#thebacklot

The keys in her palm, brass, baroque, and forgotten, jangled like wind chimes made for spirits. They’d arrived in a black velvet envelope with no return address, sealed in wax by a cracked reel etched in relief. Inside: a deed to a lot no one remembered, and a note scribbled in charcoal on aged linen paper:

Day #12: All-American Boy, Steve Grand (2013)

Remember when I talked about how I was so starved for queer content in TV and media? That was also true in terms of music as well. As much as I lost myself in songs and tuned out both the noises from the outside world and from my own head, there were moments when it pained me to realize that the songs I was listening to were about straight people singing about their straight relationships. I was not aware of subtext then, and my tastes have not yet expanded, so I found myself forcing to think that they were also singing about people like myself.

Thankfully, there was one website I turned to for all things gay: AfterElton.com. This was where I found out about gay representation in soap operas (which led me to Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, EastEnders, among others), rumors about closeted celebrities (I know, I know. We are all a product of our own times), movie recommendations, and occasionally, queer-themed media. They even had an advice column named Dear Pigeon Guts (lol) which helped gay men navigate gayness.

It was on AfterElton that I knew about Steve Grand and this early 2010s queer anthem. I remember looking over my shoulder at the café where I was because I was so scared of other people finding out that I’m watching something gay. Musically, it’s beautiful. Lyrically, I finally felt seen. Although I’m not much of a fan of country music, although I am neither white nor American, I knew what Steve was singing about. That longing – that thing I keep talking about, over and over. I recognize that pain. I know how tantalizing it is. Even now, with a string of hookups and a failed relationship in my belt. I now know that we could find ourselves in rewarding romantic relationships, but longing is an important part of our language.

Steve released his album, also named All-American Boy, shortly after. It’s a great listen. There’s finally a song in there that’s about an existing queer relationship, in all sorts of emotional stages (Stay, Lovin’ Again, Dancing Next To Me, Soaking Wet). He released another album in 2016 (Not The Same), but All-American Boy to me is musically better and also I am biased since it has a special place in my heart.

Eventually, AfterElton were rebranded as The Backlot, and then absorbed by VH1 I think, and then became inactive. I don’t think the URL works anymore. At that point in my life, queer representation is not anymore few and far between – although we always need more, to be seen and understood by more people – and I’ve also discovered Queerty and Out.com, not to mention the opportunity to directly interact with queer creators and other queer people from all over the world. Still, I’m thankful for AfterElton and all the websites like it, and to Steve Grand and all the queer artists who tried to make it way before everyone else did. They softened the ground for the rest of queer people in the media.

Favorite Lyrics:

And you can have my heart and my soul and my body

Oh, be mine

The Visionary Behind the Studio

From sketches in a notebook to a fully realized creative hub in The Pinnacles — Lacuna Films has officially opened its doors. CEO & Founder Gihanna Sims sits down with Maxine Varela to talk beginnings, risk-taking, and the studio’s first slate of projects.

Congratulations Sterek Fandom!

While the final round was definitely not the battle that Round 3 was, we still stuck with it and won the Ultimate Slash Tourney. This is our second win and this one means just as much as the first one did.

Just like we did two years ago, we've proven that we cannot be trampled on or pushed under a rug. We're loud, we're proud and we're not going anywhere.

We want to thank everyone that participated and showed support with votes, reblogs, tags and tweets. We've been keeping up on them and you can't imagine the joy it brings us.

The Battle Was Won, But The War Is Not Over!

We pulled off the impossible last week when we beat Destiel in Round 3 of the Ultimate Slash Tourney, but our grace period has ended. It’s time to fix our war paint and head back into battle. We’ve definitely proved that we’re a worthy opponent, but that just means this 4th and Final Round is ours to lose. 

The other fandoms might not have had very high numbers last round, but that could just be because they didn’t have a lot of competition. We cannot get complacent now because this tournament isn’t over yet.

Remember that this is about us, Sterek fans. Remember that this is about fighting back when the word Sterek is dragged through the mud and erased. Remember that two years ago we won this poll to correct an injustice and it’s time we do that again. Remember that this poll is our war cry. Remember that this is about proving that they can’t just wish us away because we’re not useful to them anymore. Let’s remind them once and for all that we are here to stay whether they like it or not.

Winning this tournament is about doing exactly what they don’t want us to do. We can throw their publicity stunts back in their face and prove that we will never cease to exist. Winning this tournament is showing them how powerful we are, despite that they’ve spent the better part of two years convincing themselves we’re too small to matter. Let’s accept that challenge and show them how much we do matter.

We don’t know about you, but we here at the Sterek Campaign still have a whole lot of hell left to give. So do you think we can reach 1,000,000 votes by the end of the week? We certainly do.