Anna fucking* Clearwater to be precise
Name: Oh man, here we go…Does anyone remember Barbie’s ‘the Princess and the Pauper’ film? 2004? Blonde Barbie with a pink dress and a brunette Barbie with a blue dress? Yeah? You do? Whelp, that’s how I got Anna’s name, though to be fair, it’s Anneliese in the film, so there’s a small respite from my childhood love of Barbie films. Full name Annabella – after her mother – it’s a big enough change to hopefully distance Anna from Barbie, but it’s not something I will ever forget. As for her surname, Anna has a very typical ‘character surname’ which I recently discovered was Germanic of origin, so that’s a fun little heritage tit-bit for Anna, who originally comes from Manchester in the books.
Appearance: As you’ve probably guessed, Anna got her blonde hair from Barbie. Whatever your opinion of Barbie is, I grew up thinking not of Barbie’s ‘impossible doll physique’ but rather of all the things she taught me I could be capable of. Barbie, to me as a child, wasn’t some fashionista with perfect hair and perky boobs, she was a vet, an astronaut, a doctor, a mother, a ballet dancer, a lawyer, a pet walker, a model, a singer, an archaeologist blah blah blah – she could be whatever she wanted and that was a healthy message to me as a child. A message impressed upon in Anna’s character. Her appearance as a blonde, tall, blue-eyed, athletic young woman with a symmetrically attractive face, long legs and an hour-glass figure is the tip of Anna’s iceberg. And it’s an appearance that hasn’t changed and one I wouldn’t alter either. She’s proof that you can be whatever you want to be and your appearance shouldn’t define you. Anna’s ‘conventionally pretty’ appearance shouldn’t be shunned. You can be a strong, independent woman in heels, in makeup, without makeup, with dark hair, red hair, blonde hair, big boobs, small boobs, short legs, long legs – and onwards. Whatever you are, be whatever you want to be. Anna certainly will be.
Personality: Anna has always been a bitch, to put it plainly. She’s always sworn, always said exactly what she’s thinking and never sugar coated her feelings to save others. She’s always been fierce and determined too, but loyal. And when it comes to her friends, she’s always been especially fierce. Anna’s personality hasn’t particularly changed much. Her mental health is the main thing that has changed throughout the drafts. Since her backstory developed further in redraft 2 (2011) she has gradually becoming more self-destructive and insecure about her body image. But her behaviour and attitude is pretty much the same as it’s always been. She’s the bitch and the boss.
Skills: Anna has always been a field hockey player and has always been captain of her team. She was also once a cheerleader; in fact, it was something I only took out recently because having cheerleaders at a school like HSA doesn’t make any sense. Furthermore, these days Anna wouldn’t be seen caught dead in a wee cheerleading outfit. She’s matured beyond that (not that there’s anything wrong with cheerleaders!). Over time, Anna’s become a lot smarter too. It’s another stereotype from the original immature draft that I wanted to get rid of. As it stands, Anna is one of the smartest of the group along with Emily and Will, a fact she often forgets. As for her other skills, Anna has always been a singer, actress and dancer, but it’s something I often forget about when she has so many other skills. I try to highlight them when I can but Anna is so busy with everything else, I regularly leave it out…
Influences: As I’ve said above, the Barbie movie ‘the Princess and the Pauper’ was a huge influence on Anna; an early influence though. Over the most recent years, I’ve been influenced elsewhere. Firstly, there was the character Mini from the Third Generation of British Skins. While Anna isn’t Scottish or pale with a face of freckles, her and Mini McGuiness – played by Freya Mavor – do share similar traits; insecurities of their body image, ‘daddy issues’, a need to be the ‘top bitch’ and a relentless self-destructive behaviour that often gets them both into trouble. Another influence for Anna is the actress Margot Robbie, but this is more for Anna’s appearance. Even so, Anna has a much more English look about her, since, of course, she is English and not Australian like Margot Robbie. Finally, as I may have mentioned elsewhere, Anna’s defiance and fierce personality were influenced heavily by several girls I’ve known throughout the years. Anna is, in a way, a homage to all the strong-minded, fierce, beautiful girls I’ve encountered throughout my life so far.
Friendships: Anna has always been part of the Main 8, has always been close to Sam but was once closer to Elivia than anyone else; which will come as a shock to my readers, considering Anna and Elivia do not start off on a particularly great foot in Book 1: Hillside Academy. Her relationship with Erika happened over time and while they’re an odd pair, their backstories and particular self-destructive behaviour is something they both share in common and have come to, over the years, support each other in.
Given the development of her story line in recent drafts, Anna grew a lot closer to Sam. He is her male best friend and, in truth, her male counterpart. They’re very similar in their self-destruction and temper. They often say and do the wrong thing but their loyalty to each other is infinite. They are my favourite male/female best friends. Anna would be nothing without Sam Robinson as her best friend.
Storyline: Anna didn’t particularly have a storyline in the original draft (2008) and it’s something I’ve done drastic work to over the last ten years. I can’t say much about her current storyline without giving up spoilers but one thing I will say is Dave Scott, her boyfriend in the most recent drafts, was a new addition to the second redraft (2011) created just for Anna. He’s become his own character these days but Dave is very key to Anna’s early storyline. As for later on…well you’ll have to wait and see.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the original draft where Anna is still very much the same person as she is now…
“You want to fight?” Sam cheered.
Anna swung her hockey stick onto her shoulder and glared back at Damien grinning at them all, all of their friends grouped together, facing off with Damien and his lads.
“What you going to do with that?” Damien said, pointing at Anna’s hockey stick.
“Knock some heads together, that’s what I’m gonna do. So you better watch it, or I’m starting with you. Don’t chat shit about my mates,” Anna said angrily.
“Your mates are fucking losers,” Damien said with a smug grin.
“You’re the loser, Damien. Now stand still, I need to aim,” Anna said, bringing her hockey stick down with a cheer of her friends. No one messed with Anna Clearwater.
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Anna Clearwater Copyright © 2008 Jodie May Mullen
(I do not own the images above. All rights remain with the original artist)