February Festival ~ An Attempt to Catch Up ~ Days 20 - 26
Hi everybody. I know I’m massively behind here (and I’ve even skipped some days). Real Life has been stressful - among other things, I’ve been working towards getting myself included on the Organ Transplant List. I’ve spoken with two of the Transplant Coordinators, and saw my specialist on Friday, and I have an appointment scheduled with the Transplant Team at the Hospital on March 28th for evaluation, so I’m getting closer. Now I’m getting envelopes of forms to fill out and there are notifications and calls to make and information to gather, but I’m hoping to have more time to return to some fun things.
So on to the popslash…
February Festival ~ Day 20 ~ A Pairing You Never Expected to Enjoy:
When I was creating the Theme Recs lists I did one featuring bets, and one of the stories was Monkeyshines by zoicite. As I said at the time, “This is set in the early Euro-days, when all of the guys were being crammed into one bus. Kevin and especially Howie were most often the target of practical jokes, and in this story Kevin and Howie convince themselves that the others have a bet riding on whether or not they get together. They decide to play along to psych out the other guys, and along the way Kevin does some experimenting (oh my God, I never would have picked Kevin/Howie as hot couple material before, but I would have been so wrong) and things get a little more real than they planned.”
February Festival ~ Day 21 ~ Real World with Added Weirdness:
Well, there’s just so much to choose from with this topic, isn’t there? Probably at least half of popslash falls into this category, and that’s what makes it all so much fun. I think I’ll choose a series that was written by ephemera_pop and nopseud:
1) It’s the Perfect Dream by ephemera_pop
2) It’s a Treacherous Thing by ephemera_pop
3) Walk, Talk, Stalk by nopseud and ephemera_pop
4) Move Like Cagey Tigers by nopseud
5) Broken In Pieces by nopseud
This is the series where in the first story JC transforms into a puma, and we learn that he acquired the ability after spending a night with Nick and Paris. The third through fifth stories focus on Nick, and the adjustment of the other Boys to his new state. This series is terrific, full of brotherhood and support and humor.
February Festival ~ Day 23 ~ Crossover with a previously unfamiliar fandom:
For this one I’ll go with Eight Times by Arsenic Jade, wherein JC begins a relationship with Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. I know nothing of My Chemical Romance (I had to Google Gerard to find out who he and the rest of the guys in his band are) and I have never read any other bandom fics. I only read it because I’ve read all of Arsenic’s popslash, and I generally love how she writes JC. I’ve read this story more than once despite not knowing half the characters, that’s how compelling her writing is.
February Festival ~ Day 24 ~ Guilty pleasure:
Does Living by matthewtime count as a guilty pleasure? For those who have not invested the weeks of reading time to go through it, it’s an epic-length story of the remarkably intertwined lives of NSync, Backstreet, and 98 Degrees. There’s lots of hot porn, but there's also actual plotline and character growth too. While the JC/Justin interactions get a bit overwrought for my taste, I particularly like the Brian/Nick/Drew trio, and the Chris/Howie pairing. This 'verse is definitely one of my happy places.
February Festival ~ Day 26 ~ Crack, and not ashamed of it:
Is this the fandom that had the long, involved discussion about the precise definition of “crackfic”? Because I’m not entirely sure my pick meets the definition, but here you go: JC and the Magical Amulet of Doom by phaballa. JC is stricken with amnesia, perhaps caused by a purple amulet of doom, and over the course of a few days loses all his memories. He winds up in Justin's custody, which is interesting not just because he's attracted to Justin, but because as he watches Justin's solo tour he decides that he doesn't want to be a pop star. It was fun seeing JC's reactions to their old videos. The writing is done in JC's stream of consciousness perspective so it's exhausting to read as he bounces from idea to idea, but very funny ("It turns out that JC hasn't been body snatched at all, and actually chose to do this horrible, tragic thing to his own hair. No one cut it off while he was sleeping as some terrible, really mean joke, not even Chris, who once tried to dye Justin's hair pink in his sleep. JC did it to himself. Obviously, JC thinks, he went through a period of self-loathing. He's sort of happy he can't seem to remember it, but at least it's better than being a secret cutter. Those people write the worst songs.")
So on to the popslash…
February Festival ~ Day 20 ~ A Pairing You Never Expected to Enjoy:
When I was creating the Theme Recs lists I did one featuring bets, and one of the stories was Monkeyshines by zoicite. As I said at the time, “This is set in the early Euro-days, when all of the guys were being crammed into one bus. Kevin and especially Howie were most often the target of practical jokes, and in this story Kevin and Howie convince themselves that the others have a bet riding on whether or not they get together. They decide to play along to psych out the other guys, and along the way Kevin does some experimenting (oh my God, I never would have picked Kevin/Howie as hot couple material before, but I would have been so wrong) and things get a little more real than they planned.”
February Festival ~ Day 21 ~ Real World with Added Weirdness:
Well, there’s just so much to choose from with this topic, isn’t there? Probably at least half of popslash falls into this category, and that’s what makes it all so much fun. I think I’ll choose a series that was written by ephemera_pop and nopseud:
1) It’s the Perfect Dream by ephemera_pop
2) It’s a Treacherous Thing by ephemera_pop
3) Walk, Talk, Stalk by nopseud and ephemera_pop
4) Move Like Cagey Tigers by nopseud
5) Broken In Pieces by nopseud
This is the series where in the first story JC transforms into a puma, and we learn that he acquired the ability after spending a night with Nick and Paris. The third through fifth stories focus on Nick, and the adjustment of the other Boys to his new state. This series is terrific, full of brotherhood and support and humor.
February Festival ~ Day 23 ~ Crossover with a previously unfamiliar fandom:
For this one I’ll go with Eight Times by Arsenic Jade, wherein JC begins a relationship with Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. I know nothing of My Chemical Romance (I had to Google Gerard to find out who he and the rest of the guys in his band are) and I have never read any other bandom fics. I only read it because I’ve read all of Arsenic’s popslash, and I generally love how she writes JC. I’ve read this story more than once despite not knowing half the characters, that’s how compelling her writing is.
February Festival ~ Day 24 ~ Guilty pleasure:
Does Living by matthewtime count as a guilty pleasure? For those who have not invested the weeks of reading time to go through it, it’s an epic-length story of the remarkably intertwined lives of NSync, Backstreet, and 98 Degrees. There’s lots of hot porn, but there's also actual plotline and character growth too. While the JC/Justin interactions get a bit overwrought for my taste, I particularly like the Brian/Nick/Drew trio, and the Chris/Howie pairing. This 'verse is definitely one of my happy places.
February Festival ~ Day 26 ~ Crack, and not ashamed of it:
Is this the fandom that had the long, involved discussion about the precise definition of “crackfic”? Because I’m not entirely sure my pick meets the definition, but here you go: JC and the Magical Amulet of Doom by phaballa. JC is stricken with amnesia, perhaps caused by a purple amulet of doom, and over the course of a few days loses all his memories. He winds up in Justin's custody, which is interesting not just because he's attracted to Justin, but because as he watches Justin's solo tour he decides that he doesn't want to be a pop star. It was fun seeing JC's reactions to their old videos. The writing is done in JC's stream of consciousness perspective so it's exhausting to read as he bounces from idea to idea, but very funny ("It turns out that JC hasn't been body snatched at all, and actually chose to do this horrible, tragic thing to his own hair. No one cut it off while he was sleeping as some terrible, really mean joke, not even Chris, who once tried to dye Justin's hair pink in his sleep. JC did it to himself. Obviously, JC thinks, he went through a period of self-loathing. He's sort of happy he can't seem to remember it, but at least it's better than being a secret cutter. Those people write the worst songs.")