YIKES!  How did I miss this review...I am sorry its taken me a bit to respond.  I am not getting notices of review posts.  Can't figure that out... Pardon me.

I think you have hit it on the head re Emmett and once you get past the obvious matinee idol attractions of the other men, Emmett emerges as one of the more complex characters in the Saga.  Or at least in my version of the saga.  Althought all of the characterizations in Ascension bring depth that was not present in the Saga, I believe the evolution and changing process they each undergo because of the influence of one little human are logical, and dare I say, cannon-close.

Like many boy men who express themselves with clownishness, or crudeness there is an underbelly that is soft, wam, and inviting.  Emmett is all that.  With his scrappy background, I have no doubt he has learned that loyalty is paramount to his familial relationships.  Rose carried him for what...a hundred miles? They accepted and nursed him through falling off the wagon.  Everything of his being marks him as a protector...yet, there is not much protection needed in the Cullen household. Until Bella...

Is Emmett not like every other bigger brother, toughening up the little sister through teasing, thinking he's educating her to take care of herself.  However, let anyone cross an eye, lay a hand, or even think about doing so and he would be there to bust heads.  From the moment he leaped into the bed of her truck (in the movie) crouching in a defensive posture as they ran from the baseball game, Emmett declared to the world, he was now and forever Bella's protector.

A protection of a different sort is expressed with Edward.  Carlisle has been trying to reach Edward with straight talk to no avail.  Edward's defenses make him too stubborn to intellectually accept the message.  Emmett, very smart guy and observer of human nature, knows that inciting Edward with bluntness is the way to surgically get him to open up and excise the badstuff.  In this scene, he is both Bella's AND Edward's protector.  I have little doubt that Emmett is completely honest when  he says, if she were his he'd worship her and chase her to 'basque in the mystery'.

Jasper, too, has a change of tactic by actively planning this emotional intervention in a logical way.  His gifts allow him to passively influence...but that also allows him to remain outside, aloof in a way, and play into his self loathing as being lesser than the others of the family.  Geesh, every time he is introduced somebody says 'Jasper is the one who is a failure."  I hate that.  So, in this scene I am pleased Jasper gets to stand up and be heard...even if it turns out the Emmett's method is more effective.

Thanks for making me think through our boy!  Hard to go back to chapters when moving ahead.  So, I guess I am glad to have only just now found your review.

Thanks for reading and writing!  Hope you continue to enjoy Ascension.  Let me know what you think!