Betrayed: Chapter 15
May. 29th, 2011 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zelda_queenProjection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 15
ZeldaQueen: By this point, Fox News reports that there was no bomb on the bridge and that the Nature's Jihad thing was a hoax. That's the last we ever hear of it because, as we all know, bomb threats are just taken in stride and dismissed so casually after they're proven as hoaxes, especially in this post-9/11 world. We also learn that one Samuel
Spoilers - the visions never come up again, at least not in this book.
Anyway, Damien reminds everyone that Neferet is saying that the visions are false, and wonders what could possibly have gotten her to think that. Maybe because NEFERET IS LYING, YOU IDIOTS!!! Lord! But no, they all just figure that Neferet is mistaken and wish that they could go tell her how this vision was true so they could set the record straight (they can't because Zoey promised she wouldn't). Christ, I'm getting so many flashbacks to The Short, Second Life of Bree Tanner it's not even funny! Oh, and their next course of action is to bash Aphrodite as an evil hag for not going to Neferet herself about how the visions are true.
Even though Aphrodite clearly is scared of Neferet hearing about the visions.
Even though we see no reason for Neferet to think the visions are false, which frankly makes Neferet rather suspicious
Even though it's glaringly obvious that Neferet is aware that the visions are true but is just ignoring that fact to discredit Aphrodite
Even though we did see Aphrodite going to Neferet and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, NEFERET JUST VERBALLY SMACKED AROUND APHRODITE AND MADE HER CRY!
Honestly, this is staggering! These people are honestly just tiptoeing around the very obvious conclusion that Neferet is deliberately ignoring the visions and Aphrodite knows this and is trying to tell someone who will listen! This is just...I...
ZeldaQueen: Well, that conversation was dangerously close to bringing in plot, so the Cast ladies promptly drop it in favor of telling us how this Drew guy is obviously mooning over Stevie Rae. This makes absolutely no sense, seeing as they haven't said two words to each other before now and still haven't actually said two words to each other, but hey. He is, after all, staring at her intently and staring at a girl seems to be all that it takes to kick off a relationship in these books.
The Twins waggle their eyebrows at Drew and make several comments alluding to how hot they think he is, which strikes me as rather rude when you consider that everyone present seems to see that Stevie Rae is eyeing him up as well. Everyone decides to go get dinner, and Stevie Rae turns even more ditzy and brainless when faced with the concept of flirting. She and Drew set off for dinner and Jack and Damien, who are talking about Harry Potter books and pretty much a couple now for all intents and purposes (yes, yes, I know) join them. Shaunee and Erin follow, making several disgusted comments about those four being in love. When Zoey asks what's up with them, Damien says that they are just annoyed that the last few guys they dated bored them. Apparently they "double-time them". Given how these twats act, I feel rather sorry for the guys. We get specifics on their previous boyfriends. Apparently Thor The Homophobic asked Erin out once and "she called him a lemur. You know, like the moronic lemurs in that Disney movie". Well that's a rather stretched insult. Not quite as much as Shaunee's insult towards a random fellow named Walter who she dated briefly before calling him a "Pentium 3 processor". Damien then explains to Zoey that they're up to Pentium 5s now, and any hope that joke had of being funny has died. This is all concluded with them agreeing that it would take someone special to get the Twins to stick around. By "special" I can only conclude that the Cast ladies mean "hot", because that's honestly the only quality that I've seen these people value in guys.
Jack speaks up at this point and gives a cliched speech about how he thinks that there's someone for everyone. Zoey agrees with him before mentally commenting that the trick is finding out who. So says the girl stringing along three guys.
And with that, they all have a snowball fight because...well, what teen flick rip-off would be complete without one? Zoey opts out, instead heading for the media center to work on her speech for the ritual tomorrow. She tries to find an old book for inspiration, because "I wanted foundation and tradition so that under my leadership the Dark Daughters would know something more than Aphrodite's way too modern (and ho-ish) influence".
I do so love that dig at modern takes on things. You know Zoey, for all of your talk about how you want to emulate the Old Ways, you yourself don't exactly uphold them yourself. I know there were different laws in different places, but ancient Greece didn't exactly smile upon stringing along three different guys like you are. And no, the "We aren't having sex" excuse wouldn't have flown then either. Women weren't even allowed outside without a chaperone in some places. I suppose if you were an ancient Greek goddess you could get away with it. And I'm sure that the Cast ladies had no idea what that implies about Zoey and her devotion to the Old Ways, or else my head would spin in fury.
Also, ancient, traditional ways weren't overly sexual? Are you freaking kidding me? Just read an ancient Greek play sometime. I'm sure your library has a few. Hell, see if there's a copy of Lysistrata. Between the endless sexual jokes, the limp phalluses that the male characters all wore, and the orgy at the end, there's a fantastic case to argue that ancient ways aren't overly sexual. If you want to go a little more modern, how about those plays that Vampire Shakespeare wrote? Hamlet's talk of country matters, perhaps? Demetrius threatening Helena to "do you some mischief in the woods"? The entire relationship between Kate and Petrichio being one long string of sexual innuendos and harassment from him? Romeo's friends and Friar Lawrence commenting that his romance with Juliet is pretty much him thinking with his little head instead of his big one? Oh yeah, Shakespeare's works really were the epitome of being prudish and nonsexual.
*rubs head* Wow, I managed not to have a tantrum. Go me!
And then she starts to talk about Loren Blake. GOD DAMMIT!
"I opened my notebook and got out my favorite pen, which made me think about what Loren had said about preferring to write his poetry by hand rather than on a computer … and made me think about Loren touching my face … and my back ... and the connection that had sizzled between us. I smiled and felt my cheeks get warm, and then realized I was sitting there grinning and blushing like a retard about a guy who was too old for me, and a vampyre. Both things made me really nervous (as well they should). I mean, he was totally gorgeous, but he was twenty something. A real adult who knew all the vampyre secrets about bloodlust and, well, lust in general. Which, unfortunately, only made him more delicious, especially after my brief but very nasty bloodsucking make-out scene with Heath"
ZeldaQueen: *points* You see how Zoey's such an Old Soul? She writes things with a pen. I must be a Middle-Aged Soul then, because I write with a pen and use the evil, modern computer.
Also, "connection that had sizzled between us"? Are you kidding? I get more sizzling from rubbing my hands together on a winter's day! All I saw was a sleazy guy taking advantage of a girl who's too naive to know any better. The fact that you keep going on like this just makes it even more apparent.
Also also, how does heavily making out with your boyfriend make you find your teacher even more appealing? I've made out with my boyfriend and never thought "Wow, that just makes my hot Nonfiction Writing teacher even more hot!" Am I missing some step in logic or something?
All of this finally reminds her that Erik does, in fact, exist. She muses over her relationship with him and how they'd kissed and made out but never actually had sex, because "One reason was that despite recent evidence to the contrary, I didn't usually act like a slut". I'm...not going to touch that. She also mentions that she feels nervous about going all the way with him because she still remembers Aphrodite trying to blow him and has mixed feelings about that. Now I can understand walking in on something like that being hard to get past for a relationship. I'm not willing to give it pass for two reasons. The first is that she's still failing to recognize the whole "rape on Erik" thing, which means that she's giving no thought to the fact that he might not be comfortable with sex after Aphrodite. The second is that she only doesn't want to do it because "I didn't want there to be any confusion on Erik's part that I was definitely not a stank slut like Aphrodite the Ho".
Two things.
First of all, we see Aphrodite attempting sex with her boyfriend. Since everyone here clearly doesn't notice or care that it's attempted rape, I suppose we're not supposed to count that. So how does trying for sex with one guy, one guy you're in a relationship with no less, make one the Whore of Babylon? Are blowjobs really that reviled by the Cast ladies?
Second of all, keep that line in mind for Chosen. Just...keep it in mind.
Oh, and we get a completely unnecessary mention of how Heath had an erection while he and Zoey were making out. That's...really lovely.
Ultimately, Zoey concludes that she does love Erik, but implies that they aren't an official couple because they haven't had sex. You know, from that I can come to two conclusions
The first is that the Cast ladies want a quick way to justify Zoey running around with other guys, so they're having her say "Well I'm not officially Erik's girlfriend so I can be with other people if I want".
The second is that Zoey wants a casual relationship and is realizing that Erik might have different views of how things are going.
If it's the latter, she ought to call Erik or at least plan to talk to him about how things are working out as soon as he comes back tomorrow.
If it's the former, then that's just disgusting.
And spoilers folks, but Erik does see himself and Zoey as being in a steady, monogamous relationship, with hints of hopes for them to get married in the distant future. He outright will tell Zoey all of this in a few chapters. So he's doing a bad job of expressing his own hopes for this relationship, Zoey is an idiot and missing any hints that he's so serious, or is blatantly ignoring said hints.
That's all I'm going to say on this for now.
Zoey, for her part, moves on to gushing about Blake. And she pulls the "he makes me feel like a woman" card with him. I'm dead serious
"Outside in the moonlight with my skin bared to him Loren had made me feel like a woman—not an inexperienced, nervous girl, which is how I tended to feel around Erik. But when I'd seen the desire in Loren's eyes I'd felt beautiful and powerful and very, very sexy. And, yes, I had to admit to myself that I liked that feeling"
ZeldaQueen: Perhaps my powers of observation are terrible, but I never particularly got the impression that Erik made her feel inexperienced. In fact, as I noted, the way she describes Blake as making her feel is pretty much exactly the same feelings that Erik inspired back in Marked. In fact, between Heath, Blake, and Erik, I never particularly got the impression that Zoey ever felt insecure or shy around boyfriends. I also have to wonder, if Erik does in fact inspire feelings of inexperience and nervousness, how that works. The guy's pretty underdeveloped and bland, yeah, but he also is pretty quiet and pretty respectful of boundaries, not forcing anything on Zoey. Compare that to Blake, who gropes Zoey and asks her to take her shirt off, and Heath, who deliberately cuts himself to invoke bloodlust in Zoey. Personally, I'd find Erik to be the one who would make me feel strong and respected but hey, that might just be me.
Speaking of Heath, he comes up next. She starts yammering about how she has such a long history with him, which would be meaningful IF WE EVER SAW ANY EVIDENCE OF IT AT ALL! I'm serious, for all the Cast ladies tell us about how Heath has been such a sweetheart to Zoey since they were children, he might as well have dropped out of the sky, like her other boyfriends! Oh, and Zoey acknowledges that a lot of her passionate desire to see him again might just be her desire to drain him of his blood. Because lord knows that that is a fantastic basis for a romance. *rolls eyes* Stephenie Meyer, what have you unleashed upon the literary world?
Zoey sits around, wangsting about whatever she is to do about Erik, Blake, and her desire to drink Heath's blood (and notice how she worries about Erik and Blake as people, but the human option of Heath is defined only by the attraction his blood has for her). Now, if the Cast ladies were to convince me that Zoey was the mature person they were selling her as, I'd see her thinking about her options a bit, and then deciding to talk with Erik about where things are going with their relationship, tell a teacher about how Blake is being a creeper who is surely breaking teacher/student ethics, and explain about how she drank more of Heath's blood and perhaps call Heath's parents and update them on that, so that they understand the change in behavior with their son and take whatever step steps are necessary to deal with the issues.
There, is that so hard?
Zoey gives some sob-like sigh and wangst some more, this time about how she needs someone to talk to.
Okay, I can see that. Except that I know for a fact that she doesn't actually discuss these things with anyone and actually come to any decisions or conclusions. So this is pretty much a faux decision, with Zoey ultimately doing nothing but trying to ignore her problems. Again.
Anyway, she comes up with various reasons why she can't tell Neferet, Stevie Rae, or her grandmother about the situation. I am sitting over here, reminding her about the whole conversation with Lenobia, which would be a perfect way to tie in the informed fact that the two are so friendly now, not to mention that Lenobia's supposed to be a practical, no-nonsense person who would surely take this all in stride and help Zoey come up with a way to deal with he problems.
However all Zoey think is how the heart of this problem is sex-related, so who better to turn to for sex-related advice than that slut Aphrodite? Oh well, Aphrodite's one of the few characters who shows any signs of intelligence, so fair enough. Like I said, she doesn't really go to Aphrodite and work out how to solve the issues so it's moot.
We also get the slightest bit of foreshadowing of plot, with Zoey musing that there might be more to Neferet discrediting Aphrodite than she thinks. OH, REALLY? And then that's forgotten when Zoey opens the book and finds a poem addressed to her, telling her that "Night can't cloak your scarlet dream, accept Desire's call". She figures it's from Blake which is...rather squicky, considering how she wants to be in a relationship with him. She then remembers that Aphrodite is an evil, filthy whore and wonders if this is all some elaborate plan she's orchestrating to get Zoey kicked from power so she can be the new leader of the Dark Daughters. God. *rolls eyes again*
And then...Zoey just starts looking for ideas for her ritual and mostly forgets it all, save for a Bad Feeling About All Of This. Okay then
Onward to: Chapter 16
Back to: Chapter 14
Back to: Table of Contents
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 02:10 am (UTC)This is not YA...
This is so not YA...
...
A lot of what I want to say, has simply been said on earlier chapters. The real whore is Zoey.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 02:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 09:15 am (UTC)I normally would also side with Aphrodite because; as you said she's the only person with an brain cells, but she's still a rapist (at the very least an attempted rapist). No amount of sympathetic backstory or the Cast Ladies ignoring it will change that! Then again they ignore the concept of her being sympathetic or intelligent in anyway as well...
The point is someone must save him before he is derailed to justify Zoey's evil behavior; and if so he could develop as a real character - perhaps explore that told instead of shown geeky side mentioned in the first book?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 12:06 pm (UTC)Oh, yes. I had two semesters of Ancient Cultures at uni. We covered different customs and religious rites - and not the softened versions taught to high school students, this was the real deal, with source texts in Greek and Latin, etc. - and I call bullshit for all I'm worth.
I'm not even going to touch the orgiastic cults of Dionysus or Sabazios (people running down the streets naked while whipping each other with snakes, you know, the works); going along with this book's pseudofeminism, I'll just stick to female goddesses. And what do you know - the description of the all-women festival held in honour of Demeter and Kore was enough to make UNIVERSITY STUDENTS blush. There were pastries shaped like certain lady bits, obscenic dances and older women educating younger ones about the facts of life, in a very graphic manner, with the use of many props. They butchered a hog, buried it in the ground, AND then came back the next day to look at it (part of the whole "reacreating the life cycle" ritual). Ancient rituals weren't just people dressing in flowing robes, chanting mystically and feeling one with the Mother Gooddess - they were weird, dirty, disgusting, painful, and almost invariably sexual. Learn the damn facts!
... Okay, it's better now. Sorry for the nerd rage.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 12:26 pm (UTC)You're absolutely right about old ways not being any less sexually explicit than the new ways. Not only can Ancient Greek plays and Shakespeare plays be very raunchy, but how about the original versions of fairytales? Take "Little Red Riding Hood," for example. You have the medieval version, the Perrault version, and the Grimms' version. Guess which one is the most scandalous in terms of sexual content?
/Ultimately, Zoey concludes that she does love Erik, but implies that they aren't an official couple because they haven't had sex./
*stares at the screen*
Did - did she just say that? Did she seriously say that Erik isn't really her boyfriend because they haven't slept together? Did she -
*explodes*
WELL, YOU CAN JUST THROW YOURSELF OFF A CLIFF AND *DIE,* YOU SHALLOW, SELFISH, LYING, TWO-FACED, DESPICABLE -
*takes a deep breath*
So, I guess that all of those other couples who haven't slept together are really just friends, because Lord knows that you can't have romance without sex. *glares at Zoey*
I swear to all that is holy, if any idiot starts blathering on about how men only care about sex and women only care about emotions, just show them this book. Yeah, Zoey really cares about the guy she supposedly loves as opposed to the guys who are "totally gorgeous" and make her "feel like a woman." In fact, how many times have sleazy guys pulled the "If you really loved me, you'd have sex with me" card? Now Zoey's pulling it out as well! See, male chauvinists? Women can be just as shallow and selfish as you! Hooray!
/She starts yammering about how she has such a long history with him, which would be meaningful IF WE EVER SAW ANY EVIDENCE OF IT AT ALL!/
Wasn't she complaining about his drinking habits in the beginning of the first book? Wasn't she going on and on about how he was so disgusting and she couldn't wait to dump him? Now all of a sudden, she wants him back? What gives?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 12:58 pm (UTC)That is brought up. Zoey brings the whole "He's a total sweetheart when he's not wasted" thing into play. Which, incidentally, was touched on in Marked but very weakly.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 12:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 01:34 pm (UTC)Nevertheless, what I'm amused by is the fact that Pentium was named such because it was their fifth-generation processor (hence, penta-). As such, when they said Pentium 5 my first reaction was along the lines of "Department of Redundancy Department" and "the industry doesn't run backward, you morons".
As for the rest of this stuff... there are no words. I have no idea how you can bear to read this, even for the purpose of sporking. Just reading the bits you quote in the sporkings is painful, and I salute your tenacity.
-M.C.B.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-30 10:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 03:17 pm (UTC)I thought the same thing :) Yeah, because in these high security times, no one could care less...
"I opened my notebook and got out my favorite pen, which made me think about what Loren had said about preferring to write his poetry by hand rather than on a computer
Oh noez, I'm writing my story on an evil laptop! :O My story has lost all substance now because pompous Blake said so! :P Next, Zoey will cream herself over Blake telling her he writes with a fucking quill or something…
God, poor Erik coming home to this shitstorm! How dare he be all respectful of Zoey and not pressure her into sex! Guys are meant to be horny sex machines all the time, can't he see that?! :D
"Night can't cloak your scarlet dream, accept Desire's call"
Dude, that sounds like a really creepy metaphor for virginity or something and how he's gonna get it :O Blake really is one sick bastard!
Vampyre Shakespeare? I much prefer Zombie Shakespeare off The Simpsons :D
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-04 12:33 am (UTC)She probably would. She has some inexplicable love of stereotypical old things. It was already pointed out how her whole "Return to traditional methods" schtick failed.
"Dude, that sounds like a really creepy metaphor for virginity or something and how he's gonna get it :O Blake really is one sick bastard!"
...That's really going to haunt you later. Just warning 'ya XP
"Vampyre Shakespeare? I much prefer Zombie Shakespeare off The Simpsons :D"
Yeah, well according to the Cast ladies, Shakespeare was yet another of the many famous folks who was also a vampire.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-22 11:39 am (UTC)I read "specifics" there as "Spite fics". Think i've been staring at the PC for too long. XD
Zoey is horrible, poor Erik, she should treat him with some respect...
(no subject)
Date: 2013-09-04 10:02 pm (UTC)So I'm fine with writers saying a writing-character likes to compose by hand. I hate when people imply that the writer who prefers that route is morally superior to one who prefers composition on the computer.
For myself, I prefer the computer when composing narratives, because I type faster than I (legibly) write and don't get hand cramps, and it's easier to do an evolving draft with anywhere editing. But I do a lot of brainstorming with a pencil, so I can draw out ideas as well as write. What kind of soul does that make me? >_>
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-07 11:36 pm (UTC)Rant anon again. Let's just call me Ranty from now on. Although, I've been getting more controlled.
Date: 2014-05-27 05:27 am (UTC)slutREDBird actually think about what the hell she's doing with all these relationships. I'm not really gonna add anything since you covered it all.Also, forgive me for sounding rude, but who in the heckie is Lenobia? Did… did I miss something? Is she from the first Book?? I… really do not remember her. o_o
Re: Rant anon again. Let's just call me Ranty from now on. Although, I've been getting more controll
Date: 2014-05-27 09:45 am (UTC)Basically, she's the horse-riding instructor who let Zoey look after a horse named Persephone because Zoey is, of course SPECIAL and Just That Good with horses. She's supposed to be strict and no-nonsense, but of course we see far too little of her for it to matter.
She also got a backstory novella, which seems to indulge in the Cast ladies's love of showing a woman is strong by having someone try to force her into an unwanted marriage. (Not to say that this isn't a valid thing for a girl in olden times to fight against, but would it kill them to put in a little variety?)