#I’ve been rewatching rise now I’m on 2012 and I’ve watched some of the movies too

[jocelynships]

Can y’all like manifest my meds finally start to kick in bc good god. I’m coughing so hard I’m throwing up and I genuinely feel miserable. I’m missing so much work, I missed out on spending quality time with my siblings, and I’m missing out on spending time with friends. It’s really starting to affect me mentally being stuck inside due to being sick.

[onegianthotmess]

✨Amelia’s Peachy Blog Rules✨

Hello to all of my fellow weirdos! Welcome to the hot mess that is my blog! Here, I will establish my rules and the fandoms I write for and will talk about with all of you!

But, a small note to add before we start is that I will not tolerate any sort of hatefulness or rudeness on my blog towards myself or anyone. This will be a free space to debate and discuss opinions and for people to feel safe and comfortable. If you do not like what I post or reblog, please just move along and go about your day without even sparing a glance at my blog.

Also, if I post anything of my own, I will not tolerate it being taken and edited without my permission or reposted without my permission, but reblogs are greatly appreciated. Thank you and I hope you have a good morning/afternoon/evening/night/overall day and stay safe out there!

I Will Write:

🍑 “X Reader” to the best of my abilities (Maybe some OC inserts if I’m up for it, it’ll depend what is requested of me)

🍑 “X Reader” will always have a female or gender neutral reader as I am a female myself and am not comfortable writing for a male reader, but I will do a gender neutral reader if that is requested of me

🍑 Fluff

🍑 SOFT Angst to Fluff (I’m an emotional, sappy wreck, can’t handle hardcore angst)

🍑 Family/Domestic Headcanons

🍑 Romantic Headcanons

🍑 Overall cuteness

🍑 Little Space (Little space is sort of a thing that some people use to destress like me or cope with trauma by mentally aging down to a headspace or age that is younger than they actually are and sometimes some people, either good friends or a romantic partner or someone else, act as a caregiver towards them. It’s not like an adult being attracted to a child in the case of a romantic partner, but rather an adult attracted to another adult who regresses)

🍑 Some suggestive content, depends on what is requested of me

I Will Not Write:

🍑 HARDCORE Smutty Smut

🍑 Character Deaths (I can, but it depends on my mood and the story and who I have to kill off. You can request it, but it may or may not be possible depending on the factors previously listed-)

🍑 HARDCORE Angst

🍑 Pedophilia (Fuck off if you came here for that shit)

🍑 Incest (The fuck is wrong with you people? GET SOME GODDAMN HELP IF YOU INTO THAT!)

🍑 Little Space smut (If it’s your little space, you can do what you’d like, but I’m personally uncomfortable with writing this kind of thing and I’m going to keep that boundary in place.)

🍑 Anything to do with racism, homophobia, transphobia and just discrimination against anyone in general. This is a safe space for people to enjoy some nice fanfiction, not to be haters and to be hated on!

Fandoms I Partake In:

🍑 MHA/BNHA (I have not finished the anime nor the manga, I don’t have any services to watch it, so no spoilers please!)

🍑 IkemenVampire (I might try out a few more Ikemen games, so be aware of that)

🍑 IkemenVillains (I’d like to be in the middle of a William and Ellis sandwich. That will be all-)

🍑 Fruits Basket (Haven’t watched the third season, in the middle of trying to rewatch the first two because it’s been so long)

🍑 Demon Slayer (I AM READY FOR SEASON FOUR, BABES!!!)

🍑 TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Specifically 2012, Bayverse, Rise, and Mutant Mayhem)

🍑 HTTYD (How to Train Your Dragon)

🍑 MK (Mortal Kombat. I was a late 2000’s baby that grew up playing MK9 as my first ever Mortal Kombat game, so I don’t know the full cast of characters from previous games, but I have a good list of characters and story from earlier games in my head from the videos I’ve watched from my wormy brain hyperfixating on Mortal Kombat)

🍑 Harry Potter (I’ve only watched the movies, but I have seen videos about the books, so I do know what the books were like, to an extent at least)

🍑 FNaF (Five Nights at Freddy’s. HOW TF HAVE I GONE A WHOLE MONTH WITHOUT ADDING THIS?! WELL, NOW I HAVE ADDED IT, IN MID-NOVEMBER OF 2023!)

🍑 Mariolore (It’s these cosplay shorts by this amazing cosplay couple named DinoBunny that are a sort of a spin-off of the Mario franchise, but with its own unique story involving adaptations of the characters and different events based on what happens in the original story/franchise. I watch them on YouTube, just in case that is relevant to how much of the story has actually been released)

🍑 Resident Evil (I’m not too well versed on the overall story, but I know the story from the RE1 Remake, the RE3 Remake, the RE4 Remake, the RE4 Remake DLC: Separate Ways, RE7: Biohazard, RE8/Village, and RE8/Village DLC: Shadows of Rose. I just know, in summary, that Umbrella Corporation bad and pulled some fuckery with the T-virus and bioweapon shit, the Connections are bad and made bioweapon shit, Mother Miranda pretty much started it all in hopes to revive her daughter, and Rose is doing some shit working with Chris Redfield who helped to raise her in honor of Ethan’s dying wish during the whole village incident. I’ll try to get better versed on the story and characters in the future, but that is all I know at the moment)

🍑 My Happy Marriage (Anime watcher! No manga reading here yet!)

🍑 Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (My fifth grade teacher read the first couple books to me and my class while also showing us the Netflix series to show the differences between the two and make it more fun. I ended up watching the whole series as it progressed outside of school and was partially traumatized by the episode where Sunny almost died from a fucking fungus. That scared the shit out of me, but it’s still a damn good series if I do say so myself.)

🍑 Poppy Playtime (I find it an interesting concept and I may write something for it at one point!)

🍑 Sofia the First (It was one of my favorite shows as a kid and I’m so sad we never got a continuation of the story to see them grow up! ALSO I’M SO FUCKING MAD WE NEVER GOT SOFIA AND HUGO’S WEDDING!!!)

🍑 Komi Can’t Communicate (Komi Shouko is my wife. That’s it.)

🍑 The Way of the Househusband (Anime watcher!! And I think Tatsu would be such a cool and funny dad with all his yakuza lingo!)

🍑 Monster Prom (Haven’t seen any other full playthroughs, I’m watching a Monster Camp one rn, and I wanna makeout with Damien and gossip with his little sister that he DEFINITELY has because I fucking said so, fuckers-)

🍑 Buddy Daddies (You know that scene where they’re running away into the woods while Rei shoots back at that guy’s goonies?? Yeah, I wanna do that with Rei because I love him and want to take care of him while also forcing him to learn household chores!)

🍑 Yuuri!!! On Ice (I’VE FINALLY GOT CRUNCHYROLL ON MY PHONE PEOPLE!!!)

🍑 Twisted-Wonderland (My current “Holy Trinity” contains Riddle, Deuce, and Malleus-)

🍑 Aphmau (Were you a MyStreet kid or a Diaries kid? I was a MyStreet kid!)

🍑 Nimona (Ambrosius and Ballister are definitely girl dads and I’d like to petition for a sequel to Nimona, pwease!!!)

🍑 Law & Order: SVU (Olivia and Fin are my favorite characters and I know the show is probably bad for my anxiety, but I shall still continue to watch it!)

🍑 Cult of the Lamb

🍑 Pirates of the Caribbean (Jack as a dad would be really funny in my opinion-)

🍑 I’ll add onto the fandoms list if anymore come to mind

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Thank you for reading my rules and I look forward to your requests! I hope you enjoy your journey on my blog, fellow weirdos! Have a peachy time!

[seasaltcosmos]

i know some of the fandom may be getting discouraged by the lack of news, but i just want to write this and tell y’all that even if we have yet to get that big “RISE OF THE TMNT RETURNS FOR SEASON 3,” we’re still on that path and our efforts HAVE bore fruit.

1. there’s been more and more attention surrounding rise. youtubers are watching it and talking about how good it is. (one guy in particular who made a really bad video on it admitted he knows it’s bad and said he’ll be making a new one in the future.) saberspark in particular- one of the BIGGEST cartoon youtubers- has admitted to rewatching the show 4 times because he thinks it’s that good. nick itself hasn’t been ignoring rise like i thought they would. they’ve actually given it just as much attention as 2012 and 03, which i have to give props for.

2. shredder’s revenge’s dlc confirmed that it’ll include alt color schemes based on other iterations of the turtles. and one of those schemes is the ones from rise. it isn’t the “weird different tmnt that no one watched” anymore, it’s getting attention even from an officially licensed, highly praised video game.

3. the comics are being rereleased next month in ONE big book. i’m not an expert on comic counterparts, but i don’t think nick or idw would’ve gone out of their way to rerelease a comic for a show “on pause” years later.

4. remember that little “meet n greet raph and leo” event at a london convention back in spring? you’d think for stuff like that, they would resort to the typical 1987 general brand representation designs. but nope, the costumes were specifically rise of the tmnt. an OFFICIAL event, using designs from an iteration considered “obscure and dead?” i can’t believe i haven’t seen more people bring that up tbh

5. there’s been a HUGE influx of rise merch in china. on top of the movie being released in theaters, they’ve also done cross promotion with snack brands, a nickelodeon (wanna say exhibit or park, i don’t remember) having a full display of them alongside other big nick icons, a new MOBILE GAME. and if there’s anything i’ve learned from “first lgbt disney chara” memes, western media companies LOVE china money.

6. again- NICKELODEON has noticed all of the attention on rise. i can’t confirm that it means they’re discussing more seasons right now as i type this, but it still means that all the work we’ve been doing has been worth it and there’s still a reason to keep fighting. the most attention they’ve usually given their short-lived series was an intro upload to youtube and maybe a couple clips. but they’re acknowledging rise as just as much a part of the franchise as their other “””more successful””” iterations, even if there’s no confirmation of more seasons yet.

we’re not at the end goal yet, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t accomplished anything. the show has been getting the attention it deserves. and we shouldn’t take all these little achievements for granted, because they’ll go a LONG way as long as we don’t give up. every art piece, every addition to the tags, every positive mention of the show gets more eyes on it. so don’t give up, keep fighting, don’t burn yourselves out, and let’s save rise of the tmnt! :D

[andhumanslovedstories]

I’m curious how I’ll feel about Star Trek Into Darkness when I rewatch it. It came out around the time when I was becoming massively disillusioned with major franchises and their absolutely refusal to have like Any Diversity At All Ever, and Into Darkness sat at the intersection where my declining fandom excitement intersected with my rising fandom embitterment. It’s possibly the most disappointment and betrayal I’ve ever felt for a film. I’ve found good stuff to look back on about disappointing entries in other franchises that have disappointed me, but I can’t manage to find one thing that I can like in retrospect about Into Darkness. Genuinely the closest positive I can say is that it made me seek out Wrath of Khan and discover how good that film was. I hated hated hated that film.

But I have really almost no memory of the actual movie. (Correction: I remember 3 things: 1) Uhura gets to translate and it’s badass hey I found a thing I did like!!, 2) the infuriating scene where the new female character is changing in the back of the shuttle and Kirk I assume turns around and she’s like “don’t look” while the camera ogles her from below and she holds her arms out so you can see better, and 3) sitting in the theater watching Cumberbatch and thinking “don’t be Khan, don’t be Khan, don’t be Khan,” and then he says, “I am Khan,” and I was like this film fucking sucks.)

I expect I’ll have a more positive viewing experience this time around, whenever we get around to watching it, and not just because I can’t imagine the movie is actually as bad as my memory. For one, Star Trek is not currently My Fandom and has much less power to disappoint me. For another, I no longer really have My Fandoms—fandoms that I identify with in a visceral, uncomplicated, uninhibited way. In the way we talk about separating the art form the artist, I’ve been thinking a lot about if we can separate the art from the corporations. And I can’t anymore. I was so sure at the height of my fandom days that I would be rewarded for my faith in the companies that made the movies and shows I loved—that there’d be a Black Widow movie any day now, or a female Doctor, or any non-white superhero leading a film. And then it just kept not happening and not happening and not happening. And now those things have happened and I’m not excited about it anymore. And I don’t want to simp for Disney.

(I think about how ecstatic I would have been about a Black Widow movie in 2012, and how little I care about it right now. Some of that is my own evolving taste over eight years, and some of it is my growing antipathy towards the lead actress, but a lot of it is this sort of.... I don’t know, sense that Disney told me repeatedly not to care about Black Widow and giving me nothing for her for so long that I was eventually like, fine, alright, you’ve made this all too hard, congratulations, I don’t care.)

But now, revisiting the new Star Trek movies, I remember loving the first one in a way I truly forgot I had. Star Trek 2009 was the first movie I paid to see in theaters by myself repeatedly! I saw it in theaters four times! How the fuck did I afford that! And going into ao3, I found a fanfic that I’d first read in 2009, and had liked so much that I’d printed it out and kept it in my desk drawer (along with Doctor Who and Life on Mars and Firefly fanfic, what a personal time capsule that drawer was)! And I’ve been thinking about buying Star Trek merch! I haven’t wanted to buy merch that wasn’t for like an obcure podcast for years. I get angry at merch nowadays! I say cranky things at Target like “I’m not paying Disney to advertise for them” and also I’m Very Fashion and don’t wear exclusively fandom mashup tees anymore. And yet I bought a Star Trek uniform for our cat. And I’m so excited to show you all it and I’m wondering if I should buy a matching costume for myself. What is happening here.

(I’m realizing I have some real animosity towards Disney. I think Star Wars coming out has successfully tricked me into reconceptualizing Star Trek as this obscure little indie project in need of my support.)

Quarantine is yanking us all back into our pasts to a dangerous degree. I’ve been thinking about rewatching Heroes. I used to have a loft bed and I would lie up there and WRITE HEROES QUOTES IN THICK PASTEL ON MY CEILING. God, what love I had! What passion, what joy! And was it spent on fandoms that deserved it? Yes! They deserved my love and joy because I loved them and took joy in them! But also no! They cannot love you back! Peter and Mohinder were never going to date! You cannot pour all hopes for happiness into an external product made by artists, yes, (and artists also make plenty of decisions to disagree with) but also corporations! But liking something, being a fan, it’s not nothing! Heroes, that fuckin tv show, gave me such joy in high school. Such overwhelming and uncomplicated joy. I didn’t have crushes. I just liked Heroes. I thought about it in class and at home and whenever I was somewhere that I didn’t want to be. It made life better. That’s not nothing! That’s something! Sometimes, that’s everything!

Still. I can’t love things the way I used to, and not just because of Leftie Rage At Corporations but because my temperament is fundamentally different now than it was then. And I’m not sorry about that. I’m a little sad about it but I’m not sorry. I’m mourning the exuberant excesses of my past and mourning them without wanting to return to them. To quote Community, another show I was fucking wild about in that glorious quagmire that was 2008-2013, I guess I just like liking things. I still like things. But I like them differently. Not with all of my heart and all of myself and all of my hopes.

Of course, and we have to consider this, maybe Into Darkness really does suck that much.

[ruinsofxerxes]

Tagged ( ˘ ³˘)♥

by @liathgray thaaaaaankk yooooOOooouuu cece!!!!

1. name/nickname: Nikki!! The thing about ur name also being a popular nickname is that you don’t get any other nicknames :’( but tbh you can call me anything and I’ll probably respond

2. gender: just a little lady

3. star sign: Aries!!!! >:((( I found out last week I am Leo rising and I still don’t know what that means but I have an unnecessary pride in it regardless 

4. height: 5'2″.......i’ve got u beat cece

5. time: like midnight:30

6. birthday: THE HUNDRETH DAY OF THE YEAR SONNNNNN

7. favorite bands/groups: My favs have always always been Radical Face and Sleeping at Last!!! GOD can they put out one bad song??? I think NOT 

8. favorite solo artist: I’ve been a taylor swift freak since 2008 and y’all have to deal with it (also radical face and sleeping at last are both solo artists as well but you KNOW what i mean)

9. song stuck in my head: You are Gold by The National Parks because I referenced it in a tag in one of my last reblogs and I played myself because now it’s stuck in my head 

10. last movie: *sweats nervously* oh gosh....I’m not actually much of a movie person ah ahhhhh.. . .. ....OH WAIT. I caught half of The Outsiders on tv yesterday. One of my favorite books, terrible movie

11. last show: oh man....ok i’m a terrible tv show watcher too.....I think it was probably Bob’s Burgers, that’s about the only show I watch that’s actually on tv, I mostly just watch documentaries and listen to podcasts lol I’m currently rewatching fmab for the first time in [redacted] but haven’t watched in a week or two because I want to give it my UNDIVIDED ATTENTION and I am a busy bee

12. when did i create this blog: February of 2012. I had a stomach bug and was bored as hell at home for days lol

13. what do i post: fma and fma and more fma..... . .. . .....I used to post more than just that but hey, the heart wants what the heart wants. Every once in a while I’ll throw in another fandom or a cheeky little text post just to keep everyone on their toes 

14. last thing googled: "how to use a shampoo bar” because I got a shampoo bar from Lush and had no idea how to actually use it ashdkljasdljasdl

15. other blogs: basically just this one. I have/had an art blog but literally havent’ used it since like... . . . ......2016 rip

16. do i get asks: *stares into the camera like I’m on the office*

17. why did i choose this url: because back in 2013 I wanted people to think I was a cool popular fma blog so I wanted a canon url and well, I am neither cool nor popular but this url is a part of my identity now

18. following: 325 exactly!!!! 

19. followers: I think it’s around the 8900s last I checked but tbh I always forget to lol

20. average hours of sleep: 7-10 babey i love me some sleep

21. lucky number: idk if it’s my lucky number per se but my fav number is definitely 24!!!

22. instruments: I used to be able to play the trumpet, piano, and acoustic guitar but it’s been a long time since I’ve played!!!! :(( Would really love to pick up the guitar again, always my fav instrument!!!

23. what am i wearing: my pjs!!! (because what else is anyone wearing these days?????) i’m wearing a big ol’ baggy t-shirt (with a ton of paint stains on it because life of an artist) and some boxers

24. dream job: ooohhhh!!! I’m actually already doing my dream job! I’m a book illustrator, and that’s what I’ve wanted to be since I was about 5! I would LOVE to be an author someday too!!! I think that’s always been my DREAM dream! I love books idk if that’s obvious 

25. dream trip: OOOH MANNNN. AT THIS POINT: ANYWHERE. I LOVE TO TRAVEL AND THIS QUARANTINE HAS GOT ME ITCHING TO GO ANYWHERE. Once it’s safe, y’all never gonna see me again, I’m just gonna be a vagabond traveling the world lol But actually, I would love to go to Japan, Italy, Amsterdam, and travel Route 66!! (not all of these at the same time lol) 

26. favorite food: ooohhhhhh ok idk if this counts but I have a major sweet tooth and I’m such a chocoholic, like...anything with chocolate....I love it. But in terms of food-food, I guess probably fish and chips??

27. nationality: i’m from america pls let me out :’(

28. favorite song: oh gosh! Idk if I could choose just one! I’d say Bible Belt by Dry the River has been my favorite for the past few years. But some of my favs over the years have also been Severus and Stone by Radical Face, Get Up by Barcelona, Poison Oak by Bright Eyes, and Blood by The Middle East (if you listen to all of these you will realize the pattern is that I love really sad songs) 

29. last book read: man I read like five books last week I don’t even know where to begin lol

30. three fictional universes you’d like to live in: oooohhh definitely Avatar!!! I’d say fma but only if it’s post-promised day lol and probably Spirited Away!!!

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

Endgame of Thrones (April Picks)

Does it even matter what else I watched earlier this month because THIS WEEKEND! If every weekend was like this one I don’t know how I could function. Thankfully Game of Thrones’ Battle of Winterfell and Avengers Endgame were on two different days so my body had some time to process it all. But even preparation couldn’t get me ready for all of the action that occurred. Here come the spoilers!

Spoilers.....

Spoilers....

Spoilers...

I’m serious here they come!

GAME OF THRONES 8x03

After last week’s episode I was FEARFUL for what would come at the Battle of Winterfell. The impending battle that was foreshadowed since the beginning was inevitable and with several (if not all) of the characters reaching a full character development I grew even more worried for their safety. 8x02 had to be one of my favorite episodes of GOT so far because we had some many characters reuniting and under the same roof with these full circles being made. The top moment for me had to be when Brienne of Tarth became Ser Brienne. Then I immediately started hoping she would survive the next episode. (Thanks writers for making us not be able to just enjoy anything anymore.) 

So, last night as 8x03 began I got ready for the worst, unsure if anyone would survive and after watching I have to say that I am shocked at how many people lived through it. (Which once again makes me very fearful for what lies ahead in the rest of the show. There’s no way all of them will make it, right?) Our main focus has been on the Night King and his oncoming dark night that I was SHOCKED when Arya killed him! I thought we would have to fight him for multiple episodes. Okay, I actually thought he wouldn’t have even been at Winterfell. I believed the theory he was going straight for Kings Landing which actually would have probably been the smarter move. After he was killed I sat there for a moment like: What are the next 3 episodes going to be about? Completely forgetting that Cersei exists. 

But that kill! WOW ARYA! I did not see that coming. I thought Jon would have been more of a contributing factor in the Night King’s death due to him being the product of Fire and Ice, but other than getting lost on his dragon Jon basically spent the episode on the sidelines. I was so happy that Arya got to kill the Night King with one of her oldest tricks. Which of course now makes me upset for her safety. Another full character arc? 

I just wish Bran looked more thankful. But then again he only wears one face now-a-days. As I’ve heard several people mention, I really do hope we learn why the Night King was so obsessed with Bran (who btw I was expecting to have more of a role in the fighting).

There’s so much I want to discuss about this episode but let’s take a moment to remember the fallen: Edd, I knew someone would die protecting Sam and it made sense to be him. Your watch has ended. Lyanna Mormont, I was so worried about her and this crushed me, but she went out like she lived: a badass. Beric Dondarrion, so many times I was like how is he still alive? But it was all for a reason as Melisandre predicted he would help Arya survive. Theon Greyjoy, the complete character arc worried me, but I didn’t think we would lose him this soon. He went out protecting Bran, in the place that was his true home and Bran said he was a good man. What is dead may never die. Jorah Mormont, earlier in the episode as he was one of the first ones on the front lines to charge I didn’t feel confident and was all the more impressed as he made it back time after time. But it all made sense as he had to protect Dany one last time. [Man, as I’m writing all of these out they are starting to become realer and I don’t think I can handle it.] And last but not least, Melisandre, who I was pretty shocked to see at the start of this episode. She came in clutch and the living would not have been able to win without her. Valar Morghulis. 

As everyone predicted the crypts were not the “safest place in Winterfell” as once the Night King emerged the dead started to rise. Once again, I was pretty shocked that we didn’t have more major character deaths down here. I loved the touching scene between Tryion and Sansa as we transitioned between the battlefield and the crypt with no audio except for the music track. Very impactful. 

There is so much more I can say, but these were definitely my first thoughts on the episode. I can’t believe the battle has come and gone and now we have to venture back to Kings Landing. Be safe my friends!

AVENGERS ENDGAME

Over 10 years in the making and 22 films later Avengers Endgame closed a chapter in Marvel history. Walking into the theater I was not emotionally, mentally or physically (3 hours/no bathroom break) prepared. The night before I had re-watched Infinity Wars (and just like with Game of Thrones) prayed for the safety of these heroes. 

I know it was said before but SPOILERS ARE COMING!

My first thought for defeating Thanos seemed to rely on time travel, but I was surprised to see that it took 5 years in the world after the snap before traveling back to get the infinity stones. I LOVED how much of a role Antman aka Scott Lang played in this role. (Thanks to that rat for hitting the right buttons after 5 years.) This character gave us some more insight into what had been going on for that amount of time and of course brought more humor to the film. (I mean he does deliver one of the best lines that gets repeated by Cap later: “That’s America’s butt.”

Opening with the Hawkeye flashback as he has a typical afternoon with his family and then the snap happens where he loses everyone was so tragic. I was not expecting the movie to start that soon as we usually see the classic Marvel opening. The transformation in his character made so much sense and was really interesting to explore. I liked how we got to see both Hawkeye and Antman included where they were missing for the previous film. 

This movie reminded me why I enjoy the MCU so much with all the references to previous films. The site of the first Avengers film: New York City 2012, brought back so many great memories and made me want to rewatch all of them. I loved how we got some exact flashbacks from the movies and then some added scenes showing more of a transition from one movie to the other. (Example: The Avengers to Winter Soldier and Captain America’s “Hail Hydra” moment in the elevator. Of course, I also enjoyed seeing Loki again as it seems that we did truly lose him.) Also seeing clips of old movies from a different angle was cool, like with Starlord singing at the start of Guardians of the Galaxy. Other time events we had never actually been to before, but were still a great trip with Steve seeing Peggy again and Tony his dad. I personally loved seeing Jarvis. 

One of the biggest moments for me was when Captain America held Thor’s hammer during the final battle. It had been predicted in earlier films (particularly Age of Ultron) that he would be worthy enough to wield Mjölnir and they were right. There’s times where he’s using the hammer and the shield and then he alternates with Thor. So good! 

Just as with the Night King in GOT, Thanos is defeated in this film, but it is not without loss on our side. It starts with Black Widow sacrificing herself for the soul stone. I was really hoping there was some sort of loop hole that would bring her back because of all the time travel stuff and was really shocked when Bruce Banner/Hulk said he tried but wasn’t able to get her back. I had heard rumors of Scarlett Johanssen getting her own Black Widow movie so I am a bit confused unless it is a prequel story. Either way I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this hero. Tony Stark’s death was one that I thought might happen going into the movie, but it did not prepare me for it actually happening. As I was talking about before with the full circle character development, Tony experienced this. He was also the kick off to the MCU, so it made even more sense for this ending. His final sentence: “I am Ironman” still gives me chills. While Captain America didn’t technically “die” and lived out his life with Peggy as he always wanted, it was also a goodbye to his character. It was great to see him pass the shield over to Sam but it will still feel a bit strange to not see Steve next film. 

There’s so much more that I can continue to talk about and I know as soon as I publish this article I will probably think of something else to say, but as you can see I definitely enjoyed this movie and can’t wait to see it again in theaters.

So, I survived the weekend! I hope you did too. Let me know how you feel about all of this! 

[jbuffyangel]

Timeless 2x11 Reaction: “The Miracle of Christmas Part 1 and 2″

And thus Timeless is officially over. How did the writers fair with the series finale aka The Timeless movie? Pretty freakin’ fantastic.

Let’s dig in...

It’s been several months between Timeless’ Season 2 finale and their series finale tonight, so the writers wisely include a “Previously on Timeless.” We flashback to all their adventures while Unhappy Future Lucy (who looks a little scary if I’m being honest) narrates. It helps because I seriously forgot her mother is dead. (They kill Susanna Thompson on every damn show!)

The beginning is a little jarring because storylines I expected to happen in a season or two are all happening RIGHT NOW. My brain needs time to downshift, but I eventually adjust.

First things first - dealing with the third point in the love triangle, Garcia Flynn. Timeless isn’t interested in drawing out the shipper war because Wyatt and Lucy are kind of a mess. They require some screen time so they are fixed in a realistic manner. 

Scary Future Lucy gives Present Day Lucy and Wyatt her diary. Spoiler alert: Lucy hooks up with Flynn. Spoiler alert: They break up sometime down the road because she is really in love with Wyatt. They play out Lucy and Flynn’s entire relationship in under 3 minutes. I’m not joking when I say they breeze through three to four seasons worth of triangle.

I love Goran Visnjic, and while I adore Lucy and Wyatt, I was never opposed to Lucy and Flynn. I mean yeah he’s a murderer. That’s a real negative, but it’s friggin Goran Visnic. Have you seen this guy? He’s so hot. Where Dr. Luca goes so goes my nation.

Kidding aside, the writers convey the depth of Lucy and Flynn’s relationship with just a few lines, which is an impressive writing achievement. I love how Flynn is all “I can’t believe you date me because I tried to kill you a bunch of times.” HAHAHA. Classic. And true! Ah the joy of television romance. But it ain’t gonna be you Flynn, so mosey along big fella. 

Jessica is not pregnant. UGH. I HATED THIS STORYLINE SO MUCH. 

I appreciate the writers giving it a fast and hard death, but this is one of the ways I think Season 2 went wrong. Timeless is a show that defied the typical television tropes and that’s what made it so interesting in Season 1.  However, I think their Season 2 renewal, and desire to snare more viewers, created a “throw everything, but the kitchen sink” mentality. 

They used every romance trope they could think of in Season 2 to see what would stick. It was just... not good. I don’t blame Timeless anymore than I do any other show that does this (and it’s pretty much all of them). It was just disappointing to see the show move in this direction, when previously they’d been so good at avoiding those kinds of storylines.

Flynn sacrifices himself by going back to 2012 to kill Jessica, so Rufus never dies. REDEMPTION ARC BITCHES!!! YESSSS!! 

Seriously, he is so bad ass. Flynn puts a couple bullets in Jessica (plus one extra to be sure) after a ninja knockdown fight. He knows the effects of traveling to his own timeline will kill him... or something. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Then he watches 2012 Flynn with his beautiful and living family through a window before he dies. 

Flynn leaves a goodbye letter for Lucy that pretty much says he loves her, but he knows she loves Wyatt and he wants her to be happy. So yes, GARCIA FLYNN sacrifices himself for Rufus, ensures Lucy and Wyatt find the happy ending they deserve even though he is in love with Lucy, helps stop Rittenhouse and save the world. I AM SO EMO ABOUT MY BOY RIGHT NOW!

As for Lucy and Wyatt, they tiptoe around each other for most of the two hours. Wyatt thinks she ends up with Flynn and Lucy doesn’t want to be second choice. They are the only two who remember the Jessica history. Dear God, can we all forget too? Everyone is pretty much, “Why aren’t y’all together because y’all were together before and it was perfection?” So meta.

Wyatt almost dies in an explosion while delivering a baby during the fall of North Korea. Yes, you read that correctly. WYATT LOGAN IS HERE TO SAVE NATIONS AND DELIVER BABIES!

Lucy realizes she almost lost Wyatt and they are wasting time worrying about the past. 

This part of the finale feels really predictable to me. There’s no way they are killing off Wyatt, especially after Flynn dies. Lyatt is endgame, so the two characters dancing around it for so long feels like prolonging the inevitable.

“After that explosion I thought you were dead. And for a moment I saw my whole life without you and my world ended Wyatt.”

But damn though, what a speech Lucy gives him. 

Honestly, it is slightly annoying she did most of the talking because Wyatt is the one who screwed up. At least he offers up a “I wanted to pick you Lucy, but I felt I owed Jessica because she was my baby mama” explanation. Of course, we all knew this. 

Lucy accepts Wyatt’s “I am a big pine tree” explanation because facts. Things really get cooking with some Lyatt mistletoe kissing. 

Source:  sisterzelda

Ah, a time honored holiday trope I will never grow tired of. Then they have sex

BUT CUT AWAY TOO SOON! Boo NBC!

Rufus is alive, but doesn’t remember being dead. Jiya remembers Rufus being dead, but he doesn’t remember Jiya living in Chinatown for three years in the 1800s. I think. 

Jiya is concerned she’s no longer the woman Rufus fell in love with (re: see three years of trauma). I argue Rufus fell in love with a bad ass and Jiya is still most certainly one. It is frustrating how quickly they had to go through her physical and emotional trauma from Chinatown. Ugh, this is some seriously important drama that could have been a multiple season deep dive. Stupid cancellation.

Rufus and Jiya realize they are still perfect for each other, because they are perfect for each other. They start a company together and become billionaires saving the world. Jiya’s hair color is extremely pretty in the final scenes too. I feel this is very important detail to include. I heart them. 

Source:  katie-mcgraths

Lucy and Wyatt discuss how they don’t want to become scary Lucy and Wyatt from the future and THEY DON’T BECAUSE OF FLYNN. They get married, Wyatt works for Agent Christopher on special projects, and Lucy is a tenured history professor who focuses on important historical women. BECAUSE THERE AIN’T NO TIME FOR THE MEN! That’s right fellas. Drink your tea and wait your turn.

Unfortunately, Lucy is not able to get her sister Amy back. She gives an poignant speech about grief and loss, which could be the show’s mission statement. This is how you write a series finale:

"Everybody loses someone they love. And no matter how badly they want to they can't get them back. In spite of that they find a way to go on. That's everyone's history." 

What connects all of time is our humanity. We are born. We live. We love. We suffer grief, pain and loss. We find joy. We endure. This is the thread century after century. In the end, we aren’t so different after all. 

THEN LUCY AND WYATT GET MARRIED 

Source: @splitscreen

AND HAVE TWIN GIRLS NAMED FLYNN AND AMY. 

Source: @splitscreen​

ALERT!!!!!!!!!! MULTIPLES CONCEIVED! IT IS THE DREAM! EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!! 

The final scene is 2023 Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus traveling to 2014 to tell Garcia Flynn about the time machine. Lucy tells Flynn he doesn’t lose his humanity even though he never gets his family back. He is the hero the team and the world needs in the end. It connects the beginning and end of Timeless so seamlessly. This was probably always going to be the bookend. I just wish we had a few more seasons in between it.

They hint at a future time machine being invented by a young girl Rufus took an interest in at the science fair. The morality of the time machine is debated between Agent Christopher and Connor. She wants to destroy it, but Connor argues they need to keep it so they can stop others from abusing its power. You can’t un-invent something. Someone sooner or later will create the same technology Connor and Rufus did. They have a responsibility to make sure time travel is not abused and another Rittenhouse does not rise. So, the time machine is kept, covered, guarded and waiting.

Do I think we’ll see a resurrected Timeless about this girl and her time machine? No. I don’t. This is the last stop on the Timeless train and, while it was a wonderful ride, it is over. Actors are released from contracts. Writers, producers, crew, etc have all moved on to other gigs. It’s a freaking miracle they even made the movie. (Apropos episode title).

Timeless approached the series finale the correct way, which is what’s important to me. They didn’t leave a bunch of loose ends. The world was saved and I saw all our beloved characters living their happy lives in peace. I need to know these characters are going to be okay, so I can say goodbye. 

Thank you Timeless for the insightful way you approached history, your cast of wonderful characters, humor and unflinching honesty. I look forward to the streaming deal so I can rewatch again and again.

Source:  yasmin-khan

Stray Thoughts

The finale is one EPIC Lucy speech after another. My girl runs this show.

Nobody was dressed appropriately for a North Korea winter. 

It looked like the mother threw her newborn into Wyatt’s arms as her son came running to her. LOL Nice catch, soldier.

"I've loved you since the Alamo." Girl is that ever right. 

Don't mock. Saint Christopher is for REAL. He has helped me out of many jams.

Hahaha. Wyatt said m'am. That's how you know it's the end.

[lovetheinsane]

Tagged by: @mighty-ant ayyyyy nice

Rules: Answer 30 questions, tag 20 blogs

Nicknames: Faby, Fabs, LTI

Gender: female

Sign: Aries

Height: 5 ft 7in

Time: 12:25 pm

Birthday: April 12

Fav Bands: The Baseballs! They are a german rockabilly cover band and I love them so much

Fav solo artists: Michael Jackson, and Joan Sebastian are my all-time favorites that have gotten me through rough times.

Song stuck in my head: The freaking theme for Milo Murphy’s Law that has no business being this catchy

Last movie I watched: Coco...watched it for the third time with @mighty-ant

Last show I watched: Milo Murphy’s Law...I keep rewatching the episodes cause Its so dang good!!! 10/10 DO recommend!

When did I create my blog: Around 2012 I used to be a hardcore Sherlock/ Johnlock blogger but that changed around a year ago. 

What do I post: I used to post mainly Sherlock but since S4 destroyed my heart I’ve just been a mess (hence my blog title). I’m mostly Buzzfeed and cartoons atm.

Last thing I Googled: What is Imitation Crab meat made of??? (I got curious) 

Do I have any other blog: Yeah @amorespatospodcast is the blog for my and @mighty-ant Ducktales podcast, Amores Patos! Now on iTunes,Google Play, and Libsyn! [Lol I basically left ant’s anwer cause we gotta do that promo]

Do I get asks: Not really???

Instruments: A long time ago I played the clarinet, I just sing now though.

Why did I chose my URL: Omg I came up with it during my Death Note days??? I had an OC named Isane that ultimately went insane and I just thought the phrase “love the insane” was so fun because of that.  

Following: 360 ish....I did a purge a few months ago cause of the whole Sherlock thing. On the lookout for more Ducktales blogs tho

Followed by: 350

Average hours of Sleep: 6 because I got insomnia

What I am wearing: Jeans and a Hamilton “Rise Up” tshirt. I usually rock fandom t-shirts.

Dream job: I’d love to work in Media to bring more Latinx representation to the  big screen. I’m on the path to be a Forensic Chemist tho. 

Dream trip: Anywhere out of North America tbh

Fav food: Hamburgers and Tortillas de Harina

Fav song: ATM its “La Llorona” from the Coco soundtrack

Last book I read: Oh fuck, I actually can’t remember a book I finished? Im reading the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck though

Top 3 fictional universes I wanna join: The Sherlock Universe so I can fucking fix some things, Gravity Falls universe and, of course, the ducktales one.

I tag: @protagonist-influence, @hexmaniacchoco, and anyone else that wants to it cause I’m too lazy to tag

[nongravity]

2017 in List Form

My annual media journal slash year-in-a-life round up! This was a roller coaster of a year. With a lot of amazing things and a lot of really challenging things and probably my most difficult year mentally in almost a decade. Curious to see how the statistics of this year’s movie list work out compared to last year.

Past lists: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

* = re-watch - = home video -- = in-cinema strikethroughs we didn’t finish

Movies

0107 - Mamma Mia! 2008

0111 * Mary Poppins, 1964

0112 * Mary Poppins, 1964

0113 * The Incredibles, 2004

0115 * Singing in the Rain, 1952

0122 * The Red Balloon, 1956

0129 - The Pirates! Band of Misfits, 2012

0129 - A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman, 2015

0131 * Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit, 2005

0205 * The Muppet Movie, 1979

0219 - Hunt for the Wilderpeople, 2016

0226 -- Lego Batman Movie, 2017

0308 -- Hidden Figures, 2016

0325 * Lilo & Stitch, 2002

0325 - The Nice Guys, 2016

0326 * Monsters, Inc, 2001

0326 * LA Confidential, 1997

0331 * What We Do in the Shadows, 2014

0401 * A Boy Named Charlie Brown, 1969

0401 -- Trolls, 2016

0401 - Arrival, 2016

0408 - Paterson, 2016

0409 - Louis CK, 2017

0421 -- Moana, 2016

0421 - Bad Moms, 2016

0429 - Flushed Away, 2006

0429 - Lion, 2016

0505 - Mascots, 2016

0507 * Chicken Run, 2000

0507 - Doctor Strange, 2016

0511 - Curmudgeons, 2016

0512 - Rogue One, 2016

0516 * Spirited Away, 2001 (gross misjudgment, too scary, turned it off, showed her the ending to calm her down but she kept saying “her parents turned into pigs, that’s not right.”)

0523 * The Muppets, 2011 (too fucking sad, Kermit is her favorite and he’s so depressed, Pollito started crying so we turned it off)

0525 - Logan, 2017

0529 - The Good Dinosaur, 2015

0530 * Ponyo, 2008 (cancelled 30 minutes in, too scary)

0530 - Keanu, 2016

05?? - (watching TV at my parents) Superman Returns, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Central Intelligence

0603 - Night at the Roxbury, 1998

0605 - X-Men Apocalypse, 2016

0607 - Fist Fight, 2017

0610 - La La Land, 2016

0615 -- Wonder Woman, 2017

0626 * Idiocracy, 2006

0629 * The Care Bear Movie, 1985

0702 -- Baby Driver, 2017

07?? -- Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2017

0714 - Don’t Think Twice, 2016

0721 - Tomorrowland, 2015

0722 - Tomorrowland, 2015

0728 - James and the Giant Peach, 1996

0730 * Bee Movie, 2007

08?? * Yellow Submarine, 1968

08?? * A Boy Named Charlie Brown, 1969

0808 - A Date for Mad Mary, 2016

0810 - The Incredible Jessica James, 2017

0823 - Guardians of the Galaxy 2, 2017

0910 - The Farthest, 2017

0914 - Lost in Paris, 2016

0916 - The Guard, 2011

0921 * Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1989

0922 - The Big Sick, 2017

0923 - The Little Hours, 2017

1014 * Saludos Amigos, 1942

1015 * The Three Caballeros, 1944

1028 - The Wolf Man, 1941

1031 * The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993

1031 * The Haunted House, 1921

11?? * One Week, 1920

1107 * Fun and Fancy Free, 1947

1109 - Patton Oswald: Annihilated, 2017

1109 -- Thor Ragnorok, 2017

1116 - Ali Wong: Baby Cobra, 2017

1117 - Sarah Silverman: A Speck of Dust, 2017

1122 - Floyd Norman: An Animated Life, 2016

1128 - Life Itself, 2014

1130 - Colossal, 2017

1202 - Hello, My Name is Doris, 2015

1208 * The Aristocats, 1970

1209 - Mistress America, 2015

1216 * Batman Returns, 1992

1228 * 101 Dalmatians, 1961

1229 - My Neighbor Totoro, 1988

1229 - Get Out, 2017

1231 - World of Tomorrow: Episode Two, 2017

This isn’t counting some kids films that were watched repeatedly, usually I only kept track of the first time we watched it or the first time we watched it this year. We’ve probably seen Three Caballeros a million times since October 15th.

Movie Stats!

84 films this year (up from 57 last year)

8 films in the cinema (up from 2, but only 1 since moving to Dublin)

23 movies rewatched (down from 27 last year)

61 I saw for the first time (up from 30 last year)

By filmmaker:

3.5 films by women

6 films by POC

1 by an out LGBTQ filmmaker

20 films from 2017, twice as many contemporary films as last year.

By decade (my numbers are off!)

10s (49)

00s (8)

90s (2)

80s (3)

70s (2)

60s (4)

50s (2)

40s (4)

20s (2)

Best film of the year: Get Out (runner up: Thor Ragnorok)

TV

Luke Cage, Season 1

Brooklyn Nine Nine, Season 1

Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, Season 1

Master of None, Season 2

Insecure, Season 1

The Defenders, Season 1

Hannibal Season 1 & 2

The Good Place, Season 1 & 2

Bojack Horseman, Season 1

Star Trek, Season 1

Not counting all the kids shows we watch non-stop: Peppa Pig (thankfully she’s over it now), Sarah & Duck, Nelly & Nora, Puffin Rock, Dr Suess, Maurice Sendak, Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Sesame Street, Disney Shorts, Looney Tunes, PeeWee’s Playhouse.

Books

^ = a physical book

^ Small Favors, 2017

Bad Feminist, 2014

Transform Your Life, 2001

^ Roots, 2017

While our movie watching has mostly recovered, my book reading has fallen off a cliff. I gave my iPad to Pollito last spring and don’t have a replacement for myself yet so I can’t read comics digitally anymore. But now I have Damhnait’s old Kindle so I’m reading on that now (slowly)

Music

Baby Driver Soundtrack

We got our belongings out of storage, so we’ve mainly been excited to get some CDs back after two years. Haven’t even plugged in the record player yet!

Professional Stuff / Life Stuff

Tamaillín was born! On my birthday! WHOA

Taught a class in After Effects at Griffith College. My first lecturing gig!

Started a quarterly series of comic arts festivals in Dublin and we successfully held four events in 2017!

Flew to Toronto and exhibited at TCAF! It was a monumental financial failure but we had fun and I got to meet one of my cartoonist heroes Colleen Coover. After that I cancelled all my comic events for the rest of the year and focused on DCAF.

Bought a teeny tiny house!

Renovated a teeny tiny house!

Moved into a teeny tiny house! Living on our own again for the first time since 2015.

Full time stay-at-home dad with a 3 year old and a >1 year old.

Watched Abigail perform Aerial Animation live for the first time since I started collaborating with her on it in 2009.

Nearly broke myself making another Aerial Animation for France’s Got Talent, but really proud of the result.

Damh and I sewed a Batgirl costume for Pollito and sewed 4 stockings for Christmas. Most sewing I’ve done since maybe 2000. Felt pretty good.

Roughed 50-ish pages of my graphic novel. Well short of where I wanted to be, but it averages one page a week for the year. At least it didn’t stop entirely.

Experienced my worst mental health in maybe a decade. Trying to keep up with dire political news in America and the UK, combined with going full time with the kids, talking to very few adult humans and having almost no time to myself since July. Felt very similar to breakdowns I had in 1992, 1998 and 2005.

What’s to come in 2018

Doing less. I’m not sure what means yet. But I’m overwhelmed at the moment. Will probably say no to any offers that come along. I think 2018 will be a lot about giving up. When I try to do anything beyond parenting, I end up being a bad parent. So I just need to parent and do my best to let the rest go.

Going to try teaching that VFX class again, but the last time I did it I had the help of two grandparents and Damhnait was on maternity leave. Not sure if it’s possible without that support structure.

More graphic novel roughs, I want to start posting them on Patreon.

4 more DCAF events, assuming we can recover from the loss of the Dublin Food Co-op in Newmarket Square.

Make and print a mini-comic, since I failed to do so in 2017.

Try to submit to some kind of grant, either Creators 4 Creators or one of Ireland’s many art grants.

Annual to-do’s that never seem to get done, or have no end in sight

Make a will.

Comic business stuff (getting books in stores, redesigning website, etc)

Repeal the 8th.

Resist Trump, the Republicans and the rise of fascism in America and Europe.

[anactualcaseofthetruth]

Call Me A Safe Bet, I’m Betting I’m Not - Chapter 4

(AO3 Link- Chapter Four)

“Even though scientists are still quite baffled after multiple millennia of medical and technological advances of exactly how the soulmarks work, there has been enough research and study that we now know when and how to expect them… There has yet to be one soulmate coupling occur before the female has experienced a menstrual cycle and the male to begin producing sperm. In short, soulmarks have never appeared before entering puberty…

There are many, many more cases in which two people have insisted they are soulmates only to not mark with one another. All in all, only about 3% of couplings are correct in predicting they are soulmates before marks form.”

***

Betty Cooper is four years old when she meets Jughead Jones. She knows he is her soulmate, he’s not so sure.

Chapter Four

“Society uses marks as a sign of permanence, we think of them as the world’s way of telling us this is the person we are supposed to be with, and many take this as absolute truth… Most scientists are still insistent at finding a reason for the marks that there is almost no study of those who mark with one, but choose to be with another.

Undoubtedly, it is a small number, so small there are no real statistics for it, but the group does exist… With such an insurgence of ‘unnatural’ children every two to three decades, is it any surprise that slowly, but surely, there are people finding that it takes more than a mark to want to be with someone.”

From Unmarked and On The Rise, 2012—an underground NYC magazine

*

The first thing Betty learns about finally having her period is that it sucks. It makes her wonder why she wanted it for so long—now, not only is she in pain, but the moment she’s been waiting for is right in front of her and it was terrifying. Well, if she actually tells Jughead about it, that is.

The night before had ended so perfectly and given her a glimmer of hope. She wasn’t ready to give that up yet.

Betty attends to her red-friend before crawling back into bed and curling into a ball. She doesn’t want to see anyone, talk about any of it, or leave her bed.

She remembers her mother giving her ‘the talk’ when she was around ten years old. She knows all the implications about puberty and how it relates to getting the soulmark, but she realizes she’s not put much thought into the actual getting her period part. Polly has all the supplies she needs in their bathroom, so that’s easy enough to handle, but Betty also recalls her mother telling her how painful menstrual cramps were for her when she was younger and Betty had thought nothing of it, after all she had been much more excited to get the initial sign of womanhood for other reasons.

Now, Betty wants it to go away so she can have a little longer with Jughead and not feel like her abdomen is being ripped out would help too.

Her phone goes off just as she is feeling like sleep might overtake her and she curses under her breath.

It’s a text from Jughead. Archie wants to have our own scary movie marathon today since we ‘bailed’ on him yesterday.

Betty reads the words and her heart sinks. If she hadn’t woken up with her period, she would have jumped at the chance to spend the day in Jughead’s lap with Archie laughing at her. It would have been the perfect day after following last night’s end.

But now?

He said we can skip Dracula because it sucked, but I have seen it and can assure you he is wrong. He said you’re the deciding factor on if he has to sit through it again. She has yet to respond and they’re acting like she’s already agreed. I don’t know in what world he thinks you’ll be able to resist my sad eyes compared to his… he insists you’ll be fair in this decision. I know the truth.

Betty smiles a little at that one and wishes her period could have come a day later. She doesn’t know what to say, so she hasn’t said anything at all. Betty? It’s past 9am so I know you’re awake. You physically don’t know how to sleep in. Is everything okay?

Her breath catches in her throat—he isn’t up to date with her sleeping patterns this summer, obviously but this time he’s not wrong, she was up before nine this morning.

With trembling fingers, she picks up her phone to respond. I’m here. Sorry. Left my phone in my room. She knows she shouldn’t lie to him, they just said last night they wouldn’t do it with each other anymore, but—she’s not ready to see him either.

Archie wants to know if you’re in, we’re heading out to get the movies soon. Fred said you can come with if you want.

Betty groans into her pillow while typing her answer. I can’t. I’m kind of in trouble again. My mom found out we left the movies alone and wasn’t happy. She said no matter what we are going through that isn’t appropriate.

Jughead’s response is almost immediate. That does sound like your mom. I’m sorry, Betts.

She’s far too good at lying to him, she’s learning. And he’s so trusting. It makes her want to cry. It dawns at her that at least she has an explanation for why she’s been so emotional and teary lately. Betty really should have seen this coming, in retrospect.

I don’t know how long I’m under lockdown for. Once I find out, we can redo the marathon then? The offer is real. She hopes if they don’t mark, that they’ll still find their way back to each other somehow. Betty knows it will take some time, a long time, but what’s a little time when they, hopefully, end up back together?

Definitely. Let me know if there is anything I can do?

I will. Have fun with Archie, and tell him we are for sure watching Dracula when we do the rewatch! If Archie thought his sad eyes were even remotely up to par with Jughead’s the boy had another thing coming. Know your audience for this type of stuff.

That’s my girl. Call if you can later? Love you. Betty’s heart clenches and it makes her struggle for breath for a moment.  He said it. Well, he wrote it, but he put it out there first and it made her want to jump out of bed and into his arms.

She hopes last night was a turning point, and when she finally gets the nerve to tell him the truth and touch him that the feeling will hold.

I love you too.

…

Betty manages to hit day three before her mother catches wind of her ‘grumpy attitude’ as Polly calls it. (Polly is only really upset because Betty won’t cover for her going to hang out with Jason, and by cover Polly had suggested Betty tag along with Jughead, like that wouldn’t be weird?)

“Do I have to prepare myself for another dose of motherly wisdom? Or will a run of the mill inspirational quote do the trick? I did a Google search and once you get past all the overdone ones of ‘shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars’ they aren’t so bad,” Alice says as she comes into Betty’s bedroom with a basket full of laundry, no doubt her excuse for this visit. Like she hasn’t been making Betty do her own laundry, and put it away herself, for years. “They are still horrible, of course, but not so bad if you’re in a real time of need.”

“I don’t think I need wisdom, I’m just procrastinating this time. I know what I have to do,” Betty answers as she continues to attempt to read the book in her lap. That summer reading list ain’t gonna read itself! Which is actually what is written at the top, because apparently her English teacher next year is cheesy.

“Anything your mother should know about?” she asks while sorting through the folded laundry to put away.

“Is this one of those things where you know what is going on and you’re testing me to see if I’ll tell the truth or lie?”

“Well, if I told you that would be cheating, wouldn’t it?” her mother answers and Betty can’t help but agree. She’s got her there.

“Okay, well, I, uh, got my period Sunday morning,” Betty stutters out. It’s the first time she’s said the word aloud, and already she wants to take them back.

“I know, that’s why I have the heating pad at the bottom of the basket,” Alice tells her and hands it over with a knowing smile.

“Mom! I’ve been looking for this for over a day now!” Betty whines, twisting herself to get the plug into the outlet near her bed.

“You’re not very discreet, sweetie. Plus, your sister and I have it right now too, the wonders of having so many women in one household. Your dad is going to discover what hell is like. Not only two teenage daughters, but two with their periods at the same time, along with his wife? Poor guy,” her mom sighs while sitting on the bed with her. “Anyways, I stocked the bathroom with medicine and more tampons and pads, I don’t know which you prefer. I used pads for a year or so before I started tampons, but that’s totally up to you. Also, this is your period pad, you do not have to share with Polly, she has her own. It’s a gift from me to you, and an apology for the cramps. You do grow out of them, I don’t get them much anymore.”

“Going on birth control helps too,” Betty mumbles before leaning back with the pad splayed over her abdomen. “Not that I—I mean, I’m still a—”

“I know, Betty. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I think we can hold off on it for a little bit longer, don’t you?”

Betty simply nods. “Yeah, I just Googled how to get rid of cramps and it was the top answer.”

“Getting out of the house can help too, moving around, but I’m assuming there is a reason you’re not crying or snuggling with Jughead right now,” her mother says knowingly.

“We had such a good night together on Saturday, Mom. We finally talked about stuff we’ve been fighting over, told each other things we were hiding, and—I felt like I had him back, then I woke up on Sunday and,” she stops by looking down, as if glaring at her uterus will help the situation.

“I take it he doesn’t know about this development?”

“No, I—I’m too scared to tell him because I know he’ll want to find out right away, and I… I’m scared. I don’t want to lose him, Mom,” Betty whispers.

“Baby,” Alice pushes hair behind her head and hooks a finger under her chin to make her look her in the eye. “If he’s really yours, you won’t lose him. If you don’t mark, it will be hard. You’ll be hurt and heartbroken. As a mother, I’m scared you won’t mark either,” she confesses. “But if you’re as special as I think you are, eventually it won’t matter to him. That boy is so wrapped around your finger I think all it will make him do is hold you tighter.”

“So you… don’t think I’ll mark with him?”

“What I think doesn’t matter. What matters is what you and Jughead think, what the two of you feel for one another. You’ve spent almost ten years ignoring the white noise of what everyone else thinks about you two, about what you feel for him. Don’t stop that now that you’re near the finish line. Believe in yourself, believe in him, and don’t hold off for too long, summer is almost over, after all,” Alice mentions as she stands and rights her blouse and skirt.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Betty asks.

“If you do mark, you have time together before school starts. If you don’t, you have time to deal with everything that will bring. You’re my daughter, Elizabeth, you’re strong and stubborn and I know that no matter what happens you’ll be fine. Maybe not right away, but you will be.”

“Promise?” Betty calls after her once her mom is walking out of her bedroom.

“I promise,” Alice states with a wink before closing the door behind her.

Later, after a nap, Betty decides to take a long shower, followed by a bath because no one is home so why not hog the bathroom, and the hot water tank, for a while? Polly surely doesn’t mind hogging both when Betty is home and in need of it.

The hot water helped alleviate some of the pain and she finds it feels nice to treat herself, even just a little. Betty is still new to shaving, so she does that too after draining the tub, and steals Polly’s expensive lotion to rub all over herself.

She spends time brushing her hair out, it’s longer now that it has been in a long time, almost two inches past her shoulders. When it’s long it just feels like more work, but Betty likes this length and blow-dries it until it’s not so damp so it won’t dry funny.

After about two hours of pampering herself to feel better, Betty comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a big, white fluffy towel feeling a little brave, and thinking about calling Jughead to talk only to find him on her bed, thumbing through the book she had been reading for a day now.

“J—Jughead!” she exclaims, holding the towel tighter. He must have been enthralled with the book because he only notices her entrance into the room when she says his name. Instantly, his eyes snap up to her, then slam shut in quick succession. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demands to know, her entire body turning red. She’s naked, and Jughead is only steps away.

“I—shit, I’m sorry, Betts,” he apologizes and stands, only to trip on something and stumbles. His hand is now slapped over his face, like he doesn’t trust himself to only have one form of coverage. “You were in the bathroom and I didn’t want to scare you. I didn’t think you’d come out, you know,” he waves his other hand around vaguely.

“Naked? I was in the bath!”

“I saw that your parents weren’t home yet and took a risk. I just wanted to see you,” he admits awkwardly since he’s standing right in front of her and not only are his eyes closed, but also has his hand covering them so he won’t peak. She can’t help but find it cute even if it’s a bit mortifying.

“Do you think you can get into my closet without breaking something?”

“Shouldn’t you go into your closet? You’re the, uh, well, you know,” he stutters with frilly hand waves. “You smell really nice,” he mumbles a moment later.

“Thanks,” she murmurs, then snaps out of the cuteness. “I don’t keep underwear and stuff in my closet, Jug, and it’s not like I’m going anywhere so I can just grab something from my drawers. Why am I explaining this to you? Just get in my closet!”

He holds a hand out. “Do you think you can lead me there so I don’t break a bone?”

Betty almost takes him up on the offer before remembering. “Uh, you know what, I’ll just grab clothes and go into the bathroom. Just stay there, like that, and don’t be a boy and try to get a peepshow, okay?”

“I’m giving you a very dirty look right now because you know I wouldn’t do… that. I respect you too much. I’m actually offended—”

“I’m going into the bathroom, you can keep scolding me, go on,” she jokes and lets out a huffy stomp and whine once she’s in the clear.

Betty regrets thinking she was feeling brave enough to call him because the universe decided to screw her over and have him just show up at her house instead. Then, she regrets not paying more attention to what she took from her dresser because in her haste she didn’t get a bra and only has a skimpy old tank top in her hands.

“Fuck,” she groans and glares at herself in the mirror. “Today just keeps getting better,” she sighs and quickly she puts on the fitted blue jeans, making sure to pay attention to her monthly visitor, and puts the tank top on.

It’s not—okay, it is going to show Jughead more than he has ever seen, but it’s not like he’s going to see much, the tank top does have one of those built in bras. She’s only just now finally growing boobs, so a real bra isn’t always necessary, but—she went from pretty much nothing to a bit of something in a couple weeks’ time.

“Here goes,” she mutters to herself before exiting the bathroom.

Jughead is back on her bed, his shoes and plaid button-up discarded leaving him in dark jeans and a gray t-shirt. His beanie is on her bedside table and it makes her heart speed up. That means he’s feeling vulnerable, not only that, but he’s feeling comfortable enough to show her that he is.

“Hi,” Betty whispers with arms crossed over her chest, then rethinks of the stance knowing it’s making them more prominent.

“H—Hi,” he greets while clearing his throat.

“Hi,” she repeats in a breathy tone.

Jughead chuckles. “This whole puberty thing is going well, you look, um—okay, I don’t know what to say without admitting I’m trying not to stare.”

Betty’s heart swells because while she knows Jughead has always found her pretty, has told her to himself, but she’s never felt stare-worthy, not with girls like Cheryl Blossom around knowing exactly what she has and proudly flaunting it about.

“Really? I mean, it’s—I’m not used to it being a problem. It’s like they grew overnight. My mom actually bought me real bras with underwire and stuff, but you didn’t need to know that,” she breathes and bites her lip.

“Maybe we should not talk about it because I have my own growing going on and—” he stops when she chirps out a laugh. “Not right now, just… in general. Let’s change the subject, huh?” he suggests and clears his throat. “Sorry about not announcing myself. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay, you were respectful,” she assures him and shifts around the edge of her room, trying to keep distance between them. “I don’t think I would have responded well to you barging in on me in the bathroom either. So, uh, what brings you by?” she asks, and wishes she didn’t suddenly sound, or feel, so awkward. Being weird about their growing bodies is normal, that she knows, but she doesn’t want to be just plain weird with him.

“Well, I ran into your sister in town,” he starts while standing. “I asked if she knew anything about when you’d be off-grounding and she was very confused because she’s under the impression you’re not in any trouble at all.”

“Ugh, Polly,” Betty whines and covers her face.

“What’s going on, Betty?” he asks while coming closer.

At the thought of them touching Betty backs up and hits the bathroom door, wincing as the bathroom doorknob digs into her back.

Jughead stops his advance and studies her. “Betty, I thought after the Drive-In we were going to be different, more like us again, but with everything finally out in the open. I felt better that night than I have in weeks,” he admits while rubbing the back of his neck.

She stops herself from stepping towards him. “I did too, Jug, please believe me.”

“Is this because of your hands? Did something happen and you’re worried about telling me? You know all I want to do is help you, Betty, you don’t have to—” he stops as shakes her head.

“No, I—I haven’t done it since that night, I promise,” she assured him. “I’m not going to lie, I’ve caught myself almost doing it, but I haven’t. I’m really trying to stop. It’s,” she sighs as she feels the need to do it now, so she stretches her hands out to fight the urge.

“Betty,” Jughead murmurs, seeing her movements, and closes the distance between them.

Betty backs into the wall, this time with her hands behind her back so she can’t touch him. “I’m—I’m okay, I swear, I haven’t done it,” she repeats.

“I do believe you, but with the way you’re acting, it’s not very reassuring. What’s going on, Betts?” His hands settle on her waist and she flinches, making him look at her with questioning eyes. “Betty, you’re not—I mean, did you…?”

She slowly nods at his unasked question, blinking away tears.

“Oh, shit,” he strings together and steps away. “You got your period?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Betty apologizes with her droplets falling. “I just—Saturday was so perfect, and when I woke up Sunday I had it, and I was so scared. I’m so scared, Jughead,” she admits. “Please, can we just hold off for a while?”

“Hold off? Betty, this is what we’ve been waiting for forever,” he reminds her. “All you have to do is touch me and—”

“And possibly lose you forever, Jug, no, I won’t and you can’t make me,” she states, her tone firm even though her lip is quivering.

“So you’re just going to never touch me again? Every time we’re together you’ll sit on your hands and make sure we’re never next to one another? I guess that’s fine, we’ll just never walk beside each other either, but we’ll have to be careful and make sure we never reach for the same thing at the same time. You know, this could be tricky, maybe we should get you a straightjacket to make sure we don’t forget for a single second.”

“I’m not opposed,” Betty whispers.

“Betty, come on,” he pleads, his voice low and intense. “What, you want to be together and not touch? I don’t know about you but with all the growing going on I was really getting hyped for it.”

“Jug!” Betty tries not to smile as she scolds him. “Be serious!”

“I am. You tell me how you think this will work? You’ll just never initiate contact with me, or any other guy, for the rest of your life?”

“I know I’m being unreasonable, okay, but I don’t care. I just got you back, I’m not going to lose you again.”

“Betty,” Jughead sighs and cups her face. She resists the urge to lean into his touch. “You never lost me, you will never lose me. I’m always going to be right here.”

“No, you said so yourself, if we don’t mark, you’re gone, remember? We were outside your trailer and—”

“And I was drunk and angry, and fuck—I can’t lie to you, I won’t,” he says and brackets his arms around her, bringing him so close their noses are brushing together and his breath tickles her eyelashes. “I said that because that’s how I felt, that’s the only way I can see myself not falling apart, but Betty… if these last few weeks being so shitty has taught me anything it’s that I can’t stay away from you. I love you, Betty, and saying those words felt so liberating. I thought I was protecting myself by keeping them in, but when I finally said them, when I saw how it helped you, how it calmed you down, I knew right then that I didn’t need a mark to know I should be with you. I just know it myself.”

“That’s beautiful, Juggie, and I believe you, but,” she stops and sniffles. “You’ll worry every day that I’ll get a mark with someone else. I don’t want to put you through that. That’s not fair. It will get to you, nag at you—”

“So will you, Betty. You don’t think you’ll nag me about it and reassure me so many times a day that one day I’ll finally believe you? It’s going to be hard, we’ll fight and I’ll make you cry and feel like an ass, then do something over-the-top to make things right. You’ll get annoyed about my worries and scream at me, your face will turn red and you'll do that stomping thing you do when you're frustrated.”

“You promise? You promise that you won’t push me away or—”

“I can’t promise that. I can’t promise it won’t be hard or feel impossible sometimes. I can’t promise I won’t push you away or feel like I’m slowly losing you because I know there will be times I’ll be weak and do those things. But I do promise that at the end of the day I’m always going to be the one climbing through your window to be with you. I’m always going to find my way back to you. I need you as much as you need me, probably more. After all, I can’t resist you, Betty Cooper.”

She blinks away tears and nods, trying to be brave. “Can you back up?” she asks and he does as he’s told. “I know that… I know if we don’t mark the first couple days will be the worst. I know that you’ll need time to be angry and you’ll worry about me touching Archie and,” she sniffles. “I know all that, so just please, please come back to me when you can see straight again,” she pleads.

“After a day or two I don’t think anything could keep me away.”

Betty pushes off the wall and shakes out her hands to get some feeling back. “Can I kiss you?” she whispers, and his eyebrows rise in question. “Can that be how we find out? We’ve only really kissed once and I ruined it. I want to have been really kissed by you before,” she stops and swallows the knot in her throat.

“Whatever you want, baby,” he tells her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They simply stare at each other for a moment, Betty trying to get her nerve, Jughead trying not to jump out of his skin, then suddenly she crashes into him. She comes at him so hard he stumbles back, his arms locking around her waist as her lips slant over his.

They take it slow for only a second before their mouths are moving together. Betty feels warmth spread from her toes to her hair follicles. She doesn’t care that their teeth clank together, or that neither of them know exactly what they are doing, she just wants to keep kissing him and never stop.

She’s on her tiptoes with her hands in his hair and Jughead’s fingers are skimming the skin that her tank top is revealing at the small of her back and Betty feels high. High as in she’s floating, maybe literally flying, and a heat gathers in her heart that is calming, yet sets her on fire.

The feeling is so overwhelming she pulls away with her chest heaving.

She looks up at Jughead, but he isn’t meeting her eye, he’s looking further south. In different circumstances, she might feel giddy that he’s looking, she’s still new to garnering attention there, but right now is not that time. “Jughead, really?”

“Betty,” he whispers and nods down to where he is looking.

Betty follows his eyes and finds what he’s fixated on. It’s not her cleavage, it’s a mark, and it’s over her heart.

“Oh, my Go—” she stops and yanks down at his neckline to check his skin. Sure enough, there is a matching mark over his heart.

It’s a light gold, and resembles a three-point headpiece, and looks like it could be glowing, is radiant on his skin and the sight of it causes her to release a tearless sob.

With shaking a hand Jughead reaches up and runs his fingers over it. “It’s a crown,” he whispers.

“It’s a soulmark,” Betty corrects and outlines his own, the one that shows the world he is hers, just like she’s been saying for ten years.

“You were right,” Jughead says, his voice a mere breath. “I’m so sorry I made you think—”

“Shut up,” Betty orders, happy tears bright in her eyes. “None of that, okay? No dwelling on what we said or did, or what we fought about. What matters now is this,” she tells him with a hand splayed over his heart, over their mark. “It doesn’t matter that you’re an unnatural child, it doesn’t matter that your mom found her soulmate later, or that this whole system is a sham. Through it all, through all the statistics and theories, you are marked with me, you were meant for me. You believe that now, don’t you?”

Jughead wipes his nose with his arm and nods. “I do, I should have believed you all along. I love you, Betty Cooper,” he confesses, his forehead resting on hers, the purest smile she’s ever seen gracing his lips.

“Jughead Jones, I love you,” she replies and grins. “You know what that means?”

“Hm?”

Once again Betty launches herself at him, only this time he falls to the floor and she’s kissing him all over: his cheeks, forehead, eyelids, jawline, everywhere she can reach. “I told you so!” she squeaks between kisses, then settles on his lips.

It’s featherlight at first, their mouths just ghosting together. Soon enough Jughead cups her cheeks and brings their lips firmly together. The kiss starts to deepen, them tentatively moving their mouths, making this one really count, when her door bursts open.

“Betty, are you—Elizabeth Cooper!” her mother exclaims.

“Mom!” Betty sits up, her entire body red, probably. “You’re home.”

“Betty,” her mom says, her voice lower, her face softening.

Because of the tank top she can see the mark, the crown over her heart. Alice’s eyes flick to Jughead and Betty pulls down the neckline of his shirt to his. Betty thinks she sees tears in her mom’s eyes, but it’s only for a second, it must have been a trick of the light.

“Well,” Alice says with a small smile. “Jughead, will you be staying for dinner?”

“What?” both she and Jughead respond. “That’s the first thing you ask?” Betty questions.

“What? It’s official now, isn’t it? You’re family. Around here we have family dinners together. Of course, you don’t have to come every night, but you are always welcome. Our fridge is your fridge.”

“That’s it?” Betty asks.

“I’m sorry, did you expect a party? I can throw one together, but it might take a couple days,” Alice says and Jughead chuckles underneath her. “Now, Elizabeth Cooper, get off him before your father sees you like this. And this door is not to be closed when you two are alone together, I mean it.”

Betty realizes she’s been straddling Jughead and quickly is up on her feet. “I—yes, sorry,” she agrees while helping Jughead up. Alice waits for Jughead’s response too, so Betty elbows him in the gut.

“Ow, yes, ma’am,” he assures her mother while rubbing his stomach.

“And the answer for dinner?” Alice asks once more.

“If it’s not a bother, I don’t want to—”

“Jughead, you have never been, and will never be a bother. You and your sister are always welcome here,” her mom states, her tone firm, the voice she uses when she means business. “Now, I’ll trust you two to be appropriate and you can trust that I won’t be walking by this door every three to five minutes, hm?” she says before leaving with a wink.

Instantly Betty deflates. “Oh, my God,” she breathes.

“I feel like she just adopted me,” Jughead admits, the tension draining from him as well.

“Even if she just did, I don’t think sleepovers are welcome,” Betty mentions. “But dinners are, so baby steps, I guess?”

Jughead smiles, bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks again. “I don’t think they will ever willingly agree to sleepovers, babe.”

Betty grins and loops her arms around his neck. “I like when you call me ‘babe’,” she confesses while biting her lip. She gazes up into his eyes only to find he’s captivated by their mark, and keeps his iris’ trained on it like it could disappear at any moment. “I feel like the universe just gave you an open pass to stare at my boobs,” she huffs, only a little upset about it.

“Hm, what did you say?” he questions, then smiles. “I’m kidding, I heard you. Nickname usage and chest comment noted. Can we get back to what we were doing before? ‘Cause I’ve been dreaming about it for at least three years and feel like I have only gotten about three minutes of it.”

“Poor baby,” Betty teases.

“Like you don’t want to kiss me either,” he counters.

“Well, that depends. Can I officially call you my boyfriend now? ‘Cause I only kiss my boyfriend.”

Jughead rolls his eyes at her. “All you have to do is ask to hear me say it, Betts. I would love it if I could have the honor of being your first, and last, boyfriend.”

Unable to control herself Betty catapults herself at Jughead, who just hooks his arms under her legs, easily catching the sign to hold her. She pushes their lips together, her mouth in a smile, his too, but before they can continue the door bangs open once more.

Jughead instantly drops her, but keeps his hands on her hips to steady her. “Are we ever gonna get to finish doing that?” he grumbles, but Betty ignores him.

Her eyes are trained on her big sister with watering eyes at the door. “Polly,” Betty gulps and smiles faintly. “What’re you—”

“You marked?” Polly interrupts, anger clear in her stance and eyes.

“Polly, I,” Betty starts again, but Polly stomps her foot indignantly.

“This isn’t fair!” her big sister cries. “How come you get what you want but I can’t get what I want?”

“Polly, isn’t not like that. You can love someone without a mark—”

“Oh, save it. I know I love Jason, I love him, just like you love Jughead. How come I didn’t get a mark? What’s so different about me?”

Betty steps towards her sister. “Polly, I’m sorry, I—”

“Polly,” Hal appears next to her. “You are not going to ruin this for your sister.”

“But she gets everything!” Polly insists.

Betty’s sympathetic face changes into one of disbelief and anger. “I get everything? I’ve been told I’m crazy for believing in this. I’ve been told by you I’m weird for it, not to mention what I’ve been putting Jughead through with everything going on his family. This did not come easy to us, so don’t act like it has.”

Polly’s face was covered in tear tracks and her whole body was shaking. “What makes your love better than mine?” she asks in a heartbreaking whisper.

“I’m sorry you’re upset, but I’m not going to let you make me feel bad about this,” Betty tells her, a hand firmly interlocked with Jughead’s.

“Pauline,” Alice is now in the doorway too. “Do not do this, not right now, not in front of your sister. Go to your room and I will meet you there. Now,” she orders with a full finger point and Polly leaves after a sharp glare. “She doesn’t mean it, Betty,” her mother insists.

“You should go talk to her,” Hal whispers and Alice nods before leaving. “Really, don’t take your sister’s words to heart, Betty, she’s hurting,” he tells her.

“I know,” Betty murmurs.

“I don’t want you to feel bad, this is a big day for you. Polly will come around in time,” Hal goes on with a soft smile. “Here, I don’t think it’s best to stick around for dinner. How about you two go to Pop’s, on me?” he says while rifling through his wallet and handing Betty a few green bills.

“Thanks, Daddy,” Betty murmurs, her mood somber now.

“Jughead,” Hal begins again with his hand out, and Jughead gets the idea to shake. “I always hoped it would turn out his way, makes things a little easier on me with all the girls in the household,” he sighs and Betty rolls her eyes at her dad’s attempt to lighten the mood. Also, it’s working. “Alright, you two be good,” he finishes with a kiss to her forehead and disappears down the hall. “And please put a real shirt on before you leave the house!”

“I feel like I walked into the Twilight Zone,” Jughead says from next to her. “We actually marked, your mom gave me a revolving door invitation, your sister is upset about Jason Blossom, personally I think she lucked out there, and your dad is happy to have another guy in the family. I honestly think I’m dreaming. This shit is getting too surreal.”

“Do you want me to pinch you?” Betty asks while pocketing the money, to which he shrugs, so she does.

“Hey, I didn’t mean down there!” he says in a squeaky voice as he jumps. “Geez, you’re different in the Twilight Zone too.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she questions with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t know yet, put a shirt on so we can get out of here before the aliens descend.”

…

“Anything for dessert, kids?” Pop Tate interrupts a couple hours later, making Jughead pull his face from her neck, where he had been nuzzling.

Betty ducks her head in embarrassment all while turning red. At least she’s consistent—she’s been some form of red all day between Jughead, her parents, and now Pop Tate.

“Yeah, our usual. Thanks, Pop,” Jughead answers with a cheeky smile.

The older man winks at them while grabbing their empty plates with a chuckle. “Sure thing, Jug.”

“Ugh, I feel like every adult knows exactly what things are going through my mind today, and it’s making me far too uncomfortable,” Betty mutters, but still rests her head back on the booth with a smile playing on her lips.

“Well, I’m not an adult, so care to enlighten me about these things, hm?” Jughead asks, still picking at a basket of fries that Pop Tate knows to keep continually filling for the boy, since his stomach is a never-ending pit.

“Probably the same things you’re thinking, buddy,” Betty answers, not giving him the satisfaction of saying the actual words.

“To be fair, I have a lot of time to make up for, plenty of spots to discover and see what noises you make when I kiss them, or lick them, or—”

“Jug!” Betty exclaims, her voice low. “You haven’t licked anything, so don’t act like you have, smartass.”

“We have the rest of our lives, I’m sure I’ll get around to it in a couple months to a year,” he assures her, nonchalant.

“At least you’re aware there is a timeline to follow,” Betty says and grabs onto a fist of his shirt to tug him close and kiss him quickly.

“I want you to know, it probably goes without saying, but,” Jughead stops when Pop Tate approaches.

“Here ya go, kids,” the older man says while setting down their usual milkshakes, Betty’s vanilla and Jughead’s strawberry.

“Thanks Pop,” Betty says, and is proud she manages to not turn red again. “What were you saying?” she asks, her lips already circling the straw of the milkshake.

Jughead waits until she is done with her sip and rewraps his arm around her shoulders. “There’s all this research and crap saying soulmarks make you feel older, if you get them when you’re young, and I believe it after everything we’ve been through. When it comes to you, and how I feel about you, my feelings have always been more mature than they should have been.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you have dirty dreams about me or something?” Betty questions as he pauses.

“What, no,” Jughead responds and reaches for his milkshake now. “Well, I do have them, but that’s not what I’m trying to tell you now,” he adds on as an afterthought.

“Really? What happens in them?” Betty asks with a grin.

“We can talk about that later, and I’m pretty sure you can guess how they go, I’m trying to get at something else here,” he insists in a sigh.

“Okay, sorry,” she murmurs and presses a soft kiss against his cheek.

Jughead keeps her close, his hand moving from her shoulder to hang from her neck. “This probably goes without saying, Betty, but even though we feel older, I don’t want you to think I expect anything because of that.”

“I thought we already established we’re together and love each other and stuff?” Betty questions, complete with a head tilt.

“Betty, I’m talking about sex here,” Jughead says bluntly.

“Oh, oh, oh,” she responds in know. “I know, Juggie, as we’ve done with everything else, we’ll figure it out together.”

“We do have a lot to figure out,” he agrees and Betty rolls her eyes. “What? I may be an old soul, and sensitive at that, but I am still a guy, and I have eyes, and you’re…” he stops and simply gulps while looking her up and down.

“Growing?” she offers with a knowing smile.

“Yes, and I want to know if everything is as soft as your lips,” he admits.

“Jug!” Betty squeaks and slumps down in the booth so no one can see how red she is turning. “Stop.”

“Betty, I just want you to know now,” he says with a finger hooked under her chin to make her look at him. “I am never going to be discreet about how beautiful and breathtaking you are. So you either get used to it, or be ready to blush about ninety-percent of the time.”

“I—thank you, I’m just not used to being the center of attention of anything.”

“You’ve always been the center of my attention,” Jughead states and reaches for his milkshake once more.

“Okay, does having a mark make you way more smooth, or is it just me?” Betty asks rhetorically.

“I think it’s the confidence of the mark, you know, no more doubting or worrying about losing you to someone else. I’ve always had game, I’ve just kept it hidden.”

“Juggie, I love you dearly, but please never use game like that again,” Betty tells him. “And you don’t need ‘game’ with me, you’ve already won, I’m yours, remember?” she says while undoing a button on her jean button-up to pull at the collar and show him their mark.

Just like he was the first time he saw it, Jughead is instantly mesmerized. He reaches his hand up and his fingertips brush along the crown, and she hears his sharp intake of breath.

“Hey, you still with me?” Betty murmurs, her own hand reaching up to wrap around his wrist.

“Yeah, I just—I’m still in shock, sorry,” he breathes and drops his hand, but she just moves hers down to link through his.

“It’s not going anywhere, Juggie, okay?” she whispers and presses a kiss over his shirt where their mark is. “Closer to the heart, closer the bond,” she adds on and just rests against his chest with a happy sigh.

“It’s because of you,” Jughead says into her hair. “It’s likely we would have marked no matter what—”

“We would have, shut up,” she interrupts, her words muffled against his skin.

“But I think because you knew and never let that belief go, never let me go, that it’s over our hearts. We were able to become so close before all the puberty stuff that the bond is stronger.”

“You think if I wasn’t so wise that it would’ve been, like, on our butts or something?”

“I’m trying to be serious and romantic, and you’re talking about our asses?” Jughead asks and Betty pulls away laughing. “What is this?”

“The Twilight Zone, remember?”

“Right,” Jughead murmurs, his eyes trained on the mark he can still see underneath her shirt from his angle. “Betty, I—there’s something I want to ask you.” She nods while drinking more of her milkshake. “Do you think we—would you mind if,” he lets out a breath.

“You can ask me anything, Jug,” she reminds him, nothing the more somber tone.

“I don’t want to tell anyone like—we can tell our friends, and your family already knows, but I don’t want to tell my family,” he finally gets out. Betty opens her mouth to respond, but he goes on. “We just got torn apart because my mom’s mark, and I don’t want you to think I’m anything less than fucking thrilled about this, but I just think it wouldn’t help matters, if that makes sense.”

“Whatever you think is best, Juggie,” she assures him, reaching a hand up to cup his cheek, her thumb sweeping across the crest of it.

“I don’t want my mom think she’s validated or I understand why she did what she did because I have one too. It’s—she cheated on my dad, blames him for everything still, and part of me feels like she regrets the last fifteen years of her life. She’s doing better, she’s not drinking, she’s there for Jellybean, and I know she loves us, but—there’s no excuse for what happened, for how it happened, and how easy it was for her to just leave it all behind. I don’t want her to think because we have this in common that her thinking was justified because of how it feels. I’ve felt this for you most of my life. It may have taken a mark for me to believe in its permanence, to embrace it, but I’ve always known how I felt. Not getting a mark wouldn’t have meant I loved you any less than I do now.”

“I know, I know,” Betty insists and presses her forehead against his. “You don’t have to prove anything to me, baby.”

Jughead shudders against her and mimics her cupping of his cheek. “And I don’t know how my dad would handle it, with how my mom marking fucked everything up. I don’t—if he really is turning his life around right now, I don’t want him to think that me marking means me leaving him like my mom did, like she made Jellybean too. I’m not ready to give up on him, Betty.”

“And I would never ask you to. Your dad has his problems, but I know he loves you and Jellybean, he loves your mom too, despite everything. We don’t have to tell them, it’s okay. I’m not upset or think you’re ashamed—”

“God, no. Fuck, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. It’s just all still too fresh,” he cuts in.

“Stop making your case to me, I understand, I’m fine with it, okay?”

“You do know that by me not wanting my family to know means—”

“We can’t be open about it, the marks, I mean. I’m hoping that even though we’re not ready to reveal our soulmarks, we’ll still be able to be a couple?” Betty’s voice gets progressively higher as her sentence goes on.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’d be able to resist being like this, now that I’ve let myself really—”

“Be with me?” Betty finishes for him.

“Once you break through the wall, there’s really no going back,” Jughead agrees. “Wait, ‘we’?” he questions. “You’re not ready to tell people too?”

“It’s not that I’m not ready, I just don’t want to deal with the teenage hysteria. We start high school in less than a month, do you know how annoying teenage girls can be? I’d have to answer questions about what it’s like, how I knew all along, defend that I knew all along, is it weird that we are so young. I know I have the type of personality to snap, and I’m afraid I might kill someone.”

Jughead makes a vague nodding motion and she slaps his shoulder. “Hey, I’m agreeing. You’re tough, it’s not a bad thing.”

“But I think murder is frowned upon,” Betty points out.

“Depends who you’re talking to. Know your audience, huh?” he replies with a wink. “But you’re right, it’s a small town, word would get out, we’d be a spectacle, I’d take the fall for your crime. It’s probably best we just keep this under our hats for now.”

“Aw, you’d go to jail for me? That’s so sweet,” Betty coos.

“Man, are we lucky we found each other, we’re weird.”

“It’s best to be with someone who’s weirdness matches yours,” Kevin announces, making Betty jump and Jughead merely glare at him as he invites himself into their booth. “Sorry to interrupt, but I was supposed to meet Moose and here he walks in with half the JV football team and strolls right past me. So, naturally, I acted like I just hadn’t seen you two sitting here and made my way over after I realized my social flub.”

“Naturally,” Jughead mutters, angling himself more normal in the booth so he’s not just facing Betty.

“What has you two looking so cozy?” Kevin asks as Archie makes himself known too, and Kevin immediately scoots to make room for the red-head.

“Hey guys!” their best friend greets.

“Yeah, we weren’t in the middle of anything, no worries,” Jughead grumbles.

Betty kisses his cheek with a smile, ignoring his sudden, and understandable, mood change. “Oh, shush, Juggie.”

“Yeah, ‘shush, Juggie’,” Archie copies and steals some fries from Jug’s never-ending basket.

“Is anyone going to answer my question?” Kevin questions.

“What was your question?” Archie asks him.

“Have you ever seen these two act like this when a scary movie isn’t on the screen?” Kevin counters, to which Archie nods. “So, did something happen when you disappeared at the Drive-In. I mean, I see that something did, but I thought I should hear from my best friend rather than just talk with the rest of the town.”

“You can see it?” Betty worries and covers her heart with her hand, making a point to button up her shirt.

“B, what are you doing? That isn’t going to hide that hickey on your neck,” Kevin insists.

“I have a hickey?” Betty exclaims, both hands now on her neck.

“Yes, what the hell are you talking about?” Kevin demands as Betty rubs at her skin. “Left side, B—no, my left,” he instructs while pointing for clarification.

“Jughead!” Betty scolds, her voice high once again.

“What, it’s not bad, it just looks like you itched really hard,” Jughead tells her after inspected the area.

“Stop grinning like that! This isn’t funny!” she tells him, but can’t stop the corners of her mouth from sliding upwards.

“Can someone please tell poor Archie what is going on, look how confused he is!” Kevin says.

Betty and Jughead share a look and nod together. “Well, Betty got her—”

“We don’t need to go over that part,” Betty interrupts with a pointed look.  Archie, or Kevin for that matter, didn’t need to know exactly what was going on with her body. “The point is, well, we marked.”

“What!?” Kevin just about yells, but doesn’t care that he’s turning heads. “Where? When? How? Why was I not your first phone call? Aren’t I worth at least a text? Has it been since the night at the Drive-In? If so, I am sincerely angry right now. You kept this from me for three days?” he asks in quick succession.

“Kevin, calm down, it was barely three hours ago,” Jughead assures him with an eyeroll and takes his basket of fries away from Archie.

“Three hours, that’s a long time—”

“I’m so happy for you guys,” Archie cuts Kevin off. “Finally. Now that you’re a couple, I’m assuming you’re a couple, I am not going to be in the middle anymore. If you fight, I’m Switzerland and if I hang out with one of you during said fight I am not taking sides, it just means one of you has a better offer or is being less mopey.”

“Ha, that definitely means he’ll be hanging out with me,” Betty gloats.

“Who cares about Archie, where is it? What is it? Is it somewhere naughty?” Kevin asks.

“Now I know where you’re getting it,” Jughead comments with a pointed look towards Betty.

“I’ll show you, but we’re keeping it quiet, okay?” she says while staring at Kevin.

“I may be way too excited right now, but I know how to keep a secret, I’ll have you know,” he insists. “I’m actually offended you think I’d just go around telling—”

“Alright, alright, take it down a notch, Kev,” Betty insists while undoing a button on her shirt again and showing them.

Kevin stares at it for longer than Archie because of where it is, but both are equally happy for them.

“That’s so freakin’ cute, and right over the heart, I love it,” Kevin states as Betty closes the flap. “It’s perfect for the two of you.”

“Thanks, Kevin,” Betty says with a smile, she feels like she hasn’t stopped smiling since it happened, and it’s probably true.

“You guys deserve it,” Archie speaks up. “I’m happy it finally happened, that you guys can finally just be happy together instead of fighting about how much you care about each other.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you ever said to me,” Jughead jokes and pretends to wipe a tear.

“Fuck off,” Archie responds and she can tell they are now attempting to kick one another under the table.

“Hey, unless one of the two of you want to start playing footsies with me, cut it out,” Kevin mumbles, having gotten hit in the crossfire.

“Man, some things never change,” they hear next to them and all turn.

“Dad,” Jughead says and instantly sits up straighter.

“Hey, Jug,” FP greets. “You guys mind if I steal my son real quick?” he asks the table and they all shake their heads. “I promise I’ll give him back, Betty,” he teases and walks away with a wink.

“Why do people keep winking at me today? Am I giving off a vibe?” Betty questions once they are gone.

“I don’t know, you kind of have an air of hotness going on, you’re all confident and stuff. Plus, FP definitely saw your hickey,” Kevin tells her.

“Oh, man,” Betty grumbles and covers her neck again while looking out the window at Jughead talking to FP.

She notices Jug has gotten taller when she sees him next to his father. They both have the same stance and broody face—Jughead may be more like this mother intellectually, but physically he is his father’s son. They have the same mannerisms.

“What do you think they are talking about?” Archie asks a silent minute later.

“What do you think,” Betty responds without turning to look at her friends. “FP shaved, Arch, you know what that means.”

“Jughead is going home.”

To be continued….

Notes: Anyone cry? Review your reactions! I love them!!!and NO this story is NOT over. I have more planned. Stick with me. And as always, I must say thank you to @jandjsalmon for helping and beta-ing, and making the wonderful aesthetic. She's amazeballs, even though I make her cry all the time.

[amlovelies]

get to know me tag

thank you for the tag @sosolenoo 🥰💕

I’ll tag @pearlsandsteel @roses-and-roo @dinosaurfucker @agentnatesewells-manbun @heartbrreak and @crackerdumortain (no pressure) and anyone else who sees and wants to participate!

Name/nickname: Aml

Pronouns: they/she

Star sign: pisces sun, cancer moon and rising

Height: 5′6″

Time: 10:30am (PST)

Birthday: March 6th

Favorite bands: all time low, ac/dc, my chemical romance

Favorite solo artists: sleeping at last, hozier

Song stuck in my head: I’m listening to music right now so nothing is stuck in my head but the song thats playing is all this time by one republic

Last show: the clone wars

Last movie: uhhhhh I have no idea what the last movie I watched is. I don’t watch them very often. probably rewatching pride and prejudice 

When did I create this blog: November 2012 I’ve been here forever 😬

What do I post: art, politics, memes. occasionally my own writing but writer’s block has been a bitch lately

Last thing I googled: lightning wallet--I may or may not be looking for some cute things to rep my wife Julia Ortega

Other blogs: nah

Why I chose my URL: aml is my initials and also is an abbreviation for all my love so it’s a play off that

Do I get asks: I do! I used to get a lot more and be more interactive but the last few months have been a little rough, but I love getting them!

Average hours of sleep: it depends if my insomnia is acting up or not. when it is I get maybe 4 but I do try to be in bed in time to get a full 8, it just doesn’t happen as often as I’d like

Dream trip: I’ve been very lucky to have done a good amount of traveling in my life, so I’ve checked a lot of things off my bucket list all ready. I think at this point it would be more about who I am traveling with than where I am going since there are wonderful things to see everywhere

Favorite food: curry and bbq

Languages: English, Spanish, and a handful of words/phrases in French

Favorite song: this changes all the time, but lately I’ve been really enjoying bruises by lewis capaldi and villians pt 1 by emma blackery

Last book read: oh god I don’t even know. do ifs count? because if so fallen hero retribution. like everyday for the last month. it’s fine it’s healthy it’s normal

Top three fictional universes i’d like to live in: uhhhh hmm there are definitely universes I find interesting but to actually live in I would want something more stable and peaceful than a lot of the stories I enjoy so maybe star trek (post scarcity society baby), stardew valley, and maybe middle earth but ike jus tlet me be a fat and happy hobbit in the shire