#imlie

Although their traumas stem from family death, the impact of it on their psyches are incredibly different different because Arnav was a child seeing his parents commit suicide and Aryan, a fully grown adult, saw an unfortunate event where he could not help. Aryan suffers from the guilt of not being able to help despite being old enough - which is why he does everything in his power to help Imlie without having any kind of relationship to her. Aryan's mantra is to not let anyone else suffer at the hands of Aditya like his dear brother in law. I swear Aryan would've helped Malini if he was early in the show and learned Malini was the second wife of a very married Aditya. Arnav hopes to never be duped like his mother nor ever end up his like his father. He suffers from the fear of abandonment where one might leave him (by dying or by cheating on him). He hates marriages because of what his parents died. His whole life, worldview and decisions have been damaged by the double suicides.

- Arnav paints the whole world in the light of the actions of his father and uncle. Aryan does not - he knows people are different and his grudge only extends to Aditya, not even Aditya's family.

- Arnav is impulsive. Aryan is cold, calm, calculative. Arnav literally acts before he thinks, Aryan always thinks before he acts.

- Arnav's emotions are often misdirected, his anger is dealt with projection. Aryan's emotions are rarely misdirected.

- Arnav is slightly immature and will not accept the truth if it hurts his ego (unless the disbelief of the truth hurts something more - for example at the guesthouse his ego was of no importance, Khushi was in danger! But otherwise despite contrary evidence he has rarely apologized to Khushi or expressed regret over his actions). Aryan, on the other hand, is extremely mature for his age.

- Arnav has the most difficult time understanding Khushi and her point of view. Her rationale needs to match his for it to make sense to him. Aryan rarely misunderstands Imlie. He understands that as a teenager and someone who's had to work hard to gain acceptance and love, there's a naivety in her rationale and tries to guide her through it and build her esteem.

- Arnav sees Khushi as his equal. Aryan often sees himself as Imlie's mentor. When Khushi/Arnav is in trouble, they work as a team. When Aryan/Imlie are in trouble, he often guides her out of trouble or helps in bettering her plans. More than once Aryan attempts to impart wisdom to Imlie and make her understand that she isn't responsible for the wellbeing of a 35 years old man.

- Sexual attraction plays a key role in Arnav-Khushi's relationship.

Platonic trust plays a key role in Aryan-Imlie's relationship.

- Arnav is afraid of the intensity of his emotions for Khushi. Aryan isn't - he's almost always comfortable for what he feels for Imlie, he has a bit stiffness when he realises his emotions are turning romantic but even then he's not going through an earth shattering storm that Arnav goes through when he realises his attraction to Khushi means more than what he thought.

- Aryan is a feminist - he's concerned about Imlie's career without any romantic connection to her. He believes in equal rights for everyone regardless of anything. Arnav isn't - he's a liberal who believes each should have their independent lives and hates archaic traditions that makes his life difficult. He wants Khushi to have financial independence out of practicality, and honestly he's comfortable in the way his traditional house runs as long as it doesn't interfere his life.

- Aryan believes intentions matter more than consequences. Arnav believes consequences matters more than intentions. Which is why Aryan is lot more kinder to whatever Imlie does and how he justifies the way he forced her into marriage (apparently protecting her from Adtiya's clingy nature is more important to him than the fact he violated the trust of a friend for which Imlie might be more traumatized), and why Arnav usually has a lot of things under his control and rightly never trusts Shyam and has his doubts on his Dadi's intentions when she arrives home.

- Arnav never denies he's been brutal to Khushi. Neither does Arnav ever admit to being a nice guy in general. He knows he's not - it's how he easily deals with the brutal world. He doesn't openly admit it, but he does not see himself as being good because he has better intentions or never crossed a line in his and Khushi's marriage or because he loves Khushi intensely. For him what matters is he loves Khushi and she loves him and that love is honest and real. Aryan think he's a good person. He refuses to be called as a monster even if his actions are hurting people around him, he refuses to see his actions beyond his intentions and gets hurt when Imlie accuses him of being monstrous. He does not realise that by forcing this marriage on Imlie, he has incited true fear and disgust in her. He somehow believes she will still have the trust she had in him two days ago. I couldn't help but roll my eyes when he insinuated not being a monster because he's not going to sleep in the same bed as her - she literally does not know why you forcefully married her!

- Arnav never breaks his word. The world might shake but he'll never change a word nor break it. Aryan breaks his word as and when convenient. He does not break trust, but his promises come with a loophole.

- Aryan believes in the greater good. Arnav believes in present repercussions.

Aryan falters as a character when he's forced into being ASR, otherwise he's an amazingly complex character on his own. He and Imlie stand out for their own story. If anything, the creators of Imlie should continue the story keeping the characters in mind, not of the events that became famous with ArShi!

Because Aryan literally arrives in Imlie's life as a savior. He saves her more than she saves him.

But in IPK, Khushi and Arnav both save each other a little bit. He gives her an environment to be truly loved regardless and she brings him into light. Theirs was a fateful, star crossed tragedy that ended with a happily ever after. Newer shows should stick to their new materials and tropes that match the new story!

So I sincerely hope we go back to seeing friendship and humor in Imlie cause I was there for that! Not angst. Imlie is 19, she shouldn't be going through two marriage with two older men against her will - neither one of whom she was in love with! It's heartbreaking cause one was the village forcing her and the other was this one man she truly trusted as her best friend to even live in his house. Ugh. I hate this cause a week ago we heard the female version of Jaaniya and I squealed in happiness when Imlie saw Aryan recover and pulled his cheek - relief spilling as tears in her eyes on seeing him safe. Like I literally saw the beginning of love there... I swear the whole reel of those two laughing and swaying softly to Chaap Tilak has my whole heart. I don't need angst in this story, I need trust!

The best angst in this story was Aryan falling for Imlie, a young woman who chooses to never love given her bitter past, and the complexities of it considering she trusts him more than any she loves and he knows his role in her life is of one as a mentor. So where does love fit here? A love he can't deny! A softness he can't help but develop! Ugh.

Rant over! Lol. Bye bye and thanks for asking,

- JWB