#anyway Andrew talks so viciously sometimes that the only way to convey that is to drop contractions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miniyrds · 3 years

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it’s time to talk about andrew’s syntax

(finally, I hear you scream. in reality, it is just me screaming)

so I answered this ask a few weeks ago and I've been sitting on talking about my other examples for a while because I am lazy

I also feel the need to say that I don’t think this is that deep, but more so Nora writing Andrew how people would talk in these situations. in my head, she gave Andrew such a distinct tone that I didn't fully realize until I read the physical copies. if you read these scenes out loud to yourself, I hope you can see where im coming from

example one: andrew’s attack on allison

in case you forgot, Aaron had just said “Seth was a one off then” to neil and Allison slapped Aaron which was a big no no. Andrew currently has Allison in a combo of a chokehold/arm grip (??? I don’t know fight moves)

“Andrew, it’s just Allison. Okay? It’s just Allison.”

“It is not ‘just’ anyone when she lays a hand on what’s mine.”

...

“You failed. You should have been faster.”

this is andrew’s near-rage talking. he’s losing control. a part of his brain knows that if he doesn’t keep some semblance of control, he’s going to lose it and seriously hurt Allison. he’d be taken away and couldn’t hold up his promises. in my head, the lack of contractions shows Andrew thinking through the things he’s saying. read andrew’s lines through gritted teeth and it adds to the effect.

“that’s enough, Andrew”

“you don’t get to decide that”

...

“I didn’t promise that”

...

Andrew's mouth gave a violent twitch, a grimace he forcibly repressed, and he finally looked up. The darkness in his stare almost took Neil's breath away.

then, neil steps up and interrupts Andrew’s flow. (this is important later too). this throw’s Andrew off and his rage subsides slightly. he’s distracted by neil. he’s still angry, as the description shares, but he is in control enough to not have to dedicate so much energy to keeping himself in check. neil is able to get through andrew’s rage just enough to distract him. ultimately, it is Aaron who speaks up and gets Andrew to let go

“you asshole. you could have seriously hurt her!”

“you do not have the right to act surprised. That is the second time in as many weeks one of you has forgotten yourself. You should have learned your lesson the first time. You do not get to take offense when you force my hand.”

must remain Scary Andrew even when his rage is eating at the last semblance of control that he has. it doesn’t help that the upperclassmen don’t know when to back down. at least neil has that intuition (wymack too, I believe)

Don't," Andrew said, with a calm Neil didn't believe for a second. Andrew tapped his finger to his lips twice, warning Matt to silence, and pointed at him. "A privileged child like you has never seen the real world. Don't speak of it like you understand.

this is actually the paragraph that got me to go back and look at andrew’s dialogue in the first place. you’d think he’d still be speaking in his contraction-less sentences, but now he’s mocking Matt. he knows what he’s doing and he doesn’t have any rage left. I suspect his adrenaline is fading fast and now he’s exhausted. you can see that in how easily he agrees to go with wymack

example two: aaron’s promise

incase you forgot: they’re all sitting around while Andrew is confessing to killing tilda and Aaron is being all defensive bc he didn’t realize what he was getting into

“She was nothing and no-one to me," Andrew said. "Why else would I have killed her?"

It took Aaron a minute to find his voice again. He still sounded angry, but there was a muted edge to his, "You wouldn't even look at me. You wouldn't say a word to me unless I said something first. I'm not psychic. How was I supposed to know?"

"Because I made you a promise," Andrew said. "I did not forget it just because you chose not to believe me. I did what I said I would do, and fuck you for expecting anything else.

neil picks up on andrew’s rage here as well. in the past I just brushed past this line but neil says that he saw a glimpse of andrew’s infinite anger at his core. he knows what Andrew is doing. how he’s forcing himself to keep it together and not lose it on Aaron. I personally think Andrew is really hurt to be confronting this truth here which is why it shows up as rage

Aaron’s line and andrew’s rage in response plays into people just not knowing how Andrew works which is a whole other topic

A heartbeat later Andrew's expression went dead. Neil regretted his intervention immediately. No one could let go of that much rage that easily; Andrew had simply buried it where it could hurt only him. It was too late to take it back, so Neil dropped his hand to his lap in defeat

distracting Andrew is a good way to give his brain something else to focus on to dull the extreme rage that is coming too close to the surface. however, as neil notices, it doesnt go away, it just gets re-buried which only does more damage to Andrew. I'll take unhealthy coping mechanisms for 200 pls

that got a little off track but you see how Andrew was near a breaking point in the way he was speaking, neil noticed and stepped in, and then learned a little more about how Andrew treats his emotions

#anyway Andrew talks so viciously sometimes that the only way to convey that is to drop contractions #it's fun to look at #this also doesnt apply to medicated andrew #mine #tfc #andrew minyard #aftg

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