Betrayed: Chapter 23
ZeldaQueen: In which there is the tiniest bit of plot and a whole lot of wangst
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 23
ZeldaQueen: *tiredly* Okay folks, we've got to soldier on and make it through this chapter. This is not going to be a pleasant chapter, but it must be sporked. If this is a boring one, I'm really sorry but there is just so much wangst! I seriously am at a loss as to how the Cast ladies took the death of their protagonist's best friend - something which is a legitimate thing to angst over - and made it so overblown and irritating.
Right. No helping it. Let's go!
Stevie Rae has just died, and Zoey apparently is seriously spacing out. The entire thing can best be described as Harry's reaction after Snape escapes and he sees Dumbledore's body, except that it didn't suck in Half-Blood Prince. Somehow, even though Zoey is supposed to be blue screen of deathing, she can still hear everyone talking. Mostly they're all worried about her, which leads to them summoning their elements in an overblown and overly sappy way, using dialogue which sounds nothing like the way they talk for most of the book. I'll skip it because I love you all. Suffice with the knowledge that Zoey...erm wakes up after having a vision of Stevie Rae's spirit being taking in by Nyx. Jesus Christ, I was joking when I made those comparisons to Uncle Tom's Cabin! Also, apparently Zoey's been siting there for a fair bit of time, because Stevie Rae's lips are starting to turn blue and the blood on her is all dried, and from what I can gather, the blue coloring doesn't set in until a half an hour after death. And God knows I'm not the most knowledgeable person about corpses, but I have to wonder why the lips would be turning blue if Stevie Rae is apparently lying on her back. Isn't it the lowest points of the body that turn blue first, given that it's caused by blood pooling?
Whatever. Zoey is all distant and refuses to leave because she promised to stay with Stevie Rae. Everyone's all "Yes, and you did that so let's go", and all I can think about is how this was done infinitely better in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Zoey continues to flop around crying, and Neferet tells her friends to clean her up and put her to bed. Neferet also gives them a vial of liquid, which she tells them to give to Zoey so that she will "sleep without nightmares".
Zoey is carted off to her dorm room, and apparently everyone is all hushed as she goes by. Weren't fledglings supposed to just ignore deaths and get on with it? That's what they did for Elliot and Elizabeth, after all. What makes Stevie Rae so special? That she's Zoey-Sue's best friend?
Anyway, they get to the staircase to go up to Zoey's room, when Aphrodite blocks them. She genuinely offers condolences for Stevie Rae's death, so of course Erin and Shaunee swear and scream at her and move like they intend to attack her. And yes, I realize that they're upset and going through grief and with better writing I could see them being upset and genuinely think that Aphrodite was mocking them. Except that she clearly isn't (and given how Scary and over-the-top Aphrodite has been, believe me when I say that). Seeing how things have gone before, it just feels like a token "Ha ha, Aphrodite is teh evil so it's cool to scream at her even if she's not doing anything wrong". It's not like the Cast ladies have put much effort into going after Aphrodite for genuine reasons like, I don't know, her attempts to sexually assault Erik in Marked.
*rubs head* Zoey tells her friends to go on ahead, because she actually wants to talk to Aphrodite alone. There's the usual fare of them going all "OH MY GOD, YOU WANT TO TALK TO HER?!?" and acting like she's insane, but they finally leave. As soon as they're gone, Zoey asks Aphrodite if she had a vision that Stevie Rae would die. Aphrodite did not, but admits that she had a Deus Ex Machina Feeling about it, which she had a hard time pinpointing. She tries to comfort Zoey by assuring her that there's nothing she could have done, and that she didn't get a Deus Ex Machina Feeling about it because Nyx knew there was nothing she could have done. I can't tell you how weird it felt to type that last sentence.
Zoey snidely reminds Aphrodite that she was abandoned by Nyx because Neferet said so. Considering that Aphrodite's pretty much the only person who seems to know what's going on here or at least is the only person Zoey can confide to, you'd think she'd ease up a little. Aphrodite doesn't take the bait though, and instead tells Zoey what we readers with IQs above room temperature already knew - that Neferet is a lying liar who lies. She also warns Zoey not to drink the stuff that Neferet gave her, and then leaves.
As soon as Aphrodite's gone, Zoey's friends show up and immediately start making threats about Aphrodite. Zoey tells them that all was fine and that she was just asking if there had been any visions about Stevie Rae's death. To this, Damien says "But Neferet has made it clear that Nyx has turned her back on Aphrodite"
*blinks* *rubs temples* Erm, Cast ladies?
THE BRIDGE COLLAPSING! THE BOMB THREAT! DID THAT NOT HAPPEN?!?
I'm dead serious! Zoey told her friends that the bridge was going to collapse because Aphrodite had a vision of it! They did all their bleating back then about how it probably was a fake or wrong and then saw that IT REALLY HAPPENED! Clearly, Nyx is giving Aphrodite true visions! How stupid are these people???
Oh well, this idiocy is forgotten as they enter the room to find that all of Stevie Rae's stuff has been removed. Wow, talk about efficient. Zoey freaks out and Erik puts his arm around her and assures her that this is normal after a fledgling's death. "It's what they always do. Don't worry, they didn't throw away her stuff. They just moved it so that it wouldn't make you sad. If there's something of hers you want, and her family doesn't mind, they'll give it to you".
Okay, yet again that's actually good potential for a creepy vampire world. The adult vampires don't care about the fledglings that die and just sweep them away, shipping the bodies back to the families and hiding all of the dead fledglings' things, all done in the name of keeping morale up. They're not burning garbage, they're just trying to keep the other fledglings from being sad.
Incidentally, that's one of the reasons why it pisses me off that everyone's being all reveret and respectful and somber towards Zoey and her friends because Stevie Rae died. All of this time, we're told how fledglings are expected to just get over it if one of them dies, with the implication that said deceased fledgling's friends and roomate are alone in their mourning. It would have been very moving and creepy to finally see this from Zoey's point of view - she spends the beginning of the series thinking of how fantastic the House of Night is, how it's a new home and everyone loves her and cares about her, and then her best friend drops dead and her stuff is hidden away and no one cares.
Instead, we get Zoey's friends fussing over her and getting her in the shower and fixing her soup, while Erik and Damien have to leave the girl's dorm because it's after curfew. Zoey goes into the bathroom and catches sight of herself in the mirror, and there's a moment where she's shocked by how exhausted and horrible her reflection looks. This again has the potential to be interesting and poignent, perhaps if it happened some time after Zoey threw herself into extensive mourning for Stevie Rae and shut out the rest of the world. Instead, it just feels rather rushed and pointless which, funnily enough, could describe this entire series.
And with that, the chapter ends. Tune in next sporking for...more wangst! See you then!
Onward to: Chapter 24
Back to: Chapter 22
Back to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 23
ZeldaQueen: *tiredly* Okay folks, we've got to soldier on and make it through this chapter. This is not going to be a pleasant chapter, but it must be sporked. If this is a boring one, I'm really sorry but there is just so much wangst! I seriously am at a loss as to how the Cast ladies took the death of their protagonist's best friend - something which is a legitimate thing to angst over - and made it so overblown and irritating.
Right. No helping it. Let's go!
Stevie Rae has just died, and Zoey apparently is seriously spacing out. The entire thing can best be described as Harry's reaction after Snape escapes and he sees Dumbledore's body, except that it didn't suck in Half-Blood Prince. Somehow, even though Zoey is supposed to be blue screen of deathing, she can still hear everyone talking. Mostly they're all worried about her, which leads to them summoning their elements in an overblown and overly sappy way, using dialogue which sounds nothing like the way they talk for most of the book. I'll skip it because I love you all. Suffice with the knowledge that Zoey...erm wakes up after having a vision of Stevie Rae's spirit being taking in by Nyx. Jesus Christ, I was joking when I made those comparisons to Uncle Tom's Cabin! Also, apparently Zoey's been siting there for a fair bit of time, because Stevie Rae's lips are starting to turn blue and the blood on her is all dried, and from what I can gather, the blue coloring doesn't set in until a half an hour after death. And God knows I'm not the most knowledgeable person about corpses, but I have to wonder why the lips would be turning blue if Stevie Rae is apparently lying on her back. Isn't it the lowest points of the body that turn blue first, given that it's caused by blood pooling?
Whatever. Zoey is all distant and refuses to leave because she promised to stay with Stevie Rae. Everyone's all "Yes, and you did that so let's go", and all I can think about is how this was done infinitely better in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Zoey continues to flop around crying, and Neferet tells her friends to clean her up and put her to bed. Neferet also gives them a vial of liquid, which she tells them to give to Zoey so that she will "sleep without nightmares".
Zoey is carted off to her dorm room, and apparently everyone is all hushed as she goes by. Weren't fledglings supposed to just ignore deaths and get on with it? That's what they did for Elliot and Elizabeth, after all. What makes Stevie Rae so special? That she's Zoey-Sue's best friend?
Anyway, they get to the staircase to go up to Zoey's room, when Aphrodite blocks them. She genuinely offers condolences for Stevie Rae's death, so of course Erin and Shaunee swear and scream at her and move like they intend to attack her. And yes, I realize that they're upset and going through grief and with better writing I could see them being upset and genuinely think that Aphrodite was mocking them. Except that she clearly isn't (and given how Scary and over-the-top Aphrodite has been, believe me when I say that). Seeing how things have gone before, it just feels like a token "Ha ha, Aphrodite is teh evil so it's cool to scream at her even if she's not doing anything wrong". It's not like the Cast ladies have put much effort into going after Aphrodite for genuine reasons like, I don't know, her attempts to sexually assault Erik in Marked.
*rubs head* Zoey tells her friends to go on ahead, because she actually wants to talk to Aphrodite alone. There's the usual fare of them going all "OH MY GOD, YOU WANT TO TALK TO HER?!?" and acting like she's insane, but they finally leave. As soon as they're gone, Zoey asks Aphrodite if she had a vision that Stevie Rae would die. Aphrodite did not, but admits that she had a Deus Ex Machina Feeling about it, which she had a hard time pinpointing. She tries to comfort Zoey by assuring her that there's nothing she could have done, and that she didn't get a Deus Ex Machina Feeling about it because Nyx knew there was nothing she could have done. I can't tell you how weird it felt to type that last sentence.
Zoey snidely reminds Aphrodite that she was abandoned by Nyx because Neferet said so. Considering that Aphrodite's pretty much the only person who seems to know what's going on here or at least is the only person Zoey can confide to, you'd think she'd ease up a little. Aphrodite doesn't take the bait though, and instead tells Zoey what we readers with IQs above room temperature already knew - that Neferet is a lying liar who lies. She also warns Zoey not to drink the stuff that Neferet gave her, and then leaves.
As soon as Aphrodite's gone, Zoey's friends show up and immediately start making threats about Aphrodite. Zoey tells them that all was fine and that she was just asking if there had been any visions about Stevie Rae's death. To this, Damien says "But Neferet has made it clear that Nyx has turned her back on Aphrodite"
*blinks* *rubs temples* Erm, Cast ladies?
THE BRIDGE COLLAPSING! THE BOMB THREAT! DID THAT NOT HAPPEN?!?
I'm dead serious! Zoey told her friends that the bridge was going to collapse because Aphrodite had a vision of it! They did all their bleating back then about how it probably was a fake or wrong and then saw that IT REALLY HAPPENED! Clearly, Nyx is giving Aphrodite true visions! How stupid are these people???
Oh well, this idiocy is forgotten as they enter the room to find that all of Stevie Rae's stuff has been removed. Wow, talk about efficient. Zoey freaks out and Erik puts his arm around her and assures her that this is normal after a fledgling's death. "It's what they always do. Don't worry, they didn't throw away her stuff. They just moved it so that it wouldn't make you sad. If there's something of hers you want, and her family doesn't mind, they'll give it to you".
Okay, yet again that's actually good potential for a creepy vampire world. The adult vampires don't care about the fledglings that die and just sweep them away, shipping the bodies back to the families and hiding all of the dead fledglings' things, all done in the name of keeping morale up. They're not burning garbage, they're just trying to keep the other fledglings from being sad.
Incidentally, that's one of the reasons why it pisses me off that everyone's being all reveret and respectful and somber towards Zoey and her friends because Stevie Rae died. All of this time, we're told how fledglings are expected to just get over it if one of them dies, with the implication that said deceased fledgling's friends and roomate are alone in their mourning. It would have been very moving and creepy to finally see this from Zoey's point of view - she spends the beginning of the series thinking of how fantastic the House of Night is, how it's a new home and everyone loves her and cares about her, and then her best friend drops dead and her stuff is hidden away and no one cares.
Instead, we get Zoey's friends fussing over her and getting her in the shower and fixing her soup, while Erik and Damien have to leave the girl's dorm because it's after curfew. Zoey goes into the bathroom and catches sight of herself in the mirror, and there's a moment where she's shocked by how exhausted and horrible her reflection looks. This again has the potential to be interesting and poignent, perhaps if it happened some time after Zoey threw herself into extensive mourning for Stevie Rae and shut out the rest of the world. Instead, it just feels rather rushed and pointless which, funnily enough, could describe this entire series.
And with that, the chapter ends. Tune in next sporking for...more wangst! See you then!
Onward to: Chapter 24
Back to: Chapter 22
Back to: Table of Contents