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01
Jun

#Trending Topic: Pregella and Daddy-to-Be-Ward

June 1, 2010 by · 39 Comments

Ahh, Pregella & Daddy-To-Be-Ward, my two favourite characters. In case people weren’t already aware, I am passionate about pregnancy and childbirth, and have been ever since I can remember. Everything about it fascinated me, and it still does. So much so that when I went to college and decided to become a nurse, I geared my coursework, projects, everything towards specialising in obstetrics and after school, I worked as a labor & delivery nurse for a couple of years. In some ways, that satisfied my passion, but when I stopped working to stay home, I found that I needed something more. These days I do that through reading (and sometimes writing), but because of my background I find that I am extremely picky about the quality of these stories. I want to read something realistic and believable, I want to feel it, and experience it… and I want that happily ever after when it’s all over with.

To me, there is no greater vision of both femininity and strength than a pregnant woman, there is no greater vision of strength and caring than an expectant father, and there is no greater miracle than a baby.

The biggest problem in finding this type of story though is that the fandom was completely turned off the idea of a Pregella by Stephenie Meyer herself when she released Breaking Dawn. Fans didn’t want anything that would even remotely remind them of that book, the demon spawn or the lack of Daddyward. I cannot tell you how many times I read author’s notes that said something to the effect of, “I promise, Bella does not get pregnant from this encounter. There will be no babies in this story!” Authors wanted to reassure their readers that their story would not epically fail like a certain other story had.

After nearly two years, we are finally getting more stories… the hatred of the Pregella/Daddy-To-Be-Ward stories seems to be waning. We are starting to see more and more of them. Several authors have even gone back to the Breaking Dawn storyline and have tried to either edit, change, fix, or simply enhance the story that SMeyer shared with us. So, now the trick is to find stories that are well-written. I have to admit that nothing is a bigger turn-off for me in a story than a ridiculous, unbelievable pregnancy storyline.
For example:
-Women do not experience morning sickness the day after they have sex.
-A woman cannot fling herself onto her stomach onto a bed while in her 3rd trimester.

-Seriously, I know that dramatics can be fun but I’ve been a witness to over 300 births and only once have I heard a woman threaten to cut off her husband’s genitals if he were to ever touch her again.

I don’t want ridiculous. I want realistic. Notice that what I said I liked was the strength and femininity in a woman and the strength and caring in a man… I want stories that highlight that or stories where the pregnancy brings about that change in the characters.
So, what is the best way to find these little gems?
Word of mouth is the best way. In the past I’ve been known to ask for recs for preg!fic on Twitter and have been sent to a slew of them that way.
So, what are some good Pregella & Daddy-To-Be-Ward stories? Well, they tend to be broken down into a few sub-categories. We have the AUs, the Happy Couple Starting a Family, and the Unplanned Pregnancy. Granted, we could easily break those down even further or combine some of the categories together. After all, these stories aren’t all told with a formula. But for the sake of time and to just give some examples, I’ll keep it in these basic sub-categories.
The AUs
Really, the reason that I separated this off from the fixing of Breaking Dawn is because this category existed before we ever knew that there would be anything to fix. There were several, in fact, there was one that I vaguely recall was written as a joke because the authors were adamant that “It’s impossible for Bella to get pregnant! Quit writing about it! And just to prove to you how ridiculous the concept is….” Okay, they weren’t really rude about it, but I do find it funny that they were so certain of the impossibility of a half-vampire child that they wrote a story to joke about it. I don’t believe the fic was ever completed.
Anyhow, let me give you three different types of these AUs. One of them was the original. The stories that were written before Breaking Dawn was released. My favourite of those is Morning Star by Consultant by Day. In this story, Edward and Bella are married and before Bella can be changed, after returning from their honeymoon, they learn she is pregnant. The story is their entire journey through that change in their lives and includes a small fight with the Volturi. Well written and a story that I’ve read more than once.
Next, we have the AUs where the author wrote it in an attempt to “fix” Breaking Dawn. Some people loved the fourth book and others hated it. Regardless, most people can agree that there is at least something about the pregnancy and birth of Renesmee that they wished they could fix or change. After the book was released there were quite a few one-shots released that showed Edward interacting with Renesmee because it’s one of the things that we missed seeing in the book. There have been other stories written to “fix” the pregnancy in the story. A few people chose to fix that by eliminating it altogether. Personally, I think that they miss out on something by doing that.
However, the story that stands out the most as being one to “fix” Breaking Dawn is Beautiful Beat by americanxidiot. Granted, this story is more AU than canon, but there were some major things that the author felt needed to be touched upon in the story. I will say, however, that I was very sad when the story was originally completed, even though the story ended the way that it needed to. Later, americanxidiot added an extended epilogue and then I felt like happy with the conclusion.

The third type of AU is a story that has a vampire component to it, but only takes the concepts from canon, not the storyline. An example of this type of story is Master Race by babette12. In this story, Edward is a vampire who is currently living away from his family. He happens upon another vampire while down in Brazil and “overhears” his thoughts about his children and the idea of having a halfling child is born in Edward’s thoughts. So, he goes to see his family in Forks in hopes of finding the perfect (disposable) human to carry his child.

The Happy Couple

The best example of the ‘happy couple’ that I can think of right now is Some Little Girls by sleepyvalentina. Really, this story is a sequel to Art After 5 and takes place several years later when Edward and Bella decide they want to have a baby. There are only a couple of chapters posted to this story so far, but it’s so well written and it instantly yanks the reader into the story.

Another one is The Loves of My Life by Courtlyn. This is a bit of a stretch of the happy couple scenario, but it is where the story begins. In this one Jacob and Bella are very happily married when he is killed while working. Bella later learns that she’s pregnant and meets the new doctor in town. The story is very much about growth and healing and this Bella is the epitome of strength to be able to get through this ordeal and to move forward in her life after the death of her husband. Beautifully written.
The Unplanned Pregnancy
Really, these are my favourite. They have the clearest opportunity for growth and I love seeing how these characters deal with the challenges. Let’s face it, there are lots of unplanned pregnancy scenarios. The married couple, the unmarried couple, the one night stand, the teenagers, etc.
One story that I enjoyed was December Skies by Bella Regia. In this one, Bella is involved with Jacob, she gets pregnant and he dumps her. She continues on with her family as support and her best friend, Edward. The entire story is just sweet and I remember enjoying it back when it was a WIP.

Another one night stand story that I’ve liked is Into the Mystic by DKMulder. I loved the way she wrote Edward when she learned he was the father of Bella’s baby. It was wonderful and felt real. Unfortunately, the author recently put the story on hiatus.

Finally, I want to finish by naming one of my favourite stories right now: River Dam by jfly & jandco. This story is about two teenagers, one of them ready to go off to college and experience the world and the other with another year of high school… when an unplanned pregnancy forces them both to give up on their dreams. Both Bella and Edward are beautifully flawed. I love them, while I want to wring their necks for the stupid decisions that they make. It is well-written and painfully realistic… and right now all I can do is pray for a Happily Ever After for the new family.

Those are just a few of the stories that can be found in Twilight fandom. As I said before, it’s my absolute favourite genre of story because of the way they draw out the characters. To me, there is simply nothing sexier or more romantic than a father-to-be and to me, Daddy-To-Be-Ward is the ultimate hero.

Okay, I’ve shared some of my favourites, please share with me some of yours!

GinnyW is a long time fanfic reader and writer who has strong opinions about pretty much everything. Her own Pregella & Daddy-To-Be-Ward can still be found online here. She has written over 20 stories in both the Harry Potter and the Twilight fandom. She is currently working on both a collaboration with Shug titled, “Contractually Bound,” as well as an original story.

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15
Sep

Gift Exchange: Prayer of the Damned by GinnyW

September 15, 2009 by ·

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5284976/1/Prayer_of_the_Damned
http://community.livejournal.com/twi_exchange/5839.html
http://twilighted.net/viewstory.php?sid=7070


Official Description: While flying home from Isle Esme, Edward reflects on the events of the last several hours after learning of Bella’s pregnancy. This is a Breaking Dawn, missing moments scene in EPOV.

Q&A with GinnyW:

If you got more than one prompt – why did you choose the prompt you did?
When people signed up they were asked to give 2-3 prompts so that the person writing for them would have choices. I chose the one I did because it was something that I had looked at writing last summer. Although, I honestly didn’t choose the person I was writing for. I offered the prompts I’d selected to someone who offered to pinch hit.

Was this prompt out of your comfort zone as a writer? How so?
I think that writing in gift exchanges is always outside of an author’s comfort zone. That’s because the story is a gift and instead of writing for ourselves, we’re writing for someone else.

What was your favorite passage that you wrote in the fic?
My fic is short, however I love the airport scene. I loved Bella’s veiled warning and I loved even more Edward’s horror at realising that Bella was turning to Rosalie. It was something that I wished would’ve been in “Breaking Dawn.”

Did you know the person you were writing this for prior to receiving the prompt? If you did know them – did their likes and dislikes influence the plot choices you made? How so? If you did not know them did you just write the fic the way you wanted to or did you make any effort to get to know them?
I didn’t know her well. Just from the Twilighted forum boards.

How long did this take to write? Did you write it at the same time as your other fic(s) or did you put them on hold in order to finish this? Has this influenced your other fics at all?
I had to write my exchange piece between chapters of my WIP. And for such a short piece, I worked on it for several weeks.

Why did you choose the prompts you gave the author who wrote your fic? Were these ideas you had for yourself or just fics you wanted to see written?
The prompts I wrote were fics I wanted to see written.

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Kassiah says: Prayer of the Damned is a short o/s (just 3400 words)that has Edward’s thoughts on the flight before they return home from the honeymoon in BD. I love how in character GinnyW kept him, slipping from sweet and happy memories to guilt and blaming himself. It reminded me how much communication was a problem for canon Bella and Edward, lol.

The descriptions that she used and the constant prayers throughout were awesome. The moment that Edward and Bella share just before debarking the plane is sweet and loving. Definitely check this story out.

mozzer0906 says: Every now and again I come across something in the fandom that I read and it becomes part of canon for me. I feel it fills a void that was left in the Twilight saga. Prayer of the Damned did this for me. I loved the way she wrote Edward’s point of view for the flight home, dealing with his conflicting emotions of love, guilt and concern for his wife. I think staying in canon can be very difficult at times because we all have very preset notions as to how these characters react and think, but GinnyW nails my Edward perfectly. It is fics like these that remind me of what brought me to this fandom in the first place, those glimpses of Twilight that made me fall in love with these characters.

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05
Jun

Coming to Terms by GinnyW

June 5, 2009 by ·

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4626503/1/Coming_to_Terms

Official Description: A one night stand, a handful of condom wrappers, and Bella decides she’s meant to be alone. Fate has other plans. All human. Canon pairings.

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Wandb says: My favorite part about this story is the characters’ reactions to the circumstances that they are in. They are completely believable and the dialogue is great. Edward reacts negatively and is naturally suspicious. Bella tries to be independent and prove that she is trustworthy. It takes these characters a while to bring down the walls, which is a frustrating journey at times but the author does a great job of making the reader feel that along with the characters. I find myself anxiously awaiting the conclusion and looking forward to the updates.

Kassiah says: I really, really like this story, even though I usually shy away from the heartfail lol. I agree that the characters’ reactions are totes realistic. I love that this story has a lot of interaction with other characters too, like Alice and Esme. I think that it is interesting to see how Bella and Edward’s relationship grows amidst the turmoil and hurt in their lives. It has some really sweet moments and I can’t wait to find out where this story is going too.

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