Hu.hu.hu.

Oh, great. After the long wait and speculation, my favorite cinema in UAE announced that Twilight would be shown on 4th of December. It would be released in the US this friday and in the Philippines on the 26th. I.am.jealous. Meaning I need more patienceeeee (!) in the coming days. I promise myself not to peek on any reviews and other form of spoilers until I see this for myself. Huhuhu. What a test of EQ. Sige na nga, okay lang. At least, it’s still a better playdate. Sourgraping. Haha.

If you’re following my posts, you probably have an idea how I transformed from a non-fictional reader to a teenage series addict. I’ve managed to have kept a reasonable period to have this blog free from Twilight talk. But now, I really, really want to talk about it again. What’s the trigger?

It has been reported that President Obama is reading Twilight with his daughter.

President-Elect Barack Obama truly has a full plate. Revitilize a sinking economy. Energize a nation. Rehabilitate America’s fragile standing in the world. Oh, and get through four “Twilight” books with his youngest daughter.

Yes, according to the latest issue of US Weekly, Stephenie Meyer has a couple fans who will be moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a couple months. The magazine reports that the President-Elect and his ten-year-old daughter Malia often bond over addictive book series, “They read all the Harry Potter books together and have moved on to the Twilight series.”

If that’s true, I like him for reading the book. And again, only if that’s true, I don’t like him for allowing his youngest daughter to read Twilight. Too young to read it.

What’s really in it?

I’ve read Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse thrice (Breaking Dawn is my least fave), but I’ve never really discussed my take in it. (But, don’t ask me if it’s better than Harry Potter series. Never flipped any of its pages YET. I’ll try to catch up.) Admittedly (and obviously), I did like Twilight Saga. I fell in love with the first book. The main factor, maybe, is because it served as a junk food to my brain.  Just in time when I wanted to take a break from all the serious reading that I was doing.

A love story between a 17-year old gal (Bella) and dazzling vampire (Edward), set in Forks, Washington. The rest are obvious and weird, predictable and unimaginable alike. In less than two weeks, I finished the four books in between the not so obvious crazy schedule, deprived myself of sleep and proper eating schedule.

Book 1 (Twilight): Almost finished it in one sitting the first time I read it. I’ve been curious about the vampire world. I started to like Edward. I considered visiting Romania. I wanted to meet a vegetarian vampire. Silly but seriously once thought about. Well-written, right phasing.

Book 2 (New Moon): I wanted to slap Bella many times. If I’m her friend or mother, I could have told her, “Nababaliw ka na ba?” (Are you crazy?) Towards the end, I started to like Jacob. Balimbing, no? Heehee. Honestly, Book 2 was boring. Then, I realized it needs to tone that way as an installment to establish the Bella-Jacob angle. I just think that it was unnecessary to emphasize on Bella’s numerous kahibangan (foolishness) when Edward left.

Book 3 (Eclipse): This is my uber fave in the series. I’m feeling Bella here in the sense that I was torn between Edward (vampire) and Jacob (the Omega of the werewolves). It’s like the lyrics in a song, “Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you or are you going back to the one you love?” I’m so kilig with the Tent Scene. I’ve read and imagined that for the nth time. In the end, I’ve finally concluded that I’m with Team Edward. Hahaha.

(Before flipping through the fourth book, I opted to read Midnight Sun partial draft.  This is Book 1 as told in Edward’s point of view.  Ack! I’m surprised he’s that so obssessed with Bella!)

Book 4 (Breaking Dawn): It did break my heart for two major reasons (a) This meant the end of the saga; though I like the Bella-Edward ending (b) That Jacob imprinted on Bella’s daughter. That was so unfair. To Meyer’s fans, no offense meant, but I think she was definitely not in a good mood when she drafted this. She pushed it too hard to give each party a happy ending; really rushed. Minadali at hinog sa pilit. I prefer that Twilight Saga ended with Book 3 instead, wherein it opens many probabilities. But sadly, Meyer wanted to really END it in the least expected way.

After Breaking Dawn, I had a hard time getting over my Twilight addiction (I’m surprised that a number of referrers to this site come from searches for “how to get over Twilight addiction” and other Twilight related queries). How did I move on? I tried reading other books. Turned out that I can’t appreciate them yet. So, the recourse is to indulge till it doesn’t tickle anymore. After reading the books again, I finally was able to keep my heart and mind with The Chocolate Run. And of course, my email chats with Toni was a big help when I was at the peak of addiction. During my Twilight relapses, I reconnected with a good friend through Facebook and surprisingly she’s more addicted than I am. And both of us ordered Twilight shoes (see here).  Swoon.

My friend ordered Twilight bag from Dr. Catigbe, too

Surprisingly, even Sarah Jessica Parker was bitten by the Cullen virus that she had a product line for Twilight.  Tempting, ey?  I wonder how’s the scent.

During my relapses, I would sometimes blog or mention something about Twilight, or even when I do comment in other blogs. If I wasn’t able to control myself, I had probably blogged about Twilight everyday and renamed this blog to “Twilight Vampie” (goodbye, wits and nuts). Lol. For the non-Twilighters, the addiction seems unreasonable. For my Twilight sisters (and brothers?), they know the very reason why and how it feels. How to know if you’re obsessed with Twilight series?

(a) When you start relating anything (as in) anything about Twilight to everything and everyone.
(b) You say you’re thirsty when you’re actually hungry.
(c) When you buy food, you tell people you’re going hunting.
(d) When you go to Antipolo, with all the trees, mountain sides and when it rained and looked gloomy all day, you accidentally call it Forks.
(e) When you’re obsessively finalizing travel plans to Forks, Washington, with your impossibly irrevocable optimism that you’ll meet any of the Cullens and then be one of them.
(f) See other points here.

Should you read Twilight Saga? Go get the first book and you would surely feel if you want to read the rest of the books or not. But I don’t encourage people as young as Obama’s youngest child to read it. There are implicit sexual motivations, Bella’s being unreasonable in Book 2 is not a good example, etc.

If you want to appreciate the saga, you have to remember (and occasionally forget) that this is just a FICTION.

(Photo credits: Twilighters Anonymous, Twilight Coven)