#fangs too !! i even got a physical copy of that one cause i fell in love with the art

[meru90]

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[solo-23]

I'd debated about whether or not to post this because it's definitely a rant and there is definitely a lot of negativity, but I need to vent after last night's episode (with some leftover issues from earlier this season, too). If Betty is your favorite and you don't like to read anything negative about her, you will not like this post.

1. The way the voicemail has been blown completely out of proportion by the writers, reviewers, and some shippers is ridiculous. We keep hearing about how it was terrible, emotionally abusive, toxic, and something that Jughead definitely needed to apologize for, but nothing he said was actually out of line. There is absolutely nothing in that voicemail that Betty should have been surprised about, let alone treating it like it somehow turns her into the victim in the fall of Bughead.

It's not surprising that Jughead has now apologized twice for the voicemail, even if he doesn't actually remember all of it, because he knows that it hurt Betty. He can also probably guess what he said because he knows what he feels and how it can be exaggerated when he's feeling depressed or under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Generally if you actually admit what you're thinking or feeling when you know it would hurt someone, you feel bad about it. It doesn't matter if it's true or not, or if you're under the influence. A good person apologizes if they know they hurt someone. Jughead is a good person.

Just a note here, I've seen other people saying that Betty's actions while high should be excused just like people have said Jughead's voicemail should be excused because he was under the influence. Being under the influence DOES NOT excuse the voicemail.

The fact that Betty cheated on Jughead, did continue to sneak around with Archie while debating whether or not she wanted to "officially" pursue him, hid the whole affair until Jughead actually caught on and she had to make up a direct lie to his face or confess, never actually explained anything to Jughead (things like she was the one who stopped the affair, she wanted to stay with Jughead, etc.) even after he asked if they could talk about it, stood him up at Pop's a year later, and then stood him up again at the book release party justify Jughead's voicemail. And he has apologized for it twice.

2. That is why it was so intensely frustrating for Betty to just brush off his apology (again) and then turn the conversation to her, but without actually apologizing for anything. When Jughead mentioned not really being able to remember the voicemail, she could have brought up what bothered her in it so (a) he would know and (b) they could actually discuss the issues, which could have led into Betty actually explaining what happened with the cheating, including how the affair ended, and she could have apologized for that. It still wouldn't have been fully satisfying because Betty never apologizes first for her actions, but it would've been better than nothing. She also could have apologized for standing him up, although at least she explained why she didn't make it to the book release party.

3. However, she still didn't admit to or apologize for giving away Jughead's manuscript. The entire reason Jughead relapsed into drinking and almost plagiarized Cora is because Betty gave Jessica his manuscript. No, Betty does not get credit for "saving" Jughead because she was present when he got a phone call from Samm and admitted that he wasn't the author. She's the reason he was in that position in the first place. Yes, she had been drugged. Yes, Tabitha was present and didn't stop her. No, neither of those things excuse it. It also doesn't excuse her from sharing the voicemail with Tabitha and Jessica.

Why not? She and Tabitha were still shown as functional when all of this happened. Jessica admitted that she drugged them to try to get the manuscript. They were both capable of thinking and arguing. Betty chose to give the manuscript to Jessica. It wasn't until afterward that Betty and Tabitha started being really impacted by the drugs. Jughead's manuscript wasn't Betty's (or Tabitha's) to give away and doing so completely screwed Jughead over.

There are some questions here--did he switch over to his typewriter and that's why there was no backup? did he forget to save a copy on his laptop? did his laptop crash or get lost? who knows, but in the story it doesn't matter. There was one copy and Betty gave it away, placing Jughead in the position of losing his agent or plagiarizing another author.

Also, for playing the voicemail, Jessica had just brought the drugged fries to the table. No one is shown as having felt the effects of the drugs until Tabitha made a comment about being warm after the voicemail is over. Betty had been reluctant to help from the beginning, before Tabitha mentioned the "don't be a Betty" line, and made fairly rude comments about Jughead throughout the episode. I don't think she needs to apologize to Jughead for sharing it, but I also thought that playing the victim and having some people blame it on "being high" was ridiculous.

4. You cannot convince me that Betty cares about Jughead in the slightest when he was telling her he was an alcoholic and he's trying to get better and he's clearly drinking alcohol right in front of her and her response is "I'm an addict, too. I'm addicted to serial killers." She's struggling, yes, and it's good that she's opening up, but if she cared about Jughead at all an appropriate response here would be "So, why are you drinking?" or "are you okay?" Show some sort of concern for someone who is relapsing in front of your face. Jughead does it for Betty when he suggests she should take a break, even though he's in a moral quandary caused by Betty, depressed, and drunk.

Also, no, chasing serial killers is not an addiction in the same way as drugs or alcohol and it's insulting to say they're the same. Chasing serial killers could be described as a compulsion for Betty, or a hyperfixation, but it's not the same. It's difficult, but you can choose to not follow a compulsion without experiencing the often severe physical side effects experienced by actual addicts. I'm glad Betty recognized that she has a problem, but no, that is not an addiction.

5. The entire conversation is extremely awkward. It's clear that it isn't what Jughead had in mind, but his life that he had just been starting to get back together fell apart. He sank to new (or at least different) lows. Betty seemed like she wanted to leave as soon as she got there (understandable given how awkward it was, even secondhand) and disappeared once Jughead was distracted by a phone call. It's understandable, but disappointing. The part that was really frustrating, though, was that after talking to Jughead about how unhealthy her serial killer obsession is and how she's worried about her mom, she still goes out. Alice was passed out on the couch, which Betty paused to acknowledge. That should have been a turning point for Betty and it just wasn't. Screw these writers.

6. I loved that Tabitha and Jughead had mutual apologies, discussed their issues, and genuinely seemed to care about each other. I also loved that Jughead still cares and worries about Betty (frustrating as it is when it seems unreciprocated) because it's so true to Jughead's character.

7. It is absolutely fine and understandable if Betty has moved on from Jughead. She seemed to believe that if he found out about the cheating in their senior year, it would be the end of their relationship. She started shutting him out and trying to move on the next day.

However, as a Jughead fan, it's intensely annoying to see him still struggling with the lack of closure and continuing to have feelings for Betty after all of that. I would have preferred to see either both of them move on, then rediscover each other later (or not, depending on where the show is going), or have Betty be the one who still clearly has feelings for Jughead and have her regret blowing up the relationship.

8. Overall, I hate a lot of what the writers have done this season. I don't particularly like any of the backstories for the characters during the time jump, I don't like each character following a separate plot line(s), the lack of interaction between characters, and how disjointed everything feels.

The mothman plot was interesting, but seems destined for a disappointing end. There have been a lot of missed opportunities to bring storylines together (Jughead went missing while Archie was looking for escaped prisoners, he could have found Jughead; Jughead hitchhiked with a random trucker, even without the trucker attacking him he could have seen clues or found Polly; Sweet Pea or Fangs could have seen Betty playing hooker and organized an intervention instead of having the weird cult plot line; I'm sure there's more). Maybe it'll be better with a binge watch, but I'm having trouble maintaining interest in the final three episodes, let alone rewatching this mess of a season.

BONUS: I was relieved that the Bughead talk did not go with my worst case scenario. Based on the possible B/A return, I was a little bit worried that Jughead would apologize for the voicemail and remember what he said, then talk about how he always knew Betty had feelings for Archie. Betty, who said she'd been "wanting this since high school," would then nod along and say she was sorry for hurting him, but acknowledge those feelings. Then Jughead would ask why they never acted on those feelings after the breakup, Betty would talk about the FWB, and Jughead would go full B/A cheerleader and tell her to give it a chance (like the Pacey and Joey chat about Dawson at Mitch's funeral in Dawson's Creek). I was dreading that possibility and I'm so glad the show didn't go there. I'm sorry if I've given anyone nightmares.

[nivilliain]

Smile Like You Mean It (Chapter 12)

Name: Smile Like You Mean It Fandom: Villainous/Villanos AU: Smile!/Valiant Beta Reader: @rachrar Rating: E to Teen Warnings: Brainwashing; Torture; Summary: After Zug goes missing, White Hat and Lumencia try to find him. However, they end up in a strange dimension with darkness under its smiling surface.

Banner artwork edited from a piece I commisioned @theinsanefruitloop-chan to do

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Zug had made his own makeshift lab with help from the Resistance. They were regularly going out to get what he needed. They didn’t want to risk him getting discovered.

Or that's what they kept telling him.

He knew the truth, however. After finding out that not only had Lumencia been corrected, but White Hat too? He just wanted to go after Smug himself.

It had been an advert that had alerted him to White Hat’s conversion. He was selling something and Zug could recognise his Hat anywhere, even after such a drastic change. Yellow didn’t suit HIS White Hat.

While waiting for the machines to analyse the virus, he had been slowly going through all the files from Smug’s computer. Some of which were encrypted and took a while to open. A lot of them were just CCTV footage from the park. Some of the encrypted videos had been of White Hat and Lumencia’s visit. Smug had been watching them this whole time. It was pretty obvious that Smug had been manipulating both of them the moment they entered this dimension.

Document after document. Hours if not days of footage. Reports. So many of them useless. All of it Zug had to go through because it was the small details that were the key to winning.

“COFFEE!” Zug demanded, barely lifting his head from the desk. “Antlers! Coffee! Now!”

“Sir, my name is not ‘Antlers’, its-”

“Don’t care!” Zug said. “Won't remember it. COFFEE ANTLERS!”

The animalistic boy with fangs and antlers sighed, pouring him coffee. He was one of the rare non-human heroes who hadn’t been corrected. Apparently the day when all the heroes were invited to the park he had been too sick to go.

They had gone because Yellow Hat had been a respected member of the hero community in his dimension. Anyone who could have prevented this from happening fell before they even realised what was going on.

If Smug hadn’t hurt those Zug had loved, then Zug might have had high respects for him.

Zug sipped the freshly brewed coffee. The Resistance had developed a filtering system to help get the food clean of the ‘sunshine serum’ made from the virus. Zug had taken it into consideration while working on a cure. However, it was too crude to copy directly as it could cause permanent damage to biological matter.

“H-how is it going?” Antlers asked.

“Well, Smug- despite being an evil genius- is boring as fuck at times.” Zug mumbled, checking through the next set of decrypted files. “And the virus is being stubborn.”

“I-it’s clever...” Antlers shivered, remembering things he wished he didn’t.

“It’s amazing.” Zug commented. “Therefore a pain. It was definitely manufactured.”

“W-wait, so someone made it?” Antler asked, hugging the empty tray to his chest.

“Yeah.” Zug finally looked up from his computer and desk. He frowned at Antlers. “What the fuck are you wearing?” “Like it? I found it-”

Zug’s eyes widened. He grabbed it off of Antler’s head. “This... this is White Hat’s hat...” He scrutinised every inch of it, checking for any sign of infection. “It.. it’s not infected..”

“Hey! I found it.” Antlers pouted, trying to grab it back.

Zug easily pushed him off. “You idiot! This could be key to curing the virus!”

“W-wait, it’s not just a hat?” Antlers said, stopping in his tracks.

“No.” Zug held it up. “It’s White Hat’s hat.” He looked at Antlers. “This stays between us two, got it?” “I m-mean I should really tell CL-”

“GOT. IT.” Zug said firmly. “Or do you wanna be known as ‘Antlerless’.”

Antlers yelped and ran.

Zug rested back in his chair, looking at the hat. Definitely White Hat’s. It even smelt like him despite what it had been through. Mostly because it wasn't just a normal hat but a part of White. Which begged the question- why wasn't this infected?

“Ah, you are awake.”

Zug nearly dropped the hat. A playlist of Smug’s encrypted videos were playing. So far most of them had been without sound and this was the first one that had recorded a conversation clearly. He turned from the hat to the screen. Smug was talking to Lumencia.

Smug and Lumencia-

He scrambled to sit up properly and pay full attention to the video, ignoring the hat for the moment. He watched as Smug and Lumencia talked back and forth. He fumbled, grabbing a notepad and pen.

He jotted down all points of interest Smug spoke of. The fact that “The Minister” was definitely not Smug, but rather someone beginning with ‘Ye’. Next was the fact that.. That Smug seemed to get some sort of physic message from The Minister. Was the virus was able to physically communicate between infected?

That ment there was a host. An original.

If it was connected to all the other infected, then maybe curing the source could at least lower the resistance of the other infected, if not cure them all at once.

“Euphoria was just like you. Somehow, she was resistant to it. Your hoodie, the food you had, the music- all of which have somehow not affected you. Which means, and I’m sorry to have to say this but, I am going to have to do to you what I did to her.”

“I’VE GOT YOU!” Zug laughed, unbelieving that it was just handed to him. “I’ve got you, you Smug bastard!” He said, grabbing the Lumencia samples he had saved from the capsule. With this and the uninfected hat he knew what to do.

----

Zug had synthesised one possible cure. It was just enough to cure one person. Testing a drop onto a tiny sample of virus had proved promising. He knew who he would be using this on.

However, getting Lumencia was now the hard part. Her and Euphoria were practically joined at the hip so they’d have to kidnap both. In the end, their best plan was their original plan. That was to have Zug dress as Smug again and lure the two to him.

The first time Zug had worn the costume, he didn’t mind so much although he was grumpy. Now, he down right hated it. He kept feeling his blood boil every time he caught his reflection in the sewer water.

Once he was given the signal, he climbed up and walked out the alleyway- as if he didn’t just climb out the sewer. “Euphoria! Hysteria!” He snapped upon seeing them.

They both stopped, trembling. Clinging onto each other, they turned to ‘Smug’. Honestly Zug wasn't one for hugs but he just wanted to hold them close and protect them from the monster he was dressed as. Instead he took a deep breath. “What are you doing?”

“G-getting.. C-cotton candy?” Euphoria asked, pressing herself more against Hysteria in fear.

Hysteria seemed to be beginning to panic. “W-we’re not d-doing anything w-wrong-!!”

Zug peered at them, “I’ll be the judge of that.” He said, indicating with his index finger for them to come closer.

The girls looked about ready to run away, but ‘Smug’ had them paralyzed. After a few minutes, he just grabbed their linked hands in one of his own roughly and began dragging them. “Hurry up!” He growled.

“Please.. Please... please don’t.. W-we’re being good!” Hysteria said, drool and tears running down her face in panic.

“Quiet.” Zug snapped, unable to look back at the woman he considered like family.

The moment they reached the manhole, resistance members grabbed them and chloroformed them. Zug grabbed Hysteria’s- Lumencia’s hand. “Shhh.. it’s okay... it’s okay...”

There was a ��look of realisation- of recognition in her eyes as she gave into the chemical.