I'm Creating A Video About “Grace and Emily”: The Topic of Orphanhood and Chosen Family (Resident Evil Requiem)
Resident Evil Requiem impressed me, which rarely happens. This game didn’t just entertain; it cracked open something I’ve been thinking about for years. Grace Ashcroft’s story became the lens through which I could finally talk about the stigmatization of orphanhood and the myth of biological superiority in parenting.
I know, right? What a topic to think about and go through the process of making a script and video about it.
When I started writing the video script, I wasn’t planning a review. I was building off a conversation I've been having for a long time, with myself and others. Even though RE9 is an action horror game, it still mirrors empathy through rich storytelling. Grace’s journey, from trauma to a protective figure, from orphan to mother, is one of the most emotionally resonant arcs I’ve seen in modern gaming. At least for now. There are a lot of games, okay.
Her bond with Emily, the blind little girl she finds and carries through absolute chaos, mirrors her own relationship with Alyssa, the woman who adopted her. That parallel — the orphan becoming the mother — is what made me stop and think about how society treats non-biological families.
I’ve always noticed how fairy tales and children’s media villainize step-parents and adoptive figures. It’s subtle conditioning: the witch, the stepmother, the “other.” It teaches us that blood equals love, and anything else is lesser. But Grace’s story dismantles that. It shows that care, protection, and emotional safety matter more than lineage. That’s why I'm using this game to talk about orphanhood as a social wound — how the word orphan itself has been weaponized, even against public figures, as a slur meant to belittle.
Writing this script was heavy. I had to revisit conversations I’ve had with other daughters — women who’ve survived emotional neglect, who still carry the weight of cultural obligation to care for mothers who hurt them. Grace’s anxiety, her trembling hands, her instinct to protect Emily even when terrified — all of that is something many other daughters and I envy.
The process of creating my script for my video is both technical and emotional. I spent hours formatting the script, pacing the dialogue, and marking clips that show Grace’s humanity and instincts to protect Emily and their growing attachment — the elevator scene, the hand-to-hand moment, the helicopter crash. Each clip is a heartbeat in the story. Eventually, I’ll start editing and syncing those beats with my narration. But I’m letting myself rest. Because this project isn’t just about a game; it’s about talking about something deep and what moved me about Grace and Emily's storyline.
Grace chose to become a mother, just as her mother, Alyssa, chose her. And through that portion of the story, I found a way to talk about the truth that’s been sitting in my chest for years: Love isn’t inherited. It’s chosen.
