#but HOW does it get to bellarke endgame? that's the question.

[sometimesrosy]

The Arkadias, chap 4; Her Night

rosymamacita

Chapter 4 read on AO3

Summary:

Clarke goes on a date with Finn. So she's pretty sure she's in love with Bellamy, so what? He doesn't feel the same way back. They're not exclusive and it's just a friends with benefits thing, but Finn actually seems to want her. She wants to be wanted. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what she keeps telling herself. (It does not stay Flarke for the whole chapter.)

(This is my first prompt from Bob Morley’s Alpha Male celebration. I said I would take them and they asked for a new chapter in this story, so...  I’m still aiming for 2 a week although I’ve been struggling to keep that schedule. I’ve already started the next one. If you want to send in a prompt, I’m still taking them.)

For their first date, Finn brought her flowers. They met at a nice Italian restaurant with candlelight and white table cloths. Clarke wore a red wrap dress that showed her cleavage and he couldn’t stop telling her how beautiful she was. She wasn’t sure if it was the red wine, the overwhelming scent of the lilies she had to set on the chair next to her, or the way he kept staring at her with melting eyes, and that grin, but she was almost dizzy with the whole thing.

He treated her like the stories all said she should be treated. Gave her endless compliments and held her chair out for her so she could sit.

Honestly, she’d never experienced anything like it.

The pasta was kind of bland, but they shared a chocolate lava cake afterwards and Finn regaled her with more tales of his adventures on the west coast. Once there was an actual bear involved.

“My life is simply not as interesting as yours, Finn. All my drama and excitement is in the stories I write,” Clarke said, and against her will a flash of Bellamy’s sleeping face crossed her mind. From out of nowhere. It wasn’t fair. She blinked and cleared her throat. “How do you find all these adventures?”

He shrugged and took her hand, playing with her fingers. His hair fell forward and covered one eye. “I could take you out there. You ever been surfing? I’d teach you.”

“I have never been surfing. I’m kind of a dry land gal. Maybe that’s why you have all the adventures. Mine tend to stay in cafes and books and maybe on a blanket in the park.” She laughed because it was a joke, but he didn’t laugh.

“I’d show you how to live life fully, Clarke.” Then he leaned across the table and kissed her.

It was sweet and short. He grinned at her when he pulled back and she grinned back, looking around quickly to see if anyone had noticed. The waiter had.

She bit her lip. “You want to walk me home, Finn?”

His smile widened. “Yeah, I do.”

She didn’t tease him on the walk home this time. They held hands and Finn told her how gorgeous she was and how he could never take his eyes off of her and she was so brilliant and talented. She felt quite like she was blushing all the way to her toes, but he kept going.

At her door, she turned around and looked at him. “I had a nice time, Finn.”

He brushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Me too,” he said, cupping his hand behind her neck and bringing her in for a kiss.

His mouth was soft and tender and he pressed his tongue against the seal of her lips. She opened and he kissed her deeper. It wasn’t like Bellamy but it was very nice. The unbidden thought made her angry, so she pulled him closer and kissed him back. Harder. He groaned deep in his throat and his hands began wandering up her sides and back, brushing the sides of her breasts.

She pulled back. “Yeah,” she said. “You wanna come upstairs?”

He nodded and she grabbed his hand and unlocked the door, leading him up and into her apartment. She meant to offer him a drink but instead, they found themselves kissing on the couch. The tie on her dress slipped open and his hands roved over her skin. It felt good. It felt like he worshipped her a little. Like he couldn’t believe his luck to be with her, that’s how great he thought of her. She reached for his belt and he put a hand on her wrist to stop her.

“I want to make you feel good,” he whispered into her ear, and she shivered because yeah. She was all for that. “Can I?”

She hummed an assent and pulled him back down for a kiss as his fingers tracked up her thigh.

Good it was. She threw her head back against the cushions as he stroked her higher. He watched her come and then petted her back down. The red dress had come completely untied and had fallen open, and she was bared in her bra and panties to his wandering eyes and hands. He was still dressed. She had to admit that she kinda thought it was hot.

“Do you have a condom?” she asked and he sat back. He shook his head.

“I’m going to go home.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I can tell you’re not really sure about this and don’t know if you want to get into anything, so I’m going to play the long game here, until you know.”

“The long game.”

“Yeah,” he said, as he straightened his clothes and put on his jacket. “I like to leave a girl wanting more.” There was the grin again. It wasn’t as charming this time.

He leaned over her on the couch. “Don’t get up. I can see you’re still recovering.” He kissed her and his tongue delved into her mouth as if he was claiming her. Then he pulled back. “I’ll call you and we’ll do this again.”

Clarke opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was, “Yeah, sure.”

“Cool.” He headed out the door. “Bye, Clarke,” he said as he looked back once. Grin.

The door closed behind him and Clarke really couldn’t move for a while. And it wasn’t from the orgasm the way he’d implied. She was a bit stunned at what had just happened there and wasn’t sure how this had all gone down. How did it happen? How did it end that way?

It took her a few minutes before she shook it off, switched on the stereo, and went to get a glass of wine. It wasn’t as good as the wine at the restaurant but she didn’t care. She tossed the dress into the hamper and switched into a tank top, sweats, and a cozy sweater and thought maybe she’d spend the rest of her night reading.

Half a glass of wine later, she heard a whistle on the street below. Odd. It had been a pretty quiet night except for her date, her orgasm, and her date’s swift retreat. Not quiet. It had been an odd night. It was all odd. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of any of it. Something urged her to give up her cozy spot on the couch and look out the window.

“Bellamy!”

He was riding a lazy circle on his bike on the street below. He looked up and saw her at her window and stopped his bike, propping it with one leg. He smirked and cocked his head at her. A question.

She nodded, her heart beating a mile a minute suddenly. He got off his bike and went to lock it up on the street. She pulled back from the window, putting her hand to her heated cheeks.

“Oh my god,” she said. “Oh my god.” But she went to the intercom and buzzed him in. She opened the door and waited for him. She could hear him taking the steps two at a time. When he got to her landing, her heart was definitely racing. She didn’t say anything until he walked through her door, trailing his fingertips along her hipbones as he passed, and she locked it behind him.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Bellamy?” Did he know? How did he find out about Finn? Why would he come here like this? He’d never done this before.

He sat down on the couch where she’d just come under Finn’s fingers, and stretched his arms out along the back cushions. He raised one eyebrow and smirked at her. “Warm welcome, Clarke. I can go if you don’t want me here.”

Clarke shook her head to clear it. She didn’t want him to go. “No. I mean. I thought your sister was here and you weren’t available.”

He shrugged. “It turns out she’s sick of me and called up some college friends to meet up at some place I’m sure doesn’t sell underaged college students alcohol. I was left all by my lonesome and wondered what you were up to.”

“You couldn’t have called?”

His smirk faltered. “I wasn’t sure you were home. I went for a ride. Passed your window. Thought I’d take a chance.” The smirk came back. This one did something to her.

Suddenly she was breathing heavily. He looked so good there on her couch. She didn’t know what made him show up out of the blue, but now that he was here she realized how much she wanted him to be here. “You want a drink?”

He looked at the glass that was still in her hand and his smirk opened up into a smile that was so true her rapidly beating heart straight up stopped for moment.

“Yeah,” he said softly, his eyes this warm brown like aged whisky.

She had to turn away to get him a glass of wine because she wasn’t sure if she could handle the way he was looking at her right now. She drank the rest of her wine in one swallow and then filled both their glasses

She handed him the glass and he took a sip, but put it down and patted the cushion next to him, his smile small again, twisting her insides. She sat down next to him, maybe not as close as she might normally.

He sighed and took her glass out of her hands, putting it on the table next to his. When he turned back to her his eyes were liquid. He brushed her hair back and let his hand settle on her neck, tangling there in her waves. “You know I missed you, right?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You missed me, really?”

He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Of course I missed you. Do you think I don’t like spending time with you?”

She stared at him now. Wondering if he was testing her. “Yeah. I know you like spending time with me.” She shrugged off her sweater and leaned forward to press a kiss to his collarbone. He shivered under her lips.

“No,” he said as she nibbled his skin and ran her hands under his shirt. “I like you.”

She thought she should be happy to hear those words. But they just twisted the knife. “Yeah,” she said gruffly, “I like you, too.” And she pressed him back, unzipping his pants and stroking him. He got harder under her touch. “Do you like that?”

“Fuck, Clarke, yeah.” She climbed into his lap and took off her tank top so he could press his lips to her skin. “Yeah, baby. Clarke,” he said between kisses, his hands grasping her back as she continued to work him. “Clarke.”

Clarke swallowed down her feelings and yanked his shirt off of him, breaking his kisses on her breasts. She threw the shirt on the ground and he leaned up to kiss her mouth, but she climbed off of his lap and instead, shoving his shoulder so he was prone and dropping her sweats and panties to the floor around her ankles. She stepped out of them and stood before him naked.

“This is why you came, right?” she said as he lay on the sofa half dressed, staring up at her. He looked wrecked. Thrown. The way she felt. She sank down onto him without preamble. They both groaned as she began to move.

“Fuck Clarke, no. Fuck. Wait.” He sat up and stilled her with strong hands to her hips. “Wait,” he said, he tried to kiss her again and she turned he head. “Shit no. That’s not what this is about. Stop.”

Her breath was broken, gasping.

He kissed her cheek, smoothing her hair back. Kissed her jaw. Kissed her ear. Her temple. She sighed. “Clarke,” he whispered and she turned her face to him. He pressed his lips to hers, softly and hers opened under his because she was weak. He didn’t push to possess her, he just nibbled and licked and kissed her. She breathed into his mouth and he wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her shoulders, pressing his chest into hers. “I came for you, Clarke. Just you, okay? No games. I just wanted to be with you.”

She kissed him back now, his lips so close she couldn’t help it, and it made her feel those things again. She was weak. And she didn’t care anymore. “Okay,” she said. “But you like this, too, right?” She started moving again. Slower. Closer. She put her arms around his neck so she could kiss him too. She had to.

“Yeah,” he said. “Please.” Then he moaned and lifted her, flipping her so she was laying on the sofa and he was above her. “Okay?” She liked it because she wanted to kiss him. Right now. With him moving inside of her.

“Please,” she whispered, unable to talk anymore. And she didn’t know what to call it. There were no words for what they were doing. They were all either too much or not nearly enough to describe it, but she came with his forehead pressed to hers and stars behind her eyes and his sweat mixing with hers where their chests pressed tightly together, and then they lay there, close on the sofa. His big hands caressing her, everywhere he could reach, his lips at her ear, her neck.

Their bodies cooled off and they still lay wrapped around each other on the couch and she remembered the other man who was there not twenty minutes before and she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what was right anymore. What she should do or why her heart hurt.

“You’ve got goosebumps,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. Another time and she would invite him to spend the night. Instead, she got up and put on her sweat pants. Grabbing the sweater and pulling it on over her bare chest, holding it together with crossed arms.

“Hey, your sister is probably going to miss you if you’re not home.”

He blinked and looked up at her, still naked, golden skin glowing in the lamplight. “Yeah?” he asked, and she didn’t respond. “Yeah,” he agreed, wiping his hand over his face. “You’re right. She came all this way to see me. I should at least be there in the morning when she wakes up hungover. Maybe I’ll take her to Teresa’s for breakfast.”

She smiled at him. Of course. He should leave. It’s what should happen. They weren’t together. They were just…what they were.

He got dressed and she walked him to the door. “Hey.” He stopped before opening the door. “I’m sorry for just showing up like this. Next time I’ll call. I honestly didn’t think you’d be here.”

She shook her okay. “It’s okay. I’m glad you did.” But there was something she didn’t know how to say and it just sat there between them.

“Hey,” he said again, not making a move for the door yet.

“Hmm?”

He just stood there, his eyes roving over her face, his breathing steady and slow, until he leaned down and kissed her one more time. He held her face in his hands and she melted against him. She felt it all the way to her toes. To the top of her head and then almost as if she was floating outside of her body.

When he pulled away finally, she had to lean back against the wall to keep herself steady.

“I’ll see you around?”

“Of course,” she said. He smiled, relieved as if he was actually worried she’d say no. Even though he wasn’t asking for anything at all. He kissed her forehead. And opened the door.

“Bye Clarke.”

“Bye Bellamy.”

She closed the door without waiting to see him leave and pressed her head up against it. She didn’t know what she was going to do.

[otp-armada]

"Bellarke doesn't make sense," they say. They say because Clarke hasn't done anything that resembles romantic gestures toward Bellamy. 

Conceding to march to her possible death in exchange for Roan sparing Bellamy's life. Obstinately fighting against Bellamy's stubborn wishes to remain outside the Ark while Praimfaya burns to the world to ashes. Shattering her soul by choosing 100 people to live and writing his name on the list, because he must survive. She can't have it any other way. Relinquishing 50 of those spots to Azgeda when Bellamy is captured and threatened, and Roan calls her bluff. Desperation driving her to the extreme to ensure the survival of the human race, yet unable to kill Bellamy to keep the bunker closed and the grounders from possibly killing Skaikru. Leaving the guaranteed safety of the fort to stay by Bellamy's side on the brink of global cataclysm. The bittersweet yet soft head and heart exchange she prompted. The hesitation in her last remark before imploring him to hurry. 

4x13 ends six years and seven days post-Praimfaya with Clarke radioing Bellamy on the Ring. An activity she performs daily for six years. In any six years of my adult life, my only daily consistencies have been limited to breathing, eating, and sleeping. This girl is devoted enough to send her equivalent of love letters into the emptiness of space for 2,199 days. Season 5 opens with her trying to survive by herself in an apocalyptic wasteland. She spends her journey narrating to him her unvarnished struggles during the most traumatic experience of her young life to date. Her despondency. Her loneliness. Her agony. Her desperation. Her small victories. Her discovered treasures. Her determination. Her doubt. Her guilt. Her defeat. Her morbid self-reflection. Her relief and contentment. Her happiness. Her admission of missing him. She shares all of it with only him. Only he is permitted to know her to this depth. Not any of her other people on the Ring. Not any of her people in the bunker, a group including her mother. Not a spiritual communion to the great, big love of her life Lxa, situated on her throne in the high heavens and waiting for her trophy wife, for Clarke to stay connected to her dearly departed. Isn't that the sort of behavior that might occur by a bereft widow? 

After finding an oasis to rest and call home, even after discovering a companion to build a life with, she continues with her radio calls. It doesn't matter that he never received her communications. The importance of the gesture- the intimacy of sharing her life and thoughts with him while he was gone- remains the same. The magnitude of her devotion to him made clearer through the absence of a single responding utterance. 

She lovingly tells Madi stories of Bellamy as her hero. Gazing warmly, hopefully up at the stars as if she longs for her vision to cut through an endless pitch-black sky and find dark curls and freckled constellations from thousands of miles away.

"Bellarke doesn't make sense," they say. They say because post-Praimfaya ended with an established B/E.

As Clarke looks up at the stars, questioning if she'll see Bellamy again, we transition to our first glimpse of Bellamy after six years, forlornly looking down on Earth to the very spot of green where he is unaware of who is yearning for him to return to her. Contrary to Clarke, who is covered in warm firelight when thinking of him, he is colored in cold, muted greys and blue, no speck of warm hue. (The rhyming scheme was unintentional, but hey, I'm going with it.) Behind him, his family is sparring, but he's distant from them. He's trapped within this tin can, his arms folded, his body taut, not facing the view on the other side of the glass, but still enraptured by the sight of his home below.  

We see what changes to the characters and their dynamics have taken place until, at long last, we uproariously cheer as Bellamy & Co. find a way to return to Earth, the sole event we've been anticipating for eleven months, to the point we could feel it at our fingertips, jittery and tingly. Bellarke reunion!! He's going to know she's alive! Yes! Finally!! Break out the champagne! We're celebrating, dammit! It's going to be so damn emotional! Authors start crafting mental fanfics. People are bouncing off the walls like bright, errant fireworks, unable to sit still. I can't believe it's finally happening...what do you think it's going to be like? Will he run to her? Will he be stunned and speechless? Will they sob uncontrollably?!? They'll be clutching the life out of each other! Another Bellarke hug!! The very best hug!!! They're never going to let the other out of their sight again! He's going to meet Madi! Mom, dad, and adopted preteen make three!!! There's no way they're not getting together after this!! He just got her back after six years of thinking she was dead!! The reunion's not going to happen this episode, but maybe next week, when do you think? You mean we have to wait seven days before----

B e c h o.

We stood on the precipice of what we agonized and crawled through for eleven excruciating months, only for an anvil to drop, and our heads to be clubbed. Our bodies fell through the floor, descending lower and lower with immense haste, to take up residence in the seventh circle of hell. 

Do you think the framing of these events wasn't intentional?

Do you think the powers that be behind the creation of that calamitous bombshell for our protagonist, intended for us to root for B/E? 

By us, I'm not restricting the effect of the blow to Bellarke shippers. The entire audience, casual and fandom alike, shippers and non-shippers, was meant to await this reunion. We were all meant to feel devastated by this revelation. 

If they didn't want to invoke in us feelings of support for B/E at their inception, how in the name of all things holy is a purported B/E endgame your conclusion? 

"B/E doesn't make any sense," they say, "when last we saw them, she was his enemy. Nothing more, nothing less."

Do I think their pre-Praimfaya status as antagonists rendered it impossible for B/E to have a convincing love story or sexual relationship?

I think, if Jason were so inclined, we could have gotten flashback Ring rendezvous of secret trysts between Bellamy and a googly-eyed, blonde-wig-wearing broomstick designated Clarke 2.0. So no, I don't consider B/E a deviation inherently outside the realm of romantic possibility. Jason is an artist, and this show is his canvas. He can give life to almost any whim he'd like in his work of fiction. Not only that, but B/E is also hardly the first pairing in this series modeled by the enemies-to-lovers trope.

"Bellarke doesn't make sense, they'd say, "absent any concrete evidence alluding to a romantic relationship." "Seven years running, and not a trace of romantic love," they'd conclude. 

Remind me, what was B/E's sublime prologue into coupling up again?

Furiously choking the life out of an enemy in a fit of rage two episodes before revealing her as his new girlfriend evidently can be considered by some an adequate precursor to a sensational romantic relationship. But endangering Earthkru's lives by risking the wrath of two societies in refusing to let Clarke die, pumping her heart for her to stay alive while begging her to fight so she can come back to him, cannot be. 

Either this show is quite the oddity, or it’s fandom's periodic knee-jerk, ass-backwards, charming zeal at play. 

The lack of rising development is all the more reason why B/E's grand unveiling demanded perfection. Instead, our first insight into their union is overshadowed by Clarke and the impending Bellarke reunion. B/E isn't central enough to the narrative to warrant focus that would put to rest any discord of illegitimacy. But you know which pair of the two is concentrated on for seven seasons now? Three guesses... 

But don't despair. Fandom has decreed, by its own appraisal, the shorthand of kissing and sex has rectified the discrepancy of a complete absence of pertinent on-screen development.

"It's not ideal storytelling," they say, "to exclude B/E's development. But The 100 has historically been a plot-driven, fast-paced, contained drama. It has always evaded expanding on character dynamics to fans' satisfaction.”

The writers have done more to present Josephine and Gabriel as soulmates with less airtime than B/E ever had in total. They don't lack the skill or time to fortify B/E in anyone's mind as the central romance. Jason made a conscious choice not to. Why would he? Does he think the endgame love story of the show's deuteragonist doesn't merit attention to detail by the writing? Or does it seem more likely, it was never his intention for B/E to cross the finish line?

And, for a plot-driven, fast-paced, contained drama, they sure have an awful knack for finding the time to showcase Clarke's kicked puppy reactions to an embracing B/E. We've had three thus far. One for science, one for emphasis, and one to say, "Do you people get it now?"

"Bellarke doesn't make any sense," they say, "if they wanted each other, they'd have gotten together by now." 

A long time ago, someone stated, "Lovers are supposed to do that you know and if they don’t do that it means their relationship isn’t romantic if sexual intercourse isn’t added." 

And to that, I posed the question, "Where exactly is it written that "if a pairing is not made canon by season [insert arbitrarily chosen number here], it will never be made canon, period?" Was I just absent from fandom class that day and skipped to the lesson on slow-burn ships?" We are going into the final season, and I stand by this question today as I did then. Bellarke could refrain from physical expressions of love and candid confessions to season 17, and their journey could continue to exemplify a love story. Because the absence of either one doesn't preclude two people from falling in love. Nor does the inclusion of either one necessitate two people falling in love. 

"Bellarke doesn't make any sense," they say. They say because Bellamy is her dearly beloved, but platonic, best friend.

Well, you've got me there. I'm stumped. How can it be possible for friendship and romantic love to behave as anything but mutually exclusive concepts? It's not as if friendship can be contorted to serve as a foundation for love.

 The cornerstones of strong friendships include trust, care, support, devotion, and many other features of a similar nature. Love- deep and genuine love, that is- involves frequent kissing and passionate, vigorous sex. The wilder the display, the stronger the pairing. The dozens of couples, love interests, and sexual liaisons before B/E who have kissed and had sex before dying must not have first consulted the manual for proper protocol.

And the inverse? Once two people fall in love, they cannot fall back to say, a familial connection. No, no, no. Such a regression would be the work of a tragic, reprehensible flaw in the cogs of the universe. Speak nothing of it.

"It doesn't make sense for B/E to break up," they say, "when B/E has stayed together for two seasons sans any indication Bellamy loves Clarke more than Echo, enough to want to leave his loving girlfriend."

How many times has Bellamy tried and failed to honor his commitment to Echo? How many weak attempts are met with a corresponding scene of Bellamy shifting his attention to the girl he tells himself to get over?

Echo leaves for Shallow Valley, his focus immediately turns onto persuading Clarke not to leave his side. He symbolically chooses Echo in the fireside scene by touching her sword. Yet, he looks at his girlfriend for the first time since their separation with the most aloof expression unsuitable for the occasion. No hope to be found anywhere. They share a brief reunion hug, no time for intimacy. He is reunited with Clarke and casts a nervous glance at Echo when bombarded with Clarke's appreciative gaze. Still no time for intimacy between B/E before a decade-long nap, but time can be carved out for a warm, flirty Bellarke reconciliation, complete with intensive heart eyes. No inspired, emotionally wrought, double sunlit embraces for B/E. If Bellamy is going to look out of a window at his future home, he'll either be by himself or snuggling Clarke into his side. There's no place for Echo in the lock of his arms anymore, only room for flanking him in the way loyal lieutenants tend to do. His girlfriend glances over at him as their exploratory team roughly plummets to new territory, and he does the same at Clarke. B/E reconnects lakeside, him asking for a swim with her and leaning into her arms at a campfire. He sits by her side on a swing set, amidst talk of moving their people into an abandoned village. And it's all well and good for B/E, right? They're presenting the front of a happy, unified couple. 

Until...Clarke walks away behind his sight, and he leaves Echo's side to seek Clarke's missing presence where the flirting and warm gazes and near confessions are kicked into overdrive. He calls Echo to hear his latest discovery, then proceeds to ignore the hell out of her, communicating exclusively to his co-leader. He stares wistfully at Clarke dancing with her new flavor of the night, cannot stop doing so even while excoriating Echo for her stoicism, expressing his frustration at her inability to fulfill his emotional needs. 

He recommits to Echo, as Clarke is kidnapped and her body is stolen, with nary a transition, suggesting we are meant to link the two incidents together. For all his resolve to face the future with Echo, he spends the whole of the next episode with a wary eye on Clarke, to the point that he is the first to realize Clarke is not herself. In the ensuing arc ranging from 6x05 to 6x11, approximately half of the season, what was B/E, again? Was that a thing concurrently happening with Bellamy's Operation: Save My Clarke? Because I seem to be able to recall only Bellarke goodness. Oh, my mistake, there was the consoling hug which, oddly enough, did nothing to soothe him. As evidenced by his choice to grieve alone. No girlfriend he wanted close by for comfort, knowing clear as day she couldn't provide it if she tried. Not with who he just lost. 

B/E gets another brief reunion hug, the majority of which is spent with him peering at Clarke. The show saw that hug and raised us an Austenesque-quality counterpart that would do Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy proud. 

"B/E endgame is the only sensible outcome," they say, "they love each other so much."

I don't contend they don't love each other. But we are shown two people determined but incapable of snuffing their deep-rooted feelings out of noble propriety, and most importantly, out of needless fear of unrequited love. And another two people who sought- and failed- to keep grasping the wisps of a gentle relationship slipping out of their hands since they left their comfortable space bubble. For anyone in this conundrum to be happy, the only natural course of action is for the latter to call it quits. The writing has been on the wall for too long.

Maybe a single Bellarke scene plucked out of the lineup can be interpreted on its own as platonic buddies being platonic buddies. But when all those individual moments are woven together, what forms is an ornate tapestry with a pattern so vivid, any inane rhetoric involving a hint of the word "platonic" is little more than ludicrous anti drivel transparently cooked up by those wishing a different endgame.

I hope you've enjoyed my second long-winded rant, @sometimesrosy, @jeanie205, @travllingbunny. One born of a teaching moment in which I learn for the umpteenth time it's best to steer clear of Twitter.

[someplace-that-is-else]

‘Until We Meet Again: The 100′s Final Season--Wasted Potential or A Fit Ending?’

Editor’s Note: Spoilers for the last season of The 100 as well as past seasons.

 I was surprised.

 In the closing hours of the sixth season of The 100, the CW announced that it would be getting a seventh season. They also announced that it would be the final season.

 What? FINAL season? Really?

 The fifth season was a great season for the show with the six-year time jump, ending in another time jump that spanned 125 years and a new planet. The sixth season was an intriguing new world and storyline. It had been a while since it went hardcore sci-fi…A.L.I.E. in the divisive third season…the sixth season did it with ripe possibilities, plot twists, and…as was usual for this show…actual death. Labeled Book 2, I had been curious to see where the creator Jason Rothenberg and the writers would take us given Book 1 took 5 seasons.

 But now? Would main characters Clarke and Bellamy (aka Bellarke) end the show together? Would humanity learn any better given they have survived at least TWO apocalypses? Would Octavia (my favorite character who had gone from the girl under the floor to Grounder to Skairippa to lethal Red Queen) get a happy ending?

 With 16 episodes announced, there was plenty of time. Plenty of time to close out the story. My co-worker who was a big fan of course was worried. She grew moreso the closer it got to the time when the CW usually promoted. And…NOTHING.

 A sign of things to come…or just paranoia?

What’s the Endgame?: The 100’s Serpentine Final Season Plot

 I’ll say this much. I was intrigued.

 At the end of last season, our main characters revealed to the people of the new planet Sanctum that the leaders they worshipped as gods were not. They used technology to transfer their consciousness into ‘willing’ people. After being that way for centuries, how would these people go on when their belief system had been revealed to be false? Some people were angry at being deceived. Others felt mad at Clarke and friends for revealing the truth, destroying their system of living.

 Meanwhile we had Clarke and the others still dealing with the truce between them and the Eligius prisoners that were part of their crew now. Their leader Diyoza was missing, leaving the Eligius adrift. And due to the end of Season Six, Clarke’s own crew were on a slippery slope, thinking her ‘daughter’ Madi was still the Commander.

 Four different factions. So many possibilities. They were possibilities that the writers appeared to want to touch on. And there was the question of…could they all get along? Be greater and better than the sum of their parts? Or was the last of humanity doomed to be in constant conflict?

 Then there was the disappearance of Bellamy…

  Ah! Bellamy. After being a co-leader with Clarke basically for most of the seasons, Bellamy found himself at the center of a new mystery. Moments after his sister Octavia disappeared into mist after being stabbed by new character Hope, Bellamy was full of questions about what had just happened. What he got was knocked out, dragged across the ground by people unseen, and then vanished into the Anomaly, a circle of light that was a mystery left over from last season.

 What followed was several different stories. There was Echo, Bellamy’s girlfriend, on the hunt for the vanished Bellamy. There was the mystery of what happened to Octavia. There’s Clarke and Friends chasing after her as well as getting to the bottom of the Bellamy mystery. Meanwhile, there was Madi left behind, dealing with her duty versus a desire for a normal life. There also was the growing tension between the Eligius prisoners and the natives of the new world.

 Because that was not enough, there were curveballs. Oh…that crazy Commander from the Flame, the symbol of the tribes united under Clarke? He possessed one of the last False Gods on this world. You had one of Clarke’s group Starscream-que Murphy and his lover Emori…also pretending to be Gods themselves due to a plot thread from last season. Diyoza and Octavia’s whereabouts revealed the origins of new character Hope…and a whole other world Bardo. And behind Bardo…was a loose plot thread that was seeded all the way back in Season Four. Oh, and did we mention there was a lot of time jumping, one prequel tale (aka a backdoor pilot), and world travelling a la SLIDERS.

 It was not unusual for The 100 to throw so many ideas at the audience. But so many ideas…INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK?  In the FINAL season?

 Yes, a few of the ideas were intriguing. On their own. But all of them…together?

 I could not begin to describe how many times I felt like I needed a cheat sheet to keep up with everything. And even then…there would be weeks where the viewers never saw a set of characters or a plotline. There was one case when one character was gone for weeks aka a long stretch of episodes. Worse given how important that character was to several characters, no one noticed they were missing.

 Or the time jumping. There would be a plotline with a plot twist. Then the show would jump back three months. Then it would move a few weeks ahead to show another angle. Or when it decided to explain the whereabouts of Bellamy, it chose an episode where time passed and then it jumped ahead to the present, picking up a storyline from another episode. It was the very definition of whiplash.

 At the start of the season, the writers pondered an interesting question. Was the last of humanity doomed to constant conflict…or could they be better than that? While the Bardo plot thread tapped into that theme, the show became style over substance. And that style…was smoke and mirrors. I thought that theme was being tackled with the four factions on Sanctum. Now? The writers gave up on it. Sadly.

 By the time the writers revealed the whereabouts of Bellamy, most of the season was over. Worry kicked in. Was there still time to resolve the characters’ stories…or would it be…a rushed ending?

 Speaking of which…

 The Girl Under the Floor: The 100 and Natural Ends

 Clarke. Octavia. Indra. Echo. Madi. Miller. The names go on and on.

 Throughout six seasons, viewers have gone through the highs and lows with these characters. Viewers saw Clarke kill her first love Finn. Viewers saw Indra take Octavia under her wing, giving her a mother figure that she missed in her own life. Viewers saw Madi lose her mind. The Conclave. Praimfaya. Mount Weather. A.L.I.E. Characters had been known to go through it on this show. Things happened. People changed.

 So near the end of The 100’s run, viewers wanted to know…how would their favorites end up?

 What they got…AGAIN…was smoke and mirrors.

 The writers appeared to be more focused on new characters than the characters that viewers had gotten to know over six seasons. In some cases, like Bardo native Levitt, it worked because he became involved with a character viewers cared about. In this case Octavia. Others like that Diyoza-lite chick had no connection to the faves, other than being annoying no matter how sympathetic she was written. Or worse, they were like Hope. A rapidly aged child of Diyoza, Hope was more whining annoying brat than a fighter like viewers expected her mother to be. Given more time, she might have become likable, but…there was no time.

And speaking of time…what of the old timers? The characters the audience cared about. So many characters have come and gone. Finn. Lincoln. Lexa. Jaha. Jasper. Clarke’s own mother Abby. Only a handful of the original 100 were left along with well developed supporting characters. With this being the last season, were they coming to a natural end?

 Octavia was being dealt with efficiently as the writers highlighted the fact that she was on a path to redemption after two seasons of darkness and introspective healing. But what about Clarke…THE MAIN CHARACTER? After doing what she had to do for her people, what would her happy ending be…at peace with Madi, finding a new love, and/or finding a way for all humanity to live peacefully in such a way that the sacrifices were worth it? Or what of Indra…what end does she deserve as a warrior? What of Madi…would she choose a normal teenager’s life or the life of being a commander of her warrior people?

 Off the top of my head, there were two characters who had quite a nice end. First there was Octavia. After the horrors she committed as The Red Queen and trying to make amends, she discovered redemption through the eyes of others who saw her through a different and fresh set of eyes. First, Hope who looked up to her as a mother figure. Then through the eyes of a complete stranger in Levitt who found her inspiring. She found the one thing that she had been looking for throughout the whole series: belonging and acceptance.

 The other character was Murphy. The cockroach. From the ‘Starscream’ of the group to showing some sense of right and wrong. And along with Emori, they were the ultimate scheme team. Slowly, but surely there was love. Posing as false gods presented a new challenge for them…what happens when a scheme team is given actual responsibilities for people. And through this challenge, the viewers learned exactly how much Murphy had grown through the series as well as explored layers to Emori that we did not even know she had.

 That was not the fate for all the characters we knew and loved.

  Madi started off alone in the series, discovering love through her motherly bond with Clarke. And the constant debate of teenage life vs leader life has been a constant with her a la BUFFY lite. She was finally given a taste of what it was like to be a teen…then the plot arc of the Bardo people ended that. Abruptly, I might add. In fact, her fate felt like shock value for value sake given some of the other stories for characters.

 Gaia appeared posed to be a long overdue love interest for Clarke. Not to mention that the writers were exploring more of her relationship with her mother Indra. Instead, she became the character who vanished for the majority of the episodes. Worse, NO ONE noticed she was gone.

 There were several more instances of this (can we talk about the fact that while Raven got moments, she did not really have ANY endgame developments?), it was the main narrative characters who appeared to get the worst of this.

 And nowhere was that clearer than with Bellamy Clarke.

  Bait and Switch, or the Strange Case of Bellamy Clarke

I had always heard that you could tell how a TV show felt about a character/actor by how they were written out of a show. A recent example that came to mind was Charisma Carpenter’s character Cordelia Chase during Season 4 of ANGEL by way of a coma when all fans knew she was the heart and soul of that show. 

Another example was the character of Professor Maxmillian Arturo (played with wit, humor, and intelligence by John Rhys-Davies) on the sci-fi show SLIDERS. Not only was he stabbed with a syringe that rendered him dumb, but he was shot and his body left on a planet that exploded. All IN THE SAME EPISODE. Yeah, no love lost between the actor and the people in charge during that show’s third season.

 Which brings us to Bellamy Clarke…

 Bellamy Clarke had been with The 100 since the beginning. A reckless bad boy except for when it came to his sister Octavia, Bellamy went from that to being a frenemy to other main character Clarke to being a good friend and co-leader (birthing the ship name Bellarke) to a capable leader in his own right. Along the way, he made so many mistakes. Bellamy clashed often with others. But he grew. And the time jump saw him get a capable girlfriend in Echo. His bigger drama would always be with his sister Octavia as they clashed as only siblings could clash, but there was always love there. So it made sense that he would want to know the mystery of Hope and how it tied into his sister turning into mist and vanishing.

 But…he vanished himself. For the first half of the season, the mystery of his kidnapping was a plot. And then…during a shootout involving Octavia, Bellamy appeared to be blown up in an explosion. Granted, The 100 did not shy away from killing off a main character (Lincoln, Lexa), but it was so jarring to see it happen.

Just as bad as seeing Bellamy later…as a disciple of the Big Bad on Bardo. After a bottle episode involving a man vs nature theme (a theme I do not like and did not like in this case). And time jumping. AGAIN. Can we say whiplash?

 And then…Bellamy was SHOT. BY CLARKE. Body…left…bleeding…on…the floor.

 Can we say DOUBLE whiplash?

 I was aware thanks to the co-worker who got me into The 100 that there was some off-camera drama going on. And because of that, the actor had asked for some personal leave time. So his filming was very, very limited. HOWEVER, I know enough after years of watching tv shows (the situation with the two actresses on THE GOOD WIFE for example) AND soaps to know two things. One…if a writer had an actor for a limited time, you wrote a complete arc. You also filmed as much as possible. And if you needed said actor back at the end of a show and was not sure if they would be available…go ahead and film a scene to insert in the last episode. It was what the fans that have followed a show for years deserves. PERIOD.

 Two…the fate of Bellamy could have been written better than that. In fact, the writers were better off having Bellamy die in the Bardo explosion while trying to save his sister. That at least was true to his character and his complete arc on the show. If they had to do the disciple arc at all, there had to be some conflict over his loyalty to Clarke or his loyalty to Bardo. Allow the other characters to be conflicted, something the writers normally did not shy away from. Show, don’t tell the struggle. If Clarke had to shoot Bellamy, it had to make sense.

 From what was shown, there was plenty of time for Clarke to get the book of Madi’s memories. There was time to just simply knock Bellamy out. And if Bellamy had to be shot, there was time to write in the fate of his body. To fans’ knowledge, Bellamy’s body was still laying there on the floor, bleeding out. To add insult to injury, FakeRussell…who was in the same scene…was in the next episode with no Bellamy mentions.

 So let’s review. Bellamy was blown up in one episode. Bellamy was left on a world to fight nature on another. Bellamy was turned into a brainless disciple on another episode. Finally, Bellamy was shot dead by his best friend (who happened to be his wife IRL. How meta.).

 Shows what the writers and creator feel about the actor, don’t you think?

 May We Meet Again…?

 Regardless of the management of the character of Bellamy, The 100 had another main character to deal with. Clarke Griffin had been the main protagonist since Episode 1. She had lost her first love, lost a great love, and made quite a lot of serious choices for someone so young. And given that the theme of the last season was about humanity and its way of living, it was a sure thing that Clarke would have to make another major decision. But…would Clarke get a happy ending?

 Well…this show would not be this show…and Clarke would not be Clarke if she wasn’t put through it. My problem was that up until the end, Clarke was basically a cameo in her own show. That itself was an oddity given that she was the one focused on the hunt for Bellamy.

 There was potential. From what to do about Madi to how she was coping with her mother’s death to some vibes between her and Gaia, Clarke had several things spinning in her orbit coming into the last season. And what was surprising was NONE of it was touched on. 

And then…Bellamy was shot by her and Madi turned up brain dead in the service of the Bardo arc.

 In the end, Clarke was with her friends. And she was happy. But…she was not with her daughter though Madi did wind up in a better place. She was not with anyone though a cameo from the actress who played Lexa in the early seasons was nice. And her mother’s death was not touched on…though that actress also made a cameo in the last episode.

 Does Clarke deserve a happy ending? Debatably yes. But this season a happy ending did not at all feel earned. And it would be one thing if there was another season. However, this was the LAST season. Worse, was the central theme of this last season…a main theme of the show itself…answered? Did humanity learn to be better, or would they stay in constant conflict?

 In the end…humanity DID learn to be better. Interestingly it took Octavia and Raven going to bat for humanity to make that happen. And that was after Clarke had again failed after making a near fatal decision for the rest of the group. After watching Clarke grow into a capable leader, I was saddened to see that in the end she felt like a footnote. As did Bellamy.

 Well…I guess I could look on the bright side…Octavia got a happy ending. And a complete arc. So did Murphy. Raven proved she was also an important character akin to the many times that Bonnie Bennett had to save all the characters on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES constantly, usually at great sacrifice to herself. But Clarke and Bellamy…the actual main characters…well…

 For a show to be told they got 16 episodes to wrap up plots that had been going on and characters that have been developed over 7 years, I would say it went out with a whimper. Given other shows with notice like HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER and THE MAGICIANS went out with just about everything wrapped up fittingly and just about all characters serviced almost correctly if not outright perfectly, The 100’s last season looked like patchwork in comparison. Like the writers threw everything at the wall to see what would stick. Or worse…they got so distracted by what was shiny and new, they forgot about the characters that viewers cared about.

 In the end, I guess the last season was like a sandcastle. It looked nice, but once the waves come in, it went away. So much potential…washed back into nothing.

     #the100 #cw #bellarke #jasonrothenberg #octavia #finalseason #bellamy #clarke #sliders #charismacarpenter #angel #johnrhysdavies #arturo #starscream #buffy #whiplash #thevampirediaries #howtogetawaywithmurder #themagicians

[kinetic-elaboration]

100 Days of Writing: Day Forty

I’m getting really lazy about this lol. Today’s entry: the answers to a few random questions that have spoken to me, from days I skipped.

Project courtesy of @the-wip-project​. Tagging fellow participants @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold​, @thelittlefanpire​, @hopskipaway​, @easilydistractedbyfanfic​, @dylanobrienisbatman​ @fontainebleau22.

This got VERY verbose, sorry....!

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Day 34: Do you prefer to write fluff or angst?

Funny story. I once had a fic nominated in the Best Angst Category in a fandom fic awards event. The nomination was, of course, flattering, but also really confusing, because I didn’t think the fic was particularly angsty. It wasn’t super fluffy either. It...just was? It was a basic strangers-to-lovers modern AU somewhere in the 7k range, and the main ship was endgame. There was a period where half of the main ship was dating someone else, but that was mostly mentioned in passing during a time skip; most of the actual content was the endgame couple talking/flirting/pining, and, again, they did get together in the end.

The nomination made me reconsider what I think ‘fluff’ and ‘angst’ are and what my relationships are to the genres. I feel like a lot of my work is neither.

Some types of stories are obviously one or the other. MCD and/or illness is angst. Hurt/comfort is angst. Romantic stories where the characters don’t end up together are, generally, angst. Romantic stories where the characters DO end up together but only after considerable obstacles can be angst, also--which might have been the rationale behind nominating the above fic in ‘angst’ although, again, it was only 7k. It’s one thing to have a 300k+ story where the main characters pine for each other, wallow in their feelings, fight, feel jealousy, etc, and the finally kiss in the final chapter--I’ve done that, too. A shorter story is a different beast.

Fluff, to me, is a genre of stories without (significant) conflict. The point is you feel good reading them. Romantic stories with established couples, or first date stories, are fluff. Slice of life or ‘curtain’ fic is fluff. Holiday fic with a found family feel is fluff.

I’ve written some stories that clearly fall into one of these two genres, sometimes because the challenge I’m doing or request I’m fulfilling calls for it, and sometimes because I need a palette cleanser after writing the opposite type of fic.

Another place I’ve thought about genre is with Troped, but I don’t always feel confident in the stories I’ve written there, in terms of theme. The very, very first round had a Fluff theme but I wasn’t sure if my story was fluffy (I’m still not). It had a happy ending and the final scene was decidedly cute, but the characters came from angsty backgrounds, and some of the early scenes had, imo, a melancholy feel. Then one of the 2020 Madness rounds had an Angst theme. I tried to fit my entry into that genre by giving it a general feeling of helplessness and an ambiguous, dreary ending. I think it was angsty, but it wasn’t as... hardcore angsty? as some of the other entries. I also picked the theme “angst” for one of my Choice fics and that one was decidedly angsty, both in the specific-trope sense--it dealt with the aftermath of a major character death--and in the more general ‘mood’ sense. The main relationship wasn’t repaired at the end, and the ending was ambiguous.

I feel like for every fic I’ve written that’s decidedly fluffy or decidedly angsty, and I could give examples of both, I’ve written one or more that isn’t really either. Again, most of the time, unless I have a specific reason to think ‘time to write angst’ or ‘time to write fluff,’ I don’t go into an idea thinking it should be one or the other. I usually have a mood I want, but it might not be simple to categorize.

ALL that said... I think if I had to pick one, it would be angst. I don’t like truly unhappy endings, but I’ve done a decent number of ambiguous endings. It’s also easier for me to think of stories I’ve written that I think are fairly categorized as angst than stories that are clearly fluff. Third, I love writing about pining, and longing, and missing, and needing, and these are not ‘fluffy’ feelings. But most importantly, like I said, I think ‘fluff’ is a type of story that has minimal-to-zero conflict in it and I actually find those VERY hard to write. Maybe We Will is probably the fluffiest thing I’ve written (4k of a first date at a carnival) and my biggest challenge was figuring out: what are these people going to DO?

This isn’t an insult to fluff at all. Fluff writers have a real talent for creating a pleasant narrative, and I like reading outright fluff more than reading outright angst. But for me, there is a lot more flexibility outside of fluff, whether or not the resulting narrative is truly “angsty” or not. It might not have the primary goal of making you feel sad, but it probably doesn’t have the primary goal of making you feel happy either.

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Day 37: Post your favorite line of dialogue that you’ve written recently. 

Skimmed the Sleeping Beauty AU for this one. As soon as I’m asked to think about dialogue I like, I wonder if I’ve ever written good dialogue in my life! Lol. You think about it too much and it all sounds fake. Here’s an exchange I think is pretty good (perhaps just in comparison to a lot of the Really Rough Writing that surrounds it...).

"That sounded like it went pretty well," she says, as she balances awkwardly against the wall, pulling on her boots. "From what I could hear."

Bellamy shrugs. He's scanning the crowd, glancing over at her impatiently when she stumbles, trying to tie her laces without bothering to kneel. "Roma doesn't ask a lot of questions."

Clarke snorts. "Yes, she does. What you really mean is, she asks a lot of questions, then gets distracted whenever you turn on the charm."

"Yeah, sure. My well-known charm."

Clarke lets her foot fall heavily to the ground again, straightens up and pushes her hair back from her face. "If you weren't flirting and being charming, what were you doing?"

Bellamy hesitates, a light, embarrassed pink spreading across his cheeks, and Clarke rises up on her toes triumphantly, trying to lean into his space. "I should have gotten more ration points," he says, barely more than a grumble, and Clarke laughs and pulls her hat down over her head. Then she picks up the jacket, slips it on, and steps purposefully in front of him.

"How do I look?"

Day 38: What comes first, plot or characters?

Well, I write fanfiction, so I feel like this is a tricky question to define. My current fandom does have a lot of characters though, so it is possible to have a general idea of a plot but not know who to put in it. That’s happened to me on a few occasions I think, but generally speaking... I think the two come simultaneously?

When I’m writing for Troped, it’s easier to start with the plot because certain elements of the challenge suggest (or require) a plot but never the characters to go in it. So sometimes I do work from plot --> characters there. It’s usually pretty seamless in that the plot-idea usually comes with at least some idea of the characters, but sometimes there’s ambiguity--for example, deciding to include Bellamy in Mad Women when he wasn’t initially supposed to be in it, which ended up changing/defining the story quite a bit. Another example is Mountain Lion Mean, where I knew right away what the general plot would be but waffled a bit about precisely which characters would be in it and to what degree.

Other challenges often define the characters first and so then by definition that’s where I start. For example, a Bellarke challenge obviously requires you to write about Bellarke, but depending on the other rules, the plot may come entirely from each individual writer without any additional prompting.

If it’s a wholly original/spontaneous idea.... it either is necessarily about plot and characters at once (ex: AU where X character is in Y place or examination of Z ship in a modern AU) or it comes as nothing but Mood. That mood might have elements of plot and bits of character but the best way I can describe it is that I develop both at once. For example, my Southern Gothic AU came to me as certain elements--a character who does X, a relationship with Y feel, Z ship--and I’m working on combining all of those into a narrative. Or, as another example, I currently have a vague desire to write something with a Slow Summer Vibe but I have no idea what it will be about or who will be in it.

But again, it’s often “I want to write an angsty Jonty AU” or “hmm what about a Bravenlarke fic particularly about being in a poly relationship” or “this song makes me picture Bellarke at the beach; let’s write that”--ideas that essentially capture both character and plot at once.

I don’t know if I’m doing a good job of describing this but I write so much for challenges and events that I don’t have a huge pool of data for ‘spontaneous ideas’ to analyze.

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Day 40: How do you start a new story?

I feel like I kind of already answered this in the last question. The very first step is an Idea, obviously. That would either come, in part, from the challenge or event I’m participating in or the request I’m filling, or it arrives by itself from some bit of inspiration: a song, a thought about a certain character or relationship, a mood I’m feeling and want to capture, etc.

But I feel like this question is about what happens with the idea.

Most (though not all) of the time, I start with a process of brainstorming and outlining. I’ve talked about this elsewhere, but I start by just sitting down with a notebook and writing down my thoughts, in a conversational style--basically like these posts. I write down any images I have, any plot points that have already come to me, etc. Everything I know. Then I brainstorm some more elements, filling in all the stuff I don’t know. Then I distill the plot down to discrete plot points: an outline of the whole fic in order. What needs to happen and in what order? The outline is generally organized by scene, though it’s flexible: sometimes scenes can be combined; sometimes they need to be split. Sometimes I need to re-evaluate the outline later, but most stories are simple enough that this initial outline works for the whole writing process.

I always write in order. I cannot write out of order. I need to immerse myself in the narrative and that means that events follow logically from each other. Also, sometimes what I come up with in the moment in scene 1 can change what I want to happen in scene 5--not so drastically that I’m re-writing the outline, but drastically enough that I would have to rewrite scene 5 if it were already done. That’s too complicated for me. I think there are probably advantages, in terms of amount of fun to be had, as well as in capturing ideas before they disappear from your brain, in writing scenes as the spirit moves you rather than in order, but I just can’t do it. That’s not how my mind works.

In order to start a fic, or even a new scene, I need to know HOW it starts and some idea of how I will describe that opening image/event/whatever. I often practice this for days before I actually write. For example, I’m going to write another Sleeping Beauty scene soon and I know it starts with Clarke hearing conversation behind her, so I’ve been practicing what that dialogue might be and how I might describe her listening while looking at something else. When I have a strong sense of the opening and a decent sense of the rest--what needs to happen to move along the plot--I just start writing. I do most of my writing as sprints.

Sometimes I write without an outline, and it’s basically the same process as the last paragraph, except I only have the opening and a vague sense of what’s to come. I don’t do that often anymore. But I started a couple outline-less fics last summer when I was just desperate to break my block and didn’t really feel like planning and stuff. I just wanted to get words on a page. Thus I have a couple WIPs that are about 1,200 words long and then just abruptly reach a cliff’s edge and stop!! I don’t know if I’ll outline or not before I return to them but right now I’m thinking not.

[lightcomingthroughthedarkness]

All of your opinions about bellarke are right and you should say them! At this point I’m praying for endgame which is so pathetic bc that should be the bare minimum for them after 6 seasons of build up we should be getting romantic seasons cute seasons heavy convos etc !

And I am saying them. 🤷‍♀️

I just want to say, it's not pathetic to expect endgame and you are not delusional. You are not dumb or wrong for seeing what is on screen.

The issue is Jason trying to be edgy and not follow through.

This is a serious question. Why did I need to see 3 seasons worth of physical scenes between Bec.ho but at the end of the day we might only get ONE or TWO physical canon scenes for Bellarke? Explain this to me as if I'm the dumbest person to ever exist. Why do I have to watch Bellamy have sex, kiss, hug and have every other soft moment with a girlfriend from off screen but with his actual love interest, the main ship, if it happens at all, will get one, maaaaybe two scenes?

Also while we're at it, why will Clarke have more physical scenes with her fuck-buddy than she will have with her main love interest? Again, explain this to me as if I'm the dumbest clown to ever exist, why does a fwb relationship have more physical scenes than the main ship?

Be.cho have more scenes than CL. Let that sit with you a little bit. Embrace it. Feel it. Be.cho, a time jump ship has more canon scenes, more physical scenes than Clarke, the main character, had with one of her great loves. So Be.cho has more physical scenes than Bellarke and CL will have COMBINED. And Bec.ho is doomed as hell yet they have MORE.

I'm dead serious. Someone, anyone explain this to me. I'm done with all the "this show isn't about ships" excuses. I'm done with the "Bellarke don't need to kiss" when the show has stated that both Clarke and Bellamy enjoy sex and physical relationships, so why does Bellarke not need those scenes? Explain to me why time jump ships are getting more than the main relationship of the show? Explain to me how other ships on this show have managed to get a TON of ship scenes but the main love story of the entire show will never reach that level?

Explain this to me without the above excuses.

[yiangchen]

I know this is super basic to ask for the shipping then when it comes to Bellarke, but i REALLY need an answer for number 3 XD

Okay, I know you just asked for 3, but since the ask says I’m supposed to answer all three, I answered all three. Hope you don’t mind!

Send me a ship and I'll answer three questions based on if I ship it or not.

Ship It

1. What made you ship it? 

Honestly? I think tumblr??? For reasons unknown, I actually used to be a Fl.arke shipper. Yes, it’s horrifying, I know. How I ever thought they had chemistry is BEYOND me. I’ve talked about this before on my blog--not much though because it’s really fucking embarrassing lmao--but I actually considered not continuing with the show after Finn died. I don’t really remember why I stuck with it. All I remember is that I watched s1 and 2 without even knowing Bellarke was A Thing, and during the hiatus before s3, I discovered tumblr and was caught completely off guard by all the Finn/Fl.arke hate. Everyone (aside from the CLs obviously) were obsessed with Blarke, and I must have read some posts about them because by the time 3x02 came around, I was sold. At this point I was still a relatively casual viewer and from the moment Bellamy unnecessarily brushed his fingers down Clarke’s cheek while she looked at him like he was her whole entire world--let me tell you, I was freaking out and convinced they were gonna happen that season...Needless to say, it has been one hell of a journey.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

So many things, so I’ll just name a few...1. I absolutely adore enemies to friends to lovers ships, especially if they are slowburn. 2. The co-leader dynamic they had in s1 was incredible. 3. Not to be shallow, but they just look good together. They are an aesthetic, okay? 4. The head and the heart, which is probably one of the most misunderstood things about them. It’s not that Clarke doesn’t feel things and Bellamy does; it’s that they deal with emotions in different ways. While Clarke compartmentalizes, Bellamy wears his heart on his sleeve, at least in s1-4, I mean. 5. How soft they are with each other. 6. The trust and faith they have in each other. THE DEVOTION. 7. The way they forgive each other when no one else will. 8. Bob and Eliza’s chemistry is unmatched!!

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I’m not sure if this is unpopular, but I feel like prime time for Bellarke was s3, and at this point, even if they do happen, I don’t think Jason will do them justice. Of course I want them to just fucking kiss already and I want them to be endgame because we’ve waited so long, but part of me will always believe that they waited too long. The set up for romantic Bellarke was all there in s2, and then in s3, even though the Bellarke was good, they should have been canon that season. L never should have come back. Gina never should have been introduced as Bellamy’s (first) time jump girlfriend. Bellarke should have fucking happened in s3, and if not then, the next best time was s5. After 4x13, the buildup was all there for romantic Bellarke, and instead we got...well, you know what we got. Yet another time jump girlfriend for Bellamy, one he’s still with over two seasons later. It’s just really really really annoying. I can’t stand it when a show builds up a ship and then delays it happening to keep people watching until the end. It’s just not organic!! Prime time for Bellarke to happen was s3 or s5, and Jason blew it. At this point, I want them to get together just so I can actually see them kiss on screen, but it just won’t hit the same as s3 or s5 Bellarke kissing would have. It just won’t.

[plainvanillapotato]

the 100 diaries S1 E5

quarantine diaries: may 23 2020

season 1 episode 5: “Twilight’s Last Gleaming”

is the title a reference to the american anthem? cuz if so remember fergie? 

bet you wish you could go back to those good old days

anyway back to the show

finn and clarke. its a cute ship but i dont think that its endgame especially with raven coming down to stir the pot but also because i’ve read some of y’alls urls...

population reduction. nice way to say mass murder. 

what are the actual odds that raven would actually land close to where the 100 is at? cuz i have a feeling its not high but plot i guess

for someone is really about hope and being optimistic clarke really said why would i wish on a shooting star “its just a rock burning up in the atmosphere”

*after seeing raven’s pod enter the atmosphere* “please tell me they brought down some shampoo”- a girl that bellamy is sleeping with...I am this girl and this girl is me. Cuz homegirl is asking the real-life questions. like do they have toilet paper what about pads or tampons i assume no and umm big yikes. but when we all panic bought toilet paper wow that was only a couple of weeks ago. also what these kids really need are some goddamn condoms. cuz from what i’ve seen they are not fit to be parents.

these fools out here thinking that the ark is dropping supplies but its just raven very horny for finn. little does she know about finn and clark. is this a train wreak waiting to happen yes think so...uh oh spaghettios

clarke watching finn and raven reunite big awkward 

also can we please talk about how raven literally crash landed but her eyebrows are still on fleek. i could never.

love how octavia calls bellamy “bell”--> please tell me that someone has photoshopped bellamy’s face on bell body from beauty and the beast if so please reblog with the image cuz i need it in my life

bellamy cutting out the radio and throwing it in the creek-->once again bellamy proves that he’s out here just to save his own skin but ok yeah i understand it like ngl i would do the same

i dont understand thelonious. one episode he’s like no kane who the tf do you think you are? you can’t go around and kill people and then in this episode he’s like ok so imma kill myself and leave you in charge :/

abby negging theloniuous to not kill himself...wow now i see where clarke gets it

oh Octavia...im clumsy too.

maybe its because im rewatching atla but bellamy talking about how jaha deserved to die reminds of jet and the freedom fighters. it might also be because bellamy’s hair in this episode is a lot like jet’s. 

see... jet vibez

i know in one of my other posts i compared bellamy to zuko but as of rn he’s more of a jet (charming yet ruthless leader of a group of kids) especially back to whatever episode where he did a speech about privilege and wanting the upper class to do the work for once--> very reminisce of Jet and the freedom fighters. both bellamy and jet are very bitter towards those in power because they did wrong toward their family members. BUT also season 1 of avatar where jet is willing kill a village just to get rid of the fire nation is similar to bellamy wanting everyone to take off their wristbands despite clarke’s warning about how the need the aid of the ark to survive

and yes im aware of the comparison between bellarke but zutara now idk about that because zutara holds a special place in my heart. honest to god there was so much parallels between the two (twin flames) and foreshadowing you can’t convince that the two are not soulmates. i’ll wait and see tho

abby really released the video that she essentially killed her husband for creating. ok. and then she pretend that the council was the one responsible for his death when she was the person that gave him up. playing the hero when you’re actually the villain

aww the dad is gonna voluntarily die to help his daughter...my heart

side note: what is the life expectancy of people on the arc cuz the oldest person i’ve seen (kane’s mom) could not have been older than 75

wow they really didn’t see the signal from earth great. just great. is it just me or is how they killed the people on the ark remind you of gas chambers? idk this episode was very sad and depressing for me

also now clarke wants to wish on a star? is that character development or is she just salty about finn and raven?

fuck....Octavia is dead that or i predict that she becomes the princess of grounders kind like how princess leia was taken in by the ewoks (and before anyone gets any ideas no I do not consider grounders as lesser beings if anything i think that they are superior to the spacers i’m just spewing out random shit)

also major side note: where the hell is this asian lady on the ark. the last i saw of her was the pilot episode so where is she?? did they cut out of the story??!

....i was very curious and annoyed so i looked it up and yes. they did fucking cut her out. wtf did they really just bait me with diversity in the pilot. I’m honestly mad because as an Asian american i like to see representation which is why i was so happy to see female asian american on screen when i watched the pilot. now im angry. while i know that diversity is not a big deal to some people it is to me and i really don’t appreciate the 100 showing all these diverse faces in pilot to only to just cut them out of the show. seriously wtf (monty better have a badass storyline) 

don’t worry i’ll keep watching the show and blogging but rn im just really disappointed in the show. like really please don’t dangle diversity in my face when you’re just gonna snatch it away

[osleyakomwonkru]

hi, for the salty ask list: 1, 5, 10 and 19

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get? /  5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

I’m answering these two questions together, because they very much go together for me, and the answer is: Clexa.

As I’ve mentioned before, I started watching the show between S4 and S5. And before I’d met my infection vector (Ilian and then by extension Octavia), the only thing I’d ever heard about the show was that there was this badass lesbian called Lexa who had this epic romance with an equally badass bisexual Clarke, until Lexa was killed in a particularly tragic case of the Bury Your Gays trope. 

That had been enough to put me off the show initially, since LGBTQ representation and portrayals in media are very important to me. But Octavia’s storyline intrigued me enough that I was like, okay, I’ll give it a shot anyway, and then I went into it all ready to be righteously angry when Lexa died. 

Only... that didn’t happen. I watched the first three seasons, and couldn’t see any sign of that epic romance that fandom had told me about. Clarke and Lexa were actively hostile with each other (well, the hostility was mostly on Clarke’s part) for much of their screentime together. Then things began to soften, and then they slept together, and then Lexa died. This last sentence all happened within the space of three episodes - not a lot of time at all.

Was it a bad case of the Bury Your Gays trope? Oh, for sure. There are a hundred better ways Lexa could have died. But she was always going to. This isn’t a romance tale of happily ever after, and people in her position live dangerous lives, and once she’d been brought into focus she wasn’t a character that could be put Out of Focus again. She wasn’t ever going to survive the plot. Not in this sort of ‘verse.

But fandom had built them up to be this huge epic sweeping romance, when in reality they had very little time together under very trying circumstances. The epic wasn’t there. It was the start of something, which may have turned epic had Lexa lived. But she didn’t and it didn’t, so the idea that it was this grand love that Clarke still mourns intensely years later just doesn’t sit right with me.

I think had fandom been honest about what their relationship was - the start of something then cut tragically short - then I wouldn’t have gone into the show with the expectations I did, and I could have appreciated the relationship for what it was rather than what fandom told me it was. So yeah, fandom ruined Clexa for me.

10.  Most disliked arc? Why?

Bellamy taking Clarkephine on their forest walkabout in S6. And if we want to expand that a bit further, Bellamy’s entire arc with Clarke since the beginning of S5, where he’ll throw everyone else under the bus and even ignore her own wishes to save her from either a perceived or actual threat.

If there *hadn’t* been a six year separation where they each lived very different lives, maybe I could buy it. Maybe. But as it is, especially given that she hasn’t done the same for him? No. The only conceivable explanation - where he’s willing to throw both his blood family and his found family under the bus on a consistent basis for her benefit - is that he’s in love with her. Yet we’re supposed to believe their relationship is platonic, but he does things for her that he won’t do for any other platonic friend - so why is this girl who he’s known personally for mere weeks the one he chooses, especially given he’s repeatedly chosen her over his sister who was the centre of his world for seventeen years, as well as over Spacekru who he lived and formed bonds with for six years? I’m not a Bellarke shipper, but if they’re not supposed to be endgame, I don’t know what the hell they’re doing here. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

Then there’s the overt hypocrisy where he’s ready and willing and wanting to know about and accept what Clarke went through during those six years, but won’t do the same for Octavia. Where he’ll forgive Clarke for what he did to her (no, that’s not a typo, he somehow thinks that he’s the aggrieved party when he’s quite the opposite), but not do the same for Octavia. Where he’ll prioritize Clarke over everyone else, even her own daughter that she’ll risk everything for.

I hate it. Hate hate hate.

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

I have to pick just one? Haha. Well, there are many different ways that I could answer this question, depending on what precisely is meant by “fandom” - does that mean in this context the canon source material, does it mean the fans of the show? Because other questions in this quiz make it sound like it could go either way.

I’m going to go on the “fans of the show” aspect here, since the canon would make me rant for days in many different ways, so let’s stick to fan behaviours.

At which point, I have to go with the rabid shipper behaviour - you know the type, where their every response to JRoth’s Twitter posts is something about their ship, even when the post has nothing to do with any of that. Where they threaten X, Y and Z if their ship doesn’t happen. Where they hate on actors whose characters are standing in the way of their ships.

This is not a romance show. Who is fucking who is not the be-all end-all of the universe. If you’re still reading this post after I’ve already ranted about both Clexa and Bellarke, then I’ll assume you’re probably not one of those rabid shippers. I mean, obviously, love and relationships are a part of life, but the most compelling storylines and story arcs are not about romance. They’re often about how far people are willing to go to save the people they love, but what type of love that is can vary drastically, and more often than not, isn’t based on romance.

[talesofafangirlwithadvr]

JULY PICKS

What emotions I experienced this month! Does the CW understand that they can’t have TWO series finales happen on back to back days? It’s hard enough to say goodbye to one show. From binge-watching to theater going there’s a lot to talk about; so let’s get started!

Are you really shocked that there’s a SPOILER warning? 

STRANGER THINGS

We’ll start with one of the first watches of the month: the third season of Stranger Things. I teased at the end of last months wrap up that I might do an entire post just on this last season, but time got away from me. Nonetheless, I’ll try to keep it short. (Or try) ;)

THIS IS ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING!! DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE THIRD SEASON OF STRANGER THINGS!! But I’m sure you have already. 

Don’t watch the finale at 12:30 in the morning or later, unless you want to cry. That was just me...okay. But seriously, why Hopper? Now I know since it was released everyone has theories that Hopper’s not gone for good. We didn’t see him turn to ash like those Russians. There was a look but not enough to warrant this is the end. And of course the notorious, “The American” line during the after the credits scene. I just hope this isn’t TOO overly obvious making it not true because that will really upset me...A LOT.  I love the fact that El is staying with Joyce. (It makes complete sense that she would.) Don’t love that she doesn’t have her powers. I thought it was interesting in the end how Mike and El are like ‘See ya later,’ because they’re moving, but Jonathan and Nancy feel like they’ll never see each other again. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be because El and Mike are kids and their love isn’t as deep? Either way I really hope this isn’t the end of Jonathan and Nancy. Big fan of Steve (as usual) and Robin and honestly just the whole Scoops crew (”It’s not America without Erica!”). They were definitely one of my favorite story lines of this season (and there were many). I feel bad that Steve is without love again this season, but I love his relationship with Robin and I think they did a great job introducing her character. I’m excited to see what happens next season with her. Overall, just really like all the relationships this season. Of course Dustin’s girlfriend is real and yes I haven’t been able to get that song out of my head since. Big fan of El and Max getting some girl time. El exploring the mall was one of my favorite scenes. It was also great to see so many old stores (shout out to Sam Goody!). While this season was definitely the darkest so far, I really liked the energy it brought and am excited to see what’s next. My only big suggestion is to give Will more actions than just touching his neck when something bad happens. We know he’s capable of so much more after season 2 and I’m upset he didn’t do more this season. Oh and always make sure to give us a cool team up scene where they circle around each other ready to attack. (See below--it’s the best one I could find, but you know what I’m talking about.)

Jane the Virgin

One of the two series finales I’ve watched this month. It’s so bittersweet when a show is over. You hope they do it right and don’t want any loose ends, and at the same time you’re so sad it’s over. (Or you have that weird feeling where you’re in denial and expect another new episode next week.) Jane the Virgin was a show that I started bingeing this year and I knew would be upsetting when it ended. (I mean I was upset when I had no new episodes to watch.) But I am really happy (and satisfied) with how they ended it. The hour long special prior to the finale was a nice touch looking back on the show and talking about how revolutionary it was for the time period (especially when it started). There still is nothing else like it on TV and I’m not sure anything ever will be like it again. I loved all the magical realism they included in it and how despite all the crazy moments (”speaking of telenovelas..”), it was so relate-able. As someone who was Team Michael from the beginning, I grew to really love Jane and Rafael. So the start of this season when Michael came back with his amnesia and then when he got his memories back was extremely frustrating and I wasn’t always excited to watch it. But once that plot was resolved it became more entertaining for me. I love Matteo and the girls. Petra’s character development was HUGE and she has become one of my favorites-especially her sisterhood with Jane. Xo and Ro, Alba and Jorge. It’s really sad to say good-bye to all of these characters. I might have to re-watch some old episodes...     

iZombie

Wednesday was Jane the Virgin’s series finale and Thursday was iZombie. Like I said earlier: really CW? After a “minor” hiccup of the episode not taping (Okay, I was really upset about the fact I had to wait to watch it on demand), I watched it the next day. This season there was SO MUCH going on from the Dead enders, to Fillmore Graves, and then Liv’s dad. As we were quickly approaching the end, I wasn’t sure how they were going to address everything and then I was really hoping that they weren’t going to drop the ball on anything. But the finale really delivered (as all seasons did). All of these story-lines came to a head and Seattle saw its war on zombism that was bound to happen. There were casualties and people becoming zombies that I didn’t see coming, but in the end the cure was FINALLY created. Lots of twists and turns to get there and then we jumped ten years. I liked looking into the future and hearing from Clive, Ravi and Peyton. Deep down I knew Liv couldn’t be dead, but they did have me worried for a little bit. Or for the fact that they didn’t know she was alive. So it was a really nice touch in the last few minutes where Liv and Major spoke with them. (Btw super happy that they were endgame. I desperately wanted it this season and they didn’t have too many scenes until the last few episodes, so I didn’t believe, but PHEW!) One question I still have is what is Seattle like now? Do only zombies live there now or is Liv’s family the only remaining zombies? It was a little confusing to me. Let me know if you better understood it.  

The 100

Disclaimer: I have not watched the finale..yet. I’m sorry. But this is relating to all the episodes leading up to it. 

Something I’m noticing with a lot of the shows this summer season is that the second half is more intriguing. I tend to save up a lot of episodes and then when a certain plot line starts to pick up I feel more invested. This season of the 100 has been like that for me. But since the group (or should I say Bellamy) discovered that Clarke was alive and then she fought with Josephine, I have found it really entertaining. I like the transformation that Octavia has gone through, Echo has really grown on me (believe it or not) especially since watching her backstory, and as usual Murphy is one of my favorites. In the last episode I watched when Clarke goes back and pretends to be Josephine I love how we got to see who Murphy was truly loyal to. And then when Clarke talks with them and he says Josephine called him John. So good. The only part I’m really not a fan of his Maddie’s story-line. i just feel like we’ve got so much other stuff going on that it feels forced. But then again it will probably play a big part in the finale. 

As a huge Bellarke fan since day one I have been taking in all of these moments between them these past couple of episodes and seriously feel like if they don’t get together next season (which is their last) it will be a mistake. Bellamy’s face when Clarke was dying...He needs her and her him. Come on Jason! (Okay rant over. If you want more Bellarke see my page: Lydia-yougowith-Stiles.)    

KRYPTON

I know this SYFY original started its second season back in June, but I truly didn’t start to catch up until July. (Like A LOT were saved on my DVR and I did seriously think about cutting it loose.) I enjoyed the first season and the story of Superman’s grandfather and was interested to see what would happen in season two. The beginning of this season felt slow for me though. I just wanted most of the characters reunited and to know that Seg was alive. I had a feeling Brainiac would somehow be in him because it would be too easy if the villain was gone. Once people started interacting with each other it held more of my attention and then once SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER.......  Lyta “died.” (It’s really only on a scifi show that you can put “died” in quotes.) That really through me off. I didn’t think she’d die. So was I completely shocked when it was revealed that she didn’t die and her clone did instead- a little? I was more upset. I felt like for her character to die would work because characters would transform and react in a way that would stir up the show. Like I said this was one of the reasons why I stayed tuned in. I mean there’s still a chance (haven’t watched the last episode of this either) that she will die, but I have a feeling she won’t. I like seeing Val alive and present on the show rather than just a hologram in the fortress. Seeing Dev and Jayna team up has been really great. I always enjoy Nyssa and Seg’s relationship and just about jumped up and down when JOR-EL GOT HIS NAME!!! You knew it had to be him all along, but at the same time I was like when is it going to happen? It was so epic with the dramatic pause and the Superman theme playing in the background. One of the best parts of this season (in my opinion). Now they just have to get him back. 

PANDORA

I feel like I’m watching a lot in the Sci-Fi genre this summer. This CW show was one that I hadn’t heard of before the first episode aired. It grabbed me because there were so many familiar faces in the cast. (If you’ve watched shows like The Librarians, Ride or Free Rein you’ll know what I mean.) It follows Jax who lived on one of Earth’s colonies called New Portland, which was recently bombed. She was the only survivor. As she makes her way to Earth, to live with her Uncle and attend the academy, she is on a mission to solve her parents’ death and discover what truly happened. This is VERY Sci-Fi (which shouldn’t come as a shock I know). It’s cast of characters include humans, telepaths, aliens, clones, and part cyborgs. In the first episode you’re introduced to A LOT of characters, so it’s a little information overload. I also find that when I start a new episode it often feels like you’ve missed a previous one or that you started midway. I think it’s because of the styling of the episodes. They often jump a lot of time without telling you, or think you understand a definition, but really don’t. (There’s something involving Jax’s past that I still don’t 100% get.) But there’s something about this show that has me actually caught up with episodes. Right now it feels very much like a first season because the episodes are (not to use the same word) episodic. Something happens and then is solved the same episode. There’s an overarching plot, but it’s just in the background (probably until the finale). With the large cast of characters there are also a lot of ships and almost everyone interactions lead you to believe they could be a couple, so i feel very conflicted. RIght now though I keep getting drawn back to Jax and Xander. 

The Outpost

This CW Fantasy debuted its second season not too long ago. (I feel like I group it with Pandora because 1) they’re both summer shows and 2) not your typical CW style. I like the representation of Fantasy and Sci-Fi on the network.) I enjoyed the first season last summer, but it is REALLY hard for me to get into this season. I usually put this show off for a couple weeks and watch it when I have nothing else to watch. I think it’s because of the new black blood as well as Gwynn’s plot. Maybe it’s because last season there was already so much action and looking at this season we are trying to get more names and summon a demon army for Gwynn who awaits the Prime Order. And that’s been going on for about 3 out of 4 episodes? (Wow there’s only been 4 episodes?) Last episode with the return of Garret I found myself liking it more. I also like how Dred isn’t the head villain. We now know who he answers to. So that will be interesting to explore. I just hope the show picks up a little more. 

AT THE MOVIES

Yesterday

I was very excited for this movie to come to theaters. I thought the concept was great-strange but great. What if you knew all the Beatles songs, but no one else did? Jack Malik is a struggling musician who just can’t get his big break, so when he gets hits by a car and is the only one who remembers the band he does what anyone else would: play the songs as if they were his. I enjoyed most of the movie (and the inclusion of others who also remembered the Beatles), but did not like the ending. It brought down the movie for me. I’ll be good with this one and not give much away, but after you watch it let me know what you think. 

Spider man Far From Home

Another movie that I was very excited to see in theaters and it did not disappoint. I was a fan of Homecoming and was interested to see Tom Holland as the webslinger once more. Great dynamics with the cast. Loved Ned and Betty’s relationship. Zendaya’s MJ is one of my favorites and I liked her awkward interactions with Peter and how she was suspicious of him. All the echos back to Tony made me tear up. The scene in the plane when Peter is making his suit and the same song from Ironman plays and he’s basically doing the same moves. It hurts to just think about it now. I didn’t know about Mysterio before going into the movie, but it still wasn’t a shock what his true motives were. Especially because it seemed solved so early in the film. I think his reasonings make complete sense, which made him an entertaining villain. When first seeing the trailer I didn’t know how I felt about Jake Gyllenhaal, but I really liked him (and all the interviews he did promoting the movie, especially this one:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3FcCz2y2mM. Watch it. You’ll like it!) That first after credits scene was CRAZY! First I was dying at the return of J.K. Simmons and then the reveal! Can’t wait for it to come out so I can watch it again and again. 

*************************************************************************************

That’s a wrap! Any of my picks yours? If not what did you watch this month? Let me know in the comments!         

[bettsfic]

do you like echo/becho? i ask because i feel like you're someone who's very good at seeing a wide variety of ships and characters in pretty nuanced ways. i personally really don't like either the character or the ship, especially after s5, but a lot of people seem to suggest that this is only because i'm blinded by love of bellarke (tbf i'm not much of a multishipper) or because i'm susceptible to internalized misogyny. personally i thought i just didn't find the whole thing well written but 1/

2/2 i do try to examine my personal biases when consuming fiction and my responses to it. like idk for me personally there was just no arc or substance for me to respond to but i thought i’d ask someone whose writing opinions i really trust so i can work out whether my dislike genuinely does just stem from me being immature or if the writing behind genuinely feels weak to anyone else?? thanks

this is a really good question and i’m going to start off by apologizing to becho shippers because my answer is very critical of canon becho (but obvs pro fanon becho, bc i’m pro fanon everything p much).

i have to tackle this from two sides: as both a critical/meta fan and a transformative one. which is to say, the critical side of me has a lot of problems with echo, but the transformative side of me addresses those problems with, “but how would i fix it?”

first i’ll tackle my issues with echo as a character. she’s been around since s2; she has a background character’s amount of depth with the screentime of a side character, which is to say i agree with you, she’s poorly written. 

take miller, for example. he’s a side character fleshed out well. every season, we know what he wants and where his allegiance lies. we know who he loves and what he wants to protect. gaia is another good example of a side character whose drives and motivations are simple enough to understand so that their screentime is in proportion to the amount of depth they possess. gaia is the flamekeeper. she holds a small but integral portion of the conflict because her loyalty in s5 is split in 3 ways: to blodreina, to indra, and to the flame. she is absolutely integral, in a small but efficient way, in resolving the story of s5.

which leads me to ask: what’s echo’s piece of conflict? she works with raven to get back to the ship, etc. she wears a shock collar and looks mean. she backs up bellamy in terms of brawn. she has a little sex scene. the season could have stood on its own without her. she could have died at the end of s4 and s5 would have been exactly the same. 

which leads me to becho.

if echo was meant to exist as anything other than a wedge between bellamy and clarke, we would have seen echo’s redemption arc. this is a woman who killed bellamy’s ex gf. who has betrayed his trust over and over again. and now for some reason we’re supposed to just take jroth’s word for it that she did ~~something to get back into bellamy’s good graces. in four seasons we have not seen a single positive interaction between the two of them, nor even playful/fond antagonistic actions a la bellarke s1. other than the mt weather rescue of s2, it has since been “you are thine enemy” the entire damn time, right up until echo has a knife to her gut and suddenly bellamy is like “lol stop you need to stick around for useless cockblockage six years from now”

the becho reunion scene i think is pivotal, because bellamy and echo are kissing in the foreground, out of focus, while clarke is in the background, in focus, watching. i think becho’s existence is solely for that scene. because i don’t think there’s anyway to interpret that other than, at worst, jealousy, and at best, “oh fuck he moved on.” 

in other words, echo is a plot device. so you’re not internally misogynistic for disliking her, she’s being objectified by the story itself. 

i would not at all be frustrated by her or dislike her if we just saw literally any lead up to their relationship. but all we get is a black hole of “TRUST US IT HAPPENED OK.” also, if bellamy expresses actual romantic interest in echo or literally any other character i guarantee me and my multishipper/poly brethren would be all over it. but we don’t get to see bellamy’s romantic interest come to fruition, because it always happens between seasons. i think this matches up with my theory that jroth has pulled a joss whedon on bellamy and his character exists only to torture The Ideal Man. but that’s maybe a rant for another time.

now, as a transformative fan, i do see plenty of seeds of potential. i’m very drawn to untrustworthy characters who slowly develop loyalty toward one person at the expense of everyone else. bodyguard characters. that alone i think is becho’s single commonality and why they’re together: if bellamy is knight to clarke’s queen, echo was lieutenant to roan’s general, and they were trapped together for years, grieving over the loss of the people they admired most. i can see – though it is not what we call “on the page yet” – the logic behind their courtship.

i’m interested in echo’s grieving over roan and how it might differ from bellamy’s over clarke, and the exploration of her actual feelings for him (which, if i were to write it would be something akin to erotic worship, a topic i’m deeply invested in exploring). i would like to see that toxic kind of love transplanted onto bellamy, and bellamy greedily accepting it because he’s lonely and desperate and grieving over his own loss. i like the potential hideousness of their relationship, the entrapment they experienced together, both in mt weather and on the ark, and how that might transfer onto the page in the hands of someone willing to take it seriously. 

i would never write them as an endgame ship because i wouldn’t be able to resolve that toxicity and therefore would only ever be able to offer them a HFN ending. if i perceive their love correctly, it’s not a sustainable kind of love at all. it’s comforting yet destructive, a vice like an addiction, i imagine. 

in short, becho has so much potential, but it’s poorly wrought and managed, and both of their characters are experiencing a massive disservice – echo as an actual character at all, bellamy as a viable romantic hero. 

[velvet-tread]

Multishipping Bellarke and Becho: a guide

I know I said I wasn’t going to be here, butttttttt things are getting crazy here and apparently I want to cut my followers down to zero so here goes.

Look, guys, ok I know the vast majority of you are on a scale of ambivalent to nuking North Korea when it comes to Becho and *FINE* I understand why. The Bellarke fandom wants Bellarke (not unreasonable!) so one half of your otp in a relationship galls.

But I love Becho even though I am Bellarke af and honestly the view is GREAT from here and I would love to share some of that good feeling around.

Seeing Bellamy and Echo in what is clearly a very happy and content (yet doomed!) relationship, is basically the most beautiful bittersweet thing to happen to me since Jason chose to serve my own heart up to me on a plate  with ai gonplei ste odon atop the satellite tower *sob*.

So I’m going to have a crack at some of the whys and wherefores of Becho and address how it could fit our Bellarke endgame.

My opinions, ok? I’m not trying to convert anyone, just spread some love.

Why put Bellamy in a long-term relationship at all?

Mostly, I think the answer is in the narrative shorthand the show is using to help us navigate the time jump, and the people Bellamy and Clarke are now. And who is that? Well, we don’t know the whole picture yet but one thing is for sure: Bellamy and Clarke have had a relatively content 6 years. They’re OK. Changed, yes, for a variety of reasons, but psychologically sound compared to, say, the people in the bunker.

Sure, there are some things missing from their lives - I’ll get to the nitty gritty of that later on - but I think we’re supposed to believe that they are more or less happy and healthy and whole.

So, I guess the question is, what does happy and whole Bellamy look like? Not only am I Bellarke af, but I am also a Bellamy stan to the core.  In the context of a 6 year time jump, I want nothing for him but contentment, appreciation and nookie on the regular. And it seems that against the odds, this has happened for Bellamy Bradbury Blake.  In the relative safety of space, in the company of his newfound space family, his impulse to slavishly attend to the everyday needs of his sister curtailed, Bellamy has actually, finally, taken 6 years for himself.

At his core Bellamy is an affectionate person, with a deep need for personal connection and intimacy. And, clearly, he’s attracted to girls and sex is high on his list of needs too (do we all need to be reminded of pre-Bree Bellamy and post-Bree Bellamy in s4?) so the idea of him in space for 6 years deprived of that emotional and physical intimacy just makes me sad.  And so, the shot of his and Echo’s quarters with their double bed, the TV in the corner, the punchbag above the bed (*raised eyebrow*) the shelving unit with 68 canteens on (why Becho, why?) is so heartwarming in its mundane domesticity. It shouted to me: BELLAMY IS OKAY.

Indulge my singing emo heart for a hot second. They clearly appreciate each other. He runs his hands up and down her arms.  She strokes his jaw. THEY ARE SO SOFT.  She soothes his Octavia anxiety. His terrible dad jokes make her laugh and ease her tension. These two people who have spent a life time pleasing others are happy making each other happy.

Oh, and he is JAW-DROPPINGLY NAÏVE.

Watching Bellamy in a comfortable space relationship with someone who hurt him so badly in the past deliver this bizarro rose-tinted expectation of his feisty, judgemental sister suggests that in his mind, everything about his life on Earth is hued in gold. This is a Bellamy who, surrounded by his friends and safety, has forgotten the grim realities of survival, of human frailty and human cruelty.

*foghorn* IT DOESN’T MEAN HE���S FORGOTTEN CLARKE OR DOESN’T LOVE HER ANYMORE. *end foghorn*

In fact, Bellamy finding love with Echo is just about the biggest endorsement of everything that Clarke stood for when she gave him her dying words of wisdom.

This Bellamy has absorbed all of Clarke’s glorious idealism, her ability to forgive, her faith in humanity, her faith in her own agency, her faith that whatever the problem is, there’s a solution. This is what head-and-heart Bellamy looks like.

Finally…realtalk time: I may choke on these words as I type them, but the truth about storytelling is that if you have an endgame ship in mind (and I stfg I refuse to be gaslighted on this any longer) and a 6 year time jump in which they believe each other dead, it would be straight up BIZARRE not to have one of them come back in a long-term relationship. No matter what the writers’ room says about Bellarke or love triangles, that is a conflict opportunity that is too delicious to pass up.  It’s what Satan would do.

But whhhhhyyyy does it have to be Echo?

Sidebar - I’m not going to get in too deep with the forgiveness question, because we’ve all been over it many a time. My take on it is that forgiveness is something you do for yourself,  not for someone else and is not the same as justice – especially when both people involved have things to answer for. For what it’s worth, the show’s take on it seems to be similar (hi Jake Griffin), so I see no reason why this is a problem in terms of tone or characterisation.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love Echo, and have a gazillion thoughts about what her arc could or should be this season.  But ultimately, this show is about Bellamy and Clarke, so it’s worth looking at this in terms of what this means for Bellamy’s character.

Basically: this is a question of impact. Echo represents the furthest possible point for Bellamy’s character development in the context they’ve given him (7 people in space for 6 years).  Echo hurt him, but she also represents all the terrible things that he has done himself, all of which he’s been grappling with for the past 2 seasons. So for him to be in a place where he forgives her enough to actually like her and then forge an intimate connection with her – that says more about how far he’s come in terms of forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness than, say, a relationship with Raven.

It doesn’t mean he’s ruined (and seriously, is this the 17th century?) or it’s out of character.  It means he’s taken Clarke’s lessons to heart.

How am I supposed to be invested in this relationship if I haven’t seen the start of it?

Well, I’ve been shipping Becho ever since she spat in his face in MW prior to their joint murder so I mayyy be biased but I would say we’ve been watching their relationship evolve for some time. No, we don’t get to see the point where forgiveness tipped into intimacy, but having been watching them forever it’s not a leap for me to headcanon the rest.

I get that it is a stretch for others but here’s the thing: I don’t think the show is asking us to be invested in Bellamy and Echo because they should be together forever.  The show is asking us to be invested in the peace and stability they found in space, literally in a vacuum, of which Becho is a product.

But if they’re going to split up, what’s the point?

Becho is the perfect illustration of the fragility of peace and human co-operation, which is in turn such a core theme of the show imo.  What Bellamy and the rest of the Spacekru achieved was an environment in which even Becho can forgive and flourish, find love and softness. That’s the goal.  But this isn’t that universe.  Bellamy and Echo were at odds on Earth because the reality of life there is messy, complicated and frightening.

Echo, bless her, knows that very few things are permanent, even the love of a good man. She lost Azgeda, why would she trust anything in her life to be constant after that? But this forgiving, idealistic, measured, comfortable, Clarke-like Bellamy is in for a shock.

You’re not expected to be sad about the demise of Becho because Bellamy and Echo lose each other, but because Becho represents an unsustainable level of stability and comfort that just doesn’t play in this universe.  Much like Clarke and Lexa before them, they’ll have to let go of the dream of a world in which their relationship is possible and I for one will ache for them.

I’m going to say here too that I think in contrast to Becho, I think Bellarke could survive in any environment.  It was forged out of crisis – as Eliza says, they’re in each other’s DNA.  They just have to work out what that means.

Why is it good for Bellarke?

Let’s push aside all my Bellarke shipper reasons for wanting a happy and whole Bellarke to be the people they reconnect with and find lasting love. And the fact that Clarke, too, has experienced a doomed love affair and I want my tragedy babies to be on an equal footing and commonality when they finally get their shit together.

Let’s also push aside the angst potential of Bellamy and Clarke reuniting when one of them has a long-term partner, which makes up the tense character-focused storytelling this show is famous for.

Because, narratively speaking, the way this has been set up is just so Bellarke-centric I cannot even. Bellamy’s life – including his relationship with Echo - and Clarke’s life are the missing puzzle pieces for one another. Bellamy is

happy

but there are a few things he misses.  He misses Octavia, who is practically his own child, and he yearns to be back on the ground with her. And like the rest of Spacekru, he misses the variety of living on Earth eating more than just algae. And guess what?  Clarke, who is also

happy

has both of those things.  She has a fulfilling parental relationship with a child.  She has abundance.  But what doesn’t she have? She misses her friends and family, and adult company. I’m going to go ahead and assume she also misses the comfort and intimacy of a physical romantic relationship too, because we’ve seen her enjoy those things before.  Both of which Bellamy has.  When those pieces unite, when Bellarke reunite, the puzzle becomes complete.

[sometimesrosy]

is it bad that part of the reason I want bellarke to happen is out of spite to the antis

nope.

join the club.

i mean of course i want bellarke to happen, i love this story and i love THEIR story. And I want to see it come to fruition and resolve in a way that’s satisfying and rounds out the entire story AND their relationship.

but those assholes have harassed us so much, me probably more than most people, but not just me. they have RUINED the show for us, and they never had to do it at all. 

no one has to tell someone the show or ship or character they love sucks and is doomed and is delusional or whatever they think is evil. WTF? i’m trying to enjoy a broadcast sff tv show over here, not right the wrongs of the world. and if i DID want to watch a show that was ethically progressive, this is actually not a bad show to watch. is it perfect? no of course not. nothing is. but at least this show ASKS the questions addressing the ills of the world, like tribalism and bigotry and abuse and tyranny and the cycle of violence and homophobia and colonialism and ecological disaster.

does it have all the answers? of course not. for some of these things there ARE no answers.

and is BELLARKE perfect? 

once again, of course not. but having flaws does not mean that a show or a ship or a character or a writer or a person is worth less. Is this a generational thing? that kids these days think people and content has to be PURE GOOD in order to be AT ALL good? My son thinks this way too, and it is INCREDIBLY damaging to the way he thinks about himself. 

It’s a damaging way to think in general.

And these antis are thinking it all the time. Bellarke is [fill in the blank] so it’s trash. The 100 is not [fill in the blank] so it’s trash. JR is [fill in the blank] so he’s evil. Bob is [fill in the blank] so he should be reviled. Eliza is [fill in the blank] so she’s trash. Bellarkers are [fill in the blank] so they should die.

I mean. Really? Like we’re not allowed to be imperfect, any of us, because it means we are trash and should be thrown out and cancelled. IN WHAT WORLD IS THAT A FUNCTIONING WAY TO EXIST? No one is perfect. And when people repress anything they think is a flaw, it tends to come out in uncontrolled ways. Violence. Abuse. Sordid secrets. Hypocrisy. Harassment. Self hate. 

TBH, IF bellarke doesn’t end up as endgame, I will be disappointed in the show and in JR. I still think it’s in the narrative and leading towards bellarke endgame, although i’m not as sure about a HAPPY bellarke endgame. I am even MORE sure that it will be confirmed as canon, (which basically means a kiss, a confession of love with the word love, and/or sex,) because I believe it already IS canon with development towards all three over the last (especially) three seasons, in dialogue, action, narrative, cinematography, direction, acting, symbolism etc. i know a lot of people who don’t know as much about film, literature, fiction or storytelling don’t see it, but that��s not my problem and it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. it means it’s going on over their heads, like the dirty jokes in old kids cartoons.

BUT if it doesn’t end up canon, endgame or bittersweet happily ever after, I can get over it. It’s just a tv show and I don’t define myself by whether a show gives me my OTP or ends the way I want it to. And I also do not base my self esteem on being right or this theory or that theory. If i’m wrong, I take it as a learning opportunity and reevaluate my interpretation. I might decide that the writer/s betrayed their story and weren’t up to the challenge of bringing it all together, like GOT, or I might decide I interpreted it wrong and go back and try and see how it all fits. Or I might drop it and move on. Or I might reassess and decide that even if the story didn’t end up how I thought it would, it’s still a satisfying ending that wraps up the story. I mean, Buffy wasn’t good for shipping, but I still loved the end.

So for the story itself, I REALLY want a bellarke canon and marperly ever after ending.

But for all their bad behavior and bullying and harassment and jackassery I want it to shove it in their faces.

I honestly believe it’s going to be canon bellarke at least,  but if it isn’t, I KNOW all the antis will come at me to shove it in my face, even though I never practiced bad behavior, bullying, harassment or jackassery, I just  minded my own business and enjoyed my ship and. So it’s not like I’ll have a choice in that matter. I’ll probably have to take a break from this place if it does. Just because I figure it will be relentless, even though I’ve blocked so MANY people over the years.

Truth is, I won’t shove it in anyone’s faces, either. I’ll just stay in my lane and be happy about bellarke and feel vindicated.

I know it’s too much to expect the antis to do the same if it doesn’t work out in our favor.

[skywalkerbc]

hi!! i was just wondering where the interview was where terse said bellamy and clarke love each other like brother and sister?

Hi nonnie, sorry it has taken me so long to reply- I’ve been trying to find a link for you, but I couldn’t find one anymore (I’m not surprised stuff has been taken down, sometimes the fandom can be a little bit too intense)

But I’m pretty sure Tasya said that bellamy and clarke had “something of a sibling bond” in response to a bellarke question at con (a comment along those lines), but it’s nothing to freak out over–if you watch this interview here (x)– you can see that what Tasya says isn’t always supported by canon (e.g. her saying “those two [b*cho] really need each other” which was not what happened in canon bc they were separated and functioning fine without each other for half of S5…)

So don’t let her comment or the fandom get you down about bellarke being endgame–the proof is literally all throughout the show. And if I find a link I’ll post it for you.

(Also this is in no way supposed to be hate for Tasya- and neither is my crack post about her comment- she is a human being and does not deserve hate- I just found the comment kinda funny bc that is not how you act around a brother/ sister)

[head-and-heart]

Do you agree with what many showrunners fear re: the Moonlighting curse -- that once a pair is together, it's boring? Even Eliza said it would be boring to have Bellarke bc 'they'd be happy and then what'? As shippers we want them happy, but as storytellers, is it boring especially in this genre of tv? This show is a tragedy/angst-fest, so I wonder if making a happy couple of your leads is considered stale from a writer's POV - like they don't find it exciting to write? I'm curious to understand

Hmmm, I agree to a certain extent. Some couples are kind of boring to watch after they get together. But I don’t blame that on any sort of curse - to do so is a writer’s cop-out. It more-so lies in an issue with the way the writer’s are choosing to develop their romantic relationships in the long-term versus pursuing actual canon relationships themselves.

We have to ask ourselves these questions:

a) Is the relationship dependent on the will-they-won’t-they trope in order to function?

For this one, I think of Ross and Rachel from Friends as being a prime example. For ten seasons, the question of whether or not they would get together in the end was one of the largest focuses on the show. In fact, I’d say a significant portion of Ross’s storyline as a character (and Rachel as well, although I think her storyline actually had more to it) revolved around the journey and evolution of his relationship to Rachel. Say they got together in Season 6. For real this time, no more “breaks” or complications … Then what?

Would Ross and Rachel be considered the iconic pairing that many believe it to be (regardless of your personal feelings on the pair, I’m not a huge fan of them myself but)? Probably not.

It’s important to note, however, that it has more to do with a conscious decision on the writer’s part to drag out the ship and constantly have Ross and Rachel struggle with their feelings and milk the hell out of the will-they-won’t-they trope in order to best entertain their viewers. In the case of Ross and Rachel, the entire relationship pretty much depended on them never becoming full-out canon until the very end of the show for that story to work.

To apply this situation to Bellarke, I don’t think we need to worry too much. Because, as much as the media likes to refer to Bellarke as a will-they-won’t-they ship, the narrative itself has never actively strung the readers along in the same way. Mostly because the show itself and Bellamy and Clarke’s respective character arc’s don’t actually revolve around each other. Which means that they can still have an interesting relationship (and an interesting story) without relying on the potential romantic aspect of their relationship to carry them. Obviously, the question on whether they’ll become romantic or not is still there (and there are still many narrative reasons to suggest that it will), but the relationship itself doesn’t function only because of the will-they-won’t-they trope.

Basically, what that means is that Bellarke can develop in any way and their story can still continue. Unlike with Ross and Rachel, it doesn’t depend on the question of their feelings for each other in order to function.

b) Does the story itself end when the romantic pairing gets together (aka. an ultimate resolution to whatever the conflict in the show/book/piece of literature is)?

This is more specific to the romance genre, which quite literally revolves around the romantic couple itself. In a lot of romantic stories, the story ends when the couple finds a way to finally be happy together. And that’s it. And if you think about it, wouldn’t The Notebook be kind of boring if Noah and Allie just got together and instead of focusing on the conflict in their relationship, just let them be happy and carry on? Not much of a story to tell, is there?

But that’s the nature of the genre. It’s interesting to me that you mentioned that perhaps the sci-fi genre makes canon romantic couples especially boring. I actually disagree. Because the plot doesn’t revolve around/depend on romantic couples in order to continue, I think that actually makes it a lot easier for writers to have canon relationships that are still interesting. Those relationships don’t have to move the plot like they do in the romance genre, so it’s possible for them to exist and the story to still be suspenseful and intriguing.

So contrary to what you say, I think that the fact that Bellarke exists in a plot that is constantly moving and changing, even without their relationship, actually bodes quite well. It means that there is opportunity for that relationship to develop romantically and yet never become boring, because of the nature of the story (where stuff is ALWAYS happening and changing, which means that our characters/relationships are always changing too).

c) Will all conflict within a relationship be resolved by making it romantic, thus making it relatively uneventful and “boring”?

This is more specific to relationships where the main focus/conflict in their relationship is that they’re NOT together. Whether it’s because they’re struggling with their feelings for each other, or because they’re part of a love triangle (in some cases) or some other instance where any issues in their relationship that can be resolved by finally becoming canon - that’s what this question is specific to. I think that a lot of couples that are commonly referred to as slowburns fall under this section. Think Chuck and Blair in Gossip Girl. They hooked up and they tried having a relationship but it was never really some solid thing until the end of the series. And then there was nowhere else to run with it, right? The conflict was resolved (and oh my was there a lot of conflict in Chuck and Blair’s relationship :/) so the relationship wasn’t interesting anymore. It literally depended on the constant angst and denial of feelings and fighting and etc, etc.

Again, to bring it back to Bellarke, I really don’t think this situation applies to them because the conflict in their relationship has never been about them struggling with their romantic feelings for each other. It has always been about something else, so if they became romantic, it wouldn’t be a barrier to any interesting conflict/resolution the writers intend to pursue in the relationship. Therefore, their relationship wouldn’t automatically become “boring” just because they’re in an established relationship.

d) Is there room for the relationship to continue developing after becoming canonically romantic?

This is probably the most important question of all of them, and the one I was mostly referring to when I said that I don’t really believe in the moonlighting curse versus poor writing decisions. When writers are writing a slow burn, and they only focus on the lead-up to that relationship becoming romantic but NEVER consider what will happen after they finally reach that point … that’s where they run into troubles. THAT’S when it becomes boring. Why?

Because the relationship has already reached it’s endgame. It’s developed to the highest possible point that the writers ever planned for. They didn’t think about where they wanted that relationship to go after it became canonically romantic; therefore, it stops developing and becomes stagnant.

It has nothing to do with the couple or the characters themselves, and everything to do with the writer and their lack of vision beyond the ultimate goal (a kiss/love confession/established relationship/whatever it is).

This the question we’re currently facing with Bellarke, and here’s what we need to consider:

Is there room for Bellarke to develop after they become romantic? And the answer is this: yes, absolutely. There is ALWAYS room for development. It just depends on how committed to the relationship the writers are, and if they can continue to think of ways to keep the couple interesting and develop it.

In the case of The 100, it’s not as concerning, because the show has typically focused on the development and conflict between characters in relationships that are not necessarily romantic in nature. What this means is that the conflicts they’re used to telling don’t typically revolve around the transition from a non-romantic couple to romantic couple itself. Which means that any relationship probably won’t remain stagnant even after becoming romantic, so long as it gets sufficient focus. For more minor characters, their relationships won’t be developed as much. But since we already know that Bellamy and Clarke are the core of the show (confirmed by Jason Rothenberg himself), it’s pretty safe to say that the writers will never just let that relationship become stagnant. It’s essential to the story that it is constantly changing and evolving.

This is basically my extremely long-winded way of saying that I don’t think it’s really likely (or even possible??) for Bellarke’s relationship to ever become completely stagnant and boring because of the nature of the show, and their significance to the plot.

You brought up a quote from Eliza that she said and I’m not quite sure if it was a recent one or a different one I’m thinking of from back during Season 1. If it’s the latter, that was a long time ago and she said that she thinks it would be better to draw the relationship out a bit more. This is because slow burns are typically more interesting to viewers AND writers and are a lot more satisfying to watch. It doesn’t mean that the couple will never get together, it just means that it’s going to be a long journey. What I think Eliza was referring to is when a pair gets together almost right away and then it just feels … kind of pointless? Personally, I agree that those relationships are boring. They don’t do it for me. I like to see the characters grow and develop with each other first, and then become romantic.

A well-done slow burn (like Eliza was talking about) and a ship that’s been drawn on way past the point of natural development are two very different things.

To be honest, I think it’s also important to point out that Eliza can’t spoil anything to do with Bellarke and she was most likely deflecting that question to some extent. Cast interviews/panels should always be taken with a grain of salt.

also just because two characters get together it doesn’t mean that they’ll necessarily be “happy” right away which means that there is still story to tell

I’m rambling a bit now so I’m going to stop, let me know if you wanted more clarification in a certain area or if I didn’t quite interpret your question properly!

[kinetic-elaboration]

i’d love to hear about “Dollhouse AU”!

p.s. i am in the same boat as you writing wise, in case you haven’t noticed lol. it shouldn’t feel like a to-do list but it kinda does! but we can find a way to make it fun again! also totally get the “this is basically just an OC story” with t100 fic too!

Hi! Yes, I am definitely trying to find a way to conceive of writing as something fun and... more about the satisfaction of creating than any need to accomplish certain things or knock out certain projects. Not quite sure I know how to do that yet, but I‘m working on it...

The Dollhouse AU is a very old idea, from my early days in T100 fandom, that I never managed to get off the ground. But I keep it on my WIP list because I really love the idea, and I think it could be a great fic if it would just click for me.

Basically, it’s a fusion with the TV show Dollhouse, endgame Bellarke, in which Bellamy is the ‘Echo’ character, a former activist who is now a Doll, and Clarke as a very loose version of the Ballard character. At the beginning of the fic, she’s in a depressive funk after dropping out of med school, so her mother sets her up on a date with Doll!Bellamy to help snap her out of it. While on the date, Bellamy glitches, and afterward, Clarke sees him disappear into a creepy black van. So she and her friends (Wells, Jasper, and Monty) begin investigating, and end up down the rabbit hole of the Dollhouse myth.

Then the main part of the fic would be their investigations intertwined with Bellamy gaining consciousness/awareness of himself as a Doll, and eventually they’d all meet up and, idk, strike some blow against the Dollhouse organization.

Other characters would include Raven as the genius programmer of questionable/evolving morals (Topher), Abby as the secret head of the Dollhouse (Adele), Miller as another Doll, and Murphy as an ex-Doll now living off the grid and trolling conspiracy theory websites.

Anyway, I did a bunch of brainstorming for this fic but never a true outline, so mostly it’s just some scattered ideas. I also tried writing the beginning, but two separate attempts both fizzled out--I don’t know, why but something about them just wasn’t gelling, it just didn’t feel right. I think the pacing was bad. So that sort of dulled my interest in it but I do still think about it sometimes.

[outlawsandcircles]

how are U always so hopeful brallie will happen I want it to SO badly but ppl are alwys sayin how "theyr siblings now!" and it will never happen and it'd be gross. Like I can never see them this way And i can't see them with their other relationships, I just hope something happens and at least we've been getting some brallie in this season

Hello my Beautiful Brallie Anon, I love answering this question and I can only hope that my words inspire you to hang on a little longer. I know it may seem like, that (outlawsandcircles Chic) sure does have her head up in the clouds, how can she be so optimistic all the time, especially with where the storyline is at. I can assure you I’m not delusional, well not completely, lol. For me it’s always come down to two simple reasons, I’m a writer myself and from a writers point of view Brandon and Callie where two characters written to complement each other. If you look at a lot of tv shows then you can clearly see a pattern of characters, where you look at them and just know those two are going to be together, also known as endgame. We have seen this with couples such as Delena, Stydia, Bellarke, the list goes on, in which two people who weren’t a couple in the beginning and may have seemed complete opposites had something we like to call the spark that made people gravitate toward them. The point is, each character understood the other and they brought something out of one another that made it obvious that they were two pieces of a puzzle and that’s exactly how I view Brandon and Callie, they fit together perfectly not by coincidence, but by design. The second reason I still have so much faith in Brallie is because the writers spent so much time and energy on building them into a romantic relationship in the first place, even when they planned for Callie to be officially part of the Foster family and yet they still had Callie and Brandon sleep together, leaving many people asking why? If they were just going to become siblings in the end, why go to the extent of such intimacy, forever making that sibling bond awkward for both of them in the future? Some people would think the writers must have made a mistake, but I have enough faith in them to know that’s not the case. I believe they wanted Brandon and Callie to cement that romantic bond for the mere reason of always having something to compare it to. This leads me to my second reason and what I believe the majority of the Brallie Fam believes and that my friend is that Brandon and Callie will never see each other as brother and sister. They will always compare what they had that special night to every night with everyone else they are with. I believe a lot of that has to do with what it meant for both of them, not only where they both undeniably in love with each other, but it was also Callie's first time and it was very vulnerable for her, after what she had been through. She trusted Brandon with her heart, soul, and body which to this day she has yet to trust anyone the same with all three. Because, everything good comes in threes except for Brallie that is, my personal reason is simply because they are soulmates and Brandon said it best when he proclaimed that, what they feel happens once in a lifetime. It’s been reiterated in so many ways, from lyrics in a song, to plays about star crossed lovers, to the many times that Callie second guessed her decision when it came to given up her one true love, and of course to that first time Brandon did, so his could have the family she so desperately needed. I agree with not being able to see them with anyone else, I can’t even try, even if I like the person themselves. Admittedly I haven’t liked any of Callie’s or Brandon’s significant others in the past. I really felt like Wyatt and AJ didn’t understand Callie at all even going so far as to ask Brandon for help. A.J. Seemed to put Callie on a pedestal and admire her for her good deeds as Super Callie, but when she started acting like it, he wasn’t interested, also he was way more into the physical aspects of their relationship. Honestly Aaron is the only boyfriend I like, but not as her boyfriend, because I’m always going to be biased toward Brandon, but I love how respectful and interested he is. He is great guy and I’m so worried he is going to get his heart broken. As far a Brandon’s girlfriends go, I never actually liked any of them. Talya for obvious reasons, Lou cared more about herself and wanted him to sale a family heirloom just to go on tour. I don’t think Cort needs an explanation and as far as Grace goes, I think she’s Sweet, but again I’m team Callie. As far as this season goes I think it’s doing a great job of building back up that beautiful friendship that started it all for Brallie and now it’s only a matter of time before they both realize they will always need more from each other. I think next season that’s were we are headed and daddy Robert is back to be apart of his daughters life anyway he can. My hopes are that Callie finally finds out about the blackmail that aided the adoption and stops giving her dad the cold shoulder, because he really does love her. One more thing, we have to remember that this show is based on the values that you can’t help who you love and the heart wants what it wants, so at some point I believe that the moms would rather accept Brandon and Callie’s relationship then give her up as a daughter. I know it may seem strange, but this show is anything if not unconventional. I hope my words showed proof enough for you to keep fighting for them, because I would love to cross that finish line with you on that sweet day we call endgame. Thanks so much for reaching out and as always Have A Very Brallie Day.

Always Remember