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where-theres-smoak-2 · 4 years

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Riverdale 4x18 Review, Analysis and Theories

I’ve finally watched the episode and I’ve got alot of thoughts about it. To be honest it went pretty much the way I thought it would, mostly. We’ve been given some more information and a whole lot more questions. There were four plotlines in the episode, two main ones and two sideplots, so I figured we could go through each one and unpack them to see what clues we’ve been left this time. So if you want to read an analysis of the episode and get my opinions and theories then read on below the tag. As always these are just my own opinions you are welcome to disagree also there are spoilers obviously.

Jughead, Charles and the Video Tapes.

So the first plotline I want to talk about is the one where Jughead and Charles are invesitgating the tapes. The episode starts out with Jughead showing Betty, Alice and Charles the newest videotape that he found at the end of the last episode. A couple of sidenotes here which aren’t all that relevant but I figured I’d mention anyway. I love how protective everyone was of Jelly Bean. Even Charles who stood up to block the her view of the tv. But also where was FP? I feel like this is something he should be included in so it was a bit odd that he was missing from the scene. They could have at least mentioned him like said he was investigating it from the station or something. Anyway getting back to it. Jughead asks Betty if she wants to help him look into the tape but Betty says she doesn’t want to get pulled into another mystery. This is when Charles decides to suggest that Jughead and he could investigate it together. I loved that Charles called Jug little brother. I just thought it was really sweet. Also I would like to see more of the Jones/Cooper/Smith family interactions. Whilst we’ve gotten a decent amount of Charles/Betty and Charles/Jughead sibling bonding moments we haven’t gotten as many with Charles and his parents and other than this brief one I don’t think we’ve had any with Jelly Bean and Charles so I wouldn’t object to seeing those relationships developed a little more. Also I would like to point out that while it was really nice that Charles is always offering for Betty and Jughead to help him out with the investigation, I can’t help but think that Charles has an ulterior motive for this. I mentioned in my theory post about Charles and the video tapes (which you can read here if you want) that I think Charles sees Betty and Jughead as loose cannons. When they first meet Charles he says something like ‘I hear you two are quite the detective duo.’ Or something along those lines. I actually think Charles keeps asking for their help so that he can keep an eye on what they’re doing and make sure they don’t do anything to mess up the FBI’s own investigation into the tapes. I mean think about it, if Charles gets them working with him then he knows where they are and what they are doing, so he knows they aren’t gallivanting around town getting themselves into all kinds of mischief, classic big brother move.

Through Charles we learn that there are two drop off boxes where people can turn in the tapes they recieve. One at the Sheriff station and one at the FBI office. They are both monitored with cctv cameras but there are hours upon hours of footage so Jughead and Charles decide to make some popcorn and go through all the footage in the hopes they can find some clue as to who left the murder video tape. Also can I just say that this episode made me remember why I love Jughead there were just so many little moments that were, well I don’t know how else to describe them other than they were very Jughead. Like I don’t know what was funnier that Jughead’s response to facing hours of footage seraching for a potential killer is ‘do you have popcorn?’ or the fact that yes the FBI does have popcorn. Maybe its just me but I just got a chuckle out of that. Anyway while going through the footage Jughead does spot someone he knows and decides to follow the lead alone. Of course we learn that Ethel is the person he sees leaving a tape behind. But before we get into that I want to talk about something else I noticed. When Jug is leaving the camera pans down to show us Charles’ laptop with the cctv footage. Now they had to have done this for a reason there had to have been something in that segment of cctv that is important to the plot. The footage is very grainy and sped up but we see a woman enter the building. She walks down the hall, appears to stop briefly to talk to whoever is at the desk at the end of the hall, This person seems to gesture around the corner. The woman disappears around the corner and then a few moments later reappears, walks back towards the camera and leaves. I managed to grab a couple of screenshots of this footage.

If you’ve read my last theory post where I talk about theories around both Charles and the Voyeur (the one I linked above) then you will know I have a theory that Donna is the one behind the tapes and also the one who is wearing the Betty mask. Now I know the image is really grainy but to me this looks like a female with long dark hair who is wearing a jacket and trousers very similar in style to what Donna wears. Her build also seems very similar to Donna’s aswell. I mean...

I’m just saying the woman in the cctv, the woman in the betty mask and Donna all look real similar to me. As for why Charles didn’t recognise her, well as we can see the image isn’t the best, it was sped up and he could have been distracted by Jug saying he saw someone he knew. We don’t see where he is looking so for all we know he might have been watching Jug leave and not at the computer screen, point is he could have just missed it. Also another thing worth noting is that right before the footage is shown Charles asks ‘do you recognise someone?’ Obviously he is directing the question at Jughead but it could also be the writers way of asking us the same question, do we the viewer recognise someone in this footage.

So Jughead goes off and talks to Ethel about the tapes and she says she was just dropping off the tapes that had been left on her doorstep, that they contained the same as all the others, static footage of her home. She gets upset when Jughead tells her that one of the tapes was different and asks if she knows anything about it. One thing I will say is her line ‘I’m just trying to make it out of Riverdale in one piece.’ really resonated. Like it really makes you think how much crap these kids have gone through with all the murders and cults. It is almost like its more of an achievement for them to reach adulthood than normal because so many of them could have been killed by one of the many serial killers that have rampaged through the town. Also I feel like a lot of the kids in Riverdale see college as being a way to escape from Riverdale.

After talking to Ethel Jughead comes up with the idea that maybe the Voyeur is a film maker, so he and Charles hit the video store. I do love the store owners line when Charles asks if any of his customers were acting suspicious and he replies ‘they all act suspicious.’ I do think the writers might be having a little laugh with us here because its very true for Riverdale as a whole, like every character on this show acts shady as hell most of the time. The store owner gives them their records and they discover that Ethel has rented the horror movie Friday the 13th sixteen times. Charles then tells Jughead that he considers Ethel to be a prime suspect as she has a predilection for horror movies, was seen dropping off a tape and as per Jughead’s admission an obsession with him. But Jughead clearly doesn’t want to upset the progress Ethel seems to have made and points out that he doesn’t think she would have the equipment for it and tells Charles to drop it. When he’s next at school Jughead goes to the office to get info on the AV club, the members of which would have access to the equipment needed to make the video tapes. He not only learns that Ethel is the president of the club but that Charles had already been there asking questions and had already left with Ethel. Jug goes back to the FBI office to find out what happened from Charles and finds out that Ethel had somehow got ahold of the sex tape of him and Betty from Stonewall prep. Now I have seen some comments saying that they think Charles going after Ethel alone was really shady and that it could mean he has something to do with the video tapes. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have something to do with the tapes, its could be a possibilty, but out of all the shady behaviour we’ve seen from Charles in my opinion this wasn’t shady at all. I think because we see everything from Jughead’s point of view its easy to forget that its not a case of Jughead is leading an investigation and Charles is helping out but the other way around. Charles is the lead on the investigation into the tapes, he’s the FBI agent. So if he thinks someone is a suspect he’s not just going to drop that lead just because some teenage kid said he should, even if that kid is his brother. Also can I say that this is such a Jones/Cooper thing to do, they get told not to do something and then the next scene you find out they did the exact thing they were told not to. We see it with Betty and Jughead all the time so it was kinda funny to see the same thing happen to Jughead in a role reversal. It was a good thing he didn’t drop it too as if Charles hadn’t gone and searched Ethel’s home they probably wouldn’t have found out about the Scarlet Room.

So speaking of the Scarlet Room it shows that there is an even darker side to Riverdale if that was even possible, this is a definitely x rated room in the back of the store where they have home made videos. The store owner says sometimes people sell the videos and sometimes they trade them. But these tapes consist of some sex tapes, rougher ones and weirder ones but also more sinister than that snuff films which Jug finds. I was able to catch some of the titles which could be clues as to which other murders might be re-enacted next. The one of Jason Blossom is called a Maple Murder which is pretty self explanatory. There is one called Black Hood Unmasked which I think could be Mr Svensons death. The Blackhood Diaries is another self-explanatory one. There’s another called Carrie the... I can’t make out the rest of the title but that one is clearly Midge’s death. Then there’s one called Pop’s After Hours which I reckon is from the Halloween episode where Veronica kills that serial killer in self defense. The curious thing about Jason Blossom’s murder being there though is that as far as we know there are only three copies of that footage. Betty has one on her laptop and Cheryl has the other on a USB. The third from what I remember was given to the police, I can’t remember what happened to it after that but I think the Blossoms asked for it to be destroyed? Sorry if I’m wrong about that. So if only those copies existed then how did one end up in the store. Well I do have one theory for that. We know that Betty gave Chic one of her old laptops, now I’m going to assume she wouldn’t have been careless enough to leave that footage on the laptop if it was ever on that one but you never know, we also know that Chic was in the house alot when Betty wasn’t there and he liked to sneak into her room. It’s possible that Chic found the video and took a copy to the store to get some extra cash. But the Scarlet room as a whole is a very creepy idea, that people including Students like Ethel are going in there and renting footage of people being brutally murdered, I mean no wonder there are so many serial killers in Riverdale cause that’s just messed up. On a side note I thought it was absolutley hilarious when the store owner came in and told Jughead that only over 18′s were allowed back there. Like dude you are being invesitgated by the FBI and they’ve just found your highly illegal collection of homemade sex and snuff films and you think telling them that only 18 and overs are allowed in this section is going to save you. So anyway the FBI confiscates all the videos so lets just say the FBI have now got a ridiculous amount of video tapes at that office what between these ones and the ones collected from the town residents. But I do feel like the Scarlet Room tapes are going to be important to the plotline in some way like they’ll find some kind of clue in them.

The episode ends with Jughead getting a call from Cheryl who says she just got a tape. When he and Betty go over there they find out its the same kind of thing as the one Jughead found. Two people in masks re-enacting Jason Blossom’s murder. There is something I want to cover quickly before we analyse the tape itself but there does seem to be some confusion over whether these tapes are actually real or just acting. I mean Jughead calls the tape he got a faux snuff film and talks about how whoever filmed it went through the trouble of hiring actors. It also does seem like the person wearing Jason’s mask in the newest video is acting along. If they aren’t real it would also explain why there haven’t been any bodies showing up or missing people reported. Yet I get the feeling that these are real, I mean they look very real to me, particualrly the one with Jason. As to why it looks like the one wearing the Jason mask is acting well they either could be under duress told this is the script play along or else, or it could be that they didn’t know what was actually going to happen, maybe they thought that the gun was fake or that the other person wasn’t going to actually pull the trigger which is why they seem so relaxed and calm right before they are shot. I don’t know though maybe it is all fake? What do you think?

But the discovery of this lastest tape raises some more questions. Once again we have two masked individuals which begs the question who are the people behind the masks? One thing we do know is that its not the same people as the first video. The attacker in the first video was definitely a woman and was much shorter than the attacker in the latest one. Also the murder victims in both are also definitely different people, the one in the first video who was dressed as Jughead was much more muscular than the one in the Jason mask who had a much slimer build. This could also maybe be evidence that its possible these really are murders going on. I mean if the first guy really was killed then obviously he can’t be in the second video. To be honest I don’t have any idea who could behind the Jason mask, at all.

Ok but who do I think is behind the Cliff mask. Well here I do have a theory and it ties in another of the plotlines from this episode. The tickle ring one. I don’t think its a coincidence that its in this episode that Terry, the one who approached Kevin and who films them, suddenly turned violent. I mean up until now he’s come across as a decent guy by Riverdale standards. Now he’s threatening to break peoples fingers and issuing threats. Also it is worth noting that when Jughead says maybe the voyeur is a film maker the very next scene is the one where Terry comes out the room and pays Kevin, Fangs and Reggie. The writers are being very obvious with the message here I mean its like Jughead: Maybe its a film maker? Riverdale: Look its a film maker! I mean they couldn’t be more obvious if they put a neon sign above Terry’s head that said guilty. So is there anymore evidence to suggest Terry is the one in the Cliff mask? Well I grabbed some more screenshots.

So we have that same old problem of the qualtiy of the images in these tapes that are being left aren’t great, it does take me back to the good old days of vcr oh the nostalgia but I’m going off track. Despite the bad quality we can still get some clues from the image. Now it is a little differcult because of the lighting in the video tape is bad but take a look at the top two images in the grid above. As it was with my Donna behind the Betty mask theory its the hair that I think is the biggest clue here. There isn’t really anyone else we’ve seen in the show that has this style of hair where its longer on top and fades at the sides. I mean I don’t know about you guys but I do think the hair of the guy in the Cliff mask is very similar to Terry’s. Now obviously we can’t just convict a man based on his hair style. If we look at the two bottom images. I know it is hard to see the video tape image all that well but I have watched it over and over on slow motion and they do seem to be similar in build and height. The other problem we have comparing the two images is that while its useful that we’ve got a shot of Terry standing next to someone seated like the people in the tape, the sofa that Fangs is sitting on is much lower than the chair the masked Jason is sitting on, plus you have to take the height of the individuals themselves into consideration. But taking all that into consideration lets look at a bigger image...

As I said the difficulty we have is that Fangs is sitting on a much lower surface than the masked Jason. But lets have a bit of fun and do some estimations. Lets say the blue line on the picture on the right is the approximate height the seat of the chair masked Jason is sitting on. The black line is the length of Fang’s torso from his seat to his head. The green line is the height at which the top of his head would be if he was sitting on a higher surface. Now I know this is very much an estimation and not all that accurate its more just to give us an idea. But I think Fangs and the masked Jason seem to be of similar height so when we compare the two images we can see that the height difference between masked Cliff and a seated individual is roughly the same height difference as Terry when standing next to a seated individual. Also something else that could suggest Terry might be involved is that he would be able to get the actors who are playing the victims. He already has a client pool he could pull from. It wouldn’t be that much of a leap to think that he might approach one of his tickle boys and say do you want to get a little extra cash? I’m working on another project if you’re interested.

What if it isn’t Terry though. Who else could it be? Well the other person we are shown acting suspect in this episode is Mr Honey is shown to be someone who visits the Scarlet Room and it seems he does this regularly. I did think there was something about the way the masked Cliff moved that reminded me of Mr Honey but in my opinion I don’t think the hair style or height of the indivdual fits with Mr Honey as well as Terry. Also we know the person in the mask is imitating Cliff and so is mimicing the way Cliff would move which I think just happens to be similar to Mr Honey. However I don’t think that necessarily means Mr Honey is innocent and I’m going to cover my theory on that in a bit. The other person I thought it could potentially be is Bret. As I said in my theory about the Stonies having something to do with the tapes, we don’t know when these tapes were filmed or even where they were filmed. It could be that this was filmed before Bret was arrested. However while I think height wise it could be Bret the hair style is completely different from Bret’s who has much longer hair.

Now going back to my previous theory post where I said I was pretty certain that it would turn out to be Donna behind the tapes, you could say that this newest tape derails that theory as there is no link between Cheryl and Donna. So why would she bother making a re-enactment of Cheryl’s twin brother’s murder? Donna might have had a motive with the previous video depicting Betty and Jughead its no secret she hates them both. But on the contrary I actually would argue that the appearance of this tape further confirms my theory. While it’s true there is no link between Donna and Cheryl there is a link between Donna and the Jason Blossom murder. When Jughead wrote his first draft for the Baxter Brother novel, the one that originally won him the contract it was based on Jason’s murder, it was called The Boy in the River. Later they tell Jughead that they don’t think its good enough after all and he starts writing one based on the Black Hood instead. But he finds his original draft based on Jason in a envelope saying ready for publish. He discovers that it has been rewritten but that it is the same story. Dupont later tells him that all of his classmates had a go at rewriting it, this includes Donna. This means that Donna became real familiar with Jason’s story. The premise of my original theory was that I believed that Donna was upset that she wasn’t able to commit the perfect murder. Especially as she was so close, I mean Jughead says himself that it would have been perfect if it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t actually die. I think Donna then decided to have another go at the perfect murder. A do over so to speak. Like I said we don’t know when that first copy cat murder video was filmed. If it was quite a while ago then its possible that Donna believed she had got away with it and so she looked at other imperfect murders that she could make perfect. I mean if you think about it like Jughead’s attempted murder Jason’s murder was very nearly perfect. Cliff so very nearly got away with it, from killing Jason after he was already reported missing by Cheryl, to having FP clean up and then take the wrap for it. The only reason he didn’t get away with it was because of one tiny detail, the fact that the footage of the actual murder was out there and the USB was found. If my theory is right then I think Donna is only going to continue looking for murders to redo. I think she’s going to become addicted to it and we’ll start to see more and more of these copycat murders. Also I had a thought about why if these are real murders there aren’t any bodies. We’ve been told on a couple of occasions that you can dissolve a body with Lye. As Donna says to Betty ‘No body, No crime.’ It’s possible she’s been dissolving the bodies with lye so there isn’t anything to find. Also if she is picking the victims right then there won’t be any missing person reports espicially if she is choosing people from out of town and then releasing the videos in Riverdale. The authorities might not be making the connection.

So if I’m sticking with my its Donna theory how do I explain that it definitely wasn’t Donna in the latest video. I mean it was without a doubt a male right? Well we know that Donna works with a group. She’s the mastermind but she needs her disciples. I think she started this with the Stonies where they released the videos of peoples houses, most likely this started out as a prank. We know that the Stonies liked to pull some pretty crazy pranks like locking people in coffins overnight, we also know there seemed to be a little bit of a rivalry between Stonewall and Riverdale high schools. We also know that they were filming their fellow classmates, it wasn’t just Betty and Jughead and Moose. There were tons of illegally recorded tapes it seemed like quite the extensive operation. We also know that some of those tapes ended up in the Scarlet Room. But Donna’s got a problem now. Her disciples have either left the country are dead or are in jail. So she needs to find new ones. I think she’s formed a new group and I think this group consists of Terry and Mr Honey. I think Terry helps out by getting the victims. He’s got a wide pool of employee’s who do films for him, he could easily get people from out of town who would sit down in a chair and be tied up and think nothing of it just assuming its part of some weird kink, because I refuse to believe innocent tickle porn is that only kind of video that man shoots. I also think that he was the one in the Cliff mask. As for Mr Honey I’m not as sure on what his role could be. But we do know that Donna has worked with a teacher for nefarious reasons in the past so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that she could be doing it again. He could possibly be the delivery guy. Maybe he’s the one going around putting the tapes on doorsteps now. It would be much less suspicious for someone to see Mr Honey about Riverdale than Donna or Terry. He could also be dropping some off at the Scarlet Room. Speaking of I do think this could be where they all met/ connected. I mean as a film maker it wouldn’t be unusual for Terry to sell some videos to the store. We know Mr Honey visits the Scarlet Room. As for Donna while Jughead assumes the tape of him and Betty was put there by Bret, Donna had admitted to seeing the tape so its just as likely that it could have been her that put it there.

Maple Rum Snoosefest.

So I figured I’d cover Veronica’s and Cheryl’s Maple Rum storyline here as to be honest I don’t have alot to say about it. Unlike the tickle ring stroyline which could potentially have some relevance to the main plot, I just don’t see how this one fits in. To be honest I find the whole thing boring. I mean its just another plotline with Veronica being at war with her Father. Plus the whole Veronica thinks her dad has changed because he spared someone only for us to find out he had murdered someone. Like we get it Hiram is a horrible, manipulative git you don’t need to keep showing us that at this point. I suppose the purpose of it was also to show that Hiram’s illness is really starting to have an effect on him because he never would have been beat up like that before, its this idea that Hiram is finally starting to get weaker so we might be coming up to his downfall. Also I found the whole scene after the thugs break into the Maple Club and Cheryl is all like poor momsie and Veronica is all apologetic to Penelope absolutely hilarious. Like this woman is a murderer, you had her on trial a few episodes ago and then you locked her up and now have her in forced labour as punishment but all of a sudden we’re suppose to be concerned for her. We’re suppose to believe that these two girls are concerned for her? Really? Being brutally honest here I kinda feel the same way about Penelope as I do Hiram which is I just don’t care. I don’t care about the rum storyline, I don’t care that Hiram is ill and I don’t care if Penelope nearly gets beat up by thugs, I just don’t have any sympathy for either of those characters seeing as they’ve been painted as truly terrible people and parents so far so why is the show trying to get me to care about them now. Sorry but its just not going to happen.

Barchie

Ok so the other main plotline and the one I think its the one most people are talking about. Now let me start out by saying that I don’t think for one second that Barchie is over. In fact I think this is just the beginning. The episode in regards to Barchie pretty much went the way we all thought it was going to go with Archie being much more willing to persue something than Betty. So lets go through all their scenes and analyse every little moment of them because you know its fun.

We first see Barchie away from each other. Betty is refusing to get caught up in another mystery and while some of this might be because she’s got too much else on her mind with what happened with Archie, I do think some of it is that she is just tired of it all, she’s going to Yale in a few months and I think she wants to just leave all that murder stuff behind her and focus on her future outside of Riverdale. When we first see Archie we see him playing his guitar and it looks like he might already possibly be working on the song for Betty. While he is playing he flashes back to the kiss. He then walks over and looks at the form for the Naval Academy and then out the window towards Betty’s room. I do think this is suppose to show that Archie is torn. He’s torn about whether to go to the Navy and hes torn about what to do about his feelings for Betty. I also think the two are linked, he unsure of whether to join the Navy because of Betty. Also I think the writers have left another little clue for us in this scene. When Archie picks up the form underneath it are some dominoes. I do think this is symbolic of the situation they find themselves in now. That kiss was the first domino and they’ve knocked it over, now thanks to the domino effect all the others are going to come crashing down too, its only a matter of time.

After Archie looks out his window we switch over to see Betty in her room reading her diary. This entry is talking about the day she first fell in love with Archie and we get a flashback to Mini Barchie waving at each other through their windows so know we’ve got another iconic window scene to add to our gif sets. It’s worth noting that while reading this entry she is smiling so we know she is thinking of the memory fondly. Howver when Alice comes in and they start talking about the future and getting teary eyed, Alice asks what Betty could have to cry about it Betty flashes back to the kiss and gets teary. It shows that while Betty might be looking back on the past fonly she has lot of guilt and uncertainty about the more recent kiss. She’s very confused about her feelings.

The next time we see them is the first Bunker scene. Here we see them laying on the bed together and they start out by telling the other where their significant other is at. Betty tells Archie that Jugead is with Charles and Archie replies that Veronica is with Cheryl. I think in this moment wher ethey are lying close together and its intimate and all these feelings for each other are welling up they bring up Jughead and Veronica to remind each other that there are two other people involved in this, who are going to be affected by this. It’s at this moment that Betty asks what they are doing there? She is trying to figure out her feelings and what all of it means, whether its real, she’s despesrately trying to find the answers. But Archie doesn’t have an answer for her as he as just as confused by situation as she is, there is one thing he is sure of though and that’s this feels nice. Betty then admits that yes it is but that they can’t do anything more than this. This is very telling because it tells us that not only is Betty thinking about doing more with Archie she clearly wants to. It almost like shes saying it as a caution to Archie and herself, she saying this is nice I like this but we have to be careful because it would be far to easy to get lost in each other and go further. I did think Archie’s response to this was kinda funny, he’s like we’re just hanging out. It is a typical Archie/ teenage boy response and again its very telling because it actually shows that one Archie is a little in denial here, there is obviously more going on here than them ‘just hanging out’. It also seems like Archie is trying to find a reason for them to keep doing it by painting it as being more innocent than it actually is. He trying to justify them being alone together by thinking well we’re not doing anything romantic or anything. But while it may seem fairly innocent, I mean they are just laying on a bed, on top of the covers, with their clothes on, the reality is they are both having romantic thoughts about each other and this moment is actually a very intimate moment on an emotional level. The might not be physically cheating but they are being emotionally unfaithful and deep down they both know it. I think this is why Betty says she loves Jughead at this moment. She needs to say it out loud because she’s getting overwhelmed by her feelings for Archie, she needs to remind herself of Jughead who she could really hurt. Archie’s reply is actually really interesting firstly because he pauses for quite a while before answering, his response doesn’t come automatically to him but also because all though he also says he loves Veronica he adds a but. Have you ever heard that saying that nothing a person says before the word but really counts? I think its from Game of thrones. I think that is relevant here Archie says he loves Veronica but this feels nice. So if we’re saying nothing before the word but counts then what Archie is really saying is this feels nice. He also adds a question to the end of it. This feels nice, right? Again this is important because it is telling us that Archie needs that confirmation from Betty. He needs to know she feels the same that he’s not in it alone. Although Betty doesn’t give a verbal response to this I do think we can safely say she does feel the same as we see her turn to look at him and they spend some time staring into each others eyes before taking each others hands. I think in this moment they needed to make some kind of physical contact with each other, their feelings are drowning them but they know that at any moment they could knock some more dominoes and cross the line. But handholding is safe right? I mean they’re just hanging out right?

The next time we see Archie he has gone to his Father’s grave. Like I said I do get this feeling that Archie is just really confused and at a loss. He talks about how he wonders what advice his father would give him. That it would probably something like follow your heart. Archie admits that he doesn’t know which way it is pointing and he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He is at a crossroads right now. He’s got several paths in front of him that he could take and he doesn’t know which one is the right one, and even scarier than that he doesn’t know where any of them lead, what could be hidden round the bend? Does he stay with Veronica, something he is familiar with and a person he loves and has a lot of history with? Does he stay in Riverdale after high school and focus on the center and his dad’s business? Does he persue his feelings for Betty another person who he has alot of history with but who he now has new romantic feelings for? Does he join the Naval Academy and get an education? There are so many possibilties in front of him but so many unknowns too. Its no wonder why he’s really missing his dad right now as thats the person he would ordinarily talk this all out with.

And then we were back with Betty. Again she is reading her diary, this time its about the proposal. She describes this day as the happiest day of her life, which is just super adorable. She again flashbacks to Mini Barchie and the proposal and can I just say that red heart ring is so cute and I do think it might pop up at some point again, they did take special effort to give us a close up of it and I can’t help but wonder what happened to it. Did Archie still give it to Betty anyway as a kind of promise ring? Did he keep and its in a draw somewhere? Who knows but I do think itll eventually end up with Betty. Kevin interrupts Betty’s thoughts when he asks if she ok and when she answers yes she was just thinking, he asks if she was thinking about simpler times to which Betty agrees. The thing is if we look at it from Betty’s point of view it really was a simpler time. Back then she was certain about what she wanted. She wrote in her diary ‘I know I want to marry Archie but I know we’re too young.’ Little Betty knew exactly how she felt and exactly what she wanted. There was no boyfriend whose heart she could break, there was no best friend who she could utterly destroy with her betrayal. There was only her and Archie. Fast forward ten years and shes in a very different situation then what her younger self thought. As a child she believed this was the time when she and Archie would be getting engaged, when they were 18 and in high school. Now all those feelings she felt then are back but its far from a simple situation.

I don’t think its at all surprising that when we return to Archie he is working on a song. Archie has always tried to work his feelings out through songwriting and music. We can see him smiling throughout the entire process of wrinting this song. Now I was going to wait and talk about the meaning of the song later when going through the second bunker scene but I actually think we should cover it now. I mean if Archie has written a song for Betty then obviously we need to study every single line in great detail just because what else would we do with it? So lets first start with the title. According to the video I found on youtube its called ‘Carry the Torch’. Now if this is the official title then this is very intersting as the phase means to love something for a long period of time. Us Barchie shippers have been saying all along that Barchie never lost their feelings for each other and I do think this confirms that. The first line of the song is ‘There’s no warning when everything changes’, pretty obvious that Archie is talking about the sudden emergence of their feelings for each other here. I also think its interesting that for Archie everything has changed. Literally nothing is the same for him anymore, not his feelings for Veronica, not his plans for the future, his feelings for Betty, literally everything is up in the air.

‘You let down your guard and I saw something strange, I thought she’s not made for this world and neither am I.’ The part about her letting down her guard I think is in reference to how previously in season 1 after he broke her heart she became more guarded with Archie to the point where when he tried to talk about his feelings with her in the season 1 finale she shut him down. Now though she’s let that guard down, she’s kissed him and she’s met with him in the bunker, she admitted she was feeling something for him. As for the part about seeing something strange and thinking she’s not made for this world I again think this is a throw back to how he used to see her. I’ve said before that I always thought a huge part of the reason why Archie rejected Betty in season 1 is because of how he saw her as this perfect girl next door and so much more than he ever would be. I think he’s now realised thats not true. That she’s not the same person anymore and neither is he. The line about not being made for this world is a little more ambiguos to me but I think he means they aren’t made to fit into a box, they both a little different. I mean I think they have had similar paths, they both have struggled with a dark side that was brought into exisitence by the same man, the black hood. Archie’s anger at the black hood lead him down some pretty dark paths, Betty got the calls from the black hood that also took her down a dark path.They were both manipulated by someone they thought they could trust. Archie was manipulated by Hiram and Betty was manipulated by Chic. They have both lost their Fathers suddenly. I think Archie is trying to say that whereas before he saw them on different levels now he recognises that they are on the same, that they match. It could also mean that they aren’t meant for the world of Riverdale, this world that’s steeped in blood and violence, Archie has always seen their relationship as being something pure, that childhood innocence, maybe he’s saying that their love is being blocked because of this world where they can so easily be corrupted. How he feels for Betty is so pure that it doesn’t belong in this world of evil and corruption its on another level it doesn’t fit in with this world, its just too good if I’m making sense here.

‘Cause you make me wanna be stronger than I am.’ Another fairly obvious one Archie wants to be good enough for Betty he wants to be worthy of her. She inspires him to better himself and again we this alot throughout their relationship. She supports his music and encourages him to persue it, we know that story of how she helped him get caught up as children so he wouldn’t have to repeat a grade, we also know that she helped him with his schoolwork when he got out of prison. She always believes in him and he always listens to her advice and lets her guide him. The next line is ‘Maybe I’m reaching, misplacing a feeling. There’s no way to know but to try.’ This line is really showing Archie’s confusion. But it also tells us alot about how Archie is thinking. He recognises that isn’t certain of his feelings that he just be mistaking nostalgia but he also says the only way they can know is to try. This is kinda what I’ve been saying myself. The only way Barchie are going to get closure is if they explore their relationship otherwise they are always going to wonder, they’ll always be a what if. It seems from these lyrics that Archie thinks this too that he wants to try and see what they could be.

Ok I do want to point something out real quick here. We know that Archie didn’t sit down and write this song all in one session. This song was written over a couple of days and as I said I do think Archie uses music to sort through his feelings. All of the lines above come from the first verse of two. Here’s the thing there is a huge change between the two verses. In the first it is very much about new, tentative and unsure feelings. However as you will see as we go through the second verse it is much more sure and certain. Archie has made up his mind about what he wants and its reflected in this second verse. “So give me tonight, I don’t know much but I knoww this feels right.’ Archie might be a bit clueless most of the time, he might make mistakes and he might not have all the answers but in all that uncertainty one thing he does know, beyond a shadow of doubt that what he feels for Betty is right. I mean if you compare the line ‘maybe I’m reaching mistaking a feeling’ with this line ‘but I know this feels right.’ This is such a huge turn around. Those lines couldn’t be more different. From the line give me tonight it does make me think that the first verse was written sometime after the first bunker visit but before he goes to see Betty and arranges to meet her at the bunker tomorrow evening. I think the second was written the next day when he knew that evening he was going to sing the song for Betty. In that time he had recgnised that his feeling were real and that they felt right.

‘So give me tonight, If you carry the torch, I’d follow the light, I’d follow the light.’ Here again Archie repeats give me tonight. I think he understands that Betty is unsure and so he’s asking her to hear him out, to keep an open mind to come to this conversation he wants to have. It seems to me like Archie very much wants to talk about how they are feeling and have that conversation that lets be honest they should have had the last time they kissed. When he says ‘if you carry the torch I’ll follow the ligh’t this is huge. He is literally saying that if she says that she has feelings for him, if she wants him too then he’s all in. He wants to be with her, its as plain as day in those lyrics. Like without a doubt if she had said she wanted to be with him he would break up with Veronica and be with Betty and does come across as what he wants.

One thing I will say real quick is that I do think Archie needs to break up with Veronica anyway. Irregardless of whether Betty is willing to be in a relationship with him or not if he is having feelings as strong as what he is portraying in this song that its not right for him to continue with Veronica. As much as it would suck for her and as much as I’d hate to see her hurting, I think Veronica is an amazing woman and person and deserves a heck of a lot better than to have someone settle for her.

When we go back to Betty the diary entry of the day is talking about how they used to listen to records together. Again I don’t think its a coincidence that right after we see Archie working on a song Betty flashes back to them listening to music, music has always been a predominant part of their relationship. Again child Betty describes it as the best day ever. Betty seems to be trying to work through her feelings by looking back at old memories everytime we see her shes got one of her diaries in her hand. What I do think is interesting is that while Archie seems to be looking forward, looking to their furture Betty has chosen to look backwards. I kinda get the sense that Betty is frightened of the future and so her tactic for dealing with that is to just not think about all the much. So she’s getting lost in the past. Archie then shows up and can I just say I love Archie he’s so adorable, like he literally spent the entire episode writing songs and trying to think of ways to hang out with Betty. When he says that he’s there to help her with the year book it is so obvious that he is looking for any excuse to be around her. Definitely had th esame vibe about it as ‘we’re just hanging out.’ Bless ya cotton socks Arch. Anyway Betty sees right through Archie and points out that he’s not there for the yearbook. This is when Archie confesses that he can’t stop thinking about her. She says that they can’t do this but then after looking at him for a moment continues with ‘not here’. Naturally Archie gets very excited at this little bit of hope and Betty admits she can’t stop thinking about him either. Now the next couple of lines of dialogue I think are very important. They arrange to meet at the Bunker but Betty doesn’t want to meet that night but the next. The reasoning she gives for this is so that they have time to think about it and ‘make sure this is what we really want.’ The reason why this is such a big deal is because of the implications behind it. Betty is basically saying that in this moment at least she wants to be with Archie, this means that in this moment she had pretty much decided she was going to leave Jughead for Archie. The intersting thing is that she asks for that delay. I think some of it is yes so that she herself can be sure that it is what she wants and that she isn’t going to change her mind. But more than that I think she wants to make sure Archie won’t change is mind. I mean look at it from her perspective he has broken her heart before. Not only that but after they kissed last time when she next sees him after that night he is kissing Veronica and its obvious their back together, we know that Barchie hadn’t talked about the kiss at this point and they shared a look when Archie spotted her and realised she had seen him kiss Veronica. This must have hurt Betty too its possible she hadn’t spoken to Archie yet because she was working up the courage, unfortunately Archie could have seen the fact that she hadn’t tried to talk about it with him as indifference on her part which is part of the reason why he goes back to Veronica. I think Betty is thinking ok he says he can’t stop thinking about me now but lets wait a bit and see if that cools off and it changes because if we start something up for real then not only have they hurt the people they care about for nothing but Betty’s heart will be broken again.

Betty continues to read her diaries in the meantime and the next entry we get is acutally really telling given what comes next. In this entry Betty is talking about how much she hates Cheryl for kissing Archie. This is relevant because unlike the others this isn’t some happy memory of childhood love, in this memory she is remembering what it feels like to see someone you love kiss someone else. I suspect she is then recognising that this feeling is what Jughead and Veronica will go through if she does persue things with Archie. These thoughts and feelings are fresh in her mind when Cheryl comes in. This part of the episode does seem to have split some opinions in the fandom and caused a bit of a stir. Alot of people feel like it was really out of character for Cheryl to say that what Betty feels for Archie isn’t real and that she is in love with the idea of him considering she was the one saying that it looked pretty real to her just a few episodes ago. I agree with that I was very confuse myself by it when I first watched the episode. But since then I’ve gone back and watched the scene again and I’ve got a few things I think we should think about with this scene. Firstly we need to remember that Cheryl unlike the audience, doesn’t have all the facts. She doesn’t know about the kiss, she doesn’t know that Betty fantasized that dance, she doesn’t know about them meeting in the bunker. Betty straight up denied anything had happened between them when Cheryl asks. I think in these instances its really important that we look at it from the character’s pov. We can actually learn alot from studying Cheryl’s facial expressions during this scene. They are very subtle but if you look closely enough it can make you understand Cheryl’s thought process also it gives us an excuse to look at Cheryl’s beautiful face so its win win. This is Cheryl’s face when she first realises that she was right and Betty is having real feelings for Archie.

She is clearly excited and happy at the news. This is much more in line with what you’d expect from Cheryl after her comments about it looking real. However her demenour changes after Betty says she thinks a part of her had been in love with Archie for the last ten years and she suddenly looks alot more sombre and well sad to be honest...

So why the sudden change? Well her expression also seems really sympathetic to me as well as sad and her expression makes alot more sense when you see what she is seeing. She is looking at Betty in this moment and this is how Betty is looking at that moment.

I mean look at her, she is so devastated, she is clearly hurting and struggling. Now again we have to look at this from Cheryl’s pov. While she might put on an act alot of the time and while its true she seems to enjoy chaos, she isn’t a heartless person. In fact on many occasions we have seen a softer side to her an example of this with Betty is when Betty suspected that her dad was a serial killer she went to Cheryl and she was supportive of Betty and gave her some really good advice. Well they might not be bosom buds Betty is still Cheryl’s cousin, her family. Again if we look at it from her point of view not knowing about the kiss or any of that then Cheryl likely sees it as Betty has started to have feelings and the idea of it is really upsetting Betty. If Cheryl did know about the kiss she might have given different advice but she doesn’t. It’s also possible that Cheryl may be feeling some level of responisibilty for Betty feeling upset now because she was the one who put the idea in her head that she had real feelings for Archie. I actually think Cheryl is trying to find a way to cheer Betty up, to comfort her when she gives this explanation that she’s just in love with the idea of Archie.

I went to a body language class once and the guy told us that when a person lies or is trying to tap into their imagination they look up and to the right because its the creative side of our brians. If a person looks up and to the left they are trying to tap into the memory side of their brains. The interesting thing about Cheryl in this scen is she actually does both, her eyes flick from one side to another. Now I’m not an expert in body language I only ever went to the one workshop that covered the basics but to me this would suggest that Cheryl was searching for something to say here whether it comes from her imagination or a memory doesn’t matter she just wants to think of something to say that will cheer Betty up that will make it better.

If you look at Cheryl’s face right before she says false and then goes on to explain that she’s in love with the idea and that what she has with jughead is real, to me it has that lightbulb look. You know the one I mean, when you’ve just had an idea pop into your head? Yeah I think this is Cheryl’s that’s it, that’s the solution to the problem moment. You can see it alot better when you watch the scene you can see the moment where it pops into her head. So I do think this was more Cheryl’s miguided way of cheering Betty up. I mean like I said she doesn’t even have all the information about the situation all she knows is that Betty is feeling hella upset right now. I think Cheryl meant well but that she didn’t give the best advice at this moment. Also there’ another much simpler reason for why Cheryl said this. The writers. I think they want to draw this Barchie storyline out and play on the angst a bit and so they are using Cheryl here to throw a spanner in the works and delay Barchie getting together.

However that doesn’t mean that what Cheryl said doesn’t have some merit. In particular I think the line about being in love with the idea of the perfect romance is important. You know I actually half agree with Cheryl here. Only half though because I think this used to be true in the past. I think back in season 1 when Betty was more innocent and naive she was in love with the idea of the perfect romance with Archie. However now, when you think about it, it’s not possible for her to be. Mostly because she can’t have the perfect romance with Archie. By this point Archie has already broken her heart once, what’s perfect about that? They have already kissed and then hidden it from their significant others while pretending it didn’t happen in season 2, again what’s perfect about that? Now they’ve kissed again only this time its worse because they’ve actually cheated and now they know that if they do decide to be together alot of people are going to get hurt, yeah there’s definitely nothing perfect about that. My point is their relationship is already flawed, its already gone through the wringer and they already bear the scars from it, its not perfect so how can she be in love with the idea of a perfect love story with Archie? It not perfect but it is real. I need to point out as well that in this scene Betty admits that she has been in love with Archie the whole time. Yet when she talks about Jughead she says ‘I love Jughead’ not in love, love. I do think they’ve done this deliberately, this difference between the two phrases but I haven’t figured out what the significance of it is yet.

So now we’ve gotten to the second bunker scene. It starts off with Archie playing the song for Betty. What I do think is significant here is that whilst he is playing she flashes back to that scene where he was playing for them all and she gets overwhelmed and runs off. Like before when she was reading the diary entry about Cheryl she has remembered a time when she felt hurt and in pain because the person she loved had kissed someone else (Veronica in the cupboard this time) again she is thinking about how much that hurt her and how that’s how Jughead and Veronica are going to feel on top of that she’s got everything Cheryl said spinning through her mind and all just overwhelms her and she was to stop Archie. Another thing worth pointing out is when Archie asks if she doesn’t like the song she replies ‘it’s us, it’s us’ again here she is admitting that they are real, they are right because that’s what the song is about, so if she thinks the song is them that she must believe that. Yet I think in the end as she says she doesn’t want to hurt or lose Jughead. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to. It’s not that she doesn’t have feelings for Archie, its not that she doesn’t think they are right for each other, it not even that she doesn’t want to be with Archie, she just doesn’t want to hurt Jughead. She doesn’t want to face the consequences and so instead she just ends instead trying to convince them both that its just nostalgia and fear of things changing.

The immediate scene after shows that Archie is still playing the song and his mother comments how it must have been written for someone special, she assumes that its for Veronica. This is the moment when Archie says that he wants to join the Naval Academy and says he thinks it’ll be best to just have a fresh start. I mean this poor guy is so heartbroken that he’s decided that the only thing left to do is join the Navy. I do think being in the Navy is going to drastically change Archie in some ways it might be good for him as it will give him more control over his emotions and discipline but it also might make him a much harder person. We won’t know for sure until after the time jump but I do feel like we should prepare ourselves for seeing a very different Archie. Again though we are being shown Archie looking forwards to the future as a way of dealing with his current situation.

In contrast Betty is still focussed on the past, mainly on burning it away. But I do think its interesting that while one of them is obsessing over the future as an escape the other is losing themselves in the past in an attempt to deal. The thing is though neither one of them is focussing on the present on what’s going on right in the moment and so I feel like they are missing out. Its obvious that in this scene Betty still trying to convince herself that her feelings for Archie aren’t real. When her mother asks what shes doing she says she’s ‘exorcising her demons’ and then later after Alice points out that they are her childhood memories and that they are precious, Betty replies that they are just memories. I do think she is trying really hard to convince herself that what Cheryl said was true. I do think its interesting that its Alice in this scene that saves the last diary. I do think this diary is going to be an important plot point. I am very curious about whats in it. But I do find it ironic that Alice was the one in 3x01 who was trying to convince Betty to burn all her diaries but now shes the one trying to save them. Also it could be significant that Alice is the one to do this considering her past. When she was Betty’s age she too was in love with someone, FP. She too, like Betty is now, decided to not face these feelings and instead went for the safer option in Hal. As a result alot of bad things happened to her. While her life wasn’t necessarily terrible there was still something missing for her, the same can be said of FP. That decision to not face there feelings for each other had a direct impact on there lives. It had a domino effect. Like Betty and Archie Alice and FP had other opportunities to be honest with themselves and each other but didn’t.

As I said before I don’t think that Barchie’s story is over yet. There are too many things left undone. We still haven’t heard the whole song in the show yet. I do think its possible that Veronica will somehow discover the song, whether because she hears a recording of it, or hears Archie playing it or becuse Mary asks her what she thought about it. Then one of two things will happen. Either Archie will be faced with the awkward situation where he either has to admit the song isn’t about her or pretend it is and play it for her. Or when she hears it Veronica realises right away that it isn’t about her. Maybe Jughead also hears the song and also gets suspicious. I also think that diary is going to come back into it, maybe Betty reads something in it that makes her realise Archie is the one she wants and so she rushes over to see him and tell him only to find that he has already left, she gets to his room and there is a letter for her on his desk. Inside the envelope is an explanation that he’s left for the Navy, a loves confession and the heart ring is in there too. Then we’ll have the 5 year time jump where we find out they’ve been longing for each other the entire time. Oh the angst. The other thing is that Jughead and Veronica still haven’t found out about the kiss and with these video tapes popping up all over the place its only a matter of time before that one comes out. Also its worth saying that technically Archie and Betty still haven’t had a proper conversation about their feelings. While they were better this time around and they did touch on the fact they couldn’t stop thinking about each other their conversations were more about what they didn’t want then what they did. They don’t want to hurt Jughead and Veronica. So at the moment they are kinda at a stalmate.

Well thank you to everyone who read all the way to the end of this. I know it got real long, like I said a lot of thoughts about everything. Again I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. I’m not sure how much information we are going to get from the next episode as its going to be a revenge fantasy from a story Jughead is writing but you never know, either way I’m still excited for the episode. So until next time.

#riverdale #barchie #riverdale theories

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sarahreesbrennan · 5 years

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Nick Scratch POV (and OMG he is so totally the Mom Friend: "Please, please, Sabrina and Harry, Just Say No to crazy Plans! Stay in the library where it's safe!") and Melvin The Dorky Warlock! PoN is shaping up to be amazeballs! May I just ask how much are you books canon? For example, does what you have written mean that Melvin and Dorcas are actually a couple in the show? Does it mean there is a way in the show for witches to communicate by writing on their skin?

Thanks my dove! I hope you will like Path of Night! I love that Nick’s solution to problems is books (Read the Bible! I’m leaving this weird heads-on-plates party and going to the library! I must research this!) and I agree strongly with him that books are always a good solution. ;)

I think he’s very supportive of Sabrina’s impulsive plans but he’s not impulsive himself unless it’s right down to the wire, whereas Sabrina (raises the dead, hatches several plans to fight Satan, ruins weddings, storms death churches solo) and Harvey (instant headshot, hatches plan to blow up gates of hell, storms death churches solo) really are.

This seems fine to me, as Roz and Theo–who have known Sabrina and Harvey a lot longer!–also occasionally seem appalled by said plans but mostly remain supportive (Theo, the real MVP, stands up for Sabrina always and accompanies Harvey to valiantly fight in demon-infested mines TWICE). Always gotta have people both making the daring play and thinking out the long game, that’s what makes a team.

Cut here for rambling about the process of writing ancillary materials, Star Wars, Sabrina character insights, and… Star Trek and dragons… below

These are also great questions, but I can’t spoil things! There is plot stuff and character stuff and magic stuff in my books that foreshadows and back…shadows… the show, and you’ll recognise that, and the hope is for the books and the show to enrich each other!

So far they do tie in, but there are no guarantees on specifics. Scripts change even on the day of filming, if the director or sometimes the actor goes ‘hm, that’s not really playing.’ I’ve seen stuff cut from scripts (the Sabrina scripts but also many other scripts) where I’ve gone both ‘oh, great that they cut that’ or ‘oh, that would’ve been awesome, I miss it…’

The books are ancillary materials, so it’s all either suggested to me, worked on with me or my work is approved by the Powers That Be… stuff that is not approved gets cut! (As it should be. RIP to some of my weird Riverdale jokes.)

Mostly what one finds in ancillary materials is and remains canon. However stories are mutable! So there are some famous examples of stories changing as they evolve. Pour one out for Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, a book written to tie in with the first Star Wars movie in which Luke and Leia seem very friendly…

There are stages in the process, though. For instance, here are the many steps in which if I were to write a Star Trek tie-in novel with a plot where Spock turns into a green dragon, I would be stopped.

HYPOTHETICAL STAR TREK SCENARIO

STAR TREK: Here are some scripts. Let’s talk.

SARAH: So I have an idea for how Spock could become a dragon…

STAR TREK: No he cannot!

SARAH: Anyway let me submit my plan for how Spock, the green dragon, will rampage through the halls of the spaceship…

STAR TREK: You are not allowed to write that book, write a different book.

SARAH: Anyway here’s the book, in it Spock the green dragon finds love…

STAR TREK: Edit this! REMOVE DRAGON.

SARAH: OK so I cut DOWN on the dragon…

STAR TREK: ur unbelievably fired, u were warned every step of the way!

I was saying at my takeover that what we (me, the writers, my editor) look for is liminal spaces: opportunity for story to be filled in, questions where answers would be enjoyed, motives for why people do the things they do (most fun because you can do more feelings and secret thoughts in books!). So why does Sabrina choose to go harder on witchcraft in Part 2?

Well, she has a sympathetic role model to follow in (she believes) Ms Wardwell. So there are scenes in Daughter of Chaos where Ms Wardwell okays and encourages Sabrina’s leave of absence from mortality, and recently-broken-up-with Sabrina admires Ms Wardwell’s cool makeover despite her clear loneliness. (Time for Sabrina to get a cool makeover of her own! Lilith’s hair is so inspirational.) Other Liminal Space Questions: What of Ambrose’s past and how he relates to the other Spellmans? Explore why Tommy turned down the scholarship that would have saved him? Why did Prudence go so hard for Father Blackwood in Part 2, and how did Nick learn what to say to persuade Sabrina on dates in Part 2… and relatedly why is he like ‘I’ve forgotten your name, also it’s ON SIGHT’ to Harvey?

The plan for Daughter of Chaos was to put Sabrina, Nick, Harvey and Prudence on a trajectory where all four (for sympathetic reasons) make one big, terrible decision each, and these mistakes play out into the story of Part 2… and so on the enriching train, the reader feels they super know these characters, and why they made their big mistakes.

#chilling adventures of sabrina #caos #season of the witch #daughter of chaos

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alwaysspeakshermind · 5 years

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Top 5 Anti-Varchie Arguments & Why They Make No Sense

#4: “Varchie’s boring/predictable, love at first sight is so cliché(d).”

Love at first sight is so clichéd? Okay, sure, I’ll allow that.

I’ll even agree.

But think contextually for a sec: love-at-first-sight is so clichéd as opposed to what? The utterly original, never-been-done-before uniqueness of best-friends-to-lovers that Barchie and also Bughead, why do people who say they want to see a friends-to-lovers relationship keep forgetting Bughead’s in that category? represents? The novel concept of enemies-to-lovers that is Cheryl/Toni (and Veggie if you squint)? The dated-in-the-past-but-sparks-still-fly (Falice, Tom Keller/Sierra McCoy, Fred/Hermione) or misunderstood-outsider-falls-in-love-with-“perfect”-America’s Sweetheart (Bughead, and also Kevin/Joaquin, Kevin/Fangs)?

Come on.

Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, a trope is a trope is a trope. There are only so many combinations possible when it comes to romantic dynamics, and since fiction and reality have both existed for a really long time, there’s no one trope that hasn’t already been done a million times over. So…what’s the point of harping on this particular one? Or any other trope just because it’s not your personal favorite?

Yes, Love At First Sight is the bread-and-butter of many fairytales and/or Disney movies. But it’s by no means alone in that regard.

Best friends/childhood friends-to-lovers has been a longtime staple of books, TV shows, rom-coms, and musicals (Harry Potter, Kim Possible, 13 Going On 30, Phantom of the Opera, and Lion King all say hello), and so has enemies-to-lovers (27 Dresses, The Proposal, You’ve Got Mail, Tangled, etc.). I’m not even going to bother touching on the sparks-still-fly/loner-loves-”good” kid thing, because the first is the golden goose for Hallmark, Lifetime, an a billion-and-one romance novels, while the second is YA fiction in a nutshell. And if you’re one of those “I can’t help it, friends-to-lovers is my crack” kind of people, it might be worth noting that “Love At First Sight” is plenty of other people’s crack. Also, if your complaint against a trope you find overused is a valid argument, so is someone else’s. Childhood-best-friends-to-lovers may feel newer and unique to you, but it doesn’t to everyone. Some people are as tired of it as you are of Love At First Sight.

And even if your claim is that “love at first sight’s not realistic/there’s like zero basis for it in the real world/it’s the exception not the rule,” that claim also extends to Childhood Best-Friends-To-Lovers and Enemies-To-Lovers.

In the real world, the Best-Friends-To-Lovers thing is about as common as Love At First Sight, with the latter maybe being a bit more common, since the overwhelming majority of people tend to notice attraction within the first fifteen minutes of meeting someone and the overwhelming majority of childhood best friends grow up thinking of each other as a sibling. (Important distinction: when childhood best friends do grow up, fall in love and get married, they don’t tend to take until high school/college to figure out how they feel. They’re typically aware of it from puberty/slightly before puberty onward, and it doesn’t change because they already know everything there is to know about that person...they know if they’re attracted to them; they know if they’re not.) And both those tropes are more common in everyday life than enemies-to-lovers since, in truth, most people don’t want to have anything to do with the antagonistic person who made their life miserable.

So realism/unrealism? Kind of a shifting-sands argument. Especially within the context of a show that puts an ex-“gang” member in as sheriff and deputizes other “gang” members, one of whom is named Sweet Pea, of all things. I mean, if you truly feel morally obligated to reality-police Riverdale, there are far more pressing issues than the likelihood of two teens meeting each other one time and deciding within five minutes that “This is The One” (which is not even how it happens except for Archie, but still).

What it really comes down to is not the trope itself, but how well the trope is executed.

In other words, it’s not what you’re given...it’s what you do with what you’re given. Every trope has been done many times before. Like it or not, that is an undeniable fact. Arguing that something has little-to-no value purely on the basis of its commonality is in essence weighting originality (theory) over style (practical application). To illustrate why this kind of thinking is a critical mistake, let’s put it this way: weighting originality over style is like saying Riverdale Season 3 is better than Riverdale Season 1.

...Which, as even the most casual of Riverdale viewers knows, is not the case.

Is S3 more ambitious than S1? Yes. Does S3 contain more jaw-dropping plot twists than S1? Absolutely. Are there some damn fun episodes in S3? For sure. But guess what? S3 also contains far more plot holes, inane plot “twists” and contradictory developments/sheer why-are-you-trying-to-make-fetch-happen-with-this-storyline moments because S3 goes so hard for shock value/the unexpected, that it effectively lapses on execution and winds up with a more creative, but ultimately less-compelling finished product than S1. Moral to the story? Creativity is good, but devotion to creativity at the exclusion of all else is not. If a few predictable elements aren’t mixed into an unpredictable world (or vice versa), everything ceases to shock. On Riverdale, because things are always so wild, the biggest surprises are usually when things unfold normally/don’t go haywire.

Now.

Me personally, I’ve shipped every trope at least once. I’m in the habit of making myself set aside all preconceived notions when beginning a new show/book/movie, because I never know what, if any, ship I’ll go for. Historically, I’m about 50-50 on Childhood-best-friends-to-lovers—sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. Enemies-to-lovers—usually, I dig it, sometimes it’s a big, fat no from me, dawg. Love At First Sight however, I am overwhelmingly prejudiced against. And when I say overwhelmingly prejudiced, I mean that as a rule, I flat-out hate it. I find it stupid. It annoys me. I roll my eyes and make jokes.

But, here I am. Writing a bunch of long-ass Tumblr posts in defense of a fictional relationship that makes a direct play on the Love At First Sight trope.

So why are Archie and Veronica my huge exception?

Well, for one thing, their relationship kicks off in a manner that is highly evocative of the comics. The instant Archie sees Veronica, all of time (for him) stands still. The one solitary thing he’s aware of from the moment she steps into Pop’s and he looks up is her. No matter what he’s doing, he ends up looking at her, and after a very short amount of time, the same goes for Veronica (though of course, she tries to play it cool). Regardless of how I feel about the cheesiness of the trope, the execution of the scene is fricking cute.

For another: it actually is an unusual trope, and I was surprised to see it used.

Don’t get me wrong, the whole see-a-person-across-a-crowded-room deal is a cliché and it’s a million percent been done to death. But the funny thing is, Love At First Sight is such a clichéd cliché that it’s hardly ever used nowadays. By virtue of its extreme clichédness in fact, it has accidentally and ironically become fresh again because the second someone suggests it, someone else inevitably goes, “Nah, that’s too clichéd, we can’t do that.” In all honesty, I can’t remember one TV show or non-90s-Disney movie I watched in the last ten years where that trope was used over any/all of the other tropes available. I actually intended to make a list of the books/movies/shows I know of that have used the friends/enemies to lovers trope for comparison purposes, but it was getting so long with just the books section I ended up going, “Haha, no,” and scrapped that plan. (But for the record, almost every single Jane Austen novel is on that list.)

So, in summary: Love At First Sight clichéd? Yep. For sure.

Too clichéd?

Nope.

Certainly no more, and arguably less, than the other tropes Riverdale’s many ships adhere to. So if you’re not nonstop complaining about those other ships on the basis of the overdone/predictability factor, it shouldn’t be an issue that Varchie’s relationship is built around a recognizable trope that has been out-of-use by most everyone except Disney for a good while now. (Besides, some tropes are considered timeless for a reason.)

And seriously, if we’re going to go down the Disney path, let’s stop a second and recall how many Disney Channel shows/movies in the last decade utilized Best-Friends-To-Lovers and Enemies-To-Lovers. Or hey, what about Nickelodeon shows? Or maybe cop/CSI/civil service-type shows where best friend partners/partners who hate each other eventually fall in love?

Again, a relationship is not automatically made “boring” because it falls within the parameters of a well-known trope, and “predictable” does not automatically mean “bad.” If that were truly the case, no fictional relationship from probably the 18th century onward would have any popularity and/or critical acclaim. And if you try to argue that that’s just how it is for you personally: predictable/clichéd = boring, you should probably keep in mind that when measured by those standards, every single other ship on Riverdale is, by definition, boring.

Every.

Single.

One.

Not just Varchie.

So if you really are passionate about Riverdale not focusing on a “boring, predictable, clichéd ship instead of an interesting one,” you might want to take a break from griping about Archie and Veronica and start examining exactly how original those "interesting” ships you’re touting actually are. And if that’s not really what you mean, if you don’t really buy into the line you’re selling (i.e., you’re just using “they’re so boring” as an excuse to disguise the fact that you don’t like Varchie because they prevent your preferred ship from happening), you might also want to consider just being honest about that.

Because when you build your argument around a point that encompasses more relationships than just the one you’re criticizing, it makes you look like you’re either extremely clueless in not realizing that your complaint also applies to your ship/other ships, or else a giant hypocrite.

#varchie #archie x veronica #riverdale opinion #my opinion #my post #rant #I'm calmer now #so we're trying to remain relatively tactful here

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jandjsalmon · 5 years

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Can I do all three? Or whatever combination you want? Why Betty and Jughead? I know for me, I liked season one, I wrote jokey reviews for my friends on season one and posted them on Facebook, and I was Googling spoilers (or something, or maybe something about Coachella) at the end of season one, and found Fall in Light, and that was that (this is abbreviated, but basically what happened). So what was your journey? Please and thank you! PS- just framed two paintings for the living room.

YOU are a joy and a delight, my friend. Just have to say that. Which artist painted your new living room décor?

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did:

OOOKAY. So the Bughead question - I actually started shipping Bughead from the very beginning. I started watching when there were only two episodes on Netflix Canada. I watched them both the same day and by the end of the second episode I knew they were the ship for me when this happened:

So SO good on the Riverdale director of photography’s part - because that is some super sweet foreshadowing there with the out of/into focus stuff. It might have also had something to do with Cole’s collarbones and/or whole aesthetic. I sought out fanfiction immediately (as I am wont to do when I find a new ship or show) and there were, I think, about 130 fics on the archive. We’ve come a long way since then. :)

my thoughts: I like that quote Cole had after last season where it said he’d like to play Jug as more of a morally grey character - someone who believes the ends justify the means. It’s interesting because I have long felt that Jughead was the conscience of the town. Not Betty (as some people suggested) - who I really do think would do all sorts of sneaky things to keep the people she loves safe. I am hopeful and excited to see how this goes. :)

What makes me happy about them: The fact that they are eachother’s #1 support and love and soulmate. They’re SO pretty to look at. Their aesthetic of the pretty and pink girl next door and the plaids and layers of the boy from the other side of the tracks. It’s a pretty aesthetic. Add to that the childhood friends to lovers thing. The absolute devotion and love and trust they have for eachother. They get eachother more than anyone else does. They just make me SO happy.

What makes me sad about them: That they can’t just be regular teenagers. Their parents treating them so poorly.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: LOL so many things. I’ll force myself to refrain from discussing the typical ‘lack of a good beta’ issues I see regularly - like the grammar/spelling/punctuation/tense problems. Plotwise - I don’t read fics where either of them are VASTLY out of character. You can have an AU and still have them sound and act like themselves. A good AU should be “what would our characters do if dropped into this situation” rather than self-inserting wish fulfilment and I often ask myself “if I changed the name of this character - would it still sound like Jughead or would I feel like I’ve fallen into ?” - I’ll still occasionally read a fic like that - but let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? I don’t like cheating - whether it’s on eachother or on other people. I hate the fics that have Jughead become this massive addict or alcoholic or complete manwhore. I hate when Betty is written as someone incredibly broken and damaged. At some point it’s just character torture. Oooh and retaliation against the writers. It’s really clear when an author thinks that they’re going to spite write a story because they’re mad at how canon turned out. It’s fine to write AU - but it makes my eye roll when an author figures that they can ignore two seasons worth of serpent jug because they want him to be more feminist/manic pixie dream than he is. I hate when prose is so purple we could almost call it ‘Grimace’ - because at some point the author wants you to notice the pretty writing rather than the actual plot and characters of their story. I hate when dialogue sounds unnatural - and I hate when characters shout and yell in moments when they really shouldn’t…. it’s like the Dumbledore and “did you put your name in the goblet of fire?” thing… where suddenly you go… WOAH Michael Gambon! Calm your tits! Um… what else bugs me in fic? Bad tagging? If you’re going to kill a character - please tag. If you’re going to have the faves snogging someone else… tag it. I don’t want to see my notp shagging even if it’s for “plot.” This could go on for a while, so I’m going to stop here. lol.

things I look for in fanfic: Solid Characterization. A happily ever after (always). Clever banter. Tropes (they’re tropes for a reason). If there is angst and unhappiness… I want some payoff before the end of the story. Like, if I have to sit through them pining from afar - at least eventually give me kisses. Emotional rollercoasters and character torture isn’t for me. I need the payoff.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I’m monogamous when it comes to my Bughead. I firmly believe Jughead is completely Bettysexual and has loved her since he understood what love was (since she shared her cookies with him in Kindergarten) - and as for Betty… if she were to find love without Juggie, it would have to be in a universe where there was no Jughead - and it would have to be away at college with some guy who isn’t a canon character… and except in one small case of “kinky excellence” - I wouldn’t want to read about it at all.

My happily ever after for them: University graduated. Published Jughead. Mom and Dad to three kids - happily married, holding on to one another through every trial life throws at them. Both working hard in their prospective fields (which generally turns out to be some kind of sleuthing/investigating/writing) - and both just happy and to go to school concerts, elementary school sports games, science fairs, and to give their children the love and support they didn’t have from their parents growing up. Breaking the cycle.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Jug is the big spoon. Betty rests her head on his chest while he sleeps on his back. He winds his hands in her gold hair and breathes easy knowing she’s safe right there beside him.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: In the future - it’ll be Jones Family Movie Night every week with their children (something I’ve done with my kids for the last ten years) with popcorn and cookies and no devices at all - but where they are right now? Sleuthing and Milkshakes. Or sitting beside each other, her feet in his lap while they’re both reading… or better yet, he’s typing away on his laptop, idling rubbing her foot, while she’s reading beside him.

Send me a ship/character and I’ll answer these questions…

#ask game #i may have answered too much #i apologize in advance

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brokehorrorfan · 6 years

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Best New Horror Movies on Netflix: Winter 2018

There’s an overwhelming amount of horror films and TV shows to sift through on Netflix, so I’ve decided to take out some of the legwork by compiling a list of the season’s best new genre titles available on Netflix’s instant streaming service.

Please feel free to leave a comment with any I may have missed and share your thoughts on the films you watch. You can also peruse past installments of Best New Horror Moves on Netflix for more suggestions.

1. The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House is, quite simply, some of the best long-form horror storytelling of all time. Based on - but not a strict adaptation of - Shirley Jackson's influential gothic horror novel of the same name, the series is created and directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil). Told through two timelines, with clever transitions between the past and present, the story concerns five siblings and how an alleged haunting they experienced as kids affects them as adults. The cast includes Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), Carla Gugino (Watchmen), Michiel Huisman (Treme), Elizabeth Reaser (Ouija: Origin of Evil), Kate Siegel (Hush), Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), and Lulu Wilson (Annabelle: Creation). It is admirably character-driven, which makes the horror elements hit even harder, and a spooky atmosphere is present throughout all 10 episodes.

2. Green Room

Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier achieves the impossible by matching - and perhaps even surpassing - the unbridled intensity of his previous film, Blue Ruin, with Green Room. The exercise in white-knuckle suspense finds a scrappy punk band trapped in a skinhead club after unwittingly walking in on a crime. The late Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) delivers one of the best performances of his tragically short career as the de facto leader of the band. In a bit of inspired casting, Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation) is chilling as the conniving, white supremacist venue owner. Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Joe Cole (Skins), and Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) round out the band, while Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later) is also wrapped up in the brutal fight for survival. Akin to Don't Breathe, the tension on screen is enough to induce anxiety, and Saulnier nails the punk rock DIY spirit to boot.

3. Cam

Cam stars Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid's Tale) as a cam girl - one who performs pornographic acts live on camera for paying viewers - who is desperate to gain popularity. Produced by Blumhouse, this is not your typical "seedy underbelly of the sex industry" movie, although there is some of that; instead, it goes in a refreshing, unpredictable direction. Reminiscent of a neon-soaked episode of Black Mirror, Cam is a suspenseful and compelling mystery-thriller with a sci-fi twist and horror undertones. Brewer is spectacular in her fearless performance, while director Daniel Goldhaber makes a powerful feature debut.

4. The Night Comes for Us

The Night Comes for Us is an unrelenting action thriller in the vein of The Raid, John Wick, and Dredd. In fact, the Indonesian film reunites The Raid's Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais. Taslim leads as a man who goes rogue from a dangerous crime syndicate. A variety of deadly individuals (Uwais among them) are out to get him, but he has some tough allies as well. It all culminates in an incredible final battle in which the viewer feels every blow. The blend of brutal, graphic violence and impressively choreographed fight scenes is written and directed by by Timo Tjahjanto (whose V/H/S/2 segment is a highlight of the franchise).

5. Apostle

Forget that Nicolas Cage abomination; Apostle is the Wicker Man reboot we deserve. The Netflix original film is reminiscent of the 1973 occult horror classic not only in plot but also in tone, style, and pacing. Set in 1905 London, a feral Dan Stevens (The Guest) stars as a man whose sister is kidnapped by a religious cult on a secluded island, which he must infiltrate to save her. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) serves as the cult's charismatic leader, while Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) plays his daughter. The slow-burn is quite a change of pace for writer-director Gareth Evans (The Raid franchise) and his regular cinematographer, Matt Flannery, but they handle it beautifully.

6. May the Devil Take You

May the Devil Take You feels like The Evil Dead's Sam Raimi directing an installment in The Conjuring universe. The Indonesian horror film is not a scrappy splatterfest; it's elegantly directed by Timo Tjahjanto (V/H/S/2). He culls from modern supernatural tropes to craft fine horror set pieces, spooky imagery, a good atmosphere, and strong production value. Chelsea Islan (Headshot) earns to be mentioned in the same breath as Bruce Campbell in her lead role as a daughter who investigates her estranged father's past to uncover the truth behind his coma and her haunting visions. It's a tad overlong at 110 minutes, which is particularly felt during the last act, but there's enough kinetic energy to keep it moving forward.

7. Hold the Dark

Hold the Dark is not quite as strong as Jeremy Saulnier's previous efforts (Green Room, Blue Ruin), but his mastery of tension remains unparalleled. Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) stars as a wolf expert who's convinced by an Alaskan woman (Riley Keough, Max Mad: Fury Road) to hunt a wolf that took her young son, only to get wrapped up in a murder plot. Meanwhile, the boy's soldier father (Alexander Skarsgård, True Blood) returns home from duty in the Middle East unhinged. The screenplay is written by Macon Blair (I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore), based on the book of the same name by William Giraldi. As viewers have come to expect from Saulnier, the violence is as unrelenting as the suspense.

8. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is not your TGIF version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Its aesthetically similar to the Archie Comics title on which its based, embracing the rich Gothic horror atmosphere, but the story veers more into teen drama territory. The result is like a mash-up of Riverdale, The Witch, and Harry Potter. It may take a few episodes to become invested, plus to get used to the distracting shallow depth of field style (which is thankfully used less as the season progresses), but it's eventually rather addicting. The midsection becomes something of a monster-of-the-week series, but it never loses sight of the overall story arc. Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) is charming as the titular witch, and the main cast also includes Ross Lynch (My Friend Dahmer), Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings), and Michelle Gomez (Doctor Who).

9. Into the Forest

Into the Forest is a post-apocalyptic tale of sorts, but it's a grounded take on the subject matter that largely functions as a drama. Ellen Page (Inception) and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld) star as sisters who live with their father (Callum Keith Rennie, Battlestar Galactica) in a secluded, woodland home. Directed by Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park), the movie follows the family in their fight for survival in the months after electricity is lost throughout the world. Although it drags in spots, Page, who produced the film after falling in love with Jean Hegland's novel on which it's based, is in top form.

10. In Darkness

In Darkness stars Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) as a blind pianist who hears her upstairs neighbor (Emily Ratajkowski, Gone Girl) get murdered, drawing her into London's seedy underworld, where she meets Ed Skrein (Deadpool) and Joely Richardson (Event Horizon). With shades of Wait Until Dark, the thriller offers some solid suspense and tension, plus superb sound design and cinematography. The setup is gripping, though the plot later becomes too convoluted for its own good. Dormer is fantastic in the lead, and she also produced and co-wrote the script with director Anthony Byrne (Peaky Blinders).

11. Don't Watch This

Don't Watch This is listed on Netflix as a season, but it's simply five unrelated horror shorts, ranging between 2 and 9 minutes in length. There's body horror, killer kids, urban explorers, and Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski parodying American Psycho. In addition to a few clever setups and strong horror set pieces, they boast quality production value, cinematography, and special features (both practical and digital). Shorts usually struggle to find an audience on YouTube, so it's great to see them showcased on a platform as powerful as Netflix.

Bonus: De Palma

De Palma is a documentary on filmmaker Brian De Palma (Carrie, Scarface, Mission: Impossible, Blow Out, Phantom of the Paradise, et al.). The septuagenarian himself - with no other talking heads - discusses and reflects on his oeuvre, going movie by movie (plus a handful of unmade projects) in chronological order, accompanied by clips and stills. Co-directed by Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) and Jake Paltrow (Young Ones), the candid nature of the interviews prevent the film from feeling like a mere DVD special feature. It moves briskly, leaving you wanting more even at 110 minutes.

#netflix #the haunting of hill house #chilling adventures of sabrina #green room #cam #may the devil take you #apostle #the night comes for us #hold the dark #into the forest #best of netflix #article #list #haunting of hill house #sabrina #in darkness #don't watch this #de palma #bent neck lady

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nadjaofstatenisland · 6 years

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Parentdale Appreciation Week

Day 6 - favorite dynamic

Hal Cooper and Penelope Blossom (hanelope)

for @penelopeblosscm, the Pen to my Hal

Hal asks her to homecoming freshman year. He never says as just friends, but the implication is there. The two of them are a sight to be seen, both in braces and smiling for Mr. Cooper’s camera so brightly there’s a glare on the photo Hal gifts her a week later. His sister drives them and schools them in on after parties on the way there, scaring them both to death. They opt for their own after plans and end their night with milkshakes at Pops. When Hal hugs her good night, she wonders if she could ever be bold enough to kiss him.

Freshman year is a time of firsts. River Vixens for her and The Blue and Gold for Hal. Quarterly celebrations at Pops after each term is over to reward their good grades. A strawberry milkshake for her and a chocolate malt for him, both with extra whipped cream, and a plate of fries to share. Penelope eats her with a fork and Hal dips his in ketchup on the side and when they sit there for hours and talk and talk and talk, she’s able to forget. Forget about the Blossoms and Thornhill and Clifford and the life that has already been chosen for her. She’s able to not think about the way Hermione’s gym locker is right next to hers and how the girl has no shame changing into a sports bra with everyone looking. And that pit in her stomach as she tries so hard not to glance her way. She’s confused is all.

But when she’s with Hal, she feels normal. Like all those things in her head - the life set out for her, those strange desires she knows she needs to squash - aren’t there. With Hal, she doesn’t need to pretend. With him, she feels okay.

Sophomore year she asks him to homecoming - just as friends goes without saying - only this time the new kid tags along with them. Hiram Lodge is his name. Yes, one of those Lodges. Freshly booted out of prep school and back in Riverdale for the foreseeable future. He takes one look at Hal the first day of school and declares him his new best friend. She drags Hal away several times to dance with her and sticks her nose up when he suggests she be nice and dance with Hiram at least once. Hiram is already in the process of stealing Hermione away from her date - that poor, sweet dope Fred Andrews - and doesn’t look like he needs much of a pity dance. Fred might though.

She ends her night with another hug from Hal and when she closes the car door, she hears Hiram say, “Your girlfriend is something else, man.”

Well, perhaps that Hiram Lodge isn’t the worst after all.

Things change sophomore year. She becomes a flyer for the River Vixens and all of a sudden, she’s a lot more important to the team. Hal trains to take over the Blue and Gold next year when his sister graduates. Some weekends, she goes to Pops with the cheer squad, sitting silently in the corner as Hermione always leads the conversation. Other times, after Hal gets a car for his birthday, she finds herself sandwiched in the front seat between him and Hiram at the Twilight Drive-In, plotting ways to shove Hiram out the passenger side door.

Other times though, when the stars align, she gets weekends alone with him. No cheerleading or newspapers or that thorn-in-her-side Hiram Lodge. Just her and Hal and things are back the way they used to be. Watching movies in his basement, walking along Sweetwater River, talking about everything and nothing all at once.

In two years, high school will be over and the rest of her life will begin. The life she still hasn’t told Hal is set out for her. The life of being a Blossom twice over. Sometimes Clifford comes to her room at night and lounges on the armchair by her window and they talk about their future. The future neither of them is looking forward to, but know they have no say in.

“We’re partners in this, Penelope,” Clifford always reminds her. “At least there’s that.”

Partners is a nice word, she thinks. A transition word from sibling to spouse.

She and Hal start going to parties that year. Big high school parties, exactly like the ones his sister told them about. With drinking and Seven Minutes in Heaven and sex and drugs and rock and roll and Secret and Sins. Every sort of debauchery under the sun and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy them.

It’s at one of those parties she catches a glimpse of Hal being led upstairs by Alice Smith. Her heart sinks for a moment before she shakes it off. It was nothing, she was sure. Alice may be one of those kinds of girls, but Hal surely wasn’t one of those kinds of boys.

She’s wrong. It turns out Hal Cooper is exactly like every boy, easily lead astray by blonde curls and nice cleavage and that shameless tongue stud.

By junior year it’s Alice Alice Alice and Penelope doesn’t hold her breath that she’ll get a single dance at homecoming, much less a date with him.

Sierra Samuels is her assigned lab partner in Chemistry and she just knows they could be the best friends if she puts a little effort in. Sierra is smart and sweet and funny and pretty and charming and goes on and on about social justice and the issues in the world and every single day she looks forward to second period to give Sierra forty minutes of her undivided attention.

When Sierra comes in with red-rimmed eyes the Wednesday before homecoming, Penelope takes her hand and listens to her story of how her parents found out about her secret boyfriend and she was in a heap of trouble and now had a strict no boys policy and she already ripped the tags off the new dress she bought for that weekend and what a waste and -

“I’ll go to homecoming with you, Sierra.”

Sierra gasps but tosses her arms around Penelope’s shoulders and kisses her cheek and tells her she’s a lifesaver.

They take pictures at the Samuel’s house and go off in Penelope’s new car. They spend the entire night on the dance floor together and when Tom Keller of all people asks to steal Sierra away for a dance, Penelope somehow finds herself with Hal instead.

His breath smells of alcohol but she can’t place what. Just enough to make him loosen up, he insists and she knows he’s parrotting Alice’s words, not his own. When the song ends, he heads back over to a crowd to find his girlfriend, but it’s another hour before she can find her own date again. Sierra shows back up as the dance ends with her lipstick ever so slightly smudged. She fixes it on the car ride home and gushes about how sweet that Tommy is. She squeezes Penelope goodbye and tells her she’s an amazing friend. Best homecoming date ever.

She’s disappointed, but she’s not surprised.

Junior year is a confusing rush of a time. She sets her sights on cheer captain next year. Whenever she hangs out with Hal, Alice is almost always on his side and she feels like the biggest third wheel. Sometimes she hangs out with Sierra after school to do homework and listen to her go on about Tommy Tommy Tommy.

She wonders if she’ll ever be someone’s Alice. Or someone’s Tommy.

Alice breaks Hal’s heart over spring break and she’s there to pick up the shattered remains. Late night phone calls and long conversations at Pops and talk about everything that was wrong with him and right with Alice and how he didn’t deserve her. Penelope holds his hand and props him up and all those feelings she thought she left behind come rushing back full force.

It’s a blessing in disguise because some of those feelings may have started moving to Sierra and she’d be a dead girl walking if her parents ever discovered that.

She kisses Hal one day. Full and hard on the lips. When he responds to her, it’s everything she’s dreamed of for the past few years. When she tries to take it further, his politely stands down. A true gentleman, wanting to take it slow. Her heart flutters all week.

By Monday, she gets word Hermione “The Queen of Gloating” Gomez is next year’s cheer captain and Alice Smith and Hal Cooper have gotten back together. Oh happy days.

Clifford listens to her cry. Tells her she’s so much better than Hermione, tells her that Hal is clearly an idiot for chasing slutty Southside girls. He tells her to have fun senior year when he goes off to college. Have fun while she still can. They both should.

Hiram Lodge of all people asks her to senior homecoming. Just as friends, they both say, and he may not be much, but he’s better than no date. He buys her a corsage and picks her up in his dad’s Cadillac and holds the door open for her and she’s pleasantly surprised.

Neck and neck to win homecoming court are Hermione and Fred verses Alice and Hal and with a wink, Penelope realizes she and Hiram aren’t all that different. She votes for Hal and Hiram votes for Hermione. They put aside their bitterness for one night, wishing happiness on those they can’t be with.

Hal and Alice win and dance stiffly in front of the school in a way that’s so unlike them. Hal’s smile is forced and Alice’s makeup is smudged and Hiram encourages her to steal a dance with Hal when she gets the chance, only she never does. He and Alice disappear just after and no one sees Hal for a week. No one sees Alice for five months.

Hal becomes a zombie senior year without his loud, crass girlfriend by his side. She watches his grades slip, watches him come to school with red eyes and she can never decide if he’s high or sleep deprived.

Her eighteenth birthday is the day after Halloween and she doesn’t get as much from a smile from him. Hermione takes her to Pops instead and when Hal causally comes up in conversation, Penelope changes the subject. She’s done with her one-sided friendship.

Senior year goes by in a flash. She spends her Saturday nights crossing the river to Greendale and spends more than one occasion riding in cars with boys. A pretty blonde girl with a funny name (something with a Z she swears) chats her up at one of these parties after she’s had three Tom Collins and asks if she wants to get out of there. Penelope giggles fiercely, but when the girl leans in to kiss her, she loses her nerve and runs away. She cries in a bathroom instead and splashes water on her face to sober up.

She wants to be true to herself, but she doesn’t even know what her true self is.

Alice returns to school and becomes the talk of the town again, but her chin stays up. She clings to Hal’s side and Penelope sees her old friend return to his former self. He smiles at her in the hallway, but she doesn’t give him more than a quick wave. She doesn’t have much time left, but it’s just as well.

She accepts an invitation to prom with some boy she’s never exchanged more than ten words with. He’s dull but he’s cute at least and he winds up ditching her halfway through the night.

A Cyndi Lauper song comes on and before she knows it, Hal is tapping her on the shoulder. His eyes plead with her and she nods and accepts his hand. For old time sake.

He talks a mile a minute even though they’re slowly swaying back and forth. He’s sorry. He misses her. He and Alice are going to school in Boston, leaving by August. He’s horrified. He’s excited. He’s all smiles. But what about you, Pen?

Highsmith College, naturally. She answers his questions politely. She wishes him the best of luck. She assures him she’ll miss him too.

The song ends, but when she pulls away he keeps his hands on her waist.

“I am so sorry, Penelope.”

She leans up and kisses his cheek. She can tell him then and there about the wedding at the end of summer. About how the rest of her life will play out. About how these are her last few months of freedom and she needs to enjoy them in any possible way, even if with just a friend. She desires to do something big before school ends, but she doesn’t know what.

She says nothing though. There’s no point. She’s never actually had any freedom.

#parentdaleaw2k19 #parentdale #penelope blossom #hal cooper #hanelope #riverparents #alice cooper #sierra mccoy #tom keller #clifford blossom #hermione lodge #halice #penford #hiram lodge

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floggingink · 6 years

Text

Riverdale, “Chapter Forty-Seven: Bizarrodale”

Jughead eats: QUICK SHOT OF BRUNCH

the print on Josie’s bomber jacket? confounding

“If there’s no wedding reception, it means the Gargoyle King has won.”

Ms. McCoy in bright blue? confounding

have Moose’s eyebrows gotten thicker? he...he fine

Cheryl’s sheaths: like a true gay icon, Cheryl wears both a satiny demi-cup bustier and a flannel in bed with Toni, who’s rocking a sort of cottony Aerie bralette

Hermione’s earrings look like divining rods, which makes sense

“dangerously unhinged,” in this day and age? UNHINGED?

Cheryl is “legacy” in Riverdale’s version of Smith College

Cheryl’s pins: in her droopy 1920’s lady-reporter tie, Cheryl has a pin that is probably a bee but is POSSIBLY a giant frightening moth like in the Silence of the Lambs poster

Moose’s hair is longer or something and he’s like? I don’t know but I’m a gay boy all of a sudden, like let me at All That

I like how he pauses but goes in for more kisses after Kevin tells him he wants to ask him something

he’s like…..so tall….and he has this a little mole on his cheek….

(RIP Midge)

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: you look me in my pale astigmatic eyes and tell me the little snitch canary “told you they were in here sir” smug Malfoy stool pigeon ISN’T a pillow queen and I’ll give you this money RIGHT NOW. THAT thin-lipped smirk? with THAT cleft chin? he’s a gay, your honor

Sexy, aesthetic Southside: oh fuck!!!! Sweet Pea has a VERY vulnerable, soft-masculinity speech about his heartspace and emotional boundaries and he’s so fluffy-haired and trying to be gentle with himself……….SWEET PEA……..

Best costume bit: don’t miss the two-second shot of a Prostitute in a turquoise pencil skirt and red velvet blazer and pearls AND GLASSES leading a man by the tie down the Maple Club hallway

“Damn good coffee”: also this jazz music and Cheryl’s short pantsuit

WHERE CAN I GET CHERYL’S MINI BACKPACK

The Blossom spawn: I know Penelope Blossom is not out here suggesting there are no lesbians in what I assume is a women’s college. I remember when I got into My Women’s College one of the nuns at my church was like, Ha ha! Don’t let the drug-dealing lesbians get you! and I was like, How do you already know the plot of Riverdale season 3? but then I was also like, Ma’am why did you join this monastery?

Fifth period is AP English: “THIS IS THE PRICE OF SALT.”

Lawyer McCoy is right, Ex-Sheriff Keller IS a snack and this bitch’s blood sugar is low

I love Sierra and Whatsit playing Lawyers in bed because it happens to be my thing too and I want to be there with them

Certified pedigree: his name’s Tom right? he’s SO HANDSOME. everyone is so handsome right now!!!!!!! (I’m ovulating)

this is the same fancy hotel room Jughead and Betty stayed in when he sort of proposed to her? this is just the upscale version of the sex bunker

Kevin eats when he’s stressed, as you will recall from the drive-in S1 episode

“an epaulette to cry on”

Cheryl’s hair: and Cheryl’s sleeves!!!!!!!

Sixth period is Intro to Film: “looking like a community theater production of The Talented Mr. Ripley” is the SECOND time handsome bicurious Tom Ripley has been name-dropped (also the drive-in S1 episode)

“I can’t go back to Fox Forest” is like the most tragic thing. HE CAN’T GO CRUISING AGAIN

“Oh, sullen, tenderhearted Kevin.”

Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: “RAPTUROUS”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like that Cheryl continues to use words like “whilst” and “amongst”

is Moose wearing a denim Henley? MOOSE?

the closed captioning renders it “O shutterbug of my dreams.” “O,” LIKE CHERYL IS SHAKESPEARE

I absolutely buy that Cheryl would ask if this was their first fight mid-fight

only Toni among us could wear that many necklaces at once

I did get a little confused when Toni confronts Cheryl in the bathroom, like at first it was about how you shouldn’t out people but then it was about her not being in the Serpents? let’s focus, ladies

The 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie’s commitment to keeping her eyeshadow coordinated with her jackets over her commitment to boys is aspirational

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: I LOVE ARCHIE’S SIDE-EYE, LIKE………“SWEET PEA?”

Reggie on kneecapping: “Does that really happen?”

Reggie’s voice cracks me up. he’s just a big gorgeous squeezable side hustle dummy bro, so down for the ride, remember when he slugged Jughead? neither does he

REGGIE HONESTLY HONEST-TO-GOD IS JUST LIKE….RONNIE YO YOU NEED SOME MONEY?

“You can be my Baby Driver” uuuuuugggghghhhhhkkhhhhhhhhh REggggeieiee

“JUST PLEASE DON’T SCRATCH MY CAR” has more sexual energy than I think Archie has ever manufactured with anyone EXCEPT BETTY when they kissed that one time you know?????

why do you think Reggie is such a good doofus boyfriend while Archie was such a bad doofus boyfriend? is it because Archie tried to think for himself? or has Reggie just not been given the chance to fuck something up yet

I like Penelope bringing up Sierra and Tom getting married not to shade them but to just be like, They should be happy if they want. I was like, Damn, Penelope! You’re right!

“He is a vicious and petty god.”

lol oh yeah Hiram got shot

Gay?!: as has been discussed, Veronica is reading some classic lesbian pulp fiction for no other reason than I suppose she fucking likes it, and that is BDE

Summer + Blair = Veronica: Veronica would wear those shoes to baby drive

SOMEONE TAKE ME ON A “MAD SAPPHIC CAPER”

Archie > Dawson: Archie is a hot-or-cold boyfriend but he is an EXCELLENT beard!!!! GOOD, ARCHIE

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: Reggie takes the same positive attitude towards getting shot and surviving that I hope I would have, which is “at least I can say I got shot”

Moose is like, out and THEREFORE dtf, as if they couldn’t have secretly been having sex this whole time

Toni conceded to Highsmith’s business formal dress code insofar as she wears a black vest over a plaid tie and that’s it

“WHOEVER YOU ARE, PLEASE BE CHILL.”

Veronica’s blue plaid coat SHOCKS me

Veronica was rich: Gladys admires Veronica and Reggie’s gumption showing up with only half the money

is it a coat or is it a miniskirt with a matching jacket?????

God bless jingle-jangle Moose: Moose is so excited that he just absolutely tells Cheryl he’s finally going to have sex. I know the show needs him to say it so Cheryl can tell him to BYOS, but it’s still cute of him, himself. is Moose kind of precious?

remember when Moose got gunned down in that car? Christ

HE BROUGHT A LITTLE RED CANDLE!!!!!

I love when people take off their whole belt, as if you can’t just undo it and still take your jeans off

dope deer skull! plus: everyone’s fucking

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: I’ve lost track a little bit of whether or not Alice KNOWS Betty and Jughead are literally/colloquially sleeping together in Betty’s bedroom, or are they taking advantage of her being gone?

The female gaze: Reggie’s chest is the new Archie’s chest

“NIGHT HAG”

“KEEP YOUR BOW CLOSE.”

Moose is MASSIVE like, do you see those arms?

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: HIS BEAUTIFUL FLIPPY HAIR ON THE PILLOW

Dilton Doiley Ethel Muggs The Gargoyle Children: the RROTC guy is Chris Cooper in American Beauty???

Gay.: Sierra was halfway right about “the jealousy thing”

even FP, conducting his interview in his flannel, is like, bruh

These students are legally children: his “Man, the Sisters did a number on you” feels like Riverdale’s version of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s “The Catholics really fucked you up”

Jughead doubts it: Jughead makes a good point. is there one costumes everyone keeps using or is it that easy to DIY your own Gargoyle King?

“UR-KING,” JUGHEAD, PLEASE

oh I can see Jughead about to be disillusioned by his family coming a mile away

Archie’s soft soft sweater? confounding

at least Moose isn’t moving to Toledo, am I right

CHERYL’S SLEEVES?????????

What damn high school in America: Cheryl’s girl gang is 100% Teddy girls and I love them

THE WHITE STRIPE ON REGGIE’S SWEATER and the little black birds on Veronica’s shirt!

Gladys & JB are already a more powerful duo than FP & Jughead could ever hope to be

ARCHIE ASKS HER IF HE COULD KISS HER. THAT’S VERY SEXY OF YOU, ARCHIE. GOOD, ARCHIE

wait Moose is moving to Glendale? SABRINA-GLENDALE? MOOSE WAIT A SECOND?

NEXT WEEK: Gladys tells Veronica to pray, OH BOY

#riverdale #commentary #tropes #i say

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joneswuzhere · 6 years

Photo

Chapter Seven: In a Lonely Place (1950), part two

jackets, drunks, and warnings

continued from part one. some of this will make more sense if u read that first.

item 1. not a scene parallel; i just want to call attention to betty’s and laurel’s jackets. before now it never occurred to me to look for wardrobe influences from the films but i think these two check-patterned bomber jackets are too similar to be a coincidence. here’s a closer look at both. bomber jackets, or flight jackets, got popular in america after wwII and have gone through all kinds of style evolutions with different materials, silhouettes and collars. check @riverdalefashion for betty’s jacket id here. i can’t id laurel’s bc it’s been 70 years and i don’t know anything about fashion.

ok wait a minute, maybe a tiny bit of scene parallel. here steele and jughead are both being released from police questioning. but, jughead is having a pretty bad time even before his encounter with fp, while steele walks out of his interview with the police captain cool and apparently unbothered.

item 2. steele is financially and emotionally supportive of his alcoholic friend, washed-up actor charlie. charlie does his affectionate best to care for steele in return; in this scene by tenderly reciting shakespeare’s sonnet 29 to settle him into sleep after he’s stayed up all night writing. steele’s other important people look on prepared to step in, in case the drunk man carries on too far.

conversely jughead, otherwise alone bc his mother has abandoned him in riverdale with an unfit father, lulls the drunk fp to sleep while trying to engage with him about the family he misses.

item 3. something incriminating happens to suggest a character is capable of murder. (edit: i changed the film gif; different part of the same scene)

item 4. sylvia, wife of the detective investigating the murder, befriends laurel. at first she tries to comfort laurel and reassure her against her growing doubts but then sylvia abruptly changes her tune when she can no longer deny her conscience. similarly, after spending half the episode playing pawn, cheryl drops her parents’ malicious custody game and warns polly that they’re dangerous.

the way i interpreted this movie ended up mainly paralleling jughead’s plot. but a major through-line of the film is the slow realization that someone is untrustworthy. cheryl and betty both experience that realization towards their families, specifically with regard to the baby’s safety (i originally included polly as realizing too but like, no, polly has known. tangential: for more of my thoughts on polly in this ep, check out my post on... mccarthyism? lmao).

#riverdaleedit #riverdale meta #betty cooper #lili reinhart #jughead jones #cole sprouse #fp jones #cheryl blossom #chapter 7 #joneswuzhere #this one turned out super ~aesthetic~ but photoshop is still my enemy i don't forgive #filmref

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sanabakkoushisanangel · 7 years

Note

Heeey. Sorry if I disturb you by something or anything but could you maybe list some good shows? (It's not a must that LGBT couples are included) thanks a lot ❤️❤️💫

Hi, Anon!

You’re not disturbing!

So I’m the type of person that watches a pretty random variety of shows so I’m not sure what your taste leans toward exactly.

If you have any suggestions, make a comment or drop me a message with the show and why you like it! And if you want, make a suggestion on how to make this list better!

** Is for shows other people suggest to me. I’ll comment if I’ve heard of it or seen any of it.

*I’ll try to put if it’s LGBT friendly. And also I want to put down if it’s diverse or not and a note if you suggest a show is diverse…I’m looking for either the main character that is a POC or more than 1-2 minor characters that show up often enough to make a difference to the plot. Don’t tell me a show is diverse if it’s 3 black characters are just window-dressing…👀

***UPDATE*** (8/11/2019)*** SO I'm finally getting around to updating this list. As always let me know if y'all have any suggestions! This thing is getting insanely long! I might try to make it a link on my page (which is in serious need of renovation lol). Oh Lord, I still have so many shows I didn't add. I might have a problem...

Enjoy!!

Derry Girls: Man I hope you all get to see my recommendation for this show!!! It's truly a gem! I can't say it's diverse but it's also based off a small town in Northern Ireland so not really faulting them. Very LGBT friendly!! Spot the tiny rainbow pins our main 5 wear in the entirety of the second season!! It's like the cutest, most wholesome unspoken way of showing support! I literally watched the second season, went back to rewatch the first season and then rewatched the second season again. They're so loveable!

Four Weddings and a Funeral: I surprisingly haven't watched the 1994 film that was one of the best movies of the 90s apparently. But Mindi Kaling is producing its remake that's now a TV show on Hulu. Features a much more diverse cast (TWO main characts being Black, the main love interest being Muslim, actually portraying Muslim character seamlessly without making it campy or oversimplified!). There's a lack of LGBT characters (Tony 1 and Tony 2 don't really count since that feels slightly degrading to me...). I'm hoping they'll get better at that in future episodes!

Dark: A German TV show that's like a mystery time travel thriller. Not really diverse? It does feature a deaf supporting character and some minor supporting characters are LGBT but other than that...It IS a good story that's really interesting and gripping to watch.

3%: A sci-fi post-apocalyptic story based in Brazil that's Hunger Games ish in that young people fight for their right to live in the ideal land of plenty. But because it's a show, you get to explore the ethical aspect of it a little more. I have a beef with how this show treats its PoC character to be honest. But it does have a lot of PoC characters and there's I think an LGBT plotline in a later season. But, I feel like the first season may have been its peak. Definitely still a good show and y'all might enjoy the later seasons more than me.

Patriot Act: Not really a story obviously but I have to plug this show because for once I'm seeing a nonproblematic Indian Muslim man (side-eyeing Kumal and Aziz) that's actually doing great episodes highlighting a lot of important issues that we're totally not getting informed about that we should really be paying attention to more.

Kim's Convenience: A Canadian sitcom based on a Korean family's convenience story. Really cute wholesome show with a great cast that really tries to be diverse and thoughtful and respectful of its PoC. I don't think they have an LGBT main character but it's friendly to it!

-Shadowhunters: I love this trash show. It’s actually not all that great but it’s got some absolute gems of characters you end up watching it for anyway. I def recommend but S1 was watched with a ton of skip Clary/Jace scenes for me. This is LGBT friendly and diverse.

-Eastsiders: One of my Netflix finds. So super LGBTQ friendly because it revolves around a gay couple. The revolving door of characters includes many people at different spectrums of sexuality. It’s unapologetic and fun to watch. Our main couple is self-labeled slutty mcsluttersons but they’re committed to each other. The diversity of race is meh but it does have the Constance Wu from Fresh off the Boat in it and she’s lovely.

-Riverdale: I tried man, I used to read Archie comics when I was younger but um, this show…I think it’s supposed to be ironically pretentious? It just falls flat for me tbh. It’s popular though so you can check a couple of episodes out to see if it’s your thing. There’s an openly gay character in this that should get more story than he does. Also, kind of LGBT baits too at times so not sure if I trust them completely.

-Narcos: One of my recent shows. Very very intense show. Just really well done. It’s male-centric in that most of its main characters are male and its portrayal of women isn’t varied or flattering or significant in any way so that definitely sucks. But I don’t watch all my shows through that lens. For a show about Pablo Escobar and the drug wars it’s a really gripping watch. Beware of heavy subtitles because it’s set in Columbia.

-The Expanse: My sci-fi pick. I love this show. It’s a gorgeous, diverse, rich story, funny without trying too hard. I just get sucked into every character. It had one older married gay couple that was really minor characters but I don’t recall any current mains that are. But It’s an inclusive show so I don’t think it’s particularly averse to the idea. Based on books I haven’t read yet!

-Veep: This is like a completely meant-to-be-offensive comedy show with the amazing Julia Louis-Dreyfus. While I wasn’t in love with the last 2 seasons, the first 4 are amazing. No clear-cut character you root for in particular but it’s so close to politics you can’t help but laugh/cry. Watch it for the absolutely unapologetic legendary burns. Also, has a lesbian couple in it although it’s offensive comedy so prepare for that.

-Archer: Also another meant-to-be-offensive show that’s hilarious but so terrible and inappropriate. I don’t usually like that kind of comedy but I binge-watched this when I was sick and got hooked.

-Vikings: I love this show. If you like Game of Thrones, you’ll like this one only it’s got less nudity and more idgaf fight scenes. It’s got brilliant characters, beautiful battle scenes, really interesting storylines, and just good snarky humor. Watch it! Also, they’re not shy about same-sex couples even if they don’t explicitly say it.

-Mr. Robot: Really good show, very different and…I actually don’t know how to describe it? The main has mental health issues. It’s a sociopolitical commentary type show. It’s about hacking and network security and corporation conglomerates in control of our everything and the fight against it. Also from @cherryrebel : Mr robot has a shit ton of diversity in both race and LGBT, the lead is mixed race but the actor is Egyptian, Tyrell is bisexual, Gideon is gay, Angela, Elliot, and Darlene are implied being lgbt+, I think I’m forgetting about someone but watch that show, it’s the shit

-Legion: A superhero show that’s so incredibly NOT like the other superhero shows. You'll find yourself in a serious mind trip thinking you’re the one that’s crazy. But it’s really really good. Go watch.

-Mozart in the Jungle: About a bunch of musicians and a crazy conductor you absolutely love. It’s really good. LGBT friendly! And diverse-ish.

-Luther: One of the best crime shows in my opinion. Idris Elba just does things and you will want to watch him do it. Anything he does is beautiful and brilliant. But the show actually IS brilliant and amazing and go watch!!

-This is Us: one of those, where-the-hell-did-you-come-from?? shows. Really heartfelt stories that make you laugh, cry, and go aww a million times.

-Killjoys: Another sci-fi show I love. It’s got diversity and great characters and great action and story. It's a complicated plot though and if you skip episodes you're really going to struggle with the story. But if you don't care, it's still fun to watch ladies being brilliant and kicking ass. Also LGBT friendly and diverse!!

-True Detective: Crime detective show. It’s great, very gritty and serious but good stories and character-driven. I actually really enjoyed the third season despite my reservations of this show. Definitely needed subtitles! Also, I got major unspoken LGBT vibes from the characters (3rd season) here but I feel like they didn't go the distance with it.

-Humans: Sci-fi show about android robots that are part of normal life- they look human and are basically live in maids. Only five of these have consciousness. Really good UK show. Diverse AND LGBT friendly!

-Broadchurch: Another good UK crime show. David Tennant and Olivia Colman are brilliant and bicker in the most endearing way! And Jodie Whitaker is so amazing! Slow and gripping and bingeworthy. @iamacolor mentioned a lesbian character in this one too. Wouldn't say it's LGBT friendly but there is diversity in the characters.

-The Americans: Russian sleeper spies in America that lead normal lives, have American children, and are like totally Russians carrying out secret missions. It's fantastical and exaggerated and sometimes I side-eye it like really?? But it's a fun casual watch. Not really diverse or LGBT friendly even if there might be some peppering in there.

-The Get Down: Great show that was recently canceled :( has about 1 season out. I’m not sure how to describe it and do proper justice. It’s lovely though with amazing characters. Also, LGBT friendly and clearly diverse!

-Stranger Things: Great show sci-fi mystery thriller type show. Diverse cast, wholesome even with a dark and violent plot. LGBT friendly but it's got a list of problems in my opinion. But still a fun watch.

-Dear White People: Black college students from all kinds of backgrounds dropping truth bombs all around and being amazing. Go watch. It's definitely a smart show with a lot of humor. It’s balanced with amazing depth to its characters. LGBT friendly! *so while it's definitely diverse in that the entire main cast except one is Black- I do find it weird that in an ivy league college there aren't many Asian students? Like it seems like they tried to fix that in the third season but it could definitely stand to do more in terms of its recurring supporting characters*

-Brooklyn Nine-Nine: an Amazing funny cop show that manages to be winsome, hilarious, endearing, quirky, diverse, balanced, and just amazing all around. Very LGBT friendly and diverse! It's a consistent show.

-Fresh Off the Boat: An Asian family comedy show that’s endearing and hilarious. (Also check out Jane the Virgin for crazy telenovela-esque antics that are hilarious and cute).

-Orphan Black: Sci-fi show about clones. A really amazing show, LGBT friendly. Great story AMAZING characters…most of which is played by one woman. Diverse and LGBT friendly.

-Preacher: Great show based on the graphic novel…uhh not sure how to describe it but it’s good. Reth Negga is in it!!

Also adding Sense8 for its LGBT and diversity. Good show but I’ve heard something about the directors/producers being racist? Not sure so I’m recommending with caution because the show itself esp s2 where the nonwhite characters got a better fleshed out plot is good. But since I don’t know what the producers/directors have done, I’m giving a heads up for someone else to fill me in.

Poldark: I just started this one 2 days ago. 2 episodes in I’m really enjoying it. It’s from PBS’s Masterpiece series. Aiden Turner as a Cornishman is delicious. So far I adore his wife and immensely enjoying yet another period show.

Grantchester: Adding this to the list after I discovered it on my prime account. I’m only one season in and I love Sydney Chambers and his gruff buddy cop Geordie? This isn’t a show that is going to have you sitting on the edge of your seat. It’s totally a procedural type of show. But it’s characters are likable, its story feels comfortable, and honestly, if it’s a shitty day for you and you just want something that’s easy? This is it. @iamacolor :)

Entourage: So I binged 8 seasons and a movie in a week so let’s just say I fell into this gaping manhole…So it has one very prominently gay character on this show that gets a fair amount of screentime and a plot considering he’s a side character. He’s a fairly loveable character you really enjoy watching develop and grow. However, I should warn people that this show has really colorful language that is quite frankly really sexist and homophobic. For those of you that don’t know, it’s essentially a show about a popular actor from Queens that makes it big in Hollywood and brings along his 2 best friends and older brother to live with him and share in his wealth. If you can get past the language and inherent sexism, it’s actually a decent show about 4 guys with an extremely tight unbreakable, ride or die friendship. Lots of cameos by famous actors and directors, etc. I admit I might have a thing for Kevin Connolly and Adrian Grenier…

Jane the Virgin: Okay firstly, I LOVE this show. I wasn’t caught up because I had too much on my plate but like this show is so tongue in cheek and has great Latino rep! Including a character that speaks like 98% in Spanish so it’s great. AND they have LGBT rep so there you go. Enjoy and thank me later!

Superstore: Almost disappointed no one reminded me to recommend this show?? It’s basically centered around a store much like Walmart where you have a colorful cast of employees. It’s funny, it’s cute, it’s very socially aware. A disabled character (of color!), a gay character, and a smattering of all sorts. PLUS America Ferrera whom I adore!

The Good Place: Great show, great diversity, really funny. I binged it aaaallllll. Seriously go watch this show!!

Cable Girls: Netflix Original from Spain. Do yourself a favor, watch it in Spanish with subtitles. The dubs feel so off. So the music choices for this show are the biggest con. Like it’s modern English songs in a show set in the 20s. Whoever chooses the music really doesn’t read the tone of the scene because it always throws me off. BUT, it’s a show about women gaining their independence through working as operators. You don’t have a diverse cast (so another con) but it’s LGBT friendly. There’s an exploration of sexuality minus the harmful abuse of it. It’s got its own set of flaws for sure but there’s a lot of potentials for it to be a good watch.

Atypical: Autistic boy on the cusp of adulthood that’s navigating how to grow into it and live as normally as possible despite his limitations. Diverse characters, funny stories, and most importantly, endearing af. I think it handles the touchy topic wonderfully and allows people in this show to both be good people and also make mistakes both big and small. What I really enjoyed about this show is that it feels unafraid to let it’s characters just be. It doesn’t fall into tropes and it just has really well-written characters. Can’t wait for Season 3. Also, def don’t want to spoil but LGBT friendly.

Lovesick: If nothing else, watch this show for Antonia Thomas. I’m lowkey in love with her so I will watch anything she’s in. But it’s one of those shows that might not be for everyone. It’s about three great friends where two have been in love with each other at different parts of their lives and keep missing each other’s feelings. It plays via flashbacks quite a bit so your story isn’t quite linear but it doesn’t make it difficult to watch. I personally loved it but I’m biased because well Antonia Thomas…

Santa Clara Diet: So I confess I dropped this show mid first episode when I first watched it. Its pilot was so strange and bonkers I was just so incredibly confused. I think the projectile vomiting just turned me off. But boredom is a great motivator and I came back to it later. And man, I am so so so glad I did. It’s just such a lovely show. I love every character to bits. LGBT friendly for sure. It’s so incredibly far-fetched so you just go with it and enjoy the ride.

On my Block: Four friends transitionally into high school and navigating changing dynamics in their lifelong relationships while also dealing with real life, high school, gangs, and growing up. It’s a good watch. Really hoping for a second season.

Sisters: Aussie show about a woman caring for her ailing elderly father who finds out he used his own sperm in his fertility clinic in order to help parents struggling. Now she has new half-siblings all over the country and gets to navigate dealing with that shitshow. This is a good show. Flawed people being selfish, good people getting the short end of the stick, people being real, things getting ugly. It gets interesting and awkward but it’s a good watch. LGBT friendly.

Homecoming: Really gripping show about soldiers that return stateside wanting to return to society, join a program to help them do so, turns out things aren’t as they seem. Check it out on Amazon Prime. Diverse…umm one of the main supporting characters is black?

Bodyguard: Richard Madden from GoT plays a completely different role in this show about a bodyguard that finds himself part of a bigger conspiracy plot that forces him to face his own demons. Overall the story is good. Intense, gripping, intriguing in all the right places. But the ending has you rolling your eyes at how cliche they made it out to be. My biggest gripe being romanticizing characters that really don’t deserve it without highlighting their problematic behavior. It sweeps a lot of questions under the rug and concludes what would have been a highly conflicting plot with some really shoddy tropey shortcuts. Still it’s definitely a bingeworthy show. Diversity is for shit though all things considered.

Recommendations by Other Blogs:

-**Shameless: Based on the UK show I believe. Has an openly gay character in a really complicated loveline that’s one of the major draws of this show. Very good show but definitely not for everyone. Expect LOTS of cursing, nudity, etc. But it’s hilarious, weirdly heartwarming, really fun to watch. Adding based on an anon suggestion- I haven’t watched the seasons in full but I love popping in to catch up. LGBT friendly and also somewhat diverse.

-**Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: I have not watched this show myself but @blueberrysenpaii suggested this and said: Should add CEG. There’s a veeeery proud bi guy! So LGBT friendly! Someone tell me if it’s diverse?

-**Stitchers: Another show I haven’t watched but it’s been recommended a few times so it’s probably worth a watch. LGBT friendly! Someone tell me if it’s diverse? From Anon: There is a lesbian couple (Camanda) and they’re happy and healthy. It’s a great interesting storyline, it’s funny, super loveable characters, there’s some mystery and suspense in every episode, I love it so much, and it’s so underrated

**Black Sails: Have not watched this show either. LGBT friendly and diverse cast! But here’s @foolbrite ’s recommendation: black sails!! its an AMAZING story plus there is such good lgbt rep in that show

**One Day At a Time: So I have watched a couple episodes of this. It’s so cute! Diverse and LGBT friendly! But here’s the recommendation from @jcarizma : One Day At a Time is really good. Has an LGBT main character and most of the characters are Hispanic as well and the show actually talks about topics that are importantes and it still manages to be hilarious. It’s on Netflix. and also @onyourleftbooob : one day at a time is INCREDIBLE and i loved how they dealt with their lgbt character

**Black Mirror: San Junipero: Again never watched this show but I have seen gifs of this episode?story arc? Diverse and LGBT friendly! Anywho another rec from @onyourleftbooob : black mirror’s san junipero is great *Update: I did watch this myself so I can definitely say it was really nice!*

**How to Get Away With Murder: I actually was a little reluctant to recommend this show. Mainly because *spoiler* one of my favorite main characters got killed off in a way and point in the story where it was pure shock value and I’m forever upset. *end spoiler* I personally dropped the show at that point. However, it was great until that point and it does have an great LGBT rep and just as important a very diverse cast! Also recommended by @onyourleftbooob

**The Bold Type: I have not yet seen this show personally but I have seen lots of mentions of it on my dash and it seems like it’s really good. Good diverse and LGBT friendly show! @im-the-trashqueen-of-my-fandoms recommends this: One of the 3 leads is black and discovers that she’s not really straight when she starts developing feelings for a lesbian Muslim photographer :)

So I think I got most of the ones I really enjoy. Not including like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones because those are hugely popular. I hope you enjoy! If I think of more, I’ll add them here.

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rubyventure · 7 years

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Splinters In The Fire - Chapter Two: Serendipity

Summary: Life is strange in Riverdale. 8 Months ago Jughead Jones’ best friend Toni Topaz dissapeared. When he’s about to get shot, Betty can safe him by rewinding the time. Together they start to investigate the vanishing of Toni Topaz.

Finally back with a new chapter!

So this chapter mainly gives us more background story. We'll get into the bigger plot next chapter, I promise! But I hope you'll like this chapter anyways! <3

THANK YOU @allskynostars. You're the best beta I could ask for <3

Read it on Ao3 - Words: 2266

When Betty left Southside High last week, she swore to herself that she’d just forget about everything that happened. It had been one week now, and she had been doing a pretty bad job at forgetting. Mainly because every time Alice Cooper barged into her room trying to force Betty to take her pills, she felt the urge to rewind time to get away from her overbearing mother.

She didn’t use her new skill like that, though. But she did try it from time to time during the week. Sometimes just to catch something that was supposed to fall on the floor. But she also used it in school, when she couldn’t concentrate on the things the teacher said. She would rewind the time to take proper notes. The whole thing really had some positive sides.

The bad thing was that she felt exhausted every time she used that skill. And she still had no clue why she could rewind the time suddenly. Sometimes she wondered if this was all just a bad dream. But then she would pinch herself, and when she felt the pain, she knew she was awake. In school many people had asked her (let’s face it, mainly Veronica and Kevin), if she was alright. Betty didn’t have the heart to tell anybody what was happening with her. She just told them she was exhausted from learning and writing for the Blue and Gold, and people believed her. Everybody believed what sweet little Betty Cooper said, with her cute smile.

Today she had to go back to Southside High. Which meant she had to face the events of last week again, and that didn’t help her mood at all. But of course, she would go. She had a responsibility to teach and help those kids. Betty Cooper never let down anybody. Not even if she was sick.

So the blonde got into the car with her mother and let her drive to Southside High. “Call me when you’re ready, Betty. I don’t want you to walk around the Southside alone.” Betty nodded and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek.

“Yes Mum, of course.” she said it with a smile, but everything inside her wanted to scream. ‘Only a few more months’, she thought. Then she’d go to New York and she’d never return to this goddamn town and her overbearing mother.

It didn’t take her long to get to the classroom where her students were waiting for her. Concentrating on the kids helped her to forget about everything that happened here last week. At least for a short amount of time. But there was one thing that she didn’t want to forget, besides everything. She saved Jughead Jones’ life. And she would do it again, if necessary.

Time went by very quick today, so she packed her things and left the classroom after all the kids had been picked up by their parents. She left the classroom with a smile, but that smile froze when she saw a bunch of older students lurking in the hall. She had to pass them if she wanted to get to the exit. The blonde prayed that none of them would notice her, because they tended to tease her when they did. She had met them before. And it always ended up with her being completely embarrassed, her nails digging into her palms.

Today luck wasn’t exactly on her side. "Yo, Cooper. Wanna learn how to ride? I could show you some moves on my bike!" One of the guys said while the others were laughing. Betty bit her lip and tried to ignore them, but they blocked her way. "Not even an answer? That's rude pretty girl. I'm just being nice." The guy lifted his hand and took one of her blond strands between his fingers. "You could use some lectures, eh?" Betty froze. This was disgusting. But she wasn't able to do or say anything.

"Leave her alone Mantle. Stop being a dick and get to the Wyrm. Viper is waiting for you." Betty looked behind her, knowing the voice all too well. It was Jughead Jones. He wore black jeans, a burgundy sweater under his leather jacket and of course his trademark beanie. Relief rushed through her body when she saw him.

"You won't let us have any fun, Jones" the guy who Jughead had called Mantle snorted.

"You can have fun with your girlfriend. How about that?" Jughead huffed in response, his blue eyes locked with Betty's. He knew exactly what she needed. She needed a focus to get through this situation. And with locking their eyes, he gave her exactly that.

With another annoyed sigh from the guy, they were finally left alone. "I'm sorry." Jughead said. "He can be a little bit of an asshole sometimes." Betty sighed and shook her head.

"Sometimes? He's always like that when I have the pleasure of seeing him." She still felt uncomfortable and her whole body was tense. The dark haired boy seemed to notice and took a step towards her.

"Hey, he's gone now.” She just nodded in response, taking in Jugheads presence. He had always helped her to calm down. He didn’t even have to say or do anything, he could just stand next to her and it would help her. And this was something that hadn’t changed at all, even after all these years. Betty sighed and looked up to Jughead.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…It doesn’t matter. Why did he even listen to you?” she trailed off and bit her lip again. Jughead shrugged and smiled slightly.

“It’s alright. You don’t owe me an explanation. Well, my dad is still running the gang from prison. They think of me as the second in command or something like that…” Jughead told her, while playing with a loose strand of hair that had escaped his beanie. “Sometimes it comes in handy.” Then he paused, looking at her, searching for the right words. “But it’s great to see you.”

Betty flashed him a smile and nodded in agreement. “It’s great to see you too. And thank you. For helping me out, I mean.” She paused, looking around before speaking again. “Can I buy you a burger and a milkshake? To make it up to you?” She asked, rushing through the words, her face all flushed. Jughead couldn’t help himself. He chuckled and nodded.

“You still know the way to my heart” He answered, making Betty blush even more.

“Shut up, Jones.” she responded as she started walking. She could hear him laugh behind her, but she ignored it.

Once they left the school she stopped walking, not really sure of what to do now. She hadn’t thought things through. “Well, my mother brought me here with her car. I guess we have to walk now.” she said, clearing her throat.

“Or we could take my bike.” Jughead suggested, walking straight to it and offering her a second helmet just a few moments later. Betty sighed. It was strange to see him with a bike. This was not the Jughead she knew from back then. But somehow she was curious to learn more about this new Jughead and his life in those past five years.

So she got on his bike, holding on tightly while they were driving, because she was really quite scared. Sitting behind Jughead, she couldn’t see the small smile that played on his lips the whole drive. Once they arrived at Pops’ they chose a booth and sat down, facing each other. After they ordered Jughead looked at her, taking in her appearance. She was still beautiful. And she still seemed to be the nice girl next door she had always been. But something seemed off. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was, but something had changed. He crossed his arms, letting them rest on the table.

“So, how’s everything?” he asked, his tone sincere. “You’re still friends with Archie?” Betty grimaced, but she smiled.

“Yeah, still friends with Archie. I’m fine, thanks. I’m spending most of my time with learning and writing for the Blue and Gold. And listening to my best friends monologs about fashion and Archie.” Jughead raised an eyebrow at her words.

“Still the future journalist I see.” he said with a light smile, before clearing his throat. “So, you’re best friends pining after your boyfriend?” he asked, grimacing after he relealised what he just said. But he had always assumed Betty and Archie would end up together. The perfect girl next door and the all american boy. It was a match made in heaven. Wasn’t it? “Sorry...that...sorry.” he shrugged.

Betty shook her head and sighed. “No, it’s fine. Archie’s not my boyfriend by the way. Veronica, my best friend…she’s his girlfriend. But that’s totally fine. I’m happy for them.” Betty answered his question. She meant it, and Jughead could hear it in her voice. She was fine with it. For a moment they both remained silent, their eyes locked again. Blue and green, the only thing they both could see for a few moments. But the silence was disturbed by the waitress serving them their burgers and their milkshakes. It made Betty feel kind of disappointed and left her quite confused. She cleared her throat, ignoring her blushing cheeks.

After the waitress was gone, Betty studied Jugheads face. She still couldn’t forget what she saw last week. Jughead lying there in his own blood, after he got shot by Jason...the image would be stuck in her head forever. Seeing him alive and biting into his burger made her happy. She was relieved to see him like this, right in front of her. And he looked good. Although there was a certain sadness in his eyes.

Maybe that had something to do with the girl he and Jason were talking about. She wanted answers. But she didn’t want to rush anything. Also, she didn’t want to make Jughead suspicious. ‘Baby steps’, she told herself.

“How about you?” she asked softly. Jughead shrugged.

“I’m fine. The foster family is nice and all…I’m living a 80s gang movie.” he answered, his voice shaded with sarcasm, while he took another bite from his burger. Now it was Betty’s turn to raise her eyebrow, although she didn’t say anything. But Jughead knew she wanted to know more, she wanted an honest answer.

“What? You know I can’t tune down the sarcasm sometimes.” He sighed before going on. “Dad’s still in prison and mom is long gone. But it’s okay. I have the foster family and the Serpents. They all look after me.”

“But something is bothering you.” Betty stated. Jughead was amazed by that, and for a moment he couldn’t say a word. He just looked at her, he even stopped eating. It was almost frightening how well she knew him. Even after all these years. Little did he know that Betty had witnessed his argument with Jason one week prior. But she hadn’t forgotten. And now she felt like she would finally get some answers, that’s why she had to ask.

“My best friend, Toni Topaz, went missing 8 months ago. I have no clue where she is.” He couldn’t lie to her. They never have been like that. Even when they were kids they never hid anything from each other. And he figured he wouldn’t start now. The blonde grabbed his hand, giving it a soft squeeze.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered and he nodded. He knew she meant it, and he didn’t want pity anyways. He never wanted pity, it made him feel weak. What he wanted were answers. But no one in this town even cared about a girl from the Southside. That was what he wanted to tell Betty, when she squeezed his hand.

But before he could say anything, Betty gasped, looking into the distance with a vacant expression. Like she went somewhere else in her mind.

“Betty?” She was still holding his hand, but now she gripped him like she was drowning, causing him to wince a little. “Betts? What is it?” he asked, nearly freaking out because she wasn't answering him. It took nearly five minutes until she was with him again.

“You alright?” he gave her a concerned look. Betty was pale, her breath uneasy. The blonde shut her eyes for a short moment, trying to decide how much she could tell him. She could feel his thumb slowly making circles on the back of her hand, trying to comfort her. He didn’t push her to say anything. And she was more than grateful for that. But it was his voice that made her open her eyes again.

“What the fuck?” he asked, almost choking on his own words. He was looking out of the window, frowning at the sight that presented itself outside. It was snowing, although it was way too warm outside for that. “What’s with the weather? First it’s fall over night and now snow, when the sun is shining and it’s way too warm?” Jughead shook his head.

“I have no clue” Betty responded her voice shaking. What was going on? The weather was crazy. And she felt like she was crazy, too. Another vision had haunted her a few minutes ago. She found herself in the woods again, running towards Pops neon signs, only to face the storm again. After that she snapped out of it, looking at Jughead, her heart beating heavily in her chest. She needed to tell somebody. She couldn’t handle all this craziness by herself.

“But there’s something you should know...“

As you may have noticed I had more content planned for this chapter, but I had to cut it, cause I want to stick to ca. 2000 words per chapter. And this seemed like a good scene to make a cut. Next time, we'll start investigating together folks! <3

Taglist: @blackypurple @birdlovesafish @lighte01 @dawn-to-dusk-already @johnnydoras @livelovebughead @bugheadjones-the-third @lazydaizies @gershwinn @thesecretfandom

#bughead #bughead fanfiction #Life is strange AU #my fic #multi chapter #splinters in the fire

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clarke-griffin-did-nothing-wrong · 7 years

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Netflix’s Death Note

About to beat this dead horse till it explodes.

First things first, so you know what you’re getting into: I loathed this movie. My very soul burned while watching it. It zipped past The Lightning Thief and The Last Airbender in terms of bad and now rests solely at the bottom with Riverdale.

Next, I’ll start with what I liked about the movie.

Ryuk’s design was phenomenal. I could understand why Light wanted to piss himself after seeing him. Top notch work.

Also, the first scene where Little Bit-- I mean, Light Turner tried to threaten a bully by claiming child abuse and gets punched in the face. Kenny was a dick but that made him my favorite character.

I’m going to judge the movie objectively though I will throw in references to the anime just as an example of how a thing could have been handled better.

The characters were all terrible. I don’ t care about the casting, that’s no excuse for how unlikeable I found everyone. Light was whiny and so SO annoying. He was also so SO stupid. He didn’t just leave breadcrumbs right to his doorstep, he left entire loaves! Mia was an obvious sociopath. I don’t think I was supposed to like her so that’s fine; just putting it out there. Also, can we agree how weird it was that they literally got off on using the notebook. Death Note and chill should not be a thing.

L was... different. I wanted to like him but I didn’t understand how he was supposed to be the world’s greatest detective. He was an emotional wreck. He felt more like if Near was merged with Mello, smart, yes, but to on edge to be of any professional use. Watari had no real presence. He felt like a prop that was just lying around waiting for his cue with Light. I really did not buy L’ s breakdown over him. They didn’t feel as close as the movie wanted me to think they were.

The movie had zero interest in keeping its rules consistent. I pretty much have all the anime rules memorized but I decided that the movie could make up its own, I didn't care. They did, but they failed to enforce them properly.

For example, it’s clear that when a name is written in the note, the person dies, no ifs, buts or what ifs. Light himself goes through great pains to avoid writing his own name when describing an action using words like “her boyfriend” and “the Kira suspect”. Fine. But then it pulls conditional deaths out of its butthole and just plops it in the finale. No one said anything about that being possible, how are you going to hinge your entire finale on new rules?

We also have the note’s ability to control people being really arbitrary. Light wrote that Watari would be obsessed with finding out L’s true name and tell Light everything he knew, but this somehow translates into Light being able to dictate his every move down to telling him not to sleep.

Ryuk’s motivations, abilities and connection to the note are also really weird. At first you get the sense that he’s just a crazy sonuvabitch that wants to watch the world burn but you’re never really told why. The movie establishes him as an ancient being that’s been lurking around since ancient Japan but has no interest in explaining why he’s in America or why he suddenly has the need to watch humans mess with each other. The anime establishes him as a god that’s just bored so he drops his book and hopes for something fun. The movie purports that he has been passing the book around for a while. It also tries to have me believe that he is an agent of chaos (at one point he chides Light for worrying about rules) but then he was the one that wrote the rules in the book (he clearly states this when Light tries to use the rules against him: “. It just seems easier, to me, to control someone into using the book how you want to if they only know what you tell them. Seems stupid to write out all the rules in the book and then get upset when they read them.Who do you think wrote the rules”)

The book also seems to affect him... allegedly. It's never stated outright but when Light threatens to write his name, Ryuk threatens right back that no one has been able to write more than two letters of his name suggesting that he killed them before they could finish. This is weird on two fronts:

1: Ryuk’s name is already in the book. The only reason Light knew his name was because someone wrote a warning about him.

2: If Ryuk can kill the owner of the book, then why is it that he spent 90% of the movie trying to get Light to give the book to Mia?

And it isn’t clear if Ryuk can use the note himself! He wrote the rules himself, that is stated but he also said to Light that he would influence the next person to receive the note to write Light’s name. Why not do it himself?

It felt like Ryuk was just the genie to this oddly shaped lamp.

The ending was the worst part. It’s clever if you don’t think about it at all.

The idea was that Light thought up a clever plot in which he would escape his death that was plotted by Mia. This involves creating a conditional death for her as a bargaining chip so that she would only die IF she took the notebook. They would both fall and he would land safely in the water (physics disagrees but okay) and she would land on the shoreline. She would rip out the page that his name was written in out of the book while falling and this page would float into an open fire (physics still disagrees but okay). Light would be rescued by a paramedic that was also a criminal and the Death Note would be rescued by a pedophilic mailman and kept for two days before giving it back to Light and committing suicide.

It’s the first instance we see of Light being anything like the anime Light; cold, calculating and meticulously planning every detail so that he always survives and the Death Note is always returned to him. In fact, this might have been an origin story on how the whiny little teen became the god known as Kira.

But.

Analyzing his entire plan, it hinges on coincidences and rules that he probably just made up. Number one, he lucked out big time that there was a criminal paramedic in the police database and a mailman that would be around that area at that time to be in his plan. This whole thing wasn’t planned over the course of two days (the movie explains that the Death Note can control someone’s actions up to two days before the death) it was done in the span of about ten minutes maximum and had MAYBE half an hour to be carried out. The anime made time a huge factor with the note and so we were always on edge that Light’s plan would be carried out in time or what would happen if something happened too soon and he was caught and we were almost always in on the joke so we knew what would happen in how long. The movie has no presence of time and so we are just there to be strung along. In fact, Mia wrote that Light’s heart would stop at midnight but we have no idea when midnight is! Back to the plot, Light planned something based on new information in ten minutes and had thirty to have in come true, fine, whatever. L caught up with Light and chased him for a good while. It was a huge coincidence that he managed to get away and get to where he needed to go in the right amount of time. If he had done something smart then I’d give him points, but the only reason he managed to get away from L was because, a guy that just so happened to be a Kira follower, wandered out back. It wasn’t preordained, it was plot armor. Light wrote that all the shit would go down in Mia took the Death Note but what if their weak ass love story was real and she didn’t take the Note? would they just get caught by the police? Would they still fall? And Light’s name is still in the book and the conditions were carried out a few minutes after so would ha have died anyway? Finally, the movie never explained that the Note was able to control physics. He could control people and put them in the right place at the right time if possible (that’s what the anime handled much better too. It really hit home Light’s moral gray area because he couldn’t just find criminals lying around in a shed somewhere ready to be used, he had to kill innocent people to get what he wanted sometimes) but the fact that he wrote that the page with his name would fall into a fire and burn... for context, he was at the top of a Ferris Wheel in a park filled with people with a few open flames, on of which was near him. He didn’t say Mia fell with the page and it fell out of her hand into a fire, he said she rips it out and it fell from the top of the Ferris Wheel all the way down into a fire... and it works! With that kind of power, I fail to see why he hadn’t already won.

This movie was miserable from start to finish. One thing I will say is that it TRIED to make it on its own. It didn’t intentionally leave out explanations that only fans of the anime would get, it rebuilt the lore... somewhat and used that instead. Seriously, what is Ryuk’s purpose. We don’t even know if there are more death gods!)

You know, it really could have quenched half the hate against itself by being a sequel and not an adaptation. There were more Shinigami that could drop notebooks in America and there were more orphans at Whammy House to replace L. They could have just made it a sequel and, it would still be bad, but no one would be complaining that they butchered Light.

This movie was bullshit and I have more problems, particularly with L but I’ll put it in another post.

#Deathnote #netflix #soooo bad #light yagami #light turner #misa amane #mia sutton #l lawliet #not my l lawliet #unecessary #bad movie review #i'm good at complaining #not so much as explaining

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writtenwordsoffic · 7 years

Text

In Your Head - Part 11 - Flashback 2

Jughead Jones x Reader

Reader: Y/N

Brother: Y/B/N

Word Count: 4,581

Summary: You are almost 3 months into a relationship with Jughead Jones. You are going through a tough time being too much in your head as the anniversary of “that night” comes closer. Jughead can sense something is wrong.

Warnings: Features sexual content, as well as a rape flashback and parental abuse. Please don’t read if easily triggered. This one is more smutty than usual.

*wham*

“Whore”.

Your left shoulder collided with the lockers and you looked up from the floor seeing Chuck walking off with a joy in his step. 1…2…3…

Breathe. You just had to breathe through it. You just had to get through today, as today was the last day of school and you could get some freedom back. As you got back in your feet with books back in hand you peered up to see Jughead and a ginger haired boy walking together. Jughead gave a slight nod in your direction while you gave a small smile in return. Your focus was brought back to just heading to class.

– Jughead’s POV

“Who was that?”, Archie’s eyes were draped back to Y/N getting back up.

“Uh. Y/N”, I wasn’t sure why my words weren’t precise.

“Right. I’ve heard of her. How do you know her?”, Archie’s eyes seemed to perk up now.

“She uh met my sister a few weeks ago. I don’t really know her. She was just nice to Jellybean was all”, for some reason my face felt a little flustered.

Archie’s eyes went back to Y/N. “Okay then”, he gave a smile and I couldn’t tell what was behind it. I was focused just on our door to class now.

—

Jughead’s POV

I greeted Pop with a nod when I walked in and he gave a usual smile while his eyes drew back to the last booth. I could see feet dangling out of the side and wanted to know who would take my booth in a rather empty diner.

As I made my way, I couldn’t see anyone’s head still but just a plate of fries on the table. When I finally faced the inner part of the booth is when I saw her. Her thoughts were elsewhere with her nose in a book. How I usually saw her in the last few weeks.

Her head was against the glass behind her and her hair sprawled out falling every which way. She still hadn’t seemed to notice me staring at her.

For some reason I had to swallow up some courage before mustering up my next words, “You know just because I invited you here once doesn’t mean you can just take my booth now”.

Y/N POV

You peered out of your book and began to sit up as your eyes were drawn to the darkly clothed boy in front of you. You looked into his eyes for a second but decided to focus on sitting up instead. “Last I checked, you could sit anywhere in the whole diner if you really wanted”. He began to sit down across from you in the booth.

“Yeah well, I like this one”, he gave a slight smirk. “You okay by the way? I thought I heard someone push you into a locker earlier”, his voice seemed to have some concern behind it. You ignored touching your left shoulder, “Yeah I’m fine”. “Oh I have something for you by the way”, he looked into his bag and reached out your copy of The Princess Bride.

You reached for the cover and barely grazed Jughead’s grasp on the book. Your eyes slightly flinched, not out of fear but rather nerves. Don’t do this Y/N. Don’t fall for someone who clearly wouldn’t be into you - was all you could think. “No one could ever love someone like you”, the words ran through your brain as if a mantra now.

You put the book in your bag snapping yourself out of your thoughts. “What did she think of it?”. You tried to appear happier in your words now.

“She loved it”, his words came to a pause. “She uh, wanted me to ask you if you would meet her at the library and suggest a few books one day”. His words seemed less steady than usual.

“Of course. Let her know I plan on being there every Wednesday. Probably around 11 or so”. I was starting to think of a list of what to get Jellybean into.

Jughead gave a chuckle. “Every Wednesday huh? Your family must not travel anywhere in summer”.

“Uh, well. My Dad has business trips here and there but we rarely go on vacation. Besides I’m excited to have a summer in a small town”, your head looked out the window a bit.

“Well don’t let Riverdale fool you, not everything here is so peachy keen”, Jughead was reaching for a fry from your plate now.

“Yeah, I know that”, your words spat out and didn’t want them to seem as mysterious as they had appeared to Jughead. “So what are you up to this summer?”, your goal was to take the focus off of yourself now.

“Well Archie and I are doing a road trip in July otherwise maybe just visiting my grandparents…”, his words didn’t seem that excited as his thoughts seemed to go elsewhere. “That and just working. I work at the drive-in”.

“Oh that’s cool. I still haven’t been but that’s what will happen with a lack of a car and a license”, you now reached for a fry.

Jughead gave a small chuckle again, “what, your parents don’t like going to the movies?”

You tried to think of an answer, “Nah, they’re generally more homebody people…”.

Jughead could see you tense up but decided to shrug it off on why. “So what’s your favorite movie?”, now taking more fries to his mouth you were trying to make sure you weren’t staring too long at his face.

“Loaded question. I guess I…” Your words were cut off.

“Have a favorite for every genre?”, Jughead gave a large smile and his eyes didn’t draw away from yours. He had seemed to remember the conversation a few weeks ago just fine.

You gave a small laugh. “Yeah. But that happens”.

“So favorite black and white?”, Jugheads eyes were still on yours.

“Arsenic and Old Lace”, at least you were sure in your words now. Feeling more comfortable in the conversation yet nerves went through your body as you couldn’t seem to stop staring at Jughead’s eyes.

His face seemed questionable in your answer. “I don’t think I actually know that one…” you could tell he was trying to place the title.

“Well it’s actually a Halloween film. I mean nothing horror or anything like Hitchcock for that matter. It’s actually a comedy but if I went into the plot it would give everything away. Cary Grant is in it though”, a fry came to your mouth as you realized you were babbling again. You looked to Jughead’s face which had seemed to hang on every word.

A chime went through Pop’s but neither Jughead or you seemed to pay attention to it. “What about you?”, you were curious to know his answer now.

“Hey Juggie! Thought I’d find you here!”, Jughead’s body seemed less relaxed as his ginger haired friend seemed to be standing by the booth now. Archie dived into the booth sitting next to Jughead while you got a little tense again.

“Y/N right?”, you nodded. “Archie”, he gave out his hand to shake. You gave his hand a slight shake and then returned your hands back under the table, pulling your sleeves to your palms. Jughead seemed a little annoyed as well as red while he scooted closer to the window. “So how do you know Juggie here?”, Archie gave a slight nudge with his shoulder to the rather perturbed Jughead.

“Uh…I met his sister at the library a few weeks ago. She borrowed a book”, you glanced towards your bag. Another chime rang through Pop’s and Archie’s eyes were drawn to the door. He slightly waved his hand for people to come near. You were just hoping it wasn’t any of the football team.

“Hey guys, can we join you?”, the tall blonde that was Betty Cooper was standing over the table now. You had known the Cooper girls to be nice in school, Betty once even helped you grab your books when you had a run in with Chuck. Standing next to her was the sheriff’s son, Kevin. Who had also seemed to be the only out guy in the whole town. Which was rather a change of pace from your last school.

Archie perked up, “Of course! Sit next to Y/N”, Archie gestured to you.

Betty gave a slight wave, “I’ve seen you around. Betty”.

Kevin then shoved his hand in front of Betty’s body making sure it could reach you. “Kevin Keller”. He gave a slight nod with his greeting. After shaking his hand you looked towards Jughead that who seemed comfortable by his friends but not by their current company with you.

“So you guys are all coming tomorrow night right? Before we send Betty off?”, Kevin’s eyes glanced to everyone at the table.

“I got an internship for the summer in L.A for my writing”, Betty was filling you in now.

“That’s cool”, you tried to seem sincere in your words again.

“I’m having a party. You should come Y/N. My Dad is out of town helping on an ACTUAL case and I couldn’t not do something being newly branded a sophmore”, he seemed proud in his words.

“Uhh…I don’t know. Parties aren’t really my thing…” Archie cut you off.

“Oh come on! If I can get Jughead here to come, you’ve got to!” Archie gave Jughead a nudge while he returned with a slight glare before his eyes met yours again.

“Uhm. Yeah. You should come. I could at least wallow with someone who is also annoyed by top 40”, he gave a slight smile.

“Sure then”, your eyes looked to the clock on the other side of the wall. “I actually have to get going though”, you slowly grabbed your bag. Jughead seemed a little disappointed but his eyes were still on you.

Both Betty and Kevin got up so you could get out of the booth while Archie grabbed the phone on the table and gave it to you. “Here. Put your number in here and we’ll send you all the details”.

“Okay, thanks”, your eyes were drawn to the screen that didn’t really look like Archie’s type of background. You gave the phone back to him. “Well nice meeting you all”, you gave a wave to everyone but your eyes were on Jughead before you left. You resisted the blush once again. You turned and headed towards Pop to pay and you couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were still on you.

*chime*

Jughead’s POV

Both Archie’s and my eyes followed her out the door and when then chime was gone, I turned to my best friend. “What the hell was that?”

Archie gave a laugh, “oh come on Juggie! You clearly like her. I was just helping you out. And look now you have her number”, he gave me my phone back. I was trying to shake off any flustered feeling that still remained.

“Seems odd though. From what I know of her, I thought she would have been more excited by my party,” Kevin was now playing with the straw to his newly arrived shake.

“…what do you know about her?”, my curiosity perked me up a bit.

“Oh you know. Cheryl tweeted at the start of the year that Y/N hooked up with half of the football team at one of her parties”.

I was a little saddened, my eyes followed her walking away from the diner as I glanced out the window. She didn’t seem the type. She seemed a little shy, but intelligent as well as a bit mysterious.

“Oh that’s just a rumor Kevin. You know Cheryl barely tweets anything true”. Betty saw my look dissipated and tried to give me some encouragement.

“Yeah well, doubt I’m her type”, I drew the remaining plate of fries close to me.

“That isn’t true Juggie. You’re a catch. And by the way you two were smiling when I came in, I’m sure she likes you back”, Archie once again nudged my arm.

“I didn’t say I like her”, my disdainful tone came back.

“You didn’t have to”, Archie’s smile was from ear to ear.

Still, I couldn’t help thinking what more this girl was like. She certainly wasn’t like anybody else in this town. I looked down at my phone and smiled as I read her name and number in my phone. Maybe going to a party wasn’t going to be all bad.

Y/N POV

J- “Hey. This is Jughead”.

Y/N - “Ah. I didn’t think that background was Archie’s style”.

J - “Are you going to come tomorrow?”.

Y/N - “Maybe”.

He texted you Kevin’s address and that it started at 9. Kevin only lived a block down which at least meant one last hurdle. You went downstairs and lightly tapped the door to the office. Your dad motioned to you to come in. “Hey uh, I got invited to this end of the year thing tomorrow. Is it alright if I go?”. Your words were a little unsteady but as him being the reasonable parent, you were pretty sure he’d day yes.

“Yeah. Just be home by 1. Do you need a ride?”, your dad was shuffling papers around looking for something.

“No, it’s just down the street”, you motioned your head behind you.

“Alright”, your dad’s eyes shifted to the upstairs where you both knew your mother was taking a nap.

“I’ll tell her, don’t worry about it”. You gave a smile, “thanks”.

You went back upstairs.

Y/N - “Yeah I think I’ll go”.

J - “You need a ride, my dad is lending me his car”.

Y//N - “Nah, it’s just down the street from me, but I’ll meet you there”.

You felt yourself blushing again but you tried getting any of this thoughts out of your mind.

J - “Alright”.

It was a warm summers night but you still had a long sleeved shirt on, at least it was lightweight. You turned away from the daunting house and tried to focus on the positives of tonight. Your walk was short and you could lightly hear music as you walked up to the porch. You knocked. “Hey Y/N!”, Kevin grabbed you by your hand and then your shoulder while closing the door behind you. “Welcome to my humble abode. The party isn’t in full swing yet but everyone’s in the kitchen”, his face motioned towards the back of the house while he held a grasp on his beer and followed you.

You were greeted by Betty while Archie shoved Jughead’s foot to get him to stop reading Kevin’s newspaper. There was a girl in the corner with curly hair and glasses talking to what you knew to be a guy named Dilton. “So what will you have?”, Kevin motioned his arms to the counter that was covered with bottles.

“Uh I’m not really a drinker…”, your eyes went to the 2 liter of coke and you tried to dismiss the smell of alcohol filling your nostrils.

“Oh come on! Please?”, everyone but Jughead had some sort of mixed drink in a red cup.

“Just a beer then…”, Kevin passed you a bottle while Jughead sat up in his chair from the table. Archie, Betty and Kevin went back to a discussion that they were having before you had arrived. You made your way to the table and glanced at the chair.

“This isn’t your space too, is it?”, you weren’t sure where the coy remark came out of.

Jughead gave a smile. “No, you can sit here”. You reached for the local newspaper reading the mundane headlines. One including the Blossoms doing a fundraiser at Thornhill. You didn’t want to look at that house, you flipped the paper over and decided to make your interest into Jughead.

“No drink?”, you motioned to your beer bottle a little bit, you still hadn’t taken a sip.

Jughead reached down to the beer on the seat next to him that still had a cap on it. “Not a big drinker either. I just took one to get Kev to shut up”, his eyes motioned to the rambunctious teen who seemed to already have a couple of drinks.

A knock occurred and while on the other side of the house, you could hear Reggie’s voice and knew Chuck couldn’t be far behind. You made your way to the porch outside, “I’m going to get some air”.

Jughead seemed perplexed at why you needed to leave the room but decided to join you. You didn’t realize for a second that Jughead followed you outside. You decided to make conversation. “I’m still deciding if I like this town or not”.

“Well gee….what’s not to like?”, Jugheads eyes rolled a bit while giving a smirk.

You gave a chuckle. “Yeah well, everything being close is nice. But the people seem a bit behind in the world”, you motioned back to the kitchen.

“How so?”, Jughead finally popped off the cap of the beer using the porches side rail.

“Eh. The whole clique thing. My last school was less broad in who could really hang out with each other. That and the football team wasn’t the pride and joy”, you took a swig.

“Seattle right?”, Jughead took a sip.

“Yeah well a little outside of it but it wasn’t very far to go into the city. Different atmosphere for sure. You’d probably like it”, you motioned to Jughead himself.

He gave a laugh, “why’s that?” “A beanie, suspenders and flannel with a grasp of good music? Trust me, you’d fit in just fine…”, you took another sip not realizing how open you were being.

A slight wind picked up in the air. “Come on, let’s go back”, Jughead had seemed a little tense. Archie greeted Jughead back and messed with his beanie a bit. You made your way to Betty and Kevin who seemed engrossed in their conversation.

“Nah, I’m not really the bear type”, Kevin took a drink while very slowly swaying to the music. Betty just seemed confused by Kevin’s wording.

“He means burly men”, you gave a slight nod as they realized you were to the side of them.

Betty blushed, “oh”.

Kevin gave a glance with a slight eyebrow. “What? Your not the first gay guy I’ve known”, you took a deep swig of your drink while Kevin gave you a smile.

“How about you Y/N? What’s your type?”, he motioned to the party itself as it seemed the amount of people had quadrupled.

“Eh. I’m more drawn to a certain type of personality I suppose…”, you were trying to resist looking towards Jughead. “Betty?”

Betty choked up a little while blushing. “Oh those two are endgame. You know if she ever chalks up the courage to tell him”, Kevin motioned with his drink towards Archie and Jughead.

“Which one? Archie or Juggs?”, you weren’t sure who they were eyeing. “Archie of course”, Kevin tried keeping his voice to whisper now. “I don’t think I’ve seen Jughead interested in anyone”.

You figured that hadn’t changed.

You headed towards the living room, avoiding the central area where people were dancing. The lights were dim but it’s also where Kevin laid out a table with snacks. You grabbed a chip still just sipping at your beer. You saw Archie and Jughead from the kitchen looking like they were almost arguing until Archie pushed Jughead out to the living room. Archie then turned to Betty and seemed to ask if she wanted to dance and they made their way to everyone else. Jughead kept to the walls slowly inching his way towards the table in the back. “Having fun?”, you decided to start the conversation again. You took a bigger swig of your drink.

“Loads…”, Jughead practically growled his word.

Slowly your eyes were drawn to Chuck dancing with a girl. Your body began to tense up. Out of nervousness you were peeling the label of the beer bottle with your finger. He looked at you, as he didn’t realize until now that you were in the house. He stared for a bit until your eyes shifted. “I’m going to find the bathroom”, you handed your drink to Jughead and made your way to the hallway almost in a hurry.

You locked the door behind you not realizing you were having a panic attack. Your ears began to ring, your knees weak. You tried to breath through it while kneeling to sit down on the cold tile floor. Your head was unsteady and all you could hear was Chuck telling you to “shut up” and how much he knew you wanted him. You took deep breathes while a few minutes went by.

The feeling came back to your legs and you stood up splashing some water to your face. You looked at yourself in the mirror and appeared calm enough again. You had to get out of here. You opened the door and saw someone waiting to use the bathroom and passed them, making your way to the door.

“Hey you leaving?”, Archie had found you almost reaching for the knob.

“Uhh yeah. I don’t feel too great. I think I’m just going to go home”. Archie grabbed the arm behind him.

“Well Jughead will drive you then”, Archie was pushing Jugheads body again.

“He doesn’t need to. I only live a block from here”, your hand went to the knob again.

“He’ll walk you then. It’s late”, Archie smiled.

“Um. Okay”, your prided yourself now on making sure you weren’t really alone with a guy ever anymore unless somewhere public. But it being a block and it being Jughead you weren’t too worried. You also weren’t drunk let alone buzzed. “Have a good night”, you gave a sullied smile to Archie as Jughead followed you out.

“You know you really don’t have to walk me. I mean I can see my house from here”, you gestured to the second to last place you really wanted to be.

“It’s fine. Do you have to go home or did you just not like it in there?”, Jughead could tell your nerves had sprung up but didn’t know why.

“The latter…” you still weren’t sure why Jughead was walking you in the first place. “Again, I’m not a big fan of a parties”.

“That’s fine. I’m not big on parties myself. Archie and Betty usually just drag me to those things”, his shoulders tensed up after he played with the back of his hair.

“Um well this is me, I have to use the garage though". You motioned to the door.

“Do you want to go in or would you like to go somewhere?”, he seemed less certain in his words again. You pulled out your phone and it was barely 11.

Your eyes looked to the house behind you and you didn’t feel welcomed to going inside. “I have a bit”.

“Well do you want to go to Pop’s or something, I have my dad’s car…”, he motioned back to the house.

However being in a car with any boy still didn’t seem like your comfort zone yet. “No. We can walk around though. It’s nice here in May…”, you could feel the slight breeze on your face again.

“Alright”, Jughead gave a slight smile while sticking his hands in his pockets. “So is it not nice in other places in May?”.

You gave a chuckle, “Well May in Seattle has a lot more rain than here. Honestly the best time of year is the end of June and all of July”.

“So…why else would I like it there”, you could tell he was making conversation. You gave a smile again.

“Well I would imagine I need to know more about you, but you seem like a city guy stuck in a small pond”, you motioned to the town itself.

“Maybe. I kind of always wanted to go to New York myself. That’s where the real writers are”, you could tell he was getting more talkative like in the booth again.

“You want to be a writer? What do you write?”, your curiosity lead you.

“Mostly just short stories right now but hopefully a novel one day”, he looked down at his feet as if he was almost embarrassed.

“I’d happily read something of yours”, you gave a nod attached with a smile.

“Heh well there’s one copy sold of something I suppose”, he gave a smirk. “How about you? With all that reading I wondered if you had an itch for the ink”.

“Nah. I’m a reader through and through. A publisher for a press company or something though, that would be in the stars for me”, you looked up. There wasn’t a night cloud in sight.

“Ha. Well then when I write a novel, you can get it published”, it almost looked like he wanted to give a wink but resisted.

You realized you had almost reached Pickens Park, and you didn’t want to enter there. “Let’s turn around”. Jughead gave a slight nod.

“Oh!”, a thought had finally came back to your mind. “So what’s your favorite movie?”

Jughead gave a smile after almost jumping to your realization. “Like you, I have many favorites. But probably Reservoir Dogs”.

You interjected trying to do your best impression of Steve Buscemi, “All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth the effort, I’ll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds”. You gave a small laugh while drawing your eyes back to Jughead. “Sorry, I’m a Mr. Pink fan myself”.

He seemed a little in awe before giving a big laugh. “That was the worst impression though”.

“Well I’m not an aspiring actor so I didn’t think it would be”, you gave a nod still smiling.

“So what other movies do you like? Like what movie could you watch a thousand times?”, his hands were still in his pockets.

“As long as your not going to laugh at me, Back to the Future. It’s like my Godfather”, you said it in glee.

Jughead gave a look, “How so?”.

“Well the first one is a classic, great plot, story and your drawn to the characters. The second is possibly better than the first and the third you have to watch to appreciate the whole thing within itself. Therefore, like the Godfather trilogy”, you realized you were babbling again and decided to shut yourself up.

“Well then, fair enough”, Jughead gave a nod while looking up back at your house.

“I think I’m going to call it a night. But thanks for the walk Juggs” you gave a slight nod with a heavy smile. Dammit Y/N stop it. It’s not going to happen.

“It was a good walk. Good night Y/N”, Jughead once again gave a nod and you watched him walk away. He seemed to have almost skip in his step. You quietly made your way into your house.

Jughead’s POV

I opened the door again seeing a rather similar scene to the one I left. The smile that was stuck on my face slowly started to dissipate. Archie’s eyes found me and he made his way to me. “So?”, Archie had a smile once again on his face.

I slumped a little, trying to avoid eye contact, “She’s perfect”.

#jughead jones #jughead x reader #jughead imagine #riverdale #riverdale imagines

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The 11 most important fandoms of 2017

In a year where reality often felt more like fiction, our fan communities became more vital than ever.

We watched our heroes—both fictional and real—rise and fall from grace, some of them transformed into symbols as fans took the streets to peacefully protest real-world events. Many of us finally began to see ourselves reflected in our fandoms, whether it was Wonder Woman‘s Diana, Star Trek: Discovery‘s Michael Burnham, or Star Wars‘ expanding roster of diverse characters. Some of the year’s top fandoms were unexpectedly delightful, including the dating simulation game Dream Daddy and the rise of the K-pop group BTS. Others revealed the darker side of fan culture, from self-righteous toxicity (Rick and Morty) to racist and sexist backlash (The Last Jedi).

But even in the most frustrating moments, we had our favorites—looking at you, Daenerys Targaryen—to burn it all to the ground.

GIF via Game of Thrones/HBO

Here are our top fandoms (listed in no particular order) of 2017.

1) Rick and Morty

Adult Swim/YouTube

When Rick and Morty turned April Fools’ Day on its head and casually dropped long-awaited season 3 premiere on Adult Swim’s website, nobody could’ve imagined, well, everything that followed. To examine the kind of effect Rick and Morty had on fandom this year, look no further than McDonald’s Szechuan sauce.

Apart from Pickle Rick, Szechuan sauce, an obscure McNugget dip introduced in 1998 to promote Disney’s Mulan, was the biggest thing that people remember from Rick and Morty’s excellent third season. The throw-away joke from the season 3 premiere became almost a rallying cry for some fans. They begged McDonald’s to bring it back, made their own sauce, and one person spent tens of thousands of dollars on an original tub of it. And, curiously, McDonald’s delivered. Sort of.

The fast-food chain first brought back the sauce for the Rick and Morty crew, but then, perhaps to garner some goodwill and capitalize on fan enthusiasm, it made limited packets available for one day. The promotion went off the rails as the sauce quickly ran out. This unleashed some of the uglier and more toxic parts of the show’s fandom—which had already surfaced to harass and dox some of the show’s female writers. McDonald’s eventually promised to re-release the sauce to appease upset fans. It took time (and some interdimensional travel) to make Rick’s series arc a reality, but if anyone could trick a corporate giant into releasing an obscure sauce by the sheer will of its own fandom, it’s Rick and Morty.—Michelle Jaworski

2) Game of Thrones

HBO

In a realm where people have hundreds of shows available at the touch of a fingertip, Game of Thrones is one of the last great must-see TV events. Fans rapturously tuned in every week for season 7’s seven-episode run. Game of Thrones is officially off-book, so both fans of the show and the A Song of Ice and Fire novels were on the same level as they watched the show provide answers to mysteries more than 20 years in the making.

But for fans the highs of season 7 are now followed by a long two-year wait for the show and who knows how much longer for George R.R. Martin‘sThe Winds of Winter. With active online communities and subreddits and Game of Thrones conventions like Ice and Fire Con and new convention Con of Thrones, fans know they’re not alone in the Long Night.

Off-screen, the show was plagued by leaks and spoilers. An outline of the show’s seventh season leaked last year that revealed nearly every major plot point, including one that gained more attention as the show confirmed its accuracy. Fans even identified the actor playing Rhaegar Targaryen from leaks long before he made his debut. Just weeks into season 7, hackers revealed that they breached HBO’s security system, leaked Game of Thrones outlines, and demanded ransom. Unrelatedly, two episodes of season 7 leaked online days before they were set to air. But the behind-the-scenes debacles didn’t affect Game of Thrones, which had record ratings that will likely rise even higher when HBO airs season 8, including one of the most anticipated series finales this decade. All HBO has to do is stick the landing.—Michelle Jaworski

3) Star Trek

Star Trek: Discovery/CBS

Last year’s 50th anniversary was disappointingly haphazard, but Star Trek: Discovery launched with a bang in 2017. Like every other Trek series to date, it inspired furious debate among fans. Some old-school trekkies dislike Discovery’s longform storytelling (or, depressingly, its diverse casting choices), but it also brought a fresh new audience to the franchise. Now halfway through season 1, we’re fully in love with Michael Burnham and her crewmates. Also, the show has inspired one of our favorite fan-theories of 2017: the surprisingly plausible idea that one of the lead actors doesn’t exist in real life.—Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

4) Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman/Warner Bros.

How many of us burst into tears during Wonder Woman? We don’t have exact stats, but here’s a rough estimate: A hell of a lot. Wonder Woman was cathartic for a plethora of connected reasons, boiled down to the overwhelming satisfaction of a female-led superhero movie that was really, genuinely, brilliant.

Plenty of superhero movies do well at the box office but have zero cultural impact. (Avengers: Age of Ultron, we’re looking at you.) Wonder Woman wasn’t one of them. People rewatched it again and again, and its box office longevity suggests it benefited a lot from word-of-mouth. The number one movie on Tumblr, Wonder Woman gifs were ubiquitous across social media, and director Patty Jenkins was shortlisted for Time magazine’s Person of the Year. In a year dominated by depressing news stories about sexual harassment and misogyny, Wonder Woman was the inspirational, feminist hero we all needed to see.—Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

5) Star Wars

Star Wars/Lucasfilm

Star Wars has been such collective part of our fandom DNA that it’s hard for some fans (particularly younger fans) to imagine a time before Star Wars. Little did we know just how much everything would change after May 25,1977—or that we would still be deeply immersed in the galaxy far, far away 40 years later.

The year kicked off on a somber note following the death of Carrie Fisher. The Star Wars community spent much of the year honoring the memory of their favorite princess and general. Leia Organa (and Fisher herself) became the source of a new hope whose influence changed lives and helped shape her final Star Wars film. And Lucasfilm had two very public departures this year: Solo directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord just weeks before the end of principal photography and Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow. (They’ve been replaced by Ron Howard and J.J. Abrams, respectively.)

For fans, 2017 meant even more Star Wars to dissect and explore. The Last Jedi challenged everything we knew about Star Wars, and along with answering some massive questions, it gave us a story with several women and people of color at the forefront. (Plus, thanks to The Last Jedi, we now have porgs!) The franchise may be over the hill but it’s showing no signs of stopping. Now that Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is creating a new Star Wars trilogy we won’t be leaving that galaxy far, far away for the foreseeable future.—Michelle Jaworski

6) Voltron

Voltron: Legendary Defenders/Netflix

If you don’t use Tumblr, you may be surprised to see this fandom on our list. Voltron: Legendary Defender is a kid-friendly reboot of the classic anime about space-traveling robot lions and their pilots. It’s a fun and visually appealing show, but it’s definitely not sophisticated in the same way as, say, Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, the fandom is another matter entirely.

Keith and Lance (two of the main pilots) topped Tumblr’s list of popular ships in 2017. That means more people were posting about them than pairings from mainstream fandoms like Riverdale, Supergirl, and Star Wars. That’s partly for the usual reasons—people love making Keith/Lance art and fanfic, and speculating about their role in the show—and partly because Voltron fandom is rife with controversy.

This year, a fan tried to blackmail Voltron’s creators to make Keith/Lance into a canon romance, threatening to leak storyboards from the show. (It didn’t work.) Another group of fans petitioned the showrunners to reveal the precise ages of the main characters—a seemingly innocuous question that ties into a toxic debate between Voltron shippers. The main characters all appear to be in their late teens or early 20s, but some fans accuse certain pairings of having an inappropriate age gap. Keith and Lance are the same age, so if Netflix confirmed that other characters were older or younger, it could give Keith/Lance fans the moral upper hand during arguments.—Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

7) Yuri on Ice

Crunchyroll

Airing from October to December 2016, figure skating anime Yuri on Ice arrived just in time to make last year’s list. Since then, it’s inspired a constant outpouring of fan creativity and enthusiasm, along with speculation about season 2. (Apparently a film sequel is on the way, but we’re not exactly sure when.) Victor and Yuri’s charming love story was perfectly timed to alleviate the darkest period of the 2016 election, providing a soothing balm during troubled times. It’s funny, romantic, and complex enough to warrant months of intensive analysis.—Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

8) Overwatch

Blizzard

Two years after this colorful, team-based shooter came into our lives, Overwatch is still one of the biggest fandoms on the internet. It’s unusual for a video game to establish such a prolific creative culture (though there are exceptions), but Overwatch’s vibrant cast of characters keeps giving fans plenty of material to work with.—Sarah Weber

9) Dream Daddy

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulation/Steam

This dating sim appeared out of seemingly nowhere to win hearts and minds this summer. It’s the same basic set-up as any other dating sim: a choose-your-own-adventure romance story with a variety of twist endings. Dream Daddy’s selling point was its unusual range of love interests. In the game, you play a dad who dates other dads in his new neighborhood—a unique concept that quickly led to a flood of fanart and memes. Praised for its writing (including some unexpectedly weird endings) and character design, Dream Daddy was the surprise gaming hit of 2017—especially on Tumblr, where it toppled the Overwatch juggernaut to become the site’s favorite game.—Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

10) BTS

Republic of Korea/Flickr (CC-BY-SA)

When the Korean pop group BTS from an indie studio called Big Hitdebuted in 2013 , they seemed more or less like every other K-pop boy band trying to claw their way to the top. As they evolved over the next four years, they found their way into a distinctive sound unlike anyone else’s. Known for consistently addressing societal issues in the music they write, the seven-member group’s popularity has soared to international status this year. After winning the Billboard Top Social Artist award and appearing on American TV shows like Ellen and The James Corden Show, it’s clear the band has 11 million followers on Twitter for a reason: their sincerity and determination. From their passionate fandom they call ARMY to their creative evolution, it’s no wonder we thought they would be the future of K-pop.—Colette Bennett

11) Marvel controversies

Secret Empire #1/Marvel

Oof, it’s been a year. Marvel always appears on our year-end lists in some capacity, but this time it’s not in a very positive light. While Logan, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok were all big hits, Marvel Comics suffered a year of controversy and criticism from fans—often for good reason.

First there was the Hydra Captain America storyline, carrying on from 2016. It saw Steve Rogers get rewritten as a Hydra sleeper agent, starring in a rather poorly executed political allegory about fascism in America. It earned continual backlash throughout its highly publicized run as Marvel’s biggest event comic of 2017. Then there were several behind-the-scenes mishaps at the publisher itself, including an executive blaming low sales on women and “diversity,” and the broader problem of discrimination and harassment in the comics industry. In November, we learned that Marvel’s new Editor-in-Chief created a fake Japanese persona so he could publish Japan-inspired comics in the 2000s. We assumed this would be the last Marvel scandal of the year, but in the back half of December, it canceled several comics starring women and queer characters, and (unrelatedly) precipitated a very public falling-out with Thanos creator Jim Starlin. Phew.—Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Read more: https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/top-fandoms-2017/

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