NOVA by cupcakeriot

Twilight Fanfic

Links:
Fanfiction.net: NOVA by cupcakeriot

Story Rating:
M

Story Status:
In-Progress (as of June 7th, 2014)

Pairing:
Bella/Edward

Fanfiction.net Summary:
The early 27th century - a young omnilinguist gypsy girl who creates visions with her li'lute, an alien bio-weapon struggling with his control, the Federation starship Nova, and how their lives intertwine.

Review:
This story caught my eye because it's not often I come across a Twilight scifi fic. Then when I started reading, I was really interested in the way the author managed to turn all of the main characters into different species from different planets like a sort of Star Trek cast. It's a bit odd because Bella and Edward are called Astra and Khai, respectively, rather than any of the names typical in Twilight fanfiction. If you're both a Star Trek fan and a Twilight fan, then you'll probably enjoy this.

Rating:
8/10

Restoration by Elise de Sallier

Twilight Fanfic

Links:
Fanfiction.net: Restoration by Elise de Sallier

Story Rating:
M

Status:
Complete

Pairing:
Bella/Edward

Fanfiction.net Summary:
Resigned to her lonely fate, Bella risks her life to rescue a man left for dead by enemy soldiers. Edward turns out to be a little more than she bargained for, his presence awakening dangerous desires and inspiring dreams that could change her life—and the course of a Kingdom—forever. A Cinderbella tale.

Review:
I've always loved original spins on fairy tales, so this story immediately caught my eye. It was a bit predictable in terms of what angst was going to be thrown in, but there was enough originality that I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'll ever re-read it, but if you like fairy tales as much as I do, then you'll probably enjoy this.

Favorite Aspect:
The fact that it wasn't in modern times.

Rating:
7/10

Coincidental Major by m7707

Twilight Fanfic

Links:
Fanfiction.net: Coincidental Major by m7707
Twilighted.net: Coincidental Major by m7707

Previous Story (BPOV of Coincidental Major):

Fanfiction.net: Major Misconduct by m7707
Twilighted.net: Major Misconduct by m7707
My review of Major Misconduct

Story Rating:
M/NC-17

Status:
Complete

Pairing:
Bella/Edward

Fanfiction.net Summary:
A tale about a hockey-playing boy who loves his girl. This is Edward's story from Major Misconduct.

Twilighted.net Summary:
A tale about a hockey-playing boy who loves his girl. This is Edward's story from Major Misconduct.

Review:
Pretty much all I said about Major Misconduct. Even though it's all the same events, your perspective changes slightly since Edward is the one telling the story. I loved seeing how Edward viewed all of their interactions- most of the time I had assumed something different from what was actually going through his head. I don't think it matters, but I would recommend reading Major Misconduct first. I think there are one or two references made that you might not fully understand if you read Coincidental Major first.

Favorite Aspect:
The way the insight into Edward's head was different from what I had imagined while reading Major Misconduct, but better.

Story Rating:
9/10

Major Misconduct by m7707

Twilight Fanfic

Links:
Fanfiction.net: Major Misconduct by m7707
Twilighted.net: Major Misconduct by m7707

Companion Story (EPOV of Major Misconduct):
Fanfiction.net: Coincidental Major by m7707
Twilighted.net: Coincidental Major by m7707
My review of Coincidental Major

Story Rating:
M/NC-17

Status:
Complete

Pairing:
Bella/Edward

Fanfiction.net Summary:
Edward Cullen - hot high school hockey player. Bella Swan - shy high school student. They've admired each other from afar, so what happens when they finally meet? Will they be strong enough to handle a threat from his past? No good deed goes unpunished...

Twilighted.net Summary:
Edward - hot high school hockey player. Bella - shy high school student. They've admired each other from afar, so what happens when they finally meet? Are they strong enough to handle a threat from his past? No good deed goes unpunished...

Review:
One of the first Twilight fanfics I ever read, this definitely opened me up to the world of All-Human Twilight characters. I read this several years ago, when I was closer in age and mentality to the high school characters. Re-reading it now, I still enjoy it, but I don't think I would have developed quite the same attachment to it that I have. If you're not into high school fics, then I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're willing to give it a try, I would definitely tell you to go for it. It has a great combination of romance and angst/action.

The Bella and Edward of this story are definitely ones that I prefer over the traditional personalities. Bella is still shy and looks at Edward with awe, but she develops more of a backbone and doesn't question their relationship every other second. Edward is still sort of possessive, but in a way that I see as being more protective than controlling. And the sexual tension in this is INTENSE. This writer has a real way of making my heart pound in my chest while reading some of the make-out and sex scenes.

The rating on this story is definitely deserved. The sex scenes can get pretty explicit (typical of what you might expect from an M/NC-17 Twilight story), and there is a cringe-worthy fight scene.

If you like this story, I would highly recommend the companion piece in EPOV, Coincidental Major (links above, review found here). It's great to see how Edward perceived all of their interactions.

Favorite Aspect:
The personalities of Bella and Edward being similar enough to the originals that it's not like the author wasn't paying attention, but different enough in a very good way to make the story better.

Rating:
9/10

Views on Twilight and Background

You've got to be kidding me. Twilight?

Ok, first off, please don't hold the fact that I read Twilight fanfiction against me. I read the Twilight Saga when I was much younger. It was a guilty pleasure, even if it felt like my brain was coming out of my ears at times. I've always loved stories that involved a regular person becoming involved in something extraordinary (for whatever reason, like Cinderella, Mulan, etc.), so I found the concept intriguing.

What type of Twilight Fanfiction?

I discovered the fanfiction world soon after I finished reading the saga, and at the time was more into the stories than I am now (essentially, I've grown up). Back then, I was immediately drawn to stories that didn't actually include the ridiculousness of cold, sparkly vampires. In fact, I generally don't read fics that have any vampires or involve the supernatural (although with the latter, it has more to do with the fact that most of the fics I've found that involve the supernatural aren't written particularly well... no offense to any authors intended).

POV?

Not being a man, I find it difficult to get into the mind of men, so I prefer fics written from BPOV rather than EPOV (although I have found a handful of really fantastic EPOV fics or ones that include EPOV with the BPOV). Ones with EPOV are generally ones with a really romantic Edward. I'm a bit of a romantic, I guess...

Why Bella? She's annoying!

Yes, in my opinion she is. I have nothing against people who feel otherwise, but I find Bella's character to be too Mary Sue-like in certain aspects and completely lacking in self-esteem for no particular reason. Fics where Bella has some self-esteem issues due to weight/other personal appearance issues or emotional abuse are far better than ones where a girl has been so "dazzled" that she considers her significant other to be on a pedestal so high it's on the moon. I believe in equality in relationships, and while there may have been a certain balance in some areas, the fact that it was written from BPOV and Bella didn't see Edward as an equal bothered me.

That being said, most of the stories I've read portray a slightly different Bella from the one in the original story, and she is usually one I can relate to much better than Meyers'.

As for the other women in the Twilight universe, I've read way too many stories that were written with horrible grammar or butchered the characters' personalities to pursue stories where anyone other than Bella and Edward are the main characters.

Which brings us to... Why Edward?

*Sigh* I don't really have a good answer to this one. I guess because I like reading stories with at least a little bit of romance, and I can't really picture anyone else with Bella. Also, I find a lot of the descriptions of the different Edward portrayals to be so intensely attractive in personality and appearance...

Anything else?

Canon couples. This has more to do with the fact that in my mind I imagine Jasper and Rosalie to be siblings, as well as Alice, Emmett, and Edward. I also think of Carlisle and Esme as being parents to some of them, so any switching of couples makes me feel squeamish due to the thoughts of incest. I know that they aren't actually related, and there are a lot of stories where none of them have any familial ties, but that doesn't stop me from being weirded out.

Oh, and from what I've read, most of the really well-written Bella/Edward stories are rated M or NC-17, so this is where most of the explicit sex scenes will be from.

Bottom line?

And so, virtually all of the Twilight fics I read are ones where all the characters are human (AH), written from BPOV, and are Bella/Edward.