Sewing on that AI(RPF) Fandom Badge
dragojustine posted Born with Glitter on His Face today, an Adam linkspam with a few images and several vid embeds. I don't watch AI any more than I watch any other reality show (talk about tripping the hell out of an embarrassment squick), so I'm still coming at this whole thing backwards and entertaining myself in the process.
This is kind of 'my thoughts while exploring all this shiny new information' so it might not be complete on its own, or make sense without checking out the other post(s)! Maybe a kind of long feedback? Something.
Justine quite nicely covers the reasons that I've been sucked into the Adam Lambert stratosphere:
The thing is that he's actually a complete sweetheart. In interviews he unfailingly comes across as sweet and funny and talented and versatile and media-savvy and genuine and loyal and charismatic and kind (and a little dippy sometimes - please, Adam, stop talking about astrology - but that's all part of the charm). He is truly a gem of a human being, which is why I love him- just singing isn't enough for me.
But let's make one thing clear: He sings very, very, very well. How about if we take a little video journey together?
I don't know quite how it happened, but at some point I watched the vid For Your Entertainment and that was undoubtedly the beginning of the end for me. I love it and I couldn't tell you the last time I said that about a commercially produced music video, probably in part because I generally don't like to even watch them. Justine linked to this meta by no_detective about the song and the vid. Reading it had me laughing out loud because I hadn't realized how much of a metaphor it could be seen as for Adam's post-Idol fame, nor quite how 'out there' it should be for the American main stream.
You know how, in the mainstream media, there are no positive representations of sexually aggressive gay men? Let alone REALLY TOPPY sexually aggressive gay men?
THERE IS NOW. Although I disagree with her that "the title of the song can't be interpreted too literally" because everyone knows the sub is the one who's really in charge, right? It just may not be what you're accustomed to defining as entertainment, but it's what you want, even if you don't know it yet. In other words, Adam is the sweetest, nicest, toppiest top ever, making the lyrics rather perfect:
I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet
You thought an angel swept you off your feet
Well I’m about to turn up the heat
I’m here for your entertainment
It's like liquid distillation of really good BDSM slash fic. Even if I do keep thinking "What, no safeword?"
I'm trying not to lift no_detective's post wholesale (and I highly encourage you to read the actual post for the comments) but have one more quote which is, uh, an entire paragraph:
Speaking of meta, our narrator in leather could very well be singing about the public expectation that a gay man be represented as "soft and sweet" a.k.a. unthreatening in any romantic context - only he's decided to turn that expectation on its ass and give it a good, hard lashing. He's the puppet master, folks, and he's here to make sure we watch, acknowledge, and learn to enjoy it. (We're just... ahead of the curve on this one, ladies.) And damn, the authority is unmistakable. That's why my favorite moments in the choreography are the hand motion which "drops" everybody around him to the floor around 1:05, and a similar moment around 2:00 with the cane - oh, THE CANE. The rest, with the grinding and the grabby hands, looks like something he's decided to tolerate for the time being... because, despite the perfect eye makeup and THOSE PANTS, he's not there to be objectified. (That's everybody else's role.)
YES, THAT.
Shall we move on to the slash? Yes, of course. Brad and Tommy I'm still learning about, so I can't speak of them yet as I have no grasp on the basis of the fic. Then there's Kris. As Justine says:
Kris Allen is the American Idol winner. He's an itty-bitty deeply adorable Christian boy from Arkansas, who seems to be quite genuinely one of the world's all time Nicest People.
See, here's the thing - I admire both these guys as people, and that is just incredibly awesome. I read Kris/Adam fic because, if you refer to my profile, you'll note the small text that reads "Sometimes the best of friends make the best of relationships." Also, they make it very easy on the slash goggles. *charming grin*
(I've recced the American Idol/Adam Lambert Primer by bexless about 10 times now, but for completeness, let me include a link one more time. Anyone wanting to share links to other primers/picspams, please do!)
*gets distracted while waiting for a YouTube vid to load by reading through Astolat's back catalog of AI fics*
Where was I? Recs maybe? Sure, we'll go with that. For authors astolat (fics here) for certain and I know seperis has been writing AI although I haven't read any of them yet (but, still - usually a safe bet, quality wise). Sadly, the only other one I have apparently admitted to reading (and thus bookmarking) so far is I Need to Know by lolitaray: A/N: This is from the kinkmeme with the prompt 'Kris watches gay porn for the first time and gets really turned on. Adam walks in on him.' My commentary was a very articulate 'NNNGHHHHOT'. *cough* NC-17 (duh), ~6.000 words.
*gets distracted again re-reading I Need to Know*
I'm gonna need icons.
eta: I ALMOST FORGOT.
were_duck linked me to the REAL, LIVE mpreg love child of John Sheppard and Adam Lambert!! The only thing I can come up with is that someone's been fiddling with the wrong Ancient device or something because OMG that's wild. O.o
Crossposted to Dreamwidth where there are
comments. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)