by Misery (link)
Genre het, drama/angst, supernatural
Pairings Taylor/OFC, Zac/OFC
Length 20 chapters
Status Completed
There’s just something about the darker, dare I say gothic, stories in this fandom. For a band that, aside from a few lyrics here and there, aren’t even all that emo, they tend to attract a rather dark fanbase, especially when it comes to the writers. Bid My Blood To Run is certainly one of those stories, and the title is apt in surprisingly more ways than one.
The story begins on an ominous note; a mysterious stranger has stolen Zac’s anti-psychotic medications and proposes a terrible sort of blackmail in order to give them back. I’m not sure how I feel about this portrayal of mental illness, especially since the schizophrenia seems to fade into the background as the story goes on, even as Zac develops new and dangerous coping skills, but stops taking his meds. At times, Misery’s descriptions of his inner turmoil seem spot on, but at other times they don’t quite work for me.
I’m also unsure about the side job Taylor talks him into taking, but it does at least allow him to meet the girl that helps to save him… at least somewhat. Unfortunately, neither she nor Taylor, with whom he shares a brotherly relationship sure to please even cest fans (although it never goes there), can save him from himself.
After several close calls, Zac receives some horrible news and does what I’ve been afraid he would do. Then, there’s something of a fake out ending that reveals that he hasn’t succeeded. Or has he? Yet again, there’s something of a fake out (one might even say cop out), that brings back his blackmailer, who reveals a little secret that just might save him. Although I know there were two more stories planned after this one, they were never written and that leaves little resolution for the new plot developments that appear in the last few chapters of Bid Me Blood To Run.
Review by Bethany (website)