Guest FicRec: Guinie Pig Barbie Dolles

GuineaPigBarbie
Wilting - Rated M
AH-Hurt/Comfort/Humor
10 Chapters, 30,665 Words
2-12-09 - WIP
[ FFN ] [ Twilighted ] [ Thread ]

So, this is my life, a childish game. Ruled by God, damned by fate. A game of love and lost."

Dollegirl's

Wilting

He loves me....petal falls
He loves me not...petal falls
He loves me...petal falls
He loves me not...petal falls
Life...petal falls
Death...petal falls
Faith...petal falls
Disbelief...petal falls

You take a flower. Beautiful. Hopeful. Determined to bloom. One by one, you pick it apart. Challenge it to answer questions beyond its grasp. Then, whether he loves you or not, you still pluck a petal. And so, in the end, what remains? Nothing, but the stigma and stem. The skeleton. The most desolate part of the flower. And, of course, once the damage is done, it’s done. No reattaching petals. No second chances.

And so begins the tale of our troubled heroine. How very Faustian, don’t you think?

Oh wait, you don’t know Faust? Well, truth be told, I didn’t either. At least, not until I started reading Wilting. And really if I’m being completely honest, until I starting stalking Guineapigbarbie.

And people say fanfiction isn’t educational...psssh....

Shortly after being introduced to the fanfiction world a while back, I stumbled across an author that just happened to know dollespeak. The wit and genius that was Follow You Into The Dark had me hook, line, and sinker. Each and every update would leave me with shaking shoulders and perma-grin.

Then as if I couldn’t love the author any more, she started the brilliancy that is known as Wilting. The prologue alone had me at “hello”. This is a story that I have read and re-read, just because I can.

There are many things to love about this story. GPB can shift from one emotion to another so smoothly you find yourself wondering two paragraphs later why you are now laughing instead of hurting. The Bella she writes is by far one of my favorites, as she embodies many of my own favorite traits: sarcasm, independence, wit, avoidance.

I’m going out on a limb here to say that there is an abundance of Edward/Bella stories within the fandom that focus primarily on their relationship alone. There may be a shift in pov’s along the way to give a glimpse into what is going on with the other individually, but ultimately the heart of the plot centers on them together.

This is not so much the case with Wilting. The entire premise is based solely on Bella and her troubled journey to self-fulfillment, if you will. It is an amazingly well written story that puts a new twist on the pre-conceived notion of canon Bella. She has been written this way and that, almost always holding true to the very basic characteristics that so many of us identify her with.

Wilting changes that.

Bella is not shy or awkward, and she is far from pure as the driven snow. She is numb and damaged and jaded; her trust of people is virtually non-existent. It is Bella versus the world. Edward eventually comes along for the ride, as a side character placed within a role that puts him between a rock and a hard place. It’s not that he isn’t an important part of the plot, he is anything but. He adds a healthy dose of conflict to the already hovering heartbreak you feel for our heroine as her life story unfolds.

Bella’s view of the world is, at best, skewed. No words can better describe the character than those coming from the author herself:

“You reject the world before it can reject you. Your theory is that is better to have never loved, than to have loved and lost.”

Bella has lived a life full of more heartache in one decade than most would experience in a lifetime. Vulnerability is not an option and walls are firmly in place. The relationships she attempts to maintain in the meantime are much like a storefront window; the display makes a good sell, only to find out later that it wasn’t what you thought it would be.

She is almost completely detached and devoid of emotional connections, save for her five year old half sibling that although plays a very minor role, offers a brief moment of true happiness for Bella. The conversation between the two leaves Bella wanton and yearning for the age of innocence once more.

The friendships she has, namely Alice and Rose, is pretty typical for girl time. There’s not a hint that either of them have a clue as to how deeply Bella’s issues really run. They continue to live in the reality that Bella herself has created, making conversation about anything from wardrobe to sex. She is the master avoider and refuses to acknowledge to anyone or anything outside the safety of her therapist’s walls the black hole that she has been living in.

There are seriously not enough words in my vocabulary to adequately express how incredible this story is. It is simplistically brilliant. My appreciation for the path the author has chosen to take with her writing, somewhere that is outside the box, is huge. I love that she has taken our two favorite kids and placed them in a world that is anything but typical, anything but predictable.

GPB has done an excellent job of weaving together an awesome mix of humor, hurt, heartfail and happy. The four H’s to a great fic, right?

I’m sorely lacking in offering a rec that gives this story justice, but I swear to Rob if you read you will love…...

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Dollegirl, Author of Apples and Oranges, DID, and Art Model has no fanciful words to describe herself or anything really clever to add. She’s made her mark on the forums by posting in big letters and lots of dots, something that will definitely go on her scented paper resume.