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torntruth · 2 years

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For no other reason except that I want to talk about Emily Kaldwin, here’s a more in depth look at her choices:

- the only blood her blade ever sees is ramsey’s: and it’s the only time she ever makes a mess, a noise, the only real chaos. she just walks through the door after listening to him talk to his guards. he’s greedy, he’s corrupt, he killed alexi and she’s blindly angry. she fights him next to her bedroom. leaves him on the floor to bleed out, picks up the already dead alexi and leaves the woman on her bed. there’s nothing she can do now. - the only two people that knew of her presence leaving dunwall were the courier and meagan foster. she didn’t make a peep. didn’t make a sound. she was an absolute ghost. she barely even disturbed a rat. - she gave back to karnaca as a traveler, helped mindy, helped the woman in addermire, even so much, so powerful that she rectified the sins of the past, changed time itself and saved aramis stilton from a horrendous fate of insanity. which also saved all the miner’s of karnaca. karnaca lived more peacefully ... and not a single soul even knew that there was a future of dust and death. - the only victims of her blade continue to be bloodflies. - not only does she save alexandria hypatia, but emily helps fund the revival of alex’s institute. which in return, once more, gives the people of karnaca hope because hypatia is a kind, caring doctor and she will take care of them inside of addermire. they all have someone to rely on again. alexandria hypatia is an angel that had to be fatefully disguised as a devil. emily reinstated her significance as an angel. - she didn’t kill kirin, but that is something she mournfully regrets enough that she’s thought about passage to the clockwork mansion again to end his misery. he didn’t even see her coming. didn’t know she was there, she surpassed the maze and technology of his mansion with the ease of a shadow. he never even woke up as himself, she took his intelligence away from him, like she was a bitter god herself. he woke up as a shell of himself and merely stared as emily walked away from the mansion. - the abbey is extremist, paolo has a vengeful soul. the dust district needs a new start. the howlers can have their blocks, can have their land, they can have a seat within karnaca’s council to help better the city. with one exception: paolo doesn’t get the vice overseer. he’s being sent away. - the duke is a pitiful man. he doesn’t even deserve thought. even his double knows this. emily strikes an agreement with the double, he doesn’t end up disappointing her. he plays the role of a leader much kinder, he actually looks into karnaca’s problems and seeks to resolve them from atop his large mansion and new mound of gold. - breanna ashworth was used by delilah, romance and power are powerful tools. emily can only remember the pain in ashworth’s eyes when she fell to her knees, powerless and now romanceless because delilah certainly wouldn’t talk to someone who know longer has the magical powers she used. emily merely bowed her hed and exited the conservatory. a place she once thought was beautiful and that she wanted to visit with her significant other. emily had taken those powers, found a way, and now it all seemed empty. - delilah is delusional and emily thinks that she can have her delusion as long as there’s no chance for delilah to ever cause terror again. emily traps delilah in her own painting. the terror is over with. - meagan foster revealed that she’s actually billie foster and that she played a small part in the murder of emily’s mother. emily has no more room for anger, she’s exhausted and wants to end delilah’s terror. ‘people change,’ emily says and then takes meagan boats and leaves for home again. jessamine kaldwin deserves to rest in peace. jessamine kaldwin deserves to remembered as a loving, extraordinary mother. she deserves to be remembered as a fair and caring empress. let it all rest.

#EMILY KALDWIN — daughter of the void.

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messmertheimpaler · 4 years

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OCS + BIOGRAPHIES

tagged by @chuckhansen

tagging: @jennystahl @vitosscaletta @roberthouses @queennymeria @honesthearts @coruscas @minilev @rebelfatebinder @lustyargonianmaid (and whoever else feels like doing it! no pressure obvi!)

The Basics

Full Name: Eris Loxton

Codename or Nickname: N/A

Birth Date: i hate how the calendar works in dh, so i’m saying October 30th, 1809

Birth Place: Karnaca, Serkonos

Nationality: Serkonian.. i guess idk

Organisation/Group: courtesan.. if that’s something i’m dumb help me

Former Affiliates: the howlers

Family + Friends

Father: Erik Loxton (deceased)

Mother: Vanessa Loxton (deceased)

Siblings: Adrian Loxton (alive; missing), Clara Loxton (alive)

Other Relatives: N/A

Spouses: Teague Martin… we don’t acknowledge either ending for this king

Children: Mateo Loxton (fathered by Paolo), Callum Martin (fathered by Teague)

Description

Height: 5′8″

Weight: oh i’m bad at this, uhhh like 120-130

Hair Colour: black

Eye Colour: light blue

Skin Colour: fair

Any Scars: N/A

Any Tattoos: the letter M on her left ring finger :)

Any Piercings: her ears

Other Notable Features: long legs, like… 70% legs.

Random Facts: can’t sing, but knows how to play the piano, even trade-off ig

The Basics

Full Name: Mara Lovejoy

Codename or Nickname: “Lovejoy” (mostly by Adam), “Sweetheart” - from Mason

Birth Date: August 21st, 1992

Birth Place: Wayhaven, MA

Nationality: American

Organisation/Group: The Wayhaven PD and The Agency

Former Affiliates: N/A

Family + Friends

Father: Warren ‘Rook’ Lovejoy (deceased)

Mother: Rebecca Lovejoy (alive)

Siblings: none

Other Relatives: Reed Finch (cousin)

Spouses: hmmm….. :^)

Children: we’ll see

Description

Height: 5′7″

Weight: uhhhhh probably 120 to 130 idk man

Hair Colour: dark brown

Eye Colour: brown

Skin Colour: olive

Any Scars: the bite mark where murphy bit her on the neck

Any Tattoos: none

Any Piercings: her ears

Other Notable Features: her freckles

Random Facts: can tie a cherry stem with her tongue

The Basics

Full Name: Sawyer Cassidy

Codename or Nickname: ‘Cassi’ - by @queennymeria‘s oc Ginger :)

Birth Date: April 12th, 1913

Birth Place: Des Moines, IA

Nationality: American

Organisation/Group: L.A. Times

Former Affiliates: N/A

Family + Friends

Father: Patrick Cassidy (alive)

Mother: Eleanor Cassidy (alive)

Siblings: Richie Cassidy (alive), Fiona Cassidy (alive)

Other Relatives: N/A

Spouses: haven’t thought that far ahead, Roy doesn’t deserve him

Children: N/A :(

Description

Height: 5′10″

Weight: 180 - 190

Hair Colour: black

Eye Colour: green

Skin Colour: fair

Any Scars: a few on his fingers from cutting vegetables with his mom

Any Tattoos: none

Any Piercings: none

Other Notable Features: he’s got a few freckles on the left side of his face

Random Facts: can’t grow a beard :(

The Basics

Full Name: Minako Uehara Dojima

Codename or Nickname: “The Demented Queen” which is said by the low, low tier yakuza but she doesn’t know about it, otherwise… :|

Birth Date: January 18th, 1972

Birth Place: Kyoto, Japan

Nationality: Japanese

Organisation/Group: The Tojo Clan

Former Affiliates: N/A

Family + Friends

Father: Osamu Kashiwagi (presumed dead), Minoru Saito (foster father; deceased)

Mother: Hiromi Uehara (deceased), Natsumi Saito (foster mother; deceased)

Siblings: Takeshi (foster brother; deceased), Kenji (foster brother; deceased)

Other Relatives: none

Spouses: Kiryu Kazuma, much much later.

Children: N/A but i’m thinking of giving her a kid….maybe

Description

Height: 5′6″

Weight: in the 120s

Hair Colour: black

Eye Colour: brown

Skin Colour: fair

Any Scars: none

Any Tattoos: a snake hidden in flowers on her upper back

Any Piercings: her ears, her tongue used to be pierced but she removed it because it bothered her too much.

Other Notable Features: she has slightly buck teeth

Random Facts: loves to sing karaoke and will leave meetings midway to go find Majima and make him sing with her.

#oc: eris #oc: mara lovejoy #oc: sawyer cassidy #oc: minako #zzZzzzzZZz

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koalateamusings-archived · 4 years

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ehehehe.... thank you naomi for letting me do this!!!

💘 date hc

eris & teague: let’s pretend that miss prude lets the girls go out on their days off.... and teague just has free time to do w/e so!!! he likes to go with eris to visit her sister clara. in the beginning eris told clara he was just an overseer here to comfort her (clara likes the overseer aesthetic and even asks if she could see his mask lmao) then when she points out that he visits a lot, she calls them both out on what’s going on between them. he comes by whenever he can and brings eris apricot tartlets and pietro’s elixirs to help with clara’s plague symptoms.

eris & mindy & paolo: paolo likes to take eris out by the docks, but far enough away from the water that eris is comfortable and they’ll just people watch and admire the boats that come and go. paolo gets mad whenever a howler comes to interrupt since he’s made it a rule to never bother him when he’s with eris. meanwhile, mindy and eris’s “dates” are just them in bed listening to music from mindy’s audiograph player. when they manage to get up from bed, mindy and eris like to climb up rooftops to look at the sunrise or set, depending on what time of day it is.

💥 first fight/making up hc

eris & teague: their first fight was actually days before teague got captured and it was a dumb fight ghfjkff it was eris trying to get teague to admit he likes her because of how jealous he gets when she’s busy with another client. but of course he refused to admit it and leaves, but before he does, she tells him “fine, then don’t ever come back or if you do, don’t expect me to be available” eris immediately regretted it but thought he’d come back at some point. when a good amount of time passed, eris got extremely worried (plus she heard some gossip about jessamine being murdered, emily being kidnapped) when she heard that overseer campbell captured a couple of overseers that were charged with possible conspiracy, she knew teague might’ve been in trouble so she had panic attacks every other hour and hardly slept until teague showed up at her doorstep and she just started crying. she apologized 378329 times and made him promise to never disappear again and to forget why they even fought in the first place. that night is the first time teague actually kisses her first and spends the night with her as opposed to before where he’d leave after visiting her for an hour.

eris & mindy & paolo: the first fight she had with paolo was just that he didn’t assign her to job to collect a debt from someone who owed him money and she was like??? so she confronted him about it, but he said it was because he didn’t think they’d take her seriously because she’s too pretty and she got pissed. so before the people who were gonna collect the money, she snuck out to find them first, threatened them by holding a knife to their crotch, got the money and hand delivered it to paolo who tried to apologize, which eris wouldn’t accept until paolo said the words, “i was wrong, you were right.” her first fight with mindy startted because eris got a little too drunk in paolo’s bar and she was like “i’m fine” while tripping over herself and mindy was telling her to come home with her but eris refused until mindy carried her out of the bar and proceeded to give her a lecture that ended with eris crying. and that is also why eris doesn’t drink more than two drinks from then on.

💋 intimacy hc (this is gonna be a bit nsfw so you don’t need to read this)

eris & teague: teague loves to go down on eris, like, if he could, he’d do it for hours. it’s also how eris found out teague likes having his hair pulled, but she’ll play with it after their done ****ing. eris can be a bit loud, so teague’ll put a hand over her mouth which they both realize is a kink for them. long after they’re done, they’ll lay in bed, with them taking turns being the big/little spoon.

eris & mindy & paolo: they both love it when eris is loud lmao paolo is rough and fast when they’re ****ing while mindy is slow and sensual with her movements. they both like to kiss eris and focus all their attention on eris, which eris doesn’t mind (when they’re all together). separately, eris likes to mark up paolo with hickeys on his chest, neck or with scratches on his back. and with mindy, she’ll cover eris with hickeys all over her thighs.

#:^)#x: the seven strictures have nothing on me #x: when in karnaca #t #long post

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whimsicaldragonette · 7 years

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Romancing the Sorcerer’s Stone (Part 7 of 24)

Part 1~ Part 2~ Part 3~ Part 4~ Part 5~ Part 6~ Part 7~ Part 8~ Part 9~ Part 10~ Part 11~ Part 12~ Part 13~ Part 14~ Part 15~ Part 16~ Part 17~ Part 18~ Part 19~ Part 20~ Part 21~ Part 22~ Part 23~ Part 24~

- Part 7: Golden Snitches -

April 2000 — Cachora, Peru

Harry kicks a small rock into the gutter. He mutters to himself, hands shoved deep in his pockets, eyes firmly on the ground. He doesn’t understand why none of the guides he’s encountered seem willing to take him to the Choquequirao ruins. Sure, they’re supposedly cursed, but… People don’t actually believe it, right? And even if they do, there has to be someone willing to take him.

He spins on his heel, stalking back toward the seedy bar. Someone in that smoke-darkened room is bound to be willing. He’ll just have to flash a lot more gold. He doesn’t like resorting to bribery — that’s more Malfoy’s territory — but he needs to get up there.

He strides through the swinging doors, wincing at the the way they creak and shudder. A rust-colored rain of paint flakes speckle his boots. He has to get himself under control before his magic brings the place down around his ears.

He firms his jaw and strides to the bar. The weedy man behind it peers up at him, beady eyes clouded by age and smudged lenses.

“Yes?” he asks. “What can I get you? Drinks only, mind.” His hands never stop their slow, inevitable motion over the wooden surface of the bar, smearing the stains around with a gray towel that Harry thinks was once probably white.

Harry grinds his teeth, forcing his tone to remain even. “I need a guide.”

The man blinks at him but doesn’t stop wiping the bar. “And I need to be young again.” He waits a moment. “Seems neither of us will get what he wants today.”

Harry scowls. “I can pay,” he says shortly. “Gold.”

The barman stares impassively back at him, but he doesn’t say anything else, just waits.

They stare at one another. Harry sees the beginnings of smug gloating swimming up from the depths of the man’s cloudy eyes. Before it can fully surface, someone speaks up from the silent crowd of men behind them.

“I’ll do it.”

Harry turns slowly, half expecting the voice to have been only in his head.

Facing him is a short, squat man of middling age. His hair is shading toward grey at the temples, and his tanned face is seamed with wrinkles, but his eyes are clear and hard.

“I’ll do it… for 5,000 Sol.”

Harry blinks. It’s an outrageous sum, more than a year’s wages for the average worker in Cachora, and yet… No one else bats an eye. It seems they, at least, consider it a fair price. He sighs. He’s brought that much — barely. It will leave him dangerously strapped for cash for the journey home, but… Well. Knowing Malfoy, he may as well not return without the medallion. They’ll just have to make it up in the sale.

He nods and holds out his hand. His guide ignores it.

“If we go, we go now.”

Harry looks skeptically up at the sun, which hangs decidedly higher in the sky than he would like. “But—“

The man glares at him. “Now, or not at all, outsider.”

Harry nods.

—

He regrets that decision almost immediately. He’d hoped they’d take some of the burros tied up outside the bar. Not that he’d been looking forward to riding a burro, exactly, but he really isn’t looking forward to making the climb on foot.

By late afternoon the next day, he’s bruised and beaten, trudging grimly behind his guide as the man winds inexorably up the mountain. The man clearly doesn’t believe in so mundane a thing as a path, and opts instead to veer away from any they come across, slicing through hanging vines and underbrush alike with a wicked machete that he’d whipped out of… well, Harry isn’t sure where it was, but it’s spent the last several hours almost constantly in the man’s hand. It makes Harry’s arm hurt just to watch him.

The jungle closes in around them, a million shades of green and a riot of colorful flowers and birds. The perfumed air is filled with the rhythmic thwacks of the machete, the hooting of howler monkeys, and the constant, ever-present drip of water making its way from the canopy high above.

Harry scratches yet another bug bite, hoping his magical inoculations will be strong enough to beat out whatever parasites and fevers he might otherwise acquire, and wipes beads of sweat from his brow. He hadn’t prepared to spend the night in the forest, and he’s regretting that bitterly now. He slept uneasily, unused to the night noises of the jungle, and not entirely trusting of his reticent guide. He’s also not used to hiking at this altitude, and his lungs and muscles are burning.

He takes another swig from his water-skin, debating whether to call a halt. He doesn’t think his guide would listen. Sighing, he treks on.

He tries to engage his guide in small talk, at first. Though he can hardly find the breath for speech himself, his guide moves implacably forward. But all his efforts are met with grunts and terse replies. After a succession of ‘yep’s, ‘hmmm’s, and ‘no’s, he’s learned the man’s name is Paolo and little else. Eventually, he gives it up as hopeless and focuses on his breathing. It makes walking a bit easier and, for a while, he doesn’t mind the silence.

Just when he is about to try again, Paolo holds up a hand. Harry bites his lip, forcing the words back, and looks around. They’ve reached what once must have been a large clearing, though now it’s only a thinner patch of vegetation. Harry thinks it generally uninteresting and is turning away, assuming this to be a rest break, when Paolo’s machete comes down in three smooth swipes and the vines part like a curtain.

Behind them lie the ruins. Harry stares, dumbfounded. He’d have gone right past, never realizing what he was missing. He sees the gleam of gold winking from amid the moss-covered stones, and steps forward.

Paolo stops him with an arm across his chest.

“You go from here,” he says when Harry turns to him. “I go no further.”

“But—“ Harry starts, but Paolo has already faded into the mist. Harry realizes two things in that moment. First, that the sky has grown noticeably darker than it had been when they’d begun this journey, and a thick- gray mist has sprung up to further blur the landscape, and second, that he is alone.

He turns again, scanning the trees, but there is nothing.

A monkey howls in the distance. A parrot squawks.

Harry shivers.

He turns back to stare at the ruins. It’s folly to start now. It will likely be full dark by the time he’s retrieved the amulet, and he doesn’t think he can find his way back reliably in the daylight, much less the dark.

Then he remembers that he is a Wizard, dammit, and he can just apparate away whenever he likes.

Considerably cheered, he steps forward into the clearing. The air seems almost to thicken around him, resisting him, and as he presses on it suddenly sucks him inward.

Wards.

He hadn’t thought that there would be wards.

He is an idiot.

He stands perfectly still, waiting for whatever defensive magic is still active in this place to repel him. The minutes tick by. One… two… five.

Harry sighs and steps forward, relieved. The defenses must have worn off with age.

His straining ears register the tiny hiss before his conscious mind does, and his muscles react instinctively, dropping him instantly into a sideways roll.

The blow dart quivers in the tree not three feet from him; the crimson-painted tip gleams wetly. Harry gulps. Cinnabar.

So. Not all defenses are gone, then. He’ll have to be careful.

—

Malfoy’s informant was right. There’s a second layer of rooms in the temple, hidden from muggles in a layer of wizard space, folded around and set atop the visible rooms. The Medallion is in the fifth room he tries. The first four present him with traps and puzzles — all with deadly consequences. He avoids some, disarms others, and accidentally trips a few. Luckily, those are the easiest to deal with.

The rooms themselves are gorgeous, rife with history and magical artefacts. Harry is nearly tempted by the winking emeralds and sapphires, the softly glowing rubies and diamonds, the piles of shining gold.

He knows better. A quick detection spell confirms it — the rooms and everything in them are laced with cinnabar, mercury, and a handful of other poisons. In this temple, greed leads irrevocably to death. And Harry has a mission.

Get in, get the medallion, get out. He repeats this in his head, a mantra to keep him from temptation. Get in, get the medallion, get out.

Who knows what curses lie on those riches, even if he dared to risk the poisons? He’s here for one thing, and one thing only. And then…

In the fifth room, the medallion gleams as if it has just been polished, a burnished gold circle roughly the size of Harry’s palm, emblazoned with a rising sun.

It hangs around the neck of a desiccated body, hair still attached to its gray, papery flesh.

A mummy.

A guardian.

Harry belatedly raises his wand. He casts a quick revelio, just to be sure, but…

Nothing happens. He’s cut off from his magic. It’s still there, potent as ever, but completely out of reach — as if an invisible veil has fallen between it and him.

He gulps.

He waves his wand again, in a quick succession of patterns, casting curse detection and disarming spells one after the other.

Or, he tries to cast. The wand remains limp and lifeless in his fingers.

Right. The muggle way, then, and hope like hell that it’s not coated with poison like everything else.

He’d cast the same detection spells on this room from the passageway, though. Nothing had shown up. He’ll just have to trust to luck, he thinks, wishing belatedly for the dose of felix felicis waiting in his cupboard back at home. He’s saving it for when he really needs it. He’s beginning to think that time is now.

He slips the wand into his back pocket, wipes his sweaty palms on the thighs of his jeans.

He can do this.

It’s just a mummy.

No, don’t think of that. Just a— a thing, now. Not alive. Not anything to worry about.

He steps forward quickly and slips the chain over the mummy’s head.

A papery hand reaches up and latches around his wrist, and Harry’s skin grows cold.

“Fuck,” he whispers, and he’s never meant it more.

The hand tightens, bony fingers closing around his arm and squeezing tight.

Harry wants to scream.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he turns his head. He locks eyes with the sunken eye-sockets and desiccated eyes of the thing holding him.

Then he wrenches his arm sideways and back, rolling away from the thing sitting on its golden throne.

He takes the medallion with him.

He takes the arm with him, too. It breaks off cleanly from the body, tearing with a sickening crunch of bone, and he scrabbles at it. After a few seconds, the fingers relax, and he hurls the thing away from him.

He looks down, eyes wild.

He has the medallion.

He has to get out of here.

He lurches to his feet and out the door, down the corridors, running blind. By some miracle, he avoids the traps, and then he’s out, out into the fading afternoon light and he’s never been so happy to see the weak rays of sunlight in his life.

He looks down at the medallion in his hand. “How am I going to get you out of here?” he wonders as the rush of adrenaline fades, leaving him cold. He can’t apparate, not with the medallion. He’ll have to walk. But which way is the way out? His eyes light upon the hacks and cuts made by Paolo’s machete, and he smiles.

He stumbles along the path of broken branches, squinting into the darkening gloom and mist around him and wishing he’d paid more attention to their route. He’d assumed he’d have a guide on the way out, too. A foolish notion, now that he thinks of it, but there’s no help for it now.

He pats the pocket where he’s stowed the medallion. Still there. Good.

A blade whistles through the air, scant inches from his cheek, and he swerves abruptly to the left

—

The vipers are in the middle of what seems to be a family argument.

Harry groans. Of course, he would end up as the mediator to a family of hissing vipers, all while being chased by Zabini’s goons. What else did he expect? He frowns, trying to follow the conversation for a moment, fifteen different grievances and sides being argued at once.

It’s really too bad he can’t use magic, he thinks, as he continues to listen with half an ear to the drama playing out before him. It would be so much easier to take care of Bulstrode and Goyle if he could.

Of course, they can’t use magic either — which they obviously know. He’s been set up.

The knowledge hits him like ice water to the face.

He’s been set up. That bastard Paolo set him up.

He thinks of the pocketful of gold he’d given the man, the pocketful he’s no doubt wheedled out of Zabini’s goons.

It’s a small consolation, to know he probably won’t live to enjoy it.

—

The snakes are hissing at him, demanding his attention.

He apologizes, tongue slipping smoothly around the hissing sounds of parseltongue, and turns his attention back to their disagreement.

A malicious chuckle startles him, just as he’s putting the final touches on a solution that works for everyone.

“Sitting in the dirt, Potter? My, my. That’s a new low, even for you.”

“Shut it, Bulstrode,” he returns angrily. He stands slowly, dusting off the knees of his trousers and glaring at her. Goyle appears suddenly beside her, swinging a heavy club against his meaty palm. Harry winces as it thwacks dully against the skin.

Bulstrode grins triumphantly, taking advantage of his distraction, and raises her wicked blade.

He narrows his eyes and hisses “These are the ones I told you about. I will collect my payment now.”

The snake closest to him, the matriarch of the colony, bobs her head regally. “Agreed.”

Then, they attack, writhing forward in a hissing mass, surging toward Bulstrode and Goyle’s feet.

With an earsplitting shriek, she turns and runs, tossing her blade to the dirt and yanking a protesting Goyle with her. The moment they cross the magic dampening field, they spin away in a whirl of apparition.

Harry stares down at the dull metal, mystified, and then winces as he watches the blood well up from the deep gash on his thigh.

Episkey, he thinks, then, right. No magic. Um. He’s feeling woozy, and this is so not good.

He grips his wand tightly, pressing his left hand to the wound to try and stem the flow of blood, and uses every ounce of magical strength and stubbornness within him to send out a Patronus, shoving it past the magical barrier put up by the medallion.

He doesn’t have the strength to control or direct it at all, so it’s really just a magical S.O.S. broadcast on all channels — the equivalent of an amplified shout of “help!”

You can also read, comment, etc on AO3, FF, or Wattpad

#drarry #drarry squad #slytherdornet #harry potter #draco malfoy #harryxdraco #my writing #my fic #romancing the sorcerer's stone

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whales-and-witchcraft · 7 years

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listen it’s late, I’ve had beers, I should be in bed

I am on my way to Jindosh’s place and there’s a letter that references gangsters attacked by Paolo and his howlers and these gangsters are not having a good time. They are, to quote this letter, “screaming like carnival clowns” and I want you to pause as I did. And imagine a carnival in which clowns just fucking scream

that’s all they do

#I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING OH NOOOO #I'M SORRY #BUT #IMAGINE #JUST IMAGINE

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njadastonearm · 7 years

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so anyways, you know what? you know what? Vice Overseer Byrne really got screwed over when it came to development in Dishonored 2 and I’m upset about it. like you’ve got the basis for a really interesting character, and nobody cares about him (in fact, based on Paolo’s popularity, I’m willing to guess most people kill him in their playthroughs). siding with Byrne is, theoretically, one of four viable options in the Dust District, but from the start the odds are against him. and while I love the game as a whole, this one thing that really kinda irks me.

basically, Byrne and Paolo are presented as the two primary options for control of the Dust District. that’s what the game tells you, literally. there’s also an option to ship them both off to the silver mines, and to let them both go on as normal. and that’s great! it’s nice to have all those options! they both see themselves as protectors of the people.

except they really aren’t presented evenly. both of these characters and their respective factions are scattered throughout the first few missions of the game, so you get a taste of both. in Edge of the World, you get to meet Paolo’s second, Mindy, who is friendly to you and offers a favor for a favor. there are letters and stuff that you can find that show that Paolo is demanding to those under his “protection,” often violently so. while the Howlers in general are hostile to you, you do actually get to meet Paolo, and he gives you fair warning before attacking. you get to put together your own opinion of him based on meeting him in person. there’s a humanizing element to this.

but for the Overseers, there is no equivalent to Mindy. you don’t get to deal with Byrne once before you confront him in the Dust District. you can bust into the Overseers outpost near the docks (incidentally, as part of Mindy’s favor- she’s nice to you and She Hates the Overseers) and the one near the conservatory. all Overseers are hostile, even if you’re playing Flesh and Steel (they’re not the grand guard- why should they care if a stranger is walking around and listening to their sermons?). pretty much the only arguably humanizing moment comes from the Outsider if you’re using no powers- he says that Byrne would like that Corvo/Emily rejected his mark. you can also confirm that Byrne was right about Breanna Ashworth, but to know what he thinks you still have to break into his outpost and confront a hostile Overseer. there’s no option for peaceful interaction.

if you go back further, anyone who played Dishonored and the DLCs are going to have even bigger biases. consider how Corvo and Daud can both work with crime bosses (Corvo with Slackjaw, Daud with Lizzie and the Geezer). sure, the gangs are hostile at first, but they warm up to you when you work with the boss. despite the fact that these gangs are harsh and harmful to their communities in many ways, they still do “good” things, like helping Corvo get rid of the Pendleton twins nonlethally and getting Daud to Brigmore Manor. they can be viewed as anything from “questionable ally” to “folk hero.” Paolo differs from Slackjaw and Lizzie, but he benefits from them as the player is predisposed to like the gang leaders.

the Overseers, by contrast, were hostile from the start. the only Overseers who don’t attack you on sight are Martin and the ones in Lady Boyle’s mansion (and they’re not exactly friendly). the initial leader of the Overseers is a corrupt man who doesn’t follow the morals he preaches. his replacement, despite being “on your side,” doesn’t actually make Overseers non-hostile to you and, oh yeah, also poisons you to get you out of the picture. Overseers are thusly painted as the bad guys no matter what they do, and the player isn’t going to have a high opinion of them going into the second game.

the thing is, just as Paolo isn’t Slackjaw, Byrne isn’t Campbell. Byrne does live his life by the strictures and has a moral code. I’m not saying he’s intrinsically good- he also expects everyone else to follow exactly his code, too, or face punishment. but he’s definitely not the picture of corruption from the previous game, and his methods are no more violent than Paolo’s. both Byrne and Paolo have a way of keeping order; both command violent groups; both are ambitious and expect to be respected. but it’s so easy to miss that in the game, simply because the game affords basic humanization of Paolo and the Howlers which it does not give Byrne and the Overseers.

idk, man, I just think that Byrne deserved better.

#bal liveblogs dh2

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maxvelocitythe4th · 7 years

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loose observations about Dishonored 2

Even if the plot is essentially a retread of elements from the original game (you are framed for a crime you didn’t commit after the reigning Empress is overthrown) and the Daud-centric DLCs (unraveling the mystery around Delilah), I think that Dishonored 2 is an improvement over the first game in a very important way: maintaining a degree of difficulty.

I’ve played the game in both High Chaos and Low Chaos runs now, as both Emily and Corvo, and one of the most welcome improvements to the game is how it maintains an appropriate level of difficulty as the game progresses. In the original Dishonored, regardless of whether you’re playing Low or High Chaos, the escape from Coldridge Prison is an absolutely brutal experience on your first playthrough. Because of the mechanics of chaos, the more disruptive and violent you are, the harder the game gets in its latter stages -- more weepers, more guards, more alarms, etc, so High Chaos players maintain a moderate degree of difficulty throughout. For Low Chaos players, the game’s first couple of targets -- Campbell, the Pendleton Twins, and Sokolov -- are all very challenging, especially those who are attempting Clean Hands or Ghost / Shadow runs. My issue with the first Dishonored is that missions targeting Lady Boyle, the Lord Regent, the return to the Hound Pits Pub, and especially the final mission are frustratingly easy if you really know the maps and have mastered the elements of stealth (always take the high ground, use Blink liberally, etc.). The one saving grace is that Mission 7, “Flooded District”, is an awesome level from start to finish for both Low and High runs.

So, what I like about Dishonored 2, is that there isn’t a big drop in difficulty if you’ve been working hard for Clean Hands or Shadow. If anything the game gets harder as it goes by introducing unique mechanics to each level after resolving the Crown Killer mystery in Mission 03, “The Good Doctor”.

-- “The Clockwork Mansion” is arguably the biggest level in the game with two stages of Aventa District to explore before you get to the marvel of level design that is the Clockwork Mansion (although, if you’re going for Shadow, you don’t really get to enjoy it that much).

-- “The Royal Conservatory” has a small map, but it evokes a lot of references to “Delilah’s Masterwork” in The Brigmore Witches by introducing witches, gravehounds, and new enemy type bloodbriars.

-- “Dust District” offers players with several options for how to resolve the main objective: solve the Jindosh Lock on your own, side with the Overseers to get the combination, side with the Howlers to get the combination, or take the third option by eliminating both Paolo and the Vice Overseer. (TBH, my least favorite level.)

-- “A Crack in the Slab” throws out the rulebook entirely and is just awesome.

-- “The Grand Palace” borrows a lot of elements from “Lady Boyle’s Last Party” in that you have to deduce who the real Duke is, but unlike the first game, you can’t just waltz in and pretend to be a guest, introducing a whole new element of stealth that was lacking before.

tl;dr Dishonored 2 is a mechanically superior Dishonored, but I do wish it was more character-driven by either Corvo / Emily, and that the plot was just a bit more novel than what we’re accustomed to.

#dishonored 2 #max's game reviews

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torntruth · 3 years

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i’m really just posting these because i’m always so floored by the character designs of dishonored and that crone’s hand saloon is beautiful. like this little chunk of paradise in the middle of the dust district. but onto the meta i really wanted to talk about --

the howlers vs. the abbey of everyman: i’m going to have to rethink my position on sending away paolo and the vice tbh. especially with that conversation i just discovered with a surviving overseer in which emily kindly says she’s going to help and figure this all out and that overseer spits out ‘heretic’ at her then points out he can sense the magic on her. the abbey of everyman is the embodiment of intolerance, which means somewhere they had a good agenda but it got all screwed up as do most religious prominence does. emily’s not going to ban them, of course. she still needs help cleaning up delilah’s mess. but i don’t like them and i can’t bring myself to like them. they’re.... extremist and that’s probably as dangerous as delilah herself and her own extremist thinking. even setting aside personal lore with the outsider in which she’s fond of him because of blood relation, she’d STILL be more fond of his neutrality. also - the whole idea of him revealing that even he thinks delilah’s going too far and he has to set aside his neutrality is so important.

so anyway, there’s two important things to note about paolo even though he’s brutal: 1. he thinks about the lower class, he very specifically notes a few times that he isn’t as selfish as the abbey would like to paint him. they really just don’t like him for their own reasons including the fact he’s a magic user and that he’s incredibly territorial and protective over his district. which just makes him an even more important leader - he CARES . 2. so with that said, his brutality is just protective. you can witness him politely talk to his fellow howlers, he sends a thank you note with a prize to emily. if you don’t threaten his district or his people, he’s actually quite polite.

also, keep in mind that if you rob more than one black market, a part of the game changes where the howlers jump you at the last black market. if you don’t rob more than one black market, there will just be a quaint little scene of a bunch of locals listening to the musical duo. my point here is that the howlers also run the black market scene, so his threats towards the dealer is because he has a hand in the profits and goods. which makes more sense than just an angry customer getting pissed at your local black market saleswoman.

overall, if you send both byrne and paolo away, the grand guard just takes back the streets - and i feel paolo would actually be better for karnaca because he’d be willing to point out injustices for the lower class. just like saving stilton is better for the mines because stilton actually cares about his workers.

tl;dr the abbey is actually the ruthless faction and the howlers, painted as the ruthless gang, are the ones that give more of a shit.

#02. DEADLY AS POISON — MINDY BLANCHARD.#02. CONNECTION: ALPHA & OMEGA — PAOLO + MINDY.

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messmertheimpaler · 5 years

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#squad, compass, zodiac, contact and love note for Eris, Rosalind and Luna OWO

aaronpaulscreaming.png AMINNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAA did you know... i love u

#squad: who’s friends with who? what are the squad dynamics like?

eris: she’s friends with a few girls @ the GC like @dishoenored‘s oc lucila!!! they’re both very catty and talk about miss prude or complain about teabag and treachery (respectively), then there’s @koroleyva‘s oc varya who visits the GC from time to time. eris likes to ask her questions about the void, the outsider. then comes the time when she’s in the void as the new god, varya keeps her company.

rosalind: answered!

luna: she’s friends with all her companions, but is more closer to veronica since she doesn’t judge her (much) for her choices such as being in love with a crispy overcooked former legate you know? arcade acts like her dad and can pretty strict with her but then he’s like “do whatever you want.” raul is the one she goes to when she doesn’t want to talk, but he’ll tell her stories to fill the silence.

compass: who’s the moral compass? in general: what are your OCs’ morality like? do they have high morals, or not? are their morals self imposed, or do they base their morals on religion/family/influence of others?

eris: she’s got no morals, she went from being a howler to a courtesan. she poured salt in the dirt like “let no morals grow here” except!!! she did feel very bad about emily being kidnapped and made sure to have emily kept in her room when she got taken to the GC and kept her safe. so she’s got some morals when it comes to kids.

rosalind: she’s in between? she’ll rob people if she got to, to survive. but she’ll help people in need. maybe like a robin hood of sorts?

luna: she’s got very high morals, she’s too nice for her own good, which is why she left the ncr because they went against what she was raised on. her parents are why she’s Like That.

zodiac: what’s their sign? does it influence their personality? do they care about astrology?

eris: she’s a scorpio and yes, it influences her personality A LOT. i’m not sure they know about astrology..? but fuck it, she cares about it.

rosalind: rosa’s a gemini and doesn’t care about it (or know what it means).

luna: luna’s also a gemini, doesn’t care too much about astrology, but does like to say things like “wow, you’re such an aries” or “you’re a taurus, you would say that” i don’t think it influences her personality much, but she does have plenty of gemini characteristics

contact: how does your OC(s) feel about touch/physical contact? are they affectionate? if so, how do they display affection to others?

eris: she loves it, can’t get enough of it. only when it’s teabag.... her clients vary from being too scared to touch her or just touch her once and think that’s it. when she was with both paolo and mindy all their attention was solely on her, so i think that left her spoiled until she met teague. now he’s the only she likes to have touch her. she’s very affectionate and always a hand on teague’s thigh or rests her legs over his lap.

rosalind: she used to feel uncomfortable about being touched, but after being hugged on multiple occasions by mary-beth she’s gotten used to it. she’s not too affectionate, the most she’ll do is give a pat on the back or a handshake. she does give hugs to the people she’s closest to.

luna: another oc who craves it. she hugs every companion, for any little thing. she’s very affectionate towards j money and needs to be in constant contact with him. she loves to hold his hand or lay her head on his lap while he reads.

love note: who likes who? crushes? relationships? are they mutual or unrequited?

eris: she used to be with paolo and mindy (but she favored mindy a little bit more) then it moved to kirin for a very brief time until she went to dumbwall and met teague. it went from something casual to semi-serious on both ends.

rosalind: rosa likes john, and he likes her, but it’s very complicated between them. only a select few know that they’re... “together.”

luna: luna had a thing with joshua way back when, then he got tossed off a cliff, then luna got shot in the head and she forgot about him. they reunited and it’s whole thing of her falling for him again which is completely corny but joshua loves her a whole bunch to the point he’s breaking the rules of his religion (LMAO) to be with her

#my mind expanded with this #oc: eris #oc: rosalind #oc: luna #oc talk #atheina

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missdreawrites · 7 years

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This question may require a bit of a longer reply but since you seem passionate about this subject anyway: Why are you such a huge fan of the Howlers? I'm genuinely curious. From my limited experience they're pretty terrible people (think of their ambushes and stuff) and civilians seem to hate them too. I have to admit I haven't read every single piece of lore however. I like the Howlers in your story, but they seem very different in the game. Basically change my mind on them please!

Oh boy, anon, I am so glad you asked! I’m on mobile so I apologize if anything gets garbled but I couldn’t wait until I got home to answer it, I just had to respond immediately!

So. The Howlers.

Unlike the brief glimpses of the other gangs we’ve seen in Dishonored (Dead Eels, Hatters, and Bottle Street Thugs) the Howler’s don’t consider themselves a gang. They are, in so much as they’re a group of like minded individuals on the wrong side of the law, but they see themselves as idealistic (And yes, violent) Robin Hood like characters.

They only rob or disturb the middle and upper class citizens of Karnaca, though they aren’t exactly careful about innocent civilians. Despite their somewhat violent and storied moments in game, Paolo wants to save Karnaca, from Luca Abele and from itself. If you do the low chaos ending (And you don’t side with him, leaving both Paolo and Overseer Byrne alive) he works with the “new” Duke, AND Byrne, despite their earlier enemity.

He is kind to those he thinks deserves it, and he has Mindy Blanchard tattoo a star on his back for every life he takes. We don’t see them, nor do we know how many there are, but they’re numerous enough that the Heart knows, and feels it’s an appropriate secret to mention.

The Howler’s also protect the Black Market Shops in Karnaca. They’re paid to do it but any security team or guard would get paid for that sort of work. But wait, you might say. They attack me for no reason in the Palace District outside the Black Market! Yes, you’re correct, I’ve been attacked by them numerous times. Even on the play throughs were I’ve sided with Paolo. That’s because my dumb ass can’t stop robbing Black Market Shops. You get the leeway of ONE robbery before that encounter will trigger at the last Black Market you’ll visit in Karnaca.

Paolo does what he can for Aramis Stilton, keeping him fed and safe (as much as one can be safe in a ruined house) and according to the Heart, thinks of him often. He considers himself a man of the people, and he twists to suit their needs - when we find Karnaca, we don’t see a settled city. We see blood flies and rotten guards, and pain and misery. People are hurting and afraid.

I imagine, that in a Karnaca that had fewer of those problems, a Karnaca run by Theodanis (as it is in Omen in the Bone) there would be less of a need for violence by the Howlers. I see their volatile nature as reactionary, rather than proactive. They filled a need, to be these idealistic “of the people, for the people” sort, because of the world that they’ve been handed.

So now that I’ve talked about their somewhat dubious virtues for six or seven paragraphs, I should say that I, in no way, approve of the Howlers actions in game. What Paolo does when he threatens the Black Market dealer, or you as either Corvo or Emily, the hustling and the innocents caught in the crossfire. I do believe they’re reactionary, a push back to the monetary drain that Luca Abele is imposing on the lower classes, but that doesn’t excuse their amoral and lawless nature.

None of those afforementioned things are the actions of a “good man”, but I believe Paolo is an honest man, and for me, that makes all the difference.

Anon, I hope this diatribe helps, and I look forward to your response therein. 💚💚

#howler mum answers #ask me anything #they like me they really like me #dishonored 2 #SO I HEARD YOU LIKE RATS

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ultrasfcb-blog · 6 years

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Champions League closing: Is anybody near matching Actual Madrid?

Actual Madrid have dominated Europe for the final three years

Actual Madrid underlined their dominance of the European Cup and Champions League by claiming their 13th title in Kiev.

Saturday’s 3-1 closing victory over Liverpool will likely be remembered for Welshman Gareth Bale’s spectacular overhead kick and two howlers made by goalkeeper Loris Karius.

Actual’s gamers wrote their names in European soccer folklore by successful the Champions League for the fourth time in 5 years – and it was supervisor Zinedine Zidane’s third in a row.

The Spanish giants have claimed extra trophies, gained extra matches and scored extra targets than every other aspect, however how do the numbers stack up in contrast with the remainder of the continent?

The all-time prime 10

European Cup/Champions League document Video games Wins Targets Trophies Actual Madrid 421 252 937 13 Bayern Munich 327 186 651 5 Barcelona 290 168 576 5 Manchester United 259 142 471 3 Juventus 257 128 402 2 AC Milan 241 119 399 7 Benfica 227 100 365 2 Porto 223 98 320 2 Liverpool 178 95 329 5 Ajax 177 81 270 4

Successful in numerous eras

Each one in all Actual’s gamers are a number of Champions League winners

Actual Madrid gained the primary 5 European Cup finals, between 1956 and 1960, and had three gamers – Alfredo di Stefano, Francisco Gento and Jose Maria Zarraga – beginning in all of them.

They’ve gained the previous three finals too, naming the identical beginning XI in 2017 and 2018, a line-up that confirmed simply two adjustments from 2016, when Gareth Bale and Pepe began as an alternative of Isco and Raphael Varane.

They’ve gained their previous 9 European finals throughout all competitions, final dropping within the 1983 Cup Winners’ Cup to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen.

“It’s one thing unbelievable, one thing historic,” stated Croatia midfielder Luka Modric. “I do not know if anybody will repeat this sooner or later. Twice was wonderful, that is historic.

“They’ll name us a dynasty. It appears really easy to return right here and win it however it’s a lot onerous work day in and time out. I do not assume anybody will repeat this.”

How do different groups evaluate?

Phil Neal (left) gained 4 European Cups with Liverpool

Together with Actual, eight groups within the competitors’s historical past have lifted the trophy three or extra occasions and 5 of these have defended their titles.

Of the beginning line-up that gained the 1964 closing, Italian aspect Inter Milan retained 9 gamers after they retained the trophy in 1965. Dutch greats Ajax had seven gamers, together with the legendary Johan Cruyff, who began all of their closing victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

Germans Bayern Munich, the final group earlier than the present Actual aspect to win three in a row, additionally had seven gamers in every of their beginning line-ups in 1974, 1975 and 1976, led by Franz Beckenbauer.

Liverpool gained 4 European Cups between 1977 and 1984, with defender Phil Neal beginning all these matches, whereas an extra six gamers performed in three of these finals.

Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Victor Valdes all performed in three of Barcelona’s 4 Champions League triumphs between 2006 and 2015.

In the meantime, Italian defender Paolo Maldini gained a complete of 4 titles in his distinguished profession with AC Milan, choosing up the cup in 1990, 1994, 2003 and 2007.

Of the groups to win it on at the very least three events, solely Premier League aspect Manchester United named totally different beginning line-ups for every of their victories – which is little shock contemplating how far aside they have been, coming in 1968, 1999 and 2008.

File by decade

Staff Video games Most wins Targets 1950s Actual Madrid 32 23 93 1960s Actual Madrid 63 37 171 1970s Ajax 37 26 83 1980s Liverpool 39 27 85 1990s AC Milan 55 30 81 2000s Manchester United 116 63 197 2010s Actual Madrid 102 70 249

As you’ll be able to see from the desk, Actual Madrid have been the dominant pressure in European soccer throughout three separate a long time.

Within the 1970s, Bayern Munich performed a recreation greater than Ajax, however collected two fewer wins, whereas within the 90s, though Portuguese aspect Porto performed extra video games (61) than every other group, it was AC Milan who collected probably the most win (30), in addition to two closing victories.

Zizou the GOAT?

Zidane is the one supervisor to win the Champions League 3 times in a row

Actual Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane gained every little thing as a participant and he has turned on its head the idea that nice gamers don’t turn into nice managers.

His aspect’s victory in Kiev means the Frenchman set or equalled quite a few data to strengthen his case for being considered Europe’s GOAT (best of all time).

All this on the again of a season during which his job on the Bernabeu was beneath menace.

Zidane is the primary coach to win the European Cup/Champions League 3 times in a row.

He has joined Bob Paisley (three at Liverpool) and Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan two, Actual Madrid one) as the one managers to have gained the trophy 3 times.

At 45, Zidane is the youngest supervisor to elevate the trophy for the third time. Ancelotti was 54 and Paisley was 63.

Zidane has a 100% success price in all 18 worldwide knockout ties as supervisor since taking cost of Actual in January 2016. This contains the Champions League, Uefa Tremendous Cup and Membership World Cup.

Zidane has been in cost at Actual for 149 video games, successful 9 trophies, that means the membership declare silverware, on common, each 17 video games beneath him.

“It is a legendary membership,” stated Zidane. “It is a membership that has gained 13 European Cups, so I am blissful to be a part of this historical past.

“We’re going to take into consideration what we achieved, benefit from the second first. That is crucial factor now.”

BBC Sport – Football ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/football/4765/

#Barcelona

#Football

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thesffcorner · 6 years

Text

Dishonored Retrospective Part 11: Death of the Outsider Changes

My friends we have finally reached the end; Death of the Outsider. At the time of writing this, this is the final part of the Empire’s story; even if Arcane ever decides to revisit this world, the story that started with a man being marked by a demigod so he could save his daughter is over, and for the conclusion we are going up against that very demigod.

I will come clean with my bias immediately and say that I absolutely love this game. It’s my favorite in the whole series, both in terms of gameplay and story. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Story and Overview:

Death of the Outsider came out in 2017. It was originally planned to be an expansion of Dishonored 2, like KoD and BW were, but it ended up becoming a stand-alone adventure instead. In keeping with tradition, the protagonist has once again changed, and this time we play as Billie Lurk, right after the events of the second game.

It’s a new day in Dunwall; Emily has taken back the throne, the new Duke is ruling Serkonos and after 15 years and everything that happened in the previous game, Billie decides it’s finally time to find Daud. Inspired by nightmares in which she sees the Void and loses her arm and eye, she sets sail for Karnaca and docks at an abandoned carriage line near the Albarca Baths.

Karnaca has changed since last you saw it. Not only does it have a new Duke, but depending on what you did with Paolo in the last game, the Howlers are no longer the big bads around. They have been replaced by a new, much darker gang called the Eyeless, and these guys are heavy into the occult. The gang consists of a lot of different factions you’ve already fought before; Howlers, Witches and random thugs, which is fitting since the fall of both Paolo and Breanna have left a power vacuum on the streets of the city. This is also a handy way for the developers to reuse enemy models, while still keeping the story consistent.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the friendliness of both the Grand Guard and the regular City Watch. There are wanted posters everywhere for Meagan Foster, meaning that Emily was much less forgiving than she made it out to be in the last game. You will still want to avoid any official law enforcement, so it’s business as usual.

Enemies:

DotO continiues in the tradition of KoD and BW in that we have a few modified and few new enemies. First we have the City Watch, Grand Guard and Overseers, and for our gang quota we have the Eyeless. The first three are the same factions you have always fought, and as I mentioned the Eyeless are a joint group of some of the enemies you fought in Dishonored 2.

In addition we have some more Clockwork soldiers, though these guys are a nerfed version. They can’t see from the back anymore, and are much smaller, though they compensate for it with the world’s creepiest smile! I don’t know if I’d want to put my money in a bank that has psycho-robot guards that smile.

For the new enemies we have the Blind Sisters of the Oracular Order, the Cultists and the Envisioned. The Sisters are the female counterpart of the Overseers who rarely leave the Abbey, but have done so now because of the whole the world is cracking and the Void is seeping through. You were introduced to them in the Royal Conservatory level of the previous game, but this is the first time you actually get to meet them. They are as, if not more dangerous than their Overseer brethren, and if I have one complaint about them it’s probably that they have no interesting abilities or powers. They are just female Overseers with swords.

The cultists are similar to the Eyeless, if the Eyeless were as, if not more fanatical than the Overseers. They are an odd mix of scholars and murderers, and their designs are quite cool in that their faces are starting to turn to stone. They also become invulnerable if they are alerted, though I’m not sure if this is a glitch or an actual ability.

Their Envisioned cousins on the other hand, are possibly the toughest enemy to kill in these games. They are made of stone, and practically indestructible. They are the highest form of whatever the cult is trying to achieve; immortal, eternal and unperturbed by mortal affairs. The original cultists who killed the Outsider have now become Envisioned.

Weapons, Powers, and Gameplay:

For the weapons, Billie has even more variety than Emily. Like Daud, she uses a launcher instead of a crossbow and also like him she uses electric bolts instead of sleep darts. There are grenades, spring razors, sticky grenades, rewire tools, and stun mines and my new favorite weapon, the hook mine which can be lethal or non-lethal depending on how you use it. It’s pretty great option with some hilarious results.

The biggest and best change are by far, Billie’s powers.

Like with Emily, the developers decide that Billie too should spend the first level powerless, but they learned their lesion and made the level much more appropriate in difficulty for an under-powered character. It doesn’t feel like you should be able to use your powers but can’t for some reason.

Once Billie does get her powers, (in a pretty gruesome way thanks to the Outsider), her arm and eye get replaced with pieces of the void. She now has the ability to zoom into things (Corvo style) and reshape her arm into a sword. She also gets 3 powers which can’t be upgraded by runes and deplete mana when used. They are: a version of Blink called Displace; a version of Dark Vision called Foresight; and an entirely new power called Semblance which allows Billie to steal the face of anyone around her and wear it for a limited amount of time.

Not only are these powers super fun to use, but they can also be used in conjunction with each-other to traverse the levels in very creative ways. For example Displace is a very interesting twist on Blink; it allows you to place a marker and then displace to it. You can’t place a marker behind an obstacle and if you place a marker where someone else is standing, they will explode.

Foresight is a bit like Eagle Vision from Assassin’s Creed; it allows you to mark objects and enemies, but it also lets you travel in spirit form through grates, holes and even fly. What’s more, it can be used in conjunction with Displace, where you can place a marker in spirit form and therefore circumvent locked doors and obstacles.

This isn’t to say that Corvo or Daud or even Emily didn’t have interesting powers, but unfortunately a lot of them were geared towards a more high chaos style of play. The game never really encourages you to explore these powers in a real way, with very, very few exceptions in the first game like having to use Bend Time to get out of the duel with Lord Shaw. With Daud and Emily especially, upgrading powers like Far Reach and Summon Assassin is pointless if you are paying low chaos, because they only make your powers MORE lethal instead of helping you explore the world in more fun way.

Here, not only can you not upgrade the powers (thereby rendering them useless) but also none of them are inherently lethal. You can use Displace like that if you want to, but that’s not its primary use. Moreover, the game has entire challenges designed around these powers and using them, so it actively encourages you to use them and get comfortable with them. It honestly made me want to replay the other games by exploring the powers even more than I had before because it’s so fun.

Mana is no longer a resource you have to collect or buy, but this time around bonecharms are more important, since Billie can’t upgrade her powers. I will admit that I never paid too much attention to bonecharms in any of the other games, other than for collection purposes; this is the first game in which I considered crafting and had to really think about which charms were better suited for what level.

Another change is the absence of Outsider Shrines. Since the connection to the Void has been severed for a lot of witches and occultists (and Billie doesn’t need runes), there are no shrines in the game. Instead the Outsider speaks to Billie through rifts in the Void, which thanks to her new magic eye she can now see. These take the same form as the rifts we saw in Crack in the Slab and can be anything from photographs to wanted posters. They also cause some funny contradictions which we’ll get to in the level breakdown.

Billie also has a heart relic, similar to the one the Outsider gifts Corvo in the first game, except hers it’s a gift from Deidre (implying that Deidre was some type of a witch?). It allows Billie to listen to and understand rats which is a neat power. They will often warn you about impending danger, secret passages and generally cryptic warnings.

Favours, Black Markets and side-quests are also back. Favors can no longer be purchased outright, but this time they are rewards for Contracts, which Billie can take on and complete. There are tons of these, ranging from the lethal to the non, with some rather hilarious ones like killing a mime or robbing a bank teller. They can be found on notice boards in the Black Markets and are a fun addition to the content that also ties Billie more to what Daud was doing in the DLC with the favors.

Speaking of Daud, he’s one of 3 returning characters, other than Billie and the Outsider. We also have a ton new faces, which we’ll go over in the level breakdown but I’ll just list them here: Jeannette Lee, Dolores Michaels, Eolina Rey, Euterio Cienfuegos, Shan Yun, Ivan Jackoby, Sister Rosewyn and Brother Cardoza.

One thing that I do like to mention now, is how much these games took leaps of progress in terms of diversity. If you remember the original game, it had like 5 female characters in total, no female enemies, and no poc. Fast forward to this game, and our lead is a bisexual, disabled black woman, the main villains are an overweight Asian opera singer, a bespectacled councilman and a black female bank-owner, and the enemies are roughly equally divided between male and female and consist of all different races, ages (and even body types). It’s truly commendable how much these games improved on that front.

Level Breakdown:

DotO has 5 levels, and like always they are divided in 3 categories: city, combination, and single location levels. The Dreadful Whale makes a return as well, but it’s a more limited space than what it was in the previous game.

And with that, it’s time to go over the levels. Join me next time, when we discuss levels 1 - 3 and some of the more interesting story beats.

part 10 < > part 12

#dishonored retrospective #dishonored doto #moni talks

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