#but god I am turbodiving into a hell of my own making

[bulletbilltime]

Have y'all ever felt brainrot crystallize? Like something has just etched itself into your soul and will never go away? Even though you were already super into this thing, it's that little shove over the edge that lets you know that no, this is never going to go away. Has that ever happened to y'all?

Because that's where I'm at with my Life is Strange brainrot right now. I didn't think it could get *worse* but here we are. I'm gonna be a crusty old fart hearing the Max & Chloe song and getting war flashbacks. This stupid series is etched into my very being now.

I wish I could give a coherent explanation for why this game has clicked with me so much. There's so much to unpack there. The painted artstyle that evokes the dreamy nature of a memory. The themes of nostalgia, capturing a past long gone, returning to something old and it still being as fresh as it was the day you left it. Things feeling as if you never left at all. Being able to salvage something beautiful out of the discarded memories. A friendship that weathered even the worst of decays. Finding out that the bond was as solid as titanium. Even finding out that it was more than just a friendship, and perhaps a part of you always knew.

(And that's just like... a fraction of the thousands of things that make this goddamn game glue to my brain)

Sure, Life is Strange is far from a perfect game. But the feeling I've been getting as I replay through this game, seeing characters again after nearly 2 years of only reading about them in fanfics, seeing the bond between Max and Chloe... it's genuinely been such a special experience, already far more memorable than even my first playthrough has been. I can tell there's a part of me that's already bracing to make replaying Life is Strange every October into a tradition. And it's one I'm already looking forward to setting into motion.