iannageorge

[iannageorge]

Chapter 14: Scene 2

Related to my note on the first scene, there were two similar tropes I was aiming to subvert with the Malcolm and Rhode scene in this chapter, although if my memory serves me right, they came to me as I was writing, rather than them being the reasons for the scene. (I roughly drafted that scene yeeears ago!) 

1. The repeated story of men abusing their power to commit workplace harassment against women

I thought it would be interesting to have the female MC in the position of those too many (famous) men in power who harass women in the workplace, especially by jerking off in front of them—which is just nasty and bizarre. 

Obviously, it’s not because it’s the woman here who has more power that makes things like this okay. Flipping the genders doesn’t make it less “nasty”. What’s different here is that she’s always checking in with him to make sure not to overstep, especially when taking huge leaps that he clearly wouldn’t initiate. 

Of all the stories I’ve watched or read, I feel like I’ve only seen men be the ones to come onto the love/lust interest how Rhode does to Malcolm in this chapter. And I don’t believe any of those men I came across even checked in with the other person how she did in this chapter. I don’t even mean in any particular scene they get it on (which is more common, I’ve found). I mean even when considering scenes where the person with more power takes a massive “overstep”, like by bringing their thing to questionable settings—usually the workplace, and pretty much always with people outside, which is what Malcolm brings up as a concern. Of course, the checking in part isn’t always the vibe of those stories, especially when it’s more just escapist fantasy. I get the decision not to make everything realistic. 

But looking through Rhode’s eyes, it would be a complete disservice to her character, as someone who’s meant to be emotionally intelligent and therefore self-aware, for her not to feel like it’s anything but uncomfortable and disturbing to her if she doesn’t check in with Malcolm when she’s massively “overstepping”. 

It’s already established that she concerns herself with the comforts and feelings of others. It’s important to her not just as a person but also highly relevant to her job as a diplomat of sorts who connects with the public, mediates issues between parties in conflict, etc. 

Not checking in with someone she has a modicum of respect for, particularly when he is in a position of less power, would itself be uncomfortable to her. I just couldn’t see Rhode being so self-unaware as to ignore these circumstances. 

But to add to that, I also feel like I’ve never seen the person in the obvious position of less power egging on the one doing the “overstepping” to also establish the enthusiastic consent the other might want/need. At least not doing so from the start, rather than once they’re already getting heated. In Malcolm’s case, there’s a part of him that enjoys Rhode’s challenges, even if he loses/“loses”. 

Of course, maybe I just don’t read or watch enough or don’t remember. Regardless of how prevalent those actions are, they anyway were what I felt were true to these characters. 

2. The whole guys-looking-at-boobs-is-creepy sort of thing

I incidentally found (and misplaced) some discourse on this recently and it explained what I couldn’t put into words. I’ll do my best to explain. 

More generally, I mean this as the overreaction(?) someone like Malcolm has—or the over-correction he makes—in attempting to be A Respectful Man. From my anecdotal experience and rather hazy memories, I’d argue that it was common in past(?) media to find that a man looking at boobs (sometimes nothing much more than that) was represented a man who wasn’t respectful to women. Nuances exist, of course, and it was usually that you’d have a man stare in the most obvious creepy way at a woman’s boobs, and you’d have the counterpart who would never be found to look at her boobs. 

(I cannot believe I’m writing “boobs” this many times.)

I’m also not saying it’s wrong for someone to opt out of ogling at boobs lol. But I think there’s something strikingly inappropriate-feeling about looking at boobs in a way that exceeds looking at asses. Never mind touching. It can’t just be me who gets this, right? I feel like I’ve been conditioned into it. 

Anyway, especially after Malcolm sees other men being objectifying jerks, he’s probably dealing with that feeling of guilt certain men might unnecessarily get when being shamed by certain other men for acting in horrifically stereotypical (stereotypical; not saying it’s true or remotely representative) ways. It’s, of course, the guilt he, as the kind of person he is, would get, knowing that for some reason—perhaps societal to a large extent?—the brain of the average college-aged heterosexual man in a study was found to have reacted to bikini-clad women the way the brain would when looking at objects. 

It’s also, I guess, hilariously odd, that he’s done much more than look Rhode up and down, and suddenly he’s making a fuss about this. That said, he was also trying to prove something to himself and to her by doing that. 

Yet there’s something to be said—multiple things—about how Rhode does not mind him looking, but he finds that he does. 

I will leave it there. 😊

[iannageorge]

Chapter 12: About that fight (and what we learn in chapter 14)

A reply to Guesty (thread here), re: 

She usually knows what he wants, but didn't understand his feelings back when he wanted to know if she was seeing someone else. Interestingly enough, she was pissed at that question not because it wasn't his business, but because she wouldn't, implying some sort of exclusivity.

Because this whole fic is purely from Malcolm's POV, we won't often get Rhode's perspective unless she chooses to divulge her motivations and feelings, so I'll let myself clarify (more like suggest vs. declare) a few things:  

I would say Rhode knew that Malcolm’s STI question was an excuse, but even the mere fake-ish accusation that she would expose him to an STI and harm him like that was so insulting that it made her mad. I would probably think it’s like how she must’ve realized it was also a lie that Malcolm pinned his sleepover in Atlantis totally on her and acted like it was really for her, as if it wasn’t for himself, too—and then between then and when she visits him for the first time in his office, she realizes (maybe when she's talking about her problems with him to Galene) why he acted how he did and what he really feels. But in the heat of the moment, it’s insulting, and, like other gods, she herself has a hefty dose of pride and would/could take offense to an insult.

And for her to be forced to answer his exclusivity question, since he turned it into a question about health and safety, and have to admit that there hasn’t been anyone else but him recently… that could be another hit at her pride. Because once she admits it, Malcolm would realize, oh, she’s been keeping their thing exclusive, hm? And if she tells him they’re exclusive (and, again, she’s forced to reveal it, because of his fake safety reason), how might he see how she sees him? In other words, what is she admitting to him—if there is something—when she confesses that they’re effectively exclusive? 

For her personally, there’s the question of: has she just been going with the flow without having confronted herself as to what that exclusivity means? And perhaps it’s somewhat uncomfortable that their exclusivity might not be totally incidental, and being in that state made her even more annoyed, especially when she felt that he’d just insulted her. Maybe it’s also that?

But I think, in the following chapter, she’s evidently already contemplating that there’s some sort of thing between them, whatever it is, because even if she said Percy and Annabeth were deluded for setting her up with Malcolm, it seems like she cares that she is somewhat of consequence to him. Or is it just some level of respect she’s alluding to when she’s saying, basically, “I took care of you and we chatted and we were connecting. How dare you then act like you didn’t care about me?” Regardless of what little they are to each other, she clearly doesn’t want to be treated like she’s just some one-night-stand, especially the one who’s into it more.

However much of that want is purely out of pride (because surely he’s gotta care about her and be crazy about her, right?), Malcolm isn’t sure. Or, I guess, he would say he knows already (e.g., ‘You’re a little blip of fun. Get with the program.’) Of course, however much we (want to dis)agree with Malcolm is a different question.

[iannageorge]

Chapter 14: Game theory analysis

A reply to Guesty (thread here): 

Excuse me, I cannot BELIEVE I get to read a whole game theory analysis of Malcolm and Rhode’s interactions OMG!!! Thank you for that! 

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I acknowledge, like you, that, yes, it’s incredibly condescending and degrading to have your relationship interactions be reduced to a set of letters and numbers. Etc. Etc. 

But! For the sake of playing around with economics, and with the assumption that we’re just using game theory to understand Malcolm and Rhode’s behaviors vs. thinking they should justify their behaviors based on the hypothetical math, let me add to your analysis: 

You were theorizing that Malcolm is misinterpreting the payoffs of his interactions with Rhode. Yeah, probably. More than that, (like you also were getting at, I think), it seems he realized that he misinterpreted the entire game. And it seems that he also realized that what he’s been caring about in terms of “winning” has nothing to do with what Rhode even cares about. (Especially because she has a dominant strategy, right? Because, to her, it’s always better to cooperate. And she probably assumes that there’s an obvious dominant strategy for him, too, if only he realized it.)

So, Rhode giving him a tough time (which really could be her just being truthful and open and just not shy – *her* dominant strategy) doesn’t mean he has to feel like he’s losing, right? Because if, like you said, he’s assigning a higher value to his pride than it’s actually worth, then it’s clear he should do the same as her. Except he doesn’t. 

I think what Malcolm just realized (or what he thinks right now) is that Rhode’s “game” is kinda just that wants to get off/feel good. He now thinks that her game is as simple as that and he was totally overcomplicating their “game” before, like about who would win. And because, whatever they do, Rhode will pretty much certainly get off anyway, she will always win *her* game (i.e., her payoff is always more than 0) and she doesn’t seem to care about *his* game (the sort of “who has the upper hand?” thing he’s been going on about). 

On top of that, what he probably realized is that perhaps Rhode doesn’t even care whose payoff is larger—just that both their payoffs are positive. Because is it really a competition? Not only does his being a participant mean he’s *not* the toy/game, because sometimes he feels like that; he’s not even necessarily an opponent. He doesn’t have to be. Based on Rhode’s game, it’s really up to him whether they both win or if only she wins. At least that’s how she might see it. 

Except he had his own game, based on his own pride and his feelings or whatever, which meant that he had his own payoffs to think about. As you implied elsewhere in your comment, he’ll sometimes hold himself back. I suppose his payoffs are better represented in a tree or a matrix within a matrix. So, (A) if he cooperates, she could kinda embarrass/annoy him or she could not. Up to her. If she embarrasses/annoys him, he could have a negative payoff. If she doesn’t embarrass/annoy him, he has a positive payoff. Or (B) if he defects, she could still embarrass/annoy him. And there are still positive and negative payoffs there. How much Rhode embarrassing/annoying Malcolm should get to him is like another decision layer/branch on his part (if we think of each game being each day they meet), but it’s already super complicated without that third layer (1. he cooperates/defects; 2. she is nice or mean; 3. he lets her comments and actions get to him/not). 

Or that’s at least how I interpret how they came out in the ink/pixels on my pages.

[iannageorge]

Chapter 14: Scene 1

For this chapter, I focused a lot on the first scene. While I always try to write characters simply as people rather than as [insert gender here], I think it’s naive to ignore gender entirely when shaping and writing characters. 

The first scene in this chapter was my most overt attempt at nuancing characters who do sexist things. 

In my fic, I never want to focus on obvious issues (sexism is bad; capitalism has its harms; etc). To me, these are boring messages. My goal in portraying these characters and showcasing New Athens was always to play around with and discover the nuances and complexities of good/relatively well-meaning people and a progressive-ish, left-leaning state. 

In other words, once the obvious stuff is settled, what else is there to grapple with? For example: 

Once we’ve established that marginalized groups need support, how do we get there? A universal basic income program or more targeted social programs? 

When no one is an outright bigot, what mild forms of inappropriate behavior might we find around us? Who around you commits microaggressions and how do you deal with them? 

So, I very consciously tried to avoid portraying these guys as stereotypical, 2D (if not 1D) sex-crazed men. I’m not a dude, but I personally find it cringe when there are things like that infamous Gillette ad, where the idea was commendable but the details/execution were rather 🥴. 

In any case, I also thought it was more “real” and interesting, shall we say, to portray people that don’t fit into nice little boxes, like: 

Coworkers who do valuable things for women and/or marginalized groups can engage in sexism. 

The guy who’s taking down CP and revenge porn is saying objectifying things about a woman. (Framed differently: the guy who is being rather objectifying of women takes down CP and revenge porn in his day job and insists on working overtime to do more.) 

The guy(s) you root for has his own shortcomings in shutting down inappropriate discussions. 

The sleazy guy annoying you knows better how to stop a particular male victim from shutting out. 

And maybe that guy has also been changing for the better?

Etc.

[iannageorge]

Chapter 14: Scene 3

Written on Dec 5 or so, 2024 as I was in the middle of editing the chapter (that, yes, I just posted on Apr 1 😅): 

So… it’s, uh, funny to have written about the value of a statistical life only to see insurance companies hit the news over the fatal shooting of that shit stain of a human in broad daylight in NYC. Maybe that makes this scene more interesting? Or frustrating? I don’t know how you’d feel about it. 

To defend our trio here (Malcolm, Chiara, and Bae), you can use the same heartless method while aiming to achieve the opposite goal of UnitedHealthcare. To defend Ray, how can anyone claiming to have principles assign a dollar figure to anyone’s life? 

I thought it’d be fun to make someone so hateable teach Malcolm a lesson. Don’t you hate rude, smarmy people who know better than you? Lol. Also, it seemed intriguing to me to have a less calculating, artsier person be more of the asshole—if you see it Malcolm’s way, of course. 

[iannageorge]

Strategist, Chapter 14: In which Malcolm gets dragged into the hot seat

Now posted on AO3!

Look at that, we finally get some consequences to some conflict 7 chapters ago... Sooner or later, our rivals with benefits have to air out / sort out their conflicts, and that later is now.

An excerpt:

What once felt solid, even if precious, cracked along its surface, spidering towards its core, threatening to splinter into dust.  Malcolm wanted to crawl out of his skin, bury it, and bury himself, too.  To think he had thought he’d known Rhode. Could’ve trusted her. Held her up as some exemplary person who just perfectly handled all the things that counted, and yet...

Related posts:

A note on the first scene

A note on the second scene

A note on the third scene

Game theory analysis

That chapter 12 fight and what we learn in chapter 14

[iannageorge]

Rejected opening lines

Y’all, the number of times I wrote and rewrote the beginning of chapter 13. 😩🙃

I think finalizing the intro took the longest—followed by writing funny sexy scenes when... *gesturing broadly at everything*.

Other opening lines I didn't go with, with all its typos, unsatisfying phrasing, elusive words, and unnamed characters:

[iannageorge]

Strategist, Chapter 13: In which Malcolm is sick and tired

Now posted on AO3!

This chapter is like 70% Malcolm and Rhode's banter, which I LOVE writing. I love having them show they care for each other while also riling each other up like petty, snarky little shits.

One of them does it better than the other. Because the winning party here is like, If your flavor of degradation is caring for my health, you're really such a softie.

Can you tell I snorted so many times writing this chapter?

Rhode’s eyes snapped open, blistering Malcolm with what fury she could manage. “What has gotten into you?”  “What’s gotten into you?” “Nothing. Nothing much. That’s why I came here. So you could.”  Malcolm physically took a beat, but got his hips going before Rhode could complain again. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. 

[iannageorge]

Creating characters

I recently sneaked a peek at my unpublished Capture the Flag fic—the one that had Malcolm and Rhode in it and that gave me the idea of setting them up.

In that draft, he is so goofy lol. You wouldn’t even think he’s the same person as the Malcolm that ended up in my fic Strategist.

Seeing that cringe and character assassination (if I can even call it that) made me remember those months in 2018 and probably also 2019 when I was trying to create and understand these two characters. What sometimes happens when you’re in that process is that your characters will be like the same person. That’s what I remember reading in online how-tos on how to write.

In my old drafts, Malcolm and Rhode were so ridiculously similar and they spoke the same way and they had the same outlook. That obviously didn’t work when I wanted them to have that opposites attract vibe and, you know, tension.

So then I came up with ideas for their backstories and hopes and fears and how all that stuff related to each other.

Malcolm wasn’t that difficult to shape/understand. Once I figured out Malcolm came from Chicago, I just had to make him a product and representation of the city.

Rhode was more difficult. I used every scrap I could find about her, but there's so little out there! But even that was helpful because I felt less constrained in what I could do with her. But more importantly, the fact that there is so little about her became one thing I then did know about her: that she was barely worshipped or even thought about, at least relative to other mythical characters. The end of chapter 4 talks about that and that was how I got the idea that Malcolm would create art for her.

By the way, chapter 4 mentions that cave sanctuary for an unnamed water spirit at the Acropolis of Rhodes. I saw it irl and man is it sad lol. I didn’t even feel the need to take a picture. 😂 I went all the way there, knowing I referenced that very thing in this fic, saying it was for my beloved character, and nope! Not one pic.

[iannageorge]

All the subplots...

In Strategist chapter 12 alone, there are idk maybe 10 subplots building into something or setting up future scenes. That’s a big reason why my chapters are freakishly long. 

The subplots are also why it takes so long to post an update. Finalizing chapter X means I also have to simultaneously draft/edit more of chapters A, B, C, etc. 

The second-best part of working all these things in my fic is getting to read the plot/characterization build-up when I reread what I've posted and what I have yet to post.

The best part, though, is the devious feeling I get writing innocuous crumbs leading to major fuckups. 😈

There is one trail of crumbs I’m particularly proud of that I will reveal in due time. 

[iannageorge]

In personal news, I lost my job. I don't miss it; my bosses ended up being crooks. I thought leaving would mean I would write way more, but ever since, I’ve taken time off from pretty much everything. 

The job was actually nice for a time. In a post a while back, I was flipping out very vaguely about something in my job, and I feel like I can share it now:

One random, hilarious day, without my input, they just said, “We’re giving you a new title.” And what was that title? ……………...... “Strategist”.

YES. You read that right. The name of my position was the name of my already five-year-old secret fic lmao.

Nobody ever knows what being a “Strategist” means in a job, so professionally I hated the term and never actually used it, but, you know, it was so amusingly, jaw-droppingly, freakishly perfect to be bestowed that title. 

I may also end up deleting this at some point for doxing concerns, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to share this with the near-zero people who will see this because I CANNOT be the only one in the world who will ever know something this insane. It’s too much to keep to myself. Can you imagine how crazy that felt?

[iannageorge]

So, just two days ago after I finished the latest chapter of my fic, I came back to Tumblr for the first time in months to find out there’s been another PJO book out. Lol. I am so out of the loop. I still haven’t fully read anything past Blood of Olympus, never opened up Chalice of the Gods, and never saw anything of the Disney+ series aside from the trailer. I came across “wottg” and I was clueless as to what that even was. 

It feels strange to spend so much of my time writing a ginormous fanfic I love so dearly that is set in a fandom I hardly feel connected to anymore. (Is this where I should also mention that I've also been on and off on for years messily drafting a sequel I will likely never publish, partly because it's just so tragic, although that's also why I am on and off messily drafting other versions of the same story?)

I suppose that goes to show that, once you put it out there, art takes a life of its own, and people who connect with that art at some point are able to make things theirs, even as those works of art and their fans evolve along separate paths.

Maybe one day I'll actually be compelled to get back into PJO canon. For now, I'm more than content exploring my version, and I'm cherishing the fact that there actually people who have continued to read it, even as I know full well that my main fic and any of its current readers may eventually grow apart.

[iannageorge]

Strategist, Chapter 12: In which Malcolm meddles in godly drama (Part 2)

Now posted on AO3!

Part 2 starts from “Without warning, Rhode returned...”

I am so sorry this sub-chapter took forever. It ended up being 10.6k words instead of 5k lol.

Here is an excerpt of one of the many subplots I’m excited to share more of in future chapters!

“Apollo did... meet Helios five years ago,” Malcolm said carefully. “He could’ve—not like I know, but—he could’ve passed along a message for you? Could be that?”  There was a silence that grew as awkward as Malcolm felt at the reminder of how inconsequential he was to Rhode’s entire existence. That truth was almost embarrassing. Frankly, it was weird that he’d already gotten so used to Rhode that he’d sometimes forgotten that fact. And it was even more bizarre that after nearly an hour today, and all those other times, he yet again found Rhode within his three-foot radius. How odd was it that her gel pens were stored in his desk drawer these days, now scattered across the table amidst his own writing utensils and papers?  Malcolm’s thoughts snapped away as Rhode stole his keyboard without a word, slotting more names to tables.  “I would still rather give up all my dresses,” she then declared. “No, I wouldn’t. I would rather burn my entire closet.”  Malcolm’s lips fell ajar. “I thought that would’ve been the more conflicting thing. Last words and all.” 

[iannageorge]

Glad to see you’re still going strong! - RJ

Thanks, RJ! You, too, I hope! 😊

[iannageorge]

Can you talk a little more about Malcolm and Clarisse's side of the city security issue? I didn't quite understand the debate.

Loved this chapter! I have to admit, it's an annoyance to me when characters seem to forget all their responsibilities when in a sexual relationship while working together, so it was amazing to see Malcolm and Rhode do so much work (competence!). The pining was fun to read too. And poor Ainsleigh, I live in fear of being thought of by someone the way Malcolm thinks of her in this chapter. It's very realistic though, and I liked her interactions with Rhode.

First of all, thank you for this! 💜

Second, are you the same Diana from years ago?! On FF.net? Or? IDK there could be so many Dianas!

Third, I relate to Ainsleigh so hard. I am so sure I've been in her position before. She's trying—in more ways than one. 🥺 I also wanted to show Malcolm's mean side! 😂 ('"That's kind of you." No, that's your job' was one of my favorite parts in the chapter lol.) But he also doesn't... understand... her motives. Because she's not incompetent.

Fourth, I can revisit the security thing to make sure it's clearer. For now:

Clarisse thinks it is silly not to take measures to prevent danger in New Athens. The example in the chapter is, well, what if there are "monsters" like empousai (assuming they were "good"—i.e., on the Olympians' side) who want to visit or live in New Athens? They should be allowed to, but should anyone be allowed to come? Anyone at all? Any monster or problematic god? Maybe not, right? How much danger would residents face if the city allows that? So, maybe the city should have border patrol.

Malcolm thinks it would be expensive to implement those measures, but then again, he also wants the city to be safe (the references to Soteria also hint at that). He thinks it would be dangerous and also expensive not to take any preventative measures and to just react to whatever havoc anyone wreaks upon the city. [FORGOT TO ADD SOMETHING: Basically, he's concerned about overpopulation, like if housing and healthcare can't keep up with the number of people living in the city. He's also cool with people's mortal families living there, but it of course can't be any mortal.]

Fifth, I'm glad you like the work/competence/responsibilities part! That was essential to me. ☺️ And I mean both Malcolm's and Rhode's separate work and their work together. Very clearly, they are both workaholics who care deeply about what they do, so I couldn't leave out their responsibilities. And very clearly, it is also because they're like that that they're drawn to each other.

[iannageorge]

Violets!!

I chose this profile pic on AO3 years ago for a reason, and I finally got to mention it in Chapter 12. (AAHHHHHH!) (The reason will be in chapter 18-ish.) I already think I’m being too much of a Captain Obvious here, so that is all I will say, and I will just leave you with the excerpt. ;)

“Violets?” Malcolm said. He saw violets mentioned somewhere recently. Who knew where? It was probably mentioned in an article or poem he had read at night. That must’ve been why he didn’t remember.  Rhode turned from the smart board to look at him—maybe judging his choice, what with the way her brows twitched. Nevertheless:  “Violets are nice,” she said, somehow feeling a need to provide her input. “They seem sweet and also badass.”  “Cool. Violets then,” Malcolm said.  He ignored the fact that he was certain he couldn’t pick them out of a lineup of blue or purple flowers. Nor did he know how a violet could look “badass”. Maybe he didn’t know because he couldn’t recognize one? 

[iannageorge]

Architectural references in Chapter 12

Chapter 12 of Strategist is mainly about godly drama (along with Malcolm’s evolving relationship with Rhode, of course). But I always like referencing Malcolm’s backstory, showing his love for Chicago, and highlighting his bond with Annabeth.

This was my fave part of the chapter to write—with links added to what I was referencing:

The [Demeter Cabin] was its own oasis, structured by trees, decorated by flowers, and swallowed by ivy. The vines were a hundred memories of walks along the Quad in green, gold, and white. They took Malcolm to his father’s lunch breaks and lessons in the castley buildings and to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House just steps away. They led him to the gothic wonders he had sneaked around with Annabeth half a lifetime ago.

I was tempted to mention the Reg and Mansueto (two libraries), but the paragraph got too long, and mentioning them detracted from the whole thing. The Reg is a huge brutalist structure and Mansueto is mainly a glass dome. Neither fit the vibe.

If you look at a map, what ended up in the chapter follows a route you can actually walk along without detours.

(Well, actually, you could start with the libraries, then go down and through the Quad, then left to the econ buildings, and then to Robie House smack-dab next door. But I wanted to (had to) mention the Quad first, because the ivy you can see in the Quad was the connection to the Demeter Cabin. I also couldn’t mention the libraries at the end because Malcolm and Annabeth wouldn’t have seen Mansueto together as pre-teens, since it’s newer.)