#so they aren't doing comics jughead.....

[naivety]

JERONICA KISS????

[rythmicjea]

On the last day of summer vacation... The Writer and His Muse

Full disclosure, I wrote another version of this last night. It was... factually correct. But it just wasn't good. So I saved it and took a few steps away and realized what I was supposed to be writing. I apologize now this is going to be long.

When I came up with the idea to write this series, I wasn't sure of the structure. If I'm honest, I still don't know lol. And after being called the "Riverdale Analysis Auteur" (thank you @storkmuffin ❤️), I promise to do the utmost to put forth only my best for you. There isn't going to be an uploading schedule so follow the tag "Code Word Jeronica" to see when I post.

My intention with this is to show that from the pilot there has always been the opportunity for Jeronica. I know what you're saying "there's an opportunity for ALL pairings."

And, yes, while you are correct. There were some possibilities that were more feasible than others (Sorry Jarchies!). For the skeptics out there, the showrunners did chemistry tests with so many pairings. Cole even admitted that he did one with Cami and he was open to a Jughead/Veronica relationship "It's the CW, anything can happen"! Coding isn't always intentional or needs to be taken seriously. And that's okay. As a writer myself, I understand the "side character curse" all too well.

With all of that being said, I will only be focusing on the evidence we get in the show itself. I may reference the comics sporadically (like how Jughead and Veronica have been paired up/dated several times in the comics, throughout the comic's history. Below is a picture from Pep #154 in 1962!) but I'll never reference anything outside of the source material as evidence.

The Writer and His Muse

It's established from the pilot that Jughead is a writer, an aspiring novelist. All writers need a muse. Something that inspires them to put pen to paper. In Greek Mythology, Muse was a Greek Goddess who gave inspiration to all. Often, a muse is referred to as a beautiful woman but it can be anything. The show Riverdale is the muse for fanfiction writers who write in the universe. Jughead has several muses throughout the show. He goes through various tribulations with his writing. We see him suffer with writer's block, make a deal with the devil (both Jugheads in Rivervale), and we know that the story that put him on the map was a telling of him and his friends.

In the overall show we know of five big stories that Jughead writes. Jason Blossom's murder, The Red Dahlia, Killing Mr. Honey, The Outcasts, and Bend. Towards. Justice. All follow a pretty basic plotline. Something happens, a group of teens have to investigate, there's a surprise twist, and then a resolution.

But, through all of these he has one muse that is constant. Would you believe me if I told you it was our fair Veronica? Because it is. Before you ask "What about Betty?", let me ask you the same. What about her? She is a character in his stories. Sometimes she's the main character. But being the main character and being a muse are two very different things. Veronica's presence in his stories symbolize different major elements to a story. More than any other Riverdale character.

Throughout the series we see Jughead struggle with his writing. His father tells him to keep writing as a way to get out of Riverdale and not get caught up with the Serpents. We see him have profound writer's block, plagiarize another author, change the way he writes due to his disability, and physically lose his ability to write. His writer's block, and the complications with it, start in season 5 and aren't resolved until season 6.

Here's an unexpected bonus from helping Veronica...

...I started writing again.

She is, and has always been, his muse. This is the first time he acknowledges it, but the clues have been there since day one.

Jason Blossom's Murder

The first story begins with the pilot's very first scene. It also introduces the audience to a concept called "The Center of a Story". The center of a story is just how it sounds. It is the element that brings everyone together. However, while this can be the main character and what that character goes through, it can simply be a person or place that has very little interaction at all with the main story. In a murder mystery, which Season 1 is, the center of a story can be the murder victim. In telling that story we can either have flashbacks of the person's life up until they are killed; or, they are simply the reason why everyone comes together (and not even just to find out why. Sometimes the why isn't necessary).

Jason Blossom is the center of the story. It's all about finding out who killed him. But the muse of the story? The hook? The character's entrance that actually connects everyone together? That's Veronica. "On the last day of summer vacation, a new mystery rolled into town." Jason's murder is the B-plot of the season. It might have kicked everything off, and the action might be connected to him, but it's not the entire reason why Jughead is writing this book. In fact, the opening soliloquy says:

Our story is about a town, a small town, and the people who live in the town. From a distance it presents itself like so many other small towns all over the world. Safe, decent, innocent. Get closer though? And you start seeing the shadows underneath. The name of our town is Riverdale.

The story was never about Jason Blossom.

The Red Dahlia

I'm not going to touch on this much, because I have a whole post planned just about this episode. But, I want to point out that out of all of the stories we see him write, this is the only story that focuses solely on one character. It's completely about Veronica. She, like Jason, is the catalyst. The difference is that, unlike Jason, she plays a major role.

Killing Mr. Honey

In his last story to submit to the University of Iowa, it's about how seven teenagers try to get rid of their unethical and overbearing principal. We have known up to this point that Jughead loves horror. He likes to write "Lovecraftian" style stories. The difference between the two are HPL rejected morality. He considered himself a "Morality Atheist". Jughead, on the other hand, loves morality tales. (In 1955 there's a whole episode about it.) This is most evident in this telling. Each character represents an architype. Veronica, arguably, is the most important architype. She represents morality. She's the only one who really challenges what they are doing. Specifically, Jughead. At face value someone can go "Well, Jughead and Veronica aren't friends so it makes sense". First off, no, they very much are friends. But, second, if they weren't, why put her in such a place of honor. In actuality, given his character in the show (and the comics), Archie should be the moral compass of the story.

The Outcasts

The Outcasts is really the only story that we have very little knowledge of. I freely admit that for evidence, it's the weakest of the five. It presents coded details for the audience to infer their meaning. Jughead is the Viper Leader, the Serpents are the Vipers, but is Betty The Homecoming Queen? Most likely. The co-ed he takes home tells him that he wrote a "very sexy book" in regards to the Viper Leader and the Homecoming Queen. However, in his drunken voicemail, he lambasts Betty. One line in particular stands out "You're a cold, fake, duplicitous bitch. And once people read my book, everyone's going to see that". Now, we don't know what is in the book (Kind of wish they'd released it) and it could end with the Homecoming Queen cheating on the Viper Leader with the Football Captain (I'm inferring that that would be Archie's character). Or, they could have lived happily ever after. Or... using the ambiguity to stretch the possibility... the Homecoming Queen could have been Veronica.

Why? Well, there's a reason why the Enemies to Lovers trope is so popular. What better way to get back at your ex for cheating but to immortalize their best friend (who was also cheated on by your best friend) as the true-love-fairy-tale-princess of your wildly popular NYT best seller?

Bend. Towards. Justice.

The last story we see Jughead write is when they've been taken back to 1955. 7x01 is very reminiscent of the pilot. But, for Jughead and his writing, it's always been in the details. Season 7 is my favorite season, and trust me, I have a lot to say about what happens. So, I'll keep this brief. Even when he describes Tabitha it's very factual. There's no emotion. He lists who she is and the reason why she might know what's going on. Please don't take this to mean that at this point he isn't still in love with her, because he very much is. When he sees her, he doesn't know the 1955 version isn't his girlfriend. He keeps all of his emotions bottled up until he can figure out a plan. And to spare her from any craziness because her memories also might be gone. Up until this point, everyone's description is "This person is here, and this is who they are". Including himself.

For starters I live in an abandoned train car with Hot Dog which... actually tracks... Betty and Kevin aren't merely friends, they're dating. Cheryl's twin brother is alive, but he's not Jason, he's Julian. No sign of a Reggie yet. But Archie exists and he's pretty much a teen Charles Atlas... I've been waiting to reconnect with the one person who might shed some light on our predicament because she was both Chronokenetic and the town's guardian angel. My girlfriend, Tabitha Tate.

He mentions that all of this information is "overwhelming, heartbreaking". But he doesn't say why because there are many reasons why. His best friends don't remember anything. Do they even really know him? With one one question he realizes that the person he loves doesn't love him back. But he breaks this way of introducing the "characters" when he introduces Veronica. It's all emotion. There's even a sexy jazz trumpet riff announcing her.

"Damn..." His thoughts whispered to him breathlessly. "Even in 1955, Veronica Lodge still knew how to make an entrance." He goes from boredom to attention. He straightens his shoulders, he sits up to see her better, and he doesn't blink. Like everyone else, and very unlike him, his whole attention is on her.

THE PILOT

Now that we've gone through the five major stories we know he writes, let's go back to the end to see the beginning. The last episode of the entire series ends with a typewriter. All of the stories mentioned above are stories written within the main one. Riverdale itself is a story (possibly Archie Comics fanfiction) written by Jughead.

The pilot itself, as all TV shows, has a narrative woven throughout. There's characters, conflict, plot, etc. Though the episode opens with Jason's murder the pilot was never about that. Hell, Jughead is barely featured in it. We see him two significant times. The first time is two minutes in, where he's drinking his coffee writing his story. And he says the classic line, "We were still talking about the Fourth of July tragedy on the last day of summer vacation, when a new mystery rolled into town." We are introduced to Veronica Lodge, by Jughead, right after we're introduced to him. At this point he's only named Cheryl and Jason Blossom as that is the impetus for this show/season. "There needs to be a dead body".

The pilot is about Veronica. She moves to Riverdale, she meets Archie and Betty, she mentions Our Town, and her desire for Archie is established. Compared to Veronica, it takes 8 minutes to mention Jason again and 10 minutes to bring him back into the plot. Then nothing significant happens with him until the very end of the episode! But even after that brief interlude it's only 5 minutes later Veronica is given her first conflict. And by the halfway point, she's thoroughly decimated said conflict.

So, Miss Auteur, why are you bringing this up?

Because Riverdale was supposed to be about Archie. But by the end of the first half of the first episode Veronica is the only character to have a full plot arc and even an epilogue! More importantly, she is immediately woven into the fabric of the town. Even though the Varchie romance is introduced we must remember how the episode is being framed.

If you compare the narration to the writing on Jughead's laptop, it doesn't match up. Cole Sprouse might have read everything on said laptop and it was shortened for time. But, I wouldn't read too much into the discrepancies. I mean, the previous two pages are exact copies of each other lol. And while there might not be numbered pages it's at least four and I'm baffled about what he could have written prior to the opening lines. Also, as a writer, there are the things we think we're going to write and the things we actually do write (For example, I wrote a 16 chapter 100k+ Zack and Cody fanfic, and I didn't know the show existed! The Suite Adult Life). Our thoughts vs our words carry weight to a story. An argument can be made that either position is the most important. Is it better to write out that which we keep so closely guarded so it may live on in infamy? Or are the most profound thoughts those we keep closest to our chests?

Though one little line stands out when I do read it...

"See, the Blossoms had their tendrils wrapped around the entire town - no one wanted to make enemies of them."

Who is the person not wrapped up in their tendrils? And who immediately made an enemy of Cheryl Blossom?

Bisous, Bisous... Votre Auteur.

[forgottenspring]

Mild rant on Alastor bc I'm tired.

*takes deep breath*

I was going to stay out of this so rip to my inbox.

Does anybody remember the whole ace doxing list on here? The whole discussion of not shipping gay characters with the opposite gender? The rep for pan/bi representation and the steps to do it right? Does anybody remember when ppl on here discussed how aros and aces aren't a part of the queer community bc they're not 'gay enough' in a way? Bc I do. That was about a decade ago. And I remember when Alastor was first introduced in the pilot and ppl not accepting he was aroace back then.

It doesn't matter if Alastor is entirely aroace and if he's capable of dating or not.

What matters is we still have so little ace representation and acceptance, especially aroace rep, that a few years ago when a real person Jaiden Animations came out as aroace, ppl tried to destroy her, bc even with a perfect valid explanation of her just saying aroaces are their own thing and she just doesn't want to date, ppl treated it like she was lying or was trying to sneak into the queer community and was straight or all the other horrible things yall might remember "fans" did to her.

Alastor being aroace isn't about being the rep of "Aroaces can feel attraction!!!" bc be real honest.

How many aroace popular characters can ppl list that a regular person on the street is going to know? Bc I've heard all their arguments to invalidate their representation.

Jughead? Oh you mean Cole Sprouse who made out and got it on with Lili Reinhart playing Betty bc he found her sexy? Oh but in the old comics he's a gay character whose in denial. Yelena Boleva? Who? Oh that woman? She's hot she's just traumatized and needs to find the right person. Charlie Weasley? Oh he was only in the books? He was confirmed as aroace through a passive comment most ppl didn't know about from the author that never used the term? Luffy? You mean one of the most shipped characters in One Piece? No he's just an idiot/childish so he doesn't understand girls are pretty. Caduceus Clay? Sorry I didn't watch Critical Role whose that? Are you sure he's aroace? He feels gay to me.

I can list more ppl, but I'm sure most ppl couldn't.

I remember the whole discussion of the pan/bi representation argument of "Yes! We know pan/bi ppl can date the opposite gender. But straight ppl don't know about pan/bi nearly at all or don't accept it," so showing it as gay, who know the term more, until it's shown clearly the character is queer and not "confused straights" they then can have opposite gender attraction. Bc sooooo many pan/bi characters end up "straight" at the end of their show/book. Bc I remember when ppl refused to accept that Deadpool is pan bc of his wife and started freaking out when he dated a nonbinary person in the comics or helped that one genderqueer person he knew.

Representation is about showing to ppl what they're not understanding about the identity in the plainest sense of the words of the identity, then when there's enough rep to show they're not all the same, then you can have the ones that break the rules.

Alastor whether or not he wants to date doesn't matter. What matters is this whole situation blew out of proportion bc ppl refused to accept that some ppl don't feel comfy shipping him. Bc they see themselves in him and don't want that. BUT! Also ppl under the aro and ace umbrella also have no rep and wanted to see him breaking the stereotype they probs have yelled at them of "You can't have a partner you're aroace I forbid it" and wanted to see thru their own experiences how that would be done.

Here's the problem.... As someone who has read a lot of aroace headcanon fanfics as an aroace....... A lot of ppl who are allo don't realize aroace "crushes" are missing emotions... That's why they're aroace. And they'll write them like they're the same just "muted" or "needs to warm up" kinda thing. Or make the character's love "childish" to explain the lack of romance/sex. Which is messed up. And that's the problem here.

Alastor didn't need to be this blown out of proportion of a situation. The problem is ppl found him sexy and the classic "But aroace hot, they can't be aroace bc why hot?" discussion got brought back up without the gentle post format discussions and instead it was a lot of shippers on tiktok with tiny word counts arguing a complex issue.

Ppl should be allowed to ship whatever (except problematic I know yall too well), especially if they see themselves in the characters and especially if they have the same identity and want to explore that!!

The truth of the matter is this is such a huge issue that just keeps happening bc ppl are too used to fandom queer spheres where ppl already know aroace means "off the table" and so they want to play with qprs or grayromantics/sexuals not knowing what that entails bc there's sooooo lil aroace rep that actually explores being aroace and a lot of ppl don't know the basics, and even how very different aroace "off the table" is when you aren't the classic "uwu I'm just innocent and have no friends or importance to the plot so just ignore me and have me be adopted by one of the main couples as a 'kid' figure."

Not to mention that a lot of ppl still think ace means aroace. That aces can't date bc there's ppl who don't know that romantic and sexual attraction are different!

I'm just.... So tired. So very tired of having ppl shout at me what it means to be aroace and being unable to look up the lil aroace rep we have bc of this issue I've seen a million times is all.

[alaffy]

Riverdale, ep. 7x13 - The Crucible (spoilers)

Well, we're finally moving the story along in episode thirteen...of twenty. Sigh. I will say that I didn't dislike this episode as much as I have the past few but still....

It all starts with an accusation of Communism against the English teacher. She's fired and Penelope is put in her place (temporarily). She actually doesn't do much. Archie is bummed because she was the only teacher who understood him (seriously, this should have been a warning).

Betty, meanwhile, finds out the Blue and Gold is being shut down because, well, teenagers don't have anything to say. This is also reinforced by the fact that Alice takes Betty's typewriter and telephone. Betty decides to start an underground newsletter instead and it becomes popular. God, let this mean our Betty is coming back.

Cheryl is told by Clifford that she's been named as someone who has an unnatural relationship. Clifford is able to squash that rumor, so long as Cheryl confirms the names of others on the list. Cheryl refuses, but then Clifford threatens to take the Vixens away. Cheryl warns Toni, Clay, and Kevin about the list. She realizes that it must be Evelyn who ratted them out. Cheryl then spends most of the episode trying to figure out a way to refuse to sign the confession without loosing the Vixens. Strangely, Toni, Clay, and Kevin treat this as some sort of true moral dilemma and not point out how these accusations could, in fact, completely destroy their lives. They even decide that the best option is that Cheryl and Kevin pretend to date and Clay and Toni pretend to date so that they can say the accusations aren't true. Still, in the end, Cheryl hears a Archie speak a monologue (more on that in a minute) and decides to tell her father she won't sign the papers, even though it means loosing the Vixens. The two couples still do the pretend dating thing because they ain't stupid and their names are still on a list.

Veronica, meanwhile, is surprised to discover that Hiram has come to see her. He has, in fact, not come to see her. He's in trouble, again. He's being accused of being a Communist because of a trip he made to Cuba. And because he happened to be photographed with Castro (give him whatever fake name you want. It's Castro). He wants Veronica to lie and say it was a family trip. It was not, in fact, a family trip. He was there with his mistress. Veronica, after seeing Archie's monologue (more of that in a minute), decides to say that it was a family trip...provided that Hiram is honest to Hermione and gives Veronica the deed to the apartment. Later, Hermione comes to the apartment and lets Veronica know that she and Hiram will divorce. By the by, so much of this story is lifted from Lucille Ball's actual life that it's...just pathetic on the writers part.

Archie is bummed about his teacher, because she was the only one who supported his poetry writing (clearly she has no taste). The adults in his life are concerned that she may have tried to influence him (God, the clues were...right there about what would happen next). Well, not Frank. Frank's worried that people may feel that, if Archie writes poetry, he might be *gay.* Archie decides to visit his teacher, who gives him a copy of The Crucible (which really doesn't help her case any). Archie decides to preform a monologue from that play (and KJ is clearly trying to audition for future acting rolls). Veronica meets up with Archie and tells him how much she appreciates what he said. She gives him a kiss on the cheek. And then they kiss. Well, we figured they would bring back the old triangle. It could be worse.

And then Grundy appears.

Fuck. My. Life.

But, wait, she's married; which is hopefully the shows way of saying nothing will happen. But it's Riverdale...and they took hope out to the back and shot it a long time ago.

Finally, we have Jughead and Ethel. It turns out that no one will sell comic books anymore. So, Jughead and Ethel...steal some of the comics from Pep to run an underground side hustle? Seriously, they couldn't have stolen every single one they sold....so was Pep involved somehow? But Dilton turns Narc and they're shut down. And so, they adults decide it's time for full measures. The principal tells the students that he'll buy their old comics and then he burns them in the Riverdale High parking lot (ok, as a Library Associate who lives in a state that is very much trying to censor what people read...yeah, that was terrifying).

Anyway, next week is our final musical episode. And, as it's all about Archie, the rumors must be true and it's all original music written by Roberto. We're truly in the deepest pits of hell now!

[mejomonster]

Oh an FYI, for better or worse the Riverdale show is intensely inspired by Twin Peaks.

I feel like if you've ever seen twin peaks, this becomes immediately obvious within seconds of turning on Riverdale.

Like, on technicality, yes riverdale is "based on" Archie comics. And in a sense that's not totally wrong. It definitely plays with 50s aesthetics despite being set in 2000s (sort of like Twin Peaks lives in the "retro" even though it's technically not set in the past), and it uses the fact its based on a fun comic to really just have Fun going all out camp. It doesn't Care the bad guys name is Blossom like a fucking cartoon lol, it IS like one. It doesn't care the colors aren't about the realism like at all but about pretty colors, cartoons don't care if they're going for what pops. It doesn't care its calling stuff Jingle Jangle and the Serpents and the Black Hood and the Sugar Man, because hey that's exactly what a kids cartoon would do especially an older one having a fun time being ridiculous. So like yeah, in that way, you can see the comic vibe. And in a way I don't like really noticing at all and would rather ignore, it does in some ways try to keep some elements of those original core characters (which in some ways I Ah really wish Riverdale had nothing to do with an existing property because then I'd actually have no issues with it at all lol... but 1 we live in a time where almost everything is a remake adaptation prequel sequel and that's like the whole Industry top levels fault at the end of the day-.- and 2 for better and worse I think in some ways the show does actually care for the original material, which I did not expect and feel conflicted about and mostly want to avoid but it Is there if you look for it.)

Like. In a way Riverdale is if you made an Archie fanfiction Twin Peaks au. It's so Twin peaks. It screams Twin peaks for modern teenagers.

Like? Alice Cooper is the same actress that played the waitress with the abusive truck driver husband in Twin Peaks (they even use a Twin peaks image of her for the newspaper article of her younger self). Jughead's dad is one of the bad guys from Scream (and I feel like that on its own screams a LOT about horror and camp themes and references). So many shots in Riverdale (at least up to the season 2 I've watched) are direct shots from Twin Peaks. The color scheme reliance on red is Twin peaks, and the blue reliance is Riverdale playing with its own use of color the same way. The Riverdale town sign is a direct shot from Twin Peaks. Jughead and the biker gang in GENERAL and the Whyte Worm are like huge obvious parallels to the leather jacket wearing biker gang in Twin Peaks lol??? The weird dialogue, while not having the same effect at ALL of Twin peaks surreal shit, is likewise obviously trying to not be normal. Riverdale doesn't want to sound normal, it's happy to be weird as shit and whatever IT wants to be, and that's a very Twin Peaks attitude.

My dad said when Twin Peaks aired everyone thought it was so weird and interesting. And like. I'm not sure I can say I've got an opinion of Riverdale much yet, but I can say yeah... if you're used to media trying to be normal, like the other stuff, realistic, no surrealness in your media, then lmao of course Riverdale is weird. Yet if you've ever seen Twin Peaks or equally bizarre stuff, Riverdale is pretty tame and mundane and only in the shallow end of weird to be quite Frank (as of mid season 2 where I am). Like... I am DESPERATE for Riverdale to take off the training wheels for its "audience thats never seen Twin Peaks" and FINALLY go as weird as Twin Peaks! Or weirder! Give me weirder! It's still actually like... Twin Peaks episode 1 level weird, just with more camp. Riverdale hasn't even entered end of season 1 Twin Peak Bizarre levels yet.

Anyway back to my point. I think seeing it as a homage to Twin Peaks sort of makes obvious a lot of stuff that seemed... incomprehensible about Riverdale, tbh? Like... why have a biker gang, why act like you're in the past even though you're set in the present, why have a killer, why have an adult manipulating a student, why have fucked up rich people messing with the town, why have a weird bar that fights happen at, why have murders and a curfew no one listens to, why have random people hook up and have secret affairs and ties, why do people say weird shit, why are there sudden dance or singing scenes, why would a character show up doing a drug deal or hiding jewelry or trying to run away or... because Twin Peaks did. So MUCH of Riverdale is so clearly a homage to Twin Peaks.

I'm waiting for a log lady equivalent, a confusing dream sequence, a truly fucked up gambling club full of teen girls, a doppelganger, stuff Twin Peaks did that was bizarre that Riverdale hasn't even reached yet.

Tldr I just think like. It's neat. It's nice even. I like this aspect. I think a lot of early reactions I saw to Riverdale, a long long time ago back when they really were reacting to like "very ordinary plot" season 1? Was in part people reacting to a show doing some things like Twin Peaks, but they'd never seen a show do That before and so were just like wow WEIRD. And like. Fair. But also sometimes the weird feeling... is the point.

[thatiranianphantom]

Okay, my thoughts on the new description.

(some under a cut because, you know, it's me and I share many opinions that perhaps I shouldn't)

In the style of @raymondebidochonlifechoices's hilarious recap of RAS' interview, though perhaps a bit less hilarious.

The seventh season of Riverdale goes where no season of Riverdale has dared to go before—the 1950s!

Wonder why we've never been there before. Not because it's fucking stupid, but because it took till now for Ted Sullivan to have this absolute brainchild that will revolutionize the show.

Picking up where last season ended, Jughead Jones (Sprouse) finds himself trapped in the 1950s. He has no idea how he got there, nor how to get back to the present. 

The writers: We watch our own show, what are you talking about? We remembered that plot point, didn't we! Aren't you proud of us? Huh? Aren't you?

His friends are no help, as they are living seemingly authentic lives, similar to their classic Archie Comics counterparts, unaware that they’ve ever been anywhere but the 1950s. 

Oh rats, because typically, they are an absolute bastion of support and assistance.

Archie Andrews (Apa) is the classic all-American teen, coming of age, getting into trouble, and learning life-lessons

S1-25 year old teen - absolutely insufferable Archie is back, and this time, he's even more unaware! Hopefully with less grooming, especially from a show that is convinced it's making a profound social statement.

Betty Cooper (Reinhart) is the girl next door, starting to question everything about her perfect life—including her controlling mother Alice (Madchen Amick)

Somehow, some way, we are still circling the same plot about abusive parents. And you know how this refrain goes, people. Alice is horrendously abusive, she cries, we are supposed to forgive her. Looks like something ripped straight out of s1 but peep the absolutely no implication of anything BA related.

Veronica Lodge (Mendes) is a Hollywood starlet who moved to Riverdale under mysterious circumstances;

California and not New York???!!!! So exotic! Very wow! What an incredible stroke of genius, Roberto! They have not been shy about pumping the Varchie up, have they? It also usually only exists in addition to another ship....

Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) is the Queen Bee with a withering wit and a secret longing

I mean, Cheryl's plot has functionally never changed, so I don't know who's shocked at this, except for maybe the writers thinking it's revolutionary to recycle Cheryl's S2 plot instead of her S1 plot. Note that Mads and Vanessa's Instagrams are and have always been a pantheon of spoilers and it does look like they're doing a lot of filming together.

Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan) is an activist fighting for the Black students of recently integrated Riverdale High

.....I can see my brain. I can literally see my brain, my eyes are rolling so hard. How do we make an already insufferable (my opinion, stressing that here) character even more insufferable and pretend we are making a profound social statment, something we are absolutely incapable of making? Toni is an activist for integration!

(real talk, I think we'll see very little of this plot, as we'll see very little plot for the secondary characters)

Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) is a “square” crooner wrestling with his sexual identity

Kill me now, my dear followers. And hey, spec here, I feel like Kevin may be dating Betty?

Reggie Mantle (Charles Melton) is a basketball star from farm country

The one thing I hope is true. God, I hope my dear himbo Reggie is back.

 Fangs Fogarty (Drew Ray Tanner) is a greaser who’s destined to be an Elvis-type star

Seriously, what ammunition does Drew have on the writers that he keeps getting brought back? My thought is they're going back to Kangs though, if we're going the OG way.

It isn’t until Jughead is visited by Tabitha Tate (Erinn Westbrook)—Riverdale’s Guardian Angel—that he learns the cosmic truth about their predicament.

Just....one facepalm is not enough. Five hundred facepalms are not enough. Tabitha, a character that is to put it generously not well loved and has been around for two seasons, is the Guardian Angel???

We know that they resolve Jughead remembering by the end of the premiere, per RAS, so I honestly wonder if Tabitha's role in S7 is very light. If Jughead forgets, her role is essentially moot and we have seen very little of her in BTS.

Anyway, my dear fellow sufferers, let's get through this together, one last time before we are finally set free.

[fizzingwizard]

a brief complaint? observation? complervation? obserplaint

I don't watch Riverdale, but this is tumblr and it was impossible to not hear about the final season hijinks, namely the polycule. alright thats cool but i couldnt help side-eyeing how it's really the boys get to sleep with all the girls, and the girls get to sleep with each other as well as the boys... but the boys aren't physically interested in each other. recently i read a quote from one of the show creators where they said Archie/Jughead would have been "too hot" which, lol, but Betty/Veronica isn't?? but anyway was certainly a joke, as the rest was about not forcing something to happen for the sake of representation.

individually all of that is fine, and i hate to nitpick but... I can't help it. I really can't. You tick all the boxes, not for wonderful lgbtqia couples, but for a male fantasy: you can date more than one girl you find hot and they're also bi and into each other. Not part of the typical fantasy are having to share the girls with another guy, and not actually watching the girls at it yourself. But that doesn't matter, because the fantasy isn't for Archie and Jughead, it's for the viewers. Who get to see everything.

Just a few years ago we X-men fans were treated to the great Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops threesome. This was the culmination of literally decades of pining, envy, and truly epic ship wars. At first I was like, wow, really?? Even Cyke and Wolvie getting it on with each other? But that wasn't it - all three of them weren't together - Cyke and Wolvie just each got a piece of Jean and had to live with each other also having a piece of her. It was the sharing of the woman in the relationship which was seen as so amazing and "progressive." My bf was like "lucky Jean!" Meanwhile my reaction was, holy shit, do not want.

If I really believed this threesome came about because it's what Jean wants, that'd be one thing - and yes I'm aware Jean is fictional and can want whatever the writers want. But not even superhero comics are written in a vacuum. All I could see in my head was the writers throwing Jean to the dogs like a piece of meat. "You both want her? You can both have her!" I didn't, and don't see how Jean mattered in any way except that both Scott and Logan want her. And tbh, if they had done the same thing, but also made Jean in love with Ororo, I would still feel the same way: that the Ororo bit was shoehorned in to make people like me whine less about the curious lack of balance here. Lucky Jean, indeed.

So there's two situations which are canonical in their respective universes. It's kind of stunning to me. We lept right past "gay male representation" to "male fantasy re-spun as gay representation." The guys get the girl. The girls make out with each other. The guys still get to be like "no homo, bro," somehow. And this is like, so progressive. What's progressive about it?? Men have been watching lesbian porn since forever. My brother once told me he didn't believe women who said they were bi were really bi because he assumed they were lying to impress men with their bi-ness. Then there's the "sharing with another man" thing which I guess is such an impressive feat. Isn't that just a form of voyeurism though. Don't lots of people get off just on knowing their partner is wanted by others? I'm not seeing the sexual liberation here. I just see girls being sexy in ways men have always wanted them to be, and the men just kinda existing.

Some people insist the greater acceptance of women-loving-women on screen means women in general have far more sexual freedom than men. But being free because people think you're non-sexual or that your sexuality is for them, thus controllable, isn't freedom. There's a reason people believe Queen Victoria thought it was impossible to be a lesbian. She didn't actually. But people were happy to think she did, because they secretly didn't understand how it was possible for two women who lack the right "equipment" lol. That was culture talking. Furthermore, half of what allowed women to sneak around having fun lesbian times with each other was homophobia itself. Because women (in our strict, transphobic gender binary definition) don't have dicks. In many societies around the world, it was historically okay for men to have sex with other men as long as they were the "penetrating" partner. The one in the "male" role. To be in the "female" role was degrading. (There were also class distinctions that determined which role someone would be, depending on the culture.)

It was about pride and dominance. (This stood out to me in the comments on the Archie polycule article: fans [whoops it was the writer of the article!] were worried about how Archie and Jughead's actors would have felt about having to do homosexual scenes with each other. But they didn't express any concern at all for the possibility that Betty and Veronica's actresses may have not liked it.) And for some reason, it still is today. You can have TV lesbians, not because you're so progressive and pro-women loving women, but because lesbians are hot. But TV gays are another matter. They're not hot, at least if what you're trying to construct isn't queer representation, but a male fantasy. It's embarrassing to admit you, a man, are attracted to your male friend, let alone that you have soft feelings toward him. Honestly, even the lesbian relationships are often reduced to their sexual aspect and free of any solid foundation for why these two women picked each other. Which, I mean, it's all good to have fun for fun's sake as long as everything is safe sane and consensual. But it is rather playing in to the stereotype that homosexuals are sex-obsessed, and will wind up in socially-acceptable, straight relationships when they decide they want to have families and contribute to society.

I realize I've only used two examples here, Riverdale and X-men. Which don't really have much in common (although also more than you might think, haha). One reason why I fixed on them is that they're both media with a history. They've been around forever. They have fans across ideological and political spectra. We've seen a lot more positive queer relationships in movies and TV over the past fifteen or twenty years, including gay male relationships, and that's awesome. But by and large it stayed away from the most popular characters in these long-lasting brands. Wolverine has an alternate universe self who is gay and in a relationship with Hercules. It is hairy and bold, I guess. But not as bold as Wolverine being gay. And I'm not saying he has to be. I agree that queer relationships shouldn't be forced. I am saying I think it's curious that Wolverine can't be gay, but he can be in a threesome where he and Scott both get what they want, Jean, and the male fans don't need to feel uncomfortable, and can tell their girlfriends that Jean is so lucky. And Riverdale, like I said I'm not a fan, I never watched it, but my impression is that it was pretty weird and strange in a lot of ways... weird and strange enough to let its female characters be in love with each other as well as the boys... but not weird enough for the boys to do the same? I do think that if these weren't media with such a long history, things would be different. But no one wanted to upset the "true fans." And what makes a true fan is not wanting male characters to be gay. Female characters, sure, that's hot! But if you're waggling your brow at the male ones you must be just into it for the hot guys and incapable of fully appreciating the series. Lol. Double standard what?

This is more or less my struggle with poly relationships in media. It's not that I don't think they should be there. I just think that all the ones I've seen have been cop-outs on the writer's part, either because they don't want to disappoint fans by picking one ship to be end game or because they want the media fuss a poly relationship will make. While, ultimately, the poly relationships in question are just the sort that anyone who's used the internet in the past two decades has seen in porn ads way more times than we wanted to. Where is the polycule where the guys are dating the girls, but also dating each other, and the girls aren't interested in each other sexually at all? I can tell you where to find it: fanfiction! On a popular TV show though? You know, a place where men are more likely to see it? Hmm. Maybe tomorrow...

[chenfordsrollisi]

Riverdale Final Season Thoughts 7x01-7x13

I've been watching the final season and I've got 7 episodes left. While the show was never amazing, it was at least somewhat decent for the first 4 seasons. Then it was like the writers decided, 'who gives af, let's just write the craziest and stupidest stuff we can come up with and call it good writing'.

I'm loving all the Jeronica friendship scenes. I wish there had been more throughout the show, but I'm definitely enjoying them in this last season. The Jeronica kiss in 7x04, I loved it. Too many disgusting Barchie scenes. Not enough Bughead scenes. Loving the Choni stuff, but I wish Cheryl would be able to be herself and be able to be free and with Toni. Her parents and brother are still complete a-holes and I wish they would be killed off. Alice is still a total female dog to Betty, and Hal, too. They both need to be killed off as well. Ethel's parents suck and needed to be killed. She got screwed with Alice dumping her in the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. The principal and psycho therapist need to be killed, too. Pop's is still great, love him. I still like Fangs, and Kevin. Tabitha still annoys me, but I'm glad that she and Jug aren't getting too many scenes together. It's tolerable. Despite how much I hate Archie, I like that he's been a good guy to Cheryl. I like that he's been a decent friend to Reggie. I've liked seeing Archie's Mom, but could do without the a-hole uncle. Too much shirtless Archie. I love that Jug gets to write, even if it's just comics. Too much talk about how a woman's place is in the home, and she shouldn't have a career. Not a fan of Betty and Cheryl being a beard for Kevin, but I understand since it's the 50's. Don't like him and Clay and Archie also being a beard for Cheryl and Toni, but again, I get it. Cheryl's parents and brother are still complete psychos. I don't like the stupid 50's version of Sheriff Keller. It's just wrong! I hate this guy, for making Kevin feel bad. Archie's uncle is such a dick for talking bad about Kevin. Hate that guy. At least in the regular Riverdale Sheriff Keller is okay with Kevin being gay and is there for him. In this stupid 50's version, he's just as much of a tool about it as everyone else. The Julian version of Cheryl's brother is such a tool all the time I can't stand him. Jughead nearly got expelled for writing gruesome horror comic books which is just ridiculous. The whole Kevin and the prostitute storyline made me sad, and made me want to punch Julian as well. I still don't like Archie, but he's being a good friend to Kevin in that episode, and he got him out of the room before he had sex with the prostitute and got more confused and hurt emotionally. Betty embarassed Alice on the Riverdale Grandstand show, in an effort to get kicked off of it, and Alice guilt tripped the hell out of Betty. It's some BS. Alice disowned Betty until Mary gave her a smack down talking to, which she needed. Archie still wants to be friends with Kevin and Clay, even knowing they're both gay, which is good, and makes me actually start to like Archie a tiny bit. I've got 7x14 - 7x20 left to watch. I'll probably finish the show tonight or in the early morning of tomorrow. I'll actually miss the show, well, I'll miss what the show was like in the first 4 seasons when I really loved it. Now, I simply tolerate it, and want to see what happens, which is why I'm even watching the final season. I was hoping that we wouldn't have to see Veronica's a-hole Dad, but unfortunately, he was in a few of the episodes, so that hope is lost. I liked seeing her Mom, though.

[lotuslandcomics]

Post-Apocalyptic One-Shot 'Archie vs. the World' Promises 'Mad Max'-Style Action

The one-shot sci-fi action epic ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD hits stores in January

ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD main cover by Jed Dougherty

Archie Comics looks into the future—and it's not great!—in an all-new one-shot comic, ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD, hitting store shelves in January! The blockbuster sci-fi special pits Archie and pals against a post-apocalyptic wasteland where only the strong survive, in a pedal-to-the-metal brawl that could only be told by writer Aubrey Sitterson (No One Left to Fight) and artist Jed Dougherty (Savage Hearts).

"ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD is unlike anything we've ever done before, both visually and in terms of the story itself," said Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante. "I have the utmost faith in Aubrey and Jed's ability to tell a story that's not only fantastical but can also feature major kickass moments—and yet the two still managed to blow me away page after page.”

Sitterson and Dougherty last teamed up on a story in THE BEST ARCHIE COMIC EVER one-shot called "Jughead the Burgarian," another wild take on the Riverdale cast of characters in a totally unexpected setting. ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD will be the pair's first solo title from Archie Comics.

"After the fantastic reception to 'Jughead the Burgarian,' the brilliant Jamie Rotante was eager to get Jed and I doing a full one-shot at Archie," Sitterson said. "It was actually her suggestion to do something that riffs on Fury Road and, as an avowed fan of the Mad Max series, I was stoked for the challenge."

ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD sees Archie face off against Reggie in a brutal (and hilarious!) fight for control of a secret water source, prized for its rarity in the devastated future setting. The gang uses souped-up vehicles and weapons to eke out their existence, including a radically customized version of Archie's classic broken-down jalopy which will be familiar to longtime fans of the 80-year-old publisher. Each page turn heightens the spectacle as more iconic Archie characters and concepts are introduced, including reimagined versions of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats.

"Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead . . . they aren't merely characters; they're archetypes," Sitterson said, explaining his approach to the story. "It's a credit to the many creators who have depicted them over the years that not only does each Archie character have well-defined, easy-to-grasp personalities but physical appearances that are just as iconic and distinct. As a result, not only is it a cinch to pick them up and plop them into diverse, unexpected genres but doing so is a huge part of the fun."

Rotante agreed, saying, “This is the biggest head-turner of a comic we've done so far and jams the most action into 20 pages I've ever seen in my life. I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on this; it's guaranteed to have readers talking for a long time after."

ARCHIE VS. THE WORLD, with colors by Matt Herms and lettering by Jack Morelli, releases January 18 in comic shops nationwide and is available for pre-order now. It will feature a cover by Jed Dougherty and an open-to-order variant cover by Aaron Lopresti.

[infiniteglitterfall]

Howdy, I don’t know who to send this to but can you debunk this clowns claim that Jughead was a homophobic caricature and therefore can’t be ace? This post has bother me for years: rabbittiddy(.)tumblr(.)com/post/157508044328/missvoltairine-acesarelgbtgranny

i fucking bet! let's see, i think I saw a good debunking of that....

i'm gonna end up doing one myself while i look for it, aren't i

Some of these focus on him being aro. But it's sort of a stand-in, in the comics, for him being both aro and ace. Anyway, I tried to pick stuff that highlighted the fact that Jughead wasn't a woman-hating gay-coded 'confirmed bachelor.' He was a romance-hating, often touch-averse, ace-coded 'confirmed bachelor.'

There are plenty of examples of the former, throughout popular media, during the first 75 years of Archie Comics. The queer-coding for them is completely different. The only similarity is that both types were often shown as recoiling from even the idea of relationships with women.

Some of the queer-coding for gay men included high voices, limp wrists, being an interior designer -- "feminine" attributes." Or:

"‘friend of Dorothy’, coloured handkerchiefs, or soft, pastel, violet clothing. Because film at the time was black and white, colour coding was either referred to, or often the handkerchief would be ‘perfumed.’ "In The Maltese Falcon (1941) a character sends in his business card and Sam Spade’s secretary notes it smells of 'gardenias.' A few minutes later, Spade smells the man’s handkerchief and doesn’t say anything but does raise an eyebrow high, clearly telling the audience ‘this fellow is queer.’.

"Otto Preminger’s Laura overtly coded Waldo Lydecker as queer: shooting him in a bathtub with plenty of suggestion he was interested in McPherson; playing up his impeccably dressed dandy-ness; clearly portraying him as the sharp-tongued gay-best-friend type."

By contrast, Jughead was never portrayed as anything but a clever, independent, slightly self-centered high school guy with a high metabolism and a passion for hamburgers. There was no winking at the audience. There were no gay in-jokes. There were no hints, in any decade, that maybe there was "a reason" he didn't like girls. That maybe he was just closeted.

And notably, when the series introduced a gay character, they did NOT go for Jughead. They had to invent a completely new person.

If they had ever been hinting that Jughead was gay, he would have been the obvious choice. It would have raised a lot of questions, and probably a lot of concerns, for them to introduce Kevin Keller instead -- or, at least, for them to introduce him and not imply that he and Jughead were going to end up together.

Honestly, the true test for any of these bigots who claim Jughead is gay should be, "Can you really picture him with Kevin Keller?"

Instead, mainstream pieces at the time said things like, "Jughead came out as asexual which explains why he’s never seemed interested in anything except for cheeseburgers."

Here are some good examples from older canon:

"Twelve Cent Archie references a story from Jughead 119 (April 1965) in which a machine built to identify Jughead’s perfect romantic partner inevitably self-destructs due to the impossible nature of its task."

"And though he wasn't a 'confirmed aro/ace' in the original comics and a few issues tried to explain away his behaviors with random back stories, over the course of hundreds of issues it was made obvious he preferred food to woman and constantly avoided romantic interactions and relationships and loathed such endeavours."

"What is it about aromanticism that makes showrunners pretend we don’t exist and fellow aces turn their faces when we say we do? What’s so bad about saying no to love that an aromantic asexual character is allowed to say he doesn’t like sex on TV, but not to say he doesn’t like romance? What is the difference? Why is it here where everyone draws the line? Why is it okay to not feel sexual attraction in this case, but not okay to not feel romantic attraction?

"I will tell you why. I’m not available to anyone. Neither is Raphael and Jughead, and lots and lots of aroaces, some of us not even as queerplatonic partners. There aren’t love stories to be told about us or sold about us. If Jughead and Raphael are made ace and aro, their ships sink, unless their fans are okay with queerplatonic relationships and most aren’t. For many people, for most people, if you take the romance out of someone, that someone loses its meaning, its interesting aspect. That’s how focused on romance our society is. Ships can survive without sex, but in a society so focused in romance that it can’t even comprehend queerplatonic relationships, they can’t survive without romantic love.

"There is also the little matter of we aroaces being considered too weird, too different. Cis allo straight people can’t relate to us the way they can relate to you, alloromantic aces. After all, romance is universal, right? Except it isn’t. And if we are in the picture, we are reminding everyone of that, and some people just don’t like that, don’t like us."

[image transcription: a page titled "Archie in The Look of Love - script: frank doyle; pencilling - dan decarlo jr; inking - jim decarlo." Archie and Jughead are walking down the street, and have the following conversation over several panels. Archie: "Got a question for you, Jug! Do you believe in love at first sight?... Jug? Did you hear me?" Jughead: "I heard something! But I'm sure you didn't say what it sounded like you said!" Archie: "I asked if you believed in love at first sight!" Jughead, to the reader: "He did! Did you hear? He actually asked that question of ME!"]

[image transcription: the second page of the comic continues their conversation. Archie: "Stop talking to them and answer my question!! Do you believe in love at first sight?" Jughead: "Not hardly! Twelfth, maybe, or forty-eighth... or more likely, nine hundred and sixth! What's with you, Arch? You know girls are not my thing!" Archie: "I wasn't thinking of girls!" Jughead, his hat flying off in shock: "WHAT!?" Archie, hearts flying around his head: "With me it's that little red convertible in Bedell's auto showroom!" Jughead: "Oh! - Love for inanimate objects! Now you're in my ballpark!!"

[last three panels. Jughead: "Y'know how those surfer guys travel the world, looking for the perfect wave?" Archie: "I saw the pic! But who--" Jughead, head surrounded by many, many little pink hearts: "Exactly! I search for the perfect burger! Now that'd be my love at first sight!"]

[an old panel in which a shocked crowd of high school students is hearing Jughead's voice, over the loudspeaker, saying: "I am in no way a romantic! I stand by my ways as a lover of food only! The only girls I like are Swiss Miss, Mrs. Butterworth, Little Debbie and Sara Lee!"]

AHA YEP I HAVE FINALLY FOUND THE POST I WAS THINKING ABOUT!

[jughead and archie are coming out of a movie theater. jughead says, "That's what I dig in a movie - a happy ending!...The girl didn't get the boy!" Archie reacts with heterosexual surprise and confusion/]

[movedthefuckouttahere]

//. Man, it’s a good thing US roleplayers can fix the mess that is season 2. Honestly shoutout to the people bringing justice to betty cooper / jughead jones / cheryl blossom / archie andrews / veronica lodge / Toni Topaz / ---just every character. cause if the writers can’t handle them correctly, least you have many people who can fix that right up. And breathe life into the character. So y’all do you, and bring justice that the characters oh so deserve. 

[thetaoofbetty]

i don’t know if this has any relevance but we still don’t talk enough about how when vale!betty got to archie’s house and killed him to save jughead he asks "how did you know to come here?" and she responds "idk, when archie left me at the altar something clicked. it was as if my whole life flashed before my eyes and i knew i had to come here." like, she didn’t know what was happening but she trusted it, she knew helping jug was the right thing to do.

but i do wonder, did betty’s "whole life" flashed before her similar to how it was for both vale jug and now this jughead from 614? will we ever see betty getting some memories of her own and knowing she has to save the universe or at least have this feeling that something is wrong? maybe when she starts reading the comics? also 605 jughead looking at the yearbook and saying "it is possible to be nostalgic about a life you’re not even sure it’s yours? it’s like watching it from a movie screen" i feel like this will be repeated again because i’m sure those memories with betty were new to him so will he start feeling nostalgic over a life he doesn’t remember having? And now the question, does Betty even remember those memories?

see, if i had my way, she'd have showed up because the previous time loops (allegedly) that vale jug was going through always ended with him and betty trying to fix it until they got the solution from narrator jughead.

you know, because it always ends up being them.

but i do think betty will have more of a role in the comics/mystery portion of the season tbh. memories or not, she's the one who remembers the feeling of being held when the bomb went off and i think all of that is going to come back into play later on.

and yeah, vale jughead being nostalgic for a life he wasn't even sure was his is very interesting since they alluded to the history of the vale characters being different than their dale counterparts so what's the history? and what if current dale jughead isn't himself? if those memories aren't really his then i can totally see how they'd cause problems if he starts yearning for a life that he doesn't know if he lived or not.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this blog, it’s helped me so much throughout my journey 💕 do you have any advice for feeling left out/dealing with internalized amatonormativity? I’m at that age where my friends are getting married and having kids and I’m genuinely happy for them, but as a single aroace who’s never so much as been on a date (and doesn’t ever want to) I can’t shake the little voice in my head saying there’s something wrong with me for not having those experiences, or that I’m just lying to myself about being happy single, even though I know those things aren’t true. it’s gotten to the point where I’m now avoiding social media completely - which I don’t want to do, since it’s the main way I can keep up with my long-distance friends - because it feels like every time I open it up I’m just hit with another reminder that I’m different.

Alright, so two thoughts.

First, it's good to keep in mind that people are social creatures. For better or worse we're very influenced by people around us and if everyone else around us fits into the same mold, we usually want to fit into that too. So yeah, society at large tells us we should get married and have kids, but it's a lot easier to internalize it when everyone else you know is doing it too.

So this is a lot of words to say one thing that may help a lot may be expanding your social group and get some single friends too. If you want to meet other ace or aro people, than that's even better. And if you're not sure how to meet other ace or aro people, Aces and Aros is a great resource for seeing if there's any meetups near you. Otherwise there's a lot of online communities, especially on places like Discord.

Otherwise to meet people could be things like taking a class, getting involved in a hobby, etc. But knowing other people who aren't doing the marriage and kids thing or prioritizing other parts of their life can make a big difference and help you feel less lonely.

Media is great too, try and focus more on found family type media over anything that centres on relationships as the big happy ending. So Star Trek and Kung Fu Panda for example. Anything with ace or aro characters is good too, podcasts and books are probably the best way to find ace/aro characters these days, and you can find lists. Personally I've really liked the Jughead 2015 run from Archie comics where Jughead is canonically ace and heavily coded as aro.

Following ace/aro people or positivity blogs can also help a bit.

And just in general avoid anything that's amplifying amatonormative messaging.

Which brings me to my second thought, it's probably a really good idea to avoid social media for the time being. Especially ones like Facebook and Instagram where people are doing a lot of sharing of their personal lives. And the big reason for this is that social media isn't giving us an accurate view of other people's lives. It's showing us a very curated version.

In real life relationships are hard, and can vary a lot on how good they actually are. Social media doesn't show the work, or the fights or any of the more negative side of relationships. And that can really amplify the 'oh wow I'm really missing out here' feeling.

You don't have to cut it out entirely, especially if it's your only way of keeping up with some people. But you can do things like only go on it once or twice a week, or try and manipulate the algorithms so they aren't showing you the type of posts that are bothering you, or see if you can add counter stuff to your feed to kind of water it down a bit and see some ace/aro friendly stuff. You can also take a break for a bit until you've got this more under control, and those posts shouldn't bother you as much.

So yeah, that's all stuff that should help. The other thing is that these kind of feelings aren't really something you can just turn off, even if you can logic your way to seeing that they're not accurate to real life. But the more ace/aro positive input you get and amatonormative input you get rid of, the more that should help a lot.

Sometimes other techniques can help too, fake it till you make it. Even if you don't believe it, keep telling yourself you don't need a romantic relationship/kids to be happy. Write it out a bunch in a journal. If you find yourself thinking amatonormativity might be right, consciously catch it and correct it. So if you find yourself thinking "Maybe I'm not happy single" say "I generally enjoy my life the way it is now, and relationships are not a magic potion to happiness and in fact how happy people are in relationships can vary quite a bit."

So yeah, hopefully that helps.

All the best, Anon!

[yuraimi-lee-bunny]

Let's get to the point first and then I'll give the important details:

Because of rude and intolerant comments of directly and indirectly way from LiS fandom here in Tumblr (only intolerant and abusive fans of Pricefield and Chloe) I fell into depression for a year and a half

I met the game on February 6, 2015. I immediately loved the game. I could only watch Gameplays. At the same time I was about to finish my Visual Arts career. I was specializing in Illustration and creation, development and character analysis (theory and practice)

At the beginning (between Ep.1 and Ep.3) Pricefield was causing me some pleasure but I also liked Warren, although I defended Warren from the unjustified hate that dome gave him, but I never saw the Grahamfield as an option. But days before Ep.4 some personal things happened to me, and I began to see the Grahamfield with an option, I started to like it more. Ep.4 arrives and besides being my favorite episode, I was happy and surprised that the Grahamfield was a possible option.

Finish the game and although I don't like at all the choice "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" I had no problem, in the end: everyone their choices. I started showing my Grahamfield works. Sometimes comments came directly and indirectly offending my work. No problem, I could deal with it. But in 2016 began the problem: The attacks on Grahamfield, Warren and those who liked it increased even worse: they attacked those who chose to Sacrifice Chloe. The offenses were of a lot of variety but here are some of the ones I remember:

"You have no heart" "You're a monster", "You're a horrible person" "Surely you're homophobic" "You're a lesphobic" "You didn't understand the game" "You didn't understand Max" "That disgusts your tastes" "If you like such a ship, then fuck you"

In early 2016 I was dealing with many personal, family, professional problems, go to see things about LiS and other things that I liked helped me to reassure me. But that intolerant posts in LiS tags were so massive and consecutive that ended up making me believe them and thus, fall into depression.

I was weak? Maybe. But I hope you understand that everywhere I was going through difficult times, that when I went to see things about LiS it was my way of being able to entertain myself and I hope you also understand, that these people were not entitled to attack people. In 2015 I could deal with it but that 2016 I couldn't because of my own affairs and because the attacks, seriously, were massive. I was no longer happy with my decisions, nor tastes, with anything. I tried everything: to listen to my favorite music, to watch series that motivated me and remembered me my goals and my own being. Met my friendships, my boyfriend. Nothing worked. Everything was getting worse: although I no longer paid attention and stopped going to tags for a while, the damage was already done to me, the doubts grew more and more in me:

"Why do I like grahamfield?" "Why couldn't you like the Pricefield?" "Why do you like Warren?" "Why can't Chloe be your favorite?"

And worse:

"Why do you always like the weirdest thing?" "Why can't you be like the others?" "Why don't you normal?" "Why do I think as I think?" "Why am I this way?" What was I born for? "Why do I exist?" "Why?" "Why?" "Why?"

My self-esteem went down a lot, I no longer wanted to draw and I didn't want to get out of bed. Everything looked gray and had attacks of crying. Although my problems had turned out. The depression was already in me. I had to go to the psychologist. I was diagnosed with Social Depression. It wasn't serious, but it had to be treated. I kept going to sessions. My psychologist is a love, I could tell her absolutely everything even if it sounded very absurd but she understood and helped me. My mom, my boyfriend, some friends help me too. Some things I discovered also help: Lukas Graham, Keane, Oxenfree, and more.

Throughout 2016 sometimes I suffered attacks of anxiety, doubts, of crying. It was difficult to deal for me, my mom and my boyfriend. But we don't give up. I didn't give up. I almost broke up with my boyfriend for believing it was a nuisance and weak, but I never did. Unfortunately sometimes looking Pricefield made me nervous and feeling of guilt for not liking Pricefield invaded me very hard. I swear that I tried by many means to like it and become my ship. I never could and currently I can't. I only see them as best friends.

So I drew Grahamfield. In fact, in this long road of recovery, Max and Warren accompanied me a lot, they were the characthers and a ship that helped me a lot in accepting myself as I am and with my tastes and choices. Little by little I was recovering. 2016 wasn't a very pleasant year for me, but still there some good memories of that year. 2017 was a better year. At the beginning of that year I could feel improvements, but sometimes the doubts continued and sometimes I woke up with stomachaches. Monstar Calls, Persona 5, Jughead's Comic, new friendships, and improved more. LiS's fandom was quieter and I drew more Grahanfield. But April was where I found that serie that made me try harder to get up.

Orange is the New Black and Bojack Horseman were those series that I watched in 2016 and helped me a lot to accept my depression, to accept myself, to defend myself and to love myself as I am. But that April 12 2017 I started watching 13 Reasons Why and everything was clearer to me. I know, 13RW is a very controversial series, but it helped me realize many, many things: how lucky I'm to have people around me who love and love me. That I want and I must be strong to protect those I want, to defend myself and demonstrate what I'm capable of achieving. Not giving up. It's worth moving forward. I want to live.

And so, with more strength and enthusiasm I began to overcome my low self-esteem, I began to draw more, to work for a while as a waitress and resume my studies to get my degree. There was only one problem: now I saw Pricefield and I got angry. It reminded me of all the pain I went through in 2016 for those rude people who liked Pricefield and kept attacking you just for liking another ship. But my anger is left just in that: Angry. I swear never, but NEVER come to attack or offend someone because they like Pricefield. I never did and never will.

2017 was a good year, although BTS isn't a game that I like very much, I enjoyed it somehow. My psychologist tells me that I'm much better. For me it meant that I had already overcome my depression. The earthquake of September 19 in 2017 was an event that greatly impacted me. I helped as much as I could, and there I realized that in 2018 I wanted to improve myself more as person. And I did it.

2018 was my best year: I participated in a film with rotoscopie technique called "Olimpia" and it's one of my greatest achievements and I'm proud to have participated in making animation. I did many activities that helped me grow as a person. I kept drawing Grahanfield and now I defended Warren and Grahamfield as I had never done, but this time with evidence. My love for the characters had come back and I had studied the subject more. American Vandal, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Shape of Water also arrived in 2018 and they helped me a lot.

2019 arrives: Carmen Sandiego and The Umbrella Academy get to inspire me professionally. I started a diploma in February of Graphic Novel to get my Bachelor's degree. I did it. I finished in August and this November they gave it to me. I'm already licensed. I've been calmly reading the LiS comic. Seeing things about Pricefield no longer fill me with anxiety. I absolutely feel good and happy with my tastes within the fandom of LiS.

In these days I have thought about my whole process. OITNB ended this year, next year ends Bojack Horseman and 13 Reasons Why. Those 3 series with their recent seasons have made me see that I must close a cycle. And that's why I count all this.

I tell my story as proof of how much the toxic side of the LiS fandom damaged me. That although everything remains calm sometimes, there are still people like that I managed to get ahead, and I hope that someone inside the fandom hasn't suffered something similar or worse. And still, to those people who damaged me only one thing I can say:

Thank you.

Thank you for your fatal acts, because even they have damaged me and brought me into depression, it caused me to get the best out of myself and show myself that I can be stronger.

I love Grahamfield, Max and Warren separately. These characters and ship aren't only that, they're my recovery symbol and reminder of loving me as I am. They mean to me a lot. They grew and healed with me. I appreciate these two separately and together. I never hated Chloe. She isn't my favorite but I appreciate her a lot, I recognize her flaws, and I still appreciate her. Chloe and me have things in common. But in truth: you don't know how much I identify with Max and Warren, that's how it was since I met the game.

I'm glad to notice my years of progress. But I also want to apologize if at some point I became rude for defending Warren and/or Grahamfield. Now I hope you understand where my courage and my insistence to defend it came from.

I also want to make it clear that I don't blame Pricefield or anyone who likes this ship or Chloe. But I want to prove that attacking someone just because doesn't like your ship isn't fine. You don't know what is happening to that person. Judging someone just for a taste is neither good nor kind. You don't know how much a characther/ship can mean for that person. Notice to what degree can damage their fanaticism that reaches the degree of intolerance. I also want to clarify that it isn't bad that someone doesn't like Warren and Grahamfield. What is wrong is that some don't understand that everyone likes. That understand that not everyone will like the same thing and they will not see it in the same way.

Everyone is a world. Everyone has their own worldview. Not because someone is different from you and doesn't like the same as you, it gives you the right to judge it as trahs and treat it as trahs.

Treat people as you would like to be treated.

I'm glad that in these 4 years that I like LiS I have found people who are still kind to me and others, and who respect each other's tastes and decisions. Both on Twitter, IG and here I have found friendly and fun people and I really appreciate them. They were a great help of my recovery. Really, thank you very much guys. Believe me that sharing the same taste for LiS but each one having different taste, still treating each other well and in a friendly way, helped me a lot and I'm very grateful. I will continue to like everything about LiS and LiS2. I will continue to draw about it and I will love to find friendships that also like LiS. Count on me when you need anything. LiS is still something important in my life, it helped me a lot to grow in several aspects. But I also won't let anyone keep offending/attacking someone else in the fandom if that person isn't hurting anyone. Respect and Tolerance among all please.

If you have read all this, you don't know how much I appreciate it. I hope this helps someone to reflect on our way of living, communicating, understanding and tolerating each other. I'm already very well, more than good.

I love myself.

Please love yourself.

You can do it!

[kurtzyoufunkylittledruggy]

Bad Habits: Part 7

Pairing: (Kurtz x OC) (Malachai x OC)

Word Count: 1000+

Warnings: none I think

A/N: none

3rd person point of view

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Kurtz pulled up to Pops at 8:35. Emma hopped into his car and smiled softly.

   "So, where am I actually dropping you off?" He asked. She snatched his phone and put the address into his GPS. He turned the radio on and drove. Emma sang softly, which made him smile.

   She texted Ella and let her know she was outside.

   "I'll talk to you later, Kurtz. Thank you...for everything." She said softly. He wrapped his arm around her neck and hugged her tightly.

   "Sunshine, if you end up not wanting to stay here just come stay with me. Just message me and I'll come get you right away. Promise?" He said. She nodded and buried her face into his.

   "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow." Emma said softly before running into Ella's house. Ella tried to convince Emma to stay with her until she had a place to live but Emma refused.

   "It's merely temporary. I promise." Emma tried to reason. Ella wasn't having it but she didn't push.

   The next morning Emma woke to a text from her brother. That he would walk her to school. They met outside Ella's and headed out. Emma leaving before Ella because Jughead wanted her help with something for the Blue and Gold.

   When they got to school, the twins immediately went to the writing office, only to be met by Sheriff Keller and their principal.

   "Hey." Jughead said, obviously just as confused as Emma.

   "Hey." Sheriff Keller replied. Jughead looked between the murder board him and Betty had been creating for weeks and the two adults.

   "Uh, what's up?" Jughead asked. Sheriff Keller sighed.

   "I'm going to need you to come down to the station with me." Keller said. Emma's eyes widened and she looked at her brother, quickly attaching herself to his side. He squeezed her hand softly and kissed the top of her head.

   "It's okay. Call dad." He said quickly, allowing Sheriff Keller to escort him out.

   "Call my dad." Jughead said, as he passed Archie and Betty in the hall. Emma ran out and caught their eyes.

   "Come here." Betty said softly, hugging Emma. The three kids immediately went to the station, where Archie's dad met them. Betty went in and when she came out, she told Emma he wanted to talk to her.

   Emma walked in and sat in front of her brother.

   "Jug, I know this wasn't you. I was with you on the 11th." She said. He nodded and squeezed her hand softly.

   "I can't lose you, Jug. With everything going on, you're the only family I've got." She said softly.

   "Hey, you aren't gonna lose me. Betty is helping, so are the Andrews. They are gonna get me out of here." Jughead said. But he didn't know who he was trying to convince. Her or himself.

   Fred Andrews cleared Jughead's alibi, which meant he was free to go. They left the station. Betty on his one arm and Emma on his other. Their dad running up, just as they were leaving.

   "I'm sorry. I came as soon as I got your messages. My phone, the friggin' battery. I forgot to plug it in last night." Their dad chuckled. Emma's hand gripped her brothers sleeve as she noticed him grow angry.

   "What the hell happened?" F.P asked.

   "Nothing. It's fine now. Mr. Andrews took care of it." Jughead said quickly.

   "What jacked-up crap did they accuse you of in there, huh? Those bastards trying to throw you in jail like they did your old man? Well, screw that. I will rip Keller a new one for trying to pull that..

   "D-Dad, no. Come on." Emma tried. Fred tried to calm their dad down but in was no use.

   "This is my son, he is my son, Fred! You'd do the same for your boy." F.P said. Jughead caught him by the jacket before he could storm into the police station.

   "Dad." Emma said softly.

   "Don't make things worse. Please" Jughead whispered. Their dad nodded and stepped back.

   "Yeah, all right, then." He said. He started to walk but then turned and looked down at his kids.

   "You two, uh, coming home with me?" He asked.

   "They can stay with us, Mr. Jones." Archie said. Emma's chin trembled as she physically saw her dads heart break.

   "We already offered." Archie added.

   "Is that what you want?" F.P asked. Emma put her head down and Jughead gently took her hand.

   "Maybe that's for the best. If you don't mind, Fred." He said.

   "Whatever you want, F.P. It's between the three of you." Fred said.

   "We'll go with you, dad." Jughead said. He looked down at Emma as if to say we'll be okay. The surprised look that crossed everyone's face was almost comical.

   F.P placed his one hand on Jughead's shoulder and the other on his daughters cheek.

   "Listen to me. I'm gonna do what you want, get my act together. I'm gonna get your mom and Jellybean home so we're all under the same roof. I promise, but I just need a little time to do that. Not a lot, not long, a month, two at most. And then we'll be back on track, all right? You believe that, don't you?" He asked. Both kids hesitated, looking at one another for confirmation.

   "Yeah, we believe you, dad." Emma said softly. F.P kissed her forehead softly before pulling them into a hug. Emma's arms wrapped around her dads middle and she sighed.

   "All right." F.P said before pulling away from his two kids and walking off.

   Betty took Jughead's hand and she guided him away. Emma's shoulders dropped and she pulled her phone out. Calling the only person she wanted to be around at the moment. And only minutes later, Kurtz pulled up.

~

~

~

[thatiranianphantom]

It's hilarious how this reset is to fix the mistake of BH and VA dating and having BA and JT together since high school. The season is focusing on BAV love triangle and JT falling in love ( Jughead remember her). Ted and Evan knows that both are what the audience want, what all the writers and cast want, they have no intention to go back to BH who has no reason to date in the comics. Betty and Archie are madly in love in it so prepare to cry when they go back to after the comet and both get the endgame

And they're back!!

Really, the pertinent questions are how many increasingly desperate messages per day will they send me and how many before I block them?

Also, a few genuine questions for you, dear anon. I am going to need you to reassure me you are very young. You are, aren't you? Otherwise this is just sad. Also, do you have like....a job? School? Anything that isn't making various sock accounts and sending me the same message over and over, while badly pretending to be a BH shipper?

Oh, dear sweet anon. How I want to wrap you in a blanket and give you cocoa and assure you it's okay to want better.