I love this game so much. I finally played through a route where the MC just didn't want to be there or have friends and to my surprise, the game actually let me. So many games just make the MC go along with whatever is happening with no real way for the player to disagree with anything. It got me thinking about the story- this kid could have been pulled from a school/friends/home/neighborhood that they loved and brought to an old run down house in the middle of the woods and a town with no jobs available. I grew up in a town like that. It seems nice on paper but its absolutely terrible when you hit like 12-13. Their mom had them via IVF which is awesome, but has no support at all- so the kid is now raised by the neighbors and grandparents of kids they may not even like. That really struck me as a selfish thing to do. Mom doesn't seem to have any time for them as she's always working and even goes off on work trips leaving them with the scary grandparents next door (at least judging by Tam's tea party). I loved the sleepover moment where you can just break down and straight up say "I want a different mom". Even in the Trick or Treat moment so far- she didn't even bother spending time with you to pick a pumpkin. Seems like it would have been a good bonding moment since it's the first and last one you'll ever have, but she's off talking to the neighbors instead. I really hope this sort of path continues through the game and maybe you pull away from or resent your mom and lean on friends even more (I wish the moms from the first game were here! I loved them so much. Maybe your mom will find a nice hawaiian lady).
I know that I'm probably looking into it waaay too deep for such a cute game, but I really appreciate that there is such a good quality story there that I can sort of fit my own narrative in and really enjoy it.
