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Dragon Harem Quest - Or: Saying You Were Gay Wasn't The Conversation-Ender You Hoped For

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[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.
Wow dragon persuasion really works
Also, I'd like to choose this because that would the option I'd take if I were in Eld's shoes, everything can go into ruin in the future so why not take the offer dangled upon you?
 
[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

Sex isn't the be-all end-all, and Eldingar has a lot to learn. Let's see our incel dragon fail horribly.

But seriously I hate that noughties cliche about sex being the culmination of a relationship (because hot damn that's unhealthy shit) and I want to see Eldingar learn a little more about this scary confusing relationship business.
 
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[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

I don't have anything funny or insightful to add to this, but I think its the right choice
 
[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

I'll note there's no guarantee that Belial will simply sweep Eldingar off his feet and ravish him here and now; he's already demonstrated himself to be the kind of guy who understands when to take it slow. And Eldingar? He's clearly nervous.

That said, however @ZerbanDaGreat writes Belial's response to this sort of inquiry is going to be interesting (and tasteful).

ZerbanDaGreat said:
The second half of that particular speech is hanging there in the air, as real as an apple dangling from the boughs of a tree, but he doesn't pick it. At best he's tugging at the base of the branch, bringing it down just far enough that you can reach if you try.
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I'm loving this imagery.
 
ZerbanDaGreat said:
You should give him a piece of your mind. "N-no," you reply eventually. You think he gets the gist of the rebuke.
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I love Eldingar.
ZerbanDaGreat said:
For a minute it's like an entire committee's stood up in your head and all started trying to talk over each other in various strains of 'how dare you' and 'irrelevant to the case' and comebacks like 'are you' that run the gamut between unhelpful to just plain stupid.
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I love Eldingar.

[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

I'm with Tenfold on this. Rather than sex being a magic fix-all button and the end goal of something I think it'd be nice to see how it goes with it being sort of early on in things, as a way to get Eldingar more comfortable with who he is.

Also Belial is best husbando, which is a belief I will hold fast in forever or at least until the next time we get a nice one to one with someone.
 
Unmmm....guys? Where are we gonna have sex tho? Like..we have no privacy at the moment . If it's in our dreams then cool. But uhhhh won't that make things awkward with the other guest if they hear some dragon meat slapping right next to their non existent beds. ..
 
ZerbanDaGreat said:
It's allowed. It's accepted, even.
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I'm gonna be honest folks, this right here was IMO the money line of this update.

A significant part of Eldingar's problem is that he doesn't actually have any confidence. He does what he can get away with, plays as his powers let him, and as soon as any sort of situation or conversation happens where he isn't in a position to use his sole "fuck you I'm a dragon" card, he's kind of completely out to sea.

And like, that wouldn't even be terribly relevant to this update but for what this one line reveals about him and his relationship to dragon society and his own problems. Like yeah he's gay, but he apparently feels so constrained by the expectations of a society that's apparently run by individuals like his mom that his complete and total lack of interest in anything constructive can probably be interpreted as a kind of...heck, I dunno, learned helplessness? But yeah anyways combine one part dude who thinks he can't escape momzilla with two parts guy who likes other guys but never quite had the gusto to put himself out there in the spotlight by actually getting involved with other guys and I think you have a pretty decent base for an Eldingar-type person.
 
[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

I think from where Eldingar is right now, that's a better option. A date is something that's got too much potential to get confusing and overwhelming and stressful. And that's without assuming any wacky antics like a djinn dropping in.

On the other hand, if we start with this, Eldingar has one less stressful thought to deal with. It's... actually probably lower pressure, because it's more about enjoying the moment than some sort of high-energy feelings "is he into me for real" thing.

Less serious reasoning: hey, now's the right time to fool around. It's not cheating if you aren't technically in a relationship yet. Except Jun-ho's, technically, but if he wants that to be not a farce he should've said so.
 
ZerbanDaGreat said:
"That's their familiar-"

Jun-ho gasps with the kind of force you'd expect prior to releasing some elemental breath and wiggles forward, coming to a stop flat on his stomach in front of the familiar with wide eyes. "It's the cutest thing I've ever seen!" he exclaims.

'Mee-ma-mo!' the familiar seems to agree.

"Are we keeping it? Tell me we're keeping it!"

"Y-yes we're keeping it," you answer haltingly, taken rather off-guard. "Like I said it's Abzu's familiar, they can see and hear through it so we can communicate if the need arises."

You wait for follow-up questions. You receive none. Jun-ho is altogether absorbed by the blob, experimentally prodding the jiggling surface and grinning like an idiot at its weird, mumbling giggles.
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Oh my gosh when Jun-ho and Abzu meet it's going to be like some kind of cute singularity

The only way it could possibly be cuter is if Jun-Ho turns into his doggo form
 
Okay, I went over it properly now that I'm better rested and can appreciate it, so time for comments. Commentary is love, after all, and this quest deserves the love.
ZerbanDaGreat said:
... one hundred bags of gold on the wall one hundred bags of gold, you hoard them jealously, kill someone for theirs, one hundred and one bags of gold on the wall...
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eeee it's canon now
ZerbanDaGreat said:
Jun-ho gasps with the kind of force you'd expect prior to releasing some elemental breath and wiggles forward, coming to a stop flat on his stomach in front of the familiar with wide eyes. "It's the cutest thing I've ever seen!" he exclaims.

'Mee-ma-mo!' the familiar seems to agree.

"Are we keeping it? Tell me we're keeping it!"

"Y-yes we're keeping it," you answer haltingly, taken rather off-guard. "Like I said it's Abzu's familiar, they can see and hear through it so we can communicate if the need arises."

You wait for follow-up questions. You receive none. Jun-ho is altogether absorbed by the blob, experimentally prodding the jiggling surface and grinning like an idiot at its weird, mumbling giggles. Clearly he has enough stimulus to occupy himself for the rest of the day so you decide to leave him to it, taking wing with a mumbled half-hearted excuse about needing to update Belial on the situation too. You leave the disgustingly twee noises of dragon and blob playing together behind
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also it's good to know they can get along, it makes the golden ending easier.
ZerbanDaGreat said:
"Hah, anytime." Belial fiddles with his bangs in the short silence, trying to hang the raven-black strands in such a way as to keep the wind from blowing them in his eyes too much. " 'ey, I know it's kind of a big ask considering you weren't expecting to entertain company so it's kind of a long shot, but I got to talking to Jun-ho about it while you were gone so I kinda gotta ask. Could you look into getting us a place to live at some point?"

You blink, craning your long scaly neck around to get a better look at him. "Where's all this coming from?" you ask. "You freeload quite happily in my dreams and Jun-ho is a dragon, bare rock is quite fine for him."

He shoots you a wry look. "Look I get it, you've lived alone for what, fifty years? It's easy to lose track of that stuff. But I got literally nothing to do all day every day right now and Jun-ho might be a dragon but his type isn't really s'posed to curl up on some rocks in the corner while you get all the comfy gold. You follow? And I bet it's not helping Makram's mood he has to float everywhere 'cause shit's all stone and cliffs and everything."

You narrow your eyes. "You expect me to turn my lair into some kind of... 'halfway house'?" you sniff.

He shrugs. "You wanna kick us all out?"

You do a double-take, blinking as if struck on the nose. You- but- that's an unfair way to phrase it! You said nothing of the sort! Really, the nerve of some people, to speak so confrontationally. You should give him a piece of your mind. "N-no," you reply eventually. You think he gets the gist of the rebuke.

"Then you should probably start dropping some lines for contractors," Belial says, running his talons through his hair with a soft sigh. Lacing them together behind his neck and stretching with a soft grunt. "Jun-ho says that was one of the things your mother was rambling about yeah? You kinda gotta do it sooner or later so, y'know."
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/me pumps fist

Yes! Stronghold/Dungeon Keeper: Dragon Lair edition is go!
ZerbanDaGreat said:
"Abzu says it's about compatibility," you reply, lifting one foreclaw to wave vaguely. "Not that that mattered to Makram and now four of the five people on the map who I've met know and there's still five more to meet which is oddly quantifiable as far as potential romantic interests go and I'm feeling very..."

You trail off, constantly searching for a suitable word and finding none.

"Confused?" Belial prompts. "Overwhelmed?"
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I've gotta give you props here Zerban, you do a real good job of giving these characters distinctive voices. Eldingar just naturally reads like someone babbling on anxiously, while Belial comes across very much as someone centred, slowed down, a calming influence. It's cute, but it's also a very clear character dynamic, which means that when Belial says stuff like...
ZerbanDaGreat said:
"I'm not laughing at you," he says, relaxed as can be. "It's just the situation that's kinda funny. Gay and bi virgins were kind of my speciality back in the day so like, trust me. I've seen every single variant of it."

You narrow your eyes at him. "Is this the part where you brag about the amount of virgins you've deflowered in the pursuit of whatever dark purpose a demon is sent to this plane to accomplish?"

He shrugs. He's so sanguine about everything it's bordering on annoying. At least with Makram you can't feel bad about it because he instigates or hits back. Now you just feel all guilty. You fall silent and wait for the incubus to say something.

"Guy's gotta eat," he says at last. "And virginity's a bullshit societal fabrication anyway, but that doesn't matter when it feels so real and how it feels matters more than anything else in my experience." He glances at you. "It's so easy to bite down the urge every time, isn't it? When you get that thought in your head that a guy's cute, or when you want to say he has a nice laugh, or when you just want to picture it all in your head. You tell yourself it doesn't matter because the first ten, twenty, thirty times it really doesn't feel like it does. But it sticks around, and it piles up, and it starts sticking together into one big ball of sour feelings that gets harder and harder to stomach but even harder to do anything about."
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... I can see it. He reads like someone who made a specialty out of virgins, of knowing how to coax them out of their insecurities and give them a good introduction.
 
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[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

Anyhoo, anybody with architecture experience have any ideas to make Eldingar's Lair both large enough for the 10+ harem and make it actually something he feels actual pride in, as opposed to it being good enough to not be ashamed of?
 
keenscythe said:
[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

Anyhoo, anybody with architecture experience have any ideas to make Eldingar's Lair both large enough for the 10+ harem and make it actually something he feels actual pride in, as opposed to it being good enough to not be ashamed of?
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I mean, it's a gigantic rocky spire. We have space, we just need to mine it out, probably create outside access with alcoves and shit and really sturdy doors for all the inclement weather.

The hard part is going to be interior decorating, what with all the different climates and environments and needs for entertainment that Belial's alluded to.
 
[X] If he'd like to... show you how it's done.

Tenfold's argumentation claims another victim.
keenscythe said:
Anyhoo, anybody with architecture experience have any ideas to make Eldingar's Lair both large enough for the 10+ harem and make it actually something he feels actual pride in, as opposed to it being good enough to not be ashamed of?
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Well, we should probably find some way to ask Abzu for a bit of "bigger on the inside"-style help, 'cause otherwise I can't imagine we're going to have nearly enough room. Especially if any of the others turn out, like Jun-ho, to be larger than human-sized.
 
We could always expand outside the mountain. Build spires on top, or a settlement at the base/on the slopes. Or heck, dig underneath it.
 
Imrix said:
We could always expand outside the mountain. Build spires on top, or a settlement at the base/on the slopes. Or heck, dig underneath it.
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Are we going to end up with a dwarf carving out rooms for us or dig into the ground? The animosity between dwarves and dragons tends to be strong in fantasy, but we have more alcohol than we have dragons in the spire, which dwarves love. (that is if I am being presumptuous about an already unique fantasy world that seems to do its own thing.)
 
Zavvnao said:
The animosity between dwarves and dragons tends to be strong in fantasy, but we have more alcohol than we have dragons in the spire, which dwarves love.
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Good booze seems to be a working social strategy so far. It helped deal with Eldingar's mother, along with breaking the ice for Jun-ho.

Moral of the story? Drink lots and drink with others. :p
 
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