Going Deep: Carlisle and Bella

The Equal Opportunity Whores, Chele and Teal, are going to explore some of the naughtier and more unusual trends, kinks, and pairings in the Twific universe. We’ll be discussing what intrigues us, why it’s sexy, and where we can find it. As upstanding members of Team Anything Goes, you can expect the unexpected.

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Then the doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. He was young, he was blond . . . and he was handsomer than any movie star I’d ever seen. Twilight, pg. 61

”Nice kitty.

What’s not to love about a gorgeous, young doctor, especially when you’re seventeen year old girl? During that brief examination, Bella goes on to use phrases such as, “Dr. Cullen said in his remarkably appealing voice.” and “I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me.” In this scene, very early in Twilight, we only get a glimpse of the good doctor, but it makes quite an impression, and serves to set a certain standard for who he would become as the Twilight Saga continued.

Father. Patriarch. Good Samaritan. Loving husband. Lonely drifter. Sexy doctor. Leader. Friend to all, even the most feared vampires in that underworld society.

Carlisle immediately caught the attention of some readers, leading them to make him a more prominent character as they developed their own fanfiction, both in AU stories and AU-H. We can’t think of Carlisle without smiling fondly at how he became the much loved Hot Bitch, thanks to the sweet Ninapolitan, or how GiveUsAKiss413 introduced the fandom to a slightly darker side of the beautiful doctor as he struggled with his friendship and affection for Bella, frozen in time with the face and body of a sixteen year old, in Past and Present.

Those were the first authors we saw explore Carlisle, and while we enjoy licking them both, that’s only the beginning of our love (as well a nice segment of the fandom’s love) for the wonderful Carlisle Cullen!

So let’s get to it; why Carlisle/Bella?

We have a tendency to be attracted to stories that push boundaries of what’s acceptable in fictional relationships. By their very nature, most Carlisle/Bella fics do this, a lot.

It’s no secret that the first thing most people came looking for in Twilight fanfiction was some gratuitous Edward and Bella honeymoon sexing; it is a natural progression (at least for the perviest and most deviant amongst us) to want to see what could have happened had Bella looked beyond the brooding seventeen year old high school student and seen the twenty-three year old surgeon acting as his father. UNF.

Imagine our excitement as readers when we found that we weren’t the only ones aching for some hot-doctor-and-younger-woman treats. It has taken some digging over our time in the community, but there is a treasure trove of well-written fic that explored this exact dynamic.

While we can’t help be drawn to Carlisle/Bella in just about any incarnation, these are a few of our favorites:

AU: The Stitch-up Scene:
It’s Bella’s birthday, she’s just been attacked by a ravenous Jasper, and the entire family has abandoned her, running from the temptation of her blood . . . everyone except Carlisle.
We’ve seen dozens of fics that spawned from the sexual tension in this scene (especially after the movie version of New Moon debuted), and they all make us very happy. SleepyValentina gave us this delightful treat in Have Me.

Another one in particular, Centuries of Practice, takes it for an erotic AU spin. GreenPuma plays on the intimacy of that scene by having Carlisle explain to Bella the fluid sexual relationships between the members of the Cullen family. There is incredibly well-written blood-play, wicked dialogue and fuckhot sexual chemistry.

AU-H: My Best Friend’s Dad / My Dad’s Best Friend:
This genre plays on the forbidden nature of a large age difference. The stories tend to be AH, where societal pressure is heavy. By their nature, these stories can be polarizing, with Carlisle either capitalizing on the kink of having a younger woman, or falling for a woman who is mature beyond her years. While the latter is sweet, the former can be very naughty.
Within this genre lies babysitter fic. There Once Was a King is a death-by-UST story where Bella meets Charlie’s best childhood friend, Carlisle, and promptly falls in love with him. Both Bella and Carlisle are written with lyrical beauty, and their love is palpable, making their lust feel honest and justified. Carlisle’s daughters also develop a connection to Bella who fills a hole in their heart left by the death of their mother. Brits23 writes Bella in such a way that convinces the reader the age is irrelevant.

On the flipside, there are the stories where the age difference is something that will never be overcome to reach a Happily Ever after, and the longer Bella and Carlisle pursue the intense physical connection, the worse you know the repercussions will be. Dinnertime, is the ultimate in naughty, not-right, very dirty, and oh so wrong, “I’m fucking my best friend’s dad who is also my Dad’s best friend” stories. The writing is great. The smut is DIRTY and Wrong. While the author makes it very clear that their interactions are consensual and that both characters are, well, pretty fucked up, it’s pretty much impossible to not be sucked into their one-of-a-kind tale.

Canon AU: What if Edward Never Came Back?
Would canon Carlisle and Bella ever have made things work? Why, hell yes. It’s so very awesome when an author can explore alternate possibilities with the characters in their canon forms by allowing a single divergence from The Twilight Saga storyline. Ahhh, the possibilities. This is a very popular way of pairing our May/December romance, and it works. Trust.

Caitlinlaurie took on this lovely task in her sweet and swoon-worthy Near to You. Years passed after Edward left Bella in the woods. Bella moves on with her life only to find that the secrets she holds from her time with the Cullens prevent her from being able to be close to anyone. When Carlisle moves into the town where she is teaching, he finds Bella, now equal to him in physical age, and a balm to his loneliness. Obviously, this scenario requires a slow build as they independently work through the circumstances that have found them alone, and in need of companionship, but the UST alone may kill you. It works, it really does.

In conclusion . . .

Carlisle: Protector, Patriarch, a man of unparalleled restraint.
Bella: Son’s girlfriend, ingenue, Lolita, wise beyond her years.

It’s so wrong it has to be right.

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Here are a few more you might enjoy . . . and if you find others you think we’d love, don’t be a selfish whore – shoot them our way!

Does It Feel Better
Beyond the Broken Scars
What Happens at Charlie’s Wedding
Taking Chances
A Lesson in Control

We’re equal opportunity whores who love going down deep, so if you have a favorite pairing, genre, or topic you’d like to see us explore, please share!