* ⟡ ⋮ ❛ 𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐒 , 𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒾𝑒 .
☆ﾟ*·ﾟ┊ kj apa , he / him + 20 , cismale ┊ ❝ isn’t « ARCHIE ANDREWS » totally tubular looking ? they seriously remind me of a character from « JUGHEAD : THE HUNGER » . i started seeing them at « BENNY’S BURGERS » a few « MONTHS » ago , humming to the tune of « JUKE BOX HERO + FOREIGNER » when they think no one’s looking . also , they’re like totally known as the « GOLDEN BOY » of town , so i’d keep my eye on them . seriously . ❞
alright , so i know a lot of people don’t know much about jughead : the hunger ( which , omg . it’s so good . pls read it . i love u ) , so i’ll do a run down of arch’s history in the comic ! otherwise , you can read the series HERE for free , or read about the series HERE .
* ⟡ ⋮ ❛ 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 .
archie’s story picks up like any other day in riverdale --- he’s in a booth with the gang , they’re grubbin’ on some burgers , fries & milkshakes , and all seems to be well ! it’s just ... a killer known as the riverdale ripper is at large , and so the gang’s got a newfound curfew forcing them home a little earlier than usual .
little ol’ archie will walk himself home that day , but ... he doesn’t want to be alone that night , not after the news of yet ANOTHER victim falling prey to the riverdale ripper . so , regardless of curfew , he’ll walk to jughead’s house . it’s in this moment that he’ll watch his BEST FRIEND of NINETEEN YEARS transform into ... a fucking WEREWOLF . archie proceeds to watch as jughead murders one dilton doiley .
this ... obviously leaves arch in hysterics . he runs toward home that night with SOBS choking him , his mind racing , unable to even BEGIN to form a cohesive thought . before he knows it , he’s racing past his house , trying to make sense of what he’s seen . he wants to believe it’s his imagination , but ... it was real . it happened . jughead jones was the riverdale ripper ... but it wasn’t just that . he was a WEREWOLF , of all things .
of course , archie doesn’t sleep that night . just , runs it off until he feels like he’s able to muster SOME type of plan and accord . the following morning will find archie andrews sat on the steps of the andrews household , in the same clothing as the night before , eyes fixated on the pavement in front of him , tears still staining his cheeks .
it doesn’t surprise him when jughead shows up that morning , & the first thing arch does its tell him that he knows . it’s just ... he hasn’t quite worked out WHAT jughead is , nor is he really given the time to process it before his next closest friend , BETTY COOPER , shows up , punching jughead straight in the face . archie does his best to stop betty , but she’ll push him back , & fucking hell is archie even more confused than before . when betty pulls out a gun , archie will draw a line . archie will step between his friends , declaring that if she wants to kill jug , she’ll have to kill him FIRST . in this moment , archie finds some sort of clarity . he announces that , despite betty’s notion that archie has no idea what he’s dealing with , he believes knowing he’s dealing with a FRIEND is enough . he’ll ask betty to let him in on what’s up , and a long line of jones werewolves & cooper hunters is revealed .
that’s right , archie’s two best friends are sworn natural ENEMIES , & the worst part ? betty reveals she’s always known jughead’s secret , & that it’s the reason she became friends with them in the first place --- to play a part , befriend jughead’s group , & spy on the werewolf boy . she claims it’s grown beyond that --- that she cares for them , which is not what she planned , but ... archie can’t help but feel hurt . he wonders if any part of her was ever real , but in the moment is more concerned with finding a compromise for his two friends . this is when he’ll find a solution --- wolfsbane , from the riverdale botanical garden , to subdue jughead’s werewolf persona , & thus save their group from ruin .
of course , the wolfsbane works . it’s just ... archie supposes jughead is never truly the same after everything , because one minute , things are back to normal , and the next , they’re just not .
as for the rest of his story , long story short is that betty will train archie to fight like a hunter --- from teaching him to shoot a gun with silver bullets , to hand-to-hand combat via her uncle’s help . in no time , arch is ready to kick ass , it’s just ... he doesn’t exactly want to .
archie & betty will only find jughead after they hear of another gruesome murder at a traveling circus nearby riverdale . they’ll tack jughead down , finding him with ANOTHER werewolf by his side ( jug’s cousin , bingo ) and both betty & archie will attack with the help of some fellow cooper hunters .
during this battle , archie somehow shoots jughead enough times to nearly kill him , & this is where he finally draws a line in the sand for himself . after some long , hard thinking , he’ll confront betty . he’ll spew tales of nostalgia & the good ol’ days , where all the gang had to worry about was prom dates & essay grades . now , he may have killed his best friend . and that does it for him . he doesn’t truly believe betty misses those days like she says she does , and while she might be alright with this life , he is NOT . he’ll slide his gun over to the girl , & though he has to talk himself into it a thousand times over , he turns his back on betty cooper that night . at least , for now .
* ⟡ ⋮ ❛ 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒 .
the unfortunate truth is that betty’s facade was not the only thing archie andrews fell for . he fell for her , for the memories they made together , for the girl next door who was supposed to be one of his best friends . now , he’s left wondering what was ever real in all of this , & it freaks him out . the girl he thought he had figured out was not that girl at all --- and it’s not that archie doesn’t accept how things are , now . as the series goes on , he’ll tell himself she’s always going to be the same betty he fell in love with . it’s just ... the issue is he DOESN’T know the truth , & it seems like neither of them are in the business of confronting it . at least , not yet .
for the time being , archie’s just looking at the swap to hawkins as a gift from god . he can avoid his problems a little longer while he’s here , and maybe earn some semblance of the life he’s missed so dearly . this is encouraged after meeting one SABRINA SPELLMAN . there’s something familiar about her attitude , about the way she carries herself ... they’ll start a fling in no time , & archie will settle with the notion that he’s happy this way . ( it’s just ... archie andrews is naive as FUCK . he’ll never be satisfied without jughead , or betty , or pretending things are fine . it’ll always be him , alone at night , left wondering what exactly the truth is , & there’s nothing more powerful than that ) .
more to come , i’m just ... tired & this comic is a lot to explain ok . hopefully this gives a good base of where things currently are , tho !!
