Delay

I want to apologize for the delay in posting THTF's chapter 53.  I was supposed to be off all week but got called in every day.  I've already been told to plan on being called in on Thursday and Friday.  I am sorry.  I'm working on the update when I can.

Review: Decoy, by 107yearoldvirgin

This review originally appeared on The Fictionators.  I'm reposting it now because the story's author is leaving the fandom.  Her collected works will still be available as a .pdf, but you'll have to contact her directly.

Can’t Buy Me Love was a 1987 movie about high school popularity and what someone desperate enough for it might do to get it. In Decoy, author 107yearoldvirgin, neatly turns this popular tale on its ear by giving it a Twilight spin.

Bella Swan is a nobody entering her senior year at Forks High. Everyone believes she’s a recent transplant, come to live with her dad now that her parents have reconciled. What they don’t remember is that Isabella lived in Forks when she was younger. She was friends with many of the kids who are popular now—kids who think her name is Brenda.

Edward Cullen is the popular, rich guy. He just got his car back, after it had an unfortunate meeting with a tree. The return to mobility and his continued freedom, as well as his participation in track and baseball, “his entire existence” as far as Edward is concerned, is conditional on Edward not damaging the vehicle again or getting any tickets. True to cocky form, Edward is the proud new owner of a speeding ticket mere hours later.

He heads to the police station to plead his case, but is thwarted. As he’s leaving he bumps into “Brenda” who uses her charms on the desk sergeant, Jacob Black, to get the ticket to disappear. Edward is grateful:

"I feel like I owe you now or something."

"You do," she says simply.

Intrigued, I press her. "And what exactly do I owe you?"

She pulls her wrist from my grasp and sighs. "The way I see it, Edward Cullen, you owe me your entire existence at this moment."

My mouth drops open in surprise.

 She smiles slightly, the happiness not reaching her eyes. "But I'll settle for you letting me hang out with you for the next month at school."

So the stage is set. Edward, reluctantly at first, and then more enthusiastically, holds up his end of the bargain. Bella is instantly popular. Edward purchases her new clothes and plays the attentive boyfriend. It’s not long before Edward starts to feel something more, something real, for this girl who reminds him of someone he once knew.

In a nod to Stephenie Meyer, Edward spends his nights sneaking into Bella’s bedroom where the two begin to explore a sexual relationship. Unlike Stephenie’s Bella, however, this Bella is no blushing virgin. She grew up in a nudist colony and is comfortable with her body and sex.

107yearoldvigin has promised us a departure from the traditional Can’t Buy Me Love storyline in the next chapter. Already we have seen some darker moments, moments 107 took from her personal high school experiences. The overall fun tone of the story has a dark tinge that isn’t angsty (yet), but realistic, as the callous machinations of high school students can have disastrous consequences.

I can heartily recommend Decoy, as well as 107yearoldvirgin’s almost complete Eight Days a Week, as great reads. 107 is a committed author, who updates regularly and has six other completed fics to her name.

Too Much Tragedy

It seems that every time we turn around there's a new disaster or tragedy in the world.  If you're like me, you probably feel helpless in the face of the recent disasters in Australia and Japan and the less recent disasters in Haiti and Louisiana.

There's little I can do.  There's little any one of us can do.  Besides these disasters there are ongoing tragedies near and dear to the fandom as well, like Sexual Assault Awareness, cancer research via Alex's Lemonade Stand, Parkinson's Research and Autism Awareness.

Together this fandom has done some incredible things.  This is why I will be contributing a one shot to Fandom Fights Tsunami.  This one shot will be something that many readers have asked for: THTF's Bella and Edward's first time from EPOV.

Please click the Fandom Fights Tsunami link and make your donation today!

Review: Same Time Next Year, by socact

This review was originally written for the Perv Pack's Smut Shack:

Same Time Next Year is the story that convinced my husband I have an online boyfriend. He was on vacation and couldn’t understand my desire to stay glued to the computer screen when I could be glued to him instead. What can I say? If I find the draw of a good story magical how can I resist the pull of one that leaves good so far behind that the details stick with me through my (shortened) night’s sleep and wake with me in the morning?

Same time Next Year is this kind of story. And, as with many amazing stories, STNY starts with a simple premise with which everyone is familiar –

Boy meets girl.
Boy loses girl.
Boy finds girl again… and again… and again… and – well, you get the picture.

Author, socact, takes the age old paradigm and turns it on its ear in delightful tale that will heat you up, make you laugh and induce enough heartfail to keep you crying through the night.

She begins her story by apologizing to the reader. “The idea isn’t original,” she tells us. She worries that we’ll find the concept “dumb.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Even readers who are familiar with the stage or screen version of Same Time Next Year will delight in this adaptation which starts at the end and ends in a way that will have you immediately wanting to reread.

Current day (and I don’t mean this in a metaphorical sense, the first day of the story is August 13, 2009) Edward Cullen is your typical high school senior: angsty, bored, itching to escape the “doormats” of high school. He doesn’t see how his life can begin until he escapes the “shitty, claustrophobic hell hole” that is Forks. He’s too aware of the relationships between his friends, the already paired up Emmett and Rosalie and the awkward singles, Jasper and Alice. The freakishly insightful Jasper has a plan for the Senior Class Trip (also known as “the fuckfest”) to Vancouver Island. He’s hoping that a little game of musical bedrooms will allow him the opportunity to finally seal the deal with the willing but undeclared Alice.

Key to this plan, of course, is Bella Swan. Bella is the new girl and Alice’s assigned roommate for the weekend. From the moment Bella steps onto the bus, tripping on the top step to faceplant in the aisle, Edward is captivated, “…this girl was fucking magnetic. She had some kind of freaky power over me and it was starting to piss me off.” Ever the rebel, Edward wants to ignore the new girl and resents her increasing power over this thoughts and feelings.

Similarly, Bella has no interest in Edward. She has him pegged just moments after meeting him. “You’re the doctor’s son. Wealthy, spoiled, bored with life. You’re tired of Forks and you know you can do better. And you will, I’m sure. You’re probably at the top of the class.” Edward rallies but is honest enough with himself to admit that while two can play at this game, Bella is winning.

At this point in my review you’re probably wondering if I’ve forgotten the title of this blog. No, I haven’t. I’m reviewing for the Perv Pack’s Smut Shack. So, where’s the smut? Well, I figured I’d wait you make as long as Bella and Edward do in this story.

STNY is really a short story, when it comes right down to it. The buildup is slow and steady. Establishing the groundwork for the relationship is key to creating the tension and framework for the second half. If you’re looking for fluff or wham, bam, thank ya’ ma’am, there’s plenty to be found in fanficdom. This story is not it.

That’s not to say it is without its many moments! Bella’s first time doesn’t happen until chapter 9, but it is worth the wait. Due to typical teenage nonsense, which socact kindly doesn’t force us to read through, it takes them months to finally decide that they belong together. Once they do we learn that, much like canon Bella and Edward, she’s the sexual aggressor in their relationship. Edward has managed to placate her with his “truly divine talent… for using his tongue in certain places.”

It’s been a year since our protagonists have met and they’ve returned to the resort on Vancouver Island to spend some quality time together. Bella and Edward are heading off to college; he to California, she in Washington. Neither is looking forward to their forced separation. During their time together at the resort they promise to “see [each other] here once a year, every year, this time, this place.”

I find it fairly amazing that socact was able to keep me so invested in these characters with the cards laid out on the table as they are. Basically, Bella and Edward agree to yearly booty calls, “No matter what we’re doing, who we’re with, where we are.” That’s right – this is planned infidelity, folks, plain and simple. Neither is so naïve to believe that their relationship, their love, can survive the 1000 miles between them, but neither is willing to give it up.

Yet there’s beauty in their illicit meetings. Throughout the years each panics that this will be the year the other doesn’t show. According to their agreement, “if one of us doesn’t come some year, then that’ll be it.” However, year after year they both arrive and sexy times ensue. We’re treated to bedroom sex, blow jobs in the shower, sex in the public dining room and up against a tree. Each year they delight us and each other with their abiding passion.

Hints are dropped during these rendezvous; hints that let you know that the outside world is intruding. She’s in a serious relationship. He enters a relationship with someone special. And then it finally happens; Bella knows that something is wrong, “As soon as I saw his face, standing there in the dark, familiar room, I knew something was different… His eyes were anxious, uncertain; was he nervous? Upset?” Finally he utters the words readers will be dreading:

“How long have we been coming here?” he asked me in a low, strained voice.
“Eight years,” I murmured.
“Have you ever regretted coming here?”
“No,” I said, almost in a whisper. “Never.”
“Is there anything that would make you stop coming here?” he asked.
I finally looked up into his emerald eyes, those same ones I had fallen in love with seven years ago. I tried to find an answer there, to understand what he was thinking, why he was torturing me this way. And I knew the answer to his question; it was automatic, and always had been. Nothing could make me stop coming here to see him. Nothing.

“No,” I said.

Again, he ran his hand through his tousled bronze hair, exhaling sharply.

“Nothing?” he asked.

“No,” I said, slightly more loudly. My voice was shaking so hard that I knew just one more word would break it.

“Bella…”

My heart broke into a million pieces. I cried. The knowledge I had of their illicit relationship had been like having a titillating secret, but now I regretted being invested in their HEA. The sex high I had been on for chapters was deflated and I read the rest of the story in tears. I had kept on hoping they’d find a way to be together. I kept going back, looking for hidden meanings, assurances that everything would be alright. I didn’t find them.

Surprisingly, this is not the end of their tête-à-têtes. If possible the following year is more heart rendering as they both discuss their happiness with their respective spouses after making love to one another. Despite the heartfail, or maybe because of it, Same Time Next Year is probably my favorite fanfiction period. I’ve recapped the story for just about anyone who will listen and that is something I never do. I believe that readers familiar with other incarnations of the story will appreciate socact’s treatment. For those, like myself, who were unfamiliar with the play and movie every step will put you through the emotional wringer. Trust me when I tell you that you will be rereading when you reach the end.

PS – socact posted an outtake to this story. DO NOT READ THE OUTTAKE. You’ll regret it. It will still be there when you’ve finished the story. Promise!

Reviews

So, I've read a lot of fanfiction.  A lot.  I find stories I love and want to tell the world about them, but my piece of the fandom is pretty tiny.  Two years ago, I was asked to review a story for the Perv Pack's Smut Shack.  I did so eagerly.  That story was socact's Same Time Next Year and I still love this story today.

Last year, I was approached by the Fictionators to write a small piece about 107yearoldvirgin's story, Decoy.  I was flattered and happily obliged.

More recently, I've been rec'ing stories in my author notes.  I was thrilled when the authors of these stories contacted me to thank me for their bump in readership.  I wondered if writing real recommendations/reviews would bring further attention to the stories I love.  I approached Sandy, Mistress of Southern Fanfiction Review and asked her if she'd be interested in publishing the occasional review.  While Sandy and I are both fans of well-written stories, we tend to read very different ones.  She accepted and I've submitted a review or three to her in recent weeks.

What I've decided to do is to post my reviews here, as well.  They'll post here after they run on whatever site for which I write them.  This is more of an archive of my reviews than anything else.  I do hope you'll be encouraged to read the stories I enjoy.  If possible, let the authors know that I sent you their way.

Best,
IT

Chapter 52 teaser

"I need you..."

Manip by the lovely and talented 107yearoldvirgin.