Life is Strange 2 is so anti toxic masculinity and I’m loving it (spoilers for episode 1):
Our protagonist is a 16-year-old boy. But the Diaz family is open, affectionate, and great at communication. Dontnod has really proven they can write complex, three-dimensional young male protagonists as well as female.
-You can choose to hug Esteban, but the “Bye! Love ya!” is not a dialogue option, it’s something Sean says naturally, without awkwardness. Practically every text exchange with his dad ends in an “I love you.” That means Esteban raised his sons to be loving, caring, and honest people, which is great.
-Sean and Daniel annoy each other, but they clearly love each other. You can choose to give Daniel the chocolate bar in the beginning, help him over large obstacles, teach him how to skip stones and about the wilderness, set a good example for him, comfort him, make him laugh, and play games with him.
-Sean openly cries! UP TO FIVE TIMES JUST IN EPISODE 1! That’s more times than his kid brother! And more times than Max and Chloe cried in BOTH GAMES COMBINED, including Farewell.
-1st time: After seeing the street destroyed, even before seeing that his father is dead, Sean reacts naturally due to stress and lets himself cry.
-2nd time: Sean openly sobs in front of Brody, a big burly trucker who was just a stranger a few hours ago. He allows himself to grieve his father, isn’t embarrassed about crying and doesn’t apologize for it.
-3rd time: If you choose to call Lyla back, her crying on the phone causes Sean to start crying as well. They both express how much they miss each other and Sean admits how scared he is. Also, keep in mind that Lyla is the only person who contacted Sean more than once after he ran away, and she is the only person who Sean replies to and calls. They are really best friends to the end.
-4th time: Sean begins tearing up and sniffling when watching a home video of the family at Christmas.
-5th time: Sean’s voice immediately gets shaky when he confronts Daniel in the motel room. Daniel has angry tears on his face too, and after Sean calms him down, they both cry in each other’s arms, finally able to share the grief they have for their father.
-If you scare him too much with scary stories, Daniel also cries after having a nightmare in the woods, and isn’t ashamed to cry in front of his big brother. Adding onto that is that Sean doesn’t tease Daniel for it or tell him to “man up”— teasing Daniel for crying isn’t even a dialogue option. Instead, Sean hugs Daniel, holds him and strokes his hair, then promises “we’ll find a better place to sleep tomorrow” and continues to hug him while Daniel lies down to sleep.
-The brothers are so physically affectionate. Sean can hug Daniel after his nightmare, and he embraces him and cradles him and touches his forehead to his to calm him down at the end. Daniel also pulls Sean’s arm on the bus so Sean can put his arm around Daniel’s shoulders, and Sean falls asleep resting his head against Daniel’s. And that’s only THE FIRST EPISODE.
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