"My brother, after hearing my rant, proclaimed that Valen must be "Jacob and Edward's secret love child."
Damn those eleven year olds and their flawless logic, ruining how I view things."
Er, he looks nothing like them. Just putting that out there.
Meanwhile, here's a ramble about why Valen is nothing like Eddikinz. Show it to your brother if you like.
Valen, while mistrusting at first, still treats the PC as a person, as a fellow adult. Edward treats Bella-Sue like a child. If he'd actually read the books properly (the movies don't count. ever.), then he would notice how condescending and paternal he acts around Bella, ordering her like a authoritarian father. Bella, being the weird statue pervert with an electra complex, loves it.
When Valen goes too far, you get options to tell him to back off and stop acting annoying. "So what?" I hear you say. "Bella says that to Edward at one point."
But there is a major difference.
Valen actually listens to what you say and actually backs off at one point ("I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make accusations..." comes to mind). Edward doesn't change for anyone, because he's a blood-sucking statue not only physically, but mentally as well. Valen is even willing to learn surfacer ways (see the "deity talk" for this), but Edward has the annoying belief that he is Always Right.
Speaking of Valen being actually willing to learn and adapt, he's like this with others as well. If the PC is willing enough to listen to what he says and to respect his opinions (again, Deity Talk for an example... actually, there's quite a few instances where I can think of it), even if they differ dramatically, then he's willing to trust them. There is no trust in Bella and Edward's relationship. When Bella was going to go into her truck and drive to Jacob's, Edward ripped her truck's engine out so she couldn't see him. (No, SERIOUSLY. It's in Eclipse.) And respect? Hells no! Again, Edward treats Bella like a child.
Finally, during the actual relationships, the topic of sex comes up. Valen, being practical, says that he'd rather wait 'till you're out of Cania. Edward, being afraid of breaking Bella
(pfft, more like afraid that Bella will see his tiny dick - don't believe me? Check the subtext. It's everywhere.) constantly rejects Bella's advances - even just a kiss! (Twilight, I think.) When Bella's all "let's have sex already" (like most normal teenagers) Edward's all "Marriage first lol". Even though Bella's parents split, which has given her a darker view on marriage. (Which is why she said no to it in the first place! Again, Eclipse has a few pages for proof.)
And now there's one more point I'd like to talk about before this gets way too long - Valen and Edward's attitudes to their lover's death.
Valen: If possible, will storm the Nine Hells to get the PC back. If not, then he'd probably get over it in time like a normal person. (He got over his last girlfriend in time, after all...)
Edward: On upon hearing of Bella's death by Cliff, (if only...) he runs off to Italy to sparkle in public, so the Volturi would notice and kill him for exposing himself to sunlight.
(Though most people would think he was a weirdo covered in glitter, but whatever.)Spot the difference.
As for the whole "Edward/Jacob love child thing", if that was true, where did the horns and tail come from? The whole "I am a part-demon thing"? If that was really the case, Valen would be half-wolfy, half-vampire *shudder*, and would be a completely different character. He'd be a hell of a lot more arrogant, and would probably actually act like Edward towards the PC all the time! (I'm referring to the "treating Bella like his daughter" thing) Sure, Valen's arrogant, but for entirely different reasons. You could even argue that Valen's arrogance is a way of hiding his inner soft person in front of the cold Maeviir drow. If he acts more like a jerk, then the Drow, who admire this as part of their culture, would listen to him more, as opposed to the way they'd act if Valen was more open about who he really is.
If arrogance is the way he hides his true self, then it only makes sense that he acts that way towards the PC as well - after all, he doesn't know what the PC's like. She's just some random surfacer. It could also be his way to try to show to her that just because the Seer chose her over him doesn't mean that she's better than him. So, in a way, it's how Valen tries to prove himself. Edward is arrogant because he actually believes he's superior to humans. (The Midnight Sun draft in particular showed this.) Big difference.
This brought to you by the resident Anti-Twilighter. I liked the books once, but oddly enough, I wasn't a fan of Edward or Jacob. (Maybe because I never saw Bella as my self-insert?) I've noticed though that the Jacob fans tend to be more sensible, even if SMeyer ruined him in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. >:C (Yes, I'm still mad at her for that.)
I may write more later, if I'm up to it. But here's the basic facts.
Modifié par Meeszy Alexy, 19 mars 2011 - 06:50 .
