You guys, I can't.... Final Fantasy 16 added 'The Inner Voice' in the Grand Cast tab under the State of the Realm and it is too amazing.
On the one hand, you have Jill meeting Jote and thinking "I know how you feel". Goddamn these Rosfields do not know how to love their ladies.
And then you have Joshua promising Cid that his sacrifice won't be in vain. That he always knew Dion would come through for him. Wondering if Jote likes her new home. Apologizing to Jill that Clive took her Eikon.
Jote thinking that she's uncomfortable around dogs and Torgal sensing it and thinking that he'd never hurt her. Jote admiring Mid for being so bright and being jealous of Crow's childhood.
Dion missing Terence, being annoyed by Obolus' singing, and being afraid to face Harpocrates.
Clive's stages of grief when he thinks about Joshua and then him asking Torgal if he saw him at Drake's Head. His reaction to Cid's death.
And then you have Torgal wondering where everyone went after Phoenix gate and wondering where Cid went.
Oh my God, it's just so awesome and heartbreaking.
Joshua: Jote, I don't know what more there is to talk about. We are just going to walk into his tent unseen, and then I'll speak with him about Ultima and ask him for his help.
Jote: And you don't think he'll kill us both?
Joshua: No.
Jote: [screaming inwardly] And please remind me, your grace, why do you expect that he won't kill the heir of a rival kingdom, come back from the grave?
Joshua: Jote, I've met him before, he knows me and he is honorable and sensible. We really hit it off last time, too.
Jote: Remind me when you met him?
Joshua: The Remembrance Ceremony.
Jote: in 859? When you were 8?
Joshua: 9.
Jote: My lord, don't you think he may have changed since then?
Joshua: Of course he's changed, Jote! He'll be much taller! Now, come on! I have a prince to charm!
Jote: Your grace, please excuse me for asking, I know that you're tired and weary from your trip to Drake's Head, but I believe that you have something on your chest.
Joshua: Oh, do not mind that Jote. It's just a bruise.
Jote: [concerned] were you stuck my lord?
Joshua: [getting dodgey] In a manner of speaking...
Joe: [growing suspicious] And what sort of manner would that be, my lord?
Joshua: You know that old god, Ultima, that we've been reading about?
Jote: Yes...
Joshua: Well I might have bumped into him last night.
Jote: Ultima?!
Joshua: Yes, the very same.
Jote: Well, I am at least relieved that you had three other dominants with you.
Joshua: [feigning relief] Yes, absolutely.
Jote: [catching onto him] So the four of you faced Ultima?
Joshua: [has a horrible poker face] Yes... Yes we did.
Jote: What are you not telling me, your grace?
Joshua: Well, Cidolfus Telamon... Um.... Passed.
Jote: [clearly shook] Ultima killed Ramuh? So it was just three of you against a god?
Joshua: Well... Torgal was there too.
Jote: Remind me who Torgal is?
Joshua: He was our puppy! He's really big now, though.
Jote: So it was three dominants, and your large dog, against Ultima?
Joshua: Well-the thing that matters is that we beat him.
Jote: The Lord Marquess and Lady Jill were unconscious, weren't they?
Joshua: ...
Jote: YOUR GRACE?
Joshua: Yes, okay, fine... They were! But Torgal was there.
Jote: [dryly] What an incredible comfort, your grace.
Joshua: I'm still here, aren't I?
Jote: Your grace! You are lucky that you escaped with only a bruise! Please try to be considerate of your safety in the future!
Joshua: Yes... So about the bruise.
Jote: Yes?
Joshua: Well, you know how I can absorb the essence of another creature to heal myself?
Jote: [already afraid of where this is going] Into your heart? Yes.
Joshua: Well, I might have-
Jote: You didn't!
Joshua: I won't lie, Jote, that is exactly what I did.
Jote: [yanks his scarf off and pulls his shirt open, sees the Purple wound starting to split his chest and spread]
Joshua: Oh, hello. AH! Cold hands!
Jote: Your grace this is a god! He wasn't killed when you did it!
Joshua: Nope, doesn't seem that way. In fact, rather than healing me, it hurts... quite a lot, I've healed myself five times already this morning.
Jote: [screaming internally] Alright then, how do we get him out?
Joshua: Get him out? Jote, I must keep him as far away from Clive as possible! If I release him, he'll take Clive! He tried to do so last night!
Jote: But your grace, he's locked inside of you. Won't you need to avoid your brother to keep Clive out of Ultima's reach?
Joshua: [bursts into Dion's tent, pointing at Terence] I've heard that you're quite the opponent, Sir Terence!
Terence: [looking confused at Dion] who the hell is this guy anyway?
Joshua: My name is Joshua Rosfield! And I am Dion's first evil ex-boyfriend!
Terence: You're what?
Joshua: Dion's first evil ex-boyfriend! Prepare to battle!
[Terence's eyes whip to Dion]
Dion:.... Anyone need a drink or....?
Terence: [looking back to Joshua] We're fighting because of Dion?
Joshua: [completely deflates] Didn't you get my Stolas explaining the situation?
Terence: I may have um...skimmed it.
Joshua: YOU WILL PAY for this insolence!
Dion: Joshua, what is going on with your outfit? Are you a pirate?
Terence: [looks at Joshua's outfit] Are you a pirate?
Joshua: [defensive] Pirates are in this year!
Terence: [glancing at Dion] You really went out with this guy?
Dion: Yeah, we were 9, we fought a bunch of constructs in a fallen ruin. Joshua was the only other dominant my age in the entire kingdom, probably the whole of the Twins! So we joined forces and took them all out. We were one hell of a team. We held hands once, then we left the Remembrance ceremony and a year later our soldiers murdered him and his family. WHICH! I did not know about at the time! So...it seemed like a bit of a done deal after that.
Joshua: [pointing at Dion] We technically never broke up, so....
Doin: Joshua, you DIED! Can we focus?! What the hell are you doing here?
Jote: [from the back] It's a bit from a play that he likes. Your grace, maybe you should just tell him why we're really here?
Joshua: Yes, I suppose so, Jote. Hi Terence, lovely to meet you, my sincere apologies, I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm sure you're lovely. Dion, I don't know how to put this lightly, so I'll just say it: God is trying to kidnap my brother, is there any chance that you can help me out?
Traveling as a Knight of the Undying and attendant to Joshua Rosfield is an honor beyond words to Jote. Her position comes with hazards that she knows all too well, along with unexpected gifts from the Eikon of Fire. But some gifts are burdens in disguise. Joshua knows this, and soon Jote will too. For better, or for worse, the two will bond over a gift forced upon them, that few mortals in Valisthea can imagine.
“Jote?” Joshua’s voice asked.
“Yes, your grace?” She replied, wiping her face, making sure no tears remained.
“Did you dream of dying?” His eyes were soft.
The directness of the question, made another tear squeeze out of her eye, she avoided his gaze, Joshua dropped his too.
“How did you guess?” she asked, deflecting back to him.
He smiled, though his face was devoid of any joy.
“Because the cruelty of the Phoenix is that you will live through things that others will never know of. Things that no person should carry in their heart or their memory. To know what it feels like to die…to be killed by another.”
Pre-timeskip Joshua and Jote, when they're both a little younger and a bit more naïve.
(TLDR: trauma bonding and looking for a friend)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
FFXVI spoilers below the cut, specifically regarding the character Jote
why did we get Jote in the hideaway and do the reveal of the Undying, and then start getting quests from this random hooded fucker instead of the established character we've had for literal hours?
Based on how she was shown in Joshua's scenes I was expecting her to matter SO MUCH more than she did and she just does not. very sad
