#anti season 5 bughead

[jabithajates]

I love how many BH fans now say that RD Jughead should be sacrificed for the RV version in the bunker, probably because he's the only one that still has feelings for Betty. I mean I suppose it is good in a way that they finally admit they don't give a crap about Jug as a character anymore outside pining for their queen 🙄

*cue Toxic* Lol of course they do. Bunker!Jughead is legit Jughead at his worst qualities, a lot of which were exhibited during the first five seasons.

Outside of being a tease for the audience to keep suspense, the occasional Bughead exploration serves as nothing more than to dig in why that chapter closed for good, so the rest of the story can progress and both Betty and Jughead can continue to liberate themselves from the past and live the lives they want…with Archie and Tabitha.

[imreallyloveleee]

I posted 638 times in 2022

140 posts created (22%)

498 posts reblogged (78%)

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@stillhidden

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I tagged 630 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#bughead - 227 posts

#fic rec - 61 posts

#anon - 43 posts

#riverdale spoilers - 38 posts

#fanart - 34 posts

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#euphoria - 30 posts

#anti b*rchie - 20 posts

#rd negativity - 20 posts

#betty cooper - 16 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#anti-mask people in dc were like 'it's a competitive disadvantage because dc people who want to dine out will drive to va for dinner instead

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I can understand that they wanted to "explore" ba this season, and I can even understand that they wrote themselves into a corner and went "fuck it, 50s high school reset it is." (It's inexcusable for a bunch of people who are doing this professionally, but it's not like this hasn't happened before.)

What I CANNOT for the life of me comprehend is why they wrote ba as a series of red flags? Like, the most consistent thread in that relationship all season was them repeatedly bumping up against the fact that they explicitly didn't want the same things in life, and then ignoring those signs that the relationship isn't going to work, instead of making any attempt to resolve the differences. Then Archie proposes after the anvil that is his mother saying "yeah we got divorced bc we didn't want the same things"? And Betty (rightly) tells him he's not in the right head space, and then turns around and changes her mind 5 minutes later because...she didn't want a promotion?

WHAT?

Like they could have easily just written a ba relationship that...worked. instead they chose to lobotomize Betty and repeatedly emphasize the fact that they're incompatible. To what fucking end!?

ETA: i just want to clarify a little bit that i’m not questioning why they flattened out Betty’s character to make the ship happen. i’m questioning why they made explicit - as in, made the characters themselves state out loud! - the very fundamental cracks in the relationship only to continue forcing it to progress without ever addressing how the two of them might bridge those gaps.

95 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

#4

come into the water, chapter 2

Betty Cooper – Betty Cooper, with blonde hair and green eyes and straight As and gold earrings and lacy collars and vanilla milkshakes and straight white teeth and lips that he now knows are warm, smooth, unbearably soft –

Betty Cooper is his soulmate.

His heart jumps at the thought, one single, uncontrolled pulse of joy. Just as quickly, it sinks into the pit of his stomach. No, he corrects himself, shivering as the water flows down his back. Betty Cooper shares his mark. Which is not the same thing.

read it on ao3. (or start from the beginning.)

102 notes - Posted June 19, 2022

#3

it makes me sad that this version of betty doesn't get to be with someone who *likes* her as a person

107 notes - Posted June 14, 2022

#2

17 yr old Jughead nervously squeezing Betty’s hand, stumbling over his words - “isn’t this what...people like us, who have gone through what we’ve gone through...do?” - walking backwards with a goofy grin on his face because he can’t stop looking at her = cute

25 yr old Archie telling Betty with the deadest eyes you’ve ever seen - “...I’m not seeing anyone else...” - after weeks of casual fucking and occasionally touching one another’s knee in public = the opposite of cute

133 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i just got sad knowing i will never be a fan of anything that's as fun to viciously mock as riverdale is ever again

136 notes - Posted May 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[babysprouseisart]

A few words about the Riverdale and something else...

First of all, let's start with the Season 4's bloopers.

In all that Cole was perfectly fine, classy and professional.

He was a truly gentleman, was able to feel sorry and to correct himself and also to be sympathetic.

And this is nothing new as well as Lili's recent behavior, that has been lasting for some months or even more than a year.

The way Lili has acted by throwing that bag (???) towards Cole during filming, no matter what had been going between them at that time or that later (a bit too later) she came back to say a simple 'I'm sorry', was terrible and so unprofessional. And what is more terrible, that she was acting that way during the whole thing, during all the bloopers (so during the filming). She was too irritable and hot-tempered than in previous years. I guess it corresponds with the real life, shows what a mess it was to film for them together, especially the other half or end of the season and it became (honestly, nothing new for those of us who have been saying it all along) very clear who handled the hard times/break up better out of them two. If there are those who still praise Lili and hate Cole for NO reason, just look once more. And it will fit in the puzzle perfectly. I am not initiating any hate or trying to cancel anybody, I am just hoping that it will open some eyes even more and that some people/stans will be more sane.

That's just a digression, I know that many people have paid attention to this and I hope that this is the opinion of the majority.

Secondly, wanted to say a few words about the show itself.

It's been awhile since the last time when I watched all the episodes till the end and was truly interested. However, my interest went out as soon as the dirt, darkness and delirium began (that is after the 3rd or even 2nd season, as soon as they started making my boy, Juggie, abnormal/crazy) and the reluctance increased even more when the misunderstandings and all the speculations began in reality too. Anyways, I have been keeping in touch and watched it partly or some clips/scenes and etcetera and I have an idea of what is/has been happening. I think we all know what the fuck is going on in the show right now and what kind of nonsense it is, I'm not going to retell everything. I just want to highlight the topic that has already been discussed, about Jughead's voicemail, in connection with recent events. So, for a start, that voicemail is so freaking good as an acting. I enjoyed it. Really. Cole is so good in that, without a doubt and again, nothing new. I don't know if anybody has noticed, but turns out Jughead (Cole) was crying in it? Wow. This just makes it even better. The way Cole has transferred all the emotional condition of Jughead at that moment, all the pain and the anger is phenomenal. But what is really worth paying attention to, as many have pointed out, is that there is nothing terrible or very threatening there, everything that he says there is the simple words of the person who was betrayed, just the truth and facts. And the fact that he did it after (I am sure) there has been a long time (several years) since he was willing to do it more gently and personally, after every single time he was simply ignored, really fully justifies him, so it deserves a place to be and was a right decision. This is finally an appeal to a problem that should have been uncovered and solved a long time ago and not simply hushed up. This voicemail is a driving force for understanding what exactly was happening to the two of them absolutely in parallel all this time (though we already know). The way he was/is still suffering and she intentionally continued to behave like a freaking unmoral bitch continuing to have sex with Archie or have affairs, not paying any attention to him, not taking into account the fact that all her actions could lead to the shit that Jughead was/is still experiencing and that it was only getting worse, to his voice message, to the problem, being selfish, unbothered and still behaving as if she doesn't care and thinking that she is above everything. Adult and sane people don't act like that, and if as the teen she may have had some excuses (not really though), then while she is not a teen anymore there are not any. All several years, from the very first days, even before their separation, she was messing up with Jughead from time to time when she had recurrent, sudden floods of some love/feelings for Archie, her uncertainty, insecurity, while Jughead (despite some kisses with other girls, which was not even cheating and was either in revenge or he was lured and Betty knew about it unlike him when she committed shit) was loyal to her and loved her no matter what, because she was quite the only one with whom he was open and may have been himself. So, she fully deserved all these words, people deserved to be assured that Jughead is not the one who is a bad person - she is, and that she doesn't even deserve him after all. And now after all the shit he deserves someone more determined, stable person, loyal and loving. I don't really care if they will try to put them back together again, cause I don't really want it. All I maybe want is for them to figure out this problem, with the disclosure of each side, with the splash of every drop of their feelings, eye to eye, truthfully, and close it once and for all, staying just two acquaintances, no more.

So, in the end, fuck you Betty Cooper again, please leave Jughead alone an let him be happy with a better partner/lady.

[filmtvlover]

Ah yes, riverdale trying to convince us that sustained eye contact makes up for years of no relationship development…. Or scenes or plot lines together… but they’re in love… some how

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Are you confident Bughead will be endgame on this show? That’s literally the last strand I’ve been holding onto, but the thread is weakening. I really can’t believe that they would take this ship, their absolute most popular and loved one, and just end it like this forever. I am so angry with the writing!!

Hey there, anon! It is unbelievable, isn’t it?

What a tricky question you ask! confidence + prediction + the Riverdale writers ... As Jughead would say: yikes!

The thing with these writers is that they use a lot of words without knowing their meaning. “Endgame” is one of them. “New” is another. “Exciting”. “Darkness”™. “Adult stories”. “The message”…

Dangling the bughead “endgame” carrot at the end of one or two seasons of no bughead or -worse- of b*rchie and j*bitha f.e. is not an endgame. The general definition of endgame -outside of chess- is: the last stage of a process. If the process (i.e. the season’s content) isn’t about bughead, then bughead coming together at the very end is not an endgame, it's a peripeteia i.e. a sudden or unexpected reversal of circumstances.

In shipping, endgame is a couple that will inevitably end together (for ever and ever and ever). In order for something to be inevitable, you have to create that sentiment, you have to build the couple up.

There’s an article about the misappropriation of the word “endagame” that I find particularly funny, as it starts by mentioning Riverdale!

Anyway, this is a long-winded way to say that, yes, I do believe that the show will end with bughead and varchie as their main canon couples. It’s just that, like you, I’m so very tired with these story lines. There is satisfaction to be had at the notion of endgame but a seasonful of investigative bughead would be infinitely preferable. For me (and I can only speak of myself) the journey is more important than the destination -even if for the simple reason that -in TV show time- it lasts longer!

Why do I think bughead is still … that word? Everything’s under the cut, so as not to clutter your dash!

1. A lot of people have been theorising that what happened in 5x18 was not the original plot. I agree.

Let’s start with 5x18 varchie.

Their break up came completely out of left field. Its unexpectedness is reminiscent of 4x17. I make fun of how s5 is a reboot of s1+s2’s leftover ideas, so another copy-paste shouldn’t feel out of place, and yet … really? Another repetition? To what end? If the season’s goal was not varchie, b*rchie was already there waiting at the beginning of the time jump! Why abandon that plot? In terms of romantic varchie time, that was extremely limited, since after their kiss in 5x7, Veronica’s divorce kept them apart until 5x17 … Why have Archie being extremely jealous of Chad, Veronica getting involved in all of Archie’s schemes (firefighters, bulldogs), Archie getting involved in Ronnie’s (rescuing daddykins) or Veronica telling her father she chooses Archie over him in 5x17? Also, for those who remember, there was this by the-writer-who-shall-not-be-named.

The reason of the break up is as ludicrous as Veronica moving into Archie’s childhood bedroom (with its effing slanted roof!) on the premise that long term the Andrews’ residence has more room! (By the way, I don’t know what surprised me more: that Veronica thought that Archie and uncle Frank would know who Ina Garten is or that Jughead didn’t.) Why is Veronica astounded by Archie’s involvement in the same activities he has been involved in all through the season?! For f***’s sake, she’s the one that gifted him the fire truck!

Ok. Now let’s give 5x18 j*bitha a try.

For me, 5x18 could either have gone bugheadwards or j*bithawards. J*bitha had some heartfelt talks, a hand touch, a hallucination and a kiss. Bughead had one unfinished heartfelt talk (the only one in the whole season for Betty), two shoulder touches, two hallucinations and Jughead attempting to reconnect with Betty (without specifying what his intent was, it's true).

While I do think that j*bitha is a ship that has been adequately teased, the way they were explored in 5x18 was … not underwhelming exactly (after all, they’re not my ship, so I didn’t have any expectations about them) but … maybe lukewarm is the word? They had but minimal dialogue, only enough to establish that Tabitha’s parents were in town. Then a song where Tabitha initially rejects Jughead, although she had been supportive before. Then another song, where the lyrics were heavily altered and didn’t make much sense anyway (we hadn’t been properly introduced to the Tates) but where the original lyrics were very compatible with Bughead’s history and state of being as of 5x17. The kisses were ok, I have no problem with the actors’ chemistry. But -and this is strictly a personal opinion- Jughead’s flirting scenes (not the make-out ones, you perverts!) with Cora were better and so was the j*bitha kiss in 5x10. For the 5x18 j*bitha to flow, more dialogue and more flirting was necessary (always a persona opinion). So, no, I don’t think j*bitha were supposed to sing what they sang in 5x18.

Production for s5 wrapped up one week after the official announcement of the 5 special episodes for Riverdale and The Flash: “we expect it will take us until Fall 2022 to get back to a regular schedule” was the official quote. Re-organising the cw’s overall schedule didn’t happen overnight. Yes, more likely than not, the writers knew about the specifics of s6a before shooting 5x18-5x19 and had time to re-write them.

2. The couples spoilers for s6 do not make sense plot-wise.

If the end-goal for 5x19-6x1 had been b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie all along, these were pairs already happening (except from v*ggie) at the beginning of the time-jump. As for v*ggie, last time we saw them, Veronica pulled a face when she heard that he had had (still has?) an affair with Hermosa. And what about Nana Rose?! (ok, that was a joke! ... or was it? 👀)

The majority of both the fans and the general audience are bugvarchie shippers. Teasing b*rchie and j*bitha as a means of maintaining the viewers’ interest in a will they/won’t they way, only works if the audience finally gets what they want. In this season. Not the next one! There is so much trolling one can take after all. In the space of 1.5 year (4x17-5x19) b*rchie will have been teased ... THREE times (and still lacking build-up)!

I cannot myself see b*rchie, j*bitha and v*ggie as endgame couples. For the audience to invest in them after 4 years of bugvarchie, the writers have to a) give j*bitha an absolutely incredible development that will surpass bughead and the cinematography to go with it (good luck with that) and b) undo Archie’s character (highly unlikely) and/or give Betty a lobotomy (at which point a lot of people will quit en masse, because Archie as The One All The Girls Want just doesn't resonate with the majority).

I have no idea if s6a is an AU or not. But if it’s not, no one will be left to watch 6b.

Can I guarantee a bughead endgame? Of course not. I have no idea how the minds of the Riverdale writers work. But I do think that Jughead and Betty getting back together is more than wishful thinking.

Fervently shipping Jughead/Betty, Jughead/his book and Betty/therapy, sincerely yours, @raymondebidochonlifechoices

I hope you have fun with the Riverdale universe regardless, dear anon. Riverdale has given us one of the most beautiful getting-together stories in s1 and lots and lots of beautiful canon bughead afterwards. Here's to many more! Much love to you!

[jancysmixtape]

It's really funny how people were trying so hard to blame bugvarchie for the drop in ratings for certain eps last season, but now that it's their ship that was heavily shown in the promos, and seeing the huge drop on views, it's "oh it's not B*rchies fault".

Giggle worthy to me.

[iarasstuffss]

What was the reason behind all of those bughead moments if they weren’t going to get together? Not even have a good talk.

Also Jughead out of nowhere wanting to be Tabitha’s boyfriend? Last episode he was all worried about Betty and now he barley acknowledged her?

I thought we were gonna get to know about Tabitha’s past and her parents but they barley spoke. Like they needed some random plot to get Jabitha romantic out of nowhere instead of writing a good plot to get them together through all the season. This episode (mostly Jughead’s sudden “i wanna be your boyfriend”) made dislike them, even when I was totally fine with them getting together at some point, but I hated the way they did it and ruined a genuinely nice friendship.

Also, TONI AND FANGS!?! It makes no sense really. They can’t write female/male friendships on this show.

I liked Veronica’s storyline but then again, why bring Varchie back and then break them up during the next episode. Also they said they want to be together but then they go and kiss Betty and Reggie?

Not getting started with the trailer. They needed to pair ALL their characters (well almost, cheryl is paired with witches and poor lonely kevin) just to have all the original ships separated? For what reason??

This really was one of the worst episodes from the season, the season itself was bad too.

The only good thing in this episode were Lili’s and Madchen’s performances.

They had so mcuh potential with all those storylines they introduced at the beginning of the time jump.

I don’t know if I’ll be watching season six, I’ll catch up if there’s some hope for bughead after all this mess!!

[bettyminicoop]

The big difference between bugheads and BAs is that bugheads will take any Bughead crumbs and enjoy them. And then they will make amazing fanfictions, arts, gifts and parallels out of it. While BAs with their crumbs will go to Evan's instagram and complain that this is not enough for them. And will they get even one fic? Probably not.

Because Bughead has a story, BA doesn't.

[edamamechips]

Thinking back to how the theme of this season is trauma (acc to RAS) and how the time jump seems to be playing out.

Trauma is a universal human experience and we all have been through it in varying degrees in different stages of our lives. The reason why the reactions to certain actions of certain characters are so polarizing is because trauma hits a nerve. To some it may resonate deeply while to others it just looks like one huge question mark.

Dealing with trauma can be tricky and portraying it even trickier. Sex, Alcohol and toxic relationships are all very very real coping mechanisms of trauma.

Do I think Riverdale the show has the nuance to pull off such sensitive portrayals of trauma? No I do not. But kudos them for atleast trying.

It is very very in character for Betty to suppress her feelings, it's almost a reflex for her at this point. She's been taught all her life to be okay even when you are not. And to top off all that she was stuck in a serial killer's murder hole for two whole weeks. The whole world lost it's mind when asked to stay at home for two weeks just a year ago. So no, betty sleeping with archie or even glen is not out of character. It just shows how little he means or disposable he is to her. and if I was a b/archie fan I would be very very mad about it. But as a bughead it is all moo factor to me because that's just laying out the foundation for the reunion of my OTP.

I'll say take Jughead's coping mechanism of alcohol and Veronica's method of knowingly trapping herself in a toxic relationship. Both pretty common effects of trauma too. And if I am reaching i would say Archie is to some extent burying his emotions too by trying to fix problems of other people rather than addressing his.

All these characters are deeply fucked in the head right now.

Again I do know that the writers have not even put an ounce of thought behind the implications they are making when they pick these storylines.They probably pat themselves on their backs for doing their part for being woke or whatever. But the parallels are all there and it is not "mental gymnastics" to draw conclusions from them.

But it is what it is at the end of day. This whole thing has been written and filmed already. Riverdale is known to be a show for having some great storylines with the really good potential but get sidelined or dropped in the long run. Because this is a mystery show. And character/relationship is more of a B plot.

You do you and your feelings are valid at the end of day. We all learn everyday and having certain negative reflex reactions doesn't make you misogynistic. It makes you human. Take a breath or dive head first into meta posts while also psychoanalysing yourself. Whatever makes you feel better, do it.

Oh and also Bughead endgame.

[arsenicpanda]

I'm so torrn up! I love love looove jabitha, and it could be interesting to in the future see Betty with someone new, but at the same time there is all of bughead's history. I can't choose!

I agree! I do love bughead, but I also love jabitha on its own merits and have interest in Betty/Reggie from a chaos perspective. But a reunited bughead has a lot of strong potential and the bonus of "woman with shitty morals does, in fact, deserve love", and it's the most narratively satisfying ending, what with the four years of buildup and marriage foreshadowing. A potential Jabitha endgame has a lot of representation strength, with the new Black woman character ending up with the fan-favorite white dude and documented excellent love interest, like, that's something special, and they're also just mega cute, and there's something uniquely beautiful about second love. So, instead of trying to choose, I've just decided that I'm good with whichever happens, so long as it doesn't also end in ba, which offends my sensibilities on both narrative and characterization fronts. Embrace the multishipping, anon!

[jummyjammy]

I'm not even worried about Varchie anymore. But that's not because I'm certain Veronica and Archie are endgame and whatever RAS said was simply trolling and baiting this one certain fandom again. It's because I no longer care. Whatever RAS is going to do with this show it's not going to change the fact that he destroyed Riverdale we used to know and somehow love, and made it into grotesque version of itself where all development all characters had is gone. It's the same Riverdale but at the same time it's not.

And I won't even try to hide that yes, Barchie cheating arc is what started this whole epic fall. Because by doing that they crushed the main point of this whole series - Bughead investigating, Bughead solving mysteries. We lost that and instead we see writers throwing all kind of traumas at two certain characters and calling it a day. That plus trying to make something out of a ship that was long dead, since season one to be more specific. That's not what we, viewers, fans signed for.

Changes are sometimes necessary but changing the whole character for whatever's sake is not it. If they wanted changes they could give Veronica more screen time and a story that doesn't revolve around men. They could focus more on Toni and her development, they could give her a story that doesn't include Cheryl in any way. They could give Kevin more than a story that always end up with him getting beaten up for being gay (weird considering RAS is a part of LGBTQ but whatever), heck they would bring Josie and The Pussycats ealier and made them a part of the whole show instead of giving them one episode and call it a day. Why not finally remembering they have a great character called Sweetpea who also could get a story, and Fangs? Is he going to be the Toni 0.2 and be also nothing but a boyfriend to Kevin and nothing more?

They could do so much but instead what they did? Made Veronica story be all about men AGAIN.

Had Betty and Jughead have the most traumatic experiences AGAIN.

Put us through another overrated Cooper drama AGAIN.

Gave us weak plotlines, lack of any logic in each and every episode AGAIN.

Brought back a ship that was long dead for the sake of cheap drama and just to cater to one certain fandom who wouldn't stop whining for years, screw that, since the show started AFUCKINGAIN.

Great Riverdale writers. Good job RAS. And then you're surprised why people are dropping this show like a hot potato. Keep taking majority of your fanbase for granted and soon only Barchies are going to stay and man that's not going to help the show, believe me.

[crazymisscarly]

You're not allowed to do jabitha anyway so why even add that 😂

I definitely misread the original promptathon post cause I was just excited about promptathons lol there’s several things I had in my initial post that were ‘wrong’. I tried to fix them up through edits but alas people have reblogged my original post and edits don’t show up in reblogs. I’ve never done something like this before so I’ll probably get several things wrong, and likely more than once. This promptathon seems to be all about Bughead and Varchie, but also possibly Choni and Kangs, so I doubt I’ll get any Jabitha requests anyway. Either way there’s no reason I can’t include my specifications, I like Jughead and Tabitha as friends so I’d respond to friend-related prompts involving them :) but I’m not here to be writing anything about them as a ship, even if its a flashback or something that helps explain a bigger Bughead-central fic (because they did have a ‘slight’ blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in my season 5 au but Jughead wasn’t keen as he was a single father and Tabitha wasn’t looking for commitment).

Same goes for the other current riverdale ships. I did my time in the Barchie trenches in chapter 4 of Our Story’s Not Over and have thereby written the only fraction of a fic involving those two as a ‘pairing’ that I’m willing to write (they ended things after a few short paragraphs as friends, then the next time we see Archie he has heart eyes for Veronica) so I’m not going to include any further writings about that ship, even if it’s requested in a prompt for the purpose of writing it in a ‘betty reminiscing about how she hooked up with archie long before she married Jughead’ way. Reggie in my AUs is not particularly interested in Veronica, so I’m not interested in feeding that flame either.

I’ll do Betty/Archie, Reggie/Veronica, and Jughead/Tabitha FRIEND fics though, so far as those friendships relate to my already written fanfics :) Tabitha and Jughead, for example, bonded over the mothman craziness in Writers in the Woods but it didn’t get as deep as it could have because that was mainly a Jarchie friendship/Bughead fic. So idk I’d be open to writing more about those two pals if that’s what the people want :) (anything like that will have a bughead focus for the promptathon, but if you want to see more of them outside of this event I’m open to prompts for random purposes too).

Anyway, I hope that answered your question as to why I included ‘no Jabitha’ in my promptathon post :)

[srainebuggie]

you can dislike what a character does without hating them so if i see any of my bughead mutuals getting attacked for not liking betty’s comment to archie, I will fucking fight yall. 

she said something that was a big oof and disrespectful to HERSELF and Jughead. we are allowed to be mad,

but it doesnt mean we hate her. 

step off your moral high grounds, shut up, go watch your shower scene and leave buggies alone. 

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

As Jughead and Tabitha are about to embark into fake dating, i.e. the tropiest of tropes to ever trope* -and we all know from 4x17 what faking dating leads to in Riverdale- a few thoughts on whether Jabitha are happening out of the blue or not under the cut.

Back in march, a kind anon had asked me what I thought of Jabitha. The answer is here and it hasn’t changed. Long story short, I don’t mind them but they’re not my otp and I’d like my bughead back asap, please and thank you.

That being said S4 B*rchie and s5 Jabitha are NOT comparable and not just because the latter doesn’t involve Archie (which is a blessing and -in this show- one learns to count those).

S4 B*rchie had no build-up. Archie and Betty hadn’t even shared scenes together. Betty’s whole storyline in s4 was about the lengths she would go to help Jughead because of her love for him. It was so unexpected that, when Barchie happened, the writers had to spell it out for us via Cheryl. And when they wanted to tell us that it hadn’t really meant anything (because they wanted to have their cake and eat it), they also had to spell it via Cheryl.

This is in no way comparable to a possible s5Jabitha. Tabitha has been Jughead’s confidant since ep5. Sure, Bughead had a heart to heart in 5x18. But that is just one episode. (Of course, this is Riverdale, so one episode might actually be enough, but you get the gist). They danced. They kissed. Yes, they were awkward about it afterwards but it was a good kiss. Had it been Betty in that kiss, I would have been absolutely ecstatic and wouldn’t have given a flying f*** about the lingering awkwardness. Jughead never said that he didn’t view Tabitha romantically, just that he wasn’t in the right place for a relationship. That was … several months according to Riverdale time (his trip to NY alone lasted weeks according to one Waldo Weatherbee). Jughead’s maple mushroom trip had him hallucinating Betty as a desired partner but also Tabitha (you can’t pick and choose: either it doesn’t mean anything for both women because he was high or it was his subconscious speaking in both instances). Most importantly, Tabitha has been Jughead’s almost exclusive scene partner for the biggest part of the season.

Do some heartfelt talks, a hand touch and a kiss constitute enough material for a romantic relationship?

I don’t know. I’m not an objective viewer: for me, one unfinished heartfelt talk, a shoulder touch and a hallucination are enough for Bughead coming back together. So, who knows?

After all, that is the whole purpose of this plot line, isn’t it? Keeping the viewers on their toes.

This, by the way, is in no form an attack against Jughead. Both Jabitha (now) and Bughead (later) can happen without people taking advantage of each other. If your destination is Hate Town, you can hop off, because this post is not going there.

The thing is: it can go either way. We are talking about writers who excitedly teased B*rchie showering together in 5x5 having already written (and probably even filmed) B*rchie breaking up in 5x8!

Narratively speaking, I don’t think the writers would show one half of an established and popular couple hallucinating their ex twice and leaving their job in the middle of the day to go help her with her investigation OR the other half finally admitting their problems to that person and that person only, for them not to come back together eventually.

* Bughead coming back to Riverdale in 5x4 as a couple that -for whatever investigative reason- had to fake being broken up was my most favourite head canon for teasing a (never actually happening) b*rchie back in the beginning of this season.

(There’ll be a smallish rant later on about s5′s misery porn. It’ll be the last one, because I’m watching this show for fun -or, at least, trying to- and want to limit the negativity!)

[jancysmixtape]

Betty in the beginning of the time jump: ignoring her trauma and distracting herself with Archie.

Betty in the end of the season: ignoring her trauma and distracting herself with Archie.

These writers truly don’t want her acknowledging her trauma and it’s nauseating.

Like… nothing has changed with her character?? We seen her in the beginning distracting herself with sex and ignoring what had happened to her. And that’s what she’s doing now. Distracting herself with sex and ignoring the stuff that has happened to her. And can we acknowledge that the writers do not want Archie to see her for who she is? She isn’t okay, but when she’s with Archie she’s all happy and forgets all her trauma. She was literally grieving the loss of her sister last ep, and now she’s cured and automatically happy?? Hm. They only really let Jughead see the raw, real, sides of her.

[iarasstuffss]

The bughead angst for season 5 had so much potential, it was going to be heartbreakingly beautiful but those good for nothing writers left it as a huge no sense plot hole, and I will never forgive them for that!