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ganondoodle · 8 months

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reminder that my totk rants are me just rambling about my thoughts, ideas and complaints, im not trying to analyze anything, be smart, be right, debate or convince anyone who likes it that its bad just bc i think its bad or simply dont like the choices made, im literally just spilling out my brain so it doesnt keep haunting me

if you think something makes sense that i think doesnt i, and forgive me for being so blunt about it, do not care why you think it works, my opinion of this game will not change and i am okay with that

you are free to disagree with anything i say of course but i really dont care why, sorry

(sth i said only in the tags before but added now in this edit bc i think its important: its not bc i dont want to hear other peoples opinions and live in ignorance or something, but bc im tired and i PROMISE you i have seen 99.9% of those arguments already)

im not trying to be mean, aggressive or dismissive, but again, these rants are just me rambling with no intention of arguing with anyone, the only reason im still posting whenever i think of something thats bothering me (even if it might be dumb or be disproven in game bc i am not all-knowing and might be possibly misremembering something), and letting those posts be rebloggable/interactable is bc i have been told by quite a few people that they like reading them or that they feel validated in their own disappointment

thats it.

#ganondoodles talks #i usually seek/like interacting with people on my posts but not really in the case for the rants #like if you also have stuff to complain about or agree yeah go right ahead #but if you are trying to take down every one of my thoughts with arguments as to why im wrong or being unfair #i dont care #and thats not bc i want to live in my own little world and never hear of other peoples opinions #but bc i PROMISE you i have seen those arguments already #alot even #too much even #and i dont care that you love the story #im sorry but i dont #i think its shit #so i will say why i think it sucks #and im not looking to be proven otherwise #bc people are biased and will always like different things #and thats okay #its okay to read soemthing you dont like and then move on and forget it ever happened #if i see a post i dont like i MIGHT go and ramble on my own without saying which one it was bc i just have thoughts that need to get out #but im not looking to argue nor bother OP with it #if i dont like something for dumb reasons i think thats just as valid as liking soemthing for equally dumb reasons

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crescentfool · 1 year

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graduation day 🌸

#persona 3 #minato arisato #makoto yuki #lizzy does art #HELLO EVERYONE... i humbly offer a minato in these trying times... are you all prepared for the wave of march 5th art bc aha! im sure not #i looked at the promised day tag on twitter and GAAAH THE WORKS ARE ALL SOOO BEAUTIFUL #truly it touches my heart that soo many people are still drawing fan art for this important day even 16 years after the game has released #this is my second time celebrating it! and i couldn't be more grateful to have met minato and see his story....#genuinely though his growth throughout p3 is sooooo loooovely and it's rlly hard to put in words. but like. god. i love my wife #dont look @ me for calling him that. i have seen other ppl call him wife material in the tags. they're right btw #oh and uh if u want u can look at my art for last year its smwhere in my art tag.... i like to think i hav improved... LOL #anyway thats all i have to say... i will rb and cry and sing to kimi no kioku tmrw since its still the 4th where i live. take care everyon!

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fujii-draws · 19 days

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OKAY! Chatot rant in tags below! Read at your own discretion.

#okay starting from the beginning of where ppl usually dislike him. apple woods chapter.#he doesn’t give hero/partner the CHANCE to explain themselves despite them being relatively good recruits up until that point.#and that legit might be my only gripe with that chapter bc!!! stories need conflict! I LIKE the conflict in apple woods!!!#hero and partner being punished so something they didn’t do!#the misunderstanding! how team skull (Skuntank) actually outplays the main duo with a clever yet rotten trick. I LOVE that it segways into-#one of the more sweeter scenes of guild members looking out for eachother. I LIKE APPLE WOODS CONFLICT.#but chatot just. not giving them a chance. is so dumb.#I’d personally fix this by having a lil montage of hero/partner fucking up on jobs. A LOT. and chatot giving them a pass every time.#and let the perfect apple incident BE the one where he puts his foot down and doesn’t listen to them. bc he’d given them loads of chances.#and doesn’t want to hear any excuse.#but yeah. I legit dont mind him during that chapter except for that really stupid and frustrating moment.#NOW. CHAPTER 17.#UGGGGHHH WHERE DO I BEGIN #Him not believing hero and Partner about Grovyle and the future being in ruin? FINE. ACTUALLY GOOD. BC CHATOT WOULD BE SKEPTIC.#IT FITS HIS CHARACTER!!#BUT WHAT DOES SUCK. IS HIM GOING ‘Dusknoir isn’t the bad guy. he didn’t do anything wrong’#WHEN HE LITERALLY KIDNAPPED HERO AND PARTNER RIGHT I N F R O N T OF HIM.#(NO LITERALLY. HIS CHARACTER IS IN THE FRONT ROW WHEN IT HAPPENED.)#and him. having the GALL to tell hero and partner they must’ve been ‘seeing things’ and downplaying the HELL they went through.#despite them being missing for hours/days. his own guild recruits. and his angry sprite showing up.#like. I think that’s when I genuinely despised him.#that and him going ‘OH I BELIEVED YOU THE WHOLE TIME HEEHOO :)’ shit was so fucking annoying.#just playing it off as a joke the second the guild started to believe hero and partner.#IMAGINE IF HE W A S ACTUALLY TESTING THE GUILD’S TRUST. SHOWCASING HIM AS THE MORE RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL RIGHT HAND OF THE GUILD.#and yes. Brine cave he saves hero and partner. but at that point I just didn’t care anymore.#he fucked those two over so much. that I didn’t care what ‘valiant’ sacrifice he had.#and he grills Team Skull for what they did OFF SCREEN. they couldn’t even give us THAT.#<<< THAT or him outright saying sorry would’ve been nice. IKIK his ‘actions’ or whatever but.#eughh again this is all imo. I’m not trying to make people hate him or change their mind.#I’ll get into positives in the second post cause I’m running out of tags

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starmist · 2 months

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I genuinely believe Naksu haunts the narrative. Her actions and existence as Naksu heavily impact the entire story. Her past, the life she lived and the shadow of it in Mudeok. But we don't actually know any of it because Naksu is not in the story.

Like. What she lost as Cho Yeong is something that we are never allowed to forget, the loss of her body, her powers, her freedom, and her impending death as a soul shifter hangs over Mudeok's head like guillotine.

All the while we don't actually know the Shadow Assassin Naksu, she died in the first episode, as soon as the story began. Other than training and killing (soul shifters) what kind of person was she when she didn't have to rely on another person else or hide or live as someone else? We don't know and we don't ever learn any of that.

Still, her absence is the plot, yet her former existence as Naksu influences everything; Yul's actions and what she was to him, Jang Uk's goal of returning her powers, the revelation of soul shifters to Park Jin, Jang Gang's departure, Jin Mu's accomplishments, the King's Star even.

Everything is about her existence but she doesn't actually exist at all anymore.

#before anyone disagrees she declares naksu dead in ep 5 or something and tell yul the person he knew no longer exists in ep 19 #naksu is dead but the shadow of her hangs over everything #what could have been and what wasn't is mourned in nearly episode #alchemy of souls #also im not saying one life is better than the other but there is always this sense of loss in mudeok that is never forgotten by the story #SHE DESERVED TO LIVE AS HERSELF #Also for me its the tragedy of all of it that makes the show so good #like dont get me wrong im certifiably insane over the romance and would be very happy with the ending offered but even the then the best pa #*the happy ending #is that #she escaped the circle of tragedy shes been trapped in #and has so many people that she loves and cares for now and how those ppl care for her just as much #this post is brought to you by: my mutual and i finally finishing our rewatch

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luck-of-the-drawings · 25 days

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smth smth about 'the thing that the character did that you thought was rly rly funny in the moment is actually linked to a terrible trauma that lies within said character.' or wahtever.

#jrwi show #jrwi fanart #jrwi riptide #gillion tidestrider #made this within a short span of wahtever bc i gotta go up to the mountains for my stupid gay job tonight n im trying #nnot to frrRREAAAK THE FUCK OUUTTTTTTi dont wanna work but. get that bread we fuckin shall i guess #ONWARDS TO THE FISH TORMENT!! sometimes flowers feel pain when you trim them before their blossoming. atleast i imagine so #i used to draw gillion with loooong hair tied into a big ol braid. and then it was confirmed that he had short hair when he was little.#AT FIRST I WAS SAD. but then i realized the duality of. when they were little. gill had short hair. edyn had long hair.#AND NOW THEYRE OLDER. and gillion has long hair. and edyn has short hair #both mirroring eachother. looking up to eachother. subconsciously or not. they most certainly care. and most certainly miss eachother.#GILLION ALWAYS LOVED HOW LONG HAIR LOOKs. atleast i imagine so. he hasnt cut it since he left the undersea. sure he wanted to go back home #but even at the very start. he knew he was free in some way now. free to grow out his hair. an adventure would await him before he returns.#he knew it would be a while. so he cant let this go. he cant let this sought-after hair-length get cut away from him again #not yet. not yet. i like to think he loved music too. I SAW SOMETHING INTERESTING A BIT AGO #i see alot of ppl commenting on my baby gill comics like;'i wouldFIGHT this teacher i wanna KILL EM i want them DESTROYED #all very good and nice sentiments! i LOVE the energy here! and it would be nice. to have that catharsis #but the story of young tidestrider is not a story of catharsis. it is a story of agony and being so so small and so special and also so dum #and sucking so bad. and just being a kid and doing the things that a little kid does and so many tired tired people reacting badly to it #youre supposed to be the hero that will save us. our world hangs in the balance and you are the one who tips the scales.#YOU are supposed to SAVE US!! you NEED to SAVE US! CAN YOU PLEASE STOP SQUIRMING IN YOUR STUPID CHAIR!!#you'd think that young tidestrider ought to prevail. and be tucked someplace all safe and sound.#elders gone missing and rotting in a jail. their cultists nowhere around. but theres no happy endings. not here not now.#this tale is all sorrows n woes. you may dream that justice n peace win the day. but thats not how this story goes #BIG ideas for this lil baby gillion series. if anything i make ever gets disproven im killing myself in a well as to poison a water supply

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enden-k · 28 days

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dr veritas "finally a moment of peace. should have squashed him. this gambler gets on my nerves. ughh annoying ass mf" ratio; dr veritas "you look pale. tell me if you cant hold on any longer. stay alive. i wish you the best of luck" ratio

I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOCTOR RAAAAHHHH

#yes you can take it any way you want obv #but i just love how hes so mean and sharp tongued without getting actually offensive and horrible #while showing care towards aventurine by telling him he didnt mean to offend when he said smth or him saying these #im still processing the entire story and dont fully understand everything but let me babble here all delusional ok #rambles #tbd #hsr tag

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jadewritesficshere · 9 months

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Alcohol

Eddie Munson x Reader

Contents: effects of alcohol, underage drinking (because it is a high school party, but reader is >18) , pet names (Sweetheart), flirting

This just developed from a drunk night with friends and I thought "How would Eddie react?". Enjoy.

Your head was pounding. You weren't sure if it was from the music being blasted in the house or from the amount of alcohol you drank. Your limbs felt heavy snd sluggish. You weren't tired persay, but if you sat for too long you weren't sure you would be getting back up.

You had no clue where your friends were. Robin had convinced you to come, wanting to have a "normal" high-school senior year experience. With you having already graduated last year and being in college, you didn't really feel the need to go. Robin's insistence at you having never went did make you feel like you missed something.

And here you are. Drunk and alone. Well, not really alone. There were a lot more people then you expected to be here. You recognized some people you had graduated with, returning to another party for some reason. You shouldn't judge as you were also here.

You stumble outside the house and towards the shed. Maybe with some quiet your head would stop pounding. Each movement was slow and calculated, feeling like you could fall at any moment. The world wasn't spinning (well, okay the earth was technically rotating still), but you felt so uncoordinated and sluggish. You round the corner of the shed furthest from the house and-

You squeak and immediately attempt to dart back around the side of the shed, yelling," sorry!" You aren't even sure what or who you saw. A wad of cash and a bag of some substance. Enough for you to know you don't want to witness anything and be an accomplice. However, your retreat was less than skilled. Having turned on your heel so quick, you actually slipped...and landed still in sight of the people.

You hit the ground with a thud and a groan. You cover your face with your hands in embarrassment. "Holy shit! You oka-" one of the people pauses before you hear footsteps," Sweetheart?" You glance up between the fingers covering your face and see Eddie standing above you. Ah, of course it would be your boyfriend. You know he sells, and what a perfect place at a party to do so.

He quickly crouches," What are you doing here?" "Uh, nothing. Just going for a stroll. I totally didn't see anything," you close the fingers to cover your eyes again," I saw absolutely nothing Officer." You can hear Eddie chuckling and imagine him shaking his head before a hand touches your shoulder making you jump. "Nobody out here but you and me now," Eddie says through chuckles," but that was very convincing." You know it was not convincing at all. "Think I rolled a...what's it called a one? A nat one?" You grumble.

Eddie helps pull you into a sitting position and you reluctantly lower your hands. Eddie looked just as good as he always did. Simply looking at him made your heart thump wildly and your head spin- no wait, that was absolutely the alcohol. You groaned and closed your eyes, laying your forehead on his shoulder. "Oh Sweetheart, you're drunker then a skunk, aren't ya?" You whine back, "Not a skunk. If anyone is it's you."

You can feel Eddie's shoulder shake as he laughs. You can't help but smile at it. "You saying i smell?" Eddie asks, nose wrinkled from smiling so wide. You pull back to look at him slightly. "What if I am?" You poke his side causing him to jolt back. Eddie was always ticklish on his ribs. Eddie bats your hand away," I'll have you know i smell wonderfully." You hum again leaning your head back against Eddie's shoulder. You exaggerated inhale makes him smile. "Yeah, you smell alright i guess."

Eddie rolls his eyes at your teasing. You pull back and grin up at him. "You're so pretty." You murmur, looking into his deep brown eyes. They seem to widen slightly as his face flushes, a dopey grin on his face. "Yeah? You are too-" "Not as pretty as you!" You cut him off and smush his face with your hands. His lips jut out slightly and he sets his hands on yours. You give him a quick kiss on the lips before kissing his nose. "So pretty. The prettiest." The joy in Eddie's eyes is evident as he pulls your hands from his face. He gives you a quick kiss on the forehead, knowing arguing with you right now is futile.

He slowly stands, hands steadily holding onto you and helping you up. "Did you get hurt?" Eddie calmly asks, checking you out over. "Think i broke my ass." You grumble shifting your weight slightly, feeling tenderness in your glute. "No!" Eddie gasps dramatically," do you have a crack in it?" You frown at Eddie," That joke wasn't funny the first time you said it." Eddie snickers to himself.

You realize you're still holding onto him and let go, stumbling back slightly. Not that there is anything wrong with holding your boyfriend's hand, but drunk you doesn't seem to think that. Eddie's hands dart out to catch you in case you fall. "I'm fine!" You swat his hands away and turn to look back at the house. "You got-" Eddie cuts his sentence off. You can feel his hand brush something off your butt. "If you wanted to grab my ass you could just ask." You bend forward slightly and shimmy your hips at him.

Eddie groans slightly at the sight before clearing his throat and saying," Yeah no, you're definitely drunk." "Am not." "Yeah you are." "Mmm nope" you pop the p sound as you start to walk stumble towards the house. "Whoa okay hold on," Eddie rushes after you.

You can feel his hands on your waist and guide you towards the street, not the house. "Let's get you home," Eddie mumbles more to himself then you. Typically, you'd put up more of a fight. But your head was pounding and your arms felt like lead. Each step took a ton of effort. It felt like you had jumped in the lake with all your clothes on and were being dragged down by them.

Eddie guides you to his van and opens the passenger door. Eddie tries to get you to go in when it clicks that you left Robin behind. "Bobbie!" You push away from Eddie and look at the house," I left her and she and i..." Eddie's brow furrows slightly before looking back at the house. "Not leaving without her." You cross your arms and glare at Eddie. Well, one of them. "I'll go get her, can you just get in and wait?"

You mull it over. Waiting meant you could sit. Maybe do that trick Wayne does- resting his eyes. The more you thought it over the more pleasant it sounded. You nod and clamber into the vehicle. Eddie gently shuts the door after you. You watch him in the side mirror head back towards the house.

Yes, Wayne had a good idea. You close your eyes and sigh. Practically melting into the seats. Your bones feel like jello now. The buzzing in your head a beautiful white noise. Yeah, this was a great idea.

You startle awake at the sound of a door opening. You glance back and see Robin being corralled into the van with Vickie (when did Vickie get there you have no clue but that must be who Robin was with). Both of the girls are giggling and talking to each other, Robin overly loud without realizing how loud she was being. Vickie mumbling half the time in response. But they seemed to be having a great time, making you smile.. The doors slam shut and a few seconds later Eddie throws his door open.

He huffs before getting into the car, " like coralling a bunch of cats. You get one to follow and the other goes the opposite way." Eddie shakes his head, curls bouncing. You blink slowly at him before smiling. Eddie glances at you and grins. You hum closing your eyes again. "You going to sleep on me?" You hear him ask. "You'd know if I was sleeping with you."

Eddie snorts and laughs as the car takes off. You aren't sure what he found so funny. "I definitely would know that Sweetheart." You hum in response. "Go to sleep, I'll keep ya safe." "Not sleeping," you mumble falling asleep," just resting my eyes like Wayne." You hear Eddie chuckle as you drift off, feeling comfortable and safe with him.

#Wish Eddie would take care of me when I drink aha I dont drink anymore for a reason #Anyways hope yall are doing good #I was supposed to finish a Steve fic but this story got a hold on me...I'll finish that later #I love Eddie so much rn and it has never left I saw s4 and have had brain rot since #Eddie is good at banter #Eddie Munson fluff #Eddie Munson x reader #Eddie Munson x you #Eddie Munson x y/n #Eddie Munson/reader #Eddie Munson/you #Eddie Munson fic #Stranger Things #Stranger Things fic #Jade is Talking

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spacedlexi · 2 months

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the way the ericson group were at the outbreak just a bunch of troubled kids who made various mistakes or committed crimes and were judged by a system that punished and abandoned them instead of giving them the support and love they needed, are then nearly a decade later put into a situation where now they must judge a troubled child for the mistakes and crimes hes committed against them. and 5 to 3 vote them out 😭

#twdg #i love the way s4 connects back to lees whole 'murderer' thing back in s1 😭 guilt...atonement.....systems of punishment #i love thinking about s1>s4 themes and crying #anyway this is partially why i hate when i see the ericson cast reduced down to 'just some teens' its so much more than that #them being abandoned in a boarding school for troubled kids is SO IMPORTANT its not 'just some school'#anyway its also probably why theyre my favorite cast #theyre literally one of if not the most mature group of the series even while being a bunch of kids who make choices i dont agree with #because they actually love and care about each other. even when theyre mad. because theyre all they have left #i do think the vote was a fair way to handle it even tho i still ultimately find it cruel. they couldve talked it out #but this is still a story that needs conflict to resolve so is what it is #they would rather they leave than have to face their confused feelings. the most immature thing they do. but understandable #they did such a good job crafting that cast for clem GOD an entire ensemble built around her and aj....delicious #zombie/post apoc media about love and community my beloved 😭#sorry but get tf out of here with that 'humans are evil and everyone dies' lame ass bullshit we are nothing without community #the amount of love pouring out of s4 is like getting my ass kicked but then they give me a big hug and kiss after and send me on my way #s4 my absolute beloved i really love it more and more every time. so much to appreciate even with it the way it is #the themes bro the themes........ the connections between seasons 1 and 4 you are everything to me #it speaks

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presiding · 5 months

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a doctor turned serial killer turned doctor again, an actor who paints, a gang leader, a mining baron, and a vice overseer walk into the room.

oh yeah and they lead karnaca now.

dishonored 2 is my fav game but i think it's mid, story-wise. here's why dh1 works and why dh2's overarching story sorta misses

tl;dr: story integration is critical for gameplay that offers audience payoff, but emily's personal arc from dishonor to honor is inconsistently demonstrated in the story, and is not an interactive part of the gameplay.

essay/long version under cut >

recap: what's dishonored's deal

[skip if you want] dh1 is an underdog story: corvo is an honorable man swept up in the machinations of a callous city, so his canonical ending being 'this child will rule over an empire' isn't about the child's rule but rather about corvo's reputation being restored in a more hopeful city, due to his & the player's rejection of the violent connotations of the tagline 'revenge solves everything.'

similarly, in dh1 DLCs, daud's story arc is that of an anti-hero: a dishonorable man who realises too late he has done irreparable harm. he sees the error of his ways after a single monumental death, and eventually a single life redeems him when he/the player stepped in to circumvent a terrible fate for a child, enabling her to rule unfettered.

daud & corvo come to a satisfying conclusion within the extent of their narrative arcs. it doesn't matter that a child on a throne isn't really a fix for a decaying empire - the player's actions throughout the city of dunwall was what mattered - and these stories could be framed as parables. in that sense, young emily as a ruler is a metaphor for a hopeful future for the city & empire.

dishonored 1 & its DLCs are also great examples of storytelling with perfectly integrated gameplay - you, the player, worked towards the outcome that redeemed the protagonists.

in your efforts to save young emily, you either achieved a good outcome (corvo) or prevented a worse outcome (daud).

bringing us to dh2 -

what's emily's arc

emily's arc is a coming of age: we're introduced to a reigning empress who questions her role & skillset ("am i the empress my mother wanted me to be?"), then her titular fall from grace occurs. from there, she learns to reject the violent, selfish connotations in 'take back whats yours' tagline (a la daud & corvo!) while rediscovering why her rule is critical to the empire.

emily's rule is no longer metaphorical, but:

a literal thing for audience assessment (is emily a good ruler?) AND

the crux of her storyline.

at the beginning of dh2, emily is introduced as a disengaged leader ("i wish i could just run away from all this;" "i dont know if whether i should sail to the opposite side of the world, or have everyone around me executed"). the antihero has a precedent for the dishonored series in daud, so it's not at first glance an issue*, however, the fact that emily has ruled poorly reframes corvo & daud's endings as being less than ideal (a moralistic retcon) *we could talk here about how ready an audience was in 2016 for a flawed women as a protagonist, hell, even in 2023,,,

throwback to the beginning of this essay when i said:

'this child will rule over an empire' isn't about the child's rule but rather about corvo's reputation

emily's story arc, unlike for daud & corvo, is literally about the quality of her rule. we're no longer in metaphor territory (ironic phrase): a parable-style ending doesn't work.

does emily become a good ruler

we know she becomes a good ruler because the game says so. it is narrated to the audience via a (literal) word of god in the space of 30 seconds, after the final boss. the outsider tells us that emily becomes known as Just & Clever.

drawing a distinction here - this narration is not the same as the player actively being involved.

the player does not throughout the game become aware that emily has made political allies. during the game, she doesn't talk to these characters about saving karnaca or being a better ruler to the empire (there's a few lines might imply it, but you need to be actively looking and being careful to wait for every voice line. it's a far cry from daud & corvo's fight to save emily being unmissable - even though daud doesn't know at the beginning that's the goal).

how does the game show it

you can coincidentally not kill most of your subjects and never be aware that emily is looking to restore karnaca by means of instating a council - it's never brought up. it *couldn't* be brought up, because that council serves under the fake duke (armando), who is the last person she speaks to before she leaves for dunwall. its her suggestion that he rules karnaca, but armando's condition is that he will rule as he sees fit.

to back up a bit, emily's canonical method of restoring karnaca is by banding together key allies - hypatia, stilton, [byrne &or paolo], pastor, under a council beneath the duke's body double. they are passionate people who would each individually make worthwhile advisors, but if you think about those characters sitting at a table trying to reach an agreement, it feels like an assortment of people that emily didn't kill along the way and doesn't feel organic (up to interpretation). it's not stated if emily herself banded this council together, but logically she must have (worth a mention these are mostly characters that you as the player had reasonable rationale to kill during a high chaos run, except pastor). the underlying concept may be that karnaca's power is returned to its people - which is interesting given that the monarchy remains and armando's decision is final.

this overarching solution could also be taken as a critique to dh1's 'put your kid on the throne,' which is another reason its worthwhile looking at how emily was shown to be a better leader. obviously my point isn't that her solution was bad given the circumstance, but i mean she has very little agency here in all. if emily was shown to be more controlling as a leader, this could be interpreted as character growth, but that's not the case.

coming of age

how do you learn & grow when you can't specify your failings? emily doesn't really touch on her shortcomings as an empress. she non-specifically worries delilah makes a better empress than her. it's hard to argue her worries are meaningful when someone good at their job will still worry when lives are in the balance.

emily's best 'aha' moments (eg. crack in the slab comment about gaining perspective) are consistently undercut by a conversation with sokolov or meagan afterwards in which she demonstrates she hasn't learned anything (before the grand palace, emily condemns 'toadies sucking up to me' and is reminded by meagan that she's part of the problem). the story is confused about what it's trying to say about emily's progress, and when she's meant to show progress, if she was meant to show any progress at all. it could be argued that emily was never even a bad ruler, she had just been fed misinformation about the problems in karnaca and been the victim of slander by her political enemies. the game doesn't make this clear - it's easier to argue that the opposite is true given that her allies only have criticism.

worth a mention here that the heart quotes about armando - a fake ruler - interestingly mirror emily's character concerns. "see how he sighs? his life is a gilded cage." but this essay is already long.

while corvo & daud spend their games (and through the gameplay) 'earning' their redemption, emily is being led by the NPCs around her to a conclusion and a fix for the political mess in karnaca: meagan & sokolov guide emily to her missions, and there's no recurring quest for emily to investigate possible allies. she is able to gather the people she hasn't killed to herself by manner of... post-game narration. during the game, she's primarily concerned with getting her throne back.

an easy fix: if there had been less dialogue & narrative focus on emily's failings perhaps the ending would have felt more satisfying. it has the feel of cut content, but i don't know what was cut to be able to comment on it.

so what went wrong?

i can't help but wonder if arkane were worried they would lose a certain demographic if corvo wasn't playable (may have been deemed too much of a risk - 2013 was a different time), and so they had to take out story elements that were unique to emily's growth as a character/empress, because the usual storyline/gameplay integration had to work for both characters - in other words, gameplay that made sense for both corvo & emily was prioritised before emily's story & character development. which is a silly problem to have in a game that added character voices for the sake of improving characterisation - maybe emily's tale would have felt more akin to a parable if she had less lines that betrayed her ignorance (to the disdain of those around her).

i wish more care had been taken with emily's story. most players will never really notice the large variety of different endings - they're not particularly satisfying in and of themselves.

it's ironic that one of Emily's complaints is about her father/protector being overbearing, when his (parallel universe) presence in the gameplay may be one of the reasons her own narrative arc falls flat.

what are the upsides here

changing tune from what didn't work - don't you think the concept is fantastic? it's a great idea overall - can you imagine if the coming of age storyline was better integrated into the game?

it's valuable to talk about the integration of story and gameplay and characterisation from a craft perspective. dh2 genuinely is my favourite game - it's beautiful, the imm-sim design philosophy makes the world a delight to explore, the combat gives endless creative options for tackling any fight, there is a far greater diversity of cast in an in-text canonical way. there's loads to love!

i love emily as a dodgy leader, to me it adds interesting dimensionality to the outsider's narrations - of course in dunwall there's never a neat happily ever after! emily, like the outsider, both work well as characters who hold ultimate power but aren't necessarily worthy of it - and this makes perfect sense for the dishonored universe's morality & critiques of power. however, within this grey area there's still plenty of room for a satisfying ending, which isn't what we ended up with, whatever the true reason for that was. and also, damn, emily's a marked assassin empress, if she can't lead well then who can?

while dh1 was criticised for its narrative simplicity, dh2 in contrast and in hindsight shows us that simplicity isn't so bad - there's satisfaction in gameplay achieves a clear, simple narrative goal.

#are you a dh1 enjoyer but less so a dh2 enjoyer?#have you ever wondered why you don't love dh2 as much?#here's 1.8k words that might articulate some of that.#light reading.i guess #this essay wasn't meant to cover everything - just the core of the plot and why its important to integrate story & gameplay #and to compare dh1 & 2 #dishonored #dishonored 2 #dishonored 2 spoilers #emily kaldwin #daud #corvo attano #this week i'm cracking things out of my drafts!#<333 don't get me started on doto.#some of this might be contentious. idk i try to live in a bubble #the meme version was easier to read i know i know #this essay would have been a lot longer had i integrated more references from the game #i know a few others have said this but imagine if they went a different way with emily #like she realises shes not fit for the job and maybe no one is and says fuck the system cause shes got a rebellious streak #and does a kickflip on the monarchy and institutes something else. i dont even care what. make it funny #and then for the sake of continuing the trend we spend dishonored 3 undoing the horrible leadership emily instates <3 #i think they really loved emily as a character. i FEEL the love i believe its there.but didn't think enough bout how she would be perceived #there's a good couple comments from baldur's gate 3 devs about how much work goes into writing women to account for sexism #there's more that i could have added to this essay but for brevity's (ha.ha) sake i'll leave it there #other textposts about this game that i see around tend to romanticise dishonoreds story a little more

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