Look at that charming fella. In Toby Fox’s own words, he is a giant, handsome apron-wearing older husband, and he’s hosted a lot of cooking shows. So you know he would absolutely bake you butterscotch-cinnamon pies while wearing a cute pink apron!
Still not convinced? Well that’s not all! He also looks good in EVERYTHING! Including dresses!
Look at him! Isn’t he beautiful? Don’t you just wanna vote for him???
Finally, let’s not forget his tragic backstory! Being separated by a powerful entity from a certain spammy mailman, who was the love of his life, then being unplugged and left alone for years by the people he considered his family, even when they had no idea he exists. Plus, he watched his family go through a divorce. Not to mention him literally being fated to die by the prophecy in the game! I think after all the things he’s been through, he really deserves to have this win!
Have been thinking a lot about Noelle-Player and Spamton-Benefactor parallels recently
Other versions of the art and analysis of the parallels under the cut
The benefactor and the player both manipulate Spamton and Noelle with the promise of helping them become free/become stronger. However, they only provide them with a very surface-level type of freedom and strength. Additionally, the benefactor and player both keep a queer couple apart, the benefactor by cutting off Spamton’s communication with Tenna, and the player preventing Noelle and Susie from forming any close relationship in the first place.
Not only that, but both the dynamics between Spamton and the benefactor and Noelle and Kris in the weird route mirror an abusive heteronormative relationship, and also involve a trans character being forced into a traditional gender role they do not want. With Noelle and Kris this is pretty obvious, with Kris, an androgynous non-binary person, being forced into a traditionally masculine role by controlling Noelle, while she does everything they say, like how traditionally women are expected to “submit” to their husbands.
With Spamton and the benefactor it may not seem as obvious at first, but Spamton is a trans man being forced by the benefactor into a more traditionally feminine role. (For anyone still not convinced that Spamton is trans, I highly recommend watching this video). Think about how women are traditionally expected to be financially dependent on their husbands. We know that Spamton was fully financially dependent on his benefactor, since the moment they abandoned him his sales dropped, and he was eventually evicted and became homeless.
This contrasts to his relationship with Tenna, where Tenna says that he gave Spamton life advice, and was probably teaching him skills that would help him become more independent. Similarly, in the normal route, Susie helps Noelle become stronger in the real way, learning to stand up for herself, unlike in the weird route where, while her magic is becoming stronger, she is still under the control of the player.
Furthermore, in the weird route, Spamton repeats the mistake of relying on a higher power to gain his freedom. He enables the player to abuse Noelle, similarly to how he was abused, hoping to escape his circumstances. It’s a cycle of abuse.
All of this links to how the weird route forces characters into limited roles that they do not want, while the normal route is about defying the roles pushed on you and challenging the idea that “you can’t choose who you are in this world.”
Finally, these parallels can lead to some theories on how the weird route may progress in future chapters. One idea I thought of is what if the player convinces Noelle that Susie doesn’t care about her at all, similarly to how the benefactor made Spamton believe that Tenna abandoned him, to separate them further?
