the night post
Notes on the night post
Twilight; 2212 words; AU
* omg, Twilight! and the galaxy of horrible fic it has produced!
* I won't go into an examination of the ins and outs of the fandom/media in a meta-sense here, there's plenty of other essays on the net about it. There's lots of argument that suggests the whole saga is a kind of extended Mary Sue fantasy, and I won't go into that either. I find it interesting as a pop culture phenomena, and how (like a lot of bad-TV-that-is-somehow-good) it leaves a lot of textual lacunae, 'gaps' where the writer/reader can gain access.
* Having said that, I tink the standard narrative has been sucked dry, both by Meyer herself and by the army of fic writers who've come after her. Also, the style of writing is one I find irksome - it's serviceable, and even quite lyrical at times, but I find it sort of pedestrian. Yes, I am being a total snob here.
* I gave little thought to writing a Twilight fic - I thought it was kind of tacky, actually. But I wrote this in a kind of white-hot subliminal moment, and it's very different from the usual world of the fandom (hence the AU). I actually thought of it as an original fic for some time - I even changed names and altered some details so I could enter the piece in a lit comp (unsuccessfully). But then I realised that I was really thinking of the characters as Bella and Edward, in my head, so I decided to just cut the shit and post it online.
*Eurythmics quote: 'Black is red and red is white and in this country I do what I like' (from Regret). I think this quote is perfect. Eurythmics cassette tapes make me feel about sixteen again, which is a good fit for Twilight. The quote is about blurred morality - the fic is too, and incidentally, so is Twilight (imo).
* I wrote this after re-reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. You can see where I've tried to capture some of the rhythm of his writing - can't capture the same brilliance, though.
* The office space is something like Palahniuk space - 'squashed flat'. The funny email ('STOP being a CUNT') was sent to my husband by a friend. I thought it was hilarious, and I liked the juxtaposition - Izzie's life is about neurosis and order and paranoia, and the injection of funny guarantees a sort of hsyterical jerk out of somnambulism and into reality.
* The mall: I really feel that way about malls.
* Edward is not a zombie: I didn't want to come out and say the 'V' word. I didn't think it was necessary. I mean, there are a million references for the reader to jump onto, given that I place it in the Twilight Zone (albeit and AU Twillight) in the header. So, Edward (we know what you are, Edward!) is not a zombie, he works the night shift, he has ivory teeth, bone-white ('vaguely inhuman') skin, he uses aliases, he has bronze hair (and sparkly eyes!), he has a 'life after life after life'... Yeah, I think the 'V' word is completely extraneous. Izzie thinks so too ('I haven't thought about it. Shut up already').
* There's no real romance. Izzie and Edward 'kissing in the stairwell' is just a precursor to her gradual shift in consciousness. Edward is preaching to her about the 'community service' he performs - he tells her he is 'an advanced soul', but the reader understands that Edward is being ironic, because of his tone and his grin. This is not Edward the abstemious holier-than-thou creature of the night - this is Edward the centuries-old cynic, which we kind of want him to be. It feels more like his true self.
* The old tropes returning: and god, didn't Meyer pull out all the stops with those! I wanted to note that, for the record. Most people are already aware of this, but it felt fun to say it. I am thumbing my nose here. I am making my character of Izzie more aware (than Bella) of how the romance stereotypes work.
* Life comes 'bak to life' for Izzie when she accepts Edward and his lifestyle - the 'sparkly-twinkling-glow-in-the-dark radiance of it all'. But the fact is, I have multitudinous issues with both the fandom and this fic. Shall I spell them out for you?
1/ Vampire mythos as revenge fantasy
2/Emotion equated with a mercantile transaction - emotions traded for calories
3/ An obsession with self-image
4/ A nervy, neurotic, underweight and emotionally deadened female character, a prisoner of her work environment an lifestyle.
5/ The commercial workspace as mechanised, people squashed into their role and environment.
6/ Edward is not a prisoner - he uses the work environment as a cover, to his advantage.
7/ FC is too apathetic, energy-less and trapped by work/self-obsession to care about social justice.
8/ The funny email is a 50's pastiche, its old-fashioned image and commanding language remind Edward that what he's doing is wrong.
9/ FC not willing to see herself as a problem, rather happy to continue blaming the system and environment.
10/ Low-paid drones like FC characterized as dead - 'zombies'.
11/ The 'nice' mall - blaming the problem on a lack of quality or humanity. No examination of the reality of market systems (either naieve or disempowered political view).
11/ Edward's stock and trade - he feeds on the output of market/political forces, as a wealthy upper class predator. Edward is not Robin Hood. (His 'advanced soul' being 'more highly evolved' is very Ayn Rand)
12/ Plump cheeks - when Izzie becomes a fellow predator, Edward approves and her self-image improves.
13/ She is preying on Mall Architects! Not exactly top of the commercial food chain. There's no shift in the character's political awareness, she's now just milking the system for what she can get, instead of being ground down by it. Is this a victory? She has become a 'higer order consumer', but she's still a consumer (the ultimate consumer?) Or is this just an extended metaphor for the dead-end (pun intended)romantic stereotype marketed to women?
* It's a company joke: it's hard to say whether the irony in this fic is really working as intended. I'm not Palahniuk - maye it just comes off as a political cliche in a recycled style. I'd like to think that people 'got it', but then I don't know if people are even reading it. (Is that like the old 'one hand clapping' thing?) This fic reminds me of the song 'Kiss with a Fist' by Florence and the Machine...if you get that. (And the Lungs album is still the only soundtrack to Twilight, imho)
* I still like it as a fic, and I'm happy enough with it, but more stylistically than politically. After playing with the nervy neurotic young woman stereotype for this, I decided to start writing an original story called 'Bloodless' about vampires, but with a main character who's a self-aware, socially-sonscious middle-aged wife and mother. I'm finding it harder to write, but I thinkit'll be more satisfying - I'll let you know, though, I haven't finished it yet.
that's it.