#... also if you think i don't have also have hopes and Theories about aleksander and regina you're Wrong

[serpenteve]

Last two questions i’m sorry, i hope i’m not bothering you

What do you think Aleksander would have done if at the start of them kinda circling each other or just early on she was like “you only like me because i’m the sun summoner and also immortal”? Would he even be self aware enough to seperate the difference between that and his feelings for her?

Also i keep seeing people saying that he just…never would have been able to be with her in a healthy way no matter what happened because time had just ruined his ability to relate to people, even potentially alina, in any way that they would have worked. I’m of the mind that everything would have worked out had bAgHrA not ruined everything. Book darkles maybe but show aleksander seemed like they could have really had a shot

Not at all! I love getting asks and speculating about things lol

I think answering both these questions depends a lot on your interpretations of the characters. I think the reason why there are so many different theories and interpretations of Alina and Aleksander (as well as other characters, tbh) is because neither are written consistently. At least with the Darkling you can say that he's the villain or that he plays his motives close to the chest to keep you guessing. But Alina is written pretty poorly and seems to only come to certain conclusions or take certain actions because the author needed her to do so for the sake of the plot. Very few of her actions and thoughts come across as an organic expression of her character---whoever her character is supposed to be.

That said, here's my personal take:

I don't think Aleksander could have separate out his feelings at the start because he's spent his entire 500+ year life being the only Grisha of his kind. As a summoner, it would have been very isolating as he mentions summoners usually work in pairs. Also, it's possible he lived most that life assuming he was alone and the myth of a Sun Summoner was just that---a myth. So when he discovered Alina, I really do think he had to radically rethink his entire life plan, his identity, his purpose, the meaning of all his centuries of being alone, etc. Like,,,,,,he really put all his eggs in the Alina-Is-My-Soulmate-And-We're-Gonna-Change-the-World basket ☠️

He was pretty distressed when she lost her powers at the end of R&R because I think it pretty much doomed him to an eternity of being alone.

However, with whatever crumbs we get in Rule of Wolves, it seems like even though Alina is no longer Grisha, he still feels attached and drawn to her because of how she challenged and bested him. I think meeting Alina made him feel something he had long forgotten: being human and being vulnerable and feeling like maybe there was someone in the world who could understand him, however brief that was.

I think he genuinely tried to see Alina as a useful human lightbulb in his geopolitical plans but then he caught feelings and those feelings caught him by surprise.

Being immortal and being hunted for so many centuries probably did erode his humanity over time and ruin his ability to relate to people. However, I like to think his love for Alina could sneak up on him when he least expected it. We never really saw them in an actual relationship with Alina in the books so it's kind of all speculation and fanfic at this point but I do I think they'd have reached a more equal partnership if the story was stretched out to be over hundreds of years where both characters can grow and change and influence each other along the way.

I could also see that happening within the text of Shadow & Bone had different writing choices been made and Alina being a different kind of character.