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ZeldaQueen: This here? This is another one of those infamous chapters. Just...be ready with the anger

Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...

Chapter 8


ZeldaQueen: Nora returns to her group all dazed and confused, and Elliot comments that she seemed to have done a good job smoothing things over with Patch. Vee is disappointed at this, because "
[she] was hoping for some excitement". What a great friend! Oh, and we're reminded that Jules is still in the bathroom. Vee starts to cotton on to the notion that he doesn't like them, and Elliot insists that no, he's just shy.

Elliot heads off to find Jules and as soon as he's gone, Nora calls Vee out for lying to him earlier. Vee continues to maintain that telling Elliot that Nora had ten guys calling her every night was a fantastic move, because it got him jealous. Or "
It's the law of supply and demand" as she puts it, because clearly romance and affection and real freaking people can be compared to goods and services. Did I mention that I hate Vee?

Nora makes up some story about how she needs sugar, and leaves to get cotton candy for everyone. And yes, it's quite obvious what's going to happen. As soon as she catches sight of the Archangel, she feels compelled to head over to it. You know, given that these random urges and feelings are the only thing getting in the way of Nora's common sense in regards to Patch, I'm going to chalk them up to being Fitzpatrick hijacking the story to go the way she thinks it ought to go.

As she heads over, Nora gets the feeling that someone's watching over her, and surprising that is not what everyone probably expects it to be. As she's looking around, Nora runs into Patch. Literally. She tells him to leave her alone and tries to walk around him, and he grabs her elbow. Ehhhhhh, save it for later.

He notes that she looks ready to throw up, and she replies that he tends to have that effect on her. He laughs and she feels the urge to kick him. And people wonder why this is called "Twilight with angels". Patch decides that Nora needs something to drink, and because The Man Hath Spoken and He Knows Best, the fucker literally drags Nora by the elbow to a nearby lemonade stall. She tells him to let her go and he replies by sleazily commenting on how nice her hair looks when it's all disheveled. Again, this could be nice if it came from someone else, preferably someone not leading Nora around like she's a naughty dog.

Nora quickly tries to make her getaway by saying that Vee is waiting, and Patch of course ignores her and demands that she ride the Archangel with him. Nora once again pretty much says "Fuck no" and Patch tells her that if she keeps running from him, "
you're never going to figure out what's really going on".

Yes you piece of dick cheese, extort favors from her that way. Spoilers, ladies and gentlemen. Near as I can ever tell in this book, there's nothing actually keeping Patch from telling Nora about himself or angels in general. In Twilight, there was the handwave that the Volturi had laws requiring that vampires keep quiet. In this, there's nothing keeping Patch from hiding stuff from Nora besides his own desires. And Nora herself realizes that Patch is saying and doing this stuff just because he knows it keeps her curious and interested. This guy is sick.

Nora continues to make excuses, including outright telling Patch that she's afraid of heights. Except that randomly and all of a sudden she's not afraid, because "
In an absurd way, knowing I'd be with Patch made me feel safe"

...And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the start of Nora losing every grain of common sense she's shown thus far. This isn't the point of no return, but it's getting there. I must ask, why the fuck would she feel safe with this guy? He's done nothing but belittle her and harass her and force her to do things on his terms. When has he ever done anything for her? There's no reason for her to think that he'd protect her! And given how things turn out later, that statement is even more ludicrous!

Patch then sweetens the deal by saying that if Nora makes it through the ride without screaming, he'll get their biology teacher to switch seats so she won't be stuck next to him anymore. Nora takes the screaming thing as a personal insult, and takes the bait. So they get in line, and Nora asks if Patch spent his years out of school hanging out at the amusement park. He refuses to answer that, as it would require telling her about his past and "
The things I have to confess aren't the kind of things you tell your flippant bio partner". "Flippant"? Oh, you have balls, buddy!

Apparently the ride is very unpopular for something newly renovated and open on a weekend night, because it only takes a few sentences for them to get seats on the car. We get our description of the ride

"
The roller coaster's construction didn't inspire my confidence, remodeled or not. It looked more than a century old and was made of wood that had spent a lot of time exposed to Maine's harsh elements. The artwork painted on the sides was even less inspiring.

The car Patch chose had a grouping of four paintings. The first depicted a mob of horned demons ripping the wings off a screaming male angel. The next painting showed the wingless angel perched on a headstone, watching children play from a distance. In the third painting, the wingless angel stood close to the children, crooking a finger at one little
green-eyed girl. In the final painting, the wingless angel drifted through the girl's body like a ghost. The girl's eyes were black, her smile was gone, and she'd sprouted horns like the demons from the first painting. A slivered moon hung above the paintings
"

ZeldaQueen: Besides being foreshadowing (and very stupid foreshadowing, as we'll find out later), I must say that it certainly is sweet of Patch to choose something to ride that Nora doesn't feel at all comfortable with riding. And before anyone says that Nora isn't showing fear, I'd like to say "Bullshit". Given how this bastard has spied on her and tunnels through her mind and knows all sorts of stuff about her, I can't believe he couldn't at least guess how unnerved she is.

The ride sets off and Patch comments that Nora is very pale and keeps calling her "Angel". She focuses on how close she's sitting to Patch, and how he smells like mint.

As Nora tries to distract herself from how fast they're going, she looks down and notices that her seat belt has come undone. As she is thrown around the car, trying frantically to fasten it, she's thrown against the car door. The door flies open and Nora tumbles out of the car, across the tracks, and down to the ground. Just before she makes impact however...

"
The next thing I knew, the ride screeched to a stop at the unloading platform.

My arms hurt from how tightly Patch held me. 'Now that's what I call a scream,' he said, grinning at me.

In a daze, I watched him place a hand over his ear as if my scream still echoed there. Not at all certain what had just happened, I stared at the place on his arm where my nails had left semicircles tattooed on his skin. Then my eyes moved to my seat belt. It was secured around my waist.

'My seat belt ... ,' I began. 'I thought-'

'Thought what?' Patch asked, sounding genuinely interested.

'I thought ... I flew out of the car. I literally thought ... I was going to die.'

'I think that's the point.'

At my sides, my arms trembled. My knees wobbled slightly under the weight of my body.

'Guess we're stuck as partners,' said Patch. I suspected a small degree of victory in his voice. I was too stunned to argue
"

ZeldaQueen: *snarls*

You fucker.

Right, let's have a look at that.

First of all, minor spoilers which everyone probably already knows because they're not stupid - that hallucination about her falling out of the car? That was Patch's doing. Let me repeat that. Patch mind raped his love interest and made her seriously believe she was going to die. And how does he react to that? He laughs. He smugly tells her that oops, she screamed so they're stuck together! He basically ruined any and all chances of playing fairly and letting her get away from him. And that's what's so disgusting about him - she can't escape.

Second of all, we're going to find out that this whole scenario is actually a lot more sinister than it originally comes across as (and that's saying a God damned lot). But I'm not telling you how that is right now. You can wait until later and be horrified like I was.

Third of all, even if you try to handwave the two points above, look at it from Nora's perspective. She was just tricked and pressured into riding something that she had no desire to ride and suffered a horrific hallucination. She gets off of the car, literally staggering and shaking and saying without any hint of humor or hyperbole that she thought she was going to die. And how does Patch, the guy that she feels inexplicably safe with and attracted to respond? He mocks her. He pretty much says "You silly little girl, of course you felt like you were going to die! You just are a wimp, walk it off!"

I HATE PATCH!

They get off of the ride, and Patch smugly (the books' description, not mine) tells Nora that archangels are high-ranking angels and "
The higher up, the harder the fall"

THIS IS FORESHADOWING! CAN YOU TELL?

For some reason, Nora is now absolutely certain that she fell out of the car on the ride but that a mysterious force pulled her back in. Normally I'd chalk this up to the usual bad chains of logic we tend to see in these books but, like I said, we're going to find out things later that make this conclusion a good bit more sinister.

To Patch, Nora comments that she's more of a fan of guardian angels, which besides being VERY blatant foreshadowing is also rather disturbing, given how it comes into play later in the book. Such is the levels of ick of this book, that it makes even the concept of guardian angels creepy.

And we leave off the chapter with Patch taking Nora back to the arcade. And I'd be glad this is over, except that I know what's coming up in the next chapter and...Jimminy Christmas, this book scares me!


Onward to: Chapter 9

Back to: Chapter 7


Return to to: Table of Contents

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 05:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] a-lovesuicide.livejournal.com
You know, the Twilight saga gives me creepy vibes and crap, but Patch is so far is creeping out a whole lot more than Edward does. D:

Early needs to magically pop in and get rid of him.



WE NEED A CREEPER TO TAKE OUT THIS CREEPER.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 08:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
I second Early, and would like to also suggest bringing in Saffron (who can out-evil-sexy Patch any day) and the Operative (yeah, let's see Patch's mind rape work with that sword trick of his :D)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-25 05:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] erikalyndis.livejournal.com
Can I steal that Zoe punching YoSaffBrig gif? I've found it really hard to find decent Firefly gifs.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-25 06:18 pm (UTC)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 07:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gehayi.livejournal.com
I HATE PATCH.

He's reminding me of a super-villain. Like the Joker and the Scarecrow, he uses intimidation and fear as weapons. He can walk into anyone's head and fuck over your mind, your emotions and your will. And he thinks it's FUNNY.

Now, I have massive issues with mind control. Don't ask me why, as it doesn't exist in our world, but I am repulsed by the very idea. The revulsion is probably tied to the phenobarbital that erased at least six months of my memories when I was six. My inability to remember that period bothers me. Memory is where people live; if you mess with memory, you are changing who the person is...and the person doesn't even know it.

As a result, I hate characters that use mind control. I will consider a character who uses mind control to be a villain even if the character is supposed to be heroic. I turned against Willow Rosenberg for tampering with her girlfriend's mind and didn't start liking her again until after the Dark Willow arc was over. It is a testament to BtVS that I got past my loathing of mind control to like Willow again. I can rant for hours about Hermione Granger and Aurors. And don't even get me STARTED on Molly Carpenter in The Dresden Files. There is no way on Whomever's earth that I will like a character who tampers with mind and/or memory.

Patch is violating Nora's mind, forcing her to experience her worst fears as if they are really happening. Nora has no way of resisting this ability. She has no way of knowing when he's using this ability. Oh, and if she somehow manages not to scream in terror, Patch can probably force her to do that, too. They are not even close to equal in terms of power. Patch is in the position of an Olympic athlete who is beating up a toddler.

*deep breath *

Oh, Castiel? Would you mind stripping this fucking bastard of all his powers so that I can kill him? I'm thinking of taking patch back in the past to an above-ground nuclear test and putting him at Ground Zero. Something like this:



I'm experiencing Tsar-bomb-level rage on their first date. This is NOT a good sign.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 08:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
I know what you mean. And I can assure you, we have yet to hear of the SICKEST part of the mind-raping. Yes, there is something even worse about it, but that'll be a few chapters yet for that reveal.

And you are so right on that analogy. Bella Swan had more protection from the vampires than Nora does from Patch. Until Breaking Dawn at least, Bella had her mind shield always up, which kept her safe from Edward's mind-reading and a good many other vampiric powers, not to mention that she was friends with the werewolves.

Nora has nothing. She's not particularly strong or skilled at fighting. She's supposed to be a straight-A student, but can never come up with something clever enough to outwit the bad guys. We find out later that it IS possible to protect one's self from angelic mindrape but oh yeah, Nora can't do it. The only thing in her favor is that she does show periods of having self-preservation instincts, but those go out the window when she and Patch hook up.

Yeah, you might want to save the bomb rage for a few more chapters. I...um, I can assure you that it'll be warranted.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 07:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] southerngaelic.livejournal.com
You vile, sick motherfucker.

Oh, I know what to do with YOU.

Captain Jack! I know you still have that machine that teleports people to the centre of the sun. I know JUST who you should use it on.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 08:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
Ohhh yes! :D Brilliant!!!

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 09:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] arynia.livejournal.com
Patch, you sick, twisted sonofabitch. It's been a while since I tossed this book into the trash, and I had somehow forgotten just how fucking creepy you are. Now it's all rushing back to me, and I'm feeling the urge to shred you again.

I vote that Leah Clearwater be summoned to fursplode against Patch, and if she's not available, then I'm sure the Winchesters wouldn't mind taking care of this charmer.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 10:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
I second that motion, and I actually know just the place for that spitefic. >:)

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-24 10:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aikaterini.livejournal.com
This is the second time now that this book has driven me to GIF-rage. It's not a good sign.

Patch?

>



>

>

> 


(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-25 02:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aachren.livejournal.com
*whines* He calls her Angel?!

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-25 02:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
Throughout the entire book, even though she told him she doesn't like it. >_< Such a charming guy, isn't he?

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-25 02:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aachren.livejournal.com
Ugh. It has such unfortunate implications. You know, fallen angels (demons) always want to pull angels down to their level.

Also, she doesn't like it? Why would you hang out with someone who calls you a name you don't like?! It's such a small, but significant marker that someone neither likes or respects you. Oh, wait, there have been much larger things...

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-28 03:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
The book kind of glosses over the "fallen angers = demons" bit. Although I haven't commented on it thus far, because the angel mythology seems to be based on the descriptions from the Book of Enoch and I'm not certain exactly if that's how it is in there.

Because he's a possessive jerk that's HOT, so that excuses everything >_

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-30 03:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aachren.livejournal.com
From I read about the book of Enoch...Patch still doesn't make much sense. Apparently, a group of angels rebel against God and come down to teach humans things they weren't to know and get the HOLY SMACKDOWN for their touble.

It's official, I hate hot people. We let them get away with too much.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-06-26 12:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xxburningsoulxx.livejournal.com
Creepy MF.

I think I'll send a restraining order on his ass before you can say, "Jimmy Cricket!".

I don't give a damn if he's some bad boy...HE CREEPY!

*hides under bed*

(no subject)

Date: 2011-07-05 01:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] winki-pop.livejournal.com
Wait, so… Fitzpatrick actually finds this shit, this horrible behaviour 'romantic'? Please tell me not all teenage girls actually believe it too?!

I get it, Fitzpatrick. You're one of those girls who feeds off bullshit drama like this and would do anything for a 'pretty' face. You think bad boys are 'fun,' the whole stereotype of wearing black and trying to be all 'rebellious' by 'breaking the rules' and gets off on being nasty and supposedly 'sticking' it to people because for some stupid reason he hates the world. And because you haven't grown out of your stupid teen fantasies, Fitzpatrick, you're pretty much feeding one unfortunate implication after another to young girls especially. Although I do take comfort in the fact that the whole Twilight/ YA paranormal trend is kinda dying down a bit. Seriously, do you even hear about Twilight anymore? Do you care? :D

That whole rollercoaster scene… girls really read that and afterwards still thought Patch was hot and should be absolved of all his sins because of it?! He is like the ultimate psychopath in some late-night D movie, it creeps me out so much :O

(no subject)

Date: 2012-08-03 02:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mibamonster.livejournal.com
'that hallucination about her falling out of the car? That was Patch's doing.'
I have nightmares of falling out of rides like these. I usually wake up shaking and have difficulty going back to sleep. The feeling of dying is VERY STRONG. I don't even want to know what it's like when I'm actually /in/ a ride. And if that happened to me? I'd want the person I'm with to comfort me. That's generally something love itnerests do.
This?
I remember you said this book would make Edward Cullen look tame. As Edward Cullen is a mass murderer, I had difficulty believing you.
I was wrong.
Patch is one sick fucker. My GOD.

(no subject)

Date: 2012-08-03 03:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
Oh, it's even worse. Him making her hallucinate that she was falling out of the ride was his Plan B. We'll find out later what he ACTUALLY had been planning to do to her.

(no subject)

Date: 2013-09-01 06:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] katistrophe.livejournal.com
Vee is disappointed at this, because "[she] was hoping for some excitement".
Excitement? Her friend is being harassed and she thinks that's exciting?

Or "It's the law of supply and demand" as she puts it, because clearly romance and affection and real freaking people can be compared to goods and services.
And we're back with the sex slave vibes!

Except that randomly and all of a sudden she's not afraid, because "In an absurd way, knowing I'd be with Patch made me feel safe"
Yes, you'll be perfectly safe with the guy who harasses you.

Apparently the ride is very unpopular for something newly renovated and open on a weekend night, because it only takes a few sentences for them to get seats on the car.
Huh. At least that saves us the three hours (actual waiting time I've seen at Europa-Park) of creepy Patch/Nora interaction.

The first depicted a mob of horned demons ripping the wings off a screaming male angel. The next painting showed the wingless angel perched on a headstone, watching children play from a distance. In the third painting, the wingless angel stood close to the children, crooking a finger at one little
green-eyed girl. In the final painting, the wingless angel drifted through the girl's body like a ghost. The girl's eyes were black, her smile was gone, and she'd sprouted horns like the demons from the first painting. A slivered moon hung above the paintings

Holy. Shit. "Little girl"? Patch actually picked a car with a child-molesting angel on the side? And it's supposed to be foreshadowing? Fuck no.

'Guess we're stuck as partners,' said Patch. I suspected a small degree of victory in his voice. I was too stunned to argue"
Kick him in the balls!

that hallucination about her falling out of the car? That was Patch's doing. Let me repeat that. Patch mind raped his love interest and made her seriously believe she was going to die.
That. Sick. Fuck. Even if she wasn't terrified of roller coasters, that was one fucking horrible thing to do. It's not fucking romantic to make your love interest believe they're going to die. Did he just do it to win that stupid bet, or out of pure dickishness, or why?
Edited Date: 2013-09-01 06:23 am (UTC)

(no subject)

Date: 2013-09-01 03:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
"Holy. Shit. 'Little girl'? Patch actually picked a car with a child-molesting angel on the side? And it's supposed to be foreshadowing? Fuck no."

Yes, it is. This is conveniently exactly how angels fall and then possess Nephilim in this series, even though the method is hardly in keeping with most religious views of angels, and thus shouldn't even be well-known enough to think it would be good symbolism on a roller coaster.

I also have no idea who thought such a gruesome image would be good on that thing. Angels? Fine. But wooden roller coasters, at least from my experience, are family rides. They tend to be exciting, but not so extreme that teens or older children can't enjoy them. I've even seen kids who were pretty young (but able to meet the height requirement, of course) getting on them. If this was some super-duper coaster like Ceder Point's "Millenium Force", I could maybe understand the more adult/creepy imagery, but not for this.

"That. Sick. Fuck. Even if she wasn't terrified of roller coasters, that was one fucking horrible thing to do. It's not fucking romantic to make your love interest believe they're going to die. Did he just do it to win that stupid bet, or out of pure dickishness, or why?"

It's worse. He got on that thing with the intent to push her out for real. What he made her see was what HE WANTED TO REALLY DO. We'll find out later why. And the only reason he didn't was because he just loved her too much, so he passed on murdering her in favor of terrifying her out of her mind.

Isn't he a FANTASTIC guy?

(no subject)

Date: 2016-09-10 11:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mirage fontane (from livejournal.com)
Sweet baby Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with this guy?! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ I suppose I'm a bit late to this party, but I'm reading this sporking right now and I'm way too horrified not to comment. I know that it's easy to misunderstand abusive behavior in stories of this type as romantic because "oh, he's so protective, he only wants the best for her, he cares about her", etc. (I know because I was a devoted Twihard when I was younger), but this goes WAY beyond Edward bullying Bella into marriage or keeping her under literal lock and key while he's out hunting. Not that that behavior is okay, but WHAT THE HELL. HE MINDRAPED HER INTO THINKING SHE WAS GOING TO DIE. AND PEOPLE THINK THAT THIS MANIPULATIVE, ABUSIVE, PSYCHOTIC PIECE OF SHIT IS A GREAT LOVE INTEREST. WHAT. THE. HELL. Even my dumb, naive thirteen year-old self would have backed away slowly after reading this.
Also, this scene might have actually worked on some level without the whole *twitch* mindrape thing. There is no way in hell the story itself could work as a romance, not in the context of Patch and Nora's interaction so far and how he's been treating her, but this scene alone could have been better. Imagine having Nora go on the ride because she wanted to (which would still take a massive lack of common sense on her part, but bear with me) but realizing that she had overestimated her own courage and ending up cuddled up with Patch for comfort. It's cliché, yes, and it would still fail because Nora has the brain capacity of a dying cactus and Patch is an asshole who would probably laugh at her (much like he laughed at her *TWITCH* near-death hallucination), but it would have been a lot better than this atrocity.
Excuse me while I switch to incoherent rage-muttering for a while.

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