lise: This part, Kel wrote all by herself, I'm sure of. All I really have to say is to point out this one line:

For about nine weeks in late 2006, Lance had a problem with tranquilizers. Really, when he thinks about it, it was that he had a problem with sleep. Without the tranquilizers he couldn't sleep at all and with them he slept too much and then there was a whole big mess: rehab for almost as long as he'd been a supposed addict and then some really fucking expensive therapy and now he's supposedly all fixed and recovered. Which means he spends a lot of nights watching old concert specials in slow motion and drinking nasty holistic teas that JC has sent by airmail.

Which means he spends a lot of nights watching old concert specials in slow motion and drinking nasty holistic teas that JC has sent by airmail.

and mention that that particular phrase, "has sent", we argued over the tense of that a hundred times. At least, I think we did. Maybe all the arguing went on in my head. But.

kel: You know, I think we argue in your head quite a bit. Didn't we argue in your head during the Remus story, too? Because I have no idea what you're talking about.

lise: I really wanted to change that tense.

kel: You should have just changed it, I wouldn't have noticed.

The book was something his agent approached him with after rehab, a way to maintain some relevancy in the biz without having to leave his house. After the initial proposal, the first thing Lance thought was, "Oh, the guys are gonna say I'm as bad as Justin," and that right there guaranteed him three nights awake with the PopOdyssey DVD extras and some totally disgusting herbal concoction called "Sweet Dreams" but that tasted like rotting autumn leaves. He sips from his cup, making faces at the taste while Justin and Chris are wheeled out in the same box.

kel: Obligatory mention: Justin and Chris are wheeled out in the same box = part of the campaign to timbertrick up the story as previously mentioned in the last section.

Because Lance still remembers Chris hopping around the quiet room, reading aloud from the proofs of Justin's first book. "' ...and the secretary is a doll, but then after a few weeks, you meet the boss.' J, for the last time, what the fuck does that even mean?" Justin wrote that one when he was twenty-two and since then he's written two more, including the autobiography.

Lance's book is different, though, not a self-help treatise or an expose. The description on the advance agreement said "a survey of pop culture from 1999-2009." Lance was perfect, everyone seemed to think, because he'd been there.

He doesn't know why people think that. He was there, and so when he tries to go back, he gets stuck. Sometimes he wishes he could call up Justin and say, "How did it all end?" but Lance hasn't known Justin's phone number for three years. Lance doesn't even know if Justin has a phone. A month ago there was a fuzzy picture of Justin somewhere in downtown Memphis in the Enquirer, but his hands were empty. More often he thinks he'd like to be able to call up Chris and say, "How did it all start?"

After that, Lance pretty much decides he should stop thinking.

kel: I'll probably bring this up again, because I really feel like it's an illustrative example for the heart of the story, but after we posted, someone made a long ranty post in their livejournal about how they saw the story rec'd all over fandom but they mostly found the story completely confusing. and, being the egomaniac I am, I replied to the post and said something about how the story relied really heavily on the reader having followed Justin's promo for his solo album, and the person replied back and said something like, "Oh, I haven't been following that at all." And I know there are people in this fandom who don't pay any attention to the canon and just like the pretty boys and the stories, but those people were not the intended audience of this story. The story explores to the point of near-parody the way that Justin was portraying himself, being perceived by the media and being perceived in fandom.

Anyway, the bit about that stupid analogy with the secretary that Justin was peddling around to explain his take on relationships during the fall of 2002, I think that's a good example of how absorbed in Justin's "Justified" promo this story is.

lise: I still love the fact that Lance wants to call Justin to find out how it ended, and Chris to find out how it began. That pretty much defines him right there. As well, I love that the title tag for that page - actually, for any page where Justin shows up - you have a quote from Justin. And in the Lance narrative itself, you hardly ever (I want to say never) have Justin actually *speaking*.

kel: And here, when he does, it's Chris speaking Justin's words, which is a nice (if unintentional) touch, now that I think of it. Moving on.