We Are Not Things

one of the most telling things that separates solomon and balthy is how many things solomon likes, whereas with balthy you can pinpoint... frankly, nothing he feels any strong personal attachment to. "they have a lot of sentimental value," so says solomon about his guns. well, what has sentimental value to balthy?

we know solomon likes, truly likes: jimmy phantasm; anime (with a subtle but noticeable focus on anime about murderous cute girls); metal, music in general; poetry; guns (he definitely isn't an outright gun guy, he clearly doesn't know much, but his interest in them isn't entirely passive). this is just scratching the surface. all of his room, and the drawings in his notebook, show hints of several different things he loves enough to hold close. he is a deeply passionate person.

we know balthazar likes: ...?

balthazar likes scrolling social media. he superficially likes his drum set, which he definitely only uses when he wants to hit something in a frenzy. i have the personal belief that he dislikes his kitschy baseball bedsheets and the childishness of them (he so desperately wants to be a man and not a boy, after all). he likes things which display some sense of mindfulness and wealth (see: his turmeric crush from erewhon he's always posting about on instagram). he likes "to feel part of a community." none of these are hobbies, nor do they improve his well-being in any tangible way.

the term "dead-end hobby" has become very prevalent among gen z lately. the idea that a hobby is useless to you unless it has some sort of literal improvement, either in a certain skill, or cognitive function, or in creating something meaningful. neither balthy nor solomon have hobbies that escape the "dead-end" label, to me. after all, solomon's hobbies may be more fleshed out and serious to him than balthy's, but it's fact that he won't gain anything from them. jimmy phantasm and anime girls won't teach him any skills. shooting, maybe, but it's obvious he sees it less as a hobby and more as a stress reliever (akin to how balthy views the drums).

so i guess my thought is, when i compare them both, is there much of a difference between them when viewed from a "dead-end" lens? does anything really set balthy apart from solomon when neither of their passions will lead them to any sort of concrete point of success or improvement?