Is it true? Are people coming around to the fact that Show Belly is a different character from Book Belly? Has critical thinking finally entered the chat? *gasps in transformative fandom/show canon enthusiast*

I am Team Jeremiah, but that doesn’t mean I hate Conrad. However, I find it very hard to feel any sympathy for him: an essay.

I truly hope Conrad finds happiness. I just don’t think he and Belly are right for each other. And no, I haven’t read the books (you can read my feelings on that argument in another post I’ve done lol), so I’m just going off the show.

I am Team Jeremiah, I make no secret of it. But that’s because he is just the better choice for Belly. Not because he is better than Conrad, full stop. They both have their flaws. Should Jeremiah have made out with his brothers ex girlfriend like that, without at least talking to him first? Hell no. But come on - the guy tried to resist. He tried so hard. Belly kept pushing. And let’s remember what Conrad said to Belly at the start of the season after they kissed - ‘Do you want to be with him?’ ‘Being with you is all I’ve ever wanted.’ ‘Okay so be with me then.’

Belly choosing Conrad over Jeremiah was all that mattered back then, not how it affected anyone else, even though she was quasi-dating his brother for most of the summer. He didn’t give a fuck about Jeremiah and if it wasn’t for Belly saying no, he would have flaunted her immediately, even knowing she had kissed Jere a few times. When he asked Jeremiah for his blessing, I don’t believe he did that for any other reason than Belly would continue to distance herself from him until she believed Jere was over it. Conrad did not go to Jeremiah to make sure he truly was okay. He was ticking a box for Belly. Jeremiah was quite obviously not okay with it but Conrad chose to ignore that because he wanted Belly. We saw that in what he told Belly about it afterwards. He took the parts of the conversation that suited his narrative and the outcome he wanted, and he ran with it. And it worked. Jeremiah got hurt, and Conrad didn’t care, because he had Belly.

Their relationship wasn’t this epic love story. I still don’t understand where it came from. I understand Belly’s crush. But when and how and why did Conrad start loving her? The writers of the show seemed to just say ‘he just does’ and we are supposed to say ‘okay yeah sound makes sense.’ I just don’t understand the timeline. Besides that though… Look, I understand and empathise with the fact that his mom was dying while they were dating, and that he was struggling with his mental health. It was a lot for an 18 year old to deal with. (Of course, Jeremiah was dealing with it, too, but Conrad stans conveniently forget that). But Belly suffered in that relationship because of it, and no one should have to do that. To me, it seemed like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for him to pull away. Scared. Maybe Conrad wasn’t going to break up with her at prom, and she jumped the gun, but it says a lot about how she was feeling that she immediately assumed that. A relationship shouldn’t be like that.

Jeremiah, though… from day one he was open and honest with her. He asked her straight up if she could ever love him like she did Conrad and she said YES. Belly said herself - Jeremiah is always there when she needs him. That’s what you need in a life partner. And fuck me, the passion they have. A perfect blend of supportive and passionate. Tie that man DOWN. He is supportive, he defends her, he speaks his mind, he is honest and reliable (the only time we saw him ‘let her down’ in any way was when he missed the dance at the Deb Ball and jeez, he had a damn good reason so no one can blame him). He makes her laugh. They can have fun together, but can also have the serious conversations. I married my best friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s honestly amazing to know you have that person who truly sees you, loves and supports you. Who is your comfort. Jeremiah is that for Belly. Honestly, I could go on and on about how Jeremiah is the perfect match for her - and the chemistry between Gavin and Lola definitely adds to it, but it isn’t the only factor - but everyone has probably given up reading by now…

Both boys have been dealt a shit hand, losing their mother. Both boys have made mistakes and have flaws. But they both have incredibly good qualities, too. Personally, I just think that Jeremiah is more suited to Belly, and they will have a happy, healthy relationship.

Also, the way she kissed him back in that episode… I’m sorry but there’s no way she’s not jumping his bones when they start officially dating. It wouldn’t make sense to me. She was smiling against his mouth and knotting her fingers in his hair, and it was ‘Wattpad level hot’, as Taylor would say. Considering she’s already done the deed, I can’t see any logical way for the writers to incorporate a ‘no intimacy’ storyline for them. Especially after that scene in particular, but also their first kiss in the pool back in season one, and the booby fondling in the car - WHERE BELLY STRAIGHT UP SAID SHE WAS NOT NERVOUS BECAUSE IT WAS JEREMIAH. Sorry, but let’s be real - there’s not a chance in hell those two are not banging the brains out of each other. And good on them. So I hope that is a change made to the books. Furthermore, show-Jeremiah cheating? I cannot see it happening. I really really hope it doesn’t.

IF Bonrad must be endgame, then please, Jenny Han, I beg of you to right your wrongs and not assassinate Jeremiah’s character to reach that ending. There are better ways to do it. But I maintain that the better choice for Belly is Jeremiah. And Conrad should meet someone new who is more emotionally mature and able to deal with his very obvious mental health problems. Someone he feels he can open up to about them. Because, as a sufferer myself, you need that support. Belly doesn’t provide that for Conrad and, as a result, Conrad doesn’t give Belly what she needs either.

One last parting thought - what the fuck happened to Jeremiah and Steven’s friendship? Jeremiah told Steven how much he cared for Belly in season one. Why did literally no one listen to him? And how did no one see it in the way his entire personality seemed to shift in season two. He’s lost his sparkle. YES most of that is because of his mom, but is everyone really that blind to him? No one notices that poor guy. He’s completely overshadowed by Conrad in every aspect. Everyone just expects Jeremiah to roll over and let everyone else have their happy ending while he gets trampled on because he’ll ‘just get over it’. Come on. WRITERS - DO BETTER. There is too much phenomenal acting talent in this show to let bad writing and tropes ruin it.

In conclusion, I haven’t written this much on one topic since I did my degree and I am obsessed with this show. Goodbye.

Laura's RP Questionnaire 2023

Your Name: Laura Characters: Hercules Kouros, Jessica Wright, Jeremy J. Johnson, Wolfgang Amadeus.

Pick one of your characters and talk about their growth (we recommend choosing an older character, but it’s up to you!) What about their story has surprised you? What are you proud of? How have they changed from their original inception to now?

Jeremy! Ok he’s had a busy year really, without me noticing or really intending to! I loved getting to go through his coming out arc and exploring what that looked like with his concerns about his family and friends, but ultimately finding a lot of acceptance and happiness in the decision. So that’s always something that is lovely to explore. Then of course he’s also been grappling with some big decisions about his life - and accepting that while his course is great, and valuable, and important, it’s not what sets his soul alight. The contrast between the play and the internship was really something I wanted to try and demonstrate that with. Ultimately it played out with surprisingly little fanfare because I wasn’t really giving it my full attention over summer, but I hope that it was still satisfying for you all as audience.   Jere always surprised me with his intensity of feeling. He’s supposed to be my super-chill go with the flow muse, but I guess Canon!Jeremy fought aliens with his gf so I shouldn’t be surprised he’s a ride or die kind of person. That of course ultimately has made it painful for him to now be in the situation where his relationship hasn’t worked out, and I want to pay tribute to that and let him mourn, let him write some songs and process those feelings in the way he does best. He’s also been so much kinder than I would have anticipated. He is really empathetic towards people and I love having a character like that in the dorms because in this simmering pot of hormones he is kind and caring and calm.  So I think overall he’s become a much richer and more three dimensional person, and I hope to continue that into the next year!

Pick another character (or the same character if you only have one) and talk a little about where you WANT them to go. What are your plans for them going into the new year? 

Jessie - The back half of the year has been pretty quiet for Jessie so I want to address her for this. After decades of never sticking in one place for long, she’s finally staying put. No wonder she’s kinda exhausted and has been taking things slow. But I’d like to shake that up a little, moving forward. Obviously first off we have her new coven-situation with Dian, which means her assuming a more proactive role in local vampire activity. I’d like to explore this because she never really felt she had much say in things in the Round Up days, and her being the more leadership figure here is an interesting point of difference for her. I also want her to keep negotiating the tricky world of having human relationships and interactions with people again. She’s allowed a very small number in at this point, but always a little at arms length.  That will be something a little bit tricky and I will have to look at each of those relationships in turn and really think about what will work for them because there’s no single key to getting her to open up.  Also I want to plan a heist for her, I have already discussed this briefly with a view to making it happen. I’d love to see her brain in action and like, regain some of her passion and excitement to kick her out of the slump she’s been in. But also I know that writing her sometimes leans into the softer sides of her character and I’d love to play with her mischief and her brains and her sneakiness. 

Pick a thread or a plot that you’re proud of and talk about why you loved it. 

Hercules’ Pandemonium Arc - firstly because I struggle with plotting. Genuinely I am very slow to create plots in my brain, and that plot (because of the nature of the event) had to come together quite quickly. I took my plot calls, discussed and organised and turned it into a pretty coherent narrative of the night for Hercules. For me personally I am really proud of that, and of grabbing that opportunity when it came up. I also think it showcased the very best of him; brave and strong and determined to protect other people. That really cut through his usual narrative of self-doubt and self-esteem issues and reminded me like, there is steel underneath here, there is so much heart, it’s just slowly peeling back the layers to let it shine.

Wolf’s Murder Assist/Fallout- My first big plot drop! Baby’s first felony! I’ve never been involved in a plot like this while I’ve been in the RP so this was a first. I am also proud of the writing I did during those threads. I hope that it came across to the reader as I tried to flesh out what was happening and Wolf’s side of that experience. I am also really proud of how I have worked with the aftermath of that because I always want to be exploring the consequences of actions, how that affects people and how it is a larger part of their story. 

In terms of your own writing, identify 1-3 things you love to write about (metaphors? Sibling relationships? Physical description?) and talk about why you enjoy it! 

Sensory details. I don’t think I realised this until recently, but one of the amazing things about RP is that you have so much more room than conventional literature to focus on the little things. This is, ironically, genuinely something I have picked up from my academic writing where I did a lot of sense-based analysis to explore actual environments from the past and how they were experienced. But I love to add those details; what is the weather doing, what effect does that have on a person, what sights and sounds and smells are happening. Movement too, like… if a pair of characters are going out for a coffee, how are they moving? Are they eating their pastry keenly, are they picking at it, are they too engrossed and forgot it all together. That stuff really adds richness to me and I hope to you all too. 

Smut.* You know what, unironically. I know we’ve been talking about it a lot lately so maybe it's just on my mind but genuinely I find it fun to write. I find it fun to explore intimacy in all of its different forms because that’s what smut is! Even the most casual of hook-ups is about characters putting themselves in a physical or emotionally vulnerable place, and we can see a lot about the individual characters based on that, or about how their dynamic works! Like snowflakes, every one is different. It can be an amazing way of showing a different side to characters, or it can just be fun! Obviously mostly this is something I have explored with Herc but who knows, new year might bring new things. As I type this I also realise that like… I think that has the potential, in future, once he’s less heart-broken, to be something interesting for Jeremy. He’d confirmed his romantic attraction to men but he’s never really explored his sexual attraction to men. So a new horizon for him maybe one day and a very different experience to write about.

Unlikely Friendships! So the thing about playing any character really, but especially my ‘nice guys’ is that I am sometimes paranoid about them being too boring. Because in fiction, a nice person can really easily lack the ‘spark’ that brings them to life, they don’t have the kind of intense confrontational relationships that really crackle and pop. But what they do offer is those unlikely friendships. Jeremy has had a tonne of these; Candace, Vanessa, Marie, his whole dynamic with Pip, many more, but other characters do too (Jessie and Roz springs to mind, Wolf and King, Herc and … all of his female friends). I think that sometimes putting together characters who you would never assume work and just being a little patient with it can create the most wonderful friendships and I love exploring them.

What major updates have your characters gone through this year? (For example: beginning/ending a relationship, moving, starting a new job, adopting a pet, etc). Think if it as anything you would have put in the #character-updates channel. If you have a pinned post, consider adding these updates so everyone is aware of them in the future.

Hercules - said bye to Michael :( which was sad, but their whole friendship meant so much to him it is very precious to me. Hired Evy. Fired Evy - this was a much bigger landmark, its the first time he’s ever had to fire a staff member as the boss. He feels horrible, but is stepping into that role. PANDEMONIUM also saw him defending his business, and innocent people in what was a big moment for him, he played the hero for a bit and used his powers and saw them as something other than destructive for a change. Has grappled with complicated feelings about Gen and about how to deal with intense romantic attraction that hasn’t, sadly, panned out for him. He’s maybe not coping in the healthiest ways. 

Jessie - Moved to The Woods. This was a big step, her choosing to stop moving for a while and its left her pretty exhausted, combined with all other events that have happened. She helped to look after 3 of the Morey boys during PANDEMONIUM and revealed a different side to herself, which brought up a lot of past issues. Her and Nick’s friendship has deepened. Bullseye is back in her life <3 she is trying to navigate that and her and Dian’s newly agreed to coven. 

Jeremy - Started secretly dating Pip! Came out! Started openly dating Pip! Tried to navigate new relationship! Befriended Penny to help Pip’s career! Made friends with Mirabel his study bud <3  Got cast as lead in the play by accident! Did an internship at DevTech! Hated it! Had sense talked into him by Pip and Candace! Told his parents he wants to pursue music after university! It went worse than the coming out! Argued with Pip about Penny! Ultimately broke up because he feels Pip couldn’t let him into his life

Wolf: He came. He saw. He brooded. He got embroiled in protecting the Inn from a plot to threaten Snow out of selling her bone-blood to vampires, but ultimately failed. He was shot while trying to protect Snow, with a tourmaline bullet so he almost bled out on Ting’s sofa (mvp). He has been trying to ensure the cover-up stays covered-up with varying degrees of success. He needs a nap. 

Talk about your dash reply style and your Discord reply style! (And if applicable, also your doc reply style). What do you like about each type of interaction? What is something you feel is difficult? Do you have preferences regarding how many times you’re tagged per day, or do you prefer for your replies to be queued for a certain amount of time?

Dash - I am fairly consistent. My default style. I like to try to get to every character at least once a day and tackle replies in blocks where I can sink into the character vibe. I sometimes ‘manage’ my replies to not bombard the same people if I’m doing a lot of catching up. If people ever want to go back and forth on a thread please ask, because I will assume a ‘1 a day’ stance otherwise but would love to bounce around more if people want!

Discord - I have actively got worse at discord events, I am sorry. I think it’s because I am more distracted in the evenings watching tv in the background. But I want to get back into the habit more because our discord events are such a great opportunity for off-the-cuff plotting or character moments and I love that. 

Docs - generally I use docs for either surpriiiiiiiiiiiise plots to maintain secrecy and ensure pieces are sorted out in advance, or for things that might be intense or triggering (this can vary from emotional intensity to like… if it’s just smut and even though the read-mores are easier these days it can still be a bit more efficient to just use 1 doc and have a clean flow. Gotta remember what everyone's hands are doing). But I’m always down!

As for replies to me - have at it! I love replies, they are little gifts to me! I have nothing else in my life right now. Go for it. If I am behind on replies or something, then you may notice I am slower getting back to you, but I never mind being given the replies. I am also happy to accommodate schedules - need something rushed, let me know I’ll put a note in my little system

And now, a wishlist! Jot down a few themes or stories or genres etc that you want to maybe pursue in the upcoming year! (i.e. a good ol’ fashion forbidden romance, maybe you want to dig deep into racial identity etc) This doesn’t have to necessarily be attached to any characters or stories you have now– it’s just meant to help you see for yourself what kind of stories call to your heart.

I say this, aware I have spent the last few days essentially trying to pimp Hercules out, but I would love to see him have a genuine romance. He’s had a little bit of a taste of that this year, and is perhaps admitting to himself more that its something he wants. He wants to have a proper relationship, he wants to get married, have a family (not that that all happens immediately unless he’s very lucky), and that starts by opening himself up to genuine romantic connection beyond the purely sexual. Other than that its about continuing growth - he’s stepped more and more into his role as boss this year, quietly and steadily. He’s overseen hiring, firing, he’s supported his staff and got the gym through renovations and is even putting his own stamp on the reception. I’d like to see him start to realise that … he’s the man.  Jeremy I want to explore his music more. He’s admitted it to himself, he’s admitted it to his parents, so it’s time to start making waves! I have a few ideas and I need to sit down and chat to a few people about making them happen. Let’s see him follow his passion. He’s also going to be losing some of the closest friends he’s got at uni with graduations this year, so I think maybe exploring some of those feelings of loneliness and impermanence that are often a part of the university experience would be interesting.  Wolf I need to keep finding ways to pull him into the real world. It will be a struggle to keep him from withdrawing again and trying to keep that aloof detachment he loves so much, but I want to force him to do that. I also want to at least start sowing the seeds of him being revealed to the local werewolves, and exploring the very rich seam of angst that is ‘outsider and traitor living working for vampires but is one of us.’ I want to explore that isolation from the community he primarily identified himself with for most of his life, and unpack some of those issues. I can’t promise it will make him friendlier, but it will be interesting to see how some of those scars lie on him.  Jessie … as I said above, it’s going to be about continuing to unravel her in different time streams past and present. I’d like to see her laugh more again.  A threesome. Let's make it happen people.

OPTIONAL: Why do you RP?

So last year I talked about how I had started rping again as a way to work through some issues I was having with writer’s block on the thesis, and tackling some of my perfectionism issues. Having successfully done that I guess … I am here just for the love of it! It's kind of the thing keeping me sane right now, and I hope it will continue to be a companion when I finally do get a job and no-doubt have to uproot my life again.

*(Some smut acts I particularly enjoy writing and if you choose to take them as suggestions then I bear no legal responsibility but come see me, k?: 

Oral (blow jobs or eating out - giving especially)

Face sitting - this is a bit of a Herc specific one but someone sitting on his face makes him a very happy boy he can stay there all day. 

Mildish kink (Herc has proven that he likes to be tied up, he likes people to be rough with him, to tell him he’s being good… generally he’s a bit submissive and works very hard to please. So please let him. For other characters? Honestly don’t know but always something to explore).

Messy, desperate kinda sex, you know? I feel I haven’t done enough of that yet, the ‘We gotta get somewhere private immediately no time to get undressed’ kind.

Smut I'd like to write more of: m/m with the exception of Phil I haven't written much! Just generally exploring stuff more! Happy to take suggestions tbh. Maybe let's see Hercules in his ‘tease’ era (they can put him in his place afterwards). Rail him. I think we should see Herc get absolutely railed. For science.