Ah, man, it's actually almost scary how I share some pretty strong similarities with Ida x3 The likes that you wrote on her character card could just as easily be me, haha. then there's unemployed, yup, check on that one too! T_T Political activist? Not quite, but I'd certainly get more involved in activism if my social anxiety wasn't so crippling >.< What's even more of a freak coincidence though is that I also wear glasses and have a similar hairstyle (right down to the colour xD - though, I did swap my green for red/yellow/orange recently!)
Anyways, the character designs are gorgeous in general :3 And I love that you did small details like matching the speaker's name colour to the character cos little things like that just set off little happy fireworks in my brain, haha.
I was very curious to know what you meant on the game page by use of non-choices, and having played through it, I have to say that it's a feature that works really well :3 I don't think I've ever come across it before, but it goes hand in hand perfectly with the narrative ^-^ I don't want to accidentally spoil it for others, so I guess it's probably best if I put this under spoilers further down!
I'm extremely lucky in the sense that I have an incredible dad who has my back and is extremely supportive of me :3 On the flipside though, I've got a mum that I hardly see because my parents had a messy divorce and my brother and I are firmly on my dad's side.
My mum is soooo different from my dad, and she's one of those sorts of people who doesn't really believe that mental health is a thing just because there was no diagnosis of anxiety and depression in folks back in her day, nor the option of therapy >.< She said something to me years ago re: my depression, and I remember it so clearly because it's one of those things that really stung when she said it because it was my first realisation that she just didn't even remotely understand me.
She said that if I "just sucked it up and got a job, you'd start feeling much better" >.> I did eventually manage to get a job... I did not feel better, I felt significantly worse x3 And even though she knows now that I have a diagnosis of ASD, she still thinks it's not really a thing :(
Also, this line in particular really got me x3
I spent most of my life thinking about myself that way, so it's one that hit me pretty hard, haha. I wanted to reach into the game and just give Ida a massive hug!
Sorry for the personal ramble anyhow x3 I was just using it as an example of how I relate to your story even if my own situation isn't exactly the same as Ida's :3 So it was a very heartfelt and touching journey with Ida! <3 I just wanna take a moment to thank you for writing a protagonist like Ida because I feel like you just don't get characters like that in most big commercial releases, and I'm so glad you can find them now and then in the wonderful world of indie!
Some spoilers below!!
Not being able to say the things I'd really like to made me feel even more attached to Ida as an MC because that's pretty much how my life goes x3 Even among friends, when asked what I want, I will 99.9% of the time answer with a "don't know" or a "you can choose" or "I don't mind!" x3 And when it comes to other stuff, I rarely feel able to say what's on my mind cos I'm always more concerned with pleasing others than saying how I feel, even if it's detrimental to me >.< So yeah, I really feel for poor Ida cos it's tough.
I'm glad it was possible to see her stand up for herself in the end though :3 Maybe one day, I will be able to defend myself against my mum x3