Tete a Tete: Readers should sink their teeth into ‘Twilight’ series for its reality and romance

Twilight is a series based on a female character who is barely developed as a character beyond her utter dependence on other characters, who all seem to flock to her for no reason. That kind of character is just a result of the author projecting what she wishes her life had been like and using it, without actually creating a character worth using. Using some kind of idealized version of yourself isn't always a problem, but her lack of effort to make Bella anything more than a depressed girl in love with Edward just shows how poor a writer she is.

Then the non-human characters are just as bad, but since it's supposed to be mainly about vampires, we'll stick with them as a whole.

Vampires are commonly thought to have traits including: blood-drinkers (human), immortal/long-living, deterred by garlic, killed by sunlight, killed by a stake through the heart, no reflections and other assorted abilities are often included based on the creator's preference. The Twilight vampires pretty much get all the good with NONE of the bad. Invincible, super strong, immortal. Ok. "Drawbacks" are... What? They sparkle, but don't die, in sunlight, which is just something to make the little girls giggle. Garlic and mirrors aren't such a big deal anyway. But drinking blood MIGHT be the biggest thing wrong with the series. They are supposed to drink human blood, but can (and do) make the decision to drink animal blood.

What's wrong with that? There's no real reason they'd need to hide from humans, other than that they're different. Not only that, but, in the past, there would have been nothing that would have been able to stop these vampires, had they chosen to fight. When Twilight takes place, I'm sure Edward and Co. would lose against a tank, but what about back before guns and such? Why didn't some pissed-off vampire just run around and take care of the humans? Because before the advent of guns, these vampires are portrayed as beings that cannot be killed by humans.

So why do they hide? No reason, other than a nice plot hole. And if they DO hide, why go to a high school? To seem normal? Ok, then why does Edward draw attention to himself constantly be being so brooding all the time. Wouldn't it be so much easier to get him a nice desk job at some company instead? It's not like he'd be the first person to look young for his age. Oh, but then the author might have had to do some actual thinking to make Bella meet him. Also, she would lose the high school romance aspect of the story, which is what hooks those 12-year-olds so effectively.

And on your column: I'd expect this from a Twilight reader. Did you really just say that Twilight is better than Harry Potter because it's shorter? I'd much rather read more when the story and writing are better, than less, just for the fact that I can finish it faster.

The Romeo and Juliet parallel is pretty much there, fine. Granted, it's so forced on the readership that you can't ignore it. But you failed to successfully make that point by ending the paragraph with "Twilight is so much better than Happy Potter." I don't think you needed to blatantly state your point like that so far in. Someone already pointed out several types of love in Happy Potter, so that's taken care of.

And if being able to put yourselves in the characters' place is a huge selling point of Twilight, then I fear for its fans. Bella is so needy that she allows herself to be in an emotionally-abusive relationship with Edward. And that's about the extent of her character development. Anyone who identifies with anyone of the characters is merely projecting themselves into these hollow shells of characters. Just one of the many instances that Harry Potter allows you to put yourself in someone's shoes can be seen when the characters have a school dance, and deal with the awkward age of 14 and so forth. Everyone can see themselves growing up as they read Harry Potter, not some pseudo-perfect version of what they wish they were in Twilight.

And the "Twilight is more real" argument... That's not even worth it.

So I hope you and the rest of the Twilight fans stop being so obsessive with this poorly-conceived, poorly-developed and poorly written series and go pick up some real literature. Meyer isn't a good writer, she's just good at knowing the few things that'll make a book sell, then filling in the (huge) gaps with whatever she feels like throwing in there. Sorry, Twilight fans, but you've been duped.

And i'm pretty sure Avada Kedavra would kill all three of twilights main characters faster than bella can scream "Edward NO!!!!!!!"