#freeheidi

Another fic I'll probably never write, so please adopt:

It's common fanon that the vampire world might eventually get together and overthrow the Volturi. Specifically, I like the idea of this revolution igniting around a more specific rallying point besides just "We're tired of Volturi rule."

Heidi's predicament would be perfect for this.

In Breaking Dawn, Eleazar finally put two and two together re: Aro's habit of poaching gifted vampires by persecuting their covens. He (Eleazar) talked about this openly among the Cullen witnesses. He and Edward also spoke openly about what Chelsea does. Even the Volturi's witnesses might have heard Edward say that Chelsea was trying to break their bonds. This is presumably (?) new information to those witnesses, who in turn began to spread that news throughout the greater vampire world.

So this is some good dirt on the Volturi, maybe enough push dissent into open revolution. But whoever will be orchestrating that revolution is aware that making the cause even more personal will attract more support.

So they launch the #FREEHEIDI campaign. Heidi is well-known and probably well-liked in the vampire world already, and this is the perfect time to dredge up the circumstances of her induction into the Guard. The best part of the campaign is that they don't even need Heidi's cooperation; the whole point is that her free will was taken away. Much is made about how much she's lost, how hard she's being worked, and for what dark purposes her gift might be employed. Plenty of assumptions are made and those assumptions become facts.

There are other candidates for poster victim, of course: Demetri's situation is pretty similar to Heidi's. Benjamin could stand for all the free gifted vampires who live in fear of being enslaved, especially because his youth and gentle spirit give him an air of vulnerability. Vampires like Siobhan and refugees from the American Southern Wars can testify how the Volturi failed to protect/rescue them. Or the cause could focus around the casualties of Volturi greed: the focus could be on Hilda instead of Heidi, for example. Vengeance, after all, is a powerful force in vampire society.

I think Heidi is the best candidate, though, since she is already well-known and her story is so tragic. And the fact that she's still being victimized now and still in need of rescue now will lend a powerful sense of urgency to the cause. And the fact that she can't be present to speak for herself gives her place as a figurehead a certain legendary feel to it. It makes her larger than life (unlife?).

(The #FREEHEIDI name was sort of a crackfic joke at first, but...? This could be the first time vampire culture gets interconnected digitally. If enough vampires get online* together, this campaign has the potential to gain steam quickly and also succeed through good organization. And having a catchy name that stokes everyone's righteous anger...always a strong recruitment strategy.)

The question is: who is orchestrating this campaign? And what is their true motive?

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*If the campaign starts online, the person behind it could stay anonymous. That'll keep things interesting.