I LOVE YOU AIDEN

I LOVE YOU AIDEN

Aiden Clark is a complex character in a variety of aspects, from symbolism within his design to how his attitude changes throughout the course of the entire comic, and events that predate even that. A majority of this essay will be comparative, looking at the differences and similarities between his child, and current self. I will delve into the significance of certain design features that are the most obvious as they are an outwards symbol of his personality, but also some deeper subjects that may not be as apparent as on the surface. Take this as a guide to understand the character, or my interpretation of him, a little better!

The first, and the most obvious topic of conversation to symbolise this, would be his outwards and physical appearance. I find there’s such a stark difference between him when he was younger, compared to a majority of canon time. Younger aiden generally appears darker. His eyebags are more apparent, making his facial structure seem older than he should have at such a young age, making him appear worn and tired. His hair is black, and eyes are dark too. These aid to the symbolism of his darker hair signifying worry, fear or depression. His clothes are a lot stricter, being seen in a suit in one instance and very drab, plain coloured clothes when alone. If we compare this to how his in canon clothes are bright reds, and yellows and filled with vibrancy, we can see where the two sides of him seem to diverge from one another. Aiden is consistently smiling now, there being very few instances when he’s seen without a smile dressing his face. He’s brighter on the outside. Even his hair is brighter, dyed blonde and his eyes fake red with prescription contacts. A lot of the time we see this was when life began to go his way. Aside from the phantom dimension, his life was looking up. He had friends that were more like a family, and seemed to be healing from the depression he was once fighting off. Though, near the end of season 2 we begin to see how his past self haunts him in more ways than one. Though the main way will be explored in more depth in a few paragraphs time, we see how his hair begins to grow out, leaving black roots. It’s symbolic of his old self clawing its way out the grave it was buried in as his life deteriorates again. We see this in his eyes too, as his prescription begins to irritate his eyes- leaving him with the dark eyes we saw when he was younger.

The next topic would be how he acts, and presents himself. When younger, we can presume he was incredibly withdrawn and antisocial. His parents say, in episode fourtyfive, “It’s weird, Aiden used to be such a quiet kid.” and we see this when he’s lying on his bed in the dark with a grim expression on his face, something we couldn’t easily think of our current Aiden doing (at least, on the surface). Though, a reason for this may be how he was dragged around from place to place by his parents, treated almost like a pet or accessory instead of their own child. The relationship they had with him seems almost fake, as they didn’t take into consideration the way he acted or any worries that should have given them. Though, Ben began to join him, and we can presume that's when he started to open up, once he was shown love. In the beginning, he appears to be the over the top, annoyingly bubbly character, but as we progress we see his arc not take away all his joy, but instead we see him adjust the levels of his love, and extroverted exterior to make the people around him comfortable. Aiden is happier, and more outwardly kind. He now goes at the pace of the group, because he cares about them and doesn’t want to make them uncomfortable in any way

As mentioned previously, Aiden is heavily haunted by who he once was. While other members of the group, like Ashlyn and Tyler, have nightmares about the phantoms it's only them currently that are ‘possessed’. We see both of them have a current reflection of themself, showing that they’re scared of who they really are, or who they are to become. Aiden, however, has a younger version of himself. He’s strangled by himself from back then, and we can tell this from both the hair color, and the fact he’s smaller than Aiden. It’s like he’s choking on denial, the words to communicate those problems are stuck in his throat and that's why his phantom stands on top of him, choking him out. This also shows the complex layered view he has of his past self, how he views it as a demonic thing parallel to the horrors of the Phantoms. This is his hidden secret worry, this is what he wants to bury because he finds who he was, and what he went through, so terrifying that it's the weakness the phantom in his nightmare preys on.

The final core difference I think stands out the most is his friend group. Before, Aiden lacked real friends. He’s told us himself the most he ever really had were what I would describe as “proximity friends”. Essentially, people he could never be close to. People he talked to because they were near, not because he liked them. He had no connection to them, unlike when he moved to Alto, Georgia. He has a social life because of his friends. They’re an incredibly close knit group, and that helps him from spiralling into a sort of depression like one he had fought before. Though, this came at a price. I’m sure he wouldn’t trade his friends to leave the phantom realm, after all they’d been through, they live as an extension of each other. I firmly believe Aiden would not have been able to be who he was, if the phantom realm was not involved. Before Ashlyn, Tyler, Taylor, and Logan, he only had Ben. Before Ben, he had nobody. His friends have shaped him into who he is today.

In conclusion, there is strong evidence to support the similarities and differences they share and divert at. On the outside, Aiden seems to be slowly but surely reverting back into who he was, but we still see how his loved ones have truly changed him, allowing him the peace of mind to heal faster than Tyler or Logan. Although he may begin to appear like he did when he was younger, his friends are a sort of light that keeps him stable.

(for more on that, see THIS post for an example)

for making it this far, take some cute lil photos i found of him while doing a lil research