#lilothestich16

[arcadiabaytornado]

How do you feel about those who have rather strong oppositions towards Chloe? It seemed as if she gets more hate compared to the people that did her wrong like Joyce, David, Frank, Damon, Wells, Jefferson, and Nathan.

I don't feel great about them. What bothers me most about people who strongly oppose Chloe is how many of them don't give her character any thought. She does something that isn't great, and instead of going, "Hmm. Why does she act like that?" people just go, "Whelp. Guess she's a bitch that deserves no further thought."

Chloe is for sure in my pile of "Fair if you hate them because I'm not the opinion police, but I'm begging you to hate them correctly" characters. Like...there are some very genuine criticisms of her character, and she's not perfect, but she's not the antichrist for getting upset that her best friend who ghosted for five years can suddenly work a phone if Kate (Who Chloe didn't know was depressed.) calls. She's also not irredeemable for not liking her Mother's overbearing husband who she never wanted to have anything to do with in the first place.

And like you mentioned, it's very annoying when someone is willing to write out a 1'000 word think piece about David/Joyce/Frank/ETC, but they won't think about for Chloe for more than two seconds because she annoyed them.

Then you also have the misogyny aspects, which I've talked about a lot regarding her and Rachel, but it's worth repeating. Chloe is one of those characters that if someone says they don't like, I WILL ask them to elaborate. In my experience, they're either going to give me a well-thought-out character analysis that disagrees with my opinions but is still interesting, or they're basically going to say they hate women….and there's not a lot of in-between.

So I guess my feelings are that I disagree with them and as someone who loves critical analysis the lack of critical analysis they often give her drives me up a wall. Like yes I know that she's a flawed women, I'm still on my hands and knees begging you to look at her character critically before you decide that she's awful.

[arcadiabaytornado]

I don’t get why people keep justifying David’s abusive behavior?

My reigning theory is that some people look as nuanced characters and decide that they couldn't have been that bad if they're a shade of grey instead of down right evil.

David is complicated. He clearly has mental health issues and does care about his family despite how terrible he is at being a good father or husband. Neither of those facts excuse his behavior, but they give us a glimpse into what he's thinking.

It's also worth noting that David isn't trying to be abusive. He doesn't wake up every morning giggling and kicking his feet over how excited he is to slap Chloe. In his mind, he's giving tough love and trying to set her down the right path.

That's not an excuse for David because that's how most abusive people are. Most of them don't realize how bad their behavior is for a multitude of reasons. I mean, have you ever heard a parent whose child has cut contact with them talk about it? A lot of them think the lack of contact is undeserved, even though that's hardly ever the truth.

So I think that some people see that David has character traits that aren't just "abusive" and also recognize that he wasn't trying to be an asshole and therefore give him a pass. However, someone with redeeming or complex qualities can still be an abuser. Someone not trying to be an abuser can still be an abuser.

David was an abuser to Chloe even if you don't let him hit her. He's emotionally abusive and puts Chloe down to everyone around her at every chance he gets. He puts a wedge between her and Joyce, and clearly thinks he needs to "fix" her by overstepping his boundaries. He's not a good Father at all, but since he's not downright evil I think some people are to quick to give him a pass. Especially since even he's acknowledge that he was a bad Father in Life Is Strange 2.

(Also, I think the fact that he's in a game with Mark Jefferson helps his character perception a bit. David's awful at being a Father but he's a patron saint when holding him up next to Jefferson. I almost think people would be more critical of him if the main antagonist wasn't such a demented freak.)

[arcadiabaytornado]

Do you believe that Chloe loved and cared about Max and Rachel loved and cared about Chloe?

Chloe 100% loves and cares about Max. There's proof in that when they meet again in Episode 1 and Chloe immediately gives her dead Father's camera. I don't think anyone would give an object that sentimental away unless it were to someone they loved and cared for deeply.

Speaking strictly from what we see in Life Is Strange, I think Rachel cared about Chloe. Love can be debated, but there's plenty of stuff in the game to back up that Rachel at least cared. The junkyard letter she writes to Chloe about Mark is my biggest proof. She had planned to tell Chloe about their relationship but backed out because she feared Chloe would hate her. If Rachel had never cared, she wouldn't have that fear. Why worry about anger from someone you view indifferently?

There's also the fact that she shows Max in deer form somewhere safe for her and Chloe to go to during the storm. There's no other objective for this other than care. It couldn't have been out of manipulation because she's dead so there's nothing more to gain. So I think this is also pretty solid evidence that, at minimum, she cared for Chloe and her childhood friend's wellbeing.

So I think Chloe loves and cares for Max, while Rachel at least cared about Chloe. I wish we could have learned more about the Amberprice dynamic from Rachel's lens because it's hard to tell if she loved Chloe by the time Life Is Strange happens. I'm pretty sure she wasn't in love with Chloe by this point considering she was having relationships with other people, but that doesn't mean she didn't love her in a platonic or caring way. 

[arcadiabaytornado]

What are your thoughts on “The Worst Best Friend” Video about Life is Strange?

It's been awhile since I've watched that video, but from what I remember I agreed with or saw where he was coming from with maybe 1/5 of his points.

The other 4/5th of the time it seemed like he didn't analyze Chloe's character for more than five minutes, he said at least one thing that was downright false (That Chloe kills Frank during the first confrontation no matter what Max does.), and if I am remembering correctly some of the undertones seemed very misogynistic?

I know I didn't like the video and thought it wasn't well analyzed from a character standpoint. And I have no issues with people who don't like Chloe because at the end of the day you're free to dislike or like any character you want, but I really did not like the vibes with video was giving out.

[arcadiabaytornado]

Does the recast for Life is Strange: Before the Storm remind you of anything? It reminds me of the Funimation Dub for Danganronpa: The Animation and the Sentai Filmworks Dub for Squid Girl because in Danganronpa: The Animation, all the voice actors got replaced except for Bryce Papenbrook who got to reprise his role as Makoto Naegi from the game and for Squid Girl, all the voice actors got replaced except for Christine Marie Cabanos who got to reprise her role as Squid Girl.

Like the character's voice actor's being changed? I don't think I've played any games other than the Life Is Strange series that had such major voice acting changes. The first time I played Before The Storm I could've sworn Chloe sounded slightly different, but I couldn't put my finger on why until I saw the credits.

Rhianna DeVries did a fantastic job voicing Chloe, but it took me a bit to get adjusted to it considering I was used to Ashely Burch.