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fanfics4all · 3 years

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Just Friends

Request: Yes / No male reader x jealous Veronica Lodge fluff Anon

Requests are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Veronica Lodge x Male!Reader

Word count: 1246

Warnings: Jealousy

Y/N: Your Name

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

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

Before Veronica, Betty and I were a couple. We dated from the beginning of middle school to middle of freshmen year of high school. The two of us didn’t work out and stayed friends. She actually ended up with Jughead and I ended up with Veronica after we got to know each other. The first few months were a dream, but once Kevin told her about mine and Betty’s past. Veronica went crazy.

“A little birdy told me that you and Betty dated for almost 3 years?” She said, bursting into my room.

“Hello to you too.” I said with a raised brow.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me about you two? Do you still have feelings for her?” She asked with her arms crossed.

“I didn’t mention it because I didn’t think it mattered. Betty and I didn’t work out and we’re just friends. I don’t have feelings for her anymore. Vee, you’re the only girl I have eyes for.” I said getting up and made my way to her. I placed my hands on her waist and pulled her closer.

“So then why didn’t you tell me?” She asked again and I sighed.

“Babe, you haven’t told me about every relationship you’ve been in. Why does it matter so much?” I asked.

“Because she’s my best friend and she dated my boyfriend before! How do I know she doesn’t still have feelings for you?” She asked with a pout.

“Veronica, I am telling you right now I do not have feelings towards Betty. She’s just a friend, nothing more. I need you to trust me.” I said and she sighed.

“Of course I trust you, but Betty-” I cut her off with a kiss.

“You don’t need to trust Betty, you just need to trust me.” I said and she smiled.

“Fine, you’re lucky you’re so cute.” She said and I rolled my eyes with a smile.

After that I thought we’d all be good, but I should have known Veronica was gonna be Veronica. Anytime Betty walked into the room she would snuggle up closer to me or kiss me. She would do anything to make sure her best friend knew I was hers. It was honestly really annoying. So when we were hanging with Archie and Kevin in the student lounge everything was relaxed and chill, but everything changed when Betty walked in.

“Hey Betty, how are you holding up?” Kevin asked. Veronica clung to my arm and snuggled closer to me.

“Holding up? What happened?” I asked confused.

“#Bughead is no more, I thought Veronica was gonna tell you?” Kevin said and my eyes widened. I got up and hugged Betty.

“I’m so sorry Betts. You alright?” I asked and she smiled up at me.

“I’m fine Y/N/N, Thanks.” She said and I gave her a smile.

“Let me take you to Pop’s, we haven’t had a BFF day in so long.” I smiled and hers brightened.

“Y/N/N, baby, we have dinner plans tonight.” Veronica said.

“Oh right, then tomorrow?” I asked and Betty nodded.

“Sure, I’ll meet you there at 7?” She asked and I nodded.

“Sounds good.” I smiled as the first bell rang.

“Come lover-boy, we have class.” Veronica said and pulled me away. As soon as we got to her locker she was annoyed.

“You’re really going out with Betty tomorrow?” She asked and I rolled my eyes.

“Vee, she’s my best friend and I want her to know that I’m gonna be here for her while she’s going through her breakup. I thought you trust me.” I said and she slammed her locker.

“I told you I trust you, it’s her I don’t trust!” She said. Before I could even answer she pulled me in for a kiss, but I pulled away after a few seconds. I glanced and saw Betty looking at us and I turned back to Veronica with a glare.

“You’re acting crazy! Betty is your best friend, she’s not gonna try and steal me away from you! You need to get over your jealousy, and until you do I’m done.” I said and walked away.

The next day I avoided Veronica and just stayed near friends. Then that night I met Betty at Pop’s. She was sitting in our booth and I smiled.

“Hey Betts, I see you got my favorite already.” I sat down.

“I heard that you and Veronica broke up.” She said and I furrowed my brow.

“How?” I asked.

“She came crying to me after school.” She said and I sighed.

“So why did you break up with her? I thought you loved her.” She said.

“She’s been insanely jealous ever since she found out we dated. She said she doesn’t trust you, so I’m shocked she ran to you.” I said.

“Is that why she’s been extra clingy?” She asked with wide eyes.

“Yes! It’s exhausting! I’ve told her a million times that we’re just friends and that if she doesn’t trust you, for whatever reason, she has to trust me. Don’t get me wrong Betty, you’re great and I still love you but just as a friend.” I said and she smiled.

“I know Y/N/N, I feel the same way.” She said and grabbed my hand.

“I knew it!” Someone shouted and we looked over to see Veronica stomping up to us.

“Veronica? What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I told you she can’t be trusted and apparently you can’t either! You two are literally having a date behind my back!” She shouted. I got up and gently grabbed her.

“Veronica, you’re fucking blinded by jelousy. Betty and I were just saying how we love each other but as friends! I’m not cheating on you, I never would. I love you, but you being so fucking jealous is annoying!” I explained.

“He’s right Vee, Y/N and I aren’t gonna go back to dating or anything like that. I don’t have feelings for him like I do Jughead.” She said and Veronica looked between us.

“You two aren’t having a date?” She asked and we shook our heads.

“No, I told you!” I said and she sighed.

“God, I’m the worst…” She said.

“You’re not the worst, I understand where you’re coming from.” Betty said and gave her a hug.

"I'm so sorry, to both of you!" She said.

"It's fine Vee, why don't you join us?" Betty offered.

"If it's alright with Y/N?” Veronica asked while batting her eyelashes.

“Of course it is babe, come here.” I said and pulled her to sit next to me.

“I can’t believe you were jealous of me.” Betty laughed.

“Well you and my boo did date so it’s only natural.” She defended.

“Next time take my word babe, I told you I only have eyes for you.” I said and Betty nodded.

“He told me how happy he is with you.” Betty smiled.

“Really?” She asked.

“Of course Vee, I love you.” I said and kissed the side of her head.

“I love you too babe.” She said with a huge smile.

“Oh I'm sorry Bee." Veronica frowned.

"For what?" She asked confused.

"You and Jughead just broke up and we're-"

"Oh hush Vee, I love seeing you two back together. I was so worried my favorite ship had sunk." She said and we all laughed.

"It'll take a lot more to sink us." I said and Veronica smiled.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs-blog1 @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @teenwolfbitches28 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @lady-of-lies @ravenmoore14 @ravenempress101 @cillianchamp @rowanthomasknapp @rachelxwayne @nasjiep @hiya-imthatgirl @mindsetjupiter @averysinclaire @mittelerde1999 @sweetest-peas @rousewriter @camiconfessions @thecaptainsgingersnap @cenyddtheunicorn @jacksxsouthsideserpents @lover2448 @hatter-madigan3 @mamacobie13 @serenabeanstuff @therealchoni

#riverdale #riverdale imagine #veronica lodge #veronica x reader #veronica x male!reader #veronica lodge x reader #veronica lodge x male!reader #betty cooper #betty x jughead #fanfic #request

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flourgirl · 3 years

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When The Party’s Over

Part II to “Even If It’s a Lie”

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader, Peter Parker x Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn x Reader

Summary: The closer that Peter gets to Gwen, the more he realizes how irreplaceable you are to him.

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: A few curse words here and there.

A/N: There’s going to be a third and final part to this story, so if you’d like to be tagged in it, please shoot me an ask or a reply and I’ll gladly add you to the tag list. Hope you guys enjoy this new part and happy reading :-)

“Counted all my mistakes and there's only one Standing out from the list of the things I've done All the rest of my crimes don't come close To the look on your face when I let you go” -Where Do Broken Hearts Go, One Direction

It had been 17 days since you had last seen Peter and all you could do was sit in your favorite coffee shop and stare at all the muffins in the case. Peter loved muffins. His favorite flavor was banana nut, and usually the two of you would jam out to all of your favorite songs while you waited for them to come out of the oven.

“Y/N,” Betty said, snapping you out of your daze, “Are you alright? You’ve been staring at the pastries for, like, five minutes.”

MJ put down whatever book she had decided to read this week. “Yeah, if you want one, go for it. You deserve it. Here, I’ll pay.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wadded up $10 bill, dropping it onto the table in front of you, and returned to her book.

“You could get a slice of cheesecake,” Betty suggested. “I know how much you like the raspberry one from here.”

But all you could think about was how you wished Peter loved you the way that he loved those stupid banana nut muffins.

“I’m not hungry,” you muttered, crossing your arms and closing your eyes to take in the soft jazz music that was playing alongside the chatter of the café. “But I’m keeping the ten bucks.”

“Maybe it would help take your mind off of things if you met someone new,” MJ suggested without even looking up at you. It was honestly amazing how she could carry on a conversation while still being so engrossed in her book.

“Yeah, Y/N,” Betty agreed, “You’re so smart, and pretty, and you made all of the baked goods currently taking up lots of precious space in our kitchen.”

“You’re a stress baker,” MJ added. She was right. Over the past two and a half weeks since that night, you had baked three cakes, four pies, and seven different kinds of bread. Maybe tonight wasn’t the night you tried out the new focaccia recipe you had been eyeing.

“I don’t know, guys,” you said, slinking further down into your chair. “I just don’t think I’m ready for that sort of thing.”

“That’s okay,” Betty reassured you. “Take all the time you need. But we’re here for you, Y/N.”

And that’s how the rest of that day went. Lots of suggestions on ways to stop thinking about Peter and you shooting them down. No matter how Betty and MJ tried to make you feel better, your mind was stuck on the nine voicemails and thirty-two texts he had sent you saying how he was sorry for whatever he did and how he just wanted things to be normal again.

Except you didn’t want normal. You wanted him. You wanted his bad puns and the way his sweaters smelled when he let you borrow one. And the worst part was, he didn’t even know what he did wrong. He didn’t know that he had broken your heart.

----------------

It wasn’t like Peter didn’t like Gwen. She was outgoing and confident, and he liked how it felt like she was always the center of attention. People wanted to talk to her, or sit next to her, or even have her know that they existed.

But she wasn’t anything like you, and the more time that Peter spent with her, the more apparent that became. She didn’t rant about reality TV or get so overwhelmed during public speaking assignments that the only way she could calm down was with a hug from him. In many ways, she was perfect. Except for the fact that she wasn’t you.

“We’re still on for Flash’s party on Saturday, right?” Gwen asked as she walked with Peter out of the lecture hall where they learned about vascular mechanics.

Honestly, Peter hadn’t even remembered that she had asked him to go to that until she brought it up just now. He was too stressed out wondering whether or not you’d ever speak to him again.

But what did he do to make you upset? He had promised that if you wanted to leave the party, you could tell him and the two of you would go. Except you never said anything. You just got up and left, without even saying goodbye. You hated him and it killed him to not know why.

Despite this, he wanted to be the good guy and not disappoint any more people, and so he took Gwen’s hand in his and said, “Yeah, definitely. I’ll be there.”

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If someone had told you that you’d run into Harry Osborn in the middle of Arthur Avenue, you’d say they were crazy. And if that same someone said that you’d ask him on a date, they’d be even crazier. But somehow, some way, that’s exactly what happened.

You were on the way to interview a third-generation restaurant owner for your Italian class. You had never been very good at foreign languages, but you would use any excuse to take a trip to Little Italy. The nervous knots in your stomach from the possibility that they would only speak in a dialect that you couldn’t understand was worth it, because this little nook of the city was home to the best arancini in all of America.

To be honest, it seemed unbelievable that he’d be there, at that exact time, in that exact place to where you’d run right into him. You had been too busy reviewing the notes you had taken during the interview to see that you were on a direct path towards face planting into his torso.

“Fuck,” you grumbled, staring down at your notes scattered on the sidewalk at your feet. The guy you had just ran into kneeled down to gather them into a neat stack, handing them back to you.

“Y/N?” he asked, which caught you off guard. Who the hell was this? It wasn’t until you stared at his face for a few seconds that you recognized him. That guy that Gwen was with at the party. He looked a lot different in his button down and khakis compared to the sweatshirt and baseball cap he had on when you had first met him.

“Uh, hi. You’re Gwen’s friend, right? Henry.” You knew his name. You just didn’t plan on letting that you knew it.

“Yeah, but it’s Harry. Sorry about that, by the way. So, anyway, what brings you all the way down to Little Italy? It’s pretty far from campus,” he told you, as if you didn’t know that. I mean, you had walked all the way here, hadn’t you?

You shrugged, looking away from him. “I guess I could ask you the same thing.”

It was the first time in a while that someone wasn’t fawning over him just because he was rich. Honestly, it was really refreshing. “I asked first,” he noted, mimicking your crossed arms with a smirk.

Who does this guy think he is?

“Listen,” you sighed. “I really don’t have time for this. I need to get back to my apartment and finish up writing this essay that’s due at midnight.”

“So you’re taking Italian, I presume?” he asked, it suddenly becoming quite clear as to what you were doing on the other side of the city.

“Yeah. And let me guess, you were eating brunch at some fancy, expensive restaurant that your dad owns, drinking some $100 bottle of wine while some nerd you pay does your homework, huh?”

“No,” he laughed. “I was helping put together Thanksgiving dinner baskets for underprivileged families down at the soup kitchen.”

It was only then that you noticed how annoyingly handsome he was. Essentially, he was the male version of Gwen. Same blonde hair and preppy style that just screamed “I have a trust fund.”

“Of course. What, did you need a good photo op ever since the Daily Bugle ran that issue where they called you a spoiled playboy who loves to party?”

You had no intentions of entertaining him, especially since he was a friend of Gwen’s. The girl that had kissed Peter right in front of you, and pretended like she couldn’t remember your name. The girl that Peter was probably with right now.

“I’m not going to pretend like that wasn’t part of it, but believe it or not, I’m not actually as big of a selfish asshole as the papers make me out to be.”

You rolled your eyes. “Sure, I can tell by the cashmere sweater vest and leather loafers that you’re wearing that you’re so down to earth.”

There was an awkward silence, and Harry decided to change the subject before he pissed you off even more. But what he chose to mention next was the one thing on the planet that you didn’t want to talk about.

“So, uh, I guess your friend Peter is with Gwen now,” he started, which had somehow managed to make you dislike him even more than you already did. Sure, there was no way for him to know how you felt about the whole situation, but it still pained you to think about how you had become an afterthought to who you thought was the guy who would always have your back.

You blinked back at him, frowning. “Yeah, I guess so,” you muttered. And then there was another awkward silence.

“Well, I’ll let you go now. It’s obvious I’m taking up some very precious time in your day,” he said, offering a weak smile. “Maybe we’ll see each other around campus.”

It suddenly dawned on you that you might have been just a little too hard on him. He seemed nice enough, even if you weren’t a big fan of the company he kept. Before you could even really think about it, you called out, “Wait!” and walked over to meet him when he had turned around.

“I’m sorry,” you admitted, nervously toying with the hem of your sweater. “I’m just in a really bad mood.”

“It’s fine,” he reassured you, although he wasn’t quite as confident as when the two of you had started your conversation. “We all have bad days. I hope yours gets better.”

“It could, if you’d let me buy you a coffee,” you said, genuinely smiling for the first time in a while. Sure, it was nice to think that Peter would probably be upset once he heard that you had asked someone out and he knew nothing about it, but a small part of you was asking just because Harry Osborn seemed like the kind of guy you’d like to have around.

“Sure,” he answered back, running a hand through his hair, which seemed to be in a perpetually perfect messy-but-not-too-messy state. “Have you ever been to Hungry Ghost in Brooklyn?”

Your eyes lit up. “That’s actually my favorite café! They have this really awesome grand piano in the middle of the room, and every Friday they have an open mic where anybody can sign up to play it.”

Your enthusiasm honestly surprised you. It was nice to have something to talk about that didn’t somehow involve Peter.

“Actually, I’m signed up to play tomorrow night,” Harry told you, “Do you like jazz?”

It almost seemed too good to be true. You loved jazz. “Definitely,” you confirmed, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Alright, cool. Let’s make a deal. I’ll let you buy me a coffee if you come watch me play tomorrow night.”

“Deal,” you agreed, before turning back towards your apartment, all giddy with excitement to tell MJ and Betty about what had just happened.

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“You probably didn’t know this, but Y/N’s been hanging out with Harry Osborn,” Ned said, walking into the common room wearing his “special” Hawaiian shirt, which Peter knew meant he was going someplace fancy. “They’re kind of dating.”

Peter looked up immediately from his linear algebra homework. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach about what Ned had just revealed, but he didn’t know why. He was with Gwen, and if you wanted to date Harry Osborn, then you could. But still, he found himself being just a little bit jealous that some other guy was filling in for him.

“Oh,” Peter said, looking back down at his homework. He couldn’t focus anymore, so he just shut the notebook and threw it from where he was sitting on the top bunk onto his desk. “How long has that been going on?”

“Two days now, but they’ve been spending every minute together since. Betty said that they bumped into each other on the street and she just asked him on a date out of nowhere,” he replied, tying his shoes to go meet his girlfriend for date night. “I just thought I’d let you know, in case you saw them when you were out and got mad at me for keeping it from you.”

“Thanks, dude,” Peter sighed, lying on his back, “You’re a good friend.”

“I know. Anytime, man. Now I gotta go. M’lady awaits,” he said. Peter didn’t even have to look to know that his roommate had just tipped his imaginary fedora.

Harry Osborn wasn’t even your type, Peter thought. You didn’t like guys as “pretty” as him, and you had always been more into brown eyes, not blue. So what was the appeal? His trust fund? Peter knew that you weren’t that shallow. It was just that, well, he couldn’t imagine you falling for someone like that.

You’re with Gwen, Peter kept reminding himself. So many guys would kill to be in your place. It wasn’t until he checked the time that he realized that he was actually about 20 minutes late to meeting her for the party. The stupid party at Flash Thompson’s tacky apartment that he didn’t even want to go to in the first place.

It was an understatement to say that Gwen was pissed when Peter knocked on her front door over half an hour late to the time they had agreed upon.

“What took you so long? I’ve been waiting,” she complained, smoothing out her sparkly silver dress that caught the light just right when she moved.

“I’m sorry,” Peter sighed, grabbing her hand as they walked down the street. “Uh, I guess I just lost track of time.”

“Whatever,” Gwen said, “Just don’t let it happen again.”

When they finally arrived at the party, the bowls of potato chips and mini pretzels were nearly empty. The floor was sticky, and Old Town Road boomed from the speakers in the living room.

“I’m gonna go get a drink,” Peter told Gwen, leaving her to greet all of her friends that had been waiting for her to show up.

As Peter wandered towards the keg, he couldn’t stop thinking about you and Harry, and all the things that he didn’t know about your newfound relationship with some guy you had just met. He still didn’t know why he was so upset about it. He should be happy you had found someone you liked. In high school, all you ever talked about was finding the perfect guy, and if that was Harry Osborn, who was Peter to make a fuss about it?

But that didn’t stop Peter from filling up his plastic cup more times than he should’ve that night. It wasn’t until he was being dragged back to his dorm room by Gwen after puking on Flash’s couch that he realized what was wrong. He wanted to be that guy. The one who got to hold your hand and cuddle with you during scary movies. The one that got to love you and be loved by you.

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Taglist: @hommyy-tommy @itsgonnabeohtay @alltimekyn

P.S.: Sorry to all the people I forgot to tag on this one! I didn’t know that when you answer asks privately, they go away from your inbox. Please shoot me another ask or reply to this post so I don’t miss you again!

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x gwen stacy #harry osborn x reader #peter parker fluff #peter parker angst #peter parker imagine #peter parker oneshot #peter parker fanfiction #spiderman #mcu

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chaoticparker · 3 years

Text

The Bite

Peter Parker x reader

w/c: 3.7k

warnings: swearing, blood, broken glass, tiny bit of angst but mainly fluff

a/n: Let me know what you think <3

masterlist

~~~

“All right everyone off the bus and wait inside the lobby!”

Everyone sprung off their seats on the bus and ran to the door. Today everyone was visiting Oscorp, Norman Osborn’s lab, it was some sort of publicity thing so Norman would get elected mayor of New York.

You and Peter were sitting next to each other during the bus ride, it was early in the morning and you had to wake up much earlier than what you would of liked to, so you both were still half asleep. “You ready to go?” You looked over at Peter who was still sitting in his seat, staring off into space. “come on Pete get up.” You pulled Peter up which seemed to snap him out of his trance. “You ok?”

“Yea, I just spaced out sorry.” Peter got up and walked into the aisle with you close behind him. Once you got outside the air was crisp and cold, making you and Peter shiver. You ran into the building to get warm and meet up with the other students.

“Where’s Ned?” Peter asked, you swore you saw him get onto the bus with you this morning, but you’re not sure who he sat with.

Eventually you spot him in the corner talking to someone, “He right over there, but who’s he talking to?” You turned Peter around and inconspicuously pointed to him and the girl.

Peter took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes and the lenses and put the back on to get a better look. “Thats Betty from the schools morning announcement team I th-”

“Thats Betty?” You whisper shouted. “Ned kept bringing up a girl named Betty and I swore her name was Annie, I mean, she looks like an Annie. But I thought Ned just made her up, I didn’t think she was real” You looked over to Peter who was looking a mixture of shock and surprise. “I am so stupid.”

“First off how did you not know Betty’s name we have homeroom together? And second how did you know Ned had a crush on her?” Peter kept his voice down so he doesn’t draw attention to you both, not wanting Flash to overhear and ruin Ned’s chances.

“I think just have a knack for knowing when someone is in love.” You joked

Only Peter didn’t realize you were joking, “Wait what-” Peter started but was interrupted by Mr. Harrington by splitting the groups in two.

“Groups 1-7 on the left and groups 8-15 on the right! AND REMEMBER TO STAY WITH YOUR BUDDY! I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE ANOTHER KID” He yelled, followed by the women working there having a shocked face and her hushing him.

You and Peter were group 7, you caught Ned’s eyes and he pointed to the right while you pointed left. Ned also pointed to Betty with a big smile on his face, followed by Peter giving him a thumbs up.

Peter was worried about what you said, you had a ‘knack for knowing when someone was in love’? What did you mean by that? Peter started to worry that you knew he liked you, and you’ve never confessed anything to him because theres nothing to confess.

No No No, don’t think like that Peter, he thought, trying to hype himself up, if she knew you liked her why is she still around? Surly if she did not feel the same way she would of left. Or she simply does not know. There is still a chance.

Peter was snapped out of this thoughts by you tugging him on his sweater, “come on the groups about to leave.” Peter and you speeded walked to the rest of the group so you were with the group but just in the back. “Are you doing ok Pete? You seem distracted.” You looked at him worried. Sure, Peter was an anxious guy, you even talked to him about if he wanted any professional help, but he assured you that he’s fine, just a tad overwhelmed, but this? He seemed so much more stressed and anxious, not to mention the constant spacing out.

Peter cleared his throat and put his arm around you, “I’m sorry, I guess theres a lot on my mind and I’m not too sure why.” Of course he knew why, he was stressing over the fact you might know he likes him! And also the fact that you might never love him and it was all too much for him too handle.

“Ok, but you know you can talk to me right?” You said as you gave him a side hug, “We’ve known each other for forever and the most important part of us being so close is that we can talk to each other.” You hoped Peter caught what you were trying to say. In complete honesty you’ve loved him for a long time. Ever since you saw him with his oversized glasses and his star wars shirts. But how could Peter Parker, the selfless, kind person ever love you? And how could you ever love someone so sickeningly sweet?

You don’t deserve him, you thought, he is completely in love with Liz and never will be with you.

“I know that,” Peter pulled you out of your thoughts, “I just don’t know whats wrong. I just kind of have a weird feeling.”

Peter hoped you would drop the conversation at that point. He didn’t want to spill his guts to you especially on a school field trip, where you were stuck together. But you just nodded and you turned your attention to the man walking you through the tour.

“And this here is the bio testing.” He pointed towards a room, “everyone needs to put on goggles and a lab coat-”

“Can we keep the lab coats?” Flash asked.

“No, you cannot keep the lab coats they are not complementary. Now hurry up everyone! If we are lucky we will be able to see the lab techs at work!”

Everyone started to quickly put their coats and goggles on, and people started to take photos on your phones. One of the people was you and Peter, “Smile!” He said and you both gave a cheesy smile. “I’ll send it to you.”

“Everyone please put your phones in here.” The tour guide handed out a white buckets and everyone groaned. “It is apart of Oscorp's privacy policy. No recording in certain areas such as the testing rooms.”

Everyone gave quite mumbles about how ‘stupid’ and ‘bullshit’ this was, some a little louder than others, and soon enough you were going thought the door with Peter on your side.

“And here is where we research different animals.” The tour guide showed off the different animals including, snakes, birds and-

“S-spiders” Peter was stunned, he hated spiders. He claimed that how they just don’t make sense, they can climb onto walls, shoot webs and for some reason are strong? He learned everything about them so if he was ever faced with one, and aunt May or Uncle Ben was not around to get rid of it for him, he would know how to get rid of it himself and stay alive.

“Come on Pete, they are harmless. But it is weird in here, it doesn’t seem like there is any research work, more.. testing.” Why were they testing on animals? Oscorp had branded it’s self on being cruelty free, but the again they did say they help the environment, which was a HUGE lie.

You grabbed Peter’s hand and shoved in front of of everyone to the front of the group, “excuse me but what exactly do you do with the animals here?” You ask as a man in a dark suit appears behind a door.

The tour guide starts but the man interrupts him, “And whats your name dear?”

“Y/N”

“Well, Y/n, we do research on the animals to see how we can use some features they have, replicate it, and use it.” The guy is clearly mansplaining, his attitude was intolerable.

“But the equipment you have around here looks like your testing on the animals?” You started but then Mr. Harrington stepped besides you.

“Y/n, I’m not sure if Mr. Osborn can answer your questions thoroughly, lets just continue looking at the animals.”

“Ah, yes thank you. And please make sure not to touch anything.” And with that the man, or apparently Mr. Osborn left.

It shocked you that you were just talking to the founder of Oscorp, and how blatantly rude he is.

“Wow whats that” Flash yelled near the window. You, Peter and the rest of the students all ran toward the window to see what was so cool. In the process a kid knocked over the glass container. As the tour guide saw he pressed the emergency button. “EVERYONE OUT NOW!”

Everyone ran out bumping into each other. Flash bumped into you causing you to trip and fall. “Fucking hell” you groaned. Your whole body was hurting at this point, you started to get up but you cut your hand on the broken glass. “Fuck” Another groan.

“Y/n? How do you feel?” Peter kneeled besides you trying to help you up but ended up slipping on the glass too cutting his hand and causing his glasses to break, “fuck, come on we need to leave.”

He moved his hand let out a small scream, “PETER ARE YOU OK WHAT WAS THAT?” You completely ignored the pain of your hand and helped grabbed his shoulder.

Peter was shaking his arm violently, “The spider just bit me and it fucking hurt.” Peter quickly got up and you both ran out of the room. You followed the others back to the lobby, the tour ended with Mr. Harrington giving your a band-aid thinking that would help and all of the students were pushed onto the bus.

You were bothering Peter with questions asking if he’s ok, “What about your glasses? How bad is your vision? Does your head hurt? My head would hurt hen I couldn’t see.” You looked over at Peter who sat down in his seat and was tapping his foot.

That question took him off guard, his vision was perfect, like he had contacts in. “I can see just fine, but what about you? How’s your cut” He reached for your hand and looked at you. The cut had stopped bleeding but the cut still looked sore.

“At least we have matching cuts now, hows yours?” You reached for his hand, you saw no cut so you looked at the other, also no cut, “didn’t you get cut too?”

“I thought i did, maybe it just grazed me, and not enough to actually hurt me. You should probably rest, you fell pretty bad.”

“Your the one that got bit with by the spider I should be asking about you, i’m surprised you aren’t freaking out that a spider was on your hand.”

“Don’t worry about me I’m fine, do you wanna listen to music?” Peter held up an ear bud and you nodded taking it.

Truth be told everything was too much for Peter, it was like he could feel everything. He felt like he just had 10 red-bulls mixed with 20 cups of coffee. He tried his best to ignore what was going on and sleep but he soon learned he could never ignore what was going on with him.

When Peter thought he got these powers, he did nothing with them, sure he used them to his advantage, maybe to show off at the schools weight room, but other then that he didn’t. If anything his powers made him more confident with himself, he thought that maybe this was a sigh that if he could get powers, he could ask you out.

But all of that changed when we saw Uncle Ben die.

Peter started to be more closed off, he overworked himself to the bone.

As he started to become Spider-Man, in the process he was losing Peter Parker.

Peter lost some of the few friends that he had. His friend circle mainly consisted of you, Ned, and MJ. He only saw MJ at decathlon practice and lunch, Ned and him still had their playdates with building legos but he was clearly not as cheerful.

And with you, he started to text you less and less. You were there when he lost his parents but he was not 6 anymore. He understood death more than anyone else, he saw death happen right before his eyes. You thought that he just wanted some space, maybe you reminded him of him when his parent died. But it got to the point where you were starting to lose your best friend.

You stoped walking to school together, and it hurt. Although you would never admit this to anyone, you felt as though you were losing a part of yourself. Peter was your other half, you completed each other, or thats what you used to think.

You decided to throw yourself into your hobbies. You were trying your best to forget about Peter. Maybe he just outgrew you. Maybe he didn’t need you.

But you need him.

And you hate needing someone.

But Peter felt the same way. When he decided to become Spider-man, he wanted to make sure no one would get hurt from it. And he even made a costume that would hide his identity.

And it was far from good looking.

“Peter dude come on you love her! You’re gonna lose her if you keep pushing her away!” Ned was on the phone with Peter, he didn’t know what was going on with him, no one did. He just wanted his friend to be happy, and thats why him and MJ devised a plan.

“Y/n come on I know you are sick and tired of not talking to Peter! I even think you like him!” MJ yelled on the phone. “You need to talk to him it’s destroying you.”

“She’s the one who’s pushing me away! Im just respecting her wants!” Peter yelled back.

“MJ you’re not listening! You need to realize that Peter grew out of me! He does not want to see me and I don’t know why! I don’t want to hurt him anymore than what i apparently did!”

MJ and Ned had a whole script planned out. They knew how to push you both just right so that you would fall onto the trap.

“Peter just listen to me! When you next see her confess your feelings! If she does not feel the same you will get closure and nothing else will really change from whats going on! You need to talk to someone with whats going on with you. Tell her everything” Ned delivered the final push, almost done then we can get our friend group back he and Mj thought.

“Y/N! Go find Peter and get your closure! Please, if not for you do it for him! You know how he’s acting weird and you are the only one that can get him to open up! SO GO DOWN ON YOUR FIRE ESCAPE AND KNOCK ON HIS WINDOW AND CONFRONT HIM! NOW!”

“Fine Ned, next time I see her, I’ll tell her.”

“Fine I’ll go see him, bye”

And with that everyone hung up on their separate phone calls.

You climbed out of your window and onto the fire escape. It was weird how even though you lived so close together you felt so far apart.

You climbed down one, and looked inside. He was walking around his room, being all stressed, which for some reason was relaxing to you.

You knocked, nothing, so you opened the window and fell into his room with a big thump. “ow”

“Y/N? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU OK?” Peter rushed over to you helping your get up.

“Yes I’m fine Peter but what is wrong with you?” You didn’t mean to sound harsh, but you needed to be. “Why did you stop hanging out with me?” You looked up to him and finally met his eyes. It was refreshing to see him, anytime either one of you caught a glimpse of the other, you ran. “Why did you stop being my best friend?” You voice was quiet now, you didn’t want Peter to know that your voice was cracking.

It really broke Peter, he was just trying to protect you, but in the end - as cringe as it sounds - he just pushed you away.

“You seem completely different, you’re not even wearing your glasses anymore. And fuck Peter I just miss you and your dorky glasses. Did you meet someone? Did you get a girlfriend? Did she not like that we were close?” You were just spitting out whatever came to mind, and this scenario was one you were thinking of all the time.

Peter jumped back at your words, “What no! I would never want to date someone if it ment that I could never see you again.”

Just tell her everything Peter thought about Ned’s words. Everything was a lot. How is he suppose to answer this, just spit it out?

Might as well start with the basics, “I’m Spider-man” Peter blurted out.

“What, you mean like you have a crush on him? Peter thats nothing to be embarrassed of, you know you can talk to me, you know i go both wa-”

“NO I MEAN LIKE I, PETER PARKER, AM SPIDER-MAN!” Peter shouted. Honestly it felt good to say it out loud the first time and he just wanted someone to know. And what better person than you.

“So in the month that you have been isolated from me thats your best excuse you could come up with?” You were appalled by his unbelievable excuse.

“I swear please believe me, like ummmmm HERE” Peter got his ‘suit’ from the space in his ceiling and gave it to you. “Thats my suit.”

“you and every other fanboy has this.”

“What about... this!” Peter went over to you a picked up.

“what the fuck put me down!” You did not look impressed, Peter was looking around to see how he could prove to you that he was not lying.

“Remember that day we went to oscorp and how you questioned Osborn and when you fell?” You nodded, it was your last time you really hung out with him, how could you not? “I got bit by the spider and they were doing radioactive testing on it, which caused me to be well... spider-man.”

Then an idea sprung in his head, he quickly move past you and went on the fire escape and you followed. “Here, if this does not prove it, nothing will.” Peter jumped onto the railing with one hand on the wall.

“Peter what the fuck you’re gonna get yourself killed please I just want you to be honest with me and talk” You reached for Peter but he jumped off the railing and towards the wall and somehow... did not fall and stuck to it?

“Peter what the fuck?”

“now do you believe me?”

“If i say yes will you come back inside?” Peter nodded, “then yes i believe you”

Peter jumped on the side of the building and back onto the fire escape and you pushed him inside and you followed behind him.

“So since you really are spider-man, why were you so distant?” You finally asked. You were now sitting on opposite ends of his bed, and you were hugging and pillow trying to explode with everything you just learned. Peter fucking parker was spider-man? Nerdy little parker saving everyone, stoping cars with just his body, and defeating criminals? But, he did just stick to the side of his building, thats pretty damn good proof. Your Peter Parker was Spider-man, the spider-man.

You thought this was just a dream but you didn’t want to wake up because that would mean Peter and you were still not talking.

“I wanted to protect everyone around me. When Ben died,” Peter took a breath and you reached over to squeeze his hand, “When Ben died, I had my powers but I did not do anything. I could of saved him, but i chose not to. So I decided I would become Spider-man so no one else would get hurt. And if anyone found out that you knew spider-man you would be in danger. So i thought if i pushed the people closest to me away, they wouldn’t get hurt.”

It was all too much for you to process. You felt terrible for feeling angry at him when he was saving lives.

“Why were you so distant from me?” Peter looked back up towards you and it was a fair question you both avoided one another.

“I thought I reminded you of your parents deaths. Other than Aunt May, I am the one person that has been in your life since their death and I thought you didn’t want to see me because of it. I also wanted to give you space to grieve.” You felt a weight being lifted off your shoulders by telling him. It was calming. “I also didn’t want to hurt you more, so i thought i would wait for you to open up to me like we normally do, but i should not have been so relaxed about all of this. I just didn’t want to ruin what we had” You took one last deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

You glanced up toward Peter and he leaned in and kissed you. It was shocking at first, it took you a second to process what was going on but then you felt light as you melted into the kiss. You felt as though you two were the only ones left in the world.

Peter pulled back to take a breath, “Ned told me to confess my feelings towards you. I’m sorry I didn’t me to spring it on you-” Peter was interrupted by you hugging him, rapping your arms around his waist and your face on his stomach.

“I feel the same way, Pete. Just please, I don’t want to do that ever again.” Peter at this point was now hugging you back. You missed this, but there was also something knew, and it made you smile.

“I never will, I promise y/n”

#peter parker #peter parker fluff #peter parker x reader #spider-man #spiderman #marvel #peter parker and reader #peter parker x reader fluff #peter parker x oc #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #spider man x you #spider man x reader #spider man x y/n #spiderman x oc

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thatfunkyopossum · 3 years

Note

drawing advice nonnie here! i guess,,,specifically the faces? your clones are so lovely and expressive and mine end up looking like eldritch monsters ajksdjfkl

Well, there’s no quick thing to being able to draw well, all you can do is study and practice! Without seeing your work there’s nothing specific I can help you with (and I’m not sure I have the time or energy these days to give specific critique) but where most people struggle with faces (including myself) is Anatomy and Volume.

So here’s what I recommend for learning those.

First, your supplementary online resources are going to be https://line-of-action.com/ which you can use in lieu of an in person drawing class (i recommend class mode settings) and the youtube channel Proko. I recommend studying with the use of a large pad of cheap paper, preferably newsprint, and willow charcoal if you don’t mind the texture.

The materials are not important, but I recommend large paper for studies like this because you can really let your body get into it. It’s completely fine not to have an easel to work on, in which case you can either prop up a large pad of paper on something with the use of a board, or you can have a smaller pad of paper. Anything works better than nothing, but if you can get large cheap paper, you absolutely should.

1. Look at Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards, [PDF here]

-I recommend checking this one out first. It teaches you the bare bones of drawing from observation and is absolutely invaluable to learning to see the way an artist does. The science in it is bunk, but its methods are sound.

2. Check out The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides [PDF here]

- Read the section on gesture drawing and practice it using Line-of-action, which you can set to do an endless stream of 30 second poses. I found it very helpful to do these studies in ball point pen (forces you to commit) or willow charcoal (difficult to erase and very soft), which was very freeing to me.

-The Gesture exercises can ABSOLUTELY be applied to just faces if thats what you want to draw. Faces are complicated and if that’s what you want to study, go for it. -I can’t vouch for most of the book as, tbh, i havent read it because i feel bad not committing to what the author asks of you. These specific beginning passages though on gesture and contour are very good!

3. Also get your hands on Drawing The Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis [PDF here]

I’m not going to lie to you. Andrew loomis might be one of the most boring authors in existence. I was reading his book aloud in a car once and it put my friend (who cannot sleep in vehicles!!!) to bed. His prose is boring as fuck. That said... he was an incredible artist! And may artists for decades have found his instructional books supremely helpful. I am very happy to have them on hand.

-For each section of the book, draw along with the examples. Copy Loomis’s art. Use line of action from the beginning, either for anatomy traces or from observation studies. Even in the planes of the face section, you can trace the planes over the photos either on paper held up to your computer, or directly onto the photo through use of a digital drawing program.

-Use Proko to supplement your learning with Loomis. It can be extremely helpful to get input from multiple sources, especially because IMO Loomis is honestly not the best teacher in his books, even if his methods work very well. The Anatomy and Structure videos in the Proko Facial Features playlist should be most helpful.

Please note, the sources on anatomy that I’ve provided here will only teach you how to draw the “ideal”, white face. They’re the sources that I learned from, which is why I’m recommending them to you. Which is why I want to outline right now what you SHOULD be trying to learn from these sources.

1. Underlying anatomy

Luckily, human beings from every race and national origin have the same exact bones and cartilage and fat and muscle, just in different places and attached at different points. What you are doing when you are learning anatomy, especially from biased sources, is not how the anatomy should be shaped, but rather what it is. If you get a deep understanding of anatomy, you should be able to problem solve and figure out by drawing from observation exactly what the underlying structures look like on anyone. The nose of a white person will, most likely, be pretty different from the nose of an east asian person, or a māori person, or a black person. That said, the cartilage and muscle attachments and bones are still all the same. What changes is the shapes.

2. Drawing from Observation

Honestly, learning to draw from observation is one of the most important things that an aspiring artist can learn. If you can’t draw from observation, learning will be an uphill struggle. If you can’t put aside your notions of what things should look like according to what you know, and instead start drawing them as they are, your growth as an individual artist will only ever come in switching out the symbols you use to represent different things.

As a last parting word related to that last thing: Imo, artists should not use symbols to represent reality, the way flash puppet animation does. What you should be doing, is you should be striving to understand the real, actual world, and then simplifying and streamlining and nudging it about into art. Symbol based art is, of course, still art, but its limited, and until we can break from these limits then our art can never reach its full potential. Draw as often as you can, draw with your shoulder and not your wrist or fingers if you can help it, do art warmups, and happy drawing :)

#long post

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alaenawrites · 4 years

Text

Soon You’ll Get Better- Coops

Hi!! I’m the anon who is doing a sweater weather x folklore mini-series!! I have a few already in the making right now so keep an eye out... but before I do that I have to do this. I was listening to my favorite sad Swift songs (as one does after a breakup) and this one came up (of course) and there is no other song in the entire world that will make me cry more about the end of SW chapter 16 right now, so... you get this, set over a few days a little after that! I promise some of these will be happy haha.

Characters of course by the absolutely amazing @lumosinlove !!! <33

~~~~~~~~~~

The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair In doctor's-office-lighting, I didn't tell you I was scared That was the first time we were there

Remus barely made it through the door, hair messy, coat definitely buttoned wrong, before collapsing into a chair by Sirius’s bed. Sirius, who was hooked up to at least five machines; Sirius, who had his eyes closed and, he had been told, hadn’t opened them in hours. Sirius, who was laying pale in a hospital bed, looking so much like he had that day, years ago, that Remus felt his heart rip into even smaller bits.

He remembered that day, of course, still had nightmares about it. He remembered Sirius’s eyes, steely gray and focused on his own as he was carried away on a stretcher, he remembered the waiting and the pacing and the sitting and the waiting some more.

He remembered their first physical therapy appointment. Remus had tried to keep his voice calm as he stretched Sirius’s ankle and helped him stand. The lights had been too bright, everything had been too loud- or maybe that was just the fear. He had tried his best not to let his worry show, but-

But, Remus thought with a shaky breath. That was then. This is now.

Holy orange bottles, each night I pray to you Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too And I say to you

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon 'Cause you have to

Remus had never really been religious, but now felt like a good time to try. He ran his fingertips over his watch, pressing his lips to the words etched underneath- mon vœu.

I wish, he prayed silently, to who knows what, or who, I wish for Sirius. I know I have him, but- but I need him to be okay. I need him to be okay. Please. That’s my wish.

Sirius’s hand was cold- well, colder than usual- when Remus intertwined their fingers. He squeezed gently, resting his forehead against Sirius’s.

“I don’t know if you can hear me,” he whispered against the tears forming, “But... I love you. I love you so much. You’ll be okay. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to wake up and you’ll be fine and you’re going to come home soon and I’m going to make you dinner, whatever you want. I’ll make you sandwiches, or pasta, or I’ll get Sid’s, anything. You hear me?” Remus squeezed his eyes shut, breathing in Sirius’s hair. He smelled like doctors and rubbing alcohol. “You’re coming home soon. You have to.”

You like the nicer nurses, you make the best of a bad deal

Remus was shaken awake gently by one of the nurses, holding out a bottle with a kind smile. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around frantically.

“Is everything okay? Is he- He’s-”

“He’s fine, love. Well, as fine as he was yesterday,” she said softly, writing something in Sirius’s chart as she checked the monitors. “It’s been a few hours, I wanted to let you rest, but I figured you’d need something to eat or drink.”

Remus twisted the cap off the bottle, eyes focused on Sirius’s hand on the bed. He took a sip and vaguely registered that it was Gatorade. Blue.

The nurse nodded at him before making her way to the door, and Remus looked up, grabbing her arm gently as she passed by. She looked down in surprise.

“I just- Thanks. Thank you.”

She just smiled, a little sadly, and patted his hand.

I'll paint the kitchen neon, I'll brighten up the sky I know I'll never get it, there's not a day that I won't try And I'll say to you

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon 'Cause you have to

“I’ve been thinking about our home, baby,” he whispered into Sirius’s hair. The nurses hadn’t let him get much closer than pulling a chair up to the side of Sirius’s bed, but Remus was making it work.

“We could paint the kitchen yellow... I think it would look happy. I need a little happy right now, I think we both do." Remus smoothed the hair back from Sirius’s forehead and pressed a gentle kiss there.

“Actually,” he laughed softly, “I just need you, love. I need you to get better, because I’m horrible at matching colors. You have to get better so we can go paint shopping, and furniture shopping. We could buy some picture frames. You can hang up all your pictures, and we can take some more, of the two of us- together. No more frameless photos on the dresser. No more hotel houses.”

And I hate to make this all about me But who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do If there's no you?

Remus’s phone buzzed from his coat hanging by the door, but he couldn’t be bothered to check. He felt bad- it was probably one of the boys, James, maybe, checking up on Sirius, checking up on him. Half of his brain was yelling at him that Sirius didn’t belong to him, Sirius wasn’t just his. They cared about him too, they just wanted to know how he was doing, they just wanted to show their love for their captain.

He didn’t pick up his phone.

Remus tucked his knees against his chest, laying an arm and his head on top, the other hand still holding Sirius’s.

“What am I supposed to do, Pads?” He fought back the tears in his throat and wiped his eyes. “What am I supposed to do?”

This won't go back to normal, if it ever was It's been years of hoping, and I keep saying it because 'Cause I have to

He’ll be fine, Remus told himself over and over and over. He’ll be fine. He was fine last time-

A small voice in the back of his head interrupted. But last time wasn’t this bad-

Shut up. He’ll be fine. This time isn’t that bad either-

That’s a lie and you know it.

He was fine last time, so he’ll be fine now. He has to be. He’s going to be okay.

Ooh-ah, you'll get better Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon 'Cause you have to

Remus had finally convinced the main nurse, Ana, to let him get into the bed with Sirius, as long as he promised not to touch any wires and not to move him.

He laid his head on Sirius’s shoulder, running his fingers through his dark hair. His lower lip trembled, and he bit down to try to stop crying. It didn’t work.

“You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay, you’ll be all better soon, you’ll be alright...”

The words tumbled out of his mouth almost as fast as the tears falling into Sirius’s hair, but he couldn’t seem to stop mumbling them under his breath. Maybe this was his new superstition. His way to keep his good luck charm.

As Remus drifted off to sleep, the only thing he dreamt of was the boy next to him, happy, awake, laughing and holding Remus’s hand as they watched the sunrise from Sirius’s balcony. Better.

~~~~~~~~~~

:) nope :) I didn’t make myself cry :) Whatever do you mean :)

P.S. I’m starting my sw x folklore series! One anon said Logan as betty (YES) and if you have any requests just send them to me (asks, messages, idrc) and I’ll see if I already have that song for someone :) xo

#lumosinlove #coops #cap and loops #sweater weather #not me crying #i need to go the fuck to bed #soon you'll get better #taylor swift #this is what happens #when i listen to sad music at 4 am #someone make me sleep #not me listening to this song on repeat for an hour

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statticscribbles · 3 years

Text

I and Love and You

Summary: Sweet Pea/Reader Request: Sweet Pea finds his first love in you, but due to your parents you know you can’t be with someone from the Southside

“Hey Y/N you doing okay?” You nod to Betty not taking your eyes off of the book you’re reading. “Y/N.” You look up nodding once more. “Yes, I’m fine.” You repeat what you’ve said the last five times she asked. “You don’t sound fine.” “I am. Just a cold.” “Toni said she heard you crying the the locker room and-“You shut your book standing and walking past her. “Y/N!” You can hear Sweet Pea shout out as you walk by and you bite down the urge to run. You slide into the girls locker room, hands white knuckled on your book. You take a couple of shaky breaths before turning to see Cheryl standing watching you.

“You know this is hurting everyone right? We can all see it. Why’d you lie about everything?” You step back as Cheryl walks forward. “I didn’t lie I-“ “You lied, everyone knows you’d never cheat on him, that you two were going to be that sickening couple that are high school sweethearts; that get married and live happily ever after; so what’s going on.” She narrows her eyes and you avert yours. “He’s from the Southside.” You mumble and Cheryl arches an eyebrow. “You actually give a shit about that dumb imaginary line?” You shake your head. “No; my parents do.” You don’t say anything else. Cheryl pulls you into a hug. “You should tell everyone that. You know Sweet Pea actually came to me, to ask me to talk to you. He’s a mess; he thinks you hate him.” “I don’t.”

“Everyone knows that, but he’s starting to believe it.” “Cheryl, I can’t; if my parents see me talking to him they’ll flip.” “It won’t be him, we’ll be there, if a Southsider happens to show up at La Bonne Nuit well what can you do.” She smiles and you return it unease already building in your stomach.

————————————————————————————— You’re relieved your parents buy the lie, Veronica wanted to have a Vixen’s get together and Betty needed you to cover it for the Blue and Gold. You let them drop you off, the Vixen’s gathered in pop’s before going down; you can tell Veronica and Cheryl are going overboard to appear like they’re counting and checking everyone as your parents drive off. “Okay we clear?” Veronica nods as Reggie opens the door. You relax as the door closes and you can hear everyone else’s voices talking. You follow Reggie down nervously waiting for everyone to turn to you.You can see Cheryl and Toni turn first, but Sweet Pea is the first to move towards you. “Hey Y/N.” ‘Hey Sweet Pea.” “Cheryl told me that-“ “I’m sorry about everything. I still think it’s best for us, to not be an us.” Sweet Pea swallows and steps back. “Don’t; I’m; I’m sorry.” Sweet Pea nods stepping forward as you do, meeting half way to hug you. “I love you.” “I know, I love you still.” You respond and Sweet Pea sighs relaxing. “Can we just, try again. Please.” “Of course.” You smile nervous as your phone lights up. You scowl at your mother’s text.

“I’m going home. I’ll see you at school. Bye.” You leave before they respond returning home to your parents questioning. “No I just went out with Cheryl and the rest of the vixen’s, and then those Southsider’s showed up so I came home, like you told me to.” You want to choke on the pride your mother has in her eyes. You hope they don’t catch onto the lie, but you know they will. You’re not surprised when your mother comes in two hours later sitting on the edge of your bed, it’s where she sits when she’s angry.

“Sweetheart, do you want to tell me why there’s a picture of the vixen party up online, with you, wearing a Serpent jacket.” You swallow shrugging. “Someone left it, we thought it would be funny to try it on.” “Is that what you’re going with?” She glares and you nod. “It’s the truth.” She glares as she leaves but you don’t hear her talking to your aunt on the phone like when she found out you and Sweet Pea were dating. You’d heard the midnight conversations, the arrangements for you to move out to your aunt’s all the way across the country. ————————————————————————————–

You make it to school exhausted from worrying most of the night, you meet Cheryl and Sweet Pea at the front. “We took down the photo and-“ “Damage is done. Apparently I’m going to be grounded for a year when I get back home after today.” You sigh rubbing your eyes and yawning. Cheryl offers an apologetic smile and you shrug curling into Sweet Pea’s side. “I meant what I said about trying again.” You mumble into his shoulder and he smiles kissing your forehead. “Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you the entire year if you need. I’m sure your parents won’t keep you on lockdown for a full year over a jacket.” “You don’t know them.” You laugh hollowly and kiss Sweet Pea before you rush off to class.

You sit with everyone at lunch slowly explaining what you think will be the terms of your grounding. You can tell they’re already scheming ways to get around it. “Guys, I love all of you, but I don’t think my parents will let me go anywhere without a chaperone. Seriously.” You laugh when they joke about becoming bodyguards for you.

————————————————————————————-

“Hey mom I’m home I have a lot of homework to do so-“ You trail off watching your aunt sipping tea on the couch. “Hey, I thought I was grounded, are you here for a visit?” You question and your aunt smiles. “Yes, just a visit. You mother needed consoling after that stunt you pulled, wearing a Serpent jacket, the nerve of you putting that filth on.” She huffs and you sit on the edge of the arm chair.

“Well she’s all packed and-Oh! Y/N there you are sweetheart, come on.” “Where are we going?” “To visit some of your aunt’s friends, didn’t she tell you?” You shake your head and you father smiles nudging you towards the door. “Come on, we don’t want to be late, they’re making dinner now.” You nod following your father as he stows your bags in the trunk. “What’s that for?” “Your room.” He states as he buckles his seat belt.

“My room where? Mom said we weren’t moving, just that I was grounded and-“ You panic as the doors lock. “Dad?” “Hush dear, it’s the only place we can make sure you’re away from those horrible Serpents.” You sit silent, shaking as they pull up to a stone building. You don’t move even when they open the doors for you. “Y/N don’t be stubborn, come on, these people are very nice.” “Hello dear, my name is Sister Woodhouse; I’ll be looking after you while you stay here.” You frown as you read the carved stone above the doorway. ———————————————————————————-

“Why would they send her to the sisters; I mean we can go visit whenever..” Betty and Jughead share look and turn to Sweet Pea. “You guys were safe, when you know you-“ “Yes we were.” Sweet Pea rolls his eyes. “Oh my god, what if Y/N’s gay” Fangs states. “Fangs, why would she be dating me if she was into girls.” “It’s always good to have options.” Toni laughs smiling. “Either way, we should still be able to use that tunnel right?” ‘Well yeah, but we don’t know where she is; I don’t know if we can search the entire place before they catch us.” “Half of us go in the front? The other through the tunnel?” Jughead nods breaking the group into halves and giving everyone positions. ———————————————————————————

You like the art class they have you sit in, you’re not entirely sure why everyone draws the same thing, the odd shaped skull faced creature.The sister’s don’t mind your art, you wonder if they send the drawings of snakes home to your parents.you can hear shouting, and running, you wonder which one of the others is trying to escape, you shrink against your seat, hiding behind your easel, they’ll punish you if you try to leave again.

“Y/N?” Don’t respond, it’s a recording like last time you assure yourself. The sisters are trying to see if you’ll escape again. You peek over the edge of your easel watching the Serpent logo flashing as the figure leaves. “Wait.” You stumble forward. You’re trying your best to follow the jacket, you manage to grab onto the leather tugging back feeling their arms around you; you can hear the sisters shouting, and can feel the arms around you move. “Don’t leave.” You can’t help but ask. “We have to, come on, we have like five minutes before he rest of them show up; it’s not that far to the tunnel to get you out.”

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tillidontneedfantasy · 4 years

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A Track-by-Track Breakdown of Taylor Swift’s 8th Studio Album: ‘folklore’

Taylor Swift’s 8th studio album, folklore, starts off with the lie, “I’m on some new shit.” Perhaps to someone who hasn’t been paying attention this would seem to be true. But to those listening, folklore is the essence of her skill and success throughout her entire career stripped down for all to see, but more refined, enhanced, and impressive than ever.

Even prior to her pop-world domination with 1989 (2014), Taylor’s storytelling ability has always been her most compelling strength as a writer. In 2010, she released her third album, Speak Now, penned fully solo to prove to the cynics that she does, in fact, write her own music. And it’s damn good. Widely considered her best song, “All Too Well” from Red (2012) is a five and a half minute epic about love had and lost, all in walks through autumn trees, almost running red lights, dancing round the kitchen, and a scarf reminiscent of innocence, unreturned.

Yet her pop prowess over the last six years perhaps leads to her storytelling being overlooked to those more focused on the music. There is a particular genius in writing a successful pop song, let alone three successful pop albums, that still has hard-hitting lyrics underneath the synth. Take the excellent “Cruel Summer” from Lover (2019) for example. The song is just under 3 minutes, and the production is so enthralling and infectious that it can take such a hold on you, you might miss the tale being told along with it about a fraught summer relationship that was actually just the beginning of her own love story.

But without the pop production, her stories on folklore demand attention. Swept up by a strong wave of creativity and inspiration, Swift secretly wrote and produced this album in around three months with Aaron Dessner of The National, one of Swift’s favorite bands, and long-time collaborator and friend Jack Antonoff. A surprise album is a new endeavor for Swift, as she generally spends months meticulously planning an album rollout. It is refreshing, and as a dedicated, long-time fan of Taylor, it is thrilling. Due to the album cover where she is standing in the woods, and the genre of the album itself, there have been think pieces regarding the “man in the woods” trope and what it means that Taylor seems to be embodying it. As a result of over-exposure, people are unable to stop focusing on her image and the way she presents herself. It’s understandable, as she is a very smart and deliberate businesswoman, and clearly cares about how she is perceived. But with this album, it is clear that none of that was at play. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Her mother has been battling cancer for years. Isolate a creative person in a dangerous world and they will dream up an escape. She understands more than ever how precious each moment is, and does not want to waste another one. The woods being the landscape for the photo-shoot is most likely attributed to the fact that it is the safest place to have one under these circumstances. She’s not pretending she removed herself from society and became enlightened, she didn’t dabble into a more alternative sound to prove anything; she is just sharing stories she wants to tell that she is proud of, and nothing more.

Of course the music of the album is important, but the lyrics are the heart of it all, and I wanted to focus on them. Upon its release, Taylor explained in a foreword that the album was a mixture of personal and fictional accounts. The beauty of stories is that once they are shared, they never live one single life; each person who consumes a story interprets it uniquely, and the story becomes a multiverse, with different meanings and outcomes than what initially drove the pen to the paper. As explained by Swift in a YouTube comment prior to the album’s release, three songs on the album are all one story, which she has dubbed “the teenage love triangle.” The three points of the triangle are “cardigan,” “august,” and “betty.” But if someone had not seen her say that, they might not have figured it out. Maybe they’d interpret each song as their own story, and connect it to their own. Taylor knows this. It is why she loves storytelling and is why she is so good at it. The album itself is a mirror ball, shimmering with every version of the stories being told, reflecting a bit of each person who listens. These are my interpretations, but they can mean whatever you make of them.

1. the 1 The melody of this song helps set the scene; picture yourself skipping rocks on a lake, reminiscing on the one that got away. “the 1” is about learning to assimilate into a life without them, resentfully accepting that they might be moving on, too. She ruminates on what went wrong and what could have been. In a very Swift fashion, she puts the blame on herself when she sings, “in my defense, I have none / for digging up the grave another time.” Perhaps this song is fictional, perhaps it’s a revisit of a past feeling or relationship, but its relatability makes it feel real and present. She searches for explanations, restraining herself from asking, “if one thing had been different, would everything be different today?” But it’s good she didn’t ask, because she’d never find the answer, anyway. Best lyric: “We never painted by the numbers, baby, but we were making it count / You know the greatest loves of all time are over now.”

2. cardigan (teenage love triangle, part 1: betty’s perspective) “When you are young they assume you know nothing,” Swift sings in her smooth low-register on this Lana del Rey-esque single. “But I knew everything when I was young,” she asserts. They say wisdom comes with age, but there is wisdom lost, too, of what it felt like to be young; but she has held onto it. In this track, the narrator (Betty) is looking back on her relationship with someone she once loved (James, as name-dropped in “betty” later on in the album). Her insight on his character was always spot on; she knew he’d try to kiss it better, change the ending, miss her once the thrill expired and come back, begging for her forgiveness in her front porch light. As soon as she was feeling forgotten, he made her feel wanted, his favorite. The ending in question is unclear, whether she granted him her forgiveness or not. But what is clear is Taylor’s understanding of the pull of young love, the intensity, the immortalization of all the smallest of details, the longing to be someone’s favorite. It’s why we look back on it so often, read stories and watch films about it, even as we grow old. It’s the cardigan we put back on when we want to be Peter Pan and remember what it was like to fly with Wendy. Best lyric: “You drew stars around my scars / but now I’m bleeding.”

3. the last great american dynasty The story of Rebekah Harkness and her destruction of the last great American dynasty, Standard Oil, is documented in this track, as each verse covers a different part of Rebekah’s life, going from a middle class divorcee to one of the wealthiest women in America by marrying into an empire. Swift paints Rebekah as an outcast, the Rhode Island town blaming her for her husband’s heart giving out. Rebekah used her inherited fortune on her ballet company, throwing lavish parties with her friends who went by the “Bitch Pack,” playing cards with Dali (Yes, as in Salvador Dali. It’s not clear if they actually played cards together, but her ashes were placed in an urn designed by him), and feuding with her neighbors. Then, fifty years later, Taylor Swift bought that very house and ruined the neighborhood all over again, bringing with her the triumphant return of champagne pool parties and women with madness, their men and bad habits. It’s a note on how women will be blamed for tarnishing what is sacred to men rather than celebrated, specifically when its related to wealth and power. They will call them mad, shameless, loud. But just like Rebekah, Taylor learned to pay them no mind, and just have a marvelous time. It is also interesting to note that Rebekah went by Betty. Perhaps Taylor felt inspired by and connected to her and gave her a whole backstory, and thus the birth of “the teenage love triangle,” or maybe it’s just a coincidence; but that’s the fun of it all. Either way, this track is a standout showcase of how Swift has truly mastered her craft as a songwriter. Best lyric: “Holiday House sat quietly on that beach / free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / and then it was bought by me.”

4. exile ft. Bon Iver You know that feeling when your parents are fighting and it’s upsetting you but you can’t help but listen? That’s kind of what listening to this song feels like. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon co-wrote the track, and he lends his gorgeous vocals to play a man who has been exiled by his ex who has moved on with someone else while he desperately tries to understand where it all went wrong. The bridge is particularly poignant, both proclaiming, “you didn’t even hear me out,” while talking over each other. He thinks he was expected to read her mind, but she is adamant that she gave him plenty of warning signs. Miscommunication is one of the most common downfalls of a relationship, and the emotion in Swift’s and Vernon’s voices really draws you into the argument with them, transporting you back into your own exile from people you once called home. Best lyric: “I couldn’t turn things around / (You never turned things around) / ‘cause you never gave a warning sign / (I gave so many signs.)”

5. my tears ricochet Taylor describes this song in the foreword as “an embittered tormentor showing up to the funeral of his fallen object of obsession.” If you know enough, you can put the pieces together that the tormentor is Scott Borchetta, the head of Big Machine Records, and the funeral is of their professional and personal relationship. Taylor was the first artist ever signed to Big Machine. Borchetta and Swift had to trust each other in their partnership for it to be a success, and oh, how it was. But prior to Lover’s release, Taylor announced that she would be signing to Republic Records as her contract with Big Machine had ended and Republic offered her the opportunity to own all of her masters moving forward and negotiate on Spotify shares for all their artists. It all could have ended amicably there, but then Scott Borchetta sold all of Big Machine, along with Taylor’s masters from every album prior, to Scooter Braun. Braun manages some of the biggest stars out there, and had previously managed Kanye West. Taylor publicly spoke out about this purchase, stating that she was not made aware of this before the announcement, and how much of a betrayal it was considering she had cried to Scott before about Scooter’s mistreatment of her. Taylor has continued to be vocal about this, and so she sings, “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace.” There is a lot to unpack in this song, but the main takeaway is that this betrayal hurts him just as much if not more than it hurts her, because his career was built on her achievements. He buried her while decorated in her success, becoming what he swore he wouldn’t, erasing the good times for greed, all just to be haunted with regret for pushing her out and stealing her lullabies. The pain is palpable, and it is notable that this is song is placed at track 5, the spot generally reserved for the most vulnerable on the album; it shows that there are different types of heartbreak that can shatter you just as much as those from romance. Best lyric: “If I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake? / Cursing my name, wishing I stayed.”

6. mirrorball On Lover’s “The Archer,” Taylor expresses her anxiety over people seeing through her act, her own grief at seeing through it herself, wondering if her lover does and whether he would stay with her regardless. “mirrorball” is about the act, one of the more obviously confessional songs on the album. She talks about how a mirror ball can illuminate all the different versions of a person, while also reflecting the light to fit in with the scene. Taylor’s critical self-awareness is heart wrenching, and it’s clear that the anxiety that surrounds the public perception of her is still prevalent. She describes herself as a member of a circus, still on the tightrope and the trapeze even after everyone else has packed up and left, doing anything she can to keep the public’s attention. It hurts to hear the desperation in her voice, but there’s hope in the song, too. She is speaking to someone (we can assume her long-term boyfriend, Joe Alwyn) and thanking them for not being like “the regulars, the masquerade revelers drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten.” In 2016, the height of Taylor’s fame and subsequently her farthest fall from grace, all the people who pretended to be her friends and attended all her parties celebrated her (temporary) demise, continuing to dance over her broken pieces on the floor. But he stayed by her side as she put herself back together. And so now, when no one is around, she’ll shine just for him, standing even taller than she does for the circus. Best lyric: “I’m still a believer, but I don’t know why / I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try / I’m still on that trapeze, I’m still trying everything / to keep you looking at me.”

7. seven Her voice gentle and haunting, Taylor recalls the freedom and innocence of her childhood in Pennsylvania. She asks to be remembered for how she was, swinging over the creek, before she learned civility when she would scream anytime she wanted, then letting out a very pretty one. She sings to her old friend soothingly about taking them away from their haunted house that their father is always shouting in, where they feel the need to hide in a closet, perhaps literally, or figuratively, or both. They can move into Taylor’s house instead, or maybe just to India, just be sure to pack their dolls and a sweater and then they’ll hit the road. She can no longer recall her friend’s face, but the love she had for them still lives in her heart, and she wants it to live forever through story. Just in the way that folklore itself blends reality and fiction, but the truth within it passes on, so will the purity of that love and friendship. Best lyric: “Please picture me in the weeds / before I learned civility / I used to scream ferociously / any time I wanted.”

8. august (teenage love triangle, part 2: the other girl’s perspective) If you had to assign the feeling of longing to a song, it’d be “august.” It’s when you’re teetering at the edge with someone, unsure of where you stand with them, clinging to anything they give you and doing anything just to raise your chances, “living for the hope of it all.” August, the last month of summer, its heat causing it to slip away the fastest in a haze before reality hits. This track is a display of how sometimes losing something you never had causes an even deeper ache than losing something that was yours, and Jack Antonoff’s signature production intensifies the emotion even more. It’s the story of shattered hope, and the longing for the days where it could still fuel you. Best lyric: “To live for the hope of it all / cancel plans just in case you’d call.”

9. this is me trying “this is me trying” is like a drive through a tunnel at night, hearing your loudest anxieties and insecurities echo all around you, caving in. The track is another apt insight into Swift’s struggles with her self-image, with the pressure she puts on herself, so much so that she sometimes pushes herself too close to the edge, her fears luring her out of the tunnel and down, down, down into her own cage, stunting her own growth and keeping those who care out of reach. She tells us how she was “so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere.” Every action has an equal, opposite reaction, meaning that she was pushing herself so hard, she rolled back to where she started, and now has to reset. This could be referring to the period between the end of the 1989 era and the release of reputation (2017), or a different time in her life, or just a general sentiment. It doesn’t really matter, though, because no one’s growth is a neat, straight line; growth is jagged. Just like any of us, Taylor will always have to face new obstacles, new pitfalls, new reasons to get back up. She sounds most vulnerable as she cries, “at least I’m trying,” and you feel comforted knowing someone so beautiful and successful has to push herself to try, too, and yet that motivates you more to try yourself. Best lyric: “They told me all of my cages were mental / so I got wasted, like all my potential.”

10. illicit affairs A quiet, slow-build testament of the passion, the tragedy, the secrecy, the inimitability of a romance that shouldn’t exist, “illicit affairs” demonstrates how you can ruin yourself for someone from just one moment of possibility or truth, quite like the narrator of “august” does for the hope of it all. An illicit affair can be many different things: infidelity, forbidden love, a love that can never be fully realized, a relationship that is inherently wrong but electrifying all the same. It’s a reminder of what so many of us would do just to see new colors, to learn a new language, even if the one moment of enlightenment destroys us forever. We might lose the iridescent glow but we don’t forget it; we carry it with us, but must be careful to remember its blinding effect, to remember how fatal the fall is from the dwindling, mercurial high. Best lyric: “Tell your friends you’re out for a run / you’ll be flushed when you return.”

11. invisible string Clearly the most outright autobiographical track, “invisible string” is the plucky pick-me-up needed. The song is like sunshine, as Swift endearingly links all the little connections between her and her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, since before they even met. She compares the green grass at the Nashville park she’d sit at in hopes of a meet-cute to the teal of his yogurt shop uniform shirt, and gives a nod to her smash hit “Bad Blood” from 1989 with the delightful line “bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to LA.” She reasons these coincidences as a fateful, invisible, golden string tying them together since the beginning, always destined to meet at the knot in the middle. She thanks time for healing her, (a callback to “Fifteen” from Fearless [2008]), fighting through hell to make it to heaven, transforming her from an axe grinder to a gift giver for her ex’s baby (the ex in question, Joe Jonas, and his wife Sophie Turner, happened to have their first daughter two days before this album’s release). As she has on her previous two albums, she uses the color gold to illustrate how prized their love is to one another. It’s sweet to know in all the gloom that the string has not been severed, and the trees are still golden somewhere. Best lyric: “Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart / now I send their babies presents.”

12. mad woman Throughout her entire career, Taylor Swift has defiantly defended female rage, all the way back from throwing a chair off a platform on her Fearless Tour during the impassioned “Forever & Always,” to her patient, vengeful reliance on karma in reputation’s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” to her most recent tackling of the matter on Lover’s last and final single, “The Man,” where she explores society’s acceptance and encouragement of angry men yet disdain for angry women. “The Man” is catchy and upbeat, and a fun thought experiment into how Swift’s career would be perceived if she was a man, something that is even more interesting to think about now as she releases an album in a genre heavily dominated and lauded by males. But on “mad woman,” she further explores the creation and perception of female rage, though masked under a smooth, haunting piano melody, her vocals subdued, taunting. In the album foreword, she describes the inspiration behind this song as “a misfit widow getting gleeful revenge on the town that cast her out.” This could be the continuation of Rebekah “Betty” Harkness’s story at her Holiday House in Watch Hill, RI, and how she further alienated herself from the rest of the neighborhood as they cast stones at her for the collapse of the last great American dynasty. (Or perhaps Daenerys Targaryen’s descent as the Mad Queen played a part in the song’s inspiration, as Swift has spoken of her love for Game of Thrones and her character specifically.) Taylor herself could also represent the widow, her music and masters as her love lost, and the men behind the crime as the “town that cast her out.” In the first verse she sings, “What do you sing on your drive home? / Do you see my face in the neighbor’s lawn? / Does she smile, or does she mouth ‘fuck you forever’?” It’s the first f-bomb of Taylor’s career (though a much more playful one will come two tracks later in “betty”) and it speaks volume. Taylor has received a lot of condemnation for expressing her anger at their transaction, for calling out their greed for what it is. Some view Swift’s stance on the ordeal as petty and trivial; they see the men as orchestrating a good business deal, and Swift as the girl throwing a tantrum. Ask any woman, and they can tell you about a time a man told them they were crazy for being justifiably angry; it only makes us angrier. “No one likes a mad woman,” Taylor states, “You made her like that.” Swift underscores that here, how they will poke and poke the bear but then blame it for attacking, as if they had never provoked it at all, and how dare it defend itself. Just as they blamed Rebekah for her husband’s heart giving out, they somehow manage to blame Swift for not being allowed to purchase the rights to her own work. And yes, she’s mad, but the song is measured and controlled; she’s used to her anger now, and knows just how to wield it. Best lyric: “Women like hunting witches, too / doing your dirtiest work for you / It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together.”

13. epiphany This is another track Swift provided some background on, stating it was inspired by her “grandfather, Dean, landing at Guadalcanal in 1942” during WWII. The first verse paints this image, while the second verse depicts a different kind of war, happening right now, fought by doctors and nurses. She speaks of holding hands through plastic, and the escape folklore has granted you suddenly lifts. Watching someone’s daughter, or mother, or anyone suffer at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic, just as watching a soldier bleed out, helpless, is too much to speak about. As she points out, they don’t teach you about that vicarious trauma in med school. We are living in a tireless world with barely any time time to rest our eyes, but too much going on while we’re awake to make sense of any of it. “epiphany” is a cinematic prayer, pleading for some quiet in order to find an answer in all the noise. We’re still waiting for that glimpse of relief. Best lyric: “Only twenty minutes to sleep / but you dream of some epiphany / Just one single glimpse of relief / to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”

14. betty (teenage love triangle, part 3: james’s perspective) It makes sense that a song reminiscent of Fearless would exemplify some of the best story-telling on folklore. The final puzzle piece of the teen love triangle, “betty” is a song sung by Swift from the perspective of the character of her own creation, James, attempting to win back his true love, Betty, who he slighted in some way. He proclaims that the worst thing he ever did is what he did to her, without explicitly stating it. Though the infamous deed is unclear, here’s the information we collect from this song: James saw Betty dancing with another boy at a school dance, one day when he was walking home another girl (from “august”) picked him up and he ended up spending his summer with her yet still loved Betty, and though he ended things with his fling and wanted to reconcile with Betty, he had returned to school to see she switched her homeroom (James assumes, after saying he won’t make assumptions. Classic men). So in order to make it up to her, he shows up at her party with the risk of being told to go fuck himself (the second and charming “fuck” on the album! Which is repeated!). Upon his arrival, there is a glorious key change (ala “Love Story”) and all the pieces fall into place for the listener; we realize Betty is the girl singing in “cardigan” as he lists the things he misses about her since the thrill expired, like the way she looks standing in her cardigan, and kissing in his car. He’s 17 and doesn’t know anything, but she knew everything when she was young, and she knew he’d come back. The way I see their story conclude is that she led him to the garden and trusted him, but as they grew older they grew apart, but the love she had for him never faded completely. Listening to this song is like being back in high school, whether you were the person who did someone wrong or the person so willing to forgive in the name of young love, or Inez, the school gossip, you’re right there with them. The other great thing about this song is that it is sung to a girl, and though it is set up so we understand it is most likely from a boy’s perspective, it doesn’t have to be. It’s really great that girls in the LGBTQ community can have a song in Taylor’s voice to fully connect to without changing the pronouns or names (even James, which is unisex and is one of the names of the daughters of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Taylor’s close friends, mentioned in this song). That is the beauty of folklore: the infinite ways a story can be told, perceived, retold from a different perspective, and told again. Maybe you’ll hear it from Inez. Best lyric: “But if I just showed up at your party / would you have me? Would you want me? / Would you tell me to go fuck myself, or lead me to the garden?”

15. peace One of the most beautifully solemn songs of her career, “peace” echoes the same fears explored in “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” from reputation; will the person she loves be able to weather the ever-present storm that comes with the life of a superstar, but also dwells within herself? Will holding him as the water rushes in be enough? Will giving him her wild, a child, her sunshine, her best, be a fair consolation? Presumably another confessional track and about Alwyn, Swift puts him up on a pedestal, praising his integrity and his dare to dream. She proclaims that she would die for him in secret, just as she told him she’d be on her tallest tip toes, spinning in her highest heels, shining just for him in “mirrorball.” She highlights some of the greatest gifts of love, such as comfortable silence and chosen family. She knows what they have is special, but she also knows the value of peace, the ultimate nirvana, and does not want to deprive him of that. It is so deeply relatable- to me, at least- to feel like you can give someone so much of yourself but know it still may never be enough, and to fear either losing them or robbing them of something better. But looking at what they have together, maybe peace is overrated. Or maybe, she’s looking for peace in the wrong places. The calm is in the eye of the storm, and sometimes, there’s nothing more freeing than throwing away the umbrella and soaking in the rain. Best lyric: “I never had the courage of my convictions / as long as danger is near / and it’s just around the corner, darling / ‘cause it lives in me / no, I could never give you peace.”

16. hoax The truest enigma of the album, the closer, “hoax” is a devastatingly dark ballad about the uncertainty, or perhaps incredulity, of someone’s love for you, a love that is your lifeline. The lyrics are ambiguous, which gives way to a plethora of interpretations. Perhaps she is speaking about a hypothetical situation that has yet to happen (and hopefully doesn’t) in which someone she loves and trusts betrays her. Maybe she is talking about a relationship, real (hopefully not) or fictional, in which despite the torment it brings her she holds onto it for dear life. I’m most inclined to believe that the song represents her difficulty in accepting that someone is willing to love her through such dark periods, that their love must actually be a hoax, but she chooses to believe in it anyway and uses it as the motivation to rebuild her kingdom, to rise from the ashes on her barren land. And even through the downs that come at some point in every relationship, she can still see the beauty in it all. Yes, their love is golden, but waves of blue will crash down around any partnership, because life does not exist without them. So even when things are as blue as can be, she’s at least grateful it’s with him. Best lyric: “Don’t want no other shade of blue but you / no other sadness in the world would do.”

Although we still have yet to hear the deluxe track, “the lakes,” as a fan of Taylor for almost 12 years, it feels so obvious that this is her strongest work yet. The storytelling I fell in love with on Fearless as a teenager (which, much like folklore, was highly inspired by imaginary situations and real emotions) is even sharper now as we have both grown into adults. The music on this album might not be everyone’s speed, and that’s okay. But it allowed Taylor to dip back into what made Fearless such a success: using pieces of her own truth and the whims of her imagination to develop a multi-faceted narrative that becomes universal. During her Tiny Desk concert, before performing “Death By A Thousand Cuts” from Lover, Swift explained the anxiety she felt around the possibility of stunted creativity when people would ask her what she would write about once she was happy. Taylor has released an abundance of beautiful, fun, complex love songs since the start of her relationship almost four years ago now. But “Death By A Thousand Cuts,” which is a fan favorite, helped her prove to herself that she can still write a killer breakup song while being in a happy, fulfilling relationship; the song was the last track written for Lover and was inspired by the film Something Great on Netflix. And so it makes perfect sense that Taylor used folklore to continue exploring this new avenue for songwriting. All of her discography and all of her life experiences have culminated to the folklore moment: as all the best artists do, she will never stop finding inspiration in hidden corners of this dark, mystical, wondrous universe, and falling in love with new ways to share those wonders. And that love will be passed on.

DISCLAIMER - REVIEWER’S BIAS: I love Taylor Swift more than any person in my life, yes including my parents, they are aware and have accepted this fact long ago ❤️

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imanativeofswlondondahling · 4 years

Text

Becoming A Stark? (27)- Peter Parker x Stark!femReader

Word Count: 4797

Warnings: Swearing probably

Author’s Note: One more chapter after this. It will be going up this Friday. Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list which will turn into the sequel tag list after Friday.

Chapter One || Previous Chapter || Master List

“Wakey, wakey birthday girl.” Your dad’s voice comes from your doorway.

“If you really love me you’ll let me sleep.” You mumble, pulling your blankets towards your chin.

“Loving you has nothing to do with it. You have to get ready for school. But I wanted to be the first to say happy birthday.” You feel the edge of your bed sink in as your dad sits down. You look over, blinking as the bright light hits you a bit too hard. “How does it feel to be fifteen?”

“The same as it felt to be fourteen?” you shrug. “How did you know it’s my birthday?”

“I’ve seen your birth certificate. I’m not going to forget my kid’s birthday.” Tony reaches forward to push the hair away from your face. “You’ve got a busy day ahead of you. So if it were me, I’d get up and get ready.”

“If it’s my birthday shouldn’t I be allowed to do what I want? Like stay in bed all day?”

“Pepper will never allow that. Get up kiddo. You’ve got school to get to.”

“So you’re saying Mom is the one who’s actually in charge?”

“Most definitely.” Tony says before kissing your forehead. “Now get ready so you can have your birthday breakfast before school.”

“Does it involve green juice?”

“Would it be breakfast without green juice?” You roll your eyes, but push your covers back and climb out of bed. Reaching into your dresser, you pull out a pair of black ripped jeans before going digging in your closet for a shirt for today. Sassy shirt or band tee? Which seems right? But then your eyes fall on the blue tie dyed Pink Floyd tour t-shirt. That’s what you want to wear today. It’s slightly cropped, but not enough for it to be a dress code issue. You pull on the shirt and the jeans and then reach for a pair of red high tops. You love how comfy casual this is. The last thing it needs is your favorite jean jacket and you’ll be set. At least clothing wise anyway. You’ll add a couple small pieces of jewelry, your heart pendant and some earrings, and maybe throw your hair into a ponytail just so it doesn’t annoy you throughout the day. After a couple swipes of mascara and a little lip gloss, you feel ready to head downstairs. When you walk into the kitchen, your mom and dad are both waiting for you. A stack of pancakes are waiting for you with a couple candles stuck in them. You look at them puzzled. “Pepper said I couldn’t give you cake for breakfast so I figured this was the closest we could get.”

“Cake would just spike you and then you’d get hungry way before lunch.” Pepper rolls her eyes.

“I love it.” Nana and Pops had always made your birthday special, but this is a completely different kind of special. Your dad takes a lighter and lights the candles.

“Make a wish.” He pulls his phone out and snaps a picture as you blow out the candles. Tony can’t help but smile at you. “So anything you want to do for your birthday?”

“You don’t have today already planned?”

“I have some rough ideas, but I thought I’d get some input from the birthday girl herself.”

“I want to hang out with Peter after school.”

“Sure, invite him over.”

“I mean outside of the apartment.”

“Take Happy with you.”

“Dad-”

“Nope. Dead set on this one.”

“Fine.” You text Peter to see if he’s up for doing something after school. You’d be surprised if he says something other than sure.

“You have to be home by six.” Pepper adds. “Birthday dinner. But Peter can come too.”

“Where are we going for it?”

“Where would you like to go?” Pepper asks.

“Can we go to that Italian place we went a few weeks back?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Tony says.

“So what did you want to do?” Peter asks as he finds you after your German class.

“I don’t care. I just wanted to be free from the apartment for a few hours.” You admit.

“Well it’s your birthday, so anything you want to do is on the cards.”

“I could go for coffee?” You suggest.

“Coffee it is for my girl.” Peter takes your hand and walks you to the side of the school but you shake your head. “What? This is the quicker way.”

“I promised my dad we would go with Happy. He’ll be waiting in front of the school.”

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me.” Peter’s nose scrunches as he says this but follows you towards the front of the school.

“That’s just Happy’s personality.”

“He likes you.”

“That’s ‘cause Tony’s my dad. I’m a Stark- he like has to like me or he doesn’t get paid.” You joke. “Did you tell May that my mom and dad said you’re invited to dinner?” Peter nods his head.

“Already texted her about it. She said to wish you a happy birthday.”

“Aw, May’s the best.”

“She is pretty great, as long as you don’t eat her cooking.” Peter says with a smile.

“The vegetarian food she made for me was pretty decent.”

“That’s because most of it was premade.” Peter smirks at you.

“That stuff is pretty hard to mess up.” You admit. You walk outside to the sound of your name being called and feel Peter drop your hand. You both walk over to where Happy is standing.

“How was school kid?” Happy asks you.

“Not bad.” You say as he opens the door for you and Peter to climb into the back seat.

“Where are we heading?” Happy asks as he sits down in the front seat.

“Coffee.” You say, knowing Happy knows where your favorite shop is.

“Anything for the birthday girl.” Happy turns a blinker on and pulls away from the curb. You click open your phone and see that your dad tagged you in a picture from this morning at the breakfast table.

“My dad can’t seem to keep anything private. The whole world knows it’s my birthday now.” You say to Peter.

“It’s just ‘cause he loves you kid.” Happy’s voice flows from the front seat. You roll your eyes, but you know he’s right. Now your notifications are filled with thousands of birthday messages on your dad’s photo. But you also see a few pictures you’ve been tagged in, so you click on your profile to have easier access to them. Some are from people you don’t know, edits of pictures you’ve posted or the paps have, but a few are from Betty, MJ, Ned, and then you see that Peter tagged you in a picture. You click over to peter_p’s profile and see the collage of photos from the few months you two have been dating and some from your snapchat streak before that, but it’s the comment that he posted that gets you.

Happy birthday to the best girlfriend I could have ever asked for @y/nstark. I’m my happiest when I’m with you and I’ve never laughed as hard as I do when you make me laugh. Here’s to fifteen years treating you the best it should. Hopefully fifteen is when I finally get you to watch Star Wars too. You have my <3 babe. Here’s the first of many birthdays together.

You look over at Peter, who is oblivious to the fact that you just read his birthday message. Feeling your eyes on him, he looks up at you. “What’s up?”

“You have my heart too.” Peter takes your hand in his and places kisses on your knuckles. It’s the closest either of you have gotten to saying ‘I love you’ in the almost six months of dating. It feels important.

“I think mine was yours before we even started dating. But I wouldn’t tell your dad that or I might not live to your next birthday.” Peter admits.

“I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.”

“So Peter, how’s your year going at MSST?” Pepper asks after orders have been placed.

“Good. I think anyway. I’m waiting for a couple of midterm grades to come back, but besides that my grades are where I want them to be and I’m taking my SAT and ACT for the third time next weekend.”

“Wanting to score well enough for MIT?” Tony asks.

“He’s trying to aim for scholarship levels. He’s already scored high enough to get in.” You say, unable to not brag about your boyfriend. Peter’s ears go pink at your words.

“Good to hear. If I’m going to talk to them about admitting you next year, then-”

“You’re a year off Dad.”

“I think we could get Peter into college a year early. I went early. I think Peter could do it too. He’s smart enough.”

“I won’t have the necessary classes.” Peter says.

“So we talk to MSST and you could take some extra classes to graduate early.” Tony points out.

“You’re just trying to get him a few states away from me.” You point out before taking a sip from your water glass.

“I think May isn’t ready for me to head off to college for a couple years. Financially.” Peter says with a slight cough.

“Well there’s always the September Grant.”

“Yeah that’s what you told her about when you came over the first time. I don’t think she’ll go for that lie again.” Peter says, reaching for his own water glass.

“The September Grant is a real grant.” Pepper says. “And it is through MIT. Now if somebody,” she looks at your dad, “utilized the name to cover for something else, he’ll have to explain that. But it’s a very real grant.” She lifts her wine glass but before taking a sip she adds, “And whenever you’re ready to head to college, it’s open to you.”

“Wow, um thank you?” Peter says, his cheeks going red. “I think today is supposed to be about Y/N though.” You smile at your boyfriend.

“Right, our birthday girl. How has your birthday been so far?” Your dad asks, taking a sip from his whiskey glass.

“Good. I got a 100 on my English essay. And I passed my Chemistry and Biology midterms. So I won’t have to retake either of those classes next year hopefully.”

“Never doubted you would pass.” Your mom says with a smile. Personally, you don’t love the fact that you have to take two science classes a year at MSST, but you’re doing it.

“A 100 on your essay? That deserves a toast I think.” Tony raises his glass. You roll your eyes but raise your glass too. “To our English scholar and birthday girl.” After clinking glasses, your appetizers were brought out. Bruschetta for you and Pepper, a salad for your dad, and fried cheese bites for Peter. As you all munch on your food, the conversation flows between projects your dad and Peter are working on, SI things, and more school talk from you and Peter. This continues through entrees as well. Your dad offers to order dessert, but Pepper reminds him that there’s cake at home.

Little did you know, there are also a multitude of people waiting for you at home. Uncle Rhodey must have let everyone in, but when you walk into your house there’s a group of people shouting “Happy Birthday!”. You look around the room, seeing your friends- Astrid, Betty, MJ, and Ned- standing near Nana and Pops as well as Vision and, to your and Tony’s surprise, your Aunt Nat standing to the side of the room. Peter’s hand is wrapped around your waist, he knows you’re excited to see your aunt. However, his sixth sense tells him that some of the people in the room, Tony and even possibly Colonel Rhodes, don't seem to like that she’s here. Neither man seems ready to drag her out of the room, at least not in front of you, seeing how she’s part of the reasons that Captain America got away. But you don’t know that. No one except the people who weren't in Germany know that. So he’ll smile and play nice, to make you happy on your birthday.

While you’re over giving hugs to your Nana and Pops, Rhodey and Tony make their way to say something to Natasha. “You’re here just for this. As soon as gifts are opened and cake is cut, you disappear, or-”

“I know. I wasn’t going to disappoint Y/N and miss her birthday.” Natasha says, squaring off to Tony, reminding him that he might be an Avenger but she’s not one to be messed with either.

“You’re still wanted for what happened in Germany.”

“I know.” Before any of them can say anything else, the birthday girl’s arms are wrapped around her aunt’s waist.

“Aunt Nat, you’re here!” Rhodey and Tony step away to give Natasha a moment with you.

“I am. I wasn’t going to miss your birthday.”

“Is Dad and Uncle Rhodey going to send you away to some like prison or something after this?” You ask all worried, but your aunt shakes her head.

“I’m pardoned for one night. It’s a birthday gift I think.”

“I’ll take it.” You pull your aunt in for another hug. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. But today’s about celebrating you. So…” She trails off, motioning towards your friends and family. Across the room, Betty, Astrid, and Ned all look awestruck at the sight of you talking with the Black Widow.

“Come meet my friends.” You say, pointing towards where your friends are waiting. The room fills with the sounds of you talking with the people you love and who love you. Tony queues FRIDAY to play some of your favorite music and everyone relaxes into celebrating you. You end up on the couch surrounded by your parents to open gifts, the rest of your family and friends sitting in various places in the living room. So far you’ve opened a lot of graphic tees and books. Peter got you a shirt that said ‘The Sass is Strong With This One’ in the Star Wars print as well as a sweatshirt that said ‘Friday is My Second Favorite F Word’ which got a laugh out of everyone, Natasha got you some books you had added to your Goodreads page recently, Betty got you two sweatshirts that read ‘Gangsta Napper’ and ‘I’d Rather Be Sleeping’. You’re now on the gifts from Nana and Pops.

“We thought it was time for you to finally have these.” You unwrap the first of the two boxes, a smaller one. Taking off the paper, you’re surprised to find a jewelry box waiting for you. Inside is a pair of pearl earrings. “These were your mom’s. When she went into rehab, she left them with us, because she wanted to make sure that you had something of hers, one day.” You try to swallow the lump in your throat as you take the paper off the other box, finding a matching necklace. You don’t know what to say. You don’t remember the woman who left these for you as she went off to required rehab after giving birth to a crack baby. When you hear Mom, your thoughts go to Pepper, not the woman who these belong to. But you let the cold, weighted stones drape over your hand as you hold the necklace. “She wanted you to have them one day.”

“Those are beautiful.” Pepper says softly from next to you, breaking the silence that you hadn’t known how to break.

“Right, yeah, thanks Nana. These are gorgeous.” Pepper can tell there’s something about the jewelry that is making you uncomfortable, but she’s not going to just ask you in front of everyone. She can wait until it’s just you, her, and Tony, or even just you and her later. But the Mama Bear in her wants to pull you into her arms and never let you go. You place the two offending boxes on the coffee table.

“My turn!” Astrid says holding a light blue gift bag out towards you. “I’ve been waiting weeks to give this to you.” You pull out the tissue paper and reach a hand in to pull out a pair of Mickey Ears that are sparkling black with a rainbow bow in the center. “It’s the pride ears you talked about!”

“I love them Astrid!” Your friends know how obsessed you are with collecting new Pride stuff to have on hand for Pride Events or just day to day life. “Maybe I’ll wear them to Pride this year.”

“There’s more in there.” You pull out a grey shirt that says ‘To Read or Not To Read, What A Stupid Question’ as well as a baseball tee that reads ‘God Said Adam and Eve so I Did Both’ in Blue, Pink, and Purple ink.

“Astrid, these are amazing.”

Ned gave you a Labyrinth board game, Vision had gotten you some anti-math graphic tees, and now Uncle Rhodey was going to give you gifts before your parents give you their gifts.

“For you Baby Stark.” Your Uncle Rhodey hands you a box and you roll your eyes at the nickname.

“I thought my dad was the one who is supposed to be the one with all the nicknames.”

“Hang around him too long and you start up on them too.” You take the paper off and open the white box to find more graphic tee shirts. The first one you get not even halfway through reading when your dad shouts out.

“Absolutely not.” You finish reading the white print on the black shirt ‘Look Like A Princess Fight Like An Avenger.’

“You don’t like it, Tones?” Your uncle teases.

“Yeah Dad? I thought this would be my motto from here on out.”

“Burn it.” Your dad says angrily and your mom laughs. You turn the shirt around so your confused guests can read it. Everyone laughs as you set it on the coffee table to see what else is in the box. Underneath, there is a black sweatshirt that reads ‘The Trash Get Picked Up Tomorrow. Get Ready.’ Lastly, there’s a tee that reads ‘I’m Allergic to Mondays’. All of the shirts you’ve gotten so far are very you.

“Thanks Uncle Rhodey.” You set the shirts with the growing pile of new ones you’ve received today.

“Our turn.” Your dad says, reaching beside the couch to pull out a few boxes.

“This is way too many.” Most people at the party had limited to one gift. But your dad seems to have forgotten that there is such a thing as limiting one’s self.

“It’s not every day your kid turns fifteen.” You raise an eyebrow, telling him that that excuse doesn’t work. “Plus these are from me and Pep.”

“Fine.” You roll your eyes. He hands you a bigger box first, one that if you had to guess is probably a pair of converse. You take the paper off the box and aren’t surprised to find the familiar black and brown box waiting under the paper. But the shoes you find inside the box, you’ve never seen before. “Galaxy hightops?” You look to your mom, knowing that she had to be the one to find these.

“Thought you might enjoy them.” She says with a smile. You throw your arms around her.

“These are so cool!”

“Wow I see that I’m just chopped liver.” Your dad teases. You wrap your arms around him too.

“Thanks Dad.” He places a kiss on your forehead.

“Open the next one. I think you’ll enjoy that one too.” This box is a slimmer, flatter box and you guess it’s probably some piece of clothing, seeing as it doesn’t weigh a ton. You slide a finger under the tape to open the box open up after taking the paper off and open it up to find another jean jacket looking at you. You’re confused, since you already have one you wear a lot, but you take it out of the box and flip it to the back to look at the jacket before saying anything. And that’s when you see it. The tongue sticking out of a mouth. It’s a Rolling Stones jean jacket. You look between your parents.

“This one was all your dad.” Pepper says softly and the smile grows on your face.

“Even though they’re only subpar?” You ask.

“They make you happy and that’s what matters.” This time, your arms are around your dad before you can stop yourself.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Always and forever kiddo.” Tony holds you close for a moment, before saying a little louder. “I think you’ve still got a couple more things to open.” He slides another flat box into your lap, saving the most important gift for last.

“Ok, ok.” You say, tearing the paper from the box. You’re guessing this is another clothing item and if it follows the trend of everyone else's gifts, it’s probably a graphic tee. But upon opening the box, you realize your guess is wrong. Sitting in the box is one of the most beautiful dresses you’ve ever seen. It’s a black cotton dress with flowers printed on it. There’s a burgundy trim around the neckline of the dress as well as white iridescent buttons, and at the bottom of the dress is an almost tribal looking print covering the bottom of the dress.

“I saw this in a shop and knew you had to have it.” Pepper admits.

“It’s beautiful.” You breathe out softly. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Pepper says like it’s no big deal, and maybe it isn’t to her, but it is to you. It’s your mom buying things like this because she thought it was important that you have things like that. It matters to you. Tony grabs the last box and hands it to Pepper instead of you, which throws you off. There’s a moment of conversation that happens only between their eyes. But Pepper takes a breath and then holds the box out to you. You look at her, silently asking if you should open it. She smiles at you and you start to take the paper off the small box. As you take the paper off, Pepper explains. “This is something that has been passed down from mother to daughter in my family for generations and when my mom gave it to me, she told me to hold on to it until the day that I wanted to give it to my daughter.” You open another jewelry box to see a beautiful opal ring with two small diamonds on either side of the gem.

“Wow. You want me to have this?” You can’t help but ask, staring at the ring in your hands.

“Why wouldn’t I want my daughter to have it?” Pepper asks, wrapping an arm around you. You lean into her side. “It’s yours until the day you want to give it to your daughter.” She says, as if passing a family heirloom on to you was no big deal. You take the ring out of the black velvet and hold the gold band between two fingers for a moment before sliding it onto your middle finger, guessing that that finger is the one that it will fit the best on. “We can get it resized if we need to.”

“No, it’s perfect.” You say, looking at where it now sits. You might never take the opal ring off, because it looks perfect where it is. You look up from the ring to look at your mom, when out of the corner of your eye, you spot Nana and Pops. They had given you jewelry too and you hadn’t directly put it on. Are you insulting them? “Thanks Mom.” You say giving Pepper another hug.

Later that night you find yourself looking at the ring as you sit on your bed. Your birthday has been pretty perfect, but you can’t help but think about the situation with the jewelry and wonder if you should have handled it differently. Should you have put on your biological mother’s jewelry instead? Should you have put on both? The questions linger in your head as you stare at the ring that you love because it came from Pepper.

“So all in all how was the big birthday?” Pepper’s voice draws you from your thoughts.

You smile before answering, “Good. I don’t think I could have asked for a better birthday.”

“You know you don’t have to wear it if it makes you uncomfortable or anything.” Pepper says as she makes her way towards your bed to sit.

You don’t understand what she means. “Huh?”

“The ring. It’s yours. But you don’t have to wear it-”

“I don’t think I’ll ever take it off.” You cut her off before she has the chance to finish her thought. “I love it Mom.” You reassure her.

“If I had known your grandparents were bringing you jewelry too, I would have saved it for another day. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or try to, I don’t know, step over your mom’s place-” Once again you cut her off before she can finish her thought.

“You didn’t.” Pepper looks at you, trying to gauge where you are at with everything that happened tonight. “If anything, I don’t know how to feel about their gift. But I know how I feel about yours.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Pepper says. You let your hand fall so you’re not staring at the ring, but your fingers of your left hand reach to your right to twist it.

“You know how I told you she left for rehab right after I was born because I was born addicted?” Pepper nods, remembering the story you shared right after you moved in with her and Tony. “Well, that’s a story I heard from someone else. I don’t have any actual memories from her. And I have the quilt she made and now the jewelry, but…” you trail off for a moment, collecting your thoughts. “It’s hard… I don’t know if she actually left those pieces for me to have, or if Nana and Pops took them so she couldn’t sell them for drug money. Nana and Pops have told me the truth about why my biological mother isn’t here. But she was a drug addict. There was a lot of stuff that Nana would mention off hand to Pops about being gone that she missed in terms of jewelry and stuff because my biological mother sold it. So I feel like I only have these pieces because Nana hid them, not because my biological mother wanted me to have them. Getting them as gifts, it… it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Because it’s something that Nana more wanted me to have than the mother that left me to go back to the drugs that could have killed me.” You take in a shaky inhale before continuing. “But you? You wanted me. You adopted me and you gave me stuff that was meant for your daughter.”

“You are my daughter Y/N.”

“There’s nothing saying that you and Dad won’t have a daughter one day.”

“We already do.” Pepper corrects you. “Can I sit?” She motions next to you. You nod. She sits next to you, wrapping her arm around you. You lean into the scent of lavender that calms you especially when coming from Pepper. “You’re my kid. Whether or not your dad and I have more kids one day, you will always be my first born. That’s why I wanted to give the ring to you. Because it felt the way it did when my mom gave the ring to me. It felt right. And one day, you’ll feel the same way when you give it to your kid. You’re my kid.”

“I feel…” You stop yourself, not sure if you should even voice it.

“You feel…?” Pepper asks, but doesn’t push.

You decide to start it a different way. “I worry that Nana and Pops might hate that I found you to be my mom.”

“If they do, we can sit down and talk with them. With everything else you have on your plate, you don’t need to be worried about anything else. Right now, you just need to focus on staying with the things that make you happy.” Pepper says, running her hand through your hair, hoping it will calm you. “You don’t need to spend your birthday night stressing.”

“I love you Mom.”

“I love you too sweetheart. Always have, always will.”

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mst3kproject · 4 years

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The River of the Giant Alligator

A bunch of Italians pretending they’re not Italian in a movie about a guy who chose the wrong place to build a hotel… it’s like Avalanche by way of Devil Fish, with an alligator. And racism. You can’t have a 70’s Italian jungle movie without the racism, and this one layers it on real thick. I think The River of the Giant Alligator has its MST3K bases covered.

Rich Asshole Joshua has opened Paradise House, a resort in the middle of the ‘virgin jungle’. He proudly tells visitors that not only has he left the surrounding ecosystem undamaged, but he’s helping the local people by giving them jobs and improving their standard of living. Naturally it’s not as simple as that. Trouble begins when Sheena, the model they brought for their advertising photographs (just for a dash of Killer Fish), vanishes overnight. Photographer Daniel and hotel manager Ally go to the locals looking for her, and are told that the River God has awakened and intends to drive the white people away by assuming the form of a giant crocodile and eating them all. Considering how mind-bogglingly stupid the tourists in this movie are, that should take all of twenty minutes.

The locals, who call themselves the Kuma, have a name for their River God but it’s pronounced five different ways and I won’t guess how to spell it. Because of the deep breathing sounds that presage its first appearance, I shall call the creature Darth Gator.

Let’s get the basics out of the way first. The whole movie is dubbed and the voice actors are bad. The Darth Gator prop is completely immobile but they mostly keep it in the dark or in really tight shots so we don’t notice… it’s only the occasional ill-advised wide shot where it’s obviously fake enough to be funny. There’s a spiky fence that exists mostly so that people can get impaled on it and a cloying little kid for no reason whatsoever. The ‘wildlife’ is a stock footage smorgasbord that includes orangutans and hippos on the same river. The worst effect in the film is a terrible miniature shot of the hotel on fire, which would have looked just fine if the people involved hadn’t forgotten that flames don’t scale.

So all that sucks, but is fairly harmless. Now let’s talk about the racism.

We’ll start with the movie’s treatment of its two ‘love stories’, and I use the floating commas because neither of them quite qualifies. Daniel and Ally are the main ‘couple’ of the movie. The camera lingers on each of them to show that he thinks she’s beautiful and she thinks he’s rugged, and they spend the whole movie hanging out on balconies and boats together and discussing whether the resort is good or bad for the local people… but they never get so much as a kiss. This is kind of nice, actually, because there’s very little time to stop and make out when you’re being chased by a large carnivorous reptile. It does, however, make for a hell of a contrast between them and the other ‘couple’ we see.

This is the model, Sheena, and her Kuma boyfriend. I am unclear on where this movie is set (the closest we get to a clue is Ally referring to the area as ‘the Orient’, which could honestly mean anything) but it’s perfectly clear that the reason they hired a black woman for their publicity photos is to make the place look ‘exotic’. There’s a weird moment when Joshua attempts to flirt with Sheena by telling her, “it occurs to me that Eve herself may have been black”, which… yes, that is how human evolution worked, what about it? All that aside, at the end of the day, Sheena runs off for a romantic evening with one of the tribesmen. We never see her talk to this guy or have any clue what made her pick him over any of the others. They just go fuck on a beach and then get eaten by an alligator.

So… we have blonde, blue-eyed white people having a perfectly chaste, wait-for-marriage love affair in which they actually get to know each other… and black people who run off with a stranger and screw out in the open like animals. Holy shit. I want to say I hope this wasn’t something the film-makers actively thought about, but it might be worse if they didn’t. Naturally, this is also a version of the ‘people who have premarital sex must die’ trope from slasher movies, and the movie makes doubly sure we know this is Bad Behaviour by having Ally remark that the Kuma are forbidden from visiting ‘the Island of Love’ on the full moon.

The deaths of Sheena and Nameless Kuma Guy also begin a pattern that lasts almost the entire movie. Even though we’re told, repeatedly, that Darth Gator wants to drive the white people out of his jungle, for the vast majority of the running time it’s the brown people who are getting chomped. We’re told that twelve white missionaries came here years ago and Darth Gator ate all but one of them, who then became a crazy jungle man (not gonna lie, Father Jonathan was my favourite character and I wish we’d seen more of him). We see Sheena, her boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s brother get eaten alive. Furthermore, most of the white deaths in the movie are at the hands of the Kuma, who run in and kill the tourists with spears and fire arrows in the belief that they’re doing their god’s bidding, and much of this happens offscreen. Those hit by the arrows quickly fall into the water and vanish from sight. The only time the camera lingers on a white person dying is Joshua, who I guess they think deserved it. The impression one gets is that white death is a horror better implied than shown, while brown death is a spectacle. Again… holy shit.

The River of the Giant Alligator can’t seem to decide what we’re supposed to think about the Kuma people. Early in the film they’re portrayed as victims. These foreigners have invaded their land and built this giant hotel, and claimed to be helping them by giving them ‘work’. Ally notes that they’ll be able to live longer, healthier lives, but Daniel wonders if it’s worth it when they’ve basically become Joshua’s slaves. The movie leaves this question hanging there without exploring it any further. When Daniel and Ally come looking for information about the alligator attacks, the Kuma direct them to Father Jonathan, knowing they’re more likely to believe a white man, even one who’s obviously not quite all there. The movie really wants to be about the exploitation of indigenous peoples, treated as decorations and curiosities by white tourists.

The problem is, it wants to eat that cake, too. By the end of the story, the Kuma have devolved into stock savages. They attack the hotel and kill everybody, and kidnap Ally so they can tie her to a horizontal King Kong contraption as a sacrifice. The ending just makes it all the more confusing, as they turn up to discover that their god has been blown to bloody chunks after biting into a van full of explosives, and they cheer and they just leave. Is it really that easy to kill a god? Won’t a dead god demand vengeance anyway? Does this mean they actually like the white people after all, and were only angry because Darth Gator was eating them?

The ending also muddles the movie’s other point, about the nature of eco-tourism. One of the selling points of Paradise House is that it’s in the middle of virgin jungle. Joshua brags about how he’s left the surrounding ecosystem untouched – but then we cut straight to trees being cleared using dynamite, and later we see live piglets being thrown into the river to keep the crocodiles hanging around so people can gawk at them. You can’t build a hotel in the middle of a place and then call it ‘virgin jungle’. You’re the one who violated it!

The script is a little unclear on whether Darth Gator is a natural or supernatural threat. Ally and Daniel insist that it’s no mere alligator (I don’t think this movie knows the difference between crocodiles and alligators any better than I do) and Father Jonathan seems to believe it’s the Devil Himself, but it certainly dies like a flesh-and-blood creature. Whatever its nature, it’s clear enough that Darth Gator represents the jungle striking back at these intruders to drive them out. The Kuma literally say as much. So what are we to take from the fact that it dies at the end? Have we won the right to destroy the forest by killing its guardian? I don’t believe the people who make these movies think this stuff through.

I can tell that we’re supposed to hate the tourists, and we do, although not always for the reasons the movie wants us to. Minnow, the red-haired little girl who ‘only likes to play with boys’, tries so hard to be Adorable that you want to punt her across the room. Her mother leaves her to wander around the hotel alone, because Mummy’s got a smarmy mustached boyfriend to bang (even this relationship gets more attention than Sheena and Unnamed Kuma Guy, by the way… we are told that Mummy and Mustache have met before, and are here mostly to see each other rather than the jungle). Other notable annoyances include a lady who seems perfectly sane until she starts talking about the aliens, and a guy who loves to complain about Youth These Days and will seize any opportunity to do so.

I kinda wanna gripe about these obnoxious characters, but I don’t feel like I can. You may recall that I spent a month stuck on a cruise ship earlier this year. I can tell you definitively that these people do exist, and I hate them even more in real life.

Man, this could have been a fun monster movie. I’ve seen movies about man-eating crocodiles (or alligators… does it honestly matter that much?) that I really enjoyed. Primeval wasn’t even that bad – it was about how humans are more monstrous than anything nature can produce. Lake Placid had that immortal bit where Betty White says if I had a dick, this is where I’d tell you to suck it. The River of the Great Alligator is just boring bullshit and things that seem kinda racist on the surface but then you think about them a little longer and realize they’re incredibly racist. I went into this one hoping to like it, but it absolutely pissed on the last shreds of my optimism... like a lot of other things in 2020.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #the river of the great alligator #the great alligator #fuck this movie #fuck it so much #70s

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riverdalenerdlol · 4 years

Text

a moment without you (makes me go insane)

Riverdalenerdlol

Inspired by an ask by @sabrinas1d

Keeping up the act was taxing, even for one with as strong a mind and will as Betty Cooper.

In that split second that Jughead had almost died, she had almost caved in on herself. They were both lucky that he’d only been knocked out by the rock, left for dead by the Stonies. She thought she’d done it, for a while, as Jughead didn’t know what was going on when he woke up from it. She cried tears of joy when he came back into consciousness, wrapping him up in her arms and kissing all over his face while he tried to comfort her. He’d shed a lot of blood from a cut on his forehead, a cut that Veronica had been tasked with keeping pressure on. She was holding the ripped cuff of Archie’s shirt to the gash.

Read on AO3 or below the cut

It was when Jughead got a grip on reality that the four of them came up with a plan. The Stonies had left him for dead, so they were going to play off that - ultimately deciding that Jughead’s death should be faked in order to corner the preps and eventually catch them slipping up. One way or another, they were going to get caught for the attempted murder of their friend. Betty was the one to propose that they bring Charles in to help. He kept in contact with them, giving them specific instructions, including the burning of their clothes, the ditching of the rock in the swimming hole, and bringing Jughead back to Riverdale covertly in the bed of Archie’s truck.

Dr. Curdle Jr joined the cause then, stitching up Jughead’s forehead for a fair price (in cash, of course). He agreed that he wouldn’t say a word about their interaction and in the manufacturing of a fake body. It was only then that Jughead ditched his own clothes to be used on the red herring. From there, they carted Jughead to Dilton’s old bunker.

Betty had to say a tearful goodbye to him there. He promised that he’d be okay for a few days. There were enough rations and he’d stored a set of clothes there that he would be fine wearing for a few days. He insisted that he would be fine. Betty was emotional about parting from him so soon after she’d almost lost him. She clung to him for a few minutes, refusing to let go. She didn’t want to leave him there. Veronica eventually had to come back to pry Betty off of him (she and Archie had stepped out of the bunker to give them privacy) so that they could leave.

It was 3AM when Betty was dropped off at her house. She thought she’d been quiet and discreet, but her mother found her. Naturally. She had questions. Naturally. And she was angered about coming back after her curfew. Normal. Then she noticed how she didn’t have any clothes on. When Alice Smith said Jughead’s name, Betty almost collapsed into a broken, sobbing puddle. She excused herself and ran back to her room.

Betty couldn’t look herself in the mirror, she could only think about Jughead’s blood all over her, how he’d almost died… and she suddenly felt crushed by the weight of her secret.

She threw up in her bathroom and felt empty when Jughead wasn’t there to hold her hair back or help clean her up (what he usually did when she had sickness spells like that).

Betty found it hard to sleep that night.

She found it hard to sleep every night after that.

It had been a while since the search party, since seeing the false corpse of her boyfriend. The latter was traumatizing. Betty had to keep reminding herself that the body was fake - it wasn’t Jughead. The press outside the door did nothing to help, as FP had to wrap his arm around her in order to muscle them through the crowd. Donna and Bret bursting through the door pushed her over the edge, forcing them out of the morgue.

Using the last of her strength, she burst into tears again, FP sheltering her shaking body in his arms. It was then that she decided that Mr. Jones couldn’t be kept out of the lie any longer. She, with the help of Dr. Curdle Jr, helped explain the entire situation to FP. He was shocked at first, and a little angry, but he understood that Betty, Archie, and Veronica had good intentions with what they did.

Archie later brought his mom into the circle - it helped to have another adult they could trust, a lawyer no less. They all knew that things were soon to get sticky.

Archie also managed to smuggle clothes and supplies to the bunker. Betty wanted to, but they all knew that Donna was focused in on her and they knew Betty would want to stay there. They couldn’t have that. She did make one trip there, however, to set up the murder board in the bunker so that Jughead would have something to keep him occupied while they enacted their plan.

Jellybean became suspicious that night, asking why Betty had come home so late on a school night and why it looked like she’d been crying. Suddenly, Jellybean was also privy to the details of Jughead’s false murder. She seemed unsurprised.

After Yale called the Cooper-Jones residence, offering Betty their open slot, she broke again. She imagined that Jughead had actually died on the Ides of March when she realized Yale was offering her Jughead’s slot. Around the same time, Alice started her documentary.

Hiding things from Alice Smith was like trying to hide treats from a bloodhound. Betty wanted to protest the film’s making, but FP told her not to. Betty tried to lessen the weight on her shoulders by going to Pop’s and picking up a coffee.

It was there that she ran into Cheryl. While Betty appreciated her cousin’s concern and sympathy, she didn’t really want Cheryl’s service - no matter how genuine it was (because Betty knew that Cheryl wouldn’t joke about the situation she seemed to be in). Even though Betty felt like part of her was missing without Jughead beside her to support her in the stressful situation she had put herself in, and she hadn’t been sleeping too well because they couldn’t communicate, she didn’t want to admit that she wasn’t in the best state of mind. She tried brushing Cheryl off, but she insisted and Betty couldn’t blame her.

After the awkward interaction with her cousin, Betty went off to Stonewall to collect the last of Jughead’s things. She got emotional while packing up his photos - again thinking about how Jughead could have really died that night. She couldn’t imagine living the rest of her life without him. Throughout senior year, she couldn’t help but picture them going through college together, getting married away from Riverdale, and settling down with him. She would take his last name, drop her father’s last name, and do her best to forget the bad things that had happened all throughout high school - the Black Hood, the Gargoyle King, all of the bullshit she was currently going through. They’d leave and never return to the spot of their most vivid traumas - the ones that kept both of them awake at night.

Bret showed his nasty face, to no one’s surprise, shattering her hopeful idea of their future. After his smug smile and gelled hair had blown her daydream to smithereens, she left… but not before she planted Jughead’s Quill and Skull tie pin in Donna’s desk drawer.

On the way home, she called FP and told him that there was incriminating evidence in her possession.

Little did she know that would all backfire on her so spectacularly. The next day in science class, FP arrested her, Veronica, and Archie. They were eventually released after the forensics on the false rock came back, but Betty knew that the entire thing was Donna’s play. The night they were released, Betty had somehow managed to sleep with the help of a dose of melatonin, a lavender candle she’d used before bed, and a cup of chamomile.

Donna naturally had to call her at three in the morning, waking Betty from the best sleep she’d gotten in the past three weeks. The prep was ranting about how Jughead’s death must have been faked. Betty couldn’t shrug it off, but managed to keep her composure as she lied right through her phone. She informed Veronica and Archie, telling them that they were going to put on a fake funeral for Jughead with the Stonewall Four invited.

It went as expected. Donna tried to harass Jellybean and Betty was in the process of kicking her out when Bret tried to make a scene. He was stopped by the brute force that was Sweet Pea and all of the Stonies were forced to make a swift exit.

Rumors started spreading that Jughead could be alive after the funeral. Betty cried herself to sleep, wishing Jughead was there to dry her tears. It still wasn’t safe to go see him with Donna so hot on her trail.

For their next move, Archie came back from the bunker away later with a plan. He didn’t like it - it had been Jughead’s idea - but he couldn’t deny that it was a good plan. They would use Cheryl’s eavesdropping skills to their advantage. She caught onto Betty and Archie’s conversation in Pop’s and created a vigil for Jughead at his old locker.

Betty hadn’t expected such sincerity in the way that it came. She imagined once more a world without Jughead in it. A small sob betrayed her composure as she ran off. Archie was right on her tail, as planned.

It took her a moment before she could bring herself back to the present. Hugging Archie helped calm her down, and she was then able to focus back on the plan. She didn’t want to kiss this childhood best friend, but she had to when she saw Cheryl looking through the window. It wasn’t unpleasant, but Betty knew that Jughead’s lips were softer, warmer, more comforting. Jughead made sparks fly in her head when they kissed. Betty didn’t want to describe kissing Archie as kissing a dead fish, but…

Her standards had raised significantly since Jughead had entered her life. That was the truth of it all.

Veronica went off on them an hour or two later, as planned. It was effective, too. Quite believable, Betty had to say.

Donna even visited Betty that night as she was working late in the Blue and Gold, once more insisting that Jughead was alive. Betty couldn’t help but smirk to herself internally - Donna was starting to pull at strings. She was desperate.

Betty didn’t crack.

Phase Two of their plan was in motion.

Betty knew that Donna would follow her from school, so she texted Archie and told him to go to the bunker and promised that dinner was on her. She drove to Pop’s, smirking triumphantly as she pulled away. Betty had seen Donna lurking. She purposely looked suspicious as she went into the bunker, and she was unsurprised when Donna showed up.

The look of disgust on Donna’s face when she saw that Betty was all over Archie was priceless. She wished Jughead had taken a picture of it from his place under the cot, but his anonymity was of the utmost importance.

After Donna left and the trap door shut with a solid clank, they all burst into laughter. Betty threw Archie’s shirt at him as Jughead slid out from under the bed, wheezing with a smile on his face. As their laughter died down, Betty distributed milkshakes and burgers to everyone. They ate together, unable to look each other in the eye without almost choking on their food. It felt like the Three Musketeers again - old times.

When Archie was done, he left, claiming homework. Betty knew it was just so she could have some alone time with Jughead. She fiddled with the straw of her milkshake while Jughead finished off her fries.

“Hey,” he said softly, placing his hand on top of hers gently and stopping her movements. Betty looked into his crystal blue eyes - the ones she wanted to see first thing in the morning for the rest of her life. He didn’t have his beanie (they’d burned it) and his dark hair had piled on top of his head in its unruly state. This had been the longest he had gone without a head covering of some sort since he got the beanie. He looked handsome. And concerned. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she lied. Betty missed him. Deeply. She let him slide his hand into hers, pulling it away from the milkshake straw to lay on the table. He stroked the healing scars on her palm tenderly (she’d reopened them the day after his fake death when she went to plant the bug in his dorm).

“Betty,” he replied, looking at her knowingly. “Don’t run away from me now.”

“I’m fine, Jug.”

“No, you’re not,” he told her. “You look miserable. Have you been able to sleep?”

“Yes, I’ve been sleeping.” Jughead looked at her pointedly. “No,” she admitted with a sigh. “Not well.”

“Why?”

“It’s just everything,” she informed him. “I walk around town and school portraying the widow all day. I have to pretend you’re dead and you’re not coming back… and that hurts.” Jughead held her hand comfortingly.

“I’m right here. You know I’m alive.”

“But what if you weren’t?” She asked. “What if you’d died that night in the woods, Jughead? What then?”

“Is that what you think about all day, Betty? Because all I think about is how wonderful it’s going to be when I can finally get out of here and be with you again,” he replied. “I don’t think about anything but you out there kicking Donna’s ass in this convoluted game the Stonies started.”

“I wish you were there with me, Jug,” she whimpered, her emotions beginning to overwhelm her. “Every day all I wish is that you were fighting this battle with me.”

“And I am, Betty,” he told her. “I am fighting with you.”

“You know what I mean!” She added. “I wish you were right next to me. I wish I could sleep next to you again. I wish I could see you without risking Donna finding out where you are, Jug!”

Betty’s eyes clouded with tears as her jaw trembled. Her chin ducked down and hit her chest. She lost the battle with her despair. Before she could choke back a sob, Jughead had her securely in his arms and seated her in his lap. Her floodgates opened, allowing all of her emotions to pour out of her. She slung her arms around Jughead’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

“I don’t want to be without you, Juggie,” she cried softly, teardrops accumulating on her eyelashes while Jughead held her to his chest.

“Baby, look at me,” he whispered. She shook her head from his shoulder. “Betty,” he stated. “Look at me, Betty.” Jughead managed to get her to look at him, but even then he had to tilt her chin up so he could see her glassy green eyes, and the redness that had developed with her tears. “I am never going to leave you. Ever. Okay?” She looked away and he pulled her right back. “Hey. I’m right here.”

“You’ve almost died twice in the past year,” she whispered. “What if someone tries to finish the job?”

“Betty,” he stated.

“What then, Jug?” She sniffled, holding back more tears. “What happens when I lose you?”

“After we graduate—“

“There’s two months until then, I don’t trust that something stupid won’t happen to us between then and now.”

“After we graduate—“ he started again, cupping her face and wiping away her tears with his thumbs. “— I’m going to get us away from here and all of the terrible things that have happened to us here. We don’t have to stay in touch with anyone, we can just go. I don’t care where, so long as it’s with you, Betty, but I promise I’ll get us both away from here… and soon, I hope, I’ll be able to rejoin you in the land of the living, okay?”

“I want to sleep next to you tonight,” Betty whispered, changing the subject. “Let me stay the night with you. Please.”

“Betty—“

“Please, Jughead.”

“I can’t let you do that,” he replied softly. “But I’ll let you sleep next to me for a little bit.”

“Okay,” she replied. Jughead stood up with Betty in his arms and seated them on the cot. She slid off of his lap and circled her arms around his torso as they laid down together. Betty was exhausted and her eyelids started drooping almost immediately while Jughead was working on pulling the covers up to keep them warm. She fell asleep nuzzled into his chest before he could ask if she was comfortable.

Betty woke a while later, Jughead spooning her from behind with his arms wrapped around her waist. She tried to roll over and look at him when he spoke up.

“Hey,” he whispered, his nose prodding the side of her neck just before leaving a kiss on her skin. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” she replied. There was a minute of silence before she spoke again. “I wish you could come home with me.”

“Me too,” he said. “I’ve missed you like crazy.”

“You have no idea.”

They laid there for a while afterwards. Betty flipped to face him at one point, softly kissing his lips. As they began tenderly making out, Betty tried to take it further, reaching for his shirt. Jughead pulled back then.

“Betty,” he said, looking at her. She didn’t want to hear it, diving her face into his neck and kissing his sensitive skin. “Betty, no.”

She finally pulled back then.

“What?”

“You need to go home. We have to keep up the image.”

“Jug—“

“Betty,” he said to her. “We’ve come so far. We’re so close.”

“I need you, Juggie,” she whimpered. “Please just hold me.”

“You have to go home,” he said firmly. “I want you to stay too, but the game’s not over yet.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, but you have to go.”

“When can I come back?” She asked quietly. Jughead sighed.

“Tomorrow night,” he told her. “You have to bring me dinner, though.”

“I will,” she told him, climbing over him to get out of the bed. She started putting on her coat.

“That’s the only thing you’re going to look forward to tomorrow, isn’t it?” He asked, rolling over to look at her.

“You bet,” she replied, kissing his forehead softly and combing his hair away from his eyes with her fingers. “I like your hair better like this.”

“Beanieless?”

“Yeah. It’s really soft.”

“Stop stalling,” he said. Betty removed her hand from his dark hair. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Betty replied. Jughead propped up on one elbow, his other hand pulling her face down. They kissed tenderly. Betty never wanted it to end.

“I love you,” Jughead whispered when he pulled away from her lips.

“I love you too,” she replied, letting go of him.

Climbing out of the bunker was the hardest thing she had to do that night. She didn’t want to leave him there.

The second hardest thing Betty had to do was sit in front of her mother’s old video camera and be asked questions about her “relationship” with Archie and about how Donna followed her to the bunker where she met up with Archie after picking up Pop's. When her mother asked when she and Archie had started seeing each other, she didn’t want to answer. When Alice proceeded to tell her that she shouldn’t be ashamed of it (even though she always flipped out at even the mention of her having sex with Jughead in the past), Betty couldn’t lie to her mother’s face anymore.

“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you,” she said. “Turn the camera off.” Her mother listened for once in her life. “Please don’t scream when I tell you this.”

“You’re pregnant and it’s Archie’s.”

“No!”

“You’re pregnant and it’s Jughead’s.”

“Mom!”

“Sorry,” she said. “What is it, honey?”

“Jughead’s alive. His death was faked,” Betty stated simply.

Alice knocked over the tripod as she hastily stood up. Betty got her to calm down as she explained everything that happened. She told her about everyone that was in on it and how Jughead was currently hiding in the bunker.

“So he was in there when you lured Donna and made out with Archie?”

“Yeah…” Betty replied. “He hid under the cot.”

“And what did he have to say about that?”

“About me kissing Archie?” Betty asked. She nodded. “We haven’t… talked about it.”

“But you saw him tonight.”

“We had other things to discuss,” Betty replied. “I hadn't seen him in a while. Archie’s usually the one that runs food and supplies for him because Donna’s been on my tail.”

“I see,” Alice said. “I’ll tell you what, Elizabeth. I know you’ve had a hard time this week with everything that’s been going on. It’s been a very emotional week for you, I know. I saw how puffy your eyes were when you walked in the front door.” Betty touched under her eyes self-consciously. “Go spend the night with him tomorrow. I’ll even give you money for Pop’s if you want to pick up food for you both.”

“Really?” Betty asked, feeling as if she were going to start crying again.

“I’m serious, Betty,” Alice replied. “As long as you text me by 9AM… and as long as you’re safe.”

“Mom!”

“I know you are, I was just joking,” she said. “You deserve to be happy, Betty. Jughead makes you more happy than anything else, I’ve realized these past few weeks.”

Betty was so happy to hear that. It wasn’t quite approval, but it was the closest thing she was going to get from Alice Smith. Betty, overwhelmed, couldn’t respond. She hugged her mother tightly, crashing into her arms.

“Thank you,” she whispered, on the verge of tears.

“You’re welcome, honey,” Alice replied, running her hand over her daughter’s back comfortingly. “I love you.”

“I love you too, mom,” Betty told her, allowing herself to smile.

As soon as school got out the next day, Betty (very subtly) left Riverdale High as quick as she could. She ran home and grabbed her overnight bag, then phoned in an order to Pop’s as she drove to the restaurant. Pop almost met her at the door as she ran in and grabbed the white bag and two milkshakes before bolting back to the car. Betty sped over to Fox Forest and made sure to park her mother’s car discreetly. She got out of the station wagon quickly, slinging her duffel over her shoulder and grabbing the Pop’s order. She walked as fast as humanly possible while looking over her shoulder every so often to make sure Donna or Bret weren’t a few steps behind her.

She found the bunker with ease, dropping the duffel inside before carefully climbing down with the Pop’s bag and milkshakes.

“Betty?” Jughead asked, turning around from where he was working at the small folding table.

She closed and locked the hatch before quickly walking over to where Jughead was. She placed their food on the table, then grabbed Jughead by the collar of his shirt, yanking him up and sealing her mouth to his hastily.

Jughead was shocked at first, then he pulled her closer by the waist. Betty pulled away from his lips momentarily, her eyes fogged with lust. She shed her coat and let it pool on the floor while Jughead stood there dumbly, looking at her. They hadn’t had sex since before his death had been faked.

“I need you,” Betty said breathily, taking a hold of his t-shirt again.

“Hello to you too,” he replied, tugging her closer by the belt loops on her jeans.

“Shut up and kiss me, Jones,” she told him, yanking him down so they were connected again.

Their shirts were gone before either of them knew it, their shoes toed off and kicked across the room. Betty had found a good spot to place a hickey while Jughead was trying (and failing) to focus on unclasping Betty’s bra. He eventually pulled it away from her and tossed it somewhere. Pants and socks were hastily tugged and pushed until they both managed to get out of them, only left in their underwear. Betty jumped into Jughead’s arms as soon as her socks with little pandas on them had found their rightful place: on the floor and about thirteen feet from each other.

Jughead hummed into her mouth as he solidified his arms under her thighs. Betty’s fingers were tangled all up in Jughead’s hair, gripping and pulling at the root while Jughead managed to press Betty’s back into one of the cold cement walls of the bunker. She hissed at the sensation, but dove back into Jughead’s mouth. He had other plans, however, as he pushed her head up, dipping his down to lave kisses (and his tongue) on her neck. Betty’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she turned to putty in Jughead’s hands. He pressed his hips into hers and lured a moan from her lips.

“Jug,” she whined, scraping her nails against his shoulders and neck. He grunted.

“Say it again.”

“Juggie,” she repeated desperately as he continued to assault her neck with his mouth.

“I love you so fucking much, Betty Cooper,” he said hoarsely against her skin.

“I love you too,” Betty whispered, her head resting against the wall with her eyes closed.

Jughead very quickly pulled away from the wall, hitched her up higher around his waist, then backed her against the concrete wall in one swift movement. She groaned at the shift just as Jughead kissed down her chest, sealing his searing mouth over her nipple. Her back arched up, but Jughead pushed her down, trapping her against the wall as he made his way with her. Just when Betty didn’t think it could get better, Jughead switched sides abruptly.

Betty didn’t think their skin could be any closer until Jughead started working her underwear down. How he managed to get off hers and his own while keeping his grip on her, she never knew. She could only feel how hard he was as their flesh collided.

“Jug,” she managed to choke out. “Fuck me. Please.”

“Christ, Betts,” he replied. “No condom.”

“Pill,” she said choppily. “Hurry up. Please.”

Almost without warning, Jughead quickly lined up and slid all the way into her. They had to stop for a minute to adjust to the sensation, their foreheads solidified against each other.

“Good?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she breathed, her hands moving to his shoulders for stability. “Yes.”

Jughead started a little slower than Betty wanted him to go.

“Jug?”

“Yeah?”

“More.”

“Fuck.”

Jughead picked up a relentless pace, his hips meeting hers. Betty knew she’d be sore and/or bruised later, but she didn’t give a shit. She’d never regret it. The sound of skin against skin was almost deafening as Jughead pounded into Betty. Her head lolled back, Jughead claiming her neck with his mouth again. It was rough, it was fast, it was glorious. Betty felt herself melting in Jughead’s touch. His thrusts began hitting a new angle inside of her that made Betty knock her forehead against Jughead's, her nails scratching his shoulders and biceps while she kissed him sloppily. Her tongue slipped against his and he bit down on her lower lip.

“Keep going, Jug,” she panted. “I’m so close.”

“Me too, shit,” he replied, almost out of breath.

“A little more,” she pleaded. Jughead went deeper inside of her than he’d ever gone before, ripping a whine from Betty’s throat.

He slammed into her as hard as he could and she crested beautifully. It was only a moment later that the sensation of her around him took him into nirvana as well. They were sweaty and out of breath as Jughead gently worked them down from their respective climaxes. Betty wrapped her arms around him, her head resting against the top of his as his lazy strokes came to a slow.

“Oh my God,” Betty breathed, keeping her grip on him as he gently pulled out of her. She could feel their combined come sliding down the inside of her thigh as Jughead pulled them away from the wall. He walked over to the cot, laying her down before he joined her. Betty melted into his side like she always did, drawing patterns on his skin with the tips of her fingers.

“One day you’re going to be the death of me,” he whispered and they chuckled together while Betty pulled at the covers to keep them warm.

“That was amazing,” she replied, brushing her hair from her sweaty forehead. “Thank you.”

“Always happy to make love to my girlfriend.” Jughead rolled Betty onto her back, looking down at her.

“What?”

Jughead leaned down, kissing her softly.

“I’m so thankful for you, that’s all,” he replied.

“And why would that be, Mr. Jones?”

“You brought Pop’s.”

“Is that you asking if you can leave to bring it over?”

“Yes?”

Betty laughed, but let him out to go get the bag of food.

They learned the hard way that eating fast food while naked and in bed wasn’t a good combination. Instead of putting ketchup on one of the many napkins that Pop had supplied them, Jughead put a dollop on Betty’s chest and used one of his fries to swipe it off. Betty was not down for food play, so she threw Jughead’s shirt and boxers at him and made him get dressed. She put on one of Jughead’s clean shirts and found her underwear before climbing back in bed so they could finish their milkshakes.

They laid there, just trying to memorize each other’s bodies by soft touches over t-shirts. Betty was trying to count all of the freckles on Jughead’s face when she finally broke the silence.

"Even by our standards, this was a pretty crazy week,” she said.

"Well, pretending to be dead is one thing... but hiding under a cot in this sex bunker of death while you make out with Archie just to convince a bunch of evil preppies that I did die…"

"Yeah, definitely cracks the top ten craziest things…” she agreed. “But it worked. And now Donna will start doubting herself… this whole thing is a game of confidence, and what happens when you don’t have confidence? Mistakes are made.” Jughead looked at her proudly. "And bonus, you’ll have all of this uninterrupted time to figure out how the pieces of the mystery fit together."

“And an additional bonus is that they won’t come back to finish my botched braining,” he added. Betty hummed in agreement.

“Well, I never thought I’d say it, but God bless that beanie for cushioning the blow, even just a little bit,” Betty said as Jughead brought his fingers up to trace over the four stitches in his forehead. “Speaking of that,” she began. “Close your eyes and hold out your hand.” He looked like he wanted to laugh, but he did as she said. Betty trotted over to her duffel bag and pulled out what she wanted. She sat on the cot before placing it in his hand. “Open.”

Jughead looked down at the charcoal knit beanie in his hand. He was dumbfounded.

“Betty, when did you have time to do this?”

She giggled.

“We all manage our stress in different ways,” she told him as he pulled it over his head to the tips of his ears. “My mom had her documentary… I taught myself how to knit.” She adjusted the hat on his head softly.

“Are you sure telling your mom was a good idea?” He asked then.

“Well… considering Charles, your dad, Jellybean, Dr. Curdle Jr, and Mrs. Andrews are all in on it, yeah it felt like the prudent thing to do,” Betty replied.

“Okay, that’s fair enough,” he agreed. There was a small pause where Betty could tell Jughead felt slightly uncomfortable. She fixed his new beanie a little more. “When you kissed Archie… none of those old feelings came back… did they?” He asked. Betty was able to hear how self conscious he was just by the waver of his voice. She knew that he still didn’t feel like he was good enough, and that sometimes he feared that she would eventually go back to Archie. It hurt her heart to hear him think that about himself. He was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her.

“Jugheaaad…” she chided. “No! Of course not! Okay?” She assured him. “Don’t be silly… You know you’re the only man for me…” She watched Jughead smile a little, once more assured that he was the only person she ever wanted to go through life with. “And our scheming can take a night off, don’t you think?”

Betty rose from the cot, straddling Jughead’s lap. He pulled her down swiftly and she smiled. Betty cupped his face and giggled before kissing him. His hands were on her waist as he rocked back. Betty’s hands slid down to hold his shoulders while he cupped her face in his hands.

Betty knew as soon as she sat on his lap that if she had to go out, she’d do it like this: straddling the love of her life’s lap while they kissed softly…

Maybe she’d prefer less clothes, though.

fin

#bughead #betty cooper #jughead jones #ao3 #mine #4.15 #4.14 #canon compliant

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fanfics4all · 3 years

Text

Fuck Toy

Request: Yes / No can i get a betty cooper xfem!dom!reader smut please? 😌 Anon

Requests are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Betty Cooper x Fem!Reader

Word count: 1425

Warnings: Smut!

Y/N: Your Name

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

Masterlist

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

My best friend Betty Cooper was really getting on my nerves lately. She had the long blonde hair and perfect body that I wish I had. There was a part of me that always felt like I wasn’t good enough to anyone when I was around her. It didn’t help that she bashed my dreams of being a model some day. We’ve been living together for a few months now while we were in college.

“Modeling is stupid.” She said as I practiced my catwalking in our kitchen while she was working on homework.

“It’s for girls who can’t think clearly and have to rely on their bodies to the med that supply the entertainment industry with enough ammunition to disarm women’s self-confidence and make them buy things they don’t need.” She said and I rolled my eyes

“What the hell does that even mean?” I asked and she looked up at me with a sigh.

“I rest my case. You’re not the brightest girl, Y/N/N. Face it, you’re just another piece of meat that men love to look at and fantasies about having sex with.” She shrugged.

“What the fuck Betty?” I asked in shock.

“What? I’m just telling you the truth.” She shrugged. I couldn’t stand her sometimes! She was so smart, pretty, and the kind of girl that would get all the modeling gigs when she didn’t even want them! There was a knock on the door and we both turned towards it. Betty got up and opened it. It was one of the guys from some frat house that had been stalking her since he found out where we lived. She smiled warmly at him, batting her eyelashes like a little slut. She greeted him warmly and offered him a hug.

“Hey, Y/N’s here, come say hi.” She said with a smile. I waved at the guy and watched as Betty worked her magic on him. It made me angry when I saw her flirt with guys. Guys loved her and I wondered how much more sex she was having than me. You would think none based on what she says, but she’s probably a huge slut. I hadn’t been getting any action for the longest time. I hadn’t had a boyfriend since I lost my virginity, years ago. I tried to think about how sex had felt for me, but I couldn’t even remember it clearly! Why the hell was I so horny now? I could feel my pussy aching for attention and I tried to tell it to stop, but wondered if it was the frat boy. I watched as Betty flirted with him and my pussy got wetter and wetter. What the hell was wrong with me?

“Well, we have to go now. I guess we’ll see you later!” Betty said, closing the door.

“Bye!” I called as he waved desperately at me. Betty locked the door and turned to face me.

“That was rude.” I said.

“You’re rude, Y/N.” She said.

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. My brain drifted a bit and I ended up thinking about my double-sided dildo I had upstairs and smirked.

“Hey Betty, come with me I have a surprise for you.” I said.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?” I asked and pulled her to my room. Once inside I quickly turned and locked the door. I was going to take care of myself with the help of Betty, it’s her punishment for being such a bitch all the time.��

“Okay, what is it?” She asked and I smirked.

“You’ll see.” I said and pulled her to me. I kissed her right then and there. She was so shocked, but didn’t stop me. After a moment she actually leaned into the kiss. Our mouths were hungry. My arms wrapped around her waist and she gently wrapped her arms around my neck. MY tongue slipped into her mouth and I felt her giving herself over to me completely. Both our hands wandered all over each other.

“Y/N, you feel so good.” She moaned into my mouth.

“You do too.” I moaned. I pushed her off me and onto my bed, stripping her of her clothes then myself. I spread her legs and smirked up at her.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I met you.” I admitted to her and myself. My tongue stroked her pussy for the first time and she tasted good. It wasn’t long till I had her whole body shaking as I worked her clit.

“I-I don’t think I can do this.” She said, trying to get out of the situation.

“Oh no Betty, you’re going to do it. You said you wanted to and now you’re in this.” I said and crawled over her, sitting right on her face.

“Now you can go anywhere. I know this is what you want, Now lick my pussy you little lesbian slut!” I said.

“Stop!” She screamed but my pussy covered her mouth so her words were muffled. I made sure all she could taste was me. I rubbed her clit all over her tongue and she was forced to try and please me. I knew I was right when she really started licking me, she wanted this. She was hitting all the right spots and I moaned out in pleasure, cumming all over her slutty little face.

“Lick my ass you slut!” I commanded her as I spread my ass cheeks and served it to her mouth. She just laid there, letting it happen. She licked my asshole and my screams of joy filled the room.

“Good little slut, I’ll give you a reward.” I said and reached down to her pussy. My fingers slipped inside and she moaned into my ass and I smirked.

“That’s a good little slut, cum for me.” I said as her body was shaking. She came hard on my fingers, but never stopped licking my asshole. I moaned loudly and came all over her face again. I was tired and got off her, laying down beside her.

“I knew you were a little slut.” I smirked and she blushed.

“You can’t tell anyone.” She said and my smirk grew.

“We’ll see about that.” I said. I only needed a few minutes to recover, so I got up and grabbed my double-sided dildo from my drawer.

“I’ve been imagining you on top of me riding this since I bought it.” I said and laid down again. I pushed one end into myself and moaned.

“Alright you little whore, get on top of me now.” I ordered her and she listened. She got on top of me and hovered over the other end.

“Don’t be all shy now.” I said and pushed upwards so the other end’s tip went inside her. She made a noise of shock and surprise as I pushed her shoulders down so she slid down it. I pushed her all the way down so there was no dildo left to be seen.

“Alright bitch, ride me.” I said and smacked her ass. I saw her blush and smirked. She slowly started moving and I moaned at the feeling inside me.

“That’s right slut, ride me.” I moaned. I slapped her ass again and she moaned.

“Faster whore.” I ordered and she instantly started bouncing faster. My moans got louder as my orgasm approached.

“Fuck!” I moaned as I came. As I was cumming I watched Betty move her hands to her clit, rubbing herself till she started to scream.

“Don’t you cum without my permission!” I growled and she pulled her hand away.

“I didn’t say to stop.” I said and rubbed her clit for her.

“Please!” She begged and I smirked.

“Please what bitch?” I asked and she looked down at me, desperation clear in her eyes.

“Please let me cum Y/N.” She begged and it was music to my ears.

“Say your my little fuck toy.” I ordered and she blushed slightly.

“Say it or you don’t get to cum.” I threatened and her blush deepened.

“I’m you’re little fuck toy.” She whispered.

“Louder slut.” I said and smacked her ass.

“I’m your little fuck toy!” She screamed and my smirk grew.

“Cum bitch.” I said and she screamed in pleasure. She didn’t stop bouncing as she came and I knew she was mine forever.

“Good little fuck toy.” I said as she fell forward on my chest and pet her hair. She was mine.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs-blog1 @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @lady-of-lies @ravenmoore14 @ravenempress101 @cillianchamp @rowanthomasknapp @rachelxwayne @emo-godess-loves-you @hiya-imthatgirl @mindsetjupiter @averysinclaire @mittelerde1999 @sweetest-peas @rousewriter @camiconfessions @thecaptainsgingersnap @cenyddtheunicorn @jacksxsouthsideserpents @lover2448 @hatter-madigan3 @mamacobie13 @agrumpyteen @chonisbestmistake

#riverdale #riverdale imagine #riverdale smut #betty cooper #betty cooper imagine #betty cooper smut #betty x reader #betty x fem!reader #betty cooper x reader #betty cooper x fem!reader #betty cooper x fem!dom!reader #Smut #fanfic #request

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bugheadjones-the-third · 4 years

Text

title: epiphany . summary: Fix-it Fic. After Jughead finally came back to life, Betty finds herself thinking about the time she had to live without her boyfriend. She helped fake his death, investigate possible suspects and even pretend to date her best friend, Archie Andrews— who also happened her first love. She went through a lot during the past few weeks, and now that is finally over, her heart can’t stop thinking… What if?

. a/n: okay, this is probably my first time writing a fix-it fic (unfortunately) and I've tried my best to make some justice to our beloved Bughead. If they really wanted to explore any kind of thing Betty might have felt towards Archie while she had to pretend, well… that’s how I would’ve done it. Oh, and needless to say, all that cheating crap didn’t/ won't happen. Hope you like it, and remember, #bugheadforever

Also, this is unbeta’d because I just needed it out of my system.

‘All I’m saying is…your secret is safe with me.’

It had been almost a week since Cheryl said those words to her, and ever since then, Betty couldn’t seem to keep them off her thoughts. At night, while trying to sleep, she tossed and turned, pushing the covers away as she sighed like a damsel in distress haunted by her own thoughts. Her golden locks were messily splayed across her pillow, and she could only thank the superior forces for Jughead to be sleeping at the bunker that night.

He didn't deserve to be disturbed by her troubled thoughts. He didn’t deserve to lose a single minute of his precious sleep because of her, especially not when the one thing keeping her eyes open was actually asleep one window away.

Archie Andrews. Her best friend. Her first love and the one who pretended to be her boyfriend so people would believe that her real boyfriend was actually dead. They’ve spent a couple of days holding hands, sharing milkshakes and even kissing in public for the sake of their master plan, and according to Veronica, their acting had been simply perfect.

An act. That was all it was supposed to be, and it was all that really was, right? They did it for the sake of Jugead’s life, and both of them were fully aware of that the whole time they were playing lovebirds. It had all been just a big lie— one of the endless lies hidden in this small town— so why on earth was she feeling so frustrated?

She turned one last time, her eyes now facing the ceiling of the room. Her arms rested on both sides of her body over the duvet, and she could only feel herself growing more irritated by the time she was wasting with that nonsense. ”What's wrong with you, Betty?” She whispered to herself, thinking that, maybe, if she threw the words into the universe, she might actually find a logical explanation for all of those feelings. Maybe, if she could tell Jughead about it, he would find her an answer.

Yeah, right. Telling Jughead that she was actually losing sleep because her stupid heart was actually rummaging around the biggest ‘what if’ of her young life.

What if Archie hadn’t rejected her? Would they still be together? Would things have gone so smoothly as when they were pretending? And what about Jughead?

What about Jughead?

Would their friendship still be as it used to be if they hadn’t started dating? Would they still investigate all of Riverdale’s dark secrets if Archie was more present in her life? Would his life have been so different without her love?

Her eyes widened at the thought and slowly, she sat up on the bed, her legs now on the edge of the mattress. Golden hair was falling on the sides of her face, as she found herself deeper into her thoughts. Betty had never even considered how her life would’ve been if her beanie-clad knight hadn’t climbed up her window and stolen a kiss from her that day. Their lives were now so entangled that she just couldn’t picture herself without Jughead anymore.

He understands her better than anyone. He accepts her for who she really is, and their love is the only truly good thing in Riverdale. Their love is real— way more than whatever she used to feel for Archie— and even if she was now trapped in that dilemma, not even once had she doubted her love for him.

It was just… just — She couldn’t even describe what she was feeling, for god’s sake!

She has always prided herself in how well she could use words to describe her mind’s tricks in her journals, but this time, Betty was freaking out over it! She could feel her anxiety peaking, making her heart beat faster and her lungs urge for more air as she just couldn’t find the right answers for her questions. What even were her questions, to begin with? She wanted to work with facts, just like when they’re investigating things, but there was no such thing as logic in her feelings at that moment.

All she knew was that she had been moved by the time she had spent as Archie’s fake girlfriend. Even if had only been for just a couple of days, it was undeniable that she had to pretend to be everything her younger-self used to wish for. She had to pretend to be happy with her ginger neighbor while living in a world without Jughead Jones by her side, and perhaps, she allowed that stupid illusion to meddle with her reality. By not knowing how long Jughead would remain considered K.I.A, her mind began to spiral out and project herself a new, distorted future.

A future in which Jughead and her are no longer together.

Her hands were quick to cover her mouth and suddenly, a terrified expression took over her face as she was hit by that realization. Of course, she thought, quickly standing up and rushing to the drawer where she kept her photo album. She sat back on the carpet and started to go through older pics of her and the boys during their childhood, when they were always together and life was but a walk in the park during a warm, summer day.

Those really were simpler times. They had absolutely nothing to worry about and Riverdale—well, for all they knew— was still just a small town with pep. Back then, kids were still allowed to have fun and people weren’t being killed by their own neighbors. Her father was still a good man, Cheryl still had a twin brother and she was still the perfect, girl who was so young and in love with her best friend.

Her entire future had already been decided back then. While her mother had taken care of her education and what she would have to do in order to achieve the best colleges in the country, Betty herself had already written in her journals about marrying Archie and how they would manage a life of happiness and success before their thirties. That future used to be clear as the day in her naive imagination, and perhaps, that was also the future she had started to imagine during their little game of pretending.

Betty found herself to be impersonating her younger version during those days because that Betty had everything figured out. She knew what to do and where to go; and most of all, she knew everything would work out in the end. She wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone— herself included on this huge list— and perhaps, that ignorance was enough.

Enough for her to feel loved and confident, and mostly, enough for her to be happy.

Her eyes sadly softened at a picture of her smiling next to Archie. Things would’ve certainly been easier if that fantasy future of hers had come true. She wouldn’t have cried as much as she did in the past years, and she would only have to worry about winning prom queen during her senior year. She wouldn’t be a nosy, Nancy-Drew-wannabe and instead of breaking into people’s houses to investigate their pasts, she could be just another student walking down the hallways of Riverdale High.

Who wouldn’t want a life like that? A normal life.

Her heart suddenly ached at the thought. She could feel tears threatening to pool under her eyes, and it didn’t really take her that long to reach the first and most important conclusion of the night.

She wouldn't want a life like that.

In fact, she would hate a life like that.

Though simple and serene, a life like that would be nothing but a huge lie. If she were to follow all of her old dreams, Betty would be trapped in a world blinded by a curtain of pre-made decisions and overwhelming expectancies that she would most likely be unable to reach. And then, knowing her old-self like she does, the blonde knew it would be just a matter of time until she blew that whole facade up and got herself hurt. Really hurt.

More than when Polly was taken away and more than when Archie rejected her after she told him about her feelings. Oh, that’s right… On that night, while wearing that pink dress that made her look like a barbie doll, her ideal life ended before it even began. She was left crying on her porch because her prince charming thought she was just too perfect for him. In all of those years of planning, she had never expected not be chosen back because she had become the supposedly best version of herself.

She used to be too much and too unreachable. Without knowing, she built a wall around herself that no one even tried to trespass in fear of never being good enough for her. She was a perfect and lonely girl who had isolated herself in her pristine world, where no one could hear her pleas.

Poor Elizabeth Cooper.

But she would be okay, right? She would eventually find someone worthy of her perfection. Eventually, she would find someone who could fit into her pretty, little world and she would finally have a brilliant, happy and simple future.

Right?

No fucking way.

She could never be happy like that. That future could never be right, and right now, as she looked at her white window, she couldn't thank him enough for saving her from her own solitude.

Right now, instead of looking at that window and thinking about her neighbor, she thinks about the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who climbed his way up to her room, called her crazy and kissed her with all the love and kindness she had been denied for ages. He wasn’t perfect and he was nothing like the man she had pictured to be her husband, but that was the best thing about him.

He saw her as more than just that fake image she had adopted as her identity. He saw the girl behind that mask and that included all of her flaws, her passions, her scars and her peculiarities. He saw all that, and yet… He didn’t run away. Jughead Jones stayed by her side during the best and worst moments of her life, and it was the first time she felt like she was wanted.

She felt loved.

She felt loved and excited and—damn— she felt so free. For the first time in her life, Betty was feeling everything so deeply and with such intensity that made all of that old numbness seem like a distant nightmare. Of course, there were a lot of painful moments, when her face was soaked in tears and her heart was breaking, but even that felt better than that emptiness that took over her life.

Betty could finally find some relief building up in her stomach as she looked at what was probably her favorite photo of them. Officially, that was a picture Archie and Veronica took of themselves during their Labor Day escapade, but standing there, on the background, Jughead and her were swimming together, warm bodies entangled and surrounded by the cold water; and she will always remember how much she wanted that moment to last. His blue eyes were so beautiful that day, and through them, she saw the reflection of what was certainly best version of herself.

And that version only exists because of him. He took her out of her own life so they could start something new together, and ever since that, Betty just couldn’t imagine herself wanting to go back.

So screw the simpler times— they are never coming back. Screw her expectations and all of the words she has once written in her journals. Screw her first love. It was never the love she deserved.

A bright and warm smile was now taking over her face and she had never felt lighter before. Her heart was beating faster in excitement right now and— damn it— she just felt the urge to see Jughead. She wanted to tell him everything she had just finally concluded, and more than ever, she wanted to tell him how much she loves him. Perhaps, she could go after him at the bunker, and then—

Fuck. Her eyes drifted to the digital clock on her nightstand and the green numbers were marking 3:27am. There was no way she could just go out there and wake him up after he had probably spent the whole afternoon working so hard to catch up on their studies. A wave of disappointment hit her, and through her mirror, she saw herself pouting like a contradicted, spoiled child.

She wanted to be with him. She needed to see him and that unique beanie of his.

And thankfully, he felt the same way.

When Betty had finally decided to put the photos back on the drawer so she could go back to bed, her ears captured the roaring of a very familiar engine right before it suddenly died out. Her eyes widened, and she wasted no time before rushing to the window to confirm the expectations of her now thrilled heart. She glanced towards the streets, and she could never describe how happy she was when she saw him taking off his helmet and leaving it on his motorcycle.

What a sight for sore eyes, she thought, as a blush crawled up her cheeks. She saw as he yawned and scratched the back of his neck, and even if she knew he was clearly tired, Betty just couldn’t keep her own excitement for herself at that moment.

That was the man she loves. The man she's going to marry.

The blonde, then, took a deep breath and wasted no time before running out of their bedroom and down the stairs so she could finally meet him. When she got down there, the red door was already been unlocked, and as soon as it was opened, her heart skipped a beat at the sight in front of her. Jughead was half asleep, with his messenger bag hanging on his right shoulder, and she saw as his eyes widened as soon as they met hers.

“Eh? Betty? It’s 3am. What are you—“

The raven haired boy didn’t even have time to finish his question before his girlfriend literally jumped on him. His keys fell on the floor and so did his bag, and as in an automatic movement, his arms encircled her waist so he could properly hold her up. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and her lips were already pressed to his in a strong and breathtaking kiss.

It was warm, soft, intense and it was filled with pure and sincere love. An everlasting that love that has already faced so many hardships and only grew stronger amidst the adversities. Her cheeks were blushing as her bare feet were still far from touching the ground, and the pressure of his fingertips on her small body was strong enough to make her feel safe.

He would not let her fall, she knew. And even if he did— even if, one day, he’s not strong enough— then they will fall together.

Neither of them knew how long they had remained like that, but eventually, he slowly put her down, his hands now resting on her lower back, as their eyes looked at one other. The Jones boy was left speechless, and all she could do about it was suppress the urge to laugh. If anything, she’s one of the few people in the world who are able to leave him speechless, and she can’t help but to feel proud of herself for that.

“I…You…What—“ He cleared his throat, then, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds as he finally tried to find the words she had stolen from him. “Hey, Betts. Nice to see you here."

“Hi, Jug.” She smiled. “Nice to see you, too. I thought you weren’t gonna come home tonight.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too, but I ran out of coffee there. And you know I can’t survive without it.”

“Oh, you really can’t live without your midnight coffee. Though it’s still a mystery how your stomach doesn’t complain about it.”

“Years of practice, Betts.” He smirked, his fingers unconsciously drawing circles on her hips. “But the real mystery here is why on earth are you awake, young lady?"

“I had an epiphany!” She said, a little louder than she needed to, joy clearly present in her voice.

“Oh…” His eyes widened, a mild surprise taking over his expression. “Cool, I guess? Hope it was a positive one.”

“It was a wonderful one, Jug!”

“Well, I’m really happy for you, then. And happy for me because of this unexpected and very pleasant display of affection. What was it about?”

“You.”

“Me?” He arched his brows. “Could it be that you’ve finally realized who’s the best detective of this duo?”

“Definitely not. I already know it’s me.” She smirked. “I was actually having some trouble sleeping with all of these thoughts about us, but now I’m much better.”

“Sounds really great, Betts. Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Definitely! I can’t wait for you to hear it all. I need you to hear it all.” Her eyes grew fonder at such words, and she watched as his expression mimicked her own. Jughead knew whatever had stolen her sleep was an important matter to her and if she needed him to hear all about it, then, he would.

He wanted to. He really wanted to.

“Okay…” He started, his voice filled with tenderness and honesty. “Then let’s get inside, make some coffee and you can tell me all about it.”

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Why not?"

“Actually…” Betty said, her voice laced with a certain tone he knew way too well. “I was thinking that we could go to our room instead.”

“Do you prefer talking there?”

“Not really, but… Maybe we could leave it for tomorrow. It’s not like I’m in a hurry to tell you or anything.”

“What? But we’re both awake now. What else could be more important than that?”

“Well…” She leaned in, slowly, and whispered something only for his ears to hear. It was a fast and productive talk that, in a matter of seconds, made his eyes widen and a silly smile take over his lips. Betty, then, returned to her previous position, and she knew her words had served their purpose.

“We can certainly talk tomorrow.” He said, eagerly, leaving his belongings on the floor next to the entrance right after he closed the door behind him. The blonde let out a muffled giggle, and before she could take another step, he lifted her up to carry her upstairs. Her hands delicately cupped his cheeks, and softly, she planted another kiss on his lips.

Once more, they were just two teenagers in love, enjoying their night together. They didn’t care about anything else at that moment, and their minds weren’t even thinking about trivial things such as the future, his coffee, her mother waking up or the fact that they both had english classes in a couple of hours.

At that moment, nothing else mattered. Nothing but their love.

And their future—oh, what a delightful adventure awaited for them.

fin.

#bughead #bughead fanfiction #bughead fic #riverdale #bugheadforever #mybugheadfics

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