What we've learned about Noelle's family life as of chapter 4 is fascinating, not just because it explains everything that's happened with her so far but because it solidifies one of the central themes behind the whole game.
Noelle is alone. Her life on its face seems really desirable -- she's seemingly well-liked by everyone and lives in the lap of luxury -- but wealth and popularity, while they do make things easier, don't make a happy or healthy childhood. She goes home after school each day and it's just her, alone in a palace where everything is defined by the desires of someone who she's afraid to even speak to.
She has access to every material good she could possibly dream of, but emotional connection barely exists for her. Her sister has been missing, presumably, for years now; her father is in the hospital with an unspecified illness, and has been for long enough that the prospect of him going to church is a surprise; and her mother, the only one who still has the option to be there for her, is both literally and figuratively the coldest person in town. She might be liked at school and have people there who care about her, but the two characters who seem to be her closest friends (Kris aside), Catti and Berdly, are completely unaware that Noelle has a crush on Susie. Is she really that close to anyone?
...And that's exactly why Weird Route is possible. Putting aside the metanarrative about Noelle having a connection to glitches and secret routes in video games: it's possible for the events of the Weird Route to happen precisely because Noelle is used to being treated that way. She's used to bowing her head and doing as she's told by a cold, domineering figure who barely shows care for her; we see that clearly as soon as Carol comes home. Noelle has no doubt seen what happens when she (or her sister) try to resist someone exerting authority over her, and she's no doubt been told time and time again that all the restriction and distance are for her protection, so she has no way to push back when "Kris" suddenly takes on the role of authority figure. Even when things get really bad, Noelle can't fight it; she copes with seemingly murdering her friend by insisting to herself that none of it really happened.
Noelle is a girl who's never wanted for anything material but is clearly lacking on an emotional/psychological front. She doesn't have any strong defenses against mistreatment because the worst mistreatment she faces comes from the same person responsible for her life being so comfortable. Weird Route is about recognizing that this makes her a perfect target for grooming and abuse.
vaporwave
pixelskylines
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
turnnoffyourmind
