For me its so much harder to read Alex especially in relation to ringgate and gmjust the galex/galexlily of it all. cuz I feel like he's super layered. Like with George it's kinda obvious on his face that he's kinda been picked and prodded to take part in the joke and it's like he's humoring Alex and lily. Vs Alex's face it's absolutely eating it up. It, from the look on his face seems like he is genuinely just finding ringgate just absolutely hilarious. For me Alex has this super chill like outer layer and then underneath, it's this more dry, sarcastic kinda almost hedonistic humour and then another layer that I haven't really been able to comprehend just yet!
hi anon! take everything i say with a big grain of salt because i am strictly not the most well read alex scholar but, like, the crux of it is: alex is a colossal pest to everyone around him and especially to george. because that’s galex, honestly, and that’s also where you get the mean alex characterization from time to time because he genuinely enjoys this. alex is one to push boundaries out of a sick fascination for seeing how much george can take. and lily being there only supercharges this because 1. alex is nonetheless a supportive, industrious boyfriend whom all should aspire to and 2. they leapfrog off each other to reach insane and unparalleled heights. we’ve basically already got confirmation of this (“alex thought the flowers would look quite nice!”) and talented minds have already speculated that the only person who could possibly offer her ring to george, is lily.
