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There would be no story if they weren't siblings, what is so difficult to understand that.

They have that relationship BECAUSE Andrew had to raise Ashley because their parents weren't doing it. If they were just friends, no events in the game would happen.

I was going to be like "If you thought Leyley was an irredeemable devil as a child you probably just hate kids" but I'll be a little more lenient and say you probably either never interacted a lot with kids nor have had to work with kids. Fair enough. But like you're still wrong and I'm going to explain why.

The first part of Decay was an hourlong flashback showing why Andrew hates Leyley, and as a child how easy it was to view her as the evil thing that's ruining his life. And don't get me wrong, Leyley was an absolute brat. She's rude, she's pushy, she throws tantrums, she has no filter, and she has no qualms breaking things.

But from an outside perspective, especially from someone who's worked with kids like this? She's just being a normal kid. None of this surprises or disturbs me. Her attitude and actions made perfect sense. Like yeah when kids are left to their own devices and made to watch each other, when all the adults in their lives want nothing to do with them, this is going to be the result.

If you don't give them the attention they need and the only way they get it is to break things, they are going to break things. And because Andy initially only bothered with Leyley when she breaks things, she learned this is the only way to get and keep his attention.

And this mindset that Andrew will only give her attention when she breaks things is why she continuously pushes Andrew's buttons present day. She never grew out of this belief, which is why it's hard for her to grow out of Leyley.

And reminder, the reason this happened is due to the parents. This was not Leyley's fault, it was the parents who pushed Leyley onto Andy. And I also don't blame Andy for not understanding that as a kid. Later as an adult Andrew does realize that it was his mom who caused this to happen, but it doesn't remove the resentment he festered for Leyley for so long.

On another note I think it was nice how despite this burden put on Andy that made it hard to like Leyley, there's still glimpses of them getting along. Andy defending Leyley from the teacher, them chatting and laughing about getting baked into one of grandma's pies. It really showed that in spite of everything they could have gotten along as normal siblings would, if only things hadn't been screwed up from the start.

It also shows that despite hating Leyley, Andy was still only ever happy with her in the flashback. During that whole sequence not once was he happy interacting with anyone except those few times with Leyley. The only times he acted happy with anyone else was because it was just that: an act to avoid discomfort or trouble.

On Leyley’s birthday, after she rants about how birthdays are “all nonsense anyway” and ends said rant with “who cares,” Andy responds that he does. In turn, Leyley is shown to have genuinely appreciated his willingness to celebrate it, as she made a drawing of that day and kept it with her until adolescence.

Prior to that, Leyley notably doesn’t make a fuss when she recognizes Andy can’t afford a cake. She also states she went along with Andy choosing the lemon muffins because she thought he wanted them.

In the flashback about Leyley’s suspension from school, she’s displeased that Andy’s cooked her “the same crap” again but quietly eats it anyway. This, in conjunction with the previous point, suggests that as much of a brat as she is, she does (in a way) understand that Andy is trying his best to look after her.

Leyley appears concerned for Andy as he breaks down at the grandparents’ house and asks him if he’s okay. When he asks her if she wants to be friends, she replies “I thought we already were.”

In the abstract segment within Andy’s subconscious at the start of 3A, his family is represented by ghosts. At one point, the player is given a choice - either Andy gets yelled at by his teacher, his mother, or Pink Ghost/Leyley. When he takes away Pink Ghost’s coloring pencils, her reaction is a quiet expression of sadness as opposed to a roar.

The same segment also contains a similarly abstract “family portrait.” Renee’s Lime Ghost is the one depicted as angry - Pink Ghost, contrary to expectation, is depicted as sad.

I find the last two points particularly noteworthy. Leyley’s external belligerence doesn’t seem to leave as visceral of an impression on Andy as the underlying reasons for it.

living dead boy.

source .

saepe ne utile quidem est scire quid futurum sit.