We all know I'm easy, right?
I'm giving you a little advanced warning here. There's this "little" boyband over in Europe called US5, manufactured (and yes, I'll admit it) by our dear ol' creep Lou Pearlman. And I might be getting into them a little. A "little".
US5
These are the boys. Left to Right: Richie, Jay, Izzy, Chris, Mikel. This isn't their most recent photo, probably 2005. The most major change is Izzy cut off the dreds and they all went very GLAM.
ETA: A more recent photo below. July 2007. And still boyfriends.
Why am I intrigued?
Now, okay, they're not NSYNC. No group will ever fit that slot in my heart. But they're an interesting bunch of goofy guys in their own right, and as much as I hate Lou with a passion, he knows what he's doing. There was the whole two season show (Big in America) thing over in Germany to get these guys into a group,then following them around on the road. I've seen about eight episodes so far. And these guys... *draws heart*.
The first thing I saw of them was one of their music videos, and honestly, the way the video was cut, I had a hard time telling Richie and Chris apart. They're both blonde, light-skinned, light-eyed, with a somewhat similar face shape. Mikel's eyes shocked me, they are that absurdly pretty, and the boy can sing. Izzy --- the hair. It made me think of early Chris Kirkpatrick. And Jay? I thought Jay was very big. tall. long. tan. hard. pouty. um. What? He's my type. I can't help it. Also, he's English. With an *accent*. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. When I couldn't tell Chris and Richie apart, I went googling about them and was sucked in from there. They're actually kind of a big deal in some places. They're following the same construct as BSB and NSYNC: taking over Europe first, Russia, being virtually ignored here for the moment. They start over everywhere they go, then claw their way up to fame.
But mostly what I found out?
Richie and Jay are boyfriends. No, I mean it. I didn't want to think it. Richie is often pushed forward as the front guy. The young blonde member raised by seriously religious parents. The innocent one. Jay is cast as the 'older brother' of the group. The one that takes care of them, takes what they do seriously. It's like a JC/Justin headtrip and I don't like being a cliche all the time. Plus, Chris? That guy with the dimples? Is sex on a fucking stick. If I planned to pair anyone together, it would have been Chris and Jay, because they would be hotter than the sun. Sadly, Chris and Izzy might be the straight guys in the group. Every boyband must suffer a couple. I only pouted for a little bit, because that whole Jay/Richie interaction smacked me over the head, even when I was determined to think Richie was not worth notice, because front!guys sort of irritate me every now and then, and I thought, from looking at him, he was at best a Nick Carter rip-off, and also a douche. He kind of looks like he could be. And yet...
He's not. Honestly. All evidence seems to point to the contrary. In fact, he's kind of adorable in action, does stupid little voices, tries to make people happy, stands around daydreaming a lot, and oh yeah, hangs off Jay like a bracelet most of the time. Photos, that Big In America show, interviews, you name it. Richie is every girl's gay best friend, blonde, fey, probably skinnier than her, with a really heavy valley-girl accent. You could share clothes with him, and he would probably love to do your hair. Only he's "straight". See what I did there? With the quotes? Yeah, because no. If that boy is straight, then *I* am straight.
Also there was that whole gay scandal, Richie maybe-or-maybe-not getting a blowjob from Jay in a public bathroom thing. With photos.
That doesn't make them more intriguing at all.
Here's just a little sample of that Richie/Jay thing, mostly without comment:
Hi. My name is Richie, and this is my boyfriend, Jay.
Yeah, they MUST walk so closely together. Notice that Jaye has his hand shoved in his pocket and Richie has his hand right up against it. Awww. Okay, being quiet now.
Yeah. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you ever have trouble telling the difference between Chris and Richie, you can be pretty sure the one on Jay is Richie, because if there is any choice at all, he is that guy's shadow. Now, maybe they *aren't* boyfriends. To be fair, maybe Jay really was helping Richie not throw-up all over himself in the bathroom. But Richie, at the very least, has the most obvious crush I have *ever* seen. And it makes me like him. Because anyone that can crush that bad and be so terrible at concealing it is not completely fake, right?
For those doubtful, that really is Jay down there. There are two other photos that I know of, one with Richie over Jay's shoulder, and his face is caught direct by the camera. I saw them in a newsclip on Youtube. Again to be fair, Richie really could have been sick. Jay does take care of the guys. That's his role. He shields Richie from crazy fans all the time. And the "over Jay's shoulder" photo suggests the sick!Richie story could be true. Or Jay could be grabbing his friend and running from the crazy guy leaning over the stall taking photos of Richie. Who knows? But that one photo is pretty... suggestive. I'll admit a few dirty thoughts.
Either way, they're clearly great friends, and that translates into other awesome things to my brain.
Interested? Because there is NO subversive group of women writing slash fic about them as far as I can tell. And it makes me sad.
ETA:
I lied. Fanfiction IS being written. Only I can't read it, because I never did get around to learning anything by my mother language.
US5
These are the boys. Left to Right: Richie, Jay, Izzy, Chris, Mikel. This isn't their most recent photo, probably 2005. The most major change is Izzy cut off the dreds and they all went very GLAM.
ETA: A more recent photo below. July 2007. And still boyfriends.
Why am I intrigued?
Now, okay, they're not NSYNC. No group will ever fit that slot in my heart. But they're an interesting bunch of goofy guys in their own right, and as much as I hate Lou with a passion, he knows what he's doing. There was the whole two season show (Big in America) thing over in Germany to get these guys into a group,then following them around on the road. I've seen about eight episodes so far. And these guys... *draws heart*.
The first thing I saw of them was one of their music videos, and honestly, the way the video was cut, I had a hard time telling Richie and Chris apart. They're both blonde, light-skinned, light-eyed, with a somewhat similar face shape. Mikel's eyes shocked me, they are that absurdly pretty, and the boy can sing. Izzy --- the hair. It made me think of early Chris Kirkpatrick. And Jay? I thought Jay was very big. tall. long. tan. hard. pouty. um. What? He's my type. I can't help it. Also, he's English. With an *accent*. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. When I couldn't tell Chris and Richie apart, I went googling about them and was sucked in from there. They're actually kind of a big deal in some places. They're following the same construct as BSB and NSYNC: taking over Europe first, Russia, being virtually ignored here for the moment. They start over everywhere they go, then claw their way up to fame.
But mostly what I found out?
Richie and Jay are boyfriends. No, I mean it. I didn't want to think it. Richie is often pushed forward as the front guy. The young blonde member raised by seriously religious parents. The innocent one. Jay is cast as the 'older brother' of the group. The one that takes care of them, takes what they do seriously. It's like a JC/Justin headtrip and I don't like being a cliche all the time. Plus, Chris? That guy with the dimples? Is sex on a fucking stick. If I planned to pair anyone together, it would have been Chris and Jay, because they would be hotter than the sun. Sadly, Chris and Izzy might be the straight guys in the group. Every boyband must suffer a couple. I only pouted for a little bit, because that whole Jay/Richie interaction smacked me over the head, even when I was determined to think Richie was not worth notice, because front!guys sort of irritate me every now and then, and I thought, from looking at him, he was at best a Nick Carter rip-off, and also a douche. He kind of looks like he could be. And yet...
He's not. Honestly. All evidence seems to point to the contrary. In fact, he's kind of adorable in action, does stupid little voices, tries to make people happy, stands around daydreaming a lot, and oh yeah, hangs off Jay like a bracelet most of the time. Photos, that Big In America show, interviews, you name it. Richie is every girl's gay best friend, blonde, fey, probably skinnier than her, with a really heavy valley-girl accent. You could share clothes with him, and he would probably love to do your hair. Only he's "straight". See what I did there? With the quotes? Yeah, because no. If that boy is straight, then *I* am straight.
Also there was that whole gay scandal, Richie maybe-or-maybe-not getting a blowjob from Jay in a public bathroom thing. With photos.
That doesn't make them more intriguing at all.
Here's just a little sample of that Richie/Jay thing, mostly without comment:
Hi. My name is Richie, and this is my boyfriend, Jay.
Yeah, they MUST walk so closely together. Notice that Jaye has his hand shoved in his pocket and Richie has his hand right up against it. Awww. Okay, being quiet now.
Yeah. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you ever have trouble telling the difference between Chris and Richie, you can be pretty sure the one on Jay is Richie, because if there is any choice at all, he is that guy's shadow. Now, maybe they *aren't* boyfriends. To be fair, maybe Jay really was helping Richie not throw-up all over himself in the bathroom. But Richie, at the very least, has the most obvious crush I have *ever* seen. And it makes me like him. Because anyone that can crush that bad and be so terrible at concealing it is not completely fake, right?
For those doubtful, that really is Jay down there. There are two other photos that I know of, one with Richie over Jay's shoulder, and his face is caught direct by the camera. I saw them in a newsclip on Youtube. Again to be fair, Richie really could have been sick. Jay does take care of the guys. That's his role. He shields Richie from crazy fans all the time. And the "over Jay's shoulder" photo suggests the sick!Richie story could be true. Or Jay could be grabbing his friend and running from the crazy guy leaning over the stall taking photos of Richie. Who knows? But that one photo is pretty... suggestive. I'll admit a few dirty thoughts.
Either way, they're clearly great friends, and that translates into other awesome things to my brain.
Interested? Because there is NO subversive group of women writing slash fic about them as far as I can tell. And it makes me sad.
ETA:
I lied. Fanfiction IS being written. Only I can't read it, because I never did get around to learning anything by my mother language.