I've never played the game but knew about it from you and other friends on social media, and know the setup and gist of it, so I figure that gave me juuuust enough background to understand this. It was brilliant how everyone worked together, combining their strengths and keeping up a steady dialogue that weaves the text together! The second person PoV works well, too.

It's particularly poignant that Maggy is based on Isaac's mother. I read that it's common for abused children to emulate abusive caregivers' mannerisms to feel strong, and I know that's true of me. It shows Isaac's ingenuity and resilience that he took his mother's perceived strengths into himself for protection, doing what he can to survive an untenable situation. It's also reflected more broadly in the way he drew from religious texts used as a pretext to torture him, creating a mythology and a group of friends to strengthen himself. All these coping mechanisms are so resonant with survivors' stories.