𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐁:
MysticPsyche's Opinion
𝐢. Jasper Hale's human past in fanfiction

Okay, so we're starting STRONG. The pretty yet tortured blonde boy with his mysterious and intense persona that lures you in. He was almost perfectly flawed until he wasn't; his background as a Confederate soldier-YIKES.

Does anyone need surface information about what exactly this whole confederacy issue is? I, for one, am not an American citizen, nor do I live in the U.S.A. I didn't study this in my history class, so I did my research when I learned about it. Well, here you go. It all started with the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. According to an article from Britannica, it was a four-year war between the United States and 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.

It's an economic difference between the North-Union and the South-Confederacy. The North is already well-established in manufacturing, agriculture, and industry on its small-scale farms. The South depended on the labor of enslaved African-Аmericans for their large-scale farms-aka plantations that grew certain crops, like cotton and tobacco. The South believed that slavery was the backbone of America and that their economy depended on slavery.

If you want to know more, please search it on Google; this is just the surface information. But the Civil War is basically about the Southern states' rights to the slavery of African Americans.

And Jasper Hale is a very much proud confederate soldier-CANONICALLY.

OUCH.

Okay, okay. How dare I make such a claim that he is proud? Okay, he literally said it in the books and the movies.

"My military career was short-lived but very promising. People always . . . liked me, listened to what I had to say. My father said it was charisma. Of course, now I know it was probably something more. But, whatever the reason, I was promoted quickly through the ranks, over older, more experienced men. The Confederate Army was new and scrambling to organize itself, so that provided opportunities, as well. By the first battle of Galveston - well, it was more of a skirmish, really - I was the youngest major in Texas, not even acknowledging my real age."

I'll let you take that in, but let's point out the obvious.

Jasper was born in the South. He fakes his age to join the Confederate Army. Became the youngest Major in Texas. He is a white man.

Let's point this out again. Every white person was racist during that time. I KNOW. I KNOW. A huge claim again, but be fucking for real. During that time, slavery was the norm; I hate to say it, but those who might not wholly believe in it might still have internal racism or negative stereotypes, or they just learned and unlearned things and joined the right side of history. OR, they are not racist at all and they are really good people.

Everyone has their own belief system. It reflects their morals. During the war, both sides thought what they were fighting for was right. That's why they are fighting for it.

Okay, I'm straying away from the topic.

How Jasper's human past is written in fanfiction. I have read so many fucking Jasper Hale fics that brushed over the fact he is a Confederate soldier.

Don't give me the:

It was the circumstance of his situation. A lot of people were starving back then and needed money to survive (I actually saw a comment like this)

BABY GIRL, NO. JUST NO.

There are other ways to make a living, especially for a white man; let me leave it right there. He could be a farm boy working in the stable with the horses. Work in labor, working alongside people of color (that's how I write him)

A lot of people are forced to join the Confederacy. They didn't even know what they were fighting for at the time. (again, another comment I saw) and what Lucy has pointed out while reading this, a lot of young people back then were naive and stupid to believe that he was right or wanted to fight in a war.

I was not alive back then, so I have no supporting arguments for this. If that is the situation, then they would have learned over time what they were doing and left, but Jasper did not, so that reflects what he believes in-He lives in Texas, so what he saw, what was taught to him was already ingrained in his mind, being surrounded by conservative southerners for that he believes what he is fighting for is the right side. I cannot blame him for the environment being a big influence in his life, and I think back then, it was an achievement for a boy to go to war.

Then, the worst thing, canonically, is that vampires are frozen at the mental and physical age at which they were transformed. So, he died as a Confederate soldier and became a vampire with that mentality. Let that sink in. I HATE IT SO MUCH.

So, the argument that he changed his beliefs as the times progressed wouldn't be valid because if we were speaking canonically, his mental state would be frozen at the age he was turned.

There was no reason for Smeyer to do that, but when I learned why she did that, LOL. She also didn't want to cast the actor who played Laurent in the movies. I don't hate Jasper; I hate that Smeyer gave him that background because Smeyer also has her own beliefs; she barely had any POC characters in the books. Smeyer's racism is very much evident.

Why do you love Jasper, then, if he's such a racist?

Okay, first of all, his mysterious aura lured me when reading the first book. I fell in love with characters who barely had any scenes in the book because his past was open to interpretation. We barely even know what his story was. All we know is that he's in pain. Boom, eclipse happened, and Jasper tells his past. I was destroyed and contemplated it a lot. Then he got played by Jackson Rathbone in the movies and fell in love with the actor. THEN, I wrote a fanfiction that changes his past and beliefs because Jasper can be an interesting character without being a Confederate soldier; his time in the Southern Vampire Wars was interesting enough.

I will stoop low with this question and ask: then why do you love Regulus Black when he joined a blood supremacist group? LOL. It was stated in canon that he is a pureblood supremacist, and he went against Voldemort because Voldy hurt Kreacher, not because he changed his beliefs about muggles; think deeply about that, but then again, the Marauders fandom love him and excuse it as a "he's just a kid," okay, whatever you say...Then proceeds to follow FANON. Let's go back to Jasper. (I love Regulus, okay?!?! I love complex characters. I'm just stating a fact, but when I'm going to write my fan fiction of him, I'm going to change that so it can be OOC, but it's fanfiction, so what?!?!)

WHAT ABOUT JASPER'S REDEMPTION ARC???

His human past is not redemption arc-worthy, LOL. But his vampire past, yes, is redeemable. (I'm going to discuss his time in the Southern Vampire Wars in a separate opinion)

You may ask. In some ways, canonically speaking, he did get his redemption arc with Alice. In a way, he has to face the consequences of his actions because of his gift. He has to feel everyone's emotions, especially their pain and bloodlust. It's somehow a constant reminder of what he did-in some ways, and Jasper continues to live with that for the rest of his immortal life. That's called karma, actually. You can see in the books that he is trying to improve, but let's differentiate this.

He regretted his days in the Southern Vampire Wars; he finds it shameful and unforgivable because he killed hundreds of innocent lives for Maria's army, but it is in no way stated if I recall that he regretted what he did in his human life.

So, let's roll back to Jasper Hale fanfiction, which just CASUALLY mentions his time in the Confederacy, and that's it. No changes. First, why did you even write fanfiction about Jasper Hale if you did not change specific details about his past?? That's questionable. It's exposing yourself that you stan a racist character. It's a basic Google search to educate yourself on what happened.

I will give some specific things that I can recall from reading some Jasper fanfiction:

1. He regretted his time in the confederacy. OKAY, AND THEN WHAT?? What did he do with his regret? Loomed over it but did nothing with it? Loser action.

2. The OC is excusing and consoling Jasper's past, as mentioned above, according to what I stated using the italic fonts. Those are the basic excuses for some of the Jasper fanfiction that I read. STOP MAKING EXCUSES.

3. Never even broadened it, like it was a casual conversation between Jasper and the OC. Like, make your OC question him? Like, hello? Why the fuck did you join a racist group?

4. He was a proud Confederate soldier, like really proud. I think the writer has no idea what happened during the Civil War, but come on, guys, it's basic decency to research the character's background. That's what we writers do while we do research: read basic facts and determine the truth of the matter.

You're writing fanfiction; if you clearly read something about which your morals and beliefs disagree, you change it. It's as simple as that. BUT USE AN EXCUSE?? Hell no. There's nothing excusable about that. If you're a racist, just say it, dude. I don't condone Jasper's past; that's why I changed it; it's called FANFICTION.

So, yeah, that is my opinion on Jasper's human past when it comes to fanfiction. I also published a chapter with advice on how you can write his character in the FANON way in the section "Twilight fanfiction aid," Which is a completely different character from what Smeyer wrote.

To end this, it is not Jasper's fault that Smeyer did him dirty, and as fanfiction writers, we have an opportunity to change that, so please do.