Heartwarming / Life Is Strange: True Colors

• Alex and Gabe's bond, even if you're aware coming in that Gabe is a goner. He does his best to try and create the foundations of a life for Alex at Haven Springs. He hands her his old apartment without so much as a second thought, fibs to Jed (his own boss and father figure) about Alex’s work experience, and does his best to introduce her around town, allowing her to feel welcome for the first time in a long time. He's even willing to overlook her sucker-punching him in a fit of rage towards Mac, meeting her up on the rooftop later on for a sweet conversation where he asks what she thinks of Haven Springs.
• At the beginning of chapter 2, when Steph visits Alex after the disastrous wake. Regardless of Alex's option, Steph says, "It's not your job to hold it together," and accepts the offer to come into her apartment. After Steph gets saddened by seeing a mock trophy Gabe made when she decided to stay in Haven, Alex can then suggest a set of foosball games to help cheer her up.
• Despite his hostility, Alex has the option of talking Mac through his panic attack during the midpoint of chapter 2. Doubly heartwarming is that the overwhelming majority of players have decided to do so, even with how much shit Mac has done up until that point.
• The scene at the end of chapter 2 when Alex reveals her abilities to Ryan. They both reminisce over a humorous encounter between Gabe and Ryan involving a goose and it even leads to Alex discovering a new emotion: joy.
• Steph's romance path is heartwarming in simply how much she falls in love with Alex. She gets giddy if Alex makes a faux proposal during the LARP, is starstruck if Alex decides to give her a rose, fixates on her numerous times during their band performance, and even asks Alex to leave Haven Springs with her to focus on music together and explore the world. A life goal that she will ignore entirely if Alex decides to stay in Haven Springs, ripping up her bus ticket as a display of commitment.
  • In general, just how happy Steph becomes whenever Alex flirts with her. It's adorable to watch as she goes from snarky and self-assured to tongue-tied in a matter of seconds, most significantly with the above-mentioned LARP proposal.
  • The aforementioned scene where Steph expresses her desire to be with Alex, who can respond by confessing that she's never had anyone barge in before to tell her they liked her. After Steph asks how it felt, the two just embrace lovingly and agree to meet later after Alex has decided whether or not to stay in Haven.
  • The ending where Alex seeks adventure shows her and Steph eagerly leaving Haven Springs, and ends with Steph sending an encouraging text to Alex before she plays guitar at a club.
  • The ending where Alex decides to stay. She works with Steph in the radio store, plays D&D with her and Ethan, and plays her guitar for Steph on the roof of the Black Lantern.
  • Even her platonic relationship with Alex is heartwarming. Steph is the only character who never turns on Alex during the climactic council meeting; indeed, she'll get furious with Ryan if he chooses to side against both her and Alex.
• The Spring Festival performance in chapter 4. While Alex is initially shaky at the start, she quickly loosens up and cheerily sings a cover of 'Blister in the Sun' with Steph, whom she exchanges a variety of exuberant looks with. It's also probably the first time we see her truly lose herself in something without worrying over Typhon or Gabe.
• If you go out and see Duckie during the spring festival, you will find him mourning his deceased wife. Alex has the option of cheering him up, which will lead to the two dancing and Duckie saying this.
  "You know what reminds me the most of her right now? It's not the song, or the festival. It's that you took the time to care about a sad old man. For no reason than to make the world a little less troublesome. That was Tabs."
• The Big Damn Kiss releases a wave of joy that reaches all the way to the mountains and beyond, triggering an aurora in the night sky over the town. Not just from Alex's romantic partner, but from Alex herself.
• Regardless of romantic preference, it's clear from the trailers that both Steph and Ryan understand Alex's situation and want to aid her in any way possible in finding out what happened to her brother.
• Steph deciding to throw a town-wide LARP for Ethan to try and lift his spirits. Exemplified by how everyone having an aura of joy throughout, showing how much fun they're having.
  • Towards the end of the LARP Ethan's joy overflows, transforming the town into an actual fantasy setting. Alex and Ethan are now wearing proper costumes and the final battle includes proper visualizations for all the magic used. It is about as corny as you'd expect it to be, but remember that it's shaped after the perception of a child.
• If the player makes the right choices over the course of the game, then every single council member will stand up for Alex against Jed and Diane during the meeting. They all have known her for a couple of months at most, yet they still realize that she at least deserves to be heard.
  • This is doubly so for Duckie and Deputy Pike. The former is a long-time friend of Jed but begs for Alex to at least have a chance to explain her side of the story in depth, and the latter just straight up exposes Typhon’s fear-mongering before deriding an indignant Diane for her attempts to intimidate him.
• Even with all the shit that Jed has done, including trying to kill her, Alex has the option of forgiving him, recognizing that he was manipulated and silenced by Typhon.
• Both endings qualify, surprising for a Life is Strange game:
  • If Alex decides to stay in Haven, we get an adorable montage of her finally living her life (alongside Ryan or Steph if either were romanced). Doubly so with Steph, as her and Alex hang out with Ethan and play in a local band together while absolutely fawning over one another.
  • If Alex decides to leave, she's given the promise of a new life anywhere she pleases. If she romanced Ryan or Steph, photos in her guitar case show the two in a variety of places (reassuring the player that the ending won't entail them burning out or falling on hard times). The final cutscene sees Alex going out on stage to play guitar for an enthusiastic crowd; if romanced, her partner sends her an encouraging text.
• One of the optional sidequests involves a student who comes into the Black Lantern to study, but can't stop thinking about her favorite song from the jukebox (which is no longer played). After asking around, Alex is able to hunt down the record and restore it to the jukebox, cheering the student up. For bonus points, the student isn't the only one whose mood is improved. Another customer is a jogger who is feeling self-conscious about running in public because she's gotten out of shape. If you look closely at the jogger after the song starts playing, you can see her rocking out to it in her seat.
• If Alex takes the time to explore and look at the emotions of Havens residents, it is possible to find a number of different couples with relationship issues. Most end up with happy endings even without Alex's influence
  • The ice-cream store married couple. At the start of the game Alex can find the owners of local ice cream shop struggling to keep their shop open, and their marriage strained. Future encounters finds testing new ideas, and finally if Alex and tracks them down with Ethan during the LARP they take inspiration from Steph's LARP to rebrand their shop, bring the two together.
  • The writer and his boyfriend. The writer is struggling with his boyfriend is trying to support him find his muse again. After Steph's LARP the writer finds inspiration and starts writing a fantasy drama described as "Shakespeare meets Tolkien". Best part is Alex doesn't need to interact with them for this outcome. They find happiness one their own.
  • The video game couple. They start as friend pushing their favorite video games onto each other. Come the Spring festival the guy has tried the girl's game and found he enjoys it. To the girl's surprise him liking her game is turn on.
  • One couple who appear by the weed dispensary is two friends who are in love with each other but don't think the other wants anything to do with each other. Alex can point out they make a cute couple (or tell them to get a room) and both realize how the other feels and decide to go out. An SMS message show that the people of Haven are glad they finally figured it out.
• In the Wavelengths DLC, one of the calls Steph gets during her Pride Month radio show is from a distraught father who feels guilty for reacting poorly when his son Grady came out to him. He'll request Steph to play Grady's favorite song ("Feelings" by Hayley Kiyoko) as a means of showing his son that he hears him and loves him for who he is. Steph can encourage the father and praise him for making an effort to make things right with his son and show his unconditional support.
  • The Pride segment also includes a flashback to when Steph's cousin Cody brought her to a Pride celebration when she was young. It's especially heartwarming given the implication that Steph's dad wasn't as supportive, showing she at least had a positive experience growing up as an open lesbian.
  • The chapter also shows that while their breakup was difficult and resulted in a large period of time with no contact, Steph and Izzie eventually reconnected and made amends.
  • In an email, Steph is shown to be offering some advice to a listener who explains her girlfriend's parents are unaware of their relationship.
  • While her online dates haven't exactly been the best (to the point that being a Hopeless Suitor seems to be a Running Gag for her), there are three moments where it did turn out for the better for her and her dates.
    • Violet and Steph form an intense relationship, but Violet (feeling that Steph is not as dedicated to the relationship as her) calls it quits around Halloween time. However, they eventually realize that they are Better as Friends and agree to still keep in touch and hang out together. Violet even offers to introduce Steph to her new girlfriend.
    • Quentin (then known as Fiona) and Steph form a connection with their love of tabletop gaming and theatre, but after Quentin crosses a line by looking at the tragedy of Arcadia Bay (either the storm or Chloe's death), he decides to break up with Steph since he feels that he can't be the one to help out her issues. He then apologizes to her around Christmas, and their time together has made him comfortable enough to come out to Steph as a trans man. Steph is nothing but supportive and promises to continue playing tabletop games with him, while Quentin will continue seeing Steph so she can help him get used to being a man.
    • Rita is a bitch to Steph when they first talk at a time that is extremely sensitive to her. However, she then later apologizes after having a My God, What Have I Done? moment (realizing that Steph was having a rough moment), decides to go to therapy to help solve whatever issues she has, and makes a sincere apology to Steph. No matter the dialogue, Steph does accept her apology.
    • Depending on the player's choices in the main game, the end of the DLC where Steph and Alex have their first encounter in the record store can serve as a precursor of what's to come.