#in-character Bellarke interactions

[zenon-karr]

People ‘hating’ every interaction with Tommy is bad? but it was okay when it was the female love interests? How are people criticizing buddie shippers for doing what everyone has done this whole time with the female love interests and is what most shippers do? I mean as long as people aren’t going on and hating on you or other fans what the problem? Just sayin’ I think it would be sexist if you only criticized the female love interests? I think that people willing to criticize a white man that kissed another man is proof people didn’t just hate the female love interests if you get me?

Policing people’s behavior to themselves and fellow people who agree with them is toxic Imo and cross tagging and sending harassment and hate is the only thing that makes fandoms toxic. People can criticize characters whatever all they want. Idk I feel over criticism of buddies in the buddie tag is frustrating recently and for the same things everyone else does and that every shipper ever has always done. If people just saying make them a couple over and over sure you may be annoyed at seeing it but think here nobody has been threatened and nobody is sending hate. I just think it is common sense you go onto a ship tag you are going to find criticism of the opposing ship or person in that opposing ship. Which sucks yes for multi shippers but you have to understand that policing opinions is also not cool. Nobody is saying you have to agree w the Tommy criticism. And definitely I hope people don’t tag Tommy because fans of bucktommy and Tommy should be able to see the tags free from negativity bc that’s what anti tags are for! You can see this posts and block the shipper bc obviously if they don’t like your ship they’re not for you anyway. I say this as a person who shipped clexa and bellarke in the 100 people will not like your ship and criticize the love interest that conflict with the one they ship. Like is just the way it is. You can’t control other people’s opinions but you can block if it’s not for you. Sincerely a new buddie. I think mainly I’m saying peoples criticism is making you treat mlm and buddies different than anyone else and it’s kinda irking me. Ignore if you disagree is not meant to be mean is just vent.

[sometimesanalice]

Hello, Alexa!☺️

How are you?

A bit of a random Q, but! I remember you saying that the first fanfic you wrote

was ‘Oh Christmas Tree' and I was just wondering if there was any other fandoms

you ever thought about writing for? Even if you don’t want to publish them! :) An even more general question, what other fandoms would you say you're into?

I know it's a little random, but I just love hearing about other people's interests/loves! 🥰

(I’m sorry if you’ve answered these in some way before)

Have a lovely weekend!

Hi Bo!! 🌟 I'm so good! I'm having the best afternoon with some coffee and a treat from Trader Joe's and working on a fluffy oneshot! I hope you're doing well! I love seeing you pop in my inbox!

The call of Bradley with a pine tree allergy and getting his best girl a fluffy pink one was too strong for me to resist! It was such a new thing for me that I wrote the whole thing on the notes app on my phone, it didn't even cross my mind to open a word doc for it, lol.

It's such a funny thing that for the years and years that I've jotted down ideas and dialogue that I never once thought of actually sitting down and trying my hand at writing fanfic until last year!

More for you under the cut!

My first foray into fandom and fanfic was when I was a nugget out there wilding on fanfic.net and shipping Clark/Lana from Smallville and Padme/Anakin from Star Wars. (back when I didn't even know what shipping meant, lol)

In college, I didn't have much time to read books because of all the school work, so I turned to fanfic again and got really into The Hunger Games. Dandelion Peeta had my heart, and all the modern AUs really softened the dystopian angst. That fandom had so many truly terrific writers, ones that I still follow even today.

Which is how I ended up becoming a big The 100 girlie. Some of my favorite THG authors started posting and writing for a couple of the main characters on that show and I was hooked. (it's been a lot of fun to learn that some of my fav TGM babes were also the 100 babes, so we've trauma bonded over it, haha)

And let me tell you, I need to be financially COMPENSATED by the CW for the chokehold this man had on me for like 5 years. (the hair! the gravely voice! the chin dimple! the biceps! the grumpy king with a heart of gold!)

If I was going to write for another fandom, it would be that one. Bellarke (bellamy blake and clarke griffin) still has my heart. At the height of it, I was spending hours every day reading fic for them. The chemistry between them was bananas and every week I was waiting on baited breath for any little interaction between them. It's funny now because the actors are actually married now, haha! The show gave us crumbs and went out with such a tragic whimper, but the fandom and the incredible talent there is probably why I was so invested and still read fics about them on AO3.

When I reread my favorite series The Winners Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski I fall DEEP into an Arin/Kestrel spiral. It's such an underrated YA series that I'm pretty sure I've read every piece of fanfiction that's out there (which isn't nearly enough) at least 5 times.

There was a brief Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen GOT era, but it was short lived.

I also like the Darkling/Alina dynamic from Shadow and Bone. I read the series when the books first came out before the show, and wasn't particularly enamored with them as a couple. But then they had to go and cast the pretty bearded attention whore that is Ben Barnes and I had simply no choice but to ship, lol.

I always joke and say that I don't pick the hyperfixations, that they choose me. But it's really true. The 100 ended in 2020 and I didn't have anything really capture my attention in the same way until TGM. This is the first fandom that I've really participated in, like getting to know other people and creating content! And it's been so wonderful!

Oof! Well, this got out of control quickly, lol. This was such a fun ask to get! I haven't been asked before, so I really went off the deep end here giving you my full life fandom history, haha!

[kinetic-elaboration]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold - thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3?

229!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,391,910 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, basically just The 100. I do have some Star Trek ideas on my writing list but that's more like... a long-term plan or something I'm building up to, rather than anything I'm actively working on. In the years I've been in fandom I've written for a variety of different ones though.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

So the first, by a LOT, is this guilty pleasure Star Trek fic I started working on in college. Then What We Built, a Bellarke fic which somehow has over 1k kudos?? At #3, startlingly, A Damned Fool, another Star Trek fic but for a rare pair. Then Rings This True, a K/S fic; and the fifth is We're Home At Last, another Bellarke fic.

A weird thing about this list is that with the exception of the guilty pleasure fic, I really don't love any of these stories. I actually didn't remember We're Home at Last at all. It's interesting that what I love most and what other people vibe with most don't seem to overlap a lot.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I try my best to. Sometimes it takes me a long time. Like a long, long, long time. Like I'm trying to clear out my AO3 inbox now and it's so embarrassing how long some of these comments have been in there. I like to reply because I'm a really big advocate for people commenting on fics and I feel like part of putting my money where my mouth is on that includes responding to comments I get (also commenting when I read, of course, which I do). Also, the reason I'm pro-comment is because fanfic sharing is part of building the fandom community but there is no community if people don't interact, and that interaction is a 2 way street. I enjoy talking about these characters! That's why I'm here! So I'm always up for conversations in the comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm. This is tough because I don't know how to classify angst? I know that sounds silly but I really have felt out of step with others when the topic of "angst" comes up. I don't think I write angsty fics, but I do write a lot that isn't fluff, and then it is sometimes categorized as angst--and at the same time angst for me is not tragedy; it doesn't have to be, like... death.

Anyway, I would say probably my angstiest fics are A Long Time (a Blake siblings horror with Banshee!Octavia), it is new moon and twilight (Braven/Murven/B/R/M, a rare major character death fic from me), and possibly Release (Murphy/Harper, actually written for Troped's angst round), but I don't know that the endings to them were especially angsty so much as they were, like, bittersweet and full of longing.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Man, I've written so many fics that use the classic fanfic structure of 'couple pines for each for a while and then ultimately gets together,' and the ending of all of these fics is basically the same: a kiss or a love confession, often both. I don't know that any of them is happier than any other. The Wedding Planet I suppose has a particularly treacly ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I wouldn't say I've ever gotten hate, really. On the long Star Trek fic in particular I've gotten... some comments that I didn't really appreciate, that made me sort of uncomfortable or that made me feel bad. But I don't think there was hate in the heart of the people commenting. I don't think the intention was to upset me, in other words.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've definitely written explicit fic before. It's very findable so I'm not going to deny it. I don't think I'm good at it and I don't really like the sex scenes I've written. I don't really read them either... I just have sort of complex feelings, I guess. More complex than I'll write out here at least. And when I include sex in my work now it's generally either fade to black or, like, sort of a montage of feeling or sensation rather than a literal description of what parts go where. Most/all of the sex scenes under my pen name are just vanilla stuff. I've written some kinkier things, mostly for kink memes, and one anonymously on AO3.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not really. I think I've written one ficlet-sized little crossover some years ago. I'm much more likely to want to do a fusion--putting characters from one fandom into the setting of another or merging styles or settings--rather than a crossover in the traditional sense.

As for craziest... lol, when I was a kid, like middle school age, I started writing this HP/Sailor Moon crossover? Oh, it was weird and embarrassing. (It was handwritten, so not only does it not exist on the internet I don't even personally know where I put it.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. I like people to ask permission before translating (or podficcing, or remixing, or whatever) so I can keep track... but I'm bad at keeping track lol. But I've had a variety of translations and partial translations over the years.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I worked on the alternate S7 Bellarke fic collab a few years ago and I've participated I think in one Big Bang successfully... I'm way too bad at compromise to do writing collabs but I have great fantasies about writing/art collaboration because I have ideas that I think would work better in multimedia, but I can only really do one medium myself.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Kirk/Spock

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I'm going to finish all my fics, okay?

Seriously, I really need to believe any/all of them could be completed one day but realistically... I'll make choices and decide on priorities but I don't yet know what those choices or priorities will be. I think the WIP that is least likely to be finished is oh well, you've got me under your spell, a hypothetically-multi-chapter fic I posted one chapter of in 2017 and nearly immediately hit a wall on. It's still technically on my WIP list but... it's so far away from being worked on, I rarely even think of it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I have a very good style; I think I'm good at creating atmosphere and setting a scene. Also, I go back and forth on this, but I think I'm pretty good at coming up with original and interesting, unusual ideas for stories.

17. What are you writing weaknesses?

Characters. I think all my characters are kinda the same, or I guess I should say all my takes on canon characters are kinda the same: thoughtful, introspective, lightly angsty people full of longing--in other words, me! Also, really long sentences.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I think people should do what they want. I don't do this because I am not confident enough in my foreign language abilities and I think I would butcher them. Con-langs are more common in my fandoms and I will say I'm not a huge fan of those... unpopular opinion but they really take me out of the world because I just don't believe in them. I'm not convinced by them. Personally, I tend to write everything in English and use narration or speech tags to indicate if something is spoken in another language. Or just context: if a story is taking place on Vulcan presumably all the Vulcans are speaking Vulcan, you know? I do think that if you use a foreign language in your fic, you should include easy to find translations of everything somewhere in the story or notes.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter. I remember very furtively, very secretly, writing some cliche 'new girl moves to Hogwarts' fan fic in my notebook when I was maybe 11 years old. Original fiction writing was already my hobby so it felt very... guilty pleasure, I think. But the first fic I published online was actually several years later, for the musical RENT.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Oh gee. This is a tough one, honestly. It tends to change over time: some fics I love for years and then I just get over them, or get too distant from them, and don't really like them anymore. I think as of right now I'd probably say it is new moon and twilight is definitely one of my big faves. Also The Wanheda Tape, Mountain Lion Mean, you stole from the drugstore, and The Oasis.

I'm tagging (or just saying hello to! no pressure!) @thelittlefanpire @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @fontainebleau22 @easilydistractedbyfanfic @kindclaws @hopskipaway

[leadingrebel]

fic asks

Thank you @whenshesayshush and @queen-of-the-wallflowers15 for tagging me, this was fun!

·

How many works do you have on ao3? 32

What’s your total ao3 word count? 75,727

What fandoms do you write for? Fate: the Winx Saga mostly, these years. Sometimes there's a little drabble for another fandom that I have to get out of my chest, too.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Of vodka and musicals

A Convenient Relapse

A Blade's Glint

Not the First Time

A lost cause

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do! I can't imagine leaving someone without a response because the notion that someone out there enjoys something I created still makes my head dizzy, so it's my way of appreciating every time it happens. An AO3 email with a comment makes my day turn completely around so I like to give back that feeling.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably Two Tears

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I think High and Tangible. I'm realising I don't really have many objectively happy endings, huh.

Do you get hate on fics? Not really. There was one time when someone really didn't like my writing/english, tho.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I didn't think I would ever write smut until one year ago, tbh. I think Fate's KinkMeme this year helped me a lot with my apprehension. I like to write smut that has intention behind the movements and actions, making the smut tell a story, I believe.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Nope, I've never really been interested in writing any, I think.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I've had fics posted on other sites/languages without mentioning me, so kind of.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, with and without permission (but we don't want to talk about the disrespecting ones). Fate fandom aside, my first translated works left me with a nice feeling because they were also works for very tiny fandoms, so I was very surprised that someone from that small group wanted to put in the effort for a work of mine.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not really! I've only fooled around with ideas being an writer-artist kind of pair on some ocasion. Although, hey, one day @skloomdumpster and I pretty much wrote a wholeass Skyriv fic via Discord chat so I'm saying that qualifies, yeah.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? Very difficult to say! I don't think I have like a supreme otp, but the answer feels like Captain Swan or Bellarke? I think it's because of how long and how deep they stayed with me in a moment of my life where I was kind of discovering myself through/with them.

What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I don't really have any WIP I think I'll never finish. I have a lot of them but I still plan on writing them and I've not lost interest in any of the ideas. I'm just reaaally slow with them because life right now is chaos. But I never publish anything I don't have finished or has a possibility of abandonment so you're all safe from that.

What are your writing strengths? I like to think I find common ground for characters to interact in an interesting manner? I like to keep things in character so I really try to capture the voices of the characters in canon. I hope that's something I achieve, anyway. I also think I do an okay job of showing subtleties to the reader and not spelling everything for them, though I'm not sure if that's more something I like than something I'm good at haha

What are your writing weaknesses? Most probably language, if we're talking about AO3 stuff. Outside of that, I struggle with rhythm and descriptions of mundane/mechanical actions. I often throw it around inside my head for a a long, long time until I find a way of writing it without it reading like a grocery list or just, give up and move on. I also think sometimes I get too deep into the internal side of characters and make it difficult to go back to the external narration again without making the reader feel lost.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? All for it. I love seeing different languages from characters/environments and it makes me as a reader feel a deeper inmersion, even if it's not entirely accurate for a language I understand. For me, people respectfully trying is enough, they can get better later. But as a writer you have to be careful about a language you don't understand because a weird/wrong sentence will definitely kick a native out of your story for a moment there. So triple check everything, don't trust online translators too much, and ideally run it through a native/fluent person. You can also ask for feedback from readers who understand!

First fandom you wrote for? I think Final Fantasy VII or maybe some Spanish comics from my teenage years, not sure which was first. Published on AO3, it was OUAT, though.

Favorite fic you’ve written? I don't know if I have a favourite fic... but I can't help but think of how much I enjoyed writing At the Bottom of a Stream and I'm proud of it, so even if it's the most recent one I'm gonna say that!

No idea who's been tagged or who's done it already so I'm going in blind with this, sorry! Tagging @skloomdumpster @fitztragedy and @partiallypearl if you guys feel like it 🤍

[stormkpr]

10 things I love about The 100 (and 10 things I hate about it)

10 things i love about The 100:

The characters

And way the show makes me  care about all the characters. I kind of love them. Once I was at a party and the song “Radioactive” came on, and I got teary. I explained why. My friends thought it was hilarious.

The settings. Although the worldbuilding was not perfect, it was good. Each episode could have launched a thousand fanfics

Although I believe many storylines were way too rushed, still this show had some great plots. I rewatched 5x2 The Red Queen recently and could only say “Damn this is good TV”

I already did a post on the ships I love. So I’ll just name them again. Bellarke. Memori. Mackson. Niytavia. SeaMechanic. Kabby. Marper.  

Some really really good non-romantic relationships too. Do I have to list them all? I can’t, but here are some. Monty and Jasper. Sinclair and Raven. Octavia and Indra. Kane and Indra. Octavia and Diyoza. Raven and Memori. Bellamy and Murphy. Bellamy and Miller. Roan and Clarke. Kane and the Blakes until the writers said screw it. 900 more.

The ending of S5. Which most of the fandom seems good with regarding as the real ending. I cry every time.

Raven and Octavia being badasses the whole way through. And shoutout to Indra for also being a badass, for 6 seasons

The music, the visuals, the direction. Top notch.

LGBT representation and strong female representation. Not enough POC representation though

Fanfics. There have been some amazing ones

10 things I hate about The 100:

Bellamy’s death

In fact, so many of the deaths were brutal. No, I didn’t expect sunshine and rainbows when I decided to watch a post-apocalyptic show. But damn. Lexa, Lincoln, Sinclair, Jasper, Roan, Luna, Kane, Abby. At least Marper’s deaths brought in a new era of hope for everyone else

Six seasons of lead up to Bellarke and it doesn’t happen

I want less rushing through a plot and more character interactions

The time skip after Praimfaiya didn’t do us any favors. Neither did the overall pacing - six months from 1x1 to Praimfaiya, then a timeskip, then it’s back to rushing. 

Not enough. Of anything. I want more backstory on all the characters

The way that some characters barely interacted at all (Octavia and Raven. Murphy and Octavia. And don’t get me started on the “secondary” characters. I want more than 1 scene showing Gaia and Miller’s friendship thank you!)

So many things that were teased or hinted at or “could have been” but never did and just got dropped. Examples? Too many. Niytavia for one thing. Reply to this post and list 100 others because if I start listing more I will scream

After S5, they never seemed to know what to do with Raven.

I love Mackson and I wanted more than the crumbs we got

[vivitalks]

omg i didn't see that you did a writer's ask game! hopefully it's not too late to send asks? if not, may i ask 1, 7, 12, 15, & 5 about "blow a kiss to concern"? thank youuu 💙

i reblog a writer's game and then don't answer this ask for several days SORRY! love you here i am now let's go

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?) this is a tough question because i write in a lot of different fandoms. however, i am going to give two answers. one is the stydia fic blow a kiss to concern (which will be discussed later) because it has a lot of tropes i enjoy - driving, flirting, canon compliance, fluff with some angst, all the good stuff. the second is my kate bishop & peter parker series young & not too wise which has two fics - one of kate and peter meeting before the events of the hawkeye show, and one of them meeting right after. one thing i really enjoy doing is taking two characters who haven't really met or interacted but have the grounds for a fascinating interaction to meet and talk. so like, post-nwh peter has all this trauma from being a superhero, and pre-hawkeye kate is all starry-eyed wanting to be a superhero, and i loved the idea of those two perspectives meeting, two young new yorkers with such different life experiences. i do this kind of pseudo-crossover a lot and it's always so much fun.

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of? i don't worldbuild that often. i am a big big fan of writing things that are canon compliant or very slightly canon divergent (one character lives instead of dies, a relationship is broken up instead of still together, that kind of thing) where the broader universe is still intact, because i feel like in fictional media, part of what's so fun and interesting about writing the characters is dealing with the shit they've gone through and experiences they've had as a result of the universe they exist in.

that being said, i did a smidge of worldbuilding (really more like world-expanding) for my bellarke fic taking the world off your shoulders, particularly the couple of grounder villages they wind up in, and that was fun. the 100 established this bit of canon where only the warrior grounders speak english but then we didn't get a lot of opportunities to see the communities of non-warrior grounders who didn't speak english at all, so i especially liked dipping my toes into sonia's village and exploring a community of people who aren't involved at all in the grounder violence/war and are just peaceful and self-sustaining

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you? mmmm i'm thinking about it but can't come up with any. i think i've probably gotten to like more rarepairs, but that's not a trope (maybe just an influence of hanging out with you lol).

15. What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written? like i said before i don't write a lot of AUs outside of your garden-variety canon divergence, so my options for answers here are limited. i guess my favorite AU is the whole post-age of ultron series i wrote where everything is the same except that pietro lives (bc seriously wtf was that). the series is called pietro lives 'verse but it wound up becoming an entirely clint-barton-centric series and i apologize for nothing.

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about blow a kiss to concern? Answer it now! "hey raviv, what's so special about driving stick shift?" look. you'll never know. you'll never understand until you're driving a bunch of foreigners from literally any other country other than america and they suddenly go, "wait is this a manual?" and you get to very nonchalantly say "yeah it is." you just can't know the level of smug pride you get to experience when people are impressed with you for something as simple as that.

also, driving stick is an even more involved way to do the already-hella-romanticizeable act of driving, and in my experience, it is frustrating as SHIT to learn. and like, stiles loves his fucking car so fucking much. the only other person we ever see drive that car is scott (i think?), most likely because it's not something most people can do, but also because scott is like a brother to him, one of the people he loves the most in the entire world. it's a huge act of trust for stiles to let someone else drive his car. so the idea that there's a skill lydia doesn't have but wants, and only stiles can realistically teach her because he's the only one with both the know-how and the actual car to teach her with is just. very charming in its potential. plus, learning stick at ALL is really hard and it's a testament to the relationship between stiles and lydia that she isn't constantly in tears, because like. he completely believes she can do it, and she completely trusts him to teach her. I JUST THINK THEY'RE NEAT

ask me a question for fic writers!

[lowtonki]

Bob morley and eliza taylor wedding

#Bob morley and eliza taylor wedding full#

Clarke says, “Hey, you saved my life today. Clarke thinks her mother doesn’t deserve her forgiveness, but Jake tells her, “Forgiveness isn’t about what people DESERVE.” Clarke is not sure if she will be able to forgive herself or her mother, but as a step towards the path of forgiveness, she offers forgiveness to Bellamy. On the other side Clarke is struggling with forgiving her mother for playing a part in her father’s death. In this episode Bellamy’s guilt manifests in the form of Jaha who confronts him for shooting him and playing a part in the culling. Metamorphosis of Bellamy Blake through Clarke Griffinĭay Trip was a phenomenal episode on every level and solidified my love for Bellamy and Clarke’s dynamic. However, in this long and emotional dissertation, I want to explore Bellamy’s character development post-time jump through the lens of his relationship with Clarke Griffin. I understand how it may feel as if the time jump has killed the Bellamy Blake we fell for. We jump forward six years later and he’s in a “romantic” relationship with the girl who physically and emotionally abused him in every interaction they shared.

#Bob morley and eliza taylor wedding full#

We spent a full two seasons with him feeling guilty for trusting her, internalizing and shouldering all the guilt for the genocide, and attempting to save anybody at the risk of his own life so he can to wash off the blood on his hands. Now we jump forward and he’s joking around with the girl who betrayed him multiple times, tried to kill him and his sister and his “best friend” multiple times, played a part in murdering Gina and his people, and basically kicked off his downward spiral in Season 3. He held grudges (deserving ones I may add) and didn’t easily forgive himself or others who hurt the people he loves (”forgiveness is hard for us”). The Bellamy Blake we know and love for four seasons wore his heart on his sleeve, was impulsive and emotional, and did everything in his power to protect the people that he loves. We only got about 15 minutes of him AFTER a 6 year time jump and part of it was a scene where he was making out with the character we saw him choking only four episodes ago. I know that most of the fandom is struggling with the Bellamy Blake we were presented with in the first episode of Season 5. *This will be a dissertation because I have a lot of feelings.* Bellarke Parallels in the S5 Premiere (6 years later)

[stealing-jasons-job]

Don’t get me wrong, the idea of Clarke being the the one to pull Bellamy back from Cadogan & Co. would have been amazing and heartfelt. But imagine it was Raven instead:

Clarke’s at her wit’s end with him. She can’t get through to him, and she’s mad and hurt and confused. Octavia isn’t much help. Echo is angry with him, too, and trying to figure out who she is without him. Miller is attempting to be supportive, and Murphy decides he has bigger fish to fry than Bellamy drinking Caddy Koolaid.

But Raven corners him. She tells him to snap out of it, that their friends need him — just like they did up in space. He says he’s doing what’s right. Raven reminds him she thought she was doing what was right when A.L.I.E. got to her. He swears it’s different. He saw his mom; it has to he real. Raven tells him about seeing Sinclair, who was the closest thing she really had to a father figure. She tells him that he wants it to be real, wants that absolution the same way she did.

Raven tells him that Clarke needs him now. That they can’t do this without her, and she can’t do this without him. Humanity needs Bellamy and Clarke together and on the same side, fighting for their future. Fighting for the chance to be better.

And that — Raven explaining how A. L. I. E. got to her + invoking Clarke — is what gets him to finally think about what he saw on Etherea and how it all could have easily been manipulation. So he goes to talk to Clarke, and Clarke and Raven lock eyes over his shoulder when he wraps his arms around Clarke in a hug. Clarke mouths, “Thank you.” Raven just nods, a small smile on her face.

[yiangchen]

Bellarke is the only relationship on the 100 to consistently be given the screen time to apologize to one another when they’ve hurt each other.

So like....

Imagine thinking they are a crack ship!

Imagine thinking they are not the central relationship of the show!!

[bakerolivias-archived]

anyway i’m bored and i’m back into my echo/becho stanhood era so let’s get into it:

a lot of the vitriol echo experienced from fandom was somewhat unfair, especially on a show like the 100, where the entire point is to question the morality of decisions and how much survival is worth over doing the “right thing” - which, on this show is entirely subjective. like it’s perfectly normal to hate a character, for a character to get somewhat on your nerves, but some of the complaints regarding her were just plain nonsensical, and mostly out of boredom but also because echo deserves a lot more credit than she’s given, i’m here to address all the arguments against her.

1. echo was just as interesting, and multi-dimensional, as clarke, and as morally grey/compelling a character. in s2, she was a side character, a random girl in a cage, and we knew little to nothing about her other than the fact that she was a member of ice nation and she and bellamy were forming some kind of alliance and borderline friendship in the “you’re a war prisoner and our groups are fighting but you’re also being tortured and i don’t want you to die” sense. in s3 echo and bellamy had a familiarity to their relationship when echo seeked bellamy for help after she was “captured” (i think that’s what happened it’s been years since i watched t100 s3 i barely remember it) and he told the other person to let her go, exhibiting some kind of trust and friendship towards her in this scene too. now, i liked echo despite how little screentime she got as opposed to other characters like roan, because she was very interesting in s2, even when she spat on bellamy - and given the audience’s love for bellarke which had spanned multiple eps since the pilot, it would make sense that they wouldn’t be as enthusiastic about her, or a ship where the two characters’ first interaction was to spit on each other, but echo as an individual was pretty interesting imo. the reason echo wasn’t fleshed out as much before s4 was because she was freshly introduced and naturally had to take a backseat to clarke, the lead, bell, the male lead, raven and jasper and lexa... the list goes on. even roan got more screentime than her, because she wasn’t as important to the narrative, other than being the instigator for the Gina Died Incident so bellamy could become an ooc villain and be driven to genocide.

the Gina Incident in particular is what most of fandom seems to hate her for, and she didn’t seem to be particularly remorseful in the traditional way about it either - but remember, this is coming from ppl who liked BC even when clarke told bellamy his life and endangering his safety was worth the risk to further her plans, when she used information he’d given her while coming down from intense hallucinations to get him to come back from camp (a scene lots of ppl interpreted as a milestone/improvement in their relationship, much like the “i was being weak” scene), when bellamy and clarke betrayed each other left and right for the span of the entire show, especially s5 (clarke left him to die in a fighting pit at the hands of his tyrannical sister and still ppl hated on echo for wanting to avenge bellamy and being angry at clarke?? and physically assaulting the woman who got her boyfriend killed??? like idk about y’all but that’s perfectly relatable and justifiable to me lol). clarke is a very flawed person much like echo but because she’s a main, we root for her, because her side of the story is always shown so we can cheer her on as a hero. echo does one admittedly terrible thing, and because she’s not a main and thus we don’t know her motivations, we’re inclined to dislike her. all we knew her as was the blindly loyal soldier who would commit murder at her boss’s demand, even if it meant bringing a friend’s loved one to great harm.

but echo knew what she did was wrong, that whatever trust bellamy had in her couldn’t be restored properly, and she accepted this. there are many scenes where she quietly took responsibility for her actions, where she made no excuse, something the beloved protagonist clarke does several times (it was all for my people this and that). she was almost driven to s*icide in the s4 finale out of grief and shame for her actions - which, obviously, doesn’t absolve or redeem her of them, but the point is that despite complaints about tasya teles’s “lack of facial acting range” (which, considering the environment echo grew up in, it would more than make sense for her not to show her emotions plainly on her face but rather in her actions), she shows remorse and loyalty and the many things that make her character unique so blatantly and clearly.

2. echo experienced a lot more growth and development than fandom would like to acknowledge. echo is a loyal person, and had blind faith in azgeda’s actions and what they told her to do because that’s the environment in which she was raised. surviving on the ground meant to prioritize life, and the clan, above all else. grounders glorify war, grounders brutally punished their people (such as when nia forced echo to kill the original echo or when roan left echo to die in a poisonous radiation wave even though she only tried to help the clan, not just herself, survive). but she never used her upbringing as an excuse - it’s merely a fact that she was raised this way, and she’s held accountable by bellamy and the narrative for all her “sins,” as it were.

but here’s where her development and growth, which y’all like to ignore, comes in. in s5, she, for the first time, experienced the genuine love of a real family, who didn’t rely on her to commit murder or do their dirty work like azgeda did, who valued her for the first time as a person, not just as a spy or based on what occupation she could do for the group. her loyalty was still there, one of her many core traits, but when used properly it’s actually a very good character to have - and echo did not use it blindly. she did not support violence and murder for the sake of it, did not follow a leader or authoritative presence because she could, and there are several instances where this shows - she refused to give away the defectors to tyrant!octavia, she wasn’t the one who immediately followed the teachings of the primes despite being, arguably, the most vulnerable in the group to that kind of propaganda and brainwashing (plot twist: it was murphy who attempted to become a Bodysnatcher because he was so afraid of hell). we also got to see her background and childhood traumas in s6, the lack of which many members of fandom were complaining about, and then immediately hated once they got exactly what they said they wanted because it interfered with their favorite characters getting more screentime (which really was the main problem with echo all along, lbr).

3. becho was a very healthy, stable, and mature relationship. on the ring, bellamy and echo experienced a drastic change as they both needed to adjust to a life where violence was no longer necessary, where they could live in peace. much of echo’s actions on the ground were a result of wanting to belong in a group after she lost her family (and her friend, Original Echo) - and that desire being exploited. but on the ring, she flourished, as did her relationships. bellamy and echo learned to properly cope with the trauma they’d experienced on the ground, bellamy was able to hold her accountable for her actions (something the narrative never lets him do when it comes to cl*rke, especially after she repeatedly endangered his life and proved she could do it again and again), and as they got their bearings in a new life, they both began to grow into evolved versions of themselves. it was clear they enjoyed spending time together, that they were friends, and that friendship blossomed over three years before the buildup led to their eventual kiss.

and the writers make an effort to show them communicate, to challenge each other, to reassure each other about their biggest worries. echo confides in bellamy that she thinks their affection and love and respect for each other will change on the ground, bellamy reminds her that nothing would change because they won’t revert back to what their relationship was like before - trust and mutual respect was restored between them. in s6 - in their huge fight which BCs like to think is some kind of proof of BE being toxic for some reason, even though it was a relatively normal and organic conflict for becho as individual characters and for their relationship - bellamy confronted echo because he felt she was becoming emotionally withdrawn from him, and he feared this time they’d fall into their old patterns. echo was overwhelmed, because she was processing this big new change in her life - the loss of two members of her family - in the only way she knew how and felt pressured by bellamy, and went to get space away from him. he admitted he was wrong, he made the genuine apology, he let her grieve in the way that was best for her and was only concerned about her well being and happiness, and was a sweet, emotionally supportive, and caring boyfriend. the entire scene was actually designed very well, successfully rounding out becho’s relationship and help us, as an audience, get to know them more intimately - especially after the considerable backlash because their six years together onscreen wasn’t shown and thus fans couldn’t invest in the relationship.

idk about y’all, but this is actually normal relationship stuff and that fight is a lot more healthy because of the mature and rational way they worked through the conflict (it wasn’t as if bellamy endangered echo’s daughter and echo threw him into the hunger games and sentenced to his death, lol). it was resolved beautifully in a way that worked for them and made their relationship shine - and, comparatively to b*llarke, becho is the type of relationship ideal that’s actually for the most part healthy, excluding the beginning of their relationship. and even in that case, bell and echo were on different sides of a war, which fandom is inclined to forget, while clarke repeatedly betrayed and even shot at bellamy while they were in the stage of their relationship where they were (supposedly) friends.

4. echo’s “regression” in which she almost reverted back to her old ways are good for her character. while fandom likes to spew vitriol at her for being murderous (even though clarke can do the same thing and be praised still), it’s important to remember how echo grew up, and how those life experiences would shape her choices (which she has always taken full ownership of with little complaint, unlike the main who is allowed to run away and to whine about “impossible choices” that she makes in the interest of “saving everyone”). of course she’d be tempted to solve a problem with murder - every single character on the show has done this at least once. the temptation to become a “follower” as ppl in fandom bashed her for being in s7, the temptation to kill the people on bardo as vengeance, were tests of her willpower, of whether or not she truly grew and changed. raven was echo’s loved one who reminded her of their family, of the love they shared based on friendship and honor, of their promise to do better. she reminded echo what bellamy would have wanted, and because echo values the love and respect of her friends, she made the correct decision, to stop the cycle of violence (which cl*rke didn’t do, and had permission as the likeable main character to revenge murder someone on behalf of a loved one without being loathed and punished for it).

i actually do understand why people would dislike echo, but she was actually far more amazing a character than fandom gave her credit for.

[heartbellamy]

hello my darlings! it’s that time of year again, where everything is pink and fluffy and heart-shaped. last year i did a countdown series of some of my favorite ships, which was challenging but fun! but this year i thought i might do something a little more interactive. that’s where you come in!

this celebration is a little mix of a follow forever and a creator game. the part where you come in is down below! it’s a mix of popular content creator memes and some extra goodies i threw in for fun, and all you have to do is pick whatever one calls to you and send me an ask with the mentioned information, and voila, you’ll get a custom fanwork! how fun is that? not only is it a way to give back to my little community, but it also strengthens my creativity, so i think that’s a win-win, no? plus there’s options for both visual and written content, woo! ✨

take a look below and then send something in here!

color palette meme: send me 🎨 + a color palette and a character, ship, show, movie, etc. and you’ll get a gifset inspired by it timestamp roulette: send me ⏱ + an episode or movie and you’ll get a gifset of random moments make me choose: send me 👯 + two (or more) characters, ships, episodes, shows, movies, etc. and you’ll get a gifset of my fave! wardrobe meme: send me 👗 + a character, movie, or show and you’ll get a gifset of my favorite outfit superlative meme: send me 📚 + a superlative (best smile, cutest couple, etc.) and you’ll get a gifset of who i think best fits the theme writing prompt: send me 🖋 + a prompt for a one-shot fic! can be as detailed as you want, as long as you include the ship, character, fandom, etc.

as for the follow forever part of this post, i suspect this might get a little long, so i’ll be putting it underneath the cut! but don’t worry, i love you all imensely and am so happy you’re here. i might get mushy, but hey, valentine’s is a good excuse right?

love fest aka follow forever is down below!

@togetherkru my darling stef! or as i call you in my head, my partner in crime clarke. first of all, i’m so thankful and lucky to have you over at @dailyclarkegriffin, i really had no idea what i was getting myself into and i really can’t thank you enough for the help! secondly, i honestly can’t imagine being in this community without someone as wonderful and positive and supportive as you. i’m sure i’ve said it before but you really are such a light in this community and i hope you know how much we appreciate you! a sunflower for a sunflower 🌻💛✨

@bellamyblake iva, i can’t express how grateful i am for the support you’ve given me from the start. whether it’s my own creations or bcso or just a chat now and then, you’ve always been around to support me and even offer me kind words when i wasn’t at my best, and i hope you know that truly means a lot to me! as someone who came back to the t100 fandom later on, it could feel a bit like being the new kid coming in during the middle of the semester, but your support has and continues to make me feel included 💙

@klarkegriffin lynn, obviously everything i said about dcg goes for you too, the love and support i got when opening the doors was so lovely and my little clarke partners are just two wonderful people honestly. on top of that, i wanna talk about what you’ve done in the community. i know you do a lot and keep up a steady flow of ways to keep the creativity in the community alive, and i hope you know that it is greatly appreciated. i don’t have to tell you that this fandom can be tough, but the projects you’re involved with have done so much! you’re a wonderful part of the community and i’m glad we have you 💞

@queen-of-the-wallflowers15 i don’t think we’ve actually talked here on tumblr! but it felt silly not to mention you when all the work you and lynn do has helped me and my writing process so tremendously. i honestly don’t know where the bellarke writing community would be if not for you two. bellarke hub has been an absolute godsend for me and my writing process, even when i feel like i’m in a total rut, seeing the prompts and the microfics and everything are really so inspiring and have helped me when i thought i couldn’t even write a single sentence. plus i love all the writing you do yourself! basically this is a big thank you 📚💜

@infp-with-all-the-feelings @carrieeve @spacebell @ninappon @igotbellarkeforthat @bookwormforalways @moreflowersthanweeds @pendragaryen @natassakar my sunflower kru! this is getting long even under the read more so i just wanna mention the bellarke gang that keeps this fandom alive and together, you’re all grand and thanks for including me even though i don’t always show up 😂💗 (sorry if i forgot anyone! i went by my mentions but just know i love and appreciate you all!)

HONORABLE MENTION TO ALL THESE BABES 😍☀️🌻💛✨

@agentsofoakenshiield @andromedabennet @astridandoddsandends @aucelu @behlamy @bellamyblakru @bellamysgriffin @damn-salvatore @divinepairings @emziess @excuseyouclarke @fandomscraziness22 @fearingdark @frecklesandfanfics @gansxythethird @harpermiller @helloeurydice @hey-there-juliet @iheartbookbran @imcristinayang @immortalpramheda @isweartobreathe @izloveshorses @jeanie205 @kateemcintyre @kombellarke @lee-em-dee @loveforbobandeliza @luminouswriter @nakey-cats-take-bathsss @nathanmillers @ohtwilight @pawprinterfanfic @searamour @soulintheskies @sparklyfairymira @star-kovs  @starkzmalik @starsinyourskyes @stealing-jasons-job @superficialseer @travllingbunny @userlexi @whateverthehellhewants @who-needs-reality-anyways @writetheniteaway @xxawalkinwonderlandxx

[alphinias]

I seriously doubt Nancy backs off of Park anytime soon. The next episode is rated TV14DSV. Nancy probably sleeps with him. With only four episodes left, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to buy anything happening with Nace in the finale without some huge hand waving. There’s just not enough time for any of this to play out realistically.

Plus, the fact that she could do that while Ace is missing or even at all when she was “pining” for him a week ago (show time) is frankly unbelievable. I know she loves sex but the person she allegedly loves is nowhere to be found and that’s her default move?! The writers obviously want us to ship Nancy with a man who is way too old for her and that she barely knows over the pairing that’s had nearly 50 episodes of build-up. You’d think with the fanbase being 99.9% Nace that would mean something, but it truly doesn’t. Also, not sure why Kennedy loves 310 so much when it seems like a show/ship breaker and not in a good way.

I had such high hopes after 218, but this has honestly been one of the worst seasons of television I’ve ever experienced. The writing has deteriorated with every episode because of an obsession with a new character, the lack of Drew Crew interaction, the lack of meaningful Nace scenes, the looming character assassination of Nancy, and an extremely confusing mystery. Not to mention the weird social media “promotion” including Park being praised 24/7 and Scott Wolf seriously implying Nace is unhealthy which still blows my mind.

I can’t even recommend this show anymore without a disclaimer. It’s been a huge disappointment and that makes me incredibly sad. We’re all getting played for fools just like with every other CW show that’s ever aired.

I mean, you’re entitled to your opinion, but I don’t agree. I don’t think it’s a perfect season of television by any means, but I personally am having a great time even though I dislike the Park storyline. They’ve given us what I take to be meaningful Nace scenes in pretty much every episode this season, and several episodes where Park is not present at all. I think a longer season would have maybe been better for the Nace development, but the story isn’t done yet. These writers have taken things that make no sense before (like Nancy and Gil) and made them make sense, so I’m just here along for the ride. But the nace set up right now is the angst and pining of my dreams, to be honest, so if you don’t like it at all I just can’t relate!

I didn’t see the Scott Wolf comment or whatever, and I found the nark promotion annoying, but they also promote Nace ALL THE TIME. This cast and crew is very nice about Nace. It just makes me think that some of you haven’t been a part of a fandom that’s ACTUALLY a shit show (like Bellarke, for example). I don’t know. I think you just have to take little comments that rub you the wrong way with a grain of salt, because at the end of the day their experience isn’t the same as ours. They are promoting their job and we’re experiencing it as fans. And either way, the actors aren’t writing the show and have no say in what happens, especially about a storyline they aren’t even involved in.

If it’s making you that upset, I always recommend taking a step back and maybe not watching. For example, I’ve had to take a step back from the Rookie because I don’t like where it’s going, but yeah…. I’m currently having a great time with ND and Nace.

I might be disapppinted at the end of the season. I don’t know. But I’m not right now.

[elonmusksboyfriend]

I’m really not a Bellarke shipper but I honestly really hate Echo and Bellamy together. As friends? Sure. As separate characters? Endlessly interesting. But as a couple they just don’t compliment each other.

Echo does not show interest in Bellamy until after Priamfaya. She lives for herself and her people, and she’s completely dedicated to that. She likes having Bellamy as an ally when she can, but she’s willing to sacrifice him for the “greater good”. And their interactions are largely limited to this. Additionally, she has tried to kill Octavia, who Bellamy raised, multiple times, which should be a deal breaker for him. Echo is one of those characters who I think would only benefit from not being in a relationship. She’s a good leader, a quick thinker, and above all, a survivor. She’s very interesting and complex, but a significant other does not do her character any favors, it largely contradicts what we already know. Bellamy’s relationship with her is also a disservice to his character. Octavia is always his first priority, but we see him follow Echo around like a lost puppy. A lot of his interactions with her are similar to the Pick Me Girl memes (“Echo look at me, look at me, this isn’t you 🥺”) which is just. Weird and out of character for him. Bellamy and Echo serve each other better as parallels, not lovers.

[jonsaslove]

Fic writer tag game

Tagged by @esther-dot. Thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3? 36

What’s your total AO3 word count? 403,952 (this feels like a lot lol)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? 3 fandoms. 33 fics for Jonsa/GOT. 2 fics for Bellarke/The 100. And 1 fic for Ready or Not (2019 Film) for Grace/Daniel. 

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

run away with my love

My “What if Sansa went to Dragonstone with Jon Season 7 AU”

“Bran,” Jon says, one word and voice barely above a whisper.

Sansa takes a sip from her cup and sets it down, “I know.”

i feel you move (in distances worth keeping)

The “What if Daenerys won the war and Cersei fled with Jaime to Essos but five years later they come back to team up with the Starks to take down the Dragon Queen AU”

“Well then who are you writing to, who will be our saviour in all of this?”

Cersei looks Jaime right in the eye, “Sansa Stark."

searching (for what you want me to say)

The Season 8 AU where political Jon was real the entire time. 

“I’ll have to repair it,” She breathes out and she knows he must feel her breath on his lips, they’re that close.

“Aye,” He lets out the smallest sound, “It did me well in the South. Northern furs to protect me and keep me warm. They made me think of you when I felt all was lost.”

more than skin

The fic from Daenerys’ POV where she picks up on what’s going on with Jon and Sansa. 

Later, when Daenerys has blood spilling from her mouth, it will all make a sick sort of sense.

the next several are the continuing parts of the season 8 AU. So lastly there is this. 

these cold veins

Following the events of Season 8 Sansa suffers. But eventually she has to flee for her own safety, she seeks Jon in the North.  

“You know he regrets it Sansa,” Tormund spoke to her like the friend he had become over the years and Sansa winced.

“Regrets what Tormund?” she responded, a bit too snappish.

Tormund had given her a long searching look, as if he wasn’t sure how to articulate his words in a way that would be clear to her.

“All of it.”

Do you respond to comments, why or why not? I do respond to them all because my favourite part of posting is getting to respond to the people who love my stories, so even when it takes me a while I will get it done. 

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Most of my fics have happy endings, but I did write at the end, which is an AU in which all the Starks die and it follows Sansa’s final moments. 

Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written? Never have and I don’t have any plans to, though I toyed with a Jonsa/Lord of the Rings fic for a while. 

Have you ever received hate on a fic? A handful of times, comes with the territory of writing for Jonsa I think.

Do you write smut? If so what kind? I have, in my mind it’s pretty basic, nothing too kinky. But it always fits the story and the characters. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen? No, not that I know of. 

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope

What’s your all time favorite ship? Jonsa for sure, it’s what got me into writing fic. But I have a deep rooted love for Bellarke as well. 

Whats a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?  I only have one WIP, my Sansa goes to Dragonstone AU sequel which I fully intend on finishing. But I have many ideas which will never come to fruition. Most regrettably and Older Starks AU where they are all in their late teens to early 20s at the start of the series and everything is darker because of it. I have it completely planned in broad strokes but I know I’ll never write it. 

What are your writing strengths? I'm extremely well suited to planning, I know how to structure and organize scenes to tell the story I want to share. I’m also in tune with my characters and understand how they think and also how they interact with each other. 

What are your writing weaknesses? I always want to say dialogue, but it’s only a struggle not an actual weakness. My biggest weakness is my hatred for describing setting. I am a very interior writer, I spend ages in their heads and all my characters value self reflection. But i’ll skip over setting up a big group scene or describe the surroundings in seven words and never touch on it again. 

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Some people are very adept at it, and I am not one of them. 

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Jonsa/GoT

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written? This varies, but run away with my love is up there for sure, as mentioned above. But also I love my bellarke fic, words in my memory, because it was so challenging and equally rewarding to write from so many different perspectives. 

Thanks again @esther-dot 

I love talking about my writing, I tag anyone who wants to do the same :)

[terapsina]

from the shipping ask: 6, 8, and 10

6. Do you have a certain kind of ship you’re more attracted to?

Honestly. No. I don't think so. I ship healthy adorable ships (Parker/Hardison, Rey/Finn, Danbeau), and unhealthy or messy ships (Spuffy, Masriel, Brio), ships which start out as friendships (Clizzy, Skimmons), ships that start out as enemies or rivals (Swan Queen, Hizzie, Bellarke), het ships (Merlin/Morgana) and femslash ships (Valkubus) and slash ships (Queliot, Malec), ships where there's an age difference (Elejah, Charloe, River/Doctor) and ships that don't (Shoot, Nyssara, Andromaquynh).

I mean there might be a common denominator but I certainly haven't figured it out yet.

It's basically a roll of the dice, I'm going to like what I'm going to like and it cannot be predicted ahead of time.

8. Who is the most shippable person you can think of?

Well as I'm very specifically NOT a multishipper and once I've landed on my OTP will NOT be moved. There's not a lot of examples.

The one exception might be Caroline Forbes.

Because I have very strong memories about how I rather jumped around on who I shipped her with.

At first I thought Caroline/Matt were kinda cute, though a bit bland. Then there was a little brief moment in s2 where I kinda shipped Steroline (but not AT ALL by the time it actually reached that point), really really liked Forwood in the beginning during the pining faze of it all, switched tracks to Klaroline after that (and basically where I ended up landing), had a few brief moments where I entertained the idea of Caroline/Bonnie and Caroline/Rebekah too.

So yeah. As literally the single character I've actually multishipped at all ever Caroline wins this prize by being a strange exception to my otherwise very one track mind sort of shipping habits.

10. Do characters have to have canon interactions for you to ship them?

Usually, yes. They don't need to be canonically romantic in nature, I can feed myself on very little but I do usually need at least one interaction before any interest to ship something strikes me.

Though there is apparently a recently discovered exception to this rule where if I write two characters interacting for the first time in my fic I might end up shipping it in a very belated fashion (current case in point being Bonbekah, who I hadn't considered until I wrote them into She's Come Undone and Set Free).

[otp-armada]

If Jason wanted to convince me that Lxa was the love of Clarke's life, he wouldn't have killed her off, effectively cutting their love story permanently, with 4.5 seasons left of the show. Their arc, starting with their introduction in 2x07 and concluding with L's death in 3x07, is 17 episodes long, accounting for 17% of the entire narrative. If I generously add 3x16 to the count, an episode in which L is already dead in the corporeal world Clarke is trying to return to, it's a whopping, grand total of 18%. An 18% congruous with Clarke's intense connection to Bellamy and vice versa, which even A.lycia confirmed as romantic. Feelings romantic enough to spur the formation of a love triangle. An 18% ignoring Clarke's ultimate choice to go back to her people when L wanted her to stay.

CL is a chapter in the story begun and wrapped up in the first half of the narrative. And that's omitting further illumination on the finer details making CL so problematic for Clarke. Do you expect me to believe it was coincidental for CL to occur at a time when Clarke was spiraling down a dark path, commencing with Finn's death? Who played a hand in forcing Clarke's own hand, with Finn, and TonDC, and Mount Weather? Whose example inspired her to ensnare herself in armor and warpaint to be strong enough to save her people? Whose behavior did she emulate in the pushing away of support from her people? Who gave her a place to continue hiding from Bellamy, her mom, and her friends? A place to be someone other than Clarke Griffin? In lieu of facing her fears like the heroine she is? The purpose of CL wasn't to provide Clarke with a magnificent, fairy tale romance gone tragically wrong. I believe Jason's intent with the relationship aimed to further damage Clarke's psyche after L's death, to solidify the belief that her love is not only deadly to its recipients but renders her too weak to do what must be done for survival.

After 3x16, CL is an often superfluous namedrop or two per season for Clarke to briefly react to before carrying on with the plot. Season 5 aside, most of these references are needless enough to be able to interpret them as attempts at reparations for the L/CL fandom's benefit -and their views- without altering the course of the story. Crazy me for thinking it's not enough to constitute an ongoing love story. Crazy me for not thinking this was on par with interactions between living characters. Crazy me for thinking it doesn't befit a love story for the protagonist.

This sliver of the story is what Jason and the CLs would have us unquestionably believe is the pervasive love story of The 100's seven seasons?

Despite his lie and the constant gaslighting from the pineapple CLs, some of us know how to decipher what a temporary love interest is. Lxa? I think you know where I'm heading with this.

I'll acknowledge my admittedly negative appraisal of CL as someone who recognizes its value to the LGBT+ community and treats it as valid while not caring for L/CL on a narrative level. I felt, when swayed by L's influence, Clarke became the antithesis of what I found admirable about her. I resented Clarke's acquiescence of her power to the commander. I wanted nothing more than to remove the wedge L had driven between Clarke and Bellamy.

Let me try to give L/CL the benefit of the doubt for a minute. I don't hold L as responsible for Clarke's choices, but I recognize the prominent role she played in their upbringing. The push and pull was an intriguing aspect of their dynamic, as was the chance to meet a manifestation of who Clarke might have been if she was all head, no heart. Her fall from grace was arguably necessary for her to be a fully-rounded character, not a Mary Sue. It wouldn't be realistic for the protagonist of a tragic story about a brutal world to be a pure cinnamon roll. When forgiveness is an innate theme with Clarke, it would be my bias at work if I was content with her applying it to everyone but Lxa. Clarke saw enough commonalities between her and L to identify with the latter. When she extended forgiveness to L, I believe it was her way of taking the first step on the path to making peace with herself by proxy. None of this means I wanted them paired up. At best, I made my peace with seeing the relationship through to its eventual end. In time for L's death, ironically. My passivity about them notwithstanding, my conclusions are, however, supported by canon.

If I may submit a Doylist reason for romantic CL? Jason knew he had a massive subfandom itching to see them coupled, thereby boosting ratings and generating media buzz. A Watsonian reason? Without relevance, I think L would have been another Anya to Clarke. Grapple shortly with the unfair taking of a life right as they choose to steer towards unity, melancholy giving way to the inconvenience of the loss of a potential, powerful political ally. Romance ensured her arc with L would have the designated impact on Clarke's character moving forward in the next act.

For a show not about relationships, Jason has routinely used romantic love as a shorthand for character and dynamic development. It's happened with so many hastily strung together pairings. And when it does, everyone and their mother bends over backward to defend the relationship. It's romantic because it just is. Didn't you see the kissing? Romantic.

No, The 100 at its core is not about relationships, romantic and otherwise. But stack the number of fans invested exclusively by the action against those of us appreciating a strong plot but are emotionally attached to the characters and dynamics. Who do we think wins? Jason can cry all he wants over an audience refusing to be dazzled solely by his flashy sci-fi.

Funnily enough, "not about relationships'' is only ever applied to Bellarke. Bellarke, a relationship so consistently significant, it's the central dynamic of the show. The backbone on which the story is predicated. Only with Bellarke does it become super imperative to represent male-female platonic relationships. As if Bellarke is the end all, be all of platonic friendship representation on this show. In every single television show in the history of television shows.

Where was this advocacy when B/echo was foisted upon on us after one scene between them where he didn't outright hate Echo? When one interaction before that, he nearly choked the life out of her. If male-female friendship on TV is so sparse, why didn't B/ravens celebrate the familial relationship between Bellamy and Raven? Isn't the fact that they interpret Clarke as abusive to Bellamy all the more reason to praise his oh-so-healthy friendship with Raven as friendship? They might be the one group of shippers at the least liberty to use this argument against Bellarke, lest they want to hear the cacophony of our fandom's laughter at the sheer hypocrisy of the joke. Instead, they've held on with an iron grip to the one sex scene from practically three lifetimes ago when the characters were distracting themselves from their feelings on OTHER people? They've recalled this as "proof" of romance while silent on (or misconstruing) the 99% of narrative wherein they were platonic and the 100% of the time they were canonically non-romantic.

Bellarke is only non-romantic if you believe love stories are told in the space of time it takes for Characters A & B to make out and screw each other onscreen, a timespan amounting to less than the intermission of a quick bathroom break. If it sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. And yet, some can't wrap their heads around the idea that maybe, just maybe, a well-written love story in its entirety is denoted by more than two insubstantial markers and unreliable qualifiers. B/raven had sex, and the deed didn't fashion them into a romance. Jasper and Maya kissed but didn't have sex. Were they half a romantic relationship? Bellarke is paralleled to romantic couples all the time, but it counts for nothing in the eyes of their rival-ship fandom adversaries. Take ship wars out of it by considering Mackson. Like B/echo, the show informed us that Mackson became a couple post-Praimfaya, offscreen, via a kiss. Does anyone fancy them an epic love story with their whisper of a buildup? Since a kiss is all it takes, as dictated by fandom parameters, we should.

If Characters A & B are ensconced in a romantic storyline, then by definition, their relationship is neither non-romantic nor fanon. "Platonic" rings hollow as a descriptor for feelings canonically not so.

If the rest of the fandom doesn't want to take our word for granted, Bob confirmed Bellarke as romantic. Is he as delusional as we are? Bob is not a shipper, but he knows what he was told to perform and how. Why do the pineapples twist themselves in knots to discredit his word? If they are so assured by Jason's word-of-god affirmation, then what credibility does it bear to have Bellarke validated by someone other than the one in charge? They're so quick to aggressively repudiate any statement less than "CL is everything. Nothing else exists. CL is the only fictional love story in The 100, nay, the WORLD. CL is the single greatest man-made invention since the advent of the wheel."

We've all seen a show with a romantic relationship between the leads at the core of the story. We all know the definition of slowburn. We can pinpoint the tropes used to convey romantic feelings. We know conflict is how stories are told. We know when interferences are meant to separate them. We know when obstacles are overcome, they're stronger for it. We know that's why the hurdles exist. We know those impediments often take the shape of interim, third-party love interests. We know what love triangles are. We know pining and longing.

Jason wasn't revolutionary in his structure of Bellarke. He wasn't sly. Jason modeled them no differently than most other shows do with their main romances. Subtler and slower, sure. Sometimes not subtle at all. There's no subtlety in having Clarke viscerally react to multiple shots of Bellamy with his girlfriend. No subtlety in him prioritizing her life over the others in Sanctum's clutches. In her prioritizing his life above all the other lives she was sure would perish if he opened the bunker door. There is no subtlety in Bellamy poisoning his sister to stave off Clarke's impending execution. In her relinquishing 50 Arkadian lives for him after it killed her to choose only 100 to preserve. In her sending the daughter Clarke was hellbent to protect, into the trenches to save him. In him marching across enemy lines to rescue her. In her surrender to her kidnapper to march to potential death, to prevent Bellamy's immediate one. No subtlety in Josie's callouts. No subtlety in Lxa's successful use of his name to convince Clarke to let a bomb drop on an unsuspecting village. Bet every dollar you have that the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of layers to what this show was. It was a tragedy, with hope for light at the end of the tunnel. It was, first and foremost, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi survival drama. Within this overarch is the story of how the union of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake saves humanity, ushering in an age of peace. In this regard, their relationship transcended romance. But with the two of them growing exponentially more intimate each season, pulled apart by obstacles only to draw closer once again, theirs was a love story. A romantic opus, the crescendo timed in such a way that the resolution of this storyline -the moment they get together- would align with the resolution of the main plot. Tying Bellarke to the completion of this tale made them more meaningful than any other relationship on this show, not less.

Whereas the trend with every other pair was to chronicle whether they survived this hostile world intact or succumbed to it, Bellarke was a slowburn. A unique appellation for the couples on this show, but not disqualifying them from romantic acknowledgment.

Framing Bellarke in this manner was 100% Jason's choice. If he wanted the audience to treat them as platonic, he should have made it clear within the narrative itself, not through vague, word-of-god dispatches. A mishandled 180-degree swerve at the clutch as a consequence of extra-textual factors doesn't negate the 84% of the story prior. It's just bad writing to not follow through. And Jason's poor, nearsighted decisions ruined a hell of a lot more than a Bellarke endgame.

The problem is, when Bellarke is legitimized, the pineapples are yanked out of their fantasies where they get to pretend the quoted exaggerations above are real. Here I'm embellishing, but some of them have deeply ingrained their identities in CL to the degree where hyperbole is rechristened to incontestable facts. An endorsement for Bellarke is an obtrusive reminder of the not all-encompassing reception of their ship. A lack of positive sentiment is an attack on their OTP, elevated to an attack on their identity. Before long, it ascends to an alleged offense to their right to exist. The perpetrators of this evil against humanity are the enemy, and they must attack in kind, in defense of themselves.

Truthfully, I think it's sad, the connotation of human happiness wholly dependent on the outcome of a fictional liaison already terminated years ago. I'm not unaware of the marginalization of minorities, of the LGBT+ community, in media. I haven't buried my head in the sand to pretend there aren't horrible crimes committed against them. I don't pretend prejudice isn't rampant. When defense and education devolve into hatred and libel for asinine reasons, though, the line has been crossed. You don't get a free pass to hurt someone with your words over a damn ship war. No matter how hard you try to dress it up as righteous social justice, I assure you, you're woefully transparent.