*yo spoilers ahead for like the whole game but especially ch3*
Ok I need to elaborate on how mind-bending this is as someone whose family also hailed from an East Asian country (albeit still living in Asia). I've got it so much like what Noelle experienced that I had to stop at a few points because my head was absolutely reeling.
The housewife mom who has no friends to balance her resulting in a caustic personality? Having to be the language middleman for the parents? The struggle to speak the language when visiting? The grandparents/relatives I can barely communicate with and thus the dilemma of whether to start or upkeep the relationships at all? The visits to the columbarium as a kid with no idea what to say or do? The extreme kick to the ego when shopkeepers don't understand your mangled mother tongue? The surprise that the 7-11 is so much better over there? The ennui of wondering if we never left, would I be a happier and more well-adjusted person?? All of the above???
(It's also a freaking coinkydink that I also happened to have a cousin there exactly like Chun Hua with a less-than-common English name, is like me but much more outgoing, is much much closer to my extended family and wanted to study in America)
TL;DR chapter 3 went for my kneecaps. In fact all the chapters did. PPKM blasted a hole in my lungs all the way to the end, and Diya and Min were so cute I wanted to kick my wall down and scream. Shout-out to Akarsha's self deprecatory thoughts which are both 'lol i do that' and 'yikes' at the same time.
Standing ovation to you Brianna, this was clearly a game filled with passion and lived experiences, and an extremely satisfying amount of not-being-straight. I'm one of the ones who were quaking in my boots for years for the sequel and it is all I ever wanted and more (sans kneecaps). Whatever comes next for you, I'm sure you'll 110% blow it out of the water!
I've got no champagne so I raise as a toast, a slice of apple from the bowl of fruit my mother cut for me.
