“Life gets hard… make it better.”

Hi! I was pointed to your tumblr by a few folks and I just wanted to thank you for your thoughtfulness in writing about and interacting with the LiS games and the community. I love how you engage with others and their comments, and it shows what a curious mind and kind heart is at work. It is such an honor to have made a game you love and to have brought to life a character to whom you can relate. Thank you for what you put out into the world (we need more of this kind of passion), I hope you never stop. -Erika

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No way. No fucking way. First off, THANK YOU. I am utterly starstruck. You’re thanking ME?? And calling it an honor to have made a game that I love?? I should be thanking you!! The asks I’ve received showed me how many people from all walks of life found something in Alex that helped them feel seen and less alone, so from me and the rest of the LiS community, THANK YOU!!!

I can’t really say much more about your performance that I haven’t said already, but it really did grab me from the start and it was all I could think about after I finished the game. I hope you know just how much Alex means to so many fans, especially during a pandemic. And your engagement with D9 and fans really does have such a huge reach— your interviews with Webb and SE made me smile and laugh even on my bad days. I’ve admired from afar how well-spoken, kind, and funny(!!!) you are, and I can’t believe I can finally say it to you directly! I’m so happy you got the opportunity to bring Alex to life and were nominated for those awards because I can’t think of anyone better for the part!

I never could have anticipated that my random commentary on True Colors could have such an impact and stretch as far as D9! I can’t thank you enough for the encouragement and for taking the time to send such a heartfelt message. I promise I will never stop! :)

I think regardless a lot of people clocked that Mia's casting really exposed the white feminism of this fandom.

Im pretty sure that guy wasnt the first perspn to think that bc I also thought that and Im sure there are other people too who think the same. Really wish people didnt shy away from this topic honestly.

If right-wing gamers already hated Chloe, they would've had SO MUCH less tolerance for her if she was a WOC. I shudder to think what the reception would've been like.

I personally love Chloe and Rachel castings and I was stunned to find out that some people think Maisy and Esther aren't pretty enough to be Amberprice and that they 'deserve better' whatever that means. Actually people are pretty rude about Esther and how she's 'too weird looking' to be Rachel and again 'erm Rachel is supposed to be beautiful and they gave her to Esther??!'

Like y'all.....these are real people we are talking about. Let's not say fucked up things abiut Tatum, Maisy, Mia, Emily, Faly, Billy etc just bc this fandom has crazy expectations and can be really fucking mean.

Obviously people are allowed to have their feelings about the casting but like the way people are sharing them is so incredibly rude and lacks decorum. Lets all remember that the game is called Life is Strange and not America's Next Top Models.

The entire cast are all supposed to be your average everyday teenagers, why on earth do people want everyone to look unnaturally beautful like they all jumped out of the CW is beyond me but that's just how I see it.

Would love to know your opinion on this matter if you wanna say anything.

I was gonna make a separate post about the matter, so THANK YOU for bringing this up. The mass fan reaction to these castings has been so frustrating, ever since Maisy and Tatum were announced. I don't watch a lot of TV and I had zero expectations for who they would cast because it was likely that they'd cast unknown actors. Life is Strange won't have a Mario, Zelda, TLOU, or Fallout-level budget. They were always going to cast people you'd never heard of (which I elaborated on here back in September). And now they have and people are losing their goddamn minds.

I understand that this show has been highly anticipated for many years and it gave people a lot of time to build up expectations in their heads. For them, they want an actor who will dazzle them right away with some appearance or "vibe" that feels like the character jumped right out of the game. And just because Maisy is short, or Faly and Mia are Black, or Esther has a certain face shape, that illusion is ruined and people feel entitled to voice their opinions.

People forget that casting directors are looking for an actor who will nail the audition and the chemistry read. Maybe Emily, Mia, or Esther did a great Chloe audition, but Maisy is the one who booked it because she clicked the most with Tatum. Max and Chloe are the central relationship of the game, so their chemistry is going to be vital for the show. Also, Esther is a fucking MODEL. Like an actual, working model. She's modeled for Fendi, Stella McCartney, Miu Miu, and others, so it's insane to me that some fans feel entitled to comment on her appearance when it's a part of her damn career. Like, maybe stop policing women's bodies?? It's disappointing how heavily skewed the hate is toward the female actresses; this is Bella Ramsey as Ellie all over again.

On the flip side, you have Tatum, who looks enough like Max that people are instead being parasocial with her and spamming her comments sections with "OMG MAX" and Max gifs. It's harmless right now, but I worry it might escalate to an uncomfortable level after the show comes out where fans won't be able to see Tatum as their own person. The last thing I'd want is people villainizing Billy, Faly, Tom, Emily, Raul, or even Maisy for playing antagonistic characters in a show because they can't separate the actor from the character. It should already be incredible enough that Life is Strange is getting adapted at all and that most of its cast are actual fans of the game. Mia, Tatum, Billy, and Emily have at least played LiS, and Faly said recently he's played it three times. Imagine joining a project that you're also a huge fan of, only to be met with hostile fans who say you can't play a character because of how you look? Do better.

Y'all. These are young, online, Gen Z actors. They see the shit you post about them. They have accounts on the same sites where you're posting hate. They have friends and family who will see what you say about them, like in Tatum's IG post from last month (she sees you calling her a "she/they unknown actress!") Don't forget that while we have seasoned actors onboard, Tatum is basically a newcomer. Life is Strange is her television debut. If this show does do unexpectedly well, it's gonna catapult this cast into mainstream stardom, and the least we can do is be decent to them while they adjust to fame. At the end of the day, they're human beings who deserve privacy and respect like anybody else.

I've seen this happen before with Heartstopper and Heated Rivalry, and I'm sure LiS will get the same treatment because it's a queer show with a lot of queer talent onboard. So for the sake of a pre-emptive PSA:

Do NOT speculate about these actors' sexualities or harass them into coming out.

Do NOT speculate about their relationship status.

If they have a partner, LEAVE THEM ALONE.

If you're publicly hating on an actor for their race, height, appearance, or otherwise something they can't change, you suck. Get the hell off my blog.

Do NOT project your feelings about a character onto the actor. They're here to do a job, not answer whatever reservations you have about how their character was written in the game or the show.

Full offense but Warren cannot be a poc. Warren's whole character in the og game is about how annoying, bland, weird, unlikable, mentally ill, obsessive and overbearing he is. Warren is meant to be that way and to give him to Faly is gonna put some new light on his character in the worst way possible.

Lets think critically about the optics about this and how people arent gonna be happy about a mentally disturbed, black and tall Warren with violent tendencies having a unhealthy crush on a small, white, autistic, shy vulnerable girl like Max. Mind the fact that Faly is like 5'9 and Tatum is like 5'0.

It's gonna seem weird and predatory and Faly should step down before he does some harm and ruins this for everyone.

Uh, absolutely not. What "harm" is a 23-year-old Black man doing just by taking on an exciting acting opportunity? Firstly, you have no idea how his character will be portrayed in the show. What if Warren is queer, for example? I joke all the time that game Warren is "just a dude" compared to Chloe's narrative significance and he could've been written out of the show. But that means the show has the opportunity to rework his character so he can play a different role in it. Esther's casting as Rachel means she has to play a bigger role in the show than in the first game, so why not Warren? This show is an adaptation; give it the chance to show you what changes it might be making to its story and characters.

I don't care for Grahamfield or game Warren, but I assure you, none of the characters in Life is Strange were meant to be depicted as only one trait. If game Warren really was just a one-dimensional creep, he wouldn't have been a love interest! There's a reason you as the player can choose to kiss Warren as opposed to Nathan, for example. There's no evidence in-game that he was mentally ill, just like Max being autistic is a headcanon, and fwiw, you can't be "annoying, weird, obsessive and overbearing" and "bland."

Multiple interpretations and opinions of characters are allowed to exist. Max can be both a quirky, artistic wallflower and a plain, nosy teenage girl. Chloe can be loyal, passionate, determined, but also selfish, emotionally volatile, and rude. David is a traumatized war veteran, but also physically abusive to Chloe. Some fans see Warren as a sweet, socially awkward teenage boy with a crush, and others find him creepy. If actors like Faly can't take on a role like Warren, what other roles are left? How much does his character's personality and agency need to be sanded down until it's politically correct enough for you?

Not to mention, we only have to look at another game in the Life is Strange franchise to see where your logic falls apart: Life is Strange 2. That game begins with Sean, a 16-year-old, 5'8" (because you had to point out height too), Mexican American boy, trying to get with his crush Jenn, a white girl. Is he suddenly "weird and predatory" for this? Warren is supposed to be 16 in LiS1. He's a MINOR. How the hell is he "preying" on a girl two years OLDER than him and a legal adult? You have to remember that the first game is limited to Max's POV. Max perceives Warren as dangerous and demanding in her nightmare, and it's a pertinent message on how even the most well-meaning guys can be frightening to young women, which is great. But it's just that: a nightmare. Max also sees Chloe make out with Victoria even though Chloe can call Vic a skank. She also gets a text from Pompidou, a dog. It's not concrete evidence of Warren's true character. He's written to be as flawed, complex, and multidimensional as everybody else.

Claiming that Faly should be denied an incredible career opportunity, especially after the upcoming Buffy reboot that he was set to star in got cancelled, because of your opinion of how his character may be perceived by a subsection of the fandom, just sounds like the other side of the coin of "Warren can't be Black! This is just forced diversity!" criticisms. I believe you need to seriously think about the dynamic you implied: why would Faly immediately look more threatening because he's Black and average height, not even tall? As if Max can't advocate for herself just because she's 4 inches shorter than her game version? Come on, man. It might be concerning if Warren refused to take no for an answer, except he does in the game! You can romance Chloe or neither of them and he will leave you alone. And it's not giving Max enough credit as a woman; she defended herself against the likes of Nathan all the way back in episode 1 and was telling Jefferson to "eat shit and die" while staring imminent death in the face. I think she can handle a boy with a crush, dude.