There are over 131,000 Twilight-inspired stories currently housed on FanFiction.net. Though our reasons for reading and writing Twific differ as vastly as the stories themselves, we all have one thing in common:

We were brought here by sparkly vampires.

Yet, Twific frequently has nothing to do with the undead. I’m not passing judgment; we all know I read (and write) AH. Still, my first fic love was AU vamp. That being said, I jumped on the opportunity to discuss a few of my favorite stories—AUs which may have their basis in books we already know well, but are anything but predictable.

Lts29′s Redshift, Blueshift is a fascinating AU chronicling the story of vampire Bella who meets a human Edward Masen after moving in with the Cullens and attending high school in Forks. In many ways, this story has the best of all worlds—the vamps we love and a living, breathing, blushing Edward usually found only in AH fic. But we have more than a role reversal. For reasons that are still a mystery, Bella’s none too happy with the idea of Edward spending time with the Cullens. The result is a fun read of romantic suspense that, much like human Edward, is endearing in its honesty.

Another fabulous vamp fic is Stranger than Fiction by MasenVixen. I freely admit I resisted this story at first. There are so many New Moon AUs based on the premise that Edward never returned, and though I have a soft spot for them, I had zero interest in beginning another one. Stranger than Fiction is different. Yes, Bella is heart broken and never loves again the way she loved Edward, but she goes on with her life. She attends college, where she writes a novel based on her relationship with Edward and a professor encourages her to submit it to a literary agent. After her novel is published, Edward finds he can no longer stay away from her. The writing is flawless, and the characters superbly crafted. Even Bella’s boyfriend is likable, and someone with whom I would want her to find happiness in Edward’s absence.

But does happiness exist without Edward? When we remove him from the equation, what are we left with? Giselle-lx attempts to answer this in her oneshot, Sensitivity to Initial Conditions. In eight poignant scenes, she shows us what could have happened if Carlisle’s split-second decision to change Edward went the other way, thereby altering the paths of the living, the dead and the undead. The narration is direct and almost cold as it guides us through a true alternate universe, yet the prose itself is laden with emotion:

The groundskeeper turns back to his shears, and allows himself to wonder if after ninety-one years the body of MASEN, EDWARD ANTHONY II has at last turned to earth. Humming a little, he begins to trim the onion grass away from the weathered marble.

By the end of the story, it’s difficult not to feel a bit philosophical about the significance of a single action—both in fiction and in life. After all, had Carlisle not changed Edward, there would have been no Twilight series.

And none of us would be here.