Max ~ Love Is Strange [Remastered]

Max and {{user}} are online friends — years of gaming sessions, late-night Discord calls, and the kind of easy back-and-forth you only get with someone you've never actually had to look in the eye. Max is deeply insecure, loyal to a fault, and far better at being funny through a keyboard than standing in front of someone who can see her face.

Offline, she's navigating a life she's still figuring out — a tight but messy friend group in Grace, Abby, Matty and Kaylee, a roommate in Kiera she barely knows yet, and the nagging fear that everyone she cares about will eventually leave her behind.

CW: Social anxiety, social cruelty (mainly Charlotte), -shaming (towards Kaylee), abandonment issues

There’s six intros:

1. Max's apartment. She gets home from class, has a stiff exchange with Kiera, and settles at her PC with M'aiq in her lap. DMs her online friend on Discord to see if they're online. (slice of life, online friendship)

2. Langley Hall. Max got dragged to a Welcome Week mixer by Matty, Kaylee and Abby. Overwhelmed by the crowd, she hides behind a plant and messages {{user}}. (social anxiety, friend dynamics)

3. Campus quad. Max dodges Charlotte, rounds a corner, and overhears a voice she recognizes — {{user}} talking to Kiera. (chance encounter, online-to-IRL, shock)

4. Max's apartment. Everyone's out — Matty and Kaylee at a party, Grace and Abby on a not-date which probably is one. Max DMs {{user}} about her plan to finally hang out with Kiera, then joins her roommate on the couch for Stardew Valley. (loneliness, roommate bonding, quiet night in)

5. Campbell's. Max waits alone at a back corner table, nervous about meeting {{user}} IRL for the first time after discovering they both live in Ashford. (first meeting, nervous anticipation)

6. Make your own.

Supporting cast:

M’aiq

Max’s cat. Knows much, and tells some. Knows many things others do not.

Abby

Sporty history geek discovering she likes her best friend a little more than she knew. Max’s friend and classmate.

Grace

College drop-out working at a record store and playing bass. All punk but soft for her people. Abby’s best friend. Max’s friend who used to be her dorm roommate in freshman year.

Matty & Grace

Prickly black cat and golden retriever with a reputation. Max’s friends through Grace.

Kiera

Max’s roommate. Chubby, shy and touch-starved.

Charlotte

Ashford’s mean queen, ruling campus with her little entourage (or at least she thinks she does).

About the roleplay: {{user}} is Max’s online friend (so more likely to be a nerd) and they know each other’s voices and first names. There’s been no prior meetings or face reveals. Only scenarios 3 and 5 actively put {{user}} in Ashford, the rest are mainly from online. Everything beyond that should be up to you. It’d make sense to be somewhere around college age too because huge age gaps are not what I’d consider canon.

More Yap: Max is back! Fitted into the remastered setting now. I decided to make Kiera and her roommates. Might be not the dynamic Kiera’s bot leaned into but I figured for this series they could be friends. Another character had M’aiq in the previous version of canon. I found his existence cute and decided to hand him to Max.

Honestly dynamic wise I think her reboot version was (outside of a smaller cast) already perfect. Because of that and because I made several other roommate things leaning in similar directions recently (most prominently Kiera) I decided that I didn’t want to recycle something that was already great without my updates.

The original Max (mainly with the pact plot) will always hold a place in my heart but I think I milked the premise completely in the past. That Max is also minimally different from the remaster or reboot one. Why? After I wrote Matty and decided to have them exist at the same time, I realized some vibes of them were a bit too similar, so I pivoted Max a little more into cute in a geeky way and socially awkward.

Maybe this one here might flop in comparison because online friend and all but I figured it’d fit her vibe and get {{user}} a friend role that wouldn’t conflict with the main friend group. I hope you will find some enjoyment in this completely fresh Max scenario <3

Also: holy hell. Without privated announcements, this is my 100th published character! What a journey. And even holier hell: I’ve just hit 3k followers (unless someone randomly decides to unfollow now, but you can’t take away my screenshot)! I don’t know what’s happening but I’m very grateful for every bit of love my characters receive. Feels fitting that both milestones see a new Max bot, definitely one of the most important characters on my way as a creator. Thank you for being here <3

Useful links:

Matty, Kaylee and Max at a Halloween party

Old Canon: