Marked: Chapter 5
ZeldaQueen: Well, the Cast ladies have succeeded in being remarkably offensive given how little chapter there was, so let's see where this next chapter leads!
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
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Chapter 5
ZeldaQueen: So Zoey goes marching up the path to the bluffs, and continues to cough and hack and wheeze from this mysterious vampire-illness, which still makes no sense since vampirism is apparently supposed to be genetic or at least have a scientific basis, but apparently just standing in a certain location is enough to nullify it. Whatever. Zoey compares her gross bodily sounds to Meg Ryan's character's lactose-intolerant fit in the movie French Kiss. We are also treated to yet another aside, this one about how she thought Kevin Kline was cute in that movie, "well, for an old guy". Good to see that she has her thoughts prioritized during this potentially dangerous, life-changing event.
She starts to wonder how, exactly, kids who didn't complete the change into vampires die. She decides not to worry about it, because her grandmother can surely figure out the answer! Just go to the school, you idiot. That's all you've been saying since this started!
Instead, we are treated to a litany of how great Grandma Redbird is. And remember how I said that there was something annoying about her? Well, it becomes quite apparent here that Granny is pretty much a stereotypical magic Native American
"Grandma Redbird understood people. She said it was because she hadn't lost touch with her Cherokee heritage and the tribal knowledge of the ancestral Wise Women she carried in her blood. Even now it made me smile to think about the frown that came over Grandma's face whenever the subject of the step-loser came up (she's the only adult who knows I call him that). Grandma Redbird said that it was obvious that the Redbird Wise Woman blood had skipped over her daughter, but that was only because it had been saving up to give an extra dose of ancient Cherokee magic to me. As a little girl I'd climbed this path holding Grandma's hand more times than I could count. In the meadow of tall grasses and wildflowers we'd lay out a brightly colored blanket and eat a picnic lunch while Grandma told me stories of the Cherokee people and taught me the mysterious-sounding words of their language. As I struggled up the winding path those ancient stories seemed to swirl around and around inside my head, like smoke from a ceremonial fire…including the sad story of how the stars were formed when a dog was discovered stealing cornmeal and the tribe whipped him. As the dog ran howling to his home in the north, the meal scattered across the sky and the magic in it made the Milky Way. Or how the Great Buzzard made the mountains and valleys with his wings. And my favorite, the story about young woman sun who lived in the east, and her brother, the moon, who lived in the west, and the Redbird who was the daughter of the sun"
ZeldaQueen: You know, if it had been previously established that Zoey was the kind of person who was into mythology and that sort of thing, I might buy it that she just enjoys looking into her history and all. The thing is, she spends half of the time talking like a stereotypical shallow, spoiled teenager who gushes about her Maui Jims and how her cheerleading sister is a slut and her boyfriend is like so embarrassing and it just doesn't gel at all. What could have come across as a good bit of characterization just feels like the narrator has jumped back into Magical Ancient Warrior mode, like when she looked at herself in the mirror.
Hang in there folks, we're not done yet! Zoey starts thinking about the pow-wows her grandmother used to take her to, and then starts to think that she can hear the ceremonial drums beating.
And then...Zoey starts tripping or something. Everything gets all shadowy and quiet and she starts hearing her grandmother's voice calling to her, and then she starts to her the Cherokee names for everything. She thinks of the word for wind and suddenly the wind starts blowing. Cherokee spirits start flying around her, and she finally freaks out and runs away. I guess she's got at least that one over Bella. Finally, she collapses.
She wakes up to find that she feels fine and is lighter than air. This prompts her to more or less do a double take and snap her eyes open, and she sees that she's having an out-of-the-body experience. Well, alright then! She comments "I'm going to heaven. Well, that'll shock some people". Do you see what I mean about her switching between personalities?
She takes a closer look at her body and sees that it's still breathing, so she's not technically dead. We get a few more asides, the first one comparing how unexpected her "death" is to how the promiscuous girls at her school don't expect to get pregnant or catch STDS, and the second humorously noting how she's got red blood, white skin, and blue lips, making her patriotic.
Zoey starts laughing and talking about how her breath makes pretty colors, and I swear it sounds like she's high. She hears her grandmother calling to her again, and goes to find out what's up with that. She "sees" the calls are coming from a crevice in a rock and figures that it's a spirit guide calling to her - yes, really - and goes to have a look. Inside, she comes across a gorgeous woman with hair "like a raven's wing" and a white fringe dress with a beaded pattern. The woman starts speaking to Zoey all cryptically and in Cherokee. Oh great.
So we actually get the conversation in English, even though the woman keeps dropping gratuitous Cherokee words. Yes Suethors, you can use an online translator. We're all very impressed. She tells Zoe that she's in "the realm of the Nunne 'hi", otherwise known as the realm of the Spirit People. Zoey is then told that "You are a unique mixture of the Old Ways and the New World-of ancient tribal blood and the heartbeat of outsiders". Gag me, this is cliched! The woman then gives her name.
"I am known by many names…Changing Woman, Gaea, A'akuluujjusi, Kuan Yin, Grandmother Spider, and even Dawn…
As she spoke each name her face was transformed so that I was dizzied by her power. She must have understood, because she paused and flashed her beautiful smile at me again, and her face settled back into the woman I had first seen.
But you, Zoeybird, my Daughter, may call me by the name by which your world knows me today, Nyx"
ZeldaQueen: Zoey tries to remember where she heard the name "Nyx" before, and recalls that it was one of the ancient Greek goddesses. The woman says that yes, the Greeks did worship her as the "mother" of the people who were turned into vampires at that time.
Okay, let's take a quick pause here to look at all of this.
First of all, so people have been turning into vampires since the time of the ancient Greeks? So why is it such a big deal that it's happening now? Was it supposed to be that people stopped turning into vampires between back then and now? That people have been turning into vampires this entire time and it somehow was ignored or forgotten until now? Suethors, your readers would like to know these things.
Second of all, I would like to state for the record that yes, all of those goddesses named are goddesses of creation in various cultures. So the research is at least more accurate than what Meyer spit onto her pages. Still, there are a few issues with this, which I shall bring up next, namely...
Third of all, so she's known as Gaea and Nyx, is she? Well, that's kind of odd, given that both of those goddesses were from the same culture of ancient Greece and both were quite different. Gaea, or Gaia, was of course the goddess of Earth, wife of the sky god Uranus, and the mother of the Titans and other supernatural beings. Nyx, as noted, was the goddess of night. She was the mother of Hypno and Thanatos and so utterly terrifying that not even Zeus dared to cross her. Granted, she was one of the goddesses who was spawned from Chaos (Gaea and Uranus being others), but that still leaves the point that they are clearly separate deities. So what, did this lady appear to mortals in two different forms or something?
Fourth of all, the fact that she just adopted the vampires as her "children" implies that she didn't have any hand in creating them. So...where the fuck did they come from? If you're going to drag mythology in here, it's the perfect way to handwave this! Back in the ancient Greek times, the gods were constantly cursing people with all kinds of body horror for various things. Just explain that one of the gods got pissed at a group of people and cursed them! Modern science suspects it has to do with junk DNA, we use fantasy for an origin, it fits well enough! Actually, all the mysticism does is make me wonder what the origins are supposed to be. Was it that it was some ancient curse of the gods? Was it some mutation? Was it a mutation caused by gods? GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH!
Fifth of all, as I said, I did look up all of those goddesses named and my oh my, they're all from cultures like those of the Navajo, ancient Greeks, Inuits, and Buddhists. Nary a monotheistic connection to be seen. Now, I'm sure a lot of people will think I'm nitpicking and to be honest, if this was the first time that religion was brought up here, I'd just ignore it. But after how the church was portrayed in the past few chapters, I'm picking up unfortunate implications at the very least. Actually, what I'm getting is vibes of Holly Potter and that stupid Samhain holiday and how the Old Ways were so great and let you talk to the dead and do all sorts of cool magic and whatnot.
On one final note, I'm sure that the Casts were going for some "mother goddesses" theme there, but if they start writing about sacred femininity or some such nonsense, I'm going to scream.
*sighs* So yeah, Nyx tells Zoey that she has a destiny to fulfill, oh why not, and Zoey's Mark suddenly starts to burn. Zoey begins to cry and go on about how she just wants to deal with everything and she has no idea what's going on, before Nyx speaks up. The goddesses tells her "Believe in yourself Zoey Redbird. I have Marked you as my own. You will be my first true U-we-tsi a-ge-hutsa v-hna-i Sv-no-yi…Daughter of Night…in this age. You are special. Accept that about yourself and you will begin to understand there is true power in your uniqueness. Within you is combined the magic blood of ancient Wise Women and Elders, as well as insight into and understanding of the modern world".
In short, Zoey has been officially named the representative and agent of the only goddess we know of thus far. I do not have a good feeling about this.
Zoey keeps bleating about how she doesn't understaaaaand and Nyx tells her "You are old beyond your years, Zoeybird. Believe in yourself and you will find a way. But remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good".
Nyx then kisses Zoey's forehead, Zoey passes out, and on that cliched note, we end this chapter
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Onward to: Chapter 6
Back to: Chapter 4
Back to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5
ZeldaQueen: So Zoey goes marching up the path to the bluffs, and continues to cough and hack and wheeze from this mysterious vampire-illness, which still makes no sense since vampirism is apparently supposed to be genetic or at least have a scientific basis, but apparently just standing in a certain location is enough to nullify it. Whatever. Zoey compares her gross bodily sounds to Meg Ryan's character's lactose-intolerant fit in the movie French Kiss. We are also treated to yet another aside, this one about how she thought Kevin Kline was cute in that movie, "well, for an old guy". Good to see that she has her thoughts prioritized during this potentially dangerous, life-changing event.
She starts to wonder how, exactly, kids who didn't complete the change into vampires die. She decides not to worry about it, because her grandmother can surely figure out the answer! Just go to the school, you idiot. That's all you've been saying since this started!
Instead, we are treated to a litany of how great Grandma Redbird is. And remember how I said that there was something annoying about her? Well, it becomes quite apparent here that Granny is pretty much a stereotypical magic Native American
"Grandma Redbird understood people. She said it was because she hadn't lost touch with her Cherokee heritage and the tribal knowledge of the ancestral Wise Women she carried in her blood. Even now it made me smile to think about the frown that came over Grandma's face whenever the subject of the step-loser came up (she's the only adult who knows I call him that). Grandma Redbird said that it was obvious that the Redbird Wise Woman blood had skipped over her daughter, but that was only because it had been saving up to give an extra dose of ancient Cherokee magic to me. As a little girl I'd climbed this path holding Grandma's hand more times than I could count. In the meadow of tall grasses and wildflowers we'd lay out a brightly colored blanket and eat a picnic lunch while Grandma told me stories of the Cherokee people and taught me the mysterious-sounding words of their language. As I struggled up the winding path those ancient stories seemed to swirl around and around inside my head, like smoke from a ceremonial fire…including the sad story of how the stars were formed when a dog was discovered stealing cornmeal and the tribe whipped him. As the dog ran howling to his home in the north, the meal scattered across the sky and the magic in it made the Milky Way. Or how the Great Buzzard made the mountains and valleys with his wings. And my favorite, the story about young woman sun who lived in the east, and her brother, the moon, who lived in the west, and the Redbird who was the daughter of the sun"
ZeldaQueen: You know, if it had been previously established that Zoey was the kind of person who was into mythology and that sort of thing, I might buy it that she just enjoys looking into her history and all. The thing is, she spends half of the time talking like a stereotypical shallow, spoiled teenager who gushes about her Maui Jims and how her cheerleading sister is a slut and her boyfriend is like so embarrassing and it just doesn't gel at all. What could have come across as a good bit of characterization just feels like the narrator has jumped back into Magical Ancient Warrior mode, like when she looked at herself in the mirror.
Hang in there folks, we're not done yet! Zoey starts thinking about the pow-wows her grandmother used to take her to, and then starts to think that she can hear the ceremonial drums beating.
And then...Zoey starts tripping or something. Everything gets all shadowy and quiet and she starts hearing her grandmother's voice calling to her, and then she starts to her the Cherokee names for everything. She thinks of the word for wind and suddenly the wind starts blowing. Cherokee spirits start flying around her, and she finally freaks out and runs away. I guess she's got at least that one over Bella. Finally, she collapses.
She wakes up to find that she feels fine and is lighter than air. This prompts her to more or less do a double take and snap her eyes open, and she sees that she's having an out-of-the-body experience. Well, alright then! She comments "I'm going to heaven. Well, that'll shock some people". Do you see what I mean about her switching between personalities?
She takes a closer look at her body and sees that it's still breathing, so she's not technically dead. We get a few more asides, the first one comparing how unexpected her "death" is to how the promiscuous girls at her school don't expect to get pregnant or catch STDS, and the second humorously noting how she's got red blood, white skin, and blue lips, making her patriotic.
Zoey starts laughing and talking about how her breath makes pretty colors, and I swear it sounds like she's high. She hears her grandmother calling to her again, and goes to find out what's up with that. She "sees" the calls are coming from a crevice in a rock and figures that it's a spirit guide calling to her - yes, really - and goes to have a look. Inside, she comes across a gorgeous woman with hair "like a raven's wing" and a white fringe dress with a beaded pattern. The woman starts speaking to Zoey all cryptically and in Cherokee. Oh great.
So we actually get the conversation in English, even though the woman keeps dropping gratuitous Cherokee words. Yes Suethors, you can use an online translator. We're all very impressed. She tells Zoe that she's in "the realm of the Nunne 'hi", otherwise known as the realm of the Spirit People. Zoey is then told that "You are a unique mixture of the Old Ways and the New World-of ancient tribal blood and the heartbeat of outsiders". Gag me, this is cliched! The woman then gives her name.
"I am known by many names…Changing Woman, Gaea, A'akuluujjusi, Kuan Yin, Grandmother Spider, and even Dawn…
As she spoke each name her face was transformed so that I was dizzied by her power. She must have understood, because she paused and flashed her beautiful smile at me again, and her face settled back into the woman I had first seen.
But you, Zoeybird, my Daughter, may call me by the name by which your world knows me today, Nyx"
ZeldaQueen: Zoey tries to remember where she heard the name "Nyx" before, and recalls that it was one of the ancient Greek goddesses. The woman says that yes, the Greeks did worship her as the "mother" of the people who were turned into vampires at that time.
Okay, let's take a quick pause here to look at all of this.
First of all, so people have been turning into vampires since the time of the ancient Greeks? So why is it such a big deal that it's happening now? Was it supposed to be that people stopped turning into vampires between back then and now? That people have been turning into vampires this entire time and it somehow was ignored or forgotten until now? Suethors, your readers would like to know these things.
Second of all, I would like to state for the record that yes, all of those goddesses named are goddesses of creation in various cultures. So the research is at least more accurate than what Meyer spit onto her pages. Still, there are a few issues with this, which I shall bring up next, namely...
Third of all, so she's known as Gaea and Nyx, is she? Well, that's kind of odd, given that both of those goddesses were from the same culture of ancient Greece and both were quite different. Gaea, or Gaia, was of course the goddess of Earth, wife of the sky god Uranus, and the mother of the Titans and other supernatural beings. Nyx, as noted, was the goddess of night. She was the mother of Hypno and Thanatos and so utterly terrifying that not even Zeus dared to cross her. Granted, she was one of the goddesses who was spawned from Chaos (Gaea and Uranus being others), but that still leaves the point that they are clearly separate deities. So what, did this lady appear to mortals in two different forms or something?
Fourth of all, the fact that she just adopted the vampires as her "children" implies that she didn't have any hand in creating them. So...where the fuck did they come from? If you're going to drag mythology in here, it's the perfect way to handwave this! Back in the ancient Greek times, the gods were constantly cursing people with all kinds of body horror for various things. Just explain that one of the gods got pissed at a group of people and cursed them! Modern science suspects it has to do with junk DNA, we use fantasy for an origin, it fits well enough! Actually, all the mysticism does is make me wonder what the origins are supposed to be. Was it that it was some ancient curse of the gods? Was it some mutation? Was it a mutation caused by gods? GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH!
Fifth of all, as I said, I did look up all of those goddesses named and my oh my, they're all from cultures like those of the Navajo, ancient Greeks, Inuits, and Buddhists. Nary a monotheistic connection to be seen. Now, I'm sure a lot of people will think I'm nitpicking and to be honest, if this was the first time that religion was brought up here, I'd just ignore it. But after how the church was portrayed in the past few chapters, I'm picking up unfortunate implications at the very least. Actually, what I'm getting is vibes of Holly Potter and that stupid Samhain holiday and how the Old Ways were so great and let you talk to the dead and do all sorts of cool magic and whatnot.
On one final note, I'm sure that the Casts were going for some "mother goddesses" theme there, but if they start writing about sacred femininity or some such nonsense, I'm going to scream.
*sighs* So yeah, Nyx tells Zoey that she has a destiny to fulfill, oh why not, and Zoey's Mark suddenly starts to burn. Zoey begins to cry and go on about how she just wants to deal with everything and she has no idea what's going on, before Nyx speaks up. The goddesses tells her "Believe in yourself Zoey Redbird. I have Marked you as my own. You will be my first true U-we-tsi a-ge-hutsa v-hna-i Sv-no-yi…Daughter of Night…in this age. You are special. Accept that about yourself and you will begin to understand there is true power in your uniqueness. Within you is combined the magic blood of ancient Wise Women and Elders, as well as insight into and understanding of the modern world".
In short, Zoey has been officially named the representative and agent of the only goddess we know of thus far. I do not have a good feeling about this.
Zoey keeps bleating about how she doesn't understaaaaand and Nyx tells her "You are old beyond your years, Zoeybird. Believe in yourself and you will find a way. But remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good".
Nyx then kisses Zoey's forehead, Zoey passes out, and on that cliched note, we end this chapter
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Onward to: Chapter 6
Back to: Chapter 4
Back to: Table of Contents