Jazz Girl wrote:I know this is in no way related to Edward, but this thought really caught my attention. I never read it that way at all. And, between how we know the imprints between Quil & Claire, Embry and...damn, I can't remember her name off the top of my head and I don't have my books, but the girl in his high school class,
It was Jared and Kim. Embry hasn't imprinted ... yet!
Jazz Girl wrote:and especially after reading in the OIG discussion of Sam & Emily, I can't say I agree. There is nothing in any of the descriptions of the other imprints that suggests that they were pulled to their imprintees. It only indicates that, once they had gone through phasing the first time, then they saw that person and the imprinting was instantaneous and permanant. Yes, Jacob uses the excuse of some sort of physical draw to Ness to explain the need to remain in her life and her need to have him around, but I can't say that I ever truly believed that. It just isn't supported by the other information we have. So, I always read it as exactly as you described; seeking her out with the intent to kill her.
Yes, but Jake's is the only case we get to experience from the inside. We do get a little of it with Sam in the guide, when he immediately feels that he wants to leave Leah and go to Emily, but there's no suggestion of what he might have been experiencing prior to this. The guide also says that Emily had come down for a weekend visit at this stage, and although he had met her hundreds of times prior to beginning to phase, there's no indication he's had the opportunity to be anywhere near her since he began to phase. And since the guide is just giving us an overview of what happened, I don't think it's wise to take it as an indication of exactly what happens in imprinting. It's just not detailed enough for that.
However, in BD there are plenty of lines to indicate that Jake is experiencing the desire to be with Renesmee even while Bella is pregnant. It even explains his feelings for Bella (and her feelings for him) at this stage.
The first suggestion of this we get is on page 248 where Jake comments that in spite of the fact that Bella's happily married, she's still looking delighted to see him. That on its own isn't a compelling argument, but when taken with other statements, like the one on page 271/272 where Jake comments that the hold Bella has on him is growing harder to break, as if it was related to her expanding belly. In fact, as soon as I read that line in the book, I said to myself, "He's going to imprint on the baby." Especially as he continues to talk about a "pull" towards her on page 272, not to mention all the comments Bella then makes about him being a part of her life.
Also on page 326, when he thinks Bella is dead, he again mentions that the "pull" is no longer there. But then he realises the pull has "moved" downstairs. He thinks it's out the door, but when he gets downstairs he can't leave the house, because his feet are as heavy as lead. Instead, he feels the "pull" leading him to the baby, and of course, the only thing he feels for her at this stage is hatred, so he can't ascribe the emotion to anything else, but there's no doubt in my mind that SM intends this all to be related to the imprint.
Jake says the same thing later, when he explains that's why Bella doesn't need him so much anymore (pg 416). He says that "we had to be together, even then." referring to his need to be with Bella while Renesmee was inside her. Bella then acknowledges it, being glad that this now explains the "madness", as in, the madness of her inability to let go of Jake, which she had noticed was gone when she recovered after her transformation (mentioned on pages 398 and 400). So I'm sure that's exactly what SM intended when she wrote all these things in. The only question I have for SM on all of this is was this pull only there once Renesmee had been conceived, or was it possible some of it existed prior to that, and explained why Bella and Jake were attracted to each other at all. But that's probably getting a bit deep!