Marked: Chapter 16
Feb. 20th, 2011 11:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zelda_queenZeldaQueen: We get the ritual with Aphrodite and her cronies here. You all know what's up. This will not be pleasant
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 16
ZeldaQueen: Before we start, I feel that it's my duty to remind you all that we're more than halfway through the book, and there has been not one sign of conflict. Why the fuck have people paid money for this book?
Stevie Rae leads Zoey to a smallish building where the Dark Daughters' ritual will take place, and tells her to take her time if she meets anyone she wants to hang out with. Zoey assures Stevie Rae that she's likely to not get buddy-buddy with anyone there, and given the levels of Scary Sue, that's very much true.
We get random bashing of Zoey's sister, which makes no sense at all as we've never seen the girl, not even once. Zoey figures that they'll do the cool ritual again, break for dinner, and that would be when she'd slip out. Right. I have to agree with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
midoriri here, it sounds like Zoey's getting initiated into a cult. She's been a vampire for what, a day? Two days?
Zoey heads to the door and who should open it but Erik, the old phantom himself! She starts going into Airhead Teen Mode, going on about how he looks like Clark Kent, but without the nerdy glasses and hair, because glasses are nerdy ew, and he probably looks more like Superman, but without the tights. Thank God, she shuts up when he draws the pentagram on her forehead and lets her in. She starts sniffing him and going on about how he smells like the forest and rain and it honestly sounds like Twilight in reverse, where Edward sniffs Bella and goes on about how she smells like freesia.
Inside, we see that the building is normally the gaming room, but everything is shoved aside and covered in black clothes. Because everyone here isgoffic a Satanist evil. Aphrodite shows up and the Casts turn to the typical Suethor style of going on about how of course she looks normal at first glance, but look closer and she's clearly glaring coldly, smirking, has a skull and crossbone tattooed in the center of each eye, etc.
The Casts also harp on about how Erik won't look at Aphrodite and yanks his arm away from her, but I do have to admit that since she basically tried to force sex on him before, he's pretty justified in not wanting her to touch him. I'm less inclined to be gracious about the harping on how Zoey can't stop staring at him because firstly it's DAMNED CREEPY, secondly because the foreshadowing sucks, and thirdly what the fuck was she bashing Aphrodite for? Bitch.
Aphrodite drags Zoey off to the bathroom, and Zoey makes it clear that she knows that Aphrodite knows that she (Zoey) is into Erik and he into her. Wait...didn't Zoey spend most of last chapter insisting (rightly so) that there was virtually no evidence that Erik carried the torch for her?
I hate this book.
Inside the bathroom, Aphrodite tells Zoey off for coming dressed "like that", which means nothing because we were never told what Zoey was wearing. I...guess it was given a mention five chapters or so ago, when she got dressed in the evening, but it still makes no sense. Whatever. She's handed a pretty dress with sparkly red beads which actually sounds kind of prettyand I secretly kind of want it. She steps out of the stall and gets pissy because Aphrodite is staring at her Mark. And I know we're supposed to get that Zoey is annoyed that everyone keeps staring at it, but... when was the last time that was mentioned? I pretty much forgot about it by this point, truth be told.
Anyway, Aphrodite starts to go all Scary Sue and treating Zoey like a baby. Given her behavior thus far, I kind of agree. Zoey, gets all annoyed and says that she doesn't need her hand held, and Aphrodite responds with "Of course you don't need your hand held. You'll just breeze right through this little ritual like you've breezed through everything else here. I mean, after all, you are Neferet's new favorite".
A few points here.
Thank you, Miss Scary Sue, for pointing out the flaws here. Has Zoey had any significant hardship since she arrived? She's breezed through almost every class, gotten a circle of friends who do nothing but praise her, gotten the High Priestess as her mentor, instantly got the hottest guy in the school going after her (yes, we all know how that's turning out), and oh yeah, was personally blessed by a goddess! And that's not even taking into account the Sue power that we're going to find out about later. Considering that we know that Aphrodite's spent much longer at the school being groomed as the next High Priestess and, as we'll see later, has a Scary Sue power that actually has drawbacks and requires some sort of effort to use, it's rather understandable that she's jealous of Zoey.
But oh yeah, she's the Scary Sue, so we can't let her have valid points, can we? Not to mention that Zoey isKristen Cast the Mary Sue the protagonist, so she can't actually look bad. So thus, we get Aphrodite being as over-the-top and bitchy as possible. And it only gets worse later, ladies and gentlemen, believe you me.
That bit up there about Zoey suddenly being Neferet's new favorite, apparently only by virtue of her Mark? That would make a lot more sense if the Casts had developed that bit before, about how vampires don't care about fledglings. If that were actually used as a flaw, it would make much more sense that Neferet would be over the moon about a fledgling that seems, for all intents and purposes, to be very close to maturing into a vampire.
Lastly, just wait until a few more chapters have gone by, keeping that "breezing through everything" quote in mind. There is no way in Hell it can be dismissed as exaggeration. No way at all.
Of course, Zoey's first reaction is to go on about what a jealous bitch Aphrodite is. She insists that she's not Neferet's favorite, which would hold a lot more water if it wasn't hammered into us before about how Neferet hardly ever acted as mentor for newly minted fledglings.
They go back outside and meet two bitchy Mean Girls who were with Aphrodite when she invited Zoey to this ritual. I think I forgot to mention them because they added absolutely nothing to the story besides Zoey bashing the one for dying her hair blond. And, of course, Zoey goes on about how even though they seem to be friendly, clearly they're studying their prey for signs of weaknesses. I do love how Our Heroine insists on stereotyping everyone. Double standards are just so enjoyable!
So apparently the dyed blond is named Enyo and the other is named Deino. Oh, and I think Deino is supposed to be part black. At least, Zoey describes her as "obviously mixed", which is really not the best description to use in conjunction with "had a gorgeous combination of really pretty, coffee-with-lots-of-cream skin and excellent thick, curly hair, which probably had never had the nerve to nap up on her for an instant, no matter the humidity".
Zoey freaks out at this point and goes running off. She notices that the setup of the room is akin to that of the ritual she was just at, except that there's also a chair in the middle of the room and there is an Unknown Person slumped on that chair, mysteriously hidden in a huge, black cloak. But this surely isn't important, because Zoey promptly forgets about it. Also, a lot of attention is given to a sinister knife on the table, along with how the person in the black cloak is slumped over and seems to be asleep.
We then get mention of a green mist. Okay, is this supposed to be a ritual or a haunted house? She notes that it's bay leaf, cloves and...oh my
"Well, hell! They were filling the room with pot smoke mixed with spices. Unbelievable. I'd stood up to peer pressure and for years said no to even the most polite offers to try one of those gross-looking homemade joints that get passed around at parties and whatnot. (I mean, please. Is that even sanitary? And just exactly why would I want to do a drug that made me want to obsessively eat fattening snack foods?) And now here I stood, immersed in pot smoke. Sigh. Kayla would never believe it"
ZeldaQueen: OH MY GOD, THEY'RE HIPPIE VAMPIRES! NO, WAIT, THEY REALLY ARE OUT OF MY IMMORTAL! I CAN'T DECIDE, I'M LAUGHING TOO HARD!!!
Oh, and Kayla? Kayla who? You mean that random person who was supposed to be your best friend and who you've hardly mentioned at all?
Conveniently after noting the pot *snerk*, Zoey starts to get all paranoid and make a million stupid asides. And I have to say, if she didn't make annoying asides while she's sober, I'd think that the Casts were cleverly writing it like she was gradually getting high.
So now Zoey is all dazed and paranoid and decides to make small talk with Enyo and Deino. She asks them what their names mean, and we're told that they mean "Warlike" and "Terrible" respectively. *blinks* Well, that's subtle. Oh, and the girl lighting the Pot Incense (seriously, they've got to start marketing that stuff) is named Pemphredo, which means "Wasp". Apparently they named themselves after the three sisters of Gorgon and Scylla who, "Myth says they were born as hags who shared an eye, but we decided that was probably just bullshit male-dominant propaganda written by human men who wanted to keep strong women down".
Why yes, it looks like these girls also are missing a dimension. What a surprise.
They continue to go on about how men suck and are evil and all should die, and Zoey just is staring at them. And if the story was better written, I could almost find it an amusing satire of meeting an insane person at a party. As it is, I really doubt that's the case.
At about this time the ritual starts, and we get nothing but talk about how sexual and nasty it is. First, we're told about how creepy the music is, "Like someone had mixed one of those nasty bootie-humping songs with a tribal mating dance". Then Aphrodite starts to dance, and it's described as "'Some Ho Grinds Her Bootie'". Now, what kind of a description's that? Any self-respecting smartass knows full well that the proper dance name for such an occasion is a hoe-down. *rim shot*
I'd also like to say that if the story was better written, this would come across an interestingly dark reprise to the first ritual. As it is, it just reads like "OH LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE, THEY'RE EVIL AND THUS THEIR RITUAL IS CREEPY AND SUCKS!!!"
While this is going on, incidentally, Zoey starts staring at Erik. Again, if the story was better written, I could see it as Zoey being uncomfortable and trying to look at the only person in the room she feels at all friendly with. As it is, it reads like she's trying to flirt with some guy while said guy's insane ex is doing a "crotch-flailing display".
The dance ends and Aphrodite starts moving candles and waving the knife around and calling on Nyx, and everyone starts turning east for air and all of that good stuff. Yet again, we're bashed over the head with how Zoey TOTALLY FEELS THE ELEMENTS AND FEELS A DESIRE TO JOIN APHRODITE IN THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE TO SUMMON THE ELEMENTS, OH HOW MYSTERIOUS!!!
My head hurts.
So the ritual goes on and Zoey is all "OH-EM-GEE, WHY DO I FEEL THE POWER OF THE ELEMENTS IN ME?" and Aphrodite starts praying to Nyx for the power to kill all humans
ZeldaQueen: A note to Ms and Ms Cast - if you make your villains so ridiculously over the top, it's very hard to take stuff like that seriously.
Also, I'm sure we're supposed to think about how eeeeevil these people are for hating humans, unlike Zoey. I have to ask, when was the last time Zoey thought about Kayla? Heath? Her parents? Her siblings? Her teachers or fellow students at her old school? Her human life at all? I mean, when has she thought about it besides thinking about how it all sucked? I think the only one is Grandma Redbird. You know, the family member who goes on about how speshul she is.
Yeah.
By this point, Aphrodite is passing around a goblet and has brought it to Zoey. Zoey takes a gulp and her thoughts pretty much validate my points above
"I definitely didn't like or trust Aphrodite, but wasn't what she was saying basically true? My mother and stepfather's reactions to my Mark came back hard and clear in my memory, along with Kayla's look of fear and Drew's and Dustin's revulsion. And how no one had called me, or even text- messaged me, since I'd been gone. They'd just let me be dumped here to deal with a new life all on my own"
ZeldaQueen: I'll comment on the contacting bit in a second. For now, I must point out that Zoey is the one who has made absolutely no effort to contact any of those people and explain anything.
She also thinks "It made me sad, but it also made me mad", because apparently the Cast ladies are on the writing level of a children's book.
Anyway, Zoey tastes the stuff in the goblet and instantly goes nutty and trying to drink it all. Aphrodite yanks it away and has a triumphant look on her face, which we'll get to in a second. As it is, Zoey basically acts like that was liquidated blend of happiness, bliss, joy, and Cheez-its that she drank, and won't shut up about how great it tasted.
So the ritual comes to an end and everyone has their post-vaguely-Satanic-ritual mingling. The lights go on and the figure in the black cloak (remember him?) sits up and we find out that it's Elliot. And even surprised, Zoey takes time to go on about how ugly he is. She actually uses his ugliness as a reason why he wasn't an actual guest there. Oy. We get note that he looks all out of it and that he has white bandages around his wrists. Zoey starts to catch on to what's happening and asks Enyo and Deino why he's there. They refer to him as a "refrigerator" and a "snack bar" and then make it clear that it was his blood that Zoey was fondly slurping down. They then start to laugh at her for enjoying the blood, going on about what a freak that makes her. Aphrodite gives Zoey a mock toast with the goblet and Zoey runs out of the building and vomits heavily, before the chapter ends.
Something before we wrap this up. That thing with Elliot? All we get is Zoey going on about how horrible he is, what a slug he is, how gross he is, etc. It might just be me, but I got the implication that he was a favored...erm refrigerator for these events, which means that the kid's been having his blood drained for who knows how many times. No one ever notices or suspects that his constant grogginess has to do with this, and just keeps treating him like a lazy bastard.
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Onward to: Chapter 17
Back to: Chapter 15
Back to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 16
ZeldaQueen: Before we start, I feel that it's my duty to remind you all that we're more than halfway through the book, and there has been not one sign of conflict. Why the fuck have people paid money for this book?
Stevie Rae leads Zoey to a smallish building where the Dark Daughters' ritual will take place, and tells her to take her time if she meets anyone she wants to hang out with. Zoey assures Stevie Rae that she's likely to not get buddy-buddy with anyone there, and given the levels of Scary Sue, that's very much true.
We get random bashing of Zoey's sister, which makes no sense at all as we've never seen the girl, not even once. Zoey figures that they'll do the cool ritual again, break for dinner, and that would be when she'd slip out. Right. I have to agree with
midoriri here, it sounds like Zoey's getting initiated into a cult. She's been a vampire for what, a day? Two days?Zoey heads to the door and who should open it but Erik, the old phantom himself! She starts going into Airhead Teen Mode, going on about how he looks like Clark Kent, but without the nerdy glasses and hair, because glasses are nerdy ew, and he probably looks more like Superman, but without the tights. Thank God, she shuts up when he draws the pentagram on her forehead and lets her in. She starts sniffing him and going on about how he smells like the forest and rain and it honestly sounds like Twilight in reverse, where Edward sniffs Bella and goes on about how she smells like freesia.
Inside, we see that the building is normally the gaming room, but everything is shoved aside and covered in black clothes. Because everyone here is
The Casts also harp on about how Erik won't look at Aphrodite and yanks his arm away from her, but I do have to admit that since she basically tried to force sex on him before, he's pretty justified in not wanting her to touch him. I'm less inclined to be gracious about the harping on how Zoey can't stop staring at him because firstly it's DAMNED CREEPY, secondly because the foreshadowing sucks, and thirdly what the fuck was she bashing Aphrodite for? Bitch.
Aphrodite drags Zoey off to the bathroom, and Zoey makes it clear that she knows that Aphrodite knows that she (Zoey) is into Erik and he into her. Wait...didn't Zoey spend most of last chapter insisting (rightly so) that there was virtually no evidence that Erik carried the torch for her?
I hate this book.
Inside the bathroom, Aphrodite tells Zoey off for coming dressed "like that", which means nothing because we were never told what Zoey was wearing. I...guess it was given a mention five chapters or so ago, when she got dressed in the evening, but it still makes no sense. Whatever. She's handed a pretty dress with sparkly red beads which actually sounds kind of pretty
Anyway, Aphrodite starts to go all Scary Sue and treating Zoey like a baby. Given her behavior thus far, I kind of agree. Zoey, gets all annoyed and says that she doesn't need her hand held, and Aphrodite responds with "Of course you don't need your hand held. You'll just breeze right through this little ritual like you've breezed through everything else here. I mean, after all, you are Neferet's new favorite".
A few points here.
Thank you, Miss Scary Sue, for pointing out the flaws here. Has Zoey had any significant hardship since she arrived? She's breezed through almost every class, gotten a circle of friends who do nothing but praise her, gotten the High Priestess as her mentor, instantly got the hottest guy in the school going after her (yes, we all know how that's turning out), and oh yeah, was personally blessed by a goddess! And that's not even taking into account the Sue power that we're going to find out about later. Considering that we know that Aphrodite's spent much longer at the school being groomed as the next High Priestess and, as we'll see later, has a Scary Sue power that actually has drawbacks and requires some sort of effort to use, it's rather understandable that she's jealous of Zoey.
But oh yeah, she's the Scary Sue, so we can't let her have valid points, can we? Not to mention that Zoey is
That bit up there about Zoey suddenly being Neferet's new favorite, apparently only by virtue of her Mark? That would make a lot more sense if the Casts had developed that bit before, about how vampires don't care about fledglings. If that were actually used as a flaw, it would make much more sense that Neferet would be over the moon about a fledgling that seems, for all intents and purposes, to be very close to maturing into a vampire.
Lastly, just wait until a few more chapters have gone by, keeping that "breezing through everything" quote in mind. There is no way in Hell it can be dismissed as exaggeration. No way at all.
Of course, Zoey's first reaction is to go on about what a jealous bitch Aphrodite is. She insists that she's not Neferet's favorite, which would hold a lot more water if it wasn't hammered into us before about how Neferet hardly ever acted as mentor for newly minted fledglings.
They go back outside and meet two bitchy Mean Girls who were with Aphrodite when she invited Zoey to this ritual. I think I forgot to mention them because they added absolutely nothing to the story besides Zoey bashing the one for dying her hair blond. And, of course, Zoey goes on about how even though they seem to be friendly, clearly they're studying their prey for signs of weaknesses. I do love how Our Heroine insists on stereotyping everyone. Double standards are just so enjoyable!
So apparently the dyed blond is named Enyo and the other is named Deino. Oh, and I think Deino is supposed to be part black. At least, Zoey describes her as "obviously mixed", which is really not the best description to use in conjunction with "had a gorgeous combination of really pretty, coffee-with-lots-of-cream skin and excellent thick, curly hair, which probably had never had the nerve to nap up on her for an instant, no matter the humidity".
Zoey freaks out at this point and goes running off. She notices that the setup of the room is akin to that of the ritual she was just at, except that there's also a chair in the middle of the room and there is an Unknown Person slumped on that chair, mysteriously hidden in a huge, black cloak. But this surely isn't important, because Zoey promptly forgets about it. Also, a lot of attention is given to a sinister knife on the table, along with how the person in the black cloak is slumped over and seems to be asleep.
We then get mention of a green mist. Okay, is this supposed to be a ritual or a haunted house? She notes that it's bay leaf, cloves and...oh my
"Well, hell! They were filling the room with pot smoke mixed with spices. Unbelievable. I'd stood up to peer pressure and for years said no to even the most polite offers to try one of those gross-looking homemade joints that get passed around at parties and whatnot. (I mean, please. Is that even sanitary? And just exactly why would I want to do a drug that made me want to obsessively eat fattening snack foods?) And now here I stood, immersed in pot smoke. Sigh. Kayla would never believe it"
ZeldaQueen: OH MY GOD, THEY'RE HIPPIE VAMPIRES! NO, WAIT, THEY REALLY ARE OUT OF MY IMMORTAL! I CAN'T DECIDE, I'M LAUGHING TOO HARD!!!
Oh, and Kayla? Kayla who? You mean that random person who was supposed to be your best friend and who you've hardly mentioned at all?
Conveniently after noting the pot *snerk*, Zoey starts to get all paranoid and make a million stupid asides. And I have to say, if she didn't make annoying asides while she's sober, I'd think that the Casts were cleverly writing it like she was gradually getting high.
So now Zoey is all dazed and paranoid and decides to make small talk with Enyo and Deino. She asks them what their names mean, and we're told that they mean "Warlike" and "Terrible" respectively. *blinks* Well, that's subtle. Oh, and the girl lighting the Pot Incense (seriously, they've got to start marketing that stuff) is named Pemphredo, which means "Wasp". Apparently they named themselves after the three sisters of Gorgon and Scylla who, "Myth says they were born as hags who shared an eye, but we decided that was probably just bullshit male-dominant propaganda written by human men who wanted to keep strong women down".
Why yes, it looks like these girls also are missing a dimension. What a surprise.
They continue to go on about how men suck and are evil and all should die, and Zoey just is staring at them. And if the story was better written, I could almost find it an amusing satire of meeting an insane person at a party. As it is, I really doubt that's the case.
At about this time the ritual starts, and we get nothing but talk about how sexual and nasty it is. First, we're told about how creepy the music is, "Like someone had mixed one of those nasty bootie-humping songs with a tribal mating dance". Then Aphrodite starts to dance, and it's described as "'Some Ho Grinds Her Bootie'". Now, what kind of a description's that? Any self-respecting smartass knows full well that the proper dance name for such an occasion is a hoe-down. *rim shot*
I'd also like to say that if the story was better written, this would come across an interestingly dark reprise to the first ritual. As it is, it just reads like "OH LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE, THEY'RE EVIL AND THUS THEIR RITUAL IS CREEPY AND SUCKS!!!"
While this is going on, incidentally, Zoey starts staring at Erik. Again, if the story was better written, I could see it as Zoey being uncomfortable and trying to look at the only person in the room she feels at all friendly with. As it is, it reads like she's trying to flirt with some guy while said guy's insane ex is doing a "crotch-flailing display".
The dance ends and Aphrodite starts moving candles and waving the knife around and calling on Nyx, and everyone starts turning east for air and all of that good stuff. Yet again, we're bashed over the head with how Zoey TOTALLY FEELS THE ELEMENTS AND FEELS A DESIRE TO JOIN APHRODITE IN THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE TO SUMMON THE ELEMENTS, OH HOW MYSTERIOUS!!!
My head hurts.
So the ritual goes on and Zoey is all "OH-EM-GEE, WHY DO I FEEL THE POWER OF THE ELEMENTS IN ME?" and Aphrodite starts praying to Nyx for the power to kill all humans
ZeldaQueen: A note to Ms and Ms Cast - if you make your villains so ridiculously over the top, it's very hard to take stuff like that seriously.
Also, I'm sure we're supposed to think about how eeeeevil these people are for hating humans, unlike Zoey. I have to ask, when was the last time Zoey thought about Kayla? Heath? Her parents? Her siblings? Her teachers or fellow students at her old school? Her human life at all? I mean, when has she thought about it besides thinking about how it all sucked? I think the only one is Grandma Redbird. You know, the family member who goes on about how speshul she is.
Yeah.
By this point, Aphrodite is passing around a goblet and has brought it to Zoey. Zoey takes a gulp and her thoughts pretty much validate my points above
"I definitely didn't like or trust Aphrodite, but wasn't what she was saying basically true? My mother and stepfather's reactions to my Mark came back hard and clear in my memory, along with Kayla's look of fear and Drew's and Dustin's revulsion. And how no one had called me, or even text- messaged me, since I'd been gone. They'd just let me be dumped here to deal with a new life all on my own"
ZeldaQueen: I'll comment on the contacting bit in a second. For now, I must point out that Zoey is the one who has made absolutely no effort to contact any of those people and explain anything.
She also thinks "It made me sad, but it also made me mad", because apparently the Cast ladies are on the writing level of a children's book.
Anyway, Zoey tastes the stuff in the goblet and instantly goes nutty and trying to drink it all. Aphrodite yanks it away and has a triumphant look on her face, which we'll get to in a second. As it is, Zoey basically acts like that was liquidated blend of happiness, bliss, joy, and Cheez-its that she drank, and won't shut up about how great it tasted.
So the ritual comes to an end and everyone has their post-vaguely-Satanic-ritual mingling. The lights go on and the figure in the black cloak (remember him?) sits up and we find out that it's Elliot. And even surprised, Zoey takes time to go on about how ugly he is. She actually uses his ugliness as a reason why he wasn't an actual guest there. Oy. We get note that he looks all out of it and that he has white bandages around his wrists. Zoey starts to catch on to what's happening and asks Enyo and Deino why he's there. They refer to him as a "refrigerator" and a "snack bar" and then make it clear that it was his blood that Zoey was fondly slurping down. They then start to laugh at her for enjoying the blood, going on about what a freak that makes her. Aphrodite gives Zoey a mock toast with the goblet and Zoey runs out of the building and vomits heavily, before the chapter ends.
Something before we wrap this up. That thing with Elliot? All we get is Zoey going on about how horrible he is, what a slug he is, how gross he is, etc. It might just be me, but I got the implication that he was a favored...erm refrigerator for these events, which means that the kid's been having his blood drained for who knows how many times. No one ever notices or suspects that his constant grogginess has to do with this, and just keeps treating him like a lazy bastard.
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Onward to: Chapter 17
Back to: Chapter 15
Back to: Table of Contents
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 05:30 am (UTC)Also, what's wrong with glasses? I wear glasses and I always get compliments on how more mature I look with them on. Why all the hate on people who wear glasses?!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 01:17 pm (UTC)Zoey wears contacts and always goes on about geeky her own glasses. I think it's one of those things where the Cast ladies think that teens dislike glasses, so yeah.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 06:27 am (UTC)The whole drinking blood thing seems really out of place too. I mean... if they are part of the ceremony, they've drunk blood too, right? Are they trying to say they didn't enjoy it? Because seriously... if they didn't enjoy it, they wouldn't WANT to do it, and if they WANTED to do it despite not enjoying it, then that is something else all together.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 01:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 08:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 07:08 am (UTC)(but i have to admit, the revelation at the end that she'd actually been drinking Elliot's blood was kinda horrifiying)
Does he get fleshing-out/sympathy later in the book?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 01:20 pm (UTC)No, no he does not. He gets...well, you'll see.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 03:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 04:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 06:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 12:46 pm (UTC)I really wish I'd spotted the My Immortal comparisons before hand - I'm coming over all giggly!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 01:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 02:32 pm (UTC)And why is there no plot halfway throught the....wait, yay! We're halfway through the book!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 04:35 pm (UTC)We're more than halfway through. This book has about twenty-nine chapters in it, so we hit roughly halfway at chapter 15. Yeah, at least it's moving fast. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 07:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 08:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 01:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 01:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 05:46 pm (UTC)It's probably too much to ask for that Zoey changes her mind about him now that she knows what's happening to him, and realizes that even if he's not the tall, dark, and handsome type, that he's a person with feelings and goals and dreams just like everyone else... Yeah, who am I kidding? I wouldn't be surprised at the moment if Zoey reasons "Well... He's an ugly lazy bastard I don't really care about anyway, and his blood tasted good... Meh, it's probably fine" and goes back the next time. e_e;;
I really don't know what the hell was up with that Dark Daughters ritual, but it really made me uncomfortable just to read the recap. Without exaggerating, I hate hazing, and that ritual just sounded like some sort of hazing that occurs regularly, with one person who can't get accepted no matter what he does.
But wtf, pot smoke? So, this school is making sure to keep their students healthy to be able to spot if someone rejects the Change, but they're willing to look the other way when they're using pot in a ritual? I thought the adult vampires knew immediately if someone broke a rule.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 08:07 pm (UTC)The ritual is pretty clearly hazing to newcomers, and it almost would work setting up Aphrodite as the villainess of the book. There's a few issues though, which I'll be going into in a chapter or so.
You're right, the adult vampires are supposed to be crazy knowledgable. Erik tells Zoey later that there's at least one thing the Dark Daughterrs do that the teachers deliberately ignore, so it could be a case of the teachers practicing favoritism. And yes, if that were better defined, it would very much make the vampire world more interesting. But it isn't, so it is not.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-21 09:05 pm (UTC)Yeah, if they had toned Aphrodite down a bit in the beginning and build up the things she do, and not jump straight to "kill all humans", I'd maybe just think that she's just enjoying having the power to make the newbies do whatever she says.
Yeah, the Casts have this really interesting set up for a creepy and intimidating world, but for some reason, they can't see it.
I'm just thinking... Sure, pot is generally regarded as pretty harmless as drugs go, but I'd think that since one of the signs for rejecting the Change is that the person starts coughing, you'd think that they would do everything they can to keep everyone's lungs and airways as clean and healthy as possible.
Also, I can't help but think that the name the Dark Daughters is... well, pretty lame. XD; It sounds like what a group of girls I knew back in 8th grade called themselves. They went around shoplifting and pretended to be cool by smoking and drinking on school grounds.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 01:35 am (UTC)I know what you mean. They first actually introduced her as being warm and nice, which would have been a good build-up. Except that they wasted that potential not two sentences later.
"Also, I can't help but think that the name the Dark Daughters is... well, pretty lame. XD; It sounds like what a group of girls I knew back in 8th grade called themselves. They went around shoplifting and pretended to be cool by smoking and drinking on school grounds."
I think that's what Ms and Ms Cast were going for with them -_- The fact that these kids are supposed to be the bad guys of the story does not speak well of the conflict.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 11:14 am (UTC)Hah, somehow I'm not surprised that they would go for something like that. Those girls back in my school weren't considered a threat to anyone or even remotely popular... Well, except when they got wasted at parties and got friendly with the guys, I guess.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 07:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-23 12:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-23 12:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 12:55 am (UTC)This would work pretty damn well alongside the aforementioned Wasted Potential of adult vampires simply not recognizing fledglings as living being until the transformation is complete, actually.
god damn it now I want to read that book >.>
Instead, of course, Vampires Are Superior from the outset, and this ritual seems like it's just being used as an excuse for making Aphrodite obviously, painfully evil. Can you tell she's evil? Because I think, maybe, she might be evil. Maybe a little.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-22 07:03 pm (UTC)"Can you tell she's evil? Because I think, maybe, she might be evil. Maybe a little."
Possibly. XD Hard to say for certain.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-23 12:39 pm (UTC)Seriously, Ms and Ms Cast, you REALLY have to stop with the 'nappy' references, okay? It's bordering on racist and its going off the Unfortunate implications chart. I don't think you totally get what that word means.
'there's also a chair in the middle of the room and there is an Unknown Person slumped on that chair, mysteriously hidden in a huge, black cloak'
I was really hoping the chair would swivel around to reveal Heifer James Bond-style with a cat on his lap: 'I've been expecting you, Zoey. And now I expect you in HELL!' :P
'"Well, hell! They were filling the room with pot smoke mixed with spices. Unbelievable. I'd stood up to peer pressure and for years said no to even the most polite offers to try one of those gross-looking homemade joints that get passed around at parties and whatnot. (I mean, please. Is that even sanitary? And just exactly why would I want to do a drug that made me want to obsessively eat fattening snack foods?) And now here I stood, immersed in pot smoke. Sigh. Kayla would never believe it"'
Well, besides the whole 'say no to drugs' announcement the Casts shoved in, I was really hoping for a pot circle full of vamps just sitting back and letting the good vibrations wash all over them, man :D And I was hoping for the secret 11 herbs and spices as well :P
'Now, what kind of a description's that? Any self-respecting smartass knows full well that the proper dance name for such an occasion is a hoe-down. *rim shot*'
Damn, that was cheeky! :P
Oh, and to sum Zoey can go choke on my black-rimmed glasses. And I don't even need The Mark of Doom ™ to feel all special with them on :P
Really, we're HALFWAY through the book and it's only been two days in the story? My god, this timeline is crap!
Interesting ideas that were shitted upon in this chapter:
-Zoey feeling ostracised from her friends and family and feeling her humanity is slipping through her fingers
-Elliot being used as a blood mule of sorts and how he ended up that way.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-24 01:28 am (UTC)Sure they do, and Meyer totally knows what a gangbanger is. XD That's why I love Stephen Cole's works so much, he actually knows how teenagers talk.
"I was really hoping the chair would swivel around to reveal Heifer James Bond-style with a cat on his lap: 'I've been expecting you, Zoey. And now I expect you in HELL!' :P"
Unfortunately, Mr. Heifer won't be around for some books.
"Well, besides the whole 'say no to drugs' announcement the Casts shoved in, I was really hoping for a pot circle full of vamps just sitting back and letting the good vibrations wash all over them, man :D And I was hoping for the secret 11 herbs and spices as well :P"
I would have been so happy if that were the case. XD Just them all sitting around, discussing the universe and how the real them is under the skin.
"Damn, that was cheeky! :P"
I couldn't resist. XD
"Oh, and to sum Zoey can go choke on my black-rimmed glasses. And I don't even need The Mark of Doom ™ to feel all special with them on :P"
No arguments from me. I work in a LensCrafters, I know how glasses can be very nice if someone is willing to look. Zoey has Maui Jim sunglasses, I'm sure she could afford a pair of pretty Carolees or Vogues if she wanted to.
"Really, we're HALFWAY through the book and it's only been two days in the story? My god, this timeline is crap!"
That's another thing I was going to rant about, but forgot about. ^^; Zoey keeps going on about "Oh woe is me, no one wrote to me!" and she's been gone for TWO DAYS! She didn't even tell anyone she was there!
And there will be more ideas that will be shat upon, just you wait and see. -_-
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-25 07:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-25 12:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 10:43 pm (UTC)Also filling the room with pot smoke seems pretty useless to me. I'm the er, sort to think about this, if you catch my drift. There is a thing called hotboxing but you only do that while you're smoking anyway--and in a small room or a car, so the smoke fills it up quicker. I think it's more of a stoner myth or a sort of adding to the ambiance more than anything--I don't think it exactly gets you that high, definitely not more than if you were just smoking directly.
Anyway, seems pointless to fill up a room with smoke and then not directly smoke. They'd be better off passing around the peace pipe. Unless they think their goddess wants a toke too or something and filling the room with that does that. XD Honestly I'm not seeing any point to it being there at all except for Zoey to rag on pot for a bit.
(I mean, please. Is that even sanitary? And just exactly why would I want to do a drug that made me want to obsessively eat fattening snack foods?)
Yeah, with coke you get your own lines and it doesn't want to make you eat at all! It's so much cooler, Zoey, you should definitely try that instead.
Seriously, she didn't list any good reasons for her to reject pot at all. How about the usual cries of it making you a moron or that you don't need to get high to have fun? Shit like that is more common and are a lot more deep reasons to not want to experiment. This is just another instance of Zoey being a shallow idiot because one Cast or another thought this is how teenage girls think.
tribal mating dance
Wooooooooooooooow nice to see them keeping up the racism. Tribal mating dance. Sort of like animal mating dances? 'Cause I've never heard of a god damn human mating dance, especially one performed in front of a tribe of humans. I'm sure there are things like it, but this just reeks to me of equating people in tribes to animals, since you know, they're so barbaric that they surely just have mating dances and not marriage ceremonies, perhaps. *grits teeth*
It also seems like the Casts trying to denigrate a ceremony by putting faux hiphop elements into it--or whatever they said, bootie-humping hoe dancing. Clearly adding hiphop to it makes Aphrodite a slut and makes the whole ceremony dumb.
Any other author and I might look it over. But after the tribal comments, it just seems like the Casts are trying to put down modern African American culture as well. While I'm not a huge fan of the bootie-beats either, I don't get why she needs to just hamfist it in JUST to mock it. Because really, does the hoe-dancing have any place here? Whatsoever? It DOES have cultural roots so it just screams of the Casts and Zoey all being stupid, stuck up white bitches who don't get anything.
It pretty much would've been okay with me if she had said something like "On a real dancer the routine might've looked okay, but with Aphrodite trying to shake her white no-ass it just looked pathetic" or something like that, but no, it just seems like she's putting down the entire genre as a whole.
... Also, wow, that was the entire ceremony? The one that was supposed to be sooooo much lamer than the other one? Honestly? I'D RATHER GO TO THAT ONE. If I get to sniff pot smoke and watch silly booty griding while all the stupid same shit that went on in the last ritual scene goes on, what with the elements, all the better. The other ritual scene sounded quite boring by comparison and I have to wonder why the two are different enough at all that there has to be two of them in one day. Stupid.
Also really bugs me that the vamps can just go to each other for blood. Is there ANY disadvantage to being a vampire in this universe? Like at all? Besides ooh the sun stings me now??
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-07 04:13 am (UTC)I think the idea with the pot was that the Dark Daughters were trying to be edgy or something, like "instead of regular incense, let's burn marijuana leaves because WE'RE COOL! :D" Still, it comes across as pretty dumb, especially with Zoey's shallow soapboxing.
I think the Dark Daughters' ritual was more private, done on their own time. With the Samhain ritual later, it's mentioned that they aren't *supposed* to do it, but the teachers ignore it because it's Underground Student Tradition or something.
"Also really bugs me that the vamps can just go to each other for blood. Is there ANY disadvantage to being a vampire in this universe? Like at all? Besides ooh the sun stings me now??"
You know, there really is not. At least none besides the fact that you can die at any point, but given how little it's thought of, it's hard to count that one.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-02-17 08:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-01 03:02 pm (UTC)But then again, the Casts called a woman 'Thanatos'. Yes, it means Death. Yes, that is a male word (which led me to think she was a man for quite a while. One of the few moments where my classical education was actually a hindrance.)
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-08 06:41 am (UTC)Naming two of your 'evil' characters Terrible and Warlike? Yeah, subtle. Oh and Wasp, almost forgot her. You know I could actually have accepted people calling themselves that. Say there were three friends from before they were vampyres and they all got marked in the space of 6 months. They were ripped from their previous lives, they had to leave their families, friends and all the rest and only had each other to cling to. They chose their names as an almost ironic statement because that's what being made into a vampyre has made them. They have become more terrible, more warlike and like wasps. They really hate vampirism and therefore were dragged down to the more evil and horrible aspect of it -the Dark Daughters. (Well evil and horrible in zoeys mind).
However, the Casts ignore the huge sign screaming "YOU CAN GIVE SOME CHARACTERS PERSONALITY AND MOTIVATION" and name them that because they are friends with Aphrodite and are therefore Bad. (Capital B intended.) Do these characters ever gain any dimensions? My memory of this book is fuzzy. But yeah naming characters stupid names for no reason (except a one dimensional one) really pisses me off.
Ah yes, the Dark Daughters ritual. When I first read it I just took it as almost practice for Aphrodite since it's made clear that she is being groomed to be a High Priestess. I didn't see it as 'bad' at all. well the refrigerator person bit and the 'tribal mating dance' (SERIOUSLY CASTS DO YOU HAVE ANY RESPECT -so many unfortunate implications) annoyed me but whatever. It just seems to be written as another chance for the Sue to look good and superior to the other lesser vampyres.
This book makes me want to collapse from annoyance.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-09 02:49 pm (UTC)And I have no clue what's up with the Dark Daughters. The way it was described in the Fledgeling Handbook 101, the group was founded as a side organization within the House of Night to provide friendship and comfort and promote solidarity amongst the students. That makes it sound like most extracurricular clubs...except when ZOEY is the head of it, SHE routinely performs rituals for the entire school! That seems to me like if a high school principal agreed to let the president of the Amnesty International club head the school-wide assemblies instead of them.