MILLA

[mungojerrie]

Character: Milla Vodello

Fandom: Psychonauts (Video Game)

Character Notes:

History: Milla comes from a world where things like psychic powers, supernatural alien space rocks, and high-class, top-secret espionage are not only somewhat commonplace but also highly glorified and celebrated. For years, Milla has worked as a Psychonaut alongside her partner, Sasha Nein. Psychonauts are incredibly skilled and very well-trained psychics who have been taught not only to hone and use their mental powers both offensively and defensively, but also in the arts of surveillance, reconnaissance, and other cool, spy-like things. As stated before: this world takes a lot of spy-tropes and makes them real – Milla has canonly given chase to enemies on jet-skies and rescued the president's brain from a jar floating in crocodile-infested water.

Things like 'mental baggage' and 'mental space' are quite literal in this world, too. With the right tool, one is able to open a door into someone else's mind, and we get to explore Milla's in canon. More on that in the personality section.

Before becoming a Psychonaut, Milla worked at an orphanage in Brazil. She loved her job and her children, happily read them bedtime stories and would often play piano and sing with them. She returned to the orphanage one afternoon with a bag full of groceries to find the entire building up in flames, and though she tried to stop it, she was too late: Milla was unable to save a single child from the burning house. Due to her yet-untrained psychic abilities, however, she was subject to hearing to the mental screams of anguish and pain from the children as they burned to death.

Shortly after this disaster, she began psychic training.

As a Psychonaut, Milla is highly skilled. She and her partner are both incredibly famous when it comes to the psychic world for both their psychic abilities and the stories of their adventures chronicled in True Psychic Tales, which is a popular story digest published containing accounts of the Psychonauts' escapades. Well-known for her excellent levitation ability, Milla sometimes works as a counselor at Camp Whispering Rock, which is a secret government camp for young people with budding psychic gifts disguised as a normal summer camp.

Personality: Gregarious and outgoing, Milla is fond of people and having a good time in general. Known as 'The Mental Minx,' she loves to dance and believes that there are few better ways to spend time than by partying with good friends and – hell, even just good acquaintances. Her headspace is explored in canon and represents her fairly well: it is filled with bright colors, flashy lights, bubbles, confetti, and people having a good time. She unironically addresses friends and strangers alike with "darling" and other affectionate pet names.

She loves being a star, and while not stuck-up or (very) vain, she also adores the attention that being a famous Psychonaut affords her.

This isn't to say that she is an irresponsible party-girl, or self-centered and shallow. One doesn't usually become a world-famous Psychonaut by slacking off and not giving 110%, and Milla is no exception. Though she makes a point of having fun and relaxing whenever she can, she throws herself with real dedication into her job. As an exceptionally talented psychic, the missions are fun, interesting, and just thrillingly dangerous enough to keep her on her toes. More than just that, though, she enjoys being able to use the powers and natural aptitude that she was given for a good cause.

When it comes to children, Milla can be a little over-protective. While she adores them, she worries endlessly about them and feels a strong urge to keep them safe, likely stemming from the fact that she was unable to rescue any of the orphans she cared for when their building burnt. Even though Razputin (a young Psi Cadet at Camp Whispering Rock) proves himself time and time again, Milla has problems seeing him as anything more than just a baby. When he ends up rescuing her and her Psychonaut partner from an evil, mad dentist (long story), she still immediately dismissed his decision to help in the ensuing fight and sent him and his girlfriend away, insisting that they let the "adults" handle it.

She has nightmares, but in her headspace they are locked behind bars (though their physical mental manifestations scream regardless when found.) She claims to have them under control, and sure enough, they are trapped in a tiny, hidden room in her mind. She keeps these memories tucked away literally and metaphorically, again exemplifying how composed and organized she is. Though she has not forgotten her past, and does not seem to plan to, she has done her best to move on and find a happy, fulfilling life.

In summation, Milla is an upbeat, hardworking international secret agent with an earnest love for life and a zeal for fun. She is naturally enthusiastic in spite of the trauma in her past, choosing instead to both lock those nightmares away and use them as fuel and motivation to really make a mark and do some good in this world.

Other: Milla is a Psychonaut! She has cool psychic powers, like telekinesis, pyrokinesis, levitation, the ability to create shields, temporary invisibility, and also she has fantastic, ready-for-TV hair.