Freedom in High Fidelity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sperrywink) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2006-04-04 09:07 pm
sperrywink) wrote in crack_van2006-04-04 09:07 pm
Be Your Own Best Friend by Betty Plotnick (NC-17)
Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Chris Kirkpatrick / Lance Bass
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bettyp
Author Website: Betty Plotnick
Why this must be read:
Chris realizes he is crushing on Lance and checks with the rest of the band to see if an intra-band relationship would upset anyone and learns there was an unspoken rule, there are more unrequited feelings then he can count, and other surprising things. Still, it all seems to be coming together after he gets past Lance's doubts, suspicion, and reluctance, but then he finds their relationship fraught with Lance's bid to become an astronaut, jealousy over Chris' friendship with Justin, and Joey's previously unrecognized love for Lance. Why this must be read is because the author can include all of that without the story becoming overblown or melodramatic.
If only love was like a romance novel where you are always on the same wavelength, you can intuit each other's every thought and feeling, and you always know just the right thing to say. Unfortunately love is never that effortless and this story wonderfully captures the real confusion, misunderstanding, and baggage that we all bring into every relationship with the perfect balance of humor and heartache. I think there is some great characterizations in this story, but where it really shines is detailing some believable and recognizable relationships between all the members of the band.
He kept on noticing stuff, for a few weeks. How good Lance looked in orange, a color that Chris' mother always said didn't look good on anybody. How distinctive his jaw was, jutted and sort of triangular. How his head tipped to the side and his bottom lip disappeared between his teeth when he sat on the floor in front of Joey in a chair and let Joey scratch his back good and hard. How Chris still couldn't tell Wednesday from Thursday, but he always knew the number of days before Lance would be back in the country without even really trying to count. It wasn't a big deal, like Chris was looking for stuff to notice. He just...noticed.
All of a sudden, one morning of nothing special while Chris was brushing his teeth, he noticed that he was doing all that noticing, and he noticed that he never used to notice anything about Lance except that he was, you know, Lance. He wondered when he started noticing, and then he thought it was weird that he hadn't noticed himself start noticing, and then he noticed that he was a complete and total moron, because only somebody who was in mad, crazy crush noticed stuff like Chris was noticing lately. Chris didn't think of it so much as the morning he fell in love with Lance as the morning he got less stupid, slightly.
He blinked at his reflection, foaming at the mouth. "Dude," he said aloud, around the toothbrush. "You're crushing on Lance." That was so major that he almost went back to bed for a nap.
Be Your Own Best Friend by Betty Plotnick
Pairing: Chris Kirkpatrick / Lance Bass
Author on LJ:
bettypAuthor Website: Betty Plotnick
Why this must be read:
Chris realizes he is crushing on Lance and checks with the rest of the band to see if an intra-band relationship would upset anyone and learns there was an unspoken rule, there are more unrequited feelings then he can count, and other surprising things. Still, it all seems to be coming together after he gets past Lance's doubts, suspicion, and reluctance, but then he finds their relationship fraught with Lance's bid to become an astronaut, jealousy over Chris' friendship with Justin, and Joey's previously unrecognized love for Lance. Why this must be read is because the author can include all of that without the story becoming overblown or melodramatic.
If only love was like a romance novel where you are always on the same wavelength, you can intuit each other's every thought and feeling, and you always know just the right thing to say. Unfortunately love is never that effortless and this story wonderfully captures the real confusion, misunderstanding, and baggage that we all bring into every relationship with the perfect balance of humor and heartache. I think there is some great characterizations in this story, but where it really shines is detailing some believable and recognizable relationships between all the members of the band.
He kept on noticing stuff, for a few weeks. How good Lance looked in orange, a color that Chris' mother always said didn't look good on anybody. How distinctive his jaw was, jutted and sort of triangular. How his head tipped to the side and his bottom lip disappeared between his teeth when he sat on the floor in front of Joey in a chair and let Joey scratch his back good and hard. How Chris still couldn't tell Wednesday from Thursday, but he always knew the number of days before Lance would be back in the country without even really trying to count. It wasn't a big deal, like Chris was looking for stuff to notice. He just...noticed.
All of a sudden, one morning of nothing special while Chris was brushing his teeth, he noticed that he was doing all that noticing, and he noticed that he never used to notice anything about Lance except that he was, you know, Lance. He wondered when he started noticing, and then he thought it was weird that he hadn't noticed himself start noticing, and then he noticed that he was a complete and total moron, because only somebody who was in mad, crazy crush noticed stuff like Chris was noticing lately. Chris didn't think of it so much as the morning he fell in love with Lance as the morning he got less stupid, slightly.
He blinked at his reflection, foaming at the mouth. "Dude," he said aloud, around the toothbrush. "You're crushing on Lance." That was so major that he almost went back to bed for a nap.
Be Your Own Best Friend by Betty Plotnick