How Christian Grey is Edward Cullen in Disguise

The Twilight Saga Books were a HUGE part of my early 20’s. I recall discovering Twilight and practically speed reading it in almost one sitting. Stephenie Meyer, the genius author of this series managed to create the plot line from a dream she’d had. It’s every young writer’s fairytale come true. The perfect book idea just gift wrapped to you while you’re sleeping! Sadly, we do not all have that kind of luck, but fortunately Stephenie did and through that dream she managed to create the captivating romantic tale of Bella Swan, a girl from Arizona who moves to Washington state, meets, and falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.

The books managed to pull me in and lead me down a path of fandom that I never knew even existed. This world was known as …wait for it…fan fiction. In case you are unfamiliar with fan fiction, it’s written work done by fans who use existing characters from popular books, TV shows, movies, and even real-life celebrities. These characters become the stars in new writings and create different stories done by a variety of writers. Twilight fanfic was my first introduction to fan fiction where another person’s characters were dropped into completely new and different settings. There are many other fandoms out there to choose from; Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice, the list is endless when it comes to the characters, and the creative world of fan fiction that these alternate universe versions of the characters live in.

Live Journal was the platform that I used to get a decent fix of my Bella and Edward fan fiction. I found myself enjoying the alternate version of these characters just as much as I enjoyed them in the original books that Stephanie Meyer had written. Through all the Twilight fan fiction out there though, one story titled "Masters of the Universe" grew in popularity at fanfiction.net. It was a bit raunchy and had Edward and Bella in many situations that the fandom daydreamed about. We are talking full blown erotica sex between the enticing vampire and the quiet human girl. Don’t waste your time trying to find this fic now though because it seems that the internet has wiped it off all of the platforms it was on before.

The plot seemed a bit taboo to me, but still I recall clicking on that link and being thrown into a whirlwind of a ride that this piece of fan fiction took me on. Who was the writer of this ingenious fic?

E.L freakin’ James.

The author of the mega popular Fifty Shades of Grey. This brings me to the fact that Christian Grey lives only because Edward Cullen willed him to. James then took her Twilight fan fiction story and reworked it into what we all know today as Fifty Shades of Grey. James originally first published the book independently before she signed a 7-figure contract with Random Houses Vintage Books in March 2012. The book went on to sell 70 million copies by the end of 2012. With the popularity and hype came a movie deals as well, following in the footsteps of Twilight by making it from the pages of books to the big screens.

The similarities between Edward and Christian are highly obvious if you take the time to compare them side by side. Here are 5 similarities I’ve managed to point out:

1. Both are portrayed as extremely good-looking men with sexy hair

2. Piano skills

3. Overly protective of their ladies

4. Big families with a bunch of adopted siblings

5. Suspiciously Secretive

There are also many similarities between Anastasia and Bella, but that is for another time and place. Christian Grey is almost a bit of a knock off of Edward Cullen because he WAS Edward in the fan fiction world. Christian is simply the alternate universe version of Edward if he weren’t a vampire and merely just a rich businessman who happened to also reside in Washington state with his big adoptive family.

As much as I applaud E.L James for her spin on Edward and Bella, I can’t help but still swoon more for the Cullen’s than I do for the Grey’s. The supernatural aspect of Twilight is what gives it that little bit of extra spice that is needed to make something good even better. The ideology and romantic aspect of ‘forever’ makes my little dark heart go pitter patter.

Revealing this bit of knowledge might come as a surprise to those who have read Fifty Shades of Grey, but never read Twilight. As writers and creators, we are always pulling our inspiration from all sorts of different places. Inspiration comes from a lyric of a song, or in the case of Anna Todd, the author of After another fan fiction piece turned original work, a celebrity named Harry Styles.

Christian Grey may be Edward Cullen in disguise, but he also has some of his own characteristics that separate him from the original character he was modeled after. History repeats itself many times throughout the years in music, and books, TV, film, and fashion treads. We don’t strive to make carbon copies we always look to improve and create our own spin on the classics. E.L James took the best parts, as a fan of a character, and created an enhanced version that she longed to experience and make her own.

Whether you’re team Edward, team Christian, or both, be aware that one walked so the other could run. One will dazzle you and the other might just ‘spank’ you. In conclusion they are both crafted and created to make your heart rate increase with a simple crooked smile.