ext_1058 (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
shutyourface.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2004-08-26 11:59 pm
shutyourface.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-08-26 11:59 pm
Run by nonchop (PG)
Fandom: POPSLASH - *NSLASH
Pairing: JC/Justin
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nonchop
Author Website: None
Why this must be read:
Written forlilysaid's Boys In Their Dresses challenge. There were so many good stories there that I could have recced but this one struck a chord with me. I like that it's written in present tense; that lends to the feeling that this story is happening right now, is unfolding right before your eyes. I like how relentless this JC is. He doesn't coddle Justin, like I've seen so many times before. And I like that this Justin is so uncertain, so convinced that there's only One Way to do things.
JC *has* been getting really pretty recently, and maybe if that wasn’t happening, Justin could go back to pretending it wasn’t there. It is happening though, and each day JC gets prettier and prettier until it almost hurts to look at him, and Justin finds that it’s easier not to look at all.
It works for awhile, but then one day JC shows up wearing Capri pants and something about it shocks Justin right out of his world of JC-induced numbness. Those are girl’s pants his brain shrieks; it’s just *wrong*, and no one should look so good wearing them, especially a guy.
But JC does.
The Capri pants are only the beginning. With each new day, JC seems to be pushing the boundaries farther and farther. Pink t-shirts, babydoll t-shirts, more Capri’s; it gets so that Justin thinks he wouldn’t even be surprised to see JC show up at sound check one day in a skirt, just to see the response he would get. JC likes to push that way, and sometimes he doesn't know to leave well enough alone.
All the while, JC’s hair gets longer and longer and longer, and it never looks the same way twice. Some days, JC styles it, and runs around looking like the lovechild of David Bowie and Joan Jett. Some days, he blows it out, and he looks so pretty that Justin can hardly stand it.
The worst days though, are the ones where JC leaves his hair alone, and it reverts to its natural tendency to curl around JC’s face, framing his laughing eyes. Days like that are the hardest for Justin. Most of the time, he can pretend that JC’s looks are all about image, and nothing about reality; but each time JC goes all-natural, Justin knows he’s totally wrong, can’t avoid the truth about JC anymore.
He doesn’t really understand how JC is getting away with it. There are reasons that Justin shaved his hair off, and knowing that people thought he looked pretty was one of the main ones. He wants to be taken seriously, as a person and as a musician, not to be treated like just another pretty face. He doesn’t want people looking at him and assuming *things* about him, things that can’t be true.
That’s not what’s happening with JC though. By all rights, people should be ignoring everything JC says, and focusing only on his looks. Instead, they seem to be listening in a way that they hadn’t before; Justin watches as each successful business meeting, each entertaining interview makes JC respond more and more confidently, and his hair just keeps on growing.
Justin starts buying JC hats, the uglier the better. JC just smiles happily and wears them, and each time he does, it’s like something in Justin’s chest loosens and he can breathe again.
Run.
Pairing: JC/Justin
Author on LJ:
nonchopAuthor Website: None
Why this must be read:
Written for
lilysaid's Boys In Their Dresses challenge. There were so many good stories there that I could have recced but this one struck a chord with me. I like that it's written in present tense; that lends to the feeling that this story is happening right now, is unfolding right before your eyes. I like how relentless this JC is. He doesn't coddle Justin, like I've seen so many times before. And I like that this Justin is so uncertain, so convinced that there's only One Way to do things. JC *has* been getting really pretty recently, and maybe if that wasn’t happening, Justin could go back to pretending it wasn’t there. It is happening though, and each day JC gets prettier and prettier until it almost hurts to look at him, and Justin finds that it’s easier not to look at all.
It works for awhile, but then one day JC shows up wearing Capri pants and something about it shocks Justin right out of his world of JC-induced numbness. Those are girl’s pants his brain shrieks; it’s just *wrong*, and no one should look so good wearing them, especially a guy.
But JC does.
The Capri pants are only the beginning. With each new day, JC seems to be pushing the boundaries farther and farther. Pink t-shirts, babydoll t-shirts, more Capri’s; it gets so that Justin thinks he wouldn’t even be surprised to see JC show up at sound check one day in a skirt, just to see the response he would get. JC likes to push that way, and sometimes he doesn't know to leave well enough alone.
All the while, JC’s hair gets longer and longer and longer, and it never looks the same way twice. Some days, JC styles it, and runs around looking like the lovechild of David Bowie and Joan Jett. Some days, he blows it out, and he looks so pretty that Justin can hardly stand it.
The worst days though, are the ones where JC leaves his hair alone, and it reverts to its natural tendency to curl around JC’s face, framing his laughing eyes. Days like that are the hardest for Justin. Most of the time, he can pretend that JC’s looks are all about image, and nothing about reality; but each time JC goes all-natural, Justin knows he’s totally wrong, can’t avoid the truth about JC anymore.
He doesn’t really understand how JC is getting away with it. There are reasons that Justin shaved his hair off, and knowing that people thought he looked pretty was one of the main ones. He wants to be taken seriously, as a person and as a musician, not to be treated like just another pretty face. He doesn’t want people looking at him and assuming *things* about him, things that can’t be true.
That’s not what’s happening with JC though. By all rights, people should be ignoring everything JC says, and focusing only on his looks. Instead, they seem to be listening in a way that they hadn’t before; Justin watches as each successful business meeting, each entertaining interview makes JC respond more and more confidently, and his hair just keeps on growing.
Justin starts buying JC hats, the uglier the better. JC just smiles happily and wears them, and each time he does, it’s like something in Justin’s chest loosens and he can breathe again.
Run.
no subject
And this cracked me up:
I wrote something new, JC had said, and grinned when they’d all rolled their eyes, because *obviously* JC had written something. Almost nothing made JC happier than finishing a song. It’s different, he’d said; and Justin had geared himself up mentally, because God only knew what JC had come up with this time. JC always liked to say that his songs were a glimpse into the inner workings of his mind, but after JC had dropped “Space Cowboy” and “Digital Getdown” on them, they’d all become a bit justifiably wary about the state of JC’s brain.
no subject
no subject
no subject