If you dont mind me asking, what is it that you like about Aaron?
i find all my favorite aftg characters relatable in some way or another but none so much as aaron. his personality is very likable imo, his situation of failing to connect with his sibling who also happens to better than him at everything is very relatable to me and i find his general problem of being a side character in a story he doesn’t really want to be in very compelling. also there has to be a character who will now and then unironically tell neil to fuck off.
1) aaron’s douchebag personality. first we see him in opposition to nicky and get a flavor of his harsh personality against the backdrop of nicky’s outgoing bubbly one. ngl i first knew i liked aaron when he kept shutting nicky up whenever he was verbally harassing neil in tfc - that was very appreciated. aaron’s rude, he doesn’t pull his punches and he also has this hilarious dry humor. idk what’s not to like unless ofc you’re on nicky’s side during all of their exchanges. personality type is usually the most important reason why i take to a character and that of aaron satisfies all of my needs. also, he’s a snob which i find very relatable.
2) “the other minyard”. so imagine you’re this pretty average guy with a pretty basic tragic backstory but then out of nowhere comes a person who looks exactly like you but 1) is an exy prodigy 2) has eidetic memory 3) is much more fucked up than you 4) basically steals the show no matter what you do. and then this person takes over your life and suddenly your mom’s dead and you aren’t allowed to date. aaron is eclipsed by andrew both in terms of skills and in terms of sob stories. he’s basically tahani al-jamil, only his camilla is his identical twin and has a history of violence. the only thing andrew isn’t better at is being “normal” so that’s where aaron concentrates his efforts which also makes him sacrifice any possibility of connecting with andrew. they just speak different languages bcs while andrew embraced his “strangeness” long ago, aaron sees the only possible way to a better life in seeking “normalcy” at all costs. he can’t bring himself to understand why andrew acts in such “abnormal” anti-social ways. he agrees to the deals without fully realizing what that entails and is horrified whenever andrew follows through. by the time they join the foxes he’s tired, unwilling to make progress but also unwilling to give up. they’re at an impasse. aaron’s this average dude trapped in a story that isn’t about him but rather about his larger than life twin brother and this gangster offspring who everybody likes for some reason. speaking of whom
3) let’s be real someone on the team should hate neil. it’s so frustrating that neil’s a brat but everybody likes him. kevin likes his exy skills, andrew has a crush on him and the rest of the foxes have adopted him despite his shady ways. why. the. fuck. neil comes out of nowhere and puts everybody in danger bcs he wants to play stickball and insult the mafia on live tv and everyone thinks it’s okay bcs why exactly? bcs he’s the main character? bcs he’s a cinnamon roll that has to be protected at all costs? a member of their team died bcs of him and everybody just brushed it off bcs they like neil so much. i mean i know why i like neil but if i were one of the foxes i’d hate his guts bcs that’s my reaction to people who are very popular for no reason - just another reason to relate to my boy aaron. i love their fights with neil, especially the one during the spring break bcs aaron repeats the dialogue they had after he killed drake showing that he’s as harsh and rude as neil and can keep up very well. it’s so funny, i think they hate each other cause they’re so alike and can’t bear to look at their own problematic modes of behavior reflected in someone else.
tl;dr i like aaron bcs he tells nicky to shut up, bcs he tells neil to shut up and bcs he’s a cool dude who can do stuff and has stories to tell but compared to all the main characters he’s a boring nobody which i find very relatable