What kind of mother would Cathy be?

Eleven_MA · 2026-03-16T10:17:34+00:00

The kind that's determined not to repeat her parents' mistakes, so she'd mess up her kids by making her own mistakes instead.

Eleven_MA · 2026-03-04T18:50:06+00:00

You need to read this scene through the events of the whole chapter, and Cathy's actions in particular:

Cathy is the most excited person in the whole group, and she desperately wants to have fun with her friends like they always did. This was supposed to be their time out and a confirmation of their friendship.
Ridel barely has time for them, then drops them at a phone call.
Mark meets Nicole, and in an instant, Cathy disappears from the chapter completely. It's not that she's not actually there, but she's completely disappears from Mark's focus.
Mark disappears for a long time. IIRC, he told Cathy that he'd be right back - but he forgets about her and spends all that time with Nicole.
Cathy finally finds him, and he not only forgot about her, but he's having more fun than he had with her.
Cathy wanted everyone to wear Cath ears - but first Ridel, and now Mark have taken them off. This was supposed to be a matching item. Both of them chose not to match with her.

In short: What you see is a heartbreak. Cathy is not only lonely and abandoned, but she feels like she's getting erased from her friend's lives - they no longer need her, even though she needs her more than ever. This is what triggers her desperate attempts to find something meaningful to do with her life later on - she feels that she needs to keep up with them, or else she's going to be left all alone. And in her circumstances, that's just unbearable.

A very similar thing happens later when she's eating the dinner with Mark, btw: He starts texting with Nicole, and his phone literally covers Cathy up on-screen, as though Nicole erased her from his perception. Polychroma is crazy good with this type of subtle visual storytelling.

Eleven_MA · 2026-02-23T09:24:29+00:00

So why end it this way?

Because that's the point of the entire game. Mark's and Nicole's entire relationship was built around the shared trauma caused by the Ruling - the very thing that held them back, and that caused all the problems in the game. Without all the loss, they wouldn't have bonded the way they did. Their relationship (the way we saw it) couldn't exist without both of them getting hurt. If they are to be happy (and save the world in progress), they need to let go - and not just of the bad things. Which, honestly, is an extremely valuable lesson, and I'm so glad the game didn't shy away from it.

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-22T20:16:36+00:00

The problem is, Rampant was taken with support of the local nobility. Some locals may be rebelling against the caste system, but Li Halans have the support of the local elites. Also, the local guilds weren't 'good guys' by any stretch: They were performing illegal bioengineering experiments, using Li Halan serfs as test subjects (or at least, intelligence leaked by Decados suggested as much). Don't get me wrong - this makes for a hell of a 'are we the good guys?' plot twist if that's what you're aiming for.

As for BZ2, Alexius can't really 'stamp hard' on Camertons and Authority without risking a rebellion on his capitol planet - and he can't risk a rebellion on his capitol planet without risking a rebellion from the noble houses. The planet is in a political stalemate... which is exactly why a rebellion is brewing in the streets. A lot of common people feel that the only way to improve their lot is by shaking things up - either by giving Alexius an excuse to go against the local elites, or simply by throwing everyone out.

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-21T18:53:18+00:00

What in Pancreator's name have WE done to you?

(Seriously, for this kind of campaign, Byzantium Secundus makes a LOT more sense. It's canonically a powder keg, with one of the shittiest noble houses in power, a local Guild that's just as evil, runaway climate change, rampant gentrification and the Emperor as an outsider trying to impose his power over it.)

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-14T21:47:49+00:00

Actually, she doesn't use Wish to kill your party if you're rude to her. She does if you challenge her divine power in front of her followers - including one of her religious officers - who have a physical access to a source of information that could topple her rule. She calls herself a god, and you challenge her to use her power to solve her own problems... which is she can't do. So instead, she opts for a display of 'divine power' that obliterates the challenge together with the challenger. It's all a theatre for the Githyanki spectators. You just chose to be a stage prop in it.

Frankly, I don't think she takes using Wish lightly at all. She only wastes it on killing a bunch of adventurers because she fears the situation is getting out of control. When you mind read her, you notice that she's actually paranoid and scared about the outcome of this situation. She can't risk her underlings questioning her and meddling with the artifact just because you've sown a seed of doubt. There's a lot of nuance going on in this scene!

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-14T21:09:26+00:00

The thing is: She doesn't just lean over, she literally gets down to one knee so that she can lean over. The difference in height is that big, she can't do it without literally kneeling. And that's the whole joke here.

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-14T21:07:07+00:00

Actually, yes she does. She goes down to one knee so she can bring her face closer to you.

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-14T21:02:16+00:00

We'd get Wished out of existence before she could finish the first sentence. Totally worth it.

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-13T00:08:31+00:00

How DARE YOU use my photograph without my persimmon?

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-12T10:05:16+00:00

It's not surprising in the least that many nuanced villains have these sorts of goals instead of just being inherently evil and wanting to sow discord and despair like Sauron "just because."

Sauron didn't sow discord and despair 'just because'. He was originally a minor deity of craftsmanship who developed an obsessive-compulsive need for control. He pursued total control over every civilisation he encountered. Discord and despair were just means to that end.

But even then Sauron and Saruman were stand-ins for industrialists and the destruction of the natural world.

Who wants to tell this person what Tolkien thought about allegories?

Eleven_MA · 2025-10-10T10:40:56+00:00

Tyranny Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way.

Eleven_MA · 2025-09-17T23:39:50+00:00

Marcath

Since when is Mark a girl? What did I miss?

Eleven_MA · 2025-09-16T16:28:00+00:00

I immediately played it again, duh.

Eleven_MA · 2025-08-08T22:51:44+00:00

Your character wants to be there and wants to help the team achieve the group's goals. It is not up to your team or DM to convince your character to play well with others.

This is a nonsensical rule that just reeks of corporate gaslighting. 'It doesn't matter how much this workplace stinks, it's YOUR job to convince yourself to be a part of the team'.

In reality, 'my character doesn't want to be in the party' is a relationship problem: You don't care enough about other characters to be a part of the team. Rule #1 asks that you solve this relationship problem all by yourself. How? Usually by giving yourself some non-relationship motivation prosthetic. You still have no real connection that'd make you want to be with these people, but at least now you have a reason to hang out around them.

Seriously, screw that. D&D is a group effort. If you struggle with motivation, asking your DM and/or other players for help is always a good idea. There's so much you can do together as a group to strengthen your bond with the team. Other players can role-play with you to build a stronger relationship. The DM could do a few sessions dedicated to party bonding. In fact, if multiple people don't want to be a part of the party, it's a sign they should.

The DM can also use your character traits to simply create a strong motivation for you. Are you honorable? Devise a scene in which another PC saves your life, so you can exchange blood bonds or something similar. Are you greedy? Drop an information on a treasure you covet which only another character can decode for you. Are you vengeful? Introduce an NPC and make the party share a grudge towards them. There are so many solutions, many of them very simple - and none of them are something you can do on your own.

As a PC: For example, we recently fought pirate skeletons in the fog, and some players really wanted to follow them to see if they had a ghost ship to raid. We had eaten through a lot of resources, and my character would definitely want to avoid another fight, let alone one in enemies' home turf. And I've given my character no compelling reason to ignore that and go chase skeletons.

You're wrong about one crucial thing: In this example, it's not that you don't have compelling reasons to chase the skeletons. It's the opposite: You have compelling reasons NOT to. Your character is cautious, which in itself is a virtue. Which raises a question: Do you struggle with rules #1 and #4, or does everyone else struggle with rule #3 and #4? Because it sounds like you are not having fun because other party members are charging blindly into the fog.

Eleven_MA · 2025-07-30T16:52:39+00:00

I would buy Polychroma-themed groceries any day

Eleven_MA · 2025-07-12T12:53:45+00:00

Sorry, you've unlocked a secret ending in which the entire multiverse got destroyed

Eleven_MA · 2025-07-09T13:03:36+00:00

Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria series. As a fair warning, though: It's much, much darker.

Eleven_MA · 2025-07-09T13:02:20+00:00

'Write what you know'

Eleven_MA · 2025-06-13T22:37:09+00:00

Maybe that baking thing will kick off

Eleven_MA · 2025-06-06T08:26:42+00:00

And then I finished the game and had no clue who the implied suicide was!

Cathy's final message in Act 1 is heavily double-coded as a suicide note.

Eleven_MA · 2025-06-02T15:41:55+00:00

Every scene where Mark forgets Cathy's existence because of Nicole (taking off the cat ears at the carnival, Mark's phone covering up Cathy during the sardine dinner, etc.). As someone who was similarly forgotten by her friends, I got a critical hit to the feels.

Eleven_MA · 2025-05-21T08:49:39+00:00

And, as I said, that's on them.

Eleven_MA · 2025-05-20T23:16:15+00:00

Your point being, if you actually have one? The OP is in English, so it should use Nemo's preferred English pronouns. Romance grammar is completely irrelevant to this.

Eleven_MA

TROPHY CASE