OMG...both my 7th grade and 8th grade made us listen to that song.

I actually like it.

But the guy's voice is kind of annoying.

Nuh-uh. Tom has a great voice.

ALMOST ALL OF THE INFORMATION YOU’LL EVER NEED
Sasha/Milla

One thing that the Psychonauts fandom seems to center on is the heavily hinted at romance between Sasha and Milla. While some seem to know every aspect of their bond, others find themselves stumbling along, asking themselves, “Would they say that? Is that correct?” And others completely ignore any canon evidence and charge on right ahead.

For those, there is no hope.

Instead I have created this article as a collection of my thoughts on the matter. One that I call “Almost all of the Information You’ll Ever Need...About Psychonauts.”

Chapters:
Sasha
-Who is Sasha
-What are his motives
Milla
-Who is Milla
-What are her motives
Why
-Evidence
-Longevity
Misc.
-Platonic
*At the end of each chapter I will supply summary notes. For those who don’t like to read long boring summaries.

SASHA

Sasha, a character so realized that some fans of Psychonauts would spend hours purely discussing his ethnicity. However many fans find themselves obsessing over him, they may find what makes him so realized elusive to capture in fanfiction. As soon as the pencil hits the paper writers can be at a loss for words. Who is Sasha? What are his motives? We’ll never be sure since he can’t speak to us. However I have compiled my ideas of what I think are the answers to these questions

Who is Sasha?

Supposedly Sasha is a German man somewhere in his thirties.

Anyone can easily argue that he is cool, calm, and collected. The strongest evidence for this is his mind. His mind is essentially his restrained thoughts visually represented as a cube.

With a little more digging, one could say he prefers to finish things effectively or finish the mission at hand, throwing aside caution. The Brain Tumbler in itself exemplifies this. Especially when Raz easily sways over Sasha into sending Raz back into his own mind. When Sasha had the decision to keep Raz safe but possibly lose the experiment he decided that was not the best option and opted for the more dangerous yet more efficient route.

He’s a little distant to others and doesn’t realize how his actions can fully impact other people. That isn’t saying he doesn’t consider other people, what I think is that he doesn’t consider how much it can hurt a person. Take for example Raz and the brain tumbler once again. He did take into consideration what it would do to Raz if it ruined Raz’s brain; however I think if he knew how harmful it could be; how much it would affect Raz’s life he could take all of that into perspective; then I think he would not have allowed him to go in. But his trait of finishing the task on hand probably takes a part in his “distance” with others. Not to mention that in his official profile it states that he does not know how much of a hero he is to young Psy-cadets.

In the beginning and ending of the game Sasha reinforces the trait that he believes in facts not guesses or wild ideas. This is one of the first lines he says to Raz when Raz asks if they are going to learn how to blow up brains. Sasha says that it is science and in science life is about coming up with a theory, reinforcing or dismissing it and experimenting to come to a conclusion. Sasha may have become so used to this theory that it affects the way he absorbs the world around him. When Oleander’s brain was taken out he came up with a theory: Oleander was defeated. He reinforced it by gathering the information around him: Oleander was exhibiting all the symptoms of a brainless person. Then he came to a conclusion: Since Oleander was brainless he must be harmless as what could an empty shell do? With this hard evidence Sasha dismissed all other ideas and only thought of it as one way.

OVERVIEW
-Cool, calm, collected
-Prefers effective methods instead of safe methods
-Distant and doesn’t realize how his actions can impact others
-He believes in facts, not wild guesses.

What are his Motives?

In order for a writer to develop a character they need to know what his motives are throughout his life. They certainly have changed from being a child to an adult but for the sake of this article I am only going to explain what I think is the older Sasha’s motives.

In my opinion I think that Sasha doesn’t look far into his life. He has near future goals. In these short time periods he plans it out according to how he think it would work best, slightly altering his methods as he goes or completely overhauling everything in light of new evidence. To be honest, I think he lives strictly in the present only allowing himself to think about the future when he has no busy work. Why? He rarely mentions the future, if only to create a plan to take up more of his time. Though I have to say, his actions do follow a pattern, his motives, and unbeknownst to him he may be working for his future by listening to these motives.

The first motive is the pursuit for knowledge. It’s rare that the player does not see Sasha experimenting on the Brain Tumbler as he takes in notes. The fact that he’s so engrossed in what he does certainly backs up this idea. Doubly so as Sasha is still fit and young enough to always go back into the field as he had with Milla. This pursuit of knowledge is not for fame or glory as he has already achieved that and has not even acknowledged this.

One less monumental desire but still important one is to carry on the scientific aspect of being a Psychonaut. Do I think it is as important to him as knowledge? No, but I think that this is the closest thing he will ever have to a lifelong goal. All of the children in the camp realize what it is like to be brought under the wing of Sasha. How hard he works them and treats them like young adults instead of the kids that they are. The reason why he picks children is to teach them about the science aspect of being a Psychonaut in his hopes that this will get through to them. At first I believed that he only wanted the kids for experiments up until the point when he began pulling strings for Razputin to overcome Raz’s problem. It is most strongly demonstrated when Sasha tries to tell Raz that learning how to battle one’s mental demons is how some people come of age. If Raz was simply his lab rat I highly doubt he would be trying to teach him important lessons.

OVERVIEW
-Sasha sets goals in the near future
-First motive is for knowledge
-Second is to carry on his teachings.

Oh... wow. Once again, you impress me.

Look at all of those nods towards us. <3

Oh... wow. Once again, you impress me.

Look at all of those nods towards us. <3

You guys really influenced this article. See how many you can count.

:mrt: I pity you.

One thing that the Psychonauts fandom seems to center on is the heavily hinted at romance between Sasha and Milla. While some seem to know every aspect of their bond, others find themselves stumbling along, asking themselves, “Would they say that? Is that correct?” And others completely ignore any canon evidence and charge on right ahead.

For those, there is no hope.

Well, nearly all of this.

Sasha, a character so realized that some fans of Psychonauts would spend hours purely discussing his ethnicity. However many fans find themselves obsessing over him, they may find what makes him so realized elusive to capture in fanfiction. As soon as the pencil hits the paper writers can be at a loss for words...

And more, I think. Do you love us? Or hate us?

One thing that the Psychonauts fandom seems to center on is the heavily hinted at romance between Sasha and Milla. While some seem to know every aspect of their bond, others find themselves stumbling along, asking themselves, “Would they say that? Is that correct?” And others completely ignore any canon evidence and charge on right ahead.

For those, there is no hope.

Well, nearly all of this.

Sasha, a character so realized that some fans of Psychonauts would spend hours purely discussing his ethnicity. However many fans find themselves obsessing over him, they may find what makes him so realized elusive to capture in fanfiction. As soon as the pencil hits the paper writers can be at a loss for words...

And more, I think. Do you love us? Or hate us?

I hate you because you missed this!

Supposedly Sasha is a German man somewhere in his thirties.

You guys went nuts over that!

Well, I assumed you'd put that in the 'obsessing over his ethnicity' thing. D:

Well, I assumed you'd put that in the 'obsessing over his ethnicity' thing. D:

Fine.. I guess I'll let that pass.

Yay!

Well, I can't wait for Milla's. I love her.

You guys went nuts over that!

Hey, I was going to reply pointing that out, but noooo... Sheesh.

Anyway. I loved it (I'm a sucker for good character analysis) and can't wait for the next parts! When you're done you should totally put this all together somewhere so I can pimp it to everyone I know. Even if they've never heard of Psychonauts.

One thing that the Psychonauts fandom seems to center on is the heavily hinted at romance between Sasha and Milla. While some seem to know every aspect of their bond, others find themselves stumbling along, asking themselves, “Would they say that? Is that correct?” And others completely ignore any canon evidence and charge on right ahead.

For those, there is no hope.

Well, nearly all of this.

Sasha, a character so realized that some fans of Psychonauts would spend hours purely discussing his ethnicity. However many fans find themselves obsessing over him, they may find what makes him so realized elusive to capture in fanfiction. As soon as the pencil hits the paper writers can be at a loss for words...

And more, I think. Do you love us? Or hate us?
On the obsessing over Sasha part, truer words have never been spoken.

She was probably reffering to you, Darth. Xo

Yay!!! Congrats on 2000 post Purple!!

Oh, CRAP! Look at meeee!

I RUUUUUUULE!

you do rule, want a fudgesicle?

Yes, please. Those are quite awesome. Like me. <3

yay, congrats you just danced like an idiot jerk.

D: Meanie. You're just jeaolous of my posting-tude.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/CaptainSkye/such_a_deal.jpg)

You've outposted people who have been here since the beginning; who are moderators and admins and stuff. In a year you'll be outposting Redwing.

It's the puppies. They're like steroids.

Yay! CaptainSkye CARES! And I got... a scary Joker picture.

Whoohoo?

Yes, it is the puppies. They make my fingers BUFF.

Hey, I was going to reply pointing that out, but noooo... Sheesh.

Anyway. I loved it (I'm a sucker for good character analysis) and can't wait for the next parts! When you're done you should totally put this all together somewhere so I can pimp it to everyone I know. Even if they've never heard of Psychonauts.

Thank you. I'm flattered that you think it is a good character analysis. Mila, is going to be a lot tougher as we don't interact with her as much and I find her personality a little more offbeat.

Oh and I'm going to ask fanfiction.net to allow us to post essays as a subcategory. And if not then I may ask Darth_Ave to put it up somewhere on TTMHftD.

On the obsessing over Sasha part, truer words have never been spoken.

No, no they haven't.

Where the hell do your posts go to Purple Squid. I know you post here a lot but you must be in the other threads or something?

Nope. They're all in here. :3 This is the only forum I post in.

And it really is an excellent essay. You can make sense out of things that don't make sense.

Nope. They're all in here. :3 This is the only forum I post in.

And it really is an excellent essay. You can make sense out of things that don't make sense.

ALL IN HERE? WTF?

Umm....I don't think I make sense. I really just ramble on and on for hours. They take a while to sort out. I'm really having trouble with Milla's goals.

Could one of her goals be to get over the past?

Could one of her goals be to get over the past?

I'm not sure. In fact, I'd go so far as to say "no," even. Actually, the whole nightmares thing is a big bone of contention with me, so... See, I know a lot of people think that she's got her nightmares under control and has dealt with them, since, y'know, she's a Psychonaut, they know how to handle these things. (That's kind of an...interesting argument in the first place. I mean, Oleander's a Psychonaut. Look what happened to him.) Maybe she's not "over it," exactly, but she's at least got things under control.

The sticking point with me is that, yes, she has her nightmares contained. Good for her. But that's not handling them. That's locking them away in a little box and hoping maybe they'll go away on their own. That's sweeping the problem under the rug and hoping no one will notice.

The impression I always got from Milla's nightmares was that she has them under control in the sense that they're not roaming around loose, terrorizing at random, but she's not willing to try and fight them (which is what she would need to do to get over her past, IMHO). Probably because she's afraid to do it--I mean, I would be, too.

Interestingly enough, apparently in an early build of her mind (and I've found sound files that back this up), her nightmares were running around loose, snatching kids and dancers and yanking them underground. The level even ended in a boss battle. That all got cut for obvious reasons--Milla being Milla, would she really let kids run around in there if she knew it was dangerous? Anyway...one of the sound files that I found in regards to this pretty much sums it up, for me. Milla, talking to Raz, refers to the nightmares as "party crashers" and tells him to "just do what I do, ignore them."

I don't think the version we ended up with is as bad as completely ignoring them--she's aware they're there, obviously, and seems to acknowledge that--but it's close enough. For me, at least.

The sticking point with me is that, yes, she has her nightmares contained. Good for her. But that's not handling them. That's locking them away in a little box and hoping maybe they'll go away on their own. That's sweeping the problem under the rug and hoping no one will notice.

I can see that you have thought about this a lot more then me.

It did always bug me the way she dealt with the nightmares. By keeping them off to the side allowing it to be easily resurfaced. And that sound clip helps me out a lot, thanks!

The hard thing with Milla is that despiter her being open and fun she doesn't let things that bother her show as much. Sure, we do know about some tramutic events but we don't know how she really felt or reacted in those situations except that she ignored them.

I'm going to add this in as I feel that it is very important.

If you allow me, I could quote your thoughts and add a new section to Milla. I really think that this needs to be added in and i don't want to take credit for something I didn't do.

If you allow me, I could quote your thoughts and add a new section to Milla. I really think that this needs to be added in and i don't want to take credit for something I didn't do.

Heh, go right ahead.

Heh, go right ahead.

Awesome because

A: You have thought this out throughly and brilliantly
B: I don't have to type.

Now I can actually get to the point of explaining the relationship.

MILLA
One of the more offbeat characters in the game, she comes off as one-dimensional when you first meet her. Party-girl, Check. Loves everybody, check. Beautiful, check. However upon exploring her mind and looking for what makes Milla, Milla. Players find that she is one of the more unique and intriguing characters to have come out of Psychonauts.

Who is Milla?

One common misconception about Milla is that she is a pure party girl. Wild and crazy. While I certainly do think that she is a party girl I do not agree with the wild and crazy part. I found her to be natural yet dignified. When teaching the children levitation she made sure it was fun yet educational and that she had taught them all they could learn. If she were wild she certainly would not have been so keen on teaching the children on how to levitate. In her vault "Milla’s Children" she was taking care of the orphans, teaching them how to sing, play, and live life enjoyably. If this is not the demeanor of a fun loving yet dignified woman than I do not know what is.

Her fun spirit carries on to her missions. She tries to make them as enjoyable as possible while still focusing primarily on the task at hand. Milla’s vault, Milla’s Adventures, is about her time with Sasha as a Psychonaut in the field. Almost every picture has a cheery atmosphere of her and Sasha expertly taking out threats of the psychic world. Notice how in every picture she is always heavily involved but seems to be enjoying herself as well. Like Sasha, she is heavily focused at the task at hand but unlike him she is able to concentrate on other things on life and is not so wrapped up in her studies.

Also like Sasha she is sensible and prefers to see facts instead of guesses. Yet again though she deviates from Sasha’s strict thinking and does look at all the other options even if evidence points towards one option. I think this because she dismissed the notion that there was a lake monster in the water as it was supposedly a rumor. However she did not deny the fact that there could be reasons as to why Raz seems so fixed on the water. She seems to have figured out that he may have problems with water itself and thinks that the lake monster is something for his fears to latch onto.

OVERVIEW
-Misconception that she is only a party girl
-She is natural yet dignified
-Fun spirit carries onto her missions
-Heavily focused at the task at hand but she is not so wrapped up into it as Sasha.
-Prefers evidence but is more open to thought

What Are Her Motives?

Instead of hearing me rambling on about what I think are her motives, I’ve been given permission from the brilliant TyraaRane to quote her on this. While it doesn’t focus on what her motives are it focuses on why we can’t tell what her motives are. Why we see such a vibrant women hide her deeper feelings.

Actually, the whole nightmares thing is a big bone of contention with me, so... See, I know a lot of people think that she's got her nightmares under control and has dealt with them, since, y'know, she's a Psychonaut, they know how to handle these things. (That's kind of an...Interesting argument in the first place. I mean, Oleander's a Psychonaut. Look what happened to him.) Maybe she's not "over it," exactly, but she's at least got things under control.

The sticking point with me is that, yes, she has her nightmares contained. Good for her. But that's not handling them. That's locking them away in a little box and hoping maybe they'll go away on their own. That's sweeping the problem under the rug and hoping no one will notice.

The impression I always got from Milla's nightmares was that she has them under control in the sense that they're not roaming around loose, terrorizing at random, but she's not willing to try and fight them (which is what she would need to do to get over her past, IMHO). Probably because she's afraid to do it--I mean, I would be, too.

Interestingly enough, apparently in an early build of her mind (and I've found sound files that back this up), her nightmares were running around loose, snatching kids and dancers and yanking them underground. The level even ended in a boss battle. That all got cut for obvious reasons--Milla being Milla, would she really let kids run around in there if she knew it was dangerous? Anyway...one of the sound files that I found in regards to this pretty much sums it up, for me. Milla, talking to Raz, refers to the nightmares as "party crashers" and tells him to "just do what I do, ignore them."

I don't think the version we ended up with is as bad as completely ignoring them--she's aware they're there, obviously, and seems to acknowledge that--but it's close enough. For me, at least.

OVERVIEW
-Nightmares are under control but she’s not exactly over it.
-Despite open nature she prefers to not think about traumatic events and hides them away.

ALL IN HERE? WTF?

Umm....I don't think I make sense. I really just ramble on and on for hours. They take a while to sort out. I'm really having trouble with Milla's goals.

Could one of her goals be to get over the past?

Not true. You make all sorts of sense.

That's locking them away in a little box and hoping maybe they'll go away on their own. That's sweeping the problem under the rug and hoping no one will notice.


Why would she forget? To forget what happened to the children is as bad as forgetting the children themselves.

Other than that, I'm going to say that I liked this one more than Sasha's... we don't get much development in Milla's character, and this certainly helped me narrow all the thoughts I've had about her down.

Not true. You make all sorts of sense.

Well I'm writing more "sense" in my Why part.

Yay!

So, are they the only characters you're going to do, or are you possibly going to do more?

Yay!

So, are they the only characters you're going to do, or are you possibly going to do more?

Umm..I thought about it and I'm deciding to take requests. I truly have no preference. I'm doing this to help people write.

Sorry I take so long replying. I'm writing as well.

That's locking them away in a little box and hoping maybe they'll go away on their own. That's sweeping the problem under the rug and hoping no one will notice.


Why would she forget? To forget what happened to the children is as bad as forgetting the children themselves.

Other than that, I'm going to say that I liked this one more than Sasha's... we don't get much development in Milla's character, and this certainly helped me narrow all the thoughts I've had about her down.

TyraaRane really helped me with her. She is hard as we do have a lot of thoughts about her.

Umm...let me try to explain that a little better. What I think she was trying to say was that she forgets so that she doesn't get hurt.

Umm..I thought about it and I'm deciding to take requests. I truly have no preference. I'm doing this to help people write.

Sorry I take so long replying. I'm writing as well.


It's okay, I don't mind. And, maybe, this one is hard...

Could you do Becky? I love her character, but I can't analyize anything worth crap.

TyraaRane really helped me with her. She is hard as we do have a lot of thoughts about her.

Umm...let me try to explain that a little better. What I think she was trying to say was that she forgets so that she doesn't get hurt.
There we go, I can agree with that.

WHY

The whole question though, is why? Why would fans want to pair two side characters that only take up a bit of the playing time. Well for one there is a suprising amount of evidence for the two and it is always interesting to see how two people would react towards each other in a romantic relationship.

Evidence

The best piece of evidence is in Mila’s vault, Milla’s Adventures. In this the last slide shows Milla lying on top of Sasha and they are both smiling. This heavily, heavily hints that they have fallen in love. Especially so since the other slides were them bonding over missions. It would be near impossible to argue that there wasn’t some tension in that picture.

An in-game example is subtly thrown in for those who listen carefully. When Raz is preparing to go to the Brain Tumbler for the second time, he informs Sasha and Milla about what they said to each other. They are surprised to hear about each other. This is just one dialogue example of Sasha and Milla.

The last piece of evidence is a very subtle one towards the end. When Milla and Sasha are fighting Oleander they coordinate their moves to attack him best without even telling each other what to do. . This bond that they show when fighting only enforces the belief that they have once been very close.

Longevity

Basically would their relationship work out, and for how long?

I believe that despite there being a lack of a relationship (Not tension, a relationship), their relationship would last long. However it would take effort from both parties. If Milla was more persistent in pursuing a relationship with Sasha and Sasha was more accepting of allowing himself to feel love then yes I think it would work.

Both of them would have to not be afraid of letting themselves open up. By Milla allowing herself to feel deeper feelings and not ignore them then she could love Sasha. Love is a deep thing and I think that the first time she realized she was in love she decided to ignore the fact. So for a writer to deeply explore these two they would have to touch on the fact that she ignores things instead of tackling them head on.

Sasha is closed since he is so out of touch in the world. By simply being around Milla isn’t going to change how open and closed he is as we have already seen. Milla has to first come over her problem and Sasha is going to have to have a want to be more open to others. His desire to carry on knowledge after him is one way that would force him to become less distant.

OVERVIEW
-Evidence in Milla’s Adventures, in game dialogue in-between Brain Tumbler and Milla’s Dance Party, Coordinated fighting
-Relationship would work out long
-Sasha less distant
-Milla getting over ignoring problems.

It's okay, I don't mind. And, maybe, this one is hard...

Could you do Becky? I love her character, but I can't analyize anything worth crap.

Ohh...wow. My friend just asked me that on IM three seconds ago

Sure I'll do that after I'm finished with this. It'll just be as a character sheet not as a romance sheet.

I believe that despite their inferred break-up...

omfg. When did that happen? Is it a fact or a thought? Confusion!

All of this stuff would be excellent in Zets' page. She could possibly put this up, if you asked.

Ohh...wow. My friend just asked me that on IM three seconds ago

Sure I'll do that after I'm finished with this. It'll just be as a character sheet not as a romance sheet.
I don't want a romance sheet, anyway...

Thank you sooo much! And your friend could be me in disguise...

I believe that despite their inferred break-up...

omfg. When did that happen? Is it a fact or a thought? Confusion!

All of this stuff would be excellent in Zets' page. She could possibly put this up, if you asked.

A thought as we don't actually see them in the game together. In the vault it is inferred that they never pursued this love. I consider it a "Break-up"

Thanks for reading and pointing stuff out.

I'll ask nicely. I have been e-mailing her a lot lately.

I don't want a romance sheet, anyway...

Thank you sooo much! And your friend could be me in disguise...

Are you sending IM's to my brain?

Are you sending IM's to my brain?

...Possibly.

Get the puppies, Klia... put them on my doorstep...

...Possibly.

Get the puppies, Klia... put them on my doorstep...

NEVER!

A thought as we don't actually see them in the game together. In the vault it is inferred that they never pursued this love. I consider it a "Break-up"

Thanks for reading and pointing stuff out.

I'll ask nicely. I have been e-mailing her a lot lately.

Oooh... so does it count as a break up if they were never together? Hmm...

Purple, u rule. You are hereby known as the queen of the lucasforums for your superior posting number.

Purple, u rule. You are hereby known as the queen of the lucasforums for your superior posting number.
Yup. I know. And thank you, I am quite superior.

you're not cooler than me when it comes to choir.

Alright. I don't even have choir.