#Child of Maligula AU

[tuxedokit]

how would dion react to finding out the curse isn't real in this alternate "early reveal" version? did she get swept away between the games in this version? does she get to participate in the devil's firehose in this version?

im wondering... does dion ever get to learn that? as much as they love their baby, in this high stress, isolated environment, dion falls apart much more often. is it worth the risk? is one child worth the rest of the family?

[anonymouspuzzler]

more cally o'pia stuff because it's my blog and i can do whatever i want forever. below the cut is a very rough broad written timeline of How Things Shake Out In Da AU. i hope you enjoy, very dry timeline notes

>20 years ago…

The Psychic 7 (namely Ford, Bob and Cassie) raid a hospital that is performing lobotomies on psychics. In the resulting scuffle, Cassie impulsively rescues-slash-kidnaps one of the patients, a 10-12 year old boy, Caligosto Loboto.

Ford and Otto eventually reach an arrangement with Cal’s birth parents, convincing them not to press charges and to release Cal into their custody. They’re secretly quite happy to be rid of their troublemaking psychic child and to not have to face the consequences of the botched lobotomy attempt.

Cal is raised collectively by the Psychic 7 (minus Lucrecia, who’s already left for Grulovia by the time he arrives), becoming a powerful psychic, voracious reader and writer, an amateur tinkerer, and very much a next-gen hippie weirdo. He’s particularly bonded with Cassie, who stepped into a maternal and teacher role for him early on, so she takes the role of his legal guardian on paper and he assumes her surname, becoming Caligosto “Cally” O’Pia.

20 years ago…

The Psychic 6 have their fateful battle with Maligula. Cal, by this point a teenager, remains behind to watch the Gulch and keep an eye on the then-ongoing construction of the modern Motherlobe. He ends up finding Ford, mind shattered, wandering through the woods one night. Cal is unaware of what happened to him but keeps watch over him until the rest of the Psychic 6 - minus Helmut, of course - return from Grulovia.

Helmut’s funeral is held. Cal is particularly affected, especially seeing Bob’s subsequent mourning and breakdown - Cal looked up to the two as a model relationship and they helped him realize his bisexuality, so the incident gives Cal significant hang-ups around emotional intimacy and relationships.

Cal becomes part of the first class of Psychonauts agent trainees after the Motherlobe’s opening, alongside Truman (who he sees as a sort of cousin-slash-honorary family member).

Between then and Psychonauts 1…

Cal graduates and becomes an official agent, though by this point he’s already started becoming disillusioned with the Psychonauts mission, due to the continued breakdown of his family in the Psychic 6. He deliberately puts on an ineffective, slacker persona to avoid being put on missions, despite being a powerful and capable psychic. By the time Cassie leaves the Motherlobe, his role is primarily head janitor and semi-official steward of the Gulch. He also writes for True Psychic Tales under a pseudonym.

As his disillusionment grows and he becomes less trusting of the other Psychonauts for help and answers, he adopts the Loboto persona to go undercover unofficially. He’s especially looking for more information on Grulovia and Maligula, since he suspects he hasn’t gotten the full story from his family or the official press.

Cal befriends Oleander after the latter becomes an agent, eventually progressing to a tumultuous on-off relationship, which becomes something of an open secret around the Motherlobe. Each of their unaddressed issues, combined with assuming the worst based on the other’s unaddressed issues, makes each successive breakup worse and sabotages their secretly-mutual hopes for a serious lasting relationship. The big breaking point occurs when Oleander is badly injured on a mission (losing his eye and gaining his facial scar), making Cal panic over the idea of losing him like Bob lost Helmut; he encourages Truman to reassign him to Whispering Rock, which Oleander finds out about and takes as a tacit rejection-slash-lack of belief in him due to his own issues.

Shortly before meeting Oleander, Cal also has an extended affair with a married woman that he breaks off when she objects to him also seeing other people on the side. He remains unaware that he fathered a child through this affair.

Just before Psychonauts 1…

Oleander’s father dies, which causes him to finally snap and start up the Brain Tanks Plot. Having learned about Cal’s moonlighting while they were dating, he blackmails “Loboto” into helping. Cal agrees so he can secretly sabotage the project from the inside and attempt to keep Oleander safe.

Around the same time, Cal also gets a lead about the Delugianaries and infiltrates them as "Loboto". He begins to learn more about Maligula’s history with the royal family and the movement to reinstate the lost prince.

Psychonauts 1…

"Loboto" interferes as best he can with the Brain Tanks Plot without revealing his true identity to the other inmates, nor making it obvious to Oleander what he’s doing. He leaves massive openings on the psychic radio communications in hopes someone at Whispering Rock will catch them, stations Sheegor and Crispin to intentionally create weak points for an intruder, leaves the kidnapped brains out in the open to be recovered, and intentionally stalls debraining Lilli (to whom he’s an honorary uncle as Cal).

When Raz finally gets to the tower, Cal secretly trails him to make sure Raz can get to the top safely and unopposed. Once he does, Cal bails to return to the Rhombus of Ruin and continue his undercover work. Unfortunately, his boss there has figured out his true identity as Cally O’Pia, and blackmails him into kidnapping Truman by threatening his family (namely Cassie, Oleander and Lilli).

Rhombus of Ruin…

“Loboto” kidnaps Truman, and much like with the brain tanks, does everything he can to sabotage the plot without getting caught. This mostly entails poorly packaging Gristol’s brainless body, failing to dispose of the brain case, and capturing the Psychonauts after they crash rather than leave them to drown. Recognizing Raz and realizing he can excuse not “knowing” to put him under high-security restrictions the same as the other agents, he deliberately leaves Raz the means to navigate the facility via clairvoyance.

Raz learns of “Loboto’s” true identity from Oleander after rescuing him, and ends up using Oleander’s PSI-Portal to enter Cal’s mind. There, he sees the projected "Loboto" persona and meets Cal himself, who plots with him how to fake capturing “Loboto” and escaping in order to rescue Truman without giving away his betrayal. He will not give Raz information on his employers, however, still fearing for the others’ safety.

The Rhombus’ self-destruct auto-engages when “Truman” is released, to Cal’s horror. However, Raz and the agents are able to escape with their “captive”, though he still refuses to talk about his employers.

Psychonauts 2…

Sasha attempts to use a psychic construct to get the information out of Cal. It goes very, very poorly. However, Raz does manage to learn more about Cal’s backstory and get a glimpse of his boss and Maligula.

Sasha continues to attempt to interrogate Cal through the first part of the story, to no avail. After the Lady Lucktopus heist, Sasha’s forced to release him, and he returns to monitoring the Forgetful Forest. He drives away the psychic bees when Raz disturbs them, and Raz can talk to him about the undercover work as “Loboto”, his upbringing with the Psychic 6, and his apparent complicated relationship with Oleander. (There’s an optional sidequest where Raz can go back and forth between Cal and Oleander uncovering and pointing out their misinterpretations of each other, eventually convincing them to talk things out post-game.)

Post-reconstructing Ford, Cal discovers the three in the Gulch and is looped in by Raz. Cal still can’t help directly out of fear of his family being targeted, but gives Raz some tips for trying to talk to Cassie and Bob, and moves to the entrance of the Gulch to keep watch and feign ignorance of Raz, Ford, and Lucy’s presence. Raz can go back to him after helping either Cassie and/or Bob, and Cal is grateful for their apparent steps towards recovery, and baffled yet amazed by Compton and “Nick’s” arrival (with a hint that he already knows what’s up with the brainless Nick).

While Raz and company are doing final preparations for the Astralathe, Cal is distracted by Augustus trying to make it through the Gulch (and experiencing distress due to his repressed familiarity with it), allowing Norma to sneak by and witness the Astralathe activating. She comes back with Truman, and Cal is forced to let them by, knowing Truman is actually Gristol. He also witnesses Lilli tailing them and, realizing everyone is at risk no matter what and he has nothing left to lose, Cal instructs Lilli to distract “Truman” as long as she can and get out of dodge with Raz if the worst happens.

Cal runs back to the Motherlobe to search for the brain case just as Sasha, Milla, Hollis and Oleander are about to leave in pursuit of the mole. Cal begs Oleander to help him and he reluctantly agrees. The two find the case hidden in the mailroom and rush out to deliver it just as Maligula’s storm is released; they end up finding and protecting Lilli during the storm, and turn up just after she reunites with Raz to help with re-braining Truman.

In the post-game, if Raz either already completed or completes the sidequest with Cal and Oleander, they will be found together in the Gulch cleaning up around the Heptadome, and will confirm they’re talking things out. Cal will thank Raz with a signed copy of True Psychic Tales, though Raz doesn’t quite make the connection between Cal and the author. Cal also reveals Truman’s punished him for the kidnapping and undercover work by putting Cal back on the active agent duty he’s worked to avoid, intending for “Loboto” to start doing officially-sanctioned undercover work to clean up the remaining Deluginaries.

[theyaremanycolours]

I'm now thinking about it, so I wanna talk about.

So, the Cloneigula AU's main premise is that a group of Delugionists (Separate from Gristol) decide to try and revive Maligula by compiling a bunch of memories and ideas about her to create the basis of her personality, and then installing that into a pre-chosen body, a relative of hers that showed an equal amount of hydrokinetic ability.

They hire one Doctor Loboto, handing him a prepayment, a device, and the name of the target.

Loboto accepts the case, partially because they're paying him for a rather simple job that he could reasonably do, even with two big jobs at the moment - just use the doohicky on the target!

And just by luck, only a few days later in the Rhombus of Ruin he's got them! He straps them down in his dentist chair while he's working on his other client, but quickly pops back in to do the job.

The kid struggled in their restraints, but Loboto was used to that, and so he took the kid's helmet off, aimed the little gun thing to their head and with a flash and a small zap he'd gotten the job done... whatever it was, he hadn't really asked and only thought to question it after the kid slumped over, and by that point he was interrupted by something hitting the back of his head

Raz's head hurt so bad he could barely process what just happened before he conked out, only waking up once they were on the jet, Sasha running smelling salts under his nose.

He had a minor headache, but was otherwise fine, and after a bit he felt much better.

Except. As he woke up, he was sure he heard someone laughing?

Probably was nothing, though Sasha wanted to check him after they landed

(In the back of his head, a Deluge began to solidify her mind from the scraps of memories and ideas she was made of, annoyed at being dismissed so easily- No matter. She'd just make herself known later, with a little more preparation. This child would respect her, as all things should.)

((A few days later, those two would be reflecting on all this, eating an ice cream topped with as many toppings as possible on the self proclaimed water spirit's insistence, their Nona having bothered Ford into paying for her grandchildren's dessert.))

[aquato-family-circus]

sburb au ideas

lunar sway/carapacian id is signified by text colors

a1 are ford, compton, cassie, bob, helmut, otto, and theodore malik as trolls

a2 are norma, sam, adam, lizzie, morris, gisu, and gristol

neither of the troll groups like the maliks who only exist to screw them over

a1 ends up as a null session due to maligula coming in from the future and destroying the battlefield in addition to rendering helmut heroically dead

a2 trolls end up being denied entry to universe b because of a session glitch like the alternian trolls in homestuck canon, except for gristol, who was eager enough to go through first before norma could officially open the door, and goes a fair time ahead due to having stolen his time player's time device beforehand [whichever one is the time player]

b1 session consists of raz, dogen, lili and dart

b2 consists of lucy, cal, truman and someone else that i got nothing for *ascii shrug*

lucy's beta self is an ecto-child alongside raz however bullshit stated below renders her unavailable as raz's guardian while augustus [born normally] takes the role

beta lucretia is manipulated by gristol to cause some inter-temporal bullshit as maligula

sasha, morceau, milla and hollis are the b1 exiles

why is lucy seperated from her other friends :( i don't like the idea of the psychic 7 having to deal with theodore's bullshit. you can totally keep that as your take on the au but for it's kind of hard for me to follow also because i dont think it ads anything to single lucy out like that

if i were to make my own spin on a sburb au I would probably consolidate it all so that its like:

the psychic 7 are the alpha session, they have to scratch it because something went horribly wrong with lucy, and then the interns + raz are the beta session with a majority of the other adult characters having minor rolls

alternatively

if you want raz to be in a session with lili, dogen, and dart. it could be interesting if the opposite party to them is like. donatella, truman, whoever compton's child is, and then like... idk who dart's counterpart is, but it could be loboto? based on some people theorizing that dart is loboto's kid since his brain wasnt stolen. because we've SEEN augustus' character develop we need to shine a flashlight on the other parents .

to acknowledge the lunar sways tho, I like the vibes of those picks! cassie and adam both having split lunar sway like sollux did is interesting, I totally get it for cassie and then adam sort of makes sense since ppl tend to connect him with cassie when drawing parallels between the p7 and interns. also bob and helmut being opposite moons is cute also :-)

[doctor-loboto]

so I’ve been thinking about psychonauts 2 re:ageswap au while prepping thanksgiving dinner and have finally begun to work out the logistics in a way that makes me happy; gristol malik/nick johnsmith is your basic spoiled child antagonist trope, he’s a rich kid around kid!loboto’s age who is also interning with the psychonauts as a minor, although he has little to no psychic abilities and is only there to “gain experience”. cal is immediately resentful of him, particularly because his parents frequently send him notes and care packages and seemingly support him emotionally, whereas the lobotos had to be heavily persuaded and almost forced by the government to let cal attend camp.

so of course caligosto is vindicated when he and his friend group uncover that gristol’s parents are trying to use him as a spy! but I think as time goes on he starts to realize that gristol’s relationship with his parents isn’t as good as it seems from the outside, and gradually begins to have more sympathy from him, eventually cooperating with him towards the finale.

(I haven’t totally worked out maligula as a factor but I think having lucrecia be a young adult/teen estranged loboto relative who cal ends up talking to and realizing that there are lots of psychics in his family that the more traditional side cut off and kind of gaining an aunt/sister figure in the process would be cool and fit with the rest of the stuff going on. also maybe she was a “failure” of the intern program* and now some people are questioning cal being there but no one will tell him why.)

[*counselor lili being like “not to be overly morbid, but it makes sense considering that our youth outreach clinic was at one time somewhat… outdated.”]

[britishsass]

💙?

💙 song(s) inspiration?

Ohohoh, you are my favorite sort of person... The sort who actually asks things I have answers to /lh

I've got quite a few WIPs, but let's just list 'em.

Pretend This is a Cool Title: None, tbh-- It's mostly just vibes. It's also for an au only like 5 people care about, including me.

Prof Rattmann Has a Breakdown: Burn It Down by Daughter.

Death of a Hero: Death of a Hero by Alec Benjamin.

Cursed AU: OBEY by CrusherP, Ready as I'll Ever Be from Tangled: The Series, and probably at least a bit of Viva La Vida by Coldplay.

Back to the Start: None-- It's inspired more by an episode of Doctor Who mixed with my own thoughts. Even so, I'm partially thinking of Welcome to the Rock from Come From Away.

Time Lord Ford: None-- this one's a whole bunch of ideas thrown together, with mostly a feeling of "Let's go on an adventure Oh God These People are Crazy"

Otto's Ordeal: That one has a whole playlist! But to be honest, Defrag by Shadrow, Brass Goggles by Steam Powered Giraffe, and Surface Pressure from Encanto are the main vibes here out of the whole playlist.

Brain in the Heptadome: The Scientist by Coldplay is a vibe, but the real song that inspired it? Folding Chair by Regina Spektor is one of the main ones... Though I think the true inspiration is The Call by Regina Spektor. If you pay attention to the chapter titles, each one is a lyric from one of her songs. There is a theme there for which ones I chose as well. ;)

Finally, for one I've teased but never said...

After the Flood: Well, the true inspiration is actually.... RUINous by Go! Child. The first scene imagined was of Ford standing in front of Maligula, surrounded by bodies, to the outro: "No man can stop this wave // No beast is standing in my way // No one below or in the sky // Will be the one who's left alive." Those lines reminded me of Otto, Compton, Bob, and Cassie in order-- Otto's manmade machinery, Compton's beasts, Bob's vines underground, and Cassie's bees in the air. However, upon further thought, I came up with another thought: What if that was what was thought to have happened, and there was still more to the story? From there, the plot of After the Flood was begun-- The four surviving but not knowing who they were, but being assumed dead.

Thanks for the question, anon! I had a great time answering it ^_^ If you want to ask any more of those wip ask questions, go ahead!

[lorablackmane]

I talked about this on an ask someone sent @a-great-big-universe but this is my concept for an AU where at a young age Gristol kidnapped Raz due to his hydrokinesis, leading to Frazie eventually running away like her brother did in the 1st game due to an... addition to the pamphlet (a note stating the Psychonauts had machines and powers that could track down psychics, giving her hope that they could help find him again).

The full story I currently have for this AU is under the cut bc I got... rlly chatty in the server I was in when I first thought of it and it has huge spoilers y’know? Feel free to send any asks u want about the AU if ur interested!

Gristol, in his search for Maligula discovers the Aquatos and watches them after noticing the water move unnaturally towards their young son Razputin. After awhile he incorrectly assumes Raz is the only psychic in the family and after seeing the phenomenon again kidnaps him because he believes he'd be useful to his cause. After all, a hydrokinitic child would be the perfect way to get her attention - a free protege for Maligula to train as a fellow "Protector of Grulovia."

He completely convinces Raz that he saved him, that his parents had seen him use his powers and if Gristol hadn't swept him away he'd be dead by now, and that Raz is a descendant of the War Hero Maligula who was unrightfully attacked by Psychonauts. At 1st Raz of course doesn't want to believe any of this, but Gristol eventually convinces him which in turn makes him become terrified of the Psychonauts. One of the few times he objects to Gristol’s plans is when he decides to infiltrate them, to which he gets hurt for voicing his objections. Gristol apologizes of course in a backhanded way, telling him it was needed and through his infiltration Raz could become as strong as Maligula and prove himself (by bringing him pamphlets he steals from their headquarters to give to Raz so he can learn powers from them and self study).

The team 1st catches wind of Raz through the mental simulation Sasha makes, with Lili and Frazie remarking that they couldn't see the boss but there was a child behind him, wearing a fur cap (like the 1 Lucrecia was wearing in Gristols vaults). When they ask about the kid Loboto is surprisingly chatty about him... and what Gristol had him do to the kid.

This Raz's mental walls aren't as strong as canon Raz's, but as we know from the elevator keeper in the 1st Psychonauts Loboto can do... something to prevent the psi-doors Psychonauts use to work on people. Gristol had him do this augmentation to Raz, and a few others he can't remember but made the kid's mind almost as hard to get to as loboto's (and resulting in a stapled scar that runs through the center of the back of his head. You can't see it though unless you pick him up with telekinesis, which results in his hat bouncing off just a bit before he fixes it)

They find Gristol’s body thanks to the lady who you meet in the mailroom the 1st time you go down there, who frantically comes in to tell Sasha Nick's body just fell out of a box. The adults are the only ones who go on the mission due to Raz not messing with Hollis' mind, and due to that Raz notices them fast enough to burn all the evidence. He's not fast enough to escape though, resulting in his capture.

His mind  looks like the Lady Luctopus casino, with shadows running around based on the time on a big, grand and ornate egg shaped clock. There's dioramas where the casino tables would be, smaller versions of the ride in Gristol’s mind. Cheerful music plays through the speakers, but is muffled just enough so if there’s words you can’t make them out. Beyond the casino, past the ocean that surrounds it, you can just make out... a small circus. Raz has 2 memory vaults - 1 for his "rescue" and 1 for what Loboto did to him. 

Trying to walk past the shadows is difficult, as the shadows are seemingly made of sticky ink, grabbing and pulling anyone who gets too close into them - taking a bit of health when it happens. To finish the level you have to get passed them by messing with the clock to make them move in different ways so you can continue to progress and gain access to Gristol’s room, and then you end up seeing what living with him was like.

[daydreaming-jessi]

Wonderful psychonauts au! Nice and wholesome. Do Agustus and Donnatella meet? If they do, how?

Well thank you, and they do, I’m glad you asked!

So this is a bit of a long story, BUT, the whole psychonauts becoming a proper government funded organization still happens. Otto still works to have his research funded, and the psychic six are still lauded as heroes that took down Maligula, and so the American government sees potential, and starts interviewing them to see if the psychonauts is a worthy cause to start giving grants to.

The problem in this au is not that two friends are dead and one had his mind shattered while the another is lost in inconsolable grief and the friend group is basically destroyed, it’s that the psychic six are harboring a war criminal. Lucy is supposed to be dead, and they can’t have a random lady that was supposedly not a member of the original psychic seven wandering around with her kid, that’s gonna raise a lot of questions, and they don’t want those questions. So things are stressful, and Helmut is a terrible liar, and Compton is getting migraines from stress, and Cassie and Otto are arguing even more now about the effects they’re having on the gulch, Ford is stress working so many different jobs around the gulch and Otto is the only one of them going to therapy for all this, and Lucy feels awful causing such distress to her dear friends. So she makes a decision.

While the psychonauts get their footing, Lucy and Augustus are gonna head out on the road for a bit, join some circuses, dip their feet back into the entertainment ring again. Augustus misses the tumbling acrobat life, and Lucy misses her roots as well, so it works out perfect! The others don’t like it that much,especially Ford, they don’t want to chase Lucy and Augustus from their new home, and they’d be so far away what if they need the others, but the two don’t mind, this is the perfect time to do some proper aunt and nephew bonding. Lucy promises to write and call so Gussy can talk to his beloved aunt and uncles that are too busy with work to come, as well as promising to come visit for holidays.

The two head out and everyone else gets to work, and the Mother Lobe is opened. Bob and Helmut are sent their psychic nephew Truman to set him up with the psychic intern program, Ford starts a camp for young psychic cadets at Whispering Rocks, and Otto gains a new inquisitive intern called Sasha Nein, and every night the psychic six gather round for their daily check in with Augustus and Lucy, who are enjoying their time in the big top, Augustus is quite the skilled acrobat and his psychic powers make the shows all the more dazzling, and Lucy is making a pretty penny repairing clothes and tents. And it seems Augustus has made a new friend, how nice!

Soon all the suits clear out from underfoot, and it’s safe for Lucy and Gussy to come home, and so they do, but it seems they’ve brought along a new member of their family, one fiery, stubborn as hell acrobat Donatella. She isn’t psychic like everyone else, but it’s clear she and Augustus are head over heels for each other, and Lucy refuses to leave a child all on her own without some sort of place to call home. Dona already knows the truth about Lucy, she’d been made aware when she and Augustus were considering dating, and she will skin anyone that dares try to hurt this poor woman that’s been through enough already. She likes the psychic six, they don’t underestimate her like other adults do, but she does like giving Ford a hard time as Augustus does, it makes Lucy laugh.

The kids still crave the thrill of being acrobats, though, so Augustus and Donatella decide to head out on their own for a while, leave the nest properly and all that jazz. The psychic seven are scared to let their little Gussy go, and they were just getting to know Dona, but they’re growing up, and Augustus has learned all he could from them. It’s what every kid does, and they’ll be back soon, they promise! And they’ll call and write, and visit on holidays like before.

And they do come back eventually, when it’s time to plan Augustus’ and Donatella’s wedding and reveal that the couple are actually about to be parents :D cue Lucy hollering in Grulovian about how they are only eighteen and whatever happened to all that talk of protection we gave you young man?!?! Only Ford and his charm can save Augustus from his aunt’s wrath

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 01: A little out of the ordinary

Adverse effects + a little bit of "this wasn't supposed to happen"

2638 Words; Pooter Pile AU

TW for death, unethical experimentation, child abuse

AO3 ver

Aranka considered her latest test results with a scowl.

RA2 shifted guiltily, wringing its hands and hunching its shoulders under her scrutiny. It didn’t let up its telekinetic hold on RA1’s hand, nor did it seem particularly willing to start up the amplifier again.

RA1 stood dripping in a small puddle in the center of the testing range, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. The trough it had been drawing water from was overturned, the puddle around it still trickling down the drains at the low points of the floor. Water droplets flowed languidly down the glass separating Aranka and RA2 from the testing range.

This test had been going so well, too.

But, as was starting to prove the norm, the readouts were rendered completely useless because something simply refused to function within the parameters.

That something being the hydrokinetic clone standing in the testing range, shoulders hunched and hands shaking.

With a sigh, Aranka set the readouts down, flicking the switch for the microphone.

RA1 flinched at the speakers turning on, turning wide eyes towards the window.

“Clean up the testing range.” Aranka ordered, just barely keeping the exasperation from her voice. “Come join me and Subject 2 in my office when you’re done.” She glanced at RA2, then back through the glass. “Don’t dawdle.”

With that, she flicked off the microphone and left, not looking to see whether RA1 was using telekinesis or hydrokinesis to replace the knocked over water trough.

She didn’t need to look to know that it wouldn’t be the latter.

+=+=+=+=+

Sometimes, Aranka wondered if she made the right choices with her projects.

She had her own funding from past projects, so she wasn’t bothered by constraints set by pushy supporters or cowardly investors. The freedom was refreshing; she could truly push the boundaries of psychic ability with her methods this way, with nobody to slow her down with their objections or “concerns.”

But as Aranka looked over her two subjects, standing shoulder-to-shoulder before her, she couldn’t help the disappointment pursing her lips and furrowing her brow.

This whole project had seemed so promising. Hydrokinetics weren’t all that special, everything considered—but less-than-recent historical events had certainly made them… rarer, for lack of a better term. Even though a shared power was hardly a connection, Maligula had forever altered the public perception of hydrokinesis. A shame, really, given just how powerful water could be in the right hands.

So for her little detector to identify a hydrokinetic in the crowd at a circus—well, who was Aranka to pass up an opportunity?

That it was a child gave her pause.

But only pause. It wasn’t as though Aranka would actually be hurting the boy—getting the sample would hurt, yes, but the wonderful thing about working with clones was that it meant the original would be left alone entirely. So really, taking a blood sample from a child was hardly unethical. And with hydrokinesis as a skill becoming less and less explored, could you really blame Aranka for her choices?

The unfortunate thing about working with clones, however—assuming the clones were psychic—was that they shared a headspace with each other and the original. This was occasionally a boon; it was why she created clones in pairs.

Now, though?

How was RA1 supposed to test the limits of its ability if it was constantly bogged down by the original’s aquaphobia?

Every test. Every single test ended up unusable because the psychic energy went haywire and RA1 nearly drowned itself, or it simply froze up and refused to work with the water entirely.

RA2 was supposed to exist to prevent this—was supposed to act as a tether for RA1 to ground itself. But the fear bleeding in from the original was simply too strong, infecting every clone Aranka could make.

RA1’s shoulders were hunched, its hands clasped together nervously. Hm. Aranka would have to make a note to include proper posture in future lessons. RA2 was staring at her blankly, nails digging into its palms.

Aranka reached out a hand, a pulse of telekinesis drawing pen and clipboard to her. “That performance was abysmal.” She commented, tapping the cap of her pen against the clipboard. “Can you tell me why that is?”

RA1 shifted nervously. “I, uh, I lost control?”

Aranka raised an eyebrow.

RA1 stood straighter. “I lost control during a simple exercise.” After a moment’s thought it added, “Ma’am.”

RA2 frowned, glancing at RA1.

“I see.” Aranka said, voice not quite as even as she wanted it. “And why did you lose control again?” She tapped her pen a little faster.

RA2 was watching the steady tap-tap-tap of her pen with narrowed eyes. Aranka ignored the silent challenge—her subjects knew better than to mess with her things.

RA1 winced. “I got scared, ma’am.”

Aranka resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. The same answers as always, because it was the same problem every time.

She wasn’t making any progress like this. Patience wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

It was time to take some action.

“Right.” Aranka stood up from her chair, letting go of her pen and clipboard so they could float beside her. She stalked over to the shelf and pulled out a puzzle book.

“Go occupy yourselves with this for the next hour.” She handed the book in the clones’ general direction, letting go once they had it with telekinesis. “I have some business to attend to.” She turned back towards her desk, booting up her computer.

The door clicked open, then shut as RA1 and RA2 left the lab.

Aranka didn’t watch them leave.

+=+=+=+=+

One couldn’t focus on the puzzle book. He could feel his brother’s mental nudges, tugging him back towards the word searches like the moon tugging at the waves, but One kept drifting off anyway.

(Anxiety rolled through him, pounding at his chest like waves against the shore. He’d never seen Ms. Naumann so disappointed before.

He’d never felt so unsteady before.)

The effects of the amplifier had yet to wear off, expanding One’s abilities beyond his normal level. Ms. Naumann felt that such enhancement was vital to determining the limits of hydrokinesis; she always mentioned how his base level had yet to reach its peak due to his age.

One hated it. It made him hyper aware of all the water in the room, of the water running through the pipes in the walls. Made him hyper aware of the water in his and Two’s bodies, flowing through their bloodstream and flesh. Made him hyper aware of their heartbeats; his pounding away like crashing waves while Two’s was a steady rush of tides.

There was so much water here in this room. Just one little tug, and One could—

Don’t think about that. Don’t.

Two’s mental nudges had slowed; he was now doing the puzzles pretty much on his own.

One pushed himself up off his stomach, sitting upright with his knees pulled against his chest.

There was so much water. Too much. It was so loud in his psychic senses, rushing and flowing and roaring in his ears. It was there and it was all calling to him, pushing and pulling against his mind.

(Memories of cold hands grasping tightly. Memories of being yanked under, water muffling his screams as he fought and struggled for air.

Memories that weren’t One’s, and never would be, but were etched into his mind all the same.)

One couldn’t—he couldn’t trust the water. He knew that if he gave in, if he reached out and matched the push and pull, control would slip from his fingers too fast to stop.

(Memories of knocking over countless water troughs. Memories of too much water pushing and pulling him too fast too hard for him to stop, his reach extending too far too far until it hit at the water-filled bodies outside the testing range—

Those memories were One’s, at least. Not that that made them any less unpleasant.)

Ms. Naumann said that One’s base level hydrokinesis was already above the original’s.

(So many hands rising from the trough, coalescing together into one giant hand that One needed to burst before it could hurt him.)

Ms. Naumann said that, due to his age, One wasn’t even at his peak yet.

(The original didn’t even know he was hydrokinetic, his mind closed to the constant presence of water around him.)

Ms. Naumann said that One would only get more powerful from here.

(The constant push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push—)

Ms. Naumann said it was imperative that One maintain control.

(He couldn’t control it. Not when fear was always trickling in the back of his mind, weakening his grip like water eroding the shore.)

Ms. Naumann said a lot of things, really.

(Water flowing through his own body, water that he could force to the surface, ripping and shredding bones and flesh to bring it out.

Water flowing through every body.)

None of them were helpful.

(She kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and not once did she give. Not once did she pull One back—she just kept pushing pushing pushing him further forwards.

Two pulled. Two always pulled, guiding One back from the precipice where his fears threatened to drown him.

But Two never pushed.)

Two pressed himself against One, startling One out of his thoughts.

“Hey,” Two cautioned, his hand finding One’s and grasping it, “Don’t think like that.”

One pushed his own weight against his brother’s. “It hurts.” He whispered. His anxiety crashed against Two’s mind like waves against a cliffside, pounding relentlessly.

Two kept rubbing his thumb over One’s knuckles. The puzzle book sat abandoned to his side. “I know.” He replied.

“I know.”

+=+=+=+=+

Exposure therapy had been going well.

RA1 could stand in waist-deep water with little issue, and RA2 could venture a few inches deeper, but attempts to induce play—to give the clones a positive association with water, so as to outweigh the negative association permeating into the shared headspace from the original—had been for naught.

Exposure therapy had been going well.

Had been.

RA1 froze up the moment the water got deeper than his knees. RA2 refused to go where RA1 wouldn’t follow.

At this rate, they’d be outstripped by the new set, who had been out of the vials barely two months at this point.

RA3 had been designed with the aquaphobia in mind; its mental shielding was the best of the clones. RA4 was ever the helpful assistant. Together, the two of them were starting to outstrip RA1 and RA2’s usefulness—though they could not go further into water than waist-deep.

Which brought to mind a new fear: RA3’s shielding might not be enough. It couldn’t block out the shared headspace entirely, and was thus plagued by the same aquaphobia all the clones shared with the original.

This wasn’t a problem that could really be solved by mental shielding, Aranka hated to admit. This was a problem that needed to be addressed at the source—a problem that required her to get her hands on the original.

Which was…

Aranka frowned. The original was a child.

(The clones were also, technically, children, but Aranka only considered that so far as it would affect her expectations of them. She couldn’t demand more of them than they could give; as children, they could not give quite as much as an adult.

But that was as far as Aranka was willing to acknowledge that. Age was a murky subject matter when it came to clones, after all.)

It wouldn’t be hard, exactly, to subdue and capture a child. But other people tended to frown upon the forceful recruitment of minors, and Aranka didn’t exactly fancy becoming the quarry of a manhunt.

She’d have to shelve that idea for now, then. Tracking down the original could come later.

RA1 was becoming unusable. RA2 might still have some use as a tether, but it had become less and less obedient as of late; its loyalty to RA1 had both uses and drawbacks.

With a sigh, Aranka flipped the switch for the dorm intercoms.

It was time to end this.

“Subjects 1 and 2, please report to Lab 2B. I repeat, Subjects 1 and 2, please report to Lab 2B.”

+=+=+=+=+

Lab 2B was the smallest lab in Aranka’s private facility. Most of the space in the room was taken up by a large glass cylinder, and what little space remained was half occupied by a simple control panel, a cabinet, and the empty space needed for the door to work.

It was not a space the clones had been allowed into, before. It was not a space that RA3 and RA4 were allowed into, still.

Aranka had never really explained the room’s purpose to any of the subjects before. She didn’t need to; it wasn’t a room that clones were meant to frequent.

The door clicked open, and RA1 and RA2 stepped in, apprehensive. Aranka gestured for them to come all the way in; the door wouldn’t close if they were too close to it.

The room, it turned out, was too small for them not to be too close to it.

Fine. RA3 and RA4 would be in the playroom at this hour. They’d get the psychic feedback, but that wasn’t a concern.

RA2 stared at Aranka with something she might have described as suspicion, if she cared enough to classify it. She felt its presence brush against her mind, not quite discreet, but not too obtrusive.

Slowly, understanding dawned on its face. It grabbed RA1’s hand tightly, and RA1 flinched as understanding dawned on it, too.

“You have outlived your usefulness.” Aranka explained, the cylinder opening with a press of a button. “I will make this quick and painless.”

“Please,” RA1 babbled, “We’ve done everything you asked of us—”

“That you have.” Aranka nodded, herding them into the cylinder with a hand on their backs. “You did very well.” She could almost say she was proud of them.

With a shove, she guided the clones into the cylinder, the glass closing behind them. “This is not a punishment,” she said, her voice as warm as she could make it. “This is just how things are.”

Small hands pressed up against the glass, two pairs of wide green eyes staring at her through it. A vent at the top opened, sedative gas pouring out.

Aranka was not lying, when she said she would make it painless.

RA1 trembled, then—

It screamed. “All you ever did was push and push and push!” It slapped its hand against the glass, frustration palpable even to Aranka. “We never asked to be made!”

Aranka felt her chest seize, her arms stilling against her sides with a wrenching push-pull sensation.

RA1’s shoulders slumped. It snarled, childish rage and upset thick in every word. “I hate this place!” Tears broke away from its face to float in a circle around it, “And I hate you!”

Aranka was suddenly very aware of how much water was in the human body. She grunted, trying to regain enough control to access the panel. If she could just—

Several things happened at once.

RA2 tackled RA1, knocking them both to the floor.

Aranka stumbled as movement returned to her, catching herself on the edge of the control panel.

Something started up with a whirr, causing Aranka to glance at the panel.

Ah. She hadn’t caught herself on the edge, not entirely—the side of her hand was holding down one of the buttons.

Pushing herself back up to standing, Aranka stepped back from the cylinder. Neither clone was fully unconscious, but—Aranka managed to ignore their screams.

She’d said she’d make it quick and painless.

Well. She’d certainly made it quick.

[azuresanset]

Hi so about the marona-soul AU? How do you think raz will come across marona? Will she help with something or will raz just stumble across her in the water (as a reflection or in full water form) I like the idea that Malik gets out of the isolation chamber but well it’s surrounded by water I don’t think he’s going to get far

It's been a while since I've been back to my AU. The idea of Malik - yes, if he's ever lucky enough to get out of psi-prison, I think he'll ask for it back right away - Marona will be happy to bathe him)))

On how and where Razputin meets his grandmother, I haven't really decided yet. The best option in my opinion is a gradual introduction of grandchild and grandmother. It will take time for Marona to adapt (after a long time under the power of "Maligula" (not Nona herself, but her subconscious, which protects her from grief) and Gzar's "hypnosis") and accept her position. For now she will only look around and then suddenly discover the descendants of the grulovians and her son. And then there's Raz. Since the boy has had the most exposure to water and Maligula and the like, he has a stronger sense of it all, which the grandmother takes advantage of.

First, as I think, hand of Galochio after defeating Maligula started appearing in the boy's dreams. He is not very happy about this, but as the "cursed" hand from the water is not trying to drown him in his dreams and generally does not do anything aggressive to the boy, he decides not to tell anyone, only asks Nona with hints about her condition and nightmares.

Secondly, as can be seen from the game, the water hand no drowns Raz, but helps him out of the water. Perhaps Marona senses her grandson's fear and anxiety of water (according to the plot of the original story, the curse was held precisely by fear of water, although it most likely referred to places where one could drown as in the first part of the game, in the forest near the camp Raz was walked along the bottom of a small river and water hand did not appear) and helps him in those moments when he falls into the lake.

Thirdly, I have a very strong desire to lengthen Raz's acquaintance with Granny's soul a bit. Initially Marona won't even realise there's her son among Aquato (recall Fullbear's behaviour), but will simply head in the direction of the familiar psy-energy. Already after she gets a grip on the boy (he has much more potential in all this psionic magic))), she will slowly take in her surroundings. Chances are she won't even realise that Raz is her grandson.

Fourthly, I use a mystical basis for my AU. So Marona can be said to be a ghost. And like any self-respecting disembodied spirit, she will scare the boy a little (not with malice of course). The idea of the reflection in the water. Just imagine that Raz is drinking water from a glass and suddenly sees someone else's reflection on the surface of the water. Of course he will think he is thinking too much about Maligula and all the nonsense Ford has done (he is a child what can you do? and still hasn't sorted out how he feels about the old man). Or during the walk to Motherlobe, the young psychonaut sees Marona's face in the water and backs away, after which he's caught by hand.

But the moment when Raz and Marona meet for real (granny will fully understand who's who), I've thought out in more detail. Marona by chance (noticing the boy panicking over a nightmare) will come to Raz in a dream where he, remembering what his own grandmother looks like from Lucrecia and Ford's memories, decides to talk to her. For him, the very presence of Marona in his brain will be a shock, as she has long been as dead (he will even want to go to Sasha or Milla for help with his problem), but the grandmother will reassure the boy, telling him that it was not his thoughts that created her, but she herself exists as a spirit (apparently catching his thoughts of insanity). Deciding that the best explanation will be visual proof, Marona asks her grandson to wake up and go to the waterfall (as there is the most grulovia's psi energy). Already there, under the cover of night, Razputin sees the water suddenly take the form of his grandmother. For the rest of the time until dawn, they both talk about their situation and decide not to tell anyone about Marona's spirit at the moment. That's all for now.

Or not)))) I have a lot of small ideas about Raz and Marona's interaction before they actually meet. For example, Marona remembering about the days when she put Augusto to bed is projecting memories onto Raz, who will not sleep well because of Galochio's hand. A lullaby from a ghost.)) Or, when the boy gets bullied by the new interns and his friends aren't around, the water hand from the office cooler chases them away. Another case of Raz dropping his helmet in the water, Marona will pull it ashore.

So that's all I've got for now. Ask if you want to know anything else))))

P. S. Sorry it took me so long to reply)

[sxrrandomfanfics]

The Townsend Mole

AU where: Lili was approached by the mole using her father’s body. And in exchange for the location of her father’s brain, she would fix Ford. Another promise to the mole was that if she found Maligula, Raz would remain safe. But Raz shouldn’t have been so investigative of the situation…

“Alright, you have who you want.” Lili told her father as he held onto Razputin’s collar. “Let Raz go.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that. You wanted your father’s brain back, and in exchange, you would give me someone I wanted.”

Razputin gulped as things clicked into place. Lili’s cold shoulder. Truman asking about Ford and insisting Raz not fix him (he was sure that it harked back to Hollis’s “Psychonauts don’t fix people,” speech). Her anger when he asked about the card.

She really was working for the mole. And that mole was inside Truman’s body…

“I made you promise that you wouldn’t hurt Raz if I found Maligula!”

“You are a mere child. You don’t know how important this is to me.” 

“And you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

“Try it.” Truman’s voice made both kids flinch. “You’d be hurting your father’s body while mine is safe. Out of the way.”

[electricfied-wolf]

Raising razputain au Donatella and Augustus are horribly wracked with guilt- had they kept raz with them one more night, would they still have all their babies? Or would have one of their other children been taken? The stories of psychics included more fear of the ones controlling animals then of maligula ironically. They don't preform on the day raz was taken, no matter how high the pay could be. - HB

Can you just imagine how terrible it was to wake up and believe firmly that an animal had eaten your child. That's arguably worse than the actual fate that Razputin got.

At least in the actual one...he's alive.

[aquato-family-circus]

I just realised that with using the young designs of Bob and Helmut with Daisy, does that mean in the au that Maligula occurs and Helmut is ‘gone’?

Does Bob spiral out or does keeping it together for Daisy?

Yea pretty much I guess, at least in any iteration on the timeline that remains at least somewhat compliant.

I think Bob holds it together more than he does in canon for the sake of him having to look after a small child. Truman and the remaining p6 also volunteer to help with raising Daisy/make the world a better place for her.

That being said, Daisy AU I think has an inherent flavor of "Find Helmut's Brain Early" AU bc its my party and I get to pick the au hurt to comfort ratio. Once Daisy's old enough to wander around on her own she's stumbling across that brain jar, aha

[britishsass]

Re-reading a bit of Tree Overlords, Raz greeting Lucy with "Hi Anaesthesia, I took some Maligula~!" Also just, dramatic scene where Raz bundles up in his blankets, declaring himself as Razthesia, actually sounding a little bit scary as he talks about how he'll "Bring Ruin in the name of the Overlords! MWHAHAHA~!" and then just tripping over and asking for a Juice Box

Yeah, that's basically the vibes we're going for with that au. Complete disaster child thinks he's doing... Something.

[lorablackmane]

Here’s my design for Frazie in this AU! Tbh, originally the MC for this was Lili; but then I realized I can make things like 10x angstier by having Frazie be the protag. In this AU she really doesn’t care about the Psychonauts, and when the mysterious person gave her the pamphlet she had fully intended to toss it... but then a note fell out. 

One that promised the Psychonauts had the tools and abilities to find psychics. For the past almost five years Frazie has been searching for her missing little brother, and every lead has ended up drying up. Yet she hasn’t given up, and is one of the few members still actively searching for him. So she dons some slightly new threads and heads to the camp from the pamphlet, determined to get their help. 

No matter what.

(below the read more is P1 end level spoilers just to be warned)

Her version of the Meat Circus doesn’t have Augustus as her main enemy, but instead it’s a messy, shadowy version of Raz mixed with a nightmare who flits between asking why she hasn’t found him, where are you Frazie, why hasn’t she saved him and yelling about how he hates her for never finding him, for not protecting him as he vanishes from sight only returning farther and farther away. Unlike Raz she doesn’t think her dad hates her, she’s afraid she’ll never find her brother, that he’s gone forever and in her mind it’s her fault because she knew he was going into the forest to practice his psychic powers and she’d often follow him to make sure he was ok... but the day he got kidnapped she didn’t follow him for once. 

Also some details on her design:  unlike Raz who was sorta trying to change himself, Frazie doesn’t care who knows she’s from the circus so her design doesn’t really change much - just enough so that she won’t have to worry about things like branches snagging. She also has his goggles, which in this AU he had bought from his comic book with his allowance shortly before vanishing. It’s one of the few items she brought with her of her family, besides the last picture they took with him. She’s a bit shy about using her powers, but as the day progresses she gets more comfortable about using them.

[lorablackmane]

i feel like this is a big question, but what happened when frazie and raz saw each other for the first time? and when did they recognize each other?

Frazie recognized Raz as soon as they brought him into The Motherlobe. Like she barrels through them the minute they enter the atrium, wrapping her arms around him in relief. She can't say exactly how she knows it's him... she just knows. Something in her mind responds when he enters the building, screaming at her to go, go, go right now before he's gone again-

She hasn't even taken in the changes in his look yet as she holds him, sobbing out thank yous to the older agents. Of course they don't understand, yes he looks similar to the photo; but he's changed enough they wouldn't look at the photo and then him and connect those two. It's only after using clairvoyance on an old, well loved copy of one of his comics and seeing through his eyes that they realize the young teen is right, this is her brother and oh that's not good, he was found in the heart of a delugionist cell-

Raz... Raz doesn't recognize her at first. It's been years since he was taken, and he was young when that happened. He's forgotten what his family looked like, how they acted, how their voices sounded, and that made it easier to believe Gristol's lies hat due to his psychic powers they were going to hurt him. But even then, he always felt like... he was forgetting something. Something that'd hurt Gristol's story.

And that something becomes apparent when his sister scoops him into her arms in the middle of The Motherlobe. Gristol had always told him he was the only psychic in his family, and that's why they hated him... but Frazie's existence in the Motherlobe - complete with a small Psychonauts badge from Ford - proves that... that wasn't the case.

But five years of trauma and lies is not going to unravel so easily. He collects himself, and quietly fixes the story he's been told so it makes sense. She clearly ran away from home, none of the other members are there after all and there's no way the Psychonauts would allow a young teen to be one of them without a decent reason. What better reason would they have to take her in if her family hated her for being psychic? She must've done it recently since she's still wearing some of her circus clothes, it's no wonder she fell for the Psychonauts lies.

But... everything will be okay. Gristol's plan will destroy the cruel Psychonauts, and Maligula will accept them as her apprentices and now together they'll help her restore Grulovia. They'll be a family, a small one, but one where they won't have to be afraid due to their powers.