Feb Festival - Days 23, 24 (sorta) and 25

[brandywine28]

Still plodding along like a diligent little cart horse. A cart horse who...likes talking about slash. Because that's not a ridiculous metaphor or anything.

Day 23 - A crossover with a fandom you don't know/didn't know when you read the story

Octobers by xoverau (Chris/Eminem)
Um, does Eminem count as a fandom? (Even though he's only one guy, I mean.)

I had heard of Eminem before I read this, obviously, but like everything else that doesn't really interest me I had always managed to sweep all knowledge of him to the periphery of my awareness. Homophobic lyrics, the Elton John duet--that's about all I knew. And while I still can't call myself a fan, exactly, I do credit this story with opening my eyes to the sometimes challenging but always intriguing World of Emslash.

After an unusual encounter in a public restroom, Chris and Em become deeply entrenched in each other's lives. I should warn you--this fic was also a major contender for the 'Story That Breaks Your Heart' category.

(the link will take you to Part One; all other parts can be found in the author's lj memories.)

Day 24 - a guilty pleasure

For me, fandom is a guilt-free zone. As far as I'm concerned, shame and crippling neuroses have their place--namely every single other aspect of my life. But popslash? Popslash is a Happy Place.

So yes, I may take a stonger interest in slavefics and hooker AUs than is generally considered PC, and I may have gotten the occasional illicit thrill from reading about Chris and JC peeing on each other (what? It was a good story!). And I do seem to recall enjoying a particularly questionable pirate epic in which Evil Captain Chris kidnaps Naive Schoolboy JC, who spends about two dozen chapters cowering in fear as he's passed from buccaneer to buccaneer. (He was a delicate little flower.) But I don't feel guilty about any of it. Nay, I am proud! (Unless my mother ever finds this entry, in which case I've never heard of fanfiction, homosexuality or the internet.)

Day 25 - a story that spawned an inside joke

Rules of Engagement by zebraljb (Chris/Lance, JC/?)
Gave birth to a slew of JC/Steven Tyler jokes that are probably nowhere near as funny as I think they are.

Comments

[kikiduck.livejournal.com]

I admire your dedication to finishing this. =D

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

Hee. Thanks. :)

Yeah, there are a couple of us stragglers still carrying the banner. I'm so close! I mean to finish even if it kills me.

[pensnest]

I remember that Chris/Eminem story, and it's definitely a heartbreaker. There seems to have been a phase in popslash during which Eminem was featured in a variety of pairings—for reasons I find hard to imagine, actually. Oh well, who can say.

I quite agree about it being a guilt-free zone. I think the only stories I've ever felt even slightly guilty about writing were the one I nominated of my own (a Joey/Kelly scene in which Joey fantasizes about Lance) and a Lance/Reichen story written during their relationship and inspired by the canon of them doing an AIDS walk. I was very wibbly about whether I should post that one. I suppose maybe I've felt faint embarrassment sometimes at enjoying, and maybe even reccing, stories which I know are not objectively well written, but they work for me. Not embarrassed enough to stop reading, ever!

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

I may not be crazy about the man, but I more than understand the impulse to slash him. He practically slashes himself with all that trash-talking he does/did--methinks the lady doth protest too much, y'know?

Georgina said something awhile back that really resonated with me: these guys were specifically marketed as fantasy objects, which makes them fair game as far as things like fanfic are concerned. I couldn't agree more, even if that doesn't always extend to depictions of friends and family members who aren't involved in showbiz. I know a lot of people are squeamish about that kind of thing; I guess it's a bit of a grey area. (Not something I've ever lost any sleep over, however!)

[pensnest]

I think that's true—I mean, that they were fantasy objects. I've never really understood why people slash actors (with a minor exception for Jared/Jensen because the alternative is incest, heh), but with Nsync, I honestly *hope* that their public personas were at least to some extent roles they were playing, for their sakes! As for family members—well, it does seem a bit silly not to use the ones who exist, eg it'd be daft to invent a mother for Joey when he has a mother, or to endow Lance with several brothers when he has a sister. I try not to do too much damage to the 'civilians' in my stories, but that's about it!

As for Eminem, I find him a bit too ratty to be interested in writing him, but there are a handful of good stories around.

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

'Ratty'--I love that description.

I don't have any problem with writing/reading about the 'civilians'. I've felt guilty about it exactly once--early on in my popslash infatuation, while reading a story that characterized Kelly Fatone as a vindictive nutjob whose sole function was to destroy Joey's budding relationship with...someone. JC? I can barely remember. At the time it left me with some icky feelings. But I got over it. :)

[pensnest]

I've noticed in Glambert fandom, I have developed something of an aversion to Kris/Adam stories that basically start out with "After the divorce", because Kris is married. Although those are better than the ones where his wife dies a horrible, fiery death while on the way to her illicit lover after aborting Kris's baby and setting fire to his guitars. Well, you know what I mean.

There was a tendency to that wrt Joey and Kelly a while back, but I think these days popslash is more likely to go for the idea of Kelly as either 'enabler of Joey's affair with male of choice' or 'threesome'. Which is much better! But there were quite a few stories in which Kelly had to be painted as Teh Evil Bitch so that she could be got out of the story. Don't like that.

I don't feel guilty about writing the 'civilians'... but I think I would feel guilty if I tried to make, say, Trace, into an unmitigated villain just because nobody cares about him he's not one of 'our boys'. (Then again, I'd be ashamed of myself for doing such crap characterisation!) I think they shouldn't be painted black just so that the guys can be painted white, that's all. (My issues with Diane Bass, let me try not to show you them.)

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

I think I have an innate fondness for stories in which Kelly is portrayed as just as big a pervert as the rest of us! (llamabitchyo's Disney Princess 'Verse springs to mind.) Granted, Joey's often written as 'the dim one', but I like to think he's got more common sense than to marry a total psychopath! (Same goes for Kris Allen, even though all I know about him is that he's 'the religious one.' And even that I could be wrong about.)

Please, don't be afraid to show me your true feelings about Diane Bass! I'm oddly 'on the fence' about her, probably because she doesn't provide fodder the way Justin's and Chris' moms do.

[pensnest]

The Disney Princess 'verse was one of the things I was thinking about in a 'popslash has matured' vein! I know ephemera_pop had quite an influence on the way I think of Joey and Kelly's relationship: she used to be married to a rock musician, and was perfectly convinced J and K had an 'arrangement' while he was on the road with Nsync. And after all, it's quite insulting to Joey to imagine that he spent all those years—even before they were married—with someone who's essentially an evil bitch. So, no.

Incidentally, Kris Allen is not just 'the Christian one' (who might on that account be mistaken for Danny Gokey, who is... differently Christian), he's also incredibly cute and with a wicked sense of humour. There are a couple of treasured video snippets of his interactions with Adam Lambert, in one of which he plays up to the slashers very mischievously.

As for Diane Bass... I was so disappointed by the reactions of Lance's family when he came out. Even the grandmother who phoned him to tell him, 'You'll always be welcome in my house' - okay, yes, but *my* grandmother would have said 'I love you'. And I know that for the Bass family, living in darkest Mississippi, life must be pretty difficult—there are occasionally bits of info about how some of their long-term 'friends' no longer talk to them, or pity them for having a homosexual son, etc. I'm disappointed that they seem to prefer to live in a place where THEIR SON is despised, when surely they have a choice. I'm also disappointed that there's never (as far as I'm aware) been any statement of support, except possibly for Dad and Grandad going to Dancing with the Stars one week. I mean, imagine what Lynn would do if Justin were to come out! She'd be the Chief Executive of at least one rainbow organisation in no time!

I also can't help wondering how the hell his mother never noticed he was gay. I mean, seriously? How the hell? I guess the whole Southern Baptist thing is beyond my understanding, and I try to make allowances, but... but... If my son ever comes out to me, I hope my first response is to give him a big hug. I think I'm disappointed in her as a mother—and before Lance came out, I thought she was a very cool one.

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

I have a wild, obsessive love for the Disney Princess 'Verse! So many stories write Joey out of the action altogether, operating under the assumption, I guess, that married=dead. Which is beyond depressing. And unfair! Sex with JC shouldn't even be considered infidelity as far as I'm concerned--he'd have to be out of his mind not to want it!

I googled Kris Allen and he seems lovely; I didn't mean to confuse him with Danny Gokey, who, if I'm not mistaken, is the one who creepily exploited his dead wife's memory in an attempt to court Middle America. *shudders*

The Southern Baptist mindset is a mystery to me as well. By staying silent, I can only imagine the Bass family thinks it can have its cake and eat it too: no one can call them 'unsupportive', per se, and yet their stancelessness (Did I just invent a new word?) probably allows them to save face in front of their fellow Mississippians, who might otherwise jump to 'crazy' conclusions--like that they're anything other than freaked out by gays, for example.

I completely agree about Lynn, btw--if Justin were to come out there would be PARADES! SKYWRITING! She'd recruit Elton John and Liza Minelli to perform at a lavish party in his honor! Now THAT is something I'd like to see. :)

[pensnest]

Oh, Lawd, now I want Justin to come out *so* *much*! Wouldn't that be awesome!

I think Joey+Kelly+(pick gent of choice) is an awesome thing. I mean, Kelly's gorgeous, and it's not hard to read her as sexually generous, if that's the term I mean. I so much prefer Joey slash to come with a side helping of Kelly consent, one way or another.

In fairness, I think the Bass family does get some fairly unkind treatment from those around them... Even so. Even so.

Kris Allen being particularly awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d48Wn1QcqI (the best moment is around 1:30—but hasn't he got a yummy speaking voice!). I love the 'narrative' of that Idol season, it's remarkable how well it works. And Adam sometimes got to 'comment' on it by his song choices!

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

That clip is fabulous! I can already tell Kris is a wily bastard: look how well he and Adam play to the cameras! They know exactly what they're doing, those little devils. :)

Alright, I'll bite--the two of them have one hell of a rapport. :)

[zebraljb.livejournal.com]

*wipes away tears*

Ohhhh man I just laughed so hard. I COMPLETELY forgot about the Steven Tyler thing. The first of many inside jokes.


Oh, life. *sniffle* hahahahahahahaha

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

I still say it has its place in canon! Remember the half-time show from the 2001 Superbowl?

[zebraljb.livejournal.com]

*puts hands over ears* NO ideas. NO ideas. I have enough.

Though, honestly, even YOU couldn't get me to write Steven Tyler slash. Sorry.

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

Hm. Should I consider that a challenge? I like challenges. *grins evilly*

[zebraljb.livejournal.com]

Absolutely NOT. I put my Pennsylvania foot down. There is NOTHING you could do that would make me write that.

(except maybe write something for ME, and then I'd at least reconsider it)

But no.

[zebraljb.livejournal.com]

First of all, you made me read that Eminem story and I cried. CRIED.

(the best Em slash I ever read was JC/Em, btw, written by nsyncgrrl. FABULOUS)

Anyway...*ears perk up* Slavefic and hooker AUs, you say? While I've written a few hooker things (mostly with Justin, huh what a surprise), if you have more to recommend, you know where I am. *drool*

[brandywine28.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I STILL need to read that JC/Em thingy! Everyone's always raving about it; makes me feel left out. :(

Ask and ye shall receive! (Check your email.)