Rhys in the Spotlight

Rhys yn y Chwyddwydr

November 2023 - March 2024

By Dominic (Leiph) Hilton and Ed Franco

Alwyn Rhys

Character Profile

23 Years Old

Politician

Welsh and English

Obsession to Social Media

In the Senedd Cymru / Parliament of Wales, there was always a commotion when Alwyn was about. Everybody's day would get just a little bit worse when he walked through the door. His coworker, Linda, somehow manages to get on his nerves all too often, which leads to Alwyn verbally assaulting her and eventually becoming physically violent.

This was not tolerated in the workplace, so Alwyn found himself with a suspension. Linda suffered no major injuries and decided not to press charges against him. The court ruled that he needed to visit a therapist for a while due to this behaviour paired with his pre-existing mental health issues.

He seemed to believe that he was above others in some fundamental way as if everybody else was simply lower than him. What, does he think he's the main character of some play? That's ridiculous. He sees others as less intelligent, confirming this bias when other people make mistakes and dismissing their achievements as anomalous.

Another ailment with which he deals is his obsessive behaviour about his phone and social media. He is always holding his phone when outside the house (apart from when Mikey takes it) even when he is not using it. He is distressed at the mere thought of losing it and is constantly checking for notifications, checking the battery meter, the time, the weather, etc.

On social media, Alwyn posts irritating and ignorant things. This causes him to gain a vitriolic and reactionary audience. He does not mention them to Mikey, but Mikey already knows. Alwyn is seen complaining and asking why it must always be him who is the target of disrespect and hatred on social media, yet he continues to make posts that voice distaste for laws protecting others' rights and posting images with "hate cymbals". Little does he realise, those are not metal percussion instruments, they are words and images symbolic of hatred and discrimination to certain groups be they in the past or present. His lack of understanding for such a topic makes him very fit to be a British politician.

Once Alwyn starts seeing Mikey, things do not appear to change. Alwyn disregards the tips and advice Mikey gives to him, as he also sees Mikey as just another unintelligent 'other person'. Mikey is dealing with his own issues which clouds his judgement as a therapist, and he ends up lashing out at Alwyn. In his defense, Alwyn was written to be insufferable.

Another thing Mikey does is take Alwyn's phone away, delete all social media, deactivate all accounts and make all of it impossible to reaccess. Alwyn hates this decision at first but ends up indebted to Mikey as he finally managed to get off social media.

Alwyn did not return to his job as a politician, as he was not enjoying it. The nature of the work is that you are bound to be criticised no matter what, and Alwyn realised this was too much. He changed fields and is now working with different organisations that promote good mental health and give support to those who need it.

Since being off social media, he has made more friends in real life that he luckily has time to meet up with often. From this, he has realised that others are not all unintelligent and less-than, and he gives them a chance again. He becomes much happier when this happens.