Hi! A while ago, I was honored to be chosen to represent Team Adrian/Sydney at the Great Debate hosted at the Penguin Teen Australia's blog. In case you're wondering, it was a friendly argument about who was better suited for Vampire Academy/Bloodlines hottie Adrian Ivashkov. The obvious options were, of course, Rose Hathaway and Sydney Sage. The actual post is here, but I figured I could post my argument for you guys to see it anyway. It might go a little way to dust the cobwebs off my blog, too. Here it is:
The Great Debate: Adrian and Sydney Round 2
And for our final debater, Johana from Paraguay - which just shows you the amazing international fanbase Richelle has! Take it away Johana:
Let's not worry about the infamous "What if..." question, shall we? It's not healthy in life, and it's definitively not healthy in books.
I, personally, think that saying Dimitri was brought back because that's what the audience wanted to see is an insult to Richelle Mead. It's like saying Harry Potter lived at the end because that's what would sell more books. Stories like these are planned beforehand, and if you think about it, there would be no material for the Bloodlines Series if that particular event hadn't happened.
It bothers me, and I say this with no intention to harm the well-thought arguments of the other team, that it's been said that Sydney tries to mold Adrian into someone she wants to be with or that she had a "sudden" change of heart regarding vampires. Maybe, living at the end of the world, I got a different edition of the book because in my copy, not ONCE the thought that Sydney "wants" to be with Adrian is mentioned. In fact, Sydney doesn't want to be with Adrian. At least she doesn't acknowledge it. We all know she has feelings for him, but she doesn't know. It's part of her charm. And Adrian knows that. That's why he was puzzled, and had to ask her outright why she wanted to help him. And do I need to remind you of her answer? "Because I want to." I think that answer and Sydney's actions during their friendship are what, at the end of The Golden Lily, gave Adrian the courage to confess her his feelings. Perhaps it was too early for her to hear this, but I figured that Adrian, being the guy he is, knew she needs the extra time to process how he makes her feel. She's no Rose, people. Flirting and expensive gifts would never work to get his point across. And about that "change of heart". well, I remit you to the Vampire Academy Series. Her change of view didn't happen overnight, or else we wouldn't have seen the Honda-sponsored getaway mission. Rings a bell?
It was a joy seeing Adrian struggle with what he thought were, again, unrequited feelings. He didn't expose himself to the sun or buy that particular car with the purpose to win her over. He did it because he wanted to spend time with her and knew it'd make her happy. And vice versa, she drove him miles to see his dad and drank that slush because she knew it would make him happy, even if she didn't understand why she wanted to see him smile.
It wouldn't be right to compare Adrian/Rose and Adrian/Sydney because one is in the past and the other (hopefully) is in the future. I don't want to slam Adrian and Rose's relationship, but they tried and it didn't work. The foundations of that relationship were not solid enough to sustain the intensity of love Adrian feels. And based on what we so far have seen, foundations are the one thing Mead is trying to give Adrian and Sydney.
I, personally, think that saying Dimitri was brought back because that's what the audience wanted to see is an insult to Richelle Mead. It's like saying Harry Potter lived at the end because that's what would sell more books. Stories like these are planned beforehand, and if you think about it, there would be no material for the Bloodlines Series if that particular event hadn't happened.
It bothers me, and I say this with no intention to harm the well-thought arguments of the other team, that it's been said that Sydney tries to mold Adrian into someone she wants to be with or that she had a "sudden" change of heart regarding vampires. Maybe, living at the end of the world, I got a different edition of the book because in my copy, not ONCE the thought that Sydney "wants" to be with Adrian is mentioned. In fact, Sydney doesn't want to be with Adrian. At least she doesn't acknowledge it. We all know she has feelings for him, but she doesn't know. It's part of her charm. And Adrian knows that. That's why he was puzzled, and had to ask her outright why she wanted to help him. And do I need to remind you of her answer? "Because I want to." I think that answer and Sydney's actions during their friendship are what, at the end of The Golden Lily, gave Adrian the courage to confess her his feelings. Perhaps it was too early for her to hear this, but I figured that Adrian, being the guy he is, knew she needs the extra time to process how he makes her feel. She's no Rose, people. Flirting and expensive gifts would never work to get his point across. And about that "change of heart". well, I remit you to the Vampire Academy Series. Her change of view didn't happen overnight, or else we wouldn't have seen the Honda-sponsored getaway mission. Rings a bell?
It was a joy seeing Adrian struggle with what he thought were, again, unrequited feelings. He didn't expose himself to the sun or buy that particular car with the purpose to win her over. He did it because he wanted to spend time with her and knew it'd make her happy. And vice versa, she drove him miles to see his dad and drank that slush because she knew it would make him happy, even if she didn't understand why she wanted to see him smile.
It wouldn't be right to compare Adrian/Rose and Adrian/Sydney because one is in the past and the other (hopefully) is in the future. I don't want to slam Adrian and Rose's relationship, but they tried and it didn't work. The foundations of that relationship were not solid enough to sustain the intensity of love Adrian feels. And based on what we so far have seen, foundations are the one thing Mead is trying to give Adrian and Sydney.
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