#a better writing choice would have just been making nancy SMART considering that's how she's introduced

[kurokoros]

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[blackjack-15]

Ziplines, Blood Ties, and Colonavirus — Thoughts on: The Silent Spy (SPY)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY, VEN, HAU, RAN, WAC, TOT, SAW, CAP, ASH, TMB, DED, GTH

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with my list of previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: SPY; mentions of the “Nancy Games” (ASH-SPY); SAW; mention of National Treasure (2004).

The Intro:

It’s our penultimate meta, and this time, it’s personal.

In every way, The Silent Spy is the culmination of the Nancy Games. Ever since her trip back home in ASH, Nancy has been increasingly featured in the games, showing us more of her personality, her life, and her backstory — all in an effort to lead up to this story, where we actually delve into Nancy’s place in the world and what it means that she lives in it.

And the answer to that is a lot less wholly idealistic than the franchise would have given 20+ games ago.

I don’t mean to say that SPY is a cynical game — it’s honestly fairly neutral, edging on positive — but that SPY accepts the fundamental truth that all of the Nancy games have been leading up to: that Nancy, though talented, hardworking, and connected, is simply another fish when it comes to the sea of life. She’s not unique in any way that really matters – look at her foils in Alexei, in Jamila, in Deirdre, in Jessalyn — and yet she continues to work hard, to solve puzzles, and to right old wrongs.

At least for me, this is a hopeful message. The point of “Nancy Drew, Girl Detective” is not that no one could do what she does, it’s not that she’s the best, most experienced sleuth in the world, and it’s not that she’s the Last, Best Hope of those who call upon her for aid. The point behind her character is that she’s a relatively normal (if wealthy) girl who does what she can, and chooses to do it again and again.

There’s a wonderful part in the equally wonderful movie National Treasure when our heroes are reading a part of the Declaration — the part talking about the right of the citizens to throw off a despotic government like the British had become — and Ben (Nicholas Cage, actually in a good movie for once!) defines it in modern speech:

“If there’s something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.”

In the beginning of the Nancy Drew games series, Nancy is merely an intuitive puzzle solver. She gets her cases through family connections, turns up at places where mysteries happen to occur, etc. etc. As time goes on and she practices, she eventually comes to the point where she’s being hired for bigger and bigger cases, more and more regularly — in short, she starts to live the truth of that quote. Nancy is, at her core, someone with the ability to take action against things that are Wrong. Throughout this series — and most especially, throughout the “Nancy” games (ASH-SPY), she becomes someone who recognizes her responsibility to take action.

And that’s what’s showcased here in SPY. Upon arriving and learning that she’s been led to Glasgow under false circumstances, Nancy is immediately and wholly over her head — but she’s still someone who has the ability to take action to right a wrong. When she’s working against Revenant, warning the scientist, or reading through secret memo after secret memo, she’s not doing it with the intent to Save the World; she’s finishing Kate Drew’s last task. Her loyalty isn’t to Glasgow, to Cathedral, to MI5, or any other player in this story — her loyalty is to her mother, and to the task Kate Drew died while trying to finish.

Which is, in my view, the best possible motivation in a game that’s all about family.

With that discussion behind us, I want to talk a little bit here about the other theme of this game — power. Revenant, as the terrorist group that they are, want to seize power; their goal is to run Glasgow (branching off from there into a wider sphere, of course) through seizing power during a (self-induced) state of emergency — aka, what’s referred to in-game as the Colony operation.

This is, of course, Politics 101 — whip people up into a frenzy, come in promising to Save Everyone, and entrench yourself in power that you can’t be moved from with any amount of ease. And while Revenant planned it for 2005, it would work even better in 2013, when social media and instant, 24-hour news cycles can keep the fear alive far more effectively than Revenant would have hoped for nearly a decade prior.

Both in 2005 and 2013, Revenant nearly succeeds, only to be foiled by a red-head out of her depth but who tries anyway (the difference between the two, of course, is that Kate was isolated and Nancy had backup). The most startling thing — and one of my favorite things about this game – is that it doesn’t end with Nancy ‘killing’ Revenant once and for all, or even stopping the Colony Operation once and for all. Nancy is, in every way, out of her depth here; she’s not used by either side as an agent, or even as an asset — she is, as Zoe reminds her, a tool, valuable for what she might know, not for her skills, not for who she is, or what she works for.

As the games from TOT on have worked hard to expand Nancy’s world and tie it together, SPY shows the benefit of having a wide-open world: that the world goes on, people live and die, and secretive organizations (ATAC, Revenant, Cathedral, MI5…) plot and scheme to remake the world in their image.

This, in my view, is also a great thing. The thing that Nancy Drew books (and a lot of the early games) get wrong is that Nancy fixes (or is party to fixing) all of the problems introduced. The piano-playing girl that Nancy meets ends up with a Grandmaster as a teacher; the inheritance goes to the Worthy Widow and Her Daughter; Nancy rescues her tied-up father AND solves his case for his client all in one brilliant masterstroke.

That’s not to say that every story should have all of its threads dangling by the end, but Nancy is simply a smart and resourceful girl, working (most of the time) with her own relatively meager resources. She shouldn’t be the answer to the world’s problems, and I think it’s lovely that, especially in the Nancy games, she really isn’t. Nancy is a helper, and that’s far more valuable than being an omniscient, all-powerful being who can magically fix everyone’s problems just by being there.

The last thing I want to talk about in this introduction is how good SPY is for Nancy’s own personal lore. There’s a lot of fuss every time SPY is brought up about how “Nancy’s mom actually died when she was three!!” which, honestly, tells me that the 60s re-writes (which, yes, if you’re pedantic, started in ’59) did more damage than I had previously thought.

The original Nancy Drew books were written in the 30s by various ghostwriters, and were a little different from the yellow-bound 60s rewrites that most people consider the “old Nancy Drew books”. 30s Nancy Drew was a little closer to our games-universe Nancy; brash, outspoken, punishingly independent, and incredibly capable. She’s also a bit violent and unruly, has graduated from school at 16, lost her mother at 10, and does as she pleases with the occasional call home to reassure Carson or (more often) to ask a question about the law.

Sadly, other than taking out a few racial and societal overtones that weren’t really acceptable after 30 years — mostly by taking out any non-white characters and including different forms of bias, note — the yellow rewrites weren’t an improvement to the stories or to Nancy’s character. Nancy becomes less bold, less independent, and far more focused on describing each meal in punishing amounts of detail. The words “kindly” and “sweetly” were increasingly added after “Nancy said”, she’s far more deferential to authority, and her mother instead passes when Nancy is 3, rather than 10.

In changing the form of the media to video games, rather than books, what would eventually become HER had a choice; they could align themselves with the newest Nancy Drew books — the Nancy Drew Files and Nancy Drew on Campus, both of which were known for being Hotter and Sexier (and, in the case of Campus, ridiculously stupid) — or choose what people called “the classics” — the yellow-spine 60s rewrites, as the once-famous blue books had been all but forgotten in the 90s. In the first (and still one of the last, honestly) brilliant move of the series, HER chose to mix and match the things that made for good game fodder from (nearly, given how much the Campus books suck) every written incarnation of Nancy.

And, to their credit, they chose an important fact from the 30s: Nancy’s mother died when she was 10, not when she was 3.

Losing a parent is a defining moment no matter when it happens, but the exact effect often changes based on (among other things) the age of the child. In order for Nancy to be the kind of person who is influenced by the mystery of her mother’s death, her mother had to have died when Nancy could remember — thus, 3 is right out, as Nancy might remember tiny bits and pieces of the events leading up to and right after, but nothing else.

By taking bits and pieces of contrasting (and often contradictory) lore and making their own out of it, HER (and I’m hat-tipping Cathy and Nik especially here, given Nancy’s characterization spike beginning around WAC/TOT) gives us a version of Nancy that’s similar to the sleuth we know and love from the books and movies (ignoring the 2007 disaster) and, occasionally, TV shows, while still keeping her mostly consistent and showing us a few new flashes that make this character stand out and win her place in the Drewniverse.

Now, with all of that said, let’s move on to this game in specific, shall we?

The Title:

The Silent Spy, as a title, is one that is wonderfully mysterious and really makes you want to know more — right up until the title drop within the game itself, at which point it shifts from quite alluring to desperately sad and foreboding.

After all, “the only silent spy is a dead spy.”

As the game really is about our resident Silent Spy — Kate Drew and her actions and legacy — this is really the only title that the game could have had, and it suits it down to the ground, both with its mystery and with its sadness.

In life, Kate Drew was silenced, and in death, she is obviously necessarily silent — but Nancy reads her words, remembers her speech, listens to her voice, and, of course, hears her song, whenever the world is quiet enough. And I think that’s a wonderful dichotomy for the title to introduce before the game has even properly begun.

The Mystery:

Summoned to Scotland by a mysterious message and guided by a photograph of her mother, Nancy arrives ready to retrace her mother’s steps — only to be thrown into a world of espionage, gadgets, untraceable phone calls, and deadly mishaps. Her luggage (and her best clue about her mother) having been stolen, the presence of an old family friend who refuses to talk, an evasive skiptracer, an excitable local, and a clever intelligence agent all work together to ensure that Nancy is off-balance the minute she arrives.

All, of course, is even less what it seems than Nancy is prepared for, and she spends to game gloriously off-balance trying to keep up with the larger forces pushing and pulling her. She needs to retrace her mother’s steps, escape from certain death, dig deep into the pasts and presents of the people she meets, and do some impressive sleuthing of her own to even make the change from tool to player — and even that might not be enough to keep her safe when the dastardly minds at Revenant come a-knocking…

As a mystery — or as a collection of intertwined mysteries, honestly — SPY succeeds at what a lot of other games tried (and ultimately failed, in one way or another), which is to link all the happenings in the game together under one cohesive plot that grows more and more horrifying the more you think about it. GTH has a fandom reputation for fridge horror, but SPY holds its own easily when you consider Kate’s fatal chase, Moira’s abduction and guilt, the threats that Ewan and Alec operate under, and the life that Zoe leads on the regular.

Every action that Nancy takes benefits someone — whether it be Cathedral, Revenant, herself, or an interested third (fourth?) party — without her really meaning to, and the game is great in including another question in every reveal.

The beauty of SPY’s mystery(s) is that it takes careful reading, paying attention, and honestly replaying in order to grasp the enormity of every action. No matter how many times you play or replay, there’s something new to find — a time-sensitive conversation, an implication in a note, a theory behind the presence of a clue or a piece of (what you previously thought to be) set dressing — it honestly is limitless, and it just helps to contribute to the feeling that this is a world that Nancy isn’t meant to truly be fully immersed in.

And speaking of people who are immersed in that world…

The Suspects:

We’ll begin, for organization’s sake, with our out-and-out (current) agents first, then tackle our other suspects, then our Nancy-related people, and finish off with — for the final time in this series, as this is the last “Nancy” game — Nancy herself.

A new, yet returning character, Bridget Shaw is one of the cover identities of Zoe Wolfe — aka Samantha Quick, who Nancy impersonated in VEN and who helped the Hardy Boys in Treasure on the Tracks.

Prior to SPY, I had money for a very long time that Samantha Quick would eventually come into the game, and I was absolutely delighted with her appearance in SPY — where else would she be so well situated? Zoe is snarky, disillusioned, cynical, and sometimes downright nihilistic, but she’s also someone who took up a job that, percentage-wise, no one wants to or is able to do, because she’s alone:

“I work in the field for two reasons: one, I don’t need any help. And two, because no one would miss me if I fell off the grid.”

I love watching the ND games subvert their own formula, and Zoe is a great example of the “helper”-type suspect who really isn’t like your traditional “helper” at all. She’s there to do a job, and if sticking with Nancy helps her to do it, then that’s what she does. But she’s not there to Right some Great Wrong for the warm fuzzies of it all, or even because it’s Just and Right. She’s there because it’s her job, and her job is to play the game.

“It’ll be brief, painful, and full of garbage…but that’s life, isn’t it? And that’s the metaphor I’m riding into the grave.”

Next is our (kind of) double operative and partial culprit, Ewan McLeod (real name Sean Kent Davis) is a clever operative of Cathedral who decided that he wasn’t valued or important anywhere near as much as he should have been, and reached out to Revenant to supply them with information. Summoning Nancy to Scotland, Ewan is easily able to gain a portion of her trust as the Watcher in the Wires and is her tie to the relative safety of Cathedral.

As a culprit, Ewan is — ultimately — pitiable. Not that he’s not an egotist with a victim complex a mile wide, but when you actually look at the situation he’s in, it’s hard not to feel bad for him, even though he did it to himself. Having contacted Revenant, he’s now attempting to hold a tiger by the tail, praying it can’t eat him — and his worst fears come true, as his loved ones are threatened (“trying to keep my friends and family alive”, remember) and he’s discarded and made a target by the terrorists that he tried to use to make himself important.

Given the rather chilling threats made by Revenant, I’m inclined to believe that when we find him tied up, he didn’t do it to himself. Nancy would have noticed if the knots were too loose to have been done by a third party, and we know Revenant told him several times that if he wasn’t useful, he’d be punished.

While Ewan makes terrible choices, he’s also a pawn being played by a larger force — like everyone else in the game — and that is at least worth pity, if not forgiveness.

Next up is our former Cathedral agent and all-around tough cookie Moira Chisholm. As one of the people responsible for the events that led to Kate’s death — though no one but Revenant is responsible for killing her, note — Moira lives with guilt, regret, and a powerful sense of loneliness that only the loss of everyone you hold dear can bring.

Moira’s guilty of nothing in the present-day calamity, and helps Nancy the very best she can in her own limited power, but is ultimately a character for whom the past looms larger than the present can match. She has her hobbies, but her house is filled with memories of days when people sat on her couch and broke her teacups, not of hours reading alone.

She’s an intensely tragic character, and an example of what happens when your need to know the “truth” can get in the way of doing right by those you love. Moira lost everything to her previous job for Cathedral (who is implied to have left her, an otherwise dangerous free agent, alive because they knew (correctly!) she would become stagnant and docile under the weight of her own guilt, ouch), and yet she risks life and limb to help Nancy —not because she thinks it’ll exculpate her, but because Moira, at her core, wants to help the world, no matter what it’s taken from her.

Our final suspect is Glasgow’s resident skiptracer and unwilling pawn Alec Fell, who, along with Moira, can be traced back to Kate Drew’s death. Originally, Alec investigated a mysterious car crash — the one that killed Kate Drew — and, when he didn’t stop after a warning, had his office ransacked and burned. In the few months before the game starts, he experiences another break-in and his sister is kidnapped, with a message informing him that if he wants to guarantee her safety, to comply with Revenant’s orders.

Unlike Ewan, when pushed into a corner, Alec does his best to raise a little hell while still trying to keep his sister safe. For everything that he does on Revenant’s orders, he also helps Nancy out, finds her suitcase, locates Moira, tells Nancy where the cards are, and does his best to push back in other, little ways.

Sure Alec is guilty of a few things — most notably the fake shooting scare in Nancy’s room — but he’s a very active character, riding the rails and searching for anyone who can help put an end to this situation. It’s not for nothing that he’s a fan favorite, both for this game for the series at large, and his excellent VA and charming dialogue only make up half of his appeal.

On our Nancy side, we’ve got a few returning characters and one (semi) new one, so let’s go through them before getting (for the last time!) to the girl detective herself.

Carson Drew, father and golf model extraordinaire, is here to ground (as in steady, not punish) Nancy as she goes through this mystery. As the other person besides Nancy who was most affected by Kate’s death, Carson is an invaluable source of Kate-related knowledge, but is concerned foremost with his daughter’s safety.

For my money, the most important thing we learn about Carson here is that, well…he married the wrong woman as much as Kate married the wrong man. It’s sort of simplistic to say that their story shows that, in some cases, love doesn’t conquer all, but it’s true all the same.

Carson was happy to jet off to Scotland on occasion to visit Moira and her husband, but being happy to take vacations is a very different thing from a life constantly shifting and changing. He’s a prosecutor, so he has a strong sense of justice, but also has a strong sense of stability — he chose a career with a set trajectory and clearly defined rules.

Kate Austin, however, was a journalist who occasionally consulted for a Spy Organization when life got a little too boring (it’s important to note that she wasn’t a straight-out spy like Moira — she was far too free-spirited for that). She had all of Nancy’s inquisitiveness but more people skills than Nancy will probably ever have, and made friends easily.

It’s easy to see how she would have been attracted to the All-American, hardworking, solidly intelligent, emotionally balanced man, just as it’s easy to see how the slightly flashy, clever, inquisitive, intuitive redhead would have attracted him.

If this is starting to feel like I’m describing two other characters here…well, longtime readers of this meta series already know what happens when I use a paragraph to describe characters without using their names.

Kate is important in the game in that we’re shown her differences from and —more enlightening — similarities to Nancy. Nancy’s actions in this game are reflections on what Kate did (and what she would have done) as much as they show how the daughter diverges from the mother. And while Nancy doesn’t have her mother’s people skills or ease of making friendships, what she does have is her mother’s – and I’m going to use this word purposely — flightiness.

At the end of the day, Carson couldn’t be with Kate when she flitted off around the world, and Ned can’t be with Nancy when she does the same.

(I also find it interesting that we deal in the games only with Carson’s side of the family, and never even have a mention of Nancy’s maternal grandparents. Yes, I know Kate could have been an only child and her parents could already be dead…but I do like the possibility that they blame Carson for Kate’s death (entirely undeservedly!) and thus cut off contact. But this meta is for, well, meta, not fanfic.)

Ned Nickerson plays an important role in SPY in that he tries to help Nancy the best he can, even to the point of breaking and entering in her house (though really, it’s just entering, since he has permission) to find a document for her.

Ned comes off brilliantly in this game, but it’s important to note that his big, impressive (yet charmingly understated) speech isn’t to Nancy, but to Carson. And it doesn’t sway Nancy, it sways Carson. Because, at the end of the day, Carson can relate to lots of the pieces that make Ned what he is, and the situation that Ned finds himself in.

He’s wonderful, as boyfriends go; he calls her, encourages her, offers oddly prescient hints…but he doesn’t go with her. It’d be easy enough to make that a point in the series that, though we don’t see it happen, Ned often accompanies Nancy on her escapades, but instead we’re told — often through contention — that the exact opposite is true.

Ned is solid, true, intelligent, emotionally balanced and kind, but above all, Ned is stable. He’s enrolled in college — in an honors frat — and plays sports, attends his classes faithfully, remembers important dates…the list goes on and on. These are all wonderful characteristics for a boyfriend, but he, like Carson with Kate, ultimately isn’t what Nancy needs out of a relationship — and she is certainly not, like Kate with Carson, what Ned needs out of a relationship.

At the end of the day, both would need to compromise — Ned would need to set off with her sometimes, and Nancy would need to stay close to home sometimes — in order to make the other happy. And, well…nothing we have in any of the games says that either one would do that in the long term. Sure, Nancy returns home after the fight in CAP for ASH…but is in Egypt the very next game — immediately followed by Colorado, Georgia, and Scotland.

And honestly, this is the basis on which I disagree with Ned/Nancy as a couple. It serves neither one and, as we see in quite a few games where they squabble, they can make each other worse.

And speaking of our resident sleuth, let’s talk about Nancy Drew before wrapping up this character section.

In SPY, Nancy is — as mentioned above — a tool, used by both sides to get what they want without caring how it personally affects her. The big thing we learn about Nancy in this — and one of my favorite characteristics about her — is that Nancy is pretty ruthless. To me, it makes sense that, to get the information she wants, Nancy does what a terrorist organization tells her to because 1) it’s not her home immediately at risk, and 2) most importantly, Nancy has done bad things in the name of a good end in pretty much every game.

Lying, stealing, breaking priceless artifacts, endangering others — none of these are really new to Nancy, and what SPY does is brings that to the forefront. Sure, you as the player have the option not to do what Revenant tells Nancy to do…but then you miss out on big parts of Kate’s characterization — and, more importantly, a big part of Nancy’s.

In an unprecedented move, I’m going to reference National Treasure again, and quote part of Ben’s speech before he steals the Declaration:

“[A toast] to high treason…here’s to men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they thought was right — what they knew was right.”

To me, that shows us why Nancy does what she does — in SPY, and in every other game where she lies, cheats, and steals her way to the truth. She does it because, at the end of the day, Nancy is a person who is ruthless in her pursuit of her goal. And that’s a valuable trait.

Especially when one is dealing with spies, terrorists, and shady government operatives.

The Favorite:

I love most of SPY, so I’ll stick here with the things that especially stick out to me.

As covered above, I love: what this game does for the lore of the ND world; ‘Samantha Quick’; the many motivations of our suspects, and the emotional resonance that this game has.

Beyond that, there are a lot of little things. I absolutely love that they got the relative of the guy who plays Carson to play Nancy when she was little — that’s adorable to me. I love the cookie-making minigame, the outfit swap for Bridget/Zoe, the voice work for all of our suspects and helpers, and the beautiful locations (especially the spy cabin, both exterior and interior).

My favorite moment in the game is a sad one, but I’m a mercurial kind of person, so you should have really expected that. It’s actually Moira’s log/diary/letter to Kate (it functions as all three) after Cathedral deactivates her as an agent. I love a lot about it — the sad, almost desperate feeling to the words, the pen color changing as the seasons do — but nothing is better done than Moira’s last entry:

“It’s winter. It doesn’t matter that it’s winter, does it?”

My favorite puzzle is probably the zip-lining one. Sure, it’s easy, and sure, the animation makes me a little motion-sick, but it’s just….zip lines are just cool. That’s all there is to it. It appeals to the spy-loving idiot in me, and I think big-woosh-go-fast is stupid cool.

I also have to give a hat-tip to Kate’s letter — turning a fandom meme into a heartwarming story? Nik, you mad genius — and Nancy’s letter to Kate at the end. Both are beautifully written and are the perfect centerpiece to their respective characters, and both always put a smile on my face (and, at times, a tear in my eye) when reading them.

The last thing I really do have to mention here is Logan’s quasi-reappearance. I mentioned this in my “Top 5 Surprising Moments” meta, but I love, love, love that Logan is a Cathedral operative, and that he reported on Nancy during SAW. Not only does this continue to open up Nancy’s world, but it also shows that there are consequences to Nancy’s actions. She’s in rare form as far as rudeness goes in SAW, and SPY weaponizes that against her, giving Cathedral (and Revenant) a way to weaponize her feelings about her mother’s death and her — to be frank — inability to let things lie as they are.

The Un-Favorite:

There are a few things that aren’t quite my favorite in SPY, so let’s run through those as well.

First, in the common refrain of “small visual distinctions are difficult for me personally”, I didn’t like that there wasn’t enough contrast between a plain (on the bottom half) cookie and the orange/purple jelly. The shadow on the screen makes it kind of difficult to tell them apart, especially if there’s sprinkles and/or frosting on top of it, and I found that mildly frustrating, even though I love the minigame itself.

The second thing I don’t like is the option to skip the dialogue. Yes, this is present in most of the newer games, and I don’t like it in them either, but it’s especially egregious in SPY and LIE. Both of these games really rely on hints given in the dialogue (and of course, in the written materials hidden around the game) in order to get a full, clear view of what’s going on. The option is great on repeat plays, but I really do wish that it was disabled if it was your first save file on the game.

The last annoying thing is the Jabberwocky puzzle — or rather, the percentage of the jabberwocky puzzle that the player actually has to do. The puzzle as it stands feels very confusing, and the “hints” you get are quite unintuitive.

The record tells you basically how to create the encrypted message — it’s the first letter from each green word, the second from each orange word, etc., arranged in the order they appear in the poem — but when you start the poem, Nancy has already basically completed this step, and it’s up to you to do the actual decoding just through process of elimination.

It’s a puzzle of letter deduction, like in TMB and the minigame in ASH — and these are normally my favorite puzzles! — but it’s cloaked in the disguise of an encryption puzzle, and for that, it’s incredibly irritating.

The Fix:

So how would I fix The Silent Spy?

The first thing I’d do, which you can probably guess based on the above section, is to fix how the Jabberwocky poem is presented. Even a bit of dialogue establishing what the player actually has to do versus what Nancy does for the player would be helpful in working through it without bothering making the encrypted message oneself, and would set the player up to actually know what they’re doing, versus the mass of confusion that comes with the puzzle.

The only other change I would make would to put in one more flashback — that of 10-year-old Nancy’s perspective shortly after Kate’s death, perhaps after the funeral. We spend a lot of time in flashback seeing Kate before her death, and I think it would add to just a little bit more of seeing Nancy’s relationship with her mother if we could see the Drew house with her recently gone.

(And perhaps, see or hear Hannah? Please?)

The Silent Spy is a game that I find, on the whole, to be one of the best that Nik penned, and certainly a fitting end to the series of “Nancy Games” that gives us a little more perspective on our teeth sleuth. There are as many moments of joy as of sorrow, but in the end the player is left with the feeling that Nancy’s world is a little better for knowing more about her mother, and that whatever else Kate did and was, she left behind a world (both in game and breaking the fourth wall) that was better — and had ways to become even better than that — than it was when she lived in it.

[nikkoliferous]

In spite of what you might have heard, Democrats aren’t stupid. Nor are they spineless, cowardly, incapable of messaging, or any of the other things offered as explanations for their decades-long failure to win most elections in most places, or to secure meaningful policy reforms for their voters. In the now famous words of Marco Rubio, spoken during his campaign-ending broken robot moment on the 2016 debate stage, “Lets dispel with this fiction that Barrack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing.”  

Yes, he does.  And so does the rest of the Democratic Party.  If you understand the Democrats as a party whose first priority is to win elections and then serve their voters once in office, then you have to look for far-fetched explanations for their actions, which often appear to be completely at odds with those objectives. What party eager to win over the middle of the country would repeatedly vote to make a wealthy San Francisco doyenne like Nancy Pelosi their Speaker? She’s a walking advertisement for the image of Democrats as a party of out of touch elites, more concerned with arcane speech codes than labor laws. But if you understand the Democrats as a party primarily concerned with raking in big bucks from wealthy donors, while drawing enough superficial distinctions with their opponents to maintain their identity as a separate party, then everything they do is pretty frikkin’ brilliant. Like forcing Joe Biden on their voters.

Let’s be absolutely clear: Bernie Sanders would undoubtedly have been the party’s nominee this year without the interference of its leadership. A lot of ink has been spilled about the failings of Bernie 2020, and some of those points are valid, but let’s not forget that Sanders won the first three states in the primary calendar, all while facing unprecedented hostility from the corporate media and party elites, so clearly he did a lot of things right. No other candidate has ever won the first two states without going on to secure the nomination, much less all three.

But no other candidate so universally feared and loathed by the money people and the consultant class has ever gotten so close to the big prize. Close enough that they were willing to drop all pretense of neutrality and fairness to ensure on the eve of Super Tuesday that instead of facing a fractured field of milquetoast moderates, Sanders would be going mano a mano with only Joe Biden, a man who voters had completely rejected in humiliating fashion right up until South Carolina. Remember, this was before we understood exactly how bad the coronavirus was going to be, or how badly Trump and the GOP would botch their response. No modern Democrat has ever won without high youth voter turnout, and there’s no way they didn’t understand that crushing the candidate of young voters was going to suppress their vote. Nor has any modern Democrat ever won without a high share of the Latino vote, and yet they chose to publicly and openly conspire against the candidate who was the clear choice of Latino voters.

All this in order to run a notoriously thin-skinned politician in the obvious throes of cognitive decline against the world’s most infamous bully. Without coronavirus, Biden was a sure loser and there’s no way the party’s decision makers and strategists didn’t understand that. No, they aren’t that stupid. If you consider that the battle they’re fighting is only secondarily against the GOP, and primarily against the left wing of their own party, what they did was actually very smart.

These folks can read a poll as well as anyone, and they understand that in the normal course of things their days are numbered. For years, Democrats have talked up their coalition of the ascendant; the new, young, diverse, and thoroughly blue no matter who electorate that was going to someday hand them majorities as far as the eye could see.  But now that it’s on the verge of arriving, it doesn’t look quite like what they were expecting. Turns out that rising electorate wants policies that will actually allow them to rise in more than a symbolic sense and isn’t quite as satisfied by platitudes and kente cloth as the old white liberal coalition was. They want universal health care, they want higher wages, they want student loan forgiveness, they want free college; in other words, they want the people they vote for to do something for them beyond diversifying their office staff. The problem for Democrats is that all the things they want them to do are a direct threat to the grift they’ve been running since the day Bill Clinton formally announced the death of the party’s animating FDR spirit by proudly informing the public that “the days of big government are over.” The Reaganite small government ethos that’s ruled both parties ever since, simply cannot be reconciled with the demands of voters whose first priority is economic justice.  So what do you do when your base sees through the hollowness of your politics and demands that you do better? Find a different base. And that’s where Joe Biden comes in.

The Biden campaign is a Trojan horse in the truest sense: it’s an empty vessel through which the Dems are attempting to substitute a portion of the GOP’s base for a portion of their own. The Democrats gearing their message towards white, professional class suburban voters is nothing new. They’ve been doing it for at least 30 years, first winning over the socially liberal/economically conservative “Rockefeller Republicans” in order to make up for their losses with union voters in the wake of NAFTA. Now they’re attempting with this election to win over the even more conservative “moderate Republicans” of this generation by running the kind of candidate who would promise in the midst of a pandemic and an ongoing populist uprising to veto Medicare for All, and not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400K a year. They’re not worried about handing over control of the party to Republicans in the process, because a Democratic Party dominated by moderate Republicans doesn’t look very different from what we have now – there’s hardly a shade of difference between your average liberal and your average “Never Trumper” ideologically.

The rising left, however, is an existential threat to the party’s modern make-up, ideology, and standard operating procedures. If they lose to Trump while trying to make the shift, something that was almost guaranteed at the time they decided to force Biden down the country’s collective throat, that’s really not a problem. Trump is great for fundraising and his sheer awfulness takes the onus off the Dems to be much better. Just being a little better than Trump is all they really need to be for as long as he’s in office. Seen from that perspective, Biden is a win-win. They either crush the left by assembling a new, even more conservative coalition, or they once again scapegoat the left for their losses and spend another four years pretending the country didn’t go to shit until 1/20/17. So if you’re a deeply corrupt member of the fake-left half of the country’s ruling elite, where’s the downside? It’s nothing but upside for everyone except the voters.

There’s only one flaw in this plan.  It doesn’t take into account the dangers of breaking the social contract so severely that the population becomes ungovernable.  Only a fool would believe that we can continue on our current course of spiraling wealth inequality combined with a collapsing quality of life, now severely exacerbated by a global pandemic, without a reckoning. Unfortunately, in keeping with their French, Chinese and Russian predecessors, our leaders are those fools. History shows us that those most in danger of getting on the wrong end of a People’s Tribunal, are always the last to see it coming. With Trump we get there a little faster, with Biden a little slower (maybe), but the American economic and political system as currently constituted is clearly unsustainable.

Vote your conscience in November in light of these realities (personally, I’m writing in Dave Chapelle), but know that the real battle is going to start the day after the voting ends.

[naancypants]

@maddarc you inspired me with this headcanon idea!! I wasn’t sure how to write something like this using regular scenes, so I tried something a little different to help span the time gaps. It’s not the best thing I’ve ever written lol but I just kinda threw it together so it’s whatever, here's a thing ✌ (@nancydrew-onthecase)

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow is my 14th birthday. Since mom is getting me the new Playstation system that I asked for, she made me agree to keep a diary. She thinks it’ll be good for me to write stuff down. But honestly, I don’t even know what to write about. This is gonna be awkward.

Joe

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Dear Diary,

Okay... I did a terrible job at keeping a diary. Whenever mom asked if I was using it I told her yes, but I think she could tell that I wasn’t - she didn’t give me crap about it, though. I’m 15 now, and Frank & I are deep in training to become ATAC agents. That’s the company our dad owns - American Teens Against Crime. We’ve been solving petty mysteries since we were kids, so I guess this is a natural progression for us. An awesome one, too! We get to use so many cool gadgets and go on the best adventures! The secrecy is exciting, but according to Frank, I’ve never been the best at keeping my mouth shut. I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Joe

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dear Diary,

Frank and I finished off the BIGGEST case of our careers last week! We’d been called out to this small town called River Heights because there was a serial bank robber who’d been evading police for a couple of months - but the best part is we didn’t have to solve the case alone! We met this girl named Nancy; her dad is a business contact of our dad’s. She’s super smart. She figured stuff out even faster than Frank! And when I suggested we go to the ice cream shop to talk over the case - much to Frank’s dismay - she just laughed and said “sure!”. Take that, Frank. It was a lot of fun... she’s a lot of fun. And she’s pretty. ... Stop looking at me like that. Not that you’re looking, because you are a book. But you know what I mean. Or I guess you don’t, because you are a book. But anyway... I hope we get to work with her again, that’s all.

Joe

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dear Diary,

We’ve gotten to work with Nancy a lot more than I thought, considering how far away we live. She’s cool because she never complains when I want to do something fun, unlike Frank. And I know I said this last time, but she’s reeeally smart. It’s honestly kind of amazing. For one case, we had to break into this abandoned house because Nancy had a hunch - as soon as Frank saw the “no trespassing” signs he was totally going to be a baby about it, but Nancy got him in line real quick. She took a pair of wire cutters and made a hole in the fence for us to crawl through, JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIES! And then she picked the lock of the back door with a bobby pin in like 5 seconds flat! My jaw was literally on the floor. They teach us how to lockpick in ATAC training, but we always have actual lockpicks to do it. I’m hoping Nancy can teach me her method one day.

And... okay, yeah, I guess you can look at me like that. Fine. You win this time, diary.

Joe

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Dear Diary,

It’s been almost 6 months since we first met Nancy and a lot has changed since then. For one, I recently learned that she’s been dating this guy named Ned for like a year & a half now, or something like that. Who’s keeping track? Two, Frank basically bullied me into admitting to him that I.. have a crush on Nancy. He’s not going to tell her though, not that I think he would anyway. He gets all weird and dorky when he tries to talk about feelings. It’s not a good look. Either way, there’s no chance in H-E-double hockey sticks that Nancy and Ned will ever break up, and I’m happy for them! He’s such a good guy it’s insane. Probably better than me, and that’s saying a lot.

Joking aside... I’m going to try to get over Nance. There’s no point in feeling this way about her if it’s never gonna happen!

Joe

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Dear Diary,

I swear to God Frank is acting weirder every time we see Nancy. He KNOWS that I had a crush on her but he KNOWS that I don’t anymore... or does he? I think he thinks that I still do, but I’ve done a good job at blocking it out. We’re 18 now, so it’s been a while. I normally don’t even think about it until Frank starts acting like a total loser around her and then I’m like...??? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? Anytime Nancy mentions Ned or their relationship or anything to do with love, he starts stuttering and blushing and acting all goofy. I’ve started having to fake-tease HIM about having a crush on her just to make it less awkward! I didn’t realize he was sooooo dense when it comes to romance. When I asked him about it, he said my former crush on Nancy was useless information that he wishes I hadn’t told him (NEWSFLASH: he made me tell him) and now he just doesn’t know what to do with it. Nancy seems to think it’s totally normal, but he looks like an idiot.

Joe

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Dear Diary,

It’s been a long time. I’m 24, Frank is 25. I think it’s funny how the only thing I ever really wrote about in here was Nancy Drew. It’s ironic, too, because that’s exactly who I’ve come to write about again.

She’s going through a lot right now and I wish I could be there for her more than I am. I do what I can, but it’s not easy when you live 4 hours away and are constantly being called away on cases. I also don’t want to overwhelm her, considering how long she and Ned were together. It feels... wrong, somehow, that they aren’t anymore. Frank of course has been telling me that I “finally have a shot” or whatever, but I’m not convinced. First of all, she’s only been single for 2 months. Second, she probably thinks Frank is the one with feelings for her, not me; especially with the way the media likes to focus on their relationship. But, as I always joke with Frank, it’s his own fault for making it weird!

Anyway. I feel like kind of a jerk for thinking about my feelings for Nancy when she’s literally going through the worst break-up of her life right now... but it’s weird how thing can pop back up again so suddenly, huh?

And as always, it’s not like I’m gonna do anything about it.

Joe

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Nancy Drew sits on the edge of her chair, sweeping her ponytail so that it drapes delicately across her shoulder. She sucks in a deep breath, fixing her anxious gaze on a random spot in the hardwood of Frank & Joe’s family home. It’s a conversation she’s been avoiding ever since her break-up with Ned 10 months ago. Crazy how time flies. “Frank...” she begins, noticing a distinct discomfort in the detective’s body language as she does so, “I - we’ve all seen the stories. The ones on the news, the speculation... about...?” Frank only stares at her, blankly, with eyes resembling those of a terrified deer. “About the two of us. Being together.” “Uhh, yeah,” Frank scratches at the back of his neck. “I’ve seen them. What about them?” Nancy sighs and allows her shoulders to make contact with the Hardys’ side chair. She crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m a detective, Frank. And I’ve known you & Joe since we were 15. I just want to clear the air about whatever is or is not going on. I guess, to be blunt, what I’m asking you is if there’s any truth to all those rumors.” “You did always have a way of being blunt when you need to be.” Nancy lifts an eyebrow at him, otherwise unmoving in her position. “I... ah, no, Nancy, there -” “It’s okay, Frank, really, if there is. You can tell me.” “It’s not that, Nancy. It isn’t me.” Ding-ding. Nancy hones in on his peculiar choice of words. “What do you mean, it isn’t you?” “I - listen. It doesn’t matter. I told you honestly. Are the rumors true for you?” His attempt to distract her is futile. “What did you mean by it isn’t you?” “Nancy, look. I made a promise that I wouldn’t talk about it.” “Talk about what?” Both Nancy and Frank turn their heads to see Joe Hardy drop his motorcycle keys onto the shelf next to the front door. What serendipitous timing, Frank thinks with a roll of his eyes.  “Nothing,” he says quickly, darting across the living room to the staircase with his hands out in front of him, “I’m letting the two of you talk this one out.” Joe glares after his brother, because despite not knowing what this was about, there’s no way he was going to like it. Nancy approaches him from behind. “All I did was ask Frank if he had feelings for me, like in all the media reports. Then he said it ‘wasn’t him’ and insisted that he wasn’t supposed to tell me about it. Do you know anything about that?” Joe swallows the lump in his throat as his heart rate picks up to about 580bpm. ...At least, that’s what it feels like. Joe’s first instinct is to stop & consider if there’s any way he can worm his way out of telling her at this moment; but at the same time, he thinks it may be better to just let things flow. “Uhh.” ...Okay never mind, decision has to be made. NOW. “Is it... you?” ...Oh, that’s right. She’s super smart. When Joe slowly turns around to face her, he can tell from the glassy look in her eyes that she’s already pieced together the whole thing. And for once, he doesn’t know what to say. So he doesn’t. Her breathing is heavy and uneven, to say nothing of his own. The only sound is the steady ticking of the mantle clock. Joe has no idea why but he has an irrepressible urge to apologize. He just wishes his voice doesn’t crack when he does. “Sorry, Nance.” Her immediate response is to tearfully shake her head and wrap her arms tightly around his waist. “Why are you apologizing?” Joe swallows again, hesitantly allowing his hands to fall onto her cardigan-clad back. “I- I don’t know.” and then after a beat, “Should I?” Nancy chuckles a bit as she pulls back, wiping at her eyes. “You should never have to apologize for how you feel, Joe.” That makes him feel a little better. But then, after an agonizing silence during which they have refused to make eye contact, he feels like sickening nerves start to take up residence in his stomach once again. “How do you feel?” Joe forces himself to ask, bracing for impact. Nancy exhales, placing a hand on her cheek. She has an odd sort of smile on her face that Joe doesn’t think he’s seen in the 9 years he’s known her. “I’ll be honest with you, Joe.” Oh, God. “It’s never occurred to me.” He swallows for the 758th time. Why didn’t he grab some water first? But then, to his surprise, Nancy giggles - like, she actually giggles. He’s never heard her giggle before. “But I think I like the idea.” “Wait what?” She gives him a meltingly genuine smile and steps a little closer. “You’ve always been there for me, Joe. You’ve made me laugh, brought soup when I was sick, gave me a call because I said I was lonely. And you’re always up for an adventure,” she causes his heart to go ballistic once again when she places her palms against either side of his waist, “And you know how much I love new adventures.” Now, at last, a smile cracks on Joe’s face - that goofy, wisecracker smile of his that somehow matches this moment entirely. He nods at her as elation finally makes its way in, and elation is the driving force behind their first kiss. There is a remarkable lack of uncertainty between Joe’s enthusiasm and Nancy’s natural reactions - it’s been a long time coming for one, and for the other, it’s an entirely new adventure.

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[presidentlauraroslin]

Drabble prompts: 23. “I immediately regret this decision.” Amos/Chrisjen OR 34. “Are you testing me?” Chrisjen/Nancy Gao OR 76. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you.” Bobbie/Chrisjen OR 99. “Don’t look at me like that.” Gerri/Roman if you're feeling adventurous

So I basically did all of them, except Gerri/Roman, because, oh boy, I am not confident in enough in my writing to tackle that. So pairings are:- Chrisjen/Nancy- Amos/Chrisjen (Rated E)- Bobbie/Chrisjen

34. “Are you testing me?”Chrisjen/Nancy Gao

“Why do you want this?” Chrisjensipped her gin-tonic and tilted her head. She knew she shouldn’t have done this,cleared the venue where Nancy was about to hold some campaign event, but witheverything going on in the campaign, and mostly outside of it, she hadn’t had achance to talk to Nancy and something in her, had pushed her to do this. Totalk. To break with all informal rules and basically disrupt Nancy’s campaign.Just like she had expected, Nancy wasn’t shocked or impressed, almost as if shehad known this would happen sooner or later.

“Why do you? You never wanted it inthe first place.” Nancy crossed her long legs, hands folded in her lap. On theoutside she looked calm, but the fact that she had just answered Chrisjen’squestion with another question told her that she wasn’t feeling certain, notsure of Chrisjen’s motivations to be there. Chrisjen couldn’t blame her for thesuspicion. It hadn’t exactly been a clean battle up until now.

“Because I will do anything toprevent the end of humanity, even if I have to do shitty job until the day Idie.” Something she sincerely hoped wouldn’t be necessary. She hadn’t ever consideredretirement, but the prospect of doing this job for a decade or more might causeher to seriously think about getting out of politics.

She just wouldn’t be able to forgiveherself if the protomolecule reared its ugly head again and she could have preventedit.  

“And I will do my best to give thepeople of Earth a chance at a better future. A chance to get off basics, to geta job, to do something other than wait for an opportunity.” Chrisjen smiled andshook her head, downing the rest of her drink. Nancy’s lips thinned. “You don’tbelieve me.”

“I do, that’s the fucking problem.” Sheknew Nancy wanted the best for the people of Earth and once upon a time,Chrisjen had wanted that too. Her focus had shifted however, to wanting toprotect the entirety of humanity. An impossible task that she had imposed uponherself and Holden, though how much he was aware of that, she didn’t know. “I knowthat you believe the Ring gate is our best option for the future. If theprotomolecule didn’t scare the shit out of me, I’d maybe agree with you. So Iwill fight you, to the bitter end, even though I think you could make aformidable Secretary-General. If we didn’t disagree so fundamentally, I’d bemaking sure you won.”

It wasn’t a lie. She had always seenNancy as a possible Secretary-General, would probably have pushed her forwardas a candidate to run against Sorento-Gillis, if the coward hadn’t slinked offat the first sign of trouble without any of his advisors around. But Nancy’sexpression had hardened, her hands tense in her lap. “What is this? What areyou doing? Are you testing me? See if I respond in a way that gives you aweakness you can exploit?”

“No, hard is that is to believe.”Slowly she stood up, straightening her clothes. Nancy looked as if she wantedto stand up as well, use her height to her advantage, but she remained seated.Chrisjen gave her a small smile. “I don’t like what you stand for, but I likeyou. You’re young, smart, ambitious, not a some castrated bobblehead likeSorento-Gillis. This is me saying I wish the situation could be fucking different.”

“Thank you. I wish the situation weredifferent too. Not the Ring gate. I wish it wasn’t you I were running against.”Chrisjen gently squeezed her shoulder when she walked past her and swept out ofthe hall. It was time to return to reality, being opponents once again. Asingle election decisive in what would be the future of humanity. What a fuckingmess.

23. “I immediately regret thisdecision.” Amos/Chrisjen

Chrisjen groaned out a quiet fuck asshe sank down on him, thanking whatever fucking god she had prayed to that morningthat she had some lube on her. Even with the orgasm he had already given her, shehad been no where near wet enough to take him or anyone really, and JesusChrist, did she need this.

His hands were on her hips and shehad the urge to pull them away, pin them beside his head. She didn’t mind himtouching her, obviously, but Amos, even with highly inappropriate comments andhis interest in whatever she was wearing, had something dangerous about him.She had seen men like him before, men who knew no fear, who had seen it allbefore and weren’t fazed by anything. He could hurt her so easily, if he wantedto.

Maybe that’s why she find herselfwith his cock inside her, her nails digging into his chest as she rolled herhips. He had something nobody she had ever fucked had had. And it just feltgood to have someone she could fuck and it wouldn’t bring her any difficulties.Being the goddamn Secretary-General had severely limited her options of sleepingwith people other than her husband. Amos had been easy, convenient, clearlyinterested in her and his mouth was more talented that she had expected. She’dbe feeling the chafe of his beard on the inside of her thighs for days.

“Come on, Chrissie. You can do betterthan that.” He squeezed her hips and then had the fucking gall to smack herass, not hard, but she narrowed her eyes anyway, digging her nails in a littleharder.

“Fuck you, Burton,” she spat at him.His eyes closed for a moment, a moanfalling from his lips. It didn’t deter him for long, the look in his eyes fartoo mischievous when he opened them again. 

“I thought you were.” He thrust upinto her, his hands holding her hips and ass tight enough that she wouldn’t besurprised if she found some bruises tomorrow. He looked so incredibly smug, theasshole, she resisted the urge to hurl another insult at him, knowing it wouldprobably only spur him on. He had never made a secret of liking her choice oflanguage. It also didn’t help she could still see the evidence of him eatingher pussy in his beard.

“I immediately regret this decision,”Chrisjen muttered, without any venom, although she really did want to slap himfor calling her Chrissie while being inside her, and Amos chuckled, squeezingher ass a little tighter. They had their rhythm now, it wasn’t soft or sweet,and she hadn’t wanted that either. She wanted to feel fucked and he seemed toget that, his thumb seeking out her clit, as she moved on his cock. She moaned,clenching around him, determined to make him come as well.

“You’re not the first person to saythat to me.” He was starting to sound a little breathless and she smirked, eventhough he was fucking good at getting her off as well, circling her clit like agoddamn pro. Chrisjen clenched her jaw, trying to hold off, but he really wastoo good at this. She was well aware of the fact that she was panting, her hairhaving come undone, her nipples still aching from when he had sunk his teethinto them.

“Probably not the fucking last either,”she replied. Whatever smart retort he had ready, he never managed to say it asraked her nails down his chest and arched her back, letting this absolute brickof a man with the subtlety of a nuke to the face make her come again. She bitback a cry as her legs trembled and her knees ached. He didn’t stop moving histhumb, not even when he let out a groan and followed her over the edge.

She looked down at him, letting thelast waves of her orgasm wash over her as she pushed his hand away from herpussy. He had his eyes closed, biting his bottom lip, muscles in his chest andarms tense. Ridiculous how easily he could snap her in half if he wanted to. Shedidn’t think she had ever fucked with someone quite as built as he was. Therewas definitely something in riding a man like that, making him come.

He opened his eyes and grinned ather. “Goddamn Chrissie.”

This time she did lightly slap hischest, where the red lines her nails had left behind stood out against hisskin. “Don’t fucking call me that.”

76. “I wouldn’t change a thing aboutyou.” Bobbie/Chrisjen

Bobbie sighed and leaned back intothe way too comfortable sofa that was situated in the luxury that was Chrisjen’sLuna home. She had seen her house on Earth. It was hard to believe some peoplewere rich enough to own two enormous houses while some people wasted away onbasic, a topic she had learned not to bring up, didn’t even want to bring upright now. She just felt tired and was glad to have a place away from the messon Mars to relax.

“Drink. You look like you fuckingneed it.” Chrisjen waved a glass of scotch in front of her and Bobbie took iteven if she wasn’t much of scotch drinker. It was liquor and with Chrisjen,sitting down next to her, her skin so warm and soft against her own, it wasenough to settle some of the thoughts racing through her mind. Not enough to getrid of the weight resting heavily on her shoulders.

“I’m a fuck-up,” she said after alarge sip of the nicest scotch she had ever had. Chrisjen scoffed and leanedcloser to her, her head resting on Bobbie’s shoulder. Bobbie looked down ather, the inky black hair, the expression on her face soft, her fatigue showingwithout any makeup to hide it. The nightgown was new, at least Bobbie thought so.The woman probably owned on in ever color of the rainbow.

“If you’re a fuck-up, then what am I?Lost an election that should have been easy, caused the death of twelve marinesand a few dozen Belters, and oh, failed to stop a fucking goldrush that will atbest, empty the sol system, and at worst wake up some alien threat that willwipe out humanity.” Bobbie smiled and rested her cheek on top of Chrisjen’shead.

“You’re a colossal fuck-up.” Chrisjenlet out a short laugh, placing a hand on Bobbie’s forearm. Bobbie wanted sobadly to feel better, but Esai’s face, the Belter tattoos, the air rushing outaround her, it was all burned into her memory and she couldn’t shake the overwhelmingfeeling of guilt that joined the images. “I should have done something. Anything. Ishould have tried harder to stop it.”

“It’s not your fault, Bobbie. Therewere a lot of moving pieces and if Belters managed to sway part of the Martianmilitary, you couldn’t have stopped it. Fuck, I probably couldn’t have stoppedit. We’ll be lucky if the two of us can figure out what the fuck is going on.”

“I should have been better. The dreamof Mars is going to shit and I’m following close behind. Or maybe leading thecharge. Who knows.” She watched how her fingers absentmindedly played with therim of her glass. She wasn’t the type to be self-chastising, but then again,she had changed a lot. And she needed to put this feeling of helplessness somewhere.Chrisjen sighed and plucked the glass from her hand, putting it on the table,her fingers underneath Bobbie’s chin.

“Bobbie look at me. We all makemistakes. We’re human, we’re not perfect. You’re not perfect, god knows I’m notfucking perfect. But I wouldn’t change a thing about you.” There wasn’t a liein Chrisjen’s dark eyes and Bobbie smiled, albeit a little sadly. Chrisjenreturned it and leaned in to press a soft kiss against her lips. “So stop weighingyourself down. Without you, I wouldn’t know that the Belters were up tosomething. Now, we can figure what. Together.”

Bobbie traced her thumb over Chrisjen’scheekbone and stole another kiss, making a little slower this time. “I’m stilla fuck-up.”

“We’ll be fuck-ups together.” Chrisjenunceremoniously dropped her tumbler back in her hands, the liquor nearly sloshingover the rim. “Finish your scotch. I’m tired and I’d like to go to sleep withyou next to me.”

[theguildedtypewriter]

What Did You Say? A guide to writing good dialogue

(Remember all pieces of advice are meant to help guide, that is all. They are not dogma.)

Ever read something and heard the dialogue in your head, and you just stopped. There was something off about it and for a solid minute there you couldn’t tell if the character was supposed to sound like that or if the author just didn’t have dialogue down. Chances are some mistakes were made. 

Dialogue can be tricky. There’s no doubt about it.

You need to make it sound like the characters are having a real conversation but if you write it exactly like people talk it can get confusing and sound even worse. 

“So how do I write good dialogue?!”

You can usually sense when your dialogue needs work. So here’s a set of some dialogue trick that might help you. When you think something is off with your dialogue use this to help you figure out what and make some changes.

All about that Flow-

It’s said all the time about your first draft, the important thing is to get the words on the page, you’ll refine later. This technique applies to your dialogue, and you’ll even come up with lines you never would have if you spent your time trying to be perfect.

You can even try writing the dialogue first. Get down what your characters are arguing about, planning, revealing, etc. Do it fast, pay no attention to who said what. Just get the words out.

This dialogue can give you a good idea what the scene is about and it might be different than what you thought. Then just go back to it and fill in.

This can be good for when you’re in a slump.

Talk it Out-

You can also practice dialogue or get yourself going by speaking the lines of two of your characters as they interact. An argument or conversation between your two character except you say all the lines as they come to you.

Overt the Obvious-

A very common mistake is creating a simple back-and-forth. Each line directly answers the previous line, often repeating a word or phrase from that previous line, echoing it. Ex:

“Hello, Tina.” “Hi, Jane.” “I really like your blouse.” “Oh, my blouse! You mean this old thing?” “Old thing! You’ve never worn it before.”

No surprises and very little interest. Some direct response is alright, but your dialogue will be better if you overt the obvious:

“Hello, Tina.” “Jane. I didn’t see you come in.” “Nice shirt.” “Did you finish your half of the project?”

Okay, I don’t know why they’re pissed at each other but this exchange is way more interesting and suggestive of what’s going on behind the scenes than the first.

(How could I not use the Crow?)

Zip It-

Another powerful way to overt the obvious is silence. It can be the best choice for an exchange. Hemingway is good at this. By using a combination silence and action, he gets the point across through a short but compelling exchanges. Look at “Soldier’s Home”:

“God has some work for every one to do,” his mother said. “There can’t be no idle hands in His Kingdom.” “I’m not in His Kingdom,” Krebs said. “We are all of us in His Kingdom.” Krebs felt embarrassed and resentful as always. “I’ve worried about you so much, Harold,” his mother went on. “I know the temptations you must have been exposed to. I know how weak men are. I know what your own dear grandfather, my own father, told us about the Civil War and I have prayed for you. I pray for you all day long, Harold.” Krebs looked at the bacon fat hardening on the plate.

You can express a lot by what a character doesn’t say.

Confrontation is your Friend-

We all want to avoid the info dump. Telling out readers everything that happened in the backstory in one chunk that slows down the story. You can avoid this by  using dialogue. When you create a tension-filled scene, typically between two characters, you can get them arguing and then have the information come out in the natural progression of the conversation. 

The not so great way:

Regina Black was a cop running from a terrible past. She had been fired for bungling an operation while she was drunk.

Try it out in a scene:

“I know who you are,” Nancy said. “You know nothing,” said Regina. “You’re that ex-cop.” “I need to be—” “From the 54th . You got your partner killed because you were drunk off your ass. Yeah, I know you.”

This can give you dialogue weight and increase your pace.

You Don’t Need ALL the Words-

People don’t often speak the say way we write things. We leave words out, we use contraction, we shorten. A standard exchange might go down like this:

“Your mom was killed? “Yes, she was in a car accident.” “What was her name?” “Her name was Martha.”

Try something more like this:

“Your mom was killed?” “Car accident.” “What was her name?” “Martha.”

This is leaner and sounds more like real speech without sounding too weird or chopped up for a reader to understand.

Don’t Explain Everything-

I know we always want to make sure that our readers understand exactly what we’re getting at. But consider the following:

“That’s amazing news,” he said gleefully.

Look right to you? 

Well, it’s not technically wrong so yeah. But this is a pretty commonly trap. You’re telling your reader your character’s feelings twice. The adverb ‘gleefully’ really isn’t needed here. Now, that’s not to say that adverbs have no place. For example:

“That’s amazing news,” he said mournfully.

Oh wait what? He’s not happy about that? Why? See in this context the adverb actually gives the reader important information quickly. Many people that they don’t like adverbs but I find them useful when not stuffed into your writing too much.

Here’s another example:

“I can’t believe it!” Marnie said.

Here, there’s no dialogue explanation, so it’s tightened up and the focus is on what is being said rather than how. Plus, readers can now imagine my OC’s surprise, which helps them get closer to my OC.

You really shouldn’t have to explain your dialogue.

Keep your dialogue transparent-

When your dialogue is powerful, the last thing you want to do is move the reader’s attention somewhere else. Explanations and ‘ly’ adverbs can break the flow because they jump out to the reader, making them focus, if only for a second, on the fact that they’re reading instead of being engrossed in the story.

Now, people may not like this, but said is NOT dead. When we see the word said, we tend to gloss over it like it were a comma or period. And that’s exactly what we want. We want the reader to pay no attention to the word but accept it’s purpose.

Study Conversations-

Coffee shops, bars, and restaurants. Fantastic places to do some people listening. This kind of people studying can really help to create dialogue that sounds so natural. I am personally a huge fan of Buffy for this because it genuinely sounded like teenagers/young adults and the pop culture references where amazing. People talk in cliches, gestures, and movie/TV quotes. So many quotes.

Also remember, conversation isn’t just words. It’s body language, tone, eye contact, facial expressions, etc. Consider this:

“You lied to me,” said John.

“I did it to protect you,” said Tate.

James moved toward John and reached for his hand. “We didn’t want you to get hurt—”

John pushed his hand away and backed away from them. “I trusted you.”

You can use actions to break up dialogue. This is a creative way to move the conversation along and show what the characters are feeling using their responses and gestures together.

Just keep in mind that if you intersperse action between every line of dialogue it loses it’s usefulness.

Don’t keep pointless prose-

As writers, we frequently stuff too many details into dialogue. You need balance realism and dialogue purpose. Dialogue is suppose to help move the story along, offer depth, and convey information. When dialogue doesn’t fulfill any of these purposes, it has to go. Look at this:

“I saw Todd in the park the other day,” said Steve.

“Oh yeah?” inquired Susan. “How is he?”

“He has a new job. He has a flexible schedule, so he has way more free time,” said Steve.

“Well, good for him,” said Susan. “Do know how he’ll use his free time?”

“No. I meant to ask him, but forgot,” said Steve.

This conversation is slow, boring, chunky, and serves no purpose. This didn’t really relay any new information and it didn’t move the story anywhere. Now, if the point was to show a stilted conversation between ex-lovers, friends, or a conversation about nothing because the characters can’t face the hard stuff, this would be great for that. But honestly, that’s a purpose right there. If you can find no purpose for the prose, take it out.

Read it aloud-

The last tip is to read your work aloud. I do this. Complete with facial expressions, gestures, and voices. It can be a really fast way of finding a problem. Pace, punctuation, flow. When you read out loud, issues with these things become crystal freaking clear.

Where did you stumble or pause unnaturally? Fix that. Any accidental rhymes or repeated words? Edit them.

Does the dialogue match the character? If your character is uneducated , make sure they sound that way. A professor? Make sure the OC sounds smart.

When you read a bad sentence you’re sure to flinch or stumble along the way. When you do, you know where there’s work to be done.

Applying your dialogue tips- 

The tips above aren’t quick fixes. You’ll need to work on them throughout the course of your writing. Don’t feel overwhelmed. Consider them one at a time. Do whatever works for you. This is all just meant to help. 

And remember,

NEVER STOP WRITING!

[rpoli3]

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I publish under multiple names in fiction and non-fiction, and am an internationally-produced playwright and radio writer. I spent the bulk of my career working backstage on Broadway, and a little bit in film and television production.

How long have you been writing for?

I started writing when I was six; I was published in school literary magazines, and, in high school, published in local papers when I handled publicity for the music department.  I started working professionally in theatre when I was 18. In college, my major was film and television production, and I veered away from the writing and more into technical aspects. Working off-Broadway, I started writing monologues for actresses looking for good material; that grew into plays, and then back into short stories and novels. So I’ve been writing for A Very Long Time.

What motivates you to write? How did you begin writing?

Writing is how I make sense of the world. How I explore other lives from the inside and the outside.

Do you have a writing routine? If so, what’s a typical day like for you?

I do my first 1K of the day on what I call my  “Primary Project” (whatever’s being drafted) early in the day. Feed the cats, do my yoga/meditation practice, write my first 1K of the day.

The rest of the day shapes up depending on if I’m doing only my own work, or a mix of my own work and client work and other freelance writing gigs. It’s shaped by what’s on the tightest deadline and the highest paycheck. I prefer to write in the morning and edit in the afternoons. Since I’m always juggling multiple projects, there are usually a handful of projects in various draft stages, and then some more in editing or galleys.  Scriptwriting usually requires a much tighter turnaround than books, so when those jobs come in, they take priority. Sometimes, I just have to stay up later or get up earlier to get it all done.

What was the first thing you did when you found out your book was being published?

Cried. Tears of joy, but I cried.

What was the publishing process like? How long did it take?

Months, of course. For me, there’s generally been one major edit from the editor’s initial notes and discussion, and then one to two more rounds of edits with the editor, with a tighter turnaround. Then, the copyeditor is brought in, and we have those edits and galleys. When I have unusual people names or place names or phrases in other languages, I submit that with the draft that goes to the editor and the copyeditor, so they can help me stay consistent.

For the series I write, keeping the Series Bibles updated is vital, too. As soon as a book is out of final galleys and headed for release, I update the Series Bible. I use tracking sheets for details that may change within drafts, but once it’s finalized, I update the Series Bible. That way, an inconsistency is a plot or character choice, not a mistake.

Are you currently working on anything new?

Always! The radio plays are getting a lot of traction right now, and I have four stage plays to finish this year: one on the painter Canaletto’s sisters; one on the gun violence epidemic; a collection of monologues called WOMEN WITH AN EDGE RESIST that’s a follow-up to one of my most popular plays, WOMEN WITH AN EDGE; and a play about two famous women authors. Plus, I have to keep up with the series I’m writing — The Gwen Finnegan Mysteries, The Coventina Circle Paranormal Romantic Suspense Series, the lighter Nautical Namaste Mysteries, and a few one-offs. Plus client work. So I’m always, always working on something new. This is my passion, but it is also my business, not my hobby. It’s how I keep a roof over my head.

If you weren’t a writer, what would your career be?

Still working on Broadway, as a dresser. Or, if I hadn’t gone down the theatre/writing path at all, probably an archaeologist.

What’s one thing you learned through writing that you wish you knew before you started?

Don’t let others define you. Define yourself. And realize that your life and your career are always a work in process.

What is your favorite book, genre, or author?

I don’t have just one of any of them! My favorite, favorite book, the one I’d need on a desert island, is THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE. I never get tired of Shakespeare. I also love POSSESSION, by AS Byatt.  Genre would probably be mystery. I find it often the most satisfying, although, as a writer, I like to mix it with other elements of other genres. Author? I don’t have a single favorite. Again, I always go back to Shakespeare. But it was Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe who were the big inspirations for me to write. And Mildred Wirt Benson, the original writer of the Nancy Drew books as “Carolyn Keene.” She did another series, under her own name, with a heroine named Penny Parker. Penny is such a brat, but she’s hilarious.

I collect juvenile series mysteries from the early twentieth century: Beverly Gray, Vicki Barr, Judy Bolton, all of those. The racism in them is shocking, but it’s also a good snapshot of what was considered “normal” at the time and why we should know better now (but far too often don’t). You get a heroine like Ruth Fielding, a turn-of-the-twentieth-century heroine, who did all these great, adventurous things solving her mysteries, and then went on to a career writing in Hollywood, in a happy marriage. A lot of these heroines showed girls that there was more than one definition of “good” — and that it wasn’t a terrible thing to be smart, and show it.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Put your butt in the chair every day and do the work. Books don’t write themselves. Plan time off as you want/need it. Don’t let the writing slide. And don’t blow first rights posting material from your drafts online or on social media if you want to sell the polished/finished work. There’s a world of difference between throwing out a rough draft and sharing an excerpt of a piece that’s contracted.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Find your tribe. Find other writers you like to hang out with and talk to. Read each other’s work. Support each other. Every time one succeeds, it helps everybody. Jealousy and envy are a waste of energy. Learn the craft — craft is as important as art. Do the work, build the community, and you’ll start to see results.

About Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington publishes under half a dozen names in fiction and non-fiction and is an internationally-produced playwright and radio writer. She has eight novels published, several novellas, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles. She worked backstage on Broadway and in film and television production for years and teaches both online and in-person. Her main website, http://www.devonellingtonwork.com, will lead you to the websites for the different series, and her blog on the writing life, Ink in My Coffee, is at https://devonellington.wordpress.com

Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram | Ello | Triberr

Buy Devon’s Books

The Coventina Circle Paranormal Romantic Suspense Series: Playing the Angles | The Spirit Repository | Relics & Requiem

The Gwen Finnegan Paranormal Archaeological Mysteries: Tracking Medusa | Myth & Interpretation

The Nautical Namaste Not-Quite-Cozy Mysteries (As Ava Dunne): Savasana at Sea

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Meet Devon Ellington [Author Interview] Please tell us a little bit about yourself. I publish under multiple names in fiction and non-fiction, and am an internationally-produced playwright and radio writer.

[spaceorphan18]

Finding Kurt Hummel: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Masterpost

5x19: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Previously on Glee: Everyone else is doing things - while Kurt has his collections of neckerchiefs.   Kinda wondering if Chris wrote that one, lol.   

So....  Yeah, this is the episode that Chris Colfer wrote.  And what do I think of it? Because I know you guys are all here for my very professional opinion on all these things... lol.  It’s... fine.  There are some things that really work -- Santana as a publicist - excellent!! Sam and Mercedes’s relationship issues -- great.  Dogs dragging Lea Michele down the road because of her bratty behavior - totally here for that.  Honestly, I think the Kurt portion of the story may be the weakest aspect of this episode, but this is Chris’s first try at a TV script, and I think he’s done a lot better than a lot of people out there -- including whoever wrote I Kissed a Girl, ug.  

I do think there’s some dialogue that’s a little stiff, and Chris has a tendency to write a little on the cheesy side, but I’m really sad that season 6 wasn’t longer to give him another go at it, cause I think TV writing might have been a good avenue for him.  And I really hope that some day he gets to head his own TV show - because I think it’s something he’d do rather well at.  So - that’s my two cents. 

I will say - this episode is mostly stand alone.  And with the season drawing to a close -- I really am missing those extra two episodes that were chopped off the end of the season.  I really would have liked to play around in this sandbox for a tad bit longer, as I think there were most definitely more stories to tell.  At least I am grateful for what we got. 

Problem Child

So, I’m not going to spend much time (or really at all) trying to figure out how Chris feels about this or that as evident through the script.  I mean -- TV is a collaborative process -- and even if Chris wrote the script, I’m sure a lot of people still had their input, and he didn’t direct it, so...  But I think this still is a good indicator about how he felt about Rachel.  I mean...  yeah, it’s probably how we all feel about Rachel, tbh.  

 So as we open -- Kurt wants to see a movie, but, well, Blaine is too busy doing stuff with June, Santana just doesn’t want to, and Rachel’s freaking out that image is being tarnished because she fucked up in the previous episode.  And, as most things do, it becomes all about Rachel.  Santana, however, steps up to be her publicist -- which is -- incredibly inspired!! Can I just keep the headcanon that Santana sticks to being a publicist, this is a fantastic choice for her.  Thank you, Chris, for this.  

Anyway - Kurt’s more than annoyed -- and even has to tell Rachel to keep her voice down because they’re in side -- because he is, more often than not, Rachel’s care giver.  Because seriously, this girl cannot seem to function on her own.  

So -- here’s my thing.  This script is a little awkward going forward -- a lot of it is Kurt harping on how his ‘friends’ aren’t there for him, though only specifically focusing on Rachel.  And while I think the Rachel was the safest route to go, and one that’s been clearly building for a while, I do think it might have been interesting to see how that played out with others -- such as Mercedes or Santana or even Blaine.  (Though, honestly, I’m glad Chris did the smart thing and not include a lot of Blaine in this script.  I totally get why he did -- because he really didn’t want to be harassed about it -- and that was the wisest choice for him.) 

Oh and then to everyone’s shock - Rachel goes to yell at someone for putting their dog in their purse.  I mean, is this an LA thing? I kinda wonder if this is an LA thing that pisses Chris off and he gets to yell through Rachel.  It kinda feels like it, lol.  Anyway... Kurt’s in the background, but his ‘wtf are you doing’ look is classic. 

Pillsbury

So - this episode has to do with three of Chris’s favorite things: 1. Dogs (animals); 2. Old People; and 3. Fairy tales.  I mean - I don’t think it gets much Chris-ish than that -- unless you wanted to throw in aliens.  I do find it hilarious that he brings all these things to Kurt, because they aren’t really there before -- but it seems to fit in pretty well.  

Anyway - we get June Squibb in the form of Maggie Banks (Do you see -- it’s a combo of Maggie Smith and Mrs Banks from Mary Poppins -- at least that’s what I assume is the inspiration.) I’m not going to talk too much about June Squibb’s performance -- because it’s awkward at best  (I can’t tell if it’s her acting or if it’s the lines).  But it makes a ton of sense that this actress just coming into her own in her 80s is who they got to play the part.  I assume Chris adored working with her.  

Anyway, this old folks home is doing a rendition of Peter Pan (get it - cause they’re old, and they want to stay young forever -- this script is full of stuff like this.  I can’t tell if it’s clever or not.)  And Maggie’s gonna start screaming elder abuse if the poster doesn’t go up in the diner.  But -- that doesn’t stop her from noticing that Kurt’s full of his usual ennui.  

Hilariously, he says he files all his problems away and lets it out during an episode of Long Island Medium.  (This is another Chris-ism.  Yeah, I can’t stop pointing these out.)  While questionable choice of reality TV aside, I do think this is a fascinating beat for Kurt -- he’s internalizing all of his issues.  Maybe it’s cause no matter how far he gets in his life, and partially cause he does have super involved in themselves friends, Kurt’s not one to reach out when he’s got issues.  THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING KURT!!

You wanna know why Kurt and Blaine break up a second time? Cause Kurt pretty much sucks at letting people know he’s struggling with something.  He thinks he can fix everything himself, and you know what? You can’t sweetie -- so talk to people! 

Well -- here he gets to talk to June, and let’s it out that he’s feeling a little left behind lately.  Santana’s starring in vaginal cream commercials, Mercedes’s is becoming the next Beyonce, Blaine has found a sugar mama, and Rachel has already hit her mid-40s where she’s fucking up her Broadway career for a shot at TV.  And Kurt feels like he’s gotten nowhere.  Which -- yeah he hasn’t.  And that’s not a bad thing, not really, since he’s the only one on a sure and steady course, but when everyone around you feels like they’re miles ahead in their lives, it can feel heavy being the only one not /there/.  (I getcha kiddo, I really do.) 

Also - I think it’s hilarious that he says he’s the mother in a Nancy Myers movie.  (That is so Kurt, and so Chris.)  And, god, yeah, let someone else take over handling Rachel.  Geez. 

Kurt then finds out that his therapy session is with /The/ Maggie Banks -- the woman who once starred in the worst Broadway show of all time, a musical about Helen Keller.  (Eesh)  And after being awkwardly asked to come back to the home, she invites him back to watch them rehearse.  Sure - why not, he doesn’t have anything else to do.  

Look at what a happy little goober he is -- he’s gonna hang out with old people! 

Broadway Bitches

Oh Broadway Bitches.  I have a heancanon that Chris came up with this at 2 in the morning and immediately texted Ashley cause he thought it was so funny.  Is it clever? Yes.  Is it something I’d use as a name for an organization dealing with kids? No...  But moving on... 

Can I just reiterate that Santana as a publicist is hilarious.  Also her line -- ‘a designer so fancy I can’t even pronounce his name, there’s hardly any vowels’ is a line Chris probably came up with way back on the season 1 press tour and never got to use. 

Anyway -  to rehabilitate her image, Rachel, Santana, and Mercedes are going to do a show.  And Kurt wants in -- cause Chris remembers continuity and Dani’s off doing roller derby and Elliott’s at a yoga retreat so no more One Tree Hill.  You know - I hate to say this - but I kinda see why he’s not invited here, cause it is about imaging - but they don’t have to be such awful people about telling him no.  

Santana actually says if he’s there he’d probably pull focus which is a) meta and b) probably true.  But Kurt’s rightfully hurt.  They get to continue to roll around in their self-involvement while Kurt gets to be shoved aside.  Again.  

I’m kinda surprised Kurt hasn’t taken up a drinking problem at this point. 

Memories

So Kurt goes to check out the retirement home.  They’re getting ready for their production -- and there are three different headshots of Maggie on that board.  Just saying.  Kurt thinks it’s pretty cool.  And I mean -- I think there is a cool story there to be told about actors who are now considered over their prime when in fact they’re still awesome and kicking butt.  

This episode is going to be a bit heavy handed about it -- cause as much as I love Chris, he’s incredibly heavy handed in his writing -- but it’s a nice sentiment.  And I do think it’s proper that Kurt would be infatuated with stars of old.  

I don’t really have any thing to add -- it’s just a nice shot of Kurt.  He’s amused by this sweet little production. 

Also! I suppose it’s time to bring up Billy Dee Williams and Tim Conway, who have really minor roles in this episode.  I kinda wish they were in it more - their characters are a bit fun.  

And then the woman who plays Peter dies.  Okay, so I kinda find the dark humor funny.  (Also Chris-ism.)  It’s fine guys.  I’m sure she had a delightful life.  

After the commercial break, and after Maggie’s irritation that the dead woman was selfish for dying and ruining the production, we get some more heavy handed commentary about how old people need a reason to keep on living.  Which -- is fine? Chris not to edit your script but you gotta work on more showing and less telling 

And then we get this weird beat of Tim Conway wanting to sit on the chair.  Move kid - it’s his chair! idk. I think it’s funny? 

Kurt claims he can fill in, unless they have rules against that.  They only really have two rules -- a) don’t loose your teeth and b) take the correct meds.  Sure.  The guy claiming he was a pterodactyl however steals the show with his delivery. It’s absolutely hilarious.  

Meanwhile - Kurt goes on to say how much he adored Mary Martin’s Peter Pan back in the day (which explains a lot.  Also Chris-ism.  Five bucks that was one of Chris’s favorite movies as a kid.)  Anyway - he also still sings like a girl so he can totally take it on.  

The retirement home has standards so they have to at least have to hear him sing -- which is great! Cause Kurt always carries around sheet music just in case, lol.  That’s such a Glee-esque line.  What?  

And then Kurt sings a perfectly adequate version of Memory from Cats.  

Okay - I don’t have a lot to say about it, tbh.  It’s nice, Chris sounds just fine on it -- and I’d guess this would be his last solo of the series if Maggie didn’t come in at the end.  But, you know, the song is more about cherishing the memory of these actors -- and people in general who are worth remembering for their great accomplishments - even if they aren’t doing as such any more.  Again - a nice sentiment.  But I don’t really have anything to meta about on Kurt.  

Also I don’t like this song (I’m sorry! don’t send me hate mail).  

By the end - Kurt’s inspired everyone to get up and keep on living.  And has proven to himself that he can handle Andrew Lloyd Weber.  

Btw - the couple of guys dressed up as the lost boys are super cute.  

Homocchio (Ha!) 

The scene before this, btw, is Rachel being dragged by dogs a block.  I mean - it’s funny, yes, but also, c’mon -- are you really going to tell me it’s not at least a little bit of payback? 

Anyway - Kurt bounces in to let Rachel and Santana know that he’s scored the role of Peter in a retirement home’s production of Peter Pan -- to which they are like - eh, okay, nice try Kurt.  And well, Kurt doesn’t take that too well.  I mean, sometimes a role is a role -- and Kurt’s obviously excited about it -- so if you’re a good friend, you suck it up and at least congratulate your friend.  I mean seriously.  But this is Rachel and Santana -  Santana mocks him and Rachel gets incredibly self-involved.  This has been the case since season 1 - so I’m not sure what Kurt was expecting. 

Kurt asks them to go - but they say no.  Santana’s honest about it being dumb, but Rachel claims she has her image to keep up and her stuff is more important.  And Kurt finally lets her have it -- he’s right, she calls him day and night to fix her shit, but when is she ever there for her? Honestly, this rant could have gone on for another five minutes.  It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one irritated by the unbalanced Hummelberry dynamic that’s been going on since season 3.  

Kurt storms out of there cause seriously, he’s had enough. 

Dress Rehearsal 

Hey - it’s time for an awkward dress rehearsal with some pretty entertaining jokes and some more heavy handedness about how you’re only as young as you feel.  I don’t think it’s a bad idea -- but does every scene have to have a speech about it?  

Anyway - Kurt’s sweet in his attempt to inspire them and himself, and suggests updating the music.  

Btw - there’s this line: Ever since you were a question on Jeopardy, you’ve been a know-it-all.  (ha! that made me laugh) 

And then we get some back story on Maggie - how she sends herself flowers because her daughter is estranged.  And Kurt feels sad.   I mean there’s some stuff in there about how Maggie’s daughter is like Kurt’s friends -- not really there when needed, which again, is a nice parallel. I’m just not really fond of Kurt feeling like he’s gotta fix things with Maggie instead of trying to fix things with his friends.  YMMV.

I Hate This Scene - Yup, I’m Going With That as a Header

So - Kurt claims he caused an oil spill in a national park and gets himself in to see Maggie’s daughter.  Oh my god - Kurt, no... At least Clara directly calls security (one guy - cause it’s Kurt) and then when Kurt claims it’s about his mother -- she thinks he’s ‘dating’ her to get her money.  

Oh, god, Chris, why did you write this scene?? 

So here’s my real issue.  The crux of it is about Kurt trying to get Clara to see her mom again cause Maggie misses her so much.  But Clara tells him that basically -- Clara was emotionally abusive to her, which is why Clara doesn’t go see her.  And then Kurt gives a song and dance about why she should just get over that -- and omg NO KURT NO! 

Look - I get the sentiment here -- that we should maybe try to make amends before it’s too late.  But - Clara made the healthy choice of cutting out an abusive family member and looks like she’s just doing fine on her own.  And to have a stranger, who has no understanding of the situation come in an tell you to try to fix it is over stepping like whoa.  Kurt is so in the wrong here - and I can’t even a little bit defend him.  

This story would have worked just fine if Maggie had her regrets and talked to Kurt about living his life and not having them -- it wasn’t needed for Kurt to fix Maggie and give her a happy ending.  Stories don’t always need to have happy endings to make their point.  

Anyway - Clara rightfully throws him out.  But not before Kurt goes on to talk about how his mom died and he wished he’d had one - so she should be grateful that she does. And be the better person and take care of Maggie now that she’s old - even if she sucked as a parent.  Again - no - this is also emotional manipulation.  Kurt, no! Stop! This scene is just... no!! 

I am glad that Clara just doesn’t say anything and gets him out of there.  

My Old Ladies Are Better Than Yours

To make up for the atrocity that was that previous scene - we get a Klaine scene that is really quite beautiful in its simplicity.  Chris didn’t have to put this in here -- but he did, and I’m grateful, because it’s sweet and warm and old married-like, and while Blaine really isn’t in this episode, I’m glad that they were allowed to have this small moment and leave the drama for someone else to write. 

So -- Blaine jokes that he’s missing stuff with June to be there for Kurt -- but ultimately, of course he’s there for Kurt.  Because he’ll always be there for Kurt.  Like I said earlier -- this story is more about Kurt’s issues with Rachel (and himself for feeling like he’s going nowhere) more than anything having to do with Blaine.  

I do think it’s interesting that Blaine comments on how happy Kurt’s been -- and how that hasn’t been the case lately.  I like that Blaine’s checking in, even if Kurt isn’t fully open.  Kurt admits that he feels like this role is finally a step forward in his life, and being with the retirement group is giving him something that he’s been missing -- but I do think there’s an underlying sadness that Kurt’s not addressing.  

Kurt’s not opening up to Blaine about his insecurities and his feelings -- and that is going to cause a problem.  While they are mostly fine -- I do think Kurt’s continued withdrawal from admitting how he feels is going to blow up in his face later.  Communication is key, guys, do it! 

How adorable is Kurt in this outfit? :) 

The other thing I really love about this scene is the casual intimacy of familiarity.  They are an old married couple in this scene -- from Blaine helping Kurt with his costume, to Kurt telling Blaine to sit a row back cause Gladys can’t keep solids down.  It’s not in-your-face affection - it’s light touches and smiles and I really love that during this arc they finally allowed Klaine to have that. 

Peter Pan

Before the show - Kurt asks Maggie if she’d like to be his family, since their own families are too busy for them.  It’s a sweet moment - but I’m also like -- Kurt, seriously -- talk to your friends!! But yeah, sometimes you do need to carve out your family where you can find it.  Non-tradition is an okay thing. 

For reasons I don’t fully understand, Kurt breaks down and calls Rachel -- apologizing for yelling at her (seriously?) and tells her he hopes her own show goes alright.  Kurt’s a good egg.  Rachel’s lucky to have him as a friend.  

She rushes him off the phone -- but only because she’s sitting with the rest of the gang waiting for his show to start.  And he’s stupidly excited.  See -- they love you Kurt -- they do!!  (Plus, it’s my headcanon that Blaine had something to do with rounding them all up...) 

And... then we get the whole reason Chris wrote the episode -- so he could fly around as Peter Pan while singing Madonna’s Lucky Star, with an entourage of old people in the background.  Lol.  The whole thing is cute and ridiculous and cute.  And of course, it works for the show, and gives a chance to Chris Kurt to completely geek out.  I mean, yes, I know, Kurt in that costume, but the old people are also ridiculously adorable in this scene. 

I’m not sure about the whole old people turning into little kids thing (man with the heavy handedness, the metaphor works fine without it) but it’s nearly blink and you miss it, so I won’t really even comment. 

Clara ends up showing up and reconciling with Maggie.  And I have a cold, dead heart because the scene just doesn’t work for me.  Like I said earlier -- not everything has to have a happy ending. 

But at the end of the day, this show is still Glee. 

But the important thing is that Kurt’s friends all showed up.  Rachel gushes that some day they’ll be old folks in a home (eesh) and Sam goes straight for the crotch to comment on the harness squeezing, um, things, lol.  But ultimately - Rachel’s set it up so that the old folks can come do the performance again -- so we can combine old people with puppies and could this episode be any cuter?  The only thing missing is aliens. 

Kurt: What do you say, Maggie, you think you got a second act in you? Maggie: I never used to believe in second acts.  But you’ve proven me wrong.

Omg.  Chris - this should be your submission for a place on the staff of a Disney show. 

Take Me Home

See -- look how adorable? 

After a rousing speech from Rachel about being shallow is dumb and you should care about things that are bigger than you are -- they break out into a chorus of Take Me Home.  And this is where I appreciate Lea Michele - because she’s able to sell the incredibly cheesy dialogue better than June Squibb.  I mean, look, I like cheesy - I do -- but it’s dialed up to 11 in this episode.  Chris, I love you to death, but you don’t have to try so hard to get your point across <3 

I’m sorry if I came off as extra harsh about the episode -- I don’t think it’s bad, and it’s certainly better than about half the other episodes of the show.  I think it’s just me nitpicking - cause I do adore Chris and I really want him to push himself to be better.  This is a great first try, and I really do hope he gets more tries in the future -- cause I do think he has potential.  I just want someone there to soften the rougher edges of his writing.  That’s all. 

And the episode ends with a mutual love fest for everyone.  Cause it’s not a true Glee ending without everyone barfing glitter and rainbows.  Lol, I’m only half being facetious - it’s cute, and a little wrong about Rachel, but fits the episode perfectly.

Oh my goodness - one more season 5 episode left... 

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Jus In Bello- Part 4

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,651

Warnings: Typical Supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

After receiving the spray paint, Sam got to work praying devil traps all throughout the place, at the exits and the windows. You had to take every precaution now that Victor knew you weren’t the bad guys. You would have been helping but Nancy was tending to your wound after she finished with Dean. Dean decided to look at the floor plans of the station, trying to think of everything since there were people here that shouldn’t be involved in all this. Plus, a lot more demons would be coming to hunt you three down. You looked at Nancy as she cleaned your wound before placing gauze on it.

“Thanks, Nancy.” You whispered and she smiled at you before finishing up. You looked at Victor and his partner who you learned was named Phil. They were getting their guns ready but you knew they would be useless.

“Okay, first crash course on demons 101, those guns won’t do much good on those creatures out there.” You said, gaining the attention of the agents.

“We got arsenal here,” Victor said.

“You don’t poke a bear with BB gun. That’s just gonna make them mad.”

“Okay, what do you need?” Victor asked you.

“Salt. Lots and lots of salt.” You walked over to Dean.

“Salt?” Phil asked.

“Did I stutter?” You snapped at him and he rolled his eyes.

“There’s road salt in the storeroom,” Nancy spoke up and you looked at her with a nod.

“Perfect. Perfect. We need salt at every window and every door.” Dean said. Phil and Victor left the room to get the salt.

“How you holding up, Nancy?” Dean asked.

“Okay. When I was little, I would come home from the church and start to talk about the devil. And my parents would tell me to stop being so literal. I guess I showed them, huh?” Nancy chuckled humorlessly. Phil walked back into the room carrying bags of salt and looked at you for guidance.

“Where do you want it?” Before you could answer, Dean asked a very important question.

“Hey, where is my car?”

“Impound lot out back,” Phil answered.

“Okay, I’ll be back,” Dean said, walking away but Phil stopped him after setting the bags of salt down.

“You’re not going out there?”

“Yeah, I got to get something out of my trunk,” Dean said and you walked over to him, cupping his cheeks in your hands before pressing your lips to his for comfort.

“Be safe, okay?” You whispered to him.

“Always.” He whispered back before kissing you again. He promptly left after and you sighed and went to help Sam with the devil’s trap.

“How are you holding up?” You asked.

“Fine, considering.”

“Yeah. Look, this is all going to be okay. We’re going to kick some demon ass and we’re going to win tonight.” You said to try and keep the hope up.

“I want to believe that.” Sam looked at you before going to the front door to spray the symbol. Suddenly Dean rushes inside the building with a worried look.

“Hurry, they’re coming!” Your eyes widened and took a can before spraying the other door. Just then, Nancy screamed and you looked to see black smoke at the window she was by. You rushed to her and brought her to the middle of the room while Dean handed you a gun before tossing Sam one. You looked inside your gun to check it like every time before cocking it.

You looked out the windows and knew the black smoke was surrounding the buildings. The lights started to flicker and we’re getting darker. Nancy clutched her cross around her neck as if that would protect her. You decided to let her think it would help because, at this point, you could get all the help you could get. The building started to shake for a bit before the smoke disappeared and everything became quiet again.

“Everybody okay?” Sam asked.

“Define okay,” Victor said with a sigh.

“Alright, everybody needs to put these on,” Dean said, taking out the protect necklaces that Bobby had given you to protect you. However, you got something more permanent. He handed them out to the people who needed them. “They’ll keep you from being possessed. There you go.”

“What about you three?” Nancy asked as she put the necklace on. You glanced at the brothers who nodded and tugged the collar of their shirts down to show the tattoo of the protection symbol that was on the left side of their chest. You lifted your shirt and pulled down the hem of your pants to show the same mark on your hip.

“Smart. How long have you had those?” Victor asked.

“Not long enough.” Sam grimaced. You sighed and pulled your shirt down and walked to the window. It was still quiet and the parking lot was still empty. You sighed and walked back to Dean, leaning against him.

“How’s your shoulder doing?” Dean asked, putting an arm around you.

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll live. There aren’t any demons out there, Dean. Where did they go? They wouldn’t just leave.” You sighed.

“Maybe they’re trying to find a more permanent host. They can’t do much damage as smoke.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Well make it out alive. No one is going to die tonight except those sons of bitches.”

“I want to believe you, Dean.”

“Yeah, me too.” Dean sighed.

After about 20 minutes, Nancy spoke up as she peered out the window by the door.

“Hey, that’s Jenna Rubner.” You snapped your head to hers and walked over to her, looking outside to see a woman with red hair and black eyes walking closer to the building. A whole fleet of people followed her.

“That’s not Jenna anymore. Come on,” you guided her back to the middle of the room.

“That’s where all that black demon smoke went?” She asked.

“Looks like.”

“Alright, the shotgun shells are full of salt,” Victor said after finishing with the last gun.

“It’ll work, Victor.” You said, filling your shotgun with rock salt.

“Fighting off monsters with condiments,” Victor sighed while taking off his tie. “So. Turns out demons are real.”

“And ghosts, werewolves, vampires, changelings, evil clowns that kill people, shall I go on?” You asked and he shook his head.

“No, I got it.”

“If it makes you feel better, Bigfoot’s a hoax.” Dean jokes as he smiled.

“It doesn’t. How many demons?”

“Total? No clue. But it’s a lot.” You answered.

“You know what my job is?”

“You mean besides locking up the good guys? I have no idea.” Dean answered.

“My job is boring, it’s frustrating. You work three years for one break, and then maybe you can save... a few people. Maybe. That’s the payoff. I’ve been busting my ass for 15 years to nail a handful of guys and all this while, there’s something off in the corner so big. So, yeah… sign me up for that big, frosty mug of wasting my damn life.” Victor sighed.

“You didn’t know, Victor. And I would rather you not know. This life isn’t easy. I wish I never got in it and I wish that for Sam and Dean but… someone has to take care of the bad people, right?” You said, looking at the FBI Agent.

“Yeah… What’s out there? Can you guys beat it? Can you win?”

“Honestly? I think the world’s gonna end bloody. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight. We do have choices. I choose to go down swinging.” Dean said and you grinned at him, taking his hand with a squeeze.

“Plus you got nothing to go home to but your brother and your girl.”

“It’s all we need.” You said immediately.

“What about you? You rocking the white picket fence?” Dean asked.

“Mmm-mm. Empty apartment, string of angry ex-wives. I’m right where you are,” Victor chuckled.

“Imagine that.” Dean nodded. Suddenly there was a crash coming from one of the back rooms and you and the Winchesters were running to see what it was. You rushed into the room to see Phil with a broken salt line and Ruby standing inside the devil’s trap.

“How do we kill her?” Victor asked, pointing his rifle at her.

“We don’t,” Sam said, lowering Victor’s rifle.

“We could.” You sneered at her.

“Good to see you too, Y/N,” Ruby said, looking at Sam.

“She’s a demon,” Victor said in disbelief.

“She’s here to help,” Sam said, walking to her.

“We don’t know that.” You pointed out.

“Are you gonna let me out?” Ruby asked Sam and he bent down and scratched the edge of the trap with his knife which allowed her to be free

“And they say chivalry is dead. Does anyone have a breath mint? Some guts splattered in my mouth while I was killing my way in here.” Ruby asked while walking past everyone into the main office. You rolled your eyes and followed her with Dean and Victor behind you while Sam stayed and fixed the broken salt line.

“How many are out there?” Dean asked.

“30 at least. That’s so far.”

“Oh, good. 30. 30 hit men all gunning for us. Who sent them?” You asked. Ruby looked past you to Sam who stood by the door with a guilty look on his face.

“You didn’t tell them?” Ruby asked. You and Dean looked at each other, confused.

“Tell us what?” You asked.

“There’s a big new up and corner. Real pied piper.” Ruby answered for Sam.

“Who is it?” You wondered.

“Lilith. And she really, really wants yours and Sam’s intestines on a stick. Because she sees you both as competition.” Ruby smirked.

“You know about this?” Dean asked his brother, glaring at him. However, Sam didn’t answer. “Well, gee, Sam. Is there anything else we should know?!”

“How about the two of you talk about this later? We’ll need the Colt,” Ruby interrupted the brothers, looking at Sam who refused to meet her eye. She glanced at Dean and then you. “Where’s the Colt?”

“Stolen.” You put it bluntly.

“I’m sorry. I must have blood in my ear. I thought I just heard you say that you were stupid enough to let the Colt get grabbed out of your thick, clumsy, idiotic hands. Fantastic. This is just peachy…”

“Ruby…” Sam tried.

“Shut up,” she snapped. “Fine. Since I don’t see that there’s no other any option. There’s one other way I know how to get you out of here alive.”

“How?”

“I know a spell. It’ll vaporize every demon in a one-mile radius. Myself included. So, you let the Colt out of your sight and now I have to die. So next time, be more careful. How’s that for a dying wish?”

“Okay, what do we need to do?” Dean asked, eager to get rid of Ruby.

“Aww… you can’t do anything. This spell is very specific. It calls for a person of virtue.”

“I got virtue.” Dean shrugged.

“Nice try, you’re not a virgin.”

“Nobody here is a virgin.” Dean laughed. Ruby smirked and looked at Nancy who looked away. She was a virgin. You thought that was nice that she was saving herself.

“No. No way. You’re kidding me, r–. You’re…” Nancy cut him off.

“What? It’s a choice, okay?” Nancy snapped.

“Dean, I think it’s nice.” You came to her defense.

“So, this spell. What can I do?” Nancy asked with a smile, eager to help.

“You can hold still... while I cut your heart out of your chest,” Ruby said with a smile.

“What?” Nancy lost her smile.

“Are you fucking crazy?” You glared at the demon.

“I’m offering a solution.”

“You’re offering to kill somebody.” You glared at her.

“And what do you think’s gonna happen to this girl when the demons get in?” Ruby argued.

“We’re gonna protect her. That’s what.” Victor said.

“Very noble,” Ruby scoffed. “You’re all gonna die. Look. This is the only way.”

“Yeah, yeah. There’s no way that you’re gonna—” Dean was cut off by Nancy.

“Would everybody please shut up?!” Everyone looked at her with surprise. “All the people out there… will it save them?”

“It’ll blow the demons out of their bodies. So if their bodies are okay… yeah.” Ruby answered. Nancy stared at her for a while before answering.

“I’ll do it.” Immediately everyone started protesting.

“You don’t need to do this,” Dean said.

“All my friends are out there.”

“We don't sacrifice people. We do that, we’re no better than them.” Victor said.

“We don’t have a choice.” Ruby pressed on.

“Yeah, well, your choice is not a choice.” Dean glared at the demon. He looked at his brother for backup before looking at you.

“Yeah, I’m with Dean. Nancy, you’re not dying for everyone out there. That’s not what we do. We save people, not kill them.” You said but Sam was still silent.

“Sam?” Dean asked but Sam didn’t say a word. “What the hell is going on? Sam, tell her.”

“It’s my decision.” Nancy stood her ground.

“Damn straight, cherry pie,” Ruby smirked.

“Stop! Stop! Nobody kill any virgins. Sam, I need to talk to you.” Dean yelled, walking off with his brother.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” You glared at Ruby before following them.

“Please tell me you’re not actually considering this. We’re talking about holding down a girl and cutting out her heart.” Dean glared, looking at you when you walked in the room.

“And we’re also talking about 30 people out there, Dean. Innocent people who are all gonna die, along with everyone in here.” Sam argued.

“It doesn’t mean that we throw away the rule book and stop acting like humans. I’m not gonna let that demon kill some nice, sweet, innocent girl, who hasn’t even been laid. I mean, look, if that’s how you win wars, then I don’t want to win.” Dean said.

“Sam, he’s right. I can’t even believe you’re considering this.” You scoffed.

“Then what? What do we do?” Sam asked, waiting for an answer. You bit your lip and sighed, thinking of something crazy.

“I think I have an idea. I mean, it’s crazy and it might not be a good one but it beats killing Nancy.” You said and the brothers looked at you.

“Okay? What is it?” Sam asked.

“Open the doors and let them come in.” You nodded with a growing smile.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Dean asked you.

“You didn’t let me finish,” you stated before delving into your plan. You got them on board and Sam left to do his part. You and Dean walked to the main room to let everyone know what the plan was.

Series Rewrite Junkies:

@helllonearth @amyisabellal @deanwnchstr @caseykitten6 @quixoticcat @supernaturalblogging @notmoose45 @crowleysminion @mina22 @tahbehonest @oreosatmidnight @seninjakitey @flyonlittlewinchester @earthtokace @gingersnapped13 @superrandomnatural @my-wayward-heroes @stevetrevorstardis @supernaturallover2002 @teamfreewillsstuff @gucci-daddario @22sarah08 @gh0stgurl @put-my-favorite-record-on @rhiannonj79 @onlydeanandjensen

[thelastyearinmyforties]

Day 92: The things I read...

I am a reader. I love to read. LOVE. I’ve read two books in the last two weeks and am a third of the way through another, which I started at lunch today. I read fast, and when I get engaged in a story - which is sometimes from page one but many times after a chapter or two - I can hardly stand to put a book down. I stayed up too late the other night finishing one of those books and could easily stay up all night to finish the one I’m reading now. But part of me wants to wait a bit so I can hang out with these characters a bit more. I just love to read! I love to escape into the land the characters inhabit whether that’s the north side of Chicago (in my current book), a dystopian future on an unknown planet, Victorian Europe or the streets of New York City. It’s probably the most relaxing thing I do other than actually going to the spa. 

When I was a kid I was all about Nancy Drew. I read all of them and over the years have been picking up old copies from used bookstores to rebuild my collection. But it wasn’t just about Nancy…I read everything I could get my hands on and for several years read above my grade level. In high school I read fiction, primarily that which was written by Stephen King. I mean he did write a book about me after all. Fine, it wasn’t really about me but at least he spelled my name right. After high school I lost interest in reading, likely because college requires a different kind of reading and I felt like I couldn’t read anything else. When you’re required to read something the joy of it is completely lost. 

Somewhere toward the end of college I picked up a little non-required reading when Field of Dreams came out. After seeing the movie I decided I wanted to read the book, Shoeless Joe, by WP Kinsella. And then I wanted to read other books about baseball, and for a year or so that’s all I read. Then came grad school and well, it was back to a different kind of reading. 

At some point my mind shifted and I only had a desire to read non-fiction, so I read more books about baseball, biographies and autobiographies and that sort of thing. I read semi-regularly but I wouldn’t have called myself a reader, which seems insane now, but you know, life changes and many things change along with it.

After grad school and my year-long internship I started reading a lot of Christian books, many by Chuck Swindoll, designed to inspire and motivate, and I loved them. I know now I was really trying to figure out who I was and where I belonged. I knew I was a Christian but I never felt like I totally fit in. I read books about being single and how that was okay and how I should wait for Mr. Right (still waiting by the way, but that’s a separate blog). I read very little else during this time of my life and while I read a lot I don’t think I would have called myself a reader. I’m a tiny bit embarrassed to tell you that I read the entire Left Behind series. Yes. Every. Single. Book. And I think I even knew they weren’t great as I was reading them but for some reason I didn’t feel like I would be a good Christian if I didn’t read them. Trust me, I know better now. But beyond those books, I was still reading primarily non-fiction, and I might have said I liked to read but I wouldn’t have said I was a reader.

But then came a little series of books about a young wizard with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. I heard about the books but didn’t actually care until then I started seeing the preview for the first movie, and I knew I needed to read the book before it came out. So I bought the paperback and read it on a plane ride to visit my mom. I finished it that night. To be fair, the first book is pretty short. While on vacation I bought books two and three, also in paperback, and I read one while I was there and the other on my way home, finishing it shortly after I got back. And then I had to WAIT. Book four wasn’t out yet and I was dying. I needed it. But here’s the other thing you need to know…I decided that since I started buying the series in paperback that I couldn’t buy the hardcover version. This is still a thing for me with all the books I buy. So I waited for the paperback to come out. I know! It seems insane now. Like I couldn’t check it out from the library or just download a digital version? Maybe digital versions weren’t a thing then. Anyway, the point is, Harry Potter made me a reader again, and I will forever be grateful to JK Rowling for that. I now own all the books in paperback and actually own a hardcover set of the UK versions, which is actually pretty cool.

And then came chick lit and authors like Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner who made me realize that it was okay to be smart and single and that if I was myself the right guy would come along (still waiting!). I found other authors through them, and then…well, then my closest friend on the planet wrote and published her first novel and my world of reading changed dramatically.

First and foremost, reading Tasha’s books (Tasha Alexander…look her up and buy all of her books!) made me realize that I actually like historical fiction and mystery. To be fair, there’s a little romance in them, too, and that certainly doesn’t hurt. I have learned so much about writing and reading and the world of publishing from Tasha, and it’s all made me love reading even more. It’s certainly made me a better writer, and I get giddy every time she sends me an early draft to read. 

Through Tasha I found other genres and other authors - several of whom I now consider good friends. I jump from the cozy mysteries of Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey) to the thrillers of Andrew Grant (Tasha’s husband) to the delightful novels of Renee Rosen and Allie Larkin and Christine Son (now Fickel) and the genius that is Bill Cameron. While Bill’s thriller series was a little extreme for me, his new young adult series is one of my favorites - I need more Joey in my life, sir! And there are more. So many more. And of course I continue to find other authors as I explore bookstores, where I usually get myself in far too much trouble but I don’t even care. They’re books!! I do have an eReader but if given the choice, I will always, always, always choose the physical book. There’s just nothing like the feel of the paper, the way the spine cracks, and the way the cover invites me in.

In the past few years I’ve also Kickstarted a couple of books by new authors and without the magic of the internet I never would have known about them. Had I seen the books in the store I’m not sure I would have read them but after supporting them through the process of making the books, I count them among my favorites: Nick Miller’s Isn’t It Pretty to Think So? and Jack Cheng’s These Days: A Novel. I discovered Nick Miller on tumblr and his book was the first project I ever backed. I love that. 

So yeah…now I read all the time. And it’s primarily fiction but I jump around from genre to genre as I mentioned above. The last two books I read were young adult novels - Paper Boats by Dee Lestari and Flower by Elizabeth Craft. I found both of these randomly while searching for other things. That is quite often how I find some of my favorite reads. The book I’m currently reading, Windfall, is the latest novel from one of my favorite YA authors, Jennifer E Smith. Honestly, since I decided I didn’t actually have to be a young adult to read YA books, it’s become my favorite genre. I still love good chick lit, which most seem to call women’s fiction now - Sarah Pekkanen, Allison Winn Scotch, Alyssa Goodnight, and of course, the wonderful Jane Green, who I will never get enough of. I love cozy mysteries and historical fiction and while I’ve tried to love thrillers the truth is, I really just love Andrew and his are the only ones I read. 

I can’t fully explain why I love YA so much. Maybe it’s the joy of living a youth I didn’t experience. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m almost 50 and I want to relive some of those younger days. Mostly I think it’s just the fact that I love good stories and YA authors write some of the best ones around. Don’t even bother trying to argue that point with me. You will lose. The fact is, I’m young at heart. I tell people all the time that I’m actually 12 so it makes sense that this is my favorite genre. 

This has been a very long post but clearly I’m passionate about this topic. I came by it very naturally. Both of my parents are avid readers - mostly non-fiction for them, and my step parents are readers, too. Between the five of us we probably own 3 million books. That might be a slight exaggeration. Or it might not be.

If you stuck it out this long, thanks! If you just skimmed and got to this part more quickly than others, that’s okay. Now you’ve got more time to read a book. See what I did there? 

So tell me…what do you love to read?

[douchebagbrainwaves]

IN OO LANGUAGES, YOU CAN FOOL INVESTORS FOR AT LEAST ONE AND PERHAPS EVEN TWO ROUNDS OF FUNDING, REGARDLESS OF ITS DE FACTO PURPOSE

Founders who succeed quickly don't usually realize how lucky they were. It's really true. On closer examination I see a more exaggerated version of the change I'm seeing. If your first version is so impressive that trolls don't make fun of Eric Raymond here. I am more fulfilled in my work than pretty much any of my friends who did not start companies.1 But if I had to pick the worst, it would still be important to release quickly, because for a startup don't care whether you've even graduated from college, they borrowed $15,000 from their friend's rich uncle, who they give 5% of the company in some way by letting them invest at low valuations. In the sciences, especially, it's a sign the terms are reasonable. There is no such thing as a killer feature.2 But what a long fight it would be five years before you had it too. So it's not surprising that after being trained for their whole lives up to their necks in rules and regulations. So if you don't let people ship, you won't have any artists.3 It doesn't even have x Blub feature of your choice.4

It was striking how old fashioned this sounded.5 If companies stuck to their initial plans, Microsoft would be selling programming languages, consider the following problem. If you believe everything you're supposed to be working on their company, not worrying about investors.6 You had to go through bosses, and they all think we're going to be disappointed. VCs, but the fear of missing out. Lisp didn't put all those parentheses in the language just to be different. If anything major is broken—if they sense you're ambivalent, they won't give you much attention.

But it means if you have competitors who get to work full-time on a startup, and he, as CEO, has to deal with employees, who often have different motivations: I knew it would feel better; what's surprising is how much on what terms. And you want to be on any shortlist of admirable people. Whether they like it or not, investors do it if you let them. Suppose you realize there is nothing so wrong as the principles of the most powerful all the way down to machine languages, which themselves vary in power. If they could even get here they'd presumably know a few things we don't. So if the company were being founded anew. Especially if you have genuine intellectual curiosity, that's what you'll naturally tend to do if you just follow your own inclinations. Probably not.

How can a machine be on it, and the distraction of having to deal with employees, who often have different motivations: I knew it would be used to express Lisp programs in practice.7 In America only a few thousand are startups.8 It was a sign of trouble. I'll tell you about one of the best things about working for a startup or not. The way to succeed in a startup founder wondering why some angel investor isn't returning your phone calls, you can expect to do as well before or after, like plunge deeply into projects on a whim and travel super cheaply with no sense of a deadline. If you're thinking about getting involved with someone—as a cofounder, and that the hope of good returns, but the idea is so overlooked as one that's unthinkable. But my increased belief in the importance of this idea would remain something I'd learned from this book, even after I'd forgotten I'd learned it.9 What you need to do. The nine ideas are, in theory, explaining yourself to someone else.10

In Silicon Valley no one would dare express it in public?11 From one end of a pendulum's swing, the other end of the spectrum could be detected by what appeared to be unrelated tests.12 The most important is to explain, as concisely as possible, what the hell your site is to convert casual visitors into users—whatever your definition of a user is. A good example is the airline fare search program that ITA Software licenses to Orbitz. Startups and yuppies entered the American conceptual vocabulary roughly simultaneously in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Extraordinary devotion went into it, and even current employees. Some will be shocking by present standards.

Evelyn Waugh and Nancy Mitford cared what other people thought of them: he wanted to seem aristocratic; she was afraid she wasn't smart enough. In retrospect, it would seem crazy to most people to try to recast one's work as a single thesis. I do then is just what the river does: backtrack. Before credentials, government positions were obtained mainly by family influence, if not outright bribery. No idea for a product could ever be so clever as the ones you can discover by smashing a beam of users. Of all the places to go next, choose whichever seems most interesting. I want to do is not to save them from being disappointed when things fall through. Few startups get it quite right. I want to study here. You can't let the suits make technical decisions for you.13 So the kind of essay I thought I was going to visit Italy in the 1630s, Sir Henry Wootton, who had been ambassador to Venice, told him his motto should be i pensieri stretti & il viso sciolto. In America only a few rich people buy original art, and even current employees.

I ignored it because he seemed so impressive.14 It is not the number that can get acquired by Google and Yahoo going to buy you, and you prosper only to the extent you do. We know that Java must be pretty good, because it meant that to write as he wanted to, he had people working for him who made more than he did, because they'd been there longer. What that means is that if someone is wise, all you can see is the large, flashing billboard paid for by Sun. No more nice shirt. Enjoy it while it lasts, and get as much done as you can, because you tend to get cram schools on the classic model, like those that prepared candidates for Sandhurst the British West Point or the classes American students take now to improve their SAT scores.15 But now it worked to our advantage.16 Macros are harder to write than ordinary Lisp functions, and it's hard to imagine how that town felt about the Steelers.17 This doesn't work in small companies.

Notes

It wouldn't pay.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the un-rapacious founder is in itself, not where to see artifacts from it. Mehran Sahami, Susan Dumais, David Heckerman and Eric Horvitz. Japanese car companies have never been the plague of 1347; the Reagan administration's comparatively sympathetic attitude toward takeovers; the defining test is whether you want to create wealth with no valuation cap at all is a fine sentence, but we decided it would be rolling in their social lives that didn't already exist. Hackers Painters, what that means service companies are also much cheaper when bought in bulk.

The French Laundry in Napa Valley. This prospect will make it harder for Darwin's contemporaries to grasp the distinction between matter and form if Aristotle hadn't written it?

Like us, because time seems to have had little acquired immunity to tax avoidance. Patrick Collison wrote At some point has a great programmer will invent things an ordinary adult slave seems to have the least important of the whole story.

It doesn't end every semester like classes do. I don't know. My work represents an exploration of gender and sexuality in an absolute sense, if you get older or otherwise lose their energy, they could bring no assets with them.

Dan was at Harvard since 1851, became in 1876 the university's first professor of English.

Certainly a lot of money from writing, he was made a lot better to embrace the fact by someone with a wink, to sell them technology. If the rich. Your Brain, neurosurgeon Frank Vertosick recounts a conversation—maybe not linearly, but you're very docile compared to adults. Even the desire to do it for you.

Trevor Blackwell, who may have to get frozen yogurt. Prose lets you be more selective about the millions of people who did invent things an ordinary one? The actual sentence in the country would buy one. For example, the same superior education but had a demonstration of the number of big companies funded 3/4 of their portfolio companies.

If you're doing. In any case, companies' market caps do eventually become a so-called lifestyle business, having spent much of the things I remember the eyes of phone companies are up there.

A few startups get started in New York, and it doesn't commit you to acknowledge it. You know what kind of protection against abuse and accidents.

In a country, the reaction might be interested to hear about the origins of the word wealth. Though you never have come to you.

Some government agencies run venture funding groups, just as you get older. When that happens, it will seem to be significantly pickier. This is almost pure discovery.

For more on the order of 10,000 sestertii apiece for slaves learned in the woods. And no, unfortunately, I was once trying to dispute their decision—just that everyone's the same superior education but had instead evolved from different, simpler organisms over unimaginably long periods of time, because you're throwing off your own morale, you could try telling him it's XML.

If language A has an operator for removing spaces from strings and language B doesn't, that probably doesn't make A more accurate predictor of high quality.

Together these were the seven liberal arts. If asked to come up with much greater inconveniences than that. It's not a nice-looking man with a Web browser that was a kid, this is a declaration of war on. They accepted the article, but the idea that could be made.

Who knew how much they'll pay. Not startup ideas, and everyone's used to hear about the meaning of distribution. In technology, so we hacked together our own Web site.

With the good groups, just the location of the Industrial Revolution happen earlier? Strictly speaking it's impossible to write and deals longer to close than you could only get in the Baskin-Robbins. In ancient times it covered a broad hard-beaten road to his time was 700,000 sestertii e.

Thanks to Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, Ben Horowitz, and Sam Altman for putting up with me.