Visual Novel / Platinum

Platinum is one of the many stories under the Choices: Stories You Play collection.

In this book, an aspiring singer is discovered and now the doors are open to success for her!

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Tropes found:

• Absurdly Long Wait: Chapter 1 has the narration describe how Cadence feels about wanting to go home from work.
  “You check the clock. In fifteen minutes, it will be two hours until one hour until you can go home.”
• Abusive Parents: Zadie’s parents disowned her because she wanted to pursue her passion as a designer instead of becoming a lawyer. When she attempts to make amends with them in Chapter 10, they do nothing but make disparaging remarks and make it clear that they don’t support her career choice.
  • Abby’s mother shows herself to be somewhat neglectful and uncaring of what her daughter really needs.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Cadence does find amusing some of the memes made at her expense after the Vinyls incident.
• Anything but That!:
  • Cadence has this reaction to the banana suit and having to put it on to get customers. This is the free choice if you don't pay for the first premium choice of the book.
  • Chapter 6 has Avery and Micah reacting this way when they realize Cadence's first major interview is with Tim Schenectady, who is described as being the toughest interviewer in the business.
• Beach Episode: More lake than beach, but still applies in Chapter 13 with Cadence and friends getting into swimsuits for some fun in the sun.
• Betty and Veronica: Cadence becomes the Archie to clean-cut Avery's Betty and edgier Raleigh's Veronica, while Shane is the setting's Cheryl Blossom.
• Be Yourself: The premium scenes with Avery show Cadence helping them be able to write their new album their own way instead of relying on focus groups and ghostwriters.
• Big Applesauce: Chapter 5 has Cadence move to New York to make her album, and where most of the story takes place afterwards.
• Big "NO!": Cadence's boss, Thad, lets this out if she chooses the "Go Big" choice by overstuffing all the blenders and letting them go full blast.

• Boxing Lessons for Superman: While Avery's a great singer, they've always had their songs done by ghost writers. Cadence has a premium scene in Chapter 7 to help teach them how to get into writing their own songs as well as a chance to get romantic.
• Burger Fool: Cadence's day job is a barista at Smoothie Star. At one point, she has to wear a banana costume and hand out coupons unless the player chooses the premium option to quit. The banana suit comes back in Chapter 12 when Cadence is exiled back home after the scandal and uses it to get home without being hassled.
• The Cameo:
  • Ryder appears in Chapters 2 through 4 as one of the guest mentors on One in a Million.
  • If you go on a date with Raleigh, you end up in a game of pool chicken against Bianca.
  • If you take the premium option in Chapter 9 to hold the album release party at 10 CIRCUS, Ryan Summers is also there.
  • Chapter 10 has Josh Morello hosting Last Call. Cadence even says she can't wait to see the detective comedy he's making with Teja.
  • Chapter 12 has Jaylen meeting up with Carson Stewart, who also interviews Cadence on the red carpet.
• Character Customization: Both Avery Wilshere and Raleigh Carrera can be chosen to be either male or female.
• Crazy Enough to Work: In Chapter 14, Raleigh considers Avery's plan to let Cadence crash their spot at the Indio Music Festival to be this.
• Crazy-Prepared: Chapter 14 shows that Zadie is this when it comes to fashion, giving her a new premium outfit for the Indio Music Festival.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Cadence can turn Chapter 4 into this with premium decisions. It involves taking the diamond outfit, private lessons from Raleigh and playing Cadence's original song. Raleigh, Henry, and Stepback vote for Cadence regardless, but if no diamonds are spent, Dusty and the audience vote for Jaylen, making the vote a close 3-2. If the aforementioned premium choices are taken, however, the audience votes for Cadence because of her song, while Dusty votes for her because of her outfit, so the vote ends up unanimous in Cadence's favor.
• Curse Cut Short: In Chapter 4, during One in a Million:
  Henry Rockins: But I'm not a cog in the machine. I'm here to f--
  Teri: All right! Thank you, Henry! I'd like to remind everybody that we are taping live.
• The Eeyore: Luna is a perpetually depressed Goth of the Gloomy Goth variety.
• Egg Sitting: A premium scene with Shane in Chapter 6 can have this as an option for one of the things Cadence and Shane have done together with the name John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt.
• Embarrassing Tattoo: Inverted where Raleigh is embarrassed of another fan's tattoo of their face on her ankle, hoping it was a temporary one. It's not. It took twelve hours and she describes it hurt so bad to get it.
• Enemy Mine: Chapter 11 has Cadence find out that she's going to have a duet with Jaylen if you've been playing up the rivalry from the start.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Chapter 13 has Cadence have one in finally figuring out how to finish her song.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Invoked. Raleigh's hair was much longer until their PR team had them get it cut for a “responsible” image.
• Fake Charity: Chapter 7 has Raleigh disgusted at the charity event they attend with Cadence, telling her that out of all the money donated, only 5% of it is actually going to the cause it's supporting. The rest is all “overhead” for things like champagne, wagyu beef, ice cream with 24k gold flakes, hiring string quartets and cleaning the red carpet. They consider these charities as the rich having an excuse to throw parties or feel less selfish by donating to a cause.
• Fake Relationship: In Chapter 6, Fiona engineers one between Cadence and Raleigh after a leaked paparazzi photo of the two of them together surfaces. The trope can be subverted if the player has chosen Raleigh as their love interest. Chapter 11 has her breaking up with them in public.
• Faking Another Person's Illness: Chapter 1 has this with Cadence trying to get out of work early by saying her grandma's sick. Thad calls her out by saying he just saw her grandma at the carnival quite healthy and dominating everyone at Skee-Ball. It ends up leading to the banana suit.
• Fan Community Nickname: In-Universe, Avery's fans are the Avery Army. Cadence calls herself a lieutenant.
• The Fashionista: Zadie is this for Avery as well as Cadence, personally responsible for her premium outfits throughout the story.
• Female Empowerment Song: Chapter 7 has Jaylen put one out called "Firecracker."
• Fictional Counterpart:
  • PlayMe is YouTube.
  • One in a Million is American Idol.
  • TV Remote magazine is TV Guide.
  • Popular magazine is People magazine.
  • Them magazine is Us Weekly.
  • Last Call is Saturday Night Live.
  • The Vinyl Awards are the Grammy Awards.
  • Smoothie Star is this to Jamba Juice.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Chapter 1 has Cadence's boss, Thad, do this by saying “The customer is always...” A. Right.; B. A jackass. In the first premium choice of the story, the “Go home” option has her turn it on him with “I...” and “Quit.”
• Fix It in Post: At the end of Chapter 3, Cadence tries to reassure herself by saying that if she goofs on the show, they can edit it out. However, Fiona tells her that this is live TV, implying the trope is not in effect.
• Food Slap: One of the ways Cadence can "break up" with Raleigh is to dump her can of ElectraLite over their head.
• Former Child Star: Raleigh got their start at 15 and is already quite experienced as a pop star compared to Avery and Cadence.
• Fountain of Memes: In-Universe, Cadence becomes this in Chapter 13 after the Vinyls scandal.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: Chapter 11 is this in the case of the MoDA Gala being the "Idol" side which boosts your fan count while going to the Five-Minute Film Festival doesn't, but is more on the "Friend" side.
• Full-Name Basis: Abby's mother, Abigail, refers to her by her full name of Abigail Phillippa Prior-Chauncey IV.
• The Gadfly: Raleigh seems to have a lot of fun antagonizing people. In a conversation with them in Chapter 2, one of the choices has them reveal that they sent each member of Mothers Against Raleigh Carrera a gift basket after their latest single reached #1 because of the publicity they unwittingly gave it. Later on, during the One in a Million live show, they deliberately show up late to the stage, dunk on both Jaylen and Cadence, react with a laugh if Cadence chooses to dunk back, then claim live on air that they're voting for Cadence because Abigail threatened to sue them if they didn't vote for Abby.
• Genre Mashup: At the club in Chapter 5, there are three different mashups to choose from.
  • 7 Rings and Ring of Fire.
  • Dog Days are Over and Hound Dog.
  • Party in the USA and Born in the USA.
• Glasses Are Sexy: If you choose to have Cadence duet with Avery or Raleigh in Chapter 14, her duet partner will comment on how attractive Cadence looks in glasses.
• Goofy Suit: In Chapter 1, Cadence puts on a banana suit if she chooses to stay and hand out coupons. The suit returns at the Indio festival as the free disguise.
• Hate Sink: Rod, Fiona's boyfriend, is this by acting like her achievements in the business and music world mean little, that she has zero taste in music and even asking her to get his dry cleaning.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: As with all Choices games, you can name your character whatever you wish. Your character's default name is Cadence Dorian.
  • Real Name as an Alias: You can choose your stage name in chapter 6, the default is Cadence. If you stick to the default real name and the default stage name, you'll live up to this trope.
• I Have No Daughter!: Zadie's parents disowned her for not following in their footsteps by practicing corporate law and negotiating venture capital financing agreements.
• Insignia Rip-Off Ritual: If you take the premium option for Cadence to quit her job, she does this by ripping her nametag off.
• Karaoke Box: Cadence is introduced singing one of Avery's songs in karaoke at the Quacking Duck in Chapter 1.
• Karma Meter: Choices in game show if Cadence is more focused on her music, her fans, or herself. It also determines how many fans she gains in the process. Chapter 7 marks the point where it becomes possible to lose fans based on how your interview with Tim Schenectady goes.
  • Her fanbase drops rapidly regardless of how you handle Jaylen singing Cadence's song in Chapter 12.
• Kayfabe: Invoked by Fiona in Chapter 3 when asking Cadence what Avery and Raleigh's relationship should be, with the available options being collaborating, feuding or dating.
• Kingmaker Scenario: Chapter 7 has Tim Schenectady described as one of these, being someone whose interviews can make someone a star or destroy them. Too many wrong answers during the interview will cause Jaylen to appear on the magazine cover instead of Cadence.
• Lady in Red: Chapter 7 has Female!Raleigh come out in a sexy red dress to a charity ball.
• Lipstick Lesbian:
  • All of Female!Raleigh’s fake relationships have been with women and it’s implied that female!Avery is only into women as well.
  • If Raleigh is female, her bandmates Blair and Cameron will be as well; the latter two are in a same-sex relationship with one another regardless of their genders.
• Meaningful Name: The protagonist's default name is Cadence Dorian. Cadence is a sequence of notes or chords that makes up a musical phrase's close, and dorian is a type of musical mode. Both names fit Cadence's job as a musician.
• Million to One Chance: The whole point of the show One in a Million where out of thousands of auditions, only three make it to the finals and then one wins in the end.
• Noodle Incident: Raleigh had an incident over crashing a yacht that led to them getting their hair cut and community service.
• Official Couple: Chapter 12 gives the player the option to have Cadence choose an escort for the Vinyl Awards, with Fiona indicating that it will make the two of them an official couple.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten The yacht incident is this for Raleigh by Chapter 11.

• Overcomplicated Menu Order: A customer at Smoothie Star does this by ordering a large soy milk smoothie with mango, kale, guava, spinach, kiwi, passionfruit, avocado, and activated almonds before Cadence interrupts her saying she can only put in three ingredients at the most because that's all the blender will hold, but the customer yells at her and her boss tells her to do it. Soon enough she's proven right.
• Passing the Torch: Raleigh's guitar that she gives to Cadence in a premium choice in Chapter 2 was given to her by Prince when they were a new star. Raleigh doing this for Cadence is their way of carrying the tradition on.
• Quirky Ukulele: One of the options Cadence can give in Chapter 7 can have her tell Celine Fay that she used to have a toy ukulele.
• The Rival: Zig-zagged with Jaylen Riaz, who is set up to be Cadence's primary music rival. However, the player can choose whether or not to play into the rivalry.
• The Roadie: Chapter 5 introduces Wade and Luna as two of them who work for Overknight Records. Wade is an older one who's been around since before the studio came into Overknight's management while Luna is a younger goth.
• Romantic Fake–Real Turn: Cadence's relationship with Raleigh becomes this if the player chooses Raleigh as their love interest.
• Sand In My Eyes: In Chapter 14 after the group hears Cadence's first performance of her new song, "Love Who I'll Be," Zadie is crying, which surprises Cadence. She tries to deny it.
  "No... My pent-up angst is just escaping from my eyes."
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Phil, the co-host of One in a Million, claims he can get away with his Brutal Honesty and other displays of jerkassery because his father is the owner of the network.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • The first premium choice of the book is Cadence quitting her job to go see Avery's secret show after being asked to put on a banana suit.
  • Raleigh does this at the charity event in Chapter 7, unable to deal with how fake it all is. It's a premium choice to have Cadence go with them.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: In-Universe, Cadence and Avery declare they will leave Overknight Records when Ellis won't let Cadence release her newest song because he feels the scandal is still too fresh in the public's mind. He reminds them that their contracts require them to do two albums, and they've only put out one each, a decision which essentially leaves Cadence's career in limbo.
• Secret Handshake: Cadence and Shane give each other this which involves a fist bump and either a hip bump, golf swing or keyboard typing before ending in a hug.
• Self-Made Woman: In Chapter 12 if you choose for Fiona to break up with Rod, he says he made her career while she says the opposite.
• Shipper on Deck: By Chapter 12, both Cadence and Zadie agree that Fiona should be going out with Hank.
• Ship Tease: Fiona appears to be quite flustered when Hank takes off his sunglasses. Happens again in Chapter 11 at the MoDA Gala when Hank comes in wearing a nice suit, making both Cadence and Fiona say he cleans up nicely.
• Shout-Out:
  • In Chapter 2, after seeing the long line of auditioners for One in a Million, one option for Cadence is to say that she's gonna kick ass. Shane says she's here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and she's all out of gum.
  • Chapter 2 mentions both Danny Devito and Prince.
  • Chapter 5 has Cadence mention that some of Ozone's clients that he's worked with include the likes of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. It also references Simon & Garfunkel when Cadence wonders if that's who Wade meant about "Paul and Art."
• Slave to PR:
  • Fiona claims that every "authentic" moment of all singers like Avery are actually carefully calculated PR moves.
  • As Cadence can point out, Ellis refuses to do anything unless it's been validated by public opinion somehow. He signed Cadence to a contract when she won One in a Million, forced her to withdraw from the public eye when the fans turned against her after the Vinyls incident, and only allowed her to resume her career when her Indio performance reignited her popularity. Additionally, he's made Avery's entire career dependent on feedback from focus groups, and bought out Jaylen's record label when it became clear she was a rising star and public darling.
• Spaghetti Kiss: A premium date with Shane in Chapter 9 can invoke it, including outright saying Lady and the Tramp.
• Spicy Latina: A female Raleigh is this, being of Puerto Rican heritage and extremely sassy.
• Stage Mom: There's a good reason Fiona refers to Abigail, Abby's mother, as an "aggressive momager". Her first appearance in Chapter 2 has her telling Abby not to even speak to regular people so she doesn't strain her vocal cords, and she's later shown in Chapter 4 neglecting Abby to call the judges' lawyers and/or managers in order to make sure their clients vote for her daughter... and later calling a production assistant when it doesn't work.
• Stage Names: In-universe, superstar teenage DJ and producer Micah Okoye goes by the name Ozone in public.
• Starstruck Speechless:
  • While cleaning up the mess from the smoothie and singing to her idol's song, Cadence finds herself alone with Avery Wilshere and is in this position. Avery then mentions having grown used to having fans suffer from this in front of them.
  • Chapter 9 has Micah get his own when he meets Stepback Three.
• Start My Own: In Chapter 16, Avery quits Overknight Records and starts their own record label, Wilshere Records. In the epilogue, they ask Fiona to be the CEO.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Luna pulls this off on Cadence and Micah in Chapter 9, having been in Zadie's room the whole time.
• Suddenly Voiced: A first for Choices as there are vocalized songs in the game that change depending on what gender you've selected for Avery or Raleigh.
• Surprise Party: A premium choice in Chapter 3 has Cadence, with the help of Fiona, throwing a surprise pizza party for the crew. Raleigh is fully aware that she's playing the game to win points with the viewers at home.
• Talent Show: Cadence is inspired by Avery to audition for the show One in a Million after a meeting with them.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: A premium date with Shane in Chapter 9 can reveal the first time Cadence and Shane got drunk was when his sister spiked their ElectraLite that it made them think the Star Wars prequels were good.
• Taxman Takes the Winnings: Phil points out that almost half of the $25,000 prize in One in a Million will go to taxes. Eventually averted as the cash prize is replaced with a record deal.
• "Test Your Strength" Game: One of the games to play in a premium date with Avery in Chapter 1 is this, with Cadence hitting the bell.
• Whack-a-Monster: One of the game options for Cadence to play at the carnival in Chapter 1 is Whack-A-Mole.
• What Does She See in Him?: In Chapter 11 at the MoDA Gala, Cadence can ask Fiona directly what she sees in a guy like Rod. Far as Fiona's concerned, he's just eye candy.
• What Is This Feeling?: By Chapter 11, Fiona is wondering why she feels guilty (not even realizing that’s what’s she’s feeling) about manipulating Cadence into breaking up with Raleigh even for press.
• White-Dwarf Starlet: Male example, Stepback is NOT happy about being treated like he’s on the verge of retiring, or even worse, already dead, especially as he points out he’s only 45. Which is part of why he treats Micah so badly at first, he feels threatened.
• Who Writes This Crap?!: If Cadence is stuck in the banana costume, she has to advertise such drinks like the "banana hammock" and wonder who names these drinks.
• Win Back the Crowd: Invoked. Avery's idea to let Cadence crash their set at the Indio Music Festival is meant to let Cadence show her new song to impress the general audience enough to move on from the Vinyls controversy.
• Win Her a Prize: Gender flipped for male but played straight for female Avery if you take them to the carnival in a premium date in Chapter 1.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Chapter 3 has Shane freaking out that he'll flunk film school. Cadence has the option to say this trope.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Jaylen has this reaction to Cadence saying she was personally invited by Avery while Jaylen has auditioned five times.
• Younger Than They Look: Cadence meets a teenage boy outside the studio in Chapter 5, unaware that he's Ozone, her producer who she thought was older. Happens again in Chapter 9 when Stepback Three thought not only was he older, but he was a group. This works against him in Chapter 15 when the security guard backstage refuses to believe he's Ozone.