crack_van | Twenty-Seven Echoes Neverland by Elizabeth (PG13)

Fandom: ROSWELL
Pairing: Michael/Liz, with mentions of Max/Liz, Michael/Maria and Isabel/Alex
Author on LJ:

uhmidont
Author Website: http://www.ficorama.net
Why this must be read:

Well, this is my first time reccing here at

crack_van and it's for Roswell, a show that I used to be enchanted by, once upon a time. It's been almost two years since I spent any major time in the Roswell fandom, so this will be a rediscovery of sorts for me, remembering all the stories that touched my heart so deeply and having the chance to share those stories with others. Needless to say, I'm totally stoked! :)

For my first rec, I'm choosing my favorite Roswellian story ever. It's not especially long, but it is the one story that has really stayed with me the most over time, even while others faded away in my memory.

Elizabeth has written some of the most intensly beautiful fanfiction for this fandom that I've ever seen. Of course, she's written lots of wonderful fanfiction for many other fandoms as well, but it was in Roswell that I first came across her exquisite work.

"Twenty-Seven Echoes Neverland" is set just after season 1 of Roswell, making it very much an AU. It takes the story of Peter Pan and weaves it into the Roswellian lore effortlessly, bringing to light all of the bittersweet beauty that people feel when coming across J.M. Barrie's classic again later in life and seeing it through adult eyes that aren't as easily distracted by the swashbuckling pirates and adventurous little boys with swords.

When one rediscovers Peter Pan as an adult, they are touched by a sense of longing for their lost innocence and the child-like belief that everything will always turn out perfectly and love will always conquer all. But they know now that it doesn't. And in TSEN, Liz Parker finally comes to terms with that. She realizes that love doesn't always stay inside the lines, sometimes it's messy and complicated and even painful. She comes to grips with the fact that you can't have the fairy tale, not really. And she finally accepts that nobody can be perfect, no matter how much they might wish they were.

This Liz is a girl that finally realizes that one can't live their life when placed up on a pedistol, because it must always eventually topple over. And watching her make that emotional and psychological journey to realization is both beautiful and painful at the same time.

Life isn't perfect, love isn't perfect, and it isn't always forever. But that doesn't make it any less meaningful.

A short snippit for you...

There are twenty-seven steps from my window to my bed. The interesting thing about that is it's twenty-seven steps no matter which direction you start from. If I stand next to my window--it doesn't matter where, as long as I can reach out and touch it--it's always a twenty-seven step journey.

I think it's actually mathematically impossible for this to happen. I'm sure there is a theory out there somewhere that could prove what I know false. I could also move the bed a little. If I slid it to the right, just a tiny bit, I think it would only be twenty-six steps from one point.

But if I moved the bed, would my story still be the same?

Twenty-Seven Echoes Neverland