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    Life Is Strange | [NO SPOILERS] Max and Chloe sleepy times by Maarika

    April 13, 2021

    Life Is Strange | [NO SPOILERS] Max and Chloe sleepy times by Maarika

    [NO SPOILERS] Max and Chloe sleepy times by Maarika

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 02:38 AM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Celebrate #FreeComicBookDay on August 14th with the #LifeisStrange FCBD issue! Two all-new stories: a tie-in to the ongoing Max and Chloe adventures, and the first comics appearance of Alex Chen! LET'S GO ������

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 09:43 AM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Even angels need angels

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 11:36 AM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Ready for the mosh pit Shaka brah!

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 10:26 AM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Book 4 is finally out can't wait to read ��

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 07:04 AM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Actually been itching to post this since last year since i joined the sub (and reddit) , but resisted initially for some reasons :), found it scrolling through old pictures today, its by Afterlaughsart.

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:50 AM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Max and Chloe being Max and Chloe lol, can't remember the artist sorry just found this pic in my folder

    Posted: 12 Apr 2021 06:18 PM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] My book 4 just came and it looks great!!

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:00 PM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] A lot of characters of LIS are inspired by Mulholland Drive!

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 09:23 AM PDT

    [No spoilers] Cosplay by Twili_cos and UzumakiTonks <3

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 09:36 AM PDT

    [ALL] Analysis: The Mirage of Max Caulfield PART 1

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 08:03 AM PDT

    Apart from Rachel who's my favourite character and Chloe who's been analyzed several times, there's a shortage of analyses when it comes to Max (despite being the first protagonist), and I think she has the potential to have the most development of all three if the creators decide to continue her story... and so here's my attempt of an in-depth analysis of one of the most underrated characters of LiS using everything we know from BtS to LiS1. Also another fair warning, looooong ass analysis as usual (possibly longer than Rachel's if you can believe it lol so pls prepare yourself :D).

    Considering how there's technically more than 1 Max as a result of her photo jumps, I'll break down the analysis into the Five different Maxs we know of: Young Max, the Original Max (I, II, III) the Vortex Max, the San Francisco Max and the Sacrifice Chloe Max.

    • YOUNG MAX

    As far as we know, Young Max is pretty close to the Original Max we know from the start of the game. Soft-spoken, clumsy, low-key 'sassy', generally timid and a goody two shoes. From Farewell we can either play her as shy or more expressive of her feelings, which if we take LiS1 into account then the more expressive would be more in-character (since she's pretty jovial with those she's comfortable around with). However, considering how she held off contacting Chloe for so long, that means she would've held off telling Chloe the truth as well because she'd rather avoid confrontations eg; Original Max holding off on contacting Chloe or Vortex Club Max holding off on visiting Chloe. Young Chloe also did mention that Max hated conversations that would dampen the mood.

    Looking back at Young Max, she's the perfect relatable character for players to be connecting with at that tender age— afraid of ruining the moment, nostalgic of childhood memories, fear of losing the friendship over change of environment etc... these were the things we encountered around that age regardless if your personality's actually the opposite of Max. We also come to learn that despite being smaller than Chloe in terms of uh... boisterousness, Max holds a positive nuanced influence over Chloe who at that age was seeking out for approval and tended to be impulsive and reckless even then. In which case that means although Chloe was the more physical influence who led their friendship, Max was the one who kept them grounded (as Joyce said of Max) and would deter Chloe from her not so safe ideas.

    One difference between Max and Chloe however that's surprising is that despite Max being the more timid one between them, she was also the one who seemed to cope better than Chloe when they were in different schools that year (and after regardless whichever timeline). Chloe was hinted to be dependent on Max in terms of grounding her— (Chloe:* Man, none of this would've happened if I had you around. I wouldn't care what anyone said.)*— while Max still seemed to have been coping well enough in her own school to be unbothered. There's even the fact that despite having social anxiety, Max just seemed to be able to make friends easier than Chloe in general, likely because Max in nature was just more accommodating and laidback whereas Chloe was more aggressive and loud in personality.

    • ORIGINAL MAX - Part Ⅰ

    Here we go. The Max we all knew for 5 days. As said previously, Young Max and Original Max are essentially the same person— just older, prettier and with worser social anxiety than when she was younger.

    From her diary, she sounds like your typical teenager who doesn't really have huge self-esteem issues (aside from the occasional self-deprecation), however off book that's not the case because she's apparently seen as a loner and the only ones who could be considered as her friends were Warren and Kate. Now that's not to say that Max was too prideful or was too judgmental or was too smug (however others saw her aloofness to be). She's friendly as we've seen, but it's just her severe self-esteem issues and low confidence that retains her from making friends easily. This is why her interactions with her dorm mates was the most obvious instance of her abusing her rewind powers needlessly but realistically. Max is the type of person who hesitates before doing something, which includes making conversation. When she makes a mistake in addressing Juliet, she rewinds and this is how the conversation goes:

    Juliet: Uh, why do you care? Why are you even asking me? You never talk, just zone out with your camera.

    Max: That's why I'm talking to you now.

    Juliet: What's my last name?

    [GETS WRONG AND THEN REWINDS]

    Max: Juliet Watson, you be nice!

    And so Max just demonstrated how a person who's normally berated for her aloofness will act once she gets the confidence to stand up for herself. A sassy smartass. Her rewind powers essentially gives her the boost of confidence to make mistakes and express her inner mischievous side that only Chloe usually has the honor of seeing. Case in point in EP2 while she was helping Warren, she slyly suggested to Warren to put A LOT of potassium despite knowing the reaction it would cause after already seeing it happen once. So on average, the Max after getting her powers is basically the Max we see in her diary— confident, a dork, sorta self-deprecating but overall someone who can socialize better.

    However, there's another layer to Max which should be highlighted more of. Max by nature is also dark and her diary really showcases that morbid darkness of hers that would actually raise some brows if anyone ever heard her vocalize those thoughts. After she visited Kate's room, she later wrote in her diary:

    "She was just crying in the dark, and it was so sad to see her like this. More sad is that I wished I could take a picture of her framed in her expressionist misery."

    This is typically something which artists are just able to do: see the beauty in something dark and tragic (most obvious example is her ridiculously taking a picture of a dead whale and a wrecked car in the middle of a storm). It's morbid and actually questionable, yes, but such is art.... It's the reason why Max sees the artistic choices in Nathan and Jefferson's photography— although of course, that's not to say that she agrees with their methods. As a photographer she understands the effect and impact, but she still has the sanity and empathy to not cross the line between capturing the morbidness, and forcing the morbidness to occur. This is another layer to Max's character that's often overlooked but is integral to her development when you consider how her abilities would probably affect her mental psyche: a talented young budding photographer who can appreciate the darkness, has witnessed deaths from all of her timelines that she canonically even becomes numb towards Frank's death— just how affected do you think would her morals be after either ending?

    Another interesting layer to Max's character is the way that she was the stereotypical bland basic shy female character (don't take offense, most of us are actually this way hence why she was the best relatable protagonist), but at the same time she had her own quirks which separated her from other characters in a positive/negative way. As previously mentioned, Max has the ability to appreciate the beauty of what's typically considered morbid— that can be seen as a positive trait for an artist but naturally also a negative trait as a regular person. Likewise, she has several other traits that can be perceived as either positive/negative or equally the same. That is what was surprising to see for a protagonist, especially a playable protagonist whose foundations is meant to be the underdog.

    Normally main female protagonists are meant to be sympathetic, relatable and likable— all of which the best way to reach that would be to give her Mary Sue qualities so that players would be more inclined to fall for Max. Except, that's not what they did. Instead, they made Max one of the most if not the most realistic character in the game (or franchise imo). She's not complexed or complicated like Rachel, Chloe or Victoria where their traits and qualities fall into the extreme ends, or an abused victim like Nathan. Max was just the ordinary socially awkward kid whose main problem was her lack of self-esteem. She was privileged enough in the way that she had a fairly regular childhood and healthy supportive loving parents where her entire environment was meant to just grow as a person in whatever way possible so long as she wanted to. The one defining factor in what separated Max from the rest is the fact that her parents didn't expect a certain image out of her (unlike i.e. the Prescotts, Ambers, Marshs, Chases, David). Max was given the freedom to be whoever and whatever she wanted to be with no judgment from her family.

    And so that gives Max the ability to literally be morally grey as opposed to the rest. Whether to be mean or kind, both are still in-character for her because it's not out of principle or morals that she's basing her choices from but justification instead. This is isn't just up to the player's own personality, but this is Max. She doesn't need to live up to the 'idea' of being the nice or mean girl because she doesn't even talk enough at school in the first place to earn a reputation. For example, whether to belittle Victoria or to let it go— she doesn't necessarily feel bad if she takes a photo of Victoria because she justifies it by Victoria deserving it. Likewise with the handicap fund, she justifies stealing it with Chloe's safety on the line. Whichever is more deserving and closer to her emotionally is what Max would go with instead of out of principles and morals. Another case in point— by principle, she hates people who use up the handicap parking space, going as far as to call them bastards, yet she never brings it up with Chloe or says anything else afterwards.

    Original Max is still trying to figure out who she is and her ability to rewind time to take back her choice is already an advantage she will obviously abuse. As Chloe coincidentally put it, "Max, you don't have a style yet. At least give it a try. You can always rewind back to your chlorine brand T-shirt and generic jeans." Ironically this is another trait which Max shared in common with Rachel except Max did it through literal second chances while Rachel did it by trying on different versions of herself. Other characters have had their foundations laid out so it's easier to predict how they would respond to moral situations, however for Max it's trickier because she doesn't have a solid foundation within herself— just that she goes with whatever benefits her the most regardless whether it goes against her conscience or not. In this aspect, Max has a certain manipulativeness to her character that isn't necessarily negative— it just means she was taking advantage of her powers to climb her way up. It's what most would do if ever given the power she was.

    So whether you play Max as the kind hearted do-gooder or the sassy mischievous smartass— that is both Max at the end of the day, just that you controlled which side of hers to be consistent with. The next part of this essay will explore more into this side of Max.

    • VORTEX MAX

    This Max is very different from Original Max. Although her younger self was the same, how she grew up varied differently from the Original Max we know. The first big difference between the two is that this Max doesn't know grief, has never experienced grief and thus has nothing to feel guilty for after moving away to Seattle. Whether or not she maintained contact with Chloe after moving is debatable, but if we take BtS's events into account and logically think it through (there's no reason she wouldn't have tried to text at least) then she should have maintained some contact at least for a little while.

    Ideally she should have continued to stay in contact with Chloe, right? But unfortunately that wasn't the case. Moving to Seattle actually improved Max's confidence and self-esteem for better or worse, as proven from the fact that she had gained membership into the Vortex Club and was best friends with Nathan Prescott and Victoria Chase. And usually when you grow up, you just do change as a person and grow apart from your childhood friends, especially when you're thousands of miles away.

    The one defining factor that caused this huge change in Max was actually William. In the original timeline, Max grew 'worse' because of these factors: 1, She felt guilty for leaving Chloe when she needed her the most. 2, William was essentially like a second father to her so she was also grieving him in her own way. 3, She again felt even more guilt for not knowing how to help Chloe. 4, Moving to a new environment is hard for any kid, even worst for someone with social anxiety— all of these dumped onto anyone at that age would easily cause them to deflate and become reclusive instead, which was what happened with Original Max. However, for Vortex Max, she wasn't plagued by any of those except dealing with the new environment— which is still possible to overcome with enough support that she would've gotten from her parents and her long distance friendship with Chloe. Evidently it worked out alright, and actually too well.

    The thing about confidence is that more often than not, it overlaps with arrogance after a while. This is where Max falls into. She has morals and principles, but as mentioned earlier, she decides based on what benefits her the most and which she has a stronger connection with— which means while she does have morals and principles, she doesn't stand strongly by them and can easily abandon them. So by removing the extreme humility and appreciation for the small things in life that she learned through William's death in the original timeline, she instead becomes the typical privileged bratty girl who takes her life, parents and old friends for granted. It's sad, but most people grow up and just change for better or for worst. Another aspect of Max that seems to have had a positive/negative change is her communication and interpersonal skills. Naturally gaining confidence did her well, but it's her limited diary entries and short entries that especially shows how different this Max actually is.

    Original Max usually wrote everything in her diary word for word because she couldn't verbalize them out in real life, nor did she attend any social events to be busy with. On the other hand, Vortex Max was the polar opposite and didn't need to journal her thoughts because she'd already spoken them, acted upon them and was too busy to keep up with the entries. This is a positive/negative change because for the positive side, it means Max is more expressive and therefore confident, willing to take chances and live life to the fullest. However, it's also negative because it meant that literally almost every comment she makes in her head will actually be said in real life. Original Max was already actually judgmental and pessimistic on her own (another trait that can be considered negative) but she was able to control her mouth and not speak them out loud. If you're a confident, arrogant bitchy person however— then that's almost impossible because you'll be unlikely to filter your words. It's like asking Victoria to not be herself. Here are the most questionable thoughts Max has actually had:

    > "Damn, it's the All-American Zombie Family." (when she looks at the Marsh family picture. I actually didn't think much of it until my catholic friend during her playthrough said 'wow girl, judgmental much?')

    > "I don't like Kate being so needy toward me." (in her diary if she rejects Kate's call)

    > "We get it, she's missing. Somebody has gone crazy with these posters." (I mean Max herself subconsciously thought something bad had happened to the missing girl, yet was getting annoyed at how desperate someone wanted to find a missing girl...?)

    Like okay, really, the only reason why Max hadn't said these things out loud is because of her communication skills and social anxiety, but if she had the confidence or bitchiness like Victoria and her lackeys or Chloe did, then 100% Max would actually earn a reputation for being a bitch. And indeed, she did in fact become a bitch in the alternative timeline— which is evident from the fact that students like Warren, Stella and Alyssa actually hated her guts, or the fact that she was BFFs with Nathan and Victoria, or how she even oddly enough seemed to have Victoria as her 'side-kick' instead of the other way around. Vortex Max was just completely the polar opposite of Original Max.

    HOWEVER! That's not to say that Vortex Max was a complete bitch. She still seemed to share the core qualities that Original Max possessed such as kindness and empathy for her friends e.g. Taylor. She did after all visit Taylor's mother and consoled her friend afterwards. There's also her friendship with Nathan to consider, though whether he was mentally stable in the alternative timeline is debatable, but still doesn't negate the fact that Nathan was ultimately still the 'power' of the Vortex Club and was a Prescott (who were still hated), yet Vortex Max still befriended him nonetheless.

    One area that can be considered as having done better than Original Max did is probably ironically maintaining some contact with Chloe. Although Chloe wasn't her priority and was more of an afterthought than anything else (not replying to William's text or visiting her at all for months yet having the time to party instead), she was still courteous enough to send postcards and letters to Chloe from time to time— which Original Max failed to do in all those 5 years. So in a sort of distorted twisted disconnected way, you can somewhat still argue that she was a better friend than Original Max was before saving her in the bathroom since she was at least there for Chloe through writing.

    With all that said, the reason for Vortex Max not visiting Chloe is still unclear, but it's for certain that at that point, Max just didn't consider Chloe important enough to visit and held her Vortex friends and parties on a higher level. One inference I can make but is more of a guess and guess is based on Original Max's character (so take it with a grain of salt). Max can be a good friend in general, but there's a certain wariness with her when it comes to being known for having an association with someone that could get her judged for. This can be seen from her conversation with the cop during Episode 2 in the diner where she can choose to lie about knowing Chloe:

    Cop: Is she a friend of yours?

    [CHOOSE 'NOT REALLY']

    Max: Not really...

    Cop: That's good. She's not a bad person, she's had hard times, but there's no excuse for burning things.

    Max: I know her dad died...

    Cop: My dad died when I was 13. I never burned garbage cans or tagged signs. Joyce is a great mother, Chloe just isn't paying attention.

    Why would Max lie about her own best friend? The only explanation for that is shame, maybe even embarrassment— which if you put into the context of Vortex Max, is easier to understand why she didn't visit Chloe and easy to imagine what her responses to others would be if ever 'the paralyzed girl who got into an accident' was ever mentioned to her. At the end of the day, Max still cares about what others think of her which is pretty common for her age. This trait is just one of Max's flaws that make her such a realistic character.

    Either way, It says a lot about Vortex Max's character (which isn't really good) and Max's character in general when you realize that Max in whichever timeline, is all in all a terrible friend to Chloe regardless whether Chloe getting the short end of the stick is delayed or not. It's only if fate intervenes and is slapped right in her face is when she does become the friend Chloe expected her to be.

    • SAN FRANCISCO MAX

    San Francisco Max is more or less.... sort of the same as Original Max, although her influence on Chloe's a little different. This Max is someone who entered her Everyday Hereos photo in (and then not having the memory afterwards) so she returns back to her usual aloof, socially awkward and low self-esteem self after Original Max 'disappears'.

    Logically speaking, if we follow the timeframe, she'll still go to the bathroom to save Chloe after Original Max texts David, and then she won't have the memory of texting David so the days presumably goes on just as the Original Timeline did up until the next day while they were on the tracks (October 8, Tuesday).

    October 8, Tuesday (Out of Time) — The police raids the darkroom and Kate being gaslit is replaced with Jefferson and Nathan being arrested. A little later, Kate's attempt is replaced with the police discovering Rachel's corpse in the junkyard. Chloe learns about Rachel's death around 5 PM.

    October 9, Wednesday (Chaos Theory) — Missing timestream but presumed that the events of that day never occurred because the mystery of Rachel Amber has been uncovered.

    October 10, Thursday (The Darkroom) — The girls discovering Rachel's corpse is replaced with Max in school and being awarded her photo framed winning entry. Around the time when Jefferson was supposed to have killed Chloe is replaced by Max packing her things with Chloe for San Francisco.

    October 11, Friday (Polarized) — Max in the darkroom is replaced by San Fran Max going to San Francisco with Principal Wells.

    So all in all if we consider the important plot points, San Fran Max never got to save Kate all on her own without her powers (or fail), never got to be dared by Chloe to kiss her, never had the chance to stand up to or for someone else (David), never got to be in Rachel's clothes, emulate her confidence and be mistaken for her, never discovered Rachel's relations with Frank, never discovered the ability to photo-jump hence never had to make a decision to kill Chloe or let her suffer or let William die, never saw the whales or twin moons, never saw a rotting corpse— so pretty much this Max was ill free from any of Original Max's extremely traumatizing experiences, did not realize her feelings for Chloe and wasn't able to grow out of her shell, hence remaining shy to the point of hiding behind her photo artwork. Episode 3: Chaos Theory was actually the game changer to Max's character.

    In conclusion, San Fran Max is the closest to how Max would've been had Chloe never died in the bathroom and if she lived life normally without her powers. Considering how she was still shy to the point of hiding behind her picture framed photo, it points to the direction that the confidence Original Max gained didn't mainly come from Chloe, but actually from the use of her powers. Original Max was able to grow more confident (and self-admittedly reckless) because she abused her powers to always manipulate the situation in her favor. And although on moral grounds that would be wrong, Original Max at least had the justification of using the information she would've attained from using her powers to find Rachel and help others like Kate along the way (eg befriend Taylor or Courtney &amp;gt; influence Victoria &amp;gt; help Kate). San Fran Max, however, did not have this justification to stand behind with because the mystery of Rachel Amber's disappearance was uncovered— therefore she would have no reason to abuse her powers for legitimate reasons that wouldn't affect her own conscience as much.

    Although she never gained the confidence as Original Max did, she however did remain as supportive as Original Max was to Chloe which is evident from the messages exchanged between them. This is where the influence on Chloe differs. As opposed to Original Max who was more or less being sucked into Chloe's downward spiral, San Fran Max was able to effectively support Chloe because Chloe had the closure she needed in finding out what happened to Rachel without the trauma of digging up the girl she loved and seeing her rotting corpse. Without that trauma, it was easier for Max to bring Chloe to a better direction in life because 1, Chloe wouldn't be blinded with rage and vengeance, therefore she'd be more rational and clear-minded. 2, With Rachel's death, Chloe now has a must-needed forced motivation to succeed in life— for Rachel's sake because she didn't have the chance to and because as Max said, Rachel would've wanted her to have a great life. And 3, Chloe had grown more receptive to changing her ways after realizing there were others who genuinely cared about her (Max, Joyce, David). It's easier to see your worth when you realize that others have seen it before you ever did and no one is putting you down.

    — ANALYSIS BREAK —

    Amazing job for lasting this long! I have no idea how you can endure reading all of this but thank you very much! Pls take a 1-5 minute break to rest your eyes now before continuing this longass essay :D

    LINK TO PART 2 OF THE ANALYSIS

    submitted by /u/Zeroprofessional
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    [ALL] Analysis: The Mirage of Max Caulfield PART 2

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 08:03 AM PDT

    LINK TO PART 1 OF THE ANALYSIS

    If you haven't read Part 1, please press the link or else this next part won't really make much sense lmfao but anyways for those who have, thank you for reading this far and good luck with part 2!

    • ORIGINAL MAX - Part II

    I decided to separate Original Max into two parts because she technically entered a different stage after the photo-jump in the alternative timeline. This part of the analysis will delve more into the Max who's starting to realize the consequences of her powers and how her conscience caught up to her.

    The alternative timeline undoubtedly had changed Max's perception of her powers as well as who she was as a person. Not only was the butterfly effect even more pronounced in the alternative timeline, but she also discovered that she herself was capable of being someone she never thought possible— someone who would voluntarily abandon her own best friend and not be apologetic or regret it. Realizing that there was a possibility of becoming someone you couldn't recognize, someone you never thought you'd become is always a ground shattering realization that would force you to truly reevaluate who you are.

    With that said, the moment which changed everything for Max was Chloe's request to end her life. This wasn't just something that was the product of every small decision like the butterfly effect, but this was something which Max couldn't reverse to avoid. From the moment of the accident and hearing of her bleak future, this was Chloe's resolve.

    Regardless of what you made Max choose, it still ultimately haunts her. From her diary, if you accepted Chloe's request then Max's process in this decision-making is practical and technical, almost devoid of emotion when she does it. Whereas if you refused Chloe's request, then this Max is far more emotional and takes into consideration her past with Kate. The one thing these two Maxs shared in common however is that they both acknowledged they were responsible for Chloe's situation, but the Max who accepted was able to take full accountability while the Max who didn't, couldn't.

    One way to look at this is that Max would've accepted because she felt like she owed Chloe to take her life, while Max would've refused because she didn't want to be responsible for killing her own best friend. Another way is that Max found it easier to accept Chloe's request because she didn't consider this Chloe as her Chloe, hence why she felt disconnected because she didn't consider this reality to be 'real'. Whereas why Max refused could be because ultimately she still saw this Chloe as her childhood best friend, hence why she couldn't bring herself to end the life of the bright eyed girl she grew up with. Or it could be a combination of all those thoughts. Either way, Max had changed from this event and she learned to hold those dear to her much closer, as well as realize the other endless possibilities that could open up to her e.g. befriending Nathan and Victoria.

    So after jumping back from the alternative timeline, this is where Max officially starts to become more aware of her romantic feelings for Chloe (regardless whether you kissed her or accepted Warren's date). As she wrote in her diary:

    "I've never been so glad to see Chloe in my life. The second I saw her blue hair and that beautiful pissed off face I wanted to kiss her again." [KISS]

    "I've never been so glad to see Chloe in my life. The second I saw her blue hair and that beautiful pissed off face, I kind of regretted not kissing her when she double dared me. Maybe if she had double dog dared me..." [NO KISS]

    This is when Max starts to truly put Chloe's needs above everything else, including hers, as opposed to her earlier decisions in previous episodes where she had a more solid agency of her own and we were able to choose whether to appease Chloe or to stand by Max's principles and put her foot down. Ironically gaining confidence had also led to Max becoming far more submissive to Chloe's decisions than she previously was— and this was mainly because of what she experienced in the alternative timeline more than anything else.

    Max making her own decisions and seeing what it led to made a significant impact on Max's behavior. Instead of making the decisions or at least fighting for it like she did in the past, she instead becomes submissive to Chloe's because she doesn't trust herself to make the right choices. Evidently the alternative timeline's events had traumatized Max into thinking her own choices could possibly worsen things, and she no longer wanted to abuse her own powers because she'd seen the impact it could actually bring— which is why if Frank died or got hurt, Max is able to just continue on instead of automatically rewinding. The fact that Max is capable of letting someone die this time round and not doing anything about it, is already a tremendous insight as to how the alternative timeline had changed her. Because when she saved William, Chloe faced the consequences. If she saved Frank, then what would be the consequence?

    Of course, the only exception to this was Chloe. Because everything Max was doing was ultimately for Chloe's sake. Chloe was her primary motivation in discovering what happened to Rachel and Kate (and so by extension Kate was also one of her motivations), but it's only for Chloe is she willing to risk altering and destroying time and space. Finding out the purpose of her powers or figuring out what the vision meant, that was simply secondary because even then she wasn't sure if they were going to happen and the trauma of discovering Rachel's corpse was still fresh in her mind. Chloe's safety, happiness and security is all Max prioritized— which is why after every timeline she jumped through, she forced herself to push back the thoughts of everyone else (including children) because all that mattered the most was Chloe.

    But that doesn't mean she was willing to let everyone else she met die on the way to the diner. No, Max by default feels empathy and she'a ultimately a good person which is why when she saw those people in need or were dead, she wanted to help them or felt remorse for not being able to. But the situation calls for urgency, which is why we had the choice to not help despite Max's thoughts— it's either you play Max as someone who believes this reality is as real as the 'original' where Chloe is still alive therefore she wants to save everyone she can, or you play her as someone who wants to get out of that reality as quick as possible and return to the 'original' where everyone's alive, hence why she's able to ignore the others because she's forced herself to block out the 'reality' of the situation. Either way, both Maxs ultimately had one priority in mind: Chloe.

    Since Chloe was literally the highest priority on her list, Max essentially forgot about the rest hence why she told Chloe to only remain in their house instead of going off to warn the rest of the town. It's a terrible and selfish oversight, but this was the result of everything that's happened finally taking its toll on Max's psyche and ability to make sound decisions. When you're fresh from trauma and grief, when you just repeatedly saw everyone die including the girl you loved, the latter will be the only one that matters and so she will be who your instinct will tell you that you MUST save. That no matter what, Chloe is the one that needs to survive.

    This is where the nightmare sequence falls in. The majority of the fandom usually doesn't like Polarized, but this episode is actually the most personal episode for Max where we truly get to see who Max truly is. Everything in Max's nightmare is her fears and thoughts personified and exaggerated, including the first scene where she's in love with Jefferson and hates Chloe. That scene is one of Max's fears. This isn't Original Max, but this is who she's afraid she could've potentially become after seeing who she became in the alternative timeline as Vortex Max, someone who loves Jefferson but despises Chloe.

    The next scene with Kate is an overlap of her guilt with refusing/accepting Chloe's request in the alternative timeline: by refusing Chloe's request, you essentially prolong her suffering— which in a distorted way is similar to what Nightmare!Kate is telling Max, that 'preventing' her from dying is cursing her to a fate full of pain and suffering. Alternatively if you fail to save Kate, then Max faces that guilt and regret for failing to save her.

    The nightmare maze where all the men in Max's life is exaggerated to be threatening, scary, abusive etc etc. is another exaggerated result of finding out who Jefferson is revealed to be. Jefferson was someone Max once greatly admired and he was one of her heroes, so to discover the truth about him warps her perception of the other men around her regardless whether they were harmless or not. Every minor thing they ever did to make Max creeped or weirded out is exaggerated, hence why even Samuel is part of Max's nightmare. Because the moment Jefferson broke her trust, it clouded her trust in other men as well.

    The nightmare specifically around the junkyard is Max's fear and insecurity of being second place to Rachel and ending up the way she did; violated and murdered, as well as her trauma of seeing her corpse materializing in Nathan's form. Regardless of your interpretation of the activities in the darkroom and her interactions about Rachel, Max subconsciously believes that something happened between Rachel and Jefferson after seeing the photos and thus the morbidity of his lines. Of course some of Nathan's lines about himself represents Max actually feeling guilty for being unable to help Nathan (because in the alternative timeline she was able to).

    I'm going to skip the rest because they're pretty plain and simple and go straight to the diner part of the nightmare. In the diner, Max is confronted by the civilians of Arcadia Bay which she subconsciously has left to die, hence why they all bombard her with guilt tripping one liners. Max didn't mean to but nonetheless, she still forgot about saving the town because only Chloe was in her thoughts at the time— so this was the guilt and remorse of abandoning the rest of the town attacking Max's conscience.

    Nightmare!Max is the physical manifestation of Original Max's deepest fears and conscience and insecurities all compiled together. This is the part of Max that she tried to ignore whenever she abused her powers and/or stepped all over her principles and morals, and so the product of that twisted into this ugly form who attacks Original Max about all the morally questionable acts she's committed with no filter whatsoever. This is the exaggerated version of Max combined with the self-deprecation, self-doubt, guilt and bitterness that presents to Max all the red flags of her actions and relationships, completely dismissing the rest of the green flags and dismissing rationalization altogether. Nightmare!Max is essentially the extreme end of the self-righteous part of Max who judges others way too easily, including herself.

    And so considering all that, Nightmare!Max still holds a certain credibility and weight to understanding Max's character because overall she holds the foundation of Max's subconscious. She is the one who understands Max the most, which is why she also knows which buttons to press— because everything she's saying has a certain silver of truth to them because she's simply presenting them as facts and nothing else. And when you present facts, it's difficult to disagree with them, which is why if Max does disagree with Nightmare!Max, she does it aggressively in contrast to Nightmare!Max's passive aggressive tone because Max can't rationally defend herself from.... herself because she knows there's a certain amount of truth in what she's saying. The passive Max is the one who's able to acknowledge that abusing her powers was wrong, while the aggressive Max is the one who can't and justifies her actions because she's just tired of all that bullshit and could care less about morals and principles.

    When it comes to Chloe especially, Max couldn't actually defend herself or Chloe from what Nightmare!Max was saying because subconsciously Max does understand where Nightmare!Max is coming from, because at the end of the day, whatever Nightmare!Max is saying comes from Max herself. The only thing Max actually does say after Nightmare!Max attacks her relationship with Chloe is:

    Max: Chloe does a better job of guilt-tripping me than you do.

    Nightmare!Max: Because you let her bully you. It's called 'Stockholm Syndrome'. But you didn't do that homework... so you'll have to learn the hard way. Like Rachel...

    Max: Just shut up. You're not scaring me anymore.

    Compare her responses about Chloe and to herself; she can't and doesn't defend Chloe because she doesn't know how to, because deep down she knows what Nightmare!Max is saying actually has some merit to them. Instead she even just acknowledges that Chloe does guilt-trip her and that Nightmare!Max's words used to scare her because she could believe it. It's essentially what the grown-ups have been telling her about Chloe— to stay away because Chloe's a bad influence, except Nightmare!Max is just really merciless about it.

    But then Chloe comes into the picture and she brings Max back into a more positive headspace. Chloe is essentially the manifestation of Max's empathy this time in contrast with Nightmare!Max that was more of Max's apathy. The moment after Chloe enters and she says that THIS is reality, the following sequence shows all the positive green flags of their relationship together, all the good things that Max was clinging onto to believe that their relationship was worth salvaging no matter how difficult it may be.

    This is the point in Max's life where she decides that in spite of all the negative things, that she is willing to salvage what she and Chloe have. She knows and understands that Chloe may be a bad influence, that she is a toxic person, but she's willing to handle all of that for the sake of saving Chloe from herself because there's still good in Chloe. Max is willing to let herself pay the price because Chloe IS worth it.

    And then we go to Max's final decision. This is when it finally dawns on her that the storm may be her fault for messing with time and space, but she doesn't make any move to jump back in time to fix it again— because Chloe is alive and standing by her side in this timeline and that's all that actually matters for her. Chloe is all that matters. But for Chloe, she doesn't think that— which is why after she saw the intense guilt and horror that Max was having upon learning it was her fault, she decides then and there and that there's a possibility that Max may not be able to cope with the aftermath even if she's still by her side. Which is why she offered Max an impossible out:

    Sacrifice her to save Arcadia Bay.

    AND SOOO (omfg I'm getting lazy now lmfao) if you chose to Sacrifice Arcadia Bay, that is perfectly well in-character for Max because she has literally subconsciously already sacrificed the town for Chloe, quite adamantly proclaimed that Chloe is her number one priority and that she is the only one that matters. This is what Max thinks only for herself, which means by then that Max has thrown out all of those morals and principles mumbo jumbo that Nightmare!Max (essentially herself) has been guilting her for. Because again, she does not give a single fuck anymore even if it betrays her own conscience— Chloe is the only one that matters and no one, nothing else, including herself. That's not to say of course that doesn't feel bad about the decision, we see her solemnly looking out the window when they drive out of town. It's just simply Max settling with the consequences of her decision. Regardless whether the deaths of thousands will haunt her, possibly destroy her— she doesn't care so long as Chloe is alive and well and safe. And she knows that she can and will save Chloe from the aftermath of her decision later on.

    Which brings me to the other choice:

    The Max that sacrifices Chloe.

    Yes, yes, this is also in-character of Max to choose to. Why? Because it all falls down to Max's motivation and who she is by the end of the game.

    We've acknowledged that Chloe is literally the only one that matters to Max at this point— which means she wouldn't only be thinking about herself but also how Chloe would cope with the aftermath. Similar to what Chloe realized in that moment, Max also realized that isn't just about her coping with the consequences. This is also about Chloe— and all of it correlates back to her earlier decisions with saving Kate or refusing Chloe's request in the alternative timeline— all of them have subconsciously led to Max thinking that prolonging their life just means prolonging their pain and suffering, which is what Chloe will undoubtedly face if she watches the town she grew up in, the only family she has left— die in such a waste after everything they've been through.

    And then we consider Max's confidence. Throughout the game she's been battling with her lack of self-esteem and confidence, so in this moment of truth she must consider— is she enough to save Chloe? Is she enough to help Chloe through all of it because of a selfish decision she made? Because if she isn't, then she's just going to curse Chloe to a life full of pain, suffering, guilt, remorse etc etc something which she will never be able to go back from. This Max still gives a shit about her morals and principles because she still does care too much about everything unlike the Bae Max that only wants and needs Chloe.

    And so because this Max still ultimately does care about everything and not just Chloe, hence why she lacks the confidence and belief that she IS enough for Chloe, her rational for this is that she'll take all of the pain and suffering for Chloe. Because she'd rather end being the one destroyed than to see even the slightest possibility of her choice destroying Chloe's life, once again, just like her choices did in the alternative timeline. Max isn't just doing this for herself but in a sort of roundabout way, it's also for Chloe— because no matter what, consider it from Chloe's perspective— you wouldn't want your mom to die after all she's done for you, even if you do say your mom isn't going to be better off knowing you're dead. The question is, can you live with yourself knowing you let your mon die, knowing you could've let her (and everyone else) live? That's the thing with Chloe and how Max was processing the Sacrifice Chloe decision. Would Chloe be able to live with the death of her mother on her hands, and would Max be able to save Chloe from herself when she's already doubting her own abilities to save her own self?

    This Max believed she couldn't.

    • SACRIFICE CHLOE MAX

    This is the Max that's basically who Max should've been if she'd never discovered her powers— if she had discovered her childhood best friend to have been the one bleeding to death after being shot. Once Original Max 'leaves' this consciousness, the Sacrifice Chloe Max actually returns to her consciousness and will find what she's supposed to find: Chloe Price dead.

    This Max is the one that never got to reunite with Chloe, never got to apologize or say how much she missed her, never got to see how much Chloe has changed, never got to know how much Chloe suffered without her and William, never got to realize that she could've actually had unspoken feelings for Chloe, never got to know that there was someone in the world who could still want her back even though she's been the shittiest of friends— this is the Max that would've been full of regret and guilt and would live feeling that way for the rest of her life after Chloe's death. So consider this, Sacrifice Chloe Max never won the Heroes context because she tore it up so she probably never gained the confidence she would've gotten from the gallery's viewers, she wouldn't have grown out of her shell because she literally did not use her powers at all since she never discovered them, she wouldn't have been aware of what she could be capable of whether that's being a smartass or being a bitch or being just all of that every once in a while.

    With all that said, Sacrifice Chloe Max, will still be able to move on from Chloe's death eventually and in a much healthier manner than Chloe ever did with William's death or the Original Max would. The main reason for this is because as opposed to Chloe, Max actually has an actual effective and good support system; her family, Kate, Warren etc etc.. Sure she'll grieve, sure she'll be depressed for a few months or a year— but eventually she'll be okay. Why? Because this Max only has the good memories of Chloe to remember, and that's what she'll hold onto and nothing else. It's usually easier to move on when your last memories was 5 years ago and you don't exactly know what could've been if you'd know the possibilities.

    • ORIGINAL MAX — Part III

    And so we go with this final version of Max: the one who wakes up at the lighthouse and attends Chloe's funeral.

    Original Max returns back to her reality with the memories of Chloe still fresh in her mind. This Max is the one who's realized her romantic feelings for Chloe, who's technically killed and watched others die for Chloe, who's jumped through several realities and broken time and space for the girl she loves— only to end up giving it all up.

    So will she be fine in this reality?

    Yes.

    Contrary to popular opinion, Max can and in all likeliness will be able to move on from this event. Excluding the devs confirming that Max will be fine (I can't find it anymore but if anyone has it pls link it lmao), the main thing about moving on from grief is that you NEED a good support system. And contrary to the belief that Max doesn't have anyone else she can talk to and therefore she'll keep it all to herself, she does canonically have someone else aside from Chloe that she could tell, and that she wanted to and did tell in one of the realities: Warren. Regardless whether Max views him as more than just a friend, she still sees him as one of the few in Arcadia Bay that she could confide in.

    You can have more than one person you can love in a lifetime. Max would definitely be able to trust someone new or old apart from Chloe. And even then, it doesn't need to be romantic, it can simply be platonic.

    Max has her own agency, her own character and her own life. Max overall can just fuck fate, fuck everything and destroy the world for Chloe, or she can take all the pain away from Chloe and take it all in by herself— but that doesn't mean that her whole world literally revolves around Chloe and that her life will come to a stop without Chloe. To claim that– to believe that would just be accepting that they were in without a doubt, a very much toxic co-dependent relationship that shouldn't be worth enough to risk everything for to salvage. You can't put everything on one girl's shoulders. That's the very definition of toxic co-dependency.

    And that is ultimately why Max smiled by the end of the game when she sees the blue butterfly. Because there is no wrong or correct choice, only that she knows she has to live her life to the fullest for Chloe's sake and everyone else's who didn't have a chance to.

    If you're wondering what's the difference between Max sacrificing Chloe, and Chloe technically sacrificing Joyce in the Bae ending, it's that with Max's case she has Chloe's consent. She knows she has Chloe's 'blessing' because Chloe herself was the one who offered this ending, therefore she can live with it a little bit easier than she and Chloe would if they sacrifice the town because everyone didn't have a say in it. After all, consent is a huge theme of the game.

    Of course, this doesn't mean Max won't want to take another chance to redo it all again. I'm in the boat that believes she definitely will try to keep saving everyone realistically as long as she still has her powers lmfaooo but from a narrative standpoint then yeah in either ending, she'll probably be able to live peacefully with it eventually, it just depends on how long it'll take and other circumstantial factors that may derail her/their moving on process.

    TLDR; Max had no confidence before reuniting with Chloe. Her powers was the main boost of her confidence. The events of the Alternative Timeline completely changed everything. Max canonically had feelings for Chloe. Both endings are in-character for Max because at the end of the day, she doesn't want Chloe to suffer anymore. Yes. Max is the most realistic character in the series and she's the literal definition of a morally grey character and I love her for that ty.

    Aaand that's it. Congrats for finishing this lmfao hopefully it made some sense. I'm considering writing an analysis for Chloe too but it's probably gonna be just as long as Rachel and Max's or possibly longer and there's already a lot of analyses on her so I'm kinda hesitant, but would y'all be interested if I continue on this nonsensical unreasonably long analyses of the characters? If you are then feel free to suggest other characters you'd be interested in reading about and I'll try my best to write a nonsensical long essay about them too lmao yk, if you can endure another 2k-7k word analysis again lol

    This analysis was basically so long that I had to separate it into 2 parts because Max is the protagonist so there was a lot to consider with her character too, unlike Rachel who was a main character but not playable. Anyway, hope all of this made some sense at least and I didn't just waste your time 😅

    submitted by /u/Zeroprofessional
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    [S1] 6 years later, do you regret the ending you chose the first time you played Life is Strange?

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:40 PM PDT

    For me? Not one bit. I chose to sacrifice Chloe, the main reason being that there were hundreds of people in Arcadia Bay who had just as much of a right to live as Chloe. I feel like one of the biggest storylines in the game was Chloe's maturity and how she grew to accept the people around her, and in return, having them accept her. In the Sacrifice Chloe ending, this arc comes full circle because she realized she could do an incredible amount of good and give the gift of life to everyone she knew as well as an abundance of people she hadn't gotten to meet.

    And like I said in the beginning, there were so many GOOD people in Arcadia Bay. Joyce worked hard to be a good mother to Chloe and make the burden of losing William as light as possible. Warren had so much life ahead of him, and he was the most selfless character we had known. Kate was constantly helping her community and doing good deeds out of the kindness of her heart. Her family was also in Arcadia Bay, and they must have been good people and good parents because they raised a person like Kate. There are many, MANY more people like this who would have died if not for Chloe's sacrifice.

    Another thing is that Mark Jefferson got what he deserved in the Sacrifice Chloe ending. He didn't get the sweet release of death to save him from his evil deeds. He gets to rot in jail for what he did to the people of Arcadia Bay. It was satisfying to see him dead, but it is much more painful to live life in a cage than it is to die while you're still on top.

    submitted by /u/Jellybean720
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    [ALL] Look what just came in the post

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 05:48 AM PDT

    [ALL] LiS Free Comic Book Day Cover

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 09:35 AM PDT

    As has been mentioned before, an exclusive LiS comic will be available for FCBD on August 14th:

    https://twitter.com/LifeIsStrange/status/1382007022481199107

    Seems both Steph and Alex will be making their first comic debut here

    submitted by /u/Zandar124
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    [No spoilers] I am so excited for Alex

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 01:59 AM PDT

    So I just wanted to express my excitement for the new protagonist in the upcoming life is strange game. Ever since the first game I've always wished to have an Asian character in a LiS game and True Colours finally granted my wish! There aren't nearly enough Asian characters in games IMO and as an Asian American myself I am so excited to play a game in one of my favorite series as a character that I can really relate to.

    Thats all I really wanted to say, True Colours looks so good and it's definitely going to be a day one buy for me ☺

    submitted by /u/friedstinkytofu
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    [ALL] Can't get life is strange out of my head........

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 11:26 AM PDT

    I finished the first game like 2 weeks agao now and still can't help but end up getting reminded about its characters and story whenever i see something even remotely related or nostalgic. I keep thinking about chloe and max and music this game delivered...... I was playing spec ops the line and during one mission there was a poster on a building of a girl with blue hair and it instantly reminded me of Chloe......funny because i didn't like chloe and found her "okay" at the start and kinda annoying too......and now i can't stop thinking about her.

    Its not like i have fetish or something but its just a need that i feel , like who wouldn't want someone like her in their life as a friend or mate. As the story progressed my image of chloe was " that friend you don't know why you made but still kinda like him/her" and later when i saw her on her deathbed in Episode 3 i felt so attached and sad.....it felt real and it made actually give a fuck about people who go through this in real life......ep 2 also made me realize how a sucide actually takes place because before that i thought that it wasn't that complicated. This game has some bad writing and almost boring gameplay but the story is where it shines the most.... maybe the story we saw was the gameplay all along.

    The music in this game is just......life changing , my music taste is quite weird so but it was still hard for me to listen to the themes in this game at first because i found this type of music too nostalgic which makes me sad. The music reminds of the times i never even had , i feel like not being American i missed up a lot of things and stuff such as diversity in high school. It made me wanna go back to school so much because i wanted to meet so many people and just observe and also socialise..... The songs that stuck with me the most were " To All of You and Obstacles by Syd Matters "

    This game made me change as a person , i am now a lot more open-minded about LGBTQ+ stuff , i know it sounds funny but yeah i am glad i actually got to experience the relationship of chloe and max and no by the that statement i am not implying that i think they are lesbians.

    Huh.....i actually know what i am going to do with my life now......or atleast how to be a better person and respect everyone because you never what they are going through....(kate ,nathan, chloe, david , warren)

    Thanks for reading

    submitted by /u/LUkEdbz
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    [NO SPOILERS] If you had Max's powers

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 08:23 AM PDT

    if one day you woke up and found out you had Max's rewind powers, how would you use them?

    hardly ever, only for small things or for big things like completely changing the past

    submitted by /u/Javenova_
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    [NO SPOILERS] took me a bit to make this but I like the end results what do you think

    Posted: 12 Apr 2021 09:21 PM PDT

    [ALL] How old were you when you first played LiS (or BtS) ?

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 06:14 AM PDT

    Maybe this question was already asked, but I'm really interested in the age of the players and their relation with the game.

    I would love to read about your experiences, and maybe how it was different if you played it several times with years apart.

    ​

    PS : I know that the ages intervals are completely arbitrary, and it is based only on my perception of how a person states of mind can change over the years. But feel free to share your exact age if you feel like it.

    View Poll

    submitted by /u/Miss_mt_ab
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    [NO SPOILERS] I slowed another song from the LIS 1 OST for you guys!. Hope you guys like it.

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 10:19 AM PDT

    [no spoilers] “Eat shit and die.” By me :)

    Posted: 12 Apr 2021 02:21 PM PDT

    [NO SPOILERS] Three Seals Motel real Life location

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 05:26 AM PDT

    Once, using LIS2 map I was able to track down this motel in google Earth. Um trying to find it again, I know its south of Garibaldi, acording to the game map it should be around Lincoln City, near Roads End. Will you help me find it? I know its real Ive manage to track it once!

    submitted by /u/IamMagness1993
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