YA Addicts Readalong discussion
Ensnared
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Jeb v Morpheus conundrum *** SPOILERS FOR THE END OF ENSNARED ***
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Personally I would've preferred she make a choice and pick just one guy. I've always been Team Morpheus (I've always hated Jeb) so I also would've liked her to pick ONLY him and Wonderland instead. However, I didn't hate the ending even though I didn't love it either. I guess it kind of made sense under the circumstances. I just thought they made it too easy for her, and the whole concept of being "in love" with 2 people at the same time isn't something I totally agree with either. Overall, I was okay with it. I will always prefer Morpheus and I'll always believe he was the best match for Alyssa. Technically he won, didn't he? Jeb got one lifetime while he got the rest of eternity lol just my thoughts :)
I think she should have chosen one of them--or both at the same time. The second one is very risky and kind of odd, I know, but I feel it's more honest that way.Either choose one or truly admit you want both. At once. No coy games, taking turns, first this then that.
I feel that the way it actually happened is not fair to Morpheus. It's like he got to be with Alyssa only because he was lucky enough to be eternal.
You know what I mean?
He was able to wait, so he got his prize.
What if his lifespan was less fortunate? It would have been Jeb and that's it.
Honestly i feel like love triangles is a literary device that authors use to spice up a book with little drama...anyways.. (contains grammatical errors and cursing)Im very good at love triangles and can tell who the main character will end up with. Jeb. I liked Jeb in the beginning and waited to see him in the end. The book was leaning toward jeb to... but wait! what?! Why is Morpheus sudddenly becoming more likeable. oh no. and sweeter. oh crap. and understanding. oh shit. and overall a pretty kick ass character. oh fuck. i see where this is going... please don't let it be the ending of tessa in the clockwork princess!... well fuck me i was right.
Jeb became Will. and Morpheus that other guy. IT WAS THE DUMBEST ASS ENDING! although she did it slightly better than the author of the clockwork princess, it still sucked! Jeb definitely got the short end of the stick which Morpheus pointed out. He got a single lifetime to grow old with Alyssa while Morpheus got forever and the eternity afterward... like wtf! Alyssa can't freaking choose because the author had to make morpheus a serious contendor that equals jeb.
Possible ending: Jeb could of became a nethlerling in wonderland with alyssa as the red king (due to his power) and they could've had eternity together. If you seriously love someone like the author claims he does than you want to be with them forever. FOREVER! Not let the other guy have his turn. hell no! honestly i have nothing against morpheus, you can make morpheus find another netherling to love or make a spinoff! morpheus is immortal
Another ending: alyssa chose morpheus. they rule wonderland and have that baby. happily ever after. than let jeb get his own girl that will be his next muse
BUT YOU CANT FUCKING HAVE BOTH. how is it fair that jeb get the short end of the stick knowing that alyssa will leave him for another for the rest of eternity? how is it fair that morpheus has to wait because he is immortal and let jeb get all the firsts? fuck this lame ass ending. i fucking. hate. love. triangles. dissapointment.
About her ending with Jeb. I have foreseen it, too. Because Morpheus is the kind of character one of my friends called a "literary tease". As in, he is very seductive, but our good girl is rarely allowed to have him as a true partner. He's like her guilty pleasure which she enjoys for a while but drops by the end of the series in order to be with the normal guy. The male equivalent of a bad girl type who's good enough for a guy to kiss but not good enough to meet his mother.
At least we didn't get that kind of super predictable ending.
But I had that thought about Jeb, too, Katie. Even though I'm Team Morpheus through and through.
It's not fair to Jeb, either.
I get Alyssa 100%. I'm a Jeb freak, and I love him overwhelmingly much. But let's be honest: One cannot live without Morpheus once they've met him, can it? I truly liked this ending, althought I would've liked Jeb to keep his magic and be immortal too, and Alyssa would spend eternity days with him and eternity nights with Morpheus. Ps.: I want more books on Alyssa's life with Jeb and with Morpheus (Like little stories that could zoom on the parts Ensnared just narrated really quickly, like her marriage with Jeb, Jeb's death, her marriage with Morpheus and the birth of their child).
I wouldn't even mind a threesome ending. You know... Alyssa the Queen and her two immortal magical guys. After all, her kingdom is strange and wonderful, isn't it?
I've never been a big Jeb advocate, though it was nice to see him be a little less soft in this one, but even so it would have made more sense for him to stay in Wonderland. I get that he has family in the real world, but even so... I guess I just can't understand anyone CHOOSING to go back to the real world and a normal life after experiencing Wonderland. If I was Alyssa I would have stayed 100%! Her parents can be there, and both her love interests, and she's a frickin queen!
IMO a threesome ending would have been more honest, but only in case both guys were okay with it. I never got any impression that either of them was keen on sharing or into polygamy. And I don't know how someone can want this situation they ended up in to last forever. 60 years of this torture was way too much already.
To have Morpheus watch Alyssa live out her life and have sex and bear kids with Jeb while he is dreaming of the same and has this list of baby names for their boy? This is just cruel. And Jeb knows that Alyssa has romantic feelings for Morpheus and spends every night with him in dreams while she is lying in bed with Jeb? And he is okay with it? Because even if Alyssa doesn't sleep with Morpheus it doesn't mean she doesn't want to. If anything, anyone who read Ensnared (or previous books) saw how much lust they have between them. I know that Morpheus was coaching Alyssa about her kingdom and they were probably rarely alone, but still.
I wanted Alyssa to choose to stay, but with the way the plot turned out, she was left without any choice. Looks like she couldn't put on her crown again until her heart was healed without risking losing her humanity, and she had to spend half of her time in the human realm.
And as to what I would have wanted romance-wise? Alyssa and Morpheus getting together after she confessed her feelings, spending the day and the night like they were supposed to (by which I mean getting their hanky panky on), followed by a grand wedding, a honeymoon and a blue-haired child.Yes, that was my ultimate silly dream. I never realized that the date will turn out to be a goodbye and I will end up sobbing while reading that chapter.
As for other characters, I imagined Alyssa's parents going back to live in the human realm, but that they would visit each other through the portals from time to time. And Jeb would return to the human realm too, go on with his human life, and become a famous artist.
Natalia wrote: "And as to what I would have wanted romance-wise? Alyssa and Morpheus getting together after she confessed her feelings, spending the day and the night like they were supposed to (by which I mean ge..."That was exactly what I was hoping for too! Like I said I've always loved Morpheus and (mostly) disliked Jeb, but not only that I didn't want Alyssa to be having her cake and eating it too. What guy would agree to that? Maybe I've never encountered this kind of 'I'll put up with anything' love that Jeb has, but I can't help feeling it's way obsessive and totally unhealthy!
Highwind wrote: "I wouldn't even mind a threesome ending. You know... Alyssa the Queen and her two immortal magical guys. After all, her kingdom is strange and wonderful, isn't it?"That would totally be the best one. LoL
I think that for me the best option was Jeb if he continued with the magic, in that way as almost equal could have a life together for ever. Jeb being the balance that a queen needs to keep her toes on earth and make smart decisions. But Jeb losing his powers, it was not fair to have to live a life with a woman that at nights had another mind in the dreams, it was better think in Jeb living his mortal life with another woman and Alyssa having her magic life with Morpheus.
Natalia wrote: "I think that for me the best option was Jeb if he continued with the magic, in that way as almost equal could have a life together for ever. Jeb being the balance that a queen needs to keep her toe..."I'm curious, is it because you love Jeb more as a reader, or because you like him better with Alyssa? If so, then why?
I'm just struggling really hard to understand Alyssa and how she can love two men equally in a romantic way at the same time.
Natalia wrote: "Natalia wrote: "I think that for me the best option was Jeb if he continued with the magic, in that way as almost equal could have a life together for ever. Jeb being the balance that a queen needs..."I honestly have divided feelings for Jeb and Morpheus. Morpheus is the wild side of Alyssa and Jeb is the human side. I guess I just like balance and Jeb is the balance for her.. so it also make a better story.. a child of both will want to discover also the human side and maybe explore the human realm, while a child of Morpheus and Alyssa will be almost just another Netherling with more powers. It is only me thinking loud :)
I think it was hinted in the epilogue that a descendant of Jeb and Alyssa may come to Wonderland in the future.I'm also just expressing my opinion here, but I'm personally not really interested in more stories set in the human realm. I live in the human realm. I read fantasy for magic worlds. ;) I adore Wonderland and all the mad creatures and I would love to see more of it. It really is a playground for imagination :)
Natalia wrote: "I think it was hinted in the epilogue that a descendant of Jeb and Alyssa may come to Wonderland in the future.I'm also just expressing my opinion here, but I'm personally not really interested i..."
It is a good point.. I just love the idea of be able to do magic when others can't do it.. maybe that was the reason I was thinking in that way :D
Natalia wrote: "I think that for me the best option was Jeb if he continued with the magic, in that way as almost equal could have a life together for ever. Jeb being the balance that a queen needs to keep her toe..."And NOOOOOOO! I didn't want Jeb to stay in Wonderland and live with Alyssa forever.
For once, Jeb has always represented Alyssa's human side. If he suddenly became a netherling forever, it would be a terrible cop out. Jeb is not a netherling at heart.
And even though Morpheus and Jeb learned to coexist in AnyElsewhere, their truce is very tentative. Neither guy liked the resolution. I don't think Jeb wanted to share or Morpheus wanted to wait. They just made those sacrifices for Alyssa.
Morpheus only agreed to wait because he knew he was waiting for something he will have. It gave him strength to know Alyssa loved him and he wanted all of her, not just a part of her. And then he had seen that vision of his and Alyssa's future and he already adored their boy. So how could he give it all up if Jeb became immortal too? No, he wouldn't give up.
Natalia wrote: "Natalia wrote: "I think that for me the best option was Jeb if he continued with the magic, in that way as almost equal could have a life together for ever. Jeb being the balance that a queen needs..."I honestly only wanted a real decision.. or one or another.. Not a divided life. Whoever she chose be just one, I do not like the idea of live with one man and dream with another. I feel like no fear for any of them. And it is maybe my human side that makes me want that she marry or leave Jeb alone, and my fantasy side wants that she and Morpheus live together for ever.
And don't take me wrong, I am a huge fan of Wonderland, I love everything related to that magic world. I love fairy tales and fairies. It was only my point of view from a final decision. But at the same time I am a huge fan of Super heroes with wonderful powers in earth.. So that it was just my point of view :)
I wanted a real decision either. I have trouble coming to terms with Alyssa's dual life. It comes very close to real polygamy. It's almost like she ended up with two husbands. Which is definitely not my idea of a fairy-tale ending. (I don't want to offend anyone's preferences here on life and marriage, just stating my own).I already said this in another group, so I'm going to repeat here.
It's like for all those 60 years Jeb was her current husband and Morpheus was her future husband (and it had to be pretty weird, because Alyssa and Morpheus already saw the future and in their minds in that future that were already married and with a child, and it left great emotional impact on both of them). And yes, Alyssa stayed faithful to Jeb physically during those years, but come on, let's be realistic, she had to fantasize about Morpheus at least sometimes. There was always too much lust between them to just sweep it all under the rug.
Honestly, I just can't imagine myself in this situation. I would have just picked Morpheus and lived happily ever after.
Natalia wrote: "I wanted a real decision either. I have trouble coming to terms with Alyssa's dual life. It comes very close to real polygamy. It's almost like she ended up with two husbands. Which is definitely n..."Now I Totally agree with you on this :)
I honestly didn't really like Jeb at all, so I personally would have loved if she had just gone with Morpheus instead. Save yourself some heartbreak with that whole Jeb part of your life. Though, I give her credit for choosing both and doing the right thing.
Now I'm basically 3/4 done with Ensnared and I've already read the ending. I seriously cried. -Interest curse words here- Like, gosh. (view spoiler)
-Continue-Sooo, to give myself a peace of mind, I am writing a fan fiction of the second and third book. The first one barely passed my liking. (I do have some of the chapters already up under my writing - WARNING - NOT TRYING TO PROMOTE, I'm just saying. Anyways, I believed that Morpheus deserved a better ending than having the girl he 'loved' be torn in half between a mortal who's SO PATHETIC COMPARED TO HIM (my opinion, sorry.) And in my FF, I did make a new character and I kinda-mighta reflected off me cause I'm just drawn to book characters like him. Dang it.
(view spoiler)
What are your thoughts on the resolution of Jeb v Morpheus? Should Alyssa have chosen, or is the best of both worlds the Happily Ever After you want?
For me, I have and always will be Team Morpheus, so I wanted Alyssa to choose him and Wonderland (it's where I'd choose to live!) What would you do?