I do care about Jacob's Bella.

Sorry. That's the end of my inarticulate rant.

[audreyii_fic]

When he became something more, I don't think Meyer knew how to handle him.

This is where Meyer saying she "follows where the characters lead" is utter crap.

I'm actually a pretty big fan of following where the characters lead. If writing were a roadmap, my setups would basically look like this: "I want to start in Providence, Rhode Island, at 9:15 AM. I want to end up somewhere on the West Coast in about two weeks. Oh, and I totally need to stop and see Graceland on the way." As I get closer, I start to narrow in more and more on my final location ("Okay, it's going to be in California... all right, San Diego... yep, on the beach in front of that place where Prince Edward met Mrs. Wallis Simpson"). I also realize that in addition to Graceland, I've definitely got to spend at least two days in Topeka. So, yeah... where the characters lead. I get that.

What Meyer does is say "I want to start in Providence, Rhode Island, at 9:15 AM." Then, without any guidance, she allows the characters to wander off on a road trip. Then, when they're having a fine time in Indianapolis, she announces, "I want you to be in Miami in two hours." It's not possible. You can't even fly there that fast. So she just magically teleports them to Miami, and tries to pretend like they got there all on their own.

I guess I'm in an analogy mood this morning.