#Rosemary In Sound Mind

[mhbleedingheart]

!! HELLO IN SOUND MIND FANS !!

I made this drawing in February, finished it at the end of that same month, but I only posted it on Twitter. Which was silly of me because the ISM fandom is very VERY dead over there, LOL.

the fandom may be dead, but what the fuck!! ISM poster GO!!! I'm still quite proud of this drawing and might remake it in a few years, y'know, to hopefully revive the fandom every once in a while :]

vvvv !! drawing down here !! vvvv

reblogs are appreciated ':]

!!Version with tape in the background down here!!

it might be a tad hard to see, but its there!!

i love this game..a lot. its one of my absolute favorites and its so, so important to me. if you haven't played the game, I HIGHLY recommend that you get it. it's $35 on steam but its EXTREMELY worth it. :]

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

KANAYA: ":33 < so how did mew two m33t" She Messaged Me On Trollian And We Became Obsessed With Each Other Literally Immediately And Now We Are Bound By The Red String Of Fate

[dissapeared7]

(MAYBE???) SPOILERS FOR IN SOUND MIND !!!

little art i did !! Idk if this counts as spoilers ,,,,

anyways love her big

[sspookyspoonss]

An analysis of the depictions of the Patients shadows in In Sound Mind. Spoilers.

I finished In Sound Mind and I loved it. So I’m going to talk about something I thought was really clever after thinking it through (and something people probably caught immediately but oh well). The patients shadow forms (as I will be referring to them as).

Initially I was confused at the seeming inconsistency of how the patients shadows are characterised. The Watcher and Bull are Virginia and Max’s but with exacerbated mental health issues while The Shade and The Flash are seemingly the opposites of Allen and Lucas. Then the Empty is literally just Rosemary. So why the variation in characterisation?

Then I reflected on something Agent Rainbow said in the final tape. That he will take over Desmond’s mind. That Desmond’s patients hadn’t beaten him, so why could Desmond? Then the obvious hit me.

Agent Rainbow is what Desmond fears. That he’s killing his patients rather than saving them, that he’s actually somehow a malevolent force who makes peoples lives worse (feelings exacerbated by his partner leaving him with what Magdalena said in her note ‘I want happiness’). We know that all of the games patients are impacted by Agent Rainbow and they in some way succumb to it. Therefore, the Shadows we see are the Agent Rainbow’s the Patients would have encountered if they were the protagonists of the game. Like Desmond, they represent their fears, what they were suppressing in their subconscious that was unleashed by Agent Rainbow via connection to the ‘collective unconscious.’ However, unlike Desmond, they do not overcome their shadows and thus become them, as Agent Rainbow stated he would do to Desmond.

Individual analysis:

Virginia-

Virginia has severe issues with her appearance and cannot look at herself in a mirror, feeling people are always judging her. She sings she’s scared of being lonely (‘That I’m lonely’ ‘I would tell you all about it if you’d listen’ - “A Doll’s House”) something she no longer was before being exposed to Agent Rainbow, having a relationship with a guy called Dave and a routine which involves social interaction. The Watcher attacks people who look at her, driving people away, causing her shadow to be lonely, a manifestation of her fear as a result of Agent Rainbow. This is best demonstrated by her tape occurring in an abandoned supermarket with just mannequins and dolls of her family for company. Furthermore, The Watcher’s design is based on Medusa, a woman who’s face was turned inside out and is so hideous looking at her kills you. This is a blatant manifestation of perhaps her most dominant fear, that she is physically repulsive.

Allen-

Allen has been plagued by nightmares of being swallowed by shadows since he was a child. He is so terrified of shadows and the dark he has centred his whole life around being near light. (My interpretation of Bottom of the Pit is he is so terrified of the nightmares getting worse, and seeing ‘the bottom of the pit,’ he would rather be dead, aka seeing ‘the dark end of a tunnel.’) He also seems to feel very connected to Desmond, and heavily relies on his guidance (‘When I’m uptight I call you on the phone’ - “Bottom of the Pit”). He also very explicitly wants to help people, shown both in the accident that puts him in a coma caused by him warning others ‘about the monsters,’ and in his song (‘All I’m doing is aiding, all I offer to give is a helping hand’ - “Bottom of the Pit”). The Shade is the dark abyss that Allen fears, he has literally become what he feared the most. He also actively attacks, again showing how Agent Rainbow has transformed Allen into his fear, he is now one of the ‘monsters’ in his nightmares who he worried would hurt him or other people. It also ties to his Icarus connection, if he strays too far from his safety, the lighthouse, he fears he will get swallowed by the ‘pit,’ like Icarus did the ocean. The Shade also states that Desmond ‘failed [him]’ perhaps showing even after willingly seeking help Allen both thinks he was beyond saving and was scared of that being true (‘I stay awake wondering if what you say is true, I am flawed but fixable’ - “Bottom of the Pit”).

Max-

Max’s actions are all motivated by getting visiting rights to see his daughter Maddison again, even what gets him killed is caused by a desire for this, so we can safely assume not seeing her again must be a massive fear of his. He seems scared to be fully consumed by his anger else he won’t be able to see Maddison (‘Is anger all consuming’ ‘Is darkness fast approaching’ - “Is It Me?”). Agent Rainbow makes this fear manifest, Max’s shadow, The Bull, cannot control his anger as he was learning to do with Desmond’s help (‘Even in a difficult case, progress was made’ - Rainbow Tape). The Bull also violently attacks people. Both of these things he had to prove to the court he would not do, but due to Agent Rainbow he cannot, thus his fear of never seeing Maddison is created since he won’t be granted visiting rights. He also represents the Minotaur, a beast who, in some tellings, specifically eats children. He has become something that is a danger to his daughter, something that his is both scared of being, and scared to admit that he was due to his unaddressed anger issues.

Lucas-

Lucas is a war veteran who was exposed to some primitive form of Agent Rainbow, with the resulting episode causing him to kill his friend, an event that left him with PTSD. He was evidentially close with the whole squadron of soldiers wiped out in this incident (‘We’ve got plans for what comes later’ - “Me and the Boys”) and is devastated by them all killing each other due to the Agent Rainbow (‘By a show of hands the group disbands’ ‘I’m crashing, I’m crashing down.’ - “Me and the Boys”). He can hear the voices of others impacted by Agent Rainbow and wants to unveil what the government and Mayer is doing as vengeance for what they did to him and ‘the boys.’ The Flash is an unthinking weapon, reflecting Lucas’ fear of what happened to him when exposed to Agent Rainbow, being unable to fully control himself. He also speaks very militaristically, in the Phonetic Alphabet, referring to Desmond as ‘Delta Whisky’ in his tape. This further demonstrates how Agent Rainbow has caused him in his shadow form to become the unthinking weapon of the government which he fears could occur due to his experience of exposure to the agent. It also fits in with his Cyclops connection, the most famous myth involves Odysseus blinding him to escape death. Agent Rainbow causing him to become a mindless monster means he cannot expose the government and Mayer, he is metaphorically blind, thus Mayer and the government escape death, meaning Lucas’ fear of not achieving vengeance is again manifested in his shadow form by Agent Rainbow. Rosemary also refers to the people connected to the ‘collective subconscious’ as ‘human radio towers’ (Lucas’ tape), which is reflected in the Flash’s design. Agent Rainbow has made him physically become his fear of what could be possible through Agent Rainbow.

Rosemary-

I think what reinforces my idea is Rosemary. She is the one character with a record who is NOT impacted by Agent Rainbow, she is murdered (implied to be buried alive?) rather than be subjected to it. She sings she wants to make up for creating Agent Rainbow (‘Take all that I have to give’ ‘Payment for my crime’ - “Whatever it Takes”). The Empty acts according to this, helping you. She is still herself because the nerve agent didn’t impact her, instead she used radio waves separately to contact those affected.

In conclusion, the Patients shadows are manifestations of what the characters fear the most, whether it be internal, like Virginia and Max, or external, like Allen and Lucas. The different depiction of Rosemary, who was not impacted by Agent Rainbow helps solidify this.

Thank you for reading my little rant.

[sirensea14]

Challenges of an entrepreneur poster for a subject but its In Sound Mind characters 🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️

Lol low quality pic (my cam's blurry)

[fisheadz]

Answered a request for a SWTD + ISM crossover and, I’ve thought about it before, but not in much detail. And so, I present to you, the detail! (more or less :/):

The events of swtd would take place around the same time as the events of ism. Like, as Desmond’s in the CU, Caz is going through it on the rig.

They escape around the same time as well, with @milestonekestrel ‘s (so sorry for the @) Caz survives AU occurring in correspondence to the everybody lives AU. (If that’s alright of course :O)

Desmond goes back to working as a therapist, in part so he can help monitor the remaining effects of Agent Rainbow, as Lucas, Rosemary, and the rest of the gang do their own parts in helping everyone heal from the event (whether the people affected are aware or not).

The Caz survives AU happens as normal (though things might change depending on if the thing with Billy, Addair, Finlay, all that stuff, happens here). At one point, they end up in America (for whatever reason), in Washington, and, of course, Milton Haven.

Caz is still not doing so great, even with Suze’s (and maybe Billy’s) help, and so, after hearing about Dr. Wales from one of his other patients (in other words, one of the gang figuring out that something’s Not Right with the new guy in town and trying to send him Desmond’s way via his clearly worried partner), Suze gets Caz to give the man a call and see about scheduling an appointment.

And so, Caz ends up in Desmond’s office, and decides, what the hell right? Everybody in town already thinks he’s nuts so why not play into it? It’s not like there aren’t any weirdos in town already, like that lighthouse keeper who talks to shadows, or the girl with long hair who keeps staring at him, and getting mad when he stares back.

Caz tells Desmond everything, and I mean everything. That morning, in the canteen. Getting fired. The helipad, and the drill hitting something. Raffs in the bell, Finlay telling him about Gibbo, his brief encounter with the man, or what was left of him. He talks about the Infected, how they seemed to talk like themselves, knew things only they did, like Addair’s kids, or Trots’ lover on the mainland. He talks about all of it, expecting to be laughed out of the office, or sent away to some looney bin with all the other crazy people who rave on about the monsters of their friends, and colorful goop that twisted their vision, and seeing their dead friends in the corners of their eyes years afterwards.

What he didn’t expect, was a look of sympathy and understanding. For his therapist to call someone mid-session, and for that someone to be over in less than 5 minutes, and bring along the Park Ranger that everybody says is a lunatic.

That someone’s name is Rosemary, a scientist, and the Park Ranger is Lucas, a veteran that’s experienced something very, unsettlingly similar back during his time in the war. They ask him a shite load of questions, like, what did these monsters say (nonsense ramblings), what color was the thing that did all of it (every color, really), what did the monsters look like (they looked… I… w-why am I being interrogated? Who are you?! And who the fuck is that creepy purple cunt in the corner!? He’s - it’s - he’s mocking me!).

Eventually, after a lot of not-explaining and promises of more answers, he goes with them to their base of operations (Lucas’ cabin) to discuss the matter further. The burst of confidence Caz had when he’d gone to Desmond’s office that morning has left him, and he doesn’t really want to recount the details of what happened in the rig. Lucas, Rosemary, Desmond, and the seemingly random people they keep calling seem reluctant to talk about whatever the hell they went through as well. Apparently the government is involved somewhere?

By all accounts, their situations seem to be the same, more or less. Apparently, Lucas had been infected by the thing years and years ago, and Desmond had recently been through his own adventure with it. With his limited information, Caz is able to deduce that Rosemary wasn’t infected, but she’s been working around the Shape for years, until a few years ago. The people they’re calling have all had their own encounters with it.

And suddenly, Caz (and maybe Suze and maybe Billy) isn’t alone in this. There’s a whole group of survivors - hell, a whole town, even if they aren’t aware of it, and they know how to deal with it, to an extent. They’re all infected, this whole damn town is infected, and they’re all more or less going about their normal lives, almost unaffected. At least, the majority of people are almost unaffected.

Desmond, Lucas, the lighthouse keeper Allen, the weird girl Virginia, and an angry, lowkey parental man, Max, they’re all working to mitigate the effects of the Shape in the townsfolk. At least, that’s what Caz has gathered from their half-conversations and their very specific questions.

On the flip side, holy shit, Meyer was a lot more widespread than they thought. Not even Rosemary knew about this, and she was the head researcher at one point! And the poor man’s crew, all killed in an experiment gone horribly wrong (or right, if you ask Meyer, probably). Lucas relates to him with the loss of his platoon and the disbelief from those around him, Desmond relates to him with the long, near hopeless fight for his mind.

Eventually Caz goes home, tells Suze (and maybe Billy) everything (her reaction depends on how far into the Caz survives AU this is), and keeps in touch with the gang (reluctantly). He continues to go to therapy, which, despite the new revelations, is actually helping. Slowly, but it’s helping. Suze (and maybe Billy) are ecstatic, because Caz is getting help and making friends (also slowly). Until the Shape comes knocking once more.

Things change a lot here, depending on where I go with this. Is the Shape really connected with Agent Rainbow and vise versa, or are they separate, yet similar things? Is this farther into the Caz survives AU, or is it not? Either way, someone is getting stuck in the CU, and people are gonna get Infected. Caz and the others are going to have to fight the Shape (again), and they’re also going to have to fight Agent Rainbow (again). And people are going to get hurt.

Bonus points if ghost Finlay is here, and can see and interact with Desmond’s Agent Rainbow. Extra bonus points if Caz can also see him, and Desmond can see Finlay (though that’s mostly if we’re going the "Shape and AR are connected" route). Finlay and AR are always at each other’s throats, and it’s funny (though if AR is "good" or not, is up for debate. Really depends on your definition of "good".).

Even MORE bonus points if Fin and Tonia become support animal besties. Tonia would absolutely hate the pupper at first, but eventually warms up to him. In the CU, she’s just complaining to Desmond about Fin, and Desmond is like okay please let me focus on not going insane during my visit here.

Mega post from me, but oh my cheese mold this is fun to think about. Back when SWTD was just something I half-watched Eddie play on yt, I thought about an AU where it’s the ISM crew going through it on the rig, but now that I’m in the SWTD fandom, having it as a crossover is so fun.

I wanna make more fanart of this, oh man I really do. I usually hate putting my blorbos from separate universes in the same space, but like, an exception can be made here for this.

[voidwritesstuff]

Hello In sound mind fandom. This is literally us (we're like 10 bugs under a rock)

[mourningmaybells]

This game used the audio recordings of Anneliese Michel? It has a girl’s slow death under negligence because of her epilepsy and psychosis (using the brain scans to debunk it makes no sense it was the 70s and even doctors, their machines, and their medicine were ill-equipped. The "proof" was her acting strange around religious iconography, having different personalities, and eating bugs and urine. Nothing as supernatural as 'speaking in different tongues' occurred and her parents were deeply catholic so they're inclined to believe it's the devil. If you look at the dates, it coincides with the rise of the satanic panic.)

So, Airdorf mixed it into a video game boss battle. Yeah I’m not fucking with this game anymore what a sick joke.

[qhazomb]

i really like this one theory i saw here that brought up the idea that rainbow isn't really desmond's "shadow." or at least, he wasn't originally, and isn't JUST desmond's shadow.

because when you compare rainbow to the other characters' shadows, he's VERY different from all of them. the other shadows often felt like they were one and the same as the people they represented the negative parts of. rainbow meanwhile feels entirely unique from desmond. some notable differences being his disdain for cats (whereas desmond clearly loves cats), he plays piano instead of guitar, and heck, dude also seems to be a way better artist than desmond is, when you compare the various doodles he includes on his notes to the faces desmond drew for the mannequins.

thinking about my spin on what exactly rainbow's deal is. maybe he was an entirely new consciousness that came into being as a result of so many people's minds becoming connected by the rainbow chemical. all that mental energy just kinda... coalesced into a brand new entity.

and then, for whatever reason, he found and attached himself to desmond. desmond's mind definitely influenced the way rainbow appears in the mindscape, and maybe his personality didn't fully solidify until he "settled down" in desmond's head. maybe he took on the role of desmond's "shadow" as the main thing the chemical was being used for was inducing extreme fear/mentally breaking people by bringing out their "shadows" to the forefront. he took on the role of desmond's shadow and also a representation of the psychoactive chemical that more or less created him. he did steal its name for himself, so.

basically, rather than truly being desmond's shadow, he's more like a... mental parasite, i guess you could say.

...and comparing him to a parasite feels pretty apt, imo. having him around actually helped desmond, in the end, and they do say that having parasites can actually be beneficial, as they help to calm down an over-active immune system and such. all the pushing and prodding rainbow had been giving desmond's brain finally pushed des to get his act together.

also, when considering the "not really a shadow but a mental parasite" idea, maybe a reason rainbow's so worried about mayer being stopped and the rainbow chemical being rid of, is because it might mean he'll be gone, too. if he truly was just desmond's shadow, then yeah he would still definitely be a permanent part of desmond's mind. but if he's actually something foreign, that was only able to get into desmond's head due to the chemical agent? then i could see why he'd have concerns about... being evicted, so to speak.

that said, i think des' brain has been so damn saturated in the stuff (that 'brain pulsing' comment at the end) that his brain chemistry has likely been forever changed, and rainbow might not actually have to worry about no longer getting to live rent-free in there. (especially if he continues to push the idea that oh yeah he's totally a natural part of desmond's mind, same as anybody else's shadow, don't worry about it, please put the mental de-wormer away, it's fiiiiiine.)

kinda but maybe not really?-related: i dunno if i just missed a note or failed to trigger some dialogue, but as far as i can tell, rainbow never seems to acknowledge rosemary, even once? like, not even when she completely foils his attempt at wasting desmond's time in the crypt. he never offers any reaction to that. and like, i feel like he couldda used her as further demotivation for desmond, like "if even the head researcher for this project was murdered for trying to stop it, what makes you think YOU'LL fair any better?" or something like that, but no. he never says or writes a word about rosemary.

not sure where i'm going with that bit, but i just thought it was interesting :U

[gizm0-gadgetz]

I did another thing :)

Two versions

Oh and the shitty warm up under the cut

This was Made in like an hour

V

[jericos-art-corner]

"Crucified Angel"

->Rosemary James fanart

-> REBLOGS APPRECIATED. DONT REPOST MY ART, DONT FEED TO A//I I DO NOT CONSENT,

[bunny-heels]

rose..,,..,.... and a lil doodle page of Des and Rain doing small things together

ko-fi

[the-saddest-clown]

Guess who’s about to go completely fucking bonkers wild over an au I came up with after listening to the ISM soundtrack last night (again)

[ciyo-barula]

Rosemary James!

TW blood, spoiler for in sound mind game

[cynical-sprite]

So, I'm doing a partial recast of my In Sound Mind fancast. Most of them are the same, but there are a few changes I've made since my last fancast

⬇️Rafe Spall as Dr. Desmond Wales

(Rafe has the perfect look, expressions, mannerisms, etc. to play Desmond, you can't convince me otherwise.)

⬇️Ryan Eggold as Allen Shore

(pretty much exactly what I picture Allen to look like)

⬇️Lucy Carless as Virginia Ruhl

⬇️Jon Bernthal as Max Nygaard

⬇️Jeremy Renner as Lucas Cole

⬇️Rachel McAdams as Dr. Rosemary James