#obviously the Barchie signs were strong

[go-ldy]

I woke up this morning wondering what fresh hell I missed in the world while I slept so to deal with that, I turn to... fandom! (We all have ways of coping with things & with no tennis to watch right now, this is mine).

Smug!Bughead was objectively the best part of 4x16 but a close second was Betty waiting sneakily in Donna's room like some kind of horror movie creature to reveal to Donna that she figured out all her evil plans. How long was Betty sitting there in the dark? She seemed to know Donna's schedule ahead of time and exactly when she needed to leave her house, get to Stonewall, break into Donna's room, settle down in exactly the right chair, pull a lamp over to the chair, and then be ready to flick it on when Donna entered the room. Five stars for full effects, Betty Cooper.

HERE FOR THIS TBH. How often do men get sexually charged storylines where they have to outwit their foe at every turn and secretly enjoy the game of cat and mouse? I mean that seemed to be where Bret and Jughead were headed but lbr, Bret is more of an evil version of Archie than a Jughead. Donna, though? Donna and Betty share so many traits:

-They are both extremely goal driven and can be ruthless in pursuing that goal even if it means collateral damage along the way.

-Difference is that Betty is almost always motivated by wanting to protect the people she loves, whereas Donna was motivated by reveeenge (and profit?).

-They both pursued the tug-of-war over Jughead's "murder" in similar ways: trying to stay a step ahead of the other person, positioning others in their life to play key roles at predetermined times. They were each playing a game of high-stakes chess against the other.

-Neither of them seem to care much for personal space or boundaries! E.g. Donna calling Betty in the middle of the night, Betty creeping into Donna's room to have the perfect "gotcha" moment.

-And.... they both seem to have enjoyed going up against the other? Has Betty ever looked so smug and self-satisfied before taking down a villain. I don't think so.

Anyway Donna seems to have been put on a bus for now but I am soooooo here for her still being out there, plotting ways she can come back and make Betty's life a nightmare. Until then, we will miss you, Donna Sweett.

[sharkbait-o-haha]

I’m 100% not condoning what those anons are saying or doing to you guys. What I will say is that, for the really impassioned fans, B*rchie (assuming that’s what it’s about) is the only ship left in the Core 4 that actually has the potential to happen and where people are sort of anticipating it eventually, so it’s threatening. Not happening remotely soon (hopefully never), but it’s there all the same. I understand not wanting to see them. But you know, there’s a block button for that! Lol

Part 2

Haha, no worries! And I ran out of characters, but wanted to add that people are assholes and obviously I think whoever is bothering you is a giant turd! Looking forward to your reply!

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So I'm finally getting down to replying to this because life got in the way and then I got distracted by the new promo, sorry. Thank you for being patient.

You know, the thing with the barchie fans is that, they don't want their ship to happen so they can celebrate, they want it solely to rub it in the faces of the other fandoms. Their fued with us Bughead fans has only gotten worse and Barchie happening (for however long) would give them the fuel to attack the Bughead stans with a new kind of ferocity!

I despise barchie! In fact I loathe it with an intense passion but, I don't go around spreading unwarranted hate in their tags or inbox. There's a fine line between respectful shipping and forceful shipping and the barchie fans do their best to cross it.

Their "passion" seems so baseless to me because that ship does NOT make any sense. They scream that it's endgame but, where? tell me where is barchie seen as endgame in the comics! Archie was always smitten with Veronica while Betty constantly made a fool of herself infront of everyone. Varchie was the endgame there and I think it's disrespectful to Varchie that nobody acknowledges them as the original ship of the Archie comics.

If u ask me, I'm honestly not worried about it happening because keeping Bughead apart for majority of season 2 had almost cost them their show and nobody wants that. The reason Roberto stressed on the bit about "Bughead being the investigative duo this season" constantly in all interviews is because that's what the fans want! He knows people enjoy that ship, be it teens or adults and he's aware that's where he gets a big portion of his views from. He even mentioned Choni, Falice and Varchie but NOTHING about Barchie because he recognizes that making barchie happen would entirely jeopardize not just the core 4, but the sentiment the girls shared about "no boy would ever come between us," back in season 1. It'll make the show so damn messy and I doubt they'd be able to undo that move ever. Drama can be introduced in so many other ways without having to bring in an old flame or some shit like that.

Another thing was that in season 2 while Bughead were broken up, they never dated anyone else. Besides the drama-starting Toni-Jughead & Betty-Archie kiss, there were no other advances made on their part to start up smth else with someone. They continued to give us signs and indications that brokenup!Bughead had strong feelings for each other such as: Betty's jealousy at seeing Toni and Jughead work on a project, Betty completely stopping Kevin mid-convo in the blue&gold office so Jughead could come in, Jughead asking help from Betty when he needed to save the trailer park while explaining to her that he had no one else to talk about it with, Jughead declaring infront of all the serpents that Betty is "one of us" and lastly when he tried to justify all his previous actions to her while also accepting that she can handle all his shit and then asking her to STAY.

Let me tell you anon, Bughead is the only couple that has experienced so much growth individually and together and idk if this is smth us shippers interpret on our own or if it was intentionally written by the writers, but it's visible. Bughead started off a little hesitant and soft in season 1, to supportive while on protection mode in season 2 and now it's just full-on married!Bughead. Granted they're just teenagers but they've gone through shit worse than what most adults go through and they find each other as the only support system in their life.

The writers will continue to throw twists and turns in their lives because you need a little angst and drama to keep the views up and the viewers interested but I'm pretty sure that barchie is not on their mind. You can introduce a lot of other plot devices, original ones and I'm sure our writers can come up with smth totally ridiculous because cmon - we're losing our shit over a game and a cult - they can find other things to create drama between couples.

So the point is, I don't spend time anticipating smth that has 0 chances of happening or feel even the least bit threatened by it, because it isn't endgame, it wasn't ever endgame and it'll never BE endgame. Tbh, I can continue this and point out all the reasons Archie is wrong for Betty but, I honestly don't want to pull another character down just because I don't like him so I tried to make this as decent as possible.

I will continue to ship Bughead as passionately as I do and if a barchie stan ends up on my blog I'll give her a piece of my mind and call it a day.

I'm sorry if this was too long but I needed it out of my system. Also, Thank you if reached this far down the post! 😂❤️

[nanyoky]

HAD ONE ON AN EMPTY STOMACH AND NOW TIME FOR THE BIG SHOW

OH god it’s a CHRISTMAS EPISODE. our core four pairs have broken up, fp is about to die and it’s a CHRISTMAS EPISODE

mary booked a singles cruise so i guess they couldn’t get molly ringwald for more eps this season

yay my girl polly’s back for a presumably horrifying dream sequence

That Kubrick-esque centered shot of Hood!santa climbing over the couch back????? *kisses fingers like cartoon italian chef*

Cheryl still EXPECTS her mother to put out jason’s stocking and demands to know what such a tiny candycane is doing in their home because she is still GRIEVING but still SO MUCH . this is what the death of a twin looks like take fuckin note marvel

Also nana rose didn’t die in the fire? so that’s nice.

“86,000″ “what- dollars?” like the hospital in smalltown usa might charge people in pesos or forint- godbless you archie

“Kevin’s secret santa has a 20$ limit” “Kevin needs to chill” no, v, YOU need to chill. or rather don’t. because we love you so much.

“Havent you heard? we’re still friends!” “oh yeah. isnl’t everyone?” i love these girls almost as much as the lund and byerly’s checkout lady who never judges my wednesday night sale sushi runs

fp looks so thin without his jacket and warm vestiges i’m worried about him is he taking his vitamins eating his spinach if he has been surviving on hot pockets and beer since he got out i will be so cross with him

“BOY.” i’m DISTRAUGHT. fp and jughead are living together again and we’re finally getting to see what that looks like and it’s exactly as heartbreaking as we knew it would be

also fp wears his wallet with a stylish chain that goes from his pocket to his beltloop because it’s apparently 2008 in that trailer

“Couples massage.... thanks” “You can go with betty!” audience: YES PLEASE.

also who the fuck would do a couples massage with their highschool boyfriend- veronica lodge that’s who, but who ELSE.

archie didn’t spend any money on his gift and it is obviously the ebst one int he exchange and we love him

MOOSE AND MIDGE ARE HERE TO MAKE THINGS WEIRD FOR KEVIN (HOPEFULLY)

REGGIE *SPRINTS* TO HUG MOOSE AND THE SHIP I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED EMERGES

oh dear. mr. svenson. of course i love that betty and co. know the janitor at their school’s name. is that normal? i went to an enormous highschool- i barely knew my teacher’s names half the time. but i imagine it’s very sweet and very betty of her.

oh god jughead came to riverdale high for the gift exchange because he’s a good dude. a good dude.

his little SMILE when he feels how heavy it is is the most boyish he’s looked since the scene where we find out fp is his dad in the drive in episode and I’M NOT OKAY

veronica giving archie an expensive engraved watch is CLASS COMMENTARY and it is very good of archie to try to explain that to her calmly and without accusation or bitterness i don’t know if i would handle it that well cuz fun fact i once accused a guy of making me into Pygmalion because he tried to take me to a restaurant with multiple spoons

jughead wants to help but now sweetpea has replaced joaquin as the unreasonably beautiful surrogate son fp feels more comfortable putting in danger than his own kid help

what is the point of showing cheryl is interested in buying a tree? other than maybe she’s going to spend more than her mom can afford now??? or that she’s back at archie now that josie is weirded out by her possessive obsessive tendencies? not sure what the point of that was

nice reverse zoom/dolly into a dutch angle on this modest janitor house

the parole officer calls him “jughead” that is all

hermione and hiram being deliberately flirty in front of veronica after she and hermione had that talk about loving one’s partner

“Since when are you a communist *deliberate eyeroll at hiram*” i still can’t tell whether season 1!hermione or season 2!hermione is the act and i’m still RIVETED

okay it was to show she’s just spending a bunch of money to piss off penelope who coincidentally, is wearing a WINNER of an outfit rn damn son i have that but like- not as good cuz my black lace sheath is from target

not to take credit away from cheryl’s high quality cherry sweater

“you should have drowned them at birth like a basket of kittens” NANA ROSE. NANA FUCKIN ROSE. COMIN IN HOT FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

i honestly don’t know if it’s ever stated if nana rose is penelope’s mom or clifford’s but judging purely on penelope’s eyeroll and non-verbal expression of “UGG. MOTHERRRRR” i’mma say her’s.

betty pulls her sweater over her hands when approaching her mother because how often did alice tug roughly at young!betty’s clothes to make sure she was PICTURE PERFECT at all times

we all knew that it was going to be a finger right we all knew

and of course she only tells archie because this is betty cooper we’re talking about

“would the sisters talk to us?” “pft- they better” betty’s gunna beat up a nun

also my first assumption is that the janitor’s sin is pointing out the wrong guy to the lynch mob??? could be wrong but it seems kinda odd that archie isn’t bringing up that part of the story

the lodges have the same “christmas classics” cd as my mom because of course they do

the fact that veronica finds the deed to pop’s and doesn’t react in shock or anger but sits back in her dad’s leather office chair and crosses her legs to think things over is CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

jughead knows fp too well to apologize for thinking badly of him and the duffles and IT HURTS SO GOOD

“maybe this isn’t gunna work- us living together” FP ISN’T A DAD HE’S A BIG BROTHER AND I KEEP SAYING IT BUT IT KEEPS HURTING EVERY TIME IT’S PROVEN TRUE

oh god jughead is calling on the next gen serpents for help this isn’t going to end well, son

“take out penny” take out? TAKE OUT???? TAKE OUT?!?!?! JUGGIE. take a nap.

sweet pea and fangs are either the bestest of bros or engaged to be wedded i can’t decipher their eye communication exactly

the serpents are FACTIONING and this CANNOT end well

“it was a group of men... and one woman” FOUNDING FAMILIES FOUNDING FAMILIES FOUNDING FAMILIES

next gen serpents are going to fuck everything up and i can’t take jughead trying to do an intimidating under the brows stare seriously

we all think that nun is the drug dealer lady in the wheelchair right?

“white with a cherry red stripe” THAT’S MY GIRL. THAT’S MY NANA ROSE. BACK WITH PLOT AND BACKSTORY. BATTING FOR THE TEAM. NANA ROSE BLOSSOM.

“the truth” THE LODGE TRUTH. HOOO BOY. *pours another drink*

OH MY GOD IS HE CUTTING IT OFF JUGHEAD. JUGHEAD. BETTY HAS BEEN A BAD INFLUENCE ON YOU.

i just pictured fp’s face if he saw this and did the most ridiculous puppy whine

“oh noooo. no girls allowed” NANA ROSE BLOSSOM. MY MAIN GIRL.

founding families. what did i say.

hefty sigh at barchie kiss. like- i’d be more into this if they actually built it and didn’t keep breaking up and putting everyone back together back and forth

oh cheryl saw- THAT i’m interested in

they’re not going to tell us the lodge truth because they’re bastards

penny didn’t show up for your pickup, did she?” “no.... no she didn’t.” JUGHEAD IS THE PARENT AND FP IS THE KID AND IT IS HORRIBLE AND PERVERSE AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH

“this life you tried to protect me from? i’m proud of it!” *WHALE NOISES* FP’S FACE. FP’S *FACE*. THIS IS THE LOOSE HENRIAD CRIME FAMILY AU I’VE BEEN HURTING FOR.

oh god there’s one black guy in the picture please don’t tell me our sweet angel pop was involved in this how old is pop he’s not old enough right tell me he had no part in this

*DISTRESS SCREEEEE*

UNMASK HIM BETTY UNMASK HIM ARCHIE IS FINE HE’S A BIG STRONG BOY WHO CAN TAKE A LITTLE DIRT IN HIS FACE

oh god oh god oh god did sheriff keller shoot bh so he can’t talk oh god oh god oh god

this is too easy and we all know it i’m still pulling my multiple killers theory and i haven’t given up on shady!keller yet

weird sound editing trying to give studio quality to josie and kevin just jammin acapella outside a diner

WHO THE FUCK IS PENELOPE SNOGGIN ON XMAS MORN?!?!?!

YASSS JUGHEAD GETS HER A SIGNED FIRST EDITION OF BELOVED WHICH I HAVE BASICALLY BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE BETTY SAID SHE LOVES TONI MORRISON IN EPISODE ONE. well- not exactly this. but that IS one of my alltime favorite books and a huge influence on my own gothic writing so to see it referenced on this show is just GRAND

we all know it’s not over juggie, we all know.

Episode Scorecard:

Number of sick beat drop rhythmic editing moments: none

Episode hair MVP: Nana rose’s stripe was featured as a plot point and is always of the highest quality

Do I still miss Joaquin: yes

Episode outfit MVP: Penelope’s black lace sheath

Cast/Crew shoutout: There were some really solid cinematography moments, but I would have liked to see better editing? pacing was a bit rough.