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ZeldaQueen: Alrighty everyone, nearly to the end of this baby! Let's keep swimming!

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


Chapter 27

ZeldaQueen: Well, in the last chapter we got some info-dumping by way of Patch, laced with a generous helping of sexy times/ Do Not Want, which was broken up by the arrival of the plot in the form of Elliot taking Vee hostage in the high school. Fun times. Oy.

Nora is all scared and Patch promptly goes all business-like, asking who Nora just talked to. I think I got whiplash from how quickly he switched personalities there. Not that I'd mind if Patch were written as someone more thoughtful and the sort who actually gave a crap about others, but it just sort of hops into the story and back out. Also, much like with Twilight, Patch really only seems to care that Vee's in danger because Nora is upset. This is the guy who used to be an archangel and who the angels still want back as a guardian.

Anyway, Nora tells him that "
Vee broke into the high school with Elliot and Jules. They want me to meet them. I think Elliot's going to hurt Vee if I don't go". Apparently Nora is continuing to operate under the mysterious belief that every single person in her high school knows who everyone else is. Even if that were the case (which we've had no indication that it is), I'd hardly think that Patch - the most anti-social bastard I've ever seen in a book - would know them.

Instead of asking "Who the fuck are Elliot and Jules?", Patch just repeats the name Elliot. That's right, he's just worrying about Elliot. Normally I'd laugh my ass off that Jules is such a nondescript character that not even taking a hostage gets him noticed, but...erm...plot set-up!

Nora continues to elaborate, telling Patch all about Elliot's murder investigation and how creepy he has seemed since then. Yes, we all remember how he was sacrificed on the alter of Convenient Characterization. Patch gives us a priceless response

"
I've seen Elliot. He seems cocky and a little aggressive, but he doesn't strike me as a killer"

ZeldaQueen: ... Oh, really Patch? Unlike you, who are extremely cocky and overly aggressive? But you aren't the killing type, no no. You just loudly tell your girlfriend how you could kill her.

Go fuck yourself and then make judgements about psychopaths, you damned psychopath.

Anyway, Patch comes up with the brilliant plan of going over to check things out. Yes, he plans to essentially run into a hostage situation, blind and risking the life of Vee. Granted, I wouldn't be too chocked up at the death of Vee, but this is supposed to be Our Hero, who is So Clever.

Nora does not like this idea, and says that it's better if they call the police. Patch's response? He shakes his head and says "
You'll send Vee to juvie for destruction of property and B and E".

OH, WELL EXCUSE HER FOR THINKING THAT IT'S BETTER TO GET THE AUTHORITIES INVOLVED, YOU DICKCHEESE!

I'm sorry but...Christ! That right there is pretty much the entire message of this book! Don't tell your teacher that the guy's harassing you, he'll just patronize and laugh at you. Don't tell the police that you're being stalked and threatened, they won't believe you. And now, don't call the police in, if you know your best friend is being held hostage by an insane guy who very likely killed before! It's much better to rush in without knowing what you're doing and putting your friend at great risk, rather than saving said friend's life and, le gasp, having them face the consequences of what they did to get in that situation to begin with! For heaven's sake, Vee agreed to break into the school! Why should Nora be in the wrong calling the police?

*sigh* Of course this occurs to neither of those idiots, and Nora just meekly backs down and goes along with Patch's brilliant idea. There's a brief moment where Patch asks about Jules, and Nora just tells him that Jules was with Elliot when they were all at the amusement park. Patch just pretty much says "Um...no he wasn't. I'd have remembered it", and that's the last Jules is mentioned. You'd think Nora would tell about the bit she knew, where Jules said something to Elliot about a test, or at least mention how odd it was that when Jules was at the amusement park, he hid in the bathroom for a half an hour or so.

Also, I love how Nora in no way insists that Jules was at the amusement park, or amend her statement at all to "He was there, but he left early". I guess Her Man has spoken, so there's no point in arguing, is there?

They head out of the bathroom, and Nora starts yapping that she must come along, or else Elliot might kill Vee if she doesn't show up. Even though she also thinks that Elliot will hurt Vee. And even though Patch can mind rape Elliot into thinking that Nora was coming in, even if she wasn't there. No, it's best of she shows up. Patch agrees, on the condition that Nora does exactly what he tells her to. *dryly* Of course. And Nora, being her dumbass self, agrees while telling us that she doesn't intend to do so. You know, I hate when these sorts of books have the guys expecting the girls to be meek and submissive and do whatever they say, but this is pretty much the only point in the book where it's justified. We're apparently to take it that Patch knows what he's doing and has some brilliant strategy in mind. In that sort of case, it's common sense to go with what the dude with the plan has in mind! Ignoring the plan, especially without giving any warning or discussion, is just begging for things to go wrong!

And...we then get an incredibly stupid and pointless swerve in the plot. I'll just tell you it and then pause to pick it apart.

Nora and Patch make it outside, and find that two of the tires on Patch's Jeep have been slashed with a screwdriver. Nora initially suspects that Patch is mindraping her so that he has an excuse to not rescue Vee (...) but no, apparently this is real. He believes that it was done by someone he beat at gambling who is pissed at him. Patch decides to fix the problem by sauntering over to a car a few spaces away, hotwiring it, and asking Nora to get in. She refuses to participate in the theft of a car (while noting that Patch's familiarity and comfort with this indicates that he's stolen cars before), and instead goes back into the theater and finds an employee sweeping the floor. Apparently he too goes to Nora's high school, and his name is Brandt. Yes, this is the first we've heard of him and no, he serves no purpose to the plot other than this one bit. Nora...calls in a favor I guess, as it seems she once helped him with a Shakespeare paper, and wants to know if he's willing to loan her his car. He says he won't, and then Patch comes him. "
His approach wasn't all that different from a cloud eclipsing the sun, subtly darkening the landscape, hinting of a storm", and he promptly changes Brandt's mind by shelling out three hundred bucks. Brandt tosses over the keys and asks if they'll fill up the tank before returning it. Patch forks over another twenty in case he forgets that. He and Nora head off to get the car, while Patch explains to Nora that he normally doesn't have that much money on his person and contrived coincidences of contrived coincidences, he won it playing pool a few nights prior.

Right. Sooooo...what was the point of that? That served no purpose. The tire-slashing wasn't related to the plot. That Brandt dude is never mentioned again. What, did Fitzpatrick see that scene in Terminator 2, where John finds some car keys so the Terminator doesn't have to hotwire the car, and decided she wanted to write something similar in? Normally I'd think it was to show that Nora could handle some things on her own, using her connection to that kid to help them out, but it can't even be that because Patch still is the one who ultimately solves the issue! What, was that supposed to be funny? If so, that fails at humor and is horribly placed! Seriously, what is it with Suethors ruining dramatic moments with komedy?

Also, please note that Nora believes that (A) Patch is perfectly willing with letting Vee - her best friend - die, just because he doesn't like her (and yes, I know I said that I wouldn't mourn her, but he's supposed to be signing on for guardian angelship and in any case, there's a difference between hating a character and letting your girlfriend's best friend die) and (B) Patch is perfectly at ease with hot-wiring and stealing cars, because it's old hat to him. And she never gives pause to think of the implications to any of these things. Nope. Our Heroine, ladies and gentlemen.

So they arrive at the high school, which we're told "
The original part of the building had been constructed in the late nineteenth century, and after sunset it looked very much like a cathedral. Gray and foreboding. Very dark. Very abandoned". By this point, I'm surprised Fitzpatrick isn't going the whole hog and throwing in a thunder storm. I'm not certain how many nineteenth century catheral-buildings are in Maine, but by this point, I'm just waiting for the story to be over.

Patch pulls up alongside of the school and gets out. Fitzpatrick channels Gethesemane as we get it hammered home how Patch is wearing black and has dark hair and dusky skin and thus is hardcore and blends into the night. Whatever. He tells Nora to wait in the car like a good little girl, and to stay out of sight and drive away if someone comes out of the building for her. I guess the implicated exception to that is Patch himself or Vee, although I'd think Nora ought to drive away from them as well. And of course, given how Nora has been so great at thinking things through and following orders thus far, I'm sure she'll do as she's told.

Idiots, the lot of them. I'm so glad we're nearly done!




Onward to: Chapter 28

Back to: Chapter 26 (Part 2)


Return to: Table of Contents

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-03 01:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chibi-regalli.livejournal.com
... Why is Jules here, again?

Seriously, why?

As for Patch, I continue wanting to burn him down.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-05 03:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
"... Why is Jules here, again?"

Give it a chapter or two. You'll see.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-23 11:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] illyriasacolyte.livejournal.com
I keep forgetting he even exists, seeing as how he never does anything and he only gets mentioned as an accessory to Elliot. Every time ZQ brings him up, I go "Who? Oh, yeah, Elliot's friend", and then promptly forget about him again. Fitzpatrick, there is a way to set up a Chekov's gun character. This is not it.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-03 02:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greenerygripes.livejournal.com
The original part of the building had been constructed in the late nineteenth century, and after sunset it looked very much like a cathedral.
Aaaaand it never got renovated? No part of the school was torn down and rebuilt? They just took part of this really old building and said "Hey, let's make it a high school?" I get preserving a building because it's old and a piece of the town's history or whatever, but...but they took a building from 18-something and made it a high school. And I seriously doubt that they just left that part of the building untouched, that the students didn't graffiti the walls, or something like that.
Sorry, this just...among all the other pointlessness and Do Not Want, this really bugs me!

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-03 04:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chibi-regalli.livejournal.com
Yeah, that's... monumentally dumb. My high school was built in the 70s, and it still shows serious signs of aging. You know, like the classrooms not being big enough to handle population growth, or the air ventilation being so wildly erratic that there were noticeable temperature differences from hallway to hallway, or the fact that the sound system in the auditorium committed suicide during the dress rehearsals of our last show. An 1800s building? Well, for one thing, school wasn't mandatory at the time, so it wouldn't be nearly large enough, there'd be some serious trouble with A/C and heating, and anything other than a basic classroom probably wouldn't exist! Hell, my grandma went to a one-room schoolhouse back in the fifties, and you expect me to believe that this two-screen theater town would have a school, built in the NINETEENTH CENTURY, that could function as a modern high school without comment before now? I missed that before with all the Not Wanting and character idiocy, but that's just breaking the disbelief suspenders!

(no subject)

Date: 2013-06-11 11:28 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
To both this comment and the one above:
It doesn't say anywhere that the thing never got renovated and that there are no additions to the "old" main building, does it? Also, why NOT take a building from the 1800s and make it into a high school?
It's not THAT old - if my elementary school was ten years older, it'd be of the "late 19th century" too.
Also, it was comfortably cool in summer and mostly warm enough in winter (and you could always sit there in your coat and gloves anyway) and we never had the problem that the classrooms weren't big enough for the usual 20-28 kids, either.
Furthermore, tech like sound systems and stuff can be added later on and will die at some point only to be replaced anyway. Doesn't mean the school'll crumble anytime soon...

Also, while it IS kinda weird that this is the first time it's ever been mentioned... she's not a good writer and the focus is on the "romance", not on the setting. I mean, their "romantic" first interactions were at a school, we all know what a school's supposed to look like, why mention it? Nevermind that I wouldn't put it past her to never mention the fact that the building is old again after it served as a minor plot point and set the right atmosphere for this chapter. =_="

My point being, I see no problem with the school.

(no subject)

Date: 2013-06-28 10:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
I understand if it was renovated, but we really get no details at all. Fitzatprick has a tendency to just throw things out because she thinks they sound cool, so I feel no desire to fill in the holes she left. Perhaps if all of my good will hadn't been burnt to a crisp after the motel room scene I'd be less bothered, but given that (and given how often she throws out nonsense in the sequels), it's just one more thing that annoys me. >_<

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-03 03:22 am (UTC)
carmyn: (Default)
From: [personal profile] carmyn
I haven't decided on whether Lauren or Jules is more useless. It's a pretty tight race.

*cries* I JUST WANT A YA PARANORMAL NOVEL THAT HAS MAIN CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT STUPID/CREEPY/DO NOT WANT/UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF ADULTS.

On a better note: I think my hand is going to fall off.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-05 03:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
You should read Aunt Maria/Black Maria (different names for the US and UK editions) by Diana Wayne Jones. In it, as soon as the mother of the protagonists is un-enchanted to realize everything that's going on, she becomes very helpful, very quickly.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-03 08:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] angel-renoir.livejournal.com
The current University of Washington was campus built in early 1900s, a lot of it are supposedly still the original buildings from a century ago, so I was willing to give the whole school-built-in-19th-century thing a slide. HOWEVER, maintenance of old buildings are expensive. Back home in Indonesia, plenty of old buildings built in early 20th century are very very crappy looking and only serve as tourist attraction because the government can't afford the maintenance. If the town could only afford a 2-hall cinema, I doubt it'd be able to afford keeping the old school building intact for daily use. At least SOME parts of it would have been torn down and replaced.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-03 08:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] angel-renoir.livejournal.com
Fail for posting before I'm done ranting.

I'm not sure if this is because I cheated and knew Jules was the culprit, but the story insisting that it's Elliott who's totally EVIL seems like a dead herring to me. Maybe because his evilness is so out of the blue and sort of makes no sense to me.

I also don't get how Dabria was so important if the showdown ends up being between Nora, Patch, and Chauncey. And even then, Cauncey's defeat is about as stupid as the villain's defeat in Evermore. It's so anti-climactic and nothing else needs to happen after this. AURGH! Unnecessary sequels are unnecessary.

How dark is Patch supposed to be again? The cover art for the novel is B/W, so no telling of anything, and in the comic cover he's pretty light-skinned. "Tanned as a Spaniard" doesn't tell me anything AT ALL.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-05 04:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
If Jules had been better-written, his plan would actually be pretty clever. He knows he can't let Patch recognize him and he knows that Patch is always stalking and hanging on Nora, so he gets someone else to interact with her while Patch is around. Thing is, Fitzpatrick didn't give him any presence in the novel at all, beyond "I'm so bored". He just drops out of nowhere at the end!

Dabria was so flipping pointless. Even worse, she NEVER shows up again, leastwise not in Crescendo. I haven't read all of Silence yet and Fitzpatrick has a fourth book planned so...she might be in there? No idea. Other than that, she's vanished.

I honestly don't know. The chapter describes him as "dusky", but that's still not very descriptive.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-05 05:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chibi-regalli.livejournal.com
Wait... Jules is supposed to be the villain?

Then what do you call that bit where Elliot was going all "Come camping with us, Nora, OR ELSE"? 'Cause honestly, that bit was as creepy as all the Patch stuff to me. Probably because I was wondering how the hell this poor girl got so many rapists after her.

Seriously, when you have to go THIS creepy to make your protagonist look good by comparison, you're doing it wrong.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-07 04:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
Yeah...you'll see. ^^; Just read the next chapter's sporking.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-05 03:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aikaterini.livejournal.com
/Go fuck yourself and then make judgements about psychopaths, you damned psychopath./

This is kind of weird because I remember reading a comment about the movie “The Bad Seed,” where somebody claimed that psychopaths could sense other psychopaths. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if it is, then it’s pretty dumb that Patch doesn’t realize that Elliot’s a bad guy.

/That right there is pretty much the entire message of this book! Don't tell your teacher that the guy's harassing you, he'll just patronize and laugh at you. Don't tell the police that you're being stalked and threatened, they won't believe you. And now, don't call the police in, if you know your best friend is being held hostage by an insane guy who very likely killed before! It's much better to rush in without knowing what you're doing and putting your friend at great risk, rather than saving said friend's life and, le gasp, having them face the consequences of what they did to get in that situation to begin with! For heaven's sake, Vee agreed to break into the school! Why should Nora be in the wrong calling the police?/

Oh, yes, the whole “I’d rather be dead than be expelled!” childish mentality. Patch, Vee would get Nora into Juvie and laugh as she did so. If you think that Nora would prefer Vee to be dead rather than in jail, then you have messed-up priorities. Besides, maybe a little time in Juvie would wake Vee up and make her stop being selfishly reckless and stupid. But I think that I know the real reason why you’re telling Nora to not get the police involved. Because if they did show up, you wouldn’t get to show off and be the hero, and there might be a risk that they’d arrest *you* for your heinous behavior towards Nora.

/Nora starts yapping that she must come along, or else Elliot might kill Vee if she doesn't show up./

*flatly* Oh, yeah, just like Bella *had* to go to the ballet studio, otherwise James would have killed her mother.

/Sooooo...what was the point of that? That served no purpose. The tire-slashing wasn't related to the plot./

Of course it had a purpose. It made Patch look so *cool!* Don’t you wish that your boyfriend could just brainwash people to do whatever he wanted so that he could steal hot cars with ease and take you for a ride? So dreamy. *sarcasm*

/Patch is wearing black and has dark hair and dusky skin and thus is hardcore and blends into the night./

*sighs* Winki_Pop and I have already gone over how Fitzpatrick’s mentality of Mediterranean/tan skin = mysterious/sinister is stupid, stereotypical, and offensive, so I won’t bother. I will say, though, that that description reminded me an awful lot of Heathcliff and made me wish that he could show up so that I could actually root for him for once as he pounded Patch into the dirt and then hung him on hooks like he did to the dogs in “Wuthering Heights.”

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-05 03:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zelda-queen.livejournal.com
"I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if it is, then it’s pretty dumb that Patch doesn’t realize that Elliot’s a bad guy."

It's doubly stupid because Fitzpatrick, while answering questions for fans, told them that Patch is a complete expert on human nature. He knows the workings of the human mind inside and out, she said. So how can he fail to realize about Elliot? Are we to take from that that Patch is correct and that Elliot isn't so bad? Because HE SHOWED UP AT NORA'S HOUSE AND RATTLED HER TEETH OUT OF HER HEAD! Gah!

"But I think that I know the real reason why you’re telling Nora to not get the police involved. Because if they did show up, you wouldn’t get to show off and be the hero, and there might be a risk that they’d arrest *you* for your heinous behavior towards Nora."

Not to mention that Fitzpatrick would have to (A) skip Nora's "selfless" sacrifice scene, and (B) actually have to write in consequences for what happened.

"Of course it had a purpose. It made Patch look so *cool!* Don’t you wish that your boyfriend could just brainwash people to do whatever he wanted so that he could steal hot cars with ease and take you for a ride? So dreamy. *sarcasm*"

And a boyfriend who has guys trying to kill him/vandalize his stuff. Sounds absolutely fantastic. *rolls eyes*

"*sighs* Winki_Pop and I have already gone over how Fitzpatrick’s mentality of Mediterranean/tan skin = mysterious/sinister is stupid, stereotypical, and offensive, so I won’t bother."

If Fitzpatrick had put any consistency in it, I'd think that she was trying to go for the idea that all the angels have some Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern look because that was the area of the world where the monotheistic religions came about. (She already did follow the Biblical lore that stated that Nephilim and angels are unusually tall) Given that Patch is the only one like that though, I think it's safe to say that she thinks that dark skin adds to a bad-boy image, along with Levis, backwards baseball caps, and playing pool.

You know, I wonder if Heathcliff was at least partially some sort of inspiration? Fitzpatrick clearly wants to dig deep to get prime bad boy/psychopath material, after all.

(no subject)

Date: 2011-11-07 01:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] winki-pop.livejournal.com
So... the point of this chapter was???

Seriously, what happened? Nothing progressed the plot much, everything was even more contrived than usual, and Nora losing what few brain cells she had left.

So, what happens now with Elliot? Fitzpatrick had so much build-up about him being a psycho killer, with the news article Nora found, Elliot coming to her house to threaten her and leading Vee to the school, yet it gets swept aside at the last minute for some arse pull out of nowhere that makes no sense at all! You can't just name Jules as the real culprit and expect us to believe it with no real hints whatsoever! You're supposed to drop those hints subtly throughout the story which become more resounding towards the end! Here, Fitzpatrick was twirling her moustache and thought to herself 'they'll never see this one coming!' Yeah, we didnt - because it comes out of nowhere with no inkling of it at all.

Oh, word to Aikaterini as well :P Yeah, that 'dusky' line made me cringe, too.I can't believe all these Suethors actually buy into these stereotypes.

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