#everybody pls keep the tags coming i am vibrating so hard rn /pos

[anendtopursuit]

tags by @marielle-heller: #true #i LOVE ash but when i think about that one i really am like... #ashley what the FUCK! #do you know how many people you inadvertently killed!!!!!! #i do imagine like #he'd never say it but he is aware and he does feel the guilt #but um... #something something i think the book really does compel people if i'm being honest #if we look at the first evil dead (the second one i have no arguments that just presents ash as 'will press play on any tape recorder just #lying around' and really how can i blame him on that?) #you see cheryl is forced to draw the book before they read from it #and the trapdoor opens itself to compel them to go down there and find the book #so i think really you could argue #the book is TRYING to get people to read from it #it has a small amount of baseline power #but it needs someone to read it to do more #so anyway if you read it that way you could argue the book sent up some sort of 'hey ash this is a great idea!' vibes #and that it was going to happen eventually with it in his possession #also the fact that he still HAS IT like!!! i don't think it's implied actually that he would at the end of army of darkness #i think where it is is left a little open-ended? #so the fact it comes back to him like girl it's fucked cursed as hell to just do this! #ash is powerless #if you read this into danny's choices and i'd need to rewatch the movie but i think you can cause i think he tries and fails to stop it? #then like #no reason to blame him <3 #you're just fucked the moment you get too close to the book #and ash especially because the book decided he's special

i apologise for Yet Another Tag Dump but i got so unbelievably excited reading this because YOU ARE SO CORRECT OH MY GOD??? some thoughts and feelings regarding this because i am very autistic and loveee this concept:

great point abt cheryl drawing it, the trapdoor opening, etc! it always struck me as strange that those things happened before the necronomicon's power was unleashed, but if it has some small baseline of power regardless then it makes perfect sense that it's a way of luring them in. it may be a stretch, but you could possibly say the same for the bridge starting to break as they drive towards the cabin, since if they're trapped in close quarters with the necronomicon for an extended period of time then they're more likely to eventually read from it

you remembered correctly! danny tries to stop the recording right when it starts reciting passages from the book (so right when it becomes clear that the recording is actually capable of causing harm) and it doesn't let him. the recording is playing entirely of its own accord at that point.

i also have absolutely 0 memory of ash having the necronomicon at the end of aod, so i think your interpretation that it somehow miraculously Found Him Again is probably correct

oh ash ABSOLUTELY feels terrible for all the people he's accidentally indirectly killed. ash vs evil dead is quite possibly my favourite characterisation of ash because beneath all his bravado and peacocking you get genuine glimpses of his guilt and fear and the real human person that he is beneath all his armour, and it's so genuinely heartbreaking sometimes

i think a scene that potentially helps this theory - as well as sorta adding onto my last point - is the scene of ash near the end of aved crying and yelling about how he never asked for any of this to happen, and how it's not his fault that the book chose him.

maybe worth mentioning that, as previously stated, he was stoned when he read from the necronomicon in aved - if the necronomicon already has some level of influence over him, then it's entirely plausible that it succeeded in convincing him to read from it again Despite Him Knowing What Would Happen because he wasn't entirely sober. especially considering the fact he doesn't remember this happening until later.

maybe not entirely relevant but i'd love to take this opportunity to bring up the theory/fan interpretation that the beginning of evil dead 2 - the entire retcon sequence, right up until ash is thrown into the puddle - is ash's interpretation of the events of the first movie, and not a 1 to 1 representation of what actually happened. aved directly shows and references scenes from the original that never happened in this retcon (cheryl and scotty's whole involvement being the most notable one), so ed1 is definitely explicitly canon, and this retcon segment is just sort of - there. and i think, if this theory is true - if that retelling WAS ash's recollection of events, sort of sensationalised and unreliable in order to spare himself the pain of remembering what actually happened - since we know he gets really upset when he's reminded of what happened to cheryl - then it's quite possible that, in ed2, ash just listens to the recording without being compelled to do so because ash himself feels responsible for the events at the cabin, and is therefore retroactively painting himself as having more of an active role in it (when scotty took the forefront in ed1). though obviously that's just my interpretation, everybody has their own take on ed2's inclusion

every time i see someone hate danny from evil dead rise w a fiery passion just bc he's some dumbass teenager who accidentally summoned demons i wonder if the person posting it has seen the original series - not in a mean gatekeepy way, but in a "however dumb danny is, i promise you ash is ten times dumber" way.

the entire opening conflict of ash vs evil dead is that ash accidentally brought the deadites back Again bc he got stoned and read from the necronomicon ex mortis Again despite knowing exactly what would happen. if you hate danny for accidentally dooming his family, you'll absolutely DESPISE ash for dooming the entire world several times over and then almost deciding not to save it. i love the guy, but he's a fucking moron. a little infuriating dumbassery is part of the evil dead charm, it simply wouldn't be the same without it