#wasn't expecting to find him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vioisgoinginsane · 6 months

Note

Sup, which Emma do you like more?

I haven't played in a while and don't really remember which were the most competent / intelligent ones

Oh my god you just game me an essay topic. I'm gonna go off. It's probably a little unfair since I haven't finished Leon's route yet, I don't remember sariel's very well, and I am not up to date on everyone's event lore, since I know even if there's something she's lacking in a route, every Emma has the same capacity to impove and learn because she's always diligent on her studies. It is unfair that I'm gonna reference some event but not others. I also already know I'm gonna have a gilbert tangent since I thought about this on the sub and yeah that's where ill end up. I'm also gonna throw some shade at chev and silvio cuz. I that's just how i am.

NOTE: there's not a single emma that I can bring myself to call actually just stupid since intelligence is more like a subjective spectrum and something that cannot be quantified exactly. (Kinda like how someone can be dyslexic or illiterate but still be very intelligent. Just not in the way our stupid and elitist school systems makes us think being intelligent means)

It depends on how they play on her estabilished traits and a little bit on what she learns in the palace and from her suitor.

The things I would say are consistent is that she is VERY intuitive (we could call it the bunny senses lol) good at reading people, emotionally intelligent...compassionate...that general idea. The other is that she is good at talk no jutsu but that manifests in different ways depending on route. Either through negotiation skills (Chev, Sariel) or just straight up being a therapist (Licht, Luke)

It all starts in the prologue, with the event convinces sariel to choose her as belle. She essentially has two reactions: The slap and the formal apology she gives chev. Depending on the route, they lean into either one or the other. In Chev's, it's remarked how one can hardly believe she's the same woman who slapped and yelled at that drunkard, because she generally carries herself more composed and... Dignified. She is better at keeping a level head and also good at negotiation and debate. In Sariel's it's similar. In Silvio's route you get the emma who's first instinct is to slap a guy for saying something stupid. This works for silvio because he hates fake people and it makes him relate better to her cuz he also never got the hang of that whole speaking politely even to someone you hate thing. This change is a lil dependant on which suitor she's interacting with.

Back on her intuition again, this is something that can feel like a plot hole or just bad writing if they don't execute it well. Like how in chev's route that scene in the ball where she sees him basically accidentally drive away that father and daughter that tried to talk to him and she just gets this feeling of urgency that she wasn't able to put into words. This happens again after she saw him on the battlefield and she became afraid of him but still didn't want to just give up on him. It is explicitly stated that even as belle, she does not have to get involved with him any further but she still doesn't have a coherent thought on why that is??? At least not till, I think it was when she realised she was in love... And like. I'd like to believe the game doesn't wanna hold my hand about it like?? If a person who'd fall in love with chev would have to be insightful and good at reading between the lines, WHY DIDN'T they write that??? I know making her someone who follows her heart is a good contrast to chev, who is very logic driven, and makes it to where they cover each other's weaknesses, but christ was it frustrating to read back. WHY couldn't you make made her more articulate?????

The beginning route emmas are generally more... Simple, to borrow chev's words. Like how in Yves's she straight up forgets about clause 99 and makes Yves the king without even thinking about how she'd be supposed to never see him again and they just immediately annule it. Which is funny cuz in other routes she REALLY Angsts about that.

Unsurprisingly, the strongest use of emma's intuition and talk no jutsu is in Clavis's route. When she was convincing chev to save clavis... Which is something she didn't even HAVE to tell him, he was testing her and preparing her for when she'll have to testify and convince the foreign princes. She had to talk to GILBERT alone. She smelled the danger on him instantly. And she survived that talk. Amazing. Altho she's one of my favorite and one of the most "she just like me fr" versiona of emma, I was still... A lil bit ahead of the plot than her. Mostly because long before the route was even out I said about clavis's thing "to want to be remembered is to want to be loved" which is literally just something he told her later when the route was, just inverted. This is literally the only reason why chev couldn't chase me out the palace. If I can read his little brother that quickly I must not be completely innept afterall. Now I know i say "characters saying exactly what i would say is always a win" and I am aware that's a VERY subjective measure for a good story, but it's usually good indicator of the story being aware of where the audience would be and also the kind of person that would actually like the suitor we're supposed to be romancing.

Now, an example of something that normally you would call stupid but they make it make sense would be sariel's route where she insists on uh... Going on missions around the kingdom with him. We all know she doesn't REALLY need to do that for belle duties, she doesn't do it in other routes and it cuz it's not REALLY for her belle duties. She WANTS to get to know sariel better and be there at his side, maybe be there to look after him if he's in danger. She finds the argument that will her get what she wants and takes measure to make sure she doesn't hinder him needlessly. This emma is good at getting what she wants! We all like an active emma! The rom end is her forging her own plan to save sariel and putting the talk no jutsu in action!! She does something like that in Jin's too. She makes the plan to save him only upon learning that he was about to get himself executed! She was quick on her feet! She went out there to stall for time! She recognized that clavis would never let him die like that and incorporated that into the plan!!! I still remember that event where she recognized he went out while she was passed out cuz his hands were cold and he was impressed like "i didn't think about thay" when jin's route was the latest one out she was the smartest emma around hands down!

Now with rio's emma, pre-route, I used to worry that she's one of the blissfully unaware ones, since they were giving us events where rio gets something done behind the scenes to help her and then he chokes and doesn't tell her the truth of what he did but later evemts corrected that. And you see it in jis route too. She IS good at reading rio and she hates when he "sacrifices his life for her" and she calls hin out on it. The fact it's not a sacrifice and that she has a problem of not asking for help even when she should is a different suitcase to unpack. She fucked up when she expected just talking to get things resolved and it got rio stabbed but that did affect her greatly and you can see in his later events how she's grown foresight and thinks ahead about things even rio doesn't (she asks rio's mom to mentor her) . Rio literally sets the floor for her with a scheme to get her to show some nobles that didn't approve of their relationship her value and she shows off her talk no jutsu. They really make a good team.

Like I already said, Licht and Luke's MCs kinda end up doing therapy work. Granted the climax of Luke's route is more intense. In licht's route she is patient, she tries to understand how he thinks first, she takes A LOT of time to think about what to say to him to pull him out of his darkness. I could say Luke's MC gets her intuitive insight nerfed but it's LUKE. He had me fooled. He had EVERYONE fooled. Literally nobody expects the matryoshka doll of trauma that is luke. Oh and I remember his proposal event in which it's clear that she's been doing a great job adjusting to playing like a noble lady so the nasty people that don't approve of their relationship now that luke is actually acting like a prince, literally can't find an actual to pick with her other than that she's a commoner (luke explicitly states this to cheer her up). And we ALL know luke only shaped up to his true potential for her.

Silvio's route is... *looks for a nice way to say it* it doesn't give her... As much opportunities to shine... She's still insightful, in how she sees right through silvio and how sad his life is, but the thing they do with her intuition, compassion, empathy is that silvio does and says a lot of terrible shit to her but she just gets this feeling that deep down he's hurting too (that's a scene in the rom ending) and like?????? Emma is never wrong to trust her suitor, we all know it's an otome game, but this *gestures vaguely to the whole route* just feels like cybird forgot how to write a real woman. Like no. That's not how I act around a shitty jerk that bullied me. Especially not if sariel is gonna give me the go ahead to act like a "wicked noblewoman" to drive him away. Granted, emma is so altruistic the meanest thing she can think of is pretend to be drunk and ask for piggie back ride.... I guess I'm not that nice, but before you call me cruel, I am not even talking about the mean shit i could say about silvio. I'm talking about the very simple and real fact that when women hate men, we just wanna get away from them is all.

That is NOT how im gonna act after a guy asked me to be his escort so he wont reveal my secret identity!!?!??! I'm gonna be weary, on my guard and very "don't you FUCKING touch me" like. Yeah, eww stuff like this has happened in other routes but say, in noktos, they get that shit outta the way in CHAPTER ONE. He says something to get under her skin. Tricks her into coming to a party with him. She gets drunk and cuddly. He gets her to his room. They do NOT sleep together cuz nokto explicitly says that would not be enjoyable. They get that out the way quickly. She's mad furious about him for a looong time afterwards. It's all understandable. He later admits he did that to get her to keep her guard up so someone with actually terrible won't take advantage of her. "Did her a favour" i know it's a trope. If it was on a to do list for suitors, silvio fucking failed this one.

Cuz after all, he doesn't really act like someone who's trying to get her to slip and reveal her as belle (he did go for that seriously in clavis' route) and you know what that does?? Get her to lower her guard!

That is something that gil (mwuah he saying what I'm thinking. Mwuah. I would say we share a brain cell but he obviously has a multitude of brilliant braincells he uses for evil) doesn't just take cruel advantage of, he warns her!! He doesn't just send silvio out to save her, he gives this vague warning not to watch out only for silvio and let her guard down around others. Altho he had to be seen whispering to her in the kitchen to raise suspicion, he didn't HAVE to do that!! But he's like 10 steps ahead in the 5D chess and she's just normal so she never picks up on it even after she gets that she fell in his trap. He took steps to make sure she didn't die or something, cuz yeah he needed her alive for the long plan and he only meant to threaten silvio a lil but still!!!! When they're in the carriage after that, she points out how silvio's been letting her get away with everything, i am pretty sure she was being that that was the reason ahe ended up in that situation , wich by the way,

I KNOW the point is supposed to be that it's keith and that interrogation felt like coming outta nowherw but. I can't help but feel like different emma's would have handled that better. I feel like say, gil's emma woulda done better than just panic. She's good at thinking quick on her feet. You have to be cuz that man throws you curveballs only. She's already good at it, and being around him trains her even more. Like the fake lovers event. It's... Funny to think maybe she can get good at lying. Since gil hates lies. But that's essential what she did there where she had to find an excuse to act in front of a whole audience of nobles, without revealing either her true identity or use the name of the family that sariel found for her to use, since that could even get them killed.

Coming back to silvio's route, that rescue was the moment she knew for sure silvio wasn't really dangerous and actually looked out for her. That was the begging of things not going as shitty as they were before. Or was supposed to be except that then she goes and gets drunk and passes out in silvio's room after we JUST had a talk about not letting your guard down. God that pissed me off to an irredeemable point. But after that they hang out nicely and cuz she wants to not cuz she's forced.

AND THAT WAS ALL PART OF THE PLAN. Gil wingmaned this couple as much as rio did and he'll never get any thanks for it!! Like yeah the 5D chess involved getting silvio on the throne and getting better tariff deals for obsidian and what not but it also involed. Getting them together. (Insert deleted scene of gil playing with the chess set in chev's room and he's making the pieces that are silvio and emma kiss) ughhhhh i wanna kiss him so badly (gil ofc)

I don't really wanna go on a rant about just silvio's route but it's like the more I think about it the worse it gets? Emma kinda just gets taken for a ride. There are other routes instances where she gets pushed around or needs rescue but... (Points to her for getting out of that kidnapper's cell before the boys even came to rescue her and thinking quick and throwing that vase) in the dramatic he rescues her from that interrogation, and then he makes his plan to take the throne and she's basically there for moral support... And then in the romantic ending (in which silvio is much worse cuz he tries to commit to the villain bit but then backs out and does a self sacrificing move) the "you're my fiancee now so shut up asshole" plan was rio's idea...... She's just.... Done better than this...

Huh i know literally nothing about keith or his emma and his route is up next. I know she has to be observant in order to tell the two keiths apart. That ought to be interesting. Wait. Does dating keith count as polyamory since you technically date two of him??