#(side note i love keller he's so funny)

[olliepurples]

in homosexual white collar news today, neal is handing over his wedding ring for peter :/

[my-head-is-an-animal]

Just A crush?

Director Keller x Reader

Chapter 1

Keller was never one for interfering with his employees’ lives, he rarely disrupted their working lives unless it was absolutely necessary. So, when Fury had recommended you as a new combat instructor, he didn’t blink. If Fury thought you’d be a good fit, Keller trusted him. The only thing he hadn’t counted on, was his immediate and instant feelings of attraction towards you.

Keller wasn’t stupid, he’d had crushes before, mostly he pushed them to one side or did something about it if it was safe enough to do so. One night stands weren’t his thing anymore, he’d prefer a relationship if he was going to get involved. If he’d been younger and still a field agent, he may not have thought too much about trying his luck. But that wasn’t an option for so many reasons.

Over the years, Keller had found less satisfaction in sleeping around and more in deeper connections. The problem, of course, was his job didn’t allow for much connection to anyone. Keller had realised how lonely he’d become, but did everything to stay distracted from that fact.

You were nice to him, introducing yourself in a professional manner, even making him laugh with a witty one liner when you talked for the brief moments here and there. Keller liked you a lot.

Part of your duties was to make sure everyone passed their physical tests every six months, even the Director wasn’t exempt from them. He both dreaded and loved the one on one sessions you’d have together, you were funny and never judgemental of his slowing skillset, instead you helped him find new ways to focus and train his body.

Keller had been more and more self-conscious since you came around, his instinct was to try and impress you in some way so that you would notice him, but the reality was that during these sessions, your attention wasn’t anywhere else. In the moments he remembered that, he felt his loneliness far deeper than anything else.

‘Come on, Director.’ You encouraged as he ran on the treadmill. ‘Keep pushing, you’ve only got another two minutes.’

Keller breathed deep, the burn in his legs was already agony, but he didn’t want you to think he couldn’t complete a simple cardio session. He couldn’t help but want you to think he was in the best shape of his life, seeing you in your tight leggings and vest ignited something inside him that pushed him on.

‘That’s it, nearly there.’ You had your eyes on the stopwatch and Keller couldn’t take his away from your expression. ‘One more minute, just keep going.’

Keller prayed for the end to come, he wasn’t sure if he could get his body to keep going like this.

‘Thirty seconds, we’re in the final lap now, just a little further.’ Somehow if you had asked him to go another five minutes, he didn’t think his ego would give him a choice, he just couldn’t bear disappointing you. ‘Ten seconds.’

Keller breathed in another few times just relaxing into the final ten seconds of agony he had to endure before finally being able to stop.

‘That’s it, slow it down.’ You cheered, automatically reaching to slow the pace down to a walk. ‘Here.’ You handed him some water and it was only then he realised how sweaty he’d gotten, again he somehow felt awkward and embarrassed by himself.

‘Thank you.’ He panted, but waited until you were wandering over to your clipboard to actually gulp down half the bottle, anything to cool himself down. ‘How’d I do?’ He called, immediately regretting the use of energy.

‘Really good.’ You smiled broadly. ‘Yeah, to be honest, you exceeded my expectations.’

‘You sound surprised?’ Keller frowned playfully.

‘Not surprised, just… impressed.’ There was something really rather sweet about the way you spoke to him, looking down at your clipboard and making notes. ‘You’ll pass the physical, no question.’

‘Good to know. You need anything else from me?’

Keller watched your expression change from playful to your own brand of awkwardness, had he said something wrong? Was his tone off?

‘Er, no, just keep your pace for another three minutes before stretching off.’ You cleared your throat. ‘I’m just going to grab some more water. I’ll be back.’

Keller watched you leave the gym and he was more confused than before. He went over in his mind the encounter, but couldn’t quite place his finger on why your whole demeanour had changed all of a sudden.

You were gone for nearly five minutes, Keller had already decided to start stretching off when you returned.

‘How you getting on?’ You asked, back to your sweet demeanour.

‘Good, little sore in my knee, but I imagine it’s that old injury catching up to me again.’ He tried to laugh it off, tried to make you smile at his expense, which you did, but still a small layer of concern washed over your face.

‘Why don’t you hop on the bed and I’ll take a look?’

Keller was momentarily dazed, everything about that idea was appealing in ways he was ashamed to think about, but when he glanced in your direction he realised you meant the physio table behind you. Disappointment sat gently in his chest.

‘Sure.’ He swallowed. ‘Can’t hurt.’

You smiled again as Keller tried to brace himself, but nothing would ready him for the feel of your soft hands against his skin. He lay back and allowed you to work on his knee, testing mobility, flexibility and strength. It wasn’t anything intrusive, but he couldn’t help but feel warm under his skin.

‘You can jump down whenever you’re ready.’ You said, wandering back to your desk.

It was only when you were walking away that Keller realised his eyes were closed. He snapped them open and took a deep steady breath.

‘I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.’ You concluded. ‘If it starts to get painful, let me know and I’ll have another look. For the time being, stick to your recommended plan and I’ll find a time that suits for your tests.’

‘Perfect.’ Keller smiled, something in him was crying out to ask if you wanted to get a coffee with him, but he didn’t ask, he just let his mouth open and close before leaving.

He stood in the shower, letting the water run over his face and tracing over every part of the encounter you’d had. Why did he feel such a fool when you were around? Why did he never say the right thing?

Keller stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist and trying to ignore the burn still coursing through his legs. As the Director of SHIELD, having his own locker room was a perk he enjoyed to no end, but it did allow for moments of quiet that he sometimes wished he didn’t have.

He took his time in putting his navy suit back on. His mind kept drifting back to seeing your demeanour change when he asked if there was anything else he could do for you. The way you looked down at the floor and broke the gaze shared between you, broke him in a small way.

Keller wondered if he should have asked you to get coffee regardless of any awkwardness, he was the Director for goodness sake, he shouldn’t have felt so tense about anything he felt. And yet, you disarmed him.

If you liked this, please consider supporting me ☕ thanks for reading!

Story

[arotechno]

Jughead (2015), Issues 9-11: Discussion and Commentary

This brings us to the first arc written by Ryan North, who saw that the aroace Jughead train had left the station and simply could not resist tagging along for the ride. If you’ve followed anything about Jughead as a character at all, then you’ve probably seen many screenshots from these three issues before. It’s the Sabrina arc (that’s right, as in the teenage witch)!

I have a lot of analysis at the end of this one, so buckle up!

The gang ends up at Pop’s, as usual, where Jughead meets the shop’s new mascot, a talking burger lady. Jughead is, unsurprisingly, thrown off his game by this. After all, burgers are his one true love, but girls? He doesn’t really have an interest in them. It’s a confusing moment for him, and when his friends witness this, well… they assume he’s got a crush on her.

This is an iconic page in the “aro Jughead” canon. Here we have Betty trying really hard to be a good friend and doing what in her mind is the best for him, trying to help him through what she and the others perceive as his first crush. Jughead, meanwhile, is diving headfirst into a spiral of confusion (and later, discomfort) at the idea of having any sort of interest in another person.

I want to give my utmost respect to Ryan North for explicitly having Jughead say that he doesn’t get crushes. It’s not the only time that North does this during this arc, and I think it makes all the difference between making this awkward and relatable rather than making it seem like Jughead is being stripped of or “cured” of being aro.

Betty pushes Jughead to talk to Sabrina (the burger lady—it’s Sabrina), and after a while of running into each other day in and day out as Jughead frequents Pop’s on a regular basis, they strike up a friendship. Jughead has gotten what he wanted—to be friends with the cool burger lady—and he seems genuinely satisfied.

…But unfortunately, things do not go as planned for Jughead. The next time they see each other, Sabrina asks Jughead out. And Jughead, in true stereotypical oblivious aro fashion, agrees, without realizing until it is much, much too late that what he has just agreed to is a date. Like, a real date.

If you think about it, Jughead has probably never been asked on a real date before. And this is something I ABSOLUTELY would have done (and may still do today, if I’m completely honest with myself) as a teenager. Jughead’s immediate regret is so palpable here, and so relatable to me as an aromantic.

In his panic, Jughead turns to his friends for help. They are… not helpful. They’re trying to be helpful, sure, but whereas Jughead doesn’t really seem to want to go through with this at all, his friends are more set on giving him romantic advice (with varying degrees of usefulness). Jughead really has to go out of his way to defend himself and insists on multiple occasions that he thinks the girl in the burger costume is cool and interesting, but that he doesn’t like-like her, he doesn’t even really know her!

Unfortunately for Jughead, he ends up going on the date. And who does he call for help? His only other openly queer friend (I say openly because let’s be real with ourselves, none of those kids are cishet), Kevin Keller.

And okay, this scene with Kevin is genuinely kind of funny. You get the impression that Kevin has had a lot of practice dealing with straight bullshit, and that he’s more than a little disappointed that Jughead’s “big emergency” turned out to be something this totally mundane and not worth his time.

Ultimately, Kevin is also super not helpful, even after Jughead steals his phone in an attempt to get him to come to the table and diffuse the awkward situation Jughead has found himself in. So Jughead resorts to what I can only assume is plan Z, which is to call Archie for backup.

Only semi-related, I really love the way Ryan North writes conversations between these two. It just feels really genuine and believable. And anyway, I don’t know what Jughead was expecting, but resident himbo Archie Andrews is of no help to him, and only ends up making things a hell of a lot worse.

This leads to Sabrina rushing off to the bathroom and casting multiple spells to try to get Jughead to at least play along, if not outright fall in love with her, all of which fail spectacularly and only end up making her far angrier with him. I don’t blame her for being upset—the date was a total disaster, and right at the moment Jughead was about to be honest with her, Archie showed up and made things worse. Sabrina storms out, and vows that she’ll get revenge on Jughead for this, somehow.

All of Sabrina’s subsequent spells on Jughead also backfire. She tries to make him fail his classes, and he passes with flying colors; she tries to make him spend the whole day with resident asshole Reggie, but he ends up befriending him against all odds. She even ends up unleashing a giant eldritch horror by accident, and—well, that’s not important.

In the end, Jughead decides to make things right. He never meant to hurt Sabrina, and she seems to be in a tough spot, having just moved to town, so he brings her some food as a peace offering and explains what really happened. And Sabrina is… surprisingly receptive, in fact more receptive than Jughead’s friends were when he came to them for help, despite the fact that this is something they should already understand about him. Being upset with Jughead wasn’t doing her any favors, so Sabrina already seems to be at peace with what happened and is more than willing to forgive him and be his friend despite all that transpired between them.

This is a really great scene. There’s a nuance to it—the way Jughead acted on their date was unfair, both to Sabrina and to himself. He needed to be honest from the beginning, but instead, he just kept trying to escape. At the same time, Sabrina gets it, and it wasn’t very cool of her to try to use magic to get what she wanted, either (not that Jughead knows she did that).

Jughead helps Sabrina re-enroll in her old school and quit her job at Pop’s to move back in with her aunts, so that she can live out the rest of her teenage years the way she’s supposed to. Afterwards, Sabrina and Jughead both seem really happy, and thus volume two ends on a positive, quiet note.

I really like this arc, for the reasons I’ve already stated and more. It’s funny and awkward and endearing (I say that a lot about this series, don’t I?), and it portrays a realistic and relatable aromantic problem without it being aboutaromanticism. It’s more about Jughead being honest about his feelings and making a new friend than about Jughead being aro, even though that contextualizes the situation. A great deal of the series is about that—Jughead being honest with himself and others. In the first arc, it’s Jughead shaking off a persona of apathy. In the second, it’s Jughead being honest with Archie about their friendship and the way Archie’s behavior has been making him feel. Here, it’s about Jughead being honest about who he is at his core, and accepting it about himself—and Sabrina accepts it, too, no questions asked. Even if he never says “I’m aromantic,” the sentiment is there plain as day, and it’s a refreshing beat for the story to land on.

That said, I do have a bone to pick with this arc. There’s a line in the sand here between Zdarsky and North. In the last arc, we saw Zdarsky portray that really subtle but meaningful interaction between Archie and Jughead, in which Archie seems not only keenly aware of Jughead being aromantic—even without the word—but also tacitly supportive of him, such that he knows immediately when he’s crossed a line. Here, we see Ryan North take a bit of a step back from that, such that Archie may be aware of Jughead’s orientation but seems way too quick to assume all that’s changed the moment there’s even a sliver of possibility that Jughead has a crush. That’s the reality of having different writers stepping in to interpret the same characters in loosely connected stories like this, but it still bothers me. I prefer Zdarsky’s style of storytelling in general, but in particular I also prefer his portrayal of Archie, as much as Ryan North’s on-the-nose aro moments and undying love for Reggie make me very happy. As a whole, nobody ever stops to ask Jughead what he wants, they only tell him what they think Sabrina wants. Jughead says so himself:

I suppose one could make the argument that Jughead’s friends, or even Jughead himself, are only really aware of the asexual bit (if at all—for all we know Veronica and Reggie have no idea, for example) and that’s why they don’t only never mention aromanticism but also sometimes seem ignorant of it. It’s possible that the aro side of Jughead’s orientation is still something he doesn’t have the words for, despite it being a truth he knows about himself, and in fact I think that would have been an interesting angle to take, had this series continued beyond 15 issues. But what I have an issue with isn’t so much the fact that Jughead’s friends are unhelpful (because let’s be real, sadly a lot of us have been there), but the fact that never are they asked to apologize for pushing him to do something he so clearly didn’t want to do. Whether he or they know he’s aromantic or not, he was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of going on this date—and not just due to a lack of experience. I would have liked it had Archie, or Betty, or Kevin apologized, or even once asked him what he really wanted. Betty comes the closest, by talking it out with him in the first place, but even she still earnestly pushes him to go through with the date anyway.

Anyway, there are two arcs left for me to discuss, and frankly I’m not as enthused by either of them as I was for these past three, for a variety of reasons. The Ryan North train continues for one more arc, and then it’s on to Mark Waid and Ian Flynn’s big finish. Those two updates might come a little slower. Until then, I was going to include a compilation of Jughead looking uncomfortable, but I've only got one image slot left thanks to tumblr, so instead I leave you with this:

Same, Jughead. Huge same.

[momowoah]

Just watched the last three episodes of gossip girl and I'm mad at everyone but Luna, Zoya and Max. I guess I can't complain about gg characters being selfish and oblivious to other people's feelings but... omg

Spoilers below

I love Audrey and Aki but like... They did kinda treat Max like trash these last 3 eps. He rightfully called them out when they showed up at his doorstep, and then they just dropped him and starting looking for a new third? At least we got the scene with Jamison out of it (it was funny), but like. Then they scheduled him between them???? Like, what???? And there was a whole of two (2) good scenes between them aka the one at the bar and the one they became a throuple but like... GG loves to breakup characters and I don't want Aki and Audrey to breakup despite liking the throuple so the all or nothing attitude has me worried... And that scene in bed was not long enough (even though I loved the dance scene). Also, Aki and Audrey were doing just fine without anyone else in ep9 but in ep10 suddenly something was missing? Ugh. Also what was that plot of Aki getting arrested? And what was that tiktok?

I'm not that upset at Monet because I like her being mean but idk if it was her or her mother but she kinda annoyed me. Maybe she would've annoyed me a lot less IF WE ACTUALLY GOT THE MONET CONTENT WE WERE PROMISED. A scene of her writing in a notebook and two of her mother are not enough. Also there has been no real effort to include Monet in the group, Luna is the only one of the two who gets scenes (and barely). In conclusion I'm not exactly mad at Monet, but what we got of her wasn't good enough. Also does she have her own minions around so she can watch them make out when she needs inspiration? Lol

Now, Obie... It's just kinda the fact that I only like him when he's with Julien. But also idk. One week "I love you", the next "I need to find myself outside you", the next "hey I actually like someone else now but we all know I'm eventually coming back to you". He's confusing.

Now Julien,,,, congrats for her for going on war with gg AT THE VERY LAST SECOND (honestly I don't want to wait 6+ months for this) but just like the 3ish people who said so in the eps I think she's completely self-obsessed, always goes back to who she was before after every character development (this happened in GG since the og but I hoped it was over by now), can't handle problems and blames everyone but herself for them, and completely ignores her friends feelings of they're not about her. Also wtf happened with the Davis plotline? Obviously not the last we've seen of him since Nick took the money but like... It was the main plot for two whole episodes and was basically solved in a single one? GG made one post about Julien with absolutely no sources (at least I didn't catch one) and suddenly all's forgiven and she's no longer cancelled? Idk

Also about the three I wasn't mad at. I actually am kinda mad at Zoya for what she did in ep 10 (and at Max and Luna too but just because I woke up annoyed today and don't actually know why they annoyed me. Didn't enjoy watching Max in ep 10 and 11 and I guess that's it. Plus wanted Luna to have an actual relationship and not an episode saying she doesn't want one yet). But Shan redeemed her in 11 so all's well. Also I didn't have captions so I couldn't understand Shan really well but hopefully she'll get screentime in the next season and neither Luna or Monet will lose screentime for it.

On the teachers? I hate all of them. Didn't like even Keller today. Wendy changes sides more than Obie does. Honestly wish they had lost Gossip Girl to an unknown someone. I want omniscient Kristen Bell narrations, not three people with really questionable morals doing something without even understanding why (and like their predecessor still thinking they are better than everyone else). Excited for the war and whatever Monet's planning? Yes. But like, not enough.

On other notes genuinely though Pippa and Bianca were going to kiss when they started saying I love you

Max and Luna stay the best friendship of the show

Hoping we'll get actually good and long throuple scenes next season

Loved watching Julien betraying everyone she loves

I want to know all their secrets and see if GG can figure out what's true and what's lie

+ Cyrus, Eleanor, Dorota, Vanya and their kid? I was too distracted being annoyed at everyone else but I loved they showed up and Eleanor's advice to Kiki and her saying Audrey was like Blair <3

++ about 10 hours from now I'll rewatch the eps in 1.0 speed and with captions so I'll actually understand what's happening and hopefully be less annoyed. But in the end that's the Gossip Girl I love and hate. There's no fun in having likeable characters, love watching all of them go bad. Anyways.

[bossbex]

5x06 Reaction

JARCHIE!!! I missed their interactions so much... like honestly in S4 they barely spoke.  I’m loving the “roommates” dynamic.  

Ok the kevin/fangs/toni apartment(?) is... amazing!!

I love how they hired actual teenagers (or close to it) to play the high school kids... since all the “teachers” were playing high school students, what, 3 episodes ago?? 

Ok mechanic Betty is SO HOT

DORITOS I AM CRYING AT THIS PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Veronica’s taking over the Blue Velvet!!! Why not reuse that set lmao

Thoughts on this initial barchie interaction: 

I’ve seen all the discourse about it seeming like Archie doesn’t care about Betty’s problems, or not taking them seriously, and people comparing Archie’s “oof - that sucks” to jughead’s “white noise” speech in 1x08 (which I thought was cringy AF and I even liked b*ghead at the time) and here’s what I’ll say: 

His “oof - that sucks” comment as MATCHING Betty’s tone - she says it kind of matter of factly and with a bit of an eyeroll, she does NOT seem very upset about it, and she is a grown ass adult who DOESN’T need Archie’s condolences in that moment - and Archie knows that. 

She then brings up Polly, and Archie ASKS A FOLLOW UP QUESTION: “didn’t your mom say she does this? Takes off for a couple of days” which shows that he is referring to a previous conversation about this - they’ve BEEN talking about it and he DOES care (not to mention they showed that he had texted her about Polly at the end of the last episode)

She says she’s trying not to panic - because she knows this is something Polly does and may not actually be in danger - SO HE OFFERS A DISTRACTION during a time when she is basically asking for one, and then SHE COMES UP WITH THE IDEA OF WHERE TO GO HAVE SEX

Anyway I have argued with enough people on twitter about this lol.. I feel strongly.  Also, this scene was super cute and both Archie and Betty look so good in it.  

I love Tabitha.  Smart, enterprising, witty... I’m all for the Jugitha pairing. (seriously though, is a ship name decided for them? I’ve seen Tabhead and Jabitha as well, lol.  

Uhhhhh ok this car sex scene? It somehow feels even more explicit than the shower scene?? The moaning and breathing?? HOW DARE THESE STONEWALL KIDS INTERRUPT THIS

LMAO NIGHT JOGGING

Is it just me or is Sheriff Keller looking really hot? Silver fox??  

I have to note that Archie’s hair colour looks SO BAD in this whole episode but especially this football scene with the Reggie confrontation.  It’s like, almost burgundy? But somehow bright orange at the same time? I hate it.  

Ok Cole is absolutely nailing this “down on his luck, beaten down” adult Jughead.  His character is funny all the sudden?? I love that he kept the money in the tip jar like OF COURSE

Ok Chad coming into Veronica’s class HE’S THE WORST!!! And then SITTING AT THE BACK I HATE HIM SO MUCH FOR THIS

Alright, now we have another scene that has people talking, which is where Archie meets Chad.  My thoughts: 

Archie clearly sizes up Chad.  I mean, he dated Veronica for 3-ish years (in the show’s timeline) so yeah, it’s normal to meet your ex’s new partner and size them up.  It read more like “he thinks Chads a douche” as opposed to “he’s jealous of Chad because he wants to be with V”.  

They show makes a point of showing Betty’s reaction to them meeting.  THIS SHOT IS NOT RANDOM.  Yes, I’m sure the show will go there, she’ll get jealous of V at some point.  Betty thinking that Archie is jealous of Chad is not the same as Archie actually being jealous of Chad.  

I kind of loved how Chad just jumps in here to join in the karaoke night - he didn’t redeem himself from the previous scene where he SAT IN THE BACK OF HER CLASS WHILE SHE WORKED but I like how they’re not playing him completely evil

Next scene: BETTY AND TONI ARE TALKING!!! I REPEAT!!! BETTY AND TONI ARE TALKING!!! Seriously, it’s so refreshing that they’re actually letting all kinds of new dynamics and character interactions happen this season.  

Also, NEDSLIST!!!! THIS SHOW!!!!

I am living for Cheryl being completely beautiful whilst yelling at construction workers.  

So like... she actually doesn’t have that much money. She couldn’t really afford the donation for the school... I kind of wish that once she says “I can’t afford it” people would like, not keep pushing? I’m looking at you Toni, whom I absolutely adore, I just wish the writers didn’t make it like Cheryl’s being squeezed dry.  I get that it’s needed for plot purposes but I don’t love it.  

Kevin and Betty are friends again!!! Love it!!! 

Karaoke night thoughts: 

At no point is Jughead hanging out or interacting with the rest of the group.  He stays separate from them - with Tabitha, which I appreciate, but I am just noting this because I’m sure it was done purposefully. 

“She probably forgot it’s Gekko now” uhhhh didn’t Toni announce V as “Veronica Gekko” in the last episode?? LOL THE SHADE

I love Veronica’s voice

Ok so Chad actually comes off so great in this scene?? I guess this is part of his manipulation - come off as such a great guy in front of all her friends to get them to like him? 

Jughead’s reaction to the duet is so me every time I’ve watched people do karaoke lmao

During the “or do you need more? Is there something else you’re searching for” they cut to Archie’s and Betty’s reaction.  Archie is not thinking about V in that moment.  

I am not seeing one iota of jealousy from Archie.  He looks genuinely happy for them.  

This Chad and Veronica bed scene makes me uncomfortable.  But I’m glad they’re showing their softer moments! 

The Archie/football recruitment sequence... Chad in the back of Veronica’s classroom again??? HOW IS THIS HAPPENING I HATE THIS!! Also, this is another scene where Chad looks jealous of Archie... not the other way around. 

Britta!!! I love her.  And I feel like the writers inserted her in specifically for Britta Lundin, former Riverdale writer and acclaimed author (read her book Ship It, seriously, it’s so good), and I love that. BUT THE WAY ARCHIE LOOKS AT BETTY IN THIS SCENE IS THAT EVEN LEGAL

We get the first glimpse Toni’s “Operation Bring Cheryl Out Of Hiding” plan here, when Archie asks her for funding for the football team and says its earmarked for something else (hmmmmmmm... this plan has been in the works for a while... and I’m here for it) 

Ok. This scene where Archie goes to ask Cheryl for money is... a mess.  My first reaction is that it was so OOC for Archie to bring up Jason in that way.  Then I got to thinking... Archie probably would want to honour his dad in that way and was genuinely suggesting that as something that might actually be helpful to her, as opposed to purposely trying to manipulate her.  He knows what it’s like to lose a family member, he just didn’t realize that Cheryl doesn’t grieve in the same way. The boy doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body.  Anyway, now he’s been banished from Thornhill! But don’t we see him (and everyone) there in a bts photo from possibly 5x08? Isn’t that at Thornhill? Will this be addressed or will the writers just forget it ever happened?

I love Betty and Kevin investigating together. It’s so refreshing. 

Ok this place Jughead is going to is legit the creepiest shit I’ve ever seen.  I am having trouble making myself care about this “Mothmen” plot??

Betty’s “Straight to the Point” interrogation style is actually effective in this truck stop stakeout scene.  

Alice again with her wine... I wonder if there will actually be an “Alice is an alcoholic” storyline or is the wine just part of her personality now?

Ok like it’s so inappropriate for a teacher to be wearing an HBIC shirt BUT I AM HERE FOR THIS DRAMATIC VIXENS HALLWAY WALK!! And Toni is correct, Cheer is a sport so sit down, Archie.  Notably Toni adds in “not even Cheryl managed to do that” - I’m thinking she new Ms. Bell would be eavesdropping ;)

WHY IS THIS PORTAIT OF JASON WORTH SO MUCH?? 

Is this Minerva character going to be important?? I keep seeing people talking about how she and Cheryl are going to hook up but is that just because she’s a female character who interacts with Cheryl? I’m not seeing it yet but hey, it’s Riverdale.  

JUGHEAD BRINGING UP THE EPIC HIGHS AND LOWS OF HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL I SCREAMED

Seriously though, since we know Jughead wasn’t there when Archie said that, there’s two options: Either Archie told him he said it, or (my preferable theory) Archie used to just SAY THAT REGULARLY and has said it in front of Jug lmao.

Chad again seems legit supportive when she tells him about her jewelry store plan?? THEY’RE SO UP AND DOWN!!! 

Ok, so Betty is an FBI agent (trainee, whatever) and she JUST NOW THOUGHT OF TRACING POLLY’S CELL PHONE

This scene... when Veronica finds out Chad has been talking to Hiram behind her back... this is where she decides she’s done with Chad. 

Another scene with Archie - I am still getting zero vibes that he’s into Veronica? And zero vibes that Veronica’s into Archie? It makes complete sense that Veronica would want to help the bulldogs.  Chad is a total dick here and is definitely threatened by Archie... again, not the other way around.  Side note: Chad, if threatened by Archie, is a TOTAL IDIOT for suggesting Archie renovates the Pembrooke - like, he’s going to be working? All the time? Where Veronica is staying? And probably taking his shirt off because he’s sweaty from all the working?? WHYYYYY WOULD CHAD ENCOURAGE THIS

This little flirty scene between Jughead and Tabitha (and it’s the first that I would say has any flirty undertones whatsoever) is pretty cute.  

THIS BARCHIE PORCH SCENE I HAVE THOUGHTS

The fact that people are suggesting Betty showed up there because she wanted to talk to Jughead is SENDINNNNGGGGGG

Let’s be clear, she only asked about Jughead so she could make sure he wasn’t home so that she could bone Archie. There is no other interpretation for this. 

THIS IS THE BEST BARCHIE KISS TO DATE

They are playing the song from the porch scene in the pilot... DON’T TELL ME BARCHIE IS MEANINGLESS WHEN THEY ARE USING THIS SONG

I think the fact that this is the first time they had sex and we didn’t see it is meaningful - they are showing that the relationship is deepening and they are more than “just sex”

As Betty leaves, Archie looks like he wants to reach out for her and then stops himself - he is definitely falling hard and he’s afraid Betty isn’t feeling the same way

Ok, Cheryl is straight up wearing lingerie in Toni’s office!!! And the red lipstick is back - notably, throughout the entire show, she has worn the red lipstick as a kind of shield - she never has it for her “vulnerable” scenes.  Seems like that is still happening. AND this is where we see Boss Toni’s plan come into fruition - she started up the vixens and MADE SURE CHERYL FOUND OUT ABOUT IT because she knew that was the one thing that would make Cheryl come out of her Thornhill hiding spot.  Well played, Toni.  

Archie and Veronica announcing the bulldog funding... again, I’m not seeing ANY “romantic/attraction” vibes here? He does react when she says her last name is Lodge again but like, anyone would? 

MS. BELL YOU GOSSIP I’M OK WITH YOU REPORTING TO CHERYL BUT I DRAW THE LINE AT HIRAM

Is Reggie... filing his nails? Lmao

I really hope Polly isn’t dead?? Like I very much want a Polly redemption story!! 

Sooooo I guess Archie and Jughead are both going to die in this fire? Lol... well... they’re main characters so I’m sure they’re good.  

I’m doooone for this week! So far really enjoying the timejump? Obviously because of barchie but also, everyone is just - better. 

Well this turned out to be a novel.  If you made it this far, thanks for reading :) 

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Riverdale 5x03 Review

Wow I’ve got to say I’m actually impressed with Riverdale this episode, I really enjoyed it and I got emotional soo many times. I think it was well written for the most part and a really good send off for the characters as teenagers. I think it would have hit even harder if it had aired as a season finale like it was meant to but overall I really liked this episode which I’m glad because I was a little wary going into it after 5x02 which I didn’t really enjoy that much. Anyway we’ve got lots to talk about so lets jump in. As always these are just my own views and opinions and naturally there are spoilers. 

Jelly Bean and FP. 

So first I figured we can talk about the fallout from last episode and the reveal that Jelly Bean was behind the tapes. One little thing that did make me laugh a  was when Jughead is narrating over the opening and he talks about the darkness in the people of the town and he lists Cliff Blossom, The Black Hood, The Gargoyle King and The Stonies you know all these murders and attempted murders and then he adds Jelly Bean to the list. I mean Jughead sweetie I get that you are upset about your sister making those tapes and that’s completely understandable I’m just not sure its quite on the same level as all the other people in the list in the grand scheme of things. I mean I get what the writers were trying to get at with that statement but it just tickled me a little is all, don’t think it was supposed to but well I’m weird, I’m a weirdo so I found it funny and kinda overdramatic. But onto more serious things I actually loved the way Alice and FP handled the situation I mean kudos to Alice for doing the right thing and suggesting not just therapy but a therapist that specialises in child therapy. I think that is exactly what Jelly Bean needs (and all of the characters really) so I’m really glad that Alice suggested that. At the same time I do think FP was right in deciding to take Jelly Bean back to her mum and stay so that Jelly bean has the support of both of her parents there. I do think that alot of Jelly Bean’s anxiety about Jughead leaving comes from her abandonment issues. If you think about it first her family is split in two with her being in Toledo with her mum and her brother and dad being in Riverdale, then her family comes back together again and she’s then abandoned by her mother. Then her brother leaves to go to school and is nearly killed. All of this was probably really traumatic for her and obviously had a huge effect on her. I think having a stable support system away from Riverdale and its influences for a little while will be good for her and help her recover with some help from therapy, lots of therapy. 

One thing I didn’t really understand and think could have been better explained is what happened with Jelly Bean’s friends. I mean for one thing we are never told why they are hiding out in Archie’s gym like don’t they have homes? Also they had Tom Keller reinstated as Sheriff and they took him with them to find the kids so does that mean they were arrested? And if they were arrested then why did Jelly Bean get off scott free? I have so many questions about that scene. 

FP’s send off was really well done in my opinion. I had a lot of respect for him putting his foot down and telling Jughead no he was going to Iowa when Jug said he wanted to go to Toledo with his dad and Jelly Bean. Also that speech about how Jug going to College and being successful will be good for the Joneses is so true. I mean seeing Jughead go to college and making something of himself will give Jelly Bean something to look up to and for her to know that just because she comes from a family that is underpriveledge doesn’t mean that she can’t strive for success and chase her dreams and I think that is an amazing message to send. That being said seeing FP and Jughead say good bye was really sad and you could feel the emotion in that scene of a father having to let go of his son and let him make his own way now and also Jughead’s worry about going out on his own again and being without his family. It was just a touching scene and one that I relate to so much because it reminded me of when I said goodbye to my mum when I went to Uni and that mix of excitement and terror at having to be on my own, I left home at 16 but I had never been that far away from my family before so despite knowing that I could take care of myself (I had already taken care of myself  for 3 years at this point) I was still really anxious at being away from my mum so I could really relate to Jughead in that moment. He knows he can take care of himself he’s done it before but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t anxious about not being in the same town as his dad anymore. 

Speaking of heartbreaking scenes Alice saying goodbye to FP. It was beautiful, sad and yet hopeful at the same time. I mean when she asked if this was the end of their story and he replied ‘god, I hope not’ it really made me tear up.  Also I love that Alice understood why he needed to do this and even says she loves him for it. FP has grown so much over the last 4 seasons and now he’s become a man who will do anything for his kids and I think Alice really does love that about him. Also I’m going to be honest I felt so bad for Alice this episode especially when she was talking about how she had imagined Thanksgiving and having her whole family there Betty and Polly and the twins, Jughead, Jelly Bean, FP and Charles and now she’s going to be alone that is just so sad and feel really bad for Alice despite mistakes she may have made in the past she doesn’t deserve the deal she’s been dealt. Also as a side note I’m glad they at least made a small mention of Charles and how Alice is sad about that situation, I actually wasn’t expecting his name to be dropped at all this episode so it was better than nothing. 

The last thing I will say about this plotline is that I loved the shot of FP and Jelly Bean riding away in their Serpent jackets and being escorted by the Serpents. It gave a feel of royalty on the move like a motorcade or something which I thought was a nice touch and a little reminder of how Serpents stick by each other. 

The Graduation

Obviously the big theme of this episode was the teens graduating and those scenes were really touching. First there was the whole debate about whether Jug and Arch would be graduating. I was happy for Jug but felt so bad for Archie when he find out that not only was he not graduating but he would have to repeat his whole senior year. I do like that Mr Weatherby reassured him that nobody would hold the year against Archie because Archie really did have a crappy year so it’s not really surprising he isn’t able to graduate. I’m also glad that Weatherby said he could walk with his friends and wanted to make him feel included by asking him to write and record a song for the ceremony. I’m also really glad that they got to have their year books. 

But what I think made these moments so much more emotional were all the little nods to both Jason and Fred. I got the feels so much when Archie was standing in the hall looking around at all the other teens with their parents and fathers and you could just see that in that moment he was really missing his dad. Another moment that was really sad for me was a little earlier in the episode when Archie has the same dream his dad had when he had been shot and its fred taking pictures for Graduation and says he never thought he’d live to see this day. It is so heartbreaking because he really didn’t and its not fair.  Also Cheryl was in her feels about her brother. I mean it must make her really miss Jason when you think he should have been graduating alongside her.  

Betty’s speech at the ceremony was good too. There were so many moments in there that punched you right to the gut. When she talked about how it wasn’t fair that so many of their classmates weren’t there to walk with them, I couldn’t help but think of Jason, Midge, Ben, Dilton Doiley and even characters who didn’t die but left riverdale just to escape like Moose and Josie. Then she gives another punch to the heart when she talks about how its not fair that some of their parents aren’t there to see them and I’m back in my Fred feels. I also liked how she said she hoped the Riverdale they all remembered was the sleepy quiet town that existed before all the violence and how she wishes that town for the next generation. But my favourite part of her speech was when she said to stay young to stay innocent even if it was just for a moment. 

Another scene I really liked was when they buried the time capsule. I liked all the items they placed in there, I don’t think that they would be much help to teens opening it in the future to see what it was like back then but each item was personal to each character and I really liked that. 

Cheryl, Toni and the Blossom Legacy. 

First off can I just talk about Penelope for a moment and how funny that scene at graduation was. She literally just popped out of the bushes and was kinda sweet in a very weird way I mean it was nice that she wanted to see Cheryl graduate but at the same time she still called her a nightmare child which I don’t know maybe it’s a term of endearment. Also I love how she’s decided to turn herself in but has done it in a way that best suits her, like she’s spoken to Hiram to make sure she is comfortable and protected in his jail and also she’s only planning to be in there a few years. Lets be real I think mostly the only reason she is doing this is because she’s tired of hiding in the walls so she figures a few years behind bars won’t be so bad if it means she can walk around freely afterwards. 

Now onto Cheryl I was surprised that she decided not to go to College and instead she wants to rebuild Thorn Hill and the Blossom name. Also as sad as the scene where they kind of break up is I do think it will better for Toni now that Cheryl has let her go. I do think they will come back together again but I think they need a little distance from each other as Toni has become too wrapped up in all the Blossom drama. I think Toni needs to focus on herself for a while and Cheryl knows this. I also love that Cheryl is doing all of this so that she can be a person worthy of Toni and escape the curse of her family’s name. It is interesting to me that Cheryl is choosing to kind of return to her roots and regrow and I am excited to see how they have both grown come the timejump.  

The Core Four     

So alot happened with the core four this episode and you know I actually kinda liked what they did with them. As a Barchie shipper at first I was upset that Archie and Betty didn’t get a one on one scene like the others did. At first it made no sense to me I mean Veronica and Archie got one, Archie and Jughead got one, Veronica and Betty got one so it seemed really odd to me that Betty and Archie who have been childhood friends didn’t get a big goodbye scene or an emotional talk about the kiss like the others did. But then I figured that actually it bodes really well for Barchie that they didn’t get that emotional scene. Why you might ask? Well I’m sure B*ghead and V*rchie shippers will disagree with me and that’s fine this is just my interpretation of it but I do feel like they closed the book on the original couples this episode. To me it did kinda feel like a goodbye to V*rchie and B*ghead. Now I’m not saying that they’ll never reopen those books, I don’t know what the future will hold but for now it definitely feels like those couples have come to an end and gotten closure. However Betty and Archie never got that and I think the reason for that is because their story isn’t done yet. There are a couple of other reasons why I think that they are deliberately leaving the Barchie storyline open and that’s the shot at the end of the episode when Jug a year later is at Pop’s and when the door opens and he looks over its Barchie look a likes. I thought this was really interesting. Like why choose to have two people who look like Betty and Archie come through that door. Was it because they are the two who Jughead misses the most? I mean lets be honest he wasn’t that close to Veronica (which was criminal in my opinion but I digress). What I find most interesting is that these two look a likes are clearly a couple. One theory could be that this is suppose to show that Jughead is still hurt by Betty and Archie’s kiss. But I think it could also be a little nod of what’s to come I mean this scene is shot with Jughead narrating about the future over the top and how they would all be different people. Of course it could be wishful thinking on my part. Another reason I think they might still have the book open for Barchie is because of something RAS said a while back, I can’t find it now but it was something along the lines of how we still hadn’t heard all of Archie’s song and that Betty had kept one of her diary’s and so the door was still open for Barchie. He specifically mentioned these two things. Well since then we have now heard the whole song but the diary still hasn’t come back into play yet which makes me wonder if it will after the timejump. Of course it could just be that the writers forgot about it or changed it but I’m choosing to cling to that little bit of hope. Also there is the fact that KJ talked about how he’s been working alot with Lili so I do still think we should be getting plenty of Barchie content in the next coming episodes.

So now I want to talk about Veronica and Archie. When I saw the promo and realised that they were probably going to have another love scene I was a bit wary about it as I wasn’t sure it was at all necessary. But surprisingly I actually didn’t mind it. I could understand the feelings behind it. They both knew that their relationship is over but that doesn’t mean that the love they have for each other has just disappeared it doesn’t work that way. So I can understand why they wanted one more night together, to live in a moment and not worry about anything else. I actually thought it was really sweet. I also think Veronica’s reaction to Archie joining the Army was understandable. I mean she already feels like she is losing him, she’s going away to college and their relationship has come to an end and then on top of all that she finds out that he is joining the army and will likely end up in a warzone where he could be hurt or even killed that must be terrifying for her. On top of that whilst I think she suspected that he was thinking about it his decision is sudden and so she might feel like he hasn’t thought it through properly. I really felt it when she was talking to Betty and said that the thing that was eating her up was the way it was ending, that it was unresolved and that she had wished she had said goodbye and hugged him on more time. Which brings me to one of my favourite scenes of the episode. I loved when Archie is looking at the photo of his dad and he has the flashbacks of all the things he’s leaving behind in Riverdale, all the things he’s saying goodbye to then he looks out his window and sees Veronica, Betty and Jughead in the Jalopy. I don’t know why but something about this scene made me feel a little choked up and the soundtrack that went along with it was chilling. I think the goodbye scene between Archie and Veronica was again really sweet and I think it was a nice end to their romantic relationship. 

Ok Betty and Jughead next. Now I might not have been a B*ghead shipper but I didn’t hate them as a couple and I like and care about their characters so seeing their break up was so painful. My heart really did break for them. I mean the moment Betty says that she has to tell him something and you see his eyes well up and him whisper ‘oh no’ our boy knew what was coming and I think it was something he dreaded but also always believed would happen eventually. Just like the V*rchie love scene I really did think I would hate the B*ghead love scene but again I think it made sense for the characters in that moment. They were both in pain and looking for comfort and were just clinging to that moment because deep down they both knew what was coming but wanted to hold it off as long as possible. It wasn’t at all the healthiest way of dealing with it but it was a very young teenage response. I do want to just say that Cole’s acting in that moment when he finds out the truth was on point he did an amazing job. I mean you can literally see him go through so many emotions in those few seconds, first the dread and realisation, then the shock and pain, then anger, then heartbreak and then desperation. I was surprised that the reason why they break up is ultimately because of the kiss it seemed like from RAS’s interviews that it was going to be the distance that broke them up and whilst it played a part ultimately I do think that it was the kiss that was the main reason. I think alot of what causes that distance between them in those final weeks before Betty leaves is that Jughead knows that its not just a kiss that there are real feelings behind it. I think this is a big reason why they don’t talk about it because I don’t think Jug was ready to actually hear her say it and I don’t think Betty was ready to confront that she does have feelings for Archie. I do feel like Betty and Jughead’s goodbye was sadder because of that distance that grew between them. Whilst I think Archie and Veronica had already excepted that it was over for them Betty and Jughead held on longer and were more in denial in my opinion. But that’s just my interpretation of it. 

Another thing I want to touch on real quick is that I know alot of people didn’t like the reactions Veronica and Jughead had to the whole cheating storyline and thought that they weren’t angry enough but I didn’t mind their reactions. I think they were obviously upset its just that there were bigger things going on in their lives. I mean Veronica says she can’t be angry at Betty right now because of everything that is going on with Archie. That doesn’t mean she won’t go through those stages of anger later, we just either won’t see them or will see them in flashbacks. It’s the same with Jughead he clearly isn’t uneffected, he tells Archie its fine but then we see him and Betty drifting apart because of it so to me their reactions made sense within the context of what was going on at the time. I do think those feelings of anger will come through and that could be why only Jughead shows up a year later. I did think that end scene of seeing Juggie on his own was so heartbreaking. I do wonder why none of them show up. I mean if I was going to guess then I’m assuming Archie was deployed and couldn’t. I’m not sure about Betty and Veronica though unless like I said that anger does eventually come through and her and Betty have a falling out and so its too awkard for them to come but I’m just guessing with that one.       

Now I want to talk a little more about Barchie, I know I touched on it a little before but I want to talk about a couple of other things. The first is Betty’s reaction to hearing Archie was joining the Army. I know alot of people felt like it came across as Betty not caring that Archie had joined especially when you compare her reaction to Veronica’s but I didn’t see it that way at all. Sometimes the best way you can love a person is by accepting and supporting their decisions even if you yourself have doubts about it or fears about it. I think this is what Betty does. If you look at her facial expression in that moment you can see that she’s not happy about the news and that she is concerned but she also knows Archie and she trusts him to make his own decisions and to trust his own judgement so she chooses to support him. Right before she says that she supports him he says that for the first time he doesn’t feel scared or uncertain about the future and I think Betty trusts in his certainty. Also I loved their hug goodbye. It might only have been short but it was adorable I especially liked how Betty buried her nose in his shoulder so she could smell his jacket one last time. I also thought it was cute how he said see you in a year to her even if that didn’t end up happening. Another thing that I thought was interesting is going back to those flashbacks I mentioned earlier, it was odd and interesting that none of those flashbacks had any one on one scenes of Betty, she was included in some of the group shots but no Barchie moments not even just friendship moments. Again I said I did feel like this moment was Archie saying goodbye to those things he was leaving behind, this episode as a whole felt like a goodbye or a closing of a chapter but at no point in the episode did I feel like he was saying goodbye to Betty. Even when they hug it ends with him saying see you in a year which to me is interesting and again really does make me think that they are leaving that door open for Barchie. Of course it could just me but I do feel like the writers made a consious decision to make sure that it didn’t feel like Barchie were getting closure. 

Time jump/ 5x04 Theories.

To finish off I just want to throw out some theories of what I think is going to happen in the next episode and maybe a little further into the time jump and I am basing these off some spoilers we got but largely the two promos that have been released. So if you are trying to stay completely spoiler free about the time jump then stop reading now. 

So I am going to start with the first promo that was released and go through it sort of shot by shot and talk about any notes I have if that makes sense. 

1) We know that Archie went to war and I’ve already made a post about this but the first few shots was scenes of war on a football pitch which I did sadly see quite a few people laughing about. The reason why that saddens me and I’m trying not to judge anyone here because I know people sometimes use humor to deal with dark subjects but this is obviously a flashback Archie is having from his time at war not actual scenes of the war if that makes sense. I think the scene will be Archie coaching the boys and maybe he sees one of the boys get tackled to the ground and that triggers a flashback which is why in those scenes you can see football players laying on the ground as well as soldiers. Personally this isn’t something I can laugh about just because of the serious nature of the topic but then people might not have realised what those scenes were showing so like I said trying not to judge. 

2) This is kinda linked to the one above but I made a theory post way back when season 4 had just finished up and we had just got that casting of Archie’s friend Eric who lost his leg and I said I reckoned the show was going to use Eric to show the physical trauma war can have on a person and that I thought whatever event caused Eric to lose his leg would also injure Archie and that’s why he would return home and that they would use Archie to show the mental trauma that war can have and how Archie was going to be struggling with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. Judging from the scenes in the promo where we see Archie surrounded by explosions and then him in a hospital bed with a officer asking if he was ready to go home I’m sticking with this theory.  

3) It looks like Jughead successfully managed to publish one book but is now struggling to write another it gives me a lot of Lucas vibes from OTH. I reckon once he is back in Riverdale and he finds a new mystery he’ll get past that writers block and I reckon Tabitha will be a help with that as I heard some spoilers that her and Jughead become friends which I am excited to see. 

4) It looks like Betty who is now an FBI agent is going to go through something tramatic as hell in the shots it looks like she is stuck down a well in a barn or something like that and there is a masked figure looking down at her, the whole scene looks terrifying and I’m going to guess that she was working on a case and got captured. 

Ok now I’m going to move on to the next promo. 

5) I’m going to start with this one because it kinda links back to the one above but it looks like Betty is having flashbacks to her captors. There’s a shot of her screaming and a masked man that looks similar to the one in the first promo coming at her with a chainsaw. Now this could be real and there could really be someone invading her home but something makes me feel like she is hallucinating. Also theres a shot that looks like its Archie breaking down Betty’s door and knocking out a guy in a leather coat so maybe this guy breaks in and Betty hallucinates that its the guy who captured her, Archie hears her scream and comes to her rescue. 

6) My eyes could be decieving me on this one but it looks like Barchie are going to get a shower scene. Which as a Barchie shipper obviously I’m excited about that. But I do think the fact that they both seem to be suffering from PTSD and flashbacks is what’s going to bring Barchie back together and they’ll help each other through that. I could see this scene happening right after the invader scene where Archie is trying to comfort Betty. 

7) Toni is an absolute queen. This isn’t really a theory I just wanted to say that I mean did you see those shots of her pregnant on stage all decked out and dancing with the serpents. 

8) This is a theory though Toni as we know is pregnant and my theory for this is either one she had a one night stand with some stranger and that’s whose baby it is or two which I like better she is acting as a kind of surrogate for Kangs but the baby is also hers and Cheryls and the four of them are going to raise it together. Think Silver and Teddy and Shane from 90210. 

9) It’s possible that Cheryl and Toni are married. There’s a shot of Cheryl sitting at a desk and the name plate says Ms Topaz. However it could also just be that Cheryl is sitting at Toni’s desk so I don’t want to get my hopes up too high. Also if they are married it doesn’t explain why Toni is living with Kangs and Cheryl isn’t unless part of the surrogacy deal (if there is one of course) is that Toni has to live with them during the pregnancy. 

10) It looks like the whole gang are going to band together against Hiram who has been wrecking Riverdale I mean there was that shot of Toni and Archie and it looks like the homeless population has gotten out of control so most likely Hiram has been buying then pulling down homes so now alot of people have no where to go. Also it looks like Hiram is trying to shut down Riverdale High so the gang all become teachers to try and keep it open. I don’t think this is going to lead anywhere good and will probably lead to an all out war between the gang and Hiram. 

This isn’t really a theory just a thought I had on a theory but I’ve seen one going around that they think Archie is going to be the dad of Toni’s baby. I don’t think this is likely I just think they might have some friendship building which will be nice to see as I’ve said soo many times now one thing I want from Riverdale is to see different characters interacting so it looks like we are going to get that. Also one of the biggest reasons I don’t think Archie is the baby’s dad is because we see him arriving back in Riverdale so its likely he hasn’t seen Toni to impregnate her but this is Riverdale so who the hell knows pretty much anything is possible. 

Anyway I am going to wrap it up here. I am very excited to see where the season goes so I’ll catch you all on the flip side.  

[spideyrights]

Partners (Series) - Detective Loki x Reader

VII. SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT

series masterlist

“You ever think one day you'll die from being this nice?” Loki remarked snarkily watching you dish your final cup of coffee from your extremely large voluntary coffee round to him. He took the paper cup gratefully none the less, swinging his car keys in the other hand as the two of you walked side by side out of the precinct, you nodding appreciatively to the ‘thank you’s people directed to you as you walked past. Loki noted how your smile was slightly flustered and you’d glimpse away upon receiving the gesture of gratitude, clearly uncomfortable from the attention. So she’s just nice for the sake of it, not even for the compliments, he thought, I’m so screwed.

“It would be a good way to die,” you smiled, nudging him softly with your elbow only making his half-smile grow larger. “No coffee for yourself?”

“I don’t like coffee much. Makes me too talkative?”

“More than you already are? Didn’t think that was possible,” he jokes, containing his smirk as he crossed round to the drivers side, lingering by his door to hear your response. “Ha ha, very funny,” you teased, stepping into the comforting warmth of Loki’s vehicle. You’d actually taken the liberty of cleaning his car up for him since you were often riding in his more than your own. Several disposable coffee cups, three old case files and an assortment of wooly hats later, the car looked slightly better. Loki noted that himself as his eyes instinctively wandered the vehicle picking up on its much more organised state.

“That thing you said the other day,” His gaze snaps from the newly cleaned back seats to you, your own focus being set on the scenes of traffic the two of you were stuck in. “About people losing something they love doing stupid things because of it. What did you mean by that?”

Loki exhales, pouting his lips slightly, moving his head from side-to-side as if to weigh up his words. You think for a moment he won’t answer as he focuses on the road ahead but he makes a kind of breathy grunt that indicates to you he’s about to speak. “I just mean it’s not about what Keller is capable of, you can be capable of anything really. When you care about something you’re a different person, you don’t think the same. It would be like if something happened to you, I-”

He stops. You want him to continue.

“You what?” “Well, I...” Yes, you think, eager for him to continue. “I wouldn't be allowed on the case because everyone would question my judgement.” You sigh, eyes flicking up with a soft laugh knowing what he means to say just in his own very special David Loki way.

“Yeah, I get it. Me and you are...” His head turns in your direction quickly. “...friends...but it would be hard to keep a clear head and all.” An uncomfortable silence settles over the car, both of you conscious of the words still heavy in the air. You each acknowledge what the other means but say nothing. Or so you think.

“You saying you care about me, Detective?” You can hear the smile in Loki’s voice and the bluntness of his statement is unexpected making you turn to him with wide eyes. You don’t know how to respond and make a series of noises that Loki can only interpret as you struggling to get words to leave your mouth. 

“Yes, actually. Is that a problem, Detective?”

“No, no problem,” he smiles, the widest smile you’ve seen from him yet. The timing is spectacular as you just so happen to pull into the drive of the tattered, broken down belonging to one Keller Dover. 

You both mutter a few profanities under your breath just from observing the state of the place before approaching something that vaguely resembles an entrance. You rattle the doorknob, not expecting the door to open and, sure enough, you’re right. 

“Here.” Your attention returns to Loki who’s gesturing to a window to which you respond by jutting your lip out in a pout and slumping your shoulders to express your disapproval. “Seriously?”

“Come on, I’ll help you through.” Loki climbs through with ease and you hear the thud of his heels, clearly landing perfectly on the ground. He extends a hand to you, gesturing for you to come through and you sigh before hoisting yourself up onto the windowsill and slipping your legs through first. Loki’s hands go to grip your waist to help you down from your essentially seated position on the dusty window frame. You half jump down, slowed down only by his hands on your hips and when you land your hands go out to his chest, using its hard surface to steady yourself.

“Thanks,” you smile awkwardly. You’re both equally distracted, you by his hands on your waist and him by your hands on his chest. You maintain eye contact for a moment longer, revelling in the touch, before you push yourself off his chest, stepping around him to get a look at the place. Loki too immediately switches back from the Loki with you to Detective Loki on a case. Pulling your flashlights out, you both shine them around, instinctively heading in different directions. 

You mumble a “shit” under your breathe causing Loki to turn back to you. You shine a flashlight on the slumped figure of Keller, a sympathetic sigh leaving your body but Loki doesn't feel quite the same. 

“Hey, rise and shine.” Loki kicks at him and Keller turns to face you both, squinting in response to the bright flashlights. You click yours off, offering an apologetic smile but Loki doesn’t follow suit, instead glaring at him before setting off in the direction of the corridors. 

“I’m not gonna find two girls here am I?” You shoot Loki a glare which wordlessly says insensitive and he shrugs.

“Fuck you.” 

“What about Alex Jones?” you add, swallowing harshly seeing his mixed expression of confusion and disappointment directed towards you. 

“What about him? I came here to drink. I don’t wanna drink in front of my wife.” You nod at him but your gaze is elsewhere. Turning away, you also take the chance to observe more of the house. The place is in disgusting condition. Wrinkled wallpaper, cracked plaster and dirt and dust being the only decorative aspect of most of the remaining features of the house.

“Look. My father left me this building, okay?”

“You mind giving us a tour?” Keller stands, starting up the stairs in a slightly drunken sway, pulling his coat further over his body.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this place?” you voice the thought both you and Loki had as you follow closely behind Keller, Loki just a step or two below you.

“I didn't think it mattered.” Not the most convincing response. “Everything matters.” 

You follow behind him for a bit longer in silence. You glimpse into each and every one of the many rooms the house has though come up unsuccessful. Most rooms have nothing in them making evident Keller isn’t hiding anything or anyone in those and you begin to lose any hope that this place might be a lead.

“It’s all pretty much like this. I am going to renovate soon.” Keller explains, slight embarrassment in his tone as he leads you further around the floor, crossing over to another corridor with rooms littered amongst them.

“Yeah. Not as organised as your basement? What’s with all the survivor gear in there?”

“Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.” You half laugh, lips turning up in a soft smile which makes Keller turn his head slightly in your direction, still focused on leading you both around. “My mother used to say that. Every time she read-”

“-Revelations.” Keller finishes for you and you nod sharply, watching a glint form in his eyes, perhaps at noting your somewhat religious background. You knew that he was a religious man from a single look around his house earlier in the investigation.

“Come on, hurry up.” Loki interrupts, walking closer behind Keller to try and get him to pick up his pace. You linger by a room you pass and Loki, having noticed, follows you in. For the first time in this place you notice some new items. There’s a load of construction gear set out in the first room, all relatively new tools and equipment. 

“Doing some building, Mr Dover?” you question, your eyes flitting to Loki’s to silently communicate your own suspicion. He says nothing in response which leads you to walk further into the area. You faintly hear Loki’s phone ring but you don’t pay it much attention.

“Oh shit.” You walk further down the corridor, passing a bedroom, another one, a bathroom. “Hello?” you hear Loki say into his phone a few meters away from you. You stop, taking a step backwards to look back into the bathroom. You don’t see it but Dover shifts his view to catch you looking at the bathroom and his whole body tenses.

“You get a plate?” That makes you look to Loki. It might be the girl from the clothing store calling back. Loki pulls out his notepad, scrawling down a few thinks and you spare a final glance in the direction of the bathroom before Loki takes you by your wrist, pulling you out of the room with him.

“Go home, Mr Dover” he says as he passes him and the two of you leave the house hurriedly, leaving him to release a sigh of relief. 

“Go in round the back on my signal,” Loki says, shutting the car door behind him. For a moment you think to question him, wondering whether this is even allowed but out of the determination of wanting to catch this guy you simply nod, rounding the side of the house making sure to still be in Loki’s view, whilst Loki approaches the front door. From a distance you can only see Loki converse with the man briefly before he looks you in the eye, nodding softly. You clamber towards a side door you spot and try and push it open, feeling exceptionally lucky when it clicks open. 

Upon entering you find yourself immediately struck by the patterns littering the wall. Almost maze-like and you swear you recognise it though your brain could hardly match it to your memories having been distracted by the foul stench throughout the kitchen. You panic for a moment, searching the kitchen for a body and you never thought you’d say this but you were thankful when you instead found a pig’s head in the sink, flies circulating it, as the cause of the smell. You bring a sleeve-covered hand up to cover your nose as you continue towards the wallpaper, bringing your pointer finger up to trace the pattern. You jump suddenly upon hearing a noise; commotion at the front door.

You quickly rush from the kitchen to the front, pulling your gun out and shouting Loki’s name but you’re thankful when you see the scene at hand. Loki is the one pressing the suspect to the ground, his nose bloodied and groaning in pain whilst Loki on the other hand luckily looks largely unaffected bar his dishevelled hair and angry expression. “You okay?”

“Fine. You find anything?”

“Come take a look at this.” Having cuffed his, Loki rises, pressing his hair back into its perfectly gelled place and following you into the kitchen with his gun also in hand where he winces at the sight of the animal corpses. 

“Call for backup,” you tell him, choosing to turn and explore some of the rooms with your gun raised in a position of alert. You hear Loki comply as he follows behind you. You press the first door lightly open and then, when you’re sure there’s no threat, fully open to see nothing significant yet. You then approach the next which appears to be locked.

“Mind out,” Loki says, bring his hand up to your forearm and pushing you to the side gently before shoving his body into the door once, then twice, successfully breaking it open. You were certainly impressed. He enters with his gun raised and you follow suit, eyes growing narrow with confusion when you see the floor of the room littered with plastic crates of some kind. Loki touches each one hurriedly, calling out for Anna and Joy but you simply crouch to one, observing the padlock. Standing again, you use the heel of your boot to kick at the padlock, succeeding after a few tries to knock it open.

“Cover please,” you request from Loki and he nods in affirmation, coming to stand beside you with his gun raised. You kick the lid off of the box with your boot again, careful not to be too close considering you had no idea what was in it. You grew more troubled upon seeing the hoards of clothes, blood-stained clothes you soon realised, in the box. You crouched slightly to it whilst Loki got even closer, pulling at the first top to observe it.  You both jump back immediately upon seeing a number of snakes under the top, pressing your bodies to the wall. Both of you have both hands on each other to steady yourself after jumping back so quickly. One of Loki’s hands moves to push you back away from them in what you can assume is a protective gesture. You’re both panting wildly from the shock of it. He looks to you to wordlessly ask if you’re okay and you nod, dropping your head in exhaustion and he does the same, your foreheads touching as you both just breathe the stress away. You both pull back simultaneously. 

“I need my fucking crowbar.” And with that Loki leaves for a short while. You continue along the crates, kicking at the lock on the one beside it to find more blood-stained clothes and luckily no more clothes. Loki returns and the two of you move through all of the crates in silence. Finally you find yourself on the one furthest to the door you had entered through and you’re surprised to find it  free of clothes and mostly empty with the exception of one thing; a book of some kind. 

“Loki, look.” You feel him join you, his body hovering over yours as you flick through the book. You first note the creepy words on the cover. If you finish the maze you can go. You almost retch at the thought of Anna and Joy having to go through the torture of such a horrific mental game. The book is littered with scraps of paper all containing mazes of different kinds and a creepily drawn character right at the start.

Feeling something on your legs, you move the book aside only to see snakes slithering over the tops of your boot clad feet. You jump up again quickly, kicking them off with a few curse muttered under your breath. 

“Can we leave please?” Loki nods, grasping your elbow gently and leading you to get out ahead of him with your book of mazes still in hand. “We need to call the parents.”

tags: @mother-dearest-loves-me  @mariamermaid  @vigilanteavengerqueen   @superheroforrent  @peterbxrnes   @igotanaddixon  @blablasomethingblabla  @cafeaufeels   @montypythonsholysnail  @carolines24   @chimera4plums   @oswald-1998  @iv-nyc 

[tallglassofsweetpea]

Little Darlin’: Chapter Nine

Sweet Pea x OC, 1950′s AU

Warnings (this chapter): language, sexual content/smut

AN: SHE’S FINALLY HERE!!! As always thank you all for being so patient and supportive. I know its been quite some time since I’ve updated this fic, but i’m finally satisfied with this chapter. Juggling classes with writing and also trying to take care of myself in the process is not at all easy. I really can’t thank you enough for sticking it out with me. 

All previous chapters can be found in my masterlist on my blog in case you want a refresher of where we left off! 

I’ll also be uploading to AO3!

Enjoy!!!

(Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged for future chapters. Also feel free to message me if you have any general comments/questions/feedback!

 I am always taking requests!!! (even though i have like a million i still need to finish writing oops)

Chapter Nine: Prisoner of Love

She hadn’t known exactly what to expect, or how she would feel after. She’d heard the girls in the locker room before gym class share their horror stories of their first times. Some said it was painful, some claimed they regretted doing it in the first place. And though her body felt a bit sore when she woke up the next morning, Lily felt far from regretful.

The moment her eyes fluttered open, they were greeted by warm sunlight beaming through the blinds of the bedroom window. Her limbs, still sore from the night before, were twisted and tangled in the sheets. She could feel the ghost of Sweet Pea’s hands traveling over her body. He had tried his best to keep his touch light and gentle, being mindful of it being her first. But as his senses heightened, his self control became lost in the passion. Golden hair spilled over her shoulder in a curtain of golden curls as she turned to face the door, holding the crumpled sheets against her chest. She discovered an underwear clad Sweet Pea stood leaning against the frame, his eyes ran over her body.

“Morning.”

She smiled at the sight of him, his hair disheveled. “Good morning”

He made his way over to the bed, settling himself beneath the mess of sheets and lightly running his hands over her bare shoulder poking out from the top sheet. He delicately kissed her lips, which were still slightly swollen.

“Sorry if I was a little rough with you last night.”

“I didn’t mind.”

Sweet Pea nodded his head with a cocky smirk. “Yeah, I could tell.”

Pink crept up her neck and her cheeks, she playfully swatted at him.

“Stop it.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead, his features settled into a more serious expression.

“I meant what I said last night.”

She nodded her head, remembering the way her heart swelled the first time he said it.

“I know. I love you too.” She kissed him sweetly on the lips before pulling herself up and throwing a leg over his waist.

Sweet Pea pulled away from the kiss a moment later than he should have, but kept his hands rested on her hips. “As much as I’d love to roll around with you in bed all day, I need to get in the shower. FP needs some help at the shop today.”

“Maybe I could join you…in the shower.”

He smirked at her, running a hand up and down the side of her thigh. “What have I done to you?”

She flashed him a coy smile, a soft laugh escaping her lips. He intently studied her every move. She reached between them, reaching into his underwear and wrapping her fingers around him. She began stroking his length slowly causing his eyes roll back with a groan.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, doll.”

“I’m sure FP won’t mind if you’re a little late…” She said with a mischievous grin, she caught her bottom lip between her teeth and locked eyes with him. She continued to stroke him, his eyes fluttered closed and he sucked in a sharp breath. Lily lifted herself over him and slowly sank down until he filled her completely. The sensations from the previous night came rushing back. Her head fell back as she stilled for a moment to adjust to his size.

He gently guided her over him, rocking her steadily back and forth with his hands rested on her hips. He wrapped an arm around her waist and thrusted into her. Her moans became louder and her fingernails bit into his chest.

“Sweet Pea” Lily’s back arched as she felt her muscles tense.

“Keep going, angel.”

She whimpered, and ground herself down against him. Tingles travelled up and down her spine as Sweet Pea’s hands gently slid up the side of her body and cupped her breasts. The rough skin of his hands creating friction against her sensitive skin.

Her mouth fell open as she felt her body let go all at once, she her hips stuttering until he met his own release shortly after, her name rolling off of his lips.

**

Lily shrugged on her cardigan as she made her way over to the front door.

Sweet Pea leaned against the counter, shoveling cake down his throat with a fork.

“I think I could marry you, just based on this cake alone.”

She giggled at him and opened her mouth so he could feed her a forkful. She nodded her head, assessing the flavors. “I can’t say I’d blame you, this is some of my best work.” She stood on her tip toes to kiss him.

“I should get home to do damage control with my parents. I’m sure I’ll be walking right into the next world war.”

“Would you say it was worth it?” He inquired with a cocky smirk.

“I would say so…I had a lovely night.”

He kissed her on the top of her head, smiling into her hair.  “Likewise.”

A sweet smile spread across her lips. “I love you.” It still felt sort of funny to say it out loud.

“I love you too.” He kissed her goodbye and watched her make her way down the driveway.

**

“Where on earth have you been?!”

“I-I…” Lily clambered for an answer to give her frantic mother. She looked like hell, something entirely out of character for the ever so elegant Mrs. Green.

“I’ve been scrambling around all over town, calling every number I could remember off of the top of my head.” Mrs. Greene sighed, relieved that her daughter was safe. She held her daughter at arm’s length.

“Thank heavens you’re alright.” Lily watched her mother hurriedly make her way to the kitchen counter, grabbing her handbag and the keys to the car.

“Come on now, we must go. I’ll explain in the car.”

Mrs. Greene led a confused Lily right back out the door she entered just moments before. Lily wordlessly sat in the passenger seat and put on her safety belt.

Once they were on the road, Mrs. Greene used her hand that wasn’t guiding the steering wheel and reached into her purse, pulling out a single cigarette and a lighter.

Lily’s eyes widened as she looked at her mom in shock.

“…Mom?”

Mrs. Greene took a long drag from the cigarette, her eyes not leaving the road.

“Please don’t look at me like that, Lilian. You have no idea what I’ve been dealing with since you decided to run off last night.”

Lily rolled her eyes and looked out the window. “Where are we going?”

“The police station to see your father. He’s been there since late last night.”

Lily’s head whipped back to her mother, her brows knitted together. “The police station? What is daddy doing at the police station? Is he okay?”

“Your father is safe, yes. Last night, we got a call from the Sheriff. He informed you father that our church had been burned down and vandalized. It’s a wonder he didn’t have a heart attack right then and there.” She shook her head and brought her cigarette back to her lips.

“What? Why on earth would someone burn down our church?”

“It was those Serpents again.”

Lily shook her head in disbelief. “No, no. They wouldn’t do that, it has to have been someone else.”

Her mother shot her a scrutinizing look. “Is that so? Then how do you explain why their gang symbol that was found spray painted on the property then?”

Lily’s face went cold. “I-I don’t know but it has to be some mix up or something. He-They would never do something so cruel.”

Her mother gave her the side eye.

“I mean…what business do they have destroying our church? It doesn’t add up.”

“Those people don’t have any respect for anyone or anything, never mind God. What makes you think they would need a reason? They are selfish people.”

“They are not. They’re people just like us, they-“

“Lilian, please! I’m not doing this with you again. Don’t you think I have enough to deal with? I don’t have the time nor the energy to sit here and squabble with you.”

“But mom it’s such bullshit-“

“ENOUGH, LILIAN.” Her daughter sighed and sagged in her seat. All she wanted to do was to get in touch with Sweet Pea as soon as she could to find out what was going on.

They pulled into the parking lot of the Police station. Mrs. Greene patted down her hair and spritzed some perfume she kept in the glove compartment to mask the smoky smell.

“We’re here. Don’t you think for a second that you’re going to use that trash mouth you’ve developed in front of your father. You’re to sit quietly and mind your business. Understood?” She looked at her daughter pointedly. Lily always noticed the way her mother’s eyes turned especially green when she was angry. And right then, they were a deep evergreen.

She compliantly nodded her head and got out of the car to follow her mother through the front door of the station.

**

Sweet Pea showered, and threw on a pair of jeans and a beat up t-shirt to wear to the garage. He grinned when he noticed a satin ribbon resting on the floor, picking it up and placing it on his dresser on his way to the bathroom. Amidst fixing his hair in the mirror he heard a heavy knock on the door. His eyes shot up to his reflection in the mirror. Who the hell could that be? He left the bathroom and walked to answer the door, quickly throwing on his jacket and instinctively reaching for his pocketknife but felt nothing. He made a mental note to himself to get it back from Lily. He figured it couldn’t be anything serious at that time of day anyway.

But when he opened the door his face dropped. “Shit.”

“Good morning, Sweet Pea.” Sheriff Keller stood in the doorway.

“Sheriff Keller, to what do I owe the pleasure this time around?” He gave the officer a curt smile.

“Well, son. I’m gonna have to take you downtown.”

“What for?”

“Last night two young men vandalized and set the church on the northside on fire.”

Sweet Pea let out a sigh full of exasperation. “Look, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about but I’ve got someplace to be.” Sweet Pea went to brush past the officer. But in a matter of seconds Sheriff Keller had him restrained against the door.

“There was an emblem left spray painted at the scene of the crime…same emblem as the one found right here on your jacket.” He jabbed his index finger into his back. Sweet Pea let his head fall against his front door. He couldn’t believe how ridiculous the accusation was, the Serpents had no motive for vandalizing a church regardless of whether it sat on the Northside or Southside of town.

“Well, it wasn’t me.”

“A couple of local boys called the station, said they saw someone that fits your exact description along with another young man believed to be a Mr. Fangs Fogarty hanging around the church suspiciously late last night.”

Sweet Pea shook his head. A couple of local boys. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Keller.”

“Afraid not, now let’s go.” Sheriff Keller grabbed the tall Serpent by his arm and led him down the wooden steps and into the back of his police vehicle.

**

Lily sat in the lobby of the station next to her parents. Her father looked drained, his lack of sleep made visible from the heavy bags settled under his eyes.

Archie Andrews and Reggie Mantle walked out of the Sheriff’s office and went over to address Mr. Greene, who stood to shake the young men’s hands.

“Pastor Greene, I’m so sorry about what happened to your church, Pastor Greene. I only wish Reggie and I had gotten there sooner so we could have stopped them. I hope that the miscreants that are responsible for this tragedy are held accountable.”

“Thank you for your kind words, Archibald. And thank you both for stepping up to report to the police. It instills great faith in me knowing that there are two upstanding young men like yourselves in our community.”

Mr. Greene patted Reggie on the back before waving the boys off, they gave his wife a farewell kiss on the cheek on their way out. When they said goodbye to Lily, Reggie leaned in closer than she cared for. She felt his breath warm her ear as he whispered to her.

“Looks like you’re not gonna see your little boy toy anytime soon.”

She leaned away from him, her brows knitted together as he kissed her on the cheek and straightened his stance. What was he talking about? Sweet Pea had been with her the entire night before. But the smug grin nestled on Reggie’s face as he walked out of the station left her with an unsettling feeling.

The door swung open moments later. Lily was pulled from her thoughts just moments later by the sound of metal clanking and heavy work boots trudge against the linoleum floor. Her eyes followed the noise and her gaze was met with a set of, her heart sunk into her stomach.

She barely lifted herself from her chair when she felt her mothers cool fingers clasp down on her arm securing her to her seat. His eyes scanned the room, catching sight of Lily and  paused before tearing his gaze away to look straight forward. He swallowed hard. She wanted nothing more than to run to him the moment she sank into those familiar deep auburn eyes. Sheriff Keller trailed behind him, leading him further into the room.

Mrs. Green shot up from her seat and assessed the young man in front of her. “Is this him? Where is the other one?”

“We’re still looking for Fogarty, but I managed to find his other half.” Keller nodded his head to the young man in handcuffs in front of him. “I need to bring him in for questioning.”  

He motioned for one of the other officers to take him.

“Let’s go.” Sweet Pea kept his eyes on Lily as he was escorted further into the station, his expression blank.

“Pastor, I think it might be good for you and your family to go home for some rest while we search for the other suspect. You’ve been here since late last night. We’ll be in touch once we’ve got them both.”

Mr. Greene nodded his head in agreement. “Thank you for all you’ve done for us, Sheriff. I trust you’ll find him promptly. I’d like to have this over and done with as quickly as possible. God willing.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

**

Mrs. Greene threw together a quick lunch for her husband, who was napping in his favorite chair. Her daughter tip toed down the hallway to use the phone in their bedroom. She carefully closed the door behind her, so as not to make a sound. Her fingers quickly spun the the rotary dial to call the police station.

“Riverdale Police Station.”

Lily faked her best male impression. “Hi, I’d like to speak with, uh, Sweet Pea.”

“This is his lawyer.” She added, lamely shaking her head.

“You will be charged for this call.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, she had no idea how she would explain the extra fee on the phone bill.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“One moment.”

Lily’s heart raced as she was put on hold. Her eyes watched the space between the bedroom door and the carpet, searching for any signs of movement.

“Yeah?”

“Hello.”

“Who the hell is this? Tall Boy?”

“What? Oh! Sorry, I was using a fake voice. It’s me.”

“Lily?”

“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”

“Ya know, honey. I’ve never been better.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“I can’t talk for long, but I think I know who really did this. When I got to the station today, Reggie-”

“Reggie and Archie? I figured as much.”

“Well why haven’t you told that to the Sheriff? Surely, they would let you go if you explain-“

“My word against theirs?” Sweet Pea snorted. “In my personal experience, that doesn’t hold much weight with the Riverdale Police Department.”

She sighed in frustration. She knew there had to be something she could do to prove him innocent.

“What if I told them that I was with you? Then they would have to let you go!”

The other end of the phone went silent.

“I’m not gonna ask you to do that. I want you to stay out of this.”

“Stay out of it? If it’s going to get you out, then why should I stay out of it?”

“What about your parents? Hm? Sheriff Keller? Everyone at Riverdale High? Hell, everyone in Riverdale? You’re fine with them all knowing?”

She fiddled with the phone cord in silence. She knew that the moment she stood up for him would be the moment that everything changed. Nobody would look at her the same. Was she really ready for them to know?

“That’s what I thought.”

“Lilian!” She cringed at the sound of her mother’s voice echoing throughout the house.

Lily sighed. “I’m going to get you out, I promise.”

Sweet Pea smiled weakly into the phone. “I love you, doll.”

“I love you too, I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone.

**

Just after the Greene’s finished eating dinner, Sheriff Keller called the house from the station. They had both Fangs and Sweet Pea in for questioning.

“Neither of them will confess to the crime.”

“For heavens sake, I’ll go in there myself and get a confession out of them!”

“Mrs. Greene, I don’t know that-“

“He needs to face the reality of what they have done. Let us speak with them.” She tilted her chin up at the man, indignantly. Lily’s eyes widened in horror. One of the worst things she could possibly imagine would be her mother in an interrogation room with Sweet Pea.

Yet that was the exact scenario she landed in moments later. It wasn’t exactly an ideal setting for her boyfriend and her parents to meet. Mr. Greene sat sternly in silence beside his wife and their daughter, listening to Sheriff Keller rattle off questions to the young serpent that sat across the table in handcuffs. With every answer Sweet Pea gave, Mrs. Greene would shake her head in disbelief of his claims. Sweet Pea kept his cool through the second round of questioning, but had grown exhausted from repeating himself again and again. He was almost at the point where he considered confessing so that he wouldn’t have to sit there and listen to them anymore.

Sweet Pea sighed. “It wasn’t me, Sheriff. I’ve told you before, I was at home.”

Lily kept her eyes on her lap, anxiously fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

“He’s lying, Sheriff. They all lie.”

Lily tried to keep her eyes from shooting daggers at her mother.

“With all due respect, I had nothing to do with this.”

Mrs. Greene stared icily across the table. “You’ve got the devil in you.”

Lily chewed on her lip, not daring to interject.

“Dear, calm yourself.”

She gave her husband a pointed look. “I will not calm myself! I refuse to listen to his lies. How can anyone believe him with that snake etched into his flesh. He’s nothing but trash. Lying trash like the rest of them!” Lily winced at her mother’s cruel words, doing her best to combat the urge to defend him. Sweet Pea however appeared to be unfazed. He had heard it all before.

Sheriff Keller interrupted before the conversation became any further out of hand. “Son, this will be a lot easier if you just confess. You’ve put these people through enough, don’t you think?”

“I’m not confessing to this bullshit. Sorry, Sheriff but I’m not landing my ass in the cooler for nothing.”

The sheriff groaned out of frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re sure there’s nobody that can confirm that you were home? Nobody that saw you last night?”

His eyes flickered to with Lily briefly, she twirled her cross between her fingers as she waited for him to answer. A part of her hoping he would just tell them the truth.

He shook his head.

“No.”

“You do understand that without an alibi, we have enough against you for them to press charges?”

“And we will absolutely press charges.” Mr. Greene confirmed.

He shrugged. “I don’t have anything else to tell you.”

“Tell them the truth.”

The room fell completely silent, you could hear a pin drop to the floor. Everyone turned to face the young girl who up until that moment, had remained silent. Sweet Pea’s eyes met with Lily’s across the table. He mentally cursed to himself.

He scoffed, playing it off cool. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, doll.”

“Don’t you dare address my daughter-“

“Sweet Pea.” She pleaded, cutting her father off. Her green orbs stared into his, she nodded her head to egg him on. But Sweet Pea sat there silently but his mind was racing, entirely unsure of what he should do.

Although she knew he didn’t want her to get involved, she couldn’t sit there and let him take the blame for this. She knew what she was putting at risk, she swallowed hard before turning to the sheriff.

“I-I know it wasn’t Sweet Pea and Fangs.”

“Lily-pad, how do you know that?” Lily turned to face her father, his brow furrowed at his daughter’s bold accusation.

“I…can’t tell you that, daddy. But I just know it wasn’t them.”

Her mother’s eyes darted between her daughter and the Serpent that sat before her. Lily chewed on her bottom lip nervously, Sweet Pea watching her every move.

“Sheriff, you’ve got to believe me.”

“Uh, well…” Sheriff Keller looked around the room, entirely puzzled. “Without any evidence proving otherwise or an alibi to support that claim then I’m gonna have to keep him here until we can get them in front of a judge, should your parents choose to press charges.”

She shook her head. “No…don’t-” Lily squeezed her eyes shut, she knew what she had to do. “I know that it wasn’t Sweet Pea because…he was at his trailer all night last night.”

Everyone’s eyes were glued to her as she continued.

“I know he was there…because…” She could feel her heart rapping hard against her chest.

The sheriff quirked a brow at her, awaiting her response. “…Because?”

Her hands, now covered in sweat wrung in her lap as she took a deep breath. She locked eyes with Sweet Pea and spoke.

“I was with him.”

AN: I know this is not at all how the law enforcement system works, so don’t drag me y’all

Taglist: @minddinosaur @madaboutlili @chipster-21 @the-fifth-marauder-paws @ddeo-na-ji-ma  @periiscope  @mari-cross  @gswritings  @ajillathehun-blog  @charles11700  @jennyhetzel  @fandom-princess-forevermore  @salutetomeimurserpentqueen  @serpentsweetspea @ritis1996 @minddinosaur @pastelsweaters-and-bubble-t @wxntersoldxer16 @princesweetpea @hoeforshows @omgitstreeloo @we–are–infinite–2 @myfavfanfix​ @kellbell44​ @southsidemistress​

[babybluebanshee]

Seared With Scars - Epilouge (Mystery Nerds AU)

And here we are at the end, my friends. I'd like to thank everyone who's stuck with me through the frankly insane and arduous undertaking. I keep every single comment that people leave on my stories, and reading yours on this one is what eventually inspired me to get back in the saddle and pick it up again after two years. You guys are pretty damn awesome. I'm probably not gonna do something this ambitious again for a good, long while, but the Mystery Nerds series is far from over. So enjoy the ending, and hopefully we can all venture into the unknown once more very soon.

--

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” - Helen Keller

---

Helen hesitated only a moment as she slid her key into her front door. She knew, logically, that there couldn’t be anyone from the Society on the other side, waiting for her. There was no Society left. There was nothing to be afraid of in her home. And besides, she had to go in. Her spare pair of glasses were in her nightstand. She needed them. Darryl had graciously driven her all the way back to her house, when he had a family of his own to get back to, just so she could get them and Stan wouldn’t have to leave Ford’s side.

Plus it couldn’t be more than thirty degrees out here and she was freezing.

She had to go inside.

The sight of her keys, still stained slightly with Louise’s blood, made her gut feel things differently.

Darryl spoke up from behind her. “Want me to go in first?” he asked, his voice gentle.

“Thanks,” she muttered. Hot shame pooled in her cheeks for a moment as he walked past her and turned the key, but she stamped it down. Even though she knew that there would not be anyone in her house, she had every reason to be anxious. She wasn’t going to let shame keep her from trying to get better anymore.

And the first step towards healing was admitting that the trauma was there.

Darryl swung the door open and walked in, looking from side to side as he went. He motioned to her, an indication that he saw nothing out of the ordinary. She pooled all her courage and followed him inside, holding her head high.

The house was very much the same as she and Stan had left it. She noticed, with a wry sense of annoyance, that Stan hadn’t even pushed in the dining room chair he’d been sitting in while Darryl patched up his bleeding head.

“You need me to check your bedroom too?” Darryl asked. His tone was one hundred percent serious. Helen had no doubt in her mind that he’d search the entire house, top to bottom, if she’d asked.

“No, that’s okay,” she said. “Go ahead and have a seat. I won’t be too long.”

She started down the hall, her hand trailing down the wall to keep her steady, and immediately, a flash of memory popped into her head, of turning around and finding a stranger in a red hood staring back at her. It was followed by a stab of fear because where was Stan, what had they done to him! She felt Darryl’s presence at her side. She looked over at him and he smiled sweetly at her. He was going with her now, and it seemed like there was no arguing it.

She found that now, she didn’t mind.

There was no one in her bedroom.

There was no one in her house.

She was safe.

She had a friend.

They walked down the hallway together, and Darryl said, as casually as if they did this all the time, “I thought you might like to know the status of our friends, the former cultists. I didn’t want to say anything while we were at the hospital. Didn’t want to be overheard and stir any memories, ya know?”

“Give me details, man,” she said, leaning towards him exaggeratedly. She felt a bit silly, but she needed some silliness right now.

“Well, for starters, Louise is going on extended leave. Absolutely no word was mentioned about her coming back.”

“I would say that I’m sad we’re gonna be stuck with sourpuss Sharon for a while, but Louise did break into my house and punch me in the face.”

“Maybe they’ll actually hire some who doesn’t have staggering emotional issues to replace Louise,” Darryl said.

They reached her bedroom door, and Helen peered in. The only evidence of what had happened to her was a small brown stain on the carpet, less than a foot from where she stood at the door frame.

She had expected seeing that stain would have been what made her crumble. Miraculously, she found it elicited no thought other than she was going to have to call a carpet cleaning service on top of her optometrist and goddammit did Louise have to make her life harder?

And that thought just made her laugh quietly to herself as she crossed the door frame and walked to her nightstand.

“Also Matthews is in talks for his retirement.”

“I knew he and Andrea had been talking about that for a while before she died.”

“Yeah, everything just kinda fell through after that. But apparently his daughters have been pretty insistent. I think what happened kinda brought it all to a head. Liz has got Meg on a flight up right now.”

“Damn. I don’t think Ed’s getting out of it this time if she’s flying up here all the way from New Mexico.”

She pulled open the drawer and there, sitting on top of a pile of dried out pens and pocket change and spare tampons was her spare pair of glasses, slightly dusty with disuse, but at least in one piece. And with a relatively recent prescription.

“Right? But even they’re not playing as dirty as Ruth is right now with Muggins.”

“Oh, Leroy’s in trouble.”

Darryl laughed. “Yep. Ruth was giving him an earful right before I got to Ford’s room. Something about this job of his prematurely aging her.”

“Funny, I thought that was because she drinks grain alcohol out of a measuring cup.”

“Semantics. Point is, they’re leaving. I heard the words ‘timeshare’ and ‘Fort Lauderdale’ right before I got to Ford’s door.”

“Sounds utterly heinous.”

She slid her glasses on, and the first thing that came into view was the phone. Not for the first time since things had died down, she thought of calling the kids. She wouldn’t dream of it right now. A glance at her tableside clock told her it was barely six, and Michael would scream her deaf if she woke him up this early on a Sunday. Maybe later, after she’d gotten back to the hospital and slept a bit more. Had some more time to get her thoughts together.

She still had no idea what she was going to tell them about her battered face. It wasn’t exactly something she could explain away with a tired excuse of “I tripped and landed on my face”. Not even Amanda would buy that.

But really, why did she need an excuse?

She thought back to her conversation with Daisy the night before, the shame she’d felt at causing her daughter to worry for her, over something she’d been certain that she could handle.

She still didn’t want her children to have to worry for her. They didn’t need that kind of burden in their young lives. They needed to worry about school and friends and their hobbies, not if their mother was going to have an emotional breakdown or get into a fistfight with crazy cultists.

But, perhaps, she thought now, that worrying about someone you loved was inevitable. She’d been doing it for almost twenty-four hours now - not just about her biological kids, but about Stan and Ford and Fiddleford. No matter how old they were, she didn’t think she’d ever stop seeing them as more children for her to look after. It was just her nature.

She didn’t want her children to worry about her, but she also didn’t want to lie to them. Her lies about being okay had done everyone more harm than good, even though they’d proven somewhat useful in the end. She still smirked a bit as she thought of Blind Ivan falling for her distressed mother act hook, line, and sinker.

But now she didn’t need to lie anymore. She didn’t need to keep her pain locked up so she didn’t make other people worry for her. She didn’t need to be concerned that everyone would look at her differently. Everyone that she respected and cared about already knew, and they still treated her the same as they always had.

And if Daisy, Scott, and Amanda could be okay after what had happened to them on that awful night almost two years ago, they could handle their mom explaining why she looked like she’s lost a fight with a two-by-four.

She closed the drawer on her nightstand and turned. Darryl was leaning against the doorjamb, turning over a dog tag in his hand. His face was unreadable.

“You okay?” she asked.

He looked up at her like he’d forgotten he was in her house, and quickly said, “Yeah, I’m alright. Just thinking.”

“What about?” She came over slowly, stopping a few feet from him.

“‘Bout what you said to Matthews,” he replied, looking back down at the dog tag. “‘Bout getting help.”

“Yeah?”

“Listening to him, talking about Andrea, not being able to sleep...not being able to do anything…” He gulped heavily. “I don’t want that to be me one day, Doc.”

“It won’t be. Not after all you’ve done. You fought it when no one else would.”

“Well, I wanna make sure. And I’m gonna start by delivering this to Hank’s little brother, first thing tomorrow.” He held the dog tag out to her.

She took it, and read the words punched into the metal.

BLUBS HENRY J. A POS 91-470-441 LUTHERAN

“You might have met Little Daryl,” he said. “He works over at the Dusk 2 Dawn right now, but he’s training for the police academy.”

“His name is Daryl too?”

He gave her a wistful smile and nodded. “Hank always thought it was a riot that his best friend and his baby brother had the same name. So he called us Darryl Little and Little Daryl.” For a moment, he focused on the dog tag, and seemed to be a million miles away from her. It only briefly reminded her of Ed, but she very quickly noted a key difference.

Darryl was still smiling.

When he came back to her, he added, “Hank’s family got the tag he wore around his neck. They let me keep the one from his boot. Been carrying it with me ever since I got home. Twelve years, I been carrying that thing around my neck like a weight. I thought it was good to have, to keep him close.” Darryl paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath, then releasing it slowly. “But maybe it’s become more of a penance than a memorial.”

Helen didn’t reply. She simply handed the tag back to him.

He quickly tucked it away in his pocket. “Little Daryl will definitely get more comfort from it than I ever did,” he said.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Helen replied. “I can give you the names of a few good therapists when you’ve finished that. Especially since I’m looking up mine again come Tuesday.”

“I’d appreciate that.” He sighed heavily. “Stan was right. We are a bunch of sad idiots.”

“At least we know what we’re about.” Helen gave him a warm smile. “Now come on, I told Stan we’d swing by his house to take care of the dog, if that’s okay with you.”

“You had me at dog,” Darryl replied. He jammed his hands in his pockets and followed her down the hallway, to the front door, and out into the sunlight. ---

“So what are we gonna do with all that stuff under the history museum?” Stan asked before he tore off a hunk of sausage with his teeth. It wasn’t Greasy’s, but it would do. He’d never felt more ravenous in his life.

Fiddleford swallowed a mouthful of apple and replied, “I don’t rightly know. We definitely can’t just leave them there, but I don’t feel right watching any of them. Now that I know what the others were using them for, I’d feel...I dunno, like it was a violation of trust or something.”

“Honestly, after the hell they put up through, I think they all kind of deserve a violation of trust,” Stan replied with him mouth full.

“Well, I think I’ve had enough traumatic events to last a lifetime,” Ford said, setting his carton of orange juice back on his tray. “Maybe we could store them somewhere else. Somewhere more safe. The bunker might work, once it gets a bit warmer and all the snow melts.”

“Is the Shapeshifter still down there?” Fiddleford asked, narrowing his eyes in Ford’s direction.

“You remember the Shapeshifter?”

“You guys had a shapeshifter?” Stan said. Just when he thought these two nerds’ adventures couldn’t get any more bizarre.

“I asked you first, Ford,” Fiddleford said. He took another bit of his apple, almost menacingly.

Ford looked downright sheepish as he muttered, “Last I checked.”

��Then we’re not using the bunker, Fiddleford replied, his mouth still full.

“Fiiine,” Ford said dramatically, flopping back against his pillows, the smile was evident in his voice.

Fiddleford’s only reply was to stick his tongue out at him. Stan couldn’t help but chuckle. These two dopes were made for each other.

Then he had an idea. “What about the basement? There should be plenty of room down there once you guys get the portal squared away.”

Ford considered for a moment, and then said, “That sounds plausible.”

“It might not even take that many trips if we take multiple cars,” Fiddleford added.

“Sounds like we got ourselves a plan,” Stan said. He raised his paper cup of coffee to his lips, but at that moment, the swinging door in the hallway was flung open, and another draft barreled down the hall. It’d been happening all morning, a savage draft from the rain-chilled morning practically lowering the temperature of the entire wing. Stan set his breakfast tray off to the side, and reached for his jacket, slung over the back of his chair. “As if this hospital wasn’t cold enough,” he grumbled. “What, do they turn off the heat to make people leave faster?”

He heard the tube hit the linoleum before he ever saw it.

He’d actually forgotten the thing was in his pocket until now, as it rolled across the floor and into his foot.

“What’s that?” Ford asked, attempting to lean forward in his bed for a better look, but grimacing when he put pressure on some broken thing inside him.

“That’s a memory tube,” Fiddleford replied, straightening up in his chair. “They’re what the memories the gun erased are recorded on. Where did you get that, Stan?”

“Ivan dropped it, out at the cliffs,” he replied. “I only noticed it after he went over. Must have had it in his sleeves or something.”

“Who’s it for?”

“Some guy named Preston Northwest.”

“Wait,” Ford said. “The Preston Northwest?”

“I don’t even know how to respond to that,” Stan replied.

“The Northwest family founded Gravity Falls,” Ford said. “They’re the richest family in town, possibly in the state of Oregon. There’s hardly a thing here that they don’t have their hands in.”

“So, what, you think this Preston guy is a member of the Society that we just didn’t catch?”

“I mean, I doubt it, since he’s only about fifteen years old.”

“Why would Ivan want the memories of a teenage boy with him while he escaped?” Fiddleford pondered aloud.

Stan studied the tube a bit more, as it caught the light of the morning beaming through the windows. Despite that, it felt cold in his hand. That familiar, primal repulsion was back. He wanted to throw it out the window, let it smash against the pavement in the parking lot below.

Instead, he held the tube out to Fiddleford and said, “I guess it doesn’t matter. The only person that memory is really gonna be of any used to is currently having his body dredged out of the lake.”

“I suppose,” Fiddleford said as he took the tube. “It’s just strange.”

“Well, we’ll have plenty of time to find out later,” Ford said. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m pretty adventured out for a while.”

“That is an amazing point,” Stan said. “It’s been a rough night. I vote this is one mystery that can wait its turn. Whatdya say, Fidds?”

Stan saw the uncertainty pass over Fiddleford’s face as he studied the tube in his hands. A familiar look of concentration was there, signifying that he was trying hard to conjure forth any member associated with the tube, try to unlock whatever it may be hiding from him.

But it was gone in moments as Fiddleford let out a mighty yawn.

“I reckon you’re right,” he said. His eyes reminded Stan of a tired puppy, fighting sleep every moment it could. “These memories aren’t going anywhere for the time being. We can get to the bottom of them another time.”

“That’s the spirit,” Stan said. “Right now, the only thing I wanna get to the bottom of this cup of coffee, and then nap for about six months.”

“Coffee is supposed to do the opposite of making you want to nap, Stan,” Ford chuckled.

“I watched a man jump to his death, Ford. Don’t underestimate my desire to nap right now.”

Ford chewed his lip for a moment, as if he were giving the matter serious thought. “Alright,” he said. “Fair enough.”

---

In the depths of the forest, there was a river. The river fed usually fed directly in the falls, but a small tributary had branched off it over the centuries, and it gathered in a small lake. When it was first formed, it was mostly used by animals as a watering hole. But that was before the town, before people, before time had shrunk it to nearly nothing. Now, it was too shallow for anything, even for winter’s bitterness to freeze it over. It stood stagnant and brown and cold, and not even the most desperate beast touched it.

So there was nothing around for miles when Ivan finally broke the surface with a loud, gulping gasp.

He dragged himself to the bank, ignoring the burning in his arms and legs, from weary muscles that had spent an hour keeping his head above the water before giving out completely. Fortunately for him, he’d lost his strength at the mouth of this lake. He’d simply gone limp and let its current carry him here.

As soon as he felt the dry, frozen earth under his hands, he collapsed, face down in the dirt. He didn’t care that he looked horrendously undignified. There was no one around to see him, and besides, he’d earned a moment of exhausted self-pity. His plans - the Society, the gun, his army - all lay in ruination at his feet. Four months of tireless work and it’d all be destroyed by a gaggle of prying, headstrong fools.

He let an angry fire blaze through him for a minute. It gave him something to focus on that wasn’t his aching face, where he’d been headbutted and punched. Something that wasn’t his wet robe, making his internal temperature drop even faster than if he’d been wearing nothing at all. The rage that boiling in his blood made him forget all that for just a moment.

But it couldn’t last forever. He couldn’t stay out here in these wet clothes and find somewhere out of the cold, or he’d freeze.

This was, after all, only a momentary setback. He wouldn’t be thwarted. Not until he finished what he needed to do.

He rallied all the strength he had left in his body, and pushed himself onto his hands and knees. A powerful shiver nearly knocked him back down, but he ignored it. He wouldn’t be out here for a much longer. From watching McGucket’s memories, he knew that, not far from here, was a system of caves, all connected under the waterfall near Gravity Falls Lake. Inside were tiny little creatures that could make fire if they were struck together. That would suit Ivan’s needs just fine, for the time being.

With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself up farther, going slowly, until he’d gotten back to his feet. He stumbled a bit, his limbs still heavy from the time he’d spent underwater, but he caught himself before he fell. Then he pulled his heavy, wet robe over his head and shucked it off. He tossed it to the ground. Wearing it while it was soaking wet like that would only put him at greater risk for hypothermia. It wasn’t as though he needed it anymore anyway.

As he turned, he saw, over the treeline, a great manor, looming over him, perched high on the hills. It seemed to be looking down upon the humble town beneath it, proud and arrogant and fully prepared to rub the townfolks’ collective noses in its decadence. It made Ivan sick to look at, but he also knew that, with any luck, it wouldn’t be there for much longer.

He began walking into the forest, making sure the manor never left his sight. It was his beacon as he sought his shelter.

The Northwest family had so much to answer for. Not just the ones currently living, but the generations that had come before them. One-hundred and forty years of Northwest blood, building their legacy on lies and deceit and fear, reaping the benefits of their treachery and leaving the weak to wallow in whatever meager fate the accursed family had left them to.

He was going to burn it all to the ground.

---

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[fanfics4all]

Protection

Request: Yes / no Can I get an ANGSTY Sweet Pea x Reader where someone is pretending to be the black hood as a prank and she scares Sweet Pea and Y/n. But he doesn't realise his "Fake" gun is loaded and off safety so he shoot and hits Y/n in an argan. SHe heals but SP doesn't trust her to be alone anymore, but she's independent so this bothers her. Basically they break up, but then something else happens to put her back in the hospital and SP doesn't know so he doesn't visit her. She gets mad but he explains FLUF @river-fics

Don’t be shy, request things! <3 Have a nice day/night

Sweet Pea x Fem! Reader

Word count: 1782

Warnings: Getting shot, cursing, rape, getting cut, blood, and I believe that’s it.

Y/N: Your Name

A/N: I changed this a little bit and I’m sorry! I hope you still enjoy it!

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

The Black Hood… Riverdale’s very own serial killer, going after what he calls sinners. He shot Fred Andrews and Moose. He killed Miss. Grundy, and Midge. In my opinion everyone but Miss. Grundy was innocent, but not according to a psycho serial killer. Everyone is Riverdale was scared that they were next on the list.

It was a Friday night and I was at home just surfing the web watching cute animal videos and some Netflix. I was home alone when there was a loud knock on my front door. No one was home so I had to get up and answer it. I grabbed a bat from my brother’s room and walked downstairs. I opened the door but no one was there. I looked around confused and then looked down and saw a folder with my name written on it. I picked it up and quickly shut the door and locked it. I went to my living room and sat down on the couch. I put the bat down and opened the folder. There were a few pictures of me at school with my friends and some of me with my boyfriend, Sweet Pea. Under the pictures was a note that just said ‘You’re next!’ I dropped everything and pulled my knees up to my chest, tears blurred my vision. I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket and called my boyfriend.

“Hey baby, what’s up?” He said and there was a lot of noise in the background so he was at the Wyrm.

“S-sweets…” I said and felt tears run down my face.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” He asked and I heard the noise start to fade and a Fangs in the background asking where he was going.

“H-he...h-he’s coming for m-me…” I cried.

“Baby, who’s coming for you? Where are you?” He asked worriedly.

“H-home… p-please come…” I said scared out of my mind.

“I’m on my way baby, just stay there.” He said as calm as he could and hung up.

Ten minutes later Sweet Pea was pounding on my door and shouting my name. I got up and walked to the door. I reached for the doorknob with shaking hands and opened the door. Sweet Pea pushed his way in and gathered me in his arms. He pulled back and looked at me.

“Are you hurt? Are you okay?” He asked worried and checking me all over.

“Sweets…” I whispered and looked down, he grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. He brushed his thumbs against my cheek and wiped away my tears.

“What’s wrong princess?” He asked quietly. I pointed at the pictures and the note that were on the floor and he turned to look at them. He let go of me and walked over to them, he picked them up and read the note. I sat back on the couch hugging my knees. Sweet Pea placed the papers on the coffee table and sat next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

“I’m not gonna let this fucker hurt you.” He said kissing my head.

“What did I do?” I asked scared, how was I a sinner?

“Nothing Y/N, you did nothing.” He said.

“He wouldn’t be coming after me if I didn’t do anything!” I cried. He just sighed and held me closer.

Over the next few weeks I kept getting notes and pictures and Sweet Pea kept me very close. This had become my new normal and it sucked. Sweet Pea and I were walking home from Pop’s and it was dark, very dark. Sweet Pea was holding my hand and I felt safe. But boy was I not. Someone jumped in front of us holding a gun. A black hood adorned his head, my eyes widened and I froze.

“You son of a bitch!” Sweet Pea growled. He said nothing and stepped closer.

“Get away from her!” Sweet me pulled me back but I was still in his view and in the view of the gun. The Black hood laughed and pulled off his hood. Once the hood was off it relieved the asshold Bulldog, Jackson, that enjoys picking on me.

“Ha! You should have seen your face!” He laughed still waving the gun around.

“What the fuck!?” Sweet Pea yelled pissed beyond belief.

“Relax, it’s just a joke! The fucking safety is on!” He said and clicked the trigger. The loudest bang I’ve ever heard.

There was a pain in my stomach, I looked down and touched my stomach. I pulled my hands away and there was blood covering both of them. I started to fall but I think someone caught me. I heard shouting in the distance but couldn’t make out what they were saying. I looked up and saw Sweet Pea, worry swam in his eyes. I weakly lifted my hand and caressed his cheek.

“Hold on baby, the ambulance is coming okay?” Tears fell off his face and onto mine.

“I love you…” I said as black spots invaded my vision.

“No… no you’re not leaving me!” Was the last thing I heard.

A week later

I woke up to a blinding light and a loud beeping. I shut my eyes because of the light but heard shuffling. I opened my eyes again and adjusting to the light.

“Y/N?” I heard a sleepy voice ask, I looked to my left and saw Sweet Pea slouching uncomfortably in a chair. He sat up and quickly moved to the side of my bed.

“Y/N? Baby, oh my god…” He grabbed my hand and he had tears in his eyes.

“S-sweets…” I said and instantly coughed, he poured some water and I drank it.

“I thought I lost you…” He said and a tear fell down his beautiful face.

“I’m right here.” I said and held his face. He snuggled closer into my hand and I kissed him with as much love and life as I could. He pulled away and held my face.

“I’m never going to let something like this happen ever again. I’m going to protect you.” He said and kissed me again.

Six months later

It’s been six months since I was shot by some asshole bulldog, who decided it would be funny to pretend to be the Black Hood and almost kill me. He was arrested and everything was back to normal. Sweet Pea, however, thought I needed to be protected 24/7 so I was never out of his sight unless I was at home with my family. I love him but I couldn’t take it anymore! You try having the same person around you all the time and not get annoyed, it’s impossible! This lead to us fighting more and me trying to push him away which wouldn’t work; so finally I broke up with him and it took him a few days to get the hint that we were really over and he left me alone. Four months since we’ve broken up and I actually started to miss him. I’ve seen him hook up with other girls and go back to his player ways so I started giving up. We were done and it’s probably for the better…

I was walking home alone from the Southside where I was hanging out with Toni when I was pulled into an ally by someone. Ii was tossed to the ground and I looked up to see four Ghoulies surrounding me.

“Well, well, well, not so tough without your little bodyguard around.” One of them said with a sickening smile.

“She’s just a little bitch for us to play with.” Another smirked. They closed in around me and started ripping my clothes from my body. I screamed and kicked trying to get away from this nightmare. I heard a clank of metal and then felt the cold of a knife against my neck.

“If you shut up and don’t fight you won’t get as hurt.” One of the monsters whispered in my ear. Tears sprang to my eyes and fell down my face. They ripped my pants from my body and sliced my shirt open. Two held me down while the other had their way with me and then once they were done, they switched. I screamed and cried as they used me, the two that were holding me sliced my stomach which only made me scream and cry harder. Luckily it got someone’s attention and they called the cops. The cops arrested the creeps and rushed me to the hospital. The doctor stitched me up and had me stay the night, Sheriff Keller questioned me about what happened but I couldn’t tell him so he called someone for me. He called the last person I talked to which was Toni. Toni rushed over but she wasn’t alone, she brought Fangs and Sweet Pea with her.

“Y/N!” Sweet Pea shouted and rushed over to me within seconds.

“Y/N, what happened?” He asked worried like always. My eyes filled with tears and they cascaded down my face like a waterfall. Sweets pulled me into him and I cried soaking his shirt.

“It seems some Ghoulies attacked her and took advantage of her…” Sheriff Keller explained to them.

“What!?” Fangs growled.

“Don’t worry, we have them in custody but we need DNA proof to be able to send them to jail…” He said. The nurse had taken one but I guess didn’t give it to Sheriff Keller.

“A-a n-nurse took one…” I said quietly while sobbing.

“Alright Y/N, I promise these guys will be going away for a long, long time.” Keller said and left to go find the nurse.

“Can you guys give us a minute?” Pea asked Toni and Fangs. The two nodded and left. Sweet Pea pulled me away from him and grabbed my face making me look at him.

“I’m sorry…” I cried.

“No, Y/N, I’m sorry… I just wanted to protect you but I made you push me away. This is my fault. I could have protected you if I wasn’t so clingy.” He said a few of his own tears falling.

“I could have protected you if you let me…” He whispered.

“I need you… please…” I said quietly.

“I’ll always be here for you Y/N, I love you.” He said.

“I love you too.” I sobbed and kissed him, those warm lips that always made me feel so safe were once again on mine.

“I promise, I’ll keep you safe.” He whispered once we pulled apart.

“I always feel safe when I’m with you.” I whispered back and we kissed once again.

Tag list: @staygoldsquatchling02

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Movie Review: Captain Marvel (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the weekend following the movie’s release in the U.K, so if you have not yet seen the movie then go and see it and then read on.

Stan Lee:

Before going into the actual characters in the movie, I want to briefly talk about Stan Lee and his continuing posthumous tributes from the studio that he built from the ground up. After Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I did not feel they could top what they did with his cameo in that store selling the Spidey suit to Miles Morales. But here, not only did the many cameos of Stan become the images you see in the Marvel Studios logo with a touching add-on saying “Thank You Stan” which had my audience whooping and applauding but also Stan himself appears on the train scene where Carol is searching for a Skrull and the two simply smile at each other, very touching and very well done.

Characters:

Alright so as per usual in my character analyses, I will be talking about these characters in order of my favourites and...I am quite surprised about the order of my favourites from going into this movie to coming out of the movie.

Nick Fury:

By far and away, Nicholas Joseph Fury, or just Fury, is by far and away the best character in this movie. I love Samuel L. Jackson and he has always been a fantastic supporting and lead actor in whatever movie he is in. Yes he is a supporting character here to Captain Marvel but he supports her so well and does so without pulling focus away from the fact it is Brie Larson’s movie.

The movie does drag a lot towards the start with more exposition than action but it isn’t neccersarily descriptive exposition and is instead “Here’s this character (Carol Danvers) and here’s this character (Yon-Rogg) and now they’re with these characters (Starforce)”. All of that changes when Carol comes to Earth and first interacts with Fury.

As I said in my non-spoiler review, the de-aging technology is in full effect with Jackson and it really pays off because not only do you believe you are looking at a young Fury but also it’s the thrill of finding out just how Fury lost his eye.

I loved the dynamic between the two characters, more-so than I feel any other partnership Fury has been with. I just enjoyed that aliens were still an unknown variable to SHIELD and so Fury was pretty much learning from scratch about how aliens work. From the interaction in the diner about the difference between Kree and Skrulls to the turbulence gag about the reconfigured aircraft towards the end of the movie.

I also found it fun that this wasn’t Director Fury and was simply Agent Fury...to the point where Coulson called him “Mr. Fury”. Yet he still commanded the respect and strategic planning he has in the present day. However, he is shown to make mistakes at the level of agent he is at particularly when he called in Ben Mendelsohn’s human character Keller who at this point in time is the Director of SHIELD and therefore Fury’s boss without realizing that it was in fact Talos in disguise. To be fair I don’t see how Carol can blame him for that as he’s never met a Skrull before this day but I did like it when she confiscated his pager.

Some critics are saying it’s Fury’s interactions with Goose that sold Goose’s performance and in some respect I do see the argument for that, however, I believe Fury’s interactions are simply the reactions to what the cat does. Both in her cuteness but also in what she does and what is revealed from her.

I thought the fact it was Goose who made Fury lose an eye to be absolutely fantastic. Yes, Fury has mentioned before that the last time he trusted someone is when he lost the eye and I do not feel previous stories of the eye loss add up here but I do believe Fury is the type of character to try and save face rather than the embarrassment that a space kitty with infected claws is the reason. It was great

I felt the fact that the movie’s events are what led Fury to create and push forward the Avengers Initiative, to the point where Carol’s nickname of Avenger is what gave him the idea for the name, is something I don’t agree with. Firstly, chronologically Captain America is still the first Avenger so anyone saying this movie creates continuity issues there is wrong, but the fact that the title Avenger...which up to 10 people have shared in present day...comes from a single person rather than just a thought is slightly inconsiderate of the individual team members and instead puts Carol on a pedastool with Fury recruiting these other members to try and reach her power level.

Goose:

Speaking of the space kitty, it is confirmed that Goose is in fact a Flerkin which is from the comics so is authentic. I was happy that being an alien kitty was not so much important to the movie but not just a throwaway aspect and was somewhat a plotpoint to the movie.

I don’t believe Goose was ever Carol’s pet as promoted but instead went from being Mar-Vell’s to Nick Fury’s. Although I am curious to know what happened to Goose from this movie to present day but I do hope Fury actually kept Goose as a pet and not just until she coughed up the Tesseract.

Oh yeah, the Tesseract is surprisingly in this movie and has multiple reasons to be, but I do believe it’s last use in this movie is to give Goose a home at the end of the movie.

The reveal of Goose’s Flerkin tentacles were fantastic. The first time when Goose ate the Tesseract was definitely a shock but the second time when Goose either ate the Kree or simply threw them around...Fury’s reaction said it all and the roar of laughter in the cinema added to the brilliance of it.

Also on a side-note, when the Kree captured the heroes and muzzled Goose in that cute little cat muzzle was both adorable and tragic.

Carol Danvers:

Brie Larson is a very polarizing actress for me in this role. On the one hand, I don’t think she’s a comedic actress and for that matter that Carol Danvers is a comedic character. But on the other hand, this was the first time I was willing an actress to have her moment in this movie where she finally clicked with the audience because, as an Oscar-winning actress, I know she has it in her.

That moment for me came when she found out about her connection with Wendy Lawson and started to regain her identity, because until that point I thought she was slightly robotic and a little bit like Evangeline Lilly as Hope in Ant-Man and the Wasp in that she was being the angry soccer-mom who was ruining Fury’s fun.

That being said, I did enjoy this movie’s take on a fish out of water story. The MCU has of course done this before for male characters like Thor and Cap technically, but to take the journey as a supposed alien with 6 years of military training and therefore knowing how to gather her bearings and track what she needs was very good to see and moved the story along quickly.

Also the fact she pretty much arrived on Earth and the first thing she does is steal a motorbike and clothes because she knows how to blend in is both military survival and reconnaissance 101. By the way side-note, that jerk biker who was leching on Carol is in fact Rob Kazinsky aka Sean Slater from EastEnders, random I know but I was very surprised to learn that.

That’s kind of where my admiration for her character went away though, yes she was funny with her budding friendship with Nick Fury but...not only is she ridiculously overpowered, but she seems to know what she wants and it’s almost as if the movie just gives it to her. There’s no trial and error as we are led to believe in the trailers with that theme of “Getting knocked down but getting back up”, she does do this particularly at the start in her training session with Yon-Rogg but there’s then no learning curve and simply she doesn’t know something and then all of a sudden she can do it.

I didn’t understand her “Kree name” Vers, I get it was taken from the broken dog tag piece she had with her name on it but it really got annoying after a while because I know her as Carol or Danvers or Captain Marvel or Ms. Marvel, I do not know her as Vers. It may have been a ploy by the Kree to say “You’ve always been Kree, this is your Kree name” but come on you have names like Minn-Erva, Yon-Rogg and Mar-Vell but then you have Vers? Not even Dann-Vers?

I did like the reason why she changed the colour of her suit. Yes seagreen is Kree colours and the movie definitely didn’t make the suits look as bad as the set photos lead to believe but when Monica helps her find a new colour theme and she goes through several different options, including Mar-Vell’s colours from the comics, it was a nice sentiment to choose the same colours as Monica’s top so they could basically be on the same team.

The fact her powers, it’s hard to say her Kree side because she was human and then enhanced by the ship core, but the fact these powers came from the Tesseract is something 1) Die-hard fans kind of guessed but I feel before Infinity War fans guessed she’d be powered by the Soul Stone rather than the Space Stone and 2) Was a good shocker moment for the movie because it kind of explains how the Tesseract came to be in SHIELD’s possession because I always thought Steve Rogers had it with him when he was saved from the ocean in present day but in actuality it disappeared when Red Skull did and so must have somehow come into Mar-Vell’s possession.

It does lead to an interesting match-up in Endgame as Carol is now the only living hero with any sort of Infinity Stone enhancement that can combat Thanos but I will be interested to know if the gauntlet is still working will he be able to somehow control Captain Marvel?

I love my special effects and I did think her Binary mode power-set was brilliant to behold however as has been said by numerous people I do think she is overpowered and particularly when it comes to the rest of the Avengers. I don’t see how she can be part of the same team and not simply defeat foes single-handed. Particularly if they reshape the team after Endgame so the roster consists of her, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man and Wasp. I mean yes, Doctor Strange may also hold his own with her but the rest are pretty much enhanced by technology.

I didn’t like the end battle, I thought it wasn’t as epic and grand as it should have been and the fact 1) Captain Marvel was pretty much all the time a CGI construct took me out of the movie and the fact that also 2) She pretty much whooped at the fact she took on missiles was a little bit of a jerk move.

I will also say that in the context of this movie I do understand the origin of the character they’ve told, however I really wish they had showed somewhere in her history that she had been Ms. Marvel, Binary is someone she can easily become as her full powers at the end of this movie have been dubbed her “Binary Mode”, but without being Ms. Marvel it does close a lot of doors for certain stories like, for example, Rogue getting her powers.

Yes they can still do the origin story where Rogue absorbs Captain Marvel’s powers, but if Carol has been off-world since 1995 and only comes back in Endgame, Rogue would have to discover her powers in a present day movie.

I did appreciate the fact that Carol showed a deep appreciation for both her female and male superiors, despite having a type of banter-style relationship with Yon-Rogg he was still her superior and she blindly listened to his instruction until she learned the truth. Then as for her admiration for Wendy Lawson, I mean the Supreme Intelligence takes on the appearance of the person you admire most and it chose her so it speaks for itself.

I will talk about Captain Marvel’s future when I talk about the end-credits scenes but I am both excited and hesitant for her future in the MCU.

Yon-Rogg:

Jude Law;s character has been the subject of much debate since he was announced to be in the movie. At first fans speculated he would be Mar-Vell aka the original Captain Marvel, but then when his name was revealed as Yon-Rogg, despite being a character from the comics, fans thought it may be a red herring for some reason. The fact he was Yon-Rogg and the changes they made to Mar-Vell I think is slightly a missed opportunity for the actor but also this is one of the only occasions where I have seen Jude Law portray a villain.

In terms of his villainy, I thought Jude Law did rather well. He wasn’t a formidable opponent and instead just was the hero’s former mentor turned enemy. He was an MCU standard villain and in terms of good guy turned bad, he wasn’t really ever established as a good guy per say but I’d say he’s on the same level as John Garrett from Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 just with a better motivation.

I don’t know much about Yon-Rogg as a character, I know he was Mar-Vell’s commanding officer but when Mar-Vell turned against the Kree he became obviously his enemy. Basically Yon-Rogg’s story here is the same as it was in the comics just with Carol Danvers rather than Mar-Vell, also Mar-Vell was born Kree whereas Carol became enhanced as Kree.

There’s not really a lot to say more about his performance or character here, I don’t know what would have become of him when Captain Marvel took him back to Hala because the Supreme Intelligence is also an enemy but as to whether or not he could come back I would say he could in a future Captain Marvel sequel but we shall see.

Starforce:

Starforce in this movie were about as well developed as STRIKE from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Both teams were military/law enforcement and both included kind of focussed on secondary characters as well as the main heroes. In this case those secondary characters as Yon-Rogg and Minn-Erva. I mean Korath the Pursuer from Guardians of the Galaxy is also on the team but he is really just there as an Easter-Egg and it isn’t at all established how he ends up working directly for Ronan away from Starforce, unless the Kree soldiers are Starforce.

As for Minn-Eeva, I love Gemma Chan, I think she is a great actress and really lends herself to this type of authoritative role. I know Doctor Minerva in the comics is an enemy of Captain Marvel who sought out Mar-Vell on Earth to mate with him to further the Kree genetic line but I do not see that happening here for numerous reasons, the main of which is that Minn-Erva apparently dies at the end of this movie and unless she has somehow pulled a Nebula I don’t see her coming back.

Talos:

Talos is a conflicting character for me because while I do believe this is the best performance I have seen of Ben Mendelsohn’s I don’t know how to react to the fact that Talos and his Skrull followers are good guys.

I did like the fact he was still shown as an enemy of the Kree, which at the time included Carol, but then when she learned the truth he became quite the reliable ally.

I loved his humour particularly when they were examining Carol’s mind and she had his Kree scientist guy tap her head again like he was adjusting a TV signal, the 90s jokes in this were fantastic. Also when Fury was worried about the turbulance and Talos was the only one to be honest with him about it, this never felt like it was the men supporting the women and simply just bouncing off them well.

Skrulls:

I think the fact Talos has a family, particularly a daughter, raises hope for the future of the Skrulls in the MCU in regards to being a threat and specifically adapting Secret Invasion. In the comics, it’s a female Skrull who leads the way as she adopts the identity of Spider-Woman so it could easily be adapted in the MCU that the Skrull Queen is in fact Talos’ daughter who saw the threat in the world and, despite her parents preaching peace, wants vengeance.

I want the Skrulls to be formidable but to my imagination the Skrulls have usually been footsoldiers or grunts for bigger threats rather than being the big bads unless the Kree have been involved or Secret Invasion is the story.

I still really enjoyed the Skrulls when they were shapeshifting here and particularly the now infamous old lady on the train scene, but come on...no disrespect to the old lady but as soon as she hit the floor you could tell it was a stunt double.

Mar-Vell:

Okay so this was my biggest problem with the movie, some people will say making Mar-Vell a woman is a good and interesting thing for MCU...I say that Mar-Vell in the comics is an underrated superhero and someone whose origins I was hoping to see explored in the MCU. Not only is Mar-Vell a lover of Carol Danvers and how she chose her superhero names in the comics but also he is the father of Young Avengers member Hulkling when he had a forbidden affair with a Skrull princess...again something that could have been explored in a Mar-Vell movie.

Also, like Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, Mar-Vell could have easily been introduced either in Phase 1 or 2 as a superhero, which would have made only introducing Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel at the end of Phase 3 more organic as she would have been introduced as Carol Danvers in that movie.

Unfortunately though, this is what we have. Now to be fair, Annette Benning was really good in this role. She did fill that Glenn Close, Sylvester Stallone, Beneicio Del Toro role of not being the main villain but also being the big name on the cast list.

As Mar-Vell, I do like the fact they did simply “genderflip” the character by making the alias Wendy Lawson as opposed to the comics-accurate Walter Lawson. As I said with Carol, I did also like how they established her admiration for Mar-Vell before of course realizing who she actually was. I would have loved to have seen her in her orbiting laboratory or obtaining the Tesseract but there was so much in this movie I guess they couldn’t fit it in.

I do however think, as Feige knows how to play the long game with these movies, that if they had introduced the idea of this version of Mar-Vell way back when in a Captain America: The First Avenger post-credits scene, maybe with the Tesseract appearing on a beach or something and Mar-Vell obtaining it, then it would have been more organic than just having her have it here.

Also in regards to Mar-Vell being the personification of Carol’s version of the Supreme Intelligence was rather interesting. Particularly when you consider that when she knew Mar-Vell she had brown hair but the Supreme Intelligence construct quite clearly has grey/white hair.

I did enjoy her dimension as this almost virtual reality setting and the fact she could manipulate quite literally everything was rather cool.

I wish they didn’t destroy her so easily for the pure and simple reason of I feel she has a lot more to give going forward. In the comics she is part of the Intergalactic Council which also features Lilandra of the Shi’ar which may have been a good way to introduce them outside of the Dark Phoenix Saga.

Maria Rambeau:

I wasn’t massively a fan of Maria despite how much she had been hyped up in the promos, I did feel she was more of a gateway for her daughter who will become Photon later in her life.

I did like the actress Lashauna Lynch in the role. I thought she fit the bill of being a sassy, strong-willed single mother and I believed the friendship between Maria and Carol despite the fact we only really see that one scene in flashbacks and then after that it’s Maria coming to terms with how Carol has changed after her Kree enhancement.

I did also rather appreciate the fact we have not yet seen this type of family unit in the MCU before. We had Carol being bullied and neglected by her own family so she was I think taken in by the Rambeaus and she became almost a second mother to Monica as she helped Maria raise her. It did lead to my fiancé constantly saying that Carol and Maria are lesbians and to be fair unless you count the fact that Maria needed a man to create Monica there is no mention of either lady have a male love interest in this movie, but I just love that dynamic of breaking the mold of the typical “Nuclear Family”. Not only does is pave the way for the Fantastic 4 who are one of the most unconventional families in comics, but also it’s another example of female empowerment in not needing a man to raise a child.

As for Monica, I really liked this young actress, Akira Akbar. I liked the fact they had sisters portraying the two different ages because it adds realism to the character. I thought the relationship she had with both her mother and Carol was really well established and, as mentioned, her helping Carol choose her new colours was a rather sweet moment.

I do find it interesting that in Endgame we are going to the future and having an aged-up Cassie Lang as Stature or maybe Stinger depending on where they want to go with the character. So it stands to reason that while Monica is 11 in 1995, she’ll be mid-30s in this future version so could easily been shown as Photon and team-up with Captain Marvel. They made need characters to be in space and the only ones who can possibly survive that unaided are Captain Marvel and Photon.

Agent Coulson:

Oh how far Clark Gregg has fallen, from the comedic string tying all of Phase 1 together to the slapstick leading his own show. I do think there was something missing from his performance here because this is just over 10 years before the events of Iron Man and so either he hasn’t found his comedic niche yet or the actor has just lost what made Coulson such a fan favourite in the first place, either way overall he was disappointing.

Having said that he did have two great moments. The first was the reveal that the Coulson in the car with Fury was in fact a Skrull as the real Coulson was still waiting where they drove off from, that was really cool but I did kind of guess it in the acting because Skrull Coulson felt slightly too rigid. But the second part was right at the end when Fury had lost his eye and Coulson brought that box of fake eyes for him to choose from. Just that one line of “Don’t take too long, you have a big decision to make” was very Coulson and I appreciated he at least ended on a good note.

Endgame:

Alright so the mid-credits scene here is another scene taken from possibly the end of the first act in Avengers: Endgame, think the Ant-Man scene which showed a clip from Captain America: Civil War with Cap and Falcon talking about Bucky. It focuses on Cap, Bruce. Natasha and Rhodey in the Avengers Compound and the fact they have somehow obtained Fury’s pager which has apparently stopped beeping.

I can’t remember if they get it beeping again before the reveal but after Natasha says “I want to know who’s on the other end of that call”, she turns to find Captain Marvel standing there looking slightly flustered and simply asking “Where’s Fury?”.

I have to say, Brie Larson as the character was growing throughout this movie, here she reached her stride in that 10 second shot of her. Seeing Captain Marvel with the Avengers for a start was brilliant but also her hair went from the choppy bob to a more battle-beaten version of Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Obviously this is supposed to be over 20 years in time so while she may not age physically thanks to her Kree enhancement, she does of course change.

Also it is interesting to note that both Natasha and Clint aka Hawkeye soon to be Ronin share the same thought pattern when it comes to mysterious communication devices. In the first Avengers movie when Hawkeye and Fury are talking about the Tesseract acting like a portal, Hawkeye questions where this portal is leading to and here Natasha pretty much questions the same thing. I don’t know if that’s their SHIELD training or just how they both think but it was a nice call-back for me.

It is a scene directly taken from the movie but it is the right scene because it teased so much and just asked so many more questions than I had before. I cannot wait until the end of April.

Overall I rate the movie a solid 7/10, it was by no means a perfect movie as if you want to find problems you will find them easily. Maybe because this is now the 11th year and that the MCU has become so formulaic that it is just so easy to find flaws now but still, the comedy was great, the acting was great. I did enjoy the story, I enjoyed the growth of Brie Larson throughout the movie and I look forward to seeing what happens to these characters next.

So that’s my review of Captain Marvel, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Marvel Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.

[floggingink]

bitch I bet you thought I’d forgotten about Riverdale, “Chapter Thirty-Seven: Fortune and Men’s Eyes”

I absolutely agree with Archie’s wild careening off the side of the road of justice to plead guilty to a crime he “may as well have” committed. I couldn’t believe Archie was so preposterously on the money about himself: “I didn’t kill anyone, but I could have.” GOOD, ARCHIE. I love Juvie Archie. better than Fascist Archie!!!!

I didn’t google “prison powder” to see if that shit’s soap or for lice or what but y’all’ll fill me in on that won’t you

“Leopold and Loeb” is just the level of allusory on-brand naming hubris I demand

“Captain Golightly” doesn’t seem to be a reference to anything other than a brutal dichotomy between whimsy and a dictatorial prison state

you know they hit us up with that Pop’s lighting not even at Pop’s! I never met a window I didn’t want to have bathe me in God’s light!

Sixth period is Intro to Film: the cross stitch quote on the warden’s wall, which I assume dude’s wife made for him because he and she adhere to traditional gender roles, is of course from Sonnet 29, referenced in the title to a play and 70’s movie very much about sexual slavery in prison (Archie has not seen it)

Day One at Juvie Coif: very good, uplifted, touchable but held fast

they really did the line-up of the Hot Dads of Riverdale right there: Tom seems to be eating pancakes and bacon, and FP is wearing a scarf like a headband but like a necklace

Fred’s flannel is an interesting mix of colors like, for a flannel, and Veronica appears to be wearing subtle yellow eyeshadow to go with her waitress dress

when were we going to hear about the three perjuring thugs? who corroborated Archie’s false confession???? cold

“Shadow County” is the third county in “Riverdale State”

The Blossom spawn: Dr. Patel seems to be the Cooper family GP with specialities in both obstetrics and neurology; Betty is still wearing her hospital bracelet

I never noticed the teensy blackboard under Alice’s kitchen cabinets; the Coopers are truly peak bourgeois chic

Polly’s itty bitty lace headband is good and the Farm has done wonders for her and Alice’s accessory game

Betty’s body language at “Uh...because I saw you and mom throw the twins on a fucking fire” is very funny (Betty has not told a joke yet)

Dilton Doiley is a canonically great dancer: RIP!!!!!!

I want to get out of the way that for some reason Jughead looks really good throughout this episode. I can’t explain why, maybe it’s because he’s finally wearing plaid again, but he looks good. if you thought he looked good in the first place, he’s back

is Betty wearing her Carrie: the Musical outfit?

last week I misheard Dilton and thought he said “Cardinal King,” and I was like, What? and then it got even better

Places Bughead are Fucking: the Blue & Gold office

Archie > Dawson: God bless Archie but he does try to be personable with Mad Dog right away, unleashing one of his legendary “bros.” how old were you when you realized you couldn’t do a pull-up? I’ve never done a pull-up in my goddamn life and certainly not to a vinyl of a piano sonata

Mad Dog (I just wrote “God,” because I guess he’s that beautiful) has approximately 100 cigarettes, which he certainly does not smoke, so he is hoarding them for some grand purpose?

when Mad Dog turned around I swear I saw muscles I didn’t know the human body possessed. I’m talking fresh-out-of-the-science-tube Steve Rogers

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: Mad Dog’s impeccably maintained fade

The 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie has the right attitude about LBJ and Vietnam, except I think JFK got us into Vietnam, but then the Gulf of Tonkin was LBJ. I don’t want to google the Vietnam War. look, McNamara is a war criminal

Cheryl’s sheaths: I wish I had the energy to coordinate my bras with the rest of my aesthetic like Josie, in a leopard print, and Cheryl, in red lace. I will say I have recently discovered unlined bras and they have changed me for the better

do you think Archie + varsity football + theater extracurriculars = Cheryl + student body president + 4.0 GPA + theater extracurriculars?

Serpent with the General-style opthalmic frames and low-rise Chucks intrigues me

Joaquin does Archie so bad!!!!!!! even after he got the fucking tattoo, damn!

Sexy, aesthetic Southside: Joaquin’s eyes are so crystal clear that I don’t think they have a color of their own. he’s wearing the optional grey shirt, so they look grey; if he wore the optional navy shirt (I can’t yet tell a difference in status) they would look blue

oh god, what is that Ghoulie doing at the fucking fence? is he slicing his fingertips for fun? what the fuck, the Ghoulies are so fucking bizarre

Archie calls Joaquin “bro” which means he is fucking serious

we all need to take a moment to ourselves to truly absorb the skull of Dr. Curdle’s son, who is also a corrupt coroner (his name tag says “Dr. Curdle Jr”). of the three most alien skulls so far, this is the most take-abacking (I HAVE seen every episode and my calculations are sound)

he’s really gonna let Dilton (RIP!!!!!) have his arm hang down off the table like that, in this, his final repose? cold

the almost ironic intonation of “signs….of stress….” as he pulls the sheet down is amazingly 50’s horror movie

“Runic, I’d say.”

mmmmmmmmmm Fresh-Aid! I listened to the Jonestown tape in an episode of Last Podcast and was well disturbed!!!!!

you tell me why Jughead is using the camera he used in the pilot instead of like, his phone camera: because Jughead?

because Jughead

Places Bughead are Fucking: coroner’s Office

I want one of these L & L shirts. I would prefer the navy version with the little sleeves

excuse me but one of these Ghoulies has an absolute 2008 sidebang

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: “DON’T TOUCH HIS FACE”

Veronica’s flower sweater

BEN BUTTON

Betty’s 70’s-collared Piet Mondrian shirt is super cute, although a white-backed women’s shirt with that thin Forever 21 fabric always fucks you if you have to wear a bra

the actress who plays Evelyn Evernever is named Zoé de Grand Maison and honestly I don’t know who has the better name

DOES KEVIN STILL WANT TO LOSE HIS VIRGINITY BY HALLOWEEN

if homecoming is in September or October, the schedule should be roughly 1) Archie gets out of juvie, followed by 2) Kevin loses his virginity with Moose

Gay.: Kevin’s kiss is VERY good and quite bold! for a hallway, and Moose’s twangy hair is nice

at my high school, everyone just said “rot-see” for ROTC, so surely these hip kids wouldn’t go around saying R-R-O-T-C like that, UNREALISTIC, RIVERDALE

the extremely tall gothy Vixen is even taller than the extremely tall Ghoulie and I would like to take her to homecoming

Summer + Blair = Veronica: “You’re acting like trash, and I don’t want to get a citation.”

what the hell does student body president even do? to the extent I can even recall our student body president, whose name I believe was Lauren, I think she read the afternoon announcements

Ben WAS the kid Kevin ordered that hot dog from during the James Dean closing night! (I’m not double-checking)

Ben WAS the kid Miss Grundy was ~grooming~ when she got merked!

Ben’s mom is such a boring white mom lady that she’s wearing a denim button-down with but a single flower appliqué

YOU KNOW I LOVED THAT BLAIR WITCH TWIG BABY

Officer Henderson WAS the cop who found the “HL” briefcase at the dead Serpent’s hotel room!

I looked into what starting a chapter of the Innocence Project entails for a “couple of minutes.” I assume Veronica is going to go with option one: nonprofit organization, “independently incorporated” with “its own governing board” and fundraising, as I would doubt Riverdale has a local law school or much of a public defender’s office, you know what I’m saying?

What damn high school in America: Veronica is wearing some high-waisted black slacks and quite the polka dot top, which may in fact simply be a bustier. I imagine Principal Weatherbee has battled so many times over the years with Cheryl, who is constantly toeing the line of what a 16-year-old can legally wear, that he has since given up entirely

Jughead crawling over the back of the couch and dangling the totem baby is such a throwback to Jughead crawling over the back of the diner booth and eating the whipped cream cherry that now they are simply teasing me with the grandeur of times gone by, like an Andy Williams Christmas song thrown up on 101.9 KINK

Ethel has on some sort of wicked pin but it’s not in focus!

Betty’s top is very cute, structured

everyone has their own “Yeah, I guess” face at “Dilton Doiley [RIP!!!!!!!] has a secret bunker in the woods?”

Jughead cooly threatens Ethel with quote-unquote telling the police; this of course calls back to Jughead threatening Dilton (RIP!!!!!) in the third episode with Sheriff Keller, but let me ask you this: if Betty & Jughead DID take Ethel to the sheriff, would Sheriff Minetta give a flying fuck? doesn’t he answer directly to Hiram on all things Jughead at this point? could Betty and Jughead POSSIBLY still imagine the cops will heed anything they bring them?

Sheriff Minetta: Jughead Jones now seems to be under the impression that a band of Riverdale High juniors are in an underground RPG cult that has led to a double-suicide

Hiram: Thank God

something about Jughead’s teensy Yes’m head nod is just enough like a chivalrous bow that I have thus taken the time to note how cute it is

Day Two Juvie Coif: visibly succumbing to stress, but with dignity; starting to feather

I don’t know anything about sneakers but I like Mad Dog’s hightops

the cinematography in Archie’s cell is great. I especially like the panning around Archie when he’s not even moving, just listening to Mad Dog talking about, “The moment you set foot in here,” etc.

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: FP AND ALICE BOOOOOIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!! missing is the implied scene where Alice called FP to “get over here” so they can “talk to our kids” “together”

50 Shades of Betty: Betty tries hard to communicate with only her left eyebrow, fails

am I imagining a callback to Alice assuming Jughead was the one who railroaded Betty into looking at Jason Blossom? Alice’s stance on Jughead is too exhausting to track

Alice is certainly wearing a sheer floral peasant blouse she would NOT have worn the previous two seasons, SUSPICIOUS

Places Bughead are Not Fucking: Betty’s room

Gay?!: Archie’s incredulous delight at Reggie having helped picked out his RHS-themed sneakers; the Bulldogs are all about that #threestripelife

Veronica was rich: “FRESH KICKS”

Moose is apparently a “straight beast,” if you will

one of these Serpents is holding two playing cards, just chilling and holding two playing cards. I hope his prison name is like SNAKE EYES or THE JOKER

that Ghoulie dude is so striking and elongated, I swear to God he looks like John Travolta in Grease. that undercut, the well-oiled curls on top? can he be Josie’s fall fling?

God bless jingle-jangle: can you DROP OUT of fourth grade? doesn’t the state come for you, what the fuck?

I unironically love Archie’s plan. I fucking love it

“YOU’VE NEVER KNOWN THE EPIC HIGHS AND LOWS”—ARCHIE—YOU’RE A FUCKING SAVANT

I’m looking for other good haircuts in the background. one dude has a solid Wakanda-era Bucky Barnes and there’re slicked up curls aplenty. this juvie is like a candy box

you know this bitch loves a rack focus, especially onto prison wardens

Please protect Betty: “It’s chamomile, Betty. Calm down.”

FREAKISHLY good micromoment of Alice just like wiping away an eyelash or something

aloud, with witnesses, I said “This is like when they first held hands, am I right?” and then Betty said the “kind of reminds me of when we first started dating,” just to prove to you I HAVE seen every episode

Betty calmly checking in with Jughead re: Satan’s Reindeer

he’s most certainly Ethel on stilts (I’m very bad at predicting), but I love the Gargoyle King. he’s just the right mix of she-puts-you-in-the-corner and herky-jerky T-Rex, plus she put paint on him or whatever, in case somebody put a flashlight beam on him? Ethel fucking Muggs or whoever

love the sexy noir diner lighting and I will die loving it

Jughead eats: a toothpick

Day Three Juvie Coif: back at it, flush with victory; firm and wavy

Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: I do wish Cheryl were not so permanently a good guy. I wish she wanted to be Student Body President, all of a sudden, so badly that she was trying to keep Archie in juvie so he could never reclaim his throne, like if she were Scar

Kevin’s magenta polo has a subtle wave print

I hope the RROTC is somehow rotting from the inside, like the Adventure Scouts or Aquaholics

The female gaze: Archie’s cranking out push-ups and Mad Dog is doing tricep dips to warm up, for the game and “other business,” respectively. sometimes I like to do tricep dips too, usually for forty-five seconds while I’m waiting for the microwave to reheat my Kraft Thick N’ Creamy

Archie’s “What the hell are you to him?” is maybe his most astute query into something not being right that doesn’t include his remarkable quickness on the uptake of Jughead at the end of season one (I HAVE seen every episode)

These students are legally children: what the fuck did Mad Dog do that he’s been sentenced to like 25 years in prison? he’s a minor for God’s sake. get on this, Veronica

Places Bughead are Fucking: the fucking woods

catch me hightailing it the fuck out of there when Betty and Jughead do anything that even remotely resembles opening a circular hatch to ANYTHING out in a fucking forest clearing and peering down inside. BYE BITCHES YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN!!!!!

someone in the writer’s room at even only one point said the phrase “like in True Detective” while unspooling this yarn

Fifth period is AP English: I have to take Jughead’s word for it that there’re any bunkers in any Philip K. Dick novel

I am STILL salty that the Swords & Serpents thing IS NOT THE SAME THING as THIS RPG and that it was wholly abandoned. I can’t believe we’re not doing Jughead being sucked into the RPG cult and Betty have to haul him out SIMULTANEOUSLY with her mother being sucked into the postpartum cult and having to haul HER out

“He’s also featured prominently on this copper coin.”

y’all can just buy cyanide like that, in that glass growler? it has a “reliable prescription” sticker on it, WTF?

“Drink from the correct cup and ascend to the kingdom” is definitely ripped from one of the tracks on that Avenged Sevenfold album I bought at Borders freshman year

Jughead doubts it: “OR SOMETHING EVEN MORE INSIDIOUS”

I fucking knew that Adventure Scout was gonna be under that fucking cot but it still scared the crap out of me because The Haunting of Hill House exhausted my reserves

I’m going to come out and say that I’ve never cared for Charmed and I’m not watching the reboot. however I am exceedingly ready for Sabrina

“Princess Etheline”

guys, I found the “Jailhouse Rock” dance charming, especially the implication that the boys started the game up again in the middle to like, show off for the girls. am I getting soft in my old age?

Josie’s VERY bright blue eyeshadow

Cheryl’s hair: Cheryl had to have been influenced by the trend started pre-2012 in So You Think You Can Dance wherein dancers with very long hair just leave it down

Hiram…..Archie’s in jail. what else do you want? like, he’s IN JUVIE

am I out of my fucking mind or is Hiram wearing a pin that is PSYCHOTICALLY close to being the Hydra hydra?

Archie overtaking the first few guards with those slow-mo crosses until they finally beat him down by their sheer numbers was basically a scene from Spartacus: War of the Damned

Betty’s bug print is cute while being, subconsciously, slightly unsettling; this is true for Betty as a whole

Ethel’s mustard yellow cotton cardigan has some sort of flower print on its back? COOL

I would like to extend a hearty “fuck off with that for fucking me” to whoever blocked out seizing-Ethel whipping her arm up like that with her jacked hand JUST LIKE IN HEREDITARY. FUCK OFF!, and I mean it

“Damn good coffee”: Evelyn has just the sort of niche superpower I wish I could have: to fuck with other people’s social interactions from a casual remove

Jughead is remarkably polite with 911, much calmer than with the desk nurse after Fangs got shot (I HAVE seen every episode)

(Hereditary was much better than Hill House)

Best costume bit: Monica Posh is hot

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: Kevin wants that dick SO BADLY that he has JOINED THE ARMY (or whatever)

how did Pop’s lighting manage to glide all the way over to L&L?

Day Four Juvie Coif: slept on but still truckin’

Archie can only be fucking imagining what is about to happen to him (Archie has definitely seen Fight Club, and Jughead had to explain how it was satire)

Certified pedigree: LEGENDARY SQUAD OF PARENTS!!!!!! Hermione’s getting the band back together à la It

Penelope Blossom has gone full Victorian goth in that floor-length lace Chicago black widow number

“At the mere mention of ‘blue lips,’” Jughead wrote, “a shiver frissoned around the room.”

you can tell Alice is in a hippie cult because not only is she wearing crystals but she has stopped wearing eye makeup (I could never be in this sort of cult because if I don’t smear kohl all over them I look like I have tiny eyes; I am sensitive about this)

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: the reveal of Ben in the window, bathed in the blue glow of Pop’s diner, was like, ~chills~

“You’ll fly too” is of course also It, which, FUCK OFF

NEXT WEEK: I could be very fucking wrong about this but FP has a tattoo on his left pec that may very well be of a jellybean

[romanticatheart-posts]

King Sized Revelations - Part 6

In this chapter: It’s the conclusion of the summit and while Liam is there finishing up the last few details, Catherine spends time with her long lost grandfather where he confronts her about a secret she’s been keeping. She meets Liam for an afternoon of adventure and then later, she finds the perfect way to teach him a lesson... one he’ll never forget.

Master List

Pairings: Liam and MC (Catherine) NSFW

Pixelberry owns all characters except the ones I have created for this story.

Tags: @umccall71 @3pawandme @indiacater @katurrade @lodberg @heatherfilliez @eadanga @missevabean @furiousherringoperatortoad @flowerpowell @cheeseedreams47 @tornbetween2loves @smalltalk88  @hopefulmoonobject @stopforamoment

You stand in front of Ely not quite prepared to answer his question… there are so many things to consider. You wanted to get Liam’s input before divulging this information to Ely, but fate had a different plan. Ely awaits your answer… not sure if you heard him the first time, he asks again… 

“Catherine? Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

“Oh… I guess I should have mentioned it...” “So, it is true? Liam is king of some European country and… well, that makes you the queen, right? I’m still trying to figure out why you didn’t mention it last night...”

You pause for a moment, taking a deep breath then your eyes meet Ely’s. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just... when people realize who we are, it tends to be the main focus of conversation, and I didn’t want that… I mean, we just found each other, and I have so many questions. I just wanted to keep things simple… at least for a while.” “Not that it matters either way, because it doesn’t change the fact that you are my granddaughter... but it certainly explains your peculiar ‘assistant’...” 

Ely does the air quotes on the last word and you grin sheepishly. 

“I wondered why you didn’t object when she started snooping around… I would have told you everything eventually… but it just seemed easier...” “I’m not judging and I’m sure you had your reasons but imagine my surprise and relief. After all these years of worrying and praying that you were happy and healthy...” 

Ely laughs. 

“What’s so funny?” “I just thought about how I damn near pitched a whole pot of coffee when I heard Liam’s name mentioned… it was almost a disaster...” “Oh no...” “I said almost... I only lost a few drops… You know, I sensed something different about Liam, but I never imagined this. You two are not at all the way I would have pictured royalty. I guess things have changed over the years… in the old days, you’d never see a king and queen out and about, unless it was some grand event with mounds of people surrounding them… but not in a bar with common folk…” “Well, we aren’t your average royal couple… how can we effectively rule a kingdom if we stay closed up from its people? I’m glad things have changed, it makes what we do so much easier and not to mention more effective and just as rewarding. And besides, Liam and I are people too, so shouldn’t we be able to enjoy what life has to offer as well?” “You have a point… Seems like you two have it all figured out.”  “Liam is a wonderful king who cares about his people, and that makes him the most regarded of all Monarchs. I am proud to be his queen and most of all, his wife. For every challenge we face, the opportunity for us to grow as a nation and as a couple is multiplied. I couldn’t ask for a better life than the one Liam has given me.” “Queen Catherine. I’m not sure I can get used to that.” “I’m still just Catherine but… I do take my role seriously though. There’s more to it than just prestige or glory… it’s a responsibility, a duty to serve the needs of others.” “Oh, I’m sure. Making decisions for a whole country… well, it’s not a concept that most of us could even grasp… but I’m sure there are perks too.” “That’s true. We have a lot of support in our efforts, but that doesn’t mean we overindulge or take advantage. Liam and I try very hard to remain grounded because we are passionate about keeping true not only to our people but to ourselves.” “Your modest upbringing doesn’t seem to have influenced the way you look at the world and for that I’m thankful.  “Well, since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world and bring a little happiness to it.” “Catherine, you are so much like your mother… I don’t doubt that you will.” 

You smile at Ely and he gives you a wistful look. 

“Elizabeth would have been proud of you… I’m just sorry she’ll never get the opportunity to see it for herself…” “I know... from what you’ve said, she was pretty special… I just hope I get to learn more about her and my father…” “I look forward to sharing those memories with you Catherine... and making new ones too.”  

For a moment you both reflect on the circumstances and then smile at each other. 

“Well, now that you know who I am, how are you going to handle the publicity when word gets out? The press can be… relentless.” “Oh, don’t worry about that. I was head of public relations at my old job… And if there’s one thing I know, it’s how to handle the press, but… would it be alright if I told a few of my friends before the media runs with it? It might just solve a little problem…” “What kind of problem?” “Well… there’s this buddy of mine, Sam Keller. He’s a good fella but he never stops talking about his sister’s kid. He’s some hot shot lawyer in the states who get a lot of attention from all these high-profile cases. I gotta say it’s pretty impressive, but also annoying at the same time… And well, this might just shut him up for a while…”

Ely grins contentedly as he considers his own words. 

“Won’t they think you’re annoying too?” “I doubt it, but I don’t care anyway. Maybe I just want to brag a little too… I mean, I’m proud to have found you but to be able to say my granddaughter is royalty... that’s just icing on the cake.” “Well… don’t play me up too much... I’d hate for them to be disappointed when they meet me…” 

There is a knock on the door and Ely finds Mara waiting on the other side. Once you and Ely have said your goodbye’s you head to the hotel where the limo is waiting and then the venue to meet Liam. Upon arrival, you see groups of people filing out of the old historical building… Liam is one of the last ones to exit followed by the few guards that stayed behind. Mara opens the door for him and he scoots in placing his briefcase on one of the empty seats and with a smile, he wraps an arm around you, kissing you. 

“Have you been waiting long my love?” “We just got here. So how was it?” “As expected but… why don’t we focus more on our afternoon together?” “Okay. What did you have in mind?” “Well first, I’d like to change into something a bit less conspicuous…” “Do you want to go back to the hotel?” “No, I had something else planned… Mara what’s the status on the… arrangements?” “The conditions are ideal, Your Majesty. It’s all set.” “Perfect.” 

Liam turns to you with a smile. 

“So, what conditions are we talking about?” “It’s a surprise, but we’ll both need warmer clothing… and for safety purposes, something non-flammable.” “Oh my God! What are you getting us into?” 

Liam laughs. 

“It’s an adventure. But one I’m sure we’ll never forget.” “Should I be worried…” 

Liam wraps his arm around you holding you close. 

“You’ll just have to trust me, my queen.” 

You pull up to a small clothing shop that has been closed specifically for your arrival. After going inside, you each find something warm to wear and once dressed, Liam pays the shopkeeper and thank’s him, apologizes for any inconvenience and then you head out. 

“I’m all for an adventure Liam, but I’d really like to know where we are going… if you’re finished messing with me.” “Alright my love. I suppose I can fill you in now.” 

He gazes at you happily. 

“We are going on a private Hot Air Balloon ride over central Switzerland with our own personal tour guide!” “Seriously? I’ve never been in a Hot Air Balloon before! This sounds like fun.” “I was hoping you’d be as excited about it as I am. I wanted us to experience it for the first time together.” “So when did this idea strike you?” “This morning while... ahem, taking my shower. I asked Mara to take care of the details.” “So, you thought about taking me… uh, us to new heights?” 

Liam smiles playfully at you. 

“You could say that…” 

After a short ride, you arrive at the destination and there are several balloons inflated and ready to ascend. You are met by a tour guide and given instructions for what to expect during the flight as well as the ascent and eventual landing. Once fitted with a safety helmet, you climb the stairs and into the capsule with Liam close behind. 

“I can’t wait to get an aerial view of Switzerland.” “Me too. The mountains, the lakes… it will almost be as beautiful as you.” 

You wrap your arms around Liam, leaning into him and he places his arm around your waist as you await the pilot to start the ascent. Liam watches the crew prepare the craft, taking mental notes on every detail as if he is going to be tested later. You smile, knowing he’s enjoying this part as much as he will the journey ahead. After smoothly ascending high in the air, you and Liam stand arm in arm watching as the majestic scenery unfolds before you. 

“Wow! This is amazing…” “It certainly is…” 

For most of the trip, you spend in silent awe of the three hundred and sixty degrees of spectacular, with an occasional burst from the burner and a few clicks from the camera on your phone. The tour guide only speaking when a landmark comes into view, giving the history of each. You and Liam share periodic smiles and after a few hours of floating peacefully above the landscape, it’s time for the descent. As the pilot allows the balloon to fall slowly into an open field, you catch one last magical view of the sun setting over the horizon. You take another picture. As the last ray of light fades behind the mountains, you and Liam take that moment to savor a kiss.

“You are so beautiful, Catherine...” “Liam...” 

The ground crew is already waiting when the capsule touches down and before the balloon begins to fall, you and Liam are quickly escorted out and led to the back of a truck where a small table with snacks and champagne have been set up. As part of the tour package, you get to watch as the crew opens the balloon’s envelope, allowing it to deflate gracefully before you. 

“That was incredible.” “It’s so peaceful up there… And you were right, I’ll never forget it.” “I’m just glad I could see it with you…” “Me too.” 

You clink your glasses together and then take a sip. When you’ve had your fill of wine and snacks, you lean back against Liam as you watch the crew carefully roll the balloon into a ‘package’ and then place it in the back of another truck. Soon after, you are whisked back to the starting point where Mara and the other guards await to depart.

“It’s still early, is there anything special you’d like to do tonight?” “To be honest Liam, I wouldn’t mind just spending some quiet time with you, if that’s okay. Maybe we could call room service and watch a movie.” “Alright my love. There are a few things I need to add to my report after the conclusion of the summit today... but after that, I’m all yours.” 

After arriving at the hotel and riding the elevator up to your suite, Liam goes straight to the desk and opens the laptop. You place your purse down and walk over to him. 

“Before we get settled in for the night, I’m going to take a bath.” 

You lean down, kissing Liam on the cheek. He smiles as you trot off to the bathroom. Once finished, you put on your pajama’s and head into the sitting room where Liam still sits at the desk plugging away on his computer.  

“Do you want me to call room service?” 

Without looking up he responds. 

“That would be appreciated. I’m almost finished.” “Okay. Any special requests?” “No, you decide. I trust it will be delicious.” 

You retrieve the room service menu and find your selection, then call to place the order. 

 “They said it would be at least thirty minutes.” 

Liam pointedly hits the last few keystrokes and watches as you sit on the couch across the room. He smiles and walks over to sit beside you where he wraps an arm around your shoulder, then places a tender kiss on your lips. 

“That will give me just enough time to kiss my lovely wife and then take a quick shower.” 

He leans down laying a trail of kisses on your neck and you let out a gentle moan. 

“Liam…” “Mmmm… you smell good.” “I did just take a bath...” 

His lips find yours and the kiss is passionate. He melts into the embrace and for several minutes your mouths never part, but when they do, you are both breathless. 

“I may have to make that a cold shower…” 

Before you can respond, he kisses you again… pulling you onto his lap, his hand caressing the curve of your breast as you moan in pleasure. 

“Oh, Liam…” 

His kisses trail down your neck and your head falls back, immersed in his touch… his warm breath on your skin sending chills up and down your spine. Suddenly he stops… 

“Liam… don’t stop…” “I’m sorry love. It’s not as though I want to, but with room service on the way…” “You shouldn’t get me going like that if you’re not going to finish…” “Just consider it a prelude for later…” 

You give him a pouty look, trying to hide a smile. 

“You shouldn’t tease me like that.” “I’m sorry love, that was not my intention. It’s just so hard to resist you sometimes...” “Apparently it’s not too difficult...”

Liam reluctantly lifts you from his lap, sliding you back on the sofa. He leans down and kisses you tenderly. 

“I’ll make it up to you my queen. I promise.” 

After his shower, Liam comes out wearing only lounge pants and sits on the sofa next to you. Room service has been delivered and you have already placed everything on the table in front of the sofa as he reaches for it eagerly. 

“Thank you, love. This looks delicious.” “You’re welcome…” 

You locate the remote and turn on the television. After a few clicks of the channel button, you find a movie, then sit back enjoying the light meal. 

“What movie is this?” “I’m pretty sure it’s called ‘Born of Distinction’.” “Oh, have you seen it before?” “Yeah once, back in New York.” “Did you like it?” “Yeah, it has a great storyline. I don’t remember too much about it... Do you want to watch something else?” “Not necessarily… do you?” 

You know Liam so well. His ideal ‘movie’ is more of a documentary or history type film and this one is probably not his cup of tea. You gingerly hand him the remote.

“Here, if you don’t like this one then switch it to something you like. I don’t really have a preference.” “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I’m sure.” “Well, I can at least see what it’s about since you liked it so well.”

Liam takes the remote and places it on the arm of the couch without switching the channel. By the time you have both finish the meal, Liam is completely absorbed in the movie now and doesn’t even notice that you have removed all evidence of the existence of food. You return to the sofa and lay down, with your head in his lap. He takes your hand and without even a blink of his eyes, he brings it to his lips, kissing it gently. His gaze never leaves the television screen. 

You smile inside, as a playfully devious plan unfolds in your mind… 

You sit up from his lap, dramatically pulling the front of your shirt back and forth as though you’re suddenly overcome by heat. Liam doesn’t notice… at least not yet. 

“Is it a little warm in here to you?” “I… I hadn’t noticed. Maybe it was something you ate.” 

He doesn’t even glance in your direction... his eyes fixed on the movie. You rise from the sofa and head to the kitchen retrieving a bottle of ice cold water from the fridge. When you come back you plop onto the couch, causing Liam to turn in your direction. 

“Catherine, are you alright?” “Yeah, I’m just… so hot all of a sudden… Whew… I’ll be alright though. Let’s just watch the movie…” 

He nods an okay and then turns back to the television. You sigh loudly and take a sip of water… it drizzles down your chin, your neck and then finally soaks into your shirt. 

“Oooh…” 

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Liam’s attention goes from the screen back to you a couple of times and finally settles on the movie. 

“(Just a little more…)” 

You lay back into the opposite corner of the sofa, propping yourself up on a pillow. You position your legs to emphasize your curves, and with your eyes closed you take another sip of the cold water, letting more of it trickle down your chest. You rub over your shirt seductively as the water absorbs into the fabric, becoming translucent and clinging to your breasts… a slight moan escapes your lips… 

“Wow…” “Catherine?” 

You look over at Liam and he swallows hard as his gaze sweeps from your face to your wet shirt. His face is flushed, and his lounge pants reveal a growing desire. The movie is all but forgotten. 

“(Yes! Time to ramp it up!)” 

He continues to watch biting his lower lip, as you remove your shirt and then stand up and shimmy slowly out of your pants. You lay back on the cushions with nothing on but your underwear and focus your attention to the television. Liam slides closer, laying down beside you and pulls you against him. When you look in his eyes, there is a hunger like you’ve never seen before. He kisses you hard and his hand expeditiously move from your waist and then upward, grasping the curve of your breast, moaning slightly. After a few moments, and with great effort, you suddenly pull back… looking into his pleading eyes. 

“I want you, Catherine… Oh God, how I want you…” “I can’t... what about the movie...?” “But… you can’t expect me to...” 

His smile fades as an obvious look of defeat takes its place. That is all the punishment you can deliver… He starts to move away but you pull him back, tracing a finger down his chest slowly... your eyes meet and in a low sultry voice, you begin to speak... 

“I’ll make it up to you my king… I promise…” 

His eyes brighten and then he smiles knowingly. 

“You did all that on purpose, didn’t you?” “Maybe...” “I suppose I did deserve it, but that performance, wow! All I can say is, damn you’re good!” “And... what about this?” 

You reach around his neck and pull him into a passionate kiss, wrapping your arms and legs around him. After a few moments, he breaks the kiss, smiling. 

“That’s good too… but do you know what would be even better?” “Yeah, I do...”

Without another word, he stands up, lifting you off the sofa and into his arms as he carries you to the bedroom, placing you on the bed. He slowly pulls off your underwear, then removes his pants as he climbs in stopping at your waist, his eyes sweeping your body and then his gaze meets yours. 

“You weren’t wrong...” “About what…?” “You are hot…” “And what are going to do about that?”

By way of an answer, he bends down dropping kisses on your stomach and then works his way down… he slowly parts your legs as he sinks his head inward. His mouth grazing your skin gently and his tongue probing… he takes his time, giving you a pleasure like you’ve never known… your body shivering at his every touch… before long, waves of pleasure begin to flow… 

“Oh, Liam…” 

You feel him smile against your skin as he slides up, kissing every inch of you until he reaches your lips. You pull him close and eagerly take him inside you. His hips moving slowly against yours… your bodies rise and fall together in unison as an energy increases within you. 

Soon a euphoric state of consciousness washes over as you each surrender, one to the other… 

“I love you…” “I love… you…!” 

You lay entwined in each other’s arms until you both catch your breath and the trembling subsides.

“Catherine, that was incredible…” “Yeah, it was...”

He rubs your arm and sighs contentedly.

“I forgot to mention it, but I went to see Ely this morning.” “Oh yes. Tell me, how was your time together?” “It was great, but he found out about us.” “What do you mean?” “He knows we’re royalty…” 

Liam grins and takes your hand, placing it gently on his lips.  

“It’s not a secret my love…” “I know that, but I didn’t want him to know just yet.” “Why is that?” “I guess I just thought it would complicate things and he would think he had to act differently... And I’m just getting to know him so I thought if he knew, it would change the way he treated us.” “Did he treat you differently?”

“Not at all... I suppose I worried for nothing.” “I understand your reasons, but he was going to learn the truth eventually.” “I know, but things were going so great…and then he showed me old pictures of family... my family… Do you know how exciting it was for me to finally get some closure?” “I can only imagine... I know how important this is to you, Catherine… and I’m happy you two could spend the morning together. ” “It meant a lot to me…” 

Liam kisses your cheek. 

“Of course it did love… I can’t even fathom what you’ve been through.” “I asked him about us three spending the day together tomorrow and he said it was a great idea. He wants to have as much time with us as he can before we have to go back home.” “I’m sure you two have a lot more to talk about, and I’m happy to tag along. Any ideas for this outing?” “No, but it should be somewhere relaxed... you know, so we can all talk.” “Since he’s lived here for a while, maybe he has some ideas.” “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll give him a call first thing tomorrow.” “Sounds good, my love.” 

You yawn. 

“Well, it’s obvious that my queen needs her rest... so let’s clean up and then get some sleep, shall we?” “Yeah, I’m kind of tired, but I really enjoyed going up in the balloon with you today. It was perfect.” “Every moment with you always is...” 

He smiles, kissing you sweetly on the lips and then gets out of bed, extending his hand to you. You take it and he leads you into the bathroom. After returning to bed, you curl up next to him where he pulls the covers around both of you and kisses you tenderly. 

“Good night my queen.” “Good night my king.” 

Soon, you are both fast asleep.

As morning breaks and the sun, beams through the curtains of the window, you yawn and stretch reaching for Liam, but his side of the bed is empty. After a few moments, you sit up rubbing your eyes and blink a few times trying to focus on the surroundings. Across the room you see him, sitting in a chair slightly bent forward with his head in his hands. When he hears you stirring, he looks up and you see a troubled expression on his face.

“Liam…?” 

You rush out of bed and go straight to him. You place your hand on his shoulders and then kneel in front of him as he pulls you into a tight embrace. 

“Liam, what’s wrong?” “I’m not… I don’t even know how to say it…” “Okay, now you’ve got me worried… Is this about your father?” 

He looks down at your hands and then back to your eyes. Searching for the right words, he swallows hard and then sighs. 

“No, no... it’s not that... it’s Ely…”

In the next chapter:  Liam’s past is brought to light, but he isn’t handling it very well. Can Catherine give him the support he needs to overcome his inner demons?

And will she finally get to finish reading the letter from Liam’s belated mother, which is still tucked into her desk drawer back at the palace?

Stay tuned!

[a-crow-ready-for-a-murder]

Reading Material Part 12

Here’s part 12. No warnings. I did see the season 2 finale but just kind of bear with me here

“Hi, uhm...we managed to get Fred, Archie and the others”

“So quickly?”

“What can I say? Hiram’s a very unlikeable person”

WIth a shrug Allison grabbed her coat and followed Jughead to the trailer where she found that he was right. In the trailer were Fred and Archie Andrews, Alice and Betty Cooper, and the former sheriff Tom Keller. Upon her entering Betty looked down and Alice glared

“Allison Godrich” she said

Allison sighed, Betty must have told her about their meeting

“Hello Alice” she said resignedly

“What’s this about F.P? You said something about taking down Hiram Lodge” said Fred

“Yeah, what’s the plan?” asked Archie eagerly

F.P who was standing not far away from the group pointed at Allison

“It starts with her, Hiram hired her to tail me”

The group looked at Allison suspiciously

“Originally yes”

“Then why is she here?” demanded Alice

“Because she switched loyalties” said F.P

“You can’t trust a private eye F.P everyone knows that” snapped Alice

“Funny I always heard that about reporters” said Allison

Before Alice could go off on a tangent the trailer door opened and in walked Veronica Lodge

“Sorry I’m late, there was…” Veronica looked at Allison and her sentence trailed off into a different one “What is she doing here?”

Allison took a deep breath

“Aren’t you supposed to be spying on mr. Jones?”

“Ronnie she and F.P think they can take down your dad” said Archie

Veronica looked unsure

“So what is this plan” asked Betty shyly

“Well, I…” started Allison

“Allison is gonna dig things up on Hiram, the report back, I’ll play bait to keep Hiram off our trail” said F.P

“That’s a bold move” said Fred but it sounded more like a warning

“It could be dangerous” said Tom

“What does this have to do with us?” asked Alice

“We need people who can help out what I find” said Allison “Someone with influence in the town, a law enforcer people trust and someone who won’t be afraid to expose Hiram’s secrets”

The group looked at each other for a moment

“Well that works, my dad was almost mayor, everyone loves him” said Archie

“I may not be sheriff anymore but I think I can pull some strings” said Tom

“And mom is one of the most ruthless reporters here”

“But what about us?” asked Archie

“We’re eyes, ears and back up” said Jughead

“I don’t want you kids too close to this, like Tom said, it could be dangerous” said F.P

“Yeah but we’ve dealt with dangerous things before” said Archie

“It’s true” said Betty

“F.P’s right, this is a big fight and it’s better if you stay in the background” said Fred

“I second that” said Alice

At least Alice had the wellbeing in mind. The teenagers looked dejected

“Hey” said Allison “You’re basically running reconnaissance, observing the enemy and helping strategize his downfall, don’t look so sad this is important, without it we might miss something important”

“And what, pray tell, will I be doing?” asked Veronica as if she already knew what they were going to ask her

“Well…” started Allison

“Who better than a Lodge to find out what’s going on in the Lodge house” said Jughead

“Of course”

“Come on Ronnie, you want to take down your dad as much as we do” said Archie

Veronica rolled her eyes and sighed

“I guess, but what about my mom?”

She was referring to the current mayor Hermione Lodge, who’d been Hiram’s accomplice on many accounts

“If I can keep her out of the crossfire, I will” said Allison

She knew Veronica had a strong bond with her mother, and it would likely devastate her if she had to lose both parents, that is if it went that far.  Veronica seemed to relax a little at that

“All right, I’ll do it” she said

Allison nodded

“So what do we do in the meantime, while you’re digging things up?” asked Fred

“I’d say go about your lives so as not to raise suspicion”

“No that won’t do” said Alice

“She’s right, we can do more than that and we’ll have to, sitting around waiting won’t help at all” said Tom

Before Allison could protest Archie chimed in

“You can start preparing for when the information comes in, arguments and stuff”

“Yeah and making sure the evidence is backed up” said Betty

Allison was about to tell them why this was a bad idea but was cut off by Tom

“We should also attorney Mccoy in on this, in case we have to go to trial”

“Uhm…” started Allison

F.P put a hand on her shoulder then said

“Guys let’s not go overboard here, if we kick up too much dust Hiram will suspect something”

There was a brief pause for thought

“That is true, we’ll have to be quiet about all of this” said Fred

“Agreed, but we should meet up and discuss findings so we’re all prepared” said Alice

“I couldn’t agree more” said Allison

“So it’s settled?” asked Fred

“I think so” said F.P

“Let’s do it” said Archie

“I’ll let the serpents know” said Jughead

Betty crossed her arms and nodded

“When do we start?”

“I vote as soon as possible” said Alice

Allison shrugged

“Okay”

As everyone left F.P tapped Allison’s shoulder

“Good move with the reconnaissance speech”

“Thanks” replied Allison

“Military family?”

“Just an uncle, when we played outside we used military terms as code to throw off the other kids, I was just reminded of it now”

“Clever”

The rest of the day Allison researched Hiram’s past and present dealings. She had a hard time finding anything that related back to him but she was not giving up. Hiram needed to be stopped. Her research went until midnight when she decided to take a break and sleep, figuring she could start up again in the morning.

Over the next few days the group got together and discussed things they’d heard for Allison to look into, types of arguments they could use in case they needed to go to court. Attorney Mccoy took notes and made sure to be prepared for whatever argument came their way. Alice and Betty did some investigating of their own and managed to give Allison some insight on things that could lead her to more information. The serpents and bulldogs took to the streets and listened for anything and everything. All seemed to be going fine and Allison was beginning to feel hopeful for this case. The more they worked together the more side she saw to F.P. He was hard working, clever and while boisterous at times, he had a way about him that you didn’t question.

While working late night cases, the two would find themselves talking about more than just the case.

“So why investigating?”

“I like learning, and my major tends to be people”

“So why not a shrink?”

“You kidding? That’s an hour of listening to people look for the solution right in front of them, everyday”

He laughed

“What about you?” she asked “Why a biker gang?”

“It was just kind of, handed down to me and then I ended up leading it before I knew it”

“Must have been stressful”

“Oh yeah, like you wouldn’t believe”

“Well you didn’t do too poorly, only most of them have been arrested”

He laughed again

“Not my fault there”

“I mean”

Allison tried not to laugh as he gave her a dirty look

“Watch it” he warned playfully

She looked away with a small laugh

“The more I get to know you the less scary you get”

“Oh is that right?” he asked as he walked over to her

“What are you doing?” she asked

He didn’t say anything as he closed the distance between them

“So you’re not scared of me?”

“I didn’t say that, but I’m getting there”

He was inches away from her now. F.P nodded and then grabbed her arms, pulling her forward. Then he ducked down to waist level and pushed his shoulder forward making her lean over his shoulder. He then proceeded to stand full height as she shrieked in surprise and carry her to the couch where he threw her down

“You jerk!” she shouted in between laughs

F.P doubled over in laughter as she got up and threw one of the couch pillows at him.

[dablesretrospective]

2010 - Dables - Pretty Ugly

Time to get back to what I created this tumblr for, which was blogging liner notes for the CDs I have released as Dables in order. This is Pretty Ugly, my 4th album and definitely the first Dables album most people heard because shortly after it came out is when I started performing regularly. During this era, 2009-2010, I was still performing solo, but instead of just playing improvised noise or electronic music, I started playing songs more songs from my albums using a set up similar to Ween or Big Black. I played electric guitar and sang while my Tascam Portastudio was plugged straight into the PA, playing the pre-recorded bass and drum machine parts. I played my first “electric” show this way in December 2009 in Fountain Inn, SC at a house party with Coma Cinema and it went over extremely well. I played mostly songs from the “14 Songs” album, and a few from this disc.

Released on February 3 2010, this album was conceived as a concept album to mix pretty pop songs with ugly noise songs. The idea was to go back and forth, first track being a pretty pop song, the next being an experimental or weird/off-putting/ugly noise song. The cover illustrates this concept with combining the beauty of a sunflower, placed in an ugly toilet. That is also actually my real toilet, from my parent’s house, with plastic flowers inside of it. I took the picture and sent it to my friend Victoria Ferrer, who runs The Black Lodge, a subculture get together at various local clubs. She edited it for me, writing the text on it and coloring the background around the toilet black, and turning the flowers red instead of yellow, and I think she did an absolutely fabulous job and I love her for it. My friend/occasional-partner-in-crime with Slacker Pop Records Micheal Keller, of the band Satan in Bondage, helped me put together the inner artwork including the lyrics, and he paid to help me print and make over 50 physical copies, and he helped distribute it so I also owe a huge thanks to him. Listening back to this album reminds me of what was going on in my life at the time. I was working at a Kangaroo Express gas station, and came in one day to find out my store manager and good friend Russell Folk had committed suicide the night before. I was extremely shocked and upset by this and I ended up walking out on my shift, and quitting the job on the spot. It was my first day back from a two week vacation and I couldn’t handle the responsibility of having to be the one to tell customers who came into the store who were asking me, “Where’s Russell?" all day so after about an hour of my shift, I just up and left. I went home and wrote "Song For Russell”, which didn’t make it onto this disc but ended up on a future one called “Stuff Volume 2”. I spent the next two weeks frantically recording songs to help escape from the depression caused by the death of such a close friend. I had known Russell for over 2 years, and saw him about 5 times a week and we had become very close. This disc is most definitely dedicated to his memory, and I recorded it as therapy to help cope with my first experience of death. Besides my great-grandmother, who I wasn’t very close to, Russell was the first person I knew well to die. I still miss him very much, and this disc will always remind me of him. Anyways, on to the songs themselves.

‘Boredumb’ is one of the most popular Dables songs. It has been performed at every single show since that first electric show December 2009. Funny that this one is such a fan favorite because it took me less than hour to write and record it to completion. However this song is sort of a loose rip-off musically of Flies on My Dick by Ween. It has minimal guitar, slow, plodding drum machine, monotone vocals, and quirky lead guitar breakdown just like that song does. Although I like to think I did my own thing with that formula and I wouldn’t say this song an out-right rip-off, just inspired by the formula of Ween.

'Sober and Bored’ was the first track recorded for this album and the title and music itself was inspired by The Boredoms.

'Hang Around’ came out extra poppy because The Beatles remasters had just came out and I was listening to them non-stop and wanted to do a song with “doo-wahs” vocals on it. Besides a short, sloppy, semi-solo on the song “Who Are You?” from Slacker Pop, this track was the first “real” guitar solo I ever put on a song and I’m still pretty proud of it and I think I nailed it on the second take. Prior to this, I was pretty opposed to doing guitar solos.  Never performed an electric version of this song live before, but I’ve played it at acoustic shows several times.

'Live Forever’ was my attempt to emulate The Melvins, although it sounds little like them. The odd lyric “I want to lick your knees” was inspired by a porno I saw where a girl was blowing a guy and said “I wanna lick your knees” and proceeded to lick his kneecaps for a few minutes. I thought that was odd and hilarious so I put it in this song. The lyric “I want to see the end cause you know it will start again” means that if a person were to live forever, they would witness the collapse of civilizations and empires, only to see them get rebuilt and start again.

Along with a fellow local band Hollow Body, 'An Exercise in Isolation’ as well as portions of 'Boredumb’ was later put on the soundtrack to local independent film, “WTF?”, a horror/comedy film made by Firefly Ink Productions about a group of people on a road trip who’s car breaks down and the person who picks them up off the side of the road who proceeds to slaughter them. Clips of the movie are available on youtube.

'This is Nothing’ was a bit of a jab at the poor work ethics of my fellow bandmates in my side-project DAN, about how they wanted to play shows really badly, but weren’t dedicated enough to practice regularly. Needless to say, DAN broke up about 6 months after Pretty Ugly came out after only playing 3 shows together, all but 1 were a disaster. Although we eventually made up and became friends again, after another year or two we fell back into the same drama and I haven’t spoken to either of them in about 7 years now and don’t plan on it either...but if either of them happen to read this, I have no hard feelings toward Sid and Clayton (there’s been too much drama and we can’t get along with each other anymore but I’m not mad at either of them) and I think the music we made together in DAN was some of the most creative and fun songs I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m proud of the recordings we made together and I wish them luck with their recent project, People of Mars.

'Loop 3’ is the third installment of tracks I create using my Boss Loop Station. The first one was on '14 Songs’, and the second was on 'Stuff Volume 1’. This is probably my least favorite and is definitely the laziest one and in hindsight should’ve been left off this album entirely. Loop 4 appears on the most recent self-titled album.

“She Don’t Dig Me” was the last song recorded for this album. This song was lyrics written probably 2 years prior that I never put music to. I lifted the vocal melody of this song from Get Me by Dinosaur Jr, although in the end it turned out  Listening back to it, the audio quality on this track is embarrassing, and I remember being very frustrated with mixing it, and eventually giving up and just releasing it as-is, with several glaring technical mistakes, that hopefully nobody can notice but me.

'108’ was an older recording, recorded shortly after finished 14 Songs, but was saved for this release. At 9 minutes and 32 seconds it is the longest track I have ever recorded.

------------------------------------

one pretty song, one ugly song. back and forth. that is the concept of Pretty Ugly. love and cringe as much as you can.                                                            

Released February 1, 2010                         All music written, performed, and recorded by David Walker Track 15 is a Daniel Johnston cover

1.Pretty Ugly 2.Boredumb 3.Did You See? 4.Sober and Bored 5.Hang Around 6.Live Forever 7.An Exercise in Isolation 8.An Exercise in Stupidity 9.This is Nothing 10.Loop 3 11.Mind’s Gone Blank 12.An Exercise in Laziness 13.Afterglow 14.She Don’t Dig Me 15.True Love Will Find You in The End 16.108

Download this album for free at:

https://dables.bandcamp.com/album/pretty-ugly

[cleem123]

could you do a fanfic of Kevin and Joaquin just hanging out together on a date night with them being the cute little beans they are. P.S. I love all your fanfics! I just read all of them they are absolutely wonderful!

Liars Never Prosper

Word Count: 1.2k

Genre: Mainly fluff, bit of angst

Warnings: mentions of gangs and homophobia, slight swearing

Read it on AO3

Note: I strayed slightly from the prompt, a bit of angst popped in, but it’s mainly fluffy. And thanks! I hope you like this one as much as the others.

Kevin’s dad always worked late on Tuesdays. The sheriff and his team would have meetings, straightening their priorities and discussing the week ahead of them. Joaquin took full advantage of this routine. He would pick Kevin up from school on his motorcycle, and they’d head back to Kevin’s place. Sometimes they would watch a movie, sometimes they would kiss on the couch, sometimes they would get take out, sometimes Kevin would cook, attempting to teach Joaquin along the way. No matter what, they always had a good time on these ‘date nights’.

It was on one of these Tuesday nights, they had kissed instead of watching a movie and ordered food instead of cooking, that it finally came up. It was gonna come up, there was no avoiding it, no matter how hard they tried. Joaquin just didn’t imagine that it would come up like this. He had imagined it coming up during an argument or when Kevin’s dad inevitably caught Joaquin sneaking out the back door. He hadn’t imagined it just…coming up. Like an everyday conversation. A casual conversation.

“Hey, Joaquin, can I ask you something?” Kevin shifted from his spot sitting on the floor eating his orange chicken. He sat down next to Joaquin on the couch.

“Well that’s an ominous question.” Joaquin responded, chuckling slightly. He tried to exude a casual air.

“Why are we hiding this?” Kevin made a gesture towards the two of them. “I mean, I’m not stupid, I get that my dad and your…family isn’t the best mix, but I just…” He trailed off.

Joaquin wasn’t quite sure how to answer Kevin. It wasn’t like Joaquin was ashamed of Kevin or anything, it was more that he was afraid. Not of Kevin, but of what would happen if the serpents knew about Kevin. If FP knew that Joaquin was dating the sheriff’s son, well, Joaquin didn’t want to even think about what would happen then. Kevin noticed Joaquin’s hesitation.

“I’m sorry. Forget about it. I don’t want to push you or anything.” Kevin began to move back down to the floor and his food.

“No, wait.” Joaquin said, reaching out and grabbing Kevin by the arm. Kevin turned and looked at Joaquin. There, in his eyes, was a kind of vulnerability that Joaquin had never seen from Kevin before. “Kev, it’s not you. I swear it’s not.”

Kevin hesitantly sat back down next to Joaquin on the couch, “Okay.. Well then what is it?”

Joaquin sighed. “I’m afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of you. Of this. Of, of the serpents.”

The last one seemed to catch Kevin’s attention, “I thought the serpents were okay with the fact that you were gay?”

This was it. This was Joaquin’s out. He didn’t have to tell Kevin about his fears of FP, about everything that he had done. He could just say that he was afraid of some southside homophobes. It was an perfect, easy lie, so why was Joaquin having such a hard time telling it?

“That’s not exactly what I’m afraid of Kev–”

“Damn it Joaquin.” Kevin sighed, but he didn’t seem angry. “I can’t believe I even asked you, I’m so dumb.” He brought his hand up to Joaquin’s face, gently rubbing his jaw with his thumb. “Of course, you need to stay safe. I’d rather be with you in secret then have you get threatened by some barbarian.” Kevin pressed a short kiss to Joaquin’s cheek, “I’m sorry” then he pressed his lips to Joaquin’s.

Joaquin leaned into the kiss wanting to get as close to Kevin as possible. How had he managed to land such a perfect boy? Kevin was smart and funny and understanding, and Joaquin was.. What was he? Right now, he felt like a shitty boyfriend. Sure he hadn’t actually lied to Kevin, but he hadn’t exactly told him the truth. Still, Kevin had jumped to that conclusion, he had tried to explain. Joaquin was rationalizing, he knew it. But he really didn’t want to think about it. Especially not when Kevin was climbing over him, straddling him and deepening the kiss further.

“Hmm, oh. Kevin.” Joaquin murmured. He brought his hand up from Kevin’s hips and to the back of his neck, curling his fingers into Kevin’s short hair. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Shh.” Kevin whispered. “Shut up and kiss me.” He paused for a split second before adding, “And take your hair down.”

Joaquin laughed and removed his hands from Kevin’s hair to bring them up to his own, pulling out the hair-tie and shaking his head a bit to free his hair. Kevin made a sound akin to a growl before tackling Joaquin so that he was now lying on the couch and kissing him, hard. Joaquin moved easily with Kevin smiling into the kiss and decidedly not thinking about FP or the serpents or anything that wasn’t Kevin Keller (plus, Joaquin was pretty sure that he would not be allowed to call himself a gay teen if he let FP Jones distract him from a makeout session with Riverdale’s hottest).

They stayed that way for a while, just groping and kissing on the Keller couch. They didn’t pull away until Kevin’s phone began to buzz.

“You gonna get that?” Joaquin asked, slightly out of breath. Kevin was kissing down his jawline and neck, determined to cover him in hickeys it seemed.

“Uh-uh” Kevin mumbled from Joaquin’s collarbone. Joaquin just chuckled. He almost let himself fall back into Kevin completely, but when he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of the caller ID. Quickly he pushed Kevin away from his neck.

“Shit. Kev, it’s your dad. You should answer it.” Joaquin maneuvered his way out from underneath Kevin and Kevin answered the phone.

“Hey Dad.” As Kevin began talking to Sheriff Keller, Joaquin began packing up, buttoning his shirt, pulling on his jacket and shoes, searching for his phone in the couch cushions.

“Uh-huh. Yup. It’s all okay Dad, I’ll see you soon. Bye.” Kevin sighed, hanging up the phone. He looked up at Joaquin, who was still preparing to leave. “Do you have to go?” Kevin pleaded.

“Do you really want me to meet your dad like this?”  He gestured to his disheveled appearance, “I think I oughta go.”

Kevin huffed, moving to the side of the couch so that he could lean over the arm and kiss Joaquin again. “My dad’ll like you. I promise.”

“Okay, you need to go to sleep. You’re talking crazy.”

“Just, let me pretend okay?” Kevin replied blissfully, “Let me pretend that my dad isn’t the sheriff and that some serpents aren’t homophobic and that all my friends knew and we could kiss wherever we wanted with no worries.” Joaquin felt a wave of guilt crash over him. Kevin just smiled and gave Joaquin one last kiss. “I’m happy with just pretending.”

As he rode back to the Southside, Joaquin lingered on Kevin’s words. Kevin was happy with pretending, so why should he feel bad? Maybe Joaquin’s lie–no, omission of truth–wasn’t a big deal. So what if it forced Kevin to lie to his dad and friends? Even Joaquin couldn’t rationalize it really. Joaquin didn’t think he could handle the weight of lying to Kevin; he vowed to tell Kevin tomorrow that they could go public. Joaquin was a lot of things, a gang-member, a teenager, a brother, a gay kid, but he was not a liar.

Comments of any sort are greatly appreciated, I hope y’all liked it.