#also raz shows up at the end

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 17: you're the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest

"Leave me alone."

2809 Words; Rewired AU

TW for mentions of violence and blood, injury, mentions of death

AO3 ver

Morris leaned back with a wince.

What an awful night. What an awful, horrible, no-good night. The ballroom was still half-frozen, melting ice spikes covering more than half the space. Slowly growing puddles were beginning to soak into the carpet. Tables and chairs had been overturned, slashed, and smashed—and then there was the detritus from the plates and silverware and glasses that had been used as makeshift ammunition. Broken glass and chunks of ice glittered across the floor.

At least Morris had been able to find his chair, and not the random chair he’d had to grab in the heat of the moment. It didn’t magically fix everything, but he’d switched it to be self-propelled instead of levball-powered, which helped his headache. Marginally.

The sirens weren’t helping, though. The sound had been cut, at some point, but between the still-functioning lights of the ballroom and the red and blue flashing outside, Morris’ headache was not getting better. Add in the EMTs frantically trying to chip through Lizzie’s ice cocoon, all of the other first responders tending to the partygoers, and every other little bit of movement and noise—

Morris liked noise. He hated silence, hated the way it spread out and suffocated a space. The world was meant to be alive and that meant being loud—

Morris rubbed at his temples. Yeah, sure, this was better than the eerie silence of just before—

Gisu going down in a blur of motion, the automaton reclaiming its face and snapping it back on.

Those glowing red eyes staring Morris down like an omen—

But it was not helping his headache. At all. And his headache was making his stomach twist and the room spin—

What a mess.

And tonight had started out so well, too. Rolling around the ballroom, making connections, the mission going off without a hitch—

The sound of shattering glass, a scream cutting across the ballroom—

Morris grimaced. What an awful night. What an awful, horrible, no-good night. He just wanted it to be over, already, so he could go home to Licorice Whip and Caramel Popcorn and Lolly Pop. Yeah. He’d go home, feed his ferrets, and maybe sleep off all of this awful bullshit that had decided to come crashing in through the skylight. It’d be so nice—much nicer than all of this.

Amidst the general bustle, an EMT made their way over to him. Morris turned to her, ignoring the way the room was spinning.

“Can you tell me your name?” They asked.

“Morris Martinez.” Easy. Like Morris could ever forget his own name.

“Age?”

“...twenty one.” Okay, that one had been a little harder. But it didn’t take that long for Morris to remember that oh, yeah, he’d stopped being twenty in the spring. Just a few moments.

“Favorite color?” They raised a flashlight to Morris’ eyes. 

“Blue.” It’d been his favorite for years—it was the color of the sky, after all.

(And the color of the Dion’s eyes, but that was less important. And not something Morris wanted to think about right now.

He didn’t want to think about anything besides his ferrets, really.)

“Can you hear any ringing in your ears?”

Morris concentrated. “Yeah.” He admitted. “It’s really faint, though.” But it was still there, and probably had been since he woke up next to a wall of ice—he just hadn’t noticed it in the chaos, the faint ringing fading into background noise for him.

“You’re likely concussed.” The EMT said, lowering her flashlight. “But they’ll have to do an MRI to know for sure—you’re holding together well.”

“I kind of figured.” Morris said. Getting hit in the head with the hilt of a sword would do that. At least Gisu was able to take up keeping in contact with Hollis after the automaton left—Morris’ headache was only getting worse as the night progressed.

“Hollis says she’ll meet us at the hospital.” Gisu’s voice floated over to him, and Morris turned to face her. “The one they’re taking Lizzie to.”

Right. Morris glanced back at the ice cocoon—and there she was, being pulled out and loaded onto a stretcher. “She better not die.” He muttered. She probably wouldn’t—Lizzie was tough like that.

“Yeah.” Gisu said. Morris wondered if she was exhausted as he felt, if that was why she was barely talking. There was certainly something, in her eyes, a sort of deep resignation that Morris had long since grown to recognize. She was tired.

Gisu’s hand slipped into his. Easily, like it was always meant to be there, yet loosely, like she might pull away at any moment. It was a familiar gesture in every way, a gesture born of years of knowing each other.

It was a small comfort. But it was still a comfort.

+=+=+=+=+

The waiting room was quiet.

Oh, sure, other people were present, many of them talking in low murmurs that Morris couldn’t really discern, and there was music playing on some small tinny speaker somewhere— 

But compared to the ballroom? Compared to the sirens?

Morris could actually think.

Well, sort of. He was still concussed—he’d gotten the scan results ten minutes ago. But at least the room wasn’t swimming around him. At least there was no internal bleeding. Just a mild concussion to go with the exhaustion.

Now he was just waiting for news on Lizzie’s condition—whatever it might be. There’d been… a lot of blood.

Morris really hoped that she came out okay. The hours had stretched on, the clock in the waiting room reading 11:38. The party had started at 7:00, and when Morris had first looked at the clock in this room it had read 9:52. Hollis had arrived a little over half an hour ago, though she’d been too preoccupied with coordinating with Truman over what details to give to the press to say hello. The vultures had already been at the gala, so it didn’t take long for even more of them to show up looking for a good story. Between that and his MRI, Morris hadn’t had the chance to talk to her yet.

What an awful night. What an awful, horrible, no-good night. Morris needed to get out of this suit ASAP. He needed to see his ferrets. He needed to lie down in his bed and not wake up for the next seven years.

Morris needed a lot of things, if he was being honest.

Gisu’s footsteps padded across the waiting room carpet—so much like the ballroom carpet—and Morris looked up at her approach.

“I just talked to Hollis about Lizzie.” Gisu informed him. “They’re going to transfer her to Clay Ridge once she’s stabilized.” Her voice softened, her eyes glimmering with relief. “She’s going to live.”

Morris felt some of the tension dissipate from his shoulders. “That’s good.” He murmured. If Lizzie died…

Don’t think about that.

“So where are you and I going?” Morris asked. He really hoped the answer would be home. Home, with Lolly and Licorice and Caramel chasing their favorite toys around the room. Home, with his comfy bed. Home, with his radio and his favorite songs.

“You and Agent Nerumen will be coming back to the Motherlobe,” Hollis began from behind Gisu. Morris tensed at the sudden appearance, then immediately relaxed. “Since neither of you are critically injured, the medical wing there will be adequate.” Hollis’ voice remained even, cool and calm even with the worry lining her face. What Morris wouldn’t give to have that kind of suaveness under pressure.

“I’m guessing you’ll be wanting a full mission report?” Morris asked, even as the idea filled him with dread.

Hollis’ lips quirked. “You’ll get time to rest first, Agent Martinez.” She assured. At once, her demeanor hardened, the steady mentor morphing into the strict Second Head. “Your transport is waiting outside.” She informed them. “Debriefing will happen at 10:00 AM tomorrow.”

Morris nodded, then started to wheel his way towards the door, Gisu walking alongside him. Her mental presence was fuzzy through the haze of the concussion, but it was there, familiar buzzing at the back of Morris’ head. Her hand nudged his arm, and it took Morris a second to realize she was offering it to hold.

Morris took it. Her hand fit in his like it was meant to, yet loosely, like she might pull away at any time. Every scar and callous was familiar, as familiar as the way her pace matched his, as familiar as the ache in Morris’ chest when he thought too hard about why.

It was familiar, and that was a comfort. Morris didn’t need to think any deeper into it.

So he didn’t.

+=+=+=+=+

The ride back was quiet, the only noise the hum of the engine and the tap-tap-tap of Gisu’s finger on the door. Between Morris’ concussion and Gisu’s sprained wrist, Hollis had decided to have another agent handle the drive—Morris wasn’t sure if he didn’t know their name, or if it was just the concussion making them seem unfamiliar. Lizzie had been their ride to the gala, anyway, and she wasn’t in a state to drive at all—though Morris really didn’t want to think about that. He instead took advantage of not being the one driving and sent a text to Clara—how his phone was still intact after everything, he didn’t know, but Morris wasn’t going to question it when he had his ferrets to think about. Clara was his designated ferretsitter, though, so at least they’d be in good hands.

By the time he and Gisu had disembarked and been shuffled over to the Motherlobe’s Medical Wing—by the time they were finally left to their own devices in one of the overnight rooms, Norma bringing over a change of clothes for the both of them before leaving for Clay Ridge—Morris had had enough.

He hated silence. And something about Gisu’s silence just wasn’t sitting right with him.

“Okay, what’s eating you?” Morris broke the silence. “You’ve been acting weird since that thing punched you in the gut.” He knew Gisu, knew her well enough to know that something was up—and not just the awful night. No, this was something else—something almost contemplative, as though Gisu had been handed a new puzzle instead of thrown into an unexpected fight for her life.

Gisu stared at him. “Weird how?” She countered, kicking her legs. There might have been something playful to her remark, some teasing demand for Morris to explain himself just because she wanted him to—but they were both too tired for that. It was just a force of habit, at this point.

“Gisu, we have known each other for too long for me not to notice.” Morris grumbled. “Something’s up, and I can tell because if there wasn’t you wouldn’t have asked Pooter to sneak your board in.” Raz hadn’t gotten here yet, but he was on his way—Morris had watched Gisu make the request as they got out of the car. He had been waiting there with Norma—Adam and Sam were on their own mission—and Gisu hadn’t exactly been subtle.

There was only one reason Gisu would ask for her board when she was going to be in a space too small to skate—she needed to think, which meant that she had come across a puzzle.

“Fine, fine, you got me.” Gisu shrugged. “I just…” She breathed in, “It’s about the automaton. Cyborg. Whatever. When I took his mask off…” Gisu trailed off. Her eyebrows knit together as she contemplated her words.

“Wait, his?” Morris already knew he wouldn’t like where this was going.

“Yeah,” Gisu said, “His. When I took his mask off, I saw his face.” It took a moment, for the meaning of her words to register to Morris. Then—

“Wait, are you saying… it’s not a robot?” But it was at least partially mechanical, if the metal arm and altered voice was anything to go off of. No wonder Gisu was acting weird—this was a big revelation. They knew so little about the anti-psychic weapon, so every little bit counted.

Morris started. “If you saw his face, you could get an ID!” The realization took longer than he’d like to admit—Morris was going to blame the concussion.

“Yeah, that’s exactly the issue.” Gisu said. She squeezed the air in front of her, sparks of electricity crackling along her fingers. Morris waited for her to continue—

“It was Dion under the mask.”

.

.

.

Six words. Six words that hit Morris like an uppercut, the room spinning around him.

His concussion must be worse than he thought. “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you.” He managed, even as all the air in his lungs got caught in his throat.

“You heard me.” Gisu scowled, “It was Dion. I pried that mask off and I saw Dion.” Her next words were choked out, her voice starting to wet, “He’s alive.”

Morris couldn’t breathe. His chest was squeezed too tight, his lungs threatening to pop and his heart caught in a vice. No. No no no. This wasn’t real. He was not sitting here, listening to his on-and-off girlfriend of the past six years tell him all about how the thing that just tried to kill them hours prior was their missing ex-boyfriend.

“That’s an awful joke.” Morris said, once he found his voice again.

“It’s not a joke!” Gisu argued. “Dion’s alive and I saw his face!” Her hair was starting to fizz from the static in the air around her.

“And what makes you so sure?” Morris gripped the arms of his chair, his knuckles white. “How do you know you weren’t, I don’t know, projecting what you wanted to see?”

Gisu bristled. “You think I wanted to see Dion’s face on the thing that was trying to kill us?”

“I think you want Dion to be alive so badly that you’re ignoring the truth.” Morris shot back.

“What truth?!” Gisu leaned forwards, “I know what I saw!” The air around Morris was starting to feel greasy, now, like lightning could go off at any moment.

What a joke. What an awful joke.

This had to be a dream. Clearly, Morris had never woken up after being suckerpunched by the automaton, and everything that he remembered happening was just some alcohol-induced nightmare where the world was falling apart and threatening to crush him all in one. There was no way this was real, not when Morris had given up on ever seeing Dion again years ago—

“I know what I saw.” Gisu repeated. “You being bitter doesn’t change that.”

“Bitter?” Morris all but screeched. He threw his hands in the air, “Bitter? I’m sorry if I can’t hold onto delusion for six years!” His hands fell to his sides and he clenched them into fists. “Sorry that I don’t have the energy to keep chasing ghosts!”

Everything not bolted down slammed against the wall. Morris flinched—so did Gisu.

Morris’ head pounded. His vision swam.

His chest was heaving, his lungs struggling to draw in air like they’d been squeezed too tight. He forced his gaze off of Gisu and onto the plastic plant that had been thrown to the floor, to the shiny green leaves and fake blue petals.

(Blue, like the sky, like the stripes of the Aquatodome, like the color of Dion’s eyes—)

“Look.” Gisu said, “I know it sucks.” She pushed off of the bed and walked over, stepping over the fake plant. “How do you think I feel, seeing his face again?” Her expression softened, even as lighting continued to crackle over her knuckles. “But whatever happened, however Dion ended up like that—”

“Stop it.” Morris demanded, his voice coming out in a whisper. “Stop talking about Dion.” His voice cracked, his throat tightening no matter how much he tried to calm down—

“Morris,” Gisu growled. She reached out. Morris batted her hand away.

“It’s over.” Morris’ voice came out thicker than he wanted it to. “Dion’s dead.” Dion was gone and no amount of missing him would bring him back. Dion was gone, and there was nothing Morris could do to change that. Dion was gone, and everything that he’d represented to Morris was gone with him. Morris couldn’t continue to hold onto him. He just couldn’t.

Morris turned away. He couldn’t look at Gisu, couldn’t look at the mix of hurt and frustration and pity written on her face. He just couldn’t.

“Morris…” Gisu started. The tinge of sympathy in her voice was like acid down Morris’ back. He glared at the wall, and said nothing.

What an awful night. What an awful, horrible, no-good night.

The vent cover clattered to the floor. Morris turned to watch as none other than Pooter fell out, doing a flip in the air and bowing once he landed. “I got your board.” He announced, holding out Gisu’s levboard. He looked at Morris.

“What’s up with him?”

[raz-writes-the-thing]

hey raz💘

i'm having a terrible headache and i've been having it since i woke up (it was like 6 hours ago), so i thought maybe i could get some quick sketch about how some of the doctors hEaL me... just thinking...

- 🛐

I really hope you feel better soon. I’ve been on the receiving end of some lasting headaches myself. They’re very nasty. Hopefully these help comfort you a little

Okay, so Ten definitely just pulls some gummy worm that tastes like… a nebula star or something out of his never ending pockets and hands it to you like- “Headache? Oh no, no, no. Can’t have that. Here, eat this.” And when you do your headache just disappears. If you notice the purple swirls for a minute, don’t worry- that’s totally and completely normal. He thinks.

Eleven would force you to sit down in a chair and drink a big, tall glass of water. He’s also going to keep refilling it and arguing with the TARDIS every time you turn away. He makes an effort to do this quietly but it doesn’t really work.

Twelve tells you to suck it up and stop complaining. He had a headache the size of Jupiter once. But then he also brings you a cup of tea like it’s something he does all the time. He also turns his amps way down so it’s not too loud for you. If you notice the TARDIS lights dimming its just because he wanted mood lighting okay, that’s all. Nothing to do with you and your very human, very annoying headache.

Thirteen babies you almost to the point of you having to tell her to go away and do something useful. She brings you blankets, several teas from several planets, jugs of water and a cold compress. She coos and frets and checks your temperature with a concerned frown on her face. It’s very cute, but can also feel a little overstimulating at times. Especially because she’s such a talker, too.

Fourteen tuts and takes you by the hand, telling you he knows just the place. He also tells you how he knows he’s incapable of shutting his mouth and so will leave you alone for a few hours to get some peace. Then he leads you into this dark room in the TARDIS that just has a soft lounge and a dimmable window so you can watch the stars in the dark. The TARDIS puts on a low frequency hum that helps ease your headache away. He kisses your forehead, rubs your cheek and tells you to feel better soon and he’ll be back to check on you in a bit before he closes the door behind him.

Fifteen gives you a lopsided play-mocking expression and tells you that you need to be taking better care of yourself if you want to stick around to see all he has to show you. But he also turns the music way down in the console room and ushers you towards your bedroom. “Uh, uh, babes- no arguing. You, my dear, are going to lay down and not come out until your pesky little headache is gone. I’ll bring you some water, eh? Uh-uh, down. That’s it. Doctor’s orders.”

[2hoothoots]

So I was going through your blog (again) and found some of your stuff mentions fsau Raz having ADHD, as somebody with adhd I’m intrigued, may I have some of those headcanons (canons??) related to that? Also, I would give “a penny for your thoughts” but I’m out of pennies, so here’s various images of a drawing of ur blorbo I put next to my animals, note that a rock had to be added in one picture to keep him from flying away (BONUS: his now permanent place with the wifi guardian frog)

NOTHING brings me more joy than seeing physical drawings of these guys, like, out and about. in situations. thank you for this gift, and ALSO for the great ask because it's a perfect chance to ramble

so first of all, canon Raz having ADHD is very real to me. he's constantly fidgeting and moving around, getting distracted by sidequests and scavenger hunt objectives, always talking to himself out loud, gotta write everything down so he remembers it because there's so much to DO!, running away from home because his dad yelled at him one time and now Raz assumes he must hate him forever... i could go on, but i think there's a lot of room for interpretation there!

in my headcanon, he never got diagnosed as a kid. maybe there were some notes about it in his reports each year, sure - but a little hyperactivity and distractability never seemed to slow him down. he excelled in lessons and on missions, and when he was with his family their performances gave him something to focus that energy into. it was only really when he turned 18 and graduated to a full agent that the cracks started to show.

because there's a big difference between the responsibilities you have as a minor, and the responsibilities you have as an 18-year-old living away from home! one who's expected to cook and clean for themselves, and take care of adult life stuff, and also work the 9-to-5 office job he's just graduated into that involves sitting in front of a computer and write reports all day.

short-term, he found he could get himself to power through a deadline with energy drinks and psi-pops (a lot of psi-pops...)

long-term, something had to give. he was working himself to exhaustion, constantly stressed, swinging between days spent staring at his computer screen doing nothing and all-nighters desperately trying to finish his paperwork before the deadline. it just didn't make any sense to him. he'd finally started his job as a Psychonaut, he was living independently like he'd always dreamed, he'd gotten top surgery after planning it for so long. he should have everything he ever wanted. why wasn't he happy?

following a deep post-surgical depression, about a month before his 19th birthday Raz was living out of his car, couch-surfing or sleeping in his office. he got kicked out of his apartment after falling behind on bills and rent. it wasn't that he didn't have the money, it was all just too much for him to stay on top of.

he'd probably have stayed in that misery hole for a lot longer if Frazie hadn't marched into his life and demanded he let her help him move into a new place, or she was telling mom that he was homeless. together, they sorted through all of his possessions from the last place - everything that had been hastily shoved in his car, or tossed in a box in his office, piled in a heap that was giving him anxiety even looking at it.

things do get better for him from there.

when he eventually explains things to Hollis, she gently suggests that he should get a roommate. he ends up moving in with Phoebe, and they become pretty good friends after a couple months! something about having another person around to help do the chores and wash the dishes and share the space helps, even if it takes him a while to admit it.

he gets his ADHD diagnosis, and finding the exact right medication and dose is a journey he's still on years later - but they're a huge help in getting him to actually knuckle down and finish his work on time. and the whole thing ends up being a chance for him to take a step back and really think about what he wants to do with his life. he'd always assumed that being a Psychonaut was his dream, but he'd never really reckoned with what that dream would look like before.

in the end, he sticks with it, but also decides to follow Lili's example in branching out. he applies to study a part-time Bachelor's in Psychology on a remote course, and gets accepted. juggling missions and paperwork and study and relationships (because the whole thing made him realise he also wasn't setting aside any time for himself, and wow, dating is a thing) is a lot - but he manages to figure it out, day by day.

(Lili comes back to the Psychonauts after graduating. she and Raz have both changed a lot over those four years, but on their first mission together they hit it off like a house on fire - and the rest is history!)

[muffinrecord]

Ooo all this stored info is great!

But my previous ask was about the english archive app, the thing they left behind after the english magia record eos'd. Do you have anything on that?

OH

I'm sorry aaaugh

Uhhh Honestly I do not. The archive app was very buggy. It's been a while so others can correct me if I'm wrong, but if you had too many characters then it didn't record any of your account's progress.

Oh! Actually I found one screenshot I took. Here:

The images never showed and if you tried to watch the transformation video, it just gave you Tsuruno's. Needless to say, I was pretty disgusted by how useless it was and deleted it pretty quickly.

Thinking back on it, I'm thinking that the archive app at the end for NA was made by maybe one or two people who were probably overworked/underpaid trying to deliver a product that ultimately didn't work. I'm thankful that the development of the archive app gave us another month before NA's EOS though, because it gave me more time to record things.

However, for the upcoming JP Archive, we do have some select information. And it looks like it's going to be different than the one for NA.

There was a big livestream earlier this month that combined Magia Record news with Exedra news. I made a post that just copy+pasted Raz's thorough summary from discord: you can check out the link here.

It looks like you'll be able to see what girls you had along with progress on them (how many slots, magia, doppel). It doesn't look like you can look at card art, but you can see their sprites?

NA looked like a modified version of the archive, while this looks like you can see the girls in the character screen.

From the earlier Exedra stream summary, we also know that we'll be able to see:

Your Magical Girl info screen, from which you can view all of your Magical Girls and their levels/Memo Slots/Magia Levels/Transformations, etc.

Your info archive, which shows off the information of all the Magical Girls, Memoria, Doppels, Witches, and Uwasa that you have encountered during you Magia Record career.

So it combines the Archive with the Magical Girl Info screen?

The last thing I want to say is that the NA Archive sucked, but that's because I think we weren't going to get one in the first place-- it's been a while so my memory might be wrong on that. It was sort of thrown together at the end to placate angry players.

I don't think that JP is going to be as buggy and messed up as NA was. It still sucks that we won't be able to view events in the archive but it appears that the version we're getting is more comprehensive. Additionally, just based on the way the game is going out at the end, I feel like the devs do care about the player experience. Some things are very slow at getting fixed-- for example, the issue with Kimochi capped numbers-- but they were eventually fixed. This is for a game that is going to EOS in less than ten days. They didn't have to jam a bunch of cool events for two-ish months (THAT BRING THEM NO MONEY) but they did, and I think it's because-- despite all the flaws and the predatory nature of gacha games-- the devs do care about its players.

Maybe. I dunno. Probably?

My point being, I am tentatively hopeful that the upcoming EOS archive app will be far more useful than the NA one and much less buggy.

I hope this helps? I apologize that I didn't have a video or screenshot for you more than that one. I think I remember people posting images on the subreddit, if that helps with giving a direction to look for.

[aquato-family-circus]

I kinda like how Oleander's Basic Braining ends up showing who arguably has immense potential to go far as a Psychonaut, and the little reasons as to why some don't make it as far as they do.

Namely, that Raz, Lili, Dogen, and surprisingly Bobby all have solid potential. - Raz of course speaks for himself, since he shows himself to be flexible, quick-thinking and determined to achieve. - Lili is already a good candidate, but she's also shown to be doing her own thing because she's focusing on an innocuous detail that turns out to be important later, like how in the field these kinds of details can change everything in a mission.

- Dogen actually makes it really far, MUCH further than the majority of the other Psi Cadets considering his confidence issues; he just needs some guidance to help him through the minefield, but he makes it there eventually. He's like his grandpa in that regard; very much stuck in his own issues, but also much more competent than he fully understands or realizes. Milla had a good eye for his potential, even if she didn't catch onto Oleander's evil plan.

- Bobby actually shows that he's quite capable of getting pretty far, even further than Dogen, given that he's the last major obstacle before entering the final section of the level.

But it also highlights how he's sabotaging himself by fixating so much on trying to bully his perceived rival/enemy Raz that he discards any chance to get any further. It's not surprising why he'd be able to be a camp bully despite his personality if he's that capable and tough, but at the same time, he's basically his own worst enemy. If he could get out of his own way, he'd probably be a decently competent Psychonaut eventually.

I really like pointing out how far Dogen got, it never really occured to me to think twice abt that but the kid does have a lot of power & potential behind his self esteem and nerves and also the explosions

its no wonder also why ppl tend to like bringing bobby zilch into future aus, he makes such a mark of himself being really good at all the psychic power training but being to caught up in being a bully to get past raz. real fated rivals in bobby's mind. raz just thinks hes annoying and that would make bobby so mad he'd punch a wall

[redstringraven]

alright, so after a thorough replay of the space-arc and a slightly less thorough comb of the invasion-arc here're some loose observations and thoughts regarding triceraton tattoos. i'm not touching triceratons featured in fast forward because... i don't have interest in that fjkldjks. my apologies.

this is mostly for myself, but you're of course more than welcome to use it as a resource, reference, whatever tickles your fancy. if i missed something, feel free to tell me!

there does seem to be some pattern with rank, so i'm gonna start with "low-rank" and make my way up the ladder.

citizens

we don't get to see a lot of triceraton citizens, and basically all of them are background fodder save for zed and raz (the games commentators). from what i can tell, none of them have tattoos on neither their eyes nor their arms--on the ones with bare arms, anyway. it's probably safe to assume they don't have them on their chests because those seem all-star specific.

rebellion

this is where the tattoo thing gets a bit weird--as in, i don't know if they're actually facepaint that can be removed, or if these are all citizens or green soldiers who've not earned their military tattoo yet. traximus still has his tattoo, but none of his rebellion soldiers have the ones we'll later see on every soldier as well as prison guards. it's definitely possible citizens joined the rebellion, but trax had also mentioned in the arena that he still had friends in the ranks. are they not there? did they remove their tattoos? am i over-analyzing a cartoon beyond what the creators considered? (it's that one).

you can click on the screenshot to make it a little bigger but the bottom-left shot shows an actual solder beside a rebellion soldier, the former's tattoo is barely visible but there. their concept art doesn't have a tattoo, and i didn't see any in-show who had one... but, i did more skim through the invasion-arc, so it's possible i missed one. lemmie know if i'm wrong.

prison guards

all prison guards seem to have a single, thick red-line tattoo over their right eye. the ends point toward the backs of their heads. not much to talk about here. the two in the second-to-bottom-left screenshot are missing theirs, but i'm going to assume this is an animation error.

--also, sidebar, i don't think the blue ""tattoos"" prisoners have are remotely the same type of thing, so i don't think that'd apply to my confusion over none of the rebellion soldiers having tattoos.

soldiers

here's once again where the definition of 'tattoo' gets a little blurry, because if tattoos are a sign of rank and then your rank changes... what do. maybe since triceratons already have advanced technology--and tough skin--they have... a solid form of tattoo removal. again, though, i don't think their tattoos are the same as the ""tattoos"" prisoners receive, so i doubt they'd just peel off?? if that were possible, you'd also think they would have removed traximus's tattoo after he was thrown into the games as another way to shame/derank him, too.

so, your basic and most common soldier seems to have two narrow maroon lines over their right eye. the ends do not point in any direction, they're just lines. they're thin enough that they can be very hard to see if the camera's at a distance, but they're still there--just hard to capture in a screenshot partially due to the quality i'm working with.

next is an ensign soldier, which is basically a low-ranking officer. i think we only see one of these guys (he's leading the group who find the turtles as stowaways at the beginning of s2ep3, the big house). his tattoos are once again over the right eye, maroon/purple, thicker than a soldier's tattoo, and the peak of the outer-most line has a point. for a moment, i thought that maybe you'd build on the tattoo as you ranked, but traximus and mozar are gonna kind of throw that theory out the window when we get to them.

there's also this guy from s2ep5, triceraton wars. he's labeled as "strike team leader" on his concept art, and getting a visible shot of his tattoo in-show is very frustrating and not helped by the fact it looks like they goofed his color palette, too. his tattoo is over the right eye (like the previous soldiers), red, and it's a curved line with ends that hook toward the front of his face. it's the most similar to traximus's tattoo that we see.

...also, this episode eludes to the fact that "slag" is a triceraton swear word, as zanramon uses it both as an exclamation of frustration and calls the strike team "slag brains". he could also just be calling them all stony waste matter, tho, so. do with that what you will.

there's also THESE GUYS from the invasion-arc in s3, and they confuse me because the invasion-arc not only introduces this new uniform design i don't see anywhere in the concept art that i've collected, but these soldiers have like. no tattoos. and it can't be an animation error because their lack of tattoo was consistent for any wearing this suit design. monza ram steals this suit from one of the soldiers, and looted soldier who reports back to zanramon later doesn't have a tattoo.

i wonder if these guys are like... more engineers than they are soldiers. we mostly see them in the docking bay or in the control room where the boys learn don's location on the homeworld. they're just armed because they'd stand in the way of anyone attempting to infiltrate the homeworld (or escape it), but i don't think i saw any of them leave the vessel itself.

gruell

gruell is an odd one because he has the same maroon tattoos as your common soldier--two narrow lines over the right eye--but he additionally has a tattoo on his right arm. it's of course possible that other soldiers also have this tattoo and that it's just hidden by their sleeves, but if tattoos are a show of rank or status you'd think it'd be somewhere more visible? maybe arm tattoos are additional signals of status when soldiers are in their civvies or something.

regardless, gruell's arm tattoo is the only of its kind we see: it appears to be red ink: an upright triangle that breaks into two longer lines where the top line hooks up toward the triangle and the bottom line hooks down toward another triangle, albeit this one is upsidedown. i'm not sure if this is meant to be an abstract design with the usual triceraton fondness of triangles and jagged lines, or if's maybe a representation of a bi-ringed planet? homeworld before they blew it up oopsie-doopsy? who knows.

monza ram + the all-stars

okay, if there are ANY anomalies on this list, it's these guys. none of them have anything resembling the soldier nor prison guard tattoos we've previously seen.

monza ram is the most unique; he doesn't seem to have any body tattoos, but he does have two thick red tattoos (or one big tattoo?) that rises from his jaw on both sides of his face and breaks into two spikes, one ending before it reaches his eye and the other 'cutting through' the eye and peaking on his brow. it covers the back third of his face, right in front of where his frill starts.

the other three all-stars have a much more narrow tattoo on either side of their face that looks like a jagged scratch, another narrow tattoo across the backs of their necks, then an extremely long one that seems to wrap diagonally around their back and end on their pecks. this is the only instance of tattoos that aren't maroon or red, too, as one all-star has blue tattoos and another has brown.

we unfortunately don't really know anything about the all-stars, just that they seem to be separate from the gladiator slaves, are undefeated (before the turtles), and after they lost their first fight zanramon had them imprisoned, where traximus would later free and recruit them. none of them have soldier tattoos. i know the triceratons love battle, so i wonder if they're more like the career tributes in the hunger games. they volunteered to be gladiators rather than were made to be them. eh. *shrugs*

commander mozar

title revoked because i said so, mozar is frustrating because he doesn't have an eye tattoo that we can see. those marks under his eye-patch are more likely from the injury that cost him his eye since they're a darker color than his skin tone, but where shit gets tricky is that traximus was a commanding officer before he was gladiator'd. so, it's possible that mozar has a tattoo identical to trax's under that eye-patch, and we just can't see it.

important to note, however, that his right eye--the eye where all other soldiers have had a tattoo--is bare. that's where the whole... building on your tattoo as you rank up theory kind of falls to the wayside. he technically SHOULD have one, but he doesn't.

he also has an arm tattoo, but it's on his left arm. again--he might also have one on his right arm, but it's sleeved. his left arm is only visible because his prosthetics must require a shorter sleeve. the tattoo on his arm is red: the top piece is a crescent shape lying on its side so it opens upward, then a long line that dips into a crescent shape so it frames the crescent above it, and finally an upsidedown triangle under the lowest point of the middle curve. this is much more of an abstract design than gruell's, idk what this could be.

traximus

as with mozar, traximus complicates the ranking up theory because he also lacks any tattoos on his right eye; his tattoo is on his left eye, and it appears to be reddish, zig-zagging down from his horn, across his brow, down over his eye, back along his cheek and then down to the corner of his mouth.

he doesn't have an arm tattoo on his right arm like gruell does, and if he has a tattoo on his left arm like mozar, it's covered by either his commanding officer sleeve or his gladiator armor. if mozar's tattoo has any connection to his ranking as a commander, it's possible trax has it, too. we just never get the chance to see it. pity.

the council

the council is a main indication that tattoos might be less a show of social status and more military or warrior specific, because none of the council members have visible tattoos (ignore mozar, he forgot to wear pink last wednesday idk why he's sitting with us). kind of helps me lean a bit more into my engineer theory from earlier.

prime leader (zanramon)

no visible tattoos. none whatsoever. pathetic. let's be real, he'd probably start crying before the needle even grazed his skin.

if you've made it to the end: thank you ONCE AGAIN for coming along with me on one of my dives into triceraton bullshittery. i'm sorry, i will do it again.

[black-rabbit-razumikhin]

Raz Reads Les Mis (II)

Fantine - The Fall

We have met Jean Valjean

And we learn so much about him and I have so many thoughts, I'll do my best to keep this chronological

Of course, when Valjean is first introduced, we don't know it is him. There is a brooding man with an angry countenance who is wandering around looking for shelter for the night

He's been walking for 12 leagues (someone tell me what a 'league' is) and he's tired and hungry and has only been drinking water from fountains

But, because of his yellow passport - and the fact that somehow he is detestable enough a prisoner that everyone knows him - he can't find shelter

Not at any inn, tavern or dog kennel (guilty for laughing at the dog kennel scene)

Eventually some old woman points him to a warm house that she is sure will take him

It's our old friend bishop Charlie!

And he feeds Valjean off the best silver in the house and gives him a room just off the bishop's own

So obviously Valjean takes advantage of this and steals the bishop's silver plates when he's asleep and runs away

But Valjean gets caught (because he chose escaping but escaping did not choose him) and taken back to bishop Charlie

And what does our kind and lovely bishop Charlie do? "Bro, you forgot the silver candle holders I gave you too"

And he makes Valjean promise to be good

Valjean steals money from a child with a marmot and that's his breaking point

All horror is put behind him and he endeavors to be better than his past

What is his past you may ask?

I know this is all explained during the events but I like the logic of my timeline

Valjean is named after his dad, Jean Valjean, and let me tell you his childhood backstory confused me for a moment after reading that

But he grows up poor and he's a bit withdrawn, but he's kind enough - he pays for milk his nephews and nieces steal on a regular basis

But when Valjean gets hungry and steals bread, that's a crime worth five years in prison

Five years! For bread! That he didn't even get to eat! Dude I'd be pissed and full of vengeance at the system too

So he goes to prison and keeps trying to escape, and fails, and is now stuck there for 19 years

Hugo lets us know that Valjean is the strongest prisoner of all. Also he can climb horizontal walls like Spider-Man (or Dracula) which - Valjean, you have to be the absolute worse at escaping if nature gave you everything and you're still getting caught

Finally though after 19 years he gets out and rages against The System

Me too dude, I genuinely don't blame you

I do question the stealing silver plates from the one man to show you kindess

I do also question you stealing money from a child with a marmot

But his soul gets a whole cleansing thing when he realizes what he's done and bishop Charlie's words come back to him in a flood of remorse

Bishop Charlie really did look at this angry, sullen, vengeful criminal and go "I can fix him"

I have so many unanswered questions. I have no idea if I'm pro-Valjean or not. Hugo also does a really good job showing both sides of his predicament, how he is both "the man and the beast" and it's a battle for him to see which one wins, and how the prison system has exacerbated the problem it proclaims to fix. I don't think Hugo is a prison abolitionist, because at the end of the day he does blame how Valjean reacts and not the structure itself, but seeing some level of critical dissection of the whole thing was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

[shiningwonderland]

Ai Mikaze (All Star)

Translator: Nadie (Twitter: NmoniaG)

Proofreader: Raz (Twitter: agnadance)

Editor: Emily (Twitter: magicalmeily)

Love End — Winter Blossom

I’m waiting in the hallway when Senpai leaves the dressing room in his costume.

Overall, the outfit is white and adorned with fluttery feathers that fit our song's theme.

Haruka Nanami: Oh, you look like a prince!

Ai Mikaze: Really? If you say that even I might get bashful.

He tilts his head and the feathers in his hair sway with the motion.

Haruka Nanami: … Senpai…

As I watch him, I have a feeling that he might just quietly disappear, so I grab hold of his sleeve.

The hand underneath his sleeve is burning hot.

I look up and see his troubled expression.

It's not just his hand, his arm and cheeks are also emitting a fiery heat.

I recall Shinomiya-san’s reluctant face from earlier.

Haruka Nanami: How much time is… left?

Silence.

Ai Mikaze: … So you found out. In that case I’ll tell you.

He pounds on his own chest.

Ai Mikaze: Honestly, it might be any moment now. Aside from some trivial information, quite a big amount of my memory is already gone.

However, before my memory gets erased my system might actually reach its limit first.

Haruka Nanami: You mean your… body?

Ai Mikaze: Mhm... I thought it would be the last to break so I didn't expect this. How troublesome. In any case, it’s only a matter of time until I can’t sing.

I keep resisting, but the damage has reached the point where standing is already… pretty tough.

And just like that, the moment we’ve worried about is here.

Senpai sways and tilts over, but I go to hold him up.

Haruka Nanami: Should I call the professor? Or maybe—

I consider taking him back to the dressing room but he grabs me by my arm.

Ai Mikaze: Hah… I’m fine so stay with me until the show starts. No matter if it’s for one minute or one second… Right now, I want to stay with you.

His breath is ragged. I've never seen him in so much pain.

I nod and support him as we head backstage where there is no one around.

We’re hiding in the back as he leans on a wall to catch his breath.

In this gloomy and empty place, we can hear the other contestants through a monitor.

He grasps my hand and although the heat remains, at least his breathing calmed down.

Ai Mikaze: I’m sorry. I’m worrying you until the end.

The end...

Those words pierce my heart.

Nevertheless, I remember our promise so I bring myself to smile.

Haruka Nanami: That’s not true. I know that you’ll perform the song well, so there’s nothing to worry about.

Ai Mikaze: Of course I will. I'll do all that I can to deliver this song—your feelings—to everyone properly…

With those tender words he gently lifts my hand.

Ai Mikaze: I'll be singing with all my strength, which means I may not be able to be with you for your debut.

But if it’s you, it’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ll be able to do it.

I want to sing your song and I also want to let you debut. These are the first dreams I ever had. And today I'm finally going to make those dreams come true.

I’ll open the future for you. That’s why… you have to do your best.

I cannot hold my tears back anymore—they start flowing down my face.

Haruka Nanami: I’m sorry… I can’t… keep my promise anymore!

Ai Mikaze: It’s alright. Whether you laugh or cry, I still love you.

Mikaze-senpai wipes my tears away with his finger.

Ai Mikaze: I really love you.

His lips softly touch mine.

Ai Mikaze: Nh… I love you… Haruka… I really… loved you…

He kisses me on my forehead, my eyelid, my cheek, and once more on my lips.

Lovingly showering me in tender kisses.

Without realizing it, his warmth already reaches me through our entangled fingers.

Ai Mikaze: I don’t want to disappear… I really don’t want to disappear! I want to stay with you forever and ever.

But… as long as I can leave even a few memories behind, that's enough. I’ll leave the proof of my existence in you.

Thank you for everything.

Haruka Nanami: No, I should be thanking you…!

Ai Mikaze: Even if I’m reborn as another being… I’ll find you again, no matter what.

Haruka Nanami: … I’ll be waiting.

He nods, narrowing his eyes.

Ai Mikaze: I love you so much…

He gives me one last gentle kiss.

We hear cheering from the monitor. It's Mikaze-senpai’s turn next.

Ai Mikaze: … I have to go now.

Our lips, bodies, and hands part.

Senpai’s warmth is fading away.

Still, there’ll surely be warmth in his singing.

Senpai is heading to the stage.

His cheeks are paler than usual and gently glow under the stage lights.

His posture is perfect. Looking at him now, it’s as if his condition earlier was a lie. 

Ai Mikaze: Bye-bye, Haruka.

Amidst the cheering, Senpai whispers these words into my ear and heads straight for the stage.

The stage is sparkling in blue lights and the person who is heading towards it looks just like a mermaid returning to the ocean.

As Senpai walks up to the microphone and begins to speak, the audience falls silent as the deep sea around him.

Ai Mikaze: I’m going to sing with all my feelings. Please listen to it: “Winter Blossom”.

Tomochika Shibuya: Mh~ You’re right, this is really delicious!

Haruka Nanami: Hehe, right? It’s called “Marine Jelly”!

I see Tomo-chan mumbling as she holds her spoon, so I eat one of the sugar shells as well.

The sun shines softly through the window on this beautiful spring day.

Tomo-chan holds the transparent jelly towards the light.

Tomochika Shibuya: So, did Mikaze-senpai contact you afterwards? He’s studying abroad now, right?

Haruka Nanami: He seems to be very busy at the moment so he hasn’t contacted me yet… But I’m sure he’s doing well!

Tomochika Shibuya: I see. Well, since he seems to be really busy it makes sense that he can’t even contact his own partner.

After the Song Festival I’ve returned to my usual daily life.

About what’s happened…

Mikaze-senpai finished singing and returned backstage, where he collapsed in my arms.

As time passed, all of Senpai’s functions stopped.

He managed to sing my song at his very limit.

The professor came running to us. Because of Senpai's bad physical condition, he was immediately carried away.

At the Song Festival, our song won the first prize.

I successfully managed to become an employee of the agency and debuted as a composer.

According to the official statement "Mikaze-senpai is studying abroad" was what I stuck to. Whether he would return was still uncertain.

Everyone at the Agency was surprised by the sudden news.

Only Shinomiya-san and Syo-kun seemed to have realized what happened and cried with me.

With Senpai, the professor and Aine-san vanished as well. We searched for them in the lab but they were nowhere to be found.

I still don’t know where Mikaze-senpai is.

The president came to me after the Song Festival and only apologized to me with a single “I’m sorry”.

He made an exception and permitted us to become partners without canceling Mikaze-senpai’s contract.

His apology was surely the president’s way of atoning for his failure to prevent so many things from happening.

Fortunately, I received a lot more job offers after my debut. So I tried my best to act normally.

Tomochika Shibuya: I’m glad you seem to be doing fine! I was worried you might feel lonely after Mikaze-senpai’s disappearance.

Haruka Nanami: I’m okay! There's so much to do. Everything's getting serious now that I've debuted.

Tomochika Shibuya: Oh! Spoken like a real adult! My, my, you’ve grown, haven’t you?

Haruka Nanami: I became a professional composer after all! So don’t treat me like a child!

I retort back, but I can’t help but smile at how much Tomo-chan cares for me.

Tomochika Shibuya: Speaking of which, isn’t Mikaze-senpai’s movie about to get released?

Haruka Nanami: Right! I heard they’re doing final editing right now, so it should be done soon!

Tomochika Shibuya: Oh, I’m looking forward to it! I’ll watch it for sure!

Haruka Nanami: Really? Thank you! In that case I’ll send you a ticket!

Mikaze-senpai might be gone, but time kept flowing surely and steadily.

When I went outside, Mikaze-senpai’s song was broadcasted everywhere throughout town.

Senior High School Girl A: Ah! I love this song!

Senior High School Girl B: Me too! You know, I wonder when we’ll get a new song~ It’s about time he releases an album or something.

Matching alongside the melody, those girls started humming the lyrics.

Tomochika Shibuya: Wow, it’s so well received by everyone! That’s great, Haruka!

Tomo-chan chuckles, watching the girls gush about Mikaze-senpai.

Haruka Nanami: Right…

“I’ll watch over you, even when I’m gone.”

Mikaze-senpai’s words ring in my head, realizing that this might be what he meant…

I listen to his voice with these thoughts and a happy heart.

My phone rings.

Haruka Nanami: A call. Wait—it’s from the president!?

W-What could he want?

Shining Saotome: Yeees! This is ME asking YOU for a work related request!!

His voice blasts through the speaker.

Haruka Nanami: O-okay, what is it about??

Shining Saotome: A first version of the movie was finished~

The movie “The Mermaid’s Tears” has been completed and for some reason they’re showing the preview screening today.

Haruka Nanami: Uhm, so it’s today?

As always, that’s too sudden, President.

Shining Saotome: YES! It’s fresh out of the oven! Go and check it out!! YO, better not take your eyes off it until the last minute!

Haruka Nanami: Yes!! Understood!

So the movie is already done but what do I do? I’m not mentally prepared for it yet!

Haruka Nanami: Wha-wha-wha-what should I do, Tomo-chan?? He said the movie’s done so there’s a preview screening and since I was part of the staff I have to go watch it today…

Watching me panic, Tomo-chan shows me a wry smile.

Tomochika Shibuya: Okay, okay! Hurry up and go!

Haruka Nanami: But I really wanted to watch it with you… Ah, I gotta go!

Tomochika Shibuya: Be careful on your way and watch your step!

Haruka Nanami: I will! Thank you!

I wave behind me as I rush to the train station.

I barely managed to arrive at the screening location on time.

Haruka Nanami: Ah, it has been some time, I’m Nanami.

I saw a familiar staff member and composer so I sat next to them.

Staff A: Yeah, it has been a while. Seems like the movie turned out great.

Haruka Nanami: I see… I’m excited.

The movie begins.

On that evening, a girl meets a boy singing on the beach.

He is an excellent singer. A boy with eyes the same blue shade as the sea.

That boy is, in reality, the mermaid prince.

He and the girl gets along well. So much, that he often visits her and sing for her.

When the girl talk about her dreams, she mentions that she wants to become a music teacher.

The prince falls in love with the girl, and she also feels the same in return.

As I watch Mikaze-senpai on the big screen, I recall the memories we had together.

The time when we had just met.

The taste of the jelly we ate.

The somewhat funny udon he cooked while taking care of me. Our accidental kiss.

The happening on the Ferris wheel.

Memories of the Christmas Live.

His sparkling eyes while looking at the aquarium.

The day when he told me that he wanted to sing my song, even though it hurt him.

And finally our kiss on the Ferris wheel…

As the time inside the movie passes, the girl grows up to become a woman.

Due to an accident, she loses her sight. She loves to play the piano, but she is unable to do so anymore. Even her dream of becoming a music teacher can't be fulfilled.

In order to recuperate, she returns to her hometown near the ocean.

The mermaid prince and the woman reunite at the beach where they first met.

“I have very fond memories of this ocean. Those days were the happiest of my life,” she says.

“I want to hear that song again” she adds.

Haruka Nanami: And that’s how it’ll end.

If the mermaid prince lets out his voice, the curse of the ocean will turn him into seafoam.

Mermaid Prince: … May you keep smiling and find happiness. 

Those are his last words.

He sinks into the ocean, vanishing into countless bubbles, as if melting away.

Mikaze-senpai once mentioned that they don’t show what happens next.

No one knows what happens afterwards.

… At least that’s what I thought.

The ocean appears on screen once again, but this time with no colors—it’s all gray.

Haruka Nanami: The movie… isn’t over?

People start muttering all around me.

Most of the people involved in this film are present—

—yet no one seems to know where this footage came from.

It simply shows a gray ocean on screen.

“Is the projector broken?” someone whispers.

I can hear the sounds of the waves.

Gradually, the gray ocean starts to gain back its color.

The blue of the sky and the blue of the ocean.

Are those white flower petals?

Fluttering like snow, the petals dance over the screen.

That’s when someone dear to me appears in the center.

???: Where could you be? I’m right here. 

I dash out of there.

I follow my instincts. My heart is so impatient that I stumble over my own feet.

This hill from which one can see the ocean—this time I’ll pass it down alone.

There he is, facing the sea, singing by himself.

Standing there, singing in front of the sparkling waves, he looks like a prince.

His voice is clear, and echoing like the rippling waves.

I calm my rapid breathing and call out to that person.

Haruka Nanami: …I am here!

He stops singing, slowly turns around, and whispers something to himself.

The ocean breeze is strong.

The loud wind drowns out his answer, but then—

—he stretches out his arms towards me.

A silver bangle sways on his arm.

Those falling flower petals, as fleeting and white as snow, will never disappear again.

I take a firm step on the sandy beach and leap into his arms.

With his comforting arms he catches me firmly.

“I’m home”.

[the-sky-queen]

You have my full attention

KAY BUCKLE UP. INFO DUMP TIME LET'S GOOOOOO!!!

We'll go in the order that I listed the spinoffs, even if that isn't the order we came up with them. (Spectrophobia was probably the first one I think.)

Dementophobia is the fear of going insane and it's the Psychonauts one. I hadn't heard of Psychonauts before this, so I'm still working my way towards watching the game cutscenes. I think I'm in the middle of Psychonauts 2 right now and then I'll be all caught up. If you're unaware, Psychonauts is a videogame where this kid named Raz has psychic powers and wants to become a Psychonaut, who are basically spies I think and also use their mind powers to help people get therapy.

So during Dementophobia, Niko accidentally comes into contact with the Warp Topaz (a common theme you'll see in a lot of these) and gets sent to the world of Psychonauts. He comes into contact with Raz who figures out something's up and decides to help him out. Raz goes into Niko's mind and very quickly realizes something is VERY WRONG HERE. (Also, Lily and I along with Lily's more Psychonauts knowledgeable friends have done a TON of worldbuilding around Niko's mind world and what happens there. It's so in depth and interesting and I LOVE IT SO MUCH) Anyway, Raz realizes that he's gonna need some backup here because Niko's mind is unlike pretty much anything he's ever seen before. It's that messed up. He takes Niko to his Psychonauts friends for help and that's when things really get going. Also Maple shows up at some point.

I could go on and on about what we have planned for Niko's mind world, but that might be a bit too spoiler-y. BUT TRUST ME WHEN I SAY IT'S SUPER COOL. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Alright, next up is Phobophobia which in all honesty is a silly joke AU that is really just here to have fun with. Here's what's up: Starline and Maple are married. Niko is their actual child. (Also Surge and Kit show up at some point, also being Starline's kids)

It sounds CRAZY (and it is) but it's really fun!! Niko's like 7 I think and there's not really a set plot to this one. It's just a collection of scenarios that this wacky family gets into. Also, there's like a subplot where Starline learns to be more caring and gets closer to Niko and it's kinda cute. This one got started before the Trauma Siblings became a thing, so they're not included, and I'm still wondering if I should put them in. That would put Starline and Maple at SIX kids though and I don't know if their marriage can handle that. XD

(ALSO EGGMAN AND STARLINE ARE CO-WORKERS AND EGGMAN'S DAUGHTERS ARE 6 YEAR OLD SAGE AND BELLE.)

Next up is Decidiophobia, Fear of Decision making. This is the Stanley Parable crossover, another game that I hadn't heard of before this, but I'm now OBSESSED WITH. Quick rundown of The Stanley Parable: You play as Stanley, an ordinary guy with a job pressing buttons on a keyboard all day. Then one day, his co-workers all go missing and he sets out to try to find them and figure out what's up. The entire game is narrated by the Narrator, who even narrates your actions! However, what he says you're going to do isn't set in stone and you can go against what he says whenever you want. All this leads to different paths and storylines you can take, causing multiple different endings. After each one, the game resets and you start all over again.

SO HERE'S THE THING ABOUT THIS ONE. Instead of doing another dimensional yeet via the warp topaz, we decided that The Stanley Parable exists within the regular Sonic universe. How? Uhhh, I probably can't explain that because of spoilers, but let's just say . . .

The Narrator is vaguely connected to the Time Eater and also the Phantom Ruby is here. And GUN got involved too.

So Niko shows up in side The Parable™ and confuses the Narrator, because he's not Stanley. The Narrator tries to continue on as normal, but after a particularly disastrous ending, he realizes that Niko is AN ACTUAL CHILD and resolves to help him escape The Parable™. :D

Next: Autophobia, Fear of being Alone, otherwise known as the Miraculous Ladybug one. You know the drill by now. Warp Topaz, dimensional yeet, and it's all fun and games until Hawkmoth gets to Niko literally IMMEDIATELY. (Not gonna explain Miraculous because it's a lot. If you don't know about it already, just go watch the show.) So Niko gets akumatized into THE MOST TERRIFYING AND OVERPOWERED AKUMA IN EXISTENCE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS LITTLE ANGEL. He can make people fall (platonically) in love with him just by looking at him and it even works across BROADCAST. So like. Anyone who comes into contact with him is instantly obsessed with him. There's a bit more too it, but that's probably spoilers. :P

Anyway, Ladybug is compromised pretty much INSTANTLY. And shortly afterwards, the entire school falls to Little Angel's spell. Due to spoiler reasons, Chat Noir, Chloe, and Kagami, manage to escape his influence and start trying to find a way to fight back. (Oh also Little Angel is not a hedgehog, but he was turned into a small human child with animal ears, a halo, and wings. Yeah, he's called Angel for a reason.)

This is the only crossover we have where Niko very much does NOT get therapy. He's usually better off by the end of one of the crossovers but NOT THIS ONE. In fact, he actually gets WORSE because of this one. :D

AND FINALLY WE HAVE SPECTROPHOBIA, Fear of mirrors/your reflection. AKA THE ONE I ACTUALLY CAME UP WITH BY MYSELF. XD This one is interesting because SONIC shows up. Like, regular Sonic, untainted by Starline's influence, shows up in the facility. How? Let's just say that the 900th Adventure special didn't quite go as planned. >:) So he's able to find Starline and Niko in the facility right in the middle of a session. Sonic's like 'nah this is stopping right now,' rescues Niko, and escapes the facility! It's not as easy as it seems though because Niko freaks out as soon as he realizes Sonic's here and he took him away from Starline. I REALLY WANNA START POSTING THIS ONE. I PROBABLY COULD BUT I'VE BEEN PUTTING IT OFF. Also the Warp Topaz shenanigans are fun in this one and I've got an art I need to finish for it that no one but Lily will understand but will come up later on in the story. >:)

Kay, that's all the ones I mentioned in that post, but there's a few more. I won't talk about them though, because most of them are more Lily's expertise.

But aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa can you tell why I'm going insane now?

[hongtiddiez]

Not Me Episode 2 Music

this is kind of a boring day but there are some gems. thank you all for the kind words in the tags, pls know i'm not just rawdogging this. there is a spotify playlist of MOST of the songs (some are truly impossible to find) and i've listened to it on repeat enough i can recognize a lot of them.

So To Say - Taylor Crane

@williamrikers already touched on this one a little! This plays when White confronts the group about the plan and makes Yok reiterate the details of the plan as they're picking up the gas. (This song is also featured in episode 13 of Kinnporsche!)

??? - Tristan Barton

There's no doubt in my mind that the song playing during Dan's painting scene is a Tristan Barton composition, however, I cannot for the life of me figure out which one. It's very similar to 'Fighter' and 'Dawn Raider' - both would be very appropriate titles for this scene - but neither is quiiite right. Tristan Barton does often make custom songs for projects so it's entirely possible this was an original piece that is unlisted.

Finding My Memories - Sivan Talmor, Yehezkel Raz

Now we're into the interesting stuff. This song plays when White is confronting the image of Black and questioning why he's going to such extremes. It's fairly easy to interpret this as White desperately trying to find any key to Black's past, obtain any scrap of Black's memories to make all of this make sense.

'Freedom is the Oxygen of the Soul'

Guys I tried so hard. I spent about an hour scrounging every corner of the internet, demanding answers from Shazam and lyric finder sites, I listened to so, so many shitty songs.

@sparklyeyedhimbo had but one message for me after my hunt:

But you know what happened? @timetoboldlygo came in CLUTCH! (Kissing you forever Claire.)

Discover by Lane King is the song that plays during the motorcycle ride with White and Gram! I've been wanting to find this song for ages, it's so soft and relaxing and beautiful and I think it's a little breath of fresh air. It's the perfect song to accompany White's semi-awakening to what it means to be truly free, to make decisions for yourself and just breathe.

Light's Gone - Nylonia

Another hard hitter. Light's Gone plays as Black flatlines? Goes into cardiac arrest? Whatever the fuck is happening to that little freak (affectionate.) The light is quite literally leaving Black's body at the same time the light in White's life is trying to leave him. Ouch.

Lunar Eclipse - Marc Torch

Ahh, Lunar Eclipse my beloved. This song appears a lot in GMMTV projects particularly. It's in The Eclipse funny enough as well as another show I watched recently and cannot for the life of me remember (Enchante maybe?) Either way, GMMTV loves Lunar Eclipse (probably because it's royalty free and they don't have to pay anything for it) and to be fair so do I. (This plays immediately after Light's Gone as White stands up and begins changing clothes.)

Stronger - Lars Lowe, Jowen

The episode ends on this song as White and Sean have their completely heterosexual little race to the garage. I believe this song is supposed to be something hopeful, almost an encouragement or reflection of White's inner thoughts. He's getting better at this, he's improving and learning to be a better Black everyday, and he's going to be better and stronger at the end of this fight he's chosen.

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 25: you're not delivering a perfect body to the grave

Buried Alive + Storm (metaphorically)

3387 Words; River Runs Deep

TW for discussions of memory alteration, death mention, burying someone alive

AO3 ver

“What did you say in that letter?” Raz asks.

“Nothing important, really.” The reflection of Mail Ford responds.

“Just that I loved her.” Agent Cruller continues. “She just wanted to help, but they pushed her too far.”

“How should we have known?” Mail Ford asks. “It’s not like she was marked ‘Fragile!’” The typewriter passes from his hands to Agent Cruller’s.

“But I thought I knew her, and everything she held inside herself.” Agent Cruller laments. “Ahh, I had so much to learn.”

“Ah,” Mail Ford says, “I guess some packages are better left… unopened.”

And with that remark, Raz is left standing once again in the messy treehouse. He looks at the final piece of the mirror in his hands.

“Ford and Nona…” Raz has learned so much, just from poking around in Ford’s brain. His Nona’s memories of her past have been shrouded in mystery. The Aquatos feared the Psychonauts as much as they feared the Deluginists because of this fact—surely, if the Psychonauts ever learned that Nona used to be Maligula, they would prosecute her.

But Raz has learned so much. His Nona used to be a part of the Psychic Seven! She’s one of them! She and Ford were lovers! And oh, some part of Raz’ mind is almost giddy at the realization, that Ford Cruller could have become his great-uncle—but he pushes that part of himself to the side. Now isn’t the time to be fanboying. Raz has a mission to complete!

Still, the fact that Nona and the Psychonauts are more closely linked than Raz ever thought…

Maybe hiding from them is pointless. Maybe they won’t prosecute her. Maybe they can help.

Raz sighs, and puts the last piece of the mirror back in place. He has a mission to focus on. He pulls out the typewriter, and sets it on the shelf.

The silence stretches on, for a moment.

“Razputin.” Ford’s voice cuts across the space.

Raz turns to the mirror clasped in the body’s hand. “Agent Cruller!” He grins. “How do you feel?”

The reflection frowns. “I’ve done a terrible thing.” He shakes his head. “And so have you.”

“What?” Raz’ voice comes out smaller than he wants it to. “I just wanted to help!” And to see if Ford knows anything about whoever took his Father’s and Nona’s memories—though Raz doesn’t voice that bit aloud. “I don’t know who shattered your mind,” Raz steps forwards, “But now we can find out!”

“I already know who did this to me.” Ford admits. “That’s the first thing I’ve learned in here.” The mindscape begins to tilt, slightly, the sky above Raz starting to twist. “The rest you’re gonna have to see for yourself…”

And suddenly Raz is standing in a dark forest, Ford standing next to him. In Ford’s hands is a shovel, and on his face is a grim expression. He’s no longer dressed in a Psychonauts uniform, instead wearing a shirt and jacket.

“Ford,” Raz turns to him, “What is it?” Who shattered your mind? What are you trying to show me?

Ford points with his shovel. “See for yourself.” He utters, as Raz follows the end of the shovel to a stone archway.

Raz swallows. When he looks to his side again, Ford is gone.

Guess I gotta keep going. Raz walks through the archway, and finds himself in what looks like a cemetery. All of the tombstones are blank.

Slowly, carefully, Raz continues forwards, cool mist curling around his ankles. He picks up figments as he goes, looking this way and that for the answers Ford indicated would be here. The ground starts to curve sharply downwards before him.

Raz turns around at the sound of something scraping. His eyes widen—a massive comb is slowly advancing behind him, already past the cemetery’s entrance.

“Uh oh.” Raz hops on his levball and runs, rolling along the ground and collecting figments along the way. The sky darkens as he progresses, the comb advancing behind him at a steady pace, until the only light is that of Raz’ levball, and two lanterns hanging up ahead.

The lanterns are standing to either side of a deep hole. Raz hops down into it. The comb passes harmlessly overhead.

“Agent Cruller,” Raz calls up, “I’m getting less sure I want to see this!”

And Ford is there, at the edge of the hole, pushing his shovel into the dirt. “Oh no,” he mutters, lifting up a shovelful of dirt, “I don’t think you’ll want to see this at all.” He dumps the dirt into the hole—into the grave, Raz realizes, his eyes widening. Within moments, the grave is full, and Raz is struggling to escape the dirt surrounding him. Air! He needs air!

The dirt doesn’t give, pressing in all around Raz as he struggles. He needs to get out of here! But it’s heavy, and dark, and Raz can’t breathe—

Raz’ hand bursts through the dirt, and he scrabbles for purchase on the ground. His head emerges from the dirt with a gasp, his lungs sucking in all the air they can get. Even though he’s only a mental projection and would merely be dementestrated if he failed to make it out, Raz’ chest heaves and he struggles to regain his breath.

Well, now he’s even more sure that he doesn’t want to see this.

But he has to. So he picks himself up all the way, hauling his legs out of the dirt. He pops free, but instead of landing back on the ground he floats upwards.

No, Raz realizes, looking up above him—or rather, looking below—he’s not floating, he’s falling.

“What?” Raz reaches back towards the dirt, yelping as he falls—

Very slowly.

Okay. Okay. It’s okay. He’s fine. Raz looks back down, at the shapes floating in the gloom below him. He’s not going to go splat. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to be fine.

Sharklike-shapes swim circles in the gloom. Raz angles for a figment, grabbing it as he falls towards a candle-lit ledge. He lands, and runs over to the door, pushing it open.

A bowling alley stretches out into the darkness before him. A single light illuminates the beginning of the lane—and illuminates Bowling Ford, who’s lying supine on the wood, a bowling ball resting in his hands on his stomach. Raz walks up to him.

“Hey Ford,” Raz starts, “What’s the deal with the deep six treatment?” Couldn’t he just drop a memory vault or something? Points for the presentation, but Raz is tired. He has been running around all day trying to fix this, and he would appreciate a break.

“I did what I had to do.” Ford states miserably. “I loved her, after all.”

All of Raz’ annoyance comes to a halt. “Wait, what?” Okay, now he’s wondering if he actually managed to put Ford back together, because that makes no sense. It’s like he isn’t even responding to Raz at all—what does loving Raz’ Nona have to do with burying Raz alive?

Ford lifts his head up. “Someday, when you fall in love, you’ll understand.” He closes his eyes, puts his head back down, and, without any further comment, slides along the lane. A light that wasn’t there before sits at the end of it, backlighting a set of pins that Ford knocks over in his exit.

Oookay then. Raz tries to follow, but he can’t get any further than the edge of the light. Fine. He turns around, walks out the door, and makes his way to the edge of the ledge. There’s two more like it, further down, lit with the warm glow of so many candles. Raz jumps.

He floats down just as slowly as before, but it isn’t long before he comes to a landing on the next ledge, having grabbed two more figments on the way. The window above the door is yellow, this time, instead of the pink of the ledge above. Raz grabs a third figment, and enters the door.

Raz is in the hair salon, now, a single light illuminating a patch of green and yellow tile. Barber Ford sits towards the back, atop a massive jar of Hydrocide™. Raz walks into the center of the light.

“Ford, what’s going on here? What did you want me to see?” Raz is so, so tired of having to jump through hoops. It’s all he’s been doing, today, all he’s been doing since Truman asked him to put Ford back together. Raz would really like some answers now!

“I couldn’t let her go free, she was a danger to the world!” And once again, Ford’s talking like Raz isn’t really there at all. Raz huffs in annoyance. Ford continues, “Even though it was the world that made her dangerous.”

Okay, that’s not helpful. Raz already knows all of this—for all that Nona’s memories of her life before the Deluge are gone, she can still remember bits and pieces of her time as Maligula, for all that she refuses to share those bits. Besides, Raz saw all of this when he was running around in the hair-filled mindscape of Barber Ford!

Still, Raz persists. “I know this! But who took your memories?”

“Safe. She’s safe.” Ford says, like Raz isn’t there at all. “Well, she was.” He frowns. “We all were. Huh.” Ford shrugs, “Not anymore.” He plugs his nose, and falls backwards into the Hydrocide™. Raz reaches out, but Ford’s already gone.

Just like before, Raz can’t go much further beyond the edges of the light—not that there really is anywhere to go. So Raz turns around and leaves the room, standing on the edge of the ledge outside the door.

One more ledge to go. Raz already has a good idea of what’ll be on it.

He floats down through the twisted ground making up the chasm, collecting figments as he goes. The window above the final door is blue. Raz pushes the door open, and walks out onto a wooden floor. A typewriter dominates the space, and Mail Ford sits atop it.

Raz pushes up his goggles. “Look, Ford, whatever I’m supposed to know—just spit it out!” He’s so tired. Is it so much to ask that even just one thing comes easy today? Must everything be a struggle?

“I had to hide her from the world, because they’d never forgive her.” Ford rambles. “And I had to hide her from me, because I’d never forget her.”

Raz’ heart starts to sink. Ford isn’t saying… no. No, he must be confused, or talking about something else. “Where?” Raz asks, “Where did you hide her?” He has a sneaking suspicion as to who she is. He hopes it isn’t true.

Ford shuts his eyes. “She’s with family.” He falls backwards over the bar, sinking down into the slot for paper.

Annoyance and dread fill Raz in equal measure. He was hoping for answers about his Nona, about the Memory Man who took her and Dad’s memories, made them think they were mother and son instead of aunt and nephew, left them with nothing but broken pieces when the illusion finally shattered—

Now, Raz isn’t sure what he’ll find, and instead of being excited by the prospect, he only feels a growing dread. He grabs the Half-a-Mind dancing to the side of the door, and makes his way back out. One of the shark-shaped coffins floats by, a tag dancing on its back. As tired as he is, Raz slows it down with time bubble to grab the tag, then leaps off to float down further.

He tumbles slowly, starting to fall faster and faster—

Raz hits the ground with a thud. He picks himself up, and finds next to a tombstone marked “Maligula.” More importantly, though, he’s in a coffin, and despite his protests it slams shut on him, trapping him inside.

The world around him blurs. Raz finds himself still in the velvet-lined coffin, but now it’s big enough for him to stand in, like some weirdly-shaped hall.

What is it with Ford’s mind and Raz getting buried alive? Is it Bury Raz day? Can Raz catch a break?

Probably not. Raz continues on, the velvet hall expanding around him as he goes until it’s almost the same size as a regular hallway. Clusters of candles sit in the corners of the room he finds himself in, cobwebs hanging from the walls and ceiling. Before Raz is a bed, with two skeletons lying on it.

“Ah!” Raz jolts back. “Who’s that?”

Ford’s voice comes in from all directions, even as Ford himself is nowhere to be found. “That’s your grandparents, Lazlo and Marona. They drowned in the Valermo Dam disaster, remember?”

“I already know this…” Raz mutters. Though it is kind of weird for Ford to know it, he thinks. No wonder the Memory Man shattered Ford’s mind—they must have been protecting their own identity. Which means that Ford definitely knows who they were!

(There is another possibility, sitting at the edge of Raz’s brain. He ignores it.)

“You—what?” Ford sounds genuinely caught off-guard.

“Er—” Raz backtracks. “I mean, Grandpa Lazlo died, but my grandma made it out and came to live with my father.” He tries. It doesn’t sound very convincing.

“No, Raz. She didn’t.” Raz can’t tell if Ford believes him or not. Then again, Ford apparently already knows that Raz’ Nona isn’t really his grandmother.

Something clicks behind Raz. When he turns around, the wall is gone, revealing a long hall. Raz sighs, hops on his levball, and continues forward.

Ford’s voiceover continues. “Razputin, after the fight with Lucy, she was defeated, but alive. I snuck her away from the others and brought her back to the Gulch.”

But… wasn’t Ford’s mind shattered in the fight with Maligula? How could he have brought her back to America? Could he still teleport that far with a shattered mind?

(Unless Ford’s mind wasn’t shattered at all, Raz realizes. He shoves that thought down.)

“I put her in the Astralathe—one of Otto’s inventions.” Ford continues.

Raz comes to a screeching halt at the end of the hall. The room before him has wooden flooring mixed with the velvet, a stained glass window, and a strange machine that Raz has never seen before. His heart sinks. No, no, no.

“Created to make permanent alterations to the psyche.” Ford continues, ignorant to the rising panic filling Raz’ throat. No. No no no. Can Raz go back to being buried alive? Please?

Raz spots the purse behind the machine—the Astralathe?—and darts towards it, needing the distraction. He pulls out the purse tag and attaches it. Ford’s voiceover pauses, waiting until Raz is done to continue. After a long moment, Raz continues on past the machine, towards a blue door at the very end of the room.

“But I knew the world would never forgive her,” Ford says, as all of Raz’ hopes fall apart. “So I had to hide her somewhere safe.”

Tentatively, Raz opens the door. “Oh no.” Oh no, indeed—Raz is standing in the doorway of his family’s caravan, looking out over an empty and darkened version of their campgrounds.

“I hid her among her family, Razputin.” Ford says, “Among your family.”

Raz can’t deny it any longer. “You’re—” he gasps, his throat starting to tighten. “You’re the Memory Man!” He exclaims, “You’re the one who took Nona and Dad’s memories!” Raz’ chest tightens, the weight of the world crashing in all around him. No, no—this can’t be right. No.

All at once, the scenery playing out in Ford’s mind stops. “You… knew?” He appears next to Raz in the mindscape, surprise coloring his face.

Raz can’t be in here for a minute longer. He scrambles for his smelling salts and whips them out, popping them open in front of his face. He needs to get out of here. He needs to get out—

“Razputin—” Ford reaches for him—

+=+=+=+=+

Raz snaps back into his body on the mailroom floor. He looks at Ford, once, his chest starting to heave. No—he can’t do this. He never should have done this.

Ford comes back to himself, whirling around to face him. “Razputin—” He tries, but Raz is already running. He needs to get out of here! He needs space!

Raz runs, using his levball to go faster. He runs, all the way through the atrium into the lobby, outside the Motherlobe entirely, across the floating platforms—

(The water feels his agitation, and trembles in shared rage-hurt. It reaches out to Raz as he passes over it, whispering offers to play and wash his cares away.)

Raz reaches the tunnel to the Questionable Area, and keeps going. He bursts out the other end, his chest and legs burning, and he does not stop—

He can see the fairy lights of his family’s camp strung up, bright against the darkened sky. Raz dashes, intent on getting to his parents so they can all leave this place, or something—

Ford crashes into Raz from the side, stopping him from reaching the campgrounds. They tumble across the ground, Raz’ panic hitting a peak—

“Let me go!” he shouts, squirming in Ford’s hold.

“Listen, Raz!” Ford begins, “I know you’re mad—”

“Of course I’m mad!” Raz shrieks. “You’re the reason my Dad can’t remember his mother’s face! You’re the one who put my whole family into this mess, who forced us to hide Nona without any help!” Tears are bubbling out of Raz’ eyes like steam from a kettle. He finds he doesn’t care. “My family’s had to keep Nona’s past hidden all on our own just because you felt the need to shatter your own mind and run from your problems!” He can’t believe this. All his life, he’s looked up to Ford—wanted to be a hero, just like him.

But Ford isn’t a hero at all.

“You’re right to be mad, Razputin.” Ford sighs. “I was young, and I made a terrible mistake.”

“You could have stuck around!” Raz yells. “Did it never occur to you that they might remember?”

“I had hoped they wouldn’t.” Ford admits.

Raz yells. “Well they did! Except they still don’t remember before the Deluge!” He glares at Ford with every inch of anger in his body, “Nona remembers Maligula, but she doesn’t remember you!” And maybe Ford deserved that, to be forgotten by the woman he loved. But Nona didn’t deserve to have all her memories wrenched away like that. The Aquatos didn’t deserve the fear of not knowing, of always looking over their shoulders for fear of what lurked in their shadows.

“Razputin—” Ford raises his hands in a placating gesture.

“DON’T ‘RAZPUTIN’ ME!” Raz is tired. Raz is so, so tired.

“What’s all this?” Augustus’ voice breaks through the tension, and all of the anger leaves Raz’ body at once. He’s tired. He’s so, so tired.

Ford freezes like a deer in headlights. He opens his mouth—

Raz points at him. “He did it!” He shouts. “He’s the one who messed with your memories!”

Augustus’ eyes snap onto Ford. “What.” He sounds so much smaller than Raz’ father should ever sound.

Distantly, Raz notices his mother and siblings wandering over, Queepie held in his mother’s arms, Mirtala holding Frazie’s hand and rubbing at her eyes. He shoves down the part of him that doesn’t want his family to see him crying—Raz doesn’t have it in him to care.

He’s so tired.

“Why?” Augustus asks, clutching at his chest. “You—why would you—”

“Because I loved her.” Ford laments, “And I thought it was the only way to keep her safe.”

“So you took her memories?” Raz doesn’t know how he has the energy to continue yelling. Anger’s just like that, he guesses.

His mother passes Queepie over to Dion, wrapping an arm around Augustus’ shoulders. She glares at Ford. “You.”

Somehow, Ford manages to look even more rigid. “Me.” He admits.

“You have some nerve!” All of his mother’s ire turns to Ford, and Raz can’t find it in himself to defend the man. “What is wrong with you? Do you have any idea the damage you’ve done to this family?”

Ford opens his mouth, but no sound comes out.

“Wait.” Frazie pipes up, bringing everything to a screeching halt. They all turn to look at her.

“Where’s Nona?”

[fastfur07]

The Fruit Pops

Introducing a true feast for the eyes: the Fruit Pops! This team of Popplio is a clown alley like no other - they fit an entire circus performance (and themselves) into a bite-sized package.

The Fruit Pops use special collars in their act that shrink whatever goes down their throats, allowing the whole cast to pack away into one member's stomach (and create some hilarious physical comedy). Their show is divided into six acts, each led by a different member who swallows up the others.

Long post ahead ↓

Raz 

Raz is the daredevil of the group. Every time the group performs, he leads them through another spectacular stunt. Trapeze, high dive, human cannonball - with Raz at the helm, the group will do them all. And occasionally, he’ll double as a safety net. Despite their fearless appearance, Raz admits to stage fright occasionally.

Tan

Tan plays the role of a timid tightrope walker. His part of the performance carries tension as well as humour, as they guide the others across the tightrope, and leap in to save anyone who’s about to fall. When not performing, Tan is the most caring member, looking out for everyone in times of stress.

Lem 

Lem is outgoing, constantly full of energy, and a master of comedy. They lead the group in a traditional clown act, with witty setups and slapstick in equal measure - and Lem always finds a way to chase the others down into their belly at the end. Although it's a silent act, Lem is very talkative offstage, and often handles public relations.

Pep 

Pep is the group's juggler, and onstage they're insatiably curious, poking around and getting involved in everything that's going on. They’re also ambitious with their act: catching items in their mouth and juggling the other members? Why not! They love to experiment and often suggest new ideas for the rest of the group.

Blu

Blu is laid-back and casual, so their stage persona is a sleepyhead. He takes centre stage in the balancing act, and when the group inevitably tumbles, Blu is always there to catch them (in his mouth). They help the rest of the group to relax from performances - and incidentally, are the hungriest of the bunch.

Fig

Fig is a magician, and acts smug and confident while performing. Their repertoire never fails to wow the audience (sometimes even surprising the other group members), but Fig's favourite trick is always making their friends "disappear". In their spare time they love to exercise their mind, and always take care of chores.

Final notes:

The Fruit Pops are a freelance group; none of them had any circus experience before.

They aren’t comfortable with eating anyone outside their group yet.

They have Everstones, in case anyone was concerned.

[2hoothoots]

Do any of them have any bad habits? I'm not thinking of anything disastrous. I'm thinking of things like biting nails, tugging their own hair due to stress, leaning too far back in chairs and falling over, and things like that.

oh, yeah, Raz has a really bad hair-pulling habit when he's stressed out

i've done plenty of angsty stuff with these three before, so if we're talking more lighthearted bad habits:

Lili has no concept of 'bedtime'. if she's engrossed in her work, or binge-watching a new show that she's all of a sudden getting really into, she will quite happily stay up to 3 or 4am (and then feel upset and betrayed when she's really tired the next morning)

Dogen has a tendency to turn to retail therapy when he's having a bad day. he's gripping his phone with trembling hands, staring at the sanrio plush he's about to order online and mumbling under his breath "this will fix me." at this point he has like a mountain of stuff he's impluse-bought over the internet

Raz does the thing where he leans back really far whenever he's sitting on a chair. his balance is good enough that he'd never fall, but Lili can never resist the urge to push him over if she's in the same room

Raz also used to basically self-medicate his adhd with like half a dozen psi-pops every day (because i hc they're packed with sugar and caffeine and small amounts of other stimulants to give your brain a 'hit' of mental energy when needed). he ended up with a handful of cavities before he managed to get his hands on an adderall prescription

Lili fidgets with her jewelry a lot, which is fine except when she's trying to heal a new piercing and can't keep her hands off it. the one time she got her eyebrow pierced it ended up rejecting because she wouldn't stop fiddling with it (which is why it's scarred over)

Dogen is one of those people that absolutely Must stop and pet Every Cat He Sees. he doesn't have a great sense of time so he will frequently be late to meetings/appointments/lunch dates because there was a really cute cat and he got sidetracked

[castironpride]

So Gokuluck has a dog theme.

I don’t think I’m bringing you any breaking news by saying this, they do kind of beat you over the head with it. But! What you might not know is that three of the four are based on specific dog breeds! I’d like to talk a little about them and how those breeds relate to their personalities. I’ll even give you a little info about the dogs themselves and their history, because in at least one case it does tie into the character! I don't think I've ever seen anyone specifically talk about this so I wanted to fill that gap in.

A fun detail: all three of them are based on Japanese protected heritage breeds*, their relevant breed shows up in their last name. Almost all of the heritage breeds are some variety of working dog, and to put it delicately they don’t have easy-to-handle personalities. So we’re already starting off entirely on brand.

"hey raz where's yuto" he's busy not having anything in his name that refer to a specific breed (though there's still a reference in there because, you know, Inukai) so we're just assuming he's a generic mutt ok

*This is the closest translation I got in terms of something that has an English equivalent. Basically there's an association in Japan called the Nihon Ken Hozonkai which was formed to promote and protect breeds seen as historically important, and all of these are protected breeds!

Ryoga Tosa: Tosa Inu

While he uses the MC name Pitbull, his actual namesake is not a pitbull-alike but still a molossiform breed! I couldn’t tell you if the Tosa Inu has what would widely be considered the definitive pitbull breed (American Staffordshire Terrier) in its breed lineage but just by looking I would be very surprised if that were the case, they’re much more on the mastiff end of things.

So, while the other two breeds are hunting dogs, the Tosa Inu has a very different purpose. They’re fighting dogs. In fact, dog fighting rings are still active in some parts of Japan, just quite rare, and you can only do dog fighting with a Tosa (important note: this does not make it morally justifiable for obvious reasons, if I even have to say that.) Japanese dogfights have rules against dogs barking or growling so Tosas rarely make vocalizations.

Well, I wouldn’t say a speech disorder is directly comparable to that but I do think it’s a neat little reference of sorts. The rest is kind of obvious, I think. Ryoga was basically used as an attack dog by the gang that he joined.

Shion Kaida: Kai Ken

Kai Ken have the reputation of being the easiest to handle out of the heritage breeds. I should note that’s not saying a lot, these are not breeds intended to be companion dogs.

That aside...this is somewhat unusual for a hunting dog, since they need to be independent on some level in order to range outwards from their handler while doing their job. While Kai Ken still are aloof compared to….say, a Labrador, that’s not an entirely fair comparison. They also were primarily used as pack hunters so they’re much more amiable around other dogs than most of the heritage breeds. Seems appropriate for the most relaxed person in the group!

Kai Ken are very visually striking, because all Kai Ken have the brindle mutation! This gives them the appearance of having tiger stripes, to the point that another name for the Kai Ken is “Tora Ken” (lit. tiger dog.) There’s three colors that occur in the breed: red, brown, and black brindle. As far as I know albinism isn’t any more or less common within the breed than it is any other dogs (for the record, some breeds have disproportionate tendencies towards albinism) but hey, his whole deal is he stands out when he doesn’t necessarily want to, right?

Kenta Mikoshiba: Shiba Inu

Shiba Inu are by a long shot the most famous breed on this, so you might already be aware they have…strong personalities. They’re often described as being almost feline in behavior. They are exceptionally stubborn and have a reputation as being hard to work with.

Well, that sure doesn’t sound like anyone we know. Funny enough what doesn’t fit is like most of the other heritage breeds they aren’t very loud or barky, though this is more a quirk of falling within the general category of “primitive breeds” (sorry for the name, it’s just a term for dogs who are closer to wolves.) Wolves don’t really vocalize much, barking is actually a pup behavior and dogs are in part neotenized wolves, so…yeah! It’s also convenient for humans since it means dogs act as an early warning system for anything they’d see as a threat. Predators, natural disasters, mailmen…

Side note: Shion’s nickname of Shibaken for him is just another name for the breed. I feel like if this came out in 2014 there would be at least one fan translator who would translate it as “Shibe.” I defy you to tell me I’m wrong. Also I can't help but think him being intensely online isn't somehow inspired by Shibas being kind of an internet meme.

Conclusion

And that’s my little mini essay on GokuLuck! I don’t have anything super detailed in me yet on account of the reading Hume that’s taken over my life (help) but I hope that helps you understand them a little better and/or you got a few neat dog facts out of this! :>

[kieraspsychonautssideblog]

Why Loboto's Labyrinth is a Brilliant Tutorial Level

Psychonauts 2 has an amazing opening. The point of a tutorial level and introduction is to establish the game's setting, characters, rules, tone, and story, and Loboto's Labyrinth does this brilliantly in various ways.

To establish the setting they chose to have us thrown immediately into the mind of one of its characters, though at first have us believe that we are in Psychonauts HQ. Having the first part of the level be just a boring office layout sets up our expectations for what Psychonauts HQ looks like, so when we actually get to the Motherlobe and see it for ourselves, it's just as amazing and fantastical as it is for Raz. Having the first area we play in be a mind is also a good choice I'd say, as it gives the game time to properly establish just how crazy this game is going to get and how weird it will be.

They give you time to interact with the characters around you, allowing you to get a feel for the writing and the tone the game is going for. Given that this man kidnapped your girlfriend's father, they still take the time to give him a light of sympathy, showing that this is a game about understanding. Milla especially hammers this point home with her insistence that they need to help Loboto.

Given that it's a tutorial level as well, they also establish the rules of both the game and the world around them in a linear but straightforward fashion that doesn't feel hand-holdy. The reasoning for the abilities to come up makes sense and feels natural, so if you're a new player you get introduced to them naturally, and if you're an old player you can quickly get into the swing of things.

And even this level, which is mostly just here to be a tutorial, also serves the story super well. The themes of trying to keep quiet that permeate throughout the level are fascinating. The dental doors that are literally mouths that are zipped shut, the posters around the place telling Loboto to keep quiet, and the sections where Loboto does dentistry work on himself because you literally cannot talk while someone does dentistry work on you. There's even foreshadowing to the end of the game, with the figment of Truman's Case that can be found in the Trap AND the chandelier resembling Gristol's crown that hangs above the Loboto poster in that same room by the time you get to Lili's section.

Loboto's Labyrinth is an excellent way to start off Psychonauts 2. It's an excellent level, with an excellent story and themes, and an excellent setup and payoff for later down the line.

Join me in the possible future for a breakdown of Hollis's Mind and why Hollis could be so much more of a deeper character than the game allows her to be.

[aquato-family-circus]

If Raz' Merit Badge pose is diegetic, I could imagine him using it eventually on purpose with a villain.

Like a boastful, grandiose villain either gets interrupted by Raz imposing his musical will over their speech, or he does it intentionally to indulge their ego so that they aren't paying attention to his fellow agents. Just the typical podium, but where Raz is supposed to be, the bad guy is there doing his own pose, and it ends with them getting handcuffed (mentally or physically).

Also Helmut would unintentionally be the teacher for this, due to Raz taking inspiration from his Psychodyssey of showing people his emotional fragments, but with music instead.

REALLY FUNNY to imagine the latter scenario where Raz is like pumping up some B grade villain's ego until you hear the clank of psychic handcuffs. The villain in question is dazed a bit like a confusion grenade went off but it was a much more directed move on Raz's part. There's a lot of potential for psychic mind games here

That kind of imaginative illusory psychic flourish is just the kind of thing I really love about Helmut or Ford's potential as powerful psychics.

Like I still maintain the headcanon that when Helmut's performing the Psychodessy specifically he is not only singing AND projecting images but ALSO projecting the psychedelic instrumentals going along with it. Non-psychics tended to think it's prerecorded music and therefore not as impressive. and that bums him out so much like NO LISTEN HES THINKING ABOUT THIS BASS LICK SO HARD ITS REAL... HE'S DRUMMING WITH HIS MIND...... PLEASE CLAP.....