#THE RATES ARE JACKED UP | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

safyresky · 8 months

Text

Always

Summary: During their stay with the Amazons, Dite asks Jacqueline an (admittedly loaded) question. Or: The day Jacqueline fell very very hard for Dite and had 0 idea for a solid 300 years.

---

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" Jacqueline blinked once, very slowly, before coming back down to earth. "Oh! Yeah, absolutely. What's up?"

Dite bit her lip, pulling her braid forward and petting it. She frowned, her wings fluttering anxiously. "So like, it's a bit of a weird question. Maybe. Um, I think maybe you may not want to answer it? I think it's crossing a few boundaries but like. These past few months with you have been really, really fun!"

Jacqueline laughed. "I like that your idea of fun involves a whole lot of violence."

"We're learning ancient fighting techniques from the Amazons themselves! It's GREAT knowledge to have and absolutely EYE OPENING and we are rocking these outfits!"

"I like the detail in the chest plates," Jacqueline said, poking hers. There were swirls and ferns all over it, snowflakes twirling about at the edges of the details. "And there's some cool tricks we're learning too!"

"YEAH! It's FUN!" Dite said, hands up in the air, wings mirroring her.

Jacqueline laughed, loudly and from the heart. Her eyes lit up; the wind gently blew her loose hairs back, the thawed tresses lifting in the breeze.

"I've seen this whole different side of you," Dite sighed, looking up fondly and stretching out her legs. The waves crashed on the shore, the surf almost hitting their feet. "It's so…free! And full of joy! I never knew you were this…happy?"

"You said that like it was a question."

"It’s not the word I wanted. It's just…whenever we’ve met at work, when you got back from um. Your…"

"Recovery?"

"Is that what it was?"

Jacqueline looked thoughtful for a moment, shrugging. "You could say that, yeah. That and being like, way too small to go to important meetings like that on my own."

"You’re still small."

Snow hit her leg; she laughed, grabbing what she could before it melted and plopping it right on the sprite's head.

The sprite laughed, grinning up at the goddess beside her. A big, toothy grin that stretched from ear to ear. She lifted her hand, a pile of snow appearing in her palm, and plopped it on top of her head.

"Plop!" she said, still wearing that goofy grin.

Dite laughed. "Is that even comfortable?"

"Is for me! Cold doesn't bug me at all," she said with a warm smile, the snow already melting down her back.

"You’re so silly. And goofy! I like that a lot! I like that I got to meet this side of you. You’re always so…reserved during summits, and during our legate meetings, you’re not as reserved but you’re still a little. Y'know. Cautious, I guess. But here, as we've been hanging out and learning and vacationing sort of, it's this whole new you I've met! But like, it's not a new you. I think it actually is you and you’re very careful to guard your you. What I'm trying to say is, I think you're the most fun person I have ever met and I cannot express enough how much it means to me that you shared yourself with me!"

Jacqueline blinked, feeling her face getting very hot as she flushed. AGAIN. What was it about this girl that made her get all blushy and uncomfortably warm? She felt like she was gonna burst into flames.

"Oh, I've flustered you again, haven't I? I'm sorry."

"It’s okay! I'm not very…I don’t really…um. I don’t have a lot of friends? Most of them have died because, y'know, humans and stuff," she scratched the back of her neck, frowning thoughtfully. "I think that takes a toll after a while, you know? And it gets easier, but also…it doesn't. And I'm not. I don't. It's. Hmm. I don’t have a bad rep, but I'm kinda stuck under a not so great one and a lot of magibeans tend to uh, assume the worst. But you…you don't! You didn't. There's only been one other person in my life who's done that, and it still kinda throws me off every so often."

"Oh?" Dite asked, trying to ignore the little itty bitty pang of jealousy that suddenly turned up. "Who's that?"

"Bernard? Santa's arch elf?"

"Oh! He's nice! I like him," she said with a fond smile. "You're friends?"

"I think so! I'd say we hang out a lot but like, mostly I go bother him when I'm feeling down or something crazy happens that I'm too afraid to tell my parents about," she said, pulling her legs up and hugging them. "He's always been very sweet and nice with me, and lately he's been snarky and I'm kind of liking it, actually! It's different! More fun."

Dite was relieved to feel it wasn't in a like-like way (pros to being Cupid's Legate and also daughter, she suspected). "Banter's fun."

"It kind of is!"

In the distance, the clatter of swords on shields rang out. The waves kept crashing, seagulls squawking high above them.

"Why are you alone?" she asked, pulling up her own legs.

"What do you mean?"

Dite let out a puff of air, her breath blowing a stray hair off her face. "They didn't tell us what happened. Just that something had happened, and we wouldn't be seeing you for a bit. Then you came back from your recovery, and you were alone. Forgive me if I'm crossing boundaries; I don’t mean to. And maybe I'm way off base with where we're at, and I shouldn't ask at all! But I'm gonna. The question I wanted to ask you was about all…that. What happened?"

Somehow, the sprite managed to make herself even tinier. She hugged her legs tighter, burrowing her nose between her knees. She looked so sad; so hurt.

Dite immediately felt a pang of regret.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked! I didn’t mean to ruin the mood."

"Oh, it's okay," Jacqueline replied. "You didn't bring down the mood." She shifted her head, forehead still on her arms, but eyes looking right into Dite's now. "My brother left."

"Oh," Dite said.

"Yeah. From what I've been told, it was probably a long time coming. Nobody thought it'd be as…explosive as it was, though. He got into a big fight with our Dad, and our Mom had to separate them. Elements went flying. Stuff was freezing. He whipped up this MAHOOSIVE storm," she leaned back, throwing her arms to the sides, palms out. "It tanked all of Crystal Springs for like, a week. Transportation was out all around."

"That must've been scary."

"I imagine it was. You see, um. I was a little bit unconscious. A lot maybe."

"Oh?"

"If you hear about what happened the day he left, everyone will tell you about the big old storm. It was bad! Ice storms are the nastiest. They freeze everything all while causing whiteout conditions. You can't see or go anywhere and the wind makes drifts and it's sucky conditions all around."

"Even for someone like you?"

"Actually they're kinda fun for someone like me. But this one wasn't. They talk about the storm all the time; and there were a couple of casualties. They were all healed, of course," she added quickly, sticking out a hand as if to reassure.

"Of course. The Springs."

Her fingers curled in; she brought her hand right back to her side. "Right. Yes. The Springs. Healed them. Once they were accessible, of course. And most everyone was able to handle their injuries until then."

"Nobody died."

"Somebody almost did."

"Who?"

Jacqueline looked over at Dite, a tinge of fear in her eyes.

"You?!"

She nodded.

"Oh no," Dite said, breathlessly. She put her hand up to her mouth, eyes wide and watery.

"Are you crying?"

"Not yet," she blubbered. "What happened? Are you okay? You almost died?!"

"Not yet," she repeated with a laugh, pulling her hair forward. She reached up, her fingers gently making their way through the braid and taking it apart. It was already falling; her hair did not like staying back. "I got caught in the crossfire."

"You went after him?"

She nodded. "I was small, you know? I had no idea what was going on but I knew that sometimes he'd do bad things. And it seemed like this was one of those times. It got really loud downstairs and he was late for our snow date so I went to see what was happening and found the downstairs hall an absolute ice rink, and Mom and Dad in the kitchen, hurt. Not moving. Awake! Talking, but stuck. My brother left. I followed him out. Words were said, and he hurt me."

"Not with words."

"No. I mean they hurt too, of course. But no." She sighed, her hand absentmindedly drifting to her midsection. "They've taught us about all sorts of weaponry here. Your bracelet is so full of charms now," she pointed to it, Dite lifting her wrist. The charms clinked together. "But they haven't taught us about one of the most dangerous weapons. Ice. I can shape it into anything," she said, a glowing palm coming up.

In it, a solid cube appeared. "I can make it round. Square. Soft. Hard..." As she spoke, the ice in her palm shifted, matching the shapes she was listing, and then the textures. "Sharp."

In her hand, the ice shifted; it poked outwards, growing sharp. "And if it's sharp enough, and thrown with enough force, well…"

Lifting her arm the way they had been taught with the javelins just last week, she launched the icicle. It hit the ground with a sharp shtick, sticking itself deep into the sand. It twanged, briefly shuddering before stilling and beginning to melt.

"He stabbed you."

"Three times."

"Oh god."

"I know. One minute I was looking up at him, telling him not to go, not to leave me. The next, a glow; then something sharp, and then everything went black. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the Springs, looking into my mom's eyes. I've never heard her sob the way she did when I woke up. I've also never been squished as hard as I was by her after that."

Dite giggled. Her eyes widened. "Oh! I'm so sorry I should not have laughed--"

"It’s okay. I like your laugh. And it is kind of funny. The squishy bit, not the stabby bit."

"No, that's not funny at all!"

"I've got some sick scars now," she said. "You've seen them, I'm sure."

"I had noticed them, yeah. Gosh, I'm so sorry, Jacqueline. That's…a lot. And you were so small!"

"Apparently I still am," she joked, a thumb idly flicking away the wet under her eyes.

"You may be tiny but you are so, so tall to me. I mean, to go through all that, and do everything you've done to get here to this point? To survive? That's amazing."

"You think?"

"I know."

The lapsed into silence again. Dite's right wing hovered above Jacqueline, the goddess thoughtful.

"Do you miss him?"

Jacqueline stilled.

Dite glanced her way, concerned she had maybe turned herself to ice. But she hadn’t! She had just stopped idly swaying. Tears filled her eyes, trailing down her cheeks.

"So much," she admitted, the rest of the words smothered under a sob that clawed its way up her throat.

Dite's wing fell, encompassing the sprite and pulling her close. She shuffled in the sand, moving closer to Jacqueline and throwing her arms around her, bringing her in tightly. She did what her Mom did whenever Dite felt down; rubbed her back gently. Kept her wings around them. Murmured nice things in her ear like there there, let it all out. That's it. You'll feel better after a good cry, and so on.

The sprite uncurled, burying herself in Dite's chest plate. Droplets of wet began to appear in the sand around them, the poor thing shaking with how hard she was crying.

She didn't know how long they sat there. How long she held her little buddy. A silly little name that Jacqueline had laughed at, but now, Dite was thinking, maybe wasn't really...accurate? Appropriate? Whatever the word, it didn't feel right anymore.

The sun began to set, the glow of dusk reflecting in the sea. At some point as the sun went down, Jacqueline's shudders slowed, until finally she lifted her head off the chest plate. She sniffled, curling up against Dite's side until she could rest her head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. That was embarrassing. I didn't think I'd…gah! I'm sorry!"

"Don’t be! I asked. I'm sorry for bringing it up. I should've been a bit more tactful, maybe. I didn’t realize how traumatic…"

"Nobody does. Nobody ever asked. And nobody's really explained things to me, either."

"Is that why the wall?"

She nodded against her arm. "It's easier to interact with other magibeans if I keep myself on my toes. Easier to not get hurt if I shrug it off and carry on."

"Armour."

"Yeah. Speaking of…sorry about yours. It’s covered in Jacqueline gobber. I can buff it out."

Dite laughed. "It’s okay! Really," she said, squishing the sprite's shoulders in a very feathery side hug. "Thank you for telling me. I know you said you have Bernard, but if you ever want a change of pace, you can come to me, if you'd like."

"…would I get hugs like this?"

"Oh my gods absoLUTELY! I love hugs! And you seem like you need them."

Jacqueline snorted, snot going flying. "Oh, that was gross! Ew! Sorry!"

Dite laughed. "Snots happen."

"Thank you for asking," Jacqueline said, adjusting herself to sit more comfortably alongside Dite.

"Thank you for telling."

"Thank you for listening."

"Always."

#diteline #crystal springs #smile shots #dani writes #i was up SO LATE writing this lil idea!!!#it was tickling my brain a bunch lol #fun facts: jacquie is about 1600 ish here. so like. 16/17 in human years! dite is ????? bc she is a god and is like. ageless. sorta.#she looks like a young adult and only starts visibly aging after marrying jacqueline #bc she wants to get old with her! (which is at a very slow rate compared to humans lol)#fun facts round 2: a select amount of people actually know about the stabby bit of the dod #legates didn't fully know; legends were told. mn knew a week after it happened; blinter and jacquie knew from the get go of course. jack to #obvi lol #the seasons found out same time as MN and generally anyone who knows either learnt it from them. mn. or the cold front themselves #the general magical populous just knows that she was a casualty #amongst the many in the springs being treated for storm-related injuries once they could get through!#ANYWAY plz enjoy the diteline fluff! i sure fucking did #the comfort! the fluff! the BLORBOS!#screaming in the club. september is deffs giving diteline vibes

8 notes · View notes

technocipher · 1 year

Text

Something I've noticed about Jack at Home Base in my most recent playthrough is that he almost always seems to be watching the Protagonist. I say this because every time I've passed by him, his idle animation has him turn to look. And maybe I'm reading too much into it, maybe I'm overthinking it, but it almost seems like he has to keep an eye on the Protagonist.

Where Jack stands by the objective board, he has a clear view of the steps. Here, his observation is more limited; he has Louis standing to his right, and the board directly in front of him. If he leans over too much, Louis will notice, possibly even blow his cover. The best way to monitor the Successor from his position is through furtive glances. Where Jack stands gives the illusion of preoccupation.

Right by Davis, Jack has a perfect view of the mistle. He can easily keep an eye out for the Successor of the Blood, and keep watching them if they approach the punching bag. He also can keep them in his peripheral vision if they're at Murasame's counter.

In front of Louis's desk, Jack can monitor the Protagonist from his peripheral vision. The pretense of business masks him well here, and they likely will not pay him any mind. It is a stealthier approach compared to his other positions.

His position by the curtain in the sanctuary especially permits a wide angle of view. Almost anywhere the Protagonist walks or runs, Jack can see them. From a defensive standpoint, his back is protected; with him watching the doors, any invaders -- Lost or otherwise -- will be spotted quickly. To keep a close eye on the door ensures protection for the Protagonist, as well. This way, they won't be taken from him again. He can proactively stop a threat far quicker than he was able to before, back in Operation Queenslayer. He won't lose them a second time if he can help it.

Even when he's seated at the farthest end of Home Base, he has direct line of sight. It isn't that he looks ahead; rather, his attention is focused more towards Io's post. He seems to closely observe when the Protagonist handles vestiges with their attendant. Fixes them, returning memories to those who desperately needed answers to long-forgotten questions.

Some part of me wonders if Jack wrestles with himself in that very spot. By way of what he thought was a mercy killing, Jack helped to bring that ability forth, perhaps indirectly. Yet at the same time, he placed the terrible burden of being a Successor upon them. Does the Protagonist fear an eventual transformation just as much as he does? Is this how he'll lose them again? Perhaps this is the reason why Jack's gaze is more intense here than in the other positions. His own tumultuous thoughts play upon his face, casting a gravity that does not show itself often outside of battle.

Another part of me wonders if he's monitoring the Protagonist's relic status. This is especially something to consider if the Protagonist is aiming for a Bad Ending run. With multiple Relics housed within their body, the risk of frenzy heightens. The game never quite goes into detail about how the color or shape changes, aura-wise, when Jack is observing the status of a Successor. If it fluctuates, shrinks, pulses, or even glows brighter. On a Bad Ending run, however, the Protagonist's aura must be horrific. Jack would have no other choice but to kill them again. His mental health may never recover, but when he has no choice but to bear another relic and sleep within the confines of a Crypt, he will not be awake to know much else. Perhaps in his fitful, tormented nightmares, he will once again dream of the Protagonist he could not save. A Bad Ending run destroys Jack far more than most may consider.

I also wonder if perhaps Jack keeps an eye on the Protagonist for fear of losing them again. What happens if they don't return to Home Base in one piece? They're not always going to have him accompanying them. Any activity around the mistle will draw his attention. We know that Jack is extremely attached to the Protagonist. (I suspect he has a habit of getting attached to his others partners in differing degrees, but that's a text dump for another time.) Valerio's vestiges show a man haunted and broken by the Protagonist's mercy killing. The Protagonist is someone he places in a high -- perhaps the highest -- esteem.

Two of his lines when the Protagonist returns to the mistle speak volumes about his feelings.

"You're up already? Well, good."

"Hmph. Don't make me so anxious like that..."

I cite that first line because of its vocal inflection. His voice lifts up in an earnest, almost boyish manner. It's positively adorable! He's overjoyed that the Protagonist is back -- that they're alive -- and now he can return to exploring alongside them. The fondness he carries bleeds into his voice, perhaps without him even being aware of it. It's a line that makes me smile even on unsuccessful boss runs.

The next one offers a glimpse into his underlying fears. Jack is constantly worried about losing the Protagonist again. The game glosses over how long a revenant's reformation really takes. Where gameplay is concerned, of course it's going to be instantaneous! But since it took the Protagonist quite a long time to reform following Operation Queenslayer (at least eight years or more), they may be prone to longer reformation times. Jack must pace around the mistle, dragging his fingers through his hair, constantly checking the perimeter for any trace of particle movement. The stress of waiting must tug at his insides, rot him from within. This line shows a great deal of vulnerability, baring more of himself than most seem to realize.

His constant observation of the Protagonist at Home Base serves to reassure him. They're alive, they're back, and they haven't been turned to ash. They haven't frenzied and transformed into a ravenous monstrosity. He won't have to put them down; Jack won't lose them again if he can help it. This peace of mind is one he hasn't allowed for himself in a long time. Even still, he cannot completely let his guard down. To do so would be fatal, and the Gaol of the Mists is unforgiving of even the slightest errors.

A Normal Ending run does not show how he feels about the Protagonist assuming control of Silva's relic, but Jack may be far more unhappy about it than he lets on. The status quo is maintained in the manner Silva intended, but at the cost of any valuable change. The imperfect system will never improve. And on top of it all, Jack loses the irreplaceable company of the Protagonist. He can visit them at any time, but he can't converse with them. They'll never again smile at him, swap stories with him, or dance by him when the jukebox plays. What is left? An absence? I can't see him being pleased about such a loss long-term. In the end, all the Normal Ending offers is a different facet of loss.

During the Good/Golden Ending... he still loses the Protagonist. Though they're alive -- happier, perhaps, in some aspects -- but they're going. Drifting, even, far beyond the limited tides the Gaol of the Mists offers. He may not ever see them again. Does it truly please him, even then? Perhaps during the (infuriatingly) vague timeskip, Jack finally takes the time to have a heart-to-heart discussion with the Protagonist. Maybe they both clear the air and settle their unresolved troubles, maybe it's something a little more than that. I can't picture Jack being completely content about the Protagonist's departure... treading out into the unknown where he can no longer look out for them.

There is much more to Jack than the game will touch upon... but the nuances are certainly there.

#code vein #jack rutherford #i just had to get this out of my system #it's been bouncing around my skull for weeks #go figure i only pick up on this like three years later #ok back to lurking #i caught jack watching from the objective board #see he's a sneaky boy #not sneaky enough for my detail-oriented eyes #character analysis #rife with every ounce of overthinking I can muster #i have a stronger bias towards a certain pairing admittedly #easy to tell i'm sure #if only code vein's plot wasn't all over the place #i'll be complaining about it forever at the rate i'm going #oh look another archival edit #don't like don't read

38 notes · View notes

earthcookies · 7 months

Text

ah yes...finding grey hairs on my head....

#gonna end up looking like black jack at this rate

3 notes · View notes

allyriadayne · 5 months

Note

I gotta ask favourite doctor who era, doctor and companion?

hii. favorite era, well, RTD's for sure. never liked moffat or chibnall and what things i liked were too far in between. rtd is silly and writes characters like actual human beings with lives outside of the doctor. and of course, actually did interesting things with the doctor too besides having "mad genius" as a character trait. also i can't think of anything as singularly groundbreaking as creating jack harkness in 2005.

favorite doctor hmmm okay yeah pretend you didn't read the last paragraph. ready? okay my favorite doctor is twelve. but hear me out: for a LONG time my fave was ten because david tennant is just that ridiculously charming 15+ years after playing the doctor, plus i liked his story and arc and i cried BUCKETS when he regenerated (still can't listen to vale decem), had the best companions too and being the last of an era made me appreciate him more when eleven did nothing for me. so twelve right? he was still a moffat doctor and eleven had left me such a sour taste because we get it moffat, he's you and you get all the girls and you are a genius and nobody gets you; but peter capaldi was SUCH a good fit. i loved how irascible and dismissive he was, his reserve and the oodles of charm capaldi was able to turn into the best performance on who of the last 5 years. i'm not going to say i liked most of his storylines because i didn't (so now that the master is a woman you make up a romance subplot? really?) but the ones were he and jenna coleman bounced off each other made them good at the very least. and again, cried buckets. "doctor, i let you go" made me reckon with myself like "huh so you like dw again i guess". i really don't know what moffat put in the twelfth doctor but that's the only thing i give him. my third favorite is nine :)

favorite companionnnnn ROSE! rose tyler, only girl in the whole universe!!! maybe it was because i was in A Place in my life where i didn't know how my life was supposed to go, or what i was supposed to do but rose tyler, shop girl, age 19, gave me a lot of comfort. she lived with her mum, worked in a shop and had a lame ass boyfriend who preferred to watch football during their dates, OF COURSE she would go with the doctor! and event though the show doesn't condemn her choice i love that it showed how the little people rose left behind felt. from an outside pov it was an irresponsible decision (and i see that both moffat and chibnall think so too bc they had their companions put rules and Only see the doctor on tuesdays or smth.... it's a time machine!!! live a little!!) but rose just wanted to live. be different, better, greater than herself. to see who she was outside of being jackie tyler and her dead dad's daughter, outside of the council state and her boring lower-class life. and the thing was, rose didn't change at all (the doctor did!! quite literally!!), she just became more and i love her so much for it.

thanks for the question.

#anonymous #ask #why is this so long 😭 it's just me saying i'm an old man fucker in 500 words #again...cried buckets during the doomsday episode. rose is not dead but it's like she is #runner up: clara. the only one brave enough to ask 'what if *i* was the doctor?' imagine her season in better hands. imagine.#just rating the companions why not: jack donna martha bill rory amy yaz ryan graham river #i wish i liked jodie's doctor better. my one regret. the only thing i could rescue from that series is sasha dhawan

2 notes · View notes