Tanya was the first of Sasha’s adopted daughters. She was Sasha’s biological great-niece, and when Sasha decided she’d like some companionship in her vampire life, she chose Tanya to join her.
Original Denali backstory
One major thing in the Guide which was different than what I was expecting was how the Cullens and the Denali met. Because in 2008, SM gave an interview to Italian Twilighters and talked a little about the Denali clan:
Carlisle ran into the three main sisters earlier on, but they were just sort of looking into the vegetarian thing. They didn’t start out that way, for years and years they were the reason behind the myths about the succubus.
They really like human men, but those humans were meals after all. After awhile they started to develop a conscience, it didn’t seem right to have them as food, so they sort of evolved into vegetarian, whereas Carlisle was always that way.
From this, it sounded like Carlisle met them before he had a family, and maybe helped them on their path to vegetarianism, since he met them when they were “just looking into it.”
But the Guide tells a different story, in which Tanya discovered vegetarianism herself, totally independent of Carlisle’s discovery, and they didn’t meet at all until the 1930s and the Denali were already experts at vegetarianism when they met.
I have to say I like the first version better. The idea of innocent, pious Carlisle hanging out with a trio of highly-sexualized succubi really amuses me.(source page not loading at present)
I'm a huge Edward/Tanya shipper, too, and yes, the fanfics about them usually consist of Tanya being the 'bitch' trying to steal Edward away from Bella, which is totally unfair, imo. Anyway, I usually read Edward/Tanya fanfics on livejournal because they're made of win. Beautifully written, insightful and original. Kaiwynn's twilight non canon ficathon and the edwardtanya community have some amazing fics. One of my favorites is "Memento Mori" by corposant. Great interpretation of Tanya, imo.
Tanya gets such a bad rap in fandom and it’s not based on anything. Everyone just heard that one line in Eclipse how she had been interested in Edward and decided she was a scheming bitch because how DARE she be interested in Edward when he belongs forever with Bella (even though this all happened BEFORE BELLA). There’s nothing in the present day that makes her out to be anything but gracious and polite and genuinely happy for Edward. I’m so tired of this ‘Tanya the bitch’ trope. If anything Irina seems the bitchiest of the three, or at least the most hot-headed.
(It’s right up there with “Jacob is an immature brat who just wants Bella for himself.” Um, no. That’s not Jacob’s primary motive. His primary motive is for Bella not to kill herself—aka become a vampire. It’s not about breaking up Edward and Bella, it’s about Bella choosing LIFE and choosing HUMANITY. If she chooses Jacob, that’s just a bonus, but that’s not the main objective)
I believe I’ve read Memento Mori—looking it over now it seems very familiar. It’s lovely, too!
What do you think of the Edward x Tanya pairing? I personally love it, but FanFiction doesn't have a huge selection (where Tanya isn't "bad," I mean).
I think she would be better for him than Bella, honestly.
Tanya is gracious and wise and, well, experienced. She’s seen the world, she understands the realities of vampirism. She’s lived as a people-eater and as a vegetarian. She gets it, she understands why someone would make that choice and how difficult it is. Bella doesn’t. She can’t. She’s human, and then when she becomes a vampire it’s just magically easy for her. She doesn’t understand Edward’s struggle or his issues with vampirism AT ALL. “I didn’t see Edward’s point, to be honest.” “I was born to be a vampire.” Etc. Tanya would understand Edward’s angst and suffering on a much deeper level than Bella ever could.
Edward could totally have used the love of an older woman who has been there, done that, and had some life experiences. She wouldn’t coddle/mother him like Esme, but she could look after him and sort of guide him in a way that teenage Bella with no life experience can’t.
Not to mention that Edward needed to get laid and Tanya was clearly the woman for the job. lol
Totally random question here... Who's your favorite of the Denali?
Tanya.
Carmen and Eleazar are just too similar to Esme and Carlisle to me. The warm, maternal sweetheart and her gentle, scholarly mate who used to live with the Volturi? Sounds familiar.
Irina seems kind of vindictive and impulsive, but that’s probably the fault of BD having to make her a villain. In the original Forever Dawn, both she and Laurent witnessed for the Cullens, according to SM’s website.
And Kate… well I’ve expressed my opinion previously that I tend to prefer the characters without powers. I don’t dislike Kate, but I feel like her gift overshadows her personality and it makes me less interested in her.
Tanya is interesting because she doesn’t have a gift, and she was the first of the girls to start to develop a conscience. She took over as leader of the coven after her mother was killed and discovered the vegetarian option in much the same way as Carlisle did (in the Guide. SM’s original version of that was a little different). I never really got the impression that she was ‘in love’ with Edward so much as she was bored, he was cute, and she thought it would be fun to make a man of him. A crush is not necessarily love. Sexual interest is not necessarily love. I get really annoyed when she is made out to be a bitch who will do anything to get Edward in fanfic. There’s nothing like that in the books at all. She’s very polite and gracious to Bella and never did a thing to try and take Edward from her. Like I said, I don’t think her interest in Edward was all that serious. I like that she’s level-headed and loyal but she has that kind of dark past as a succubus but isn’t ashamed of it.
So, yeah. Team Tanya.
