HIMYM rant
When I initially started How I Met Your Mother, I had decided that Ted and Robin were gonna be my OTP, which they still are. Ted was a hopeless romantic who needed to mature, and his idealism somehow molded with Robin’s realistic, factual approach to life. This was a perfect case of opposites attract.
The Olive Theory at its best.
Then I grew up a little. Saw the whole series again and I realized that although Ted and Robin were good, Barney and Robin seemed more appropriate. Barney was someone who saw Robin as who she really was, unlike Ted who put her high up in a pedestal and did feel slightly disappointed when and if she fell. For Barney, she was first his gun-toting, cigar-smoking bro, whom he fell deeply in love with. It didn’t last, and though not my OTP, it hurt.
Now, as I re-watch the series again, I realize that, as someone who relates to Robin at a phenomenal level, both the relationships were important for her growth. She had always had apprehensions about letting her friends in her life, opening up to people and being overall trusting. These two relationships changed her in a way I possibly can’t describe but it did; probably made her more open, more mature, where she learnt to appreciate the fact that yes, her career is her baby but her friends are there too. They needed her as much as she, them. I guess, she simply grew up.
Now, I kind of understand the decisions she made in her life.
My point is, I no longer, can blindly back MoBatsky, now that I know how influential Swarkles was for my girl. Both, in every aspect, were important for her character arc.
