if i look back, i am lost
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@yum-blood
you just know that after edward became a vampire and he was trying to grapple with the fact that he was a “monster” that he would go outside at night, see a mosquito or some shit, chuckle to himself and then say out loud “you know, you and i aren’t so different, pal” and then like fucking sob
no one:
literally not a single person:
Demetri:
Edward: Okay, I got some good news and some bad news, everybody!
Emmett: Did you eat Bella?
Edward: No! That’s the good news, the bad news is... she may have figured out we’re all vampires, and I invited her over for dinner.
Carlisle:
I love how at the end of BD part 2 Aro only looks back at Bella and Alice in longing and regret.
Like buddy, pal, friendo... you just saw Benny boy open the earth beneath your feet and decimate half your army and he doesnt even get a second glance??? The man can shoot fire from his fingertips! Create tornados! THE MAN IS THE AVATAR! Fuck Bella and Alice!
with every drop of bloodred pomodoro sauce, she was damning her primavera soul to an eternity beneath the bright semolina surface, banishèd to a hellish pit of desolate mushroom perdition
I kinda find it funny how, if Ed didn't break up with Bella and then chase after Victoria in NM, we might not have gotten the events of Eclipse. Girl was just vibing with her makeshift "guards," and he had to mess it all up by having her see how newborn armies work and inspire her. Do you think Vic would've still would've gone after Bella if not for NM's events (and how it'd go down)? Cause low key I think it's funnier if she wasn't a danger but Ed made her into one jfksaldjf.-Sw
I think she would have.
True, Victoria comes up with the newborn army scheme after Edward chases her down to Mexico, but she also doesn't use it right away. She tests the waters in Forks for a very long time before she decides to invade.
In other words I, sigh, agree with Edward on this: Victoria was coming back to murder Bella Swan in vengeance no matter what was happening.
Without the newborn army, however, things would have played out very differently.
A Bit on the Romantic Tragedy Penned by Edward Cullen
First, a note, Edward had always intended to leave Bella. From the moment he realized he was in love with her he told himself that he would one day leave her. It was just a matter of when.
In Twilight, he's torn. He knows he shouldn't be a part of her life, that bringing her into his world almost necessitates her becoming a vampire, but he also really doesn't want to let her go. He doesn't think he's strong enough to do it.
And as Bella keeps getting herself into danger he gives himself more and more excuses.
If he's not there, then Bella will get crushed by a van or raped in an alley or eaten by bears. Her number's up, and Edward is single handedly fighting fate to keep this angel alive.
Bella needs Edward, therefore he can't possibly go.
The birthday party put things back into perspective. Edward's family is the most dangerous threat to Bella there is, Edward himself really may lose control one day and devour her, and unless she turns (which Edward absolutely does not want) then she has no future with him.
The family has to leave now.
However, if there's no birthday party, then Edward doesn't have that catalyst and reminder. He likely decides to himself that he will leave Bella after graduation, his family will move towns, Bella will attend whichever university she attends, and he will have had a few wonderful years with Bella pretending he's a regular high school boy dating a regular high school girl.
When Bella then dies a natural human death sometime later, Edward will go to Volterra and kill himself (and force the Volturi's hand when Aro refuses to do it).
Of course, he'd probably break here too, but that's a different story.
I do think without Jasper's slip up and the birthday party, that Edward would have stuck around for New Moon.
The World Without Bella's Birthday Party
Bella throws the fit she didn't in canon.
She doesn't want this birthday party, she never asked for this birthday party, AND WHY DOES BELLA ALWAYS HAVE TO HUMOR ALICE?!
Bella has had a summer filled with Alice. In canon, this was a delight, in this world Bella realizes that maybe they spend most of their time doing what Alice wants to do rather than what Bella wants to do.
Alice is clearly throwing this party for Alice's sake, everyone knows it, and Edward tells her, "Please humor my sister and be a good sport."
Isn't this party supposed to be about Bella?
Alice is terribly upset and does not handle any of this well, Edward tells Bella to be reasonable and be the better person and give Alice this party, Rosalie thinks this is all petty bullshit but has mild respect for Bella on calling Alice out on this, and Carlisle is rubbing his temples somewhere trying to let the children deal with this themselves.
In the end, they compromise, Bella's birthday is Edward taking her out to dinner at an expensive restaurant in Seattle of Alice's choice, Bella wearing a fancy Chanel dress that Alice selected for her.
Bella's still embarrassed and miserable, but at least there aren't a billion pink candles.
As a result, there's no birthday party, no papercut, and no dumping.
The next several months instead are spent with Bella and Alice in a battle of wills and a real rough spot in their friendship. Bella tries to explain to Edward that Alice treats her like a doll, not a person.
Edward, of course, has no idea what she's talking about.
Bella fails to realize that Edward also treats her like a doll and not a person.
Laurent's Scouting Mission
As in canon, Laurent is probably sent by Victoria to scout. Victoria probably never left the area which means (remember this is book universe where Riley was in California) that she never turned Riley.
Without being all over the Forks area killing hikers, probably fewer wolves are turned. Yes, the Cullens are in the area, but they've been there three years, are very non-threatening, and in that time only Sam shifted.
We don't see the deluge of shifting until after the Cullens have left and Victoria starts actively attacking the area.
(Yes, this is worthy of a meta but that meta is not this meta)
Regardless, Laurent shows up, Sam's not sure if he's one of those friends of the Cullens or not, and Laurent walks in to see that all the Cullens are there.
Just like he expected.
Because Victoria has sent him to die.
Carlisle feels a headache coming on but is not shocked to see that Laurent's eyes are red again after only a few months. (Though this explains the sobbing phone call that Carlisle got from Irina asking if he'd seen Laurent because that beautiful, perfect, man has gone missing!)
Laurent provides some weasley bullshit explanation anyway. He asks, though it's really more of a demand, that he join the Cullen coven (much larger than the Denali, very gifted, and very powerful). Carlisle says no, Laurent has to stick to the diet if he joins the coven and he has to mean it. Given Laurent's current appearance, it seems as if Laurent is not willing to do that.
Laurent then begs them to let him stay: Victoria will murder him otherwise (and oh by the way she's after your Lunchable Bella Swan). That gets Edward into action, he demands Laurent's death and that he then hunt down Victoria personally.
Carlisle politely suggests that Laurent, rather than seek shelter from them who he knows Victoria intends to cross paths with, go back to the Denali and give the diet another whirl.
Laurent flees back to the Denali, Irina is ecstatic to see him. Victoria's not even surprised.
The family discusses what to do about Victoria. Carlisle would rather not hunt this woman down on hearsay alone. Jasper thinks they should have killed her to start and letting her escape was foolishness, he told them she'd be back. Edward for once is with Jasper, Victoria must be destroyed before she can harm Bella. They look to Alice and, yeah, there's a good possibility that Victoria will be back.
Edward is torn between hunting down Victoria and protecting Bella in person. Jasper leaves before he can make the decision, which of course angers Edward beyond belief, but, well, he guesses it is what it is.
Edward decides to not tell Bella that a vampire is after her life: it'll just worry her.
Jasper's Hunting Mission
Jasper likely has a devil of a time catching Victoria, as he did the first time, because of her gift. He ends up having very long phone calls with Alice as he tries to coordinate a successful solution to this.
Because Edward never left Bella, she never sought out Jake. She never forms her friendship with Jake nor realizes the secret behind the shapeshifters.
Billy tries to give Bella a few more ominous warnings but there's no getting through to this girl.
Edward never proposes to Bella because he's intent on leaving her after graduation. He does not tell Bella this though she constantly worries about it.
He assures her they can have a long distance relationship at college (he has no such intentions).
Victoria is kept out of the Forks area by Jasper and likely takes the one obvious route left to her. She has nothing left to live for, and it doesn't matter how much terror she lives in the Volturi, if this means her death then so be it.
She goes to the Volturi and narks on the Cullens.
Victoria Narks
It... does not go as planned.
Aro placates Caius with many excuses: this girl is in her primary schooling, is the only daughter of a police chief, she cannot simply disappear.
Carlisle is likely waiting until after she graduates and can disappear across the country.
And yes, technically this James fellow had bit Bella and they had their perfect chance but... Well, Aro will talk to Carlisle, it is not breaking the law yet.
Aro travels to Forks in person with Renata, shows up on Carlisle's doorstep, and says, "We need to talk."
Aro lays down the law, this girl better be turned after graduation, and Aro can only stall Caius so long. Also, great to see you, you built yourself a coven and that's perfectly marvelous.
Edward, of course, throws a fit but the law is the law and the law just visited them for tea. Aro makes it very clear that either Bella is turned, she dies, or Aro will have no choice to take adverse action against Edward at the very least (if not Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens).
Aro also points out this is an unsustainable relationship that's not good for anybody. Yes, it's too bad the girl has no choice, but they really should have thought of that before Edward walked around strongly hinting he wasn't human.
Edward insists they vote.
The vote doesn't go the way he likes.
Esme doesn't want Edward to live in misery after Bella dies, Rosalie doesn't like the idea of turning Bella but it appears they have no choice, Jasper (via conference call) doesn't want to be the one to eat Bella and it's stupid given the VOLTURI IS IN THE ROOM FOR THIS VOTE, and Carlisle notes that it appears Bella has no other option and at least this seems to be what she wants?
They will turn Bella after graduation.
Edward smashes a TV.
They tell Edward to tell Bella, it should come from him, Edward never does.
Instead, out of nowhere, he asks her to marry him and elope. They can live on a deserted island somewhere.
Bella thinks this is stupid and says no.
Edward dies inside.
Victoria Chooses Death
Victoria is out of options, the Volturi did not come through, and she wanders out of Volterra in a daze.
She guns it for Forks with Jasper hot on her tail. If there's one thing left for her, she will murder this Bella Swan before she dies. She fails, Jasper catches up to her in Forks and murders her.
No one tells Bella.
Graduation
After graduation, Carlisle picks Bella up. Bella has no idea what's happening, Carlisle assumes she does. Carlisle lays down the game plan, she's going to take a summer abroad before school starts, travelling with Alice, then both she and Alice will disappear in an accident.
Bella asks him to hold up, what the hell is he talking about?
Carlisle realizes with dull horror that Edward never told Bella. He awkwardly explains that the Volturi personally came to visit and, well, they have to turn Bella into a vampire.
He's very sorry.
Bella's very on board with this, she asks if it can be Edward that does it.
Carlisle says no, that's not a good idea.
They stare at each other.
Carlisle cannot believe Edward didn't tell her.
Edward and Bella do not get married nor does she have sex with him as a human.
i knew there was something wrong with bella the second she said she loved arizona and was going to "miss the heat" cause girl im from there and....
Hi!
I've been reading your posts about Rosalie because I love her, and I was wondering if or how you would see her healing from her past/becoming more content with her vampirism.
She doesn't seem happy with the Cullens, as you have written about, but I they provide structure and "humanity" for her. However if she didn't have Emmett as a mate/admirer, she may be able to grow and not rely on her looks in regards to her feelings of safety and control.
I would love to know what you think! I admire all your work :)
So, some thoughts on Rosalie and on Rosalie's happiness vs. staying with the Cullens.
And ooof, I think it’s a long road to recovery. Not impossible but... hard, and certainly by Twilight, Rosalie isn’t anywhere close to being there yet. It’s a bit like curing Marcus of depression, it could happen, but there’s reasons we don’t see it in canon.
Where is Rosalie in Canon and What’s Up With the Cullens?
Rosalie’s relationship to the family is complicated but I do think she’s far better off with them than she would be on her own or with another coven.
Rosalie adores her family and does view them as primarily that, a family. She’s specifically close with Carlisle, but even those like Alice she’s fond of though knows Alice isn’t all that fond of her. She has her spats with Edward but ultimately loves him and likely doesn’t realize quite how low his opinion of her really is.
However, Edward disparages her constantly, bringing up things like her rape as insults and humiliating her in front of the entire family for something she’s genuinely struggling with. Emmett notably never stands up for Rosalie, at least, not beyond “Yeah, she’s a bitch, but she’s my bitch.” And even decades later still struggles notably with the trauma of her rape, her murder, and her inhumanity.
However, as you note, the Cullens provide her human life and human structure. This is the closest Rosalie can get to truly being human, the furthest from being a demon, and she lives this life in a seemingly meaningful way for the betterment of mankind. She’s able to pursue opportunities she never could as a human and marries a man, who does love her for all his faults, that she never would have otherwise.
Rosalie, in other words, is functioning.
She could be better and accept herself, what happened to her, and truly move forward. She could also be much worse.
And that’s the trouble, she’s hit this comfortable plateau, to get beyond this she has to want to change and change must be thrust upon her.
And I don’t think Rosalie wants to change.
Rosalie and the Past
Part of Rosalie’s issue is she both clings to and romanticizes the past as well as humanity itself.
What happened to her was awful and I think part of the way she’s coped with it is imagining what might have been. It’s not even that, really, but this pleasant fantasy of the life she could have lived.
Rosalie could have been human. She could have been a human mother, had a child, she could have married a human Emmett and lived a simple, good, life.
When Rosalie talks to Bella about what she’s going to lose, what Rosalie feels so strongly about, she never truly acknowledges that this wasn’t a life Rosalie Hale was going to have.
Rosalie’s parents were social climbers, Rosalie knew that they were using her beauty and her charm to marry her into money. Royce was utterly irresistible to them, though they didn’t know what he truly was. Even had it not been Royce, I imagine Rosalie may very well have ended up with someone similar.
And if she did not, she would almost certainly have been regulated to the role of a rich man’s wife. Her children go to boarding school, she barely sees them, she has tea with ladies but is unable to interact with business or a man’s world.
That idyllic country dream with Emmett: that was never her life.
And that’s what human life is. It’s hard, it’s not fair, and so often we do not get what we want based on arbitrary circumstances we’re born into. Rosalie has painted that away.
I think to heal, Rosalie would have to admit that humanity is not what she thinks it is. It’s not this golden idea. It’s nothing bad either. It just is, it’s a different state of being that, in and of itself, could not guarantee her happiness.
Happiness is for Rosalie to grab, not for humanity to thrust upon her.
Rosalie and Her Loss of Fertility and Identity
Being infertile left a large, traumatizing, mark on Rosalie. Women (still are but especially then) were defined by their ability to bear children. To be barren or to not have children was a mark against you: you have in some manner failed as a woman.
In losing her ability to have children all of this is stripped from Rosalie. She will never be a mother, will forever be something like a girl, and she loses much of her sense of personhood in that.
And this... This might even be harder than coming to terms with her rape. This is painful. Rosalie will have to confront the deepest, most gruesome, hurts within her and take a good long look at them.
She’ll have to let go of both her fantasies, the society she came from and what it expected of her, and the hypothetical child she will never have.
Many people do not get over this and... To be honest, I don’t know how Rosalie would either. It’s not something I see her wanting to face about herself.
Perhaps, in helping to raise Renesmee, this will lessen. Except Renesmee is not her child, looks very much like a mixture of Bella and Edward. And Renesmee is also... Renesmee, she’s a very alien inhuman child who is bound to only become stranger with aid.
Perhaps, in realizing Renesmee is not what she pictured, Rosalie will be able to confront this and let her longing for a child go. She could just as easily cling to it with all of her might.
Rosalie Doesn’t Want to Change
Perhaps the most damning is that Rosalie is comfortable as of canon. She could be better, she could be worse, but she doesn’t seem to want to change. Would she want to be human? Yes. But she can’t, and she’s settled for what she has.
Bella Swan was the biggest catalyst her family has seen in a long time.
Bella forced Rosalie to confront the worst aspects of herself: all those open wounds related to her death, her vampirism, and what she lost.
Bella throws everything Rosalie ever wanted out the window without a care in the world (and somehow gets the child anyway). Bella pursues a man who is anything but human to live this empty shell of a life.
Bella is the thing that should have had Rosalie taking a deep, long, look at herself and realizing what she needs to to get better and move on.
The catalyst was there, the pieces were set, and yet Rosalie doesn’t.
Rosalie doesn’t heal because she does not wish to. Because it’s hard, it’s painful, it’s extremely unpleasant. So she interacts with this woman who is so unlike her, who doesn’t share any values with her at all, but she does not reflect upon herself.
The prime opportunity slips her by.
Okay But How Would She Heal?
I think Bella, in many ways, was her best chance. Bella was the ultimate foil for Rosalie, representing everything Rosalie would not do while still being very human. More, (at least at this point), Rosalie sees Edward and Bella find happiness in each other with inhumanity. Bella doesn’t sacrifice her humanity for this, she gladly trades it away.
And that could have been enough for Rosalie to realize that, perhaps, she is not damned. Perhaps, she too, can find peace and happiness with who and what she is.
Well, that ship sailed.
Her next options are much harder.
The Cullens fall apart or Renesmee leaves on a journey of self discovery.
In the first case, Rosalie’s crutch of humanity is gone, the family is gone. This will be devestating for all involved but especially her. She’ll have to reevaluate her entire life, who she is, and what she wants to do. She could heal from this. She could also become very codependent on Emmett. It could go either way.
As for Renesmee leaving, if this is before the family split, that will be a huge blow to Rosalie. It’s Renesmee as Bella 2.0, rejecting everything Rosalie believes in, the Cullen family and way of life, because it’s not enough for her. Rosalie will have to reflect on her relationship with Renesmee, with the family at large, and with vampirism in search for answers. This will be painful but could be a healing process for her.
But I don’t think the road to Rosalie’s recovery will be a pleasant one. If it was pleasant, she’d be further along than we see her in canon.
Can you do an analysis on Edward’s thought process at the beginning of New Moon (determined to leave Bella) versus at the end (when he gives up and returns to Forks with her)? He returns after the confrontation with the Volturi even more determined than ever to not let Bella become a vampire but yet still stays with her. His contradictions always annoyed me.
I mean, we know his thought process. He developed this noble fantasy as early as the first time he snuck into her bedroom about how he’d one day inevitably leave her. It was all playing into the whole doomed romance thing, making it all the more tragic to him.
(One thing that’s quite striking with Edward, and one of the many reasons why I don’t think he’s sane, is that he keeps acting like his romance with Bella is a romantic tragedy, and all the cast of Twilight are actors on a stage making it as sublime as possible.)
So, Edward suspends Damocles’ Sword over himself, and then when Bella’s eighteenth birthday party makes it clear that having a human girlfriend is a doomed venture, he lets it fall. He leaves her, in the cruelest way possible of course, I guess because a civil breakup featuring “I love you but our time together has come to an end” wasn’t dramatic enough. (No, really- someone please give me a good, Edward-isn’t-a-horrible-person, reason for why he’d use all her insecurities against her when dumping her)
As for his contradiction…
He didn’t really choose to come back, his choice was glorious suicide. Alice and Bella ruined that, and now the lovers have been reunited. And he can’t stay away from his human any longer. So he gives up on that front.
It’s more complicated on the vampire front.
Before Volterra, Bella staying human wasn’t very feasible, but it was doable. It was a possibility. This was the whole point of the Cullens leaving, they left while she could still live out her life.
After Volterra, this is no longer the case. The Volturi know, and they’ve issued an order that she be turned. And even without the Volturi, she’s still doomed. By coming back Edward and the Cullens are bringing Bella back into their world. Then there’s the vote - it’s been decided, Bella will be a vampire.
And Edward refuses to accept any of it.
The Volturi are old enough that they’ve probably forgotten how human lifespans work and won’t check in on Bella for another three decades (Edward has no proof of this, he just decided this is the case. When Jane shows up three months later, he is unfazed), he can have a human girlfriend without it ever becoming an issue, and the vote- well the vote is stupid. LA DI DA BELLA WON’T BE A VAMPIRE.
Edward has been backed into a corner, one where no matter what he does Bella will be a vampire, even if he should leave. He’s not in control of the situation anymore, and acts accordingly. Keeping Bella human could get the whole family executed, that was made quite clear by Caius. Edward either fails to realize this or he’s willing to make that sacrifice. There’s no third option, and both are damning.
I think everything came crashing down in the worst way for Edward, and Eclipse is him trying and failing to get the situation back under control and pretend THIS IS ALL FINE, MY GIRLFRIEND IS HUMAN. SHE’LL STAY THAT WAY. THIS IS FINE.
Jane & Alec Volturi
"They grew up on the outside of society. They weren't looking for a fight. They were looking to belong." - S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
bella was lucky she didn’t have a cell phone of any kind because you know ya boi edward would be blowing up that phone 24-7 going “saw a snail today…. effervescent” or some shit equivalent
happy 3 yr anniversary to the post that singlehandedly launched the twilight renaissance
These are from New Moon exclusively. To see the Twilight compilations: mumble, murmur, mutter.
Esme: Listen, you need to calm down.
Emmett, banging his fist on the table: But how can it be birthday cake flavoured if a birthday cake can be any flavour?!
edward: claims to want bella to stay way from him
also edward:
What if in the AU The non Alice cullens found out that she was almost killed by Edward, what would they do?
It's sad that I have so many damn AU posts in which Edward murders Bella it genuinely took me a minute to figure out which anon was referencing.
It's this one, by the way.
Well, part of the thing with that is Edward has Alice on his side. The Cullens aren't going to find out and it's not something any of them would ever guess either.
If rumor spreads, if the Cullens at some point visit Volterra and Aro takes Carlisle aside and goes, "You know, old friend, I don't know how to say this but... Your son murdered his wife." Then they won't believe it and Edward will easily poison the family against naysayers.
This would be believing the absolute worst of Edward and without irrefutable proof, they will not do it.
But Let's Pretend They Do
Maybe they catch Edward in the act somehow. His murder of Bella is pushing her into a beach bonfire in front of everyone. They rescue her just in time, even managing to save the leg Edward tore off and threw in there.
Well, if the other Cullens find out we end up here.
They'd be first horrified, confronted by this ugly, awful, truth and then the cookie crumbles and the coven falls apart.
Carlisle doesn't know who Edward is anymore, he doesn't know the truth about anything. Everything he thought he knew about Edward is a lie.
This is before Edward's met Aro, so he doesn't return to Volterra to find out the truth, but I do think he deliberately splits paths from Edward and offers Bella sanctuary with him.
Esme at first argues desperately against this. Edward must stay, he's unwell, he didn't understand what he was doing, they have to be there for him and help him heal. They can pull through this if they try.
Given Bella's life is on the line, Carlisle is unmoved, he's still leaving and Edward will not come with him. He's of course devastated inside, will need months to reflect on this and grieve over the Edward he's lost, but this choice has to be made.
Esme ultimately chooses to go with Edward, he needs her far more than Carlisle does, and is devastated at her marriage ending like this. Carlisle is as well, neither of them saw this coming, and yet looking at it in retrospect it seems obvious.
Rosalie and Emmett stay with Carlisle and Bella. Rosalie is appalled and horrified, in shock and not sure what to think, and still very conflicted over Bella. However, what Edward attempted was monstrous, and just as Carlisle doesn't know Edward anymore neither does Rosalie.
And where Rosalie goes Emmett goes. Emmett, for the record, thinks this is all extremely fucked up but doesn't want to touch it with a ten foot pole. If you asked him, which no one will, then he... may have seen a few red flags here and there. Just a few, mind you, Edward was always crazy when it came to Bella. Not crazy in love, either, just crazy.
Alice also goes with Edward which means that Jasper goes with Edward.
It's the divorce of the century.
Given the point of this is to save Bella's life and get her as far from Edward as possible Carlisle forsakes a) all the money b) all the properties. They all have ties to the Cullens and it'd be all too easy for Edward to track it down.
Granted, Edward also has Alice with him, which would certainly help him along but Carlisle also doesn't want to make it ridiculously easy. More, beneath all of this, is a need to break away from Edward and the Carlisle Cullen of the last century.
Edward is very dear to Carlisle and this is a huge blow.
All the memories he has of making this coven, Edward was there for, excepting his few years of absence. Edward was the first person Carlisle turned, the first person to come back to the diet, and such an important person in Carlisle's life.
Now Carlisle has essentially lost Edward, and everything he's built over this century. The homes with so many memories, Isle Esme, all of it has lost something.
Better to forsake all of it and leave it all behind.
As a result, the Cullens 1.0 get to live on Carlisle's doctor salary, the Cullens 2.0 get all of Alice's money and all the properties. Rosalie misses those cars so dearly. God, why does Edward, who tried to murder his wife, get rewarded with the cars?!
The Cullens 1.0
However, I think the first thing Carlisle does is move the family abroad. This will help with the clean break, the leaving the Cullen coven as it was behind and trying to move forward. They change their surroundings completely and go to Europe.
And they probably do visit the Volturi as Carlisle, a) needs a close friend he can talk to about all of this, b) Aro might have insight Carlisle lacks into how this could have possibly happened and why Edward would even do this, c) it's probably best he stay off the grid for a little while to let the Carlisle Cullen name die down while Edward's being... Edward.
Also, more pragmatically, for all Edward has Alice's visions he surely would not be mad enough to attempt to kill Bella while she's in Volterra. This will give time for Esme, Alice, and Jasper to get through to Edward and perhaps figure out why this even happened.
Bella's an absolute wreck, flip flopping between denial and numb apathy. She joins Marcus in the garden to stare at the wall for hours while she contemplates the fact that Edward, the love of her life, tried to murder her.
She asks Marcus if Edward ever truly loved her.
Marcus tells her that she doesn't want to know.
Carlisle tries to offer Bella therapy, but he's in desperate need of it himself.
Aro tries to offer her therapy, and then realizes that Bella's even worse off than he suspected. Though he is delighted at her gift as well as Carlisle's presence, and he enjoys Rosalie and Emmett. He schemes to get the Cullens 1.0 to stay in Volterra, to convince Carlisle of the necessity of Bella's gift for the guard.
Also helping is that while in Volterra she has sanctuary from her murderous lover. This is a very convincing argument that will see them in Volterra for a good long while.
Emmett challenges Felix to arm wrestling competitions and, while still weirded out, fares the best out of the entire family.
The Cullens 2.0
Edward has a complete meltdown. It's all falling apart. He never foresaw this, never wanted this. Instead of saving Bella's humanity she now knows he's a monster, sees him as nothing more than a murderer, and now he may never see her again.
And Carlisle, Carlisle knows just what he is! Worse, he not only knows, but he rejected Edward just as Edward feared he would. This time, it's not Edward leaving the diet and Carlisle, it's Carlisle leaving him and Edward cannot return the prodigal son. He will never see Carlisle again.
He personally ruined Carlisle and Esme's marriage.
He ruined everything.
Edward likely decides to kill himself. He has failed in everything, ruined everything he touched, and he is a monster worse even than other monsters.
Bella is now a demon and it seems she will be forever, Alice hesitantly tells him that she's in Volterra now, where Edward cannot reach her.
There is nothing for him now and he never should have become this demon in the first place. If he could kill Bella, the finest thing in creation, the least he can do is kill himself.
He forces Jasper to do it.
He blackmails Jasper, if Jasper doesn't do it, then Edward will break every law the Volturi have ever made.
He will embrace the monster he is, the monster they all know he is. He will turn hundreds of humans into newborn and set them loose on human cities, he will turn dozens of children in their cribs, he will walk naked in the sunlight and let every human see exactly what he is as he eats their women and children.
He will cause such terror and desolation that the vampire world will speak of him for decades to come.
And if Jasper relies on Alice, well, he will be forcing Alice to outmaneouver and out think Edward at every opportunity. And she will slip up, because Edward will act on impulse or else she might not be looking in his direction at a critical moment.
They have forever and Edward is patient.
Jasper, of course, does it as he does all hard things in life.
He tells Esme that Edward went to live on a farm.
The Cullens 2.0 never hook back up with the Cullens 1.0.
Wondering what you think the volturi does on a day to day basis. They can’t be punishing and eating people every day right? What do they do in their free time?
Hold up laser pens trying to get Marcus to chase them. He never does.
Alright, I’ll be serious.
For the record, I’m not sure that there is as much free time as one’d think. The Volturi are the one organization in the world keeping vampires from destroying the world, and there’s only 30-something of them. And there are only two of Jane and Alec, only one Demetri.
I think they’re extremely busy, to the point where I can believe that Jane and Carlisle never met. It’s a bit strange, yes, but this girl and her brother are running on foot to every corner of the world to keep the wheel turning. It’s no surprise she can’t slum it at home.
But there are only so many vampires, and only so many non-vampire threats.
I touched upon it here, in part because I felt bad for anon. They asked for fluffy headcanons, I replied, “eh, they’re miserable bastards" so I added my theatre headcanon at the end there. Then like this guy I added that last paragraph, now I’m feeling mildly self-conscious about the whole post. Should have kept it at the miserable bastards.
In short, even Volturi need to unwind sometime. Sports aren’t really an option, as they’d have to leave Volterra to do it without humans noticing. I’m sure there’s smaller games being played on excursions when there’s nothing else to do, like a game of tennis on the way to or fro a mission, but when it comes to what Aro would put together to entertain the coven... I think Hellenistic theatre.
Athens had a very particular brand of theatre. Basically people would write plays, produce and perform them, and then the best play was crowned winner. Athenian actors were all men, and they all wore masks. There would be a chorus. In the early days of this thespian tradition there was only one actor, but as the years went by this was expanded to two, then three actors.
In other words you have a lot of room for creativity, all the room in the world, and something to interest everybody. Script writing, costume design, acting, and the sky is the limit for what you can do. A maximum of three actors allows for small teams, so you can have many competitors. Plus, this formula means that if people are called away on missions halfway through the planning, they can return to the “game” months or years later, no problem.
Mostly, I think Aro is just the type to make his guard do this. He claims it’s about preserving his cultural heritage, but really it’s about the flashy costumes, hammy acting, and sheer showmanship of it all.
For the record I firmly believe Carlisle was recruited to play Helen in the genderbent Illiad.
(I hope I don’t come across as pretentious or show off-y when I do this- but here are a few recs for Ancient Greek plays. They’re a very particular style, but compelling and absolutely worth the read. Notice how there are never more than three people on stage at once:
Sophocles:
Oedipus Rex. Yes, that story. Guy kills his dad, marries his mom, finds out.
Oedipus at Colonus. Direct sequel to Oedipus Rex. Oedipus is blind, disgraced, dethroned, and miserable. He seeks absolution for what happened in the last play.
Antigone. Sequel to Oedipus at Colonus. Antigone is Oedipus and Iocasta’s daughter, and her life is terrible.
Euripides, a great tragedy writer:
Medea. As in, Medea who was married to Jason. You’ve probably heard of her. I strongly recommend Euripides’ version, the ending is a gutpunch.
Bacchae. A very interesting depiction of Dionysus where he pretty much goes “oh you thought I was the funny drunk guy. Well, I just hypnotized your daughter into killing her child.”
There’s also the comedian Aristophanes, whose works I unfortunately never read but if I’ve ignited a flame in anybody, go google him.)
