#joshuajote

[cosmic-metanoia]

The Final Fantasy Book & Why It Was Written

**Warning - Spoilers for Final Fantasy XVI***

There is something that is breaking my heart and I MUST post about it! Let me preface this by saying I adore Joshua and Clive and I want BOTH to be alive at the game’s ending. I saw someone posted on Reddit towards the earlier part of the game, “Joshua is strong in the spirit but weak in the flesh whereas Clive is strong in the flesh but weak in the spirit.” And that the brothers learn to strengthen themselves in both aspects as the story progresses. It was such a beautiful and PERFECT way to describe those too! With that in mind…

If Clive was the one who survived in the end and Joshua died…I can only imagine the intense joy, relief, and despair at the Hideaway reunion. I yearn to watch the scene of Clive reuniting with his beloved Jill and Torgal and all of the Hideaway family.

The reason why I said “despair” is because I’m thinking about a very specific person – Jote. She centered her life around Joshua as his Shield during the 18 years he was with the Undying. They spent so much time together and she had come to love him as a person, not because he was the revered and worshipped Phoenix. Even if Joshua returned alive from Origin as a normal human devoid of his former Eikon, Jote would still love him the same.

It really tears my heart apart imagining her breaking down upon hearing that Joshua did not make it. I imagine that Clive, being the empathetic soul he is, would be the one to tell her and he would embrace her as she sobbed.

Even if initially their first meeting was a little tense, I feel that Clive and Jote developed a mutual respect and understanding for each other – they both love Joshua and served as his Shield.

As for Clive…I can only imagine how depressed he would be and how agonizing it would be for him to cope over his brother’s death. He thought Joshua was dead for 18 years and joyfully reunited with him...only for their reunion to be cut short by Ultima.

Perhaps Clive wrote the Final Fantasy book as a means of coping with Joshua’s death and honoring his legacy. He would have the help of Harpocrates, Cyril, Jote, and his Wall of Memories to incorporate everything into the book. Joshua became Clive's Shield in so many senses of the word and the esoteric knowledge he garnered helped Clive defeat Ultima. That's why Clive wished for future generations to remember Joshua’s name and not his own. Ultimately, writing that book helped Clive to accept his brother’s death and heal.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

An Instance

Summary: Joshua supposed he should have known that when it came to the snow daisies, for one couple it would solve their recent problems. But for the other... well, it would prove quite the challenge, wouldn't it?

It was ironic, wrong, cruel… and so many other words that Joshua could have added to the pot, that he stood in the infirmary of the Hideaway, asking Jote where they had last seen snow daisies on their journey together. He was doing so, so Clive might find some to show some to Jill to improve her spirits… but as he and Jote’s conversation continued, Joshua felt his own spirit diminishing.

As soon as he had begun speaking of the flora, there had been a brief instance where Joshua had seen hope color Jote’s face—that maybe he was returning her such beautiful and graceful love for him, after all—before she had covered it up like the wonderful attendant she was.

And Joshua hated that she had to cover it up at all… even if he didn’t return her feelings (and he did, though there would never be talks of that for so many reasons now), she deserved to at least have them entertained—as all those in love did, even with the idea of a possible heartbreak on the horizon—not to have to always pretend she was naught but a waif, out of a misplaced sense of propriety.

Joshua almost wished he could take his question back, and not have this be another dagger in his dear friend, comrade, and secret love’s heart, were it not also for his own desire to lift some of his dear sister’s baggage.

Things had never been easy for Joshua and his brother… but it seemed ever since they had been ripped from each other’s side, nothing could ever could go right. And this was just more proof of that, the Dominant of Phoenix supposed.

“According to my records, Your Grace,” Jote whispered as she pulled out one of her journals, “we came across snow daisies in Oillepheist Bay. I had then remarked that I had never seen such lovely flowers of their like before, as we made our crossing… and your Grace then said that you had seen some as a child. And that to your Grace, these daisies looked like blue flowers with snow and raindrops crystallized to them. And I couldn’t have agreed more, your Grace. It made for a sightly day.”

Joshua listened, mouth agape, as Jote in so much detail talked about when they’d been in the Royal Meadows of Sanbreque. He couldn’t believe that she remembered so incredibly well a calm day they had spent together. Once again, it became clear to the king of Rosaria just how much she loved him… and he wished for the millionth time that he could say something in return to her, but his illness—and now the upcoming fight within Origin—made it impossible.

Jote’s words also made it known to Joshua that she adored the snow daisies just as much as Jill did, and he couldn’t help but smile at that. Yes, the two girls were one of a kind, indeed.

maybe in that, there was something that could be told to Jote. To hint to things, if nothing else, which she so rightly deserved… that, and the whole world for all she had done, Joshua thought.

“Yes, my lady,” Joshua said, stepping forward and holding Jote’s hand but for a moment. “I did find that snow daisies looked crystallized or frozen, if you will. But now, if I may be so bold, I find the one thing I wish to be frozen in time are these moments I’m spending together with everyone. With you.” And he squeezed her hands in his own for emphasis as Jote allowed tears to well up in her eyes for just an instance.

But once again, it was all the two could allow.

And offering the best companion he could have asked for on his long journey another quick smile, Joshua bid her adieu—so he could go tell Clive his findings, and see if his own investigation into the snow daisies had yielded similar results.

Author’s Note: A birthday present for my dear friend Liz, that I truly hope she enjoys. -blows party horn and throws confetti-

I just thought that when Joshua asked Jote about the snow daisies, it unfortunately had to hurt our poor girl. And thus, I had to write this.

I hope everyone liked the story! Especially you, Liz. Love you!

@bluerosesburnblue

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Does anyone have a screenshot of Jote in FFXVI saying "Please... come back" about Joshua? (I can't find it in anyone's playthrough right now--or in a screenshot online--and as I just beat FFXVI [and have only played it once so far], some things have blurred together in my head some, and I even sort of forget what point in the game she even has that optional dialogue in the hideaway.) I want to pair it with Jill saying that about Clive and Joshua after Ultima takes them away in that one moment, as a sort of parallel kind of post.

Or if someone else wants to make a post with this themselves, that also works!