#themythicalfedora

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Omfg, Swanhilde is completely and utterly usurping Bella's position as mother (just without the explicit title) even more thoroughly than even Rosalie ever could have done, and all without actually trying to do so! It makes me wonder how this situation would go with Hong Bellamy instead of Swanhilde Bellamy. Could you elaborate on that, Muffin?

The Seventh Seal.

To catch readers up. Bella's gift traveled back in time but ended up in Renesmee's body instead, concluded it was Renesmee's gift now, had to make a hallucination to keep Renesmee company, and then made that hallucination a person when the Cullens wigged out.

When it's Hong's female alternate form, Swanhilde, Bella loses her goddamn mind out of insecurity/feeling usurped in every way.

It's Hong Instead

Bella's fine now.

Oddly enough, a strange, beautiful, man fixating on her daughter and being the missing brother the Cullens never mentioned doesn't bother her in the least. There's no sense of competition, asking why Edward didn't choose Hong, no comparing herself to Hong and feeling herself come up short in every field that matters.

Bella's actually relieved as she'd been terrified about what the lack of Jacob would mean for her daughter. Hong's not her imprint, no one will be, but he's more than willing to babysit and form an emotional connection with her that the other Cullens (sans Rosalie but let's not mention her) aren't interest in.

Bella's Hong's number one fan and is very eager to get to know him as a brother-in-law to help cement her place in the family. She eagerly accepts the story of him being away in Europe and not having a cell phone during all the time Bella was in Forks. She accepts Alice not being able to find him for the trial as he's a hybrid, like Renesmee, Alice can't see him and had no idea where to look.

It's Edward who's going to be a problem.

What's Wrong with Edward?

Now, Edward's not the first anymore. He wasn't the one who started off the Cullens, it was Carlisle finding Hong in France/Germany (Edward does not question too deeply why a man by the name of "Hong" would have that appearance in that country at that time period except to grouse about it internally).

Added onto this, Hong has excellent control, never left the diet, is well-traveled, is a learned musician, can even do things like cook, and has always been and always looked more human than Edward.

Hong is everything Edward wants to be, and he does it effortlessly.

Now, Hong returns, and it's to the delight of Edward's wife and his daughter.

And it just gets worse. Hong talks freely with Carlisle about all the years they spent together when Edward hadn't been turned yet/when Edward left to eat rapists, Esme dotes on him as if he were her own son, everyone gets along with him even more than they do Edward.

And Hong, while stupidly gifted in a way even Edward has to recognize, has none of Edward's drawbacks. His gift isn't always on, he can respect the family's privacy, but he always knows what he needs to or can quickly find it out.

Edward begins to realize that he was happiest when Hong was away, that Hong returning changes things.

Hong even fucking looks more like Carlisle than Edward does, something that bothers Edward tremendously in Midnight Sun.

Edward Pretends it's Fine

Edward wants to be the better man, so he puts a smile on, and pretends this is great.

However, he breaks.

Bella's gushing about how amazing Hong is and how she wished she could have met him earlier in Forks. She pesters Edward with all sorts of questions about what Hong is like during the high school routine, how long he was in Germany for, how Carlilse found him, how he and Edward first met, what he thinks of Bella, etc.

Edward answers these curtly and tries to deflect the answers back to himself. Don't you want to know how cool I was in high school, Bella? Hong's boring, he's the pity brother.

Renesmee's also gushing about Friend/Uncle Hong, look daddy, they made a picture together! "Don't you want to talk about me, Renesmee?" Edward asks and Renesmee sort of stares because she hasn't seen Bella or Edward in three days.

At talk of them moving, on whether Hong should stay home to babysit full time or attend high school with them, on realizing that Hong Bellamy truly is back to stay and will be with them forever, Edward just dies inside.

Edward, feeling deeply insecure, realizes he can't do this.

Edward Subtly Hints Hong Should Go Back to Europe

Edward approaches Hong and starts dropping hints that it's great Hong came back and all, amazing, Edward missed him so much, but this isn't the best time.

Bella's new to vampirism and is in a very delicate place with the loss of Jacob (oh right, you didn't know that Hong, because you're not actually important). Renesmee's growing up fast, lost Jacob, and has deep emotional issues as shown by Friend. That Hong looks like this Friend character could only execrabate them.

The best thing Hong can do for the family is go back to Europe for a few years and keep--doing whatever he was even doing over there.

Hong refuses.

Edward then approaches Carlisle with this same argument. Wow, so great Hong's back, missed him tons, he should go to Europe because wife and baby. Carlisle reminds Edward that he can't and won't banish Hong to Europe, plus, that would just make Bella feel rejected and Renesmee as well.

Carlisle also doesn't see what the problem is. Hong's great with Renesmee, Bella seems to like him and seems to be making strides since Jacob's uh--whatever happened to Jacob, everyone's missed him for years, why would Carlisle kick him out when he's finally come home?

Edward has no good answer to that and goes away to stew.

Edward Gaslights Himself

Edward tells himself that he doesn't dislike Hong for unfounded reasons. That there appears to be nothing outwardly wrong with him, no pig-headed vanity like Rosalie, no violent past like Jasper, means that whatever's wrong with him must be more sinister.

Just what was he doing away for so many years anyway? Are they sure he stuck to the diet?

Why come back now after the danger is long over? Surely, even if the Cullens couldn't find him, he would hear through whatever means Vladimir and Stefan heard.

Edward tells himself that Hong is not only dislikable but a malevolent actor, an unworthy fraud, someone who only pretends to be this perfect but isn't truly.

He's come back, clearly, to ruin Edward's life personally.

Edward Confronts Hong Again

This time, Edward brings out the big accusations, he knows what Hong's up to. Hong plans to take the only thing Edward's ever loved, Bella Swan, away from him along with all of Edward's family and his daughter because he's an evil menace.

"HONG BELLAMY ISN'T EVEN A NAME" - Edward Cullen

Hong, once again, refuses to leave and also cannot understand what Edward's fucking deal is.

Hong has one job in life, one, protect Renesmee, and for some reason Edward's yammering onto him about Hong sleeping with his wife on the sly.

"Cool story, bro," Hong says then leaves the room.

Edward Summons a Family Meeting

Edward rings the proverbial gong and summons the family to dramatically tell them all his suspicions about Hong. Hong is a Volturi sleeper agent, he always has been, that's why Carlisle found him in Europe and why he didn't attend the trial. He also is clearly sent as a hybrid because they know that Alice's visions will be blocked.

Now, he's here to destroy the coven forever and ruin their lives.

Rosalie points out Hong could kill them all at any time.

Carlisle points out that, when he first met Hong, the Volturi had no reason to send a secret agent to infiltrate the coven he didn't have. They also have no reason to have secret agents. Period.

Emmett points out Hong's now been her for months and hasn't done anything. Wouldn't Hong have sold them off to the Volturi ages ago if that was the case?

Alice points out that, as much as Hong annoys her because ew vision blocking, he was here long before she showed up and so couldn't have been chosen by Aro to prevent her visions.

Renesmee shows the pretty picture of a rainbow that she and Uncle Hong drew together.

Bella's mortified. She's just mortified.

The family awkwardly suggests that maybe what Edward needs is a break and a vacation. He and Bella can go somewhere, they'll take care of Renesmee (read Hong will take care of Renesmee), and he can destress.

(Rosalie has also now gaslit herself into having distinct memories of Edward always having loathed Hong from the start out of jealousy and insecurity.)

Edward never thought the entire family, even Alice, would disbelieve him and feels not only abandoned but betrayed.

He confronts Bella later, she at least has to believe him, but Bella suggests that maybe they all just need to calm down a bit. What the others said sounds reasonable and Hong seems kind of amazing (and hot).

It Escalates

As you can imagine, we keep escalating, as Edward has to get rid of the threat to his family.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hey, Muffin!

Just asking a question I've been wondering and which was highlighted by the newest chapter of The Seventh Seal: Who is the second (third?) Renesmee's biological father?

Before being changed into a vampire, was Bella's DNA disorted into a male with the Y-chromosome naturally belonging to Charlie while the X-chromosome remained the same/came from Renée (the parent samples wouldn't be clones of each other even though they would be genetically siblings), or was there some other way you thought Renesmee 2.0 (3.0?) got her biological father?

Weird question, I know, but would be great if you shared your thoughts!

The Seventh Seal

Hong just used Carlisle again.

If it's not broke, why fix it?

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Oh. My. God. I just read your most recent post about Bella being more immature both mentally and physically than her own child, and I just want you to know that I'm now picturing a 25-year-old-going-on-7-year-old Carlie meeting her 19-year-old mom in a flowing goth dress with black laces and long bell sleeves, stylishly/gently curled hair, complete with red lipstick and black eyeshadow.

And then instead of saying anything to her mom, she immediately starts talking with her grandmother, with Renée complimenting Carlie on her "bravery and disregard for society's norms" and Bella fuming in horrified jealousy while not knowing who she is most jealous of. Bella then desperately tries to get either of their attention while both Renée and Carlie ignore her the way one would dismiss an annoying little kid.

....And now I kinda want this fic.

That's a beautiful image and...

While Bella was never into the goth scene, by all accounts, you're not wrong.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I just had a thought/headcanon while reading A Glass Slipper: since no one knows Bella's name and they can't very well call her "Marcus 2.0", at some point they begin calling her "Marca" in honor of her Marcusness and the two always hanging out together. Neither Marcus nor Bella know this. Aro, whenever he does come back, learns and despairs.

Anon's referring to A Glass Slipper. Oh man, you give them too much credit. Aro won't give up on trying to find the name and Caius will either resort to "girl" or "woman" or "human" as appropriate.

But I do like your awful awful name for her.