Tuesday's Best 4-17-2012

Good morning, my lovelies! Hope today finds you all happy, healthy, and safe. It's sure been a week, hasn't it? Well, MizzDee and I have found a couple of stories to help take your mind of things a little. Also, there's a new contest that might pique your interest, but more on that after the recs. Let's get to it, shall we?

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Tuesday's Best 10-25-2011

Good morning, my lovelies. I don't know about you, but we've had our first frost of the season this morning. Makes me want to make some hot cacao, and settle in under a blanket by the fire to read some wonderful fics. Plenty of ways to keep warm that way, right? ;-)


This week's Aradi's last time with us. I thank her for her wonderful contributions and support for the past year since she joined TwiSlash Unveiled. It's been a pleasure. Please leave her some love today. Connie79's going to be taking over for her in a couple of weeks, so bid her a warm welcome, as well. 


For now, why don't we see what goodies Aradi and I have found for you? Remember your towels and fresh panties, and let's get to it.

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Tuesday's Best 6-7-2011

Good morning, y'all. Hope you're enjoying the weather. Spring seems to have finally sprung where I'm at (for the moment, anyway). It's nice to see the sun a little more often, anyway. Still, we're not here to talk about the weather, we're here to talk about other hot things. So why don't we get right to it, shall we, and see what Conversed and I have found for you.

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Slash Guest Author Rec - TuesdayMidnight

Kink.

I like it. On occasion, I write it.

Kink is a broad topic that encompasses all types of fetishes. They can fall anywhere on the scale of perceived sexual deviance. Some fetishes are actually kind of sweet, though I've been known to enjoy reading a few kinks that might make you blush. What I like about kink is that it occurs mixed with fluff, angst, humor, or any combination of the above.

Tuesday's Best 3-22-2011

Good morning, my lovelies! I trust today finds you healthy and reasonably happy. If not, then let's see whether the good Captain and I can do anything to change that for you ;-) We've found a couple of wonderful stories for you, so grab your towels and fresh knickers, and get comfortable.

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*Hugs and kisses* my darling slashies. I missed you, having skipped my last turn at recc’ing delicious slash; due to the insanity that is my life. I wanted to keep it light, fun and sexy to ease my way back into this. And what fucking better way to do this shit than with a sexy as fuck dirty talking Jasper? Exactly; I can hear your pulses racing already.

Tuesday's Best 3-8-2011

Good morning, everyone! Hope you're doing well (and playing nice with each other, because really, nice and/or naughty are the only way to go ;-)). Life sometimes relishes in throwing a wrench in the best laid plans, and so it is this week. Our beloved Captain Jezebel sends her apologies (and many hugs and kisses to y'all. Or maybe just to me, but I'm happy to share ;-)), but she got called away by Real Life duties this week, so I'll be filling in for her.

Aradi is with me today, though, so let's see what kind of mischief the two of us have got in store for you today ;-) Oh, and there's a special little extra at the bottom, as well ;-)

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I'm always grateful for the generosity of the writers in this fandom.  Not only do they write stories for us to enjoy, but they write even more things as gifts to each other (and in contests and in fundraisers) and they graciously share them with us!

It's like getting a piece of everyone's birthday, not just your own.

(It could only be better if there was cake involved.)

OnTheTurningAway wrote Imperfect Timing for Ahizelm's birthday.  It's a story made of 30 drabbles (and you know how I feel about drabbles).

It's also Jasper & Peter, and you know how I feel about non-E/J pairings.

(You also know how I feel about E/J pairings, but that's a story for another day.)

The first week at the shop was incredibly busy and Jasper had (mostly) gotten over being awestruck in Peter's presence. Peter had asserted that if good coffee was properly prepared, no additions were needed. Jasper readily agreed and a friendship was born.

Jasper spent breaks in the café, poring over travel books, scribbling in his journal and sneaking looks at Peter. They'd shared several sexually charged glances but never spoke of their obvious mutual attraction.

Jasper genuinely liked Peter. If the timing had been different, he would have made a move, but he was focused on saving money for Italy.

The timing is indeed imperfect.  Jasper is earning as much money as he can for a semester abroad when he meets Peter at his new job.  There's a friendship and an attraction, but Jasper doesn't want things to go any further since he's about to leave the country.

On top of that, Jasper starts getting mysterious messages.

You are beautiful. I want to know you.

(*swoon*)

I loved this story because Jasper is a sincere and well-meaning guy, who is just screwed by circumstance.  Also, the notes are disgustingly flirty and romantic and made me completely jealous.  

Will Jasper give Peter a chance and quit cockblocking himself?  Will Jasper still go to Italy?  Will Jasper figure out who is leaving him the anonymous notes?

(Will there be birthday cake?)

Read Imperfect Timing and find out!  

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As most people probably know by now, I’m not that much of a sports person. I don’t play them, and have little interest in them (barring an exception or two *clears throat*). However, being surrounded by football-lovers does tend to rub off a little over time. Between a husband who loves the game, and a co-writer who’s a die-hard Falcons fan... well, I’ve had to learn to enjoy it. At least a little.

Here’s where ICMezzo’s brilliance comes in handy. She wrote Score! in honor of SorceressCirce’s birthday a while back, and boy oh boy does it help to get a new appreciation for the game ;-) Pun may or may not be intended - you’ll have to read for yourself to figure that out, hehe.

Anyway! ICMezzo and SorceressCirce’s shared love of the game prompted this story into existence, for which I’m very grateful. ICMezzo brings Jasper and Edward alive in a way I don’t think I’ve ever really come across - and I love it. Oh, and let’s not forget Emmett (and Rose), of course ;-)

Emmett and Jasper are out together watching the game. They’re having a good time, even though for a while there things don’t look to be going so well for their team. Emmett doesn’t let the fact that Rosalie roots for the other team distract from his flirting with her.

Since Emmett got them into the game, Jasper’s paying for all their refreshments - fair deal, right? During a break (see, not a sports person, so no technical terms here), Jasper tries to get them beers when he runs into Edward. Literally. Jasper ends up with beer all over him, and Edward insists on getting him new ones, so who can blame Jasper for doing a little snooping of the crowds once they’re back in their seats?

It was only natural to scan the crowd between plays. And really, was it my fault that my eyes were trained to pick out Falcon's red in a sea of black and silver Saints paraphernalia? Thanks to the binoculars I recognized plenty of Matt Ryan jerseys, enjoyed some creative face painting, read a few signs, and... spotted another pair of binoculars framed by messy bronze hair and a red #88 jersey—aimed directly at me from two sections away.

Edward. It was Edward. And then Edward gave a shy wave in my direction.

I smiled and waved back.

"Hey! Who 'dat?" Emmett joked, punching me in the arm, before stealing the binoculars and training them back in Edward's direction.

"Emmett! No, stop, please," I begged, and futilely tried to grab them back.

I saw the tiny spec of Edward quickly pull his own pair away from his nose and turn back to face the field.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

Emmett shrugged and handed them back to me after a few agonizing seconds. "Nice," he commented. "#88. He's a fan of tight ends."

*chuckles* Leave it to the big guy. Read for yourself to see what happens after this, and to find out just how big of a fan our Edward really is ;-)

 

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Now for something a little out of the ordinary. Conversed came to me the other day, with a story she wanted me to look at. I enjoyed it, so asked her to write a little something for it, and luckily, she obliged (Thanks, bb!). With everything going on of late within the fandom (and let's face it, outside of it, too), I thought it prudent to have a little reminder on what fanfic's supposed to be - for authors as well as readers: fun. 

If a little crack-fic can't do that, then I don't know what will ;-)

Here's what Conversed has to share:

Outside the Bubble.

I first found this story before Christmas and thought it might be one to watch.  As the chapters have mounted, I’ve lurched from snorting with laughter to shaking my head, and I blame OvertlyConcealed for that.

Her Edward has issues.

I might be understating it a little.

Her Edward has ISSUES.

He’s insular, insecure and utterly socially inept. To be honest he doesn’t have a lot going for him apart from the fact that he’s gorgeous, and Edward, and sweet, and Edward, and lovable, and Edward.

He’s so self aware that it’s painful;

“I may have an irrational fear of sea creatures”

His real issue is that he’s hopelessly in love with Jasper, but truly believes he has no hope of getting his man. In a display of typical avoidance he hides from his feelings;

“However, "Operation Don't-talk-to-Jasper" didn't really work out for me when every day for the last month – no matter what I did, no matter what time I left – we always ended up together on the elevator at the end of the day”

That’s because Jasper has a crush on you, fool.

“Of course, I will start out small. Maybe say a 'good bye' or a 'see you later,' nothing fancy, just a nice little baby step”

Just talk to him, fool.

I swallowed hard. This was it, time to man up.

"Good you later, Mr. Whitlock!"

My body tensed and I saw Jasper stop mid step.

Did I just say, "Good you later?

Fool.

The story is just heating up; there’s been rocking in the corner, fears about his administrative assistant giving birth in his office, rocking in the corner, reminiscing about Riley’s tongue down his throat….wait, did I mention Riley?

"Oh, sorry about that," Riley said as he tried to adjust the cart to fit into the elevator properly. "It's just that my thing is so big, sometimes it can get a little hard to maneuver in such a small place."

Jasper hates Riley, Riley wants Edward, Edward wants Jasper.

Fools.

Jump in and get reading.  OvertlyConcealed has just taken on the lovely sapphirescribe and cocoalvin as betas to whip her chapters into shape.  It’s already quirky and funny and a leetle bit crack-ficy, and that’s exactly what I like.

Because I’m a fool, too.

Conversed.

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There you have it, folks. A couple of lovely stories to sink your teeth into. Be sure to leave these wonderful ladies some love, and check back next week to see what Stolenxsanity and I have in store for you.  

 

In the mean time, let's all remember to try to let the fandom be the fun refuge/play area it's supposed to be. After all, we're all adults here, right? Right? (y'all better be, or else shame on you for reading this here blog. Go sit in the corner and wait 'til your Mama tells you you can join in on the fun. Hmm, wait a minute...) 

Tuesday's Best 7-13-2010

Good morning ladies and gents! Hope everyone is having a fabulous day! Aradi and I are back this week with a lighter offering than you might be used to (especially from me, since we all know I love - and dole out - angsty stories). With everything that's going on though, we thought it might be nice to bring out a smile or even a giggle today. Especially because today happens to be the birthday of one of our own lovely ladies - Captain Jezebel. More on that in the end note. For now, let's see what's in store for you today, shall we?

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I see a lot of Slash that I'd call fluffy, or light, or even humorous, but I don't see a lot of Slash that I'd label "comedy."  Luckily I saw some glowing references to Said and Done by ICMezzo, and I was on it faster than you can say "alt-tab."  One vampire, two boys falling in love, and a triple shot of comedy is a recipe for success.

Edward is the lonely, virginal vamp we've come to expect, only here he's in grad school with human classmate Jasper.  He's also delightfully inept at the most simple interactions with humans and, initially anyway, blissfully unaware of both his and Jasper's sexual orientations.

"So Edward, is it that you don't know that I'm gay, or you don't care that I'm gay?" he asked.

"You're gay?" I replied. I didn't care, but he'd never mentioned it.

"Well, I guess that answers that," he sighed. "Wait. Do you think a straight man would wear this shirt?"

"I suppose not. But whatever you are is fine with me. Really." Who was I to be judgmental? I wasn't even human.

The boys have made slow, steady progress over the course of the current 13 chapters.  Edward naturally has a million reasons why they shouldn't even be friends, nevermind anything more than that.  Fortunately, being anywhere near Jasper seems to make Edward forget all about why he shouldn't be with Jasper.  Jasper is persistent, and is as perceptive as Edward is clueless.  Jasper seems to know who he is and what he wants, and he's sweetly patient about waiting for Edward to wake up to the idea that they want the same things.

"The same things" make for great laughs.  Edward is learning from scratch, and luckily all of the Cullens are as eager as Jasper is for him to get with the program.  Esme and Alice are quick to offer help and encouragement.  Poor Carlisle muddles through conversations that no father should have to have with his century-old son.  Emmett rescues Carlisle, and generously schools Edward on the mechanics of boy/boy love (in what is probably the most hysterical exchange of the story so far... but I wont spoiler that part).

Luckily, he seemed as eager as I was glad to leave the subject behind after that. I just wasn't sure I was ready for any of this after all. I mean, everyone always seemed to indicate that sex was so great, but, I could barely think about it and I certainly couldn't imagine Jasper considering such a thing.

Emmett must have read the doubt written across my features. "Trust me, Eddie-boy, he's thought about it."

I looked up. How could he know that? Emmett swatted me on the ass and took off even faster toward the east. "You're the only male who doesn't think about sex constantly. And if you're the way he swings, he's envisioned it many a time, bro."

And thinking about that made me run directly into a large spruce, damaging my second tree in about four hours.

With the encouragement of the Cullens and Jasper, Edward quickly warms up to the idea of this potential relationship with Jasper.  Naturally, Edward's progression from asexual novice to one-half of a happy couple takes a scenic detour through perverted stalkerdom.

And later, when he was deep asleep, I may have sneaked in to watch him, but only for an hour, and always maintaining at least a few centimeters of distance between our bodies, except for that one point when my hair must have brushed his nose, because I barely had time to make it back to the couch before he started sneezing violently.

After that, I stayed glued to the couch like a good vampire, waiting for Jasper to wake. And I swear, I only touched myself once, but his sleepy moan was so perfect, I just couldn't help it.

Really, first love and first sex are both already ripe with potential laughs.  When it's slashy, and there's a vampire involved?  Comedy gold.  I want sooo badly to fast forward to the "significant firsts" since they should be a riot.  In the meantime, ICMezzo keeps us busy with one laughable scenario after another.  If you like your Slash to hurry up and earn its M-rating, this may not be the fic for you.  If you love the crazy, this fic delivers enough laughs to ease the discomfort of the slow build.

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SnowWhiteHeart had me hooked to her writing when I first read Falling For The First time (it’s AU of the geekiest variety). She has a great sense of humor, and she’s always letting her geek out. She manages to twist and turn things in a most wonderfully nerdy fashion, without ever missing a beat. So when she tweeted one day that she’d had a little plot bunny about a vampire Edward looking for a Domme, and a Domme Bella who never can seem to hold on to a sub...I just had to read it. 


She did not disappoint.


In Sub Plans, Edward is his usual virginal vampiric self - but with a twist. He longs to be dominated. He’s been trying to find someone to fit the bill for years, but everything seems stacked against him. He cannot bleed or be hurt in any way, due to his marble skin. Which also causes many an instrument to break. There’s also the fact that he’s ice cold. The few Dommes that have given him a chance, are too freaked out by him for various  reasons. And yet he keeps looking, hoping...yearning.


Bella is a notorious Domme. Why do I say notorious? Because she’s a Domme with a twist of her own. She wants her subs at her disposal Monday through Thursday only; she gets off not on bondaging or punishing per se, but on roleplay. She demands her subs to provide scenes that challenge her...and none have lived up to her high standards. Their imagination is simply not up to snuff. She’s at an event, interviewing potential subs - again - and is about to give up hope of ever finding the right sub.


Enter Edward. Of course. She puts him to the test by demanding he come up with their first scenario on the spot. She offers five minutes to do so, but Edward being Edward...well, you get the idea.

So, the men who usually make it to this round never make it out. Unoriginal pricks.

Why isn't this guy getting up? I wondered.

"I have one now, if I may," he said politely.

I must be dreaming. "Go on," I said, both anticipating and dreading what was going to come out of his lips next. Please don't be a student-scene…

"I'm a vampire who has endured decades of loneliness. All I want is a woman who I can worship—who will look past all my flaws. I need a fearless Dominatrix who will punish me

 for all my past misdeeds."

This guy was either insane, or a fucking genius. And to be perfectly honest, I don't care.

"Sold," I said. "I like that kind of originality, and seriously, you're going to need it with me." I stood up and offered him my card so we could make arrangements. He rose with me, took my card, and looked me in the eyes.

I almost fell over.

This story is BDSM-lite, so if that kind of story isn’t your usual thing, give this a try anyway. The humor and characterization of Edward and Bella are well worth it.

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We hope that you've enjoyed these stories, and that you've left the authors some lovin'. We'll be back with more goodies next week. In the meantime though, take a gander at the entries for the Slash/Backslash contest that's going on again. Or better yet, enter the contest yourself! We all could use some more boy-lovin', and I just know there's a good slash story hiding among you somewhere.

Okay. So as I mentioned in the note at the beginning, today is Captain Jezebel's birthday. SorceressCirce and I both wrote her a little somethin', somethin' for the occasion. Check out Parley, by SorceressCirce, and A Whole Latte Lovin' by naelany.

Happy birthday, Jezzie!!! *mwah!*