#young loboto

[heximinimalsartstuff]

he on a boat!! where he goin to!?!!

[zerotab]

streamed drawing to my friends so they had me add some ideas in the mix here LOL

[cowsuponcows]

Wawawa. Hello Psychonauts fans

[medicalunprofessional]

flood

~♫

[ottosbigtop]

Can I ask you of um. Bobby ? I'm pretty sure you have in your aac au that he sort of lives/lived with Loboto and coach Oleander so umm. how do you think he felt or still feels about the whole brain stealing situation that happened at camp ? did he forgive them for that ? I think about that a lot and how it must've affected him. even if he doesn't talk about it or tries not to think about it. especially when it's also in a situation where he's the kid Loboto mentioned..

the brain stealing situation is definitely a Bad Look. Especially so because the events of pn1 are the first time Bobby’s seen Loboto outside of pictures. Ever. It’s actually the thing that prompts Loboto to come back for him, which is nice for Loboto! But it’s Bobby’s very first interaction with his dad, which really doesn’t. Bode well for their dynamic.

he absolutely pulls it out as a gotcha anytime Loboto wants to try and tell him what to do and I think it’s very effective bc Loboto doesn’t want to try to think through that and just goes “haha okay fair! Anyways!”

I have many thoughts about the Loboto and Bobby family dynamic. It is fraught with issues that stem from Loboto trying to be a dad without really knowing how or trying to learn, and Bobby just having to ride out those consequences. Not being able to apologize to his kid about kidnapping him and stealing his brain is one puzzle piece to his larger issues of avoidance.

[true-autistic-tales]

i will draw digitally more soon!! just have these for the meanwhile!!

[nahare-shin]

John Kramer if instead of Lynn in Saw III he had Loboto kidnapped and that’s it that’s the joke sorry.

[doctor-loboto]

I enjoy having the headcanon that Sheegor is like, in her thirties but because of her voice and mannerisms people assume she’s either twelve or eighty

[technovillain]

*Imagine there's an anon ask from roughly a year ago here asking me to share "what campers I thought become Psychonauts/what each of them end up getting up to when they're older" here. Imagine it cuz it got deleted randomly. T_T

BACK ON MY PSYCHONAUTS KICK THAT MEANS ITS TIME TO ANSWER YEARS OLD ANON ASKS LET'S GO!!! I have better story ideas for some more than others here...but if you're curious abt what I've written abt any of them, I encourage you to pry, that way I can think abt it harder and develop them further :]

Putting them under the cut, cuz breaking them down will be Long.

Let me preempt this section with this thought: every former camper of Whispering Rock ( save for maybe a few bad eggs ) is offered a job to work for the Psychonauts agency once they're of employment age. That's what you get for going to Secret Government Agency Summer Camp as a kid. You get weird letters in the mail for life. But hey, nice job, maybe?? In addition to this, particularly talented campers with high psychic aptitude and teamwork skills are offered a shot at the Intern Program at the Motherlobe.

Razputin becomes the superstar agent he always dreamed of becoming. He would pick it anyways, but at this point it's almost like he wouldn't have a say, with the way that the organization has sort of relied on him since he was 10 years old. I think he learns the hard way how much doing field work, like actual danger situations not just inside someone's mind, can take a toll on you quickly. Eventually he ends up taking a break, a "sort of running away from it all" type hiatus from agent work to go back and work with his family's circus again. No matter what happens, he always ends up going back and forth between these two things. Completed the intern program and specializes in Clairvoyance (much to his dismay) and favors Blastokinesis in the field.

Lili ends up in a situation similar to Raz, what with being very tied up with the organization from a really young age (even younger for her). But she gets the bonus points of stress of "being a Zanotto working for the Psychonauts means you'll probably end up in some big important role someday...doesn't it?" I'd argue that Lili would fall into the realm of trying to keep her image spotless and becoming a real precision agent, getting really good in high-stakes crisis situations. Was an intern for longer than anybody else, and specializes in both Herbaphony and Pyrokinesis.

Dogen is a training field agent for a while but has a bad accident and basically goes into hiding... He goes through a really similar thing to Compton, but he isolates himself so much that he really starts to scare other people. He starts to search for a way to make himself "un-psychic" and this gets him accidentally involved with some dangerous forces who are looking for an 'in' to mess with the Psychonauts. He struggled his way through the intern program as a teen and maybe sort of didn't really graduate it. Obviously Blastokinesis is his speciality, but in the field he did his best to repress that entirely and was a Mental Shield assisting agent.

Bobby goes through a whole arc of recovery and finding out his family lore. It's worth mentioning that I hc Loboto to be his father, and he lived with his grandparents growing up, and eventually got kicked out of that house. With nowhere to go, the Psychonauts as an organization pretty much ended up raising him. It takes a whole psychic village to raise a horrible little child. He still can be a jerk but he's a good guy now... Did the intern program, begrudgingly, because he "had nothing better to do". Specializes in Blastokinesis and Pyrokinesis.

Crystal gets her life turned around with the help of psychic outreach programs in her young teen years. She was taken on as an agent for a while, but finds her passions lie with helping others. She ends up working at Psychoisolation, helping active agents to recover from the things they've seen. Does most of her work inside the minds of other psychics. Specializes in Mental Connection.

Kitty becomes the big breakout "spotlight" agent that everyone has heard about, even being well known in nonpsychic circles. She has a full blown Hollywood celebrity vibe, despite the fact that none of her coworkers act that way and (most) at the agency don't view her that way. She's still a messy person. She's very hot and cold, wishy-washy, does whatever she wants. Has a complex relationship with Razputin, and consequently, Lili too. Maintains a mostly unrequited facade of an "Agent Rivalry" between her and Elka Doom. Completed the intern program with flying colors. Specializes in Hypnosis/Confusion and Electrokinesis.

Elka becomes an agent. She's always on the verge of about six different breakdowns. She keeps her image mostly clean and mysterious to the outside observer. Despite living her life waiting for impending disaster she still tries to stay on the side of good. She becomes an iconic "write about her in the comics" agent with a difficult relationship to her psychic powers... Completed the intern program at a young age. Specializes in Precognition.

Vernon works under Adam Joseph Gette as Psychic historians for the agency for a while as part of his internship. Eventually he decides to branch out, getting really into photography and field research. He becomes fascinated with the Rhombus of Ruin and its tales of disappearance and mystery. He gets approved for a reconnaissance mission there with Elton Fir (and Benny Fideleo too...kinda.) Completed the intern program. Isn’t a regular field agent but works at the Motherlobe. Specializes in Astral Projection.

Elton never lets go of his sailor aesthetic, but he kind of has no choice, because Hydrokinesis and Zoolingualism (namely with fish) are his specialty. He still harbors feelings for Milka, despite things becoming...really complicated. Recently he's been working with his buddy Vernon in the depths of the Rhombus of Ruin, trying to uncover the mystery of the Psilirium there. He was never in the intern program, he worked in a shipyard until being offered a job from the Psychonauts. Being their marine mission specialist has really boosted his confidence.

Benny really thought his job working for the Psychonauts would be cooler. But he isn’t allowed to work in the field because he can’t get over his *ahem* panic reactions to danger. He failed every test he was given. He’s just a chicken. So much to his dismay, he has to stay back at base. Behind a desk. Watching blips on a screen in the Nerve Center. Blahhh. There aren’t a lot of transmissions to come back from the dead radio zone of the Rhombus, but when they come through?? He’ll be ready. Flunked out of the intern program. Doesn’t get to use his psychic powers much, except using TK to mess with people when he’s bored.

Mikhail ditched Maloof. And he was probably the only one to ever do that and live to tell the tale. Went back home for a while, but came back and did the intern program when he was a little older. Specializes in Telekinesis but now has a special Zoolingualism tie to bears. He's a good guy agent, sure. But he absolutely will Sic The Bears On You.

Franke never grew out of her “yes-man” tendencies. In fact, it could be said that she leaned into them tenfold. She has taken it upon herself to work as an “assistant” to the superstar agents, doing physical, emotional, and my god janitorial duties for them. She focuses mainly on Kitty and Elka, but she’ll suck up to anyone. Lili wishes she would hit the bricks. Franke doesn’t use her powers often on account of having something Ford dubbed “psitanium sickness” flareups on the regular. Basically, her brain accumulates a lot of psitanium, but for whatever reason, she doesn’t have the firepower to dish it back out as psychic energy. So it builds up in her head. Gives her freaky purple eyes. So routinely, agents will go into her brain to farm psitanium. And she loves it.

Clem, after drifting apart from Crystal, kind of just fell to pieces. Home life was not good, so the job offer from the Psychonauts was refreshing. But what is Clem’s job exactly?? Does anybody know? Does moping ominously in the Quarry and making everyone really anxious count as a job? Does talking to a very very old woman in the Gulch about having an identity crisis count as a career? Who’s to say! “Specializes” in Mental Projection.

J.T. becomes the new groundskeeper at Whispering Rock. Never was in the intern program, was offered an office job. Worked it for all of 2 months before he felt crazy. You can’t put this cowboy indoors. He’s a much better groundskeeper than Ford was. He actually prioritizes keeping the kids safe, and they all love him. Hangs out with Mikhail every now and then when he comes to help tame psychic forest animals, and the two get very nostalgic about their summer camp days. Specializes in Levitation.

Maloof becomes a psychic crime boss. Obviously. His mother has a lot of sway over what he does. He has a serious man-child thing going on, so he doesn’t act a whole lot differently than he did as a little kid. Which only makes him more freaky. He holds a lot of grudges against the people who feared and doubted him as a child. Specializes in Mental Projection.

Milka’s bouts of invisibility got worse as her home life soured even more. As a teenager, she tried to join the intern program and better herself, but she developed a real problem with running away from things that were good for her. She dated Elton again as a teen, but ran away from him. She ran away from the Psychonauts as a whole. Simply disappearing into the wind, extremely hard to track. Everyone worries about her. Nobody knows exactly where she is. Some are convinced she actually disappeared somewhere and didn’t just go invisible, as nobody can even track her mental footprint anymore... Specializes in Invisibility.

Chloe is doing her own thing. There are a number of agents who were given the task of “keeping an eye on Chloe Barge” to make sure she doesn’t become some sort of large scale threat or something. But nobody ever really knows what she’s up to. It’s probably got something to do with aliens. And psychic activity. But what the heck is it?? Never joined the intern program, but visited the Motherlobe a couple of times as a teen to use the psychoisolation facilities. Specializes in Photokinesis.

Chops drifted away from the whole psychic scene and got into homeopathic medicine. Keeps his powers on the down-low, and uses them behind people’s backs. Maybe a little shady for blending his light psychic knowledge with plant knowledge and branding it as ‘medicine’, but he means well. There just isn’t a lot of interest in psychics from the Canadian government, so he’s leaving it alone for now.

Phoebe is still working on her music career, and has become a relatively successful indie rock star. Quentin never was taking it seriously enough for her, so they moved on. She was offered a lot of gigs from Morris, but is trying to make it “in the regular world” and declined most of them. She struggles to keep her Pyrokinesis in check still, and it heightens her anxiety on the road, only making it more likely for flareups to happen. Her band members know that she’s psychic, but she doesn’t want to tell anyone else. She calls Lili a lot and she helps Phoebe learn to control her Pyro.

Quentin is running a little farm in Green Needle Gulch. His produce and *ahem* herbs are loved by all sorts of Psychic clientele. He really isn’t interested in any of the agent stuff, or paperwork stuff, he’s just kinda...zooted, idk. Just chilling, and a lot of the more uptight government types in the organization cannot stand that he’s allowed to hang around the gulch.

Nils went to prison on multiple accounts of stalking. He’s still in there. I don’t think anyone misses him, but I’m sure there’s a few people who worry about him getting out. Sort of a looming “it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out and becomes a huge threat” villain. Specializes in Cryokinesis.

[ottoslab]

Do any of the psynauts future designs have pets? what are their names if so!

The only one who I KNOW has pets is Bobby, and they’re moreso his dad’s than his, but he grew up with them, so it counts!

Sergeant is a rabbit Oleander adopted young, and Animal is what happens when Loboto needs to blow off some steam and remember what it was like to create atrocities toward god!

Bobby used to try and get them to fight when he was a kid because he thought it was funny. Now he has to suffer the consequences because they’ve kept trying to kill each other ever since.

I tried to think of some ideas for pets for the other guys, but this was the only one I could really think through. The Whispering Rockers and their band dog! Who answers mostly to “Dog,” a name Chops informally gave to her because Phoebe and Quentin were too busy disagreeing with each other on other options and he needed to call her something.

[nullxe]

ME AND MY BF @rockthejungle WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT PSYCHONAUTS BUT WE NOTICED A REALLY COOL THEME IN THE GAME THAT I THINK IS WORTH THINKING ABOUT:

so basically my boyfriend mentioned that morry must have a pretty high mental fortitude because in rhombus of ruin raz can’t use clairvoyance on him or speak to him telepathically like he can with sasha and milla. i sort of off-handedly suggested that maybe people who experience trauma at a young age have higher mental fortitude and OH MY GOD. WE DOVE DEEPER INTO THE IDEA AND. ITS A REALLY COOL CONCEPT ONCE YOU THINK ABOUT IT

we KNOW that morry has experienced a LOT of trauma at a young age because we’re explicitly shown the details of it, but we’re not really given any details into other peoples traumatic experiences until psychonauts 2 when we learn about lobotos early childhood trauma. assuming that the trauma really did increase lobotos fortitude, it would make a lot of sense why, in the first game, raz, someone who is very new to using his psychic powers, is unable to breach lobotos defenses and enter her mind.

while we arent explicitly shown any of the other characters childhoods, it would also explain why there are characters (cough cough crispin) that can defend against raz’ psychic portal without having any previous knowledge of the psychonauts. this may be something that im thinking way too far into considering its a very small aspect of the game but,,,, maybe just think about it

[anonymouspuzzler]

taking a break from the wall of Lobotos to provide some miscellaneous Psychic 7 doodles!!! wait no there's one Loboto in there oops. oh god he's broken containment

(alt text/image IDs under cut!!)

[Image 1 ID: A black-and-white drawing of Ford doing a V-sign with his right hand, wearing baggy high-waisted shorts cinched with a belt and a checkered flannel with the sleeves rolled up, over which is a t-shirt reading "GOD CAN'T KILL ME!"]

[Image 2 ID: Two black-and-white drawings of Ford. In the first, he is posing with one hand on his hip, wearing shorts with a belt and a button-up under a t-shirt. The t-shirt reads, in a flaming text box, "MY FATE IS MY OWN NEITHER GOD NOR THE DEVIL CAN SAVE OR DAMN ME". The second drawing shows him from behind, gesturing to the back of the t-shirt with two thumbs; it reads, "BUY DREAM FLUFFS TODAY!"]

[Image 3 ID: A bust-up black-and-white drawing of Ford, wearing a life vest and giving a thumbs up, wearing a hat that reads "THE ATTITUDES OF WOMEN AND FISH TOWARD ME ARE TOO VARIED AND COMPLEX TO BE ACCURATELY DESCRIBED ON A HAT".]

[Image 4 ID: A black-and-white drawing of Ford and Nona in a rowboat being propelled psychically. Ford is on one knee with one hand on his chest and the other gesturing outwards, singing, "WHENNN THE MOOONNN HITS YOUR EYE LIIIKE A BIIIG PIZZA PIE THAT'S AMOOOREEEE". Nona, leaning on her cane and smiling placidly, thinks, "ohh I can't NOT fuck him".]

[Image 5 ID: An extremely tiny traditional pen drawing of old Bob Zanotto. He is just stood there.]

[Image 6 ID: A black-and-white single-panel comic of Cassie and Ford. Cassie, towering over Ford and leaning with her elbow propped on his head, tapping his forehead with her other hand, smirks and says, "If she's your girl why is my stamp on her plot-important letter". Ford, looking frustrated, replies, "We are in the same polycule".]

[Image 7 ID: A black-and-white single-panel comic of Loboto and Cassie. Cassie is standing behind Loboto, holding his left arm in one hand and holding up a butter knife near his head in mock-threat, smirking mischievously and saying, "Not gonna snitch and tell anyone we broke you out for dinner, right?" Loboto, toppling backwards and looking horrified, replies, "I AM SO SCARED OF YOU".]

[Image 8 ID: A drawing of Puzz, wearing a turtleneck sweater and overalls with her hair in a sloppy bun, smiling and waving lovestruck up at Cassie, who towers over her and looks down with mild interest. Cassie is nearly twice her height.]

[Image 9 ID: A color illustration of Cassie, wearing a long orange dress patterned with ants crawling in lines, a peach shawl patterned with black-and-white illustrations of bees, black flat shoes, a choker and necklace patterned with a bee charm and honey-colored hexagonal gemstones, and a warm yellow beret with an embroidered bee. Her hair is in a bun at the base of her neck and held together with honey-wand styled hairpins. She is carrying a wicker picnic basket, with a bottle of wine and a green-and-yellow checkered cloth sticking out of one side.]

[Image 10-13 IDs: A greyscale four-panel comic. In the first panel, young Bob is talking to Otto at the latter's workbench; Otto is removing a pair of goggles, looking over his shoulder at Bob and smirking knowingly. Bob, blushing and shrugging, avoiding eye contact, says with a nervous grin, "I just think Helmut's cool! It's not like I lie awake at night, thinking of him". The next panel cuts to Bob, doing just that; the third pulls in closer on his face, and the final shows him blushing furiously, saying, "Uh oh."]

[psitaniumpsichosis]

Psychonauts 2 Spoilers

The circus isn't somewhere 13 and a half Gristol Malik ever foresaw himself, but after he was kidnapped and separated from his parents-- well, this little circus is the only place he's safe.

Taken in by 14 year old Augustus 'Gus' Aquato and his mother, Gristol now lives under the alias 'Nick Johnsmith', his saviour teaching him how to survive in these conditions and how to do the amazing stunts that he was now practically required to pull off.

But it's not all bad, Gristol-- rather, Nick-- is learning to appreciate what little the Aquatos can provide and learning to realize how horribly his parents treated their citizens. Plus, this 'peasant food' is really good. Who knew how incredible such a simple soup could be?

---

YAHAHA! I'm back with another au! I drew a teen Augustus and it got out of hand-- as you can tell I got a new stylus lol

Feel free to send in asks about this AU, I wanna share about it because I love these kids so much. I gotta design the third kiddo, a young Caligosto Loboto who ran away from his procedure and joined the Aquatos.

[ammomancer]

pn character name post...TWO! last name edition and also the random psychonauts around the motherlobe who i didn't feel like including in the first one

including ones that aren't real surnames but are real words/clearly plays on real words. if one is missing assume either it doesn't mean anything/I couldn't find a meaning or I didn't think it needed explaining (e.g. Sweetwind, Doom)

Aquato - clearly a play on "aqua"

Nein - "no" in German

Zanotto - from a diminuitive of Zane or Zani/Zanni, the Venetian form of Gianni, which is short for Giovanni, which is the Italian form of "John" (God is gracious, Hebrew). unrelated but "Zanni" is also where we get the English word "zany"

Oleander - a flowering shrub that is grown as an ornamental or landscape plant despite being poisonous

Cruller - a kind of twisty donut :)

Boole - possibly from a Middle English word for bull

Canola - genericized trademark of a brand of cooking oil. the "can" is short for "Canada"

Zilch - German surname of uncertain etymology, slang for 'nothing'

Athens - after the Greek city, which Athena was probably named after, not the other way around

Lutefisk - Norwegian word for a traditional Nordic fish dish. it's soaked in lye.

Bulgakov - son of Bulgak (Bulgak being a surname in its own right that means "restless" or "troublesome"). Mikhail is probably named after the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov, best known for The Master and Margarita

Fir - as in a fir tree

Phage - short for bacteriophage; a Greek suffix meaning "eater"

Bubai - Mandarin word meaning "invincible"

Tripe - animal stomach lining prepared for food; figuratively used to mean nonsense or valueless ideas/writing

Fideleo - possibly from Latin "fidelis", faithful/loyal

Cooper - barrel maker (English)

Soleil - "sun" in French

Houndstooth - a fabric pattern (that Becky does not wear)

Rolls - likely alluding to fat rolls

Bonaparte - French-ified version of Buonaparte, an Italian surname meaning "good match" or "good solution"

Teglee - derived from famed black velvet painter Edgar Leeteg; "Leeteg" was originally "Lütig", which I can't find a straight answer on what that means

Inflagrante - from "in flagrante", a shortened version of "in flagrante delicto", a Latin term that literally translates to "while the crime is blazing" and basically means "in the act"; it can refer to being in the act of doing something bad but particularly when shortened also means. well. in the act of Doing A Sex

DeLucca - alternate spelling of Italian De Luca, "[child] of Luca"; Luca ultimately meaning "from Lucania"

Pokeylope - pokey (slow) + lope (to walk slowly). good turtle name

Loboto - clearly a play on "lobotomy"

Forsythe - man of peace (Scottish Gaelic)

Natividad - Spanish for "nativity", meaning birth but particularly referring to the births of Mary or Jesus. a common name in the Philippines in addition to Spanish-speaking countries

Martinez - son of Martin (Spanish). "Martin" is derived from "Mars", Roman god of war and root of the word "martial"

Joseph - "he [God] will add" (Hebrew)

Gette - variation of Goethe, derived from "Gott" (God in Middle High German as well as modern German)

Neriman (also spelled Nariman) - a name of Persian origin, possibly meaning "brave mind"

Potts - topographical name. if you lived near holes in the ground you might have gotten called Potts

Malik - "king" in Arabic and various other Semitic languages; as a surname, is most common in India and Pakistan

OKAY now for the miscellaneous motherlobe NPCs

Brianne - "hill" or "power" (Celtic)

Chet - short for Chester, "fortress" (Latin)

Colin - young dog (Scottish)

Crenshaw - possibly "twisted wood" (Old English)

Dustin - from Thorsteinn, "Thor's stone" (Old Norse)

Evan - from the Welsh form of John

Forrest - take a guess.

Frank - Frenchman, more or less

Hawkins - diminuitive of Hawk or of Hal (from Henry, "home ruler", Germanic)

Jared - descent (Hebrew)

Kim - diminuitive of various names

Kramer - shopkeeper, merchant (German)

Lance - land (German/Old Saxon)

Larry - short for Laurence, "from Laurentum" (Latin)

Lori - short for Laura (laurel) or Lorraine (kingdom of Lothar, a Frankish king)

Sherri - from "cherie", French for darling

Susan - lily (Hebrew)

Thad - short for Thaddeus, Greek name of unclear origin

Whitlatch - "white path" or "white stream" (Old English)

[medicalunprofessional]

???

[sheltershock]

(Sorry for the long text post, but if you want to read, this is a 2k word essay about Sasha’s backstory.)

I know that Sasha running away from home after discovering as a child that his parents had sex is a well known, and often joked about, aspect of his character. However, to me, I don’t think that is the reason he ran away from home. That earth shattering discovery might have been the catalyst, but not the reason. 

Trigger Warning for Emotional Neglect. 

There’s a lot to say about Sasha and his level/mindscape, which is great. But something that has always fascinated and impressed me was the memory vaults specifically. Sasha’s two memory vaults not only helps flesh out his character, makes him relatable to the player, and thoroughly explains his relationship dynamic with Razputin. And all of this is done without words. 

The first big thing to say about Sasha’s First Loss is that it’s the only memory vault to be displayed in first person(in the typical style. Loboto’s is in 3D so it’s different), aka through Sasha’s eyes. The artistic reason why it’s in first person is because since Sasha is a baby at this point in his life, the artist can use baby furniture and his size to set up framing and composition to tell the story. The story reason for why it’s in first person is because more emotional emphasis can be placed more on his father. Whenever we see tragic stuff in memory vaults we get to see the character who experienced the memory so we can see their anger/sadness/joy/etc. But there’s already emotional baggage next to the vault and it’s titled “Sasha’s First Loss” so we already know what emotion is attached going in. But seeing Sasha’s father’s reaction to his wife’s death is actually really important contextually looking at Sasha’s early life.

The thing is, his dad never really got over his mom’s death. And that ruined everything. It’s like if the start of your life to the end was a race you had to run, and then the announcer says “ready, get set, go” and fired the gun into the air to start the race, waited five seconds, and then shot Sasha in the ankle and expected him to keep going. Of course this leg of the race was going to end horribly. 

After we see Sasha’s mother’s soul leave her body, the next slide is of Sasha watching through a window as his dad is grieving/burying his wife. His hand is on the window, as if to reach out to where his parents are, but the pane of glass physically blocks them from reaching each other. This is the first artistic representation of their father-son relationship after his mother’s death. Distance. 

The slide after the burying scene is the last one of the memory vault, and it’s my favorite. It depicts Sasha looking at his dad through bars of a baby gate. On Sasha’s side, in the foreground, are blocks and baby toys on a soft blanket. On the other side of the gate, in the middle ground, is a framed photo of his mother sitting, perpetually smiling behind a pane of glass. And in the background of the image, his father is sitting as far as he can be from the foreground, looking out a window with his hands folded and an open book in his lap. I love how the bars of the babygate separate the layers of the image from his dad and the photo of his mom. Especially with the detail that the photo is physically closer to Sasha than his actual living father, yet is still barred from both of them. You can really see the emotional distance the tragedy has caused for the two of them.  

This slide not only utilizes the distance from the previous slide, but also introduces a new concept, attention. Despite the fact that your wife just died and you have an infant/toddler to look after, Sasha’s father has instead elected to read a book and look out a window. He doesn’t look at his child, which is a detail that returns in the second vault. 

In Sasha’s Second Sight the first slide contains a far older, but still really young, Sasha working in the cobbling store with his dad. This memory vault is in the traditional third person point of view so we can actually see Sasha’s face this time. Again, the distance between the two is obvious. Sasha is in the foreground on the right side, meanwhile his father is in the background but on the left. It’s immediately clear that they never really got closer all these years later. Another detail is that even though they’re both working, Sasha is still looking towards his dad, like in the previous vault, yet his dad’s attention still  isn’t on him. 

The second slide depicts them both at a work table, but his father is the only one working. Sasha is instead holding up a picture of his mom, the same one from the first vault, and asking about her, meanwhile his dad refuses to share anything. While they are physically closer in this slide, all that credit is removed by the fact that his father’s back is turned to Sasha. Creating yet another barrier between the two. 

The third slide is Sasha attempting to look into his father’s thoughts because despite the fact his surname literally means “no” he does not want to take that as an answer. His father’s back is still turned to his son, but he’s grasping his face, clearly still grieving after all this time. We already know what happens on slides four through six, mind reading stuff. Instead I’m skipping to slide seven, where Sasha is now very mentally disturbed. 

In his panic, he’s actually turned to face away from his father, but is still glancing towards his direction. And the final slide, slide eight, Sasha runs away from home. Again the distance is there, and stronger than ever. Sasha’s in the foreground, his dad is in the background, and Sasha’s already down the street with a bag over his shoulder. Interestingly enough, Sasha is still glancing back towards his dad, as he watches his son run away from home from the doorway of the store. His dad is just standing there, watching this happen. He’s not calling out for him, or asking if he’s going to be coming back, he just watches. And this is the second time in both memory vaults that his dad actually looks in Sasha’s general direction. I’m serious. The first time was before his wife died and he’s making eye contact with Sasha as his wife does that thing people like to do where they toss their baby into the air and catch them(Sasha’s First Loss, Slide Three). After that point, he never looks at his son until he’s actively running away from him.

Okay, so what’s the point of this? The two big things, distance and attention. Both memory vaults have shown both how far apart emotionally they are from each other, and how Sasha is always looking towards his dad but never getting his attention. And I understand why his dad is acting like this. Loss is complicated and if you get stuck with a child that actively reminds you of that person you lost and is asking about them, I understand why he’d avert his eyes. However, Sasha is a child, with only one living parent that will not look at him. I ask you this: what exactly is Sasha losing by running away from home from an emotional standpoint? Absolutely nothing. All he had of his mother was a framed photo, hidden behind glass, much like the image of his father grieving over a grave. That's all they are to each other, they knew this woman, but in two very clearly different ways. But now, Sasha’s perspective on his mother has changed due to mind reading. He wouldn’t be living with this man who knew his mother and be willing to endure a tense living situation for stories. Now the tension has evolved into discomfort as all this man’s stories will have that underlying image of what he saw, and he doesn’t even seem to like having Sasha around. 

Another point towards my argument that it was the neglect that led to the decision is that we know from Razputin that running away is technically a decision that can be reversed. You could go back home, or a relative can go get you and bring you back. But in the last slide of Sasha running away, his father isn’t going to go chase after his kid like Augustus would do. Sasha’s father just kind of… accepts it? He doesn’t know that his kid read his mind, all he’s aware of is that after years of raising this child, he runs away from home and just lets it happen. And from Sasha’s perspective, while yes, his mind is probably torturing himself with new knowledge, he’s still looking back from where he came. But much like how his father’s back was turned to him, creating a barrier between them, his father is standing in front of the store’s door. And his father is built like a fridge, so there might as well be a blockade in front of the door. If your own dad won’t even look in your general direction why the hell would you want to go back to that with the added pressure of already having run away?

Okay, so remember Razputin? It’s fun seeing all the mentor/dad-figure Sasha and Raz content; and it’s very sweet. But it actually makes sense from a character perspective in the text. Sasha’s grown up now and becomes an international superstar secret agent, gets to be a camp counselor, and suddenly this child who’s extremely psychically gifted breaks into the camp. Turns out that this kid ran away from home…and doesn’t want his father to come pick him up due to some strange related angst. Huh. Compelling. Of course Sasha sees himself in this child he’s known for like two hours. It’s like looking into the past really, and Sasha is dying for the chance to take this kid aside for some tests, alone from everyone else. Sasha sees a lot of untapped potential in this kid, and doesn’t doubt the damage Razputin can do. And now he’s teaching this kid PSI-Blast and trying to impart life lessons like keeping control of the mind… He’s putting himself in danger through this shooting course, and ends up pushing Raz out of the way when things really start taking a turn for the worse and making himself take on any pain. He’s letting Raz make a few mistakes, but making sure he’s safe. Just like a parent would do… And oddly enough, throughout the Marksmanship lesson, he’s always keeping a watchful gaze over Razputin and standing close enough that he can feel his presence but not invade the kid’s personal space. It’s almost like he’s stepping into a father figure role for this runaway. Because that is exactly what Sasha’s doing, whether it’s intentional from him or not. 

I like to think that Sasha being there as a support for Raz in a way that he wanted/needed as a child is actually a form of healing for him. It’s like that thing where new parents try to be a better version of their parents so they can prevent mistakes. I know Raz was unconscious while Augustus was walking around talking to all the adults so we never get to see him interact with Sasha. But I like to think that he’d be relieved that Razputin’s father immediately chased after his son. And especially relieved that Augustus acknowledges his past wrongdoing and is going to make more of an effort to be there in support of Razputin. It’s sweet to me that at the end of the first game Sasha specifically includes Raz for the Truman Kidnapping mission, stepping up to him, looking down at him and referring to Raz as their “anti-kidnapping specialist.”

Sasha’s backstory always seemed pretty emotionally complex to me, and naturally fit with his relationship with Raz. And like how Milla’s name is pronounced with the obvious “a boy I thought was cute said it wrong so I will say it wrong the rest of my life” explanation is just a surface level, but still valid interpretation, this is my interpretation of Sasha’s early life and the decision to run away.