kurokosvanguard

[kurokosvanguard]

hella

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And it’s done!

We still haven’t gotten new Asami content so her story feels a little unresolved for me... but if you’ve been following me for a while now, you’ll know I loooovvve filling in gaps (sometimes with angst), so here’s a heart-breaker-six-pager! 🥹💖

I put a little more effort into this one, so I am really proud of it. I hope you enjoyed it! 🥹💖

(Also, in an effort to make this more authentic to the world, I did my best in searching a dictionary and Chinese translations for engine parts and Hiroshi’s name, so I apologize for any mistranslations. 🙏)

[kurokosvanguard]

what’s your fav bloom and rage outfit/style choice for the girls? Also is any of the specific characters look your fav?

I can't choose just one! Now that DN is uploading their Artstation portfolios, these are really easy to share as well.

For Kat, I love her second casual outfit. I love the cutoff overall shorts with the oil stain, which implies she repurposed old overalls into shorts. I love the bandana to get her hair out of her face but also adds a cute girlish touch. I love her purple t-shirt with star motifs. It's just an overall fun outfit for a kid who wants to have a good time outside.

I love all the concert outfits and how very over-the-top, 90's riot grrrl they are. Swann's glam makeup look is my fave though for how the colors complement the others' while still feeling distinctly Swann with the moth shape. Also, purple lipstick! And GLITTER!

Adult Nora as a whole both intrigues and saddens me, because compared to how enthusiastic and excitable she was as a teen, it's so much more difficult to get on her good side as an adult. Her avoidant tendencies are much more pronounced and her overall monochromatic look is so much more conformist and generic than her wild teen self. She's literally wearing business casual when reuniting with her friends. Girl, you're at a bar!! Still, I love her overcoat. I love a good winter peacoat, it's so timeless and looks great on all genders.

I also like Autumn's second casual look as a teen. It's so funny how 90s and Y2K fashion is making a comeback with today's teens, because Autumn's outfit wouldn't look out of place in 2025. She really nailed the fashion rule "baggy top and tiny pants OR tiny top and baggy pants" to a tee! Her crop top contrasting with sweatpants conveys "I'm a confident, sporty, skater gal who also is down to laze on the couch with video games." The skeleton design adds a cool, slightly edgy touch to her normally very cautious and serious personality.

The "riot" masks that the girls wear during their raid on the ranch goes SO hard, but I love how it still has that slight amateur, teen crafter look to it. I love the thought of Nora staying up all night to design the perfect themed mask for each of them and how all the protagonists have an artsy, nerdy side to them. They're definitely well-made masks, but they have visible uneven stitches, streaks of paint, and the textures suggest cheap materials. But it amazes me how DN went the extra mile to enhance the visual language of the game with this rougher, DIY look.

All the girls have their own handwriting, and it's consistent. Swann leaves doodles and old homework assignments all over her room, and they were clearly hand drawn by an artist at DN and have realistic imperfections like stains and scribbles. Kat's journal is a generic composition notebook that she covered in personalized stickers and slogans. When Kat mentioned the Bloom & Rage stickers I thought, "That's weird, when did she have time to design and print her own?" But then you see them, and of course they're not custom designed stickers, but just dollar store stickers that she wrote "BLOOM & RAGE" on with marker. The girls make do with what they have, and it just adds this really nice cohesive, charming look to the whole thing. Especially compared to (again, sorry) Max's journal in Double Exposure with these cartoony, borderline stock image drawings and such boring, corporate UI all over the game.

But perhaps my favorite outfit is adult Swann's. It just looks SO cozy and SO comfy and SO her, exactly what a girl like her would wear by middle age. I bet the artists at DN pulled up Goblincore moodboards and said "That's it! That's our main girl!" She wears those earth tones beautifully. When Double Exposure was revealed, I was disappointed that (AGAIN, I AM SORRY!) Max seemed to be generically prettied up with feminine adult clothes of all random colors that didn't distinguish her from any other young working professionals her age. But what I love about Swann's adult look is that coupled with the fact that she learned to love herself as she aged, her 2022 outfit so clearly conveys that confidence and self-love. The overall silhouette hasn't changed (I bet Swann cried with joy when the low-rise jeans trend of the 2000s finally died off 😂), she still has her high-waisted clothes and backpack. But her visual evolution communicates way more narratively than Max's look in DE; Swann's outfit actually says something. At one point, adult Swann reveals, "I didn't feel like I was the type of girl who was 'allowed' to be into sexy, girly stuff." Aka, fashion choices that society said she wouldn't look "conventionally attractive" in due to her weight. So when we finally see her at the end of the game, it's extra rewarding to notice the longer hair, makeup, nail polish, jewelry, and skirt, which all wonderfully communicate that Swann has embraced her queerness, femininity, and inner and outer beauty as a plus-sized woman. I love Swann's character arc so much. Also, her tattoo is fucking sick.

Thank you for asking!! Dontnod (Juliette, Ricardo, Sam Bradley, and the rest of the art team) seriously knocked it out of the park with these character designs and the overall look of the game.

[kurokosvanguard]

mothgirl chronicles

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Chapter 3 of LIS DE being like:

Prompt

[kurokosvanguard]

Honestly, Safi and Yasmin's relationship was so interesting, even though we only get it from Max's perspective.

Let's be real, Yasmin is underrated af as an antagonist. She literally puts Safi on a wild goose chase and can basically pull the strings to dismantle anyone's reputation at Caledon. Max kept on her good side mostly, but imagine how scary things could get if she wasn't!

Hiya. Do you think Safi ever gave Vinh the opportunity to tell her how deeply regretful he is about the Maya statement? Also, don’t you think Vinh was heavily manipulated by Yasmin? Seeing as she was his school’s president she would have known about his poor background and maybe she knew he had a crush on her daughter…

Thanks : )

Hello, friend.

Safi definitely doesn't know that Vinh regretted it. She tells Max this when they talk in chapter 4: "Caledon said jump, at least I have the humanity to regret asking how high" implying that she regretted it, but Vinh didn't. So they never talked about it or maybe, if Vinh ever told her, Safi didn't believe him.

Also it's an interesting thought that Vinh was able to tell Max in both timelines how much he regrets it, but never to Safi directly. It's very interesting.

I don't think Yasmin knows about Safi and Vinh's relationship, or his feelings for her daughter, but she 100% manipulated him in other ways, his financial situation probably a big part of it. In fact I think she manipulated everyone, Safi and Gwen too, in their own weak points. And all of this to "protect" Caledon.

That's why I have the theory that Vinh vandalized Safi's car on Yasmin's orders.

Sure, she didn't directly say "throw a cow skull at my daughter's car windshield," of course.

BUT I can't believe Yasmin—my precious college's reputation and my perfect daughter—Fayyad would find out about this vandalism, just pay the bill, and move on without doing anything about it.

So I guess she went to Vinh and told him to "do something", whatever he can, to keep Safi distracted for a few days while she got her book canceled.

So, yes, in my opinion, she is very manipulative with Vinh and other characters.

[kurokosvanguard]

rant about double exposure's Amanda Thomas (i adore her, for anyone that's worried reading that - this is long)

god no one's gonna care about this 💀 the thing that makes me so upset about Amanda Thomas's character is how little she has to do with the main plot and how much of a FUMBLE that is.

i love Amanda. i want to put her in my pocket and carry her around. i made a bee-line for her every single time i was in The Snapping Turtle just so i could have a surface-level five-sentence-total conversation with her. but she really is only there to romance Max. and that totally sucks.

she's 10x less enjoyable if you don't romance her. i feel like that rings true for every romance options in the franchise with the exception of Chloe and Rachel - it's a flaw of the writing, in this case, but i understand how it came about. they don't wanna lock players out of her romance if they decide that they actually do wanna romance her later on (because, cmon, her introduction you speak for maybe two minutes before you're given the option - granted, i loved her immediately but not everyone's gonna feel that way), but they don't account for people who don't wanna romance period. she flirts with you very openly like she didn't call HERSELF your friend just an episode ago. it can feel hot and cold, and people are allowed to be annoyed by that

anyway

after some thinking, i'm realizing she reminds me of a worse Steph, not worse as in behavior but worse in writing. Steph had ties to the plot, she knew the characters Alex had issues with WELL. Gabe was her BEST FRIEND, the ENTIRE reason she stayed in Haven Springs, she was with Alex the same amount of time Alex was with Ryan. and even THEN Steph falls short because she already dealt with her flaws in Wavelengths, but at least she got a DLC to show how she dealt with her trauma after Arcadia Bay

Amanda isn't really friends with any of the main cast. not with Safi, not with Moses, not with Reggie or Diamond or ANYONE ELSE. EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE ALL IN THE TURTLE ALL THE FUCKING TIME

and she knows them well enough. when Amanda talks about Safi in a post, she mentions that Safi was the first person to sign up for an open-mic night that Amanda was really worried no one would go to

in the dead timeline, she keeps a gingerbread house on the side specifically FOR Moses so he can build one, because she knows he would probably want to even though Safi's dead.

like, when you go with Moses and Safi to see the meteors, Amanda's posts implies that she would've gone had she not had work. but have they EVER fucking hung out? canon content implies they do not.

she has an entire LIFE separate from the plot:

• people apparently fucking ADORE her. like, everyone in town. Max makes a comment about everybody having a huge crush on her, both men and women. she's just generally well-liked

• she's the oldest of six, she has TWO NAMED SISTERS, Melissa and Ashley, that exist in the world and even comment on Max's posts. i think one of them - i believe it's Ashley - makes a joke about U-Hauls and Amanda being a huge lesbian

• she likes to cook. she makes Max HOMEGROWN salad (girl, homegrown) and FOCCACIA. she cooks her siblings breakfast. one of the polaroids you can find is her cooking Max breakfast - i'm going to go out on a limb and assume acts of service is a love language for her

• she names people she is friends with that do not show up ANYWHERE in game (Henry, Eddie, Teegan, etc.)

• a good chunk of her conversations with Max are about music. a polaroid you can find includes them finally going to a concert. one of the first conversations you have with her is her gushing about the Vermont bands

• she's Cherokee and Abenaki, she talks about the indigenous people on campus having a place to congregate and have a community. i think she mentions they're moving something to do with weaving (? - some kind of craft, something with beads) to the Turtle because she wants them to be able to do it. she fucking hosts an indigenous artist exhibit INSIDE the Turtle

• i think she talks about volunteering at a soup kitchen?

• she mentions her therapist in-game three times, two times in the same scene, about becoming too attached to people way too quickly and about making good choices (when she decides to NOT sleep with Max - which, boooooo 🍅🍅🍅 more power to her, god knows i would've jumped at the chance). Max calls her a control freak - jokingly, but still (and it's true - she's not the owner of the Turtle, but she's basically running it)

all of this would be fine if it was acknowledged by the narrative. and it IS, but only by HER

she doesn't know Max, not really. but she desperately wants to. and she expresses that so many fucking times. but you never get the chance to.

it drives me nuts. you make a character with lots of charm - at least, to me; i think Samantha Bowling did a fantastic job, props to her - and do nothing with her. it's like DeckNine knows how to give a character the illusion of being fleshed out without doing any of the work to MAKE them fleshed out

[kurokosvanguard]

Spoilers for Life is Strange DE chapter 2

This image is ridiculous

Reminds me so much of these memes

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Never would have pinned Vinh as the emotionally intelligent one

Something that I’ve come to notice is how surprisingly observant Vinh is when it comes to Max, specifically on an emotional level.

It’s interesting how, like Safi, Vinh is also able to pick up on the fact that Max has some sort of troubled past that she’s trying to suppress. But I feel like it’s even more impressive on Vinh’s part considering the fact that by comparison, Safi had been far closer to Max than he had been up until this point. I think it’s possible that Vinh is able to recognize a lot of the weariness that Max has been carrying around because he himself can relate to it, while also knowing what it’s like to try and hide it all away. It honestly makes me think back to the way the marketing described him as being “intelligent while also wielding social power”, as I think Vinh is someone who has trained himself to be able to read other people efficiently for his own needs in order to climb the social ladder, while in turn it has also made him a surprisingly emotionally intelligent person.

In contrast, it seems like Amanda has trouble picking up on Max’s hidden trauma, and is only able to view the more surface level stuff such as her grief over Safi’s death.

I think what intrigues me the most however is there scene together in Chapter 3. Max at this point in the game is feeling extremely depressed/insecure after Safi blew up at her, while also still reeling from everything that happened with Alderman. Amanda however isn’t able to detect the severity of Max’s demeanor until much later on in the scene.

It isn’t until Max continues to make self-deprecating comments about herself that Amanda is finally able to realize that something truly bad must have happened.

And this is no shade to Amanda! Not everyone has the ability to quickly pick up on someone’s emotional distress (we can’t all be miss Alex Chen!), and the girlie herself clearly has her own baggage to process considering the fact that she goes to therapy. But I think it’s interesting how Vinh is almost immediately able to notice Max’s dire mental state by comparison.

Something to take note of is that unlike with Amanda, Max actually does open up to Vinh about why she’s feeling so down here. When Amanda asked her what’s wrong, Max just kinda pivoted the conversation into questioning why the former even likes her, and from there she never got the opportunity to actually explain what had actually been bothering her despite it making more sense for her to do so in that timeline (minus the Alderman stuff lol) since Safi is obviously still alive over there. But with Vinh she just lets most of it out, to the point where she even slips up briefly and mentions how Safi is angry at her only to immediately realize her mistake.

And I love that! I love how Max has grown comfortable enough with Vinh in order to start being emotionally vulnerable around him. Up until this point she’s only really shown this type of vulnerability with Dead World Moses, which makes sense given the fact that they were both really close to Safi. This is something I think a lot about when it comes to their relationship post-game and how I think Vinh will be first person after Safi that Max will open up to about Arcadia Bay/Chloe and all of the trauma surrounding her past.

[kurokosvanguard]

Eeeee~~~~

The red lotus piece was always one of my fav lok fanarts, this makes me so happy

Korrasami Week 2024 - Day 6 - Band AU

(this is a reference to the original image of the red lotus band drawing by Ryu)

@korrasamiweek2024

[kurokosvanguard]

safiya/max :

- canonically obsessed with each other. vinh says that safi couldn’t shut up about max, and they spend almost every day attached at the hip

- both clearly mourning their ‘soulmate’ aka codependent girl best friend and are finally thriving because they’ve recreated that relationship via its foundation

- safi picked up max the day she arrived at caledon and they’ve been close since

- secret keepers. they don’t know anything about each other because direct questions get cagey responses, thus they snoop and dance around one another instead

- max had a piece of safi inside her and it was in her heart and it didn’t hurt her. safi laments about not wanting to remove it. need i say more?

- physically intimate in ways that are explicitly romantic …

- god complex meets chronic survivor’s guilt. themes of godhood and girlhood <3 yay

- safi said max caulfield if you don’t agree to wait for me i’ll probably ruin your life down the line because i’m obsessed with you btw. if you care

- and max said idc that safi hurt all those people because i fixed it! so the crimes are okay now yknow

max/vinh :

- max is super ( & embarrassingly so ) attracted to vinh that it’s brought up three seperate times … canonically has thought about kissing him, finds his shirtless mirror selfie hot, and thinks about how she’d be distracted by vinh nude

- vinh was extremely jealous of max when she and safi got close

- dysfunctional coping meets even more dysfunctional coping. they’re drinking on the job and vinh’s already dropping the ‘i like you’ bomb

- very quick obsessive attachment on vinh’s end … is reeling from safi’s death and clings to max like a life line

- ( will totally discard his character development and mope actively if max rejects him. petty! max likes that in a person )

- despite her best efforts max feels guilty about kissing safi’s totally not ex and reggie’s totally not boyfriend and tries to excuse her actions. doesn’t really work <3

- vinh tells max at every opportunity he is a bottom and max is like :) as she proceeds to fluster him into oblivion

- when vinh acts clingy, max doesn’t chide him or discourage him really. she loves clingy people. especially clingy people she’s kissed.

- he is a bisexual whore who is now enjoying the basic intimacies of hand holding and chaste kisses and maybe having a serious relationship. max is also tickled by their little moments and is eager to actually start healing … for real this time!!

safiya/vinh :

- maya and safi were up each other’s asses, meanwhile vinh was trailing after them like a helpless lost puppy

- safiya and vinh have fucked. probably more than once! and it was probably a miserable, horrific experience every time

- vinh is obsessed with safi and not only does he keep pictures of her in his phone he’s also willing to do everything and anything to spare her pain she doesn’t need or something

- canonically stated that safi doesn’t care about vinh but boy does she love to dress up as him! he also has a piece of her with him but safi’s not thinking about that

- four plus years of history

- safi’s mom added herself to their relationship and that sure … added to their dynamic!

- whatever they feel for each other is complex and full of contradictions … on behalf of them both having horrible issues with their respective identities and an aversion to being vulnerable with others

- ( on that note, the two share a lot of similarities that forced them apart rather than brought them together )

- safi’s eager to try on her vinh cosplay if it means she can romance or fuck max <3

[kurokosvanguard]

I find Double Exposure to be a deeply flawed game that I have come to enjoy nitpicking and analysing, as well as for the purpose of making up cooked theories for the fun of it. At first, I was swept up by the hatred, as have many others. But as time passes, I have noticed that there are some good elements to the game that are yet to be dissected in great detail, even though they don't necessarily tie up the story in a satisfying way.

Let us have our safe spaces to extend meaningful discourse please instead of making every analysis thread be about how they stuffed up the romances, does that make sense??

I honestly need people (those who keep whining about Pricefield and Chloe not being in the game) to stop pretending that Life is Strange Double Exposure is somehow a bad game when it's not.

It's actually a good game and I love it.

Max and Chloe not being together anymore and Chloe not being in Double Exposure≠ bad game.

[kurokosvanguard]

Omg okay so i js saw a tiktok asking for crazy LiS opinions and literally all the comments were SO LAME and repetitive so now i gotta dig for some real drama:

What's your wildest Life is Strange opinion? (nothing boring like "DE wasn't that bad!!" or "LiS2 is the best game😊😊", REAL interesting stuff)

I don't feel like an opinion juicy enough to cause mass drama?

Probably my overall controversial opinion is that Joyce wasn't a very good Mother to Chloe, and was prioritizing her own need for stability over Chloe's well-being.

I don't think she's an awful person who didn't love her daughter or anything like that, but I do think she failed as a parent on several levels.

I think her worst mistake was the fact that she brought David into their lives and then actively ALLOWED him to overstep Chloe's boundaries. Mostly because that was a bad choice, but also because she's a huge hypocrite who will kick David out if Max tells her that he overstepped HER boundaries. I also think she really failed when she tried to force Chloe's grief to work on a palatable time table.

I understand that it's been five years since William died in the first LIS, and most people think that, by that time, everyone should be moved on from the dead. But there's a quote that says " “How do you process grief?” “By running from it until it finds me in the middle of a sunny street on a beautiful day.” that sticks out to me every time someone tries to suggest that grief should be on a time table that makes the living comfortable.

Grief will always catch up to you eventually, and trying to run from it will only stop you from processing it. I really think Joyce trying to force Chloe to move on so fast trapped her in a cycle of unprocessed grief that could have been avoided if Joyce just gave her time to feel all the rage and sadness she needed to feel in order to move on.

That's probably my most controversial take because it seems like a lot of people see Joyce as this tragic figure who's trying her best and it's like...I don't think she is doing her best. I think she THINKS she's doing her best, but I don't think she's actually doing her best in practice.

Because like...she could married David and still put in boundaries with him. She could have married David and accepted that he was her husband but not Chloe's Father. She could have married David and still allowed Chloe time to grieve. But she didn't. Because at the end of the day, she prioritized her grief and her need for stability over her daughter's grief and need for stability. All for a guy that she ends up leaving in multiple realities.

[kurokosvanguard]

Little known fact: Did you know that Max wasn't the only witness? This random low poly and t-posing npc hiding behind the wall also saw everything that happened in the girls' bathroom.

[kurokosvanguard]

Elegantly worded poetic thoughts!

If you asked Chloe Price what type of fire Rachel was, she'd say she was the light in a fireplace. Warm, comforting, and bright in a way that made her feel at home.

If you asked Steph Gingrich what type of fire Rachel was, she'd say she was a bonfire. Warm and fun and made to burn bright on a sandy beach in the middle of LA.

If you asked James and Rose Amber what type of fire Rachel was, they'd say she was a forest fire. Beautiful and engulfing yet burning dangerously hot in a way that needed to be contained.

If you asked Nathan Prescott or Mark Jefferson what type of fire Rachel was, they'd say she was the light in a candle. Beautiful and inviting, yet inevitably snuffed out all the same.

If you asked Max Caulfield what type of fire Rachel was, she'd say she was the fire in a torch. Guiding and endlessly bright in a way she could only hope to shine.

However, if you asked Rachel Amber what type of fire she was, she'd ask if she were a flame at all.

[kurokosvanguard]

An Interesting detail about photo jumping

Something that I realised in DE is that Max, for each time a collectable polaroid is found, can unconsciously 'hear' the memories of photos for prolonged periods without having to do photo jumps physically. I see this as a more organic evolution of her photo jumping ability when compared to LiS1.

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Life Is Strange (2015) dev. Dontnod Entertainment