Crème de la Crème Discussion and Romance Guide (Spoilers Within)

Maria_Douglas · 2019-11-27T05:08:17.999Z

I know your pain

HarrisPS · 2019-11-27T08:10:16.378Z

We’re nearly there! SOOOOON.

Baam · 2019-11-27T15:11:06.233Z

IT’S TIME. Congrats @HarrisPS

play.google.com

Creme de la Creme

Climb to the very top of the class at your exclusive private school for socialites! Will you study hard, find a perfect match, or embrace scandal? Crème de la Crème is a 440,000-word interactive novel by Hannah Powell-Smith, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Gallatin College is a "finishing school" where young people must learn social graces, surrounded by their high-...

Free

Kaelyn · 2019-11-27T16:06:37.778Z

Since I have not played the Demo, because I did not want to spoil myself, I have been eagerly waiting. And it is so great. I think I have to have a lot of walkthroughs, since there are so many cool characters. Right now I am romancing Delacroix, so sweet. It is a wonderful game.

jason_stark · 2019-11-27T16:47:54.855Z

Who will accept a polyamorous relationship with a straight male mc?

HarrisPS · 2019-11-27T17:09:05.332Z

The romance interests will romance an MC regardless of the MC’s gender. So if your MC is a straight boy, you can set the romanceable characters, or the ones you want to romance, to girls if you like.

I’ve made a post over on another thread going into more detail about polyamory, take a look!

RedRoses · 2019-11-27T18:00:33.107Z

This was a blast! It retains all of the charms from when the demo was posted last year. I liked the customization of the protagonist and it felt like I had a ton of choices throughout.

I love Freddie. My first playthrough I romanced Karson, but Freddie was perfect and I wish I could have gone back to choose that lil nerd. Absolutely my favorite character and genuinely the best boi/girl/person.

The twist with Karson genuinely shocked me. I was going to break things off with him after I made a scene at graduation; but I guess I misinterpreted the “talk privately to Karson” option. I wish I had an option to end things there since as much as I liked the romance, realizing that they knew the whole time and only cared to stop it after the student died and I was thrown into the mines was a dealbreaker for me.

I also had trouble with the stats. It was difficult to determine which options connect to which stats.

HarrisPS · 2019-11-27T18:08:23.317Z

That’s fair with regard to Karson. There are some circumstances when you can break up with them before graduation, but I think you must have hit a thread without that. If I was doing it again I’d put a possible breakup in the post graduation scene, but it was just so complicated by that point!

Stats are a bugbear for me. If there were particular stats that were unclear I can try and give some hints for a future playthrough if you like!

I’m really excited that you enjoyed it and Freddie is a darling

FayI · 2019-11-27T21:06:09.940Z

Man I know I played it in beta, and romances Hartmann, and I’ve been planning all these other playthroughs…

And I just want to romance Hartmann again instead

Kaelyn · 2019-11-27T23:44:58.867Z

Oooh it seems that I have made the first german review for the Game. But the ratings Seem generally great.

Eiwynn · 2019-11-28T03:28:44.350Z

I have yet to read the full game but wanted to squee my congratulations @HarrisPS

Hazel · 2019-11-28T11:13:12.347Z

It’s going to take all my willpower not to play this before Sunday. I love Delacroix so much. I keep fighting the urge to be skeptical.

Gadriel · 2019-11-29T02:04:33.574Z

Hm, my character always goes towards high Wit, followed closely by Poise and Intrigue. She is weak in Flair and Spirit, which is thematically appropriate, as she tends to be Manipulative, Traditional, and Accommodating.

She did get engaged to Prince Rosario on the very first try and was accepted to Gessner University as well. Quite fitting really, considering she graduated from Harrovian School and got the highest exam results, repeating her unmatched performance in Gallatin for both term work and the exams. She did genuinely come to love Rosario, though the consideration of the benefits of such a match did play a considerable part in her decision, it is true.

Of course, being ambitious as she was and acutely nervous about her precarious situation, her thoughts and actions might have been a bit on the questionable side at times, such as helping Lady Rinaldt regarding the situation with spying on one of the teachers. My character was not exactly happy about it, but she reasoned it was for the good of the school’s reputation, along with not daring to defy Lady Rinaldt as she did not want to be removed from Gallatin, her family’s last chance, or cause Lady Rinaldt to otherwise make the situation even more difficult for herself or her parents. She also figured she might as well gain some favor from Lady Rinaldt in the process, with the benefits that it would bring.

It might be another reason why she tried to convince herself that nothing too untoward was happening in the school. She did not want the trouble, given how unstable her own position was, and she figured that it was best not to get involved.

Of course, considering how bad the situation got by the end with the mines, with one of the previous students dying, she could not go along with it any further. She is not a heartless monster, after all. At the same time, given her temperament and disposition, she was hardly going to defy Lady Renaldt openly about it. She did not want to be sent to the mines herself, after all, and she figured it was optimal to play double agent to end the madness from the inside, which all plays to her strengths. Furthermore, she did genuinely count Gonzalez as a dear friend and could not bring herself to truly have him kidnapped and sent to the mines.

As for how everything ended with Blaise, well, my character understandably did not particularly like her, but she did not particularly have a grudge against her. She simply put Blaise out of her mind and got on with her work, as she was too busy and worried about her own family’s situation to waste time on a vendetta towards Blaise. As such, she did ultimately help Blaise escape the mines at the end, though indirectly by helping Karson extract them. While she did not care for Blaise, she admitted that being sent to the mines was too much, especially since Gaspard had died from an accident in there. Well, that, and my character had not thought that Miss Dalca would be sent to the mines, which was a bit too much even for my character who does engage in some questionable actions or at least motivations herself.

It also explains why my character ultimately resolved the situation with Lady Renaldt as she did. She kept everything quiet and discreet. No creating a spectacle during the graduation, no informing the inspector. She simply told Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Griffith, then went to speak privately with Lady Renaldt. Given that my character and Lady Renaldt had come to like one another, well, my character did coax Lady Renaldt to admit that she might regret making the situation worse for my character and her family. Out of all the possible options for what Lady Renaldt offered in exchange for my discretion, my character asked her to make amends to Gaspard’s family, Blaise, and Miss Dalca. My character was ambivalent about Lady Renaldt initially sending students overseas, but having them sent to the mines and potentially or actually dying was a step too far. My character still liked Lady Renaldt at least somewhat and so did not want to force her resignation. Also, given that all the hard work she had done at Gallatin had already ensured that her family would return to wealth and prestige, she did not need to ask for that option either.

The situation was resolved quietly and cleanly, with no scandal erupting, which was a major priority for my character, as another motivation was to avoid causing trouble for the school, its students and faculty alike. After all, it was supposed to be a joyous graduation day for everyone, after all, and she did not want to spoil that for everyone, Hartmann, Freddie, Delacroix, Auguste, and all the rest. My own character returned to complete the graduation ceremony, of course, having worked so hard for that moment all year long. Afterwards, well, my character’s position was very strong, strong enough that she could have discredited or ostracized Lady Renaldt if she wanted. Still, it was not in my character’s personality. She admitted to herself that, despite everything, she did still like Lady Renaldt to some extent, combined with the fact that considering my own character’s sometimes questionable motivations and actions, well, she would have felt somewhat hypocritical pursuing such a course of action against Lady Renaldt. She hopes that with Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Griffith aware, it will help things from deteriorating to such a state again, that and Lady Renaldt keeping quiet to avoid a scandal will hopefully be enough for her not to go to such extremes again. Besides, given my character’s disposition, she simply wanted to recover and move on with her life, as she still has much to do to in the next phase to further improve her own and her family’s status.

HarrisPS · 2019-11-29T17:06:52.165Z

With all the excitement of a) my new job and b) LAUNCH DAY, I completely forgot that I owe you all a few Delacroix snippets. So:

Patrice Delacroix is a CANCER
…and is an INFP, the Mediator: Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving…
…and I would cast Hayley Kiyoko or T.O.P. as the girl or boy variations (I could not find a suitable out non-binary person, alas, but headcanons are gratefully accepted)…

Capture
…and grew up an only child. Before Delacroix started at Gallatin aged 13, Delacroix’s parents travelled around a lot nationally and internationally (especially to the Jezhani Riviera which is a major fancy lounging/partying destination), which led to a sense of instability and rootlessness for Delacroix. Delacroix had a string of nannies, governesses and tutors, many of whom were scared off by Delacroix’s idiosyncrasies. It was a relief for Delacroix’s parents and for Delacroix to head to boarding school.

(also I added pics to the Blaise and Mr Griffith posts if you want to feast your eyes up there)

idonotlikeusernames · 2019-11-29T22:06:38.396Z

Okay my ramblings below the cut:

A preliminary writeup because I just cannot help myself:

In a twist I actually found myself romancing the Prince first, I just couldn’t help it, he’s such a sweetie gentleman and also quite possibly the hottest guy in game for me or at least tied with Max now. I just love a super cute, fashionable, guy who likes his “bling” and the prince is basically a walking ad for the finest jewellers in the gameworld, I imagine. While understated can be really nice too I did very much like that Rosario was not one of those understated princes…who are sadly a bit too common in fiction nowadays. I imagine my mc nickname for Rosario would either be “his precious gem” or perhaps one particular gemstone that really suits Rosario and that he may be particularly fond of wearing in his own jewelry.

In the end my mc romancing Princy did, unfortunately, get sent to those awful mines, poor, poor Blaise for lasting nearly a full year in that hellhole.

My mc definitely did not want to pretend everything was “okay” and graduate in soot covered miner’s overall. And honestly wanted to slap the inspector for even suggesting it without giving him at least the chance to freshen up and change into something better. I feel like maybe it wasn’t meant to come across that way but that the inspector deliberately wanted to humiliate my mc in that instance by having him pretend everything was okay whilst going to graduation looking like a dirty urchin amidst his former classmates in their very finest.
Also unlike with everybody else except Rosario his parents wouldn’t even have been present anyway.

Now onto the aftermath, there too my mc is defintely not instantly “okay” again. I was honestly a bit disappointed at how easily Rosario and his parents bought the story that my mc would just choose to vanish of the face of the world.
And while my mc had no difficultly in “coming clean” with all the sordid details to Rosario in private. After all better he hear it from my mc than for him to have to find out once the press, inevitably starts covering it he would also like to make Princy promise that if he ever goes missing like that again to look a bit more diligently. Again it does sting very much that Rosario apparently believed my mc would just walk out on him like that.

Can I also just say my mc very much dreads the moment the trial will begin as he definitely does not look forward to testifying, particularly since any halfway competent defence attorney will inevitably try to paint himself, Blaise and mr. Blanchard as criminals who got justly sent to the “rehabilitative” program of honest work in the mines and Lady Reynald would no doubt have concocted some imaginary charges to that effect in her records, which is probably how she got my mc’s fickle parents to put up with the lie.
As even though he does love them my mc is not blind to his parent’s flaws and one of those is that they are not very strong personalities who care perhaps a bit too much about their social standing and avoiding more “scandals” and can possibly be coerced or intimidated quite easily.
I mean this would be no different from that corrupt politician pulling the wool over their eyes all over again. So remind my mc to definitely caution Rosario and his future father and mother in-law against putting too much stock in his own parents political “advice” or opinions.

Now about his mental health in the aftermath, like I said my mc is defintely not “okay” again as soon afterwards as the game assumes, I have seen what even wrongful but still lawful innocent convictions after a free and fair trial can do to those wrongfully accused and being indentured like the mc and Blaise were would be worse still. So I guess I’d actually like for my mc to be able to do what Haze can do in what is arguably the “best” ending for him in @Gower 's epic game and seek help to start taking care of his mental health.
Also in the epilogue Rosario taking my mc to a house full of his entourage is just too much too soon, while Rosario may be versed in selectively ignoring the servants my mc is not, not after his ordeal he would be skittish every time one of the servants “sneaks up” on him and he would be constantly on guard to prevent that happening and in his mind prevent them from knocking him unconscious and dragging him away again. It’s a mental health problem I imagine he acquired that is going to take time to improve.

To that end when the prince actually asks if he can help, in my mc case he can actually.
First off he’s lucky that Rosario’s family planned this to be a “long engagement” period anyway, so him slipping out for a “sabbatical” year or so while he seeks help can presumably be worked into the big master plan of the royal family.

Second, I imagine Rosario and the resources of the royal family could actually help in finding him a good and discrete psychiatrist.

Third Rosario and Ibarra can actually help him find his own bodyguard as it was scary how easily the corrupt forewoman was able to overpower him, preferably one who can cook too so he wouldn’t need any other staff for his “sabbatical” as I imagine my mc can take care of himself reasonably well except for cooking and he’s not in the mood to go eat out all the time, or indeed any time in the near future.
Besides I imagine as the future consort my mc would probably have to get a bodyguard anyway after the wedding at least, so all this would do is move up that timeline a bit.

Fourth as part of the “sabbatical” my mc would probably like to defer going to university for at least a year and while Gessner did accept him maybe he can actually transfer to a good university in Zaledo, they presumably have them, yes? As that would give him a truly “fresh” start or at least fresher than it would have been at Gessner where there would still be Freddie and other people he knows in addition to the trial and its ramifications possibly dragging on in the Westerlin press while the one in Zaledo would not cover it nearly as extensively even if my mc is the likely future consort.

Okay all of this whole essay about my mc’s experiences boil down to this, I missed the option in the epilogue to want to take it slow, not instantly pretend everything is just peachy, and have my actually seek out the help he needs and heal more gradually.
The game seems to assume the mc either suffered no psych trauma at all or is the stereotypical stoic aristocrat of fiction who does not discuss his problems, ever!, no matter how unhealthy or damaging that sort of “strong and silent” bordering on toxic “masculine” behaviour can be in the end. Repressing things does not make them go away and while I do realise that may be de rigeur in Westerlin’s upper classes right now this game does seem to inadvertently play into the harmful stereotype that seeking help for mental health or even just in general makes you “weak”. When in reality it is the opposite and in game terms my mc has the strong progressive stat to defy society’s expectations on occasion anyway. As Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry liked to say “A man’s gotta know his limitations”.

While I get that some perhaps even many mc would like to just pretend everything is fine and instantly move on it really shouldn’t have to be the only choice like it is now.

While I imagine that in the end my mc will only retain minor permanent mental scars, I really do feel incredibly sorry for Blaise as something tells me that poor kid won’t be as “lucky” even if he seeks and gets competent help.

As for Gallatin my mc was able to strongarm the obnoxious inspector into forcibly merging it with Archambault, which I feel is the most reasonable compromise as it does not invalidate the experiences of those who had happier times at Gallatin in the past while still ensuring there are consequences and denying Auguste the academy as part of their inheritance. The other headmaster actually seems to be much more fun when we are not around according to the Archambault students and presumably he’s not a corrupt would-be slaver of the kids he is supposed to educate. I just hope he sees the wisdom of retaining miss Dalca at least.
Even so if Rosario ever wants to go to an alumni event he would have to do so without my mc, since my mc did not technically graduate anyway.

That graduation ceremony is the opposite problem to the rest of the epilogue, at least give mc’s who do still want to attend their “graduation” in spite of everything the option to freshen up and change into somewhat better clothes. Even a non-tailored loaner suit with no accessories would be a vast improvement over a soot covered miner’s coverall if we still want to do the ceremony without being a very obvious object of ridicule.

Overall I still very much loved the game and like I said 8.5 out of 10 for one big letdown and a few minor issues that are all concentrated in the parts after the big twist. Everything before that was just right for me.

TeamCorvid · 2019-11-29T22:27:49.663Z

Will there be more of these character snippets coming @HarrisPS? Enjoying em to the max! (Pun totally intended)

HarrisPS · 2019-11-30T13:43:03.092Z

@idonotlikeusernames ahhh it’s amazing seeing all the thought you’ve put into it! I’m really glad you enjoyed the majority of the game

I see what you mean about the MC’s reactions to the events of the penultimate chapter - perhaps adding more stressed or upset responses would have given more of a fleshed out feel for a particular experience. I totally hear you on the scene during/after graduation - it was incredibly complicated by the end and was simply very challenging to tease out all the possibilities! If I was doing it again I think I’d handle it a little differently, but nothing’s perfect it’s all a good learning experience

I absolutely LOVED reading your experience with your character and Rosario

@TeamCorvid ooh, I might do if I have a moment and people are into it. I realised I did a Hogwarts house for Mr Griffith and not for Blaise or Delacroix so I’ll do it for them, haha!

I would also ADORE it if anyone has Hogwarts house or fancast headcanons or anything like that for the characters - please post them because I am all about that

idonotlikeusernames · 2019-11-30T15:35:36.746Z

HarrisPS:

ahhh it’s amazing seeing all the thought you’ve put into it! I’m really glad you enjoyed the majority of the game

Well I like to roleplay most of my mc, I guess I miss those D&D days.

HarrisPS:

I’m really glad you enjoyed the majority of the game

What can I say you’re an amazing character and romance writer, world-building seemed solid to me too.

HarrisPS:

perhaps adding more stressed or upset responses would have given more of a fleshed out feel for a particular experience.

Totally, I mean my mc was about ready to punch the inspector in that scene for suggesting he “join” the graduation in a soot stained miner’s overall while reeking of weeks of unwashed sweat. It really came across like she was on Renaldt’s side and wanted to humiliate the mc on purpose there.
That’s how it came across to me and my mc anyways. Not that my mc wanted to attend that dog and pony show anymore anyway, but again, for mc’s who might still want to do that after their ordeal, at least being given a chance to freshen up and a loaner suit would have been nice to see in the game.

In general, yes, more stressed or upset responses and generally not wanting to pretend everything is instantly totally peachy again would have been nice for some mc’s including mine and that doesn’t take away from people who want to play the stoic aristo and keep everything pent up instead. though everything I’ve seen since I started working and even before that indicates that is a far less healthy and more problematic thing to do in the long run.

HarrisPS:

I absolutely LOVED reading your experience with your character and Rosario

I loved Rosario too, so did my mc. Still that doesn’t mean my mc isn’t at least slightly upset with princy for thinking/believing he would just vanish off the face of the planet and abandon him Particularly after they already got engaged and had some amazing sex together .
So that would probably be one of the stressed/angry responses that would have been nice to have in the epilogue conversation with Rosario. The most important would still have been being able to actually accept it when he offers to help, currently the mc is forced to treat it stoically and almost like a rhetorical question when there is actually a lot Rosario can do to help my mc there and it would be grossly stupid not to take him up on that offer.

There’s also a final two things Princy can do to help that I didn’t add to the preliminary list and they boil down to dealing with the parents, both my mc’s own and Rosario’s.
The latter are, of course, the more intimidating by far but since my mc was honest about his ordeal with Rosario he probably also needs to tell princy’s parents both because he doesn’t want them to think he’s the kind of man who would just vanish and abandon their son like that and because he also doesn’t want them to have to find out from sensationalised press accounts of Renaldt’s trial either. But since even to my high domineering mc it is a bit intimidating to have to broach that subject with his future parents in-law at the first meeting Rosario’s emotional support and probably literal hand holding during it would be tremendously appreciated.

Second are his own parents and Blaise/the Marechals my mc needs to try and make it right for Blaise and his family too beyond the relative pittance they receive in reparations from Gallatin/ By getting the help of Rosario and maybe even Rosario’s parents on this he might be able to kill two birds with one stone on this. Since he knows his parents are the type to never confront their problems when they can sweep them under the rug instead he knows they will never use their newfound good fortune to make it up to Blaise’s family unless forced to do so. As the Marechal’s entire former fortune probably still amounts to relative pocket change for Zaledo’s royal family my mc would propose his fiancee reimburse Blaise’s family and take on his parent’s debt instead. Owing Rosario, or maybe even better the King and/or Queen of Zaledo instead should make sure that in this instance his own parents are forced to confront their problems and cannot use their newfound connections and prosperity to skirt it.
Again, my mc loves his parents but he isn’t blind to their flaws and he is angry at them for going with whatever lies Renaldt has told them about his “resignation” in order to avoid more scandal when he knows his parents don’t truly believe it themselves. So in this instance he really hopes to give his parents some tough love and deny them the easy way out for once in their lives.

Ultimately, while all those considerations in this and the previous post are particular to my mc being allowed to unequivocally accept when Rosario offers to help, instead of treating it like a rhetorical question would have been a response I really would have liked to have seen in the game. Again, I don’t think accepting help when you actually need it is a sign of weakness at all but at present the game seems to likely inadvertently imply that it is.

How I see my mc going forward

Assuming he can have his sabbatical and some competent help I can see him do all the things people normally do in confidential talk therapy, some crying, venting some anger and frustration maybe punching the walls of the office one or two times. But that would allow him to get rid of most of his newly acquired trust issues and paranoia before it has the chance to fester, so the prognosis should be very good. Though, again, I’m not certain we could say the same for poor Blaise who has suffered a much greater ordeal than my/the mc.

I can also see my mc taking up some serious self-defence as he wants to at least be able to give any future would-be kidnappers the fight of their lives in addition to having to deal with his new bodyguard.
In furtherance of that I also see him taking up some sport like (kick)boxing where he can both train himself and vent some anger and frustration.

Having a year or so to do all of those things will allow him to again be fiancee, friend and son Rosario, his friends and his parents deserve.
It will also allow him to enter university either in Zaledo or at Gessner a year behind Freddie reasonably well-adjusted and with a mostly clear mind again.

As for the lasting impact of his experiences they probably drive my mc to succeed at university after his “sabbatical” where previously he would have been more than content with just a life of leisure.
They also move him from being a mostly token advocate for worker’s rights to a serious one with a particular soft spot for miner’s right to unionise and mine safety. Fortunately lots of royal families have been able to make the “common touch” of some of their members work to their advantage so that shouldn’t have to be a deal-breaker with Rosario’s parents.

Going to do my Max playthrough next though I enjoyed Rosario so much that he is now probably my main RO of this game.

In closing I’m sad I couldn’t have given some of this feedback during the beta, as I think it could have improved the last two chapters in particular, but sadly the formal CoG beta’s are too straining for the unpredictable demands on my time.

HarrisPS · 2019-11-30T16:35:03.117Z

@idonotlikeusernames That makes total sense, I appreciate the feedback of every sort, and I’m delighted that you liked Rosario so much!

Note for everyone’s reference! I’ve updated the first post of this thread with various links and a big old romance and friendship guide plus polyamory and multi romance info.

Pauly51 · 2019-11-30T16:57:37.384Z

image1300×953 132 KB

https://c7.alamy.com/comp/AXWYGF/young-female-model-17-years-old-moody-goth-look-pressed-against-a-AXWYGF.jpg

My pick for Delacroix. Brooding, sad and vulnerable in the heart.