But for real, do we know the Harem has extra scallops?
You remember that picture of Adrian squeezed between Dani and Erin's breasts that you liked so much? I think we would generally agree that those scallops were powering the (assumed) bell tower effect. It did appear that while some of them had been removed already ("That's bad, isn't it?"), some remained. The intention behind their trip was to collect the scallops. The subsequent page in that sequence (357) did nothing to suggest that they hadn't removed all the scallops they could. But as usual it's all supposition really.
But if they fake for too long then it becomes their reality and they would stop realising they're faking.
If you want to try explaining to my penis how that's hot then feel free. (That's a rhetorical offer by the way.)
Well, we could always use more MC in terms of quantity, but I'm with jmundt29 in that Adrian's harem setup seems interesting.
I do have a bit of an appreciation for consensual, semi-consensual, and 'happier' mc than some, though. And Jakob or Cherry (unless she become redeemed by her love for Julian, awww snap) with the scallops is a depressing scenario.
Each to their own and all that, but consensual mc isn't really even a thing in my book.
The set-up with the SJI harem is ingenious and interesting but it doesn't generate the thing that I find hot. Since the Night of the Watch the first time that thing happened
through the action of the harem was in 365. And even though Dani has used the pendant three times now, we haven't seen a single induction, and only with Miriam has the effect of the mind control really been explored (and that was muddied by the you-feel-what-I-feel thing).
When all is said and done it's only a story. Jakob and Cherry only exist because Daphne thought to create them. They might as well do something hot with that imagined existence. Or not. As I always stress, I'm not complaining; the plot in SJI is more than enough to keep me happy. But the last time I found something really hot in the story was 343 in October last year - and it turned out Caitlyn was faking anyway. I'm all for a happy ending but if I thought it was all going to be
At Home With The Harem until we get there I'd stop reading it now.
I am curious about something. If, at some point, Adrian decides to use the shells to punish either Cherry (seemingly a considered decision) or Claudia (potentially a hasty decision) would you find such a turn of events and the creativity it spawned sexy?
If someone in a position with some tangible power was stripped of that power by the use of mind control then that would probably be hot. If Cherry were to be punished by being turned into a nicer person and being allowed to get all the sex with cuddly floppy-haired Adrian that she suddenly craved, that would be less hot than some other possibilities.
ETA--On the subject of one shell vs. seven, I'm inclined to believe that if the Icelandic Import had swiped all the remaining shells and she was unreservedly cooperating with Johannes (or even just trying to make him believe it) she would have shown all or most of the shells that she'd managed to obtain...
With the hopefully obvious proviso that this is pointless speculation: they may have taken all the scallops with them. If they are intending to do something with them in the immediate future then they presumably only need one so she only has one in her bag, or at least she only has to show him one to demonstrate that she has what they need.
It's equally possible that the crystal was just used to make her willing to join in on the evening's fun, with no broader loyalty programming. In that case it would have worked just fine while still allowing for the theft of a scallop. (Another thought: if the harem had multiple scallops and kept them in the same place, why steal only one?)
We don't really know to what extent the pendant can work on someone who's been exposed to the watch. I'd like to think that Caitlyn snapped out of her pendant-induced trance only when Derek demanded she call him master, but I don't think that's been established.