#and his relationship with carlisle is gold

[zickmonkey]

I always say 'i need more sisterly relationships in my writing, why do they never have sisters?'

But I never think about big brother/ little sister relationships.

I need those.

[ofethereals]

𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 - INTRODUCTION.

statistics :

basics :

full name: eun-woo " edward " baek cullen. birthday: june 20, 1904. physical age: 26. actual age: 120. place of birth: chicago, illinois. sexuality: demisexual, demiromantic. gender: demi man ( he / they pronouns ). zodiac: gemini. species: vampire. abilities: vampire abilities + telepathy.

appearance :

faceclaim: song kang. voice claim: song kang. height: 6'2. piercings: none. tattoos: none. noteworthy features: gold eyes, pale skin, long limbs, jet black hair.

personality:

3 positive traits: loyal, protective, respectful. 3 negative traits: haunted, aloof, quiet. mbti: infj. moral alignment: neutral good. hobbies: composing, learning new instruments, reading, playing piano, going on drives. love language: quality time.

additional information:

occupation: law student. languages: english, korean, spanish, portuguese, french, arabic. family: seung baek ( birth father - deceased. ), iseul baek ( birth mother - deceased. ), carlisle cullen ( adoptive father ), esme cullen ( adoptive mother ), rosalie hale ( adoptive sister ), emmett cullen ( adoptive brother ), jasper hale ( adoptive brother ), alice cullen ( adoptive sister ). education: too many degrees to count.

biography :

tw : death mention, illness, religious guilt

you were born baek eun-woo in 1904 in chicago. you were the only child of your parents, iseul and seung. you were a normal kid! you loved to read, you were always told that you were rather smart and curious. your father was a successful lawyer, providing you with quite a lot of material things, such as music lessons and private schooling. but your father was so often away from your home and away from you due to his work and that truly kept you and him from developing any sort of deeper relationship beyond what the man provided for you and your mother. you always longed for more but eventually realized that it was always going to be very surface level. in many ways you eventually resented your father for not having the time for you. on the other hand though, you were extremely close with your mother. even up until her death she was always looking out for you, always putting her own needs behind yours. you loved her deeply. your life ( or the end of it, really ) took a turn in when you and your family contracted the spanish flu. while on your death bed, you were transformed into a vampire by carlisle, saving you from imminent death, the same death that your birth family had succumbed to. with this new life, you took on the name edward cullen, deciding on edward after one of your favorite small composers at the time. and cullen, adopting the last name of carlisle. you left your birth name in the past, as you wanted that part of you to die along with your family, as you no longer felt as though you was the same person you was when you were with them. following your rebirth, your new life had been full of conflict within you. this was heavily influenced by your catholic upbringing. you felt so much guilt around this new life, this feeling of no longer having a soul and being nothing more than a monster. you felt as though everything you grew up believing completely contradicted who you had become now and you had no idea how to process it and not hate yourself for it. it all weighed heavily on you. you truly believe that you are forever damned. you quickly did not know who you were anymore or how to grapple with the things you believed to be true. everything he grew up raised to believe completely clashed with his new existence. in the 1920s, you made the stupid decision to leave carlisle. you were far too in your head about everything which only allowed for the new vampiric instincts that called to yoiu to win over. it was the lowest point of your life, and you carry such an intense guilt from that time period. you hardly will ever talk about it. you feel as though everything you believe about yourself and your soul was solified with your actions back then. you truly consider yourself lucky that carlisle even took you back in. you rejoined the family, and made a lasting commitment to the " vegetarian " lifestyle. you knew that living with carlisle was the only way that you would ever experience some sort of " normalcy " in this new life, something you longed for. you just wanted to feel human. in the decades that followed, your life became rather cyclical. It was always the same – go to college, graduate, move on, redo. and again. and again. you became quite numb and with that, never allowed yourself to get close to anyone outside the cullens, never allowing yourself any friends and definitely not any romantic partners. whispers of a cure intrigue you and you truly hope there is substance behind it. you want nothing more than a chance at salvation.

[askesmecullen]

hi! hope you and carlisle are doing well. do you two have any taylor swift songs that you'd consider your favorites? i heard you two went to the eras tour! 🩵

Hello! I enjoy the storytelling aspect of Taylor's songs, but when you look at her catalog her happy love songs are very youthful - appropriately so for the age she was when they were introduced - or relationships that didn't last. They're not necessarily songs that connect with our relationship.

But along came Lover and that's a song we've danced to quite a few times. There are aspects of Gold Rush and Style that make me think of Carlisle.

Other songs I enjoy a lot are The Man, 22, the last great american dynasty, Mastermind, Blank Spaces, Shake It Off, and Enchanted.

[tennessoui]

I appreciate the potential unhinged energy of a same/similar age (in appearance at least) Twilight AU where they're in high school together but I raise you benevolent Dr. Kenobi that most of the nursing staff has a crush on and somehow works around the clock at the hospital and honestly cares about patients especially one Anakin who keeps ending up in his care for a variety of non-lethal injuries (Anakin keeps finding excuses to go see the hot doctor with gold eyes so what if he's obsessed)

ack i was gonna answer these acts separately but this could potentially fit very well with @ladytano-ofthehouseofskywalker's ask from yesterday about what a dark twilight au would look like:

IRE: twilight au, I had this thought the other day that like twilight as is like isn’t the very best story or relationship (still love it tho) but if it had had a different author who like wasn’t afraid to go dark, it could have been SO satisfying (and also at that point not for children lol)

So I’m here for like campy goofy twilight obikin but I would extra be here for some ‘so the lion fell in love with the lamb’ turned up to 11. Like that story is already about unhealthy obsession but let’s at least make it sexy plz.

so it really just depends on how dark we want to go---my first instinct was that a very creepy dark vampire fits more with a sith anakin in my mind (even when he doesn't mean it, he's very...intense in my vampire anakin fic)

BUT thinking about a doctor carlisle sort of obi-wan, who has been around for ages and he's a pretty good dude, very nice and polite, but he doesn't have much of a vampire family and he's been alive for so long that when he meets a 19 yo college dropout anakin, sent to live with his sheriff mother in hopes that he'll be straightened out and put on the right path, he's just divorced enough from a human sort of code of ethics that he's like huh well why not encourage his interest in me it's flattering and he's attractive and this sort of dynamic was very common when i was first born

etc etc

i think that could be VERY interesting as a dark take on twilight that would still have a very eager and obsessive anakin

(and can you imagine an obi-wan frozen forever at like. 30/35. and an anakin frozen forever at 19/20? hot damn)

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

If Edward either left or returned later and came back after Rosalie was already turned - would it change their relationship to each other? Would Edward stay with them or go off to kill rapists again?

Oh, that is diabolically awful.

The Backdrop

Edward leaves in righteous fury because Carlisle's diet is stupid and he's stupid and Edward's going to drink the great elixer of life while ridding the world of villainy! What about that, Carlisle?!

Within four years, Edward discovers his life is meaningless, he's a monster desperately trying to justify himself to no one, he has no companionship nor greater ideals, and he's just a pile of murderous sad who isn't the man he wanted to be.

It gets worse when, to his shame and horror, he tries to go off the diet on his own so he can at least return with gold eyes/pretend he wasn't actually eating people that long if at all and discovers that he can't do it. He cannot get back on the diet on his own without a support structure.

He has to return, eyes blazing red, and hope to god they don't throw him out as they have every right to do after what he's said and what he's done for years.

In canon, to his infinite joy and relief, Esme and Carlisle said nothing and accepted him back with open arms and got him on the diet again.

In this world, well, there's Rosalie Hale.

Edward Comes Back

He finds out, to his shock, Carlisle's turned someone else.

Now, he was there for Carlisle turning Esme, but he figured that was an exception. He was in love with Esme for all he had no idea and they clearly belonged together. Of course, he turned her.

Rosalie though doesn't have that excuse. Her ending was horrifically sad, of course, tragic and terrible but that doesn't mean she should be turned.

The only one that Carlisle should have been turning like that is Edward himself. Because Edward's the one that's important.

Unlike canon, Edward can't even point to himself as the ultimate reason, of Carlisle wanting to make Edward a bride, because Edward wasn't there and showed no signs of returning.

Rosalie seems to only know him as Carlisle's previous creation who ran away for reasons Carlisle won't disclose. Rosalie figured out pretty fast though that Edward wanted to eat people and thinks Edward is a murderous piece of shit with no morals.

(Edward is horrified because fuck, she's right. Rosalie is thinking everything that's true that Edward never ever wanted anyone to think about him.)

Worse, Edward quickly learns that Rosalie has superb control, better than his. She killed her rapists, yet, but didn't drink a drop of their blood (unlike Edward who ate all the rapists purely for their blood). Her revenge was personal, clean, and she has never wavered since and shows no signs of wanting to go and eat people.

Beautiful Rosalie is a better child than Edward ever was.

And here's Edward, like a returning alcoholic son, begging his family to take him back in and looking so weak in Rosalie's eyes.

What Happens?

I imagine Edward can't stand the shame and humiliation of it. He despises Rosalie but truly despises himself, he believes his family secretly resents him for having the nerve to return and sees him as the child no one wants.

Not helping is that Rosalie proves to be very smart when she and Edward attend university. She's smart, charming, beautiful, ambitious, and though Edward consoles himself that she's a vain shrew on the inside she looks perfect on the outside while Edward just looks like... Edward on the outside.

SHE EVEN PLAYS THE FUCKING PIANO.

Not helping is that Edward will say things like "Carlisle loves me more" to Rosalie and she'll just stare then point out he's a piece of shit who left to eat drunkards for four years and pretend to feel good about himself.

"OH YEAH, WELL, YOU'RE VAIN!"

When Rosalie carries home, by herself, at a very young age, the bleeding out Emmett without drinking a drop of blood and asking Carlisle for assistance--

I imagine Edward loses his shit.

He can't stay.

He can't stay in this perfect family, perfect for each other, with perfect Rosalie as their perfect daughter. Edward can't be the loser of the family, he can't.

I EMBRACE MY DEMONS! Edward says, fleeing out into the night, and returns to eating humans with reckless abandon. I imagine he quickly falls off the "I shall eat only evildoers diet" as he admitted to himself that was to only make him feel better and he's a monster now.

[nemainofthewater]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤

Thank you for the ask!

This sounds a little conceited but this was so hard! I have 303 fics written on AO3, in a variety of different fandoms and narrowing it down to my 5 favourites.... it's like choosing a favourite child. Nonetheless, here are five that I enjoyed writing the most, which isn't necessarily the same as the best that i've written lol. They are all complete and I have not included any that I co-wrote, because choosing my favourite one of those would be even harder.

In alphabetical order by title:

In the Lion's Den - this is my first and only Twilight fic, and it's Aro/Carlisle. It started as a fic inspired by events in @therealvinelle's masterpiece Nebuchadnezzar's Dream (which i highly recommend), but it quickly morphed into a fan sequel. It was incredibly fun to write and it got me through a stressful time (conference organisation).

Joys and Sorrows - A Nirvana in Fire, Lin Chen centric fic, this is the encapsulation of all my feelings about Lin Chen and Mei Changsu's complicated relationship. This bad boy can fit so many headcanons into it!

Shining - A Witcher fic, wherein Jaskier is a gold dragon. By far my most well known fic, I updated daily for over a month. This is one that was first meant to have 4 chapters, and then 10, and then 14, and then I gave up trying to figure out how long it was going to be. This was the first fic that I wrote where I felt such a sense of cimmunity writing, because I was lucky enough to be writing it at the peak of the Witcher fandom, those halcyon days where people were enthusiastically reading and commenting. I am not 100% certain, but I think that this might have been the first dragon!Jaskier fic, and possibly the first one that used Julek as a nickname, which is my mark on history. The unfinished sequel haunts me...

Staring into open flame (can barely tear my eyes away) - my most recent fic! Well, revealed one anyway. It is The Untamed, Lan Qiren/Wen Ruohan/Qin Yaling, and I just had a lot of fun writing for my recipient, @tavina-writes, who was the one who invented Madam Wen | Qin Yaling. All the characters are so ridiculous that they were a pleasure to write.

You could cut ties with all the lies (that you've been living in) - Nirvana in Fire, Lin Chen/Xiao Jingyan, alternate universe wherein Lin Chen has to travel to Jinling to carry out Mei Changsu's kife's plan because his friend is too ill to do so himself. So I've always believed that platonically or romantically, the great ship in Nirvana in Fire is Lin Chen/Mei Changsu/Justice (as represented by Jingyan), but this was the first time that I considered the Lin Chen/Jinyan part of the OT3. And honestly, I loved it. It was great fun thinking about the canon, and how things would change and shift by having Lin Chen there instead of MCS.

[palmofafreezinghand]

⭐ director's cut of anything you want, please! ⭐

Thank you so much for the ask @the-most-pathetic-edge-marquis apologies for the belated response, this is such a fun game!

Doing this for “a father’s precautions” because I’m not going to force you to sit through carlesme analysis when billy and charlie are right there 💖

cw: slight analysis of canonical depression and suicide ideation

“When Billy Black received a call from a man he’d never met; and frankly thought the walking corpse was something made up by his grandfather to make him eat his vegetables, he prepared for everything… but this.” 

I hate this line in Midnight Sun, hate it, but it’s crucial to Billy’s character (and Carlisle’s).  He’s told his son, the only family member he has left at that point, will one day be stolen of all autonomy and choice and there’s nothing he can do about it, and he knows what it feels like to lose all choice. While he couldn’t tell Jacob directly he could worry and worry he did. He, however, didn’t think he’d ever have to worry for Charlie. Which (in my mind) is why he fights so hard to make Bella breakup with Edward before he kills her. And then New Moon happens and everything in Billy Black’s life is falling completely apart. 

“Charlie had shown up with the safe for the first time in the middle of a storm, a less than two-week-old Bella in the backseat. Sarah rocked her to sleep as Billy helped take up enough carpet to reach the subfloor. ‘It’s a rough transition, all you can do is be there for her. Help her, protect her.’”

I have a little headcanon that Renee struggled in the postpartum period before deciding to leave Charlie (I think there’s arguments for this in canon) which I use to justify why Bella is a touch detached from Renesmee once she’s born. 

 “It was a well-known fact he wasn’t Renee’s number-one fan, no one that knew her was”

I think Billy had to really bite his tongue when Renee and Charlie eloped. I also think the only reason Billy held his tongue is because Sue threatened to cut it out. That whole group hated Renee but figured, hoped, it was nothing more than a fling so they never said anything besides snide comments until Charlie showed up with a gold band on his finger. (This commentary, and subconscious knowing he was making a mistake, was why Charlie hid his marriage until the ink was dry). 

Those one off comments is seen in the moment leading up to this line: 

“Says ‘she’s just a kid. Kids do these kinds of things.’ Thinks it all just work out, it did for her after all,” Charlie said, kicking at the corner of the beige carpet. It was the first time in weeks Billy had heard any emotion in his friend’s voice. 

“Glad to see she hasn’t changed a bit,” Billy muttered.

“Or maybe, she was her father’s kid. The man who stole Billy’s fishing boat in the dead of night to do something stupid. The man Billy had rocked as he wailed his lungs out in the middle of the ocean. The man who had a large part of him die when Renee closed that door.”

There’s a deleted line in the New Moon script that I know exists but I can’t find at this moment where Charlie talks about going to a really dark place when Renee left — this was the best way I could figure out how to represent that and also have a big enough event to trigger Billy into putting such strict restrictions on his best friend. (This incident is in the multi-chapter Thing about them and is a huge moment in their relationship). 

“You don’t have to lie to me, we’ve done this before.” Billy’s hand softly landed on Charlie’s arm. 

“I’m fine. Thanks, Bill.” 

I don’t have any commentary besides this interaction (while I wrote it) lives in my head rent free. Also Charlie is the only one who can call Billy Bill. 

“You want to stay for a beer? I bought a fresh pack of Ballantines, I could call Harry. We could watch a game,” Billy offered. He’d bought the beer three weeks ago, the six-pack collecting dust as it waited for Charlie. Billy didn’t drink but if he did it wouldn’t be Ballantine. But Charlie hadn’t come by and the beer sat undrunk, the game unwatched. 

Canonically Charlie drinks Rainer, I however am a Frasier stan through and through and associated Martin Crane, retired cop and dad trying his best but coming up short most of the time, with Charlie’s drinking habits. The Billy not drinking is a headcanon of mine in ‘grief in a glass’ and have just stuck with. 

 Billy flipped the porch light on. Perhaps Charlie wouldn’t admit it just yet but one night he would need a life preserver and the porch light would be on, it always had been. 

This is a headcanon I established in a different Billy-centric piece, ‘grief in a glass’,  where he leaves the porch light on for Sue after Harry’s funeral for days until she joins him for a drink.

[insomniagothamblog]

Hi, I've read your fanfiction and I'm absolutely thrilled! I love the characters, the writing style, the narrative flow and the plot itself in general :)

And so I have some ideas and thoughts that I want to share with you, I hope you will like them.

Kon gives Lumi a plush toy that she immediately fell in love with. This is a small stuffed rabbit that Tim bought for some reason and just kept as another decorative pillow on the bed, It's soft, cozy and smells like Tim.

Here are a few options - Plush pig, Plush rabbit, teddy bear, stuffed duckling and stuffed dolphin.

Lumi gets her middle name.

Lex takes care of the legal documentation of his granddaughter's existence and wonders if there is a middle name for her? Kon was a little confused at first, but then he says that Tim had a favorite female name - Amara.

The name of the Latin and ancient Greek existence denoting "eternity" of "grace" and "love", soft and melodious, easy to spell and pronounce, Tim liked this name. Kon wipes a tear from his eye, Jason on whose lap Lumm dozed said that it was a beautiful name.

The song of Kon and Lumi.

Bob Carlisle – Butterfly Kisses. This is definitely their song, warm, cozy, touching with some melancholic notes, permeated with tenderness and affection in every word.

For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride" "I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried" Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have done something right To deserve a hug every morning And butterfly kisses at night

You can't tell me that these are not Kon's thoughts.

Emotional breakdown of Kon.

When Jason tells Kon that the Batfamily wants to take his daughter away and be raised by others - maybe a foster family or most likely Clark because she has Kryptonian blood in her, he breaks down.

This is not a breakdown with screams, outbursts of aggression and swearing, this is an outlet for fear and pain. Kon cannot stand on his feet, he cries and begs not to take her away, she is his child, she is the last piece of his beloved, please do not take it away. Lex sends Jason to look after Lumi and comforts his son with soft hugs and warm words. The moment of connection between father and son.

He is here in my heart and in your blood.

Kon puts Lumi to bed and she asks him to lie down with her until she falls asleep, when Kon lies down next to her, Lumi asks him about Tim.

Kon tells her funny stories about her other father, their personal moments and his touching personal habits. Lumi says that she will most likely love him even if she never meets him.

P.S - Maybe one day I will create the aesthetics of Kon and Lumi :) And for some reason I'm sure that Lumi is blonde like her grandfather Lex, before he went bald.

OMG HIIIIII

Long ask so imma try my best to answer all of it but it is like almost 3am right now. So I'm very sorry if I somehow miss something but thank you so much for the ask.

First of all, I adore the Fluff ideas. I might use one of them but given my writing process, it might not be possible. I mostly write out of order so most of it's already done for this fic. For example, I have all the chapters betaed and edited up to chapter 8 and I am currently writing chapter 17. This is why I am falling behind on my other fic, because I hate writing linearly. There is one Fluff chapter before the ending I have to write so I may still use the idea, I really really like it. Especially the part about the stuffed toy. I'm just not sure if I could realistically fit it into this.

Second of all, 'Butterfly kisses' isn't usually something I would listen to so this was a fun discovery. I find it very fun, if your interested two more songs I adore for this AU is 'Me and My Husband' by Mitski when it comes to the relationship between Tim and Conner as well as 'House of Gold' for Conner and Lumi. If I ever find enough songs for this Au I'll make a Playlist.

Thirdly, you shall indeed have your wish for a complete mental breakdown from Conner. I have really enjoyed writing Conner in this and I can't wait to show what I wrote in later chapters. I am thinking of two major incidents with Conner that caused a complete breakdown. So you are definitely going to enjoy those.

Finally!! I would absolutely love if you made an edit. Send it or tag me if you ever do!! Unfortunately I didn't know Luthor was once blonde, so I went with black hair. But! If there were ever to be a second child, I would keep that in mind! However, enjoy this little picrew I made of Lumi in order to help visualize her!! She is a bit older in this however.

[thatndginger]

HAPPY STS!

If you were to do an “Anniversary Story”, for a (insert number of years of writing stories, songs, ETC), what would your “Anniversary Story” be about? What would you include in the story?

RAMBLE ABOUT IT!

Hi and thank you so much! This weekend was a lot for me so this is kinda late ;-.-

Oooh so I have a few of these, actually. All of them for Shapeshifter because that's an inescapable brainrot (and I'm also currently listening to dramatic KDrama playlists so the vibe is here lmao)

Kerr McKay and Adrien Montrose's wedding. That's the big one. I cannot begin to describe how much I've thought about this. It's not an event I plan to write about for the main series, because honestly it would feel kinda out of place there. I have an entire folder dedicated to Kerr and Adrien's outfits, what their rings would look like, what song would play during their first dance, the flower arrangements and decorations. And, well, you said to ramble...

Honestly this would probably be a novella-length story, because I'd want to go through the entire start-to-finish of wedding planning and the actual event itself, or at least the highlights of it. Neither Kerr nor Adrien really care about having a big wedding, but Adrien would absolutely use the opportunity to show off and make sure everyone knew Kerr was his.

The specific events I would have to include would be:

1) Suit shopping. Adrien practically lives in tailored, expensive suits, but Kerr would usually rather chew his own arm off than wear a three-piece. He'd drag Jay and Warrick with him to help, but Warrick would end up being more of a problem than a solution and eventually get kicked out - by either Adrien or the store proprietor. He'd eventually settle on a black suit and vest, with a burgundy shirt and gold bowtie+buttons. Adrien's would be a burgundy suit with a silver shirt+buttons and black tie.

2) The to-the-death fight over who gets to be Kerr's best man/maid of honor between Warrick and Jay. Warrick and Jay's reasoning is that they're Kerr's siblings, and would (lovingly) viciously fight over who was the better sibling and more deserving of the role. They'd eventually agree to settle on an arm-wrestling match, only to be told that the position has already been given to Carlisle - Kerr's pseudo-dad.

3) Adrien and Kerr being sickeningly cute and weird around the wedding planner, florist, caterer, literally everyone. Their relationship is a unique one, and while Adrien immediately comes off as the dominant one, the decision-maker, the man with a plan, it quickly becomes obvious that he'd much rather just sit back and watch Kerr go. He'll veto anything outlandish, and has specific requirements, but Kerr's the mouthpiece. It turns out later that Kerr and Adrien have already discussed everything in detail at home- with Adrien bringing the majority of the ideas - and agreed that Kerr should be the one explaining everything. He's far less scary.

4) The wedding itself. An rooftop greenhouse venue. Through ridiculous amounts of money and a fair bit of magic, it's been transformed into a garden with a goddamn stream running through one side and ending in a pond. Blossoming white magnolia and osmanthus line the edges of the rooftops, draped in impossibly delicate and sheer black and burgundy silks. The stream and pond have lotus plants with white blooms, and floating gold and silver globes of light. Bouquets of black hellebore and dark red camellia flowers, more silver and gold light-globes floating overhead, a dancefloor that looks like it's made from gold leaf (it was). Despite the fact that one of the most terrifying crime families is in attendance and nearly every guest is a criminal of some sort, it's a good time. Everyone has fun, things get a little rowdy, and good vibes are had by all.

I could honestly probably include the proposal scene in if I wanted, but that could also be an 'exclusive' too! The romance part of Kerr and Adrien's plotlines doesn't get to be explored nearly enough sometimes, but it's a good one.

If I may sum up the two's thought processes during this whole shebang~

Adrien: Putting everyone important in one room is risky but only an imbecile would attempt an attack. Showing everyone that I'm confident and competent enough to ensure their safety in such an event will help our image. And publicly claiming Kerr as mine (and as a Montrose) would better ensure his safety. Nicole will be mad I'm marrying before her, so that's a plus. And it might do well to forge connections between my associates and Kerr's...

Kerr: hell yeah expensive booze and food and I get to smooch Adrien in front of everyone

[therealvinelle]

Hi, your metas are super interesting, and even if I really enjoy fanon twilight, it's really cool to read opinions based only on canon too!

So my question is about the sexual orientation of the Cullens, do you think they all straight?

For example i saw someone saying that Edward maybe was demisexual and it left me thinking, so i just wanted to know your opinions about it :)

In short, no.

In alphabetical order:

Alice is with a man, but without getting into the mess that is Alice/Jasper here, I don’t think theirs is a particularly physical relationship. I mean, if Alice wanted to get laid, she could just decide to fuck Jasper, enjoy the vision, and bam. Itch scratched. Thanks, Jazz. Alright, I’ll be serious. Alice and Jasper are with each other because the other represents salvation, not so much because of a personal or physical attraction but because of mysticism. So to me that doesn’t really say much about Alice’s preference. All the same I can’t see Alice having a particular preference, she’s too... Alice. Although it is easier to picture her with women. She is also the second half of the Alice/Bella homoerotic extravaganza, which makes heterosexual Alice even more farfetched to me. So, bisexual or lesbian Alice.

Bella shows clear attraction to women as well as men. She’s attracted to Rosalie, Alice, Edward, and Carlisle. I’ll just give you guys quotes: Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students. The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl was pixielike, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. (Twilight, page 9) This is the Cullens’ introduction. I won’t spend much time on it, just notice the difference between Rosalie and the others. Rosalie is highlighted in a way Alice is not, and Edward is at first glance only the boyish one of the guys. Rosalie was the Cullen whose beauty immediately stood out to Bella. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful — maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy. (sic.) Bella has realized by now that Edward’s a grade A hottie, but she’s still torn between him and Rosalie. Bella then gets to know Alice, and they become friends who take showers together(!). Rosalie may be the most attractive Cullen woman, but Alice is the one Bella gets emotionally close to. We get this in New Moon:  UNNATURALLY STILL AND WHITE, WITH LARGE BLACK EYES intent on my face, my visitor waited perfectly motionless in the center of the halt, beautiful beyond imagining.  (...) I locked my arms around her, gasping to inhale as much of the scent of her skin as possible. It wasn't like anything else—not floral or spice, citrus or musk. No perfume in the world could compare. My memory hadn't done it justice. (New Moon, page 191) Bella never thought she’d never see any of the Cullens again, so for her to be hysterical and ecstatic upon seeing her second favorite is not by itself damning. I’m sure she’d be ecstatic to see Emmett too. It’s that fact that she’d missed Alice’s scent that’s interesting. The scent of her skin was something Bella was aware of before they parted. And while it may be tempting to say “it’s because they’re vampires, Bella’s admiring them like she would a work of art!”, Bella never dwells on Esme, Jasper, or Emmett in this way. Jasper and Emmett especially are not admired beyond the introduction of their characters. We never hear about what any of them smell like, nor does Bella remark upon their beauty after waking up a vampire. Carlisle and Edward, by comparison, are men she keeps noticing. Bella finds Carlisle blindingly beautiful when she first sees him as a vampire, and there’s this from New Moon: Though it erased the sting, it reminded me of the gash, and I watched Carlisle's face carefully to distract me from what his hands were doing. His hair gleamed gold in the bright light as he bent over my arm. (New Moon, page 18) There’s thinking someone is pretty, and then there’s gazing lovingly upon their face instead of pain killers. Bella is bisexual.

Carlisle moved in with a very gay man, had a close relationship with him, lived with him for the sake of his company for decades, and only left because of dietary differences. We don’t know for sure whether they actually had an affair or not, but the fact remains that of all the Cullens, Carlisle is the one who is implied to have had a homosexual relationship in canon. He loses his straight card based on that alone. Also gonna link this clip, because I’m Mac listening to Edward talk about how young Carlisle lived with this sexy Mycenaean Greek for a few decades when he was young. Aro is all the santas. Carlisle is bisexual.

Edward... oh boy. His brain is supposedly seventeen, and yet this very interesting thing happens in his relationship with Bella where he never notices her body. Not ever. By body I mean curves. Edward notices Bella’s skin, her frailty, her humanity. He praises her blushes, her doe-like eyes, her warmth, her softness, her swan-like neck, her delicious scent. The feminine aesthetic. He does not once notice her tits. The only tits he is on record noticing belong to Siobhan, and it’s because she has an impossible to ignore rack: She was profoundly female in shape—aggressively, forcefully female. (Midnight Sun, chapter Probability) It’s one thing for him to be old-fashioned and too quintessentially Edward to even think the word “boob”, but in 700+ pages of Midnight Sun there’s just this absence of this seventeen-year-old noticing her curves. More damningly, when seeing Alice’s vision of vampire!Bella, Edward is horrified at the sight of his love cold and hard. He doesn’t describe vampire!Bella by any of the positives, like “flawless”. Edward is attracted to the human, not the woman. What that means for his sexuality... well, I’m going to go ahead and point out that he is very weird about Carlisle, and it’s damning that the personality he projects onto Bella is so similar to Carlisle. I hesitate to apply a label here, but in my own, personal, headcanon we’re veering towards homosexual. Deeeeeeply closeted homosexual.

Emmett is straight. Straightest guy ever to straight.

Esme is pretty clearly taken with Carlisle. Though if she were to feel attracted towards another woman, I imagine she’d have no idea what to make of that, if she even recognized it for what it was. She’s from a very different time and still living in that time, and she continues to be very sheltered. Still, as per my personal headcanon, I see her as straight.

Jasper, who knows. Though if he’s into guys, he has probably gone for it in the past. I suppose I should write a meta on vampires and sexual norms in general, but in short I don’t think they all live monogamously like the Cullens. STDs and pregnancies are unheard of, as is social ostracizing. Vampires are hedonistic, Twilight vampires more so than any other. Which in turn means I don’t think Maria and Jasper were monogamous. A couple, sure, but I don’t think Maria would say “oh noes, I can’t, I’m with Jasper!” if someone she was attracted to made an overture, and same goes for Jasper. So, if Jasper was into guys, then sure. I can see Jasper/Peter happening, or even Charlotte/Jasper/Peter. Jasper is certainly into women, with the possibility of guys as well. And if so, then it’s probably happened.

Rosalie I’m shocked is with a guy in the first place, everything about her screams lesbian. However, she’s clearly into Emmett, so apparently she’s bisexual.

(I’m not including Renesmée in this, since she’s three months old by the time the series conclude.)

This all being said, several of these people are from very different times and wouldn’t have the same concepts of sexuality internalized as we do, so how they’d identify is a very different matter.

[magmagicstyle]

SPOILERS PT.1

Spoilers part 1 from my Twilight series: "The Kings' Love"

(Check masterlist)

I LOVE YOU

You felt his hand before you could even process what just happened. Of course, it wasn’t so hard to figure it out. You were fighting, but that wasn’t anything new. At least not in the last few days. After all, all you did lately was fight. He looked at you quite horrified but also annoyed. It was almost as if he was blaming you for being slapped. He didn’t even have the courtesy of being careful with his strength. No, he didn’t care enough to do that. Well, that wasn’t totally true, he didn’t care if you were the one on the other side of his hand, he would probably care if Bella was the one in your position.

EASIER

The return to Forks was quite uneventful for Bella and the two Cullens. The same thing happened at the airport, absolutely nothing special. Which was totally fine, at least for Bella. After all, they just went through hell. Who knew that someone would be so jealous of their ex that would try to kill him. But, after what Edward told her about (y/n) she couldn’t be really surprised. As soon as they were outside the airport, Bella could see how Jasper was walking towards them. She wanted to say hi, but Edward stopped her with his hand by grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to his body. She looked at the brunette with a confused expression on her face, noticing how Edward had a sudden frown on his perfect face. Jasper seemed to notice this too since he stopped and looked at his brother with a tired expression on his face. That was weird. Still, Bella didn't comment about it. Alice moved towards her boyfriend, walking like a fairy and stopped in front of him, grabbing his face in her little hands and making him look directly at his eyes. Jasper did it, looking at the petite vampire with so much intensity that Bella had to turn her face to the other side, feeling like she was intruding in a really private moment. She decided to move so she could hug Edward but soon enough, she noticed that the boy had left her alone, deciding to walk towards his adoptive parents and talk to them in whispers. Bella grabbed her arms and looked at her boyfriend while Carlisle and Esme showed expressions of concern, turning from time to time to look at Bella. After a few seconds, they talked to her, expressing their concerns for her wellbeing as well as their thankfulness for her actions and for the fact that she saved Edward from a certain death. Then, they helped her inside their car and then drove her to her house.

LIKE I'M GONNA LOSE YOU

You smiled towards the mirror, a beautiful robe covering your body, white silk with gold and black details, and there’s a necklace with three precious stones around your neck, the details are really special, each stone is representing your mates. Your eyes shine like two diamonds, full with hope and happiness, memories of the night before running wild inside your mind and just making you blush delicately. Maybe it wasn’t traditional but it sure was amazing and it reassured you that your mates loved you more than anything in the world. Your wonderful mates, your loved ones, your kings. One of your hands went up directly and caressed your bottom lip, a tingling sensation running from them towards your spine, making you shiver with pure pleasure and satisfaction. In your finger, a gorgeous silver ring shone catching your attention and making you blush more if that was even possible.

CRIMINAL

You were sitting on the wooden throne that was made specially for you. Your nails played with the textures under your hands while you looked at the little female vampire that was in front of you. What was her name again? Irina? It didn’t matter, what mattered was that she had some information about the Cullens that made them criminals in the eyes of the law. You knew that your mates were thrilled about the information, the idea of punishing the Cullens for their crimes and their sins against you and having a reason to do it thanks to the useful words of the blonde woman in front of you was enough to make them feel the excitement of the promise of a good hunt. They were ready to get everybody, to judge them as necessary and to show them that even if The Volturi were merciful with them thanks to the relationship between Carlisle and the brothers, they had reached a limit and they were trying to take on more than what they could chew.

-

The kings were quite surprised. If you had to be honest, you were surprised as well. After all, the idea of having witnesses was something that you didn't expect from the Cullens. This only meant that they knew that they weren't strong enough. Which made sense. After all, they lost one of his members without any warning and now this member was walking by your side, making sure that you were protected and ready to fight anyone that tried to harm you. So the numbers weren't really by their side. Still, the Cullens were usually cocky, feeling that they were stronger than the common vampire and acting like the kings of the world, so even if getting witnesses and -in case it was necessary- fighters was logical, the fact that Edward and Carlisle decided to admit that they were weaker than the Volturi was surprising. Another thing that was surprising was seeing how immortality was quite charming on Bella. Even if she didn't look too happy to be by Edward's side.

[totaltrashmammal101]

Home

Reader is based off of an OC I made for Twilight and never used. Her name is Elizabeth but the description will be set up like any other reader insert.

Elizabeth was the ex-mate of Aro, she was only eighteen when he turned her and locked her way till she was hungry enough to have killed her whole village including her own family, forced to live with the guilt. She had befriended Alistair after Aro grew tired of her and the two developed an interesting relationship, they were mates..and they never stopped being mates, but they understood they wanted different things. Alistair wanted to seclude himself while Elizabeth wanted to be near humans and other vampires. Alistair thought he was okay with her leaving, but he missed her, things were less bright around, his Lizzie only visited every decade, sometimes when she grew bored of the domestic life she'd come back to him.

When she arrived pleading for him to help her family, he reminded her that he was supposed to be her family and she rolled her gold eyes and gave him that look

"Ali, you know what I mean!"

"It's a death wish, if anything you and I should be going into hiding." She reached up and played with his beard

"I won't let anything happen to us, please I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasn't urgent. I didn't fuss at you when you didn't come to the wedding, but I'm asking this of you my love." He let out a useless sigh and laid his forehead on yours

"Is your room still in the attic?"

"Yes, just as you left it so you can sulk." He took her hands in his and studied her features, the scar across her face, the memory of Aro giving it to her replayed in his head as the man broke up with her and the two of them fled later that night. He packed a bag and they met up with Carlisle and Esme a couple days later in England to fly home.

Bella and the others found it amusing how different their Liz was to Alistair. It was nice to see her light up and be a bit more playful as she was usually so serious. Alistair didn't come out of the attic much, but when he did he liked making her flustered, playing with Liz's hair or pinning her to the tree and calling her 'Lizzie'.

"They've always been like that." Carlisle shrugged watching his "sister" and Alistair standing in the tree. When Alistair decided to leave he packed Lizzie's bags and he was going to force her, he couldn't lose her, and she hated her for a few centuries he was okay with that as long as she was around.

"Alistair, my love...you know I'm not going."

"You are! End of discussion, if I lose you I'll destroy everything." He charged at her, her backing up not used to her behaving this way

"Ali I have to do this."

"I won't die here, not like this." He shakes his head and grabs her face and she sighs and leans into his hand

"When this is over I'll go home with you."

"You're coming home now." He tried sound stern but he was soft for only her, in his own way, and she simply kissed his palm and held it close to her chest

"I have to do this, that little girl deserves a chance at life with her parents." She watched as he nodded and grabbed his bag and she pushed one of her bags towards him

"I'll bring the other one with me my love." He kissed her and left without another word. All he did was worry about her, but she knew his fear of death grew daily and while the others called him a coward she would glare and say

"Maybe we're all just to suicidal to notice when to leave." When the Aro and the others arrived, she thought of Alistair, pushing away the thoughts that maybe she should have left with him and when Aro reluctantly left she smiled and embraced her family, they knew what it meant. She would leave, but it was clear that this time would be longer than normal if not permanent. Renesmee cried into her aunt's chest asking her to please not stay away for too long

"I'll bring you gifts when I return my love." Liz smiled kissing her forehead

[witchyangela]

✨No-nuance November Twilight Takes ✨

The Cullens actually aren’t chaotic at all and don’t really even have found family vibes, the people you are looking for is the wolf pack.

Jasper and Alice’s relationship is actually really boring and not at all developed like it’s not the peak romance people think it is...

Carlisle is super morally grey and does some very sus things... that being said he is the most interesting Cullen and his and Esme’s relationship is cute actually

Imprinting is the most stupid thing in canon and it’s so so dodgy... everyone who romanticises it pls don’t... also people who seem to think vampire mates and “singers” are the same thing as imprinting...

No one in the wolf pack got the character development they deserved (even Jake) and frankly the fandom care about them so much more than Smeyer ever did

Smeyer having Seth as her “model minority” who supported all the Cullens did was gross and people who act like he’s the only good werewolf cos of this .... no

The character who had the worst character assassination (aside from Jake) was 100% Bella like she’s not even recognisable at the end of the series... it’s kinda horror movie esque ( ask me about twilight Midsommer parallels)

Katherine Hardwick is not the “lord and saviour” people say she is ... like twilight slaps but calling someone who cast a white boy as the most important native character unproblematic is not it bois

The blue tint isn’t as good as the new moon gold tint

Twilight as a series is inherently racist and sexist and we can’t headcanon that away... consume media critically pls

[notquitetwilight]

Character ask: Emmett

Sorry this is so late!!!

Sexuality Headcanon: Idk I sorta see him as mostly being attracted to women but I also feel like even tho he seems like the poster child for Straight All-American Bro™️ he’s actually not bothered by labels at all and just goes with the flow/how he feels? He’s such a good-natured people person who’s also very in tune with what feels right to him so it’s really hard for me to see him labelling himself (and I mean that in the best possible way bc questioning/not being comfortable with labels is perfectly okay too 💞)

Gender Headcanon: Dudebro but like. May or may not have a drag alter ego

A ship I have with said character: Emmett x Rosalie I literally picture them as the ‘I love you bitch, I ain’t never gonna stop lovin you...bitch’ vine

A BROTP I have with said character: Emmett x literally everyone???? It actually hurts my heart that Jasper got to integrate into the student body more than Emmett did because Rose and Emmett were graduated by Eclipse. He belongs on all the sports teams...Rosalie and Emmett should have been head cheerleader and quarterback but Carlisle wouldn’t allow them to go for it bc they’d be too powerful 😌✨

A NOTP I have with said character: I haven’t seen any weird pairings for him (THANKFULLY and NO THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION FOR YOU TO SEND ME SOME) but I’m sure there are probably some cursed ones out there

A random headcanon: I have so many Rosalie/Emmett ones from the beginning of their relationship because I hate how Smeyer wrote them as falling into bed so quickly given Rosalie’s past, so much so that I might make a separate post for them. But for now, I headcanon that she’s tried tutoring him on multiple occasions and it’s almost ended in divorce each time lol

Also I like to think when the Irish coven come to visit he goes full on “I’m white American and I make my Irish surname my only personality trait” and harps on about how his great-great-great-great-grandfather’s-uncle’s-cousin’s-dog’s-sister was Irish and asks a bunch of questions about The Old Country™️ and Liam thinks he’s an eejit and wants him to shut the fuck up but Siobhán finds it endearing and answers them patiently. Maggie decides to mess with him and convince him a bunch of stereotypes are real to the point where he ends up buying a box of Lucky Charms and planting a few in the garden to see if they’ll grow into a pot of gold

General Opinion over said character: I love my kind feminist himbo son I would die for him

[bellaslilpapercut]

What smeyer accidentally taught us about cults (and herself):

part 2 of this meta! If you have not already read this post by @fuckmeyer and this post by @witchyangela please do! They tie into this half of the meta.

In the last couple of paragraphs in part 1, I mentioned that I believe smeyer was writing from her own experience in describing Bella’s hollow relationship with the Cullens. I would be willing to forgive that if, at the time she wrote Twilight, smeyer was simply too inexperienced to write believable relationship dynamics. However, the friendship she captured between Jacob and Bella during New Moon felt organic- we know she can do better. Furthermore, nothing fundamentally changed about the Ed/Bella relationship between Twilight and Midnight Sun despite smeyer’s fifteen years of additional writing experience and feedback. Smeyer has also made no claims or changes to canon that indicate any recognition of the half-hearted nature of Edward and Bella’s relationship or the Cullen’s familial ties. She believes that she has written a love story. 

In the progression from Twilight to Breaking Dawn, I think we can see smeyer’s own personal journey with her relationship to LDS. In New Moon, Bella comes dangerously close to recognizing the nature of her relationship with the Cullens and, by extension, smeyer comes dangerously close to criticising mormonism. I don’t think smeyer meant to draw such an obvious parallel but it’s difficult to ignore. Bella never feels like she is good enough to be in the company of the Cullens until she is one while she feels immediately at home in Emily’s kitchen, welcomed as she is by Jake and the pack. Bella- and by extension smeyer- never makes the connection that we as readers do between Edward’s callousness and Jacob’s warmth. Sure, she brings them up both plenty. But Edward’s coldness is routinely linked to his perfection- it is never stated that he himself is a cold hearted, cruel, unloving person. Despite mounds of textual evidence that Edward is cold-hearted, that he doesn’t really love Bella, that he is a predator by nature, smeyer does not want to risk casting him as the “wrong choice” for Bella. They’re soulmates! She said so! This also ties in to the infamous assassination of Jacob’s character during Eclipse. 

One of the primary differences between cults and other social groups is the inability to question authority and teachings of cult leaders. This is true in LDS as well as in the Cullen family. I believe we see smeyer challenging LDS throughout New Moon and Eclipse by using Bella’s choice between Jacob and Edward. Edward, as a Cullen, represents LDS while Jacob represents “freedom” (freedom here in quotes because I cannot think of a more suitable word choice). In New Moon, as @fuckmeyer points out in the linked post above, Bella’s choice is framed as life (Jacob) or death (Edward). By the end of Eclipse, the choice has been reframed as life or eternal life- eternal life for those that follow Carlisle Cullen’s teachings. *I forgot to include this in part 1 but @witchyangela mentions it in the linked post: one of the factors that puts the Cullens into “cult territory” is isolation- the Cullens rarely interact with other vampires until BD and Edward regularly paints other vampires in a negative light. Vampirism is close to perfection in smeyer’s world but the Cullens are truly Made Perfect by the teachings of Carlisle.*

Smeyer made this thematic shift in Bella’s choice in part because she was conflicted about her own choice. As I said, she was dangerously close to the revelation that the love the Cullens showered on Bella could not hold a candle to the love and family Bella found with the pack- and that would mean recognizing that the “community” within LDS was flawed as well. It was ultimately a revelation that smeyer could not afford to make. While she likely could afford the lawyers you apparently need to leave LDS, there are greater tolls in leaving a cult than the mere financial cost. We see Bella make a similar choice in Eclipse, once the theme has shifted to “life vs eternal life.” For Bella, giving up on her dreams of vampirism, on finally being fully accepted into the Cullen clan, would be akin to smeyer giving up the keys to heaven. Neither could afford to lose the surety that comes with the promise of eternal perfection and bliss. 

Now, I fully believe that this was all subconscious on smeyer’s part. I believe that she was really pushing herself to expand the series to include New Moon and Eclipse and that she needed to pull inspiration from deep inside of herself to write these novels. But I also believe that the themes are there. Everyone who has read the saga critically has noticed the eeriness of the Cullens and the inconsistency in their characterizations- sometimes they are the perfect predator, sometimes they are the perfect family. I’m all for complex characters but the Cullen’s simply do not read that way. Bella is never truly afraid of them- only other vampires. When they are criticized in-text, it is by characters that smeyer wants us to dislike, like Leah. Seth Clearwater is sunshine boy because he loves the Cullens too! We’re supposed to love them. But they often come across as, like I mentioned in part 1, eery pantomimes of humanity rather than the real deal. We don’t really know them so we can’t truly love them. And when we watch Bella insist that she knows them, that they are good, that they love her, it’s frankly unsettling. 

We see smeyer’s failure to confront LDS again in Breaking Dawn. The saga built to a massive confrontation, promised a battle, a shift, a change, something. And in the end, the two sides meets and... walk away from one another. No deaths, no battle of ideologies. The Cullens stay together, no one questions Carlisle, no one punishes the vampires, suddenly there are dozens of non-Cullen vampires around but there is no great clash there either. The ending feels unsatisfying because the rules were changed on us- the conflict is not between life and death anymore. We have suddenly returned to the conflict of Twilight, Bella wants to be accepted into the Cullen’s world. In Breaking Dawn, she is. Had the series remained a duo, this would have been satisfying enough. We wanted Bella to be accepted somewhere and then she was- happy ending! But in writing New Moon, smeyer had to pull from elsewhere and the themes did change and her beliefs were being challenged. 

New Moon still feels like the most comprehensive book in the saga. The relationships feel real, Bella feels more real. We’re adding layers to Twilight- maybe the Cullens aren’t perfect? How could they do this to Bella? Are we finally seeing the downsides to vampirism? This is all thrown away. I do recognize that a large part of this is because smeyer is not a great writer, she was attached to her planned ending and by g-d she was going to get there. I also recognize that the similarity between the Cullens and LDS, Carlisle and Joseph Smith, the little hints of herself that smeyer scattered throughout the series, are all too manyfold to ignore. Smeyer was building to a satisfying confrontation. She wanted to show us the downsides of vampirism with Bree Tanner, with the New Moon storyline, with the Eclipse backstories. New Moon and Eclipse quite literally feel as if she is telling us “all that glitters isn’t gold” (pun intended). But Bella chooses eternity, uncritically, unflinchingly. And smeyer, who was building to a conflict with her own beliefs, ultimately cannot sacrifice to sever those ties. She chooses mormonism. 

[panlight]

Hii! I love your blog, is amazing!

I been reading your drabbles and fixed for you stories and i really like you writing.

I was wondering if you had one of Rosalie and Edward sibling relationship? I find their relationship so interesting and with so much potential.

I wrote this like JUST before MS came out and kind of ruined it, but I’ll share it now away. 

“You are being incredibly rude to Carlisle.”

“Good,” Rosalie said. “That's the idea.”

“I know this life is not one you would have chosen,” Edward said.  He certainly had his own inner conflicts about it, but he could not abide Rosalie’s treatment of Carlisle. If only she could see the perfect sincerity of his mind! His good, however misguided, intentions! “But it's better than being dead, surely.”

“Says you,” she spat back. “After what happened to me? I was ready to die. So forgive me if I'm not filled with gratitude to your daddy for ‘saving’ me.”

“You say that now,” he said quietly, “but you don't know what the future holds.” He was surprised at himself. He was never much of an optimist. Perhaps Carlisle’s influence was having an effect after all.

“Spending eternity pretending to be your sister? Lucky, lucky me.”

“I imagine being my sister is no walk in the park, I admit. But is it so terrible to be Esme’s daughter?”

Her demeanor changed, and she looked up at Edward. Her eyes had turned gold months ago, after her newborn year was over. Edward had hoped it would mean in a change in attitude as well, but they had not been so lucky. The only one of them she seemed to like at all was Esme. Of course, who wouldn't like Esme?

“Esme deserves the world,” Rosalie said softly. “After she lost her baby, after she ran away from her disgusting husband.” She looked up at Edward with something akin to respect. “If you hadn't killed him already, I would have gone and done it.”

“It's not necessarily my proudest moment--”

“It should be!” Her tone was fierce. “It is what monsters like him deserve!”

“And what do monsters like us deserve?”

“I'm not a monster,” Rosalie said. “I've never tasted human blood. Unlike some people.”

“Do you consider Esme a monster, then?”

“No!”

“I know it's easy to lose hope with this life. And to resent Carlisle for giving it to you—to us. But I know what it's like to live the way others like us do, Rosalie. I was not sold on Carlisle's way of life and left him, and Esme, for a number of years. I lived like a proper vampire, for the hunt, for the blood. I only killed men with evil thoughts, men who were more of a predator than I was, but it was so bleak. So pointless. So lonely. A life with Esme and Carlisle is infinitely better. They make me better. They make me . . . happier. I look at them and wonder if maybe I might have that in my future too. Someone to love as they love each other.”

Rosalie's beautiful face twisted into disgust. “Oh, gross, Edward, you're practically my brother--!”

“No, no! Not you!” Edward exclaimed, equally horrified by the thought.

They looked at each other, ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, and burst into laughter. It was a rare sound for both of them. A rare sound in the family in general. This sort of uproarious laughter was, quite literally, unheard of.

“I just meant that it took Carlisle 250 years to find Esme. Maybe I'll find someone someday. Maybe you will, too.”

“That won't fix being frozen, never moving forward,” Rosalie said.

“No,” Edward agreed, “but don’t you think it would make it all easier to bear?”