Romancing Nancy Drew

Nancy and casual racism! Nancy chases a pickpocket and manages to land in a case involving a bereaved outmatched grandma with a raging doll-collecting habit, a preteen going full Jon-Benet whenever possible, and a mysterious violinist. Ned also admits that he has a vision board and he has Nancy’s photo on the bride pic in that vision board, y’all. Say yes to that dress, and a merry Christmas to al...

In which Ned returns from the war and he and Nancy ALMOST ELOPE (not really, you’ll see). Nancy is investigating a swindling scheme and a cave, purportedly haunted, in which a bell tolls to warn trespassers away from the rapidly rising water. Carson is kidnapped, and recovered, and Nancy feels like she’s in several wildly different Twilight Zone episodes. You know, the usual.

In which Nancy and a ladycop may or may not have a mutual respect girlcrush on each other??? Nancy takes the case of the missing dancer to help a poor waif plant-snatching orphan and her prematurely stress-aged mom, since the missing dancer (who is said waif’s aunt) will receive a massive inheritance if she shows up to claim it in the next 3 weeks, and said inheritance includes a nearby abandoned...

OMG NED INVITES SOMEONE ELSE TO A DANCE. (It’s not what you think.) Nancy is tasked with recovering some lost music and a stolen scientific formula. She is SUPER DISTRACTED that her soul mate hasn’t invited her to the next Emerson dance. The absolute MOST DRAMATIC climax scene in all of literature plays out. Also: Bushy Trott. Let It Be Me (Epilogue) link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657784/...

The thrilling conclusion. A man is decked. Hands are caught. Truths are revealed. Dances are… danced. Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435945?view_full_work=true . Follow me on Twitter: @RomancingNancy or @ndnickerson.

Nancy and Ned make their decision official, in pretty much every way. And they finally take That Step! Then they decide to let other people in on it. Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435945?view_full_work=true . Follow me on Twitter: @RomancingNancy or @ndnickerson .

Picking up from the last episode: Nancy and Ned take their Bahamas trip for spring break and discuss what their future might hold, especially given the timing of the night in question. Once Ned returns to Emerson, Nancy visits him, and the most fateful question is answered. Follow me on Twitter: @RomancingNancy or @ndnickerson.

In which the alternate universe of Rain on a Tin Roof is realized. Nancy chooses between Ned and Frank, but the one she rejects can’t handle it. This episode includes non explicit references to sexual assault, so please skip if that content might upset you. Story link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2435945?view_full_work=true . Follow me on Twitter: @RomancingNancy or @ndnickerson.

In which Ned goes off to fight Nazis, and Nancy realizes that she loves him. It’s World War II, y’all! Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1012069 . Follow me on Twitter: @RomancingNancy or @ndnickerson.

Nancy reappears in Ned’s life after breaking up with him 18 months earlier, during the On Campus series, and they slowly rebuild a relationship.

In this fanfic episode, Nancy chooses between Ned and Frank… and we all know which way she will go. Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31631 . Follow me on Twitter @RomancingNancy / @ndnickerson .

This one is background for 5x02, among others, and tells the story of Nancy and Ned’s junior and senior proms. One version, anyway. I also had to give a little background on Frank Hardy, sigh. Jealous: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40566 and Possess: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40572 . Follow me on Twitter: @RomancingNancy / @ndnickerson .

In the first fanfic episode: Nancy investigates a murder at her father’s request, and one of the suspects is Ned Nickerson, a handsome as sin billionaire who starts falling for her at first sight. Story link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/738227?view_full_work=true. Follow me on Twitter at @RomancingNancy / @ndnickerson.

This is a primer on fanfic and fanworks, and I also had to discuss the On Campus series a bit given an upcoming episode. If you aren’t interested in fanworks, feel free to skip and pick back up with Season 6! Follow me on Twitter at @RomancingNancy or @ndnickerson.

In which Nancy is the Democratic National Convention offices! Nancy and Ned are tentatively back together, just hangin’, when a local political candidate is nearly shot. Nancy saves him; then Brenda challenges her to a “detectives’ duel”: to solve the mystery of the candidate’s father’s death 30 years earlier. Nancy, of course, can’t turn that down, even though it promises to cut into makin’ out t...

In which Ned has the absolute GALL to beg Nancy to clear his new girlfriend’s name after she’s named suspect in a jewel theft. As mysteries (and Ned) are catnip to Nancy, she swallows her infinite hatred for her guy’s new flame and gets to work. Nancy’s new boyfriend, a Labrador retriever with a bow tie, can’t hold a candle to Ned. Is there some banging during an inadvertent lock-in? Maybe! (No.)...

OMG. This begins the three-book arc of Nancy and Ned’s breakup, which always totally destroys me. WHY CAN’T MY PRECIOUS BABIES BE HAPPY. Nancy goes to Emerson to investigate a series of mean-spirited “practical jokes” that are throwing off the basketball team (Ned’s the co-captain), which is three games away from heading to the NCAA playoffs? Apparently? There’s so much angst in this one. SO. MUCH...

The Notorious NBG head to Washington, DC to watch tennis and thwart international terrorism plots, which is what all teenagers do on vacation. Ned is referred to as Nancy’s “main man in any language,” which delights me to no end. Yes, a corpse is discovered in a parking deck. Yes, refugees are granted asylum. No silver loving cups were bestowed in this one, sadly.

If you’ve ever wanted to see Ned as the best protective boyfriend EVER, this will be your new jam. The Notorious NBG (Nancy, Bess, and George) drag Ned to Montana for a white water rafting trip George won. Then it turns into a slasher movie, and they’re lost in the woods, trying to figure out who’s after them before they end up haunting the place. Cameo by an enormous boulder whose sole interest i...

As Stefon would say, this club has it all: a crime spree in River Heights, an unruly dog, Ned being just deliciously salty, doppelgängers, lost royalty, a stuck Ferris wheel. Also, a hayride by moonlight. Good times.

Nancy scores her first, by no means last, Emerson dance crown in this one, and is kidnapped twice. Just a bunch of kidnapping in this one, y’all. Nancy takes Ned on a gay treasure hunt (phrasing!) and finds, as always, that the treasure was Ned all along. That, and never trust anyone under the age of 10.

In which the Nancy Drew Literary Universe continues to argue in favor of a robust social safety net. Carson’s searching for an heiress and Nancy CANNOT stay away from a creepy abandoned-looking mansion in the woods, where she and the girls keep hearing screams and gunshots. Ned, who is on retainer at Carson’s firm to run any errand where he might see Nancy, has a cute visit. Nancy also should have...

Nancy plans a trip to South America while her dad is… working a mob case??? She may or may not be struck by lightning, which only makes her stronger. Ned stows away on the midnight train to bangtown! Find me on Twitter at @RomancingNancy and @ndnickerson.

In which Nancy is kidnapped (kidnaped, in the text) but just once but TWICE, escapes an exploding steamboat, and sleeps it off in the back of a paddy wagon. She is a girl on the go, y’all. Find me on Twitter at @ndnickerson and @RomancingNancy!

While Ned is just a passing reference in this one, I still wanted to cover it for the interesting social commentary. Nancy is on spring break in Florida with Bess and George and checks in on a friend, who is run down in the street; Nancy decides to solve the case, natch. Bonus points for the most 80s windsurfing adventure you can imagine, Nancy’s Walkman, and discos galore!