I have some feelings to share:
I know that the majority of people didn't like the later seasons of Riverdale. I held off watching the last two seasons until recently. I finished season 6 mid-August and just finished season 7 about fifteen minutes ago.
Were they ridiculous seasons, and did they look nothing like seasons 1 and 2? Yes. Were they straight up bad? Absolutely not. I am sure I'm in the minority here, but I did not hate them.
Season 6 was outlandish and supernatural, but I chose to look at it through a lens of fanfiction. Season 6 was an AU. It was built to be fanciful and weird because that's what AUs can be. Our favorite characters can be superheros and fight comets and bad guys because that's what superheros do in AUs. By very definition, its an alternate universe.
Season 7, being back in the 1950s is again, an AU choice. However, being set in the 1950s is an homage to the comics. Did the ships play out how we wanted? No. Did they give us tastes and teases of what we did want? Sure. We got glimpses of what we knew these characters to be.
I watched the last 40ish episodes in a state of suspended disbelief. I knew I wasn't going to get Bughead in its purist form. I knew things would be different, but I watched anyway because I spent years getting to know these characters. I've spent years loving them and appreciating them.
I did not expect to sob uncontrollably after watching the series finale. (If you don't believe me, ask Bina, I sent her a snapchat of my sobbing.)
The Bughead fandom, this show, has brought me immense joy over the past seven years. It has given me space to find my love of writing again. It has provided me with a small corner of the internet to learn and create and find my people. It provided comfort in a time of global uncertainty. It gave me one of my best friends. It gave me somewhere to escape when I didn't know how else to deal with myself or my emotions. I hid here for a very long time until I was ready to face things. I got to experience things and people I'd never have gotten the chance to without it.
Riverdale isn't just Murdertown, USA. Riverdale is where I went for a visit, and it welcomed me without question. In my time in Riverdale, I learned about myself. I learned about life and love and people. I learned that everything is not what it appears to be. I learned the art of kindness to strangers. I learned appreciation for art and hope. Riverdale has given me so much that I will never be able to thank it for properly.
Riverdale will always be a second home. This community will always be a second home, even if there isn't much left of it.
kaledo-art
areudirty
tangentwithtanner
stormborns
turnnoffyourmind
izzy806
