Psychonauts/Fridge

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Fridge Brilliance

• One thing that pleased me about the "Black Velvetopia" section of Psychonauts was how all the different elements, each one bizarre on its own, added together -- the paint, the cards, the luchadors, the toreador, the high school paraphernalia -- to tell Edgar's story, piece by cryptic piece. Except there was one thing bugging me, even after completing the chapter: what's with the talking dogs? They didn't seem to have anything to do with anything. Then days later, once I'd finished dealing with Loboto, Pokeylope et al at the top of the tower, I was treated to a cutscene that showed Edgar finishing his masterpiece... dogs playing poker. Of course. - User:Whogus The Whatsler
  • Something that struck me when playing Psychonauts was the lack of censors in the minds of the Lungfish and Boyd, something that we were told existed in every mind (the censors, not the others). It took me a little while to realize that this was not only intentional, but a very clever decision as the first had had their mind crushed under the dominion of Oleander, and thus would have had all their censors repressed and/or destroyed and the second, thanks to his overly suspicious mind, always incorporated different aspects of the world into his conspiracy. In effect, there is no difference between "good" and "bad", so there are no censors, presumably destroyed when he finally cracked. - Kaiser6012
  • It's also noteworthy that many psychologists believe people with schizophrenia lack the ability to 'censor' their own mind and have trouble controlling their thoughts. Boyd's lack of censors is this idea made literal.
  • Though Boyd does have censors.
    • Although, it would go with that theory. They only show up after the squirts are found. Then they only try to attack the squirts. Also add to the fridge. He would censor only the thoughts he saw as reasonable to censor, and as the squirts were part of that "conspiracy" he say them right to remove. Not only that, but they were suppressing part of Boyd, meaning that even if Boyd didn't hold total control over them, the squirts were still hold a piece of Boyd back, and thus would need to be censored.
• Lake Oblongata... Hey, wait a second! The medulla oblongata is a part of the brain.
• Spoilers about in this one, so beware: I used to wonder why did Coach Oleander go nuts, when he was one of the most trusted Psychonauts in the U.S.? They put him in charge of children, for crying out loud, and the government usually doesn't put children in the charge of someone they suspect might go crazy around all that psytanium. One argument is that it was prolonged exposure, but I never bought that argument, after all, the camp is obviously frequented by other psychonauts. Sasha and Milla are probably there on a fraily regular basis as well. Then I realized... Sasha and Milla both learned to keep their minds under strict and careful control. Milla because of her nightmares brought on by her orphanage burning down and all of the kids dying, and Sasha because of the incident with reading his father's mind when he was young. Oleander, on the other hand, apparently never gained that sort of control, and in fact obviously had a chip on his shoulder for being rejected from every branch of the army for being too short. He may have repressed that chip fairly well, being both locked up and buried under cobwebs, but it was still there. So the psytanium never affected Sasha or Milla because they're mental defenses were too strong, but Coach had cracks that the psytanium would eventually work around to drive him mad. Tim Schafer, you... are... a genius! -Cpt Sqweky
• On Elton's facebook, it says that after his father died, he lived with his mother in a "special hotel for ladies only" and that "lots of sailors came to visit her". Remind you of anything?
• Why is it that the only battle you get help in is the last one? Simple... no one else could overcome their personal demons and neuroses on their own... why should you be any better? They needed help... so do you.
• The appearance of the Nightmares in Boyd's inner world seems to come out of nowhere. After all, they were manifestations of Milla's survivor's guilt after the orphanage she worked at burned down. What does Boyd have to do with guilt and... fire... oh, right, that whole "Milkman" thing!
• The bull that pushes you back and forces you redo parts of the level reflects the obsessive-compulsive nature of Edgar's mind.
• Book depository in Milkman Conspiracy with a sniper sitting in it? Will sound familiar to all Conspiracy Theorists.
  • Except the sniper in the book depository is the official explanation.
  • The sniper is a girl scout. And if you've played the level, you know that the girl scouts are the only ones that are really dangerous. So EVEN MORE fridge brilliance.
• If you watch the memory reels in lungisholopis, you'll see how Linda originally looked, that means that in her mind, you haven't actually increased in size at all, the citizens are just normal-sized, unmutated lungfish, veers right back into Fridge Logic when you start wonder why, if this is the case, his personal gravity is still wonky.

Fridge Horror

• Touched upon in Psychonauts' own Nightmare Fuel page, but once you get past the "OMG this is hilarious" part of The Milkman Conspiracy, and start thinking about it, things get pretty creepy pretty fast. Particularly if you listen to Boyd's monologue. Some of the lines that make you pause and go "What." include:
  • “Hi mom! Look at me, I’m tangled in a web of deception! How’s uncle G?”
  • “I scream, you scream, we all scream, we all scream…”
  • And (bearing in mind that the arson is Boyd's thing) “The fire will start in menswear”
• Sasha's aversion to Tiffany lamps becomes a lot less funny when you realize there was one near his mother's deathbed.