While my heart is with @mayxd and everyone agreeing with them I do want to support @LittleMonday's request.

I've had some . . . contentious . . . interactions with fans of The Emperor but littlemonday has displayed none of the aggression that I've come to expect from fans of 'empy'. So even if I am similarly

BUT

I think any fleshing out of the story / including a romance path MUST come with a fully developed distrust path.

@mayxd

Quote
and I'm never not baffled by people feeling otherwise.

Having had these conversation with a number of empy fans it comes down this: 97.23% of emperor enjoyers identify with him in some way. So the parts of conversation that we read as manipulation, they read a synodoche of their lived experience. They too have been judged by their appearance on on the basis of stereotypes of some types.

One of the conversations that never fails to anger me is the first Stelmane conversation.

1st because I would never sit by side with a ghaik

2nd because the emperor gaslights us

He's admiring his torture and subjugation of a helpless prisoner. Our only "distrust-path" line is "your presence disgusts me". To which empy replies "I know skin mucus is unsettling". Which is gaslighting. Tav is upset by his evil actions and but the master manipulator was able to reframe it as xenophobia. And Tav can't reply.

For an empy enjoyer this doesn't feel like gaslighting, it feels like an opportunity for their character to demonstate that they have an open mind. "My Tav can look past the tentacles and see the real Emperor".

Forum member @Jewel (also a fan of the emperor) has come up with a suggestion for two distinct paths - Trust and Distrust. And I would like to see it implemented.

@LittleMonday

In the IGN article the devs made it clear that Raphael is right about the emperor and if you review some of the things Raphael says it would lead you to question this statement:

Quote
What’s unique about The Emperor is how he subverts our expectations. Yes, he’s manipulative, but he never mind controls you.

On the first meeting Raphael says "charmed, I'm sure. In more ways that one . . .

In the second meeting Raphael wonders if you are entirely sure your decisions are your own. Could it be that the dream visitor is influencing your choices?

I mean why did we go from shutting the tadpole out and killing it if we are fast enough to storing them in jars? I mean that's a weird choice for someone for someone trying avoid becoming a mind flayer to make.