#varchie fiction

[ronnieandrews2020]

Hi Varchies!

Long overdue update.

[askandsmile]

"varchie didn't get anything for 10 episodes and suddenly Archie needs to make a choice??" Oh how the world keeps spinning

WHAT DO YOU MEAAAAN NONNIE?

do you mean, perhaps, that from episode 5.08 to episode 5.19 b*rchie didn't get a single crumb and they swerved directions out of now-[gunshot]

no, because let's talk about it.

they pretended not to see the (confirmed btw) shift in the writing of s5 because it went in their favor. in that episode that they love to misinterpret, archie promised betty to be her friend and after that he wasn't there for her at all, didn't help her with polly, or with whatever she was going through, they simply didn't write them in, didn't give them a single longing look (that stupid 515 one can't count when he was bored out of his mind drinking coffee lol), or an acknowledgement, or anything. and still they ended the season together, right after veronica dumped him for reasons still very unclear (a choice, she said in s6, that she never presented him with in s5 but we move).

but then now in s7, they say varchie didn't get anything, but we can break it down:

7.01 - he was hit by a thunderbolt when he saw her. actual canon lines. he never felt like he'd met the right girl until he met her. even though he's known a certain someone his entire life.

7.02 - is completely infatuated with veronica, but goes to betty for advice. actually, you won't see me saying anything bad about this episode. it was good for both ships and highlighted their strengths and flaws. but! you can't deny that archie was falling for veronica, and got very hurt when apparently she didn't feel the same and wanted to play games. his first poem ever is for her. and it's a poem about how he dreams of her.

7.03 - after the whole dance fiasco, he does say veronica is too much for him and that they don't match, but he still is making eyes and very eager to kiss her in the same episode.

7.04 - he's told to look at betty. it's not something he does himself. it's not spontaneous. he goes to betty for advice, doesn't listen to her, and it's only when cheryl points it out that maybe the girl for him is next door. he writes her a poem too and never gives it to her, it is forgotten in the land of forgotten things. we learn that he dreams of living in california.

7.05 - fiction, but jughead writes about archie being torn between both girls and they end up teaming up to kill him. content is the same for both pairings.

7.06 - veronica is absolutely still into him even though he's now into betty. as usual, she lets them be and doesn't say anything. he's hell bent on seeing betty naked instead of, I don't know, giving her his poem! that he intended to do just the other day, archie invites betty to a peep show date. but okay, teens with hormones. there are varchie crumbs for veronica's side.

7.07 - betty's life is lowkey ruined by what they did and he doesn't defend her even though he feels bad about it. they do remain friends though because they've never not been friends. there is a little varchie crumb in the episode too (hey, crumbs are crumbs, remember when ba got zero in s5?)

7.08 - both betty and veronica watch archie be a loser. both betty and veronica (and archie) are into reggie. they give beggie more scenes than ba then.

7.09 - he's definitely eyeing veronica in the locker room. doesn't want to help her until reggie says he will, and sure some have interpreted it as "archie hates her", but i could say he was a bit bothered by reggie being so willing to help her.

7.10 - oh, not the double date episode. but let's talk about varchie. archie, still seemingly annoyed that reggie would want to date veronica, still seemingly annoyed that she keeps playing after what happened to him. doesn't pay attention to a single word betty says on their first date.

7.11 - their fanfic episode! childhood memories! porch scene! kiss! still, at the beginning of the episode we've got a couple of very pointed archie looks towards veronica. crumbs, right?

7.12 - after they kissed, archie was so worried with himself and reggie that he didn't go looking for betty, didn't pursue anything else with her, actually wrote about feeling like a ghost, and well, betty definitely was also not so thrilled about that kiss. and she was about to kiss veronica.

7.13 - archie watches veronica leave with the fbi. is it shocking, at the point, that he's always looking at her? anyway, his poem brings her to make a decision about her father and just the minimal display of "real" veronica and not the one that plays games, has archie twirling his feet. he doesn't think about betty in that moment. tunnel vision for each other, is the words the director used. when he realizes they did kiss, he's left all confused.

7.14 - archie seems to be torn between the girls again although that's not the main dilemma in his life, and he chooses himself instead of them, who choose each other over him (friends and a little more?).

so, maybe they didn't pay attention, but varchie did get crumbs. almost continuously throughout the season.

for people who claim ba had amazing buildup in S5B, S7 is almost a full meal for va compared to that?

mind you, all this happened while archie had (perhaps? do we believe it?) the emotional memory of being engaged to betty. and he still wanted veronica as well! lol

and just because it's 3am and I need to go to bed, let's just talk about the arguments

"he cheated on veronica and wrote betty a song, she rejected him!" and after realizing what he had done archie felt flaky, unsteady, unsure, and still chose to tell veronica that he loved her as he left town. seven years later, he was still holding on to their interrupted relationship.

"he wanted to have sex with betty since high school", yeah but then when they did it he wanted to keep it on the low and was happy being just her fuck buddy.

"betty didn't want more with him" he also didn't want more with betty and he felt like he should tell about his feelings for v before things got more confusing between them.

"he was unhappy with veronica" when? because he slept in the fire department once when he was a firefighter? lol veronica was unhappy with him not wanting to move on from riverdale. she walked out on him. he was drinking in a bar sad and alone after being dumped when he thought about betty again.

"he asked betty to marry him / betty was in his heaven", yes, he loves betty, and im not afraid to admit it. what i also know is that he never learned about veronica's lingering feelings for him. had he known, could it be different? we don't know. tabitha said she could grab her romantic future with him if she wanted. she didn't do anything. so who's to say they wouldn't end that in another BAV open thing? or change their minds again?

ANYWAY, this triangle hasn't been resolved in anywhere but vale. and vale was written in a loop by power source writer jughead. not much room for choice either.

//

tl;dr: they can say they swerved the direction of the season all they want but varchie was not NEARLY as forgotten as ba was in 5B, so nothing about this is surprising or crazy. archie loves both girls, always has, always will, and we will decide who he loves more. not him.

[thatiranianphantom]

Hi there.

Your ship is dead. Bullying a grown man and hiding behind ‘bUT IM A TEENAGER” is bullshit. If you have ANY ounce of dignity, just stop fucking watching the show. You are going to drain yourself and drive yourself crazy over a fictional tv ship which you don’t DESERVE. Maybe I might have had sympathy for you in season 4. Before you bullied half of the cast and lili to tears (do you remember when she had to come out and say ‘it’s a fucking tv show’ only for you to STILL whine and cry and throw your bottles? Ted is right. You are the most disrespectful, selfish freaks of fandom I’ve ever come across and I hope to god you grow the fuck up and get TV comprehension skills. Because you have ZERO. Crying about the ratings which have been falling since season 3 is not going to bring back your CORPSE of a ship. Betty and Jughead don’t even like each other and you expect them to fuck? You will cry when the writers are “sexualising teenagers!!!” But when Betty and Jughead were having roleplay sex as 16 year olds it was fine?

You cried and begged and demanded bughead sex scenes and bABY JULIET when these kids were 15/16 years old and you call out the writers for being creepy now? NOW???? You call Archie disgusting and using Betty as a “baby maker” doll, housewife, but you have wanted that woman (or CHILD) fucking rat boy and having his kids since they were literally kids themselves? Do you see the hypocrisy or should I continue?

“How DARE the writers have Betty change everything about herself for Archie that is so GROSS AND MISOGYNISTIC.”

Yep. And Betty didn’t do a serpent dance at 15 to fit into Jughead’s world?? Now that is changing herself for a boy.

You’re hypocrites and are salty because your ship is dead, the actors despise each other, and you can’t make Sprousehart edits without the feeling that it may be wrong, because rat boy is an abuser. Barchie have never tried to erase bughead. Because it happened. It was cute, and it was a thing that happened. Betty loved him.

But the fact that you constantly delude yourselves with insane theories which are wrong every single time to erase barchie is hilarious. Seriously. “It’s an au!! “Archie’s light gives Betty headaches!” “We are going back to 5x17!” “Jughead shielded Betty” “the season 6 universe was erased!” That makes it clear you see barchie as developed, and real. And a THREAT which you can’t shop unless you erase it. You can’t hide behind “it’s forced! “It came out of nowhere!” Barchie was building from the first episode. If you cannot understand the point of two mains Archie and Betty, slowly getting feelings while being with other people; you are either stupid, or a child. This show was RULED by bughead and lili and Cole can service. The teen choice award you keep talking about? WAS VERY CLEARLY THERE TO HYPE UP THE ACTORS DATING. If you can’t get??? You’re an idiot or a child. If you can’t understand the point of a slow burn which was Betty and Archie being sidelined by a psychotic fandom who bullied the writers into four season of bughead fucking in a bunker and varchie arguing with hiram, you are an idiot. Sweetie. BABES. When the fifties are over and Archie and Betty have fallen in love AGAIN, and they return to a riverdale free of darkness, Toni and Cheryl are together, Veronica and Reggie— and Jughead and Tabitha, what are you going to do? Implode? Delete? Murder a crew member? I don’t know what you will do but holy shit it will be entertaining to see you fall. A fandom who spent 7 years terrorising barchies, cast members and writers, making fake sexual assault allegations for each cast member, being disgustingly racist to Vanessa and ash, and body shaming Lili. Bullying KJ until he very clearly went off of the edge in the pandemic, and for some reason also going after your GOD rat boy. I’m saying this to you and all of you. Yes, barchies and Choni’s have said some awful things, as well as varchies. But nothing can top the entitled brats you are. And I hope when Lilis contract os over, and she reveals Cole was an abuser, she tells you all to go and fuck yourselves.

.........

..........

........

wut????

This manifesto is so very confusing to me. Somehow, you've both been stalking my blog and been paying no attention at the same time.

I'll admit, I didn't read much of this, but a few things

This is now the second time today that someone on the internet accused me of being a teen. I'm flattered, don't get me wrong, but what is it about this? I am a grown ass adult. Is it something I am putting out there?

Oh please, please desperate BA anon, may I have your sympathy back??????

"Ted is right." Oof, anon. Very oof.

I would like you to go on, anon, please point out to me where anyone thought the Serpent Dance was a good decision? And where the seasons 1-4 sex parties and girls with one character trait were?

The BA stuff, I can't....I can't even....what?

What teen choice award do I keep talking about???? I am so confused????

The only thing in this.....jumble of words that offended me was you calling Cole "rat boy" (also did you imply that I love Cole? Have you....read my blog?) because I have rats and excuse you, they're amazing. Look at this leetle boy

Apologize to him this instant!

Look how upset you've made him!

[fyeahvarchie]

Are you sad with the ending varchie is getting?

Not at all.

We always want more.

But I've known how it's going to play out for months now.

And while I wasn't really keen about it at first, I'm content with the possibilty it gives these characters.

It's fiction anyway. At the end of the day, each side of the fandom can choose whatever they want from it and leave the rest.

As I've said many times previously, I'm taking anything that concerns VA and running away as soon. Never looking back~

Plus we've got @andsmile ready to grace us with the perfect ending.

[alwaysspeakshermind]

VARCHIE APPRECIATION WEEK: DAY [1] 

(yes this is over a year late but I SAID I was gonna do this & do this I shall welcome to useralwaysspeakshermind’s version of varchieaw2021 coming to you live in 2023 right before RD’s final season begins)

I’ve said before, probably the last time I did a Varchie Appreciation Week, that I’m not really confident in choosing one favorite scene or quote related to this couple, and that’s purely because they have so MANY that I love. Like, to be honest, there just isn’t a clear winner for me; not because I’m indecisive, but because I can make a strong case for every single one I gravitate toward. So the two I went with here are quotes that are special to me for what they symbolize in the storyline. I personally adore couples that flip typical gender roles on their head, and Varchie (despite the occasional narrative stumble for Alleged Reasons Of Drama) is an absolutely stellar example of that, particularly when it comes to the opposing ways in which they process emotion.

Archie, for instance, is Mr. Feelings. Whatever it is...love, hate, hope, despair, happiness, sadness, anger, etc., he embraces it (or it embraces him) full throttle. He catches a lot (like, a LOT a lot) of heat from all sides of the Riverdale fandom for it, in a way that’s kind of hilarious to me because of how thoroughly he’s condemned for essentially giving into his emotions in the same kind of scenarios that (I won’t name names for the sake of not turning a post that’s meant to celebrate my ship into a negative, mudslinging campaign) certain leading female characters from certain shows and certain movies and certain books are fiercely defended for crumbling in.

[Note: this is not a misogynistic condemnation of female emotion, an attempt to devalue the importance of female characters being allowed to voice their feelings, any internalized acceptance of the antiquated patriarchal presupposition that Girls Are Too Emotional And Should Be Criticized Or Laughed At For “Overreacting,” OR a move to defend fictional white men. This is merely an expression of my deep fascination with the whole “We need more portrayals of male characters showing emotion!” train somehow screeching to a halt the second a guy in fiction who apparently doesn’t fit enough of the acceptable Is Allowed To Have Feelings parameters like, you know...actually shows emotion? And makes decisions rooted in that emotion? Decisions that frequently don’t make sense? As decisions rooted in emotion typically fail to?]

[Note #2: at the end of the day, this is just me explaining why I love some quotes in a CW show. However dramatic I get, it is not that deep, it has never been that deep, and it never will be that deep. I’m just wordy and I love to analyze, and Archie and Veronica provide me with a lot of excellent material.]

He’s not very good at putting what he feels into words, he tends to want to keep people happy to an extent that makes him less careful with himself, and he’s so impulsive that he can go from 0-100 on the road to self-destruction faster than most people can even locate the gas pedal. In addition to all that, he’s surrounded by people that frequently take his happy-go-lucky, Boy Next Door/Dumb Jock act at face value...and then resent when he fails to meet those preconceived notions. When his dad gets shot, the fear, shock, and anger he feels takes over until he’s reacting in ways that make no logical sense to an outsider, but all the sense to him. Veronica, as the person who accompanies him home, is the firsthand witness to all that. When he decides he needs to walk the dog (while still covered in blood), she offers to do it herself and then goes along with him and listens to his ramblings when it becomes clear that he’s not in the kind of place to be talked into anything. When they get back to the house, she goes out on a limb and tries the only thing she can think of (cue: arguably the most infamous scene in Riverdale history that just about every non-Varchie love(d/s) to hate on because jealousy is a disease and some people insist on refusing effective treatment despite being chronically ill but anyways). 

Now. As referenced above, some people looooovvveee to decry The Shower Scene. (”Omg, she’s such a slut!” “I hate Veronica. How dare she use her body to manipulate Archie when he’s in PAIN!” “This is NOT the time or place for sex, Veronica!” etc., etc.) 

BUT!

The inappropriateness of the time and place is the whole POINT. It’s what literally makes the scene that follows it (the one I’m writing way too much intro about) work.

In this particular moment, Veronica is being stared smack dab in the face with a very difficult, very delicate situation that calls for a careful response, and because she has essentially no prior experience in this zone to draw on, she’s forced to play it by ear. As a result, she begins her approach by mirroring Archie’s actions/taking her cues from him; after seeing the way he distracted himself from the elephant in the room by focusing on everything but his personal turmoil, she basically goes Oh, okay, distraction is what we’re doing, cool. I can do distraction, and walks into the bathroom. (A move that, btw, is a major risk and took some guts.) Archie is unsurprisingly let’s be honest into it, and they, ahem...distract themselves for a bit.

But the thing about distractions is that they only provide you with a temporary escape from whatever it is you’re trying to run from (in Archie’s case, the fear, anger, and helplessness planted within him after seeing his father get shot, and in Veronica’s the same, because she knows Archie is hurting and isn’t sure what to do to help). After acting fine for a whole couple of hours or so, Archie suddenly snaps over something small, asks Veronica why she’s even there with him, and tells her he wants her to leave. Veronica, obviously hurt by how harshly he lashes out, very nearly does leave...but at the last second she thinks better of it, turns around, and digs her heels in, telling Archie (who is clearly not okay and by then on the verge of tears he’s trying hard to hold in) in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t need to be alone, so even if he gets angry at her for staying, she won’t leave him. It’s a big move for someone who doesn’t naturally fit into the nurturing role society typically expects of girls, and that’s kind of why I love it so much...because Veronica is willing to leave her comfort zone to help Archie, we get to watch her grow as a character, and the connection between her and Archie deepen. Honestly, what more could you ask for in a hurt/comfort scene?

*sighs sappily*

This quote is especially special to me because it features Archie, a guy who is about as antithetically wordsmithy as possible, doing his best to comfort Veronica, a gal who takes the “Big Girls Don’t Cry” trope to another level, and it’s just so doggone cute.

Despite her bubbly exterior, Veronica is a character who explicitly identifies with ice rather than fire (my girl forever), and tends to take things very much in stride. No matter how terrible the situation she finds herself in, her default mode is to keep pushing, keep moving, keep doing anything and everything that helps her avoid opening up to feelings that could hurt/sadden/anger her. She doesn’t unload her problems on friends or family, she doesn’t make leading comments in the hopes that someone will ask her what’s wrong, she doesn’t decide to handle something on her own and then break down crying in a moment of weakness; she literally has to be chased down and caught giving in to her emotions, and even then, she tends to try to cover any slipups with denials and standoffish attitudes. She’s not a character who gets a lot of sympathy, but neither is she a character who asks for sympathy...as a rule, when something goes wrong in her world, she deals with it herself and mentions it to no one. To which I say “yes MA’AM!” because never will you ever catch ME loving a fictional girl who cries/whines all the time over problems of her own making like seriously if you ever see me praising a giant crybaby b!tch who keeps having breakdowns over the bed she’s made herself and is upset that she now has to lie in I’ve been kidnapped and I’m trying to signal you.

The one big exception to that no-telling rule? Archie.

In this scene, Archie shows up unannounced to the Pembrooke, solely because he’s worried about Veronica. Despite all her assurances that everything’s fine, she’s been behaving in a way that, while passably normal to outsiders, tells him something is very, very wrong, and he refuses to be put off any longer. When she finally cracks and explains what’s going on (Hiram is “sick” [was he really though, or was it just Hiram being Hiram inquiring minds would like to have this answered once and for all]), it only takes Archie a second to jump in and start comforting her. He doesn’t wax poetic or anything of course, but he goes straight for the heart of the matter and offers his girlfriend support in a concrete way she can make use of.

(It’s also important to note that he recognizes the delicacy of the situation and meets her right where she’s at; instead of being like, “God, the world sucks, I’m so sorry, I wish I could protect you from this” or “Why do you care, your dad is the worst, shouldn’t you want him to kick the bucket?” or even “That’s terrible, wanna do something to forget it?” he sees at once how much she’s struggling to make sense of a very complex blend of emotions, instantly hurts for her, listens to her troubles, and tries to help however he can.)

When he tells her she’s the strongest person he knows, it’s because he genuinely thinks that and wants her to know he believes in her. He’s seen her strength and leaned on it himself, and because he admires and trusts in her ability to offer it to others, that’s the thing he chooses to remind her of. He doesn’t start outlining detailed this is how you should do it plans or anything along those lines; he all but takes it for granted that she’ll get back up, start fighting, and figure out something that works, because he’s seen her do it before and has enough faith in her strength to believe she’ll do it again.

And then he hugs her and because hugs are kind of their thing it GETS ME, okay? 

Also, there really aren’t a lot of people who are there for Veronica, because Veronica is (for better or worse) written as the Strong Character whose lot in life frequently consists of being the one who supports (sometimes emotionally, sometimes physically, sometimes financially) the weaker friend/parent/love interest. The few times she does need help, it’s on the emotional support front, and that’s why her relationship with Archie is so lovely...he can’t fix her problems for her; of the two of them, he’s far less skilled in the solutions arena, but he can and does offer her that ‘broad shoulder to cry on’ she jokes about in S1, and that in turn gives her the comfort and strength she needs to pull herself back together and go slay some dragons, and I personally <3 that.

[petalsmooth]

Reason I don’t clamor for fictional weddings

How many ever live up to the hype like that one?

I’m not saying I don’t want my fictional couples to marry, I just don’t necessarily need the ceremony since most of the time doesn’t really live up to what people have in their heads.

Lili stans, archie stans, Varchie stans, Cheronica or whatever all want weddings. I don’t. We’d probably get stuck having Archie standing as best man and that is nauseating. If they DID have a wedding I’d personally just want Tabi and Jug to have it at a county clerk’s office with Pop’s and maybe FP if back. It would be better than the showy retail they’d otherwise put on and far more sincere.

*May be based on a real family but the theatrical release is far from a faithful adaptation so I consider this fictional.

[maya-matlin]

Dumb question but your replies to asks are my favorites on this whole site, so I wanted to send an ask! Here it is: are there ships that you thought you'd love based on gifs but ended up not really liking once you saw them on tv or in youtube videos? For me one of them is Brulian. I kept hearing what an adorkable cutie Julian was and loved how happy Brooke looked in their gifsets but then when I actually saw them I just thought the chemistry was forced, Julian was a TOTALLY different character his first two seasons on the show and a lot less likable initially, and the acting and writing just didn't work for me? I expected them to be an otp but ended up meh at best on them! And I thought I'd ship Barchie because they're an iconic comic book couple, I'm much more of a Betty than Veronica personally lol, and their gifsets are gorgeous, but then when I watched the show I'm like, no, Varchie and Bughead are meant to be imo and Barchie doesn't do it for me at all. And one final example - Piper/Leo from Charmed. They're adorable in their gifsets, but it turns out the gifsets highlight literally the only times they're remotely happy?! Post-S1 Piper is perpetually angry, critical and miserable, she complains and snaps at everyone (especially Leo) every minute, Leo is so flat and personality-free, and their chemistry and connection are just lacking to me no matter how many times the show tells me their love is epic :) I can't wait to read your choices!

I don't think it's a dumb question! You're seriously sweet. <3 I feel like I'm really bad at replying to asks, so I'm glad you think that LOL

I think I might have to slightly alter this question to mean ships that I'd heard of, period, or had seen advertised and believed I'd end up shipping only to end up either disliking or feeling neutral towards. I only say that because for the past few years, I've really tried to keep an open mind when starting new shows so that I wouldn't go in with any preconceived ideas about what couples I'd root for.

Those are all interesting examples!

So when it comes to Brulian, I kind of agree. That being said, I did ship them the first time I watched season 6 and for the first half of season 7. But eventually, I was turned off by the Brooke/Julian/Alex arc. While I understand Brooke's LP trauma continuing to haunt her years later, it was just frustrating to watch it all play out again and for Brooke to devolve back into the most insecure version of herself. In some ways, I actually prefer Julian with Alex over Brooke. I still love the idea of them and think they had sweet moments, but their relationship never hit the same way Brucas did. It's an acceptable endgame for Brooke, but it will always kind of feel like second best. I'm sure that's an unpopular opinion, but oh well. I didn't force Chad and Sophia to have such strong chemistry or make the writers execute their seasons 2 and 3 arc so well.

Funny you should mention Barchie, because I had a similar experience in some ways. To be clear, I never read Archie Comics, but I vaguely knew some of the basics. The week Riverdale premiered, I'd been talking to a friend who rooted for BA in the comics and was excited to see Riverdale's take on their relationship. So, I watched the pilot episode to see what it was all about. I guess I shipped Betty and Archie then? But only in the sense that for the first couple of episodes, I was honestly cool with any outcome except Veronica/Jughead. That changed very, very quickly. Pre-Bughead, I was all about Beronica. Archie in contrast just wasn't as compelling to me and seemed to have a revolving door of love interests - something I'd heard was also somewhat the case in the comics. In the long run, BA became a good representation of everything I hate in a fictional couple. Their relationship is one of the laziest things I've ever seen. I truly mean that. Their fans did almost 100% of the work trying to piece that shit together because the writers were NOT writing a slow burn. The Riverdale writers seemed to deliberately avoid kicking off a story arc with any awareness of how it was going to end. The sad excuse for off screen, pre-series childhood anecdotes replacing any true development from episodes 103-416 didn't impress me. I hated watching Betty slowly sacrifice everything she wanted for her life just so she could conform into being Archie's ideal woman as he sacrificed absolutely nothing in return or ever once showed he had any true understanding of Betty. She needed extensive therapy, not the golden boy's dick. Anyways. Bughead forever, Varchie over BA because at least effort was put into that relationship.

As for Leo/Piper, you make some points, but I have to disagree. I can't help it. They were my favorite couple on Charmed. That being said, I acknowledge there was a lot of unnecessary angst, particularly during the later seasons. Leo's actor, Brian Krause, was also incredibly weak and nowhere near as talented as the women on the show.

Now, on to my answers. I already explained my history with BA, so I'll skip that one.

Bangel and Spuffy - Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I'd heard positive things about both couples, so I had no clue going in which I would end up shipping. As it turns out, the answer was neither. The Buffy/Angel arc was fine for a while, but at a certain point Angel was just kind of there. As much as I liked the guy, their romance was one of my least favorite aspects of the show. So it was a relief when he moved onto his own show, where his character improved tremendously. I also liked Angel better with Cordelia, so there's that. In the case of Spuffy, I'd heard about the slow burn and the enemies to lovers arc. So I was curious how all of that would happen. I didn't expect Spike to be such a creep towards Buffy. Season 6 wasn't great for them as it was, but the painfully long, attempted rape scene was the last straw. There was no overlooking that, yet season 7 basically had Buffy bending over backwards to defend Spike just because he had his soul back. That sucked. Out of the two love interests, Angel > Spike, always. But truthfully, the only Buffy ship I was ever passionate about was the potential one with Faith.

Jonah/Frankie - Degrassi Next Class: I don't know what I was expecting from these two. They seemed to have chemistry based on the promos Netflix and F2N released. I naively thought Winston had been such a dick that any guy would be an improvement over him. Jonah seemed like an overall decent guy in season 14 during his relationship with Becky, even if he was still haunted by some demons. Unfortunately, Next Class Jonah was a cold, judgmental, arrogant asshole. At least towards Frankie. The writers seemed to want an enemies to lovers situation, but mostly it just felt like Frankie being berated by her older boyfriend. She was an insecure mess with him, and he got away with emotional cheating.

EJ/Gina - HSMTMTS: Looking back at all the signs, it's very obvious Ricky and Gina were intended to end up together from very early on. But I was so certain that Ricky/Nini was the Disney ship that HAD to end up together, so I didn't think my ship stood an actual chance. EJ was transforming into a good guy and I wanted Gina to be happy, so I thought they'd be pretty good together. Sadly, they didn't have a single ounce of romantic chemistry. It was painful to watch. Gina's one episode almost romance with a guest star shined a light on what was lacking with EJ. Watching them fumble into their awkward romance was the worst. Which is a shame, because their platonic chemistry was pretty solid.

Duncan/Veronica - Veronica Mars: This was a VERY long time ago, and my reason was shallow: based on pictures, I thought Teddy Dunn (Duncan) was cuter than Jason Dohring (Logan). I knew nothing of their relationships with Veronica, just that Logan was more popular. I'm not particularly attracted to either guy physically now, but it's very obvious it's all about the charisma. Logan had it and was played by an extremely talented actor. Duncan didn't, and his actor was considerably weaker in comparison. Logan and Veronica demanded to be written together regardless of what Rob Thomas wanted. Duncan as a character was never able to keep up with Veronica and kind of like BA in some ways, it felt like a regression whenever Veronica was with Duncan.

Honestly, there needs to be a category for ships you initially liked solely because it was the only thing being offered at the time and less that the ship was anything special. Because I decided against including several ships for that reason LOL

[saturnaftertaste]

while everyone in the show is written from the perspective of an omniscient narrator, there are some themes that run consistent - one of them being that neither girl is ever actually happy in a relationship with archie. it becomes more obvious in s5-7, because s5 is spent bouncing archie back and forth between veronica and betty, but barchie themselves admit there’s nothing there, and varchie isn’t satisfied with being in riverdale/being in nyc. when barchie does become canonized in s6, betty is ready to kill archie in rivervale so she can have his son; betty also readily kills archie when he’s strangling jughead; in riverDALE, betty is the one who suggests that archie and veronica fuck when veronica becomes venomous, betty suggests that veronica go with them to the wedding. veronica, this whole time, is also struggling with severe loneliness after she seperates from chad and then loses archie to betty, and then reggie walks away from her, and then her kisses literally become venomous. a lot of veronica’s arc throughout the seasons is about self-actualisation, and usually a boy (archie or reggie) is a step on that checklist - s6 forces her to be on her own. b&v are fundamentally also more interested in each other in s7 than they are in archie, stated explicitly so multiple times.

my point being that none of this is consistent with what the narrative tells us. jughead’s voiceover insists that both betty and veronica are in love with archie, and that nothing else matters to them, when in fact, the show SHOWS us that they are complex characters who simply happen to like archie as well. betty is representative of a “good” version of jughead’s desire; she loves him, purely and sweetly and truly, and most importantly - QUIETLY. betty does not voice her desire for archie, not ACTUALLY, until season 4’s musical episode, which is a representation of jughead does with his desire for archie: represses it, because he thinks he cannot express it (see: repressed homosexuality). on the opposing end, veronica represents a “bad” version of jughead’s desire - she loves him, but she took what she wanted (bad) she has sex with him (bad) introduces him to a life of crime via hiram (bad). veronica is also visually and personality-wise similar to jughead - she’s more of a material representation of jughead than betty, and all the bad that comes from dating her to archie is further proof to jughead how he should not want archie. it’s interesting also, how the voiceover insists that veronica is still the bad girl from the city and betty is still the good girl from the suburbs, despite veronica’s intentions and actions upon coming to riverdale were mostly good - and betty’s corruption and bad actions are never truly acknowledged by the narrative.

all this to say that i think season 7’s veronica-and-jughead pairing was to provide space for betty and archie to come together. once it became obvious that veronica and jughead were never going to work - the fictional loser version of 50s jughead is not only very naive and boyish, he’s fundamentally also not interested in girls. ethel’s attempts to flirt are ignored, veronica’s closeness is a surprise. i think that veronica x jughead in the final season in any capacity is author jughead following a thread of a relationship to it’s logical conclusive end; if betty is with archie, and that’s how it should be because they are both Good, and they were Neighbors, and in Love, then veronica must be with jughead because they are both Bad, and Outsiders, and Leftovers. jughead refuses to see another possibility because (and bear with me here) jughead has no use for romance.

that’s right! i said it! jughead has no use for romance in his stories. i think, personally, jughead never set out to be a romance writer. it’s not his strength. most of the relationships in riverdale are superficial and/or shortlived; but i think riverdale as a story was an attempt to reconcile a very troubled reality into a neater fiction. the messy, more realistic relationships from the earlier seasons vanish - fred and hermione dissipate, alice never dates after hal’s incarceration, kevin and moose (the only two mlm people knows) get put together. i think romance, although is makes up so much of the show, is jughead’s attempt at corralling his characters back into order, yet he cannot because his characters are real people who keep making things messy. the cleanest relationship i can think of is tabitha/jughead, which is a straight shot from begrudging allies -> friends -> lovers. no one ever comes between them, no one ever tries to stop them. they are the healthiest relationship in all of riverdale, and my personal belief is that tabitha has no basis in reality and jughead wanted to square away everyone so neatly that he invented a time-traveling angel girlfriend for himself. anyway

back to the point: i think jughead x veronica is his attempt at understanding the universe. if betty and archie go together, surely veronica and i do too - there’s no one else left over in the cast would be able to pair off with her. there’s also the general fascination with veronica; 50s jughead writes stories to please her and she picks feminist holes in them. fundamentally jughead and veronica are so similar that they cannot get along, but archie loves her, so there’s gotta be something there, right? veronica x jughead is an attempt to understand his own obsession with archie, aka his universe, and so he tries to make it work. i have more thoughts on this i’m gonna write down at some point bc i fear this reblog is getting too long

can i be riverpilled on main for a sec. if jughead has been controlling the narrative all along - which tbf we were told in the first five minutes of the show - then it makes sense that both betty and veronica are not representative of themselves, actually, but rather of himself. if we are to believe the story of riverdale, then two things are true: 1. that jughead has been in love with archie this whole time and 2. that jughead himself never wanted to be part of the narrative. think about it - each season, apart from 1 and 3, involve some kind of death/death threat for jughead (serpent battle, stonewall preps, rat…king? dead and sent to heaven for sabrina to retrieve him, literally booted out of the narrative). however, someone is still required for him to project his feelings onto. if you believe that riverdale is a story starting with the real events of jason’s murder, jughead takes on the role of investigator/narrator. this means he needs someone else to be the love interest: enter betty. someone he would’ve known since forever, and so all of sudden, as jugheads story starts, betty “réalisés” she wants to tell archie she likes him -> jughead’s own crush coming to light / vs. veronica coming to town and immediately catching archie’s eye (AND she resembles him, dark hair, dark clothing, pretentiousness galore) -> jughead wanting archie to want HIM. all of this explains why betty and archie never really click in s5, why betty repeatedly takes the chance to kiss archie despite her friendship with veronica being at stake (what jughead would do, if he could) why veronica cannot handle loneliness, why a lot of the time neither betty or veronica’s actions match up to the personalities that they actually have -> betty is repeatedly made out to be a “hero” struggling against her internal demons/serial killer genes despite everything that would condemn her as a bad person/friend whereas veronica tries to be better and still falls short at every turn -> representation of repressed homophobia re: how not confessing makes him feel better about himself, like he’s doing archie a favor vs. even thinking that he would LIKE to date archie makes him “feel evil”. in the end, betty and veronica don’t even actually care about archie, romantically; the one person betty misses more than anyone in the last episode is veronica (her long lost love) and veronica throughout the series spends more time trying to figure out what would actually make her happy even though she has archie and that should supposedly be the answer; this is their actual characters breaking through the shell of projection given to them by narrator!jughead. of course, this would’ve been solidified if cole sprouse wasn’t a coward and kissed kj apa on screen in the finale but you know what they say about the absence of a thing .

[saturninesunshine]

“Veronica's having a party."

Archie and Jughead were eating burgers at Pop's when the news broke. The diner was lousy with second semester seniors, so close to graduation they barely made it to class anymore. This news wasn't exactly groundbreaking. Veronica wasn't a stranger to parties. But if Archie Andrews got a lead on a party at Veronica's penthouse, there was no way in hell he was missing it.

Jughead took a bite out of his burger. "I'm not sure I'm the desired clientele."

“You're not clientele, dude," Archie insisted. "It's senior year and Veronica is having a grad party."

There was only one thing that would get Jughead to a party. And Archie knew it.

"Not my scene," Jughead insisted.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Reggie. Chuck. Cheryl." Jughead listed off all the people that despised him. "Do I have to spell it out for you? Besides. Veronica isn't my biggest fan either."

"But you know who her best friend is?"

Don't say it.

"Betty."

a Superbad AU

[stellaseverides]

hi everyone! for those of y’all who write on ao3, can i ask a favor?

if you’re writing a fic and there’s a mention of another ship (for example, if it’s a bughead fic and betty mentions she used to date archie) you don’t need to tag the mentioned ship in the relationship tags.

it’s extremely frustrating when you’re looking for a new fic to read and the tag of your ship is full of fics that are not your ship. if it’s a varchie fic, and barchie is mentioned, you don’t need to tag barchie, if it’s a cheronica fic and varchie is mentioned, you don’t need to tag varchie. even if you tag character/character (mentioned), it will still show up in the character/character main tag.

what you can do, to warn people, is to tag mentions of character/character in the additional tags. then, everybody’s tag can stay clean.

it’s very frustrating as a varchie bc our tag is already filled with 80% bughead (which is fine ofc, if it’s a bughead fic with varchie in, then varchie should be tagged) so please try to keep your tags appropriate for the fic (which i try to do, and i know all the varchie writers do too). i’m sure the barchie’s, the choni’s, the bughead’s, the other varchie’s, etc feel the same.

much love 😚

[ronnieandrews2020]

Chapter 14: Disclosing

Summary:

It’s been almost five years. Almost five years during which Archie has been trying to move on, to recover, to forget, to understand how and why the only woman he has ever loved disappeared. All of the sudden, here she was, standing on his porch, beautiful as ever, turning his life upside down with just a sentence: " I brought you your daughter Archie Andrews". Why did she go? Why did she come back? – it’s the mystery of Riverdale’s Raven bird.

Read here Chapter 14 

[thetaoofbetty]

yeah, i know anon. they really saw veronica sad she didn't get to say goodbye to archie, betty drive her to take her to the bus stop, grab jughead on the way to catch the bus, have varchie say their i love yous, and then watched a flashback where betty got no solo scenes in his memories and still have the audacity to say stuff like "it's too painful for him to think about betty" while he's staring a picture of his dad.

i can't.

like, you can't make this line of thought up without thinking it's too out there? pls, i am begging, just write the fics or make the edits and stop making theories that people take seriously because they don't watch the actual show.

and listen, i know i've made a lot of the bughead parallels and stuff but we're not talking about the varchie ones because i am tired and imma leave that to varchie shippers because they know them best but like, if they can't see the bughead ones that's fine, we're the ones who have s t u d i e d the bughead scenes over the years but there's been a lot of varchie in the first part of the time jump that has not been subtle.

if it's lost on them that veronica strolled back into town married and archie had to sit back and watch and wait for veronica to make her decisions vs the high school stuff, we can't help them? it's right there.

[imreallyloveleee]

How do you feel about the 7 year time jump? What would you like to see from Betty, Jughead and the Core 4?

WHAT A QUESTION. okay let’s dig in.

7 year time jump:

I have mixed feelings. I’m in favor of a time jump, because the college story I would like to see with these characters is not the kind of story you can tell with this type of tv show. But the fact that it’s 7 years makes me sad, because it means Betty & Jughead have been apart for such a long time. I really liked the timeline in your fic, where it was 2 years, because it was long enough to be significant but short enough that it still felt natural for them to fall back into the swing of things together pretty easily. like...they love each other so much! to go through SEVEN years without your person...that’s so sad.  

what i want to see with betty & jughead & the core four:

I want Betty & Jughead to walk into the same room for the first time in years and just be struck dumb at the sight of each other. like, awash in a fucking tsunami of emotions that plays over their faces, and we just know, no matter what other dumb shit happens before they’re reunited, they are it for each other. and i want a VERY VERY emotional reunion when it does happen. none of this “Jughead tells us they reconciled offscreen via voiceover” bullshit they pulled in s2. we deserve to see it!!!

on the other hand, Varchie is just dead to me as a ship at this point. not that I was ever strongly invested, but: Archie doesn’t deserve Veronica. she deserves WAY, WAY better. so, I really hate that time-jump Veronica is coming back with this awful sketchy husband so Archie can run in and be a white knight or whatever, and win her back. I don’t want that. 

but at the end of the day, the only thing I actually care about on this show is Bughead, so if Varchie getting back together is the only way we can FINALLY, FINALLY put the b/rchie nonsense in the grave where it belongs, then fine, make it happen.

obviously, i do NOT want b/rchie to happen in any way shape or form. but if it does, I hope it plays out in a way where it’s clear they are each other’s second choices. they’re giving it a go because the people they actually love are unavailable to them. so they try it out and it completely fizzles and then we never ever ever have to think about it again. (i don’t even see how else you COULD make this storyline play out, but then again i was also super confident they weren’t actually going to Go There with these two in the first place so...i have a bad track record!)

[gauzelike]

[thepopsicle]

"She's a lost girl (REWRITTEN)"

"“So..Do you own this place, Toni?”

Apparently Betty’s question was as ridiculous as the color pink ever entering this bar. The pair of leather clad teens erupt into laughter- Hard laughter, The kind that leaves tears in your eyes as you gasp for air.

“N-No, Jesus no, I take care of the bar most days- An old friend of mine Jughead owns it- Well his dad does, But FP is in the clink.” Toni answers as she fights another bout of laughter.

“Toni couldn’t own this place if she wanted to, It's kinda handed down- A Serpent treasure.”

‘Serpent Treasure..’ Betty mulls over the words in her mind- To an outsider it truly just sounded like something a group of teenagers would chase in a shitty action movie.

“So..Is that a term of phrase over here or something?” Betty asks- She had always been a curious creature.

“No..Its uh-” Toni starts, But she was soon cut off from SweetPea’s ecstatic explanation.

“SouthSide Serpents, Baby! A gang- A family, A way of life.” His explanation may have been dramatic but it sure did get the job done, The pair turning their backs to her to promptly show off the patches on their leather jackets.

“Here I thought you all just shop at the same store.”

LINK

[archiebettyveronica]

not waving (but drowning)

pairings: archie/veronica

rating: A (for angst) E

words: 400+

summary: Goodbyes are hard. Even harder when you don’t want something to end.

A/N: so the story goes, i was feeling angsty so i opened a google doc and typed and edited this in 45 minutes and now i am posting it. immediately. without hesitation. i am not sorry for what you’re about to read.

_____________________________________ 

This goodbye feels final.

The air surrounding them is eerily cold for an August morning. Archie has begged for Veronica’s forgiveness since she found out about his fleeting feelings and affair with Betty. Her best friend and the one he assured her he had no real feelings for. Veronica had been ignoring his calls and texts ever since. Having the door man send him away and locking the service entrance to her building. Then, suddenly, she’s on his doorstep looking more beautiful than he’d remembered.

The look on her face tells him whatever happens today will end in heartbreak.

“I’m leaving for college today,” she says, her voice quiet and uncharacteristically devoid of emotion. “I wanted to say goodbye.”

“Veronica, I-”

“Archie, don’t say anything,” her façade starts to crack and her eyes are getting glossy. “It was so hard to ignore you. Despite the pain you put me through, my heart ached for you because I love you. I always will, but I can’t forgive you. I can’t forgive what you did to me. What you and Betty did to me. You were the one good thing in my life. The one person I trusted wholly and completely with my heart, and you stomped on it with my best friend. I can’t forgive you. I can’t do that. I love you, Archie, but I can’t be the girl that forgives the guy. Not this time.”

Her words feel like bullets, but he knows that he deserves them. There are tears in his own eyes threatening to spill as he watches her cry and pour out her heart. He knows there’s nothing he can say to make it better. Nothing that he hasn’t already said. He knows he has to let her go, but damn if it’s not the hardest thing he’s ever done.

She steps towards him, pulling his head down to rest his forehead on hers. Their sad eyes are locked on each other. He sees the pain and the hurt in her eyes, and he desperately wishes he could take it away. Take what he did back, but there is no going back.

“I’m so sorry, Ronnie,” he chokes out. 

“I know,” she says before closing the gap between their lips. He can feel the goodbye in her kiss. He could kiss her forever, but it ends as soon as it starts. “But sorry isn’t enough.”

He watches her walk off his porch. She pauses to look back at him one last time. “Goodbye, Archie Andrews.”

“Goodbye, Veronica Lodge,” he raises his hand and gives a small wave. He isn’t just waving goodbye to the love of his life, but drowning in the realization that their love story is over. That he ended it with a kiss that wasn’t hers.

This goodbye is final.