January 2021 Matchmaker Mods: The Sci-Fi Setup

[Anna]

January 2021 Matchmaker Mods: The Sci-Fi Setup
Vote here.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

The mods have turned matchmaker, and are going to set you up with the book of your dreams via a mystery dating poll! I'm also taking you on a musical journey through my brain, so buckle up!

Check the next post for details about the books. Five of the original books have been removed, as they've moved on to the poll. You can now start guessing what the remaining books are. Please use spoiler tags when guessing.

I wouldn't recommend watching any of this at work or with children around, but I've added an NSFW to the ones that clearly need it.

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

The books are represented by characters from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Don't expect the characters to represent the books with 100% accuracy! If you haven't seen the show, that's OK, you don't need to know anything about it. But if you're currently watching it, or planning on watching it, and don't want any spoilers, let me know where in the series you are, and I'll tell you which videos you should skip.

AGAIN, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

Here is a music video that explains everything! ;)


Satan Anna Fiend (aka. Santa Ana Winds)

[Anna]

THE BOOKS


SOME BASIC FACTS BEFORE WE BEGIN (THE BEGUINE)

- All books are for adults
- None of the books are romances, romantic subplots may occur
- Shards of Honor is not on the list
- The reasoning behind the clues is in spoiler tags, but they're blurb level "spoilers"

SHOWTIME!

🎵 Hey. What are you doing for the next, like, 13 hours? 🎵

Cornelia = (view spoiler)[ Terra Nullius (hide spoiler)] *
I'm tense, challenging, dark, emotional, and mysterious, and I'm from the Bushes of Love. How do we sleep while our Beds Are Burning? I Feel Like This Isn't About Me!

-> (view spoiler)[ Bush refers to the setting in Australia and the video also has something else that would be spoilery. The Midnight Oil song is about colonizing Australia, and the rights of the indigenous people, just like the book. The CXG song is simply a white woman telling you that this book is not about her, ie. not about white people. (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: I'm a Dark Emu from No Man's Land.

-> (view spoiler)[ Dark Emu hints at the subject of the book, and Terra Nullius is Latin for Nobody's Land. (hide spoiler)]

Paula = (view spoiler)[ The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (hide spoiler)]
I'm dark, tense, and emotional. I spend my days on The Road, writing about the Miracle of Birth (NSFW) in Nobody's Diary.

-> (view spoiler)[ I think the CXG song is self-explanatory :D The book is written in journal entries, by someone whose name we don't know, so Nobody's Diary. And see below for Road. (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: 📖 ❓ 👩‍⚕️
Extra clue: I'm a Fever survivor on the Road to Nowhere.

-> (view spoiler)[ Fever and Road to Nowhere were in the original text. Allison guessed it immediately, so I took them out :P The series is named Road to Nowhere, and Allison said that the fever clue was what made her sure. (hide spoiler)]

Steve = (view spoiler)[ Gene Mapper (hide spoiler)]
I'm an adventurous and informative Nerdy Boy (NSFW) from Silicon Valley. I recently met Ein Lama in Yokohama regarding a Textmergency.

-> (view spoiler)[ Someone I used to know online was obsessed with Schnappi, and as I went to see what it was about, I found the llama video, and it was love at first sight! My then boyfriend found the song for me, and added it to all the mixes he made for my iPod. Good times! ^_^ (I don't miss him, but I do miss the mixes!) So of course I had to use this song in this game! Japan! Rice! It's a 100% match! :P Nerdy Boy talks about how "Steve Jobs is his swami" and "he thinks DNA is pretty". And of course we have the ghost of Steve Jobs in the CXG video, which is about a technological disaster, whatever you want to call it. Gene Mapper is about a future where people literally code the DNA of rice, and something catastrophic (or an emergency) happens, and things take off from there. Silicon Valley again only there to hammer in the coding aspect. (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: Kelly Cartographer. Hackman Planner. Simmons Surveyor. Wilder Examiner.
Title clue: 🧬 🗾

-> (view spoiler)[ A bunch of famous Genes, and near synonyms for mapper. (hide spoiler)]

Nathaniel = (view spoiler)[ The Family Tree (hide spoiler)] *
I'm a mysterious, reflective, and emotional Lapin. Sometimes I Go To The Zoo (NSFW) to observe Human Behavior. I'm also interested in Wicked Plants and Other Botanical Atrocities.

-> (view spoiler)[ It's about humans vs. nature, and humans acting like d*cks (that's not ducks btw). That's all I can say, everything else is a spoiler! (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: Mommy, Daddy, and Me! And Stevland.
Title clue: 👪 🌳

-> (view spoiler)[ Stevland is a bamboo, the book is on the group shelf, so a lot of people should've read it. (hide spoiler)]

Rebecca = (view spoiler)[ Zero Sum Game (hide spoiler)]
I'm adventurous, tense, dark, and mysterious. I'm trying to solve The Math of Love Triangles while dodging bullets. I think Real Life Fighting Is Awkward.

-> (view spoiler)[ The protagonist has crazy math skills, and is able to literally dodge bullets because of it?! The author "justifies an MIT degree by using it to write eccentric mathematical superhero fiction". I used the second CXG video to balance out the Marilyn vibes. This was the "actiony option" for those who didn't want to read "an Anna book". (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: I don't have Six Weeks to Waste! Of All the Kisses, this is The Favorite

-> (view spoiler)[ The missing words of these titles make up the title of the book (hide spoiler)]

Josh = (view spoiler)[ An Excess Male (hide spoiler)]
I'm a dark, emotional, challenging, reflective, and sad Boy Band Made Up Of Four Joshes. I was born in 1984, when it was Raining Men, and I want to Date An Asian (NSFW).

-> (view spoiler)[ CXG doesn't have any Chinese characters, so I had to go with Josh who is Filipino. The four Joshes song actually fits pretty well, we have four POV characters, one of whom is a woman, and there is "love" and mental health issues. I didn't want to emphasize the Chinese setting/author, so I chose 1984 as the dystopian element, thinking it'd be something everyone knows. Raining Men was just to really hammer it in that this book deals with a society where there are way more men than women. Date An Asian talks about dating Asian men, Chinese included, and it also talks about concubines, and I figured that with all the hints about multiple men, that works. There's a scene in the video where several men watch as one woman walks by, and I feel that is superficially what the book is about. There are of course many deeper issues under the surface layer, some of which are also touched on in this song, but I won't go into them because of spoilers. (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: Dude! That's too much!
Extra clue: Take a second to think about the name of the band in the title clue :)

-> (view spoiler)[ INXS is pronounced "in excess", and a dude is oftentimes a male :) (hide spoiler)]

Anna the Browbarian = (view spoiler)[ Survival (hide spoiler)] 🎵 OR IS IT? Pay only $9.99 [...] to know for sure! 🎵
I'm a challenging, mysterious, and tense Salmon of Doubt. I know you're going to Research Me Obsessively, but I beg of you Seagulls, Stop It Now!

-> (view spoiler)[ The protag is a salmon researcher on a planet with lots of alien races. The book mentions gulls several times. (hide spoiler)]

Title clue: I like reality TV and Gloria Gaynor.
Title clue: A ________ thinks: "I will _______", and that will guarantee their ________, or their continued existence, their non-expiration if you will. This book is about a 🐟 👩‍🔬 by a 👩‍🔬.

-> (view spoiler)[ Survivor, Survive, Survival. (hide spoiler)]

🎵 Oops, it's three days later 🎵

WHAT?!
What just happened?

* If you're interested in reading this book, please don't read too much about it, or you'll spoil it for yourself.

[Anna]

WHERE DID THE OTHER BOOKS GO?!

They're in the poll!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Satan Anna Fiend gets me every time I watch it XD

[DivaDiane]

Yes, I reckon three days is just about right!

Where are all the bright, laid-back, open and even-keeled characters?!?

[Anna]

Diane wrote: "Yes, I reckon three days is just about right! "

I wasn't expecting any replies before Thursday. To everyone else who is feeling overwhelmed, I only really need help cutting this list down to five! You can base it on anything you like, no need to spend hours trying to intepret what it all means :)

Diane wrote: "Where are all the bright, laid-back, open and even-keeled characters?!?"

You did see who started the thread, right? It's *me*, have you ever seen me be any of those things?!

What I'm reading today, as soon as it drops: I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are

[Silvana]

OMG LOL I love this! But where's Greg?? I always wish he'll just Settle For Me

[Anna]

SILVANA I LOVE YOU! I was sure no one else watched the show! I loved old Greg, but his songs didn't match any of my books :( I was actually humming Settle For Me as I clicked on the notif! ^_^ (New Greg, yes or no?)

I'm still expecting the critical reception of this thread to match that of the show, but it's fine. I know this show is gold, and anyone who disagrees is wrong :)

[Gabi]

:D I admit I have more questionmarks than anything else. I will slowly make my way through your links and hope knowing nothing of the show isn't such a handicap.

But I must say it was a real blow to my heart to read that "Shards of Honor" isn't on the list. :p

[Anna]

Gabi wrote: "I must say it was a real blow to my heart to read that "Shards of Honor" isn't on the list."

I know, I'm so sorry! There is a chance I'm lying and all twelve books are actually Shards! *wicked grin*

[Raucous]

Silvana wrote: "OMG LOL I love this! But where's Greg?? I always wish he'll just Settle For Me"

I have no idea what this is about. But... that was amazing. Now I'm disappointed that Greg (who?) was left out.

[Anna]

Greg wasn't left out on purpose! Well he was, because I could not find a scifi book that would've fit a song that talks about f*cking someone so much they get a UTI, or tapping someone's ass all over the house. If those books exist, and the group wants to read them, send me a private message and I'll add it to the list! :D

Also, just watch the show if you want to see all the amazing songs! There are hundreds, and while I'd very much love to make you choose from that many books, we don't have that kind of time XD Or I guess you can just watch the music videos from Rachel's channel, if the songs are the only thing of interest :)

Third edit: And Santino did leave the show, so if anyone deserves to be left out, it's old Greg!

[Silvana]

I am so distracted with the music vids I forgot I should be thinking about the books ;p

Anna wrote: "SILVANA I LOVE YOU! I was sure no one else watched the show! I loved old Greg, but his songs didn't match any of my books :( I was actually humming Settle For Me as I clicked on the notif! ^_^ (New..."

I'll have the old one, please. Santino Fontana's voice is just...sigh. It was a shit show when he left. Nah, kidding. It was still glorious.

[Anna]

Yeah, I agree, Santino is an amazing singer. Not that I've seen him in anything else, well Frozen :D I'll always wonder how things would've played out if he hadn't left.

[Anna]

Also I don't know why I can't let this go, but I have to point out that "Begin the Beguine" in the text is a(n) homage to "Settle For Me" via Fred Astaire. I love that song/dance, and I couldn't make it work with any book, so I snuck in a reference, even if it's only clear to me :) There are so many other CXG songs I desperately wanted to use but couldn't. Just watch the show! :D

[Silvana]

OK, you just convinced me to re-watch the whole thing again.

And how fun it is to listen to these songs! Even the non CXG ones too.

[Anna]

Yeees, CXG enabling success! I just rewatched the whole thing recently, because I'd been watching all the videos and I missed the rest of it. And I might've watched some episodes twice. And then I went back to watch all the videos again, of course! :D

I already finished Rachel's book, it did have some CXG stuff, but I would've loved to have more. She said she could write an entire book just about CXG, which I'd buy in a heartbeat!

[Kaa]

I have to admit that I don't really like Greg? I only watched a couple seasons of the show, but I was not a fan of him. (I would have loved to see the UTI song linked to a sci-fi book, though!)

A couple thoughts on selections, based on a mix of my feelings about the songs and my feelings about the characters:
Dr. Akopian is an obvious pick for me - I like her as a character and can pretty much guarantee that I will always choose anything Janelle Monae-associated.

Also Darryl, because Getting Bi is an amazing piece of musical theater, and I love him!

And then I'll add Heather and Valencia to the list, just because.

[Anna]

I didn't necessarily love the *character* of Greg, especially towards the end of his arc, but I do love most of his songs! He (and Paula) have all the hilarious ones.

I'll keep looking for that UTI scifi book, if I eventually do find it, I'll be sure to use it in a future poll!

Dr. Akopian is one of my fave characters, she can do no wrong in my eyes :)

[Kaa]

Anna wrote: "I didn't necessarily love the *character* of Greg, especially towards the end of his arc, but I do love most of his songs! He (and Paula) have all the hilarious ones."

Ooh, that's a good distinction, I can agree with that!

[Anna]

I need help cutting this list down to five! I know it's cray, I'm not asking you to watch all the videos, just base your decision on whatever you have time for. Even if it's just which name you like best. If I could've narrowed the list down to five, I would've already done it, so I need some input :)

[Silvana]

Can't choose....

Dr Akopian stan!
Paula, obvs
Rebecca, she's lovable
Nathaniel, fellow Slytherin
Heather, the coolest character

[Anna]

Looks like Dr. Akopian and Heather are strong contenders for the poll.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I say no to Nathaniel =P

Very interested in Valencia and Cornelia!

And Unikitty!!! How could I forget her excellence.

[Anna]

Kaa/Silvana, I looked at your shelves, and you both have at least one of the books you've listed somewhere on your shelves, I'm not saying if it's read or not. Interestingly, you also have at least one book you didn't list on your shelves :D

edit: Well I looked at everyone's shelves, here's how many books in total of the 12 you have on your shelves, read or unread:

Kaa 7
Diane 6
Gabi 6
Raucous 3
Silvana 2

[Silvana]

Well I am known to forget book details as soon as I finish reading them so.... ;p

Finally finished watching all the vids (the CXG ones still cracked me up) and still I ain't got a clue LOL. Paula's Miracle of Birth was my re-watch highlight (agree with the comment, she always had the grossest songs and nailed it). And thanks for introducing me to that Beck Lego movie song, love it!

[Anna]

Well it is unbelievable, super cool, outrageous and amazing, phenomenal, fantastic, so incredible, woo hoo! :D

[Meredith]

okay, based on never having watched the show and clicking on none of the links, I am intrigued by
Heather
Unikitty
Darryl
Valencia

[Anna]

Thanks Meredith! You have 6 of the 12 on your shelves :)

[Meredith]

*eyes shelves suspiciously for dark, tense, and challenging characters*

[Anna]

Look for anything with shifty eyes!

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Heather.
Valencia.
Darryl.
Rebecca.
Anna the Browbarian.

[Anna]

Umm, Ryan, are you stalking me? 9 of the 12 are on your shelves!

... she said, while reporting the findings of her own stalking.

[Midiain]

It's unlikely that I have any of these books on my shelves but I don't have a lot of sci-fi on them. I also still haven't added all the sci-fi I've read but in my defense it's not easy to remember everything I've ever read.

Rebecca
Darryl
Unikitty
Cornelia
Dr. Akopian

[Anna]

Caillen, you do have one! :)

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

Hah! I'm disappointed that it's not all 12!

[Stephanie]

This was fun! I watched the videos and found them very entertaining. My choices:

Dr. Akopian
Josh
Paula
Valencia
Heather

[Anna]

Thanks Stephanie! You have 5/12 on your shelves :)

[Raucous]

I'm disappointed, given the number of books in my TBR list, that it's only 3.

I can't decide either but based on limited information (and apparently a bit of a weak affinity) I am most interested in:

Dr. Akopian
Nathaniel
Rebecca
Anna the Browbarian
Greg

[Anna]

Raucous, I have good news for you! If you want to read the Greg book (based on the video you liked, not all of his weirdo songs), then may I suggest Remake by Connie Willis? It's about old movies and focuses a lot on the dance numbers :) It's too short for the group, and also it's not her best work so I wouldn't use it anyway, but it was a fun, short listen!

[Raucous]

I guess that without that SF UTI book there wasn't much hope for Greg. It seems to be a combination that's still in search of an author and publisher.

Thanks for the pointer to Remake. I tend to prefer Connie Willis's shorter works and I do have a thing about old dance numbers (how do they make it look so easy?) so this should be a good match.

[Anna]

They actually talk about the making it look easy thing in the book/novella!

[Mel]

OMG What did I just watch!?
That Satan Anna Fiend number was... amazing.

And I got your Begin the Beguine reference, Anna! I'm a fan of Fred Astaire and swing music, so I was much pleased with the mention of Artie Shaw.

I've only seen the first few episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and alas, don't remember the characters since it was years ago when my friends showed me... but! I do remember the Settle For Me episode, because when the guy started singing, I noticed the opening notes from A Foggy Day in London Town, and I said aloud, "OMG it's like Fred Astaire!" And then the screen switched to black and white and I flipped. out.

My picks are:
Dr. Akopian
Heather
Unikitty
Darryl
Valencia

[Anna]

I had lots of fun making the SAF video :D Well I had tons of fun working on this whole thing. Yay for someone getting my references! (I can't check your shelves to see how many of the books you have added, because your profile is private.)

edit: Naturally I can't take credit for the *amazing* original Santa Ana Winds video, which is truly a work of art, and that's why I linked it in addition to my edited one.

[Nicol]

I never watched the show but I will now!
My picks are:
Dr. Akopian
Unikitty: I hope there is an alien doggie in this one :)
Darryl
and Anna the Browbarian because I love Seagulls, Stop It now!

[Anna]

Yay, if nothing else comes out of this, people checking out CXG is awesome! You've got 3/12 on your shelves :)

[Anna]

Last chance to have a say in what goes to poll!

[Kristenelle]

This is hilarious! Well done! This must have been a lot of work. I love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and watching all those songs again was so much fun....and I don't remember half of them. I think it is time to rewatch the show.

My picks:
Dr. Akopian
Josh
Heather
Valencia

[Cheryl]

Um, not sure what I'm doing here, but since I don't like dark, mysterious, or adventure, I guess I'm only picking Unikitty?

[Anna]

Thank you both! Kristenelle, you have 2/12 on your shelves. Cheryl, you have 6/12.

"Voting" is now closed! Polls will go up a little later tonight, and then you can start guessing what the remaining books are, if you want to. I'll explain soon! Thank you to everyone who chimed in, you made it easy with a clear top 5 :)