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Post by aln1982 on May 27, 2007 7:56:52 GMT -5
Just read Wicked Stepsister and Dawn's Family Feud and it seems like she always gets meaner to MA when Jeff is around or when he is involved. I don't like it how she calls and complains to him about MA in Wicked Stepsister and then think they actually gang up on MA and Richard in Family Feud. I know this is probably logical since they are real brother and sister and are close but I still think it's kind of mean. Jeff can be a brat, in my opinion, and he seems to "get Dawn going". Anyone else notice this or is it just me?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2007 7:59:35 GMT -5
Dawn and Jeff ganging up on Mary Anne certainly wasn't very pleasant. Mary Anne could be a b*tch sometimes, particularly during her fights with Dawn, but it must have been hard for her knowing that Dawn pretty much had the kind of life that MA probably yearned for when she was growing up, and Jeff was a part of that. While Richard getting together with Sharon was probably one of the best things that ever happened to MA, it was always quite clear that the new stepfamily was always going to play second fiddle to Dawn's 'old' one. MA had to deal with the fact that even if Dawn was her best friend and stepsister, Sunny and Jeff had both shared many more experiences with her and represented the kind of life Dawn still missed (as was made evident by Dawn's near-constant cries of 'omgIwanttogobacktoCalifornia!').
Though Dawn's and Jeff's ganging up was, unfortunately, quite realistic. As a kid, I always felt sorry for MA because Dawn was close to her brother and MA had missed out on that throughout her childhood. Now that I'm older I realise that it's perfectly possible to be an only child and still be happy, but when I was a kid I was more short-sighted and thought that it must be really lonely not to have siblings.
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magentanation
Sitter-In-Training
The girl with colitis goes by
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Post by magentanation on May 29, 2007 0:11:21 GMT -5
Yeah it's really noticeable that Dawn gets more bitchy to MA in general when Jeff is around. It makes me feel really sorry for MA.
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Post by secondhandshoes on May 29, 2007 3:11:09 GMT -5
That's actually very realistic among siblings. For example, my little sister turns extra mean when my older brother is around because she feels she has to impress him or show off or something. I think it's more subconscious though. Also, we have to keep in mind that Dawn hasn't had much experience balancing both MA and Jeff, so she probably doesn't quite know how to pull that off yet and MA just gets the worst side of it. Ooooorrrr, we could be reading too much into things again. Who knows
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
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Post by Amalia on May 29, 2007 3:45:41 GMT -5
I think that Dawn automatically puts up her defenses whenever Jeff's around because she knows what MA thinks of him (that he's really spoiled and pampered) whether she is aware of it or not. And her behavior follows accordingly.
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Post by aln1982 on May 29, 2007 10:24:40 GMT -5
Dawn and Jeff ganging up on Mary Anne certainly wasn't very pleasant. Mary Anne could be a b*tch sometimes, particularly during her fights with Dawn, but it must have been hard for her knowing that Dawn pretty much had the kind of life that MA probably yearned for when she was growing up, and Jeff was a part of that. While Richard getting together with Sharon was probably one of the best things that ever happened to MA, it was always quite clear that the new stepfamily was always going to play second fiddle to Dawn's 'old' one. MA had to deal with the fact that even if Dawn was her best friend and stepsister, Sunny and Jeff had both shared many more experiences with her and represented the kind of life Dawn still missed (as was made evident by Dawn's near-constant cries of 'omgIwanttogobacktoCalifornia!'). Though Dawn's and Jeff's ganging up was, unfortunately, quite realistic. As a kid, I always felt sorry for MA because Dawn was close to her brother and MA had missed out on that throughout her childhood. Now that I'm older I realise that it's perfectly possible to be an only child and still be happy, but when I was a kid I was more short-sighted and thought that it must be really lonely not to have siblings. Agree, kitkat. I am also an only child but have always been happy with it so maybe this is why I can't really understand the sibling dynamics. As for MA thinking Jeff is spoiled and pampered, I don't know if this is what she thinks of him or if she might consider him more of a whiny brat (my thoughts too). And I think she only started thinking that after he behaved like a jerk too many times to ignore. Also, she is very defensive of her father - I can't blame her - who Jeff seems pretty mean to a lot of times while Richard seems to try his hardest. I just can't like Jeff when reading about him interacting within the Schafer-Spier family. Like secondhandshoes said, we are probably reading too much into this but it's fun to analyze the characters, anyway.
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Post by Kylie90210 on Sept 6, 2007 22:18:02 GMT -5
I noticed this too! Jeff does seem really mean to Richard, which makes MA mad at him, which makes Dawn be rude/mean to MA. Poor MA, I would feel exactly the same!!
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Post by aln1982 on Sept 6, 2007 23:56:04 GMT -5
^ Agree. I hate how Jeff treats Richard in Family Feud. Even though I know this is understandable, I like Richard so tend to be defensive of him. I can also relate to MA as I would be very defensive of my own dad.
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courtky10
Sitting For The Johanssens
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Post by courtky10 on Jun 12, 2008 21:45:14 GMT -5
Jeff was really bratty in this book, but he's a ten-year-old boy -he's going to have his bratty moments.
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courtky10
Sitting For The Johanssens
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Post by courtky10 on Jun 18, 2008 14:23:41 GMT -5
I didn't say that he's allowed to have his bratty moments, I said that he's going to have them.
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bsclover18
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Post by bsclover18 on Jul 7, 2008 17:52:39 GMT -5
I think Dawn and Jeff have a really good relationship. I wish my sister and I were that close.
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Post by sparklymouse on Jul 8, 2008 12:33:29 GMT -5
I think they have a realistic sibling relationship. They're close enough in age to be friends, but they still have fights and tension from time to time.
Jeff may have been bratty to Richard, but Richard was this stranger who just happened to be married to his mother. I don't think Richard and Sharon were dating seriously until after Jeff moved back to California. Sharon dated the awesomely named Trip-Man in The Ghost at Dawn's House. When Jeff came back to Stoneybrook for visits, he probably felt like his mom didn't give him the same attention anymore. Kind of like how Karen felt during Big House weekends in the early LS books. She wanted to hang out with her daddy, but his attention was also on his new wife, new toddler, step-kids, etc. and she had to learn how to share him. None of that gave Jeff or Karen the right to be rude to their new step-parents, but it's not shocking behavior or anything.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 8, 2008 14:50:34 GMT -5
Sharon dated the awesomely named Trip-Man Hahaha. I wonder why he liked to be called Trip? His name was Theodore Gwynne...Ted sounds better. Anyway, I liked him. That would have been cool if he had been in more books.
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Penny Lane
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Post by Penny Lane on Jul 8, 2008 15:22:06 GMT -5
Trip is so from "The Preppy Handbook"
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Post by anzuhana on Jul 20, 2010 20:16:53 GMT -5
I feel sorry for Mary Anne as well.
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