#( v; a new nancy drew. ) || S1

[piinkperfection]

“get on your knees.” // justin

@agonygiven [ x ]

Eyebrows rose, teeth pulling at her lower lip as she stared at him. Despite her clear innocence, Betty could make up what he meant by that. Besides, after the kisses shared at the risen temperature within the four walls that composed her room, it was only something natural.        

   ❛ You…you want me to..? ❜

[ayankun]

Nancy Drew S2 finale thoughts

Ok I like this show a lot!!!!!!!

The main characters are great and real and have fun relationships with each other and I've loved them each individually since the pilot.

The S1 aesthetic was solid, but S2 is definitely more well-rounded. The balls-to-the-wall Ssupernatural gimmicky stuff somehow fits in alongside life-and-death soap opera melodrama alongside heartfelt topical social justice PSAs. All three wildly different genres are handled well and are very engaging -- I think the success in landing these ideas as strongly as they do is owed in large part to the empathy and relatability of its cast. Thinking of Kennedy McMann and Tunji Kasim in particular, but, again, all the leads are solid.

The show (S2 maybe moreover than S1) knows what it wants to be, and then Is That Thing. I appreciate that, objectively. Subjectively, I also really really like so much about the things it chooses to be.

THAT BEING SAID

Finale had high highs and low lows.

The MacGuffin raised a lot of questions, but, being a MacGuffin, declined to feel the need to answer.

Saw some other posts out there about the unfortunate (and hopefully HOPEFULLY) inadvertent lack of care given to the characterization of the Bobbsey twins, and of their one-dimensional impact on the season's story. I cringed a lot realizing that they actually were straight-faced writing a storyline where the white heroine breaks up with her problematic POC BF so that the narrative can have her free to pursue Whitey McCready.

Nancy/Ace endgame aside, when Gil was like "aRe u BReaKinG uP w/ mE??!" I was like .............what are you in 4th grade??!!?!?! Y'all weren't even dating????!!! imho their "relationship" could have been developed in a way that would have made this climactic turning point ... make sense? And also I'm sure there were other narratives they could have pursued that would not have been as inherently (if unintendedly) racist.

Speaking of Nace, the only ship I have in this show atm is Carson/Ryan. I said "are you going to kiss?!" out loud at my TV twice during this episode, and I think it would neatly tie up the paternity issue

THAT BEING SAID

I realize that interest ALSO contains the same inadvertently racist undertones mentioned above, since Valentina is presumably still on Ryan's hook, once she can come back from witness protection or whatever happened to her.

Different topic. So remember how Nick and Tom had a kiss, and it was envelope pushing but sweet and understated? Why couldn't the Bess/Odette kiss have been like that? I do understand that Nick was just doing a favor for a new acquaintance, whereas Bess and Odette actually had feelings for each other and whatnot, but while I was watching it ... and watching it ... and checking my watch ... I sorta kinda felt that it was, specifically in comparison to the recent mlm gay kiss, unnecessarily sensationalized. Like, idk, in a male-gazey and/or fetishistic manner? Maybe it's just me tho???

So I didn't know what they were doing with the Odette storyline, and I'm not actually sure they themselves ever figured it out, but I will miss Leah Lewis' turn at the character. I thought she (Leah, not Odette) was a little wooden in S1, but as George as well as Odette, she's super proved me wrong since then!!!!!

Damn, speaking of Improved Performers, Kennedy McCann, anyone?! I remember in early S1 I was like, oh, she's good, but it shows. Like, you could see all the performer's thought processes bleeding out through the character, instead of just seeing the character interacting naturally with her world. I think she'd recently graduated from, like, acting school? So I can see why they cast her, for her potential, and I'm super happy to watch her grow and grow and grow into that potential. The scene a couple weeks ago where Nancy finds Celia's body, and she starts panicking -- that performance broke me. I have N E V E R felt a character's emotional state as viscerally as I did then. NNNNNEEEEEVVVVVEEEEERRRRRRR. Just absolutely spectacular. I'm so pleased she went for it, that she was given the space or the encouragement or the trust to just fucking GO for it.

That performance, alongside Bitsie Tulloch's in this week's S&L, are probably the only two times I've ever seen Real Authentic Human Emotion of that caliber busting wholesale from the screen of a C*W production. Wowowowowowowow

Anyway, Nancy Drew is a great show that still has plenty of room for improvement. Well worth your investment, particularly if continued interest from its audience will allow it to keep spreading its wings on a journey towards perfection. If you haven't/aren't watching the show already, then certainly you didn't read this entire spoiler-ridden review, right?

[kaypeace21]

Maybe it's representative of Nancy trying a new tactic towards the upsidedown. RATHER than dying.

S1) her and jonathan try to light the demogorgan on fire (doesn't work)

S2) lab tries lighting the vines on fire( Will has a seizure and the mindflayer gets pissed they "hurt" his host. So he kills the soldiers for doing the burning ). Joyce (with nancy/jonathan) burn the mindflayer out of Will- as Nancy runs out of the cabin to see the shadow/m.f. flee into the woods. While at the same time the kids+ Steve burn the vines in the cave. And in s3 the mindflayer returns angrier than ever.

S3) kids try burning flayed-billy in a sauna: he escapes , hurts El, and runs off . The fire-works on the flesh creature- kind of worked. But the mindflayer is still alive in the upsidedown. And the demogorgan returns in the end, and all the flayed (unlike flayed Will in s2) perish.

Instead of "flaming the flames" maybe she "quells the flames". Like a fire extinguisher.

As Dr owens said, "the burn" is just a "bandaid" to the bigger issue of the upsidedown. It's similar to how fire hasn't actually been a permanent solution ,every season. So her using a fire extinguisher could indicate her trying a different tactic entirely. The flayed used ice -the opposite of fire too. So maybe she'll try to understand how the flayed/upsidedown works- rather than simply trying to light it all on fire. Aka the opposite of the expression " fight fire with fire":  to fight against an opponent by using the same methods or weapons that the opponent uses." Aka our heros so far usually use v*olence against their v*olent enemies (and it doesn't work) .I mean Brenner means "to burn" (so yeah... using fire akin to Brenner's name is probably not the best tactic). Not to mention every season Nancy uses a gun to shoot at the supernatural- it literally never works. Like mike said in s2 "we can't fight this thing with guns'. So maybe she'll actually go back to her nancy-drew roots and investigate - as a new tactic?

Not to be corny but so far the only real tactic that's worked is love ,empathy, and teamwork.

S1) love for Will and team work saves Will from the upsidedown/demogorgan

S2) love for Will and team work saves Will from possession of the mindflayer

S3) they didn't work together, fought constantly, low key neglected Will, and over relied on El- so she lost her powers and 30 + flayed people died- and they made up a lie about a mall fire doing so . But technically... El's empathy to flayed-Billy allowed her to be saved in the end . Unlike her prior v*olence to flayed- billy/the sauna burning of him: which got her attacked.

If every thing supernatural is simply a manifestation of Will's tra*ma with his dad . Trying to burn it all isn't working. It's just a "bandaid": as the psychiatrist said "the burn" was . Will saying in the pre s1 flashback: that he wanted fireballs to burn the (smart) badguys- doesn't fix the bigger issue . It doesn't magically fix "the hurt" (as Hopper states) if you hurt the badguys. " The hurt" or emotional "wound" still remains /"festers" if not addressed . So the monsters always return- cause no one is addressing Will's actual issues relating to him and his dad.

Heyy! This is quite random, but I was wondering if you think there’s any chance Nancy will die in s4?

not that I want it to happen, something in s3 just made me think abt the possibility

Hello bestie! How are you?!

I don’t want Nancy to die either, (tbh i dont really want anyone to die except brenner and lonnie LOL) but i do think its a possibility just like you mentioned! I think even if Nancy doesn’t die this season, there is still a chance she will die in s5 for sure. Maybe an ever higher chance.

Natalia has made some interesting comments about Nancy’s future and even alluded to her possible death in the show in recent interviews, which is probably our strongest evidence for Nancy’s death right now.

The Last mag. interview:

And kind of this quote from her as well -

W mag. interview:

Thanks for the ask!

[piinkperfection]

 @gingerbeanie [ x ]

Betty sighed. For a moment, she had been certain she had seen something his eyes, some sort of attraction, something more than tenderness. She was tired of asking him the same thing, tired of sending clues when it was obvious that she liked him and maybe more.    

         ❛ You always say that ! Archie-- I just want to know if you like me in that way too, if when            you look at me you see me as more than a friend. I don’t care if you deserve me or not,            I want to know if you want me. ❜

[piinkperfection]

@gingerbeanie [ x ]

There was something in the air, a strong tension that felt as if it could be cut by a knife at any second. Unsaid word were hanging in the air and Betty wasn’t a fan of secrets. With furrowed eyebrows, the blonde left her sitting place on one of the tables and gave a few steps towards who had for years been her best friend.

       ❛ You always thought--- what exactly did you think, Archie ?  ❜

[piinkperfection]

@justakidinacrown

She had stopped listening right after Archie mentioned Jughead being hurt. Betty had said she was on her way and then ended the call as she hurried to the construction site. Her first thought that was that an accident had happened; it was totally plausible in a place where heavy machinery was operated. The possibilities were endless and every second he took to get to him seemed endless. 

When she finally made it, Jughead was inside the office, everyone else just fading into the background as she ran towards him. Betty stopped at a close distance, too scared to wrap her arms around him and make something worse. Yet, eyes inspected him in horror. He was bruised, lip busted and blood still visible on the path it had followed down his chin. This wasn’t an accident; this was someone’s doing.       

      ❛ Juggie, Archie called he-- god, what happened? ❜

[piinkperfection]

 @deathlywails [ x ]

After what happened in homecoming, Betty had been nothing but a moving entity in school; she couldn’t pay attention in class or even people in the hallway. All that she could think of was jughead and how he must be feeling, and how she couldn’t help him. Lost green hues were stuck on her phone when a pair of high heeled shoes appeared in her range of view. Surprised gazed lift up to find itself face to face with the fierce look of one Lydia Martin.

      ❛ Listen, I don’t want any trouble so please, please, just let me through.  ❜

[piinkperfection]

@tryingmother

Hands has straightened the dress Veronica lent her, taking particular attention on how it seemed to be sticking to her. It was a new feeling to say the least, but V had insisted that she had to wear it to the party if she wanted to give an impression. Who she was trying to impress ? She didn’t know. When your best friend makes a decision, however, there is no way of telling her no. 

A smile appeared on her lips and she was about to pin her hair up when her eyes caught sight of a familiar figure through the mirror. Her body jumped and her hand flew to her chest, pressing hard against her rapidly beating fast and allowing blonde curls to once again frame her face.

      ❛ MOM ! We’ve talked about--? A little privacy, please. ❜

[piinkperfection]

@joneshead [ x ]

Her heart had been hammering from the moment in which Jughead crossed the high school’s doors. It wasn’t until after her conversation with Veronica and Archie at Pop’s that it clicked; his whereabouts were obvious. And so she ran, heels and everything, towards the trailer park. 

As suspected the security tape and broken and, although the lights were off, the sign of entry was evident. Betty didn’t know if it was fear or simply not knowing how to proceed, but she found herself staring at the door for longer than expected, doing nothing but imagine what could be waiting for her on the inside. With a loud sigh, the blonde woke herself from her daydream and ventured inside. 

At first everything was silent but then the sound of sobs became evident. It was him, it had to be. The steady tapping of the heels echoed in the small venue, eyes noticing juggie’s presence just as she went around the kitchen corner.

     ❛ Hey...can I-- ?  ❜

Her voice was tender, soft even for her regular tone, frail fingers signaling the empty space by his side on the floor.

[piinkperfection]

@juggidea [ x ]

Lips curled into a smile, one of her hands leaving the pile of paper to search for his. She was proud of having asked Jughead to join the newspaper. Although she would have never imagined how that changed things between them, the outcome of events was not far from perfect. She had found someone with whom she could connect, someone she could learn to love and, suddenly, the image of a certain redhead had flown away from her mind.        

       ❛ Just checking on a few articles...trying to think of ways to boost the Blue and Gold.          I mean, I know we’re hunting something big here but, until we get there, we need some          filler articles. ❜

[piinkperfection]

@wantsbest [ x ]

Slowly, Betty extended her hands, fingers unfolding to show the crescent shaped marks on the palms. Eyes were cast down to the floor, not being able to meet her mother’s eyes..

     ❛ I’m sorry.  ❜

She didn’t know why she felt the need to say that, or even what she was sorry for. Maybe for making her deal with it, for making her see that her perfect daughter wasn’t so perfect after all, for making her see that she wasn’t even entirely sane.

[piinkperfection]

 @mouthstaincd [ x ]

It had been reckless and stupid of her to stay at the party once it took a turn for the wild, but she wanted to keep Jughead company and make sure he didn’t entirely hate her. At what point of the night she lost it? Betty didn’t know. The girl had woken up in one of the couches right next to Alaya, both covered in what seemed to be silver glitter.

     ❛ Not as much as my mom when she finds out I didn’t sleep at my place. Oh...my...god...        please tell me that’s not glitter on my hair. ❜

[piinkperfection]

@wantsbest [ x ]

Seeing him putting on that jacket had left her in a mild stated of shock. It was as if, for one second, she was looking at someone else and not the boy who had claimed to love her seconds ago. With the mood gone down the drain by the unexpected visitors, Betty had said goodbye and walked her way home. 

Only when she reached her bedroom did she allowed tears to fall down her eyes. Now, more than ever, she was certain things were going to change. The door creaked soon after, green hues lifting to take in the worried glance of her mother.

      ❛ He did it, he transferred schools for good.  ❜

[piinkperfection]

@tryingmother [ x ]

The hug they shared had been the most real thing Betty had experienced in weeks. It was if, finally, that wall separating her from her mother was gone; as if she had managed to see right through her and finally like what she saw. Pulling back with tears in her eyes, the girl smiled, her hands holding her mother’s as if trying to give her more of that much needed strength.

      ❛ I know...you probably don’t want to discuss it mom but-- have you ever...         tried to look for him, for my brother ?  ❜

[piinkperfection]

@tryingmother [ x ]

Eyebrows were still furrowed, a feeling of nausea taking over her. The news had hit her like a ton of bricks. Finding out the one family you considered to be more dysfunctional than yours is actually ALSO yours wasn’t something she could easily stomach.

   ❛ We’re Blossoms...Blossoms, mom. ❜

[piinkperfection]

@vixxen [ x ]

Making that phone-call had been one of the toughest things she ever had to do. It hurt to listen to Cheryl’s overly calm voice and knowing she was anything but calm and it hurt knowing that the redhead had been nothing but a victim all along. Now, as she approached her, Betty could finally see emotion shinning in Cheryl’s eyes and it made it all worse because she wanted to help but, how ? How can you help someone who rarely allowed people close ? How do you help someone who rarely admitted her feelings ? Taking a deep breath, the blonde walked a little closer, stopping at what she believed was a non-invasive distance.

    ❛ I know you hate this phrase but...I’m sorry. I love Polly and I can’t even imagine how much you        loved Jason. We’ve never been friends...or close but...if you feel like talking.... ❜