Here’s my conversation with my new girlcrush, 22blue, the amazing author of Red and one of my most favorite one shots, Nothing Else Matters.
me: Would you like to start off by giving your inspiration for Red and your Darkella character?
22blue: Okay. Honestly, the idea started off as one that was more innocent. Bella was still a call girl and Edward was still her client, but it wasn't until I saw the promotions for the Beyond the Pale contest. I scrolled through the picture prompts and the one that fit my original idea also led to the "thing" she liked to do. It was never intended to be more than a o/s, but after a few months, I couldn't get those two out of my head.
me: Why did you make your Edward the way he was? He wasn't canon for sure, but he was more than just complicated.
22blue: He had to be complicated because this story wasn't light by any means. I don't think I really touched too deeply on his personality because it was more of what drove Bella to do the things she did. He had issues, yes, but the story ended up being more about how the connection two people share and an unbreakable bond. Sort of my version of love is worth fighting and waiting for no matter how long it takes. But in the beginning, this Edward was impulsive and basically, took what he wanted at the cost of his marriage. It was Bella actually leaving him that made him wake up, so to speak.
me: What is your favorite scene from Red?
22blue: I have two: The pool scene and the last scene between Edward and Senna.
me: Oooooh the pool scene *sigh*
What/who was your inspiration for Gabriel... why not go with another character from the books?
22blue: That's easy. No one from the books fit his character. Okay, yes, the other characters in this fic and many, many others are OOC, but I didn't want anyone to have preconceived ideals about him and because he was as prevalent as he ended up being, I also didn't want the focus to be taken away any more than necessary from ExB. And finally, lol, he had to be gay. In my mind, her doctor had to be gay so that there would never, ever be any thought that she and the doc would get together.
me: You said you will give us a little bit of Gabe/Jasper yes?
22blue: yes! For the fandom 4 sexual assualt awareness compilation. It's going to be when Jasper and Gabriel adopt Samuel.
me: Did you get a lot of backlash for your Darkella? We were talking about this online the other night, with Jadalulu about how so many of us with darker Bella's seem to get a lot of negativity about her.
22blue: No, surprisingly not. The sympathy for her was overwhelming. And actually, I was really surprised and grateful how encouraging and supportive 99.9% of the readers were.
me: Will you write more Red?
22blue: I'm going to do an outtake for chartwilightmom's blog, Dirty Cheeky Monkeys, of the reconciliation lemon between ExB. Other than that, I don't have any plans to do any more.
me: OoOooh. What are you/would you like to do next?
22blue: lol. I have to finish Hints of Me and Dragonflies - both fluffy fics, although I've been told Hints is a little angsty. But when they're finished, I'm going to start on a fic which is sort of a love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jasper. I'm submitting the prologue for the Fandom 4 Tsunami compilation.
me: Wanna give a teaser as to the plot of your triangle story?
22blue: Haha. I would if I was able to, but I can't since it's on my home computer. Would you be willing to take the same teaser I'm going to submit to the F4T site?
me: Absolutely or you can just tell the peeps what you want them to know
22blue: Like a mini summary?
me: Whatever makes you happy babe, you're the boss. I'm just the nosy prat.
22blue: Bella is a 30 year old high school English teacher. She lives with Jasper, age 42, who is a professor in the archaeology department of a university. They've lived together for six years. Edward, mid-late twenties, has decided to go back to school to obtain his masters in archaeological studies. It's through the connection of Jasper that Edward and Bella meet.
That's all I'll say for now, but off the record, Bella will not be whoring around with both of them. But you know I'm still going to get a lot of flack from the Edward lovers.
me: LOL Got it, no whoring. This sounds like it will be an emo angsty bit?
22blue: That's the plan; emo/angsty but not too heavily. I take that back. Her interactions with Edward will be more mysterious(?) and seductive? idk.. that's the plan. lol
me: And what say you in regards to the "Edward can do no wrong" section of the fic world? There seems to be two camps, those who love the effed up Ed and those who dislike it when he gets a free pass or isn't the Canon Edward.
22blue: My favorite Edward is brokenward. Love him. I don't know why, but I'm so drawn to that type of character. The fics Burn and Shine and With Teeth are perfect examples. But, he's a dick in both of them. I think if his redemption is handled realistically and believable enough, I'm good with it. But in cases where he's into certain things, treating women horrifically, Bella included, then he shouldn't get the girl. That's a very cut and dry statement, I know, but I don't understand why Bella always gets such a bad rap when Edward has been a complete ass to her. (I'm reserving the right to edit this and add to later, lol)
I also think that if a lot of the Edward characters out there had been changed to any other name in the saga, there's no way he'd be forgiven as easily as he is.
me: I agree, although I'm a Team Jacob girl myself. Not a huge fan of Sparkly McLeftABitch
22blue: lol
Are you Team Jacob? OMG. We can't be friends.
me: What did you think of New Moon and the whole triangle/forgiveness in an instant shenanigans?
LOL Totally Team Jacob, sorry.
22blue: How much time do you have?
me: I love me some Brokenward, Darkward, Domward Love them. Fic has made me an Edward fan I think!
22blue: I hated NM on first read, but it's become my favorite movie. idk why. I was angry with Bella's character in Eclipse, but that might be because I'm reading it from an adult's perspective. She's a teen and wanted to be strong and be able to have both her vampire boyfriend and wolf best friend. But Edward needed to kick Jake's ass in Eclipse and again in BD.
me: Hehe. No love for the Jake huh? And what about Bella?
22blue: I think I have more to say about the Edward Syndrome. lol
me: I would love to hear your theories.
22blue: No, no love for Jake. sorry!!!
Bella, I'm indifferent. I'd like to do a little rephrasing of the Edward thing now that I don't have a bunch of teenagers distracting me. haha. This is purely my own opinion, and I don't claim to know what is going on through the fandom's mind as a whole. You asked about the "two camps" of the way we think of Edward. First, there's the attraction to an Edward who isn't perfect by any means. For me, it's the thing about the all human version of the Bad Boy. He has the edge and an element of danger that is attractive. I don't know why; maybe it's just the fantasy of a character who doesn't live by the rules, but still has insecurities.
Maybe it's the need to fix? I really don't know. But then there is the Edward who treats Bella like a doormat with no redeemable qualities. Granted, redemption is subjective and there is a very fine line to a believable forgiveness on Bella's (or whoever) part. For me, if the reason why he's the way he is doesn't constitute the lashing out behavior or what have you, I'm out. But again, I think that's subjective. B) Edward given a free pass - that goes with the above. I think a lot of people suffer from the Edward Syndrome - he can do no wrong and Bella or whomever he's paired with is a fool for not immediately forgiving him for his actions no matter how vile they may or may not be. I think the fantasy of Edward has been built up to where everything will be just fine regardless of the situation because his penis holds special powers.
An argument I've heard is that people should not take things so seriously b/c it's only fiction. Okay, that may be true to a certain extent, but if we're going to delve into issues that are... let's say demeaning to women (I don't want to point fingers here). I think we need to be responsible with how we handle the couple in the end giving them a realistic ending. Okay, off my soapbox.
me: I'm always torn between loving Bad Boy Edward and wanting a tough Bella. I know there are a lot of people in our camp, where we love a Dark Bella or Edward. The broken aspect is a big draw for many. Why do you think that is?
22blue: I don't know what the draw is! Conflict? I mean like a conflict that is more complex than a bad breakup? IDK LOL!
me: I feel the same way. Anything involving rape, incest, pedo, anything like that just makes me rage
22blue: yeah, me too, but it's not even the author. It's the people reviewing that are like "omg that's so hot!" That's the issue. Why is that hot? If it were any other character, even Jake, he'd be strung up by his balls. And why can't there be more Darkella's?
me: I hate Jake hate.
22blue: You hate haters of Jake? lol
me: I do... it always makes me sad when people make him into a rapist or a cheater or an abuser. He wasn't like that in the books. James was the abusive one, not Jake.
22blue: True. Jake can't catch a break in fanfic.
me: Why do you think people like to villainy my boy?
22blue: lol. Because he was the one who almost came between Bella and Magic Peen.
me: HA! I just snorted at my desk as someone walked by. I look like a crazy person. Have you read Love is the End?
22blue: No. Is that the one by Phoebe's Promise?
me: Yeah, it's a cheating Bella and Edward.
22blue: It's on my alert.
me: The way she does it though is masterful. You really feel for both of them. For me that kind of story, like Red, it's not about the who's. It's the why's of the story that mean the most.
22blue: You said that perfectly. It's the why's and not so much the who's. I wish more people could see that.
me: So what's your theory on why Edward can cheat but Bella can't?
22blue: I think it falls into the category of Edward's reasons are always forgive-able. We dont' want to see Edward as being wrong - it's unacceptable because that would make him undesirable. Bella isn't desirable to us; she's merely his soulmate.
me: Well said. What was your first Twilight encounter?
22blue: My coworker got me hooked like a week before the movie came out. We've been best friends ever since.
I love how are fandom brings people together! <3
I had a fantastic time speaking with and getting to know our girl 22blue. She’s adorable and intelligent. Extremely bright and fun to talk to.
Here’s how you get more of 22blue.
Fanfiction: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2000476/22blue
Twitter: @22blue
Tell her I sent you :)
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