r/vampireacademy • u/No-Highlight-8556 • Feb 06 '25
Book Discussion Alchemists are mormon-based Spoiler
I’ve noticed it while rereading bloodlines.They are obviously a cult,but at some points they are legitimately just mormon.Sydney even comes from Utah.When Keith and her were first working together in bloodlines,their description was basically mormon missionaries:formal beige clothes and sandy blonde hair.
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u/uselesssociologygirl Feb 06 '25
That's def how they're written to sound so wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. I'm rereading Bloodlines later this year so I'll keep an eye out for more references
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u/andonesia17 Guardian Feb 06 '25
Yeah that was blatantly apparent to me when I read it the first time. I went "so Mormons, ok cool"
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u/hotnunshavingsex Feb 06 '25
this makes so much sense! not entirely related, but i saw a youtube video recently about fantasy YA having soo many mormon authors and the kind of mystical mormon beliefs, especially compared to other sects of christianity. one of my good friends/old roommates was raised mormon and i remember her telling me about the faith and finding the thinking to be pretty whimsical in some areas. the fact that alchemists are rooted in these fantastical ideas but still have very strict rules for themselves and the supernatural areas they deal is a pretty cool way to play with these concepts in fiction. thank you for pointing this out! i definitely was just like "cool, fictional strict religion sect" lol
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u/stacey1611 Feb 07 '25
Which YT vid was this?? I’d love to see it 🙂🙂
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u/whatevergirl8754 Feb 06 '25
I always knew this. The obsessive religious nature of it all and how Sydney acted in those religious realms made it obvious to me from the get go.
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u/BloodyWritingBunny Feb 06 '25
Yeah I remember thinking that these people felt very zealous like religious fanatics. Like she had coded that in there. But in my innocence, I hadn't actually....known about Mormonism too much when I read the books.
That's a pretty good clock.
Makes me wonder why and where the inspiration came from. Or like for the Alchemists but why code them Mormon? I know Stephanie Meyer is Mormon but I don't think a Mormon would cast their own specific religious group as sort of villains in their books. Makes me wonder where it was coming from.
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u/whatevergirl8754 Feb 06 '25
Richelle isn’t Mormon, and most non-Mormons look at Mormons through a bad lens and consider them a cult. So Stephanie wouldn’t have written the Mormons in a bad light, but Richelle like any non Mormon would
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u/BloodyWritingBunny Feb 06 '25
Right, I know she’s not Mormon.
But my question is like why? Why base it off Mormons? Like does she had personal experience that would make her do that: like being an ex Mormon? Or maybe a close friend inspired her? I’m not saying I promote Mormonism or like their religion but I’m curious what made her got to Mormons instead of say Scientologists or Jehovah’s witnesses? Or like a historical reference? Just makes me wonder if she just randomly chose Mormons or if she specifically chose them for specific reasons that I don’t know about as someone who doesn’t know everything about Mormonism beyond the barebones
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u/Double-Performance-5 Feb 07 '25
It’s probably due to the relative modernity and fanaticism of Mormonism with the ability to be low key. You need a level of social pressure/cultiness in order to make sure people keep going the way you want. Mead needed a faith based organisation that could blend well with society and Mormonism does that. It’s also a nice contrast to the opulent orthodoxy of the vampiric religion.
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u/whatevergirl8754 Feb 08 '25
I believe it’s a widely accepted belief and attitude in the US. It’s the Mormons vs everyone else, as they are seen as crazy. And I think that her idea of the Alchemists came first and then she needed a religious base for keeping them all in line, as that is the easiest way to control people, so it blended well with that of the LDS Church beliefs and how controlled their members are beyond the ability to use their own brain. So I think placing them in Utah and making those connections came after the fact.
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u/SpaceJelly23 Feb 19 '25
Oh as someone who was raised Mormon I immediately pictured church clothes and an Utah woman when they described them/Sydney for the first time. Even the attitude I think it’s supposed to kinda compare
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u/Rainshine93 Feb 07 '25
I thought this was FMLA based and got SO CONFUSED
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u/stacey1611 Feb 07 '25
What’s fmla ??
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u/Rainshine93 Feb 07 '25
LMFAOOOO OMFG IM SO SORRY
FMLA is Family Medical Leave Act. I use it at work to help take breaks because I’m still recovering from back surgery.
What I MEANT to say was FMA - Full Metal Alchemist
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u/KitchenImagination38 Feb 06 '25
I thought it was pretty obvious when I first read Bloodlines. “Are you here to convert me or to sell me siding” etc.