Lurich

Lurich is the friendship between Ryan Lucan and Steph Gingrich from the Life is Strange fandom.

Life is Strange: True Colors
Ryan and Steph are friends with each other, having known the other for a little over a year by April 2019. They became acquainted by Gabe Chen when Gabe invited Steph’s band to play at Haven Springs’ local bar the Black Lantern in Colorado. When Steph fell for the small town’s charm, she got a job at Rocky Mountain Record Traders, the local record store as manager and radio host.

On April 28, 2019, Gabe’s sister’s, Alex Chen, arrives to town and it’s business as usual. While Ryan and Alex are talking in the store, Steph storms out of her on air radio booth angrily speaking with someone over the phone. Ryan is quick to take notice of Alex’s changing behavior to match with Steph’s anger. Ryan walks over to Steph, telling her he can take over her job while she goes to handle what has her so upset. Steph’s anger immediately resolves, with her asking Ryan “if he’s serious”. Ryan claims he can “handle” the playlist she has set up. Steph is grateful and begins to heads out, though not before turning back and telling him not to play any bird calls, as Ryan is a well-known bird enthusiast. With that out of the way, Steph leaves the store, leaving Ryan and Alex alone.

Sometime later, at the Black Lantern bar celebrating Alex’s arrival to town, Steph is sitting alone at a table. Upon Alex seeing an empty seat across from her, though with things around, she can ask Steph if she’s with someone. Steph informs her that it’s Ryan’s seat, however Ryan left earlier with Gabe to get proper first aid supplies following an altercation between Gabe and another man named Mac. Steph tells Alex Ryan is “being a hero again,” and that he’s “always doing that”. Taking notice of a bright green shot on the table, Steph tells Alex that she and Ryan were going to play the “Jukebox Game,” loser drinks a terrible shot. However with Ryan gone, Alex can take his place.

That night, Gabe dies following a mining explosion, in which Alex and Ryan were present for. A couple days later, on May 1, a wake is held for Gabe at the Black Lantern, where Ryan and Steph are in attendance. Hours after the service, Alex decides she would like one final sendoff of her brother, with the residents of Haven Springs agreeing to her request. Later that night on the flower bridge, Alex makes a short speech with Ryan and Steph by her side. Alex and Ryan release a lantern over the river as Steph watches along with the rest of the town in attendance.

Three weeks later, on May 25, Alex decides she’s ready to inform Steph of her empathetic abilities, in which Ryan already knew about. Upon being told, Steph questions if she’s being fucked with. No matter Alex’s remark, Steph asks her what she’s feeling in that moment, leading to Ryan jokingly telling her she’s “feeling disbelief”. Ryan questions if Alex has seen Diane Jacobs that day, a person of interest in their mission to uncover the truth of Gabe’s death. On the day of Gabe’s wake, Alex and Ryan teamed up to uncover Typhon Mining’s plot when it was revealed that Gabe’s death could have been prevented.

With Steph in the know now, the friends wait for Diane to enter the Black Lantern for lunch, with the intent of stealing her laptop. Until then, Alex does her job as a server while Ryan and Steph come up with a plan. When she does enter, Alex makes her way back to them to hear what they’ve come up with, to less than stellar results when Ryan reveals that they’ve come up with two plans, however he and Steph are still “workshopping” them. Alex questions what their plans are and Steph answers first: she asks Diane out on a date and while Diane is distracted, Ryan comes up and steals her laptop. Alex scuffs at the idea, but when Steph shows that she wasn’t joking, Alex turns to Ryan, begging for him to have something better. Ryan reveals that he does, however in doing so also reveals that it’s the same plan as Steph’s, expect he’s the distraction and Steph would be the one to come up and swipe Diane’s laptop. Alex disagrees to both plans, but Steph argues that it’s a simple plan with two steps; all Alex has to do is choose the “hotter distraction”. Alex declares that she’s not doing that, only for Ryan to say that she’s the only tiebreaker they have. Depending on player choice will determine Alex’s answer: Ryan or Steph.

Whomever Alex chooses, there’s no true hard feelings between Ryan and Steph; they’ll be smug or vocal, but the other goes along with the plan.

While Alex does appreciate effort Ryan and Steph have put in, she wants to at least talk with Diane first, and if she needs that distraction, she’ll call them over. When that time comes, she sends a text message to their group chat and whomever she picked walks over, asking Diane out on a date, giving Alex time to steal the USB drive sticking out of Diane’s bag. USB secure, Alex excuses herself and whomever and they head up to Alex’s apartment with the other in toe.

They laugh, with Ryan and Steph talking over each other, both calling what just happened “epic” and “totally insane”, before addressing what happened as either hilarious or terrifying, hoping whatever is on the USB to be worth it. Inserting the USB into Alex’s laptop, they realize it’s password-protected. Ryan removes it and says he’ll take it to Riley Lethe, a local woman and friend who’s knowledgeable with computers. In the meantime, Alex and Steph work on a LARP (live-action role play) that Steph is organizing for Ethan Lambert, a local child of the town who was present for Gabe’s death. The LARP being a fun distraction for him. Earlier in the week when Steph was first planning the LARP, she posted to the MyBlock app, asking for volunteers. Ryan replied that he was “down,” with Steph telling him she’s “got plans for him,” making Ryan slightly fearful, but nonetheless excited. As Ryan and Steph leave Alex’s apartment, Steph questions if Ryan had “finished the thing,” with Ryan saying he did, but barely has he “hadn’t carved like that in ages”.

Soon after, the LARP begins, Ryan as three monsters Alex’s character has to defeat and Steph as the store owner of the Magpie Emporium.

After the LARP, Ryan and Steph have made themselves at home in Alex’s apartment; Ryan sitting on the couch and Steph lying on the floor with her feet propped up on the couch. As Alex walks in they’re working on Alex’s laptop, going through what was on the USB drive, in addition to talking about how Typhon’s logo is conspicuously shaped like the Illuminat’s. Alex makes her presents known, asking if they’ve discovered all of Typhon’s secrets. While they hadn’t, they did uncover the call Gabe made using Ryan’s sat-phone. Ryan moves from his position on the couch to the floor to give Alex space while she listens to her brother’s call. Steph tells her that she and Ryan are there for her.

Before Alex showed back up to her apartment, she went to visit with Charlotte Harmon, Gabe’s girlfriend who’s not handling Gabe’s death well. After listening to Gabe’s call, Alex will either stay calm or become angry, breaking a Steph’s makeshift foosball trophy that belonged to Gabe. If Alex stays calm, Ryan and Steph stay with her in the apartment, helping her decode the USB drive, but if Alex becomes angry and throws the trophy, Steph gets up and storms from the apartment with Ryan following after her, leaving Alex to decode alone.

Later that night, same day as the LARP, Alex walks up to Ryan and Steph as they’re working to set up the stage for the live performance later. Steph is first to spot Alex coming up to them, loudly commenting on Alex’s outfit, causing the microphone to feedback an ear piercing noise, with Ryan reacting to the sound, leading to Steph apologizing to him.

A short time later, the show is ready to begin with it being revealed that Steph is playing. Knowing Steph is just a drummer, Alex questions who else is performing, leading to Ryan and Steph sharing a knowing look. The scene jump cuts to Alex on stage, guitar in hand and deadpan commenting that she hates both Ryan and Steph, as Ryan and Steph look on from the sideline. Ryan watches from the audience, giving a supportive thumbs up. As the performance goes on, he cheers, claps and dances to the music.

The following morning, on May 26, Ryan and Steph are without contact with Alex, leaving them increasing worried as she’s not returning any of their calls or texts. At the end of the previous night, Alex was taken by Jed Lucan – Ryan’s father – to a long abandoned ventilation mining shaft up in the mountains. In Jed’s attempts to keep his and Typhon’s mistakes a secret, he shoots Alex, leaving her for dead as she falls into the mineshaft.

Alex manages to survive her ordeal and escapes from the mineshaft. Severely hurt, bloodied and limping, Alex finds new determination to head back into town and confront Jed in front of the people while a council meeting is taking place at the Black Lantern. Ryan and Steph are both in attendance, watching and listening, though clearly uninterested and making glances at each other. As Alex enters the bar, Steph notices her first and rushes to her side. Upon seeing Steph move, Ryan notices Alex too and immediately rushes over to her too. They are horrified to see her in such a devastating physical state and suggest taking her to a doctor, however Alex dismisses their concerns. Alex is too focused on Jed who’s looking on with shock that she survived. Alex limps up to him and the town’s people, laying forth her claims of Typhon’s misdeeds, lies, cover ups and how it all lead to Gabe’s death.

Depending on player choices of how Alex engaged with the residents of Haven Springs over the course of the game will determine if Ryan believes Alex’s accusations against his father. Steph, however believes her no matter what. If Ryan believes Alex, he and Steph are on the same side and their relationship remains the same. If Ryan sides with Jed, Steph curses Ryan out for not believing Alex.

After the council meeting concludes, whomever Alex confirmed as her chosen love interest is continued with the reminder of the plot, while the other is left out and only acknowledged briefly in Gabe’s ending monologue.

Life is Strange: True Colors
"I could have sworn she set it down over here… don’t get me wrong, Steph’s great, but she can be kind of a mess."

- Ryan to Alex, about Steph, Chapter 1: Side A.

"Ryan’s being a hero again. He’s always doing that."

- Steph to Alex, Chapter 1: Side A.

"–Epic, totally insane!"

- Ryan and Steph at the same time, following obtaining the USB drive, Chapter 3: Monster or Mortal.

Fanon
is an enjoyed friendship with the Life is Strange fandom. Ryan and Steph serve as love interests to protagonist Alex Chen in True Colors. They had a solid friendship prior to meeting Alex, which fans of game loved; not having them be strangers or acquaintances and typically playfully competing for Alex’s affections. However, one thing fans dislike is how following the plot of the game, after Alex chooses her confirmed love interest, Ryan and Steph’s relationship seemingly drops off and they’re no longer seen interacting as friends or hanging out together.

Considering True Colors has two endings regarding which of the two is romanced, fans have come to the conclusion that staying in Haven Springs with Steph is the “best” possible ending for Ryan and Steph friendship as it means that they stay in the same town. Should Alex romance Ryan and choose to stay in Haven Springs, storywise, Steph leaves town, whereas Ryan willingly stays in his home town no matter what.

Due to Steph being a canon lesbian, she and Ryan are not paired romantically in fan works. They’re often depicted as the popular “best m/f friendship dynamic” meme: pure of heart, dumb of ass / lesbian. Fans of them also joke that Ryan and Steph “share one brain cell” has the two think a like despite having different interests.

On AO3, has 10+ works in its platonic/general tag, and has none in its romantic/het tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Variations

 * Luchenrich refers to the ship between Alex Chen, Ryan and Steph

Trivia

 * Ryan and Steph are the same age, both born in 1993.