Property Of The Crown.

[rionaleonhart]

Just played through episode two of Life Is Strange: True Colors!



I love that Steph outright asks us, 'So, you into girls or what?' during an intense game of table football. There's a girl who doesn't beat around the bush. Solid strategy for distracting me, but I managed to make Alex answer 'both' and still win the match.

My first instinct was to advise Charlotte to take the settlement from the mining company, as pressing charges seemed likely to be upsetting and fruitless, but Rei talked me into telling her not to give in. I immediately regretted telling Charlotte to fight - I felt I'd stripped her of financial help and landed her with a lot of stress - but I'm feeling better about it after the end of the episode. Alex's goal seems to be to go after and bring down the mining company; I'm not sure if it can be done, but her chances have to be better if nobody takes the settlement.

Maybe fighting against them could help Mac, too. He's pretty awful, but I felt bad for him when I realised he was being blackmailed into taking the blame for Gabe's death.

I came across an 'open the gate' puzzle and refused to go through with it because I felt so weird about breaking into someone's back garden for no good reason. Which is a bit of a shame, because I suspect from Alex's 'somewhere there's a dog I need to pet' when I examined the nearby paw prints that I missed out on some dog petting.

Alex experiences joy and goes 'what the fuck is this?' (The goose story was incredible.)

Ryan's so traumatised. I can't wait to make out with him. I love that he's made a habit of standing on the edge of the ravine, staring down at the chasm he dropped his friend into.

I'm so excited about this ship. This awkward, sad connection built around the hole in their lives left by someone they both loved, whom one of them killed in front of the other. I've struck shipping gold and I'm dazzled by the potential.

Plus Ryan's the only living person in the world who knows about her power! And she's the only person who could ever forgive him for the action he's destroying himself over! Between that and the fact that they're the only two adults who were actually there when Gabe died, there's a lot between them that nobody else could truly understand. Secrets and terrible shared experiences binding them together so closely it feels claustrophobic.

Tem is watching me play, and we're having a difference of opinion over my intended course of action.

Tem: I think you should romance Steph.
Riona: I understand wanting to romance her. They do have good chemistry. It's just... I'm a monster, and Ryan's in so much pain.
Tem: You know what would leave him in even more pain? If you romanced Steph instead.

I'm sorry, Tem. This is the person I am. Ryan's drowning in guilt that's inescapably tied to Alex; Alex is struggling to cope with a tragedy that's inescapably tied to Ryan; what, am I supposed to not make them kiss? I can't resist that. I'm not that strong.



It'll probably be another few weeks before I can start episode three. I'm itching to play more, but in a way it's sort of nice that playing with Tem and Rei is forcing me to pace myself, and it's good to have company on this journey (even if they're both in agony over my determination to romance Ryan rather than Steph).

Comments

[pict]

Compared to Steph, Ryan is inextricably linked to the general storyline in a lot of ways; to the point where the game feels like it's presenting a Correct Option and an Alternate Option, rather than two options that have the same amount of weight, gravity, and input. I felt that way from parts two through five. It's a very interesting turnaround from a series that has historically prioritised the queer option. I think that I would be likely a bit more annoyed by if it I also didn't adore Ryan greatly. He's a fantastic character, so it's okay. ← That's how I judge all meta-ethical dilemmas fiction, or have for at least the past twelve hours.

Ryan's drowning in guilt that's inescapably tied to Alex; Alex is struggling to cope with a tragedy that's inescapably tied to Ryan; what, am I supposed to not make them kiss? I can't resist that. I'm not that strong.

Exactly! I'm so glad you get me. Even if we're the only two people on the whole of the internet (and your living room, apparently) that are on Team Ryan.

[rionaleonhart]

Compared to Steph, Ryan is inextricably linked to the general storyline in a lot of ways; to the point where the game feels like it's presenting a Correct Option and an Alternate Option, rather than two options that have the same amount of weight, gravity, and input.

That's really interesting! Life Is Strange has a history of presenting romance options who feel like they have different weights, but I really wasn't expecting Ryan to be the one with more weight before I started playing this game. (I'd say the series tends to historically prioritise the female option, rather than necessarily the queer option; Sean/Cassidy felt a bit more weighted than Sean/Finn to me.)

I'm glad Team Ryan exists, even if we're only a team of two!

[pict]

Sean/Cassidy felt a bit more weighted than Sean/Finn to me.

Wait, there were romance options in Life is Strange 2? I thought that was a myth.

[rionaleonhart]

Honestly, with the size of its fandom compared to the first game and the fact that it's being left out of the remastered collection, I'm starting to wonder if the entire game was a myth.

[pict]

I'm back.

... know that I share this with you against my better judgment.

[rionaleonhart]

I'll be honest: I saw this post earlier this morning, clicked through to the first fic recommended and realised I'd already read it.

[wolfy_writing]

I came across an 'open the gate' puzzle and refused to go through with it because I felt so weird about breaking into someone's back garden for no good reason. Which is a bit of a shame, because I suspect from Alex's 'somewhere there's a dog I need to pet' when I examined the nearby paw prints that I missed out on some dog petting.

Oh no! A virtual dog is going unpet! Maybe virtual people will pet it.

Ryan's so traumatised. I can't wait to make out with him.

I love this response!

Ryan's drowning in guilt that's inescapably tied to Alex; Alex is struggling to cope with a tragedy that's inescapably tied to Ryan; what, am I supposed to not make them kiss?

That would be ridiculous!

[rionaleonhart]

The gaming community is very concerned over virtual dogs going unpet! The Twitter account @CanYouPetTheDog is dedicated entirely to recording which games you can and can't pet dogs in.

To be honest, 'Ryan's so traumatised. I can't wait to make out with him' was the first line of this entry I actually wrote, and then I had to think of other things to say so I'd have an excuse to post it.