#nancy drew essay

[ghostmaggie]

something something ace projected capturing the ferret as a metaphor for his relationship with nancy to return to what it (ostensibly) was before they confessed romantic feelings, centered on platonic friendship and support and denial so letting the ferret go means he is letting go of that unproductive mindset and looking to their future together in a romantic capacity in this essay i will--

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

As the clock struck eleven, India turned to the mound of dishes and sighed.  Really, it wouldn’t take that long to clean up, but it was always her least favourite part of the job.  It would help if they had a larger kitchen, or even a larger house, as it was the bowls and pans always started spilling out onto the side tables in the hall before the sun even set in summer.  But the dead-watchers had always lived in this hut off the side of the cemetery, so she supposed there was no point in agitating. 

Once the graveyard had been full of caretakers.  There had been cemetery watchmen to ward off graverobbing, there had been ritual mourners, flower layers, gardeners.  But traditions often lose their importance, and only the most important survive.  Hence why India’s vigil might, centuries ago, have been a lively affair with friends winking lights out in the dark.  Now, instead, she worked alone, whisking, sifting, beating, measuring.  She took a swipe of batter from the pan to test it.  Not quite thin enough.  She added a dash of milk. 

Marnie, the eldest sister, was the caretaker of the bodies.  She washed them, tidied them, dressed and arranged them.  She made sure the dead were comfortable and the living as well.  It was Marnie who sat on their overstuffed sofa in the living room and held the hands of mourners, and it was Marnie who ventured furthest and most often into the village, sharing gentle words with everyone she passed.  The kitchen in Marnie’s hands was full of warm, hearty, lasting meals, things to bring to the mourning, casseroles and stews and chillis that would last for days in households that had no life in them to cook.  She had tried to copy India’s more esoteric creations, her pastry palaces and mounds of profiteroles, her towering meringues, but found them too fiddly. 

India, on the other hand, loved her most fiddly work, it took up time she liked to see taken up and there was a deep satisfaction to it, a calmness that descended as she balanced sugared flowers on top of towering woven strands.  She wondered now as she plunged her hands into the hot water how they managed to place things so delicately still even as callouses grew from the endless scrubbing at the end of the night. 

Jona, the middle sister, handled the affairs.  She rarely spoke to the living beyond getting them to sign, to choose, to take or hand over.  She had a head for numbers and a hand for penmanship, and very little of a tongue.  Still, she was respected in town at least, it wasn’t work anyone wanted to do but it was work that had to be done. 

Eleven forty.  Perfect timing.  India gave the counters one last wipe then began her finishing touches, taking the last few goods out of the oven or the cold box, arranging them on plates, turning them around and around until she found the best angle.  Last few garnishes and there, she was finished.  She hummed quietly to herself as she extinguished the lights and danced up the stairs, just ahead of the slow grey mist beginning to curl in under the door. 

No one was sure why India worked as she did.  No one was sure why there was a baker among the dead-watchers, why there had always been a baker among the dead-watchers, why the house was always, must always be filled with three.  A strange thing, they mumbled among themselves.  Still, her confections that Marnie sometimes sold were delicious, so they couldn’t complain.  Most people only caught glimpses of her during the day, early in the morning tidying up inexplicably empty plates, probably, they assumed, left overs from dinner the night before, or in the afternoon tying an apron around her waist, or in the in-between times when she just seemed to skip around the house, flashing here and there, hardly visible among her two more solid, meaningful sisters.  A strange third to keep indeed.  But there must have been a reason.  Only the most important traditions survive, after all.   

[nnancydrewing]

me having a bone to pick with MID for ninety minutes disguised as a youtube video if anyone’s interested

[dontmeanyoudontmissit]

I'm taking tomorrow off (actually the most excellent timing in the world) and I'm going to the BEACH and I'm visiting the Watch Hill Lighthouse and I am getting ICE CREAM

[primsycoldbottles]

whatever tweet was posted on here abt listening to the gone girl soundtrack while doing work needs a million dollars . this is great

[flythesail]

Alright here goes.

The gist of it is that in s1 and s2, the themes arise organically from the combination of the plot and characters. In s1, solving the mystery of Tiffany Hudson interwines with Lucy Sable and becomes personal, tying in to themes of grief and trust as Nancy lets the Drew Crew into her life and begins to heal.

In s2, we have a lot of single episode plots. Yet, the overarching theme is Nancy's mental health, her struggle with identity (Drew vs. Hudson), and the way the Wraith plays into that. Everything is interconnected, yet because the Wraith is a presence throughout the season despite not being confirmed until the end, it's character driven. Single episode themes emerge while still connecting into that overall idea of identity and arising from the character journeys themselves.

Now in s3, this is where the themes are shaky. It feels less personal with the Frozen Hearts Killer. Temperance, by default of being this centuries old witch, results in a less grounded story. There are single episode storylines thrown into the mix, yet toward the end of the season, a whole bunch of plot is shoved in.

Note it's been a second since I've watched s3, but one idea I've played around with is the idea of choice and sacrifice as primary themes. See in the finale: Nancy being forced to choose between Ace and Horseshoe Bay, sacrificing one for the other. Beckett splitting Charity's soul into pieces, becoming the Copperhead himself, unable to sacrifice her soul in order to prevent Temperance from eventually using her soul as a key to open the veil. Possibly also a theme of love. Love for power over love for your daughter. Love that saves the town or for an individual.

But point being the theme(s) of s3 are not as consistently present so some episodes become very plot heavy to make up for the lack of a clear emotional pull from episode to episode. More or less, the plot has to be the connecting thread as opposed to the character journeys. Which, to an extent makes sense as the plot does carry throughout every episode. Yet the season as a whole will feel more unbalanced because the characters and plot are less interwoven than previous seasons. Plot is happening to the characters as opposed to moving with their journeys.

S4, however, is the direct opposite of s3 in that its themes are very clear. We have the Black Door - bringing up the idea of being able to sweep your wrongdoings (or sins) under the rug. It's the idea of taking responsibility, or in this case, not. S4 has single episode storylines too, but for the most part, those connect into the plot.

By the end of the season, though, we're left with the same issue as s3 where a whole lot of plot seems to happen at once. My thought is that the issue here is that there's too many themes to cover.

If s1 and s2's themes came to be organically, then s4's are almost the driving force of the season. In some instances, the characters are made to reflect the themes, as opposed to the themes reflecting the characters. The biggest example: Nancy going to the Black Door. The question being answered here is: What would you do for someone you love? Nancy crosses a line she never thought she would, but she does for Ace.

The issue with this is - Nancy and Ace already have their own thing going on with the curse. An easy way to fix this would have been Nancy going to to the Black Door and in some form erasing the curse so they forget about it and their feelings for each other. That works as a lead into the finale too, when they break the curse.

What the writers did do - it's like they're trying to use this plot point to do two things at once. Nancy going to the Black Door brings nace back to the forefront, but in a way that's inconsistent with the rest of the season. Prior to this, I'd say nace was about accepting the risk of loss that comes with love, but in the end you love anyway.

If you're not going with the curse, the focus of Nancy going to the Black Door should not have been nace. Because at the same time, we have a storyline going on with Bess and the police chief where Bess (and the Drew Crew) lose access to the Historical Society and effectively, the resources to manage the supernatural safely. The focus should be that Alice was killed from something preventable.

Instead, the focus is nace and forgiveness. Now this does align with another theme of the season - that you can always choose to do better. That this wrong choice of Nancy's does not make her irredeemable or unforgivable. But, you still have multiple themes shoved into the back half of the season.

It's entirely fine to have one storyline representative of more than one thing. Bess's storyline at one point or another, has symbolism for the LGBTQ+ community (4x03) and I think... drugs? (See 4x12 for that.) Yet, timing does matter.

There's just a whole lot going on, and rather than linking to the storyline with the Historical Society, Alice's death is used to create conflict for nace. Who did NOT need it. This also does not at all address what the problem really is: dropping the curse jar into the water. This is an unrecognized piece to the storyline concerning Bess and the Historical Society.

So out of the two options (pairing nace with the Black Door OR pairing Bess's storyline with the Black Door) they combine the two ineffectively, introduce Alice to create tension in a relationship that did not need it, and kill her in the process. Without even addressing the root cause that led to her death. It's a poor writing choice, especially for a show that prides itself on being fairly self-aware to use Alice like this.

If the concern was Nancy not having a big enough role in the story at this point, it was an active choice to go the direction of nace as opposed to connecting to the established storyline with Bess and the Historical Society.

Really, it would've been easier to just make Nancy going to the Black Door about the curse rather than opening up a whole new conflict. This also avoids tying into a theme that did not necessarily need more support. The finale goes ahead and makes the point of "you can always choose to be better," when we learn of Nancy's past life. Outside of that, nace had enough going on as is. Overall, certain themes were prioritized over pre-established character journeys and poor decisions were made in the process.

Now, of course, s3 and s4 do have less episodes than s1 and s2. Could more episodes have fixed these issues? Probably. Just in the sense that they could have spread out the plot in those "plot heavy" episodes toward the end of both seasons. Maybe there would have been time to further develop certain plot points and look at different points from different angles.

Still, I no longer think fewer episodes is the sole cause of the issues of s3 and s4. Instead, it's a result of a less defined focus as opposed to s1 and s2. A clear approach is always going to be important. But it's especially important when you have fewer episodes. There's less wiggle room.

As we see a trend toward shorter seasons, it's not impossible to tell solid stories in 13 episodes or even 8. Personally, I find 6 to be too short for television. 18+ is still going to be ideal for a show like Nancy Drew, where the writers sometimes love their themes too much.

Maybe that's why s2 is (imo) the best. A more episodic format gave the freedom to explore as many themes as they wanted. What happened to that in s3? They went to a more concrete plot focus. If they wanted, they could have continued with a more episodic approach.

S1's core plot would always be hard to top just because it was interesting AND it was personal. It let the show be character driven, with a strong plot, in a way that balanced. The best way to approach s3 and s4 would have been to look at s1 and s2 and ask: why did these work? They worked for different reasons, but it all comes back to what was prioritized.

I have a running theory of why the writing in s1 and s2 of Nancy Drew is arguably stronger and that it has little to do with the number of episodes and instead the approach to storytelling but alas that's all I can say for now

[radioactiveparker]

The Breakfast Club - Eddie Munson X F!Cheerleader!Reader

Part Two - Low Tolerance For Dehydration

Chapter Summary - We begin to learn the truth about why these kids are the way they are. (A retelling of The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes.)

Chapter Warnings - Characters are all 18+ / Strong Language / Illusions to Abuse/ Abusive Relationship / Dysfunctional Families / Kleptomania / References to Religious Beliefs / Sexual References / Drug References / Stereotyping / Angst

Word Count - 7.2k

(Series Masterlist) (Masterlist)

(Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five)

-----

Saturday.

October 25th, 1984.

Hawkins High Library.

10:30am.

~~~~~

After that rather thrilling event courtesy of Eddie Munson and Principal Higgins, the next two hours went on forever.

The grinding of gears, the hum of the electric motor, and the movement of the clock's hands invaded the silence. The second hand made a rapid clicking sound. You counted each one. At twenty-second intervals, the minute hand squeaked. The clock sounds became the percussion for a lullaby that almost lulled you to sleep.

Eddie remained seated next to you, spending the better part of an hour sulking that he had just wrecked the rest of his winter. The rest of the time, he spent scratching markings into the table with his car keys (which you immediately told him to stop out of annoyance. He ignored you, of course) and counting all the pictures he can see in the medullary rays of the wood. In his mind, he connected the lines and dots. Before his eyes, they formed the crude outline of a shapely woman with her legs rudely spread apart. He used the notebook paper to cover it up. He did not want to spend the next five and a half hours with a boner he couldn't get rid of. Especially one given to him by something as ridiculous as an imaginary table lady.

Steve was lazily picking off the fuzz of a tennis ball that he found in the lost and found box behind the front desk, piling it up in a small illuminous heap. The bald patches reminded him of principal Higgin's round, balding head. He picked at it harder, really digging his fingernails into the stringy felt like it had personally offended him.

Nancy was trying to write her paper. Normally, the undisturbed silence would be prime time to work on an essay, but she began staring off into space, her mind wondering. All she had managed to write was a title 'Who Am I?', her name, the date, and the time. Each time she would bring herself back to reality, she would check her watch, then erase the time and write the new one. 

Robin was hunched over, hidden in her hair as she scribbled over her cherry red converse. She wrote whatever came to mind; her name, milk duds, a drawing of the top half of a naked woman, a copy of her fingerprint. She kept going until the red had almost disappeared.

You rested your head in your palms, eyes looking up as you counted the tiles on the ceiling. You got to thirty eight when Eddie nudged you. You opened your mouth to scold him for making you lose count, when he slid a sheet of paper over to you. He'd drawn a tic-tac-toe grid and placed an X in the centre square. You grabbed a pencil and drew a circle in the top right corner, deciding to keep him entertained before he starts causing more trouble. He smiled cutely when you slid the paper back to him. 

The two of you played until both sides looked like a gingham tea towel. Much to your distaste, you lost 38 - 43. Eddie pulled tongues as the victor and you decided then to never play tic-tac-toe with Eddie again; you didn't want his head getting bigger than it already was.

The library door swung open and Principal Higgins stood with a scowling face.

"All right. Who has to go to the rest room?"

All hands shot up. 

Higgins gave a single nod, signalling that everyone could get out of their seats. You groaned in relief when your spine cracked, though you still had pins and needles in your left foot and your butt was numb from sitting on it for too long. The Principal lead you all down the hall to the restrooms, where he unlocked them with a jingling of keys.

"Two minutes for the boys. Three minutes for the girls." He stared at his watch like he was already starting the count down.

"How come they get an extra minute?" Eddie complained, pointing at the group of girl who all had their arms crossed, looking at him like the answer was obvious.

"Try and remember your biology, Munson." Principal Higgins rolled his eyes, still staring at his watch.

"Oh, right. Does that mean Harrington gets another minute?"

Annoyed, Steve pushed through into the bathroom. Eddie followed behind, laughing manically. 

The two of them rarely used the schools restroom, even for Eddie who was kind of a slob, they were too disgusting. Students only ever really used them to hide when skipping classes. The walls were covered in graffiti and a few of the tiles were cracked, and there was always something on the floor that made the bottom of their shoes sticky. They didn't even want to try to guess what it was. Steve stood in front of the urinal and unzipped his jeans. Eddie hopped onto the countertop and fished through his hair to retrieve the cigarette from behind his ear.

"You want one?"

Steve took a peek behind him. "Oh yeah, ten of 'em please. I need to prove I'm a man."

"Whatever man." That was the last time Eddie would offer Steve anything ever again.

He fumbled in his pocket, took out a lighter and lit his cigarette.

Meanwhile, the state of the girls bathroom wasn't much better. The floors were less sticky, but there was always tissue all over the place, and a funny smell in the air.

"Is this a drag, or what?" You looked at your tired eyes in the reflection and started complaining about them to the girls. 

Nancy rummaged through her purse, pulling out perfume bottles, make-up, compacts, brushes; an incredible amount of things that she probably didn't need. Nancy very helpfully let you borrow the make-up out of her bag. You were looking as good as new in no time.

"You want one?" Robin pulled out a pack of spearmint gum and stuck one in her mouth.

You looked at her repulsed. "Robin, you can't eat in the bathroom. What if you get VD of the mouth or something!"

She paused like she hadn't thought about that. She quickly walked to the sink and washed her hands. She grabbed a paper towel to dry them and then used it to open the door. She held the door open with her foot, wadded up the paper towel and made a three pointer into the waste bin. A shot that even Steve would find impressive, even if she did surprise herself making it in the first place. She didn't show that though. 

"You're into washing your hands, but you eat inches away from a live toilet?" 

She gave you an offended glare her, and left the bathroom, letting the door close on you and Nancy. You turned to Nancy and gave her a look that said 'I'm not crazy for thinking that am I?'. 

"I mean that was a little disgusting, but you could have worded it a bit nicer."

She walked out, leaving you wondering whose side she was on.

"I didn't mean to upset you." You called after Robin. "I was just reacting to something I thought was seriously weird. I mean, I'll listen if you needed some one to talk to about it." 

Robin didn't give you the time of day, just rolled her eyes to herself. She didn't appreciate the way you worded your apology; like she was the one with the problem.

"Let's go. Shake it off!" Higgins called into the boys bathroom.

Even with the extra minute you were given, the girls still managed to be done before the boys. Eddie opened the door, smelling strongly of tobacco.

"Where's Harrington?"

"Drowned." Eddie said bluntly.

The Principal crossed to the door and peaked his head in. "Alright, Harrington, c'mon. Lets go!"

Steve made a few final adjustments to his hair, raking his fingers through it to position his chestnut curls perfectly on his head. Principal Higgins dragged him out before he could finish.

~~~~~

11:30am

~~~~~

You laid across three chairs as some sort of make shift bed and tucked your coat underneath your head for a pillow. You had planned to take a nap, but Nancy had decided to sharpen her pencil. The winding and grinding of the sharpener grated your ears. She knew she was making a lot of noise, but she couldn't seem to get a good point on her pencil. She took it out of the sharpener, blew the dust from the tip, and examined it before shoving it back in. She had three quarters left of her pencil.

Steve had a straight leg on the front table and reached over to touch his toes, stretching his hamstring. How he did it in those jeans was beyond you. His little grunts of effort and heavy breaths as he switched legs annoyed you almost as much as Nancy's sharpening. Robin was in her same seat, picking at her black, chipped nails in her lap and chewing her gum loudly out of spite. How you had gone from sitting in hours of silence, to a sudden ruckus when you wanted to sleep was just your luck. 

Eddie had chosen to sit in front of you on the table, ripping out pages of textbooks from the history section. 

Nancy winced at each tear. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Princess? I'm vandalising public property." He said it like it was obvious, loudly ripping another page to emphasise his point. "You get off on being stupid, or something?"

"You're such a waste."

Eddie placed the book gently on the table, giving it a few taps for good measure. He sat up straight, hands on his knees like a teachers pet. He nodded sarcastically in agreement. "You're absolutely right. It's wrong to destroy literature. It's such fun."

He jumped down off the desk, kicking up loose pages as he stalked over to his next victim: the card files. He pulls out the entire draw completely and lugged it back over to his spot on the desk. The unexpected slam of it on the table startled you, and you sat up with a huff. There was no way you were getting sleep any time soon.

Nancy scoffed as he began yanking the catalogue cards out and putting them back in a random order, creating a horrible mess for someone to sort out later. She continued to grind the sharpener.

"Big deal." You mocked her, she and the sharpener were really starting to get on your nerves. "It's not like there's anything better to do."

Eddie was impressed. He turned to you. "You grounded tonight?" 

His question threw you off, but you knew there was definitely more to it. "No, why?"

He looked surprised that you weren't, but he didn't know that your parents weren't even aware you were here in the first place. "Reefer Rick is throwing a Halloween party down by Lover's Lake tonight. Wanna come?"

Apparently, all it took was a few games of tic-tac-toe to get into Eddie's good books. There was a part of you that wanted to go. It was another excuse to get away from your parents, but you didn't want to imagine the shit you would get from Carol if she found out you had gone to a party with Eddie 'The Freak' Munson. Then Billy crept back into your mind. Your blood went cold at the thought. You knew he wasn't here, but you expected him to come charging through the doors any second now. You had to make sure he knew you weren't interested in Eddie. You didn't want another repeat of this morning.

"Why would I want to go to that crackhead's place? I'll probably catch a disease."

Eddie looked a little disappointed and a little offended that you had insulted his friend, but he hid it well. So why did you feel kind of bad?

You looked up at him with big eyes. "I mean, my mom doesn't like me going to parties anyway."

"What about your dad?"

"If I do what my mom doesn't want me to it's because my dad says it's okay.  And if I do what my dad doesn't want me to it's because my mom says it's okay. It's like this whole big monster deal. It lasts forever and it's a total drag. It's like any minute: divorce." You hated talking about your parents, but I felt good to get off your chest. Carol and Tommy never cared to ask.

"Who do you like better?"

"Huh?"

"You like your old man better than your mom?"

"They're both screwed." You sighed. You didn't like where this conversation was headed anymore. Nancy had stopped sharpening her pencil and you could feel everyone listening in.

"If you had to pick?"

"I don't know. I mean, they must have loved each other at some point, but I guess I wasn't around for that part. So I don't think any of them really care about me either. They just use me as ammunition in their little wars."

"HA!" Your response had provoked a laugh from Robin. A laugh that let you know she thought you deserved it. She was more offended by that comment in the bathroom than you had thought.

"You're just feeling sorry for yourself." Steve added, shaking out his legs.

You didn't find it very fair that they were ganging up on you all of a sudden. "If I didn't, nobody else would."

"Oh, you're breaking my heart." But Steve didn't sound sincere at all. You weren't enjoying this side of Steve one bit. And it was all because of Billy. 

"Do you get along with your parents?" Eddie sided with you.

"If I say, yes, I'm a real idiot, right?"

"I think you're an idiot anyway. But if you say you get along with your parents, you'll be a liar, too."

"You know something, I've just about had it with you. If we weren't in school, man, I'd wail all over you. They'd have to pick you up with tweezers."

Eddie didn't seem fazed. Eddie got threats like this all the time, it wasn't anything he hadn't already heard before. 

"I don't really get along with my parents." Nancy piped up, trying to get the boys attention away from each other so there wasn't a brawl in the middle of the library.

"Yeah right, you're every parent's wet dream."

"That's the problem." She paused, you saw her eyes glaze over then looked at you. "I don't think my parents ever loved each other either."

Everyone was silent, looking at her like they were waiting for her to burst into tears. She regretted bring it up.

"They must have married for some reason?" Steve asked. Whether it was because he was being nosey, or he was concerned for her, you couldn't tell.

"My mom was younger. My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family."

"Screw that."

"Yeah, screw that."

"I could see you not liking them for making you wear those kind of clothes, but, shit, what else would you be doing if you weren't busy making yourself a better citizen?" Eddie clearly hadn't read the room.

"Why do you have to insult everybody?" Eddie was really pushing Steve's limits. You noticed it happened especially when it came to Nancy.

"I'm being honest, asshole. I'd expect you to know the difference." He said it like he had had a similar argument with Steve in the past.

Nancy raised her middle finger at him. 

"Whoa, obscene gestures from such a pristine girl."

"I'm not that pristine." Nancy argued, though she regretted it almost immediately.

She cleared her throat and make her way back to her seat. 

"Are you a virgin?" She caught Steve's eye, they shared a look, but Eddie missed it. "I'll bet you a million dollars that you are."

"Would you take that bet, Robin?"

"Not really."

"That's the last time I call you 'Robin', Buckley."

He continued. "Have you ever been felt up? Over the bra, under the blouse, shoes off...hoping to God your parents don't walk in?" 

Nancy was getting upset. "Do you want me to puke?"

"Over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned, Calvin's in a ball on the front seat past eleven on a school night?"

You squeezed your thighs together. His voice was deep and masculine, sending you off into an alluring day dream. You found yourself in the back seat of a car, a strong man towering over you, rough hands caressing your soft skin. He takes off your bra, exposing your breasts to the cold air of the night, nipples hardening. He's groping them, kissing them, loving on them. Your moaning and he's trailing his lips lower. Your hands thread themselves in his brown, wavy hair. He's pulling your panties down with his teeth, looking up at you with those big brown eyes of his. And suddenly you were in the back of his van, pulling off his patched, demin jacket until he's leaning over you completely naked. He put his lips to your ear, whispering --

"Hey, why don't you leave her alone!" Steve breaks you out of your imagination.

"You gonna make me?"

"Yeah."

"You and whose army?"

"Just me and five of my fingers. I hit you. You hitting floor. Anytime you're ready."

Eddie realised that Steve was being serious, but doesn't believe he is quite capable of making good on his threat. 

"Yeah? You want a black eye to go with that split lip? You couldn't fight Billy Hargrove, what makes you think you can beat me?"

Your chest tightened at his name and your eyes darted to the door. They stayed shut. It calmed you a little, but your heart was still beating against your ribcage. You placed a hand there in case it burst out. You wondered how Eddie knew about the fight at the party, you hadn't seen him there. But then again, word travels fast around Hawkins High. Your breathing became heavy. All this arguing was making you dizzy. You could do without a repeat of last Thursday.

"Try me."

"Eddie." You pleaded him not to retaliate, swallowing down your pride for a second of peace.

He looked at you, and suddenly Eddie was not in the mood to fight Steve. The fear in your eyes scared him a little. You were serious about them not fighting. But luckily for you, Eddie knew when to stop. Besides, there were ladies present, and he was a gentleman.

To some extent.

 "Whatever man, I'm not getting into this with you."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" He paused. He wasn't going to tell Steve he did it for you. "'Cause I'd kill you. It's real simple, you'd die and your fucking parents would sue me and It'd be a big mess and I don't care enough about you to bother. So drop it."

"Chicken."

"You know, you should see a doctor. I think those steroids are frying your brain."

Steve just laughed him off, believing that he had scared Eddie into yielding and he was just giving one last dig to preserve his pride. Eddie looked a Nancy, but she was already staring at him. 

"What is it that makes you act like such a fool?"

"I'm not getting enough vitamin B."

Steve fumed. He wanted his fist to connect with that smartass mouth of his. "Let's end this right now. You don't talk to her...you don't look at her and you don't even think about her! You understand me?"

"I'm trying to help her." He said it like it was as plain as a pikestaff.

"Help me?" Nancy was insulted. "Why don't you work on yourself?"

"I did. I finished last Tuesday. Now I'm working on the rest of the world." He pointed at Steve, who looked about ready to swing. "I could help you, big boy."

"Spare me."

"I can help a lot of people, all they have to do is ask nicely."

"I'll kill you." Steve threatened with a clenched fist.

Eddie looked unmoved. He heard threats like that at least five times a day. "Well, I should just let you and everyone else who wants to kill me fight for the privilege."

There was a rumbling from beyond the library door. In a flurry of panic, everyone got themselves into position, acting like they hadn't moved an inch away from their seats. Eddie sat next to you again, accidently kicking your foot under the table. You kicked it back in annoyance. He did it again, only on purpose this time. 'What a child' you thought. You put your coat on the back of your chair and sat up straight, expecting Principal Higgins to come storming in.

Everybody visibly relaxed when Carl, the janitor, came rumbling in with his music playing quietly from his radio, dragging his cart behind him. He had a face you didn't quite know how to take; he looked friendly enough, but could turn at the snap of your fingers. He was skinny and stood at a height of 5"8, with a limp of a man who worked hard for his living. He smiled everyone, but the only one who seems the acknowledge him was Robin. She returned the smile and gave him a small wave, in hopes of being nice but not letting the others see. He went into the librarians office and grabbed the waste basket.

"Hey Sweetheart, your dad's here." 

You gave him an unamused smile and kicked his shin under the desk once more.

Carl came out of the office and dumped the basket on his cart. He left his cart in the main library and walked down the pathway to grab another trash bin at the back of the room. 

"Hey, Carl?"

Carl paused in surprise that any student here, with the exception of Robin, would talk to him. He turned around, but Eddie still remained facing the front, putting his back to him. 

"How does one become a janitor."

Everyone supressed a giggle, even Steve despite his dislike for Eddie. Only Robin remained silent. She didn't find it very funny.

"You want to become a janitor?" Carl raised an eyebrow.

"No I just wanna know how one becomes a janitor because Steve here, is very interested in perusing a career in the custodial arts."

Steve stopped laughing at that. Carl scratched his head. He knew that they were making fun of him. But Carl wasn't one someone should mess with. He turned off his radio, pulled off his rubber gloves and shoved them in his back pocket.

"You guys think I'm just a lowly janitor. Some fucking untouchable peasant. Maybe so, but following a broom around after shitheads like you for five years, I've learned a few things. I read your notes, I go through your letters. I listen to your conversations. I am the eyes and ears of this institution. I know where you are now and I know where you'll be in the future."

Everyone exchanged worried looks as Carl moved to tower in front of Eddie. "You got ten years, max. Drugs. Rundown trailer in West Texas. Whore wife takes the baby, you shoot a fatal dose. Probable? Maybe not. Possible? Think so."

He turned to you. "You get married to a guy with lots of material success. Corporate position. Big bucks. Black Jag. You have three kids, nobody gives a shit. You get divorced and have a big fuckin' heart attack at thirty-eight, thirty-nine."

Steve was next. "District sales manager for a golf club manufacturer. Shitty little compact company car, twenty-two five a year and a wife as big as a boxcar."

Finally, Nancy. "Six face-lifts and two boob jobs by forty and a husband with more girlfriends than anniversaries."

He stepped back and put on his gloves. The stunned reaction on everybody's faces made him smile. "But I'm just a janitor." He shrugged.

And with that, he grabbed his cart, wheeled it around and headed out. He paused at the door and looked at the clock. 

"By the way, that thing's twenty minutes slow." He winked as he left and everybody groaned. 

~~~~~

12:30pm

~~~~~

Everybody was bored out of their skulls after the shock of Carl's speech had worn off. You took the time to think about what he had said. He had tried to put a downer on you, but the life he had predicted for you sounded like paradise, compared to now. Even if you did only have twenty years left to live. As crazy as it sounded, it gave you a bit of hope. There was a chance that you could work up the courage to leave Billy and meet someone nice, or at least wealthy. You had never given any thought about having kids, especially not with Billy, but now, maybe you could see yourself with a kid. You'd want a boy, and he'd look just like his father; Curly brown hair, big russet eyes, and a toothy smile. What would you name him? Would you name him after his father? Maybe Michael, or Christopher, James. Edward? You liked that name. 

Your eyes flashed to the door as it opened. Principal Higgins strolled in with a frown of his face, even though no one had done anything to upset him yet.

Yet.

"Thirty minutes for lunch." He declared.

"Excuse me Sir, I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place to eat lunch."

"I don't care what you think, Harrington." 

Steve sunk back into his seat.

"Uh, Dick?" Eddie cleared his throat. "Sorry, Richard. Will milk be made available to us? Someone like Steve could choke to death on a dry sandwich."

"I have a low tolerance for dehydration, Sir." Robin added.

"I've seen her dehydrated, Sir." Steve sat up again. "It's pretty gross."

You wondered if that was true, or if he was just playing along. The things he said about her, you wondered if they knew each other. Probably not, you brushed off the thought. They were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, there was no way they knew each other.

Principal Higgins scowled.

Eddie stood and raised his hands like he was trying to calm a wild animal. "Relax, I'll get it."

"Ah,ah,ah. Grab some wood there, Munson. You think I was born yesterday? You don't fool me for one minute. I'm not having you roaming these halls."

Eddie plopped back into his seat with a defeated sigh. It was worth a shot.

"You." He pointed at Steve. 

He eyed up the other students, skipping over Eddie as he decided who else was most suitable to leave. You sank into your seat. You did not fancy having some alone time with Steve. Steve stared directly at the Principal before darting his eyes to the right where Nancy was sat, signalling for him to pick her. She sat up to make herself more evident. 

Higgins ignored them and pointed a finger at you. "And you. There's a soft drinks machine in the faculty lunch room."

You broke into a cold sweat. This was going to be the most awkward ten minutes of your life. Either Steve was just going to pretend you didn't exist, or he was going to absolutely grill you. You hoped for the former. 

As you reluctantly got out of your seat, Steve held out a hand to the others for money. Nancy took out a change purse from her bag and handed him fifty cents. Robin does the same with the loose change in her jeans pocket. Eddie fished through his coat pockets. He found some assorted change, crumpled gum wrappers, some loose tobacco and a screw. He handed it all to Steve. 

Steve made his way out, not even looking to see if you're following him. You do, of course, but you lagged behind him, not feeling particularly comfortable being alone with him. You counted your steps as you walked, fiddling with the delicate chain around your neck. It was a simple design: just your name written with gold, cursive lettering. But it was the only jewellery you never took off. Your parents had bought it for you when you had started cheerleading at eight years old. It was a reminder of when life was much more simple, when you believed that your parents actually loved each other, that they loved you. 

A minute passed and you already couldn't stand the silence. You dreaded it, but you knew this would probably be the only opportunity you would get to hash out your grievances.

"Why do you hate me?" A forward start, but at least it's a start.

"You know why."

"Look, what Billy did wasn't my fault --"

"Of course it is. If you hadn't been there in the first place he wouldn't've showed up."

"Hey, I didn't even tell him I was going to that stupid party. He was there anyway. If you hadn't come over and butted into our argument, maybe you wouldn't have that split lip."

"My parties aren't stupid."

"Is that seriously all you took from that?"

"No..." He paused. After hearing your side of the story, he was beginning to feel like a fool. "What were you guys even arguing about?"

You sighed. "Billy and I had plans to go to this drive in movie theatre. I don't think he wanted to watch a movie though, I think he was just hoping to get lucky." The two of you had stopped walking. Steve looked at you intently, encouraging you to carry on. You shifted on your feet. "If I'm being completely honest I didn't really want to go, but then Carol asked me to go to your party and I took it as an excuse not to go with Billy. I knew he would be angry if I cancelled our plans last minute, so I told him I was sick. Biggest fucking mistake of my life."

"So you went to the party and Billy caught you out in your lie."

"Yeah. Turns out one of his friends had asked him to go but he'd declined 'cause we were going on a date. He accepted the offer once I'd cancelled our plans."

Steve started walking again. You followed next to him this time. "I know Billy is a bit of a shitbag, but why didn't you want to go on your date? I mean, it seemed like a good time."

There was no such thing as a 'good time' with Billy. He had his moments, sure, but he was as cranky as a wet hen. Time with him was like trying to swim with rocks on your back. He sucked all the fun out of everything until you started drowning. You didn't tell Steve that though. 

"I just wasn't in the mood to be around him, is all." You brushed him off. "But he's bringing it up all the time, and were arguing all of the time. Even in school."

"Is that why you're here today?"

His question made you pause. He stopped a couple of steps ahead of you and turned around when he saw you weren't next to him anymore. You played it off like you were itching your leg and jogged up to him. The two of you made it to the teacher's lounge. 

The first thing you noticed was that it was very brown. The floor and ceiling had the same white speckled tile that ran throughout the entire school, but everything else was just ... brown. Brown wallpaper, brown leather sofas, brown table, brown countertop. Even the fridge was brown. The vending machine was in the far corner.

"Why are you here?" You asked Steve, hoping he hadn't realised that you hadn't answered his question. 

"Me? I'm here because my father and my coach don't want me to blow my ride." He started feeding the change into the machine. "They think my intensity's for shit. You see, I have a different set of standards. I get treated different because Coach thinks I'm a star. So does my old man. But you know what? I don't care. I'm not a star because I want to be a star, I'm a star because I got good legs and reflexes. I'm like a racehorse. That's about how involved I am in what's happening to me."

You nodded, but you had a suspicion that that wasn't the whole truth. "Yeah, so why are you really here?"

Steve was annoyed that he hadn't managed to persuade you. "Forget it."

You studied the set of lockers on the other side of the room. You walked over to them out of curiosity, trying your luck with one of the doors. To your surprise it opened. 

Steve caught you out of the corner of his eye. "You really shouldn't be doing that."

Inside lay a set of keys attached to a green Hawkins High lanyard, a pack of cigarettes, a 'thank you teacher' mug, and a Prince's Purple Rain album on vinyl. Steve came up behind you, looking inside and letting the soda cans thunk loudly at the bottom of the vending machine.  

"This is a teacher's stuff?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah. Does this mean that they're actually human?" You laughed together for the first time.

Daringly, you pocketed the pack of cigarettes in your cardigan pocket and took the record. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, put them back." 

"C'mon Steve, when are you ever going into the teacher's lounge again? Besides, it'll give us something to do while were stuck in that god damned library."

You shut the locker door and brushed past him. You gathered up the soda cans, giving Steve his share to carry and made your way back to the library.

"It was pretty strange looking at teacher's personal shit, huh?" You said, examining the purple record sleeve.

Steve shrugged, he'd seen stranger things. "I went over to Coach's house for dinner once during the summer. It was really weird to see how he lives."

He paused, anticipating a question, but you just looked at him to carry on.

"His wife was fat. And one of his kids was in a wheelchair. It was kinda sad. He was a nice kid."

"If he invites you over to his house, why does he shit on you?" 

"He and my old man are working to get me a scholarship. It's not an economic issue. Scholarships make the newspaper. They think I have a shot at a full ride. They think I deserve a Big Ten school."

You simply nodded and walked through the library doors. The others were gathered in the corner by the comfy chairs. Eddie was holding a book opened to a page displaying a man with elephantitus to the nuts like he was reading children a bedtime story.

"How do you suppose he rides a bike?"

The clattering of soda cans on the table drew their attention away. They all walked over to grab a can. Before the others could take one, Eddie reached out and shook one furiously.

You look at him like he was crazy. Perhaps he was. "That's going to spray all over you."

"Not necessarily."

He put the drink back with the others and moved the cans around so than no one would know which was was shook up. 

"You're such a dingus." Robin bravely took a can first.

Everyone else followed before taking their seats and pulling out their lunches. You simply took out an apple, loosing your appetite after seeing a man with elephantitus to the nuts. You noticed Eddie didn't have any lunch as he surveyed everyone else's. 

"Where's your lunch?"

"You're wearing it." He winked. 

You curled your lip in disgust, but felt about as red as your apple. 

"You're nauseating." Nancy complained, opening her lunch.

"Look who's talking. You don't care what you put in your mouth." He eyed Nancy's lunch like she had just shown him a plate full of snails. "What is that?"

"Sushi."

"Sushi?"

"Rice, raw fish, and seaweed."

"You wont accept a guys tongue in your mouth, but you'll eat that?"

She scoffed impatiently. "Can I eat?"

"I don't know, give it a try."

The room went silent as everybody watched Steve pull out his lunch from a large brown grocery bag; three sandwiches, a family-sized bag of chips, an apple, a banana, a bag of cookies and a carton of milk.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" Robin asked in shock.

"No, I'm only going to eat half."

"What are you going to do with the other half?"

"Shoving it up Eddie's ass."

How charming. He reached for his can and everybody shrunk away, thinking it might explode. He cracked the tab. 

Nothing happened.

Robin took out a sandwich covered in saran wrap. She unwrapped it and pulled the bread apart, starting to work on it like a mad scientist. She tossed the meat away, blindly whipping it to the side. It slapped on the wall and stuck there. She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out a bag of chocolate M&M's. She tore the bag open and dumped all of it on the buttered bread. Out of her coat pocket she pulled out a little baggie filled with Captain crunch cereal and sprinkled it over the M&M's. She closed the mess of a sandwich and took a huge bite. She noticed that everyone was watching her. 

"You are bizarre." Eddie thought Steve's lunch was bad.

She reached for her Pepsi to wash it all down. She put it to her mouth and popped it. The soda sprayed cleanly into her mouth. 

After the fizz was gone, she smirked at Eddie. "Nice try, dingus."

"What do you have?" He turned to you, watching take a bite into your apple.

You handed your bag over to him, rather than speaking with a full mouth. He started pulling things out. He pulled out a sandwich, a thermos of soup, which he opened and give a big whiff, and a bottle of water.

"Well Sweetheart, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rodgers?"

Eddie stood so he was front and centre of the room, all eyes on him. 

"This is my impression of life at our darling Sweetheart's house." He gestured to you and your face flushed.

"Hello, dear. I'm home from the coalmine." Eddie impersonated your father.

Eddie quickly played your mother. "Oh, hello, sweetie pie. Dinner's almost ready. I'm serving stuffing instead of potatoes." 

"My favourite!" 

His voice turned high and shrill, playing you. "Hi, Dad! Yippee, you're home! I danced in a skimpy skirt in front of hundreds of people today. I went to church and I wrote Grandma a letter. Now can I have a pen pal?"

"Dear, isn't our daughter swell?" 

Quiet and motherly. "Yes Dear, isn't life swell?" 

Eddie mimed your mother kissing your father, then father kissing mother, and then your father punching your mother in the face. Suddenly it was not so funny anymore. 

Your eyes were wet. You hated how much that hurt. It wasn't his words that hurt you, it was how much you wished it were true. 

You bravely stood up. "No, it's more like --"

"Dad? Is it okay if I shoot heroin?"

You lowered your voice, playing your father. You held an imaginary newspaper in your hands, not taking your eyes off it and pretending that you weren't paying attention. "If it'll make you happy, pumpkin." 

You extended your fingers and blew on them, doing your mother and her fresh nail polish. "What are you talking about, Frank?! How's she going to wear her Sunday dress with holes in her arms? We are going to church aren't we?

"It's okay. Never mind. I won't be a junkie." You said sadly.

"Now, just wait a minute. If you want to be a junkie--" 

"I'm not going to be the only woman at the congregation with a junkie daughter. Now what about church?" Your mother said.

"Go by yourself!" Said your father.

"With pleasure! I'm taking Y/N." 

"Over my dead body!"

"I love her more than you do!"

"Go to hell!"

Everyone looks at you with a hint of sympathy. Even Eddie.

"Do you wish they'd get a divorce?" He asked.

"No."

"Why not?" 

"I'd have to live with one or the other. And I don't know which one is worse." You laughed, but there was no humour behind it.

"Whose next?" Eddie ask, like he didn't already know he was going to single out Steve. Eddie pointed at him. "You're next."

"Yeah, no thanks."

"You an orphan?"

"I don't need to dump on my parents. Especially when they're not here to defend themselves." Eddie gave him a look like he was being chicken.

"What about your family?" Steve asked Eddie. He wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine.

"Mine? Real simple, pal."

He climbed onto the table, really setting the stage and getting himself into character. His eyelids lowered and his body moved clumsily, like he was drunk. "Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamn freeloading, son of a bitch, big mouth, know-it-all, asshole, jerk!"

He stands up straight, crossing his arms and raising the pitch of his voice. "You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful." His mother said.

"Shut up bitch!" He smacked the air, hitting his invisible mother. He yelled it so loud you were worried Higgins was about to storm through the door.

As his father, he threw a punch. Eddie dramatically dropped from the table and fell to the ground. He stood up, brushed himself off and took a bow. The show was over. 

"Then they make me work to pay off the dentist for the teeth he busts."

"Is that for real?" Nancy looks like she's going to start crying for him. 

"You wanna come over some time?"

She didn't want to believe that something like that could happen to anyone. Even someone as vexing as Eddie. Nancy decided then to never complain about her parents again.

"That's part of your image. I don't believe a word." Steve brushed him off. His re-enactment hadn't moved him at all. 

You wondered if he was right. You had been so truthful about yours, you would feel ashamed if he had lied about his.

Eddie actually looked hurt. "You don't believe it, huh?" 

He whipped off his red shirt and pulled up the sleeve of his black t-shirt. He shoved his arm in Steve's face, displaying a grotesque purple scar. Steve recoiled away from it, but Eddie forced him to look at it. You subtly tugged at the sleeve of your cardigan. You could feel the bruises of Billy's fingers purpling on your wrist.

"You believe that? It's about the size of a cigar." Eddie spoke through gritted teeth. "That's what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage."

Eddie was breathless with anger. His muscles were tensed up so tightly he thought he was going to give himself a full-body cramp. He needed something to calm himself down. Luckily, he knew just the thing.

~~~~~

<<<Previous // Next>>>

~~~~~

Taglist: @cruwushes @the-ch0sen-on3 @namelesshumanperson @ali-r3n @cadence73 @munsonssweets @ahoyyharrington @mewchiili @yourdailymemedelivery @httpsunflowers @b-irock @coolglittercornbae @sav12321 @cumslutforaemond @siriuslysmoking @learninglinesintherainn @peaches-roses-sins @lodeddiperrodrick @catherinnn @lilocapoca @minniedreamers @melaninjhs

[apricitystudies]

what i read in may. 2023:

(previous editions) bold = favourite

class, race, & labour

blackbirding: families were ripped apart in the pacific — now, these women are working to reunite them (australia)

the not-so-hidden racism of nancy drew

i’m fucking agitated, are you going to murder me? (usa)

who owns the country? the secretive companies hoarding england's land

a gruesome severed fingertip tells a painful story about corporate japan

being an honorary white person doesn’t make us more powerful

gender, sexuality, & intersectionality

cocooning

‘fearless, stoic and attractive': a history of the state-sanctioned russian woman

i am a man, but i am not

chile's new law blazes trail for children of femicide victims

why foreign wives in south korea are vulnerable to domestic violence

politics & current affairs

the true cost of tuna: marine observers dying at sea

the abolitionists born after hurricane maría (puerto rico)

thailand’s opposition parties start alliance talks after voters reject military rule

how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life of an island (portugal)

el salvador gangs: mass arrests bring calm but at what price?

after the fall (australia/afghanistan)

history, culture, & personal essays

how i left the far right (usa)

‘how do I prove my innocence?’ casting students as would-be cheaters eager to exploit ai tools is disheartening

the rape culture of the 1980s, explained by sixteen candles

i placed my first wager when i was 10. i’ve gambled more than $1 million since

the joy of sulk

missed calls

i asked chatgpt to control my life, and it immediately fell apart

[pluckysidekick]

Nancy Drew Episode 218: The Echos of Lost Tears

I wrote a little essay about how amazing this episode is for the HAND Discord server, where we’ve been doing brackets for the show’s episodes (the brilliant idea of @binancydrew). But it got kinda long-I had a lot to say 😂. So I’ve posted it here along with a few gorgeous GIFs from some amazing Nancy Drew fan creators (with credits). I hope you enjoy it!

————-

218 is the zenith of the best season of TV ever, Season 2 of Nancy Drew. The Wraith storyline, hidden in plain sight throughout this incomparable season, comes into focus and allows Nancy to work through her deep trauma and learn to accept all of the parts of herself, even the ones she doesn’t like e.g. Nancy Hudson. And her friends, her soulmates, are there, in real life AND in her dreamscape, to support her, to defend her, and to love her just as she is.

218 is also the culmination of Nancy’s journey to find out what kind of person she wants and needs as a partner in life. We see hints of her being amused by Ace, being attracted to Ace, and increasingly relying on Ace, throughout Seasons 1 and 2. But only in 218 does she finally admit to herself that Ace is her *person*. There’s a reason that in 403 she tells Ace that she knew she had feelings for him when they fought the Wraith.

GIF by @andsjuliet

“You’d been there for me so many times before, but that was…” She was overwhelmed by how supportive Ace was throughout their fight to defeat the wraith, while he asked nothing in return. He tells her “All this time, the wraith made you think there was no separating you from it- you just proved that wrong”*Swoon*. He kept her safe as he drove her to New York in Florence, and held her up when she was weak. He held her hand, and rubbed her back, when she was fighting the wraith. He helped her to stand when they’d defeated it but she was still weak. When Nancy expressed surprise that she was strong enough to hold the trauma, Ace is the one that said, “I think you always were, Nancy,” as he helped her stand up, and with that look between them.

GIF by @nacesource

But 218 also has growth for every character. Bess saying goodbye to Odette, and George’s generous offering of love and friendship to allow them a passionate kiss before Odette goes inside forever, with Lo Moon playing, was so beautiful I want to cry just writing this.

GIF by @booasaur

George takes a huge step forward by proposing to Nick after she hadn’t even wanted to pretend to be his fiancée, and Nick has found someone that loves him for him, and we see him preparing to open the Youth Center. Carson helps Nick to lay Celia to rest, signs away his right to be Nancy’s dad, and invites Ryan to move into the Drew house. An incredible turnaround in their relationship, and the foundation of Dad #1 and Dad #2!

The ending, as heartbreaking as it was that Nancy just missed Ace (for now), Nancy ending the episode claiming herself as a Hudson and deciding to break up the company and provide reparations to Everett’s victims is a powerful statement. And while the wraith is a fantastic supernatural monster, it’s also an amazing metaphor for depression, and feeling a lack of self-worth. Nancy’s breaking up with Gil is so powerful and meaningful for many people who’ve been in difficult relationships.

GIF by @hucklebucket

And so many classic moments! “You drew a fish!” “I hate zebras!” The look between Nancy and Ace at Odette’s antics outside Myrtle’s house- silent communication at its finest. The Myrtle/Temperance reveal! The Dads and knuckleball! And of course, “You weren’t born broken- the only way to heal is to let that pain become love.” “It’s time to kick the monster out of your house.” “Will you hold me?” “I thought you’d never ask.” “Knock ‘em dead”.

GIF by @hucklebucket

Speaking of which, the dreamscape was an amazing sequence technically, writing-wise, and emotionally. The progression through Nancy’s different selves, the support of her friends (George and her crowbar), the realization that she loves Ace and that amazing dream scene at the bluffs (the first almost kiss!). And the way it ties together so many moments from past episodes - tween Nancy and her first big case, her birth at the bluffs, her adoptive mother’s death, the evolution of her relationship with Nick into deep friendship, her low point of the kidnapping of Everett. AND the little touches of everyone wearing outfits from earlier episodes - Ace wearing his 212 outfit e.g. the Grant episode where Nancy saves him at great cost (“I couldn’t lose you”), was a personal favorite touch of mine. All in all, brilliant storytelling, perfectly executed.

GIF by @nancydrewcentral

I haven’t said enough about Ace’s growth. He starts the episode wanting to get away, but not being able to leave Nancy when she’s in trouble. And then he’s the most supportive friend he (or anybody) could be. But he’s loyal, and he doesn’t suspect that Nancy has developed feelings for him yet (remember he thinks it didn’t happen until DetectiveCon). So he is able to put his hurt feelings about Gil aside, and apologize to Amanda, and go on the road trip. But when he tells her “I feel like I left something behind”, while Nancy is simultaneously going to his house to confess her feelings, while “For Me, It’s You” plays- AAAHHHHH. *Weeping*.

GIF by @wandasviz

313 is an amazing episode with iconic scenes, the Nace scenes specifically. I advocated for it as one of the strongest episodes of the latter half of the series. But some fans found the pacing is challenging, and the fakeout deaths of Ryan and Ace (beautifully) painful, and can be hard to rewatch. 313 is a jam packed, excellent episode of television. But 218 is a beautifully constructed, emotional journey for Nancy, the Drew Crew, and her Dads, and a cap to what many, including Kennedy (on Twitter), think is the best season of the show. It’s a superior episode overall from a superior show and fantastic season. Vote 218!

GIF by @drewcrewdaily

[yifftwiceplz]

human married specifically

I’m human married to the grind.

[raytorosaurus]

i remember reading somewhere that ray and gerard met at an iron maiden show, is that true? do you have any details about it? either way i love your blog!!

it wasn't the first time they met but there was a significant one! gerard and mikey first saw him at a rodney's show (ray's high school punk band) and were blown away by his weird and wonderful guitar playing (they even said they knew straight away that's the guy they'd want on guitar if they were in a band 🥲), and gerard also attended art school with the singer of the rodneys, shawn dillon, who's the one who properly introduced them. then in this interview gerard mentions he and ray reconnected when they went to an iron maiden show at msg together and beautiful sophia @sendmyresignation crunched some numbers in their amazing mcr+metal essay and it seems it's pretty likely that would have been around a year before mcr was formed. i assume that's what led ray to joining gerard's band nancy drew on bass (mentioned a couple of places including lotms) too? and then a few months before mcr formed ray also wrote the music for the song in gerard's breakfast monkey animatic!

[rebelrobin86]

Birthday (Robin Buckley x Fem!Reader)

(It was my birthday last month, which inspired me to write a Stranger Things birthday fic. Reader is Robin's girlfriend and wishes to be spending her birthday with Robin.)

"Y/N, are you okay?"

Your best friend's softly spoken voice suddenly took you out of your trance.

"Huh? Oh uh, Sorry Chrissy. I was thinking about Robin." You replied, only just registering that you zoned out.

You had never argued with your girlfriend before, until last night. You asked Robin to take the day off work to spend with you but she refused. You knew you couldn't blame Robin, you didn't tell her or anyone it was your birthday.

You hated the thought of Robin stressing over getting you gifts, when money was tight. You could imagine how awful it would feel if Robin told Steve, especially if he then threw a big party at his house for you with kids that weren't that nice to you or the other "freaks" in high school.

It sounded like a total nightmare! However, the idea of spending your special day alone didn't feel a lot better.

"It was just a small fight, nothing to worry about, I know Robin still likes you." Chrissy smiled and softly responded. She always could make you feel better when you were worried or overthinking.

"You're probably right." You shrugged trying to hide a smile.

"I know I'm right." Chrissy confidently responded.

**************************************************

Chrissy convinced you to walk over to the Wheelers with her, telling you she needed Nancy's help with a college essay.

She tried not to giggle, noticing how oblivious you were to everything.

You were so distracted you didn't notice the balloons outside the house, or even see Chrissy open the door. She followed close behind you as you walked in.

"SURPRISE!!"

Everyone jumped out from their hiding places. You screamed, then hid your face behind your hands.

You were so shocked and honestly never could have imagined anything so amazing.

You couldn't believe all your friends were there, they not only remembered your birthday, but threw a surprise party. It was the best type of party, because you honestly loved everyone there. You saw a table full of presents and balloons and fun decorations over the living room.

"What?" You started laughing as you looked over at Chrissy next to you. She also couldn't stop giggling. "Did you know about this?" Chrissy nodded.

Robin ran to you and throwing their arms around you wrapping you in the biggest hug. "Happy Birthday Y/N!!"

You cuddled your partner, noticing she was still wearing their Family Video uniform.

"I didn't lie I did go to work today, I just couldn't say anything to spoil the surprise, you know? There's no way any of us would forget, or not celebrate your birthday."

You softly sniffed as you felt a few tears fall down your cheeks that Robin gently wiped away with her thumb.

Robin worried. "Please don't cry, I hope you like this."

You smiled "I love it, thank you."

"You've got presents!" Robin squeeled as she took your hand and pulled you to the couch. Everyone sat round you to give gifts. You loved all of them.

It was the best surprise birthday party!

Hellfire even made you a special campaign for your character called "The Birthday Adventure" Eddie was extra careful to ensure your character's survival but still had fun with the team.

You thanked everyone for the party and everything before going back to Robin's house for the evening.

**************************************************

You happily put all your gifts down on the counter, including the delicious birthday cake Nancy had made you.

"I've got you something!" Robin excitedly bounced handing you a wrapped present.

"That's really sweet, but you didn't have to get me anything."

You smiled as you gently tore the paper open.

It was a Walkman, just like Max's. It was wrapped with a special mix tape next to it that wrote "Y/N love Robin" with hearts drew around.

The present was too amazing, you felt close to crying again. It was so thoughtful, that explained why Robin had been doing so many overtime shifts recently. You felt guilty, but it was your favourite present you had ever received.

"This is amazing, Robin. Thank you so much, I love you!" You exclaimed.

You two had never said "I love you" to each other before this moment.

Your cheeks burned red, embarassed. You were so sure you meant to say you loved the present and that slipped out.

You panicked. "I love it! The uh, Walkman and tape!"

Robin also blushed and giggled "I love you too Y/N."

You were so excited hearing Robin say that, you both smiled. Robin then softly cupped your cheeks with her warm hands and kissed your lips.

"Happy Birthday!"

[2010s-nostalgia]

Yes there is already a video on it, but I only trust myself. I'll watch it just to check

I need a deep dive on the peter pan fandom

[unclefredandjohnnierutter]

#1: Secrets Can Kill

“You better stop your nosey nosing or it’ll get bent way out of shape!”

A Nancy Drew inspired playlist // listen here

↓ Tracklist and more below ↓

Featuring:

School Day (Ring Ring Goes The Bell) - Chuck Berry

I’ve Got A Secret - Kate Nash

Wooly Bully - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Backstabber - Kesha

Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Go’s

Young Lovers - Lesley Gore

stranger danger! - hemlocke springs

Wild Wild Young Men - Ruth Brown

Boy’s a Liar - PinkPantheress

Oblivion - Grimes

Dirty Little Secret - The All-American Rejects

The Great Pretender - The Platters

I Stand Corrected - Vampire Weekend

We Used To Be Friends - The Dandy Warhols

Genres include retro diner tunes, unchill beats to plagiarize essays to, and some good old fashioned interpersonal relationship based teen angst music that I listened to in high school

Despite being the first game this is only my third playthrough, and the second time through the remastered version. The little nods to all the other games were fun But i gotta say it felt like there was some extra charm missing from the remastered characters that those 2D characters had on lock…But still so much to look at, so many little hidden pieces and clues that kind of don’t quite make sense to me but alas

[heygrrrlratpiss]

In the Nancy Drew PC video games, Nancy herself is autistic coded. She shows many symptoms of autism throughout the thirty-three games, most of which are shown through verbal interactions with the suspects. In this essay I will

[naancydrew]

i keep telling myself that someday ill start making nancy drew video essays but i cant lie to myself and say that they wouldn't all be about how nancy is bisexual