The LUV'NV: Advocated! "Built on a Lie" by @FrozenSoldier

"Built on a Lie" by FrozenSoldier
Angela & Jasper, Suspense/Drama, AU-NM, T, WIP

Summary: Angela Weber held a secret she couldn't share with anyone. What happens when that secret lands her in the middle of the forest with the truth about the Cullens real identities fresh on her mind?

I am sure that, like so many other readers, my first love for non-canon pairing fics started with a vampire named Jasper, and as such, I have read many Jasper fics—too many to count, many similar to the next, and the majority being him and Bella. Also like most first loves, I moved on. At least, I thought I did.

I'm not going to lie and say that I can never tire of the man. I stopped reading Jasper fics over a year ago, having grown bored of him and, honestly, very picky with how he's portrayed. Yet, I could never pinpoint what I was looking for exactly, not having found the perfect canon Jasper and AU circumstances.

That is, until I read Built on a Lie by FrozenSoldier.

For one, the protagonist is Angela, someone I find so much more endearingly human than Bella, and FrozenSoldier has captured the lens-hidden beauty—her shy and muted exterior, the observant yet never pushy or judgmental disposition, as well as her quiet will to do what's right, her insecurity as woman, and how she dreams—but never acts—big and is okay with the fact.

Two, although it starts in New Moon with the infamous birthday scene and picks up three years after Angela discovers the Cullens' secret, Built on a Lie is original with its absence of her and Jasper being mates (so far). From the moment she sees him, Angela is infatuated with Jasper. But that's all it is—an infatuation, a crush borderlining obsession—because she doesn't actually know him, has never really spoken to him, and he is with Alice.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the notion is relatable. Who hasn't crushed, borderline obsessed, over someone they can't have? (*coughs* Rob? Taylor? Peter Facinelli? Sound familiar?) But what's more, what I love, is that FrozenSoldier made it realistic. The more time Angela spends with Jasper and learns who he is, she questions herself. Each interaction with him is not only less than ideal but also very uncomfortable.

He'd clearly given up on the quick glances he'd been sending my way yesterday, and had now taken to staring at me. It made me uncomfortable, and I did my best to ignore him. But that wasn't so easy when the only sounds were the ones I made.

Was it going to be like this until we had something to fill the time with? I could only imagine how unbearable it was going to be.

As that realisation drifted over me, I frowned, feeling the same thoughts returning. For years I'd dreamt of being with him, and now I was finally getting that dream and…it just wasn't how I'd expected it to be.

I wasn't enjoying my time with him. But that consciousness was only made worse because I knew, deep down, I didn't want him to go, either. My life wouldn't be the same after this; it certainly wouldn't be the same without him. Later, when he was gone, would I look back at this time?

Would I miss it?

I'm going to warn you now: It's a slow burn between these two. But who doesn't love suspense and the build up? I adore how FrozenSoldier shows Angela's growing, realistic opinion of Jasper and slight indifference here ...

I wasn't sure how I felt about seeing this side of Jasper. Did I like it? Not particularly. Was there anything I could do? No. As bad as I felt for Jenks, I was glad Jasper wasn't like this with me. The silence and the one-worded responses were ten times better than the front he put on here.

... to their quiet, emerging connection as Angela continues to get to know him here ...

I was certain he knew I was there, even if he hadn't opened his eyes to physically see me. My thoughts were confirmed when I felt something brush my arm.

When I opened my eyes, he was standing beside me. I could tell he was struggling over something, struggling over words he couldn't quite form. To see it, made me uneasy. Jasper never struggled over anything like communication – he either said it or he didn't; I knew enough of him to be certain of that, at least.

Anyone who knows me knows that a great story in my eyes has more to do with the characterizations, and Built on a Lie has some great ones: A witty and arrogant Demetri, a malevolently gleeful Aro, a sweaty and bumbling Jenks, Maria with her calculating wickedness and surprising understanding and, dare I say, tenderness for Mi Mayor. But it is FrozenSoldier's Jasper that I appreciate more than anything else. Jasper is not exactly a dreamboat, as Angela obviously begins to find out. He is cold.

"Violence is all I know." His response elicited a shudder from my body. His voice was cold and detached, and his reply had been automatic; he didn't even have to think about it. But what was most obvious, was that there was no hint of a lie in his voice. Violence was all he knew.

He is smart and calculating, every action or inaction having a purpose.

Jasper pulled back, returning to his position of towering over him. It was something I noticed – he didn't sit down. Sitting down made them equals, and Jasper didn't see them as the same. You could tell that from the way he treated him.

Though rarely showing it (and I mean, just this once), he is vulnerable and simply a man. Angela sees it and understands all too well.

Something in his expression broke me, and I soon found myself fighting against the tears that wanted to fall. Jasper was vulnerable again, but there was something more to it than that, and it was so obvious to me now. He was lonely…Jasper was so lonely. Like me, but so much worse and I just couldn't work out why this was happening to him.

On the plane, he'd needed Alice, he'd needed her touch. He was so utterly lost without her; living half a life, if that. Jasper wasn't complete without her by his side, and wherever she was in the world, I was sure she was the feeling the same.

More than anything, he doesn't brood over the fact that he has a "weakness" for human blood. I never pictured someone as powerful and emotionally strong as Jasper to dwell in the past and on the things he cannot change. He is a man of action, if anything. FrozenSoldier captures the Jasper of Twilight. He is quietly intense, intent, and mysterious, a dominating presence in the background, and Built on a Lie isn't about his lust for human blood. What he desires more than anything ... well, that's what Angela and the readers have to learn.

Don't give me a fic a well done with a side of non-canon. I want a rare fic, bloody heavy in canon, like Built on a Lie.

And though I didn't fall in love with my own unloved this time around, I have to thank FrozenSoldier. She made me fall in love with Jasper all over again. Be sure to check out her fic and leave her some much deserved love. Never have I been so excited over a Jasper story, nor written a review so long. I only hope I did her story and Jasper some justice.