I was thinking about writing up this post for a good long time, but didn’t wanna because I’m sure I’m going to get hate for it. Today, I just went ‘fuck it.’ So here it is. In order, all of the shitty things she’s done, and a break down of each action.
•She gaslights David: Chloe bends his sense of reality, which is a typical tactic abusers use. When he yells at her for blasting her music, she claims that her music wasn’t on, despite the fact it obviously was. She denies the presence of weed, despite the fact it is blatantly there. Chloe also denies taking his gun, which is a obvious lie. David quite possibly suffers from PTSD, which means that his sense of reality is already altered severely. This makes what she is doing even worse.
•She gets mad when Max doesn’t take the blame for the weed: Sure, she is already feeling abandoned because of so many people leaving, but she fucked up. Max should not have to suffer any punishment, such as losing her scholarship, because Chloe can’t follow a simple rule of ‘don’t smoke weed.’ Chloe has no space to be angry over that. She doesn’t thank Max for taking the blame either, she just praises her, which is a red flag. This is a red flag because she is encouraging Max to blindly follow her through anything, even if it means that Max needs to throw herself under the bus to do so.
•A very morbidly grey mention of sexual assault, or just a very shitty move: ‘You could bang anyone you want and rewind time so it never happened.’ You have the memory of that person in an intimate and vulnerable position, but they cannot remember. Even though they consented the first time, it feels very much like date rape. They can’t remember that you had sex with them, but you can. This is a very grey subject, but it just feels wrong. If the person consented to that, to the rewinding, it would probably be less of an issue. Chloe probably didn’t consider this, but it’s gross.
•Getting annoyed over Kate calling: The jealousy and abandonment issues here is obvious. I shouldn’t even have to explain why this is fucked up. But I will anyway, for those who can’t see that or want to defend her by pulling the ‘Max left for five years’ card. Chloe is forcing Max to choose between friends. Which is disgusting. Chloe knows that Kate is having issues, which doesn’t help matters. She is simultaneously guilting Max, by pulling the five years card and practically demanding validation. This is controlling and not okay. It’s as if Max can only be friends with Chloe from that scene, and that really isn’t fucking good.
•Pushing Max to use her powers by making her prove herself to Chloe (Answering Kate’s phone call route): ‘How many times this week are you going to get pissed at me?’ 'That depends on you. And how well you do in this phase of the test.’ This whole scene reeks of 'prove yourself to me.’ That is not how friendship, or how any relationship, works. You do not make anyone do this.
•Pushing Max to shoot a gun: She insults and goads Max into shooting a gun, despite the fact Max literally passed out ten minutes ago. She is uncertain about this, and this apparently makes her a coward. Chloe is disregarding Max’s feelings because she’s selfish, simple as that.
•Getting pissed when Max doesn’t shoot Frank: While she admits that she’s glad that Max didn’t do anything, she continues to guilt Max about it. She claims it’s just another let down. That isn’t right. Max doesn’t pull a gun on someone, so that makes her the bad guy. Chloe has no reason to be upset. Not shooting someone and getting a gun that isn’t even yours taken off you isn’t a reason to get mad at anyone.
•Getting pissed when Max doesn’t let her steal from the handicapped fund: Chloe does need the money, so it’s understandable that she’s desperate. Getting mad at Max for saying no isn’t. Most people wouldn’t feel comfortable with a theft, never mind stealing money for handicapped people. She makes it out so that if she doesn’t get the money, Frank’ll kill her, making Max feel guilty for refusing to do something that is morally wrong.
•Being mean to her own mother so Max can snoop on personal files for information: Yes, Max is also in the wrong here. But Chloe pulled a shitty move. They could’ve done it in another way, but no, Chloe starts shit with her already stressed to hell mother. Which doesn’t sit right with me.
•Guilting Max for siding with David: Chloe is determined to split Joyce and David up, let’s be honest. David is paranoid, and does shitty things, but her mother is happy. If Chloe was half way decent, there wouldn’t be as much conflict. She decides, however, to cause as much shit as possible. Max seems to realise how much David means to Joyce, therefore her reaction to siding with Chloe is, 'I hope Joyce doesn’t hate me.’ This is probably a reason why there’s an option to side with David anyway. If you do, Chloe sulks, therefore making Max feel guilt for another reasonable decision, really. Chloe legitimately only thinks of herself.
•Her reaction to Rachel and Frank’s relationship: She was hurt and angry, which y'know, is a given. She confessed to having a crush on Rachel and Rachel lied to her. But Max said that Rachel didn’t tell Chloe, because Rachel knew how she would react. If you can’t tell your friend who you are dating/banging in fear of their reaction, that is a fucking red flag. It’s controlling. The note in the garbage can in the dumpster also showed that Rachel wasn’t willing to tell Chloe who she was dating, as she didn’t want to deal with the reaction. She was scared of it. That says a lot.
•The whole truck ride in EP3: Dear god, where do I begin? No one can blame everyone on their problems. That’s just gross and shows great signs of immaturity. Blaming it on someone dying is another thing. Chloe is still grieving, yes. But that does not give her an excuse to act like a child who throws temper tantrums and blames things that she causes on everyone but her. Abusers commonly do not admit to their mistakes, and shifts the blame on something else to elicit guilt.
There’s some constants in the game that points to abusive behaviour. Mood swings often occur so that the victim of abuse is either lulled into a false sense of security or to shock and scare them. Chloe has mood swings a lot. Max is walking on egg shells. Joyce also picks up on it, saying that she flies off the handle at any small comment. This could also be a symptom of depression, but this fits in with the above.
Chloe also mentions Rachel a lot to Max. She likens them to each other a lot. That and she usually mentions how she misses her in the same breath. Which is drawing a very discreet comparison and also a slight 'you’re similar, but I miss her.’ Which could (and does) lead to Max feeling inferior. Max mentions how Chloe is 'obsessed’ with Rachel. Another red flag. Max also feels as if there’s a competition, judging how if Chloe’s screensaver is of Rachel, she says that she 'can’t beat Rachel.’ Which could just be Max feeling jealous on her own accord, but Chloe mentioning Rachel at every turn when they’re hanging out can’t be an ego boost.
