my favorite scene in all of literature is when Neil Josten wakes up in Columbia after being drugged, hurls an alarm clock at Aaron, dumps his water on the floor and throws the cup at Aaron, stuff his clothes down the toilet and squeezes out through the window, has the foresight to call Matt from a pay phone to protect his shit, hitch hikes back to campus, eyes back to brown?? shows up on Wymack’s door like 😜 and reveals he could speak German the whole time?? CHARACTER OF ALL TIME, that is a protagonist who knows how MOVE THE MFING PLOT ALONG

It's so interesting to me that Nora describes Jean and Neil as being similar in personality.

On a surface level, yes they are a lot alike. Jean is prickly and blunt and prone to verbal insults, just like Neil is. He's unfamilar with affection and kindness like Neil was at the beginning of tfc and he fears older male authority figures just as Neil does.

But at the same time, they are also just so completely different.

Like, I love Neil, but there is nothing about canon Neil Josten that could be described as gentle or soft-hearted or overtly affectionate. In tfc he was studying the Foxes behavior like they were alien specimens under a microscope because he was so unused to how friendships work. He didn't even realize Nicky was his friend until Nicky outright confirmed it. He softens a little for his Foxes in the end (especially for Andrew) and he does love his chosen family, but even by the end of tkm his empathy for other people is still highly selective and he remains a cagey and rude asshole.

But Jean? Jean is a loverboy, through and through. He's not used to receiving affection, but he's a remarkably quick study and he learns how to reciprocate just as fast. He has compassion even for the people who betrayed him and hurt him in the Nest. Protecting Jeremy is so instinctive for him, he does it without thinking. He was so horrified by the thought of Cat being hurt that he couldnt stop himself from checking her for injuries that weren't there. He agrees to getting a dog because he couldn't bring himself to deny Jeremy and Laila something that brought them so much joy. He was already looking out for Cody when he barely even knew them. To his very core, he is so gentle and tender-hearted and kind.

Neil had to be taught how to love other people (and he got there eventually), but Jean's love for others has been pouring out of him for years with nowhere to go.

hello aftg tumblr will you accept my humble offering

Barkbark von Barkenstein! Mister B!

It's been a rough few days on the run

Gift for my friend @bolshe-nichego

Happy belated birthday to our favourite little liar

He is beauty he is grace, if he don't like you he'll tell you to yo face (and insult the sh*t outta you on live television for good mesure)

<333

You know what, Kevin seeming to not have a strong sense of morality makes complete sense with the whole recently escaped a cult he spent most of his childhood in thing. He probably doesn’t trust his own morals, and like… would you? In the nest he was expecting to let Riko do whatever even if he knew it was wrong. Anytime he wanted to be nice he had to do it secretly. Then he leaves and he’s seen as extremely callous, but also he spends all his time with the foxes most of whom are very maladjusted, so the lines are terribly blurred. Like yeah ok, the monsters drug people sometimes but hey it’s apparently for their own good and it has nothing on the shit Riko used to do, so not his problem. The foxes beat each other up bc apparently that’s still fine? Whatever he’s staying out of it unless it directly involves him. Andrew chokes him and it was bad enough that he was stopped but also people were still mostly on Andrew’s side for that? Moving on I guess. Like it’s going to take forever to get a solid grasp on what is and isn’t ok in that situation. I think that’s why he defaults to outwardly worrying about exy in stressful situations (Seth’s death, the drake incident, etc.), because at least that’s something he’s sure about.