New Fortune
Struggling streamers Sherman and Law are lured onto the Chinese platform New Fortune. Boasting interactivity through polls, neither can halt the changes brought upon them as their new audiences mold them to be the perfect footholds for the brand to spread.
Another streaming based TF, Sherman refines into New Fortune's wholesome fitness streamer in Zhou Meng while Law becomes his brash little brother Liang. Hope you enjoy! -Occam
How is any content creator supposed to rise above the noise these days. This is the dilemma Sherman faces tonight after a long session streaming with his friend Lawrence, as he does most nights. Poring over his meagre metrics, Sherman aimlessly wonders what he’s doing wrong. Is he just unlikeable? Does he need a gimmick?
The reasons for his halted progress towards true popularity are as countless as the fellow streamers sitting in the same boat, hovering around a few hundred viewers. Tonight perhaps his curse may be lifted. Just before logging off from this particularly slow session of streaming, Sherman gets an IM in a language he can’t understand, at first he assumes Japanese, plugging it into a translator he discovers it to actually be Mandarin.
Sure it’s some scam or taunting message, he sighs and reads it anyway only to perk up at its content. “嘿，菜鸟。如果你想吸引观众，就去 New Fortune——中国的观众更多，这还用说吗？Hey noob- If you want an audience hop on New Fortune. Way more viewers in China duhhh”
My god- why didn’t he think of that! Running the math in his head, Sherman’s sure the idea’s foolproof. If he can get a couple hundred viewers on Twitch, well- that’s gotta be at least a few thousand in a country so much larger than the US, right?
Refusing to workshop the idea any further, Sherman starts looking into making an account on the site. Replying to his apparently Chinese viewer, after writing “哈哈哈” an inordinate amount of times, the audience member offers to do most of the heavy lifting on porting his channel over sending him a link to instead learn about streaming on the site.
What he learns only leads him to see more dollar signs. The primary activity on New Fortune seems to be having the audience vote on what you’re going to do, which in turn incentivizes viewers to get their friends to tune in and bolster their voting bloc. Combined with the platform's efforts to get more creators from abroad to use their site, Sherman can’t find a downside to the switchover, perhaps unsurprising given how little he’s looking for one.
Within the week Sherman’s got an entirely new, far more expensive setup. Crossing his arms as he eyes the scarlet red backdrop with metallic golden highlights Sherman can’t help but feel this whole thing is a little appropriative. But his concerns are met with encouragement from New Fortune and his increasingly Chinese audience.
His usual fans trepidatiously ask about the increasing prevalence of hanzi in chat which leads Sherman to at last mention his planned switch over. At first all the Sher-heads out there are antsy as he was, but after he pitches the platform using talking points delivered to him straight from New Fortune, they too see the appeal in having more sway in the content Sherman produces.
Then at last the day of his switchover arrives, he begins streaming on Twitch as a large countdown shines on screen. 3, 2, 1. His viewer count starts skyrocketing. Boggling at the numbers, he assumes that New Fortune must be inflating the metrics as a show of strength for their platform, but he doesn’t care. He’ll be getting paid regardless. And on that note, time for the first vote.
“Mods, you ready to see what we’re doing today?” It was only then that the happy-go-lucky streamer realized he left his mod team behind with Twitch. Chat now monitored by whomever his mystery messenger, or his in at New Fortune HQ trawled together, Sherman can only watch as a poll he had absolutely no input in pops up on the stream.
Instantly his thousands of new viewers pile in on a result he’s yet to translate. His audience similarly fills the chat with ?’s barely perceptible between the mandarin filling the comms like a tidal flow. Before he even has a chance to translate the poll’s options, voting closes with option one overwhelmingly winning. Annoyed at not knowing anything about this poll he awaits a DM explaining what’s next.
无上装直播 - 72%
第一人称射击游戏 - 3%
吃播 - 20%
卡拉OK - 5%
Balking at the truly indecipherable characters, he’s thankfully dm’d the translated options by the mod and is further gobsmacked at the options presented. In what world would he ever do a karaoke or mukbang stream!? And why the fuck did they both finish above his tried and true FPS content? Rolling his eyes at the three options in far last, he then sees that stream shirtless one and he sits in shock.
Does- does he have to do that? As he sits there, shirt on, the chat begins erupting with irritation he can grasp without even needing to speak the language. Even his favorite chatter from Twitch, BostonBro69, calls him out for pussyfooting, “Bruh- Chat’s spoken ditch the tee??? R u a bitch?”
Gritting his teeth, knowing his body is nothing to be proud of in the slightest he struggles to take the shirt off over his headphones before tossing them to his chair and trying again. “You guys better be tipping, ain’t doing this shit for free.”
At first mocking Sherman as he reveals himself to just be wearing boxers, the chat goes wild as he begins to raise the shirt over his waist. Expecting to feel the usual chill of his streamer’s den, Sherm’s shocked as each new inch of flesh exposed heats up. Brow furrowed underneath his rising shirt, he doesn’t see as his body begins to firm up.
The streamer’s slightly pudgy stomach rapidly tightens into a thin, maintained waist, cum gutters carving into the sides of his waist as muscle thickens across his chest astride two clearly visible pecs. Catching his reflection in his onstream cam, Sherman’s mouth falls open in shock as he traces the newly defined muscle in shock, feeling his clearly heavier arms twitch with biceps as he does.
“What the..?” Eyes flickering to chat, Sherman starts to question how this is possible, it can’t be a filter can it? He sees it with his real eyes? Before he can continue, one of his mods sends him something to read aloud in Mandarin, ‘like what you see?’ Forcing a smirk on his face he does his best to read it, “Ne zooeyhan, nee swo con, uh- dào de ma?”
So focussed on giving it his best go, Sherman is oblivious to his curly hair slightly straightening, darkening from its shoddy blonde into an indisputable brown. Flattening across his forehead as he throws his headphones back on. Blinking hard as his pronunciation gets shockingly better as he continues reading, his chat goes crazy as his sea-green eyes appear to darken into a hazel- or no, a light brown? It’s quite difficult to make out through the screen after all.
Chat going apeshit at the new eyecandy, Sherman smirks and figures he can’t not throw out a flex. Doing so he exposes his small bush of pit hair as it almost seems to straighten, darkening similarly to the hair on his head as he bathes in the praise he can’t quite understand. BostonGuy69 shoots a message in support, “Lookin killerrrr bruh didnt know u had it in u lul”
From then on Zherman has an absolute blast streaming on New Fortune, surely whatever effect causing him not to question his impossible transformation is heightening his enjoyment for the platform. Throughout his gaming session there are a few more votes, while after an hour or so he usually dips from FPS’s to play some brainless trendy games, it’s as if his audience is trying to push him away from gaming altogether.
As much as his usual fans try to get him to get him back to his usual MO, the new audience on New Fortune start to prune his gamer era away. Even when his old crew miraculously win a vote to get him back in a shooter, Zherman struggles to remain interested, eyes flickering back to chat, squinting as he swears he almost understands what his non-American audience is saying.
“That was fun guys, but I should probably get started on my gym sesh. Zaijannn~ Huh?” As soon as he says goodbye, not noticing he did so in Mandarin, Zherman sees a poll he didn’t call for pops up. For a second he swears he understands what the characters mean before shaking that idea out of his head. It’s just because he just mentioned working out, yeah
锻炼直播 - 98% (Workout Stream)
注销 - 2% (Log Off)
In the end his ‘guess’ was indeed confirmed however as he sees his audience has an obvious interest in watching him sweat. Well- who is he to disappoint. Smirking coquettishly, Zherman saunters over to the pull up bar in his room and starts going at it.
With every repetition, the streamer’s gains increase at a shocking rate and his brown hair darkens even further. Surely waving it off as sweat, in reality it is anything but as it thins and straightens even further into a coal black that he offhandedly brushes into a middle part.
Counting with each rep, he laughs as he sees his chat do the same. In between heavy breaths, he squints to make out anything substantial bits he might be missing. Doing so his eyes finish darkening from their honey brown into a chocolate almost indistinguishable from his pupils. Onyx eyes slightly obscured by the fold appearing above them as he wipes sweat from his forehead.
“Eugh- One last set crew. Let’s go!” Feeling his thicker arms strain on the pullup bar he now realizes he’s never had before now, Zhorman starts counting out his final rep, “One, Two, Three, F- Four, Wǔ, liù, qī, bā, ugh… Shen- what?” Eyes glazing over, the almost seamless transition between languages begins to sink in as Zhorman feels the weight of unfathomable change begins to sink in.
“Need to- I need t’sleep.” Stumbling to his bed, the streamer falls face first onto the mattress as the stream continues on without him. Not like he had any say in the votes, they continue on as his snores are barely picked up by the mic. Every aspect of his appearance is picked over. He is made tanner. Smoother. Sharper. Snores resound from his chest with deeper timbre as he’s made the perfect emblem of masculinity.
The should-be stubble growing on his face sheers away as he snores, heavier pecs rising while whatever body hair clung to his bronzed skin besides his pits fades away. Unseen from the lens of his audience as morning wood throbs in his shorts his foreskin reclaims the head of his cock as it demands he masturbate the second he is free from the stream. Such time is far from the present however.
When Zhou Man eventually awakes he finds himself a totally new man, “Ni Hao- eh? Hey, my fans! Still here, èn?” Watching the chat fly past as he stirs away and does his morning stretches to show off his clearly more defined body, Zhou Man doesn’t realize at all he’s focussing more on the Chinese viewers than the American viewers chatting even more infrequently. His face brightens when he sees his favorite viewer in chat, GuiyangGe69, “嘿兄弟，今天去健身房吗 Heyyy bruh, hitting up the gym today?”
Man laughs as he nods and flexes before settling into a more respectable temper, “当然，朋友，早晨一定要从正确的方式开始！Of course, gotta get the morning started right, friend!” With that he grabs his tripod and starts off to his favorite haunt, chatting up his audience in mandarin more fluent by the second. As time passes he starts disregarding the English chatters all together, leading them to try and translate their messages to make any headway towards getting his attention.”
Morning routine well underway, a vote begins under his notice that he instantly understands. Not translating that is, as it’s in his native tongue. 炫耀 or 羞怯 Show off or Shy. Cocky smile on his face he knows how this vote will go and starts adjusting his behavior without a second thought.
炫耀 - 98%
羞怯 - 2%
All these people are here to see him and nothing else. Zhou Ming is not in the market of disappointing his fans. Sitting on the bench he throws out a flex and quiets a grunt as he feels his thick biceps bulge even larger. Shooting a graceful smile towards the camera, his life as he knows it flashes before his eyes as it readjusts. he’s an immigrant to America as an ambassador to New Fortune. Here to inspire other content creators to make the switch and get their gains, physically and otherwise.
When his profile picture at last adjusts to show his new, true self he can’t believe how good he looks. Playful and domineering all at once. Meng knows he’s the perfect man to lure other streamers into their new selves. Into their new success.
Sitting there at the gym on his phone, oblivious to the attention he’s getting IRL. Meng notices a message from one of his best friends and a fellow streamer, Lawrence. Law’s been with him from the start, the perfect content creator buddy and his go to duo- only? Meng swears he’s never been on Twitch and he knows Law’s certainly never been on New Fortune?
After a moment Meng shakes out of his confusion and does what instinctually comes to him. He starts up a vote, already knowing what the result is to be. Should he call up Lawrence and do a group stream. Smirking, he knows the second Law sees his success that his best friend won’t have a thought on his mind besides following his best bro’s example. And so it begins.
Meng finds Law doing an IRL stream just wandering the park, accepting his friend’s call as he always would, the wide smile on Lawrence’s face quickly falls as he obviously doesn’t recognize Meng. “Dude, who are- Is this some kinda bit Sherm?” Tilting his head as he hears the name, dissonance arises once more within Meng. No matter though, not like he can’t speak English. “Law, it’s me Meng? Do you want to come meet me at the gym?”
It takes everything in Law to not burst out laughing, the Zhou Meng he knows wouldn’t be caught dead in the gym. The Zhou Meng he knows- uh. His eyes flicker to the stream, is that his friend’s name? What else would it be? It’s- “You should start a poll Law. They’re very good for views.”
He knows something’s wrong, he knows he shouldn’t listen. But Meng is a bigger streamer than him right? And his best friend. He wouldn’t steer him wrong. Looking towards the chat, Law’s eyes are drawn to sporadic messages in what seems to be Chinese. Their frequency only increases as the poll in Meng’s chat appears.
Having tested the waters with Meng, whatever forces that be are eager to accelerate their little experiment as they move on to Lawrence. So easy it was to make the gamer a role model, now it’s time to make the ever-cordial Lawrence into an arrogant goon. To point, the audiences are asked who Lawrence is to Zhou Meng:
周亮, 兄弟 - 56%(Zhou Liang, Brother)
劳伦斯, 最好的朋友 - 1%(Lawrence, Best Friend)
沉亮, 男朋友 - 43% (Shen Liang, Boyfriend)
Results streaming in, Lawng can hardly believe what he’s seeing. Doesn’t really understand what must be the hypothetical presented? Is this a quiz? Scratching his head, Lawng pauses for a beat as his fingers seem to be trailing easier than they should be through his afro. Or no- he doesn’t have an afro, his curls are wayyy looser than that.
Shaking his hair, his indeed looser curls spill down his neck, tickling as they fall he grins. Lawng’s eyes then fall upon his hand as he swears it’s well, paler? Trailing up the arm with phone outstretched he can’t shake the uncanny feeling that his skin is not nearly as tan, as dark as it should be
Rubbing his face in shock, the stubble on Lawng’s face is thinner and straighter than it once was. Cheeks that were once patterned with tight strands are barren as he feels a tightness in his eyes. Were he not a consummate professional he’d drop the phone and in the stream as he knows something is up. He’d never of course, his best- his brother’d trained him to be a better streamer than that.
Right. His brother, for a second he thought Meng was just a friend, bizarre? Attention firmly back to the stream as his skin continues to pale, Liawng sees his older brother smiling as he waits at the gym. “Oh! Zāogāo! Shoot, I’ll head right over bro!” As he pockets the phone, he can’t help but be slightly annoyed at his older brother, doesn’t he know Liawng was in the middle of something?
The stream continues on as Liawng opts to sprint to his brother’s location, all the while he continues to change. He grows 更强, stronger. 体积更大, bulkier. 更大胆, bolder. All in relation to his kinder gēgē. By the time he’s arrived he’s worked up more of a pump than Meng garnered in his morning workout thus far, a fact he’s more than happy to rub in as he poses in the gym’s entry way.
Flexing at his reflection, Liang’s mind softens as every bone within his body begins to cry out. Demanding he assert dominance, on his fans, everyone around him, on his annoying gēgē. With every performative, grunting flex he continues to change, pecs bulking out larger as he pumps them while he continues to pale and grow wider.
When Meng eventually takes a break from chatting up his viewers, giving and getting tips from them as he proves himself to be something of a mentor to everyone on the platform, he saunters up to his cocky little brother as he finishes becoming who New Fortune desires him to be. Skin cresting into that of a slightly tanner East Asian. His hair finishes its journey to be just as straight and black as Meng’s. Doing provocative dances and posing, he makes it clear that he is altogether a different man to the streamer who brought him onto the platform.
Meeting face to face for the first time in their new forms yet again on their joint streams. The changes in the brothers cement themselves as they become broad, muscular streamers of entirely different sorts. Watching as his xiǎo dìdi peacocks and flexes enough to strain a tank top he bought to barely fit, Meng settles into his more refined and polished body.
Eldest of the pair and clearly creating content catered to a gentler audience, Zhou Meng feels his still impossibly built body tighten into that of a model. Memories of training to be as poised and polished as one can be, Meng knows he is the true face of New Fortune in the states and he is going to make it the eminent streaming platform in the country. In the world
Quite the opposite, Zhou Liang only thinks of himself. Smirking as he hears his gēgē approaching, something within him clicks as he flexes and prepares to pounce. Flexing in the mirror as his pecs bloat even heavier, arms bulging with thick almost throbbing veins, Liang does a poor job of hiding his attentions from his approaching brother.
Laughing as he predicted his brother's assault, Meng puts up little fight as Liang tries to wrestle him into a headlock. “放弃吧，老哥！Give up bro!” Liang shouts as his audience encourages capitulation. English speakers find themselves suddenly quite the minority in chat, although they’re not quite overrun so much as changed themselves.
Calculating the audiences in both chats as he allows Liang a few moments to gloat, Meng watches as the few remaining english messages in chat begin to speckle with hanzi. Tapping his xiǎo dìdi’s muscular arms, proud at how the bestial arms rival the size of his head, Meng straightens his hair and pats his lunkhead little brother on the back.
Briefly chastising him for setting a bad example for the fans, he sets up his tripod next to Liang’s as the less refined man continues to try and big dog his big bro. Guffawing as he flexes, Liang shouts in fluent mandarin that Meng’s going soft with age before a stray memory tries to break through, the name Lawrence surfaces enough to silence him for a moment. And then it is gone, and there is only Zhou Liang.
Ready to move on, thoroughly molded into the perfect streamer New Fortune intended he be, Meng takes advantage of Liang’s pause and turns to the cameras, as if an earpiece suggested him to. Flawlessly switching between Mandarin and English as to ensure his message is heard by all Meng addresses both of their audiences,
“感谢您一一直以来对 New Fortune 的支持！Thank you all for enjoying New Fortune so far! 我们即将举办一一场盛大的活动，希望您能参加！We’ve got quite the event coming up and hope you’ll be able to join us! 我迫不及待地想让全世界看看新财富会带来什么。I can’t wait for all the world to see what New Fortune has in store.” And with that, Liang and Meng continue on with their streams, New Fortune’s first streamers in America. Though as their audiences spread word it’s clear they will not be the last.
