#putting out there at i can love Lister without bashing Jimmy and Rowan they all have issues and they all need each other

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

IWBFT meta: The Arks 1st person perspective

I love how Alice plays with 1st person perspective in IWBFT and the extra stories especially when it comes to the Ark.

First to keep in mind is that the week, we as the audience, are introduced to the Ark, they are not doing so well. All of them are stressed over the new contract. Being famous is a nightmare. Listers addiction issues are getting out of hand, Rowan and Bliss are in a rocky place and Jimmy is starting to regret their success. So it obviously colours their current relationships with each other as well. What's also clear from the bands timeline is that by becoming famous together at such a young age, their friendships aren't just friendships, they are also coworkers and the expectations one has towards one's coworkers is very different from one's friends. They are still navigating those dynamics and given that Listers friendship with Rowan and Jimmy was still relatively new in comparison to when they hit it big (about 2-3yrs old, they've been co-workers longer to be honest) this impacts his relationship with them as well since work has taken over the majority of their lives at this point.

In IWBFT we get Jimmy's perspective on his friends and the bands relationships with each other. I think the mistake a reader could make though is to assume that his perspective is the objective lens on how the boys operate with each other because Ghosted very much shifts a lot of what we were lead to assume by giving us Rowan and Listers POVs

Now there are some things at all three boys know and acknowledge in their POVs like that both Rowan and Lister are closer to Jimmy than they are to each other for example.

However Jimmy says that Lister and Rowan argue alot but in Ghosted we het context that both Rowan and Lister are pretty clear that these swipes at each other are largely banter and play fights for the most part.

Both Lister and Rowan may not have deep talks often but their blunt words are actually quite refreshing, in a better context it could even be a healthy dynamic that the two can shoot straight from the hip with each other. And though they don't share many similar hobbies they both love video games and bond over it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Lister told Rowan about the studio lady before he ever told Jimmy. And although Jimmy has known Rowan most of his life, it's only in Listers POV that we get a hint that Rowan might have some legitimate mental health issues that he hasn't yet come to terms with. This is big because there is a suggestion, that Rowan and Lister minimise their own issues to help Jimmy with his. But this results in Jimmy having a blind spot that the two of them dont have with each other. Also Rowan knew about Listers crush on Jimmy first. Jimmy wouldn't know some of these things cause Jimmy was not a part of these conversations or revelations. Case in point when Rowan reminisces about how during a sleepover when they were kids Jimmy fell asleep first and he and Lister stayed up watching videos and giggling together. Jimmy wouldnt know about these moments cause he isn't part of them. And its clear Rowan and Lister love each other they say it outright in Ghosted. And his own dynamic with them would shield him from some of these things.

Throughout Ghosted the pattern seems to be that Lister and Rowan start bickering, then have some moments of insight but before they can really pursue it, work interrupts. Lister mentions in Ghosted that Cecily cares about them but doesn't really show it and perhaps once she leaves the big label to become their manager exclusively, she may be able to form a more close relationship with them, maybe not, it's up to her but she will be less pressured by the labels to keep them at arms length

One thing I saw a lot was people critiquing Rowan for not taking Listers predicament seriously enough when they were searching for him in the woods. But some things to keep in mind are that he and Lister had a relatively nice night together chatting, that he only saw the beginning of Listers drunken binge and that he was not present for Jimmy and Listers talk where Lister admitted the Jowan photo was his fault and was in a really bad headspace. Also Jimmy does tend to catastrophise, it just so happens in this scenario that he was right. I think for Rowan he was also slightly in denial the same way he is for his own mental issues and the way he brushed off his own assault by a fan that he didn't realise how serious it was until they found Lister in the stream and was in part convincing himself that Lister was okay because he needed to believe that too.

I imagine if there is a sequel, this might haunt him. But I don't think he should be criticized for not taking the search as seriously as Jimmy initially did because he didn't have the same warning signs.

Rowan says in Ghosted that he has to be the responsible one and it's sort of true, he feels pressured by society to embody Black excellence while having to wrangle his wayward friends. And it's cost him alot, he lost Bliss and he was assaulted by a fan. He even finds he's very pleased to be comforted by Lister since its so rare and one imagines hes really needed it. He's at the end of his rope, he snarls at Lister and Jimmy, Jimmy snarls back and Lister just walks away to drink. The embodiment of this is near the end of the book when Rowan and Jimmy get into a screaming match and Lister surprises them both by shouting at them to stop fighting then wanders off to drink. The issue is that while Jimmy and Lister tell the audience and openly demonstrate that they are not doing well. Rowan insists through gritted teeth that he's fine but he is obviously not. I also think that's why Lister seems to cut him some slack, when Rowan yells at Jimmy, Jimmy yells right back and they hit low, cause friendship is beautiful but it's also ugly when you know the other person so well you can hit em where it hurts. But even when Rowan snaps at Lister with admittedly low blows, Lister doesn't retaliate, he laughs or leaves. But I think it's cause Lister can see Rowans 'fucked up too' and in a rare moment of acting his age (he's the eldest of the trio) and emotional insight and intelligence, he allows Rowan to throw a snit without escalating, he let's the kids (Jimmy and Rowan) fight it out, to an extent he still ends their fights if it gets to far both in Meeting Lister and in IWBFT, on the flip side he also may not feel secure enough with them to hit as low as they do and all of these things can be true at once.

What is excellent about these three is that that they feel real. They can be self absorbed, selfless, hurt, strong, mean and sweet by turns to each other and this is so legitimate in friend dynamics.

The Ghosted POV also reveals that Lister did not realise that he was the source of the Jowan photo until the day he confessed it to Jimmy. At first I had wondered how long he knew and kept it to himself but Ghosted shows that he figured it out at Pieros and confessed that very day. Because he never thinks about it in Ghosted and he would have as he confessed to Rowan about the bathroom kiss.

Lister says that he took the photo in a low moment of loneliness and drunkenly sent it to some friends and that one of then leaked it. But he didn't recall that the photo was originally from him until he was scrolling through his old photos.

The sad thing about Lister is that one of the reasons he drinks, other than to not have to think about his past trauma (sexual assault, bullying, poverty) is to numb the guilt he feels over some of his irresponsible actions (the suitcase photo) and that same drunkenness leads to more irresponsible actions (ex: taking the jowan photo and forgetting about it leading him to joke about stalkers that cranks up Jimmy's anxiety and makes him feel unsafe in his own home) which leads to Lister drinking more in a vicious cycle, leading him to jeopardize his friendship with Jimmy and Rowan as he fails to hold their trust.

What's huge for all of their growth is at the end where they decide to put themselves first over their jobs. It's big for Rowan who was made to undermine his own and his friends traumas in order to get the job done

Going from: " I'm sure being seen as a sex object is quite irritating, but we all have shit to deal with in this game" (the use of the term game has so many layers to unpack) and telling a stylist to cover his brick wound with makeup "You can put makeup on it; it doesn't hurt that much" (like honey no let it heal, take time off oh my god). To "‘No more of this … being pressured to do things. Being manipulated and forced to act in a certain way. We need to stand up for what we want. What we all want. The new contract can literally go and fuck itself.’ ‘Yeah,’ murmurs Rowan" like this is what they need. Keep in mind both Lister and Rowan saw Jimmy unraveling and still went on with work, Jimmy and Rowan both knew for a while that Lister has a drinking problem and still went on with work. Rowan even says in Ghosted that he and Jimmy need to talk to Lister about his alcohol issues before he ends up in the hospital but it'll have to wait until they sort out Jimmy, the irony. Throwing work away to look after themselves is what they all NEED and sadly it came from hitting rock bottom (for Lister literally).

If there is a sequel I look forward to seeing how their relationship will evolve now that they can refocus on their friendship without work getting in their way.

#i was born for this #iwbft #jimmy kaga ricci #rowan omondi #lister bird #cecily #ghosted #meeting lister #alice oseman #osemanverse #the ark #putting out there at i can love Lister without bashing Jimmy and Rowan they all have issues and they all need each other #the ark isnt the ark without the ark ya feel me friends? #lister is my fav but that does not diminish my love and respect for jimmy and rowan and their struggles