Fanfic / Life has No Meaning Without You

Warning: Unmarked spoilers for Life Is Strange and Life Is Strange: Before the Storm follow.

Life has No Meaning Without You (AO3) is a Life Is Strange Continuation fanfic. Taking place after the scrapped third ending, in which Max would sacrifice herself by Taking the Bullet to save Chloe, the fic chronicles Max's slow recovery and attempts to repair her relationship with Chloe, as well as their slow progression into a romantic relationship. The story also follows several other of the game's characters and various subplots, such as another growing relationship between Victoria and Kate, and the fallout of Mark Jefferson's illegal activities being discovered.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Adaptational Heroism: James Amber shows to feel remorse for his actions and atones with Chloe to try and fight against Sean Prescott.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: David is noticablly less of a Jerkass than in the game. He even defends Kate when her mother tries to forcefully take her out of Blackwell Academy.
• Adaptational Villainy: Some returning game antagonists get a dose of this.
  • Mark Jefferson has a slight version of this, as he's portrayed as a Serial Rapist in this fic. Despite a common misconception, Jefferson's canon counterpart is confirmed to have not been a rapist.
  • Sean Prescott, due to his Ascended Extra status. While he’s an Abusive Parent and his corruption is implied, he’s depicted here as a borderline crime boss, with said corruption being explored here.
  • Eliot Hampden of Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is an aggressive stalker in canon, but here has since become a regular hitman for the Prescott family.
  • Kate's mother is far more judgemental and homophobic than in canon, as is Kate's aunt. In canon Kate's mother and aunt do judge her and send some rather upsetting letters, but as far as Kate's mother, she changes that attitude after Kate's suicide attempt, in this fic, she is far worse. Acting as if Kate had not been drugged or raped and was responsible for what she did on video. Kate's mother even kicks out Victoria from their Thanksgiving dinner when she stands up for Kate, causing both Kate and Victoria to storm out of the house, and even calls Max an "abomination" when she finds out Max is gay. Plus insinuating that Max and Chloe are gang members and drug addicts who "fornicate" with boys just by the way they look. She tries to force Kate to come home and send her to a reformation school despite the fact that Kate is legally an adult. Only stopped by David pointing out that it would be kidnapping. But, after this she financially cuts Kate off and doesn't show up at Kate's graduation.
• Adaptational Wimp: While far more monstrous, Mark Jefferson isn’t the Big Bad and is a mere Starter Villain.
• Ascended Extra: Kate's family in this fic make an appearance in the thanksgiving chapter, whereas in the game the most we see of them are letters they sent Kate concerning the viral video, and photographs.
  • Max's parents also appear.
• Angel/Devil Shipping: In-Universe, the budding romance between former Alpha Bitch Victoria and one of her former victims, the angelic Nice Girl Kate, is often referred to by the other characters as an angel/devil relationship.
• Big Bad:
  • In the first nine chapters, Mark Jefferson reprises his canon role as the primary threat, being the one responsible for Nathan shooting Max and the one who kidnaps Victoria to torture and rape her. He is shot by the police and killed later on though.
  • For the middle part, Max and Kate's mothers, a pair of homophobic religious fundamentalists, become the primary obstacle to their respective lesbian relationships, intending to separate them from Chloe and Victoria respectively and take them away from Arcadia Bay.
  • In the final part, Sean Prescott, previously the Greater-Scope Villain, becomes the direct antagonist as he tries to have Max and Chloe killed in order to stop them from testifying against his son in court, which would ruin the Prescott reputation.
• Calling the Old Man Out: When Kate's mother tries to forcibly take Kate out of Blackwell, Max is the one who confronts her and calls her out on Kate's behalf.
• Cop Killer: Sean Prescott, in an attempt to kill Kate (Who is standing in the way of his true target. Chloe.) kills Officer Berry, who had pushed Kate out of the way and had been shot in her place and the epilogue later reveals he did not survive.
• Continuation: Unique in that the story is a continuation of an ending that was never actually put into the final game- the scrapped third ending where Max decides Taking the Bullet is the way to save Chloe. The story shows her gradual recovery and eventual Relationship Upgrade with Chloe.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Azumi, when living in Japan had been in love with her childhood friend Fumi, who was the daughter of the head of a Yakuza family, who had promised her marriage to another Yakuza leader to form an alliance, they planned to run away together, only to be caught by Fumi's father. Fumi had suddenly told Azumi that she never loved her and that she disgusted her and never wanted to see her again. Azumi had believed her and felt that Fumi betrayed her. Only to find out three months later that Fumi had been forced to do so by her father, either cut Azumi out of her life, or watch her die. When Fumi had been forced into marriage to a man old enough to be her father, she found out that she had become pregnant with that man's child, with that. Fumi committed suicide.
• Driven to Suicide: Max has been having a series of PTSD induced nightmares and flashbacks over the events of the main game, and after breaking things off with Chloe (concluding "her" Chloe is dead). This eventually culminates in Max attempting to kill herself in the bathtub. The girls in her dorm try to rescue her, but it’s ultimately Chloe herself who breaks through to her.
• Easily Forgiven: Zigzagged. Victoria isn't immediately forgiven by Max for her treatment of Kate. Ironically, Kate’s the first person to forgive Victoria, gradually leading up to their Relationship Upgrade; this absolutely floors both Max, and Victoria herself.
• Entitled Bastard: Sean Prescott certainly is one, stating multiple times that he owns the town, everyone in it, and their property. When the police and FBI arrest him for his intimidation of Max, he says they have no right to arrest him.
• Everybody Knew Already: When Victoria finally comes out as lesbian to her parents, they reveal they were waiting for her to do so:
  "Mom… Dad… I'm… I'm gay… and… Kate is my girlfriend."
  "Finally!"
  At her mother's words, Victoria's head jerked up, her eyes wide as balls.
  "Sure took you long enough." Her father added and Victoria rolled her eyes before slumping back in the sofa's cushions with a groan.
  They fucking knew! They fucking knew and they gave me the rope to hang myself!
  Kate chuckled softly and the pixie blonde frowned softly. "Et-tu Katie? Et-tu?"
  Kate smirked. "Well, with the way your mom seemed to insist on that sleeping arrangement problem, I kinda figured… I mean, it was getting so silly, with all the little solutions she proposed."
  Victoria grunted. She had taken the bait, hook, line and sinker, the whole shebang. In fact, it's like took the fucking rod with it, too!
  Her dad smiled softly. "Well, we did have strong suspicions when Victoria called to say you were driving because Kate did not want to fly." He winked at the smaller blonde. "I mean, usually Victoria would not be the one to cave."
  Anna Chase nodded. "That and the way she rushed to hold your door."
  Victoria pouted in her seat, crossing her arms. "And you had to let me stew and figure out how to tell you! You have no idea how mean that is!"
  Malcolm Chase laughed, leaning back in his seat too. "Honey! We needed you to say it on your own terms!" He smirked. "Although, I'll admit it was a bit fun…. But you really had no reason to be afraid, you know."
• Everyone Has Standards: During the chapter where there is news coverage about Eliot's attempted assassination on Chloe and Max (Who no one knew was Eliot yet.) when Max's dad punches out one of the reporters insulting Max to his face, one reporter on another channel voices her disgust at said reporter, even saying she is ashamed that the reporter in question is a member of the press. (Plus, this reporter was also one of the ones hounding Max after they were given a court order to stay away from Blackwell.)
• Evil Lawyer Joke: Rachel, who’s in Heaven, wishes that she could sue Heaven for false advertising (she finds it rather boring), but says that all the lawyers are in Hell.
• Full-Name Ultimatum: Kate's extreme conservative mother calls out her full name upon seeing her hanging out with Max and Chloe, whom she considers 'sinful'.
  KATE BEVERLY MARSH!
• Gratuitous Japanese: Azumi, a Japanese immigrant, often engages in this, saying short bursts of Japanese words here and there.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Max puts herself between Chloe and Nathan's gun to do this for Chloe, although she claims it was to get herself killed with Chloe and die with her.
  • Kate puts herself between Chloe when Sean Prescott himself aims a gun at her.
  • Officer Berry pushes Kate out of the way and is shot instead by Sean Prescott.
• Heroic BSoD: After Chloe tells Max she doesn't want to see her again, Max falls into a deep depression, to the point of becoming catatonic, not eating for an entire weekend, and eventually trashing her room, then attempting suicide.
• Heel–Face Turn: Nathan finalizes one here, revealing to the police of what he and Jefferson have been up too on his own. During his trial, he accepts all responsiblites and punishments after refusing to let his father bail him out of trouble.
• Irony: Kate starts dating Victoria, the very girl who used to bully her. By the epilogue, they're getting married.
• I Have No Daughter!: It is all but stated that Mrs. Marsh has officially disowned Kate by the end, as she refuses to attend her graduation, whereas Mr. Marsh and Kate's sisters are there.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Mrs. Marsh, although not really by choice. Leaves when David defends Kate and reminds her that Kate is legally an adult and it would be kidnapping to force her to go home. Though she still threatens to sue the school.
  David: Kate, did you agree to go with your mother?
  Kate: No, I keep telling her I'm not going with her.
  Mrs. Marsh: Oh, yes you are coming! And you are going to Saint Marcus Boarding School! I've already arranged everything! And She doesn't have to agree! I'm her mother, and I'm the one deciding!
  David: No, you aren't! Because Kate is legally an adult! And if you try to forcefully take her to a place she doesn't want to go, that's kidnapping! Now let her go and leave the Campus ground before I call the police and have you arrested!
• Laser-Guided Karma: Sean Prescott, after getting away with so many things for so long, is finally arrested and is given life in prison for killing a police officer.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: The MO of Eliot Hampden is to kill his targets and do this. This seems to be a regular process for Prescott, as it was previously done with the supposedly accidental death of William Price, and Eliot tries to do the same with Max and Chloe by ramming a truck into them.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When religious Nice Girl Kate swears by loudly calling Sean Prescott an asshole (after he tries to threaten Max into blaming Chloe for the bullet that hit her when it was his son Nathan who shot the gun), everyone is shocked at her uncharacteristically strong language.
• Properly Paranoid: David Madsen installing various security cameras in the Price household winds up being a good thing when those cameras catch Sean Prescott threatening Max with expulsion if she tells the truth about the incident involving his son.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Max rages at Victoria, Courtney and Taylor are salty towards Max until Victoria tells them to stop and tells them the extent of the damage they could have caused to Kate by bullying her, and of what Jefferson did, they feel guilty and apologize to Kate for their treatment of her.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Max gives one to Kate's horribly fundamentalist mother after she goes on a tirade blaming Kate for her rape:
  "Pride, Mrs. Marsh, is one of the seven deadly Sins! And the fact you are still calling me those names when you don't know me, proves you're too full of it! You just can't admit you were wrong in judging us!" Max shook her head, her voice calm as she spoke, blue eyes staring straight into the woman's hazel orbs. "You don't know anything about me Mrs. Marsh. You don't know anything about Chloe. Like how I'm a Catholic or how Chloe lost her father 5 years ago. You are calling me a whore judged on my look, not knowing I'm still a virgin. You calling me names, accusing me of crimes I never did, just because I got shot sacrificing myself for another? But would you call Jesus a delinquent when he sacrificed himself for us all?" Max spat at the woman's feet. "You are accusing us of fornicating with boys, well, go to hell you and your hypocritical judgement, because, being a lesbian that is something I'll fucking never do!"
  
  "Ah!" the woman scoffed. "I knew you were an abomination! And you call yourself Catholic!"
  
  "The bible says 'love thy neighbor' Mrs. Marsh! Not 'be heterosexual'! Christianity is all about love and you would forbid me to love someone just because of our gender? Once again your pride and judgmental hypocrisy are showing when you distort his words to suit your fucking ideas!" Max remained silent as she looked at the woman's shock, letting her words sink. Around them students were whispering, smiling at how the haughty religious zealot was being brought down, called on her own distorted views.
• One Hit Knock Out: Mr. Caulfield knocks out a reporter after she asks an insulting question about Max. Evem Victoria's parents cheer when this happens.
  Mr. Caulfield: How dare you insult my family with your slanderous lies!
• Rage Breaking Point: Max, after hearing Victoria say she's worried about Kate, when Victoria had bullied Kate in the past. To the point that she scares Victoria to tears. Stopping only at Kate's intervention.
  Max: YOU?! Worried about Kate?! Were you worried about her when you posted the fucking video of HER being being roofied on the net? Were you fucking worried about her when YOU and YOUR Sycophants bullied KATE again and again? Were you fucking worried about her when she didn't want to leave her bedroom in the morning? Or when she fucking started to think about killing herself because of YOU! Were you fucking worried when your boyfriend and your teacher crush drugged her and raped her? Were you fucking worried when your fucking boyfriend showed up at school with a fucking gun and shot at my best friend! Were you fucking worried when your boy toy put me in this wheelchair! You never worried about no one Victoria! You always just worried about YOUR FUCKING EGOTISTICAL SELF!
  Victoria: I'M SORRY OKAY! I didn't know! I didn't know what had happened to her! I didn't know I was hurting her so much!
  Max: Oh what! You thought a girl like Kate would simply get wasted and be a slut around like that? You think bullying someone doesn't hurt them? In what fucking world do you live Victoria!" She scoffed. "Oh, I know, in your own little shitty world where everything is about you, you and YOU! Well guess what Bitchtoria? I don't live into your shitty world! I don't care about you and you goddamn...
  • When the reporters knock Kate over trying to interview the others, Victora becomes so pissed she punches one of the reporters in the face, breaking his nose, and her own hand.
• Spit Take: When Max asks Chloe what sex feels like, (covered in chapters 47 and 48.) Chloe reacts in surprise by spitting her beer out.
• Sex Dressed: In Chapter 66, Azumi is wearing only plain white panties and a large t-shirt the morning after she and Steph are implied to have engaged in sex.
• Survivor's Guilt: Kate mentions suffering from survivor's guilt in the epilogue after finding out that Officer Berry died after being shot protecting her.
• Too Smart for Strangers: A flashback in Chapter 65 mentions that a child Max was taught by her parents to be careful around strangers, something she ignored when the kind William Price scared away a group of bullies beating her up.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Kate does this with Max when she confronts the latter over getting angry at Victoria, after Victoria was assaulted in the Dark Room.
    Kate: Max! What are you doing to her? Don't you see what you're doing Max? You're doing what you accuse her of-
  • Victoria herself does this to Chloe when Max breaks things off with her. This eventually leads to Chloe saving Max from an attempted suicide.

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