JACOB BLACK

Jacob "Jake" Black is the fictional tritagonist in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. He is described as a Native American of the Quileute tribe in La Push, near Forks, Washington. In the second book of the series, he undergoes a transformation that allows him to morph into a wolf. For the majority of the series, Jacob competes with Edward Cullen for Bella Swan's love.

Concept and creation
According to Stephenie Meyer, Jacob was originally meant to only be a device through which Bella could learn Edward's secret in Twilight. However, Meyer, her agent, and her editor all liked the character so much that they decided to give him a larger role in the following book, New Moon, with Meyer calling the character, "my favorite gift that New Moon gave to me."

"Jacob was my first experience with a character taking over—a minor character developing such roundness and life that I couldn't keep him locked inside a tiny role....From the very beginning, even when Jacob only appeared in chapter six of Twilight, he was so alive. I liked him. More than I should for such a small part."

Meyer has said that after Jacob started emerging as a prominent character in New Moon, she went back to Twilight, which she was editing at the time, to "weave Jacob and [his father Billy] throughout Twilight more centrally."

Characterization
Physical appearance
Jacob has russet skin, black hair and dark eyes. In Twilight, he is described as a lanky 6'2" fifteen-year-old with hair down to his shoulders. By Breaking Dawn, Jacob stands at 7 feet and has a muscular build. In New Moon, after discovering that he can turn into a wolf, he cuts off his long hair. He later grows it out in Eclipse, thinking that Bella prefers it long. This makes his fur as a wolf shaggier and longer than that of the other wolves. He is said to be quite handsome, once being described by Bella as "sort of beautiful". He tends to wear only cut-off style jeans or shorts, since clothes are often ruined during his transformations into a wolf. As a wolf, Jacob's fur is described as reddish-brown.

Personality and abilities
Bella describes Jacob as a "happy person" who extends this happiness to the people around him. As Jacob's character emerges in New Moon, he is shown to be cheery, passionate, adventurous, but hot-headed. Jacob is also able to phase at will into a giant wolf, and sometimes when angered he will involuntarily phase. His body temperature is warmer than a human's body should be, reaching about 108.9 °F (42.7 °C), which allows him to withstand very cold weather. His body also heals quickly, he can communicate with his werewolf pack telepathically when in wolf form, and he is physically stronger and faster than a human. Werewolves do not age if they regularly turn into their wolf form, with Jacob's body physically grown to the equivalent of a 25-year-old. Once they begin phasing, a werewolf may "imprint"—a method of finding one's soulmate—on someone, and will act as whatever the imprintee needs, whether it be a protector, a lover, or an older sibling. Jacob imprints on Edward and Bella's daughter Renesmee in Breaking Dawn.

Film portrayal
Taylor Lautner played the part of Jacob Black in the film adaptation of Twilight. Due to major physical changes in the character of Jacob between Twilight and New Moon, director Chris Weitz considered replacing Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black." In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner stated, "I have been working out. I've been working out since the day we finished filming Twilight. I just weighed myself today; I've put on 19 pounds... [and] I'm guaranteeing Weitz 10 more [pounds] by filming." In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in New Moon.

EDWARD CULLEN

Edward Cullen (Edward Anthony Masen) is the fictional deuteragonist from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. He features in the books Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, as well as the Twilight film, and the as yet unfinished novel Midnight Sun - a re-telling of the events of Twilight from Edward's perspective. Edward is a vampire who, over the course of the Twilight series, falls in love with, marries, and has a child with Bella Swan, a human teenager who later chooses to become a vampire also.

Concept and creation
The development of the character was influenced by Gibert Blythe, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Edward Rochester – particularly the last, who, like Edward Cullen, sees himself as a "monster".

Characterization
Edward is described in the book and by Bella as being charming, polite, determined, and very stubborn. He is very protective over Bella and puts her safety, humanity and welfare before anything else. He often over-analyzes situations and has a tendency to overreact, especially in situations where Bella's safety is at risk. He retains some outdated speech from his human life in the early 20th century. Edward sees himself as a monster, and after falling in love with Bella, he desperately wishes that he were human instead of a vampire.

Physical appearance
Like all the vampires in the Twilight series, Edward is described by Bella as being impossibly beautiful. At various points in the series, she compares him to the mythical Greek god Adonis. His skin is "like marble"—very pale, ice cold, and sparkles in the sunlight. She describes his facial features as being perfect and angular—high cheekbones, strong jawline, a straight nose, and full lips. His hair, which is always messy, retains the unusual bronze shade that he inherited in his human life from his biological mother. His eyes, once green, are now described as topaz. His appearance changes if he goes long without feeding: his eyes darken, becoming almost black, and purple bruises appear beneath his eyes. Edward is 6'2", and has a slender but muscular body.

Vampiric traits, abilities and interests
Edward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and agility, and is described as being inhumanly beautiful. His scent and voice are enormously seductive to Bella, so much so that he occasionally sends her into a pliant daze entirely by accident. In Twilight, Edward explains that like other vampires, he does not need to breathe, though he chooses to do so out of habit and because it is helpful to smell his environment. He cannot digest regular food, and compares its attractiveness for him to the prospect of eating dirt for a regular person. As well, like other vampires, Edward is not able to sleep.

In addition to the traits he shares with his fellow vampires, Edward has certain abilities that are his alone. He is the fastest of the Cullens, able to outrun any of them. Perhaps as a result of a talent for empathy in his human life, Edward can also read the mind of anyone within a few miles of himself; Bella is the sole exception to this rule, which Meyer has stated is due to Bella having a very private mind. Edward also retains some of the traditional mindset and dated patterns of speech from his early-20th century human life.

Edward is musical, able to play the piano like a virtuoso. He enjoys a wide range of music, including classical, jazz, progressive metal, alternative rock, and punk rock, but dislikes country. He prefers indie rock to mainstream, and appreciates rock and classical music equally. He mentions in Twilight that he likes music from the fifties better than the sixties, dislikes the seventies, and says the eighties were "bearable".

A hobby of Edward's is collecting cars. He owns a Volvo S60 R and an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish as a "special occasion" car. He also gave his sister Alice a Porsche 911 Turbo as a gift in Eclipse. He bought a motorcycle to ride alongside Bella, but gave it to Jasper after he realized that riding motorcycles was a hobby she enjoyed sharing with Jacob.

Film portrayal
Casting
Prior to the role of Edward being cast for the 2008 Twilight film, Meyer opined that, although Edward was "Indisputably the most difficult character to cast, [he] is also the one that I'm most passionately decided upon. The only actor I've ever seen who I think could come close to pulling off Edward Cullen is....(drumroll).... Henry Cavill." When the film was optioned by Summit Entertainment in July 2007, Meyer stated that; "The most disappointing thing for me is losing my perfect Edward",as Cavill was by then 24 years old, and thus too old to realistically fill the role. Meyer reported on her website that the four most popular fan suggestions for actors to play Edward were Hayden Christensen, Robert Pattinson, Orlando Bloom and Gerard Way. On 11 December 2007, it was announced that Pattinson, known for his portrayal of Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter films, had been cast in the role. Erik Feig, Summit Entertainment’s President of Production, stated: "It is always a challenge to find the right actor for a part that has lived so vividly in the imaginations of readers but we took the responsibility seriously and are confident, with Rob Pattinson, that we have found the perfect Edward for our Bella in Twilight." Meyer stated that; "I am ecstatic with Summit's choice for Edward. There are very few actors who can look both dangerous and beautiful at the same time, and even fewer who I can picture in my head as Edward. Robert Pattinson is going to be amazing."

Twilight's director, Catherine Hardwicke, said of the casting process that "[e]verybody has such an idealized vision of Edward. They were rabid [about who I was going to cast]. Like, old ladies saying, 'You better get it right." She revealed that she was initially underwhelmed by a photo of Pattinson, but said of his audition, which was a love scene with co-star Kristen Stewart: "It was electric. The room shorted out, the sky opened up, and I was like, 'This is going to be good.'" Pattinson has admitted; "I had no idea how to play the part when I went in, and it was a good thing to find during the audition. I really wanted it after that, but I didn’t really even know what it was. I hadn’t really read any of the books. And just from that, ‘I want this job.’ It was pretty much because of Kristen." In early 2008, Pattinson spoke of a fan backlash against his casting, disclosing Entertainment Weekly that "I stopped reading [fansites and blogs] after I saw the signatures saying 'Please, anyone else.'" He revealed to the Evening Standard that; "The books have a huge following, and I’ve already got bags of letters from angry fans, telling me that I can’t possibly play Edward, because I’m Diggory. I hope I can prove them wrong."

BELLA SWAN

Isabella Marie "Bella" Swan (later Bella Cullen) is the fictional protagonist of the Twilight series, written by Stephenie Meyer. The Twilight series, consisting of the novels Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, is primarily narrated from Bella's point-of-view.

Concept and creation
The premise for both the Bella Swan character and the Twilight series originated in a dream Stephenie Meyer had in which an "average girl" and a "fantastically beautiful, sparkly ... vampire ... were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods." In this dream, the pair "were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that ... they were falling in love with each other while ... the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her."

Meyer's original characters were unnamed; she took to calling the characters, who would later become Edward Cullen and Bella, 'he' and 'she' for the purpose of convenience as she, "didn't want to lose the dream." The name 'Isabella' was decided upon, Meyer explains, because "after spending so much time with [the character], I loved her like a daughter. ... Inspired by that love, I gave her the name I was saving for my daughter, ...Isabella."

Bella's positive reception at her new school in Forks, particularly her popularity with male characters, was modelled after Meyer's real life move from high school to college. Comparing her transitional experience to Bella's, Meyer noted that after her own move to college her "stock went through the roof," commenting that "beauty is a lot more subjective than you might think."

Characterization
Physical appearance
Bella is described in the novels as being very pale with brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a heart-shaped face. Beyond this, a detailed description of her appearance is never given in the series.

Stephenie Meyer explains that she "left out a detailed description of Bella in the book so that the reader could more easily step into her shoes." While Meyer stresses that "Bella's looks are open to interpretation", she does supply her own personal interpretation on her website, describing Bella as:
"very fair-skinned, with long, straight, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her face is heart-shaped—a wide forehead with a widow's peak, large, wide-spaced eyes, prominent cheekbones, and then a thin nose and a narrow jaw with a pointed chin. Her lips are a little out of proportion, a bit too full for her jaw line. Her eyebrows are darker than her hair and more straight than they are arched. She's five foot four inches tall, slender but not at all muscular, and weighs about 115 pounds. She has stubby fingernails because she has a nervous habit of biting them."

Bella also has a small crescent-shaped scar on her hand where she was bitten by James, a tracker vampire, in Twilight. The scar is described as being pale, always a few degrees colder than the rest of her body, and sparkles slightly.
After Bella is changed into a vampire by Edward Cullen in Breaking Dawn, in keeping with the appearance of most vampires, her looks are enhanced, her eyes turn red, and she becomes pale.

Personality traits and abilities
Bella is described as being clumsy and stubborn. She has a private mind, which is thought to be why Edward is unable to hear her thoughts. She is also said to be a terrible liar, but occasionally demonstrates good acting ability. Bella becomes faint when she smells blood, though this no longer bothers her once she becomes a vampire. Stephenie Meyer has stated that Bella's "tragic flaw" in Eclipse is her lack of self-knowledge. After being turned into a vampire, she describes having a much clearer view of the world. She is also very self-controlled, being able to ignore the scent of human blood on her first hunting trip. Bella's private mind that was able to repel some vampires' mental abilities while she was human evolved after she became a vampire; her skill strengthened, allowing her to shield herself and those around her from other vampires' mind control. By the end of Breaking Dawn, she is able to cast the shield away from herself. She is also described by Edward as "very graceful", even for a vampire, in comparison to her earlier clumsiness.

Film portrayal
In the film adaptations, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart.

Meyer stated that she was "very excited" to see Stewart play the part and that she was "thrilled to have a Bella who has practice [in a vast array of film genres]", since, according to Meyer, Twilight has moments that fit into many genres. Bella was negatively accepted by critics.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA

Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. Twilight was initially rejected by 14 agents, but became an instant bestseller when published originally in hardback in 2005.

It charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen.

COVER (Twilight): Stephenie Meyer has stated that the apple on the cover represents the forbidden fruit from the Book of Genesis. It symbolizes Bella and Edward's love, which is forbidden, similar to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17). It also represents Bella's knowledge of what good and evil are.

Twilight

Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in Forks, Washington to allow her mother to travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen. She eventually learns that he is a member of a vampire family who drinks animal blood rather than human. Edward and Bella fall in love, but James, a sadistic vampire from another vampire coven, is drawn to hunt down Bella. Edward and the other Cullens defend Bella. She escapes to Phoenix, Arizona, where she is tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is seriously wounded, but Edward rescues her and they return to Forks, having killed James.

New Moon

Edward and his family leave Forks because he believes he is endangering Bella's life. Bella falls into a deep depression, until she develops a strong friendship with Jacob Black, who she discovers can shape shift into a wolf. Jacob and the other wolves in his tribe must protect her from Victoria, a vampire seeking to avenge the death of her mate James, by killing Bella. A misunderstanding occurs, and Edward believes Bella is dead. Edward decides to commit suicide in Volterra, Italy, but he is stopped by Bella, who is accompanied by Edward's sister, Alice. They meet with the Volturi, a powerful vampire coven, and are released only on the condition that Bella be turned into a vampire in the near future. Bella and Edward are reunited, and she and the Cullens return to Forks.

Eclipse

The vampire Victoria (James' mate from Twilight) has created an army of "newborn" vampires to battle the Cullen family and murder Bella for revenge. Meanwhile, Bella is compelled to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Edward's vampire family and Jacob's werewolf pack join forces to successfully destroy Victoria and her vampire army. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's and agrees to marry him.

Breaking Dawn

Bella and Edward are married, but their honeymoon is cut short when Bella discovers that she is pregnant. Her pregnancy progresses rapidly, severely weakening her. She nearly dies giving birth to her and Edward's half-vampire-half-human daughter, Renesmee, but Edward injects Bella with his venom to save her life and turns her into a vampire. A vampire from another coven sees Renesmee and mistakes her for an "immortal child". She informs the Volturi, as the existence of such beings violates vampire law. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses who can verify that Renesmee is not an immortal child. After an intense confrontation, the Cullens and their witnesses convince the Volturi that the child poses no danger to vampires or their secret, and they are left in peace by the Volturi.

The books are written in first-person narrative, primarily through Bella's eyes with the epilogue of the third book and a part of the fourth book being from Jacob's point of view.

FILM ADAPTATIONS

A screenplay for Twilight was written by Melissa Rosenberg and has been adapted into a film by Summit Entertainment. The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in the leading roles of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, respectively. The movie was released in the United States on November 21, 2008.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon was released on November 20, 2009 by Summit Entertainment with the same cast (sreenwriter: Melissa Rosenberg, director: Chris Weitz).

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was released on June 30, 2010. also by by Summit Entertainment and with the same cast (sreenwriter: Melissa Rosenberg, director: David Slade).

Stephenie Meyer

STEPHENIE MEYER (born December 24, 1973, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American author best known for her vampire romance series Twilight. Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel The Host (which will also be turned into a movie) which was published May 6th 2008. It's a story of Melanie Stryder and Wanderera, two women in one body, who are forced to work together so they can save Jared, a fugitive they both love.One of Meyer's stories was published in the book Prom Nights from Hell, a fantastic story about a prom night, which was published April 10th 2007.She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi, whose names she borrowed for Twilight. She attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English. Meyer met her husband Christian, nicknamed «Pancho», when she was growing up in Arizona, and married him in 1994 when they both were 21. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli.

Meyer is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has stated that she is «straitlaced» about her beliefs, and does not drink alcohol or smoke. She acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work.
Meyer had never written even a short story before Twilight, and had considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer. Meyer currently lives in Cave Creek, Arizona, and also owns a home on Marrowstone Island, Washington.
Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what is now Chapter 13 of the book. In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel, though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment. Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies.

The town of Forks, where everything takes place in Twilight, got a lot of attention worldwide, and there's «Stephenie Meyer day» which is celebrated on Bella's birthday, September 13th.

Hello!

Hello to all Twi-fans!! We know it took us a while to set up this blog (3 movies). Also, please, have in mind that this blog is under construction, but we will try our best to make it 'just right'. :-)
We'll get to know a bit more about the books of the saga (like we don't know them already) and the author herself. Then we'll switch to the movies and actors, which will be followed by news and gossssssssip. :-) Of course, plethora of pics.
We'll have some competitions and games (be sure to answer the poll on the right!).
Oh let us introduce ourselves! We are two (crazy women) Twilight fans. We think that's the most important thing here! :-) Our names are Ivona and Martina, and we are from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We know each other since elementary and we've been (crazy women) fans of stuff before. :-) It's in our blood! :-) But as we are now grown up, married, working moms, clearly the abstinence of being fans has struck us in the head so we finally cracked and 'jumped on' TWILIGHT!!! :-) And we divided ourselves equally: Ivona - team Edward; Martina - team Jacob.
We hope that you'll like our blog, soon we'll put up an e-mail address where you can send your compliments, odiums and suggestions.
So.... let the show begin....