Flesh Mechanic by Kel and Lise (R)

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Previously on Popslash: "You're telling me I came out last night, and that wasn't the lead story on MTV?"

Today on Popslash: Flesh Mechanic (R)

Fandom: Popslash
Pairing: Supremely twisted Chris/Justin (Timbertrick). Chris/Justin as it might appear in a Thomas Harris novel.
Author on LJ: pop_tarts and throughadoor
Author Website: Kel's Songs about the Impossibility of Singing and Lise's Celebrate!
Warning from Author's Website: "Disturbing -- not graphic or gorey -- but disturbing."
Why this must be read: And now for something completely different.

As mentioned in my last post, I recc'ed Remember two days ago because of it's accessibility to newbies. Flesh Mechanic is, in my opinion, an equally accessible story...and that -- along with the fact that it shares a few of the same main characters and is, you know, written in English -- is the most these two fics have in common.

Flesh Mechanic was utterly unique within this fandom at the time it was first posted last year and has been endlessly recc'ed, analyzed, argued over, dismissed, and reclaimed by popslashers since then. My modem hates me for liking this story -- it groans in anguish when I try to upload the pages upon pages of discussion this story has generated over LJ.

It's a story that presents drastically different, extreme characterizations of the *Nsync-ers and delves into questions about the effects of celebrity worship and the nature of fans. It also raises questions about media accuracy, questions about the boundaries of RPF as a genre, and questions about what's really going on with Justin's blindingly white outfits -- all through a creepy, darkly humorous mixture of narrative, faux articles and interviews, images, and some kick-ass html work.

To be any more specific would be to give everything away, so I'll just link you one last time and send you on your way.


The Supporting Cast: Additional Info.
The following people who were not covered in the overview are mentioned in this story:


Lynn (Justin Timberlake's mother)


Wade Robson (choreographer, dancer, and TV show host who was widely rumored to have been the cause of Britney and Justin's break up)


Pharrell Williams (half of The Neptunes and a member of N*E*R*D, produced a number of tracks on Justin's solo album)

No images available:
Beverly (Chris Kirkpatrick's mother)


Monday on Popslash: I'll recc something with actual sex to fulfill the S part of this RPS-based fandom. Promise.

Comments

[girlfromsouth.livejournal.com]

DUDE! I'm not even that into popslash, but I've read this one and DAAAAMN is it good. Creepy and wonderful. GO, go now!

[fourteenlines.livejournal.com]

And this is the one piece of popslash I've read. In fact, if I did that "What I know about other people's fandoms" meme, it would have been solely informed by this story.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

it would have been solely informed by this story

Heh. I would've loved to have read that meme.

Still, you started out with a good one! And, yeah, one that's more than a little odd. I don't know if I'd ever rec Flesh Mechanic as the one popslash story to read above all others -- not because I don't love it, but because it is so unique and presents such extreme versions of the guys. It'd definitely be in my top two or three stories, though, and I do think it's a great example of the kinds of bizarre, fascinating things authors can do with RPF.

[throughadoor.livejournal.com]

seriously, i don't mean to be that girl (because this was mad-cool to come across on the ol' friendsfriends page!), but i have a website, too (http://obsessivetendencies.net/songs). would you mind linking to it alongside lise's?

*winces*

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I am so sorry! No slight was intended, seriously -- it was a stupid oversight on my part and I will definitely add the link.

You may have guessed this already, since I recc'ed it and all, but, boy, do I love this story -- so thanks for writing it (and thanks for the link to your site).

Off to edit the post now.

Re: *winces*

[throughadoor.livejournal.com]

hey, man, no problem at all! thanks for editing it so quickly and thanks for reviewing this story as being representative of popslash -- i'm really glad you liked it!

[autumnyte.livejournal.com]

Thanks for another great rec!

*sigh* I just want you to know that you are getting me totally hooked on Popslash. *g*

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I love the smell of popslash converts in the morning! Or at 8 pm on a Friday. Whatever.

Anyway, you're very welcome and I'm thrilled you're liking these stories! Popslash is a great fandom for finding great, interesting fic -- and, really, you read this story -- how could I not rec it? ;)

[twigged.livejournal.com]

That was a kick ass fic, thanks!

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link to the story and the discussion. I've read . . . two? . . . popslash stories and don't follow the music at all, other than what gets blared in mainstream press, so I'm exceptionally ignorant about the players and the conventions of this fandom.

I read the story and feel like I followed the action, but it felt very flat to me. In the discussion you linked to, one of the authors said that it was very dependent on the fandom phenomenon and I would have to confirm that. It was an interesting story, but I felt totally on the surface. I think there were clues that were supposed to be apparent in the media portions that I didn't see at all because of my ignorance.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

one of the authors said that it was very dependent on the fandom phenomenon

Heh. I was hoping no one would notice that, as she also says that this is a story she doesn't think should be recc'ed to newbies (for the very reason you named in your comment).

You know, I considered quoting the author saying that in the main part of this post because I, while I honestly do think that this is an accessible fic for most people, I also think that there are sections of this story that...well, that don't so much require the reader to have some previous understanding of popslash fandom, but that may be more meaningful to readers who do. I'm thinking specifically here of the sections dealing specifically with The Cult of Timberlake (that fake interview with Wade, for example). That interview plays a lot with ideas of what it means to be a pop fan.

Being a fan of a tv show is pretty different than being a fan of a pop group/popstar. I'm not saying you can't be equally obsessive about both, of course, but there's a much more...well, for lack of a better word...cult-like quality to being a fan of one real person (Justin Timberlake, for example) than being a fan of a show. For example (and this is just an example and not anything that I'd ever, ever, ever do), I can stalk Justin Timberlake if I want (or I can try, assuming that I wasn't worried about being squashed by his huge bodyguards). I could hang outside of his hotel rooms, dress up like Cameron Diaz and try and get backstage, or do whatever other nutty things stalkers do in order to be near him. I'd have a much harder time stalking the show "Smallville" or "Highlander" or whatever, though.

What I was hoping was that non-popslashers reading this story would be able to either get through it all on the strength of the plot and the very cool way in which this fic is presented, or that they'd relate the Justin-worship to something in their own fandom. Michael Rosenbaum-worship, maybe?

but it felt very flat to me

Alright, I'm going to get very gushy/fangirly over this fic for a minute now, so consider yourself warned. You're right that there's a flatness to this fic -- but while you put that down to the fic having layers that are inaccessible to non-popslashers, I tend to put that down to the writing style and how Kel and Lise characterized Lance here. And this is a Lance characterization that I love dearly.

In a certain percentage of fics in popslash, Lance tends to be characterized as the uber-professional, outwardly successful, inwardly screwed one of the group. In other words, he's written as being the guy who can run a company, keep track of the stock market, and, like, control the GNP of Luxembourg all through his little palm pilot -- while, simultaneously, being cold, broken, and lost inwardly. In Flesh Mechanic, Lance is so not that take-charge, successful guy. At all. This is a Lance that's completely obsessed and has just been worn down by all the endless trauma around him. He's somewhere between insane and numb -- hence the flatness of his narration, IMO.

I'm sure that was way more than you wanted, so I'll shut up now.

Thanks so much for commenting! It's always interesting to read different people's reaction to this fic (and hopefully they'll be stories from popslash that you enjoy more in the future). :)

definitely worthy of a Crack Van rec...

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

OK, so several lmos. back I asked for popslash recs (well, actually RPS recs, but mostly I got popslash recs in response). And one of the storis rec'd was Flesh Mechanic, Which I read just about first, and it was part of my early motivator to read more in the fandom.

Hmmm. I think it's a don't miss because of the importance the stpry has in the ovearll fannihs body of stories; it's amazing in complexity, and yes, interesting and original. I didn't find the Lance in storis story (on two readings, months apart) to be too opaque. I do think it's not for newbies, and if I hadn't had so much practice in digging my fingernails into a new fandom and prying at the edges to see the truths underneath, it might not have been enough to pull me into reading more.

Re: definitely worthy of a Crack Van rec...

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Yeah -- I don't regret reccing this one at all b/c it IS so v important in fannish history -- but I think you're right that this is probably not a story for someone new to fandom (most esp RPS fandom) to dive into. It's got a couple of big hurdles for complete newbies to get over (the unusual characterization, the difficult meta themes, the "not an AU"-ness of it all).

Thanks for your comments -- it's been way too long since I considered this one. *g*