#Not sure what to do with Kate and Jefferson tho

[raidensharkgun]

(So y’all really want more of this rewrite..ask and you’ll shall receive)

I give you Rewrite: Roberto/Berto

I would describe him as the cool older cousin/brother to Max and Steel.

He dyed his hair due to getting a tone of white strands ( due to stress)

still enjoys music and gaming

When the duo was trying uncover their past Berto helps them in secret, it does end up bitting him in the back later on

Will be keeping the running gag where C.Y.T.R.O gets easily destroyed by the villains ( sorry buddy)

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Everything Awesome about COIE Hour 3

MANY THINGS OCCURRED!

This one is Long, guys.

Also a more accurate title would be Everything Awesome and some Less So about COIE Hour 3

But I wanted the posts to match, so.

So I never watched Birds of Prey because I never knew it EXISTED when it was on, but as a fan of the Birds of Prey team in general, and the characters Huntress and Oracle...not gonna lie, t’was sad to hear Helena desperately calling out to Barbara before they were destroyed by the anti-matter wave. So I give that cameo a thumbs up.

How is it only just NOW occurring to me that the Waverider (Wave Rider?) is serving the same function as the Monitor’s Satellite from the comics????

J’onn!!!! I’m so glad he’s here! Bearing news about the supporting cast of Supergirl! And the entirety of Earth-38!

So glad that they’re alive! And safe! And not dead! And that they are sure to remain that way, for the rest of the crossover! XD

And then J’ONN IS THE PARAGON OF HONOR! 

It’s what he deserves.

And then like four different subplots are set up in short order: They gotta to to Purgatory to get Oliver’s soul; they gotta get Ryan Choi; they gotta go to the cave where the Anti-Monitor was hanging out until fairly recently; Kara’s gotta be talked out of using the Book of Destiny.

It’s...a lot.

Also Vibe is back!

“Maybe you didn’t hear me under those voluminous mutton chops of yours--!”

Another nice Iris/Barry scene, BUT, for my money, it’s the second one, later in the episode, that really tugs at them there heartstrings.

All the Pariah stuff is as accurate as the Arrowverse could possibly MAKE a Pariah. Good, solid, good.

Then the British Fellows Ham it Up for a few minutes, before The Soul Searching group goes to Lian Yu, because of COURSE it’s Lian Yu, as if Oliver would allow his soul to languish anywhere else. 

Then we’re back in the Anti-Monitor’s room domain and COSMIC TREADMILL! AW YIISSSSSS

All of the good treadmill jokes have been made already so I’ll just move on.

This is very comic-y! The Anti-Monitor used Barry to power his Anti-Matter ray in the comic, and he ultimately destroyed it as well, dying in the process.

HERE, we discover that when Earth-90 Barry vanished last year, he was captured by the Anti-Monitor, and then CONDEMNED TO A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH; HE WAS TO RUN, FOREVER, ON A TREADMILL.

(...Pretty sure that joke was made on the after show, but I couldn’t help it. IT WAS RIGHT THERE.)

So they bust Earth-90 Barry out with the help of Jefferson!!!! 

I love that he’s got his line in there, the, ‘whose life is this’ line. Good, yes, good.

(Listen: there is no greater proof that the Arrowverse will go back to some version of the multiverse model, than Jefferson’s inclusion here.)

I’m getting a little ahead of myself...BACK TO THE OTHER SUBPLOTS!

Ryan Choi is great! I don’t keep up with Legends, but it’d be cool if he stuck around, since Ray is leaving.

ALSO GREAT???? Routh Supes’ explanation of the black shield. ‘Hope cuts through the darkness.’

(And the Superman theeeeeeeme I never tire of hearing it)

There’s some Kate and Kara stuff here but I wanna cover that later so FIRST...

The Oliver reunion on Lian Yu happened way too fast! But then, many things happened way too fast! But this one REALLY FELT WAY TOO FAST.

Like: He’s ready to kill us! But no? YAY, OLIVER IS COMING BACK! But No? Wait, he’s Spectre now????

But also...SPECTRE!!!!!!

Spectre is the deus ex machina of the Crisis comic, so it’s fitting that he’s just. A sudden thing that pops up out of LITERAL NOWHERE and is apparently vital.

So I guess Oliver’s final form ISN’T Team Dad, it’s Mysictal Green Hooded Guy.

(Man we should have seen this coming.)

(I like that Oliver is Spectre, just to be clear.)

Iris’ pep talk with Ryan was lovely.

(And then there’s the moment I mentioned earlier, where Barry’s like, ‘I might die’ and Iris is like, ‘I don’t want to go, I want to be with you.’)

(I will admit...that part got me a little.)

HEY FLASH FANS, HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT THE FACT THAT LITERAL YEARS OF TEASING LED UP TO A BAIT AND SWITCH, HUH????

I honestly don’t know if I’m impressed or annoyed by this cop-out.

I will give them props for the inclusion of the original Flash show footage, that was very nice.

(And I say that as someone who has but a passing familiarity with the original TV show.)

The disintegration effect, as well as the Flash emblem being the only thing left, are really great direct homages to art from the comic.

I’m gonna talk more about this part LATER so let’s jump back toooooo....

Oh! The Barry and Jefferson scene!

It was so niiiiiice.

Very emotional, and a nice bonding moment, and this bit:

“I don’t think Henry and Alvin raised quitters, so we should rage against the dying of the light.”

FEEEEEEEEELIIINNNGSSSSS

Another Kate and Kara bit, which again, I wanna get into in a minute, BUT, before we do, I will say that: this buddy dynamic is very nice, but it takes the place of the Kara and Alex stuff from crossovers past, which I might have been okay with...if not for the severe LACK of Danvers Sisters content in the SG season proper.

Here’s hoping 5B gives us...something.

(Also I know it’s very much because Kate is like, the lead of one of the five main shows being crossed over so obviously they’re teaming up instead of Alex and Kara hanging out but I just. Love the Danvers Sisters, okay?)

(Related side note: Really glad this crossover isn’t so focused on romantic pairings! It’s a nice change of pace! I mean we’ve got Iris and Barry obviously, as well as Lois and Clark but I’m just recalling the Double Wedding nonsense of Earth-X and...*shudder*)

(This is an improvement, IMO.)

OKAY OKAY HARBINGER’S BACK HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO

MIND CONTROL! BETRAYAL! DEATH! THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE!

And crashing on this Vanishing Point because technically we’re HooOOooOOomeless!

Aw man I was so sad to see Routh Supes go...and be replaced by LEX, ugh. 

(But it’s very Lex, so.)

And Kara’s desperate, ‘Kal, Kal! What do I do?’

:C

OKAY so I kinda wanna talk about the Kara stuff, the Barry stuff, and the Kate and Kara stuff.

This crossover does some interesting things, re-contextualizing the two ‘Big Deaths’ from Crisis. 

In the comic, both Kara and Barry die, and their deaths are kind of like...thesis statements, on their brand of heroism.

They’re willing to give up everything--even their very LIFE--to ensure the safety and survival of others.

And both are treated as kind of remarkable things, even among their peers, who are other, selfless superheroes.

Which is WHY...the Barry thing is kind of...a massive let down. 

In the after show, Marc Guggenheim talked about how they could have their cake, and eat it too, because Barry was ready to give up his life, but was denied the opportunity.

And...I get that logic, but man, they spent all of season 6A dragging out that ol Barry-Dies-Angst.

And last season too! The WHOLE SEASON LONG PLOT with Nora was centered on Barry’s disappearance during Crisis and thus, her growing up without him and now...

That’s all just out the door? Because a different Barry decided to take his place? AN ELEVENTH HOUR LOOPHOLE?

It’s so audacious...that’s why I’m also kind of impressed, as well as annoyed.

And they don’t quite do the same thing with Kara, since they haven’t so much as TEASED anything resembling her comic death--I kind of assumed they might with the Book of Destiny stuff, but she didn’t even open the thing.

(And ultimately this is GOOD because if they’d done something similar to Barry--a last minute bait and switch--HOO BOY. There would have been...WORDS. OF STERN DISAPPOINTMENT.)

Instead, the crossover frames living as the more heroic option, because these heroes are Paragons, and thus are needed for some...other purpose, put in motion by the Monitor.

So if they die, they’re actually DOOMING the multiverse.

As mentioned! It’s kind of an interesting inversion, and until we know being a Paragon fully entails--it is difficult to say if it’s a positive or negative change!

(Still love that Kara and J’onn are Paragons, tho, cause they’re my Favs.)

OKAY so that’s the Kara and the Barry stuff. NOW, for the Kate and Kara stuff!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE KRYPTONITE, MY DUDES.

Yeah, you thought we were DONE talking about Supergirl-specific plot lines...BUT THINK AGAIN!

LET’S TALK ABOUT HOOOOOWWWWW Kate was gonna use that Kryptonite...BUT DECIDED NOT TO, AND THEN WILLINGLY HANDED IT OVER TO KARA because she knew that 1.) SHE WOULDN’T NEED IT and 2.) Kara deserved to have the deadly poison THAT IS ONLY POISONOUS TO HER AND HER SINGLE SURVIVING BLOOD RELATIVE to decide how to dispose of it.

AND THEN...Kara tells Kate to keep it, and I thought, for one HORRIFYING MOMENT, that Kara would insist that she might someday NEED it, should Kara ever go rogue, thus VINDICATING every stupid pro-Kryptonite debate ever BUT...

NO! Instead she’s like, ‘I know you won’t use it!’

And folks.

Folks.

If nothing else. If nothing else. Please. PLEASE. Let this fun week of death and destruction be a learning moment for Kara, that she both HAS and DESERVES better friends, than a woman who casually subjected her to Kryptonite to further her own ends.

PLEASE, SHOW, PLEASE. 

Anyway! That’s hour three! And now we have to wait an ENTIRE MONTH to see how this plays out! XD

[harikaw]

FANFICTION

Photo is just her to caught your attention xD

Chloe is @faithcael, I’m max. Photographer Garnet C. Angeldust Photographie

So posting here my new fanfiction ! First chapter of it ! It’s a commission. Sorry for grammar and mistakes, I’m not english native. You can read it on FF too !

The price to give: 

She couldn’t believe it. Her gaze was lost in the landscape rolling in front of her eyes. Suddenly she was feeling so numb. At the exact moment she could heard the radio saying it. A deep and heavy silence had settled in the cabin of the pick up and she could have swear that she even heard the leather of the steering wheel when Chloe was clamping it, getting anxious listening to the voice on the radio.

« Arcadia Bay one year anniversary is coming, the senator is doing a huge celebration to open to memorial for the one who died on this terrible event. »

Max's heart squeezed up a little more while Chloe cut of a dry gesture the car radio.

« I’m glad we see your folks. Was nice. » adressed her to the brunette with a distant tone.

« Chloe… »

She probably could hear to Max’s voice that she was worry and was going to ask or tell her something about all of this. And she didn’t want it, Max knew that most of the time, the tattoo girl was just escaping the subject. How could she blamed her ? She was doing the same.

The pupils of the photographer settled sadly on the punk. She noticed that this one did her best to hold on crying and concentrating on the road, but the shivers which shook the fingers to wrinkle on the steering wheel betrayed her.

« It’s ok Max. I’m fine. We’re almost home anyway.»

But she knew she wasn’t. She could feel a hundred miles away when the Price wasn’t ok, especially on this topic. Many have died on the storm the hispter caused to save her best friend a year ago. Most of the people Max knew on Blackwell weren’t here anymore. Chloe suffered lost too. If David was safe and ok, taking care of Jefferson’s corpse in the dark room after saving Max, Joyce didn’t have the same luck. She was into coma for a long year now, and the doctors weren’t really optimistic about it. David was working his ass off to pay the hospital bill, and, ironically, that the thing that made her step daughter and him stop their stupid war. They stick together ever since, doing the best for her. Kate was alive, safe in the hospital back in time when she tried to kill herself. Alyssa and some other survived too, but most of them just didn’t give any news.

Chloe and Max moved in Portland, and the military followed them . It was actually strange that the storm only hit Arcadia, but Max always thought that it was chaos theory making fun of her, they’d never find a real explanation anyway so eventually, she stopped asking herself question that were torturing her even more. Most of Arcadia’s survivor moved very far away, wanted to cut out with bad memories and pain.

Arcadia was rebuilding tho, and it was a matter of time before the last trace of this awful event will only be the monument.

The two young women were also on the Portland road after visiting Max's parents in Seattle. Those last ones had shown themselves as usual, more than concerned and protective of them and Max had more than appreciated the visit that had put a balm to the heart. Not enough to cure her guilt, but enough for her to forget about it for a while, until now.

Max sank deeper into his seat, his muscles tensing. The rest of the trip was in a heavy and heavy atmosphere, neither of them daring to add anything more.

When they arrived at the little house they rented-she only had a bedroom, a bathroom, a toilet, a small living room, and a kitchen-the tension had not subsided and Max could feel his stomach twisting as the punk parked and slammed his door. She watched, hurt, the punk move away to open the door of the house and rush into it and she followed her.

« Chloe, if you want to talk… »

« I’M FINE ! »

Her tone was so dry that the Caulfield felt his heart stop. Her eyes were black, and Chloe herself realized that because she was softening, guilty.

« I’m sorry Max… »

The brunette bit her lip, this kind of situation made her crazy. She did not know what to do to relieve the pain of her best friend, which she was responsible for. Sighing for a long time, she gave her a weak smile.

« Don’t worry. I’m going to take a bath. »

The blue nodded silently, looking guilty as Max moved away to run the hot water, undressing and entering the almost boiling water. Her muscles needed to relax and she sighed in relief despite the water that burned her skin, as for a second, relieved of all that could bother her. She closed her eyes for a moment, until dull noises followed by a crash startled her, followed by cries of despair from punk. Panicking, the brunette immediately came out of the water, grabbing a t-shirt and panties to get dressed simply and quickly, not even taking the time to dry, and join his best friend who was in full frenzy of destruction.

The objects were flying and smashing against the walls under her cries and tears, and the sight literally tore the heart of the Caulfield which froze in shock a few seconds, helplessness before finally recovering and rushing towards her, holding the wrist of punk to break an umpteenth object. Chloe's arcade was bleeding and running down her face.

« Chloe stop ! You’re bleeding. »

The tattooed woman stared her eyes full of tears and anger, and pushing the hipster, she slammed the cup she was holding on the ground before dropping to the floor, despair weighing too heavily on her shoulders, sobbing even more as Max crouched at her height, pulling her against him in a firm embrace, refusing to let her escape once again. But this time the punk did not intend to flee and she clamored even to the brunette as if it was the last time she could.

« I’m so sorry Max. I’m sorry… I fucked up…I fuck up everything… All of this, this is all my fault… They all died… were hurt… because of me… Mum would be ok…»

Max's heart stopped and her throat tightened. They never really talked about all that. Both had always been evasive since Max had made his final choice. It was a year since their souls were in pain and their consciences too heavy with unacknowledged things, repressed guilt.

« I should have died, everything would be ok…»

Her voice was trembling and shattered by the sobs and to hear her, Max simply felt his heart shatter like never before. Pulling back just enough to fix Chloe, she looked at her, her face betraying the pain she felt at that moment hearing such a word.

« I wouldn’t be ok… Chloe… this was not your fault, this was my choice… I’m the only one to blame, please don’t do that to yourself, if you got to hate someone, this is me… »

Max felt the tears win her too. She had destroyed so many lives, so much family for sheer egoism. And yet, never, she had never managed to regret this decision when her eyes were on Chloe. She knew she had made the "right" choice, she would never have been able to continue without punk at her side, she could never have let her die in the bathroom, having forgotten all her things that she had lived , all her things she had to tell her.

Chloe lifted her eyes drowned by tears in the hipster's, sliding her fingers gently on her cheek, pulling him a shiver.

« I’ll never blame you… You saved my life Max.. It’s just... I wasn’t worth it...»

This time, Max grabbed the face of the Price firmly.

« You’re worthing everything on Earth, Chloe. I would do it over again and again if I had another chance to change the past. I would ALWAYS chose you. »

Punk's tears continued to flow, but her sobs seemed to have calmed down, she looked at Max lost, how could she say that? She who played the hard constantly Max had always known that this little game hid a cruel lack of self-confidence.

« How can you be so sure ? »

She was trying to understand but could not, her, who would have given the sky and stars for the brunette yet, she could not believe that someone could do the same for her.

« Because I lost you so many time… When I moved away, when Nathan killed you, then Jefferson… You have no idea how awful it was… I can’t live this life without you Chloe, and I know it was selfish to chose you, but never say you didn’t worth it. You worth everything to me… I’d give my life for you if it could save you and only you…As much as I would give it to see you smile again…»

She had fought so hard to have her alive, by her side. She would never stop bringing her back and could never bring herself to sacrifice her, the same idea made her sick and it was her turn to sob. The punk looked at her as if she were stunned by her words, as if she was struggling to believe that all of this was real. She ends up drying her tears and sliding her fingers on Max's neck, slowly approaching his face to hers to capture his lips tenderly. Max closed his eyes automatically, responding to the kiss in a long sigh of relief. Chloe did not blame her to the point of being disgusted by her and his selfishness, and if they had never spoken, the feelings of the hipster had only grown since their departure from Arcadia.

The hispter could feel his heart throbbing like never before. It was not their first kiss, but their lips had not met since that ridiculous I dare you in the old room of Chloe, and it had another taste, more bitter and sad, and yet it was able to ignite his whole being. In a year their relationship had not really changed or evolved. Chloe was more shy than she appeared, and she never took the first step towards Max, though she had left her with a lot of hints in her own way. Max, meanwhile, had never found the right moment, she had let the remorse prevail and the depression sink. Their relationship had stagnated into a much deeper friendship because deep down, both of them knew very well that the other wanted more. But that kiss was chaste and wise, sad under the sobbing of the hipster and the breath still broken by the negative emotions of punk.

The punk ends up receding, the cheeks red, the look away, his pride soaring.

« I’m sorry for that I just… »

Max did not give him time to finish, grabbing his three-bullets necklace to bring her closer to her, kissing her in turn with a little more passion, her lips pressed hard against hers. She did not want that sorry kiss, she did not want that sad and haunted kiss from the past. At first the punk seemed astonished and surprised, and she could feel her heart stopping for the initiative of her best friend, always more courageous than her, and against her lips, she forgot her pain, she forgot everything, her brain becoming white, her heart exploding with such violence yet jubilant. Sliding her fingers into Max's hair, she greeted the kiss with the same passion before both of them moved back, breathless, their eyes immersed in each other.

« So… you’re sleeping in my bed tonight ? »  dropped the punk with a mocking smile hiding behind his irony the roar of feelings that stomped on him and his sudden embarrassment.

The brunette was amused and smiled, rolling her eyes. They had always slept together. She felt relieved that the atmosphere relaxes in this way after finally breaking the ice

« You mean my bed ? The one you’re always in ? »

« Shut up. » replied the punk smiling, eyes still wet

She scratched her neck nervously, and while Chloe still played the badass girl, Max knew she did not know what to say after that kiss, and the hipster's heart still had not recovered. She knew that one day soon they would have to talk about this growing tension between them, the force that drew them towards each other, but the moment was not yet right.

The brunette got up, followed by blue eyes that straightened immediately, catching the arm of the brunette as if she was suddenly afraid she ran after what they had to share. Her thoughts were still confused, and even though Max had kissed her, she had no idea if she had offered him for pity or anything else.

« Don’t go… » hesitated Chloe, in a breaking whisper, gently pulling the hipster closer to embrace her.

Sliding on the tip of her toes, Max put her fingers on the cheeks of her best friend, her lips grazing his own again, she could feel the hot breath of punk and she hold a shiver. Her smell made her completely crazy already maddening her senses that required a new kiss, so close to his lips.

« I’m not going anywhere Chloe. »

Price's gaze became more intense and the small smile she sketched before capturing her lips again made her just as melt, long sighing against the lips of punk as she pressed her against her, the kiss Igniting much more quickly than the previous ones, while Chloe gently pushed her back into their room. The same despair united them, but there was something else that they both had always been afraid to say for fear of destroying everything. But for now, the Caulfield surrendered herself in the arms and lips of punk, their kiss being much more passionate, seeking more contact, while Chloe was cautiously lying on their bed, lying down gently against her taking hold of his arms so as not to crush him, not leaving his lips for a moment. Her tongue finally slipped between the lips of the hipster who felt his heart racing like never before, her belly writhing as she responded without delay to this new invitation, her tongue joining hers, provoking more intimately, their saliva is melting without embarrassment as she could feel the punk moaning warmly against her lips as her body pressed against hers.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand suspence for the next part :3  

[majoringinsarcasm]

Why I Think Jefferson Killed Rachel

It all comes down to power

Jefferson has hinted time and time again in season one that he likes capturing ‘innocence’ and ‘vulnerability’. All of his shots seen around Blackwell are of young girls in scant clothing in positions that make them look exposed or small. That was his Brand.

Rachel was a good actress. She’s been doing it her whole life. Pretending to be the perfect daughter and student and person so everyone around her had an image they liked. But she was smart too, and has learned to sense bullshit.

We still don’t know how she got involved with Jefferson. I personally don’t think she had sex with him (while she was aware of what was happening around her) but that’s just me. What I think happened is she was taking his class and Jefferson singles her out as a Top Tier photographer, to make the other students jealous and to isolate Rachel from friends she could’ve made in the class. Rachel wouldn’t even notice because she’s no doubt used to ppl hating her for one reason or another.

Jefferson continues to make her feel special, encouraging her, praising her, subtly leading into the topic of her being a subject instead of the picture taker. He pulls one of those ‘if you’re uncomfortable with me taking your picture tell me’ to give her control so she feels confident. I’m sure he had Nathan tell her things like ‘I can hook you up with studio lights and designer outfits’. Anything to get her to let her guard down.

Rachel as we’ve seen in Before The Storm, is fierce. She doesn’t like being submissive or weak unless she feels safe. I’m sure every pose she did with Jefferson was her showing off her rocker side, steady eyes and confident stances, showing that she was a force to be recommend with.

And I’d bet anything that Jefferson hated it.

He’s a gross pedophile, so he probably tried to coax her into softer looking colors of clothes, less clothing, soft lighting, a demure expression. But the fire inside Rachel burned bright and she didn’t like playing that role. She never had.

And I bet Jefferson hated it too.

Because he loves being in control. That’s why he went after Kate, who’s small and shy and doesn’t speak up for herself. And that’s why he targeted Max, because she was shy and didn’t have many friends in class. They were easy to get to compared to Rachel. But the way he talks about her makes it seem like he liked the challenge of getting to Rachel, cause he’s a gross pediphile.

In the picture we see of Rachel when she’s awake she looks angry (or as angry as a face can be when she’s been drugged). And I bet a lot of pictures Jefferson took of her while she was awake was her looking angry. Her face was slack but her eyes burned through him. And he hated it, just like he hated when Max got brave in episode five. That’s why he doesn’t target Victoria. Cause even tho she probably would’ve gone somewhere willingly with him she was too confident in her advances.

I think, in his haste to get the perfect shot or to make himself feel in control he overdosed Rachel on accident, trying to get the demure model he wanted.

This goes along with my other post but I think he’d have to have drugged her before they went to the junkyard. And if Nathan thought he saw Rachel at the diner when Max was wearing her shirt, that means he must’ve left the junkyard before Jefferson buried Rachel after realizing she had died. Or he knew she was dead and had taken Nathan back to wherever with Rachel in the car, saying he’d take care of things.

I wonder what he told Nathan then. Did Nathan assume Rachel ran away after waking up? Did her parents stay in town when season one started? So many questions and inconsistencies.

Anyway. These are just my thoughts on this whole mess of a timeline. Other thoughts and opinions are very welcome, I’d love to hear another take on this.

[fa-dubu]

fix-it fic ideas:

anthony north finds work but it’s out of state. with drew in osu, anthony and mikey leave arcadia bay for a better life. mikey+drew keep in touch with steph and chloe and though its sad their friendship remains strong

steph’s father gets a promotion and relocates to l.a. chloe is struck by the loss of another friend but hey if steph’s other 2 bffs drew and mikey are in 2 different places and the 4 of them have had no issues, then steph moving away isn’t an issue at all. knowing about steph’s old crush on her, rachel casually introduces steph to some of her old friends going to school in l.a., particularly a cute movie-nerd friend of hers with similiar tastes to steph

sera and rachel reunite and keep in regular contact. tho rose is quietly bitter about how the amber family has fractured, she has a cordial relationship with her daughter’s other mother. the 3 of them make it work.

sera moves back to california and knowing that chloe doesn’t have much to do around arcadia bay, offers to take chloe with her. see some place new, experience something different. also she has a friend, a good friend who was with her through rehab and who supports her new endeavors, a tattoo-artist/mechanic/mechanical engineering guy who could act as a mentor to chloe.

tho chloe hates to leave rachel and joyce, she now has reasons to look forward to things in life

rachel wants to drop everything in arcadia bay and go with them but sera, wanting whats best for rachel after everything that’s happened between their lives, encourages her to at least stay til graduation, then she can think about going to college in california and moving in with sera.

rose just wants what’s best for rachel and tho she agrees with sera, rose let’s rachel make the choice.

rachel stays. “but only until i graduate. the 2 of you better watch out. i’m coming for you in 3 years.”

joyce is heartbroken to see chloe go but she’s seen the positive change in her daughter and though she desperately wants david, chloe, and herself to be one family under the same roof, she knows it won’t work for chloe. she marries david. chloe packs up and promises to keep in contact in her chloe way. david tries to awkwardly give her advice and wish her luck. it nearly ends in another explosive argument in the doorway.

she watches her only child leave with sera

it’s 2013. rachel amber disappears a week before max starts at blackwell. she hears all about the enigmatic and magnetic rachel amber from her classmates. she worries about her friend kate marsh who suddenly seems sullen and withdrawn. victoria chase is a bully. mr jefferson’s class is the highlight of her day. some things are the same.

chloe price returns to arcadia bay after 3 years, to get to the bottom of rachel’s disappearance, with sera and rose supporting her.

things are tense in the madsen household at chloe’s sudden reappearance. her relationship with david and joyce is rocky. sera, former addict and her closeness to chloe, is a point of contention for the madsens.

chloe storms blackwell, desperate for clues to rachel’s last known sighting. nathan knows something and she tries going after him for information. she arranges for a meetin gin the girl’s bathroom.

but max is there.

they reunite

some things are the same

abpd and the da are scrambling to find suspects and clues

max and chloe do their thing

they find rachel

james in an act of redemption, goes hard after jefferson and the prescotts. but that’s not important, we don’t care about that, that’s not what this story is about

max and chloe reunite and fill in the blanks of their friendship over the course of the week

rachel is in the hospitable: weak, emaciated, eyeing the needle marks in her arm and laughing at the irony that what nearly killed her mother, nearly killed herself. “it’s the gearhardt curse” she jokes sardonically

max isn’t sure if she should laugh or frown and settles for holding chloe and rachel’s hands

they’ve weathered the storm

[idontknowmyblogname]

omg i saw a lis post about how someone hated the ending bc they don't like chloe???

so buckle your seatbelt i'm gonna write u an essay why i love chloe

OKAY SO

i was thinking about it, because i didn't like chloe that much in ep 1/2 (kate was bae lmao), and falling in love with her as a character really took me by surprise. i realized the reason i love chloe so much is because she's SO BRAVE. I think it takes so much to admit that you've done wrong by other people even when other people/the world have done massively wrong by you. chloe has every reason to be the angry, selfish brat she starts out as in ep1/2, but you can see, especially in ep 3/4 that she's trying to be a better person for max and come to terms with herself as well

like a couple of examples; she gets mad at you for not coming out of the closet to stop david in ep1, for taking kate's phone call in ep2, for not shooting frank in ep2.... which are all totally not reasonable things to be mad about, and are mostly manifestations of her insecurity of people (max) not having her back. (side note: it just occurred to me that these are all optional choices, so i can start to see why some people’s relationships with chloe are a liiiiittle different.. still) BUT if i recall for staying hidden in the closet/not shooting frank, chloe is upset but does admit that it's probably for the better that max didn't do what she wanted. (and this happens pretty much immediately after both choices). so even early on when chloe is bad at controlling her emotions, she still allows herself to understand max’s actions. then of course if you save kate, in ep4 at the hospital chloe will completely apologize for being selfish about the phone call and say that she’s glad max ignored her tantrum and was a good friend to kate.

AND THEN who can forget her meltdown in ep3 after finding out that rachel was in a relationship with frank. the most damning thing for me (when i lost it and first began to really feel for this girl) is right at the start of her car meltdown, chloe says she blames everyone else for all the shit in her life, because if she can't blame someone then that means she has only herself to blame for her own suffering and hurt. the way I read that situation is that chloe really does blame herself, and on some level really does understand that she has been a mean, selfish person in the wake of her father's death -- but she is so bad at emotionally coping that she chooses to externalize all her anger.

one dialogue tree right after this statement (blaming Rachel and Frank) has chloe saying something along the lines of 'i can't trust anyone, because they ultimately don’t care, including you max' and max (sternly) tells her to take it back and she does immediately (tho she's still stewing). I dig their relationship so much because that is kind of what max does throughout the entire game, she pushes back when chloe is unfair but she does it from a place of compassion and an almost unconditional love. the only other person who could do (?) this for chloe is joyce but i think david really complicates their mother/daughter relationship and we have seen joyce side with david over chloe on questionable things and we have seen their relationship suffer for it. and honestly chloe’s relationship with rachel is such a big question mark, so I think max is probably the only person we can be sure chloe lets herself be vulnerable with and challenged by.

and what max does for her with her unconditional love is allow chloe to come to terms with her suffering. she begins to be able to separate the idea that she has messed up (and needs to make amends) with the idea that she is a worthless, unlovable person. i think chloe explicitly acknowledges this in ep5 on the beach before the storm hits (something along the lines of ‘you have shown me love and kindness and saved my ungrateful ass over and over again,’ acknowledging everything that max has done for her as well as shifting her thinking to where she is no longer just a victim but also someone wanting to take responsibility for her behavior and relationships)

so that's why i love her... she's such a compelling character thanks to her character arc. and of course chloe is brave and sweet and loving in many other ways too, e.g. choosing to pursue the truth about rachel’s disappearance for so many months after the fact (whether out of desperation or not), acting to protect max from harm (physically stepping in between max and david, frank, nathan; and then backing down from chasing nathan/jefferson after max tells her about her fucked up torture experience), and encouraging max and her photography dream

tangent: pricefield is such a compelling relationship for me because chloe’s emotional growth is tied so closely to her and max’s relationship with one another. although chloe behaves selfishly to try and get max's attention, her love for max comes across as very unselfish to me, given the way that she take chances on max to repair their friendship after that 5 years disaster period (lmao they both fucked up hard tho). I see it as a huge leap of faith to choose to be vulnerable around max, repeatedly, especially when max (in my original playthrough at least) didn’t always make ‘pro-chloe’ choices. i think that speaks to how much chloe respects max and loves her sincerely (not just as a sidekick w/e). we could talk about how chloe (and maybe even max) is probably going to have some codependency issues down the line but she grows so much throughout the course of the game already AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

[irregodless]

so i just finished virtues last reward and im kinda angry because now life is strange kinda makes sense

DISCLAIMER: so its been like.... what.... two or three years since i even watched someone play it? im going off of what i remember which means POSSIBLY i didnt remember an explanation or didnt pay proper attention to it, so be warned

DISCLAIMERx2 COMBO!!!: this is probably some old ass news but even in the height of its popularity i kinda came into the story late and even then i wasnt crazy about it. it was good. i really enjoyed it. but it was easier for me to kind of passively mock it for having bullshitty trumped up time logic. the reason for this AND FOR MY FIRST DISCLAIMER MOSTLY is because the game doesnt really explain it to you or why anythings happening. which is fair i guess. max isnt really a time travel geek or a scientist and short of having mr “time guardian” come out and exposition dump there wasnt much to do. maybe if warren was our protag he wouldve figured it out but i cant really blame max for NOT. especially since it was reality for her. to us we can examine it objectively and understand the rules governing it as we observe the limitations. i mean for all she knew she couldve gone back in time three times and it be over and she could never do it again ever

for my explanation ill be referencing 999 and its sequel zero escape virtue’s last reward as well as homestuck (because for all intents and purposes it makes intelligent use of time travel and with colloquialisms that make it sort of easier to digest than just abstract names.) naturally some spoilers may apply to all three as well as life is strange (obviously)

if you boil the story of life is strange to its most core element, itll start to make sense. life is strange in its simplest form is this: “max caulfield solves a murder/kidnapping mystery.” everything else that happens is just kind of extra or a direct component to that outcome.

i would often complain about how max could get mr jefferson arrested and save kate with her time travelly powers but not chloe when she couldnt have done anything about those things without her power either. i was under the assumption that her abilities were an anomaly and the universe was trying to fix itself by voiding out her effects on the timeline (ie saving chloe). but in retrospect thats kind of really dumb!! why make a story where the protagonist can travel through time but then have the story ultimately be about the universe trying to make it so that everything was the same as before??? it’s silly!! so heres the thing: it was not about that. it was about max getting the information she needed to ultimately solve the mystery (and save kate i guess. im not sure how contingent her survival was to the timeline being “alpha” but if you want to say God or the Sentient Timespace Universe [”Skaia”] were in control of the outcomes and thus dictating maxs actions mayb u could say They wanted to reward kate for being such a devout follower??? maybe her life or death was ultimately inconsequential to the outcome and it couldve gone on with or without her and max was just a good person and saved her. its hard to tell.)

in homestuck there are doomed timelines. timelines wherein something goes wrong that was NOT preordained by skaia (the self-aware universe, essentially, trying to maintain homeostasis in itself) or that directly cause a paradox. one example is davesprite. an action that causes a doomed timeline is john getting himself killed (with a little help from terezi) which leads to a strand where rose and dave are stranded in their game for months. dave then goes back along the timeline to the point that determined whether or not it became doomed. although incidentally, it was the act of him going back in time to stop john from killing himself that splintered the timeline between doomed and alpha (the right one)

thus the doomed timeline was necessary for the alpha timeline to be sustained. and thereafter it ceased to be. in other doomed timelines it either disappears entirely as with davesprites timeline, or everyone just DIES like in the one where vriska and gamzee collectively get everyone killed. it’s the price u pay for not playing the part the universe wrote for u

so in order for max to go along her story to figure out mr jefferson was.... who he was, she had to slip through doomed timelines. timelines that ultimately purged themselves if they went on too long by the means of the big storm. something similar happens in 999 where a certain character gets sick if the story goes in a direction that would lead to a paradox and cause them to not have existed. and if the timeline becomes too far gone, they vanish entirely. this is basically the role of the storm. its not to eradicate the stuff max had done with her powers because she “shouldnt have had them” but because that timeline shouldnt have BEEN to begin with! max was SUPPOSED to have her powers. whether it was all morphogenetic fieldy sciencey reasoning or if “skaia” gave them to her to solve this case, who knows, but its not really all that important.

i could probably explain some of this more easily by using the name of paradoxes, but i forgot most of the official names for them and my computers being kinda silly so i dont feel like taking the time to look them up srry

anyway

max alters the timeline by stopping chloe from dying. they then go on this great big adventure where chole is the ONLY person who could have possibly helped max unravel the mysteries. which i think is fair to say she was the ONLY person to be capable of it bc of her stepdad and her rebellious attitude!

so the two go on adventures and discover what i figured out within the first five minutes of story: MR JEFFERSONS A HORRIBLE PERSON

and chloe dies a bunch along the way because while shes needed to solve the mystery, shes STILL doomed. its like in final destination. you can run from death and avoid a few attempts on your life for a WHILE, but youre still slated for death and gonna die eventually. im not sure it was the universe trying to clear her out like an antibody so much as it was... she was just more susceptible to danger. it also could have been to make maxs powers stronger. the 999 series puts an emphasis on the psychic-y powers being strengthened and honed through LIFE THREATENING SCENARIOS

now in both 999 and vlr (i havent referenced the latter nearly as much as i thought i would!) the events of the games essentially unfold because certain characters figure out that... well... thats what happens!!! so they recreate the event so that it DOES happen so that they CAN have these abilities. they hone their abilities to see and interact through time so that they can avoid MAJOR DISASTERS and fix them, all the way establishing the very parameters that allow them to do so in the first place!

so small summary:

max gets the power to swap out her consciousness from a certain place on the timeline. she does so to save chloe (as a good person and for sentimental purposes) chloe proves to be the key to discovering the mystery behind the shady shit going down at the school she was still ultimately supposed to die though so she dies a bunch along the way because thats just what she does best by working alone doomed timelines where chloe is the only one who can help unearth the mysteries (and to be fair she deserved to be there too since it DID involve her ex-girlfriend) max finally discovers mr jefferson is basically straight up evil and can go back and use the information from her travels to bring him to justice chloes still supposed 2 die tho so shes either wiped out with the timeline by means of the storm that fucks up everyone elses life or she dies unceremoniously in the bathroom because one way or another: SHE WILL DIE max then uses the information to expose jefferson. its kinda weird but i guess paradoxically makes sense that the alpha timeline dictated that for life to progress properly, max had to just MAGICALLY know it was him. (maybe it meant to import me into the game so i couldve called him out as soon as i saw him. or maybe it was only one option. like kate living or not. max can expose him and save the day OR it can go on and be terrible. but that one doesnt have any justice in it so.....) kate lives and thats important? maybe?

basically it was not about trying to undo maxs “rulebreaking” powers

but it was about ENABLING them to do the job the universe/”skaia” (not that life is strange even.... HAS a skaia, but its easy for terminology) had planned for her. which was to fuck over jefferson HARD

the only problem is that to my memory the game never explains this is whats happening. and so when chloe dies youre like “wow nothing mattered.” but the game was never about saving chloe. it was always only ever about solving a kidnapping/murder mystery

it was ALWAYS about that

chloe was never going to stay alive. ever. the final choice was whether or not to return to the alpha timeline or not stay with her as an act of love and get wiped out along with the timeline

but the game doesnt explain this. or how the time travel powers came about or how they work or what they are AT ALL (from what i remember) so it all just seems convoluted and bullshitty

but in reality there IS something driving it. it only took me playing two other games to actually understand what that was.

which is why im not sure i can actually give the writers credit for it because i dont even know if THEY knew what was up or if they just made it up and it was just convenience i was able to apply meaning to it

the fact they (again as i remember) didnt address it in the game makes it really suspect though! and it makes it hard to support them as having done something intelligent. especially when it ended up with tons of players feeling cheated because it fell in line with popular “the illuion of choice telltale style” game lines. so when the final moment came it confused them because nothing informed them that it was ALWAYS a quest of futility and despite maxs emotions or feelings about it, it was never about saving chloe. she was only a tool to achieve the goal of outting jefferson

which i cant say i totally approve of from a general point of view! especially in light of “bury your gays.” but from a time travel-esque mechanic point of view.... yeah it makes sense....

but it doesnt really leave a good feeling. because max and by proxy the player were always under the misunderstanding they could save chloe when in reality they never could.

and the entire game was just. a quest of futility. (in that regard)

but we didnt know. to make it proper, the game shouldve let us into the secret. even if max didnt know and felt cheated at the end, the audience wouldnt feel the same. itd be dramatic irony. wed feel bad but wed know why it had to happen.

anyway, as the Old Woman says in virtues last reward:

“Death was always inevitable.“

[regular-lord-reckoner]

so like...this goddamn game, tho 

um...so 

wow

that...happened 

first off, i really love it, i did 

i mean...anything that’s gonna break my heart gets an a+++ 

i guess the biggest spoiler??? 

i scarified chloe 

i didn’t want to, i really didn’t, but...idk

i dunno how it plays out if you do the opposite but like...i watched her die anyway over and over again 

it seemed like nothing i did, no matter how many times i changed things, she always ended up dying 

and so...she knew. she knew and accepted it and told me to 

because it was either that or let literally everyone else fucking die and have the entire town be destroyed 

i already fucked up with kate, i just...couldn’t do it again 

and after the LITERAL FUCKING HELL i went through trying to fix things i just...yeah 

it sucks because ofc i get the option to have a queer romance but nope!!! one of ‘em’s gotta die!!! 

that part irritates me, but again, i dunno what happens if you sacrifice the town instead, maybe you get to be together happily ever after. i’ll have to look up what the ending is like 

but all in all, it was a really good game 

i really liked the atmosphere it created, i liked the feeling, i liked the soundtrack 

the controls were still kinda shitty, especially at the end when i was trapped in fucking hell trying to run from everyone like...jesus christ that was aggravating as fuck but i suppose that’s the point, right? 

it was...intense, for sure. and it does make you think 

the only other thing i don’t like is the david aspect 

like...okay, so he’s not as bad of a guy as he’s made out to be, cool 

and yeah, shit could have played out differently, but...there’s a reality where he slaps chloe and that’s...not okay???? he’s still an asshole???? 

also i get that he was trying to look into shit, to figure out what was going on, but...would it really have been that hard to clue someone else in so he didn’t seem like a paranoid ex-army guy obsessed with invading other people’s privacy?? 

plus it didn’t seem like he was ultimately helping kate that much, it seemed like he was making things worse for her 

just...idk 

i appreciate him saving me from the dark room, i do. but i’m still not sold on this idea of like, “ooops, shouldn’t have judged him so quickly, huh??” ‘cause no, he’s still a jerk 

same goes for nathan like...okay cool, jefferson pushed him and he has a shitty home life 

again, cool. he still didn’t have to participate. he still didn’t have to do any of what he did and he could have turned jefferson in a loooong time ago and spared a lot of suffering and rachel would probably still be alive so...i really can’t feel all that bad for him??? 

victoria i can get behind forgiving more

she seems genuinely remorseful for how she treated kate and even though i’m still not 100% on board, like i don’t want to be her friend, i do think max is right in that deep down somewhere her heart’s in the right place, she’s just deeply insecure and she needs to sort that shit out 

so...yeah. overall, tho, still a really good game and the parts leading up to the end were just...fucking surreal 

i don’t play a whole lot of games, so she scene with the hallway really got me like...christ. oh, and the fucking birds hitting the window?? holy fucking hell, i...yeah. okay. 

and even though parts of it were stressful and annoying, it was neat how everything from the past was laid out the way it was, especially when i was walking through all of my memories with chloe, that was really neat 

just...wow, yeah. i’m gonna be thinking about this one for a while. it’ll be interesting upon replays how i’ll see things turn out next time. although there’s part of me that feels like playing it again is...almost like max trying to go back in time and i’m like...is this gonna cause my town to get wiped off the map? XD

[majoringinsarcasm]

Did Nathan Really Kill Rachel?

With BTS finished there have been a number of ‘character inconsistencies’, but I’m bringing it back to season one with what probably sounds like a dumb question.

We know that Nathan was Jefferson’s wannabe protege, and that he got drugs from Frank and gave them to Jefferson to use for his ‘art’. It’s been a while so I may be lacking details, but here’s what we know, and what I know.

Prior to the games beginning, Rachel has been missing for six months. The date on the poster says April, which would be the spring semester of Blackwell for that year. Six months is a long time, long enough to forget small details. But not long enough to forget that you killed someone.

We know Nathan is familiar with how to use the drugs, some at least, considering what Chloe tells Max at the end of episode one about meeting him in a bar and then ending up back at his dorm. As well as Kate at the Vortex club party.

But we also know that Jefferson is a fucking disgusting liar, as he eludes to placing Chloe’s death on Nathan, even though we’re to assume he was already killed by Jefferson himself, which is what Nathan’s voicemail to Max has us to believe. And even if he didn’t kill Nathan and Nathan was just scared shitless this shows that Nathan fears Jefferson a great deal.

And finally, in what I think is episode four? Or maybe the end of three. When Max wears Rachel’s shirt to the Two Whales. When Nathan sees her his face lights up in happiness and relief, before it’s dashed when he sees that it’s Max. Which is an odd reaction for someone who has killed the person he thought had shown up.

There is the picture of Nathan and Rachel in what looks? to be the junkyard. But if Nathan for sure killed Rachel and knew that she was dead then why would he think she’s back? Is it his mental illness messing with him? Or does he not know, in that moment, that she’s dead?

It’s a crazy idea, and I’m not one of those ‘oh my sweet baby Nathan’ ppl (even tho I don’t think those ppl exist and it’s just fandom yelling at ppl who say they like Nathan’s character but that’s not the topic at hand)

What if for Nathan everything was staged. Jefferson was obsessed with Rachel in a way he hadn’t been with others, aside from maybe Kate in a sense. It wouldn’t be hard for him to have Nathan do all his poses then send him on his way. If Nathan did overdose Rachel he wouldn’t know, because how could he? The drugs turn the victims into rag dolls just like a corpse, so what difference would it make to him?

I guess there are two questions:

Did Nathan really kill Rachel? Or is Jefferson lying because why would he tell the truth? He’s planning to overdose Max as he’s talking to her. What if he’s just using Nathan as a scapegoat because HE, Jefferson, got too ‘excited’ when he finally captured his ‘favorite model’. He doesn’t like not having control, and killing someone by accident would be a slight in his perfect record book of grossness.

OR

Did Nathan overdose Rachel, and couldn’t tell when she died. Because according to google

“Overdose death can occur within minutes of dosing, but more commonly takes a period of hours after use, during which time the person is unresponsive and often snores loudly. Anecdotal reports suggest that when heroin is taken by injection, an overdose hit can lead to loss of consciousness within seconds.”

So. That’s my late night question. After time has passed you get over the shock and can look into things a bit more. Not that 2013 Nathan isn’t like, in need of jail time, because he is. Idek what I’m trying to say. Discuss, send me feedback if you want. Thanks for reading?