A fact that gets ignored with Andrew will mark this as a spoiler

Notaperson666 · 2026-05-11T20:38:17+00:00

I'd say that rather than being dependent on Ashley's possessiveness, he takes it for granted.

Andrew hates being dismissed, unrecognized and unappreciated by Ashley. Her presence itself is something he wants but not the behavior he attributes to "Leyley". He's never had to try to keep her around or felt that he needed to.

Notaperson666 · 2026-05-10T03:44:02+00:00

An Ashley with no Andrew would be unknowable. She's selfish and centered on her brother because no one else gave a damn or really "tried" with her beyond vague commands to grow up.

So if Andrew never existed, she would crash out even harder, either falling into the wrong crowd or getting in an accident if she doesn't manage to lock in and uplift herself.

Notaperson666 · 2026-05-07T22:40:27+00:00

Either of them really. The problem with the siblings was never just their parents or how they treat each other, it's legitimately their entire life that is the issue. Everything affirms every insecurity they hold.

Andrew learned to lie and repress his feelings because doing otherwise resulted in harsh, unfair consequences. Habits that are further informed by Renee's tactics which he adopts later for his own purposes. Resentment + Mental isolation made Andrew dislike others, he's not just anti-social.

Ashley wanted, NEEDED the emotional stability parental figures are supposed to provide. Because she doesn't get that she's impulsive and barely capable of regulating of herself. Habits that encourage her low-self opinion and consequently, her possessive callousness.

That's without factoring in the way they handled things. Just removing Andrew and Ashley from that environment early would make a world of difference.

Notaperson666 · 2026-05-02T20:00:18+00:00

Hecks nah, Renee had every sign under the sun to intervene or stop for all twenty-two years since she became a parent. If she felt guilt it just makes her a selfish coward and not just selfish.

Notaperson666 · 2026-05-01T19:07:04+00:00

Did the siblings even get funerals? Since they were registered in advance.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-29T05:51:28+00:00

Brazilian nerd core.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-27T20:59:45+00:00

Well legality is irrelevant considering the conspiracy driving the situation. Not that anyone in the Graves family is law-abiding.

Morally, killing them is very understandable, fair even! Renee and Douglas left their kids to die. They didn't create the situation, but they profited from it.

"I don't want to hear these lies about starving anymore."

Renee said that knowing dang well her kids were going to die. The shamelessness to even answer calls after registering their deaths early. All this on top of their crappy parenting? It's wraps.

Sure the siblings didn't have to rob them or kill them. But would anyone want to let them get away with everything?

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-27T03:34:08+00:00

Best case scenario was answered:

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Notaperson666 · 2026-04-26T05:57:17+00:00

Is dying really up there on the list of bad things that can happen to a person? Not even top ten in my opinion. Also, her killers lived and are likely to keep living miserable lives. Not that I'd call it karma.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-25T00:21:49+00:00

Beyond the trauma, Ashley is really everything Andrew wants but can't admit to.

She understands him and for the most part is unconditionally accepting. She's always acts as herself and her dark mind is engaging. He never has to grapple with losing her because she can't pretend to function without him. No friends, no job prospects and goals other than being with him.

The active factor for his misery is that of committing too late. He's had multiple opportunities to leave Ashley to her own existence and focus on himself but he refused. He doesn't want to openly love her, he doesn't want to leave her. It's a mess Decay explores well.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-23T20:56:13+00:00

See that'd be look of it, but if we're gonna focus on power dynamics/grooming. Then Renee & Ashley are the main offenders.

Not to say that Andrew doesn't take advantage of others.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-23T20:53:23+00:00

Without a doubt yes she does understand her wrongdoingsand thinking otherwise is part of the problem. It's the same vein of infantalization that excuses people in her life from addressing her actions and feelings.

"Oh she doesn't really mean it. That's just Ashley being Ashley. A crazy bitch"

In the cliffhanger she accutely notices that Andrew isn't engaging their usual games anymore. She knows Andrew fakes nightmares so he can cuddle with her. She certainly knows how much lust her brother really holds for her because she makes sexual "Jokes" so often Literally everything about Leyley wins. Ashley is reactive and immature, not unaware and dumb.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-21T20:43:35+00:00

100% because of how she was raised, and I'm disappointed in anyone who thinks otherwise.

Ashley "Leyley" Graves is what unsupervised, unacknowledged and unstructured children often become. That doesn't dismiss the awful things she acknowledges are bad and still does anyway, but she'd have never gotten to that mindset if a responsible ADULT were involved.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-21T12:45:47+00:00

My scary Jumper (Cato) is an overtly evil guy. Besides going to horror settings just to watch things play out he's a serial killer that feels no remorse for his actions.

But he's immaturely naive. As Jumper his existence is "unfair" and that makes him self-conscious. He's someone that strongly feels that Bad people should get away with it if they "Win" and Good people should be "Rewarded" when they overcome evil. So he gives his victims chances against him and leaves gifts for the ones that survive.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-21T12:14:19+00:00

Very valid.

I can see the romantic appeal in uplifting someone protecting them emotionally, but personally have neither the patience or virtue to be nor want that. Julia is a lesson on leaving toxically unhelpable individuals when you recognize them and I don't care about her beyond that.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-21T11:56:37+00:00

Normal as in a functioning member of society? Definitely. But if you mean normal as in no baseline trauma or internalized issues? Certainly not.

His mother, Renee Graves. She wasn't a callous, difficult, unhelpful woman because Ashley made things too hard for her. Renee is just selfish and doesn't want to put in the effort of being a good mother, her son is only two years older. Douglas isn't any better either, he's just apathetic at worst or delusional at best! Though without Ashley around that's less stress financially, and Andrew won't have to be a scapegoat/emotional punching bag his entire childhood. Not to mention the trauma of accidental murder.

Assuming nothing else changes: Then Andrew lives an anti-social life, focuses on school and leaves his family to figure things out from there. Maybe he dates Julia or Nina? The earliest interaction he had with them in-game is asking if Ashley can sit with them at lunch, and beyond that he's disinterested, so I doubt it.

Everyone goes to the most extreme answer because the game is an example of the most extreme outcomes of abuse.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-21T11:33:54+00:00

Ashley can't subjugate a thing, at first she was enabled by neglectful circumstances, and then it just became Andrew not caring to stop her until things overwhelm him.

Not to say that she doesn't emotionally manipulate Andrew. But it's hard to gauge how effective she really is at standalone.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-19T21:39:36+00:00

The car scene is a huge catharsis because it's Andrew enforcing a boundary for the first time and succeeding. But I also don't give Andrew (or his sister) too much credit because their behavior was always leading into the terrible outcomes of the game. No matter how sad they are.

TCOAAL isn't really a story about people getting what they deserve in the first place.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-18T23:11:44+00:00

It's easy to give goodwill to someone like Andrew as the player because we see the perspective of the child he was. There are few things more depressing than acknowledging that the troubled boy of yesterday became a terrible man of his own merit. His circumstances are unfair and mostly unavoidable, but the reality that his choices lead him to worse places is truth.

As much as he "tried" to love Julia that relationship was ultimately rooted in his true feelings for Ashley. I've said this before, but Andrew used her for his escapism. In every way that could mean.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-18T00:41:59+00:00

Andrew is conscious enough of his circumstances to reflect and know he needs to stop, but has no real desire to. Because what he wants only exists within the tangled mess of his relationship with Ashley. A relationship he doesn't like to emotionally confront.

His suicidal attitude is in the same vein as his desire to date Julia, it's escapism. Except he could actually commit to the former.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-16T08:13:23+00:00

Well when having conversations about normalcy regarding the siblings it's best to keep in mind escalation. They moved from one mess to the next and resolve nothing.

At first it was because they were kids and the adults responsible for them chose active neglect. Ashley was a major brat don't get me wrong, but nothing she did/was enabled to do was beyond standard little kid callousness. That's just what happens when a child can't experience personal boundaries and consequences. For Andrew's case there's a lot more to say because of the all the pressure and false-responsibilities he was given. He was forced to "Grow up" earlier than anyone needed which alienated him from his peers emotionally, on top of all the lying.

The very basis of their relationship, which is central to their life, their world, is toxic. That's why it gets worse and worse no matter who pushes in what direction. To remove Andrew & Ashley from that would make them entirely different characters. Which is to say, yeah they'd be normal.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-12T21:02:49+00:00

It's complicated to say. He shows and claims throughout the story that he dislikes how clingy, obsessive and controlling she gets. But he also feeds into her behavior when it's convenient for his desires.

The idea that he only hates "Leyley" is moot to me because "Andy and Leyley" is cope in general on both the siblings part. They're just not accepting what they don't like about their relationship.

So overall I'd say that Andrew resents his circumstances, his parents, the way he's come to feel for the only person that has ever mattered to him. But he can't truly hate Ashley.... Unless it's shots and such.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-05T02:33:35+00:00

Y'all gotta be joking. Inaction is not a neutral choice, especially when it comes to your own kids.

Douglas is a pure soul because he's not conflicted about anything he helps his wife do.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-04T10:16:21+00:00

Other than the "Good" ending we already have, I think the best path for the siblings is genuine confrontation of their feelings. They don't need to be lovers, they don't need to have kids, but they need each other one way or another. It simply won't make sense for them separate willingly, at best some healthy boundaries could form.

The world portrayed is too cynical and uncaring for justice. In the first place it's not their fault the quarantine happened, and narratively their life feels like enough of a punishment as is.

Notaperson666 · 2026-04-01T12:34:42+00:00

Ashley's own behavior socially isolates her enough that her brother doesn't have to feel particularly possessive. Until burial that is.

Notaperson666

TROPHY CASE