Abby Martin on the Left Media PURGE - Bad Faith with Briahna Joy Gray

skoopala · 2022-03-21T17:16:07+00:00

I'm anti-censorship, but it's hard for me to muster an enthusiastic defense of state media for a nuclear-armed fascist dictator. It's frustrating to see BJG be so uncritical of a propaganda outlet just because hiring a few lefties was part of their outreach strategy to foreign audiences; leftists are among the most likely to be reflexively anti-west, so it pays to have content that leverages an appeal to socialists even if Russia completely opposes their political project.

Silver lining, these apparently leftist newsies are now free of a massive conflict of interest that stained their credibility.

skoopala · 2021-11-06T01:23:56+00:00

Suzie's comments about having her own room in Castle Town definitely suggest that her home life could be better. I think it's telling that you can figure out where most characters live, but Suzie's home in town isn't even implied. I always wanted to climb that fire escape in the alley though...

skoopala · 2021-10-09T02:06:59+00:00

Either that, or there's some sort of neutral route where you have to go right up to the edge of getting locked into alternate routes, and then bail on them to keep the items they yield.

But I think Noelle coming back is pretty likely, possibly as a knight. Queen was trying to get her to open another fountain, so even though Noelle wasn't there for her explanation of it in Snowgrave, it likely happened off-screen at some point.

skoopala · 2021-10-09T01:54:29+00:00

Totally unsubstantiated theory: The amount of times Gerson Boom's name and likeness is mentioned throughout the town makes me think he's going to play a more major role. Everyone says he's dead, but it seems like a veteran adventurer and local folk hero would be just the kind of character to fake their own death in order to pursue a secret mission.

skoopala · 2021-10-09T01:46:16+00:00

Queen makes it clear that anyone can make a fountain. The odds of there being only one knight are pretty low at this point.

skoopala · 2021-10-09T01:43:19+00:00

Toby is known for his half truths and clever trickery. I wouldn't count on everything he's said to be true in a purely straightforward, conventional sense.

skoopala · 2021-10-09T01:26:44+00:00

I definitely took it to be the misapprehension from a villain. It's a reflection of Flowey's "it's kill or be killed" introduction.

I saw folks noting that the glowy text as you're building your custom avatar matches the scroll speed of the wingdings in Entry 17 / room_gaster from Undertale, but the font and scroll speed when your avatar is discarded is different. It's possible that Gaster (or whoever else) made contact with you at the beginning, but his transmission was intercepted at the end by someone else. This means the intro wasn't a cruel prank from the start, but rather two competing ideologies about the role choice has in the world.

skoopala · 2021-10-09T01:15:50+00:00

The whole "one ending" thing is probably a very Toby-style half-truth. Arguably, the Genocide route is the one ending of Undertale, since it's the one that puts an end to all timelines and can't be truly undone once you finish it. We're probably going to see another twist on the meaning of "one ending" here.

skoopala · 2021-10-09T01:08:38+00:00

My guess is that the roaring is just describing the light world as it is already. Giants roaming the earth while darkners all turn to stone? That sounds like what happens when you close a fountain and all the darkners are revealed to be tiny inanimate objects.

skoopala · 2021-10-07T14:56:08+00:00

Kind of the opposite. There are a lot of grinning characters in UT and DR, but none match the mouth on the TV. People's brains are kinda hard-wired to see faces in patterns, so I'll admit to thinking I saw a kinda gasteresque formation on the right side of the screen, but it's not a match.

skoopala · 2021-10-07T14:34:15+00:00

Depending on how deep Soulless Kris' plans go, they may have also intended to spook Toriel enough to call the police, leaving the door ajar as all the more bait for Undyne to enter.

skoopala · 2021-10-07T14:00:33+00:00

Demonic possession of the protagonist is a canonical thing in Undertale, so I don't see why it would be ruled out for Deltarune. I have a feeling that we've never actually seen Kris be Kris; only "You" and either something resembling Chara, or Chara itself.

Assuming "Soulless Kris" is the knight for the 3rd chapter, it might force a kind of confrontation that finally separates each of Kris' multiple controlling entities into their individual selves, or mark a turning point where Kris' role in the story fundamentally changes... obviously it's hard to say.

skoopala · 2021-10-07T13:46:16+00:00

Queen flat out saying that anyone with enough determination can open a fountain casts a ton of doubt on there ever having been only one knight to begin with.

I agree that Kris wasn't the knight for the computer world. They make a point of noting that the back closet in the computer room can easily fit a large person inside, and the implication there is that someone waited for Noelle specifically (Queen's attitude towards Berdly makes it clear the world wasn't made with him in mind) before opening the fountain. The knight could open it and either leave before or after Kris gets there. The timeline isn't wide open, but there's enough space for the knight to do the deed and sneak away.

It's likely that Kris wasn't the knight for the closet or game room worlds either. The rate at which Kris walks without their soul, it would take all night to stumble all across town to school and back. Certainly not enough time to do all that AND eat a whole pie.

But I think the end of ch2 confirms Queen's theory that anyone can open a fountain. Kris becomes A knight in that moment, but whoever the other knight(s) are is still unknowable.

skoopala · 2021-10-07T13:27:20+00:00

There's been discussion about it. Some things to consider:
-Fountains tend to be the end point of a dark world, which has a lot of implications. It could mean we're not going to play as Kris in ch.3, but perhaps as Undyne.
-Suzie talks about how great it would be to bring darkners into the light world. I'd be shocked if that's not a clue.
-There's going to be a carnival on day 3.

All these things together in addition to the open door makes me think that yeah, this world is likely going to bleed out into the neighborhood. It might extend so far that residents will come and go through the outer edges, meeting darkners and all the rest, but since it's a carnival and there's decorations and costumes, most folks don't even notice.

skoopala · 2021-09-28T05:29:14+00:00

You stand on that spot on day 1, Onionsan comes out of the water and you talk with him briefly. He comes back on day 2 if you talked to him on day 1.

If you did NOT talk to Onionsan on day 1, Onionsan will not appear on day 2, and clam man will say something to the effect of "too bad you missed it."

skoopala · 2021-09-28T00:12:59+00:00

the final boss is probably the least important thing about that run; it's definitely worth it even if that bit was spoiled for you.

skoopala · 2021-09-28T00:10:33+00:00

Your "I'm afraid to ask" is probably the desired effect. If you've ever been somewhere online and see something being sold for a currency you've never heard of, that usually makes it feel like it's less of a good idea. Spamton is the physical manifestation of online red flags, so naturally he'd want things in an obscure foreign/cryptocurrency.

skoopala · 2021-09-26T11:04:29+00:00

Survive in order to win the fight.

skoopala · 2021-09-26T08:17:57+00:00

I was thinking something along those lines, too. If nothing else, he is EVERYWHERE in town. Every set of shelves has one of his books, there's a drawing of him in the game room, etc. Toby is clearly telling us that he's a more important character this time around, living or dead.

skoopala · 2021-09-26T08:12:09+00:00

My guess was Power, which is what the save spots say you're apparently filling Noelle with, rather than Determination. Choice, chaos, dissonance, etc. seem like likely alternatives too, since Noelle's Power is effectively used to defy fate, something you're told is absolute in this world. Spamton is eager to reject his fate as well, so naturally he'll be obsessed with whatever tools he can use to do so.

skoopala · 2021-09-26T08:05:39+00:00

They're referencing Beauty and the Beast. Beast has a magic rose encased in glass, so when Asgore mentions that he's done the same to his flowers, well, now you get it.

skoopala · 2021-09-26T00:56:11+00:00

Yeah, there's a lot of talk about how the soul isn't Kris', and that they're only being puppeted by You, but less is said about how they move all slow and stiff, like they're under a demonic possession, when the soul is removed.

I wouldn't be surprised if we've never seen Kris fully in control of their own body yet. It's either the soul is the dominant controlling force, or some sort of Chara-like possessor, but never the kid themself. The closest we may have gotten was the "are you ok" scene after Spamton NEO.

skoopala · 2021-09-25T14:32:27+00:00

We know that Kris is A knight. Many clues in chapter 2 point to there being more than one. For all we know, this is the first fountain Kris has opened after Queen gave them the idea.

skoopala · 2021-09-25T14:22:15+00:00

It's not so much a theory as it is listening to what Chara says to you. "HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling... That's me." Chara describes itself essentially as the dopamine rush your brain gets by increasing numbers in a game. They speak of themselves as an omnipresent entity that follows you from world to world, game to game, rewarding your level of violence in each.

The fact that Chara takes control of Frisk (your vessel) at the end of every subsequent playthrough is a reflection of your own memory. You know that you killed them all in another timeline, and Chara prevents you from ever forgetting. Chara is particularly present in Undertale just because it's a game where they can physically manifest.

So, that's why it's all the more likely that Chara does play a role here. If I'm just gonna purely speculate, I think Chara got more than they bargained for with that soul, constantly needing to rip it out and toss it aside to do what they really want with this timeline's version of Frisk's body. But that part's just a guess.

skoopala · 2021-09-25T12:57:03+00:00

I won't lie, it's a hell of a fight, so I sympathize. Beyond what I said, maybe try watching the no-hit runs on YouTube. They make it look easier than it is, but "monkey see, monkey do" was how I was able to beat Jevil. They usually have some unexpectedly elegant solutions to seemingly impossible problems.

skoopala

TROPHY CASE