These fics are owning me — FF Recs by @KStew411

A lot of people ask what my favorite fics are, and that’s impossible for me to answer. I wouldn’t be reading a story if I didn’t like it, and I wouldn’t be rec’ing it if I didn’t REALLY like it. So to an extent, they’re all my favorite. That said, I do have some fics which are more favoritier than others.  Some of my earliest fics have completed or are almost complete, stories like Carpe Noctem & Fiat Lux, The Rain Season, and Bare. There are stories I love which don’t update regularly, like Elemental, The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep, and Edward Wallbanger. And then there are stories I fall in love with and the minute I recommend them it seems like they stop updating, like Bright Like the Sun, Burn and Shine, Bella Swan: Zombie Killer, and Caravaggio. That’s frustrating. Then there are the beastly big fics I read and re-read and will love forever and insist everyone else read, too, like Wide Awake and Tropic of Virgo. I have my canon loves which have destroyed my ability to read the real Twilight: La Canzone della Bella Cigna and Last Rites–I drop everything when they update. I think right now my two biggest flip-out fics are MotU and University of Edward Masen. Fuck whatever I’m doing when MotU updates–I will run for the nearest quiet place to read. And I actually do have my alarm set early on Saturday mornings to get my UoEM fix. That said, the fics that are killing me right now with their awesomeness are The Gentleman from Washington State (aka Senator Cullen and tops for UST), The Unaccompanied Soul (everyone must read this), and Eye Contact (so unusual and lovely). Of course, I am always looking for new fics and lately I’ve been completely obsessed with…

“Guardian” by ChampagneAnyone

I don’t think I’m scary but my email inbox is full of messages from people saying, “I was too afraid to tweet you”, or “so-and-so was too nervous to write you so I am passing on this message”. Will it help if I assure you I don’t actually survive on the blood of innocents? Anyway, it was nice when Ally (aka ChampagneAnyone) emailed me herself to ask me to read her story. That was a few weeks ago, and I can safely say I am now thoroughly hooked on “Guardian”. When Bella Swan’s parents are brutally murdered when she is eight, family friends and business partners in Cullen-Swan Law, the Cullens take in orphaned Bella. Of course she takes to the older Edward, and things are fine until she grows up. This is an angsty story–not the worst angst I’ve ever read but it’s up there. The prologue sets up a situation in which you know Edward and Bella won’t have an easy road ahead of them. The age difference is key here, because though Bella realizes her feelings for Edward, she does not have the maturity to understand his motivations. She’s sensitive and young and Edward is not quite as careful as he should be with her, physically or emotionally. But on the flipside, though you will want to kick Edward in the shins a couple times, Edward isn’t totally bad, he just hasn’t acknowledged his feelings (to himself or anyone else) and so he acts kind of cluelessly. But Bella’s rash reactions and thought process kind of just sets up more misunderstandings and angst. This is a jealous Edward (Jealousward!) and Bella’s pushing him to deal with his feelings. They have friction in their professional relationship, too, as Carlisle and Edward have constructed a merger for Cullen-Swan that definitely puts Bella on the short end of the stick. Enter the lawyer Bella hires to represent her in the merger, Demetri. I didn’t picture him as any sort of potential rival for Edward, but then Ally showed me this: “Demetri”, and now the game has changed. Jealousward indeed. This is a great story, relatively new but a regular Sunday updater. It’s filling the angst/UST void CWIA left in my life.

More after the jump…

“12 Days of Dickopotamus” & “You’re a Dickopotamus Edward” by ShinyVolvoLurver

This one is a two-fer. You have to read “12 Days” first. It’s a fast read in the vein of “12 Days of Christmas”, covering the 12 gifts Edward gives Bella one Christmas to show her how much he loves her. Throughout we get little glimpses of their back story, how they met and became a couple. It’s short, it’s hilarious, it’s highly enjoyable. “Dickopotamus” is set 3 years before “12 Days” and details the meeting and relationship of Bella and Edward. You HAVE to read “12 Days” first, but “Dickopotamus” is the meat of the story. This is a messed up, complicated Bella, and Edward is quite an asshole. This story is way, way out of character, and while it’s sexy and snarky and smutty, it’s also pretty dark. Bella has real problems, Edward isn’t the nicest guy on the planet, Alice has some kind of personality disorder, and James is a drug dealer. But that’s what makes this story so compelling–it’s hilarious, too. Alice’s melt down at family dinner shouldn’t be funny–she obviously has a serious condition–but Shiny has a knack for turning the profane into the sublimely hysterical. For instance, Bella and Edward get high and go buy a cat. That shouldn’t be funny–don’t do drugs, kids–but I was dying while reading it. Bella’s thoughts throughout were hilarious, a combination of “please give me this kitty” and “why are you letting me have this animal?” It’s like being handed a glassful of angst and a handful of pixie sticks at the same time. These stories aren’t for everyone, but if you’re like me and have a taste for the darkly comic, the sick and twisted, the perverse and profane, you’ll love them.

Looking for all of KStew411′s faves?!? Duh, they are all right here on her very own library page! Well, most of them. I need to do an update for last week. I’ll be on it tomorrow! Promise!