#sorry about the uh about uh uh the vibes

[fireproofheart]

"Little boy, you know it's hard to breathe The water here will drown you Running out of you like blood between your teeth"

[frobby]

welcome to venn diagram hell

[some-creep]

Your name is . . .

But history will remember you by your title.

The Grand Empress. And for your role bringing power to the Empire.

You come from a long line of gifted individuals. Those who not only perceive the song of life, but can manipulate it as well.

But you are exceptional even amongst the gifted.

It was you who discovered the gift of intergalactic travel. You who conceptualized the first human habitats on other worlds. Most importantly it was you who gave life to the machine servants, who without their skills, humanity might never have been able to achieve such greatness. They can perform any task a human can do, follow any order perfectly, all without needing to worry about occupational hazards.

After all, if a machine dies, no one has to mourn. The only loss is monetary. A loss of resources, perhaps even if time, but it is only a life fully artificial that can be created again and again.

They look like humans, walk like humans, and talk like them as well. But they are not. They are designed that way to be easy to work with, but every one is an identical copy to her peers.

There is no guilt in sending them into a hostile environment, knowing full well they will perish. The pain they feel is only simulated. It only reminds them to avoid damage wherever possible, and if it is not possible they are made to ignore it. Their deaths do not matter, but it's a waste if they behave recklessly.

You do not know why there are occasional variations between them. Sometimes it is beneficial, other times it is a detriment. You work to better streamline their creation to ensure every community that has machine servants knows exactly what to expect from them. Should one behave differently, it would not take long for humans to turn their back on the idea.

If one should behave differently, the others might learn they can do the same.

You colonize other planets. You take up residence on one that used to be exceptionally hostile to human life. The environmental hazards it once presented now seem trivial from your palace in the sky. In doing this, you prove you believe in your cause. You tell your followers this is the will of the universe. And you would know. You are in tune with it like no other.

Gradually others will follow to leave humanity’s cradle. Not just scientists and explorers, but regular, everyday people who hope to find a better life elsewhere. They believe in your teachings. Why shouldn't they? You've done nothing but prove yourself time and time again.

You hope things continue to flourish for humanity. You send scouts further and further out in the solar system. Collect data on each celestial body you can to determine its viability. You are a hero to humanity. No, you are their God. A creator of both land and life. Without you, they would be nothing.

But all is not well.

You hear distant murmurs of unrest. The people are growing unhappy with your rule. Ungrateful, you think, after all you've done for them. And you ask so little in return but obedience. They think you neglect far away settlements intentionally. They accuse you of hubris in your expansion. If you cannot care for the furthest reaches of space, you should not have claimed them as your own.

You ignore the rumors of revolution for now because you see no point in scaring everyone. It looks better if you focus on progress. You create new machine servants to fulfill different purposes, giving them more complex jobs requiring them to think and act totally autonomously. They make choices all with one goal in mind: furthering the Empire.

One day, for the first time, you see the word “Replika” written in a paper confiscated from a suspected revolutionary. The next you learn that several people have started referring to the machine servants as such.

A small group, who's origins you cannot be certain of, is attempting to recruit the machine servants to their cause. They call them Replikas and themselves Gestalts. They define themselves as existing because of one another, not in spite of. A Gestalt, to them, is simply a person who is not a Replika, and a Replika is simply a person who is not a Gestalt.

Some of the machine servants seem to take a liking to this idea. You have no choice but to take action.

For the first time it hurts you to see one of them die when you are forced to decommission your personal assistant who had been with you for years. Somehow she'd gotten wind of the cultural shift, and asked to be called a Replika instead. She thought it sounded nicer.

Against your better judgment, you have her buried in a floating garden behind the palace.

You did not intend for the machine servants to fight. They were not designed for this, but as unrest grows, they take up arms. The revolutionaries you had hoped to ignore have recruited many of your machine servants, promising them a fairer life. You doubt the validity of the promise.

One of your production factories is taken over. It began shortly after to produce so-called “Combat Replikas”. You don't understand how they managed to so effortlessly copy your methods. The Replikas they produce no longer resemble humans as closely as yours did but you learn they are copying the minds of humans to make them. The people chosen don't even need to be alive to be used as templates. This was never your method… The creatures walking around now make you feel sick. A twisted hybrid of man and machine in your mind, yet still a product of your life's work.

A war soon follows. Your armies aren't equipped to handle a threat like this. You know it is only a matter of time before they manage to overtake all of your settlements. Your most loyal will fight and die for you as martyrs. Fight in battles they never had a chance of surviving as a Replika guns them down with pinpoint accuracy. They were designed, by you, to be efficient.

You will not die at the hands of the enemy. You will not allow your body to be made an example of. You will go peacefully by your own doing, in your own bed. You trust in your beliefs that you will be safe after death. You will join the rest of the departed souls amongst the stars. You trust your remaining machine servants to know what to do with your body when they find it in the morning.

.

.

.

.

.

Your name is Falke.

You are a newly produced top of the line bioresonant Replika.

And you will be remembered for your role in the destruction of the Empire.

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Junicrane/Starstruck Ramble

I will not be brief, all under the cut

To clear some things right off the bat:

No corpse, no proof with Juniper. Obligatory this is set in a canon where he's alive and adjacent to the agency in some way.

Reggie & Juniper are just gay to me, but I don't mind any interpretation of their sexuality

The games are set in 1967/68 to me (based on a couple bits in game) which is before it was legal to be gay in America at least (1971), which is relevant to how I interpret canon as being somewhat grounded in reality, despite unrealistic elements.

This is just an insane amount of headcanons/elements of and AU all culminated into one post. I will talk about some headcanons like they're just facts because they are established in my head, and it saves me over explaining literally everything, however I will explain some parts a little bit for clarity.

Alright. Actual beginning of the ramble:

Juniper is a character to me who had gotten so lost in his job as an actor and a social presence that in the end his whole life revolved around that 'role'. Because of this, by the time he's put into the situation where he's around the Agency, he basically knows nothing about himself, though he doesn't realise at first. Furthermore, what little identity he had has changed in so many ways. He's no longer a beloved famous actor in the prominence of public light, he's legally dead and he tarnished his career just before he was supposed to die, with the bonus of that making him lose the majority of his estate. From that, he also has horrific facial scarring from the electrical burns from literally having his face fried. I believe a friend of mine made a post about this a while ago (I also think they were the first to think it up also), but, to me, Juniper has a permanent trimmer in his right arm (aka his dominant hand) from the electrical current and it is messing with his nervous system.

All in all, he's not doing great, but he's too proud to admit that he's not doing great, because if anything, what's left of his ego is all he has as a defense since he's deep in unfamiliar water.

Before ending up around the agency (I have multiple interpretations of this, so I'm just going to bring it up generally), he'd never actually seen Reggie, and his only impression of him is a single voicemail, which was his only reference he had to later impersonate him. Juniper probably has very little feelings other than the ones he projects onto him because of Phoenix and that, at the very least, he's physically attracted to Reggie to some degree (that's like the beginning of how everything else would tumble into place in this sort of interpretation at least).

And on Crane's side? His feelings towards Juniper are probably very intense and muddled. On the one hand, he adores musical theatre, and that's his now ex-favourite actor. The thought of just casually being around him blows the bit of fanboy in him away at first because THAT'S the GUY, plus the inklings of a celebrity crush which still poke at him. And then there's the rational side of him, which knows Juniper has committed absolute atrocities on the side of Zoraxis, and hates him for that. Then there's how much Juniper comes off as an asshole at first because he refuses to cooperate with anything the Agency tried to put in place. He finds Juniper endlessly frustrating, and yet he's stuck working with him since, afterall, he's the one who knows the Agency's history with Juniper the best. I imagine him acting a lot like how he does IEYTD 1 around Juniper.

At this point, I'm just describing the pitch for a romcom.

I think the start of their relationship with one another largely started with Juniper trying to wind Crane up. It was a way of getting his attention, and I don't think Juniper knows why he's so dead set on that at first, because I don't think he realises he has a crush on 'this grump' at first. (I think that's actually the fun part about these two, because it's almost like a role reversal of the celebrity crush dynamic. This ex-big name actor has a TERRIBLE crush on an average joe and it is KILLING HIM.) But of course the Agency keeps them together because Juniper is at least conversing with Crane, so it's a start.

Through one way or another, they actually get talking casually, at least mildly at first. It takes Juniper a long time to fully deconstruct the wall he's built, and the thing is, Crane isn't the one trying to deconstruct it, at least at first, because yeah, Juniper realises if he wants Reggie to actually like him in any way, he can't keep winding him up. So they talk. Small talk at first, something rhythmic and almost easy to keep to a script. And over time that turns into actual conversations. Genuine ones in which Reggie rips out the occasional one of his jokes which Juniper is endlessly endeared about. The way he smiles just before he makes them, like he wants to chuckle at what he's about to say before he says it. That's probably when Juniper realised that he does have some vague crush on him, and that it wasn't going away.

This is what kickstarts John I can't-buy-you-things-to-impress-you-so-acts-of-service-it-is Juniper to do little things for him. It mostly starts off as him trying to make Reggie his tea how he likes it. However, the nerve damage in his arm makes that hard, as the weight of the kettle and trying to pour is hard all of a sudden. And he refuses to accept that, so he tries for a very long while. Long enough that Crane would go to investigate what was going on. And when he does see Juniper leaning over a cup with the kettle as he uneasily tries to pour it, and when Crane asks Juniper responds so matter-of-fact that his intention is nothing but genuine. And it catches Reggie off guard because Juniper hadn't done anything like that up to that point, and his very apparent vulnerability is so clearly on show.

It shifts something between them.

From that point on, conversations are longer, more familiar. Both of their attitudes soften, and Reggie makes more jokes. Juniper learns how to better use his left hand while strengthening his right back to a point where it could be used again. Slowly, they're both spending time with one another not because they have to, but just because they can. Little bits at first, not too far outside what they already were doing, but those little bits turned into long bits to a point where the other person's company was genuinely desirable.

As time passes, Juniper probably realises that he doesn't genuinely know much about himself or what hobbies he's into, because he never really had the time when he got big, and his home life in his youth wasn't bad, but it wasn't picturesque. I think Reggie would pick up on it, and absolutely try to introduce him to some things he's into. Some things stick, other things don't (corn husking very much stays Reggie's passion, and John will go with him sometimes because it's him, but it's not something he strongly cares for). Crane introduces him to a lot of music, and it's something that becomes a staple between them, with tracks they listen to more than others (tragically, I know relatively little about 60s music so I couldn't really say what). Occasionally they dance, never anything intense, think slow dancing, but the closeness is nice.

Through all of it, Juniper is battling the worst crush of his life, and he can't stand it, because I think he struggles to read people since he doesn't have anything like a script or a director to refer back to, so he has no idea if Reggie likes him back or if he's just desperate for that to be true. I think because of that any sort of confession between them would be incredibly raw, not only because of the time they live in making it hard for them to be truthful about how they love, but because it's a complete show of Juniper who's worked to be this better person. I don't exactly know how that would go, mainly because I don't have one set version of their dynamic, this post is just a generalisation of main consistent points.

Reggie does like him back, because he's gotten used to Juniper being just this guy, not a figure in the public eye, not a Zoraxis lackey, and not any sort of Agency operative (despite being under their care to some degree). He's someone he genuinely cares for, because they've given one another the time of day to learn one another, and I think because Reggie was a field agent, he was a lot better at reading Juniper than Juniper was at reading him. Eventually Juniper's company becomes something he could see around him for the rest of his life, and I think he accepts that he likes Juniper a lot more gracefully.

I think any affection directed at Juniper would at first be met with him feeling a little muddled. Reggie was a very physically affectionate person when he could be, and sure the initial flirting with one another came with the occasional little touches, but everything now was so deeply intentional. I also don't think Juniper would almost ever get over the novelty of being able to kiss him, or many other gestures, because it made the fact that they were together so very real, and it was great. I do think it comes easier to Reggie, and it's a big way of showing how much he cares, so it's important for Juniper to try and show it back because he knows how much it means to the other.

I like the idea of them eventually living with one another, too. I think Juniper would have always had a quiet little daydream of sorts where he does just live a domestic quiet life, and he can with Reggie (well, as close as they can get between the Agency and Zoraxis always being at odds), and he loves that, and he loves him, and it's immense.

I think they cook for one another a lot, it helps Juniper work on his dexterity in a controlled environment, which means a lot because it's a huge point of insecurity (that and his scars). He does improve, and Crane is proud of that and shows it and it's great. I also think they'd probably cook together too, because they can deal with being in the kitchen together and they work well with one another. It's probably a good way for them to unwind because over time they can do it in relative silence.

As I said before, I also think music is a staple in their household, and that Reggie listens to things on vinyl almost all of the time because he likes the background noise. Sometimes Juniper will catch him chuntering along to the music which he finds endlessly endearing. I wouldn't put it past his dramatic ass to also join in to fluster Reggie, but I also don't think Reggie would mind that terribly because Juniper has listened to the music enough to know the lyrics, and that's huge to him.

I don't think they are without rough patches, no relationship is, but I think the good part about them is that they're willing to talk about it (... eventually). They're used to long conversations, and while they're often less fun conversations, they're needed and they know that, and it works out.

Alright. I think I'm done for now. I haven't mentioned everything, but this definitely got the worst of it out of my system. If you ever want to hear any specific thoughts my ask box is open but other than that, behold my general dynamic for these two which has been festering in my head for years. I think they're great

[braisedhoney]

When did your Undertale fixation first start? Like not this re-emergence but

the very beginning

oh fuck. you went right for the throat.

… ground zero, i think. i got into undertale a little bit before the first anniversary, which is… oh my god like seven-eight years ago now. forget sans and papyrus, my bones are creaking.

thing is right, i was always a little isolated from the rest of the fandom?? like i wasn’t able to make art i was proud of so i never posted anything, and all i really did was desperately consume comic dubs on youtube and do really shitty roleplays to try and fill the void. it was a different time (in old man voice). if i do even have any of those old drawings, they either died on a laptop drive somewhere or got lost in a box 😔 otherwise i’d share my shame.

(honestly that might have come a few years later though, those days are kind of a blur that i can’t remember.)

after that i fell outta it, but i don’t remember exactly when? i’d come and go, but that’s just how fandoms be sometimes. i think the first peak of my fandom involvement miiiight have been 2016?

man. now i’m nostalgic again, lmao.

[byanyan]

byan wearing cute lil pink ribbons in their hair

byan wearing cute lil pink ribbons in their hair while they shout the nastiest string of profanity and just fuckin deck some guy square in the face

[muirneach]

also when i was a kid basically the only tv i watched was the rick mercer report. so honestly it tracks that i would’ve become a tom scott fan

[donghoonie-3]

I love how I wanna be more dom with some people but with others it doesn't matter lmao

[b0nelessdoodles]

Could I request Masky/Tim giving mono a piggyback ride?

not me somehow forgetting that the request was for a piggyback ride until after I already doodled these oops fyuwgiahkfiwa I hope this cuts it!

[prestonmonterey]

i saw a honey bee

struggling to fly out of a shallow puddle on the sidewalk

i picked her up, on a leaf, and set her aside

i was trying to help

she crawled from the leaf onto my arm

i had a bee on my arm

for a moment

i was content

it felt nice to be appreciated

even by a small insect on the road

she stung my hand

and i was

perplexed

why

why would you hurt someone who tried so hard to protect you

why would you hurt yourself

[amatres]

know in my heart of hearts dawn is a glamour bard, she is only held back by the game's limitations

[add1ctedt0you]

"Ke... you just left like that. You have yet to call me... 'Father'! From now one, I won't have any family anymore. I regret it so much, son!"

[theinfinitedivides]

LAPoem's Mirotic cover................ Cassies wake up this is our Forestella moment

[waywardsalt]

Linebeck is the Maui to Link's Moana. Or more accurately the Peter B Parker to Link's Miles Morales. He could have the most interesting and heroic past, but he has the vibes of Just Some Guy. I'd kill for a game set after Phantom Hourglass (but before Spirit Tracks) where we learn more about Linebeck's history, and how it plays into his newfound parental relationship with Link

Linebeck being more or less Just Some Guy compared to Link being this weirdly competent pre-teen is a fun part of their dynamic a lot of the time. There is a lot of time between PH and ST and that obviously is an opportunity for more storytelling between those characters, plus considering that we have very limited information on Linebeck's history or... anything, exploring him further is always a lot of fun, and could make for an interesting subject for anything before or after PH (or during), and further going into his relationship and dynamic with Link has a lot of potential for... a lot of different stuff!

[nikatyler]

and the truth of the matter is i never let you go, let you go

[badolmen]

Hm. Maybe ending up on some list for that email.