Cullengirl. Thanks for the detailed post. Lots of things to reply to; I've tried to just quote the key parts to keep the post length down.
cullengirl wrote:The existence of Nessie is very hard for me to swallow and accept...SNIP... My first reason why I don't like Nessie is because she's just downright creepy and I still don't understand how she can exist in the first place. I've read Stephenie's explanation as well as attended the signing in Chicago where she explained the 'science aspect' of her existence. It still doesn't make sense.
I do get that on some level, but I read SO much fantasy that I'm more than willing to suspend my reality meter for a good story. My only request is that the "science" be internally consistent so would expect that similar occurrences be similarly handled. For a "pseudo-science" response, I could go with, "As vampire venom is capable of changing the DNA of human tissue, one could argue that the "sperm venom" is capable of reacting with human egg tissue to create a hybrid form of life with a unique DNA signature." It's all made up anyway
cullengirl wrote:My second reason for disliking Nessie is that she all too nicely wraps up almost all of conflicts of the Saga just as Andypalmer pointed out. I would like to add a few more things to his list above:
*Nessie's purpose is the reason why Bella and Edward needed to get married first before Bella was changed into a vampire.
I have to strongly disagree here. Nessie had nothing to do with them getting married, but had everything to do with the basic morality of not having pre-marital sex. SM is Mormon (as am I) and that's a pretty strongly taught value in the LDS faith.
cullengirl wrote:*The birth of Nessie caused Bella to change into a vampire.
How? It was Edward's venom that did that, just as it would have if Nessie had never happened. The pregnancy/birth impacted the timing and urgency, but without it, Bella would still have been changed.
cullengirl wrote:*Nessie is the reason why Bella retains her humanity.
How? Do you think that Bella would have had less humanity than Carlisle or Edward after the change if she hadn't had Nessie?
cullengirl wrote:*Nessie is the reason why Jacob gets to still love a part of Bella and be part of Bella's life.
Agreed (didn't want you thinking I was being a total naysayer
)
cullengirl wrote:*Nessie is the reason why Bella gets to be the mother that she always wanted.
What evidence is there that Bella *wanted* to be a mother at all, prior to actually being pregnant?
I agree that Nessie is Deus Ex Machina as much as the next guy, but even I can't dump the entire plot on her tiny head
cullengirl wrote:...SNIP... IMO, Bella doesn't get to suffer at all:
1. She doesn't suffer the burning thirst of humans like the Cullens and the new born vampires.
I am personally convinced that this is entirely due to the fact that she knew what she was getting herself into BEFORE she was changed. To everyone else, the urge is completely unexpected and with each kill, a new vampire loses a bit more of their humanity. Bella had been warned about the thirst and was therefore able to "brace" herself for the urge.
cullengirl wrote:2. She retains her human memories and gets to include Charlie in her 'secret life'.
Well they all retained their human memories; I'm not sure what point you are trying to make there... I agree on the 2nd part (and partially blame that on Nessie).
cullengirl wrote:3. She still has Jacob.
Nessie's fault
cullengirl wrote:4. She gets to have a family.
Yes, but not having one isn't something I'm convinced she would have seen as suffering so it's more of a bonus than a "removed pain point"
cullengirl wrote:5. She becomes beautiful, strong and develops a superpower, which ironically or not is able to deflect everything.
Pretty girls become beautiful vampires and all newborn vampires are strong. Yes, her power becomes a superpower, but the Pawn to Queen metaphor is a primary theme of BD (and she's still useless against Jasper's power...)
cullengirl wrote:I guess what I'm trying to say is this: if being a vampire brought all this happiness, then what was the big deal? Why did we need the emotional roller coasters of NM and EC?
NM was needed more for Edward's sake than Bella's; he needed to be convinced that he couldn't live without Bella and that changing her was necessary. EC was about making sure Bella was sure in her decision to join Edward. She is, after all, still going to have her human memories fade eventually, she is still going to see her parents die while still "young", she is still going to have to travel in the incognito live style of a Cullen. Heck, she'll still probably have to attend high school another few dozen times.
cullengirl wrote:I much preferred him to be out of Bella's grasp, but still be in her world. I don't feel like Jacob has ever been independent of Bella, which I believe cheapens his HEA.
I get this to some extent, but this way, Jacob gets to be with an equal; he doesn't have to worry about harming her as Sam harmed Emily. Renesmee is in many ways the perfect mate for Jacob - an equal and one in which he can forever be with while actively shapeshifting; unlike the old chief, he won't bury three wifes through his longevity. Yeah, it's a DEM HEA, but is also the ultimate reward for Jacob being the best best friend a running-with-vampires girl could have asked for.