I've been rewatching playthroughs of the first two chapters, and it's got me thinking about how Andrew and Ashley view their relationship.
It's no secret that Andrew is rather... 'hands on' with Ashley. Whether it's scolding her, comforting her, or just relaxing around her. In certain instances (like the one directly above) it even comes off like, at times, he doesn't even recognize he's doing it at first. But it started to make me wonder what Ashley thinks about all this. Throughout the entire game, past and present, Andrew acts like this, but Ashley never pays it any mind. There are times she jokes about it, but that's all it ever amounts to. Just a quick joke. Ashley herself is no stranger to this behavior either.
And in turn, Andrew never calls her out on this either. Which is especially weird, given his hang-ups about their... unique relationship. That was, until I saw this line, which I had never seen before. As Ashley, f you talk to Andrew before taking Renee up to the phone, Ashley will say he owes him a hug, and Andrew responds with this...
Suddenly he's acting like that sort of behavior is a thing of the past. Something they (or at least, she) grew out of years ago. I'll bet part of it is because of their parents watching (Which Andrew himself brings up in a couple lines after this...) but I doubt that's the whole reason.
Perhaps this isn't a world-changing revelation, but I think this is just another byproduct of how Andrew raised Ashley. Even as kids, Andy was never reluctant to touch Leyley. From shaking her, to making a literal blood oath with her. I doubt Andy meant anything about by when they were that young, but as their dependance on each other grew, and Andrew's feelings for her developed, it was just something that became normalized... at least, to Ashley. We can see in multiple scenarios whenever Andrew sees himself, or gets caught touching Ashley from anywhere from her chin to her ass, he QUICKLY pulls away... yet Ashley doesn't even seem to flinch. In fact, whenever it's brought up, all Ashley can do is laugh. About how 'weird' Andrew is being about it. Which in turn, makes her seem even more crazy, because yeah, of course that kind of contact between the two is weird, why wouldn't it be? But no, it's because that's just what she grew up around. Andrew was always touchy-feely like that, so that's just how siblings act, right? It's not like she ever got close enough to anyone else to recognize how their relationship compares to anyone else's. It's also partly why, even despite what we've seen with Ashley about her jealousy with Andrew, she isn't quite sure if they're "like that" when Andrew asks her. All that physical contact isn't really anything special to her. That's just how they are. And because of how sheltered she grew up, she doesn't see it as weird. She sees everyone who thinks it's weird as weird. Again, probably not the most mind-blowing realization, but it was fun to write about.
