Tear Jerker / Lost Words: Beyond the Page

• Izzy's story:
  • Gran's stroke, just after Izzy fondly recalled how Gran helped her set up a glowing algae aquarium. Her mother gets a phone call and tells Izzy that Gran is sick.
  • When you know the Reality Subtext of Rhianna's father developing Alzheimer's, the symptoms of Gran post-stroke are familiar: she has trouble finding the words to speak, or even to hold a spoon. Izzy is dismayed because she knows Gran has a brilliant mind.
  • While Izzy hopes for Gran to recover, she reminisces about her favorite pastimes with Gran, including watching their favorite movie series, implied to be Star Wars (Izzy, still hopeful that Gran will be OK, even jokingly refers to Gran and her breathing mask as "Darth Gran"). On the next page, the player must navigate a Star Wars-like text crawl of Izzy hoping Gran will make a full recovery so they'll be able to see the next film together. It really hammers home the feeling of wanting another moment to have a trivial common delight with a loved relative; Izzy never gets to with Gran again.
  • At first, Izzy bargains with herself that maybe if she behaves and does good, then the world will let Gran heal. It almost seems to work...but any seasoned player can see it coming. The next entry is, "Gran died last night" and you can see tearstains forming on the journal. The entry also has another fill-in-the-blank puzzle, as it has throughout the game, usually spelling out a useful proverb of Gran's, but here, it's one of the most regretful feelings one can have over a loved one's sudden passing: "We should have been there."
  • Izzy includes a drawing of her mother crying after she leaves the hospital room, with her father comforting her. No one can hold themselves together, except for Ben, Izzy's little brother, because he's too young to understand what happened.
  • Shortly after Gran's passing, Izzy opens her journal for another entry, but struggles to get past "Hello Journal" before closing it out of frustrated grief. The camera then holds for a Time-Passes Montage as several day and night cycles pass through Izzy's bedroom before she's able to try again.
  • Ben's birthday occurs between Gran's death and the funeral. With some encouraging from her parents, Izzy joins her family for cake, noting her dad is quite good at making one. However, it's not enough to break through her sorrow.
    Izzy: It tasted like...nothing. Everything does.
  • And all of this is accompanied by an absolutely heartbreaking score by David Housden of Thomas Was Alone.
• The player character's story set in Estoria:
  • Her village being set on fire. All the player character can do is run and check on the fireflies, as well as Elder Ava. She finds Elder Ava collapsed and dying, who tells her Take Up My Sword. You can swear revenge.
  • The offerings required to pass through the market, including losing a cherished memory of Elder Ava and Lump's Heroic Sacrifice. Even if you beg her not to give herself up for the player character to swim down below, she will insist on it. The vendors themselves look like they're Trying Not to Cry when it happens.
  • The player character ends up in an underwater kingdom with friendly creatures. No matter what you do, you cannot talk to or befriend them because the player character is too obsessed with finding the dragon. When the Seakins gather around, the only way through is to use a new Ignore spell that you must cast on them, which turns them transparent. She ends up freezing their entire kingdom by accident, turning the ocean into a wintry tundra, and goes My God, What Have I Done?, running away from a wolf that symbolizes her guilt.
    [after the kingdom has frozen over]
    Player: [horrified] Did I do this?
    Player's narration: She did this.
    Player: Was this my fault?
    Narration: It was her fault.
  • The final confrontation with the dragon is this. You expect a great battle will happen, with the player character using all the words she has and beating impossible odds. Instead...the dragon is actually quite reasonable and explains to the player character that he's not burning everything to be evil. On the contrary, he'll answer your questions if you ask about why he's doing this: he's meant to end the world, because that is his purpose. It doesn't matter if he likes doing it or not. Then he reveals that the player character has to be the one to fix everything, as the Guardian of fireflies.
  • Even after restoring the world, the player character cannot bring back Elder Ava. She figures out why: Ava has seen the world end before, outliving people that she loved, and it was her time to move on. The player character promises to remember Elder Ava forever.
  • The player character looks at the camera. She says that her story is over, and now it's time for the player to find their ending, happy or bittersweet.
• The ending credits have these dedications:
  • In loving memory of James Backler.
  • "For my father, Terry, who taught me the importance of grandmothers. And to Eileen and Jean, who showed me." Rhianna Prachett.