Team Edward versus Team
Jacob might be a blast from the past but all the feelings came rushing back as
I watched Twilight this weekend.
(Plus no one else will listen to my Team Jacob rantings because they all share
an endless love for pasty vampire, Edward Cullen. And that's what this will be. RAMBLINGS). Jacob would have been so
much better for Bella and things could have been radically different if Edward
didn’t decide to do something stupid and turn himself into the Volturi because
he took something out of context in New Moon. But on a sidenote, I don’t think Bella
deserved Jacob in the first place. He was a little too good, a little too
trusting, and a little too sensitive to really deserve Bella’s wishy-washyness.
From the beginning, since they were little, Jacob and
Bella were friends. When Bella returns to Forks, she rekindles her friendship
with Jacob. This way she knows that there’s more to their relationship than
just physical attraction and the fact that he’s a super strong, sparkly vampire.
When Bella gets to Forks, her friendship with Jacob grows. It’s playful and
Bella can actually feel like a human being when she’s around him. She doesn’t
have to worry about Jacob killing her in a frenzy, she doesn’t have to worry
about how he’ll react to something she says or does…she can just be Bella. Bella
and Jacob’s relationship has much more of a base than Edward and Bella's does. It’s
great because she and Jacob have things to talk about, more than just vampire
conflicts, Romeo and Juliet, and
their love for each other.
Jacob also isn’t a controlling sociopath. Edward listens
in on all of Bella’s private conversations, he watches her sleep at night just
for some strange gratification because human slumber is somehow “fascinating,”
he gaslights her all the time, and even goes as far to disconnect the battery
from her car because he doesn’t want her to visit Jacob because it’s “too
dangerous.” Edward is also attracted to Bella in the first place because the
smell of her blood is irresistible. He gets to know her because of her blood
(and the fact that he can’t read her mind which in unnerving in and of itself).
Now is that any basis to build a loving relationship? But Jacob Black is an entirely different story. He’s the opposite of Edward in every way. He lets Bella have her friends. He may not like that she hangs out with vampires, and he tells her that all the time, but he also doesn’t sabotage her relationships by cutting the wires in her car. Jacob likes Bella for her. He likes Bella because she’s comfortable. He likes Bella because she’s beautiful. He likes Bella because when he’s with her it’s easy. This isn’t to say that Jacob doesn’t have his faults—he certainly does—it’s just that his faults are less pronounced and less damaging to Bella in the long run. He has outbursts of anger, mostly with Bella’s preoccupation with Edward, and he likes to get under Edward’s skin, but he never takes it to the point where it causes his main girl any harm.
Can we also mention that when snuggling or hugging Jacob it
would actually be WARM?? And not ice cold. Like Edward. The old man. The
vampire whose coolest trait was that he killed rapists in the 30’s. (Which is
cool. Like, bro. Keep doing that). PLUS,
Bella wouldn’t have to feel like she had to change for Jacob…just saying.
I know Jacob gets a bad rap for the forced kiss in Eclipse and I’m not forgiving him for
that. (You know, the one where Bella broke her hand hitting him)? He was kind
of a jerk both times, you know? BUT. Bella is at fault here too. She told Jacob
she loved him and gave him hope that there could be something between them. So
he kissed her because he thought that maybe she felt the same way. She punched him;
he said that he wouldn’t kiss her again until she asked. I feel like Jacob was
too sensitive to get involved with a girl like Bella who thrived on the drama.
And her boo, Edward, wasn’t much different. Edward waited until Jacob was
listening to talk about his and Bella’s future wedding which was a real jerk
move.
I think what really gets me though is that Stephanie
Meyer wrote off Jacob and Bella’s relationship and feelings for each other
because of a non-existent baby that may or may not have even happened. After
everything that happened between them, their feelings for each other, and
everything Jacob went through for Bella, their relationship was just completely
devalued. For everyone who loved Jacob Black and thought he should have ended
up with Bella, this was just like a slap in the face.
So ultimately, yes, Bella and Edward probably deserved
each other because they were both kind of terrible people, but Jacob deserved
better. And if better was Bella, so be it. He deserved more than to have his
love for Bella diminished. He suffered because of her and his love for her
became nothing which is so incredibly frustrating. Jacob was sensitive, he didn’t
expect Bella to change, he didn’t stop her from living her life because he
believed in her probably more than anyone. Jacob was a gem and was really done
a disservice in the last book.
adjö,
lauren
