#Riverdale writers come here I just want to talk

[arsenicpanda]

Riverdale season 7 should have been about Tabitha going through different timelines, maybe with Jughead as her assistant (very Jughead’s Time Police), as she tries to untangle things, and as she does, she takes everyone with her through various decades of Archie Comics, not just the 50s

[shares-a-vest]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by the wonderful @hbyrde36 and @sidekick-hero. Thank you both so much for the tags 💖 I always love seeing authors talking about their work!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Six. I really need to cross-post some stuff, including what I wrote for Steddie Love Month and the Flufftober Spring Event.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

16,565 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things and let me tell you, the brainrot is not subsiding (it is settling in to fester now).

4. What are your top 5 3 fics by kudos?

you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry

Just a Shirt

Eds, I'm Hungry

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! And I'm sure my answers are always too long-winded 😂 It makes me so happy to get comments on the silly things I write. Actually, brb, I'm sure in the initial excitement, I have forgotten to respond to some here and there.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This ficlet (WARNING: BREAK UP FIC). Life got hectic during Eddie Month so I only wrote a couple of things and this one hurrrrt baaad.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm, tough to pick seeing as I usually write happy endings. Lol, the number of times I ended something with Steddie kissing or saying, "I love you". I think I'll go with the entirety of my Joanie Munson AU because it's where I aim to be as fluffy/sappy as possible.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I am extremely thankful that so far I haven't. And I am sending all my love and hugs to people who deal with/have dealt with hateful comments.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson vs. A Box of Condoms is the closest I have come (hehe, pun). Idk, I struggle to write smut. I'm much better with suggestive language and innuendo, but somehow this fic got the balance right and honestly, gave me a lot of confidence!

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. But I need everyone to know that I have a Riverdale x ST crossover sloshing around in my brain juice on the regular.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. But now I'm paranoid *also proceeds to have an existential crisis about ai scraping my very internet-based soul.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'm more than welcome for someone to reach out.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I am absolutely open to it though! The closest to a collab I have done is Just a Shirt in which I wrote a whole fic from some incredible tags that were left on a ficlet.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean, it's gotta be Steddie right? I've never had a hyperfixation give me brainrot like this. Though, if we go back to lame teenage me, the ship that really got me into the fic/tumblr sphere was Sterek.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I have been returning to a few wips I thought I had abandoned lately, so never say never. I firmly believe in taking a break if something isn't working out and circling back with fresh eyes.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Despite how I am probably answering most of these questions (lmao), I think I am pretty good at keeping my writing concise and moving it right along. It's not that I rush writing, but I am good at recognising when something I have written begins to meander. I like writing dialogue where people are cutting each other off, and crafting stuff that is a quick little ficlet etc. Having said this...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptive language. I always get so caught up in action and dialogue that I easily forget descriptions of surroundings, objects, clothes etc. Funnily enough, right now I am working on a few quick visual aids (flash-sheet style sketches) for my Steddie BB fic of things that I need to keep in mind/remember to describe as a strategy that will hopefully help.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I could never do it (I only speak English), but honestly, kudos to you if you do/can!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stranger Things is the first fandom I have written for.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I swear to god this isn't a plug, but I thiiiiink it might be the wip I am oh-so-close to finishing. It's basically a character study of Steve's Mom and is her POV of the end of season 3. I have shared some snippets in the STWG server (and complained during writing sprints). I just need to do a solid edit and get a vibe-check read-through from someone else then it's good to go!!!

Tagging: @momotonescreaming @eyesofshinigami @devondespresso @missberrycake @steventhusiast

(I know this tag game has been making the rounds, so if you see this and haven't been tagged yet, count this as a tag)

[jorgecrespo]

911 thoughts below, i never hide posts so you know i yap a lot and also i love you guys so nobody is forced to read my thoughts, whatever it's fine :(

ok first of all this will be scattered because i didn't write any notes this is just free form, i am not god's strongest soldier. i only cried a few times which is very impressive considering i cry at everything so i'm back to being god's strongest soldier. so much happened in this show it's shocking. things just keep going on. la is literally the most dangerous place on earth they need to move IMMEDIATELY. why is angela bassett in this. what did her agent tell her to convince her to do this. this isn't a complaint btw this is the greatest project she's ever done. thank you angela's agent we all say in unison. it's so campy, died in 2023 born in 2018 welcome back riverdale. no i won't elaborate. ok ummm characters. it was an uphill battle to not have maddie as my favorite character because jennifer is my girl we're like this 🤞 and maddie is the name of my childhood bff. and baby we never reached the top of that hill MADDIE SUPREMACY 🫶🫶🫶. that's my bestie, that's my boo bear, that's mother right there. love you girlfriend forever and ever amen. eddie diaz my beautiful princess with a disorder. need to study this dude immediately. first of all .... ****** and that's all i have to say about that. has he done things wrong? yes all the time including right now. do i care? well he's my beautiful princess with a disorder i don't know what to tell you. his kid should definitely be mad at him tho baby what were you thinking with that one? nothing ☺️🫶 love you chris come home soon pls. chim THE PEOPLE'S PRINCESS. never done a thing wrong except almost die literally all the time but that's ok we love him anyways. nobody's perfect but he's close love you bestie 💜💜💜. buck is a princess who should just sit there and look pretty and not do anything that will put him in the hospital. don't worry about anything babygirl we'll figure it out for you. we're also gonna get you away from "tommy" (unbelievable that's his actual name, a grown ass man) i do not like him at all. oooooo you've been bi for like 20 minutes but you gotta come out immediately or i'm gonna throw a fit I HAVE A GUN AND IT'S LOADED. i'm sorry but i'm throwing him into oncoming traffic as soon as possible live laugh love. and he's not having a funeral. love you buck, you shall be free soon 🫶. bobby and athena best couple of all time I KNOW THAT'S RIGHT. that's ohana right there. they mean a lot to me ok. hen literally mother.com she's my girl except when she cheated on my lesbian queen karen but i'm pretending she didn't do that because i don't think she would!!! i know her better than the writers. remember a long time ago when i said you should get a free pass to forget exactly one bad thing your favorite character did to preserve your sanity? well here we are. i didn't see shit. hen and chim friendship supremacy btw. a great show, nothing makes sense and i'd like to keep it that way. they just landed a plane with the power of friendship, love, and autism. hopes for this season are that things continue to be insane, hen and karen get their kid back, and eddie too i guess. love his little crisis mustache going on i'm sorry but this is your fault you weird little man. and tommy dies of course. in god we trust. there i probably missed 80% of what i wanted to say and also emotionally i can't think about certain scenes i'll need several month to heal 😐 whatever it's chill. thanks for reading if you did, i'm probably just talking to myself right now heyyy kallie how's it going??? pretty good thank you bestie!!!!

[milliesfishes]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

(idk who to tag who originally came up with the questions but I found them through @the-likesofus and was curious ab my other writer moots answers so <3)

How many works do you have on ao3?

2 but I'm hoping to repost a bunch of my fics on here to there soon!

What's your total ao3 word count?

92,519

What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment I write for TBOSAS and Billy the Kid (2022)

Top five fics by kudos:

Only have 2 fics on AO3 currently but

1. I Once Believed Love Would Be Black and White, But It's Golden

and

2. Pray You Catch Me

Do you respond to comments?

Always!! I love, love receiving comments and I know how scary it can be sometimes to leave them, so I want to show my appreciation <3

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Well...𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓶𝓮 rn but I have one coming out tomorrow that's also Billy the Kid and the ending is pretty...it's pretty angsty

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I try really hard to keep my endings happy because the nature of both fandoms I write for is inherently tragic but personally the one that warms my heart the most is either 𝓤𝓷𝓭𝓸𝓾𝓫𝓽𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮 cause it's the end of the series or 𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼

Do you get hate on fics?

I've been very lucky to receive mostly positive feedback on my work- the closest I've gotten to hate was someone commenting on how I didn't include in the TWs that my Reader would be mentioned as thin and blue eyed (which I felt SO bad about and they were very kind about the whole situation- sometimes I don't catch that stuff in editing)

Do you write smut?

I do not purely because I'm a Christian girl (don't hate me) but that doesn't mean I judge others for doing so at all like y'all get freaky go nuts <3

Craziest crossover:

I've never done a crossover fic but that could change

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, no, thankfully

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't technically. The closest I've come is when Franci and me have done mermaid au stuff but that was completely her idea and her credit, she just let me write for it <3

All time favourite ship?

It's hard to say (anyone I write for x me lmao)

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

tbh once I deem something a wip there's no stopping me until I finish it. Having drafts lowkey stresses me out (in a good way) I've finished almost everything I've started, the only exceptions being things that were either a) had no plot point at all besides the ship or b) my hyperfixation fizzled and I lost passion

What are your writing strengths?

I feel like I'm good at angst honestly, and the other thing I feel like I consistently do well is in the plot points of my stories. Honestly my self awareness isn't that great though so I could possibly be talking out of my ass

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I've done it briefly before because Billy canonically speaks Spanish but I am not a fluent speaker in any language except English so I'd be a little cautious doing it lol

First fandom you wrote in?

The very first fandom I ever wrote in was Riverdale

Favourite fic you've written?

I'm still so proud of Pray You Catch me, but another one I love is Inamorata just cause it was so fun to write. But honestly I adore all my fics and though I'll always be self-critical they mean a lot to me because my followers have liked them so much <3

Tagging!

@francixoxoxo @runningfrom2am @a-romantics-guide-to-life @fictional-at-heart

also if you're a writer and you see this you're tagged <3

[cutepastelstarsalior]

Clone high season. 3 thought/predictions

I heard that next month season 3 is coming!!!!!! Yippie!!!! So here are my hopes and thoughts

Lots of people, myself included think that next season will have jfk be the main character/lead on the story. While I do think that a cool idea! I’m just…a little worried that his character arch will be aimless? Both the previous season had jfk be the bully jock type character/funny love interest. It would be nice to see jfk set out of those roles..or as much as he can with being in a parody show

I really hope that the subplot of jfk have few friends/ponce’s death will be picked back up???

I really really want more clones talking about their feelings about being clones and their expectations!!!! I know that clone high parody/mock popular teen shows, so my guess is that season 3 will mock things like Riverdale and Euphoria, or maybe 13 reasons why. If that the case, I kind of want clone angst™️ (none romance angst that is) like Joan saying she want to hear voices!!!! That was a cool idea!!

Cleo and Abe…….come back to me. No, seriously, they barely had screen time in season 2. When they did have screen time it was usually about their love lives or then have stress/anxiety about test and school..Like yeah, season 1 was about them! But still I would love to see more character development from them…pls.

Speaking of clone high angst™️ the whole government wanting to groom the clones into leaders….👀 I for one, love that plot. I know it’s probably gonna get more development but I hope it gets casually dripped-feed to the audience through the series instead of like the finale 2 episodes being plot stuff…

LGBT clones… :] hell yea!!!! Would love to see more. 👀👀👀 imagine trans clone….imagine Transmasc Joan. Also here’s how bi jfk and jfgogh can still win

That whole subplot of Abe and topher and the blackmail??? 😬..I really hope they drop that subplot. But if they do pick it back up, i hope they like treat it will more respect? In the show it’s treated as both a joke and kind of not??? (Some characters thought the situation was a joke while some were like hey we should take this to the police). Topics like sexual assault, especially toward minors really shouldn’t be used as jokes. But I have a feeling that the writers will just not be responsible..

I saw that some new and old characters are coming back!!! (The old government agents) very excited!!! I hope that we get more inside how the new clones feel about being clones, and more specifically how they feel about the old clones!!! I hope there will be more of the old clones having “culture shock” and trying to navigate though it!!! I would be funny to see some internet humor and meme from the early 2000s vs new memes and internet humor of 2024 :)

That’s all the thoughts I have for now!!! :)

[alexzalben]

cole sprouse being a closet bughead fan is not what i expected to see today but here we are. he also said they have no clue what’s going to happen in any future episodes and the actors are mostly kept in the dark about where things are going. do you think that makes it hard for them to portray scenes or dig into their characters or is it a non factor? i would want to know how things play out so badly.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, and I've only seen a few short clips from the interview, but I think he's a pretty non-closeted fan of acting, working with actors, and digging into real emotional arcs. What I got is that he felt like there needed to be a longer conversation between Betty and Jughead, versus the quick bits and catharsis that Betty had on her own. He's not shipping anything, he's not dismissing any other relationships. He's addressing scenes that would allow him to flex and work emotionally. From an acting perspective, I'm sure that would be interesting for him. He likes the relationships, and working with actors - that isn't a shocker: actors like acting.

As for the other part in terms of being kept in the dark, frankly that's par for the course for the large majority of TV. It's incredibly rare that actors do know what's coming beyond the episode they're shooting, or a few episodes down the road, particularly with broadcast TV (streaming is different, but only because by the point most interviews are happening they've already filmed the entire season). The pace is incredibly quick, things change on the fly... Maybe a little more than usual with Riverdale (based on what I've heard from talking to people about it), but mostly they don't know because it hasn't entirely been settled on yet.

That said, in order to not to be a total negative nelly here, absolutely I think it's better if you have the full scope of things so you can craft a performance. That's just not possible on a 20 episode TV show, but with a movie, or a show that has all the scripts in advance that's of course a great help to the actor... That way they know emotionally where they're starting, and where they need to end so they can fill in the bits in between; along with the writers, the director, and their fellow actors. I think it's less about plot points, more about being able to actually do their job properly (i.e., create an emotional arc and journey for a character).

Excited to see how the main takeaway from this ask is "why do you hate Tabitha?" or whatever.

[daughter-of-melpomene]

Alright, @luucypevensie sent me an ask asking for an infodump about my newest baby Drew, but I made a mistake with the actual ask, so we're redoing it! Here we go!!

(Putting it under the cut because this got a little ✨ long ✨):

So as I said in his intro post, Drew grew up on the Northside in a nice house, with parents who were lovely people. He's been playing basketball completely since middle school, and he's good at it, good enough to be a starter on the Riverdale High team . Middle school was also when he met Jughead, and while the other boy always seemed to be better friends with Archie, Drew kind of attached to him because he didn't really have any friends at that point and Jughead liked him enough to be one.

Though they're never really friends, Archie winds up becoming significant in Drew's life too. During junior year, Archie approaches Drew and tells him that he's questioning his sexuality, since Drew's been out as bisexual since eighth grade and he's one of the only openly queer people at school, so Archie feels like he can talk to him. This talking turns into a makeout session, and that makeout session turns into many secret makeout sessions, and eventually true hookups, throughout the school year. Even though Drew knows that Archie will probably never come out and is using him as an experiment more than anything else, he continues to meet with him in empty classrooms and, occasionally, in each others' bedrooms, and despite himself, he develops a hopeless crush on the redhead.

Archie isn't the only significant redhead in Drew's life, however; before Jason Blossom got involved with Polly Cooper, Drew had made out with him once when they were both tipsy at a party. Drew was never really interested in Jason and is not particularly sad when he dies, having seen how he treated Polly and knowing what kind of person he was, but he does feel bad for Cheryl, who he's always felt is actually nicer than she lets on. He makes a point to try to get to know her, wanting her to have someone to lean on, and the two of them wind up becoming genuine friends during this time.

However, when Jughead gets pulled into the others' investigation of Jason's death, Drew makes a point to stay out of it, worried for the gang but not wanting to get in any potential danger by sniffing around. However, he is there when everyone discovers that Jason's own father had murdered his son, and when the others pull Cheryl out of the river, he is the first one to comfort her and encourage her to get therapy (because that's what should have happened if the writers hadn't fucked it up).

(And while Drew is all for healthy coping mechanisms like therapy and meditation, he isn't exactly upset when Cheryl burns down her family's mansion.)

Drew also does his best to be there for Jughead when his father's involvement in Jason's murder is revealed, but now he's with Betty and he's still got Archie and he doesn't really need Drew anymore, if he ever did. Drew has always known that Jughead doesn't see him as nearly as much of a friend as Drew has seen him, but now the other boy is actively pulling away from him and he only really has Cheryl now, and that's enough to send Drew into a mild depressive episode (he does have clinically diagnosed depression, but he takes medication and having actual episodes is rare for him).

And then, to top everything off, his parents doe in a car accident after coming back from a date night and being hit by a drunk driver.

After his parents' joint funeral, Drew is sent to the Southside to live with his aunt Florence and uncle Steven, his only living relatives. He's grieving his parents terribly and doesn't even leave his new house for the first month after moving, even when Jughead, who wants to reconnect with Drew now that the two of them have both been forced to the Southside, tries to come and visit him.

Finally, thanks to the help of his aunt and uncle, who are just as lovely as his parents, and Cheryl, who he texts constantly, Drew is able to recover enough to start school at Southside High. He knows pretty immediately that it might be a good idea to join one of the Southside gangs for protection, but the Ghoulies terrify him and none of the Serpents seem inclined to let him into their group, seeing him as nothing but a naïve little Northsiders simply trying to join their ranks to be cool. (Except for Toni, obviously, because Toni is best.)

Drew tries to convince Jughead to join the gang with him, since the Serpents will definitely let him in if FP Jones's son vouches for him and anyway Jughead could probably use their protection too, but Jughead refuses, insistent on remaining a loner. They get into an argument about this, and just like that, Drew is left with no friends on the Northside, just when he and Jughead were starting to reconnect.

A few days after their fight, though, Drew is going to the bathroom during class when he finds Sweet Pea being attacked in the hallway by two Ghoulies, and jumps in to help him. The two manage to beat the Ghoulies off, and Sweet Pea thanks him, saying that he didn't really expect to be helped by anyone who isn't a Serpent. Drew, sweetheart that he is, simply says that he wasn't going to just stand there and let anyone be attacked, and that prompts Sweet Pea to go to Fangs and tell him that he thinks Drew should be allowed to join the gang.

After going through the initiation process - which is probably a bit less challenging than it might have been if he hadn't saved Sweet Pea's ass - Drew is officially named a Southside Serpent. And, though he's still nursing his hopeless feelings for Archie (and, occasionally, sneaking back over to the Northside to hook up with the boy in the middle of the night), he also can't help but flirt with the cute Serpent leader who doesn't really seem to be too interested in him.

And what could possibly go wrong from flirting with a teenage gang leader?

That's all I have for my boy right now, but thanks for asking about him, Grace!! 🖤🖤🖤

[ofdamnedsouls]

OFDAMNEDSOULS ; EST : JUNE 23RD 2024 ; Loved by Bee ; 25+ ; HIGHLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

PROMO || MEMES || Muse Info

Independent ; Semi-Selective, multi muse blog. Full of canon & oc muses. In fandom ranging from TVD, TO, T100, Riverdale, and more..

Activity will depend on muse; but I am anticipating high activity.

Connections to muses will be determined on threads / plotting : I do not want to force anyone into having any predetermined relationships so this is going to be left fully open. If you want any relationships with any of my muses please let me know. Obviously canon relationships will still stay the same. For example, canon siblings, or family will still be true to my muses that are written not as an oc.

Mun does not equal muse

This blog will dabble in triggering themes; be cautious when following.

all graphic credit goes to the lovely Satan

Discord: available upon request ||  IMs: always open, but i’m extremely spotty when answering || Wire: Coming soon

Do not tolerate OOC drama ; but IC drama is highly encouraged

Rules listed below readmore!!

Please be respectful, I will not tolerate OOC drama. I know this is already listed, but I just need to reiterate it. It is so important, and it really doesn't hurt to be kind.

21+ mun, is over 25, so please, please, please be mindful when following. I only feel comfortable writing with writers 18+, but I definitely prefer 21+ bc i am getting old.

Do not godmod, if you and I talk about things beforehand , and it was cleared, that is different. It should be commonsense, but you never know, so it is listed. DO NOT GODMOD

The activity on this blog with be spotty, as I have more muses out there.

I do not have many triggers, but please be respectful of others triggers. if I ever don't tag something correctly, and you need a trigger tagged, please let me know. I never want to accidentally offend someone. & sometimes triggers change, so please don't feel like you can't approach me & let me know that something needs to be tagged.

This blog is multiship, and one ship will not interfere with another, unless it is something that has been plotted. I ship based on chemistry. Nothing will be forced, and if you think I am trying to force something, please call me out. -- we are also super okay with not shipping. we love platonic relationships here.

I am okay with just jumping into writing, if you do not know how to approach me, send a meme, an ask, start a random starter.

& don't be shy, I am pretty laid back & would love to get to know you all. this is about writing and exploring, but ooc relationships are important too. not necessary or mandatory , but encouraged. <3

[e-does-stuff]

Riverdale finale??

So um??

The Riverdale finale is totally copied/plagiarized from Our Town??

I'm probably the only person who cares about this, but it's kind of insane lmao. Ok, for context, Our Town is a play by Thornton Wilder and it was written in 1938. It's a three act play about daily life, and the third act is 'Death'. This is the act Riverdale copied.

Disclaimer- I didn't watch the whole episode, I watched a video of a YouTuber called Film Cooper react to the last episode. For this reason I don't know if they acknowledged it was inspired by the play (although I did try to find out, I just couldn't find anything). Even though I didn't watch the whole episode, it was so clearly 'Our Town' in Riverdale font.

Starting out, they took the concept of going back and reliving one specific day before death. Yeah, you could argue that's not unique to 'Our Town', and that would be a fair critique. Except for the fact that they also used THE SAME LINES. Both Jughead and Betty have lines that are almost word for word taken from 'Our Town'.

They talk about her wanting to relive the last day of her senior year and this is what they say:

Jughead: It might be painful for you.

Betty: Why should it be painful?

Jughead: Because you won't just be living that day. You'll be seeing yourself live it.

And then the 'Our Town' version:

EMILY: But I won't live over a sad day. I'll choose a happy one. I'll choose the day I first knew that I loved George. Why should that be painful?

THEY are silent. Her question turns to the stage manager.

STAGE MANAGER: You not only live it; but you watch yourself living it.

EMILY: Yes?

STAGE MANAGER: And as you watch it, you see the things that they, down there never know. You see the future. You know what's going to happen afterwards.

(Context: Emily is the main character, the Stage Manager is the 'narrator', but also Emily's guide in the afterlife. The 'they' being referred to are the other ghosts in the graveyard. Emily is clearly established as dead, while Betty in the show is having a flashback, (??) and dies after the flashback is over.)

After Betty starts the flashback/walks through the door, she goes downstairs and sees her mother and another character.

Betty says

B: Mom! Polly! You're alive! And you're so young!

And the Youtuber (Film Cooper) remarks on how badly written it seems, which is fair criticism, because it's very off-putting. But it makes sense when it's in the context of 'Our Town' because this is very similar to Emily's lines when she's reliving her day.

EMILY: Mama, I'm here! Oh! how young Mama looks! I didn't know Mama was ever that young.

It makes more sense in this context because for one, Emily is talking to herself, not to her mother. Her mother hasn't seen her yet because on that day, the younger Emily hadn't come downstairs yet.

Which brings me to a weird choice the Riverdale writers made. In Riverdale, Betty is in her teenage body and she is living the day herself, making her own choices and new experiences. In Our Town, Emily is reliving her 12th birthday, but it's more like she's watching herself live it. She is limited to the actions and words her of twelve year old self.

She can comment about things, but if it deviates from how the day actually went, the other characters don't notice it. After she sees her father and mother, and opens a birthday present, she breaks down in tears because she can't stand to relive her life without being able to change it.

All in all, she makes it through about twenty minutes. Betty lives the whole day because they needed to wrap up all of the loose ends.

At the very end of the episode, Riverdale takes one more important thing from 'Our Town'. Emily gives a fairly iconic monologue about appreciating life, "every, every minute".

I don't know if Betty recites the whole monologue, but she does say goodbye to the town of Riverdale in the same way Emily does. She one by one says goodbye to the things and places she cared about most in her life.

B: Goodbye Sweetwater river, and all it's mysteries, and Fox Forest and it's haunted trees-

(I don't have the rest of the quote because Film Cooper skipped this part, but while he was skipping I did hear Betty mention coffee and a whole bunch of other things. And then she dies)

And the 'Our Town' monologue is this:

EMILY: I can't. I can't go on. It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another.

She breaks down sobbing. The lights dim on the left half of the stage. MRS. WEBB disappears.

EMILY: I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. Take me back up the hill to my grave. But first: Wait! One more look.

Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners . . . Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking . . . and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths . . . and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. She looks toward the stage manager and asks abruptly, through her tears: Do any human beings ever realize life while the life it? - every, every minute?

Anyways, the pacing was off because they took Act 3 of Thornton Wilder's play 'Our Town' and slightly adapted it to Riverdale. And it seems like no one noticed lol. I looked at five or six different articles and none of them mentioned 'Our Town'. Anyways this was a really long rant that probably nobody cares about except me

[maya-matlin]

Dumb question but your replies to asks are my favorites on this whole site, so I wanted to send an ask! Here it is: are there ships that you thought you'd love based on gifs but ended up not really liking once you saw them on tv or in youtube videos? For me one of them is Brulian. I kept hearing what an adorkable cutie Julian was and loved how happy Brooke looked in their gifsets but then when I actually saw them I just thought the chemistry was forced, Julian was a TOTALLY different character his first two seasons on the show and a lot less likable initially, and the acting and writing just didn't work for me? I expected them to be an otp but ended up meh at best on them! And I thought I'd ship Barchie because they're an iconic comic book couple, I'm much more of a Betty than Veronica personally lol, and their gifsets are gorgeous, but then when I watched the show I'm like, no, Varchie and Bughead are meant to be imo and Barchie doesn't do it for me at all. And one final example - Piper/Leo from Charmed. They're adorable in their gifsets, but it turns out the gifsets highlight literally the only times they're remotely happy?! Post-S1 Piper is perpetually angry, critical and miserable, she complains and snaps at everyone (especially Leo) every minute, Leo is so flat and personality-free, and their chemistry and connection are just lacking to me no matter how many times the show tells me their love is epic :) I can't wait to read your choices!

I don't think it's a dumb question! You're seriously sweet. <3 I feel like I'm really bad at replying to asks, so I'm glad you think that LOL

I think I might have to slightly alter this question to mean ships that I'd heard of, period, or had seen advertised and believed I'd end up shipping only to end up either disliking or feeling neutral towards. I only say that because for the past few years, I've really tried to keep an open mind when starting new shows so that I wouldn't go in with any preconceived ideas about what couples I'd root for.

Those are all interesting examples!

So when it comes to Brulian, I kind of agree. That being said, I did ship them the first time I watched season 6 and for the first half of season 7. But eventually, I was turned off by the Brooke/Julian/Alex arc. While I understand Brooke's LP trauma continuing to haunt her years later, it was just frustrating to watch it all play out again and for Brooke to devolve back into the most insecure version of herself. In some ways, I actually prefer Julian with Alex over Brooke. I still love the idea of them and think they had sweet moments, but their relationship never hit the same way Brucas did. It's an acceptable endgame for Brooke, but it will always kind of feel like second best. I'm sure that's an unpopular opinion, but oh well. I didn't force Chad and Sophia to have such strong chemistry or make the writers execute their seasons 2 and 3 arc so well.

Funny you should mention Barchie, because I had a similar experience in some ways. To be clear, I never read Archie Comics, but I vaguely knew some of the basics. The week Riverdale premiered, I'd been talking to a friend who rooted for BA in the comics and was excited to see Riverdale's take on their relationship. So, I watched the pilot episode to see what it was all about. I guess I shipped Betty and Archie then? But only in the sense that for the first couple of episodes, I was honestly cool with any outcome except Veronica/Jughead. That changed very, very quickly. Pre-Bughead, I was all about Beronica. Archie in contrast just wasn't as compelling to me and seemed to have a revolving door of love interests - something I'd heard was also somewhat the case in the comics. In the long run, BA became a good representation of everything I hate in a fictional couple. Their relationship is one of the laziest things I've ever seen. I truly mean that. Their fans did almost 100% of the work trying to piece that shit together because the writers were NOT writing a slow burn. The Riverdale writers seemed to deliberately avoid kicking off a story arc with any awareness of how it was going to end. The sad excuse for off screen, pre-series childhood anecdotes replacing any true development from episodes 103-416 didn't impress me. I hated watching Betty slowly sacrifice everything she wanted for her life just so she could conform into being Archie's ideal woman as he sacrificed absolutely nothing in return or ever once showed he had any true understanding of Betty. She needed extensive therapy, not the golden boy's dick. Anyways. Bughead forever, Varchie over BA because at least effort was put into that relationship.

As for Leo/Piper, you make some points, but I have to disagree. I can't help it. They were my favorite couple on Charmed. That being said, I acknowledge there was a lot of unnecessary angst, particularly during the later seasons. Leo's actor, Brian Krause, was also incredibly weak and nowhere near as talented as the women on the show.

Now, on to my answers. I already explained my history with BA, so I'll skip that one.

Bangel and Spuffy - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I'd heard positive things about both couples, so I had no clue going in which I would end up shipping. As it turns out, the answer was neither. The Buffy/Angel arc was fine for a while, but at a certain point Angel was just kind of there. As much as I liked the guy, their romance was one of my least favorite aspects of the show. So it was a relief when he moved onto his own show, where his character improved tremendously. I also liked Angel better with Cordelia, so there's that. In the case of Spuffy, I'd heard about the slow burn and the enemies to lovers arc. So I was curious how all of that would happen. I didn't expect Spike to be such a creep towards Buffy. Season 6 wasn't great for them as it was, but the painfully long, attempted rape scene was the last straw. There was no overlooking that, yet season 7 basically had Buffy bending over backwards to defend Spike just because he had his soul back. That sucked. Out of the two love interests, Angel > Spike, always. But truthfully, the only Buffy ship I was ever passionate about was the potential one with Faith.

Jonah/Frankie - Degrassi Next Class: I don't know what I was expecting from these two. They seemed to have chemistry based on the promos Netflix and F2N released. I naively thought Winston had been such a dick that any guy would be an improvement over him. Jonah seemed like an overall decent guy in season 14 during his relationship with Becky, even if he was still haunted by some demons. Unfortunately, Next Class Jonah was a cold, judgmental, arrogant asshole. At least towards Frankie. The writers seemed to want an enemies to lovers situation, but mostly it just felt like Frankie being berated by her older boyfriend. She was an insecure mess with him, and he got away with emotional cheating.

EJ/Gina - HSMTMTS: Looking back at all the signs, it's very obvious Ricky and Gina were intended to end up together from very early on. But I was so certain that Ricky/Nini was the Disney ship that HAD to end up together, so I didn't think my ship stood an actual chance. EJ was transforming into a good guy and I wanted Gina to be happy, so I thought they'd be pretty good together. Sadly, they didn't have a single ounce of romantic chemistry. It was painful to watch. Gina's one episode almost romance with a guest star shined a light on what was lacking with EJ. Watching them fumble into their awkward romance was the worst. Which is a shame, because their platonic chemistry was pretty solid.

Duncan/Veronica - Veronica Mars: This was a VERY long time ago, and my reason was shallow: based on pictures, I thought Teddy Dunn (Duncan) was cuter than Jason Dohring (Logan). I knew nothing of their relationships with Veronica, just that Logan was more popular. I'm not particularly attracted to either guy physically now, but it's very obvious it's all about the charisma. Logan had it and was played by an extremely talented actor. Duncan didn't, and his actor was considerably weaker in comparison. Logan and Veronica demanded to be written together regardless of what Rob Thomas wanted. Duncan as a character was never able to keep up with Veronica and kind of like BA in some ways, it felt like a regression whenever Veronica was with Duncan.

Honestly, there needs to be a category for ships you initially liked solely because it was the only thing being offered at the time and less that the ship was anything special. Because I decided against including several ships for that reason LOL

[arsenicpanda]

My constant wondering of "Based on canon, it looks like Jughead is no longer in love with Betty, though he does care for her, and he is in fact falling hard for Tabitha, but it also still looks like bughead endgame, so how do we get from point a (Jughead and Tabitha crazy soft for each other) to point b (bughead endgame)? Alternatively, if it's actually jabitha endgame, how do we narratively justify the four seasons of bughead and bughead endgame foreshadowing?" continues.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

@deadgodjess yeah I thought I was done being peeved about this but I just spent a full forty minute yoga session unable to think about literally anything else. starting a new post because this one has gotten unwieldy but for anyone just joining us this is the tl;dr:

sorry it’s a day later and I’m still thinking about how dirty this godforsaken show [Gotham] did the riddler. why did you have to give him such a tacky ~ooooo mental illness is SCARY!! uh oh I killed my girlfriend by aCcIdEnT!!~ origin story when it would have been infinitely funnier for Ed to just run some numbers re: how many cases would actually get solved without him and come to the completely justifiable conclusion that he can absolutely get away with quitting his job and turning to a life of riddle-based crime.

I'm going to offer my alternative for what I, personally, think would have been a more fun Riddler buildup across Gotham's 4.5 season run. I am absolutely not seeking feedback, this is a thot exercise meant to be enjoyed by me, myself, and maybe like three people that I trust on this hellsite.

anyway having our boy Ed abruptly jump headfirst into the shallow end of the homicidal maniac pool was executed in a way that was not just wildly ableist but also mmmm dumb and boring as hell and really ripped away a lot of opportunities to use this character in a more interesting way, and by "more interesting" I cannot emphasize enough that I mean "ways that I think are funnier."

if I'm being totally honest I think producers/execs whoever got nervous about the show's continuation and insisted on pulling the trigger on Ed riddling out before season one ended in the hopes that having another Batman villain active pre-Batman would help build a little more railroad for this awful show to keep careening along on. this has to play out via the manifestation of a fucking evil alternate personality because, frankly, up until this point Ed has been characterized as pretty much a total sweetheart with absolutely zero ulterior motives and possibly the only brain cell in the entire Gotham City Police Department. he is literally Just Some Guy with hamfisted autism coding and a fondness for riddles who regularly gets dismissed and bullied by his colleagues, all of whom I wish would die in a fire (except for maybe Harvey Bullock because he's really the only man bringing any kind of eye candy to this show, but we're not here to talk about that).

what I'm getting at here is that the writers had a really great opportunity to spend a few seasons showing us how life in Gotham gradually wore down a man who was one a friendly and law-abiding colleague of Jim Gordon's into a little freak in spandex who cannot stop trying to one-up a man dressed as a bat. he actually could have been a compelling foil to Jimothy, whose whole deal is that he's somehow managed to remain The Only Honest Cop In Gotham despite years of horseshit; building on the relationship between the two of them and exploring how their paths eventually diverge could have been really cool and yes, I will be drawing on that in my posthumous script doctor.

as long as we're talking about the Riddler and basically everyone else in the show sans Selina (and... sort of Poison Ivy, idk, I don't like the in-universe age lift and I don't want to contemplate it too much) I think it's stupid that Gotham is basically setting up a universe where all of Batman's iconic enemies are actually more like a bunch of middle aged assholes that Gordon already has decade-old beef with. it's dumb but it's also what I have to work with because if we tweak things any further to make Bruce and all of his future rogues teenagers together I think we're just remaking Riverdale.

sorry we got a little lost in the weeds there, I wasn't originally planning on making that and I don't want to admit how much time I wasted on it. anyway after a little "oh boohoo I'm just a poor little guy I can't believe I did murders" Ed's pretty much straight to bugfuck crazy murdertown with every other villain on this show. everybody on Gotham is like two seconds away from committing homicide at all times except for MAYBE Bruce; pretty much every recurring antagonist is a kill-happy maniac and most of the one-off villains of the week are as well. even the Penguin gaslight gatekeep girlbosses his way through a truly staggering number of people in the first half dozen episodes alone. what I'm getting at here is that dropkicking the Riddler straight into the same mold isn't just ableist or lazy - it's also the very worst thing that writing can be, which is FUCKING BORING. what if, god forbid, we had one rogue bringing a different kind of sauce to the party? in this essay I will -

season one: my pitch here is actually so simple, because I literally just want to keep Ed's characterization the same for the entire season. no abrupt slip and slide into stabbing and/or choking people to death, just a weird little dude who's around and good at his job and has a little mug with a question mark on it. he shows up once an episode for two minutes to crack the case wide open and tell a riddle and the remind the audience that he's around. "yep, that's the Riddler," they'll say. "no need to give him a violent split personality, I know where this is going and I am indeed capable of waiting for that payoff."

season two: now at this point you might be saying "Makenzie wait - is your pitch going to assume that the original storyline of Gotham is otherwise proceeding as it did otherwise? because that's going to get pretty impossible pretty fast if the Riddler has a drastically different personality/role in the show." yeah hey listen man. listen. I don't give a shit about what actually happens in the show. I give a shit about the Riddler. don't ask about this again. this all takes place in an AU where Gotham is a competently written show; I know that's sort of a stretch but bear with me.

anyway season two is when we can start getting some cracks in Riddleboy's chipper little exterior but for god's sake, let's deploy a little subtlety. probably he needs to start getting bullied more - possibly because he's notably friendly with Jim and easier to bully than Bullock, Jim's only other friend. anyway, this is how Ed learns that sometimes fucking people over is okay, actually. nothing drastic, just manipulating evidence here and there to ruin the day (and then career) of some of the biggest assholes in the department and bolster his faves (Jim). I cannot emphasize enough that the first half of the season has to be about this man realizing that most of his coworkers are VERY DUMB and EXTREMELY EASY TO MISLEAD.

come the second half of season 2 we get to see him getting a little too cocky, which will ultimately lead to his downfall. tl;dr being smarter than everyone is fun but still doesn't solve the problem of nobody else noticing or caring that he's smarter than them, and it's really starting to rankle. this will be the point when Ed upgrades to like. full sending his own boss cut-up magazine ransom notes and shit making demands to try and steer the GCPD more efficiently. there are, obviously, subtle little riddles embedded in these letters, but Gordon is the only one who will notice because Gordon's the protagonist and gets to notice things. this will end in a big confrontation, whatever, he's not going to turn Ed in because he believes Ed was genuinely acting in the interest of flushing out dirty cops, but he's also a little bitch so he IS going to tell Ed that he'll turn him in if Ed doesn't resign. Ed goes quietly and with a frankly unsettling amount of glee that someone was finally smart enough to solve one of his little puzzles. personally I love when the Riddler won't really look at or acknowledge anyone who won't play his silly little games I think that's so fun of him.

season three: the first half of season three is actually by far the most fun for me because it involves Ed a.) doing the Riddler thing where he tries to be a private detective for a while and b.) getting mercilessly bullied by all of Gotham city for a bit. you can fill in the specifics of the goofs yourself but suffice to say he's just a plucky little guy investigating some weird ass shit and still getting dumped on a lot in the process. our boy is going to have to learn to get a little unscrupulous.

it's vital that during this half of the season Jim comes to him at least a couple of times to ask for input that frankly none of the useless sadsacks at the GCPD are qualified to provide now that Ed's gone, because they're all doing the equivalent of that John Mulaney bit where they look at a corpse and go "ew! clean it up!" instead of gathering anything useful in the way of evidence. for some reason that I can't QUITE put my finger on it seems important to establish that Jim Gordon is willing to work alongside people who are operating a bit outside the law as long as he believes their intentions are good. and listen - Ed will genuinely help him! but he is also absolutely going home and idly jotting down notes for how he'd get away with exactly the crimes he helped solve.

the second half of season three involves him getting nabbed by Someone and pretty much extorted into helping them work against the GCPD on account of being a former employee who knows exactly how they investigate. what ensues is a series of crime scenes that have an abundance of fake evidence designed to lead the cops in circles that go nowhere - UNLESS you piece together some extremely abstract hints being hidden there, because Ed is sincerely making an effort to alert his old GCPD chums to what's going on. except, oh no, the stress of being held hostage is getting to him and he is SORT OF starting to enjoy how good he is at this and also beating his head against the wall in frustration over how fucking stupid literally every single one of his former colleagues is. he'll get rescued (by Jim) by the end of the season but god will he be bitter by then.

also I said he was being forced to work for Someone and it truly could be anyone in this horseass show but like. come on. it's Penguin. the rest of canon can go to hell but it's so important to me that Penguin still wants to fuck the Riddler so bad it makes him look stupid. it's just hands down the funniest thing that happens in all of Gotham and I wouldn't change it for the world.

season four: alright so Eddie boy starts this season trying to go to therapy about his whole kidnapping and probably PTSD thing but we the audience will realize very quickly that he's getting twitchy and is just purposefully playing with like. MULTIPLE different therapists and giving them all wildly different information to see if he can get each of them to give him different diagnoses. he has absolutely no idea why he's doing this except that it's fun and he evidently can. this man is living on the knife edge he's so sweaty and gross and he wants to do crime again SO bad and is really running out of reasons why he shouldn't.

if this show were written by people I could trust I'd say we could actually do a really thrilling mental health(TM) storyline here focusing in on Ed getting increasingly manipulative and ruled by compulsive behavior. I'd say the crux of his arc in the first half of the season is Jim convincing Ed to check himself in to some kind of mental health facility for his own wellbeing - probably Arkham, since it seems to somehow be the only mental health facility in Gotham despite the fact that it appears to be patterned on ghoulish 19th century sanitariums more than anything. anyway, this lasts approximately one day before Ed disappears from the facility and leaves an elaborate riddle behind, thus ending his arc for the first half of the season.

second half starts as a straight up revenge plot against Penguin because I love when these awful little homos fight with each other, but Gotham being Gotham I think a bit of an emotional roller coaster can ensue. Penguin can definitely convince Ed to ease off and work with him as more of a partner for a bit, but I still want this Riddler to be a murder lite contrast to most of the other villains in the cast so I think that will be the point of contention that ultimately drives them apart. the Penguin CANNOT stop lethally girlbossing; it's his first love.

anyway after that Ed's just fucking with the GCPD for shits and giggles because fuck 'em, am I right? he's definitely got the whole question mark suit Look going by this point; hanging out with the Penguin for too long changes a man.

season five: god I don't even know; there were only 12 episodes and one of them was for the flash forward. he tells some shitty riddles and probably gives Gordon one final helping hand but in a way that benefits him, firmly securing his status as "sometimes useful, always a bastard." all that really matters this still happens to him. this is the last we see of him, dangling next to Robin Lord Taylor in just the least convincing fake gut I've ever seen in god's green earth.

anyway sorry this got so long I'm genuinely appalled and disgusted with myself. I have problems!

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Are you confident Bughead will be endgame on this show? That’s literally the last strand I’ve been holding onto, but the thread is weakening. I really can’t believe that they would take this ship, their absolute most popular and loved one, and just end it like this forever. I am so angry with the writing!!

Hey there, anon! It is unbelievable, isn’t it?

What a tricky question you ask! confidence + prediction + the Riverdale writers ... As Jughead would say: yikes!

The thing with these writers is that they use a lot of words without knowing their meaning. “Endgame” is one of them. “New” is another. “Exciting”. “Darkness”™. “Adult stories”. “The message”…

Dangling the bughead “endgame” carrot at the end of one or two seasons of no bughead or -worse- of b*rchie and j*bitha f.e. is not an endgame. The general definition of endgame -outside of chess- is: the last stage of a process. If the process (i.e. the season’s content) isn’t about bughead, then bughead coming together at the very end is not an endgame, it's a peripeteia i.e. a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances.

In shipping, endgame is a couple that will inevitably end together (for ever and ever and ever). In order for something to be inevitable, you have to create that sentiment, you have to build the couple up.

There’s an article about the misappropriation of the word “endagame” that I find particularly funny, as it starts by mentioning Riverdale!

Anyway, this is a long-winded way to say that, yes, I do believe that the show will end with bughead and varchie as their main canon couples. It’s just that, like you, I’m so very tired with these story lines. There is satisfaction to be had at the notion of endgame but a seasonful of investigative bughead would be infinitely preferable. For me (and I can only speak of myself) the journey is more important than the destination -even if for the simple reason that -in TV show time- it lasts longer!

Why do I think bughead is still … that word? Everything’s under the cut, so as not to clutter your dash!

1. A lot of people have been theorising that what happened in 5x18 was not the original plot. I agree.

Let’s start with 5x18 varchie.

Their break up came completely out of left field. Its unexpectedness is reminiscent of 4x17. I make fun of how s5 is a reboot of s1+s2’s leftover ideas, so another copy-paste shouldn’t feel out of place, and yet … really? Another repetition? To what end? If the season’s goal was not varchie, b*rchie was already there waiting at the beginning of the time jump! Why abandon that plot? In terms of romantic varchie time, that was extremely limited, since after their kiss in 5x7, Veronica’s divorce kept them apart until 5x17 … Why have Archie being extremely jealous of Chad, Veronica getting involved in all of Archie’s schemes (firefighters, bulldogs), Archie getting involved in Ronnie’s (rescuing daddykins) or Veronica telling her father she chooses Archie over him in 5x17? Also, for those who remember, there was this by the-writer-who-shall-not-be-named.

The reason of the break up is as ludicrous as Veronica moving into Archie’s childhood bedroom (with its effing slanted roof!) on the premise that long term the Andrews’ residence has more room! (By the way, I don’t know what surprised me more: that Veronica thought that Archie and uncle Frank would know who Ina Garten is or that Jughead didn’t.) Why is Veronica astounded by Archie’s involvement in the same activities he has been involved in all through the season?! For f***’s sake, she’s the one that gifted him the fire truck!

Ok. Now let’s give 5x18 j*bitha a try.

For me, 5x18 could either have gone bugheadwards or j*bithawards. J*bitha had some heartfelt talks, a hand touch, a hallucination and a kiss. Bughead had one unfinished heartfelt talk (the only one in the whole season for Betty), two shoulder touches, two hallucinations and Jughead attempting to reconnect with Betty (without specifying what his intent was, it's true).

While I do think that j*bitha is a ship that has been adequately teased, the way they were explored in 5x18 was … not underwhelming exactly (after all, they’re not my ship, so I didn’t have any expectations about them) but … maybe lukewarm is the word? They had but minimal dialogue, only enough to establish that Tabitha’s parents were in town. Then a song where Tabitha initially rejects Jughead, although she had been supportive before. Then another song, where the lyrics were heavily altered and didn’t make much sense anyway (we hadn’t been properly introduced to the Tates) but where the original lyrics were very compatible with Bughead’s history and state of being as of 5x17. The kisses were ok, I have no problem with the actors’ chemistry. But -and this is strictly a personal opinion- Jughead’s flirting scenes (not the make-out ones, you perverts!) with Cora were better and so was the j*bitha kiss in 5x10. For the 5x18 j*bitha to flow, more dialogue and more flirting was necessary (always a persona opinion). So, no, I don’t think j*bitha were supposed to sing what they sang in 5x18.

Production for s5 wrapped up one week after the official announcement of the 5 special episodes for Riverdale and The Flash: “we expect it will take us until Fall 2022 to get back to a regular schedule” was the official quote. Re-organising the cw’s overall schedule didn’t happen overnight. Yes, more likely than not, the writers knew about the specifics of s6a before shooting 5x18-5x19 and had time to re-write them.

2. The couples spoilers for s6 do not make sense plot-wise.

If the end-goal for 5x19-6x1 had been b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie all along, these were pairs already happening (except from v*ggie) at the beginning of the time-jump. As for v*ggie, last time we saw them, Veronica pulled a face when she heard that he had had (still has?) an affair with Hermosa. And what about Nana Rose?! (ok, that was a joke! ... or was it? 👀)

The majority of both the fans and the general audience are bugvarchie shippers. Teasing b*rchie and j*bitha as a means of maintaining the viewers’ interest in a will they/won’t they way, only works if the audience finally gets what they want. In this season. Not the next one! There is so much trolling one can take after all. In the space of 1.5 year (4x17-5x19) b*rchie will have been teased ... THREE times (and still lacking build-up)!

I cannot myself see b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie as endgame couples. For the audience to invest in them after 4 years of bugvarchie, the writers have to a) give j*bitha an absolutely incredible development that will surpass bughead and the cinematography to go with it (good luck with that) and b) undo Archie’s character (highly unlikely) and/or give Betty a lobotomy (at which point a lot of people will quit en masse, because Archie as The One All The Girls Want just doesn't resonate with the majority).

I have no idea if s6a is an AU or not. But if it’s not, no one will be left to watch 6b.

Can I guarantee a bughead endgame? Of course not. I have no idea how the minds of the Riverdale writers work. But I do think that Jughead and Betty getting back together is more than wishful thinking.

Fervently shipping Jughead/Betty, Jughead/his book and Betty/therapy, sincerely yours, @raymondebidochonlifechoices

I hope you have fun with the Riverdale universe regardless, dear anon. Riverdale has given us one of the most beautiful getting-together stories in s1 and lots and lots of beautiful canon bughead afterwards. Here's to many more! Much love to you!

[heytherejulietx]

Bed ~ Sweet Pea

Masterlists

Requests are OPEN (only for Bughead).

Read on AO3 here.

Notes - I know this isn’t soulmates but I promise I’m working on that. This fic was typed in just over an hour to get me out of my writer’s block and I’m so so so happy with how it turned out, especially since it’s my first Sweet Pea fic. Let me know what you think!

Warnings - None.

Word count - 1.4k.

Riverdale tag list - @bucky-j-barnes @adorably-sweet-hufflepuff @kpopgirlbtssvt @booksmusicteaandanimals @happy-puff @teenloves @cheryllclayton @jesso80 @dietbreadloaf @thebluetint @hppygmc8 @lilireinhartsimp @camiczzzz @bitchy-broken (if you’re just on my tag list for bughead I’m sorry I forgot to differentiate my tag lists please let me know if you want bughead only)

To be added to my tag list fill out this form.

One of Y/N’s favourite places was Sweet Pea’s bed.

Toni had asked her once in passing conversation and of course the answer had gotten a lot of teasing (mostly from Fangs) and jokes, which was understandable. But it wasn't what everyone assumed. It wasn’t just about the sex, it was everything that came with it. It was the late night talks snuggled underneath one of Sweet Pea’s many blankets together. It was the early mornings together before school when they got a few minutes of sleep wrapped in a golden sleepy haze of bliss. It was the nights where Sweet Pea insisted on watching a horror movie, claiming they were his favourite, though really it was an excuse to have her hold onto him and it let him hold her even closer. Most of her best memories with Sweet Pea were on his bed when they were alone, and he could break free of the hard exterior he put up in front of everyone else at school or at the Wyrm.

That is what made mornings so special to Y/N. It was the raw and vulnerable state that they were both in that made it so. It was such a magical thing being able to sleep next to someone, and let them witness you at such a vulnerable and innocent state. It made her warm to know that Sweet Pea trusted her enough to sleep with her at his side.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, giving her time to adjust to the light in the small bedroom of Sweet Pea’s trailer. The first time he had invited her over, she knew that Sweet Pea was embarrassed of his small living space like most of the Serpents were, but she loved his trailer more than her own home. It reminded her of him, everything there did. From the colour of the walls to the softness of his couch, it made her comfortable because it was his. His trailer was a place of many firsts. Their first hug, first kiss, first time; it was their space to be intimate and raw and emotional. It was theirs.

She could feel something tickling her neck and couldn’t help the fond smile that fell over her lips as she looked down at her boyfriend, who was still asleep. His head was tucked against her shoulder so she could feel his soft hair tickling her neck and felt every warm exhale he let out against her collarbone, eyes fluttering again at the feeling. Her hand lifted to run along his back and her palm met bare warm skin, free of his shirt which she had on instead of him. It was a little cliché wearing her boyfriend’s clothes, but it was something she adored. Being swallowed in a shirt that was way too big for her and smelled like Sweet Pea’s cologne was something special, and she knew for a fact that Sweet Pea enjoyed it too. She always noticed how it made him smile that much more when it was clear to other people that she was his girl.

She tore her gaze away from her boyfriend to look at the digital clock that stood on his bedside table and sighed softly, seeing it read six in the morning. As much as she wanted to just go back to sleep, Y/N knew she’d have to get up and start getting ready for the day. If they weren’t ready on time she knew for a fact that Fangs would walk in and get them up himself; it had happened more times than she would like to admit.

Moving slowly to try and not wake Sweet Pea up - wanting to give him an extra ten minutes of sleep before she woke him up too - she attempted to slip out from his arms and get up. Though she only got as far as shuffling over a few inches before his arms tightened around her waist to bring her closer than before, his breath fanned out across her neck as he huffed.

“Pea,” She whined, only being met with a quiet grunt of complaint in her ear, like he was sulking. “We have to get up, come on.”

“Nope.” He mumbled and rolled to be laying completely on top of her again, causing her to sigh despite the fond smile that worked it’s way over her features.

His hands slipped under the shirt she was wearing and she relaxed as his thumbs gently stroked along her ribs, her eyes falling shut again. She could tell what he was doing, trying to convince her to stay in bed, but she wasn’t falling for it. He’d made them late to school three times through doing that, and as much as she loved staying with him they really did need to go to school.

“Baby,” She whispered, gently kissing the side of his head as she lifted her hand to run her fingers through his hair, feeling him practically melt against her because of it. “Come on.”

Sweet Pea huffed against her neck again and she giggled quietly as he circled his arms around her waist tightly. “You’re so mean in the morning, I knew I should have cuddled with Fangs instead.” He mumbled against her neck, his voice deepened with sleep.

Y/N gasped in mock offence and he chuckled quietly before she felt his lips against her neck, pressing light kisses to the soft skin wherever he could reach. The sensation made her smile a little more, continuing to run her fingers through his hair as she relaxed a little more. As always, he was getting what he wanted. Sweet Pea knew exactly how to get to her and have her like putty in the palm of his hands, and he used it to his advantage often. Little squeezes of her thigh and kisses on her shoulder when they were at Pop’s with Toni and Fangs and he wanted to leave. Slight tugs of the band of her bra strap when he grew impatient and just wanted to get it off. A wink across the Wyrm and a gesture of his fingers when he wanted her to come over so he could kiss her. She was in the deep end with him, and truthfully didn’t ever want to get out.

“Pea?” She whispered after a few minutes had passed in comfortable silence.

“Hmm?”

Her eyes opened when she felt his weight shift above her and she smiled fondly when she saw him leaning up slightly to look at her; hair messy and a tired smile over his lips. Sweet Pea was incredibly attractive, but there was something about seeing him so sleepy and soft that made him absolutely adorable.

“I love you.” She spoke softly, and almost melted when his smile grew and one of his larger hands lifted to rest on her cheek. His thumb brushed along her cheekbone and her eyes closed at the feeling, focusing on that and the feeling of his rings lightly pressed against her slightly flushed cheek.

“I love you too, princess.” He muttered back softly, and she felt his hand move to rest along the back of her neck before his lips were pressed against her’s.

Screw school, she thought as her fingers gently curled in his hair to bring him much closer, giggling quietly against his lips when he had hummed into her mouth at the action. Screw school and even leaving the bed, because there was nothing better than kissing Sweet Pea. Y/N didn’t even like school, and as much as she knew they needed to go, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the bed with him now that he had kissed her. The action made warmth spread through her chest, butterflies fluttering around her stomach when she felt a drag of his fingers from the middle of her thigh right up to her ribs. Screw school if it meant she had to stop and move away from him, from that. The raw unbroken intimacy, only covered by bedsheets and pulled curtains.

Being with Sweet Pea was magical.

That was why one of Y/N’s favourite places was Sweet Pea’s bed.

[staliasjeronica]

Okay so I was reading have i been too discreet? by partyhardy and whilst reading, I came upon the end when they’re describing Jeronica’s first interaction/meeting. I don’t know how I just never fully realized that Jughead looked so awestruck when he walked in and despite what many Bughead’s want to think, he was looking at Veronica, not Betty. At this point, Betty hasn’t turned yet and Veronica’s the one facing him.

It’s so in-your-face obvious that they wanted to grow Barchie and Jeronica for endgames because of this scene alone. Archie sits with Betty, Jughead with Veronica, but Bugvarchie’s and their awful ships with little chemistry only powered by fanservice had to ruin absolutely everything.

Like, literally… they destroyed the plot because forcing them after season one (or two) where they should’ve ended—or at least started their downfall—the writers had to basically go along this forced campy insane bullshit that could have been fun if he wasn’t shoving bhva down our throats to continue to make bullshit reasons to keep bugvarchie together. S1 was great because EVERYONE WAS A PART OF THE MAIN PLOT. Little branches here and there but that was fine, compared to everyone being apart and only interacting with their significant others like it is now. The show was Bughead, Varchie, and Choni—but we love them and they’re not awful so I’m not going to include them with bugvarchie’s trashy existence��and a little extra sprinkled in there, and thank fuck they’re finally shaking free of bhva

They also destroyed the potential for any other ship happening… We could’ve explored or at least mused Jeronica, Beronica, Jarchie, Karchie, Keggie, Archeggie/Regarchie, Ethelhead, etc. but because of bhva fanservice they basically just had to choose one (Barchie, because they’re the most popular) and dropped Jeronica.

And lastly, bhva just ruined the characters as a whole? Like, apart they’re great but whenever BHVA were together, alone in their couples, they were awful to watch. Betty and Jughead were annoying, Veronica was forced to be written out of character to keep her with Archie, and to prolong Barchie they had Archie basically pushing down his feelings and stringing Veronica along even though it’s clear he will never love her more than Betty.

Anyways I don’t know how this became a rant because I was supposed to just talk about Jeronica but I made a post on twitter about this so I guess I just wanted to expand it a little… thanks for coming to my TED talk about why Jeronica could’ve served (but hey we get to live it out via Jabitha now since they’re what Jeronica would have been if given the chance) and how bughead and varchie ruined Riverdale!

[alaffy]

Riverdale 5x17 - Riverdale (RIP?)

I'm a little mixed on this episode. I think I liked the second part more then the first. By the way, did this feel like two different episodes to anyone else? And yes, standard disclaimer, will be talking about the relationships and, yes, I will be talking about the possibilities. I have no interest in ship wars, just talking about the show.

Ok, Hiram is gone. It has been confirmed that Mark has left the series. I mean, they still can bring him back at some point. But I have a feeling we won't see him for awhile. Well, thank Reggie for coming in with the clutch as he finally gives everyone something to get Hiram out of town, even though it's anticlimactic.

Betty is now an agent. And she gets a call from TBK, who is basically like if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. And she tells him I can't do that. Which I took as the writers letting us know that TBK is coming, but probably after this five episode event.

The town of Riverdale is back. And will be run by Toni, Tabitha, Frank, and (yea gods) Alice. Couldn't Tom have been a choice?

Hiram is the one who burned Pops, but on the bright side Pop's has decided that he doesn't really want to retire and wants to work with his granddaughter. Which is a sweet moment on this show.

Now as for the characters themselves...it starts with a line from Jughead that I think actually sums up about what happens in this episode. They characters for the past year have been surviving, but not thriving and so we have a bunch of people in this, "where do we go from here mode?" Talking about where their futures are going. Archie is going to reopen Andrews construction. Jughead is reopening the school newspaper and may become a teacher again. Toni wants to get the Serpents more involved in the community. Veronica was going to go back to New York, but finds out that (because she killed Chad) no firm will hire her. So then she decides to go into business with Reggie. And Jughead and Tabitha, who have officially been on one date (look, the show literally says this), may move in together. And during this period, we also had Veronica make it clear over and over again that she and Archie are done forever (I think this is brought up like 3 or 4 times). Methinks the lady doth protest to much?

In any case, as of half way through the show, people are either in different relationships or in the case of (Veronica and Reggie/Archie and Betty) flirting with the relationships.

The thing is, it seems like these are directionless people who are trying to figure out where their lives are going. And as the story goes along, I'm sure some things will work out and others not so much. HOWEVER....

Let's go to Cheryl's story. Cheryl finds a ton of skeletons in her mines (like this should be a surprise). She then finds out the story of a relative of hers called Abigail was killed by the relatives of Jughead, Archie, and Betty (which they say Cooper, which means that it would also be a Blossom, so....). Anyway, Cheryl demands an apology and, when she doesn't receive one, places a curse on the three. And we have a moment where wind kicks up and everyone talking about the ominous wind. Afterwards, we have Veronica and Reggie seem to get back together and Archie and Betty seem to get back together. Until Archie finds a bomb under his bed. And as Hiram leaves the town, we see a fire in the background and we don't know what happened to Betty and Archie.

So, let's talk about the preview and possible futures. The towns sign has changed and it's now called Rivervale and Toni also confirms the name of it. Most of the shots are of very creepy things happening in that town. But there are also shots of Reggie and Veronica as some sort of a power couple. And there is a shot of Jughead and Tabitha who seem to live together, but it doesn't look like things are going well. So, what does this mean? Well, it looks like (but I'm not 100% sure) it is some form of AU (either done by magic or maybe Archie is in a coma because of the bomb). And, as the Roberto said, it does look like the couples we ended with are the couples that will be in 6A. Now, maybe these couples will remain together or maybe not, however if the story is self contained I don't know if that really means anything, if this is a different timeline. For instance, Jughead and Tabitha could rally have a bad relationship here, but then we go back to the correct timeline and they haven't even moved in together yet. Also, this does explain why Roberto said the 5 episodes have their own storyline because whatever they do, probably a lot of it won't affect the main timeline. Like they could turn Betty into a serial killer or the writers actually kill Jughead, but it won't matter when the world rights itself.

So, if I'm right about Rivervail being it's own little universe, then the story of Riverdale continues in 6B. The question is, will any of this affect 6B? And even if it is a dream of Archie's, will that change the relationship outcomes that we ended with in 6A? If Archie and Betty were in a life threatening situation, would Veronica and Jughead reconsider where their romantic lives are heading now? Would Betty and Archie? And, again, not saying they will, just that it's a possibility. I guess what I'm saying is that, while it seems like there are these new couples and they may last awhile, the idea of Betty and Archie almost being killed might be a way the writers use to get the original couples back. And, yes, I have heard some of the things the writers have been saying. But, again, it wouldn't surprise me if what they're saying refers more to 6A, then the whole of season 6.