House of Night, Untamed, Chapter 27:
Everyone is excited to see Grandma Redbird, and Jack gets to meet her for the first time! While everyone else fusses over Zoey and her scary brush with the Raven Mockers, Jack makes an excellent first impression:
“I’m fine.” I threw a furtive look to where Jack was babbling something at Grandma about how much he liked lavender. “Because of your help, I’m fine.”
Zoey is fine, and Jack likes lavender. There are a lot of positive developments right off the bat this chapter.
Grandma still thinks Stevie Rae is dead, so now it’s time to explain about the red fledglings. Every other chapter of this book is just reiterating the plot to another character. Jack goes to get a glass of water for Grandma, and I bet he’s going to miss a crucial piece of information that wasn’t revealed to him before, and then there will be a whole chapter dedicated to telling Jack this other crucial piece of information.
Grandma and the gang discuss strategies for making sure Neferet can’t read their minds. Apparently Neferet can read into different levels of people’s minds. Who knew.
“Then she won’t think to look any deeper,” I finished. “But Neferet underestimates us. I don’t think she’d make the same mistake with you, Grandma. She already knows you follow the Cherokee ways—that you’re in touch with the spirit of the land. She might look deeper into you no matter what is buzzing around in the front of your mind.”
“Then I will have to clear my mind and practice the meditation skills I have been using since I was a girl.” Grandma’s smile was confident. “She cannot force herself into my mind, not if I block her first.”
I get that Zoey’s friends are going to try to think about “shoes” and “boys” while they’re around Neferet, but surely she would also be really suspicious and just take an extra few minutes to dig around a bit deeper if it’s not that difficult for her.
Once Grandma is up to speed, Jack confirms that he’s got the camera all set up in the morgue. So everyone watches some cool morgue footage together. Grandma also confirms that Zoey’s gut has been right all along and they definitely 1) should film the morgue 2) not trust Neferet 3) reveal the red fledglings at the next ritual. I’m glad to know there’s no mystery about whether or not our character is making the right calls.
Anyway, everyone says their goodnights, and Grandma gives Aphrodite some things to protect her tonight – like a dream catcher! A fucking dream catcher.
Oh wait, wait, I spoke to soon, there’s more:
“And one more thing.” Grandma turned back to her bag, searched a little while, and then brought out a gun. “Shoot those mother fucking Raven Mockers.”
Aw man, you go grandma!
…
I’m just fucking with you, here’s what really happened:
“And one more thing.” Grandma turned back to her bag, searched a little while, and then brought out a pillar candle that was a creamy white color. “Light this on your bedside table while you sleep. I spoke protective words over it last full moon and let it soak up the rays of moonlight all that night.”
THIS IS BULLSHIT.
Aphrodite leaves, and Grandma announces she’s going to go into town and have lunch. This feels like a bad idea, but she seems pretty set on it. Before she can go, A RAVEN MOCKER APPEARS AT THE WINDOW.
I couldn’t move. I was frozen by its mutated red eyes—human in the face of a terrible bird—a creature that existed only because of ancient rape and evil.
I like that rape had to be described as “ancient”. I guess if it was modern-day rape it wouldn’t have had quite the same impact.
Grandma has to tell Zoey to call wind, so Grandma can blow some blue powder at the Raven Mocker. It is super effective.
Grandma warns that the Raven Mocker is close to its physical form, which means Kalona is getting stronger. She also gives Zoey some words of encouragement:
“Do not fear,u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. The demon’s father will find that today’s women are not so easy to subdue.”
…So I guess House of Night was about feminism all along.
“Do not fear, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. The demon’s father will find that today’s women are not so easy to subdue.”
ಠ_ಠ
Uh huh. You know what, I think I’ve read a similarly inane statement somewhere else, and in a Naruto fanfic no less. Oh wait, here it is:
“Remember that woman run this world, honey; we bring the men into the world, and we can take them out just as easy.”
No link or title drop for the fanfic; either would just be mean considering that the fanfic isn’t infamously bad or a trollfic. Anyway, I’d like to point out three things about these two quotes.
The authors of both works referenced above like to insert such statements in their narratives to offset their atrocious, asinine attempts at writing female characters. Well intentioned as these authors may be, I find that at least 90 percent of the time, their narratives contradict or generally fail to support their opinions on female empowerment. My following two points illustrate why.
Neither quote comes from a work that discusses what it means to be a womxn at length at any point in the narrative. The cisfemale protagonist is the main point of reference for the authors’ narrative discourse on womxnhood, which is a pretty important problem considering that the protagonists for both HoN and the Naruto fanfic are as close to the mainstream Anglo-American ideal of womxn as you can get. Y’know, cisgender, explicitly heterosexual/heteroromantic, thin and good-looking, able-bodied/able-minded, economically well off and well educated, not an unauthorized immigrant, et cetera. I should point out that neither Zoey nor the protagonist of the Naruto fanfic identifies as purely White, seeing as Zoey has Cherokee heritage and the Naruto fanfic revolves around a manga character. But talking about race in anime and manga (and by extension anime/manga fanfic) is an issue I can’t claim expertise on, so I am not going into things like mukokuseki.
Both sources play up common female stereotypes and double standards. On one hand, the Casts love to harp on about feminine spirituality (whatever that means) and slut shame any female character who dares to enjoy sexual intimacy. Their idea of a matriarchal society doesn’t come off as terribly different from the patriarchy, either–male vampyres are still relegated to physical roles and mostly gifted with physical abilities. (Not that a matriarchal society is automatically more equal than a patriarchal one, but the Casts have simply switched out one form of systemic inequality for another, albeit one that seems more palatable in name.) On the other hand, the Naruto fanfic is populated by a cast of interchangeable, horribly stereotyped cisfemale characters who make Anastasia Steele look like an active agent. It is also written by an author who seems to think that every cisfemale character must be pretty, physically delicate, and inexplicably childish around their cismale love interests. That’s just the tip of the fanfic’s iceberg, and I’m going to stop myself there before I launch into a full-on rant about how the fanfic makes me tear my hair out.
I’m so happy I’ve found someone else who takes fanfiction seriously enough to study it critically in the same way other people study literature.
That said, you make a really good point about the way authours use throwaway sentences to try and offset and entire works’ worth of asinine bullshit. It’s like “show don’t tell” – you can’t just tell your readers what the point and message of your story is, only your story can do that, and if you’re story is portraying something awful, you can’t just explicitly tell people it isn’t.
“Yeah! Look how badass we are! Women will bring Kalona down by…trapping him with their vaginas under the earth! Feminism is what the story was about this whole time!” But then the rest of the narrative has absolutely no evidence to support that feminism was what it was about all along.
I too love that you take fanfiction seriously enough to study it critically!
The problem with this series is that I totally took you at your word that grandma pulled out a gun. The other problem with this series is everything.
I thought the gun thing was real, too! For about a split second. I was jazzed.
Then, alas, Ariel shattered my dreams.
I knew I would get a few of you! I just had to make sure everyone was paying attention.
I cannot get over how comical the raven mockers sound. The description makes me laugh everytime. Just Imagine a grown man In a raven costume with his face pressed against the glass, his fake beak slightly askew, staring at everyone , going “caw caw”.
“Ancient” rape and evil right there ladies and gentlemen.
The Modern iRape version 6 is due next year.
Oh man, you have NO idea. I used to send dozens of long emails to friends who also had an interest in picking fanfiction apart. Nowadays I just scream at the screen and pretend to milk giant cows while I’m at it. If I had any talents as a Large Ham I’d probably amuse myself further with dramatic readings.
Deliberate (?) Values Dissonance in stories: I think you’d really like the Naruto fanfic I was quoting, then. It’s a SasuSaku shipping fic, by the way. Trigger warnings for violence against womxn and rape/sexual assault if you decide to look for it.
“Sure, but how does it relate to HoN and Values Dissonance?” you might ask. Well, let’s compare Damien to this fanfic author’s portrayal of Ino.
Damien:
-CLEARLY GAY
-Expresses unequivocal sexual/romantic interest in men
-Did I mention he’s gay?
-Does not use his gay identity as an excuse to infringe upon his friends’ physical autonomy
-Also does not resort to possessive or physically violent behavior when confronting his friends’ partners
-Can be nasty to people who are supposed to be “bad” (like Aphrodite), but is never shown doing things like…well, see Ino’s section
-Has an elemental affinity for air, but his gift was not bestowed for the sole purpose of “protecting” his loved ones. See Ino’s section below.
-Has his supportive moments, such as when Zoey loses Stevie Rae–hey, in my defense, I’ve been reading the books and the only thing I’ve taken away from the Twins’ behavior is that they’re utter shite as characters. Damien’s practically almost a gem in comparison, since the Casts go out of their way to make the Twins the first people in most cases to spew vitriol regardless of their relevance to the plot.
-Is not written to be attracted to womxn just because the author…uh…LOOK HE’S GAY OKAY
-Is a mediocre character (or rather a stereotype disguised as a character), but does not incur my wrath for the most part because he’s not Shaunee/Erin (also because I have fairly lenient standards for characterization)
Fanfic!Ino:
-Supposed to be heterosexual/heteroromantic…somehow
-Close friends with Sakura; Ino is a demon while Sakura is a walking Philosopher’s Stone
-Portrayal in fanfic lacks any significant, natural interest in men as sexual/romantic partners
-Expresses extreme animosity, much of it at least partly unwarranted, toward Sasuke for being Sakura’s intimate partner (bares teeth and hisses at him, regularly calls him obscene names to his face, threatens physical retribution for hanging around Sakura)
-Has referred to Sakura on occasion as hers (full emphasis on possessive tone)
-Displays a horrifyingly objectifying attitude towards Sakura (declares Sakura’s virginity as her possession IN FRONT OF SASUKE, attempts to physically examine Sakura after loud speculation in front of others over Sakura’s sex life with Sasuke, says only she is allowed to kiss Sakura and no one else)
-This might not seem related, but in the fanfic it’s mentioned that Ino, and her family, can knock people out and control their bodies. The stronger members of her clan can even read others’ minds. Yeah, combine that with her possessive, violent behavior and what do you get?
-Is said to be attracted to men because…uh…I’m at a loss for words here. I hesitate to say the author only believes people should be het, since xe expresses general acceptance of LGTBQIA individuals and has included a gay couple in the fanfic, but a double standard regarding womxn’s sexuality is at work here.
-Seriously, given how strongly she’s attracted to Sakura, I think she’s more gynosexual/bisexual than flat-out heterosexual.
-Expresses her attraction to a boy by, uh, “always try[ing] to kill him” (yes really, that’s what the text says)
-I hate this character so, so much. She’s an Unintentionally Unsympathetic Psycho Lesbian who toys with Disproportionate Retribution and has even more of a Single-Target Sexuality for Sakura than Sasuke.
Excuse my bias, but I think Damien stands out here as the better-written of the two characters. Then again it’s not really a challenge to find a character better portrayed than this version of Ino.
(Ariel and Matt: I hope I’m not being too intrusive with my comments on the fanfic. If I am being off-topic, just let me know and I’ll be happy to move the discussion elsewhere.)
Why can’t I shake the impression that this entire series is a viral marketing campaign for scented candles?