#CONFRONTING NOT ONLY VERONICA FOR WHAT SHES DONE KILLING & LAUGHING AT THEM

[wackpedion]

why the fuck did they make the dads gay what was the point of that heathers the musical makes no fucking sense

[pennypeabody]

Mädchen Amick teases Riverdale directorial debut, and what she learned from David Lynch

Mädchen Amick wasn't planning to direct the Riverdale season 4 finale. But when the coronavirus pandemic halted production across the world, her directorial debut on the CW series moved into the coveted spot.

"You want it to be exciting and climactic and really building its energy, so I wanted to honor that," the actress tells EW of her fateful episode. "There was a little extra pressure."

Amick has been directing since 2015, beginning with one of her daughter Mina Tobias' music videos. And while Riverdale has kept her busy playing Alice Cooper, the uptight, haunted mother of Betty (Lili Reinhart), since 2017, she has long dreamed of stepping behind the camera as well.

She finally got her shot for "Killing Mr. Honey," which was originally intended as the 19th installment of the 22-episode season. Now it will have to stand as the conclusion — and Amick warns that it ends on a cliffhanger.

In the photos above and below, EW has an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Amick's directing days on Riverdale. And ahead of the episode's May 6 airing, we called up Amick to discuss her experiences calling the shots, what it was like pulling double duty, and how working with David Lynch early in her career inspired her as an auteur.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How long have you had an itch to direct, and how did this episode come about?

MÄDCHEN AMICK: I moved to L.A. at 16, and got Twin Peaks at 17. I would say around my mid-20s, I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to be more than just an actress and be a storyteller, but so many things in my career made me busy and made me feel like, "Oh, I don’t have time to step behind the camera. I have to keep busy and focused on staying in front of the camera." This was in the mid-'90s, and there were a few female directors — one in particular was Diane Keaton on the original Twin Peaks — that showed me there are women doing this, but [now] there’s a little bit of this movement to get more diversity behind the camera that I benefitted from. I have to give credit to my husband and my daughter. She asked me to direct her music video, and I was honored and jumped right in. I’ve done a few music videos. I’ve directed and produced a docuseries pilot. At the beginning of Riverdale when I did that first thing, I’d started asking around and asking [creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa] and [producers] Sarah Schechter and Greg Berlanti. I said, "Hey, guys, I really would love to direct an episode." They were super-supportive and excited. So it was this season that Roberto said, "You want to direct this season?" And I was like, "Yes!"

Riverdale has a very specific, highly stylized aesthetic. Did that make directing easier or harder, especially when it comes to putting your own stamp on the episode?

It was easy for me. I know the show so well, inside and out. I really enjoy the storytelling and the filmmaking part of it. So I know what Roberto likes, as far as the way he likes the story to be told and unfold. That was a great template that was already in place, and I wanted to honor that. Then, I just wanted to elevate it as much as I could and get as strong as performances out of all my fellow actors, which they were great and supportive. And just push the visual boundaries as much as possible. Presenting new ways to shoot scenes, but still staying within the world and the visual look to it, and just hoping that Roberto loved it.

I remember Roberto and I had a conversation: It might’ve been season 2 or season 3, but there was an episode and he said it didn’t feel very inspired. That really gave me an insight into [that] he really wants directors to come on board and love the show and be excited about the show, and then bring an inspirational take to it. That made me feel I had a little bit of freedom to run with it, and he didn’t want a cookie cutter, just make everything the same. It was nice to hear he wanted something that was inspired.

When you directed the episode, it wasn’t meant to be the season finale, but now it is. Is that exciting? Nerve-racking?

Since it's [episode] 19 of 22, you are getting to the end, so there’s usually a lot of climactic things happening. That’s a lot of responsibility, just because I want to get it right. I know we’re getting toward the end, and those last few are really important to start tying up loose ends or building to a cliffhanger. You want it to be exciting and climactic and really building its energy, so I wanted to honor that. There was a little extra pressure.

Did it lead to any last-minute adjustments or changes in the storytelling?

The episode that I shot was the last episode that we completed as far as filming. We were halfway through 20 when production stopped, so I was editing when production stopped. At that point, we didn’t really know that the season would be done. It was a little bit of a holding pattern of, "Are we just pausing and we’ll get back to it, or will our season end a little short?" Now knowing my episode will serve as the finale for this season, obviously we’ll pick up back up next season. They’ll have to adjust some storytelling with what they had planned at the end of this season. As far as my episode, it pretty much stayed intact the way it was written. There was a new layer that came into the story that now serves as an interesting cliffhanger.

You also appear as Alice throughout the episode. What was it like having to pull double duty?

I’m not gonna lie, it was a huge challenge. My brain was so much behind the camera that it was hard for me to switch over to being in character. I could easily slip into Alice, but I could not remember my lines, and I’m usually really good at that. I was really struggling. In one scene in particular, there’s a big confrontation that Alice has with Mr. Honey and she drives the whole scene with all of the parents, and I could not remember it, to the point where my fellow actors were whispering the lines to me to try to help me get through it. Man, it was rough. I know I’ll continue to get better with that with practice, but my brain was not in that space at all. I was full-on thinking of shots and directing my other actors, so it was a big challenge.

This episode is going to have to hold us over for a while; what can you tease about it? Would you say it’s a satisfactory end to the season?

The whole theme of the episode is the big confrontation between the kids and their awful Principal Honey, who’s just been tormenting them the whole season. So lots of really, really fun stuff. There’s a mixture of some fantasy of what they want to do to Mr. Honey and some reality of what ends up happening to Mr. Honey. So that’s the big tease.

The back half of the season angered so many Varchie and Bughead fans, and it doesn’t seem like the same instant regret Archie and Betty have had over previous kisses. What can you say about where those relationships and feelings are headed? Might Riverdale be exploding some of its most beloved relationships?

[Laughs] Why? Why were they upset? No, but don’t they always teeter on that? I think Roberto loves to torture the fans, quite frankly. That’s the fun dynamic, and that is what’s classic to the Archie Comics, is you have this love triangle that’s always been between Archie, Betty, Veronica, and now we’ve thrown in Jughead into the mix. It’s complicated, but we’ll see what ends up happening at the end of senior year and where relationships really go. I know the plan for the next season is we were going to jump forward in time and see where everybody had landed, but I don’t know if that’s gonna adjust now that our season changed a bit.

Both Skeet Ulrich and Marisol Nichols had announced they were leaving at the end of this season, leaving you as the only original Riverdale parent left standing. Now that filming has ended early, does that alter their plans? Will we get any hint of where F.P. and Hermione were originally headed?

As far as the episode I directed, there wasn’t really anything different happening for their characters. It was the same story line going on. But with technically three more episodes they had planned, I’m assuming they had plans. I also know Roberto really loves Skeet and Marisol, and he told me he hopes their characters can come and go from the show depending on everyone’s availability. It’s always funny whenever some of our characters die on the show, it’s like, "Oh, well that guarantees you’ll be on more often." Nobody’s ever really gone on Riverdale.

Does it feel weird to know Alice was going to be the last one left? And what might that mean for her going forward? She seems so happy with FP, it’s really sad to imagine that ending.

I know! They were finally doing good. I don’t know what Roberto has planned, but yeah, poor Alice. She’s really going to be alone now. Maybe she’ll just be ruling the town, who knows? Maybe we need to start a new campaign, Mayor Alice. Obviously not until next year, but just even thinking about coming back next season and having all my O.G. homies not around on a consistent basis, it’s definitely going to be really sad. I’m absolutely going to miss them, but I know that won’t end our friendship.

Earlier in the season, we had evidence Chic and Charles are working together. Will we see any answers there, and what might it mean for Alice to discover her long-lost son has betrayed her once again?

We hadn’t gotten into that for my episode. I think that was in the next few, so she hasn’t experienced the betrayal yet. I know she’s really resilient, but there’s been a lot of betrayal in this woman’s life. I think Alice is going to need some therapy next season.

And not of the Farm variety.

Real, good old-fashioned traditional therapy.

We were setting up for high school graduation to round out this season, and the characters going off to college or other futures. Will we ever get some taste of graduation, and have you any hint of where the kids will end up next year?

No, I don’t. I know the idea was we were going to jump forward in time a little bit to see what they had done. I’m assuming something brings them back to the town of Riverdale.

Can you point to moment or visual choice that you felt defined your identity or artistic choices?

Jughead and Betty have a fantasy going about what they would do to Mr. Honey, and so Betty’s revenge fantasy inspires Jughead to write an essay for college submissions. We get to go into and reenact Jughead’s fantasies and his writing. I wanted to push the envelope in those scenes. You don’t want to go too far out of the way where you’re totally getting rid of reality, but I wanted to visually have some fun with breaking the rules of what you’re supposed to do with shots and how you edit them together. Jughead is all about classic storytelling, so my inspiration was Alfred Hitchcock and Citizen Kane and that kind of stuff. We did a lot of twisted shots and shots that moved in weird [ways], very Vertigo- or Citizen Kane-inspired.

How much were you influenced by the visual artistry of working with David Lynch so early in your career?

He was my mentor from the very beginning. I didn’t really know too much about filmmaking until I worked on Twin Peaks with him. He showed me you think outside the box and do things that feel and look right to you. It wasn’t until I went into the business after Twin Peaks that I realized how different and what an innovator he was. That’s always been in there as my base, to just not be afraid of taking risks. He sent me a really beautiful email my first day of directing, and just reminding me to make sure I did every single thing I want in every single shot, and to have fun.

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Wavering Objectives: III

Word Count: 2990

Kova padded into her attached ensuite bathroom, sighing and rubbing the back of her neck. The makeshift arm sling was starting to make a rash and the bandages were much too tight. As carefully as she could, Kova removed the bandages and rolled them into tight balls of cotton. The water ran cold, then warmed. Steam came from the top of the shower, filling the room. 

Emerging from the shower, Kova wrapped her hair in a fluffy white towel and dressed in her purple pajamas. Her eyes were closed the entire time, enjoying the quiet, steam-filled room. The mirror was completely fogged up. Kova reached up to wipe it away with one hand, using the other to unwrap her hair from her towel turban. Slowly, she pats her hair dry starting from the roots to the ends and back again.

She opened her eyes, seeing green on the once-white towel. Confused, she looked up. 

"CALEB!" Kova screamed. Caleb, on the other side of the door, covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. It failed. 

The door opened to a furious Kova with neon green hair, clashing with her dark eyebrows, bright amber eyes, and dark purple pajamas. Caleb couldn't stop himself from choking on his own spit from laughing so hard. Kova's anger stewed while Caleb attempted to catch his breath, wiping away tears. 

"What's wrong?" He managed to say, taking deep breaths. "Thought this would be the highlight of your day." Caleb's body released an unholy wheeze at his own joke. Kova, ever the lovable hothead, glared at Caleb even more than before. Her hands balled into fists at her side, shaking with anger. 

"Caleb." She said, grinding her teeth. Caleb looked up, covering his mouth to restrain his laughter. "I. Am. Going. To. KILL. YOU." Kova shouted the last two words of her threat, lunging forward to grab Caleb's scrawny neck. Caleb stumbled to a stand, then ran down the halls of the Coeus. Kova ran behind him, screaming in frustration as she ran into walls, clipping her shoulder on a corner. The pair chased each other, the distance between them growing. 

The other teens ignored the screams, continuing their meals. Allie stood from the lunch table to stop them when Cake placed a hand on her shoulder, sitting her back down. He shook his head, and she looked on. Eventually, she turned around, doing her best to ignore the screams.

Kova ran until the air in her lungs evaporated and the only sounds coming from her were raspy gasps for breath. Caleb stopped at the entrance to the next hallway when he realized Kova was now leaning on a support beam. 

"Kova?" He asked. She gave no response. Her wheezing became more evident as the seconds passed. Caleb was going to help her when Shiro pushed past him to get to Kova. 

He heard the screams and watched from the camera footage to see if they would exhaust themselves or actually kill each other. Glad it wasn't the latter, or Shiro would never hear the end of it from Curtis. 

"Caleb, you know better than to prank your sister," Shiro scolded. He was holding Kova like a princess, shushing her as he strode to the med bay. Caleb ran to stay behind them but didn't say a word. 

This happened before, but way more serious. Like, Kova ending up in the hospital for weeks on a ventilator serious. She had to have an oxygen tank for months afterward. No one expected it, but it happened. When she returned, the teachers started failing her without proving it. The looks on their faces when Aunt Veronica confronted them was priceless, according to Kova. 

Shiro sat Kova on the edge of the bed, letting her try to catch her own breath while he grabbed the oxygen tank. It could only be assumed Kenny replaced the original oxygen tank and all its attachments, but again, it's only an assumption. The green strap was around Kova's head, clashing with her new hair color. The clear mask fogged up as Kova continued wheezing. Shiro turned it on, letting it run until Kova's breathing normalized. She reached out to turn it off when Keith barged into the room. All three Shiroganes stared at the confused Kogane, who stared right back. 

Keith had his own individual observation room with shatter-proof windows, a bolted-down bed, and a door that can be opened from the outside. Kova was sitting on a small cot in the open space of the med bay only several feet away from the window to his observation room. He wondered why Kova deserved a cot while Keith had a cell. 

Kova didn't pass out and wake up with murderous tendencies. No one tell him. I don't want to be thrown out. 

"What happened?" Keith finally asked, shaking his head, approaching a kneeling Shiro. 

"Nothing major." Shiro turned forward to turn off the oxygen tank. "Just a disagreement between siblings."

"She's wearing an oxygen mask."

"Disagreement between siblings."

"She said she'd kill him." Keith pointed at Caleb over his shoulder. 

"Disagreement." 

"Her hair's green." 

"Are you done stating obvious facts?" Kova snapped, pulling the strap over her head to fully remove the mask. "I want to sleep now." 

"Of course." Shiro stood up, holding a hand out for Kova to hold. She took it, trying not to focus too much on the swaying room. He led her to the outermost wall of the hallway, letting her hold onto the wall. The men watched her stumble towards her room until the neon green left their eyes. They returned to the bridge, busying themselves with potential plans. Caleb unofficially grounded himself, sulking in his room. 

Allie and Cake approached the entrance to the bridge, where Liz was peeking into the room, completely entranced by something inside. Cake quietly approached her and blew on her ear. With a jerk of her knee, Liz rammed her knee into the metal wall. 

"Quiznak!" 

"Sorry!" Cake reached out to grab her before she could fall onto the metal grate floor. He didn't. Liz fell onto the metal grate floor, causing more curses to fall from her mouth. "I'm so sorry!" 

Allie approached the door, peeking her head inside the doorframe. Caleb and Kova were at Caleb's chair. Kova was leaning on his desk, and Caleb was using the back of his chair for support. The most noticeable difference was Kova's bright green hair. It was hard to miss. Kova's hair was loosely braided down her back. 

"Hey, look." Caleb's eyes met Allie's, and he stood to full height. "They're here."

"C'mon in, team." Kova walked up the few steps to her console. "In positions."  

Liz limped inside, Cake creeping behind her, pushing Allie into the bridge much more forcefully than intended. The teens sat at their respective chairs, waiting for the adults to join them. They sat for a few minutes in silence, hoping someone would ask. 

"Uh, why is your hair green?" Liz turned her chair to ask. 

"It was the first box I saw on the shelf," Caleb answered casually. Kova scoffed. 

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"You don't need to believe it." Caleb turned his chair, propping his chin on his fist. "You just have to accept it."

"You could've gotten firetruck red, or poopy brown, or even lilac purple!" Kova slammed her hands on the console. "But neon green and highlighter jokes were your go-to?" Caleb shrugged. 

"Oh, please." Caleb waved off her concerns. "It's not /that/ bad."

"My hair is bright, neon green, Caleb." Kova aggressively pointed at her hair. "How is it not that bad?" 

"Uh, Cap," Liz said. "Stop talking." 

"Why?"

"Next time we go to the space mall," Kova began, studying her nails. "Maybe I should grab some platinum blonde. Ooh, no. How about some rusty copper?" Caleb physically shrank into his chair as Kova thought aloud. "Hm, Nah. How about highlighter yellow?" She smiled, staring at Caleb's retreating head. 

"Try that, and you'll never see Peaches again." 

"You don't like Peaches!" 

The others sat confused about peaches, assuming they're Kova's favorite fruit or something when the saviors finally walked in. Kenny had foregone his cadet jacket, leaving him in a green t-shirt and black slacks and ugly brown sneakers. Keith looked more cleaned up, wearing a sleeveless gray vest with a hood, a black t-shirt, and gray pants lined with red ribbon and black combat boots. The Colonel wore his officer jacket rather than the white t-shirt he always wore around the ship. The three adults descended the staircase. As they passed, the teens sat straighter in their chairs. Shiro stood in the middle of the floor as Kenny and Keith took a space on the walls closest to Cake and Allie respectively. Allie scooted her chair closer to Caleb's line of sight and the staircase. 

Guess she's still afraid of Keith. 

"Alright, team." Shiro began. "We've been out here for a while, and with the latest development," He met Kova's eyes. "It's time to review, or at least, make a plan." 

"A plan?" Kenny asked. Oh. I guess the other adults didn't know what the meeting was about either. 

"The Lions have selected their respective pilots. The paladins have successfully formed Voltron. It's time to make a decision." Shiro met the eyes of each individual team member. "Do you want to continue fighting here or do you want to return to Earth?" 

The teens sat in stunned silence. They have a choice to make. They're being allowed to make a choice? 

"Caleb?" Shiro called, and all eyes landed on the Red Paladin. 

"Return to Earth." He said immediately. No gasps, no pomp. Just a fact. "We're not ready for this. This is a war waiting to happen. We can't do this alone." Shiro nodded, ready to say another name, but Liz beat him to it. 

"I'm sorry. I know I'm on your team and I'm supposed to agree with you, but I don't." She was looking at Caleb, turning her attention to Shiro. "If we return to the Garrison, we'll be shut out. We're dumb, undertrained kids who control Voltron. The council will put us on the frontlines without a plan." 

"What she said." Cake agreed with her, pointing his finger up at Liz. 

"We have the firepower. We can do more than just sit still and wait to be given orders." 

"We're also undertrained," Caleb argued when Shiro held his hands up to silence the two. 

"Allie," Shiro said. "What do you think?"

"I agree with Caleb," She said. "We can't fight in a war. We would be better off with help than without. I only spent a night in my dorm before all this. I can't do this again."

"Keith, Ken, I'm guessing you both agree with your respective sides." Kenny approached Cake's console, arms crossed. Keith stayed in place, hands on his hips. 

"We fought in a ten-thousand-year-old war with Allura and Coran, the only surviving members of Altea. We had advanced alien technology. Our goal was to return to Earth and the Garrison." Keith stated matter-of-factly. He gestured widely to the teens in their chairs. "They're kids. They don't have what we did." 

"Liz is right," Kenny spoke up. "The council won't touch them. They'll put Voltron on the frontlines without a plan, hoping that will be enough to scare off the enemies."

"They're undertrained!" Keith turned his attention from Kenny to Shiro. 

"They're resourceful!" Kenny argued, getting Keith's attention. 

"Alright, you two." Shiro stepped in between them to break their intense staring contest. "Kova." 

"Yes, sir." 

"You were the one kidnapped by the Fire. You met with their leaders in person. You're also a top student at the Garrison." He didn't have to say it. This was all on her. 

"What about you?" Kova asked, gripping the railing around her console. "What are you leaning towards."

"I'm siding with the most reasonable plan." Keith scoffed, interrupting Shiro. "It's not my team anymore. It's yours." Slowly, Kova released her hands from their tight grip on the railing and let them fall at her sides and closed her eyes.

"She'll totally agree with me." Caleb had turned his chair. 

"Uh, she's her own person." Liz crossed her arms. Caleb scoffed in response. 

"We've been attached at the hip since we were kids. She's taking my side."

"How about you let her talk first?" 

"Why don't you shove that opinion up—"

"Enough!" Kova said, rubbing her temple with a hand. "You're both annoying. And right." Kova looked up at Shiro, who raised an eyebrow. She raised her arm to her right. "We are severely undertrained. Not as a team, but individually. If we have the same goal in mind, we work well together. There's going to be a point where Voltron can't be formed and we're going to have to fight as individual Lions." Putting it down, she raised her arm to her left. "If we return to the Garrison, the council won't touch us. We're liabilities. None of us joined the LDP. It was our choice."

"The what?" Keith interrupted. 

"You would've called it the Vehicle Defender Unit," Kenny answered. "It was the defense program Pi- er, Mom, helped start." 

"And now it's—"

"The Legendary Defender Program. I'll catch you up later." Kenny turned to Kova and nodded his head for her to continue. 

"Our curriculum was updated to include battle strategies. As pilots, we learn how to gauge our enemies' strengths and weaknesses, multiple defensive, offensive, and evasive maneuvers, and different wind speeds. As engineers, we're taught the inner workings of warships, raw materials and how to use them. As programmers, we can disable entire structures by taking out large chunks of code."

"The point?" Keith asked annoyed.

"The point," Kova glared at the man. "Is we're prepared for a war, but we haven't used those skills. Besides, even if the council includes us in their plans, they'll give me the plan to execute. I'm the head, I'm the leader, and I'm the top student. If the plan fails, it'll be on me." 

"Kova, that's not—"

"If we return to Earth, we won't be given a second glance, by the council or anyone else in the universe." Kova gripped the railing again, her tirade coming to an end. "We should stay, fight and learn as much as we can before we return to Earth and deal with the council." Caleb's eyes widened, and Liz looked surprised. Did Kova really choose left? 

"Alright team," Shiro said, climbing the stairs. "Get ready to travel through a wormhole." Kenny climbed the stairs after Shiro and walked out of the bridge to head down to the engine room below. Keith stared at Shiro's retreating back. Keith chased after Shiro, maybe to argue his point. The teens didn't care. They followed their orders. 

As the wormhole opened before them, a heavy blast rocked the Coeus. The ship's inner alarm system went off as the teens tried desperately to right the Coeus. It had gone off its directed course, heading for mere feet away from the wormhole that had opened up. 

Down below in the engine room, Kenny was trying to override the alarms. It was refusing to shut off, citing critical damage on the left side of the ship. Kenny tried to turn on the particle barrier around the ship, receiving an error message instead. Kova's face appeared on the huge screen on the engine room console. 

"Kenny!" She shouted to be heard over the blasts. "Where's the particle barrier?" 

"There isn't enough energy in the reserve to power it!" Kenny yelled back, being shaken like a ragdoll. 

Up on the bridge, Kova stared at the small fleet of ships firing incessetnaly on the Coeus. There was no way the Coeus would survive if they didn't activate the particle barrier. A million thoughts raced through Kova's head, then she took over.

"Shirogane, Griffin, Smythe," Kova barked, earning their attention. "Report to your Lions. Garrett, report to the engine room." The teens didn't say a word, doing what they were told without a second word. Allie went along with them, sparing Kova a second glance. "Holt, transfer all remaining, unused power to the particle barrier."

"But that will shut off the lights!"

"Afraid of the dark?" Kenny groaned in annoyance, doing what he was told. The firing stopped as the Coeus went dark, becoming an empty shell. Up on the bridge, Kova steered the Coeus toward the wormhole, still open in the sky. It was hard. It demanded much from Kova's body. But it got the job done.

Red, Blue, and Green fired on the fleet of ships, hitting many in wings and thrusters. Blue fired several blasts, encasing ships in ice. Green flew around them, getting fired on while Red cut through them like butter with their blade. 

"Everyone through the wormhole!" Kenny shouted over the earpieces. Red, Green, and Blue stopped their attacks and flew towards the closing wormhole. They weren't going to make it. Pushing their Lions even faster than they have ever pushed them, the trio raced each other to the wormhole. 

They cut it close by a tail, but they made it through. The teens cheered, thanking Allura they made it through. One by one, they reentered the bridge to celebrate. They stopped at the entrance.

Kova was kneeling on the ground, holding her arm. In front of her, Keith was redirecting the console, traveling to Earth. That was in the opposite direction they were heading. Caleb, furious at seeing Kova hurt and on the ground, held his bayard up to point the barrel of his weapon at Keith. Keith turned, face-to-face with it. 

The map on the screen was beeping, finding the nearest geolocation. 

As Keith and Caleb faced off, the beeping grew louder. 

"What is that?" Keith all but shouted. Kova looked up at the screen, still holding her arm. 

"We found Pidge."

[bokuranofandom]

Bokura no Kiseki - chapter 96 text translation by Nanami

Okay I must say that volume 22 is keeping on surprising me. Last chapter we finally (after four volumes...) ended looooong Wednesday and we’re finally on 6th June, Thursday (happy birthday, Teshimano!). It started with Minami getting his old scar back, and then the promised talk between Abe and Watanabe. To be frank, I wasn’t really enthusiastic about it. I was expecting short chapter and big bomb for next chapter (it will be last chapter of volume 22). Oh how wrong I was...!

(well, spoilers ahead!)

Part 1: Minami dealing with scars... of the past

Looks like Minami hadn’t had any sleep at all (he was lying down in his school clothes on his bed lol) and in the early morning, he was thinking about Zeze lying to him and “not remembering”. And thus getting his old scar back... this one seems to be almost the same as the one he got in first volumes, and of course band-aid is a-must. Haha reminds me of good old days when thanks to this band-aid it was easier to tell them apart. And it’s scary, as Veronica got it right before she died. Why Minami covers it? He’s not concerned about questions of his classmates... but because seeing it reminds him of circumstances of how he got it. And he remembers it right now. The fierce fight in the underground room. Personally, I still doubt Lucas aimed at the princess... I believe she just jumped in the bullet’s way, aimed at Glen and Vince. Then again, we got one more piece of that memory (and Eugene’s face full of emotions -- I want to know what he was thinking back then so badly!). All Minami remembers is that after Veronica reflected the magic back at Lucas (and it wasn’t a deadly blow yet!) the fierce battle ensued (between whom?!) but he remembers it just faintly... and next he remembers is bloody mess of Lucas (dying here, definitely in worse shape than right after Veronica reflected his magic - who did this to him I wonder?), Eugene gone, Glen with stab injury and no Veronica’s earring (he had it on earlier so he really lost it in the fight), in other corner of the room, Vince dead. First, Veronica checked whether Vince was still alive, then she grabbed his sword in a fury, wanting to destroy the magic stone (so it means Veronica learned somewhere what is was). Then noticing Glen briefly. And instead of treating his wounds... our little princess, out to destroy her husbando... but Eugene already fled. I was really in awe, seeing Veronica dragging that heavy sword and yelling at Eugene in pure rage, wanting to murder him. Just after that, she regained her senses and decided to evacuate. But the princess regretted not killing Eugene back then... and promising she will do it for sure this time. Meaning, finishing off Zeze. Minami came back to his senses, terrified by the intensity of Veronica’s emotions, trying to get a hold on himself.

Part 2: Abe and Watanabe

Actually, nothing better than soccer club trio! Nanaura (traitor), Abe (mocking traitor’s son) and Watanabe (real traitor’s son). And to think they were such a good friends, until the past came back at them... Anyway, it’s good to see Abe back to normal. He even smiled! That’s such a relief. Watanabe surprised me too, because I was sure the main point will be revealing his identity to Abe, but he didn’t even do that. Not yet. 

Part 3: Before lessons

Enomoto and Kikuchi are absent because they are terrified of what happened to Teshimano... is that really it? I always found Kikuchi suspicious and not much about Enomoto is known. And to wear down high-ranked priest (Ootomo) and a knight (Teshimano) I suspect more than one person is necessary... My guess is at least one of them is working with Nishina (willingly or unwillingly) and they run out of mana so they stayed home. Or maybe they are part of back-up Nishina’s plan for later... Better prepare, Ooki. Minami is letting others know they are going to gather after school and do the rest of exam. Minami also decides to talk to Zeze. And maaan, he is in really foul mood. It seeps through his voice. He doesn’t confront Zeze about lying... he joins his lie to check how far he will spun it. We learn that Zeze doesn’t remember any magic... or so he says. But I don’t believe it somehow. And Zeze is perceptive... he spots Minami’s new band-aid right away. This chapter, we don’t see Zeze’s inner thoughts... but he surely realized shift in Minami’s mood and should be scared for life lol. On another note, I’m so happy to see Teshimano just hanging out with Zeze casually.

Part 4: Minami and Watanabe

Right before confronting Nishina, quick step back to Minami and Watanabe talking, thinking what they should do about Nishina. Watanabe surely has a good heart and wants to give Nishina chance to explain himself (what a change! not long ago Watanabe refused to share his identity with anyone, especially Nishina and now... surely Ashley talking through him). Minami explains they can’t, they have to drag Nishina through it. He’s willing to listen to Nishina, but he prepared for each of strategies Nishina may try to explain himself. And he guessed it just right, as we will see...

Part 5: confronting Nishina in front of everyone

So there are everyone with past life from their class, aside from Kikuchi and Enomoto. Nishina is using the strategy foreseen by Minami... and he’s left speechless when confronted directly with Watanabe (reactions of some people here suggest they might be his accomplices too). Who are you, Nishina?! If it was any other manga, I’d wait for a short pause and hysterical laugh of “bad-ass” who was caught on his lie. Not in this manga though. Nishina just calmly took the situation in and... admit that he is not Ashley. Nanaura turned pale. His reactions are more than anything to confirm that it was his “mastermind” and that he is scared shitless. Actually, I’m not sure if Nanaura is scared because of Nishina’s identity being destroyed, or learning that the one he stabbed with a knife was... Ashley. Someone he respected. And he always feared that knight coming back, to take revenge on him... and here he is, right in front of him. Okay, so Nishina is going to step two, predicted by Minami. If identity is revealed, he tries to argue he can’t just reveal his true identity like this. Lucas’ name didn’t appear yet even once... and right when Minami is right about to mention him, Nishina stops him. WEIRD. Nishina takes off his glasses (even more weird) and comes closer to Minami... step three predicted by Minami. So he’s willing to talk, but he can’t do this in front of everyone due to reasons.

Nishina admits seeing “accidentally” Watanabe being stabbed... but he wasn’t Cotton nor “that other guy”. So, who? Conrad, watching from the tower? (irony, I don’t think so) or some coward hidden somewhere? I don’t buy it. He has to be Lucas. Ootomo unconsciously sense Lucas aura in him, Zeze also thinks he’s annoying just like Lucas was. And I’m fine with that! Foreshadowing was nice, now I need answers. I bet Kumeta-sensei won’t let him be just a guy to hate, oh no. There’s also easily readable in Japanese change in Nishina’s speak, when he talks to Minami on the last page. The heavy rain probably makes it hard to hear for others... Nishina is not talking to “Minami”... he’s appealing to Veronica. He’s using “anata” and calls him by “Veronica” name, even adds “oujo” after a bit of pause. And while “oujo” translates the same as “hime” (meaning - princess), it’s unfortunate, because in this manga, as far as I remember only PRIESTS use “oujo” when referring to our princess.

Also, the way Nishina says “If it’s you, then surely you will come to my aid”... it is a bit surprising, just how confident he seems. Just as if there was a situation in the past with princess helping... his past self. It was done several times the same way, especially with Hiroki-Glen stuff. So I think we might highly expect next chapter starting with retrospection of Nishina’s true identity. Anyway, next chapter is the last of this volume. It can mean some HUGE cliffhanger... so yeah, I can’t wait!

[thedarksideofriverdale]

In Unity, There is Strength

Chapter 13: Unnecessary Drama

Masterlist // Playlist // Character Guide // Face-Claim

“Zara!” The girl in question turned around to see Jughead rushing out of the school entrance to her at the bottom of the entrance stairs. He stopped at the bottom step and held out his hand, palm out for her to stop. “Don’t go in yet; I gotta fill you in.”

“On what?” Zara asked impatiently. It didn’t help that yesterday she experienced yet another sleepless night because her ‘roomie’ was out all night no doubt getting high. “What could’ve possibly happened? I saw you yesterday.”

“Don’t shoot the messenger. Betty thought it ‘prudent’ to let you know. Veronica broke up with Archie.”

“Ok, that sucks. And? I feel like you’re leaving out something important.”

Jughead scratched the back of his head through his beanie. “Veronica blames you.” Zara chuckled at that. “Laugh now, but she’s raising hell in school. Even Cheryl’s afraid of her.”

“Listen, she’s none of my concern. Let the wannabe huntress think she’s important for the day.” Zara then walked around him to enter the school. It was already 8:15, and Kurtz was nowhere to be seen. But, across the hallway, she saw mop of red hair racing towards her. She waved at Archie, who seemed frazzled to say the least.

“I’m assuming Jug told you?” Archie asked quietly once he came up to Zara. “I’m sorry, Zara. I tried to keep Veronica ‘appeased,’ but once we left her out of the mini pack meeting yesterday, she lost it. To be honest, everyone was pissed. Veronica and Betty knew something was up when we were all missing from lunch. Then, Veronica told Reggie at Le Bonne Nuit, and Reggie told Moose. Since Moose was at practice, and so was Cheryl, Cheryl learned about it. And, if Cheryl knows-”

“Toni knows. I get it, Andrews. Everyone fucking knows. This is my problem, why? I’m not the fucking alpha. You agreed to excluding them.” Of course, she knew why. Archie always listens to her. “Next time, think with your brain instead of your dick.” She put your hand up to stop him from interrupting. “Don’t even argue against it; everyone knows why Veronica got pissed in the first place. Excluding her was just the last straw.” Fuming, Zara looked for an opportunity to get away from the wolf. And, it arrived. From her peripheral vision, she saw Kurtz saunter away to his locker, only five minutes until class. She rushed off towards him, leaving Archie gob smacked.

Once Zara approached Kurtz, she rolled her eyes at him. “What did I do now?” Kurtz asked, grabbing his textbook.

“Nothing. Clearly, it’s all my fault.” Kurtz raised a brow. “Don’t concern yourself with it. Any luck with finding an emissary?” He shook his head. “Keep trying.”

“Why? I thought you hated my plan of making a new pack.”

“I don’t hate it. I just don’t agree with your methods. But, finding an emissary can give us some much-needed defense against a warlock.”

“You gonna let your pack in on that information, or is it a little secret between the two of us?” he asked with a smirk. Zara took the textbook in her hand and smacked his arm. “Was that supposed to hurt?”

She scowled. “I’ll tell them, soon enough. They’re dealing with trivial drama at the moment, and I need to steer clear of it, apparently. See you at lunch.”

XXXX

Come lunch time, Zara and Kurtz were spotted outside, sitting at the benches. Zara was on her laptop with fifty some tabs open, researching emissaries. Unfortunately, Sabrina still hadn’t contacted her, so that portion of the case was at a pause. At least, Zara can focus on the other parts. “I think I should tell my mom that all of the victims were with the sisters at one point. I’ll leave out the fact that your emissary, Jimmy Riddle, was involved in your gang.”

Kurtz nodded, not looking up from his book. “I think that’s a good idea. I mean, she probably has deduced that, but it doesn’t hurt to enforce the hunch,” he replied. Before Zara could tell him about her research, Kurtz looked up from his book, brows furrowed. Zara followed his line of sight and sighed. Veronica was making her way to their table furiously... well as furious as one can be with obscenely high heels on. “Do I want to know?” Kurtz asked, and Zara shook her head.

“Let me deal with it,” Zara said, getting up from her seat to face Veronica.

Veronica had a beaming smile on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Haven’t seen you all day, Z. Much to catch you up on. Did you know what I did today?” she asked with a sweet voice.

“No...” Zara lied. “I’m not your keeper, sorry to say.”

Veronica laughed and looked towards Kurtz. “A hell of a jokester, isn’t she? Hey, is it a joke that you completely ruined my relationship with Archiekins? Or, maybe is it a joke that you let Archie fall madly in love with you?” She was seething, but the smile was still firmly planted on her face.

Zara looked at Kurtz, who swiftly turned his eyes back to his book. She then looked back at Veronica and gulped. “I hardly see why I’m to blame. It’s not my fault that Archie likes me.” Keep the momentum, said a tiny voice in her head. “If I really had wanted to break you and Archie up, it would’ve happened much sooner. I apologize if your ex-boyfriend didn’t exactly love you anymore because your father is constantly trying to murder him, and you have done nothing to quell the situation. Let’s see, when did it start? Oh yeah, after a ski trip of his went wrong because of your father. And, do you know why? Because Archie isn’t stupid. He probably thought how the hell did Hiram know he was going to be there? Oh wait, you paid for the trip.”

“What exactly are you insinuating?” Veronica sneered. “I would do nothing to hurt Archie.”

“That probably was true, until Archie got bit. Things changed then. A part of you still loves him, but a part of you wants him dead as well. Am I wrong?”

Veronica gave her a hard look before walking off, confirming to Zara as well as anyone who knew of the confrontation that Veronica was no longer welcome in the Dark Circle.

XXXX

It was 7:30 on the dot when Kurtz pulled up into the Andrews driveway with Zara. Once the two stepped inside, Zara immediately picked up on the awkward tension oozing from Archie. She went to sit down next to Cheryl, who had her arm propped up on the armrest, supporting her head as she sighed audibly. “Who knew that a brooding Archie Andrews was even more annoying than the cheerful puppy we see daily?” she asked, exasperated. “I’m assuming you’re to blame,” she added, eyeing up Zara.

Zara went to deny it, but Archie beat her to the punch. “It was all Veronica’s fault, Cheryl. Don’t take it out on Z.” Zara muttered a thank you to him in response before looking around the room. Everyone looked tense, especially Betty. Her hands were balled up into fists and considering that Kurtz was crinkling his nose, Zara knew that Betty was breaking skin in her palms again.

“I’m sorry, B,” Zara quietly uttered. Betty looked up at her, but stayed silent as she uncurled her fists and rubbed her palms on her jeans. Zara then cleared her throat. “So, aside from the drama today, I realized that I should’ve let the rest of you on the information we received from Greendale. It was a poor decision on my part as paranoia got the best of me. I should’ve trusted my pack.” The kids nodded, eyes focused on her. “In Greendale, we realized that a witch or warlock obtains power from sacrifices. Power that can be transferred to other beings, those who do not have magic. The starting sacrifice is of a werewolf, hence why Kurtz’s werewolf friend was the first body to pop up. The only reason he was kept in the morgue longer than Chuck or our history teacher was because of his abnormal healing. We don’t know why they’re attacking previous patients of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, but we do know that it has to be someone from Riverdale. Otherwise, they wouldn’t know of the facility. Or, we had another hunch.” Zara paused, stealing a glance at Archie who’s veins were popping out of his arms due to his tenseness. “We believed that a hunter may be employing the warlock to not only kill a werewolf, but also give them a reasonable excuse to come and hunt you all. If they can pin the blame on werewolves, according to the code, they can come and kill you. It is fully justified in the hunters’ council.

“Another thing is, the werewolf killed happened to be a son of a powerful witch who also is a seer. A person who can see into the future,” Zara clarified.  “The boy, Jimmy Riddle, was Kurtz’s emissary. We feel that this might have some correlation,” she finished, allowing the others to process the information.

Jughead squinted at Kurtz and asked, “Why didn’t you think it to be vital for us to know this sooner?”

Kurtz shrugged, to which Zara rolled her eyes and proceeded to explain. “He didn’t want to say this, but he’s planning on building up his pack again.” Hearing that, Archie snarled. “Archie, calm down. If you lost your pack, you would do the same. This time, Kurtz wants to start with an emissary, but none of the candidates are showing any potential in any magic, let alone fortune telling.”

“You want a weapon, essentially?” Betty asked, folding her hands on her lap. “If we have a warlock or witch, then we can have a fighting chance.” Kurtz nodded, leaning back against the sofa. “It’s a good idea.”

Zara nodded, then felt a buzz in her pocket. She took out her phone and saw Sabrina’s name in the notification. Unlocking her phone, she held out her hand to stop the others from continuing the conversation. She read it silently and let out a large exhale through her nose. “Sabrina just texted me back,” she said loudly. In response to Cheryl’s confusion, she added, “I asked the witch who helped us if there was any connection between werewolf hunters and witches. Apparently, hunters hunt anything that hurts the normal human race. Essentially, the natural are protected from the supernatural. Some centuries ago, witches and warlocks were excluded from this supernatural bunch after some respected witches decided to... help out with werewolf extermination. So yeah, witches and hunters get along because they both want you guys dead.”

Archie rubbed his eyes with his palms and sighed. “So, the hunters are involved in this somehow. And, we were telling Veronica everything until Zara realized. God, I’m so stupid!” He got up from the chair, protests from Toni and Cheryl silenced with a flick of his hand.

After a moment of awkward silence, Reggie cleared his throat. “So… does this mean I should stop working for Veronica?” which awarded him with a punch from Moose.

“Dude?” Moose questioned, shaking his head. “But, honestly, maybe you should,” he added. Zara nodded, then looked back at the kitchen where Archie stormed off to. She was about to get up before Kurtz himself went back into the kitchen. Archie heard the omega come in and took a deep breath. “I’m fine,” he assured. “Tell Zara to stop worrying.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” Kurtz deadpanned.

“Then, why’d you follow me in here?”

“I need to know if you are going to pursue Zara.”

“Pursue? This isn’t a Jane Austen novel, dude. I’m not going to pursue her. I need time to get over Veronica.” Archie looked up at him, suspicious. “But, why do you care?” Kurtz didn’t respond, but Archie got the drift and began laughing. “You can’t be serious. Like anyone would let you,” he snarled.

“If you care so much for Zara, then you wouldn’t have allowed her to suffer in Veronica’s hands because Veronica knew how much you love Zara. You played Veronica, and Zara is facing the consequences.”

“You know nothing about my relationship with Zara. I…” he trailed off, looking at his feet.

“You what, Andrews?”

“I love her,” to which Kurtz snorted. Archie scowled at him and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“If you love her so much, why weren’t you the one to break up with Veronica? You have too many issues to give Zara the love she deserves.”

“And you don’t have issues? That’s rich, coming from a guy who was so high to not only make his life shit but also cause the deaths of each and every single person of his pack. At least, my issues don’t result in death.” Instantaneously, Kurtz wolfed out, growling at the alpha.

Meanwhile, in the living room, all of the wolves were red faced, staring at each other due to the conversation they were eavesdropping until the loud growl caused them all to get up. “What the hell’s going on in there?!” Zara screamed.

“Stay here, Zara,” Jughead commanded. “You’ll just make things worse.” Zara stopped in her tracks, furrowing her brows as the three wolves ran over to the commotion.

Jughead rushed into the kitchen to see the two wolves on the ground, Kurtz having the upper hand and punching Archie’s face. Reggie snarled and wolfed out to grab Kurtz off of Archie, but the ex-alpha was stronger than an average beta and escaped the hold to hit Archie again. But, Archie expected the attack and scratched Kurtz’s side deeply, causing the other wolf to howl. Unable to handle the noise of the commotion anymore, Cheryl ran in and screamed, causing everyone in the house to clutch their ears. All of the wolves returned to their human forms and calmed down.

Slowly, Zara walked into the kitchen to take in the state of the room and the two wolves who were brawling. “What the fuck, guys?” she asked in disbelief. She looked down and ushered Kurtz. “Come on, we’re leaving. I’ll see you guys in school tomorrow,” she added, leaving the room. Kurtz trailed her, his head down.

The car ride was unbearable, neither one of them wanting to speak until the other one did. It began pouring outside, so once Kurtz parked in the woods, the two ran into the house. Luckily, Zara’s mother wasn’t home to hear the commotion.

It was Kurtz who spoke first. “I’m fine. Nothing major happened,” then started up the stairs, and Zara stared at him for a few seconds before following him, wet hair leaving droplets on the wooden stairs. When she walked into her room, Kurtz was already peeling off his jacket. So, Zara decided to grab clean clothes and went to change in the bathroom.

She was pensive in thought as she changed. Still thinking, she went to dry her hair, but was brought out of her thoughts when she heard loud noises from her bedroom. She turned off her dryer to hear objects being thrown. Furious, she came out of the bathroom.

“Cut the bullshit; you’re not alright,” Zara said, fully taking in the state of her bedroom turned upside down. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Kurtz turned around, a frown marring his face. He stomped towards her, his face inches away from hers. “I can’t understand what’s happening to me,” he whispered.

“Tell me, and we can figure this out together.” Her hand lightly brushes against Kurtz’s, but he stepped back in response. Zara’s eyes watered, and she shook her head. “You can’t just bottle up your feelings and hurt the people around you because you can’t understand your thoughts! Why are you tormenting me?!”

“Because I fucking love you!”

Zara stepped away from him until her back was against the bathroom door. “No, you’re not,” she said firmly. “You’re delusional.”

“Who are you to tell me my emotions aren’t real?” Kurtz sneered. “I love you. I’ve had an inkling but I absolutely knew when we went to Greendale.”

“You absolutely knew nothing! Just because I’m nice to you, and I give you a place to stay does not mean I’m a good person for you to be with!” Zara screamed, breathing heavily after. “Now, clean up my room, and we can forget about this conversation.” She then went to grab her sleeping bag. “And, let me be perfectly clear: you hurt one of my friends ever again, I will no longer cut you any slack. You are my enemy from that day onward,” she stated, then exited the room.

XXXX

Notification Squad: @-thatgirloverthere- @the-gargoyle-queen @that-idiot125 @sweetscamille @kurtzyoufunkylittledruggy @thispreviewsme @jinxfanfics @lilhemmo

[carelessgraces]

MAIN CROSSOVER VERSE – DRAGON AGE

HISTORY tw: abuse, death

She was a delicate child, clever and soft and always aware of her surroundings. Born in the height of summer and raised in the palace at Seleny, Astoria was a surprise, and a blessing – the result of a brief but passionate affair between Veronica Grimani, the daughter of Seleny’s merchant prince and his assumed heir, and Henry Greengrass, the Bann of the Storm Coast. (He might have followed her back to Antiva, his own lands be damned, were it not for the wife and daughter waiting for him to return from his trip to Denerim, already months longer than he had intended.)

(She had her mother’s eyes and nose, her grandmother’s cheekbones, her grandfather’s laugh. The thick red curls, the source of her greatest vanity, were a gift from her father, a reminder that even with her roots planted firmly in Antiva, she was a daughter of Ferelden.)

Her tutors thought her a promising student, and found her well-equipped to learn – more than that, they discovered early on that she had a knack for learning things she shouldn’t, and she could talk her way out of anything. As she grew, she developed an interest in politics, compounded by a natural skill; catching sight of this, her grandfather began to augment her education. Where she was once gently ushered from Alessandro’s study while he conducted business, she was invited to remain and observe quietly; where her training had been conducted to prepare her for life as a lady of wealth and status, it shifted to prepare her for life as the heir to Seleny itself. She was taught to understand politics, philosophy, history, economics, theology – and combat, as well, assigned a Crow, Lorenzo, from the House under her grandfather’s command as a guard. (He trained her, too – first only in defense, and later, without her grandfather’s permission, with blades, with poisons and grenades, with everything she could need to defend herself should she one day take her grandfather’s seat.)

Death touched the Grimani family when Ileana, Astoria’s grandmother, caught a fever while in Minrathous, negotiating a treaty. The treaty was put on hold and Ileana was accompanied by her niece and nephew back onto the road, where she perished and was cremated. The whole of the family was devastated by the loss – Alessandro withdrew to his study, where he kept his wife’s urn; Veronica took up the business of running the city, more in a desire to have something to do than any interest of her own in ruling; and Astoria turned to her newly-met cousins, a pair of siblings who had been named her godparents before they relocated to Tevinter. 

Evander and Elyssa took an immediate interest in Astoria and her education, and offered to remain in Seleny to train her, teaching her ancient history at first – and, as Astoria and her godparents grew closer, they asked that Astoria be allowed to attend lessons without being accompanied by her guard. (Surely, a chaperone was unnecessary – where would Astoria be safer than in her own home?) Weeks before Astoria’s fifteenth birthday, the reason for such a request was unveiled, and Elyssa – an apostate and blood mage – placed Astoria under a thrall, claiming that she intended to teach Astoria to withstand the call and command of blood magic. 

Frightened and determined to prove to herself that she was safe, Astoria began to ask questions shortly before her birthday. Her curiosity was punished violently by Evander, the first of many of his lessons. The pretense of training and good will were dropped, Astoria effectively terrorized into silence. For months, this continued, Astoria’s periods of lucidity increasing only when Elyssa began to take her terror for granted, and the more she listened, the more she learned: her godparents had been contacted by the merchant prince in Treviso, promised the aid of his own House of Crows for overthrowing the Grimani. They would take Seleny for themselves – and Astoria, under their control, had been for months giving them the means to do this.

She confronted them – and was beaten, badly, for her disobedience, the incident reported to her grandfather and mother as the result of an attack and attempted robbery while the three were in the city. The family retreated to their vineyard while Astoria recovered, and she acted quickly, certain that she wouldn’t long have the opportunity. 

It happened quickly: a carefully laid trail, made just clumsy enough to be seen; trust in the Crow who had been her protector for years; certainty in her godparents’ tempers. She taunted them, threatened them, and when Evander lifted his hand to strike Astoria, he was killed by her guard. Elyssa managed to escape, but only just, and Astoria was gathered into Lorenzo’s grasp and brought quickly to safety. 

Adjusting to Seleny again proved more difficult than Astoria could have guessed. Angry with her mother and grandfather for not seeing what was being done to her sooner, she finally asked that she be allowed to attend university in Val Royeaux, where she could study and prepare to inherit her grandfather’s titles. He agreed, officially naming her his heir and promising to send her once Elyssa was found; he was as good as his word, and the preparations were made for her to relocate, with Lorenzo remaining as her guard and her grandfather and uncle accompanying her to Orlais. 

She showed immense promise in her studies, relieved to be far from the site of such recent tragedy and to have a chance at independence. Within two years she was training as a bard under the youngest daughter of the Duc de Savrenne, her uncle’s betrothed; she established herself as a welcome addition to the Orlesian court, attending even royally-patronised salons and taking one of her classmates, a Marcher lord a year older, as her on-again, off-again lover. During holidays from the university she went to the Storm Coast to spend weeks with her father and sister, getting to know the Bannorn or urging her family to take her to Denerim so she could get to know the Ferelden court as well.

After five years of study Astoria agreed to return home; her mother came to Orlais to travel with her, intending that their first stop be Redcliffe, where Veronica would meet the Arl to establish new trade alliances and try her luck at arranging a union between Astoria and the Bann. 

And then, the dead rose.

TIMELINE

1 SOLACE 9:08 Astoria is born in Seleny, Antiva, to Veronica Grimani and an unidentified father, later revealed to be Henry Greengrass, Bann of the Storm Coast.

WINTER 9:19 Astoria’s education is expanded to prepare her to become Merchant Princess after her grandfather’s death. She is assigned a guard from among the Crows under his command – Lorenzo, who begins training her in combat and defense.

SPRING - SUMMER 9:22 Ileana Grimani, Merchant Princess of Seleny and Astoria’s grandmother, contracts a fever while visiting Minrathous. She dies on the road, and her ashes are returned to her family by her niece and nephew, Evander and Elyssa, also Astoria’s godparents. They remain in Seleny and begin to take part in Astoria’s education.

SPRING 9:23 Lorenzo, concerned by the request that he no longer chaperone Astoria in her lessons, begins training her in secret as a dual-wield rogue.

SUMMER 9:23 Weeks before her fifteenth birthday, Astoria is placed under Elyssa’s thrall, allegedly to teach her to throw off a blood mage’s control, and sworn to secrecy. When she presses for more information, Evander strikes her, and the pretense of training and good will are dropped when the three are in private. 

SPRING 9:24 After months of Elyssa’s “training,” Elyssa begins to take for granted that Astoria has been terrorized into silence. Astoria learns the real motives behind her godparents’ visit and begins planning a way to get rid of them for good, risking her life to do so. When Evander beats her badly enough to threaten her life, the family retires to their vineyard, where Astoria arranges their death by goading Evander into striking her in front of Lorenzo. Lorenzo kills Evander and, months later, kills Elyssa.

AUTUMN 9:24 Astoria is named heir to Seleny and travels to Val Royeaux, where she begins studying at the university. Her uncle remains in Orlais, looking to secure an advantageous match for himself, angry that he’s been passed over. Astoria exchanges letters with her mother while at university, but will not see her, and instead stays with her father in Storm Coast for holidays.

SPRING 9:26 Astoria begins training as a bard under the Lady Isabeau de Savrenne, the youngest daughter of the Duc de Savrenne and her uncle’s betrothed. 

EARLY 9:30 After completing five years of intensive study at the university, and becoming well versed in the Game – including as a regular attendee of numerous royally-sponsored salons, and the on-again, off-again lover of Lord Iain Blackwood of Starkhaven, another student – Astoria sees her mother for the first time since she left Seleny. When Lord Blackwood marries another woman, Astoria agrees to return to Antiva with her mother. Astoria, Lorenzo, and Veronica pass through Redcliffe together, and are trapped there when the dead rise.

9:30 – 9:31 Astoria risks her life to save her mother and Lorenzo, who are trapped in the castle, allying with the Warden to do so. She remains in Ferelden to help defeat the blight, and Lorenzo agrees to accompany her mother back to Antiva.

9:31 – 9:34 If Alistair is king, and they have a good relationship, Astoria spends a year with him in Denerim, helping him grow accustomed to his new political role, before moving to spend time with her father. If he is not, Astoria goes directly to her father’s Bannorn.

LATE 9:34 Astoria hears news that her grandfather has fallen ill, and returns to Seleny, inviting her father to come with her.

SPRING 9:35 Astoria’s grandfather dies, and Astoria takes the role of Merchant Princess of Seleny and Gonfaloniere di Giustizia of the Signoria at age twenty-six. 

9:38 Following the uprising in Kirkwall, Astoria opens Seleny to mage refugees, many of whom settle in the countryside, and takes on templars in the city guard. The experiment works well – she hand-selects templars to ensure that they will follow her command and punishes those who do not swiftly and without mercy. She holds a tight rein on the city, punishing any mages who enact violence on the civilians with equal speed. Through her careful management, she is able to maintain control of the city and establish peace.

9:41 Astoria attends the conclave at the request of Divine Justinia, having been invited due to her success in Seleny.

GENERAL STATISTICS

CLASS Rogue. SPECIALIZATION Assassin, Bard (DA:O), Shadow (DA:A); Assassin, Shadow (DA2), Tempest (Inquisition)

Note: As Astoria has already trained in assassin skills, by Inquisition she is willing to take on another specialization. She will use the same number of skill points as any Inquisitor or Companion, but will have both trees available to her. 

WEAPON Dual-wield, usually sword and dagger. SPECIAL SKILLS Coercion, Poison Making, Stealing, Survival. 

COMPANION STATISTICS

ORIGINS

PERSONAL QUEST

INQUISITION

PERSONAL QUEST ( Under Construction )

INQUISITOR STATISTICS

EXPLORING THEDAS

Redcliffe Inner Sanctum reached, Crossroads secured, gained cultists’ allegiance;

Crestwood Closed lake’s rift, captured Caer Bronach;

Western Approach Claimed Griffon Wing’s Keep;

Hissing Wastes Explored Dwarven ruins;

Emerald Graves Fairbanks revealed to be noble, Fairbanks defeated the Freeman;

Emprise du Lion Michel de Chevin recruited, Imshael killed, captured Suledin Keep.

MAJOR QUESTS

THE WRATH OF HEAVEN Accepted being chosen by Andraste.

CHAMPIONS OF THE JUST Inquisitor went to Theirinfall Redoubt, templars allied; Ser Barris is alive, promoted to Knight Commander.

IN YOUR HEART SHALL BURN Declared for faith.

HERE LIES THE ABYSS Allied with the Wardens, Hawke left in the Fade.

Note: Astoria will leave Hawke in the Fade due to her affection for Alistair and respect for the Warden order. However, if she and Hawke have developed a close relationship, she will leave Stroud or Loghain in the Fade over Hawke. She will not leave Alistair under any circumstances.

WICKED EYES AND WICKED HEARTS Celene killed, Briala rules through Gaspard, Grand Duchess Floriane recruited.

WHAT PRIDE HAD WROUGHT Respected temple traditions and allied with guards, Morrigan drank from the Well of Sorrows ( unless Velanna or Merrill, or another elven advisor willing to drink from the Well, is present ).

DOOM UPON ALL THE WORLD Cassandra made Divine.

JUDGMENT AT SKYHOLD A recruiting judge.

CALPERNIA Past investigated.

JAWS OF HAKKON Discovered and met Ameridan, shared the truth about American, hunted down the Nox Morta, the dragon was slain, earned a legend-mark from the Avvar.

COMPANIONS

BLACKWALL Recruited and stayed, left prison as Rainier, pardoned by the Inquisition;

CASSANDRA Received and read Tome, Seeker order rebuilt;

COLE Recruited and stayed, made more human;

CULLEN Encouraged not to use lyrium;

DORIAN Recruited and stayed, met and did not reconcile with father;

IRON BULL Recruited, Chargers saved, became Tal-Vashoth;

JOSEPHINE Supported to do favors for the Du Paraquettes;

LELIANA Steeled;

SERA Recruited and left, killed Haramond;

SOLAS Freed his friend;

VARRIC Tracked Red Lyrium source;

VIVIENNE Recruited, given snowy wyvern heart.

IMPORTANT NOTES —

The Greengrasses, Mac Eanraigs, and Couslands

On the Structure of Seleny

On Lorenzo and House Vescovi

[hailqiqi]

Can You Find a Fallen Star?

Healing broken bonds starts with confronting hard truths.

Ctd. from The Stars Aren’t the Same for You and I

I think I need to shoutout to @mistyhollowpro for helping me out with this, but honestly it’s been sitting at 95% for so long that I’ve totally forgotten if I owe anybody else shoutouts.

Words: 3,905

AO3 link in notes.

“Hi.”

The greeting was given with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk that immediately wiped half the tension from his shoulders.

“Hey, Veronica. Any chance you know what your little brother did to my little sister?”

“I love it how you cut to the chase,” she answered with a laugh, shaking her head ruefully as she opened the door to invite him in. “Why don’t you ask him yourself? I told him to quit moping and be useful, so he’s cleaning out the refrigerator in the kitchenette.”

Matt muttered a quiet thanks as he stepped inside. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Nope,” Veronica replied, shutting the door and gesturing for him to follow her, “and I suspect I don’t want to ask.”  She stopped part-way across the living room and pointed to an open doorway. “He’s in there. Don’t kill him, okay? We only just got him back.”

“I promise I won’t,” Matt answered solemnly, crossing his heart. “Scout’s hono— Hey!”

Veronica grinned as she released his ponytail. “I’m still not used to this.” She laughed. “Anyway. Enjoy, Holt.”

Grumbling, he flapped his arms at her and headed towards the small kitchen. This was not how he had wanted to spend his Sunday, but with Pidge acting like the world had ended what else was he supposed to do?

The kitchens in Garrison family quarters were small — more of a kitchenette, really, as Veronica had called it — with a counter for cooking/prep, an island for eating, and a wall of windows to let the light in (and get rid of smoke). The one in this particular family suite was no different, its only unique feature being the cluttered surfaces where every item in the fridge had seemingly been moved out and shoved aside.

Lance was nowhere to be seen, but from the clattering and muttered curses Matt supposed he was on the floor behind the island. He must not have heard him come in.

Excellent.

Moving quietly, he snuck up to the island and peered over. Yup, there he was — wearing shorts and a wife-beater, on his hands and knees with a bottle of spray in one hand and his head inside the empty refrigerator. The thoroughness with which he approached the task made Matt pause.

Whatever happened must have been bad; back before Kerberos, Veronica had always complained about how lazy her baby brother was when it came to chores. Then again, being a paladin had probably helped him grow up — Pidge was barely recognisable, sometimes.

And on that note…

“Lance!” he barked.

“Argh!”

A loud bang echoed as Lance hit his head on the shelf, dropping the spray when he tried to whip around to face the intruder. Matt bit back a laugh and quickly schooled his expression into one of stern bemusement, raising an eyebrow as he waited for him to turn and face him properly.

Lance’s expression fell the moment he set eyes on him. “Ah, shit. How did you even…?”

“One thing you might not know about me,” Matt said, pushing himself onto the barstool and aiming for ‘casually threatening, in the Kingsman style’. (Pidge had said he’d got ‘all buff and stuff’, so hopefully it was paying off now.) “I used to date your sister.”

“I — Wait — You what?!”

“I did. We parted on good terms, back when I left for the Kerberos mission?” He ignored Lance’s outburst in favour of picking up a bottle of juice from the counter and studying the label. “Pass me a glass, Lance.”

Lance stared at him incredulously, then moved to the cupboard, slapping his cleaning cloth down on the counter as he pulled out a glass. “Why are you telling me this?”

“No real reason.” Matt shrugged, accepting the offered glass with a cordial smile. “We still get on very well. I just think it’s nice to see how well she’s done for herself.” Lance was watching carefully, shoulders squared, and Matt ignored him in favour of pouring his juice. “We have a lot more in common nowadays, too, so we talk a lot. We’re both older siblings to a Paladin of Voltron, for one.”

He sipped his juice, eyeing Lance over the rim of the glass and inwardly laughing at how wide Lance’s eyes had grown as the implication sunk in. Less than a heartbeat later, though, his shoulders slumped and his gaze swung to the window, making him look more defeated than Matt had ever seen him look.

What the fuck had he done?

The juice was sweet, and still cold despite being left out on the counter. Matt took his time savouring it as he watched his quarry, hiding his frown behind the glass.

He had planned to wait him out, but Lance wasn’t offering any answers of his own volition — he stood on the other side of the island, eyes looking everywhere but Matt. He’d always seemed the type to fill the silence with random chatter, but right now he was more taciturn than Shiro.

With a mental sigh, Matt finished up his juice and placed the glass back on the counter. “So.”

“So?” Lance met his eyes briefly.

“I don’t suppose you have any idea why my sister is refusing to get out of bed?”

“I— Pidge is what?”

“She’s been lying face down on her bed for the past few hours, and whenever I try to talk to her all I get is ‘Allura hates me’, ‘none of my friends will ever talk to me again’ and ‘my life is over’,” Matt elaborated, raising an eyebrow as Lance shifted nervously. Honestly, the kid couldn’t look guiltier if he tried. “When I asked her who I needed to punch, she said you.”

“Oh.”

“And as fun as it is watching her channel a pre-teen drama queen, I’m sure you can understand why it’s a little concerning.“

"Fuck.” Lance ran a hand through his hair, then held his arms away from his body. "Go on then.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?”

"Yeah,” Lance said, swallowing. “I definitely deserve it, so…’’

They looked at each other for a moment, then Matt snorted. “I’m not gonna hit you, Lance.”

Lance looked away, then sagged against the counter behind him, his hand back in his hair. "I kissed her, Matt.”

Oh. Not exactly what Matt had been expecting, but close enough that he suspected he already knew the rest. To be fair, he found it somewhat impressive that six teenagers-to-young-adults had managed to survive drama-free on a spaceship for nearly three years. Something like this was more than a little overdue.

Especially with these particular players. Though it wasn’t like knowing Matt had always thought it was inevitable would help Pidge any now.

"Okay,” he said with a tired sigh. "So?”

"What do you mean, ‘so’?! I kissed your sister!”

I’ve done worse with yours, he wanted to say, but instead he bit his tongue and shrugged. "Okay, I get that. But what’s the problem?”

“I’m dating Allura and I kissed Pidge!”

“I doubt Pidge is upset about the ‘kiss’ part of that sentence.”

Lance stared at him incredulously, then let out a bitter laugh and looked away.  Matt reached for the juice bottle again and took his time pouring a glass, watching Lance carefully as he did. The younger man was yet to meet his eyes.

Matt considered his words carefully, then took a sip before saying, “If we’re being honest, I was really surprised when I found out you were dating the Princess. I always thought you and Katie had something going on and were just keeping it secret.”

Lance flinched but said nothing. Matt filed the data point away for future reference and asked, “How did it even happen?”

A slow exhale, then Lance finally turned to face him again. “Allura, or Pidge?”

Matt snorted. “Pidge.”

“We were dancing.”

“You were dancing,” he echoed, one eyebrow raised. “Weren’t you in a dance team before flight school? Did you end up kissing all your partners then, too?”

Lance groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

 —————

 Keeping the frustration out of his voice felt like an impossible task.

"You've missed half of your targets today."

Lance shifted uneasily, not meeting his gaze. Keith narrowed his eyes, then turned to Allura.

"You're moving like a robot." Her movements were normally fluid and graceful, a sight to behold, but today they’d been lacking...everything.

Allura snapped her eyes to his, ferocity in her gaze. "I'm tired after your 'dancing' outing last night."

"We're all tired," he retorted, pushing back an irrational wave of irritation when her jaw tightened. "We were all out late, and we all got at least a little tipsy. That doesn't mean you should be sloppy on the field."

"It's just the training deck, Keith, lighten up."

Keith turned his ire on Hunk at the provocation. "You were just as bad! I've told you before: you've gotta control your strength if you want your hits to count!"

Hunk sighed and flopped to the ground. "Look, I'm just so worried about Pidge because she hasn't come, and she seemed really upset last night and—"

Both Lance and Allura stiffened. Keith blinked, tuning out Hunk's rambling and taking a moment to observe them instead. There was a distance between them that hadn't been there yesterday, and — now that he thought about it — they'd barely spoken or even looked at each other except when necessary.

And now Pidge wasn't answering Hunk's calls and had skipped training.

Cold dread slipped down his spine and settled into his stomach. "Hunk?" he said, cutting him off, his tone carefully calm. "Why was Pidge upset last night?"

"Why—?" Hunk paused at the interruption, but Keith's attention was focused more on the way Allura was gritting her teeth, her eyes firmly on the floor, and Lance had almost shrunk into himself, everything about his posture screaming guilty. "I have no idea, man, just her and Allura asked me to take them home early and she was tearing up the whole way. I tried to ask but she..."

Hunk carried on, talking about their drive back and how Pidge had disappeared the moment they pulled up, but all Keith could think about was the way Lance had looked at her in that dress and how tight her fingers had been on his arm as she all but fled from his gaze.

"Lance."

His voice shook with barely contained fury, and it took all he had to remind himself that Lance would never hurt her. Lance met his gaze warily, and Keith's hands clenched into fists at his sides as he asked, "Lance, what did you do?"

Silence fell over the room. Lance visibly wavered. "I didn't—"

"Allura won't look at you. You won't look at Allura. Pidge has missed training and isn't answering any of our communications." Lance winced with each statement, as though they were a physical blow instead of words. "Lance, what did you do?!"

"Nothing unwelcome," Allura answered for him, a bitter edge in her voice. "Pidge is over-reacting."

Keith frowned. If Allura was telling the truth, then—

"Leave her alone," Lance said, his eyes narrowed. "Pidge didn't do anything. If you're gonna be mad at someone, be mad at me."

Allura raised an eyebrow. "I am angry with you," she said, coolly, "but that doesn't negate the fact that Pidge's reaction is completely inappropriate and out of proportion. The integrity of Voltron is at risk."

"Uh, guys—"

"Okay, fine, but because of my actions, not hers!" Lance ignored Hunk completely, his shoulders squaring up for an argument, and Keith suddenly realised that he had no desire to be a part of whatever was going on.

"Enough!"

The tension from the air vanished immediately as they both jumped and turned to face him.

"I don't care what happened. Allura's right, Voltron's at risk. If Haggar attacked today, we'd all die." He glared at all three of them, daring them to challenge him. When no-one did, he continued, "Fix it. One of you needs to talk to her."

"Lance needs to talk to her," Allura said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I want no part of it."

Lance's eyes flashed. "Don't you think I need to talk to you, first?"

"I will talk to you later. After you talk to Pidge."

It was only the fear of looking too much like Shiro that stopped Keith from pinching his nose as his blue and red paladins scowled at each other, locked in a Mexican stand-off over Hunk's head.

At least Hunk looked as lost as Keith felt.

When neither made to move he gave in to the urge, closing his eyes in exasperation as he massaged his sinuses before speaking. "Fine. Lance: go and talk to Pidge. Today." He glared at Lance, his tone brooking no argument, and Lance shrunk back before giving him a hesitant nod. Satisfied, he turned to the others. "Hunk, Allura, get some rest. Allura, make sure you sort out your issues with Lance by the end of the night. I want everybody ready to work as a team again in the morning."

Allura gave a curt nod, her cheeks pinched, before turning away and leaving without a word. Hunk sighed in visible relief and held his hand out for Lance to pull him up — "I don't know what you did, man, but even I kinda wanna punch you right now" — and Keith swallowed back a groan as he moved to pick up their training equipment.

Hopefully his mom had something to eat ready when he got back to their quarters. Maybe Shiro would even be there and he could try to convince him to swap commands.

A guy could dream.

 —————

 He’d stood in front of the mirror for an hour that afternoon, and he still had no idea what he wanted to say to her.

It was throwing him for a loop, because Pidge should have been easy. They’d been a team back on Earth and grown together as part of a better team up in space. Together they’d fought monsters, blown things up, laughed, cried… He’d held her when she broke down over her first kill; she’d sat up with him modifying the training deck so that he could hone his sniping skills. Somehow, being with Pidge made him feel like all the answers were in reach.

So why was this so difficult?

Allura had been the easy one. Allura, who he’d pined after for years, who made him want to change everything he was so that he could be better just so that she would look at him. She’d held his hand, kissed his lips, told him she was happy he was with her…but after seeing the hurt on her face last night, it was easy for Lance to say that she deserved more than him. He would give her a chance to dump him for his transgressions – as Rachel had put it – and if she didn’t, he was fully prepared to end things. He knew what he wanted to say to her, how he wanted things to go with her.

But Pidge? Pidge, he had no idea.

His phone flashed, and for a moment he didn’t want to check it. In the end, though, hiding in his bedroom wasn’t exactly becoming for a Paladin of Voltron so he grabbed his keycard and headed out.

Hopefully he’d figure it out on the way.

-----

 He did not figure it out on the way.

Pidge had let him in — reluctantly — when he told her Keith had ordered him there, and now they were sitting side by side against her headboard with as much space between them as they could manage on her narrow Garrison-standard bed and he still had no idea what he wanted to say to her.

It probably would have been easier if they weren't in her room, now he thought about it. It had been so long since he'd been in any kind of space that belonged to her that her scent was overwhelming. Coherent thoughts were few and far between when every inhale took him straight back to the night before and sent shocks of electricity through his very soul. Hot breath on his ear, laughter tickling the skin of throat… The glimmer in her eyes and the heat of her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as she'd kissed him back with a fiery passion he’d thought only existed in movies.

Kissing Pidge had felt like drowning, and he’d gladly succumbed to it. But now...

“I doubt Pidge is upset about the ‘kiss’ part of that sentence.”

Matt's words ran through his head for the hundredth time that day, and for the first time Lance let himself consider that there might be some truth to them. Though, if anything, that just made everything more confusing.

"So?" Pidge's harsh voice cut into his reverie and he glanced at her, startled. Her messy hair hid her face as she hunched over in the corner, leaning on both walls, one hand fiddling with a loose thread on her pyjama pants. When he didn't answer, she finally raised her head to look at him. "You came here to talk, right? Talk."

"I..." The words died on his lips and he swallowed, hyper-aware of the scant distance between them and how little effort it would be to lean down and taste her again. Shoving the thought aside, he closed his eyes and exhaled. "I don't know what to say."

Pidge scoffed. "Really? Not even a 'sorry'?"

Lance blinked. "Sorry for what?"

"Are you kidding me?" She whipped around to face him, her voice rising in both pitch and volume, and absurdly all he could think was 'Ah. There she is.' "How about 'sorry for kissing you'?!"

The fire in her eyes and the bare foot brushing his calf were distracting, but the ‘angry girl’ alarm in his brain was dinging and this, at least, Lance was familiar enough with that his mouth began to form words on auto-pilot. This was the part where he was meant to grovel, where he was supposed to say he was drunk and it was a mistake and he'd never do it again and then they could go back to being friends. Lance could start pretending her kiss hadn’t left a permanent brand on his being, and Pidge could go back to pretending to be busy whenever he called her.

He paused, a familiar bitterness curling in his gut.

"So?" she prompted. "Are you going to say sorry?"

Should he? His mind was buzzing with a million different replies, a confused jumble of scenarios all playing out at the same time as he tried to figure out which one would bridge the gap between them. That was all he was sure he wanted, really — for Pidge to stop avoiding him, for them to go back to that easy partnership they’d built so that he could stop feeling so lost.

Pidge tilted her head back against the wall, raising one eyebrow as she waited for him to speak and he shifted, moving to sit cross-legged and face her properly, ignoring the way it made him vulnerable to being shoved off.

A little vulnerability was probably in order here, anyway. Maybe it was what they needed — vulnerability...and honesty.

Pidge was looking at him expectantly.

Lance took a deep breath.

“No.”

"No?"

"No," he repeated, squaring his shoulders before plunging on ahead, deciding to just say whatever felt right and damn the consequences. Honesty, if the coarsest type. "I won't say sorry, Pidge, because I'm not. It wasn’t the first time I wanted to kiss you.”

Pidge inhaled sharply, and Lance felt his own eyes widen at the admission. It was true though, wasn’t it? He’d wanted to kiss her before, he’d felt that urge. Over and over again.

There had been a couple of times when he was cradling her in his arms as they slow danced in the Castle, then a million times when she looked up at him with a grin as they sat together playing games at quiznak-knows-o’clock. Once when they were baking cookies with Hunk and she’d gotten batter on her nose — that image and the pounding of his heart was still crystal clear in his memory. More than once when they’d come in from a stressful mission and she’d squeezed his hand to steady him at the debriefing. And then that time when she’d helped him tackle Coran on a pirate ship and he’d been so relieved that she was okay and still there.

He’d always put it down to hormones, but now...now he wasn’t so sure.

The silence fell heavily between them, tension thick in the air; in lieu of finding something else to say, he simply looked. Pidge was staring at him, expressive eyes blown wide, soft lips slightly parted with a pretty pink blush blooming across her cheeks; her soft hair (he still remembered that detail, even if he hadn’t mussed it in months) was a tousled mess, her pyjama top had slipped down to expose one smooth shoulder, and suddenly Lance couldn’t drag his eyes away.

She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

He reached out, one hand gently cupping her face, and murmured, “I want to kiss you right now.”

“I—” Pidge leaned into the touch before screwing her eyes shut and pushing his hand away. “Lance, you have a girlfriend.”

“I know.” He rested his hand back on his knee with a shrug. “I won’t after tonight, though.”

Pidge scoffed. “Don’t expect me to take the position.”

“Would you want it?”

She snapped her gaze to his, a pain he couldn’t understand hiding behind her eyes, before looking away. “Whatever, Lance. Look, you’re my friend so—”

Her words made him frown. “Pidge, are we even friends?”

The question came out softer than he’d intended, but it seemed to startle her all the same. “What? I—Of course we’re friends! Why would you—”

“It’s just—” he cut her off— “you never have any time for me anymore.”

“I’m busy!”

“You were busy before, too, but we still hung out!”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you ever thought that maybe I’m more busy now?”

“That’s bullshit Pidge, and you know it,” he snapped, gesticulating between them as his hurt gave way to a steadily-rising anger.  “Look, let’s at least agree to be honest with each other, okay? It’s not like we’ve got a friendship to save here because our friendship was in the toilet anyway.”

“It was not!”

“Yeah, it was. When was the last time we hung out together? We used to hang out all the time on the castle! We even did movie nights over the comms on the way here but now every time I ask you it’s ‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ and that’s if I even get a reply from you!”

She glared at him, her jaw set. “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I just don’t wanna hang out with you?”

“But why?!” Lance asked, not even trying to hide the pain in his voice. “What did I do?! We hung out in the hospital but then you got out and you were helping with the tech stuff and I started dating Allura but I still—”

Pidge shifted her gaze to the side, and suddenly everything clicked into place.

[kcwcommentary]

VLD7x10 – “Heart of the Lion”

7x10 – “Heart of the Lion”

While I do have some very significant issues with some parts of this episode, mainly Shiro’s new arm and Sanda’s betrayal, I mostly really enjoy this one. I haven’t enjoyed an episode this much since 7x01 “A Little Adventure,” at least. This episode gives time for the plot progression to build more steadily, and it’s nice.

The episode starts with Shiro opening his eyes. There are several people in surgical suits around him, including Sam. Shiro has had a new unit implanted in his shoulder. I really hope the show isn’t trying to say that Sam was Shiro’s surgical doctor for this because that would be giving Sam an unrealistic amount of scientific expertise. Sam says, “I’m happy to tell you we’ve successfully attached your new prosthetic arm.” I don’t like the arm.

Sam says, “We’ve outfitted it with the most powerful energy source Earth has to offer. It’s the closest we could get to mimicking a Balmera’s crystal’s energy.” So, what is this Earth energy source? I don’t remember the show ever saying what energy source the old Galra arm ran on. Since they’re worried about how much energy this arm will take versus how much energy they can generate, I would think this floating absurdity would take way more energy than a regular, full arm like the Galra prosthetic. Sam continues, “The remaining power will be drawn from your body’s own electromagnetic field.” While the human body does actually generate an electromagnetic field, I don’t see how it could be used as a power source, and if this arm draws energy from Shiro’s body, wouldn’t that have a negative effect on his body?

The arm turns on, floats a bit, responds to Shiro’s efforts to move it, and then Shiro starts screaming in pain. The triangle in Allura’s tiara, which she’s had since the beginning of this show, begins to glow. We’ve never seen her tiara glow before, so it’s specifically reacting to Shiro’s new arm. How does it know that Shiro’s new arm is malfunctioning? This is so contrived.

Allura is so kind here. She grabs the triangle from her tiara, throws the rest of the tiara on the ground, and runs into the operating room. She jumps high in the air to grab the disembodied arm, holds it down, they “remove the power source,” which is some black and orange square, and she replaces it with the crystal from her tiara. The arm and Shiro stabilize.

Since Allura was the one who built Shiro’s new arm, I’d like to know why she chose to make one that floats rather than to make a whole arm. I’d also like to know, since she made this arm, why she was not already in the surgical bay. I would think if she made the arm, then she would know more about it than anyone and would have to be part of the team hooking it up to Shiro.

Pidge and Allura present to Team Voltron and members of the Garrison what they’ve found from looking at Sendak’s memories. His invasion and occupation methods usually include building large weaponry on the planet, which isn’t exactly a Sendak-only thing. We’ve seen more than a few large energy weapons at Galra controlled planets and asteroids before. It kind of amounts to Sendak threatens to shoot people and blow stuff up.

Veronica says that she’s cross-referenced information from “Commander Holt’s micro satellites” and “resistance intel.” So, the “micro transmitters”/“micro satellites” launched at the end of 7x08 “The Last Stand Part 2” have been used to gather information. And the resistance, despite Veronica saying early last episode that the resistance had been wiped out, has also been able to provide intelligence. It makes Sanda’s complaint last episode that they had no intelligence seem dissonant with the fact that here that intelligence is, compiled using non-Voltron resources. If the Garrison could do this now, then they could have done it last episode too, so it makes Sanda’s complaint last episode not make sense. Veronica shows an image of one of the Galra structures that have been built on Earth, the building of which occurred during the montage in “The Last Stand Part 2.”

When I paused my video to write the last bit of the last paragraph, I paused on this frame. It made me laugh pretty good, so I had to share it. Not only is Coran’s mustache usually pretty nice to have in this show, I can’t help also notice the Garrison dude in the background reaching up, like he’s wondering what it would take to get a mustache like Coran’s.

Sanda says that due to limited attack capability, it would be too difficult to try to take down Sendak’s armaments without more intel from within those facilities. Shiro agrees and suggests an infiltration and intelligence gathering mission. Veronica points out the nearest such Galra installation would take them through some heavily patrolled urban areas. Shiro suggests two teams, a ground unit and a sniper unit.

It is weird to me that Veronica is the one giving out duty assignments. Pidge, Keith (and Cosmo), Allura, and James are the “ground unit.” I know Allura is a Paladin, but she’s also the Altean Princess, so it’s extra weird for Veronica to be giving Allura an assignment. It was one thing when Shiro or Keith told Allura to do something in their capacity as Black Paladin, but it just sticks out to me that none of the humans here have been confronted with the fact that Allura is royalty. The “sniper support” is Lance, Hunk, Kinkade, and Veronica. There is a bit of this that feels like the show is trying to convince the audience that the MFEs are at least as good and worth the same audience interest as the Paladins. It feels like there’s a bit of meta social or marketing pressure to these mission assignments.

Lance tells Veronica that he doesn’t like seeing her put herself in danger. I like Veronica’s response, “That’s very sweet, but knock it off.” Poor Hunk, often the most talkative Paladin, tries to get Kinkade in a conversation, but Kinkade just grunts.

I really love the music when the Sniper Team gets into position.

Wow, Lance’s bayard sniper rifle’s scope can scan into the ground and render imaging of the tunnels and the people in them. The Ground Team progressively makes their way to a Galra-guarded entrance. Keith says he and Pidge are going in, and James says no, that it’s too well-guarded. Keith seems to just ignore James, as he should, and asks Lance if he’s ready to cover them. Cosmo teleports Keith and Pidge. I wish James’s reaction was better, I wish seeing Keith demonstrating that he knows more about what he and the Paladins can do than James does would have caused James to express some respect. Instead, James gives a cliché “Got to get me one of those” comments.

Now inside, Keith, Pidge, and Cosmo move through the facility with guidance from Lance about sentries. Kinkade seems interested in Lance’s bayard, asking if it picks up heat signatures, and Lance gives an explanation that it uses the others’ suits’ sonar imaging systems and provides him with a map. I like this explanation since it is fundamentally team-based. I also really like that this sequence is letting Lance display some competence. The show hasn’t directly dealt with Lance’s insecurities in a while, and him having moments like this helps show how his competence could be referenced if they ever did show him directly overcoming his insecurities.

Outside, drones spot Allura and James. Kinkade shoots the drones, and some nearby sentries instantly start firing. Kinkade takes out three sentries and Lance takes out two. Remember when the MFE’s weapons couldn’t damage sentries two episodes ago in “The Last Stand Part 2?” James, Kinkade, and Leifsdottir were all shooting sentries, and none of them damaged them. What’s changed between then and now that Kinkade can take out a sentry with one shot? Also, why was Kinkade given more kills in this moment than Lance?

Back inside, Pidge uses her suit’s holographic system as a distraction. I had totally forgotten her suit could do that. It makes me miss season one. Keith and Cosmo teleport to the other side of the door two sentries are guarding, and Keith swords the sentries. There have been many times I’ve felt humor moments in the midst of tense moments have been poorly juxtaposed in this show, but it works here. And why it works here is that while there is some tension to this scene, the threat is not really high here, so the use of humor in this moment doesn’t create a strong tonality dissonance.

They find an access point to the facility’s computer system, Pidge downloads information, and they learn that this place houses a zeiforge cannon.

Back outside, Allura and James are under more fire. Lance and Kinkade take out what they can. Sentries start coming up the stairs to try to get to them, and Hunk uses his cannon to take them out. We learn that on their way in, they planted devices that Veronica detonates that put something in the atmosphere that messes with sentries’ ability to read their environment. That is big deal. I want to know where these devices came from. Did the Garrison figure out this means of messing with sentries’ sensors on their own? The two prior episodes have acted like humanity has had no ability to do anything to the Galra, but behold this ability.

This whole sequence has felt more balanced than anything that’s happened in the previous several episodes.

Both teams get to their vehicles and return to base. There, Pidge reports on the zeiforge cannons. There are apparently six of them. Sanda says it’s impossible to attack all six bases. Keith says it could be done if they had their Lions. I don’t know if Sanda was specifically written to be so aggressive here, or if this tone for her was a decision made by the voice director and actor. She sounds critical, almost blaming the Paladins for the Lions being on the Saturnian moon, and that there are only five Lions. Shiro says the MFEs would be responsible for attacking the sixth cannon.

Everyone sits around dejected over the idea that they can’t get to the Lions. Eventually, Shiro says that the Lions will come to the Paladins. He would know. It makes me sad that Shiro’s not a Paladin anymore, that he doesn’t have a bond with Black anymore and no reason has been given to explain why. That Shiro’s bond was so strong with Black that he still thinks in terms of how the Lions react to their Paladins is precisely why Shiro should still be the Black Paladin.

I love the vocal quality of Keith saying, “Red saved my life numerous times.” It almost sounds like Keith is on the edge of crying. Also, the fact that it’s been Red who Keith thinks of as saving his life, not Black, shows that this show wrote Keith to be the Red Paladin. He’s only been turned into the Black Paladin because the executive producers wanted him in that position, not because it makes sense for the narrative.

I love that Shiro is being a leader here. It’s been so long since he’s been given dialog like this. He’s building the mission, pulling contributions from the various team members, facilitating the team dynamic. It’s so good.

Before heading out, Allura goes to speak to Lance. Veronica has already teased Lance about Allura, and she totally notices Allura’s presence now. Allura just tells him to “stay safe.” Now that it seems Allura is expressing some interest in Lance, Lance, who’s wanted her to be interested in him since the first time he saw her, now doesn’t recognize that Allura is starting to feel that way. It didn’t ever seem to register to him that she wasn’t interested in him in the past, and now it doesn’t register to him that she is.

The teams begin their deployment. I love the music. This episode really is taking time to build up the conflict that’s coming. Characters are just moving from one location to another, but because the show is giving this moment time to breathe, and the music accompanying it is so good, and Shiro’s line of dialog is good, it’s all combining to nicely increase the tension.

The Paladins close their eyes and focus on the Lions. On the Saturnian moon, the Lions begin to sense their Paladins. First Keith and Black, then Yellow, Green, and Blue. There’s a brief shot of Kaltenecker and the mice reacting to the Lion launching, and I still don’t really get why showing them was considered important, but whatever. The Red Lion, however, does not launch. It’s given a physical posture with its head slumped down, like it’s either sad or angry. Maybe it’s remembering that Keith used to be its Paladin, that, as Keith mentioned earlier, Red has been the one coming from across distance to rescue Keith. And now, thanks to the EPs’ wanting Keith as Black Paladin, Red no longer is allowed to be bonded to Keith. I’m sad too, Red.

Lance and Veronica come under fire from the Galra. Black arrives at Keith’s location. Yellow arrives for Hunk. Blue is there for Allura. And Green is there for Pidge. The MFEs, having taken the Paladins to their respective targets, then move on to their target. Despite my not liking this roster of Paladins, I do like the emotion of the Lions arriving for their respective Paladins in the scene.

A Galra fighter shoots out one of Veronica’s tires, the vehicle flips, and back in the command headquarters, they hear Lance scream as the vehicle crashes before communication cuts out. Lance eventually regains consciousness. Both he and Veronica were thrown from the vehicle. Veronica is injured but at least somewhat conscious. Sentries start firing at them, and Lance uses his shield for protection while using his bayard to return fire. A Galra fighter craft starts shooting at him too. His bayard has no effect against the fighter, and its shadow falls over him. Lance closes his eyes, almost like he’s accepting that he’s going to die. Maybe it’s supposed to be that he’s calling out to Red again, but to me, it feels like he thinks he’s going to die, and I don’t like that idea that the show is having him accept death in that moment.

Thankfully, Red does finally come and smashes the Galra fighter into the ground.

As the Paladins conduct their attacks on their respective targets, they’re hit with counterattacks by the Galra, and those attacks are stronger than normal. Lance says, “These aren’t normal base defenses.” I guess this comes from the executive producers’ concern that prior to this Earth invasion story arc, the Galra had been written to be too weak and easily destroyed, so now their weapons are more powerful?

At the Garrison, Shiro seems to think that the Galra response now shows that the Galra had been anticipating an attack. The zeiforge cannons begin to be launched. The Paladins can’t get close enough at their respective bases to attack the cannons-in-launch. Keith says, “Sendak must have known we were coming, but how?”

On Sendak’s ship, talking to him in person, is Admiral Sanda. She told him about the Paladins’ and the Garrison’s attack plan. And this is where I’m done with Sanda. I don’t think she was wrong despite being portrayed that way in earlier episodes, but here, she is clearly and totally wrong. For someone who’s been depicted as being concerned about risking people’s lives, the idea that she would risk lives during this attack is absurd. It doesn’t make sense that Sanda could learn of the existence of the zeiforge cannons and think that Sendak would leave Earth alone if she helped him get the Lions.

I can totally see the EPs and the writers thinking having Sanda do this would be a great twist in the story, but it’s not properly set up. Because they’ve had her demonstrate significant caution before action in the past several episodes, for her to now abandon that caution is very out of character for her. This show has a history of demonstrating that they don’t understand how they’re writing their own characters. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they did this with Sanda since they did it with Lotor. They never understood that plot twists centered on a character like this cannot come out of nowhere, that it can’t contradict previous character behavior. I guess they think that by having it happen in violation of previous character behavior that it somehow maximizes the audience shock when the twist occurs, but that seems like very amateurish writing to me.

Keith tells the MFEs to return to the Garrison and the Paladins to head for Sendak’s ship, that their only chance now is to take him out. I love the shot of the streaks of color of the Lions heading toward a common point above Earth. Keith orders them to form Voltron, and I was totally expecting the form Voltron animation, but I like that it didn’t happen. The music of the scene was too good to be interrupted, and inserting the stock animation of Voltron forming would have disrupted the emotion of the scene.

Sendak orders the zeiforge cannons to fire, their blasts are specifically directed into some additional, orbiting system that redirects the cannon fire to hit Voltron. The combined fire is enough to cause Voltron to separate.

So, yeah, I don’t like Shiro’s new arm. I don’t like the surprise twist of Sanda’s betrayal. But the rest of the episode is so much better than the vast majority of this season. It makes me think of what this show could have been if more if it had been like all the good stuff in this episode. I think the show’s failure to realize its potential is one of the things about this show that really gets to me.

[enneagramspam]

VERONICA SAWYER

6w7

“I wish you'd come with me-“

In response to a question asked over on r/enneafiction.

Veronica’s Six core is exploited at every turn throughout Heathers, the Musical and the clashing of her loyalty to her ideals with the desire to feel safe and secure ultimately results in an abrupt and extreme disintegration over the course of the show. 

Basic Fear:  Of being without support and guidance / Basic Desire: To have security and support

“I wanted someone strong who could protect me…”

Veronica wants, more than anything else, for someone to have her back in a world she perceives as dangerous and frightening. This is made abundantly clear in Fight For Me, the song where she falls in love with JD after seeing him defend himself. The repeated lyric; “I would fight for you // If you would fight for me,” is the most obvious example- the world itself might remain unsafe, but the potential security to be found in another person is a huge draw for her (“Could you carry me through no man's land?”).

This isn’t the first instance of Veronica’s safety seeking behaviour, however- it’s present as early as Beautiful, when she asks the Heathers; “Um. Let me sit at your table, at lunch. Just once. No talking necessary. If people think that you guys tolerate me, then they'll leave me alone…” Veronica isn’t interested in spending time with the Heathers for the sake of popularity or self-affirmation- it’s as a shield. Beautiful also sees her scrambling out of the way of anyone who might pose a threat (“Oh, sorry!” // “Aah, nothing!”), except, notably, when Martha is the one being threatened, where the first glimpse of a counterphobic Veronica emerges; “Pick that up right now … I wanna know what gives you the right to pick on my friend.” Sixes are loyal to their friends, but also to their beliefs- Veronica has a strong sense of justice and a conviction that things can become better again;

“But I know, I know...

Life can be beautiful

I pray, I pray

For a better way

We were kind before;

We can be kind once more

We can be beautiful..,”

Ultimately, it’s her loyalty to this ideal, and her ability to function counterphobically to defend and preserve it, that saves her and the school as a whole, allowing her to confront JD with the conviction that “his solution is a lie,” despite his repeated attempts to exploit her loyalty; “Please don’t leave me alone, // You were all I could trust.”

Everything comes to a head at the end of Act One. After the events of Blue leave Veronica feeling particularly defenseless, she does what a disintegrated Six is wont to, and latches onto her only source of security; JD. “You’re not alone,” he tells her, an offer of the security she is seeking, but can’t seem to find anywhere else. Veronica finds herself drawing strength from the relationship; “We’re what killed the dinosaurs, // We’re the asteroid that’s overdue,” and ultimately venerates it to religious significance, following JD’s lead; “Our love is God.” But the fantascism of these statements, and the undercurrent of violence present from the beginning of the song, betray her disintegration, and the brutality that is about to ensue. Veronica reacts with horror when she discovers that JD has in fact, murdered Kurt and Ram instead of just knocking them out as he promised, (“What the fuck have you done?”) but he remains her only source of safety, even in a world that he has just made a lot more dangerous- he is still completely loyal to her; “...I worship you // I'd trade my life for yours.” Veronica finds herself, more afraid than ever, but with no other source of potential safety, she continues to answer JD, “Our love is God,” despite the fear plain on her face, and doesn’t try to leave his embrace- letting go would mean facing her basic fear, and being without support and guidance.

Seventeen is her attempt to make their relationship into a true source of sanctuary for the pair of them, appealing to JD’s own strength of loyalty (“Can’t we be seventeen? // That’s all I want to do.”). As a Six, she is unable to make a convincing statement without acknowledging all their past pain; “Fine we’re damaged,” and the truth of more in their future, “People hurt us … And you’re right, that really blows.” The song exemplifies her Seven wing- she suggests shallow distractions from the pain, chilli fries, prom night, shopping for summer clothes- but ultimately what she is offering JD is her presence by his side; “Don’t stop looking in my eyes.” The song is filled with offers and promises of and appeals to both their senses of loyalty; “I wanna be with you,” “Your love’s too good to lose,” “Hold me tighter,” etc. Ultimately, the conclusion; “I’ll stay if I’m what you choose // If I am what you choose // ‘Cause you’re the one I choose.” sums up Veronica’s tendency towards loyalty, but also need for it, perfectly.

Disintegration to 3:

“Dreams are coming true // When people laugh but not at you!”

What drives many Sixes to disintegrate is a belief that they are not equipped to protect themselves. Veronica’s initial disintegration occurs when she joins the Heathers as a direct result of this belief- by Candy Store, she has become image-conscious enough to sabotage Martha’s popularity in order to maintain her own (and thus her own safety.) Big Fun makes it clear that this strategy, though unhealthy, is working for her, (“I'm not alone! I'm not afraid!”) and she spirals further into it.

When disintegrated, Sixes lash out- they divide the world into “them and us,” and can be driven to sabotage the “them,” in order to protect themselves. As she disintegrates further, Veronica briefly embodies an unhealthy Three’s arrogance- taken in by JD’s sweeping promises in Our Love is God- “We can start and finish wars…” and enthusiastic to play judge and jury to Kurt and Ram- but critically, not executioner. The murder is a shock to her system, and ironically, allows her to see the flaws in their previous arrogance; “We’re not “special”, we’re not “different” // We don’t choose who lives or dies.”

Integration to 9:

“Listen up folks, // War is over.”

There isn’t much opportunity for Veronica to integrate, but Seventeen (Reprise) offers us a glimpse- while as a Six, Veronica can’t put her fears aside completely; “We're all damaged, we're all frightened // We're all freaks but that's alright,” this song has a far more optimistic tone from Veronica than anything else in the whole show; “We’ll endure it, we’ll survive it.” Like a healthy Nine, she shows a willingness to let go of unproductive conflicts (“We are done with acting evil // We will lay our weapons down”,) and relationships alike,  (“If no one loves me now // Someday somebody will.”) Enneagram institute describes Nines at their best as; “indomitable and all-embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts,” and that’s a perfect description of what this song is all about; “Brand new sheriff’s come to town.”

Childhood Wound: They lost faith they would be protected.

““But the sky's gonna hurt when it falls, // So you better start building some walls…”

There’s an underlying pattern in Heathers, like in many teen dramas, of adults who are essentially untrustworthy- either helpless or unwilling to lend a hand to the kids they should be responsible for. This is arguably such a pervasive theme because it lends the teenagers more agency in the plot and gives their struggles more credibility, but in Heathers, this trope is in fact a depiction of a lack of empathy from adults who truly don’t take teenagers seriously, or are in fact outright abusive or neglectful.

In Beautiful, teachers objectify Veronica, or only recognise her once she is important enough to be seen with the Heathers. Outside of her, Kurt and Ram’s fathers’ are demonstrably abusive, and their sons perpetuate that cycle of abuse by taking it out on their schoolmates. They only repent only in My Dead Gay Son- too late. Ms Fleming is apathetic towards the students whose mental health she is supposed to prioritise from her first appearance- trying to impose a detention on Heather Duke even as she vomits from her eating disorder right in front of her. In Shine A Light, her advice to the students is facile, and her motivation is more about performing for the cameras than actually making a positive impact. Altogether, Veronica lives in a world where adults simply can’t be depended upon for help or sanctuary. Her verse in Dead Girl Walking (Reprise), directed at JD, encompasses all this;

“I wish your mom had been a little stronger

I wish she stayed around a little longer

I wish your dad were good!

I wish grown-ups understood!

I wish we’d met before

They convinced you life is war!”

From Yo Girl, we know the situation applies not just to Veronica’s schoolmates, but her, too. The intertwining of her parent’s empty reassurances; “Your problems seem like life and death! // I promise, they’re not!” with the chorus’ building, ominous reminder of the very real threat of JD drawing closer and closer, “Guess who’s climbing the stairs? // Guess who’s picking the lock?” shows that her parents aren’t equipped to protect her. Childhood wounds only have to be felt- a Six can perceive themselves as vulnerable when this isn’t the truth of the situation. It’s notable that despite the present danger, she simply answers, “You wouldn’t understand,” and works to protect herself (“Veronica’s trying to keep him out, now,”) and again, doesn’t ask anyone for help during Dead Girl Walking (Reprise). All of Veronica’s experiences have clearly built her into a Six who feels she has no-one left to trust.

w7:

“Let's be normal, see bad movies // Sneak a beer and watch tv,”

Veronica often deals with her issues by retreating, shutting her eyes to the unpleasant realities of what’s going on around her, with varying success; “Dream of ivy-covered walls and smoky French cafés // Fight the urge to strike a match and set this dump ablaze!” Her conflation of her own ideals of kindness and inner beauty with the physical beauty she achieves as a result of the Heathers’ makeover is arguably made easier by her Seven wing- “When you’re beautiful // It’s a beautiful frickin’ day!”- when she fakes Heather Chandler’s suicide note, she as much confesses this; “Believe it or not, I knew about fear ... I hid behind smiles and crazy hot clothes,” although she doesn’t admit this is partly confessional. This isn’t the only instance of Veronica’s unwillingness to confront unpleasant truths in favour of happier distractions- trying to undo what’s happened with JD with chilli fries and dancing seems another example, as does her behaviour in Dead Girl Walking, wherein she opts to distract herself from her anxieties not just by returning to her source of security, (“In here it’s beautiful,”) but with seeking baser pleasure to drown out any pain; “Make this whole town disappear!”

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 14.08: “Byzantium”

THEN: Beardy Sam! Lily Sunder! Oh, I had such high hopes for Sam using Lily's dark angel magic... could this be happening? (Spoiler alert: nope!) Jack's total systemic failure!

NOW: TFW is gathered at Jack's bedside. Sam's the one sitting next to him, but Dean is the one who's the most upset. OF COURSE. Jack thinks maybe this is just how it's meant to be, which of course Dean disagrees with, because this "isn't part of some damn plan." And of course, even if it was part of some damn plan, it's not like Dean follows anyone's damn plans. {Sidebar: It reminds me that, when Kelly was pregnant, Cas received some kind of vision about unborn Jack saving the world. Was that supposed to be a prophecy? Or just a possibility?}

Jack's still coughing, and actually using an oxygen mask, but there's no blood and he can breathe enough to speak easily, so he doesn't seem to be at death's door just yet. Dean stomps out into the hall to hit things, and Jack asks Sam to tell him he's okay. But clearly Jack isn't, like, 2 minutes from dying, so Sam says Dean will be back in a minute and Jack can tell him himself.

Jack asks what will happen after he dies, and Sam sadly says he doesn't know. "Then it's going to be an adventure," Jack says, and he lies back and coughs a little bit more.

Cas comes out into the hall to comfort Dean, or confront him, I don't know. Dean says it's not fair and Cas is all, yeah, duh, but he needs you (ah, confront him it is), so stop making this about yourself. Even though the previous episode obviously did give you the idea that it is, in fact, all about you.

Dean comes back into Jack's room, 66 seconds after he left it, to find him lying quietly with his eyes closed. "He's gone," Sam says. Wait. What? Like that? No more coughing blood, no rattling last breaths, no slip into unconsciousness? Just boom, Jack's gone before the title card like a random victim of the week? That's cold, guys. It's a good thing Sam didn't follow Dean out into the hall, or he would have died alone. As it is, Sam was the first person he saw when he was born and the last person he saw when he died (I'm not crying, you're crying). Everybody is sad (oh god, you guys, Sam's face), but Dean is the saddest, at least as far as we can tell, because he's the one who gets the sad, sad closeup.

Well, that escalated quickly!

Title card!

TFW stands sadly in the hall (Sam's all hunched over, poor baby) and discusses what to do next. "Wake and a bonfire," Dean says, because that's what Jack would have wanted, and because that's what they'd do even if he didn't want it. {Sidebar: Has anyone noticed these signs that have appeared in the bunker? I never saw them before. Do the new roomies need directions, or rules posted on the wall, or something?} Sam quickly peels off without saying a word. Cas tries to go after him, but Dean stops him, saying Sam needs his space.

That’s the sound of my heart breaking.

Dean calls Mary to tell her Jack died. I don't know that I would have done that. I would have asked her to call me so I could tell her in person, considering that they were close. And apparently she didn't even know Jack was sick. Seriously, boys, you don't communicate well at all. While Dean makes his uncomfortable phone call, we see Sam leave the bunker with a bag slung over his shoulder. Cas watches him but doesn't say anything. Dean shows up, literally a second or two later, and asks him if he's seen Sam.

Cut to Cas driving, with Dean in the passenger seat. It's not his tiny blue car from the last episode, it's something much bigger. Dean is berating him for letting Sam leave, and he doesn't accept Cas's defense that Dean said to give him space. Cas, you're supposed to know that Sam is allowed space in the bunker, but that doesn't mean he gets to leave. They find him quickly enough, though, which makes sense since he had like a five second head start. He's just off the road, in the dark, sitting next to the Impala. Sam, you took the Impala? What were you thinking? {Sidebar: Dean told Mary Jack died "this morning," and now it's dark. Does that mean Jack died very early, and it's still before dawn? Or have they just sat around grieving all day, and now it's nighttime?}

(Could you please stop worrying so much about minor timeline inconsistencies? Nobody cares!)

Sam weakly raises a hand to block the headlights when Dean and Cas arrive, but doesn't get up, and he just looks broken and miserable. Dean is furious. He jumps out of Cas's car (which turns out to be a big Dodge truck, and why does Cas get two cars when Sam doesn't even have one?) and yells "tell me you didn't make a deal!" Sam's shocked that Dean would accuse him of such a thing (ha ha, why would he ever) and says he was trying to build a pyre.

We get a flashback of him furiously chopping trees until his axe handle snaps in the middle of the second tree, and yet he still took the second tree down, so he must have kicked it over or attacked it with his bare hands because he was JUST THAT UPSET. Oh, Sammy. "I couldn't... I couldn't even do that for him," he says. "I should have done more. I should have tried harder. Everything we've got, the spells, the lore, what good was any of it if we couldn't save him?" Oh, oh, Sammy. He's so broken-hearted.

Ha ha this is not okay.

{Sidebar: Was Sam planning to build the pyre out there in the woods? Or take the wood back to the bunker in the Impala? I mean, he knows Cas has that nice big truck, right?}

(Again, we do not care as much about logistics as you seem to think we do.)

Cas remarks on how odd it feels for Jack to be dead, that it's not so weird for angels to die but it just doesn't seem right that Jack can. Apparently he considered the boy immortal. Dean decides they will say goodbye tomorrow, but tonight they're getting shitfaced.

And they do. As a sad Allman Brothers song plays in the background, they drink whiskey and eat candy bars (do they even know about his nougat love? do they?) and apparently switch to tequila (and Chuck, I do not know what anyone sees in tequila) and I guess tell funny stories about Jack because they're all laughing. Sam's the first one to get up and stumble drunkenly out of the kitchen (and why are they drinking in the kitchen and not the library, which seems like the traditional sad drinking spot). As Cas leaves, Dean says "we did everything we could, right?" (Spoiler alert: wrong!) and continues to drink alone. "Here's to you, Jack," he says, "wherever you are."

Which is our segue to wherever Jack is. He's with his three dads, happily eating a burger on the hood of the Impala on a beautiful sunny day. Sam can't get a signal on his phone, which should be his first clue that something is horribly, horribly wrong. Then Dean kind of fritzes and the sky goes dark and Jack knows something is wrong. We seem him stepping through a door into the white hallway of Heaven. But something is wrong there, too. And the "something wrong" is a great flood of black goo that rushes toward him. He runs.

Cut to Dean, waking up where he's been asleep on the kitchen table (and dang, Dean sleeping on the kitchen table is so pretty). We hear voices in another room and I think oh, people are back in the bunker, but it turns out this is another episode where all of the people are conveniently away at the same time. He staggers into the map room to find Cas and Sam talking to a woman with an eyepatch. It's Lily Sunder! An older version, to be sure {Sidebar: She's played by Veronica Cartright, who you may remember from Alien and The Witches of Eastwick. Or you may not. I don't know your movie viewing habits.} Dean thoughtfully points out that she got old, and she calls it "an unfortunate side effect of giving up magic." You know, she really is a pretty decent older version of Alicia Witt. Good show, Show.

Sam says he realized last night that they'd never looked at Kevin's translations of the angel tablet to see if there was anything there that could help Jack. He hoped Lily would be able to read them, and possibly find a way to bring Jack back. It's interesting that there has been no discussion of whether they should bring Jack back. I guess the talk about how weird it is that he actually died was as close as they're going to get. And yeah, I know, this is nothing new for them. But considering that Jack was at peace with it, and considering how well these things always go, you would think they'd at least pay lip service to the idea that it might be best to let what's dead stay dead.

{Sidebar: Dean remembers that Lily tried to kill Cas, but nobody remembers that Cas thought Lily's child was a nephilim, even though Lily was still alive after giving birth to that child. Just putting that out there.}

Lily flips through Kevin's notes, which look like a bunch of cuneiform, and says she can't decipher them. Dean's all, okay, we're done here, but Lily has a suggestion. They can use her magic, drawing on the power of Jack's soul to heal his body and bring him back. Dean's completely against it, but Lily says it won't use his entire soul. "How much of it?" Sam asks, and Dean gives him a disbelieving look. But Lily says it will only use a small amount, and he'll never miss it. Well, it's not like they've never used soul power before, though those have always been for temporary purposes.

Dean points out the obvious flaw in the plan, which is that Jack is already dead and his soul is gone. But if his soul is in Heaven, Cas thinks he can pull it into his body for a few seconds, long enough for Lily to work her magic. (Ew. I wonder if it's gross for a soul to find itself in a dead body.) Her magic uses the power of his soul to resurrect him and keep him alive, and boom. Jack's back.

But she's not doing it for free. She knows she's going to Hell when she dies, being that she killed a lot of angels, which means she'll never get to see her daughter again. So she wants TFW to get her into Heaven.

Dean still thinks it's a bad idea to use any of Jack's soul for this scheme. Cas thinks Jack should be the one to make the decision, and Sam points out that he knows (better than anyone, one might say) the importance of a soul, but if they can bring Jack back, they have to try. So this still feels flip-flopped: Sam willing to make a possibly unwise deal to bring back a dead loved one, and Dean holding back.

Of course, none of this will work if they can't figure out how to get Lily into Heaven. Dean wonders if they could get Billie to do it, but Cas points out that Death and her reapers don't make that decision (thank you, Continuity Fairy). Oddly, Sam seems a little surprised to hear that. This wouldn't be news to him, would it?

Anyway, they have to turn to Anubis, the ancient Egyptian guardian of the dead. It's interesting that they didn't go with St. Peter. I mean, I like that they're not limiting their characters to traditional Christianity, but it seems like Cas, in particular, would have suggested someone from the Bible. Cas explains that Anubis weighs your heart against "justice's feather," and Sam says what I'm thinking, which is that Osiris did that, and they've already met him. (Did they kill him? I don't remember.) Cas says Osiris is Anubis's father, and when God left, they needed a new judge, so Heaven passed over Osiris to work with his son. It's convoluted but whatever. I mean, it's cool that they're incorporating different religions and gods, so. Let's summon a god!

Cut to a lush garden, with a pond and lots of too-pretty-to-be-real flowers. A little girl is playing with her dog, who runs after a ball and disappears into the bushes. He's gone too long, and then we hear rustling in the bushes, and I'm ashamed to say I was pretty sure Lucifer or Nick was going to step out of them (I covered the guest star credits on first watch and didn't know who was in this episode). But it's Jack. Oh, then the little girl is Kelly, and he found his way to her heaven! When he tells her he's her son, she changes to grown-up Kelly, who is thrilled to see her son until she realizes she's in Heaven and therefore she must be dead... and so is he. I'm glad Jack has the ability to leave his Heaven and find Kelly's. I mean, if Heaven is made up of your good memories, think of how skimpy and repetitive his would be.

Bunker. Sam and Dean prepare for the ritual as Lily writes instructions for Jack. Dean's still disgruntled about the whole thing, and they argue for a bit. Dean says he just doesn't trust her just as we hear footsteps, and it looks like they're doing it AGAIN - the thing where someone says something bad about the character who is right behind them, and can we just not, please? But it's Cas, not Lily. Yay! He reports that Heaven is in distress and all the gates are open. I guess that will make it easier for him to get in. Sam tells him to go on to Heaven, and when they're ready for him, they'll pray. Oh, so they can still pray to him? Good to know.

Dean paints symbols on the floor as Lily hands Sam a really thick instruction manual for Jack. I wonder how long it took her to write all that? Sam says he has to go "grab one more thing" and then gives Dean a significant you need to apologize look and head tilt toward Lily. I do love these unspoken conversations. Dean's apology is everything you'd expect from a man who learned to apologize at John Winchester's knee, since he says "looks like we got off on the wrong foot" (i.e., it's not my fault) and immediately asks, suspiciously, why she stopped using the angel magic if it's so awesome. He guesses, correctly, that she's letting herself get old, because she wants to die, and why does she want to do that if she's pretty sure she's going to Hell? She says she has a tiny bit of her soul left, and if there's even a teeny chance that she'll get to see her daughter in Heaven, well.

Anyway. Cut to Cas, wandering through Heaven. He comes across puddles of goo and a couple of bodies. Looks like we're down to, what, nine angels now? (As always, it's interesting to me that angels use vessels in Heaven, though I understand it would be pretty difficult to portray them if they didn't.)

(Then again, if we didn't insist on including angel drama, we wouldn't need to show angels in Heaven at all, would we?)

(Just saying.)

Turns out one of the bodies is alive, and it's Duma. She has black goo coming out of her nose and only remembers that when "it" touched her, everything went black. Cas dramatically tells her he's looking for Jack, and she goes with him. They find the spot where Jack was with TFW on the beautiful sunny day, but his food is cold. (Does your food get cold in Heaven? I thought it would stay at the perfect temperature. Bummer.) Naomi shows up and tells them Jack is gone, and that they're under attack. "It" stormed Heaven and they can't stop it. What is it, you might ask? "The shadow. The thing that rules The Empty." Naomi reminds us that Cas and Empty Dude are "old friends" and they show us Empty Dude forming out of the black goo and oh, wait, wait. Is this what was happening last week, when Nick prayed to Lucifer and we saw something skeletal forming in The Empty? It wasn't Lucifer at all? It was Empty Dude? Is that what's going on here? I'm confused. I mean, I'd love for Lucifer to stay asleep in The Empty. So I'm all in favor, if that's what's really happening.

Naomi says Empty Dude wants Jack, and maybe he does belong in The Empty after all, since he's half angel. Well, if I were Jack (or Cas), I'd point out that his grace was mostly gone and he was more human than angel. But no one asked me. Naomi says Empty Dude will destroy Heaven if they don't let him have Jack, and "46,750,000,000 human souls will be cast in the wind." I really want someone with math skills to tell me what percentage that is of all of human life so far, because I wonder how many people Show has decided probably went to Hell. Naomi says one nephilim isn't worth all those souls, and I'm sure she's supposed to be Evil Bureaucrat, but honestly, she's right. But you know Cas won't see it that way. He refuses to help, and then suddenly Naomi is overcome with black goo and she yells at him to run. He does.

Bunker. Sam reads the spell. Lily draws her blood. Anubis shows up. Turns out Egyptian gods also look like bureaucrats, with a suit and briefcase. He recognizes the Winchesters and Dean is kind of snarky with him, which is exactly what you'd do if you summoned an ancient god to ask him for a favor. Lily tells him she wants to know where she's going when she dies, and he says it's against protocol but what the hell (spoiler alert...). He draws an abacus with black and white beads out of his bag ("you were expecting a scale and a feather?") and invites Lily to put her hand above it. The beads move and change color and when they stop, there are more black than white. Well, that ain't good.

Anubis tells her he can't change it, and Dean threatens him because, once again, that's what you do when you summon an ancient god and ask him for a favor. And Sam jumps right in there. Come on, boys, you know how this works. Anubis explains that he's not the one who decides if you go to Heaven or Hell (which you should remember from your experience with his father, fellas.) "You do. Each of you. Your individual choices, all tallied at the precise moment of your death. Keep me here. Try and kill me. It is not going to change Lily Sunder's fate. But it might change yours." Now this is how you threaten someone, boys! There's more silent conversation ("I don't want to go back to Hell, do you?" "Aw, fuck no"), Sam rubs some paint off the floor, and Anubis disappears.

Heaven, I'm in Heaven. Cas and Duma find Kelly's Heaven and there is a joyous reunion. Cas apologizes for not keeping her son alive, and tells Jack they have a way to bring him home, but the magic will draw from a piece of his soul. He pretty much takes any choice away from him by telling Jack that Empty Dude will destroy Heaven if he doesn't come back to life. "Smart," says Duma, except she's not Duma! She's Empty Duma! Oh noes! (The black goo effect really is pretty good, I've got to say.)

Bunker. Sam points out that Lily could still do the spell to save Jack, even though there's nothing in it for her. Because that's what Sam would do. But Lily's not interested, and she packs up her stuff to leave and Sam finally shouts "he's our kid!" and oh, Sam. Just stick that knife in my heart and twist it a bit more, why don't you? Dean says he thinks she's lost so much soul, she's not human any more, because why would she let anyone else lose a child, knowing how it feels?

Heaven. Empty Duma says Jack belongs to her and where she's taking him is worse than Hell, because "at least Hell is something." You know, I think The Empty would be pretty awful if you were awake, but from what we've seen, no one is awake there. Even its ruler was asleep. So, would being asleep forever actually be worse than Hell? I'm thinking not. (Honestly, if Heaven is full of good memories, a big chunk of my Heaven is going to be drifting off in a soft bed in a cold bedroom under flannel sheets and a quilt and a cat.) Anyway, Empty Duma is pleased that her threats are upsetting Cas. He draws his angel blade and attacks, but she flings him into the kitchen cabinets.

Bunker. Jack's body is surrounded by candles. Lily pulls out her locket and kisses the photo of her daughter, then says "I'm ready" and picks up the spell book, so I guess Sam and Dean were able to convince her after all.

Heaven. Fighty fighty.

Bunker. Dean prays to Cas and tells him they're ready. Lily starts chanting.

Heaven. Empty Duma starts to strangle Jack. Cas tells her to take him instead. She drops Jack and then says what I'm thinking, which is that she gets him anyway. "Not for years," he says. "Eons, maybe." But if she lets Jack go, Cas will go with her now. She accepts, but says she won't take him now. She wants him to suffer, so she wants him to go back and be happy, and once he does feel happiness, then she'll come and "drag you to nothing." Cas accepts.

The Empty leaves Duma, and Jack angrily confronts Cas, asking why he made the deal. "Because I made a promise. Because I love you, Jack. Sam and Dean, they love you, and they are fighting for you this very minute." He tells Jack not to let the Winchesters know about the deal, and Jack promises not to tell. {Sidebar: Would Jack even remember what happened in Heaven? Sam and Dean didn't, until Joshua specifically made them remember. But does that mean they naturally forgot every time? Or that Joshua made them forget every time, but in Dark Side of the Moon he decided not to, and he let them naturally remember? Discuss.}

Jack doesn't want to leave Kelly yet, but she tells him she'll be waiting. And this is something that didn't occur to me until rewatch - did Empty Duma give up the right to Jack's soul period, or just for this particular death? If and when he dies again, is The Empty going to claim him again? I would have made that clear, Cas.

Anyway. Cas holds Jack's face and in the bunker, Jack gasps back to life. Sam gives him a spell to read and his eyes glow and he says he feels good. Dean hugs him (because of course Dean gets the hug, why would I think Sam gets the hug, for fuck’s sake) and then the guys notice that Lily has quietly died in the corner. Well, I didn't see that coming.

Nah, that’s cool, I’ll just stand over here and watch, thanks.

We see Lily walking into Anubis's office. He holds up the abacus again and this time, when she puts her hand over it, there are more white beads than black. "Did you know what doing the spell would cost you?" he asks. Apparently she did, and that good deed outweighed enough of her bad deeds that she gets to go to Heaven after all. Yay Lily!

Back in Heaven, Naomi thanks Cas for saving Heaven, even though she knows he didn't do it for them. And she wants to give him a reward. "Like, for example, the archangel Michael's location?" Nice try, Naomi. We all know his location. He's in Lebanon, Kansas right now.

Isn't he?

Bunker. Jack and his dads eat burgers and smile at each other and Dean's glad they know where Michael is. Cas points out that they don't know where Dark Kaia and her spear are, and I'm still thinking about that damn archangel blade, and Jack with his archangel grace which is supposedly regenerating, and why haven't any of them made that connection? Anyway, it's a happy, homey scene, and the camera pans off to the side and I'm absolutely certain that something bad is waiting here. It's going to be a dream, or Dean's eyes are going to flash blue, or something. But no, it just fades to black. Huh.

This seemed a lot more ominous than it should.

So. Let's talk about Cas's deal. I hate it. Jack is back, and the only lasting effect from his brief death is something that will impact Cas. I hate that they took a non-Cas problem and made it a Cas problem. I hate that the rest of the season is going to be about the Sword of Damocles hanging over Cas's head. I want my angst to be over 6 ft tall and to be wearing flannel, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I just can't get into the sad saga of Cas waiting to be yoinked away. Especially since we know exactly when it's going to happen, even if Cas doesn't. Bad things happen in May, people. (I also wonder why Empty Dude doesn't just go back to sleep.)

And let's talk about the Winchesters' decision to save Jack in the first place. I don't like it. It makes sense only if you know that (1) he'll be taken to The Empty and that it is somehow worse than Hell, and (b) if he doesn't go to The Empty, Heaven will be destroyed. And they didn't know any of that when they decided to go after him. I wanted at least one of them (spoiler alert: SAM) to say "yes this is awful but he was at peace with it and every time we un-kill someone, something awful happens, so maybe we should just let this one go," and of course they would have done the spell anyway, but there should have been some pushback.

And finally, the Michael thing. Are we to believe that Michael is not hiding in Dean after all? Because that means he really did abandon his vessel for no good reason, and that's... that's something that they REALLY need to explain. Hiding in Dean made SO MUCH MORE SENSE. (Could it be that Naomi is lying to Cas? Was she, possibly, Empty Naomi?)

Also, Sam yells he's our kid and then gives him a hearty pat on the shoulder? What the fuck ever.

Anyway, please help me stay unspoiled, thanks!

[keithxhappiness]

Voltron Season 7 In-Depth Review *SPOILERS INCLUDED*

I can't believe Pidge and Lotor made out in the Green Lion.

JK. But seriously, spoilers ahead, stay away if you haven't watched the season yet! Then, come back, and read my thoughts on it :)

1. Let's start by discussing the beautiful Keith. With his beautiful scar, and his beautiful "flippity" hair. I watched the first two episodes separately from the rest of the season, and I am so happy to see how far he's come. Certainly, season 6 was much more Keith-centric, and it seems that he's more or less completed his maturation then. This season was a chance to display his leadership skills and the product of that maturation. Although, of course, he did have lapses in his patience, where he lost control of his temper, in that space-madness episode, but what can you do? Space madness gets everyone, even Shiro probably. Anyhow, I almost shed a tear when he told his mom he loved her, and I am so so so glad that their relationship was designed to be one filled with optimism and hope, in place of resentment, guilt or regret -- which was another direction the writers could have gone. And it brings a smile to my face knowing that he was reunited with her again at the end of the season, and that their promises to each other were fulfilled. So, overall, I'm just happy that he's happy. I really only ship Keith with happiness and this season that ship became canon :) Also, can we start calling Keith "The One With the Flippity Hair"? What does flippity even mean? :') I love it.

2. Kosmo. Yorak. Whatever you guys want to call him. The space wolf. First off, I can't get over the fact that Keith thinks the wolf will tell him his name when he's ready. Keith, the wolf can't speak English! HE CAN'T SPEAK AT ALL FOR THAT MATTER, BABE. Kosmo is a bit cliche, but it's not bad. I really did like "Yorak", as given to him by the fandom. So much that I actually started referring to him as Yorak in my head. BUT, names aside, Kosmo was A BEAST this season. I was just thinking how he didn't serve much of a purpose the previous season except to give Keith a canine companion, but this season, he was fucking awesome. He saved their lives a BUNCH of times. Not to mention, the fight with that druid would have ended much sooner had it not been for Kosmo's teleportation abilities. Seriously, his teleportation was so so useful this season. Did you see how quickly Keith and Pidge got through that cruiser? Damn. Not only does the space wolf look cool, sound adorable, but he was an amazing addition this season. Keith and Kosmo does have a nice ring to it :)

3. Matt's HAIR. IS. SO. HOT. Every time they age up a character, they become a quadrillion times hotter. Who knew 3 deca-phoebs could do so much. If Keith ages up another 3 deca-phoebs by the end of the show, the universe may just implode from the heat.

4. OK, um, what's next? HMM...how about ships. I know Voltron is not too focused on romantic sub-plots. The one romance that actually took place went up in fiery flames very quickly. Personally, I like romantic subplots, whether in books, movies, tv shows. For example, I loved all the little romances in Avatar, and even though my ship never became canon (rip Zutara), I was happy to see everyone with someone. Of course, I hate it when they take up too much story space, but I think a sprinkle of romance on top of the adventure, drama, humor, and mystery can make a story more delicious. That was a weird metaphor. Anyhow, it appears to me that the show is pushing Allura and Lance as the main couple. This season showed us sure evidence that Allura reciprocates his feelings, and that his feelings are still there. You know why? Because their cheeks were animated red. When an animated character blushes around another animated character, they're basically canon. But there is still another potential ship...and no not Romelle and Hunk (although I'm into that)...

5. Acxa. What's her deal, you guys? What exactly is her connection to Keith? Is the show making her his love interest? But, how, there's no time! I mean, it only took a season to bring Lotor and Allura together, but still. I've read theories that she is related to Keith, seeing as she is also half-Galra. This is an interesting theory, and I did believe it for a while before this season. I mean, they both have pointy chins. If they are in fact related (e.g., half-siblings), they'd have to be connected through Krolia. However, Krolia and Acxa were together in the same place with Keith and Krolia showed NO indication of recognizing Acxa, or being unsettled by her presence. If Krolia was Acxa's mother, but didn't feel it was the right time to tell Keith, there'd at least be a shot of her face looking disconcerted or unsure around Acxa right? Or, some kind of awkward Krolia-Acxa interaction. I don't know, the siblings theory just doesn't hold up anymore after this season. So, that leaves the romance theory. Personally, I'm into that too. Acxa and Keith would make a good couple, connected by their Galra heritage, which conflicts with their own desire for peace. Both having to forge their own paths, Zuko-style, and both having been the leaders of their respective group. I though their fight with the other generals was really awesome (and the banter kinda cute), and I really believe Acxa's sorry for what she did. Also, we did see her at the end of the season watching Keith and Krolia. Yeah, I think a Keith-Acxa relationship is quite likely, especially now that Keith is at the peak of his maturation as an individual (evidenced by his ability to comfort Hunk in his own time of loneliness).

6. Next topic: LOTOR. I know Lotor wasn't in this season...like at all...and that still makes me sad. Keith said he was dead, and I'm wondering if we should start believing that to be true. I had hoped he could still be redeemed in some way, or at least return as a foe for the paladdins, but it seems that he's just as a gone as Zarkon. But Lotor is a million times more interesting than Sendak as a villain. I really didn't like Sendak as the villain this season. He's so cliche...with his evil laugh, and his giant weaponized arm. It's hard to take him seriously when there seems to be no actual motivation behind his actions except that he likes to be powerful by crushing other planets. Lotor had a backstory, and good intentions, despite the nefarious means he was using to achieve them. Lotor had a goal...to see Atlea restored. His goal may have been perverted, but still, we could sympathize with him, and some of us are still on his side. I really think it was mistake to throw Lotor away in favor of Sendak. But at least, Keith sliced Sendak open at the end of the season and we won't be seeing him again. The real enemy this season I think was hinted at at the end of the episode which brings me to the next point...

7. THE ALTEAN POD. WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. We knew the Altean colony had disappeared. The culprit seems pretty likely to me. Haggar. The motivation, on the other hand, eludes me. What reason would Haggar have to try to kill the paladdins? Is she mad at them for killing her son, maybe? They technically didn't kill Lotor...just left him, but as Keith said, he did choose his own path. And Honerva seems to have regained her rational mind, seems hard to believe that she has resorted to blind vengeance. No, I do hope her motivations are slightly more complex than revenge. But the ending did give us an indication of what the next season will be focused on...the Alteans...while still being a REALLY GOOD ENDING...which brings me to...

8. This ending was GREAT. For a second, I started to hyperventilate because I really thought all the paladdins had been killed off, and that the GG pilots & Veronica would be replacing them, but thankfully, the writers are NOT THAT merciless. I don't know if I could handle even one of their deaths, much less ALL OF THEM AT ONCE. OMG. I am freaking out just thinking about it! No, instead, we had beautiful reunions between all the paladdins and their families, as well as some of their former allies. Earth is safe, everyone is home, and Shiro has a new arm. Things wrapped up pretty happily this season, which I really like. It makes the wait for the final season much more bearable, and peaceful. If you believe that fictional characters continue to live on after you close a book, or turn off the screen (which I do), then I'm happy to know that they're together, and they're living in relative peace (with a little bit of unsettling mystery yet to be resolved) but no immediate threat anymore.

9. I enjoyed all the new characters this season! Veronica was a bad-ass, and I'll be really curious to see a Keith-James confrontation in the next season, I could FEEL the tension between them this season, but I'm glad they both held their tongues in order to work together.  Anyway, Voltron is back at it again with a diverse set of pilots, and there wasn't a lot of opportunity for them to shine (a problem that any show with a large cast has), they did sparkle in their own way. I'm excited to see a bit more of them. Still, I can't help but ask the question:

10. WHY ARE THERE ONLY 13 EPISODES LEFT? I understand that the show must have an end. Every good show has a solid ending, planned from the beginning. They shouldn't keep churning out episodes just because people are continuing to consume them. But I still think ending it now, in only one more season, is a mistake. There is still so much of the world that I feel needs to be explored, and that can be done more adequately with at least 3 more seasons. They can continue to age up the characters, and delve deeper into the NEW characters. 13 episodes is just NOT enough time to do that. It's not! The universe is still in shambles. Earth needs to be completely rebuilt! Of course, a graphic novel series continuation is a viable solution to this, as is being done with Avatar, but animation is just so much better. I'll be really sad to see the show end, so please, Voltron creators, take your time with its release, but at least, even if this creation is ending, those same people will continue to create new stories, and I'll be totally on-board for whatever the animators work on next. Hopefully, it's 2D animation though, cause I gotta say, I am really not into the 3D animation taking over cartoons these days. That is one technological upgrade we could do without.

Overall, awesome season, awesome characters, awesome animation and fight sequences, especially action-packed, and the one word I think I'd use to describe it: REFRESHING. The new environment, and new situations.

Also, Keith is still very hot. That is all.

PEACE OUT, FOLKS.

[starkdreams]

Toni x Jughead Headcanons [Break Up + Make Up Request]

The Breakup

It wasn’t that Jughead and Toni didn’t argue, because they did, often. The issue is that their arguments never turned into fights. And the one time it did it was a big fight. 

It started when Betty approached Jughead about a new Nancy Drew adventure she had going on. It wasn’t that Toni is a jealous person, but she knew how toxic Betty and Jughead’s breakup had been. She was worried for Jughead’s mental health. She also didn’t want Betty dragging her boyfriend into dangerous situations.

Toni let Jughead know how she felt, but he assured her not to worry, he would be fine. Until he wasn’t. 

When Toni received the call from Betty that Jughead was in the hospital, she freaked. She imagined FP carrying his body out of the woods all over again. She imagined his bloody head on her lap in the back of a car again. She imagined waiting for hours to see if he was even going to live. When she got there and he was only getting stitches, she was going to kill him herself.

It started with ‘are you ever going to respect yourself, jug? are you ever going to stop jumping into stupid situations that are going to get you killed? is that what you want? do you want to die?’ Jughead didn’t say anything. ‘so you do? you want to die and just leave me here?’ Jughead denied it, but the damage had already been done.

‘was penny not enough?’ ‘i did that for the serpents!’ ‘the serpents didn’t need you to die jughead! we were fine before you came around, fyi’

‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ ‘it means while you were sleeping in movie shacks we were all here dealing with these issues without you’

‘what are you saying? i’m not important?’ ‘you are to me. clearly not to yourself, jug’

‘i don’t know what you want from me, toni’ ‘i want you to stop running around with your ex almost getting killed. i want you to care about yourself. i want a boyfriend i don’t have to babysit!’

‘i don’t know if i can be with a man that doesn’t respect himself and that doesn’t value my opinion or my feelings. i don’t know if this is something i want to keep doing, jug.’ ‘then don’t.’

‘so we’re done here, jug? that’s it’ ‘you said it yourself, you’re fine without me’

‘fine’ ‘fine’

Toni doesn’t cry until she gets home. Jughead sits on the steps of the hospital for hours afterwards.

After the Breakup

As soon as Fangs hears he runs over to Toni’s trailer with ice cream. She hugs him and they watch an old VHS tape of Armageddon. Sweet Pea offers to let her beat him at pool.

Although Betty, Archie, and Veronica feel bad for Jughead, they’re happy to see their friend more. Even if he is sulking in a booth at Pop’s. 

FP just sighs when he hears and advises Jughead to fix it. You don’t let a good thing like that go.

Toni hides it well, but she starts to get a little emotional when she’s listening to songs about breakups.

None of the Serpents are 100% sure why they broke up, but Sweet Pea is 100% sure it was Jughead’s fault. And he tells him so as he hip chucks him against the wall.

Archie tries to get Jughead’s mind off it by playing video games. But Jughead can’t keep his head in the game.

Hanging out at the Whye Wyrm is hard for Jughead. He feels uncomfortable with the tension between him and Toni. It reminds him of being at school. He feels unwanted. Alone.

The Makeup

Toni notices Jughead hasn’t been hanging around the Whyte Wyrm much. She starts to worry about him, so the next day at school she confronts him and asks him why he doesn’t come around much. Jughead reminds her that she’s been there longer and he doesn’t feel welcome anymore, just like at school. Knowing his past at the school, she feels terrible. She tells him he’s always welcome there and that it’s his home too. There’s no reason they can’t coexist. He better be there that night. He shows up and everyone welcomes him like family. It’s the first time she’s seen him smile since they broke up.

During lunch at school, Toni leans forward and laughs at something Fangs said. A few strands of her hair fall in her face. Jughead reached forward and pushes them back behind her ear. The table goes quiet, but Toni grins. 

Deciding they can still be friends, Jughead and Toni begin walking home together. One day Toni grabbed his hand to hold without thinking about it. She quickly pulled it back. Jughead laughed and held his hand out. She put hers in his. Now they’re friends who hold hands on their way home from school. 

They were at Pop’s, drinking milkshakes, and Toni was talking about her History teacher yelling at Sweet Pea for falling asleep in class and how she’s worried he’ll never get into college. Jughead just watched her, not really caring if Sweet Pea got into college, and smiled. In the middle of her sentence he blurted out ‘I miss you’. Toni went quiet and grabbed her things, excusing herself. Jughead watched her go and sighed, heading home shortly after. When he got home Toni was sitting on his little porch. ‘I miss you too’.

On one of the days that Jughead was feeling particularly down, Toni sat down beside him in front of the Whyte Wyrm. It was just the two of them. ‘You know you’re worth a lot more than you think you are, right?’ Toni watched him, taking in his mood. Jughead pulled his beanie off and shrugged. Toni put her hand on his. ‘You’re not a throwaway Jughead. I love you.’ Then they kissed. Just so happens Sweet Pea was walking towards the entrance and saw. He was disgusted.

The following day Toni told Fangs she and Jughead were back together. Fangs, of course, told everyone.

Jughead and Toni promise not to fight the way they had. They talked through their problems and swore to each other that they would be more honest and open. They never want to break up again.

Sorry if these weren’t very good. These were kind of hard to write! Anyway, hope you like them, Anon!

Check out my other headcanons here!

[nanyoky]

It has been a week and A HALF and it’s only wednesday i deserve so much food and the drama BETTER BE GOOD this week

of course chic’s not a blossom he’s a whatever-alice’s-maiden-name-is/jones we all know this please let the confrontation be messy with alice and fp PLEASE LORDS OF MELODRAMA

oh my god. as much as i prefer season 1 alice to season 2 alice, this reaction is great. so great. “who’s his dad? who knows! it’s a mystery! highschool was so long ago i don’t even remember everyone i dated! doesn’t matter! no one needs to know who i rode like a pornstar in the back of his pickup after the homecoming game senior year! and no one needs to know i still think about it all the time! especially when he’s talking all sarcastic with his rough hewn charm! It was one time and I definitely don’t have dreams about it ever, okay? IT’S IRRELEVANT BETTY”

oh no you guys i just thought of the fact that alice cooper likely knows where fp’s serpent tattoo is and i don’t and now i’m DISTRAUGHT

okay- like i love it when they remember people i love are friends, but why is kevin sitting in on this register interview?

....i don’t know who this dude is but kevin is excited so i’m excited for him

also why is hal talking like there’s an audience to this interview? i know i bitched about the bad season one dialogue but now it’s just WEIRD

oh noooo.... veronica actually kinda thought her mom let her invite a friend just to be nice and then had to come crashing down to manipulative reality

jughead’s back on his bullshit again *claps hands aggressively in his face* ACTUAL. AT. RISK. KIDS. SUPPORT. THAT. SCHOOL. BEING. SHUT. DOWN. STOP. TRYING. TO. HIJACK. THEIR. LIVES. SO. YOU. CAN. FEEL. MORALLY. SUPERIOR.

god i really want there to be a falling out between jughead and toni where she finally tells him off for acting all martyred when he has essentially been a serpent for a hot five minutes and sees it as a novelty that can excuse his selfish actions when the rest of them live the reality of needing a gang to survive poverty and violence and i want that scene to HURT a lot because we like jughead! we genuinely do! but he’s been such a prime fucking pill this season and he’s not going to learn and grow until he gets hurt a little bit as a direct result of the shit he’s been pulling

um so i was excited that ethel was back..... and then a characterization 180 for zero reason other than they needed someone to throw a milkshake????? why

okay that was dumb but josie’s reaction was great

like- i’m still waiting to figure out how veronica’s long con with her parents is going to shake out. they better give her a great season three subplot to make up for this messy crummy mob malarky

that was a SOLID punch

also YASSS let her snap- give us some indication she’s been holding back and biting her tongue this whole time and now she can’t take it anymore

lol leaning HARD into the crimson peak vibe with that “special tea.” they know what we want.

i. am. so. glad. jughead’s hunger strike is a joke to everyone.

but also lol: jughead: why are you being such a bastard, v? veronica: my parents don’t want me to do the thing but i’m going to do it anyway. jughead: you are my favorite friend and i’ve always supported you.

and he’s back into anti mode because betty is being softcore up for some beronica

and a hard cut to toni killing it for no reason other than that we all forgot the vixens were a thing- and toni is a swell dancer so we’re all glad to see it

THE POMPONS ON HER SNEAKERS??????

“inner circle vixens- you know who you are” PPPFFFTTT

“MANDATORY SLUMBER PARTY” GOD I MISSED YOU HBIC VIXEN CHERYL

“you were only at southside high for like- four days” thank you. and i know jughead is tying it all to growing up in the neighborhood but like- come on. jug. he’s right. you didn’t hang out with toni and sweetpea and fangs and joaquin growing up. you hung out with archie and betty and kevin. you should not be speaking for the former just because you shared a zipcode in the part of your life you won’t even remember as an adult. and if you miss your mom and jellybean so much like- call them?! why are they not brought up more often?!?!?!?!!?!?!?! when am i going to finally see neeve campbell claim her right by combat to divorce skeet ulrich in dramatic fashion when she finds out about his lovechild?????????? she killed him twice in the nineties SHE’S EARNED THIS

HOMO EROTIC BRAID TRAIN

what is cheryl wearing is that a dress? a slip? a nightgown? I DON’T CARE I WANT IT ON MY BODY

also HOLY SHIT DOES SHE HAVE HER “BURN IT TO THE GROUND” DRESS ON DISPLAY ON A DRESSFORM GOD LOVE THAT WOMAN

“wait- is this real or a game?” i stand by the headcanon that not only did joaquin tell the gang about “this is riveting-” but secrets and sins and the whole night so toni like- has tangential second hand knowledge of season 1 cheryl’s bullshit and is trying to reconcile that with the vulnerable but emotionally stunted hottie she’s learned to love

god i’m still FURIOUS that we will never see teen serpents all together i would kill for a flashback of them all hanging out on the night of jughead’s birthday and joaquin bursts through the door at 2am like “I JUST HAD THE WEIRDEST FUCKING NIGHT OF MY LIFE INCLUDING THAT TIME I STUFFED A BODY IN A FREEZER LET ME TELL YOU *EVERYTHING*”

also i just realized toni has primarily male friends so her confusion might be partially due to the fact she’s NEVER BEEN TO A SLEEPOVER?!?!?! she’s just sitting there like “oh shit- ‘i don’t feel safe in my home’ is this a game??? i haven’t seen this in any teen flicks how do you play??? are their pillow fights involved?????”

SHE JUST CALLED HER TT. LIKE JJ. as a messy bitch who loves questionable things in her suburban gothics: FUCK. YES.

there is.... something both HILARIOUSLY implausible, but also HILARIOUSLY realistic about this. “i invited you all here because i fear for my life in my own home.” “omg same let me tell you MY family drama.” sleepovers just be like that.

they just turn in after thiss???? okay THAT i don’t believe. sleepovers are the time for plotting convoluted and dangerous plans to solve your life problems, not vent for 30 seconds and then go to bed

THEY MADE EVERYONE ELSE SLEEP ON THE FLOOR BUT CHERONI IS BATHED IN SEXY RED MOOD LIGHTING I’M CACKLING

i’m trying to picture cheryl announcing the sleeping arrangements and i can’t stop laughing. “as the newest vixen, toni will have the privilege of a mattress. not alone of course. i AM the hostess after all. there is plenty of room.” toni: oh that’s so nice and not weird or suspicious of you cheryl i would love to bone- i mean sleep on the same bed three feet apart from you. everyone else: we’re still here stop being nasty.

cheryl and toni are meant to be because they both don’t remove their makeup before bed like some kind of goblins with naturally perfect skin no matter what hell they put it through

BLOSSOMS! BACK AT IT! THERE’S MY FAM! BRINGIN HOME THE GOLD WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SOME CLAUDIUS/GERTRUDE- I MEAN PENELOPE ACTION

((i can’t tell if this episode is actually better or if i’m just in a better mood tonight. don’t care. having fun.))

molly ringwald!!!! missed you boo

.....who is that boy veronica just snubbed on his cupcake and kiss i only saw the back of his head but i know my TYPE when i see it

“right now i’m only interested in one girl, you.” ethel shifts uncomfortably because no one could resist that gay shit right there no matter how hard we may try

also tho- for the record, i’m with ethel, sexualizing your student body president campaign is tacky and archaic af

oh my god jughead you look like a freshman delivering his first speech at the regional finals

also lol they got like Other Serpents to fill in the club so that it’s not just the snakey core four

AND HE’S BACK USING THE TRIBE FOR HIS OWN NARRATIVE GODDAMMIT JUGHEAD YOU’RE MAKING IT SO HARD TO LIKE YOU RIGHT NOW

KEVIN THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH THIS NONSENSE I THOUGHT YOU AND I AGREED YOU WORK ON JUST BEING YOU FOR AWHILE AND THEN IF JOQUIN COMES BACK THEN YOU HAVE A LOVE INTEREST?!

oh kev i can’t stay mad at you not when you can’t keep a secret to save your goddamn life. sweet bean. precious pea. too good for this world.

oh i like this. i like betty getting FEROCIOUSLY protective of kevin- even though i’m not even entirely sure chic is as dodgy as they’re trying to make us think

ahhh there she is josie- my ambitious girl.

oh my gooooooddddddddddd. serpents why are you listening to jughead- with that edit away from the scene i thought they were gunna let him have it. why do they suddenly think he’s right????? THEY HATED THAT SCHOOL! THEY WERE HAPPY TO GO TO RHS! THIS IS CANON AND IN THE DIALOGUE! I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS SEASON!

WUT THE FUCK BETTY. i kinda love it tho

oh lordy- heavy handed girl power political twisting- COMPLETE WITH SONG

i mean- i know that ethel has always been a very minor side character, but i’m still disappointed they’re using her for this plot when the last we saw of her in season one was her being very mature and understanding that veronica does not control her parents actions and now she’s the exact opposite with like- no new personal story to back this change up. you either get put on a bus at the end of season one or you stick around long enough to be handed a sloppily put together new personality that no one wants.

JOSIE?! honestly i know i keep saying it but this is so messy what even is this show anymore

((sorry i’m whining again- i really liked the sleepover bring that bit back))

that was a well done breakdown from mendes good job girl that built really nice

also was that a spark of season one hermione i saw???? please?????

“she wears it when she has sex with jughead” oh my. oh dearie me. this is. goodness.

betty you fell into one of the classic blunders- never admit anything you’re accused of until they have proof lol even chic is surprised that worked

alice needs a system reboot at the thought of jughead and betty boning for various reasons- not least of all the generational echo of her life

JUGHEAD AND FP SCENE. these are the only times this season that remind me of my love for that skinny little twerp. their interactions remain golden and heartbreaking and i love themboth to bits.

boys- wake up and smell the custody papers. jellybean aint comin back. good or bad idea. also jug- you’re sixteen? two years you’ll be out of here on a scholarship anyway- stop acting like people don’t move out of small towns anymore

OH GOD THEY’RE GENTLE SNUGGLING HLEP ME just bury me in scenes of these boys bonding over their pigheaded natures

like this annoys me that they’re couching this in archie drinking hiram’s koolaid because “i don’t think jughead’s fighting FOR anything.” is the smartest thing archie’s said all season

archie deserved that now go after jughead, molly ringwald i trust you to dress anyone and everyone down as you see fit

“i’m.... very well acquainted with how alluring the jones men are” yes.... yeeesssss..... yaassssss YASSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“woah- wait-” keep up betty we all knew this from alice and fp’s first interaction in season one

there she goes- puttin it together. “absolutely not” my lumpy ass

“don’t forget what he did.” “i will never forget” ......i’mma confess i honestly forgot about the murder that’s how fucking messy this season has been.

jesus christ this mutual blackmailing but also gaslighting between chic and betty is just nightmarishly stressful 

YASS BACK ON CHERYL BEING THE TRADITIONAL GOTHIC HEROINE OF EVERY MOOR-SET PAPERBACK EVER PRINTED i missed this. i missed the trational gothic heroine trapped in an american/suburban gothic.

*sigh* i’ve spent all season holding out hope- giving varchie the benefit of the doubt that they were both playing close to the chest and pulling long cons on mama and papa lodge, but i don’t know. i think it’s just bad writing now.

yeah hiram like anyone would ever believe that the bulldogs would go to disband a protest of their peers with wire cutters completely of their own volition. NO ONE is going to think the developer who is essentially the only one with a personal stake in the demolition of the school might have twisted their arms. solid plan. no one will suspect you’re pulling the strings of these teens.

god they’re making this so dramatic but i hate this plotline and the lack of consistency with the serpents plot so it’s just laughable

omg omg- can we just forget the unfortunateness of this episode’s plot for jughead and instead get fucking PUMPED to see him try to get votes for student council i am READY FOR THIS TRAINWRECK

lol- if this was anyone but jughead i’d be laughing at him agreeing that she stay in the trailer without consulting- you know- the adult who owns the trailer and is his legal guardian, but this is fp we’re talking about he’s gunna be so stoked. he’s gunna buy like all new pillows and sheets and curtains and like a “welcome home” teddybear and stock the fridge full of healthy things he imagines people like betty eat. like smoothies. fp needs all the strawberry smoothies as jughead’s dowery to seal the deal

MORE MOLLY RINGWALD?! YAYYYY!!!

HOLY SHIT???? i mean- i was all for cheryl being the typical gothic heroine trapped away and called mad once she wised up to her shady family but this is... hmmm. wow. that’s..... a lot. nto sure how i feel about it.

[juggie-imagines]

Bitter Sweet

Jughead x Reader 

Requested: - Anonymous said: Hey um... I don't know if you do requests... but I'll just request and see what happens I guess? Okay, I really enjoy your writings and I was wondering if you could do a Jugheadxreader story where the reader is kinda depressed2 

&

can you do a jughead/riverdale imagine where jughead breaks up with the reader, and the whole "squad" leaves the reader, so in despair she goes to the river to kill herself ( like what Cheryl did ) and Jughead saves her?

Words: 2752

Warnings: self harm; depression; suicide attempt; suicidal thoughts.

"I'm sorry Y/N, I still love you but-"

"Then why are you leaving me! This isn't fair." I sobbed and gripped his shirt in my hands trying to stop keep him close.

"Y/N please. You're making this harder for both of us. I promise you're not losing me or anyone else." He sighed and carefully pried my hands off of him and wiped my tears before walking me the rest of the way home.

I tried to go to bed but my thoughts kept me up as well as my constant crying and pain. I didn't get any sleep that night despite how hard I tried to calm down and try get a few hours of rest. When my alarm went off in the morning I was already up, I pulled myself out of bed after convincing myself that it would be the best thing to do. I grabbed a pair of leggings and a huge baggy sweater from my cupboard and put them on before going to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. I looked in the mirror and only then could I see how badly I needed to rest, my eyes were puffy, red and had dark circles around them and tears stains ran down my cheeks with the general paleness of my face topping it all off. I left my face alone, make up can't cover all this up so I just did my hair and went to my room fetching my bag and stepping outside.

I waited outside for two minutes out of habit which made nearly cry again, Jug always walked me to school, even before we were dating but I guess he doesn't need me anymore even if we were just friends. So I walked to school all by myself with tears threatening to fall the whole way there. Once I got to school I cheered up a little when I saw Betty at her locker which is a few paces from mine, I strolled over to her and greeted her with a sigh which made her turn around quickly in curiosity.

"Oh hey Y/N... I've got to go." She said bluntly and basically ran off in the other direction as I laughed which wasn't a happy laugh it was a sad laugh at the crushing realization of the reality of my new world.

I spent the rest of the day trying to confront the people I used to call best friends but they all made up an excuse to leave before I even got my first sentence out. Even Archie ignored me, Archie Andrews, we had known each other since first grade and now it's like we had never met. I blame Jug for all of this, he's turned the people closest to me against me and what pisses me off even more is that I haven't seen him all day, I thought I wasn't going to "lose him or anyone else."

At lunch I walked into the court yard and looked over to our table but when Veronica caught my eyes and quickly looked away I sighed and stalked off to the bathroom with tears welling at my eyes. I sat in a stall crying again because I was now left with no one but why? Had I done something? Had Jug told them something? I tried to call him, I didn't even have a reason why but when he didn't answer it caused my tears to fall even harder. I skipped the lesson after lunch and stayed in my stall, staring blankly at the wall once I had no more tears left to cry. Why did he leave? He knows I not stable for this. I've been having a bad time and he knows I've been struggling through it just for him.

I went home eventually, I could only hope it was going to be better tomorrow. If it was my choice I would be staying in bed all day tomorrow and the next day and the next but if my mom found out she would send me to the therapist again and that just makes my depression worse. I drew a bath and stripped down before I even went up to my room because if I went in there I would never leave my bed. I soaked in the bath for hours which made my mind go to places I hated but the thoughts consumed me as I lay there. The razor is right there, just lean forward. Your painkillers are in the cabinet two steps away. Do it. Do something. Make him regret what he did. All I did was cry because Jug taught me I was much more than these thoughts, I was much more than another suicide case.

After a while it became too overwhelming and I leant forward taking the razor in my hand and examining it with a slightly blurred vision as the tears filled my eyes again. I pulled the blades out and placed them on the side of the bath. I stared at them for a moment then picked one up and bringing it to my wrist and pressing down as I cut a horizontal line from one side of my arm to the other. I watched the blood bead up from the wound. When I started cutting Jug was the one who convinced me to stop and he always told me he would be there for me if I needed him and he always helped me through the toughest times but now I was left to face them alone. I took the blade in my hand again loving the way it felt as it sliced through my thin skin. The newly cut line was contrasting against the finer pink-purple scars and even more with the white ones and as I dragged the blade over my skin there was a subtle pattern of red, pink and white scars. Each one of them held a meaning, it might not be a good one but there was still a story to them.

I had got out the bath when the cuts stopped bleeding and the water had turned a light pink. I wrapped a towel around me and traipsed upstairs to my room before pulling on a hoodie and going to sleep.

I woke up to my phone alarm and hoped that this was all a horrible dream but when I pulled my sleeve back the  cuts running all the way up to my mid forearm proved otherwise. I lay in bed for twenty more minutes before attempting to get up which left me with ten minutes to get ready for school. When I did get up I put no effort into looking good, I pulled a pair of joggers on, left the hoodie on that I had slept in and wrapped my hair into a messy bun. I walked out the house and looked up and down the street but there was no sign of Jughead, he has erased himself from my life completely. My day was much like yesterday's, no one talked to me, everyone I confronted blew me off and I was physically exhausted from all the emotional baggage. I stayed in The Bathroom Stall for most of the day too which made matters worse because it gave me a place and time to think and that usually brought negativity along with it. 

As the week progressed it got worse and worse, my fatigue and depression consumed me and my thoughts and it had taken sever physical effects, my whole face was constantly swollen, pale and was bruising a little by my eyes due to me rubbing my eyes from all the tears, my eyes were red and irritated with dark bags surrounding them and lastly my body was now riddled with cuts from my razor. There were slits all the way up to my mid forarm on both arms, all over both my thighs and some on my hips. I spent basically my whole day in The Bathroom Stall now because I firstly couldn't handle the stress of class over the fact that I have lost everything I ever had and secondly I was surviving on one cup of coffee and cereal bar every day which doesn't have enough nutrients in it to keep me going for the school day along with my cuts trying to heal.

I saw him for the first time on Thursday when I left The Stall at lunch to get a bottle of water out my locker. We made eye contact in the hall and his eyes widened in concern, I quickly turned and went to my locker but I heard him following me and when I got to my locker my weak hands battled to open it up because of the faulty hinges. He stood behind me in silence before stepping forward and helping me, I let him because I was to exhausted to protest against him. I took my water and thanked him quietly as I tried to step away but he put an arm out and examined me, his face dropped because he could see how hurt I was.  

“Y/N…” He whispered not finding the words to fix all this.

“Why?” I laughed as tears filled my eyes again and after a few moments I walked off because I could tell he was keeping something from me and he wouldn't tell me, the something that probably stole my whole life from me.

Once I made it to The Stall again my brain started conjuring sickening thoughts, if he did love you he would have helped you more than opening a stupid locker. He doesn't care anymore. No one cares. You have no one anyway. Just end it all. One simple plan can end all this suffering. That's when my demons had convinced me there was no point and once I had excepted it I started brainstorming revolting ways that I could escape this torture.

That afternoon I left school and went home writing a note to my family, the only people who actually deserved one. The note read “I'm sorry mom and dad, I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry I kept this from you, I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. I love you all so much, but it had to end. I hope Sweet Water River doesn't become as bitter as my soul once I'm gone. Love Y/N.” my tears wet the page as my hand sprawled untidy handwriting all over it. I got up once writing the note and headed out the house towards Sweet Water River.

It took me about fifteen minutes because the snow had fallen heavily last night which made my walk that more difficult but when I got there I stood in awe at how peaceful my death was going to be. I sighed and sat on a rock reflecting for a moments but as I thought back to these recent events it reminded me why I was doing this. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks but this had become so familiar over the past few days I didn't even think anything of it as I stood up and took the first paces down to the river bank. Everything slowed down as I walked further over the iced river, I heard  nothing but my heart thumping loudly and my breaths soft and deep as I stepped as lightly as possible trying to get to the center.

“Y/N!” I heard someone shriek behind me just as I got a few meters from my desired spot, I turned around and looked up only to see Jug half climbing and jogging down the riverbank.I  heard the small sound the ice fracturing as I watched Jug run towards me and when he was about thirty feet away I felt the ice around me give in. I shrieked in surprise and grabbed on to the surface quickly, Jug had sprinted over to me and took my hand forcefully before pulling me up withinn seconds. I held onto him and sobbed the hardest I've ever before and he just stood there holding me tightly against him for a moment before he picked me up and took me his truck just off the river’s edge.

He put me in the passenger side before jogging around to the drivers side and starting the truck trying to put the heater on full blast to try warm me. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he undressed me, my body was shaking from the cold and my lips had turned blue. He held back sobs as he discovered more and more cuts covering my starved body. Once he got my clothes of he shrugged his denim jacket off and pulled his wool sweater over his head before putting it on me and covering my legs with his jacket and driving off to my house.

He speeded down the main road and took two lefts into my street before parking in front of my house and coming back around to my side of the car and carrying me inside. He took me upstairs to my room and placed me in the bed then he went downstairs for a minute and returned with a cup of instant soup and a mug of coffe in each hand, he put them down on the night stand and climbed into bed with me pulling me close to him. We both broke down into ugly, choking, sobbing as we clung onto each other too afraid we will lose one another again.

“I'm sorry!” I screamed into his chest while he shook his head and combed his fingers through my hair.

“I'm so fucking sorry Y/N.” He whispered and rubbed my arms trying to warm me up. I shushed him and kissed his shoulder.

“Why?” I asked for the millionth time this week and finally I was going to get an answer.

“I was forced to break up with you, a gang had come into the White Whyrm on Sunday when I was trying to ask the other Serpents about my dad and they knew my dad and Kevin were close to me which made me a close connection to the murder, so they took me and they drove me to Thornhill. They told me to break up with you, tell all my friends to ignore you and I as well or else they would come for you guys too and after the stuff I lived through that night I knew I had to protect you guys.” He took a shaky breath and pulled his shirt up revealing blue and black branding all over his torso, I drew in a sharp breath and traced a finger over a piece which made him wince in pain I pulled back my hand and motioned for him to go on. “So on Monday I was sent to school with a spy and I was forced to tell you all to keep quiet and leave you and I alone but I couldn't warn you about anything because if it was to suspicious they said they would take you guys to Thornhill, that's why I was so blunt.” He sighed and I wrapped myself around him as I cried again.

“What did they want from you?” I asked quietly.

“They wanted to know what I knew and I told them everything in the first hour but they kept me there all week determined to get more out of me.” He sighed and rubbed his temples, I snuggled closer into him, glad that everything was better now and that we could figure the situation out together.

“I'm sorry I broke the promise.” I said lifting his sweater that was covering my body revealing the cuts once again.” His hand traced them gently, he pressed kisses on to them carefully trying not to hurt me further.

“I told everyone what I just told you now, everything is going to be much better I promise.” He sighed, “I'm so glad I found your note in time, I don't know what I  would have done without you in my life.” He said holding back a sob. “Hell, I couldn't even believe my eyes when I saw you at school earlier, my heart literally broke.” He said with tears trailing down his cheeks I wiped them away and kissed him before laying next to him and pulling us closer together and falling into a peaceful slumber for the first time this week.

@savvythetommo because I know how much you wanted this 😂😏 didn't want you to miss out ❤️❤️

[aresaphrodites]

Wicked Games Chapter Fifteen

Blame the amazing beta, @itstenafterfour, for where this chapter left off. ;)

TWO. CHAPTERS. LEFT.

The words echo back at her deafeningly. If she hears them one more time in her mind she might just die. Or go deaf.

Hello, baby sister.

Baby sister.

She looks at Chris, studying him properly. Can this even be true? Could he really be her brother? He did look like her...somewhat.

“I don’t understand,” she says as she looks at him. “Why did you send me all those weird messages? If you were my brother…” she trails off as she remembers the biblical passage he had sent her when everything first started. It said that if a man and woman laid together...something about marriage.

Why would he make it seem like he was interested in her romantically if he was her brother? The entire thing sends chills down her spine.

“I didn’t want you to be like all the other girls in the industry,” Chris says with a sigh. “You’re my baby sister, after all.”

“But now you want me dead?” None of this makes any sense to her but he smiles all smug as though she’s in kindergarten and doesn’t know how to add one plus one.

He strokes her cheek again. “I was trying to protect your virtue. I didn’t want any of those guys taking advantage of you, but don’t you see? I have to be the one to kill you. I’m the only one allowed to hurt you.”

“Why?” She whispers out, eyes finally watering. She hasn’t cracked yet, under the pressure of the situation, but damn is she close to losing her mind. “If I’m your sister then why would you want to hurt me?”

“Because I’m the only one with a good reason. You didn’t work for a thing in your whole life. You don’t deserve all of this special treatment.” His eyes harden. “Why did they keep you but not me? They ruined my life but gave you a perfect one so now I’m going to take away the thing they love: you.” He nods at her like it makes all the sense in the world.

She’s been studying his features this entire time, trying to see how they look alike. He has brown roots poking out underneath of his hair, but her and her sister have always been known for their beautiful blonde hair.

“Your hair is brown. I’m a blonde. My parents both have blond hair.” She knows she’s grasping at straws here, but she desperately wants this to not be true.

“Did you sit through science in high school, Betty?” He spits this at her as though she’s stupid. “Dominant and recessive genes. Mommy dearest isn’t a natural blonde. Surprised?”

Since when? It seems he’s got an answer for everything and she feels herself deflate.

“But Cheryl?” The things she heard over at Cheryl’s house, she didn’t think that up by herself. She knows what she heard. She knows what she saw. “Is she in on this too?” Was everyone against her? Everyone she ever thought she could trust?

There’s a loud laugh that rips her away from her thoughts. She wants to retreat into her mind, to hide from the torment, but she can’t.

“Oh, you poor deluded soul,” Marisol says with a smile. “Cheryl might be the only real friend you ever had. That bitch decided to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. She had all your mail forwarded to her house so you wouldn’t have to deal with any unexpected packages. Her reasoning at the post office was that she loved you like a sister. And she fights like a bitch. We might just have to deal with her after we’re done with you. No survivors and all that bullshit.”

Her mind reels. Cheryl had her back? So that entire confrontation at the mansion, Cheryl was genuine?

Betty feels her walls crumble a little more. This entire time Cheryl had been on her side and now, because Betty had acted impulsively, the redhead could be in danger and she was as good as dead anyway. Then she remembers the day at Whole Foods and she looks at Marisol with a glare.

“You killed Veronica,” she seethes. “Why?”

“That bitch had it coming,” Marisol hisses as she walks towards Betty, “talking to me the way she did. If that privileged skank would have just kept her mouth shut then she’d still be alive. That was pure impulse.”

Betty can’t help the tears that leave her eyes. Veronica didn’t have to die. She should still be alive right now, but all because Betty trusted a random psycho bitch, she was dead.

“Why are you even doing this?” She spits at Marisol venomously. “What’s your part in any of this? Are you my long lost sister or something? Is this one big family reunion?”

Marisol glares at her. “No, sweetie. I’m with him.” Betty watches in disgust as Marisol walks over to Chris. The brunette wraps her arms around him as she brings his face down to hers, and begins to make out with him. They’re putting on a show and Betty understands why they’re together; two psychos made for each other.

“I do what he asks me to do,” Marisol says when she pulls away from Chris. “When he told me he wanted to torture America’s sweetheart, I couldn’t think of anything better. He knows how much I love him and I’d do anything to make him happy. And Veronica? That was just a plus.”

How could she liken her best friend to what, a self esteem boost?

“You’re sick,” Betty whispers out. She doesn’t know what else she can say right now. There are too many thoughts flowing through her mind and no way to let them out without getting a bullet in her brain.

“Perhaps, but as long as I come out on top, I really don’t care.”

Marisol walks away from Betty, taking Chris with her, and for the first time since she’s been in the basement, she completely focuses on Jughead who’s still sitting across from her. The tape on his mouth won’t let him talk but she mouths a simple ‘I’m sorry’ to him. If she would have gotten anyone else in the entire world as her bodyguard, then Jughead never would have been discovered by Chris. He’d still be living his life somewhere and he’d be safe.

Jughead just shakes his head, trying to tell her not to worry; not to be sorry. He pulls his arm up as much as he can, like he’s trying to show her something, and Betty sees that he’s still in the handcuffs from the police station. She looks at him in confusion, not understanding what he’s trying to tell her right now.

They just sit there and stare at each other. They can’t move, their bodies are bound to the seats they’re in, but Betty can’t look away from him. She’s trying to memorize every part of his face. If this is truly the last time they’re ever going to see each other, then she wants to die with the memory of his face fresh in her mind.

“I’ve had enough of playing nice,” Marisol says as she walks back into Betty’s view, “let’s have some real fun.”

The blonde screams out as Marisol hits her in the leg with a tire iron. Pain erupts throughout her entire body and Jughead screams from behind the tape, thrashing around as he tries to get free.

“It’s all very poetic,” Chris hums as he walks over to Jughead. “The irony of it all. You decided to attack me with a tire iron one night, so now you get to watch the same thing happen to your girlfriend.” He bends down and places his hands on Jughead’s face, forcing him to look at Betty who’s crying out as Marisol hits her over and over again. “How does it feel? To know that you can’t protect her? You’re not even twenty feet away from her and you can’t help her. You just have to sit here and watch her get beaten. That must suck; to be that useless.” Chris lands a punch on Jughead’s cheek and Betty watches in horror as his head snaps to the side. Chris doesn’t stop though. He keeps on punching Jughead repeatedly until Jughead stops bringing his head back up. His black hair falls over his eyes as his entire body goes limp.

“Stop!” Betty cries out as Chris brings his fist up again. “Leave him alone! You want me dead, fine, kill me, but please. Leave him alone.”

“You’ll both die tonight, I’ve got some vengeance that needs to happen, so he’s not getting out of anything.” Chris says, but he forgets about Jughead as he walks over to her. “In fact, let’s make a game out of it! One of you gets to watch the other die, how fun is that?”

Betty cries, curling in on herself. She can’t watch Jughead die. She can’t.

“I say we kill her and let him watch,” Marisol tells him.

Chris looks like he's thinking it over before he finally nods. “Untie her.”

Jughead shuts his eyes tightly at that and Betty knows that he's thinking exactly what she had been thinking earlier. He can't watch her die. It's an impossible situation.

Marisol is quick as she unties Betty and then grabs her roughly by the shirt to drag her over to Jughead. She dumps her in front of him and Betty falls at his feet. She looks up at him and his eyes are watery and pained as he looks at her.

Marisol went off to get something, so she's not around them right now. Betty’s legs are too weak and bruised from earlier; she can't even try to fight back right now. She knows that even if she tries, the odds won't be in her favor. She’ll just make everything worse.

“I love you,” Betty whispers. It's the first time she's said it and she doesn't miss the way Jughead’s eyes widen at her confession. She hadn't meant to say it, it just came out but she realizes that she means it completely. She does love Jughead. She loves him in a way that she's never loved anyone before; that she’ll never love anyone in ever again.

Dying can't be that bad, she thinks to herself as she looks at him, as long as she's looking at his face when she finally does. If his face is the last thing she sees before she dies, she thinks she’ll be okay.

“I love you,” she repeats again and a tear falls from his eyes at her words. She reaches out and touches his leg with her hand. She closes her eyes as she finally feels him underneath her. Her hand shakes as she realizes this could be the last time she ever touches him. Slowly, she moves forward and places a kiss on his knee. “I always will.”

“How sweet,” Marisol says as she yanks Betty’s hair back and presses the cool metal of a gun against her temple. “Too bad you'll never get to hear him say it back.”

“Be quick.” Chris orders. “I don't want her to feel any pain.” His words are ironic but Betty doesn't have time to joke about it anymore. All her energy has left her body. There is no way out, no miracle, no sudden magic plan that’s going to drop into her lap. She’s trapped, they both are. That’s the reality of it all.

She locks eyes with Jughead, begging him not to look away from her. She needs to see his eyes. They’re crazed as he looks back and forth between Betty and Marisol.

She has so much she wants to say right now. She wants to tell Jughead sorry. She wants to tell him that she wishes they had more time, because God, she really does. She wishes they had met in any different way. She likes to think that they’d always find each other; in another version of reality, in another time. It feels like her and Jughead were always inevitable. She just wishes their ending would have been different.

“I know he said to be quick, but I wanna play a game.”

Betty wants to scream out at the words. She’s sick of Marisol and all her games. If she’s going to die then she just wants to die. She doesn’t want the other girl to drag it out.

“I only have one bullet in here,” she says as she jams the gun against Betty’s head as if the blonde didn’t know what she was referring to. “If I shoot three times and you’re still somehow alive, maybe I’ll let you live a little longer.”

“You might want to say bye to your little boyfriend,” Marisol laughs out as she presses the gun harder against Betty’s temple. “You never know which one will be the one to do the job.”

Betty doesn’t say bye. She refuses to say bye. She knows this won’t be the last time she sees Jughead. Whether it’s in another life or another world, she’ll find him. She’ll always find him.

“I love you,” she mouths to him. She needs to say it as much as she can before she can’t say it any longer.

She closes her eyes, scared.

She hears the click of the trigger but nothing happens. Marisol giggles to herself and Betty sits completely still, frozen in fear.

“Lucky girl! Let’s go again!”

Betty begins to pray in her head. She hasn’t prayed in years, but right now on her knees, she prays to anyone listening.

She waits for the next click to come, for the inevitable bang of the gun to sound. But it never does.

“What the fuck?”

Betty opens her eyes and watches as Jughead swings one hand forward, knocking the gun out of Marisol’s hand. She looks at him closer, not understanding how he got out of the handcuffs, when she sees one of his hands is cradled against his side. He fucking broke his thumb to squeeze his hand out of the cuff. Betty slides forward while Marisol is distracted by the gun that’s now across the room, and pulls at the rope around Jughead’s ankles, freeing him quickly.

He rips the tape off his mouth with his hand that isn’t injured and he looks at her.

“I--.”

Before he can finish his sentence, a gun goes off.

Betty watches as his eyes go wide. She looks at him in confusion and then in horror as he crumbles in on himself, knees buckling from underneath him.

“Jughead?” She screams out, reaching forward to catch him in her arms. “Jughead!” She pulls her hand away from her back and that’s when she feels it; a sticky, wet liquid on her palm. “No,” she whispers out as she lifts up her hand and sees the blood on it. “No, no, no, no…”

Jughead looks over at her and opens his mouth, but nothing comes out but blood.

“Jughead!” His eyes close slowly and his head falls to the side.

“Jughead, Jughead, Jughead,” Marisol mimics. Betty looks up and sees her standing, holding Betty’s gun in her hand while the small revolver is still on the ground across the room. She must not have wanted to waste any time. “Is that all you know how to say?”

Chris comes running down the stairs. Betty hadn’t even known that he had left.

“What the fuck happened?” He yells out as he sees Betty holding Jughead on the floor.

“He wanted to get brave so I had to teach him a lesson.”

“Well then,” Chris seethes. “Game over, Betty.”

Tag List: @novelistjugheadjones @thedenisecarla @eliza-hamilton-helpless @pearlywise @oldfashionedvanilla

[tailsbeth-writes]

Like Brother, Like Sister - Part 1 (Archie x Reader Request)

Request: ‘Can you write an imagine we’re your jugheads younger sister by a year. And your dating Archie. Ever since your dad FP was taken into custody the only family you had was jug and the south side serpents. So just like the scene we’re jughead gets a serpent jacket you do too. So your walking out of school one day with the group and some of the serpents come to you and hand you a jacket. Saying kind of what they said to jughead the day he got his. And Archie and them are kind of shocked/ worried.’ – Anon.

Characters: Archie x Reader, Serpent!Jughead x Betty, Veronica, Kevin

Warnings: Kissing.

Word Count: 1509

Masterlist.

I started to place my books in my locker when a pair of hands covered my eyes.

‘Guess who?’ I instantly recognised my boyfriend’s voice. I turned around and took the hands from my face into mine.

‘Hey babe.’ Archie leaned in and kissed me gently. I couldn’t help but smile at his touch. I heard a disapproving moan behind me, that would be my brother. I turned around to confront him, Archie placing an arm around me. He did it automatically now, always eager to show who I belonged to. Jughead was joined by his girlfriend Betty.

‘Jughead, it’s been 3 months. You really need to get over it bro.’

‘You’re my little sister y/n, I’m never getting over it.’ I raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Well I’m just going to start gagging every time you kiss Betty.’ Betty laughed. Jughead glared at her, she bumped her shoulder into his.

‘Lighten up Juggie.’ Betty placed a peck on his cheek. A smile quickly spread across his face, Betty could always cheer him up. Veronica and Kevin walked up to us, looking all giddy.

‘Hey, do you guys know what all the commotion is outside?’ Kevin asked excitedly. We all shook our heads.

‘C’mon gang, time to investigate.’ Veronica announced, leading us out the school.

‘What the hell are they doing here? I thought you told them to not come here Juggie.’ Betty asked her boyfriend. The road was filled with motorbikes and a group of Southside Serpents were coming towards us, I recognised a few of their faces. They stopped right in front of us, Archie pulled me in tighter. My brother stepped forward, he wore a jacket that matched the men in front of us. While our friends weren’t particularly fond of Jughead’s decision to join the Serpents, I completely understood it. Dad couldn’t protect us anymore, it was up to the gang now.

‘Guys, what are you doing here? I told you school was off limits.’ Jughead stated, his voice a little raised. He definitely wasn’t happy about this sudden appearance.

‘We’re not here to talk to you, we just wanna talk to your sister.’ A tall man replied, I vaguely recognised him with his long grey hair and beard.

‘No way, I already told you she’s too young.’ Jughead protested. I began to step forward but Archie gripped me tighter.

‘It’s okay.’ I whispered to him. He frowned at me.

‘I don’t want you getting involved y/n.’ He whispered back, I turned and kissed him slowly.

‘I’m just going to talk.’ I replied and he loosened his grip. I stepped up beside Jughead, placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to me, biting his lip. It was a habit he had when he was worried.

‘Jug, let me talk to them. Remember they’re our family now.’ I reminded him. He nodded and looked down at the ground, I could tell he felt guilty but I was too independent to be stopped. I turned to the rest of the gang and gave them a reassuring smile. I saw worry etched across all their faces, I could barely even look at Archie. He couldn’t protect me from everything and it killed him.

‘Alright guys, let’s talk.’ The Serpents led me down the steps to the road where their bikes were parked.

‘Well we figured we couldn’t just protect one of FP’s kids.’ A younger guy started, his brunette fringe covered a nasty cut. No doubt an injury from a ‘job’, I’d helped Jughead with a few of those recently.

‘FP helped out so many of us by staying quiet so we have to repay the favour. Your dad’s a good guy.’ The grey haired man continued. I smiled back at them, it was clear how much respect they had for my Dad.

‘You’re part of the family now.’ A red haired girl stepped forward, tattoos covered all of her skin that was on show. She passed me a leather jacket, with the familiar symbol on the back. I felt over the green threads of the serpent, my heart started to beat a little faster at the prospect of what I was signing up for.

‘We know Jughead says you’re too young and everything but it’s your decision y/n.’ The red haired girl said sincerely. The group started to look around, well aware they were in unfriendly territory.

‘We better get going. See you around kid.’ The grey hair man sat on his bike and started it, the others following him. With a loud roar, the Serpents were gone. I stood still, staring at the jacket in my hand. I took a deep breath to try and get my head around what had just happened. Could I really join the Southside Serpents?

‘Y/n, are you okay?’ Archie ran up to me, placing his hands around my shoulders. His voice was shook up, it didn’t sound like the strong Archie I knew. I looked up him and plastered a smile on my face, all I wanted to do was reassure him but I wasn’t even sure how I felt myself.

‘I’m fine, there’s no need to panic babe.’ I lied. I pecked his lips and he pulled me into a hug. His arms felt warm, his embrace always made me feel safe. The gang had followed behind him, all curious as to what had just happened. Archie broke away from me and placed his arm around my shoulder. Jughead looked down at my hand, his eyes widened when he saw the jacket. Veronica gasped and Kevin placed his hands on his face in shock. Betty stepped forward, she looked at me sympathetically.

‘Are you really going to go through with this y/n?’ She asked, Betty had seen Jughead go through this only weeks previously. For him, it felt obvious. I, on the other hand, was hesitant.

‘I- I really don’t know.’ I spluttered out. I could feel my friends stare at me, all wanting to know my decision. They had no idea what I was going through. Only my brother could really help. I had to shake off this mood

‘Guys, you can stop gawping!’ I grinned at them. They laughed with me, releasing some of the tension.

‘Shall we head to Pop’s?’ Veronica suggested. Everybody nodded and we started to walk down the quiet sidewalk. As I weighed the options over in my head, my stomach filled with knots. I squeezed Archie’s hand that lay on my shoulder, unravelling myself from him.

‘I need to talk to my brother. We’ll catch up with you, okay?’ Archie frowned at me again. I placed a hand on his face and put my lips to his, he kissed me back with all the energy he had.

‘All I want is for you to not get hurt, whatever you decide. That’s all I want, okay?’ Archie whispered to me, his forehead still touching mine.

‘Okay.’ I replied, a few tears choked in my throat. Archie broke free and ran ahead to the group, I could see him asking Jughead to come speak with me. Jughead walked back to me, Betty and Archie looked back, both with the same look of unease sketched on their face. We waited until the gang was a fair distance ahead and started walking slowly.

‘Are you okay y/n? And actually be honest with me.’ Jughead questioned me.

‘I have no idea what I am Jug. I don’t know how the hell you managed to make this decision. I feel so- so-’

‘Conflicted?’ He smirked at me.

‘Completely.’ I was so thankful Jughead was actually having a discussion with me, I half expected him to just argue.

‘I think you need to give yourself more credit y/n. I was only with Betty, at home when the Serpents came knocking. You just dealt with them in front of your school and friends. I couldn’t have done that.’ I smiled at him, feeling quite proud of myself. Quickly reminded by the situation at hand, I felt the need to vent.

‘The way Archie looked at me just now, it’s actually killing me. But the way I felt when the Serpents spoke about Dad, I felt like I was a part of something. Part of a family and I haven’t felt that well since, y’know.’ Jughead nodded, we’d managed to stick together through everything but the memory of Mom and Jellybean leaving still stung us.

‘That’s what got me in. I think that’s what even got Dad in. The Serpents look out for each other no matter what. I know I can only do so much for us, Sis.’ I simply took in his words, I had no replies left. The leather jacket was still in my hand, just waiting to be worn. I handed my bag to Jughead, his face lit up at what I was about to do. I wrapped the jacket around me, placing my arm in each sleeve. It was cold to the touch but the fit felt right.

‘Like brother, like sister, right?’

Read Part 2 here