cant wait to see another chart thats going to look absolutely deranged <- person who 😦ed at the vertical axis on your 8path2 siblings chart FHDKGDJVS OH MY GODD??? hikari was the devs hated child..... or maybe fave child depending on how you look at things. gee hikari how come mom almost let you have TWO homoerotic enemies/lovers relationships?? and yea after hearing about how in jpn hikari refers to people as "comrades" i wish that had carried over to eng translation. him calling everyone his friend kinda cheapens the moments he has with the ch1 ku gang who are his Actual friends, and this is def an unintentional side effect but it also makes hikari so disingenuous cause at the root of it all, hes not looking for friends, hes looking for allies in a war effort fkdhkdhfdb me when i lie fr
RIGHT?? for the character whos very much metaphorically meant to be the light and hope, he sure doesnt have a lot of direct positive impact on his cast of supporting npcs (sorry hikari) its even worse too when you consider that unlike him, partitio and ochette arent like. Really actively trying. most of their redemptions were more of a byproduct of their actions, but the genuineness of that shone through to inspire others, which then also leads back to how a lot of hikaris actions contradict his words..... anyways im very insane over the ochette/partitio/hikari combi
the way i immediately went to learn sp steal for throne when she got 30jp, realised it wasnt there, then later found out that fucking temenos got the sp steal skill instead 💀 which ig is fair, i always thought therion was the most op 8path1 starter cause of steal, but also because he can self sustain both his hp and sp in the early game

therions good at acting and knowledgeable on discerning value, and partitio is a lot more tolerant of his respective thief traveler than tressa (esp considering he has experienced poverty before too) so....... wow partheri real /j btw the contrast between therion/tressa and throne/partitios relationships has always been so funny to me, i was expecting a lot of conflict between the thief/merchant again but throne and partitio actually get along quite well
the castti journey devastation effect is so real.... i remember seeing all the ch3 reactions on twitter, congrats to her (and temenos) for destroying the fandom HIKARIS BRIBE IS SO UNSERIOUS 😭😭😭 which is a shame cause i really wanna inquire info about ritsu and mugen in particular...... you set a poll about ritsus age before and i voted him being the same age as hikari then, but thinking back on it, i think ritsu being older would also make for an interesting dynamic cause then thatll feed even more into his inferiority complex with hikari 🫠 ritsus an overprotective big brother type, but i imagine growing up it was probably hikari protecting ritsu more than vice versa due to hikaris greater strength and high position in society

i really keep flip flopping between Emotionally unavailable temenos who distances himself as a defence mechanism vs Desperation fuelled temenos who doesnt hold back anymore to avoid piling on more regrets post canon characterisation...... but i can have both my slowburn and quickburn angst [me standing behind temenos with a bat labelled 'extreme internal conflict']
OH YEA NO i always get so excited weaving together the little hints 8path drops to map out the overarching plot..... its just so interesting how tonally different 8path 1 vs 8path 2s protags journeys end for the most part. it really feels like homecoming for 8path 1 protags (or. as close as it can get anyways. like with therion and primrose) but for 8path 2 i really did not get that sense at all fkdhksbs
THE WAY THIS ALIBINO ASS WHITE MAN STICKS OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB IN KU TOO hes never finding peace. local inquistor gets a taste of his own coercing medicine

"then let trust be what i do" HIKARIIIIIIIII 👹👹👹👹 stormhail is so hilarious to me cause its not even a final chapter location for anyone its only purpose is to traumatise hikari and temenos (and ochettes there to ball) and the temehika delusion that sprung up from that is so real..... FMDBDKDBS its giving that one haikyuu panel where kuroo and daichi shake hands whilst smiling but theyre just simultaneously thinking Ah. this guy is the crafty type. IM. IM GOING TO FUCKING EXPLODE the subtle way he challenges oboro with that too, with the knowledge temenos learned from hikari about their relationship in travel banters oogh o|-< temenos' vidania dialogue is so temehika coded fr (delusional) i remember you once pointed out before that his dialogue sounds more like hes referring to hope as an external source like a person (hikari/castti) rather than something he himself has, and youre so real for that actually.....

FKDVDKHSKGSJS CLOWN TO CLOWN COMMUNICATION tbh ritsu reassigning himself to work under mugen really was such a do or die move.... he would def get a lot more upward mobility and opportunities to raise his standing compared to when he was working under hikari, but if he fucks up at all Thatse It. whether he falls in the line of duty or he fails and mugen kills him himself. but then to ritsu he probs thinks its worth the risk that even if (when) he dies, he can at least secure mikkas future o|-< LMAOOOOFBDKHDS as an eldest sibling i can understand. we are very annoying

satsu ceo of nun hikari and EXACTLY.... its the loss of inhibition.... plus i will always just eat dog/fox x cat dynamics the fuck up love those fucking creachers
ochette did us all a national service cause esp in regards to hikari, i personally dont really like the look of long straight hair worn loosely, he looks way cuter with his hair all messed up..... but yea fkdbdkhsbs ochette looked at the two most orderly and well groomed men of the travellers and was like holup..... let me cook

yea thats interesting to think about esp cause obviously most travelers have goals outside of their main goal, but usually their "for/in pursuit of [thing]" is such a marketing staple and its cool to see that osvalds story actually ended up abandoning that goal..... it might have been cool to see osvalds "in pursuit of revenge" change to something else in his ch5 but i guess the only way we could see that change being reflected is in the ost names which would have been confusing.....
REAL UGH im so obsessed with the dual hope vs despair that embody so much of casttis and hikaris arcs..... castti being an apothecary who saves lives and hikari being a symbol of change for ku are literally such huge on the nose metaphors for hope but both their journeys are so hounded by grief and anguish i o|-< i really like the flavour of 'matyr who tries to save everyone' + 'pragmatist who just tries to save them' in my castthrone and temehika dynamics cause of that
AUUUGGGGHHHHHH ku places such weight on martial prowess that it makes me wonder whether even amongst royalty literacy and wisdom isnt that valued or prioritised.... it doesnt make much sense to me that oboro taught hikari specifically to hone him against mugen cause even in their final confrontation against mugen oboro was the one handling all the strategy and details..... at that point this just reads to me like oboro unwittingly got too attached to hikari and spent more time than absolutely needed with him haha god knows oboro has a habit of picking up strays haha throws up and dies
FKDHDKDHSJDH jiros retainers are basically just hikaris eccentric neighbourhood asian uncles who doted on him when he was young

we were robbed blind to not see hikari truly go apeshitt even ONCE!!!! the cowards wouldnt give the people what we want..... tbh that could have made for a more nuanced narrative in hikaris story, or at the very least would have made ritsu a more impactful character in the fandom.... you know youve written a good character when people wont stop fighting over them haha [stares in fire emblem fan war flashbacks]
temehika soulmate behaviour fr (foaming at the mouth) my first playthrough i kept noticing how at every chapter their journeys kept mirroring each other and i was just like. are yall being deadass rn? right in front of my delusional ass who will twist any canon material to fit my agenda?
oh interesting, never realised there was such an interpretation out there..... i can def see the similarities temenos has between throne and her story npcs, esp with their matching talents, which is p noteworthy cause even amongst other crossed path pairs none of them have similar synergy.... but yea personally not a headcanon i buy into.... i think its funnier (and also thematically more fitting and tragic) that temenos was just Some Guy that got accidentally swept up into everything fkdhdkbsvd

i generally have a Problem with getting too attached to my 8path starters (idiot who chose therion three consecutive times) but hikari really feels so connected with the endgame and overarching plot that its genuinely hard for me to deviate from him now fndbjdbdvs his protagonist energy is too strong 😔 AND YEA the thing that struck me as strange was how hikari Specifically went out to pay respects to ritsus dad. we know that oboro still had some means of contact with rai mei even after they all went their separate ways so whos to say he didnt also help stoke the flames between hikari and ritsu too. idk how ritsu would have fit into oboros plans in the grand scheme of things but its fun (devastating) to think about oboros manipulations going that far back 🫠
FHFJDHDKHS you know what..... thats fair...... partitio adopting all these newly unemployed depressed fuckers and giving them a new lease on life. mayhaps post partitio influence, when hikari and ori first properly meet face to face she wont even try to stab him

due to how honourable and straight laced hikari and also how different his station in life is from thrones, i assumed at first that him and throne wouldnt really see eye to eye, but they actually have this sort of mutual understanding and its really nice..... i think esp in regards to how violent and cutthroat thrones environment is, hikari is probs one of the only other travelers who can understand her on a more personal level. also something about how both of them were honed to be weapons, both for the sake of their respective affliations which value power, and, unbeknownst to them, also by specific individuals for the purpose of revenge..... mayhaps i just have a soft spot for them as they were my first two travelers but idc hehe throne hikari friendship 🫶 king hikari of ku and his secret shadowy companions who support him in subtle underhanded ways

my want for silly romcom fluff/horny dicks out scenarios vs my need to keep everything as canon compliant as possible and make sure that the characters remain true to themselves coexist in a Very strained peace...... modern aus really do scratch my itch for brainless wish fulfilment even if it means like. stripping temehika of most of their interesting aspects (the Oh he just like me fr trauma)

FUCKED UP HOMECOMINGS FKDHDKDBDS slap that onto the list of uncanny similarities between temehika right below 'dead exes' and 'endgame big traitor reveals'
REAL 😭 i honestly do like agnea and hikaris dynamic but agnea feels so removed from their crossed paths storyline, esp cause it was so focused on ku and...... agnea really cannot relate much to the absolute trainwreck going on in it 24/7. i get why the devs did it cause agneas def the traveler who represents hope most and boy do the residents of ku need that! and also for the dancer/warrior tradition but idk..... aside from temenos i would have also liked to see castti in hikaris crossed paths, cause she, like agnea, is also another traveler who embodies hope but since shes also gone through so much loss she can empathise more with the tragedies in ku. osvald would have also been interesting cause of the whole thing with yomi, and im curious to see how he of all people would have reacted to that, esp since he starts off his journey driven by vengeance but gave up on it by the end. tbh just all the tragic travelers should have just gone to see the mourning festival lol maybe throne and temenos would have lost it (person who thinks a lot about that one banter where they cried after hikari sang a ku song)

TOUCH STARVED AND REPULSED TEMEHIKA REAL i do think that because of their occupations they get exposed to some degree of contact but they use it mainly as a purely practical tool to offer comfort to others, whether as a clergyman acting friendly and approachable to the townspeople or a soldier building rapport and providing support to his brothers in arms..... but then privately both shy away from physical contact. temenos' aloofness also extending to his physical boundaries and hikari growing to associate touch with harm plus his distrust in himself, and them losing their families early on in their lives..... i need temehika to learn how to truly be vulnerable to each others touch in a way that isnt them emotionally distancing themselves from the act is what im saying

ALSO YOU 🫵 THE MULAN SCENE. DJDVKDBSFHDHS benkei is trying so hard, temenos' expression in the second panel is so cute..... thank you for drawing the sillys..... saw the art when i suddenly got sick whilst travelling and it temporarily healed me