popslash overview

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Popslash: Where Embarrassment Goes to Die

Where to begin? Well, there are few different possibilities here, but I'm going to go with my obsession like always and begin with the boys. *Nsync (from left to right, that's JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass, and Justin Timberlake).



According to the newly revamped (and highly cool, I must say -- especially for those karaoke fans among us) nsync.com, *Nsync's history can be summed up in one simple sentence: "In 1996 five guys got together, formed a band, made an album, and changed the world, all in one shot." Now that? Is not informative. It's also, as anyone with any experience in this fandom will tell you, bull.

A much more accurate (and, yes, long-winded) statement would read: "In 1996 five guys got together and formed a band. They set off immediately to tour Germany -- armed only with certifiably nightmarish manager Lou Pearlman, the worst outfits ever to burn corneas across Western Europe, an album including a song almost entirely composed of the lyrics 'giddy up giddy up giddy up giddy up...now', and a piece of jailbait young enough to be required to travel with a parent at all times. There, they sang and danced. They signed autographs, they did radio shows, they used the most ill-concieved hair products known to man, and consumed nothing short of a ton of Pixie Sticks -- all in an attempt to win over the hearts and minds of their audience. Pre-teen girls predictably adored them. The rest of the world turned it's head, clutched it's well-worn Alanis Morrisette album tightly to it's chest, and shuddered. *Nsync -- as they were named -- could not be stopped, however, and returned to America in 1998. They released two singles there, wore scary skin-tight crushed velvet in their videos, and had choreographed hip thrusts. A few people outside the group's target pre-teen age range noticed and thought 'Hell, what's not to love?' Years passed and the boys grew. Lawsuits, unfortunate outerwear decisions, girlfriends, wax figurines and MTV Video Award shows came and went. Incredibly slashy glances were given and recieved. And, slowly, larger and larger numbers of fans began to become aware of how incredibly hot and incredibly gay the guys sometimes seemed. People started slashing and writing sexy, sweet, smart, funny, intelligent stories starring the boys. And those stories -- and, yeah, the group, too, I guess -- changed the world, all in one shot. Heh. We hope."




I'm so losing my indie cred by reading this, aren't I? Fine, just tell me what it is.

Basically, what I wrote above describes the essence of popslash. It's stories about those overexposed, overpaid popstars who you may claim to hate (but may secretly -- or not so secretly -- love). It's Real Person Fiction that, being slash and all, tends to feature Real Person Sex. A lot. One might even use the term "heavily". (I had intended to put in a section regarding the ideas/joys/problems of working with popslash canon here. Left it out for length and y'all's sanity. If anyone is interested, however, then please comment and I'll link you up.)

The *Nsync-ers aren't the only ones featured in popslash, though the majority of fics (and the vast majority of fics that I'll be recc'ing) do revolve solely around them. Other common -- and semi-common -- appearances in pop!fic are made by: The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Aaron Carter, Nelly, Pharrell Williams, Madonna, Wade Robeson, Robbie Williams...and so on. Given that (and the fact that RPF of any kind can be expanded to include any celebrity who wanders into it's wicked web), I'm not going to do any individual character sketches here for any of the non-Syncers I just listed. Instead, I will make sure to include all the necessary information on a fic by fic basis.

For now, however, here are the basics you'll need to keep you from falling into a sparkly pit of confusion and despair when reading popslash:



Chris Kirkpatrick:

Oldest member of the group at age 31. From Pennsylvania.

Chris has seen the most personal hardship out of the group (his father abandoned the family when Chris and his siblings were still young, though he doesn't appear to have cut all contact with them. As a result, however, the family struggled and Chris was a part of that -- even living in a car with his mom and sisters for a while). As well -- unlike Justin, JC, and possibly Lance -- he is well aware of how life can be when you're NOT in showbiz. He's got a notably different worldview as a result and it shows through, I think, in the way he interacts. For example, he's unquestionably the funniest man in the group, but fandom also has it that he tends to use his black humor as a weapon.

He instigated the formation of the band and so, I think, he could be seen as having a rather fatherly role with the rest of the boys. That is, he could be seen that way -- if he could stop playing endless video game competitions with Justin, control the boundless energy, and tone down his not-always-tactful wit a bit.

He's smart -- college educated -- and is maybe the most removed from the fame side of the pop business.

(edited by zaneetas on 7/8/05 to add: Those of you interested in accurate & factual information regarding Chris's family life and father, specifically, should probably disregard that section of the above bio and peruse the following comment threads instead: one, two, three. Thank you!)



JC Chasez:

Aged 27. From Maryland/Washington, DC.

JC is simultaneously the most intense member of the group and the most laid back. Which is weird, I know, and it's because of that oddness that there are approximately two billion popslash fics dealing with that duality in his character. How does he manage to make you question whether or not he's aware of what day/month/year it is, and yet make it so clear that he is fiercely aware of and involved in the group -- to the point of being a little intimidating about it at times?

Hmm. Tends to be a bit underestimated intellectually, I think, though it's actually hard to gauge just how smart he may/may not be, given how rambling and cyclical his speech can be.

The member with the most early ties to other members, also. He knew both Joey and Justin before the group began. He and Justin were both members of the new Mickey Mouse Club -- along with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling.



Joey Fatone:

Aged 26. From New York.

Joey is largely seen, IMO, as the most genuinely easy-going and loveable member of the group. He's jovial and unthreatening mainly, but will also whip out the sarcasm from time to time. He and Chris seem to share the role of protector for the rest of the group.

Despite having a slight (fandom) reputation for...uh...promiscuity, he's a dad now and has seemed to take that responsibility seriously. Pretty frank sexually.



Justin Timberlake:

Youngest member of the group at age 22. From Tennessee.

Ahhh, Justin. Fandom controversy absolutely rages about what Justin is really like. Is he an unapologetic diva, quashing the trembling, fragile hopes and dreams of his bandmates whenever they inconvience him and his plans for TRL domination? Or is he a genuinely nice guy who's been famous for so long that 'warped' doesn't even begin to describe his possible view of the world? I tend towards thinking the latter, personally, though there is no denying the ego is a definite part of the Mr. JT equation. Either way, he's a fascinating character in a lot of these stories.

He's grown up within the group, but is in the process of branching out from it now (not necessarily with the aim of breaking the group up, however). Complete Momma's boy and, within the group, maintains a strong friendship with Chris and a definite bond with JC, as well.



Lance Bass:

Aged 24. From Mississippi.

I've heard Lance referred to in this fandom as "a chameleon", which I think is an apt way of describing him. He's changed drastically since the days of Baby!Sync -- losing some of his shyness and replacing it with a serious air of detatched snarkiness (if that makes sense). Smart and business minded -- or would have you believe so -- but also gets caught up in grand schemes and plotting. There's a reason why he tends to be the evil mastermind in popslash AUs, you know.





A Small Visual/Textual Overview of the *Nsync Timeline

Baby!Sync (From left to right, that's Joey, JC, Chris, Justin, and Lance.)


1996 - 1998 or so. The boys in Germany and during their early US days.

No Strings Attached!Sync (From left to right, that's Joey, JC, Lance, Chris, and Justin.)



2000 - 2001. Around the time of their massively popular 2nd album. It was during the making of NSA that the group split with Lou Pearlman, convinced they were being scammed. An era defined, visually, by that 'fro.

Celebrity!Sync (From left to right, that's Lance, JC, Justin, Chris, and Joey.)



2001 - 2002. Their massively popular 3rd album, which earned them quite a bit more critical respect than the previous two. It was during this period that JC underwent the transformation from "intense" to "intense...and really, really pretty. Gah."

Hiatus!Sync (From left to right, that's Chris, JC, Joey, Justin, and Lance.)



Early 2002 - Current. Hiatus for *Nsync fans has lasted for...uh...over 500 days at this point. A quick update of what the guys have been doing over the break:

JC has made endless news this hiatus by...not releasing an album. Err, yet. Instead, he's recorded a number of collaborations with other artists (Basement Jaxx and BT are the most recent two) and also came out with 'Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love), for the "Drumline" soundtrack. He's also, of course, spent long hours testing the public's reaction to his varying hair lengths and, every evening, retired in his musty attic, lighting candles and writing tear-jerkingly beautiful love songs for Justin. *ahem*

Although his relationship with Cameron Diaz has swamped the press recently, Justin has spent hiatus doing more than just dating and dodging the intrepid reporters of Us magazine. He spent his "time off" working. Hard. His (excellent) solo album came out to good sales and Justin launched a world tour with fellow former Mouseketeer Xtina, giving rise to incessant rumors of an *Nsync break-up. Serious fandom strife resulted. Possibly Justin felt guilty over this, because he clearly attempted to make amends by providing some quasi-gay porn. Won big at MTV Video Awards, 2003.

Lance also went the quasi-gay porn route (but I can't find the daggone link), after traveling to Russia in an attempt to become part of a manned space flight. That plan fell through (for the time being, at least) and, since then, he's been spending time making the talk show circuit and showing off his tanned self at a variety of Hollywood events.

Joey played off the successes of both *Nsync and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to get a spot hosting the talent show "Fame". He also appeared in both "Grease" and the latest incarnation of "RENT", and has begun to record a comedy album. Is well on his way to being the first married member of the group, too, as he proposed to Kelly during the break -- she's the mother of his child, Briahna.

As for Chris...well, who knows? No gay porn that I know of, as the oldest member of the group has kept a relatively low profile recently -- despite being in the process of recording his solo album. He did, however, show at *Nsync's Charity Games (Challenge for the Children) and attended one or two of Justin's concerts.

(Wow, writing that made me feel incredibly like an indulgent mother writing the family Christmas newsletter. Except, again, with the porn thing.)





Link me, yo.

No central archives here folks. While there are archives for specific genres of popslash, this fandom thrives largely through author pages and recs.

Here are a number of large sources for recs and links. I'll expand this list to include the largest author pages as I get my bookmarks more organized.

X-Month Recs (each month is devoted to a figure in the pop universe -- September is Justin, for example -- and these are the daily recs given out for stories focusing on the person of the month)

Sandy Keene's 210 Recs (also includes a thorough listing of other author's rec pages)

Recs from the authors at obsessivetendencies.net

disco-ball.com's Slash Links (a huge list of links to various archives, challenges, and author sites)

Genre Specific Archives:

The Popslash High School AU Archive

AUs and ARs Archive

The Challenge Archive

The Popslash Kink Archive



That's it for now. Enjoy, comment with questions, have a great day!

**All images from nsyncgallery.org**
**Thanks to everyone who has provided links and information**

Comments

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Bad outfits and jailbait boys!! (I grudgingly admit my love.)

I'll just offer here in comments that if anyone wants to do a separate Backstreet Boys or Eminem (someone, please!!) overview to drop me a note.

Thanks so much zaneetas! This is fantastic!!

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, though doing it was seriously my pleasure! Writing that was so fun -- an actual excuse to go and sift through Baby!Sync pictures! Heh. Really, I'm just glad it makes sense.

Re: Eminem and the Backstreet Boys

I've been lax in pimping this community on my friendslist so far, but promise to do so after I get home from work tonight. Hopefully, that'll draw some more pop people over here -- especially those with Em!slash tastes -- to help you out. If that doesn't work, I can give you some ideas of where to go/who to talk to about getting someone to do an Eminem overview for you, too.

Until then, here's the link to the Em!slash Index (http://www.jaded-affinity.net/loaded/).

[claire.livejournal.com]

hee Dana! You rock for setting this community up (and you and Phil for looking after it).

Come over to the sparkly side!!!! It's fun, really.

[neverbeen2spain.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Except for the noticeably large oversight as to which college Chris actually went to. *g* But seriously, ex-ce-llent!

This icon has never been more appropriate.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

[stupid banter]Thanks for the compliments, babygirl. Hey, is that your momma over there? Lookin' good, child.[/stupid banter]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, really! And that icon...well, you know how I feel about that icon. I weep for the day I gave it up -- still, it's nice to see it reappear on my friendslist now and then.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

I thought you did a good job being fair in your summaries.

Thank you for commenting and, oh my God, thank you for saying this! I was, in all honesty, worried that I was going to somehow horribly misrepresent one of the guys. Given how short those bios are, they took me (by far) the longest of any section of that overview to write.

I'd be interested in that link.

Gladly! I need a bit of time to format that section again and check a few of the links I referenced in it (since some of the one's I thought worked are out of date)...hopefully you don't mind if I post the link to it here tomorrow?

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the delay in posting this -- here (http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Film/2500/canon.html) is link you requested. I hope it's coherent enough to be interesting! :)

[callmesandy.livejournal.com]

Great pictures and thorough details! But Chris's father is still alive, he abandoned the family. When Chris was in his late teens, his father paid for Chris's community college education where Chris got his AA.

[starsprinkles.livejournal.com]

Yup, but it was his stepfather (or, one of them) who died. I seem to remember something about suicide, but that could be rumor.

And after Valencia Community College (where he was in chorus with Howie D.) he went to a year or so at Rollins College as well, studying psych. I assume his dad paid for that as well, because it's a pretty pricey private school. Chris also worked several jobs during this time (singing at Universal and waiting tables at Outback are two I know of), so he probably still had to pay for a lot of stuff himself.

[starsprinkles.livejournal.com]

The *Nsync-ers aren't the only ones featured in popslash, though the majority of fics (and the vast majority of fics that I'll be recc'ing) do revolve solely around them.

That's not really true. There's tons of BSB, Brit, Christina, etc etc fic. But except for crossovers, the popslash fandom doesn't have that much overlap, so it probably just seems like it's mostly *NSync.

As for what they've been up to, don't forget Chris's solo album and Joey's comedy album & Grease performance. Re: Lance, he's still planning to go to space within the next few years, and FreeLance is no more (or at least the website no longer works).

I have a bazillion *NSlash links here (http://disco-ball.com/links/slash.html), too, if you want to link that.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Oy. *buries head in shame* I can't believe I forgot some of that stuff -- so thank you for the corrections and I'll add them to the overview. I did that Hiatus!Sync wrap up last and didn't double check many of the facts -- as that would have been the responsible, mature thing to do and, really, who wants that?

Dude, FreeLance is gone? How did I not know that went under?

As for the prevalence of Nsync fic:

I didn't mean to shaft the other sections of popslash when I said that. Just my perception of the situation and, given my blindspot regarding BSBfic alone, it's entirely possible that I just don't know where to look for the other stuff.

Thank you for the links! I'll add it -- and any others that people want to provide -- to the listing.

[bad-elizabeth.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure, but was it Chris's stepdad who committed suicide, not his father? Hm. Possibly am talking out of my ass. Excellent summary, anyhow.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

was it Chris's stepdad who committed suicide, not his father?

Heh. Since you're not the only person to comment here saying that, I'm thinking there's a very good chance you're not talking about of your ass after all. General consensus seems to be that it was a) definitely not Chris's dad who died and b) most likely one of his stepfathers.

Excellent summary, anyhow.

Thanks! And thank you for the comment.

[northern]

Hee! Thank you! Will send the link to people I need to convert.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it -- and am very proud that you're using this as a tool for converting the popslash wary!

[claire.livejournal.com]

(I had intended to put in a section regarding the ideas/joys/problems of working with popslash canon here. Left it out for length and y'all's sanity. If anyone is interested, however, then please comment and I'll link you up.)

*raises hand*

I'd like to read that please.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Here (http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Film/2500/canon.html) you go. Hope you find it interesting!

[zoicite.livejournal.com]

[raises hand]

I'm willing to put together a Backstreet primer, if you're still looking, but it'll have to wait until this weekend.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

That would be fantastic, thank you! Would you like to sign up to do recs for a month as well or just the primer? (either way is great!)

Just drop me an email at shaggirl@livejournal.com when it's ready to go on the site and I'll give you posting access. Thanks again!!

[divabat.livejournal.com]

WHOA.

That was THOROUGH.

There's also cartloads of Savage Garden slash, and recently Clay Aiken slash is being very popular.

There should be an archive of Slash Primers, hehe.

[twigged.livejournal.com]

There will be! Right here, lol.

[xanphibian.livejournal.com]

I'm adding this to memories for future reference. It's nice to have a place to start if I decide I want to explore the popslash fandom. :)

Great post.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Heh. I understand that logic -- I've even been bookmarking a lot of the overviews for other fandoms here for that exact reason.

Glad you enjoyed the overview and if you ever feel like getting involved in the world of sparkly dancing boys, I'm sure we'd love to have you!

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful overview! If I weren't already up to my armpits in popslash, I'd be interested just from reading that :)

And--Chris! *happy sigh* :)

Thank you!

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome and thank you so much for the comment! Glad to know that you enjoyed the overview.

And--Chris! *happy sigh* :)

Hee! You know, I secretly think that Chris may be the most popular *Nsync member. Maybe he didn't start out in that position, but he seems to have a stealthy way of sneaking into people's affections -- plus, he inhabits a pretty drama-free zone and all. Mmm...Chris!

[emeraldsword.livejournal.com]

Just found this (wish I'd found it in February when I found the fandom - would have saved me some months of deep confusion!) and am going to rec it in the hope of converting all my friends! Seriously, this really is very good, thank you very much.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Just found this (wish I'd found it in February when I found the fandom - would have saved me some months of deep confusion!)

Ha! I remember my first few weeks in popslash, too -- I seem to remember that I spent a lot of time going "'Lambs'? 'Trickyfish'? 'Puppies'? What the hell kind of freakish, animal obsessed fandom have I gotten myself into?"

Anyway, you're very welcome for the overview -- I'm so glad to hear that you like it (and that anyone is reading it still after all this time)!

[lemniskate.livejournal.com]

-- and yes, I know, I'm the very definition of late to the party here --

but this sentence: "his father abandoned the family when Chris and his siblings were still young, though he doesn't appear to have cut all contact with them" -- that's not entirely accurate.

Chris' mother and father divorced shortly after he was born (in "Driven", Bev says that they separated when Chris was six months old) and Bev went on to have other children--but none of them were with Chris' father. Chris' three or four sisters are all his half-siblings, and the oldest is a few years younger than Chris.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

-- and yes, I know, I'm the very definition of late to the party here --

Heh. Welcome! I'll admit, it did throw me a bit when your comment came through my email -- I had a moment of "what the hell post of mine is 37k?"

Thank you for the detailed correction! It's a little embarrassing to have left an error like that up there for...oh, two whole years now...but now that I know it's there I'll do my best to fix it.

Assuming I still have posting access to edit this post (if I don't, this is information that norabombay could probably gracefully work into her upcoming, dazzling *Nsync overview, version 2.0) how does this sound to you:

"Chris's parents divorced when he was very young; Chris remained with his mom, Bev, and through her gained three or four half-siblings over the years. At times the family struggled and Chris was a part of that -- even living in a car for a while -- though his father did step in financially to help him afford college."

Is that info wrt Chris's father supporting him financially correct, as far as you know? I believe it's mentioned far up this thread somewhere.

[prurient-badger.livejournal.com]

*meanders in, very late*

I just wanted to say thankyou for this. It's great to see all the information collected up in one place like this, and for it to be treated with the humour it deserves! (The obsessive Justin fangirls scare me. A lot. No sense of humour, those girls.)

Next time I try, in vain, to convince my flist that popslash is indeed worthy of their time, I shall definitely be linking to this. I mean, it has jailbait pictures. What more could one ask?

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

(The obsessive Justin fangirls scare me. A lot. No sense of humour, those girls.)

Ha! You should meet some of the more -- deeply invested, shall we say? -- JC fans I know, dude.

Still, I think popslash as a fandom is *usually* pretty good about putting what we're doing here in perspective and mocking accordingly. We care, but I think most of us realize that there's very little room in a conversation about Lance's freakish personal grooming or JC's latest hairstyle for much else other than laughter, you know?

Glad you enjoyed the overview and hope it's helpful in schooling the uninitiated, etc!

[callsigns.livejournal.com]

This is an incredible resource that I utilized in my baby-days in fandom, and I in fact am pointing someone to it right now, someone who said to me, "Hey, so, popslash, huh? What's that about? And can you rec me one or two stories to start with?" After boggling at the "one or two stories" thing, I linked them here - and I was wondering if it might not stand an update or two, specifically with regards to age, Joey's marital status, and JC's solo career? If your time allows, of course. :)

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Hey there -- I'm so glad you (still!) think this is a good place to send newcomers to the pop fandom. Hell, I'm so glad there are (still!) newcomers to the fandom at all, really. *g*

I agree that this thing could really use a comprehensive update, if for no other reason than to mention Lance's recent purchase of Justin obviously. I don't currently have access to post/edit anything in this community (the mods only give it to the current reccers, I think, although they've given it out before to allow people to fix html errors or broken links which is how I was able to correct the stuff about Chris before). I'll have to get in touch with the mods and see how they feel about the situation before I can do anything else -- which is something I'll do tomorrow, as soon as I'm more awake since I plead more persuasively when I'm not incoherent with exhaustion. ;)

Thank you for reminder! I'll look into it.

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

So, should we update this with 2006?

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Hee. Probably so, man -- esp b/c I actually have gotten the occasional email/comment from people asking/telling me that this sucker should be updated from time to time over the past three years (THREE YEARS, good god). Now seems like a ripe time to to it, doesn't it?

But, dude, the idea of trying to figure out what Chris has been up gives me a migraine. Also, which do we give more space to in the Lance section: the coming out or the nose job? Which rocked fandom harder? Hmm.

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

The Popslash Kink archive has moved to here: http://kink.improvidence.net/

:)

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update! I keep saying I'm going to update this sucker (or convince someone else to) -- hopefully that will happen sooner than later and, when it does, I will be sure to include this!

[theatervine.livejournal.com]

Thank you this is extremely helpful!

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

You're v welcome! It's a little out of date now, of course, but I hope it helps answer whatever some of questions at least. (Well, assuming you HAVE questions, obv.)