SolitareLee wrote:Honestly, whether Candi consciously figures into his plans on moving out, I think it's a great choice for him. Not in the financial way, obviously, but, like... seriously. When I think of Jon, his defining characteristic is his continuing crush/borderline obsession sometimes on Candi. Then him being kind of a doormat but generally nice probably. And then him masturbating for money. XD Jon the perpetual crusher who needs more spine and does porn. That's his personality to me. He could use a little bit of a change in his life, especially in that direction! It gets him away from his never-ending angst-crush (good!) and also gives him some steps towards independence (possibly giving him some of that much needed spine!). And with his own room he could do more porn, I guess? Had to tie that in somehow. xD
I'm curious what kinds of behaviors come across as a doormat. I'm sure there are some but they are not coming to me at the moment. He definitely comes across as having a lot of conflict avoidance. He'd rather act and ask for forgiveness then have to get into a debate on whether something would be okay. This passive-aggressiveness is probably his biggest weakness.
When I think of Jon, I think first of his connection with animals. I find it really interesting and it seems to put his conflict avoidance into a context that shows how it works for him. He can be very gentle and thoughtful. But like many animals, at the first sign of trouble he can become skittish and want to get away. I guess that can be seen as a doormat but he can raise his voice or put his foot down when it's important to him (and this is what Becca found attractive about him at times). While his conflict avoidance may seem to suggest a lack of spine he is not without courage. Remember,
this scene? He is willing to face danger when helping others. In fact, I think many of the times when readers got annoyed with him it revolved around him stupidly ignoring other people's concerns in order to help out Menjou or others. Maybe the first time he didn't realize how it'd make Becca or Candi feel but after that he knew they wouldn't be happy. He knew it could hurt his relationship with them if he got caught....so why bother? It certainly didn't seem like a selfish thing. It's not that he got some perverse kick out of watching them together. He just knew what they wanted and decided that helping them was worth the personal risk he was taking. That doesn't come across as a doormat to me. I guess you could say he was being a doormat to Menjou but I think that's a stretch.
I agree that leaving might help him move on from Candi and develop a better relationship with a girl. I don't know if it will help him overcome his aversion to conflict or his passive-aggressiveness.