I'm not quite sure where to begin, except to say: this is perhaps the most devastatingly beautiful story I've read in a long, long time, with a power that embeds itself just beneath the skin and lingers well after the ending.
There is so much going on, all represented with a fierce eye and unwavering honesty and skill: the heedless and precarious joy of childhood on the cusp of adulthood, the later loss of innocence, both personal and within the community, a tragedy that feels as inescapable and inevitable as the passage of time itself--the searing heat of rage without outlet, the grief of loss that cannot be reversed, and the faint flames of hope, flickering but alive and inextinguishable. The neutral end shattered me, and so I went back again and again until I found the path that brought everyone who still remained together: imperfect, never to be the same, scarred with grief and loss, but together, moving forward without being shackled by the past. It is such a remarkable and indescribable feeling to follow the player character's journey, to love Vihaan--and to love Sanath, Dhanyata, Deepika, Anjali--to love this world, and this town, to a point at times of pain. An extraordinary work: thank you, thank you for sharing. ❤️