Crescendo: Chapter 15 (Part 2)
Mar. 29th, 2014 06:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zelda_queenZeldaQueen: Time to continue with this insanity, as we watch Nora try (and fail) to logic her way through things.
As a note - because of length issues, I had to move the start of this sporking to the end of Part 1 here. If you read Part 1 before this, please, please go back and read the end of it again.
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 15 (Part 2)
ZeldaQueen: When we last left off, Vee gave Nora very rare good advice, which we all wish she'd take. Nora, instead, gave a response that nearly made my head explode.
Vee continues to beg for a look at the diary, but completely out of nowhere, Nora declares that she'll be ending the “ridiculous feud” going on between them. Yes, it's ridiculous in the sense that the mean things done to one another are so stupidly petty, I doubt any self-respecting high school trickster would bother with them. Also, the reasons Nora gives for wanting to return the diary unread are that she doesn't want to think badly of Patch and (in her own words) she wants to take the higher moral ground. Notice what's not in there? Apparently it still has yet to be brought up that they should give the diary back because they stole Marcie's private property and she would no doubt be devastated if someone read it. Her feelings don't come into account at all here, which is made even worse by the upcoming reveal that she does get very upset at the thought of her diary having been read.
So, after that brief detour through pointless territory, Rixon shows up. We get the usual fanservicy description of how he's all gangly with a hawk-like nose and a “shag” of inky-black hair (really), and apparently between that and his tattoo and “he looked like he was employed by the mob. Charming, playful, and up to no good.” I'm pretty sure having a tattoo and not shaving don't indicate if a person's in the mob or not. Those descriptions sound more like “teen male model”. Also, I doubt if Nora would find a member of the mob to be “charming, playful, and up to no good” if she actually met one. This sounds more like Fitzpatrick saw some Abacrombie and Fitch ad and thought one of the models looked good, so she copied that description over.
Anywho, Vee is all smiles now that Rixon's here. Nora explains the blood oath idea to him, again putting far too much emphasis on what we're supposed to see as a casual idea, one which had already ceased being the topic of discussion no less. Rixon openly laughs at the idea of anything stopping Patch from stalking Nora (asshole) and Vee simply pouts that her boyfriend isn't taking the fucking blood oath idea seriously (moar asshole).
Out of nowhere, Rixon “[lays] his hand intimately on [Vee's] thigh and grin[s] affectionately at her”. Yeah, as opposed to those non-intimate ways to grab the thigh of someone in a swimsuit. Also, why her thigh? I know couples touch in places like that, and normally that wouldn't jump out at me, but this is supposed to show the Deep and Meaningful connection between the two, as Nora instantly gets a Goddammed Hole (if I may borrow the phrase) remembering how she and Patch used to have similar interactions. We could have seen Vee snuggling against Rixon or Rixon putting his arm around her or any number of affectionate gestures that convey intimacy. Why go for the one that also tends to be portrayed as sleazy? I could understand if it was clear that Vee and Rixon were enjoying a relationship more focused on the physical aspects, except that that sort of thing has always been frowned upon. Imagine the reaction everyone would have if it was Marcie on the beach, wearing a bikini and letting a boy's hand rest on her thigh.
YOU FUCKING WORE - 86
Because I'm sorry, but the double standard pisses me off.
Not to mention, Nora made it clear that she doesn't want to be the third wheel on this outing. What's one of the first things Vee and Rixon do? That. And not so long after she broke up with her own boyfriend Yeah, that's not going to make her uncomfortable at all, I'm sure! Hey Vee, couldn't you have bothered texting Rixon and asking him to hold off on that sort of thing, at least until Nora wasn't around? It's not like she's constantly on dates with you, cramping your style!
Nora remembers how Vee probably felt just as awkward, when Nora and Patch were still dating and Vee hung out with them. Um, when did that happen? According to everything we've been told, Vee point-blank refused to go anywhere near Patch, since she thought he was a murderer! What, on top of her concerns about Patch, was she also forced to hang around while Nora locked lips with him?
Aren't Vee and Nora just SPECTACULAR examples of female friendship?
Vee starts full-on making out with Rixon at this point, because apparently having a bit of conversation first is unheard of, and Nora starts pointedly looking away. Clearly Vee is an awesome friend, failing to notice this. In fact, it's Rixon who notices how uncomfortable Nora looks, and offers to go buy Cokes for them all. Vee stops him, says she'll do it, then all but outright orders Nora to talk to Rixon about Patch. But she won't stick around for that talk, because she's “not a big fan of the subject matter”. That's great, Vee. Force two people into a conversation they don't want to have, then don't even bother sticking around for it yourself. Truly, you're a wonderful friend.
So after Vee takes off, Nora decides that there's no help for it but to humor that bitch. Rixon asks how she's doing. She first indicates that she's not so hot, then she lies about being “on the upswing” because she figures Rixon will pass everything she says on to Patch. Lovely how those two are in cahoots to make sure nothing is private for her, huh? Also, Nora basically forgets about the possibility of Rixon telling Patch everything else she brings up, so this is all pointless.
Nora then asks if Rixon would be willing to answer a “personal question” for her, and makes a big deal out of how if he's uncomfortable answer, he really doesn't have to. When he says to go ahead, she asks if Patch is still her guardian angel. Uh...how is that a personal question for Rixon? She's not asking if he's now her guardian angel, she's asking about Patch. I could understand the topic of being in the employment of Heaven being touchy for Rixon since he was booted under unknown circumstance, but he's never been shown as bothered in the slightest. In fact, he loves being a fallen angel!
Regardless, Rixon says that Patch is still her guardian. Nora asks why, if that's the case, she doesn't see him around anymore. Jesus Christ, why are you asking that?!? You told him multiple times you didn't want to have him hanging around and you decided that if he was ever anywhere near you, the archangels might decide he's breaking the rules and send him to Hell! Not to mention, what the fuck do you mean that you don't see him around? YOU SAW HIM JUST LAST NIGHT, FUCKWIT! How short-term is your memory?!? And if you mean you don't see him around every single second of the day, do you intend for me to buy that when you were dating, you saw him stalking you every minute of every hour, including when you were at home and in the shower and in bed? Does it really not occur to you that an angel who can mindrape people around him into not seeing him could be keeping an eye on you without you noticing???
Rixon's explanation is that Patch and Nora broke up and no man wants to be around the ex any more than they absolutely have to. Yeah, that's believable. I mean after Nora broke up with him, Patch followed her to the pool hall with Scott, saved her from that bar fight, showed up in her dreams to make out with her, offered twice to run away with her, and beat up Scott for trying to have sex with her. That just screams, “he wants to avoid her at all costs”, doesn't it?
Well, of course all of that sails merrily over Nora's empty head, and she buys Rixon's story hook, line, and sinker. Rixon then reminds her that the archangels are breathing down Patch's neck to keep things professional, so he's looking after her behind the scenes. You know, that stuff she should have already known. Isn't Nora so smart?
Out of nowhere, Nora starts asking how Patch got assigned to her when he became a guardian. Apparently all archangels are in charge of which guardian goes to which human.
Huh. That just makes Patch and Nora's little whine-fest over being not allowed to date even more disgusting. With Hush, Hush, there was the implication (at least, that's how I got it) that if a fallen angel saved a human's life, they automatically became that human's guardian angel. But no, apparently Patch only became Nora's guardian because the archangels allowed it. They allowed it after Patch abandoned his job out of lust and ran around killing people and enslaving a Nephil and sexing up a bunch of unsuspecting women. And their only condition was to keep things professional with Nora. The archangels didn't owe him guardianship over Nora. They didn't owe him a damned thing! And yet he and Nora still act like entitled, spoiled children.
Of course, this just is yet another instance of the archangels being complete and utter morons. Okay, they somehow decided to overlook the fact that Patch stalked this girl with the intent to murder her, and instead saved her life (from something that was really his own fault, mind you) and was apparently in love (lust really, but roll with it) with her. It's pretty obvious how Patch operates. From the moment he began interacting with Nora, he refused to leave her alone or keep his hands off of her. He also spent the last several centuries making it clear that he had no intention of listening to what the higher ups told him to do. And going off of all this, the archangels thought it would be a fine idea to give him guardianship over this girl, and that simply giving him a stern, “Don't get into shenanigans with her” would be enough to deter him. Yeah, not a chance.
Nora does a rare sensible thing and asks if there's any way to get a new guardian angel. You'd think the archangels would have done this from the start, given how completely unprofessional Patch is, but I guess it's what we've come to expect from them, by now. Rixon tells Nora that the only way to get rid of Patch is to do a blood oath (and yes, there is the stupid wink-wink-nudge-nudge you could expect here) that is very generic and uninteresting – you just cut your palm, drop some blood onto the ground, and swear that you're fine with going it on your own, without Heaven's protection.
In other words, if your guardian angel isn't turning out well for you, the only thing you can do is get rid of them entirely and leave yourself unprotected. That's... a really shitty way of running things. Now granted, Rixon mentions that it's probably outdated, not to mention that (spoilers) he's lying (explained later, and yes, it's stupid), but Nora apparently doesn't notice anything wrong with the arrangement at all. It doesn't occur to her that her only options are to leave herself unprotected with weird stuff happening or spend the rest of her days being watched over by her insane ex.
Rixon mentions that people are only given guardians if the archangels think a person is in danger. Uh...how much danger are we talking? Being stalked by a killer? Living in a bad part of town? Getting beat up by bullies after school? Not to mention, if that's the case, why was Nora not given a guardian in the first book, when she had both Patch, Dabria, Elliot, and Jules trying to kill her?! Did the angels have their headphones on and not notice?!?
(Yes, I know the real answer is that Fitzpatrick hadn't thought this far into her mythology. It still makes no sense.)
Nora, out of nowhere, thinks of her father's ghost. You know, the one she hadn't seen or thought of since the library? Yeah, again, I was really concerned about that, considering how much it'd been pushed out of her mind! Nora then has a very random thought and, from WAAAAAAAY out of left field, asks what one should do if their own guardian angel might be the one trying to kill them.
ZeldaQueen: You know, I was all set up to rant about how stupid that guess was, and how Nora had never, ever previously had reason to think Patch wanted to kill her. I genuinely forgot about the card in the library. And I think Nora did too, because that's not mentioned here at all! She mentions her dad's ghost, then she jumps right to, “I think Patch might be trying to kill me”. There's no thoughts at all of, “He sent me a card that drugged me.”
And once again, having Nora forget this sort of thing just makes her look unbelievably stupid. She wanted to run away with Patch, guys! She seriously wanted to go off with him! The only reason she didn't was because she knew that it wouldn't last forever, and he'd be sent to Hell when the archangels caught them.
I'd thought that Nora and Fitzpatrick both forgot about things like the dream kiss and the drugged card. It'd been frustrating that they'd been swept under the rug, but it at least explained why Nora was so sad and reluctant to let Patch out of her life even after he invaded her dreams and, as far as she knew, tried to kill her. After all, it'd basically been swept under the rug thus far that Patch had intended to murder her in the last book. But no, this shows that Sue and Suethor alike did remember those things. And Nora still wanted to run away with him. She can't bring herself to hate the guy who invaded her dreams and kissed her while she was screaming for him to leave. She was seriously tempted to go on the run with the guy who sent her a card that knocked her out and left her running from her dad's ghost.
I really have nothing to say to that. By this point, I really do think Fitzpatrick stuffed together multiple plot ideas. It feels like there are five or so versions of Nora running around, each participating in separate plots!
So yeah, Nora wonders if Patch is trying to kill her, and asks Rixon about it with all the fear and suspicion of asking what the morning weather report is. Dead serious, we get no reaction on this. She doesn't think anything like, “No, I can't believe it! But...” or “This is horrible!” or “Didn't he try to do this in the last book?” No, she just asks it like any other casual question. Why does Fitzpatrick keep forgetting we're in her head?
Rixon laughs at the idea of Patch trying to kill her, because he takes his job as guardian angel very seriously. Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on that one! Even ignoring the fact that he sees his job as just an excuse to stalk and make out with Nora, the end of this book will nullify any arguments that he put Nora's safety first. But that's for later. Right now, Nora chalks Rixon's faith in Patch up to “blind loyalty”.
Guys, why does no one here remember the first book? You know, where one of Rixon's main appearances was him saying to Patch how the Book of Enoch was bogus and there was no way to become human and the plan to kill Jules via murdering Nora was stupid and never going to work? Because that didn't sound like blind loyalty to me.
And yeah, this is more SUBTLE FORESHADOWING about Rixon and Patch's relationship. See above as to why it doesn't work.
Nora asks another sensible question – if Patch was trying to kill her, would the other archangels know? No, Nora, I doubt they would. They apparently didn't notice Patch, Dabria, Elliot, or Jules trying to kill you, even though three of those four should have been persons of interest to them. They didn't notice Patch making out with you for two months or so (or at least, that's how long it took them to stop frittering around and do something about it). In the upcoming books, we're going to see that they're totally useless about stopping a Nephilim uprising, to the point where they're forced to rely on Nora to stop it for them. So no, I don't think the archangels are going to be of any use here or ever.
Nora somehow comes to the conclusion that Patch killing her would be “the perfect murder”, since how could suspicion possibly fall on her guardian angel? Oh gee, Nora, I don't know. Maybe the fact that he tried to kill you before would tip someone off? And I'm sure it wouldn't take your mother and Vee long to tell the police about your creepy ex, who they think already killed another high school student. Even if it's conveniently forgotten that those two hate Patch and think he's messing Nora up, the police do tend to look into potential motives with boyfriends/girlfriends or exes. As for the angels, I'd think there'd be some sort of investigation as to why Patch's charge mysteriously died in his care. He was supposed to be the best of the best, after all, and the archangels are supposed to be heavily monitoring him.
Nora thinks of none of that, and instead focuses on the fact that Patch had the chance to kill her and passed it up, so why would he want to kill her now? Do...do you have any idea how creepy this sounds? And Fitzpatrick, do you have any hints yet that Patch's “sacrifice” was just basic decency, the equivalent of someone saying, “Well I could let my girlfriend die and get that solid-gold Hummer I've always wanted... ah, what the heck? I'll call the hospital because I love her so much!”
After this brief and pointless detour, Nora brushes the thought of Patch trying to kill her aside as “ridiculous”. Then, out of fucking nowhere, she asked how Patch is doing with Marcie. Uh, yes, I'm aware that people can blurt out things without thinking about them. I'm pretty sure that most cases involve thinking about the topic or talking about something related or some sort of build-up to it, though. I could understand this question coming out if Nora thought about Patch “sacrificing” a shot at a body to be with her, only to wonder if he truly loved her still.
And yes, folks, it seems Nora really has forgot (for now, at least) that Patch wanted to run away with her and she was so tempted to do it. Again, I would think that Nora was the sort who would only consider running off with a guy if she thought his offer was true and honorable, but then again, I suppose I'm overestimating her intelligence.
Anywho, Rixon waffles a bit, gives a load of bull about how he and Patch are like brothers (that's something that's usually best to show, people), and finally says that Patch and Marcie are better-suited for each other. I must respectfully disagree. I'm pretty sure Marcie would be smart enough to not put up with Patch's douchy behavior, no matter how dumb we're supposed to believe she is. In any case, Rixon says that Patch deserves to cut loose and have fun (but I guess not Marcie, since she gets slammed every time we hear about her doing just that) and that a relationship with Marcie is perfectly safe. After all, she feels nothing but lust for Patch, so the archangels won't notice them being together. Nora despairs at this, and somehow comes to the conclusion that Patch never actually loved her, and it was her love for him that caused the archangels to notice things to begin with.
First thing's first.
YOU FUCKING WHORE – 87
Because of course Marcie feels nothing but lust for Patch! She's an evil, horrible person and is incapable of deeper love or more meaningful relationships! I mean, it's not like Nora and Patch or Vee and Rixon, who have relationships based on shared experiences and mutual love and respect and a greater understanding of one another. No, Marcie bases her relationships entirely on appearances and physical attraction!
Next. *pinches bridge of nose* Exactly what sort of heavenly crack are these archangels on, may I ask? How do their rules make any sense at all? Okay, romance between angels and humans is forbidden. Fine. I understand that. They need the angels to focus on their damned jobs, and if we incorporate actual Biblical texts and beliefs into the equation, angels ought to be sexless. So it makes sense that they don't want angels and humans falling in love.
You mean to tell me, though, that lust is completely fine?!? They have some sort of radar to know if someone is feeling love towards an angel, but fucking lust slides by??? One of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS? I – okay, fine. I'm sure if all the angels are supposed to be as hawt as we're to believe they inspire plenty of lust in the masses. But Patch, who has the archangels watching every breath he takes and every step he makes, is apparently in a completely lustful relationship with Marcie, and this is fine? Really? They don't notice this at all??? How does that make ANY fucking sense???
(Speaking of things not making sense, by the way, why is it that angels are even given bodies that are teh hawt, anyway? Wouldn't it be better to give them bodies that are plain or unattractive, to avoid this sort of issue? I mean, there's a reason artwork of saints and angels and such used to be drawn as being plain - people felt it was wrong to feel physical lust for spiritual figures.)
For that matter, why does Nora assume that the archangels are only clued in by the feelings of the human in question? If anything, shouldn't it be Patch's feelings that they're tuned in on? He's the one from Heaven, after all! He's the one who has girls constantly drooling after him (or so we're told, at least). Wouldn't it make more sense to keep an eye on his own feelings, to know if he's experiencing any less-than-professional emotions towards human girls? And anyway, Rixon never said anything about Patch not loving Nora at all. He said that Marcie's lustful feelings towards Patch wouldn't catch the archangels' attention. He didn't say anything about how Patch's feelings affected things! There's absolutely nothing that says Patch never loved Nora!
But okay, let's play along with this all. Let's say that Nora came to the correct conclusion (or at least a logical one for the statement she was given). What of it?
Well, for starters, she already came to this fucking conclusion. It was first brought up all the way back in Chapter 2, when Nora brought up that Vee and her mom warned her that Patch was the sort of guy who saw girls as conquests and would dump her when he got bored. In Chapter 10, Nora apparently decided that he was, in fact, one of those sorts of guys.
“He really did see us as conquests. He was a player. Every girl was a new challenge, a short-term hookup to broaden his horizons. He found success in the art of seduction. He didn’t care about the middle or end of a story— only the beginning. And just like all the other girls, I’d made the huge mistake of falling in love with him. The moment I did, he ran. Well, he’d never have to worry about Marcie confessing her love. The only person she loved was herself.”
That's from Chapter 10. That right there is pretty much everything she came to a conclusion about! She's sitting her on the beach, fretting that “I didn’t want to think I’d been nothing more than entertainment, a way to pass the time”, like this is entirely new news! But we see that back in Chapter 10, she decided for certain that Patch didn't really love her, never did, was using her for kicks, and would hook up with Marcie for a meaningless, lustful relationship (because that's all Marcie's capable of, of course).
Now, one could argue that hey, new evidence came to light! Nora thought Patch was a player, his actions convinced her he really loved her, and now what Rixon's saying is making her doubt again. Okay, well, why isn't she thinking of any counter-arguments now? She got over her initial conclusion through some evidence, didn't she? Why isn't she thinking of it now, when faced with exactly the same scenario? She's not using anything to back up the idea that Patch didn't love her, other than, “I really hope that's not the case!” She doesn't think, “That doesn't fit with his other behavior at all” or “But if he just saw me as entertainment, why did he want to run away with me and risk going to Hell?” She just dithers around, as per usual!
Finally, after all of this, Nora remembers oh yeah, there was that Black Hand guy who killed her dad, wasn't there? Maybe she should ask about him! She tells us how she'd be asking Patch about this if she'd been on better terms with him, which is a laugh because since when has asking him ever helped a situation? Even if he gives a straight answer, she thinks he's lying! In any case, she tells us that “Rixon was just as worldly as Patch, however. He knew things other people didn’t —particularly when it came to fallen angels and Nephilim—and what he didn’t know, he could find out.” We're going to have to take Nora's word on that, since the only traits associated with Rixon thus far are that he's Irish, supposedly sexy, enslaved a Nephil, and puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars.
So yeah, Nora asks him if he's ever heard of anyone called the Black Hand, and Rixon goes through this huge show of being shocked and then laughing it off. He then asks how Nora found out that name, because he thought Patch hated it and stopped using it.
You can just hear Fitzpatrick thinking DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUN as she wrote this part.
Nora starts freaking out at the fact that her boyfriend apparently once had a very generic nickname that, by her own admission, many, many other people and groups had. Rixon goes on to say about how Patch only used the nickname “back in the days when they took jobs as mercenaries for the French king. Eighteenth-century black ops.” Fitzpatrick actually did seem to have researched this bit, since it does look like France at that time period did hire large numbers of Irish mercenaries. So kudos to her for that, although it does raise the question of what Patch - who from all I've heard described sounds and acts completely American - got by. I guess he could have faked being a certain nationality, but that just leads me to wonder how fallen angels even get their nationalities chosen to begin with, and that just gets me wondering about stuff I know won't get answered.
Nora, meanwhile, falls into EXACTLY the same stunned BSOD reaction that she ALWAYS gets when something remotely shocking happens. She stares ahead, she can't process words, she's cold, she's upset, etc and so forth. She then falls back into Detective Mode, which makes me want to take my head off because it's so stupid!
“Slowly the doubts began to fall by the wayside, replaced by other thoughts. I found myself picking through facts, analyzing for evidence. The night I gave Patch my ring: The moment I’d said my dad had given it to me, he insisted he couldn’t take it, almost adamantly so. And the mere name the Black Hand. It was fitting, almost too fitting.”
ZeldaQueen: You know, I was planning to rant. But I think I'll save my sanity and do a silly spite fic instead.
-----
“Objection!” a voice rang out, as soon as I'd voiced my concerns. “What proof do you have of that, Grey?”
“Excuse me?” I gasped, pounding on my desk. “What do you mean, 'what proof do I have'? It's obvious!”
From across the courtroom, Miles Edgeworth smirked at me. “Oh, really?” he said. “Well then, perhaps you could explain to the courtroom the contradictions in the witness's statement.”
“Uh...well, the witness had been unwilling to take the victim's ring, and -”
“And that proves nothing,” Edgeworth interrupted. “The ring was of great sentimental value to the victim, and the witness knew it. Just because he was unwilling to take it doesn't mean he committed murder.”
“That's true,” the Judge chimed in. “Why, just the other day, I refused to take cookies from a Girl Scout at my door, because I didn't have any money on hand to pay for them. That certainly doesn't mean I killed that Girl Scout's father!”
“But...but there are other things!” I insisted. I pointed dramatically at Patch, who grinned cheekily at me from the witness stand. “The killer went by the name 'the Black Hand', which fits him perfectly!”
“And the title of 'Most Incomprehensible Fool' would fit you perfectly,” Edgeworth replied. “If a murderer went by that title, would that be grounds to arrest you for the crime?”
I felt my face begin to flush. “But I...no! It's that -”
“Grey, you seem to have forgotten that evidence is everything when proving one's point.” Edgeworth smiled and shook his head. “Baseless claims alone prove nothing, particularly ones as feeble and flimsy as yours.”
“He's right, Miss Grey,” said the Judge. He banged his gavel. “Any more ridiculous claims like that, and I'll end the trial immediately!”
-----
ZeldaQueen: There we go! Instant logic, just add Edgeworth.
So yeah, with the...erm, damning evidence of a generic nickname and the fact that Patch didn't want to take a valuable keepsake from her, Nora seems quite certain that he was her father's murderer. You'd think she'd be considering more relevant facts, like the possibility that he did it because he'd been planning to kill Nora next. I don't think it's impossible to spin Patch as the potential killer (leaving aside the fact that I don't think the Suethor here would ever work up the courage to have her Dream Guy do that), but like with most of the mystery elements of the series, all reasonable conclusions are ignored in favor of stupid ones.
In any case, Nora decides that more investigations are in order. I agree! Let's get an American release of Miles Edgeworth: Investigations 2. Wait, no, she means for herself. Phooey. But yeah, her grand idea?
She lies to Rixon that she left a sweater at Patch's place and wants to get it back ASAP after the breakup, but by total coincidence it was dark the only time she was over so she can't remember how to get there. She then gives “a trivial laugh”, which totally makes this all sound legit.
ZeldaQueen: You know, the whole “I MUST INVESTIGATE HIS PLACE TO AVENGE MY FATHER” comes across as a load of bull when Nora has been trying to break into Patch's place since the start of the book. This doesn't sound like her resorting to desperate measures to solve the mystery. It sounds like she just really wants to break into her ex's home and is using her dad's death as an excuse.
Rixon expresses surprise that Patch had her over, since he tries to keep his place secret. Nora, once again, jumps to weird conclusions.
“And why was that? I wondered. What was he hiding? Why was Rixon the only person allowed into Patch’s inner sanctum? What could he share with Rixon, but no one else? Had he never allowed me inside because he knew something I’d see there would unravel the truth—that he was responsible for murdering my dad?”
ZeldaQueen: There's no evidence he's hiding anything, you moron! Some folks just are very private! And given that we see he just lets Rixon over, that makes it sound more like the issue is related to them being angels! You already heard that the archangels are pissed about him dating a human. For all you know, him bringing a human into his house would get them angry as well!
Not to mention, you think that Patch has a smoking gun so honking huge and obvious that you who have a football field's worth of space between your ears could find it. You admit that Rixon – who you previously described as very savvy and worldly – goes over to Patch's place. Are you aware you just implied that Rixon the Wonderful Boyfriend knows about Patch's crime, under your “logic”?
(No, she's not. She's really not.)
Of course, I have no idea why Nora is so certain that she'd find anything of use, even if she does find Patch's place. All we've been told is how Patch is so awesome. He's so clever. He's just so great and experienced at covering his tracks.
So, what? Nora thinks he'd let crucial evidence sit around his place for an entire year? That's more than enough time to destroy or discard any evidence. Now yes, I know that cases have been solved with much more time having passed. Those cases are solved by the police, who are trained in the art of arresting people and have access to all the necessary information. Nora is an idiot teenager who can't even remember that someone is trying to kill her. I'm quite certain that unless the necessary evidence was lit up with neon lights reading “THIS IS IT!”, she wouldn't know to take it.
Finally, “Why was Rixon the only person allowed into Patch’s inner sanctum”? Again, is Fitzpatrick actively trying to slash things up with those two? I swear, if it had turned out that that was the big secret reason why Patch didn't let Nora come over – that it was his love shack with Rixon – this entire series would have been redeemed to me.
Moving on. Rixon suggests that Nora stop by first thing the next day, since Patch ought to still be around before six-thirty. Nora says that she doesn't want to see Patch when she stops by to get her sweater. Because that doesn't sound suspicious in the slightest! Rixon then offers to pick it up for her the next time he's by Patch's place, but insists that she simply must get this sweater back ASAP, because her mom is asking about it.
Normally I'd be raging at this point about how incredibly stupid Rixon is to not get that something's up. But I know what the Big Twist of this story is, so I'll conclude that there is a reason he doesn't laugh in Nora's face over this all. Instead, I'll shake my head over how stupid Nora is for thinking she's pulling off a clever deception.
Rixon finally spills and says that Patch lives in “Swathmore. Near the industrial district.” Fitzpatrick, that means nothing to me! I have no clue how this town is laid out! I have no idea what it's supposed to mean that he lives there! I can't even find any place called "Swathmore" in Maine to go off of, since Google just keeps re-directing me to "Swarthmore"!
Nora informs us that “My mind netted this information.” You were outright told that information, Nora. Stop wording it like you sussed out cleverly-concealed details. She then concludes that “one of the brick apartment buildings on the edge of Old Town Coldwater” because apparently the only other places to live there are abandoned factories and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS TOWN LOOKS LIKE, SOMEONE PLEASE THROW ME A BONE HERE!
I'm sorry about that outburst. It's just...what the frig?!? I first thought that the town was kind of small (it had a movie theater with a one-stall bathroom and two screens, remember?), but now I find out it has all these districts and areas and I have no idea what it looks like!
Nora continues to do a terrible job pretending to know what Rixon's talking about. She tells him “I knew it was over by the river somewhere”, and I honestly had no idea there even was a river in the area, let alone what part of town it went through, so I'll just have to take her word on that. She then confirms that Patch was on the top floor, mentally figuring that he wouldn't want neighbors upstairs stomping around above him.
First of all, Nora? When you rent an apartment, you really don't get a ton of choice in where it can be. I think most people would prefer not to have stomping around upstairs. And while I might be able to buy that a more expensive place offered residents a little more choice, this definitely doesn't sound like one of those places.
Second of all, Nora? You told Rixon that you went there before but couldn't remember the route there because it was dark. It's not dark inside an apartment building, hon. If you went there before, you should know full well whether or not Patch is on the top floor. Again, if I didn't know why Rixon would be keeping quiet, I'd be wondering where a chunk of his brain wandered off to. As it is, does Nora think he believes that Patch blindfolded her all the times he had her over?!?
Nora continues to be as suspicious as possible and say that she has the key to the apartment and should be able to get in as long as he didn't change the locks. This is seriously sounding like every scorned yandere ex ever, using old house keys to break in and destroy everything they can get a hold of. Not to mention, Nora doesn't have the apartment key. How the frig does she think she'll be getting in? Kicking in the door? This is an apartment on the top floor she's poking around in, so it's not like she could climb up the side of the building to get in through the window! And this issue never even occurs to her here, not even in the form of “I'll worry about it when the time comes”.
Anywho, Nora asks if Patch will be home that night, since she really doesn't want to run into him, especially if he's there with Marcie. Yeah, you wouldn't want her telling everyone how you broke into your ex's apartment to dig up dirt on him, would you? Rixon coughs and gets all embarrassed and says that she'd be good to go for tonight, since Patch and Marcie are going out to the movies. He knows this because he and Vee are double-dating with them for it.
Nora promptly has another BSOD upon hearing this, because who cares that she already has decided ten times over that he's moved on to Marcie? Who cares that she thinks he KILLED HER FATHER? We must reiterate how Marcie is the scum of the Earth, and just hearing about the two of them together is enough to make her “spine stiffen” and feel “[t]he air in [her] lungs seem to shatter”. She manages to ask if Vee is aware of this date plan yet, and Rixon says that he's still figuring out how to pitch it to her.
Oh yes, Rixon just sounds like the perfect boyfriend, doesn't he? Vee makes no secret of the fact that she hates Marcie, she hates Patch, and she really hates Rixon hanging around with Patch. So what does Rixon do? Go along with a date plan that involves all of those elements. Considering that Patch is indifferent to everyone who isn't Nora and Marcie isn't exactly fond of Vee either, I have no idea why they thought a double date was a good idea to begin with. I also have no clue why Rixon agreed to it at all. He clearly knows it'll be nasty getting Vee to go along with it, he's springing it on her at the last minute, and it's not like it's a ceremony or some such that they have to attend or disappoint a lot of important people. It's a date to the movies.
I can understand a guy arranging a surprise date for his girlfriend, but when one does that, one generally tries to have the date be for something he knows the girl would enjoy. Meanwhile, we never hear about Vee getting angry with Rixon for arranging this little outing, so either he never gets around to asking, or she blames someone else for it because she can't stand the idea that he did something not perfect. One's about as likely as the other.
Speaking of Vee, she shows up with “cardboard crate of Cokes”. Uh, why do they need that many? We were told earlier that they brought water in their duffle bags. I figured the Cokes were an excuse to leave Nora and Rixon alone. Also, they're on the beach. I know there are places to get food and drinks there, but I thought most places would sell soft drinks by the can or bottle. If people need entire crates of drinks, wouldn't they get them ahead of time from someplace that sells things like that in bulk?
Vee asks what's going on, and Rixon stammers out how they're talking about a surprise for that night. Vee squees out “A clue, a clue! Pleeeease?” which sounds disturbingly childlike, especially considering her boyfriend seems to physically be in his twenties (or late teens at youngest) and is actually several centuries old. Nora, meanwhile, ignores this all and reminds us how she intends to break into her ex's house and root through his possessions.
And who said Patch is the only one allowed to be a creeper?
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 87
Onward to: Chapter 16
Return to: Chapter 15 (Part 2)
Back to Table of Contents
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-29 11:45 pm (UTC)I really don't know what else to say to this because it's so dumb.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 01:57 am (UTC)Because this whole book (and series) is dripping in sleaze. Fitzpatrick can throw in as many fallen angels as she wants. That still doesn’t change the fact that this is really just a stupid, shallow, and ridiculous teen movie that’s trying to be all dramatic and failing. She could’ve written Rixon and Patch as the members of a motorcycle gang instead of fallen angels and what would’ve changed in the long run? Nothing.
/Force two people into a conversation they don't want to have, then don't even bother sticking around for it yourself./
Of course. Because Vee’s not really a character. She’s a plot device. And an insufferable one at that. At least Jacob was nice in “Twilight.”
/That just screams, “he wants to avoid her at all costs”, doesn't it?/
If Fitzpatrick has read “Twilight,’ I have a feeling that she bought Edward’s line, “I’m tired of trying to stay away from you,” hook, line, and sinker.
/And Fitzpatrick, do you have any hints yet that Patch's “sacrifice” was just basic decency/
Patch’s sacrifice: Deciding at the last minute to not kill the girl that he spent a whole book stalking, assaulting, and brainwashing.
Nora’s sacrifice: Attempting to kill herself.
/Patch and Marcie are better-suited for each other/
Does Fitzpatick not know what she just said? She said that the Mean Girl, the Jezebel, the girl that she’s been obsessively bashing non-stop is a better fit for the “hero” than the heroine. Wow. Way to make your ‘hero’ look even worse. Nice one.
/Rixon says that Patch deserves to cut loose and have fun (but I guess not Marcie, since she gets slammed every time we hear about her doing just that)/
Oh, of course. She’s a girl. Only boys are allowed to “cut loose and have fun.” Girls do that and they deserve to be shamed until kingdom come. This book is dripping in misogynistic double standards.
/They have some sort of radar to know if someone is feeling love towards an angel, but fucking lust slides by??? One of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS?/
They’re fine with it because Fitzpatrick doesn’t care if this makes sense as long as she can bash Marcie again. Yes, boo Marcie for having a relationship with a boy that she doesn’t love. Never mind that the boy doesn’t love her – oh, no, her relationship with Patch will never be as good as Nora’s with Patch because Nora really, really loves Patch because she is the heroine and she is good, and Marcie can never love Patch like Nora does because she is *evil.*
Dear Lord, for all of its sleaziness, I wish that this book would grow up.
/Fitzpatrick actually did seem to have researched this bit, since it does look like France at that time period did hire large numbers of Irish mercenaries./
But wait…does that mean that Patch is Irish? Why does he have an Italian surname then?
This whole thing is stupid.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 02:36 pm (UTC)She really is, at least until Nora's mom takes over that role in the next book.
"Does Fitzpatick not know what she just said? She said that the Mean Girl, the Jezebel, the girl that she’s been obsessively bashing non-stop is a better fit for the “hero” than the heroine. Wow. Way to make your ‘hero’ look even worse. Nice one."
Spoilers - it will turn out that Patch hates Marcie and goes on about how he found her insufferable and only hung around with her because the archangels MADE him. We'll also see that Rixon has reason to lie to Nora (dumb reasons, but yeah).
So yeah, this is just supposed to be a dead herring, like Meyer trying to convince us that Edward NEVER EVER LOVED BELLA and he TOTALLY WAS GOING TO FORGET HER AND NEVER SEE HER AGAIN. And like with Meyer, Fitzpatrick failed to notice that she wrote the dead herring as being perfectly plausible which...really raises implications.
"They’re fine with it because Fitzpatrick doesn’t care if this makes sense as long as she can bash Marcie again. Yes, boo Marcie for having a relationship with a boy that she doesn’t love. Never mind that the boy doesn’t love her – oh, no, her relationship with Patch will never be as good as Nora’s with Patch because Nora really, really loves Patch because she is the heroine and she is good, and Marcie can never love Patch like Nora does because she is *evil.*"
This is a sign of how horrible the treatment of Marcie is. You've seen how terribly the Cast ladies wrote their characters, and yet THEY still had the sense to try to write Aphrodite as acting like a bitch because of abusive parents and gave her a redemption storyline. Yeah, they still treated her horribly, but they at least got that the Mean Girl wasn't irredeemable on all counts.
(Spoilers - this gets even worse as the series goes on, where Fitzpatrick writes some genuinely sad explanations for why Marcie does what she later does... then still kills her off off-page and shits on her some more. Even the fans, who made no secret of their hatred of Marcie, felt bad she didn't get a second chance.)
"But wait…does that mean that Patch is Irish? Why does he have an Italian surname then?"
I have no idea WHAT is up with these guys. Rixon is Irish and has been mentioned as having the accent. Patch has shown no indications of being anything but average American (that is to say, no accents, no differences in vocabulary, etc.) I could buy it as him using his centuries of living to change to fit in, except in the brief flashbacks we see, he and Rixon talk and act exactly the same as they did back then. And if Patch WAS Italian back then, it wouldn't make very much sense that he was hired, because from what I read, the mercenaries were hired from Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland primarily.
I don't know. We're never told how fallen angels get their bodies or their nationalities, just like we're never told why they all show up as fucking teenagers (seriously, the fourth book has a fallen angel who's physically thirteen or so, just because she's supposed to look young and vulnerable and have us feel bad that the meanie Nephilim captured her).
"This whole thing is stupid."
Basically, yeah.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 09:27 pm (UTC)*flatly* Oh, yeah, he totally didn’t enjoy making out with the cheerleader stereotype with no strings attached. “Oh, no, baby, it was only because the archangels MADE me. I was forced to ram my tongue down her throat, you see! That’s why it’s totally okay that I punched Scott in the face for daring to make the moves on you. The archangels didn’t make him do it! They put me under a spell, you see, which made me do things against my will and – oh... Yeah, you’re right...that does kind of sound like what I did to you in the last book.”
/then still kills her off off-page/
*sighs* Why am I not surprised that the psychotic stalker who tried to kill Nora gets to live, while the teenage girl whose worst crime was making fun of Nora and wearing skimpy clothes is killed off?
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 03:18 am (UTC)I think that ship sailed when she stole the damn thing in the first place.
We get the usual fanservicy description of how he's all gangly with a hawk-like nose and a “shag” of inky-black hair
Maybe it's just a matter of personal taste, but that sounds kind of ugly to me.
That's great, Vee. Force two people into a conversation they don't want to have, then don't even bother sticking around for it yourself. Truly, you're a wonderful friend.
Can't I just smack Vee with a Dark Visitor spell and take her out?
why was Nora not given a guardian in the first book, when she had both Patch, Dabria, Elliot, and Jules trying to kill her?! Did the angels have their headphones on and not notice?!?
Reminds me of a certain infamous sequence in Metroid: Other M where the most charitable explanation was that mission control fell asleep at the desk. Incidentally, certain parts of that game have been compared to this book, and not favorably either.
She was seriously tempted to go on the run with the guy who sent her a card that knocked her out and left her running from her dad's ghost.
Definitely worse than Bella "Oh, it's so romantic that you watch me sleep without me even know you're there" Swan.
Rixon laughs at the idea of Patch trying to kill her, because he takes his job as guardian angel very seriously.
I'm just laughing at Rixon's stupidity.
they're totally useless about stopping a Nephilim uprising, to the point where they're forced to rely on Nora to stop it for them.
I suppose it's too much to hope that they're secretly siding with the Nephilim.
You mean to tell me, though, that lust is completely fine?!?
Wasn't it lust that caused Patch's fall in the first place?
Fitzpatrick actually did seem to have researched this bit, since it does look like France at that time period did hire large numbers of Irish mercenaries. So kudos to her for that
Considering her track record, she probably just got lucky.
I'm quite certain that unless the necessary evidence was lit up with neon lights reading “THIS IS IT!”, she wouldn't know to take it.
I doubt she'd take it even then.
Not to mention, Nora doesn't have the apartment key. How the frig does she think she'll be getting in?
If she suddenly reveals that she knows how to pick locks, I'm calling shenanigans.
“[t]he air in [her] lungs seem to shatter”
I am actually twitching at the stupidity of that metaphor. Although, if air did "shatter", it would expand, causing Nora's lungs to explode. Then we'd be rid of this accursed series.
EternalFae
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 04:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 02:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 04:37 am (UTC)Are you serious? Nora is the kind of person I wouldn't trust with opening a can of sardines that was already open.
Here, have the rest of my two-bite brownies.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 02:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-30 02:42 pm (UTC)He then, of course, snuffs it (and it's Nora's fault) and Patch cuts a deal with the archangels, who really want the Nephilim rebellion to end. Before Nora got control of the army, they were going to just let the fallen angels kill countless humans to bring about the downfall of the Nephilim... uh, somehow (I'll be ranting about this in the next chapter). Instead, they tell Nora to stop the uprising or else she'll be in Big Trouble. I think they also use some sort of leverage involving Patch, I can't remember.
The archangels do jack shit in the series, which is all the worse when it's revealed that from the very start of the series, they had the ability to send EVERY FALLEN ANGEL EVER to Hell automatically, which they all not only deserved but would have gotten the Nephilim army to step down by virtue of no longer needing to fight ANYONE, yet for some mysterious reason they DON'T. It's handwaved that sending an fallen angel to Hell is only for Really Bad Crimes, but apparently breeding a race they consider "abominations" and leading said race to start an uprising don't count. Nor, apparently, does trying to kill a human, since Patch is only threatened with Hell for falling in love with Nora, not trying to murder her.
All in all, those brownies are most welcome. *noms*
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-31 09:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-22 03:50 pm (UTC)This is still a fail, because even if there's a specific name for those that I don't know, it's not a crate. Just a different kind of fail.