A Period of Silence
is a Kim Possible fanfic that stands apart from the usual crowd. The story follows Kim and Shego as they explore a new relationship that they never could have imagined and probably wouldn't have been possible if something hadn't gone horribly wrong in Kim's past.
What that something is... isn't revealed right away. From the first scene all the way up until the end, there's a constant sense that we've missed something very important. Strangely, this lets us identify with the characters even more as we witness them go through circumstances that, while certainly action-packed and interesting, still come across as stumbling around in a daze after something truly earth-shattering; an uneasy period of silence.
But things don't stay quiet for long. Shego is slowly losing control of her powers, and has to seek out a figure from her past to regain it. Meanwhile, Kim's own traumatic past has a way of catching up to her....
The story is notable for its unique take on the Kim/Shego pairing, as well as the epic yet poetic writing style that makes every sentence a joy to read. It has a short prequel, Fling, that you should check out first.
It now also has a sequel one-shot, DRIFT, set two years after the end of A Period of Silence.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Kim delivers a truly awesome one to Allucinere.Kim: If Esme had to die again to create your world, could you kill her and be justified?
- Big Damn Heroes: Just when it appears that Allucinere has Kim, Ron and Shego beat, Team Go, Team Impossible and Global Justice crash through the skylight and save the day.
- Crossover: A very subtle one, but the Weird Sisters from Gargoyles and Brian Mason from Bubblegum Crisis both make appearances in Kim and Shego's backstories, respectively.
- Cooldown Hug: Kim does this to Shego when the latter loses control of her powers, risking severe burns to do so. This is what gives Shego the final motivation she needs to bring the symbiote back under her control.
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Cry for the Devil: We spend most of the story hating Allucinere, but when her backstory is revealed, her actions make a lot more sense. - Deadpan Snarker: Shego, natch. Kim also gets in on the act.
- Dreaming of Times Gone By: Kim and Shego share a dream of Maya Tromper's past, and how she came to be recruited by GJ, just in time to realize where Allucinere is holed up.
- Evil Redhead: Maya Tromper, AKA Allucinere, has red hair. Averted with Kim, of course.
- Eyepatch of Power: Dr. Director.
- Glamour Failure: When Allucinere traps Kim at a hero convention, she gets exposed as a PossiBot when she takes no damage after Kim kicks her in the face.
- Healing Factor: Shego and her brothers have one, which is why she can damage the symbiote and have day-old scars appear like they were made weeks ago.
- In Medias Res: We never actually get to see the event that changed everything for Kim; it's only recounted after the fact.
- Insistent Terminology: Maya is quick to remind everyone that she doesn't build AIs, but rather Intellectual Constructs, or ICs. The difference is that while an AI is able to grow and learn, it takes time to develop, whereas an IC is incapable of growing beyond the parameters of its programming, but can be imprinted with a specific personality and is useful for mass-production.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: The PH Device. It traps you in another world and uses your deepest fears against you, to the point where one character even dies of a heart attack after being exposed to it. Even though it's never spelled out in the story, according to
Word of God PH stands for "Personal Hell." - Meaningful Name: The author admits to putting a little too much thought into Shego's real name, Lily Kedar. Lilies are most commonly used at funerals, while Kedar is an Arabic word meaning "strength." This means that she is strong but also hauntingly beautiful, which describes Shego perfectly.
- The Mole: Ron never actually came back from France.
- Nightmare Sequence: Shego has a particularly terrifying one when the symbiote attempts a Split-Personality Takeover.
- Purple Prose
- Psycho Lesbian: Dr. Director believes that this applies to Allucinere, since her obsession with Kim was what drove her to insanity. Kim is not happy with what she's trying to imply about her and Shego.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: The PossiBots.
- Shoot the Dog: Dr. Director believes that sometimes, in order to serve justice, you have to get blood on your hands. She follows through on this by giving Allucinere a lethal injection.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: While Kim and Shego actually get along pretty well, there is one scene where this scenario plays out literally, albeit with a little added martial arts flavor.
- Split-Personality Takeover: Shego's symbiote tries to do this, but she overrides it just in time.
- Storming the Castle: Near the end. It even gets lampshaded in a funny Shout-Out to The Princess Bride.
- Super-Power Meltdown: What will (and almost does) happen to Shego if she doesn't get her symbiote under control.
- We Can Rule Together: Allucinere extends this offer to Shego, who laughs in her face.Shego: Hang on, I'm waiting for the part you reveal that you're actually my father and that I need to turn on those pesky rebels.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Allucinere, at least back when she struck the first time. Now she's just nutters.
- White Void Room: After Allucinere puts a PH device on Kim a second time, the Kimmunicator watch that Wade gave her executes a program that brings her to one of these instead.
