Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tuesday's Best 7-27-2010

Good morning, lovelies. I hope you're all well rested and ready for another beautiful day? Do you have all your supplies at hand? Kleenex? Towels? Change of undies? Yes? Alright, let's see what the good Captain and I have been able to scrounge up for you this week then, shall we? (Can I put any more sentences that end with a ? in the beginning of this post? ;-))

~*~*~*~*~*~

Greetings and lots of kisses to my slashy peeps. Captain Jezebel back again with the pleashuh of recc’ing  another slashstanding story for ya.  So many awesome drabbles and one shots debuted on fanfic.net these past few weeks, and I have loved reading so many of them. I had a little trouble trying to figure out which one I wanted to feature this week, but as the ever wonderful Naelany advised: Do one now and then you’ll have something ready for your next rec. Oh she is ever so wise, so that’s what I did.

Today’s fic of choice was written by the lovely ArcadianMaggie . White Blaze to Lone Star was her contribution to the Fics for Nashville flood relief compilation. I have to say, those that donated, and got to read this story sooner are quite lucky fandom folk. ArcadianMaggie is the amazing writer behind I Wept Not , a fic that has seemed to capture the slash reading population of this fandom, including the ladies here. Needless to say I was very excited to read this piece.

White Blaze to Lone Start is E/J, all human, all scruffy (more on that later), and all sexy. While getting his undergrad at Dartmouth, Edward became an outdoors-man of sorts, falling in love with backpacking on his first hiking trip. From the very first paragraph you can tell the author knows what she is talking about, and I suspect she is partly what gives Edward his love of the trail.

His latest outing is to do a 900 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail with his brother Emmett and Em’s girlfriend Rosalie. Emmett and Edward have hiked before and enjoy each other’s company, enjoying the terrain, always making good time. This time Edward is nervous how the usually ‘high maintenance’ Rosalie would be an unknown factor for their group. The unknown factor makes for some funny moments that made me chuckle.

I heard more rustling from the tent and Rosalie climbed out, grunting in our direction. Not a morning person, I gathered.

Hey babe," Emmett greeted her. "There's coffee."

She gave another grunt then came over to sit next to him while he poured her some coffee. She drank a few sips then looked at me in surprise. "This isn't bad," she said, seeming to perk up. We ate breakfast—some muesli with dried fruit—then started to break camp. While Emmett and I rolled up the sleeping bags and dismantled the tents, Rosalie sat on the log with a small make-up bag in her lap, cleaning her face with some sort of moistened pad. Then she squeezed some lotion onto her fingers and smoothed it over her face and neck. Next she took out a small compact and dabbed her nose, forehead and chin with make-up. Finally, she pulled out a tube of bright red lipstick and applied it precisely to her lips.

There was no question about it; Rosalie was a gorgeous girl. Still, I couldn't help but stare at her with incredulity. We were backpacking. What the fuck did she need make-up for?
She noticed my look.

"What?" she asked with irritation. "Just because we're camping doesn't mean I have to look like some crunchy granola, hairy pitted, mother earth type hippie chick." This was going to be a long two months.

Over the next few weeks on the trail Emmett and Rosalie seem to be getting along a little too well, and Edward starts to feel lonely every night when he heads to his tent alone. After reading through the Shelter registers every night, Edward finds himself enthralled with the entries left by Lone Star, a hiker that is a few days ahead of them on the trail. When Lone Star’s hiking buddy goes home, Edward makes a plan to push forward and try to catch up with him, hoping they can be the cure for each other’s loneliness.

Two beautiful, dirty, scruffy (unf, they’ve been on the trail for weeks, of course they are scruffy), hot, athletic men meeting on the Appalachian Trail. Both far from home, both lonely, could they just be the cure for each other’s blues? Could they find something more than just the feeling of accomplishment on the AT? I don’t want to ruin it for ya but I’ll give you a little peek.

I grabbed my toiletry bag from my pack and headed into the bathroom. I searched for my razor, thinking a shave was a great idea. I saw a small scrap of paper in the bag and pulled it out, curious what it could be. Written in Emmett's handwriting were the words, "In case he's hot and you get lucky…" Examining my bag more closely I saw a small bottle of lube and a strip of condoms. Fucking Emmett.

But as I shaved off my beard and washed away the grime in the shower, I couldn't help but think about Emmett's generosity. Jasper was hot and I definitely wouldn't mind getting lucky with him. My dick immediately responded to the thought. Fuck. I needed to get a grip. I had no idea if he was even gay. And besides, he was leaving tomorrow. One night stands weren't really my thing, even if he was fuckhot and it had been months since I'd been laid.

Is he? Is Jasper gay? Yeah I know I’m evil for leaving you there, but you really have to read this story to appreciate how cool it is. I loved the concept, it was something I had never seen before, and I enjoyed learning about the joys of backpacking all while dreaming of Edward, Jasper and Emmett exerting themselves on the trail. Ya know all sweaty, seeing muscles clench and unclench, drinking water watching their Adam's apples bob in their throat...oops I think a little of the water dribbled out of their mouths, past their scruffy jaws...ohhh over their beautiful necks.....down over their shirt...oh no now they’re wet....fuuuuck so am I . Wait? what? *looks around* sorry I got carried away again.

My point...go read the fic, it’s just really good, and so original. Plus Scruffward and Scruffsper = yummy.
~*~*~*~*~*~
 
Some of you may have figured out by now that I’ve developed a strong fondness for drabbles - both writing them and reading them. I love it even more when an author can string them together and make an actual story come to life, 100 words at a time.

One author who does just such a thing is ahizelm. She’s currently posting a story that had me in tears when she first shared it with me, but I absolutely love it. It’s called Learning to Breathe, and it’s going to be about 50 or so drabbles by the time it’s done. Right now, there are already 37 up and she's posting daily - yes, you read it right. Daily.

The POV is left to discover, so I won’t give anything away there. It’s a story of love, loss, angst, discovery, and...well, you’ll have to read for yourself to find out. I want to give you something to take with you but can’t give much more than this from the first “chapter”:

My self-imposed exile began of necessity, continued out of comfort, and exists because of my inability: to change, to move, to make a difference. I'm curled up in bed, the only noise that of the sheets shifting as I move my limbs. I should get up, do... something.

But I won't.

Life hasn't truly called for me in ages.

As you can see, it starts off in a dark place, so bring along a box of Kleenex when you check it out. Hang in there, it’s a rough ride, but soooo worth it. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Don't forget to check out the Slash/Backslash 2.0 contest that's going on right now. They've had some great entries already, but I just know y'all have some goodies to contribute, too. Right? Right?

No comments: