Well, I tried to get this up yesterday but I actually went to the family Christmas Eve party (rather against my will) and then just played around on Tumblr. I was surprised that my aunt actually got me a present! I never get presents for anything! But she got me candy and a $40 giftcard so yay! I can buy paints! Which is holly jolly for me because 1) All my paints are dead. And 2) I can do paintings for my shop! And I've been thinking of doing some BSC related things. Pins or something. Because even though I hate 'America's Favourite Girls!' I love this comm. Anyways, my Christmas wasn't so bad. I hope yours went well too. Consider this my gift to you. Well, lets' go!
Part 1! -Song of the Day!- Chapter 6!
Oh, my God. It happened. The Pikes actually spent time with their kids. I guess all the planets aligned under a blue moon eclipse or something. Stacey spends the day depressed because 'Boo hoo! Scott isn't on duty! Now I have to do the job I'm being paid for! Woe is me!' God, I hate Stacey. I wish he had been on duty so that the Pikes could see exactly what they're paying for. Because these bastards are so tight with money they might actually do something about it. Later in the day, the Pike parents decide that spending a few hours with their kids was too much parenting for their liking and want to go out to dinner by themselves. Wow. Just wow. Why not just go on separate vacations? Then you wouldn't have to see your kids at all.
They give the girls money to take the kids to Burger Garden with some extra for a treat afterwards. They get to the Burger Garden and the triplets are brats and Vanessa and Nicky are annoying so, I kinda don't blame Ma and Pa for ditching them. Afterwards, they head to the boardwalk where the kids are given an entire dollar each to spend. Holy cow! Ann really is living in the past! Like a hundred years or so! Because Jesus Crow, Mal and Vanessa buy souvenirs and Byron rides the Ferris wheel twice. That's 50¢ a ride. Good God, woman! Go outside! They go to the Ice Cream Palace after spending their big money, and that's when they notice Mary Anne is completely sunburned. At home, Mary Anne asks what she did to deserve getting sunburned, and uh, you lay in the sun for hours with out even 1 SPF of sunscreen on. You were stupid and got what you deserved. The kids all come in with things to help her sunburn and the chapter ends with all the kids heaped on Mary Anne's bed giggling. This scenario happens way too often in Ann books. It's such a horrible mixture of saccharine and creepy.
Chapter 7!
Stacey writes to Claudia and to K Ron telling K Ron that Byron has a lot of fears and they'll 'need to talk about it'. Or you could just mind your own damned business? I would say talk to the Pikes but God only knows how uninvolved they are with their kids. They'd probably tell her, 'Okay and what are you gonna do about it?' Once they hit the beach, Stacey immediately goes to the lifeguard stand to talk to Scott. She asks him if yesterday was his day off and he says yeah, and that he used it well. That means he was boinking his of age girlfriend, Stacey. Stacey pulls out her 'Stalking for the Sophisticate' notebook and writes down that Monday is Scott's day off. Then she just stands there, 'posing', and watching Mary Anne do her fucking job. That random guy mother's helper is giving her a hand which means random guy is doing more of Stacey's job than she herself is doing. I usually reserve this for Dawn but, wow, I fucking hate Stacey.
Some other girls come over to flirt too and Scott calls them 'kids' which makes Stacey cream her panties because 'Omg! He must think I'm more grown up than them!' Sure, McGill. You keep telling yourself that. Because it's not like you told him you were 13. And it's not like he's told you he's 18. Stacey is beyond stupid. Stacey thinking maybe she should see where some of her charges are is interrupted by someone screaming that there's a shark. Whether it's in a tornado isn't said. Scott and the other lifeguard start calling people in and there's panic. Stacey does her Goddamn job and helps Mary Anne gather the Pike kids. Raise your hand if you're surprised Ann didn't have that shark bite Mal's leg off.
Having done enough of her job for the day, Stacey heads back to the lifeguard stand to talk to Scott. Scott calls her 'love' which makes her derp 'He means his love, of course!' She's such an embarrassment! God, Stacey, I heard Jason Isaacs call Daniel Radcliffe 'love' when he accidentally bopped him on the head and they didn't end up dating! I think she used too much bleach and damaged her brain. Scott drops a big hint by saying it's hot out and Stacey 'eagerly' asks him if he wants a soda. He says yes of course so she steals another out the Pikes fridge. God, Stacey. The Pikes probably paid for that soda out of Mal's wardrobe funds. Now she's gonna have to wear bread bags instead of shoes. Scott thanks her for it and calls her honey which makes her squeal that she's 'dying'. Knowing the concept of la petite mort, Ann's not even being subtle about this crap.
Wow. This book is awful. Stacey is awful. Like, Dawn levels awful. She says that she's been spending her time, getting paid, hanging around Scott and running errands for him and Mary Anne is pissed at her, because watching a bunch of apes by yourself isn't an easy job. She actually says 'She was just going to have to learn to cope with things like that.'
When it's time to pull everyone in, Mary Anne says they need to gather up the kids and their things and Stacey says 'Okay you do that, I'm gonna go flirt'. Mary Anne tells Stacey she's getting paid and not doing shit and Stacey would have said something but 'Since she was sunburned, I forgave her'. She doesn't want your 'forgiveness', McGill, she wants you to do the fucking job you're getting paid for. And notice that she doesn't think for a second that she's being unfair. Just that Mary Anne is being unreasonable. I don't mean to offend anyone or anything, but the blonde BSC members are bitches.
She also says the guy mother's helper is given her a hand so 'what is she complaining about?' Hsssst. Are you just a total moron, McGill? She fucking told you why! It's not about her not having any help, it's about you, standing around doing jack shit and getting paid for it! That guy is not getting paid by the Pikes and he's done more than you! Your job description was not 'Keep your panties soaked over some guy's boner while the kids are eaten by a shark'! Do your fucking job, you slut! But of course, nothing gets in Stacey's way when she wants to relocate some of her crotch lice, so she ignores Mary Anne and goes to talk to Scott. He thanks her for stealing food for him and gives her his whistle. Stacey thinks that makes her special but since he needs a whistle to do his job, I'm guessing he has a shipping crate full of them. Also, I bet if every dumb girl Scott gave a whistle to blew theirs at the same time, you'd hear it in space.
Chapter 8!
Ah, yes, and here we have my favourite chapter of the book. The one wherein the Pike apes are total brats yet no one ever complains about it. They may be ruining the good time of strangers around them but who cares?! They're zany! Oh, what a fun, sexy time for me! So, a cloudy day came and so no lifeguards showed up so, no beach. Ma and Pa suggest going to a historical town, Smithtown, and all the little apes whine. Only Mary Anne seems interested in going and honestly...I would too. I was always disappointed that none of the Sea City books ever had a chapter there. Realising they'll have to spend time with their apes, the Pike parents deign them to stay home. Phew! That was a close one! We almost had parenting in a BSC book! Once the 'parents' leave, everyone realises that there's nothing to do and they're bored out of their little minds. Nice going, apes!
Using their maximum brain power, they realise it's not actually raining so they can hit the boardwalk. Wow. How long do you think it took them to figure that one out? Once they're on their way, they decide to go play mini golf. Oh, joy. The mini golf course is crowded because without the beach there's not much to do, I guess. They get to their first hole and Claire takes 27 strokes to get her ball in the hole. The couple behind them ask if they can play through but Margo pitches a fit and starts screaming because it's her turn. Remember how four year old Jenny was upset and yelled a bit? Wasn't that bratty of her?! Aren't the BSC so right in calling her a brat and blacklisting her forever?! Mmm mmm! I love the smell of hypocrisy in the middle of the night! Smells like brain damage!
Since these people are kind idiots, they let Margo play and she takes 11 strokes. Stacey notes that the couple is pissed but doesn't offer an apology or anything. They continue this way, angering all around them, until Stacey suggests they split up which always...kinda made no sense to me? Aren't most mini golf course linear? Can you really traipse around to different holes as you please? The ones I've been to all followed a path. Anyways, Stacey is with Claire and Margo and they suck noodles so, Margo suggests a 20 stroke limit. Stacey is amazed by this simple suggestion because as we've ascertained, she's a fucking moron. Also, I would not make it twenty. Ten is pushing it, twenty is redonk. Not that it matters as they soon get bored and quit anyways. As they're doing the ball return hole, Claire wins two free games for being the 500 customer. And in a nice bit of continuity, Claire wants to play them right now even though she's bored of golf. Ann. I told you to stop mixing drain cleaner with your cocaine. It's just not healthy.
Chapter 9!
Hell to the fucking NO! No I'm not covering one of the all time worst Karen moments! Fuck that little goblin and her destruction of property and zero punishment from her milquetoast dad! And the fact that it makes me feel bad for K Ron because Watson is a total shit lord! Fuck fuck fuck them! I'll just show you what I Photoshopped instead. It took me like two days to break out my tablet and two minutes to actually work on this. Seriously, I don't know why it's like pulling teeth to get me to plug something into my usb port when I know it's no work to Photoshop something. Tis the mentality of your average artist. Anyways, enjoy.
-Give up for Scotty the Hotty, ladies!-
Chapter 10!
Stacey writes to Claudia that the most humiliating thing happened to her. Did her crabs get jealous of the freedom of the sea crabs and revolt?! Did a drop of stolen soda get on her hand and she ate it headfirst in the sand?! Did all her hair bleach cause all her hair to fall out?!
-'What did I do to deserve this?' says the person who totally deserves this-
Well, we won't find out for a while because we need more evidence that Stacey is a skanky sandwich. She's also stupid as fuck because she wrote three postcards to Claudia to tell her the whole story. A letter. That's the thing you're looking for, McGill. Or a telephone. Jesus, why is practicality so hard for these nutty bitches?! As a Capricorn, it pisses me of something awful. Stacey continues to be whore-able by saying that Mary Anne is pissed at her but she's probably just jealous. She's not jealous because she thinks Scott like you if that's what you're thinking. She's jealous that you're just sitting on your ass doing nothing while she has to handle a houseful of bratty apes. You keep blaming Mary Anne though, Stace. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Fucking monster.
She also says that that 'nerdy' mothers helper keeps hanging around and I wish all her hair had fallen out. Exactly what about him is nerdy, you cunt? Is it helping doing the job you should be doing? Or is it his ability to flirt with a 13 year old and it not be a felony? Really, I'd love to hear your reasoning on this. So that I could knock out your molars when you're done with that bullshit. Later that day, when Ma and Pa get back from Atlantic City, they give the girls the rest of the day off. Well, until ten anyways. They go to change and Stacey asks Mary Anne not to be mad at her and if you asked me, Mary Anne gives in too easily. I would have been, 'Bitch. I don't know why you think you should get the night off when you've been doing precisely dick.' But we all know Mary Anne is a doormat so, she doesn't.
And we get some outfits: Stacey-white cotton vest over a pink cotton dress and tied a big white bow in my hair so that it flopped over the side of my head. Mary Anne-yellow pedalpushers, a yellow and white striped tank top, and an oversized white jacket. Wow. Both those outfits are so 80s it hurts. Also a giant floppy bow? Yup, sophistication. They go to the boardwalk where they have dinner and Mary Anne eats some fudge. If I was her I'd be like 'Mmm! Chocolate is so yummy! It sure is fun to eat things with sugar in them! Yum yum! I love my functional pancreas!' And then when Stacey got mad I'd just claim she was 'jealous'.
They buy gifts for the other members of the BSC and Stacey buys a tee for Claudia that 'bright' yellow with a 'hunk' surfer that 'kinda looks like Scott' on it. Wow. I can picture that shirt perfectly and it is not pretty. For one thing, it's Day Glo. For another, beach tees aren't um...known for their quality? There's no way in Hell that tee isn't pure fug. Also, gotta love Stacey buying something for Claudia because it reminds her of her crush. I just imagine she'd give it to Claudia and say 'Here you go! Can I borrow it?' and then she puts it on a pillow and makes out with it. As they're riding the Ferris wheel, Stacey says she should buy a present for Scott too. Mary Anne obviously thinks that's stupid but well, Stacey is stupid.
Stacey drags Mary Anne to store after store looking for the perfect gift. She almost gets a shirt saying 'Stacey + Scott = luv' but doesn't. What is with her and getting shitty shirts for people? Also, how hilarious would it be if she got him that? Just picture the look on his face. You'll bust a nut. She finds the perfect thing: a giant, satin heart filled with chocolates. Did you cringe? I cringed. She also says it was almost $10 like that's an exorbitant amount. Well a dollar does buy rides and toys so maybe it is. If you're as twisted as Ann.
As she's coming out of the candy store, she sees that Mary Anne is staring into the distance. She goes to follow her gaze and Mary Anne is like 'Wait, don't' and I sincerely hope she said that as monotone as possible. Stacey sees that Scott is getting all makey outy with a girl his own age. This is too much for Stacey's delicate sensibilities and she clobbers Mary Anne with the candy box and says 'Guess I won’t be needing this. You take it. You deserve it. You were right all along. Enjoy your prize.' and runs away crying. I love it! I love that Stacey is such a dirty boob punch that she blames Mary Anne for Scott not being a pedo. Arrrggghhhh! So tasty! But really, ha ha! The schadenfreude is pretty sweet.