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iheardarumorxxx · 4 years ago

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Midnight Sun, Chapter 9 - Port Angeles

Right. I remember this chapter from Twilight. I also have heard quite a bit about this chapter. This is gonna be a ride.

Eddie starts off this chapter saying that he used to be the ‘responsible’ one. I would like to remind everyone that Edward Anthony Masen Cullen spent a few years eating people he percieved to be horrible criminals because he didn’t like animal blood and was being a whiny baby. But go off, Eddie.

SM is still trying to paint Jessica as a rude bitch and I still don’t buy it. It is extremely clear to anyone with eyeballs that Mike has a thing for Bella, and it is pretty obvious that this date he’s going on with Jessica is because Bella said no. So her thoughts come off as insecure. She’s a teenage girl, so I think insecure is a pretty standard thing. Not always, but SM has painted these kids as the stereotypical teens, so.

Basically, I still don’t buy the attempt to make Jessica seem evil.

Bella has wandered off to go get that book she wanted, and Eddie is simply freaking out because he let his daughter out of his sight for one minute and she wandered off. He’s about half a second away from considering getting a leash to put on her. Seriously, though, that’s how this reads. A parent frantic because they lost their child in a crowded store or park. We all know she’s gonna get a serious scolding for this one. Maybe even grounded.

a volly of snarls erupted from my throat

Okay, we’re still not to the big rant about vampire instincts in this universe, yet, but I want you guys to remember this for later. It absolutely aides in the point I plan to make there. Also a ‘volly’ of snarls. That sounds so forced and I genuinely laughed out loud when I read it. Anyway, Eddie has found Bella and she is with the Evil Bad Guys Who Have Ill Intentions.

I would see how he enjoyed the hunt when he was the pray. I would see what he thought of my style of hunting.

Technically a spoiler because it hasn’t happened yet in this book, but not because we’ve seen it in Twilight. Eddie literally does not do anything to this Lanny guy or his friends. He gets out of the car, makes a mean face at them, and then gets back in the car and drives off. Maybe SM has Eddie go back out and hunt them later after he drops Bella off, but that doesn’t fit in with his squeaky clean good boy persona that Daddy Carlisle puts on him, so I doubt it. The scene as we know it comes off as very ‘man, if my girlfriend wasn’t here I’d kick your ass’. Because Eddie is a lot of bloated, puffed up talk.

When SM uses dialogue tags like ‘ordered’ to describe how Eddie says things, it just really hammers home that point I’ve been making about red flags. Even if it’s practical, like him telling Bella to put on a seat belt, especially since Pires bend the will of cars to their inane and idotic physics.

We went on a tangent about one of Eddie’s kills from his Vampire Batman days, and like honestly? I watch a lot of Criminal Minds. I see a lot of this kind of stuff, and it is absolutely awful that people like that exist in the world. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be stopped. HOWEVER, this idea Eddie has that he was playing a good guy by taking justice into his own hands, I don’t jive with that. Now, I am aware of how faulty the criminal justice system is, especially with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. I’ve lived that, myself. But if Eddie is so comfortable taking another life, no matter how he tries to justify it, he is no better than the people who he’s deciding to kill for their crimes.

a highly justifiable murder

See, this. This is why I don’t buy that SM’s Cullens are the paragons of good that she is constantly trying to say they are. There is no such thing as a justifiable murder, no matter what. Solving heinous acts with heinous acts simply perpetuates a cycle of heinous acts.

I wasn’t giving her a chance to say no.

This is a trend that will continue throughout the entire series. I will point you to all of the times that Edward never gave Bella a choice in a matter, including leaving her in New Moon, and DISMANTLING HER CAR ENGINE IN ECLIPSE SO THAT SHE COULDN’T GO SEE HER FRIEND. That one in particular rubs me the wrong way for reasons, but we won’t do that here. Just know that Edward never actually lets Bella make a choice in this series, and even when he pretends to, he does everything in his power to make the outcome go his way.

And now we’re at the restaruant. I’ve heard some stuff about this scene and god, can I not WAIT, but for now, let’s just talk about the one off waitress character. She is clearly only here to be a rival to Bella for this scene. Brief, unimportant, underdeveloped. And honestly? One off characters don’t actually need that development, not really, but what I can’t stand about this one is that she is literally only here, both in this book and in Twilight, so that SM can puff up how clearly Bella is so much better than she is. Because, you see, Eddie doesn’t find the pretty hostess attractive, he only has eyes for Bella. Her entire point is so that Edward can look at Bella, and therefore, the audience as Bella is their SI for this world, and go on about how much better and prettier and more perfect she is than this woman. It’s just gross.

“Do I dazzle you?”

This is still, in my personal opinion, the best and most iconic line in a series full of iconic lines. Eddie the Dazzle Machine. Charming the pants off people when he’s trying to scare the shit out of them. It’s hilarious, and so fuckin’ romance novel cliche, and I love it.

This restaurant is apparently a real place in the real Port Angeles. And from what I understand, at least when the Twilight craze was in full swing back in 2008, they got a lot of extra business and a lot more people ordering the mushroom ravioli. Even put something about Twilight on their menu. Good for them, taking advantage of that free marketing. I have never been to Port Angeles, and am allergic to mushrooms, so I can’t say I’ve experienced the dish, but if any of you have, please let me know if it’s worth the hype.

Its so funny that right now, Eddie is worried about Bella being cold and going into shock, while Bella is over there huffing the fumes off his jacket like it’s a paint can, and he can’t even tell that that’s what she’s doing. The girl is doing everything short of just shoving her whole face in it and inhaling, but he’s too thick to get it.

And here we are folks. The meat and potatoes of this chapter. The big comparison. The reason the cover has a pomegranete on it. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen has the absolute GALL to compare Bella, the boring, walking video game avatar to Persephone. Lets break down Persephone for a second here. There’s a lot to break down, but let’s stick to the basics, for fear that this rant gets wickedly out of hand before I can stop it. Persephone radiates optimism and hope. Persephone is soft, sweet, but has a temper that could kill a man. Persephone is sympathetic. When in the ever loving FUCK has Isabella Swan ever shown any of those characteristics? She is NEVER optimistic about anything. She fucking exists in a constant cloud of negative thought and assuming the worst. She isn’t hopeful about ANYTHING, not even her future with her PRECIOUS Eddie because she’s always questioning his intentions and feelings for her. She is not sympathetic in the slightest, no matter what SM tries to shove down my throat. She treats her friends like shit, she manipulates and lies her way through conversations so she doesn’t have to deal with them, she compares Mike to a FUCKING DOG. Bella is not comparable to Persephone, and it’s fucking beyond ham-fisted, it’s fucking EGREGIOUS to try to make that comparison.

I could see more of an argument for comparing Eddie to Hades, since, ya know, Hades fucking stole Persephone to be his wife and most stories about Hades paint him as kind of a moody, brooding dickbag, but I’m still calling fucking foul on this attempt at comparison, SM. No dice.

Moving on.

Eddie describing Bella’s skin as ‘velvety’ gives me war flashbacks to those grocery store checkout novels with Fabio on the cover that my mom used to read. Eghhh.

So, Bella touches Eddie’s hand and it’s described in a way that gives me very G-rated sex vibes. Which just makes me wanna tell them to get a room because they’re in public right now, and also don’t do that in front of Bella’s salad ravioli.

Eddie is still being super controling and weird about Bella eating, and honestly, I super wish that Bella had had the good sense to get the hell out of there with Jess and Angela. Or that she would have the good sense now to excuse herself, find someone on staff, ask to borrow a phone, and call her dad. Because this guy is literally throwing out every red flag that exists. I know I say this a lot, but if Bella were a normal girl, she would not be charmed by this guy, she would be freaking creeped out and trying to get away from him. He isn’t even subtle about his creep factor or charming enough to play it off.

Edward thinking he has any edge at all is like white bread thinking it’s the right kind of bread for a hamburger.

Anyway, chapter ends with Eddie paying the bill and the pair getting in the car to head home. And the drama chord of the last sentence that’s supposed to play in your head when you read it falls flat. They’re on the way back to Forks and Eddie is chomping at the bit to hear Bella’s latest theory that we know from Twilight isn’t actually a theory so much as she heard a story from Jacob and then did some searching on some shitty Angelfire website. Or Geocities. Either way. And then she just went ahead and had a big old prophetic dream about it.

Next time, we get the awkward car ride home and more. Thanks for hanging around guys. As always, feel free to message me (though, please note to anyone who has sent me anon messages that are rude or angry because I’m making fun of this book, I’m gonna ignore you.), recommend what books I should put on my list for my next recap series, and feel free to buy me a snack using the CashApp tag in my bio.

See you next time, babes.

#sierra recaps stuff #midnight sun #midnight sun spoilers #midnight sun recap #twilight #ms chapter 9

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charminglatina · 6 years ago

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Like I said in my previous Anti-Bughead post, there are so many more reasons to absolutely despise this couple. I could write a novel on why Bughead is literally the worst ship on television but it would be way too time consuming. There’s so many reasons that Bughead is an inferior ship. Such examples of Bughead being mediocre and terrible include them being a highly overrated couple, being a very boring, dull couple that takes up too much screen time even though they are so boring, being a seriously underdeveloped relationship as a result of happening way too quickly into the show, and Jughead and Betty bringing out the absolute worst in each other when they are in each other’s presence. But there are numerous reasons why I hate them and why I will never ship them. But because there are so many reasons to dislike this couple, I have to try and condense my reasons for hating this couple and explain why Bughead is the weakest part of the show. Here are another 5+ reasons why I despise Bughead.

Bughead is EXTREMELY overrated: This ship is so fucking overrated and overhyped. It is one of the primary reasons why I hate Bughead. It doesn’t deserve the attention and popularity it receives. Bughead is just another boring, hetero White ship with no chemistry, no passion, no development, and is toxic as all hell. Why is this ship so well-liked and poplar by the fandom? I just don’t get it. They are fucking annoying and dull. They are, by far, the least exciting couple, canon and non-canon, in the entire show yet for some backward ass reason, the writers and RAS consistently force and shove this ship in our faces on a week-to-week basis. There are other interesting, exciting, and dynamic couples on this show that deserve more attention recognition and screen time than Bugcest does. Couples like Choni, Falice, Veggie, Barchie, Jeronica, the list goes on and on. Any other couple (canon and non-canon) deserves more attention than Bughead does. At this point, Bughead is probably the most overrated ship in television history. For such a ship that provides nothing to the show but fanservice and doesn’t bring anything exciting and nourishing to the series table, it’s so grandly overhyped. There are undoubtedly other couples in TV and film that deserve so much more attention, recognition, and kudos than Bughead. Why are they so overhyped and celebrated amongst the Riverdale fandom? Is it because Cole and Lili are a real life couple and are dating off screen? Is it because the Bughead fandom primarily consists of screaming teenaged girls who live through Betty and are living out their bad boy/good girl romance fantasies along with their Cole fantasies through Bughead? I don’t get the hype surrounding this mediocre couple. There are plenty of other couples in television and film that have or have had way more chemistry and proper development than Bughead. Another couple that I loathe is Delena from TVD, but even they had some spark, passion, and chemistry in the earlier seasons. At least they had some development and journey, despite how screwed up and toxic they were in season 4 onwards. At least the actors portraying the couple of Delena had some semblance of spark or romantic chemistry at the start. With Bughead, there is none of the above. No chemistry, no passion, no excitement, no development. Bughead is one of the worst written couples in recent years, but it gets so much attention from the fandom, the writers of Riverdale and the media. And I can’t seem to understand how such a mediocre couple with no chemistry, with bad writing, and a severe lack of development could garner so much attention and became the “face” of Riverdale. The only reason why Bughead is even that popular in the first place is because of Cole Sprouse. That’s the truth. And yet if the couple of Bughead has Cole Sprouse as half of the couple, it STILL doesn’t deserve the hype and attention that it receives.

Bughead is boring: I’ve said it many times before and I will continue to repeat it. Bughead is the most boring couple in existence. They are so dull that every single time they are on my TV screen every Wednesday, I want to either fall asleep or skip through their scenes. The lack of chemistry, passion, and excitement in their relationship is what makes them the most boring couple ever. Even when they do so-called exciting stuff together or when they have drama, it’s still dull. Their investigative quests, fights, interactions, romantic bullshit, and drama is boring. As if Bughead wasn’t boring enough as it is in the previous seasons, they are even more boring in season 3. Bughead is so dull that they have become a ghost couple and non-existent. Bughead has so obviously overstayed its welcome, and their relationship has ceased to matter anymore. They served their purpose, and there’s nothing else to do with them, and the writers know it. Otherwise, why would the writers choose to separate them so much or have them interact so much less this season in comparison to last season? Even when Bughead is acting all lovey-dovey and couple-like, it comes across as incredibly forced. I see two friends trying to force a romantic connection that has ceased to exist. It’s time for the writers to cut the cord on this couple. When a couple on a show becomes boring, dull and tasteless and an increasing number of viewers and fans alike mention this, then it’s time to put an end to a couple.

Bughead is underdeveloped: This couple can’t be understood as a romantic couple because they have a severe lack of development. And that is a result of the couple being seriously rushed as I mentioned in my previous post. Supposedly, Jughead and Betty have known each other since childhood, and they were friends since. But there are many plot holes and inconsistencies in their relationship. If Betty and Jughead had known each other since childhood, then how come Betty didn’t realize when Jughead’s birthday was? Why did Archie have to tell her that it was Jughead’s birthday? How come Betty had never met Jughead’s father before? It is what I don’t understand. I feel like the writers have tried to rewrite history and retcon Bughead’s relationship and because of that, it comes across as inconsistent with a lack of proper development. Another reason that Bughead lacks development is that the couple just happened way too fast into the series. Normally, a couple that happens in the very first few episodes of the series is considered to be a rushed couple. There is only one couple that can get away with arriving in the first couple of episodes, and that is Stelena from TVD. Stelena may have happened very fast and without tons of development in the beginning, but at least they had believable chemistry and were a love at first sight type of couple. Those kinds of pairings and couples are scarce on television, so I give Stelena and their relationship a pass. But Bughead is nowhere near Stelena’s level because they don’t have strong enough chemistry for me to believe that they all of a sudden like each other without actually seeing the development in their relationship. It's confirmed recently by a writer on Twitter that Jughead had liked Betty for a long time during their childhood. But didn’t make a move on her because Betty was in love with Archie and she was much closer to Archie that she was to him. Huh? That sounds so peculiar and doesn’t coincide with anything that happened in season 1. I feel like the writers are trying to retcon Bughead in many ways, starting with their childhood and their history. The lack of development in Bughead’s relationship is a huge reason why they don’t click as a couple. In most cases, people need to see the journey with a couple falling in love. We need to view it, not told how much two people love each other. I feel like Bughead is shallow in that sense; I and the audience are told that Bughead love each other, but it’s not shown. Bughead would have probably been better written if they didn’t happen so fast in season 1. If Bughead took time to develop into a relationship, like say developed throughout all of season 1 and earlier part of season 2, then I could at least understand their relationship a bit better. I still may not ship them, but I wouldn’t be complaining about the lack of development and plot holes and inconsistencies in their relationship. Another reason why Bughead comes across as underdeveloped to me is that I feel like the writers just threw Jughead and Betty together randomly without even thinking. It’s like they just tossed two random characters together and luckily, it managed to be reasonably well-received by the fandom (unsure if it’s necessarily well received by the general or casual audience, however), and now it’s sticking. Bughead is just really poorly written and not thought out very well. And now, because of the toxic, screaming loudmouth Bughead fans, the writers feel threatened if they ever think of breaking them up and exploring other relationships. The writers wrote themselves into a corner because of their shoddy and poor writing, and it’s destroying the show and the content of the show. Now, I’m not saying that any of the other couples are well developed either. Couples like Varchie didn’t have the best of development either, but at least I saw hints and glimpses throughout season 1 that Archie and Veronica had an attraction to each other. My biggest issue with Varchie isn’t necessarily the development, but the fact that it’s a shallow relationship and it’s toxic. Choni is also very rushed and underdeveloped as well but what saves them and makes them worthy of shipping is the chemistry between the two characters. But this post isn’t to address my issues with Varchie and Choni. This post is to point out all the problems that I have with Bughead as a ship and a couple. And this is one of the reasons why I can’t ship this couple because of the severe lack of development and the inconsistencies in writing for them.

Bughead bring out the WORST in each other: A huge reason why I hate this couple is because of how they bring out the very worst in each other. Their characters become extremely annoying and unlikeable whenever they are together. They don’t have a good influence on each other, and they act very stupidly and impulsively where the other is concerned. Jughead seems to have a habit of bringing out Betty’s dark side and making her intolerable. One of the biggest reasons why Betty has become so unlikeable throughout the series is because of her relationship with Jughead. Before she got with Jughead, I liked Betty and found her tolerable. As soon as she jumped into a rebound relationship with Jughead, I slowly but surely went from liking her, to being annoyed by her, to disliking her to downright hating and loathing her as of now. Jughead has a habit of bringing out betty’s darkness. Not only does he bring out her darkness but he enables her darkness. He seems to think that it’s okay that she relishes in her dark side. He’s been the one to see her dark side aside from Veronica yet he has done nothing about it. When Betty was dressing up in BDSM clothing and misbehaving, Jughead chose to relish in it and enjoy it. The only time that Jughead semi did something about Betty acting an inappropriate way was in 2x08 when he broke up with her after Betty stripped in front of him and an entire bar of Serpents. Jughead being a part of Betty’s life isn’t good for her mental health and her emotional state. Jughead’s life is consistently stressful with constant unpredictability and ups and downs. Does a girl like Betty who struggles with mental illness and emotional troubles need to be with a guy that has such a hard life? The answer is no. Betty is troubled enough as it is. Betty is a dark person as it is. She doesn’t need more darkness and trouble added to her already troubled dysfunctional life. She needs someone that will bring her out of her troubles and her darkness, someone that will encourage her to do the right thing and bring her to the light (that person is Archie by the way). Jughead also does a lot of stupid things in the name of Betty. He was perfectly okay with covering up the dead body of a man that Fake Chic had killed in the Cooper house simply because Betty is his girlfriend. He was okay with taking part in covering up murder evidence so that Betty, Alice, and Chic wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Jughead gets involved in numerous morally ambiguous situations because of Betty. He is always getting his nose stuck into criminal activity because Jughead and Betty are just itching to be that investigative duo that solves all the crime and mystery in the town. Also, Jughead found out that Betty was faking pill prescriptions and lying about a therapist. She was abusing Adderall, and he did nothing about it. Instead, he enabled her addiction and didn’t get her the help that he needed. Instead of encouraging her to get help for her mental health issues, he simply told her that everything was going to be okay and then placed his dirty, stinky beanie on top of her head and kissed her on the chin? What the fuck? What boyfriend does that? What good boyfriend brushes aside his girlfriend's mental health problems and acts like it’s nothing important? It’s the same thing that happened in season 1. Betty told Jughead that she was scared of herself because she has bubbling darkness inside of her that she can’t seem to control. She shows him her palms and how she cuts them by digging her nails so hard into them that they scar and bleed whenever she lets her emotions get out of control or when she gets enraged. That is a very troubling confession that Betty made to Jughead, yet he just sat there and did nothing about it. Instead, he chose to take her palms and kiss them. Um, hello? Your girlfriend just confessed to you that she’s mentally unstable and you don’t do anything about it except kiss her palms? Nah son. That’s now how it goes. Jughead makes Betty so annoying and intolerable, and he is the reason why she has become my least favorite character on the show. Betty also does stupid things in the name of Jughead. She threatened Cheryl, a girl who has gone through numerous trouble and trauma, with the video of her father killing her beloved twin brother simply because she was blackmailing Cheryl to lie for Jughead’s father about covering up Jason’s dead body. Betty was perfectly fine with blackmailing a girl who just lost her brother and is dealing with PTSD and depression to the extent that she almost killed herself at Sweetwater River all because she wanted to save her boyfriend’s guilty father? I mean, seriously? That was just a straight up sinister and evil move on Betty’s part. Betty also wanted to join Jughead’s world of gangs, violence and criminal activity. She wanted to be a Serpent so that she could be with Jughead and “watch out for him.” So what did Betty do so that she could become a part of Jughead’s world? She got up on a stage in a bar full of mostly adult Serpents (who are mostly older men) and stripped in front of them without any sense of shame whatsoever. Not only did she strip in front of older men that she didn't know, but she stripped in front of her boyfriend and his father! It’s just weird! She is an underaged teenage girl for God’s sake! Do you see what I mean by Jughead influencing Betty to act terribly? It is what makes Bughead incredibly problematic and toxic. Because of their relationship, Jughead and Betty as characters have grown stagnant. They haven’t experienced and character development or growth that is positive. They are indeed changing, but they are changing for the worst, not the better. Jughead and Betty’s relationship has caused them to have serious character derailment and regression. Jughead has become an egotistical, dictatorial, tyrannical leader of a gang. He has become obsessed with power and has let it get to his head. He’s been playing the dangerous game of G&G and is letting it influence him toxically. And Betty hasn’t been able to snap him out of these terrible moments. Betty tries to convince Jughead to stop playing G&G, but he continues to be more intrigued with it and continues playing the game despite Betty’s warnings about how dangerous it is. Betty tells Jughead to ease up on his subordinates as Serpent King? But instead, he acts even more tyrannical and dictatorial and letting the power consume him and get to his head. Betty has failed on numerous occasions in getting through to Jughead. She doesn’t temper his darkness and brings out the good side of him. She doesn’t healthily challenge him. She enables him and his bad decisions and poor behavior. The relationship has just managed to destroy and damage these two characters that I’m uncertain if they can even be repaired. The same is said for Jughead enabling Betty’s bad behavior and poor attitude. The way I see it, the only way for Jughead and Betty to show any character growth is for them to break up and explore other relationships and become better, stronger people on their own. The toxicity of their relationship is killing Jughead and Betty as characters, and they need to break up to rebuild themselves. Because right now, Jughead and Betty are shells of their former selves.

Bughead are highly incompatible: They are much too different from each other to have a healthy romantic relationship. I’m all about opposites attract relationships as they can be, but Bughead is opposites attract relationship that is toxic and unhealthy. Sometimes being opposites can be a beneficial and good thing because it can teach you about different lifestyles, outlooks, points of view and perspectives. On the other hand, opposites attract couples that can cause tension, drama, pain and tons of unnecessary problems. Unfortunately, Bughead is the type of opposites attracts couple that is the latter. Betty is the epitome of a normal girl next door. She’s born into a regular everyday middle-class American family. She seemingly has everything going for her, but despite that, she does have personal troubles and family issues. Jughead, on the other hand, is from highly dysfunctional, broken and toxic family background and environment. He’s poor and doesn’t have much in the way of money and security. He has to resort to being a gang member to get by financially. The problem with Jughead and Betty is that they are too opposite. They come from vastly different worlds. Though Betty’s mother grew up on the Southside and was a Serpent back then, Alice outgrew her Serpent and Southside side back in high school. She is more of a Northsider than anything else and has been for a couple of decades. Alice doesn’t identify with the Southside anymore. So just because Alice was a Southsider doesn't make Betty a Southsider. Just because her mother was a Serpent doesn’t mean that Betty should be a Serpent. Betty just doesn’t fit into Jughead’s world at all. She is a Northsider through and through, and she always will be. I don’t care if Betty is currently a member of the Serpents or is their “Serpent Queen.” She is still from the Northside, and that’s never going to change. Do you ever wonder why the other Serpent members never pay attention to Betty or treat her as if she is the co-leader of their gang? Do you ever wonder why the other Serpents never turn to Betty for her opinion or input when they have Serpent meetings? It’s because they don’t respect her and they know that Betty doesn’t belong there or fit in their gang. She is not a part of their world because she grew up privileged and spoiled on the Northside. Betty tried to integrate herself into Jughead’s world throughout season 2, and it did nothing but cause trouble and tension in their relationship. Even though Betty became the Serpent Queen at the end of season 2, it still doesn’t change the fact that she doesn’t belong there. If you look at the way Betty is when she is around the Serpents in season 3, she seems uncomfortable and entirely out of place. Betty looks like a fish out of the water. The only reason that Betty is even a part of the Serpents right now is that she is Jughead’s girlfriend and he is the Serpent King. It means that Betty is Serpent Queen by default and by pure nepotism through being the love interest of the Serpent King. Betty didn’t earn the title of Serpent Queen through accomplishments or what she has done for the Serpents. If anyone is qualified to be the true Serpent Queen, it’s Toni Topaz. She is a Serpent by blood and was raised as a Serpent. Not to mention that her paternal grandfather Thomas Topaz is the founder of the Southside Serpents. It’s clear, and it’s evident that Betty does not and will never belong in Jughead’s world. She is just an outsider in the Serpent world, and even Sweet Pea criticized Betty for having input regarding Serpent matters. Other than that, Jughead and Betty’s personalities are much too different, but they are also too alike in regards to being too troubled and having too many issues. Their relationship is toxic because of how troubled both of them are. They are too different and too alike at the same time, and there’s no healthy balance in their relationship. A healthy relationship is all about balance and Bughead doesn’t have that. There’s either too much or too little and not enough middle ground, and that is why they aren’t compatible. Jughead is very intense, moody, brooding and impulsive. Betty is more cheery, positive, light-hearted and upbeat. On the surface, that looks all good and appealing enough to ship, but if you get down to the nitty-gritty reality of it, it’s a recipe for significant clashes and differences. The reason why Bughead fights so much and have so many arguments is because of the differences in their viewpoints, outlooks, backgrounds, and personalities. They have vastly different temperaments that deem them strongly incompatible. Some people would argue that Bughead being the opposite is a good thing because they would balance each other out or complement each other. But in Bughead’s case, they don’t. Bughead doesn’t make for a harmonious romantic relationship. They would be far better and more compatible as a friendship than anything else.

Bughead has 0% passion: I know this appears to be a shallow reason to dislike Bughead but believe it or not, chemistry and passion are fundamental for me to like or support a fictional pairing. I don’t think that a couple should be all about passion, lust, and chemistry but I do believe that there should be some spark and heat in the relationship. And to be honest, Bughead doesn’t have any passion at all. Their relationship is devoid of any excitement, spark or passion. To be blunt, Bughead is just plain dull and boring. I’m not asking for Bughead to be filled with tons of passion or for their relationship to be merely defined by heat and passion. But those components are what makes a romance on television fun and exciting to watch. Without that heat, that chemistry, and that passion, romantic couples on television become a chore to watch. There’s nothing to pull the viewer in or make them interested enough to watch. As to why Bughead lack significant amounts of heat and passion? I have two reasons. 1.) They happened way too fast, and they were rushed. Because of how quickly they got together in the series, there was no build up to their relationship. Build up can equate to a couple having a certain degree of passion and excitement. When a couple is rushed and lacks development, the audience cannot see the passion and the spark and the chemistry unfold between the two. And that’s what happened to Bughead. The audience wasn’t able to see the buildup of chemistry and heat between Jughead and Betty. Because of how quick they arrived, they became stale quickly. In season 2, they were already dull and lacking chemistry and passion. Even when they became sexual with each other, it came off as forced and non-sexual. By the time Bughead has their first sex scene in 2x12, it wasn’t interesting or exciting. Their first time fell flat for me chemistry and passion-wise. 2.) The two actors lack chemistry in general. I know Cole and Lili are supposedly dating in real life, but for some strange reason, any supposed chemistry that they have isn’t translating on screen. One would expect a couple who are dating off screen to be able to play a romantic couple with ease while acting, but not the case with Bughead and Sprousehart. Like I said in my previous post, I made the argument that Bughead lacks on-screen chemistry because Sprousehart is a fake PR couple and they aren’t real. I made the comparison between them and Brangelina in Mr. & Mrs. Smith; how Brad and Angelina had so much on-screen chemistry that t was very apparent that the two were having a romantic and sexual affair off-screen and off-set. But Cole and Lili are the antheses of Brangelina when it comes to chemistry on screen. Though both couples were real life, Brangelina was able to convey and translate their off-screen romance and chemistry onscreen while they were playing a couple in their movie while Sprousehart consistently fails to carry any semblance of romantic and sexual chemistry on the screen when they are supposed to be a romantic couple as Bughead. Why is that? It leads one to question the nature of Sprousehart’s romance in the real world. Are they a real couple? Or are they a fake PR couple that is together for marketing purposes? Judging by the lack of chemistry and the forced nature of their on and off-screen relationship, I’m guessing it’s the latter. To sum it up, passion is essential in a romantic relationship especially one that’s fictional and being watched by viewers every week. It’s what keeps viewers intrigued with the romance, and unfortunately, Bughead doesn’t have an ounce of chemistry, spark or passion.

Bughead fans are terrible and annoying: One of the primary reasons why I hate Bughead is because of their fans. A lot of their fans are downright awful and terrible. They are indeed the worst fans within the entire Riverdale fandom. They make the Riverdale fandom experience for everyone else who doesn’t ship Bughead a complete and total nightmare. Bughead fans are so loud, annoying and extremist that they come across as petty and childish bullies. If someone says that they don’t like or ship Bughead (add Sprousehart to the mix), then they have no issue with attacking and insulting people and bullying them if they don’t share their opinion. Going by the way that many Bughead fans act and how badly they treat other people who have a differing opinion to theirs, it’s apparent that the majority of the Bughead fanbase is filled with a bunch of teenage girls who lack maturity and don’t understand the meaning of true love and romance. They will do anything and say anything to get their way even if it means bullying the writers, actors, RAS and other fans of the show. Bughead fans are very insulting and hurtful in their words. They are downright bullies IMO. When Vanessa Morgan was cast and was stated to have been a possible obstacle to Bughead, the Bughead fans went on the attack and sent her death threats on Twitter because she was going to pose a threat to their ship. When Ethel Muggs kissed Jughead in a recent season 3 episode, Bughead fans attacked the real-life actress who plays Ethel Shannon Purser. They fat-shamed her and bullied her on her social media, and it was so bad that Shannon had to call people out on it. Not to mention that Lili Reinhart had to come on social media and denounce the attacks made towards Vanessa and Shannon that Bughead fans were making. It was that bad that Lili had to try and stop it. Bughead fans also somewhat attacked Camila Mendes after her character Veronica had kissed Jughead in 2x14, although not as severely as they struck Vanessa and Shannon. Camila even admitted that she was so scared and intimidated to go on her Twitter and Instagram accounts after the episode 2x14 aired out of fear that she would be bullied, insulted and attacked for her fictional character kissing another fictional character. It's bullying, plain and simple. For some reason the Bughead fans don’t care about the fact that they are hurting people all because of a fictional mediocre couple. The primary reason why Bughead fans resort to bullying anyone who poses a threat to their ship is because of one thing: they are insecure. They know that their couple is on borrowed time and that it’s a complete bore compared to other couples and potential couples on this show. When they see a couple that has more chemistry and excitement than Bughead, the Bughead fans lash out in anger and take it out on the writers, the actors, RAS, and other fans. Bughead’s bullying of the actors and other fans of other couples is based on pure insecurity and pettiness. I don’t mean to exaggerate, but I will argue that the Bughead fandom is one of the worst fandoms I have ever seen in the history of my experience in all TV and film fandoms and that is saying a lot.

Barchie & Jeronica are superior to Bughead: I think that the pairings of Barchie and Jeronica have way more potential than Bughead (and Varchie). First, Barchie and Jeronica have tons more chemistry than Bughead and Varchie. I’ll be so honest as to claim that Barchie and Jeronica’s chemistry puts Bughead and Varchie’s chemistry to absolute shame which isn’t at all hard since both of those pairings don’t have an ounce of chemistry, to begin. Other than the chemistry factor, Barchie and Jeronica are vastly more interesting than Bughead. I think those two pairings will bring out the best in each other and they will positively challenge each other. Breaking up Bughead (and Varchie) will give the show a new and fresh direction instead of the same stale, stagnant path that it’s been on for three seasons now. Barchie is better than Bughead because not only is the chemistry so much better, but because they would be perfect for each other. Archie and Betty are so much more compatible than Jughead and Betty are. Archie and Betty come from similar words and backgrounds. They understand each other at a fundamentally more in-depth level. They have a bond and a connection that goes so deep, and that’s something that Bughead and Varchie can’t understand or comprehend. Archie and Betty’s relationship is more than just lust/sex (like Varchie) or escapism (like Bughead). It’s an emotional connection that is deep, eternal and transcendent. These two know each other better than anyone else does, and they understand each other better than anyone else. And that’s thanks to them knowing each for a long time since they were kids. Archie and Betty are soulmates IMO. They would bring out the best in each other. Archie and Betty would challenge each other for the positive, and they would keep each other’s dark sides under control. Archie would bring out the best in Betty. He would temper her darkness and bring her into the light. And Betty would stop Archie from making morally questionable decisions. She would pull him back when it’s needed. Let’s not forget that Barchie has been an iconic canon couple in the comics for almost 100 years. Nothing can compete with that, especially not a forced, rushed, fan serviced couple like Bughead, which doesn’t and never has existed in the comics in the first place. On the other hand, Jeronica would be way more exciting and dynamic to watch than Borehead. They have strong on-screen chemistry, and I could buy the two eventually becoming involved romantically because of said chemistry. I think that Jughead and Veronica are overall more compatible because they come from very similar backgrounds. Both of them come from families and environments of organized crime; Jughead comes from a gang family, and Veronica comes from a mob family. Jughead comes from a gang family; Veronica comes from a mob family. Both of them would be able to handle each other’s family backgrounds because both families are situated in organized crime. Jughead can stand up to and challenge someone like Hiram Lodge. And Veronica can handle the Serpent lifestyle because she understands where they are coming from. Other than the similarities in their backgrounds, they have a lot of personality traits in common. Both are intense, outspoken and passionate about things. Both of them are natural born leaders, come from dysfunctional families, have issues expressing vulnerability and their emotions, are afraid of commitment, have serious daddy and mommy issues, are intelligent and manipulative, and have a very nasty streak when angered or provoked. Both have a love and appreciation of literature, film and popular culture. In addition to the many things in common that they have, there’s also the fact that their journeys parallel in each other on the show. Jughead and Veronica are mirror images of each other. They have similar events that happen to both of them throughout the series. And finally, let’s not forget that great and robust chemistry that Jeronica has. It is some of the most robust on-screen chemistry on the show by far. Jeronica has more chemistry than Bughead and Varchie combined, and they hardly share scenes. I think that Jeronica has the potential to be something great if the writers choose to utilize their potential.

I might make a Part 3 Anti-Bughead post soon, but for now, these are another top 5 reasons why I hate Bughead and why I believe that this couple needs to crash and burn. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk. ✌️

#anti bughead #barchie #jeronica #riverdale

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nadbooks · 8 years ago

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Most Disappointing Books of 2016

Hello again! Today I am here with my most disappointing books of 2016. I actually really enjoy posts about books that people dislike because I think they are more informative in letting me know whether a person has the same taste in books as me, as compared to their favorite books. These books were not necessarily awful (although some of them are), but it’s more that I really expected them to be great but they just turned out to be kinda meh. I gave these books either 2 or 3 stars on Goodreads. Oh, and of course, these are ranked from the least worst to the worst worst. Also, the disclaimer that these are just my opinions and if I don’t like your favorite book, it doesn’t mean you’re wrong for liking them. To each their own, ya know!

9. The Explanation for Everything by Lauren Grodstein

This book is about a biology professor and a hardcore evolutionist who is working on a paper with a student who is an evangelist and is trying to prove the existence of an intelligent creator. Sounds real technical, I know. At the time I was reading this, I was taking a class on Evolutionary Psychology which kinda blew my mind and I thought this book was going to be an interesting discussion/debate about evolution and faith and how we can believe in both. In the end, the book was just about a student-teacher affair, a professor going through his tenure review, and the promised discussion on evolution and faith was basically nonexistent. It wasn’t really that bad of a book I suppose, it had interesting insights into life as a professor and I did take away the message that it is okay to believe in something that you don’t completely understand, especially in times of grief and devastation, whether it is scientific or not. Sometimes we just need a little bit of faith. So it was not the worst book ever, but I did expect something more from it.

8. Sea by Heidi R. Kling

This one was again my fault because I expected too much from it even though I should have had no reason to. This is a YA book set in Indonesia which I just thought was super interesting because I never read a YA book set in my home country before! It’s about a girl who accompanies her dad on a trip to Indonesia to help tsunami orphans deal with their PTSD. She is also dealing with the death of her mother so her dad thinks that this would be a good experience for her. Ultimately, the book is not about dealing with PTSD so much as it is about two teenagers falling in love. I didn’t really appreciate the romance because the main character only seemed to find the love interest interesting because he was foreign and exotic. She made some really stupid decisions and got kind of annoying and whiny towards the end. Still, the backdrop of the tsunami relief efforts was interesting and enlightening and I’m glad the author touched at least a bit on some of those themes. But ultimately, it’s really just another average YA book.

7. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Okay here is where we start to get a little controversial. This is a best-selling adult literary fiction about a group of four friends and it kinda just follows them throughout their lives from their 20s to their 50s. One of them, Jude, has an incredibly dark past though and we see his and his friends’ struggles as he tries to move beyond his traumatic past. I was told that this book would make me cry. I can see how it would I suppose but mostly, I was just disgusted by all the awful things that happened to Jude when he was a child. It was very jarring, shocking and graphic, the descriptions of what happened to him, and maybe that’s a good thing, when a book can make you feel that way. However, after a while, I just found everything kind of gratuitous because it seemed that every bad thing that could happen, happened to Jude. It didn’t seem very realistic as we uncovered more and more of his dark past. I thought his present-day struggles with his trauma were a bit more realistic, if a tad depressing. The book also seemed to be incredibly long and I really didn’t think it was necessary. I think a good third of the book could have been cut out. If I had to summarize my experience reading this book, it would be boredom (during the third where nothing was really happening) and then disgust and soul-sucking emptiness (as we learn more and more about Jude’s past), which I don’t think the author was really going for. Needless to say, this book comes with trigger warnings for abuse, rape and self-harm.

6. This is Our Story by Ashley Elston

This is a mystery novel. A group of five friends goes into the forest to go hunting but only four come out alive. Our main character is a girl who is an intern at the district attorney’s office and she investigates this mystery with her aging boss who relies on her to see all the details that he might miss. Interesting premise but the plot itself is very cliche and formulaic of many mysteries. I think I’ve read too many mystery novels and watched too many crime procedural TV shows that the plots become too predictable after a while. This is a basic crime storyline and there was nothing impressive about it at all. The big reveal at the end was no plot twist and it was also unrealistic how our main character, a high school intern, can be taken seriously when she just barges into court during a trial. Don’t even get me started on the romance in this story which was totally unnecessary, annoying, interfered with the plot, and made our main character do stupid things. Four pet peeves I have about romances in books. Overall, a disappointing mystery and nothing to rave about really.

5. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Aha another mystery on the list. This one is crazy hyped up though and I think the hype is what makes this one more disappointing than This is Our Story. I have the same complaints about this one. It is a cliche mystery plot that is not unique and the big reveal in the end was kind of disappointing and not very plot twisty. Seemed like a regular plotline of a procedural TV show, and not even a good one. Our main character also makes all sorts of stupid decisions and I am just not here for that kind of protagonist. The movie starring Emily Blunt does look interesting though so perhaps it translates better to the screen. But the book itself is definitely not worth all the hype.

4. 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

This book is about three teenagers who are sent to the moon by NASA in an effort to rebuild interest in the space program. But when they get to the moon, things are not all they seem to be. This is a horror novel set in space and honestly, that description alone is enough to make me pee my pants. I cannot read horror novels because I’m a coward and I also have a fear of outer space. All that vast nothingness where no one can hear you scream and where you can’t even rely on the basic laws of physics? No thank you. Given all that, you would think this book would terrify me to pieces. Nope. It was pretty boring and the writing was so GOD AWFUL. The sentences were so jarring and they didn’t flow smoothly at all that it really hindered my enjoyment of the story. Oh but the story itself was not very enjoyable either. The scary things that were happening were just glossed over that we didn’t really get to comprehend just how scary it was, and the characters were little shits too. They were not likeable and they were incredibly one-dimensional. Not an enjoyable read and it didn’t scare me at all, even though “horror novel set in space” is the easiest way to frighten me. And I’m easily frightened.

3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Continuing the trend of shitting on popular books. This one is a classic so getting super controversial here. This book is about a woman working temporarily in New York and we sort of follow her downward spiral into... depression? I’m really not sure. We then see the kind of treatment she is getting and it’s not so great to say the least, because psychologists back then had no code of ethics. Interesting premise for me because I like reading about mental health and also, psychologist in training over here. Unfortunately, this was so incredibly boring. Nothing was happening and I honestly didn’t get the point of this story at all. Maybe I’m too stupid to understand classics or something but man, I was bored out of my mind. I just couldn’t understand how this became a classic. Maybe it was the writing but I wasn’t too impressed with that either. Overall, I kinda felt like it was a waste of my time.

2. Unteachable by Leah Raeder

So we’ve kinda reached the end of my disappointing books. The books I talked about above I didn’t actively hate but I just expected more from. I gave them all 3 stars. Now we are getting down to my 2 star reads, which I actively hate. Unteachable is about a student-teacher relationship and I’ll admit, I only read this because I just wanted something trashy to read. Still, I have standards for my trash. The relationship was fun and steamy in the beginning but then it dragged on and on and on and got so dramatic and I was just sick and tired of both of them in the end. I wanted to drown them honestly. I just wanted something fun and light to read and this took a turn for the dark and dramatic and veered into 50 Shades of Grey territory which I did not appreciate. It was really just an unhealthy relationship. This book is trash, and not the good kind.

1. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Speaking of unhealthy relationships and trash. This book was definitely my worst read of 2016. I actually enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, which are the other novels in this companion trilogy. Isla is the last one and by far the worst one. Unlike the other two, the romance in this one was insta-lovey and underdeveloped and holy shit, the characters did some really stupid things. Isla refused to accept the consequences of their stupid decisions and just became a whiny brat. I really couldn’t stand Isla. I also cannot stand high school romances where they think that this is it, that if they get through the high school drama, they will live happily ever after (that goddamn title). How about college hmm? How about work? These characters think they know so much about the world and that “love will conquer all” even though they’re only in high school. Life is hard and high school is not even the worst part so I can’t stand it when books set in high school end with the idea that the couple is going to stay together forever. That is just not how it works. Wow, I think I’m really getting too old for YA.

So there we go, we have learnt that I’m a bitter old lady and that maybe I just can’t read pure YA romances anymore. I also can’t stand it when main characters make stupid decisions. I should also really not let the hype get to me and get my expectations up too high because that’s how I end up being disappointed. Oh well, it’s still fun to look back at disappointing reads and I don’t mind having them. It just means that the good ones stand out more!

Cheers and happy reading!

#most disappointing books of 2016

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