Tuesday's Best - 4-27-2010

Zomg! Yes, we're still alive...and kicking! But it seems life is kicking us a little harder in return, so our apologies for the lack of posts the last few weeks. I'm back now though, to give you a couple of fuckawesome stories. Whitlock's Girl is still dealing with some stuff, but we're hoping she'll be back soon. For now, let's carry on, shall we?

Y'all remember a few months ago, the contest that was run to get a little more love for Jasper? Well, I didn't get to read near as many of the stories entered as I would have liked, but I did run across this little gem by MojoPen and inside-the-disarray, called Tourbillon. Now it's been months since I read this the first time, but it has stuck with me, never quite letting me go. I'm sure you'll understand why that is once you read it. Oh, do bring some tissues with you when you do, you'll likely need them.

Jasper is closeted, but with an understandable reason - he's working his way up the political ladder, and as we all know, that scene isn't the most welcoming to those who stand out from the rest. At least not when it comes to one's sexual preferences (don't ask me why it should matter who you bed or love, because it really shouldn't). Anyway. Once day he meets Edward, and...well, sparks fly. The two are great together, but can their relationship stand up to the pressure that's put on them, that Jasper puts on them, by keeping things hidden from the public eye?

As much as it would have been obvious to any observer that the two were in love, Jasper had yet to bring himself to think those words, let alone say them out loud. Living with Edward and sharing a bed with him was one thing, but admitting that he loved him was entirely different.

In their home, he spent as much time as possible kissing and caressing Edward, but in public, he kept up the façade that they were merely best friends. As much as it bothered Edward, he understood how damaging it could be to Jasper's career if everyone knew what they did behind closed doors.

Nearly six months into their relationship, Jasper lay in bed one morning, watching a sleeping Edward, trying to imagine what his life would be like without him. He was overcome by the physical pain in his chest that that image brought on, and he silently admitted to himself that he was in love. His heart swelled at that thought, and he knew he had to tell Edward.

You'll have to read for yourself what happens next. The story is so well written, and sadly, it could be all too true. I hope you'll appreciate the feeling these ladies have put into this story. I know I do.

And since I have y'all going on a bit of a crying jag today, and you have your tissues out already (right? Right?), I have another one to share with you. This one is blowing me away, update by update. I don't often do this, but this one has me searching out the author almost every chapter, just so I can fangirl a little and talk about what's going on. She says this story is "just a fluke". Her words, not mine. All I can say is...you need to have more flukes like this one, hon, because Goddamn! This story has it all, if you ask me. An unusual pairing. Heartache. Hope. Possible new love? (Cue me praying the answer is "yes")

The story is written from Edward's point of view. And believe me when I say, it jumps right in there by tearing your heart out, and it leaves you just begging for her to do it again. And again. The emotion portrayed by Edward is so raw, so real, it floors me every single time. 

 

I still reached out when I woke. It was too soon, too recent, and I could smell him, I could feel him lying next to me. But he wasn't there, and the realisation jolted me fully awake. I was hard, because I'd been dreaming about him. I rolled onto my back, ignoring my erection and let the tears come.

Because now I was alone.

I had no idea how long I'd slept or what time it was, but it was dark. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and took a cold shower in the adjoining bathroom.

Oh, if you haven't figured it out what story I'm talking about yet, it is none other than Say Something Else, by vampireisthenewblack. She's absolutely rocking my socks with this one, and I've been dying to share this story (okay, so maybe a poor choice of words, all things considered, but you get the point). I hope you'll check it out, and leave her some love. And for those of you who are nervous about the whole "omg they killed Jasper"....it ain't him ;-)

So yeah, that's it for this week. I hope you'll enjoy these stories as much as I have, tears and all. What can I say; sometimes it just feels good to cry ;-)

Slash Guest Author Rec - ATypicalSwan

So, I turned to livejournal to hunt up some one-shots for my shot at guest reccing. I had a few favorites saved in my memories, and hunted a couple new ones to share. I chose a bunch of one-shots because I honestly couldn’t find anything I was reading that it didn’t seem everyone else was, as well.

So…here we go. I have three (four) Jasper/Bella recs and three Jasper/Edward slash recs

http://community.livejournal.com/pinkceptional/30533.html
To Covers of Cohen and Too-Tall Trees

In a future where Bella’s become a vampire, she and Jasper share a moment at Christmas. Having broken from the family and split from Edward (more or less), Bella lives alone, and Jasper is her one contact with the family.

I love the prose of this story, as well as the hint that the author leaves about the possibility for the future for Jasper and Bella.



http://community.livejournal.com/twilight_t00bs/1426.html
Forbidden

Another Jasper/Bella tidbit. Let me give you a quote to sum up what I love about this story:

“I only stayed away because Edward saw her first. He saw her and claimed her and she, in return, had claimed him. I had wished it had been me and that frightened and angered me. I already had Alice. Alice was beautiful, interesting, elegant, intelligent, and strong. What more could I desire? What gave me reason or right to want Bella too?”

It’s a short one-shot, but worth the read inside Jasper’s head.


http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5546425/1/Power
Power

Between the two, Edward’s mind-reading and Jasper’s empathy/ability to project emotions, who has the stronger power? In this story, the author sinks the reader into Jasper’s head as Jasper tries to convince Edward that his is the superior power.

One of the things that this story does beautifully is capture Edward’s 17-year old vulnerability, especially as seen through the eyes of a more mature vampire Jasper. Of course it turns out that there’s more going on than anyone had possibly suspected, even Jasper, which ends the story on a bit of a question, but it’s a great journey getting there.



http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4068465/1/Something_To_Sleep_To
Something to Sleep To

And

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4151996/1/Return_My_Heart_Before_I_Fall
Return my Heart Before I Fall


These two are companion pieces to each other. I found ‘Something to Sleep To’ in a list of Jasper/Bella fics on livejournal, but found the author on ff.net with the companion piece.

I love these two looks into the possibility of things with Jasper and Bella. Neither are very long, but both give insights to Jasper and Bella’s characters, and they’re just lovely little tidbits.


http://community.livejournal.com/twilight_tables/8282.html
Five things Jasper Doesn’t Know about Edward

And

http://community.livejournal.com/twilight_tables/8028.html
Five things Edward doesn’t know about Jasper

I’m listing these two together because they really do work as a pair. For awhile there was a trend of “five-thing” fics making the rounds of the communities on live-journal. These fit in with that pattern. In each of the stories, the author reveals secrets that Edward and Jasper don’t know about each other. They’re not long, but they give hints at what could possibly be between the two male vampires, without going into immense development or a ton of dialogue.


So. I know these recs weren’t very long, either in the length of the stories or in what I had to say. But, I hope you’ll check them out, and please don’t forget to leave the authors some love. :D

And the Winner is...

Our TwiSlash Unveiled SLASH contest has ended
& the votes have been tallied!

AND THE WINNER IS...


Chromaticity: the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength and its purity. Edward finds that compartmentalizing his life in shades of color doesn't make it any easier to live. Slash/AH

Twilight - Rated: M - English - Drama/Angst - Chapters: 1 - Words: 10,299 - Reviews: 25 - Published: 3-2-10



Edward comes home to visit Bella before starting the next chapter of his life. When he meet’s Bella’s roommate Rosalie’s brother Jasper, a professional surfer. Edward want to learn how to surf, but is that all he’ll learn?

Twilight - Rated: M - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 10,278 - Reviews: 20 - Published: 3-24-10 - Edward & Jasper - Complete




Being forced to work from home with a broken leg is never fun. Unless, Edward is your UPS man.... with a big package.

Twilight - Rated: M - English - Romance/Humor - Chapters: 1 - Words: 10,827 - Reviews: 11 - Published: 3-24-10

Well there you have it. The Winners! Complete results on FanFiction.

Slash Guest Author Rec - Darkira

So here I am, guest-reccing at TwiSlash Unveiled. *looks around in wonder* Better get to the recommending because boy do I have a lot to recommend to you peoples. (At this point I want to apologize for the wonky grammar, funny terms and whatnot. You should see what my beta has to go through..;))

Lately I've read more than I've written, so it was absolutely torture to even begin to pick fics I should mention here. When I was slowly axing stuff off my list, I realized there was a pattern: Non Edward&Jasper. I know!! How shocking is that? Don't worry, you don't have to stop reading now, there's E&J on the list too.

I'm also doing this without quoting the stories or giving you the summaries. You get to go look for yourself. Instead I'm going to tell you why I like these stories and then you can get back to me to tell me if I was right or wrong...;)

On to the reviews:

Underneath by Staci-Diane603 http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5560222/1/Underneath was a story that I began to read by someone's recommendation. Boy am I glad I did. I was hesitant, because well it's a wolf/vampire-thing and all that, but there was absolutely no need to be nervous.

Not only does the chemistry between the main couple (Edward & Jacob) work like wonder, the way she portrays each of the characters is perfection to me. Say Jasper, my favorite character in the books, is an empath. There is an excellent little paragraph that describes how Jasper sees people through how they feel to him. One sentence out of the paragraph to demonstrate the wonderfulness:

“Emmett, who feels like magic, like daring and excitement and anticipation.”

The story is going on chapter 10 now and hasn't updated in a while but I remain hopeful. It's also told from third person view, but the point of views vary a lot. It might take time to get used to but it's worth it, trust me.

There are also almost no lemons so far, but I remain hopeful for that too. Though, if you've read my writing, you know I don't write lemons for the sake of having them and I certainly don't like to read them if they don't fit the story, so this shouldn't surprise you too much.

And never before did I know how big of a difference one little cut over someone's eyebrow could make in the greater scheme of things...

-xxXxx-

Next, I'm going to throw in something that is actually probably familiar to quite a few people out there.

This Mortal Life by hidingfromsomeone. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5476667/1/This_Mortal_Life Now this little thing started as an o/s for the Slash Backslash contest way back in October. I remember reading it then and it was definitely one of my favorites in the contest. When I heard it had been continued, I squealed like a little girl over a new My Little Pony (I'm old enough to have had those ponies in their first generation, I should know).

It's a story about Jacob who gets the debatable honor of being the first of the wolves to imprint on a guy. The said guy, a well-written original character named Adam Hawk, is just as lovely as Jacob is. It's not that easy to be straight and then imprint on another male, but the boys work through that and boy are you glad it works out...

Now, lately there's been some discussion about the way the author has taken the story forward, some people like it and some don't. I have to say I was never skeptical. There are so many stories stuck in the high school years that it's refreshing to see the jump to the future and how things change, even if it takes away the original 'living in the rez and hanging around with vampires'-deal.

This story is on chapter 23 now and close to the end I think. It's cute and hot and well written, just as I like my morning reading to be.

-xxXxx-

Third non-E&Jas story is The Sweetest Addiction by Maddie Grey. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5426268/1/The_Sweetest_Addiction This is another Edward&Jacob-fic, but it's a bit different I think.

In it the boys are room mates in college, Jacob is the straight jock with a girlfriend and Edward is the young gay man in love with him. Now this sounds like a cliché, right? Wrong.

What I love about this story is that it's realistic. Both of the boys are broken in their own way. Both of them try to make things work out with the tools they have but it isn't always that easy.

We also have a bunch of great side characters like Edward's twin Alice or the boys from the rez that are friends of Jacob. The most important side character is Emmett though. Seeing Em as a 'don't give a f*ck' kind of character who prefers guys is great. He also makes the dynamics between Jake and Edward more interesting, as he never hides the fact that he's interested in Edward. Emmett turns out to be the catalyst of a lot of things in this story and most of the time you don't know if you want to kiss him or kick his firm ass.

I have a feeling that there are going to be surprises in the story soon...call it a hunch from someone who has read a lot.

There are very few lemons in this one so far, considering that it has 22 published chapters, but it's all worth it. I think that this is one of the more realistic fics on what comes to the lemons. It isn't always butterflies and rainbows and unicorns when you lose your virginity, even if it's to someone you love.

-xxXxx-

Two more to go. Yes, I know, I'm a rambling bitch. It's not like I'm twisting your arm here though, is it. ;)

One of my favorite atypical stories, and finally and E&Jas-story, is Love At First Sight by TwistedforTwilight. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5742854/1/Love_At_First_Sight The story is different because you normally read these fics about guys falling for each other and then working towards having sex. This story turns the tables completely.

Jasper is a star in the gay adult entertainment. He's someone who is respected and turning towards the end of his career age-wise. His predictable life in the business is turned upside down when a newcomer, Edward, is cast with him in a scene of his latest movie called Love At First Sight.

Now, as Edward is a newbie, he of course needs guidance which leads to some very nice lemony goodness even before the shooting of the movie starts.. There's an obvious, very strong chemistry between these two from the very first time they lay eyes on each other, and they both know the other feels it too. The problem is, that there's no such thing as love in their world.

How this works out is something that's yet to be seen. The story has promise of being a long one (the author states that it will be 20-25 chapters) and we're only at the beginning of that journey. There are only five chapters up so far so we're in for a lovely ride, all puns intended. ;)

-xxXxx-

And last but in no way least, something non-slash! Yes, I know, shocking. I read canon too... Well, not really. I think I read about three canon-fics and they're all for some 'hook' that's sucked me in to the story or excellent writing. This story has both of those.

On My Own by littleclarestar http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5280545/1/On_My_Own is a story that I got familiar with when the author, Clare, bought some banners for it from me in the Fandom Gives Back-auction. Now of course I was intrigued when she told me it was set in Scotland and has Edward in a kilt...how could I not be? Come on, the Cullen brothers in kilts and with a Scottish accent? You can't get much hotter than that!

Now, I'm a Scotland-freak. That's what drew me in. What kept me going was the great quality of writing, the complex and very realistic characters and the fact that not everything is easy. In fact, this might well be one of the most realistic fics out there. It would easily stand alone as original fiction and I truly recommend it for everyone, even the other slash h00rs like myself. ;)

Without going in to great detail, I'm also completely and utterly hooked on
Lessons Learned http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5413378/1/Lessons_Learned which is my favorite fic ever,
Errors & Omissions, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5461138/1/Errors_Omissions
Sketchbook Revelations, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5257319/1/Sketchbook_Revelations
Learning to Live Again, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5517670/1/Learning_to_Live_Again
Marked http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5465716/1/Marked and
Deep Dish http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5475191/1/Deep_Dish

No, I'm not naming those fics for name-dropping purposes. I actually follow all of those, squeal like a little girl who got a new Barbie (don't even let me go there...) and I strongly recommend them all to you girls and guys out there.

There, I've done it. I've guest-recced! Yay me!

Darkira over and out!