#except i also think barchie are right for each other

[riverdale-retread]

Riverdale S6 Ep 22 (#117:  Night of the Comet)

Here we are at the Season 6 Finale which is fittingly also the apocalypse!

Jughead is at “ground zero of an extinction level event” looking irritated and nothing else. This is highly entertaining to me.  He died in a demon plague while his other dimension self looked on in interest (probably thinking- Ooh more material for the STORY!), was perfectly content in heaven and then got yakked out of it by Cheryl Blossom (whom he does not like).  So his casual, I Am So Tired That I am Bored By My Exhaustion approach to this latest disaster in his disaster-filled life just fits.

So everyone is assembled in Archie’s house.  Shout out to Cheryl and Heather for sitting with the exact same leg crossed pose. Tabitha looks very much like a Mater Dolorosa statuary.  

Toni and Fangs, still looking like Minnie and Micky Mouse, report that the Serpents have been testing the weird magic dome into which they are sealed (Simpsons Did It First).  Betty says a version of fandom commentary that has been making the rounds - that Riverdale  the town itself is a character, whose sole motivation is to hoard all these people and keep them trapped within itself.  Betty describes it as “a roach motel” because you can come in, but you can’t leave. 

Veronica asks Jughead about his portal powers, but even those are limited by Percival’s magic dome.  Archie asks Tabitha about her time travel, and Tabitha says the comet is their inevitable future no matter what. Kevin is confused about why someone else isn’t doing something, which is a very Kevin thing to ask, to which Heather patiently explains that Percival’s spell was very well wrought because he even took care of what the outside world thinks is happening with the comet.   Moose, who was called in to help Kevin with Kevin’s issues, is now also doomed to die but he is being a perfect saint and not spending his time screaming at Kevin about how he’s ruined his life.

Archie, being invulnerable, and Not Baby Anthony, being immortal, are the only two who are going to survive being hammered directly by a comet.  Toni mentions that she’s suggested to Archie that he take Not Baby Anthony into the Bunker when the comet hits. 

Archie is determined to not be beaten by Percival.  He’s so fascinating and kind of horrible.  Archie is so focused on WINNING that even the prospect of everyone he knows being obliterated doesn’t affect his emotions.  Heather and Cheryl offer to do consult other, more knowledgeable arcane powers to see what can be done, but Cheryl doesn’t believe this will work.  She’s the only one who has the honest reaction - scoffing - when Archie says he’s going to try to find a way to dig their way underground out of Riverdale. 

Alice and her two daughters are in their house having a lovely heart to heart. I’m sorry but I hate it.  Alice is making her daughters parent her.  Betty is being a total angel here.  She looks at her weepy useless mother who has been such an agent of pain and terror in her life with kindness and understanding.  Betty Cooper gives her mother the absolution and healing that woman does not deserve.  By the way, this has been bugging me - did Polly ever show herself to Juniper?? Does Juniper know her brother and mom AND DAD that she never met and her grandgrandma are all alive again? Where is Juniper?

At the Babylonium,  apparently all or most is forgiven between Reggie and Veronica.  She’s head honcho and he’s her henchman again. He says he saved the giant portrait of Hiram from the fire at Percival’s.  When confronted with it, Veronica’s very kind reaction is to smile about it, instead of chucking a shoe at him. She even thanks Reggie.  The show misses Hiram, I guess, and maybe the Hiram actor has more power than the Jason actor, so he’s saved the indignity of a doll bearing his likeness being hauled around on set.

Next morning at the Diner, Jughead and Tabitha are sharing a basket of fries. This is how you know Jabitha has to be endgame. Jughead to my knowledge has never, ever shared a plate of food. Taken things off of other people’s plates, yes.  SHARED?  No.  Jughead is chipper about being ‘taken out’ by a ‘magic asteroid.’  He was destined to die anyway so he is trying to find the good in having the end not be ‘banal.’  He also says that he’s accomplished almost everything on his bucket list, but before Tabitha can ask what that is, in comes trouble.

Alexandra Cabot wearing an outfit that takes body consciousness to a whole ‘nother level has a magically easy sounding (!) way for Tabitha to realize her long held dream of making Pop’s a franchise (that she alluded to when Veronica was in doldrums about her stalled life).  Jughead prevents Tabitha from both outright refusing and spilling the beans about how they literally only have like, 12 hours left until the comet hits.   Alexandra is going to be in town for another 10 hrs, which means she will die with them if nothing else changes.

Then we cut to Fangs giving a very unsanitary looking Serpent tattoo to the Not Baby Anthony at the Whyte Whyrm as Toni looks on. He hasn’t had to do the gauntlet, or the thing about shouting the rules at Tall Boy or getting bit by a defanged snake (WHY DID THEY MAKE JUGHEAD DO ANY OF THIS)  so Anthony sounds uncertain when he asks if he’s really a Serpent now.  His parents (who both look younger and less physically mature than he does) tell him he’s the hereditary Serpent King because of what they are.  Everyone in this creepy little family is teary eyed, the show is playing sad music over it but none of this is earned and I want the comet to kill these three off specifically, please.

Heather and Cheryl summon Abigail Blossom, currently trapped in a doll trapped in a cabinet.  The sheer number of candles that are lit can only be explained by the phoenix powers Cheryl has because I think even with two people working fast with a mechanical lighter, the first-lit candle would burnout by the time the final candle is lit.  In any case, Abigail has a solution to the comet that Cheryl (and the Riverdale writers?) finds “Basic, but also Genius.”  You’re a fire starter so just MELT it, because it’s ice.  As to whether she can undo the binding spell trapping them all in Riverdale, Abigail says that she needs something more than freedom from the doll. 

Cheryl goes to collect the “underworlders” trying to dig their way out of town using the mining tunnels and everyone is gathered now at Thornhill.   “I may have divined a pathway through our little conundrum.”  I love Cheryl’s syntax. 

I am horrified and intrigued by the gloves that are attached to Chery’s long sleeved turtleneck.  It looks so extra, which is very Cheryl. It also makes me wonder if she finally cut those nails, being a lesbian and all.   Cheryl says that she needs something special from Toni later, to which she gets a very reluctant response.

And then we learn that essentially, Cheryl is a species of god. She’s the one that is keeping all the resurrected Riverdalers alive. It’s HER POWERS that is keeping their bodies on earth rather than in heaven.  So when she uses all her phoenix powers to melt the comet, one or more or all of them might also throw off the mortal coil once more. (She doesn’t say this exactly but she should’ve.)

When Cheryl and Toni have their tete-a-tete in the sitting room, we are treated to the view of an overhang wall full of very weird art that I am hopeful a more hawk-eyed, technologically competent and knowledgeable fan will one day explain to me.  One of the paintings is what looks like a giant black crow with a crown menacing a little redhead boy and girl pair.  Cheryl explains to an increasingly speechless Toni that she and Toni are going to be sex vessels for Abigail and Thomasina whlie Heather will keep each of their souls safe in a jar.  Cheryl wants to vomit every time she has to say the name FANGS (girl, SAME) but does point out this interesting technicality that it’s ‘not cheating’ if their souls are not in the bodies that are engaging in the sex.  This is a metaphysical version of the bullshit “I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing” argument but okay sure.

Archie comes home all dusty from digging in the tunnels all morning, followed by being told that he was being kept alive by Cheryl’s God Powers to discover even worse news: Mary Andrews has stopped by unannounced for a visit.   Over pizza and beer, Mary says one of the reasons she came to visit was to tell her son she’s getting a divorce from her wife. It sounds amicable enough. I wouldn’t want to spend the rest of my life with Mary Andrews either.  When Mary says that life is precious and so not to be wasted, Archie looks thoughtful.

Veronica’s absinthe absolutely looks poisonous, don’t you think?  She’s talking to her dad’s portrait while day drinking, which is an interesting way to spend your last day on earth.  Veronica is still quite Catholic.  After expressing a sensible sentiment - she hopes she and her father that she murdered don’t cross paths in the afterlife - she feels guilty, so she gives the portrait a kiss.   Veronica’s kiss is so toxic it literally burns an entire layer of paint with a sizzle.  Damn.   Then Archie fucking shows up and in his customarily brutal manner he asks Veronica to give (?) or sell (?) him a diamond ring with which he’s going to propose to Betty.

How can people like Archie when he does this sort of thing to people?  Veronica looks miserable as soon as her back is turned, poor thing.  The thing is, half of this situation is on her, isn’t it?  Why not just say what she’s feeling - if not a full on confession, then pointing out that asking your ex girlfriend that you cheated on back in the day who has had to bury two male partners AND CAN NEVER KISS ANYONE EVER AGAIN for a WEDDING RING when she’s obviously alone one day of the apocalypse is something that is a terrible thing to do and send him packing? Why pretend you’re fine when you’re not? (Uh, self reveal.)

Thankfully the show is merciful and treats me with Jabitha cuteness immediately after.  In the bright light of the diner as they clear a table, Jughead is trying to talk Tabitha into accepting the franchise offer, come hell or high water. Or comet.  Tabitha isn’t sure.  Then she says he’s trying to be Jack to her Rose and Jughead - of course- says he has never seen Titanic because he’s partial to “early James Cameron.”  Such growth he has had, our boy, no?  He doesn’t say it’s because he’s a weird weirdo! He also just says ‘early James Cameron’ rather than drop words like oeuvre.  Tabitha’s favorite movie of all time is the Titanic. They HAVE to watch it, she says, and he looks so cute and adoring as he mimics her tone - “We *have* to?”  

At Thornhill the ceremony is afoot!  Souls look like glowing jellyfish.  Heather really does trap them in a big jar.  Thomasina and Cheryl get it on, complete with Kissing With Tongue!  I don’t like Toni but I really do like the idea of someone like Thomasina even if she feels historically kind of impossible.  They look very happy and very beautiful together.  Heather, though, is having qualms about this.

Archie’s campaign to be my least liked character continues to succeed.  After springing on the rightly alarmed Betty that Mary Andrews is continuing her path as Terrible Parent by suddenly appearing right this day to unload her issues on to her son, he suddenly proposes.  Way to set the mood, dude.  

Betty is startled, but apparently what Betty wants to be on her last day on earth is kind to everyone she loves. So she is that for Archie - understanding, helpful, hopeful, loving.  Betty tries to relieve Archie of his Rescuing Hero complex.  She also straight out refuses to marry him.  Whatever Betty wants to do with life, it’s not being married to Archie.  That’s interesting.  Because she doesn’t say I Will Marry You When Everything Works Out (If It Does).  What she says is, in the nicest way possible, This is a Shitty Time to Be Asking This You Piece of Shit. It comes out like this: “Ask me again after Cheryl melts that comet, and you and me and everyone  else survives. Or we find another way out from Riverdale.”   I mean, for Archie and Betty to get married all that really is required is for the two of them to survive, you know?  But she is predicating it on everyone ELSE surviving.

In short, she is saying no, and forever.

Archie refuses to take the hint. Or maybe he’s just too dumb to pick up on an bald statement.  He runs out of there saying, in a terrifying way, “I’m going to break through that barrier so I can marry you, Betty Cooper.”  His eyes are blank, his face is empty and his voice is devoid of hope or romance or even much emotion. Archie has just decided this is what the next step is, so he’s committed to it, without joy.  

Cheryl and Toni wake up in bed post coitus in underwear that’s very different from what Thomasina and Cheryl were wearing.  Cheryl thanks Toni, and Toni says it was just to save the town.  Cheryl has yearnings.

When Cheryl checks in with Abigail, Abigail is very happy, and shows her a pile of knots which have to be untied to undo the spell. 

Drake has called Betty!   She has wonderful news - or so she thinks.  Director Wilcox wants the two of them - Drake and Cooper - to HEAD UP the Serial Killer division.  Betty refuses this offer too.  Drake insightfully asks if this is about Archie or because of her bad experiences with TBK.   Betty says it’s neither.  She is ‘moving to the light.’  She doesn’t want to be a hunter of hunters anymore.  That’s very… interesting.  Did Betty meet her DNA quota of killings or something? Is that why she doesn’t feel drawn to crime solving anymore?

Reggie and Veronica are making nice.  Poor Reggie.  His pattern of always being a step behind Archie after Archie has done his damage to Veronica continues into this last day on planet Earth.  Veronica is so sick of everything that she’s decided to work on friendship skills, i.e. being friends with exes like a good lesbian, ‘dating a lot’ without getting into relationships which has been her pattern her whole life, and focus on her absinthe business (much like her first true love, the Rum business).  She hands the casino over to Reggie, and offers to keep him company during the apocalypse.  As friends.  He agrees.  Reggie is so cute though.  He still finds Veronica hot and would so want to rekindle any sort of sexual connection, even if he is officially fine with being friendzoned by her.   His shifty eyes over his teacup as he covers up his disappointment at being rejected was marvelous.

Even nicer, we are treated to Jughead getting weepy over Titanic.  Oh they are so adorable, with their his n hers cozy blankets, and a well established movie watching set up (her head in his lap, all snuggled up).  He loved it, which is good, but then Tabitha says to Cole Sprouse, who has done at least one photoshoot where he was styled specifically to highlight his physical resemblance to Leo Di Caprio that the character Jughead Jones is “cuter than Leo” and it’s kind of a lot and I’m both giggly and embarrassed for everyone at the same time. 

Jughead says that he can’t die OR live with himself if Tabitha doesn’t make a grab for her big opportunity to take Pop’s into the franchise business, so  without saying it in so many words, she agrees that she’ll try.  

As a reward and a gift to them both, Tabitha takes Jughead with her on a time traveler’s epic date where she takes him through a timeline in which they both live into old age, happily married to each other, with a son that takes after him and a daughter that takes after her.  Pop’s stays in business forever, they run it together into their old age, and I guess they just grow old in Riverdale in this blameless lovely life.  They’re both crying at the end of the minute long experience.  I love them.  They kiss tenderly.

Meanwhile, Archie is bashing a barrier with a hammer while his mom comes to yell at him.  Which is about the right speed for Archie.  Betty told on him to his mom.  This is very Archie, to be unable to accept or give tenderness to anyone OR THE TRUTH TO HIS MOM until he’s done a spot of useless violence.  Mary calls it straight - “It’s not ok to be out here hiding from the world.”

Mary thinks that Fred would’ve fought to the end too, but adds that Fred (because he was smarter than Archie) would’ve come home to spend time with his beloved.

Veronica is talking to her Daddy’s ruined portrait and drinking alone.  Her nonstop alcohol consumption concerns me because I’m a prissy puritan. But I am wrong and she is right apparently because Veronica sudden has a brainwave.  She’s a dialysis machine (says Drake)!  She stayed in Riverdale for a reason (says Tabitha)!   She’s gonna go “save her friends!”

At the Diner, under Pop’s and Jughead’s proud gaze, Tabitha signs the documents to take Pop’s national.  Alexandra is thrilled, but when she says they start ‘tomorrow’ all the Riverdalers simultaneously get sad . She asks what’s wrong, but before they can drop the bad news on her head belatedly like a ton of bricks they are all summoned to Veronica’s apartment.

Heather is such a good soul (and also has no choice at this point I guess, but no matter) because she is helping Cheryl untie all the knots to undo the magic holding the town hostage.  With much sadness (for me especially, because I like Heather a lot, and I love how she calms Cheryl the fuck down at all times), Heather says that she’s going to be leaving after it’s all over.   She says Toni and Cheryl are “Forever Soulmates.”  Heather “saw” something and says Choni are “written in the stars.”   In the middle of this sad moment, their phones chime, summoning them. 

Betty has Archie in bed with her, which is the only place he really listens to women at all.  Betty’s egotism can’t help but come through though, when she tries to reassure Archie that his long dead father (the one he betrayed and hurt all the time) would be proud of him.  Fred would be super proud of Archie, according to Betty, because he “supported me, comforted me, loved me unconditionally.”   I’d rather think that Fred who wanted his son to get out to the big world away from Riverdale by earning a football scholarship to university wanted something different from his son than being a good man to just one woman but sure. OK.    

Archie FINALLY takes back his fail proposal, promising not to pressure her ever again.  Betty for her part says that what she wants is to marry Archie after all, and he accepts her proposal.  This is SO MUCH NICER than how Archie did it.   They too are summoned by Veronica.

Veronica has a plan!   There’s a way to ‘augment Chery’s phoenix energies so no one has to die,’ she says. She’s going to absorb everyone’s powers to give them to Cheryl.  Poison = Strength = Superpowers are all the same, according to Veronica and Riverdale.    Powers combine!   She says she needs to share blood, “wound to wound, blood to blood.”   She even has Percival dagger to stab Archie with (she thought this through).   Does this mean the general concern about AIDS has died for good?   I remember reading materials for a research paper once where a scientist at the height of the AIDS crisis, which is when they figured out that straight people could get and give AIDS to each other (before then it wasn’t treated like a worldwide crisis, yay straight people!), that children would never again be doing thumb-pricked blood oaths.   Well we’re doing them again!

Cheryl refuses to be cut for any reason whatsoever (she must have keloid tendencies like me) and Veronica has thought of that too! She will transfer the collective powers to Cheryl with a kiss.

I mean. 

I’ve said this several times before so I might as well repeat it.  VERONICA LODGE WILL ALWAYS CREATE A PARTY EVERY SEASON IN WHICH SHE INTERACTS SEXUALLY WITH A PRETTY GIRL. 

So we’re ticking that box in Season 6!  Yay!

The in-universe justification for these shenanigans is (a) it’s not queer baiting if it’s saving the world and (b) fire trumps poison (this must be rock paper scissors logic).

WHO are they queer baiting by the way?  Do they know they’re on a tv show?  Because nobody present wants Veronica to get together with Cheryl, or for Veronica to be gay. 

Jughead narration breaks in right as they’re all painfully cutting their palms to voice his worry that doing any of this might make it all go terribly badly.  Invulnerability, aura-vision, mind reading, portal opening, and time travel powers get absorbed by Veronica.

When Veronica approaches Cheryl for her kiss, Cheryl looks EXTREMELY excited.  I thought you said this was Queer Baiting, Cheryl!  Did she literally mean I’m Queer and You’re Baiting Me?  OH!  Maybe she did!   The way Cheryl smiles delightedly into the kiss confirms my suspicions.  As I knew she must be, Veronica is a wonderful kisser. Cheryl looks high. 

THEN THE BEST TURN HAPPENS.

Betty, who has also kissed Veronica (and in a different world and time also Cheryl but not in this universe), asks if it worked.

Veronica thought of this too. She points a gun at Cheryl, to everyone’s alarm. (Jughead the most).  Cheryl can see her ‘threatening’ aura!  Then Veronica, who apparently is a crack shot, shoots Cheryl right above her right breast.  The bullet didn’t penetrate!   Jughead’s the MOST REASONABLE PERSON:  “Veronica is nuts! What if that hadn’t worked!!??”  

Tabitha and Archie think about themselves - “I should’ve stayed in Chicago!” and “I guess that means I’m not [invulnerable].”

I love Cheryl Goddess so much. She opens a big portal to go confront the comet, and her exit line is TOODLES.  Cheryl, please restart your cult!

Cheryl puts on a super hero costume change to confront the comet. She looks awesome.

And then, everything is ruined because we join the Fogarties in the Bunker and Toni starts singing at her scared son whose developmental status irritates the fuck out of me.  Why is he so childlike in his fully grown man self body that looks like he could be Toni’s mom?    They’ve lit too many candles.  

Wonderfully, we don’t have to spend a lot of time with them.  We jump to Jabitha’s apartment, where they sit as a family unit with Pop’s, having had their final diner meal, hands held together in prayer.  Tabitha has a wonderful singing voice. 

Barchie are in bed post-coitus.  They call each other primal animals, which is not wrong at all.  I hate this song though.

Veronica and Reggie are sad together, as friends.  Kevin and Moose are holding hands, Kevin asking if he could make Moose happy, through song.  Probably not Kevin. You suck.

And Cheryl is all alone, facing the terror by herself.  This is a burden.  So straight (ahem) dude Archie expended a huge amount of time and energy coming up with very upper-body dependant solutions, but two women are the solution:  Veronica with her strategic thinking and capacity to synthesize everyone’s abilities into a joint solution, and Cheryl with her lesbian courage and fortitude.   This tracks. 

Cheryl is apparently thinking about Toni, and Heather is shown alone in the Thornhill house. 

I really hate this song. It’s really very terrible and cheesy. JUST IN TIME, Nana Blossom, Heather and Britta (summoned for this purpose??) untie all the knots, to a gratifying WHOOSH sound as the dome is lifted.

So in the last few minutes some questions that I had are answered.

They show Polly with Dagwood AND Juniper. I guess they never told Juniper about her dad who was resurrected and then died again because he was killed by Aunt Cheryl.  And Polly never grieved the second death of Jason, maybe? I don’t know.  

The Andrews and the Coopers meet the apocalypse in the living room together.  Jughead closes his eyes to the incoming comet while turning his face up to it, while Tabitha glares at it directly.   Reggie and Veronica hold hands in her apartment, refusing to look at what’s coming.  Kevin and Tom Keller hold hands with Moose in the Champagne Suite (I think?)  to meditate their way through it.  Cheryl can fly while she fights the comet.  She’s frantic and weepy.

So what happened next?  Jughead asks, flat and unamused. 

We’re shown a goldfish in a bowl.  

The last minute plan that Veronica put together and executed together with Cheryl worked, he tells us, but things look weird.  

All of that did something “wholly unexpected and yet also utterly inevitable.”  Calling it inevitable is the Riverdale writing staff telling the audience to shut up, as though that’s ever worked. Nice try, Jughead.  

It’s looking very 1950s.  Archie puts on a letter jacket, looks into Betty’s window, and she’s weeping under a poster of James Dean while Alice comforts her. 

Jughead tells us they are in a “simpler time” before Jason Blossom’s murder, before the Black Hood. “Back to a truly innocent time.”

When Archie bounds down the stairs, the homosexual Mary Andrews is in pearls in a 1950s kitchen also weeping over the death of James Dean. For women like her the 1950s was absolutely not a truly innocent or simpler time. 

“Somehow the year is 1955.”  Jughead is in the Ye Olde Blue & Gold offices, wearing his crown-and-sweater costume from that 1950s style nightmare he had a while ago. He angrily operates a very old school typewriter.  

“And I’m the only one who remembers what our lives were like BC. Before the Comet.”

Jughead looks pissed.

Dun dun dun!  I’m very excited for what’s going to happen in S7, assuming this ending is supposed to be an indication of what comes next, like all their season finales have always been. 

#archie andrews negativity #betty cooper negatitivy #anti barchie kinda #except i also think barchie are right for each other #jabitha #anti fangs fogarty #anti tangs #anti toni topaz #wow i am being negative as fuck #riverdale opinion #riverdale 117 #riverdale season 6 #Riverdale s6 #riverdale recap #riverdale episode recap

[freezing82]

barchie is a bad romcom trope when it's bughead the one that had the badboy loner date the nice girl as if tht wasn't the most cliche thing ever??

Well, Jughead wasn't a bad boy when they started dating and when they fell in love, was he?

Don't think so. I don't think Jughead was a bad boy, in general. He had his personal lows, yes - just any other of the characters on the show - but to say he's a bad boy is kind of a stretch. He was the weird kid nobody ever paid that much attention too. The loner witty guy who comes out with the sardonic line at the right time. The avid reader and an most eloquent narrator.

I mean he has the best lines ever, along with Cheryl and Veronica, in terms of smart dark humor or pop-culture references. I guess not even BAs can deny that fact.

No, wait.

I guess BAs would do or say anything to elevate Archie above Jughead, so scratch that.

Also, Betty is not perfect and she hated to be descrribed as perfect. She has darkness inside and the first person she opened up about it was Jughead. Bughead might have been a trope, as you say, at the beginning, but then they grew so much. Together as couple and as individuals. Constantly pushing each other to be the best version of themselves. Barchie is the epitome of a romcom trope with nothing except abundant 'in the sack' action. This is the main relevant difference - among many others - between BA and BH. And, sorry, but you'll never convince me otherwise.

Bye.

#anon asks #riverdale

[thefudge]

what do you think they don't let jeronica have scenes together? can it be because of some cast or fandom drama? i find it impossible to watch riverdale post-season 2 and understand why the hell they never let them become (at least) friends. their story is so damn connected. it would make so much sense. what doesn't make sense is that they don't

ha, well, back in the day we speculated that even a jeronica friendship would seriously threaten the main couples that riverdale was trying to sell because these two have insane chemistry and their background and storylines are way more exciting when put together (as you also pointed out) and i still think that’s true, buuuuut in recent years i’ve come to suspect there’s a little more to it. i mean yeah, riverdale has pretty much turned into a “whatever we throw at the wall and sticks” kind of show, but they also have weirdly moral stances about who should be together and the *right* teen couples (and yes, that is gross and weird and controlling).

so my pet theory is that this might all be about barchie. the showrunner gives me the impression that he wanted to be clever and *subvert* expectations (especially wrt. to the comics), and show that betty and archie are actually deluded in their young love and don’t belong together. that’s why b*ghead is presented as a “smarter” ship, because uhhh deconstructing-america’s-sweethearts-something-something. and look, isn’t betty brave to be going out with an “outsider”? so, despite the fact that the show has and will continue to explore barchie for the drama and chemistry, it feels like the showrunner is very invested in ultimately shutting it down because he wants to be *right* about the main couples. and it’s not enough to show how misguided barchie is, you have to also make sure the reverse couple is not palatable. except that jeronica could actually be a solid duo, clearly better than v*rchie, at least (i’d argue it’s better than most of the ships this show has tried to make a thing, but anyway). even GG saw this and paired up dan and blair.  but GG weren’t obsessed with proving that the equivalent of betty and archie (serena and nate?) are wrong for each other. whereas, the riverdale showrunner really wants you to know how much he understands The Teens (TM). that scene in s4 where cheryl makes a big case about how b*ghead found each other? that is the showrunner talking, cheryl is just the avatar through which he’s making his stance known. and his stance is “betty thinks she wants that, but i know she actually needs this”. ultimately, the writers of this show have their own preferences, and fine, they don’t click with jeronica, but the lack of bare-minimum friendship and interactions makes me think this has to do with the weird, holier-than-thou stance about barchie. why else do they keep framing barchie as misguided cheating and young kids who don’t know any better? and since i mentioned b*ghead (a ship which happened in roughly 5 episodes of season 1), i wouldn’t have had a problem with it and might have enjoyed it if it had better development and didn’t constantly have to pit itself against barchie in a weird pseudo-moralistic stance. it’s like none of these ships can stand on their own and be their own dynamics because the showrunner needs to prove a point. and okay, you can frame it as this *foursome* being very tangled and incestuous, but they don’t do that either, because the storylines are not about exploring the messiness of the core four, but rather about making sure only half of them interact and the other half is presented as morally dubious. at the same time, they have no qualms about milking the romance of barchie for the #drama*. it’s...weird. and lol, i’m sorry this has turned into a RANT but it needs to be said that the CW as a whole seems to be in the business of placing young people in weird situations and then shaming them for it. and that is pretty awful. anyway! that’s my take on it. sure, there could also be cast drama involved, but given the way this show is written, i think it’s more likely this is about some nebulous *values* that the showrunner and writers are trying to promote. 

*i also wanna add, i’m not even a ride-or-die barchie, i like them fine and i think they have solid chemistry, but it feels like this show is frollo and barchie are their esmeralda, if you catch my drift lol

#jeronica #barchie #replies #anti riverdale #my thoughts

[iwaxpoetic]

fic: like you’d get your knuckles bloody (betty/archie, riverdale)

fandom: riverdale pairing: archie andrews/betty cooper, barchie There were so many choices that felt so small at the time. It seemed as if she blinked while getting a refill of her milkshake at Pop’s and woke up in a forest, covered in her boyfriend’s blood. She had been so many Betties between them - in a bunker, at the farm, chasing down a masked killer, in a black wig, holding Chuck Clayton’s head under water —

Standing beneath her porch light, her heart in her throat while Archie Andrews said, “I can’t give you the answer that you want.”

Was that the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?--

Betty Cooper, before-and-after.

Her sense of narrative structure made her wish it was as easy as a before-and-after.

There was such clarity in a defining moment, in being able to spot the time when everything changed. There was a Cheryl before and after Jason died; a Jughead before and after he slipped on the Serpent jacket; the Breakfast at Tiffany’s Veronica before she turned In Cold Blood.

There was no clean before-and-after for Betty Cooper. There were so many choices that felt so small at the time. It seemed as if she blinked while getting a refill of her milkshake at Pop’s and woke up in a forest, covered in her boyfriend’s blood. She had been so many Betties between then - in a bunker, at the farm, chasing down a masked killer, in a black wig, holding Chuck Clayton’s head under water —

Standing beneath her porch light, her heart in her throat while Archie Andrews said, “I can’t give you the answer that you want.”

Was that the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

——

The old Betty, wherever she began and ended, was characterized by her discipline.

Every day, she suited up in her prim cardigans and slick ponytail, ready for another day as the dutiful daughter, the doting sister, the star student. She could handle any pop quiz, any turbulence in the Cooper household, any pressing deadlines at the Blue and Gold. When the pressure got to be too much, she would clench her fists and breathe through it.

And every night, she looked out her bedroom window at what she really wanted. Second floor, second window from the back, calling to her like a lighthouse. Archie’s window was lit up at all hours of the day and night, whether he was strumming his guitar or dozing off with a movie on. It was her nightlight. She fell asleep to its comforting glow, knowing their time would come one day.

She had to be disciplined, because she was hungry. Sometimes it scared her, how strongly she felt. There was a bottomless pit of want inside of her and she tiptoed around it, testing the edges but never letting herself fall in. Betty didn’t want to be the kind of person who was dragged around by her id. She wanted to be the person that other people thought she was. Sometimes that meant sleepless nights helping Polly learn her cheer routine, piling more volunteer hours on top of her already packed schedule, turning the other cheek to another Blossom insult.

Season five Betty Draper, Cheryl had once called her, as if she knew the half of it.

——

Betty had never thought Archie would love her in the exact way that she loved him.

She knew that love took different shapes in each container. She could see the way her mother and father fit together, pushing and pulling but ultimately a team, making each other better - a real laugh, in retrospect. One of her favorite memories was being eight years old, when Alice had just broken a big story. The pride lit her up from the inside and Hal’s beaming face reflected it right back. But she had also watched from next door as the Andrews fell apart. Fred and Mary lost something that seemed sweet and steady and kind, and then Fred puttered around that big house alone.

She thought about what that love might feel like, when it finally came.

Archie was all sweetness. Being his girlfriend would mean never walking to school alone, sporting his letterman jacket at games, and dancing together at prom. It would be afternoons working on a jalopy in the garage and nights cuddling together on the sofa. He would write songs about her and she would proofread his college essays and they would move to New York together after graduation.

It would be an awful lot like being his friend had been since they turned 13 and their parents had put a moratorium on sleepovers, except that she would get to touch the abs that had been taunting her. The heart that beat under those defined pectoral muscles was pure gold and it was an even better prize.

Something murkier lay beneath the surface for Betty. Sometimes she wondered if she loved him or if she coveted him. She wanted to know every thought in his head, every dream in his heart. Long before the school hallways had started to echo with Archie got hot!, she had been daydreaming about ways to get his hands on her. There were no dibs on a person, but she saw him first and had seen only him since.

Betty had never thought that Archie would burn for her, but she basked in his steady glow. Archie lived closer to the surface - he wore his heart on his sleeve and an easy smile on his face. That was one of the things she loved about him. They would be so happy together, but his devotion would never match hers.

It wasn’t until she was standing at the edge of a shallow grave, looking down at his terrified, resolved face with a shovel in her hand and a gun to her head, that she realized they may have misjudged each other.

——

A dam had broken in Betty Cooper earlier that fall.

It could have been one thing or any number of things —  Veronica Lodge sweeping into town, Polly’s mysterious disappearance, Jason Blossom’s body washing up in Sweetwater River. It was an unusually active September, especially by Riverdale’s sleepy standards.

For Betty, it felt like the foundation had been cracking. With one firm tap, it was gone.

You are so perfect. I’ve never been good enough for you, I’ll never be good enough for you.

The careful balancing of what she should want versus what she did want is what had kept her in check for all these years. No one else seemed to have the same qualms. Betty couldn’t imagine Cheryl or Veronica denying themselves a thing. In fact, she knew they wouldn’t. Veronica had talked a big game about turning over a new leaf, but after less than a week in Riverdale, Veronica had seven minutes in a closet and Betty had a box of Magnolia cupcakes.

Only Betty had the discipline to decide to be something and then become it. It had gotten harder for her to see how that was a good thing.

— —

Jughead’s interest in Betty was both a balm and a sting.

Boys had never been interested in her. She wasn’t sure if it was because word of her strict parents preceded her or because her crush on Archie was so obvious that it was not worth getting their hopes up. Whatever the reason, she had made it sixteen years without being asked to the drive-in, having a note slipped in her locker, or having rocks thrown at her window by someone who wanted to date her. She did all those things with her best friend and had become aware that it was not the same.

Until Jughead crawled through her window and gave her her first real kiss, she didn’t realize exactly how different it was.

Being on the other side of the equation was a revelation. It was amazing to think that there was someone who liked her more than anyone else, who thought about her when she wasn’t around, who wanted to kiss her and hold her hand and maybe more one day. Jughead was a good person - he was cute and smart, with a wicked sense of humor that tickled at the dark side she kept such a lid on - but what made him special is that he thought she was special. Betty had never come first to anyone before and she dove into intimacy with the same enthusiasm and determination that she put into any task.

But it was her way to acknowledge the cloud even while she focused on the silver lining. Besides her, Jughead was Archie’s best friend in the world. If other boys had avoided her due to some unspoken claim, surely he would find her to be even further off limits. If Jughead liked her, it was because Archie never would.

Somehow it was more devastating than the rejection itself. A dramatic showdown in formalwear still fit with the narrative that she had imagined for Archie-and-Betty. Power couples faced obstacles. Even after homecoming, even after Melody, even after Veronica, a part of her still though she should be patient. It was the utter lack of drama in her courtship with Jughead that made it real. There was nothing to be dramatic about.

She made her peace with it, first with her nails dug into her palms but then genuinely. The pieces of her heart felt like they were rearranging. Jughead had burst his way in and made his home right in the center. The part that housed her feelings for Archie was smaller, but the scars had made the walls thick and tough.

She would always love him and now she knew what shape it would take. She felt lucky to have enough love in her life that she could feel the difference.

It took a few months, but Betty started to think Jughead might be her soulmate. They both felt a personal obligation to clean up Riverdale’s seedy underbelly, loved books and old movies, and, most importantly, they hated the same things about her. On his lips, “perfect” was scornful. After all of those years pursuing perfection, she wasn’t too fond of it herself.

——

People gave you a wide berth in the aftermath of a showdown with a killer.

Betty was distracted and distant in the weeks following the altercation with Joseph Svenson. People around town stared and whispered even more than usual, but they looked at her with pity and awe in their eyes. Even her mother and Jughead gave her space, assuming that she was reeling after weeks of cat-and-mouse.

When she was alone, Betty didn’t think about Joseph Svenson at all. She thought about Archie Andrews.

It wasn’t about the kiss, although it was hardly the one she had scripted for them long ago. She thought about the way that he had grabbed her hand as she put the pieces together and started to spiral, the only thing tethering her to this earth. She thought about how instantly he had responded to Get in the coffin or I’ll shoot her in the head right now.

To be willing to die for someone was the kind of sweeping statement of love and dedication that was easy to say because it was so unlikely to be tested. It was reserved for the most important people in your life, the ones that you would do anything to protect. When she was in danger, Archie hadn’t batted an eye. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was him lowering himself into a coffin for her. She had been looking at that face for years and years, had known it when it had a beaming smile of mismatched baby teeth, had admired its changing angles. His jaw was clenched but his eyes were as warm as ever when the lid closed over him.

It was unbelievable to think that only weeks ago, kisses and milkshakes had made her feel special. It wasn’t fair to hold up a high school romance against the ultimate sacrifice, but the tectonic plates of her life had shifted again. It was a secret humming under her skin. It was heady to know that there was someone in the world who would do anything for you.

In a way, the showdown with the Black Hood was the most romantic night of her life. That was Riverdale for you.

— —

Betty stopped thinking about Hal Cooper almost as soon as he was locked away. She had spent so much time pouring over the Black Hood and puzzling over her family secrets that when she tried to align the man with the father, none of the pieces fit quite right anymore. After the loss of Hal and Polly, the Cooper family structure coalesced neatly around Betty and Alice as if it had always just been them.

Compartmentalizing and moving on was another discipline that Betty excelled at. Most of the time, anyway.

She thought about Fred Andrews all the time. The lights were out in Archie’s room for the first time that she could remember, but she knew that he was home. The loss was unspeakable, so she never tried.

— —

Even for someone good at compartmentalizing, it could be hard for Betty to separate the way she felt about Veronica from how she felt about Veronica Lodge.

The simple truth is that they were friends because Veronica had decided they were friends. Betty had been skeptical but a little bit flattered. She had written Veronica off at first, sure that she would move on and nestle in at Cheryl's side like two rich bitch peas in a pod, but she had persisted.

No one had ever wanted to be her friend that desperately. Despite what her frilly pink sweaters might imply, she had never been much of a girl’s girl. Her only real friends were Archie and Kevin. That had always been more than enough for her, but there was something to be said for having Veronica in her corner.

But the only person better at compartmentalizing than Betty was Veronica Lodge. Veronica could claim that she was destined to be Betty’s best friend while snatching her lifelong crush out from under her. She could disavow her family’s shady business dealings, then join Lodge Industries and keep quiet about their plans for the Southside. She could love Archie, then sit by while her father destroys his life.

Betty had been tap dancing around questions of morality for a while. One did not get to make too many principled stances when their boyfriend was a gang leader who once partially skinned a woman, and she tried not to throw too many stones from inside a house where she had once blackmailed Cheryl Blossom into testifying on behalf of FP Jones. As she started to shed more and more of her Nice Girl persona, Betty thought she had become more understanding of all the gray in the world.

In a sweltering court room after Labor Day weekend, Betty had found the thing she could never forgive. She watched stupid - noble, self-sacrificing, stupid - Archie jump at a plea deal for a crime he had not committed, all to spare them another trial. Veronica had cried and dropped her head into her hands, but Betty could still see flickers of her in Hiram Lodge’s satisfied smile.

Betty held her friend as she cried and clamped down on her latest intrusive thought - none of this would be happening if it weren’t for you. From learning to read to wrestling him from Ms. Grundy’s clutches, there had never been a problem Betty could not solve for Archie until he crossed Hiram’s path. There was nothing Betty wouldn't do for Archie, but there was nothing she could do for him now, so she averted her teary eyes and tried not to let in the darkness that always seemed so close to the surface now.

Meeting Veronica Lodge was the worst thing that had ever happened to any of them.

— —

When Betty used to dream of Archie as the leading man in every romance, she had imagined kissing him with a frequency that made her blush to think about even now.

She had been inexperienced and was not even sure what she was longing for. In her mind’s eye, she saw him in everything -  the foot pop at the end of The Princess Diaries, the foggy window in Titanic, on the dock in The Notebook - hell, even Spiderman dangling upside down in the rain. It was a collage of images that she could not quite attach a sensation to, but it made her blood run a bit hotter.

When Betty tried to flesh out her fantasies, she relied on a few tangible things she did know - the smell of his cologne, which she had picked out; his increasingly hard biceps, flexing under her fingers when they linked arms on the way to school; the way his hair felt when she playfully ruffled it; the slow drag of his fingers across her back and stomach, when he was winding up to tickle her.

It was almost like an out of body experience when she flung the microphone to the ground. Betty was somewhere else in the garage as she and Archie sang, circling the microphone, their traded glances growing less playful and more searching, until he swung the guitar behind his back and reached for her.

The touch of his hand was like it had always been, the tether that held her to earth and made sure she didn’t miss a thing. Betty had never been more present. After all those years of patience and restraint, she couldn’t get close enough.

— —

There was no clear before-and-after for Archie Andrews.

He had come a long way from being the boy-next-door. He had been the star football player and the sensitive musician. He had been groomed by his music teacher and apprenticed at the foot of a mobster. He had started a youth center for the underprivileged and shattered his hand pulling Cheryl Blossom out of a frozen river. It felt like a lifetime ago that it had just been Betty and Archie in a booth at Pop’s, but Betty didn’t feel like he had changed at all. When she looked into his eyes, she saw the same person staring back at her that she always had.

When there was such a bone-deep understanding, how could she ever feel like he was different? With every step he took, she was right there too.

It dawned on Betty that maybe her before-and-after had happened long before she started looking for it. There was a Betty Cooper before she loved Archie Andrews and she had been living in the after since she was 11 years old.

She flipped through her diaries, years and years of little choices. Her next one felt big.

#fanfic #archie andrews/betty cooper #barchie #archie/betty #riverdale #riverdale fanfiction #betty-centric

[serpentprinceravenhairedprincess]

I ship Jeronica a lot but I'd love for you to do an analysis on their dynamic💕 Love your blog.

Hey there 💕 Thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoy my blog :D

Going to their analysis..well, there’s a lot to say on the dynamic between those two. It’s kinda difficult because after season 2, everything got really messed up and the characters are not easy to outline (like, who are they anymore, amirite?). That’s why I always focused a lot on the first two season, in analyzing them. But I think it’s time to move forward: first because I’ve already said so much stuff about s1-2, but also because we are facing a time jump so...let’s get to it.

At this point of the narrative (taking for good the shitty writing we got), I think everybody in the core 4 kinda lost themselves. Jeronica wise: Veronica is spinning around the obvious contrast between her and Hiram, while Jughead stumbled from school to school and from being the king of a gang to...basically nothing. The centre of their whole world are the relationship they have right now, so Betty for Jug and Archie for Ronnie. They are relying on them so much that it feels kinda like a dead weight on the shoulders of the other two.  Of course, they are living a really peculiar period in everyone’s life. Facing graduation is a huge defining moment: you start to ask yourself who you are, where you are going, what you want to achieve and who you are willing to take with you on the journey. It’s the start of adulthood, and in order to take that step forward and let go of childhood, you have to sacrifice something - metaforically killing a part of yourself. In this sense, as narrative usually goes, that means breaking up with your high school sweetheart. 

That’s what we are working with right now. Both Jug and Ronnie are not looking at each other: they are not even really seeing each other. That’s the point. They are clinging to what they know and makes them feel safe, even though those relationships are obviously starting to slowly deteriorate. Cause, come on, cheating is at any level a huge red flag for something not working. And beware! It’s not working for everybody. The only difference between barchie and jeronica is that they have different perspectives and also different “safe havens”. Barchie always had each other since they were children, while Veronica and Jughead met in the midst of their teenage years. It’s only obvious that when these couples face a difficult moment like this, Betty and Archie would turn to each other, while Veronica and Jughead desperately cling to what they have - since is also the only thing they actually have.

Jughead and Veronica never really explored their relationship. They always felt connect to one another by their significant others. And that’s a huge point that I think we should get to see in s5. Cause, as I said in other posts, it’s based on prejudice and on the way their characters are built. Both of them always jump to conclusion the quickest, building an idea of people and situations in their own mind and taking this for fact instead of just assumptions. In this sense, one could make a good point by saying that Betty and Archie help them smoothing their edges. To which I answer: no, they don’t. They just kinda dull their characters. That’s not even growth, it’s just...emotional lethargy.

Jeronica is Pride and Prejudice 101. They have that quality that comes not just from the indeniable chemistry between the actors (haters, don’t come at me but if you are reading this and you do not agree, I’m sorry but you’re consciously lying to yourselves). It also comes from their backstories and their characters’ subtleties, which have the possibility to interact almost on a chemical level and create a nice friction that always works really well both on the screen and on the page. Two similar, but also opposite characters are the right recipe for a great love story. Mostly because they bring a challenge to one another, triggering growth. 

In my opinion, the fact that they might get closer due to the cheating bomb is just the needed sparkle to lighten a whole other narrative. Their relationship shouldn’t be based on self commiseration, or on revenge make out session. The breakup should just serve the purpose of making them look at each other. That’s it. Then the next step is seeing each other, understanding each other and by aknowledging that they had looked at one another through prejudice filled lenses, also growing as people and learn a life lesson on how to interact with the world.

I’ll close with a general reflection. The writers seriously need to get these characters back on track, because we are losing them as individuals. They had been spinning around the same mistakes and the same narrative for too long. This needs to change. And also, of course, on a more basic level, it’s always more entertaining to have some drama instead of flat narratives set in stone. That’s the main reason why Riverdale keeps losing viewers: because it’s just not interesting anymore. Nothing changes. Except for the weird ass background plots that, let’s face it, nobody is really here for. In my experience as a spectator and as someone who has an interest in this industry and got to study about its functioning: the viewer doesn’t know what he/she wants. Especially if we are talking about a young audience. They might be really vocal about their likings - sometimes even too much - but if you don’t keep them on their toes, if you don’t poke them..they will eventually lose interest. It doesn’t matter which endgame you give, as long as you create an interesting journey. Writing shouldn’t be safe betting. Fans are not gonna leave you, even the ones who say they will. Especially those, actually, because they are the most invested. Playing it safe, in these cases, always leads to dead ends, because at the end of the day people will remember your show for the emotions you gave them. Emotions are created from contrast, from highs and lows, from wanting something and then finally getting it or having a door slammed in your face. These are the only moments people are gonna remember in a few years, when they are older and reminiscing the good old days. Safeness, validation and mild satisfaction just don’t make the cut.

#jeronica #vughead #jughead x veronica #veronica x jughead

[staliasjeronica]

Riverdale 3.15 Thoughts *Spoilers*

-  “You sold our house to the Jones’?” Jughead says, even though he’s not able to buy a house. I know it’s to be funny (which I kinda like, actually. Riverdale always takes itself WAY too seriously) but like… seriously he can’t buy a fucking house. He can barely take care of his gang (excusing now since FP gave them jobs as deputies, but we haven’t seen any of it yet so) let along gather enough to buy a house, especially one as wealthy as the Cooper residence.

- THE LOOK FP GETS WHEN ALICE SAYS “I just wanna be done with it (her past)” A BITCH IS CRYING. He cares and loves her so much! And yes I know what happens later bc I don’t care for spoilers but dude… we all know Falice is meant to be together lol

- I’m glad Betty is saying no, but like didn’t she try to move in with him last season? mmhm okay lol

- Why would Betty have to ask if her staying with Veronica (HOPEFULLY SHE CAN FINALLY APOLOGIZE FOR ALL THE SHIT SHE’S DONE TO VERONICA!) was okay with Jughead? That’s not his decision, he doesn’t get a say in it. Even if it wasn’t okay, he couldn’t do shit about it.

- Barchie is in a scene together, I love them. Anyways.

- CHONI! Cheryl is so cute and happy about the trip, and then Toni just talks about her and the poisons as if Cheryl wasn’t going to be invited? Isn’t Cheryl still a part of the gang, just not acting as it’s leader anymore? I don’t—

- Cheryl immediately puts up a front and thinks that because she wants to go with the poisons, she doesn’t want to hang out with her, and that makes me so sad because that’s what she’s used to. Toni is used to having a group with her, and Cheryl is new to a relationship and therefore the smallest little thing can make her think something totally wrong. I’m so SAD

- Toni didn’t even say thank you… this is not the Toni we know?? She would have stayed to hash things out with Cheryl—at least for another minute or so.

- Hiram and Archie talking? No thank you

-  Also why does NOBODY record their conversations with Hiram? He literally implicates himself with every fucking sentence.

- MY BOY REGGIE! Aww Cheryl made fresh cherry scones I’m—but his face is like “oh fuck…” and I’m… not okay because I know why. I don’t see why he would be like that though if they’re just singing (slightly intimately and the song choice is um awkward but STILL)

- First of all… Toni had to go to work… which is… singing with Veronica? Don’t get me wrong I like Lopaz and the fact that they’re getting scenes together but like… while Cheryl is probably in the kitchen making the scones and feeling bad and worrying about shit she finds Toni singing with her friend really really close to a song that’s about cheating (I think) woo if I were Cheryl I’d go nuts.

- “Do you love her, FP?” catch my CRYING. THEY DESERVE TO BE WITH EACH OTHER. COME ON. Also, “she’s the mother of my children” yeah but you also had a child with Alice too so like… find another bullshit excuse. You can have children and be with someone other than the mom.

- Also why the fuck is Alice, like, herself when she’s near FP, but completely brainwashed around Betty? Like, make it make sense. They probably don’t because FP would save her and then end up completely getting with her to make sure nobody takes advantage of the love of his life ever again. “Doesn’t matter now, it’s over.” THE WAY HIS VOICE CRACKS, HE’S SO FUCKING IN LOVE WITH HER BUT BECAUSE GLADYS IS BACK HE WANTS TO REDEEM HIMSELF AS A GOOD FATHER SO HE’S KINDA USING THAT TO MAKE HIMSELF FEEL BETTER I’M SO BITTER

-  HOLD UP YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT REGGIE WASN’T GETTING PAID?! HE DID ALL OF THAT BECAUSE HE LOVES VERONICA? OH MY FUCKING GOD I’M—also wow thanks for the ooc Veronica. She’s the most caring and selfless person on this show, she would find a way, but cool thanks for dragging down a ship you COULD have made great but instead rushed and made it all fucked up… thanks…

- BUT I AM HERE FOR REGGIE STANDING UP FOR HIMSELF! “Veronica, I know what I’m worth, and you should know it, too.” Wow um this is weird this is the first time I’ve ever chosen somebody else’s side when it came to Veronica (that I can remember lmao) I’m—

- “No one walks on water… except me.” what the flying fuck does that mean?

- Wow, so Jughead DOES know how to just sit down and talk… then why the fuck does he go and fuck Betty every time her mental illness shows its head??? Like all he has to do is communicate with her and try to help but instead he just kisses her problems away as if that’ll fix it.

- It’s so sad to know that Jughead and FP are so happy to be getting another chance at a normal family, but it’s all a fucking sham because of Gladys and Jellybean. Like, maybe he might be less annoying if he had a good stable home and stable parents (which sadly I would be willing to give up Falice if they made Jughead —and Betty— much much much much much more tolerable) and just… the life they WANTED.

- First of all let me just scream about Jeronica interacting… and now… VERONICA FEELS SO BAD FOR HIDING THE FACT THAT IT’S HIS MOM I’M—

- So you tell Betty, the girl who always holds shit against you (and probably will later on when it’s convenient) … but not your future husband? Okay.

- if Betty is just going to tell Jughead what was the point of this? Just have Veronica do it, because then Jughead would be appreciative and see her in a new light or whatever and I just—you had one job.

- Does Betty never remember their childhood memories because of her mental illness or because she wasn’t actually there because like—

- YA’LL BETTY CARES ABOUT ARCHIE SO MUCH LIKE?? After creating this surprisingly good idea from Jughead, she like spaces out because she’s so worried about Archie. Mmhm tell me they’re not slowly on their way back to Barchie.

- I find it reallllllly funny how Jughead never lets Betty help him… mmhm…

- Ew, Archie and Hiram talking as if Hiram never fucking tried to KILL Archie… I hate this. Just end the fucking Hiram plot and GO

- No idea what the fuck just happened but if Gladys touches Reggie like that again—

-  DON’T YELL AT REGGIE HE GETS ENOUGH OF THAT FROM HIS DAD! Besides, he’s right, he has done SO much for you and he has lost probably one of the only things he had that made him feel sane and himself, his car… it’s so weird not being on Ronnie’s side for once… feel like I’m betraying my baby lol

-  Cheryl in that dress, WHOO BOY IS SHE SO GORGEOUS

- Poor Archie he can never catch a break…

- DID THAT BITCH JUST BITE ARCHIE? FUCKING CHEATER

- YEAH BITCH THE CHONI SCENE. It’s so fucking hot, like… in my story one of my characters with Sweet Pea is kinda like that too and I wrote a 5000 word dirty chapter but then I was like “mmhm I don’t think I should” and re-did it… but now I want it back ugh. But like was Toni carrying the blindfold with her all night?

- Like I know they just saved Archie but like Betty truly smiles the widest when she’s with Archie. Anyways…

- I’m surprised Cheryl could walk after that

- My poor babies… Toni is right though it happened a bit too fast (technically not though since they never show us shit with Choni) but Cheryl putting up her guard again,,, I’m SAD

- Hiram? Giving Archie the building? Doing something nice… for Archie? Mmhmmm something’s wrong

- “I wanna matter, Ronnie.” well bitch here come the tears again… “would we even be dating, if not for the speakeasy?” BITCHHHHH I’M SO SAD

-  sHE BOUGHT HIM HIS CAR BACK :(((( UGH MY BABIES DESERVE SO MUCH THIS SUCKS!!!

- Gladys low-key had a point but uhhh then she threatened Jughead not to tell FP so uhhhh nvm

- lol “how could we forget?” yeah I can’t forget when you disregarded Jughead’s feelings and selfishly threw him a birthday party too and you almost (sadly, almost) broke up because of it. ALSO why is it just the Jones’ who have birthdays???

- FRED 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

- LMAO CHERYL LITERALLY DEMANDING THAT IT’S HEATHERS! That’s amazing.

-   If this birthday bash is for FP where are my serpent boys? my babies :((

-  lmao what the fuck was that quick ass Fladys kiss?

- Jughead made some sweet points… I’ll admit…

- Every time Betty makes that face it makes me immediately hate whatever it is she’s about to do because that’s usually when she tries WAY too hard to seem badass when she’s anything but. Honestly I just want these boring ass drug related plots to GO AWAY. They’re so boring and overdone and I just… End Hiram and Gladys and let Veronica finally be free of that stupid crime boss life that she wanted AWAY from.

#Riverdale #Archie Andrews #Betty Cooper #Veronica Lodge #Jughead Jones #Barchie #Jeronica #Sweet Pea #Fangs Fogarty #Swangs #South Side Serpents #Toni Topaz #Cheryl Blossom #Pretty Poisons #Choni

[bughead]

I’m a Bughead shipper but I just know Barchie is gonna happen. That’s how it supposed to be and how Roberto has planned it from the very first start. Bughead was not supposed to be that popular, he probably regrets it now because he can’t actually do what he wanted without pissing off his most popular fandom. I’ve learned to chill. Whatever happens will happen. It’s unfortunate.

literally nothing you just said makes me believe you’re a bughead shipper. in fact, i think i’ve seen almost the exact same wording on twitter from b*rchie accounts. i’ll leave you with an answer i gave all the way back in february 

the episodes that he specifically writes show nothing but bughead and varchie endgame. i really don’t think he’s here for b*rchie or any sort of love triangle between our core four.

he wrote 1x01, which painted betty and archie’s relationship as completely platonic on archie’s side. and her confession of feelings at the school dance 100% backed up the theory that betty was “in love” with archie because she thought they’d be perfect together. it was grounded in fantasy much more than it was in reality. archie was immediately enthralled with veronica, and straight up told her he’d never had romantic feelings for betty

he wrote 1x02, which ended with betty at pop’s beginning to accept that archie didn’t want to be with her, and that she wasn’t going to hold onto her hurt and let it stop her from becoming friends with veronica, AND it was the moment betty and jughead first interacted. he saved their first interaction until after the BAV “triangle” was over. you can’t meet the right one until you’ve let go of the wrong one. it’s pretty much been established that betty’s crush on archie blinded her to all else, so in the scene where that smoke is finally starting to clear……oh, there’s jughead

he wrote 1x11 (fun fact: this aired on my birthday), which was a good episode for varchie because it was really the start of their relationship–but it was a HUGE episode for bughead. we had jughead, who has been shown to be desperate to get his family back together, choose betty over making that happen. we had betty furious at everybody accusing fp and hurting jughead, and she told her mom that jughead was just as much her family as she was. she LOVES him. that was not just the first bughead declaration of love, it was the first time we heard it from betty period. she asked archie if he loved her in episode one, but she never said that she loved him. she tells veronica “the boy i like.” that’s pretty significant, in my opinion  

he wrote 1x13, which was obviously a big episode for bughead and varchie. veronica and archie finally became a couple with betty’s blessing. betty referred to veronica and jughead as the people they were meant to be with. betty and jughead were called soul mates. veronica brought up her insecurities about b*rchie to archie, and he told her (for a second time) that he’s only ever felt friendship for betty. we had the first scene of bughead and varchie together cuddled up as couples at pop’s. veronica and archie had sex. betty and jughead exchanged i love yous. it was a giant hit against b*rchie and the BAV love triangle, ESPECIALLY when you find out the tiny hints of those things that were in the episode, roberto was told to add in. something that’s also super telling: the alternate ending for this episode (in case they didn’t get renewed for s2) was jughead moving in with the coopers

he wrote 2x01, which was an important one for varchie. a lot of people like to complain that their relationship is very physical. that was addressed in that episode. veronica told betty that sort of thing was easy for her, the emotional stuff was harder, but she wanted to try because she cares about archie so much. and she does a great job of pushing herself out of her comfort zone. archie tries to push her away and she refuses to let him. at the hospital, the doctor told archie to talk to his dad (who was in a coma) about good things–he talked about veronica. the hallucinations fred had, the things he didn’t want to miss in archie’s life, were his graduation, his engagement to veronica, and his wedding to veronica. that scene was so extravagant. RAS went all out with the varchie wedding, and it wasn’t even real. bughead was super well written too. we had adorable flirting, but also betty was open about her worries with him. it was beautiful communication and ended with her telling him she would support him no matter what, and they had a beautiful kiss in the rain

he wrote 2x12, which had two more clear married!varchie references. the first being archie mesmerized by veronica in her white dress, and the second being her blurring out everybody except him as she said “i do” for her confirmation. veronica spent the whole episode wanting to shield archie from the evils of her family, and then when she was finally going to tell him her dad was involved with the mafia, archie told her he already knew and basically professed his undying love for her. we had bughead return to their s1 dynamic, AND had them acknowledge that they’d lost that trying to protect each other instead of facing the ugliness together. they’re not just boyfriend and girlfriend, they’re partners. they get shit done when they’re together. they give each other great ideas and refuse to let the other give up. they rebounded (somewhat) on those big secrets and communication problems they were having. jughead came clean about everything, and while betty didn’t, i think RAS did a good job of painting her struggle. i didn’t get the vibe that she didn’t tell jughead about the kiss with archie because it meant something to her. i got the vibe that, after jughead basically told her that her breaking up with him through archie is what drove him into toni’s arms, she was scared to tell him that she’d also kissed him. you see her pause their make-out, wanting to tell him, but then deciding not to because she probably thinks he’ll stop. the fact that she kissed archie and lied about it could cause her to lose him, again–so she says “i want all of you. tonight.” he might not want another night when he finds out, so she’s going to take what she can get while she can. i think the idea that he’d break up with her over a kiss is ridiculous, but it’s a real fear for her. –back on topic, roberto made sure that he was the one to write their first time. RAS writing both varchie and bughead’s first time is not a coincidence 

he wrote 2x22, which was a lighter varchie episode, but a MASSIVE one for bughead. we opened with jughead in a coma dreaming about betty standing over his grave, holding his prized beanie, crying, and telling him to come back to her. roberto wrote betty telling our narrator that he needs to come back because their story isn’t over. their story. he low-key implied riverdale is bughead’s love story. anyway, this dream is what brings jughead back from the brink of death. and then later when fp tells him they’re leaving town, he angrily tells him that he’s not leaving betty. jughead holds betty over his blood family, something we saw in 1x11 as well (written by roberto). on betty’s side, we have this guilt, and pain, and anger eating her up (and not just in 2x22, she’s struggled with her “darkness” since season 1). one conversation with jughead and she’s able to face her father and confidently tell him that she’s not like him. she’s not a bad person, she’s not evil. that’s some true love stuff. and them babysitting polly’s twins? well, i’m just gonna leave this here

then we have the HOTEL scene. this part got trimmed, but roberto originally wrote that scene opening with betty telling jughead she wanted to stay there forever. betty and jughead laughed and smiled in that scene more than they did pretty much the entire season. he asked betty to be his queen, and she asked if he was asking her to join the serpents, and he said sort of. the scene was intentionally written to sound like a proposal. roberto is so hyped for married bughead that he had to get them pre-engaged in the second season 

roberto is varchie & bughead endgame, everything he writes points to it

roberto has stated a few times that they were taking a risk pairing betty and jughead together, but he felt like (and was hopeful) that the audience would take to them–which they did. he was the first person to ever make that leap, and end the BAV love triangle and have betty and jughead fall in love, and it paid off HUGE. why would he look at that and feel regret?? i imagine the dude feels pretty fucking prideful. i could go on and on about how unfounded your claim that “roberto has planned [b*rchie] from the very first start” is, but i think i’ve already made my point 

#ask #Anonymous #meta

[zigackly]

Hello!! I also feel a little weird since they are apparently 15/16, but, honestly, I was in a relationship at that age and it wasn't too different, so when I actually think about it, it's not THAT weird. They love each other, and they both consented, so honestly I think it's fine (plus I would be an hypocrite if I said it wasn't, since I was exactly the same back then, and I felt like it was normal and okay)

hi nonny~! i agree with you and i think you’re completely right and I know it does happen, it’s just that i’m probably too old fashioned and just not that open to that sort of thing?? but i’m not against it. if at all i had a problem (which i don’t bc why would i) what i found iffy was that people actively wanted to watch the show just for that culmination. 

i’m generally quite meh about what people want to do bc it’s their life so it’s not my place to comment, which is why i wouldn’t normally comment on such things, but yeah. somehow it felt more weird than nice. to me. i don’t even know why tbh. it probably also has to do with backgrounds too.

so yes, it probably is fine. lol i just realised my post could come across as bashing maybe, which i honestly wasn’t. they’re free to do whatever, obviously. it just came across slightly weird bc maybe i’m more conservative that i thought haha.

another thing is that i’m asexual too so with that (the bughead bit at least) came the complete erasure of any semblance of asexuality that could happen, for most people, but i also know that regardless of that there is still scope. because i believe everything is fluid. so, i’m not one of those who bashes ships for erasure bc really, at the end of the day, ships are ships. ship what you want. besides, i watched the show for the murder mystery, not the ships.

also, i’m a multishipper/don’t-care-what-ship shipper so my views would stay the same regardless of whether it was beronica, bughead, varchie, barchie etc, etc.

.

i appreciate the ask, anon! sorry I went really off tangent?? lots of unnecessary spewing haha. i rarely get any asks, and this is a first for riverdale and i barely get to speak to anyone about riverdale except my bestie sometimes. have a good day~

#riverdale #bughead #varchie #archieronnie #ty for the ask anon #shut up aki #I don't remember my own tags gdi #aki got asked #jughead jones #betty cooper #archie andrews #veronica lodge

[lostinafictionaluniverse]

Riverdale 1 x07 thoughts

Starts with Jughead’s dream - seemingly perfect family with everyone fake smiling, and Juggie’s bewildered expression through all of this to kinda indicate that maybe he thought it was too good to be true? Interesting though that he wants his family to come together so bad, yet he dreams of being part of another (Betty’s) who he knows is not perfect either. Does that mean deep down that he’s given up on his family? That the only way for him to be happy would be if he were with another family? Which is what happens at the end of the episode, he ends up living with Archie! So was the beginning meant to bookend the end? Its also evident that he feels guilty about stabbing Archie in the back, presumably because he’s married to Betty in the dream. Why does he feel that? He knows Archie doesn’t feel that way about Betty. Betty did have feelings for Archie but she’s obviously getting over them, since she’s willing to move on with him. Why the guilt? Okay, Archie wasn’t exactly over the moon when he found out about bughead, but Jughead already sensed that he wouldn’t be and I wonder where that’s coming from?

The next scene with Juggie waking up in the closet under the stairs, a clever reference to Harry Potter, which is surprisingly not misplaced. Since Harry had a miserable life till Hogwarts came along and Juggie’s having a miserable life now until his friends - Archie and Betty come through for him. And Archie finding him was good. His secret was finally out. He could tell someone everything and unburden himself. The matter-of-fact way in which he did broke my heart actually. Archie was understandably shocked and immediately offered to ask Fred to give FP his job back and for Jug to live with him. And this is where I get caught between loving Archie and wanting to hit him on the head with a sharp instrument! Its just the way his character has progressed so far - I can’t really tell what to do with him. He’s bland and uninteresting and trivial. But in this episode he really came through for his friends, so yeah -idk.

Jughead asking Archie not to tell anyone - especially Betty. I think the reason is that he doesn’t want to come across as needy and screwed up, you know, he wants to show his best side to his girl - he wants to seem like he’s together and there for her instead of throwing his problems at her at a time when she’s already bogged down by so many of hers! I just think he wants to keep her away from worrying about him! And that’s so Juggie!

I was kind of meh about Veronica and the whole power struggle between the Lodge women thing. Oh and looks like Hiram is really in prison, so bang goes my theory of him being in hiding someplace and driving this whole thing remotely. Ronnie choosing Reggie as arm candy was great, Reggie IS hot btw. If only he wasn’t such a douche! But points to him for going along on that search for Polly! A gal pal, a gay and arm candy? Really Ronnie? You’re reducing Kevin to that? The whole town (or at least all of Riverdale high) seemed to be on the Cooper’s team. So that left the Blossoms with Keller and who else?

Jughead putting his arms around Betty when she’s worried and she reaching to him for reassurance was so adorable! And everyone’s reactions were revealing - Veronica looked surprised and then smug and Archie was kinda surprised too, but was he jealous? I think as they go deeper into bughead, Archie is gonna become more and more resentful as he finds his two best friends drifting away from him and towards each other and that is gonna manifest in a bad way. How? I don’t know yet. But he’s probably going to do something stupid that gets them both (or perhaps Jug) in trouble. Or perhaps be irrational and angry without knowing why. Why was Ronnie calling Juggie Holden Caulfield? Is it because he’s perceived as mysterious and a loner? But I love that she ships bughead!

Juggie saying “We may have had a moment” in that hesitating, halting manner, not really meeting Archie’s eyes? I think that meant that he really thought Archie would be mad at him or feel betrayed or something. He tried to downplay what he felt for Betty twice - once when FP asked him and this once with Archie. Both times Archie was there. I think he’s trying to spare Archie’s feelings. And right now he’s not sure what Betty feels either. In that scene where he’s walking her home, he struggles to articulate what they are “People like us” he says adoringly stuttering, and I think it means he doesn’t want to pressure her to commit and also because he’s uncertain if she’s reciprocating only because she’s going through such a stressful time herself and thinks maybe that’s why she needs him around? Idk.

Cheryl - idk what to make of her! She’s such a bitch most of the times and then one time she does something nice that makes me rethink her character. But I thought she looked really upset when Alice announced that Polly was pregnant with Jason’s baby! Like it was some kind of betrayal. I’m still on board the “twincest” ship!

Back to bughead and the sweet scene when he’s walking her home. Jughead being her “clarity” is like such a bughead thing and I’m loving it! Betty seems to have all her best ideas around him. And the kiss was just so them! And the little smile he gives after! Oh god, I’m just dying of the adorableness that is bughead! Also how badass were they leading the whole search party and belting out instructions like the power couple they are! And finishing each other’s sentences!

Polly still seems a little bit crazy to me! Maybe its her eyes or just her whole demeanor. 

Now the FP and Fred backstory. They seemed like they were really good friends, but then FP makes it as though Fred kicked him out when he was really down. Fred’s story seemed more believable to me. Again, here’s where carrot-top surprised me again. By insinuating that Fred was being a bad friend by letting Jughead drown along with FP. I’m amazed at the amount of character development for Archie in this episode. Its as if they want us invested in him and his story if indeed the Archie/Betty/Jughead love triangle thing is where they’re heading. I know a lot of people are rooting for Barchie and that wouldn’t really pay off if Archie wasn’t a sympathetic character. We’re supposed to feel bad for him that he lost the girl. Jughead already has oodles of audience sympathy. 

I liked the scene at Pop’s where they were reminiscing. And FP brings up how Jughead isn’t interested in sports and stuff like him but is more like his mom - into writing and books and literary things, and he says its good. I can get the sense of self-loathing from the man. He needs help.

Also, the scene where Juggie’s taking off his drunk dad’s boots and talking to him about Jellybean and his mom was all kinds of heart-breaking. Its so obvious the boy loves his family and wants them together. Its also obvious he’s proud of his mom and sis! (She listens to Pink Floyd on vinyl and has Juggie for an older bro - of course she cannot get any cooler!). The thing I notice about Jughead is that he downplays everything that’s going on with him - be it good or bad. He just doesn’t think its worth talking about or worth anyone’s time and that’s a whole new level of heart-breaking for me, because it just reinforces where this boy’s coming from - years of being bullied and made to feel unworthy and family breaking apart too! I think this warrants an entirely new post, a Jughead meta that I will get to soon!

I hate how they put Juggie through the wringer - first, by being embarrassed by his dad (Cole was superb), then blaming his friend and his dad for his condition, sticking up for him, believing in him only to have him let him down when he needed him the most. My heart shattered when he asked Betty at the station if his dad was there and Betty says Archie and Fred are. He wanted his dad there, dammit! Stupid, stupid, FP! But even he knows that his son’s better off without him. But he cannot use that as an excuse to not even try! The scene outside the station when Juggie gets ready to leave with his dad was so so heart-breaking. Both Cole and Skeet played it to perfection! I was crying, my poor Juggie. He was so conflicted - angry, disappointed, resigned and then finally determined to still not give up on him. Didn’t I say earlier that his most defining trait was his loyalty? Yeah!

I’m glad he has a safe place to live where he will be warm and well-fed. Also get to peek at Betty from Archie’s window and have conversations with her? Maybe? I’m not holding out hope that it’s going to last given the spoilers for episode 8 where Archie is blaming Jughead for betraying him by not telling him his dad was a Serpent. 

I’m also glad Polly found a place to live at Ronnie’s! Hermione was like - any daughter of Alice Cooper is welcome at my place? Does that mean she and Alice share a cordial relationship? I seem to recall them sharing some bitchy moments earlier in the Mayor’s fundraiser. I don’t think anyone likes Alice. Is Hermione an exception? 

I expected the clash between Alice and Penelope to be more - uh, bitchy? I’m not sure why Betty agreed to meet up with the Blossoms. I think its more to get financial support for Polly that she knows she won’t get from her parents since they clearly want to give the baby up for adoption. But still- the Blossoms? What are you thinking gurl?

All in all, this episode really focused on Jughead and how screwed up his life is, and it makes my heart bleed for the poor boy! The scene where he implores Betty to believe that he didn’t do it and those fearful, desperate eyes! Like he’s managed to stay afloat but now finally the net is closing in and he’s choking. He doesn’t know if he can get out. I don’t think he was thinking about evidence and how they could or couldn’t pin it on him at all. He looked totally cornered in that scene. There is some resentment there against Fred Andrews, he clearly believes he did his father wrong. Now that he’s living under his roof plus the fact that Fred helped forge an alibi for him, not sure what he’s gonna think? And how long is he gonna keep the faith in that pathetic excuse of a man called FP? I still wonder why his mom didn’t take him along to her parents? Did he refuse to go? Did he choose to stay with his dad?  Fred making up that alibi for Jughead made me want to applaud him and the next minute I was back at throwing shade at him  because Archie says “You’ve done this before”. Fred definitely seems to have something to hide. 

Also, FP tells Hermione that Lodge took care of the rest of the money. When? How? I thought Hermione was his only conduit. Does he have other people on his job too? Who?

So Jason’s jacket is with FP. So did he torch the car or kill Jason or both or neither? Why would he retrieve that one piece of evidence? I read an interesting theory someplace that FP might actually be Jason’s father (Cheryl being Juggie’s half-sister?? Now this I cannot take!) and he kept the jacket as something to remember his son by. Also Clifford Blossom maybe the real killer since he discovered that Polly was pregnant and did not want the Blossom millions to end up with the Coopers. I don’t know that I buy this theory, but its certainly interesting. Cheryl is supposedly devastated when she learns who the killer is. So it could be one of the Blossoms. But are they that unfeeling and ruthless that would they torture Jason? I’m not really sure about this.

#riverdale #riverdale 1x07 #riverdale review #bughead #just a lot of my random thoughts on the epi #rather long so under a cut