#it also explains jughead's unconditional loyalty

[readinginthereadyroom]

it’s chapter eleven: to riverdale and back (riverdale 1x11) and jughead’s lost another family. and this time. this time it’s too much.

we’re only given breadcrumbs. puzzle pieces about jughead’s life pre-series. but it’s enough to draw a map. to assemble a narrative. 

forsythe pendleton "jughead" jones III. a normal kid with a normal life. that is, until something happens. tho it’s unclear, exactly, what that was. FP hints at a medical emergency when he’s talking to archie in chapter seven: in a lonely place (riverdale 1x07). fred, he just had you and your mom to provide for, I had jughead and jellybean and their mom and hospital bills. so FP starting taking odd jobs for the southside serpents. which led to stealing from his and fred’s company. to selling materials on the side. to getting caught.

and after one too many second chances fred fired him.

that’s when FP falls off the wagon. implying his sobriety wasn’t a new issue. that he’d likely been struggling with it for years. and this was just the final straw. that unravels their whole world. he keeps promising that he's gonna get his act together, but my mom couldn't take that rollercoaster anymore, so she grabbed jellybean and went to live with our grandparents. 

and jughead stays behind. and I think it’s because, even tho FP might not understand jughead, he appreciates him. glows with praise. because jughead’s not “normal.” in case you haven't noticed, I'm weird. I'm a weirdo. I don't fit in, and I don't want to fit in. 

but to FP? that’s the best thing jughead could be. his lack of interest in football or sports is meant as a compliment. I'd rather see you spending your time writing, thinking up stories. you still do that? nose in a book? typing away?

but also. if I were to speculate. jughead’s the one who got sick. the origin of all those hospital bills. he’s weird because maybe he missed a lot of his childhood. only had books and his family. 

a family that’s now gone. a family’s that woes maybe started with him. and so he shoulders all that guilt. all that responsibility. by staying in riverdale. by staying steadfast and loyal to his dad. 

if that’s the case we can assume he lived with his dad in the trailor for a while. but at some point, even he couldn’t take it. and what probably started as crashing at the drive-in became living at the drive-in. until FP’s hired to put it out of business. I'm sorry, but the twilight drive-in? it's a blight that's become a cesspool, and a hangout for criminals...and transients. turn it into a den of drug dealers and petty thieves. decrease it’s value. just so hiram lodge can buy it up.

even tho FP knows that’s where jughead has been living. 

and yet? and yet, jughead still trusts his father. still loves him unconditionally. sticks up for him and believes in him. even as it breaks his heart.

which is how jughead ends up in a forgotten closet under a well-trod staircase at the high school. showering in the locker rooms. with his books for english class, his two outfits, and some cans of food. and the mice. and the spiders.

because jughead might say his novel is the story of jason blossom’s murder. but he’s lying. and mostly to himself. it’s not actually about jason. it’s not about riverdale either. it’s about a boy, on the outside, looking in. trying to figure out where he fits. if he has a home. or a family. 

and then. all of a sudden. he does. 

archie repairs their friendship. he gets a girlfriend. a new friend. fred invites him to stay. his dad promises to clean up his act. his dad does clean up his act.

which is why jughead’s so blantantly excited about his dad meeting betty’s family. the social experiment of it all. the coopers in their big house and their perfect lives. it’s everything jughead thinks he wants. should want. was he doing everything he was supposed to do, everything he wanted. I mean, did he even know what that was?

because remember. the jones’ might come from the southside, but they used to have a home, too. maybe not as nice as the coopers’ or the andrews’--but it was more than the trailor park. in chapter two: a touch of evil (riverdale 1x02) fred drops another breadcrumb to jughead’s past in his admonishment of archie. son, I've been hearing you sneak out since you were eight years old going to jughead's tree house. a treehouse implies a backyard. a house. 

jughead wants that all back. it’s the story no one was gonna tell. or even know how to tell. his own adventure down the mississippi river. his own metamorphosis. that he manifested over milkshakes in a booth at pop’s.

and the thing is. it’s even better than he imagined. good enough than when FP suggests they move to toledo. get the whole family back together. jughead chooses riverdale. and his new little family. 

that is. until the lies. 

because what makes a place feel like home? is it warmth and familiarity? some idealized, make-believe version of the american dream? is it love and acceptance? or is it simple safety? jughead says no. it’s none of those things. 

because jughead’s told us his greatest fear. of being rejected for being himself. of being forgotten. it’s a novel to last the ages. it’s a newspaper editorial. it’s jughead wuz here (with a crown) grafittied on the wall of the drive-in.

and when his friends go behind his back. when they cut him out--even if it’s to protect him--all of his worst fears come true. 

he’s on the outside looking in. again. 

without a family. again.

only this time it’s worse. because FP’s been arrested for the murder of jason blossom. jughead’s more alone than he’s ever been.

#riverdale #jughead jones iii #the timeline of it all was bugging me #all the whys surrounding jughead's homelessness #like HOW LONG was this kid living in that drive-in? #the implication is YEARS #anyhow I started gathering up all my little evidence and the hospital bills line just #GLARING NEON LIGHTS #the only reason I can think that jughead stays in riverdale is that he feels like it's all his fault #he gets sick - dad takes odd jobs - dad gets arrested - dad gets fired - dad falls off wagon - they lose the house - mom takes jb and leave #it also explains jughead's unconditional loyalty #even when FP constantly lets him down #ugh I am in my feels about this #writing in the ready room