*It was a few weeks ago that your mom and your little brother arrived in one piece.*
*Your mom collapsed into the back seat of the car while your brother jumped into the front seat to take in the sights and sounds of Sydney. The drive back to your studio apartment was eerily quiet.*
*While you were unpacking their luggage, she crouched down to his level and said in Indonesian, [["This is going to be our new home for a while, okay?"|title]]*[June 1998, Sydney]<title|
[[Begin|one]]
[[Credits/Inspiration|credits]]"Cece, can you [[help|two]] me beat this level?"You are deep into your studies, so you sigh.
Even if [[your mom]] was around, this is one problem [[only you can solve|three]].You can't be too hard on her.
All she can do is watch TV, but Nine News rarely covers anything related to Jakarta.
Instead: Hanson's party won 11 seats, a historical hotel burned down, etc. Actual relevant stuff to Australians.
She goes for long walks to let off steam and [[leaves your brother to you|two]].You see your [[Playstation]] plugged into the TV. Crash Bandicoot is on the screen, wondering when [[he's going to move|four]].[[You bought this|three]] from Glodok while visiting family.
That's actually how you played *Final Fantasy VII*, your girlfriend's favorite, without dipping into your savings.You finish the level for your brother. As you hand the controller back to him, [[your pager beeps|five]].It reads 1#177155#4. And then, 0127176#412812.
You want to see your girlfriend, but your brother would be alone. [[You decide to bring him along.|six]]
(click-replace:"1#177155#4")[I-MISS-Y]
(click-replace:"0127176#412812")[DRLNG-HRBR]She's surprised.
You hold her hand as you both watch him jump between platforms in the water, spinning around like he's Crash.
[["When will you tell your family about us?"|seven]]The question makes you queasy.
[["I don't know."|eight]]
Her hand squeezes yours."You're a lesbian," she says, "be proud of that."
["It's not that. Chinese people in Jakarta are --"]<c1|
[]<c2| (click:?c1)[(replace:?c2)[[["Don't care. You're in Sydney, not Jakarta."|nine]]]]Your hand jerks away from hers. (click-append:"Your hand jerks away from hers.")[ She catches it.
"Me or [your family]<c1|."]
[]<c2| (click:?c1)[(replace:?c2)[[[You can't see her as your girlfriend anymore.|ten]]]]["Shouldn't have dated a Chinese. They'd rather be repressed than free."]<c1|
[]<c2| (click:?c1)[(replace:?c2)[[[You grab your little brother as he waves goodbye to your ex.|eleven]]]]Upon reaching home, your brother says that he hopes you'll be able to [[make up with your "friend".|twelve]][Your mom returns with dinner.]<c1|
[]<c2| (click:?c1)[(replace:?c2)[There's a news segment on TV featuring Indonesians crying (cycling-link:"'Cina babi!'","'Ganyang Cina!'").
["Why are we pigs?"]<c3| ]]
[]<c4| (click:?c3)[(replace:?c4)[Your mom starts to clean the dishes while you [[hurry to your textbooks.|thirteen]]]]Your brother wants to sleep.
(click-append:"Your brother wants to sleep.")[
He asks if his dad is standing on a chair outside the Jakarta house with a mallet to protect his toys from the bad people.]
(click-append:"protect his toys from the bad people.")[
[[You tuck him in.|fourteen]]]You try to study, but your mind is [[elsewhere|fifteen]].You've found out (click-append:"You've found out")[ the person you loved wouldn't sympathize.
You don't know] (click-append:"You don't know")[ when your mom will break down.
And you wonder] (click-append:"And you wonder")[ what your brother [[has already seen.|sixteen]]]Everyone always seems to [[arrive damaged but intact.|credits]][Credits]<title|
Creator: Kastel
Playtester: Len
This title was made for two jams at once: the Anti-Romance Jam 2023 and the Neo-Twiny Jam. The former explores "the messy spaces and sensations that exist against and around romance" while the latter restricts creators to make games in 500 words or less.
Excepting the credits and title page, the entire game should be around 499 words long.
**Inspiration:**
* The *Pageantverse* series by Autumn Chen
* *Venus Meets Venus* by kaleidofish
[[Go back to the title page|title]]
[[Restart from the beginning|intro]]