Samson hears them out

Chris and the rest entered as everyone was receiving their pillows from Samson. The goblin handed out the pillows with surprising grace and composure, as well as some sleight of hand to slip William the chastity cage he needed. He joined the line of people receiving the pillow but handed it off to Ryan. “You guys don’t have decent pillows, I am guessing. The ones in the cabin were great already, so I have little use for it. Take it.” Ryan happily held on to it.

Heather wanted to complain about why her gracious and magnanimous self didn’t get it, but instead said, “Chris, why don’t you, for our date, draw me as one of your French girls?” With a lovely, compelled wink at the end, as well as hands folded over her mouth.

Ryan chuckled and added. “Heather might be embarrassed by what she said, but she means it. Our pranking goblin friend got her a transformation that helps her be honest in the most seductive way.”

“Is what Ryan said true, Heather?” Chris asked with a wide grin on his face.

“Ohh hun, you know it is.” Heather’s embarrassment had no end in sight, or at least whilst she was in last.

“Sure, I would love to make you a portrait if you do the same,” Chris said, chuckling, disarmed by the flirtatious tone he would never have associated with Heather before coming here. Heather didn’t say anything; she just nodded in the affirmative. “So what is you guys’ opinion on Aimé?” He asked the duo who had interacted with him the most. Samson's green pointy ears perked at this question.

“Aimé doesn’t know shit about drinks. He is about as blunt and dense as you, if not more. So not the greatest person to be a bartender in a group of people who just got abducted and are all trying to cope in their own way… The gnome pushed Heather to a mental breaking point. He knew the possible effect and still did it.” Ryan said, looking at the person he had spent the day with up until now.

“I will ask to swap now. That is just unacceptable.” Samson interjected. “Not knowing drinks as a bartender- what a dumbass. Why would he even take that job? Not that it matters; what matters is that we swap.”

“You think you are better than him, goblin?” The heiress who had been his main detractor for the last couple of days asked.

“I know how to make some good milk oolong. I know how to make Long Island iced tea and other mixed drinks. I know how to brew filter coffee at various temperatures to bring out different flavour profiles. All that to say, I know more than nothing, fair maiden.” The current store clerk flexed his knowledge while snarking at Heather about being picky with him.

“So you do know more than him. That doesn’t mean you are any better in the social aspect.” She complained as he stood beside the group, as no one was still at his storefront.

“Fair, but I have rapport with some of you. I haven’t been crass about stuff, just a teasing bastard. Which is fine as a bartender, if I say so myself. It is at least better than a person who speaks his mind without thinking.” The goblin looked her in the eye as he said so.

“He is correct; you know he has been kind to most of us and has only been snarky or pranking you. Not that it is acceptable. Just saying he is doing it targeted and for a reason. How would you react if she asked about eliminations?” Ryan tried to negotiate peace between the two, or at least some understanding.

“I would tell her it might be a fate worse than death. I shouldn’t go into details, but know you already stepped onto the line that might have brought one on. Don’t attack and don’t drop below zero. There is no need to do dumb shit like that. If you want to find some now that you have a library, you could try reading another season. I have no idea what you like, but if you are open to lesbian horny shit with a tragic backstory side plot, Haunted Castle is fun. Mona’s season I could recommend if you like fantasy. Not that any of her contestants have been eliminated; the host is giving reprieve to another season's eliminated contestant as well as one of her own harem members.” His hand slicked back his green hair as he spoke these words.

“Wait, are they in the examples?” Chris asked, curiosity overwriting caution.

“As I said, with her state, I shouldn’t say anything. Ember, tell him.” The goblin said, looking at Chris in frustration.

{reveal "What Ember says. (Spoilers for Woo the Girl Save the World)"}

[Didn’t I say Tyalangan has Vix, aka the one who turned into a fox? I thought I did; it doesn't matter. I can repeat myself as much as is needed. The one who was an eliminated contestant is Jenny, who has since joined Mona’s harem. She is the one who got turned into a table/fucktoy.]

{endreveal}

“So the answer is yes. You could have said yes, you know. It wouldn’t have told her anything by saying it.” Chris responded.

Heather took a deep breath in. “Do you know where either of those seasons is in the book nook?”

“It is wherever you look, if I remember the specs from the storefront. It has all the books in all the languages.” The goblin responded.

“So it has seasons you haven’t read?” Ryan asked, getting a nod in the affirmative. “So if I look for a gay season, would I find it?”

“Yep, the nook should give you what you are looking for even if you shouldn’t be looking for it,” Samson said. “Though you could further refine that by adding light side to the search query, so ‘A light side gay season’ should give you the most fun experience.”

“Wait, there is a light and dark side dynamic between seasons?” Heather asked.

“More of a spectrum than anything. I will say you have sappier dark side stories who try to see the good in the show and darker light side stories where even if they are trying their best, things turn sour. The difference is dependent on: the host's relationship with the contestants, how helpful the master or mistress is, how aggressive transformations are -be they elimination or otherwise-, and lastly the types of relationships that form in the final harem.” He said with a shrug. “I have no idea where we fall, but based on the fact that you and Chris are having this conversation is a positive. I don't keep track of those things. It is also pretty early to tell. If Syl wanted, she could turn this ship dark quickly if she wanted.”

“No, you do know where you think we fall,” Chris said accusatorily, but the goblin just shook his head. “You just don’t want to admit it. You have answers for all of those questions, but you don’t want to say them.”

“Fair assessment that goes beyond my remit as crew; still, it is also mostly the viewers who categorise these things. No matter how hard you aim for one, unless you go to an extreme, it is hard to see where you will end up falling in terms of tone.” The goblin refuted. “Then again, I understand that the intent of whoever made a thing can’t be fully divorced from the thing made. At the same time, I believe the interaction of the observer or result of the thing made is a more important thing. That doesn’t mean the choices that Alberto makes mean nothing or the choices the writing team makes in terms of transformations have no impact. All of these shape the thing the person viewing it sees or reads.”

“Wait, are you talking about the death of the author?” Heather asked, surprised by the goblin’s words.

“Not fully, but it does have aspects of it. I don’t think anyone's actual personal beliefs should be divorced from what they made. Let's shift our look from art to the design of an object. Are you right-handed?” The store clerk tried to engage in rhetoric. “If I handed you a pair of left-handed scissors, you would think it is badly designed, but actually it is designed not for you. Repulsive art sometimes is the same… Like with the left-handed scissors, it is designed for the designer, for example. So if you see something made and wonder why is that maybe ask who made it for whom.”

“Why is all of this important anyway?” Ryan asked. “Why does it matter why something is made?”

“Because an algorithm that is badly designed with bad assumptions or biased data leads to biased outcomes. A story is similar; sometimes it shows you the perspective of the writer to some extent but also as a way you process it. The story is, in that case, data, and you are the computer making the algorithm. You could also contrast stories similarly written for commercial use or commission. Why was Shakespeare written that way? Because he needed to stay on the good side of his financiers, the royalty; he needed to be witty enough to draw in the audience and capture them. He did spend his time pointing out the ridiculousness of royalty at the time, but in a safe enough way not to make them hostile.” Chris replied, trying to explain it in a different way.

“How does the idealist know this and the diplomatic one not?” Heather asked, confused at the seeming role reversal.

Chris shrugged, “I like philosophy and literature, and it is useful to understand these concepts in both. Philosophy talks about intent a bunch, and there this is relevant; at the same time, it has this discussion of whether a technology is bad even if it was intended for good. Algorithms are a main example there, but gene therapy also comes up a bunch, interventions in invasive populations as well. For literature, it is interesting to see what someone says or might have intended to say or actually how progressive something was. Max Havelaar by Multatuli doesn’t seem too progressive these days, if not conservative, for Dutch society, but in the eighteen hundreds it is no wonder that the actual author didn’t put his name on it.” The idealist explained. “It isn’t that Ryan doesn’t know everything about it. He understands it in a practical sense, not the background. I do understand the background, but I am aware that in order to push the envelope, the frame of reference you do need to push. I don’t push to be a great agent of change, but if I do my work well, I assume I can at least prevent backsliding on these issues that others have pushed for.”

“So that is why you are so detailed? Is that why you try to make it infeasible to refute what you say?” Heather questioned further. Chris nodded with a playful, smug smile. “I can’t say I don’t respect that. You really have a work ethic…” The heiress drifted off as she returned to the earlier conversation about how Alex hadn’t been given her position even if Syl was her aunt, and how that contrasted with her. This again made her feel like a waste, as a nepo baby, a parachute kid.

While Heather was out, Samson had texted Alex and Syl to swap with Aimé, and the answer had come in. “So after dinner, our incompetent bartender and I are going to swap. That also means he will be the one to judge the chastity cage thing; check with him how that works, okay?” Ryan and the one in charge of his cage, as well as Will’s cage, nodded. Heather hadn’t heard or processed what was said. So he tapped his shoulder. “Did you hear what I said, girl?”

“No, sorry, could you repeat it, please?” She asked in her daze. The green-haired goblin repeated himself calmly. “So that bastard will be working here, you say… At least I can avoid him here better whilst I am sitting with a book.”

Samson shouted for all to hear. “If you want to buy stuff from me and not my successor, now is the time. It would be smart if you bought your pranking supplies for him before I leave.” He added that last bit with a wink to Chris, Ryan and Heather and returned to his storefront.

“Why would you want to prank Aimé?” Chris asked.

“To get him back for being mean,” Heather replied, scowling.

Ryan shrugged. “Doesn’t that apply double for Samson himself, though?”