[5] The descriptions of these locations start becoming repetitive after subsequent visits leading some players to continually sleep to advance to the next errand the Skull Empress would have you complete.
[4] Porpentine has directly stated that of the influences for With Those We Love Alive being "...mob violence, trash struggle, C-PTSD, and child abuse".
[8] A Rock, Paper, Shotgun article by Alice O'Connor praises the vivid and descriptive text of the world-building and exploratory elements of the piece.
O'Conner comments that the aspect of drawing sigils on your skin denote "...you're marking and changing yourself in response to cruel and oppressive things".
[9] With Those We Love Alive won Best Writing and Best Individual NPC at the 2014 XYZZY awards,[10] as well as receiving 5th place at 2014's Interactive Fiction Competition.