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Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:26 am
by The Dark Knight
holdingoutforjacob wrote:Yeah, it's been considered. It could be right - we really don't know.

The thing is, it's not JUST that that's upsetting her. Imprinting supposedly is a mechanism designed to create the best genetic setup for future wolves, right? Well, since Sam imprinted on Emily and not her, obviously she wasn't right to pass on the gene. No REAL need for concern though, until she finds out that not only does she have the gene, it's active, and she is a shifter. Logic would tell her that two genes are better than one. But then after she phases that part of her system freezes. So more than her being possibly barren is her not being "enough".

Wow, that's a double whammy that would break your soul...Leah is hard press being the one and only female to shift and now looking at it from the cost perspective, losing Sam, possible barren and having to deal with the boys on a level that now lady should have to, she is the tragedy of the series...I do hope that SM, when everything quiets down writes Leah's story so we can have a happy ending for her too...

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 2:16 pm
by Pendragon
The Dark Knight wrote:

Wow, that's a double whammy that would break your soul...Leah is hard press being the one and only female to shift and now looking at it from the cost perspective, losing Sam, possible barren and having to deal with the boys on a level that now lady should have to, she is the tragedy of the series...I do hope that SM, when everything quiets down writes Leah's story so we can have a happy ending for her too...
I hope she does write a good story for Leah as well.

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:23 pm
by moon sidhe
holdingoutforjacob wrote:
The thing is, it's not JUST that that's upsetting her. Imprinting supposedly is a mechanism designed to create the best genetic setup for future wolves, right? Well, since Sam imprinted on Emily and not her, obviously she wasn't right to pass on the gene. No REAL need for concern though, until she finds out that not only does she have the gene, it's active, and she is a shifter. Logic would tell her that two genes are better than one. But then after she phases that part of her system freezes. So more than her being possibly barren is her not being "enough".
Wait, I'm a bit confused here. It's not logical to me to say that two genes are better than one, since biologically speaking that's definitely not always the case that you're better off being homozygous for a gene vs. heterozygous. Just because she wasn't right to pass on the gene with Sam doesn't mean that she's not right to pass it on with someone else of wolf or non-wolf descent, either way. Although I guess it's a distinct possibility that having both genes would be deleterious and maybe that's why Sam couldn't imprint with her. Or maybe she just wasn't the right person for him period and it had nothing to do with her wolf gene. Ok, I'm rambling here. But ultimately I wasn't sure what you meant by two genes are better than one and what "not being enough" meant. Meaning, not enough as a woman because there's the possibility that she won't be able to have children ever?

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:25 pm
by holdingoutforjacob
Okay, well, to quell your bewilderment, I'd go back and reread Leah's explanation of her problem in BD. That's where I took everything from.

I was speaking from Leah's POV, as to what she's feeling and where her anger stems from. There are a kajillion possible explanations for what's happening to her, scientifically.

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:29 pm
by moon sidhe
Well, thanks? I would if I had the books. Sadly, they are on loan. I just didn't remember Leah pondering her genetic make up as compared to Sam. The only thing I remember her being really upset about is the lack of period and the possibility of being infertile, but like I said, no books to check.

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:24 am
by holdingoutforjacob
Well, I only told you to check your books because I couldn't find my copy of BD (it's my least favorite) however, I unearthed it, so here we go.

Okay, the important part of the conversation starts on page 317. Leah tells Jacob that she understands how Rosalie feels, and claims to be a genetic dead end. She questions whether her girl stuff stopped working because she was a wolf, or she became a wolf because she wasn't feminine enough. She goes on to say that she wasn't good enough for Sam to fit either Sam's or Billy's theories - more wolves or stronger wolves.

While you can logically counter the fact that she stopped having her period with the whole frozen-in-time thing, and your point about genetics (although two people who possess a certain gene are more likely to pass it on than a pair in which only one person has the gene) could explain the lack of imprinting, either by her or on her, no one can answer why she became the first female wolf. That question, the biggest one and the one least answerable, coupled with the others, is what makes the difference.

That entire conversation is quite enlightening, especially about Jacob and Leah's feelings on imprinting. Also, it mentions several times that Seth and Leah have stellar bloodlines.

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:38 am
by moon sidhe
Sweet! Thanks for taking the time to look it up and find the explanation. It is greatly appreciated since I am currently lacking the ability.

I definitely understand her jumping to the conclusion that she wasn't good enough or strong enough for Sam to be able to imprint on her. After being that completely devastated I think I would too. If I were her friend though, I would counter with the idea that it's nothing to do with how good or strong you are, just how genetically compatible you are with a specific individual. If it were the case that certain people are just "genetically superior" for wolf mating in general, then all the wolves would be fighting for a single person.

I guess I'm pretty optimistic where Leah's child bearing fate is concerned. I really think that once she stops phasing that her body will be able to resume its normal cycles and all will be well. But it certainly hasn't been explicitly answered in the books. So who knows?

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:52 am
by holdingoutforjacob
Yeah, and Jacob tried to do that. He gave her all those arguments. But I really think that the uncertainty of why she's the first female wolf ever makes any hope too shaky for her to rest on, especially since hoping for the best hasn't exactly been great for her so far.

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:59 am
by moon sidhe
Hah. Did Jake give her those arguments? God, I wish I had my books back. They've been lent out for months now. Anyway, yeah, it's hard to find a way to reassure her fears about being the first female wolf. Being the first and all, there's no precedent to understand how it happened. So there's certainly a possibility that there's something "wrong" with her. Am I crazy or do I remember something about two chiefs in her bloodline? Or at least some extra strong wolfiness in her ancestry? I seriously wish I could look this up.

Re: Leah Clearwater

Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 1:09 am
by holdingoutforjacob
Yeah, he did. But he's a 17-year-old boy. I'm sure you can imagine how much confidence his opinion would have instilled. :lol:

I understand her gloomy outlook. When bad thing after bad thing happens to you (Sam's betrayal, then Emily's, then her father's death, then becoming a wolf, then all this with Bella) it's hard to have any trust in people, much less the concept that it'll get better.

Yes!!! You remember that too? I thought I did, and everybody was like "noooo her bloodline is nothing special, it's all about Sam and Jake and Quil and stuff" but I was SURE of it. In BD she mentions several times how strong her bloodline is, just in that conversation.