Tuesday's Best 1-4-2011

Good morning, my lovelies. Hope you had a good start to the new year. As always, we're here to help make your Tuesdays a little hotter, a little sweeter (and yes, at times also a little sadder, but such is life). Today, however, I think it's safe to say it'll be a little sweeter, so grab a blanket to snuggle under, and let's check out what Aradi and Stolenxsanity have found for you today.

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Good drabble fics are like crack.

Just a little taste, to get you hooked.

Just a little more, to keep you.

Just a string of cliffies to make you twitch helplessly.

Just a little progress, to make you scream “OMFG just give me the next line.  Just one more line!”

Just an author (or two) who are evil, evil pushers.  (Yes, I’m looking at you SorceressCirce and Naelany.)

I complain, but I love them so much.  (The drabbles, not necessarily the evil, evil authors.)  A frequent fix.  A quick read.  What’s not to love?

(twitchtwitch)

My latest drabbly love was Beyond the Gaze of a Boy by Whitlock-Masen (as part of Fandom Gives Back).  It’s Edward & Jasper and is high-school sweet.

Squeals and laughter fill the backyard, but our little corner is silent. "Look," she says finally, "I think you're being ridiculous. He's been watching you all afternoon."

My frown deepens as I mumble at my hands, "Yeah, because I keep fucking staring at him."

I can feel my cheeks burning, but the heat is nothing next to Bella's hand on my knee. I look up to find her deep brown eyes focused on mine. "You're wrong," she says simply. When I don't speak, she adds, "Can't hurt to try, right?"

(It really can’t!)

Drabble stories like this are perfect for a daily fix, but since this one is complete you can read it all at once for a quick burst of fluffy joy.  I love all the Whitlock-Masen stories (and Naelany’s stories, and SorceressCirce’s stories), but this one was especially nice to fight off the winter drearies (Edward and Jasper around a pool.. mmm...).  When you read it, leave your love for Whitlock-Masen, and the generous participants in FGB who have brought us all so much good reading.

I’ll leave you with one last hit, because I’m nice like that.

"Is there anyone you want?" he whispers.

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It seems only fitting that before I go into this weeks lovely rec that I wish all you wonderful, and loyal, readers a very Happy New Year. I can’t believe that it’s 2011 already. Last year seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, almost literally. I hope that, so far, the new year has been a good one for everyone of you out there, and that it continues to be amazing.

Now, on to my rec for this week: An amazingly fluffy-sweet Edward/Jasper one-shot, 12 Days, written by the lovely and extremely talented, naelany. I chose this story as my rec before I knew what today’s other rec would be. I must say, though, it’s rather fitting.

As for the story? While I’ve said this before, it still holds true - and likely always will - when talking about a story penned by naelany. The introduction of the main characters, as well as the plot, is flawless. You’re not sitting around trying to figure out what’s going on, or who’s dating who. In the way that I’ve come to expect, while everything isn’t laid out in a bland, “telling” way, it’s not obscured behind vague or metaphorical references either. It just is. And what it is, as far as I’m concerned, is perfect.

Everything but the angel was already in its place. I sat down heavily on the dining room chair, staring at the beautiful red and gold angel. She'd been in Jasper's family for years, though you'd never be able to tell with how well kept she was. He had inherited her when his gran had passed away four years ago. Unlike angels you could get nowadays, this one had a porcelain head, and hands.

It was always Jasper who'd place her carefully on the top of the tree, but he wouldn't be here until Christmas Day this year. His work had sent him to Burlington, Vermont, where they'd opened a new office. He and eight others had been temporarily relocated there to help set everything up, and assure that the new management had everything under control before coming back to their regular jobs here in Seattle.

Alice came to stand behind me and wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her chin lightly on the top of my head. I placed my hand on her arms where they crossed, and sighed. "I miss him, Ali..."

I know, I know … bad place to leave you hanging but, trust me, there is no heart fail here.

The story continues with Edward at home, and given a task. A task that confuses him, but helps him to get through the long days ahead.

We sat and talked for another half an hour, and he hinted again at there being a surprise on Christmas Day that I had to figure out from the clues he'd be sending me. I was dying of curiosity, and tried several times to get him to give it up, but he wouldn't have it.

"Darlin', you best be putting your energy to use figuring this thing out, or you might not get it at all," he threatened. "And there's not a chance in hell you'll weasel it out of me...or anyone else!"

That made me pause. Anyone else? Who, besides Alice, was involved with this little scheme of his?

Almost as if realizing he'd said too much, he said, "Ah, never you mind. Point is, you need to do this on your own, sweetheart."

A task that, even though he tries desperately to figure out what the answer to this task is, he doesn’t quite get it. At least not initially, and not without a little bit of obvious prompting.

Oh, Edward, I adore you still even if you are a little slow on the uptake.

He combed his fingers tenderly through my hair, and sighed softly. "God, I love you, Edward. Thank you."

Wiping my eyes, I cleared my throat and said, "I love you, too, Jazz. So much."

I know, out of context, the above doesn’t make much sense but, just trust me. It’s the perfect just-about-at-the-end to a lovely story. On that note, while I also love the fuckhot smut scenes that naelany is more than capable of writing, even without that aspect, this story was perfect. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that it was made all the better because of the absence of it. Crazy, right?

Even still, this story is wonderful. It’s the perfect anecdote to all the angsty and heart faily stories that are out there. It’s like a breath of fresh air and a bright ray of sunshine. My suggestion to you? Drop everything and give it a shot. 

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Check back again next week to see what the good Captain and Stolenxsanity have for you then. In the mean time, we hope you'll enjoy the recs from this week.

Twislash Unveiled wishes all of our wonderful readers and contributors the happiest, healthiest, and hottest of New Years! (And by hot, y'all know I'm not talking Fahrenheits or Centigrades ;-) )