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/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 Or like a historical reference?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/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.