#toxic mainstream romance books take notes

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma

4/5. Releases 8/1/2023.

For when you're vibing with... classic snappy romcom moments, a plus size heroine who gets shit done while having vulnerabilities, casual kink, and long distance relationship cuteness.

It's up to Bobbi Kaur to make her best friend's wedding perfect. Unfortunately, she's dealing not only with a mysterious wedding saboteur, but the groom's best friend--highly irritating chef Benjamin "Bunty" Padda. Bobbi's future at her family's event planning business is at stake, and she's not going to let anything ruin this wedding. As the saboteur becomes serious, however, Bobbi has no choice but to team up with Benjamin... despite their attraction.

Quick Takes:

--I often struggle with traditionally published romcoms, so it was such a relief to be so engaged in one from the start. And I do think this book is a great example of how someone should begin a book like this. We immediately see Bobbi and Benjamin sparring, we immediately feel the sexual tension between them, and we immediately sense the miscommunication (and missed opportunities) that keep them apart. And then we lurch forward in time a little, and the beef! Is still real!

--One thing I really appreciate was how the intersection between Bobbi's body, food, and her sexuality worked. Bobbi is plus size (as you see on the cover, which is nice), and while she is confident and competent and bold, she still has moments of insecurity. In fact, that insecurity (and a miscommunication) is a big part of why she and Benjamin get off on the wrong foot. (Before really getting off on the right foot if you know what I mean.) That moment felt so painfully real to me. I completely got where she was coming from and why she reacted so strongly, even though I also got that he absolutely did not mean for her to interpret his words or actions the way she did. It's a hypersensitivity that comes with navigating the world with a body that isn't promoted as beautiful in the mainstream, this predetermined sense that you must be seen as unattractive.

At the same time, Benjamin's attraction to Bobbi and specifically her body is so remarkably clear and carnal and delicious. As is his attraction watching Bobbi eat. Food and cooking in romance is something I enjoy seeing. The food here is vividly described, and it all sounds amazing, but I've also personally been a bit weird about food lately, and I was a little worried about how it would come off to me. Seeing Bobbi have insecurities re: her body, while also enjoying food, and her enjoyment of food being so arousing to Benjamin, was super lovely. None of this is handled in an over the top, preachy way, either. Bobbi also has some moments of body positivity that are unique to her cultural background; and some of her insecurities are also unique in that sense. That really does a lot of work to add to the book and its world.

--I wouldn't actually call this enemies to lovers, as Bobbi and Benjamin get over their bullshit and become a couple fairly early on. What unfolds is really you seeing them work through a real relationship, complete with long distance. I love the epistolary aspects of this book, which is unusual for me, and I enjoyed seeing how easy it would be for either one of them to withdraw. They just couldn't, not all the way. Because love.

--A huge part of the novel is Bobbi and Benjamin dealing with not only expectations, but managing their families. To me, it was nice to see this kind of clash (which Nisha Sharma discusses more in her author's note, super worth reading) be significant without coming off as intensely abusive or life-wrecking. There's a middle ground between "healthy" and "toxic".

--I kind of felt wary about the wedding saboteur thing, just because I'm not a huuuuge fan of those types of plotlines. They often come off as gimmicky. But in this case, it was cute, it was funny, it didn't take over the key parts of the plot (Bobbi and Benjamin's love story and their family conflicts). There was a great amount of balance in this book, and I really appreciated it.

The Sex Stuff:

Um, so well done? First off, not super often that we see fat women (not like, hourglass bodacious, but women with actual thick thighs) depicted in kinky sex scenes. Second, there was kink! It's not super hardcore; but Benjamin is into bondage, Bobbi is into the fact that he's into bondage, and it's discussed upfront, without shame. They check in, there are safe words, it's all really good!

I also super loved the way Benjamin was a very lovely, sweet boyfriend, but also.... put it down? You get some shit I don't often see in trad contemporary romcoms right now (a straddle bj? Okay!). It's a great time.

While I can always use a bit more drama, I found Tastes Like Shakkar entertaining, sweet, and and hot. Like I said earlier, this subgenre has let me down a lot, but here we have a real success.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#romance novel blogging #book recs #book reviews #arc reviews #netgalley #books

[darlingbudsofrae]

Neil: **exists**

Andrew: This means nothing. I am highly medicated, this is just a side effect of the drugs.

SHORTLY AFTER EASTHAVEN...

Neil: *exists*

Andrew, sober: Fuck.

#aftg #all for the game #aftg shitpost #aftg incorrect quotes #aftg memes #the foxhole court #the raven king #the king's men #andrew minyard #andreil #neil josten #andrew x neil #i still dk how to tag sht so lol #but i think i covered everything #everyone talking abt how neil has an andrew kink but andrew literally raises his lil hate-o-meter at neil's breath #they're both a simp for each other and that is how u do healthy relationships #toxic mainstream romance books take notes #also i haven't done an incorrect quote for so long squeeee #raeraegoaway

[ginnyzero]

The Discriminatory Werewolf Archetype?

I love werewolves.

I hate werewolves in most fiction. Werewolves in most fiction are abusive, out of control, OCD, monsters that are usually white males that promote things like incest and rape and well, there tend not to be female werewolves. Werewolves in fiction are representations of toxic masculinity at its worst.

So, why do I love werewolves? I mean, who doesn’t want to be nature’s answer to the chain saw every once in a while or have four feet and run in the forest. I had a wolf dream once and I was so at peace in that dream. Best dream ever. (I blame an old roommate and her love of old WW Werewolf: the Apocalypse Tabletop RPG too.)

But the representation of werewolves in fiction is problematic and that’s putting it lightly. In mainstream traditionally published fiction, female werewolves are rare or they don’t exist. They don’t lead packs. Forget black werewolves or Asian werewolves or Latino/Hispanic werewolves. They don’t really exist either except as “token” characters. And nine times out of then there aren’t gay werewolves, or if there is a gay werewolf they’re outcasts because somehow other werewolves just can’t handle them being aroused by men?

Then there’s the alpha to omega and submissive pack hierarchies that are easily abused. The fact that werewolves are so “grr” angry all the time they can’t form normal or healthy relationships. Then some writers buy into the cult and noble practice and sometimes downright redneck mentalities that to be stronger werewolves you have to marry your cousins. And men are always in charge, always.

You see these werewolves always based upon the French idea of the Loup Garou mixed with bad wolf science over and over and over again. You want the out of control monster beast in your kitchen sink urban fantasy? You include a werewolf. Vampires are urbane and controlled. Fae are aloof, businesslike, and mystical. (Makes me wonder what fae stories these writers are researching.) It’s become a trope, an archetype.

I mean, usually, the conflict resolves down to that no one can understand the monster that is the werewolf. They can never love or truly be loved by a human or other type of being, be they human or supernatural. Angst. Woe is me! And if it’s a horror story, the werewolf dies at the end.

The fantasy romance genre isn’t immune to this. Sometimes they’re a tad bit better. They include female werewolves more often. But even then, the general rules still apply that are sick and twisted and mostly are there to support the premise that even monsters can be loved in the end. (Yeah, I’ve read my fair share of werewolf romance novels okay.)

Archetypes are archetypes. Tropes are tropes.

But in this era of MeToo and men being called out for toxicity and media being urged to be more inclusive of people of all races and sexualities, isn’t it time for our media to catch up including speculative fiction where vampires, werewolves, mutants, elves and so on are used routinely to represent the other, the disenfranchised and the discriminated against.

Viewed in this lens, the portrayal of the werewolf is sickening. This is the worst of the patriarchy on display in speculative fiction form. When women, LGBTA and people of color are the minority and not the normal, disabled werewolves don’t exist (or are killed) and men are always in control and their behavior is excused because they are “alphas” isn’t right. It’s wrong. It’s grossly wrong. Why are those in writing and especially in publishing and in Hollywood still pandering to these ideas?

“People like monsters.” Ugh. Rejection right there. Werewolves can be cool without being downright nasty and out of control monsters. There are more werewolf types than the loup-garou. Beep. Exit stage left please. “It takes time.” You say. “People aren’t ready for werewolves that have control of themselves and can have healthy relationships and are female and are all races and all sexualities.”

Bullocks.

The ideal werewolf novel by CrockpotCauldron has over 68,000 notes. Assuming even half of those were likes, that’s 34,000 people who are interested in werewolves that are women, LGBTA, POCs, based on good wolf science that have healthy relationships with those and others around them. (And what would a disabled werewolf look like? Ponder. I might have to figure that out. I have so much to else to delve into why not add another thing?)

Most books don’t sell 20,000 novels in their first year. Sure, okay, so many of those people who noted that post aren’t going to buy a book. So if you go with the 3% conversion rate of all the notes that’s only 2000 sales. And I’m going to say people aren’t probably going to buy the book because they may not like the plot presented. But you have to get the book in front of those 68,000 note people in the first place!

The day I wrote after I wrote this post I found yet another person complaining about alpha-beta/dom sub dynamics in werewolf fiction! The people are out there!

So that means you can’t just put out one inclusive werewolf story, you have to put out multiple ones until you find the one with the plot and world building that people are going to buy across all age levels. You have to get it in front of influencers like CrockpotCauldron and others like her.

(She also has a list of werewolves she’s excited about. Sadly, I’m not on that list.) (Yes, I sent her my first book. Oh well.)

Fiction is a reflection of our reality. It disturbs me that werewolves are still being presented this way. That the art I see is all about growling and werewolves dripping in blood. That toxic masculinity parades itself across the page and most times isn’t called out for what it is, wrong. (Kitty Norville did, Women of the Otherworld did not, Patty Briggs is halfhearted about it. Butcher is, omg, let’s not even go into Butcher. I swear Jane Yellowrock series ignored weres most the time. Charlaine Harris didn’t help anything. Kim Harrison’s werewolves were, well at least there were females! That’s the most I can say.) Many times the sexist and horribly toxic tropes are written in as world rules that can’t be gotten away from. (Women of the Otherworld, Blood and Chocolate.)

By the time I came across CrockpotCauldron’s post, I’d already written my books. I was already disturbed as much as she was by this one dimensional portrayal of werewolves and their origin and their dynamics. I wrote Heaven’s Heathens MC as a revolt of what I was seeing in werewolf media in order to start portraying that wolves are families that work together and not domineering hierarchies where the “Alpha” is in charge. That there can be werewolves of many colors and skin tones because well, a) medieval Europe was not white, white, white. And B) this is the future, and many people have mixed their blood together enough that’s it can be difficult to know what race they are. I have female werewolves. I have nerdy werewolves. I have big buff mad scientist werewolves who enjoy DnD.

And honestly, I don’t mention character’s sexuality at all unless it’s important to the story. I don’t base my characters around the idea that they’re LGBTA and that defines them. It doesn’t. If there are LGBTA characters in my stories I want it to come up naturally and that “oh, they happen to be this” rather than “this is a problem.” Because I don’t want sexuality to be a problem in my werewolf pack. That goes against everything my werewolf pack stands for. (If it is a problem for werewolf packs that aren’t the Heathens in the story then you know those packs are bad packs. Bad! Bad wolf packs. No biscuit.)

I’ll admit, writing people in healthy relationships that share emotional labor is difficult due to lack of personal experience to some extent and that it cuts out what is the fall back conflict of most television shows and books, aka miscommunication. (I hate miscommunication personally. It’s one of those growing up things.) This is how insidious toxic masculinity is! This is how deep the patriarchy runs. That even when you’re trying your best to stay away from it, you feel like it’s slipping in no matter how hard you try!

And I know this seems an odd thing to be talking about with all the problems going on in the “real” world. But I think that if there are those that would defend these werewolf archetypes and tropes, they need to be looked at hard especially if they are in the publishing business. Because Media reflects reality and any trope and any archetype that is as discriminatory as werewolves needs to be dissected (and Vampires need to be dissected too because they represent another side of toxic masculinity. But I can only do one post at a time) and then broken down and transformed.

That’s what werewolves are really about, transformation! So, locking them into one rigid role seems awfully backwards to what they are.

Is it discriminatory? I'll leave that to you to decide. I know that I don't like it and am trying not to pander to it in my books. And if this blog post wasn't enough for you, I also talked about this on Twitter.

#werewolves #wolves #writing tumblr #writrblr #writing wolves #writing werewolves #reference to crockpotcauldron #representation

[queer-failures]

Queer Modernity: From Lonesome Genius to Thriving Community

In Modernism’s Other, Andreas Huyssen lists hierarchical oppositions that structured modernism, the main one being distinction between feminine mass culture and masculine high culture. Proper art, explains Huyssen, needed to distance itself from lowly confessional and trivial genres as well as from female readers duped by them. Kate Zambreno further develops listed oppositions by describing how male authors profited from female (mostly their partners’) life stories. Women writers, on the other hand, as Zambreno shows through example of modernist it couple, the Fitzgeralds, were prevented from using their own experiences in literature. While Huyssen notes that writing in the first person simply went out of fashion after Romanticism (unlike their male counterparts, women weren’t as fascinated with renouncing personhood as it was denied to them in quotidian life), Zambreno dwells on this type of writing. Writing about oneself, claims she, demonstrates how patriarchal modernism was: autobiographical discourse, because of aesthetical programs such as Flaubert’s notion of unrelenting objectivity or Eliot’s idea of New Criticism, came to be seen as para-literary. Yet, once again, this criterion was unfairly applied to female authors: “HE can write the autobiographical, but his work is read as aspiring to something greater. The ruins of his self are the ruins of post-war society. SHE is read as simply writing herself, her toxic, messy self” (Zambreno 165). Despite the fact that the avant-garde movement was “patriarchal, misogynist, and masculinist” (Huyssen, 60), some women managed to write themselves in.

Gertrude Stein did so in Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933). Planned as a get money quick scheme, the autobiography authored by Stein is written from the perspective of her life partner and, as such, decenters the notion of conventionally imagined self (or, in Huyssen’s terms, ego with stable boundaries that was a major component of bourgeoisie culture as well as the privileged sphere of psychoanalysis). When she places herself in the circle of selected modernist geniuses and assigns a place among their wives to Alice (wives are, naturally, not geniuses), Stein repeats patriarchal patterns. I think that Huyssen correctly observed that rising participation of women in high art challenged masculinist underpinnings of valued cultural forms, but not all women involved were devoted to feminist agendas. For example, in Autobiography, Stein writes that “not … that she at all minds the cause of women or any other cause but it does not happen to be her business” (74).

Postmodern interventions showed that binary between profit-oriented popular culture and political high art doesn’t quite hold. Even historically, popular culture offered various forms of resistance that high art, with its selected pantheon of geniuses, didn’t. In her 1998 historical romance Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters explores 19th-century popular theatre and drag performers (“male impersonators”) that represented a niche for lesbian rebellion within mainstream culture. While political undertones (feminist socialism) were severely downplayed in 2002 tv series (and gender nonconformity/androgyny, a major plot point in the book, was conveniently left out), I think that Waters’ take on modernity shows that culture doesn’t belong to the circle of selected few, even if queer women such as Stein and Toklas are among them.

Huyssen, Andreas. Modernism’s Other. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.

Stein, Gertrude. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. New York: The Modern Library, 2010.

Zambreno, Kate. Heroines. Cambridge: Semiotext(e), 2012.

#gertrude stein #kate zambreno #modernism #blog post

[juniper-tree]

writing life, 2: ghosts

(long post warning)

In a previous post wherein I talked about my NaNo failure and my writing process, I mentioned there were other things I hoped to do with my writing this year (and beyond). I’m an ambitious, driven person and have always had Big Plans.

All those plans have been hugely influenced by a project I took on earlier this year, and what I learned from it.  

I became a romance ghostwriter.  And then I quit.

Way back in the winter, I alluded to a writing project I was in the middle of, with an established author. Well, this was it. I was her ghostwriter.

I’m abiding by the NDA we agreed upon, though even if we had not, naming names in this context is tacky. So no titles, no links—just my experience and what I went through.

I submitted writing samples through a site, then had a few back and forth emails with the author to see if I would be a good fit. I was, and she hired me to write a novella for her second author brand.

I didn’t know either of her pen names, or her real name. It made sense to me she wouldn’t want to divulge her professional name and possibly be outed for hiring a ghostwriter until she knew it would work out.

Her main brand/name, she said, had a very specific theme. The second brand would be more contemporary, allow her to experiment with different styles and tropes. That made sense to me, too. I imagined her established brand as a Tessa Dare-style historical with all the expectations that would carry. Perhaps she wanted to publish contemporary stories with a little more spice, under a new name?

My assumptions were very wrong. But I’ll get to that.

Problem was, the demand for her content was so high that she could not fulfill it all. She needed a ghost to give her more to publish. I would come up with the idea, she would ok it, I would write it, she would tweak it, I would be paid, her readers would be happy. Decent arrangement.

And it really was. I don’t have a moral problem with ghostwriting, clearly. Some people do, and that’s fair. It is a lie, in a way. It upends the expected contract between reader and author of authenticity (though that’s questionable much of the time, regardless). 

There is a lot of abuse in it—plagiarism, for one; absolutely terrible pay for the work, for another.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be like that. This wasn’t. I went in with my eyes open about the system. I asked for what I felt was a fair price for my level of skill and what my time was worth. It was far above the dismal average that ghostwriters typically get.

I got it, without any experience or history, on the strength of my writing. She also made it very clear she did not want to perpetuate the content factory mentality of so many self-published, ghostwritten romances. This had to be good, original work, and I would be compensated fairly.

She was generous with money and with time, and very helpful in shaping my work into what she needed for her brand. No complaints about her as a person or from a work perspective.

When the work was finished, she was happy, and so was I, despite it being pretty far outside my area of interest. It was a decent story, it had feels, it had sexy times, it had a nice HEA.

I made a fairly strong attempt to subvert some of the more odious aspects of many mainstream, contemporary, heterosexual romances—iffy consent, power imbalances, misogyny, conservative ideas about money.  

That was probably my first mistake.

A lot of my subversions were changed or edited out. 

To give a minor example, I specifically noted many times that the male hero was pale. This was for situational character reasons—as well as the fact that I grow weary of tan, toned beefcakes as default in romance.

The author changed every “pale” to “tan.” Heaven forbid the sexy man not have a tan. (I think she put more muscles on him, too, but I don’t specifically recall.)

This sounds petty. Perhaps it is. But it’s also emblematic of other, larger changes that were made to fit the romance mold, as opposed to allowing anything slightly left of center.

There are many reasons romance is so popular, and one is, obviously, the comfort: of falling into repeated patterns and conventions, of reading your favorite tropes endlessly, of not having to think too hard about how things fit together. I appreciate all of that. 

We find it in fanfiction, too—we revel in it.

But there’s a reason why overturning even minor subversions bothers me. I’ll get to that, too.

Like I said, the author was happy. She wanted to continue working with me on a long-term basis, give me a co-writing credit for future works, help grow my own audience in the genre, etc. All very generous and great.

Problem was, when I saw the published work, I finally found out her pen names, so I could see her other books.

Not only were they nothing like what I had written (some of the reviews said it was “so different” for this author, which was hilarious), they made me very uncomfortable.

Again, under an NDA, so I can’t list specific details. There were just endless dominant, alpha-male, ultra-rich men who have disturbingly obsessive and coercive relationships with vulnerable young women. Money is involved in the relationship in some way. The heroines are nobody, the heroes are Somebody. Aren’t these women lucky to snag these guys?

The fact that I can say all that and have it be completely non-specific to any particular romance author is extremely telling of the problems of the genre. I could literally be talking about EL James (I’m not - her bad writing appears to be her own).

I read/skimmed a couple of them, and I could see an attempt was made to “sweeten” the heroes so they were vulnerable (or pitiable, really).  But the tropes themselves are toxic.

The author herself was great? We even had an early discussion on what were complete no-gos for romance, and judging by that I thought we were on the same page regarding what’s creepy and what’s romantic. Apparently not.

Who wants to read this? Who wants to write it? Lots of people, that’s who.

This is a chicken and egg thing, though, isn’t it? Someone wrote it first, way back when. 

Romance fans (and I count myself among them!) like to say that a lot of the worst, most “rapey” novels are way out of fashion, that the terrible misogyny is gone, that there’s a new kind of romance that people want to read today.  

And that is definitely true for a certain percentage of traditionally published romance novels. There are lots of good ones, unproblematic ones, progressive ones.

Please go read those—they are so fun and enjoyable and will make you feel good.

But what of the rest? The romance readers read and buy these toxic tropes. The authors keep putting them out, because that’s what readers want. The readers keeping buying it. The cycle continues.

(I want to go into this further with fanfiction, but that’s for another post.)

The fact that even the most minor of my attempts at subversion were squashed was really disheartening. It wasn’t that my writing was changed—I couldn’t care less about that. It was that the slightest diversion from the carved-in-stone Alpha Male Romance Idea was clearly unacceptable. Not to mention the larger diversions—I did make those, too.

I made my hero perfectly successful at what he did for a living, though not excessively so—but I also made my heroine perfectly successful and doing just fine, thanks. In the final work? He’s secretly a billionaire. He can just take care of her without all that pesky work. That depressed me.

I was cringing at the idea that I’d have to keep stuffing in worse and worse tropes, toxic relationships, misogynistic overtones, conservative philosophies, and scary power imbalances just to make some money.

This isn’t an audience I want.

The thought of reinforcing these ideas in any way threw me into a major crisis of conscience. I just couldn’t do it.

Like I said, it was a great and generous deal—for someone else. For someone who likes this kind of thing, or is a bit more mercenary than I am. I’m not willing to go there.

So that’s basically the end of ghostwriting for me. I have lots of my own ideas that are non-toxic, fun, and maybe people will even want to read them. But if they would rather read the stuff I hate, that’s their business. I won’t be a part of it.

Personally, I like lots of things in romance and fanfiction that are fantasies, that are not the ways in which I want to live my life—bad heroes and troubled women, relationships that make you go “hmmm,” problematic-ness and intense, dark passions, and all that stuff that’s over the top. I get it!

It’s just that I want subtlety and shades (not of Grey) and all the real dirt and grime and the beauty and joy that make your heart race and your mind wander. Not just the stamped, approved, here’s-what-you-get dosage of unexamined clichés. (Examined clichés are often very good.)

I learned so much from this process. Not only what my own limits are, but what I really want to do, by seeing up close what I do not. So I am grateful for the whole episode, but happy to be past it.  

On to greener pastures, and work which makes me proud.

#personal #ok to reblog :) #if you read all this you are a champ #on writing

[loughlinpatrick]

People Evolve – Writing Does, Too. So, What’s Next for Literature?

It’s time to write the next chapter of the story of literature. Photo: Nong Vang // Unsplash

Literature comes in many modes, modes which have been changing and adapting over millennia. We’ve had oral storytelling, the origin of many fairytales ingrained in our culture, written texts, which have contributed to the literary canon, and filmmaking, an extremely recent phenomenon when you consider all of human history but one that has definitely left its mark on our culture at large. As the methodology of literature has evolved, we’ve never entirely left any mode behind.

For example, oral storytelling has minted many ‘YouTube millionaires’ who’ve risen to fame through their use of the notable “story time” video format, which consists of them delivering (usually extremely exaggerated) stories about their lives to camera. So, when thinking about the future of literature, the question you should be asking isn’t “What will replace our current modes of literature?” but rather, “What new technology will complement these existing modes?”

The Answer Starts With Interactive Fiction…

Game on! Is the future of literature already here? Not quite… Photo: Florian Gagnepain // Unsplash

You might think the answer lies with video games, a format that has built upon filmmaking by adding a layer of perceived interactivity that makes players feel like they control the story. Many popular releases have taken this a step further in recent times, with the indie game ‘Until Dawn’ (2015) allowing players to achieve a range of possible endings, and more recent entries in the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ (2014) series having “good” and “bad” endings. This style of interactive media allows consumers to feel more ownership over a particular narrative, but is the feeling of ownership among fans necessarily a good thing to foster?

This possessiveness over literature is one of the three main ingredients in “toxic fandom” according to media critic Rachael Lefler, who says possessive fans see media as “a territory or property they own.” In western culture, this can manifest as newly-hired female writers for the series ‘Rick & Morty’ (2013) facing harassment from fans who perceive them as “forced-SJW hires” who are ruining “their” show, as well as similar sexist harassment targeted at Marvel writers for a viral selfie.

Ahead of its time? ‘Perfect Blue’ (1997) explores toxic fandom in Japan.

Toxic fandom isn’t just a Western problem – similar issues occur with fan behaviour toward Japanese J-Pop idols. The anime-psychological thriller ‘Perfect Blue,’ (1997) which features a stalker tormenting and impersonating his favourite J-Pop idol, explores this issue in-depth as it pertains to Japan.

The level of interactivity applied to modern texts can also be harmful to fandoms, in that it can be difficult for fans to know where the interactivity ends. Netflix demonstrated this with their first foray into the interactive film genre, ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ (2019), which had some fans convinced that there was a sixth “secret ending” within the movie in addition to the five main endings that were known. The ambiguity led to many online fan communities wasting hours of their time looking for clues to the alleged secret ending; this was ultimately a wild goose chase which only served to make it even more apparent that the film did not function as a text with a satisfying and “complete” plot.

Great as a game — not so much as a narrative; ‘Bandersnatch’ fell flat for some ‘Black Mirror’ fans. Photo: Netflix

However, even with texts that are not inherently interactive, such as HBO’s ‘Westworld’ (2017) – itself a meta-commentary on the limits of interactive texts. The show employed a trans-media strategy that allowed fans to access “secret” websites belonging to organisations and characters in the show. These websites then contained clues as to what would happen in future episodes of the show, but this led many fans to obsessively analyse trailers and posts from Westworld’s social media accounts to find more clues and secrets that weren’t there. In both of these cases, the expectations of the writers and viewers didn’t match up, leading viewers to look for deeper layers of interactivity that didn’t exist.

A Healthy Author-Reader Dialogue is Key.

Dedicated fans want to add to the story! Photo: Kaitlyn Baker // Unsplash

The tenacity of consumers of media to run with a story and build upon it has been apparent for decades, with growing online communities allowing fans to discuss media and even write fan-fiction to add on to the plots of their favourite texts. Some of these fan-fiction works have even entered mainstream consciousness, with backing from legacy media helping to turn well-known fan-fiction into physical books and globally released films. Two key examples of this phenomenon are ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ (2015) which was initially ‘Twilight’ (2008) fan-fiction, and the romance movie ‘After,’ (2019) which was originally fan-fiction about Harry Styles.

This tenacity of fans for storytelling is what helped the success of the comedy movie ‘Clue,’ (1985) based on the murder-mystery board game of the same name. The film had three different endings, with each cinema that showed it only receiving one conclusion. The film’s writers believed that this gimmick would allow “super-fans” to see the film multiple times, but ‘Clue’ ended up being a box-office flop. It was only through television re-runs that the film was able to build up an online fan community that enjoyed writing alternate endings and become the 80s cult classic that it is today.

Fans of ‘Clue’ who’d watched it in different places were very confused when talking about it!

So, we’ve learned that it’s crucial to balance the expectations of an audience with the ambitions of a work’s creator, and this is a lesson that I employed in writing my mystery-novel series, ‘Revenge in Ridgeview.’ My series contains three mystery novels, and in writing them, I communicated extensively with my audience (at the time: only my friends who I badgered into reading them). As I was releasing the books online with a chapter a week (on the very same platform where ‘After’ was first published), I was also able to engage with readers of my work from other countries. The dialogue I had with my readers allowed me to ask them questions at the end of the first book, a key one being “Who is your favourite character?” Then, (as all authors feed off your tears) I made sure to give that character a terrible time in subsequent books. Yes, I upset quite a few of my friends; no, I’m not ashamed.

The Future is Personalised.

Is this the future of literature? Photo: Markus Spiske // Unsplash

So, now we can answer the question we’re here to get to the bottom of: what is next for literature? Well, taking the lessons we’ve learned, we can see that the next mode of media will be something that relies on computers, as seen in the way video games built upon filmmaking. However, unlike video games, writers will likely want to take back some of the feeling ownership over their texts. So, in essence, the mode will be interactive, but in a way where readers don’t know that they’re interacting with it. How can we accomplish this? With personalised literature; you wouldn’t “choose your adventure,” the adventure would choose you.

Netflix and other streaming services are already in a unique position to make this happen; they’ve collected mountains of data from every single profile on their service: your watch habits, when you watch, where you watch from, and as seen in the aftermath of their ‘Bandersnatch’ experiment, they even store the choices you make when viewing their interactive originals, forever. So, what would this allow writers to do?

Well, we’ve already seen that demonstrated way back in 1985 with ‘Clue,’ where cinemas had alternate endings; Netflix could do the same thing, but this time, instead of showing a random conclusion to a viewer with no idea of how they would react, Netflix could instead determine the “best ending” for the viewer and show them that one. The company is already experimenting with this to a certain extent: Netflix presents the episodes of ‘Love, Death & Robots’ (2019) in different orders for different users.

Journalists can also take advatage of personalised literature. Photo: Mr Cup / Fabien Barral // Unsplash

Furthermore, while I’ve avoided discussing non-fictional literature in so far, the news media is also in a unique position to take advantage of our move toward personalised texts.

For example, BBC News has been trialling personalised articles – or “perceptive media” as they call it – on their website since mid-2012 in a bid to appeal more to young adult readers. These efforts have allowed them to add a local angle to specific stories with a national focus by using the user’s location, such as showing local crime statistics in an article that discusses national trends.

The BBC also experimented with reports covering developing stories by adding personalised summaries based on previous articles on the topic that a user had read; they quickly scrapped this feature because “participants quite rightly asked how we knew what they’d read.” So, not all personalisation is well-received – sometimes it’s just too creepy – but journalists should still experiment in this area.

The Discussion Continues…

Lights, camera, action! Let’s hit record on the next phase of literature. Photo: Thomas William // Unsplash

As I noted earlier, the delivery of texts will always adapt. We’ve had oral storytelling, writing, filmmaking, video games and interactive fiction, and it’s likely that next, we’ll have personalised literature. This next mode certainly won’t be the last, and it won’t come without flaws. There’s still an ethical debate to be had about whether these big companies should even have your data in the first place, and about how they’ll use it.

For example, could streaming services like Netflix edit out scenes featuring LGBTQI couples if they detect that a viewer is homophobic, and would it be ethical to do so? I used my dialogue with my audience to create a text that would challenge them, but services with a financial incentive (and lots more of your data at their disposal) may not have the same moral imperative. So, let’s start having that conversation, so we can make sure that the future of literature is a good one.

Update: My friends are still upset about what I did to their favourite character. The power of knowing your readers, I guess?

#storytelling #writing #filmmaking #journalism #literature

[imaginaryelle]

dipsykoo replied to your post “There are days that I’m grateful that I started writing on paper, for...”

I don't entirely understand what happened based on this post. But I agree a lot on learning to know oneself or other people better. I believe it's important! However, I hope everything is okay for you. If you need someone to talk to and you're comfortable with it, I'm always here! Well at least when I'm awake!

It wasn’t really one thing, it’s a pattern of behavior I’ve been seeing played out over and over again these last few months. I know there’s a lot of fear and anger in the world today, and I absolutely believe that we should acknowledge problematic and harmful aspects of the media we consume, but I have seen a lot of attacks on both fandom and professional creators, always with the expectation that the creator should have known better and shouldn’t even try to do something unless they are able to execute it to someone else’s standards. 

It’s like we forget that it’s possible to be critical of something and still enjoy it. It’s possible to recognize problems and use them to educate yourself and others without a judgement of someone’s worth as a person. “Problematic” only means that something is complicated and prone to problems. That’s a very human thing. That is all of us. And I see it waved around as a banner of justice, a label that says another person or their work is wrongwrongwrong and implies that the person doing the waving is entirely in the right. And that’s just not how humans work. We are all flawed, complex beings. It’s possible to be disgusted by something and still recognize that there is a human being on the other end of it. And sometimes we have to acknowledge that problems for us are not problems for other people. That they have their own problems they’re working through.

An example would be the reaction to ME:A’s number of mlm romance option available in-game, or the trans npc deadnaming to a stranger, or Gil’s storyarc. Are there problems in these things? Yes. Absolutely. Bioware and EA are big established companies, and they have the resources to spend time on these things, and they have the ability to do better. They have done better in the past, at least a little bit. But there were attacks against individual programmers and writers. I’ve seen blanket statements that Bioware is trash because of one character, that Bioware hates mlm. And I understand people’s rage. It’s disheartening to see these misrepresentations and mistakes in something many of us have spent a decade loving. But I think it’s important to remember that media is not a punch-card machine. We can’t click buttons that say we want men loving men, we want it in space, we want it to be 100% healthy, we want it to reflect our personal lived experience, we want it to treat trauma seriously, we want sarcasm and banter, and oh, throw in a bit of on-screen sex for good measure, and just get a game or a story or a piece of art handed to us that meets all of these desires. Media is created by humans, and informed by the creator’s own perceptions. Someone, somewhere, will create that thing, but they will do it because it’s important to them, personally. Not because someone else demanded it. Consuming media responsibly means that we all have to practice both examining it critically and allowing that media to exist with flaws. And I say this because:

What I very rarely see is people acknowledging that we are in a period of change. That all of us, consumers and creators alike, are learning to redefine how we see the world, and what we deem is acceptable and what is not. We can only work with what each of us has seen, experienced and consumed, and especially on a mainstream level I think it’s important to acknowledge that none of us has a wealth of good representations of, for example, healthy, fully-fleshed-out gay and bi men, to draw from. We don’t have a wealth of fiction that treats heavy topics like rape and child abuse with a sensitive hand. We don’t have generations of books and music and videos that regularly allow women to be complex human characters and not markedly different from their male counterparts. We don’t have a decades-long stretch of Hollywood movies and mainstream western television shows that depict the stories of non-white people as important on their own merits, or that are told in their voices. Instead what we have is pretty much the opposite of these things. And we have all consumed it since infancy. Being a professional writer, artist or game dev does not automatically grant someone access to some new utopia of media and resources to draw from in creating new works. We all have things to unlearn, or to reframe in our minds. And that’s going to be a process. Everyone is going to be in a different place in that process, professional and fan alike. And as part of that process, we’re going to create things that are flawed. 

That’s okay. That’s literally how we learn. We have to try. Even rich old white men have to try in order to learn, no matter how much power they have. And if we spend all of our time yelling at creators for their attempts, we will never get the media we want. It won’t happen. We’ll just beat those creators down until they get resentful, and then they’ll stop trying.

Big companies can take that beating. They have the PR machines, they already have respected outlets for communication, they can respond and be heard. They can change their product and be respected for that change. Or, they can essentially press the mute button and keep creating things with exactly the same flaws, and because other people don’t see them yet, they’ll still make money. I don’t think it’s good to give them the beating (I think constructive criticism that lays out several options for improvement will always get us further than angry yelling), but what is most disheartening for me is when I see exactly the same behaviors--the yelling, the declaration that a creator must hate a certain group, etc, directed at fan creators. People who are not making any money, who are creating because they love a thing so much they want to share, and sharing is literally the only reward they get, and who are often very new to the entire process of creating.

There are a few reasons this upsets me. One is, as I said in the previous post, that it spreads fear and doesn’t allow people to learn, and turns new creators away from creating. Holding fans to the same or higher standards as professional media completely devalues them as a person who is in their own process, and it puts the power of deciding what is right and acceptable into the hands of the fan who has the biggest following. It’s not about the quality of their arguments, or the morality of their judgement, it’s about how many friends or hangers-on they have who are completely willing to jump in and bash at someone without even stopping for a moment to consider whether they should. And nowhere in all that gatekeeping do I see people allowed to grow, on either side. Nowhere do I see anyone acknowledge the hypocrisy inherent in hitting someone else for their inability to prepare for every possible audience expectation while never doing any self-examination to acknowledge that person’s point of view or context. Either the attacked party complies and acknowledges that they are the scum of the universe and apologizes, or they are deemed trash, and likely attacked further just to drive the point home. Most of the time no one even tries to just talk to the creator privately first, to resolve things quickly, calmly, and quietly, with mutual respect. Instead I see vagueblogging, or worse, named call-out posts, that villify someone for something they may not even realize is a problem, or that they may know is a probem but have no idea how to fix. I’ve seen it in a few different fandoms for rape and pain-porn stories in the past three weeks. And every time I want to say: “Yes, I get it. These are difficult topics. They affect real people. But. Do you know how long it took me to recognize the rape in Anne McCaffrey’s work? Do you know how long it took me to recognize the toxicity of some of the power dynamics in Tamora Pierce’s work? These are stories I read as a child and loved because they had dragons and magic and kickass women and just enough romance. I had to live more to realize that they had problems, too. Do you remember how long it took you to first recognize the flaws in something you loved? Do you remember how hard it was to look at your own mistakes in your own creations?” Because we can only ever work from what we’ve been exposed to, and if the majority of society and media we’ve been immersed in glorifies rape and devalues women, if it tells us pain is secondary to pleasure, if it tells us that the abused fall in love with their abusers and that makes it okay, that is what we are going to create. Is that a problem? Yes. But it’s a problem created by a culture, not an individual. An individual can change, and as enough of us do, we reshape culture. That’s how society works.  And yet, I almost never see anyone in fandom offering resources to help people change to create the culture we want. I don’t see posts that say “hey, if you’re writing about rape, here are some articles that can help you address the physical and psychological effects of it” or “I’ve noticed people writing abusive relationships lately, and I want to offer some notes on both short-term and long-term effects that those relationships can have on people” or “If you’re wanting to write about a POC character, here are some great blogs to check out so you can avoid making caricatures and be respectful of POC’s lived experience” or “here’s a resource list for writers who want to write mlm stories that aren’t based on stereotypes.” I know these things exist. I have seen them in original fiction communities. I’ve written some of them. But in fandom? I just see posts attacking people because they should know better, and telling them not to try until they fit the attacker’s idea of acceptable content. Has everyone just forgotten that they have the power to not engage with content they think is terrible? To cut it out of their experience without drama?

Another reason this whole pattern upsets me is that when I joined fandom, part of its generally acknowledged purpose was to address things that the canon did wrong, or poorly, and to create the content we wanted to see. For example: this is why I write Gil. Because there are many, many problems with his presentation in-game, but I want a story where he has more content, I want more interactions between him and Ryder and him and literally anyone. I want there to be a fun sci-fi story about a gay guy who wants bio-kids and gets to raise them. I want there to be a story about a gay man who has a best friend who’s a woman and to have that not be a potentially abusive and toxic relationship. So I’m writing it. Because I learned pretty early that I couldn’t just wait for the world to hand me the perfect story, and because I know that being shouted at only makes me want to ball up and ignore the whole world somewhere safe. And yet, most of what I see in any fandom these days has more to do with policing than content creation. I see people spending more time shouting at professional writers and each other than they do on making their own content or even supporting content that is what they want to see. Why aren’t we building each other up? Why aren’t we setting examples? Why don’t we offer help? Why aren’t we creating the space we want to live in, instead of expecting others to create it for us? This isn’t just limited to fandom, this is all forms of media. Instead of creating or celebrating good things, a lot of people seem to spend the majority of their time tearing others down. And I’m just left sad and confused, because I don’t understand how anyone thinks that destructive behaviors like fandom policing and gatekeeping and  hate-mail are going to result in more cool fun things to enjoy for anyone. Isn’t it exactly the sort of behavior we abhor with things like GamerGate? Why do we emulate this? Do people really think that screaming at someone they know nothing about for a piece of fiction is the best avenue to change things? I can’t imagine that anyone actually finds it fun, and aren’t we here in fandom to have fun? To enjoy ourselves?

Apologies for the wall of text. I thought I was done with this last night, but apparently not. I appreciate the offer, but I’m really okay. Also, @nalufaraday, thank you for your kind comments :) @retro-sci-fi-songbird, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been so discouraged in your writing. If you ever want someone to look something over for you in private, you’re welcome to contact me. I’ve been there. I hope you do keep writing, because I really do believe that doing more and trying new things is the only way any of us can get better.

And because I know I’m writing this in this very climate, I will say again: I do think people should be notified of problematic behaviors, and why it’s a problem. I just think they should also be offered avenues of change, and granted basic, fallible humanity in the process, and I think that if someone feels the need to call someone else out, they should also be willing to engage in some self-examination of their own. Shaming a writer or artist on the internet about their fictional creation is not the same as punching a nazi who has literally advocated for the death of millions of people. The lone creator on the internet is not a threat unless you make them one, and their flaws do not make the person who attacks them an intrinsically better person. If you cannot be part of a process of learning and growing, in a positive way, the simplest and easiest way to deny power to people you disagree with is to deny them a platform. Block them, warn others that there might be something triggering in their work if you’re feeling especially strongly, and disengage. 

And then go make something that reflects the world you want to see.

#dipsykoo #tw: rape mention #tw: child abuse mention #tw: nazi mention #text post #long post

[texanredrose]

Celebrity Matchmaker (Part 7)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 (here) / Part 8  

"Well, Remnant, there you have it!" Coco cut in at that moment, stepping around the four to address the cameras and the audience beyond. "Our daring romantic lead has made her decision. Will Blake, Pyrrha, Yang, and Weiss enjoy their happy ending? The choice is yours, Remnant, here on Celebrity Matchmaker!" A cold weight dropped into the bottom of her stomach at those words; despite having come to a satisfying conclusion, whether or not they would get the opportunity to pursue it still hung in the air. "Now, using the mobile app on your scrolls or our CCT website, cast your vote. Give our daring foursome a thumbs up to approve this celebrity union or a thumbs down to end the happiness now!" Blake pushed closer to her side, offering her comfort and desperately needed support, and Pyrrha and Yang quickly followed suit, the four of them huddling together and waiting with bated breath. "Everyone has twenty minutes to cast their vote, but don’t go anywhere! We'll come back after this commercial break to deliver the verdict on this season's finale of Celebrity Matchmaker!"

A few moments later, they were off air, with the audience breaking out into a chattering mess as they all pulled out their scrolls and began voting. They weren't the only ones- the camera crew, those helpers standing off set, even the host pulled out their scrolls and let their voices be heard.

"Guess we just gotta wait out the rest, huh?" Yang offered, reaching up to fiddle with the hair tie holding back her unruly mane.

"So it seems." Pyrrha hummed, looking at the movie star. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

"I'm not so sure." Weiss bit her bottom lip, trying to keep the racing thoughts swirling through her head from stampeding out of control. While she thought she had a firm grasp on the odds when making her original decision, now there existed a whole slew of variables that put everything into question. How would the purists react? Could Remnant handle something so far from the mainstream ideal of romance as a polyamorous relationship? And then there was their careers to consider- how would their fans react? Would any of them even have careers after this? So caught up in the euphoria of a solution that didn't mean sacrificing the bonds she'd forged with each of her potential partners, she hadn't stopped to think of the ramifications of such a decision. "What if-"

"Stop." Blake's voice, calm and steady, was at odds with the flush still present in her cheeks. "There's no need to ask those questions right now."

"She's right, Princess." The rock star chuckled, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. "We've got less than twenty minutes until the decision comes out, and worst case scenario we keep any interactions between us out of the public eye for three years. Ducking the paparazzi is, like, old hat by now, right? We'll be fine."

She winced, lowering her gaze sightly. "Actually, my contract with the show is worded a bit... differently." At the three curious looks she received, Weiss sighed and began a truncated version of the events leading her to this position in the first place. "I only agreed to do the show under the condition that, by completing the show's full run and remaining compliant with the finale's decision, it would remove my father as my agent and handler. As such, my contract lasts... considerably longer. If I attempted to exit the show or the relationship produced by it, my father regains his position and complete control over my life."

Blake and Pyrrha’s brows shot up, obviously surprised by the rather... extreme measures included in her contract. The blonde, on the other hand, looked a tad horrified.

"Wait, time out, can we go back a second?" Yang's brows furrowed, her expression screwed up in confusion. "Like, ten minutes ago, you were going to choose none of us. Wouldn't that have voided your contract anyway?"

"Yes," she replied, running a hand through her bangs. "My decision to not choose one of you wouldn't have fulfilled my obligation, so my father would've become my agent again." Holding up a hand, she prevented the inevitable follow up question by simply answering it without prompting. "I realize I could've chosen any of you and fulfilled the contract's requirements, exited the rather toxic professional relationship with my father, and simply approached the other two after we'd left the set... but... it honestly didn't occur to me to do things that way. I’m not as... familiar with the concept as you two are.” She nodded towards Blake and Yang. “Even now, I’m still not sure it would’ve occurred to me. Choosing just one of you... I wouldn't be able to escape the sensation that it would negatively impact our relationships regardless; I wouldn't want anyone feeling like they were the second choice, or the runner up, or... something other than the truth. I couldn't bear that, not even for a moment."

It probably sounded a tad bit ridiculous. It was true, of course, but in hindsight, perhaps the terrible anxiety eating away at her gut might've been avoided entirely had she simply abided by the expectations of the audience and chosen only one of them. Of course, she also hadn't truly considered the four could be together, on equal terms, and that would be agreeable to all parties, and there really was no way of her knowing at the time, but-

Suddenly, a finger gently tipped her chin up, so she could see Blake's tender expression. "All these years, they should've been calling you Ice Cream, considering your soft heart." As soon as the words left her mouth, the Faunus' face fell into one of despair. "Wait, did I just-"

"That was a pun!" Yang clapped her hands together, looking entirely pleased. "You just made a pun, Kitty Cat!" She reached up, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "I'm so proud." Blake rolled her eyes but didn't resist as the blonde threw an arm around her shoulders. "Seems like all my hard work has paid off."

"Great, you're slowly tainting all of us with poor humor." Weiss dryly commented, ignoring the way Pyrrha chuckled, as if she genuinely enjoyed both the joke and the ensuing exchange. "We're already beyond saving at this point."

"Aw, sounds like you're already givin' up, Princess."

"I guess you could say she's... met her match?" Pyrrha managed to cut the rocker off just in time, a sly smile on her lips.

Not even Weiss could resist laughing that time, having barely contained it when Blake's unintentional one slipped out, and she was joined a few moments later by the others. Maybe it was just their breaking point or a brief moment of levity everyone felt compelled to join in on given the situation, but before she knew it, she was surrounded again, catching her breath and looking at those who had grown so dear to her heart in recent weeks. Yang, on her right, with her wide smile and shining eyes, Blake on her left, with her ears up and out in relaxed enjoyment, and Pyrrha standing just behind her, a strong and comforting presence at her back.

"I suppose there's nothing left to do except wait, hmmm?" The movie star sighed, finding two hands slipping into hers and a set of arms encircling her waist, a chin resting atop her head. "We've done all we could."

"And we're not out of the fight yet." Yang pointed out, her voice much softer than usual. "If you honestly think we're just going to take whatever decision gets handed to us without a fight, you're dead wrong, Princess."

"We are the ones who decide our fates," Pyrrha said, brushing a soft kiss against the top of her head. "Our destiny is crafted by our choices and our deeds, and I think we're meant to be together. Therefore, we will be. One way or another."

"A compelling argument." Blake noted, squeezing her hand lightly. "And we're all committed enough to see it through."

"Yeah, someone promised me a kiss when we're alone, and like hell I'm letting her off the hook that easy!"

Amid the Faunus' groan, Yang's laugh, Pyrrha's chuckle, and the all encompassing embrace, it was difficult to feel the pressure of Remnant's imminent decision. At the very least, she could shove it to the side and simply bask in their presence, allowing her idle mind to drift towards the future, crafting little scenes she direly hoped would play out. Standing just off stage with Pyrrha and Blake while Yang 'rocked out' with thousands of screaming fans, sitting in box seats watching Pyrrha compete while Blake and Yang cheered beside her all decked out in team colors, attending a release party for one of Blake's books with all of them dressed to impress and Yang struggling to remain on her best behavior while Pyrrha and Blake slipped in and out of conversations easily, coming off set to find three pairs of arms just waiting to hold her while she prepared for the next scene, the four of them in the living room of a house they could call their own, curled up on the couch to watch a movie or simply reading while the blonde picked at her guitar- the possibilities were endless and she direly wanted to see them come true. It would be hard, of course, even harder than when she imagined the scheduling conflicts just two of them would have, nevermind four, but... damn it all, she would move countries and oceans to make it work.

"Hey, you four." She didn't even noticed she'd closed her eyes until Coco's voice called her back to the present, finding the host approached them bearing a familiar little basket. "Figured you might want these."

Contained within were their scrolls, which they'd naturally turned over at the onset to keep their opinions unbiased- and to reduce any anxiety regarding the ridiculous antics of gossip magazines. The first few weeks were stressful, being unable to check on any pending business relating to their careers, but they'd all come to enjoy the vacation, as evidenced by the slight reluctance in reclaiming the devices.

"Thought we weren't getting those back until after we wrapped up?" The blonde raised a brow at hers- battered and beaten from being dropped a few too many times- before preparing to tuck it away.

"Yeah, but I figure if all of Remnant gets to vote on your relationship, maybe you should get the option, too." She glanced over her shoulder. "Plus, no one's paying attention right now; the producers are catching hell from the illustrious Mr. Schnee."

"For not specifying the number of candidates a romantic lead can choose or for not making me follow through with my initial choice?" Weiss reclaimed hers, flicking it open and pulling up the website rather than wasting time with the application that would do the same. She would consider it a lesson learned to download all available external sources for any show she agreed to be on in the future, flicking her gaze between her screen and the amused little smile on Coco's lips.

"A little of column A, a little of column B, and a little of column the producers could care less about his objections because our ratings are through the roof." She shrugged. "Something about the drama bomb really got people tuning in; I wouldn't be surprised if we set a record or two tonight."

Casting her vote- and wishing there was some sort of preview function so she could see how the whole thing was going- and handing her scroll to Blake for safekeeping, the movie star turned her attention back to Coco. "So the producers..."

"They're on your side, trust me." She winked. "Seems like your old man can't claim breech of contract no matter how much he yells." A small relief, she thought, even as Pyrrha gave her scroll to Yang for the moment. "We're about to come back live. You four ready?"

"Do we have a choice?" The Faunus sighed, tucking her own scroll away the same as Yang and smoothing out her jacket.

As they went about preparing themselves for having the eyes of Remnant upon them again- smoothing out fabric, fiddling with hair, and it was so very nice to have someone else to help this time around- Weiss noticed one of the crew slip onto the set and deposit two more ring boxes on the pedestal. Now, there were four, and it made her heart leap into her throat to think how close she was, how close they all were to a tangible reality.

"Where should we get married?" The question sprang to her tongue and left almost before she could register it but now, she wanted to know. And, it was actually a very good question. They all hailed from different countries, different parts of Remnant- where could they hold a wedding between the four of them that would be equally meaningful?

"Vacuo," Yang replied immediately, smirking. "Not that I've done extensive research on the subject or anything, but they definitely allow for unions of more than just two people. And, since none of us are from there, we can all have a happy memory to claim it. Think of it as the next step in our plan to take over the world."

The Faunus laughed, shaking her head. "That is the silliest thing you've said so far."

"But she has something of a point." Pyrrha acknowledged. "We're in four unique fields that could possibly overlap and from four different countries, where our fanbases are largest. It does stand to reason we embody the phrase 'power couple' more than just about any other union in Remnant."

"Except for the 'couple' part," Blake replied, though she had a smile curling her lips. She also seemed too happy to be embarrassed by all the attention, her blush beginning to die down, but it could easily be the furrow in her brows as she searched for a word. "What would it be instead?"

"A quad, typically." The blonde seemed to not even register the questioning look she received, rolling right along while checking her hair tie again. "Three is a triad, four is a quad, five is a... quint? Although most people just go with 'moresome', which is cute, but I've never really considered having that many partners before, honestly. Triads and quads are more my style, so that's what I have experience with, really."

"Well, at least one of us knows what she's doing." Weiss offhandedly offered, reaching up to bat Yang's hands away. "It's driving you insane keeping it up like that, isn't it?"

"Just a little." The rock star puffed out a sigh. "But, ya now, it looks more formal and I was really trying."

Looking over her shoulders, Weiss noted the identical looks both Pyrrha and Blake wore. "Down?"

"Down," they both replied, and the redhead quickly reached over and, with careful fingers, pulled the hair tie out, allowing golden locks to rest freely against the woman's shoulders.

"Better?"

"Oh, so much." She ran her fingers through her hair, relief showing plain in her face. "I hate having my hair tied up, period."

They knew. The nearly identical looks the three of them bore said as much and Weiss almost couldn’t believe she’d missed it before.

"Alright, we've got thirty seconds!" Someone announced, and the four exchanged a few quick looks as the reminder of the looming results threatened to steal away the calm they'd managed to forge. But then Coco strode up to them, demanding their attention with a few quick commands.

"Alright, let's move you four this way. Come along, we don't have much time." She pulled them towards center stage, just behind the pedestal. "There we go, Blake up a little more, Pyrrha a half step back, Yang turn towards me a little, Weiss just a hair to your left, alright, there." The fashion designer stepped back, peering at them for a moment before nodding. "Good. Stay just like that. And a little PDA wouldn't hurt. There's still another ten minutes left of voting and people are still logging on; if you want to win this, now's not the time to hold anything back." She started to turn away but stopped, looking back at them- well, one in particular. "And no, Yang, that wasn't a suggestion for something lewd."

"Aw."

"It'd probably get your fans' attention, though." Blake acknowledged with a thoughtful hum, fidgeting slightly. "Perhaps we should-"

"Kitty Cat, if you're about to suggest something we haven't done already, don't worry about it." The blonde flashed a smile. "We don't need to dig that deep for this, promise. Princess already tried the whole 'valiant sacrifice' thing and I don't pull the same stunt twice."

"Much to our never ending concern," Pyrrha said, though there was a hint of a smile around the edges of the words.

Weiss wished she could turn around, because looking at the three was a good deal easier than the camera at present, the audience beyond kept barely shrouded by the lighting even as the man behind the camera counted them back in, meaning the deadline drew every closer no matter what they did or didn't do. She'd never felt so nervous, straightening her shoulders as Coco launched into her spiel, hoping a retreat into her calm facade would bring with it a measure of comfort.

#Celebrity Matchmaker Fanfic #Pyrrha x Weiss x Blake x Yang #Northern PolariBees #TRR writes #Gaytorade