Crescendo: Chapter 15 (Part 1)
ZeldaQueen: And now for a chapter that somehow manages to feel entirely pointless, even though it supposedly involves Nora making a breakthrough. Also, warnings - this chapter has it made clear that Nora is aware Patch stalks her, but doesn't care.
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So…it’s only acceptable to wear skimpy clothes if you’re doing it to impress your male significant other? Implying that if you’re doing it for yourself, that’s bad? Oh, yes, that’s not sexist at all. That doesn’t sound at all reminiscent of Christian’s attitude that Ana can wear skimpy clothes for him, but if she dares to wear them out in public where other men can see her? Burn the witch!
/I do not understand how people think Vee is a good friend/
There are people who think this? Why?! She’s one of the worst friends I’ve ever read about. She is every vile caricature of a female ‘friend’ that pops up in bad romance-comedies. As a matter of fact, Vee is the personification of what this series is: sleazy, shallow, ridiculous, man-obsessed, and stupid.
/Vee's big plans to take Nora out to lift her spirits boil down to, “I'll take out my heartbroken friend and help her get over her ex by making out with his best friend in front of her/
Because she’s a selfish twit who only cares about herself.
/It's not like we ever hear anything about Rixon worrying about impressing Vee or doing special things for her. No, Rixon is a Hot Guy, so he just has to show up and girls are instantly satisfied. It's up to them to pretty themselves up to his standards/
Oh, yes, and this type of fictional relationship drives me crazy. The women have to bend over backwards and forgive men their every failing, get their side of the story preached to them by a ‘friend’, get told over and over again that the guy’s a really decent person deep down, and they have to change for their men (usually by becoming ‘less uptight.’) But do the men ever have to see the women’s side of the story and change? Oh, no. They’re fine the way they are. The women are the ones who have to accommodate them. I’ve seen this relationship model in many romance-comedies and romance novels, and it's awful.
/“All these cars speak low class/
Yet Marcie and her family are supposed to be the upper-class snobs. Tell me again, Nora, why you hang out with Vee but not Marcie? I really don’t see the difference between your image of Marcie and the reality of who Vee is.
/tell Nora off for not sounding happy about Rixon showing up/
Yes, how dare she be unhappy about something that you decided for her without asking her first. Is this a case of narcissism or stupidity?
/finds it “lame” that her boyfriend is possibly tangled in something dangerous and illegal, along with a guy who she thinks murdered someone/
Or is this supposed to be funny? Are we supposed to be laughing at Vee’s ignorance and shallowness (“oh, ha, ha, she doesn’t know the truth about Rixon; oh, ha, ha, she’s so boy-crazy”)? Because I’m not laughing, Ms. Fitzpatrick. Vee is supposed to be Nora’s best friend, not a waste of space.
/Vee actually marches over to a woman and her children and tries to get Nora to tell them what Patch does for a living/
Okay…I’m seriously wondering if Vee has some sort of personality disorder. Because this is not normal. She’s a bratty six-year-old stuck in a teenager’s body with a teenager’s libido.
Honestly, one of the most frustrating things about having to read Vee’s words and actions is that it all seems so fake. None of what she says or does comes across as realistic in any shape or form.
/“I didn’t want to even think about what it meant that he now seemed capable of inserting himself into my dreams/
Oh, like Freddy Krueger? Yes, what a heartthrob that man is…
/there are some things which are so choke-full of Do Not Want that hastily tacking “And she likes it, so it's cool” at the end won't help. Saying that your male lead will always break in to see his girlfriend if he wants to, regardless of her wishes, is one of those things./
Because it doesn’t matter if she wants it. The problem is that he doesn’t care if she wants it. The problem is when you make it clear that even if she didn’t want it, he’d still do it. Oh, Nora doesn’t mind that he stalks her in her sleep? Well, good for her. It’s not like Patch would've cared if she did.
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Making it even worse, remember how Hush, Hush had Patch wipe off Nora's lip gloss, tell her that she looked better without it, and then a fuss was made about how Nora wore no make-up when she was going out and thought she might run into Patch? Yeah.
"There are people who think this? Why?! She’s one of the worst friends I’ve ever read about. She is every vile caricature of a female ‘friend’ that pops up in bad romance-comedies. As a matter of fact, Vee is the personification of what this series is: sleazy, shallow, ridiculous, man-obsessed, and stupid."
I've seen fans call Vee "fun" and think she's hilarious. Really. Fitzpatrick said in an interview that "you either love Vee or you hate her" and thought she was a very authentic 16-year-old girl. Really.
"Yet Marcie and her family are supposed to be the upper-class snobs. Tell me again, Nora, why you hang out with Vee but not Marcie? I really don’t see the difference between your image of Marcie and the reality of who Vee is."
I think Vee's supposed to be middle class and Nora used to be (from what's said, she and her mom struggle financially because they have a big house and Nora's dad is no longer able to contribute to the income). And as for the images, it gets even worse later, when we find out that Nora and her mom apparently would regularly mock the Miller family for being overly materialistic and conspicuous with their money. You know, like how they WEREN'T, throughout the series.
"Yes, how dare she be unhappy about something that you decided for her without asking her first. Is this a case of narcissism or stupidity?"
The latter, I think.
"Or is this supposed to be funny? Are we supposed to be laughing at Vee’s ignorance and shallowness (“oh, ha, ha, she doesn’t know the truth about Rixon; oh, ha, ha, she’s so boy-crazy”)? Because I’m not laughing, Ms. Fitzpatrick. Vee is supposed to be Nora’s best friend, not a waste of space."
I...honestly don't know WHAT the point of that part was. Nora genuinely is pissed by it, and it reads like she's angry at being forced to confront a potentially unpleasant truth. Given that the story has been lobbing hints that Patch is someone for Nora to be afraid of (which we already knew, Nora has yet to figure out, and will be proven wrong by the story's end), I actually think we're supposed to take Vee's warnings about Patch seriously, and that she's exaggerating stuff because that's how her character is. Or something, I don't know.
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