Honestly, I’ve seen quite a few people get angry at Ian/Ain for being manipulative and exploitative, and while I’ve only read the story up to this point, I feel like it’s been hinted that there’s an underlying reason for his actions. It might not necessarily be some grand plan but maybe a reason for his unwillingness to trust michelle.
For one, we’re mostly seeing the story from Michelle’s perspective so I think it’s important to pay attention to the moments when Ian acts out / seems uncomfortable. For example I have a suspicion that michelle is unaware of a lot of what goes on in his own country. He’s young and he seems to have a somewhat "pink" view of the world. There’s nothing wrong with that but it does make me wonder how much he actually understands about the political situation surrounding them.
If we were to see things from Ian’s perspective taking into account all the political bullshit that might be going on in the background, would his actions really seem as unreasonable? For example, considering killing the prince of another country? I feel like we’re judging Ian’s actions without necessarily having the full context behind them.
Something else I’ve noticed is that a lot of Ian’s actions seem to involve putting Michelle in carefully planned "fake" situations to gauge his reactions and figure out what kind of person he really is. Rather than trusting Michelle’s words or taking his actions at face value, Ian seems to need to test him repeatedly before he can believe anything, and then he has to test him again and again.
I can relate to the underlying thought process. I’ve struggled with trust issues myself and I’ve caught myself misinterpreting people’s actions, mentally writing them off, and then eventually being completely won over by them. The funny thing is that the other person usually has absolutely no idea that any of this is happening. They have no idea they’re being judged or that I’ve already decided what kind of person they are based on my own assumptions. Looking back I’ve realised that a lot of this comes from my own insecurities and my unwillingness to reconsider my initial judgments. Sometimes, it’s easier to keep believing what you’ve already convinced yourself.
As they say, history repeats itself. Of course I haven’t read the novel, so this interpretation might not be entirely accurate. I’m not trying to justify Ian’s behaviour or claim that his intentions are necessarily good. I just think there might be more to his actions than what we’re currently seeing, I’m curious to see whether the story eventually gives us more insight into Ian’s reasoning and whether my interpretation holds up.
Honestly, I’ve seen quite a few people get angry at Ian/Ain for being manipulative and exploitative, and while I’ve only read the story up to this point, I feel like it’s been hinted that there’s an underlying reason for his actions. It might not necessarily be some grand plan but maybe a reason for his unwillingness to trust michelle.
For one, we’re mostly seeing the story from Michelle’s perspective so I think it’s important to pay attention to the moments when Ian acts out / seems uncomfortable. For example I have a suspicion that michelle is unaware of a lot of what goes on in his own country. He’s young and he seems to have a somewhat "pink" view of the world. There’s nothing wrong with that but it does make me wonder how much he actually understands about the political situation surrounding them.
If we were to see things from Ian’s perspective taking into account all the political bullshit that might be going on in the background, would his actions really seem as unreasonable? For example, considering killing the prince of another country? I feel like we’re judging Ian’s actions without necessarily having the full context behind them.
Something else I’ve noticed is that a lot of Ian’s actions seem to involve putting Michelle in carefully planned "fake" situations to gauge his reactions and figure out what kind of person he really is. Rather than trusting Michelle’s words or taking his actions at face value, Ian seems to need to test him repeatedly before he can believe anything, and then he has to test him again and again.
I can relate to the underlying thought process. I’ve struggled with trust issues myself and I’ve caught myself misinterpreting people’s actions, mentally writing them off, and then eventually being completely won over by them. The funny thing is that the other person usually has absolutely no idea that any of this is happening. They have no idea they’re being judged or that I’ve already decided what kind of person they are based on my own assumptions. Looking back I’ve realised that a lot of this comes from my own insecurities and my unwillingness to reconsider my initial judgments. Sometimes, it’s easier to keep believing what you’ve already convinced yourself.
As they say, history repeats itself. Of course I haven’t read the novel, so this interpretation might not be entirely accurate. I’m not trying to justify Ian’s behaviour or claim that his intentions are necessarily good. I just think there might be more to his actions than what we’re currently seeing, I’m curious to see whether the story eventually gives us more insight into Ian’s reasoning and whether my interpretation holds up.