#but why are two of them likened to the chariot and the last then the goddess?

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I feel like you've touched on this in some of your AUs, but I was wondering what you think about the characterization of Bella as a danger magnet.

Originally, I thought it was used as a plot device to allow Edward to be her savior in the parking lot and in Port Angeles (which to me read as the typical romance trope) and for the James and Victoria plotlines to play out, among other things.

In-universe, however, I find the mention of this distracting. I don't think fate or life work that way where one person would have horrible luck or attract more danger than anyone else (outside of marginalization, which isn't the case here. Even considering the power imbalance between vampires/werewolves and humans doesn't do much of the leg work.)

Is it just a combination of Bella's clumsiness that has landed her in the hospital multiple times and her not being scared of the supernatural? Her sweet, sweet blood that attracts predators? In canon, both Bella and Edward accept that she's simply a danger magnet but that explanation doesn't make sense to me. What do you think?

I'm actually not sure I have touched on it, at least, not directly. I think I just make one-liner gags then go on my merry way.

But let's get into it.

Regardless of whether this is a reasonable thing to believe or not, both Bella and Edward have their reasons for wholeheartedly believing it to be true.

Why Does Edward Insist Bella's a Danger Magnet?

Edward, early in Twilight, is actively panicking about his involvement in Bella's life. He knows that a better man would stay completely away from Bella, worse yet, Carlisle keeps reminding Edward that a better person would move out of Forks altogether (as Carlisle keeps begging Edward to do rather than tempt fate and eat Bella).

Edward cannot justify his existence in Bella's life and it utterly torments him.

And then, it happens, Edward realizes that the gods themselves despise Bella Swan. Bella is riding in the chariot of a man hated by Zeus.

He likens this to a feeling of divine revelation: Bella Swan needs him.

Without his involvement in her life she might be crushed by a van, raped in Port Angeles, eaten by bears, you name it. Something terrible will happen to the most wonderful creature on the planet unless he personally is there to stop it.

Edward is suddenly no longer the monster (or at least, not only the monster), he is Bella's personal protector, fighting against fate itself to keep this beautiful creature alive. A dark protector, kind of like Batman, but cooler.

Edward now not only has reason to stay in Bella's life, he must do so, otherwise she could very well die. THAT SPIDER IN HER BED COULD EAT HER RIGHT NOW.

And true, he still planned to leave in due time, but he also breathed a sigh of relief as he could assuage his torn conscience. Don't worry, everybody, if Edward's not lurking in Bella's bedroom every night with her blissfully unaware then she'll be eaten by a space shark. So it's all cool.

Of course, he always intends to leave her, but now he can do so at a later date.

In New Moon, Edward is reminded that this isn't quite the case. He himself, his family, is the greatest danger to Bella there is. He can no longer justify his presence in her life. As a result he cuts ties immediately.

When he comes back in Eclipse, given all the shit that's happened to Bella, he can once more justify his presence and get that sweet sweet relief knowing that, without him, the universe will literally collapse upon Bella Swan.

Hence, Edward's theory: the universe is actively out to get Bella Swan. Either God is a cruel jackass who is tormenting this perfect person or else made Bella, the perfect woman, specifically so that Edward can protect her. Edward can't decide which.

Bella thought Edward confessing this was deeply romantic.

Why Does Bella Insist She's a Danger Magnet?

Bella is a depressed teenager. Like many teenagers, she thinks everything is about her. Everyone hates her, everyone's looking at her, everyone thinks she's ugly, the universe is literally out to get her.

Bella is not the first, and not the last, teenager to think that the world is literally against her. Everything terrible happens to her and life is woe. This isn't all that weird of a thing for her to believe (especially as, in general, weird shit does happen to her).

More, Edward presents his case very eloquently. Edward's batshit insane, but the beauty of him is that he somehow says it in a manner that's not always immediately obvious. He often sounds rather poetic and reasonable.

Edward says, "Perhaps God is trying to kill you."

Bella sits there eating her mushroom raviolli, "Makes sense to me. Also, you know that waitress is hitting on you, right?"

Is Bella a Danger Magnet?

Well, we don't know anything about higher powers in the Twilight universe, that's left very open ended. What I will say is that a lot of weird shit does seem to happen to Bella with a frequency that, were I to sit down and do the back of the envelope calculations, is statistically unlikely.

Now, some of these follow the others: Victoria hunting Bella is related to Bella first capturing James attention. Bella's involvement with the wolves is related to James and Victoria showing up. Bella's interaction with the Volturi centers upon having met Edward Cullen.

However, let's break down the bullshit that happens to Bella Swan.

First, she happens to move to Forks during the period where the Cullens are in Forks. That Bella happens to move to the small town where there are vampires is highly unlikely to begin with. That she moves there in the time period in which the Cullens happens to be there is also unlikely.

We're already talking small probabilities.

Two, Bella happens to be a singer for one of these vampires. Singers are extraordinarily rare. Aro, who is 3500 years old, has never encountered one. Carlisle, 350 years old, seems to have never met one. Emmett seems to be many standard deviations off the normal for meeting two, still meets them decades apart across a wide variety of space. This is a very small probability.

Three, not a week later, Bella is nearly crushed by a van in a parking lot. Now, this one's a lot more likely. P(Fatality|Icy Conditions) is not devastatingly high but it's not P(Move to Town With Fucking Vampires), but if we're doing the joint probability this is getting really really low likelihood (P(Move to Town With Fucking Vampires) * P(Vampire Singer) * P(Nearly Hit By Truck | Icy Conditions) ~= 0))

Not too long after that, Bella nearly gets raped and left in a dumpster in Port Angeles. Now, this probability, that of sexual assault, is sadly rather high. Especially in the conditions Bella was in. Now, happening to run into a serial rapist who is actually planning to kill her and put her body in a dumpster, that's a bit less high. What's suspect here is, again, the timing of it all.

Not too long after that, Bella happens to be watching the Cullens play baseball when three man eating vampires happen to be in the area. These vampires happen to include James, rather than any other vampire, who decides it'd be great to hunt Bella for sport. Which, of course, dominoes into the rest of canon.

Is Bella clumsy? Does she make poor decisions sometimes? Do some of these events lead to others? Yes.

Doesn't mean a bunch of weird shit doesn't happen to her. If I was Bella, I too, would be wondering what the fuck was up with my luck. I think it's safe to say she fails the Null Hypothesis test.