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22
Apr

The Great Unknown by ScarlettLetters

April 22, 2010 by · 2 Comments

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5835130/1/The_Great_Unknown


Official Description: Edward’s life changes in a way he never imagined. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. M.L. King, Jr Eclipse AU

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annanabanana says: Losing a loved one, a friend, a mentor, will change a person. For better or worse, through grief and pain and necessity, it is impossible to survive such a tragedy and remain the same. This mournful metamorphosis is exactly what ScarlettLetters explores in her AU post-Eclipse story The Great Unknown.

“The past few years have been something I never would have believed I would be able to survive. I still don’t know how I managed it. I hope that you would be proud of the man I’ve tried to become through it all.”

When the Cullens lose the keystone of their family, the emotional shrapnel is varied and destructive. They each process the trauma differently as the bonds between them stretch, bend and fray. While such a loss is always unwelcome and hurtful, everyone reacts to the grief in different ways. Working through that grief, Edward becomes a stronger, more self-confident version of himself, no longer able to rely only on someone else’s faith in him. Told in Edward’s POV, we also get to read his letters to Carlisle, his father, as the story progresses. Reading his voice in that way is poignant and heart-wrenching.

“Dear Father,

“. . . I decided to be your son, Father. The son you made me into. I have tried to live by your example even when faced with impossible situations.”

The story, while seemingly about irreplaceable loss, is truly about growth. In a subtle way, ScarlettLetters manages to keep the tone of the story one of hope. It’s about adapting and evolving — how a friendship, a family, a romance, can shift and change and grow through emotional pain. It is still an Edward and Bella love story, and their dynamic, while canon-ly familiar, matures with supportive, honest trust and strength.

“. . . Bella. I could write volumes on her, Father. If there was ever a creature that made me question absolutely all my preconceived notions and beliefs, it is her.”

Many of us in the fandom who write struggle and often fail at something ScarlettLetters accomplishes with seeming ease. Her style is sincere and simply elegant. She tells what should unequivocally be a sad story with hope, a painful loss with care and consideration. She captures the quiet beauty in the grieving process and its path to change. As in reality, no matter what it may feel like when a loved one is no longer there, the world continues to turn. Life always moves forward.

Along with the void of sadness left in the family, we also see those real glimpses of everyday life — simple joys, growing pains, power shifts, sibling rivalry, love.

“. . . I wouldn’t want you to think our life in Hanover wasn’t happy, though. I have many wonderful memories . . .”

We see them fall apart, yes, but we also get to see them come back together. Some of the pieces have changed shape, but they are still a family; I trust ScarlettLetters to make them fit for me. You should trust her too and go read it right now.

shell29bell says: I’ve had Scarlettletters on my Author alert since Wild Swan owned my soul last summer, because I’m always eager to read what my favorite authors are writing. So when I got an email telling me she had posted a new fic, I may have done a little hop and squee action.

I have to confess though, that despite my fangirl devotion and inspired summary, I almost didn’t read The Great Unknown. It’s labeled Drama/Tragedy and after just coming off an angst bender, I didn’t think I could handle it. Tragedy is code, at least to me, for main character death. I’m not a huge fan of those. But as some of you may know, Scarlettletters is an awesome author and all around nice person, so I dug out my big girl panties and DM’d her on twitter.

I asked her who dies, silently praying it wasn’t Bella. She responded and I thought, ‘Piece of cake! I can handle this.’ So, I opened this new fic and began to read the captivating first chapter.

Several minutes later, I sat sobbing in front of my computer. I should have never doubted her ability to make me feel something so strongly through her writing that I cried.

I felt the grief, felt the family fracturing under the weight of loss and despair and I cried like I had lost someone of my own.

It was awesome!

It’s only 5 chapters in, but Scarlettletters has already made me feel connected to every one of her characters. We read as Edward writes letters to the lost family member and see through flashbacks and present day how the family has slowly begun to heal and come back together after being apart. Their relief and love are almost palpable as they become a family again and begin moving forward into the great unknown.

To say I’m anxiously awaiting the next update would be an understatement. At a time when I’ve become apathetic towards most fics I’m thankful to once again feel that excited pull I thought was gone. It’s the highest rec I can give.

WindyCityWonder says: Annanabanana basically nailed it. The Great Unknown is simply a brilliant piece of AU. I mentioned earlier the difficulty in having to write how awesome something is but being unable to as you are overwhelmed by the awesome. Thats me. Right now. With this story. From the plot to the characters, the words, the pain, the love… it’s impossible not to get swept up in Scarlettletters’ stellar storytelling.

For me, one of the best parts of this fandom is finding those explorations of “what if?” The Great Unknown is one of the most beautiful examples of this I have had the pleasure of reading. One possibility, one loss, that could easily skew the series as we know it, and Scarlettletters does a far beyond wonderful job of taking us on that potential journey.

TGU is definitely not a story for the faint of heart, but it can’t be qualified as merely a drama. It transcends. There is such an undeniable presence of love, family, loyalty, and growth as a direct result of an epic tragedy, but it offers the reader both an emotional and intense ride. Hats off to my glamazon twin on this one. It’s just genius. I’m completely addicted and trust when I say you will be as well. Off to read, babies. Now.

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12
Nov

Settling by theladyingrey42

November 12, 2009 by · 1 Comment

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5423909/1/Settling
Word Count: 9,819

Official Description: Bella settled for Emmett. Then his best friend Edward came into her life, along with his wife and daughter. What will she do when she realizes the only thing she wants is all that she can never have? O/S for Ninapolitan’s DILFward. AH/OOC, BxE eventually

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Annanabanana says:

“It began on a Sunday morning.”

And truly, it did.

At the mere mention of Settling by theladyingrey42, and anything else she writes really, I turn into an effusively babbling mass of incoherency. Why? Because her writing speaks directly to my gut wrenching, chest clenching, tear jerking synapses. Because there just aren’t words. Because I have to save her overwhelming stories for quiet times when puffy eyes are acceptable. Because I would steal her hastily jotted notes on bar napkins if I could.

This one shot was written for a DILFward contest, and I constantly have to remind myself of this fact. Not because it doesn’t fit the bill perfectly, but because it is so much more. Theladyingrey42 delivers real, flawed characters, a poignantly bittersweet story and prose so poetic I feel the need for a new descriptor.

As the title suggests, Bella is settling for a comfortable life with Emmett. He embodies the easy smiles and booming laugh of the canon Emmett we love, but he is not so simply defined, surprising Bella with the juxtaposition of a culturally aware intellect and a bawdy sense of humor in their first meeting. While Bella cares for him, she is clearly agreeing to just-good-enough in a life with him for fear of the hurt and uncertainty associated with her past experiences.

“After all, wanting had never led to anything for her in the past.”

Her pleasantly safe existence with her fiancé becomes infinitely more difficult when she meets his married best friend Edward. At once, she sees in Edward all of the possibilities inherent in a life of not just-good-enough but is equally reinforced by his unavailability.

“The lines of light danced off the brilliant surface of the wine, echoing the diamond on her hand and the ways her future felt so fluid, and yet so confined to hidden paths like glass that she could only barely see.”

Edward is a loving and doting father. So “enraptured” with his daughter, he is devoted to a marriage with Rose which meets only in the middle at a small girl with green eyes and curls where Rose does not love being a mother as she loved the idea. “And Bella loved to watch the simple glow of them together, a halo of warm and rose as love passed from father to child in simple touches, little bits of time.” Bella silently falls in love with little Lizzie as much as her father, spending time together as friends, as couples.

Emmett and Bella are married because the only thing she wants is unaccessible to her.

“Months of sunken longing and settled toes in tricky sand grew into years.”

After years of marriage and coupled companionship between Emmett and Bella and Edward and Rose, even the warm friendship permeating Bella and Emmett’s relationship has dissolved. She is alone, and moments of friendship between Edward and her are just as lonely as they are craved. Their loyalty infuses the breath between them, every unrealized touch, as they bond over shared love for his child.

“It ended on a Tuesday evening.”

And truly, it did.

I want to tell you so much more, to reveal all of the beautiful, heart wrenching ways in which this story unfolds, but I can’t. It needs to be unwrapped properly and with reverence. I won’t tell you this ends with a “Happily Ever After,” not because it doesn’t, but because it doesn’t matter. It ends the way it should, the way the story should be told.

Kassiah says: I was first introduced the beauty of theladyingrey42‘s writing when I read her entries for the Tattward and Inkella contest. This was her entry for the DILF contest, and it is amazing and poetic, and should not be missed. The story she tells is beautiful and so well-written. You just have to read it right now.

It starts out with Bella, content in her relationship with fiance Emmett, preparing to meet his best friend. Their meeting is one of the most descriptive moments that I have ever had the privilege to read. The imagery that theladyingrey42 uses is so vivid, drawing in each of our senses and completely enveloping us in the moment that they are experiencing. Bella has a moment of clarity, meeting that stranger:

And in that moment, staring into his eyes, she felt as if he were looking into the silent places inside her, like he could see the foundation settling beneath her, everything settling, and the cracks now forming in solid ground upon which things had rested for much too long.

Looking at this stranger, she saw her whole life before her and the ways she had settled for less than she wanted in order to protect her damaged heart and to meet the expectations of those around her. And suddenly she didn’t feel like settling anymore. In her mind’s eye, she saw her wedding dress, starched and stiff, satin and train in a mothballed closet just waiting for the day that it would be worn and discarded. And she understood at last that it was wrong. That it should have been less sex and more intimation – black and white photographs instead of glossy magazines. It should have been lace and old things, timeless romance and a day painted green, with a veil that kissed her cheeks and made her blush seem like something more than flustered nerves and missed chances.

I want to tell you so much more about the this story. I want to quote so many things to you, how they progressed, the way she describes EVERYTHING that is going on around them, provide details to show what makes her unparalleled to any writer I have ever come across. Settling is emotional and beautiful and just unexpected. I don’t want to give away what happens. I just want you to read this. I don’t say this flippantly: you will be missing out if you don’t experience Settling.

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