Book Discussion - VAMPIRES

I hate that they sparkle. I could forgive everything else if they didn't sparkle.

But I don't agree with the criticism that vampires need to remain in ~canon so I like that Twilight vampires don't die in the sun, have fangs or can kill with one bite. And I like their speed, beauty and strength.

(All of this is in relation to the books, I think the films made a mockery of most of this, to be quite honest)

Yeah, the sparkles was such a let down. All this tension and build up about what happens in the sunlight, only to find out that he's as beautiful as a diamond. I was hoping he'd be all vein-y and scary-like.

I love, LOVE, how their eye color changes depending on mood or hunger.

I also like that they don't sleep in coffins, and that they don't sleep ever.

I could do without sparkles, and I miss vampires having to be invited into the human's house. It's one of my favorite Vampire traits, that they can't come in w/out an invitation.

I think it would've been kind of funny if Edward's venom was in his semen and he changed Bella that way. lol, but he would probably kill himself. So it really wouldn't have been funny to have to read emo-Ed for a million pages.

I love the idea behind their eye color(s) and the fact that they all have special talents based on traits they had as humans. Not a big fan of the sparkling, at least not how it was interpreted in the movies (I always imagined it more of a glow, idk).

The no fangs thing is pretty awesome too. They really have to chomp at their victims. Lol

Yes, their special talents is a great one!

OR

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091015044221/twilightsaga/images/archive/6/69/20100730010244!Edward_Cullen.jpg

yep gotta go with the beauty!

Def like that they don't die in the sun & also we get the bonus of imagining sparkly peens.
Sure would have liked some fangs though - retractable of course.

That is a beautiful Edward picture. :)

I love pretty much everything about Meyer's vampires - even the sparkling grew on me by the end of chapter thirteen, though like most people, I think I would've been happier if Meyer had gone for a creepier, more traditional reason why Edward didn't want Bella to see him in the sunlight!

It's already been said, but my favourite traits are the changing eye colour and the vampires' lack of fangs. Both subtly creepy traits. I also love, love, love the reimagining of vampires as living statues. Particularly in reference to the Volturi standing still for centuries. We see the series through Bella's eyes and immortality seems like a gift to her, but I'm not so sure I'd want to live as a statue with my feelings preserved and intensified forever.

The only thing think I don't really like is that they sparkle.

I love the change in eye colour and the special traits based on qualities they had as humans

I love their speed! It's just so fascinating to watch. Imagine you could run that fast, jump that far!

I also really love their eyes. They look magical.

Pretty much the only thing I'm not thrilled about is the sparkling in the sunlight. Up until you get to that point, they seem so bad ass compared to typical vampires - they're almost impossible to kill, they're so fast and so strong, and really alluring...and then throw in the sparkling and it's like, "Really? They sparkle?"

Because I got into True Blood and Vampire Diaries, I kind of FELT THE LACK of sex and violence and blood that seemed to be organic to vampires. The Twilight vamps (or just the Cullens) are so...ascetic. Of course they're meant to be "vegetarian" and that makes them unique, but it also removes the sense of struggle with their basic/true nature. This is why I love Edward in Midnight Sun the best...

You like Midnight Sun the best because it shows their struggle, you mean?

What are your favorite Twilight Vampire traits? I like that they stray from canon vampire traits. I guess my favorite trait is that some of them can be vegetarians.

Do you love that they don't die in the sun? That they sparkle? That they don't sleep? They don't have fangs? Their venom kills with one bite? Their strength, speed, beauty? WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THEM? I like that the can be out in the sun and that they don't need sleep. I pretty much like everything about them except that they sparkle. That's the one thing I would change. I like that whatever strong human traits they have get magnified and solidified once they're turned, e.g. Edward's reading minds, Alice's future seeing, Jasper's ability to calm.

And, what traditional Vampire traits do you miss when it comes to Twilight vamps?
Actually, I like that they don't have the traditional vampire traits. I was never a fan of vampires before and the truth is I'm still not (although I did love the second incarnation of Dark Shadows and Buffy). So, I don't miss the fangs, or the the distorted face, or the long fingernails (ugh). No thanks.

What are your favorite Twilight Vampire traits?

I love the gifts/powers that the vampires have. I love that they are not generic, but different vampires have different gifts, and that they are not random powers they receive when transformed, but some highly intensified version of some trait they had as humans. I love the speed and strength, to a point, though I think it can get kind of dull. And though at first I kinda missed blood drinking as being a sort of sensual/foreplay thing like it is some vampire 'worlds' I found I rather liked the idea of hunting/feeding being sort of a frenzy, where the vampire has to sort of struggle to keep in control. Makes them seem a little more dangerous/intense, which I think was needed since the Cullens are generally very in control and not the 'typical' frightening vampire.


And, what traditional Vampire traits do you miss when it comes to Twilight vamps?

Fangs. Mostly that's all I miss. It's most a superficial thing though. i just think fangs are a cool aspect of vampires. So I'm not torn up that they weren't included either.


And this isn't something I 'miss' but something I don't really love about the Twilight vampires:

Unlike some people, I don't really mind the sparkle thing because of sparkles. (Confession - once when I was about 13 I wrote a story about a half faerie/half vampire girl and her skin changed color. sort of like a mood ring. And I'm not so much embarrassed about THAT fact, but in the quality of my writing as an 8th grader. It read like a very bad fanfic. but still, who am I to judge about a vampire that sparkles?)

I mind the sparkle thing because of WHY they sparkle. I mind that they are these granite-like, inflexible things. I like that Meyer tried to really do her own thing with the transformation, but on the other hand, I feel like what she made up about for her vampires led to a lot of logical inconsistencies.

Her vampires are very sexual. This isn't me being pervy - this is what she put in her books. That vampires, esp once they find their special forever penguin mate, they like to have sex. a lot. But if they are so statue-like, how is it even enjoyable? Before BD, I assumed that Bella's lips always 'molded' around Edward's as she put it because she was softer and weaker. But in BD, the way it's written about there mouths moving together, her lips holding their own, it implies, to me, that there is no give at all. And quite honestly without flesh that gives under pressure, well I can't help but picture some mortar and pestle.

And how does their body use the blood, if it doesn't run through veins. I mean, I know in all vampire fiction we have to just accept the fact that when they drink blood, it somehow gets from the digestive system to the blood stream, completely and wholly, not just the nutrients getting sifted out to where they need to be, because vampires in any world never seem to need to 'relieve' themselves. But I guess it's easier for me to accept that the blood gets to where it needs to be when it has somewhere to go. Once the Twilight vampires swallow blood, what happens to it? Bella describes feeling almost sloshy after feeding. Then what? Does is just absorb into the body? And if they don't sweat or bleed or anything, why do they ejaculate? I mean, why are some things in the body essentially frozen while others aren't? Except that it serves Meyer's purpose. I just feel like, if you are going to completely reinvent how it works, there has to be some sort of explanation.

But I admit that i tend to over think things sometimes. :)

I really don't think you're over thinking. All of these points are valid. I think the problem is that Stephenie created this great world, characters, and love story, but she was such an inexperienced writer that she had trouble connecting all the dots. Then we have what seems like a publisher who only cares about turning the books out fast for profit, and not quality. They all needed heavy editing, imo.

Going massively against popular belief here, but I really like that they sparkle.
I thought it was quite a simple reason for not going in the sunlight, and I just found it quite funny that these killer creatures sparkle.

I like that they sparkle also.

I honestly didn't know much about vampires other than a passing knowledge of sleeping in coffins, fangs, avoiding sunlight, crosses and garlic so when I read Twilight, I wasn't totally sure what was Stephanie Meyer's interpretation and what was vampire canon.

I think in Edward's mind, he didn't think Bella would find him beautiful when she saw him sparkling...he knew that it made him different from everyone else (a freak) and saw it as 'the skin of a killer'. That she was able to see beyond that (and his many other traits he saw as faults) made him love her all the more.

Like others have said, I love their eyes changing color but I really love their sense of smell...particularly Edward's heightened sense when it came to Bella, but I have no idea -- is that a typical vampire trait?

I love how unique they are. I thought it was really interesting that she made these monsters, well, pretty human. It almost made it realistic, if that makes any sense...I mean, if vampires really existed, I think they'd be a lot closer to the Twilight vampires than the average horror film vampire. And I loved that.
However, I'm speaking strictly of the books. The movies take all SMeyers neat aspects and throw them down the drain.
As far as sparkling goes, I mean at first I had the same reaction as everyone else...when I read the 'sparkling' line I was like........what? But in the context of the story I really liked it because it made sense, it went along with the rock-hard statue thing, which I think is really interesting. I love the eye colors, the lack of sleep, and no-eating idea. All these aspects are what makes them so mysterious, and it was cool to see Bella put it all together.

I don't know, I like it all because it emphasized the main point of the story: E&B. The vampire stuff kind of comes second for me: it's just a device to add that forbidden/impossible love to the story.

I think it's so silly, too, when haters go after Twilight's vampire characteristics just because they're different. They really don't have much of an argument: vampires can be anything, including sparkly beautiful killers. Haha.

I love that they don't sleep and that they can live forever. ♥

My favorite Twilight vampire traits is that they don't die in the sun. I mean, vampires are supposed to be immortal but going out on a sunny day can kill them? I love that something like that doesn't happen to these vampires.

I am probably one of the few that does not mind that they sparkle. It shows they aren't human and also something makes them stand out if they are in direct sunlight but it's without bursting into flames. I like the idea that immortal means immortal in Twilight universe. I also love the lack of fangs. They blend in better and it doesn't turn their faces different like Buffy/Angel ended up doing (though I love Buffy - it began my love for vamps and I still love that show years later).

I don't miss the traditional. I like that they are different and not typical vampires. Also, someone mentioned the lack of sex in Twilight. I love that, too. There should be some consequences to sleeping with a vampire and the bruises were good show of that. I love their strength.

idgaf, i love the sparkles

Hi! Uhm. I'm just going to say that I love the Twilight vampires! I love that some of them have special gifts and all. The fact that they don't need sleep is also a thing that I like and obviously that they don't die in the sunlight; that doesn't happen in the real world :p The sparkling is a bit weird though. But I don't mind. And I prefer the books anytime!

I love that they are basically unkillable, because it made them like x1000 times more awesome. The sparkling doesn't bug me, I just took it as something that she wanted to do with them. I do kind of miss the whole, being invited in. After twilight spurred my own vampire story, I sort of kept some of the twilight elements and some of the traditional ones that I loved. But the sun not killing them is a plus (I was mean and made my vampires die if they didn't have something special on them)

Why am I always late for those things?! BRB writing my thoughts, I'll post them later. (It could be even few days, you now, lazy butt is me and i mi).ght not be on the Internet