Tuesday's Best 8-31-2010

Well good morning, everyone. I hope y'all are ready for another day of fabulous recs, brought to you by our lovely Aradi and Captain Jezebel. Be sure to bring your towels and pantie-changes, because you're likely going to need them. Let's see what they have in store for us today, shall we?

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I’m going to step outside my box a little this week.  Brace yourselves!  I’ve put down my angsty-sized bottle of tequila and set aside my compulsion for the odd pairs or themes.  This week I prove I can love a sweet and straightforward Jasper & Edward fic.

Ready For You (by bmango) is being written as a birthday gift for theladyingrey42, who is both lucky and deserving.  It is a little bit unusual as some of the chapters are drabbles.  The story features a guitar-playing Jasper and a British Edward, so really, whats not to like?

I barely blink as I watch him watching me. The noise of the room fades away and there's only this beautiful man before me, stealing my very breath.

His shoulders slump as he releases a large sigh, and he rakes his fingers through his hair before shaking his head and turning back to the game.

I stay for a few more minutes, wondering what kind of spell this man from the other side of the world has put on me.

Eventually, I can't resist the pull of sleep and decide I've stayed up late enough to be less jetlagged tomorrow. I wander past the bulletin board in the lobby, looking for postings for rides. There are several offers, but most seem to be heading to Cradle Mountain. I have a tour booked to see the parks, so I'm more interested in exploring the east side of the island.

And then I see it.

"Wanted. Man or woman to ride share to Bicheno Backpackers, leaving Tuesday, returning Friday. If interested, please text at +01 697-555-9431."

The boys meet in a youth hostel in Tasmania.  Edward has just started his trip, but Jasper is nearing the end of his.  They end up traveling and sightseeing together, which launches their friendship (and more).  Their travels provide for a quasi-courtship (lots of time for talking, dinners, wine, and guitars) even before they figure out the is-he-or-isn’t-he and the does-he-feel-the-same.

The sunshine of their tale is clouded by the fact that we know they have a finite amount of time together, among other complications.  Whether or not they figure each other out and act on it, they will end up thousands of miles apart in a matter of days.  Luckily the boys don’t think much about this, as they are too busy with the aforementioned is-he-and-does-he.

I glance at his sleeping form while I drive, aching to touch him, to have him touch me.

When I thought he was straight, I could pretend I just appreciated the view. Found a new friend.

But he's not and I'm not. And he's more wonderful than anything I could have imagined.

Currently there are twenty chapters, alternating JPOV/EPOV, and I don’t know how close we are to the end of the tale.  Either way, the chapters have been going up with joyous frequency, so soon you’ll be able to know where Jasper and Edward’s travels took them.  In the meantime the story is sweet and UST-y and romantic, and just perfect to offset the miserable, angsty fics you may be reading.

Not that I’d know anything about that.

If you read Ready For You, be sure to give bmango plenty of love for her generous gift (to us all).

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Hallo, slash Liebhaber! Captain Jezebel back again with a tasty rec for you E/J lovers. One thing fanfic is known for is the many wonderful contests to enter. With a fandom this size, it is quite possible that many contests are similar to others. In my opinion, The Plot Bunny Contest was one of the most original contests this fandom has ever seen.

The concept was fun for both readers and writers alike. Readers who don’t write fic, but had a plot bunny stuck in their head got a chance to submit it to the contest. Writers got a chance to flex their writing skills, fleshing out a plot bunny they didn’t think up themselves. Also writers got a chance to submit plot bunnies that they didn’t get a chance to write about yet.

Unfortunately I haven’t gotten a chance to peruse all of the stories yet, but one of them has become a favorite of mine; I just had to share with you guys.

The Plot Bunny: Edward, Seth, Jasper & Emmett are in a touring band together. Two of the four end up hooking up. How/why/when is up to you!
The Story: A Night In Vienna.
The Author: The lovely and talented Zigster

Lucky for me, she decided to make Edward and Jasper those two sexy boys that hook up. E and J have been the very closest of friends for 6 years, but something went wrong, and now they can barely stand each other. It’s tough for E to think about, and he often pinpoints the spot where things changed between them; an argument after spending time with E’s old university buddies in Dublin.

Being on tour in Europe is making it even harder for these two, because they are often in close quarters, but are too stubborn to work out their differences. The other band members; Seth, and Emmett, and their manager Billy are reaching a breaking point with them. They decide to take matters into their own hands and force E and J to spend time with each other.

Emmett's message was loud and indiscernible through the phone. Seth's was apologetic and not very forthcoming. And Billy's...Billy was the last person I wanted to hear from and the only one who had any answers: a necessary evil. I pressed the phone to my ear in concentration and prepared myself for the verbal tongue lashing that was about to befall me.

"'Morning Edward. Change of plans it seems, since neither you nor Jasper are here at the airport with us. I've scheduled you a new flight for tomorrow. The desk clerk has your train and e-tickets, and we have your bags. The only problem is that come noon, you're checked out of that hotel. Sorry bout that, but last minute scheduling and all. Hope you and Jasper can work something out. See you in a day or two." Click.

What. The. Fuck?

He wasn't mad. In fact, he sounded apologetic. Concerned even. And did he say noon? By noon we had to be out of here? Until tomorrow? Billy just left his two guitarists stranded on the streets of Vienna for a day?

Oh yes he did. Billy, Em and Seth left them stranded in a strange city, hoping they would have to talk, and discover what the real root of the problem is. Apparently to everyone but themselves these boys have been quite blind on the true cause of friction between them.

It is no where near easy going at first. Of course these two were not going to simply see. They fight and split up when what they should really be doing is sticking together. A stranger in a strange land, is never a stranger when he has a friend. ;)

I really don’t want to give too much away, but there is a beautiful mystical force working on the side of these boys, even if they do not know it. This beautiful magic peels away the blindfold from their eyes and helps them see clearly, and helps them find just what they need.

I do have to say if you are a 100 Monkeys fan you are going to LOVE this piece. As a fan myself it helped to have images of Jackson singing and playing guitar in my mind, when trying to picture this Jasper...he is beyond yummy, and Edward...UNF! Go...Read...Now....It’s so good, and so worth it. Don’t forget to leave Zigster some love if you do.

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There you have it, folks! We hope you enjoyed these stories as much as we have here at TU. Be sure to check back with us next week, when The Captain will be back with another great rec. Oh, and I'll have a little somethin' somethin', too ;-) Be sure to leave the authors some love, and have a great rest of your week.