2019 Fandom Achievement Awards

Anton M
beegurl13
Creature of Habit
Dead on My Feet
Livie79
sheviking
There Will Be Blood

Anton M

- Blinkie by MinaRivera - 


- Tribute by IpsitaC77 -
“Oh, I’m sure this glacier hike and whale-watching tour in Mendenhall is gorgeous, but you must keep Denali on your list! They have these bush-flying tours that will take you over the tundra, and you might have the luck to see a big herd of caribou walking across it! You’ll see alpine forget-me-nots and Lapland rosebays covering the valleys like rainbows. I also heard these bush pilots are amazing guides; they know all the beautiful secret spots to show you the best wildlife. Maybe you can find a rare golden eagle flying over your head! Just think about it, doctor. Just think about it!”
“I wish I could add it to our itinerary, but, Ipsita, we’ve already booked everything and there’s no extra day to squeeze in. When did you visit this area?”
“I haven’t. It’s on my bucket list, though. It’s just, uh, that one of my favourite stories is about Alaska, so it’s actually second-hand knowledge.”
“Really? That must be a fantastic book, as it left such a great impression on you. What’s the name?”
“Oh, it was a story on a private blog. You know, by some anonymous travelogue writer. I’ll send you the link, if I can find it. ”
“Please do! I’d love to read it.”
The above conversation isn’t an imaginary one used as the opening paragraph of my tribute to Anton M. No, it actually happened between me and my son’s dentist a few months ago. I just had to fib about the genre of the story, because the concept of fanfiction is still very much alien in this part of the world. I apply this tactic when it seems pointless to explain.
So when I was asked to write a tribute piece for Anton M, my first reaction, after I got over my shocked surprise, was, “No hay problema!” as Emmett would say in The Diary of an Ugly Girl. However, it was not so “no problema” when I tried to capture my feelings in words, because being speechless is always the cardinal reaction of reading an Anton M story.
Despite being a latecomer to this fandom, I’ve been reading fanfics for over nine years, and the list of my favourite writers is quite long now. However, there are a few who have become my favourite authors, not just fanfic writers. Needless to say, Anton M is one of them, one of my go-to escapes. Hence, that real conversation with the previously mentioned doctor! Yes, the greatest thing I love about this amazing wordsmith is that her creations seem so very real. 
She creates a world where our emotions line up with the characters, and we live it as we read on. Be it a teenaged girl who isn't “beautiful” by any society-determined parameters and hides her pain in smart sarcasm; be it an ordinary woman who’s thwarted all the time by the boys, because “girls aren’t meant to make the first move”; or be it the girl who gives up her identity and her only living family to help the law serve its justice… We empathize with every single one of them, even if we haven't walked in their shoes or lived their lives. They take us through their struggle, make us feel their passion and tears, fill us with admiration for their natural strength, and bring out a sigh of contentment as they find their happiness. 
Even as her stories evolve around these female protagonists, Anton M creates such distinct central male characters that they can only be described as “Edward, you are… beyond words.” A man who “said a lot with the words he did choose, but he didn’t talk much, or the one who tastes like affection and the butterflies in my stomach,” or one who can be described as “if safety had a smell, it would’ve smelled like Edward.” Therefore, the sum and substance of her characters are real—so fantastically real.
Personally, I love one character trait found in most her Bellas. They all unveil their hearts despite knowing their feelings might not be reciprocated by the intended person. Their souls bleed, but they’re strong enough to show vulnerability to their beloved, be it their husband on paper, her best friend, or her father. 
“It’s not your fault that I fell in love with you. It’s not your fault that you don’t feel the same.” 
“So, do you think an alternate universe exists in which you love me back? Because I think there is one, but it only exists in my head.”
“Can you hug me like that, dad? Just once? So I would know what it feels like for someone to care about you more than your own life?”
If the author’s own personality reflects in the process of her characterization, then I’d say she’s one hell of a woman who survives the storms yet keeps her heart gentle and full of light. I wish I could know Mav—this one solitary reference of her, hopefully, real name in an A/N— and more than just her country’s name.  
Smartness, intelligence, and sharp sarcasm embellish her stories like an explosive gift box. We don’t know what to expect on the leaves until we unfurl them one by one. Even her sweet romances and steamy lemons never get corny. There’s always something substantial in the core of the softness of the sentiments, something deeper than skin in the layers of the fiery pleasure she portrays. She claims our awe and respect with such ease that, before we know it, we’re in love.   
Then, in Alaska, she adds this unbelievable terrestrial envelope to her amazing characters. My heart! The snow-covered wilderness of Alaskan tundra and a girl finding herself under the magic of aurora borealis whose heart is about to burst with love? Who needs a plane ticket to feel the goosebumps? It becomes real behind our eyelids, emanating shivers of wild passion and sweet affection. This story is one of a kind in this fandom, her crowning glory!
If Diary of an Ugly Girl relates to all of our insecure teenage days and Emma Matthews pumps our adrenaline up to a sky-high level, Alaska overwhelms us with its sublime serenity. Every single one of her stories is a precious treat to savour, to come back again and again.
 I consider myself so very fortunate to be touched by the magical creations by Anton M. They’re not just perfect; they’re even better… They’re unique.

beegurl13

- Blinkie byMina Rivera - 


- Tribute by Angela Weber Cheney aka AddictedToFic -

Brandi, better known as beegurl13 (and Bee Lynn on Facebook), is a “Jackie of All Trades” in the TwiFic fandom!  She’s a writer, fic pimp for the stories she’s read and loved, banner maker, contest judge, validator, contest banner maker, former TFFA validator and blinkie maker, and the logo maker for several TwiFic meetups!  For years, beegurl13 was the one making the blinkies for the Fandom Achievement Award recipients. I’m thrilled she’ll now have a tribute blinkie of her very own!


beegurl13 has written tributes for the Fandom Achievement Awards (check out her tribute to Son of a Preacher Man from 2017 and her tribute to Bratty-Vamp in 2014), so I know she knows the pressure of wanting to get it right.  I hope I do you justice, girl!

beegurl13 is a prolific TwiFic author with many awesome stories to her credit.  Sweet and funny, romantic, historical, angsty and downright dirty! Let me tell you about a few of my favorites.

Baby:  This is the first story I can remember reading that had a twist ending. Spoiler alert!   Do you mean to tell me the narrator, the girl who was twisting me up with rage at how naïve and dumb teenage girls can be while at the same time breaking my heart, was not Bella?!  I did not see that coming at all. It was so fun to be surprised like that!

The Maiden: I loved Pale Swan—her vulnerability, broken English, and fiery temper—and surly, jealous Edward Masen so much!  This story includes my favorite Kate of all in the many, many TwiFics I’ve read. As she’s dying, she watches her husband fall in love with another woman.  She doesn’t get upset but instead encourages it and plots for them to have an easy path at making a life together. How incredibly selfless and good! Kate’s death was so beautifully written. No matter how many times I re-read it, I cry when she’s reunited with Garrett, her true love.  Edward and his Bells are able to make a strong family together, having found their true love in each other. So damn beautiful!

If He Would Have Been Faithful: This broken, insecure, self-hating Bella broke my heart.  Finding Edward, who had also been burned before, turned her shattered life around.  I love how they were able to heal together. Every time I read this story, I think of the song “Unanswered Prayers.”  How, if you got what you thought you wanted, wouldn’t you have the life you were meant for? In this case, thank goodness for a cheating asshole!  Otherwise, Bella wouldn’t have the beautiful family and epic love story that was meant for her.  

Worship: I like the writing style of Worship a lot!  Bella and Edward’s POVs alternate, and they speak directly to each other.  I first read this story when I was very new to TwiFic, and at that time, I was kind of squicked out by this!  Bella’s 35, married, and sleeping with 18-year-old Edward who’s also sleeping with her daughter! My sensibilities aren’t quite so delicate anymore, but back then, I was horrified at myself for being into it!  LOL! How far this fandom has come in what most of us are willing to accept from our beloved characters!  

Can You Feel It?: A tale of wild attraction and forbidden love.  I felt for Bella so much, because she sees the beautiful, broken boy at his most vulnerable and can’t help but want to do and be everything he needs. Edward’s ordered to see her for court-appointed therapy.  He’s her first solo client, and her career is on the line. Can you imagine the war within? Sitting across from someone you have come to care for—someone you desire so much, someone who desires you—and having to resist?  That room must have been so charged with UST! As soon as his sessions are done, bam! So hot! Then Edward takes some time to grow up, which allows them to have a healthy relationship. Sigh. Also, how cool is it that beegurl13 kept each chapter at exactly the word count she needed for FAGE?  That takes discipline! 

Mary, Marry, Merry Go Round: I wouldn’t want to live in this Forks, but I’d sure like to visit!  Every girl is named Mary, or at least pretends to be. Renee/Mary Ann is obsessed with Mary Kay cosmetics so much that the fact that Edward’s mother sells Avon makes her faint!  I crack up every time I read that scene! Bella wants off the merry-go-round that is Stepford wife-filled, cookie-cutter houses of boring old Forks. And when carnie Edward rolls back into town four years after they first met, she gets her chance.  Love at first sight at 15 turns into a quickie marriage at 19, and since the honeymoon suite wasn’t available, hot sex in the Mary Kay suite! Edward and Bella make a life in Chicago, but it’s not Mary-free. Bella works at Mary Sue’s candy shop and lives on Mary Lou Drive with a cat named Mary Poppins.  And when they have a baby girl on Christmas, what else could they possibly name her?!  

To earn a spot as a Fandom Achievement Award recipient, you have to have made a significant impact on the fandom.  I’d say in addition to writing some great stories, making hundreds of beautiful, gorgeous, amazing banners for so, so many TwiFics packs quite the punch!  beegurl13 takes time away from her life and family to do these favors for TwiFic writers and fandom friends. I would like to personally thank her making the logos for TFMU 2018 in Atlanta, TFMU 2019 in St. Louis, and the upcoming TFMU 2020 in Austin.  All I had to give her were a few ideas and color preferences, and she took what little I gave her and created works of art I couldn’t love more! She’s so damn talented, and we’re lucky to have her in our fandom family!

Check out beegurl13’s store to see her talent on display! https://www.redbubble.com/people/beegurl13/shop?asc=u

Thank you, Brandi, for all you do for the TwiFic fandom! We appreciate you so much!

Creature of Habit

- Blinkie by MinaRivera - 


- Tribute by PaTrizia - 

When I was asked to write a tribute for this huge awards event, I was nervous, because you never know what or what you’ll get until you accept… ;)

Finding out the Fandom Achievement Award for 2019 would go to this story, by one of my very favorite authors, of course, the relief and giddiness when revealed knew no end. Not only was EZRocksAngel introduced to me through her collaborations with no other than the great Angstgoddess003, who was my first, my fanfiction cherry popper and addiction-inflicting influence in and around this Twilight fandom since 2009. She’s also one of the pioneers of this special way to write and contribute to the extension and enrichment of the original story of Twilight. She made it possible for us to keep dreaming and experience this dream over and over again, in variations and unimaginable twists and turns, variations of endless love and devotion.

Creature of Habit is a great example of what fanfiction is all about. 

Although the original framework stays true to the original—the canon couples and the major character traits of the main protagonists—the author found a way to make this story her very own. She found a way to sprinkle fine, underlying humor throughout the angsty plot—whether it’s the image of Angela with her skirt stuck in her underwear or if it’s the description of Edward cataloguing his socks in his OCD behaviour.

She intricately described the slow-growing development of this couple’s love story. She was able to capture their love in her very own words, the absoluteness of it, the unconditional devotion and attraction that brings them so intimately close. As an adult, you might want to reduce what they have to them being too young, too naive, or too immature, but maybe that’s the essence of the Twilight kind of love. And as a typical vampire trait, freezing that state of elation at that particular moment and making it last forever brings the Creature of Habit full circle. 

One might say that she just altered the original only marginally, that she uses the typical, overused expressions, but that person probably never read those first ones, the WIPs of 2009 and 2010 when all of this was new and original and made us quiver for more. Those times before Kindles were invented, when we sat in front of a computer desktop and printed out pages and pages of the latest updates at work, because we just had to have it on paper, to read in bed later.  Those old times, when it was thrilling to connect with fellow readers on Facebook to extend the excitement to bathe in between updates. 14,000+ reviews can’t be wrong. Angel was one of the founders of this fandom, one of the first authors to share their talent with us—generously, lovingly, unconditionally. 

Creature of Habit embraces all the components of the original Twilight story without simply re-telling it. Angel has created her own masterpiece. That is the true essence of fanfiction and what this fandom is all about. 

I also want to point out EZRocksAngel’s well-deserved success as a published author, Angel Lawson, and the transformation of Creature of Habit into an independent piece of original fiction. The controversy and the indignation some people feel towards FFn stories being published, shouldn’t diminish the achievement those works have accomplished for the fandom.

I personally think it’s great that authors get deserved attention outside of fanfiction and the usual, faithful circles of readers. After they shared and gave away for free, created their own plots and placed the original drama into countless new settings of time and place and circumstance, I feel they earned that. It makes me happy to see them being successful and living the dream, doing what they love and even making a living… 

Re-reading Creature of Habit before writing this tribute has brought back all the happy feelings of those times and strong flashbacks of the mystic fascination we all willingly fell victim to. It made me feel ten years younger. It made me happy!

So tell me, what better qualification is there to deserve a Fandom Achievement Award?

Dead on My Feet

- Blinkie by MinaRivera - 


-  Tribute by Shadow Masen -

Did you ever start reading a story and know within the first two paragraphs that the author just “gets it” and that it’s going to be an incredible read?  That’s how I felt when I first laid eyes on Dead on My Feet.
Even sitting in the back corner of the room, in the farthest desk from student traffic and the teacher's line of sight, it is possible to be the centre of attention. The really curious thing about it is that I can be invisible at the same time.
No one likes to look at seriously ill people. It's awkward. It might be catching. It might happen to you some day, and that ruins the happy reality of today. That's the invisible bit. But every other student in this class is hyperaware that I'm here, even if they don't look at or talk to me, because in a place they don't acknowledge they're afraid I'm going to drop dead at any second.
Dead on My Feet is a story that really starts after the story. Edward has had cancer and is in remission.  But as most of us know, cancer isn’t a disease you walk away from without scars or consequences. You limp away hoping you’ll be able to put yourself back together in the wake of the havoc both disease and treatment have wreaked on your body and mind.  Now, imagine you’re a seventeen-year-old boy. Before, your worries were looking good for the ladies, where you were going on a Saturday night, and whether there was a chance you might get some.  Now, your worries are hoping your hair grows back someday, making it through the school day without vomiting, and do you even still have a functioning dick?  
Enter stage right, Bella, new girl from Arizona, running from her own messy past but strangely unafraid and undaunted by Edward’s appearance or demeanor.  In fact, she seems to know what he needs even better than he does… when she’s not being a snarky bitch to him.
If you’re looking for hearts and flowers, then this isn’t the story for you.  Bella isn’t always nice to Edward. In fact, she doesn’t even want to be friends with him, let alone anything else.
She drops her voice to a murmur. "It's better if we're not friends." Well, that's a convenient way of phrasing rejection.
"Why not?" Go on; tell me off to my face.
"Because I would kill you."
Now that I didn't expect.
What the hell does that mean, and why would Edward stick around after that?  He stays because she’s his only friend, and as you read, you’ll learn what killing Edward really means and how it could be the best thing that could possibly happen to him.  I’m not going to explain that to you here because you need to read it for yourself. it’s brilliant and beautiful and real
That’s the true beauty of this story: these characters are real.  
Edward is a shell of who he once was, and Cesca Marie presents that to us in agonizing and painful detail.  He’s been absolutely wrecked by what’s happened to him, but he goes along as best he can because what else can he do?  He’s fragile and broken and, at times, bewildered by what he’s going through, and you go through it with him, one painful insecurity and aching moment at a time.  It’s raw and it’s powerful and it’s angsty, but it’s written with so much skill and understanding that I can’t help but think that Cesca must have been a teenage boy with cancer in an alternate life.
Bella’s damaged by a past that’s part chance and part choice, and although being with Edward is really the last thing she should do, she’s drawn to him, even though he possesses the potential to suck her dry.  
The dance between these two characters is truly beautiful, both reluctant in their own ways and for their own reasons, but they come to realize that they truly do need each other in order to become whole again.  
And then there’s the shower scene.  And no, it’s not at all what you’re thinking.  In all the stories I’ve ever read, this just might be the most powerful, most intimate moment I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness.  That’s the amazing, exciting thing about truly good writing; it has the power to move you whether you want it to or not and to make you feel everything the character is feeling.  This scene does that in spades, but I won’t tell you how. You need to go and read it for yourself.      
And I haven’t even touched on the supporting cast in this story: Alice, Edward’s Harry Potter-loving baby sister who would do anything for him, from making milkshakes to donating bone marrow;  Emmett, Edward’s stalwart older brother, always there but in ways so different from Alice; Esme and Kate, Jane and Darryl—people from Edward and Bella’s past and present all enrich the tapestry of their lives that is presented to us and reveal to us who they were and who they hope to be.
There are so many more things I could say, but I fear I just can’t do it justice.  I love this Edward to pieces, because he’s so fragile and self-doubting, and I love the way Bella pushes him just far enough but not so far that he breaks.  I love how the siblings act like siblings, even though one is far from whole, and you can see the mark cancer has made on the whole family. I love how Edward and Bella verbally abuse the hell out of each other from day one, and it becomes the cornerstone of their relationship.  Bella’s soft on the inside but a bitch on the outside, and Edward’s inner monologue is frank and often hilarious, and it’s just… real. But it’s better than real, because although all the reality is there, we get the happy ending. And that’s what makes the best stories. It feels real, but in the end, it all turns out all right.  And this is one of those stories—one of the very best, in my opinion.    
How did I come to read Dead on My Feet?  I stumbled upon it while I was in the middle of writing Come Back Tomorrow, and I have to tell you, I almost stopped writing.  I devoured the story, and when I was done, it was like, “Well, Edward with cancer has already been done with such power and perfection. Why should I even bother?  I can’t possibly write anything that compares to this.” That’s how good it is. That’s how much it made me feel. It took me days until I could write again; that’s how hard this Edward gripped me and just wouldn’t let go.  I don’t know that there’s any higher praise I can give this story than that.
Thank you, Cesca Marie, for sharing this captivating, oh-so-real story with us and for crafting it so brilliantly that it made me cry and love and feel again and again.  You did an incredible job of capturing the reality of life after cancer, but even more than that, the reality of having to let go of who you were and embrace who you are, no matter what’s happened to you.

Livie79

- Blinkie by MinaRivera - 


- Tribute by Meagan aka CupcakeDivaFF -

My dear, sweet, innocent little angel Liv... 

BAHAHAHAH—

I couldn't even type that with a straight face.

I met Liv for the first time at the Chicago TFMU. I’d consumed a little bit of alcohol and just vaguely remember staring at her and telling her how much I loved her writing. I was the “heart eyes” emoji in the flesh. I can’t tell you the second time I met her in person, because it was like she seamlessly weaseled her way into my life.

The first story of Liv’s I read was Glass House. Then I went back and read Practice to Deceive. And then started the rollercoaster of feels known as Glycerine. Apparently, I’m a masochist who loves to have her heart ripped out of her chest.

From the first time I opened Glass House, her writing sucked me in. The way she writes her characters is so real that you feel as though you’re living the pain, joy, love, and heartbreak with them. You want to slap them and hug them at the same time, and that was just using our Twilight characters. I couldn’t wait to see what she could do with her own characters. 

With each book she’s published, Liv has continued to grow and thrive with her writing. She’s still giving us the heart-wrenching stories we love (i.e. Flutter and Blackout), but she’s also introducing us to new characters that take on a life of their own. She doesn’t want and shouldn’t be contained to just one genre. This girl can write anything. Whether it’s her published works—like the addict rockstar and the Starburst-addicted girl he’s in love with in Brooklyn and Beale—or her fics—where she’s traumatizing the crap out of us like Que Sera, Sera—Liv has become an outstanding storyteller. 

If it was her writing that sucked me in, it was her incredible heart that kept me there. We’ve joked about calling her Satan, but she’s far from it. Liv is someone who would do anything for her friends and family, and I know that first-hand. I live in Nashville and was one of the victims of the tornado that came through in March. One of the first texts I received was from Liv, immediately asking what she could do. I know it probably took everything in her to not hop in her car and drive here. 

From alcohol-infused nights that resulted in Sink Chicken, to seeing one of our favorite artists in concert, to conversations that made me laugh and smile for the first time in days, I can’t imagine my life without the crazy-beautiful that is Liv. Our fandom’s so lucky to have her stories, and I’m lucky to have her as one of my best friends. 

Congrats on your Fandom Achievement Award, Livie! You deserve it! Sink Chicken for life!

sheviking

- Blinkie by MinaRivera - 


- Tribute by chayasara –

We’ve all had the experience of trying to remember a story we’ve read, but somehow, the title eludes us. Sometimes we’ll remember a title but not its author.  Fortunately, that rarely happens with anything sheviking writes. Her stories and characters are just that memorable.

sheviking has been part of our fandom for a decade, starting with a story that caught the attention of almost 10,000 readers. The Blizzard touched everyone’s hearts. sheviking created a world where compassion and kindness can overcome many of the hardships of life.  She followed this story with a little one-shot she wrote for her beta, Melanie Moreland, now a successful author herself. That little story, Safe With You, racked up 1,211 favorites. With The Education of Professor Cullen, sheviking cemented her place in our hearts. She brought a fussy, introverted educator into the modern world with the help of a free-spirited student.  sheviking published this story as Absolute Beginners and Absolute Lovers. Her story, A Bartered Betrothal, won first place in the public vote of The Age of Edward Contest in 2017.

It’s not often we get to meet our fandom friends, but I did just that three years ago when sheviking came from her home in Denmark to the States. I found her just as beautiful in person as she is with her words. She’s quick to smile, and she exudes warmth. She absolutely glows when she speaks of her two children. What was most impressive was her ability to see the silver lining in situations that many of us would find demanding and difficult. 

Our fandom is richer for her contributions and her talent. I consider it an honor and privilege to be her beta. Look for her new book, Crossing the Lines, soon!

There Will Be Blood

- Blinkie by MinaRivera - 


-  Tribute by HeartforTwilight aka Clo Rodeffer - 

As I sat down to write my tribute to There Will Be Blood, I wanted to convey the feelings we all got reading it for the first time. Then I remember the funny way johnnyboy7 always began her author notes at the end of each chapter. Oh, my god! She was psychic! On March 1, 2011, she posted the first chapter, which captured all of our attention and kept us wanting to know more. Then the next chapter came out, and it was later in 2011 that she wrote the words that are so poignant: “HOLY EDWARD’S RETURN BATMAN.” How did she know that our beloved Robert Pattinson would be Batman in 2020? How? 

johnnyboy7 took us on a rollercoaster of a ride with her characters. At first, Edward came across as uncaring, heartless, and a badass; however, the power of finding his other half soon began to change him. Bella started out a little naive, coming from a small town in Washington to the big, bad city of Chicago. Though it didn’t take her long to find a friend in Alice, they startshevikinged to get into trouble quite quickly. Lying about your age to get into a club and she was a police chief’s daughter, for Pete’s sake. 

The first night they met, Bella had passed out because she couldn't stand the smell of blood. Good thing she wasn’t studying to be a doctor. LOL. Edward brings her up to his office, and as soon as he lays eyes on her, lightning strikes. He would never be the same again, even though he fought the attraction with everything he had inside of him. 

I loved so many things about this story, but the one thing that always stuck with me, and even influenced my own writing, was the fact that Bella was not a wimp. She was strong and unafraid to speak her mind or to make Edward take his medicine. She loved him unconditionally, even with all his quirky faults. Who takes a shower for exactly twenty-seven minutes every time? 

The story finished its journey with a massive cliffhanger, and we were all excited to see that there was going to be a book two. It was hard to figure out how johnnyboy7 was going to write Edward and Bella. What kind of adventure would it be, and would their love change because Bella had been through so much with being in prison and the loss of their baby?

For those who read There Will Be Blood, our lives were eternally changed, and even to this day, when someone asks what the best mafia fic ever written is, it’s always named. Thank you, johnnyboy7. 

HOLY THERE WILL BE BLOOD BATMAN!!!

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