Franke Athens - Blog Posts

a 'brief' analysis on the queerness of kitty bubai and franke athens from psychonauts, and the depth behind their favorite medias

ok this is the first serious post im making that isnt just account boundaries or anything. wow. ok how do i start this!!! so you guys know kitty bubai and franke athens from psychonauts right.

these little freakazoids from whispering rock in the first game. you know how theyre always holding hands and how theyre 'bestest friends' and shit

yeah well what if i told you they were queer. wow! as if nobody knew that already!!!! (clear sarcasm) but theres some more that meets the eye yknow. one, its remarkable the devs snuck queer girls into the first game which came out in 2005 mind you. when people still werent really all that accepting of queer people ESPECIALLY if they were in a public relationship. this was really based of the devs to do no matter how hidden it is. more under the cut

of course they refer to each other as girlfriends (iirc) and 'sister,' but theres more than you think. we all know about the campster profiles, but the information on them is actually pretty interesting about the campers, since we dont learn much of them in the game itself which is sad.

lets start off with franke. first of all, her only interest (aside from favorite medias) is literally JUST kitty.

thats pretty fucking gay if you ask me. and to add to the fire, she seems to have no real interest in other campers, especially other male campers. vernon in the campster profiles is revealed to have a crush on her, but her feelings toward him are ambivalent at BEST. her main focus is kitty, and has always been kitty.

and about her favorite medias, basically all of them are queer.

lets start with her favorite band of two women, t.A.T.u. this russian pop duo of girls, lena katina and julia volkova. they arent lesbians, but their queerness was a marketing stunt driven by shapovalov. though, maybe franke didnt know this. she just thought that their music was about two girls, loving one another. two russian girls loving one another in a time of potent homophobic stigma. russia has had homophobic ideals for a very long time, and homophobia was even more rampant back then than it is today. its forbidden love, and of course a young queer girl would eat that shit UP. its how she feels during that time.

from an article called 'the strange and homophobic history of 'queer icons' t.A.T.u,' the author writes these little tidbits.

'Perhaps catching wind of their struggling personal brand, Katina and Volkova released a statement in 2007. “Many of our fans of alternative sexual orientation thought that we lied and betrayed them,” they wrote. “This is not true! We’ve never done that and we’ve always advocated love without boundaries." A few weeks later, they performed at the Moscow’s Pride celebrations.'

'In a 2011 interview, Volkova stated that she wouldn’t accept having a gay son. “God created man for procreation, it is the nature. The man for me is the support…I won’t accept a gay son,” she said on Russian TV. “A man has no right to be a fag…I just want my son to be a real man, not a fag.” She then tried to ‘backpedal’, saying, “I have many gay friends. I believe that being gay is all still better than murderers, thieves or drug addicts. If you choose out of all this, being gay a little better than the rest.’ For what it’s worth, Katina publicly condemned Volkova’s statements.'

but of course, franke wouldnt know. this was all way after 2003, when the campster profiles were made. she would think that these two girls were lesbians, just like her. of course she would like their music.

now, lets go to her favorite tv shows and movie—ellen, laverne & shirly, and the hunger. as we all know, ellen is a lesbian. ellen publicly came out on april 30, 1997. with laverne & shirley, people have speculated that they are in a relationship, especially with how they act towards each other.

with the hunger, 1; its an erotic horror. not something a 10 year old should be watching, but honestly its not as bad as the other kids literally being peeping toms or killing animals on complete accident just with how overwhelmed and utterly powerful their minds are. 2; its a vampire flick with homosexual themes. being transformed, in both a queer awakening and a literal way, being transformed into a vampire. vampries throughout history have been associated with queerness in media, and this movie is no different. the hunger is one of the most famous movies with a literal queer plot. theres lesbian sex scenes, and theres goth swinger couples. very 1983. from a website called bitch flicks, theres a post that is titled 'nine pretty great lesbian vampire movies,' in which part of the section on the hunger says;

'Sticking well within queer tropes, however, Miriam is honestly a real U-Haul vampire, and waits all of 10 seconds after John’s death before she tries to marry Sarah pretty much out of nowhere. We are talking about someone that has an eternity ahead of her that can’t even wait like a month after her husband’s “death” before she starts moving her girlfriend in. Which is cold as Hell, because they were married for something like 300 years.'

conclusion, franke is gay as fuck. we love lesbians in this house! now, on to kitty, the more obvious of the queer couple i think.

as a brief little bit, her and frankes relationship status on campster is set to 'open marriage.' if that isnt gay, i dont know what is. franke is only interested in being friends with men and women, meanwhile kitty is interested in a serious relationship with women and men. clearly, shes already polyamorous and bi, which is absolutely based.

with her favorite media, her favorite show is xena: warrior princess. theres a bit of queerness in that show as well, with xena being clearly written as a queer character. xena and gabrielle, friends in the show, have been speculated to be queer, and the actresses for both have embraced this headcanon with open arms. in one episode, xena takes the form of a man and kisses gabrielle, and despite the heterosexual appearance, its very clearly a queer scene with obvious romantic intent. xena has been referred to as a feminist and lesbian icon. love that!

with her favorite movie, mulholland drive, it has been a key staple in sapphic media. from an article, 'the important of mulholland drive in sapphic cinematic history,' there are a few paragraphs id like to highlight.

'Rita has suffered amnesia after being in a car crash on Mulholland Drive–she can’t even remember her own name, choosing Rita from a movie poster. Betty attempts to help Rita figure out her identity and they grow close through the process, eventually sleeping together in a very passionate scene of connection. It’s nothing gratuitous, nor the focus of the film or its celebration after release. “Have you even done this before?” Betty asks Rita. “I don’t know,” Rita says. “Have you?” “I want to, with you. I’m in love with you.”'

'Viewers of Mulholland Drive are unraveling the mystery with Rita and Betty, looking for clues that might have been overlooked, some, like Melissa Anderson of ArtForum, seeing the film an upwards of 20 times. As bizarre things begin to occur–a blue key found in Rita’s purse unlocks a mystery box that has Betty becoming Diane Selwyn, a name Rita recognized earlier on as Rita is now actress Camilla Rhodes. In their new roles, Diane is in love with Camilla, Another love scene between Diane and Camilla is disconnected, one-sided. “We shouldn’t do this anymore,” Camilla says. “Don’t say that!” Diane replies. “Don’t ever say that.” Later, Camilla kisses another woman (played by Melissa George) and then a man, and laughs in Diane’s face. This madness leads Diane to hire a hitman to kill the object of her affection.'

both of these girls favorite medias are queer. all of them. clearly some thought went into these girls, and what they would like as young girls exploring themselves and their identity. it seems like franke would be more closeted about herself, meanwhile kitty is proud of herself. kitty is the ringleader in their relationship, with franke following behind.

conclusion, franke and kitty are gay as hell, and theres literally no disputing that with all the evidence at our fingertips.

sorry if this little essay post was weirdly formatted, i was interested in writing this stupid little thing.

New mug! Featuring campers!

(February 3 - February 28, 2025)

Party people bouncing off the walls.

Special thanks to @ooliecat, @cosmicheartz, and @salempie

One time when my sister was showing me a bunch of Gorillaz music videos, I had a revelation (no disrespect to people who love their blue-haired british men.)

Hey, look. I got an UGLY FACE. Can I join your UGLY CLUB?

Really, I think Clem would detest this holiday. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he had Crystal to spend it with.

Lift me up

Special thanks to ooliecat and salempie (who both suggested Alice in Wonderland Elka) and @turquoisegemma

It's all fun and games until the bird craps on your hand.

(October 2 - October 30, 2024)

I hope everyone had a good Halloween. Here's Sasha (and lots more.)

For ya mind, and ya body, and soul-soul (a redraw of a redraw? Wow)

Kittaaaaay you so prettaaaaaay

Selemo Queepie

Toot 🎵

BREAKNECK BASTARDDDDDDD

Crystal and Clem 🩷

Clem and Crystal 🩷

Jammin' we jammin'

I wanna put cute star-shaped hair clips in Chloe's hair… if she had any. We will have to improvise.

Children often enjoy being pushed on the swing set by their parent or legal guardian.

A true father-son bond is hurling a flaming, spiked juggling pin at your son's cranium.

(August 1 - August 30, 2024)

Please insert one arrowhead to continue (payment accepted automatically.)

That won't work, Crystal.

Misha doesn't appear in any mental worlds, so we don't ever see him astral project. I drew what I think it might look like if he did (with stuff referencing a drawing above on the side.)

Well, I guess we're all going to die. My whole life is flashing before my eyes. My first memory is of my dog, Lady.

What an Amazing Mirror, right?

I'm glad that my adult Crystal was met with positive reception. I couldn't decide to show with or without color, so just have both versions.

You said to barge in, so here I am. I like the picture of Vernon that you drew :D I like your art style! Will you draw any other campers? Aside from Vernon, are there any other campers you like?

A lot, actually! there's maybe 2-3 campers i don't particularly (but still) care for, everyone in this drawing (and some more) I adore. They are all my fun little guys!!!

(June 4 - June 28, 2024)

Watch out, Phoebe... Be careful.

See, I told you I would revisit that sketch.

Scrapped sketches. They were originally going to be part of some sort of joke.

Scrapped sketch.

I can count on you, Crystal and Clem.

I just wanted to draw @sasalele666's ♀️ Misha design (with a half-assed ♀️ Maloof design I came up with in 5 seconds to go with her.)

Sasha really stood there like "Not my problem" listening to Maloof cry above him in the GPC. (I know it's because he knew Raz would let him out anyway in order to get to his lab, but it's funny to think about.)

When I watched my sister play, that was the exact moment I became enthralled with them.

Baby Loboto

Scrapped sequence of drawings in which an invisible Milka would have comforted Elton. Might come back to this one.

Canon Nils and sasalele666's ♀️ Nils (I thought she was cute and I just like the design so much.)

Milla must have the patience of a saint.

I'm very picky about older camper designs, so I don't usually share mine (Crystal's is the only design I've held onto, and I got it from a DREAM lol.) I was just messing around and thought this drawing turned out well enough to share.

Crystal 🩷

(May 4 - May 31, 2024)

I hurt my hands from drawing too much in April, but I'm okay. During that time I was trying to take a break from drawing, but I was beginning to lose it, so I drew Maloof in MS Paint.

I continued resting afterwards and I was able to draw normally again.

I wanted to try drawing Quentin with different expressions again. It wasn't so bad this time, but ...

[Earthbound mortal damage sound effect]

Might revisit this one. I wasn't feeling it the day I drew it.

I saw that shirt and thought of him.

This is really my third attempt at squirrel Augustus.

Elka is like a cartoon character to me. Her manner of speech is very expressive.

Cutting the bush does not hurt it.

Request from my sister (she is a fan of Gorillaz, could you tell?) Seems that Noodle Fed-Ex'ed herself to the wrong address and The Levitators/Firestarters/Whispering Rockers have a guitarist now.

I wish I could have drawn more. I thought the outfit Elton was drawn in here was cute.

making Bobby go through it in the elaborate music videos that play in my mind at midnight.

Slightly older Bobby (14?)

Rejected sketch. Well, who did you think was the one who cut Raz's head in half? (jk)

I will draw them until my fingers break.

I redrew the first image.

(March 1 - March 29, 2024)

Back once again for the renegade master, D4 damage with the ill behavior (camper fans come get ya food. more under the cut.)

AW YEAAAH

This is not a comic, just me getting easily distracted in art form. One of my friends thought Chloe's helmet was a TV screen.

Artist's block then began to beat my ass, but we will brute force our way through.

I wonder if Maloof likes Tom & Jerry.

This one's for the bird nerds and/or lovers of corny jokes out there.

Signs of spring.

ELKA DOOM FANS WHERE YA AT? MAKE SOME NOISE (I was feeling inspired.)

With Elka's help, the artist's block was vanquished.

This one is based on a dream I had months ago. They are listening to this because it kept me sane during the inordinate amount of time I spent on it.

Dart's head shape is like a modified version of Quentin's head shape (or maybe the other way around.) Visualizing it this way has made it easier to draw him.

A very important task as Bobby's henchman, you see.

(Note: since people have been unsure of what Bobby means when I show it - he wants Benny to bite into the apple first since he can't bite it with his bad teeth.)

Katherine.

I hope you took some time for Vernon on Storytelling Day (March 20)

There's been this commercial that plays "What A Feeling" and every time it comes on, it makes me think of Crystal without fail.

Is Chops wearing lipstick? The color is similar to Kitty's lipstick ... Did he steal it from her?

A Kitty-less Franke, how sad. I've expended all my energy to draw Kitty, so she has to be by herself.

J.T. has a very nice face. He has a very trustworthy smile. I trust him.

(February 5 - February 29, 2024)

There's lots of goodies in here. Look under the cut to see more.

I had "Material Girl" stuck in my head that morning the day I drew that. It was a sign ...

Original sketch by Mew. I was given permission to redraw it.

Knighting Misha.

It is CRIMINAL it took me this long to draw Mr. Pokeylope.

Clem and Crystal in super Salem style. Nothing but respect.

Alright, you know what? (Megaman-ifies your Psychonauts character and Psychonauts-ifies your Megaman character) TAKE THAT.

Are there any Nils fans out there? This one goes out to you.

I took suggestions from friends on what to draw Crystal & Clem doing. Special thanks to them.

Maybe I am starting to come around to Elka.

I love the way he says stupid. STUUUUUUPID

Misha is my favorite and I've never even drawn him with his normal palette. I had to do something about it.

Dad's wisdom. Requested by my sister, based on an inside joke.

Chuck Jones-ish Maloof. It's my second time trying this style.

Standalone palette drawing unrelated to the Spray Paint Palette series. Don't worry about Elton, he's just fine. This is only a dream he is having. Special thanks to Dire Dire Docks for helping me complete this.

Crystal going through it.

Mouse Mirtala (don't ask how it's possible when Raz is a squirrel.)

Dr. Loboto, that is not proper doctor-patient conduct.

After a long day of running a protection racket, let's go play.

(January 22 - January 31, 2024)

Last of January.

You know, I realized just HOW MUCH I draw. One month into 2024 and I've already made 37 drawings.

Anyway, here's Quentin and Phoebe hugging for hugging day, which was January 21. Most of these drawings revolve around them and other campers. If you're down with that, look under the cut for more.

Look, on Quentin's campster bio he says he hugs a lot. THEREFORE, I can draw him hugging his bestie as much as I want.

[quentin singing] your love takes me higher and HIGHERRR

baby, you're spinning me around ... what am I gonna do?

I wanted to draw Kitty grinning like a cheshire cat. I did but I also got very distracted.

boogie on down

I was feeling super hyper when drawing this. (You really think I'd let you go through this without Misha drawings?)

I dunno if I've ever stated it, but I think J.T. is peak character design. He looks pleasant. He IS pleasant. He's a PSYCHIC COWBOY. He doesn't shoot a gun, he shoots BULLETS with his MIND. It doesn't get better than that.

Dart looks down on the other campers for not taking psychic training seriously ... except for Dogen, of course. Dogen is exempt from his contempt. That's how I like to imagine it anyway.

Can you tell who I enjoy drawing most yet?

Haha! Whaaaat? That's craaazy talk! Clem and I would never!

Ms Paint doodles

I think Quentin is such a sweetie! It's a shame I don't draw him more! And crystal is aaaaaalways like soooooo fun to doodle <3!

(October 16 - October 30, 2023)

I hope everyone had a good Halloween. Here's Lili and Raz loving and cherishing Harold. More stuff under the cut.

Sometimes you just have to draw nice things to make yourself feel better. Now here's some mood whiplash.

I noticed that Bobby and Raz sort of have the same silhouette with their body. I drew this to try and demonstrate what I mean. I think it's beautiful, personally.

you know I know who got the flow, we know they know who runs the show ...

hmmm Katherine and Francine. I only colored it because I wanted to color Franke's pants.

One of my friends said Elton looks like he's about to work at the Krusty Krab.

I was going to color these but then I didn't.

My sister wanted me to draw Donatella.

Patatino... and mood whiplash part two:

Kawaii ✨ (shrivels up and dies) The message is edited. It is from a Discord message and given new context. (The original context does not pertain to Psychonauts.)

I want to beep his nose, but he barely has a nose to beep

🎺🎺🎺.

(August 25 - August 31 2023)

Last of August

Donatella apologizes to Raz (and more things under the cut.)

Next scene: Raz ignites Dion with pyrokinesis

"It is not just a little spark. It is a flame; a big roaring flame. I can feel it now ... it is burning, Burning, BURNING. ...Hey, something IS burning around here."

Hearing Dion say the corniest shit imaginable.

Oh hey, and I drew Dion "apologizing" too:

Misha saying thank you. (Misha smiled.)

I know I'm not the first to draw anthro versions of Kitty and Quentin, but here's my take on em.

I wasn't expecting the line when Raz shows her the button to hit me so hard. She's hanging out with some weeds (primarily ones that people only want to get rid of.)

I don't wanna end on a sad note, so I'll let you have the early sketch of the Frazie BLECH drawing (I thought Raz looked funny so I held onto it.)

See you next time

(June 22 - June 27 2023)

I drew some stuff. It's primarily the campers in crossover situations. More content under the cut.

I was going to draw more, but I got distracted thinking about Chloe stuck in Out of this Dimension. It was fun to draw Bobby with a different expression besides contempt. (Chloe's legs are intact. Pssh who would think that her legs were amputated and replaced with robot legs anyway?)

Also, did you know that Sasha is taller than Deoxys? You are now burdened with this knowledge.

Four doodle pages so far. It just started as me wanting to draw a few campers. A "few" turned into 80% of them. Every camper and Aquato sibling appears at least once (As well as some special guest stars.) I'm sure you can tell who my favorites are by who appears frequently (well except Nils. It's just fun to draw him saying things.) These contain many references and inside jokes between me and my sister, so they might seem weird since I'm presenting them with minimal context. I think they can be enjoyed regardless.

February 18 2023:

February 27 2023:

April 4 2023:

May 20 2023:

Bonus content under the cut

Biblically accurate Milka:

rinse out selecta (reject Quentin sketch):

Fully visible Milka:

April 2023 Doodle Highlights

party rock is in the house tonight everybody just have a go

good time (more under the cut.)

I have NO IDEA why I never posted these! (Phoebe remains unfinished 🥲)

Also, I'm sorry if some of them are a teeny bit blurry! My camera is being funny.

#shitposting 🥺🥺🥺🤪🤪🤪🤪🤣🤣❤️❤️❤️💕💕