#psychonauts mental construct

[jnixz]

[Message Received]

Don't lose your head now...

[cosmicheartz]

i wish i knew what clems mental world would look like for my au since its a big part of his recovery arc but my mind is just * radio static noises *

[plasticageau-psychonauts]

ASK RULES:

No NSFW asks. - Suggestive (but not straight up NSFW) questions are allowed to be asked to adult characters ONLY. If you ask a suggestive question toward the minor characters, you will be hard blocked. (The owner of this blog is 18+. Minors asking suggestive questions will not be answered.) - Proshippers/comshippers DO NOT INTERACT. I don't want to argue with you, just please do not interact. Proshippers/comshippers will be blocked on sight.

Roleplaying is allowed! - I love to roleplay and encourage it! You may muse as any character, even if it's a canon / different au version of the characters. However, please specify that you are roleplaying and who you are musing as. - Please don't be weird and follow all the blog rules, even in roleplay. - Please don't godmod the AU.

Avoid spamming. - Please remember that I am a real person in her senior year of high school (soon to be college) and that I may not reply to your ask immediately. If I do not respond to your ask, it is most likely for a reason. I have the right to not respond to your ask for any reason. - Spamming will result in a hard block. - Asks involving art take time. Please do not pester me for these.

Remember that this is an AU. - This is an AU that diverges from canon in a number of ways. There may be some things that are inconsistent with canon, and that is intended. Avoid derailing the AU / restricting it to canon. - If you'd like to add on to my AU or even insert your OC into the AU, feel free to DM me on Discord or on my main blog (both @soulsofairlight)! However, forcefully inserting your OC or character into the AU will result in a block. - Headcanons, theories and other speculation on the AU are more than welcome! However, please do not force things into the AU and try to "make things canon" to it that aren't. You will be blocked.

Haters will be made fun of. - If you're here to make fun of the AU or shame me or something, don't even try because you will not be taken seriously. You will instead be publicly shamed and made fun of for your pathetic behavior. - If you don't like the AU, I respect your opinion and am always open to hearing constructive criticism. However, if you're here to whine about it then like go make your own AU or something lol

BEFORE YOU FOLLOW (BYF):

Reminder that this is fanfiction. - The Plastic Age AU is a symbolic fanfiction based on the Psychonauts series by Double Fine Studios. All characters are owned by their respective owners and my takes on them are purely based on my own developments. - The plastic age AU shares the same topics of mental health that are seen in the original series. If these topics may upset you, please proceed with caution. Be safe. - This AU may be "cringe," however, I don't care and I don't want to hear it.

This blog is intended for 16+. - Due to the sensitive nature of not only Psychonauts itself but of the AU, this blog may not be suitable for younger or more sensitive audiences. - This AU explores the personal experiences of the creator in a symbolic manner and is a coping mechanism. It is used to understand and express these experiences in a healthy way. The heavy topics in this AU are treated with care and respect and are based on the personal experiences of the creator They may be upsetting.

This blog contains HEAVY SPOILERS for the entire Psychonauts series. - If you have not played/watched gameplay of Psychonauts, Psychonauts in The Rhombus of Ruin, and Psychonauts 2, you may have trouble following. - If you have not played/watched these games and do not wish to be spoiled, come back once you've finished them! I'll be waiting for you! ;)

Dividers source: @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

[cubezart]

Hi!! You totally don't know me at all, I'm a complete stranger >:) And I'd love to hear about Jim's mental world!!

HI ok so erm this is mostly just gonna be a mess of rambles and vague ideas smushed together barely in order but

(old/outdated concept sketch, but it's a good start)

for starters, the prime issue(s) to help resolve in his mental world (or this version at least) is jim's fear of burdening his friends and family, and his resistance to reaching out for help, as much as he really needs it. it doesn't get too deep into his trauma, it's just giving jim the push he needs to seek out help again

after jim's recent divorce with bettie, he's been trying to give his family "some space to process" ...which didn't take long to sink back into old self isolation habits. he's been putting his all into his job to repress and distract from everything else going on with him, and it doesn't seem like it'll work for very much longer

first area in his mind is a boring + extremely tiny office room, the other cubicles are all empty and open except for jim's, which has a big metal door attached to the entrance. you can try and talk to him or ask him things, but it won't get you much . he insists he's happier in there really !! its so nice and safe hes fine :) its ok :)

when asked why he's locked in, he'll insist it's for his own safety, saying some vague stuff while the clairvoyance hints become even more obvious. when you use clairvoyance on him, his POV shows the cubicle door and everywhere around it surrounded by nightmares clawing and staring at him from the other side. (something something these are all just his own perception of things and he's really not in danger)

afterwards, his dialogue tree gets pretty short and limited, leaving raz to explore !! there's a few doors you can interact with, one being just a simple archetype-required door with a little collectible or somethin. the other is an old n dusty storage closet filled with memory vaults piling up to the ceiling. you can't really interact with any of those individually, (maybe some raz line along the lines of "i can't punch through all those :( ") but there's one or two real ones that just seem to have completely mundane and normal memories inside. weird! cuz with cpstd n trauma memory loss/repression, it can repress a lot more than what's necessary

there's one last door to try, leading out into the next phase ! raz says goodbye to jim, and jim happily waves back as the door shuts n locks behind raz, and the hallway distorts and extends, distancing raz away too :( sorta like the effect in the pn2 office construct !! im taking a lot of inspo from that world tbh heehe except for the obvious yknow. dental stuff

the next phase is kind of a messy stub for now, still sorting n planning out everything in my head lol but it's called Jim's Judgement

it centers more around jim's trauma and Issues TM and a lot of it is more vague concepts than any real gameplay ideas for the more dark story elements bc i don't want raz to have to see that and like to think after raz gets him a head start, he gets into actual professional Psychonauts therapy (and for my own silly oc/canon interaction fun, its sasha and milla assigned to help him. perhaps. maybe. they almost assigned oleander but he yelled too much and scared him away /hj) ANYWAY!!

all that being said i honestly have 0 ideas how to tone shit down for raz and im still trying to plan out the smaller in-game per se variation on it so i will simply. wait to talk about it. there's a lot of cool symbolism and motifs i prommy i swear </3 but the main "boss fight" final moment thing surrounds his whole paranoia of being a horrible person who others only tolerate + he constantly has to "make up for it" by putting everything and everyone Before him. i really wanna end it back in the small office space with jim having the key on his desk this whole time, making it literally In His Hands to get himself out. he just needed the support! he's definitely scared and slow, but he opens the door and steps out of his cubicle. the room grows a little bit. its a start

i was gonna ramble more about the darker version of the second phase but this post is already gettin Long and kinda incoherent i think so ermm. ill split it off into a second post probably if anyones interested in hearing more . i hope this all made sense lol i have too many thoughts about him to keep together honestly

[paragonrobits]

No offense but your idea is way too needlessly dour for the Psychonauts universe, which is thematically about hope and forgiveness and understanding if you missed that part.

I suppose that's a fair point though I do have to contend that this is the setting with several characters who have fundamental details such as 'this antagonist was raised by psychic-hating parents who literally destroyed his psychic abilities by having him lobotomized' or 'this maternal and caring teacher was tormented by feeling the dying pain of the orphans she cared for as they burned to death' and so on. It might be argued that these don't count because they are largely backstory specific, and aren't usually shown on screen, but again, tragic stuff is not terribly unusual here.

Consequently, while a complete lack of reconciliation is a bit unusual by the standards of Psychonauts, it doesn't feel specifically dissonant; if anything I'd argue it makes a point about consequences. If you don't want your children hating you and cutting you entirely out of their lives, you probably shouldn't make them miserable or spend so much of your on screen time making the audience feel tremendous empathy for how upset the character's child feels at it.

I also honestly don't think Psychonauts is specifically about those themes per se. In terms of gameplay it's deliberately a psychedlic action platformer that uses the premise of mental worlds to engage in storytelling through the use of level design, and in terms of plot it has many different feels; at times its sad, and other times its far more comedic and even outright runs on black comedy (depending on whether or not you feel it counts if the characters in question are mental constructs or metaphorical entities, but we DO see the dark comedy in stuff like the cheerleader duo in the first game and their running plotline).

It IS true that the game deals heavily with reaching out to people and trying to help them, but its not exclusively about hope, forgiveness and understanding. Plenty of times characters wind up in situations where there's no magic cure all, no happy reconciliation and just a bunch of questions left unanswered or regrets. The second game shows this neatly with Augustus admitting that while he cares for Nona, he's deeply conflicted after having lived a lie most of his conscious life. Coach Oleander never reconciled with his father and just kind of has to live with his miserable memories and no real closure on whether his dad was as brutal as his memories say (as this isn't really explored in game, but the series bible found on-line, while having details contradictory to the second game, doesn't have anything to contradict the stuff with Oleander's father) and he just died while Oleander was away, and... that's it. He's dead, end of story, that's not going to go anywhere.

And sometimes that's pretty much it. Things break so badly they never get fixed and sometimes, its a waste of time even trying, so you just move on. Psychonauts often seems to deal with a mix of dark comedy and genuine narrative about people doing the best they can with what they have to deal with. So, assuming Donatella's behavior towards Raz doesn't change much, it's simply not surprising for his resentment to build and build until finally it blows up. (Which, to be plain, I find way more realistic and in some ways, more satisfying than something that leans towards the troubling moral of 'you need to reconcile with family no matter what', especially since he has no real particular reason to do so.)

Also, while off topic, 'if you missed that part' is needlessly passive aggressive and mildly insulting. If you're trying to persuade people towards your argument, its a really bad idea to insult them or at least make it sound like that. It will generally make people resent you and dismiss your argument out of hand. I don't know if persuading me towards your point was the intent of this message, but if it was, its going to be counterproductive more often than not.

[beezonia]

lila would be so fun to explore in a Psychonauts au

like i feel because she’s so manipulative she’d definitely use her abilities to change people’s perspectives (if she had telepathy she’d use it to get info)

especially if she can create mental constructs, she’d use them to make everyone believe that she’s in the right and those who oppose her are wrong

yeah I want to write about manipulative psychic lila it’d be fun

[dailycharacteroption]

Instinctive Metaphysicist (Starfinder Archetype)

(art by dendysetiady on DeviantArt)

When Pathfinder tapped into a few disparate elements of D&D 3.5’s Psychic Handbook in order to bring psychic magic into their setting, they mostly took the names of certain classic spells and pretty much dropped the rest, eschewing the crystals and pseudoscience in favor of actual historic looks into mentalism and claims of psychic phenomena.

One of the things they brought up was mindscapes, metaphorical psychic landscapes that translate the inner workings of a living mind into a form that the mortal mind can understand, and more importantly, can be described in exciting ways for the players.

Now, while the binary mindscapes associated with psychic duels had pretty clearly laid out rules for how they work, the more in-depth personal mindscapes are rather… rules-lite, shall we say? On the one hand this is good because it means that the GM has leeway to do whatever here. On the other, it’s extremely frustrating since the mindscape chapter did a poor job of inspiring what you MIGHT do with such things. Healing someone’s mind by fighting painful memories or outside influence, extracting information with a literal mind-heist, or damaging a mental construct representing some psychic power in an enemy are all fine and dandy ideas. It’s a pity that the game doesn’t really give you an upper limit on what you can actually do to a person with a single casting of mindscape door.

In essence, exactly what you can do with mindscapes is left wholly in the GM’s hands, making someone’s mind into basically a weird sort of dungeon where you often have to get in and find a way out of someone’s mind, especially if they know you’re digging around. This also means that your GM is going to be in a lot of pain if you cast that spell a lot on people that are not who you’re meant to dive into in the story.

So with that in mind, I had hoped that the Starfinder delve into mindscapes would be a bit more detailed, but instead I was disappointed still, partially because of today’s subject.

Now with that preamble out of the way, I present our subject, the Instinctive Metaphysicist!

As the name suggests, this archetype refers to a person who, due to exposure to them, knows their way around mindscapes in ways that many others do not. They may not even be particularly potent psychics, but they have a knack for navigating and utilizing mindscapes in their work, though some of the more powerful can manifest constructs of their imagination into reality.

Despite my dislike of how some abilities of this archetype are handled, this archetype has a sort of… ancient mystic vibe to it which I do appreciate, like some wizened elder who was never formally trained but has a deeply insightful understanding of the mind from decades of practice.

It’s also notable that this archetype is heavily associated with (but not exclusive to) uplifted bears due to their psychic abilities and yearning for a cultural identity, which has given rise to the “Endless Forest”, which is either a collective mindscape of their people, or perhaps a recurring framing device for personal mind palaces that they create, depending on how you look at it.

When taking a longer rest, these psychonauts can retreat into themselves to recover much faster than others, and even use this reclusion to fight off mental effects, though they become insensate while their thoughts are deep within their own heads.

The more powerful among them can flex their minds to bring forth objects or illusions from their minds into reality for a short while, ranging from small physical objects to complex illusions and later even full illusionary environments.

Finally, they can also attempt to pull a foe into a binary mindscape to duel them, allowing them to fight directly with the foe in the landscape of the mind. However, the rules for this are much less robust than Pathfinder’s psychic duels, and is confusingly worded.

While the rest of the archetype is fine, the fact that the final ability is basically instigate psychic duel, a 1st level spell in Pathfinder, is annoying to me, especially since this is the only officially printed way for characters to do so in Starfinder without conversion or homebrewing. Beyond that, however, the archetype is simple enough, and being able to create illusionary terrain or temporary objects can be useful in the right situations. As such, you can mostly build your character as normal with these abilities to supplement it. I can see both spellcasters with a psychic bent taking it, as well as those of a less mystical persuasion having a knack for mindscapes.

Even without having any abilities that directly affect mindscapes, this archetype does make for an intriguing ability set. One has to imagine that these characters often contemplate what the nature of reality and imagination are. Some may seek to understand the cosmos more, while others may dream of being the masters of their own mental reality.

What began as an exercise in meditation and autohypnosis has warped into something stranger as ascetic guru Palani’s “Rock by the Sea” has evolved into a collective mindscape of his many fans and followers. Completely out of his depth, the charlatan seeks to develop this into a cult, but in truth, he is not the real cause of this psychic construct, and he certainly isn’t its master.

Kogress of the 40th battalion will never pick up a doshko again, not after the horrors he witnessed. The old vesk would love nothing more than to move on from those times, but those horrors will not let him be, or rather, his subconcious mind will not, projecting the memories of that battlefield into a hellscape that surrounds him whenever he grows stressed.

The xararians, a human-like species ruled by a mageocracy that fears religion and technology as threats to their absolute power, have long held the wider galaxy in grim contempt as they try to keep their people isolated. However, a new threat to the regime grows from within, as more and more people are touched by what could be called a contagious dream, one that offers freedom and equality.

[kk-cats]

Thank god my psychonauts moots are seperate from my dc moots like loboto being part of the inspiration for my character's backstory?? My character's mental construct in charge of keeping things neat an orderly looking like sasha nein?? I would be LAUGHED OUT

IRONICALLY CORUS STARTED OFF AS A PSYCHONAUTS OC.. I NEED TO REDRAW THEM IN THE PSYCHONAUTS UNIVERSE ACTUALLY

[jenniferstolzer]

Psychonauts - The Hornblower Incident - Chapter 33

Mental Construction

Raz and Milla work together to set a mental scene. In the process, Raz gets a lesson on mental constructs and insight on how they're going to work on Hornblower if Milla can manage it.

Not a high energy chapter, but probably the closest we'll get to Basic Braining or Sasha or Milla's levels in P1. I'm approaching this fanfic as half movie half game sequel. What would I like to see and maybe play out. I think Mental Construct would be a lot of fun to learn to do... like Psyconauts Minecraft. Or maybe Fortnite? Psychonauts should be in Fortnite

[doctor-loboto]

I choose to believe that the posters and paintings in the office construct were how Gristol’s mental block manifested because Loboto is really into wall art as a dentist and in future Psychonauts media we get to see his unhinged decor choices complete with inspirational kitten posters and some kind of wine mom placque (BRUSH, FLOSS, RINSE, LOVE)

[jnixz]

He has got a model career in Horror Books and Science Classes

[tinyinvadr]

Very excited about this next chapter since it serves as the introduction for an OC created by my bestie @marsbars2112! Had a lot of fun writing her!

Psychoborrower 2

Chapter 2

“Not her… Not her…”

Dr. Loboto was still muttering to himself after we all left his mind. I had no idea who that woman was, but I could understand his fear. She looked incredibly powerful.

Raz told everyone what we saw, and Sasha identified her as Maligula.

Her name carried a lot of weight in the PSI community. She was a master of hydrokinesis, and commanded a flood that destroyed the country of Grulovia, killing thousands of people. She was evil, ruthless, and the one responsible for shattering Ford Cruller’s mind all those years ago.

But she was also long gone.

Sasha told us that he suspected the mastermind was a Deluginary. They’re a group that supports the actions of Maligula, to the extent that they have attempted to bring her back from the dead.

This is, of course, impossible, but her supporters are so delusional that they often take drastic actions to try and achieve their ultimate goal. In this case, it was kidnapping Truman Zanotto.

That fact raised another concern. With the amount of security the Psychonauts had, it was hard to believe that Loboto was able to break into HQ and kidnap Truman on his own. Which meant he likely had help from the inside.

Soon, we arrived at the Motherlobe, and I could say with confidence, even just seeing the outside of the main building, it was 1000x cooler than the fake construct version. When I pictured a cool, psychic spy HQ, THIS was the kinda place I was thinking of!

When we landed, we were met by Agent Hollis Forsythe. She was Truman’s second-in-command, and would take charge during times when he was absent.

“Agent Forsythe, why was our call dismissed when we hailed the Motherlobe?” Sasha asked.

“What are you talking about? I never got a call from you.”

Milla went on to explain what we just discussed in the jet. Hollis had her doubts, but the moment she saw Truman unconscious, she was willing to hear us out.

We all went inside, and everyone split up to contribute to the investigation. That was when Hollis noticed Raz. And by extension, me.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Raz, and this is Flint! We’re the newest members of the Psychonauts!”

“And… who told you that?”

“Ford Cruller. He gave us these badges after we saved Whispering Rock. It was pretty awesome.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, but Ford Cruller doesn’t have the authority to commission Psychonauts. Not in his current mental state. But if Sasha and Milla were so insistent on bringing you both here, I suppose I can enroll you in the intern program.”

I glared at her. “Um, did you miss the part where we saved everyone at camp, Sasha and Milla included? AND we just got back from rescuing Grand Head Zanotto! I think we’re more than qualified.”

“No, you’re kids. And you’re lucky I’m even offering an internship to you. Usually you have to be at least 15 to be allowed into the program. I’d suggest you change that tone before I change my mind.”

At that, I kept my mouth shut.

“Flint, I’ll handle your orientation protocols, seeing as you’re the first borrower in the program, so extra paperwork will have to be taken into account. I’d also like you to come with me to my office before we assign you a mentor. There’s someone I’d like you to meet who I think will help you adjust.”

She offered her hand to me, and I climbed on, letting her place me on her shoulder. She started to walk towards the transport tube, and Raz followed her.

“Great! Let’s go!”

“Hold it, Raz. I said I’d be handling Flint’s orientation. You can handle your own. Meet me in my office as soon as you’re finished.”

Raz sighed, and we waved to each other as Hollis brought me upstairs. We soon arrived at the main hub area of the Motherlobe, and it truly was a sight to behold. Floating platforms that could only be reached via levitation, disembodied brains rolling around in little brain hamster balls, there was even a bowling alley!

When we got to Hollis’ office, I was met with a sight I hadn’t expected. There was another borrower in the room, around my age. She was sitting on the desk, and she waved at Hollis.

“Hi, Mom!”

…Huh?

“Hi, sweetie. This is Flint, the newest member of the intern program. I thought you two should meet, since you’ve been here a while and can help him adjust to life here at the Motherlobe.”

I had… a lot of questions. Hollis said I was the first borrower in the internship program, but clearly there was another borrower kid living in the building. And she called her “Mom”?

“Wow, that’s so cool! I thought I was the only one! Hi, I’m Lauren, but you can call me Lori!”

“Uh… Hi. Are you also in the internship program?”

“Nope! I just live here! Though I AM a psychic!”

Her response only left me more confused. If she was psychic, why wasn’t she training?

“So… What do you do here, exactly?”

“Lots of things! I explore, pick flowers, make friends-”

“No, I mean like… psychic stuff.”

She hopped up on her Thought Bubble and rolled a few laps around the desk. Then she lifted a paperclip with her Telekinesis and bent into a heart shape.

“Pretty cool, right?”

I was dumbfounded. Surely she had to do SOMETHING, otherwise she wouldn’t have a place at HQ.

“But… what do you DO here?”

Hollis raised a hand, motioning for me to stop talking.

“Let’s move on from that topic, Flint. It’s time to assign you a mentor. Now… considering you already know each other well, how would you feel about being paired with Agent Nein?”

My eyes lit up. Even though I had been training with Sasha for a while, getting to actually work alongside him in the Motherlobe was huge for me.

“Yes, of course, that sounds great! When do I start?”

“He’s in his lab right now, so you can go meet him there. Lori, could you show Flint how to navigate the tunnel system?”

Without warning, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into a small door in the wall, perfectly scaled to our size. On the other side was an elaborately constructed series of tunnels that seemed to wind around the entire building. It didn’t look like it was constructed by borrowers. A human definitely made this.

“What is this?”

“It’s a special series of tunnels Agent Mentallis built just for me so I can get around easier. Y’know, so I don’t have to keep climbing up and down from furniture or risk walking on the floor and getting stepped on. The fastest way through is to levitate!”

We both got on our Thought Bubbles and rolled through the tunnels, Lori leading the way. I still had a lot of questions, but she seemed to move on from one thing to another in an instant.

She led me through another door, which placed us on a counter in Sasha’s lab. He was already there with another agent, who I soon determined to be the one and only Otto Mentallis.

Otto was a member of the Psychic Six, along with Ford. They were the founders of the Psychonauts, and went on all sorts of daring adventures together. I’d heard quite a bit about them during my time at camp, between overhearing thoughts and conversations, and sneaking a few peeks at True Psychic Tales.

He and Sasha were standing beside a table, where Dr. Loboto was fastened down. I knew it was necessary to continue interrogating him as he was withholding information, but I hated to see him restrained after learning what happened to him back in the Rhombus of Ruin.

Sasha, noticing our arrival, turned our attention to us.

“Ah, here already, I see. You’re right on time, Flint. I just finished speaking with Hollis about your internship. I’m looking forward to working with you. And it’s good to see you again too, Lori. I trust that you’ll help Flint adjust to life here at the Motherlobe.”

“Of course, Agent Nein! I can already tell we’re gonna be best friends!”

She wrapped me in a tight death-hug. She had to be the most affectionate person I’d ever met, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Lori left after that, and Sasha put me on his shoulder so we could get right to work on interrogating Loboto. As we walked over, I noticed Otto had a slight smirk.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to take any interns.”

“Flint and I work well together, Otto. This will be beneficial for the both of us.”

Otto shook his head, chuckling. “Always so serious. You need to learn to lighten up once in a while.”

He turned his attention to me.

“Flint, was it? I can tell you right now, you’ll be learning from the best. I should know, I was his mentor when he was just starting out. Taught him everything he knows!”

Sasha glanced away, actually looking somewhat embarrassed.

“Right, yes. Back to the subject at hand-”

Mid sentence, Raz stumbled into the room, wearing only his acrobat unitard. He looked so humiliated, and I knew right then and there that someone did something to him.

“I want names, Raz. Who did this?”

Sasha motioned for me to stop.

“Take it easy, Flint. Stay right there, Razputin, while I find you some clothes.”

He dug some of his old clothes out of the closet. They were a little baggy, but not too bad.

Otto left shortly after that, leaving the three of us in the lab. Sasha attempted to be reassuring. Emphasis on attempted.

“I’m assuming this is the work of the other interns. I wouldn’t worry about them. It’s only natural for an in-group to subject newcomers to an initiation of sorts as they adjust to their expanding circle. Though, if something like this happens again, do tell me or Hollis.”

“Yeah, and me, so I can beat ‘em up!”

He and Raz both gave me a look. They knew full well I would get obliterated in a fight against a human teenager. And I did too. But hey, empty threats on my friend’s behalf are better than nothing!

Raz left to go meet up with Hollis for orientation, and Sasha got back to work.

“What exactly are we trying to do here?”

“Loboto has some sort of mental block in place that’s preventing me from finding the identity of the mole. I’m trying to break through it, but it’s proving to be a lot stronger than I initially thought.”

I sat and watched as he continued to try different methods of breaking through, but no real progress was made.

Maybe about 20 minutes later, he suddenly stopped, as if he had a sixth sense.

“Milla found something. We have to go meet her outside the mailroom.”

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to see when we got there, but it definitely wasn’t Raz standing over a brainless man on the floor.

The man in question was Nick Johnsmith. He worked in the mailroom, and was assigned as Raz’s mentor. But for unknown reasons, the mole stole his brain and stuffed his body in a box addressed to Truman. Not only that, he had a key on him that belonged to the Lady Luctopus Casino.

An agent was recently sent there to investigate suspected Deluginist activity, but Hollis hadn’t heard back from her in the past two days. Naturally, the next course of action was to go there.

Of course, Hollis wasn’t about to let us interns go, even though Sasha and Milla vouched for us. She stood firm on her decision that this mission was too risky for us, and told us to meet her in her classroom.

I should’ve known this would happen. She didn’t know the full extent of what we were capable of. All she saw was a bunch of kids.

I’d just have to prove to her in class that I was the real deal.

[doodle17]

New Psychonauts oc just dropped fam

I'm about to show yalls the most f*cked up guy I've ever created

"Ah, Mr. Aquato. I'm glad you could make it. I've been waiting for a chance to Break Your Mind."

SO this is Tony Bridger 😬👍 that one absolutely irredeemable scumbag OC I've vaguely talked about. I guess I should get into his morals 'n backstory and yadda yadda yadda yadda

Basically, his Father created a machine that could send brainwaves or something like that, to control people. It was his life's work. Of course this was no good, so the Psychonauts were sent in to stop him. It was Sasha Nein himself in fact, who destroyed the machine. They never caught Mr. Bridger, as he took the young Tony and they went off the grid.

After his greatest invention was destroyed, the blueprints and notes all gone, Mr. Bridger went insane. It broke him, and he fell into madness. Tony tried his best to help the broken shambles of a man he knew as his father, but the poor kid was to young to be able to do anything.

Eventually, Mr. Bridger killed himself accidentally. He had stumbled onto some train tracks, got knocked out, and then a train came and ran over his unconscious body. The only family Tony had, which was already broken, was now gone. As if the insanity was infectious, Tony's mind seemed to break as well.

Its was those Psychonauts fault! It was that Agents fault! If they hadn't intervened, he'd still have a father. He didn't care if he took over the world, burned it to the ground. The only man he had to take care of him was gone, and it was all their fault.

So Tony's next plan, was to take action on how to help himself cope. In the worst. Way. Imaginable.

Since the age 14 he's been perfecting this twisted method. He somehow manged how to astrally project someone without a Psy-portal or a Brain Tumbler, and pull them into his mind. This is where the fun stuff starts

As if he's been working on it months, he's able to dig around your subconscious, find people you love, hate, respect, it doesn't matter, and twist and deform them into monsters to torment and torture you. He can create mental constructs in a matter of seconds somehow, with puzzles and monster so insane and so vile, any person who he drags into his mind...

Goes Mad.

When he was 20, he was discovered practicing this disgusting and ominous way of torment, and was thrown into one of the biggest prisons/insane asylum for Psychics ever. That thing, around his neck, is basically a psy-lock, but more powerful, and it gives you the nastiest shock anytime you try to use your powers.

He's not very worried about his position, however. In fact, he's actually quite happy he was thrown in there. Why, you may ask? Because this means he closer to the top agents. The ones who ruined his life in the first place.

Sasha, Milla, Coach, Lili and Raz have to go and try to find a way removed Tony's Brain from his body to be sedated, without having anything bad go wrong, but of course, bad things do, in fact, go wrong.

Because how do you get revenge on the very Agent who broke the one you cared most about?

By breaking one of the people they care about most as well, of course!

Oh yeah, the angst is strong with this one *rubs hands together deviously*

Yeah, I wanna try and make a fic or somthing with this guy soon. It'll be fun! Angsty, graphic, depressing and violent fun~

Sorry for the long post btw I've just been thinking about this guy's backstory a lot. Trying to make him sound evil, but with an actual reason to be

[erigold13261]

what are your takes on the intern's projections [as in the ability]

I was really hoping you meant clairvoyance because I forgot about mental projection as an ability because I didn't know what an archetype was when playing the game so I forgot about it.

So with my quick research of different kinds of archetypes, I can give what I think they would be, though I won't draw them because I don't have a single idea on what they would look like (obviously similar to the creator but the style of each would be different).

First off, since Raz is an intern, I think his archetype is the Jester and Innocent mashed together. Bringing joy and humor to the world while also showing optimism and youth (even more so than Raz himself). Maybe even a bit of the Hero when he grows up and makes his archetype again (I don't know if the archetype will also change or if he will have two different archetypes, but he definitely will have a Hero archetype at some point).

Norma would probably be the Ruler, trying to make order from chaos and keeps a stern and controlling environment. I can see her archetype being very rigid both in style (like all straight lines) and in material (like cardboard or very thick paper). When the archetype dies it bursts into flames.

Lizzie I feel like he would be the Rebel or the Magician. I don't know why the Magician, maybe because Morris said they can play an instrument or at least can DJ, and I can see Lizzie having an archetype to help make music feel special and turning dreams of music into reality. Also like, Lizzie is really good at making stories and doing improve I feel, so imagine him writing with his archetype creative stories.

The Rebel is a bit more standard with it being very rebellious in nature already (like when it ate one of the olives that was soaking in alcohol) but the archetype would be more on the side of questioning everything. This would be the archetype that Lizzie uses when it wants to get information and ideas on creative ways to get around the rules.

I can see both being made up of scratchy lines art-wise, kinda like how death metal band logos look, but the material would be different for both. The Magician would be made of music paper, and would drop little music notes with an instrument sound being done for each not that falls when it dies (I can heart piano or guitar strums in my head). But the Rebel would be made of ripped fabric with threads coming out of the edges. When that one dies it would probably unravel into a pile of threads before disappearing.

Morris I can see as either the Creator or the Magician. The Creator because he seems like the type to want "build things of enduring meaning and value" along with being very creative and innovative. The Magician because he is visionary and wanting to create dreams into reality. Both of these would help him with creating things, both for his radio show and for physical things out of psychic energy.

I see both his archetypes as being colorful, unlike most other ones that are just black and white/monochrome. Though I feel like both would be very unnatural colors (even for Psychonaut standards, more like psychedelic and contrasting colors). The Creator would be warmer colors and very high contrast while the Magician would be more cooler colors with only some contrast but also a single highlight/accent color of a warmer color.

I don't know what the two would be made out of, maybe something like colored construction paper or something like origami paper. Maybe even like tissue paper, it would be very delicate but I can see it working for Morris.

Style-wise I see his archetypes being very round and smooth in nature, like cartoons. Similar to Doodle Raz but also more blocked in when it comes to the coloring (along with them having different colors). Thicker lines and stuff like that.

When destroyed I can see them both as crumpling into balls. The tissue paper one would crumple into dust. But also I don't think that would be the end of them. They would have a second life kinda thing where they roll around as the crumpled ball or the tissue paper dust/scraps makes a kind of smoke screen or image to confuse enemies/people.

Adam I see as the Caregiver or the Explorer. He seems like the kind of person that would love to explore and learn new things, but also take care of those around himself. The Explorer would be used to get to hard to reach places while the Caregiver would help carry stuff or take care of someone that yo met.

I can see the Explorer being made out of papyrus paper (or just regular parchment paper if the environment is too wet/damp) while the Caregiver is made out of medical tape/gauze, allowing it to be very stretchy and not easily killed.

Style wise I see the two being very messy but in an orderly way. I don't know how to explain it but like, very scribbly but it makes clear lines for an image. Not chicken-scratch lines that are very pointed, but more like those "don't raise you pen"/one-line drawings. Just not as abstract.

When they die I can see the Caregiver rolling up into a cylinder and disappearing. Depending on the material the Explorer is made up of determines how it dies. If papyrus then it curls in on itself but crumbles while doing so. If parchment paper it folds or rolls hotdog style (so from one arm to the other, not from head to feet) and then fall to the side and disappear.

Sam would be either the Everyman or the Sage. Xe gives a lot of good advice during the game to Raz and seems like a very down-to-earth kind of person. I also love how supportive ze is, or is implied to be. But she also tends to want to be accepted and belong with people, especially if her family wasn't super supportive because of the Boole's history with exploding heads. Sam doesn't seem like zey has a a good family life with their parents so wanting to help heal people by being supportive or a mentor is probably a way that they cope.

But anyway, I see both of them as being super similar in style and in material. Both being made of some kind of animal-like products like leather for the Everyman or silk for the Sage. The style for both would probably be very distorted, showing that even though these archetypes are trying to help others, they can't fully represent Sam because they are disconnected from themself.

I can see both of these archetypes helping Sam heal himself over time slowly. Whenever they are out they help others around Sam but also give him some quick advice to think on whenever they leave.

Dying-wise, I can see these two not being very easy to kill off. Probably the strongest archetypes out of the interns. But Sam doesn't summon them often, at least not in battle. They leave on their own terms and don't like to fight, rather they would like to heal and advise or help out. If they do somehow die, they will look like bites are being taken out of them, like how moths eat these materials but the moths are not seen.

And finally, for Gisu I see her as being the Explorer or the Lover. She is very adventurous and also a person who loves the idea of love. She would be wanting to create romance or intimate moments (even if they are just platonic love) with people while also exploring all kinds risks and trying new experiences (which also goes into the Lover I feel, of trying new things and finding new passions in risk and exploration).

The Explorer would be made of grip tape (with maybe a sticky side, but if no sticky side then it's basically just sandpaper). The style would be graffiti art with drips and all that. Maybe if there is a sticky side that side has a Gisu made of rocks/colored sand to show the adventurer side (but also becomes disfigured and hard to see properly when out for too long).

The Lover would be made of tree bark, really thin tree bark. Something similar to paperback maple or birch bark. The style would be like wood engraving or like a knife marking that people use to make the heart and their initials, that kind of style.

When dying I see the Explorer as ripping from the top to the bottom into strips and floating away. The Lover would break in half (like how hearts break in half) and then the two pieces fall in opposite directions. You can probably upgrade the Lover to explode into splinters lol, though it wouldn't be used in fights as much as the Explorer would.

So yeah, that's what I think of the intern's archetypes/projections. Don't know if I did this right since that whole power always confused me haha.

[ask-agent-rapzutin-vodello]

So, what are the plans for halloween? Got anything spooky planned?

[Norma] Since Raz and Lili are soon to leave their care-free childhood for the dreaded period that is being a teenager resolves around -

[Lizzie] Meaning we feel that Raz is finally old enough for Norma to trust him to behave himself.

[Norma] (Pause) True. Since ...that ...we decided that we're gonna put together our own little Halloween party in the Lumberstack diner - while we're still able to get there before the whole area turns into a construction zone.

[Lizzie] Still weird, knowing that the Aquatos aren't only building a whole dang circus, but they're gonna be living there. House, backyard, pool, the whole shebang. Kinda sucks we're losing our hangout area.

[Norma] It's only like ...three quarters of the QA they've bought, the rest is still under stewardship of the Psychonauts. And technically, the Luberstack isn't part of the QA, so it's gonna stay.

[Lizzie] Yeah. And we're a few years away from getting our full 'Agent-ship certification', so we're not gonna be there a lot anyway then.

[Norma] You told Raz about your 'post-graduation' plans yet? The whole 'running a tattoo shop with Millie' thing?

[Lizzie] Not yet. Haven't had the right moment yet, and I'm kinda stalling too. I mean, for years we've been coming up with team poses and team-up attacks and now I gotta tell him I'm not becoming a full Agent? It sucks.

[Norma] Doing things despite they suck is a part of growing up, Sis.

[Lizzie] No fun! I wanna be a kid again.

[Norma] Mentally, you are.

[Lizzie] (Laughs) Zing! Walked right into that one.

[kyndaris]

Psychic Summer Internship

Jumping from Forspoken to Psychonauts 2 felt like a huge change. While both explored mental health, Forspoken was primarily focused on depression and madness. Its world was not one of high contrast or vibrant wilderness. Rather, it was grounded in grim reality with a world that was falling apart at the seams. Throughout the time I spent in Athia, it was clear that the people in Cipal were holding on by just a thread. Psychonauts 2, on the other hand, was an entirely different beast. The entire game world thrummed with life; the colours popped and there was a general sense of busyness as one rolled around the Motherlobe. The world was fresh, zany and, for this humble blogger, quite a lot smaller than the monstrous map I spent more than 60 hours in.

Psychonauts 2 was released in 2021 as the sequel to one of Double Fine’s beloved games. Just like the other entries, players were put into the shoes of Raz Aquato, right after the events from the VR entry (which, in and of itself was a quick adventure that was only hours after the events of the first game). Having rescued the Grand Head: Truman Zanatto, Raz and the rest of the Psychonaut agents were trying to figure out why Dr Loboto had managed to capture the leader of the Psychonauts. And so, the game starts off in a mental construct of Dr Loboto’s mind: a dreary office that echoes the daily grind many face in their waking world.

After winning a paid vacation for being the best employee in this fictional office that was on par with the movie Inception in creating a familiar environment, Dr Loboto is tasked with finding his ‘boss’ to sign off on the trip. So begins the tutorial section of the game as Raz follows the mad scientist dentist.

Until it all goes horribly wrong and the office construct slowly breaks apart.

Though Raz and the Psychonauts are unable to discover who had employed Dr Loboto to kidnap Truman before they arrive at the Motherlobe, they press forward with the interrogation. Raz, himself, at only ten is inducted into the Psychonauts intern program. And is assigned to work under Nick from the Mailroom,

Ten! And already putting in the hard hours to spruce up his resume! Truly, Raz is the ideal candidate for any job. That or the Psychonauts are breaking child labour laws.

Perhaps the heir to Grulovia, Gristol Malik, was right right after all! The Psychonauts are monsters!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

After joining the Psychonauts officially, albeit as an intern, Raz soon discovers Nick from the Mailroom trussed up in packaging and brainless. Finding a key in Nick’s pocket, the senior agents, suspecting a double agent, try to identify them by heading to the Lady Luctopus Casino. Raz and the rest of the interns also partake in the mission. But only after Raz has massed around with the mental connections in Psychonaut agent and erstwhile agent: Hollis Forsythe.

And here is where we find my biggest disappointment with the game. Despite the promise of espionage and high-stakes missions set out on the caper to the Lady Luctopus Casino, this was the only real appearance of a location outside the general area of the Motherlobe. While setting the game in and around the Quarry, the Questionable Area and Green Needle Gulch helped contain the game, I couldn’t help but wish for a globe-trotting adventure around the Psychonauts world. Instead, we got woods, woods and more woods.

That said, the areas that players did get to play through aren’t small by any means. They are liberally peppered with collectibles and are stuffed to the brim with fun side activities to complete.

In a game all about the power of the mind, however, is was the mental realms in Psychonauts 2 that truly shone. I loved how unique and original they all were. From the fractured mind of Ford Cruller to the Hospital Casino that was part and parcel of Hollis’s hot streak period or even the trippy aspect of the Psi King’s Sensorium. These were all excellent ways to demonstrate a character’s mental state as well as their life experience. 

One of my favourites was that of Cassie O’Pea. In her mental realm, Raz had to reunite all her different archetypes. These were all facets of who she was but were not quite the whole. It reminded me of the short story I wrote a year or two ago called Splintered where I tried to explore the many masks that people wear, whether they’re neurotypical or neurodivergent.

After all, with the hunt for being authenticity, why do we always pretend to be someone else in order to be liked? 

Of course, it’s not always about being liked. Sometimes it’s about putting on another hat in order for survival. Trapped in a terrible life situation, a child has to grow up fast in order to cope. The hope, of course, is that once those circumstances end, they can return to being the child they once were if perhaps a little wiser and more responsible than they were before.

I, for one, have felt like this when interacting with my friends. I have a group of board game friends. Then a group of video game enthusiasts that I call my friends. And now I have a group at work that I can maybe call my book friends. True, they might not read all the authors that I do but I can discuss some of the books that I read with people! It’s a dream come true!

Throughout the game, more and more major story elements are dropped like breadcrumbs before Raz and it isn’t long before the truth is revealed. His family was not cursed to die in water by a gypsy fortune teller. Rather, his great aunt was Maligula and she had replaced his actual grandmother after the Psychic 6 defeated her two decades ago. It was she that was the Deluge of Grulovia and which the Delugionists (great word play on delusion) were trying to bring back. Except, of course, there weren’t many Delugionists to speak of. The mole was Nick from the Mailroom. Who was actually the heir to Grulovia in disguise because he had run out of black caviar to consume.

While the plot of Psychonauts 2 could be considered simplistic when compared to other games, I enjoyed how mental health issues were incorporated from a gameplay perspective with new enemies like flying regrets with heavy weights that could crush you if one wasn’t careful, enablers that buff other enemies, doubts that slow Raz down and panic attacks that seem so incredibly overwhelming until they can be slowed down. Of course, mental illness cannot be so easily defeated but the message throughout the game was heartfelt and heartwarming.

Plus, it wasn’t as on the nose like Frey’s message to Homer at the end of the game. 

Beyond that, I also liked the new abilities that Psychonauts 2 employed. From mental connection to slowing time to creating a paper-thin copy of Raz that can slip between cage bars to open a door. While not all of them are effective in a fight, they provided new ways to problem solve and were a delight to play around. So much so that I also nabbed the Platinum for the title! A fact that I’m quite proud of for I now sit at 14 Platinums on my PlayStation profile.

So, is Psychonauts 2 a fun game? You bet your last dollar it is. Is it Game of the Year material? Probably not. But it’s a colourful world that isn’t afraid to tackle difficult subjects (though one could argue that its attempts to do so simplify the issues and strip them a little of the nuance that would go with it). Best of all, Psychonauts 2 has a story that, while trope-heavy and which follows some well-known beats, never overstays its welcome. Some might dismiss the fact that it can be finished in about 15 hours but in a world where most are strapped for time, it’s probably one of the better games that can tell such a comprehensive tale without wasting a single moment!

Now we need a game with Raz as an actual adult, solving all of the world’s problems one brain at a time!