I often find lack of canon to be personally prohibitive. And on the flip side, too much canon acts the same way. (Hello, Batverse!)

Mmmm. This is something I haven't really thought about for all that I've been in popslash for two (!!) years now. It's pretty fascinating, but the best part about is the sheer line between original fiction and fanfiction. It's like--choose your own adventure, kinda. There's characters you will always come back to, but the story is different every time. And not just different in a Ray drinks whiskey and has sex with Fraser versus Ray gets on a motorcycle and has sex with Fraser--it's Justin has wings and slowly disappears into himself, and then Justin is a detective looking into the mysterious disappearance of one Nick Carter. And then Justin is struggling with depression as they're going through the Atlantis concert. And Chris and Lance fall in love even though they hate each other in Germany. And so forth, and so on. What Brenda said, basically; because even though there is a canon, and even though there is a sort of common denominator for characterisation, you can throw all that out the window and it will still be a valid portrayal of these characters.

Lotrips is different--if not in theory, than in nature, because the authors tend to stick to the canon they have and certain characterisations without moving too far out of that border. Though stuff like wingfic and genderbending is sort of making its way through there. It's a different set of writes, and a different feel to the fandom.

What Brenda said, basically; because even though there is a canon, and even though there is a sort of common denominator for characterisation, you can throw all that out the window and it will still be a valid portrayal of these characters.

Is the attraction of writing in popslash rather than just as original characters the community, then, or is there some sort of base characterization everyone works off of?

Quick Elseworld's question: is there one set in Ancient Egypt?

Because over Memorial Day Weekend when the kids were playing Batman Bowling -- two of the action figures used were Egyptian Batman and Egyptian Catwoman.

Is the attraction of writing in popslash rather than just as original characters the community, then, or is there some sort of base characterization everyone works off of?

Both. It's a chump answer, but it's true. There are certain things that everyone subscribes to: Justin loves his momma, Justin has a best friend named Trace, Justin likes tattoos. I would equate it to the stuff you read in Teen Beat, but it's not. It's more--stuff you pick up after watching someone for awhile. You sort of know someone, or think you do.

And then those things show up in stories like AU's or AR's--Trace would be Justin's assistant, or there would be a reason for Justin's cross tattoo. Or if you're working in canon, there would be a mention of Lance, I dunno, licking the cross tattoo. Or something.

With malleable characterisation, too, Justin might use the cross tattoo as a statement against something he'd always believed. Or the tattoo might not be there at all.

Erm, that might not answer your question.

Well, that kind of question's never really answerable. 'Sokay. Interesting anyway.

Minnow's put up the next one of her post-NFA snippets.

So what's "Thrillkiller"? Inquiring minds Baby Babs fans wanna know.

I want to add to SA's answer that, as someone who's never read Teen Beat or watched a media clip, and has only heard one *Nsync song and one JT-solo song, I still get the feeling-- just from all the stories that I've read-- of coherent and fairly consistent personalities for each of the members of *Nsync. Popslash fandom, as I've perceived it, is not just a basic-set-of-facts thing but a collection-of-attitudes thing.

Also, I think the difference that SA articulates in fan-attitudes between the separate popslash and LOTRiPS fandoms contributes to me personally being a happy, casual reader of *Nsync fic and a bored, skittish reader of LotR RPF. Did that difference evolve totally randomly and organically, do you think, or did it arise out of the differences between the way the two fandoms' source texts-situations are structured? (I.e., *Nysnc having a continuous, ongoing timeline, as it's a bunch of musicians who constantly set themselves up with new projects in order to remain employed and famous, while for LotR the-making-of-the-movies was the climatic era in terms of the-people-being-together-and-working-together...? etc. Also a bunch of celebrity musicians bound together by being in a band probably promote themselves differently, whether independently or on behalf of the band, than a group of actors bound together by having made a movie.)

So what's "Thrillkiller"?

Batman: Thrillkiller is an Elseworlds trade paperback written by Howard Chaykin. It takes place in 1961. The art is vibrant, the storyline is gleefully askew, and I'd say it's as noirish. Main players are Babs, Dick, Bruce, Jim Gordon, Black Canary, Harley Quinn and an interesting take on the Joker.

Popslash fandom, as I've perceived it, is not just a basic-set-of-facts thing but a collection-of-attitudes thing.

Partially because there are no facts. I mean, the members of NSYNC can't seem to agree on canon. They're constantly changing their minds on what really happened in the group.

Also a bunch of celebrity musicians bound together by being in a band probably promote themselves differently, whether independently or on behalf of the band, than a group of actors bound together by having made a movie.

I think it might also be a span of time thing. I mean, the LoTR guys were together for how many years? 3 or 4? NSYNC has been a group for 9 years. [Plus, JC, Justin and Joey have known each other longer than that.] And for the first 7, they were constantly together. There is an endless amount of footage, in addition to their live performances, of the five of them together, interacting.

ETA: Same thing with BSB. Though I think they might actually have a cohesive group history.

Very good point.