http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1979934/EchoesOfTwilight
http://twilighted.net/viewstory.php?sid=5855

Official Description: When it’s time for the Cullen vampire clan to leave their home in Chicago, an old vision of Alice’s dictates their next move. Six years earlier, Edward Masen had been a patient of Carlisle’s: young, innocent, broken, and blissfully unaware of the destiny Alice had seen for him.

Now living in Forks, Edward is haunted, depressed, and consumed by unrequited love. A mysterious note turns up in the pages of a book given to him on the worst day of his life, leaving him more confused than ever about his place in the world. When the meaning of the message becomes clear in a single terrifying instant, Edward must make a painful choice in order to secure not only his own fate, but also the lives of the people he can’t exist without.

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araeo says: When MF’er asked me to do this guest rec, I jumped at the chance.  Of course, I think that was back before Christmas…and it’s just now happening.  What can I say? Anyone who knows me even a little bit is aware that I’m a master procrastinator.


I first met my wifey, Echoes, when she stalked me on the forums at Twilighted.  And we all know how much most of us like being stalked, considering our obsession with a certain sparkly, brooding, vegetarian vampire stalker.  She wooed me with Robporn and sweet compliments, and then…then, some other little birdies told me that this lovely lady was starting her first fic.  Of course, I had to read.


And I was…blown. Away.

Echoes has a way with words that makes me feel like I’m seeing everything unfold from the eyes of the character.  Her Carlisle is so true to canon, yet the depth she gives him goes way beyond what we learned in the original books.  We feel the love he has for his family, his desire to be a supportive, wise leader, and the way his affection for Edward grows in the first few chapters is extremely well done.

Edward never spoke to either of us about his parents, preferring instead to talk about the boy he had been until the instant before a screech of tires had altered him more thoroughly than my venom ever could.  …  Every moment I fought against the feeling that Alice was right, fought against my connection to him.

This occurs in the very beginning, when Edward comes to Carlisle as a broken, devastated ten year-old who has just lost his parents.  Carlisle struggles with the knowledge that this boy will one day be his son, reluctant to change him, but he still can’t deny the connection.  It’s just one of the little nuances Echoes so easily slips into the story, and I enjoy it all the more for its many subtleties.


Carlisle was the first character that sucked me in, and if you know me at all, that’s a rarity – I’m all about Edward.  All the time.


And this brings me to…


Hugward. *sigh*


If you don’t want to give him a hug within the first two paragraphs of meeting him, you must be a sociopath.  In fact, you might be worse.  I consider myself mildly sociopathic, but this Edward has my heart and he squeezes the shit out of it.  (I can say that, right, Caren?)  I want to bake him chocolate cake and snuggle with him (all before I molest him, of course). 


This boy makes my heart hurt, but it’s in such a sweet way that I don’t mind.  He’s been alone in life after the death of his parents; although he was taken in by his aunt, he still feels like he should hold himself back from her for fear that his love will end up hurting her.  Again, I just want to hug him.  Have I mentioned that yet??  My love for this character can only be expressed in a monologue from the magnificent Elmyra, of Tiny Toons fame:  “I wanna hug him and squeeze him and love him and call him George (er, Hugward)!


The love he feels for Bella is palpable, but the anguish he’s experienced in his life wrecks me.  His traits are wonderfully canon, and Echoes captures his self-loathing and desire to punish himself for something that was never his fault magnificently.

We fell into a pattern of easy pleasantries, which was in itself surprising because I hadn’t felt at ease around anyone in years.  Still it wasn’t enough, but what more could I expect?  It was better to have that small part of Bella than nothing at all, so I was grateful…and selfish, so very selfish.

More Hugward deliciousness that hurts so well…

The hours spent at our lab table became the best and worst of my life, and they were quickly running out.  Time was carelessly tossing away the seconds as if they meant nothing.  I hated time.

I’d had five months, but now ten days, ten hours, was all I had left with her before school broke up for the summer…

…I would watch from afar, wishing desperately that I was next to her, earning her perfect smiles.

I would take what I could get.  It was more than I deserved anyway.

I could go on for pages about Hugward, but I don’t want to give away the whole story.  This brings me to Bella.


Bella is just as hopelessly in love with Edward as he is with her, but while Edward is too mired in his self-loathing and undeserving attitude, Bella is afraid of ruining her friendship with him due to her romantic feelings.  Echoes’ characterization of a teenage girl pining after her best friend is spot-on.  Bella also knows that Edward isn’t yet in the right mind frame for a romantic relationship, so she contents herself with being his friend.  In this way, she helps him to break out of his shell, and they slowly become more than friends.  It’s quite possibly one of the sweetest relationship developments I’ve read in fic, or even fiction, to be honest.


Bella’s devotion to Edward, even when she can only be his friend, is amazing.  When kids at school make nasty comments about him while he’s mourning his aunt’s death, she comes to his defense immediately:

“Why do you care so much, anyway?” he asked me, his face painted with something that looked awfully like jealousy. 

“Because someone should, Mike.  Because Edward is nothing like the way people at this school see him.  Do you think I don’t hear the things people say?  Do you think he doesn’t hear the rumors you spread that he cheats, because his grades are so good, or that he must be gay – not that it would matter – just because he’s turned every girl at this school down?  Do you think he enjoys having his parents whispered about, reminding him of what he’s lost?  You know, Mike, for your sake I hope you never have to deal with losing your parents, moving to a strange place, and then being forced to endure idiots like you.”

… I loved him; defending him was the least I could do.

“Nobody deserves to think that they aren’t cared about.  Especially not him.  And especially not now.”

I could go on and on, but I want you to read the story.  It’s beautifully written, engrossing and is filled with unique plot points that will keep you guessing.  It’s my favorite AU, and I’ve read a metric fucktonne of fic.  But you don’t have to take my word for it.  Check it out for yourself.  Yeah, I stole that from Levar Burton – Reading Rainbow FTW!

MF’er says:  Just like araeo, I’ve struggled with writing this recommendation for weeks, seriously, and it’s not because I had any doubt about how much I want you all to read it—trust me. It’s because every time I sit down to try and communicate why I think you should be reading it, everything I type sounds like garbage.


The truth is, there isn’t anything I could say that would properly describe how much I love the story that EchoesOfTwilight has crafted, so I’ll try a different approach.


Everyone strives to find that story with an original plot, something you’ve never read before, right? I know that’s something I look for. If there is a story that seems like it’s going to repeat the same boring things over and over again, I won’t start reading it because it certainly won’t hold its weight in my ‘easily distracted by sparkles’ brain.


So when I set out to start reading Behind The Clouds, I first read the summary and was so intrigued by the premise that I jumped right in, and I have to tell you I found everything I’ve always asked for in a story all wrapped up in a gorgeous package:


Original plot.  Real, believable characters you can identify and fall in love with.  Excellent writing, with alternating POV’s that do not repeat the same scenes over and over and are so closely canon, but better, that you’re left astonished.



The chapters are written with such beautiful imagery and emotion, when you add in the mixture of canon quotes and personalities that go above and beyond the norm, there really is nothing better. When coupled with her (sometimes evil) twists and surprises, it will keep you coming back for more over and over again.  You’ll find yourself cheering for Edward and Bella and their future. You’ll also find yourself nervous when they’re nervous, scared when they’re scared and feeling everything that they’re going through. 

This isn’t a story that’s just being told to you, it’s a story you’re being shown through her powerful writing, you will truly get lost in the chapters and come out wishing that this was what Stephenie Meyer could have given us.