u/Pilgrimzero

I've been thinking about how the Life is Strange TV show could eventually adapt Double Exposure and Reunion if it chooses the Bae ending and keeps Chloe alive.

Chloe and Max bring the fans, so it makes sense to continue with them instead of how the games going into LiS2 and TC and then how DE and RE handle them.

I actually think they could keep the Max/Chloe breakup from the games and make it work really well.

The important thing is why they broke up. Max couldn't stop looking backward. She kept using Rewind, couldn't let go of the past, and Chloe eventually couldn't build a future with someone who might literally erase conversations and arguments and try them again. Chloe still loved Max, but Max wasn't moving forward.

So when Double Exposure begins, Max and Chloe have been broken up for a while.

Max goes to Caledon and becomes a teacher. She's built a new life with Safi, Moses, Amanda, etc. In a way, she's finally doing exactly what Chloe wanted her to do: living her life instead of constantly trying to rewrite it.

Then Safi is murdered.

Max instinctively tries to Rewind.

She can't.

Instead, she discovers that she can Shift into another timeline where Safi is still alive.

For the first half of the season, I'd keep Chloe away. Max investigates Safi's murder and deals with the two timelines much like she does in the game. Eventually, though, things become too much and Max realizes there is exactly one person in the world she can call and say, "I have powers again," who will immediately believe her.

Chloe.

I could imagine their first conversation after not talking for months being something like:

Chloe: "Max?"

Max: "I need your help."

Chloe: "Are you rewinding?"

Max: "No."

Chloe: "...What are you doing?"

And Chloe comes to Caledon.

Not because they're suddenly back together. Not even necessarily because Chloe thinks that's a good idea.

She comes because it's Max.

From there, we get adult Max and Chloe — still in love, still hurt, broken up, but forced to work together again.

And there's an important difference now:

Max can't Rewind.

Chloe knows every conversation they're having is real. Max can't erase an argument and try again. She can't redo something until she gets the reaction she wants. If Max says something vulnerable to Chloe, Chloe knows this is the only version of that conversation that exists.

At the same time, Chloe gets to see the life Max built without her. She meets Safi and Moses. She meets Amanda. Amanda could even still be a potential love interest for Max without turning it into some ridiculous jealous love triangle.

And Chloe slowly realizes that Max actually has changed.

Likewise, Max realizes that even after everything that happened between them, when she truly needed Chloe, Chloe came.

So over the second half of DE, they start finding their way back to each other.

Then you reach the DE ending.

Max refuses to accept Safi's death and ultimately merges the Living and Dead Caledon timelines.

And THAT is when I would start the Reunion setup.

After the merge, Chloe begins remembering things that never happened to her.

She remembers Nathan shooting her in the Blackwell bathroom.

She remembers Max going back.

She remembers asking Max to sacrifice her.

She remembers dying.

She remembers Arcadia Bay surviving.

In other words, Max didn't just mess with the two Caledon timelines. Somehow she also stirred up the old Bay/Bae timelines.

Now Reunion begins.

And I think this makes the Max/Chloe relationship arc incredibly strong.

Chloe originally left Max because Max couldn't stop going backward.

During DE, Chloe falls in love with her again partly because Max finally can't go backward. Max has to live with her decisions. Every conversation matters. Every mistake sticks.

They reconcile.

Then Reunion gives Max Rewind back.

And that's the real test.

At first Max uses it because she has to. Caledon is going to burn. People are going to die. Max and Chloe work together to prevent it.

But gradually the old problem comes back.

One more Rewind.

One more attempt.

I can fix this.

I can save everyone.

I know what I did wrong this time.

Max isn't doing this because she's selfish. Quite the opposite. That's the tragedy of Max. If she believes she has the ability to save someone, she has an incredibly hard time accepting that person's death. Having the power makes her feel responsible for the outcome. She's Supermax. Like Spider-man giving up his marriage to save May. It's what heroes do (even if it's very stupid FU OMD)

First it was Chloe.

Then Safi.

Then everyone at Caledon.

And eventually you reach the photograph at the end of Reunion.

Max has another chance.

She can go back again.

Maybe this time she can save everybody.

And Chloe realizes that despite everything Max has learned, Max still can't make herself stop.

So Chloe does it for her. Saving her from herself.

She destroys the photograph.

And that's where I think keeping the breakup actually makes the story better.

The first time Max couldn't stop living in the past, Chloe left her.

This time?

Chloe stays.

She doesn't abandon Max because Max has fallen back into the same destructive pattern. She takes away the means of doing it and basically tells her:

We're living in this world now. Together.

Then Max and Chloe finally return to Arcadia Bay.

Max goes home to the place she's spent years psychologically running back to...

except this time she can't Rewind. Her powers once again fading.

She can't fix anything.

She can't change anything.

She can only accept what happened.

And Chloe is standing beside her.

I think that would make a surprisingly coherent three-season Max arc:

LiS: Max discovers she can change the past and saves Chloe.

DE: Max loses Rewind, finally starts living forward, and finds Chloe again.

Reunion: Max gets Rewind back, nearly falls into the same cycle, and Chloe finally helps her accept that some things have to remain in the past.

If the TV series goes with Chloe surviving LiS1, I'd love to see them do something along these lines rather than simply removing the DE breakup entirely.

I’ve been going to a LiS fan fiction rabbit hole. Loved a new Thomfield one by BonesandWatts. And currently reading Defy Fate which is a Amberpricefield tale.
So good.

Been reading on AO3.

What else you got? The cream of the crop!

And thanks!

Victoria bullies Kate so much and so hard that Kate attempts to jump off a building.

And afterwards Vic tries to capitalize on the attempt for her own benefit. Not to say Vic can't grow as a person but wasn't really until post Storm. Heck I bet if you choose Bay over Bae she doesn't change at all.

Yet, people want to hook them up? Her bully and tormentor. Every single day since Kate went to that party up until she tried to jump. Online and offline.

Like, I can kind of get Hermione and Malfoy, to bring up another weird ship. She stands up to him. Heck, he's the lesser in all of that. He starts a fight and she typically finishes it.

Vic and Kate is just a person kicking a puppy and then you congratulate the kicker.

Make it make sense aside from "I just have fetish you can't understand."

Edit: Not trying to yuck anyones yum, my apologizes if it came off that way, I just really don't get it. You do you though.

"It's so sad that Rachel was killed." Yes she shouldn't have been murdered. That sucks. But lets keep in mind she was ready to just vanish with Frank as soon as they were both ready without saying a word to Chloe.

Rachel and Chloe were not some star crossed lovers who would have ended up in a loving relationship. Rachel was ready to just vanish one day. She was tired of waiting for Chloe to be ready and latched onto Old Man Frank because he actually could just leave town. And you can bet as soon as they got to Cali or whatever she would have bailed on him to as soon as it was convenient.

Kind of funny that Chloe leaves Max one night, but at least she left a letter. Bae ending.

The only way Chloe and Rachel would have worked would have been (as seen in the comics) is if they both left Arcadia Bay together before Rachel's life spiraled into sex and drugs and depression. And even then in the comics she's ready to set Chloe aside to pursue her personal goals, and sadly Chloe is ready to put her life aside to follow Rachel anywhere. (See also Steph and her 2 most known relationships)

So, I guess Hot Take. Rachel and Chloe are not a relationship to put stock in. She was ready to just up and vanish on her without a word to go with Frank to wherever. Chloe would have bene lucky to even get a letter. #Amberprice Only in a comic book alt universe where they left a few years before Max ever came back.

In DE if you kiss Amanda (I have no idea about Vinh) Max is immediately "Let's go back to my place" IE she's DTF. Keep in mind they haven't really even gone out or anything yet.

And yes I know people hook up. I get it. She's almost 30. Max has experience in the ways of things.

It just seemed kind of funny to me because she wasn't really aware of Amanda flirting with her and kind of had to build up confidence to even approach her and then after 1 kiss it's time to bang. Which of course Amanda is also down... except she wants to make good decisions and not rush into things.

I was curious to everyone thoughts on this? I love the scene, its cute and funny. Especially after the "Eat you under the table" comment when she was embarrassed. I love Max/Amanda aka Thomfield.

Edit: just rewatched a scene from Reunion. While Max will break things off clean with Amanda and stay friends. She is fine with “Hooking up” with Vinh on the regular (if you choose that option).

Wild

Seriously good. It was started before Reunion thus it's an alt-world tale considering Reunion exists.

It's X-Mas in Haven Springs!

If you want more Max and Amanda which fans were screwed out of this is it for you. Chloe is there (and her new GF). Steph and Alex from True Colors (which get a better deal than the actual TC sequel novel barf).

I have never read Fanfic. I have little free time to just sit and read. I read this. I laughed. I cried. Cried some more. Laughed again.

From a LiS fan who rarely reads physical media (audiobooks!) and has little free time, let me tell you, this one is special.

To All of You - Chapter 1 - BonesandWatts (BonesJones256) - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own]