this post is basically what i think about eveyrday constantly 24/7 without fail

ravensandthings118:

*Spoilers for the All For the Game trilogy and trigger warnings, which include: mentions of rape, violence, abuse.

Andrew Minyard is one of the most complex and well-written characters I have ever read about. He has so many sides to him and so many things he has kept hidden from others. Most people think of him as a psychopath or a sociopath, but his behavior is a side effect of his past trauma and abuse.

He doesn’t know how to behave gently or be kind. He wasn’t raised with that, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. He does. He cares for Aaron, for Nicky, for Neil. And he cares to some extent about the other Foxes. His reactions are violent and rude when someone hurts his family not because he is distant and cruel, but because he cares for them.

Love is not a word in Andrew’s vocabulary, and he doesn’t know how to match his feelings with that word. Some might say that he is a sociopath for that, or maybe a psychopath with no feelings. But Nora shows in small ways how Andrew shows that he cares. It could be a cigarette here or a key there.

Remember when Andrew held a knife up to Nicky in the Foxhole Court because rape was mentioned? He cared for Neil even then and didn’t want him to suffer what Andrew did. He used violence then, and violence when Allison slapped Aaron. He was defending his family with violence because he doesn’t know any other way to tell people to back off.

When Andrew killed Tilda, it was to protect Aaron and keep him out of harm’s way. It was extreme, yes, and it was wrong. The bond between Andrew and Aaron is so complicated and hard to describe. When Aaron killed Drake, the first person Andrew looked for was Aaron. He wanted to know if Drake had done anything to Aaron. (What I’m trying to say is that Nora did an amazing job at implementing this realistically.)

I probably repeated myself over and over, but- Andrew Minyard is a complex and beautiful person who deserves lots of ice cream and soft mornings and a long life without more abuse. (And a certain Neil Josten.)