I ship Anna and Alex. Why? because of everyone, of all of her friends, Anna matters most. It's cruel to say that, but everyone else (of her friends) she's been there, repeatedly. She's been persistant and caring and I'm pretty sure that if not for her efforts, everyone else would have left her by now. Anna is the one who keeps reaching out and holding on, even when Alex would push everyone away... Someone else commented that she was a follower... Nah. Anna simply knows that Alex is a leader and can't be lead herself. Can't rely on others. So she's worked to put herself, and her others in a position where Alex CAN turn to them and ask for help. and.. she's succeeded. When Alex has had to go against the trust of her friends, it's most often Anna she thinks about, and it's Anna she worries about. Anna reminds me of a lot of Oriental families I know... where the "man" is the head of household, while the woman quietly controls her husband :3
Though secondarily, Alex and Brian would be cute together one day <3 <3 but right NOW, Brian doesn't have enough play in the series. --at current state, I could see her ending being heading back to Larkin Mills after a long battle and Brian being kind to her.. and... kind of a blooming hope sort of thing before the cover of the last book closed... but he also would make a good 'sacrifice' to the book gods... a character who the audience and main character cares about, but the audience is not deeply emotionally tied into.
Anyway, I picked deathly or lands for favorite, I think. Don't quite remember. Stars didn't get my winning vote simply because I didn't enjoy the pacing at the end so much. all of the stuff out in the desert was exciting and thrilling.... then she came home, was paranoid for a while (which I loved) and then suddenly, plot climax out of left field. I was kinda left going "wait, it's over?" which removed some of the fun for me from the book. Plus, I loved Max <3 The difference might be the difference between a complete book I read over a few days sitting, and a book I started reading 'in progress' and had to wait for several weeks to see the conclusions of. WHile the later is of course VERY exciting, it's a lot harder to become fully invested in a story that way..... I maybe have to go reread in a little bit. :D
for least fave I think I chose thorn circle, but I wonder if I should take that back... thorn circle as a lot of fun for me also because it was the first step. it had all of the magic in it. just like the first few chapters of harry potter, Alexandra at he pond, with the kappa, learning the ins and out of magical school was thrilling. I LOVE the 'discovery' in such stories. Hearkens back, I expect, to my increasingly dwindling hope that an owl will knock on my window some day and go "hi! I know you're nearly 30, but COME TO our MAGIC school and learn how special you REALLY are!" :)
as for endings... well, it does depend on how things keep going. The one difference between Alexandra and Harry is that Harry had Voldemort. a very clear and simple enemy. Alex... does not have an enemy with a face. She fights against the very nature of fate itself, it seems. (there are bad guys with faces, but none of them are "Voldemort") ... thus, i'ts hard to get a feeling for how things 'will' end... So, I think I default to the idea that this is not a story where everyone is doomed. This is not a story where everyone except alex/anna/whatever dies. I COULD see it being a story where Alex dies.... but I don't think so. will someone die? very possibly. Will people be hurt? possibly disfigured? Oh, yes. I think that very much as a possibility. ... but I think the over all tone of the ending will be "we won!" .. but not happily ever after. :C I dunno, I'm rambling :)
Someone else commented that she was a follower... Nah. Anna simply knows that Alex is a leader and can't be lead herself. Can't rely on others. So she's worked to put herself, and her others in a position where Alex CAN turn to them and ask for help. and.. she's succeeded.
That was me! I commented that! :D Validation!
Seriously, though. What you described is exactly what I meant by her being a follower. She's a good follower, no doubt...but still a follower.
Anna's a great friend for Alex, don't get me wrong. But IMO, a romantic relationship shouldn't involve one person being a "leader" and the other person putting herself in a position to be asked for help, should the leader find it convenient to do so.
Like, at the end of Deathly Regiment, where Alex basically goes all JROC and literally gives orders to Anna. (She does something similar when they confront Mary at the 1/3 point of Stars Above.) That kind of thing is disturbing enough when they're friends; if they start dating and Alex still orders her around, it's even worse.
All that said, I wouldn't put it past Inverarity to have them start dating, and it would probably make for an interesting storyline. But I think of "shipping" as wanting people to get together and stay together, not temporarily hook up, and in that sense I can't honestly say I ship Alex and Anna anymore. :(
See, I don't see that as following. I see Anna being tryign to take control from the back. She places the restrictions she thinks she can on Alex, and slowly is reining her in. the problem isnt' so much that she's a 'follower' as it is that Alex is a rather thoughtless friend.. .and right NOW would be a pretty poor lover. She isn't READY for a relationship.. not even with another "leader'. She needs to start thinking more about those around her :) and that's true for friendships and relationships both... and when she matures like that... I think Anna would be a good pair for her :D Heck, getting together with Anna could be the thing that mellows her out--when she realizes that hurting her loved one REALLY hurts and is bad... encouraging the equalization :)
Yeah.. It's not so much that she's a leader00she is, but it's more that she's thoughtless. SHe's getting better, but isn't there yet XD
You have a point. She always feels bad afterward, but hasn't let that affect her pre-action decision making yet. But I'm still not convinced they'll ever outgrow the unbalanced power dynamic that they now have. It's not a matter of Alex hurting her loved ones; it's a matter of Alex can order Anna around but not the reverse. I don't see that changing. :/
See, I think you're wrong :) If you look at the different between alexandra in thorn circle and alexandra in stars above, you have two totally different alex's. In the first book she really didn't care much about who she might annoy, now she's deeply apologetic when she can't tell them what her plans are. And she doesn't take nearly as many stupid I DO WHAT I WANT risks either. (she still takes them, but the ones that anna don't know about tend to be fewer and further between... if I recall correctly (and i could be wrong) the biggest 'risks' she takes in Stars Above are when she is HUGELY emotionally distraught, or when she's unexpectedly set upon, forcing her to change the plans they'd worked out ahead of time.
The balance of 'power' has been evening out, as ALex becomes more mature, and as Anna learns to step up a bit and be more independant herself then what she had been at the very beginning of the series.
Besides. Alex doesn't ALWAYS order anna around. It's only in tight tense situations where there's not a whole lot of room or time to debate (I believe they DO debate when there IS time) and where the two of them fighting it out would be bad. Most relationships--friend and otherwise--tend to have a 'leader' anyway... just like my husband and I. he 'leads' for financial matters, I control around-the-house matters like laundry and dishes, He deals with the 'outside' stuff, computer hardware, etc, I deal with finding other assorted types of information and the wrangling of our pets. I don't see Alex and Anna as so different. Only instead of the matter of who cooks dinner, Alex deals in the 'off the cuff life and death' things, and anna doesn't. Anna takes part in the planning of things, plotting and working things out ahead of time. Anna is the one who'd sit there and say "Alexandra, you are sick. You are going to go have a bowl of soup, then get at least 2 hours of sleep. THEN you can resume your planning." Right now, it isn't an equal share of power, no, but I see that changing--compare still to the first book or two where Alex crashed through, looked back over her shoulder at the mess she'd left and yelled back "Sorry!"
She is better, don't get me wrong. You're right that she talks it out with her friends more (with the exceptions you noted). But if Alex wants to do something, there's never really any doubt that she'll end up doing it. She might talk with Anna (and the rest of her friends) about it, she might even argue with them about whether or not it's the best thing to do, but I don't believe I recall a single time Anna (or anyone else, but especially her) has managed to convince Alex not to do something.
I'm not saying it was immoral for Alex to order Anna around. Given the situation, it was fair enough. But IMO, in a healthy relationship there'd be no need for orders; requests would be enough.
As for the power dynamic issues...well, I think partly we're just coming from different life experiences. A lot of my relationships--maybe even most--don't really have a 'leader.' I've never been married so I can't speak to that. But I don't think the Alex/Anna relationship even has the "different spheres of authority" thing you talk about. Alex is basically in charge everywhere.
Now, maybe you're right that in time, their personalities will change to the extent that a romantic relationship would be healthier. Undoubtedly they are much different than how they were in Book 1. But as they are now, I just can't ship them. :/ Want them to hook up for a time, yes--I think that would be interesting--but stay together forever, no.
Well, at the very least I hope that, should her eventual partner (if she even has one, which is definitely not a certainty) wants her not to do something, that will change what Alex wants to do, some of the time. She'll never stop being reckless and headstrong, but there's a difference between that and "I don't care what you think I should do, I'll do whatever I want anyway."
(And yes, I'm aware your post was mostly a joke, lol.)
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inverarity) wrote2012-06-07 10:58 am
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Though secondarily, Alex and Brian would be cute together one day <3 <3 but right NOW, Brian doesn't have enough play in the series. --at current state, I could see her ending being heading back to Larkin Mills after a long battle and Brian being kind to her.. and... kind of a blooming hope sort of thing before the cover of the last book closed... but he also would make a good 'sacrifice' to the book gods... a character who the audience and main character cares about, but the audience is not deeply emotionally tied into.
Anyway, I picked deathly or lands for favorite, I think. Don't quite remember. Stars didn't get my winning vote simply because I didn't enjoy the pacing at the end so much. all of the stuff out in the desert was exciting and thrilling.... then she came home, was paranoid for a while (which I loved) and then suddenly, plot climax out of left field. I was kinda left going "wait, it's over?" which removed some of the fun for me from the book. Plus, I loved Max <3 The difference might be the difference between a complete book I read over a few days sitting, and a book I started reading 'in progress' and had to wait for several weeks to see the conclusions of. WHile the later is of course VERY exciting, it's a lot harder to become fully invested in a story that way..... I maybe have to go reread in a little bit. :D
for least fave I think I chose thorn circle, but I wonder if I should take that back... thorn circle as a lot of fun for me also because it was the first step. it had all of the magic in it. just like the first few chapters of harry potter, Alexandra at he pond, with the kappa, learning the ins and out of magical school was thrilling. I LOVE the 'discovery' in such stories. Hearkens back, I expect, to my increasingly dwindling hope that an owl will knock on my window some day and go "hi! I know you're nearly 30, but COME TO our MAGIC school and learn how special you REALLY are!" :)
as for endings... well, it does depend on how things keep going. The one difference between Alexandra and Harry is that Harry had Voldemort. a very clear and simple enemy. Alex... does not have an enemy with a face. She fights against the very nature of fate itself, it seems. (there are bad guys with faces, but none of them are "Voldemort") ... thus, i'ts hard to get a feeling for how things 'will' end... So, I think I default to the idea that this is not a story where everyone is doomed. This is not a story where everyone except alex/anna/whatever dies. I COULD see it being a story where Alex dies.... but I don't think so. will someone die? very possibly. Will people be hurt? possibly disfigured? Oh, yes. I think that very much as a possibility. ... but I think the over all tone of the ending will be "we won!" .. but not happily ever after. :C I dunno, I'm rambling :)
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That was me! I commented that! :D Validation!
Seriously, though. What you described is exactly what I meant by her being a follower. She's a good follower, no doubt...but still a follower.
Anna's a great friend for Alex, don't get me wrong. But IMO, a romantic relationship shouldn't involve one person being a "leader" and the other person putting herself in a position to be asked for help, should the leader find it convenient to do so.
Like, at the end of Deathly Regiment, where Alex basically goes all JROC and literally gives orders to Anna. (She does something similar when they confront Mary at the 1/3 point of Stars Above.) That kind of thing is disturbing enough when they're friends; if they start dating and Alex still orders her around, it's even worse.
All that said, I wouldn't put it past Inverarity to have them start dating, and it would probably make for an interesting storyline. But I think of "shipping" as wanting people to get together and stay together, not temporarily hook up, and in that sense I can't honestly say I ship Alex and Anna anymore. :(
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Yeah.. It's not so much that she's a leader00she is, but it's more that she's thoughtless. SHe's getting better, but isn't there yet XD
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The balance of 'power' has been evening out, as ALex becomes more mature, and as Anna learns to step up a bit and be more independant herself then what she had been at the very beginning of the series.
Besides. Alex doesn't ALWAYS order anna around. It's only in tight tense situations where there's not a whole lot of room or time to debate (I believe they DO debate when there IS time) and where the two of them fighting it out would be bad. Most relationships--friend and otherwise--tend to have a 'leader' anyway... just like my husband and I. he 'leads' for financial matters, I control around-the-house matters like laundry and dishes, He deals with the 'outside' stuff, computer hardware, etc, I deal with finding other assorted types of information and the wrangling of our pets. I don't see Alex and Anna as so different. Only instead of the matter of who cooks dinner, Alex deals in the 'off the cuff life and death' things, and anna doesn't. Anna takes part in the planning of things, plotting and working things out ahead of time. Anna is the one who'd sit there and say "Alexandra, you are sick. You are going to go have a bowl of soup, then get at least 2 hours of sleep. THEN you can resume your planning." Right now, it isn't an equal share of power, no, but I see that changing--compare still to the first book or two where Alex crashed through, looked back over her shoulder at the mess she'd left and yelled back "Sorry!"
Give them time <3
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I'm not saying it was immoral for Alex to order Anna around. Given the situation, it was fair enough. But IMO, in a healthy relationship there'd be no need for orders; requests would be enough.
As for the power dynamic issues...well, I think partly we're just coming from different life experiences. A lot of my relationships--maybe even most--don't really have a 'leader.' I've never been married so I can't speak to that. But I don't think the Alex/Anna relationship even has the "different spheres of authority" thing you talk about. Alex is basically in charge everywhere.
Now, maybe you're right that in time, their personalities will change to the extent that a romantic relationship would be healthier. Undoubtedly they are much different than how they were in Book 1. But as they are now, I just can't ship them. :/ Want them to hook up for a time, yes--I think that would be interesting--but stay together forever, no.
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Do you think this would be different with any partner Alex might wind up with? ;)
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(And yes, I'm aware your post was mostly a joke, lol.)