yes twilight

issy, 22, aspiring vampire biologist

[maya-hawke]

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (2010) — Robert Pattinson’s audio commentary with Kristen Stewart

[chiaralbart]

Subtle Twilight fanart today,

these are some of the most significant flowers in the Twilight universe, from the iconic New Moon tulip to meadow flowers from the various movies/books🪻✨

I couldn't fit or even find exactly *all* the flowers mentioned/seen in Twilight so this is my personal selection🖤

[cullen-collective]

Happy Sweet Sixteen to Renesmee Carlie Cullen, the product of teenage hormones and 104 years of stored vampire jizz.

[the-golden-onion]

bella did 9/11

[howly]

thinking about the easy boyish stance of edward cullen, sitting next to a heavily bandaged bella in her hospital room, his elbows propped on her bed, chin in his hands, while they argue about her state of mortality and she asks him "where does that leave us", and he semi-lightheartedly replies "i believe it's called an impasse" as he internally falls apart and knows his days with her are numbered

[humans4vampires]

i feel like bella’s adrenaline rush phase in new moon has a more scientific explanation than what smeyer gives us. it’s less about the whole “i’m losing my mind and wanna hear edward” and more about being biologically human. like soldiers that come home from war, after being exposed to experiences where your adrenaline is constantly at a high, going back to a regular life makes you really depressed. your body is used to the high of danger. bella and edward’s entirely relationship was built on danger. bella wasn’t crazy, thanks smeyer for taking another dig at a female character

[humans4vampires]

Okay, so let me continue this thought, because I’ve been getting some questions around this theory/thought of mine. 

I’m not saying it’s just the danger of being hunted by James that was adrenaline pumping for Bella. From what we know of the basic “biology” of vampires, we know that they are basically killing machines in a very attractive and alluring visage. Midnight Sun really fills in the blanks here, but he also explained this to Bella many times that humans naturally are drawn to them because of the attractive facade, but they also are very apprehensive of them instinctually. I think there is even mention that the humans’ instincts are telling them the truth when their minds are rationalizing the fear; the innate fear that they have as prey in the presence of a predator. 

Now, I know; you’re going to come at me with the logic that Edward also often says that Bella just doesn’t seem to have this instinct that everyone else has, but I have to counter this by saying… uh, no. That’s just false. She did initially have that fear. Day one in Biology, helllooooo?!? She even sensed something was up with them in the cafeteria and she wasn’t even that close to them. Bella obviously rationalized her fear, she quelled it with her love for Edward. And that’s totally okay. That’s scientifically sound; you can certainly overcome natural instincts! People overcome fears if they’re motivated enough. And excuse me, a godlike, perfect, immortal vampire boyfriend would be incentive enough for me. [This is also a reminder to any potential vampire suitors that yes, hi, I’d be game]

But “getting over” that fear doesn’t mean that your body doesn’t chemically still react to stimuli that cause you to be fearful in the first place. That rush of butterflies you feel when you’re nervous? That jolt of energy you get before you do something gnarly? Yeah, that’s adrenaline. And in some extreme cases, it’s enough to kick in your fight or flight response. And I’d wager that constantly hanging out with something as inherently dangerous as Edward nearly 24/7 would be pumping Bella’s body full of adrenaline. That might even be a great reason that girl can never get a good night’s rest! Get out of her room, Edward. Let a girl relax!!!

That’s why danger is so intoxicating to people; why vampires are sexy. [that needed to be bold, because they are]

Now, I won’t go into the whole “soldiers coming home from war” bit here, but if you followed along to this point, you should understand. When Edward left Bella in New Moon, I could not even imagine the low she would be feeling after riding a high of adrenaline for months. Not only did she lose the love of her life (and being young and thinking it’s the end of the world), but she also was severely lacking the drug her body was producing off of his presence. 

When Edward said that she was like a drug to him, he had it all wrong.

In this essay I will…

[ignorancelive]

How did we get here?

inspired by paramore's tour visuals

[baddingtonbitch]

[bellasdumptruckass]

blurry ass photo but look at the posture. that’s the real edward cullen he’s channeling here

[jessicanjpa]

@exceptionally-unobservant as if you could leave this in the tags

[stepheniemeyer]

hi if vampires don’t have blood how did edwards dick get hard to impregnate bella

I am bad at science and fail to understand basic anatomy! Hope this helps!

Stephenie

[phil-dwyer-stan-account]

@the-golden-onion this took me out

[venus-lesbian]

this picture from the twilight vanity fair shoot literally means everything to me

[openbookbells]

Edward: Bella Swan is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. She’s like my worst nightmare. Her existence was created to oppress me, specifically.

Alice: you just doodled “Mr. Edward Swan” all over the back of your biology notebook?

Edward: irrelevant

[panlight]

In the nm snippet I also notice she says she's throwing a "charlie-like fit" which seems really cold and unfair for someone whose Main Trait is supposed to be being so kind/good/etc

And I can't think of a time Charlie ever "threw a fit?" Charlie's characterization is reserved and quiet and steady and 'boring.' In the first book she's surprised when he comes to a kind of rousing defense of the Cullens; calling this fit 'Charlie-esque' seems really off to me because I can't picture him having a fit like this and stomping his foot and crying about something being not fair. He strikes me more as the 'suffer in silence' time Bella claims herself to be.

But yeah this except has always bugged me in general because "am I the only one who has to get old?!" It's not even that she's 18 and freaking out about aging, it's the "am I the only one?" Girl, no?? You and 99.999999% of the rest of the population of the world. YOU just happen to know a handful of immortals! MOST people 'have to get old!'

It's a similar annoyance to me as that otherwise quite beautiful quote from New Moon:

Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me.

She had me up until the "even for me." It's actually a really evocative passage and I think it's some of SM's best writing. But the "even for me" just, ugh. I know Bella's a teenager and they can be self-centered and oblivious, but Bella's specific characterization is that's she's (allegedly) NOT that, that she's an 'old soul' and self-sacrificing and Good and all that, so these moments of "Am I the only one who has to get old?!" when literally everyone except like 15 people Bella happens to know have to get old (and a lot of them wish they COULD get old?!), or "even for me" like no one else is suffering and even if they are, she is suffering more than anyone else has ever suffered, just rub me the wrong way.

[panlight]

A few minor tweaks that would have made Twilight a more cohesive story:

Don't kill Victoria in Eclipse; her gift is evasion, if anyone could escape, it's her! Actually, don't kill Laurent either. He dies off screen, it wouldn't really change anything. He can get his original happy ending with Irina.

Make the "Riley" Mike Newton, or Eric Yorkie, or Tyler Crowley. Someone Bella knew, someone local. In the book we don't meet Riley until his death scene so why should we care about him? The horror and tragedy of one of Bella's schoolmates being used and corrupted by Victoria would be much more narratively satisfying, and would give the human kids like, a purpose in the story other than existing to love or be jealous of Bella.

Tempted to do something similar with Bree, but it might be overkill to have two kids from Forks end up in the Seattle newborn army. So EITHER make 'the Riley' someone Bella knew, or 'the Bree' but maybe not both.

If we must stick with the basic Breaking Dawn outline, then Victoria living to the end of the story keeps the flow of the original antagonist. If the "Riley" survives he can be the one to report Renesmee's existence to the Volturi (as he did in Forever Dawn), if not, Victoria can get someone else to do it.

Name drop more of the Breaking Dawn visiting vampires earlier in the series. The only ones we had really heard about before were Peter & Charlotte and the Denali 'cousins.' I don't know about anyone else, but my impression from the first three books were that these were like, the only people willing to put up with the weirdo Cullens. Them suddenly having loads of friends willing to risk their lives for them felt like it came out of nowhere. It was fun to meet Peter & Charlotte and the Denali because we had heard of them before; everyone else felt like they came out of nowhere. Maybe when Bella is getting a tour of the house there can be gifts from other vampires ("is that . . . is that an Ancient Egyptian canopic jar?" "Oh, yes, a gift from Carlisle's friend Amun), or name them specifically in Eclipse when they are trying to find people to help them after the Denali refuse.

Have a few more vamps (other than Garrett) go vegetarian in the end. There's this whole big speech about about how special this diet makes them and then like . . . no follow up at all. Whatever you think of the premise of vegetarian vampires, it's just unsatisfying that it doesn't really go anywhere. The only convert is Garrett, who does it for Kate, not actually because he was inspired by the Cullens or whatever.

Okay this one isn't minor but: JACOB! FIGHT! THE IMPRINT! That seemed to be what his character was set up for. He's the one to champion falling in love the normal way. He's the one who resents choices being taken away from him. Him fighting an imprint and winning seems like a much more natural arc for him than becoming supernaturally obsessed with a half-vampire baby. The shifters and vampires reluctantly working together in Eclipse to protect Forks/La Push was much more interesting than them being forced to because of Jacob's imprint.

[the-cullens-dont-come-here]

[whats-up-arizona]

rosalie is an interesting character because there’s this internal contradiction to her. she’s defined by her beauty and her vanity, it’s the #1 thing edward associates with her, and yet she’s also defined by her desire to be human, to be mortal. she doesn’t want bella to become a vampire because, if given the choice, she wouldn’t have chosen it for herself. her only regret about her relationship with emmett is that she’s never going to meet their grandchildren. she’s the hottest, meanest girl in the world, and she would sacrifice almost anything for a chance to grow old and die. it’s literally her deepest regret. there’s so much to think about there. anyway I do not believe it was on purpose

[waldensblog]

Intent vs Perspective: Twilight as tragedy, not romance.

Alright guys, I know SMeyer ended Bella with Edward, and that it was always her original intent, it’s supposed to be a romance, but the text suggests otherwise. It suggests a tragedy - not a romance. 

I know, I know, this is what I look like rn:

But bear with me.

When SMeyer writes the first Twilight, she had no intention of writing a whole series, just that and Forever Dawn, so she has a plan. But as it went on, the plan didn’t really make sense anymore, though she insisted on using the original plan anyway, very HIMYM style.

So, in Twilight, she’s trying to basically make it like Pride and Prejudice (we could have a whole convo about if the literary comparisons are warranted, if that’s arrogant on her part, etc. but not the point here - the point is her intent). Edward = Darcy, and Bella = Elizabeth. They war with their natures and end up together. I’m not gonna comment on if she succeeded in this venture, just that it was the literary theme she was going for. 

Now, in New Moon, we’re pretty hit over the head that it’s supposed to be Romeo and Juliet. Obviously, Edward is supposed to be Romeo, and Bella is supposed to be Juliet. Bella makes the comparison herself, and thinks of Jacob as Paris. It’s an interesting note, because while I think Smeyer was going for “true love” and all, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy - both characters die, it’s hardly a good love story/romance. Juliet actually would have better off with Paris. The play is a tragedy that explores how young lovers can often behave irrationally and it leads to their untimely death. In the case of Bella, that’s certainly true when the Volturi basically make it an obligation for her to become a vampire. So far, I’m not getting “romance” vibes, but “tragedy” vibes. 

In Eclipse, apparently, the theme this time is Wuthering Heights (again, we’re really hit over the head with that one). This has to be the most confusing of them all if we’re to expect a Bella/Edward ending. It becomes clear that Edward is supposed to be Heathcliff - the guy that Cathy doesn’t even ultimately end up with, with Jacob then playing the role of Edgar, the one Cathy marries. Throughout Eclipse, Edward/Heathcliff spends the first half behaving terribly, controlling Bella/Cathy’s movements, and banning her from seeing her best friend, Jacob/Edgar. Despite her anger, pointing out how controlling/psycho he is being, she winds up forgiving him, and then a 180 happens, with Jacob now being the jerk. Bella ends up realizing she’s in love with both of them, but chooses Edward - even if he’s Heathcliff, who is a) terrible and not well liked by any Wuthering Heights fans really - not even Bella - and b) not how it goes in Wuthering Heights. It also doesn’t even end with Bella happily announcing her engagement - it ends with Jacob running off into the woods to be alone with his broken heart at losing the battle of keeping her human.

So Twilight is basically “Edward makes his case”, New Moon is “Jacob makes his case” and Eclipse is “who will Bella choose?”, and with the Wuthering Heights/Eclipse theme that she beat us over the head with, it really really reads like it will be Jacob - her personal sun, the one who didn’t leave, the one who put her back together when she was broken, the one she’s known forever, her best friend, who is trying to save her from enthrallment/death, it reads like it’s gonna be a happy ending with Jacob… and then… HIMYMed by the original plan. 

Now… why do I keep going on about enthrallment? Well, it’s not her intent, but you can read that into the text, and if so, you add Bram Stoker’s Dracula into the mix. Edward/Dracula puts Bella/Mina/Lucy under thrall in Twilight, and his absence in New Moon makes her behave like Lucy/Mina when Van Helsing and co. try to cure the thrall. In this case, Jacob would be Jonathan Harker/Van Helsing, trying throughout New Moon to cure the thrall, and getting more and more desperate in Eclipse to do so. He behaves like an ass of course - and maybe he’s seen one too many fairytales where the Knight/Prince breaks the spell by kissing the Princess (a problematic trope itself). So Jacob is Harker, trying to break Mina’s thrall. Ultimately, he fails, because it’s not written as a romance - it’s written as a tragedy. 

[the-most-pathetic-edge-marquis]

i will NEVER get over the fact that smeyer set up the warm/cold dichotomy with jacob and edward and then PICKED THE COLD!!! that’s not how that symbolism works!!!!!!!