Cat's Cradle / Bad Kids - thoughts, facts and demo theories.

 

*image are taken from the official steam page

SO WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THIS DEMO, WELL, FIRST OF - IT TOOK ME SOME TIME TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON, WHICH IS PROBABLY ALSO INTENTIONAL FROM THE DEVS. AND IN THE END YOU HAVE TO QUESTION EVERYTHING. SO LET'S START SOMEWHERE...

ALSO MY QUOTES ARE NOT VERBETUM

THE ESTRANGED FATHER - What we know is both from Chaoyang, and his mother, and for some part also through the fox spirit. We know that Chaoyang won first place in some math competiton, we see the photo of him and his mother, he looks very sullen, and she looks like a maniac. Chaoyang comments drily when we investigate the photo, that mother was happy that day. 

We later learn though dialogue with Mother, that his father didn't show up to this event. 

The phonecalls tells us that his father bought him a present, a gaming console, that looks like a PSP. Something the mother would never allow, and it sounds like the father isn't too surprised that Mother hasn't given it to Chaoyang, he even tells Chaoyang how to break into the TV cabinet to get at it. Do we believe this phonecall is actually true? for what it's worth right now, then no - i don't. I think it's wishful thinking from Chaoyang's side, he wish his daddy would call, he wish his daddy had bought him something secret. 

Why do I think that? Because the timeline is way wonky - like Twilight zone, wonky. So if Father (who is nameless in the demo), really did buy Chaoyang a gaming console, why would he give it to Mother? knowing that Mother does not allow such slack. It is most probably, should I guess - the reason they broke up. he wouldn't, he would meet up with Chaoyang and hand him the gift, especially knowing that Chaoyang is on his summer break. If he can call him because he bought swimming googles, and wants to go to the pool, then he can call him to meet up and give him this console. And we don't know how long ago this Math competition took place, yet Chaoyang says that the gaming console is all the rage - but is it? what we know of Chaoyang he is pretty detatched from everything and everyone (the notes from school to mother). 

So i think this gaming console, cause that does indeed exist, is older - and I think that the father stuck it in that cabinet before he fucked right off. What kind of parent leaves his child in an abusive home like that? I refuse to believe that the Father didn't know. The only reason I don't think the father is pure fantasy, is the boats. 

Also it sort of puzzles me that the Fox says that something along with "can you really listen to your father like that one more time", in regards to repeating the 13th again, having to pick up the phone once more. This tells me that Chaoyang might not really hear from his father that often, and that it pains him to hear his father's message all distorted.

THE DIARY INFO - When we finally get to peak at Chaoyang's diary, we learn that;

 June 2nd 07 he waited for a really long time for his father, because father had promised him to go to the book store, father didn't come/couldn't make it, so Chaoyang went by himself.

June 12th 07, Chaoyang writes that his father wanted to be a sailor, so Chaoyang didn't eat for a month, to save up for a model boat as a gift. (which would move us into medio july, if what Chaoyang writes is true).

June 20th 07 we learn that it's father's day in China, and that Chaoyang was attending a writing class at 'Childrens Palace', he mentions they saw a video with a psychological tutur, and that it made him feel sad (this is super weird, but i'll return to that). 

June 28th 07 Chaoyang tells us that it's time for the final examns, and that he already revised it twice (damn boy!), and that a classmate is very jealous and get's him into trouble.

July 6th 07 we can read that he aced his examn, and that Descartes is his rolemodel, he calls him a 'mathematician' and 'genius' and wishes to be like that to make his parents proud. And that he rewarded himself with extra reading the biography of Descartes (remember he is 15, sounds kinda dry reading).

July 12th 07  it's his last entry, and there he tells us that the jealous student Ye Chi Min - is not in a good place metally - and that 'this is not good'. why  this is important enough for him to write in his diary we don't know.

And then there is the entry we write - which is July 13th 07, so now we know what year it is, and where on the timeline stuff fits in - and it's not as much what he writes, but what he does not write, which is important i think. So he starts off by saying he is tired, and that he has been tired, and suffered with severe head aches, for a very long time (he did not mention this before in his diary, so we have to wonder how many times his days have been abruptly ended and started over - cause I think that would be important to write.) He also tells us that Mother don't allow him to make friends, to play, to eat what he wants to eat - and that he thinks she is being awful. (this is also never mentioned before this, and if she was abusing him like this on a regular basis, I think he would have mentioned that) - he said that IT told him to just make sure the adults don't find out, and then he lists the things he got away with, like fixing his console, and letting Yan-Ling and Pupu in, and finally he says that maybe this summer will be great. 

And this brings me to the timeline - no where here does he mention that his father left, only that fathers day made him sad, this tells us that father left before this. So why was he waiting for him at the bookstore? Wishful thinking? because it doesn't seem to me that Mother would condone Chaoyang leaving the house for hours.  So this makes me think you know? 

It does strike me as strange that he doesn't mention his father, or mother in his diary, but mundane stuff. I realise that children often does not speak about the things that hurt, but this is his diary, so I think he would - think of the case about those Turpin children, they had a diary each, and it was full of incriminating stuff, they did not write about gardening or philosophy. 

What I am trying to get at, is that Mother has been resetting days over and over for a very long time. I think Chaoyang has lived the same day over and over before we enter. 

RENÉ DESCARTES - Now it's never mentioned that it's him, but I personally don't know of any other mathematician named Descartes, so let me go out on a limb and say - this is our guy. If you don't know Descartes, he was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician. He is the one that coined the phrase "cogito, ergo sum" (I think therefore I am), which comes from the book he wrote, called Principles of Philosophy.  I'm sure you know that one, even if you have no clue who the man is. Perhaps it is because I am Scandinavian that I think of Descartes as a philosopher first, scientist second - and not really mathematician at all. But what I do know, and was taught in school back when - is that Descartes accepted a position at the Swedish court, as a tutor for the princess (maybe others too, I don't know), and it was a disaster! She didn't care for his scientific approach, and he didn't care for her love for anchient history. He wasn't accostumed to the Scandinavian winters, he contracted pheunomia shortly after arriving (first winter i think, but don't quote me on that), and died.  

So not in a cell, and no math of love - and no princess who loved him. I did have to look up the princess cause I am not all that into the history of Wasa (royal Swedish family), and turns out her name was Christina, and she died in Sicily - never married, and childless - but not out of love for Descartes... 

And I quote "Pope Alexander VII described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame."

So Christina was a free bird, she loved acting, and playing music - and didn't really bother about the whole ruling stuff. I don't think history could have come up with a worse match really! Nor was Descartes smitten by Christina, he thought she was silly and childish. 

So the story given us by Chaoyang is super far fetched, and if he reads as much as it seems like - he must know this is a fairytale. And Math was not Descartes first love either, as I looked it up, it seems like it was a mix - that he was heavily into metaphysics - and the reason I pull that out is because metaphysics are the teachings about time and space (in a simple way, and i cannot be arsed to get a headache for reading more of it, just for this silly blog). But I really think we are at the core of the story! 

That Chaoyang is because he thinks he is. And we already know we are dealing with time/space issues because of Mothers watch. So really I could probably dive deeper into this, but I need to finish this post like today! 

THE FOX SPIRIT - what is that? We never see the back of it, so it's hard to tell if we should think it's a nine tailed spirit fox - but I see no reason to dig into that - because it does say something to Chaoyang near the end, when he asks the spirit what it is, it says something like 'I was sleeping for a long time, and you woke me with your sadness'. So what we DO know, is that in Chinese folklore, foxes are related to the afterlife in one way or another. I even read somewhere that someone said that many houses was haunted by fox demons, but they did no harm, people just lived with it (not sure we should take much said about this during Han dynasty for facts). 

Also the Fox spirit is not called that, it's called the 'FOX SHADOW', and I don't know why, what I think is that those shadow puppet theaters are a super old art form, originating in China (as far as I know), and it does actually look a little like one of those shadow paper puppets, doesn't it? 

So it it a puppet? is it just by chance it is a fox? Si here is what I am thinking, and it might be stupid far fetched - but...

If the fox symbolizes the afterlife, ergo something spiritual - it is a messenger between the living and the dead (exactly like we thought squirrels were, up here north). And it resembles a shadow puppet, it must be for a reason. Theater is make believe, it's where you make fantastical stories come alive. And it seems to know Chaoyang's mind very well, and no matter how he argues, he always does as it says. In his diary he calls the spirit "IT", not the spirit. I think IT is a part of Chaoyang, I think it's his fantasy rebellious side, his devil on his shoulder if you will. And it has this form because it plays into the fact that half of what happens is inside Chaoyang's mind, dream scenarios - or a psychotic episode... you chose.

MOTHERS WATCH - Now this is real strange, it is a weird watch with an eye in it, and if she is displeased it resets the day. She tells Chaoyang on several occations that 'she loves him, and will stay with him untill he gets it right, even if it takes forever'. This might be a normal overbearing mom comment, but in this instance, I think she means it quite litterally. I wonder if she also then gets to live the same day over and over, I mean I guess she does? I don't really understand how this watch works, but I am sure that will be explained eventually.  We find a reciept on her purchase on the floor. 

All we learn from that, is that it's called 'the golden pupil' watch, and that Mother waited 7 days for it. We also find a questionaire on the tea table that tells us that she is happy about the watch, but that Chaoyang still makes mistakes. 

We are not told what this watch is, or where she got it - and i'm sure we learn much more in the full version. But even the Fox spirit asks us about the watch, so he knows as well (and of course he would if he is us). 

MOTHER - So we know she is very strict, she demands that Chaoyang does things in a specific order, every day. And she emotionally blackmails him with pointing out how hard she works for him, and that father has left. 

We experience that she follows Chaoyang  to the bathroom, to supervise and wipe his face like he was a baby, indicating that if he fails, she will make sure he gets it right, even if she has to hold the reins. 

I noticed that she actually acknowledged that Chaoyang is fed up with eating the same stuff every day, and promises him something else. It seemed like a little crack in the mask, but then she chose to make something he loathes - and she probably knows that! Exiting with a remark about his growth, it's the same reason she uses to make him drink milk. 

She is extremely controlling and overbearing, and honestly comes off as abusive. She never mentions the father exept in regards to him not showing up at the math competition, or teaching Chaoyang tricks.

As a single mother myself, I do know what it's like when you take all the conflicts, have to make all the hard decisions, and is basically the bad cop all the time - and daddy gets to be fun and take the kid to a theme park, and fill them with promises and candy. And I do hear a little of that in her dialogue, that she is annoyed that father gave Chaoyang that console, and that is why she broke it I think, and also why she didn't just toss it - but chose to leave it on Chaoyang 's desk as a statement (crude but effecient). 

It seems to me that she is either batshit crazy, or maybe she is so worried that Chaoyang won't have a good life as an adult, that she pushes him to the extreme to preform. And also I guess there is some cultural difference between how school and education is seen here in Scandinavia, versus China (and sister countries like Japan and Korea for instance), it is to my knowledge a much competetive situation, with more focus on results, than the school system that either me or my children have experienced. So my guess is that there is some genuine worry from the mothers side, that just took a weird turn somewhere, and that is why she ordered that watch.

We learn from the pamphlet on the tea table, that she works at the Scenic Area (whatever that is) at the Liufeng mountain, and that she is known to even live there - and I assume that Chaoyang  means that she sleeps there overnight sometimes, which is also a thing I remember seeing some documentary about back when, I mean that some people had to sleep at work, because they worked such crazy hours, and couldn't actually make it home before they had to be at work again. 

SCHOOL LIFE - If we read the 'contract letters' in the manilla folder on the tea table, we learn that Mr Wang, which I assume is a teacher, tells Mother that Chaoyang is a gifted student, but he hopes that she encourages him to make friends and socialize as well - I remember he called it "to thrive in the collective ocean" - (groan) - Mother responds (and the teacher is suddenly not Mr but Miss, I can see in my notes here that I found that weird) that as long as Chaoyang has good grades, and is therefore not worring either her, or the teachers, everything else is secondary. And with that she means that as long as he preforms top grades, the teacher should shut up and stop talking about collective oceans, it is not important. 

The teacher points out that Chaoyang's classmates do not want to play with him (why we don't know), and that they realise that he is introverted, but hopes he will be more social next year, and that it might help his growth (what is this insane focus on height?). And mother shuts it down by responding that the teacher should teach, focus on education! and that friends is something that is a privillege Chaoyang can have when he 'enters society', and I suspect she means when he is an adult? moves out? something like that. And then she says that she is afraid Chaoyang will be distractred from his studies, should he make friends with bad kids. 

Wanna bet Mother thinks all kids are bad kids?

We can also read that Chaoyang is being bullied, but there is no resolve. Because I just wrote what he said in his diary, we know what this is about. And suddenly something does make sense - cause mother says the same thing, that the children are jealous, and that is also what Chaoyang writes. Is he just parroting what his mother said? I think so.

We also know that he recided his examn twice, which seems pretty extreme to me atleast. And we know that his father wants Chaoyang to have some fun, instead of studying all the time. 

YAN-LING & PUPU - Who are these people? and why does Chaoyang know them? If I break it down a little; we know for a fact that they were at the Luifeng mountain with Chaoyang, there is a photo of them there, and during the strange conversation in the kitchen, Yan-Ling says they were singing a song, and witnessed a murder (like that happens every other day). 

We know they live as nomads right now, and has to find places to sleep - and that Pupu's brother is very sick, and the adoptive parents (or was it foster parents?) can't afford the hospital bills. 

Who are they to each other,  Age wise there seems to be quite a gap to be honest, so what could they have in common? During the coversation we learn that there was an accident at the Children's Palace, and we still don't know what that is - is it the school? is it an orphanage? Anyways, Yan-Ling says something very cryptic, that I don't know how much I should hang my teory up on, it could be a translation error, just like mr/miss Wang. But he says that 'your' sister, meaning Chaoyang's sister since they are the only ones having a conversation, was already on the floor bleeding when he arrived, and then Yan-Ling says that they met at the school gates, and left together. This tells us there is a sister? (coming back to that), and that they went to the same school. Yan-Ling cound be 15,as well, and Chaoyang just looks much younger for some reason (Die Blechtrommel, anyone?), but Pupu looks and sounds like a small kid, period! 

In the first part of the game, that seems to be a nightmare, they call Chaoyang to wish him happy birthday, and he is confused becuse he didn't know it was his birthday. And then they ask what he wish for - but before he can answer it's cut off. 

Given the fairytale'esque story technique we have here, I think that wishes are powerful. And also I don't know if I am the only one that thinks they sound diffrent in that nightmare, like uhm.. adults?

Do they even visit Chaoyang? I don't know. Something doesn't make sense here! Because if they went to the same school (or at least attended whatever Children's Palace is, together), and we have the photo from the mountain as well, in which they look roughly the same as now. Exept timeline wise I know some time must have passed. 

They do not know Chaoyang's mother? they would come to his house expecting to be let in, and fed - knowing what she is like. And they would, wouldn't they? I mean you knew your best friends parents, right? And that picture is from Liufeng Mountain, the same place Mother works. Can we perhaps assume she took them there? We don't know how far away the mountain is, close'ish i'd think, but still. 

I think that the Yin-Lang & Pupu we meet in this chapter, is pure imagination. I think that either Chaoyang deals badly with them moving away, or something like that (seperating at least), and likes to imagine them as his best friends still. Or they actually died back then, and that would be why Yin-Lang calls it 'our secret', but Pupu refers to 'your secret' as if Chaoyang carries it alone.  

SISTER?!? - Back the fuck up! Chaoyang has a sister? I mean we never saw a photo, had any inkling that he wasn't a only child. Also the one child policy in China was made in 1980, and was abolished in 2016, this game is happening in 2007 and Chaoyang is 15, which means he was born in 1992, well within the limits of the one child policy. I know that there were exeptions for farmers, if the first child was a girl - so this could be the answer? 

Regardles, we never hear either mother or father mention another child, there are no photos, and Chaoyang doesn't mention it either. He seems to have some PTSD related amnesia? But he ought to remember a sister? 

He also have no reaction to being told about his sister! NONE whatsoever, and that strikes me as weird - so it might just be a translation issue, and in fact it's perhaps Yin-Lang's sister? I guess we will find out in the full game, but it does support my theory if there was a sister.

FAR FETCHED - I know this is pretty far fetched, but when I read the name of the jealous student Ye Chi Min, I came to think of Ho Chi Minh, and I realise it's a stretch - but as a child of a communist dad, I am very aware that "uncle Ho", did write a lot of poetry in Chinese, and it might not be as far out as it sounds. I just don't know what the hell these poems are about, and I really don't have the headspace right now to find out. 

CONCLUSION: Finally you made it to the end of this ramble, which took me insanely long to write! I swear I didn't mean for it to be this long, I just kept finding things I wanted to investigate. 

I guess you noticed I did not make a part for Chaoyang, and that is because I feel like I would be repeating myself. Chaoyang is our story teller, and what do we know about first person story tellers? that they are super unreliable, that's what. I don't think much of what we see is true. because the timeline is all wonky as I said in the beginning. 

Hear me out, so if Yin-Lang, Pupu and Chaoyang caught the murder that their old teacher Zhang Dongsheng did, tossing his in-laws from the mountain. It is mentioned that they took photos with a camera that Chaoyang got from his father, or maybe it was his fathers camera? I can't remember. Why haven't we seen a camera? it seems to have a pretty big core role in the story.

Is it in reality Chaoyang who's batshit, and not Mother? So snooping around, and reading the game blurbs, we learn that the kids took photos of said murder by accident, and then blackmailed Dongsheng. We hear nothing of this in the game, and I think that could be 'our secret' that Yin-Lang refers to, because it is after all a dick move to blackmail someone. 

What if the nightmare is part true, but something muddles around in Chaoyang's head? what if DongSheng did really kill Chaoyang's parents, but it's not the ones in the game - what if Mother is not Chaoyang's birthmother? What if Children's Palace is an orphanage? That is honestly what I was thinking playing it, and would have been steadfast in thinking, had it not been for the diary entry about him attending a class there like a month before the game time starts.

Why does Chaoyang fall off the cliff? is it just a nightmare? or is it a metaphor? 

I mean Pupu talks about needing like a gazillion ¥ for her brothers surgery, but they speak of the murder, and 'secret' in past tense, so ... I mean it would make sense if they blackmailed Dongsheng for those money for the surgery, but why would Chaoyang be involved besides owning the camera? and in regards to timelines, it just doesn't make sense that they'd speak in past tense about the secret, and then blackmail Dongsheng in the future (next chapter perhaps). Maybe they do, because the blackmail stuff I only read about in blurbs, nothing about it in the game. And then that wouldn't be the secret, then what is?

Maybe Chaoyang has a psychotic episode because Mother keeps repeating the same days? He does make a weird shift in his diary, from mundane stuff - to how sickly he feels and how he hates Mother. In the diary it seems like Father just stepped out for a moment, but in "reality", it feels like he has been gone for a very long time. 

The banner for the full game features what I think is Zhang Dongsheng, and is called 'BAD KIDS', not 'cat's cradle'

*image are taken from the official steam page

The left is taken off the news on the TV in game, and I think it's absolutely Dongsheng that is on the banner, but why? Maybe it's because the story is NOT about Chaoyang? 

If you visit Gematsu, and read what the Devs said, they mention that "We will divide the game into five chapters: “The Preface,” “Chapter 1: Mom,” “Chapter 2: Dad,” “Chapter 3: Friends,” and “Final.” Through these five chapters, we want to express the family relations, family affection, education, and friendship of teenagers in reality, which may resonate with players in reality." 

Not a word about time/space bending - or metaphysics if you will - could it be about mental health? I think it is. I mean after all Cat's cradle is a schoolyard game, you know (if your're anchient like me) that you used a shoelace, and made a loop/circle, and then you make a shape, and your friend has to take it without messing it up, and make another specific shape. You win the game if you make it to the end without making mistakes. Again, pretty sure it's not a coincidence that they named the demo that. But how it ties in, i'm not sure - it could be that you have to balance to do what mother demands, to not make her angry and reset the day. 

What does that title mean? Bad kids? Mother keeps calling Yin-Lang and Pupu the 'bad kids', but then again, I think she thinks all kids are bad kids. 

So I want to know;

How does Descantes tie into this? 

What is the secret?

Did Dongsheng kill his inlaws, or was it a accident?

Does mother have a time/space bending watch?

Who is the Fox shadow?

What is the deal with Yin-Lang & Pupu? 

What is Children's Palace? & what happened there?

Is mother batshit crazy? or is it Chaoyang?

Where did father go?

Are mother & father really Chaoyang's parents?

Does Chaoyang have a sister? 

most of all - will Chaoyang ever grow in height? (nah, just kidding hahaha)