#LIS Fandom

[txtto]

WOOO HAPPY LIFE IS STRANGE DAY!!!!

[door-insurance]

Okay this is probably very “old man yelling at clouds” of me but why do I feel like some of the new generation of lis fans didn’t actually play the games but saw a bunch of pricefield fanart and got hooked without really getting into it??

I mean you don’t have to play it at least watch a let’s play or something

This is mostly directed at fans who treat max and Chloe as each others arm candy instead of their own individual characters

I’m from the old days of the fandom and lowkey miss the creativity and and love we used to have for the world building as a whole,

I don’t think fandom is dead necessarily, far from it tbh but I do think that some of the newer younger fans project themselves way too much on Chloe and seem to take it as a personal slight when narrative conflict threatens her relationship with max or when raise valid criticism on how the character was handled

For example: in the Welcome to Blackwell Academy book I pointed out Chloe’s mocking Victoria for getting roofied in BtS and said that it felt out of character for her to make light out of a situation like this given what she went through

And I had this weirdo fan of hers come at me like I was the one who ran over her dad or something, it was embarrassing to see someone act like that

Chloe isn’t real, none of them are real- these are clumps of pixels, we can love and get attached to them but don’t take it too fcking personally when someone makes valid points- it’s not the end of the world if someone doesn’t like your fave (don’t get me wrong I love chlo I just don’t like BtS and how they handled some things)

Like I want to see more fanart/fanficition/shitposting than dumb arguments with the developers and infighting, I swear to god on the subreddit someone told me that their only outlet of consuming pricefield content is by arguing online about it being canon or not

….. what the heck happened y’all? We used to create fan web shows, fan games, fan comics- heck fan animation

Arguing excessively online isn’t a healthy way to consume media

[theicarusconstellation]

MAX PUTTING A CONFEDERATE FLAG ON DAVID’S JOURNAL ENTRY IS DIABOLICAL😭

[gokubrown]

[x-noirangel-x]

Chloe during the golden hour is one of my favourite sights ever to see~ o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

Shh… I haven’t posted these on my Instagram yet 😅

[alicoolest]

life fr be strange

[hopeymchope]

Watching the "Life is Strange" fandom tear itself apart, or: The pitfall of sequelizing choice-driven game narratives

"Double Exposure" has arrived, bringing us the long-awaited return of Max Caulfield.

SUPER MAX!

Sadly, it seems the LiS fandom is now positively tearing itself apart over this much-awaited return to a beloved protagonist. I guess that's not too surprising, given how I've certainly had really negative experiences with this fandom in the past, but THIS is a case where the uproar is being caused by the developers of the new game itself failing to understand their audience SO BADLY that they inflict what might be a mortal wound on their own franchise.

Understandably, this is how the fans are reacting.

Background:

For a decent plurality of people the triple punch of the original LiS, the subsequent "Before the Storm" prequel AND the Max-and-Chloe comic book series made it hard to accept the idea of the series moving on from the Arcadia Bay characters. It felt like it had BECOME about those characters by focusing on them for so damn long. And I was, at one point, one of those people — much to LiS Fandom Tumblr's hatred. I got a fair share of nastygrams over that. (Don't worry; that's not the only thing I got hate for. I also didn't ship Pricefield, which is a massive sin in these parts. :P)

But by the time "True Colors" rolled around? I'd quite warmed to the idea! I was comfortable with leaving them to their vague future of whatever, and only occasionally having surprise appearances from some supporting players. I thought that was cool. Because let's face it: Making a direct sequel to a game based around player choices is HARD. (We will swing back to that.)

.......evidently, however, most gamers did not think that was cool.

PICTURED: Protagonists that most fans of LiS1 didn't bother to get to know.

It's no secret by now that the return to Max is less driven by creative forces and more by financial ones. LiS 2 sold markedly less than the original AND its prequel... and True Colors sold worse still, putting the series in a dire place. We don't have any sales numbers, mind you, because god forbid a game publisher/developer actually tell us about their sales. So MAYBE this is just another case of Square Enix having absurd sales expectations. Either way, the end result is that Deck Nine, who have become the stewards of the franchise, went back to the Caulfield well in an attempt to salvage not only the franchise but also their own business. Furthermore? The new game, "Double Exposure," ends with the tease of MORE adventures with our familiar LiS1 characters. They're clearly hoping that not only will this return them to success, but that they'll get to keep on ridin' that success.

The promise of a third adventure is kind of frustrating but also tantalizing. It means we're going to continue tormenting these characters, but it also means we could potentially course-correct on the hot mess they've gotten themselves into.

So let's talk about the elephant in the room: How Double Exposure deals with the possible endings of the original LiS... or more accurately, how it DOESN'T.

(Spoiler Cut for both the original LiS and the early parts of Double Exposure)

The Situation Today (or: How Do You Deal with So Many Possibilities?)

In Life is Strange — the original — you can either direct Max to get romantically involved with her friend Chloe or direct her to romance Warren, the geeky guy crushing on her, OR you could do neither one of those and just blow them all off. And at the end of the adventure? You can either choose to save Chloe's life (sacrificing the town of Arcadia Bay and potentially many of its citizens in the process) or rewind to the start of the game and let Chloe die, effectively erasing most of the narrative you experienced.

There are other choices that can have lasting impacts to the game, too, but none that really affect where Double Exposure brings us. Me? I also opted to either leave Max single or have her romance Warren, because I always felt like Max and Chloe were an oil-and-water combination that made no sense as a couple. But there's no denying that most of the fandom FELL IN LOVE with Max and Chloe, aka "Pricefield." (To the point that NOT being a fan of "Pricefield" is apparently worthy of harrassment. Click my "Ask" button to send hate mail!) That ship is also a core component of the entire comic book sequel series that follows on from the "sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending!

So Deck Nine decided that the Pricefield fandom was so powerful, that they had to acknowledge it in the new sequel. And THAT'S a good choice! In "Double Exposure," you can indicate that either Chloe died because you chose to sacrifice her, OR you can indicate that you saved her and you guys got together.

So, first red flag: There is no option to save Chloe AND not also have Max get romantically involved with her. This is the first sign thing aren't going to go how we'd like. I don't think it would've been hard at all to offer dialogue options that indicated they WEREN'T in that kind of relationship. I realize Deck Nine isn't dealing with BioWare-on-Mass-Effect-3-level budgeting, but I'm not asking for much! It could've literally changed some text details you can unlock and maybe a couple lines here and there, THAT'S FUCKING IT.

But that's not the part most people are gonna be pissed about, because they're going to be much MORE upset that, if you DID save Chloe? Then GET THIS:

Chloe ultimately dumped Max. The girl who sacrified a whole town for her. YEAH.

And it's been years, seemingly, since they've been in touch.

Oh, and Chloe has gotten tight 'n flirty with fucking Veronica since then. Y'know... the queen bully/bitch of the first game? Who can largely be held responsible for what happens to Kate? THAT Veronica. (Some people online even report that Chloe and Veronica might in a relationship?!)

HO-HO-HO-LEE SHIT. Now THAT is a series of fucking fandom-burning choices if there ever were any

Of ALL the people who could've survived the storm in Arcadia Bay... this fucking bitch?!

Making matters even WORSE is that, for the first time in the franchise, the latest game in this narrative-driven choice-based adventure only has one ending. You are funnelled to a singular conclusion no matter what you do! Your choices don't matter much! HOORAY!

...........given that they're teasing future adventures with Max, though, I'm sure this is a logical business decision that makes such sequels easier to develop.

Do I think Deck Nine could've handled this better? Well, yeah. I realize that high-school relationships don't often weather the test of time, but MAX DESTROYED A TOWN AND PRESUMABLY LET HUNDREDS DIE TO SAVE CHLOE'S LIFE. That's gonna leave a major mark on their bond. And I don't think it would've been that hard to have Chloe and Max in a long-distance relationship that keeps Chloe out of the picture for this adventure and severely limits how much she's referenced so that it's easier to write a single cohesive narrative. Doesn't sound hard to me, anyway.

But that doesn't mean I think anyone should really be going after Deck Nine's staff for this. YES, somebody somewhere clearly fucked up along the way, but game development takes hundreds of people, and there's no telling what kind of trickle-down decisions led to where we wound up. Besides... given that Deck Nine is dealing with a Hail-Mary throw to try and save the franchise, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a much lower budget this time around than in the last entry. So it would make sense if this game only has one ending AND only acknowledges so many choices from the original game because they just... didn't have the funding to write and program all the variations we'd prefer to see. :(

Sadly, it DOES seem like this mess is resulting in harrassment and threats directed towards the Deck Nine crew. This was brought up by one of the lead creators of the original, who did note that DontNod wasn't involved with this game — and this kind of thing is exactly why he never wanted to do a direct sequel to the original. Nevertheless, he did condemn the harrassment. PLEASE don't be like this, people. (But then, what do I expect from a fandom that i've always found to be FULL of harrassment and hatred... ?)

At this point, am I going to play Double Exposure? Well HELL YES. In spite of everything I've outlined herein, I ABSOLUTELY want to see Max again and go on another adventure with her. I am a sucker-ass consumer, and their cynical ploy to get my money has succeeded.

But I think this is the best attitude to take:

If you picked "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay/Save Chloe" at the end of the first game and are a staunch Pricefield shipper, then your sequel is in the comics. I've read two volumes of them - they're really good! There's six volumes in total — TONS of narrative to soak yourself in Max's ongoing adventures with Chloe and their ship.

If you picked "Sacrifice Chloe/Save Arcadia Bay" at the end of the first game, Double Exposure is your sequel. It's about Max moving on from the tragedy and guilt of her past, it lets her find new romantic options... it just fits.

If you picked anything else (like saving Chloe but NOT wanting to romance her)... well, maybe your sequel will still exist in some form one day. Probably best to go to fanfic for now, though.

Good luck out there. Try to have fun with the games, and try to stay safe.

And try not to harrass people for their writing OR shipping preferences. :P

[mcdoessomething]

Life is furry???

Pricefield redraw but it’s my furry designs 😋

[canofsouup]

CHLOE PRICE (done with $3 pencils)

[conman167936]

Everybody check out this feature-length fan film if you haven't!

[catcherintheryefields]

love them so much <33

[possumancer-co]

🦋I'm price, Chloe Price...Bang!🦋

[llamas-dynamite]

Thank you Nash for the brilliant gifts. All of this is canon now, thanks for coming to the presentation.

Alice adores her stepmom Victoria. And of course her aunties Max and Chloe.

at first victoria wanted nothing to do with the rabbit but eventually her emotionally deprived arse got attached to it a week later cause alice is really fluffy

sometimes both max and chloe volunteer to take care of alice while vic and kate are out of town

chloe is actually legit about catering to alice's needs

max likes to snap pictures of her oaf girlfriend being sweet with alice

disclaimer: im gonna start posting more wholesome stuff like this as to spread some positivity in the tags

for more pricefield/lis wholesome stuff:

lis characters from different games hanging out

chasemarsh + pricefield date night

lis swapverse

rest of my lis related stuff

[juusbox]

in another place and time

[gokubrown]

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

I feel like it shouldn't need to be said, but a relatively faithful adaptation of the source material is actually a very normal and reasonable thing for both an author and that author's fanbase to want. People can sneer about book purists all they want but it's the rare adaptation that surpasses the original, and HotD does not even come close.