i know love is real bc i exist and i'm full of it

Merry Christmas, Belly.

It was good seeing you

-C

conrad. erased. it. and. she. wrote. it. in.

aka this

there’s a dancing scene in sabrina where sabrina and linus dance together and he’s talking about how he’s going to go to paris and he asks her to translate sentences in french (screenshot below, all creds to the OP) which would obviously fit PERFECTLY

if we follow that thought, there’s more to the scene!

after they finish dancing, they get in the car and linus is driving. she says all night she’s had the most dreadful impulse to do something (obvi he thinks she wants to kiss him - this is also very typical of a hopeful conrad and his little hopeful look in the connie baby scene). sabrina puts down the brim of his hat instead and he talks about how he doesn’t know how he’s going to survive without her

i think they’re going to recreate the dancing scene and they’re going to be in the outfits we saw the bts of where she’s in the yellow dress and she’s leaning out of the window and he’s in the brown polo. instead of a hat brim she’s going to flip down his collar and he’s going to say “how am I going to be a doctor without having someone to flip down the collar of my white coat” or something

You don't ever have to be stronger than you really are

When you're lying in my arms, baby (she can be vulnerable with him)

You don't ever have to go faster than your fastest pace (she gets to set the pace; esp. their Christmas at the beach)

Or faster than my fastest cars (that Range Rover be speeeding)

I shouldn't have done it, but I read it in your letter (them writing letters to each other)

You said to a friend that you wish you were doing better (hearing about how she’s doing from other people i.e. Laurel)

I wanted to reach out, but I never said a thing (he doesn’t know how to reach out to her)

…

I wanted to call you, but I didn't say a thing (reminiscing on their phone calls)

Two, three, four

Oh, I'll pick you up

If you come back to America, just hit me up (she’s away on her semester abroad in Spain)

'Cause this is crazy love, I'll catch you on the flip side

If you come back to California, you should just hit me up (he’s in California at Stanford)

We'll do whatever you want, travel wherever how far

We'll hit up all the old places (go to Cousins)

We'll have a party, we'll dance 'til dawn (like the party they had, a happy one this time !)

I'll pick up all of your Vogues and all of your Rolling Stones (Belly loooves to read her magazines)

Your favorite liquor off the top shelf

I'll throw a party all night long

You don't ever have to be stronger than you really are

When you're lying in my arms, and, honey

You don't ever have to act cooler than you think you should

You're brighter than the brightest stars (’He gave me the moon and the stars, infinity’)

You're scared to win, scared to lose

I've heard the war was over if you really choose (she has to choose between him and Jeremiah)

The one in and around you

You hate the heat, you got the blues

Changing like the weather, oh, that's so like you (‘You don’t know the effect you have on people, Belly’)

The Santa Ana moves you

…

- In the book, Belly says the next time they saw each other was at her college graduation; this seems like a good opportunity to use Bad Idea, Right? by Olivia Rodrigo - i.e. Conrad is staying at a motel nearby and after Belly’s done partying with her friends she goes to find him and they reunite and hook up

- Belly goes to the hospital where Conrad works and we see him in his scrubs and their eyes meet. Alternatively, a few years into the future, Belly and their kids go to pick Conrad up from work and they all drive to the beach together

- We’ve gotta have the running into the ocean together scene!!!

- Other scenes I’m excited for in general: the peach scene, the surfing injury, Conrad’s confession on the beach after their conversation on the lifeguard stand

Back when we was just friends, baby (speaks for itself)

Shit, man, you was just a baby (also speaks for itself)

And I turned on you like Mother Nature (he started acting weird)

Try to think about the blueprint (season 1)

All the shit that you told me not to do (quit smoking)

Was breaking it worth it in the end (was breaking the friendship to be together worth it?)

If I'm just a vision you come to? (Belly pulls out her memories of Conrad when she’s feeling low)

It's all peaches and cream (duhhh)

If you left your love I'll be right (he’ll keep her love for him safe until she’s ready to come back)

I'll be your baby doll and your bodyguard (he’ll protect her)

If you tell me to (I’ll do whatever you want)

I'll try to make it all not as hard (we’ll try not to hurt each other)

Since Christmas and now Valentine’s Day have passed without our favorite people, I thought I would write about some theories I have for the way these two scenes from book 3 are going to be translated into season 3:

Christmas:

1. When Belly wakes up and thinks someone is breaking into the house but it’s just Conrad and he tells her she has chocolate all over her face. In S2E2, when they have hot cocoa she asks him if she has something on her face and he replies with “Just dirt. Or freckles,” which doesn’t happen when it’s referenced in the book, while in book 3 Belly does say “It’s probably just dirt,” when they see each other at Christmas. Here’s to hoping Jenny has set Conrad up to reply with “Or freckles,” and then they give each other a meaningful look reminiscing on their time there together two Christmases before and look over to the fireplace.

2. When Belly watches Casablanca, Conrad thinks Rick is doing the noble thing by sending Ilsa away while Belly is the one who believes in the depth of their love for each other. While she cannot acknowledge the parallels to their situation, part of her knows, deep down that what she and Conrad feel for each other is just as passionate. Maybe they’ll reverse their roles in the show, with Belly being the one that thinks being with Laszlo and fighting in the resistance is more important than staying with Rick and allowing Conrad to be the hopeless romantic. If we get “Illicit affairs”, Taylor says “Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby,” echoing Rick’s famous words “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Playing this the morning after Conrad leaves would be soooo good as she mourns his departure.

Valentine’s:

When Conrad brings Belly the hot chocolate (! - another opportunity for her to have dirt or freckles on her face since they’re outside on the lawn) on Valentine’s Day, they lie on the grass together, looking up. Belly says “Lying here and looking up at the stars like this, it makes me feel like I’m lying on a planet.” Show Conrad seems like he would follow this up with “We are on a planet.” Ah, infinity.

So proud of Lola in Hadestown but so ready for the gang to get back together.