thanks!

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"I wasn't sure how I heard the low sound with all the other noises echoing off the stone wall and hammering inside my head. . . But, in the split second that I stared into Victoria's eyes, I thought I heard a familiar, exasperated sigh."
Eclipse, pg. 550

momof5 wrote:

Ambushed wrote: ~Jessica_Angelita~ wrote: I am confused...as the name of this thread suggests...that Rosalie has not tasted human blood. Didn't she kill the men who attacked her? Did she just kill them but not 'feed' on them? She did kill 7 men, but didn't feed. She didn't want them in her system. I believe she tells Bella that while telling her sad story. (too lazy to go get the book to look it up.) I believe you are correct. She was very careful not to drink their blood. But she wanted them to know it was she that killed them.

Heh...heh...and she saved Royce for last, so he would hear about the others and be more, and more terrified of what was in store for him...*shiver runs down spine* She may not have tasted human blood, but she definately can be quite terrifying.

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"You're not going to budge me on this."
"I bet I could," he murmured, his eyes burning again.

MS mom wrote:

This is so interesting to me, to think about Esme having so much trouble with the blood thirst. I know we like to think about her being gentle and motherly (she is so sweet to Bella), but Esme is a vampire. Yes, the Cullens are now "vegetarians", but every day they have to deny what they are. They crave and desire human blood. That would normally make them all killers. The whole tone of Midnight Sun- Edward sounds so dangerous! And remember in Twilight when Edward is so tormented by Bella and Esme tells him "do whatever you have to in order to stay." I took that to mean Esme was saying, kill her if you must, but do not leave us. Just my thoughts...

I actually really like that there are two extremely different sides to Esme -it gives her some dimension and complexity, which we haven't really seen in the books so far. And it makes her seem more like a mother protecting her cubs - she can be fierce but lovable at the same time - always struggling between her human side and her vampire self.

The thing about Esme's telling Edward "Do whatever you have to to stay" that gave me chills was the way Edward smiled indulgently when he repeated it to Bella. As if he thought Esme was being a kindly good mother by advising him to take a human life. And then a few weeks later Esme is welcoming Bella to her home - yikes!

Re. Rosalie - I interpreted it as her using her new vampire strength to snap necks, etc. instead of killing by draining their blood. After al lher suffering, I say Go Rosalie!

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"I am purely full of joy, because I am missing nothing. No one has more than I do now."

Cordelia wrote:

MS mom wrote: This is so interesting to me, to think about Esme having so much trouble with the blood thirst. I know we like to think about her being gentle and motherly (she is so sweet to Bella), but Esme is a vampire. Yes, the Cullens are now "vegetarians", but every day they have to deny what they are. They crave and desire human blood. That would normally make them all killers. The whole tone of Midnight Sun- Edward sounds so dangerous! And remember in Twilight when Edward is so tormented by Bella and Esme tells him "do whatever you have to in order to stay." I took that to mean Esme was saying, kill her if you must, but do not leave us. Just my thoughts... The thing about Esme's telling Edward "Do whatever you have to to stay" that gave me chills was the way Edward smiled indulgently when he repeated it to Bella. As if he thought Esme was being a kindly good mother by advising him to take a human life. And then a few weeks later Esme is welcoming Bella to her home - yikes!

Okay, so this thread has kind of died, but I've been thinking about "the worst fight [the Cullens] ever had." Everyone's reading Esme's statement to mean, "kill her if it means you can stay." But I wonder about that interpretation for two reasons.

One: Edward would stay with the Cullens whether he killed Bella or not. If she lived and guessed their secret, they would all take off. If he killed her and hid the evidence, they would wait a careful amount of time and then all leave together. (I don't have the book handy, but I recall Edward saying something to that effect.)

Two: Edward had come back and proved himself capable of not killing Bella. The issue wasn't thirst, it was KNOWLEDGE. Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett wanted to kill Bella because she (probably) knew too much. Edward, Alice, and Carlisle were for letting her live -- Carlisle because of his innate compassion, Alice because she could foresee that Bella wasn't a threat, and Edward... because he was already in love with Bella (as per SM). Do you honestly think Esme the Quintessential Mother would miss that fact? When she told Edward "do what you have to," I think she was telling him, "follow your heart, even if it means exposing our secrets" without condemning him if things went badly or taking sides. (The way he tells it, it sounds like Esme was the tie-breaker and by saying this, she put the decision back on his shoulders without making the decision for him.)

It would also explain Edward's indulgent smile if he was thinking of Esme's perceptiveness.

On a rough day when I was eating a lot of "comfort food," I also wondered if Esme's problem wasn't partly "emotional eating." Or at least, maybe it started that way. Kind of a morbid thought to think of it from the chocolate bar's POV.

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"... do you mind telling me what it is about this bed that you object to?" -- Edward

eowyn77 wrote:

Cordelia wrote: MS mom wrote: This is so interesting to me, to think about Esme having so much trouble with the blood thirst. I know we like to think about her being gentle and motherly (she is so sweet to Bella), but Esme is a vampire. Yes, the Cullens are now "vegetarians", but every day they have to deny what they are. They crave and desire human blood. That would normally make them all killers. The whole tone of Midnight Sun- Edward sounds so dangerous! And remember in Twilight when Edward is so tormented by Bella and Esme tells him "do whatever you have to in order to stay." I took that to mean Esme was saying, kill her if you must, but do not leave us. Just my thoughts... The thing about Esme's telling Edward "Do whatever you have to to stay" that gave me chills was the way Edward smiled indulgently when he repeated it to Bella. As if he thought Esme was being a kindly good mother by advising him to take a human life. And then a few weeks later Esme is welcoming Bella to her home - yikes! Okay, so this thread has kind of died, but I've been thinking about "the worst fight [the Cullens] ever had." Everyone's reading Esme's statement to mean, "kill her if it means you can stay." But I wonder about that interpretation for two reasons. One: Edward would stay with the Cullens whether he killed Bella or not. If she lived and guessed their secret, they would all take off. If he killed her and hid the evidence, they would wait a careful amount of time and then all leave together. (I don't have the book handy, but I recall Edward saying something to that effect.) Two: Edward had come back and proved himself capable of not killing Bella. The issue wasn't thirst, it was KNOWLEDGE. Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett wanted to kill Bella because she (probably) knew too much. Edward, Alice, and Carlisle were for letting her live -- Carlisle because of his innate compassion, Alice because she could foresee that Bella wasn't a threat, and Edward... because he was already in love with Bella (as per SM). Do you honestly think Esme the Quintessential Mother would miss that fact? When she told Edward "do what you have to," I think she was telling him, "follow your heart, even if it means exposing our secrets" without condemning him if things went badly or taking sides. (The way he tells it, it sounds like Esme was the tie-breaker and by saying this, she put the decision back on his shoulders without making the decision for him.) It would also explain Edward's indulgent smile if he was thinking of Esme's perceptiveness. On a rough day when I was eating a lot of "comfort food," I also wondered if Esme's problem wasn't partly "emotional eating." Or at least, maybe it started that way. Kind of a morbid thought to think of it from the chocolate bar's POV.

eowyn77, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! That makes sense and I feel incredibly dense for not spotting that myself right from the start! Yes, you're right - Esme must have been able to tell that Edward was already acting differently and in love with Bella and was encouraging him to pursue his love without overtly outvoting the others.

And the stress/emotional eating idea is hilarious! It's a good thing vampires can't get pregnant - can you imagine the carnage if a female vampire had spontaneous cravings and was eating for two?!

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"I am purely full of joy, because I am missing nothing. No one has more than I do now."