#but not the thought of what it would take to make him take on Frazie's masking

[theyaremanycolours]

Thinking about Raz, I feel like Raz was always going to leave the Aquato Family Circus.

The Aquatos love each other, but it's all weighed down by this immense psiphobia and underlying tension from the unintended conditional-ness of said love because while they would ultimately choose their love for Raz over the hatred for psychics, Raz especially had good reason to think that they would despise him.

The pamphlet merely spurred him into action at ten rather than sixteen, and gave him hope for changing his family's minds rather than the bitterness of a suppressed teenage-hood.

The only way I can see him staying is if the Aquatos did actually change their minds and decided to give up the Psiphobia, he never got the reassurance of True Psychic Tales that his powers weren't evil, or if he was completely crushed emotionally.

And for the last two, if left alone, Raz would probably not survive.

[eveningrainstorm]

my take on teenage raz and lili!

some design notes under the cut:

They're intended to be about 16 here! I didn't go for anything too drastic in terms of changes -- these are largely just what I'd consider natural evolutions of their canon designs

For Raz, my main focus besides just making him look older was to add a bit more resemblance to the other Aquatos in his design, since his relationship with them wouldn't be strained like it is during canon

Raz is shown with very straight hair in canon, but since most of his family's hair is more wavy or curly I tend to imagine he styles it that way on purpose as part of his Sasha Nein cosplay or whatever. He wouldn't still feel the need to do that at this point, though, so for this design I wanted to make it more curly, similar to Augustus or Frazie, while still similar to his canon style. This turned out to be incredibly difficult and I'm still not entirely happy with where I landed, but it's good enough

I didn't think he would still wear the helmet but I didn't want to discard it entirely, so the goggles were a compromise. I meant to give them some visible scratches and wear and tear since they're presumably the same goggles he's been wearing since he was 10, but I forgot. rip

Obviously the most notable change to Raz's outfit is the scarf -- I wanted something that would tie him visually to the other Aquatos while still fitting with his general look. I imagine they gave it to him as a gift, sort of an acknowledgement that even if he doesn't perform with them as an acrobat, doing his Psychonaut work is his own way of being an Aquato

Raz's outfit here is honestly very similar to his PN2 outfit. This is because in my eyes "long coat and turtleneck" is Peak Character Design and cannot be improved on. (Hence why I may not be the best person to redesign Raz.) He has an actual coat rather than just an oversized blazer this time though, so that's an improvement. With the turtleneck I was was vaguely intending for it to be color-wise something of a middle ground between the Sasha-style green striped turtleneck and the Aquato blue/green and white stripes, but it ended up basically just being the PN1 stripes with the PN2 color. which, you know, that works

I went back and forth on what their heights should be -- I thought it would be kind of funny if Raz ended up short and Lili ended up taller than him, but then I decided to just make them more in line with their families, with Raz being tall and lanky and Lili being average verging on short. Except then I accidentally made Lili tall anyway because I was only vaguely considering her height relative to Raz. I guess Lili's probably taller than her dad now? good for her ig

Most of their facial features are just slight variations of how they look in canon -- slightly smaller eyes and so on. the only real specific change is that Lili has a more defined nose now, similar in shape to her father's

Lili's outfit here is more different from either of her canon outfits than Raz's is, but there's still not much that really requires a ton of explanation. The goal was to make her look vaguely cool and fashionable, although as I am neither of those things I cannot guarantee I was successful

I tried a couple different hairstyles for Lili, and I'm still not entirely set on this one -- Originally what I settled on was to give her two braids, which I did like, but I kept doing sketches of her where I just drew the top part of the hair and was like "ngl this kind of works on its own" and so I ended up going with the short hair. I also briefly tried an asymmetrical haircut but I couldn't get it to look right. I think this one suits her though

Lili's tattoo (on her left wrist) was a later addition to the design, and even in the later stages of drawing this I wasn't sure whether to keep it. I like it conceptually I just haven't figured out a consistent design for it yet, only that it has to be of plants

god these notes got way longer than I meant them to be I am so sorry. Uh basically I'm still figuring out the details of these designs but for now here's Raz and Lili, they're teenagers now, thanks for reading

[mirchloe]

i never post scrapped parts separately, but this 17 page dion pov segment was the bane of my existence for the entire month, and i don't want to let it go to waste, so here it is, entirely unedited. i think as you'll read, compared to what happens in the last chapter, it brings everything to a grinding halt, like a game of catch up to bring the other characters up to speed for the readers. it's very "here they are! here's what they were doing right up to that specific moment where raz is just about ready to take on the big bad! here are their very specific mentalities! they sure just keep TALKING! and LOOKING!" it felt so repetitive and dialogue-heavy that when i kept re-reading the past chapters, this scrapped chapter felt like walking into a wall and having to climb it to get back to the actual plot relevant stuff.

there are definitely things i would liked to save, but scaling down these conversations, making them more concise, it would really fit the story better.

When Dion learned what happened to Raz, if he wasn’t so shocked, then he could have collapsed on the spot.

As soon as his mother cried out over the phone, jolting Dion out of his daily stretches, he rushed to her side. His younger siblings followed, each in different stages of concern, only for their mutual distress to heighten when Donatella sank to her knees. The phone had slipped out of her hands, the springy cord causing it to dangle and swing. Their father grasped it, quickly raising it to his ear and addressing the other side with the proper poise of a hardened ringmaster. While Frazie tended to Donatella, who whispered in a hushed, yet shrill voice, Dion observed his father with wide eyes and clenched fists.

Augustus’ panicked voice killed any semblance of calm. “What? What do you m-? How could this have happened? Yes, yes, I - did you say imprisoned? Why would anyone-?”

But when Augustus floundered, cupping his mouth with tense fingers, it was like when his memories flooded in from the locked parts of his mind. All of a sudden, Augustus lost strength in his legs. He collapsed to the ground, struggling to hold onto the phone. He struggled to speak, frantically demanding answers that the other person could not provide. There was nothing Dion could do as a bystander to his father’s suffering, just as he had felt throughout his life. He was only able to offer comfort when the Aquatos linked their arms around him and each other before braving the storm as a family.

This was different, and yet, all the same. Augustus had been lost for words before, but now, as he failed to string together a sentence, he was like a weathered, battered mirror on the verge of cracking. He was deathly pale, as if multiple needles had punctured his veins and drained him of blood. Hobbling to his feet, he held the wall, his hand placed between strung-up, framed photographs of their family. His thumb caressed Raz’s face, his cherub cheeks, and Dion had almost forgotten he was so small as a toddler.

“Dad, what’s going on?” he remembered asking over the sound of Donatella’s cries..

Augustus shook his head. His face was wrinkled. He seemed to have aged in minutes.

“It’s your brother. It’s Razputin. He’s hurt.”

Dion may as well have taken a punch to the gut. He whipped his head to Donatella, finding her balling her hands into tense fists. She rose from her knees, Frazie and MIrtala holding her for support. Lost for words, he looked among his family, searching for answers only two of them could give.

“‘Hurt?’ How?” Queepie wondered, fidgeting with his collar. “I thought Raz was one of their top agents. How’d he get hurt?

“Pootie was tricked,” Donatella snapped, full of venom. “He’s trapped in another boy’s mind. His-his coworker or whatever! She said they can’t find a way to free him!”

Dion had no fathomable idea what that implied. Frazie, however, stiffened. She was the one demanding to know who had done it.

“Frazie, what does that mean? Trapped in someone’s mind?” Dion tried to breach through the chaos, but Frazie was unwavering, reiterating her question. He once again looked to their father, who brought the phone to his ear, and shouted, “Dad, hey, tell me! What does Mom mean that they can’t free him? Who did this to Raz? What the hell is going on?”

“It’s because of a contraption that I hardly understand myself, but it’s an intern behind Razputin’s entrapment. He’s someone your brother has had many problems with over the years.” 

Augustus’ grave voice lowered. Donatella snatched the phone from him, barking over the gentle, hardly soothing voice of Agent Vodello struggling to get a single word out. He briefly looked at Mirtala, before uttering a heavy-hearted sigh. 

“You know him. It’s a boy named Bobby Zilch.”

Mirtala’s irises dilated. Twin, dark circles enveloped their cerulean shade. She clasped her hands, shaking her head, her jaw twitching. Dion shrank to her side and rubbed her back before her tears could fall. He held her close and listened to her emit a whine like a monotonous siren, her pitch warbling, and he gnawed on the insides of his cheeks.

Again, there was nothing he could do. Providing meager comfort was drudgery when he was utterly helpless. Throughout the ride to the Motherlobe, he stewed and broiled with contempt, holding the shivering, weeping Mirtala to his chest.

For anyone to single out his little brother, they must have wracked with jealousy. Dion knew Raz was talented, progressing with his powers at lightning speed. He was more of a Psychonaut than an acrobat in recent days, but as Dion recalled, he had tried teaching Raz to hide his psychic abilities, repeating verbatim their father’s instructions. When he thought they were cursed to drown, as Dion stared out the window, Queepie resting in Frazie’s lap, he bit his nails into his palms for every sorrowful look Raz gave him after a harsh admonishment.

And then, witnessing Raz in such disarray, slumped against an overgrown apparatus, his malice dissipated. Raz was entirely expressionless, blankly gazing at nothing through half-lidded eyes. How their mother threw herself at his knees, screaming for him to wake up, Dion only heard static.

It was brief, however, as Dion caught sight of the real monster. The one who forced Raz into such a servile position was seated on the opposite side of the Brain Tumbler. His world was slathered in hues of blood red, and Dion’s one regret, in that moment, was letting Frazie get a charging head start.

It took the combined efforts of Oleander and Helmut to maintain the physical distance between the Aquatos and Bobby. Hollis had, somehow, managed to persuade them to remain calm. Then, he watched his mother sink once again to Raz’s knees, bawling against his shins while the Second Head tried consoling her. As explained, there was nothing they could do yet. They couldn’t discern why Raz was trapped when they already removed those peculiar locks. Otto theorized why, but Dion hadn’t heard a word over his mother’s sobering howling.

Hours passed. The tenuous peace eventually shattered. He couldn’t remember what he had snapped at the other agents scattered across the lab. All he remembered was Gisu on the floor, her cheek bruised from Frazie’s elbow swatting her when she teleported in with more devices. Somewhere in the chaos, Helmut was tossed by Queepie, and they, too, were tossed out of Sasha’s lab, letting more and more time pass. It was true chaos, now blanketed in a dense silence.

Someone’s stomach growled and shattered the stillness. It might have been his own. Dion thought his last meal was yesterday’s breakfast. Lili, with dark rings under her eyes, had been nice enough to bring them sandwiches covered in shrinkwrap, but he couldn’t stomach a crumb.

Now that he had returned to reality, acknowledging where he stood, he also couldn’t stomach the intern currently yapping his ear off.

She was about Raz’s height, give or take an inch. Dressed in jeans and a graphic T-shirt, her hair pulled back in tight buns, she somehow looked professional for a teenage intern. When she waltzed over, Mirtala said her name was Phoebe. He didn’t know when she weaseled her way over to them in a wing that was supposedly blocked off with clearance allowed for only particular agents.

Then, much to Dion’s mutual bewilderment shared with his family, Phoebe supplied them with a chance at therapy.

“...and so, that’s what I’m offering because I know how long you guys have been here, and I, well, I heard you weren’t treated the best. Word gets out fast in the Motherlobe,” she explained, folding her hands in front of her waist. She smiled, teeth pearly white and braced. “Any takers? I really do want to help as best as I can, so while they help Raz, I can help you.”

Dion thought Raz was long-winded, but she took the cake. Sweeping his fingers through his greasy hair, grimacing at the faint film on his palm, he said, “Listen, I don’t want to chew you out, but we’re not in the mood. It’s a nice gesture, I guess. Thanks, but no thanks.”

Phoebe frowned, the answer clearly going against her expectations. She surveyed the Aquatos, and Dion had enough of being watched. Pushing off the wall, spotting that Oleander and Milla had absconded from their duties of observing the Aquatos, he raised his hands. He took a stand in front of his family, Augustus and Nona still with Raz. While Donatella remained on her bottom by a window, Queepie and Mirtala murmuring to her, he was glad Frazie joined him shoulder-to-shoulder in protecting their withdrawn, haggard mother. Phoebe stepped back. She seemed to register her advances were unwanted. “Sorry. Maybe that was impetuous of me. Bad timing, too. I know this is a dire situation, and Bobby totally deserves your anger, so if you want to discuss anything with me, or just want to vent, I’m here for you guys. Raz is my friend, too, and I also-” She peeked around Frazie. “-wanted to make sure you’re doing okay, Tala. How are you? We haven’t had a chance to talk since I graduated from Whispering Rock.”

Dion looked at Mirtala, but she wasn’t returning Phoebe’s smile. She stood with Donatella, her flushed face pinching. As Donatella wiped her eyes for what must have been the thousandth, her deep violet mascara staining her cheeks, Mirtala stated, “We aren’t as close as you think, Phoebe.”

She balked. Behind her, Dion saw her two friends waiting in the wing appearing equally mystified. There was an assortment of other interns, too, but they were merely faces in the crowd. Phoebe struggled to respond, but Donatella thrust out her hand. Queepie quickly grabbed it, helping her stand while Mirtala steadied Donatella’s waist.

“Please, just go,” she ordered, and she pointed, though there was no strength in her posture. “This is a family matter. It doesn’t involve you. I won’t give you brownie points for coming over and lecturing us. Take your gaggle of onlookers, and leave us alone.”

“Oh! Um, that’s not at all what I wanted to do. ‘Lecturing?’ Wait, really, I’m not trying to talk down to you guys.” Phoebe folded her arms, a myriad of reactions flooding through her as Donatella leered. “I, uh, look, I’m sorry, Mrs. Aquato, but I’m not trying to get your bad side. Bobby’s the one-”

“Whoa, whoa, Phoebe, area’s off limits. I’m gonna need you to skedaddle.”

Lizzie’s voice echoed as she sauntered from the lab, followed by her assortment of fellow agents. She patted Phoebe’s back, coaxing her to leave. Phoebe rubbed her arm, clearly dissatisfied with the responses she received.

“You guys know the drill. Up and out.” Morris clapped his hands sharply. “Come on. Let’s go. Quentin, Elka, the rest of you, I don’t need to tell you twice.”

Norma set her index finger on the bridge of her glasses, peering at Phoebe. “I understand what you’re doing, but this isn’t the time. You think you’re helping by offering to hear them out, and that’s not what they need. What they require is a definite solution to end this problem.”

Dion’s knuckles ached. He hadn’t realized how intensely he had been clenching his fists. He shifted his gaze toward the lab, knowing nothing of substance was occurring. Until the obvious happened, then the Aquatos would never feel secure, and for Dion, he sensed he wouldn’t be well until he heard that annoying, endearing, high-pitched chuckle.

Phoebe tried again. “But Agent Natividad-”

She lifted her head, pointing with her chin. “They’re clearly not in the mood. Leave it to us, Phoebe, and go with the interns. There should be some scavenger hunt items for you to locate somewhere around the Motherlobe, so I suggest you hop to it.”

Phoebe bit her lip. She sagged under her mentor’s firm derailment. She tried to meet Mirtala’s eyes, but Mirtala ducked her chin to her chest. Frazie reached back and gripped her shoulder, scowling at Phoebe, who had taken on a true visage of dejection. The brunt of their anger was given to her full force, and briefly, just briefly, Dion pitied her.

Relenting, Phoebe nodded. She opened her mouth, but seemed to think better of it. Instead of an excuse, she mustered an apology. She retreated to the other interns, giving a parting glare toward Sasha’s lab. They walked off, escorted by older agents, who finally realized the commotion and ordered them to stay away.

Donatella accepted the box of tissues offered by Sam. She thanked her in a thick, tight voice before blowing her nose. She rasped for breath, taking another tissue for good measure. As she cleaned herself for what might have been the tenth time, she said she needed a minute and dragged herself to the window. It overlooked parts of the Quarry, but Dion couldn’t find any beauty in the glistening, clear waters. They may as well have been bubbling and polluted.

No one spoke. Glances were given, not words. Dion locked eyes with Gisu, and still, he couldn’t grasp what needed to be said. Gisu, along with the rest of the agents, were just as withdrawn. Nobody had slept, evidenced by the shared dark circles under their eyes. If they had eaten, the amount of food was in small, unfulfilling quantities, such as Lili’s unwrapped, untouched sandwiches.Lili 

Frazie drew in a sharp, sudden breath and flatly remarked, “Sorry I walloped you, Gisu.”

She blinked, taken aback. “Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, no problem. You didn’t know I’d teleport to that spot. I’m lucky your elbow didn’t materialize through my skull.”

Dion pulled a face, but stopped himself from replying when he noticed Queepie fidgeting with his sleeve. He asked him what was wrong.

Queepie turned his attention to Morris. “Is, uh, Mr. Fullbear still mad I threw him?” He chuckled, leaning forward in his chair. He reached over and ruffled Queepie’s hair, parted on the side. “The big guy’s tougher than you give him credit for, man. He was frozen for twenty years, so you’d think his muscles would’ve atrophied, but nope. He’s built like a brick shithouse.”

Donatella immediately glowered at him for the language in front of her ten-year-old. Morris pretended not to notice, eyes flitting across each sibling before sharing a quick grin with Queepie.

“Physical therapy has kept him strong,” Adam piped up, fingers typically steepled. “Not to mention the ice kept him perfectly preserved. His husband once told me he’s jealous that his bones aren’t clicking as much as his.”

“He even has better posture than Norma,” Sam added, earning a scoff of surprise from her intended, or unintended, target.

“Hey, my back is - oh, I’m not getting into a tit for tat with you. It’s already too tiring.”

“Even if she’s right?” Lizzle drawled, elbowing her sister, and earning a quiet titter of giggles from Mirtala. She grinned a lopsided smile. “Hey, finally, I got a laugh out of you. Being morose doesn’t suit you.”

Dion couldn’t bring the corners of his lips to rise. As sweet as it was to hear her soft laughter, it was not enough to bandage their wounds. He looked at Donatella, finding she was already departing from the group. She swayed toward the nearest window, and although his back was turned, he sensed she was not observing the surrounding foliage or crystal clear water.

Frazie huffed out a breath like a frustrated horse. She cupped her knitted brows, her expression twisting. She opened her mouth, and said nothing. Then, she rolled her head back and slackened her arms, asking the obvious.

“I think enough time has passed, so does…does anyone know why this happened? Any fathomable reason?”

As she tossed out her hands, the agents weren’t responding. Sam looked at the others, and Morris crossed his arms. Gisu fidgeted with the strap of her new, leather bag. She sent a glance toward Norma, who maintained eye contact with Frazie.

At Lizzie’s nod, Adam sighed. He lowered his shoulders. Dion heard his joints grind.

“When we saw Raz last, Bobby lashed out at him. Sure, Raz goaded him, but that’s not enough. There’s been a history of provocation, more so on Bobby’s side, and this was a meticulously planned attack on Raz. The PSI locks jamming the Brain Tumbler, for example, were ones Bobby had been seemingly working on for some time.”

Gisu added, “With how many Bobby wedged in the Brain Tumbler, it would take at least a few weeks for someone without technical knowledge to create. Otto said they were cheap or something, but that just goes to show how far Bobby was willing to go. He must’ve been feeling-”

“That asshole has been planning this for a while, right? I don’t need to hear anything else.” Dion scoffed, gripping his elbows, and Gisu frowned, as if she was biting her tongue. “He’s always had it out for Raz. Day one in that camp? Raz told me that guy fired at him from a tank. A tank! Ever since then, he’s been jealous and spiteful, all because Raz was better than him. A bastard with a violent streak like that never should’ve been allowed in the Psychonauts.”

He punctuated his frustration by slamming his fist into his open palm. He didn’t want to hear any further reasoning. It didn’t matter. Raz was still a prisoner in Bobby’s mind, facing unknown tribulations while his family stood on the outskirts.

This time, they weren’t permitted to help. They couldn’t rush into action. Like bit players, they were watching the show with the curtain veiled over the stage. As he was sure his brother’s body was becoming colder and paler, Dion didn’t want to consider anything beneficial for Bobby. Whatever he felt, whatever he endured, it was secondary to the suffering he must have been enforcing upon Raz.

Frazie glanced at Dion, sucking in a breath, then huffing it out, deciding it was worth saying. “I don’t know about that last part, Dion.” “What do you mean? What’s wrong with what I said?” Dion felt their mother’s eyes boring through him, as if compelling him to question them in her stead. “This guy attacked Raz! Trapped him in his mind! He’s definitely brutalized him! How else am I supposed to interpret it, huh?”

Adam’s voice was clipped. “The Psychonauts don’t abandon their own. This obviously wasn’t a standalone act of violence.”

“I don’t want to hear anything excusing that asshole! He hurt Raz! End of story!”

“Earlier, when you said-” Lizzie peered at Mirtala, who waited with wide, dull eyes, and Dion snorted as he was ignored. “-Bobby looked like he was crying, it had us all wondering. Things that were missed that led up to him, well, cracking.”

Sam stroked her arm, unblinking as she spoke in an uncharacteristically somber tone. “Kind of like how a dam breaks.”

As Queepie gasped, and Mirtala covered her mouth, Donatella whipped her head over her shoulder. Dion didn’t need to stare at her. He knew shock was scorching her face a brilliant scarlet. Every bit of reddened rage colored his cheeks, as well. Dion’s insides twisted, his own emotions in turmoil. He raised a slow, accusatory finger at Sam’s face, hunching forward as he snarled through gritted teeth.

“You better not mean what I think you’re implying. Nona’s circumstances were different and way more excruciating. You keep her name out of your mouth.” 

Sam didn’t flinch. None of them did.

Dion felt like a cauldron boiling over with toxic carbonation. If what she implied was true, then they had the nerve to compare Nona, who had been a corrupt gzar’s political pawn, to a manipulative fraud like Bobby Zilch. She had been berated and barraged with tragedy. What could have even been comparable? Failing an obstacle course in summer camp while Raz strived? Being unable to learn a psychic skill with the same aptitude as Raz? Hiding behind a tree and glaring at their family when they visited the Motherlobe? It was ridiculous, a cruel joke to believe their weight was equal. Dion shook with such palpable rage that he had half a mind to storm into the lab and smash his tired fist through that contraption, if it meant rescuing his brother from a devil in disguise.

“Dion,” Frazie snapped, gripping her head once more, “drop it. Just drop it.”

He pivoted to Frazie, incredulous. “Nona is nothing like the guy who singled out Raz. Are you defending him now?”

“Ugh! I’m not. I wouldn’t. The Psychonauts-” Frazie filled her chest with air and exhaled with pained exertion. “The Psychonauts helped Nona when our world turned upside down, all right? When that happened, they protected her.” She held up her hands. “Adam’s right. It’s not like them to abandon anyone in need. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Oh, yeah? You’re leaving a lot out and-”

“Look, just let us finish. We’ve been going over this diligently with the senior agents, and we want you to hear us out,” Norma insisted, and she lightly patted Gisu’s shoulder, prompting her to continue before Dion could shout.

“Trapping Raz, Bobby definitely intended to hurt him. No other facts point otherwise, but when Lizzie told us Tala’s observation, we started wondering if this really was a cry for help. Heck, Oleander even phoned home and learned Bobby was-”

“You’re joking! None of this was a cry for help! Raz was deceived! So were the rest of you!” Dion barked. He couldn’t believe they had spent a few summers of youthful bliss together. For her to so much as consider a plight of decency for the unforgivable whelp who had harmed Raz, he wanted to scrub his mouth out with soap.

“Or whatever Bobby originally wanted was turned into something else between them,” Sam stressed. “Y’know, becoming a cry for help. They haven’t made any messed up noises in a few hours, right?”

“No! Not right! What the hell is wrong you guys? You’re making up excuses.”

“Not like we’ll know what’s actually happening until they emerge,” Morris retorted, drumming his fingers on the fortified armrests of his new chair. “So, at this point, with how long this has gone on, the Psychonauts are willing to give Bobby the benefit of the doubt. We want to hear what Raz says before any hasty decisions are made, too. That’s coming from the Grand Head himself.”

Dion shook his head. They may as well have promoted Bobby as a Psychonaut for his daring little scheme. It was like they were looking the other way, pretending not to see Raz. They could say how much they cared for Raz, how much they wanted to see him back on his feet, all while espousing platitudes for his kidnapper. It was a low bar for the Psychonauts, declaring Bobby would face consequences, and they couldn’t cross that nanoscopic threshold.

“We won’t know the whole truth until they’re freed, and we’ll go from there. That’s what Hollis and Truman have decided with the other agents,” Norma concluded, and she clutched her wrist, meeting Frazie’s narrowed gaze. “With how quiet things have been, and no visible, physical reactions have been happening for the past few hours, it’s a possibility things are calmer between them in Bobby’s mind.”

Dion chewed on the inside of his cheek. His family was stuck outside, left to take their statements at face value. The lab was right there, but it was like they had to traverse across a moat to reach the castle. They had some nerve deciding on what to do without consulting his family.

Regardless, he watched Mirtala approach. She wrung her hands, rolling her wrists. His stomach flipped at her agonizingly hopeful voice, like tittering birdsong from a weary, groggy sparrow.

“You mean, they could be working it out? And maybe-maybe things will be okay?” 

Norma managed a smile that twitched a little more than probably intended. “That’s my, well, our hopeful conjecture. Trust me when I say we’ve been debating this for some time amongst ourselves and our superiors.”

Queepie itched through his scalp, his hair just as flat and matted as Dion’s. The embodiment of discomfort, he mumbled, “I mean, I won’t believe anything until I hear it from Raz. He better wake up soon.”

“I’m-I’m sure he will,” Mirtala said, spinning to his side. “I bet Boo, uh, Bobby will, too, and they can tell us what happened.”

Yeah, if I don’t get to that guy’s scrawny neck first.

Dion let those words fester in his mind. No matter the carefully curated statements, he wasn’t interested in comprehending their rationale. If he was in a better mood, then he might have admitted they made observations with merit. He hadn’t heard a single, dismal groan echoing from Raz in some time. For that, he guessed he was grateful the situation had seemingly calmed.

In the end, the one who mattered was Raz. He was still suffering in an unknowable mind with a person who loathed him beyond petty, childish rivalry. Whatever Bobby had endured, or supposedly endured, was nothing compared to the horrors he must have been enacting upon Raz.

One glance at his sister affirmed his trepidation. Frazie’s gaze teetered toward the lab. Norma uttered her name, and she stiffened. The attention was clearly unwanted, a burden on her tense back. She looked down, spotting Queepie, Mirtala, but Raz was not with them. There should have been five high-flying, death-defying Aquato siblings, not four.

She withered. A tree without roots was destined to falter.

“I get it. That guy hates Raz. Whenever Raz visited, sometimes, he mentioned a problem he had with that asshole. I swear, I’d see him lurking in the Questionable Area when me and Raz were catching up on our acrobatics.” Dion heard her jaw click. “But even if you guys say all that, say there’s a method to his madness, to trick Raz while he’s vulnerable, and trap him in his mind? I still can’t figure it out. What did Raz do that was so bad? No, actually, why Raz? Why hurt Raz at all?”

Her voice cracked. She tossed out her hands. But no one could provide proof. Explanations were paltry, a means to delineate the facts when the obvious inference rang loud and true. Dion gripped his elbows, squeezed his eyes shut, and saw Raz’s limp, bloodless body slumped against the Brain Tumbler.

Raz was imprisoned in Bobby’s mind. Nothing else mattered. No matter what was happening or had occurred, it didn’t smooth over the real truth like an eroded stone at the bottom of the sea. Until Raz was safe and free from Bobby’s clutches, Dion couldn’t rest, even as his head throbbed and heart rattled between his ribs.

He heard Donatella sniff. Her footsteps dwindled. She must have returned to the window.

Norma peered at her fellow agents. They wore their sympathetic masks, lips turned downward, slight mist glazing a few eyes. She seemed to speak for all of them. “There’s no justification. There’s only what we can do to understand when they’re out.”

“You should have just said the first part.”

When his mother interrupted, it hit Dion very, very suddenly that she had been far too quiet. Even her footsteps were pittering.

Everyone faced her. Mirtala’s silver bells chiming out of tune when she jerked her head. Donatella hunkered forward with her clenched fist on the rounded window. She slowly shook her head, leering at the dull carpet and potted ferns. If she had psychic powers, then Dion believed she would have set the entire Motherlobe ablaze in a swarm of uncontrollable flames.

Lizzie tempted her fury. “Uh, what do you mean? We-”

“You heard me!” she spat, flinging out her fist, each finger extending like whips. “Pootie is innocent. Pootie has done nothing wrong, and-and as soon as he emerges, I’m taking him out of the Psychonauts! He is coming home!” “Mom!” Frazie blurted, eyes shooting wide open. “You can’t just-”

“Don’t Mom me, Frazie. After today, after all this, you’re just as shocked as I am. You asked why someone would do this to Raz? Wel, such a situation never should have happened. If he stayed with us-”

“I understand you’re upset,” Norma hastily interjected, “but that’s not your decision. Raz is-”

Donatella huffed, breathing so hard that Dion thought her lungs would give out., Her mascara stains worsened as a glossy sheen of sweat dampened her face. It seemed she no longer cared about her once graceful appearance, nothing more than a caricature of maternal sorrow.

“I’ve had enough listening to the six of you. You don’t know what you’re talking about, and you say you’re Raz’s friends?” She snapped her attention to Mirtala, who squeaked, and Dion winced. “And you say that monster was crying, Tala? So what? He attacked your brother! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten those nights when you’d come to me telling a story about how he insulted or berated you, too.”

Mirtala shifted. She couldn’t meet Donatella in the middle. Dion kept his hands to himself.

“It’s a possible sign of guilt,” Norma snapped, swiftly regaining her composure. “Since this has gone for so long, it’s more likely than not Bobby’s dealing with some heavy regrets about the entire situation. ”

“And don’t forget Raz is a Psychonaut. There’s a chance he’s handling this,” Lizzie added, standing shoulder to shoulder with her sister. “Yeah, this sucks. Totally, completely blows. No one is saying this isn’t hell on Earth for everyone, but even so, you can’t make the choice to take Raz away from something he loves doing.”

“‘Loves doing?’ Oh, you’re telling me he loves being sequestered in that monster’s mind?” “Not at all what I said, and you know it, lady.”

Adam shot Lizzie a look, their mutual frustration palpable. “What Lizzie means to say is-”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what any of you say. I don’t give a rat’s ass for what that monster could say.” Donatella flung her finger toward the lab, her tone strident, so potent that every window in the Motherlobe could have shattered from her sonic decibels. “What could he possibly say other than a cheap sorry? He still made the decision to hurt my son! I want my son home! None of you could protect him! None of you! I couldn’t! I-!”

She choked. As if something was lodged in throat, she hacked and hobbled. Fresh sobs wracked her entire body. She was far frailer than Dion had ever seen, a porcelain doll with gilded, widening cracks. She may as well have shattered. No gold would cement her together again as Donatella cried. Through the black tears dripping between her fingers, staining the carpet in inky droplets, she raked her fingers through her unkempt hair splayed in lank strands over her shoulders.

Queepie rushed to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. Mirtala was quick to join, a stumble in her step. Donatella scooped them up like she would lose them, too, as if an invisible force would rip them from her iron grip.

Frazie dragged a finger along her damp eyelids. She looked at the agents, commiserating. Norma reached her first, one hand to her bicep, saying nothing. Dion wasn’t sure what could have been sound as the anguished howls of a broken mother rolled throughout the dismal, quiet Motherlobe.

Dion tipped his chin to his chest. He could barely suck in air through his gritted teeth. He grinded on them so hard that they may as well have turned to chalk.

“Yes, that’s what I’ve decided. He’s coming home. My baby is coming home with us. He’s going to stay with his family. He’s been away long enough. I can’t trust you people to keep him safe.”

Donatella wheezed her desires through chattering teeth. She glared over her youngest children toward the lab, and Dion heard the soft clicking of approaching heels, tempered by quickening footsteps of rainboots. 

“And I know I certainly can’t trust him with the likes of you.”

The visage of the Lesser Head of the Psychonauts did not change. She stood with her arms behind her back, looking down on Donatella with an unreadable expression. Lili bristled, glancing between them, before settling on crossing her arms when Hollis stepped toward Donatella. “Mrs. Aquato,” she said with undeserved evenness, “can we speak privately?” “This is private enough,” Donatella hissed, relinquishing her grip on Queepie and Mirtala to gesture. “Now that those weaselly interns are gone, no one else is in this corridor. If you want to preach to me, too, do it in front of everyone.”

She did not waver. She simply extended her arm. “Just down the hall. Please. I want to talk to you alone.”

Donatella shook. She glared out the window, only to scoff when she seemed to have spotted Hollis’ reflection. When Hollis reached into her pocket and retrieved a small packet of tissues, Donatella scrubbed her eyes with her dried, blackened knuckles.

As Donatella continued refusing her, Dion was surprised when Hollis turned to him. He wasn’t psychic. He thought she would have deferred to Frazie, who had undergone her tutelage. Frazie might not have been a Psychonaut, and yet, she still had an in that Dion lacked. She did not reach physically, as Dion took a solitary step away, and as if sensing his apprehension, Hollis addressed him from where she stood.

“I’m sorry. I failed,” she murmured, and Dion saw the rings under her eyes, somehow even darker than the ones under his. Her exhaustion bled into her slow words. “Plain and simple, I failed both Raz and Bobby. If you want to discuss missed signs, I should’ve realized everything much sooner. I shouldn’t have berated Raz for his obvious distrust. I shouldn’t have been quick to believe Bobby’s tears. Whatever is happening in Bobby’s mind, whatever Raz is going through, it’s on me. The Psychonauts take full responsibility.”

“Agent Forsythe-” Norma began, but Hollis raised his hand.

“An apology means nothing without action,” she said, and she looked to Donatella, who continued leering out the window, “which is why I’ll hope you’ll grant me the courtesy-” “Courtesy,” Donatella snarled.

“-to talk in private. Away from this very upsetting place. Even if it’s just right over there.”

“You must have lost your brain somewhere. Is it rolling around in one of those little capsules? If you think I’ll spend a second with you, you’re madder than a hatter.”

Dion dug his fingernails into his hips. Tension eased in his shoulders, so much so that they cracked as they lowered. With the discussion coming to a dead halt, he heard the blood pulsing between his ears. A rhythmic, monotonous flow almost dizzied him, and his damp eyes fluttered to stay afloat. He searched among the group, his austere mother leering down at the Second Head, who no longer wore her pride on her expansive shoulder pads.

Lili bared her teeth, ready to speak, but Hollis cupped her shoulder. She shook her head, dispelling the foaming fury that must have been rising in her throat. Donatella peered at her, one eyebrow neatly arched, and Dion assumed she was surprised Lili would seemingly muster an attempt to defend Hollis.

Left with his thoughts, Dion clutched his dry, cracked elbows. Without a word bouncing among them, he directed his gaze toward the lab, as he had done countless times. He knew what was happening, and no progress was being made in any meaningful manner. Patience was never his virtue. He had been still and stiff and silent long enough.

But he kept looking at Hollis. He presumed her to be a powerful leader. She was responsible for the Psychonauts under her care. Interns, agents, retirees, it didn’t matter. With how long she had known and trained Raz, the Motherlobe like a second home whenever Raz wasn’t traveling with his family, Hollis had garnered a tight-knit relationship with his little brother. Dion remembered how proud Raz was whenever he could state Hollis had trusted him with a mission, or took the time to further his training in private. Around the campfire, Raz rarely had a negative word about Hollis, even if their mother grumbled.

He glanced at the other agents. They were Raz’s friends, partners who had helped him face down his familial foe. Without them, the circumstances might have been different. In the years Raz spent with them, he, too, had dozens of tales to tell about them. Missions, pranks, movie nights, it was as if they had scooped Raz into their arms, carting him off like their own little brother. In the time he was apart from Raz, and Raz came home revealing something new he had learned from one of them, the joy on his face was undeniable. Stars practically twinkled in  his eyes, and Dion had to admit the plethora of twisting emotions, seeing Raz grow and learn sometimes without him, jabbed at his sides.

But they cared about Raz. Despite Dion’s own uncertainties, it was more than obvious they treasured him. He was the world’s youngest Psychonaut, along with being their trusted colleague and friend.

They wouldn’t have worked so tirelessly to free Raz if they were dismissive. And as Dion watched Hollis swipe a tissue to quickly brush at her eyes, he thought his legs would give out.

If she was experiencing identical anguish as the Aquatos, acknowledging the deep-seated grief stewing within Dion, then he blurted a command that the Dion of yesterday never would have considered.

“Mom, I think you should take her up on this.”

Donatella stared at him like he had split his head open, and blood gushed down his face. Even his siblings gawked. It didn’t take a psychic to perceive the look of complete incredulity crossing Queepie’s countenance to realize he was thinking, Who replaced Dion with a look-a-like?

“It-it might be better if you do,” he hastily added, “because, uh, because it’ll clear the air.”

She swallowed hard. She regarded Dion like a stranger. “I thought you would’ve been on my side.”

His blood froze over. Ice in his veins, Dion couldn’t break from her softened, surprised stare. He may as well have told his mother she was wrong.

But Frazie took to his side. She didn’t gaze at Dion. Rather, her tone took on their shared strength. 

“Mom, it’d be better if you talked to Hollis one-on-one.”

Donatella hesitated. She held her breath. Although Hollis offered her another tissue, she remained as stationary as a rusted, marble statue on a paltry foundation. She kept her hands to her chest, and clear tears slithered down her marred cheeks.

Dion’s heart hammered. It ricocheted between his ribs, threatening to break every single one. Tensing his knees, he ordered himself to remain upright. He couldn’t turn to Frazie, but no psychic connection was needed to affirm where they stood.

Their mother huffed. She cradled her head. And a semblance of peace returned.

“Oh, fine, fine. I know when you two are united, there’s no point in arguing.” 

She stomped down the hall, her brisk pace prompting Hollis to follow. Without a parting word or a promise of when she would return, Donatella vanished around the rounded corner, Hollis in tow.

Dion dropped his head. His entire body slumped forward. Frazie’s hold on his collar prevented him from falling over outright. Hearing her snicker, he snorted at whatever amusement she derived from his exhaustion.

Before he could remark on anything, Lili snatched the shrinkwrapped sandwiches left in a heap on the floor. “You guys seriously didn’t eat the food I brought? They definitely aren’t as fresh now,” she grumbled, telekinetically shoving them in each Aquato’s hand. “Come on, eat them. I know you guys haven’t had anything.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Queepie muttered, tearing his open with Mirtala. “Ew. There’s some weird sauce in here.”

“It’s called aioli.”

“That does not look like aioli. It’s too green.”

“Then, some relish got in it! Sheesh, Queepie, it’s a club sandwich.”

Sticking his tongue out at Lili, Queepie gasped when Mirtala lightly kicked his shin. He looked ready to kick her back when Dion eyed him. He scoffed and shoved the sandwich into his mouth, ignoring Mirtala’s perfectly innocent air.

“Think those two are gonna be okay?’ Gisu wondered as Dion fiddled with his shrinkwrap.

“Well, they haven’t shouted in thirty seconds. I’d say things are going better than we hoped,” Lizzie sneered.

Norma checked her watch. “Almost a minute, now. Still no screaming.”

Dion scoffed through his first bite, only for his eyes to widen. The taste of dry turkey, watery tomatoes, and excessive mayonnaise was like fine dining from a master chef. Foregoing any food made an average sandwich a meal fit for a king. But while Frazie grinned, Dion simply turned his head, trying to eat as casually as possible.

Lili cracked her jaw, reminiscent of Lizzie. She peered at the agents, saying nothing verbally, but he could tell telepathy was in play. He had seen Raz concentrating when they were in their beds, gazing at nothing in particular, while being immersed in a conversation with someone far away. She wore the same look, along with the other agents, but what she suggested had him struggling to swallow the next bite.

“Maybe…we should get out of here, too.” “Wh-? Just leave?” He swatted at his chest and gulped hard. “What if something happens?”

“My dad will tell me, and I’ll tell you. He promised if there were any updates, I’d be the first to know.”

“Yeah? Can we tru-?” He stopped himself, dismissing the budding accusation. If the Grand Head was anything like his subordinate, then Dion supposed he deserved the same respect. “Uh, forget it  Forget I said anything.”

Lili stretched, lacing her fingers above her head and standing on her tiptoes. Dion had seen Raz elongate his spine in the same way. Although a common gesture, he couldn’t help but wonder if Lili had picked up that trait from Raz.

When her back popped, she sighed and crossed her arms. “I get it. Sitting and waiting, it’s really hard, especially when there’s nothing you can do-” Her gaze swept across the munching Aquatos. “-except take care of ourselves.”

Adam ruffled her hair, and she quickly brushed aside his hand. “You phrased it perfectly, Lili. Better than I could.”

“Can we go?” Mirtala asked abruptly to her older siblings. It was unlike her to ask for permission, in most cases. She was the kind of girl who tended to move to her own rhythm.

Queepie didn’t need permission to do anything. It was a trait Dion found more than irritable when he ran off from chores. He was already with the agents, as if expecting Dion and Frazie would comply.

Frazie stared at Lili, their thoughts uniquely private. Then, an almost resigned air, she said, “Some fresh air might be good. It’ll be better to leave Mom alone while she’s with Hollis, too.”

Dion said nothing. He showed his palms and walked in the rear. Frazie joined him, shoulder to shoulder. Watching Queepie speak with Morris, and Mirtala clinging to Lili while Sam tried prying her off, Dion supposed they were the outliers. They hadn’t technically agreed; they were following the group. If Dion was a gambling man, then he would have put all of his chips in by insisting Frazie, like himself, would have rather stayed with Raz.

But she grinned at him, flanked by Norma. “Holding up?” “Hardly,” he said, taking comfort in how Gisu slipped into his shadow. “I bet if we leave, something’s gonna happen.” “Come on, Dion. We’ve waited for over a day. What could possibly happen when we’re gone?”

And although Frazie flashed him a lopsided smile, Dion smothered his trepidation, clinging to the hopeful strand that a peaceful resolution would ensue, even if he still wanted nothing more than to punch Bobby Zilch’s lights out.

[tumbleinthenet]

SamFrazie with 6, 8 and/or 21?

i'm so sorry... you're going to get so many headcanons spewed at you and almost none of them are going to make sense. take this all in assuming that sam: 1. is blastokinetic and 2. killed her father on accident as a child, thus thoroughly destroying her already tense relationship with her mother and probably seeing her very rarely from that point on.

6.) What about their environment influences them?

they're short of options for other people to talk to, honestly. they're very similar kinds of girls, brought up in homes that were never normal, even if the aquatos were happier than the booles in myself and my friend's shared headcanons. frazie grew up molded by the experience of being an eldest sister and so did sam. they have to protect their siblings from the bullshit their parents put them through (though i think sam does a better job of that). i don't think frazie is the oldest technically, i do think she's dions younger twin, but being the eldest sister is still a very unique experience.

they're very abrasive in very specific ways (a little violent, a little unhinged). they don't have much experience with other people their age. they're just going to kind of drift together no matter what. (sorry if this answer makes no sense for this question, its 2 am and im having trouble parsing it so i just threw in every kind of answer i thought made sense)

8.) Is there a third party involved that influences them in anyway?

in most cases, it's probably their brothers that push things forward. raz and dogen being friends would be a good enough push for sam to check out raz's other siblings, and frazie knows sam was the least fucked up to raz when it came to everything so she doesn't dislike her as much as she initially does the other interns.

in some cases, norma is the linchpin. i just don't super ship her with frazie which has led to me putting her into kind of an antagonistic role sometimes? frazie battles her sexuality long enough to confess to norma, they don't have a very fulfilling relationship (norma's bound to other things. she likes frazie well enough but she's probably a little nervous about her own sexuality along with familial pressure and the image of herself she likes to put out into the world. a partner, especially one as reckless and wild as frazie, just doesn't work for her. she gets colder and colder and eventually turns away from her completely.), sam picks her up when she gets dropped and becomes the surprise rebound. they bounce off each other better than expected.

there's also donatella? i don't think she has any specific role in things, but my view of her is as a woman who does not hold any particular liking for her daughters. i love dona. i think she's great. i also think she's a boy mom, and her only involvement with her girls is to teach them how to be proper women. i don't think frazie's into that. i think she worries a lot about how her mom thinks of her. tala's the little primadonna to be; it was never going to be her.

she feels a lot like she's worth nothing in the family dynamic (she has nothing that's her own as compared to her siblings, she has nowhere to go and nothing to be without the circus) and i think dona influenced a lot of that thinking just for bringing up the boys to a different standard. i think she's very much a papa's girl but he fucked her up too, in different but very noticeable ways 😭

21.) How much of the issues are external vs internal?

for them, it's probably more internal. i think of frazie as having a really hard time coming out, and struggling with being a lesbian not because she hates herself for being one or hates the idea, but because she worries a lot about how she'll be seen by her family and by the greater public. it takes a long time for her to get to the idea of being in a relationship, and once she's in one, she's pretty private about it with everyone except dion, when they're getting along well enough for him to listen.

sam talks about it pretty much openly, though it only comes up on occasion. the external bits of this are that frazie has a hard time with pda and it does Not Feel Good for sam, as well that she just really struggles with knowing when is too far. frazie is used to talking with her siblings, she knows what they can take both physically and mentally, and even then she sometimes hurts their feelings. she probably hits the wrong button with sam a few times and doesn't know how to apologize, even if it's kind of hard to tell when sam's feeling hurt at all.

sam, imo, has kind of a fear of intimacy but is trying? she nuked her home life pretty hard and doesn't know how to come back from that. she puts people at lengths. they both don't really know how to navigate a relationship but it's super frustrating to her that frazie doesn't even seem to be trying to get over her own hurdles.

just as well, they really don't know how to communicate. it's probably their first relationship ever in any world where norma isn't a part of the situation, and they don't have many close relationships with people outside of that. plus, they're teenage girls. they're still figuring themselves out. being psychic doesn't help everything. they have to figure out how to talk to each other.

[brain-bumbler]

Thoughts on Bob mentoring Dion?

I really love Dion rofl

I love him too, he's a great character!

At first it sounds like a bit of trouble, Dion is grumpy, I don't think bob would handle a teenager well, but looking deeper I see a lot of potential!

Bob is also grumpy after all, and I think that whole "cocoon of anger to keep people from hurting me" thing is SUPER relatable to Dion

I think Bob and him would at first be awkward but as long as they fall into a rhythm of "tending garden without saying a word" Dion could get used to this kind of therapy.

No one here is pushing him to talk about his feelings, god forbid. He just digs in the dirt and rips up weeds and that's as close to punching something as he's allowed to get.

"Uh, Bob, don't you think mentoring should include more... mentoring?"

Bob smiles. "Give it time. Give him time."

And slowly, without encroaching on Bob's space, Dion's little corner of the garden takes on such an efficient organizational method that Bob adopts some of it for his own garden.

I'm thinking of Dion and Bob working on opposite sides of the greenhouse, and with nothing to focus on by the ground and plants and his own thoughts, Dion just- starts to cry. It comes out of nowhere and he's horrified, embarrassed- but it also feels like such a relief. He looks around to make sure Bob didn't see (Bob is psychic, he knows, but also knows the boy doesn't want attention right now) and finishes his work and hurries off. Processing trauma is like that sometimes.

He's not good with words. But he insists on trying to grow raspberries no matter how many times he fails, and he learns to handle things more gently. He gives his mom fresh veggies to cook with, and he asks Raz to bring him books on some type of psychic plant, and a fresh potted daisy shows up in Frazie's room.

Once the little plant has been given something stable to hold on to, it grows up straight and tall and starts to blossom.

When Bob is sick, one week- alcoholism is a bitch to kick- he comes back and his garden has been carefully tended. The plants tell him they were well cared for, his vines curly happily to see him.

Dion pretends he doesn't know what Bob is talking about. Bob gives him nice terra cotta pots for his new flowering succulents. Dion paints all eight with white and blue stripes and insists they all be kept together in a group, especially the smallest one in the middle.

anyway I like it! : D Bob is a good guy I think they could make it work! If Dion got herbaphony, he'd be bringing Gisu potted flowers because he's like "I can hear them and they didn't want me to rip them up i hope this is okay", and she thinks he's so cute it's worth lugging around a big pot all day.

[ask-agent-rapzutin-vodello]

Prompt" the interns being largely unsupervised teenagers with access to a shared space wind up playing truth or dare hilarity and embarrassment ensues

Maybe not precisely what you asked, but hey, I managed to finally write this story.

With the Summer Vacation in sight, there wasn’t much to do for the Interns these days, besides relaxing and having fun before. Wich means, going to see movies with everyone, just hanging out anywhere doing whatever, or for those with romantic partners: going on dates.

Today, Raz and Lili were out with the former’s parents – both adoptive and biological, which meant that the older teenagers had the kingdom for themselves, which meant they could do things they usually couldn’t do when the younger kids were around.

Like Truth or Dare, the way it’s meant to be played: with embarrassing questions and humiliating dares. Which is what they did. The evidence of previous dares was quite obvious. Morris was wearing one of Lizzie’s dresses. Adam had his mouth duct taped, until it was his turn again. Sam …was invisible.

Right now, it was Dion’s turn, and he was regretting picking Dare while Lizzie was the one choosing what to do. He scowled at the bottle Lizzie had in her outstretched hand. “I am not doing it. Not in a million years.”

“Then you have to take the punishment, and buddy…” Lizzie grinned slyly. “You don’t want that.”

“Believe me, you don’t.” Norma commented, her arm resting securely around her girlfriend’s waist.

“It’ll be much more pleasant than dyeing my hair …that!”

Frazie let out a groan. “Dion, you’re acting like she asked you to do something terrible.”

“It is!”

“It’s hair dye!”

Dion’s dare was to dye his hair in an outrageous color, and he was not happy with it.”

“C’mon Dion, do it for me.” Gisu cooed, winking at her boyfriend. “I think you’ll look amazing.”

Dion glared at the bottle for a few moments more, before he let out a sigh and snatched the bottle out of the Punk’s hand. “I’m gonna make you pay for this.” He stood up with a growl and made his way towards the Interns’ Bathroom, grumbling all the way.

“Instructions are on the bottle, you big baby!” Lizzie called out with a smile that would’ve made the Cheshire Cat jealous.

Dion stopped in the doorway to look over his shoulder, throwing Lizzie a look like he wanted nothing more for her to just drop dead then and there. With a final grumble, he entered the bathroom. The moment the door slammed behind him; the rest of the Interns started snickering.

“You’re a cruel woman, Lizzie.” Gisu commented.

“He’s gonna look awful.” Invisible Sam’s voice said.

“It’s party dye, it’ll wash out.” Lizzie noted with a shrug.

“But Sparkly Neon Lime Green?” Morris questioned. “Why do you even have that?”

“Reasons.” Lizzie answered curtly, before turning to Adam. “Your turn, which means you can ungag yourself.”

Adam let out a groan in relief, and tore the tape from his mouth. “Finally, freedom.” He cried out, running his hand over his mouth. “Okay, let’s see who my victim is.” He snapped his fingers, making the bottle in the middle of their circle spin around. A few moments later, the tip landed towards …Norma.

“Oh, great…” Norma cheered in a deadpan voice. “Okay, Tr- “

“You already took two truths in a row.” Lizzie interrupted her, grinning from ear to ear. “You need to pick a dare, or you’ll get a Special Punishment.”

Norma shuddered. She had seen Gisu’s punishment, and she was in no hurry to get one of her own. “Okay, you win. Dare.” She sighed. “Lay it on me.”

Adam rubbed his chin in thought, humming as he tried to come up with a dare. His eyes lit up with mischief. “I dare you to …” He grinned slyly. “…kiss Gisu.”

Norma raised an eyebrow, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, ignoring the exasperated gasp of mock shock. “That …that doesn’t seem too bad.”

Adam raised a finger. “For 30 seconds, full lip contact and like you would kiss Frazie.”

Now Norma’s face turned instantly bright red. “What? Seriously?”

Gisu wiggled her eyebrows, a seductive grin on her lips. “Oh, now it’s a party.”

“I have a girlfriend!” Norma stated, her voice breaking slightly at the last word.

“Aw, I don’t mind.” Frazie reassured. “It’s just for a game, after all.”

“But …”

“And it’s not like this is uncharted territory.” Morris commented.

“Yeah, wasn’t it a 7-minutes-in-heaven game with Gisu that made you realize you were lesbian?” Sam asked, her voice suddenly sounding from the other side of the room.

“And even a few times after that.” Gisu stated, making Norma shrink into herself.

“That …was different.” Norma argued, crossing her arms.

Frazie let out a sigh. “Oh, for Pete’s sake…Here.” She leaned over to Gisu and planted a kiss on her lips. She returned to her seat and smirked at her girlfriend’s shocked expression. “There, now we’re gonna be even.”

Norma’s mouth opened and closed a few times, as if she was struggling to come up with another argument. She eventually let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, I agree. On one condition …make it 15 seconds.”

“Okay, fair. You got a deal.”

Norma watched nervously as Gisu shuffled closer. She turned to Frazie again. “You sure you don’t mind?”

Frazie rolled her eyes with a giggle. “Just pretend she’s me and you’ll be smooching in no time.”

“I’m loving how comfortable Frazie is with this.” Lizzie chuckled.

“Hey, I trust Norma, and a girl’s got fantasies of her own, you know.” Frazie stated confidently. “And I defy anyone denying they haven’t had one of their own.” She grinned victoriously when no-one – including her girlfriend – voiced any denials. “That’s what I thought.”

Norma turned back to Gisu, who just smiled warmly at her. She took a final deep breath and nodded. Gisu closed the distance between them and planted her lips gently on Norma’s.

15.

14.

13.

Norma had forgotten what it felt like to kiss Gisu, and how soft her lips actually were. She had to admit …Dion was a lucky guy.

12.

11.

10.

9.

Norma’s hand slowly rose to Gisu’s waist, pulling her closer against her. She relaxed a bit more and leaned a bit into the kiss. Not too much, just enough to make it less awkward. She wasn’t sure if it helped.

8.

7.

6.

5.

A soft moan was heard. Norma had no idea if it was from her or from Gisu. She could hear Frazie and the others snicker, though.

4.

3.

2.

1.

0.

Norma pushed herself off Gisu, her cheeks flushed and quickly shuffled backwards until she was next to Frazie, who was just grinning mischievously at her, her own cheeks flushing a bit. “You certainly enjoyed that.”

“Shut up.” Norma countered quietly, as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

“I certainly did.” Gisu commented with a wide grin. “You’re a great kisser, Norma.”

Norma just groaned and buried her face in her knees, trying to hide away her blush. Frazie threw her arm around her girlfriend and rubbed her shoulder.

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Frazie comforted. “I kinda enjoyed seeing that.” She tightened her grip on Norma’s shoulder and leaned in closer to her ear. “But try not to make it a habit, okay darling?”

Norma looked up, a grin on her face. “Oh, and what if it did?”

Mischief flashed in Frazie’s eyes, and a wide grin spread on her lips. “I’m gonna do …this!”

The next moment, Norma found herself pinned to the floor, and Frazie’s lips planted firmly against hers. She pulled away after a few seconds, panting softly. “These lips are mine, and mine alone to kiss.”

“Well, no doubt about – HMMHP.” Whatever sarcastic remark Norma wanted to make was silenced by Frazie’s lips again, this time really leaning into the kiss, letting her hands run through Norma’s curls. Norma’s arms wrapped around Frazie, pulling her tightly against her.

Lizzie sighed and stood up, dusting off her skirt. “Well, those two aren’t gonna play anymore.” She grinned. “Only with each other, it seems.” She cackled as Norma managed to wrestle an arm free and flip her sister off. “So, what are we gonna do now?”

“I’m gonna keep wearing the dress, for starters.” Morris joked, prompting a chuckle from the group.

The bathroom door open, and Dion – now sporting a sparkling bright neon lime green hairstyle, walked out. He looked at the scene before him, with Frazie and Norma making out in the middle of the room, and the rest of the Interns either watching or going off to do other things.

Dion scratched his head. “Uuh, …did I miss anything?”

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 26: sometimes i get so tired, i don't even know myself

Working to Exhaustion

2330 Words; Ouroboros AU

TW for violence, bloodsport, exploitation, murder, death

AO3 ver

“Next one’s heavy.”

Dion grunted as another box was dropped into his arms. “They’re all heavy.” He muttered, carrying it over to the shelf. But he didn’t have to carry it far, and it wasn’t that heavy. It was kind of big, though, high enough to press against Dion’s mask.

The other guy on unloading duty—Hunter? It was hard to tell, when they were all wearing the same plain white masks—whistled. “I swear, it’s like you never stop.” He commented, as Dion shoved the box into place. “The fuck did they feed you in your old life?”

“...food?” Dion pulled out his boxcutter to cut the box open.

Hunter chuckled. “A kid your age does not just handle heavy boxes like that.” He insisted.

Most people Dion’s age also didn’t have a body count, but that was besides the point. Dion rolled his eyes behind his mask.

There was always something to do in Ouroboros. And if Dion wanted to live, then he needed to be doing something. And he needed to live, no matter what—if Dion didn’t survive, then Mirtala would be the only Aquato in Ouroboros. And he couldn’t—he wouldn’t let her be left alone here. Not if he could help it.

(Mirtala didn’t deserve to be here at all, but there was nothing Dion could do on that front. His powerlessness would drive him crazy if he wasn’t able to at least provide for her.)

“Right, this one’s gotta be at least a little heavy to you.” Hunter grunted, slowly sliding the next box off the stack to pass to Dion.

Dion took the box, wincing slightly. Yeah, this one was kind of heavy—he wouldn’t want to carry that many boxes like it. But Dion knew how to handle heavy things. It was part and parcel of growing up in the circus, after all, from equipment to the other members of his family. Frazie was at least as heavy as this box, probably. Dion hadn’t had the chance to lift her in a while. Maybe she had gotten heavier, gotten the kind of muscle to make girls swoon over her.

(Dion swallowed that thought down. With any luck, he might never see Frazie again—which was for the better, because the day any more of his family ended up in Ouroboros was a day that Dion never wanted to see.)

Dion shoved the box into place on the shelf, pausing for a moment once it was in place. Still, it wasn’t that heavy.

(Queepie might have handled the weight better than Dion—

Dion shoved that thought away immediately. Queepie would be turning four soon; he should be nowhere near Ouroboros, ever. None of his family should, really—none of them but Dion.)

“Heavy, right?” Hunter prompted, already holding the next box.

Dion grunted, pulling his boxcutter out once again. So what if it was? He could handle it. He had to handle it.

Hunter shook his head. “Kids.” He grumbled. “You’re going to run smack into a wall with that kind of attitude.”

Whatever. Dion would be fine.

He had to be—there was no other way. If he slowed down for even a moment, if he let weakness show—

Dion took the next box. He’d survive.

No matter what.

+=+=+=+=+

Mirtala came back that night with a fresh bruise on her arm, her hair still damp from her shower.

“Tala—” Dion started. Stopped, his words catching on the knot of feelings in his throat. He reached out. Stopped.

Mirtala stared at him with tired eyes. She sat down on her bedroll, not saying a thing.

Dion looked away. What was he supposed to say? He didn’t want to encourage this. He never wanted Mirtala anywhere near the arena—she only just turned six. It was Dion’s job, his responsibility to take care of her—and every time she stepped into that arena, he failed.

What was he supposed to say? He didn’t know. He didn’t know.

(An apology might be a good start.

But Dion had always been a coward when it came to apologies.)

Dion’s jaw worked, his shoulders tensing. He should say something—

Too late. Mirtala laid down on her own cot, facing away from him. She huffed, curling up without a word.

I’m sorry. Dion wanted to say it. He needed to say it.

I’m sorry. The words got stuck in his throat.

Dion clenched his hands into fists, his eyes darting away from where Mirtala was lying—

Wait. “Um.” He managed, the sound of his voice surprising even himself. “Do you… do you want your unicorn?” Mirtala usually always grabbed it, when the light in their room started to fade. Dion couldn’t fathom why it was on his cot.

Mirtala rolled over, squinting at Dion. “Her name is Francis III.” She muttered.

“Oh.” Shit, when did Mirtala name it? How long ago? Wow, Dion felt like an idiot. His face was already heating up. “Well, do you want Francis III?” He really needed to apologize.

“No.” Mirtala said. She blinked, and yawned. “But you do.” And with that, she rolled back over, pulling the blanket tight around herself.

Dion swallowed. He grabbed Francis III, running his thumb over the felt strips making up the mane. One of the Wolves had gifted it to Mirtala when they had first gotten here—Dion looked over at his baby sister, who was the nicest person he’d ever known, and he could guess why. Even if she wasn’t his responsibility, he still wanted her to get the best that she could. Mirtala was just easy to spoil like that.

And yet he still couldn’t find the words to talk to her…

Dion looked Francis III in her beady little button eyes. He wanted to put the plush into Mirtala’s arms, adjust the blanket around her like he was tucking her in—anything to prove that he wasn’t an awful brother.

But he just sat there instead, choking on the knot in his throat.

Like a coward.

+=+=+=+=+

Dion looked up at the sound of footsteps, the mop coming to a stop.

He immediately looked back down, moving the mop again the moment he saw who was waling across the tiled floor. Oh, god, was this the end? Was he somehow mopping wrong? Or was it just fun to torment him?

Creed came to a stop not far from Dion, hands folded behind his back.

Dion continued mopping. If Creed wanted him to stop, he’d say so. Probably.

“Boy.” Creed started. Dion gripped the handle of the mop harder. “Look at me.”

Dion lifted his eyes to meet Creed’s dark brown. He paused in his mopping—he needed to rewet the mop in the bucket again, anyway—and waited to see what Creed would do.

Creed’s eyes flicked over Dion. He immediately felt like an ant confronting a boot—certain doom was all that awaited him, now.

“You’ve got a fight tonight.” Creed commented airily. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of time to… recuperate.”

It had been a while since Dion had had a fight—he hadn’t been scheduled for the last two Death Pits. And he wasn’t allowed back into the regular fights—though Dion really didn’t want to think about that.

“Okay.” Dion said, hating the way it sounded so small in the empty air. “I’ll be ready.”

(He wouldn’t, not really—he never was.

But Dion didn’t survive by waiting until he was ready—he couldn’t. Either he got his head above water, or he drowned—and Dion refused to drown. He’d survive however he needed to.)

“Good boy.” Creed nodded. He turned around and began to walk away—

“Oh,” Creed paused, “And this next fight?”

Dion looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“Win it.” Creed growled. “Your opponent isn’t meant to make it out of that arena alive, you got it?”

Winning was what Dion normally did, though? Dion stared at Creed a moment longer, then nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He confirmed, still unsure why Creed felt the need to tell him this.

“Good.” And with that, Creed left.

Doubts and uncertainties floated around in Dion’s head. He was finally going back in the ring, and the notion terrified and excited him in equal measure. He could finally get ahead just a little bit more—but he’d have to kill someone to do so.

(Well, it wasn’t like Dion’s hands weren’t already covered in blood.

He would survive. He had to.)

Dion sighed.

Back to work.

+=+=+=+=+

Dion waited for the gate to rise. The bars of the gate casted shadows across him, the audience already a loud din outside. It sounded bigger than usual, too, which grated on Dion’s nerves. He watched as another gate opened and his opponent-to-be was forced into the arena, stumbling across the sand. His own gate hadn’t opened, yet—god, Dion hoped it wasn’t broken.

The announcer was saying something, now, trying to get the audience to chant—

“DEATH! BY! LION!”

Dion went rigid. Suddenly, the earlier interaction with Creed made a lot more sense.

But… why him? Surely Creed had more popular fighters, more capable fighters—

The gate began to rise. No more time to doubt. Dion walked out into the arena, out into the lights hanging down, the cage bars casting shadows across him—

The audience ROARED.

“AND THE LION MAKES HIS RETURN!” The announcer cheered. “Let’s see some BLOOD!”

Dion’s opponent stood, staring at him through their orange and blue Ox mask. They snorted.

“This is it?” They asked. “This is the big bad Lion?” Derision colored their voice. Dion’s face flushed behind his mask, his hands squeezing into fists. “You’re just some kid!”

“And you’re dead meat.” Dion snarled. It was him or them, and Dion had no intention of losing.

The Ox broke out into a charge, raising their hand. Metal glinted in the light, and they swung down—

Dion ducked out of the way, rolling to the side and using his hands to spring up onto a hanging cord. The “Jungle Arena” was full of hanging cords and bars, like some twisted trapeze, and Dion was quick to fling himself up out of the Ox’ reach.

You’d think I was the Leopard, with the way I’m climbing around. Dion thought to himself, coming to a stop halfway up the rope. He looked down at the Ox, considering what to do.

Him or them. Dion would survive, no matter what.

He was supposed to make a show of it, too.

The Ox bellowed, grabbing the rope Dion was on. They yanked—

And Dion twisted over to the next rope with practiced ease. He didn’t want to have a favorite arena—he didn’t want to be in the arenas at all, really—but if he had to choose, it was probably this one. So many things to climb, so many ways to fling himself around!

(The arena that Mirtala made her official debut was similar, but Dion didn’t want to think about Mirtala in any arena.)

The Ox couldn’t climb as well as Dion could—if they could at all, seeing as they weren’t even trying—so Dion couldn’t lead them on a merry chase through the ropes and bars. So much for that idea.

Still, how to make this look good?

The audience was chanting, jeering, roaring for blood and violence and death. It was either Dion or the Ox—and Dion intended to win.

“That might work…” Dion muttered, flipping over backwards onto one of the hanging bars. He lifted himself up so that he was doing a handstand on it, allowing his legs to hook onto another bar higher up. He let go of the bar and looked down on the Ox.

“Are you even trying?” He jeered, “Surely you can take out ‘some kid’!” He flipped over to a knotted rope, then flung himself with a forwards flip onto a sideways one. The tightropes back home were way narrower than this. Confidence filled Dion as he paced along it, the Ox yelling below him.

“Get down here!” They shouted. “You little shit!”

Dion laughed. The sound shocked him, escaping his throat before he even recognized what it was.

What was he doing? This was a life-or-death situation! The cage bars cast shadows across the arena. The audience was cheering, jeering, roaring. Dion’s mask pressed against his face.

Fuck this. Fuck putting on a show. Dion wasn’t here to entertain, for all that Creed wanted him to. He was in here to survive, dammit!

With a cry, Dion flung himself down. He rolled as he fell, kicking out as he landed to hit the Ox square in the back. The impact flung him away, and he rolled with the impact, springing up off the floor at the soonest opportunity.

The Ox whirled around to face him, snarling through their mask. Dion darted to the side, cartwheeling up onto one of the ropes. They charged, and instead of climbing up Dion flung himself onto their shoulders when they passed, locking his ankles together in front of their face.

The Ox reached up, trying to pull Dion off—

Dion squeezed his thighs together. The Ox’ hands scrambled against Dion’s legs, prying uselessly at his boots—

Crack!

Dion jumped away as the body fell, flipping over backwards. That probably looked cool, right?

The audience was cheering. The chant from earlier returned, harsh against Dion’s ears.

“DEATH! BY! LION! DEATH! BY! LION!”

Across the arena, the gate rose. Dion stared up at the audience for only a moment longer before darting back to the tunnel.

His hands were shaking. He needed to get his mask off right now. He needed a shower, he needed a drink, he needed to lie down and stare at the wall until he felt human again—

Dion stumbled, leaning against the tunnel wall. He'd just killed someone.

But he had survived. It was him or the Ox, and he had won.

Dion stared at his hands. He had survived. Grim satisfaction knotted in his throat, and he struggled to breathe around it.

Dion had survived.

He was more willing to pay the cost than he wanted.

[erigold13261]

Still got any Dion/Sam thoughts?

I actually didn't for a while, but your ask made me kinda revisit Psychonauts as a whole (though I mainly thought of Raz honestly).

What I started thinking of is future Psychonaut stuff! It would take place in like modern day NSR time (yes I am sticking them into NSR as well lol, but it's not focused on NSR at the moment) so that means it's like 20 years or so after the events of the games.

So with this, what I could think of Dion and Sam, is the idea that Sam joined Dion in the circus and now they both run it since Donatella and Augustus probably retired (or at the very least stepped down from being in charge lol).

I saw a few posts over some time, one where Dion takes over the circus and one where Sam and Frazie are friends because of zoolingualism. I liked both ideas a lot so kinda mushed them together in this idea of Sam and Dion running the circus together.

Now this probably means that Sam isn't a Psychonaut in the future, which is a bit of a bummer as I think Sam would make a pretty good Psychonaut as they got older. Though it could be that Sam is still a Psychonaut but will visit Dion at the circus and he will visit her (and Raz) at the Mother Lobe every so often.

Even if the two aren't a couple (either they became one and broke up, or never became one to begin with) I like the idea that the two stay really close together.

If they do end up being a couple and stay as one, they definitely have a long distance relationship and you better believe that when Dion finally gets to see Sam again he is showering them in love and affection, gifts and snacks, even some stuffed animals and new performance tricks to try and impress her.

Sam, probably not nearly as affectionate, allows Dion to show his love and then they would probably talk with him, sitting down and just hugging him and listening to his still racing heart from excitement to try and relax from work.

I don't have a lot more that I could think of. At least not much with the future timeline. But now all I can think about is Sam getting those old flip cellphones and Dion (and other Aquatos) being really interested in it (all her photos are of sea creatures or Dogen lol).

[daisyhooves]

@/syensy​ walked into chat and said ‘what if raz was evil’ and then we proceeded to go ‘what if he wasn't evil evil though what if he was just funny sorta evil but not evil ‘i want to destroy everyone’ evil.’ and anyway more notes on Frazie and Raz under the cut ig.

Frazie - Ended up at the camp instead  - Specializes in Levitation and Teleportation  - Helped Re-brain the kids ofc, didn’t know Raz was at Thorney Towers, became pretty good friends with Lili though.   - Helps Raz find Loboto’s moral compass because he practically begged her to - Within the plot of Psychonauts 2, she starts with Milla as her mentor and is then switched to Helmut as her mentor later on. She keeps with learning things from Helmut even after the events of everything just because she wants to!  - Chews Raz out after he fucked up Hollis’ mind because he “Thought it would be funny.” - Has a decent relationship with her family, just wanted to do her own thing  - Her mind, much like Raz’s own, is the circus. Because in the case of the au they both end up in the tank the circus level isn’t the meat circus but Circus², with most dangerous things in it spawning from Raz’s mind rather than Frazie’s own.  - Best Friends with Norma, despite the fact that Norma took her clothe  - Got her new clothe from Sasha and then her original clothe back promptly after this and decided ‘what if I combine these’  - Doesn’t particularly favor Otto at all  - Has Raz help her with exploring the minds of the Psychic Six in order to get the items to fix Ford (and later help with Nona) - Not nearly as skilled with most abilities as Raz is, but still pretty damn good with a nice handful of them herself. She favors Levitation and Teleportation because she combines them with the use of her own acrobatic skill  - Doesn’t go against Norma saying Raz is the mole because for all she knows Raz could be a mole with the way he acts hes constnatly causing trouble just for the fun of it and honestly if he decided he was going to be evil and take over the motherlobe she wouldn’t be surprised.  - It is important to note she is not insistent that Raz return home. If he wants to be wild and do something else with himself, thats fine. Shes just insistent that he stay safe and use his abilities for good rather than for anything bad. Raz being rebellious as he is just thinks shes being overbearing, but he kinda gets what shes trying to say.  Raz - Hes Raz! Just a bit more unhinged, think of him as a mini mad scientist   - Got caught by Linda on the way to camp and was taken to Thorney Towers  - Befriended Loboto (and the other residents) and decided “Actually Loboto is my new dad now.” - Thinks Augustus wants him dead, and unlike in the first game, this isn’t really resolved after Circus². While Augustus saves both Frazie and Raz, Raz runs away soon as hes awake.  - This is later fixed after the events of the second game. They’re still on shakey ground, but Raz is trying to feel safe again, and his family is trying to help him with that. However Raz doesn’t stick around and instead runs away again with Loboto - Has Frazie help him find Loboto’s moral compass because he likes Loboto he wants to help Loboto he knows he’ll still be goofy evil after but its okay hes fine with this  - Still Very Much looks up to Sasha. Is constantly in Sasha’s lab at the Motherlobe. Partially because he wants to keep an eye on Sasha and make sure he doesn’t hurt Loboto and partially because he just genuinely looks up to Sasha - Instead of ending up in Sasha’s lab after getting his own clothe stolen, he ended up in Otto’s lab, and Otto offered him clothe instead as well as a proper thinkerprint to get around  - Knows whats wrong with Truman, but is he going to say anything about it? No. He, again, thinks its a little funny. He’ll constantly bring up the box though. Between conversations, during explorations of others minds, he knows Frazie’s smart and he doesn’t want anyone unwanted to catch on, so he’ll keep telling her about the box.  - Frazie doesn’t ever catch onto this but he tried, he really did - Specializes in Clairvoyance and Blastokinesis, he learned the Blastokinesis from Sam! - Good friends with Sam and Lili ! He just gest along with them, I feel this should always be a constant.  - Purposefully will cause problems sometimes just because he thinks its funny. Raz voice “Hey Agent Nein if someone died in their mind would they die in real life? No? Cool cool so if I blew someone up-” 

[rosesmith18]

Razputin’s Getaway

My current obsession has been Psychonauts, and I thought since I haven't posted in a long time-sorry about that-I'd share some scenes I wrote dealing with Razputin's fears and anxieties before the events of the first game.

Did I have a death wish? But, dad was forgiving, you’ll be fine. If you beg enou-NO. I didn’t do anything wrong. Tala’s crown was falling, I was just trying to help. I didn’t even think about it. Okay, so MAYBE I took the opportunity to joke around, but I really did do what I did to help her. If that thing had hit the ground it would have been a goner, and she loved that flea market tricket more than anything. It would have broken her little heart to replace it; let alone break it. I was being a good older brother, a good hero, a psychonaut. I was using my gift for good, because it WAS a gift. No matter what everyone else said. Tala didn’t seem to see it that way. You should explain yours-

“Pssh-” It was tall, shaped like an upside down pear, and dressed all in black; the figure that called out to me. My gaze slowly trailed up its body, catching a glimpse of a long, slender mustache before a rectangular pamphlet stole my attention. It was held in the person’s outstretched arm; Cover on full display for me to see. I pressed an eyebrow down against my brow, slight frown on my lips as I nervously read the cover. It was a brochure of sorts for a…Psychic Summer Camp?! No, it couldn’t be. I must be seeing things. I snatched the folded paper from the person’s rubbery hand, and reread the cover over and over and over again, the same five words appearing before my eyes every time; 

‘Whispering Rock’s Psychic Summer Camp’ It really was true. I had to know more. I snapped my head up, about to ramble question after question, but the person had vanished. Leaving me with the pamphlet.

I settled into the nightly practice routine soon after with the rest of my family. I took the pamphlet with me. I needed to read the rest. Balancing a set of 90 and 70 pound dumbbells on the soles of my covered feet, I pulled out the brochure, and began to read-ignoring the twisting of my stomach;

‘To soar across the astral plane! To wage psychic warfare against the enemies of free thought!’ I read the slogan on the cover, it sounded like a call to action, a call to adventure; a line right out of True Psychic Tales. It made my heart race in a good way, in the way that took my mind away from dark and terrible thoughts. My attention was focused, and I wasn’t sure anything could take it away. Not even the familiarly stern eyes staring into my back. 

I read on with a new found vigor into the inside of the pamphlet;

‘You were born with a special gift. But, the people around you, treat it like a curse. Your mother is afraid of you, and your father looks at you with shame in his eyes. Come to Whispering Rock’s Psychic Summer Camp, and you can show them all. Back home your powers make you a loner, an outcast, a circus freak. But in this dojo, in this psychic dojo, they make you a HERO.’ It was everything I ever dreamed of, ever wanted, written down on paper for all to see. I felt alive, and free, and okay for the first time in a while. I memorized the address for minutes on end until nightly practice was good and done. 

I could hear Mom telling Queepie and Tala that it was time for bed, could hear Dion and Frazie bickering about their practice, could hear my Dad huffing behind me. I didn’t want to answer, not now, not tonight. This night had turned out so wonderful, and he was going to ruin it. You can’t keep it a secret forever, or long for that matter, and secrets always end up hurting someone. It’s going to hurt you, so face it like a man already. Those were both fine points even if that fact made me even more reluctant. My reply to Dad was meek as I turned to face him.

“Yes, Dad?” I answered, staring up at his hulking form, folded arms straight against his front. 

“Let me see what you have there, son” He put an open palm in my face, and I almost pleaded with him not to take it, but I steeled myself. I handed it to him as if I trusted him to do nothing more than look at it, though the likelihood of that was extremely low unless I really was just super lucky tonight.

“It’s just something a customer gave me.” I explained before he could read the cover, it was my fear talking, fear that something bad would happen if I took ownership over my gratitude for that brochure.

“‘Whispering Rock’s PSYCHIC Summer Camp’” His voice was burning with venom as he read the words aloud. Everyone; Mom, Dion, Frazie, Tala, Queepie, looked at Dad as if waiting for him to make his comment on such a ridiculous thing. “Razputin, what is the meaning of this-this WITCHCRAFT?” His words stung me, the way they punctured my already barely beating heart. I was determined and frightful at the same time, and I pressed the pads of my fingers together as I muttered;

“It’s a summer camp, Dad.” He raised an incredulous eyebrow at my statement that somehow only furthered my stance on the matter, and I spoke plainly the second time around; “And, I think it sounds like fun.” There eyes were on me, every one of those twelve eyes, on me; it was just like my nightmares, and a shiver so fierce ran up my spine. 

“You think curses sound like FUN, Razputin?” Spite’s Dad, and I all but crumble under the weight of that word. NO. Curses aren’t fun. They’re terrifying, and make it hard to breathe when you take a drink of water, and make you afraid of your own children; the last thing you think curses are is FUN. So, why did he have to use THAT word. The one word you can’t argue with? I can’t find the words to say fast enough, and I watch, as dad rips all my dreams to shreds before my very eyes. I lash a shaky hand out hoping he’ll see it, and maybe, just maybe, he’ll think about how much it hurts me. “Well, curses aren’t FUN, Razputin, and you’ll learn that one day.” But, all he thinks about is how to use THAT word, to HURT ME.

I race back to my caravan with a single desire blazing in my veins; Freedom, I’m going to get my freedom tonight. Free from this circus, free from this curse, and free from this family. You know father didn’t mean to hurt you. He’s just worried about you, about the family. Try to be more understanding. Not tonight, or tomorrow, or ever again. I understand enough, I understand that this is for the best. It’s a perfect night to run away, to be free. It’s dark, no moonlight I could have read these stubborn emotions away with. Mom took most of my comics away anyway; Hidden under broken, rotting wood were all the ones that remained-only five or so of the sixty volumes I had originally managed to collect on our travels. One she had even used to dress the floor of the horses caravan, volume one of all the volumes. I’d get to see it one last time tonight; not in the greatest condition, of course, filthy for all manner of reasons you’d expect. It brought back many pleasant memories, however, and a courage I needed tonight more than ever. 

Riding the World's Smallest Pony down a forgien dirt road was an adventure all on its own in this darkness, and as Frazie’s pony hoofed it down the path, I turned and watched the Aquatodome get smaller and smaller. That tent felt so big when you were standing under it as crowds of ten or twenty or sometimes even twenty-five filled the stands, but as I rushed out of the clearing into the dense forest of oak trees; I momentarily thought that no more than twenty-five people could fit in a tent so small. My caravan was even smaller though, barely visible between the branches of trees or over the tops of bushes as the train tracks outside the forest came into view in front of me. The world was about to become so much bigger for me. I was overwhelmed, but excited. If I became a psychonaut, it would be the greatest trick I’d ever pulled.

I jumped down from the stacked logs as the light from the truck's headlights illuminated the large wood sign I’ve been looking for. The bald lumberjack eyes me with shock when I land in front of their passenger door window, and I wave them a sort of thanks for the lift. They’re hesitant for a moment, but they eventually wave back before driving off into the dark streets ahead. I stumble with my things as I walk up to the rickety old painted sign;

‘Whispering Rock’ It reads, and I feel a giddiness rise up in my chest. So much opportunity is waiting for me behind this fence gate; but how to get in? This isn't right. You should go home. That’s enough adventure for one night, Razputin. I’m not letting you get to me. I can see a campfire glow from past the trees. I’m so close. I’ll just hop the rock pillars of the fence gate, and I’ll be sitting right where I belong. With people just like me, with gifts and dreams to be psychonauts. No more fear, anxiety or shame. Go ahead coward, just run away. Betray your family for a bunch of fortune tellers. They wouldn’t expect any less from the likes of YOU. You can’t make me feel guilty anymore. I’m not being selfish. I’m doing them a favor. They don’t want me, they don’t have to have me. I’m taking care of the hard part for them. Like a psychonaut, like a hero, like a good son.

[2hoothoots]

ask roundup pt2

@panickingpaganan thank you!!! :D

@beneath-these-bones so this is the other ask that got me thinking about older Elka, that kind of inspired Face Thy Doom. i ended up with kind of an understated take on Elka but i just want to say that the mental image of this soothsayer draped in huge pelts is extremely choice and rad as hell, and i might still draw it at some point because it's very cool

@lorddio1888 to be honest, i haven't really thought about a lot of the campers! i'm kinda picking away at them as and when inspiration strikes me. i think some of them definitely could be! like, i think someone like Kitty would really suit a career in espionage, haha. others, like Mikhail, joined the intern program but never became full agents - either because (like in Mikhail's case) they became disillusioned with the organisation, or just because... i imagine it's kind of a crappy job.

like, from what we see, the budget is terrible, the agents are kind of overworked with minimal mental health support (to the point where one of their agents going rogue and attempting to take over the world is, like, just something that kind of happens), and overall it seems like a job with long hours that you have to be really willing to dedicate yourself to. folks like Raz and Bobby are in the job because they really believe in the cause and helping people and stuff; folks like Lili and Dogen are in it because they've grown up totally immersed in that kind of culture; but i think it takes a pretty special kind of person to become a psychonaut.

i kind of imagine that most young psychics will attend a few years of summer camp, learn to control their powers, and then just kind of go on to live a mundane life and use their abilities for chores and stuff hahaha.

@firefly9587 ohh this is super nice! the violin in the instrumental section is very aquato family, haha. it really strikes me as a Frazie song specifically! thanks for the rec :)

@loudlychoppedbread ABSOLUTELY he is. once a comic nerd, always a comic nerd. he and Lili read the new issues together every single month, TPT day is like A Whole Thing

my headcanon is that they can't actually use his name or likeness while he's still a kid for, like, legal reasons? so the first few issues come out with his stories in them and he's SO PSYCHED until he realises they've replaced him with this weird blue kid with a long hat? what the heck?? but once he turns eighteen he and Lili and the others can make proper appearances. every so often someone will recognise him at the grocery store or something and he's always SO delighted

[theyaremanycolours]

Because AO3 is currently down, here's The Curse of Pablo the Reluctant Goober

-

Razputin Aquato was in the ~~inter~~ Junior Agents' Break Room, eating a bowl of cereal at the table.

\It had been a few months since the Maligula incident, and while there had been some missions since then, most of them had been small, like investigating the Case of the Missing Tofu (Turns out someone had eaten Psitanium and became convinced that Most Roast's town-famous barbecue tofu gave her superpowers)

\It was all calm and quiet, a regular day, to be honest. And then, for no apparent reason, Raz was suddenly dressed in a clown suit.

\He ate unbothered for several seconds before noticing.

\"Huh. It must be April," he said, before his eyes widened "Wait, the Hand was fake, but this one was real...?"

\"What one? Why are you wearing clown suit?!"

\Norma rolled her eyes, "It's because he clearly can't take this job seriously."

\"You're just jealous I can make this work! Your clown suit just looks terrible\~" he said, honking his nose before realisation swept over his face

\"Oh no"

\The others were too busy laughing (or fuming in Norma's case) to notice that fact, and even if they were, the entrance of Dion and Frazie loudly singing, decked in only the most clownish attire. \"MY-YA HEE, MY-YA HOO, MY-YA HA, MY-YA HA-HA\~!"

\ Before Frazie picked up Norma "Oh my googly moo, my sweet sugar spice pie\~ I LOVE YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART\~!"

\And then she proceeded to kiss Norma sloppily, leaving huge Clown Lipstick Marks all over her face.

\And then Dion spoke, or rather Honked, a sappy look in his eyes as he kissed Gisu's hand delicately, before offering a big, beautiful rose to her Gisu, a little confused but honoured, held the rose between her fingers before it squirted water right in her face Dion giggled out a few soft honks before brushing the water off her face and gently kissing her face, leaving her blushing hard at the clown boy

\It took a few seconds before anyone could respond, the loud sounds of smooching the only thing filling the silence.

\ "What the hell?!?" Morris finally said

\"It's the Curse-" Raz began

\"Cursed aren't real, Raz." Lili responded

\"I didn't think it was real after the whole Maligula thing, but I swear this one is real-!" Raz puttered out "Or at least, it still feels real-"

\"Just explain it Raz-!" Lizzie responded

\"Okay, so, apparently my great great great uncle Pablo Aquato apparently thought clowns were 'pathetic, un-serious performers' and managed to completely wreck the Jester Association 's annual Clown-off three times in a row, so they cursed him and our entire family to become the goofiest clowns possible every time the Clown Off happens- Or at least that's how dad says it"

\ "If that's true then why aren't you doing clown stuff?"

\ "I'M TRYING MY BEST TO HOLD IT BACK I WANT TO GOOF OFF SO HARD RIGHT NOW BUT IF I DO NO ONE WOULD RESPECT ME AS A PSYCHONAUT AND I'LL № KICKED OUT BUT I'M SCARED IF I DON'T I'LL TRY TO PRANK ALL THE GODS -!"

\"Raz," Lili spoke calmly, her voice calm and clear "If anyone tried to kick you out because of you being affected by something you can't control after you saved the entire world twice, they'd have to go through me!"

\Raz looked uncertain still.

\"Look, you have my permission to do goofy clown stuff as long as you don't hurt anyone, okay?"

\Raz blinked once. \Twice. \The tension in his body relaxed and his eyes lit up. He gently kissed his girlfriend on the cheek, honked his nose twice and then ran out the door in a split second. \"... Well, that doesn't feel ominous" Lizzie said, right before Sam pie'd her.

\"What, you had a "Pie Me" sign on your face!"

[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.

[wil-is-done]

Irreparable

Inspired by this angsty piece made by my good friend @/madiineko for another one of my good friends, @/funneylizzie. They both make Very Good Art and deserve a follow.

Enjoy! Also, suffer.

-

Summary: Sometimes, scars don't fade. Sometimes, wounds don't heal. Sometimes, one night's mistake can affect you for the rest of your life.

Word Count: 2.382

-

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a repost.

Two minutes.

That was how fast the night took a turn. How fast the trap was sprung. How fast everything went from bad to worse.

Lili should've known they'd bring backup. Should've known they'd try to surround her. Should've been the one to take the hit.

Raz wasn't even supposed be anywhere near her position. Wasn't supposed to do a damn hero's entrance through the ceiling. Wasn't supposed to push her out of the way.

The mission wasn't supposed to end with the baron getting away. With his body limp in her arms. With her screaming out his name.

-

Two hours.

That was how long she waited outside of the emergency ward. How long she cried, hugging her knees to her chest, until it hurt to breathe. How long she clutched Raz's jacket tight around her, praying to anyone or anything that might be listening, for him to make it.

When Sasha emerged from the door, Lili rose to her feet. When he took off his glasses, the world felt darker.

His eyes were distraught, more than she'd ever seen before.

"He'll live," he said, barely a whisper. "Other than that, I- the damage was-"

Lili didn't hear the rest. She'd barged past him and sprinted inside.

She found Raz on a wheelchair, being wheeled out of a room by a nurse, covered in bandages, but still wearing his battered uniform. The nurse took one look of Lili and wisely decided to turn on her heels and walk away.

Raz was awake, his eyes open, but empty. Raz was alive, but his eyes were lifeless.

"Raz?"

No answer. No hums. Not even a glance in her direction.

Lili approached, gently cupping his face in her hands, gently coaxing him to meet her eyes. Nothing.

"Raz...?"

Her mind reached out to his, grasping for his stupid smile, his infectious laughter, his calming embrace. Grasping for the warmth that he would always carry with him. Grasping for the light that would always be there for her.

Nothing. No smile. No laughter. No embrace. No warmth. No light. What she grasped was cold, barren, empty. What she knew, she loved, she needed, was gone.

Lili collapsed against him. Sobs wracked her body. Tears spilled down her cheeks again.

Raz was here, but he's gone.

-

Two days.

That was how long his family were forced to wait until they were finally cleared to visit him. Psychonautical bureaucracy could be complete nonsense sometimes, keeping his own family from seeing him. One of the many things she'd change once she becomes the Grand Head.

They arrived with Milla. Augustus and Donatella looked like they haven't slept since they first heard the news. Dion and Frazie didn't seem to be faring much better. Mirtala and Queepie were still too young to fully understand what had happened, but they understood it was something upsetting, and that was enough for them to wear looks of confusion and distress. They rushed to Raz's bedside, forcing Lili aside, whether they realized it or not. Lili kept her silence, and chose to wait outside.

They spent hours with him. Lili tried not to watch through the window, but occasionally the temptation wore her down. She'd glance once, and saw Augustus trying to make small talk with his son. Another time she'd glance, and saw Queepie waving a plastic action figure in front of his brother, goading him to play.

Milla stayed, waiting outside the room with her, for a while. Neither of them talked, or even really acknowledged each other, but the silence was nice. It was comforting, to simply exist, and to have their existence be enough to reassure one another. Time passed, and Milla took her leave - duty calls, she claimed. More time passed, until Lili was startled out of her thoughts when a gaggle of nurses walked past her and into the room. Must be time for a check-up. The Aquatos were urged to leave for the moment, and they obliged. With heavy steps and heavy hearts, one after another, they left the room, walking past Lili.

Frazie didn't even notice her. Her eyes were too wet and red from crying.

Dion shouldered her aside. It was deliberate. It stung. It was the least that she deserved.

Mirtala looked like she understood the situation better. The frown etched on her visage was darker and deeper than it should for a girl her age.

Queepie recognized her, and waved with a polite smile. Lili tried, really tried, to do the same, but her hands were frozen and the corners of her lips were impossible to lift. He walked away, pouting, never receiving a smile.

Lili lowered her eyes when Augustus and Donatella walked in front of her. When their shoes stopped, she flinched. She knew this was coming, and slowly looked up. She expected anger, even hate. When she meet their eyes, all she saw was grief, and sorrow. Not just for their son, but for her.

Her surprise must've shown on her face, because the ghost of a smile graced Donatella's lips for a fleeting moment. She leaned closer to Augustus' ear.

"I'll keep an eye on the children," she said, planting a quick peck on his cheek, before leaving after her children. Leaving Lili alone with Augustus.

Augustus said nothing. He simply lowered himself to one knee and spread his arms open, wearing a small, gentle smile. Like a magnet, she was drawn in. Her feet moved on their own. When he wrapped his arms around her, tears flowed down her cheeks once more.

"It's not your fault," he said, gently, over and over again. "It's not your fault."

Lili never realized how much she needed to hear that.

-

Two weeks.

That was how long Raz spent under intensive care. He was treated by the best doctors the Psychonauts could spare. His eyes were still as empty as it were during that first night.

Lili arranged for him to be relocated to the best medical facility the organization had available. His family would always be permitted to visit him, no exceptions. Any expenses would be reimbursed straight from the Zanotto family fortune. Anyone saying Raz was receiving special treatment could go fuck themselves.

The room they placed Raz in was cold. Sterile. Clinical. Nothing about it felt like home. She'd have that changed soon enough.

Lili took his hand in hers, and promised him so many things. She promised she'd visit everyday. She promised the baron would pay, even if it wouldn't bring him back. She promised she'd run out of tears to shed, that she wouldn't let herself wallow in despair.

Doctors entered, Sasha acting as their lead. They weren't here for anything serious, he claimed, simply making sure nothing changed during transit.

Lili was afraid of the answer, but there was one thought that had been buzzing in her head ever since that night. "Will he ever get better?"

"Recovery is possible," one of the doctors said. "The chances are very slim, but it is possible."

Beside her, Sasha quietly scoffed.

When the doctors left, Sasha stayed behind. Lili prompted him to elaborate.

"Calling the chances 'very slim' would be a massive understatement," he said. "We'd have a better chance finding a needle in an ocean of hay."

Her breath hitched. It was exactly what she feared. Tears prickled the edges of her vision, but she pushed it down. She'd already made a promise.

Instead, Lili entwined her fingers together with Raz's.

"We can hope, can't we?"

For a long moment, Sasha didn't answer.

"We can. Of course we can."

Sasha took the spot on the other side of Raz's bed. He'd tucked his glasses in his pocket. His eyes were soft, and kind, and hid sleepless nights wracked with guilt and regret.

"If he returns, we'll be there. Smiling. Like he'd want us to."

Lili stared deep into Raz's dull, lifeless eyes, much as it pained her to do it, dreaming of the day they'd be filled with life again. Gently, she squeezed his hand.

"If not," Sasha breathed, his voice strained, "there are worse places to call home."

-

Two months.

That was how long it took to finish the case. They tracked the baron to a remote island in the Arctic Ocean. Lili personally requested to be part of the assault force. Nobody dared to refuse her.

They briefed her. The mission was to bring him in alive, to answer for his crimes. She didn't listen, or care. They knew. Everyone knew. She'll snap the baron's neck the second she saw him.

Lili touched down on the island like a missile. The baron's security swarmed her, like moths to a flame. And they burned. Anyone who got in her way burned. She tore the island apart, chasing after the baron, until he retreated into a vault deep beneath the island. She could almost laugh. The fool backed himself into a corner.

It took longer than she thought ripping the metal vault's door off of its hinges. Close to three full minutes. Eliminating the token resistance the baron brought with him took half of one. The man had no choice but to face her. She expected him to boast. To talk big about his power, how he would best her and live to wreak havoc another day.

No. He dropped to his knees, and he begged. He had the gall to beg. Spouted nonsense about how he could be useful; with his connections, his intel, his wealth.

Lili didn't break his neck. She broke everything.

The strike force arrived not long after. They paused at the threshold, seeing her with what was once the baron.

"He attacked me. I didn't have a choice," she lied.

Nobody believed her. She didn't need to read minds to know that. But nobody said a word. Funny how that worked.

-

Two years.

That was how much time had passed when she made her three hundredth visit to the facility. Nothing drastic changed during that time. A few minor rotations in staff, the most recent one being a new receptionist around visit two hundred and eighty three. He would always be surprised every time she walked through the front door. A candidate to be the next Grand Head shouldn't be wasting her time here, he'd think. One look from her would be enough to make him think about anything else.

Raz's room was much homier than it had been when he first moved in. It was one of the first things she had done. The stark white walls were replaced with warm, earthy wallpapers at visit ten. Queepie loved to draw, so since visit twenty one, she always made sure to have a box of crayons available for when the Aquatos came to visit. At visit twenty three, they started hanging up Queepie's drawing around the room, and they never stopped since. Milla came by, at visit twenty seven, bringing a pair of lava lamps that matched the wallpaper. Sasha was already there before her at visit forty two, placing a framed photo of Raz in his uniform, taken during his first day as a Psychonaut agent, on his bedside table.

Other people pitched in to add something to the room over time; most of them colleagues and friends, including ones from back at camp. Visit sixty eight, Phoebe and Quentin left behind some merch of their new band. Visit one hundred and twenty five, Clem brought a massive banner filled with hundreds of get well soon messages and hung it up from the rafters. Bobby and Chloe must've dropped by at some point, because at visit one hundred and seventy five, she found a model spaceship with Raz's initials on its side. At Dogen's suggestion, ever since visit two hundred and one, she had a stack of True Psychic Tales issues tucked neatly in a cabinet, just in case.

"Hey, Raz," she greeted as she entered the room, like she'd always do. Like always, no response came, and she'd try to ignore the pang of disappointment in her chest.

Lili sighed. This was getting harder and harder to do.

Still, it was good to see him. It's been close to a week since her last visit. She wasn't able to keep her promise of visiting everyday after all. She made it to one hundred and thirty one visits before she had to miss two whole days, simply because of a dumb security breach forced her family to go on lockdown. It tore her apart at the time, but she held the tears back. The last thing she wanted was to break two promises.

Since then, she was more lax with herself. She allowed herself to skip a day or two, if it simply wasn't possible to fit visiting him into her schedule. Those one or two day gaps became three or four or more as time passed, and her schedule grew more and more hectic. Nowadays, she's lucky if she managed to fit in a visit once a week. It didn't upset her much, though. Somehow, it made her visits feel all the more special.

The two developed a ritual, of a sort - something they'd do every time she visited. After lunch, she'd wheel him out to a hill near the edge of the facility's complex. It had a gorgeous view of the mountainside where the facility was located, and a sturdy evergreen stood nearby - she'd planted it as a sapling to commemorate visit fifty - providing shade should they ever need it.

Lili unstrapped Raz from the wheelchair and lowered him onto the grass. She joined him then, savoring the fresh smell and the way the individual blades tickled her skin. She told him everything that had happened since she last visited; about her ongoing campaign to be the next Grand Head, about Sasha's recently greenlit project, about a new class year starting at Whispering Rock, and more.

Like always, Raz said nothing, and did nothing. Like always, her chest tightened, as if she couldn't breath and it hurt. Like always, the hope she clung to so dearly in her heart slipped further and further from her reach.

Lili entwined her fingers with his, and squeezed.

Lili sighed, closed her eyes, and let herself dream.

Lili gasped when Raz squeezed back.

-

Can't have it be all the way sad without at least a smidgen of light at the end of the tunnel. That's just not how I do.

[artnigth]

Migraines Part 2

i made it!! Part 3 tomorrow BABY!! (probably) 

MIGRAINES PART 2: Raz was walking all the way back to the Questionable Area, more specifically his family’s camp in the campgrounds. It had been a long day, he agreed to cover Gisu’s afternoon shift since she apparently had an “appointment” or something. Norma and Lizzie kept pestering him to see if Gisu actually had a date of sorts, but he knew as much as they did on that topic so that fun little conversation went nowhere. He was finally able to go home and take a nap, he was ten after all (and very tired). “RAZPUTIN!” A scream coming from above breaking his line of thought. Raising his gaze, Raz saw just as Ford Cruller flew to the spot in front of him. The senior Psyconaut might have been very old, but after Raz had fixed his mind it seemed that the senior was back in his prime. “Your brother needs help.”- the tone of Cruller's voice was concerned but not surprised, neither was Raz. “What are you talking about?” “Your brother is lost in the forest and- “QUEEPIE GOT LOST IN THE FORGETFUL FOREST?!” “Your other brother Razputin. Dion, was it? He got lost in the forest and is having a Psychic overload.”- Ford’s tone was calm but a little tired. “Dion? Having a Psychic overload? No offense agent Cruller but Dion isn’t a Psychic. But I do believe he could have gotten lost in the forgetful forest. Let’s go tell my family to go and search for him.” Both of the Psychonauts ran all the way to the Aquato camp, encountering Agustus at the entrance. “Dad! Dion got lost on the Forgetful Forest, we need to go look for him!”- Raz was tired, his tone was halfhearted and kind of over the whole situation. Agustus’ eyes were wide, he stepped back a little at the sight of Ford Cruller. Ford stayed back for Agustus’ sake, he was clearly not over what had happened and Ford couldn’t blame him at all. “How did Dion get lost in the woods?”- Agustus decided to ignore Ford’s presence focusing on his middle son and the dilemma that had been put into focus. “So that’s where that boy is… His friend came here a couple of hours ago and both her, Frazie and your mother have been looking for him since.”- Agustus sounded tense, but neither of the Psychonauts minded. “Friend? Dion has friends?”- Raz was a little surprised but not too much. “Yeah, that was Frazie’s reaction as well. Let me call them, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be happy to finally find out where he is.” . “HE WHAT?!”- Donatella did NOT sound happy about finding out where her oldest son had been all this time, scaring her children and husband even if just a little. Frazie, Donatella, Raz, Agustus, and Ford were now standing at the entrance of the Forgetful Forest, with Dion’s “friend” not being there yet. “UNBELIEVABLE. I THOUGHT WE HAD TAUGHT THAT BOY BETTER THAN TO GO INTO THE WOODS ALONE! IF YOU FOUND HIM WHY DIDN’T YOU DRAG HIM BACK, FORD?!”- Donatella kept rambling for a while her temper getting worse with each word. “That’s what I’m trying to explain, Dion seems to be having some sort of Psychic overload. His abilities being so overwhelming to his mind that he can’t control what he does. I had similar experiences when I was a young Psychic, everything was to much to deal with.”- Ford was still standing at a distance from the family, his voice calm but still concerned. “FRAZIE!! DID YOU FIND HIM?!”- a voice was heard from high into the sky. A figure suddenly falling from the sky on a skateboard and landing between Ford and the Aquatos. It was Gisu on top of her skateboard, who stepped off to be at the same level as everyone else. “Gisu?! Aren’t you supposed to be at an appointment??”- Razputin sounded ofended and blindsided. “Appoinment? I never said that.”- Gisu was clearly confused on that topic. “Adam said you had an appointment and that he needed someone to cover your shift, were you here all the time?” “Yeah… I just told Adam I was leaving early, I never said anything about an appointment.” “But… But… You know what, nevermind.”- Raz sounded defeated, Norma and Lizzie were right, and he hated to admit it. And a possible date with his brother out of all people, ugh. “So… did you found Dion, it’s been hours…” “Agent Ford did, Dion’s apparently having a psychic overload in the forest. So we are going to start a search party into the forest.”- Frazie’s tone was her typical sarcastic annoyance but concern was still heard as a shadow in her voice. “Ok, I’ll go high to try and spot him from above.”- Gisu sounded a little desperate to find Dion clearly concerned. But she was still her determined and confident self. She stepped on her skateboard and suddenly she was gone, flying into the sky. The rest of the Aquatos, and Ford separated into the forest to look for Dion. Raz and Ford went north, meanwhile, Donatella and Agustus went east, Frazie stayed back to look after the kids and just in case Dion found a way back to the camp. . . . . .

Gisu was hovering above the Forgetful Forest scanning the area below as well as she could. She was looking for that dorky acrobat that she had gotten to know for the past two months, wondering how could he had managed to hide this type of issue long enough to have such a breakdown. Throwing agent Ford from the middle of the woods all the way to the campgrounds wasn’t a small action, levitating someone that far was impressive for someone who has repressed their powers for as long as Dion has. Her thoughts were interrupted when she got close to losing her balance and falling. A force trying to push her away from an exact spot in the forest, a small clear in the forest where there was a boulder. Trees were being pushed so hard away from that spot that some were being uprooted from the ground. Carefully Gisu did her best to go as close as she could in her skateboard, eventually she had to descend to the ground since she couldn’t move forward anymore. Gisu moved forward slowly, every step felt like if she was pushing a boulder that was getting heavier and heavier with each step. By the time Gisu had gotten to the boundaries of the clear, she had to hold on to a tree or else she would have been thrown away. Looking at the boulder she could see a familiar figure sitting in front of it, with his knees covering his face and his hair being an unrecognizable mess. There was Dion, shaking and sobbing in front of that boulder. Gisu was stunned. What happened to him?! Is he okay?! “Dion?!”- Gisu’s voice echoed through clear, her tone concerned. “GO AWAY!”- Dion’s voice roared into Gisu’s ears, almost deafening the girl. “You need to calm down, you’re destroying the forest!” “GISU YOU NEED TO LEAVE, I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU!”- misery emanated from the boy, in all of his seventeen years of life nothing like this had happened to him. He was terrified of himself and very much lost in his own despair. Gisu stabbed the ground with her skateboard, propelling herself forward and using said skateboard as a cane in order to get the closest she could to him.  Using her own telepathy she tried her best to counter the force of Dion’s own psychic energy. The closer she got, the stronger Dion’s energy became, it was crazy and she didn’t know how to handle it. “GISU LEAVE!” She kept walking onward taking no mind of Dion’s words, just a few more steps and she would reach him, but it felt as if he were miles away. “GISU, STOP!” Her strength wavered, all of his force suddenly focused on her alone. His mind was tormented by screams, guilt invaded his body. HE had thrown Ford Cruller into the sky. HE levitated an old man and threw him to oblivion. HE had killed Ford Cruller, all because of… because… “DION PLEASE LET ME HELP! I’VE SEEN THIS HAPPEN A MILLION TIMES BEFORE. YOU JUST NEED TO CALM DOWN AND BREATH!”- Her cries resonated through the clear, her skateboard started to crack under pressure, she needed to act as fast as she could. She increased the energy she was putting into protecting herself and she kept moving forward. Dion felt hopeless, he needed to get Gisu away or he would hurt her like he hurt Ford. “GISU, PLEASE I DON’T WANT TO HURT YOU TOO!” The whispers in his mind were long gone, replaced by screams of fury, guilt and fear. This time he knew all those voices were just him. HE was tormenting himself for what he had done, screaming into his mind until he broke and finally exploded. HE thought it was fair, he deserved to end like this. Not just for what he did to Ford but for how he treated Raz, how he annoyed Gisu with his stupid questions about psychics, how he treated the people around him, how he was bound to explode and no one, not even himself, could stop it from happening. But at least he would make sure to not take anyone down with him. Suddenly a soft sensation was felt on his shoulders, like a thin blanket. Dion looked up from his knees and there she was. Gisu holding on to her skateboard, her knuckles white from the effort. Her hair waving as if a storm was hitting her directly on her face. A soft smirk planted on her face. Her scarf missing from her shoulders and gently placed on his. Tears began to run down from his eyes, all the way to his chin. The pressure stopped, the screams wavered turning back into whispers and the world finally stopped spinning. Gisu took his hands and gently lifted them both to stand. Her hands were rough and cold from all of her mechanical projects with Otto, but for Dion they felt like a safe place, something he hadn’t felt from anyone ever since he was a child. “Let’s go back to the campgrounds your family is looking for you and it's getting dark.”- her voice was soft, a hint of relief on her tone. Dion nodded. They started walking out of the clear and reentering the forest. They had a long way back and Gisu knew it was better to hold her breath since the Aquato family were definitely going to have a rough night. END OF PART 2.

PART 1:

[dammarchy211]

1. do u mind if ppl make ur art their icons? Just curious!!

2. I love your cryptid kidz take!! Im curious if youre planning on including any other fandoms, and the age differences between the kids (I HOPE THIS DOESNT COME OFF IN A WEIRD WAY i was wondering bc dibs so tall in comparison to the other kids)?? Im so curious about ur thoughts on their individual dynamics with one another!! Or what the gals think of each other :3!! or if tak will show up..

SORRY FOR THE BIG BLOCK OD QUESTIONS I LOVE STUFF LIKE THIS IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY... Ur art style is really cool so it really caught my attention!!

(I had a big paragraph written and tumblr crashed while I was writing it :,,-) )

It’s ok I love questions!!!

1. No I don’t mind! Just credit me in ur bio or smth

2. I probably won’t be including any other fandoms as to not clutter it, as well as the fact I was kind going off a formula of nerd kid + his sister. No particular reason, just for a pattern ig?

The age differences between the kids r Raz- 10, Jude- like 12 (I say like as he doesn’t actually have a canon age lol), Dib- 12 like in the iz movie, and Dipper- 13. I made Dib taller to add variety to their designs when put next to each other and also because all of the kids in iz are basically the same height I thought I’d say fuck it and have some fun with it lol

(For simplicity, Ford will refer to Ford pines, and Cruller will refer to Ford Cruller lol)

As for dynamics, Jude and Dib would get along Rlly well, just kinda as an instant click type thing since they have so many similarities. They’re all definitely friends but I feel like Dipper and Jude would but heads the most. Dipper tends to be really cautious, and while Jude does exercise caution, it’s usually for more ‘nonsensical’ reasons. Jude has a more reckless idea of problem solving (ie wanting to just shoot the cultists and burn down their hideout in act 1) and that wouldn’t really sit well with Dipper lmao. Dipper also would try to like, assert himself as letter with all of his planning shit but it probably wouldn’t work that well. Jude and Dib are also the most unhinged out of the 4 so Dipper and Raz are like 🤨 a lot. Raz would get along with all of them very well, however there’d definitely be at least a little bit of “you’re like 10 how come you get to be able to do all of this cool stuff???” And the other 3 would ask him a bunch of questions constantly because “omg you’re really psychic???? Lemme take notes.” Dammek would try to lead them around or “supervise” them as like the “cool older teen friend” but he has even less common sense then the 4 of them and the worst advice— Dammek high school bullies Zim. Gaz, Frazie, and Joey would kinda just be like “ew it’s my nerd brother and his nerd friends.” But still hang out with them, Mabel on the other hand just regular hangs out with them bc she doesn’t want Dipper to go on adventures without her! The girls would get along pretty good as well, however I feel like Joey would be Kinda cold to Mabel bc she has a tendency to be a little mean to people when they’re more social or optimistic than her, but she would get over it eventually and they can talk about animals or sparkly stickers or something jfhdjdjd. Xefros is a little upset that Raz is psychic because telekinesis used to be his thing and now there’s a kid that’s like 4/5 years younger than him and better at it 😔 the 4 boys would probably follow Roxy, Ford, Sasha, and Cruller around a lot because they wanna! Do science stuff n go on adventures and missions! Stan would also try to have fun with the kids but in a Stan sorta way. Sasha would so get into an Argument w/ Prof. Membrane they would hate eachother— Any of the alien enjoyers would be SO STOKED about Dammek, Xefros, and Zim (even tho zim keeps insisting that he is, In fact, not an alien). Tbh Dammek n Xef probably already know what Irkens are and Zim probably already knows what trolls are (and would probably freak out if he found out the condensce/Betty Crocker was on earth lol) Raz and Zim also get “huh u guys sound similar” a lot (I wonder why D-: /s).

OK THATS ENOUGH RAMBLING!! I just have so many thoughts for this flghdkgfisheudd