#bebou and the French stay winning

[petrichormore]

yknow a moment from today that I feel is really under appreciated and kinda highlights the difference between the people q!Bad trusts and the people he doesn’t?

(this is about the characters obviously. You cannot make me use q! on long analysis posts. None of you can make me.)

Aypierre was showing Bad the room he used to capture and question Fred, and built into the only entry into the main room was an inventory scanner.

An inventory scanner - the thing Bad was hesitant to use to save Forever because he was scared of the islanders knowing of its existence and turning it against him. He did it anyway obviously because he cares about Forever but it’s clear he knows this is the one thing that could remove all his carefully built up protections in an instant. And the only way into the room was through it.

So Bad stops, of course, and Aypierre (who already walked through it first) notices and goes “I’ll just give you your items back, come through”

And Bad says “Ehhhh no, I…”

And Aypierre reassures him “You can come through. Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry.

And Bad repeats “Ehhhh no…” And then “Forgive my paranoia, can you disable it? Or make an opening for me?” He asks it very politely too, as if he believes it’s a hard ask (it’s not).

And Aypierre does. That’s why I think this moment is underrated. Bad asks for forgiveness for his paranoia - a paranoia that has been built up and rewarded and reinforced by his experiences on the island - and yet Aypierre doesn’t treat it like a burden. He doesn’t complain about it, he doesn’t tell Bad he’s overreacting, and he certainly doesn’t try to guilt-trip or otherwise insist Bad go through when he’s clearly uncomfortable. He just… makes another opening, and Bad walks through that, and the moment of hesitance, of distrust, is left behind. Not just left behind, but accepted. From Bad’s perspective, Aypierre has essentially communicated that “I can see you don’t trust me fully, and that’s okay, I understand why. It’s not a big deal, and I can move on.”

And I think that acceptance is why Aypierre has managed to gain an impressive amount of Bad’s trust so much faster than other islanders. I think that’s why when he told Bad he put cameras in his house, Bad didn’t get upset.

A lot of islanders, even islanders that are Bad’s friends, would not have reacted the way Aypierre did to Bad not wanting to step through the inventory scanner. And it does make a difference.

#and this isn’t even the first time q!Aypierre has been considerate of q!Bad’s paranoia instead of dismissive or disparaging #I’m reminded of the time q!Bad was hesitating on entering the art museum so q!Aypierre offered to walk ahead of him in case of traps #it’s just. interesting #q!Bad does not have many people who are so nonchalant about his extreme trust issues #it’s probably refreshing for him #qsmp #qsmp liveblog but late #qsmp aypierre #q!aypierre #qsmp badboyhalo #q!badboyhalo #q!bbh character analysis #bebou and the French stay winning