It began in 2005.
Stephenie Meyer published Twilight, a book that would become one of the greatest pop culture phenomena of our time. The idea may have seemed alluring at first – who doesn’t love vampires? – but after four books and five movies, the novelty quickly wore off. It was everywhere, and if it wasn’t, the insanely dedicated Twi-hards made sure it was mentioned. With the release of Breaking Dawn Part 2 in 2012, the vast majority of the free world felt one thing: relief. It’s over. We made it.
Boy, were we wrong.
Like the vampires centric to the story, The Twilight Saga just won’t die. Maybe the first time you thought you were done was when you finished the book series, only to find out it was being made into a movie. At the time, this development didn’t seem too bad, as we still had time to enjoy the story, but Meyer simply didn’t realize that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And even now, ten years later, we still cannot get away from it. Read on for a list of times you may have thought you had finally seen the last of Twilight…and, unfortunately, were mistaken.
Any time you ventured down the glitter aisle in Michael’s and were immediately reminded of the phrase, “real men sparkle.”
When you realized Meyer published a spin-off, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.
When it was rumored that the next book would be Midnight Sun, the story told entirely from Edward’s perspective. Luckily for us, it was leaked and therefore never published.
When you see one of the actors who played a minor character in Twilight in something else and you just know.
When you can’t read a K-Stew or R-Patz interview without it being mentioned.
The nicknames “K-Stew” and “R-Patz.”
Seriously. People still use those.
When Fifty Shades of Grey was published and attracted quite a lot of attention and scandal, only for you to find out that it was originally Twilight fanfiction.
When current TV shows unironically borrow songs from the movie soundtracks. (Anyone else hear “A Thousand Years” in the Scream Queens pilot?)
When Twilight reached its tenth anniversary and Meyer sat back, reread the series and thought, “You know what would be a good idea? If I made Bella a guy.”
Unfortunately, that last one is not a joke. Earlier this month, Meyer announced a rewrite of the first book, titled Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined. Meyer noted that the criticism of Bella overwhelmingly called her a damsel in distress and called the storyline sexist, so she decided to turn that on its head by republishing the series’ first book. Bella became Beaufort, Jacob became Julie, and Edward became Edythe. So far, Meyer does not plan to rewrite the entire series, although that could still be a possibility. I’m sure someone in Hollywood is already vying for the film rights.
And so, collegiettes, I leave you with one question: Are you Team Edythe or Team Julie?