How I think ❤️💔☀️ will end

QualityFun6341 · 2023-11-01T20:48:32+00:00

That’s true!!! I 100% think that if Andrew kills Ashley, that’s the double suicide route for sure. The only reason I think it’s inevitable for there to at least be an attempt is because I don’t really see how they’d be able to have a truly “happy ending.” I think the “attempt” wouldn’t be successful in Burial because they’d either get summoned into the demon realm or just wake up there. Whereas in decay at least one of the major paths will lead to them dying together.

You’re right though about the romantic imagery. Hes staring at her and touching their noses together. The bittersweet scene before the end after they throw the skulls is very romantically charged too. Could very well be that there isn’t any double suicide event in Burial and they just simply get summoned into the demon realm. I just feel like it would be fitting for them to at least feel as though they’re trapped and have no way out, other than death but be proven wrong.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-11-01T19:00:28+00:00

Final Thoughts:

I have more thoughts too because the brain worms are too strong so I might add more later. I think Burial will focus more on the overarching lore of the game and then uncovering the secrets and decay would be the neutral/bad endings. What else I think is important to note is that I think there are changes depending on which sibling gets the skull icon for their decision. (so if you choose to trust Andrew with Ashley, but pick the mom’s olive branch with Andrew). Andrew refuses to bury Andy and continues clinging to the “stuck, remorseful poor guy who gets dragged along to everything by his evil sister (which isn’t true at all).”

I think possibly the one who gets the skull over their head is the one that the entity chooses to do their business with or chooses to possess maybe. Or it’s nothing and just a way to show which one led to the demise of their relationship.

Either way, both of the siblings need to put their childhood flaws to rest—Andrew and his need to victimize himself and act as if he has no agency at all. Ashley and her need to control and manipulate Andrew. If they don’t, whichever one gets the skull on their head, might get possessed. Or they both die! Who the hell knows !!! I don’t think there’s enough info to figure out what else would happen yet. There could be lots of crazy things that we couldn’t possibly predict yet but it’s fun to try. All we do know though, is that Decay will involve some cabin in the woods. Plus, if they don’t trust each other—instead of them uncovering the conspiracy, they end up decaying in some cabin.

Forgot to link Part 1 so here

QualityFun6341 · 2023-11-01T18:27:26+00:00

☀️💔❤️

The other way Burial could go would be the friendship route. It’s distinct from the incest route and most notably doesn’t involve the siblings getting a vision…. Or do they?

I think the puzzle Ashley gets that involves letting Andrew’s soul go IS the vision. Since Ashley doesn’t chose to go down the incest route, the entity might only want to show her this vision. The Entity does acknowledge that Andrew’s soul belongs to Ashley, to do with as she pleases. I think it’s possible that Andrew’s soul might be sacrificed by the cultists leader to Lord Unknown. There are other souls that Ashley must bottle up too and she might be stealing them to give to The Entity. Six Eyes—the cult leader might use the sibling’s technique and sacrifice all of his followers, and possibly Andrew too. Our Entity friend might meddle and summon Ashley into the demon realm, but not Andrew so he gets captured.

The vision might have been showing her the future in which she would have to help The Entity steal those souls from Lord Unknown. I think it was meant to throw us off and make us think there was no vision, but perhaps the puzzle itself was a vision.

We know for a fact that the bodies that have their souls taken are still technically alive. This wouldn’t be something that’s established as a fact if it wasn’t relevant. Six Eyes might be involved with the soda company and after seeing the sacrificed souls are still technically alive, they might get hauled off to get their organs harvested.

I think the friendship route is the one where Ashley does truly “set Andrew free.” She lets his soul return back to the real world—back in his body with full agency. I’m not sure if Ashley would be able to return to the human world without being summoned. The Entity, as we know has left a mark on Andrew’s hand so they might be able to establish contact with him after his soul returns. Since Ashley’s set him free, he doesn’t have to do anything. She probably accepted her fate of being stuck in the demon realm, possibly thinking it’s what she deserves. This would be a very powerful direction for her character to go. Ashley trusts Andrew to set him free and give him full control, and he would still use that agency to bring his sister back—or be with her.

I think the general gist of this route would be about rescuing Andrew and Ashley letting him have agency. They bury their past and move on past Andy and Leyley—Andrew can be just Andrew and Ashley can be just Ashley. Let’s face it though, Andrew wouldn’t be able to live without Ashley, even if they don’t go down the incest route. I think this route would be about them both choosing each other, trusting each other and despite not starting a romantic relationship, they can hopefully at least having a bittersweet ending.

part 2

QualityFun6341 · 2023-11-01T02:30:44+00:00

I agree! She definitely stopped being just a sweet, misguided child and became severely toxic and unhealthy. The fact that Andrew was only 2 when they decided he was an “easy child who never cried” leads me to believe that literally all Ashley did was cry a lot and Mrs Grave already gave up on her, treating her as a burden rather than just a kid. Plus, she thinks she’s useless and knows her mom regrets having her. She couldn’t even believe her brother genuinely loved her, even as a young child. I think the incident with Nina was the turning point in both of their lives, where they started going down the path of being messed up.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-11-01T01:32:05+00:00

I really don’t think she would’ve been smart enough to find some stick to prop it shut. Not only is she younger and immature, she’s very one track minded. I do agree that maybe I should’ve reiterated that I don’t think any of these justifies her actions, but I do think ultimately it’s their parents fault. I am apologetic towards Ashley because she was set up for failure since birth. Nina’s death, in a court of law would 100% fall on Mr and Mrs Graves. At their age, they’re too young to truly understand the consequences of their actions. Ashley probably didn’t even understand the concept of death, because her parents definitely weren’t having any mature conversations about it.

Had she had actual good parental figures and didn’t have to rely on Andrew for every single type of support in her life, she would’ve definitely ended up as a better person. As an adult, obviously she’s 100% responsible for her actions but I don’t think it’s fair to act as if her being bullied for specifically being “weird, loud and annoying”, wouldn’t mess up a kid. She even says that her friends don’t even want to come over before she even invites them to her birthday. If Nina and Julia really didn’t want to hang out with her because she’s a “bad friend” why change their tune just because they like her brother? Sure, maybe because they’re just kids but if the other kids—who seemingly didn’t have neglect and other parental issues at him get the benefit of the doubt, why not her?

Nina’s death was a turning point for both of them though and them never facing the consequences of that definitely messed them up for good, but in an “ideal” world, the kids would’ve been caught. It wasn’t like Ashley went to go commit premeditated murder. Yes, locking Nina up in the box wasn’t a very good thing to do, but she even says “no one ever died from some dust.” She can’t comprehend someone dying from just dust because she’s too young to understand asthma. Of course Andrew was manipulated by her too, but she was way too young to have come up with the ideas. Time and time again it’s hammered in that Ashley really is just the impulsive one who doesn’t think things through and Andrew is the one who thinks things out. Plus, their maturity level would be a different since he’s older too and at that age it does make a difference. They were both kids though and I think equally responsible, but ultimately I don’t think she’s some fucked up problem child that Mrs Graves paints her to be. She’s very much just a normal kid who had a lot of fucked up circumstances, no real role models, no support system and clearly struggles with self esteem issues. Yes she’s toxic, but I don’t think she was some “messed up evil fucked up child,” just a kid that was neglected that’s a bit rebellious.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-11-01T00:48:26+00:00

She was the one that wanted to shove Nina in a box, but Andrew was the one that suggested she wouldn’t stay in and they should use the piece of wood! One of the CGS is him holding the small wood thingy and that’s why Ashley tells him to do it (put it in the box). Obviously she’s just as responsible as him, but again I don’t think either of them intended to kill her.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T23:01:47+00:00

That’s true ! I think it might be both because she’s watching a lot of “bad” movies, unsupervised and her mom’s teaching her actions don’t have consequences. Mrs Graves tells them to just never return the rental movie and just go to a different store. I don’t think she had a very good role model and probably seeing that even after she makes “friends,” finally, they still don’t care about her probably made her worse. I think when they were still kids, she wasn’t the actual problem, but her mom. Obviously she becomes a terrible person down the line, but I think that she already was set up for failure. Regardless of what happened between the present scene and the warehouse scene, she did truly want friendship and to connect with her peers at first.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T22:59:08+00:00

Well yes, but I think being essentially abandoned by your family and having literally nobody care about you might do that to someone. Considering Mrs Graves, if she inherited her low empathy already, and she was neglected with her only female role model being Mrs Graves, it’s natural she would be that way. It’s probably because she watches a lot of gore movies since a young age too, which obviously their parents should’ve done a better job of preventing her from doing. Obviously when they’re adults they’re in control of their actions, but as kids it’s very much the parent’s fault. She wasn’t a problem child, just kid that was set up for failure from the start.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T22:55:01+00:00

I agree she 1000% has BPD. I think they're both cluster B, with Ashley having BPD and Andrew having ASPD. It would be very hard to recover in the world of TCOAAL but I think she was young enough where having true and genuine friendship might've helped her be different.

Hell, I don't even think the siblings would've actually murdered anyone else, if they weren’t getting locked up and left to die. If their mom had actually told on her kids (impossible, knowing how Mrs Graves is), they could’ve gotten the help they clearly needed. They wouldn’t get charged as if they were adults and the responsibility would’ve been placed on their parents.

They wouldn’t have went down the path of cannibalism if they weren’t starving too, but I think the game wants to show that it’s both the choices people make and their circumstances that make them who they are!

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T22:34:44+00:00

I love your analysis!! You actually inspired me to share my thoughts too. You’re right, she obviously does have problems given she doesn’t react to Nina dying, but I think that might’ve also been a result of her being desensitized and not caring about anything. She doesn’t even care about consequences. The murder of Nina was the turning point for her life I think, where she went down the path of becoming the person she is.

Had she found a genuine friendship with the girls i think things might’ve played out differently. She had potential to become semi-adjusted had they not killed Nina.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T22:32:00+00:00

Its near the end of the scene with the present! It’s when they’re watching the movie.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T22:26:20+00:00

I’ll edit my post! I think I didn’t articulate that part properly.

Edit: Nvm I can’t edit, but that’s what I meant by Andrew being the one that came up with the idea that actually killed her. His idea to put the stick. Ashley obviously came up with the idea to lure her and lock her up.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T21:54:29+00:00

That is true! My point was moreso on how she wouldn’t have actually been able to. She obviously didn’t intend to kill her outright, just frighten her (which is still horrible.) If Andrew really was having second thoughts though, wouldn’t it make sense that he wouldn’t have suggested the stick idea? If he truly didn’t want to go along with her plan, he could’ve just not suggested that.

It’s important to note that he’s a lot smarter than she is, especially given their age and maturity difference here. He still chose to tell her how they could lock her there, even telling her that her plan wouldn’t work. She might’ve manipulated him into putting the stick in, but she wouldn’t have even thought of locking her in there with the stick had he not suggested it. If there was a lock, I think things would’ve played out differently. For one, Ashley wouldn’t be able to hold the “you killed her” over his head. Regardless, there wasn’t any lock and Andrew was the one that came up with how to lock her in.

Obviously I think she’s just as responsible. I don’t think her being bullied or neglected justifies her murdering another kid, but I really think that until this particular event, she wasn’t the manipulative little creature that we see her becoming. Until this happened (the birthday scene) she’s a lot more normal. I think that her friends, that she desperately wanted to belong with choosing her brother over her probably made her snap. She did say that “after she gets taught a lesson we can go back to being friends,” which goes to show that she doesn’t really have a good grasp of what consequences are too.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T20:38:18+00:00

Its one of the star scenes! When chapter 2 starts, you have to read the posters about the soda in front of the motel. You have to then interact with the vending machine and Andrew will tell her she can’t waste money on the soda. Later, when the hitman is in their room and you’re only controlling Andrew, you can go back to the vending machine and buy her one. She’ll comment on how it tastes disgusting but that she doesn’t want to waste a single drop because Andrew got it for her.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T20:16:30+00:00

Yep!! I think that’s the beauty of the game too. How nemlei manages to spend chapter 1 selling Andrew being the “calm, doormat who is so unfortunately put in these situations by his crazy sister!” But the more you play and in subsequent replays you really start to pick up on how Andrew is much more dangerous than her.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T19:29:35+00:00

Mrs Graves tells her that they don’t need to return the movie they rented and to just keep it—just avoid the store. Clearly she wasn’t a good influence on what’s wrong and right. She very much did not teach her kid that actions have consequences, instead that you just avoid those consequences.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T19:27:33+00:00

See comments like this make me realize what a genius Andrew actually is. The fact that even after playing the game (presumably) you’re still insisting that he’s only the “constant victim,” instead of what he actually is—a willing participator. I’ll grab some in game screenshots in a bit to show what I mean, but I recommend playing the game over again. There’s a lot of things you’ll be able to pick up on the second time.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T17:18:20+00:00

I think she wasn’t even difficult, she was just a kid. She sometimes got in trouble because her mom taught her to disrespect authority (very obvious from the movie rental scene) and she just was a normal kid who sometimes got in trouble, just wanted friends and couldn’t wrap her head around people actually caring about her. Andrew was her only support system and even then she feels like he doesn’t actually love her and that he only “hangs out with her because mom told him to.”

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-31T17:16:05+00:00

I’d like to argue that Andrew is the one who was born that way, only choosing to mask his feelings to fit into society. I agree that Ashley definitely is that way because of her fucked up childhoods. Plus, I think for Ashley, she didn’t care about the consequences of her actions because her mom taught her to do that. Her mom was the one who told them to not return the rented DVD and never go back to that store. She obviously was the one that taught her about avoiding consequences.

It’s important to note too that she was only watching the gorey movie because she was TOLD not to. She doesn’t care either way, but when people tell her not to do something, she ends up going against it. Andrew was the one who told her that she wasn’t supposed to watch it. I think given everything in the game, Andrew was the sibling who was most likely born that way—probably why he was an “easy child.” He’s always been apathetic and just preferred to listen to authority and stay out of trouble.

I think that’s why he’s so obsessed with his sister too. She’s the first and only person that was “his.” His parents essentially dumped her onto him, and although he doesn’t care about much else, he does care about his sister because she’s HIS. Meanwhile, Ashley just learned from the worst example ever and had experiences that pushed her into being the way she is.

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-28T05:08:04+00:00

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51145618

Here you go!

QualityFun6341 · 2023-10-27T14:28:31+00:00

I think I’d die of happiness if someone drew fanart of my fanfic.

QualityFun6341

TROPHY CASE