#some deep cuts for non-Riverdale fic I know

[wallbeatjournal]

10 non-canon riverdale concepts, fic ideas or AUs you can't stop thinking about?

OMG anon. i love this question, i love concepts i love riffing but i'm also overwhelmed by it. ten is soooo many!! lemme dig through my gdrive fanfic graveyard for a second...and lemme put this under a cut to save some eyes.

hirarchie plots in my drafts folder:

one of those "i didn't know where else to go..." hero turns up on villain's doorstep after a trauma fics, in which archie seeks out hiram bc he thinks he's more interested in revenge than like. medical assistance or emotional support.

continued vampire AU ft archie getting properly bitten, more veronica triangulation, more shame

s3 juvie arc AU in which hiram actually visits to be so so soooo soso so nasty and sick about it all

kind of a dreamy fairy tale AU where archie is an ex-mermaid with very sharp teeth (but he already traded his voice and fins away to a different witch who skipped town in her volkswagen beetle) and hiram is a warlock and veronica is in kind of a cinderella-rapunzel situation.

a sort of inception<>rivervale fusion in which rivervale is explicitly kind of built around archie's subconscious and he keeps trying and killing and dying over and over in an attempt to create a hiram-free world where his dad might come back. narrator jughead is there trying to pick up the pieces every time archie bails out. hiram might be becoming meta-aware, or it might just be that archie can't imagine him without every advantage

fic where there's a zombie apocalypse on, and hiram has zombie archie locked in the basement at pop's. (archie pov of course)

my long slow serial wip where s5 archie goes with hiram when he's exiled and kind of rehashes teen traumas but (he thinks) without any illusions about what he's doing. reggie is there now so all i do is think about toxic reggie-on-hirarchie dynamics now. it's going medium.

10 is a LONG list anon. i went deep into the abandoned projects file and i'm still short. so. brainstorming some other stuff i think about but haven't actually made any gestures at writing bc it's not ~my brand:

s7 archie/reggie fill-ins idk if this counts as non-canon because it's more of a "missing scenes" type thing, but i really want more s7 boys-supporting-boys soft romance archie/reggie fic filling in the emotional layers and plot gaps and what-next of archie working on the mantle farm, etc

s6 reggie/kevin(/percival) i've been thinking a lot about s6 reggie/kevin(/percival). troubling. troubling! anyway even outside of the dynamics of reggie wanting to rescue kevin from mind control, i keep thinking kevin would be fascinated with reggie's puppet conscience. i think he'd try to adopt it as his own or at least share, he needs one too. i think they could get intensely psychosexual or simply sexual about the whole situation.

sex pollen. traditional sex pollen. riverdale is from one angle a comics fandom, and you can't have a comics fandom without some writer doing the needful and launching fuck-or-die chemicals at some characters sometime. percival's reggie-on-archie stabbing aggression spell already kind of had that vibe, which is probably why i think it should be archie/reggie. but i would also accept kevin/archie with a slightly different tone, kevin/jughead with a VERY different tone, etc etc etc. (and betty/cheryl. idk why them, they're not even my main f4f ship. i just think they'd wear it well.)

[arsenicpanda]

M, AD, AF, AK!

Nice choices, I’m going to convert them into number, and then let’s go!

13/M. Has a ship ever broken your heart?

Constantly.  There’s a roughly 50% chance that, in a show where at least one person dies, one or both members of my ship will die.  It just...it just KEEPS HAPPENING, my god.  But a special shout out to Chiaki/Makoto from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time for ripping my heart out and stomping on it even though they both live.  Like my HEART, how DARE they.

30/AD. Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships.

I generally only actively seek out fandom stuff when I have a ship because searching for gen stuff is pretty futile, but it happens occasionally.  Newsies is the only one I can think of off the top of my head; I just want to read about Spot Conlon without shipping him with anyone (canon character or OC, it doesn’t matter), but that, like, never happens.  It did happen once though, in the excellent fic In New York about how he joined Tammany Hall and whatnot.

32/AF. Share five must-read fics.

Ok, are we talking across all fandoms or across Riverdale fandom?  Fuck it, I’ll do both, with the Riverdale choice that would normally be in the multi-fandom part moved to the Riverdale section.

Multi-Fandom:

1. Ambivalence by DreamScene (Code Geass) - An excellent look at a Shirley Lives AU.  It’s dark, it’s interesting, it’s a good character piece, the Lelouch/Shirley interactions are perfect in every way, and its got some nice smut at the end.  It’s a little screwy with the timeline, but it’s so good in every other respect that I do not care.

2. Ascendant by Samurai 101 (Naruto) - A very, very interesting Itachi time travel fic with a great and very unique take on time travel in general.  It really dives into clan politics and the difference in Itachi as a child and Itachi as an adult.  And the looming threat of Madara is so, so great.  Every side character is so fleshed out and real, and I love it.  Let it be known that I normally don’t like Itachi, but I really like him in this.  He’s not some perfect, all-wise ninja god; he’s a fuck up of a teenager and a kid trying his best, and he’s actually relatable.

3. Wanted It To Be a Game by SkylaDoragano (Persona 4) - An excellent role reversal fic with Adachi and Yu (well, more P4 Protagonist than Yu as we know him).  It really follows the domino effect of switching their roles out in terms of who lives and who dies and who joins the party in what roles.  It’s so interesting to see the domino effects of it all.  It really gets into the psychology of different characters, and everyone’s dynamics are fantastic, with a special shout out to Adachi and Saki’s friendship.  Seriously, if you like Adachi, this is a must-read.

4. 365 Days of Winter by zauberer_sirin (Durarara!!) - This is the perfect Izaya/Namie fic.  Like, their dynamic is so, so on point, and watching them fall in love when they really would rather not is such a delight.  I love the monthly format, and I love Izaya’s subtle jealousy, and I love how they never even explicitly confess their feelings.  It’s all so them, and I love it.

5. Executive Reform by karanguni (Final Fantasy VII) - It’s a Final Fantasy VII/Pacific Rim mash up that works surprisingly well.  It’s such a great gen fic, and the focus on the Shinra executives delights me.  Like, Scarlet and Hojo interacting while neither are being crazy?  Genius!  And it does such a great job of depicting the complicated relationship between Hojo and Sephiroth even though Sephiroth isn’t even an active character.  Everyone is so human in this, and I absolutely love it.  Tragically, it’s abandoned.

BONUS: Seven Suitors for Shirayuki by Sabrael (Snow White with the Red Hair) - Look, this doesn’t quite make the all-time top five, but I want to plug it here anyway because oh man, guys, this is top-notch slow burn/pining.  Like, by the end you are DYING, the burn is so good.  It fleshes out minor canon characters very well, and there are some great OCS, but they’re not OCs for the sake of OCs but ones that are truly necessary.  And the characterization is on point, and the obiyuki is SO GOOD.  Seriously, if you followed my advice about the show and fell into obiyuki hell with me, go read this.

Riverdale (Do you know how hard this was?  Narrowing this down?  There are so, so many things I want to add but can’t grrr)

1. cut while shaving by areyouabadwolf2 - I’ve made no secret of the fact that this is my all-time favorite Riverdale fic.  And in fact, it would normally knock Executive Reform out of its #5 spot.  It’s such a great post-season 2 darkfic, just an excellent look at where everyone could go from there.  It’s heavy on the Serpents, just the way I like it, and all the relationships are so cool.  Like, Jughead & Cheryl friendship?  Sign me the fuck up!  It’s also SO good at suspense and keeping secrets from its readers, and no one ever talks in a way that makes you go “ah yes, thank you for telling me that even though everyone in the room already knows about it.”  And like, the characterization in this is flawless, absolutely flawless, and the Betty/Jughead dynamic is amazing with them as a criminal duo.  I just. I love it.  Tragically, it seems to be abandoned.

2. The town called Riverdale by satelliteinasupernova - Yeah, you wrote this, so technically it’s redundant for you, but it belongs here, so tough.  This is the Riverdale/Princess Tutu mashup that I didn’t know I wanted, and it has an extra dose of eldritch horror.  The meta-y goodness is so delicious, and the suspense is fantastic, I was always on the edge of my seat.  It’s so great watching Veronica try to figure out this mystery while people around her are either cagey or don’t realize there’s a mystery to solve.  There’s such great uncertainty running throughout it,and I highly recommend it.

3. Black Cherry Chutney by lilibug - I love dark!bughead, I love it so goddamn much, and this is a great depiction of it.  And like, not just dark!Betty or dark!Jughead but both of them, and it’s such a delight.  Like, I absolutely love this Jughead from the word go, and Betty is so great because she is, like in canon, so much more than what she first seems.  The bughead dynamic is great, and the smut is fantastic.

4. Fullmetal Riverdale by lnles - This is such a good mashup of Riverdale and Fullmetal Alchemist that I cannot articulate it.  Like, it’s not just 1-1 insert Character A into Role A; it really works with the setting and characters of Riverdale to create something new but familiar.  It’s working with great pieces, and it does them both justice, which is saying a lot because Fullmetal Alchemist is very, very good.  I love the characterization and the hints of what happened in the past and the prose and just everything.  It’s not done, but it’s got a regular update schedule, so I’m hoping it gets finished. Go give this some love!

5. Shake, Rattle, and Roll series by TakeAWalkOnTheWildside - Ok, so I’m cheating here by putting in a series, but let me cheat, ok?  I’m still amazed that there are so few 1950s AUs for bughead, but I’m really glad we got this series.  It’s sexy, it’s fun, it’s period-appropriate, and it’s dramatic too.  Like it’s a whole saga of Betty and Jughead getting together and then being together, and it’s so fun.  Also, he eats her out on her dining room table in part one, so that’s great.

37/AK. Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP?

For my OTP of OTPs, shirlulu, does Everyone Lives count?  Because that series does not end well for them.  But, ok, other than that, I want to see some mutual pining for them because the idea of Lelouch pining is so goddamn amusing, especially when mixed with perpetually pining Shirley being completely goddamn oblivious.  As for bughead, one thing I don’t see enough of (and crave more of) is their friends and family trying to play matchmaker for them but failing spectacularly.  Also, more 1950s AUs please.

[snarkwrites]

03 | gangsta, sweetpea

Notes:

Honestly, I do not know where I got the idea for this chapter beyond just.. Wanting to throw Sweetpea and Alyssa together in situations to see how it worked. I think it was cute? Probably not logical IRL, but this is fanfic. And some people just can’t deal with the smell of formaldehyde or dissections. Facts because I am one.. I think I might have gone a little overdramatic with some areas in how it played out, but I just decided to lean into it because it made things interesting.

Annnyway. another chapter absolutely noone asked for but I totally needed to write, apparently. Lmaooo.

Summary:

Opposites attract. But when they can’t fight that attraction any longer, will there be a comforting warmth, an inferno from the sparks, or a messy explosion?

Pairing:

Sweetpea x Andrews!OFC, Alyssa.

Warnings:

Angst. Slow burn. Eventual filth. Typical teenage drama. Embarassing situations. Boyfriends behaving like oblivious idiots. Pining. Language. Fighting / Violence. Going to go on a limb and say that this is kind of non canon compliant.

As far as this chapter goes.. The class did a dissection. But given the nature, I went as vague as possible in describing it. There’s mention of fainting and the fact that Alyssa wants to puke at one point, but beyond that, there’s really not much.

Other Parts:

[ one - two - soundtrack ] 

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ] 

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn​ 

- if you wanna be tagged in this fic or in my riverdale writing tell me. I’ll happily add you to my tag list thing.

                                         THREE.

I wasn’t expecting Toni to actually spare me a passing glance the next day, let alone look up from reapplying my makeup to find her standing behind me when I turned around after shutting my locker.

Reggie’s throat cleared and I felt him tense up almost immediately. I nudged him in the side, shaking my head “No” at him before he even got a chance to start.

But he went and did it anyway.

“What do you want?” Reggie spoke before I could.

I couldn’t resist the smirk that came when Toni flicked her eyes over him dismissively before deadpanning, “ I came to talk to Cherry. Not you. Pound sand.”

Reggie eyed me.

“I’ll catch up to you, Reg.”

He refused to budge and I felt my jaw clenching.

“I’m not leavin you by yourself. Not after what happened with the Ghoulie in the hall yesterday.” Reggie folded his arms over his chest. Speaking up with a calm smirk. “Whatever you gotta say to princess, you can say to me too.”

Toni studied him, unimpressed. “Where was this energy when a Serpent handled that Ghoulie you speak of, hm? Now you wanna play the protective boyfriend?”

I tensed a little, shooting her a pleading glance. She eyed me a second or two but luckily, she let the issue drop.

We started to walk towards the direction of our classrooms, talking about music and bands we’d seen live, basically continuing our conversation from the afternoon before when we’d been lounging on the bank down by the quarry.

“Hey, we’re gonna go hang out by the quarry this afternoon if you wanna come with again.” Toni slipped it in just as we got to the door of Biology. Reggie tensed even more, his gaze settling on me as if to ask what she meant by again.

I honestly didn’t give it a second thought, smiling and nodding, a lazy shrug. “Yeah. I mean the Vixens aren’t practicing and pretty much done all the stuff around my dad’s. Hey, remind me around lunch and I’ll go by my dad’s after school and grab that mix tape.”

“Definitely. I’ll see you later.” Toni smiled at me and gave Reggie a dismissive eye roll and as she walked away, Reggie spoke up. Calm and firm.

“Absolutely not. Are you out of your mind, babe? They’re in a gang. Is that where you were when you blew off school and practice yesterday afternoon? I thought you were at home. That prick Sweetpea wasn’t with you… Right?”

Reggie looked far less cocky when his eyes met mine. Almost as if he felt threatened by my choice to branch out. Stop losing myself in this person I was becoming. I’d talked to Archie the night before and Archie had basically told me that he’d been able to tell something was bothering me for weeks now, since even before Reggie and I became a thing. He thought I was homesick.

I’d explained to him how I’d been feeling out of place. Like an imposter because everyone in Riverdale either only knew the me I’d been presenting since I moved back, or remembered me as his younger sister only and that it bugged me because I wasn’t the same person they remembered or were expecting.

He basically told me that as long as being myself didn’t mean sneaking off to frat parties and older boyfriends or anything dangerous, if it made me happier, I should try just being myself more. He seemed to think that I might be surprised by how people reacted to it and sadly, from the looks of it, my own boyfriend was not going to be one of those who welcomed any sign of change.

,, because when you’re truly being yourself, you know he’d never be able to control you, let alone begin to be able to keep up with you. The balance of power is off now and he’s insecure.” 

It worried me, more than I cared to admit.

I didn’t want anything to come between us. I didn’t want to fight with him all the time like we’d been doing lately. I just wanted to enjoy being his girlfriend.

“What if I was, huh? They’re normal. You talk like they’re all hardened criminals or something.”

“What’s this like.. A random act of charity?” Reggie eyed me, searching my face for any hint of an answer. 

,, maybe the random act of charity is the time I’ve been spending pretending to be someone I’m clearly not.” the thought came but I stopped myself from giving voice to it. I sighed and shook my head, disappointed that Reggie was having such a hard time grasping the fact that I could be friends with whoever I wanted… Not excluding Toni Topaz.

Because we’d just kind of clicked. And I actually wanted to be friends with her.

“Reggie, if you really care about me, you’ll lay off this.” I said it as patiently as I could.

“It’s because I care about you, princess, that’s exactly what I’m not gonna do. They’re dangerous. Half of ‘em have a rap sheet as long as this hallway! What if they do somethin and you happen to be out with them, huh? How are you gonna explain that you were just there and not taking part?”

“Do you have to die on this hill?” I asked, giving him a pleading look. 

The last thing I wanted right now was yet another argument with him. But the way he kept assuming he knew me like the back of his hand was starting to get exhausting. I wasn’t that same shy sweet little pushover I’d been when we were kids. I mean, I was still the same girl who hid with him in a tunnel on the playground and split a Hostess cupcake when his father came to collect him and happened to see him mess up a pass while just playing a casual game of toss the football with my brother and the other boys and started to yell and cut him down in front of everyone… I was still her, but I was also different... In so many ways.

“I’m willing to, yeah. Why’s this matter so much?” Reggie studied me intently. 

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath or two to calm myself down. “It matters because I’m not the girl you think I am, okay? You’ve had this image of me built up in your head since I moved back and I’m sorry to say it, I’m not her anymore. I’m not the quiet little kid who used to hide behind my brother or tag along with you guys to play in the park like a lost puppy.” 

“You’re not a Serpent, either, princess.” Reggie explained, a coaxing tone as he raised a hand, resting it against my cheek. “That’s one thing I like about you, okay? You were always the one to take in the strays. All I’m saying is there’s a time and a place for that and now is not the time. They don’t like us any more than we like them.”

“Don’t lump me in with the rest of you.” I glared up at him. “ As far as your earlier question as to whether this is a random act of charity, no. It’s actually not. I enjoyed talking to Toni yesterday.”

Reggie’s brows raised. “Why?”

I shrugged. “We have a lot in common.”

“Yeah, not likely.”

I took a deep breath. Trying to stay patient. Trying not to push this conversation even further into argument territory.

Because I knew that despite the way it felt, Reggie was only doing this because he cared. He didn’t really have any ill intent. He was merely being overprotective. Probably to make up for the rough time we’ve had being on the same page for nearly three weeks now.

Because I’d be lying to myself if I tried to pin all our fighting lately on the fact that Sweetpea was my Biology partner and Reggie was jealous because this started before that. I’d put it off to tension then, but maybe it was just me, starting to realize that no matter how hard I tried, things just weren’t working.

Before that thought could rear it’s ugly head again, I shoved it back down.

We walked into class and I sat down in my seat. Drumming my pencil against the desktop.

From beside me, Sweetpea spoke up. I didn’t have to be looking at him to know he was smirking when he made the remark, either. “Trouble in paradise, cherry?”

“Sweetpea, not today.” I muttered quietly, fixing my gaze intently on the open text book between us. The teacher rolled in the specimens we were supposed to dissect and my stomach rolled as the scent of formaldehyde filled the air.

I could feel my breakfast creeping back up my throat slowly. I took a deep breath.

That was probably the first way I fucked up.

As soon as we got our specimen, I grimaced. Gingerly picking up the scalpel. I could feel myself getting paler in the face by the second. Sweetpea grabbed the scalpel from me and eyed me with a brow raised. Pointing away from us. “If you’re gonna hurl, do it towards that side. Not into vomit on my leather.”

“I’m fine.”

Except, oh no. No I was not fine.

And the scent of formaldehyde was so thick in the air that I honestly felt a little dizzy…

XXX

She almost looked green.

Sweetpea shot a glance back towards the back of the classroom where Mandy and Reggie were absorbed in their conversation… More to the point, Reggie was so caught up in Mandy pouring on the dramatics that he hadn’t spared a single glance towards his actual girlfriend. The thought had Sweetpea’s jaw clenching tight. Alyssa’s hands shook as she picked up the scalpel.

“Give me that.” Sweetpea reached out, taking the scalpel. Because shaking hands and a sharp object in their grasp was never a good idea. He’d been around enough to know that if the person with the knife had a shaky hand, more often than not, things tended to get messy.

,, right and this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that even the thought of her injured kind of makes you physically ill lately. You did move that entire fight between the team and your boys to a vacant lot because you weren’t willing to risk her rushing out to try and stop it and getting hurt by somebody...” his mind taunted him, but he shoved the thought right out of his head. And then more thoughts came.

Like a replay of the argument he’d caught the tail end of between Alyssa and Reggie as he shoved past them to take his own seat. The way she actually didn’t fold under the pressure of Reggie’s argument, but stood her ground instead. Admitting that she enjoyed talking to Toni and she wasn’t going to stop just because it made Reggie Mantle uncomfortable.

Maybe he’d written her off a little too quickly.

He made the first cut in the specimen sitting between them and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Luckily he happened to, because he saw her swaying a little right as the color drained from her face completely and she started to slump just a little. He grabbed her up quickly and shoved through the aisle, pushing open the door of the classroom to step out into the hallway, completely ignoring the threat of yet another detention from their Biology teacher.

“Did you not see her about to pass out?” Sweetpea snapped as he peered back in the door of the classroom. Their teacher stepped out into the hallway, giving him a firm warning look as he pointed to the classroom and Sweetpea clenched his fist, grumbling. Lingering for a few seconds before the teacher spoke up in a crisp tone, “Inside now. Unless you enjoy a month of Saturday detention.” before turning attention back to Alyssa, trying to make sure she was alright. 

Alyssa met his gaze over the teacher’s shoulder, flashing him a weak smile, giving him a pleading look as the teacher warned him a third time to go back into class. “Sweetpea just go, I’m fine. I’ll be back inside soon.”

Sweetpea eyed her a second or two and finally stepped into the classroom, shutting the door behind him. Turning to find himself body to body with an angry Reggie Mantle. Glaring at him.

“I know you didn’t touch my girl, Serpent.”

“Would you rather me touch her or have her crack her head on the floor, dog?” Sweetpea stood taller, cracking his knuckles. Nodding to Reggie’s lab partner, who was grumbling and pouting, rolling her eyes because all the attention had been taken off her. Sweetpea stepped closer, smirking at Reggie, “Mad because you weren’t paying attention and another guy picked up your slack, asshole?”

Reggie went to shove him but the teacher’s throat cleared from behind the two, putting an end to the confrontation.

“This isn’t over, Serpent.”

“ I can do this all year, Bulldog. Just gives me the joy of kicking your ass over and over.”

“Enough you two!” the teacher yelled, silencing both males. “You two can settle whatever this is off of school grounds. In your own time. Understood?”

Sweetpea smirked, rolling his shoulders. “Gladly.” he muttered as he stormed over to his seat.

Alyssa made her way back in and over to the seat beside him, not looking at anyone in the room instead, burying herself in the text. Letting Sweetpea make the cuts as she pointed out the parts of their specimen’s anatomy they had to label and show.

XXX

“Are you okay, princess?”

“I’m fine, Reggie. For the thousandth time. I guess the smell of formaldehyde got to me. It happened at my old school once in eighth grade. I’m just embarrassed.” I answered. The scent was still stuck in my nose. It drifted through the entire hallway.

I knew I should’ve gotten my dad to write me a note so I could go and sit with the other students who’d chosen to opt out. It slipped my mind.

From across the table, Mandy spoke up. “ What was worse? That freak putting his hands on you or almost fainting in front of everybody?” with a smirk as she gazed at me.

Reggie tensed and I gave Mandy a dirty look. “Almost fainting in front of everybody. Hands down. Can we not call him a freak? He’s not in a side show. And he’s not any different than the rest of us.”

“He’s  from South Side. Of course he’s different.” Mandy looked at me as if I’d grown two additional heads. I rolled my eyes and went quiet.

Irritated by her remarks.

Irritated by her in general.

Reggie cleared his throat, taking a bite of his burger. Nodding to mine. Coaxing me to eat. I shook my head, glancing at the burger in disgust. “I’m good.”

“You need food, princess.”

“If the drama queen doesn’t want to eat, Reggie, don’t make her. She could stand to lose a few pounds anyway.”

I tensed. Under the table, my fists clenched. Since I moved back to Riverdale, Mandy’s had it in for me. And she doesn’t bother hiding it.

And I was sick of playing nice. Looking stupid when I know what she’s about.

It wouldn’t have flown in my old school, why was I letting it fly here?

Was it really worth it to just come off like a doormat? I was really questioning my logic on that front a lot lately, it seemed.

I smirked at her and bit my lip. The smirk was replaced with a smile as I spoke up. “In that case, maybe you should skip the ice cream. Since we’re talking about losing a few pounds here. Just trying to help.”

Mandy’s jaw dropped and I shrugged, going back to my cell phone to scroll my Snapchat. Checking the stories of my old friends from my school in Chicago. Responding to a few snaps they’d sent me.

“ Mandy you’re so fuckin rude.” Reggie spoke up, surprising me. I kept my gaze fixed on my phone and Mandy shrugged as if his criticism rolled right off her. “I was just trying to be helpful.”

“You were being a bitch.” Reggie grumbled, fixing his eyes on me. He leaned in and asked quietly, “You wanna get outta here?”

I eyed him, biting my lip. Something told me if I hadn’t had my little incident in the lab, Reggie wouldn’t be trying so hard right now.

,, maybe that’s not true, you don’t know that..” my mind argued.

“It’s okay. I don’t like her enough to give a shit if I’m being honest.” I muttered, making Reggie chuckle quietly and smirk at me. “That’s my girl. It’ll be okay. People are totally gonna forget by last period, you’ll see.”

“It is what it is.” I shrugged, eager for the conversation to switch topics.

XXX

Toni caught up to Alyssa in the hallway, tapping her shoulder. Alyssa turned around, smiling. For a second or two, Toni thought she’d beg off. Change her plans under pressure. She rolled her eyes at Reggie when their gazes met. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah! Just give me a second.”

Reggie’s facial expression told the tale. He was not even remotely happy with being stood up.

“Babe, you were gonna watch me practice.. Remember?” Reggie butted in, pouting at her. reaching out to pull her close to him. Alyssa hugged him and gazed up at him, biting her lip, a patient look on her face.

Toni watched their interactions with amusement. The panic was plain to see on Reggie’s face. She found herself scowling at him. The guy was a fuckboy. For the life of her, she hoped for Alyssa’s sake the whole interest in him was just a phase because guys like that only hurt people...

“Reggie, I can watch you tomorrow. It’s just one afternoon.” Alyssa held firm, surprising Toni. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong to trust her gut like Sweetpea and Fangs insisted she was going to be proven to be.

After a whispered exchange of heated words, Alyssa jogged over, grumbling and rolling her eyes at the whole thing. Smiling at her. “Hey, if you want, we can stop by my dad’s together. Oh and the construction site. I usually take him a snack when  I get in.”

“Aww, that’s cute.” Toni gave her a gentle but teasing smile, nodding. “Let’s go.”

They took off, falling back into conversation. Losing track of everything else.

After stopping by Alyssa’s to pick up the food for her dad and the mix tape she’d promised to lend Toni, they found themselves wandering around. Flopping on the grass at the park, watching the clouds roll overhead.

“ What made you join the Vixens anyway?”

“Cheryl strongarmed me into it. They needed a gymnast. I used to hate the cheerleaders at my old school.”

“ You’re the only halfway cool Vixen I’ve met so far.” Toni admitted, shrugging.

Alyssa stood, holding out her hand. Pulling Toni off the grass. “Let’s do something.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. What is there to actually do in Riverdale if we’re being honest?” Alyssa joked, making them share a laugh.

“Oh.. Oh.. no, you’d probably hate that idea.”

“No, what?”

“There’s a Mortal Kombat machine in the Wyrm…”

“Pretty sure Fangs and Sweetpea would be thrilled about me showing up there.” Alyssa mulled it over before smirking a little. “Okay, let’s go. It beats absolutely not shit to do here.”

“Don’t let them get to you. They’ll be assholes until they warm up to you.”

“Sweetpea confuses me? Like.. I know he’s being a jerk over half the time, then he does something like he did in Biology this morning and I don’t know what to think.. Anyway, I need to just not worry about it either way.” Alyssa tried to dismiss it, but Toni smirked to herself.

Determined not to just let her dismiss it.

Because any idiot could see what was going on.

Or she could, at least.

“No, what do you mean?”

“You know what I mean… Sometimes I feel like.. I don’t know… Like he’s trying too hard to be an asshole?”

“Oh no, he’s an asshole. Mega grouch. But you’re right. He does have his moments.” Toni kept things vague enough that she wasn’t putting her best friend Pea in any compromising positions, but she hoped that she said enough to get Alyssa really thinking.

It wasn’t like they were close enough friends just yet that Toni could go and tell her that she just needed to open her eyes. Pick a better boyfriend, because Reggie Mantle only liked the idea of her. Or the her that he’d known years ago from what she’d been hearing around school.

,, not to mention there’s the whole conversation you happened to overhear about there being a bet between Reggie and some Chuck asshole about getting in her pants..” the thought came but Toni shoved it down. Because how did you go about telling someone something like that?

Especially when you really didn’t know them well at all.

She didn’t want to lose a friend she was only just getting to know yet. She just needed to come up with a way to break it to Alyssa so that Alyssa understood. And wasn’t hurt or embarrassed or angry. So that Alyssa believed her.

Because she was disgusted with the fact that the guy had done that in the first place. The fact that she’d had the misfortune of overhearing only made things worse...

[asouthsideserpentatemyheart]

A Kiss with a Fist - Part 1

A/N: Hi lovelies! Having got such good feedback from the teaser I posted about a week ago, I’ve decided to write this as an actual fic. I don’t know how frequently I’ll be able to update it, hopefully around once (maybe even twice) a week. It is the only thing I’m working on at the moment but I have work and uni etc to do too, so we shall see. I really hope you enjoy this part as much as the teaser! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

Taglist: @vibesense @poolpartyingwithjaws @southsidesweetheart @superhalsteads @xsuperhero-expertx @southside-proud

Word count: 2,982 words

Warnings: swearing (probably), mentions of violence, slow burn (for those who don’t like that), nothing much else

(Y/N) dragged her thumb across the old scars on her hands, contemplating the ‘how’s and the ‘why’s of their existence. She had always been told that if you were one of the people in the world lucky enough to have a soulmate that you were connected to them in some way, whether it was not seeing colour until you had seen them, their name or a key characteristic being printed on your body somewhere, somehow being able to hear their thoughts in your mind. She had always thought it sounded wonderful, the idea of the world suddenly opening up with a burst of colour the first time your eyes meet theirs, bumping into someone in the middle of the night and seeing your name on their body in the exact same place as their name is on yours, hearing their thoughts get louder and louder as you get closer and closer to them until with a crescendo they stop when you touch. So many romantic stories had been passed around over the years, so many people in the world around her ready to tell exactly how they met their soulmate and how they knew they were the one.

While she was lucky enough to have a soulmate, she was unlucky enough to have one of the rarer connections to them- when they scarred, she scarred; when they hurt, she hurt; when they got some god-awful tattoo of an angry looking two-headed snake in the shape of an ‘S’ permanently marked into the skin on their neck (of all places!), so did she- the scar of it at least anyway and the weird vibrating sensation of the non-existent needle going through her skin. Her hands were the worst, which is why she so regularly found herself staring at them in horror, as they gained more and more cuts, bruises and scars. She was sure that even other people who shared the same type of connection with their soulmate didn’t see it affect their day to day lives- the odd bruise here and there when their soulmate walked into the corner of a lab table or when they missed catching a ball in gym class. Her soulmate, however, was basically a human punching bag and she regularly paid the price and spent the time having to cover up bruises that weren’t ever hers. Sometimes she wondered whether or not they, her soulmate that is, knew that their actions affected her too and if on the rare occasion that she tripped up over her own feet and grazed her palms or bruised her knees that they even noticed the bruises weren’t theirs.

The most recent additions to her body was heavy bruising on her knuckles, those of her middle and index fingers were split- it looked like she had spent the previous evening throwing her fists against a wall- there was a gash across her right hand that appeared to be more of a burn than a cut, like she’d been sliced with a hot blade, her eye was aching and although it hadn’t started to discolour yet, she knew it’d be black and swollen by the evening. She had a long time and a long journey ahead of her to think about how much longer she was going to have to deal with the damage being unwillingly inflicted on her.

(Y/N) and her mother were moving from their lovely home in California to her mother’s hometown of Riverdale, they were moving because her parents had finally got a divorce- she had found it hard to believe they actually liked each other over the past few years let alone the fact they were supposedly soulmates. She guessed that even the relationships with the person who was perfect for you, who was made for you, the person you were meant to meet and be with could have an expiration date if the universe didn’t think they were meant to be for forever. Living with them for the last year or so of their relationship before the divorce had been awful, constant arguments, raised voices, harsh words- if they weren’t saying something awful to each other then they were giving each other the silent treatment, either way they weren’t paying as much attention to their daughter and what was going on in her life as they should be.

(Y/N)’s life hadn’t been great in school either for the past few years and she couldn’t imagine moving during her last year was going to do much in the way of improving it. Before she had turned 12 her life had been pretty much perfect, she was popular in school, she was top of her class, she was on the debate team, she ran a blog, she was a cheerleader, she had friends- almost anything she could think of she had it, except a soulmate. She had wished and wished on every eyelash, on every birthday candle, on every single shooting star that she would have a soulmate, just like her mum and dad, that she’d get her connection and meet them; they’d fall in love and get married and have a life together- 6 years later, she felt like she should have been more careful about what she had wished for.

During the summer holiday while she was 12 her wishes came true, she had been cycling down the street on the way home from going to the mall with some friends when she felt it. Something invisible had hit her in the stomach, she hadn’t thought much of the pain assuming she’d just imagined it until she felt it again in the cheek, it was as if someone had punched her, but no one was there to have done so. The next day she woke up with bruises on her stomach and face, her knuckles were raw and looked as if they’d been split open- something she would eventually grow accustomed to. When she had gone downstairs her mother had gone into full on panic mode, asking her what had happened, who was bullying her, did she need to phone the school, how she thought her daughter was one of those popular kids; it had taken a lot of convincing that nothing of the sort was happening and that she was just as confused about it all as her mother. Eventually they concluded that this must have been her connection to her soulmate and for a while she was excited, until she went back to school.

Her friends didn’t believe that her connection to her soulmate was through pain, those who had their connections had things like their soulmates name tattooed on their body in the first place their soulmate would touch (like her mother did), others could only see in black, white and the colour of their soulmates aura and would gain the full colour spectrum back when they met their other half, some could hear their soulmate in their head- all of their connections were subtle or private, they were sweet and romantic, how one would expect your connection to the person who was made for you would be but hers was not. Eventually her friends all drifted away from her one by one, no one wanted to be seen with the girl who looked like she was constantly getting into gang fights, as time went on she dropped her extracurriculars starting with cheerleading because she was constantly being told she ‘didn’t give off the right image to be a cheerleader’ until the only thing that really remained of her old self was the fact that she was the top of her class in everything.

In reality, as she thought back on her life in her hometown, she knew there was nothing worth staying for. She and her mother could use a fresh start, she could finish her education in a new school and think about applying for college, maybe she’d make some friends, find some new hobbies, she might even finally meet her soulmate. She just wanted to start again, she wanted not to be known as the weird kid who is always getting into fights and then lying about the fact that she has a soulmate connection to cover it up, maybe people would actually get to know the real her and she would just be (Y/N) the new girl in town. She imagined all of the possibilities for her new life as her and her mother road tripped across the country in their old Jeep, they’d had decided to leave the majority of the possessions behind, those that they had packed up into boxes were already in the process of being shipped to their new house and would hopefully get there at a similar time to when her and her mother were picking up the keys to their new home- it was just the two of them, a backpack each full of clothes, mix tapes they’d made throughout (Y/N)’s life and their positive mentalities as they visited the wonders of every state between California and New York. This was the journey to their new, hopefully better, life.

***

As Sweet Pea pulled up to the rundown building on his bike and switched off the engine he thought about the previous night’s events, the Ghoulies were getting more and more daring with their actions, they were becoming more willing to attack and less willing to back down, they were making it harder for him and his friends to stay out of trouble and stop contributing to their already diminishing reputation within the community. It was never the Ghoulies who were blamed for the atrocities committed on the Southside of Sweetwater River but him and his family, his gang were considered to be the bane of the town and the Northsiders would give anything to rid Riverdale of the Southside Serpents- especially certain families. As he flipped the key in the bike’s ignition, switching the roaring engine off with a choke, and removed his helmet he could feel the heavy, aching pains in his knuckles and the sting of a growing black eye. He removed his gloves, revealing his bandaged right hand, underneath the bandage was a deep tear in his skin from where one of the other gang members had come at him with a hot blade- a dagger of sorts or maybe even a letter opener (either way, it was a particularly low move even for a Ghoulie)- they only got his hand with it before he’d tackled them to the ground and they’d completely lost their handle on the knife like object, he couldn’t imagine it would have stayed hot for much longer anyway, not hot enough to burn at least.

He tried to stop himself thinking about the previous night’s events as he opened the door to what could only be described as a bar in the most primitive sense of the word, as in it had a bar and sold alcoholic beverages and had a jukebox that played old-style rock music at the whim of any patron willing enough to pay the quarter the machine asked for; in every other sense it was the kind of place that put ‘dive’ in the term ‘dive bar’, yet he and his companions found themselves coming back to the place on an almost nightly basis. It was their headquarters, their (well-guarded, badly armed) fortress, their territory and no one was going to take it away from them even if it was an almost literal shit-hole.

He pulled on one of the double doors, to anyone who had never been to the bar before it would have looked like he was trying to yank the door off its hinges, he knew that to get the door to open without dragging across the wet concrete foundations and making a piercing, shriek-like noise that you had to pull it up towards the top left corner of the doorframe and pull the door harshly towards you before pushing it open and entering. The positive aspect of having a front door that was so difficult to open correctly was that the occupants were always aware when someone was entering the bar who they may not be expecting- an opposing gang member, a Northsider or maybe even a lost girl who was new to town and had no idea what sort of place she was entering in the hopes of finding help.

Sweet Pea followed the same routine as he always did upon entering the dark bar- it was full of people, some he knew personally, most he had at least seen around most of his life, a few younger, newer members or initiates who were still too excitable for his tastes- he headed to straight to the bar hoping his friend was working tonight, she was a petite girl so the fact that he didn’t initially see her didn’t mean she wasn’t there. Once he reached the worn wooden slab he leant on it, elbows turned out, hands tapping out a nervous rhythm on the wooden countertop. Once he caught the attention of one of the bar staff who was too tall to be who he was looking for, let alone too male, he tried to talk to him over the noise of the heavy music being blasted through the speakers, “Is Tones working?” he near shouted at the guy who just shrugged and went back to wiping down the bar. He shrugged before tapping the bartender on the shoulder the movement of which made his bruised knuckles ache. “I’ll take a beer and I wanna know if Toni’s here?” he gritted his teeth, knowing he shouldn’t get as angry as he was getting over something that was probably just a misunderstanding. The guy behind the bar nodded, pulling a bottle out of the fridge below the bar and popping it open as he handed it over he nodded over to the arcade machines in the corner, “She’s not working tonight, I saw her with Jones earlier. Ask Fangs.”

Sweet Pea slapped a note down on the bar, took his drink and headed over towards the pool table via the arcade machines to grab him other best friend. Fogarty, or as he preferred to be called ‘Fangs’ was, as always when he was alone, engrossed in a game of Mortal Kombat on one of the vintage games machines. He grabbed his friend by the back of the collar and dragged him away mid game with little force but as always Fang’s had something to say about it, “what the hell, man?” He kept walking towards the pool table, hoping there would still be a few people in this bar willing to challenge the pair despite their reputation of being unbeatable except by each other. Once they were there, Fangs let out a light chuckle and passed him a cue, as they both chalked up the ends of the cues Sweet Pea finally spoke. “Have you seen Topaz?” he was still bitter about the previous night, he wanted to spend time with his friends and forget it happened, he wanted Toni to tell him that he’d done the right thing and that he hadn’t gotten into a fight for no reason. Basically, he wanted his best friend to lie to him and lecture him about it so he knew she cared and they carry on with their evening like nothing had happened and nothing had been said about it. He wanted a normal evening. “Her and Jones are on their way, something about doing some last-minute work for the paper.” He rolled his eyes at his friend and lined his cue up with the white ball on the green felt table, ready to start his first game of the night.

He'd been feeling off lately, he wasn’t sure what it was, but he had this feeling in his gut that everything was about to change, he wasn’t sure whether it was going to be for the better or worse. Knowing his luck, it’d be for the worse. He knew he could talk to Fangs about anything and he really did want to talk to him about this but ever since he had been shot outside of the police station during the riots Sweet Pea had made sure to do everything in his power to keep his best friend out of trouble even if that meant not telling him the whole truth about what was going on in his life. He also knew that Fangs would make some comment about how this was clearly a sign that he was going to meet his soulmate soon and that he should be getting ready and start looking for them. Sweet Pea could not be bothered and did not have the energy to deal with Fangs’ wasted optimism about the whole soulmate subject and to be quite frank didn’t believe any of it was real in the first place. His hopes were that Toni would have taken it a bit more seriously because while she claims to have met her soulmate the day she met Cheryl, she was a lot les vocal about the concepts existence than Fangs who was determined to meet his as soon as he could. Sweet Pea would be happy to never meet his, if they even existed that is, he didn’t need extra baggage and he didn’t need another weakness that the Ghoulies could try to exploit, he didn’t need another person the leave him, like almost everyone else in his life had.

“Why do you want to see Toni so bad anyway?” Fangs asked as they played, Sweet Pea just grunted in response, as if to say ‘it doesn’t matter’ which in reality it did but he didn’t really feel like explaining himself twice, so he was going to wait until Toni and Jughead maybe showed up- so he just continued to play the game of pool.

[ms-maj]

Tell Me How

Eep, I wrote something. This is the very first fic I’ll have ever posted on Tumblr, so, here goes y’all. Thanks to @wordsonpages1 for the encouragement and kind words in getting me to post this. I would love any and all of your thoughts!

The sun, which had seemingly hung on as long as it could, had finally dipped below the horizon. Its last wisps of pink and orange were swallowed by the inky night that descended. There was no moon, only the lingering twilight and flickering street lamps to illuminate her way. She chose to live close to work, in the neighborhood where she’d be making a difference; she had wanted to see its impact. And see she did. She saw the impact of something that was not confined to the borders that separated the South side from the rest of Riverdale; she saw the impact in vacant, empty stares, heard it in cries, feeling the sobs in her arms as she tried to offer comfort.

Comfort, she snorted out loud as her eyes rolled. Betty Cooper wasn’t a hero, making a difference to these people; she was one decision away from being persona non-grata. Her house, at the end of a broken sidewalk, came into view and she felt a little of the weight she carried dissipate. It wasn’t much to look at; the blue-painted siding was faded and chipped, the sun had bleached the roof unevenly, the small unattached garage leaned at a precarious angle, but it was hers. She managed a slight smile as she turned the key in the lock, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

Today had been a long day. The kind of day you felt in your bones. With an exhausted sigh, she pulled the door closed and upon the subsequent click, she felt her legs give from beneath her. She slid down the door, knees pulled tight to her chest as the tears began to fall in steady streams from her eyes. The scent clung to her sweater, all Baby Magic and sunshine, as his weeping mother cried in her office. Another life was gone, one second a proud and beaming father, the next; a statistic. She’d been on too many cases like this lately; had to ask too many people questions about their state of life she should never have to ask. She should never have to be called in to assess whether a child can safely return to its remaining parent. No one should have to go through what this poor girl faces, no child should grow up without…

Betty only realized what she was doing as the hot tears hit the open abrasions on her palm. She gently splayed her hands over her knees, breathing slowly and deeply as her head fell back on the door. She hated her job. No, not entirely, she supposed. Betty loved to help, she was intrinsically made for getting answers; no truth could outrun Betty Cooper. Yet more and more, there were simply no answers for what she’d been seeing. Slowly, on bone-weary legs, she stood and tried to push down the images that were seared in her mind.

Every time her eyes closed she saw a baby, the spitting image of his father, who would never hear his laughter or remember his smile —No!— she thought, her head shaking neared violent as she made sure the deadbolt was latched. She pushed away from the door with purpose, propelling her down the short hallway into her bedroom. As tired as she was, the grey sheets and yellow walls never looked less inviting. She stripped off her blazer and slacks and traded them for her favorite worn yoga pants and old Smiths tee-shirt. Throwing herself onto the bed, she stared at the ceiling, willing her eyes to close and the sleep she was so desperate for to come. But after an hour it hadn’t, then another; images of bright blue eyes and wispy blonde hair haunting her. A huff of air escaped her as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. It was way too late to go for her customary run but she’d picked up some old Tae-Bo tapes at a garage sale a few years before and they never seemed to fail her when she needed to let off some steam. The old thirteen inch Panasonic fired up as she fixed her hair into a tight ponytail and through the auto-adjust tracking, Betty got lost in the routine. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Routine it became. The lack of sleep, two a.m. Tae-Bo, the inability to separate from this case. It had been two weeks of tenuous phone calls, ‘just checking in’ she’d say when the weary mother would answer her phone. Betty knew it didn’t help, that the platitudes of a strange woman who had the power to take your child away probably weren’t conducive to grieving. Betty resigned herself the obsession, even if she didn’t fully understand it. There were so many children she had dealt with and while many of their stories stayed in her heart, none of their eyes seemed to haunt as much as this ones. Tomorrow, she would call her doctor tomorrow, she decided. Stretching back against her pillows, Betty closed her eyes.

“Wake up, please…please wake up,” she cried over the prone form. Her hands fisted whatever piece of clothing she could get her hands on, sobs wracking her body as she sank against the cool tiles. “You can’t leave me. You promised…” The body under hers shuddered. She shot up, pulling them with her as her hand went to sweep the hair from the forehead where it was stuck in what appeared to be sweat and no small amount of vomit.

“Betty,” the voice rasped. Her tears subsided, for just a second, before all she saw were the whites of eyes.

“No!” she whimpered. “NO!”

Betty woke with the word on her lips. She was practically panting she was breathing so hard. The memories she worked so hard to suppress, all she had fought and conquered, everything broadcast in live and in-living-color right in her bedroom. Reaching for the water bottle on her nightstand, the shrill ring of her phone cut through the night, the number flashing on the screen sent chills through her body.

“Betty Cooper,” she answered, willing her voice past her lips.

“Miss Cooper, this is Detective Neal. I had heard you were handling the case regarding Mr. Cousins.”

She swallowed thickly. “You heard correctly, Detective. I assume a call this late isn’t for a clerical error.”

“No, Miss Cooper. I wish I was calling you with something as banal at that, unfortunately, we’re going to need you to come and remove the child.”

Betty’s head smacked against the headboard audibly. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was closer to ten minutes when she pulled up to the cute, suburban home. She may have broken a few traffic laws, but she was certain that anyone foolish enough to pull her over that night would have gotten the raw end of Betty’s razor-like tongue. She was running on pure adrenaline, that’s the only way she’d get through this night. To have to walk through this house, again, not knowing what she’d have to see inside, made her insides flip uneasily. The lights of the ambulance and police cars danced through the darkened street, casting shadows in suburbia, where they’ve always existed and no one thought to look. Betty’s hands wrung and stretched as she made her way through the door, flashing her credentials at the officer. She wove her way through the throng of responders, focused on the cries of a three-month-old little boy who needed, well, everyone who’d left him. He’d have to settle for her and the family who was taking him in.

The kitchen was a disaster. The wife apparently had used every glass in the house to allay her anger. Futile. Ineffective. Useless. The words Betty remembered so well after her own dalliance in grief echoed through her head as the physical shards of anger crunched under her feet. She could feel the darkness welling inside her as she crossed the field of broken glass. Fingernails pressed into her palms, she felt it before the skin broke this time, snapping her focus back to the present.

“Ah, Miss Cooper!” A tall man waved her up the stairs. She took a deep breath before ascending, knowing what she might face at the top. Fortunately, the coroner had been quick and all evidence to what had happened was out of sight. Small miracles. The breath fell from her lips heavy as she walked into the nursery. Bright blue eyes clouded with tears as they met hers. A sad smile formed on her lips as she reached out to try and soothe him. But there’d be nothing soothing about that night. Not that Betty could produce.

“…I don’t know that he’s had other charges, but he’s the only open foster we’ve got right now. He’ll have to adapt quickly to an infant, but, that’s what he signed up for.” She realized the older detective was speaking to her and turned her head toward him to meet his eyes. The man’s eyes were weary, his back hunched by the weight of the job he carried. He ran a hand over his shorn hair and met Betty’s eyes with sympathy. “We get way too many of these calls, Miss Cooper.”

"Don’t I know it,” she agreed sadly. She looked back to the baby, and placed a hand on his belly, trying to pour all the love she could muster into the gentle touch. Before she could register what was happening, a diaper bag had been slung over her shoulder and the car seat placed at her feet. Through a haze of tears, she managed to secure the infant in his seat and get him settled into her car. She looked at the slip of paper in her hands, the address eluding her. She hated when that happened; she’d only been back in Riverdale a few months and still didn’t know it as well as she should have, not for as long as she’d lived there before, not when all she used to do was ride around…she stopped, shaking the vestiges of that train of thought away, securing it away for a night her emotions weren’t already overwhelming her. She plugged the address into her GPS as the sound of the Aquabats filled the air. The little boy cooed, a gurgle escaping his lips every now and again as they drove through the winding roads. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drive to the foster house took longer than Betty expected. They ended up outside the city proper, a small dirt road leading to a cottage that overlooked the Sweetwater River. Betty took a deep breath when she got out of the car, honeysuckle enveloped her completely and knocked her senses for a loop. Her mouth opened as a ragged breath fell from her lips. She tried to bite back the tears that gathered on her waterline, she could taste the blood on her lip as she opened the car door. But try as she might to fight them, the tears cascaded down her cheeks as she went to remove the sleeping cherub from her back seat.

“So, this is where you’ll be staying, little guy. I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention when Detective Neal was saying their name but they have to be a lovely family to get you.” Betty ran her hand down the baby’s cheek, he sighed a half smile as he nestled against her hand. She tucked the moment away, deep into her heart and rang the doorbell. “I promise I’ll be back to see you, not that you know who I am but, oh sweetling, know that you’re loved.” Betty did not notice the door open, therefore she did not see the young man standing there taking in the scene before him. When he swallowed audibly, Betty tore her eyes from the baby and startled herself into speaking.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean just to be standing here staring at him…I swear he was in good hands,” she laughed without humor before the sound of his voice froze her in place.

“I have no doubt that he was, Betty.”

Betty’s head slowly rose, green eyes brimming with tears connecting with stormy blue. She wasn’t sure her voice would work, but she managed to croak out a single word. “Juggie?”

[beaniesandmilkshakes]

ash and smoke (2/?)

previous part

summary:  A civil war is brewing between the north and south sides of Riverdale, being fueled by none other than the mayor Hal Cooper. When Betty meets the mysterious Southside Serpent Jughead Jones at a party, the revolution is only just sparking. It isn’t until the town is burning to ash around them that they confess their love, but by then it might just be too late.

author’s note: so sorry for the delay in updating, my computer broke and i hit the fateful writer’s block once it was fixed, but i’m back! i also made a spotify playlist based around this fic. the songs aren’t in a particular order and some don’t even have to do with the plot, mainly just for the aesthetic of the story. so please give it a follow if you’d like! enjoy xo!

read on ao3

masterpost

Jughead Jones watched as the Riverdale High girls drove off. Probably heading back to their non-mobile homes with two stories and a white picket fence. He thought to himself, before heading back into the party.

 He didn’t normally socialize during Serpent parties, but when he caught wind that three northside girls had crashed, Jughead decided to come out from the shadows to see what they wanted. Of course, he hadn’t expected to see Vince trying to feel a blonde up when he came downstairs, but his anxiety spiked once he realized who exactly the girl was.

 Now that she and her friends had driven off, all Jughead could hope for was that the Cooper girl didn’t tell her dad about the house.

 “Hey Jug, I’m in the mood for a smoke, wanna join me?” Harvey Kinkle moved his way through the crowd, his signature charming smile in place. Jughead shrugged in response.

 “Sure,” The two boys headed to an empty room upstairs, opening the windows and lighting up their cigarettes. Jughead exhaled a cloud of smoke, watching it disappear into the night sky.

 “Hey Harvey, when’s your homecoming game again?” Jughead asked, flicking the ash on the end of his cigarette.

 “This Friday, actually,” Harvey responded, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you asking?”

 “What?”

 “Jug, the past five years I’ve known you, I’ve never once heard you take an interest in anything involving physical activity.” Harvey laughed, nudging his friend. “Does this have anything to do with those Rivervixens crashing earlier?”

 “Well, what if I just want to come and support my friend, who just happens to be playing his first game as captain?” Jughead sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, his beanie having been thrown onto a chair across the room. Harvey rolled his eyes.

 “Whatever you say Jug.” With that, the two fell back into a comfortable silence, Jughead’s daydreams of those soft green eyes looking back at him filling his mind.

  By the time Friday rolled around, Betty was absolutely exhausted.

 Homecoming week was a whirlwind of decorating the fieldhouse and dealing with an even more uptight Cheryl Blossom for an extra two hours a day. The homecoming game was the Vixen’s annual chance to show up the Greendale Giants, and seeing as it was lead by none other than Cheryl’s “mortal enemy” Sabrina Spellman, the Vixen’s routine had to be flawless.

 “Betty, you have bags under your eyes,” Alice Cooper noted dully, sipping her tea. Betty clenched her fist, which had more crescent-shaped wounds than usual, the stress of the past few days building up little by little. Polly noticed how her sister tensed and cleared her throat.

 “You can borrow my concealer Betty,” She offered, shooting her a warm smile. Before Betty had time to respond, Alice interjected.

 “That won’t be necessary Polly, Betty’s much paler than you.” Betty pursed her lips and Polly stared at her lap, mumbling an apology. “Just make sure you fix yourself up before the game tonight, Betty. You wouldn’t want to look weak in front of the entire town, would you?” There was an edge to her mother’s voice that reminded Betty of when her father was campaigning for mayor. ‘Remember Betty, just smile and wave. ‘Don’t speak unless spoken to. If you act out you make our family look weak.’

 Betty swallowed and nodded, “I’ll pick up a concealer during my lunch hour at the drugstore.” Alice nodded and turned to Polly to ask about where she and Jason will take their homecoming photos, signaling that the previous conversation was over. She had been displeased to find that Betty hadn’t found a homecoming date, and would be going stag for the second year in a row. Another reason to be called a failure to the Cooper name.

 “You know mom doesn’t mean what she said, we’re the same skin tone for God’s sake!” Polly sighed as the two drove to school twenty minutes later, Betty staring out the passenger’s seat window.

 “It’s fine, Pol. She’s always been like that with me, and in three years I’ll be off at college where she can’t control me anymore.”

 “Yeah, well next year I’ll be off at college and I hate to think of what kind of sick mind games she’ll play with you when I’m gone,” Polly reached for her sister’s hand and the two shared a look of sorrow. The Cooper sisters had always been close, never having the petty sibling rivalries that the movies depict. Betty wouldn’t lie and say the thought of her sister leaving next year was heartbreaking, but she would never dare admit it out loud. If she did, Polly’s loyalty would force her to stay home, attending the community college and leaving behind her bright future, adding another thing to the long list of guilt Betty would hold with her.

 “I’ll be fine, I’m a big girl now, remember? And besides, I’ve got Veronica and Cheryl, not to mention Mom finally caved and got me meds at the start of the year.” It had taken years of begging and countless “episodes”, but Alice Cooper had finally made an appointment with a psychologist two towns over to get Betty a prescription for anxiety medication. Although the dosage was still small, Betty had felt the effects almost immediately.

 Polly sighed, pulling into the school parking lot, “Whatever you say Betts, and remember, I’m always a phone call away.” Betty laughed.

 “You’re making it sound like you're leaving tonight,”

 “I wish, but it’s never too early to start reminding you,” The oldest Cooper daughter winked at her sister and the two made their way into school.

  “Alright bitches, tonight needs to be perfect,” Cheryl smiled at the group of girls crowded in front of her in the girl’s locker room. The Vixens went on in three minutes during halftime, and the game was currently tied. Tension was high not only on the field but in the stands too.

 “She really needs to learn how to give better pep talks,” Veronica whispered to Betty, who bit her lip to suppress a giggle.

 “Those Giant sluts need to learn that we’re superior, nevermind the fact that they’ve beat us at regionals twice,” The redhead glared at Ginger, who notably fell flat on her face in an attempt to do a triple backflip two years in a row. “Anyways, let’s get out there and show Sabrina and her tragic excuse of a squad what us Vixens are made of,” As the girls started to shuffle towards their places, Cheryl shouted one last order. “And remember, amp up the sex appeal!”

 Betty took a deep breath, Cheryl’s final words ringing in her ears. She could be sexy, right? After the number of hours being shown the exactly the right way to move her hips, flaunt her breasts, and use her best assets, sexy should come naturally to her.

 “Ladies and gentlemen, introducing, the Riverdale High Rivervixens!” Dilton Doiley’s voice boomed over the PA, and the music started to blast as the crowd cheered. Betty tried her best, letting her body move to the music. She plastered on the fake smile she had mastered since she was six-years-old and moved her head so her ponytail bounced to the beat. When the routine was finished, Ginger had landed her backflip successfully and the Riverdale stands were on their feet. Veronica shot Betty a knowing smile, and the blonde blushed.

 “Amazing job girls, but as always, it could have been better. Shiela, your form was less than impressive, and Ginger, that backflip cut it too close. One more fuck up and you're out.”

 “Cheryl-” Veronica started, before Betty put a hand on her shoulder, a silent signal to back off. While it was the best performance they’d done by far, there was no use in arguing with Cheryl Blossom. The girl was always critical about everything.

 “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you Aspirante Puta. Alright, everyone get out of my sight.”

 “Perra,” The raven-haired cheerleader mumbled before turning back to her friend. “Wanna grab some concessions and wait for Archie to get out?”

 “Sure, just as long as my mom doesn’t catch me eating any carbs.” Betty shrugged.

 Luckily, the Coopers had left after halftime due to a “very important meeting” Hal had to attend in the morning, leaving Betty to eat all the soft pretzels she wanted. As she turned to go find Veronica, who had run off to wait outside the boy’s locker room, she locked eyes with the last person she’d expect to see.

 “Ah, so the cheerleader sneaks a pretzel, how scandalous of you,” Jughead Jones was leaning against the bleachers, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He wasn’t wearing his serpent jacket, but Betty figures he’d be stupid to show up in a gang uniform to a northside football game.

 “Uh, what are you doing here?” Betty asked, cringing at how rude her words had come out.

 “Friends with the Greendale captain, and I just couldn’t miss the chance to see his team in action.” His excuse didn’t ease Betty’s nerves. “Relax, I’m not going to kidnap you, I just wanted to talk to the pretty girl who crashed my party again, and apologize for my asshole friend, again.” Oh, Betty thought, feeling guilty that her first instinct was to fear him. Jughead seemed a lot nicer than Cheryl had made him out to be.

 “Well thanks, and I’m fine, so uh, apology accepted.”

 “You won’t mind if I ask a question that’s been confusing me since I first saw you?”

 “Uh, sure I guess?” Betty bit her lip as Jughead ran his hand through his hair.

 “What was the mayor’s daughter doing at a southside party? Because if you went last weekend to find some danger, I’d suggest you stay away.” That wasn’t exactly the question Betty had been expecting.

 “It was a dare, sorry if we ruined your party but Cheryl really likes pulling us into stupid shit.” Under the field lights, Betty was able to make out his features more clearly than in the dim house, and she noticed the small freckles that dotted his tanned skin. As soon as he noticed her staring, though, she looked away quickly, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. Jughead was more attractive than she remembered.

 “B!” Veronica called in the distance, snapping Betty out of her thoughts.

 “So…” Jughead rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to end the conversation.

 “Wanna get a milkshake at Pop’s sometime?” Betty blurted out, slapping her hand over her mouth once she realized what she had just said.

 “I mean, only if you want to,” She stumbled over her words and Jughead smirked. Though his stance would state otherwise, there was a flash of pain and longing in his eyes before he spoke.

 “Maybe one day, till then stay out of the south Cooper, you never know what kind of snakes will bite,” Before Betty could protest he was walking off towards a bleach blonde Greendale cheerleader and Veronica was at Betty’s side, Archie trailing behind her.

 “Hey, we’re going to grab some celebratory milkshakes, join us?” Veronica smiled, her eyes flitting to the raven haired boy across the field.

 “Sure!” Betty said as enthusiastically as she could without sounding fake. She shot Archie a smile and the three friends walked towards Archie’s beat up truck.

 Veronica turned to Betty and whispered, “And once we’re alone, you're going to explain why the hell Riverdale’s own Holden Caulfield was doing talking to you,” Oh lord, Betty thought. It’s going to be a long night.

[arsenicpanda]

1. do your work!!!! but also 2. pls rank the serpents for me from fav to least fav.

lol, I’m gonna assume that means bughead

001| bughead

when I started shipping it if I did:  I literally have no idea.  I wish I could tell you, but all I know is that when my friend and I got to the 1x06 kiss I was like “YESSSSSS”

my thoughts:  Man, what can I say that I haven’t said before?  I think they’re two of the most compatible characters I’ve ever seen in anything, in interests, in priorities, in attitudes, in world views, in sexual preferences, in intellect, in just anything and everything.  Like, all my favorite ships are soulmates in my mind, by jfc, these two are SOULMATES.  It’s hard to imagine a world where they don’t end up together in some fashion or at least with a very deep bond (or a lot of hurt from a severed bond).  I also really love that Betty is mostly rational and will doubt Jughead’s nonsense; that is, until he or something else manages to convince her it’s not nonsense and she gets on board with it, at which point watch the fuck out, choo choo, all above the crazy conspiracy train, motherfuckers.  Meanwhile, Betty has her own outlandish ideas, which Jughead also sometimes doubts (although not as frequently), but he always supports them anyway because he trusts her judgment, although I’m sure he’d step in if things went too far.  I feel like there’s a danger with them, though, that they could let their biases and blind spots get the better of them and turn onto a dangerous, cruel track that they would be convinced was the Right and Just one, and I think that they could absolutely confirm each other’s stances and they would trust each other’s opinions over the more rational ones of anyone else.  There’s a real possibility for Betty and Jughead to become the villains of the story, not that the show will ever explore that, and I find that very, very interesting.  Also, they would be the world’s most protective parents, jfc, imagine if their kid got bullied, they would ensure that other kid was destroyed

What makes me happy about them: They’re just fucking adorable together and sexy together and crazy compatible and crazy in love.  Watching them make heart eyes at each other, watching them bone, and watching them investigate together bring me great joy

What makes me sad about them: The cheating and the breakup and the b/a and the SEVEN YEARS APART and also all the trauma and the alcoholism ;_;

things done in fanfic that annoys me: When Serpent Jughead is a douchey Bad Boy instead of this guy who is overly intense and extremely committed to his community and constantly ready to FIGHT for it; Serpent Jughead is the world’s most annoying Jughead because he is not only ready to argue with anyone and everyone, he is about to argue with anyone and everyone, someone please stop him, and I don’t know why you’d trade something as ridiculous and fun as “Local Gang Leader Petitions City Hall, Hates Drugs, and Ensure the Safety of His Community (Possibly With Punching)” for “Generic Bad Boy #23435″.  Also irritating: Betty being a complete sweetheart with no edge instead of someone with a good heart who will absolutely cut you if she thinks it’s necessary and right.  Oh, and when Jughead just doesn’t have an interest in writing (or an equivalent creative pursuit).  As a side not, when their parents are made a lot better or a lot worse than they actually are in canon; like, you can’t ignore that they’re terrible, but there’s really no need to make them any worse than they are because they already really suck.  Oh, and alcoholic Jughead is a dealbreaker, I guess excepting canon compliant fic now gdi

things I look for in fanfic: P I N I N G, especially from Betty’s end.  For canon compliant fic, I love a dash of “Jughead has been crazy about her for YEARS”, especially if we get a glimpse at smitten, bby!Jughead.  I also love a well-done Serpent Jughead, and friendships with Jughead and the other Serpents are always a big plus for me, as is any friendship between Betty and Veronica and Kevin.  If the fic is comedic and has a strong supporting cast, I am especially down for it; Betty and Jughead are both so fucking ridiculous, and I think there’s a lot of comedic potential in them in general and also in putting them in regular situations because I do not think they would respond like regular people.  Also a bonus: Jughead being The Most and Betty being Intense and both of them being insufferable.  Oh and tropes upon tropes upon tropes, with a special shout out to there was only one bed

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I’m down for jopaz and jabitha for Jughead, beronica for Betty long term and some hatesex bonna short term

My happily ever after for them: at this point, leaving Riverdale forever and opening a Private Investigation agency in a city, with Jughead writing novels based on their adventures, maybe with a side of kids in the future

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Canonically Jughead is the big spoon and Betty is the little spoon

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Investigations, 100%

003 | teen Serpents + Joaquin

1. Jughead: Look.  I love him.  He’s a disaster.  He loves his community.  He loves Betty.  In general, he loves deeply but also really guards his heart.  He does crazy shit with the best crazy eyes.  He’s The Best.

2. Toni: She is such a delight.  She just does not take people’s shit--with the exception of Cheryl, for better or for worse--and that’s so fun to watch.  She also cares a lot about her community, which I find very fun.  Also she, like all the other Serpents except Fangs, can be mean and I think that’s great.

3. Sweet Pea: Just.  The surliest boy.  So grumpy, but his smile is so cute.  Always ready to fight anyone and everyone, but also really cares about his friends and the Serpents.  Looks cool, absolutely is a loser.

4. Fangs: A sweetheart with a nebulous personality.  Really fun to watch with Sweet Pea and Jughead and Kevin, but I barely understand who he is.  An enigma.  I love him anyway.

5. Joaquin: I am sorry, Joaquin, but I know nothing about you except that you really like Kevin, so you are my least favorite, but know that I still think you’re neat!

[arsenicpanda]

Bughead Appreciation Day 1 Except It’s Day 2

So I spent yesterday nice and cozy in bed and put this off (good choice, tbh, I was very snug as a bug), but now, now comes the time for me to gush about some people in the fandom!  This is definitely not a comprehensive list, I have absolutely left some people out because I am very forgetful, but, in no particular order and under a cut because I’m a wordy bitch:

@tory-b: A delight and a dear, leading writer of monsterfucker!Betty, co-runner of @riverdaleprideandjoyzine, a legend and a friend, we have no choice but to stan.  Her stuff is so good and varied and just *chef’s kiss* a delight, two favorites of mine are Fangs/com/Match (Betty/dragon!Jughead meet via monsterfucker Tinder, has some great friendship moments with Kevin and Veronica and is v sexy and funny, features the horniest Betty) and Sticky Sweet Serenade ((past)-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers bughead, mixes up some statuses in Riverdale, excellent mystery, I remember reading it and going, “holy shit, a believable take on Northside!Jughead”).  I’ve also gotta mention Whats in a Name? (Betty and Jughead meet on tumblr, Betty writes poetry and Jughead is a shitposter, they slowly connect, it’s great) and To Balance the Scales (scientist!Betty/mermaid!Jughead, currently a slow build, I cannot wait for you guys to see the excellent worldbuilding she’s done).  I could keep going, or you could binge all her fics today, an excellent use of your Saturday, I assure you, because I’ve left a lot out.

@stillhidden: Always good for some great thoughts on the show, one of the best reasons for my your thoughts on Riverdale please show them to me tag, I get psyched every time I see a Riverdale text post or ask answer because I know I’m in for a good time.  Thoughtful and funny and nice, what a combo!

@satelliteinasupernova: So talented!  Author, artist, co-runner of @riverdaleprideandjoyzine, funny, haver of good thoughts on Riverdale is there anything she can’t do?  No, there is not.  Every time I see her art I’m like !!!, the colors! how well-drawn the hands are! the accuracy of their hair! the backgrounds! the way I can see the love in their eyes! I cannot even, there are no words.  Also!  Her fics!  So original!  One of my earliest memories in the fandom is reading The town called Riverdale (a sort of mystery about the meta fuckery going down in Riverdale, explores time loops, stories that control lives, the roles the Archie characters are “supposed” to have, a mash-up with concepts in Princess Tutu that requires zero knowledge of Princess Tutu) and going !!! is this a Princess Tutu mash-up?  Have I been #blessed enough to see a mash up between Riverdale, a story that fucks with archetypes, and Princess Tutu, one of the shows about fucking with archetypes and the way stories ontrol lives?  I was and I am and I raved to my non-fandom but Princess Tutu liker friend about it.  Has also wonderfully tackled eldritch horror in return to Eldervair and gothic horror/romance in The Lady of the Manor, does fluff, does angst, does it all, so go check her out!

@go-ldy: An angst and time skip queen, tbh, and always has some great thoughts on Riverdale, another reason I’m glad I have that tag.  Every time she answers an ask, I’m like, “Yesss, incoming Good Thoughts, I am HERE for this”.  But do not sleep on her as an author!  Into the Deep is some delightful dark!bughead, and I’ll walk with you in the shadows is such good time skip angst and a mystery and there’s a certain surprise I love but is a spoiler but you simply must read this, you must.  The Time after Time series is giving us that good angst bughead content that season 5 is not going to, and I’m so glad it exists and just thrilled that she trusted me to beta it.  I’m leaving a lot of stuff out though, so you should go check her out!

@milajovovich: One of the best gif makers in the fandom, I will fight you on this.  Makes absolute miracles with footage, the way she makes season 4 webrips look like they’re actual blurayrips is godly, they’re so crisp and so smooth and the coloring is always great.  And like, jesus, the way the bluray footage looks?  Fucking outstanding, the talent is off the charts.  Go marvel at their gifs, go, go.

@imreallyloveleee: A prolific, talented author and funny to boot!  loveleee is one of the people who has been here since the beginning, a mainstay in the fandom, and we are so, so lucky she hasn’t left.  How do I even begin to rec you some of her stuff?  She can write smut with fics like burn, baby (a 3x16 missing moment of bughead fucking in the car as the trailer burns, what a gift to the fandom, I can’t even), is queen of pining with fics like boy problems (season 1 post 1x05 canon divergence, a bughead get together but with that quality pining) and her i’m just a shot away series (two fics, one from Jughead’s POV and one from Betty’s, that are fully of pining and sexual tension and miscommunication and major teenage vibes, you gotta read them), and writer of one of the funniest fics in the fandom and one of my favorite, like spirits in the night (the core four + Kevin perform a seance to contact Jason Blossom and yes, it is just as funny as it sounds, perhaps even funnier).  And there are countless others, so settle in and go check her out because she does it all, fluff and angst too, I just don’t have time to rec them all.

@meditationonbaaal: Absolutely one of my all-time favorite fic authors, like across fandoms, the talent, I cannot even properly describe it, like the quality of the prose, amazing, iconic.  the devil’s daughter (a season 2 rewrite with some differences in season 1, jumps back and forth through time in the best way, has the best and creepiest dark!Jughead, has some great smut that includes dom!Betty and dom!Jughead can you believe we are so blessed, such a good rewrite of season 2, and you know how I love season 2, so that is some high praise, let me tell you) is easily in my top 10 all-time favorite fics across the many, many fandoms I’ve read many, many fics of, and you simply must check it out, you will not be disappointed.  develop, stop, fix just blew me away as a kink week fic of bughead playing with bdsm in a dark room, the layers, the smut, the trust, the feelings, I cannot even.  And doll parts!  doll parts is so good, just such an amazing take on drop dead gorgeous, a fabulous Jughead and Betty as per usual, dare I say even better than an already fantastic movie.  I am behind on loose lips sink ships, but I can already tell it’s going to be a great exploration of the Stonies and a great take on season 4.  Keep an eye on her stuff here and here, do not miss out!

@dieqohargreeves:  An icon and legend in gif making, just makes the most beautiful and intricate and creative gifs.  The coloring is amazing, the techniques are amazing, that shit is Art, I will fight you on this.  You gotta check ‘em out, you just gotta, I can’t do their work justice.

@sullypants:  The wit!  The humor!  The observational skills!  The talent, my god!  Sully is the genius behind @bettycooperoutfitwatch and @riverdalearthistory as well as a fabulous writer of both meta and fic, yet another excellent reason for me to keep up with others’ thoughts on Riverdale.  Her a comic miniverse series is so funny and sweet and such a great take on the Archie Comics version of bughead, and the after-party series (Betty and Jughead attend a, well, prom after party, and the events that happen, and I am not doing it justice, but it is v good, I promise) has such a great vibe and such great characterization.  And young adult friction (librarian!Jughead is in a kind of competition with librarian!Betty, it’s so funny and so great) is such a delight, and we do not have time to get into everything great she’s written, but go check it out here.

@lilibug--xx: The queen of bughead smut, can you believe she has graced us with her stuff?  It is steamy and it is in character and it is amazing.  Dark Cherry Chutney is still a fandom favorite of mine, just some great dark!bughead who are unaware of each other’s darkness (but oh, they find out!) as well as some excellent smut.  And Pressed for Time (Betty teasing Jughead with her skirts in an effort to get him to fuck her and he is barely holding on until he isn’t, alternating POVs in the best way) is sexy af but makes you work for it, it’s a delight.  And give you mine (Betty and Jughead fuck at work and it is so hot, I can’t even) is so goddamn good, just some of the best dom!Jughead out there.  Has also written monsterfucker!Betty, which you know I’m a fan of, in once upon a midnight (werewolf-hunter!Betty/werewolf!Jughead with sex pollen where she does not shy away from some wolfy-ness and it is hot af) and has written monsterfucker!Jughead, a rarity but always a delight, with reap what you sow (witch!Jughead/undine!Betty and Betty is so delightfully otherworldly and it is so sexy but also sweet), and there are countless other smut fics, we would be here all day if I went through them all, so you gotta check her out here.  One more thing though: she can also write fluff with Lemon Drops and Chocolate Chips, a sweet fic of Betty and Jughead as neighbors that you should definitely check out.

@thatiranianphantom:  Funny and thoughtful and talented and has correct opinions on musicals!  Writes such good explorations of post-4x17 (and post-4x17 adjacent) scenarios.  Like, the we are a masterpiece series is v good and so interesting, and no one else is singing my song is such great angst as a post-4x17 fic and a great use of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend songs.  I am forgetting a lot of stuff, I know I am, and I think I might be behind like a fool, so let’s go check out all her stuff together here, yes?  Yes.  Also?  Great for Riverdale speculation, especially about the season 5 musical episode.

@heartunsettledsoul:  So talented, queen of canon missing moments, and funny to boot!  I love reading her liveblogging of the episodes, and I cannot recommend her stuff enough.  Her Forgotten Moments series of canon missing moments is iconic, you must go read all of it, especially there’s witchcraft in your hips, a post-2x13 fic of Betty and Jughead being such teenagers and Jughead being a dweeb about his cheerleader girlfriend and I am not doing it justice but you gotta go read it, man, you gotta.  But the series is full of gems from the beginning with Midnight Silence (Betty and Jughead talk post-1x04 about the Grundy debacle and it’s such a delight) and going all the way through to the most recent it might’ve been a nightmare (a 4x12 through 4x16 fic that gives me a wide range of emotions and is fantastic) and your eyes look like coming home (Betty’s diary entries throughout season 1, simply inspired).  But she’s also so good at AUs!  a dark world aches (for a splash of the sun) is already looking so good as a bughead mystery with some varchie fun on the side, just some quality core four content, and won’t be the same (if you’re not here with me) is a favorite of fake dating, Christmas, and there was only one bed, just the best tropefest.  And there are so, so many more, so you must check her out here.

@lovedinapastlife: She writes such a variety of AUs, I am just in awe of them all!  The talent, I am amazed.  The dark!bughead in The Society is peak dark!bughead with a simply iconic yandere!Betty, and you are seriously missing out if you have not read it yet.  Oh, and there’s some more dark!Jughead with a side of dark!Betty in the key to harm(ony) that you must check out because it’s such a great ride and is sexy, what more could you want?  Every movie AU she does really takes the source material and makes it her own from works You Drive Me Crazy (but I'm gonna keep on loving you), based on Drive Me Crazy and definitely better than the movie, to the most recent to all the boys (but especially you), based on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and just so sweet.  But also can write otherworldly fics like Heart’s Desire with genie!Betty and The Second Coming with fae!Jughead, as well as regular aus like Detention (Betty and Jughead in detention and it gets a little sexy but also quite cute), and pure porn like Eye of the Beholder (Betty and Jughead as sorcerers who hook up over sorcerer Tinder and it is sexy but also sweet), as well as some of the best ABO in fandom with her A/B/O Mine series (alpha!Jughead/omega!Betty in high school and holy shit is it hot as hell).  I am only just skimming the surface here, so definitely go check her out!

@kyloren aka @jughead-jones:  Mila is so talented at making gifs, like goddamn, and also so funny, but I bet you didn’t know that she also has written some damn good fic!  She hides it, but it is out there and it is very good, my favorite being let me hang my hook on your splendor, a fandom fave of a Scooby-Doo au that is so much more thoughtful and clever with its casting, and also very amusing, you must check out the rest of her stuff here.

@elizabethbettscooper: A delightful person and a delightful writer who is largely retired from the bughead fandom but still such a talent, like seriously.  Her Twin Peaks Riverdale AU The Past Dictates the Future is so good, you simply must check it out, like you must.  And yours was the first face i saw is such a fun AU of “what if Betty’s crush on Archie was a front for her crush on Jughead”, you must go read it.  And holy shit, her i may be bad (but i’m perfectly good at it) series is peak dom!Jughead/sub!Betty taking place when they’re in college and fucking in so many varied ways, like if you are into that, you must go read these fics, you must, you will have a great and sexy, sexy time.  And there’s so much more good stuff, you gotta go read it all here.

@bettycreeper: She does so much for the fandom and she makes such gorgeous gifs!  Like, the coordination she does on the @bugheadfamily server and @bugheadfanfictionawards and @riverdale-events and probably elsewhere cannot be understated, she is such a valuable presence in the fandom.  And have you seen her gifs?  Gorgeous quality, just gorgeous, and her movie poster gifs for fics are simply inspired.  Also?  She’s an amazing beta, just outstanding.

@stillscape: A very thoughtful person and excellent writer who I can’t seem to tag.  Dianthus Caryophyllus is still one of my favorite fics in the fandom, a high school bughead fic with some amazing pining from Jughead with an oblivious Betty, I can feel it, it’s so good.  And of course there’s Ninia, an amazing take on the soulmates trope, just so good, I cannot do it justice, you must check it out.  The for the life of me series is also such a good AU for Betty and Jughead getting together pre-Riverdale at a summer internship, I have such fond memories of it.  And la peste (the plague)!  So good, I cannot even.  We don’t have time for everything, except you should make time and go check all of it out here.

@theheavycrown:  God, where would we be without Sarah?  She does so much work for the @bugheadfamily and @bugheadfanfictionawards and @riverdale-events and @riverdalecentral and I’m probably forgetting some, tbh.  And so sweet and talented!  Her gifs are fantastic and so are her fics.  Like, Rain Comes Down (Betty and Jughead fucking in the car on the side of the road while cars drive by)?  Iconic, some amazing exhibitionism.  you had me howling(Betty in heat in the woods and then Jughead finds her and fucking ensues)? Fantastic ABO, so horny, so desperate.  Beneath the Silver Moon Rising?  Excellent dom!Jughead, excellent sexy times.  You must go check out all of her stuff here, you must.

@50shades-of-bughead:  Just some of the absolute cutest art that you must check out, especially their series of dark!bughead that is just fantastic.

@thepointoftheneedle: The variety of work here is phenomenal, the talent, I cannot.  Took my ridiculous double fake marriage/draft-dodging concept and turned it into an excellent, thoughtful period piece with phenomenal characterization and a great mystery with Never No Locomotive, I cannot recommend it enough.  And Ghosts and Clouds and Nameless Things (ghost!Jughead/grieving-dead-Jughead!Betty with a side of mystery) gave me so many emotions, I think I almost cried, and I am not a crier, I assure you.  Hey Pixie Dream Girl, I’m Coming for Your Man! (Betty in her bookstore saves Jughead from his date with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl) is so delightfully funny, and Sunflowers (Betty and Jughead share a working space and fall in love) is so goddamn cute.  I have actually found myself behind on her work, which is a crime, it all looks so amazing and I know it will be, and you must check all of it out with me here.

@hellodinoflower:  Such an amazing presence in the fandom, such a delight, so clever and funny.  She ran @bugheaddrabblechallenge this past summer and gave us all so much joy in the process, and, while her fics are deleted now (as is her right), I promise you that they were amazing, you all missed out if you slept on her.  She’s such a great follow, you gotta follow her.

@bluevelvetvideo:  A delighful soul, great character insight, great writing.  Like, her smut is fantastic, have you read Arsenal (a double feature of Betty and Jughead fooling around in public and then having some sexytimes back in private with some quality dom!Jughead, let me tell you, v steamy)?  Because you should.  Christmas Lights (Jughead ties Betty up with their Christmas lights, it’s fantastically sexy) is a delight, and you can’t blame gravity (for falling in love) is a very fun take on soulmates and soulmarks, and you simply must go read it.  She is a master of smut, let me tell you, and you must check out all her stuff here.  Also?  An excellent beta, 10/10, I’m so lucky to have her.

@a-true-janian-reply:  Very funny, has excellent thoughts on Riverdale!  Like, truly, every time I see an original text post or a reblog from her, I am PSYCHED because it’s always going to be SO GOOD.

@writeradamanteve:  Such great talent across genres, really impressive.  Drive (illegal drag racing Betty and college student but former-ish Serpent Jughead, just fantastic) is one of my earliest fandom favorites, I remember excitedly telling my non-fandom friend about it because I thought it was so clever, and we all know how good Daemon Bound is, yes?  Yes, I’m sure we do.  Let’s go make sure we’ve read all her stuff here.

@thugheadjones:  Has some great insights, some great responses to dumb anons, and some fantastic art, like holy shit, I cannot even.

@bugggghead:  A delightful soul, so nice, so talented.  Writes some amazing smut, like, have you read intimately acquainted (alpha!Jughead/omega!Betty, meeting up on an app to help Betty with her heat in a heat retreat, four chapters of excellent smut)?  Because you should if you’re even kind of interested in ABO.  And en pointe is the bughead knifeplay fic of dreams, you gotta check it out.  And there are so many other ones, we do not have time to cover them all.  She also does cute fics, btw, and Message Me (fanfic-author-who-is-actually-the -real-author!Jughead/gif-maker-and-fangirl!Betty meet on tumblr and fall in love and it’s great) is such a delight, definitely go check it out.  In fact, go check out all her stuff here.  Also a fantastic beta, I really owe her for that.

@heavy-lies-the-crown:  A talented soul who has written so much high quality fic, from the hilarious red ribbon winner (a Christmas fic comedy that I cannot describe well but I assure you is both hilarious and sweet) to the emotional and moving road to me (Betty and Jughead break up, find themselves, and come back together and it’s perfection) to the heart-ripping angst of apizza (a semi post-4x17-speculation fic of bughead together but apart at Yale and the way they will come back together and it is so good and so angsty) to many, many more.  You gotta go check it all out here.

@lurker-no-more:  Yet another funny person, we as a fandom are so blessed, you must check them out, you just must.

@iconic-ponytail:  Another excellent writer!  a revelation in the light of day is SUCH a great slowburn and  SUCH a great take on both FBI!Betty and Sheriff!Jughead and the two of them falling in love as adults.  Also, the side varchie is fantastic, and the mystery is amazing.  I have not yet checked out the nighthawks, but I already know it’s going to be good, I can tell, you can trust this author to be quality, so go check all of her stuff out here.

@soyforramen:  Funny!  Very funny!  Also?  Writes some great ficlets that are, I think, exclusive to tumblr, which is a tragedy, tbh, but as is their right.  But I do have the link to this genius fic about bughead and a platypus in honor of the platypus anon that was going around this summer.  Definitely go check them out!

And now I am very tired, I have used up my energy, and I am so sorry if I forgot anyone!