#riverdale breakup

[froottalks]

Whispers of Lost Love - Veronica Lodge x reader

[summary: reader and veronica were in a relationship, veronica ends it due to her family/personal problems. later veronica misses the reader but the damage was already done.]

Masterlist

The city streets were painted with the hues of twilight, a melancholic setting that mirrored the storm of emotions within your heart. Veronica Lodge, the woman who had once been the melody of your life, now stood before you like a distant star whose light had faded. The love you had shared, once a symphony of passion and promise, had transformed into a haunting melody of heartbreak.

Veronica's gaze held a mixture of sadness and regret, her lips quivering as if struggling to find the right words. "We need to talk," she said softly, her voice carrying the weight of a decision that could alter the course of your lives.

You let out a nervous laugh, "Everything alright V?" you have an idea of what's to come even though you don't want to believe it. After all, nothing ever comes with your girlfriend saying, we need to talk.

The two of you found yourselves on the balcony of your favorite coffee shop, a place that had once been the backdrop to whispered confessions and shared laughter. Now, the air was heavy with tension, the space between you a chasm that seemed impossible to bridge.

"What is it, Veronica?" you asked, your voice barely above a whisper, though the fear of what she might say seemed to amplify your words.

She took a deep breath, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I think… I think we should break up."

The words hung in the air like a dissonant chord, shattering the fragile remains of the love you had once nurtured. Your heart seemed to stop, the pain of her declaration a piercing ache that radiated through your chest.

"I don't understand," you managed to say, your voice trembling with a mixture of confusion and hurt.

Veronica's gaze never left yours, her expression torn between sorrow and determination. "(Y/n), I love you, but our paths are... diverging. My family's legacy, the expectations... I'm suffocating, and I... I can't be the person you deserve right now."

Tears blurred your vision as you struggled to process her words. The love that had once felt like an unbreakable bond was now unraveling, slipping through your fingers like mere grains of sand.

"Why didn't you talk to me about this? We could have faced it together," you said, your voice a blend of hurt and desperation.

Veronica's shoulders slumped, the weight of her decision evident in her posture. She had tears streaming down her face now, "I thought I could handle it on my own. I thought I was protecting you."

The pain in your chest deepened, the ache of betrayal mingling with the sorrow of losing the person who had meant the world to you. The city lights twinkled around you, a stark contrast to the darkness that seemed to have settled within your heart.

Days turned into weeks, and the emptiness left by Veronica's absence in your life was a constant reminder of the love you had lost. The places you had once explored together and had filled you with happiness and joy, were now tinged with bittersweet memories, the laughter and shared moments haunting your thoughts like a poignant melody.

You found yourself navigating through life, the once-familiar routine now a chore. The ache of missing Veronica was an ever-present companion, a shadow that seemed to grow longer with each passing day. The lyrics of the songs you once loved held new meanings, resonating with the emotions you were unable to express.

One evening, as the rain pattered against your window, a message notification broke the silence of your solitude. It was from Veronica—an invitation to meet at a place that had once been your sanctuary.

With a mixture of trepidation and longing, you knew you shouldn't but you found yourself at the familiar park bench, the place where you had shared secrets, dreams, and your love. Veronica was already there, her gaze a mixture of sadness and regret. She stood up when she saw you approach,

"(Y/n), I miss you," she said softly, her voice carrying the weight of unspoken emotions.

Your heart ached at her words, the flood of memories overwhelming. "Veronica, why did you end things if you miss me?"

She looked down, her fingers nervously tracing patterns on her lap. "I thought I was doing what was best for both of us. But I've realized that losing you hurt more than any challenge I face."

Tears welled in your eyes as you stared at the person who had once been your everything, now standing before you with a vulnerability that mirrored your own.

"Is there a chance for us?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

You hesitated, the wounds of her decision still fresh. "Veronica, you walked away from us."

She reached for your hand, her touch a fragile lifeline in the sea of pain. "I was wrong, and I regret it every day. But I still love you."

The rain intensified around you, the drops echoing the tears that were threatening to fall from your eyes. The memories of your love story flooded your thoughts—the laughter, the promises, the dreams you had shared.

With a heavy heart, you pulled your hand away. "Veronica, what we had was beautiful, but it's different now. I can't go back to the way things were."

She bowed her head, barely giving a light nod, her shoulders shaking with the weight of her sorrow. "I understand."

The silence that followed was filled with the echoes of a love that had once been everything, and now was a haunting reminder of what could have been.

As you walked away, the raindrops mingled with your tears, each step taking you further from the woman who had once held your heart.

THE END

#veronica lodge #x reader #veronica lodge x reader #veronica lodge x male reader #veronica lodge x female reader #veronica lodge x fem!reader #riverdale #veronica lodge x y/n #angst #angst fic #one shot #oneshot #breakup #sad ending #whispers of lost love

[paging-possum]

everyone wants toxic doomed yuri until it comes to riverdale heathers episode. sad!!!

#riverdale #go watch choni breakup and then you'll understand

[imreallyloveleee]

Hi, do you have good Bughead fic recs of their reunion after all those years?

you bet i do!

these are all a) complete and b) have a happy ending, but as always, mind the tags.

Adventures with Uncle Hobo series by @edgarsabandonedrocketship

An Antonym for Serenade by ForsythiaRising

Consent to Cuddle by @lovedinapastlife

I Miss You More Than Life by @middleagedresidentofriverdale

no greater gift by @heartunsettledsoul

only good things happen here by @sweetsoundsofignorance

seven years by @thetaoofbetty

to excavate by @stillscape

we sit in your car (and our love is a ghost) by @thesunflowerx

you'll always be my favorite ghost by @heartunsettledsoul

#bughead #fic rec #bughead fic #i only included ones that are set post-time jump #there are some other good ones too that take place post-breakup but earlier in the timeline #riverdale #anon #also i would personally consider 'you'll always be my favorite ghost' to kinda be the ~definitive one for me <3

[shortscircuits]

that last gifset i just reblogged reminded me of another reason cheryl and veronica get along so well: they both have categorically evil dads who they have to constantly outsmart

#in the beautiful and true version of riverdale that exists in my head they had a weird codependent dyke-alike fling #just mirroring each other and being so close to being the same person that they have a terribly dramatic breakup #they’d be besties again by the end of the very next episode tho

[sammygender]

betty and jugheads s5 relationship means everything to me. so funny. so tragically relatable in such a specific way.

like… they were inseparable for like four years then they didn’t speak for almost twice as long. when they remet they hated each other but they actually broke up on decent terms the resentment just curdled all the time. it become obvious they would not have worked endgame once they’d already broken up but before we couldn’t see it because they spent all their time holding hands while watching serial killer documentaries (in the words of ms veronica lodge). pov you have the first real conversation you’ve had in years with your ex-boyfriend from high school and he’s a depressed alcoholic one book wonder. pov you have the first real conversation you’ve had in years with your ex-girlfriend from high school and she’s a obsessive compulsive FBI agent with PTSD. neither of you question these developments because they make such total utter sense. it’s tragic but hilarious. you immediately fall back into the pattern of Solving Cases Together after trauma dumping on each other and apologising for deeply toxic behaviour. they r literally me and my ex

#i am the jughead……. #:/ #:/. :/. :/ #like. messed up depressive writer emo boy with transgender swag a crippling need to be pretentious and addiction problems #(me) #dates messed up blonde girl convinced she has A Darkness Inside Her aka a scorpio moon and ADHD who needs to be perfect has severe mommy #issues #and is just a little bit bitchy #said with love #They’re codependent in the exact same insane way for years but then have a… bad breakup #it’s us #it’s so us #like that’s betty and jughead! #riverdale #bughead #anyway. platonic bughead fighter 4 life #oliver talks

[clarasghosts]

it might pain me a little bit to give credit to riverdale, but i'm halfway through season three (first time watching) and i've noticed something pretty good. at this point, betty is my favorite character, which is definitely something i never expected. i love that we've seen her violent, vindictive side grow steadily since season one. i love that she's struggled with that darkness and that she's made some outright abhorrent choices. i love that she uncovered her own father as a serial killer, and that she's started to rebuild her relationship with him while he's in prison. most of all i love that, though she has a romance subplot, her story arc firmly revolves around her. that her story has been about her understanding herself and evolving and trying to figure out who she wants to be.

#they did pretty well with veronica too until s3 made too much of her motivations revolve around archie #i'm hoping their breakup will mean her growing again #riverdale #betty cooper

[fvckyouimaprophet]

#riverdale #archie andrews #betty cooper #cheryl blossom #jughead jones #tumblr #polls

[aerishey]

Somehow this breakup is so satisfying?? I thought it’s gonna be Archie/Reggie/Betty/Tabitha coming into the picture, and Jeronica having the talk that “it’s been a fun ride, but we like other people, let’s stay friends”. Instead it was so valid that V was put off by his depiction of women, and that they both were genuinely sad, and now even a show like Riverdale has narratively no choice but have Jughead grow, with or without V. And that if the show doesn’t completely ignores Jeronica after this ep, we’re gonna have a scene with closure between them, possibly with Jughead showing her somehow that he got the message, because it’s the final season. (Well, they could very well ignore that these two need at least one scene to end this storyline, because they did ignore Jeronica storylines in the past, but it’s the last season, so let’s hope not.)

#jeronica #i still wear that clown costume

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

Jumping off the tags of the post I just reblogged, here is my vision for a Merlin reboot (I know it's not gonna happen but shhh a girl can dream)

Merlin has to be played by Joe Locke, obviously. He's got the cheekbones, the ears, the sassy twink aura, it's him or nothing.

I'm envisioning a tone similar to Doctor Who. I want the silly monster-of-the-week, bordering on camp, fantasy shenanigans that we know and love. But intercut with good character development that fans can go feral for.

Lean in to Merlin and Morgana as narrative foils, with Merlin being corrupted by his love for Arthur and Morgana being corrupted by her resentment for her family.

If it's going to be a tragedy, make it intentionally a tragedy. I want it to be unclear who we're supposed to be rooting for.

Give me a magic allegory that doesn't explicitly condone the oppressors. Make it a cautionary tale of Merlin becoming disillusioned with a system that promised him acceptance through conformity. (Although a happy ending would be nice too).

obviously, Merlin and Arthur should end up together, but make it real slow burn. And give Arthur consistent character development so that he actually accepts and values Merlin.

I want Morgana and Gwen to date at the start and then have a messy breakup that spurns her villain arc. Gimme goth Morgana in full jealous ex-gf mode.

Gwen should actually cheat on Arthur with Lancelot. Don't be afraid to give Gwen and Lancelot character flaws. She can feel alienated from high society and neglected by Arthur. Lance can have a self righteous streak and believe that he deserves Gwen more than Arthur does. And he does, let them be happy together.

I generally hate dark gritty reboots that feed off of nostalgia, but I genuinely think that the premise and themes of Merlin have the potential to be explored in a really interesting and fresh way (à la the Shadow and Bone tv adaptation, rather than Riverdale or some shit)

#many controversial things being said i know #bbc merlin #merlin #merthur #morgwen #gwencelot

[rodeoromeo]

rewatching riverdale pilot bc. yeah. and like there is literally dialogue implying archie and jughead had a messy breakup so

#jarchie longgame!! pls theres still time... #op #riverdale

[a92vm]

Well... I just watched the final episode of Riverdale so everyone buckle up for a long looooong sappy post. I know I haven't been in the fandom for a hot second but this show, this fandom and this cast truly meant the world to me.

I have made some of the most amazing friends thanks to this show. Friends that to this day still guide me, comfort me, and support me through all the ups and downs and chaos that life is. Friends that although I haven't met in person yet in some cases, I talk to almost every single day. Friends that have been there for me through breakups, moves, hospital stays, both of my degrees, a freaking pandemic... I mean through every life milestone in the last 6 years. Friends that I know will be in my life forever now.

This show also gave me so so many amazing opportunities. Never in my wildest dreams I thought I would ever be on a set, and yet I managed to visit so many iconic sets and I even worked in a few others!! I was able to find and actually do something with one of my passions, something that 15yr old me could have never imagined. Also thanks to this show I learned so much about fashion and the industry and gave me the chance to talk to and learn from people that I would have never ever had met otherwise.

Finally, and although I'm fully aware that this may sound repetitive, I'm beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to actually get to meet the cast. Trust me when I say I know how rare and how lucky I've been. Once again, never ever in my wildest dreams I could have imagined meeting someone from a TV show, let alone someone I admired... and yet I was able to. Not only that, I got to actually create some sort of relationship with some of them and got to, in a way, grow up alongside them for the last 6 years of my life. Being able to see and talk to either Cami or Lili whenever things were bad in my life was... truly a lifesaver; my lifeboat when things got rough. I have the happiest and craziest core memories with them and there aren't enough words to describe how thankful I am for them. So to my girls, Thank you for guiding me, listening to me, and basically saving me over and over again.

And so I guess all this is to say, Thank you Riverdale for the craziest, wildest but mostly sweet 6 years of my life.

#riverdale #goodbye riverdale #and yes i cried watching the episode #and i cried writing this #this was just such a big part of my life #now leaving riverdale #lili reinhart #camila mendes #my girls #i love them so so much #truly the last 2 memories with my them are the best #a dream actually

[akechi-if-he-slayed]

imo the perfect series finale for south park would be for them to dedicate their last couple of seasons to their junior + senior year of high school (yes live action because i think it would be awesome if done right, not insanely gritty and emo like riverdale). same startling humor and amusement, but kind of with a slightly more mature feel (because they are teenagers now after all; even though they don’t exactly “act their age” in the show, you can still tell their naive youth plays a big factor in a lot of their reasonings and motivations behind their actions and decisions) like yeah, they’re still being stupid and getting caught up in the weirdest shit, but this time they’re being dumb teenagers instead of dumb kids. also! feel like romance would definitely be a core thing, because you know. teenage hormones. no explicit scenes, but definitely make outs and the like, and their relationships would play a more crucial factor in the show. for example, i think that at the start of the live-action saga, wendy and stan would still be entertaining their on-and-off-again-friends-who-make-out-and-have-a-different-response-each-day-if-you-ask-whether-or-not-they’re-together and pretty soon, they’d eventually just break it off for good, and that would be a major coming of age moment for stan as he realizes he was only staying with wendy because she was “safe” and reminded him of being a kid.

PROM EPISODE (for junior year)!!! it would be so lit. huge, huge potential there to get everyone dolled up. stan and wendy would already be broken up by that time, so naturally stan and kyle would just go together as FRIENDS. MUTUAL BACHELORS. DEFINITELY NOTHING MORE….not like kyle turned down heidi’s ask because “i don’t want stan to feel alone” even though cartman and kenny don’t have dates either? also stan definitely doesn’t sneak a bottle in and definitely doesn’t skulk outside and kyle definitely doesn’t find him and just. sits and talks and just laughs and talks shit with him outside for the rest of the night and nothing is said about any sort of feelings kyle might have (if he’s even fully aware of them yet now that stan is 100% available for the first time in years) but. you can tell, everyone can tell that something is there, something is starting.

main highlights for this adaptation idea!

- bebe (cheer captain!) and wendy (heavily involved in asb, voted president senior year; there’s a whole episode dedicated to her campaign against kyle at the end of junior year, she wins by just a few votes) as the queens of the school, most popular girls (bebe in more of a gorgeous-can-have-any-guy-do-whatever-she-wants-and-have-them-all-want-her kind of way and wendy in a beautiful-and-powerful-top-of-the-class-but-definitely-not-an-outcast way)

- cartman still cartman but not nearly as volatile as he once was, still generally considered to be a dick, though. at first glance you think he’s a stupid football player meathead, but he’s actually incredibly smart when he wants to be, kyle is annoyed by this every time he shares an ap period with him and he actually does well.

- ordered class rankings (top 5): wendy (valedictorian), kyle, butters, cartman, heidi

- shelley moved across the country for college the second she graduated, so it’s just stan, randy, and sharon. naturally he spends the night at kyle’s so often that he leaves an overnight bag there and the broflovskis are never surprised to see him stumble out of kyle’s room in the morning

- bendy canon literally like two months after permanent stendy breakup. poor stan is helplessly confused: “has she been a lesbian this whole time????? did she think i was feminine??? is that why we were together for so long???”

- creek thriving as per

- kenny does musical theater and show choir. greatly enjoys it! butters is always front row and has never missed a performance.

- kyle captain of the debate team! wendy is vp, and there’s kind of been a weird tension between them ever since stendy split, you can practically hear her say “i know what you are.”

- stan enjoys volunteering at an animal shelter whenever he can, he keeps this a secret for as long as physically possible and this becomes a big plot point as he makes up increasingly suspicious and not very believable stories and excuses as for why he is rarely available after school despite having no job or clubs. rumors that spread: | randy has managed to get access to harder drugs and is using stan to deal them across south park | stan is a whore-for-hire and will give you an excellent bj if you pay up and meet him somewhere discreet (cartman started that one) | stan is part of a crime group conspiring to kill the mayor and control the city (this one has him end up at the police station with his head in his hands).

- gerald really wants kyle to be a lawyer and practically has all of his schools picked out for him, thereby unintentionally giving his son an existential crisis on what the heck he wants to do with his life because he does not want to do what his dad does but he also doesn’t have a good enough alternative to combat him.

- heavily hinted bunny, it’s literally right there but they tell everyone they’re just friends. ongoing gag of them being caught in compromising and/or suspicious positions but somehow having a seemingly reasonable explanation each time.

- college decisions would for sure be a big plot point towards the middle of their senior year, especially for kyle. he only applies to two schools and is accepted to both of them: princeton (college of his parents, their pick for him to study pre-law) and stanford (his pick, unknown to his parents that he even applied, to study psychology). yes it is absolutely insane that he only applied to two ivy leagues but what is even more insane is that his parents only wanted him to apply to princeton and no other schools. haha well now he has to explain to them that he is going to california and is not following their carefully constructed plan for his future haha

- stan is similar to shelley, he doesn’t really care where he goes as long as he gets to leave south park! he also knows he wants to do some sort of career helping animals but is unsure what exactly, so he just puts zoology as his major and applies to a lot of different schools. he ends up committing to uc davis! sharon is incredibly proud of him and cries when she sees the acceptance letter, randy is kind of bitter because he wanted stan to stay and help out with the farm since shelley booked it but eventually comes around (also stan would’ve gotten a job at 7/11 before he started working at tegridy alongside his dad).

- butters gets accepted to the university of rochester for biomedical sciences. kenny doesn’t plan on going to college, but him and butters decide to share a flat in the city, and kenny works odd jobs while also doing performances at various clubs in the at the area. also him and butters choosing to live together across the country is purely platonic!!! there is nothing romantic going on at all, they are just really good friends!! nobody buys this anymore

- cartman literally gets accepted to ucla on a full ride football scholarship for business management and it makes kyle want to tear him to shreds! liane would’ve absolutely somehow paid for his entire tuition anyway if she had to

i feel like the length of each episode would be about 45 minutes with the series finale being like 90 minutes, the first half being their graduation with wendy giving an incredibly corny yet oddly emotional speech as valedictorian that pretty much summarizes their entire lives in south park. and then the second half would kind of be just like providing conclusions and tying up loose ends such as:

- shelley flying back home for stan’s graduation and reconciling with him; she’s a junior at NYU and actually became a lot nicer and at peace with the world + herself after she was able to leave colorado

- randy actually having a good father-son moment with stan as they discuss his going off to school in california; stan realizes that his father definitely is not great, but he maybe also isn’t the worst person in the world

- a moment of “this is the last we’re ever gonna be like this, huh?” when the main four are hanging out at cartman’s, traditional teen paranoia of the future

- bunny finally 100% confirmed as scene shows with Kenny having his arm loosely hung around butters on someone’s couch, lightly pressed kiss on his cheek

ok i have a lot more but my #1 idea for the finale would be this:

- stan and kyle just aimlessly hanging out in the latter’s room about a week or two after graduation, easily talking about everything from college to music to new films to their friends; just enjoying each other’s company before fall comes (they are unbelievably dramatic. uc davis and stanford are like a hour’s drive away from each other but coming from best friends who have lived in the same city together their entire lives, an hour away may as well be a whole ass country away)

- occasional comfortable silence. kyle has come to terms with his feelings about stan at this point, but has chosen not to act on it in favor of keeping his longest friendship intact. nobody knows, he never told a soul. unbeknownst to him, stan has been accumulating the same feelings towards kyle, but likewise has been keeping them sealed tightly in so as not to ruin anything.

- eventually, they somehow start talking about relationships. stan never dated anyone else after breaking up with wendy at the start of junior year, and kyle has never truly dated anyone, not if you don’t count a faint fling with some loud city girl when he spent most of sophomore year summer with his mom’s family in new jersey. he came back from summer break more certain than ever that he was 100% gay. he recounts this story to stan for the first time (he’d been too embarrassed to tell anyone when he had come home) and it’s met with an enormous fit of laughter.

- they start talking about how weird it is to love someone, to have these strong urges and desires towards someone in a way that’s entirely unprovoked. to feel like you would do absolutely anything for this person, and to have life be unfathomable without them. they both agree on all their points, but no names are mentioned though!

- it’s the early morning hours before stan realizes how long they’ve been talking, and despite knowing he could stay the night, he decides to head home, suddenly flushed and overwhelmed with some sort of..something. does he really love kyle that much? in that way?

- the air is lightly tense as he leaves, kyle left feeling confused and slightly perturbed. against his butter judgment, he chases after stan outside, as he’s placing his key in his driver-side door to unlock his car.

- “wait!”

- stan turns his head, looking puzzled and faintly apprehensive. it’s summer, so the early morning is not bone-chillingly cold, yet also not as scorching hot as it will be come afternoon. it’s the perfect temperature, and it’s the perfect time, and before he knows what he’s doing, his feet are carrying his stiff, trembling body towards stan, whose eyes tell a thousand pictures despite his frame not moving a muscle.

- he stops in front of stan so that they’re gazing slowly, directly, meaningfully into each other’s eyes, and stan feels his throat go dry and his mind go blissfully blank. it’s slow and tender, the gentle yet firm way kyle stares up into his eyes, like he’s been waiting a lifetime for it (and he probably has) and he can feel his familiar breath whispering across his face, and all of sudden the careful movements, the gentle intention, all of it is gone in a flash.

- the very last scene of the very last episode of south park shows kyle slam his lips against stan’s, and then, lips still pressed together, the show ends.

#that was a lot wasn’t it #guys im sorry ive actually been fleshing out this idea on my head for so long #i have so many more ideas for this but i want this to be semi concise lol #can’t fit them all in might add as they come to me! #thank you so much if you read all of this mind jumble #live action high school south park is actually something that is so very special to me #i will also accept teenage south park in form of a graphic novel or comic series #thank u very much! #just wanna see these insane children act like insane teens is that too much to ask! #matt and trey boy have i got an idea for YOU! #make this happen and i promise we the people will be watching #thank you for your time everyone #live action south park #south park #sp style #sp bunny #sp bendy #south park high school au #side note here so i don’t add more cornball to the post: song to introduce the credits as kyle kisses stan would be #dog days are over #yeah #those dog days are really over for them!! #the kids are gonna be alright #yes i took beautifully talented singer kenny from the circus episode and RAN WITH IT

[imreallyloveleee]

for @bughead-bones and @stonerbughead who asked about my s5 murder mystery au: i plotted like 90% of this story out a year or two ago. who knows if i'll ever actually write it all, but if i do, it's going to switch POVs between betty, jughead & veronica. i've never written veronica's pov before, so that's been a little challenging. here's a snippet from jug's pov!

“Jess, have you seen my tie?”

“Nope.”

Jughead emerges from the bathroom to find her sprawled out across the motel room bed, tapping away at her phone. He presses two fingers to his temple, willing away the headache just barely beginning to throb. “Okay, well could you help me look for it? We’re going to be late.”

“I don’t think you have to wear a tie at a funeral.” Jessica slinks off of the bed anyway, leaning halfway over the chipped tv stand to peer behind it. He resists the urge to redirect her towards a more plausible spot, like the pile of clothes she’s left pooled by the foot of the bed. 

“I want to,” he replies tightly. He lifts her leather jacket off the seat of the desk chair — bingo. “Help me tie this?”

She complies, kissing his cheek as she loops the tie around his neck. “You seem really antsy about this.” She tightens the knot at the base of his throat and then tugs on the end a little, teasing, as she steps back.

“I’m about to give a eulogy for my best childhood friend.” 

“Yeah, your best friend who stole your girlfriend.” Jessica raises one eyebrow before laying back on the bed again, toying idly with the end of her long, black braid. 

Sometimes he wishes he’d never told her about that. If Betty’s at the funeral today, and Jessica figures out who she is, god only knows what she’ll say.

God only knows what he’ll say. It’s been a little over a year since they — he? she? does it matter? — ended whatever you’d call the semi-regular communication they’d carried on with ever since the breakup. For six years they’d texted back and forth: book recommendations, professional accomplishments, the occasional meme that made them think of one another. 

None of it came close to scratching the surface of their former relationship. But he misses it. He still finds himself reaching for his phone when he reads an article or a line in a novel that he thinks she’d like. Every time, he forces himself to set it aside. Her silence spoke for her, loud and clear: she doesn’t want to hear from him.

Jughead turns back towards the bathroom mirror, pretending to fiddle with his hair. “That was seven years ago.”

And I’m over it. And I’ve forgiven him. All the words Jughead knows he should say — the words that he thinks, most days, are true — congeal like putty in his mouth, unable to emerge fully formed.

“And now he’s dead,” he adds, unnecessarily. 

It still feels unreal, conceptually speaking: Archie is dead. Sure, he may have had some brushes with death — Jughead’s had more than a few of his own — but Archie Andrews wasn’t the kind of person who would just die. He half expects that when he walks into the church this afternoon, Archie will be standing right there, gathered with all their old friends and acquaintances, laughing at what a gullible sucker Jughead’s become in his not-yet-old age.

But the article is still there loaded on his phone, same as it was one week ago when JB had texted him the link: LOCAL ACTIVIST FOUND DEAD. Friends of Archie Andrews, 25, say they have questions. 

The piece went on to quote names Jughead used to encounter on a daily basis: Local businesswoman Toni Topaz. Riverdale Sheriff Tom Keller. Town coroner Dr. Curdle Jr. It read almost like something he himself had penned as a macabre writing exercise, filling in the blanks of a murder mystery plot with the people who had once formed the landscape of his own life. 

#bughead #bughead fic #my fic #fic #riverdale #riverdale fic

[chickenstrangers]

Conflict and Empathy in My School President and Kieta Hatsukoi

I have been thinking about how My School President and Kieta Hatsukoi (My Love Mix-Up!) utilize structure and pacing to create a very honest depiction of a high school experience. I've said before that I think My School President is the quintessential high school show for me in the way that it captures how it feels to be a teen, to be in a relationship for the first time, the heightened emotions in both romance and friendship, but also shows this in such a caring and loving way. Kieta Hatsukoi does a lot of very similar things, focusing on friendships and empathy and trying to communicate (despite all the misunderstandings), and it rings true in the same way for me. I think this comes down to how both shows are structurally formulated and how they depict conflict.

@khaothanawat (i) and @ranchthoughts (ii) (iii) (iv) have written excellent posts on the topic of My School President's use of narrative pacing and specifically the subversion of audience expectations. For example, it has big reveals early on, such as Tinn's secret crush. Plot points that might be episode-long arcs, or be the whole premise of the series, are resolved quickly, often within the episode.

Kieta Hatsukoi speeds through narrative conflicts as well (spoilers for the first 3 episodes). Aoki has a crush on Hashimoto. He learns Hashimoto has a crush on Ida. But wait! Now Ida thinks Aoki has a crush on him! Oh, but now Aoki really is falling for Ida, and worried about hurting Hashimoto because of it. But Hashimoto doesn't actually like Ida, she likes Aida, it was a whole misunderstanding. Ida is starting to maybe like Aoki back. But now Ida thinks Aoki does not have a crush on him, when Aoki most definitely does. Aoki goes through approximately 3 existential crises per episode. In Kieta Hatsukoi, the love truly keeps getting mixed-up!

This plot structure is part of why these two shows are some of my favorite high school shows. It feels very true (though exaggerated) to the teen experience to have so many things happening that you're trying to decipher, building on top of each other, coalescing in terrifying and beautiful ways. These are obviously not the only shows to utilize this structure but I think it works especially well in a show about high school where so often little things can feel unimaginably huge and then get completely pushed out of the way as new things emerge or they turn out to be less catastrophic than they first appeared. In the wise words of Riverdale, it's about the epic highs and lows of high school football.

What I love most about these two shows and how they use this rapid-fire pacing is the way they don't trivialize the characters' emotions or experiences. Yes, there is humor that comes specifically from the twists in the narrative and the range of teen emotions and miscommunication. But we're not laughing at the characters; instead we are swept up in the tidal wave with them, in part because it's so easy to empathize with both ensembles, and because we are accustomed to the traditional narrative pacing styles that these shows subvert and play with. Just because the characters' emotions shift—because they come to new revelations, because they communicate and forgive one another—doesn't invalidate their prior feelings.

The scene that really stands out to me in My School President is in episode 11 when the Chinzhillas have their big fight on the way to redeem their wishes. This is the real conflict of the episode 11 of doom that we are primed to expect from other shows. Instead of a breakup, we are faced with the potential dissolution of the friend group. This scene hurts, showing the culmination of the tension throughout the episode and the band's disappointment over losing Hot Wave. It seems that the Chinzhillas might be unable to reconcile after what was said. But this is where My School President subverts expectations and doesn't prolong the conflict longer than necessary. They all talk it through, communicating what they're feeling, and apologize.

Both shows introduce and resolve conflicts in different ways. In My School President, many conflicts that arise are initially external: for example, the club is going to be cancelled because of the new school rules, Sound joins the band and takes over as leader, Gun's mom is sick but Gun doesn't know, the band loses the Hot Wave competition, and another student outs Tinn and Gun. The story is then about how the characters respond to the internal conflicts that arise due to these external events, rather than fixing the external source of conflict. The characters deal with Gun not feeling capable of leading the band after Sound's introduction; Gun and Tinn need to figure out how they feel about Tinn keeping Gun's mom's health a secret; and the band needs to decide how they can forgive themselves and each other after such a huge disappointment.

The characters don't have the power to do much about the root cause of these problems. They can't cure Gun's mom, they can't go back in time and stop the student from outing them, and they can't win Hot Wave. This is what the argument in episode 11 is about, realizing that the loss is not on any one of their individual shoulders, and so the only thing they can do is figure out how to move forward together. What the characters learn, which allows the show to avoid drawn-out conflict, is the ability to communicate healthily with each other, to be kind to one another, to show empathy and respect. The rest is outside of their control.

In Kieta Hatsukoi, conflict is often not directly resolved but instead subsumed by new conflicts and new (mis)understandings. Aoki's initial problem (that Ida thinks Aoki has a crush on him) is overtaken by the new one (that he actually does like Ida but Ida now thinks he doesn't). The characters keep learning new things about themselves and each other that change everything.

The characters in Kieta Hatsukoi struggle to understand each other and they struggle to tell each other the truth about their feelings. But they're trying so hard to be kind to one another. The friends are always striving above almost all else to be careful with one another's feelings. Aoki keeps Hashimoto's crush a secret to protect her; Hashimoto is distraught to learn of Aoki's past crush on her because she has inadvertently hurt him; Ida is so deliberate in thinking through his own feelings in order to not hurt Aoki's. They're trying, even when they don't get it right.

At the core of both these shows is empathy. The characters strive to be kind, to communicate, to understand one another. This is not often easy, especially with the amount of stuff they are all bombarded with—new situations and experiences to grapple with, transforming feelings that they don't always understand. But this is all part of growing up. My School President and Kieta Hatsukoi are both able to utilize their narrative pacing in order to put forward a story so full of warmth and love.

#my school president #kieta hatsukoi #my love mix up #i highly recommend kieta hatsukoi for anyone who hasn't seen it yet #thai bl #japanese bl #my school president meta #kieta hatsukoi meta #thinking thoughts

[turnallthemirrors]

"midnights is a breakup album" "midnights isn't a breakup album" how many times must we go over this. midnights is about riverdale.

#obligatory 'swifties please dont be mean to me for no reason seriously why are you so mean' disclaimer #sydposting

[papapoutine]

Riverdale Characters and the IDGAF War

Nana Rose: general of the idgaf war. Kept a corpse in maple syrup for decades. Sold the maple groves that her husband’s family had held for generations after Reggie flirted with her once and she heard about one maple tree not producing sap. Sat on information regarding Jason’s death for months and did not care. Had a son that disappeared and a child bride daughter who hates her and never mentions any of them and never tried to look for said child or make amends with said daughter. Was fully prepared to sacrifice her granddaughter’s situationship at a moment’s notice.

Josie: The General MacArthur of the idgaf war. Utterly annihilated Sweet Pea and Archie in the idgaf wars of season 3, and came out victorious in the Cold Idgaf War against Reginald Mantle while texting during community service in season 2. Repeatedly stayed late and walked home alone from school durinng a time where her mother was receiving death threats, a serial killer was on the loose, AND she had a stalker who had managed to break into her locker (obvi, it was Cheryl, but she had no idea atp). Pulled a Jesy Nelson on the Pussycats only to reunite the band seven years later so she could flex on her flop classmates and clear every single one of them in a single takedown. The only reason Nana Rose ranks above her is due to the sheer amount of lore that Nana Rose sits on and doesn’t talk about because she dgaf about it.

Hermione: called a hit on her husband and still slept with him later. Divorced him by declaring she had joined the real housewives. Somewhat faltered after becoming a real housewife, but until then was as cool as a cucumber.

Hiram: dgaf about anything besides Veronica, wrestling, his rum business, and palladium.

Penelope: Does not acknowledge her breaking out of prison or sending her daughter to conversion therapy before asking her daughter to start a cult with her. Key victory against Hal in the season 3 finale.

Veronica: based on how she dealt with her breakups with Archie, Reggie and Chad, would be the most successful main character in the idgaf war were it not for Hiram. However, given that Hiram’s antics nearly always pose existential threats to her dreams and happiness, she is forced to concede brief losses by circumstance.

Reggie: debated putting him above Veronica due to how he handled his breakups with Veronica as well as selling her soul to Lucifer and setting fire to the maple groves but then I remembered his Red Circle era and he def gaf way too much.

Betty: much like Alice, hard to make a verdict. If it involved someone she cared deeply about, she would honestly hide it but be upset. I personally find labelling the Mad world stripping scene as fighting in the IDGAF war very funny, but ultimately she did it because she gaf about Jughead. She did, however, win the idgaf war against TBK.

Alice: Incredibly hard to answer, because overall she gaf, but when she wins, her victories are huge. I don’t know what else you could call the Gala entrance scene other than the equivalent to dropping an atomic bomb in the idgaf war. Completely annihilated Hal in the second season finale by telling him how much he sucked and how she wanted to fuck FP while he was trying to murder-suicide them. Otherwise completely loses because she cannot mind her own business.

Tabitha: honestly has no choice but to gaf because otherwise the multiverse would literally be destroyed.

Archie: Would seem to be winning but in reality wouldn’t know the idgaf war was even occurring. The second he finds out, though, he looks all over town looking to make that apology in person, regardless of who’s at fault.

Uncle Frank: cannot STAND when people don’t want to hear him. Always involves himself in shit. I guess he won the idgaf war against his family in Canada by abandoning them???

Cheryl: believes that she’s winning the idgaf war only to lead her troops to the slaughter like the Dauphin at the Battle of Agincourt. Seemingly won the idgaf war by isolating from the world for seven years, but immediately shat on that victory the second she left the house by challenging her pregnant ex, and then a literal teenager, to a dance battle for control of a high school cheerleading team. Cursed an entire town because some of them were descended from the people who killed the witch ancestress that Cheryl had literally found out about only an hour before. Made five (I count burning down Thornhill) tributes to her dead twin only to keep his stuffed corpse in her chapel and talk to it, then created a religion with him as a Christ figure. Reacted to her ex being pregnant by building a nursery in her house. Banned her ex from wearing the colour red. Hosted a key party just to hook up with her ex. I cannot stress how much this woman gaf.

Jughead: slaughtered right off the bat like the Hunger Games tributes that step off their pedestals early and get blown up immediately. The only member of the Core Four to show up at Pop’s after college. Cannot physically resist getting baited. If any person interferes with his life he immediately imagines that they are the Big Bad whose single purpose is to eternally ruin Jughead’s life (most don’t even know who he is, much less care about him). He got so pissed about being banned from the prom that he didn’t even want to go to in the first place that he wrote a fanfic about murdering his principal. The only reason he gaf more than Cheryl is due to the sheer concentration that goes into him pretending not to gaf and be aloof.

#riverdale #idgaf war #riverdale plotlines