Fic: The Camera Eye: On Display 1/2 [MiA x Subaru, NC-17]
Title: The Camera Eye: On Display [1/2]
Chapter: Thirty-fifth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here Split in two because of LJ’s post limits, there is a link to the second part at the bottom of the first.
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, frottage, deepthroating
Pairing: MiA (Mejibray) x Subaru (Royz) (main), Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon), Kai x Uruha (GazettE), mentions of Yo-ka x Byou (SCREW)
Disclaimer: DIAURA belongs to Ains, Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, Royz belongs to BP Records, the now-disbanded Lycaon belonged to Vogue Entertainment, SCREW and GazettE belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Subaru is about to participate in one of the porn industry’s major events - the Japan Adult Video Expo - for the first time. He’s about to experience a lot of firsts - including the straight side of the industry, and a rival who’s gunning for PSC Productions.
Notes: The Expo is based on a real-life porn industry event, the Adult Entertainment Expo, which is sponsored by Adult Video News and held every year in Las Vegas. Like the Expo depicted here, it consists of trade, fan and press events, including autograph signings (though the format of the signing here is based more on visual kei instore events).
Working in the porn industry meant that you were exposed to all kinds of “firsts.” Not all of them involved being between the sheets with your co-stars, either. There was your first press interview, first in-store DVD signing, first time having to confront anti-porn people on Twitter . . .
And Subaru found himself facing another one of those firsts - the Japan Adult Video Expo.
He first heard talk of it when they were still working on Datenshi Blue 2. He didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. He had bigger fish to fry - namely, his second major leading role, and his first onscreen threesome, and two-person sex scenes with MiA and Yo-ka.
When filming was wrapped, though, he found he couldn’t ignore it any longer - especially since it was all that everyone seemed to be talking about. In ramen joints and “Pornbucks,” gossip spread about who was wearing what, and what each company would be doing at their booths, and just what would be shown during the trailers segment at the end.
“Just what is this Expo thing, anyway?” Subaru asked Yuuki and Yo-ka as the three of them ate takeout on the latter two’s living room floor, Yuuki’s cat curiously wandering over and poking his nose into the cartons.
“Nobody’s told you about it yet?” Yo-ka said.
Subaru shook his head. “All I know is that there’s going to be booths for each company, and people are dressing up for it.”
“It’s a trade show,” Yuuki said. “The biggest of the year. It’s held over a weekend. The first day doesn’t concern us - it’s all meetings between company executives and distributors. The second? That’s the one we go to. That’s Fan Day.”
“Basically, it’s this big showroom where every video company has a booth,” Yo-ka said. “And the companies decorate the booth any way they want - usually to show off their latest products.”
“Sometimes there’s performances or demonstrations,” Yuuki said. “I did a thing where I demonstrated bondage techniques last year.”
“I was one of his assistants,” Yo-ka said. “Having him tie me up in front of everyone was pretty hot, I have to say. The fangirls almost got a free show.”
“That kind of thing isn’t the main event, though,” Yuuki said. “That’s the autograph lines. Every company has their stars at a table signing autographs. Every fan gets one free chance at each table. She-“
“Or he,” Yo-ka said. “We DO have male fans.”
“Well, whatever,” Yuuki said. “The fan is given a bin with folded pieces of paper with our names on it. She pulls one name, whoever she gets, she goes to for an autograph. If she wants another chance? She has to buy a video.”
“We end up selling a LOT of videos from these booths that way,” Yo-ka said. “Every fan wants to get his-or-her favorite actor.”
“I’m going to be signing autographs, too?” Subaru said.
“Of course you are,” Yuuki said. “Are you kidding? You’re the new star.”
“They’ll be buying tons of videos to get you,” Yo-ka said.
Subaru looked down into his container of food. This was . . . sudden. Performing before the cameras was one thing. The idea of meeting his fans, of coming face-to-face with people who had watched Heart of the Ocean? Who had actually, well, masturbated to his onscreen love scenes with Yo-ka, and the flashback with him and Yuuki?
It was a bit unsettling. It gave a whole new layer of reality to the whole “I’m in porn” thing.
Yo-ka wrapped an arm around him. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ll be great. You just be your cute self and they’ll love you even more than they do onscreen.”
That didn’t make him feel any less unsettled. “So what happens after the meetings with fans?” he said.
“They have the screening of trailers,” Yuuki said. “They lower a big screen in the Expo area and each company shows a clip advertising their biggest upcoming release - or more than one release, if they want.”
“Most of the videos they show the clips for aren’t even announced before the Expo,” Yo-ka said. “Uruha is working his ass off to have a teaser trailer for Datenshi Blue 2 ready - that’s going to be the big announcement that it’s coming out.”
“There’s two screenings, by the way,” Yuuki said. “One in the area where we’ll be set up - and one on the MAIN floor of the Expo, where the stuff for straight guys is.”
“Why do we have a separate area?” said Subaru.
“You think they’d put gay male porn in with the stuff aimed at straight guys?” Yo-ka said. “There’d be a riot.”
“They call our area Gay Alley,” Yuuki said. “It sucks, but there you go. They even have a separate entrance for it. Granted - I don’t think the fangirls want to go in the main part of the Expo.”
“Then there’s a big party that night,” said Yo-ka. “You go straight there - unless you’re participating in the press conference.”
“Oh, yes - there’s a press conference,” Yuuki said. “That’s usually just the straight companies, though. Usually one or two gay companies get invited - and they only bring a couple of stars with them.”
“They DON’T usually invite the likes of Eros Video,” Yo-ka said. “So you don’t have to worry about that.”
“You’ll probably want to crash here the night before and the night after,” said Yuuki. “The night before, so I can get started on your look early - like I said, hair and makeup are important for this, it’s usually considered the second biggest image event of the year after the JAVAS. The night after, so we can just fall into bed after the party.”
Subaru shook his head. “It sounds like a LOT,” he said.
“It is,” said Yo-ka. “But it’s a fun lot. Trust me - you’ll enjoy it.”
Subaru just went back to his food. What would it be like - coming face to face with the audience? Having them no longer be names on Twitter, but people right in front of him?
* * *
As it turned out, there was even more “a lot” than Subaru originally planned on.
He got a call the next day from a weary-sounding Uruha. “I know you and Yuuki and Yo-ka are officially there for Eros Video,” he said. “but I want the three of you - and MiA - to be in the press conference for PSC.”
Subaru nearly dropped the phone. “Press conference?” he said. So much for not having to worry about that.
“Yes,” said Uruha. “PSC got invited - and I want to spotlight Datenshi Blue 2. So, I’m asking the three of you to participate. PSC is even booking three rooms in the hotel next to the conference center for us - one for me and Kai, one for Yuuki and Yo-ka and one for you and MiA. I don’t think the two of you will exactly object to sharing a room.”
“N-no,” said Subaru. “Not at all.”
“Good,” Uruha said. “We’ll all meet up after the trailer screening and I’ll go over what we’re going to talk about. I don’t think you’ll get very many hardball questions, though there might be one or two assholes there from the mainstream press.”
“How’s the teaser trailer coming along, anyway?” said Subaru.
“Great,” said Uruha. “We’re almost done. And Subaru? You’re terrific in the footage. Even better than I thought you were going to be. When this video comes out, you’ll blow people away.”
“Thanks,” Subaru said, flushing a little.
“I need to get back to work,” Uruha said. “I’ll see you at the Expo, okay?”
Subaru hung up the phone and sank down on a living room chair - it was one of those rare times when all his roommates were out, and he had the apartment to himself. The quiet was almost deafening.
His first time at this Expo, and he was getting the full star treatment. Fangirls, a press conference, a hotel room afterward . . .
And to think that less than a year ago, he was just another college student. It was crazy. And probably about to get even crazier.
* * *
The Expo was held in one of those big halls that could host a variety of events. Put a bunch of banquet tables in it, it became some corporation’s annual awards. A stage at one end made it an impromptu concert hall. Fill it with a lot more sedate and professional looking booths, it could be the annual convention of the education industry, or of computer programmers.
As of this moment, though, it was the epicenter of the porn universe.
Subaru could sense the atmosphere the moment the car carrying himself, Yo-ka and Yuuki pulled up. The door was opened by their boss at Eros Films, who was, uncharacteristically, wearing a suit.
“I’m going to take you right to our booth,” the boss said. “I just want you to see it. The fans aren’t here yet - they’re lining up all over the place outside, though.”
“Are any of the other companies here yet?” Yuuki said. He alighted carefully, since he was wearing the notorious boots from the JAVAS - although he’d mastered walking on them now. He sported black leather booty shorts, a lacy black top, a very wide-brimmed black hat - and, of course, his trademark whip.
“PSC and Avalon are here - they’re setting up on either side of us,” the boss said. “Adonis was starting to make their way in, and . . .” He stopped. “Well, you’ll see.”
“We’ll see . . . what?” Yo-ka said. He was dressed very nicely as well, in a black leather jacket over black pants and a white tank top, with elaborate elbow-length gloves.
“Heavy Hitter is going a bit overboard with their whole ‘porn for men’ thing,” the boss said. “I think they’re deliberately looking to piss off both us and PSC.”
Subaru frowned, and tugged a bit on the sleeveless white leather top he was wearing - definitely the most beautiful thing he’d ever owned, with its rows of buckles shining in the sun - and then, as they entered the hall, in the fluorescent light.
“Welcome to Gay Alley,” Yo-ka said. “This is our home away from home today.”
Subaru glanced around. The room was a side hall off the main arena, long and rectangular, lined with booths, each one sporting the logo of a different gay male porn company in huge type along the top. They were also lined with side panels sporting huge reproductions of box covers and photos of actors.
“They’re required to keep things just this side of R-18,” Yuuki said. “That’s why you don’t see any full-blown action photos. The booths have monitors showing clips, but they have just brief glimpses of the real action.”
Subaru turned around slowly, scanning the whole room. There was Adonis, Hard Candy, a few indie companies . . .
And then, he saw the one his boss had talked about. There was no mistaking it. The top of the booth sported the Heavy Hitter Video logo - and below it was a sign proclaiming, “GAY PORN FOR GAY MEN, NOT 14-YEAR-OLD GIRLS.”
Furthermore, the side of the booth sported a sign that said, “Men who look like MEN - not girls in male drag. Videos about SEX - not sappy romance. What YOU want - not your little sister.”
“Assholes,” Yuuki murmured. “They’re just covering up for the fact that they have no fucking talent at that company.”
“The guys - they really don’t look like us,” Subaru said, staring at the signs. Indeed, the men pictured were closer to side-of-beef American-style gay porn stars than the pretty, willowy look favored by the Suicide Boy movement. Most of them looked like they were Western, not Japanese.
“Well, then, they’re really not competition for us, are they?” said Yuuki. “Don’t worry about them.”
Subaru frowned at the sign again - until he heard a voice calling his name from behind. He turned around to see MiA, looking gorgeous in black leather shorts and a matching jacket - and a sparkling princess tiara on his head.
“MiA!” Subaru rushed over to hug him. “You look fantastic - but what is that thing you’re wearing?”
“This?” MiA put his hand up to the tiara. “Koichi insisted on it. He’s insisted on it for every public event I’ve gone to this year.”
“And why shouldn’t you wear it?” said Koichi, sidling up next to MiA. “You’re Performer of the Year. You’re holding the title for another month, remember. A king has to have his crown.”
“I know, but . . .” MiA fingered it again. “I don’t remember any other Performers of the Year wearing this.”
“That’s because they didn’t flaunt it,” Koichi said. “You have to be proud of this, MiA! How many guys get to be Performer of the Year?” Koichi was certainly flaunting it - he was wearing a black waistcoat over a white ruffled shirt and a grey patterned vest, black shorts over black and white striped tights and red shoes, with his pink hair pulled back in a ponytail. He dressed, Subaru thought, as if HE were Performer of the Year.
“Well . . .” MiA fidgeted with the crown. “Do I pass it on to the next guy?”
“Absolutely!” Koichi said. “But you should always keep a smaller tiara to wear. Performer of the Year is an honor you carry for life. And if you ever win it a second time? I’ll get you a DOUBLE tiara!”
“Thank you,” MiA said, his forced smile implying that was more of a “Really, you shouldn’t have.”
“Don’t you think he looks cute with it, Subaru?” Koichi said, throwing an arm around MiA. “Well?”
Subaru paused, looking at the two of them. “He looks . . . like a winner,” he said.
“See?” said Koichi. “Told you. That tiara was made for you!”
What was going through Subaru’s mind, though, was how, well, right Koichi looked with his arm around MiA like that. The two of them had an undeniable chemistry - one that was easy to pick up on.
Even though he had Tomoya waiting at home, and two other lovers sharing this table with him, Subaru had to admit he felt just a little bit jealous.
* * *
Uruha was trying not to be annoyed.
Of course, when he got there and saw Heavy Hitter’s booth, the chances of that became slim. It was as if the bastards were flat-out taunting him. Fine, he thought, let them taunt me all they want. We’ll see who has the last laugh at the JAVAs.
Of course, that was before he got the texts from Sparxxx about said JAVAS. And now he was REALLY trying not to lose his cool.
Kai, who was helping set out some promotional materials at the front of the booth, couldn’t help but notice that his lover seemed tense. Well, he’d kind of expect that, given how hard Uruha was working on editing Datenshi Blue 2, and how he’d pulled damn-near-all-nighters to get that teaser trailer together. But Uruha was on-edge even under those circumstances.
He handed the pretty color flyers off to an assistant and went over to the director. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Uruha said. “Just trying to get everything together, that’s all.”
“I know you better than that,” Kai said. “It’s not nothing. Now, let’s go into the green room and talk.”
They headed into the show’s “backstage” area, a large room with staffers and technicians running around, where the performers would wait before coming out to meet their fans. Kai managed to find an unoccupied couch at the end of the room, sat down and pulled Uruha beside him. “Okay, what is it?”
Uruha looked slowly left, then right, as if he were scanning for spies. Because that was exactly what he was doing. When he figured the coast was clear, he leaned over and said, quietly, “Sparxxx just told me that JAVA is changing the format of the awards this year.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Kai said. “It could use some changing. The show is too damn long, for one thing.”
“They’re changing the format of how they award Best Video,” Uruha said. “Instead of just nominating five videos like they used to, they’re going to award a Best Video trophy in different genres - and each one of the genre winners will go on to compete in Best Video.”
Kai frowned. “Isn’t that . . . the way they do dog shows? The winner of each division goes on to Best In Show?”
Uruha nodded. “That’s not the worst part. Here’s the genres.” He read off his phone. “Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Romance, Best Porn Parody, Best Star Vehicle, Best Wall-to-Wall. Each genre will have five nominations and one winner.” He looked at Kai. “What does that tell you?”
“Well . . . we certainly make a lot of romances and dramas, and a fair amount of comedy. We don’t do porn parodies, though - not since Ruki Horror and the fairy tale videos - and we certainly don’t do wall-to-walls” - meaning, a video consisting entirely of sex scenes with no story.
“Exactly,” Uruha said. “This whole thing was campaigned for by Adonis and Heavy Hitter, because they think that we’ve been winning too many awards. They want to give themselves a shot at the big prize - and they think this is the way to do it.”
Kai shook his head. “How can a wall-to-wall even be considered for Best Video? I mean, the effort that goes into making them is . . .”
“Minimal?” Uruha said. “Exactly. They want maximum payoff for minimal effort. It hasn’t occurred to them that we’re not just being handed awards because of our sales figures. So instead of putting effort into making better videos, they put effort into lobbying.”
Kai reached out and took Uruha’s hand. “Baby, they’re not going to take awards away from our people. Everyone works too hard for that to happen.” He gave him one of his million-megawatt smiles, trying to inject some light into the situation. “And we thought the show was long before? It’s going to be endless now.”
“Oh, that’s another thing,” said Uruha. “They’re eliminating most of the smaller awards from the show to make room for the increase in Best Video categories. So stuff like Best Music and Best Non-Sexual Performance won’t even be handed out onstage - the winners will get their trophies in the mail and someone will come out in the middle of the show and read a list of them. Nice, huh?”
“They’d better not eliminate Best Oral,” Kai said. “Imagine Ruki finally winning it and not getting the award in front of everyone.”
“So, yeah, that’s what I’m upset about,” Uruha said. “First it was Heavy Hitter and their goddamn booth - and now, this.”
“You’re still going to have the last laugh,” Kai said. “They may get their Best Wall-to-Wall award, but when it comes to the big one? You’ll be going up there for Datenshi Blue 2, just like you went up there for the first one.”
“I hope you’re right,” Uruha said. “I don’t want everyone to be disappointed. Not after we’ve worked so hard, and come so far.”
“They won’t be,” Kai said. “They’ll never be. They have something that’s worth more than all the awards in the world - a work environment that’s a family. You created that. And the competition will never take that away from you.”
Uruha just squeezed his hand. Kai always knew the right thing to say at the right moment - it was one reason why he loved him so much. But was he right about the competition? It remained to be seen.
* * *
Some time later, Subaru was in the green room, anxiously looking at the monitors that showed the interior of Gay Alley.
It was filling up, all right. True to what he’d been told before, most of the crowd filtering in was young women. They moved from booth to booth, talking to the company representatives, grabbing flyers and posters and company catalogues - and getting their tickets for the main event, the autograph signings.
“There’s so many of them,” Subaru said, quietly. “I didn’t think that many people watched our videos.”
“These are just the superfans,” said Yo-ka. “There’s a lot more who are casual viewers of porn - they just check out a video here or there out of curiosity.”
“A lot more people watch our stuff than will admit it in public,” Yuuki said. “Though honestly - what the hell is the shame in it? People like to watch other people fuck. It’s just human nature. People have been drawing and writing and performing sex since the dawn of time. We’d all be a lot happier if we were honest about it.”
A loud roar sounded from the main room. Subaru turned toward the monitors. “What happened?” he said.
“They just brought the PSC actors out to their table,” Yo-ka said. “Meaning, Aoi just went out there.”
Subaru looked up at the image of the superstar smiling, waving and blowing kisses as he was escorted to his place behind the table. Phones were raised all over the room as the fangirls tried to get snaps - despite having been told earlier there were no pictures.
“Look at him,” Yuuki said. “He’s acting like he’s Kami-sama’s gift to the industry - like always.” Aoi was waving again, flashing V-signs at the cameras - and even at the camera that was sending the pictures backstage.
Their boss came out to them. “All right,” he said. “As soon as the furor over Aoi dies down a little, we’ll be introducing you and sending you out there. The fans have gotten their free tickets, they’ll be turning them in for a chance to draw a name. We’ll have people out there to move the fans along and make sure none of them does anything crazy. You smile, you sign autographs, you say a few words, that’s it. No touching other than their hands, and no kissing. Got it?”
Subaru just nodded. He certainly wasn’t going to kiss them. He was just wondering about the “few words” part.
“Okay, here it is,” their boss said. “Good luck, guys. Sell lots of videos for us.”
The emcee on the showroom floor was saying, “And now, it’s time to introduce our representatives from Eros Video. The star of Homme Fatale, Yuuki” - followed by thunderous applause as he came out, whip held over his head. “The lead in this year’s hottest video, Datenshi Blue, Yo-ka” - and Subaru’s remaining companion walked out, to another full-throated roar. “And this year’s brightest, hottest new star, from the just-released Heart of the Ocean, SUBARU!”
Subaru was expecting a polite round of applause, especially after the ovation that greeted the other two. What he wasn’t expecting was the chorus of loud cries, the girls waving paper fans with his pictures on them - a booth giveaway, promoting Heart of the Ocean - and yes, the phones raised to get his picture. He could only smile and wave.
They’re here to see me, he thought. I can’t believe they’re here to see some video game designer from Osaka.
The fans lined up in an orderly fashion in front of a staff member, handing over their tickets and then plunging their hands, one by one, into a bin filled with pieces of paper. Some of them had delighted expressions on their faces, others were clearly trying to hide disappointment because they didn’t get their first choice. And one by one, they were led up to the actor whose name they’d drawn.
Don’t think about them watching your videos, Subaru thought. Don’t think about what they DO when they watch your videos.
Before Subaru knew it, they were coming up to him. Suddenly, he didn’t have time to be nervous. There were smiling girls handing him videos, and promo postcards, and the aforementioned paper fans. He was scribbling his name, listening to what the girl had to say, replying (Usually with a “Thank you so much, and I’m so glad you came today!”) and then it was on to the next one.
Most of them were female, of college age - a couple of years younger than Subaru himself. The majority were outgoing, though a few were so shy they just looked up at him from below hooded lashes, blushing.
There were several who told him that Heart of the Ocean was the best video of its kind they’d ever seen. There was one or two who said they hadn’t watched anything he was in yet - “But I’m going to now!” And then there was the woman who said, with supreme honesty, that she was primarily a Yo-ka fan, but Subaru had managed to win her over.
And then, there was the young woman who said, “This expo is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“How so?” said Subaru as he signed her paper fan.
“I met my best friend here last year. I didn’t think anyone else in the world was into this stuff - not other women, anyways. So I came here, and I met her waiting to get in, and for the first time I had someone to talk to about my favorite actors and videos and . . .” She smiled, softly. “For the first time, I thought my tastes, my obsessions mattered. That I wasn’t weird - there was someone else just like me.”
“I’m glad,” Subaru said. “I’m really glad!”
The staffer next to the girl said, abruptly, “Time’s up. You have to go.”
“Let her stay a little longer,” Subaru said.
“She’s already more than used up your time,” the staffer said, pushing the girl gently. “I’m sorry.”
The girl let herself be dragged away, reluctantly. “Thank you,” she called out to him.
“No, thank YOU,” Subaru called back. Any doubts and fears he’d had about interacting with the fans were gone after his talk with her.
He suddenly felt damn good, because what they did mattered in people’s lives. It might not be the most conventional way to make a difference, true, but still . . . it mattered. There was a lot more to their fans than what they did in front of their TVs and monitors.
To Part 2
Chapter: Thirty-fifth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here Split in two because of LJ’s post limits, there is a link to the second part at the bottom of the first.
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, frottage, deepthroating
Pairing: MiA (Mejibray) x Subaru (Royz) (main), Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon), Kai x Uruha (GazettE), mentions of Yo-ka x Byou (SCREW)
Disclaimer: DIAURA belongs to Ains, Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, Royz belongs to BP Records, the now-disbanded Lycaon belonged to Vogue Entertainment, SCREW and GazettE belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Subaru is about to participate in one of the porn industry’s major events - the Japan Adult Video Expo - for the first time. He’s about to experience a lot of firsts - including the straight side of the industry, and a rival who’s gunning for PSC Productions.
Notes: The Expo is based on a real-life porn industry event, the Adult Entertainment Expo, which is sponsored by Adult Video News and held every year in Las Vegas. Like the Expo depicted here, it consists of trade, fan and press events, including autograph signings (though the format of the signing here is based more on visual kei instore events).
Working in the porn industry meant that you were exposed to all kinds of “firsts.” Not all of them involved being between the sheets with your co-stars, either. There was your first press interview, first in-store DVD signing, first time having to confront anti-porn people on Twitter . . .
And Subaru found himself facing another one of those firsts - the Japan Adult Video Expo.
He first heard talk of it when they were still working on Datenshi Blue 2. He didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. He had bigger fish to fry - namely, his second major leading role, and his first onscreen threesome, and two-person sex scenes with MiA and Yo-ka.
When filming was wrapped, though, he found he couldn’t ignore it any longer - especially since it was all that everyone seemed to be talking about. In ramen joints and “Pornbucks,” gossip spread about who was wearing what, and what each company would be doing at their booths, and just what would be shown during the trailers segment at the end.
“Just what is this Expo thing, anyway?” Subaru asked Yuuki and Yo-ka as the three of them ate takeout on the latter two’s living room floor, Yuuki’s cat curiously wandering over and poking his nose into the cartons.
“Nobody’s told you about it yet?” Yo-ka said.
Subaru shook his head. “All I know is that there’s going to be booths for each company, and people are dressing up for it.”
“It’s a trade show,” Yuuki said. “The biggest of the year. It’s held over a weekend. The first day doesn’t concern us - it’s all meetings between company executives and distributors. The second? That’s the one we go to. That’s Fan Day.”
“Basically, it’s this big showroom where every video company has a booth,” Yo-ka said. “And the companies decorate the booth any way they want - usually to show off their latest products.”
“Sometimes there’s performances or demonstrations,” Yuuki said. “I did a thing where I demonstrated bondage techniques last year.”
“I was one of his assistants,” Yo-ka said. “Having him tie me up in front of everyone was pretty hot, I have to say. The fangirls almost got a free show.”
“That kind of thing isn’t the main event, though,” Yuuki said. “That’s the autograph lines. Every company has their stars at a table signing autographs. Every fan gets one free chance at each table. She-“
“Or he,” Yo-ka said. “We DO have male fans.”
“Well, whatever,” Yuuki said. “The fan is given a bin with folded pieces of paper with our names on it. She pulls one name, whoever she gets, she goes to for an autograph. If she wants another chance? She has to buy a video.”
“We end up selling a LOT of videos from these booths that way,” Yo-ka said. “Every fan wants to get his-or-her favorite actor.”
“I’m going to be signing autographs, too?” Subaru said.
“Of course you are,” Yuuki said. “Are you kidding? You’re the new star.”
“They’ll be buying tons of videos to get you,” Yo-ka said.
Subaru looked down into his container of food. This was . . . sudden. Performing before the cameras was one thing. The idea of meeting his fans, of coming face-to-face with people who had watched Heart of the Ocean? Who had actually, well, masturbated to his onscreen love scenes with Yo-ka, and the flashback with him and Yuuki?
It was a bit unsettling. It gave a whole new layer of reality to the whole “I’m in porn” thing.
Yo-ka wrapped an arm around him. “Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ll be great. You just be your cute self and they’ll love you even more than they do onscreen.”
That didn’t make him feel any less unsettled. “So what happens after the meetings with fans?” he said.
“They have the screening of trailers,” Yuuki said. “They lower a big screen in the Expo area and each company shows a clip advertising their biggest upcoming release - or more than one release, if they want.”
“Most of the videos they show the clips for aren’t even announced before the Expo,” Yo-ka said. “Uruha is working his ass off to have a teaser trailer for Datenshi Blue 2 ready - that’s going to be the big announcement that it’s coming out.”
“There’s two screenings, by the way,” Yuuki said. “One in the area where we’ll be set up - and one on the MAIN floor of the Expo, where the stuff for straight guys is.”
“Why do we have a separate area?” said Subaru.
“You think they’d put gay male porn in with the stuff aimed at straight guys?” Yo-ka said. “There’d be a riot.”
“They call our area Gay Alley,” Yuuki said. “It sucks, but there you go. They even have a separate entrance for it. Granted - I don’t think the fangirls want to go in the main part of the Expo.”
“Then there’s a big party that night,” said Yo-ka. “You go straight there - unless you’re participating in the press conference.”
“Oh, yes - there’s a press conference,” Yuuki said. “That’s usually just the straight companies, though. Usually one or two gay companies get invited - and they only bring a couple of stars with them.”
“They DON’T usually invite the likes of Eros Video,” Yo-ka said. “So you don’t have to worry about that.”
“You’ll probably want to crash here the night before and the night after,” said Yuuki. “The night before, so I can get started on your look early - like I said, hair and makeup are important for this, it’s usually considered the second biggest image event of the year after the JAVAS. The night after, so we can just fall into bed after the party.”
Subaru shook his head. “It sounds like a LOT,” he said.
“It is,” said Yo-ka. “But it’s a fun lot. Trust me - you’ll enjoy it.”
Subaru just went back to his food. What would it be like - coming face to face with the audience? Having them no longer be names on Twitter, but people right in front of him?
* * *
As it turned out, there was even more “a lot” than Subaru originally planned on.
He got a call the next day from a weary-sounding Uruha. “I know you and Yuuki and Yo-ka are officially there for Eros Video,” he said. “but I want the three of you - and MiA - to be in the press conference for PSC.”
Subaru nearly dropped the phone. “Press conference?” he said. So much for not having to worry about that.
“Yes,” said Uruha. “PSC got invited - and I want to spotlight Datenshi Blue 2. So, I’m asking the three of you to participate. PSC is even booking three rooms in the hotel next to the conference center for us - one for me and Kai, one for Yuuki and Yo-ka and one for you and MiA. I don’t think the two of you will exactly object to sharing a room.”
“N-no,” said Subaru. “Not at all.”
“Good,” Uruha said. “We’ll all meet up after the trailer screening and I’ll go over what we’re going to talk about. I don’t think you’ll get very many hardball questions, though there might be one or two assholes there from the mainstream press.”
“How’s the teaser trailer coming along, anyway?” said Subaru.
“Great,” said Uruha. “We’re almost done. And Subaru? You’re terrific in the footage. Even better than I thought you were going to be. When this video comes out, you’ll blow people away.”
“Thanks,” Subaru said, flushing a little.
“I need to get back to work,” Uruha said. “I’ll see you at the Expo, okay?”
Subaru hung up the phone and sank down on a living room chair - it was one of those rare times when all his roommates were out, and he had the apartment to himself. The quiet was almost deafening.
His first time at this Expo, and he was getting the full star treatment. Fangirls, a press conference, a hotel room afterward . . .
And to think that less than a year ago, he was just another college student. It was crazy. And probably about to get even crazier.
* * *
The Expo was held in one of those big halls that could host a variety of events. Put a bunch of banquet tables in it, it became some corporation’s annual awards. A stage at one end made it an impromptu concert hall. Fill it with a lot more sedate and professional looking booths, it could be the annual convention of the education industry, or of computer programmers.
As of this moment, though, it was the epicenter of the porn universe.
Subaru could sense the atmosphere the moment the car carrying himself, Yo-ka and Yuuki pulled up. The door was opened by their boss at Eros Films, who was, uncharacteristically, wearing a suit.
“I’m going to take you right to our booth,” the boss said. “I just want you to see it. The fans aren’t here yet - they’re lining up all over the place outside, though.”
“Are any of the other companies here yet?” Yuuki said. He alighted carefully, since he was wearing the notorious boots from the JAVAS - although he’d mastered walking on them now. He sported black leather booty shorts, a lacy black top, a very wide-brimmed black hat - and, of course, his trademark whip.
“PSC and Avalon are here - they’re setting up on either side of us,” the boss said. “Adonis was starting to make their way in, and . . .” He stopped. “Well, you’ll see.”
“We’ll see . . . what?” Yo-ka said. He was dressed very nicely as well, in a black leather jacket over black pants and a white tank top, with elaborate elbow-length gloves.
“Heavy Hitter is going a bit overboard with their whole ‘porn for men’ thing,” the boss said. “I think they’re deliberately looking to piss off both us and PSC.”
Subaru frowned, and tugged a bit on the sleeveless white leather top he was wearing - definitely the most beautiful thing he’d ever owned, with its rows of buckles shining in the sun - and then, as they entered the hall, in the fluorescent light.
“Welcome to Gay Alley,” Yo-ka said. “This is our home away from home today.”
Subaru glanced around. The room was a side hall off the main arena, long and rectangular, lined with booths, each one sporting the logo of a different gay male porn company in huge type along the top. They were also lined with side panels sporting huge reproductions of box covers and photos of actors.
“They’re required to keep things just this side of R-18,” Yuuki said. “That’s why you don’t see any full-blown action photos. The booths have monitors showing clips, but they have just brief glimpses of the real action.”
Subaru turned around slowly, scanning the whole room. There was Adonis, Hard Candy, a few indie companies . . .
And then, he saw the one his boss had talked about. There was no mistaking it. The top of the booth sported the Heavy Hitter Video logo - and below it was a sign proclaiming, “GAY PORN FOR GAY MEN, NOT 14-YEAR-OLD GIRLS.”
Furthermore, the side of the booth sported a sign that said, “Men who look like MEN - not girls in male drag. Videos about SEX - not sappy romance. What YOU want - not your little sister.”
“Assholes,” Yuuki murmured. “They’re just covering up for the fact that they have no fucking talent at that company.”
“The guys - they really don’t look like us,” Subaru said, staring at the signs. Indeed, the men pictured were closer to side-of-beef American-style gay porn stars than the pretty, willowy look favored by the Suicide Boy movement. Most of them looked like they were Western, not Japanese.
“Well, then, they’re really not competition for us, are they?” said Yuuki. “Don’t worry about them.”
Subaru frowned at the sign again - until he heard a voice calling his name from behind. He turned around to see MiA, looking gorgeous in black leather shorts and a matching jacket - and a sparkling princess tiara on his head.
“MiA!” Subaru rushed over to hug him. “You look fantastic - but what is that thing you’re wearing?”
“This?” MiA put his hand up to the tiara. “Koichi insisted on it. He’s insisted on it for every public event I’ve gone to this year.”
“And why shouldn’t you wear it?” said Koichi, sidling up next to MiA. “You’re Performer of the Year. You’re holding the title for another month, remember. A king has to have his crown.”
“I know, but . . .” MiA fingered it again. “I don’t remember any other Performers of the Year wearing this.”
“That’s because they didn’t flaunt it,” Koichi said. “You have to be proud of this, MiA! How many guys get to be Performer of the Year?” Koichi was certainly flaunting it - he was wearing a black waistcoat over a white ruffled shirt and a grey patterned vest, black shorts over black and white striped tights and red shoes, with his pink hair pulled back in a ponytail. He dressed, Subaru thought, as if HE were Performer of the Year.
“Well . . .” MiA fidgeted with the crown. “Do I pass it on to the next guy?”
“Absolutely!” Koichi said. “But you should always keep a smaller tiara to wear. Performer of the Year is an honor you carry for life. And if you ever win it a second time? I’ll get you a DOUBLE tiara!”
“Thank you,” MiA said, his forced smile implying that was more of a “Really, you shouldn’t have.”
“Don’t you think he looks cute with it, Subaru?” Koichi said, throwing an arm around MiA. “Well?”
Subaru paused, looking at the two of them. “He looks . . . like a winner,” he said.
“See?” said Koichi. “Told you. That tiara was made for you!”
What was going through Subaru’s mind, though, was how, well, right Koichi looked with his arm around MiA like that. The two of them had an undeniable chemistry - one that was easy to pick up on.
Even though he had Tomoya waiting at home, and two other lovers sharing this table with him, Subaru had to admit he felt just a little bit jealous.
* * *
Uruha was trying not to be annoyed.
Of course, when he got there and saw Heavy Hitter’s booth, the chances of that became slim. It was as if the bastards were flat-out taunting him. Fine, he thought, let them taunt me all they want. We’ll see who has the last laugh at the JAVAs.
Of course, that was before he got the texts from Sparxxx about said JAVAS. And now he was REALLY trying not to lose his cool.
Kai, who was helping set out some promotional materials at the front of the booth, couldn’t help but notice that his lover seemed tense. Well, he’d kind of expect that, given how hard Uruha was working on editing Datenshi Blue 2, and how he’d pulled damn-near-all-nighters to get that teaser trailer together. But Uruha was on-edge even under those circumstances.
He handed the pretty color flyers off to an assistant and went over to the director. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Uruha said. “Just trying to get everything together, that’s all.”
“I know you better than that,” Kai said. “It’s not nothing. Now, let’s go into the green room and talk.”
They headed into the show’s “backstage” area, a large room with staffers and technicians running around, where the performers would wait before coming out to meet their fans. Kai managed to find an unoccupied couch at the end of the room, sat down and pulled Uruha beside him. “Okay, what is it?”
Uruha looked slowly left, then right, as if he were scanning for spies. Because that was exactly what he was doing. When he figured the coast was clear, he leaned over and said, quietly, “Sparxxx just told me that JAVA is changing the format of the awards this year.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Kai said. “It could use some changing. The show is too damn long, for one thing.”
“They’re changing the format of how they award Best Video,” Uruha said. “Instead of just nominating five videos like they used to, they’re going to award a Best Video trophy in different genres - and each one of the genre winners will go on to compete in Best Video.”
Kai frowned. “Isn’t that . . . the way they do dog shows? The winner of each division goes on to Best In Show?”
Uruha nodded. “That’s not the worst part. Here’s the genres.” He read off his phone. “Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Romance, Best Porn Parody, Best Star Vehicle, Best Wall-to-Wall. Each genre will have five nominations and one winner.” He looked at Kai. “What does that tell you?”
“Well . . . we certainly make a lot of romances and dramas, and a fair amount of comedy. We don’t do porn parodies, though - not since Ruki Horror and the fairy tale videos - and we certainly don’t do wall-to-walls” - meaning, a video consisting entirely of sex scenes with no story.
“Exactly,” Uruha said. “This whole thing was campaigned for by Adonis and Heavy Hitter, because they think that we’ve been winning too many awards. They want to give themselves a shot at the big prize - and they think this is the way to do it.”
Kai shook his head. “How can a wall-to-wall even be considered for Best Video? I mean, the effort that goes into making them is . . .”
“Minimal?” Uruha said. “Exactly. They want maximum payoff for minimal effort. It hasn’t occurred to them that we’re not just being handed awards because of our sales figures. So instead of putting effort into making better videos, they put effort into lobbying.”
Kai reached out and took Uruha’s hand. “Baby, they’re not going to take awards away from our people. Everyone works too hard for that to happen.” He gave him one of his million-megawatt smiles, trying to inject some light into the situation. “And we thought the show was long before? It’s going to be endless now.”
“Oh, that’s another thing,” said Uruha. “They’re eliminating most of the smaller awards from the show to make room for the increase in Best Video categories. So stuff like Best Music and Best Non-Sexual Performance won’t even be handed out onstage - the winners will get their trophies in the mail and someone will come out in the middle of the show and read a list of them. Nice, huh?”
“They’d better not eliminate Best Oral,” Kai said. “Imagine Ruki finally winning it and not getting the award in front of everyone.”
“So, yeah, that’s what I’m upset about,” Uruha said. “First it was Heavy Hitter and their goddamn booth - and now, this.”
“You’re still going to have the last laugh,” Kai said. “They may get their Best Wall-to-Wall award, but when it comes to the big one? You’ll be going up there for Datenshi Blue 2, just like you went up there for the first one.”
“I hope you’re right,” Uruha said. “I don’t want everyone to be disappointed. Not after we’ve worked so hard, and come so far.”
“They won’t be,” Kai said. “They’ll never be. They have something that’s worth more than all the awards in the world - a work environment that’s a family. You created that. And the competition will never take that away from you.”
Uruha just squeezed his hand. Kai always knew the right thing to say at the right moment - it was one reason why he loved him so much. But was he right about the competition? It remained to be seen.
* * *
Some time later, Subaru was in the green room, anxiously looking at the monitors that showed the interior of Gay Alley.
It was filling up, all right. True to what he’d been told before, most of the crowd filtering in was young women. They moved from booth to booth, talking to the company representatives, grabbing flyers and posters and company catalogues - and getting their tickets for the main event, the autograph signings.
“There’s so many of them,” Subaru said, quietly. “I didn’t think that many people watched our videos.”
“These are just the superfans,” said Yo-ka. “There’s a lot more who are casual viewers of porn - they just check out a video here or there out of curiosity.”
“A lot more people watch our stuff than will admit it in public,” Yuuki said. “Though honestly - what the hell is the shame in it? People like to watch other people fuck. It’s just human nature. People have been drawing and writing and performing sex since the dawn of time. We’d all be a lot happier if we were honest about it.”
A loud roar sounded from the main room. Subaru turned toward the monitors. “What happened?” he said.
“They just brought the PSC actors out to their table,” Yo-ka said. “Meaning, Aoi just went out there.”
Subaru looked up at the image of the superstar smiling, waving and blowing kisses as he was escorted to his place behind the table. Phones were raised all over the room as the fangirls tried to get snaps - despite having been told earlier there were no pictures.
“Look at him,” Yuuki said. “He’s acting like he’s Kami-sama’s gift to the industry - like always.” Aoi was waving again, flashing V-signs at the cameras - and even at the camera that was sending the pictures backstage.
Their boss came out to them. “All right,” he said. “As soon as the furor over Aoi dies down a little, we’ll be introducing you and sending you out there. The fans have gotten their free tickets, they’ll be turning them in for a chance to draw a name. We’ll have people out there to move the fans along and make sure none of them does anything crazy. You smile, you sign autographs, you say a few words, that’s it. No touching other than their hands, and no kissing. Got it?”
Subaru just nodded. He certainly wasn’t going to kiss them. He was just wondering about the “few words” part.
“Okay, here it is,” their boss said. “Good luck, guys. Sell lots of videos for us.”
The emcee on the showroom floor was saying, “And now, it’s time to introduce our representatives from Eros Video. The star of Homme Fatale, Yuuki” - followed by thunderous applause as he came out, whip held over his head. “The lead in this year’s hottest video, Datenshi Blue, Yo-ka” - and Subaru’s remaining companion walked out, to another full-throated roar. “And this year’s brightest, hottest new star, from the just-released Heart of the Ocean, SUBARU!”
Subaru was expecting a polite round of applause, especially after the ovation that greeted the other two. What he wasn’t expecting was the chorus of loud cries, the girls waving paper fans with his pictures on them - a booth giveaway, promoting Heart of the Ocean - and yes, the phones raised to get his picture. He could only smile and wave.
They’re here to see me, he thought. I can’t believe they’re here to see some video game designer from Osaka.
The fans lined up in an orderly fashion in front of a staff member, handing over their tickets and then plunging their hands, one by one, into a bin filled with pieces of paper. Some of them had delighted expressions on their faces, others were clearly trying to hide disappointment because they didn’t get their first choice. And one by one, they were led up to the actor whose name they’d drawn.
Don’t think about them watching your videos, Subaru thought. Don’t think about what they DO when they watch your videos.
Before Subaru knew it, they were coming up to him. Suddenly, he didn’t have time to be nervous. There were smiling girls handing him videos, and promo postcards, and the aforementioned paper fans. He was scribbling his name, listening to what the girl had to say, replying (Usually with a “Thank you so much, and I’m so glad you came today!”) and then it was on to the next one.
Most of them were female, of college age - a couple of years younger than Subaru himself. The majority were outgoing, though a few were so shy they just looked up at him from below hooded lashes, blushing.
There were several who told him that Heart of the Ocean was the best video of its kind they’d ever seen. There was one or two who said they hadn’t watched anything he was in yet - “But I’m going to now!” And then there was the woman who said, with supreme honesty, that she was primarily a Yo-ka fan, but Subaru had managed to win her over.
And then, there was the young woman who said, “This expo is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“How so?” said Subaru as he signed her paper fan.
“I met my best friend here last year. I didn’t think anyone else in the world was into this stuff - not other women, anyways. So I came here, and I met her waiting to get in, and for the first time I had someone to talk to about my favorite actors and videos and . . .” She smiled, softly. “For the first time, I thought my tastes, my obsessions mattered. That I wasn’t weird - there was someone else just like me.”
“I’m glad,” Subaru said. “I’m really glad!”
The staffer next to the girl said, abruptly, “Time’s up. You have to go.”
“Let her stay a little longer,” Subaru said.
“She’s already more than used up your time,” the staffer said, pushing the girl gently. “I’m sorry.”
The girl let herself be dragged away, reluctantly. “Thank you,” she called out to him.
“No, thank YOU,” Subaru called back. Any doubts and fears he’d had about interacting with the fans were gone after his talk with her.
He suddenly felt damn good, because what they did mattered in people’s lives. It might not be the most conventional way to make a difference, true, but still . . . it mattered. There was a lot more to their fans than what they did in front of their TVs and monitors.
To Part 2