It keeps going terribly! But oh well, at least I have these to keep me entertained. :D
Oh, definitely. That's a really good point! I mean, I was an idiot when I was in my early twenties and I come from a far better situation than Avery does. That, coupled with the time and place that he's in, definitely works against him. In fact it's kind of a miracle that he does make so any strides later on in the books.
Yeah, it's sad that the same thing that enabled Avery to win Helen - the journey through India - is also the same thing that makes him an utterly terrible husband for her. It's not that either of them are bad people, it's just that they're coming at life from completely different angles after the first book and they're both helplessly stuck in that situation. One of the few faults with these books, at least to me, is that Carter isn't a little more understanding of Helen; she's also very much a product of her time, and has far fewer options than Avery does in that regard. If she doesn't have a husband she can do nothing, if she has a husband who fundamentally doesn't understand her then she's even worse off.
(One of the more out there ideas I play around with occasionally is that Helen is one of Collinson's spies. I know this would never happen! But I think it'd be fun.)
Oh, both are definitely options! I generally tend towards thinking that it's perfectly genuine, because I love the arc of Avery slowly bringing him back to life, but I also like him literally just doing it to screw with Avery. That seems a very Blake thing to do. XD
It really is such a Collinson move! It's interesting that he isn't around at that point, because he's such a master manipulator in that regard. And yeah, Blake really is just the absolute highlight of that scene. His absolute refusal to budge, and insistence on doing things only for his own ends, is really telling of how he's going to react to authority from now on. I also love him and Avery racing each other to quit! They're both so reluctant to do it, but I also wonder if the moment that Avery tried to get out of it was the moment that Blake started to pay attention to him.
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Date: 2021-02-09 04:38 pm (UTC)Oh, definitely. That's a really good point! I mean, I was an idiot when I was in my early twenties and I come from a far better situation than Avery does. That, coupled with the time and place that he's in, definitely works against him. In fact it's kind of a miracle that he does make so any strides later on in the books.
Yeah, it's sad that the same thing that enabled Avery to win Helen - the journey through India - is also the same thing that makes him an utterly terrible husband for her. It's not that either of them are bad people, it's just that they're coming at life from completely different angles after the first book and they're both helplessly stuck in that situation. One of the few faults with these books, at least to me, is that Carter isn't a little more understanding of Helen; she's also very much a product of her time, and has far fewer options than Avery does in that regard. If she doesn't have a husband she can do nothing, if she has a husband who fundamentally doesn't understand her then she's even worse off.
(One of the more out there ideas I play around with occasionally is that Helen is one of Collinson's spies. I know this would never happen! But I think it'd be fun.)
Oh, both are definitely options! I generally tend towards thinking that it's perfectly genuine, because I love the arc of Avery slowly bringing him back to life, but I also like him literally just doing it to screw with Avery. That seems a very Blake thing to do. XD
It really is such a Collinson move! It's interesting that he isn't around at that point, because he's such a master manipulator in that regard. And yeah, Blake really is just the absolute highlight of that scene. His absolute refusal to budge, and insistence on doing things only for his own ends, is really telling of how he's going to react to authority from now on. I also love him and Avery racing each other to quit! They're both so reluctant to do it, but I also wonder if the moment that Avery tried to get out of it was the moment that Blake started to pay attention to him.