#bghq.intro

how much does a polar bear weigh? enough to break the ice.

to kick things off, hello!! i’m harley and i’m so excited to bring you the one and only toni topaz. i’m a mess and this will be too so buckle up and get ready for all my nonsense. ❤

PERSONALITY:

☽ Toni is the definition of ‘get you a girl that can do both’. As a member of the Southside Serpents, she’s got a tough side to her. In comparison to some of her fellow Serpents, Toni’s quite even-tempered. However, she will still always stand up for what she believes is right. She wants to keep the peace, but she’d never throw away her integrity for it.

☽ She is extremely loyal. It doesn’t take long for her to attach to someone and make a solid bond. (see: Jughead Jones) Sometimes it ends up burning her when she can’t/won’t walk away from situations and people she clearly should.

☽ Compassion, empathy and love are all important qualities to Toni. She wears her heart on her sleeve, even if that sleeve happens to be a leather jacket. When being pushed away, Toni reacts by trying to break down walls. She doesn’t believe anyone deserves to suffer alone. Her loyalty and stubbornness only adds to her desire to slip through defences.

☽ She is fiercely protective over those she holds close to her heart. Mess with her friends and you’ll have to deal with her. Standing up for those she cares about will often override her even-temper and pull out her more reckless and impulsive side.

☽ Toni’s sense of humour is very witty and sarcastic.

☽ Photography. Toni loves her camera. It’s a way to save happy moments and cement people in her life at a certain time. Even if they end up leaving, she enjoys having mementos to remember them by afterwards. (is she also the type to keep movie tickets and stuff like that? you bet. girl could totally kill the scrapbooking game if she wanted to)

BACKSTORY:

❀ Born and raised on the Southside, as well as having a long family history of Serpents.

❀ Thomas Topaz, her grandfather, is from her dad’s side of the family. Just like her uncle.

❀ Her parents met as Serpents. Her dad carried on the family tradition of joining young and her mom had just moved to Riverdale on her own. She took up residence on the Southside because it was all she could afford. A neighbor took her under their wing and introduced her to the Serpents. They were still in the gang when they had Toni.

❀  tw death mention. Both gave their lives for the Serpents (i have no idea about the specifics of it all but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) Her uncle left after that.

❀  Toni saw joining the Serpents as the perfect opportunity to honor her parents. She never asked her uncle, she just came home with her jacket thinking he would be proud and she doesn’t understand why he locks her out for the first time.

❀  Their relationship carried on like this. They’d disagree on many things and he would lock her out whenever he felt like it. Sometimes only for a day, sometimes longer. Toni just adjusted and took it as a part of life. She had enough friends willing to give her a roof over her head for the night when she needed it.

❀  While it may be a better idea for her to move out and stay somewhere more stable, Toni doesn’t want to officially give up on her uncle. Besides her grandfather, he’s the only living relative she knows. Her mother’s side of the family never reached out for their daughter or granddaughter. She knows he’s scummy. His homophobia and hostility to the Serpents invalidates two huge things of his niece. Out of fear about losing the last of her blood relatives, she tries to make excuses and justify him to herself/her fellow Serpents. She keeps trying the lock in hopes he’ll leave it open for her.

the basics (things we already know about sweet pea from riverdale)

sweet pea is a member of the southside serpents 

he was raised in the southside (speculated that he grew up there)

his best friends are basically toni topaz and fangs forgatory 

there isn’t much known how these two met 

sweets shares a strong distaste for the northside residents of riverdale

especially the bulldogs 

since sweet pea was introduced until season 2 as a recurring character, there are a lot of opened questions about this skyscraper of a character such as does he have parents? when did he join the serpents? why does he hate the northside so much and how will he fit into season 1? does sweet pea even have a real name..like boi did somebody name you actually sweet pea though he’s the furthest thing from it? in this essay, I will (all jokes decide let’s get down to business to defeat the huns) 

background story 

sweet pea was born to two southside parents 

however, due to abandonment issues and his mother not being sober enough half of the time, sweets has been on his own majority of his life 

sweet pea has his own trailer that he owns in sunnyside trailer park in the south side

well if you watched season 3, on the heather’s cast list..sweet signs his initials as NM but we never learn what his real name is. well buckle up, folks cause we here go (also if you have no idea what i’m talking about, i’ll like the picture for reference)

sweet pea’s real name is nathaniel stephen madden (it’s not that exciting i know) 

sweet pea was named after his father

sweet pea’s mother has a serious addiction to heavy drugs and would leave her young toddler at home alones for hours..and once her addiction came worse, it would turn to leaving him over night by himself. 

sweet’s father nathaniel began to lose faith in his marriage with his wife and began having an affair with northside woman 

his father longed for a better life and as the affair ran deeper, sweet pea’s dad saw this as a mean of escape from southside. 

so, he married the woman and left his infant son to become a northsider. 

this is mainly where sweet pea’s anger from the northside comes from, but it also dwells with being looked on because he lives poorer than side of the tracks. 

as sweet pea grew into his preteens, he learned to hate his mother and the fact that she cared for drugs more than her only son. 

it caused sweet pea to become angry with the world and mainly wondered what he did to deserve this type of torture? 

he closed himself off and basically believed it was him against the world. 

while going through this rough time, sweet pea found refuge in the serpents. 

he went through initiation and that’s where he met toni and fangs. 

the serpents basically became a second family to him. 

he’d probably (and literally) take a bullet for them 

he does some drug runs as well to help pay bills when money is tight 

canon changes 

here’s some things that i added to give sweet pea some dimension and some like guilty pleasures of his. 

sweet pea works at a mechanic shop to help pay for his own trailer

sweet pea has a guilty pleasure for kpop (yes I did in fact make this short tempered boy addicted to korean pop) 

sweet pea has a beat up motorcycle that he drives to southside high everyday basically

 Alright, to start off firstly - Stella is what I’d like to consider a mixture of Kat Stratford and Fiona Gallagher. She’s also totally the mom friend and momma bear of the younger serpents lbr

FAMILY UPBRINGING/DYNAMIC:

 She is the oldest out of six children. Yes, six children. She has three brothers and two sisters.The birth order of the Valdez family is as follows: Stella (16 years old), Nick (13 years old), Avery (10 years old), Serenity  (7 years old), Evan (3 years old) and Rowan (4 months old).

The Valdez family has ultimately been labeled as that family on the Southside that ‘never stops growing’.  Basically, you blink - and there’s another member of that family.

Growing up, Stella has never came from a life of privilege. She’s never known of the concept of a trust fund or a comma in her bank account. For her, it always too small of clothes. Too cold of nights.  Too hungry of mornings. To be frank, she’s dirt poor. Always has been poor.

A majority of her younger years consisted of moving around, quite a bit. The places she grew up and lived in prior to Riverdale were not great by any means. They hardly had any furniture or personal belongings. They often consisted of a two bedroom apartment (if they were lucky) where Stella would find herself sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag because her family couldn’t afford actual beds. She wouldn’t actually have her own bed to call her own until she was over 10 years old.

She is of Cuban decent, having been born and spending the first years of her life in Miami, Florida.

Her parents grew up in the same neighborhood with one another, becoming close as teenagers, eventually starting to date once they were at the age of 16/17.

Her dad has had a criminal record ever since he was a young teen. Having been in and out jail throughout his life, even when he was a juvenile. He joined a gang within Miami when he was around the age of 13/14. As he grew older, he’d become more engulfed into gang life and what it involved.

Contrary to popular belief, Stella’s dad wasn’t always a terrible person or father. Yes, he has always done sketchy things but it was always because he needed to feed his family and provide for them.

When Stella was 5 years old and Nick was around the age of 3, they’d kiss Florida goodbye. One night, seemingly out of the blue, her dad came home late, extremely distressed, physically in bad shape, and shaken up, Stella and Nick had no idea what was going on, but they were told by their mom and dad to pack up enough things that would fit in the van and that they had to go. Completely fleeing the place they had been living at.

Unknown to them, their dad had an altercation with a rival gang that turned deadly. The rival gang members were trying to jump one of his ‘boy’s and Stella’s dad wasn’t going to have it. Having grown up with his fellow gang members, he had to be loyal to his guys. He ended up killing one of the members in the rival gang. Being afraid that his actions would put him and his family at risk, he had no other choice than to flee.

The death of the rival gang member eventually lead to her father becoming an alcoholic. This was a turning point in not only his life, but his family dynamic. This was a point in Stella’s life when she knew something changed and her parents weren’t truly her parents anymore. To this day, Stella still doesn’t know her dad killed a man.

When they fled Florida, they had little to nothing with them. They had very few belongings and no home. Their financial situation was at an all time low and for the next almost 3 years of her life her family was basically homeless; living out of the Friday van. She had dealt with temporary homelessness before, having to sleep in the family van for a few days or weeks at a time at the most. But, this would soon become months at a time. Stella had no idea where they were headed, but she knew Florida would never be their home again. They were lucky if they could spend a few nights at a time at homeless shelters and such. During this period in her life, she’d go days without eating full meals and the food she did have, she’d find giving to her siblings.

Before finding their way to Riverdale, her parents would fall into addictive tendencies, not putting the needs of their kids before that. This was a turning point for her when she came to realize that nine times out of ten, her parents were going to put their addictions before themselves. If she wanted to survive, she’d have to provide for herself and for her younger siblings.

She has learned to become a humble person and be thankful for the things that she does have. Even if it might not be much, she knows there is probably somebody way worse off than her. Living in the Sunnyside trailer park feels like luxury compared to the living conditions she was so used to during her childhood. 

Nobody knows much about Stella’s past prior to moving to Riverdale. It’s not like she’s ashamed of it, she just doesn’t want to remember that low point in her life, or for people to take pity on her. (Of course, I HC that some people would obviously have to know about her troubled upbringing, but I can’t imagine it would be all of Riverdale, nor the Southside).

Officially moved to the Southside of Riverdale when she was 9, almost 10.

Throughout her childhood, her parents have had on and off custody of her siblings. CPS has had to step in and turn her family upside down more than once. With her mom being an on and off drug addict and her dad having drinking issues, it has only created chaos.

As of right now, her mom is currently not in the picture. She ditched her family shortly after the birth of her sixth child. Her dad’s drinking habits has increased due to her absence (they were under control for a bit, long enough for him to find stable work within Riverdale. Now, they are getting out of hand once more, him on the verge of loosing the job he currently has). Also, her dad’s anger has worsened and he has chosen to take it out on his oldest daughter while he is strung out. Currently no one knows about the abuse she is suffering at home and Stella wants to keep it that way. If anybody were to get too involved, that could mean the kiddos getting taken away from her.

OTHER INFORMATION:

Stella is actually extremely smart and a borderline genius. She has always done well in school without trying hard. It’s all come natural to her. She has a 4.0 GPA in school and her teachers have high expectations for her.  

Stella has found ‘creative’ and ‘different’ ways to make money for her family. This includes doing other people’s homework/writing papers for them,  pick-pocketing, stealing, and scamming people out of money (with the help of her adorable little siblings). The ways she sees it - when you’re poor, the only way to make decent money is to steal it or scam it.

The girl, over the years, has found herself developing a love for cooking (mostly baking).  Aside from her non-conventional ways of making money, she works part time at a bakery on the Southside. It’s a job that she actually enjoys and she gets to score free bread and sweet-treats for her family. 

Along with baking, she loves to read. This girl can finish a book in what seems like seconds. She’s not really picky with genre's, ultimately just loving the escape that books bring to her. You can usually catch her reading a book in the mornings on her front porch of her trailer, cigarette and coffee alongside with her. 

She has dreams of possibly going to college and ultimately doing some good with her life. Either wanting to become a lawyer, working in the foster care system, or going for a business degree to open up her own bakery. But, even though she could get into some good colleges the thought of doing anything after HS doesn’t seem like a reality for her. She doubts she’ll be able to leave the Southside, as sad as it sounds. Plus, she has had the lingering thought of when she officially turns eighteen, becoming an official guardian (or possibly fighting to fully adopt) her younger siblings. She vowed to herself a long time ago that her family was going to come before anything, including herself. Her siblings future and well-being are more important than her own. All she wants is for them to have a wonderful future as they grow older and she is willing to do whatever it takes to do so. Even if it means putting herself on the back burner and not doing the things she, deeps down, desperately wants to achieve and accomplish for herself. 

The Serpents have became the family she never knew she needed. She’s always been close to her southside neighbors and such, but eventually found herself joining when she was a young teen (age 14). She’s fully involved with them now and would do anything for her fellow Serpents.  She’d literally take the shirt off her back for her Southside family (but especially the Serpents). Even if her trailer may be tiny and always chaotic, her door is always open for a place to crash, to eat, or the such.

She’s never ‘too’ fond of the Northsiders due to have always been judged by them due to her lack of money and large family.

BACKGROUND

TW: Terminal Illness, Domestic Violence, Drug Use, Death, Overdose, Child Abuse, Self Harm, Cutting

Tessa Rosemary, more commonly known as “Tess”, is the second child born to a young couple (Warren & Sophie Adder) from Bristol, England. She has a brother named Thomas “Tommy” who is five years older.

Growing up, her family was fairly well off. Her father owned a pharmacy that he’d inherited from his father; and they lived in the flat above the shop. Her mother worked as a primary school teacher.

At the age of five, Tess was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF). The diagnosis explained the poor weight gain and frequent infections she faced her first few years of life; and while it was nice to have an answer, the news was hard to face.

She started doing treatments multiple times a day in an attempt to better manage her symptoms; but she still spent a good portion of her childhood in the hospital as doctors worked to get her symptoms under control. 

But the days in the hospital were much preferred to days at home, especially when both her parents were around. If one was out, it was quiet; but if they were both there, it was nothing but a screaming match, led by her father. And that screaming quickly turned violent.

She was eight the first time her father laid a hand on her mother; and she was nine the first time her father put her mother in the hospital due to injuries he caused.

All the time this was going on, her older brother tried to do everything in his power to shield her from the darkness that began unfolding in the Adder flat. Tommy did everything in his power to take care of his little sister, trying to allow her to continue having as much of a normal life as possible.

At the age of eleven, Tess and her family moved to Riverdale’s Northside. They moved to be closer to family that had relocated to the area several years back. 

The abuse lasted until Tess was thirteen. That was when her mother overdosed on jingle jangle. She hadn’t even known her mother was an addict thanks to her brother working to hide that information. Apparently her mother had turned to drugs as a means to cope with the abuse from her husband shortly after the family moved. 

After the funeral, her father grew distant for a few months. He spent most of his time working to set up a new pharmacy in the Southside and even ended up moving his family to the apartment above the shop (just like back in England); and when he was home, he hardly acknowledged his children.

Honestly, Tess wished it stayed that way.

Just before her fourteenth birthday, her father’s aggression resurfaced, this time directed at his children. He began not only screaming at both children; but he also began to beat them, sometimes worse than he’d ever hit his late wife.

The abuse was hardest on Tess as her small size and the fact she was sick made it hard to stand up for herself. She was constantly in pain and covered in bruises, hiding them by wearing long sleeves and pants year round.

Then once her brother finished his classes at community college and left to attend a real university, things got even worse. With no one else around, her father focused all his abuse on her; and she prayed for any excuse not to be home.

Shortly after her brother left, she found her way to the Southside Serpents. She’d struggled with feelings of self-hatred and worthlessness caused by her father; but with the Serpents, she found a family. She found hope.

Unfortunately, she found them too late. She’d already started cutting as a means to cope with her father’s abuse; and while she’s been trying to stop, her homelife makes it hard to do so. She wants to open up about the abuse and the cutting to her friends in the Serpents; but she’s scared.

And on top of keeping the secrets of her homelife, her health has rapidly declined over the past several years. Her body is weaker; and she’s scared it’s going to official begin to fail her sooner than later.

Her brother has promised that he’s going to get a job in his field of study (engineering) after he graduates and do everything in his power to ensure Tess is safe and far away from their abusive father. 

MISC.

She still speaks with a slight Bristolian accent; though it’s become slightly Americanized over the years. There are certain words where her accent is thicker; and it gets very thick if she’s angry, upset, or excited. 

Her Serpents tattoo is located on the outside of her right forearm; though it’s often hidden by the fact she wears long sleeves all the time (to hide the bruises and her self harm scars).

Due to her petite size, a handful of individuals (mainly the Serpents) have taken to sometimes calling her ‘Tiny’ as a sort of nickname.

She’s a video game junkie; and she will absolutely destroy anyone who challenges her to a battle in Smash Bros. or a race in Mario Kart.

The way to her heart is with grape soda. She tried one during her first trip to Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe; and she instantly fell in love. 

She is absolutely 100% against drug use due to her mother’s overdose and death. She especially hates jingle jangle and those who are knowingly dealing it throughout Riverdale.

Even though she lives on the Southside, she goes to school in the Northside; though she’s not ashamed of technically being from the Southside now. She thinks the feud between the two sides of town is kinda ridiculous. 

Due to all the school she missed being sick as a child, she was held back a year. It would’ve been two; but she was able to play catch up with half the work missed over the years.

Her health has gotten to the point where she needs to sleep with a nightly flow of oxygen; but she’s trying to keep this secret as she doesn’t want to admit things are getting worse.

more to come…

CONNECTIONS

Extended Family/Cousins

Fellow Southside Serpents

Ride or Die Bestie(s)

Good Influence Friend(s)

Bad Influence Friend(s)

General Friends

Frienemies

Enemies/Rivals

Future Love Interest

Confidant 

Lab/Project Partners

Neighbors