It’s the twilight of Twilight

When I found out several years ago that many of my thirtysomething friends were reading the Twilight books, children’s books by most accounts, I felt sorry for them. Then I accidentally rented the first movie, watched it twice, and started to search Google for photos of Robert Pattinson, who plays the 104-year-old Byronesque vampire Edward in love with a human highschool student Bella Swan.

I knew it was inappropriate to look at these photos — it reminded me of the time I constructed a River Phoenix scrap book when I was 14. Even still, I downloaded the second book, New Moon and read it straight through with only one bathroom break.

Then I found PDFs of Eclipse and Breaking Dawn and read them, sometimes at work, on my computer. I actually skipped the bits in Breaking Dawn that were written from the werewolf Jacob’s perspective. I didn’t care how he felt about Bella. I just wanted to know that everything would work out between Bella and Edward and they would be in love forever. Forever.

It was a dark time.

But Twilight was, and is, a phenomenon, arguably launching a chain effect for a love of all-things-vampire that’s omnipresent today.

When the first book debuted in 2005, it made the New York Times bestsellers list within a month. By 2008, the first four positions on USA Today’s annual top 100, were taken up by author Stephanie Meyer’s four books in the series. And according to Statisticsbrain.com, the Twilight franchise, including the sales of the four books, the films, and the DVD sales and rentals, totals close to $5 billion.

Luckily, I was only a “Twihard” for a few weeks. I have still seen all the movies, though. My friends took me to see Breaking Dawn Part 1 for my birthday last year. I felt so bad for making them go see such a terrible film, in which the audience laughed during really dramatic scenes, like when Edward has to cut a vampire baby from Bella’s stomach, that I couldn’t enjoy myself. That is why I will see Breaking Dawn Part 2 by myself.

If I could choose to go with anyone, it would be Emma Clark, a loyal Twilight fan who’s been posting Twilight-related YouTube videos for more than five years as nuttymadam3575. She captured her reaction to seeing the Breaking Dawn Part 1 trailer for the first time.

She also recorded her reaction to the news that Kristen Stewart had cheated on Pattinson with Snow White and the Hunstmen director Rubert Sanders.

Sure, she is obsessed. But there’s a sweetness and sincerity to Clark that not all Twihards possess. Their investment in the franchise is so great that once they collectively forced Emma Roberts to shut down her Twitter account after she appeared on the Tonight Show with Robert Pattinson and confessed she was Team Jacob. And when Stewart’s cheating scandal broke in July, “Robsten Is Unbroken” was the the No. 6 trending Twitter topic worldwide. And a group of six Twihards showed some real ingenuity when they started a Tumblr campaign after US Weekly published the scandalous of Stewart with Sanders called Operation Hide US Weekly. “US Weekly…is not going to break our fandom and make us hate Kristen and Rob,” the united front proclaimed. Their Tumblr contains photos from fans who’d hidden stores’ copies of the incriminating issue in everything from microwaves to inside a cupcake container.  “They can print lies but they can’t make us believe them.”

• See a collection of the most recent tweets from Twihards anticipating the last film in the Twilight franchise
• Read Brian D. Johnson’s review of Breaking Dawn Part 2

And they can get nasty, making Clark appear down-right measured. CTV eTalk reporter Elaine Lui of LaineyGossip.com , even wrote about how she was “hunted and haunted” by obsessive fans who didn’t appreciate her take on the “Robsten” narrative.

Twihards have lit up Twitter this week during the premieres of Breaking Dawn Part 2 in LA on Monday and in the UK on Wednesday. In anticipation of the film’s official release on Friday at midnight, and for your entertainment, here are 12 Twihards, besides Emma Clark, that you might want to follow:

• @SunshineStewy  Example tweet: ” I won’t leave Kristen. I won’t leave Rob. I won’t leave this fandom.”

• @StrictlyRobsten  Example tweet: “Whatever happened, we still love Rob & Kristen, whether they are together or apart. It’s always been our mission statement.”

• @stewransom  Example tweet: “Kristen, wherever you are, I love you, and I’ll always be your fan. Rob, hold her tight, she needs your love. Robsten is Unbroken.

• @ROBSTENER4LIFE  Example tweet: “OMFG WAS ON THE COMPUTERS IN CLASS & COULDN’T CONTROL MY EMOTIONS…THE TEARS JUST STARTED STREAMING DOWN MY FACE…and people laughed :(“

• @Twihards  Example tweet: “Own the bed Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart first kissed on! http://twihards.com/profiles/blogs/own-the-bed-robert-pattinson”

• @TwihardKingdom  Example tweet: “THE SAGA THAT WILL LAST FOREVER <3 http://yfrog.com/b95xip “

• @HauntedTwilight  “Example tweet: #WeHateUSWeekly because they are DISRESPECTING Kristen, Rob, and all our intelligences by posting malicious cheating rumours”

• @KrisbianStewart Example tweet: “Kristen Stewart loves Robert Pattinson more than ? you ? you ? you ? you ? you ? you ? you ? and you ? will ever do. Robsten Is Unbroken.”

• @KristenStewbabe  Example tweet: “Ill be staying off twitter as much as poss now to avoid seeing spoilers from people who’ve seen bd2…. Night night!”

• @RobstenLoveCom  Example tweet: “Arrived together. Signing together. Always together!!”

• @KStewDevotee  Example tweet: “Kristen!!!”

• @RPLife  Example tweet: “No caption necessary RT @YahooOmgUK: Robert Pattinson’s face. ‘Nuff said. #Twilightforever http://twitpic.com/bd7qpi “