I know it’s a love triangle story so it’s bound to happen, but I wish a lot of people who are doing shipping wars would actually read the story with a critical eye. Neither of the MLs are “good people”. TJ has shown multiple times that he will go to extreme lengths to keep Ian by his side. For example when he had those guys “restrain” Ian before he was leaving for california, and when he intentionally gave Ian a 2 year prison sentence. And Jo is just a loose cannon, he’s painted as a “green flag” by a lot of people in the community but he isn’t. Which is pretty obvious showing by his possessiveness that’s been growing over the last few chapters (Chapter 52 also if you’ve seen the raws).
Both TJ and Jo are created to be different from each other. They are like the two sides of the same coin. Despite their differences they have similarities and when they faced a similar situation they react differently which was shown many times. TJ is not entirely bad and Jo is not entirely good. There's no good guy or bad guy. In the end it's their actions and how it affects others around them that decide what person they are matters. All three of them, Ian, TJ and Jo are loose cannons here because they are dragging everyone including their families along with them and they are not even aware of that yet. Just a correction, the concept of green and red flag doesn't exist in this story. Also, both TJ and Jo are very possessive which shows the similarity they have but it all depends if their possessiveness will affect anyone especially Ian.
I was making the same point you are making. I agree with this both TJ and Jo are very dynamic characters. And I feel like majority of the wet sand fan base likes to push the red flag and green flag labels onto them, in order to fit their narrative of whatever ML they like. When in reality they’re both very morally grey. I air quoted both “good people” and “green flag” to make it clear that those are both labels that I believe are too confined to be pushed on TJ and Jo. Wet sand is a gem and Doyak is an incredible writer, I find it a bit sad that the bl community doesn’t seem to be ready for her vision.
And a correction to your correction. I already stated this point in my last reply and In my original post, but I see now that it wasn’t very clear. I agree with you, I do not believe the red flag or green flag labels can be applied to TJ or Jo.
I feel like a lot of BL readers don’t appreciate a story that involves critical thinking. Which is fine, I love a fun story that I don’t gotta think twice about. But it’s frustrating sometimes seeing the comment section under a story like this one
you're so real for this i swearrrr YOU GET ITT
everyone is soo convinced of this idea that joe is green and tj is red, and all of the joe stans just argue that "joe is so nice he deserves ian, and tj is so bad he does not deserve ian" like YALL ALL OF THEM ARE NOT GENERALLY GOOD PEOPLE. no one deserves the other, they all have their fates planned out and each person will get what doyak thinks they need.
and another note, i feel like not a lot of people realise that the main reason tj let ian go to jail is bc tj knew ian himself couldn't handle the guilt of what he'd done and if he didn't get the punishment he thought he deserved, he probably would've gone crazy or worse, gone back to his addiction. tj saw how ian reacted to the murder, and that definitely played a part in why he didn't just let the lawyers have him plead self defense. ian felt like there was something wrong with him and the guilt would have killed him if he didn't get "punished" (jail time) like he thought he deserved which i think doyak did to show tj's insane character, he'd hurt someone dear to him in order for them to not hurt themselves
Everyone is so convinced when it's comes to Jo, expectations are skyrocketed. He's expected to walk on eggshells & treats others in extreme caution and understanding although he still doesn't know anything about Ian's past but on the other hand TJ's actions and words are romanticized. I have been in the fandom since day one and I see those who don't stan Jo, expect him to be perfect while those who actually stan him many times admitted that he is not perfect and he will mistakes because he's human just like everyone in this story. Everyone has a dark side. It’s just that for people like TJ, it comes out easy as if second nature & for people like Jo, it stays repressed until it hits that breaking point & can no longer stay hidden. So sooner or later, that side will come out of Jo. It’s just a matter of time. The only difference is TJ's darkside came out for the gang and to keep Ian by his side and make him live the life he wants for him while what will make Jo go dark? That's the question everyone in the fandom wanted to know and see. Ian sees similarities in both TJ and Jo and he keep comparing how they are behaving when they face a similar situation. The important question is who's actually making an effort to try to see Ian for who he is and giving him the freedom that he deserves. Whoever Ian ends up with must have the capacity to transform along his line of growth and realization of healthy love. This goes for both TJ and Jo. The endgame doesn't entirely come to Ian. The others have to choose him too. Will TJ choose Ian or the gang and for Jo, will he still choose Ian despite seeing his family being involved. Or will he sacrifice his love and himself for Ian and his family to be happy.
Doyak did said that all three of them and their characterization will be highlighted equally. I think both TJ and Jo are good guys but it all comes down to how they react and how they choose to handle the situation is very important because that's what differentiates them. That's why I said they are two sides of the same coin.
Been thinking about the whole Orion story that Jo told in chapter 15 and I have a theory on who is who it’s kind of wacky but bear with me. Jo is Orion (The hunter) because of his western up bringing. Ian is Artemis (since he’s the mc) and Jamie is Apollo hear me out.
Apollo is stated to not be able to Keep Artemis and Orion apart, so he tricked Artemis Into killing Orion. I think that Jamie had his men secretly follow Jo in order for Ian to realize and panic going back to the K35. Therefore tricking him. In chapter 47 Jamie states that wishes to take the thing someone cherishes the most snatch it break it and return it to them again until they eventually go crazy. then he says “i’m just relived that person has someone he cares about.” At first I thought Jamie was definitely talking about Tj and his love for Ian. But with the season 2 ending where it’s reveals that Jamie’s men have been stalking Jo and his family, it’s pretty clear who he’s actually talking about is Ian and his love for Jo.
Ian’s biggest fear after Tj and the guy who worked under him that he killed was that he would hurt another person he cared about or change them beyond reversal. So the idea of Jamie tricking Ian into going back to the k35 then getting him to accidentally hurt or kill Jo in order to break him would make sense. If this is the case Zeus is probably TJ which also fits because he’s the new boss of his strain of the K35. So I think the whole Orion story is foreshadowing for those events to later come. Given the fact that this is a noir it would fit right in, and also I think Doyak said once before that this story wouldn’t have a happy ending.
Again this is just a theory that I pieced together off of some hints so it’s probably not accurate but it’s fun to think about. At first I thought that Apollo was Tj since him and Artemis are twins which parallels him and Ian calling each other blood brothers in the past. But I just don’t think it’s within Tjs character to do such a thing, to hurt Ian that badly. Especially with his character growth.
If you read this whole thing thank you Ik it’s very long, I see people arguing over endgame all the time but honestly I don’t even think the story is gonna end with Jo alive lol. Even tho I love him and Tj and Ian.