#jigoe chapter

[loopspoop]

Chapter 4 here we are! Fujiko is back and everyone’s trying (and failing) to cope! Lots of hurt and comfort in this one but they’re working hard to handle things!

TW: panic attack

Fujiko opened the door, frowning as she looked around. There was a blanket on the ground and the coffee table was moved across the room. Where the hell were the boys? Had they gone upstairs to use an actual bed? Hopefully so..Lupin wouldn’t recover well on just a couch. She walked inside, shutting and locking the door behind her as she looked around.

“Hello? Jigen? Goemon?” She called, walking to the stairs as she began to go up.

Zenigata peered over the railing, smiling as he relaxed a bit. “Fujiko, we’re up here.” He had worried it was an intruder.

“Zenigata-?” Fujiko hesitated. “When did you get here-?” She thought he wouldn’t be able to find them…

“Oh, uh…I’ve been here the whole time actually…you have the medication for Lupin, right?” Zenigata rubbed his nape sheepishly, glancing away.

Fujiko nodded a bit, climbing the stairs the rest of the way. The whole time? So, he was already here and they just didn’t know? That was a little creepy. Where had he been hiding at? And where were Jigen and Goemon? Had he arrested them? She wouldn’t be happy if he had arrested them.

“Where is everyone?” Fujiko looked past Zenigata, frowning.

“Ah..we had some trouble while you were gone. Jigen and Goemon are keeping an eye on him in the bedroom but we really do need to give him some medication.” Zenigata frowned, leading her to the bedroom.

“Trouble? What kind of trouble?” Fujiko frowned, looking into the bedroom quietly.

Lupin laid in the bed, still unconscious. Jigen sat on the ground beside the bed, smoking silently as he tapped his foot. That was an obvious sign he was anxious. She had picked that up early on, whenever he was on edge he fell into the tapping habit. Goemon sat at the foot of the bed, watching Lupin closely as he held onto Zantetsuken. She could see him rubbing the handle with his thumb, another anxious habit she had learned about from her years with them. Whatever had happened must’ve been bad…but Lupin was still breathing, that much she could see.

“Took you long enough.” Jigen mumbled, glancing at her from under his hat.

Fujiko frowned a bit, walking in as she unpacked the bottles. “You try seducing a pharmacist.” She grumbled angrily.

Jigen scoffed. “Took you less time to seduce Lupin every time you show up wanting a cut of our loot. You decided to take your sweet time while he’s here dying on us!”

“Nobody is dying.” Goemon looked at Jigen sternly, holding Zantetsuken tighter. He wouldn’t let Lupin die.

“Guys-“ Zenigata frowned, looking between them all anxiously. This wasn’t the time to fight.

“Oh, easy for you to say, Goemon. You took two weeks to get your ass to the lab to get him out!” Jigen glared at him, standing. “You took two weeks and Fujiko took two hours! And Lupin’s laying here suffering because of it!”

Fujiko narrowed her eyes. “You have no right, Jigen! I didn’t see you get out of that cell before Goemon showed up and I sure as hell didn’t see you busting your ass to get medication for Lupin!”

“Yeah because flaunting your tits is busting your ass!” Jigen rolled his eyes, glaring at them. “It’s like you two don’t even care what happens to him!”

“That is not true!” Goemon’s stood, glaring at Jigen as his hands shook. “Don’t talk to Fujiko that way!”

“This isn’t fair, Jigen! You aren’t blameless here!” Fujiko huffed, poking her finger into his chest angrily.

“Guys, hey-“ Zenigata frowned, trying to get in between them to stop the fighting.

“I am!” He wasn’t…god he wasn’t blameless but blaming them felt better than blaming himself. “It should’ve been one of you!” He growled angrily. “One of you should be in this bed! Not Lupin!”

“Jigen! Enough!” Zenigata got between all of them, glaring. “That’s enough.”

Goemon narrowed his eyes, turning as he stormed out. He couldn’t handle Jigen right now. He couldn’t handle thinking that everything he had said was true. He could’ve done more. He could’ve gotten there sooner or given Lupin better medical care. Instead, he waited two weeks and put Lupin through hell. It should be him in that bed. Lupin did not deserve this.

Fujiko glared, pushing the medications into Jigen’s arms roughly. “You fucking take care of it then, Jigen.” She growled. “And don’t come crawling to any of us when you manage to fuck it up.”

She turned, walking out and downstairs. She didn’t need Jigen to remind her of what had happened. She didn’t need him to remind her of any of the horrors Lupin must’ve faced in that lab and that it was her fault too for getting caught so easily. But Jigen wasn’t blameless either. It pissed her off that he thought he could get out of this blame free. If he thought he was so great then he could handle Lupin by himself!

Zenigata turned to Jigen, frowning. “What the hell was that?” He crossed his arms.

Jigen turned away from him, looking through the bottles quietly. “Forget about it, Pops.”

“No, I will not forget about it!” Zenigata grabbed his arm, turning him around so they faced each other. “I’ve never heard you talk to them like that. What the hell is the matter with you?”

“Leave it alone.” Jigen growled, looking away. He didn’t need this..

“No. I get this is stressful but you don’t get to blame everyone but yourself-“

“I do blame myself, damnit!” Jigen snapped, looking up at Zenigata angrily. “I blame myself for this shit! I sat in that cell for two fucking weeks and didn’t help him!”

Zenigata hesitated, letting Jigen go. He knew that, since Jigen had finally snapped, he had better just listen. He knew the man was usually pretty closed off. No doubt this had been building for a while..

“I got myself caught and Lupin was right down the hall for two damn weeks getting dissected and tortured! And I didn’t help him!” Jigen shouted, slamming the bottles down on the bedside table angrily.

“I couldn’t get out of that damn cell! And when we finally did I couldn’t kill the bastard! Goemon did! And Fujiko got the car and the medication! And Goemon- Goemon treated him!” Jigen clenched his fists, his voice cracking as he looked down at Lupin.

“And when he had his seizure..that was you, Pops. I’ve done nothing for him…what type of partner am I if I can’t do anything for him…?” Jigen pulled his hat down further, trying to hide the emotions that were getting the better of him. “..It should be me in that bed…not Lupin..”

Zenigata frowned, hesitating before he put a hand on Jigen’s shoulder. “You got him out of there. It might not have been all by yourself but you got him out of there. And you’ve been taking care of him the best you could. And I would say…I would say that Lupin would be pretty damn grateful if he was awake right now.”

Jigen bit his lip hard, tears beginning to trail down his face as he sunk onto his knees beside the bed. He had been so worked up…and he said pretty shitty stuff to Goemon and Fujiko when they were hurting too. He had really fucked up. What would Lupin think of him if he had been awake for that? Zenigata sat on the ground beside him, wrapping an arm around him quietly. He had dealt with a fair amount of this with his time on the force. Jigen just needed some time..

“…I love him.” Jigen mumbled softly, shaking his head. “I love all of them..and I fucked up…I fucked everything up.”

Zenigata hesitated, frowning as he thought quietly. “I don’t think you did.”

Jigen glanced at him before glancing down. “I’m sure accusing them of failing Lupin doesn’t win me any points..”

“Maybe not. But they’re in the same boat you are right now. They’re worried about him. And I’m sure if you went and apologized and let them have a moment to feel how stressed they are…it might work out.” Zenigata squeezed him, smiling a little.

Jigen thought quietly for a moment, laughing a little. “When did you get good at being sappy, old man?”

“Hey, I was married once!” Zenigata rolled his eyes, shoving him gently. “Communicating is important..even when things get hard. Now go sort things out. I’ll give Lupin his medication.”

Jigen wiped at his eyes, nodding as he stood. “Thanks.” He looked out at Zenigata from under his hat, smiling a little.

Zenigata nodded, standing as he smiled back and began to look the medication bottles over. He knew the gang weren’t all bad..they just made some bad choices sometimes. They were still human..it was part of what charmed him so much about them. Jigen walked downstairs, biting the inside of his cheek as he looked around. Fujiko was laying on the couch, watching the TV silently. Jigen took a breath, walking down stairs the rest of the way. He would have to settle things, even if they were so mad they wouldn’t talk to him.

“..Fujiko.” Jigen walked into her line of sight. “I’m sorry for what I said.”

“Are you actually sorry or did Zenigata just tear you a new one and make you come apologize?” Fujiko glared at him, sitting up. “You were such an asshole, I’m surprised he didn’t tell you to leave.”

“He probably should’ve.” He sighed, sitting beside her. “I’m actually sorry. I know we don’t always see eye to eye and I can be a bastard-“

“Can be? You are.” Fujiko huffed, glancing at him angrily.

“Fair.” Jigen laughed a little. “All of this just…put me over the edge and I took it out of you and Goe and I shouldn’t have. And I’m sorry. You didn’t take too long. Without you we would’ve been screwed. I’m sorry I said all of that to you.”

Fujiko bit her lip, glancing at him quietly for a moment. “…what happened while I was gone, Jigen?”

Jigen sighed, rubbing his face quietly as he looked over at the blanket on the ground. He could still see Lupin there, shaking, not breathing. The sound he had made when he stopped breathing..it was something he would never forget. He hadn’t been the only one to see it or the only one to deal with the fallout..Fujiko didn’t even know the worst of it.

“Jigen.” Fujiko took his hand, frowning. “Tell me what happened.”

“He had a seizure. Right here, he just..stopped breathing and..” Jigen sighed, playing with Fujiko’s fingers gently. “His fever from the infections got too high…and I thought…I thought he was dying..Pop’s was the only one who knew what to do about it..”

Fujiko eyes widened as she held onto Jigen a bit tighter. All that had happened while she was gone…? No wonder he had snapped at her for taking too long..she probably would’ve done the same thing after seeing something like that. She wouldn’t tolerate his behavior…but she could forgive it. He was sorry, that much was very clear. Obviously the events with Lupin had taken their toll on Jigen…and most likely Goemon too. It was all she could do to keep from imagining Lupin in pain like that. It made her feel sick…poor Lupin.

“I forgive you. But next time just..talk to someone? Don’t accuse us of not caring. We all care about Lupin.” Fujiko looked at him sternly.

Jigen nodded. “That’s fair. I’ll work on it.” He wouldn’t take it out on them again.

Fujiko smiled softly. “Good. Now I’m going to shower the two weeks of cell dirt out of my hair. Go make up with Goemon.” She pulled his beard lightly before she stood.

Jigen rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah..” hopefully it would go well with Goemon..

“And, Jigen?” Fujiko walked to the stairs, smiling softly.

“Hm?” Jigen turned toward her, raising an eyebrow.

“Lupin is oblivious at the best of times.” Fujiko winked, waving as she walked upstairs. “Just remember that.”

Jigen hesitated, blushing. What the hell-? Was he that obvious? Damnit��he would deal with that after he talked to Goemon. At least she wasn’t being a bitch about it... He shook his head, looking around as he rubbed his nape. Jigen checked the rest of the downstairs over, frowning when he found no trace of the samurai. He walked to the back door when he heard the sound of Zantetsuken cutting through something, opening it as he peered outside curiously.

Goemon held Zantetsuken tightly, striking at nearby trees angrily. How dare Jigen accuse him of not caring for Lupin?! He cared for him! Of course he cared for him! He paced angrily, hands shaking enough to make his slices crooked. His chest felt heavy. He had failed Lupin more than once but..this was continuous failure. Lupin could have died because he had taken too long…he had not treated him well enough. Goemon bit his lip, stabbing Zantetsuken into a tree as he leaned against it. He felt like he was drowning, his hands shaking as he panted. Maybe this was deserved…

“Goemon.” Jigen walked over, frowning as he watched. He was definitely worked up..

Goemon glanced at Jigen, body trembling as he gripped Zantetsuken’s handle tightly. Lupin could’ve died..and Jigen was right to tell him it was his fault because it was. Of course it was. Jigen and Fujiko couldn’t get out of that cell. It was all his fault for taking so long. He sank to the ground, vision blurring as he clenched his fists. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t do anything right!

“Shit-” Jigen frowned, carefully stepping closer. “Goemon.” He crouched beside him.

Goemon curled in on himself, gasping as he teared up. He cared for Lupin…he would’ve given his life to take Lupin’s place! Jigen was right..he had failed and continued to fail. Whatever this was, it was karma for letting this happen to Lupin..

“Goemon. Goe, breathe.” Jigen grabbed his hand carefully.

Goemon flinched away, his hands shaking harder as he looked at Jigen. His chest ached and it was hard to breathe. Tears streamed down his face, his hands gripping his hair roughly. Maybe he would die and fail again by making more work for everyone. It certainly felt like he was dying. Jigen frowned, carefully wrapping his arms around Goemon as he held him tightly. He could feel how tense he was..how much he was trying to breathe properly. He never meant to make the poor guy have a panic attack over Lupin’s condition..Goemon closed his eyes tightly, hyperventilating as he tried to breathe properly. Tears continued to stream down his face as he tried to relax into Jigen. It was his fault this had happened…he should’ve been better.. what Lupin must’ve thought of him had he been awake…he felt nothing but shame over his actions..

“Just breathe, Goe. Breathe with me. In and out. It’ll pass.” Jigen pressed a hand to Goemon’s chest gently, breathing with him.

Goemon bit his lip, shakily breathing with Jigen. He gripped Jigen’s arm anxiousky, the shaking his his hands dying down a bit after a minute. His chest still ached..but breathing came a bit easier as he focused on the pressure Jigen applied to his body and the sound of him breathing. Even thought he detested his and Lupin’s smoking habit, the cigarette smell was calming and familiar and helped ground him. This was so embarrassing..he was a samurai..he was supposed to be strong. This was not strong. He was being childish in front of Jigen of all people..

“That’s it.” Jigen nodded, squeezing him carefully. “Just take it easy. Everything’s okay.” He felt awful for causing this to happen…

“Jigen..” Goemon mumbled, resting his head back against his shoulder as he looked down. This was embarrassing..Nobody should’ve seen him like this…

“I’m right here, don’t worry. It’s just a panic attack, it’ll pass.” Jigen frowned, gently taking Goemon’s hand. “I shouldn’t have blamed you for anything, Goe. I took my stress out on you and Fujiko and I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. You did everything you could’ve and I know Lupin would’ve appreciated the hell out of you if he was awake.”

Goemon closed his eyes tightly, more tears streaming down his face as he held onto his hand tightly. “I-I would’ve given my life for Lupin..I failed him…”

Jigen shook his head, holding his hand gently. “Lupin wouldn’t want that, Goe. You know he wouldn’t want that. You didn’t fail anybody. You did so much..do you think I would’ve thought of that thing with the sugar? Hell no. You took great care of him and you killed that bastard that did this to him. When he wakes up he’s going to be so grateful..I’m grateful for you too, Goe. We all are.”

Goemon hesitated before squeezing Jigen’s hand. “..I care for all of you…very much..” he mumbled softly.

Jigen blushed a bit, nodding softly. “We care for you too, Goe…” he glanced away, biting his lip. “Me especially..”

Goemon blushed a bit, glancing at him as he nodded little. “..thank you..for assisting me..”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had my fair share of panic attacks.” Jigen shrugged a bit. “You’ll probably feel like shit for a while, just a heads up. We can go inside and rest for a bit, that’ll help.”

Goemon bit the inside of his cheek. “What about Lupin?” He glanced back at him anxiously.

“Pop’s watching him. He’s gotten his medication too, so he’ll be alright.” Jigen nodded, helping him stand as he held onto his hand. “Since we’re all here we can rest and take shifts watching Lupin, okay?”

Goemon nodded a bit, pulling Zantetsuken out of the tree as he held onto Jigen’s hand. “..okay.”

Jigen nodded, walking back to the house with Goemon. He knew he was tired, he could see it in how he walked. He knew that was from all the stress and the panic attack. They’d just have to get a little TLC while Lupin recovered..once he woke up it would be a lot easier.. he squeezed Goemon’s hand, the samurai squeezing back as they made their way inside.

“We’ll get some water and then once Fujiko finishes taking her shower you can have one. That’ll help. For now we can just sit on the couch, okay?” Jigen helped him inside, sitting Goemon on the couch while he got him some water.

Goemon nodded, looking down at the floor quietly. They was definitely embarrassing..and he didn’t need to be babied by Jigen for having an outburst…though, it felt nice to be taken care of.. It was reassuring to know that Jigen had been in this situation as well..it made it feel less embarrassing. He just didn’t want to make anyone worry for two people when they had Lupin to worry about.. Jigen walked back in, handing him the water as he sat beside him. Goemon drank some, putting the water down nearby as he laid back against the couch. His eyes ached..his head ached..his body was tired..he hadn’t had a panic attack before..they were definitely something he would have to train against.

“Come here.” Jigen frowned, pulling Goemon up against his chest as he laid back.

“Hm?” Goemon opened an eye, looking up at him as he blushed a bit.

“I’m figuring you’re sore. Just take it easy.” Jigen gently ran his hands through Goemon’s hair, massaging his scalp carefully to help him relax.

Goemon blushed more, hesitating slightly before relaxing against Jigen slowly. It…felt nice. It was hard to let himself relax knowing Lupin wasn’t well off..but if Lupin had more people to watch over him…maybe it was okay? Jigen told him it was…he would trust him..he wanted nothing more than for things to be alright again..

Fujiko watched from the stairs, smiling softly as she dried her hair with a towel. She was glad they had sorted that out. They were cute together when they weren’t at each other’s throats..now they just needed Lupin to wake up and things would start to be okay again. She would go over the notebooks Goemon had brought back and they could figure out what to do for Lupin. They would put him back together and find ways to cope with this…she would make Jigen confess to him too. She wanted things to go back to some type of normal again.

[a-dark-sanctuary]

Hey Bean, do you think Hikari has mixed feelings about his father?

hm. that’s a… good question. Jigo does do the whole ‘burden of having to rule an entire kingdom as a dying wish’ thing, so I could imagine that maybe cause a few conflicting feelings in Hikari…?

then again considering Mugen is. well. doing his thing. that could be plenty reason for Hikari wanting to rule regardless of his father’s wish, so. short answer is I’m not sure.

[satsuha]

one difference between the japanese and english versions of octopath 2 that i find interesting is that most NPCs in the japanese version have a "title" attached to their name... this ranges from things like their job ("silver merchant papp" and "newspaper reporter ori") to things other characters call them ("star" dolcinaea and "great noble alrond")

the localization's decision to not mirror this entirely was probably at least partially because of space limitations... the title used for papp would be really long in english (silver merchant) while just being 3 letters in japanese (銀商人) but it is pretty interesting to see where they decided to leave the titles in. i think the english rightfully thought a lot of these titles were redundant and over-explainy in most cases which i think does suit english better

in hikari's story specifically though you see titles change a LOT... they're a lot more important in his story compared to others' because of the emphasis on military rank we see throughout his story so it makes sense that english replicates a lot of these;

chapter 1: king jigo and general mugen

chapter 3: king mugen, general rou and captain ritsu

chapter 4: lady rai mei

chapter 5: general ritsu

one thing to note is that the localization never gives benkei and ageha their respective titles, 重臣 (juushin, chief vassal) and 兵長 (heichou, lance corporal/captain/idk man finding equivalents of military titles is hard) i also want to mention that rai mei's title in ch.4 literally means lady as in "lord/lady of a castle" (城主 joushu) which i feel like is lost a little in english

i do like this emphasis on titles in hikari's story especially because it makes their absence feel a lot more meaningful... ritsu especially changes titles in almost every appearance, going from 剣士 (kenshi, warrior) in ch.1 to 兵隊長 (heitaichou, captain) in ch.3 to eventually 将軍 (shougun, general) but he's missing a title during his childhood flashback in ch.3 and during the brief scene we see of him and mikka in ch.5. i know the latter is... most likely to not spoil the fact that he's been made a general in the very next scene but i do really really like that this is a scene we see of him with mikka... it's like titles don't matter when he's with her. mikka is also i think the only major NPC in hikari's story who doesn't ever get a title? even tsuki has one (従者 juusha, attendant)

similarly, rai mei doesn't have a title in her first appearance during ch.1 and the flashback in ch.4 but has the title "lady" when she's in castle mei, and then loses the title again when she comes for hikari's aid in ch.5. i like that for rai mei, her title represents her burden and is only present when she's following mugen's orders... just as ritsu, who follows mugen for most of the story, is entirely bound by his titles. these are mostly mirrored in the localization as well! (the only exception being ritsu's "warrior" title in ch.1 being missing)

kazan also follows a similar progression where he is known as tactician (軍師 gunshi) for the entire story until he reveals his true name oboro, which has no title attached

hikari, as a protagonist, never has a title attached to his name so it's interesting to see how he fits into all this... we see 3 kings throughout the course of the story but hikari doesn't get the title of king attached to his name and of course the scene we see him as king is when he removes his crown to speak frankly to his people... i think it's nice

[redshift-corridor]

do you have any thoughts/hcs for oboro?

I really want to write about him and Hikari but I haven't really been able to come up with something that isn't too much Hikari bashing 😥

As for headcanons, I'm afraid I don't have a whole lot that isn't mostly canon, so this is a bit unorganized and random, sorry.

He didn't raise Ori to hate the world (she figured that out just fine on her own) but he genuinely thought sacrificing herself was the best for her and the only thing that could truly make her happy. While Ori might have tried to talk him out of it if she had taken a mkment to stop and really think about what they were doing instead of blindly listening to him. The line between brother and ultimate authority got a little bit blurred there.

The game doesn't address what he does with the arena after chapter 2, but I like to think he kept using it for a bit of extra Moonshade funding on the side. All that traveling gets expensive.

He plays it off as a quirky habit, but his drinking is actually his way to cope with his war trauma, and there are moments when he drinks so much he doesn't make sound judgments anymore (such as sending Ori to Lostseed on her own).

And lastly he probably sympathized with Ritsu's struggle to gain power to keep himself and his sister safe, since he pretty much did the samd when he accepted Jigo's offer. But of course he can't express that and it's all pointless anyway since nothing can be saved.

[auncyen]

also Ku drives my brain wild with everything that's going on there like

Hikari honestly suggests Mugen should be king in chapter one. LIKE YES HIS MODESTY IS A CONSISTENT TRAIT but there is a difference between "I'm not worthy" and going "MY BROTHER THOUGH" and Jigo having to tell him "YOUR BROTHER'S JUST GOING TO REPEAT THE THINGS I ALREADY REGRET"

and like based on both Mugen's own display in the opening of the chapter and the talk about the army's behavior under Mugen Hikari should know what Mugen's like

the coup is news to him but he should already know what Mugen would push for Ku is wildly different than what he thinks Ku needs!

and yet he still with his own mouth is like "I'm not worthy. My brother, he..." and it honestly comes off like Hikari, even believing that Ku at large needs to continue the new (and about to be broken) peace and not resume warring, is still so mentally entrenched in the culture that he's thinks Mugen being a demon on the battlefield means obviously he's the one who should be king right up until the coup happens

and like I don't think that kind of talk comes up in banters so it's just stuck in my brain of like Hikari admitting to one of the other travelers that he does feel some trepidation about becoming king because he isn't strong like Mugen who would be a good king IF he used that strength responsibly and they just stare at him wondering what the hell he's talking about because he's the physical powerhouse of the team along with Ochette and inspired people in the arena and has studied strategy and also, he wants Ku to stop having wars, why is he stuck on 'traits needed on the battlefield'

and that is just one of the things about Ku and Hikari that drives my brain nuts lol

[soup-for-ghosts]

ot2 au where everything is okay.

harvey never betrayed osvald. instead, he helps osvald in his studies, and through various (ETHICAL) experiments, osvald discovers that the Seventh Source is Love and harvey is one of the first ones to congratulate him on figuring it out.

trousseau doesn't go insane and kill healeaks with poison. he continues to heal with eir's apothecaries and manages to save more than a few lives. castti is still Tired but she doesn't have to deal with All of That

speaking of All Of That, claude is an okay person! he isn't obssessed with All Of That and helps sebastian and marietta pay for thronè as she grows up! he also helps them pay for their child that they had!

ochette chose both akalā and mahina that day and befriended both of them. they argue like siblings but they love each other. the scarlet moon still happens and there are still freaky ass shadows but at least there's no terrifying mutation of what could have been your friend!

roque doesn't trick partitio and papp and is very Up-Front about his plans. he even tells them about the Steam Engine business and him and papp establish a new business investing in it. ori also gets therapy courtesy of papp and she doesn't want to end the world anymore.

agnea's story doesn't change much. the only change is that dolcinaea takes a very long vacation to conning creek after aggie's chapter 5 because that woman deserves it.

kaldena and cubaryi are okay! they aren't super fucking evil and actually offer to help temenos in his duties because they know it can get kinda overwhelming! they help him weasel out the corruption in the church! they offer to help him find roi! who is alive and well in tropu'hopu, but still thought to be missing. he destroyed the Darkblood Bow and settled down in toto'haha because he was exhausted and just wanted a nice quiet life away from the stressors of religion for a while. crick also lives in this au!! because kaldena didn't fucking kill him!!!

hikari's family doesn't fucking suck and he tells his friends about the Curse. they all help him through it whenever it shows up, and eventually he has the Shadow Battle. this time he gets extra encouragement from his Actually Good Family Members jigo, mugen and kura. kira and jin mei live in this au. because i said so.

this sounds so nice but reading it also has such an element of dread to it cause I know what actually happened and everything is very much not ok

but honestly yes please, these people deserve happiness

[99999-damage]

fun facts about octopath traveler 2’s spanish localization:

Mindt’s name is Trinidad which just makes me feel like the game is more latinoamerican coded than what i originally feel like due to the situations and themes explored LOL. Actually a LOT of the names of side characters change in spanish which is pretty shocking to me because the spanish localization of the first game barely changed names at all. Rai Mei is called Lai Mei, King Jigo is named Rey Yi Gou, Roque is named Locke, Pala is named Paula. etc. Also Agnea’s last name in spanish is Bristarniz which still makes me confused when i have to tag her name and i gotta be careful not to put the z at the end

Allure is actually called Seducir (Seduce) both in the first game and in this one which makes the scene where you have to allure Giselle in Agnea’s chapter 3 pretty gay.

You have to seduce her in order for her to see the value of her art again. Which i find a completely insane choice.

Tbh it’s quite Odd that uhh Agnea is canonically 18 and the option in spanish sounds sexual, whereas in the first game this wasn’t much of an issue because Primrose was more of a femme fatale kinda character and she was 24. But ok. There really isn’t much of a translation for Allure that doesn’t sound suggestive in spanish though. Maybe something like Encantar? Atraer sounds weird too.

Partitio and Agnea use a lot of very Castillian Spanish expressions which makes it really hard for me to understand what they mean sometimes help??? Like it makes Sense because they even have their own accent in the english dub and localization. But i’m not spaniard. I have gripes with the fact every single game gets a castillian spanish localization and never a neutral latin american because despite them being the same language there are a lot of different words and it annoys me to see hostia and hala like omg i’m so fed up of this

Also Tanzy’s journay entry is written formally with big boy words which i found awesome because it makes it sound more romantic, if that makes sense? Like some quotes coming out of the golden age of mexican cinema. i love toxic yuri

[tobiasdrake]

*spits water* Wait a fucking second.

Sorry, I was going back through the Travel Banters for Hikari Chapter 3 because I forgot to do that, and I just realized.

Hikari: The treaty was signed by my father Jigo.

Hikari's imperialist shitstain of a dad is Jigo. Fucking Jigo. Jigo Ku. Oh my god. XD Hahahaha.

Jigoku is the Japanese word for Hell.

[sombrerokiwi]

guiding ghosts au but it's literally just ritsu and jigo arguing about what to do with hikari

at one point ritsu literally has jigo at swordpoint and cuani has to pull them off of each other

This implies that Ritsu died like.

In chapter 1 or something.

Makes sense that Ritsu would have died later and now is being very vocal about things. But like. This is implying he died in Chapter 1.

Anyways add Kura in there we are going to have so much arguing between the three. Watch as Kura says in the most serious voice ever “I want a divorce.” Which is serious yes but it can be hilarious in the right circumstance.

[lozchic3]

Re; Hikari's story overall.

tl;dr: I think the pacing is the problem and unfortunately that meant squeezing as much into 5 chapters.

I don't think there was an easy way around it. But the pacing in Hikari's chapters by the end is the problem. And the way I see it, the presentation is this:

The spend the first chapter explaining the situation like all other character stories. From war to taking care of civilians labeled "low borns" in the castle town all the way to his exile after his brother kills his father. So the details needed from his story isn't "how can he get an army together to stop his brother" it's "what were his former allies like?"

The game takes a lot of time to show that off, not just in the next 3 chapters but also intermittently showing what Mugen and his new general, Ritsu have been doing as well. And I think those blips of intermissions showing Mugen's plans are part of the problem. Those were bound to happen. Ritsu was meant to guard Mugen, Mugen was meant to use the Darkblood Blade, and Ageha was not meant to do more than be a mouth piece to connect those two.

Those things just feels like it pails compared to how they showed off Hikari's struggle with "The Shadow" throughout, a glimpse into Kazan's history before he was taken in by former King Jigo, or even Rai Mei's struggle. All of those things made how everyone came together feel well deserved by the final chapter. Yes, even the reveal of Benkei arriving too.

But personally, I wanted to see more on Mugen's motivations. There were glimpses there and hints that it wasn't his own machinations in play. That maybe "The Shadow" is some force that has been haunting Ku's royal lineage. Instead that gets shoved as part of the overarching mystery between all 8 character stories. Something that's arguably been an issue with the game's story telling in general.

Despite that I do regret calling this story back in the demo a retelling of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There's a lot to it that really had me excited to see how it would end. Hikari alone makes for such a compelling character too. So hopefully whatever direction the game goes will tie everything nicely past all 8 character story endings.

[loopspoop]

Jigoe fans come get your crumbs! Pspspspsps

[eva-of-the-sea]

Hmm. I don't think I would call it "queerbaiting" in this instance. The reason why that term is used when the official writers of a show tease queer pairings is because they are deliberately trying to lure fans in while not putting in any of the work or the risk of making an actual queer pairing canon.

I think in the case of this fandom, it's just plain ol' misinformation. People see screencaps like this out of context and make assumptions all on their own. But the thing that gets me is that they often don't look at the source material for themselves?? I've been fooled before, but in the end I always seek out the manga chapter or watch the episode in question to see what's actually going on lol. If I get tricked, I don't really have anyone to blame but myself, y'know? I think the best way to combat this problem is simply to seek out the source material for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

Personally I've seen a lot of jiglup moments that are canon in the different series and movies. They're not as overt as this, but they are there if you watch long enough and notice patterns. Many different writers means you're going to get many different interpretations. And there was some pretty clear ship bias going on in some of the early TV specials (lots of instances of jigoe, jiglup, luzeni, and even fujigen sometimes). Sure it could be fanservice, but it looks to me like the writers having fun with the dynamics.

I suppose you could say that the canon ship fodder is "queerbaiting", but it's never felt like that to me. The relationships the gang has with each other are already very important to the series, which is already pretty neat for an anime with such a simple premise. I honestly like that you can read into it as much or as little as you'd like.

I’m sure you’ve seen pictures like this one over the internet in the form of memes, in self-declared manifestos and articles that claim to be from the queer community.

Looks like it’s Jigen asking Lupin, right? This does indeed get sold to the internet as if Jigen is asking Lupin such a big question.

The actual scene:

I posted a while ago an example of a very piss-poor translation of a chapter from the original manga that is used by the same people who write this so called propaganda as evidence of ‘gayness’ going on with these characters. You can read it here, TokyoPop simply made a poor job but that also is, apparently, taken seriously and spread all over the internet.

It all could be easily dismissed with a laugh because in the end the show itself is meant to be fun and being in the fandom should be fun but I keep asking myself if this fandom attitude qualifies as queerbaiting. What’s sad is that it comes from other fans who are... in good faith??? (color me suspicious) fooling people into believing things that are not there.

I’m sorry to have to say this but apparently there are some who actually trick people who are invested in certain characters and who might be fragile. People who, right because of this propaganda based on wrong translations, fake pictures, jokes being taken too seriously and too far and cultural misunderstandings, might end up deluded and hurt.

The list of these ‘misunderstandings’ or even misrepresentations can go quite on, here you get just the basic idea.

We’re all up in arms when queerbaiting comes from the powers that be authors and producers but when it comes from allegedly fellow fans is maybe even worse.

“Propaganda” in itself is already a bad word, if you need propaganda to convince people through memes plastered all over the internet that’s another sign that something is wrong. Not to mention most people only know the characters through the internet grapevine and therefore completely out of context, because by their own admission, they don’t even watch the show.

These characters have been around since the 60s, in Japan... I wouldn't even go near them being 'coded' because it could mean having to code them in a really bad way.

Feel free to share your view.

[a-dark-sanctuary]

Absolutely surprised that there wasn’t more people who go talk about King Jigo’s death in-game. Like I get why but at the same time there probably was at least one person who went “Ding Dong the King is dead” to themselves when they found out the news.

when mugen took over he just told everyone that jigo was on vacation and that he was ‘temporary’ ruler while he was gone. everyone in Ku didn’t (or were too scared to) ask questions so they all go with it. It takes until right after the war for everyone to realize that jigo’s dead.

Hikari has to walk through his entire chapter one to the entire town to make them understand jigo’s dead

[satsuha]

temehika: parallels, the past, and the future

wanted to lay out the parallels between temenos and hikari that i see and explore/explain why i ship them. even outside of a ship perspective i think their similarities and the way they contrast each other is fascinating and i don't really see enough people consider what that might mean for their relationship with each other so here's my attempt at compiling all my thoughts on the topic

both of their journeys begin with the death of a father (figure) but neither are given the time to grieve because jorg/jigo's deaths have much more importance as the loss of a religious/political leader than the emotional weight of temenos and hikari's personal losses... while i don't think these deaths carry as much significance as some of their other losses it's still clear that it weighs on them - but they both understand that their grief is secondary to the responsibilities they now bear.

in both of their chapter 3's they have similarly named banters - although i would say roi's role in temenos' story is closer to the role kura and jin mei play in hikari's, i do think both of these friendships are what formed their most defining traits.

for temenos, roi's effect on him from a young age is very explicitly stated so i don't think i need to say anything about that but i personally think hikari's first meeting with ritsu is what truly set him on a path that separated him from mugen.

something that struck me about the two flashbacks we see of hikari is that we don't actually see many of the defining traits he possesses now, such as his desire for peace, friendship and trust in others. i would say the only indication is how he asks both jin mei and ritsu to call him by name and not by title, but otherwise we actually see him actively seeking violence, even if not for the same power-hungry reasons as mugen.

while it's clear his mother's upbringing had an effect on him, i think that at a young age he was still of the same "might is right" mindset that ku espouses until ritsu tells him about the futility of violence for the sake of justice... and while he treated jin mei with equality, hikari still views him as his "teacher" and not his "friend" as he does for ritsu. even if ritsu's intention when saying this to hikari wasn't to push for peaceful means, i think that hikari took a very different message from it... i just can't imagine where else his fixation on friendship and peace would have originated from.

back to what i said about roi and jin/kura's role in their respective stories... around the midpoint of temenos and hikari's stories we also get to see a flashback of when they lost arguably the most important person in their lives - both of these scenes are also presented as dreams.

roi's disappearance and kura's death are a major turning point in both temenos and hikari's lives and also serve as their secondary goals for their stories: temenos journeys to find the truth of the pontiff's murder, but bringing the church's secrets to light is a goal he attributes to roi. hikari journeys to free ku of mugen's rule, but he also seeks to overcome the shadow that first appeared when his mother was murdered.

i think ritsu and crick's deaths also have similarities, such as both of them not being necessary sacrifices for the sake of temenos and hikari's goals but the paths ritsu and crick chose respectively led to their demise... both with these deaths and roi/kura's above, temenos is haunted by the fact that he was nothing but a passive bystander while hikari is haunted by the fact that he was an active participant.

even their final bosses are more similar than any other two in the entire game: mugen and kaldena are both people who willingly use the power of the shadow for their own gains, only to be consumed and deformed by it for the second phase of their battles.

that covers what happens in their individual stories but journey for the dawn brings everything full circle because due to the reveals of arcanette and oboro, temenos and hikari are the only two whose story endings are now turned on their heads. temenos' story ends with a conversation between him and mindt, who he never suspected anything of, and he's now had to kill her with his own hands. hikari's story ends with him becoming king with kazan looking proudly at him, but he finds out that both mugen and his own ascension to the throne were part of oboro's plan.

to top it off, i think that their failure to see through mindt and kazan reflect a failure in their own ideologies - temenos, despite how his doubt of the sacred guard managed to bring light to the corruption in the church, failed to doubt the people around him enough. with hikari, while his trust and friendship brought him to victory, his excessive trust in kazan resulted in his betrayal. in arcanette and oboro's deaths, we also see temenos and hikari take the opposite position of what i mentioned above - temenos kills arcanette himself, while hikari watches as oboro falls to his death.

to me it just feels that these two are the only ones who have been so deeply affected by the events of the journey for the dawn that i don't think we can take the ending of their individual stories as where their stories truly conclude unlike the other travelers... it feels? like their dialogue with oboro also has this wavering kind of hope that sort of separates them from the other travelers, despite agreeing that the dawn is definitely worth fighting for (you can view them all here)

in the same way temenos was drawn to crick because of his similarity to roi, i think he needs someone who can embody the same kind of optimism and hope so that he can guide them while acting as a foil with his doubt... and the reason hikari sought kazan out first after leaving ku was because he knew kazan could turn his vision into a structured plan, but now hikari is king without someone who can support him like kazan did.

in terms of where the characters end up after the game ends i also feel that temenos... sort of has the least attachment to the "place" the ending leaves him at. characters like throne and osvald are going to wander but for throne she wants to continue traveling and for osvald he clearly has a place to return to when he's ready to come back. castti, partitio and agnea will also likely continue their journeys but that's because their goals in life necessitate that, and similarly hikari and ochette are defined by how much they care about their homes. temenos just feels... like the odd one out even though he says that he needs to return to the cathedral because he just doesn't have that emotional connection to a place or a goal that lies elsewhere like all the other travelers do.

i just think that emotionally, physically and practically speaking... temenos and hikari fit into each other's lives post-canon very nicely. they complement each other in a way where they can enable each other's strengths and limit their weaknesses while also having plenty of shared or similar experiences they can bond over... that's why i like them so much

if you've gotten to this point then thanks for reading um. all that.

[dandunn]

My latest tumblr Lupin drabbles are up on ao3! check em out!!!

[morporkian-cryptid]

Dealing with your feelings is difficult. Especially when you’re a 40 year old assassin-turned-thief, and you’re in love with your two business partners slash best friends, one of whom is straight and has a girlfriend, and the other is too busy with his samurai training to care about dating.Little does Jigen know that both of his partners are trying to wingman him with the other. Meanwhile, Fujiko is facepalming in the background and hoping her boys would just take the damn hint.

In the middle - Part 2 chapter 4 is up!

Fujiko finally decides to put to use her uninvited guest. Things go south.

Reblogs are much appreciated!