Behind-The-Scenes: A letter and a small revieuw

Sylveth called Ember late into the night when she was secure in the fact that the master was asleep. “Ember, I have received an answer from Tyalangan. Swifter than I expected of someone as busy as her, I might add. Always impressive when a host finds time to listen to another's plight, let alone one who has to run a county as well. Shall I read it aloud?”

[Please do.]

Sylveth,

First of all, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I do not know why I was the first you thought of to seek advice from, but I am flattered by it.

Hosting an active season takes up much time, but I found a large enough gap where my wards were all behaving to catch up on your situation. As I see it, the problem is of three parts.

The first is a question of whether and how to include [Ember-from-an-accidental-forge-that-made-a-masterpiece]. While “Staff Member added to the harem” is a long-standing tradition, the instigating event usually doesn’t happen during the opening ceremony. I would watch and document their relationship carefully. Incorporating [Ember] into the harem if there would be no hope of them succeeding as a member would be cruel. The drama might be worth a ratings bump, but that bump would only last if it looks like the little fireball could win a portion of Chris’s heart. Prepare a report for your Producer highlighting the potential results before moving ahead. Wait until after the first challenge to make the decision either way.

The second problem is the nature of your particular elementals. I am watching livestreams VoDs, which are notorious for not conveying enough information to properly classify magical beings. I will not presume to guess the exact nature of them from what I am seeing, outside of noting that pure fire elementals tend towards being visible, but incorporeal. Solving the invisible and incorporeal nature should be done during incorporation. Change [Ember] into a creature adjacent to a fire elemental with a physical humanoid form. I would personally lean towards a Fire Genasi, but a Harssaf or an Azer could do, if you want to try to make that sexy. Do remember to include some basic memories of how you function in a body when you make the change; I am sure Chris will not enjoy teaching [Ember] how to walk or breathe.

The third problem is the whole “fire” thing. Well, some of that problem may be that you aren’t trusting your would-be former employee to not light the campgrounds on fire. Double check your fire plan. You do have a fire plan, right? Some of those contestants look like they could accidentally catch the forest on fire anyways…

The rest of it, the unintentional stuff, will be partially solved by putting [Ember] in a corporeal body; the nature of said body will suppress a lot of unintentional fires (maybe avoid opting for an azer body, just in case). The rest can be solved simply enough. My Scarlet has a couple of transformations that convert her literal flames into ones that induce lust or passion instead. Do that. A scene where [Ember] catches Chris’s clothes on fire to make him ready for sexy times might play well on-air, too.

[For Ember, this is not a decision to be made lightly. I am told that you are young for your kind. I am not your Host. I cannot guarantee that you will survive to the end of the game. I cannot guarantee that Chris will end up living in the timescale your kind is used to. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to survive after he passes. One of my children joined my current season’s harem and I still don’t know what to do with that. Be sure you can handle the consequences BEFORE you take the plunge.]

As far as advice for young Chris goes, it is too soon in the season. He has not even had the chance to process being kidnapped yet. I will write to him directly once he has had a few days to understand the situation and I have time to see what advice he actually needs. I know I wrote to Pompadour too soon; I should avoid making that mistake again.

Good luck on your season. Reach out if you need anything else.

Regards,

Tyalangan

A Humble Host

Harem Hotel: Woo the Girl, Save the World.

Syl cleared her throat before giving her response, touched by the sense of familiarity the letter exuded as well as care. “First things first. Thanks, Tyalangan, for your well-thought-out words of advice. Fire plan is actually quite simple if you give your entire cast decanters of endless water and most of your crew is earth elementals of some sort who can make big pits to drop it in and cover it with rock to choke the fire. On top of mundane preparations like fire breaks and having large pots around the places where we expect fire to start. Most fire elementals in our employ are aware of their surroundings so as not to cause trouble. My reaction to the rest is best addressed to [Ember] than to you.

So I plan on taking her advice for the transformations and include one extra and just have an entire bodyplan focused poll. The second would be a more normal set of transformations. I can expect you to have some opinions on how you would like your body to look… You are free to express them to the writers' team as well as me. However, without input, we are left with two choices: one, let your subconscious decide fully how to embody that race picked and then add a twist based on the species; the second option is that we predesign a hot, sexy body for that species. Of course this is contingent on… Well, you actually wanting it. For now I will start doing the bookkeeping things to make sure we can if you want. If you made your decision, let me know, sooner rather than later. It is easier to right a ship early on in travel instead of later.” She looked at the ball of flame, hoping for a clear answer and hoping it would be no.

[Why would you let me decide? And why would you need to right the ship?] The ball said while bobbing side to side.

“Currently our tone is more grounded with fantasy accents… You joining means well fantasy elements from within the harem more explicitly. Most of the options Tyalangan are still explicitly fantasy, and I agree that you joining would be best whilst retaining some or most of your heritage. We would also need to look for suitable living accommodations for them afterwards; their home doesn’t gel well with fantasy concepts.

I let you decide since you will have to live with the choice even more than Christopher will. He isn’t fighting the current; he seems to have the instinct or the advice that the only way out is through the maelstrom.” Syl explained, hoping she didn’t say too much.

[I did hint at that. I haven’t given him that advice yet. I thought it might be viewed as untoward interference. I will get back to you on my decision… If I am later in doubt, can I ask Alberto for a non-binding poll?] Ember kept bobbing and started wandering in a circle, ignoring the first part of their boss’s answer. Syl didn’t mind if Ember thought too much about it; she might realise it would mean a total relocation like Tyalangan had.

“No, when you poll them, you let them decide for that week. It will bind your decision for that week.”

[Wait, you mean to say I can choose to join at the start of round 3 instead of 2 if I ask for a poll this week, and the answer is no? But if they say yes, I have to dive in.] A nod from their boss affirmed that it was a risk of having to join if you didn’t want to. [Thanks, I will take my leave.]

“No, first you take a moment to respond to Tyalangan’s letter. She took time out of their busy schedule to answer ours, so the least you could do is say something to the camera.” Syl scolded the ball of fire.

[While most of your advice was directed at Lady Syldreth, your kind words of advice are welcome. I have no idea what to do with Winter; they will find their way with Mona and Kevin together, I suppose.

I am young, but fire elementals are the shortest lived, and few pass on to be of an age considered old by other types of elemental. We live in the ephemeral, the temporary as such; if I hadn’t contracted with Chris, I might have lived for another 10-20 years unless I found a good source of energy. Contacting him means at least giving me as long as he lives, giving me time to find a longer-term source later. I have no idea how I would live after having spent a not insignificant part of my life with him, but that would have happened either way. My survival is never guaranteed. I need to jump on the source of passion, those fiery emotions or natural phenomena when they are there. Impulsiveness is needed to survive as a fire elemental; it is part of us, a part I am suppressing for the safety of others.] With what looks like a bow, the ball of fire leaves.

“They aren’t wrong. They, however, forget that the show would have supplied them with some of what they needed. I also agree on Winter; they seem to have figured things out better than most in Mona’s harem. I hope they can guide the harem in a way that sees them all happy on the other side. Trust them all of them… maybe not Craig; weariness is warranted there.” Syl said.

Two department heads wandered in: one a goblin with long wavy hair and a large ballgown, the other a rock with a green striation from what was top to bottom, with two blue ones meeting it from either side, rolled in. “So [Chip-of-the-Boulder-at-the-Foot-of-an-old-Hill], how are things going in terms of points?”

[As a rock dragged to its resting place by oxen, others are pushed along like a boulder at a glacier's pace and a single one at the pace of an avalanche.] Came from the rock in a low rumble.

“Ryan is moving fast, but I suspect he and the Jessies will keep it up at least for this week. William and Heather are slow to move given their circumstances and that they need to adapt to everything. I am honestly surprised to see where Missy is. That was no accident, right?”

[No, Chris really did make her cum in a new way. Ryan used his free transformation to enable it. You ought to reward him.] Great praise coming from the rock who hardly suggested or asked for rewards. [We might have overturned the bonuses, but there is no harm in it. I suspect that there are plenty of twists and turns we can expect. We have other nobs that we are able to turn other than VP gain. Should they lose motivation at 100, I suspect there can be other motivators we can use.]

“Rhetorically, if we ever need incentives, we can look to Shar's season, but I honestly believe three will keep their momentum given their genuine romantic interests in Chris. Missy… I think we needn't worry about it, as long as Becky is allowed to have her way with her. Heather and William are the biggest stumbling blocks. Any surprises in magic expenditure?”

[Yes, surprisingly we have spent less than expended on transformations after Chris bound Ember-from-an-accidental-forge-that-made-a-masterpiece bound to him. I suspect their involvement has lowered costs somehow.]

The goblin interjects frustrated, “It also seems to have had side effects on the entire set of transformations that have happened since. Added bounciness, return of memories after completing firsts, temporary separation of thoughts and lack of sharing of them, strength of suggestions and rewards are some that come to mind. I have no idea if it is just poor execution or Ember's submission to the master is the cause.”

“Would either of you characterise this as bad?” The boss asked the two. The goblin shook her head; the rock turned side to side. “[Chip-of-the-Boulder-at-the-Foot-of-an-old-Hill], do you have anything to add at this point?” Again, he gestured that he had nothing to add. “Elaine, so what do you have to report to us?”

“Well, we know a sore spot for Heather is control. Due to Samson's troll move, we know how sore it is. She will do a lot to get rid of it. We hope her curse keeps her on her toes, especially after she reaches 100, since it would be a good motivator to be in first place. She would need to find out, though, and currently no one in the cast seems to know and care about how it works.”

“Ryan does know, but I agree that he doesn't care enough to tell her.” The elf in the ranger uniform interjects.

“Sure, but is he going to tell the already VP-obsessed woman? As for our friendly ball of fire, we will look into their future transformations and the transformations of the rest; we might want to tweak them to catch the surprises. We have found a definite upgrade for Chris's ‘friend of nature’ should we want to offer it.”

“What does it do?”

“Expand the effect to the harem and chosen individuals; in return, contracts lead back to the master.”

“Offer it. I won't tell him it exists. He can figure it out. It has an appropriate name and a discount compared to completely new ones like with Ryan's. What have we figured out on the Jessies?”

“Upgrade, we are in the dark on. Both answers we have options for that might be good to check. Option 1: they reform into original Jessie, combining any single-target transformations and receiving one to replace a tale of two Jessies. Option 2: same as 1, but they have to spend 12 hours in each form, and we keep the transformation separate. One form from 4 to 16, the other half the other gender, to even out time in use somewhat. Option 3: we keep it as is. Option 4: they become separate contestants with separate memories.”

“Why is there so much overlap?”

“Nuance differences mainly.”

“Anything else to add?”

“Maybe add a praise kink branch path to Missy from the bitch path; she seemed to enjoy it before the transformation already. Same with a more subby path for Ryan.”

“We will consider it. [Chip-of-the-Boulder-at-the-Foot-of-an-old-Hill], this might seem personal, but why did Ember turn pink when Chris fingered Ryan to orgasm?”

[Lust, infatuation, shyness many emotions are expressed through colour for fire elementals. Usually they are older when they start to do so. I suspect that a growth spurt is happening within them due to the contract they made with Chris and, by extension, the harem. Ember is feeding off the emotions they are putting out there. Ember is a net positive from what I can tell.]