the story would've ended if it were that easy for ian to pack it up and leave with jo. the whole point of the story is literally ian STRUGGLING to leave
+bcs he's being tied down by tj/gang
and even if ian did leave with jo, in their current situation, it will be more difficult, ian is literally hunted down by various ppl who are involved in the gang he'll end up doing more harm to jo which he dont want. ian would've been happy if it was that easy to have a normal lifr and a new beginning, since thats literally what he have been wanting from the start.
TELL EM HELL YEAH
Where did I say that's not the case? And part as he's struggling he's getting Jo involved and he knows that. Both of them are adults, but one IS acquainted with gang life and one has absolutely no clue what it really means. Ian being irresponsible isn't negated just because he's been through shit
Just give it another read and you'll see the opportunities he has had to leave if he was that determined to do so. He chooses to stay despite what he says, not because he doesn't want to be happy, but due to his guilt and ties to his and TJs oast. People can be walking contradictions, especially those whose situations are as complicated as Ian's. And that's to be expected, but he still has to be held responsible for what he's doing to people who shouldn't be involved. The moment he let Jo closer than just a ons, he knowingly brought him into all of this. Some of you act as if Ian's an angel
when did i ever act as if ian is an angel bro, everyone know damn well that there's no angel in all three of the characters. i was just pointing out something that you said as if it were that easy for ian to make a decision to leave and be with jo. ian had opportunities but chose not to, because as i said HE IS STRUGGLING TO LEAVE BCS HE'S TIED DOWN BY TJ AND THE GANG. his attachment to tj adds to his guilt to leave. and i think he he shouldn't be held responsible for jo since jo was the one who chose to stay despite all the clear signs that following ian would make his life at risk. hope u get my point
"Also, if Ian rly cared for him, he would've packed up and left together with him already to have a fresh start somewhere safe for both" this is literally the only thing I'm pointing out from what u said. im just saying that making a decision like that ISN'T EASY bcs of his situation as he is being tied down by tj and the gang. he had opportunities to leave but the "struggle" that im talking abt is him being haunted down by ppl, his lingering attachment to tj that's keeping him from leaving, and the risks that comes along with it esp for jo. I'm just saying that making a decision like that isn't as easy as u implied it to be, cause if he could move on from his attachment from tj, he really would've taken those opportunities to leave
idk how to explain my idea exactly, but to make it even clearer, what i want to say is "if it was that easy for ian to move on from tj, then he wouldn't be struggling this bad to leave tj(without any guilt) and the violent life and start a new beginning" hope u get it, i wasn't trying to make this an argument ong
I'm not disagreeing with why he's struggling, but I do disagree with Ian not being responsible for what's happening. To a big degree, he's encouraging Jo to become involved in all of it when he knows perfectly well what it could lead to (a near repeat of TJ & Ian's past). Jo is an adult but he's been sheltered in comparison to the other two. With this last incident he can see the full implications of what he's signing up for, but he still holds a pathologically romanticized idea of it seeing that he's repeating to Ian "I'm willing to give up everything for you". Does that look like someone who's marure enough and not easily influenced, cause it looks like the opposite to me, the definition of codependency.
So imho, Ian is ultimately using Jo like I initially said. At first it was to feel normal and hold on to hope that he can live differently, but since he couldn't definitively take that step now it's to punish himself by repeating the past, only now he's involving one more person.
The story is very well written in this regard, bc it makes readers hope for Jo to stay and save Ian, but that means unnecessarily sacrificing his own life bc Ian couldn't commit to being saved and has already dragged Jo down to an even messier situation and made things even harder for either lf them to escape.
thank you for taking my intial point, i was trying so hard to explain things and not to come out rude. but i do understand your point as you list the reasons regarding to your statement abt the responsibility ian has for jo. and i agree! with alk of ur points, i do think that ian is partially responsible for jo. i almost always forget that jo grew up with a family so even if he's a grown man, he still could have a bit naivety and immaturity within him. jo is very much anxiously attached to ian, it must be why he's so desperate to save and give up everything for ian
I like TJ as a character more than the other 2, but I still wouldn't want him back together with Ian unless they're truly both done with the gang life and TJ isn't gonna be for a while (if ever). He chose this way to make it up to Ian and to still hold something akin to guilt over him so he won't forget him that easily.
As for Jo, dude's becoming a mess and getting involved in stuff that's way over his head for a "love" that's not much more than lust and curiosity at this point. Also, if Ian rly cared for him, he would've packed up and left together with him already to have a fresh start somewhere safe for both. This relationship of theirs is far from a priority to him though and he's subconsciously using him to either feel normal or to fill the gap that TJ left and I actually wish he'd leave Jo be instead of dragging him further down.