Knightingale Writes

Every time Edward asks her "Should we play your favourite?" and she nodds, Carlisle sighs and gains his place at the piano, because most Bach's arrangement for piano are four-handed.

tl;dr: because the wolfpack represents america’s changing values while the cullens embody america’s old system of values

throughout the series, smeyer places the cullens on a pedestal & holds them up as the ‘ideal.’ this is because the cullens encapsulate what 2005 america valued & saw as ‘perfection.’

based on what bella finds attractive about the cullens & what smeyer chooses to show about them, here are the american values that the cullens represent:

wealth: not only $$$ as a status symbol, which is used to separate the cullens from the humans. but also using wealth/materialism as a means to say “i love you” (the yellow porsche edward gifts alice, the island carlisle gifts esme, etc.)

european beauty standards: pale skin, light eyes, et cetera, are praised & valued by bella. darker-skinned vampires exist but are “othered” in text.

perfection without effort: perfect memory, perfect motor skills, perfect beauty - all it takes is 3-5 days of excruciating pain. i would describe it as an empty meritocracy (which for some reason boomers LOVE ??)

individualism over collectivism*: the cullens using their time/resources to only benefit themselves. (& bella) *(i genuinely believe this is slight character assassination by smeyer. MOST of the cullens are part of the civic-minded GI-generation & would be raised to be more collectivist, as the majority of the cullens experience generational traumas like Spanish Flu, WWII, Great Depression, etc.)

european culture: the italian volturi defined as being ‘royalty.’ deference to european status quo by the end of BD.

do americans still value these things? yes. do they value them as much in 2020 as they did in 2005? i would argue no. i think for many, the cullens aren’t as sexy, desired, or lusted after as in ‘05 bc they symbolize an outdated american value system.

now, let’s compare these values to the values the wolfpack demonstrates throughout the series:

experiences > wealth: not only does the wolfpack place higher value on experiences (dinner with friends & family, bonfires, storytelling, cliff diving), but they express their feelings for others through actions, not expensive gifts (see: the bracelet charm that jacob carved for bella; leah dunking on bella on jake’s behalf in eclipse)

beauty as a result of personality, not looks: bella describes the physical features of the wolfpack as attractive in an “othering” way. but personality/characteristics & physical features do go hand-in-hand in these descriptions. when bella describes jake as beautiful, she’s taking into account his sunny personality - by contrast, descriptions of cullens/edward are all about physical features.

perfection/gain through effort: a BIG theme of new moon is seeking & accepting (& rejecting) a state of perfection/peace. that’s what the motorbikes symbolize: taking broken, shitty things & putting in the effort to fix them into something fun, new, & exciting. jacob becoming alpha is another example, as it takes a huge personal sacrifice w/ much to gain.

collectivism > individualism: found family trope illustrates the millennial/gen-z value of collaboration, cooperation, & choosing the collective. despite the trouble that bella causes the wolfpack, they still band together to protect her from victoria. emily cleaning & fashioning clothes for the pack is another example of valuing the whole over the individual.

cultural equality: even tho smeyer clearly portrays the cullens as better than, the text does not support her ideas. bella holds the cullens as this aloof, detached bunch that are so out of her league. meanwhile, the indigenous stories told & wolfpack/quileute events held throughout the series consistently guide bella, give her answers, & provide her with a sense of community that doesn’t exclude her based on her perceived imperfections.

tl;dr [the long version]: twilight was popular in 2005 bc middle-aged women who were brought up in a materialistic patriarchal society loved the cullens for upholding the old order of american values & the “rewards” that come with it (“you too could someday marry a rich, beautiful, perfect ‘bad-boy’ who showers u w/ expensive gifts”).

The human experience bella was abt to get:

at the beginning of the year i finally left an 8 year long hellhole of an abusive situation following the sudden death of my grandmother, for whom my mother and i had been caring for. after a very long and protracted Legal Family Fun Time i got my inheritance at the very beginning of 2020, £10,000.

in the first months of 2020 i gave £2800 of that back to friends and strangers to help with their bills and so on because i wouldn’t have survived or managed to support my family for those 8 years without the help and support of other people. another £2000 went on finally buying myself a proper bed and mattress, a desk, chair, and computer. i had plans. it was going to be a tight year but not impossible, and with the money i’d make from work i could start saving again.

i intended to learn to drive this year, to go back to university, and to get a couple of part-time jobs. with our savings and us in work we could buy a small place to live and not have to have the threat of eviction over our heads ever again.

COVID hit, of course, in march/april. i live in london, and both my mother and i are high-risk for death if we even get a whiff of COVID, so every single plan we intended went up in smoke, including work, as we went into isolation. even the freelance work i used to do to keep bills ticking over was impossible because it was within the beauty industry, which has all but been shut down because of COVID.

i have had no income. at all. for a year. while paying bills and half-rent and food. we don’t qualify for any of the reliefs because neither of us were fully employed yet, and the online jobs i had lined up fell through as companies restructured.

i’m trying my hardest to get my skills up to commission level for the 3D work i do, but i need help. again. because 2020 was abysmal for all of us. i’ve put this off for as long as i possibly could, but i’m down to around £800 and i still can’t forsee myself landing a job in this situation that won’t put myself and my mother at the very real risk of death in the next two or three months.

if you have anything to spare and want to help, my paypal is [email protected] or can be found here

if you have nothing to give (because let’s face it, COVID has been hell on all our bank accounts) then please signal boost this post, the more people that see this more more it might reach someone that is in a place to help.

yes you

do you hate stephenie meyer? do you want to read her shitty books without giving her any more money?

boy have I got just the thing for you

twilight

new moon

eclipse

breaking dawn (I think this is that weird pregnancy au somebody wrote?? idk)

bonus

midnight sun

midnight sun (partial draft)

short second life of bree tanner

life and death (I'm so sorry this is the best I could find if anyone has anything else lmk)

ive been on twilight tumblr for a wee bit now, maybe late september/early october and i have yet to make many mutuals!! id love to meet new people who love twilight and that i can talk to abt it!!

some facts abt me:

my names thimble, im 17 and i live in tx! i use they/them pronouns and love all things nature/twilight/witchcraft/true crime! im nd and this dumb series has brought me so much joy during my down days.

i dont have many friends irl as i tend to distance myself and enjoy being alone, but the few friends i do have i hold very near and dear to my heart.

ive just recently joined twilight twitter and tumblr as ive just gotten into the series in late august!

id love to make more friends! you can dm me here or add me on discord! my discord is thimble#2510, if you have any twilight discords, thatd be awesome too!!