#riverdale 129

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S7 E12 (Chapter 129) After The Fall

Jughead is back to narrating. He says things about Archie and Reggie which in some ways could have applied to himself in earlier seasons but also not because Jughead did not have as much in common with Archie as Reggie evidently does. 

Jughead really is making up a story here- he says things like "they think about the same things" when in every instance we've seen from Reggie and Archie it is clear they most certainly do NOT do that.  This is a bit of sour grapes and/or anti sports bias from Jughead towards Reggie, which is nteresting because he and 50s Reggie have more in common with each other than either do with Archie.  And Reggie was spot-on to not bother learning Soup Can's name because Jughead is wrong to say Reggie thinks mostly about "cars and girls." He escapes his real thoughts using cars and girls actually. 

Perhaps Jughead is cranky because Reggie and Archie are jointly THAT kind of morning person - the kind to go running before dawn and then commit to a day's activities. Reggie focuses on "his true love," basketball, Jughead says, "while Archie gets some writing done."

Is this why Archie and Jughead can’t spend time together in this au?  That is, can they not both be writers at the same time??

Julian, who had been driving, crashed the car into the river and himself into a coma. Archie sits next to the shell shocked looking Reggie in the hospital hallway while the other boys stare blankly at the TRAUMA sign on the door to Julian’s hospital room.   “All the Bulldogs most likely would have drowned if not for Reggie,” is what Jughead says. 

Ok but I’m confused because that was an open top car that Reggie got into.  In any case, Julian looks very corpselike and his father wants someone to blame.  The easy person is apparently Reggie.

This is very entertaining because the show pointedly added a black extra to play one of the Bulldogs that got saved from drowning in an open top car (but really, how??) in a river without sustaining any visible injuries (?!!?) by Reggie, which means Clifford Blossom's prejudices operate as one of the follows: (a) he only hates Koreans in particular (b) he only hates Asian minorities or (c) he only hates poor people (so if you're middle class, race doesn't matter to Clifford).  

In any case, Clifford wants to foist blame for all this right on Reggie.  Maybe because he is in a hospital, Clifford chooses his words carefully - he calls Reggie Punk and Thug rather than some more choice words. Uncle Fucking Frank states a truth- that it was Julian who was driving  - but completely fails to stick up for Reggie or directly defend him.  This struck me as very true to life. 

Reggie and Archie hear this whole exchange, including Clifford demanding that Reggie be kicked off the team altogether, but Reggie still doesn't have a reaction.

Jughead says that the Bulldogs' brush with death was a tragedy and so was the whole sequence of events leading to Ethel killing the Milkman.  Jughead also friendzones Ethel hardcore at this particular moment too, in his narration:  "My BUD Ethel.”  S7 narrator Jughead has an unplesant sneery side which I don’t know what to do with.  At the moment, the two of them also look very shell shocked.  Jughead is sitting just like the rescued-by-Reggie Bulldogs were, while Ethel, with a halting, affectless voice, tells the very useless Sheriff Keller what happened:  “It was the same milkman that I saw leaving my house. after he killed my parents.”

Ethel is a goddamn hero, and oh to be a big strong girl like her, to be able to overpower a crazed knife wielding asshole.  Good for you Ethel. 

When Ethel basically confesses to killing the man, Jughead comes out of his shock to interrogate the oddly silent Sheriff. “It was self defense!” he says.   

But then Keller says a series of weird things.   All his questions are answered, he says. He doesn’t want Ethel to make any sort of statement at the station, he says. This whole situation - a teenage girl runaway from a home for troubled kids stabbing a man dressed up in a milkman’s outfit in the abandoned apartment of a man possibly murdered by te same milkman is… “an open and shut case.”  

Jughead gets very annoyed - as he always does with Kevin’s dad in every universe, because that man sucks - and wants some answers.  “Who is he? Who is the milkman?!”

Keller doesn’t even pretend to have any sort of respectable answer, instead stammering about “fingerprints on a file” and so on as Ethel finally starts to feel the gravity of what she just faced and begins to weep.  

So rather than do any sort of crime solving this American cop’s priority is to take the unjustly incarcerated girl with no one in the world back to the site of incarceration.  Jughead and Ethel vociferously disagree with this plan.  I guess because he is faced with incontrovertible evidence that Ethel is capable of killing a man when she needs to, Keller doesn’t insist, other than to say that he needs an adult to be involved in the care of Ethel.

But why not Jughead?  Why doesn’t JUGHEAD need to be in the care of an adult?

Anyway, the person that Jughead decides is a worthwhile bet in this town is Mary Andrews.  She really must have some sort of allergic reaction to there being too many men in her house, because now that all three are gone she can suddenly occupy her kitchen.  She is wearing a robe, with her hair up in a net.  For some reason Betty and Alice are in the kitchen with her, also in very elaborate robes.  

This culture is very strange to me, this business of wearing printed robes. It looks nice but like, if you have time to find the thing and tie it on, wouldn’t it take just as much or little time to change into shorts and a blouse?  Anyway, the three women are very startled that it is Jughead calling about Ethel and not Frank or Archie calling about Julian or Reggie. 

Mary must’ve given Jughead permission to come to the house with Ethel because the next time we see them Jughead and Betty are sitting either side of Ethel, who is holding onto her knees with all her might.  Honestly who can blame her?  I would be in total hysterics in her shoes.   Jughead is back to looking shocked, and Betty is calmly checking out the blood stains on Ethel’s coat. Ethel is always covered in blood.  

Mary doesn’t want Ethel and Alice is willing to take her on.  When Ethel objects, Alice says that it wasn’t her idea to ditch Ethel at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. She’s being evil and creepy, is Alice, but Ethel has no other viable choices, poor thing.  Betty is very skeptical of what her mother is up to.

Later that night, Archie and Reggie are trying to get to sleep in their shared room.  Archie tries his best - he calls Reggie a hero for saving everyone.  Reggie is very, very realistic.  He says that he did what he did - repeatedly dive into the raging(??) river to haul out boys he doesn’t like and one who was particularly hateful to him because he knew that if any one of them died - “especially Blossom” - he would have been “locked up for the rest of his life” or worse than locked up.  Archie doesn’t know what to say to that, but because Reggie performed the Very Useful Minority function of opening his eyes for him, Archie at least knows not to say any Pollyanna shit in response.

The next morning, Betty comes down to see Alice serving a very uncomfortable Ethel some breakfast.  (When she rejected Betty as a daughter, she enacted that by telling her to make her own breakfast.)  These two not very nice women start fighting over Ethel.  Betty invites Ethel to walk with her to school, to which Alice ups the stakes and says she’ll be DRIVING Ethel to school that day.  Ethel really wants to get away from Alice, but dares not. 

As soon as she’s at school, Betty vents to Veronica about how phony her mother is.  She wants to run away from home now.  Veronica unburdens herself too, finally admitting that she has been locked out of her own apartment.  

The post has already been made about how Veronica is sort of living Jughead’s S1 storyline except better - instead of a bunk bed in a rundown building at the drive in, she’s living in a well appointed office attached to her movie palace.  Veronica still feels like “a common squatter,” however.  Betty gets a very shiny look in her eye as she asks Veronica if she has tried “breaking back into” her home. 

We’re in English class now, where the teacher thinks that the solution to their current town doldrums - a boy in a coma, several traumatized from a car accident involving a submerged vehicle, ETHEL KNIFING A MAN TO DEATH IN SELF DEFENSE AFTER RUNNING AWAY FROM ASYLUM -is … a poem written by a classmate.

Phantom. 

They tell me I’m solid

They pat me on the back 

They see a son

A student

A Team Player

They see a boy like any other

But I look in the mirror

And there’s no one there

Just smoke and mirrors

And I do not know how to be solid.

…. This is Archie’s poem.  He is mortified by this public reading.  Ethel says this poem, which uhhh I am not a poet so I don’t know but it doesnt seem … all that great?  But anyway  - Ethel says it’s Beautiful but also she just stabbed a man to death in self defense literally last night and then had Alice Cooper practically spoon feed her breakfast fruits this morning before driving her to school so Ethel cannot be trusted.

Kevin is the most cringe anyone has ever been on this show, this show with the infamous I’m A Weird Weirdo Speech. He assumes Clay wrote it, turns around all googley eyed in his chair to tell him thati it was “incredible.” Clay has caught all the smug from Kevin though and smoothly says back that he didn’t write it. Kevin is this close to sucking off his boyfriend in class like right now.

Then the teacher outs him - Archie wrote it. She thinks he has a lot to say. Everyone - but especially Reggie - is more perturbed than impressed that it was Archie.

This is a good day that doesn't feel great for Archie because the next thing that happens is that he is named interim captain of the basketball team by his uncle. Both Reggie and Archie thought it should’ve been Reggie. Archie isn’t happy.

The crazy aged boyfriends that run the school are interrogating Ethel and Jughead again, but pretending to do it all friendly-like. The child psychologist says the most insane thing ever: He says that Ethel has proven her sanity BY KILLING THE MILKMAN. He could have literally said anything else - like, You were telling the truth after all! or something but no. Silencing that weird milkman outfit wearing person by KILLING him was the way she got to prove her sanity.

The psychologist insists on calling the milkman ‘a drifter’ because Keller said so, then he launches into a whole speech about how comic books (not murderers, not cops unable to solve murders) were the problem all along. Jughead and Ethel wearing matching forest greens, put on their innocent faces to ask if drifters don’t in fact just ‘drift’? So how to explain the fixation on killing all these people in this particular zip code?

The principal looks more and more disturbed as the psychologist waxes on, but doesn’t say a word in agreement nor disagreement when his boyfriend says "We have told you exactly what happened.” He’s a single issue crusader, and his target is still comic books.

Archie goes to visit Frank to try to get out of being captain. “But shouldn’t it be Reggie?” he says. Frank says that it wasn’t his call because Clifford wanted the only other red haired boy to be captain of the basketball team. Instead of addressing the weird redhead religion, Archie points out that Clifford Blossom has been giving Reggie a hard time from the start. Frank knuckles him down into silence, then brings out the kryptonite - a relic of Saint Fred. “Your Dad’s Captain’s Patch.” So that completely bowls Archie over. His fetishization of his father is astonishing.

Betty has packed up to run away, politely announcing to her mother where she’ll be staying. Alice doesn’t try to stop her.

Lickety split, Betty breaks into the apartment. A skill she learned from Tracey True books! Veronica is elated, telling her that they can be as loud as they want inside the apartment but can't be too careful when using the back stairs to get in or out. Then she says that she has invited “the boys” who are most definitely not Reggie or Archie because she “actually wants to have some fun.”

This is possibly the most callous thing that Veronica has ever said. lololol I mean! Reggie is not ‘fun’ because he’s just been through a terrifying ordeal of a car accident, and Archie is not fun because he’s taking over as captain from Jason when he thinks it should be Reggie. I mean, I think what she means is that they’re not fun for her because they both rejected her as being too much for each of them and then both got fixated on Betty, but that’s not any better right? And then things really go sideways because it turnso ut who she has called are her employees: Clay and Kevin.

These are the two least fun people in Riverdale. Clay is stultifyingly boring, pompous and self absorbed. He’s a bit too comfortable lapping up his boyfriend’s slavering adoration in public for my liking. And Kevin should not be let anywhere near Betty. His coming out as gay DOES NOT ERASE all that hateful truly misogynist shit he said and did to her while he was using her as an unknowing beard. This is so sad for Veronica too - she is still so lonely, but the only people she can find to keep her company are the girl who needs to get away from her psycho mom and her two gay employees.

Meanwhile, at the Blossom house, Cheryl is furious that the basketball season is to continue. Though initially at the hospital Clifford was angry enough to want blood for blood, now that he’s had time to think about his real priorites (uh the possibility of the basketball team having an actual winning streak), he’s decided that his moderately capable son being in a coma may not be such a bad thing. When Cheryl says she will not be cheering on this team while her “brother languishes between life and death” her father gets physically violent and verbally abusive: He threatens to put her in a coma (or I guess kill her) if she doesn’t perform to expectation. Cheryl runs away, upset.

Now we’re back at the Pembroke, where the Beronica and the Icky Gays are putting on some sort of show to some sort of unknown audience. Things get very surreal very fast. Is this music diagetic or not? Why do they keep looking at different corners of the room? Are they aware of the camera somehow? Is this fourth wall bursting but only implicitly? Did they rehearse this?

I kind of wish the show had made a clean break of it for this number, you know, like Bollywood. Where you’re in the market putting bangles on the girl and then the music starts and suddenly you’re 2 kms apart in front of the pyramids at Giza and running towards each other singing.

In any case, the boyfriends help the two girls sing about washing some man right out of their hair.

Then they all settle down in front of the fireplace to do some underage drinking. Betty says to Kevin that this is “more of a kick than when” they were going steady.

The misogynist gaslighting he put her through has permanently damaged Betty’s brain, I swear to god.

The thing is this line of questioning that Kevin starts makes me hate him even more. As I’ve said, Veronica went after and got rejected by both Archie and Reggie, and now, WHILE UNDER HER ROOF, you ask Betty how her threesome date with those two exact men went? C’mere, Kev, there’s something right at the crotch of your pants, let me kick it off for you with the steel toe of my boot.

Veronica even looks a bit bereft when Betty says that she and Archie did kiss after “percolating” on Halloween night.

Unsurprisingly, Veronica changes the subject. She wants to know who has the biggest dick in Riverdale. For a virgin she has a weird amount of confidence about what happens in the boys’ locker room - “having a steam” and “snapping towels.” Kevin - of course Kevin - coughts it up immediately: Both Reggie and Archie are sizable. Then we go down the roster - Jason and Fangs both have small penises, but the true event is that Dilton Doiley is superhung.

The girls scream about it. I’m - skeptical. If the dude is very narrowly built, normal size junk can look more substantial. Trompe l’oeil if you like.

At the basketball game the next day, the hungover bad girls are wearing dark sunglasses indoors for the starting line up presentation. Cheryl looks extremely unhappy to be introducing Archie as the new team captain. Her mother is wearing the most extravagant ribbons. Cheryl looks so unhappy that Archie asks her how she’s doing. She says she’s fine but then tosses him to the wolves, making him give a speech.

Fortunately, we are not subjected to the speech, which apparently was merely ‘nice’ according to Mrs. Thornton, the English teacher. She comes to find him to tell him that he writes better than he speaks. She hopes that Archie will put as much energy into his writing as he does into his sport.

Fieldstone, the shady publisher of disreputable comic books, is the only adult with the correct take on Ethel. Oh! It just occurred to me that Fieldstone and Werthers might be exes. And that’s why the fixation on comic books in particular as the source of all evil! She “survived those crazy nuns, took out a killer and cleared your name!”

Yeah! ETHEL IS AWESOME.

Immediately, he offers her employment and something else to think about, both of which she needs very much. He coassigns Jughead and Ethel to a project. “I am looking at the dream team!” he says.

Ethelhead are nuts. Jughead has picked up some of the sleaziness and says that he thinks it's a good idea to capitalize on the media attention the milkman case has gotten by working on the sequel to the original comic. Greater commercial considerations must take precedent - there is too much "heat" around the milkman comics and killings so they are not to touch the milkman topic at all. Ethelhead seem disappointed.

Betty and Veronica are shopping at Mary Andrew's dress shop. She's being a bad saleswoman- eavesdropping on their conversation before interrupting, not offering any assistance and then being super nosy about where to send the clothes to. Betty tells her that Alice is copacetic with Betty staying with Veronica but I guess Mary still hasn't forgiven Veronica for setting up that beauty contest between the boys because she is suddenly determined to do something about their situation. I mean . . . Mary, you yeet out of existence altogether because Frank is in the house. Don't poke your nose into these girls' business please. But more than the idea of Betty spending a lot of time with Veronica, it’s really her use of the word Copacetic that really sticks in Mary’s craw. She doesn’t approve when children use big words I guess?

We cut to a bronze looking statue of a bulldog seated in a car in front of Riverdale HS. Fangs screams out that the thing’s name is Peppy, and Archie also supplies the fact that this statute is “our mascot.” The villain of this scene is of course Bret Weston Wallis. He calls Archie “Red” (and ignores Fangs altogether, which - he is so right for this!) before he baits Reggie by calling him “a choker” which sounded very sexual to me until he added that he meant that Reggie cracks under pressure. Archie and Bret almost come to blows over Reggie’’s honor.

In the main timeline, of course, Archie and Bret came to fisticuffs over sports too, but the the time when Archie successfully physically assaulted Bret was over the alleged death of Jughead.

Jughead in this universe is completely split away from Archie, where Archie probably has no idea whatsoever what Jughead is doing and they barely interact, which means Reggie is firmly in Jughead’s previous role vis a vis Archie.

One of the difficulties that the narrative keeps having to contend with in Riverdale - which I’ve tracked in my retreads of earlier seasons - is that while the narrative is certain that Archie is The Lead and furthermore is backed up by Jughead the narrator thinking Archie is The Lead, in fact this show has two leads (and it’s not any of the girls, awesome as they are). Jughead is the other lead of this show, which sometimes he wants and other times he doesn’t. When Jughead interacts too closely with Archie, he inevitably tends to push Archie closer to the villains, to become the anti-hero. This is why, in this timeline, with minimal interaction with Jughead, Archie is so wholesome and bouncy and innocent.

End of sidebar.

In any case, Archie threatens violence on Bret, but Reggie stops him. Before they drive off cackling like mustache twirling villains, Bret gets a last dig in about Reggie’s poverty He’d bet a wager with the Bulldogs, he says, but he doesn’t “play for food stamps.”

Reggie was never implied to be poor in the og timeline, but because he’s Jughead in this one, he has also inherited Jughead’s poverty.

At the Andrew’s house, Reggie is talking his teammates through a game plan about how to handle each of the Stonewall Prep players. Reggie has really pretty, clean handwriting. He’s being very commander-in–chief, giving encouraging, bite-size instructions. He’s also hyper observant, so Reggie reads all of Archie’s microexpressions accurately. He knows something is off.

Later, doing dishes side by side at the sink - the exact kind of activity that Jughead would’ve loved to do by the way - Reggie asks his boyfriend, I mean, Archie, why he’s upset. Archie is upset because Reggie should be captain of this team. Reggie says having a title is not that important - he wants to keep winning games “until I can go pro. Archie says he only plays basketball so he can feel close to his dad.

Reggie, looking lean and sexy as fuck with a very thick belt tight around his hips, asks him “So what’s your passion? Cars? Girls?” as they two of them stand shoulder to beefy shoulder. These are the two that he can think of Archie exhibiting some sort of interest in from their time together, but Archie doesn’t say yes to either. He instead puts a hand on Reggie’s shoulder (does he mean to say, YOU?) then gives him a very intense look deep into his eyes before he says “You wouldn’t belief it even if I told you.” This is the Archie that only learned through his Uncle of the sexual pervert mustache what gayness was, so I think he thinks Reggie would also find gayness unbelievable. (The show wants me to think Archie is this passionate about ‘poetry’ but I just don’t believe it).

At Jughead’s train car, Ethel is sketching away.

Ok but seriously, there’s not gonna be any sort of publicity or trial or anything about the fact that she straight up stabbed a man to death? Riverdale is such a scary town. Keller is a man who will force a prostitute to rape his teenage son, so I’m not surprised or anything, but a whole person DIED at the hands of a teenage asylum runaway and nobody bats an eye in Riverdale. Don’t ever go there. Holy shit.

She is almost done with a scary sketch of  a menacing milkman.  When Jughead asks her to be mindful of what the publisher said, that there was to be no Milkman reference anywhere, she says that it’s really important to her to keep a hold of what she knows to be true because “everyone is still trying to tell me what happened and how it happened.”   She says, through her tears that she wants to tell her story, “even if it’s just in a comic book.”  Jughead is in full support, so he wants to find a solution, to have their cake and eat it “without a glass of milk, of course heh.”  He’s so sweet, but I’m annoyed that this doesn’t seem to be leading to Ethelhead.  It should.  She’s a (literally) tortured artist with a dark past and resilient spirit and he’s her understanding squire and helpmeet and THEY SHOULD KISS.  Give me Ethelhead, Roberto!   Support women artists, goddamn you!

Over at the Pembroke, Betty and Veronica have dressed up in sheer nightgown type things for each other (Veronica in periwinkle and Betty in pink).  They’re sitting in front of the fire as Veronica paints Betty’s nails.   The one bonding activity Veronica remembers with her mother is a manicure at bedtime.  Betty says Alice stopped interacting with her in any sort of tender way as soon as her period started.  

Then Veronica says something that startles me by reminding me that these girls are supposed to be “sixteen years old, living without our mothers.”  Right. Sixteen. 

And then Veronica and Betty have an intensely Bughead moment, which sent me reeling.   Alienation from (Betty) and abandonment by (Jughead) their families of origin, as well as the reassurance stated as a prayer (from Jughead to Betty) to not be like either of their parents was a major note in the Bughead relationship. Now that beat is given over to Beronica, with Betty taking the lead to break away from the previous generation.   They link their pinkies on this promise then seal it with a kiss on their own thumbs.

There’s a sudden swerve, where Betty terrifyingly says that she finds Kevin and Clay to be a “happy, healthy couple” and Veronica even more terrifyingly agrees that they are “the dreamiest.

I’m about to get racial so hold on to your hats.

The degree to which white American women are never allowed to get angry at white men is very terrifying to watch from the sidelines.  The exact way when Kim Ilsung died and North Korean television kept showing people coming out of the subway pretending to bawl their eyes out as they hurried to work the next morning?  That’s the level of alarm (so vast it brings on disassociation) that I feel when when Betty says that she finds this ex boyfriend’s very unbalanced, very fetishize and bizarrely obsequious relationship with his first boyfriend “happy and healthy.”  It’s so sick.  Betty being raised in an insane environment where white girls like her are simply not allowed to feel anger at white men (hating the woman who created her and birthed her is fine, by the way, she just can’t be angry at MEN) means that she has to simp for this misogynist (before he’s anything else to me, gay Kevin is a man who hates women)  who called her a sexual pervert for being horny and didn’t bother to hide how much he wanted to throw up in his mouth whenever he had to touch her boob and was moreover fully willing to sexually assault a woman for pay so he wouldn’t lose face in front of other men.  

Veronica though is so eager to get into Betty’s pants that she (without being able to maintain eye contact with Betty) pretends to go along with this bit of crazy (because we all do that, when we have the hots for someone and we’re 16) (....or 26 ahem), before she quickly changes the topic.

“It mus be easier for two boys to date than a boy and a girl.  None of that battle of the sexes stuff to navigate.”

This is the ultimate statement on Yaoi.  Yup. Yes. This is what girls who get off on eroticized/ exoticized depictions of gay relationships assume. 

Betty picks up on where Veronica is going with this immediately, chiming in with the “fun fact” that 81% of girls experiment with other girls before they turn 18.   Veronica says she’s kissed a famous girl before.   Betty says that she’s thought about kissing Veronica before.  And then they play a really pretty version of the theme song - the Riverdale theme song  as the two girls lean in for a kiss.

Only to be interrupted by Mary Andrews, wielding Smithers.  She wants to know everything.

We’re supposed to hate Mary, but guess what Roberto - I still hate Kevin more. 

Meanwhile, Cheryl is weeping at Julian’s bedside.  She says - and this is partially a lie - that she misses Julian and loves him.  I think it’s true that she misses him. She’s seen that her life is going to descend to a new circle of hell without Julians’ mediating male presence in her misogynist household. The combined force of her parents’ insanity is too  much for her to shoulder alone.  Julian wakes up at her plea.

Mary Andrews is having a very presumptuous evening, taking a seat at the head of the table at the Pembroke to express outrage about “a parent disowning their own child” and “evicting” their own child.   Except in the OG timeline, Mary Andrews completely abandoned Archie for long stretches before selling him a bombed out house for actual money.  If her outrage at how other women are doing something she did to her own in another timeline is supposed to be her redemption arc, I am not buying it.

Same time that night, Cheryl somehow knows to go creeping to her father’s study just in time to overhear that Featherhead has been tasked with bringing in a replacement for Reggie - K.O. Kelly from Boston - at her father’s instruction. After his great Yellow experiment, Clifford has had it and wants “a real” American boy so he can “send that Mantle packing.”

He wouldn’t call him Mantle in private like that. I don’t ever want or need hatespeech against Asians on American TV but this is getting ridiculous.

The next morning, Mary is yelling at Alice about being “no good” and “rotten” to which Alice reacts like a teenaged 'bad girl’ getting told off by an irate nun. She’s already had a go at Hermione Lodge, and now is demanding that Alice tap into her sense of ‘sacrifice’ to “regain your moral footing.” Veronica made out ok - she got her key to her home back - but Betty is right back in Alice’s clutches, which I’m not sure is a solution. The way Alice’s compliance is shown is by her doing Betty’s laundry and delivering to her while the daughter sits cross legged on the bed. It’s not at all clear to me why Mary Andrews yelling is going to change anything for Alice, but Alice forewarns about future battles. She tells Betty that Ethel is as much her daughter to her now as Betty.

Cheryl tells Archie, who tells Reggie, about the plan to cut Reggie from the team. Reggie hears it, and then says “How much you wanna bet the new ringer is a few shades lighter than me?” which is very funny in a bad way because a) the actor playing Reggie is mixed race so he’s not particularly dark skinned and b) the actor playing KO Kelly was very tan with black hair and so side by side COLORING wise they are identical. Archie is freaking out, and pushes Reggie to say what he really wants which is to be captain after all, at least for what might be his final game. Archie is going to help with that.

So. This is where I must speak up for Cheryl. Archie is doing an exceptional thing - he was given white insider privilege (being named captain because he is white with red hair) which he wants to give up for the meritorious candidate who isn’t those things. Cheryl on the other hand is given the third degree for something she can’t do anything about (not having any not white writers on the high school syllabus) plus being put through the ringer just because she wanted to see what her girlfriend’s club was. What the hell.

At Pep Comics, Ethelhead of my heart are presenting Ethel’s latest work to Fieldstone. They’ve made the milkman a mailman. The panel shows the deranged mailman holding a decapitated woman's head by the hair while Ethel in the foreground screams in horror. Is… is this how Ethel’s parents died?? By decapitation?

Fieldstone loves it! He thinks it’s brilliant. He does warn them though that “a storm is coming, like the wrath of God.” Jughead, wearing a very strange shirt with repeats of a six sailed ship in a bottle, pedantically tells him that since sticking their head in the sand won’t help, they “run headlong into the thunder and thumb our noses at it.” But the real talent of the pair is Ethel, who earns the sobriquet “girl genius” from the publisher. They decide to publish!

Archie, Reggie and the team all show up to see Clifford Blossom. Archie really has a thing about organizing people - into white supremacist vigilante gangs (Toni Topaz wording, not mine), labor unions and now whatever this is. The entire team will walk (stage a strike) if Clifford won’t name Reggie captain and also promise not to replace him. Clifford is furious, but it looks like the boys will win!

Betty can’t sleep but just then, Veronica calls! Just to say that she loves Betty, who says it back to her. They’re gonna go to the basketball game tomorrow.

Poof and now it’s tomorrow and Uncle Frank yields the floor to Reggie to give his speech as Captain. Reggie thanks them, and tells them that his parents are in the audience. Do we get to see Reggie’s folks at last? As the last two to leave the changing room, Reggie and Archie have this very manly exchange: “Don’t even give them a second to breathe.” “Count on that.”

Then they have a slow-mo walk out to the court. Reggie faces off with Bret, as a narrator takes over because the show understands (I hope) that nobody cares about the actual game. The Bulldogs dominated all the way to a victory. Montage shows - patrons of Pop’s glued to the radio, Julian & Cheryl listening in, Clifford bitter and drinking, the changing room in a disarray, the bulldog statue returned! Archie rounds us off letting us know that Reggie is MVP and record breaker. he also apparently saw the Parents of Reggie Mantle who can never be shown to the audience.

It was a huge mistake to give his parents a specific Asian ethnicity and to pick Korean at that. I suppose the actor or twitter may have objected, but in the historical context, making Reggie Japanese American or Chinese American would’ve made so much more sense, and been much easier to deal with.

Archie pins Reggie as they sit in their underwear in their shared bedroom. I mean. That’s what giving the captain’s patch to Reggie means, right? After all that fuss made over what Kevin did with Betty?

Reggie reveals that he knows fully well what Archie’s secret passion might be: Poetry. But with Reggie now in his rightful place as captain, Archie wants to stick aroundf or basketball.

All of a sudden, Jughead narration comes back, specifically to deny the intense homosexual emotion that the Reggie and Archie pairing are exhibiting. They are ‘wrestling’ after doings some very intimate conversation, after Archie has pinned Reggie using a totemic item symbolizing his FATHER, so Jughead insists they are “friends, PRACTICALLY BROTHERS.” Jughead is so jealous that when Reggie picks Archie off the floor to hoist him onto his shoulders (and rubs a hand up his thigh) to literally spin him out of our view (onto an awaiting bed, because there is literally nowhere else to go), he makes it thunder, then starts shouting about “the wrath of god” that was coming. “All of us would be smashed to pieces by it” could’ve sounded prophetic, but, actually it has all the bitterness of the whole “if I can’t have her nobody shall!” cry of rejected lovers.

[nightmarebees]

2017 BERONICA NATION RISE UP

[rhododaktyl]

I think the thematic implications of Riverdale s7 (especially 129-131) are kinda Weird and i'm struggling with what to make of them

archie quitting kevin's play. metatextually archie is not only quitting the play to focus on what he really wants to do, but quitting the CW's Riverdale to give himself free will

betty saying she wonders if she's adopted. she no longer sees herself as bearing the sins of her family, even feeling alien to their darkness instead of too familiar. betty then is set to break intergenerational cycle fundamental to the internal logic of RVD

all of this is well and good, and an interesting notion to set up the end of the show. if we see multiple endgames as has been suggested, it will reinforce the notion of free will over determinism to see how the characters find different lives in different circumstances

what gets me personally is the consequences of free will and what that is supposed to mean

archie breaks the cycle only to ... go study poetry under geraldine grundy, which is the same path of fate he was taken down leading up to the beginning of riverdale. archie has been presented the same choice between sports and music/poetry and made the same decision. despite his break from the narrative, he's following the exact path he would under the narrative, seemingly still governed by fate in spite of the appearance of free will

otoh

betty and veronica's mutual confession is immediately inspired by betty and veronica's desire to alter the narrative. arguably the implication here is that betty and veronica getting together is something that could not have happened without their free will; mary walking in exactly as they're about to kiss in 129 demonstrates the narrative necessitating them being kept apart, as e.g. veronica's jealousy over betty and archie/betty and drake could not be explored because of the sudden death of the firstborn in 113 taking her attention.

so idk what's the takeaway here? also: julian's birth, veronica's coming to riverdale ny under very similar circumstances as in s1, tabitha's thomas aquinas thing (and apparent consequences thereof already, e.g. black athena, greater acceptance of homosexuals)

[memecucker]

@doombrigade

1988

Edit

26 September 1988: The novel is published in the UK.

Khushwant Singh, while reviewing the book in Illustrated Weekly, proposed a ban on The Satanic Verses, apprehending the reaction it may evoke among people.[citation needed]

5 October 1988: India bans the novel's importation, after Indian parliamentarian and editor of the monthly magazine Muslim India Syed Shahabuddin petitioned the government of Rajiv Gandhi to ban the book.[127][128][129] In 1993, Syed Shahabuddin tried unsuccessfully to ban another book (Ram Swarup's Hindu View of Christianity and Islam).[130][131]

October 1988: Death threats against Rushdie compel him to cancel trips and sometimes take a bodyguard. Letter writing campaign to Viking Press in America brings "tens of thousands of menacing letters".[132]

20 October 1988: Union of Muslim Organisations of the UK writes the British government pressing for a ban of The Satanic Verse on grounds of blasphemy.[133]

21 November 1988: Grand sheik of Egypt Al-Azhar calls on Islamic organisations in Britain to take legal action to prevent the novel's distribution.

24 November 1988: The novel is banned in South Africa and Pakistan; bans follow within weeks in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sudan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Qatar.

2 December 1988: First book burning of The Satanic Verses in UK. 7000 Muslims attend rally burning the book in Bolton,[134] though the event is barely noticed by the media.[135]

1989

Edit

14 January 1989: A copy of the book is burned in Bradford. Extensive media coverage and debate. Some support from non-Muslims.[134]

January 1989: Islamic Defense Council demands that Penguin Books apologise, withdraw the novel, destroy any extant copies, and never reprint it.

February 1989: The first copies of the United States edition appear in bookstores, along with book reviews in the US press.

12 February 1989: Six people are killed and 100 injured when 10,000 attack the American Cultural Center in Islamabad, Pakistan protesting against Rushdie and his book.[136]

13 February 1989: One person is killed and over 100 injured in anti-Rushdie riots in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.[137][138]

14 February 1989: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issues a fatwa calling on all Muslims to execute all those involved in the publication of the novel; the 15 Khordad Foundation, an Iranian religious foundation or bonyad, offers a reward of $US1 million or 200 million rials for the murder of Rushdie, $3 million if done by an Iranian.

16 February 1989: Armed Islamist groups, such as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp and Hezbollah of Lebanon, express their enthusiasm to "carry out the Imam's decree".[139] Rushdie enters the protection programme of the British government. The bounty on his head is raised to $6 million.[39]

17 February 1989: Iranian president Ali Khamenei says Rushdie could be pardoned if he apologises.[140]

17 February 1989: Book store chains including B. Dalton, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, and Coles Book Stores say that they will no longer sell the book.[141]

18 February 1989: Rushdie apologizes as President Khamenei suggested; initially, IRNA (the official Iranian news agency) says Rushdie's statement "is generally seen as sufficient enough to warrant his pardon".[142]

19 February 1989: Ayatollah Khomeini issues edict saying no apology or contrition by Rushdie could lift his death sentence.

22 February 1989: The novel is published in the US; major bookstore chains Barnes & Noble and Waldenbooks, under threat, remove the novel from one-third of the nation's bookstores.

24 February 1989: Twelve people die and 40 are wounded when a large anti-Rushdie riot in Bombay, Maharashtra, India starts to cause considerable property damage and police open fire.[143]

28 February 1989: Bookstores, including Cody's and Waldenbooks in Berkeley, California, USA, are firebombed for selling the novel.[144]

28 February 1989: 1989 firebombing of the Riverdale Press: The offices of the Riverdale Press, a weekly newspaper in the Bronx, is destroyed by firebombs. A caller to 911 says the bombing was in retaliation for an editorial defending the right to read the novel and criticising the chain stores that stopped selling it.[145]

7 March 1989: Iran breaks diplomatic relations with Britain.

March 1989: Independent book stores including Cody's in Berkeley, California, United States and Powell's in Portland, Oregon, United States continue to sell the book.[146]

March 1989: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference calls on its 46 member governments to prohibit the novel. The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar sets the punishment for possession of the book as three years in prison and a fine of $2,500; in Malaysia, three years in prison and a fine of $7,400; in Indonesia, a month in prison or a fine. The only nation with a predominantly Muslim population where the novel remains legal is Turkey. Several nations with large Muslim minorities, including Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, also impose penalties for possessing the novel.

May 1989: Musician Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) indicates his support for the fatwa and states during a British television documentary, according to The New York Times, that if Rushdie shows up at his door, he "might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like... I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is".[147] Yusuf Islam later denied giving support to the fatwa. For more on this topic see Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie.

27 May 1989: 15,000 to 20,000 Muslims gather in Parliament Square in London burning Rushdie in effigy and calling for the novel's banning.[148]

3 June 1989: Khomeini dies. Former president Khamenei takes over as the new Supreme Leader.

31 July 1989: The BBC broadcasts Tony Harrison's film-poem The Blasphemers' Banquet in which Harrison defends Rushdie by likening him to Molière, Voltaire, Omar Khayyam and Byron.

Following the broadcast of his film-poem, Harrison published a poem titled The Satanic Verses in The Observer in which he wrote:[149]

I shall not cease from mental strife

nor shall my pen sleep in my hand

till Rushdie has a right to life

and books aren't burned or banned

3 August 1989: A man using the alias Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh accidentally blew himself up along with two floors of a central London hotel while preparing a bomb intended to kill Rushdie.[150]

Kerstin Ekman and Lars Gyllensten, members of the Swedish Academy (which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature), stopped participating in the Academy's work in protest at the Academy's refusal to support an appeal to the Swedish cabinet in support for Rushdie.[151][152] Gyllensten dies in 2006, while Ekman leaves in 2018 after the Academy changed its rules, permitting resignations.[153]

1990

Edit

1990: Rushdie apologises to Muslims.

1990: Rushdie publishes an essay on Khomeini's death, "In Good Faith", to appease his critics and issues an apology in which he seems to reaffirm his respect for Islam; however, Iranian clerics do not retract the fatwa.

1990: Five bombings target bookstores in England.

24 December 1990: Rushdie signs a declaration affirming his Islamic faith and calls for Viking-Penguin, the publisher of The Satanic Verses, neither to issue the book in paperback nor to allow it to be translated.[91]

1991

Edit

11 July 1991: Hitoshi Igarashi, the novel's Japanese translator, is stabbed to death;[154] and Ettore Capriolo, its Italian translator, is seriously wounded.

1993–1994

Edit

2 July 1993: Thirty-seven Turkish intellectuals and locals participating in the Pir Sultan Abdal Literary Festival die when the conference hotel in Sivas, Turkey, is burnt down by a mob of radical islamists. Participating in the conference was Aziz Nesin, who had previously announced that he was going to get the book translated and published. The mob demanded he be handed over for summary execution. The mob set the hotel alight when Nesin was not turned over. Nesin escaped the fire and survived.[155]

11 August 1993: Rushdie makes a rare public appearance at U2's concert in Wembley Stadium on their Zoo TV Tour in London. Bono, donned as stage character/devil Mr. MacPhisto, placed a call to Rushdie only to find himself face to face with Rushdie on stage. Rushdie told Bono that "real devils don't wear horns".

October 1993: The novel's Norwegian publisher, William Nygaard, is shot and seriously injured.

1997–1998

Edit

1997: The bounty is doubled, to $600,000.

1998: Iranian government publicly declares that it will "neither support nor hinder assassination operations on Rushdie".[63] This is announced as part of a wider agreement to normalise relations between Iran and the United Kingdom. Rushdie subsequently declares that he will stop living in hiding, and that he is not, in fact, religious. According to some of Iran's leading clerics, despite the death of Khomeini and the Iranian government's official declaration, the fatwa remains in force. Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharazi stated,

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention, nor is it going to take any action whatsoever, to threaten the life of the author of The Satanic Verses or anybody associated with his work, nor will it encourage or assist anybody to do so".[2]

1999

Edit

1999: An Iranian foundation places a $2.8 million bounty on Rushdie's life.

14 February 1999: on the tenth anniversary of the ruling against Rushdie, more than half of the deputies in (Iranian) Parliament sign a statement declaring, "The verdict on Rushdie, the blasphemer, is death, both today and tomorrow, and to burn in hell for all eternity".[156]

2000–2004

Edit

14 February 2000: Ayatollah Hassan Saneii, the head of the 15th of Khordad Foundation, reiterates that the death sentence remains valid and the foundation's $2.8 million reward will be paid with interest to Rushdie's assassins. Persians take this news with some scepticism as the foundation is "widely known" to be bankrupt.[156]

January 2002: South Africa lifts its ban on The Satanic Verses.[157]

16 February 2003: Iran's Revolutionary Guards reiterate the call for the assassination of Rushdie. As reported by the Sunday Herald, "Ayatollah Hassan Saneii, head of the semi-official Khordad Foundation that has placed a $2.8 million bounty on Rushdie's head, was quoted by the Jomhuri Islami newspaper as saying that his foundation would now pay $3 million to anyone who kills Rushdie".[158]

2005–2007

Edit

Early 2005: Khomeini's fatwa against Rushdie is reaffirmed by Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message to Muslim pilgrims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Iran has rejected requests to withdraw the fatwa on the basis that only the person who issued it may withdraw it.

14 February 2006: Iran's official state news agency reports on the anniversary of the decree that the government-run Martyrs Foundation has announced, "The fatwā by Imam Khomeini in regard to the apostate Salman Rushdie will be in effect forever", and that one of Iran's state bonyad, or foundations, has offered a $2.8 million bounty on his life.[3]

15 June 2007: Rushdie receives knighthood for services to literature sparking an outcry from Islamic groups. Several groups invoking The Satanic Verses controversy renew calls for his death.

29 June 2007: Bombs planted in central London may have been linked to the Knighthood of Salman Rushdie.[159]

2008–2012

Edit

24 January 2012: The vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic school in India, issued a demand that Rushdie be denied a visa for his scheduled appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival at the end of January. The Indian government replied that there were no plans to bar Rushdie from entering the country, and that Rushdie, who had visited India several times in the past, did not need a visa because he held a Persons of Indian Origin Card "that entitles holders to travel to the country of their origin without other documentation".[160] Rushdie ultimately decided not to attend the festival, citing reports of possible assassination attempts.[161] Rushdie investigated police reports of paid assassins and suggested that the police might have lied.[162] Meanwhile, police were seeking Ruchir Joshi, Jeet Thayil, Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar who fled Jaipur on the advice of officials at the Jaipur Literature Festival after reading excerpts from The Satanic Verses, which is banned in India.[163] A proposed video link session between Rushdie and the Jaipur Literature Festival ran into difficulty after the government pressured the festival to stop it.[162]

17 September 2012: Rushdie expressed doubt that The Satanic Verses would be published today because of a climate of "fear and nervousness".[164]

2016

Edit

22 February 2016: A group of forty state-run media organisations in Iran raised $600,000 to add to the Fatwa on Rushdie.[165]

24 March: In a press release, the Swedish Academy, who awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, condemns the death sentence for Rushdie for the first time, saying:

"The death sentence and the reward money are flagrant breaches of international law and rules of civilised interaction within the world community and therefore can in no way be compatible with normalisation.

The fact that the death sentence has been passed as punishment for a work of literature also implies a serious violation of free speech. The principle of the independence of literature from political control is of fundamental importance for civilisation and must be defended against attacks by avengers and the adherents of censorship.

The Swedish Academy decries the retention of the death sentence for Salman Rushdie and that state-controlled media are permitted to encourage violence directed at a writer."[166]

2022

Edit

Main article: Stabbing of Salman Rushdie

12 August 2022: Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen when he was set to give a lecture in Chautauqua, New York.[167][168] Commenting on the extent of his injuries, Rushdie's agent said that he had likely lost an eye, in addition to sustaining liver damage and severed nerves in one arm.[169][170] Rushdie was placed on a ventilator the day of the attack, but within 48 hours, he was taken off of it and reportedly able to speak.[171]

14 August 2022: Two days after Rushdie's stabbing, the government-run newspaper of Iran called the attack an "implementation of divine decree".[172]

“A guy who has an open bounty placed on him for decades which has resulted in a near fatal stabbing as well as the murders of people connected to him and the bombing of a hotel building is a lot like people on the internet saying JK Rowling is transphobic”

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"BOUGHT HORSE, THEN FOUND A LIEN ON IT," Toronto Star. August 12, 1912. Page 2. --- Accused the Vendor of Fraud, Whereupon the Latter Paid the Mortgage. ---- CASES IN POLICE COURT ----- Men Annoy the Monkeys at the Riverdale Zoo and Pay Fines for the Fun. ---- In explaining to Magistrate Denison, why he brought a charge of fraud against George Taylor. Wm. J. Hall, said that he purchased in horse and wagon from Taylor for $160 cash, and later discovered that Taylor left a lien note against the outfit for $175, even after receiving his money from Hall.

"I've paid that off since," the defendant explained.

"Of course," the Crown Attorney put in, "but that was since he was arrested. He at least deserves a conviction." He got this, together with a remand till called on.

When Constable McDonald interrupted a fight in King street Saturday night, he found that the trouble was between Henry Foggan, of 129 King west and Duncan Mcintosh, the former charging the latter with the theft of a raincoat from his store.

"Foggan was struggling with man, trying to get him to the station," the officer stated, "when I came along. He has had six coats stolen from there within a few days." McIntosh was charged with the theft of two, but as he pleaded not guilty, the Crown secured a week's remand. Annoyed the Monkeys. The monkeys at Riverdale Zoo had a big time yesterday. First came George Dinoff and his young brother, but the monks raised a great howl when the young men expectorated on them. The elder brother was fined $1 without costs and the youngster went free.

Next the caged animals were treated to cigars and cigarete butts. Chili Seele and Giovanni Lucce each paid $2 for their fun.

Spiro Costa wouldn't move his push cart from the corner of King and Bathurst streets when an officer told check. The boy stays in a week on him and pent the he week-end in the remand. spent cells. He paid over $2 in the morning Police Court.

John Hartford objected to the interference of a policeman in his little game of crap and came out second ap and came out second best est in the tussle that followed. On a disorderly charge he was fined $1 and costs or fifteen days. His mother paid the fine.

Let Woman Go. Susan Geddes, 61 Mutual street, the young woman who was arrested Saturday as a witness wanted in the Bachrack case, and on a warrant taken out at the time, is not now urgently wanted by the police. She came before Magistrate Denison, but the Crown Attorney announced that the charge of conspiracy against her would not be pressed, and as the th charges in the previous case had been heard in court, the woman might be remanded till called on. Her own bail was accepted.

Brother Accuses Brother. There was a strong contrast in the personal appearance of the brothers, Wm. Beverley of 27 Kingsley avenue, and Samuel George Beverley, the former brother charging the latter with theft in the morning Police Court. The former was neat and well dressed, while the latter's condition was a counted for by the statement that for the past three months he had not been working and had slept in the parks. Both were upon the point of tears as the one told and the other listened to the story.

"The boy just went wrong this summer," said Wm. Beverley, "and I haven't been able to make him go to work. Three months ago he broke into my house one night, stole my clothes, shoes, and fifty cents. This seemed to be be the the only thing I could do to stop him."

The younger brother was wearing the clothes.

"In spite of the charge there seems to be a lot of brotherly sympathy." the Crown remarked. The case stands remanded till the 19th.

Louis Garland met censure from two ways at once. The police said he drank so much that thirty days in jail would do him good. Then while he was on his way downstairs the wife appeared and asked for an order of protection. This was granted, so Garland's only home for the present is the jail.

Theft of Telegram Alleged. The charge that he stole a telegram addressed to a fellow-countryman is being pressed against Solam G. Sheyck, the complainant being Sarka George.

"It brought information from Greece," said from the complainant, but the Crown knew as little about it that the charge waits till the 19th.

Henry Johnston will be required to explain to-morrow a charge pressed by the Morality Department that he sold liquor on the street. The spotter claims to have made purchase from Johnstone

To Jail For Souvenirs. Albert Huyler of West Lodge avenue went into a Macedonian ice cream parlor in King street west on Saturday night, and on the way out he collected three silver goblet holders.

"Drunk," was the excuse to which the court would not listen.

Huyler goes to jail for ten days.

Accused of Theft. Four young men, from sixteen to eighteen years of age, appeared, charged with stealing from Hanian's Point concessions where they were employed. The men were David Applebaum, charged with the theft of $5.20; David Reece, $4: Walter Beck, $1.25. and Abraham Nanhan, 70 cents. All were in the employ of the Point management in charge of ice cream and fruit counters, and it is alleged that they stole from the tills. Beck, being under the Juvenile Court age, went up and was paroled by Commissioner Starr, while the others were committed for trial on ball of $200 each.

Boy Admits Theft. Allen J. Waterson was just past the Juvenile Court age. He admitted that check. The boy stays in a week on remand.

"Drunk again and stole again," was the summary of Patrick Martin's experience on Saturday. The man who lost a pair of shoes was Samuel Shusterman, 115 York street. Martin goes to jail for 30 days, with a warning that next time it will be a year.

There was a John Lynch up again, but he protested even in the face of detectives, photographs, and Bertillion statements that he was not the John Lynch who has such a bad record.

Paid the Fare. When David Bettany came up charged with refusing to pay his fare on the G.T.R. he learned one detail of railway management.

"It was an excursion to Hamilton, advertised single fare," explained his counsel, J. W. Curry. "He bought his ticket on the train and thought the slip would entitle him to return, but the conductor wouldn't accept it."

"The advertisement said plainly that it was the a second special ticket to be purchased in the office," the prosecution put in. "He didn't have one of those tickets and he refused to pay the regular fare - that's all."

When that was made clear to him, Bettany agreed in in court to pay balance, so the magistrate didn't make a conviction.

[justgifs]

CAMILA MENDES GIFS

by clicking the SOURCE LINK, you will find 129 gifs of camila mendes in riverdale (season 5, episodes 8 & 9) . all gifs were made by me and are for roleplaying purposes only. 

YOU MAY NOT: save them to your computer, repost, claim as your own, edit in any way, include in gif hunts (though you are welcome to link back to them) or use in crackship gifs. 

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[tiktaalic]

I posted 7,945 times in 2022

3,555 posts created (45%)

4,390 posts reblogged (55%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

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I tagged 7,619 of my posts in 2022

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Longest Tag: 139 characters

#of course we were doing our vows and i’m a writer so archie was like ‘fuck you’. our wedding planner said it was the first time she’d heard

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Did you know? On average, Tesla owners are involved in collisions 18% more frequently than any other car. Research has shown this is because when I see that stupid fucking logo i floor it.

51,796 notes - Posted May 4, 2022

#4

See the full post

57,518 notes - Posted October 26, 2022

#3

one of my beloved friends (very autism) was in.. not denial but ignorance sounds mean. but that abt themself last time you brought up the raads r test so i sent it to the gc (full of autism) and they were like psh. fake test no one could get below 100. they know now but i think about it so much

The thing is. When you take the autism test. And you see your score is in the 100 to 160 range. You think. Oh this is probably the middle? Middle autism. Tinge of autism. Your relatives calling you bright but shy autism. Just a whiff of autism. And then you see the score ranges. And you go. This test is lying to me there is absolutely no way the majority of people score under 65. The 65 number is such a low cutoff and so many of these experiences are clearly universal a score under 65 is something they made up in a lab. People who score under 65 are obviously scoring just under that mark from 59 to 64 and they’re also obviously lying or purposely misrepresenting their experiences as less severe than they are. And then you find out there are real people who get a 20 or 30 or 7 on it. And you go. Ah

63,360 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

#2

you need to have 3 drinks with you at all times:

drink one: water. this one's water. can't beat the og

drink two: fun drink. this is a drink with colors or perhaps bubbles in it.

drink three: substance drink. on weekdays this is usually a caffeine drink. for the agonies. on weekends it may be an alcohol drink instead. also for the agonies. sometimes you can combine fun drink and substance drink into one. not always though

69,527 notes - Posted July 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

78,526 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[papipopsicle]

AFTERTASTE PART SEVEN

Pairing: Archie Andrews X Reader

Summary: In which two best friends since childhood test whether sex and friendship can co-exist without causing conflict. Including OC's Flick and Cherry, a bisexual and lesbian in a sapphic relationship who are best friends of Y/N.

Song: Dream Boy by Waterparks

Warnings: swearing

Words: 2.1K

MASTERLIST

feedback is always appreciated

Y/F and Y/M Robins were far from perfect parents. Y/F had the mental age of a toddler at times, and being an estate agent who always has to go the extra mile- he often wasn't home when his wife needed him the most. Y/M, on the other end of things, had been a stay at home mum until Y/N turned 16 last summer, and now she helped with all the administrative work for Mayor McCoy. She was a maternal creature which, coupled with her brilliant sarcasm, made for some explosive conversations. The two met on the first day of university and got married a week after the last.

When Y/M first found out she was pregnant with little Y/S Robins, the two realised they wanted a quiet bubble of a town to raise their children and grow up with them. But it wasn't until their second daughter was about to turn seven until they found their forever home in the quaint town of Riverdale. Ten years passing before their eyes, and the picturesque place didn't seen all that anymore.

Jason Blossom's death had nothing to do with the short gunshot sounding over the waves of Sweetwater River, the noise which woke Y/N from her sweet unmemorable dreams every few nights. The summer days rolled into early August without anyone caring, Y/N spending most of them at Cheryl's side listening intently to her past adventures with her brother. Betty threw herself into an internship at a publication house; Flick and Cherry had volunteered at a summer camp, and Archie was helping his dad out more and more with constructions job.

Although it hadn't been the start to the relationship Y/N had hoped for- the nervous giggles and hand holding, short and sweet kisses on late night walks followed by poetry worthy cuddling. There was a magnificent silver lining as Archie's muscles gained definition, and he suited the sweaty builder look far too well.

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y/n Humph!

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Cheryl busy being my own icon

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"Earth to my gorgeous queen? Y/N/N?" Cheryl quizzed her friend, who currently resided at the poolside of Thornehill Manor. Her mind was off on a glorious tangent about her rendezvous in the kitchen at two in the morning. Fixing herself a glass of water, when Archie slips his hand into her pyjama shorts, his other around her mouth muffling her needy moans.

The red headed beauty shoved her y/h/c friend playfully, warm skin sweaty under her pale touch. Y/N blinked innocently and sent her an apologetic smile, "What?"

"I asked if you've thought about dating anyone else since Clayton?" The fiery ginger girl enquired with her usual upbeat tone.

Cheryl knew she had a unique quality about her which made it almost impossible for Y/N to lie to her face. The y/h/c girl scrunched up her nose, hiding the smile the idea of Archie Andrews brought to her face. 'Yes. We started off as fuck buddies but never actually fucked. Then I drunkenly asked him to be my boyfriend, now a month later I think we may genuinely work out.'

"Maybe." Y/N bit her bottom lip, listening to her friend's squeal as she squeezed her sun tanned arm.

"I knew it! You have this euphoric glow you only get when someone else makes you climax." The redhead affirmed confidently, watching the Robins girl's eyes bug out before hitting her arm, "Y/N/N, you know your secret's safe with me."

"Fine." She sighed and took a sip of her fruity cocktail, "It started off as just fooling around, honestly I just needed to let off some steam after everything. I knew he was into the kinds of things I was, I mean he used to tease me about it non stop. And it was good, so good I stopped being a pussy and asked him to be my boyfriend."

"Holy freaking hell!" The Blossom girl grinned with excitement, "Dare I ask, who is it?"

Y/N deadpanned at her friend, "Guess."

"Please don't tell me it's that muscular oaf Reggie, he's pretty but there's not exactly much going on upstairs." Cheryl tapped her temples and rolled her eyes at the thought.

"Nope."

The ginger thought for a moment, consulting her liquid courage and splashing her feet around the waters edge, "It's Archie."

All it took was a side-eyed glance at the y/h/c girl's blooming rosy cheeks to know she definitely wasn't wrong. Y/N severely lacked the ability to lie, even if her tone held conviction, her features were far too expressive and told the truth all on their own. It's not like they were hiding it from anyone, but the past four weeks had gone far too quickly without any moments to spare for the world around them. They slept together each night, the majority of that time not actually spent sleeping, but they hadn't been given the chance yet to explore more romantic avenues.

"It's fucking Archie Andrews- you're fucking Archie Andrews and don't you dare deny it." Cheryl gawked in her gorgeous white and nude bikini, watching as her friend lay back against the hot marble slabs which encased the large pool with the largest grin adorning her plump lips.

"We haven't had sex yet, so technically you aren't completely correct." Y/N winked but carried on before the girl exploded with a hundred questions and could never be turned off, "Trust me, I want to, and I'm sure he does too. But you know, it's his first time, I want it to be perfect for him."

"Y/N/N, you really love him, don't you?" Cheryl gagged to begin with, but she found it sweet in truth. She wanted someone to hold, who would hold her right back just as tight for no other reason than needing to.

Y/N sat back up and paddled her feet, "You have no idea, Cher."

Arch 🧡

That new post should be illegal

Tiger 💛

Ooo

I like this reaction

Maybe I should post more

Like this one

Cheryl pushed me in the pool

And I may have had a drink

Or three

Arch 🧡

Well that's sexy

I swear nobody looks good like that how on earth

You're a goddess

But also

How's she holding up?

Tiger 💛

🥺😇

Broken

But she's strong yk

You coming over for dinner?

Arch 🧡

Yeah Y/D invited my dad too

Need me to pick you up from Cheryl's?

Tiger 💛

Awe cute we love a bromance, and it's all good my mommas coming now anyways :))

Hours had elapsed far too fast and soon the summer heat simmered into cool waves of wind brushing over sun kissed skin. Cheryl's arms were clasped around the blonde's shoulders in a tight embrace.

"Thank you so much, Y/N/N, I don't know what I'd do without you!" The Blossom girl professed with sparkling eyes and a brilliant smile.

Y/N beamed up at her, fingers carding through her damp y/h/c hair as she looked over her shoulder to see her mum pulling into the driveway, "You don't need to thank me, Cher, friends look after each other. Message me if you need me, okay?"

Cheryl promised she would and the two teen girls hugged goodbye, with Y/N soon heading home- listening to her mother gossip about Hal and Alice's screaming match last night, Y/N loved her inability to keep her mouth shut sometimes.

"Mom," The y/h/c stopped her mid sentence and received a side eyed glance in response, "I need to tell you something and you're totally not allowed to freak out while you're driving."

Y/M's eyes widened and her grip tightened around the steering wheel, her daughters very rarely confided in her. While she knew her youngest was safe in her promiscuity, neither of Y/M Robins' girls ever shared their secrets so for the most part she took finding out into her own hands.

"Honey," The forty four year old's calm tone was hardly comforting to the teenager, "if this is about you and Archie fooling around, your father and I figured that out a long time ago, like so long ago. Who do you think does your laundry? When your underwear starting looking like dental floss, we caught on pretty quickly."

Y/N felt like a deer in headlights, "Mum, what the hell?" Her cheeks heated to an inhuman temperature.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, as long as you're being safe and he's-"

"For the second time today, and I can't believe I'm saying this to you, but I am not having sex with Archie Andrews!" Y/N's high pitched voice sounded through the car. It truly was a blessing and a curse to have such open minded parents in situations like this. She thought about telling her mother the truth, but Y/M was a blabber mouth as well as a gossip, so Y/N chose to withhold certain pieces of information.

The Robins matriarch dropped the subject but didn't forget about her daughter's tone, and continued to ramble on about how odd she found Penelope Blossom and the whole Blossom family in general. "Like why on Earth is Rose in a wooden wheelchair? They know it's the twenty first century, right?"

As expected, the Robins household was once again filled with warm laughter and copious amounts of food. The topic of Jason was skimmed over, and Y/S found herself away from the dinner table. The eldest Robins sibling was currently pleading with Alice as she began shoving all of Polly's belongings in the boot of Hal's car. She couldn't comprehend life without her best friend, not after losing Jason. They were meant to be going travelling together for a year- working the worst jobs and staying up all night to watch the sun rise in different countries. But instead, Y/S's eyes were blinded by tears as she screamed down the street at the speeding car, with Polly Cooper taken out of her life indefinitely.

Y/N was oblivious to the dark inner workings of the Cooper clan, Betty's knowledge about her and Archie unbeknownst to the loved up teens. She'd spent every second not occupied by her internship trying to justify the romantic act as a fleeting moment of loneliness fuelled by alcohol. She wrote in her diary ideas on how she could win Archie back over, not knowing it was in fact, too late. Betty found herself hopelessly in love with the boy next door, unfortunately for her, the girl across the road was the only one his mind found.

Archie and Y/N washed up while their parents resided to the living room with three glasses and a bottle of white wine. The short girl turned the tap off after placing the last utensil on the draining board, flicking her sudsy hands at the boy's face. "What the-"

She didn't give him a chance to finish that thought, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his torso- planting a kiss onto his lips, then cheeks, then forehead. The two fell entranced by each other, planting pecks across nape of her neck and top of his head.

"Son," Fred's voice called out from the next room and the two immediately pulled apart, hearts beating in their ears, "we're going in a minute."

"Alright." He replied, placing his girlfriend on the floor once more.

"I wish you'd stay." Y/N pouted childishly, she meant the words entirely but hated feeling overbearing. Her life had been turned upside down this summer, it started off with her unable to fall asleep with another person next to her- now Archie's chest was her most comfortable pillow and is arms were the warmest blanket.

"Tomorrow night instead, Princess? I promised my dad I'd spend more time with him before senior year." The boy reasoned, holding her close and unknowingly feeling the exact same way, he adored holding her by her waist and pulling her close under the duvet.

"Monopoly night at yours?" She grinned and he nodded back in reply, the two sharing a final kiss in the kitchen before walking into the hallway.

Y/N felt at ease as she wished the two a goodnight and headed up to bed. She took off her tea dress and replaced it with Archie's bulldog t-shirt, managing to reach the same length on her thighs as her dress did.

Arch 🧡

I can still smell your perfume on my sheets

Tiger 💛

Marking my territory obviously x

Arch 🧡

I love it

Hope you sleep well baby x

Tiger 💛

Call me that tomorrow and we won't be sleeping so you better rest up tonight x

Arch 🧡

Whatever you say, baby x

Tiger 💛

Goodnight x

Arch 🧡

Night princess x

part eight?

wanna be tagged? just send in an ask x

[mars-gifs]

ENG: 𝑼𝑷𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑬! 25 gifs have been added to my Drew Ray Tanner in Riverdale Season 5 pack, for a total of 129 gifs. You can find them in the SOURCE link below. All were made from scratch by me for rp purposes, so please do NOT claim them as your own, repost, or add them to your gif hunts. Edit as you wish, but please give me some form of credit or tag me if you post it. LIKE or REBLOG if you’re using! If you're interested in a commission, feel free to check my blog!

ESP: ¡𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑼𝑨𝑳𝑰𝒁𝑨𝑪𝑰𝑶́𝑵! 25 gifs han sido añadidos al pack de Drew Ray Tanner en la Temporada 5 de Riverdale, para un total de 129 gifs. Los puedes encontrar en el SOURCE (o fuente) abajo. Todos fueron hechos desde cero por mí para uso de rp, así que por favor NO los hagas pasas por tuyos, re-subas o los añadas a gif hunts. Edítalos como desees, pero por favor dame algún tipo de crédito o etiquétame si lo subes. ¡Da LIKE y/o REBLOG si los usas! Si te interesa pedir una comisión, siéntete libre de visitar mi blog.

[joaquinwhorres]

Fic Writer Tag Game

I was tagged by the embodiment of sunshine @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle, the queen of edits @sgtbuckyybarnes, and the master of puns @akabluekat

Also, as much as I love everything AO3 stands for, I find FFN more user friendly & I've used it longer, so I'm giving my stats on both.

How many works do you have on AO3? 14! (I have 17 on FFN though.)

What’s your total AO3 word count? 169,469 (274,779 on FFN)

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they? I've written for 12 fandoms: Harry Potter, Avengers, Stranger Things, Star Trek, The Umbrella Academy, Newsies, Inception, Covenant, Hobbit, SyFy's Alice, Riverdale, and Charmed.

What are your top five fics by kudos AO3?

The Dating Game (Diego Hargreeves x Reader) - 123

Dangerous (Steve Harrington x Reader) - 94

Gazes (Joaquín Torres x Reader) - 80

Public Knowledge (Sweet Pea x Reader) - 73

The Fool (Fred Weasley x OC) - 55

What are your top five fics by follows on FFN?

Parting Shot (Clint Barton x OC) - 572

Living Memory (Clint Barton x OC) - 129

Second Wind (Pietro Maximoff x OC) - 125

Whispers in the Dark (Reid Garwin x OC) - 122

The Fool (Fred Weasley x OC) - 75

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? It depends. If a comment asks a question or the person put a whole paragraph of writing into the comment, I'll respond. If it was something quick and surface level that didn't take a lot of thought, I'll generally just smile and move along.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? I haven't written it yet but Volatile Measures gets pretty angsty towards the end because it's canon compliant.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what’s the craziest one you’ve written? I've only ever written one crossover and didn't really end up liking it, so--no!

Have you ever received hate on a fic? I've got some charity reviews on FFN cuz of Tumblr drama, but otherwise not really!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? uh kinda? I'm trying to work up the courage to put it in my stories.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yup. I had some Stranger Things fics stolen and copied to wattpad which was really annoying and also the reason why I hate wWattpad.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope. If you want to, please let me know!

What’s your all-time favorite ship? Taylor Markham and Jonah Griggs from On the Jellicoe Road. But like in fandoms I usually like OCs better. Right now my favorite ship of mine is Mattie Crenshaw + George Weasley.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will? All of them. Although Mind Over Matter is one that I had great ideas and plans for and now just can't seem to find where they all went.

What are your writing strengths? What are your writing weaknesses? I'm pretty kickass at dialogue. And planning. I actually have each of my HP stories plotted on a calendar to make sure things unfold realistically and I remember canon events. My writing weaknesses? Actually writing and following through on my great ideas.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I do this in some of my fics, but I tend to only make it a few lines at most and easy enough to understand in context so the reader doesn't have to run to Google Translate or down to the notes. I try to only write in languages I speak or understand. Even then, I check what I write with Reddit to see if it's actually natural. Otherwise I note the language that's being spoken but keep it in English.

What was the first fandom you’ve written for? The first fandom I wrote for was Harry Potter because I co-wrote a fic with a friend, but the first fandom I ever wrote in by myself was Newsies.

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? It changes day to day. My favorite completed fic I've ever written is Parting Shot, but that's also because it's the only fic I've ever completed.

I am tagging: @raith-way @hiddenqveendom @asirensrage @zeleniafic @barbied-wire @decennia & anyone who wants me to read their fic

[bronwynn]

I posted 3.920 times in 2021

645 posts created (16%)

3275 posts reblogged (84%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 5.1 posts.

I added 759 tags in 2021

#riverdale - 209 posts

#riverdale spoilers - 161 posts

#anonymous - 109 posts

#succession - 94 posts

#art - 52 posts

#anti barchie - 37 posts

#euro 2020 - 33 posts

#fashion - 24 posts

#shadow and bone - 21 posts

#german stuff - 19 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#it's all either too boring or too insane and much like betty i miss the days when they were all just dealing with serial killers.

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

that is a doll

360 notes • Posted 2021-07-26 18:04:14 GMT

#4

ok, this is funny

365 notes • Posted 2021-02-07 20:52:14 GMT

#3

446 notes • Posted 2021-04-01 02:13:48 GMT

#2

oh that works for me

791 notes • Posted 2021-02-03 20:15:41 GMT

#1

3412 notes • Posted 2021-10-06 19:31:19 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[shocka-bra]

Odds.

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?

My wife

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

My parents. They moved to South Carolina recently.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

I would hope so lol

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

Yes

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

Nope

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

“Love ya 💕” to my mom

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

Love it!

15. What good thing happened this summer?

Last Summer I went hiking and visited Klamath Falls, Crater Lake, and Bend for the first time!

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

I definitely believe we aren’t the only intelligent life 

19. Do you like bubble baths?

You bet!

21. What are your bad habits?

Snacking and not being confident in myself

23. Do you have trust issues?

Not really

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

Ummm, my stomach?

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

I am fine with the way it is even though my skin is pretty light

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

Yes

31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tell?

Maybe like a suuuuuuuper tiny one at the top

33. Spell your name with your chin

han n Zabi..........sweet

35. Would you rather live without tv or music?

Without tv

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

“Alrighty then” 😂

39. What are you favorite stores to shop in?

Amazon, Macy’s, Bath and Body Works

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

Yes I do

43. Do you smile at strangers?

Most of the time!

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

Usually work or the family member that I help take care of

47. Have you ever been high?

Yes

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

I don't think so

51. Ever wished you were someone else?

Yeah, someone that was more confident

53. Favorite makeup brand?

I don’t have one

55. Favorite blog?

@shakemed0wn

57. Favorite food?

Mexican, even though I recently had to stop eating dairy so Mexican food without cheese is reallllllly hard

59. First thing you ate this morning?

I haven't eaten anything yet

61. Been suspended\expelled? For what?

Nope!

63. Ever been in love?

Yes

65. Are you hungry right now?

Not really hungry but I could go for a cup of coffee

67. Facebook or twitter?

Facebook, I don't have twitter

69. Are you watching tv right now?

Not at the moment

71. Craving something? What?

Coffee! ☕️

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

Not currently

75. Favorite animal?

Giraffe

77. Chocolate or vanilla?

Vanilla

79. What color shirt are you wearing?

Green

81. Favorite tv show?

There are too many. Black Mirror, Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, Riverdale, Ru Paul’s Drag Race...just to name a few

83. Mean girls or mean girls 2

Mean girls

85. Favorite character from mean girls?

Karen

87. First person you talked to today?

Whoever asked me to do odds lol

89. Name a person you hate?

Donald Trump 😂

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

See answer for 89

93. How many sweatpants do you have?

Probably like 5 or 6

95. Last movie you watched?

World Trade Center

97. Favorite actor?

Chris Pratt

99. Have any pets?

None that are just mine. We have 2 dogs and 2 cats that live with my mother-in-law.

101. Do you type fast?

I’d say I type an average speed

103. Can you spell well?

Pretty well. I feel like my wife’s dictionary sometimes haha

105. Ever been to a bonfire party?

Yeah but not since my senior year of high school

107. Have you ever been on a horse?

Yeah but not in probably 10 years

109. Is something irritating you right now?

The current state of the earth

111. Do you have trust issues?

Nope

113. What was your childhood nickname?

It was definitely Twinkie at one point which now I look back and this how terrible that is

115. Do you play the WII?

I use to 

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?

Yes

119. Favorite book?

To Kill a Mockingbird 

121. Are you mean?

I try not to be 😇

123. Can you keep white shoes clean?

Ha no.

125. Do you believe in true love?

Yes

127. What makes you happy?

My family, my pets, coffee, the mountains

129. Whats your zodiac sign?

Pisces 🐠🐠

131. Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

I don't have a best friend of the opposite sex so there you go

133. Favorite lyrics right now?

Any Billie Eilish lyrics and “I Love Me” by Demi Lovato

135. Dumbest lie you ever told?

“I’m straight”

137. How tall are you?

5′6

139. Brunette or blonde?

I am a dirty blonde naturally and I don't have a preference for either.

141. Night or day?

I guess I would day day because I'm a morning person. Like during this quarantine I have been getting up around 8 and my wife doesn't get up until about 12.

143. Are you a vegetarian?

Nope

145. Tea or coffee?

Coffee in the morning and tea at night

147. Mars or snickers?

Mars if I have to choose

149. Do you believe in ghosts?

Yepp.

Thanks! 

[bughead-in-the-comics]

I know youre a bughead blog, but i honestly can't find any redeeming qualities in ronnie. Like not a single one. Do you have any thoughts about this? You dont have to share any examples but could i maybe have your opinion on it?

Everyone in the Archie Comics universe (not Riverdale!) has a redeeming quality - yes, even resident mean girl Veronica Lodge. I’m not a fan of Ronnie myself, but I do know that she has shown a number of admirable traits throughout the years. First of all, Ronnie is a go-getter. It may be easy to get whatever you want when you have the means to do so (e.g. the spending prowess of her credit cards, the unlimited services of her family butler, or the endless connections of her tycoon daddy), but still, you gotta admire the girl for having the confidence that she’ll get the job done even before she comes up with a plan. I mean, Ronnie personally forwards her suggestions to the president by writing him letters as seen in this panel from I’ll Talk, You Listen (Veronica #129 - 2002):

Speaking of confidence, I think it’s obvious that Veronica has an unlimited amount of it. This is both a good and a bad thing, but since we’re talking about her good points, then let’s just focus on that. Her belief in herself is off the charts and sometimes, that’s all you need to actually achieve your goals. In the comics, she has landed modelling gigs, won beauty contests, influenced student council elections, and got hot dates just because she is Veronica Lodge and she knows that she accomplish them. An amazing example of this is when she started rehearsing her acceptance speech as the Queen of the Fall Festival in Campaign Manager (Betty’s Diary #27 - 1989) even before the voting has officially commenced:

Her characterization, I think, is shaped mostly by her upbringing. Let’s not forget that Ronnie is the only daughter of the richest couple in Riverdale and the only heiress to their vast fortune. Like most parents, however, Hiram and Hermione fail to realize that being a good provider doesn’t necessarily make you a great parent. This is best summed up by these panels from Poor Little Rich Girl (Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #1 - 1950) during a sleepover at the Lodge mansion:

Another important reason Ronnie is the way she is, I think, is the constant comparison between her and Betty. B&V are best friends and they treat each other like sisters, but they are also each other’s worst enemies. This is usually caused by their rivalry over Archie, but how the girls are viewed by the people in Riverdale also adds more fuel to the fire. Everyone loves Betty. That is a fact. The whole town of Riverdale adores her because she’s this wholesome girl-next-door who collects newspapers for recycling, coaches little league teams for fun, bakes cookies for charity, and organizes dances for the elderly. She’s the kind of girl the boys want to marry or the kind of person the kids want to be like when they grow up. Betty is a role model that is quite difficult for Ronnie to live up to and it certainly doesn’t help that the Riverdale townsfolk never lets her forget that. Historically, Jughead is Ronnie’s biggest critic. While his opinion is valid (since Ronnie is rarely nice to him or anyone else for that matter), Jughead is certainly biased because his dislike for Veronica is mainly driven by her cruelty towards his favorite girl Betty and her control over his best friend Archie. He loves them so much that dear ‘ol Jug thinks sweet Betty and naive Archie deserve someone better than snobby, self-absorbed Ronnie. Take these panels from Comparisons (Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #264 - 1977) as an example:

Sadly, Ronnie’s critics also include her own father. Hiram has never been shy to voice out his concerns or disappointment over his daughter’s bad behavior. This is okay when he’s calling her out on an obvious scheme she’s brewing or when he’s scolding her for her ill treatment of other people, but he’s also known for questioning Ronnie’s intentions even when she’s trying to do something good. I think it’s quite admirable that she continues to do the task at hand (sometimes even excel at it) despite everyone’s very low expectations of her. Like, for example, these panels from Misadventures in Baby-sitting (Betty and Veronica #77 - 1995):

Veronica is generous. Very generous. Of course, this trait may be attributed to her wealth, but not all rich people share their privilege with less-fortunate folks. Regardless of her intentions, Ronnie constantly lets her friends experience the perks of being a Lodge by treating them to expensive restaurants, inviting them to exclusive parties, and even taking them to vacations abroad! That is a good thing! She loves her friends so much that she’ll do anything to make them happy even if her methods sometimes go overboard like in this set of panels from Happy Days are Here Again (Betty and Veronica #266 - 2018):

I’m sure Veronica Lodge has more redeeming qualities that I’ve forgotten to mention, but like you said, this is a Bughead blog and I’ve probably talked about Ronnie way more than I’m used to hahaha! To sum it all up, Ronnie’s mean exterior is probably just a defense mechanism because after all, she is just a little girl who just wants the love and attention of her parents, her friends, her boyfriend, and basically the entire world. ♥

[alittlebugsheadx]

129 please :)

129:’Well, if it ain’t my sweet little ray of trouble.’

——

Sometimes you want need to get caught

Jughead Jones was acting out.

All because he hadn’t seen his girl in 2 weeks.

Initiating fights in bars only to leave when things got chaotic; drug dealing for the Ghoulies; slashing their tyres out of frustration; he even had a close call to arson.

Too close a call.

He got caught.

He was wandering home from the Whyte Worm, passing through a forest as he took a long drag. Inhaling the toxic sweetness, as he tried his best not to trip over his own feet, slightly intoxicated, he was not in his best frame of mind.

It had been two weeks. 14 days. 336 hours.

He had spoke to Betty briefly earlier this morning, but she sounded pretty blunt and preoccupied.

She had been for a while now.

Of course searching for your long-lost brother would take time and attention, but Jughead was lonely without her. He needed just a glance from her; a hug; a peck. Anything really.

But what he was really afraid of was her liking it there in Chicago.

What if she fell in love with it? What if she wanted to stay there? What if she met someone?Chicago was definitely bigger than Riverdale.Jughead couldn’t blame her, why come back to murder-city when you can have Chicago?

Maybe all this ‘acting-out’ was a desperate cry for attention. Her attention. And maybe, on some level he wanted to get caught.

In prison you get fed.

And you get a bed to sleep on.

It didn’t help that his alcoholic dad was nowhere to be seen. His mother didn’t even want him to come to Toledo for Christmas.

No one wanted him.

Except Betty. But Betty wasn’t here, was she? And she was so preoccupied with her life, it didn’t seem like she had any space for him. Not right now, anyway.

He didn’t try to be selfish. The thing is, Jughead had grown up with he mentality: if you don’t look out for yourself, no one will. And with Betty, he had started to let her look after him too, and once you experience this form of love, it’s hard to go back.

So when he dropped that lit cigarette on the pile of a leaves, you could tell he wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Unfortunately, or fortunately, two officers just so happened to be walking by and extinguished the fire before it spread amongst the trees. They arrested Jughead without his protest.

Jughead didn’t know how long it had been when he saw her standing on the other side of the cell, sad smile on face. He had been staring at his shoes, hands fidgeting with his sleeves, and when he looked up he couldn’t help but grin.

“Well if it ain’t my sweet little ray of trouble.”

He stood up and walked to the cell gate, pressing his hand against the wired wall. He whispered, unbelievingly, “You came.”

“Well of course I came,” she pressed her palm against his.

His glossy eyes were filled with disbelief and awe at the girl before him.

“Alright. You. Are you coming or not? Yes, you with the black mop.” The officer called.

Jughead walked out of the cell to be engulfed in Betty’s bear hug.

This is what he had needed.

This.

This was filled with the warmth that his cold heart had been lacking his whole life. This was filled with the feeling that he was needed, he had a purpose. Betty needed him; Betty wanted him.

This gave him life.

He pulled back to see her face looking up at him, “Are you going to explain?”

“I’ll pay you back for bail.”

She shook her head, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

And so they did. They got their usual at Pop’s before climbing to sit on the top of the diner. Their place. Their place where they could see he whole of Riverdale before them. Betty leaning back on Jughead’s chest, they ended up falling asleep. This was after Jughead filled her in on everything she had missed, and she had understood why he was acting out. And Betty told him about her new brother Chic, and how Chicago was, and how much she had missed him, but her mother was always on her case so she sounded pretty blunt, but that didn’t mean she didn’t still love him.

And she told him that she would like to move to Chicago one day. But not without Jughead. Because the only thing Chicago was missing was him.

And she knew that’s all she wanted to take with her wherever they were.

And so they made a plan, which they stuck to.

But the best thing of all, was that for once in his life, and for the rest of his life, Betty brought out the best in him, by simply loving him, caring for him and wanting him.

[veronicadvalle]

Archie Andrews & Veronica Lodge | Riverdale Summer Hiatus (129/147)

[styomi]

Fifteen study dates | 15-day prompt challenge | Sweet Pea/OC | Day 11

AB: Fluff. Fluff fluff fluff and more fluff… I officially have diabetes from how sweet this one is. I give up. Enjoy!

Info:

Fandom: Riverdale Pairing: Sweet Pea/OC Rating: T Word count: 2193 + 129 bonus Chapter count: 11/15

                                                        Delirium

Sweet Pea woke up to the buzzing of his phone. He groggily rolled over, grabbing it from the other side of the bed and struggling to unlock the cracked screen for a moment. Then, he managed to focus his vision with a few blinks and read the text.

I’ll be over in a few.

“Shit.” Sweet Pea cursed, realizing what day it was. Saturday and it was well after noon when Ruby had told him she’d call to arrange their study date. And, she had called. Fifteen times, in fact. Not to mention that she’d sent him quite a few texts, ranging from ‘are you still asleep?’ to ‘are you alive?’. Sweet Pea groaned and texted her back, telling her that he was awake now and to come over and bring some food.

He struggled to get up, his limbs a bit heavy and head pounding. But, he figured that it was all because of last night’s Toni’s bright idea to try and climb one of the trees by the quarry in her semi-drunken state for the perfect position for her picture. That, in turn, had resulted in Sweet Pea having to go up halfway in his slightly inebriated state and help her get down once she’d taken her photos. He felt the scrapes on his hands as he washed his face and brushed his teeth before Ruby came over. One glance in the mirror told him that he looked like hell. Drinking was bad, Sweet Pea repeated to himself, as he usually did after a night out with the Serpents.

But, it wasn’t just the usual grogginess of drinking that was slowing him down. As he went around the living room of his trailer, collecting some of his discarded worn clothes, he felt a heat on his face and a tightness in his throat that weren’t common after drinking a lot. But, he would make do with a cup of hot coffee and he would bounce right back, the biker was certain. He hadn’t managed to collect all of his dirty laundry before there was a knock on his door. His head pounded.

“Coming,” Sweet Pea wobbled over to the door, opening it and leaning on the metal doorway, enjoying the feeling of the cool surface against his forehead. “Hey.” He greeted the petite girl on his porch. Ruby’s eyebrows were furrowed.

“Hey,” she greeted back and stepped inside when he moved. “You don’t look so good. Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m fine. You got some breakfast?” Sweet Pea replied, going to the living area and plopping down on the couch. He immediately felt better when he was off his feet. Ruby came over, giving him a bag from Pop’s and looking at him intently as he opened it. “What?�� Sweet Pea asked.

“You really don’t look good.” She told him with a worried look.

“That’s what every guy wants to hear from a hot girl, cupcake.” Sweet Pea tried to brush her off with a comment that he knew would spike her temper, but Ruby was a woman on a mission. As he dug into his cheeseburger, she placed her hand on his forehead.

“You’re a little hot. Where’s your thermometer?” Sweet Pea’s head was pounding, despite her soft tone.

“Haven’t got one. And, I thought I was a lot hot?” He gave her a cheeky grin.

“Crappy flirting won’t get you out of me taking your temperature.” Ruby gave him a stern look which made him groan. The cheeseburger tasted like carton in his mouth, but he still swallowed.

“Please, I’m fine. It’s just a little hangover,” Ruby’s glare intensified. “A little one. Besides, you came over to study.” The girl dug out her cell phone and moved away without saying anything, her fingers typing away on the keyboard. Sweet Pea focused on eating as quickly as possible, both to get through the tasteless food and to hide his lack of appetite from the girl. If she noticed that, she would definitely go all Dr. House on him, diagnosing a zebra instead of looking for the horse. She was a worrywart and tended to assume the worst first.

“I’ll be right back,” Ruby told him and left the trailer. Sweet Pea sighed while she was out, wrapping the rest of his burger up and rising to place it in the fridge. He would get to it later. Before he could return to his spot on the couch, Ruby was back. “Here, Toni lent me hers. Take your temperature or I will.” She sternly told him.

“You’re cute when you’re bossy, you know?” Sweet Pea tried to distract the girl again, his arms coming to her shoulders, but Ruby’s hand rose in between them, the thermometer stopping his attempt to kiss her and successfully distract her.

“Do you really want to go down this road with me, Sweet Pea?” She asked in a warning tone. “I will dropkick you into bed and tie you up, if necessary.” Obviously, flirting wasn’t getting him anywhere, so he abandoned the tactic. He took the thermometer.

“I thought that we were going to study?” He asked, placing the tip in his ear and pressing the button. It took a few moments for the automatic thermometer to beep and he took it out. He was running a slight fever. Ruby pointedly looked at him. “Fine, here.” Sweet Pea gave her the thermometer. The girl read the number and her frown deepened.

“Bed. Now.” She instructed him.

“Oh, come on, Ruby, I’m fine.” He tried to protest. However, her small hands grasped his shirt and she pushed him back, guiding him backwards into his room. Sweet Pea’s knees hit the edge of his bed and he allowed the girl to push him down and cover him with his blanket.

“You’re not going to be doing anything in this state.” She adamantly told him.

“So, let me get this straight,” Sweet Pea grumbled from his pillow as she made sure that he was tucked in well. “You can bulldoze through finals with a fever and a cough, but I can’t study with a cold?” Ruby immediately stopped tucking in the sides of his blanket around him and he honestly thought that she would hit him. But, her expression was soft in the dim sunlight which poured through his bedroom blinds.

“These aren’t the finals, Sweet Pea,” she told him, brushing his hair back from his forehead gently. “Now, will you let me take care of you without protesting or do I have to bring back-up?” Sweet Pea paled at the thought of back-up. She could only mean Toni and Fangs. Or, worse, she could call FP. Neither option appealed to him in his groggy state.

“I’m going to be good, I promise.” He told her cheekily. With a slight smile, Ruby bent down, kissing his forehead gently.

“Then, get some sleep while I go grab you some medicine and head to the store.” Sweet Pea wanted to ask what she was going to buy, but the warmth of his blanket being wrapped up around his body so snugly and the soft smile Ruby was giving him were too much. He drifted off.

Sweet Pea remembered waking up at odd times, fairly vaguely. His fever had spiked, even more, making him more than a little delirious. He could recall Ruby propping him up and giving him some pills and water. He could also remember opening his eyes and smelling something nice cooking. He could definitely recollect spying Ruby going around his room in the dark, collecting things from here and there. He wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not, but when she noticed him watching, she dropped her task and came over, talking to him in a soft voice about something he couldn’t remember, holding his hand and kissing his forehead gently.

The first thing that Sweet Pea could recall well with certainty was Ruby waking him up with a bowl of hot soup. She’d arranged his pillows so that he could sit up and eat, before tucking him back into his blankets. And, the next thing he remembered very well was waking up and calling for her, only to have her rush into the doorway of his bedroom and smile at him brightly. Then, she’d sat behind him, letting him lay his head down on her stomach as she played with his hair and talked to him in soft tones.

Sweet Pea couldn’t remember a better time in his life. Sure, he was sick. But, for once, someone was taking care of him and not the other way around. His mother hadn’t been the caring kind. In fact, she’d been the whiskey bottle and cigarettes kind. And, his father had been overseas serving most of the time. When he was sick, Sweet Pea had been left to figure it out on his own. He would go to the pharmacy alone, get his medicine and hope that it worked quickly. He hadn’t counted on Toni or Fangs to help, even when they’d offered. His friends had other things to do other than to take care of a boy with a cold or the flu. He didn’t want to be a bother. Besides, Sweet Pea could take care of himself. He was always fine.

But, not to Ruby. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. She took care of him on her own time, with surprising gentleness. All in all, a small part of Sweet Pea was happy that he was sick, for once in his life. He didn’t have to worry about his mother drinking herself unconscious and dropping her cigarette. Instead, he had a girl making him chicken soup in the kitchen. He didn’t have to lie to Toni and Fangs and tell them that he had plans for the evening, while he was shivering in his bed. Instead, he had a girl who wouldn’t go away even when he’d asked her and said that he would be fine after sleeping it off.

That was the moment Sweet Pea was absolutely certain, one hundred percent, that he was completely and utterly in love with Ruby Wolfe. And, in his groggy mind, the realization didn’t scare him one bit. In fact, he welcomed it like an old friend, happy to finally see them. The panic set in the next morning, when his head cleared.

Sweet Pea got up, feeling his forehead. It was covered in a layer of dried sweat, but a normal temperature. He was surprised to be able to walk through his bedroom without any trouble, no clothes were strewn about messily on the floor. Next, he headed for the living room of his trailer, seeking out his caretaker. On his way, he noted that every surface of his home had been cleaned and tidied up meticulously. Curiously, he peeked into the kitchen, seeing it sparkling. Giving in, Sweet Pea opened the fridge, finding it full, for once. Fruits, vegetables and a number of Tupperware containers sat on the shelves, replacing cold pizza, wrapped up burgers and beer bottles. Ruby had obviously made herself at home.

He found the girl in question in his living room, sitting on the couch and folding his freshly washed clothing on the coffee table neatly.

“Hey,” she got up as soon as she saw him, abandoning her task. “How’s your head? Do you feel hot? Groggy?” She was instantly in front of him, hand rising to touch his forehead gently. Sweet Pea didn’t reply, instead ducking down and kissing her lips, hard.

“I love you, Ruby.” He told her when they parted, making her cheeks redden.

“Uh-um-w-wait, what?” She stammered, so Sweet Pea kissed her again, his arms wrapping around her petite form. For a moment, she was too shell-shocked to accept his affection, but she quickly recovered, her hands coming to grip the back of his shirt gently and her lips moving against his in soft motions.

“I said that I love you.” Sweet Pea told her in a soft whisper when he was done thoroughly kissing her.

“Oh,” Ruby said, breathless, a dazed expression on her face. “I guess… I love you, too?” She returned.

“Why is it ‘I guess’?” Sweet Pea groaned. “And, why is it a question?” He laughed, making her dissolve into giggles.

“I don’t know! You didn’t exactly give me any thinking time here!” She protested, making him groan again.

“You need to think about it?” He sounded exasperated. There was a coy smile on her lips then and Sweet Pea groaned again. She was teasing him, as always.

“Oh, I knew I pretty much loved you from the moment I told you that I’d get that tea with you,” Ruby said with conviction. “I just liked watching you squirm and try and figure out your own feelings.”

“Jesus, don’t you know that it’s not nice to tease a sick man? Some might even consider it cruel, in fact.” Sweet Pea chuckled.

“Sick people should stay in bed.” Ruby’s eyes connected with his, telling him that it wasn’t a request at all. Sweet Pea groaned again, but obediently headed back for his room, Ruby in tow.

Oh, gosh… That’s all for now… I wanted to something a bit more Sweet Pea, from the last chapter, which was very Ruby-centric :D

Taglist: @enticinghell @projectcampbell  @sweetscamille

Previous parts: Day 1: A way to memorize Day 2: How to prepare for a study date (?) like a proper gentleman Day 3:  With proper motivation, anything is possible Day 4:  PG13 PDA sugar can be good motivation Day 5: Autumn time is picnic time Day 6: It’s best when we can compete Day 7:  Master of procrastination and his jailer Day 8: Take me anywhere, everywhere, away from here Day 9:  Dirty French for beginners   Day 10:  I need… sleep?… no, you…   Day 12: Stay still for me   Day 13:  Debate? Apparently, a turn-on   Day 14: Two-seater and Chinese   Day 15:  Unintentional intentions  

Let me know how you liked it :D

                                                      Bonus

Ruby: Do you have any of the cold medicine left over?

Sweet Pea: What for?

Ruby: Your idiotic ass kissed me while you were sick and now I’m sick and dad’s out for a week on a job.

Sweet Pea: I’ll be over in a few.

Ruby: Thanks.

Sweet Pea hopped up from his seat at the Whyte Wyrm booth, grabbing his keys from the table and tossing a few bills in the middle of their drinks.

“Where are you going?” Fangs asked, looking between Sweet Pea and his unfinished drink.

“Gotta return a favor.” The tall biker told his friends and headed out with a small smile on his face. He didn’t know how to prepare chicken soup, but he knew where he could get some to go.

Now, I’m done ;)