#before the games raz is trying to convince the other kids she's psychic

[brain-bumbler]

Tell me more about lady Augie, I want to know Everything

She's very much like Augustus! A good parent who worries very much about her family and tries to carry on the long legacy her parents left behind.

She adores her family so, so much. Her family loves her and thinks she's elegant and feminine and a very good mom.

She had a big Moment many years ago when she tried on her mom's headscarf- she looked in the mirror and thought she was pretty for the first time in her life and just broke down crying. She didn't understand why.

I'm thinking she does go by Auggie, or Augustia, she could also pick her mother's name Marona once the games happen!

Her parents already suspected/knew she was trans and was trying to figure it out when Ford memory wiped her and restarted the clock on understanding herself

Ford Cruller pay for this woman's transition right this instant pony up bacon man

She does not think of herself as pretty, at all. Dona disagrees IMMENSELY and will call her every nickname like "beautiful flower" or "my pretty dove" because if Auggie doesn't believe it she's going to hear it every single day from someone who does

If Dona is also a lady in this, they share lipstick because otherwise it mixes together into the same shade anyway from how often they kiss.

In general she puts some more care into her appearance and clothing than canon Gus does. She prefers long dresses when they're not performing.

if t4t Don is so in love with his pretty strong wife she's tall and beautiful, she's an amazon, he braids her hair for her every night even if Auggie could do it herself, Don just loves being tender with her and taking care of her.

She can't imagine her voice is soothing, it can get strained and gravelly, but Tala insists it is and wants a lullaby or a story from her mama every night.

You know "mom knows everything, can't hide from mom"? Auggie takes that to another level. Psychic mom gets up in the middle of the night to make honey milk for the kid she knows is gonna need it before they even wake up from their bad dream. At first they're not sure if she's psychic or if it's Mom Powers.

(it's both)

[lorablackmane]

Hey about your child of miligula au

I was wondering how did the agents get Raz away from gristol.

And what is his relationship like with the agents and his sister afterwards.

The only reason they caught Raz is because Gristol's an idiot. He sent his body to HQ before Raz could take the Luctopus key from his body, so once Raz recognized the Psychonauts were at the casino he naturally had to get rid of the evidence; but that's hard to do when you don't know how many agents have infiltrated the building. And he can't just leave it there because the Psychonauts could use it in their search. This Raz doesn't have the acrobatic skills canon Raz does - he's got some, but most are rusty due to most of his time being devoted to what Gristol wants, helping plan, and practicing his psychic powers so Maligula will even give him a chance (as Gristol believes Maligula wouldn't give someone weak any attention), so he can't just escape from the balcony with it.

So naturally he decides the best course of action burn the evidence (which he totally blames on the Psychonauts as they pass by the main door. Hollis is not happy bout that bill).

His relationship with the Psychonauts is one filled with quiet vitriol during most of the game. His position is constantly changing as the agents pass him off to one another because he's messing with their work in a way they can't prove is him; so they can't punish him - he's clearly trained in some capacity, and it's well known Nick wasn't a psychic so someone had to teach him right? Which means there's still a mole running around, and if that's the case you don't want to punish a 10 y/o for something he didn't do. They won't get any info that way, so instead they try to convince him to talk to them (which... doesn't work at all).

They also can't just go into his mind to find anything out either, as not only is he 10; but he quietly implies that even if they tried he's been prepared for that sort of thing - turning around and lifting his hat just enough to reveal... a stapled scar on the back of his skull. they already knew about it, since Loboto was only told not to talk about his Boss - no one said anything about the child - but he implies that Loboto's augmentations aren't the only ones he has (this is a bluff though. Raz has only had... whatever Loboto did to him to make it hard; but probably not impossible to mess with his mind. The same one Crispin has that causes this to appear in the 1st game)

And if they even try to enter they'll be trapped in there with him, and they wouldn't want that while a mole is running around, would they?

So they hit an impasse, which is exactly what Raz intended. He isn't stronger then these adults, he knows this, so all he can do is stall them until his boss' plan is complete.

I'll probably explore what unique dialogue and what happens in each place he goes to, but in order he goes to: Sasha -> Milla -> Hollis.

After the game though he's really eaten up inside about how badly he messed up, being quiet for a different reason now, and is willing to do anything to gain these people's trust now that he's sorta lost. Milla immediately has to fight Otto and Sasha off bc they're all too willing to forgive him if y'know... he just nicely steps over here - yes next to the hole in the brain tumbler-

Now for Frazie... he honestly doesn't recognize her at first. It's been 5 years now, and his memories of before Gristol are... hazy at best, non-existent at worst. Once he does though he does show her emotions, gently trying to convince her to escape as like I said in the 1st clairvoyance post he thinks the Psychonauts are villains since he's been living with Gristol and only hearing propaganda for 5 years. He thinks they've tricked her and the other interns, and tries to get them to listen to him and escape with him, convinced if they don't they'll become victims of the Psychonauts too. Most of the interns just sorta ignore him, but Norma tries to act like she's interested until he says something she can't help but sarcastically respond to and he zips up.

After the game... the interns are mixed. Frazie is just happy to have him back, but understands that unlike Nona, who has trauma too but has tools and people to help with hers, Raz has years of trauma he has to figure out right now but doesn't have those safety nets currently. It'll take him awhile to unlearn the things Gristol instilled within him, and to trust others in a way that isn't just following them and listening to their orders, but she's here to help when he's ready for her. Sam is completely neutral, as is Lizzie, while Gisu and Adam try to get the kid to sorta come out of his shell. Morris sometimes lets him be part of his pirate radio, as he's good at making songs that worm their way into people's heads, but not too often because he's pretty sure if they play the songs Raz comes up with too often people will go nuts. Norma doesn't trust him, but doesn't antagonize him either. It's clear the agents are trying to rehabilitate the kid, and she doesn't want to get in trouble by messing that up by trying to haze him or something.

[catflowerqueen]

So I think it was on the original comments thread from InkayInk’s “Prompts from the Mind,” but I really do think the Meat Circus would still fit into some later stage “Have Brain, Will Parent” if I just tweaked it a little.

Raz is still going to end up attending Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp--this time legitimately--and there is no real reason that Oleander wouldn’t go through with his plans? If anything, prior knowledge of Raz might make him even more gung-ho about the plan because he will see from the start just how powerful a child’s brain can be. And even with the addition of one of his siblings at camp, I don’t see too much changing by the end game?

The Aquato kids aren’t going to want to go near the water--beyond him maybe convincing them to go to Milla’s lesson. But the thing is, unlike canon!Raz, his siblings aren’t there to learn how to be psychonauts--they’re there specifically to find him, and, given the altered circumstances of his upbringing--he is going to be more keen to hang out with them and learn about circus life--at least until his friend Dogen’s brain gets stolen.

But even if they do end up following him all the way to the asylum, they probably won’t be able to help too much in the mental world? Sure, he has ways around having to use a portal to get into someone’s mind thanks to Helmut, and he could probably bring someone else in with him, but the Aquato kids wouldn’t be as strong as him psychically, and would likely get demenestrated very easily (because even if Frazie or Queepie matches him in raw power levels, she spent years hiding the true extent of her talents and, at least from what I saw, only really perfected invisibility and maybe a little zoolinguism.) It would be far more practical for them to keep watch over the other campers/seek help/act as a guide when Augustus finally makes it over.

Anyways--as to the actual changes to the Meat Circus:

The circus structures would still be there, but even more slapdash and shoddily built--based more off of what Raz thinks a circus should be like, the memories he has of his extremely brief experience trying to run away and join one before camp started, and his attempts to make his own circus equipment back in the gulch. And then all the meat stuff from Oleander. Evil!Agustus would still be there and be even more weird and abstract-looking because Raz can’t actually remember him beyond what little he saw of him right before camp, anything his siblings might have let slip during camp, and the really vague and faded memories he managed to cling to after his accident--most of which would only be the bad ones about “someone” telling him negative things about psychics, mixed in with the anti-psychic feelings his siblings still harbor.

Conspicuously absent would be any signs of Helmut, beyond evil!Augustus making comments about him abandoning him now that Raz’s “real” family is back. As well as the fact that the “outrun the rising water” level will be replaced with an “outrun the rising ice” level, because this Raz has no fear of water, but by this point would be aware of what ultimately happened to leave Helmut as a brain-in-a-jar.

And the thing that will ultimately convince Raz that the caricature of Augustus is fake is when he bursts in and gives Raz a hug, relieved that his son is alive and finally re-united with him, and feels Augustus beard scratching at his face. Because that sensation is one of the few things he clung so hard to growing up, and it was something he could never quite recreate--even when Helmut started pulling his sense of identity and form back together, he only ever had a mustache, not a beard. And Bob’s beard is too long/the wrong texture and Compton is too short to get the necessary effect.

But Augustus? Well, it was his beard, after all, so it’s going to be like coming home. Even if there is still a lot of things to settle with custody, and a lot of confused feelings, and the necessity of re-learning his birth family and figuring out how he and the family he grew up with for the last five years will fit into it... in that moment, as he faces down the dad monster, it’s going to be exactly what he needs.

[pesky33]

Something I’m experimenting with

So, I love reportage style stories and books, and I try to include some aspect of that every time I write something. I started writing Teurshima as a YouTube gamer, and it’s turned into an excuse to replay my favourite games. I’ll stick the first bit under a cut.

The idea is, each part will start with a transcript of one of his videos, and then there’ll be some exposition I suppose is the best way to describe it. Dialogue is my absolute favourite thing to write, and Terushima talks non-stop, so I thought it made sense to do this? Let me know what you think.

So far it includes two of my favourite ever games and ASMR. It’s basically just me enjoying myself.

Welcome to the Playground

[excerpt of transcription of video: “Psychonauts Playthrough – It's Not His Vault He's Psychic”]

“Hello, bonjour and konichiwa to The Playground! You're all most welcome, as always.

Today I'm playing 'Psychonauts' which is, urm, over ten years old! But, I just got it on PS4 because it was way cheap. It's taking a while to boot up, so I'll tell you a bit about it while it does. Oh, originally PS2, look at that! I was too young to play this first time (whispering) if I'd heard of it when I was ten, which I hadn't.

(usual volume) So it's developed by Double Fine. If you haven't heard of them, it's Tim Schaefer, and if you haven't heard of him, then I assume...I dunno what to tell you. It's TIM. FUCKING. SCHAEFER. Dude. You need to get out more.

Nah, nah, just kidding. Okay, so he's well known for Grim Fandango, but he's like, the king of indie games, 'specially point and click. We all know how impatient I get with those, right? But! This is a platformer! So we should be good to go. Running and jumping, yeah? I can do that. With my eyes closed! In fact I did. If you're interested, you can see me complete Super Mario 2 with my eyes closed by clicking on the pop-up I hope Kazu puts in the video. Let's have a graphic of Mario right *waves hand to one side* here please. Click on here to watch.

Oh shit! It's finished loading. Oh my god, this is so 90s already, I LOVE IT. And it wasn't even out in the 90s! 2005? So I...what? Walk around on this brain? This is...oh! Wait, there's a door. I'll just jump in there.

Okay, so this is a platform game. Jumping, running, collecting stuff. Looking online, there's a fuck ton of collectibles, which I don't normally give a shit about, but apparently that's how you level up, so looks like I'm gonna be trying to collect a bunch of crap. I. HATE. COLLECTIBLES.

At least it has analog stick compatibility. You know what I always say – life is too short for games without analog stick compatibility. If you port a PS2 game to PS4, give me my fucking analog stick, or it's not happening. Hmm, the movement is pretty smooth, though! Good job, urm, whoever did this. I've forgotten already. I literally just looked it up before we started streaming.

It's a much better port than Primal. Jesus, dudes, do you lot remember Primal? What an annoying slow piece of garbage that was. Ah, memories. I broke my controller that day. RIP Jemima the controller. We hardly knew ye.

These character designs are crazy, seriously. Have you seen this guy's afro? I really want some goggles and a flying helmet now though. Raz, you are one sick looking motherfucker but you have some smooth aviator style going on there. If anyone wants to tell me where to get freaky goggles like this, comment and tell me! I want some for my playthrough videos.

Also, I would TOTALLY wear that shirt of his.

Okay, so while I'm finding whatever it is I'm looking for, I wasn't really listening...anyway, while I'm titting about showing you the game, let me catch you up on what's been going on. So, you may remember last week I had to take Agro to the vet. Thank you all for your lovely comments, by the way. You're all so lovely to me, even though I'm such a prick.

Anyway, luckily, it's not serious! I was so worried, cause coughing can mean so many things in dogs, but apparently, he's just got a cold. I mean...way to worry me, man, I thought you had kennel cough or something. You big mutt, I love ya.

What else...oh look at that! I think we're getting into the game properly, I'll stop rambling, and do an actual livestream of this gameplay. If you miss this live, don't worry, as always we'll be putting an edit of it up later on. Let's do this!”

-

Yuuji sat back after watching the video Kazu put together. He'd added in the Mario graphic, as requested, even adding a pair of dark glasses. Nice little touch, thought Yuuji, as he scrolled down to see the comments.

People seemed to enjoy the playthrough, although almost every comment was thankful that Agro was doing better. Yuuji swore that dog was more popular than him some days.

One other comment caught his eye. “You should whisper more! OMG you have an amazing whisper, it set off tingles in my head! Please do an ASMR playthrough of something.”

“Hey, Haru! You know what ASMR is?” he shouted through into the living room.

“What?”

“ASMR? You heard of it?”

There was a loud sigh, sounds of shuffling against leather, and then Haru appeared in the doorway to his office. “What are you talking about?”

“Someone said I should do an ASMR playthrough. Never heard of it. Is it a game?”

“Show me.”

Yuuji pointed out the comment on screen, while Haru peered at it. “She says 'ASMR playthrough of something' so I don't think it's a game. Search it.”

He opened another window alongside the YouTube one, and started looking for ASMR. Comments continued to appear below the original one, Haru reading them out as they did.

“'Can you imagine him trying to whisper? Through a whole video,' this one says. They have a point. I bet you couldn't whisper for a minute, let alone an hour.”

“I could whisper that long!”

Kazu wandered in to see where the other two and got to. “You couldn't. I could hear every word you said from in the lounge.”

“Hey!” Yuuji shouted, as if to prove a point. “I'm offended! I'm not always loud. I can be quiet if I have to be!”

“You think? Well, then maybe we should try it. There's plenty of people who seem interested.”

“Is that all it is?” Yuuji carried on scrolling through the results. “Whispering? I could whisper! Are there other gamers who do this ASMR thing?”

They spent the rest of the afternoon researching online, watching videos, and brainstorming games which could be whispered through. Yuuji still wasn't convinced, but with over 400 likes on the comment, many agreeing he had a nice whisper (a compliment he never thought he'd ever hear), they all thought it was probably worth trying.

“There's a few gamers whispering over videos,” Kazu said, leaning over and scrolling through his history. “Mostly girls though. I could only find one bloke. I really think you should give it a go.”

“Things like Minecraft seem popular...”

“I'm not playing Minecraft. I'd rather boil my fingers.”

Haru tutted. “Well, there's plenty of those anyway. I meant, maybe play something similar. Something which won't get you over-excited so you accidentally shout.”

“You know what would be good?” Kazu said, looking up with wide eyes.

“I know exactly what you're thinking,” Haru joined in, both turning to Yuuji. “Come on, it's so obvious!”

Yuuji jumped to his feet and started scanning his shelf full of games, before finding the box he was searching for and holding it in the air triumphantly. “Journey!”