[andy and leyley spoilers] you know what I haven't done in a long long while? done a long rambling plurk where I talk about character implications and psychology for a character that gave me brain worms.

and man oh man, do i have some brain worms

who was the last dude I did this for? I cant even remember

also while this is gonna focus on Andrew there's gonna be a lot of spitballing about Ashley too, cuz they are kinda tangled up in various ways and also she's just fascinating all on her own too

and in fact, let's start with the first big question: wtf is going on with Ashley

I'm not gonna play armchair psychologist cuz that's never a good idea but there are a few things that are straight up text we can look at

she lacks a developed sense of empathy and has trouble visualizing and even considering consequences

and she's probably never had to learn to work around this lack because Andrew has always been there to think of them for her

to clean up any messes she makes

okay, so we know Andrew is the older brother but also it seems like they're pretty close in age. like probably a year-ish? two tops. close enough that one of Ashley's classmates in the flashback having a crush on him and the idea if him possibly reciprocating isn't seen as weird

but def not twins cuz they are in different classes so probs diff years

another clue imho that they are close in age but not twins is Ashley's nickname. Leyley really sounds less like a common nickname like say, Ash, and more like a name morphed out of a toddler's attempts to say Ashley

so its proba what little Andy called her and just stuck

also the fact that they share a bedroom... which okay fine as toddlers and little kids but the fact their parents kept it like that all the way into their early adulthood is... well it sure didn't cause their weird dynamic but it probably didn't help!

the carrots in the "Andrew and Ashley's psychosexual codependant Stew"

not the most important ingrediant but it sure is there!

anyways looping back around to Ashley's behavior and Andrew constantly dealing with it- the conversations with their mom and also how Ashley talks about how their mom said he has to be there for her in the flashback and his later confirmation in the same flashback that their mom makes him take her along anything he does anything... is very familiar to me

as a eldest child. our old favorite- parentification

even as young adults, when Ashely calls their mom said mom says for her to stop calling because "she has Andrew there to pacify her"

1) pacify who the fuck uses that kind of wording to their clearly freaked out child, even one that has a history of behavior problems???

2) the parents have clearly given up on dealing with her mh issues, whatever they are, and long ago just handed her off to Andrew

which is the real stock of that stew, oh boy

okay food time, I'll come back to this later once I gather my thoughts more

okay so, all this sets up what happens in the warehouse during the flashback pretty well

a young girl with some kind of mh issues that effect her empathy and understanding of long term fallout is not given any real methods to adapt or cope outside a brother that has been taught to always capitulate for her. hits her pre teens when these kinds of disorders commonly start really showing symptoms, and gets jealous that said brother might actually

want a life outside her- and very well might have problems seeing him AS a separate person from herself and gets jealous of a girl "stealing what belongs to another woman" and through badgering and manipulation gets said brother to help her prank the other girl

a prank that goes south and kills the other girl

so now they have this shared secret that just ties him even tighter to her because the guilt ruins him but she's the only one he can talk to about it

just watched the lp today and god they're so fascinatingly fucked up

I know right??? also I think this rambling has got too rambling for even me and I will save the brain juice for a full write up... eventually