Over a decade ago, Twilight came into our lives whether we wanted it to or not. Because it was such a popular saga, pretty much everyone in the world held a strong opinion on the romance series created by Stephenie Meyer. Whether you loved the series back in the day or despised it, you can’t deny how much of an impact it had on our society and the world of pop culture as we know it.

It pretty much created a whole new definition of the term vampire. No longer were the creatures considered to be evil and scary. Instead, Twilight created a world of vampires that were sparkly and romantic where perhaps the only thing “scary” about them was the excessive amounts of hair gel they used. What trends sprung from the Twilight saga that Generation Z just won’t get? Read the list below to find out!

TEAM EDWARD VS. TEAM JACOB

One of the biggest elements of the Twilight fandom came from the everlasting war between people who identified as “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob.” If you were Team Edward, it meant that you wanted Bella Swan to end up with the sparkly vampire and his perfectly gelled hair.

If you were Team Jacob, you were considered to be on the more scandalous side of things, and it meant you wanted Bella to end up with her werewolf BFF. Ultimately, Team Jacob fans were devastated to discover that they were the losing team because Bella ended up happily ever after (for eternity because they’re vampires) with her one true love, Edward Cullen.

THE EPIC SOUNDTRACK

Most Muse, Mutemath, and Radiohead fans were shocked to see the rise of 13-year-old girls being accompanied to these concerts by their parents. Since when did the targeted audience for these bands range from forty-year-old men to tween girls? Most of this was the result of Twilight, which was known for having a diverse and brilliant soundtrack featuring beloved artists.

Most Twilight fans were utterly obsessed with the band Paramore which had a song featured in the first film called “Decode” that all fans had memorized word for word. Plus, both “Bella’s Lullaby” and “A River Flows In You” convinced a whole generation of tween girls to learn how to play those two songs on piano.

HOT TOPIC & TWILIGHT

You couldn’t walk into a Hot Topic without being utterly surrounded by merchandise about the vampire franchise. Whether it was T-shirts that sported support for Team Edward or Team Jacob or body glitter that could help you sparkle like the Cullen family, it was pretty much 95% of the merchandise in the entire store.

There were Twilight-themed notebooks, Twilight jewelry, Twilight soundtracks, and even a Vultari makeup and perfume line. If you weren’t a “Twihard,” you avoided that store like the plague. If you were utterly obsessed, Hot Topic suddenly became your favorite shopping hub of all time.

MIDNIGHT MOVIE PREMIERES

There was nothing quite like going to midnight movie premieres back in the day, whether it was for Twilight, The Hunger Games, or Harry Potter. Fans of Twilight would carpool with their friends to these premieres and dress up as their favorite characters. One friend would always be there to provide everyone with body glitter so they could sparkle like vampires.

Some of the more daring people would sport their “Team Charlie” gear, simply because he was the most beloved character in the entire series. There was nothing quite like the Twilight midnight movie premieres and attending them represented a huge staple of our “tweenage” youth. (Do you remember how much everyone screamed in the theater whenever Jacob would remove his shirt? Our ears are still bleeding from those moments.)

PARODIES OF TWILIGHT

The Twilight Saga would be nothing without the hilarious parodies that came along with it. Because Twilight was such a huge phenomenon, it was easily the target of many hilarious sketches and parodies dedicated towards the romantic vampire series. This included SNL sketches, video parodies, and even a full-length feature film in 2012 called Vampires Suck.

Because Twilight became popular during the rise of YouTube, there were numerous popular videos by A-list YouTubers who parodied the love story. This was back when YouTube was all about making comedy sketches, and almost every comedy channel had at least one video centered around Edward and Bella.

TWILIGHT MEMES

When memes started to blow up all over the Internet, so did Twilight. There were thousands of Twilight memes circling around, whether they were in support of the series or against it. Some of these most famous memes had to do with the fact that Edward was a sparkly vampire who was actually pretty creepy. Other memes compared Twilight with other fictional vampires throughout history.

Yet perhaps the most popular Twilight-related meme comes the phrase that populated the Internet in 2011: “Still a better love story than Twilight.” The purpose of the meme is to say that even the worst couple imaginable is better than Twilight. Ouch! Harsh, much?

TWILIGHT VS. HARRY POTTER

Twilight and Harry Potter were constantly pitted against each other simply because they both held massive popularity at the same time. They both originated as books and then were made into massive box-office hits.

Each series had incredibly dedicated fanbases, and young fans especially would go all up in arms over which series was better. It was the cause of endless Internet wars and there were countless memes all over comparing the two. (Mostly Harry Potter was given the upper hand while Twilight was made fun of.)

TWILIGHT & SCENE SUBCULTURE

Twilight wasn’t just a series. It was a lifestyle. If you were engrossed in the world of Forks, Washington, you most likely wore the appropriate apparel associated with the cultural phenomenon. One of the subcultures Twihards identified with most was the “scene” subculture.

Twilight fans had a very specific style of clothing that mostly mixed gothic styles with bright and cheerful colors. This included overly-teased hair which was usually dyed a unique color, skinny jeans, and extensive amounts of eyeliner. Scene kids also wore tons of rubber bracelets, some of which said either “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob.”

VAMPIRES WERE TOTALLY IN

It’s no question that Twilight was solely responsible for making vampires cool back in 2009. Yet these vampires weren’t quite like Dracula or any of the vampires throughout literature and film that the world was familiar with.

These were very specific vampires who were incredibly hot, pale, and romantic. Oh, and they also sparkled, so there was that… Point is, if it wasn’t for Stephanie Myers, vampires wouldn’t be so fascinating to young girls during the height of the saga.

TWIHARDS

“Twihards” was the name given to the most hardcore Twilight fans. These fans were utterly obsessed with the vampire series, which meant they read the books over a dozen times, nearly memorized the movies word for word, and pretty much dedicated all of their time and energy to the saga.

Other names given to hardcore Twilight fans included “Fanpires” and “Twi-moms” for mothers who were engrossed in the series. The Twilight fandom was surely one of the most dedicated fandoms of all time and some people still hold on tightly to their love for the series, which just last year had its decade-long anniversary.

What did you love the most about the Twilight fandom?