Bae Over Bay

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BTW There's a good chance I'm going to talk about Double Exposure in the near future. (I don't know when because I haven't had the chance to play the episode yet....though I have seen stuff about...that one thing.)

The spoiler tags I'll be using are:

Double Exposure Spoilers

Life Is Strange Spoilers

LIS Spoilers

So please block those tags if you don't want to get spoiled on anything!! Any normal post that isn't Double Exposure related will be tagged as usual, so if you see one of my posts and it isn't tagged as a spoiler then it will be safe to read!

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I would not have pegged you as from a small town

That's why I love the game so much!

Imagine being 13. You live in small, leaning more conversative, town. You do not know that women can date women yet because that has never been presented to you as an option and you do not know any out and loud queer people.

Despite this, you're 13. You think boys are super gross, and are actually kind of irritated that your friends are getting into boys, but you're struggling to place what these feelings are or why they exist.

Then you play this cool little game called LIS, and out of nowhere an option to kiss Chloe pops up, and you witness the first queer kiss in media that you remember. It's the first time you ever think to yourself..."Was that an option this whole time, and why am I intrigued by the option?"

You become a lesbian.

It probably would have happened anyways but LIS did show you it was possible and give you really specific rep that you still don't see a ton of, queer people in a small town who want to escape yet still care about the town because it's your home and you know all the people and places that DON'T suck because you've always been seeking out welcoming spaces, even before you really knew why.

So yeah. Me being from a small town is why I'm gay now. Or something.

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Would you rather live in Velvet Cove or in Arcadia Bay?

Probably Arcadia Bay! I'd love the lighthouse and the diner, and I live in a small town already so I've already gotten the Velvet Cove experience.

And I mean, Arcadia Bay is the Velvet Cove small town experience too, but like I said, they have a lighthouse, and my small town and Velvet Cove doesn't have a lighthouse, so points for that.

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I also think something missing in the discussions about Charlotte's anger in True Colors, is that Alex's powers are really invasvie.

Because on the surface Charlette is fine. She's kind to Alex, happily plays along in the LARP with Etan, and is clearly mourning Gabe and struggling with his death. On the surface she's putting all the "right" emotions and trying to her best to heal.

But because Alex has powers that are....honestly, very invasive, she's able to see all the feelings Charlotte's trying to emotionally regulate and keep private. She see's all her anger and how her brain is trying to assign guilt to anyone to make what happened make sense.

And yes, Charlotte's feelings aren't very nice, but they're also just feelings. Other than the sculpting scene she isn't actually lashing out at people, the worse she does is tell Mac and Ryan to stop fighting at Gabe's wake, which is 100% fair on her part. It's totally reasonable that she wants to remember her boyfriend in peace without two grown adults screaming in each others faces.

Other than that though, her feelings are kept private before Alex pushes her on them. That's why I don't like people demonizing her for her anger.

At the end of the day, she's not storming around as a ball of rage. She's just working through her complicated grief and trying to find something to blame, which is psychology very common! She's not actually doing anything wrong. Alex just has the powers to dig through the worst of her emotions, and does so, despite the fact that objectively you could make the argument that Alex's powers can be invasive, in the same way Max's power can be invasive depending on how she uses it.

Imagine the most hateful thought you've ever had about someone you genuinely love. Maybe that thought was valid, maybe it wasn't and you were just angry, maybe it was true to a degree but your anger intensified it. Now imagine someone reading that emotion without your consent and being like "Wow! That was an AWFUL thing for you to feel. You should feel bad, even though you probably already to a degree." That's basically what the fandom is doing to Charlotte when they give her grief for the worst things she feels. Everyone is prone to bad, angry thoughts here and there. And I would imagine in a situation like a freak accident those thoughts could be easy to feel since it's hard to know where to put all your feelings since there's not an easy person or event or illness to blame.

Anyways, I love Charlotte and think people can be to harsh on her sometimes. I think she's great, and it's not really her fault for having unpleasant grief that she kept to herself before being pushed, or not expecting Alex to have crazy emotion reading powers that would break her mask. She was just going through the stages of grief man.

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Eleanor's dementia plotline makes me feel so "ehhhh" when it pops back up.

I know the "good" route is keeping it a secret from Riley, but that just makes me feel bad.

It would be one thing if Eleanor was super controlling and trying to force Riley to stop her future to assist her, but that's just not at all what's happening.

Riley's an adult, and her Mother figure who spent her whole life caring for her has Alzheimer's and will likely only just get worse with time. Once she knows this she makes the choice to drop college and stay with Eleanor instead, which yes is a massive loss of education, but I do 100% understand why she'd make that choice and I honestly don't think it's a terrible one given the circumstances. Especially since we learn in Episode 1 Riley's kind of 50/50 about leaving town in the first place.

I do get Eleanor wanting to brave and not disrupt Riley's future with her own issues, but I also stand by the idea that if the truth is going majorly change someone's opinion on something, then they should get to learn that truth so they can make a decision knowing the complete context, and if Riley knows the complete context, she stays behind.

And I think that's her choice to make. It's not like she can't make something of herself in Haven. She has a job, and friends, and a support system. I don't think Riley's the "She HAS to go to college or she's never going to anything with her life," type. I think she would be okay in town, and just because she's not going now doesn't mean she couldn't go to college later down the line, or even do an online college!

And I think it's kind of weird that in a game about confronting your emotions, the correct choice is to let Eleanor hide behind her strong facade when she's really at a point of needing help, and letting Riley leave blissfully unaware that Eleanor's mind is failing her

I do think I have some more intense feelings about this because I've had family members with Alzheimer's, but God I hate having to keep Eleanor's secret to get the good ending where everyone sides with Alex. Let her learn to accept help!

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Since I'm doing multiple TC routes, I thought people might want to see the different things that Ryan emotional, when Alex asks to feel something for her to read on the cliff.

What makes him angry:

What makes him scared:

What makes him sad:

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What do you think about Ryan cutting Gabe's rope?

I think it's a choice both he and Alex will replay in their head's for the rest of their lives, but realistically, I think that was the only "good" option in a really bad situation.

Because realistically if Ryan didn't cut the rope, Alex either would have been pulled over the cliff because of Gabe's weight, been crushed by falling rock, or Alex AND Ryan would have been crushed trying to save Gabe, and Ethan would be left on the mountain alone. Neither one of them had enough time to pull Gabe to safety and take cover, so there was just no good options.

I think Gabe was unsavable the second he went over the ledge, and all Ryan could realistically do was save Alex.

I still think it's insane that Ryan cutting the rope only really matters in Episode 2 though. Cutting the rope is probably one of the top ten most heavy decisions someone in a LIS game has made, and it feels very brushed over even though realistically I feel like that choice would have weighed harder on Ryan and Alex. I almost wish Alex had a choice to be mad or at least distant with him over the rope just for the angst of it all. And I wish cutting the rope factored more into Ryan's character in general. It's kind of crazy that he had to kill his best friend to save his best friends sister, and that just, doesn't really matter after Episode 2.

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I'm replaying True Colors right now and it is so fucking crazy that Jed cares about his own reputation than even his own son.

Because Ryan is holding so much guilt in Episode 2 about cutting the rope that it's heavily implied it's making him feel suicidal, and Jed COULD take some of that blame from him by admitting that he's the one who actually caused the accident, so Ryan would have somewhere to point his feelings other than at himself, but even his sons emotions weren't more important than protecting his ego.

I don't think Jed is the most evil antagonist in the LIS series, but I do think he is the most slimy on a personal level. He's the only antagonist to continually hurt people close to him, and the three people he hurt most (Gabe, Alex, Ryan) were all his child figures in some way or the other. He was acting like he was taking all these people under his wing, and being a good Father, and for Alex and Gabe, a good mentor who treats these strangers like his own family. Then he kills one of them and causes unfathomable trauma to the other two. (And likely unfathomable guilt for Ryan since he's going to have to live with his choice to cut the rope forever. And possibly Alex if she didn't tell Gabe about Ethan's plans, the what if of that will likely be something she thinks about.)

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What's your opinion on the different Life is Strange 2 endings?

Redemption - This ones my LEAST favorite by a mile. I hate Sean having to give up fifteen years of his life for something he wasn't even responsible for. And I know Sean getting fucked by the justice system is the point. The game is giving commentary that Sean did the right thing, yet the color of his skin and his Father's ethnicity still disadvantaged him legally and he faced more consequences than he deserved due to systematic racism.

I'm not lost on what's happening in this ending, I just hate it the cold reality of it, and I hate giving up at the last minute because it makes the game hard to stomach for me. One of the reasons I don't sacrifice Chloe is because, to me, the whole point of LIS is saving Chloe. I feel the way about getting over the border. To me, the point of LIS 2 is getting over the border, and it's just unfulfilling for Sean to give up at the last minute and submit to suffering for something he didn't have control over in the first place. The only thing I do find sweet about this ending how Sean is truly sacrificing himself so Daniel can live a normal life undetected for having powers, but IDK. I just love Sean so much, and I don't think Daniel would actually want to suffer this much either.

Lone Wolf - I don't like this one for the obvious reason of Sean dying, but I would lying if I didn't say I find it really narratively compelling and it does take the story full circle. Esteban is unfairly killed by a bullet, so Sean and Daniel have to start turning to criminal/morally dubious activity to get by, then Sean is unfairly killed by a bullet, and Daniel goes full fledge criminal to get by because it doesn't feel like he has any options left after he's watched the "good" system murder two of his family members. I think this ending is really tragic and I try hard not to get it, but I do think it's good storytelling and has good narrative weight. Strictly writing wise I really love this one. Especially because Sean possibly dying is foreshadowed a lot actually.

Blood Brothers - This one is really good! I enjoy a story about the system pushing two brothers so far they decide that they're all what matters in the world. This ending feels the most like "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" to me because it's two choosing to stay together despite fate itself trying to tear them apart. Obviously the best part of this ending is that Sean and Daniel get to stay together and have a somewhat happy ending. However, I think there's a heavy implication that they're involved in some form of criminal activity, which I don't love because that "lifestyle" is more struggle and hard times than living in the lap of luxury from what I understand about it, but it's really hard not to debate how much morality is worth separating Sean and Daniel for.

Because to be FAIR, LIS 2's low morality route isn't Sean and Daniel doing crime for the love of the game, instead they've been pushed hard by the system and now feel like they have to work outside of it to have lives together. That's tragic in the sense that they were failed by the system entirely. However, they're obviously both more complex than being bad people, which is why this ending is bold enough to ask "is marginalized family sticking together and being each others support system equally, less, or more important than following systems and laws?" Which is a question any psychology major would have a field day with. So I like this ending a lot, and I think it's the one ending in the game that I mostly feel is more sweet than bitter in the bittersweetness all the endings give us in one way or the other.

Parting Ways - This was my first ending, so I'm very biased when I say this is my favorite one. I like the symbolism a lot. It feels like this game spends a lot of time asking: Is America doomed in the sense that minorities are never going to be safe here, or is there still hope that people care? To me, Sean and Daniel separating are both answers to this question: Sean decides that the answer is "No." The system is already gunning for him and has decided they want his head on a plate. Getting out is the only real choice he has. Meanwhile, Daniel who is still young and more hope in people in general, (Like how he's desperate to find Karen when Sean thinks that bridge is burnt) decides that they answer is "Yes." and jumps out of the car.

Metaphorically I love this. It seems like an ending that gives into both sad reality and optimistic hope at the same exact time. And even without the metaphors of it, it seems like both Sean and Daniel get happy lives in this ending, with Sean on a beach in Mexico with his Finn or Cassidy, and Daniel gets to stay in Beaver Creek with Chris and get to have a close relationship with his Mom like he wanted. The obvious tragedy in this ending is that they fought so hard to be together, but in the end they just can't truly overcome the system and end up separated because of it. Finding happiness in other places will never replace the presence of their brother, and both Sean and Daniel are going to spend forever living with the choice Daniel made.

So saying this ending is a "happy" one isn't true, I don't think this game has a real happy ending, and if it did I would almost give that title to BB, but since it was my first ending I do PERSONALLY consider this one my canon.

So that's what I think of all the endings! Honestly the endings of this game are so good to discuss because I feel like all of them have so much to chew on. It's a VERY good game.

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What's your most controversial media opinion in general?

I do not like cheating as much the next person, but I think the way people refuse to engage with characters who have cheated IN MEDIA (IRL is a different conversation than the one happening now. I'm not judging if you don't take back a cheating partner. I sure wouldn't.) in any way other than "pure moral evil that isn't worth thinking about," is really frustrating.

Especially since a lot of people who won't think about the characters who cheat outside of their cheating will think about moral nuance when a character does an objectively worse thing. Like some people will be like "I can't forgive this teenage character for cheating. It's a moral evil that they can never grow past and they need to be taken out back and shot," but then also be like "Here's my favorite character! They've murdered a bunch of civilians! That doesn't like, DEFINE them though. They have a lot more to them to that, you can acknowledge that the civilian is murder is bad, but like, they have more than that going on."

And I know why. It's one of those "Why do people get more upset about bully characters than serial killer characters," and the answer is, well, because it's very easy to have been bullied, or maybe not have been bullied but everyone has met someone who's kind of an asshole before. Meanwhile, most people don't know a serial killer, so the topic feels less personal even though serial killing is usually considered a stronger moral atrocity. (Though that doesn't make bullying okay or not serious. People also die over bullying.)

So cheating's one of those things where it's affected a lot of people personally or they have a fear of it, so seeing a fictional character do it causes this strong emotional reaction, which kind of makes any nuance hard to see or something people just don't want to ackowlege.

So I get WHY it's such an intense thing for a character to do, but it also just makes me mad when a character cheats because I know that's the one character traits this character is going to allowed to have in a lot of spaces, and I think you can also acknowledge that cheating is a selfish and hurtful thing to do while also acknowledging that a character may have traits or may even have nuance in their actions....like them being a teen. Which doesn't make cheating okay, but I feel like being like "Oh. A 15-16-17 year old made a really bad and selfish choice, they are unable to grow for that in any meaningful way and have to die now," is kind of a lot.

Anyways, I am thinking a lot about Rachel Amber, Shauna Shipman, and Laura Palmer today.

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Safi should've thrown Chloe dumping Max in her(chloe) face tbh. That would've been so delicious.

Since I love angst....yes.

I actually feel like Max and Chloe's breakup should have been more of a thing in the storm route. The way Chloe dumped her was shitty, and apparently Max didn't even fully understand why it happened. For the angst of it all I wish it got brought up more by the narrative, and Safi would have been a great choice for that!

Honestly I would have loved for Safi to throw in her face. it would be so good if she were like: "And you know what the worst part is? I would have at least had the nerve to actually say goodbye. I wouldn't have left her with a fucking note." I would have loved to see Chloe's reaction to that, and I would have her being like "It was shitty, but you weren't there, you don't understand our history," or "Maybe your right. But this time is different. I'm never going to leave again."

IDK, I would have loved the breakup to hold a little more narrative weight, and I think it's crazy that Safi isn't part of that narrative because I could so easily her being resentful of the fact that Max is much more devoted to someone who dumped her than came back because they started having time issues, than to her, who came back for Max specifically.

Especially because it would show WHY Max isn't as close to Safi as she is Chloe. Safi might understand the last parts of their relationship, but she doesn't fully grasp all the history that came before that, and WHY Max let a whole town get wiped out just to save her. I think Safi being spiteful of the breakup would both keep the breakup more relevant and show Safi's distance from at the same time.

Anyways. You're so right anon. I'm in such a weird place with the LIS franchise because on one hand I'm like, "DE was not a great game, and I liked Reunion a lot more so I'm glad the writers dropped the DE plot points and just did their own thing," but on the other hand I'm like "I do kind of wish the DE stuff was better wrapped though, because for better or worse, heavy on worse, stuff like the Pricefield break up was made canon so I wish it was resolved more in Reunion."

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Question for every LiS ship but who do you think would take the other's last name if they married? (hyphenating or keeping their own names are valid options but for the sake of the question it'd be more interesting if they couldn't do that)

I actually hold the opinion that most LIS ships would keep their own names, BUT your ask is fun so I'll try to answer this by picking just one of the names.

Max/Chloe - I think Max would take Chloe's name. She grew up as an honorary member of the Price family, and she seems to have a weird relationship with her parents, while William is gone and someone Chloe carries with her. I think Chloe would have more reasons to keep her last name in the end. So I'm going with Max taking Chloe's last name.

Max/Warren - I think Warren would want Max to take his last name, and I don't think Max would enough feelings towards her last name to feel like she had to keep it.

Rachel/Chloe - A Chloe who lies takes Rachel's last name, and a Chloe who tells the truth has Rachel take her last name. I think if you lie Rachel still has a lot of fondness of her family and Chloe doesn't want to risk straining their connection in any way. While if Chloe tells the truth then Rachel is very "Fuck my family," about it all and is more than happy to spite her Father by getting rid of her last name. Like I said, I think Chloe would value her last name to a degree, but I think she would prioritize what was best for her Rachel at the end of the day.

Sean/Finn and Sean/Cassidy - I think Sean would feel a need to keep his last name. It connects him to his Father, and Daniel, and would loosing that would be loosing a part of his family all over again. Meanwhile neither Cassidy or Finn have a ton of love for their parents, especially Cassidy who is more than happy to shed her connection. I think either LIS 2 ship takes Sean's last name.

Alex/Steph and Alex/Ryan - I think either of these ships would take Alex's last name since it's something that connect them to Gabe. I think they would want that connection to him. And I think Ryan probably has to take Alex's last name after everything. If your Dad tries to kill your love interest you can't make them take your Dad's name after that TBH.

Max/Vinh - I don't really have a reason for this one, but my gut instinct is that Vinh would take Max's last name and then be like "Yes. I am associated with the somewhat famous photographer Max Caulfield. I am very well connected. Thanks for noticing. :)"

Max/Amanda - I don't really have a reason for this one either, but I think Max would take Amanda's last name. I just think Amanda is closer to her family and has more reasons to keep her last name.

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Do you consider Reunion canon?

I like Reunion a pretty good amount! But no!

In my head, I consider LIS, LIS 2, and True Colors canon. Before The Storm is 90% canon, but I do kind of block the ending out because it makes the canon events in LIS really weird. Farewell is like...50% canon because it also makes some of the canon in LIS really weird, and I think I'm kind of a Dontnod Entertainment truther at the end of the day in terms of what I consider to be the "real" story of LIS.

So personally, I don't consider DE or Reunion hard canon. To me, DE and Reunion are the events of another Max and Chloe that wasn't mine.

Because alterative realities are canon in LIS, and we know Max didn't merge ALL the timelines together because the comic and William lives timeline doesn't get a mention in Reunion, so she most likely she merged together two, the reality which are the player's canon playthrough, and then the reality of all the opposite choices.

So with that being said I have a whole other idea of where my Max and Chloe ended up that is canon to me. Mostly because I just didn't agree with the characterization in DE, and I do like Reunion so it's hard to place where this feeling comes from, but IDK, it just didn't fully feel like my Max and Chloe to me.

And maybe that's me being really annoying because I have an idea in my head where Pricefield ended since I was like 12, and I'm really attached to that and don't want to let it go. So I do accept the idea that I'm just obnoxious.

But I also think in a game where alternative realities exist, it's fine to take games as soft canon. But even if alternative realities didn't exist, my thing is with fandom or enjoying content in general is you can enjoy whatever media you want. If you love an original work but don't vibe with the sequel, or even love a sequel but not the original work, you can just love the thing that you love and don't have to factor the other one in. It's your own brain and no one can control your thoughts. You can do whatever you want up there. And for me whatever I want is to consider the ending of LIS still equally impactful and not something that's corrected down the road.

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I'm thinking about Nora's design, and how in Tape 1 we're first shown her having dyed red bangs. Yet, for the concert she adds even more color in her hair. To me this represents Nora finding her identify with the girls, or even a metaphor for the girls adding color to her life.

But then adult Nora has white and black hair. All the color has been washed out, which does fit with what we know about Nora's life post 1995. She's given up on her music dreams and is in an unhappy marriage with a women who hold's her back instead of lifting her up in the way Swann/Kat/the girl's friendship did.

I think Nora's hair is a metaphor for her joy and how comfortable she feels being herself. She starts the game happy and as herself, then becomes even happier and more confident as Swann and Kat become a part of her friend group. Then after the events of everything she's become a "washed out," version of herself who struggles in the aftermath of everything and has lost herself in adulthood.

I love when dyed hair is used for character metaphors. Nora Malakian you'll always be famous.

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what if Max and Chloe met the girls from Bloom and Rage? (when they’re all adults I mean)

I feel like Max and Autumn would get along really well. I think Max would admire Autumn a lot and be like "Wowzer. She really has it all figured out. I wish I could be like her," while Autumn would like Max's authenticity and feel nostalgic hearing about her and Chloe's life on the road. I

I feel like Max might be jealous of adult Nora in the same way she's jealous of Victoria. I think her feelings would be along the lines of "Wow. She REALLY has it all figured out. I can't imagine being able to make it full time as a fashion designer...Her life must be so luxurious." But having said that I do think Max would like Nora. However, I think young Max and young Nora would get along way easier because young Nora would 100% remind her of Chloe. I also think Adult Nora would like Max, but might be slightly jealous of Max's authenticity.

I feel like Max would really like Kat. I think that she'd be drawn to Kat boldness in the way that she's drawn to Chloe's boldness. I think Kat would like Max too, because she's kind and herself in all the ways Swann is. I think they'd really bond over a love of horror.

I think Max and Swann would get along the best out of the Max connections. I think they'd nerd out over cameras, and horror, and goblin-core, and vintage stuff, and they could easily let the day slip away just talking. I think they'd be BFF's in no time....

Which is also why I think Swann and Chloe would get along well. I think Chloe would feel insanely at ease with Swann once the Max similarities registered, and she would find Swann's tattoo so fucking cool. I think Swann would think Chloe was just the coolest person ever.

I think Chloe and Kat would be a match made in hell. Not because they wouldn't get along, I think they'd get along great actually, I just think they might egg each other on a little too much. if you want to get angsty I think Kat would remind Chloe of Rachel a bit, but I don't think that's something they'd really discuss. I think Kat, like Swann, would think Chloe was cool as hell and be super into her band. I think Kat would be a huge Drugstore Makeup stan by the end of the day.

This might be controversial, but I actually think adult Chloe might find adult Nora to be a bit of a sellout. i think she'd think it was sorta lame that she gave up on music entirely. Don't get her wrong, she thinks people should be allowed to change more than anyone, and Rachel taught her never to judge a fashionista, but I think she'd pick up on the subtext that Nora is putting on a show about how good her life is for everyone and judge her lack of authenticity. I think Nora would find Chloe to be a very bittersweet presence because Chloe's everything Nora thought she'd be when she was a teenager.

I think Chloe and Autumn would get along well. I think Chloe would find Autumn's career and drive admirable, while Autumn would respect Chloe for the same. I think they'd both find each other cool. I think Chloe would think it was neat that Autumn did stuff like make her own jacket, and Autumn would find Chloe's career in music to be exciting. I think they'd get along really well. No notes.

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You think Max and Chloe ended up having kids after Reunion? I can see them being great parents.

My personal headcanon is "No," but I'm so sorry I did go rouge on this question and ended up answering it for every LIS pairing because I was really interesting in exploring this question.

Max/Chloe - Neither Max or Chloe is particularly interested in having kids. They never discuss it formally, but they don't need to because they've known each other for so long and so well. They do have a few house plants, which Max always kills, then a cat, which Max DOESN'T kill, and along the way they end up taking a few young ones under their wing. They meet Cauledon students who look up to Max greatly, and they meet young punks on the road who are really inspired by Chloe's story. So they do take in mentees, but never end up having any kids of their own.

(This one isn't Grahmfield. More of how I interpret the characters) Max/Warren - Warren wants kids. Max doesn't. Warren is convinced she'll change her mind and when she doesn't they have a messy then mutual breakup in their late twenties as they realize they want very different things.

Rachel/Chloe - I feel like Rachel is the type of person who's good with kids but doesn't really like them. Like, she helps a parent stop a kids tantrum in the middle of the grocery store and then turns to Chloe and is like "What a brat. Reminds me of me at that age." She doesn't hate them or anything, she just finds them kind of annoying and would never want to be tied down like that. Then teenage Chloe gets overwhelmed by kids easy and is in constant "What do I do?" mode if anyone younger than her shows up, and she still wants to road trip forever with Rachel which would make having kids hard....so yeah, no kids for them.

Sean/Finn - I feel like they'd take on Mentee's pretty often, but no actual kids. They just find people who resonate with themselves and try to help them if they're having a hard time, and sometimes that includes young adults who really look up to these two guys who have made a good life for themselves despite the hardship they faced. I especially think Sean would be eager to help younger people get their lives together simply because he misses Daniel. (Assuming this is on the Parting Ways ending.)

Sean/Cassidy - Maaaaayyyyybbbbbbeeeeee they'd have kids. I'm pretty torn on this one because on one hand Cassidy likes her freedom and Sean had to be Daniel's parent for so long that he might not want that in adulthood, but also I could see Cassidy maybe wanting to have a family again and Sean being open to being parent just because of how much he loves Daniel. I think IF they had kids, it would be a solid decade after their Parting Ways epilogue and the baby would probably be "unexpected but not unloved." I could also just see them taking in mentee's though.

Alex/Steph - I don't think they'd have kids anytime soon after the game ends, but I could totally see them having kids in like a decade or so. I feel like they're girl Mom's who really encourage their kids creatively. Then when their child turns 18 and moves out for college they go on the road again for some more touring/sightseeing. (And take a lot of family trips in the mean time.) (I also think Steph would think that she didn't want kids, then she'd see Alex interact with a child and be like....."Damn. Maybe I do what want want kids if it's with Alex.")

Alex/Ryan - I could see Alex wanting kids but being a little unsure about them just because of her unstable childhood home life. Then I feel like Ryan could go either way with having kids. Like, he would maybe like to have them one day, but also if he met the perfect women and she didn't want kids he would accept that. I could see him and Alex having a kid after the game though. I feel like on the road Alex and Ryan would have a kid in a decade, while stay in Haven Alex and Ryan might have a kid a little sooner than that, but not by a lot because they both need a lot of time to work through everything that happened in the game + Alex's trauma. I feel like Ryan is a dorky and slightly overprotective Dad, (Scared of what happened to Gabe happening again) while Alex encourages their child to have a lot of freedom of self and creativity.

Max/Vinh - Both of them take great measures to make sure a kid doesn't happen.

(This one isn't cute Max/Amanda. More of how I interpret the characters) Max/Amanda - I feel like Amanda would be at least hypothetically open to having kids someday, and Max wouldn't, and that would surprise her a lot because she just kind of assumed that a professor would maybe be open to having kids in the future. I feel like this would kind add a lot of weight on their shoulders because Amanda would feel very unsure about kids being off the table for her.

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How do you feel about the platonic Chloe route in general?

A mix between:

I actually think a queer friendship story is something of value. Usually if queer people have a best friend in media, it's a gay man and lesbian women, or a gay man and a straight women. Friendships between two people who are both WLW or MLM are more rare, and I think that's an unfortunate thing because community is a really important part of the LGBTQ.... well, community.

I also think platonic relationships are really downplayed in fiction as something that can never be as or more important than a romance. I think really strong platonic bonds exist, and I do love getting a story about two childhood best friends who would burn the world down for each other.

However:

It is really annoying when people play LIS and refuse to engage with the queer themes at all. Like, I watch LIS let's plays and sometimes people will watch the Chloe/Rachel thing and their take away will be: "Poor Chloe! She basically lost a sister! I bet they talked about boys together and good wives they'd make to their husbands one day!" And THAT's when I start to get irritated about the platonicness of it all.

Because sometimes when people see Max or Chloe as just friends, it's not because they see them as two queer women with a powerful friendship, it's because they view as straight, and that's a whole other thing than just being like "I don't ship Pricefield for whatever reason and prefer them as childhood friends. They're both queer though.'

So that's kind of where I am with it. I think the platonic route is meaningful in it's own way, but man, some just don't want to acknowledge that queer women exist, and that particular scenario is when I start to have strong negative feelings about the platonic route. When that's not happening it's pretty neat though. But unfortunately that happens a lot.

[arcadiabaytornado]

Also further thoughts because I keep thinking about this: I've also noticed that the fandom perception about the friendship route has changed a lot over the last few years, and that makes me way more mellow on it.

I used to HATE the platonic route, and that's because when LIS first came out there was a lot of "Max is straight and Chloe just needs a good boyfriend to teach her to behave. That's why I didn't have Max kiss Chloe. They both need a good guy." And, y'know, as a lesbian I really hated that because people really like to invalidate WLW women, and it's really frustrating that a female character can look in the camera and go "I love other women romantically and sexually!" and people will STILL be like "She meant that in a bestie way!!! She would never be with a women when men exist."

And that's what it felt like with LIS, because I do think Chloe and Max's relationship is kind of situtionshipish regardless of which path you go, but even if you disagree, I at least think it's really hard to look at what's going on with Chloe and Rachel and come out of it with the idea that Chloe is super straight unless you just don't want to acknowledge WLW women. So it did hate the friendship route for awhile because it just seemed like people who wanted it veered more homophobic than anything.

BUT since the release of BTS, TC, DE, and Reunion, I haven't really seen that. The more common thing I see with the platonic route these days is "Chloe and Max are queer, but I don't ship them. I ship Chloe with Rachel and Max with Amanda. Or I think their relationship is toxic and/or codependent and they would be better with other women. Or I just want a story about friendship, but yeah they're clearly queer." and I don't actually take a fundamental issue with any of that. It seems like people have for the most part given up on trying to erase that part of their identity, and now have preferences on the platonic route for different reasons.

I'm sure some people are still homophobic, but I'm seeing less of that. I mean, a lot of people who aren't big on Pricefield are big on Amerprice or Max/Amanda, or Max/Kate. So I think that shift has caused a lot of my feelings to change as well. I was thinking last night "I am actually becoming interested in engaging with the friendship route (Though it's still not my preferred choice,) after ten years of hating it, and I actually think the fandom is a big part of that."