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

ZerbanDaGreat said:

A key turns in a lock somewhere below you. A door opens. "Oi!" a rough, probably orcish voice calls up at you. "What's the big idea? I told you kids-"

"Fuckoff" you snarl.

"... (alright mate you're going through something right now i get it i'll leave ya to it)" the lighthouse-keeper replies, the mumble fading from earshot as he shuts and locks the door right back up again.

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D-Does... does this happen often to this poor orc lighthousekeeper?

ZerbanDaGreat said:

He's sure changed is tune.

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Typo

Hrrrrm, wishes.

On one hand, it's a wish so I'm naturally loath to using it on a whim, but at the same time holding it eternally in reserve is the same as wasting it in the end. I mean it's not like Eldy's holding out to wish for world peace or something.

Plus the 'nothing' vote sounds like 'blow off Makram in the none fun way' which doesn't sound like it'll go so well either.

[ ] Wish for Makram to conjure up suitable entertainment for the party. That's probably within his power, right? He got you the wine easily enough.
Solves one problem pretty directly, but at the same time I really want Lyrros to be the entertainment so :Sa
On the other hand, this plus Lyrros would be pretty damn spectacular...

[ ] Wish for Makram to be the entertainment. The way he likes to boast, maybe he'd relish the challenge of a wholly draconic audience?
Solves one problem pretty directly, but I'm leery as heck about literally wishing Makram to do something. Like, I see no advantage to this above the 'conjure entertainment' option; it's outright worse for trampling all over Makram's free will

[ ] Wish for wealth. Enough wealth to buy whoever you want whenever you want for the stupid party, to renovate your spire a hundred times over. Enough wealth to feel okay again, if only for a little while.
Actually kinda warming up to this idea.
It gives Eldy a hoard, fits his draconic nature, is literally his dream etc...
Though I'm a little worried he'll get lazy with it and spend it all away, it still forces him to be active in spending it compared to Conjure Entertainment
I mean yeah wishing for money is like the one stereotypical standard fairytale Do Not Do thing but fuck it he's a dragon it stays on the table

[ ] Wish for the map back. Abzu said it points to what you want, what you need. That sounds pretty appealing right about now.
Given the map points to boyfriends, and having too many boyfriends is a point of stress, lets not.

[ ] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.
...I'm curious as to whether this could actually work but I'm also worried about personality changes. I like our big blue dumbass.

[ ] Wish that everything were back the way it was. You didn't have seven romantically-inclined partners to please, you didn't have the party situation bearing down on you, you weren't the secret laughingstock of Söfnun, and things were just... simple.
...this is literally a reset the quest button
can we not
zerbs you lunatic why did you even include this what if it gets votes

[ ] Wish for nothing. With your track record you'd probably fuck that up too. Come up with something to make Makram leave you alone.
As noted, involves blowing off Makram and his attempts to help.

...Shit I'm actually torn. I know I said 'wish for nothing' is bad but at the same time the other options are.... pretty not spectacular either :Sa...
Who knows maybe Makram can be a good counsellor, it'd be interesting to hear his input

Of all the wishes though, I think-
[x] Wish for Makram to conjure up suitable entertainment for the party. That's probably within his power, right? He got you the wine easily enough.
-does the most to lessen the weight on Eldingar, though I could be convinced to go for money or for nothing as well

Okay, I know I already voted for the "nuke the world" option, but could we do a write in asking Makram what his personal preference on conjure vs. be the entertainment?

No write-in option.
Ugh, escapism and depression aaaaaa.

Wishing for One Thing That Will Solve All Your Problems (hint: it won't), how...sad? Not sure, but all WIshes here seem amazingly unhealthy.


Unless it's actually a way to talk to Makram about something and not a way to spend a wish on a silver bullet that inevitably won't be one.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

Entertainment options aside, all of these options represent Eldingar falling back on something to depend on. The Status Quo, Wealth, The Map. But all of those are getting something back, or getting something that he already has but moreso.

Wishing that he knew what to do is asking for something new. Its the only option that has him looking forward. Looking forward can be scary, moving forward can be scary. But time is a treadmill, and while you can fight to stay in place, you ultimately can't go back. So, might as well watch where you're going.

Hmmm so we have the option to go back in time, get hilariously drunk, and accidentally join an adventurer band in order to (try to) escape our mother's plans... But at the cost of the current shenanigans, and probably significant emotional pain when Eldingar realizes this isn't what he wanted after all.

[X] Wish for nothing. With your track record you'd probably fuck that up too. Come up with something to make Makram leave you alone.


I honestly think that every single Wish is escapism that will backfire.

Story so far is about growing up and growing through, well, depression and low self-esteem and learning to deal with all the shit going on, and a big part of it is learning that there is no One Weird Trick which will help you.

Far as I can see from such perspective, making any wish here is a bad idea which will either do nothing or provide illusion of helping only to backfire horribly.

Yeah, no I'm abstaining from voting for the time being

LupineVolt said:

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

Entertainment options aside, all of these options represent Eldingar falling back on something to depend on. The Status Quo, Wealth, The Map. But all of those are getting something back, or getting something that he already has but moreso.

Wishing that he knew what to do is asking for something new. Its the only option that has him looking forward. Looking forward can be scary, moving forward can be scary. But time is a treadmill, and while you can fight to stay in place, you ultimately can't go back. So, might as well watch where you're going.

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This is an excellent point and I didn't think of it like that: Changing vote.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

It's the one thing that isn't escapism or despair.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

A strong independent blue dragon that gets all the guys. I am sorry for the text wall before everyone (you all made better points than me). But you made better points with less words than me, so I will jump in. I struck it out. how many times is my vote going to change? There are too many existential crisis going on now.

I really should have called it that "Knew what to do" would bandwagon early.
EDIT: It reminds me of the time when we voted to say that we trusted ourselves the least.
EDIT:

Zavvnao said:

These are concrete, and it is NOT going to change Eldingar that much.

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So, regarding the wealth option, I agree with your assessment.
Regarding the "Knew what to do" option, I strongly disagree.

Of all the options, "knew what to do" is the most escapist, most vague, potentially tied for most risky*. You're asking a genie to provide you with what amounts to a Path to Victory when you aren't sure what victory is.

*Turn back time is probably the one most likely to go catastrophically wrong.

LupineVolt said:

Entertainment options aside, all of these options represent Eldingar falling back on something to depend on. The Status Quo, Wealth, The Map. But all of those are getting something back, or getting something that he already has but moreso.

Wishing that he knew what to do is asking for something new. Its the only option that has him looking forward. Looking forward can be scary, moving forward can be scary. But time is a treadmill, and while you can fight to stay in place, you ultimately can't go back. So, might as well watch where you're going.

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I strongly disagree with this. Wishing that he knew what to do is asking Makram's magic to decide for him.

[X] Wish for Makram to conjure up suitable entertainment for the party. That's probably within his power, right? He got you the wine easily enough.

Of the options provided, this and Wealth seem the best.
Wishing that Makram acts as entertainment himself without first asking his permission violates his autonomy.
Wishing for the map is entirely counterproductive to our turmoil.
Wishing we knew what to do is a fundamental abnegation of personal responsibility, essentially asking Makram's magic to dictate what we should do.
Wishing to turn back time is the big shiny red button that I'm willing to pass up on if it means preventing "knew what to do" from winning.

ZerbanDaGreat said:

You reach up with both foreclaws and just yank at your own horns like loose teeth, trying to fixate on the dull fang-in-gum sensation of them tugging at your skull as you sink into the white fog. As if you could pull hard enough to pop them out completely, let the poison cloud drain out through the twin holes and into the clouds where it won't bother anyone any more. Pop them back in and fly off, none the worse for wear.

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Yeah, I get what that's like Eldingar. Sometimes you just want to crack open your own skull to see if you can get all the toxic shit out.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

And when I've been there, this was always what I'd hoped for from the bottom of my heart. A wish that I had a fucking clue what I was doing. And this is honestly the most escapist of all the options because it's so fundamentally transformative.

Power or purpose or a fresh start are pretty standard fantasies but this really strikes to the core of what escapism really is in the end. A wish to be someone else entirely. Someone cool and competent who knew how to get shit done without self-destructing like a complete failure. A person who can actually deal with the cards life has given them.

It's probably not a good decision. But it's the one that speaks to me the most.

ZerbanDaGreat said:

"What is it?" he asks.

"How did you find me?" you ask.

"I'd make a pretty poor djinn if I couldn't find my own master in short order," he replies, a touch irritated.

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This was surprisingly cute, for some reason.

... Not that's it's enough to make me trust you, Makram! I have a policy of never trusting wishgranting catlike beings ever since I saw Madoka!

[ ] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.
I don't quite trust this option, to be honest. Wishing to alter your mind (or those other people) is almost never a good idea, and wishing Eldingar magically knew how to handle the major problems of the Quest is the sort of wish that'll either not be as good as expected or have some heavy consequences.

[X] Wish for wealth. Enough wealth to buy whoever you want whenever you want for the stupid party, to renovate your spire a hundred times over. Enough wealth to feel okay again, if only for a little while.
Instead, I think I'll go with this. Sure, gold is only going to be a bandaid that makes Eldingar feel better for a short while, but he's building up a decent support network. With time and help, I am reasonably confident he'll be able to climb out of this hole he's spent most of his life digging.
Plus, ever since we met Lyrros I've had this theory that new gold kinda works as an aphrodisiac for dragons and I kinda want to see if it has any basis in fact.

[ ] Wish that everything were back the way it was. You didn't have seven romantically-inclined partners to please, you didn't have the party situation bearing down on you, you weren't the secret laughingstock of Söfnun, and things were just... simple.
Not that there are many people voting for this, but I just want to point out that this option is straight up wrong. Reverting everything that happened won't make Eldingar not the secret laughingstock of Söfnun, it'll just make so he doesn't know it anymore.
That Eldin doesn't realise this is a sign of how low he's flying right now.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

I mean, yes I'm voting, but...

I'll be honest here, what I want to see from this next scene is Eldingar getting as far as "I wish-" before Makram crams something into his gob to shut him up while they work through this nervous breakdown together.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

runeblue360 said:

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

Yeah, I get what that's like Eldingar. And when I've been there, this was always what I'd hoped for from the bottom of my heart. A wish that I had a fucking clue what I was doing. And this is honestly the most escapist of all the options because it's so fundamentally transformative.

Power or purpose or a fresh start are pretty standard fantasies but this really strikes to the core of what escapism really is in the end. A wish to be someone else entirely. Someone cool and competent who knew how to get shit done without self-destructing like a complete failure. A person who can actually deal with the cards life has given them.

It's probably not a good decision. But it's the one that speaks to me the most.

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So this? This I can respect.
SV is so rarely willing to make a "wrong" decision that is true to a character.

[X] Wish for the map back. Abzu said it points to what you want, what you need. That sounds pretty appealing right about now.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

If this leads to a good conversation with Makram I'll be happy.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.

[X] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.
-[X] Tell Makram about the other djinn.

Life speeding onwards out of control, feeling like you can only screw it up? Oh boy, i've been there.

[X] Wish for wealth. Enough wealth to buy whoever you want whenever you want for the stupid party, to renovate your spire a hundred times over. Enough wealth to feel okay again, if only for a little while.

I want this because money is a thing Edgar knows how to deal with. The money won't make him feel better but he would be able to do something with it.

[x] Wish that you knew what to do. How to handle the relationship situation, how to handle the party situation, how to handle the Takara situation, how to handle... all of it.