#so you will be seeing some non riverdale sets for a few days

[i-carian]

In The Heights (2021) | MOMENTOS DE REFLEXCIÓN

[alaffy]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Ep.1 – October Country

I’ve been thinking about rewatching Sabrina for awhile now.  And, since she’s going to be in Riverdale soon, I figured this is the perfect time. I also figured that I might as well write down my thoughts about each episode while I’m at it.  I obviously won’t have all of these posted before the five part event finishes, but I should be half way though the series at least by the time Sabrina comes in.  

So, one thing that I’m starting to remember about the first few episodes of the series, it takes a bit to get through them.  They are slow and very much an info dump.  The simple reason for this is because, unlike Riverdale, there is a lot that has to be set up about Sabrina’s world before you can really get into the story.  Are there maybe a few things they could have held off on for a couple of episodes?  Maybe they could have been introduced but not had much in the way of the plot, but these things also are part of why Sabrina’s making the decisions she making, so I really don’t know.

For instance, one of Sabrina’s friends is Suzie.  Suzie, at this point, is non-binary, but will eventually identify as a transgendered boy and will change his name to Theo.  But as that has not happened yet, I’m going to use the name Suzie with they/them pronouns for now.  The thing is, Suzie is heavily bullied by the jocks of the school because of the fact that Suzie is non-binary.  It actually gets so bad that these jocks hold Suzie and lift up their shirt to see if they have breasts.  Sabrina, who wants to protect her friend, goes to the principal to deal with the issue. But the principal is a sexist asshole, who suggests Suzie find somewhere else to go to school.  Sabrina and Roz (another friend) want to start a club to protect Suzie and others who are marginalized at Baxter High. However, while the vice principal would agree to such a club, the principal never would agree to it. In the end, Sabrina uses magic to have spiders crawl all over the principal (because he’s afraid of them) and, when he’s absent from school the next day, gets her club approved.

So, yes, maybe this story could have waited an episode or two, but the problem is it’s one of the ways that the story shows Sabrina’s dilemma.  See, Sabrina is a half witch and half mortal girl, who will be turning 16 in a few days.  When she turns 16, she’s supposed to have her Dark Baptismal, in which she signs the Book of the Beast and swears allegiance to him.  Afterwards, she is to go to the academy for witches and she is to give up the mortal side of her life, which includes her friends and her boyfriend Harvey.

So in this episode, they have to set up who Sabrina is (she the half witch daughter of a mortal woman and the former head of the Church of Night); who her friends are; Sabrina’s family and why she’s living with her Aunts; the fact that her parents death might not have been an accident; the fact that some witches hate the fact that Sabrina’s father married a mortal and therefore consider Sabrina not pure; some of the rules for witches, especially for those in the Church of Night; Sabrina’s having doubts of having her dark baptism because of the their beliefs on the mortal world and the whole Patriarchy part of the thing; and the fact that the servant of the Dark Lord has taken control of one of Sabrina’s teachers in order to make sure Sabrina signs the book.

Oh, yes, and there’s also the fact that the Spellman’s run a mortuary and they just received a body of a witch that may have been killed by witch hunters.  And this plot absolutely should have been started in a later episode.  

Like I said, a lot of this is important to Sabrina’s Dark Baptism and why she has reservations about it. But it is just so much at once.  One last thing to note, Sabrina’s friends do not know she is a witch.  Sabrina does try to tell Harvey, it does not go well, and so she erases the event from his mind.

[13-reasons-ideas]

Undercover Part 1

A/N: I decided to try a different fandom to branch out a bit. Let me know if you guys want me to continue on with this one. This is a Riverdale story. Please note that I stopped watching the show at the end of season two so I have no clue what is happening now on it. I will still be writing for 13RW, so don’t worry. I am just writing my idea of how an undercover FBI operation works. It may not be accurate. I got this idea from a TikTok. If you like it, it will be a multi chapter work.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and any mention of real people is purely coincidental.  

My assignment was supposed to be simple. Go to Riverdale, find the Serpents, become friendly, infiltrate, provide evidence of illegal activities, make arrests, get out. I knew what my role was. I was good at my job. They didn’t put me in organized crime undercover for no reason after Quantico. I had done this many times before over the years. I was prepared for the job, spending hours upon hours researching and learning as much as I could about this small-town biker gang. I knew their patterns, their MO, their hangouts, hell, I knew what they liked to eat for breakfast. I was prepared. Correction, I thought I was prepared. I hadn’t, however, prepared for him.

After a relaxing weekend, I arrived at the office Monday morning at seven. There was a manila folder on my desk and my boss, Special Agent Edward Williams, was waving me towards his office. Oh no. What did I do this weekend that would get me in trouble? I wracked my brain as I took the envelope and confidently walked to his office. He indicated for me to sit. “Good morning Edward.”

“Good morning Catherine.” He greeted before cutting right to the chase, “We have an assignment for you.” I shifted my body to sit up straighter, immediately appearing more professional as he continued. “What do you know about a group known as the Southside Serpents?”

“Just that they’re some small-time biker gang out of Riverdale. They occasionally cause a blip on the radar for something in a neighbouring town. Why?”

“Their leader recently stepped down and appointed someone else to take the reins. He seems to want them to be less small-time biker gang and more of a reaching organization. We aren’t sure exactly how far or deep this goes or what they want to do exactly.”

“So, you want me to go in and find out. See what they want to do, where they want to expand, and if I happen to find anything else I can use, that’s just gravy?”

“Essentially yes. You know how this works usually, but it’s a small town. Your handler won’t be in town with you. You call every night to check in and if something goes wrong, we will get you out of there.”

“Yes, Sir. When do I leave?”

“Two weeks. The basics are in that folder. Memorize it.” I nodded and opened the file, skimming it quickly.

“I see mention of Jones and Jones, but I don’t see a mention of who took over for them?”

“That’s part of the problem. We don’t have an actual name for him. Just that he goes by Sweetpea. Seems like he’s run with them since he was a kid.”

“Great.” I muttered, “I’ll get started now, unless there’s anything else?”

“Yeah one more thing. Due to it being so small, you’ll be in a rental house in lieu of a hotel. It’s quaint little house on the north side of town.”

“Sounds good. What about my alias?”

“You’ll keep your first name and your last name is going to be changed. It’s all in your file.”

“Thank you, Sir.” I nodded, before walking back to my desk and beginning my research.

That was two weeks ago. Today, I was standing in front of a little red house on a quiet street in the town of Riverdale. To most people, it looked like a nice little place where nothing bad ever happened and there was no danger. And for the most part, it was. So long as you stayed on the right side of the tracks. I looked around me as other agents, my partner/handler Jason included, helped to unload boxes of “personal” belongings into the home. It was already furnished, so a small U-Haul was sufficient. I was able to use a few personal photos, non-descript childhood pictures mostly. Most of the others were taken and provided by the bureau. “Drinking” with the girls in one, another agent posing as a family member at a faux family reunion, a picture of a dog. It looked like I had lived some kind of life before today. This way, it wouldn’t look like I had just appeared out of thin air. Or, at least, Catherine Adams hadn’t appeared out of thin air.

While work in the house continued, outfitting the house with internet-and surveillance cameras, Jason pulled me aside.

“Here’s your phone. You keep in contact, got it? I don’t hear something for more than two days, I’m sending people in. I don’t care what Williams wants. Your safety comes first.”

“I know Jace. This isn’t my first time in the field, you know.” I took the phone, saw that he programed his number in as worst nightmare, and laughed. “I might have to change that. I was thinking, Mom and dad’s oops?”

“Ha ha funny. Change it if you want, but if that’s what you pick, the Serpents aren’t who you’ll be tracking next.”

“You mean like at Quantico? I found you in, what? Twenty minutes? It took me longer to write up the mock report afterwards.”

“Shut up.” He grumbled, “but seriously. You’re in trouble, I drop everything and get you out of there.”

“Got it. Now help me unpack so I can go explore and establish myself as a member of the community.”

“Reading the handbook again?” I handed him a photo and he stuck it to the wall with a command strip.

“No, photographic memory, remember? I was trying to be professional. There are strangers in my home after all.”

“I remember all right.” He grumbled back. We worked in silence for a while until one of the other agents came in to say they had everything hooked up and it was time to go. Jason and I hugged goodbye and the group left me alone in the house.

Deciding it would be a good idea to actually do what the handbook said for a bit, I looked in the fridge for some food. Finding it empty, I grabbed my keys and left for the store. The local grocery chain was packed thankfully. It gave me a chance to try to blend in. After an hour or so, I had my cart loaded and checked out. At home, I put things away, made a sandwich, and looked at my files some more. There were pages and pages of notes that I scanned through. Maps of town I had marked up, tracking suspected movements were mixed in with notes about education and background. My mind was becoming overwhelmed slowly. A walk might help clear my head. Calling it a night for notes, I grabbed my sweater and house keys, making sure to set the alarm and lock the door. The crisp autumn air bit at my cheeks and neck. My worn-out combat boots clomped on the ground firmly. I had to be conscious of my steps and make them seem less official. You’re just out for a stroll Catherine. I took my phone out to snap a few photos of the trees turning colour and the sun setting. I must have lost track of how long I stood there or where I was walking because the roar of a motorcycle engine startled me. Rule one is never let your guard down. “Jesus.” I gasped, turning my head.

“Not quite but who knows.” His smooth drawl rang in my ears. My gaze drooped to his bike. Nice. The dirt on his boots seemed dried on. As my gaze traveled upwards, I had to control the look on my face. The tattoo on his neck prominently and proudly peeking out from the collar of his worn-out leather jacket. “You aren’t from around here, are you pretty girl?”

“No. I just moved here from the city.”

“Huh. Well, you ever need someone to show you around, let me know.” He smirked.

“Ask you hmm? I don’t even know your name.” I prompted.

“My friends call me Sweetpea. But you can call me whatever you want. What do yours call you?”

“Catherine.”

“Catherine.” He repeated, his voice dropping an octave as he sounded it out. Almost like he was testing the way it tasted on his tongue. He nodded at me, revving the engine, “my offer still stands, Catherine.” He said before speeding off. I let out a breath after he was out of view and shook my head. Shit.

[snarkwrites]

08 | gangsta ; sweet pea

Notes:

SO.. I uhh... Got super into writing this recently. I just really liked where it was heading after part 7. Yes. Yes, I realize that literally no one asked for more of this but.. I wrote it. Might as well share it.

I need to amend what I said about this being non canon compliant. It does mention things that happen in canon. Some of them even.. Happen. But differently. And a little out of order as I saw they fit into my own personal timeline. Also.. I’m gonna throw in some totally of my own creation stuff into here as well. I don’t exactly know what all that’ll be yet, but.. Yeah.

This is the first of four parts I have already written and waiting to go. I know, I know.. Literally no one asked for this. But you’re getting it anyway.

Warnings:

non canon compliant - this is the biggest warning, so if you’re into things that follow exact canon plot you are… definitely not going to like this. angst & slow burn, heavy sexual tensionstarting now, actually - this is just so everyone who started reading this thinking the smut would transpire in a hurry knows that apparently, it is not. violence / swearing & fighting, possible underage drinking and other shenanigans- look.. it’s high school. shit happens. also apparently, my ofc Alyssa uses the word fuck like all the time?…eventual sexual content / a virgin original character- this one is self explanatory. yes, i plan to write a smutty chapter in this at some point. when? i don’t rightly know. it’s got a while before we get there.

Pairing:

Andrews!Sibling OFC, Alyssa x Sweet Pea

Other Parts:

[ one - two - three - four - five - six - seven -  soundtrack ]

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ]

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn​ is the only person on my Riverdale tag list. If you’d like to be tagged for this story by all means.. Please let me know. Please, I beg. It’d make me super duper happy!!!

                                             EIGHT.

“ Al?”

I turned down my radio and strained to hear. It almost sounded like Polly calling my name from the bottom of the stairs. I wandered over to my bedroom door, peeking out. Polly stood at the foot of the stairs, holding her twins on each hip. A smile played at my lips and I bounded down the stairs, launching myself into a careful hug. Fussing over the twins because I’d been dying to see them since the night Polly added me on Snapchat before everything went down the way it did.

She’d sent me a message that night, telling me she was pregnant and that she and Jason were leaving. She’d been planning to swing through Chicago with Jason and visit, on their way to wherever it was they’d planned to go. When it never happened and I didn’t hear from her again, I’d been worried for a while.

Then Betty realized that she’d been keeping in touch with me over Snapchat right after she went missing and she’d messaged me, asking if I’d seen Polly. When I told her I hadn’t and asked what was going on, she’d filled me in on everything.. Jason’s death and Polly’s fight with their parents and then Polly running away.

The rest filled itself in when I moved back in with my dad, for the most part. I found myself trying to stick close to Cheryl, because I knew she was taking it really hard. Because Jason had been like the third of us. Honestly, it hit me pretty hard too when I found out. Especially when Cheryl did that thing she always fucking does and tried to push me away. Tried to deal with it herself.

I’d given myself over to the thought Polly wasn’t ever going to return to Riverdale, so I was a little shocked that she was here. And staying under the same roof as her mom again.

“The last thing Betty told me was that you were living on a farm. I bet that was peaceful.” I stretched and smiled at her. Just imagining the lazy days that probably stretched on and on. The slow and quiet life.

Polly smiled, nodding. “I learned so much there.”

I nodded. “What was it like?”

We moved to sit on the couch and Polly began to tell me what she’d been up to. I listened, nodding and smiling. But the entire time she described this place, God help me, I found myself getting flashbacks to the true crime podcast I’d listened to about the Jonesboro cult. Or the Davidians from Waco.

I mean… it sounded harmless enough, but everything she told me about the place just made me think less of a commune and more of a cult type setting. And that had me worried.

The front door was being pounded on. When I heard Reggie calling my name through it, I grumbled. Polly gazed at the door and then at me. Smirking. “No way! I always thought you and Reggie would be cute together!”

“Whoa.. Let’s not get all happy.” I shook my head, frowning a little. Telling her in detail what actually happened and that we were broken up. She shook her head, frowning. “That’s a jerk move. Betty told me you were on the Vixens now?”

“Yeah. You know Cheryl. She’s always had a way of talking me right into shit I normally wouldn’t do. And Riverdale High didn’t exactly have a gymnastics team like my old school in Chicago, so I decided rather than go rusty and lose my edge, I’d join.” I shrugged, laughing and shaking my head. “It’s not so bad, I guess.”

She nodded to my outfit for the day. Ripped jeans, a Motley Crue t shirt and my favorite boots, my dad’s old plaid shirt. “You mean the other Vixens haven’t read you for filth for daring non conformity?”

“ Oh, there’s this one girl I’m dying to get my hands on when we do that powderpuff football game on Friday, but other than her, nobody really seems to care or notice? I’m just kinda.. There. Which believe me… is totally fine with me.” 

I bent down to pick up Dagwood so that Polly could feed Juniper because she was crying. Adjusting Dagwood to my hip, I made my way over to the door, throwing it open. Scowling up at Reggie, who was leaning against a porch post.

His gaze softened when he glanced at me. I bit my lip. Taking a deep breath to keep my patience. I knew he was hurting. I knew it was also totally his fault. But I was trying not to be mean.

“What do you want?”

“Are you seriously dating that fucking guy now? Princess, he’s only going to hurt you.”

“No worse than you already have. But no.. No Reggie, I’m not dating Sweet Pea. I just fell asleep in Mr. Keaton’s class and I happened to wind up leaning against the guy. Kind of happens when I stay up until 3 watching the Saw movies.”

He looked as if he didn’t believe a thing I said. I shrugged because honestly, I didn’t care if he believed me or not. Shifting Dagwood from one hip to the other. Bouncing him a little, giving a soft laugh when he grinned up at me. And raised his little hand to try and grab a handful of the ends of my hair.

“ That guy is bad news, princess. If I have to, I’ll talk to your dad. Anything if it means keepin you from gettin seriously hurt. Or worse, put in danger.”

“Reggie, you need to go.” I rolled my eyes. “I should get back inside. Get Dagwood back to his mommy.”

Reggie was giving me this soft look again. Nodding. Like he was lost in thought. I snapped my fingers in his face and cleared my throat. “You need to go, Reggie. I’m not kidding. The more you pop up and try to force me to deal with this, the less it makes me want to, okay? I need space. Time.”

“It’s just so hard, princess. Then I see you around with him and damn it, I hate the way I acted and the fact that I ruined everything.” Reggie admitted quietly. I nodded. “Just give me space.”

“I’ll try.” he promised, turning, walking down my porch steps. From the doorway, Polly spoke up.

“Sweet Pea.. He’s a Serpent, right? Jason mentioned him once or twice.” Polly asked as she reached out for Dagwood and gave me Juniper to hold.

I settled Juniper on my hip and gazed at Reggie’s retreating back. Sighing and shaking my head sadly. I just wish he’d understand that the more he tries to force himself on me right now, the less I want to deal with everything. And I don’t want to lose a friend.

I diverted my gaze and turned to face Polly, nodding. “Yeah. I got paired with him in Biology. It’s been interesting, to say the least.” I sank down to sit on a bench my father built, laughing as I shook my head. Cooing at Juniper. 

Polly cleared her throat. “Out with it, Alyssa Jean. I know that look too well, okay? And as your friend, I need to tell you now that the Serpents aren’t people you mess around with lightly. Not to mention, that whole thing with that guy Dave you had going in Chicago. The scary guy? The reason your mom freaked out and sent you here to live in the first place, most likely?”

“It’s nothing. It’s dumb.” I shook my head. Shifting Juniper around in my lap. Bouncing my legs a little to make her grin and reach up. “Dave was scary. And I’m starting to see that my mom did a good thing sending me here. I’m just glad he hasn’t tried to reach out to me.” I shivered a little, raising a hand to drag it through my hair. Gazing at Polly.

“The Serpents aren’t all bad.” I spoke up after a few seconds.

“Al, half of them already have rap sheets. I just don’t want you getting mixed up with them and getting hurt. Promise me you’ll at least give anything you’re thinking a lot of thought instead of just diving in and doing it?” Polly eyed me in concern. Mostly to appease her, I nodded.

“As far as Reggie.. I think he really regrets what he did.” Polly advised. Giving me a smile. Clearly trying to steer me in a particular direction. I know she was doing it with the best of intentions, but deep down, it struck a nerve or two. Because literally anyone I could think of save for Cheryl and Toni, they all seemed hell bent on steering me clear of Sweet Pea. Which was ironic, considering I really don’t see him ever even giving me a second look. Even more ironic when you stop to consider that it’s not like I’m openly throwing myself at the guy...Or that I’ve pretty much made up my mind that if I do feel anything for him, I can’t ever actually tell him, because it will ruin everything.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I decided against it. Polly gave me a soft smile, getting a dreamy look in her eyes as she spoke again. “The look he was giving you just now, Al.. If you gave him half a chance… you could be as happy as Jason and I were. Or as happy as I was raising my sweet angels at the Farm. You should come to a meeting with me.”

I shook my head quickly to that one. “I am.. Not into organized religion. I barely go to the services at the church here unless my dad really wants me to go with him. Besides.. We both know that I got up to enough sketchy stuff in Chicago that if I were to step foot in a religious building, lightning might just strike me down.”

“You weren’t that bad, Al. Everyone makes mistakes.” Polly laughed softly. Nodding to her twins as she mused, “Which one of us got knocked up, hm? And we both know how fast that gets you written off here.”

“ I know I wasn’t that bad, but also at the same time, it scares me now to think back and remember how much fun I had when I was in over my head, doing things I knew I shouldn’t ? As far as you getting pregnant and what this town thinks about it. Honestly, fuck ‘em. You and Jason were really in love. That’s what matters.” 

“We really were. But it was hard.” Polly admitted quietly. Adding as an afterthought, “ I really miss him sometimes.”

“Yeah. Me too. Pretty sure he’d have helped Archie drill Reggie’s head into the floor when it got around exactly why Reggie was even dating me to begin with. It was ridiculous. Took Jughead and Kevin to pull the two apart.” I gave a quiet laugh, shaking my head. 

Alice was calling for Polly and Polly grumbled, raising up to peek out the window. “I better go over there and see what she wants. I wanted to come over. Maybe I can come by again later or something?” Polly asked as she gathered Juniper and Dagwood, re-swaddling them against her. I smiled, nodding. Following her to my door, letting her out and locking the door again behind me once I saw her disappear inside her parents house.

XXX

“They’re going to tear down South Side.”

The words had Sweet Pea tensing because it was just another thing he’d be losing. It wasn’t enough apparently, that he was living in the Wyrm because he had nowhere else to go. He didn’t have family willing to take him. His mother hadn’t spoken to any of them in years. He barely saw his mother as it was, she’d come home for a day, a week tops and then she’d be gone again.

He gazed over at Fangs, processing what Fangs was telling him. “First it was closing the school down. Then it was our homes. What next, huh? What else do we have to get taken?”

Jughead wandered into the Wyrm and Sweet Pea scowled a little. It didn’t matter how much Jughead was trying to do for the gang, what he was accomplishing was the opposite of what needed to happen. “The fuck is he doing here?” Sweet Pea nodded to Jughead.

“He’s one of us, man.” Fangs reminded Sweet Pea. Glancing at Jughead as Jughead made his way over. He’d probably just heard the news about South Side High too. Though Fangs didn’t see why it mattered

“Only because of FP. Cherry’s more one of us than he is. I still say the second we’re not useful he’s going to bitch out and turn his back.”  Sweet Pea grumbled.

Fangs chuckled, shaking his head. Sweet Pea hadn’t ever made a secret how he felt about Jughead. And he certainly hadn’t taken it easy on the guy when they initiated him into the Serpents not so long ago, either.

Jughead sat down next to where Fangs was standing, grabbing himself a drink from behind the counter and pulling the tab. Taking a long sip.

“We have to do something. They’re taking everything from us.” Jughead spoke up angrily.

“I’d like to point out they’re your friends.” Sweet Pea spoke up, a harsh tone as he glanced over at Jughead.

“I’d like to point out that we all know you have a thing for one of them. If you’re going to sit there and pin this on the North Side like usual, I mean. At least own up to that.” Jughead retorted, watching Sweet Pea’s fists clench and his face twist into an angry mask. Trying to keep himself from laughing as it happened.

Sweet Pea having feelings for Alyssa wasn’t quite as well hidden as the guy thought.

The only one who didn’t seem to be aware of it was Alyssa herself. It amused Jughead.

It did not amuse Alyssa’s brother.

And the two had already had several heated conversations about him hanging around Alyssa so much that Jughead had to intervene on more than one occasion.

“I keep telling you idiots I don’t. I’d trust her before I would you, Jones. If we’re going there.” Sweet Pea muttered.

“Whatever you say, Pea. Can we stop arguin? Maybe start thinkin about what the fuck we’re gonna do?” Fangs patted his friend on the shoulder and Sweet Pea glared up at him.

“A hunger strike. We chain ourselves to the school. They can’t demolish it if we’re not moving.” Jughead suggested.

Fangs and Sweet Pea shared a look. Neither were sure their idea would work. But maybe it could buy them some time. Or get attention to the issues at hand… The more attention they drew to the fact that certain people were trying to use their money to completely run an entire neighborhood out of town, the better their case.

“That’s not the worst idea.”

“I hate what I’m about to say.” Sweet Pea paused, grimacing as he added, “It’s not. It’ll get attention on what’s happening. I hated saying that, fuck.” 

“Let me go talk to the others. We’ll reconvene at 9 tonight?”

Fangs and Sweet Pea nodded and Jughead went to talk to some of the other Serpents.

“That killed you, didn’t it buddy?” Fangs teased Sweet Pea.

“Fuck you, Fogarty.” Sweet Pea snapped, grumbling to himself. “Doing somethin is better than just sitting back and lettin them take everything, I guess.” 

And at 9:30 pm that night, Jughead, Fangs, Sweet Pea and Toni as well as several other former South Side students met at their old school. Chaining themselves to the fence in protest.

[mxupdate]

[ARTICLE] Monsta X Pushes Against Boundaries in ALL ABOUT LUV, K-Pop's First All-English Album in a Decade

The members of K-pop group Monsta X entered the interview room as though it were the set of a music video: fully hair-and-makeup-ready, some wearing clothes identical to the attire they wore in the video for one of their latest releases, “Middle of the Night.” Kihyun donned a checkered coat with bright yellow stripes and a green collar, Minhyuk a light brown coat with a dark tiger print. The group had just completed a Q&A on Facebook Live, after more than a week of non-stop interviews and meet-and-greets on both coasts of the U.S. The frenetic pace was par for the course for a K-pop act promoting a new album, though in this case, the group from South Korea had just released something a bit different: its first all-English album, ALL ABOUT LUV.

See full article here or read below.

ALL ABOUT LUV is the first all-English album released by a K-pop group in more than a decade — the last one was from trio JYJ in 2010. The new album quickly accomplished an impressive feat, ranking fifth on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making Monsta X only the third K-pop group, after BTS and SuperM, to break the top 10. Members Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, I.M and Wonho — who left the group near the end of last year — participated in the recording of the album, whose 11 tracks are uncharacteristically sensual and seductive for a K-pop act. A few days after the release, five of the six members of Monsta X sat down with TIME to discuss, at times via a translator, ALL ABOUT LUV, and the experience of both singing in English and speaking more frankly about what happens in the bedroom. (Rapper Joohoney is on a break, taking time to focus on his mental health due to anxiety, but will return for the group’s North American tour beginning in June.)

In the nearly five years since the group was formed in the reality competition show No.Mercy in 2015, Monsta X has carved a space in K-pop with EDM- and hip hop-heavy tracks paired with aggressive choreography. In 2019, the act began to shift gears in its sound. While continuing to release Korean albums with the same explosive energy, Monsta X dropped a number of tracks recorded in English, with a sleeker, smoother vibe. The rollout of these English-language songs led up to the release of ALL ABOUT LUV, which dropped on Valentine’s Day to the warm embrace of “Monbebes” — the name for the group’s fans, derived from the French term for “my baby.”

A new language introduces a new mode of expression

The group began working on ALL ABOUT LUV back in 2018, when they recorded “Besides U” featuring Pitbull, though “Who Do U Love?,” a collaboration with French Montana, would be the album’s first single. “At that time it was really difficult to record,” Kihyun, the main vocalist whose honeyed falsetto is a standout in the new album, tells TIME of working in English. “But it’s really comfortable now, every song.” A combination of speaking more English during stateside events, covering American pop songs — such as Bruno Mars’ “Versace on the Floor,” performed on a Korean television show in 2018 — and receiving help from youngest member I.M, who has lived in Boston and is fluent, has gradually increased the artists’ comfort working in the language.

Releasing an English album doesn’t just mean the words sound different. Vocalist Minhyuk describes a more technical difference in singing the two languages, which can lead to increased expressiveness. “When you speak Korean, there are lots of words that if you pronounce that word, your mouth is closed and it’s not really that smooth — it can sound a bit intense,” he says. “But when you are speaking English words, it goes with the flow. Word and word connects.” Minhyuk says the more flexible pronunciation helps him “give more emotions” to the English words. This can be heard, for instance, as he tenderly delivers the line, “I only feel alive when I don’t feel safe” from the new track “Misbehave.”

A laid-back, gentler approach to choreography

The emotions expressed in the new album, and the dances that accompany the songs, also mark a change from those of Monsta X’s past tracks. The group’s Korean music is known for its intensity — the latest title tracks “Follow” and “Alligator” are EDM-infused anthems whose choreography features fast-paced stomps, kicks and punches. In contrast, the numbers on ALL ABOUT LUV, as the album’s name suggests, share a laid-back mood expressed by soft and fluid dance moves. The performance for the new song “Middle of the Night” is filled with hip swaying, finger snapping and caressing of the microphone stand.

“In ALL ABOUT LUV, the whole album vibe is very moody and chill,” says leader Shownu, who is also the main dancer and has participated heavily in the group’s choreography. “We just wanted to match the dance moves with the songs.” The members contributed to shaping the routines of the new tracks. Shownu points to “Middle of the Night”: at the line, “we’re kissing in the car underneath of the night,” the idols tilt their microphone stands sideways and lean down as if to kiss them.

“Our Korean album performance and our ‘Middle of the Night’ performance are different types of sexy,” Minhyuk explains. “Korean album is…” he pauses as rapper I.M jumps in — “strong sexy.” “Yeah, strong and powerful,” Minhyuk agrees. Meanwhile, “Middle of the Night” has a “gentle” type of sexiness, Kihyun says.

‘Honest things happen on the bed’

But the sex appeal doesn’t only stem from the choreography. Throughout the album, lyrics making sexual references carry Monsta X into a beyond-PG-13, but not-quite-R-rated realm to which few K-pop acts have ventured.

In the track “Misbehave,” the chorus goes, “Love it when we mess this up, every time we argue, straight into the bedroom.” When asked about these lyrics, I.M says, “When you are loving somebody you need to be honest, and honest things happen on the bed.”

“What?!” Kihyun exclaims. “B-E-D? B-E-D?” Minhyuk asks, spelling out the word. “It’s about your imagination,” I.M responds, offering a laundry list of chaste activities. “We can just sleep, or just yawn…”

“Watch Netflix on bed,” vocalist Hyungwon, who has been mostly quiet up until now, chimes in. “Yeah, everyone has their own time on their bed,” I.M says. Kihyun fans himself. “Whew, I’m sweating!”

“Using the straightforward words, I thought it was very erotic,” Shownu says, using the Korean word yahada, which is also sometimes translated as “sexual.” “I felt shy,” Minhyuk shares about his recording experience.

Minhyuk reflected on the lyrics of “Love U,” a cheery electro-pop track suggestive of something more physical. The members sing, “I really, really wanna love you / But I can’t say the word I want to / ‘Cause they won’t play it on the radio / But I know you know / What I mean, what I mean.” It’s not hard to guess the word the lyrics suggest.

“When we were recording ‘Love U,’ I thought it was just a song about love,” Minhyuk explains. “But it went in a different direction.”

To be clear, the lyrics in All ABOUT LUV never explicitly mention sex. But compared to previous tracks in Monsta X’s discography — and, on a broader scale, most love songs across K-pop — the words are significantly more sexual. “It’s fine, we’re all adults.” Kihyun says, “and this is an American album.” If it were a Korean album, there would “maybe” be fewer of these references, he says. “The Korean society is more strict to lyrics.��

Pioneering a new sound

While the majority of K-pop tracks have a balanced distribution between singing and rapping — as most idol groups are formed with a mix of singers and rappers — ALL ABOUT LUV has significantly fewer rap verses. I.M and the group’s main rapper Joohoney, who boast some of the most dynamic rap delivery in the industry, tabled that specialty to record vocal-heavy sections. “I think I forgot how to rap by now,” I.M jokes.

“It was so funny,” Kihyun shares about Joohoney’s time in the studio. “Joohoney yelled at me, ‘Hyung, help me! I can’t do this,’” Kihyun says, referencing the Korean term for “older brother.” “The notes were so high to Joohoney, but he did it.” Indeed, Joohoney and I.M displayed their versatility across the album’s melodies, from the ad-libs in “Who Do U Love?” to the sultry introduction in “Middle of the Night.” In blurring the rap-vocal divide, the group is pioneering a new sound for Korean groups releasing music in the U.S.

“The Korean fans liked it because they saw a feeling they had never seen,” Hyungwon says. “The American fans liked it because it was fully in English.” Music from the album is already making its way into spaces where K-pop is rarely heard. On a recent episode of Riverdale, “Who Do U Love?” plays in the background. Elsewhere, fans have recorded hearing ALL ABOUT LUV tracks in stores from an H&M in Turkey to a Hollister in the U.K. When the group announced its North American tour taking place this summer, it became clear that Monsta X is returning to cities in venues much larger than the ones they performed in just a year ago, a testament to their rapid growth.

A few days before the Billboard 200 list was announced, TIME asked Monsta X how they will measure the success of ALL ABOUT LUV. Leader Shownu says he does not want to “get stuck inside of ‘success,’” and his teammate Kihyun offers a simple but emphatic response: “If we and our fans are satisfied with this album, that is good.”

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Betty//...fireworks

Request: Can I request a Betty/Reader set when Cheryl is in the sisters of quiet mercy, you're with her in the conversion camp and when Toni comes to break her out you get away with them/ Betty helps you escape/adjust back to school

There’s heavy footsteps in the background of your dream and you frantically look to figure out where they’re coming from.

But you’re in a forest with two of your friends, Spongebob, your freshmen English teacher and Emma Watson...for some reason. And the footsteps don’t sound like they’re on a forest floor. They sound like they’re coming from inside a house, maybe on a carpet. 

They’re getting closer and you’re starting to panic. Sweat beads on your forehead and your breath quickens and then you feel it. 

Two strong hands on your shoulders. 

Okay. Now you’re awake. 

Your eyes snap open as your pulled from your bed. 

A scream rips through your throat but as soon as it leaves, a sweaty hand is clamped over your mouth. Instantly shutting you up. 

You do the next best thing to screaming. You kick, and hit and thrash about as you’re dragged from your room. Anything to make noise or get free. 

You look around frantically. Trying to find anything or anyone that can help. But then you lock eyes with your mom and dad. You try to pull away from the men and call for your parents, but the mens grip tightens as you look at your parents properly. Both stood outside their bedroom door. The door is open slightly and you see boxes inside. They haven’t got pyjamas on, they’re wearing normal clothes, and there’s no emotion on their faces. 

Why aren’t they doing anything? Why aren’t they trying to help. Why aren’t they stopping this? Why aren’t they calling for help? You’re screaming in your head as you look at them, a pleading expression in your eyes. Your body hurts because of the tight grip these people have on you, but that fades when you look at your dad. 

‘We’re sorry.’ He mouths, just before you’re dragged down the stairs. 

And the last thing you hear before you’re ripped from your childhood home is your mom, softly saying “We had to. You left us no choice. I hope you understand.” 

Then, you’re thrown into the back of an unmarked van and you’re whole life changes forever. 

On the cold morning of November 29th, all seemed right in Riverdale. Well, as right as can be. 

Unbeknownst to the students of Riverdale High, a fellow classmate and friend has been committed to The Sisters of Quiet Mercy for ‘sins against nature...and God himself’ Whatever the hell that means. 

When the Y/l/n’s were asked that morning about the sudden move, they spun some lie about your mother’s, mother being gravely ill. And when asked why their daughter wasn’t waiting in the moving van, or helping pack, they said you were saying goodbye to friends. 

But in reality, you were being tied to a bed in preparation for conversion therapy. 

Yep, all of this because you liked girls. 

A few neighbours had reported screams, but the police showed up when your family was moving, far too late. They told the sheriff what was happening and that they’d heard no screams, and on their way they went ‘to pick you up from your friends’. 

It was slightly suspicious. But Riverdale had bigger problems to deal with. 

So your search and the sudden move was forgotten. 

But not by everyone.

Betty Copper had been your best friend for the best part of five years. 

You, her and Archie Andrews had been inseparable since the day you met the duo. You told each other everything. 

Well, there was one thing each of you hadn’t told the other. 

Archie hadn’t told you that he was the one that broke your favourite necklace. The one your grandmother had given to you before she died. 

Betty never told Archie that she accidentally killed his pet goldfish. 

And you’d never told Betty that you’d fallen in love with her over the years. And now it seemed like you never would. 

So when you didn’t meet them by the corner that connected your two streets together so you could walk to school that morning, they thought it was strange. 

When you didn’t turn up to school without a call or text, they thought it was odd. 

And when word got out that you and you’re family had up and moved practically overnight. It was really fucking weird. 

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Betty asks annoyed. 

After school, Betty had dragged her boyfriend, her best friend, and her other friend to the police station and demanded to speak to the sheriff. Which just so happened to be her friends dad. 

“They’ve just moved.” Sheriff Keller sighs, but Betty wasn’t having it. 

“But she wouldn’t just leave without letting us know. Me and Archie are her best friends. She would have at least text us. But nothing. And she isn’t replying to any of our texts or calls. Something isn’t right her.” 

“I don’t know what you want me to say. We got a call early this morning about some screaming. We checked it out at about 6 this morning and the Y/l/n’s were packing. I asked where they were going, they said Mrs Y/l/n’s mother was sick. When I asked where Yn was, they said she was saying goodbye to some friends. And then off they went.” 

“And that didn’t seem suspicious to you?” Archie asks. 

“Yeah. That doesn’t seem like her.” Kevin adds. “She would have text them.” 

“Wait.” Betty interrupts. “You said her mom said her mom was sick?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Her grandmother on that side of the family died when she was 11.” Betty says and an eery silence took over the room. 

“What?” 

“Yeah. She gave her a necklace just before she died. It was the one Archie broke.” 

“You knew?” Archie asks, now very confused and a little upset. 

“Of course I knew. She did too. She just never said anything because it was around the time...your goldfish died.” She trails off, playing with her fingers. 

“Oh.” He sighs, unsure of what to say next. 

“Anyway. She didn’t say goodbye to me. Did she say goodbye to you?” She asks Archie and he shakes his head. “Did she say goodbye to either of you?” She directs her question to Jughead and Kevin and they both shook their heads. “Now are you going to do something?” 

“Sorry Betty.” Sheriff Keller shrugs. “We already have enough to deal with. From gangs selling drugs to a masked killer. Is it odd? Yes. But is there also a reasonable explanation to each and every thing? Yes. She’s ignoring you to make it easier to leave. Her mom got upset and just got confused. And maybe she has other friends to say goodbye to. Or maybe thats what she told her parents she was doing, when instead she was sneaking off to say goodbye to a boyfriend.” 

“Bu-” 

“Kevin?” He looks at his son for help and he nods, grabbing her arm. 

“Come on. We’ll go back to yours and figure this out.” He leads her out of the room with Archie and Jughead following quickly. 

“Something isn’t right.” She says, looking at each of them.

“We know.” Archie agrees. 

She was going to figure this out, even if it killed her. 

------

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since the Y/l/n’s had moved out of Riverdale seemingly overnight. They packed up their belongings, put their house on the market and left. No explanation, no goodbye’s, nothing. 

And three weeks you had been in that hell hole. With the itchy uniforms, scary nuns and middle aged practices. 

It had been torture. Literally.

And you weren’t sure how much more you could take. It seemed as if the entire world had forgotten about you. Betty hadn’t. She’d been trying to figure out where you’d gone non-stop for the past three weeks. And everyone was starting to worry. But you didn’t know that.

At first you thought you’re parents would come back for you. That they’d realize what a terrible mistake they’d made and take you back home and you could go back to being happy again. But as the days moved on and the ‘treatments’ got more intense. You started to lose hope. But then you figured that you’re friends would find you. That Betty and Archie would track you down. But as week one, turned into week two, and then week three. You started to accept your fate. This was your present, and your future. For the foreseeable. 

Being locked in a room for most of the day, made to watch shitty films that were supposed to scare you straight, forced to do hard labour, plus there was the shock therapy, (you thought that was just something that happened in the 60′s, but it was still very much happening) had its affect on you and you were slowly losing your grip on reality. 

Until she turned up. 

“Cheryl.” You whisper to yourself. You thought you were seeing things when you walked into the movie room. But there she was. Cheryl Blossom. Sitting on the end of a bench, with tears streaming down her face. She looked scared, traumatized. You had a feeling you looked like her, if not worse. 

You never thought you would be so happy to see her. Usually if you saw her in the corridor you would roll your eyes, right now you would do anything to hug her.

Slowly, you made your way to the seat behind her, and sat down quietly. 

While one of the sisters was distracted setting up the film, you took the opportunity to get her attention. If she was here, you had a chance to get out. You couldn’t get out alone, but with someone else here that you know, you had a chance.

“Cheryl.” You whisper again making her flinch at the sudden noise. You quietly curses yourself. Of course she was flinchy, you were too. “Cheryl.” You say, less rushed. “Its me, Y/n.” 

“Y/n?” She replies, just as quietly while the two of you continue staring in front of you. 

“Yeah.” You say. “I’ve never been more happy to see you.” You sob quietly and you can hear her crying. 

What a mess your life had become. Three and a half weeks ago you were sat with your best friend on her bed. Talking about homework and...boys. 

Well she was talking about Jughead and how he was taking her out on a date later that day and you were just nodding along. At the time it seemed like the conversation would never end. But what you wouldn’t do to go back to that time. You were happy and in love, and even though she didn’t know, nor she ever would, you were content. And most importantly, you were safe with her. Now, you were sat in conversion therapy with Cheryl Blossom and no real hope of escaping. 

“You’re going to be okay.” You reassure her, squeezing her shoulder before quickly pulling away. 

“We all thought you’d moved.” She whispers and you shake your head. Of course thats what they said. 

“Surprise.” You laugh, but there’s no humor behind it. Its bitter and sad and Cheryl cries harder, her tears for you. Because she’d been here for three days and she felt like dying. You’d been here for three weeks and she could only imagine what you felt like. 

The film started and you both shut up. You’d made the mistake of moving before the nuns left and you regretted it for three days, you would after being hit so hard you could barely see and then locked in your room for three days with barely any food or water. 

As soon as the nun leaves, you cry silently, your tears blurring your vision. 

You wanted out. You wanted to see Betty again. And you wanted to hang out with Archie and Kevin, and even Jughead. You didn’t mind that he had the girl you’d been pining for for the best part of 4 years. As long as you were with them...with her. 

But it seems everyone has given up on you. Believed what your parents had told them and moved on. 

“Cheryl!” 

You could have sworn you heard someone shout Cheryl’s name. Maybe the shock therapy had fucked up your brain even more than you thought.

“Cheryl!” The voice was louder and you thought maybe you were dreaming. That you’d finally fallen asleep and this was your dream. Although why someone would be shouting for Cheryl instead of you is a mystery. But you and Cheryl glanced quickly towards the door, but when nothing happened you both turned your attention back to the film. 

The blue lights cast a weird glow and it makes you feel colder than you already are. Its like all sign of life has been sucked from the room. 

“Cheryl!” A pink haired girl bursts through the door and your eyes widen. Holy shit. Someone was here. “Are you here?” She asks, her eyes squinting at the light. 

“Go.” You mutter, shoving her to stand and she does quickly, not quite believing what was happening. The frantic look of the girls face shows that she’s someone special to Cheryl and that makes you both happy and sad. Happy that they’ve got that, sad that you haven’t. 

“Toni?” 

“We came to rescue you.” She explains and now you can’t stop the tears falling down your face.

“You did?” Cheryl asks, and Toni nods. Quickly, she makes her way towards her, both of them smiling and hugging tightly before they pull apart and then...fireworks. 

Its the most depressing setting for what you assume is a first kiss but its sweet, and you can feel everyone in the room rooting for them. They’re all hoping they’ll have someone they love come rescue them, you included. But you all have the same realization at the same time, that that isn’t going to happen and look down. Too afraid that if you look any longer you’ll melt into your own disappointment and sadness. 

“Cheryl. Toni. They’re a bunch of nuns we have to go right-Y/n?” Your head snaps up at the sound of Veronica’s voice. “Holy shit. Y/n. Everyone thought you’d moved. Come on, lets go.” She says and Cheryl holds a hand out to you. 

Its now or never. 

“We’ll cover for you, for as long as possible.” The boy who’s sat beside you says and you send him a watery smile. 

“Thank you.” You mumble before running towards Cheryl and grabbing her hand. 

The four of you run into a dark corridor, Veronica grabbing your other hand and you let go of Cheryl’s, deciding to give them their own thing. The sisters are cornering you and you know there’s no way out. You’re all going to get punished and then you’ll be stuck here forever. But Veronica pulls you down a stairwell with red lights, the four of you desperately running away. The floor is wet, and its soaking your shoes and socks, but you don’t care. You just want out. 

You run through a gate, and down another corridor, narrowly avoiding the sisters and you can feel your heart hammering in your chest. This is it. You either get out, or you die in here. The fire bell is deafening as you run past it making you falter slightly, but Veronica’s grip on your hand tightens as she pulls you alongside her and then up a ladder. 

The four of you make it up the ladder and are running again. Your lungs are screeching and your legs are burning, you’ve never ran this much in your life. Not for something so important. And you so desperately want to stop, but then you see it. Light. And someone is holding the door open. You’re so close. 

“Come on!” They shout and you’d recognize that voice from anywhere. Its Kevin! 

Finally you’re out. 

Toni jams a crowbar through the handle, and it starts to shake as the sisters try to get open it, but you all keep running. You run until you get to Kevin’s dads truck, the five of you all squashing in. 

“Y/n?” Kevin asks once you’re all inside. “We thought you’d moved.” You’re starting to get sick of that saying. “Your parents...they said your grandmother was sick. They told my dad.” 

“Can you take me somewhere safe?” You ask and he nods, knowing now is not the right time for questioning. 

“Of course. I know just the place.” 

Betty Coopers house looks just the same. The same old suburban outing, with the stone wall and big red door. 

You remember playing stupid games in the garden, both you and Betty hiding behind the wall, waiting for Archie to pass by so you could jump out and scare him. It usually worked, although one time he did accidentally punch you in the face, breaking your nose in the process. However, you made a deal that if you punched him in the face as hard as you could, you wouldn’t tell your parents it was him, you’d just say you fell over. You knew they would kill you. Now you’re thinking they just might have, maybe for different reasons though. 

But as you walk up the steps you’ve grown up with, nothing feels the same. Toni, Cheryl and Kevin are waiting in the truck while Veronica helps you up to the house. 

You’re looking around frantically, just waiting for a man to jump out from behind a bush and grab you, locking you away forever. But it doesn’t happen, instead there’s heavy knocking on the front door which makes you jump, but Veronica’s arm wraps around you tighter, letting you know your safe. 

The front door swings open revealing a tired looking Betty. Her hair is up in a bun and she has cute matching pyjamas on. And even though she’s half asleep, she’s still the prettiest girl in the world. She makes your heart skip a beat even in these odd circumstances.

“Yeah?” She rubs her eyes, but she stops when she sees you stood beside Veronica. She blinks a few times, her eyes widening as she takes in your appearance. You look awful...but perfect. “Y/n? What the hell. Where have you bee-” 

“She’s been with the sisters.” Veronica says quietly and Betty nods before taking you from her. 

“Come on.” She leads you into the warmth of her house, sending a thank you to Veronica before closing the door. “Let me find you some pyjamas. Do you want to take a shower?” She asks and you nod slowly. 

Her house is the same as you remember, and you’re glad nothing here has changed. Its just you. And your entire life. 

You make your way towards the bathroom and close the door quietly once you get there, making sure you haven’t closed it all the way. You don’t want to feel trapped again. 

Peeling your uniform off you start to cry silently but when you start to the shower your cries become louder and your glad it seems to be only Betty in the house tonight. 

“Y/n?” She knocks on the door gently and you quiet your crying as you step into the shower. 

“Yeah?” You mumble. She barely hears it and he heart breaks at how broken you sound. 

You’re no longer the bubbly, happen friend who always knew how to cheer up the people she loved. You’re broken and trapped and she has no way of helping you. 

“I’ve left some pyjama’s and a towel just by the door.” She says, because there’s nothing else she can say. She opens the door a bit more to slide the clothes in, grabbing your uniform in the process. It goes straight in the bin once she gets downstairs, but it doesn’t feel like thats doing it enough justice. She feels like she should burn it, stamp on it, anything. 

She doesn’t know how she’s going to make this better. So she rings Archie while you’re showering, to let him know what has happened. She doesn’t know much, but she knows enough for now. 

She hangs up the phone when she hears the bathroom door open. You slowly walk out and she leads you to her bed. 

You’ve spent countless of nights in this bed, staying up all night, talking about the future. Not once did either of you believe that something like this could happen. And it almost feels wrong to lie down in something thats been untainted, but you’re so tired. You haven’t slept properly in three weeks.

As soon as your head hits the pillow, your half asleep, but there’s something stopping you. 

“You’re safe.” Betty whispers. Its like she can sense whats wrong with you, and as she slowly strokes your hair, you begin to fall asleep. 

You’re in a forest again. But this time, the footsteps are right behind you and you’re running away from them. But no matter where you go, or how fast you run, they seem to be right behind you. Until...

Your eyes snap open as you sit up. Betty pulls her hand away from your shoulder quickly as you curl up into a ball, rocking back and forth.

“Sorry. You were having a nightmare. I didn’t know what to do.” She panics, switching the bedside lamp on. “Here, have some water.” She hands you a glass and you take it with shaky hands, taking a large drink. You hand it back to her and slowly start to relax as you look around the room. 

“I missed you.” You mumble and her worried expression melts away. Its replaced with the lopsided smile that you fell in love with.

“I missed you too.” She replies, but her smile turns into a frown when she see’s you crying. “Hey, whats wrong?” She asks, wrapping her arms around you, you grimace at the pressure she’s putting on your bruises, but you don’t say anything. You want her to stay, you want her arms wrapped around you forever.

“Toni came looking for Cheryl.” You sob and her eyebrows furrow.

“Toni went looking for Cheryl. Everyone forgot about me. You all believed what my parents said. Nobody loves me enough to look for me.” 

For a moment Betty is confused, but then she remembers seeing Cheryl and Toni in Kevin’s truck. Cheryl was wearing the same uniform as you and that confused her. But when you were getting ready to go in the shower, Veronica had text her to explain what had had happened, and thats when she found out the two of you were there for conversion therapy. 

The only other explanation for you being in there would have been pregnancy but the only boys she’s ever seen you interact with is Archie, Kevin and Jughead. And all of them are a big no for different reasons. 

But now everything makes sense. She was too busy wrapped up in everything that was happening, but now she understands. 

“Conversion therapy.” She says quietly. “You parents put you in there because you’re gay?” She asks and you nod your head softly. 

“I don’t know how they found out. I just woke up being dragged from my bed in the middle of the night by two men. I tried screaming but it didn’t work. And then I was thrown into a van and they said sorry, but they couldn’t have been sor-” 

“Breathe.” She cut you off. You were starting to panic and she didn’t want that. You were safe here. “Its okay. No one is going to find you here. You’re safe. I’ll keep you safe.” 

“How could you just forget about me?” You ask, your voice cracking and she sighs. 

“I-we didn’t. Stay here.” She tells you before walking to her vanity and pulling open the drawer. She comes back handing you a folder filled with paper. You open it carefully, your eyes flickering from that to Betty and she nods reassuringly. 

Dozens of pieces of paper filled it. All with several people’s handwriting on. 

“We’ve been looking for you. We all have. The day you went missing I went to the police station because I thought it was weird but they just ignored me, so me and Archie took matters into our own hands. We listed everything we could about you and your family, we asked your neighbours if they knew anything and if they thought anything was weird about the sudden move. I called around your family members. Everything. We were even planning on going on a road trip to where your grandmother used to live.” She explains and you cry harder. We never forget about you...I never forgot about you.” 

“Betty.” You sob and she pulls you into tight hug.

“I’d have looked for you every day of my life until I found you.” She whispers in your ear and you smile gratefully. 

I love you. You say in your head, but the room remains silent. 

*One Week Later*

The first day back at school is always the hardest, especially if you’ve been off for a few days. 

But its even worse when your parents lock you away with the nuns for liking girls, then you escape and you end up living with the girl you’re in love with.

Alice basically decided to adopt you as soon as she walked into her daughters room and saw the two of you cuddling. She’d always liked you ever since Betty had brought you home, plus she thought you were a much better influence on her that Archie was. Betty had explained what had happened and then it was decided, you would live with the Coopers. 

Archie was your next visiter, bringing along some flowers and your grandmothers necklace (now fixed). He’d found it on the driveway of your old home when they were still looking for you and asked his dad to lend him the money to get it fixed. (He also hoped that if the two of you saw the necklace, Betty would finally admit murdering Fish Sticks in cold blood...it didn’t) 

The three of you had spent the entire day together, just in Betty’s room. Just like old times. Alice had even made cookies, which you ate the majority of. 

Over the next week you had a few visitors, including Sheriff Keller, who formally apologized. They questioned you about the Sisters and their practices, and the next day, 9 children and teenagers were rescued from the place, all had been put in conversion therapy. The other people that had been put in there for various reasons were also taken out, and put in other places. Safer places. 

Betty never leaves your side for the entire morning of your first day. And if she has too, she makes sure there’s someone else familiar with you. Her and Archie take it in turns to be with you and occasionally Veronica, Kevin or even Jughead will help out. 

Even though things are a bit awkward between Betty and Jughead because of their sudden break up. Nobody saw it coming, and you’re not entirely sure why they did, but they ended it. Betty came back twenty minutes after telling you she would be be out for a bit. She was upset, and you could tell she had been crying, but when you asked her what was wrong, she just shrugged and told you things with Jughead had ended. And when you tried to find out why, she just smiled softly at you and told you not to worry, gently holding your hand as she did. 

But for now they seem to be getting along for your sake and sometimes you feel like a child of divorce around them. 

The looks you’ve been getting have settled down over the course of the day, but at lunch time it feels like everyone is staring at you and your starting to forget how to breathe. Betty looks around, noticing the stares, and leaves your side momentarily to ask a girl in her Math class what is happening. 

But by the time she finds out, its too late. You’re already at your locker and its staring you in the face 

‘dyke’

Is scrawled in red writing across your locker and you feel the breath being knocked out of your lungs. 

You feel trapped, like you’re in that dingy room again, with the grey walls and hard bed, and people that screamed all day and night. 

Your breathing is ragged and your hand is clutching your chest. Everyone is staring at you no matter where you turn and Betty seems to be moving towards you in slow motion. 

By the time she makes it to you, you think you’re going to die. Her hands are on your shoulders making you stumble backwards. She curses to herself before holding your hands instead. She’s talking, you can see her mouth moving while she stares at you, but you can’t hear her. It all sounds like static. 

Betty can tell she isn’t getting through to you, so she has to think of something. Everyone’s eyes are on the both of you and she can hear a few people laughing. 

Who would do such a thing to a sweet girl? 

Everyone loved you before you were taken away. 

So what changed? 

Oh yeah, they found out you prefer women over men. 

So, she takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and presses her lips to yours. She needs a way to get through to you, she needs people to talk about something else, she’d rather be the ‘dyke’, that have anyone call you anything other than beautiful. Plus, she’s been wanting to do this forever. 

To the outside world, it looks like the most depressing setting for a first kiss and if you’re being honest. It is. But its perfect either way. 

Its like...fireworks.

Your eyes widen once you realize what she’s doing. 

Betty Cooper is kissing you! The girl you’ve been in love with since you were 13 is kissing you, and you don’t know what to do. You feel breathless for an entirely different reason. 

Kiss back! You’re screaming at yourself and you muster all the strength you can to kiss her back, melting into her. 

She pulls away first, a bright smile on her face as she stares at you. 

“I love you.” She admits and a soft smile appears on your lips.

“I love you too.” 

Then, she leads you to the front of the car, you, her and Archie fixed up together and you’re whole life changes forever. 

[innately-pretentious]

Can I have a Harry Potter and Riverdale matchup, please? I'm a 5'2'' black bisexual genderfluid/non binary female (she/her pronouns) who is chubby with dark black braided hair, dark brown eyes, dimples and is nearsighted and wears glasses. Hobbies include playing video games, drawing, writing, reading manga and comics, watching anime and movies, eating sweets and junk food in general. I’m a very insecure piece of shit and I'm also kind of a ditz and a massive daydreamer.

I ship you with Neville!

You two would honestly be so adorable together! It literally took him for ever to pluck up the courage and make his move on you. You had a sort of suspicion that he may like you due to his (not so subtle) glances at you across the great hall. Eventually Ginny knew she would have to step in at some point and make him ask you out, sitting together and planning what he is going to say to you the next time he has a chance. Pushing him towards you to make his move, she couldn’t help but smile as he asked you out!

He loves your appearance, the way your hair is intricately places in braids adorning your head is really beautiful to him. Not to mention your eyes! Many people overlook brown or darker eyes, but he could gaze into yours all day. Being mesmerised by the way they change shades in the sun, becoming even more beautiful in the summer months. He really loves your dimples, especially when they are paired with you smiling. You soon start to notice that he does pretty much anything to see a smile on your face, acting goofy just to see your face light up, you can’t help but laugh at his antics. He has had his fair share of insecurities himself and knows how important self esteem is, however he is puzzled whenever you see yourself in a negative light. He is never one to keep compliments to himself either, he believes that it won’t do any good keeping a kind remark to himself, he reminds you every time he sees you that he is always surprised by how lovely you look.

You are one of the first people to introduce him to video games. Being from a pure blood family, he was never exposed to muggle activities like these, looking puzzled as you try to explain the rules and how to use the controllers. It takes some getting used to, with a few swear words under his breath, he gets the hang of it. Loving the way his eyebrows furrow slightly when he is concentrating, and smiling when he successfully completes the game. He even looks forward to coming to your house outside of term time to play with you, and you sometimes let him win. Sometimes.

He takes into account your interests when choosing date activities, always planning them at least two days in advance! One of the more thoughtful ones he planned was by the lake. Setting up various art supplies in every colour on a blanket, so the two of you could draw all afternoon, enjoying the sun. He even went to the hassle of preparing a picnic for the two of you, making sure he packed all of your favourite sweets and junk food. Sitting by the water and hearing the soft ripples hitting the shore was his idea of heaven. He is not much of an artist but he tried to emulate whatever you were working on, you even swapped your artworks when the day came to a close, keeping a little souvenir of your time spent together.

The song I associate with you guys would be ‘Heartbeats’ by José Gonzalés!

[ms-maj]

In This Diary

(Day 3- A song that reminds you of summer. Un-beta’d so please excuse all the mistakes, I drank way too much coffee tonight)

Here in this diary,

I write you visions of my summer

It was the best I ever had

There were choruses and sing-alongs

And that unspoken feeling 

of knowing that right now is all that matters.

In This Diary-The Ataris

The summer before senior year is historically hectic. Between SAT and ACT prep, extracurriculars, community service, it’s a wonder that Betty Cooper even got a moment's rest. Of course, because she had every minute of her summer (including free time) mapped out, she would get notified that a position had become available at the prestigious writer’s retreat she was initially rejected from. 

Getting to it and out of all her other obligations was no small feat, but, with deft humility and what she likened to mental gymnastics, she got there. Eight weeks away from New York, from her narcissistic mother and apathetic father, and the friends who always seemed like they had more important things to do. Eight weeks with likeminded people, good books and herself. 

The campus was warm and inviting, not the monolithic buildings with their windowed walls she was used to in the city. Riverdale’s small university felt like some cliched, idyllic embodiment of what the countryside used to be. And she loved every second of it. From the perfectly manicured lawns to the stone facades of the lecture halls, she felt more and more at home with every day that passed.

Her single dorm had been clean, though surprisingly cold and sterile compared to how homey everything else had felt. She’d decorated modestly, a few framed pictures of her sister and friends from back home, and finally, sheets in a color other than pink. After the long days of instruction and group work, she was happy to come back to her small sanctuary and sink into the seafoam coziness.

It’s wrapped up in the soft fleece she feels comfortable enough to pull out her journal. She hadn’t been able to keep one recently. Her mother was overbearing on a good day and the last year, well, she took it to a whole new level. Not that she’d ever had much privacy, but she had thought her diary at least was off-limits. Everyone had boundaries, except Alice Cooper it turned out. Now, here, far out of her mother’s expertly manicured clutches, she can put the pen to the page and try to sort out her mind. 

She had expected rigorous lessons, these classes were supposed to emulate the college ones she’d be taking in just a year, but everyone in them seemed to be on a different level than her. Betty was a journalist at heart, she wrote well and with conviction, but her writing did follow patterns. Truth. She laid it out as best she could, doing the facts justice while trying to reach her audience, but this seminar was in creative writing. And creative wasn’t something that Betty found came naturally to her.

It was the second week of the eight when she was approached. Sitting in the library, her second favorite place, her overthinking was interrupted by a messenger bag loudly hitting the table in front of her.

Confused, and a little annoyed, she looked up only to be greeted with the most beautiful blue eyes. “Um,” she cleared her throat. “Can I help you?”

He smiled, pulling out the chair, turning it around and sitting. “I think that maybe we can help each other.”

She’d be a liar if she said she hadn’t noticed him. With dark wavy hair and eyes that seemed to look right through her, he was exactly the kind of trouble she wasn’t planning on getting into. It helped in dissuading her that he carried himself the way most disaffected youths do; cool and aloof, sat at the back of the class, injecting only to be argumentative. (Even if his arguments were always thoroughly thought out and actually raised questions that Betty would have never thought to ask.)

Which is why when he dropped his stuff on her table that day, instead of rebuking him, she raised a dainty eyebrow and asked him what he had in mind. 

He needed a critical eye; someone meticulous, methodical, detail-oriented, “With all your color-coded notes and penchant for detail, I figured who better.”  

“And in return?” He leaned in, chair on two legs as its back rested against the table's edge. She wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light, the way his eyes seemed to darken as he watched her, or maybe it was just what she wanted to see.

“Seems like you need help getting out of your head,” If he only knew. “Your writing that is, it’s great—don’t get me wrong—but it’s all very…”

“Clinical?” Betty offered. 

A smirk played on his lips. “That’s a good word for it. You write like you’re trying to convince everyone that there’s a story being untold, instead of letting it unfold organically. It’s your story, you set the tone, you set the tempo, there’s no one-size-fits-all option in creative writing. You have to start letting yourself show through.”

That’s how it started. A new notebook—blue—filled with hastily jotted observations in her perfect print and his semi-legible scrawl. He would always point out when she got too deep in her own thoughts and when her writing started to reflect it, and she helped him rein in his penchant for superfluous detail. They worked in beautiful tandem. One month into the program, two weeks after they’d met in the library, she not only noticed a change in her writing but in herself. 

She found her reflection smiling back at her more often than not. Jughead, his acerbic commentary, and general vitriol were usually traits that repelled Betty, but here, where she didn’t have crushing expectations she was free to feel. Melancholia had been no stranger to Betty, her life a predetermined series of points set out by her parents, a living, breathing, paint by numbers. Pretty, pastel, prosaic. 

But not in Riverdale. 

In Riverdale, she was simply Betty. In her most base, true form. She found people who encouraged her writing and growth, and in return, found she really enjoyed the editorial component of writing. Almost more so than the act itself. There was a kind of peace in restructuring other people's works. Hearing for their voice, helping them to define and refine it. The freedom afforded to her over the summer had started to wear at her Type A proclivities, editing gave her some of that control back. But she had learned to enjoy that freedom in equal measure. 

And she never would have gotten there without Jughead. The townie, she learned later, having lived in Riverdale his whole life and planning on attending this writing retreat since he could remember. Jughead who learned how she took her coffee in a matter of days. Jughead whose words struck chords within her as though he were a maestro, creating symphonies in prose.

Or maybe that’s just how she felt when she’d catch him looking at her.  Staccato heartbeat, blood pounding in her ears, fire burning just under the surface of her skin. The rampant thoughts that ran through her head when they were together only letting themselves out when she sat down with her diary at the end of the day.  What was once a detailed catalog of her day to day, from activities to feelings was now an abstract.

In her diary, she found her voice. She discovered poetry. More aptly she discovered how to use poetry. She found that, while she probably wouldn’t ever be a great writer of non-fiction, she could convey more with less in poetry. That her deliberate words carried more weight than the flowery supposition she thought she wanted. 

It was in there, privately pressed between the pages, she confessed. Her fears, her doubts, how her heart sped up while the time simultaneously slowed when his arm would brush against hers as they lounged on her bed. That she noticed he hadn’t tried to make any other friends here, keeping everyone else at arm's length while letting her—inviting her—encroach into his carefully curated bubble. That even though all signs pointed to yes, even this more confident, more comfortable Betty was terrified of rejection.

She’d never been a stranger to it; she was initially rejected from this intensive after all. Before, she was expected to plaster on a Cooper approved smile and bury whatever feelings that presented themselves. 

Now, she didn’t think she’d be able to do that. Jughead had helped her find so much more than just words. When she’d admitted she hadn’t had a cheeseburger in two years because her mother didn’t approve, he insisted on taking her to Pop’s.

“It’s not just a diner, Betty,” he said, slinging one leg over his motorcycle. He held his helmet up, urging that she take it. “It’s a Riverdale institution. You can’t be in this town for any amount of time without partaking in a milkshake and double cheeseburger.” 

She slid the helmet over her head, hair loose around her shoulders for the first time in her life. She watched as his tongue peeked between his lips as he took her in. “This is my first time on a bike though, so, go slow,” her voice was muffled by the helmet she knew, but he heard her. Straddling the bike, she loosely wrapped her arms around his waist, trying not to think about how soft the leather of his jacket would feel against the skin or how the hard planes of his stomach would feel under her hands. 

“I’m afraid going slow would be much worse. You’re just going to have to hold on much tighter than that.” She felt the air expel from his lungs as she tightened her grip. Maybe he was as affected by her presence as she was his. If he was though, he didn’t show it for the rest of the night. Aside from helping her off the bike, he didn’t initiate contact and made himself impossibly small looking in the booth, somehow physically shrinking into himself when he still seemed so emotionally open with her.

Even from the most mundane of topics the conversation flowed. He could make anything interesting, she loved watching his eyes light up when he got lost in the excitement of a good conspiracy theory or the thought of analyzing and dissecting pieces of popular culture. She could easily see herself like this with him: passionate, wild-eyed, thoroughly engrossed (or obsessed. It depended on who you asked, of course)   

When they’d departed for their separate dorms, she couldn’t help but feel dejected. Back in the safety of her room, she changed into pajamas to get the smell of grease and exhaust and brooding boy she had a desperate crush on, off of her. She pressed play on the saddest playlist she had curated and poured her heart onto the pages of her diary.

The last week of the program came far too quickly. The feeling in the lecture hall was different as well. The homesick were excited for the end to be near, but Betty wasn’t ready to be back in New York. She wasn’t sure this new, improved Betty would hold up under her mother’s increasing scrutiny. She didn’t know how much time she had before she broke completely.

“For your last assignment, I want you to do something that scares you. Obviously I don’t mean skydiving or anything, but something to do with your writing that scares you,” the professor said before dismissing them. “Write in a different tense or point of view; write a different style; share your work with a different audience. Just find the one thing you haven’t done yet here and just...let go.”

Betty snuck a look at Jughead from the corner of her eye. His brow was furrowed, jaw clenched tight, appearing deep in thought. She let out a shaky breath before going to smooth back the ponytail that wasn’t there. 

This is it, she thought. Her chance. To tell him how she felt, to bare her soul to him even more than she already had. She was up and out of her chair the second they were dismissed, talking herself into her decision with every step that led her back toward the dorms. 

“Hey,” his voice was soft, pensive as he opened the door. They hadn’t spoken much that day, just a text confirming he was in his room. 

Producing a hastily wrapped parcel from behind her back, Betty sighed. “If I don’t do this now, I won’t. The scariest thing for me, right now, is you reading what’s in there.”

“Betts,” he started, but she stopped him.

“There’s a lot of me in those pages that I could never share with anyone else. Whether they’d look at me differently or,” she shook her head stepping back, further into the hall. “Just read it...or don’t...either way, you’ll know where to find me.”

She didn’t stay to hear if he had anything to say, turning away from the boy holding the pieces of her heart, of herself, literally in his hands. Back in her room, she called her best friend Veronica and asked if she would watch some horribly cliched eighties teen comedy with her over facetime. She was asleep before “the guy” realized he was an idiot. 

Morning came quickly, as it usually did, but it seemed even faster knowing her days were dwindling. The light filtered through the blinds, dust floating lazily in the haze. She threw her head back into the pillows, hoping to be swallowed by slumber once again. But something niggled at the back of her mind. Something was keeping her firmly rooted in the waking plane.

The sound of a knock on her door.

She wasn’t sure if she was ready to face what she thought awaited her. When another knock came, and then another, more persistent knock, she willed herself out of bed and across the floor. Hugging tight the robe she threw on, she opened the door. 

Jughead didn’t look like he’d slept at all. His hair, normally secured under his beanie, was wildly sticking up in all directions. The eyebags that were everpresent on his face seemed deeper and more pronounced, and she was pretty sure he was still wearing the same thing he’d been wearing when she dropped the journal off to him.

The journal that was presently clutched between his hands.

“Did you mean it?”

Confused, she questioned back. “Mean what?”

“All of it? Any of it?” His voice seemed softer now, more unsure than she’d ever heard him. In their nearly six weeks of friendship he had seemed so confident. He was the one who approached her in the first place. But looking at him now, hands clenching at the notebook between them, maybe she wasn’t the only one who got more than just someone to look over their work.

Her eyes sought his, finding their usually blue hue stormy and grey. “Juggie, if I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have written it. And I certainly wouldn’t have shown you.”

He stepped closer, invading her space with his large body. “Betty,” he exhaled slowly. “There’s a reason nothing happened after we went to Pop’s and it wasn’t because I didn’t want it to.”

She watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he swallowed. “Then why?” 

“Because I’m an all or nothing kind of guy, Betty. And I know this has an expiration date! It’s five days from now. You’re leaving Saturday, to go back to New York. Where you’re going to do amazing things. Because you’re amazing, and nothing you do could be anything less.”

“That’s not true, or objective, you know that right? We both only have a year of high school left and then what? You could come to New York—”

He shook his head sadly. “Betty, I’m not coming to New York. I’ll probably never end up leaving Riverdale.”

“Then I’ll come here! I like it here, Jug. I could come here, and we can…” His hand reached for her, finding golden locks and twisting them between his fingers.

“I could never ask that of you.”

“Why are you here then?” She asked cooly as his hand fell from her hair. 

Slowly he dragged the hand that had been playing with her hair through his own before huffing a laugh.  “I honestly don’t know. My plan was kissing you as soon as you opened the door and then my brain got involved.”

She felt the corner of her lip turn up. “Brains are dumb. They always get in the way.”

He smiled back at her, both of them moving even closer together. “Betty, I’m not one of those guys who does casual. I need to know that you're in this. Really, in this. That you want to be WITH me as much as I want to be with you because I can handle the distance if I knew you were all in.”

Brushing one of many unruly curls from his brow, Betty smiled. “Jughead Jones, haven’t you figured it out by now?” 

He raised an eyebrow to her question, his arm coming to snake around her waist.

“I don’t do anything in halves.” 

When their lips finally met she knew instantly that her life would be different. Maybe she didn’t know right then just how different, but she could tell you, with certainty that that summer changed her life. She had followed her heart and finally got it right.

[softestvirgil]

Let The Flames Begin

Chapter Four

Summary:

After school Virgil decides to show the group his abilities

Genre: Alternate Universe

Rating: PG

Pairing(s): Side Logicality

Word count: 2155

Warnings: Mentions of injury, yelling, tension, shoulder touching

Let me know if there’s any more I should add!

After explaining everything to Roman’s parents they were more than willing to not only allow Patton to stay with them for a while but also to buy him some new clothes. Roman wasn’t sure why, since his parents were somewhat cold natured, but they really cared about people to their cores.

After getting Patton set up in the guest room, which was right beside Virgil’s room, Virgil decided to sit and talk with the boy for a bit and see how he was doing.

“You alright, Pat?” Virgil asked, standing in Patton’s door-frame.

“Yeah, I think I will be,” Patton replied with a sheepish smile. Then he yawned softly and the two boys said their goodnights.

The next day the trio ate breakfast together at the breakfast bar in the Prince’s large kitchen and Virgil realized this was his first time eating breakfast since he began staying with the Prince’s. If he was honest with himself, he hadn’t eaten much of anything lately. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he just got too anxious sometimes, and anxiety made the likelihood of burning the house down a lot higher, so he was obviously going to do whatever it took to eliminate some of it. Even if it meant skipping the most important meal of the day, on occasion.

Today, Denise made pancakes. She wasn’t the best cook, but Virgil figured she was pretty close to it. The batter was super sweet and the cakes ended up being really fluffy and moist. Pair that with fresh fruit on top and that made for an amazing taste.

“Awesome pancakes, Mrs. Prince,” Patton complimented, while his mouth was still full of food.

“Thank you, Patton. Please, call me Denise,” She said and patted his head softly.

“I agree, these are really good,” Roman said, trying to earn some imaginary points with his Mom.

She sensed his jealousy and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry,” She whispered. “You’re my boy,”

Then Roman smiled, trying not to start crying in front of his friends and continued eating.

That was when Virgil checked his phone and noticed they only had five minutes to get to school.

“Thanks so much for breakfast, but we gotta go!” Virgil said loudly, getting up from his stool.

“Shit!” Roman exclaimed checking the time.

“Roman William Prince! Watch your language!” His Mom yelled after him as he and his friends ran out of the kitchen.

“Sorry, Mom!” He yelled back.

They all ran and practically jumped into Roman’s car. Then Roman speeded all the way to school. It only took about four minutes to get there by car, but they only had like two so breaking the law was necessary if they didn’t wanna get in trouble and risk messing up their attendance records.

They managed to make it to school in one piece, but by the time they arrived the yard was empty, which meant everyone was already inside, which meant they were basically screwed.

Running out of the car and into the school, then down the halls to their first class took them maybe two minutes, but they were still very late.

“Mr. Prince, Mr. Storm and Mr. Baker… so nice of you to finally join us,” The teacher said as the trio entered the room. They ducked their heads and sat in their seats which was met by giggling from the other students in attendance.

Logan was across the room from where Patton was but he gazed at him intensely until he noticed and met his eyes. Then the two shared a timid gaze and focused their attention back to the teacher.

Roman’s seat was at the back of the classroom, and oddly enough, Virgil found himself wishing it wasn’t. It was strange because a few days prior he hated the guy, but things had changed so much since then. Roman had seemed so hostile at first, but it was just because he was scared, and Virgil understood fear better than anyone.

Once school was out for the day, the group had already decided they were hanging out. What were they going to do, none of them were really sure. Until Logan got an idea.

“So… Virgil,” Logan said as they all drove down the road in Roman’s car.

“Yeah?” Virgil replied from the passenger seat.

Logan paused for a moment, to try and formulate his words in a polite and non-creepy manner. “What would you say if I asked if you would, show us… the fire?”

Virgil’s eyes went big. “Uh…”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Virge!” Exclaimed Patton.

“Certainly. If you do not wish to-” Logan began but was cut off.

“I’ll show you,” Virgil said flatly.

“What? Are you sure?” Roman asked, with caution. For one, he was obviously afraid of the others potentially getting hurt, but he was also very afraid of Virgil getting hurt. He had already gotten in harm's way several times in the past few days, so Roman was understandably nervous.

Virgil sighed. “Yeah… I’ve never shown anyone before…”

Roman exhaled. “Alright, where to, then?”

“I don’t know… somewhere far away from people?” Virgil suggested and changed the song he was listening to on his phone.

“I know the perfect place,” Roman said as he drove. They drove for a bit until they were surrounded by farm-land. After about fifteen minutes Roman parked in front of a wildflower field, where no houses or people where to be seen for miles, and once they all got out Virgil breathed nervously.

“What’s the matter?” Patton asked him, with a caring tone.

“I just, don’t wanna hurt you guys,” Virgil confessed.

“It’ll be okay,” Patton said and gave Virgil a reassuring smile.

After they had all gotten out of the car, they moved toward the middle of the field.

‘Okay, so uh, I’m scared,” Virgil admitted openly. “But, that will help because I have discovered my powers are tied a lot to fear…”

“Interesting…” Logan said, taking notes.

“Whenever you’re ready, storm-cloud,” Roman offered.

Virgil let out a deep breath. “Okay… okay. Sit there and I will move back here a bit,” He directed. The trio did as they were told and he backed up about fifteen feet from them, to be sure they wouldn’t get hurt.

He continued to breathe deeply for a few moments, and harness his fear into his hands. After a little while, he felt a tingling sensation in his fingertips and palms and he let out a breath of relief before allowing the flames to begin. As they did his eyes turned to a light shade of orange that matched the hue of the fire. It started off small, and barely noticeable, but after a bit, the flames grew bigger and bigger until both Virgil’s hands looked like small bonfires. The trio who had been sitting and watching this were in awe. At first, they couldn’t believe their eyes but as it grew it started to look more and more real.

Then, Logan got up and moved closer to Virgil, which caused him to grow more anxious, and the fire to get out of control.

“Stay back!” Virgil shouted as the fire grew wilder.

“I just want to see it from up close,” Logan said, almost seeming entranced by it.

“Logan! Stop!” Patton cried. He had got up and tried to chase him, but when he did so Roman got up too and grabbed the back of his shirt. “It’s okay,” Roman didn’t believe that but it was better if only one friend was crazy right now.

“No! Virgil said-” Patton was screaming but Roman shushed him. “Don’t worry,”

As Logan grew closer, Virgil continued to back up. He was trying to calm himself but it wasn’t working. Breathing techniques were not meant for this.

“Logan, just stop!” Virgil yelled.

“I don’t care if I get burnt alright, I just want to examine the fire. It’s okay,” Logan said calmly. “Everything’s okay. You won’t hurt me,”

Then, just like that, the fire became manageable again. The flames were still visible but they were much smaller and safer.

Logan was inches away from the fire, and he stared at it in fascination.

“So, do you think it’s real fire?” Virgil asked Logan.

Logan stared at it for a bit. “That is, real fire, but how does it-” Logan began.

Then Virgil blew it out with his mouth. “Maybe we don’t need to know how, or why. Maybe it just is,”

Logan nodded. “Maybe…”

Then the other two ran over, Patton hugging Logan and Roman awkwardly smiling at Virgil.

“That… was pretty cool. Terrifying… but cool,” Roman commented.

“I’m just glad none of you got hurt,” Virgil replied, brushing his bangs out of his face to reveal the burn under his eye.

Roman caught a glimpse of it, but before he could look any longer Virgil’s hair had fallen back into place, covering it perfectly.

Patton huffed softly. “I think all this running was a bad idea, especially when you remember two of us are… injured,”

“I’m fine,” Virgil said and Patton raised a brow.

“You got beat up worse than I did,” He said, and Virgil shrugged.

“I have a high pain tolerance… might be from the uh, the fire,”

Logan chuckled. “I know you are probably correct about that assumption, but I just find it humorous that you could potentially use that as an excuse for anything strange or unusual,”

“True,” Virgil said and everyone laughed.

“Alright, well, it’s getting dark,” Roman said after a few moments, and they all walked back to his car. They then decided to stop at a nearby diner to get something to eat quickly before Logan had to be home.

The local diner was nice, but everything inside it was very dated. The jukebox didn't even play music anymore.

When they got sat down at a table they decided to sit in a booth with Logan and Patton on one side, then Roman and Virgil on the other.

“Why does it feel like we are in a really bad TV series right now?” Virgil asked, looking around.

“Hey! Riverdale isn't that bad!” Shouted Roman, who was then met with a curious gaze from the rest of the group.

Roman blushed. “What? I like it... KJ Apa has nice muscles…”

“I'm more of a Jughead guy myself,” Virgil stated.

Roman gasped. “You are Jughead,”

“What can I get for you guys?” The waitress said with a smile and a thick southern accent, startling everyone at the table.

They all ordered and within about fifteen minutes everything was ready.

All Virgil got was a chocolate shake, because his nerves were shot and he liked this diner.

“Are you certain you do not want real food?” Logan insisted. “I have money,”

“Nah… thanks but I'm good” Virgil replied, taking a sip of his milkshake.

“So have you ever thought about fighting crime?” Patton asked randomly, making Logan choke on his burger.

“What?” Virgil asked, despite hearing what Patton had said.

Patton gained an excited expression. “Have you ever thought about fighting crime, like Batman or Spider-Man or-”

Logan exhaled. “Patton, darling that isn't-”

“Legal. It isn't legal,” Roman finished, not letting Logan say it's not real. Not just to preserve Patton's imagination, but to eliminate any tension it may cause with Virgil.

“Look, you cannot just be a superhero. Not in the real world,” Logan explained. “That's just for movies,”

Virgil frowned. “I don't want to do that. If anything… I'd probably be a villain,”

“No, hey. You are not the type,” Roman defended, placing his hand on Virgil's shoulder, again, which caused Virgil to stiffen and Roman to immediately remove it.

“I doubt that,” Virgil commented blankly, fiddling with the zipper on his hoodie.

“Why so?” Logan pried.

Virgil sighed in frustration. “I just- I have a feeling. The characters that can do things like what I can do are usually evil,”

“Like the kid in Deadpool 2,” Patton offered.

Roman's eyes went big. “Why have you seen- Nevermind,”

“Yeah, exactly,” Virgil said, looking defeated.

“Alright, we may have just met you a few days ago, but from what I have witnessed I doubt you could ever be a villain. Possibly in some alternate universe or something, but not in this one,” Logan said.

Patton thought for a moment. “I wonder if we are still friends in the alternate universe,”

“I hope so,” Virgil said, slightly smirking.

“Me too,” Roman agreed.

Logan was the only one who didn't speak, and they were all staring at him now.

“What? You guys know I am not the sentimental type,” Logan reminded and everyone rolled their eyes.

“You love us, shut up,” Patton said before hugging him.

“I suppose,” He replied, almost letting a smile slip onto his lips.

Virgil felt weird, he always felt weird, but right now it was a good kind of weird. The best kind.

[sweetfogarty]

In the Pursuit of Justice || Chapter One

Summary: After taking theatre classes after school for months, Midge Klump is delighted to be cast, albeit by a technical default, as Carrie White in the Riverdale High production of Carrie: The Musical. On debut night, Midge is murdered in cold blood and a witch hunt ensues to find the killer and bring him to justice. Fangs Fogarty finds himself in the crosshairs of this witch hunt, which culminates in him being arrested and charged as Midge’s killer.

Robin Allard, a public defender, is assigned to his case and together they fight the uphill battle to try and prove his innocence in court, finding skeletons in each other’s closets along the way. Robin may believe that Fangs is innocent, but will 12 jurors think the same? And will Fangs Fogarty be found guilty or not guilty of the murder of Midge Klump?

Rating: Mature

Word count: 9.2K

Chapter warnings: Violence, reference to character death, blood (minor), systemic racism, anxiety.

MASTERLIST 

Fangs ambled out of Riverdale High, carrying his scripts and twirling the keys to his motorcycle around his finger as he eyed the bike which was sitting alone in the darkened school car park, the well-maintained body catching the light slightly.

Under a streetlight a few meters from the double doors of the school stood Midge Klump on the phone, wrapping her leather jacket a little tighter as a particularly cold gust of wind sent a chill up her spine and raised goose bumps on her bare legs. She looked tiny stood by herself, her petite frame illuminated by the light, but otherwise surrounded by the eerie darkness of the Riverdale night.

“Okay Moose, don’t worry, I’ll find another way home- tell Huxley I hope he feels better soon,” Midge spoke sweetly, her smile faltering as her gaze dropped to her shoes. “Love you too, bye.”

Fangs quirked an eyebrow from over at his bike as he watched Midge sit on the steps outside the school, twiddling her thumbs as a deep sigh rumbled from her chest. He fiddled with his helmet, pausing to look between the bike and Midge. She’d left rehearsals with everyone 25 minutes ago whilst Kevin left Fangs to pack away, so it was odd for her to still be here, especially as Moose was usually her ride home.

Normally, Fangs would be on his bike and on his way home by now, weaving through the streets of Riverdale without a care, heading home to Sunnyside and his Mum, and then maybe later he’d go to the Wyrm with Sweet Pea, Toni and Jughead for a game of pool and some drinks. But something about Midge sat by herself under the streetlights in the dark had him hesitating, especially when there was a serial killer on the loose. She would be the ideal target- a petite, dainty girl sitting by herself in the dark with no one around to help her.

She’d already been through it once before, when the Black Hood had come out of nowhere and attacked her whilst she was with Moose, shooting point-blank into the car they were cozied up in, with a murderous look in his eyes. They’d both survived, but part of their innocence was lost that day. Fangs didn’t want to be the reason that she became another addition the the death toll.

He slung his helmet over his handle and approached Midge, not quite sure what he would say to her, but hoping that he could be useful.

“Hey, Midge,” he started, drawing her attention from her phone. A sweet and friendly smile enveloped her face, making him more at ease almost instantly as he realised she wasn’t worried by him approaching her in the dark. His Serpent status had a habit of hindering his attempts to be kind, but Midge’s non-judgmental attitude had him feeing relaxed and somewhat appreciated. “What’re you still doing here? I thought you would be home by now.”

Midge let out a breath of a laugh, stuffing her phone into her back pocket as she looked up at Fangs, taking him in. “Moose is at Riverdale General with Huxley, apparently he landed funny after a tackle and hurt his back pretty bad so he’s getting an x-ray. Moose was my ride home and my parents aren’t picking up their phones. I’d usually walk but we finished late today and it’s dark- I don’t really like walking in the dark by myself after… you know.”

Midge shifted uncomfortably, knitting her fingers together in her lap, as she momentarily flashed back to looking into the barrel of the Black Hood’s gun. She didn’t need to explain what she was referencing, alluding to it was enough. It had been the talk of the school for the time she was off recovering, but it was an unspoken rule to not discuss it unless Midge instigated the conversation explicitly. For a while she’d experienced survivor’s guilt- Moose had taken all the bullets for her and she’d miraculously come out unscathed, and as much as she put on a brave face for her friends, she often felt like the walls were closing in on her. Nightmares were frequent and flashbacks inevitable.

“I would offer you a ride, but I’ve only got one helmet,” Fangs tried to break the tension, motioning behind him towards his bike that still sat lonely in the far corner of the carpark. “But I can walk with you if you want, so that you’re not alone?”

Midge hesitated, looking between the Serpent and his ride. “What about your bike?”

“I’ll come back and get it after, or I’ll make Sweet Pea give me a ride in tomorrow.”

Midge laughed shyly, grabbing her bag from next to her and slinging it over her shoulder before extending her hand out to Fangs from the step she was sat on. “Okay, sure. Give me a hand to get up, will you?”

The start of the walk home was quiet as the pair wandered the Northside streets of Riverdale. Fangs had been to the Northside before plenty of times, but he’d never stopped to look at his surroundings in so much detail. This walk really hit home for him the privileged lives that Northsiders lived, compared to what the Southsiders had. Here, the roads were quiet, there were no blinking and broken streetlights, there was no litter on the floor, hedges and lawns were trimmed, the houses were immaculately painted. Everything was perfect. The Northside represented the picturesque neighbourhood that any family would want to raise their children in.

The Southside, by comparison, could not have been more different. Buildings were left baron or filled with squatters, the town was decorated with graffiti of every variety on every street, the drug trade was no secret and there were more trailers than houses on that side of town.

Fangs wondered how his life might have been different if he’d been born into some kind of privilege.

Living on the Southside had its perks and although he made the best of the situation, there was no denying that it had its drawbacks at times. People took double looks at him as he walked around clad in leather, shop keepers watched him extra carefully when he went to get milk for his Mum, he had to work twice as hard as Northsiders he knew he was better than to equal them because people constantly doubted him.

Northsiders looked down on the Southside. But in spite of that privilege they had, there was nothing the kids of the Northside loved more than having fun with Southside culture. They’d attend drag races, stroll into Southside bars, graffiti Southside territory, having their fun and then never accepting the consequences that befell normal Southsiders. Northsiders were loud in their laughter, but silent in the Southside suffering.

All except Midge.

Fangs and Midge rounded a corner, walking past the Sheriff’s Station, the tall building imposing an eerie shadow over the already darkened path.

“How are you finding your new role?” Fangs asked, casting a glance her way as her face scrunched up even at the thought of Carrie.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m so excited to be Carrie- it feels like all my hard work has paid off. I just feel really behind the rest of the cast and I don’t want to let anyone down,” she replied, looking up at Fangs briefly before dropping her gaze to the floor. “I’ve been trying to run lines, but Moose is busy with football between rehearsals, so I’ve just been trying to get through the rehearsals without looking like a total flop.” Midge gave Fangs a short shrug, pulling up her backpack that had slipped down her shoulder a bit.

“I’ve got the spare time to run lines with you, if you’d like?”

Midge let out a loud bark of laughter, looking up at Fangs with a smile that met her eyes and lit up her whole face. “First you walk me home, and now you’re offering to run lines with me- some would say you’re trying to court me, Mr Fogarty.”

Fangs’ face dropped into an expression of worry, his brows immediately knitted together and eyes widened, only causing Midge to double over as an even louder roll of laughter roared out of her.

“Oh my god, you should see your face,” she started, barely catching a breath as she clutched her sides, tears of glee prickling her eyes. “I was only joking, I know you’re gay. I was gonna set Kevin up with you actually.”

Fangs’ attention snapped towards Midge, his eyes wider now than they were before, making his forehead crease slightly. “Uh, I’m not actually fully gay- I just like who I like, whatever gender they may be,” he bumped shoulders with Midge, shaking his head. “And after that ‘courting’ shit, I retract my earlier offer. You can keep practicing by yourself now.”

“No, please, I’d really appreciate the help,” Midge tried to stifle her laughter, a lopsided smile settling on her face instead. “Wow, and to think I thought you were gay all this time. You’re a lady-killer too.”

Fangs rolled his eyes playfully, shaking his head as an inkling of a smile quirked the ends of his lips. “You need to stop talking before I leave you to walk the rest of the way by yourself.”

Midge feigned offence in response, placing her hand over her heart and dropping her mouth open before her signature grin settled back on her face. “I’d actually be offended if we weren’t literally four houses away from mine. Thanks for walking me home Fangs, it means a lot. I’d really like to run lines with you if you were seriously offering?”

“Yeah totally, Tuesdays and Thursdays after school work for me, we can do either day or both if you want.”

The pair came to a steady stop outside of Midge’s house. It was exactly what he thought it would be- picture perfect and quaint. There were no cars on the driveway and all the lights were off aside from the porch light. A ginger cat sat expectantly on her porch step, meowing as it set eyes on Midge. Fangs scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays sounds perfect. Thank you again Fangs, I’ll see you tomorrow!” Midge fished for her keys in her pocket and waved as she set off up the driveway towards the cat, who meowed even louder as she approached, a loud purr rumbling through it as it brushed up against her leg.

“See you then Midge,” Fangs waved her off, waiting until she was safely inside before he set off back towards Riverdale High to grab his bike.

Part of him felt excited to spend more time with the Vixen tomorrow running lines. It was an odd sensation to be excited about being around a Northsider after years of associating them with being the enemy, but Midge was nothing like an enemy to him and he found himself forcing away a small, content smile as he thought about their future rehearsals.

----

The Sheriff’s Station is a cornerstone of Riverdale.

The red-bricked monster sits on the corner of the town’s main crossroad and stands as a reminder that the rule of law will be enforced; that is, that no man is ever above the law. For some residents it is a beacon of safety and of justice, a symbol of protection for them in a town that as of recent had been plagued by nothing but darkness. And for the other half of the town it is nothing short of a nightmare which has taken the form of an institution. They do not view it as a sign of protection, but as the hunting ground for a police force that has done nothing but terrorise their kind for generations.

One year ago, the Sheriff’s Station was quieter. The town was quieter. The only people frequenting the Station were the police staff and the public attorneys – arrests were infrequent, usually only being made up of speeding charges and public disturbances. But over the last year Riverdale had descended into a chaos of sorts. Gang violence had increased, drug use had spread across both sides of the tracks and a murderous venom had seeped into every vein of the town; starting with the death of high school football star Jason Blossom and culminating in the murder of River Vixen, Midge Klump.

The Station was built in 1939 and in all its years it had never been as overwhelmed as it had been over the those few months.

Midge Klump was a town sweetheart who met an untimely fate. Compassionate and youthful, she had been cast as Carrie White in Riverdale High’s production of Carrie: The Musical and was making her debut when she was found murdered in cold blood. Her death became symbolic in Riverdale; enough was enough. The town didn’t want to have to worry about the safety of their kids anymore.

After the initial plume of dust settled, a witch hunt began to find killer and bring him or her to justice. The town was ruthless, working alongside the police to leave no stone unturned. As the hunt continued, the crosshairs closed in on Midge’s classmate, Fangs Fogarty, and the Sheriff pulled the trigger with no remorse, arresting him on school grounds and dragging him into the Station by the scruff of his collar with no intention of letting him leave.

Across the road from the Station, public defender Robin Allard threw her car into a parking space, gathering her folders into both of her arms before shutting the passenger seat with her hip. She’d received a call from the reception clerk that an unrepresented teenager had been taken into custody and was in interview with Riverdale’s Sheriff, Michael Minetta. Minetta was new and so Robin hadn’t had the chance to personally meet him yet, but from what she’d heard from Sierra McCoy, a legal acquaintance within Riverdale, he was ruthless. 

It was Robin’s job to protect Fangs Fogarty from the merciless swing of the Prosecution’s scythe and so it was of paramount importance that she got to her client as soon as possible to enforce his constitutional rights and to make sure that he didn’t seal his own fate before she even got a chance to help him.

“Where is he?” Robin boomed as she burst through the looming double doors of the Station, startling the receptionist who had been tapping away absentmindedly with her pen on the desk. Robin heaved a heavy sigh as she dropped her folders onto the reception desk, waiting for a reply from the brunette before she noticed her confused expression. “Come on Gwen, you rang me 40 minutes ago. Where’s my new client, Fogarty?”

Gwen’s face lit up in realisation as she turned to her keyboard and mumbled a quiet ahh yes, typing frantically and opening a few folders on the screen. “He’s down the hall with Sheriff Minetta, but I’ve got to sign you in before you can see him.”

Robin’s heels tapped a staccato rhythm as she waited impatiently for the police clerk to sign her in as a visitor to the station. She knew that her client was in danger every second longer this simple administrative task took and she was growing increasingly frustrated with the delay. Nothing ever seemed simple in Riverdale in all the years she’d worked there and despite all the town’s recent murders, the station was still as slow as ever at these mundane tasks.

All the while this was taking place, Fangs Fogarty was barely managing to keep his head above water in the interview room. The Sheriff had been waiting for an excuse to bring him in for questioning, and possession of a bladed article on school property was the perfect excuse. An excuse which also further implicated him in Midge Klump’s murder.

“You were in Midge Klump’s dressing room doing what exactly?” Sheriff Minetta asked, his voice tearing through the room and bouncing off the walls like broken glass, trapping the high schooler who sat opposite him. This was his territory and he wasn’t going to let Fogarty out of that room until he had what he wanted from him. Minetta stood at the end of the table, his hands splay against the wood, looking down at his suspect with venomous eyes, willing him to give in and confess.

“We were just talking,” Fangs choked out in response. He knew he was being cornered and he had no idea how to get himself out of this situation. He felt like he was drowning in this interview room and that the Sheriff was taunting him with a life raft. “I didn’t kill her!”

Minetta sensed blood in the water and his lips quirked into an evil smile as he realised that this was his chance to finally pin Fogarty down and make him squirm. “Didn’t you? With this knife you had on your person?”

Robin stormed down the hallway, hoping that she wasn’t too late. She’d rushed to the station as quickly as she could when she heard that she had a new client who was currently in interview with the town’s Sheriff, but she didn’t know if they had already managed to extract a confession from him. Down the hall she could hear Minetta’s raised voice and so she began to run towards his interview room as fast as her heels would allow her.

Robin grabbed the handle in desperation and without knocking threw the door open. “Don’t say another word,” she instructed sharply at Fangs, giving him a small nod of encouragement before turning her attention swiftly to the Sheriff. “I’ll be representing Mr Fogarty from here on out and I’d appreciate it if you stopped harassing my client.”

A tide of relief washed over Fangs and he felt all the colour flood back into his face. His eyes flickered between the two other figures in the room who seemed to be staring each other down in a display of authority. Sheriff Minetta stood half a foot taller than Robin, but her attitude more than made up for that in this situation.

Minetta tore his eyes away from Robin and he looked towards Fangs, his eyebrows settling angrily on his face as he prepared to leave. “You don’t know how lucky you are, this conversation is not finished.”

Robin took a step to the left, stopping Minetta in his tracks as he let out a deep sigh and bit his tongue. “I don’t know who you’ve been dealing with before now Sheriff Minetta, but you will not talk to my client under any circumstances if I’m not present, or I will report you for violating Mr Fogarty’s Sixth Amendment right to assistance of counsel. I hope I’ve made myself clear.”

Robin set her folders on the desk Fangs was sat at, huffing as she did so, quickly shutting the door behind the Sheriff once he’d left. She straightened her dress out, fanning herself to alleviate the sweat from her frantic journey to this very room from her flat one town over. She took a seat across from Fangs and sent him an empathetic smile. He looked dishevelled. Being arrested on school premises is something that would be enough to rattle any student at Riverdale High and even more so when the whole town was looking to hammer the nails in his coffin and had already branded him a murderer.

“Now we don’t have much time, but are you okay?” Robin asked, scribbling a few words on her battered notepad. “It seems Minetta really sprung this situation on you, huh?”

Fangs let out a shallow breath of a laugh, the first laugh he’d had in the four days since Midge had been killed. Those four days had taken him to rock bottom. He was used to looking over his shoulder, but an entire town denouncing him as a killer had him using every energy reserve in his body to keep himself from crumbling. “I’m as okay as an accused murder can be, I guess.”

“Good. What did you tell Sheriff Minetta?” Robin had no intention of concerning herself with small talk beyond checking that he was okay. It was in times like this where she knew clients could really use an offer of compassion even as small as asking about their mental state, but she was acutely aware that they were working on borrowed time.

“That I didn’t kill her.” Fangs searched Robin’s face for a hint of anything to reaffirm that he’d done the right thing, and the way that relief washed over her alleviated the constricting sensation that was tightening around his throat.

Robin gave him a small nod with a smile, muttering a ‘good’ as she sat back in her seat. “That’s great, I was worried that he would have managed to crack you before I got here. Good job Mr Fogarty-“

“Fangs. You can call me Fangs,” he interrupted, a sincere smile creeping onto his worn and tired face. His smile looked out of place on a face that looked like his did; gaunt and tired.  

“Okay, Fangs,” Robin emphasised, shaking her head slightly with a small grin. “I’m Robin Allard. I’m your publicly appointed defence attorney because you currently don’t have any other representation. Obviously, you’re more than entitled to seek alternative legal representation, in which case they will be your acting attorney in my place, or if for some reason you can’t or don’t want another attorney, I’ll act for you whilst this situation continues.”

Fangs sent Robin a confused look, leaning forward into the table. “Are you serious? After what you just did to Minetta after not even meeting me? I’m sticking with you.”

Robin gave Fangs a curt nod as a breathy laugh escaped her, scribbling in messy cursive in her notepad.

Upon her arrival into the station, Gwen had given Robin a copy of Fangs’ arrest report. Her eyes scanned over it quickly as she picked out all the key parts of information. She shook her head as she read over it, realising what Minetta’s game was- he had no reason to arrest Fangs for questioning about Midge’s death, so he’d had to find something else to use as his excuse for hauling him in.

“In terms of why you’ve been arrested, that’s for carrying a bladed weapon on school premises. The Sheriff has 24 hours maximum to hold you from the time you were processed here, so he has to release you by 9:43am tomorrow at the latest. Riverdale laws prohibit people carrying knives with a blade of four inches or more so provided yours had a blade of less than four inches, you should be released with a caution,” Fangs nodded along eagerly to Robin’s digest of his report and her knowledge on the law at hand. He was trying to make a mental note of everything she was saying in case he needed to quote her against the police staff later. “Have you had your phone call yet?”

Fangs shook his head, fiddling with his rings nervously. “No not yet, I asked for it but they said later.”

“Okay well when you go back to your cell, I’ll ask them to give you your phone call. My advice is to call your family. You don’t need to waste it on sorting anything legal, that’s my job, so call your family and let them know you’re fine. And when you get released you call me, okay? I’ll leave my contact details for you at reception, we’ll arrange a meeting once you’re released,” Robin’s head snapped to the door when there was a knock. “Look our time is up because this wasn’t a prior arranged meeting between us, but call your family now, call me when you get out and keep your head down okay? Until they find another suspect you’re still top of the list.”

Fangs and Robin stood as Sheriff Minetta re-entered the room ready to escort the teen back into his cell. Fangs could feel his heart in his throat as it dawned on him that he was about to be alone again and a nervous sweat began to break out all over his body.

“Before you put him back in the cell, he hasn’t had his phone call. He’s entitled to it within the next-“ Robin stopped to check her watch. “35 minutes, so now’s probably a good time before you put him away again and then have to get him back out.”

Sheriff Minetta huffed and shook his head, stopping and turning Fangs towards the telephone sitting lonely on a bare wall. “Go on then, Fogarty, you can take your phone call now.”

Fangs practically lurched at the beacon of hope that was the station telephone. His mind went blank for a few moments before his Mum’s number flooded into his brain and he frantically pressed the buttons, whispering repeated come on’s as it rang. After what seemed like a lifetime, the line picked up and his Mum’s voice rang through the receiver with an overwhelming cast of concern.

“Mum?” Fangs spoke, his voice catching in his throat as he realised the severity of the situation he was in. “I know Jughead’s probably told you everything and I’m okay. But this situation? It’s bad...”

----

It had been 16 hours since Fangs has been arrested and he was finally being released, although his release wasn’t quite what he’d hoped it would be.

He and his fellow Serpents were trapped in the Sheriff’s Office, surrounded by protesters who were out for blood and wanted to tear Fangs limb from limb. Fangs stood by himself by the telephone, his hands shaking as a deep dread settled into the pit of his stomach and he realised the likelihood of him getting out of this building alive was slipping away. Around him the Serpents were frantically trying to figure out a way to get out, but all he could hear was a high-pitched ringing sound in his ears.

“We can’t take Fangs out the front, we have to take the side entrance,” Jughead spoke frenziedly at Sheriff Minetta as he approached, rattled by the angry mob outside. The beanie-clad Jones had never imagined he’d find himself in a situation remotely like this and he hoped the town’s Sheriff would be able to give him some reassurance.

“Crowd’s out there too- pick your poison Serpent,” Minetta replied nonchalantly, a shrug rolling easily off of his shoulders. Minetta didn’t care about the Serpents- when they got out of his station, they were no longer his problem and the quicker they were gone, the better. Jughead had been naive to think Minetta would help them, even accidentally.

Silence enveloped the room, making the sounds of the angry crowd seem even more ferocious now that they could all really hear them. The jeering, shouting, banging on the windows- it filled them all with fear for their lives.

Sweet Pea became particularly unsettled, ringing his hands together as nerves took over his body. “What do we do man?” he questioned, voice low and full of dread.

As if at once, Fangs’ attention snapped back to reality and there was only one thing on his mind that escaped his lips before he even had the chance to register what he was saying. “I don’t wanna die,” he fretted, his voice breaking.

His words made the Serpents’ hearts sink. Jughead closed his eyes in a moment of composure before he turned back around to the group who were relying on him for guidance. He knew he had to put on a brave face for them right now, even if he didn’t know what to do. He could have never imagined that this could ever happen in Riverdale, especially to his friends.

“Hey, you’re not going to. Look at me, okay?” he clasped Fangs’ face as he spoke, noticing how his eyes were full of tears and how he was trying desperately to swallow back any chance that he was going to cry. Fangs gave him a shallow nod and a whimper, knowing that his life was in the hands of his friends. Jughead moved his left hand, settling it on Sweet Pea’s shoulder to bring the group into a close circle of trust. “We stand together so that none of us falls. In unity there is strength.”

The group pulled together, their hands splay over each other’s backs as their heads touched as a symbol of togetherness. That may well be their last moment as a group of four, and so they needed to make it count and to make it something to remember. This was what it meant to be a Serpent. It was their last stand. “In unity there is strength!”

The small group of Serpents banded together, forming a protective shield around Fangs. In that moment, they were willing to give their lives for him. It was them against the world.

As the Station doors burst open the pack of Serpents surged forward, shoulder to shoulder, pushing their way through the crowds of angry townsfolk. Older Serpents joined the younger members at the front, elbowing and pushing people out the way to make room for their convoy.  There were people everywhere, angry fists and picket signs being forced into the air in protest of Fangs’ release. People spat. Booed. Hurled insults like murderer, Vixen Killer, dead man. Fangs Fogarty was not innocent until proven guilty, the citizens of Riverdale had already assigned their judgment and that was that he deserved nothing more than an empty cell and a life of misery.

That night Riverdale could not have been further removed from its reputation as ‘the town with pep’. The bodies packed together radiated nothing short of disgust for a teenager who hadn’t even been formally charged. Their disdain had been led almost singlehandedly by one woman who had repeatedly posted inflammatory articles about the inhabitants of the Southside - Alice Cooper. Although she previously identified as a proud member of the Southside and of the Serpents, she repeatedly used the Riverdale Register as a vehicle to criminalise an entire population article by article, branding them as second-class members of the town. Despite her prickly personality, Alice Cooper was a respected Northside citizen, and so her words carried weight with her affluent kinsfolk who ate up her pieces on the Southsiders, word by word. It would be fair to suggest that for most of those who were at the riots, their scathing hatred of Fangs Fogarty was in part due to the rhetoric Alice Cooper had spewed, especially in posting an ambiguous video of him with Midge in her dressing room shortly before her demise.

Although they had a tough exterior, on the inside the Serpents were scared for their lives, and for Fangs’. They were used to abuse and used to being classed as outcasts because they were born on the wrong side of town; a lot of them knew no different. But this was unlike anything they’d ever experienced- no one had ever wished death on them. And yet here they were, desperately trying to push their way towards the light to save themselves from a fate like Midge’s.

From the right a protester charged at Sweet Pea, trying to get through the barricade to Fangs, practically frothing at the mouth in anticipation of getting his hands on the young Serpent. Sweet Pea shouldered him in the face, contemplating stopping to throw a punch at the entitled stranger, but he knew that if he left Fangs’ side for even a second, he’d be torn apart by the mob. Sweet Pea could not be a weak link in Fangs’ only source of protection, otherwise he’d never forgive himself for what could happen to his best friend. They needed each other and Sweet Pea wasn’t going to let the mob get to him without a fight.

From inside the human shield every single one of Fangs’ senses had dulled. The shouting had faded into a ringing in his ear, his hands felt like static, his vision was blurred and all he could smell and taste was smoke. But deep down beneath his obscured senses he was scared. Scared that he would never go back home to his Mum, scared that his friends would grow up without him, scared that his family would have to plan his funeral before his life had really even started. His legs had turned to jelly and the only thing keeping him moving was his pack of Serpents willing him forward towards salvation.

When the Serpents broke through the last of the protesters, they were exhausted. Many had scratches and bruises up their arms, FP sporting a particularly nasty scratch across his right cheek that had already began to weep, dotted with blood. The group panted and heaved, checking Fangs over before piling onto their motorbikes ready to go back to Sunnyside Trailer Park, the only place they felt safe in their town.

Fangs clambered onto the back of Sweet Pea’s bike, his breath quaking and hands shaking as he held on ready for the ride back to the Southside. Sweet Pea glanced back, looking at his paled friend before he gave him a look of reassurance. They often exchanged looks, but this one was different. It was panic, relief, brotherly love, hope and anguish all wrapped up into one, brooding exchange. Sweet Pea turned his attention back to the road and revved his engine, pulling away and racing home to get Fangs out of this situation and back to his family.

The ride home was quick, although for Fangs it felt like hours. The roads were littered with broken glass and cars on fire, windows were boarded up and covered in spray paint, the product of sheer anger at him. Riverdale resembled chaos. The convoy of bikes passed Pop’s and the neon sign which usually washed the town in a warm red glow, radiated a glow that was menacing and hell-like. Fangs wanted nothing more than to go back a week, to a time when he could sit in a booth with his friends and gorge on burgers without the fear of someone throwing a brick through a window at him. Those days seemed so long ago now, almost like they’d never even happened.

By comparison to the scene outside of the Sheriff’s Office, Sunnyside seemed like paradise. It was quiet, familiar, safe. Within an instant Fangs’ Mum, Maria, erupted from his trailer, the rumble of the bikes signifying that the group had returned. She stood in her slippers and dressing gown, the cold night air nipping at her skin. Fangs’ head snapped towards her figure, tears lining his eyes as his feet carried him towards her.

Their embrace settled Fangs’ stomach and unsteady hands as he clutched at her like his life depended on it. “My boy,” she breathed quietly, relief washing over her. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Fangs couldn’t muster any words in response, knowing that if he tried to say anything all that would come out would be a choked sob, and so instead he just stood holding her trying to regain some courage. Everything he did was for her and yet in this moment he felt like he couldn’t do anything at all other than be in her arms.

The familiar rumble of a motorcycle broke the silence of the moment and FP stepped off of his bike, his brows knitted in concern. He shook out his hair before approaching Fangs, slapping him on the back with a fatherly smile. He’d stayed behind to make sure the boys got away smoothly and to assess the situation after they’d left. Damage control, he’d called it.

“I’m glad you’re okay, kid,” he began, ruffling Fangs’ hair and sending a nod of approval to his Mum for getting him home safely. “But don’t get too comfortable. There’s a group of protesters from the station on their way here, led by your Bulldog pals from school.”

Fangs’ heart dropped. He’d brought protestors to the heart of the Southside community. The Northside was a mess, broken and battered by the protesters who had ruined their own half of the town- God knows what they would do to the Southside where they had no regard for the people or the property. Profanities and curses were littered from the mouths of the other Serpents, with Sweet Pea’s hands closing into tight fists. The Northsiders had taken everything out from underneath them, made their daily lives that bit worse, and yet they wanted to come to Serpents territory and pick a fight? All of the Serpents knew that that could get ugly.

“Topaz,” Fangs shouted, gaining the attention of not only the pink haired girl, but the rest of the group. “You need to take my Mum somewhere safe, she can’t be here when they get here.”

Protests came from both women who wanted to stay and protect their homes, but Fangs wouldn’t take no for an answer, thinking only of protecting them from whatever was about to happen on their home soil. If things were going to get as ugly as he knew they could, he didn’t want either of them to be collateral damage, especially at the hands of Northsiders who were out for his blood.

“Tones, I’m asking you as my friend, please take her somewhere away from here- to Pop’s or something where I know she’ll be safe,” he turned his attention to his Maria, addressing her eye to eye, his voice dropping to a soft plead. “I know you want to stay but if anything were to happen to you, I would never forgive myself. If I go with you, they’re gonna tear this whole place apart to find me and I can’t let these guys lose everything they’ve got because I ran away from fate. Please Mum, I’ll be okay. But right now, I need you to be okay too and I can only be sure of that if you go with Toni.”

Maria’s eyes filled with tears and as she dropped her head into a small nod, pulling her son into a tight hug, internally willing him to just survive. Truth be told, she didn’t want to leave him, or for him to leave her, but the look in his eyes as he begged her to go was too much for her. She placed a kiss on the crown of his head and held him by the shoulders as she took one last look at him. “Call me as soon as you can, I’ll be waiting ready to come home to you.”

It wasn’t long before the women had whisked themselves off into the night in hopes of finding somewhere safer out of the chaos. The reality of what was about to ensue settled on the remaining Serpents. They had a whole community here of people who already had so little, and yet the entitled folk from the other side of the town were about to descend upon them like locusts and try to take even more.

FP went door to door, waking up as many families as he could. He knew the mob was close- he’d passed them not five minutes ago and they were half way to the trailer park. He knew he wouldn’t be able to wake everyone before they got there if he was doing it by himself. He shouted to the other Serpents to start banging on doors, knocking until they opened up and groggy snakes appeared in the doorway, scratching their heads and yawning, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.

“They’re coming,” FP announced, his voice full of disgust as he began to pace around. “The Northsiders are coming for Fangs, and they’re coming here to our homes to get him. Now we all swore an oath to look after our own and to stand together- obviously we are going to fight to protect you and everything that you all have, but if you want to come out here and stand by our sides, it would be an honour to show these Northsiders off of our property with you all.”

By now the Serpents could hear the hum of the mob in the distance and they were beginning to become antsy. They didn’t know what their Northside rivals were hoping to achieve by coming to their front doorstep, but things were not going to end well if they overstayed their welcome.

As the other Serpents were mentally preparing themselves for the worst-case scenario of an all-out war, Fangs was beginning to panic. All of this was because he’d got himself caught up with Midge, and now the entire town was coming for him. He wanted to defend himself, but he knew one wrong move would incriminate him even more. Everything he did from this point on had to be done with the upmost precision and thought behind it.

The Serpents slithered to the boundary of Sunnyside as the mob approached, Bulldogs leading the pack in their letterman armour, Reggie Mantle taking pride of place at the head of the group with a nasty scowl on his face.

“What do you want boys?” FP called out as the group stopped a few feet from them, chests puffed out with a look of danger dancing across their faces. He wanted to defuse the situation and move them on without an issue, but he knew that if the other Serpents could sense blood in the water, they would strike.

“We want him,” Reggie spat back, his eyes narrowing on Fangs who was stood towards the back of the pack, hoping not to be seen.

“No can do, boy’s innocent. That’s not up for negotiation. Now go home to your parents before I have to call them to come and collect you.”

“He killed my girlfriend,” Moose sneered, using anger to cover how utterly broken he was by the situation. Midge was the single best thing that had happened to him, and in a few short days he would be burying her. The pair were the ‘it’ couple of Riverdale and it had all been snatched from him in one fell swoop. Inside he was reeling, but outside he looked like a bull ready to charge at a red flag.

“Moose, I know Midge is gone and I can’t begin to think about how you’re feeling, but do you really think she’d want to see you doing this when no one’s even been charged?” Jughead chimed in, stepping forward to try and reason with the boy who he could clearly see was struggling. He knew that deep down Moose was only here because Reggie told him that it would make him feel better, not because it was the right thing to do.

“Get her name out of your mouth, snake,” Reggie bit back, taking a step towards Jughead as his brows furrowed in anger and his hands balled into fists.

“Shut the hell up Mantle and take a step back,” Sweet Pea ordered firmly, putting an instinctive protective arm in front of Jughead as he internally begged Reggie to give him an excuse to break in his new brass knuckles with the Bulldog’s jaw. Sweet Pea had never seen eye to eye with Jughead. The son of FP Jones had swanned in and assumed a position of importance without even proving himself and that irked the inky teen, but he knew better than to let personal issues rear their head in a situation where they had to act like a pack.

“Or what?” Reggie spat back, shrugging and looking towards his Bulldog companions in solidarity.

“Or I’ll put you down, mutt,” Sweet Pea had a razor sharp and calculated voice, his eyes narrowing as he clenched and unclenched his fists. He finally stood at full height, looking down his nose at the group of hostile Northsiders with a grimace of disgust.

Reggie’s face contorted into a something grotesquely furious and he almost threw the first punch, instead barely holding himself back. He wanted the Serpents to make the first move so that he could justify his actions as self-defence. He’d spent far too many nights talking to Sheriff Keller about his behaviour and had finally worked out that if he provoked them into fighting, he might get let off with a caution and no phone call home to his parents.

But it was Moose Mason who made the first move, charging into a teenage Serpent fist first. He wondered if fighting would help him to feel anything other than empty and like a part of him had died with Midge on that stage.

The two sides clashed together almost instantaneously after that. Sweet Pea wound his arm back and swung with all his might, barely catching Reggie’s left cheek as the Bulldog jerked his head back, just out of the way of the brass-clad fist. Sweet Pea may have had strength on his side, but Reggie was quicker and nimbler. Reggie pounded at Sweet Pea’s stomach, winding him, before a junior Serpent charged at him and knocked him into the dirt of the inroad into Sunnyside. Sweet Pea gave his junior a quick nod of thanks before embedding the steel toe cap of his boot as hard into Reggie’s stomach as he could, eliciting a choked groan from him as his body shunted at the impact.

Jughead got himself between Moose and a Serpent, grabbing the torn-up Bulldog by the scruff of his collar to try and reason with him. Moose grimaced at Jughead, pushing him off of him with all of his frustration-brooding strength. The beanie wearing teen stumbled back, barely stopping himself from falling into the dirt.

As he managed to recover from the shove, a Bulldog he recognised as Huxley approached him, wringing his fists ready to fight. Jughead backed up, trying to persuade him that this wasn’t a good idea and soon he found himself in a corner with nowhere to go.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Huxley started, taking a step towards Jughead and closing the space as he cracked his knuckles, his voice and face equally menacing. “But you’ve always had someone to protect you. Not now though, and I’m gonna enjoy this.”

As Huxley wound his arm back, a pristine blade came against his throat and a petite arm wrapped around the top of his head, holding him still as burgundy nails dug into the skin of his forehead and yanked his head back, exposing the soft flesh of his neck. Relief washed over Jughead has he saw his sister Jubilee pressing her switch blade harder against the fullback’s throat with a look of danger in her eyes, daring him to move even an inch.

“You get the fuck out of here, now,” Jubilee murmured harshly into his ear, eliciting a panicked nod from the football player. “If I ever see you here, or near Jughead again, you won’t be walking away next time. Am I understood?”

Huxley frantically shouted yes, his voice a panicked beg, and reluctantly Jubilee let him go, pushing him out of the trailer park as she clenched her grip on her knife a little tighter. She and Jughead exchanged a brief look of thanks, no time to stop and talk. Had Jubilee not been there, Jughead wasn’t sure how he would have ended up, but he knew it wouldn’t have been pretty. 

The pair scanned the chaos in front of them, seeing Serpents old and young fighting Northsiders, some of whom they knew and some they didn’t. Jughead ran towards the Serpents who he could see were hurt, ready to help get them away from the clash and towards the first aid trailers, and Jubilee went fist first into a group of women who she knew her fellow male Serpents wouldn’t fight with, ready to give them a reason to never come back to the Southside.

Fangs couldn’t believe what was happening. It was as if in the blink of an eye, hell had descended upon him. Around him, Serpents and protesters alike were hobbling away with broken noses, blood pouring from their faces. Some had been so badly winded that they couldn’t move or had slashed and bruised. Others were still going, including Sweet Pea, who Fangs couldn’t take his eyes off of. Sweet Pea was tearing through Bulldogs and Northsiders like there was no tomorrow, having finished with Reggie Mantle. He was throwing fists wildly, daring anyone to challenge him. The giant Serpent looked like a wreck. His fists were covered in a mixture of Northsider blood and his own from where the brass knuckles had cut him from the force of his own fists, and he was already sporting matching black eyes.

“Fangs!” FP shouted, bloodied and bruised as he took a punch to the gut from an older protester. “Go, hide!”

Fangs turned on his feet and ran deep into Sunnyside through the fighters and towards his own trailer. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hot Dog cowering next to an armchair, sounds of terrified whining coming from him, and another pang of guilt flooded his body. He stopped in his tracks and whistled for the shaggy dog, willing him to come to him so that he could get him out of this battle zone before he got hurt.

To the left of Hot Dog, he spotted Kevin stood idly watching the interaction as he grasped a golf club, not really sure what do with himself. Fangs shot him a pleading look, hoping that he wouldn’t rat him out to the others he’d come with. Kevin contemplated his position momentarily before turning his head away, acting as if he’d never seen the wanted Serpent. Fangs picked up the terrified dog who was now at his feet, carrying on his frantic run towards his trailer. 

Once inside he locked the front door, putting Hot Dog under his bed and shutting his bedroom door as he sank to the floor in his living room with his head between his hands, exhaling shaky breaths, waiting for the fight to end. His head was spinning wildly, bones rattling and his chest felt impossibly tight, like his ribs were going to break any second. He was on the cusp of a panic attack, but he was trying with all his strength to keep it together for a little longer.

It wasn’t long before a violent banging started at the door. Someone must have seen him.

“Get out here Vixen killer!” A battered Reggie Mantle spluttered, only just recovering from being winded by the toe of Sweet Pea’s boot. “Either you get out here or I come in. You’ve got 10 seconds!”

Fangs began to panic, looking frantically for something to protect Hot Dog and himself with. But before he could find anything a brick crashed through his trailer window, shattered glass flying everywhere, nicking at his skin as he tried to shield his eyes. For a moment, he was thankful he’d shut the door and that Hot Dog was okay, but the relief he felt didn’t last long when he saw the end of Kevin’s 7-iron being used by Reggie to bash out the remaining glass so that he could get into the trailer through the window.

This it is, Fangs thought. He said a silent prayer for his Mum, hoping that after whatever was about to happen to him, she would be okay. He hoped the Serpents would look after her and that she’d have a good life. He hoped he’d been everything she’d wished for in a son and that he didn’t let her down. He hoped that even if he died at the hands of the Bulldogs right now, that she knew he was innocent.

His prayers were interrupted by a sound of salvation, the shrill siren of the Sheriff’s cruiser. A single warning gunshot rang out silencing the crowds and halting the fighting.

“Disperse!” Tom Keller shouted, causing most of the protesters to retreat away from the trailer park, a few lagging behind due to their injuries. Reggie quickly ducked away from the trailer, staggering back towards the Northside, hoping to not get caught by Tom or his own parents.

After a few moments, Fangs cautiously unlocked the door, cracking it and peaking his head out to see that the only people left were Serpents and the Kellers. He left Hot Dog in his room, not wanting him to cut his paws on the glass and went outside to see the damage. Fences had been kicked down, there was broken glass everywhere, the trailer park looked unrecognisable and most importantly it was littered with Serpents who were nursing injuries ranging from bruises and minor cuts, all the way to fractured eye sockets and major gashes.  

“Tom,” FP sighed with relief, slapping his old friend on the back. “Didn’t you resign?”

The older Keller let out a hoarse laugh, running a hand through his hair. “I did, but I haven’t given back the cruiser yet. But I’m glad I didn’t because it looks like you guys needed some help over here and I didn’t see anyone else coming to give you that help.”

There was a low chorus of ‘thank you’s from the Serpents, old and young, who were all thankful that the night’s debacle was over. Generally, the Serpents didn’t like fighting, but they would if they needed to defend themselves and their honour. Tonight’s riot night fight, however, had been the worst fight many of the Serpents had ever taken part in, and they, for once, were thankful to hear the wail of the cruiser.

----

The next morning the Serpents were up, cleaning the mess from last night.

Sweet Pea was sporting two black eyes and matching bruised knuckles with deep, bandaged cuts, his ribs sore from Reggie’s punches to the gut, painted with bruises varying in colour. Jughead had escaped unscathed thanks to Jubilee, however his father wasn’t so lucky as FP wore a badly split and swollen lip, two black eyes and a scratch across his face with pride.

When Toni and Maria arrived back at the trailer park, they both felt thankful that Fangs had insisted on sending them away for the night. The state of the trailer park and of the Serpents themselves told them exactly how bad thing had gotten and it was worse than either of them could have imagined.

Maria had been inside cleaning up the glass from her smashed window when the familiar uniformed devil stepped into the trailer park, his eyes narrowing on Fangs as a smug smirk enveloped his face. He had him, finally.

“Fangs Fogarty,” Sheriff Minetta started, pulling his handcuffs from his belt upon his approach. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Midge Klump. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.”

[desperatelyseekingroleplay]

a bit about me -20something who RPs to unwind. I try to reply as many times a day as I can, but of course, real life comes up. If anything major crops up, I would inform my partner ASAP. I live in the US, in the eastern timezone. I am searching for a long term writing partner. -As I am over 18, I would like my partners to be too. This is a non-negotiable, since I enjoy have mature content (sex, drugs, rock and roll, along with language and violence). -In relation to the above, I am fine with smut, but it can't dominate the story. I prefer plot above all else. A good story is the fun part of RP for me and too much smut drags the story down. I do have my limits and things I'm fine with but that can be discussed when we connect. -As for my writing style: paragraph/novel style, 3rd person. I try to put in at least two decent sized paragraphs a post. One liners are not my thing, so no worries about that! -I prefer to play female main characters. All of them are over 18 and range in personality, color, beliefs, etc... Side/secondary characters are whatever they need to be and I can play as many as required. A good cast is important! But I don't double, at least in the traditional sense. -Well rounded characters are life. I love figuring them out, crafting backstories and personalities for them, seeing how they react to situations. -Romance is always fun. I prefer to play out m/f relationships, with me as the female.  -As for where I prefer to RP: email (pasteldust@outlook.com), googledocs, Discord. I have Hangouts, but that is for planning and ooc chatter. plot related matters -original characters and settings are my jam. While I do take inspiration from fandoms (Harvest Moon, Shameless, Grey's Anatomy, AHS Coven and Freak Show, Clerks and all films in that universe, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Community ), I only use original characters and settings. So, all of the above are things I am only open to using as inspiration, either a little or a lot. The genres I prefer are mainly slice of life, 'historical' (for lack of a better term) and urban fantasy. We can also just do a thing where we make characters and have sort of a TV show structure: smaller plots with an overarching plot/theme/whatnot (ie the adventures of two friends as they fall in love, with supporting cast members being family and friends). That is mainly because there are ideas I would be open that don't seem like they would work long term and it would just be fun to throw our characters into a variety of adventures. now, onto less vague plot ideas! Best Friends:  basically the idea above. That seems like it would be fun, jumping from story to story as two best friends fall for each other. Hooker/Client: which explains itself, now that I think about it. A hooker and her client get too close when they should not be. The client can be anything but a married man, since infidelity is a no-go. Maybe he's a doctor, lawyer or business executive. Or a literal superhero or supervillain, which could be a fun twist. Online: Our characters are YouTube famous, making videos and those Benjamins. So they have to deal with that unique brand of fame and a budding relationship. Knocked Up: again, it explains itself. Two people have an unplanned pregnancy. It could be two friends, two strangers, the world is open! I would love to combine this with the Shameless inspired plot aka slice of life with a heavy dash of dysfunction, chaos and drama in case you have not seen the show. Or maybe she's pregnant by a guy who is no longer around but is vibing with someone else (so no cheating here), which could add more drama. Could be combined with the best friends plot, or even the freak show idea! Related to the above: not quite accidental pregnancy. A single man decides to hire a surrogate so he can have an heir. Feelings crop up, shenanagins ensue. Maybe there are Jane the Virgin-esque shenangins, to varying degrees depending on what you want. And of course, the RP continues after the kid is born. A slow burn is preferred with this plot. Homecoming: Something like the above would be the backstory. A couple has a thing and have to part ways, for whatever reasons. He could have gone into the military, maybe it was work or school, something happened to break them apart. And some time later, they reunite and surprise, she has a kid. Now they must navigate parenthood, old and new feelings and general drama RJ/BB: Romeo and Juliet meets Breaking Bad. Two people from rival drug dealing cliques meet and there is a spark. But their crews are dicks, to be concise. Or maybe only one of them is dealing. Arranged Marriage: Can take place in modern day or a historical setting. For the modern day, it could be a business deal on the parent's end that includes a wedding of some sort. As for a historical setting, it could be a few things. Maybe it is how they end a war. Or it is a business deal of some sort. For those two or something similar, I like the idea of them sniping, having hate sex, generally being snippy and then, thing progress and they learn to work together. Or...Maybe it's like what Dany and Drogo from Game of Thrones had, but with a happier ending (I would love this one). Or it is just an outright kidnapping sort of deal. Which could tie into the Beauty and the Beast dynamic. Maybe one of them is like a prize to the other (ie a warrior/gladiator being gifted a prize for winning a tournament or battle in the form of a bride or a warrior is taken hostage and is given as a prize to the ruler's daughter?)  But I am open to ideas of course! Related to the above, kinda. A cruel, tyrant of a king takes a bride for reasons that are not all that genuine. Someone who is either part of the rebel forces or maybe a lone wolf kidnaps her and they wind up on the run, first as captor and captive and then as something more. Untitled: Set in the classic pseudo medieval time period, a person of noble or royal blood has either fled or been cast out of their home (the latter could tie into a beauty and the beast ish plot). They cross paths with a person of common blood and things develop. Untitled 2: A princess/noble woman and a knight (or other kind of castle worker) become close, but their stations in life and maybe a few other things make it complicated. Untitled 3: Something with pirates could be fun! Untitled 4: This idea is a cracky one but hey, lets throw it out there. It's a fusion of Grey's Anatomy and Buffy. Basically my character is a Slayer who decided to go into medicine instead of slaying since due to the events of the finale, she is not the one girl in all the world. But this is still the Buffy-verse and with the soapy dramatics of GA thrown in, life is not simple. So there will be romance, action, adventure and so much more. Note: I have only seen the shows and have not read the comics. Inspired by Stranger Things/Twin Peaks/Riverdale: A Bad Thing (to be thought up by us) happens and upheaves a small town or suburb. Our characters try to navigate the aftermath and figure things out. The cause can be supernatural or not. And of course, original stories inspired by the fandoms listed above. Something Shameless, AHS Freak Show, Dany/Drogo or IASIP inspired would be amazing right now. It could be combined with a plot of course.  As I have said, I deal in originals only. misc: There are some relationship dynamics I would like to explore: love to hate, age gaps (older man, younger woman, up to 15 years), best friends falling for each other, werewolves or werewolf/human, vampire/human, artist and their muse, opposites attract, boss/employee, co-workers or partners. The three shows I would use to sum up my sense of humor are: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Most Popular Girls in School and Community.

-I use face claims, but only if my partner does as well. So it is not mandatory at all.

-Also, OOC chatter is fine with me. I like to geek out  over characters as well, chatter about them, talk headcanons, maybe do little AU sidestories and whatnot. I love pinterest, polyvore and even making playlists on spotify.

I am open to ideas and plots can always be combined. Don't just send a message saying 'hey wanna rp?'. Tell me about yourself and what you want to write. I am fine with drama and angst in the story, but not all the time. RP is supposed to be fun!

[fyrapartnersearch]

a bit about me -20something who RPs to unwind. I try to reply as many times a day as I can, but of course, real life comes up. If anything major crops up, I would inform my partner ASAP. I live in the US, in the eastern timezone. I am searching for a long term writing partner. -As I am over 18, I would like my partners to be too. This is a non-negotiable, since I enjoy have mature content (sex, drugs, rock and roll, along with language and violence). -In relation to the above, I am fine with smut, but it can't dominate the story. I prefer plot above all else. A good story is the fun part of RP for me and too much smut drags the story down. I do have my limits and things I'm fine with but that can be discussed when we connect. -As for my writing style: paragraph/novel style, 3rd person. I try to put in at least two decent sized paragraphs a post. One liners are not my thing, so no worries about that! -I prefer to play female main characters. All of them are over 18 and range in personality, color, beliefs, etc... Side/secondary characters are whatever they need to be and I can play as many as required. A good cast is important! But I don't double, at least in the traditional sense. -Well rounded characters are life. I love figuring them out, crafting backstories and personalities for them, seeing how they react to situations. -Romance is always fun. I prefer to play out m/f relationships, with me as the female.  -As for where I prefer to RP: email (pasteldust@outlook.com), googledocs, Discord. I have Hangouts, but that is for planning and ooc chatter.

plot related matters -original characters and settings are my jam. While I do take inspiration from fandoms (Harvest Moon, Shameless, Grey's Anatomy, AHS Coven and Freak Show, Clerks and all films in that universe, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Community ), I only use original characters and settings. So, all of the above are things I am only open to using as inspiration, either a little or a lot. The genres I prefer are mainly slice of life, 'historical' (for lack of a better term) and urban fantasy. We can also just do a thing where we make characters and have sort of a TV show structure: smaller plots with an overarching plot/theme/whatnot (ie the adventures of two friends as they fall in love, with supporting cast members being family and friends). That is mainly because there are ideas I would be open that don't seem like they would work long term and it would just be fun to throw our characters into a variety of adventures. now, onto less vague plot ideas! Best Friends:  basically the idea above. That seems like it would be fun, jumping from story to story as two best friends fall for each other. Hooker/Client: which explains itself, now that I think about it. A hooker and her client get too close when they should not be. The client can be anything but a married man, since infidelity is a no-go. Maybe he's a doctor, lawyer or business executive. Or a literal superhero or supervillain, which could be a fun twist. Online: Our characters are YouTube famous, making videos and those Benjamins. So they have to deal with that unique brand of fame and a budding relationship. Knocked Up: again, it explains itself. Two people have an unplanned pregnancy. It could be two friends, two strangers, the world is open! I would love to combine this with the Shameless inspired plot aka slice of life with a heavy dash of dysfunction, chaos and drama in case you have not seen the show. Or maybe she's pregnant by a guy who is no longer around but is vibing with someone else (so no cheating here), which could add more drama. Could be combined with the best friends plot, or even the freak show idea! Related to the above: not quite accidental pregnancy. A single man decides to hire a surrogate so he can have an heir. Feelings crop up, shenanagins ensue. Maybe there are Jane the Virgin-esque shenangins, to varying degrees depending on what you want. And of course, the RP continues after the kid is born. A slow burn is preferred with this plot. Homecoming: Something like the above would be the backstory. A couple has a thing and have to part ways, for whatever reasons. He could have gone into the military, maybe it was work or school, something happened to break them apart. And some time later, they reunite and surprise, she has a kid. Now they must navigate parenthood, old and new feelings and general drama RJ/BB: Romeo and Juliet meets Breaking Bad. Two people from rival drug dealing cliques meet and there is a spark. But their crews are dicks, to be concise. Or maybe only one of them is dealing. Arranged Marriage: Can take place in modern day or a historical setting. For the modern day, it could be a business deal on the parent's end that includes a wedding of some sort. As for a historical setting, it could be a few things. Maybe it is how they end a war. Or it is a business deal of some sort. For those two or something similar, I like the idea of them sniping, having hate sex, generally being snippy and then, thing progress and they learn to work together. Or...Maybe it's like what Dany and Drogo from Game of Thrones had, but with a happier ending (I would love this one). Or it is just an outright kidnapping sort of deal. Which could tie into the Beauty and the Beast dynamic. Maybe one of them is like a prize to the other (ie a warrior/gladiator being gifted a prize for winning a tournament or battle in the form of a bride or a warrior is taken hostage and is given as a prize to the ruler's daughter?)  But I am open to ideas of course! Related to the above, kinda. A cruel, tyrant of a king takes a bride for reasons that are not all that genuine. Someone who is either part of the rebel forces or maybe a lone wolf kidnaps her and they wind up on the run, first as captor and captive and then as something more. Untitled: Set in the classic pseudo medieval time period, a person of noble or royal blood has either fled or been cast out of their home (the latter could tie into a beauty and the beast ish plot). They cross paths with a person of common blood and things develop. Untitled 2: A princess/noble woman and a knight (or other kind of castle worker) become close, but their stations in life and maybe a few other things make it complicated. Untitled 3: Something with pirates could be fun! Untitled 4: This idea is a cracky one but hey, lets throw it out there. It's a fusion of Grey's Anatomy and Buffy. Basically my character is a Slayer who decided to go into medicine instead of slaying since due to the events of the finale, she is not the one girl in all the world. But this is still the Buffy-verse and with the soapy dramatics of GA thrown in, life is not simple. So there will be romance, action, adventure and so much more. Note: I have only seen the shows and have not read the comics. Inspired by Stranger Things/Twin Peaks/Riverdale: A Bad Thing (to be thought up by us) happens and upheaves a small town or suburb. Our characters try to navigate the aftermath and figure things out. The cause can be supernatural or not. And of course, original stories inspired by the fandoms listed above. Something Shameless, AHS Freak Show, Dany/Drogo or IASIP inspired would be amazing right now. It could be combined with a plot of course.  As I have said, I deal in originals only. misc: There are some relationship dynamics I would like to explore: love to hate, age gaps (older man, younger woman, up to 15 years), best friends falling for each other, werewolves or werewolf/human, vampire/human, artist and their muse, opposites attract, boss/employee, co-workers or partners. The three shows I would use to sum up my sense of humor are: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Most Popular Girls in School and Community.

-I use face claims, but only if my partner does as well. So it is not mandatory at all.

-Also, OOC chatter is fine with me. I like to geek out  over characters as well, chatter about them, talk headcanons, maybe do little AU sidestories and whatnot. I love pinterest, polyvore and even making playlists on spotify.

I am open to ideas and plots can always be combined. Don't just send a message saying 'hey wanna rp?'. Tell me about yourself and what you want to write. I am fine with drama and angst in the story, but not all the time. RP is supposed to be fun!

[steviemae]

the enemy’s sister // rm

requested by anonymous: There are a few fics about being reggies sister and dating sweet pea but what if the roles were switched. Being sweet peas sister and dating reggie?

“This hell hole got shut down. We’re all being transferred to new schools.” Fangs informed you, Toni and Jughead as you sat on the stairs.

“Well where are you guys going?” Jughead asked.

“Same as you three. Riverdale High. Think of all the Northside heads to knock.” Sweet Pea said excitedly as him and Fangs pretended to fight. You began to panic a little on the inside. Unlike your brother, you weren’t a Serpent. You decided to keep out of all of that. Sure, you hung out with them (mostly Toni and Fangs) but that was only because of your brother. You could easily disguise yourself as a non-southsider, which you did quite often. That’s how you met your boyfriend, Reggie Mantle. Granted, if he had known you were a southsider he’d break up with you before you got the words out and Sweet Pea would kill him for just being a Northsider and also for going after his sister.

“Aren’t you excited, little sis? That means better curriculum for your nerdy self.” Sweet Pea nudged you as he sat down on the step next to you.

“Yeah, i am a little excited but what does this mean for the Southside as a whole? If they’re shutting down schools, it’s only a matter of time before they start shutting down everything else, and the Southside, in turn, will cease to exist.” you ranted.

“It won’t get that far, y/n. Promise.” Jughead patted your shoulder reassuringly.

“Promise me you won’t get into fights there, Pea.” you hated all of the violence but you also knew how hot headed your brother was. You also knew that he’d pick a fight with Reggie any chance he could and that’s the last thing you wanted.

“I’m not making any promises. You know how the Northsiders are. I’m pummeling every single one of them starting with Andrews and that bulldog of his.” he said angrily. You gave him a pointed look, not so amused by his statement.

“Fine, i won’t get into the fight during week one, but after that, their heads are mine.”

--

“Welcome!” Veronica’s cheery voice said as you and the rest of the Serpents walked up to the table, “i’ve set up a table with a list of extracurriculars and your class schedules to make the transition easy for you guys.” she explained as she pointed to each of the neatly stacked packets. You spotted Cheryl and Reggie walking down the stairs.

“Stand down, Eva Peron.” Cheryl said. You scooted behind Sweet Pea to avoid catching Reggie’s glance, zoning out completely until Sweet Pea went to charge at Reggie.

“Sweet Pea, you promised me no fights for the first week.” you yelled as you grabbed a hold of his arm trying your hardest to pull him back. Reggie gave you a confused look that quickly turned to one of anger. You gave him a sympathetic look and mouthing that you’d explain later as you pushed Sweet Pea to follow the rest of the group as they headed to class.

--

- Meet me in the lounge. Now. - Reggie’s text read. You were nervous to say the least. You knew this conversation wasn’t going to go nicely.

“Excuse me, Miss. Peppercorn,” you said as you walked up to her desk. The class was currently working alone on the reading and note taking she had assigned, “could i use the ladies room?” you asked. She nodded handing you the pass. You briskly walked out of the room and to the lounge hoping you didn’t get lost. You had only been here a day so you didn’t know your way around the school confidently just yet.

“Ah-ha.” you said when you found the lounge, “Reg?” you said as you walked in.

“Shut the door.” he said. You closed the door behind you before walking over to sit next to him on the couch.

“You’re mad.” you whispered looking at him as he sat staring straight forward with a hard glare set on his face.

“I’m raging. You’re a southsider! And to make matters worse, you're that fuckers sister!” he yelled jumping up from the couch. You flinched as he yelled. You didn’t get a chance to respond. Both of you jumped when you heard the door to the lounge fly open and slam against the wall behind it.

“What the hell is going on here?” Sweet Pea asked, that familiar look of rage on his face.

“Nothing, we were just talking, Sweet Pea.” you stood up and walked in front of Reggie, blocking Sweet Pea’s path so he couldn’t hit him.

“Just talking, huh? Sounded more like yelling from the other side of the door. Care to tell me why you were yelling at my sister, Mantle?” Sweet Pea stared daggers at Reggie who stood behind you. Reggie stayed quiet, which was a smart choice. If he had said one wrong thing, Sweet Pea would cut his tongue out with his blade.

“Sweet Pea, calm down okay. I’m going to explain everything, but only once you’ve promised me you won’t lash out.” you pleaded. Sweet Pea’s gaze never left Reggie, “Sweet Pea!” you yelled making his eyes dart to you, “please. Promise me.”

“Fine, i promise. Just spit it out, y/n.” he growled.

“Reggie and I met six months ago when i went to the Northside to go to the bookstore. Five months ago he asked me to be his girlfriend.” you said every word slowly and with caution, gauging Sweet Pea’s reaction, “i lied and told him i lived in that old brick house by the tracks. I told him i was from the Northside because i knew that if he actually knew i was from he Southside, he wouldn’t want to be with me. He was yelling because he just found out i had lied to him,” you turned to face Reggie this time, “But only about where i’m from, everything else was, no, is real.”

“You piece of shit.” Sweet Pea grabbed Reggie by the collar of his shirt, pushing you out of the way, picking him up and slamming him into the ground before climbing on top of him and laying a punch into his cheek, “That’s for sneaking around with my sister,” he punch Reggie in his other cheek, “That’s for making her cry,” he stood up and kicked Reggie in the stomach, “And that’s just because i felt like it.” Sweet Pea fixed his jacket before walking over to you, ignoring Reggie as he groaned on the floor. The whole time you were yelling for Sweet Pea to stop, crying actually. But nothing you said or did stopped him.

“Oh my god, Reggie.” you crouched down next to him, grabbing his face in your hands as you assessed the damage. Sweet Pea had stormed out of the room, leaving you to clean up his mess, as always. You ran over to the set of shelves, grabbing the first aid kit that was left there.

“You’ll have a couple of bruises on your face and stomach, but it looks like that’s it. They’ll heal by next week. Sweet Pea went easy on you.” you said as you helped him sit up and lean against the couch.

“Well, that didn’t go as planned.” he joked.

“Did you plan on yelling at me some more?”

“No, i was actually going to suggest keeping this a secret from everyone but by tomorrow the entire school’s going to know so as long as you’re still down, i don’t want this to end.”

“Me either, Reg.” you whispered. You leaned over and kissed his busted lip gently.

--

“You’re breaking up with him, Y/n. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning.” Sweet Pea demanded as he paced the floor in front of you. You sat on one of the bar stools in front of Toni as she cleaned glasses behind the bar. Fangs was sitting next to wondering if he should grab Sweet Pea a punching bag or not.

“I’m doing no such thing, Sweet Pea. i get that you don’t like him, but i’m not ruining my happiness because you have some stupid hatred built up for the Northside.”

“Need i remind you they arrested me. Your friends. Threw us all behind bars. All because they hate us,” he yelled, “he’ll ruin your life just like the rest of them are ruining ours.” he growled.

“You’re wrong,” you spat, “can’t you see that i’m happy and leave it alone. Need i remind you that you broke a promise today! You didn’t have to hit him multiple times.”

“He’s an ass and deserved it, yn” Sweet Pea stopped in his tracks and stood right in front of you.

“I’m not breaking up with him.” you held your ground. Sweet Pea grabbed your glass of water, chucking it at the wall behind you.

“Don’t fuck up the bar, mr destructive. I get  you’re pissed your sister is dating a Northsider but is it really that bad?” Toni yelled at him, “when have you seen your sister this happy about something?”

“She hasn’t been this happy in a while actually.” Fangs chimed in.

“Fuck you both.” he spat before storming out of the Wyrm.

“Look, i don’t like it either but if he makes you happy, we’ll bite our tongues. But if he hurts you, he’ll have all three of us to answer to.” Fangs said patting you on the knee. He got up and went after Sweet Pea, leaving you alone with Toni.

“He’s really mad.” you stated.

“He just wants to protect you. Reggie’s done a lot of shit to bring us down and he doesn’t want to see this turn out to be a scam to get back at us for whatever the Northside thinks we did. He loves you, y/n. And he’ll do everything he can to make sure you never get hurt.”

“I know. I just wish he’d listen to me. If that were Reggie’s intentions, everyone would’ve known about us the second it happened.” Toni wouldn’t admit it, but you were right. Reggie would’ve jumped at the chance to tell everyone that he slept with a Serpent's little sister. He wouldn’t have hesitated to throw that in Sweet Pea’s face.

“You have a lot of balls showing up here, Northsider. Not to mention your sleeping with your enemy’s sister.” Toni said. You turned around and found Reggie standing by the door of the Wyrm.

“I just came to make sure you were okay. I know Sweet Pea wouldn’t hurt you but i know he for sure gave you the lecture of your life. Thought you could use a milkshake from Pop’s.” he said holding two milkshakes in to-go cups with a hopeful look on his face.

“I would love a milkshake, Reg.”

He walked over and sat down on the stool next to you sliding your chocolate milkshake in front of you. Toni handed both of you straws.

“I’ll have Fangs shoot me a text when him and Sweets are on the way back so the two of you can get out of here.” She sent you a wink before disappearing to the back.

“I think everything with us will be okay. Not right away, obviously, but with time. Just, maybe back off the Serpents, yeah? They aren’t so bad, Reg.”

“They’re your family, y/n. I’ll put all differences aside for you, if it means making you happy.”

[snarkwrites]

06 | gangsta ; sweetpea

Notes:

So.. the sexual tension. The longing. The lingering touches and all that awkward but cute shit.. That’s starting here. Can we say sloooow burn? Because considering I’m now six chapters deep and they really haven’t... Done too much as far as touching / flirting / interacting, yeah.. That’s what this is. If you weren’t looking for a slow burn, I’m honestly not sure what to tell you? Other than oops? Oh.. Also.. this chapter and the next one I’m posting will have a few days lapse between them as far as timing. So... just so you know. It’s alluded that Sweet Pea and Alyssa have kind of bumped into each other between this chapter and the next one, if that makes sense.

Also.. I’ve pretty much planned out what stuff I am using / changing a little now, so that’s good. I have a general idea. I might even add my own events / plots to this. I’m kind of.. tempted.

Warnings:

non canon compliant - this is the biggest warning, so if you’re into things that follow exact canon plot you are... definitely not going to like this. angst & slow burn, heavy sexual tension starting now, actually - this is just so everyone who started reading this thinking the smut would transpire in a hurry knows that apparently, it is not. violence / swearing & fighting, possible underage drinking and other shenanigans - look.. it’s high school. shit happens. also apparently, my ofc Alyssa uses the word fuck like all the time?... eventual sexual content / a virgin original character - this one is self explanatory. yes, i plan to write a smutty chapter in this at some point. when? i don’t rightly know. it’s got a while before we get there.

Pairing:

Andrews!Sibling OFC, Alyssa x Sweet Pea

Other Parts:

[ one - two - three - four - five - soundtrack ]

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ]

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn​ is the only person on my Riverdale tag list. If you’d like to be tagged for this story by all means.. Please let me know. Please, I beg. It’d make me super duper happy!!!

                                                     SIX.

“You could come up to the lake house with us. It beats sitting around here moping.” Veronica spoke up as she stepped in front of the television set in my father’s living room. I tried to peer around her, grumbling because naturally, she’d pick the one scene in the entire episode I’d been dying to see since I started to re-watch the show and she’d block it.

“You realize I am trying to see Charlie Hunnam’s bare ass right now, right?” I asked calmly. Reaching for the half melted pint of butter pecan ice cream on the table in front of me and my spoon. Nodding to the empty spot on the couch that wasn’t taken up by my legs. Veronica sat down and for a few minutes, neither of us really said anything.

“What’s your attraction to this show?”

“Jax Teller, Opie Winston... Motorcycles.. But mostly Jax Teller.”

“Which one is he?”

“The blond with the very nice backside.” I nodded towards the shot I’d been waiting an entire season for, Jax Teller getting out of the shower and walking across the room.

“You definitely don’t have a type, no, not at all.” Veronica gave a soft laugh as she muttered the words. With the scene out of the way, I turned to the side to look at her.

“I’m not even going to ask what you meant by that.” I muttered.

Things were always awkward and tense between us. We were polite. But that was about the extent of it. And I felt bad about it. Obviously not bad enough to actually make an effort, even though she seemed like a really nice girl and she made my brother really happy. Happier than he’s been in a long time if I’m being honest.

I just couldn’t get past the rift her family caused in mine.

Then there was her mother, trying to hook up with my father while her actual husband was locked up in prison… But mostly, the tension her father caused between my father and my brother.

“Listen.. I heard everything that happened between you and Reggie. And if you want to come to the lake house..”

I shook my head. “ I am not crashing on the whole double date getaway you guys have going on. Besides, I doubt I’d be good company right now.”

“You wouldn’t be crashing!” Veronica was quick to speak up. “I know you don’t like me. But your brother loves you and I really.. I want to try to get to know you.”

I nodded. Taking a deep breath as I admitted quietly, “It’s not you, okay? Look. I have zero problem with you. It’s all the crap that’s going on with my brother and your dad. I’m… I’m worried about him and how far he’ll go.”

Veronica sighed. We went quiet again and she admitted after a few minutes, “I am too. If you want the truth, I don’t really like how close my dad is to him either. I don’t trust it.”

I eyed her, a brow raised.

“That’s like a dream situation though. If your father likes him, you don’t have to worry about him resorting to any of his typical clownery to end things with you two.” I curled the ends of my hair around my fingertip as I tried to understand why she wouldn’t like her father and my brother bonding a little.

Then it hit me. It had to feel awkward. Your father popping in to borrow your boyfriend. But the look on her face told me that wasn’t the only reason.

“I know what my father’s capable of. And the more I try to stop it, the more he manages to get by with. I hate everything he’s done, okay? I just.. Wanted you to know that.”

I let her words sink in.

Eyeing her as I weighed mine. Managing a smile.

“You make my brother happy. I like him happy. So if you really want to try and get to know each other, we can. But I’m not going to intrude on you guys weekend get away, because one, awkward as hell and two, I can imagine that already happens enough with your dad butting in to get him to do something or another.”

Veronica nodded, smiling. “I understand. What are you going to do this weekend?”

“Honestly?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m probably going to rewind that one scene five million times and burn it in my mind… I thought about going down to the theater and catching that horror marathon but I dunno.” I shrugged.

“A horror movie by yourself?”

“Mhm.”

After my brother came downstairs, the two of them left for the weekend and I locked the door behind them, leaning against it. Wandering over to my dad’s stereo, turning it on a hard rock station I listened to when I was home by myself just to drive out the lack of noise in the house.

I wandered into the kitchen, gathering up dirty dishes and moving them to the sink. Taking chicken out of our freezer to thaw because I thought about making chicken parmesan for me and dad when dad got off work tonight.

Vegas wandered into the kitchen and dropped his leash at my feet with a soft thud. I stopped what I was doing to lean down and pet him, nodding to the door. “In a few minutes, buddy. I’ll go find pants.”

I finished piling dishes into the sink and I wandered into the laundry room, digging around in the dryer for the jeans I’d taken off earlier, tugging them up. The door bell was literally being leaned on and I froze.

Took a few deep breaths and reminded myself that all the Black Hood nonsense was behind Riverdale because the guy was dead. Thinking it was Archie and he forgot something and was in a hurry, I made my way over to the door, unlocking it. “Hold on, Archie, damn.”

It wasn’t Archie.

Reggie stood there.

“What do you want?” I scowled.

“I miss you, okay? This is driving me crazy. Can we at least just talk about what you heard?”

“What exactly is there left to say? You were basically gambling on my virginity.” I frowned and shook my head. Shivering as the wind picked up a little.

“We can go inside and talk, Alyssa.”

“I just told you. I have absolutely nothing to say to you. Look… what you did hurt, okay? Because  I thought… nevermind.” I muttered, going quiet. Blowing at bangs I’d just gotten cut earlier in the week. He reached out to attempt pushing my hair out of my eyes and I leaned away. Vegas yelped impatiently from the doorway, his leash in his mouth now.

Seeing Reggie, he started to make his way over. Reggie bent to pet the dog and I cleared my throat. “You need to go.”

“Just let me say what I came to say.”

I tapped a bare foot against white painted wood slats and tilted my head, gazing up at him. Waiting.

“The only reason I made the stupid bet to begin with is because you’re literally the one girl I couldn’t work up the nerve to flirt with. And when I did, my charm didn’t work on you. Kinda when I started to fall. You gave me a hard time, princess.”

“ I kind of wish I’d stuck to that, actually.” I muttered. “All you had to do, Reggie, was just talk to me? Ask me on a date, I don’t know…”

“I was stupid, okay?” Reggie went quiet. Stepped a little closer. “ I love you. When I made the bet, I didn’t know how I felt about you at all. Then I started to fall and I tried to get out of the bet, Alyssa, you have to believe me. I tried to tell you but every time I’d think about it, I’d freak out because you’re the first actual good thing I’ve had in my life in a while, okay?”

I scoffed. “Yeah, I doubt that.”

“I mean it. And I’m not going to stop trying to prove it.”

I shrugged. “Do whatever you want but I’m not guaranteeing it will work. I already went against my gut instinct and gave you a chance to begin with.”

I shivered a little, hugging myself. Reggie placed his hands on my upper arms, rubbing them. Gazing down at me.

“Reggie, you need to go. I just need to think.”

“Thinking is better than you saying you hate me now… I just.. You were my best friend when we were kids.. Then I kinda fell for you and now stuff just sucks.. I don’t have my best friend or the girl I love. Anything is better than nothing.”

Reggie left and I walked back inside, flinging myself at the couch. Pulling myself together for a few seconds. Really letting what he said sink in. Trying to figure out if I felt the same thing. Or if I felt anything at all.

I finally gave up trying to force myself into a decision and after leashing Vegas, I wandered out into the chilly night air. Down to Pickens Park because Vegas likes to wander around the big grassy area between the ballfields and the playground.

After playing  fetch with a stick Vegas bought over to me, I flopped onto the grass. Vegas settled beside me and I found myself just kind of lounging there lazily, watching the clouds roll over the darkening sky lazily. Pointing at constellations when I spotted one. Vegas seemed content to just lounge there, his head resting on my stomach with me lazily giving him behind the ear skritches.

A throat cleared from nearby.

Sweet Pea stepped out, hands in his pockets. Wandering over to where I’d lazily flopped onto the grass. Sitting down nearby with his back against the tree. Close but keeping a healthy distance between us.

“Do you always lay in the park at night and talk to your dog?”

“What if I do?” I answered, rolling onto my stomach, propping on my elbow to gaze at him, my hair promptly cascading in front of my face like a messy red curtain.

“Damn it. I should’ve just chopped it all off.” I grumbled, pushing my hair out of my eyes to look at him.

“You’d look hideous bald.” Sweet Pea flashed me a teasing smirk.

“Hmphf.” I grumbled in response to his comment. “What brings you to the boring side of town?”

Sweet Pea shrugged. “Wyrm was crowded. Full of shouting kids and shit. I wanted to take a walk.”

“Toni and Cheryl went to see that movie tonight.” I laughed softly. “They asked me if I wanted to go but I said I wanted to stay home. Kind of just not feeling it. Then my brother’s girlfriend asked if I wanted to go on that weekend trip they all took.”

“You could be soaking in a hot tub right now.” Sweet Pea teased, a lesser seen teasing smile tugging at his mouth as he glanced at me.

“Honestly? I’d rather eat glass than indulge in anything Hiram Lodge is a part of. I’ll be nice to Veronica and try to get to know her, but that’s pretty much it. You know he brought my brother a car, right?”

“Yeah. I heard.” Sweet Pea answered, glancing over at me.

“Dad wasn’t thrilled with it either. That’s fine. Absolutely fine. I want Dad’s truck anyway. I’ll just spend weekends helping dad work on it. It’ll be more time I can spend with the grumpy old man.” I smiled to myself. One good thing about moving to Riverdale was that I was finally getting to spend more time with my father and my brother.

“You couldn’t even see over the wheel though. Can you even drive to begin with?” Sweet Pea shot me a teasing glance. Quick to step away from me just a little further, raising his hands. “I’m not trying to invoke the wrath of the midget.”

“It’s called a booster seat, asshole. And actually yeah. I do okay at driving. I mean aside from a go kart incident back in Chicago...” I teased right back, the two of us sharing a laugh that fell silent.

Sweet Pea stood, holding out a hand.

I eyed his hand and sat up, grabbing hold. Letting him pull me off the grass. Vegas rose to sit on his hind legs, then made his way over, sitting down right between Sweet Pea and I.. the little space that remained, there is. When he’d pulled me up, he’d pulled me with enough force that I wound up barely pressed against him. Close enough that my breath caught in my throat for a few seconds.

We sprang apart. Sweet Pea’s hand settled on top of Vegas’ head lazily and he chuckled when Vegas licked his hand, wiping his hand on the thigh of his jeans.

“It’s late. And colder.” Sweet Pea pointed out, nodding in the direction of my house. I glanced up at the sky and unable to resist, I retorted, “You don’t say, captain obvious.”

I jumped back out of his way a little and he stepped up. Towering over me.

“C’mon. I’ll walk you back.”

“But sir. I have a perfectly capable guard dog? What would the upstanding hypocritical assholes on this street think.. A  big bad Serpent walking defenseless little me home?” I pretended to pout up at him, laughing softly. “I was joking.” I muttered a few seconds later.

He shook his head, muttered something I couldn’t quite make out and we started to walk down the sidewalk, towards my father’s house.

The streetlight flickered on above us, bathing us in soft and almost hazy lighting thanks to the fog that was starting to kind of set in.

The leaves crunched beneath my feet. Shattering this heavy air of silence that seemed to settle over us.

“I’m gonna.. Go. Back to the Wyrm.” Sweet Pea muttered abruptly a few seconds later. Lingering, even though he said he’d leave. Gazing down at me as if he were in a daze. Or caught up in his own thoughts. A million miles away.

“I need to get Vegas in the house.” I muttered, nipping at my lip as I held eye contact. Trying not to think about what I’d revealed to Cheryl and Toni a few days ago about maybe being attracted to him… But it was all I could think about at the moment. His eyes darted down, settling on my bottom lip. Then he shook his head, turning swiftly and disappearing around the corner up the street.

I walked inside, making the comment to Vegas, “That wasn’t weird at all, huh buddy?” Vegas just tilted his head, gazing up at me. I bent to take off his leash, hanging it up. Fluffing his fur before hurrying into the kitchen to grab myself a soda.

Settling in on the couch. Turning the television back on.

And promptly falling asleep in the middle of a rewatch of the first season of Punisher. And as I slept, I found myself dreaming about Reggie. And then, oddly enough, Sweet Pea.

When I woke up the next morning, it was to a few seconds of confusion because the dream I’d woken up from had been so vivid that I honestly thought it actually happened. I pouted as soon as the realization sunk in that it had been a dream.

And I grumbled in annoyance with myself because I wanted it to be real. Because lately, spending all this time around Sweet Pea, I was starting to feel like maybe I didn’t just think he was hot.

Maybe I actually did feel something.

Before that thought could take root, I was shoving it back out of my head again. Refusing to acknowledge it. Because the hot guys are always the ones that somehow manage to do the most damage. And I was still pretty hurt over the way things played out with Reggie. Afraid to open myself up. Afraid to trust. Afraid to try, if I’m being honest because I was at least 95 percent sure that Sweet Pea would probably laugh his ass off at me if I were dumb enough to do so.

[madelainesvixens]

30 and 49 with joavin please? i love your writing!! 💙💙

For this one, I took inspiration from @rik-raq-jo-gonzo1186 ‘s concept post. 

Please continue to sent requests from this list of prompt!

30. “This was just a game.’’

49. “Why didn’t you just call me?”

.

Sweet Pea and Fangs found him unconscious in the woods. He must’ve fell and passed out from exhaustion. Minus the few scratches on his face and bruises on his body, he seemed okay but the boys didn’t want to take any risks. And, they were right because the Serpent was suffering from severe dehydration. A couple hours more in this state and he could’ve died.

The second Kevin walked in to the room, his heart had sunk. Joaquin’s face was very pale and he had very dark, proeminent bags under his eyes. God knows how long he had been hiding in those woods. Guilt settled in the bottom of Kevin’s stomach. If he he hadn’t returned to Betty during the escape and had kept looking for Joaquin in the woods, he wouldn’t be laying in a hospital bed.

Two days after he was admitted to Riverdale General Hospital, Joaquin finally opened his eyes. The harsh light of the room made him groan but he fought it, blue eyes finally seeing the daylight.

“Joaquin,” a familiar voice quietly said, catching Joaquin’s attention.

He slowly turned his head in direction of the voice and noticed Kevin sitting beside him. He was looking a bit rough and tired, making the Serpent wonder how long he had been sitting there.

He opened his mouth to speak but his throat felt like the Sahara desert. Kevin got up and grabbed the cup of water beside the bed, holding it top Joaquin’s lips, helping him drink.

“Kevin…where am I?” he asked, voice scratchy.

Kevin set the cup back on the table, moving his chair even closer to Joaquin,  and caressed his face. “You’re in the hospital, Joaquin. You’re safe now.”

The hospital?!

Joaquin jolted up, panic flashing on his face. “The Gargoyle King! I have to go, he’s gonna find me. I gotta keep movi-”

“Shh,” the brunet said, carefully pushing Joaquin back against the pillows. “You gotta rest. No more Gargoyle King. This was just a game,” he tried to rationalise but Joaquin was quick to contradict him.

“Just a game?” the raven haired boy repeated. “No, no, Preppy. You don’t understand. G&G isn’t just a game. It’s the fucking devil. It plays with your head and you do anyhting to survive.”

He was talking like a madmen and Kevin didn’t know if he should believe him or not. When Kevin questioned his dad about G&G, Tom said he didn’t know anything about that stupid game. Since back to school, two teenagers died because of that game - and another one was sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Maybe Joaquin was right, maybe that game is diabolic.

“It that why you shivved Archie?”

He looked down, avoiding Kevin’s eyes. “I didn’t want to. Warden Norton said I had no other choice. He said he would let me go if I-” Joaquin stopped himself, voice stopping from dryness. “I was going crazy in there, Kev.”

If he recalled Archie’s stories, Leopold and Loeb’s Juvenile Detention Center was a corrupted to the bones. Not only Veronica’s mobster father had ties to the owners, they were also involved in barbaric practices counting an underground fight club where prisoners fought - bare knuckles - until one was knocked out…or died.

“You’re safe now, though. No one’s gonna try to hurt you here. I promise.”

Joaquin wanted to tell Kevin that he was wrong and that there was nowhere safe. Not even the hospital. The Gargoyle King would still find him even if he was in the safest place on earth but, he kept his mouth shut.

“Archie told me how you got in Juvie,” Kevin continued. “He said you got arrested during the riots. Why didn’t you just call me? I could’ve helped. I could’ve bailed you out, I-”

“Sheriff Minetta isn’t like your dad. Serpents, Ghoulies, non-gang members; he wouldn’t let anyone go. And…I didn’t think you’d want to hear about me after… I thought you hated me.”

Hatred was a strong feeling and Kevin wasn’t sure he could ever feel that way about Joaquin. Even after finding out the fucked up shit he did. The only strong feeling he could ever feel was…love.

Hesitantly, Kevin reached out and laced his fingers with Joaquin’s. His nails were bitten cut and dirty around the cuticles. The nurses aren’t very minutious during sponge baths. “I don’t hate you, Joaquin.”

Joaquin looked up and Kevin made eye contact. It had been so long since Kevin had looked into Joaquin’s beautiful eyes, they were just as bright as he remembered. Slowly, Kevin leaned in and, realizing what was happening, the Serpent’s heart rate went up a little. Their lips connected, briefly and Joaquin tenderly touched Kevin’s face. “I’ve missed you, Preppy,” he said softly.

“I’ve missed you too,” Kevin replied, voice soft too. He flashed Joaquin a smile, pushing a stray piece of black hair out of his bright eyes. “I have to get the nurse. Tell them you’re awake.”

Standing from his seat, Kevin let go of Joaquin’s hand but the latter grasped his arm, fingers curving around it. “Don’t go.”

“It’s procedure. I’ll be right back.”

Like promised, Kevin came back with a nurse on his heels. She checked Joaquin’s vitals, wrote some notes and left the two boys alone.

Although he knew he should call Sweet Pea and Fangs to tell them their friend was awake, Kevin selfishly wanted to have Joaquin for himself for a few more minutes - or hours. They had spent so much time apart, he wanted to make up for it.

And, it was almost seven o'clock, visiting hours would end in two hours anyway.

When the nurse left, Kevin climbed onto Joaquin’s bed and the two of them cuddled until visiting hours ended.

[ssapphireserpent]

Calypso (pt. 2) ♔ sweet pea x reader

*gif not mine

Word Count: 1,212

Warning(s): cussing

(b/t): body type (curvy, athletic, etc.)

A/N: 100 notes in 24 hours on Calypso pt. 1! I love you guys so much and I’m so thankful!

It was the final straw of Penny Peabody’s take-out game. She had successfully nearly killed all of the Serpents who had helped Jughead Jones take her out and now she had completed her conquest. She smirked at Jughead’s broken form lying on the ground at her feet. His groans of pain were like music to her cruel ears.

Jughead could feel his life slipping away. He tried to grasp on to his string of fate, but it was being yanked from his grasp. The last thing tethering him to the mortal world, to Riverdale, to his friends,... to Betty. He tried to be strong, but eventually the pain was too much and he felt his consciousness slipping away.

He awoke in the coziest room he’d ever been in. He was in a duck down bed under and fluffy quilt. There was a bowl of stew by his bedside. He noticed that all of his wounds had been dressed properly and that the pain had almost completely faded. He heard sounds coming from outside the room and decided to investigate.

The first thing he noticed was the shear size of the house. It was huge, bigger than Cheryl Blossom’s. It was thoroughly modern. The second thing he noticed was the figure humming to herself in the kitchen. She had (h/c) hair and a (b/t) frame. She was mixing something in a pot on the stove. He crept up behind her and grabbed a knife from the knife holder. He pressed the cool blade against the girl’s neck.

“Who are you? Where am I? How do I get home?” he rushed out. The girl gently pushed the knife away.

“I am (Y/N), my strong one, and you are in my home,” she said. Her voice compelled him to put the knife down. He looked into her (e/c) eyes and saw years of mystery and hidden scars. She smiled at him softly.

“Why am I here, (Y/N)? More importantly, how did I get here?”

“So many questions, strong one. To answer your first, you are here because you were on the brink of death. It is my duty to nurse fallen heroes back to health and to send them home. And I cannot answer your second question.”

Jughead was confused. He didn’t know who the girl was, but she seemed familiar. He vaguely remembered another Serpent mentioning a girl like (Y/N) helping them, but he couldn't remember exactly. She seemed so kind and harmless. They continued casual conversation as she checked over his wounds.

“So, my strong one, tell me about Betty Cooper. She is your girlfriend, no?”

“Yea, she is. I’m so in love with her.” Jughead smiled thinking about her. “Do you have anyone special, (Y/N)?” She smiled sadly.

“My heart belongs to someone. But they are no longer a part of-” She was cut off by a loud sound coming from outside. It sounded like someone was calling her name.

“What the hell is that?” Jughead exclaimed. He noticed that tears were slowly falling from (Y/N)’s eyes.

“This- I- You have to leave, my strong one. I’m so sorry. You must return to Riverdale,” she said. She grabbed his hand and led him to her front door.

“(Y/N), wait! Who is that?”

“Please, Jughead! You have to go!” she cried. She yanked open the door, and Jughead fell onto the soft earth. He looked around in pure shock, absolutely appalled by the recent events of his life. He was suddenly pulled off the ground.

“(Y/N)?” he asked. He turned around to see the face of Sweet Pea.

“How the hell do you know that name, Jones?” Sweet Pea asked angrily. Jughead hastily connected the dots. (Y/N) had mentioned being in love with someone, and when Sweet Pea returned to the Whyte Wyrm, he had been mumbling about a beautiful girl who rescued him. That was the voice! It was Sweet Pea! Jughead thought. 

“I-I was there, Pea! (Y/N), she took care of me, she saved my life! That’s where you were!” Sweet Pea sucked in a breath in shock. 

“You met (Y/N)?!”

“Yes! And she spoke of how she was in love with you, Pea,” Jughead said. Pea smiled and his eyes welled with tears.

“I’ll never be able to see her again, Jones. Did she tell you? No man finds her twice.”

“No, Sweet Pea. What she means by that is that no man is on the verge of an untimely death twice. We just have to kill you!”

“Um, Jughead, that’s not what I meant.” Jughead smiled, somewhat crazily, and took out his knife. He walked over to Sweet Pea and stabbed him in the gut.

Sweet Pea closed his eyes and was immediately brought to (Y/N)’s house. He lay on the floor of her living room, groaning in a pool of his own blood. (Y/N) turned from what she was doing in the next room and let out a noise of surprise. She ran over to Sweet Pea and rolled him over.

“(Y/N)...” he mumbled dreamily. She weakly smiled at him.

“Hello, my brave one.” She ran into her kitchen and got a set of medical grade stitches and some bandages. She also got alcohol to sterilize the wound. She ran back to Sweet Pea and began her work. Despite his screams, she managed to stay focused. She finished stitching his wound and even was able to haul him to the couch. Sweet Pea grabbed her shaky hand to steady her.

“Why do you look so upset, beautiful?” he asked. She gazed at him lovingly and kissed his forehead.

“You are the first man to ever find me twice, my brave one.” He chuckled and continued to rub his thumb over her hand as he held it.

“I told you I’d make it back to you.”

Two days passed by, and Sweet Pea and (Y/N) were engrossed in their happiness. They spent every day talking and laughing and at night they cuddled in her bed together and kissed each other until they fell asleep. The third morning was different from the others, though.

“(Y/N),” Sweet Pea said groggily as he sat up in the bed. He noticed his love getting dressed.

“Good morning, my brave one,” she said quietly. She walked over and kissed his head. “You have to get up, you’re going home today.”

“No. Not again. I’m not leaving you, (Y/N)! I was miserable without you; you’re the love of my life!” (Y/N)’s heart ached at his words. “You’re coming with me.”

“I can’t, Sweet Pea, you know that.”

“Have you ever tried?” Sweet Pea got out of bed and got dressed. He begged (Y/N) to come with him non-stop. They were finally standing in the exact position they had been in when he left her the first time.

“Goodbye, my true love. I will never forget you,” (Y/N) sobbed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She opened the door and pushed him outside, only to be yanked out herself. She fell on the ground on top of Sweet Pea and noticed his hand gripping her arm like an iron clamp. She smiled brighter than she ever had and kissed him on the lips.

“Welcome to the beginning of your life, (Y/N).”

A/N: I have a few ideas for a third chapter, maybe the reader meeting the Serpents and possibly a smut😉. Please let me know what you think! Do you want a chapter three?