Okay so I think the aponi conflict has lowkey been brewing under the surface for many many years. Aspen was always theĀ āprincessā of the southside and we all know how badly toni wanted to be in charge of the serpents (but even though aspen didnāt really care to take over, a lot of the serpents, certainly the younger ones, looked to her for guidance etc) and she was continually turned down for the role in favour of either jughead or aspen. When asp goes away for college, she doesnāt come back to riverdale for a really long time besides for the occasional family visit, her affiliation with the serpents is still there but she certainly isnāt as involved as she used to be. Sheās working in a high profile law firm where she is regularly defending criminal cases, she canāt be seen to be involved in any sort ofĀ āgangsā because it would bring up corruption and bribery lawsuits that she doesnāt need to be fighting off. So in the time that aspen is gone, toni really steps up to the plate and she does earn her serpent leadership badge in her own right, aspen never disputes that. What aspen isnāt happy with is the renaming of La Bonne Nuit as the Whyte Wyrm, because if youāve been following aspās story from the beginning youāll know that her parents owned the original whyte wyrm and that is where she grew up. When Hiram took the original wyrm bar from her family she was homeless, it was always her intention to get it back for her parents, and to return their family home and their family business to itās previous glory. But toni doesnāt think about aspenās family connections, or the sentimental value all she is thinking about it bringing back the power of the southside serpents... so itās a bit of a kick in the teeth for aspen really, that someone who is supposedly her best friend didnāt even stop to consider her feelings, or think to tell aspen about her plans so they could discuss beforehand. When aspen does finally come back toni is lowkey scared that the serpents will go back to their old ways of looking to aspen for leadership, that fear manifests itself a sort of stand offish attitude towards aspen, she is snarky and snaps under the belt comments at her friend because she is marking her territory - itās quite sad really when you think about it but I like to think the girls can move past it fairly quickly!
