The Transformation

[Angelvamp]

I'm with Ringswraith and suzeeQ, I was disappointed with the post-Bella and felt a little cheated when I first read BD. It seems to me her lack of newborn-ness was contrived to move the story along instead of something that would naturally happen. And Bella was so much more relatable before becoming a vamp. Don't get me wrong, I love that everyone got their happy ending (I would've thrown the book across the room if that didn't happen, I gots to have me some happy ending!) but I wouldn't have minded reading another book or two if that meant going through Bella's newborn period for a year or so. Also, it seems to me that she lost some of her human traits that she shouldn't have. The clumsiness, I expected her to lose. But not her stubborness or her self-depreciation or her sense of humor. It just looks like to me that most of what made Bella Bella was gone after she turned. I haven't decided yet if that's a good thing or not, since I haven't decided if I actually like Bella.

[Asheleyo]

I'm with Ringswraith and suzeeQ, I was disappointed with the post-Bella and felt a little cheated when I first read BD. It seems to me her lack of newborn-ness was contrived to move the story along instead of something that would naturally happen. And Bella was so much more relatable before becoming a vamp. Don't get me wrong, I love that everyone got their happy ending (I would've thrown the book across the room if that didn't happen, I gots to have me some happy ending!) but I wouldn't have minded reading another book or two if that meant going through Bella's newborn period for a year or so. Also, it seems to me that she lost some of her human traits that she shouldn't have. The clumsiness, I expected her to lose. But not her stubborness or her self-depreciation or her sense of humor. It just looks like to me that most of what made Bella Bella was gone after she turned. I haven't decided yet if that's a good thing or not, since I haven't decided if I actually like Bella.

Well, it's hard to be self-deprecating when you're gorgeous! Seriously, though, a lot of her low self-image came from the fact that she didn't feel that she was up to par with Edward. Alice made sure that she would see herself in the mirror and see just how beautiful she is after transforming (not that she was ugly beforehand), so that she could get over this stupid feeling of being below Edward and not good enough for him.

As far as humor goes, we don't see it right away because she's very concerned about being able to control herself. It's hard to be amusing when you're afraid you'll kill your dad. But I still think she held on to her sense of humor. I mean, we see her joking with Edward after the first hunt, and even thinking to herself that it's nice that she can still be playful with him. And Emmett's comments while Charlie's over are not lost on her, and I think she reacts very Bella-like. I really don't think she lost that sense of herself.

I saw enough of the original Bella still hanging around. I mean, she was still humbly embarrassed to receive a great gift like her cottage. And she reacted perfectly to Alice's extreme idea of a closet. And of course, she is still the same girl that is totally taken in with Edward, despite the missing physical signs.

[Angelvamp]

Well, it's hard to be self-deprecating when you're gorgeous! Seriously, though, a lot of her low self-image came from the fact that she didn't feel that she was up to par with Edward. Alice made sure that she would see herself in the mirror and see just how beautiful she is after transforming (not that she was ugly beforehand), so that she could get over this stupid feeling of being below Edward and not good enough for him.

That first sentence could have come straight from Rosalie's mouth! To me, that is not Bella at all. Besides, self-image rarely means seeing yourself as others do. I don't think Bella found herself necessarily attractive before, but when she met Edward it she saw all her inadequacies highlighted. She felt inferior on a whole bunch of levels, not just physically.

As far as humor goes, we don't see it right away because she's very concerned about being able to control herself. It's hard to be amusing when you're afraid you'll kill your dad. But I still think she held on to her sense of humor. I mean, we see her joking with Edward after the first hunt, and even thinking to herself that it's nice that she can still be playful with him. And Emmett's comments while Charlie's over are not lost on her, and I think she reacts very Bella-like. I really don't think she lost that sense of herself.

I saw enough of the original Bella still hanging around. I mean, she was still humbly embarrassed to receive a great gift like her cottage. And she reacted perfectly to Alice's extreme idea of a closet. And of course, she is still the same girl that is totally taken in with Edward, despite the missing physical signs.

I guess you're right, there's not much humor in trying not to kill your family. It just seems like she grew up and became serious so quickly, I just missed that juvenille humor. I can't really put my finger on it, but it just seems like something was there in Bella and then it just disappeared. And she used to throw fits about receiving gifts but she just accepted and thanked Esme, very un-Bella like. Although, I always thought she was going overboard with her reactions to gifts. Just say thank you, for goodness sake! Sheesh!

[rjupiter]

can someone maybe clarify something a bit for me? when I read BD and Bella is describing what she looks like in the mirror I am a bit confused. Is she saying that she looks completely different from what she looked like as a human or, as I took it, that her looks as a vamp are only an enhancement of how she looked before? I mean she never saw herself clearly before, as Edward said, and she never thought she was attractive so her view might be a bit biased on that fact. Otherwise how could Charlie even recognize her if she looked radically different?

[Angelvamp]

I took it to mean that her looks were enhanced, that her good traits were emphasized and the bad...well, I don't know what the bad would be. The only flaw I ever read about in Bella's face was that her mouth looked too big for her face and her upper lip was bigger than her lower lip. But she would look really different having skin like marble and red eyes. I don't think her bone structure changed or anything, so she would be recognizable as Bella.

[rjupiter]

thanks Angelvamp, I was thinking along those lines as well.

[Openhome]

Charlie did have a hard time the first time he saw Bella. If you remember, Bella had to tell her dad it was really her, so she did look very different, yet similar. I like to think of it as similar to the transformations in Interview With a Vampire. Any time someone messes even a little with their face, they look very different.

As far as Bella looking at herself in the mirror, remember she is seeing herself not just as a vampire but through vampire eyes. Everyone in the room looked very different to her after the transformation. I hope they let us get a glimps of her first view of the family when the movie comes out. I really want to see Edward and Jasper the way she describes seeing them.

[rjupiter]

Charlie did have a hard time the first time he saw Bella. If you remember, Bella had to tell her dad it was really her, so she did look very different, yet similar. I like to think of it as similar to the transformations in Interview With a Vampire. Any time someone messes even a little with their face, they look very different.

As far as Bella looking at herself in the mirror, remember she is seeing herself not just as a vampire but through vampire eyes. Everyone in the room looked very different to her after the transformation. I hope they let us get a glimps of her first view of the family when the movie comes out. I really want to see Edward and Jasper the way she describes seeing them.

right, when looking at herself as a vamp (with vamp eyes) she see herself and the others "better", i.e. she sees Jasper's scars etc.. (though i never took it that everyone look radically different to her, they still looked like themselves, just more "clear")

However, I also take how see looked physically to be an enhancement not a complete alteration, i.e. she didn't have a whole new face. It would be like, how I seen it, if someone got very minor plastic surgery, say to fix a crooked nose, that little fix can change how a face looks.

[lady4string]

rjupiter, you took the words out of my mouth. She was obviously already beautiful although she didn't see herself that way (I've known sooo many beautiful people who think they're cute at best), so her features were just enhanced. To me, it seems like an attractive person getting minor plastic surgery to correct minor flaws or something like that.

[Marialby]

I think the way the transformation happened was incredible considering the circumstances. For me it showed that Edward was already prepared to save her life under any circumstances. To have a syringe filled with his venom prepared in case her heart faltered during the delivery process was brilliant. I also believe that is was medical but it was MOSTLY symbolic...and also incredibly romantic that her transformation started directly by Edward piercing Her Heart with his venom instead of biting her in the neck or any other pulse points which he also did after he started her tranformation directly in her heart to ensure that she had plenty of venom running through her veins. I would certainly have wanted to be transformed through my heart first if given a choice. (Edward was also gifted his hearts desire from the beginning of the twilight series when in Twilight he HAD the privilege to taste her blood even though it was through saving her life from James attack and bite on Bella where he had to suck the venom out and he did get to taste the blood that he most desired in his entire existence!)

When Jacob "gave up" on saving her life it also showed that his love for Bella was never really "True Love" it was just a teenage obsession and a certain kind of love of his for one and 2.) Jacob gave up on her after he didn't feel the connection to her body anymore...the "gravitational pull" that always pulled him to Bella. Of course she didn't have that "pull" anymore because RENESMEE was already out of Bella's womb and in the other room with Rosalie and nobody would have ever guessed that it was "Fate"...the imprinting that was about to happen when Jacob saw Renesmee that always drew Jacob to Bella.

True Love never gives up...so of course Edward never did give up on her "life" and saved her life in the best way possible... starting directly in Bella's heart. That's why I also believe she was the strongest and most controlled aside from having two years of preparation and her mind...because it all started from "her own hearts desire" and Edward always gave Bella her hearts desire even if it was torture for him...and symbollically through the transformation his venom in the needle...he directly gave it to "her Heart first"

It always had to be Edward's venom (and total love and commitment) that saved her that's why they where so utterly complete and in love...completely whole as one.