#but i am so honestly fascinated by the neuvillette of four hundred years ago

[inundatae]

I do think a lot about how a creature that's 500 years old can remain so stagnant for centuries. That it takes until now for Neuvillette to start... slowly developing some personal growth. Not quite there, but taking those small steps towards something.

Simply to me, five hundred years is a very, very long time for someone to remain the same. But it's hard for me to grasp the idea that for an immortal being that their concept of time is different. Perhaps five hundred years passes in a blink of an eye to him. And Neuvillette is very much a creature of habit. If he refuses to allow himself to form personal attachment, rarely travels beyond his home and his work, then where would the opportunities be for him to change?

And honestly, it's so interesting to think of the brief glimpses of Neuvillette in the flashbacks, who is a lot more... open with his emotions. And it's seemingly the one and only time he's openly called someone a friend. Losing Carole, having to sit there and preside over Vautrin's hearing and then personally having to send him to prison, having the last words he hears of the person closest to him be full of hate. He's been paralyzed for so long and had no one. And to think of all the other acquaintances that he might have been friendly with too, his staff and such who slowly over time began to disappear from his life due to natural consequences. No wonder the only people he keeps close ties with are fellow immortal beings as well.