something i really, REALLY, disliked about before the storm was the constant subtextual implication that rachel was “bad” for chloe, that she was inherently self-destructive or that she was going to “damage” chloe. it was really weird on multiple levels, and it often felt like the game was trying to pass off the relationship as one-sided or unhealthy (see: the ariel/prospera dynamic in the tempest scene, the dream sequence with chloe and her dad by the campfire, the entire thing with her birth mother, comments from other minor characters etc etc etc).
but the thing was like….we never saw this in-game from rachel, not once, we never saw her manipulate chloe to any capacity or anything half as bad as the narrative was often suggesting. like, yes she has a quick temper, but that doesn’t suddenly mean she’s a bad or unhealthy person to be around and just…i don’t know. it felt too often like the game was trying to pass this explicitly gay relationship as something closer to an infatuation or obsession, as something lesser than a “proper” relationship and i’m just not okay with that in any capacity. i don’t know if anyone else got that vibe but i sure fucking did.
