#thank you skemford i love seeing you in my feed!

[presiding]

I love "the monster in the hull" fic so much and I'm excited for updates!!

Every Emily and Billie interaction are golden and your writing is really pleasant to read; it makes me soo happy!

More focus on Billie in fan content is always great <3

I really adore how you write her, it feels so thought out in the best way

Also not sure how to say it right but i like that you address the way Emily lived before the coup *especially* through Billie's eyes...DH2 really lacked it, sadly (i won't comment on how Arkane handled monarchy & consequences but i hope that what I've said makes at least some sense)

Aaaa <3 thank you so much! It's really lovely getting comments about my work & I never quite know what to say or how to properly express my gratitude, but it means a lot!

Re: "the way Emily lived before the coup" I agree - that makes perfect sense and it's SO fascinating to me, and it was something I really wanted to tackle! I hope you don't mind me having a ramble about this on your ask?

Emily's privileges & her maturity arc are something I've been thinking about a lot with regards to the fic but also broadly :D

Emily's privileges

*grits teeth* Monarchy/politics aside, *unclenches jaw*

I think the game made an interesting choice (/genuine) by drawing attention to Emily's privilege & her struggle with the pressures of leadership. Both Sokolov & Meagan comment on it, and Emily herself makes comments (paraphrase: "I can feel my perspective shifting") but it's a shame there was no follow through. You can FEEL the critique of the Empire in the bones of the story but... it's swept under the rug.

Maturity arc?

The clueless comments from Emily feels like they could be part of a maturity arc, rather than a critique of power/privilege. BUT. A maturity arc is... a choice... for Emily, specifically for a female videogame protagonist.

She's been reigning 14 years by the events of Dishonored 2! Even if a lot of that time she was too young to be taking the reigns, still, she's not new to it, and you would think that Corvo was keeping her grounded. There was no comparable arc for Corvo - his failures in his own game was being framed by forces far larger than he, and trusting when he should not. As another comparison, Daud was slipping, yes, but he was slipping in a noir film antihero way - ie. becoming better as a person - and that was well explored.

By adding the 'Emily is a bad Empress' hints but then never going into detail, and you end up with a woman whose character is scrutinised from an unfair angle by the audience (contrast with Corvo). It feels like the weight of having any privileges, within the context of the Dishonored series, is borne entirely by Emily Kaldwin. But as you rightly say, it's not handled well, so the audience just associates the concept of privilege with her (derogatory).

It brings to mind the Boyle sisters - compared to other marks in the game, in Dishonored 1, their only crime was being manipulated by the Regent, but they were dealt arguably the worst punishment the series really offers. Harsh, right? It's not like other characters don't also have wealth & political power & could be abused. Maybe Emily's ongoing clueless comments is an attempt from the writers to be self-aware (knowing that disempowerment is a running theme but Emily is well-off), but that self-awareness only shoots Emily in the foot.

It's a running theme I have in monster in the hull - I want to kind of explore that like, yeah, Emily never really chose this life for herself, same as the Outsider. That doesn't *negate* her privileges, but informs them. It would be like viewing the Outsider primarily as a victim (as DotO kinda suggests), when realistically he's still the master of his own fate (and everyone elses, same as Emily).

What Dishonored 2 did well

There is an aspect in which the game did follow through, but it's easy to overlook: the importance of recurring characters like Lucia Pastor. Dishonored 2's ending spends a decent amount of time highlighting the new Serkonan advisors ("the city's wisest citizens survived" as the Outsider narrates) and blames them for bringing about peace & prosperity.

A generous read would be that the game acknowledges that Emily the Just & Clever learns that her perspective & intelligence alone was not nearly enough to bring about the change her Empire needs to thrive. This insight gained from her time in Karnaca was what shaped her, and giving more power & more voice to the wise people she rules over, was what ultimately earned her the titles Just & Clever. But... that wasn't really surfaced, hey.

Glad you mentioned because Emily's indifference as a leader is a detail that I love, particularly in the context of her own material/political privileges... even though I know it's why people don't like her. In saying that, the overall picture frustrates me!

Let me know your thoughts this is an interesting topic, love this game :)