#loreley02

[kinetic-elaboration]

An Afternoon of Laughing at Ourselves

Bellarke, Modern HS AU, ~1300 words

For the prompt: “Come over here and make” from this list, requested by @loreley02​ about a million years ago at the beginning of September.

Read on AO3

*

How did it come to this?

Bellamy ran for student council last year with big plans: reform the student dress code; confront the excessive power of the despotic PTA; lobby for edits to the student handbook. And at first, he was set to achieve it all. A rush of new-semester ambition carried him through a few major presidential accomplishments, and buoyed him with optimism for the rest of the year.

By the time winter fell away into spring, though, no one cared about any of those old promises anymore. No one cared about anything except prom, and fundraising for prom.

So: a forty-five-minute debate on the merits of bake sales versus car washes.

Worse: car washes won. 

Now he's here, in the school parking lot on a Saturday morning that started out blissful-spring-warm and is now inching toward surprising-summer-hot, begging for dollars in exchange for splashing water and soap on unsuspecting vehicles, all to pay for a dance he might not even attend. He'd be miserable about it, if there weren't something satisfying in physical labor. Also if the other volunteers weren't so excited, almost giddy. Some of them, he’s sure, are having more fun now than they will at the dance itself, where they’ll be stuck wearing uncomfortable shoes and ties, trying their hardest to live up to all the expectations of that Big High School Day. (It's no secret he finds the whole thing a bit silly.) Today, though, someone's brought over a stereo with big, old-school speakers and set it to blast pop songs that would probably be unbearable in any other context, and groups and duos have started dancing in between customers, or shimmying and swaying as they soap up hoods or wipe windows clean. Bellamy doesn't get into the whole dancing thing himself. But he does appreciate it, in his own way.

In particular, he appreciates Clarke. Clarke Griffin: Junior class rep. His rival, sometimes, challenging him, pushing back on his ideas in that annoying, tight-lipped, crossed-arms, straight-backed way, always making him fight to defend every opinion, to make every idea better—and at other times, and unexpectedly, his closest ally. He wondered at first if she was out to topple him from power. Then he realized that she just cared, deeply and unironically, about all this high school stuff, as much as he does, and more than just about anyone else.

Clarke, he's learned, has Spirit, of the capital-letter variety. He's out to make things at this school better while he can, for whoever he can. Clarke, on the other hand, just deeply, unabashedly cares about Arkadia High. She wants an end to arbitrary dress code enforcement, yes—but she also wants to beat Polis High at the Big Game, she'll pull out all the stops when it comes to fundraisers, and she has a lot of opinions about prom. Like, a lot. Like she's probably been planning it in her head all year. She has thoughts on the venue (not the same place as last year, it was way too dark), the decorations (nothing gaudy!), the DJ (she knows a guy, apparently), the theme (Under the Stars, or maybe something to do with space). She had an opinion about the bake sale, too (strongly against), which is a large part of why Bellamy is washing the windows of a dark blue sedan right now, while soap drips down onto his shoes.

Clarke is working away at the hood, beaming brighter than Bellamy has ever seen her. She's bobbing her head a little to the music and she looks, he can't help thinking…kinda...cute. Really cute. In her old, faded over-sized t-shirt and her cutoff shorts and her blue sandals, her hair starting to come out of the messy bun she's pulled it back in—

She looks carefree. That's it. At school and in council meetings, she tends toward the serious, animated sometimes by a particularly sudden or brilliant idea, but mostly focused, almost solemn in her concentration. This bright and bubbly side of her is weirdly endearing. It's also, Bellamy finds, oddly...engrossing.

That is, when she leans all the way forward on her toes, one foot kicking off the ground and about a mile of bare leg showing, he finds himself staring. Downright googly-eyed staring. He didn't mean to, but that doesn't make him feel any better about ogling, so he shakes his head and clears his throat and takes a step back. Drops his sponge in the closest bucket of water and soap. Then walks around to see if Monty needs any help with the rear window and to pretend that he wasn't being as obvious as he (maybe) (definitely) was.

Monty lets him take over the back half of the car while he takes a break. To tag him in, he slaps the sponge he was using right against Bellamy's chest, leaving a soapy rectangle right between his lungs, which—is fine, really, it's not like he's wearing his best ratty t-shirt or anything. But maybe it was a little uncalled for. He's brushing stray soap bubbles from over his heart when a shout, just off to his left, catches his ear.

"Hey Blake!"

Clarke Griffin is standing not ten feet away, aiming a hose at him as if it were the deadliest of weapons.

He stops mid-motion and just stares. His first thought is that he must have been even less discreet, before, than he'd thought. His second is that she looks like she's biting down hard to keep back her giggles, so even if this is revenge, of a sort, she probably wasn't really that mad.

His third is that he does not want a blast of cold water in the chest.

He puts his hands up slowly, palms out, and takes a half-step back. Plays along. "Okay, Griffin. No need to go crazy here. Put down the hose and no one gets hurt."

She shakes her head. "No. You're going to have to come over here and make me."

He's smiling now himself, or threatening to, holding back with difficulty the expression tugging at the corners of his mouth. He raises his hands higher. She takes another step forward. He could try to run but then she'd spray him for sure, but if he rushes toward her, maybe he can catch her by surprise...

It's a foolish calculus perhaps, but he doesn't let himself overthink. He half-turns, just for a second, trying to fool her, then abruptly changes course and runs straight ahead. But before he can grab the hose from her hands, she's pulled the trigger, and everything dissolves into a confusion of water and laughter and hopelessly entangled limbs.

When the scuffle finally ends, and he’s able to catch his breath and take his bearings, the hose is on the ground, they’re both soaked from head-to-toe and down to the bone, and he’s got Clarke pressed up against the side of the car, his arms to either side of her, loosely caging her in. He’s staring at a trail of water droplets clinging to her collarbone. When he flicks his gaze up again, he sees that she’s staring at his mouth.

Her hands fist in his shirt, just above his hips, and his stomach muscles tighten and he thinks, she’s bold.

“Hey Bellamy,” she smiles. “You should ask me to prom.”

For a second, he truly thought she was going to say you should kiss me.

But this is all right too. Even though prom is an over-inflated tradition that costs too much money and carries too many expectations, and before this moment he’d been planning on ditching, student council president or no. Still somehow he doesn’t think he’ll mind the cheesy decorations (even with Clarke’s influence, they’ll probably end up a little bit cheesy) or the dance music, or the dress shoes, if he can show up with her as his date.

He smirks, lean in a little closer. “Why don’t you ask me?”

She stares him down, considering. A long moment, the rest of the world fading; he’s tracing the contour of her smile with his eyes, and he already knows. She will.

And she does.

[lilbreck]

loreley02 replied to your post: And here I am reading explicit Bellarke fic. I’m...

Witch one? Share please

So many. I will be adding them to my rec page tomorrow (later today, but shhh). At least the ones I really enjoyed.

[bellarkeprompts]

2 Bellarke Prompts

Canon!Verse in which Raven discovers a software that allows Bellamy to see his parallel lives. Then, Raven shows Clarke the software and, Clarke glitches herself into Bellamy’s parallel lives (alternate universe). She notices something constant while observing: every time, Bellamy is at her side. On the screen, she can see her and Bellamy being in love, being parents, making love...whatever. How does Clarke react to seeing all of their lives and relationships? What will she think of what she sees? How will it affect it her and Bellamy? And what will she do in her own universe with this knowledge? (Prefers mature or explicit rating/content)

Canon!Verse set after Praimfaya 2.0: In the eyes of the Grounders, Clarke is no longer only Wanheda but also Sonraunheda (the command of life) or, as Bellamy would translate, Persephone. Wonkru would like to honor her for helping them survive by having one of their best warrior marries her. In the presence of SkyKru, a delegate of Wonkru presents 4 of their best warriors and says makes it clear to Clarke that she can give ‘try them out’ and make her choice. Abby or Kane, having spent time with the grounders in the bunker and have knowledge of their customs, make it clear that it does not happen like that in SkyKru. Clarke contemplates her situation with input from her friends and Bellamy jokingly says "So, I fucked them all, made my choice, and that's how I met your father! What a beautiful bedtime story for you to tell your child!" How do they solve Clarke’s dilemma?

 (adapted from prompts submitted by @loreley02)

[asroarke]

Tagged by @camhumphrey (aka my perfect fanfic wife)

answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs I’d like to get to know

Nicknames: Alex, Sven, Svennie, salt monster

gender: Female

star sign: leo af. like the most leo to have ever leoed

height: 5’4 (and a quarter of an inch as of my last doctor’s appointment!!!!)

time: 4:09 CST

birthday: August 4th

favorite bands: My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Florence + the Machine

favorite solo artist: Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Christina Grimmie (fuck I miss her), Kesha, Cosette Smith, Dolly Parton

song stuck in my head: Dark Side by Bishop Briggs

last movie i watched: Singin’ in the Rain (because I miss my Debbie and many years of my childhood went into memorizing the numbers from this movie)

when did i create this blog: I think it’ll be a year old soon? I know I started it several months before I actually started writing, but some time after s4 premiered because I didn’t want to spam my main (caroltexasranger) with all my bellarke angst

what do i post: occasional things that I write, angsty bellarke gifsets, rants about the dangers of roombas, my drunken shenanigans, and whatever I’m salty about if someone asks

last thing i googled: popular quotes from Revenge (you guys, it’s killing me that I can’t come up with a name for the Double Infinity sequel. I’m getting desperate)

do i have other blogs: yeah, caroltexasranger. I made it about six years ago I think? It’s really just an assortment of random things I find funny that don’t fit into this blog’s vibe (tbh I’d rather change it so asroarke was my main BUT TUMBLR WON’T LET ME WHICH MEANS I CANT REPLY AS ME OR LEAVE MESSAGES IN YOUR INBOX FROM THE REAL ME, ugh agony)

do i get asks: yeah, every now and then. I like my drunk asks and my salt check ins the best, though. And I get some sweet comments on my writing, which literally always make my day.

why did i choose my url: well, A.S. are my initials. And the Roarke dynamic is one of my faves of all time. I also fully planned on coming up with something more clever before I started writing, but that never happened, and now this is my brand™ 

following blogs: 104

followers: 242

average hours of sleep: about six

lucky number: 4

how many blankets i sleep with: usually one, but it’s been cold af in the Tennessee these days, so I’ve upgraded to two

dream job: writer, and I’m really happy I’m comfortable enough to say that now (a year ago I would have danced around that because I was taught a long time ago that writing was a waste of time, and it’s taken me about ten years to unlearn that)

dream trip: want to go back to the homeland (Norway) and I have an eight day itinerary already planned out, all I need is money and a friend to go with

favorite food: BREAD

nationality: American (Tennessee)

favorite song right now: Praying by Kesha (y’all this song has been my moving on anthem and is just so damn powerful, just damn)

I’m tagging: @isla1975 @tracylorde @sly2o @bisexual-space-latina @bellamyblake-kru @bellamyblakesfreckles @hookkomazgeda @mychal66  @eruditeprincess1993 @elowai @platonic-bellarke @slyth-princess @abbeysunny @peetaspikelets  @the-geek-gods @and-so-we-meet-again @tenthebookworm @loreley02  @clarkefreakinggriffinblake @bellamyinred along with anyone else who wants to do one of these!

[wellsjahasghost]

Where does it say in the scripts that Clarke knows Bell loves her?? Oh my god how could I miss it

@loreley02 asked this as well. You didn’t actually /miss/ anything because this honestly isn’t news, BUT… (x):

“we became your family” as in SHE’s a part of what bellamy considers his family… and that bellamy loves her deeply and would do anything to protect her, too. So yeah, clarke is quite aware that bellamy loves her. i think that has always been obvious, but here it’s spelled out.

(In what other ways he loves her, you can certainly argue… but the canon evidence of them acknowledging the love between them is right there.)

[parapluiepliant]

loreley02 replied to your post “moonaskingtostay replied to your post “don’t mind me, just thinking...”

Together!

Yes. Together.

[bellarke-angel]

Get To Know Me...

Tagged by: @izzycheeese Thank you for the tag!😊

Rules: Tag 20 people you’d like to get to know better.

Name: Courtney

Nickname: A handful of people shorten my name and call me Court, I don’t like it though.

Zodiac sign: Gemini

Hogwarts House: Griffindor

Height: Around 5'0" - 5'1" (I don’t grow very often😢)

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Ethnicity: British

Favourite fruit: Watermelon

Favourite season: Winter

Favourite book series: The Hunger Games series

Favourite fictional characters:

The 100 - Bellamy, Clarke, Raven, Monty, Lincoln.

Suits - Donna, Harvey, Mike, Rachel, Jessica

Game Of Thrones - Daenerys, Jon, Arya, Sansa, Missandei, Tyrion

Riverdale: Veronica, Betty, Kevin

Scorpion: Again, I love them all.

All of the Pitch Perfect characters.

Favourite flower: White Roses or crystal blush lillies

Favourite scents: Vanilla, Coffee, the smell after you blow a match out. Fresh rain.

Favourite colour: Black, all shades of blue, certain purples.

Favourite animal: Big Cats, though I’m loving raccons right now.

Favourite band: I’m not really a band person, but I like Little Mix I guess

Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate: Coffee

Average hours of sleep: 4 maybe 5?

Number of blankets: 3 but I only use my main one

Dream Trip: I think just a trip around the world to the places I’ve always wanted to see would be nice.

Last thing I googled: “Days until January 31st 2018” It’s a while away *sigh*

Number of blogs I follow: Exactly 600

Number of followers: 302

What do I usually post about: My ships, sometimes a odd puppy photo here and there, fanfics

Do you get asks regularly: No, usually just prompts. I’m going to tag, @obidad-kenobi @loreley02 @vintage-bellarke @sendrickftw @smolgaywithopinions @not-so-average-fangirl

You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, no pressure.😁

[kinetic-elaboration]

oh well, you’ve got me under your spell: chapter one

A Bellarke High School AU

Clarke is sophomore class president, assistant copy editor on the school paper, and a member of the debate team.

Bellamy is her best friend's tough, troublesome, protective older brother.

They barely even know each other. And yet for some reason he keeps showing up at her house.

For the prompt “this is the last time I’m letting you into my house,” from this prompt list, requested by @loreley02 (about a million years ago; technically the request for anything from this list for Bellarke).

Chapter One: ~8,900 words

READ ON AO3.

*

Clarke is in her living room, two-thirds of the way through a horror movie marathon with Raven and Octavia, when a knock sounds on the front door and she almost jumps out of her skin.   

It's past midnight, her parents are asleep, and all the lights in the house are off. Octavia's response—"What the fuck? What was that?"—is a fair one. So is Raven's: "Should I get a kitchen knife?" And so is the beating of Clarke's heart and the chill that runs down her spine as, silently and slowly on bare feet, she leads the trio of them down the front hall and to the door.  

"Who is it?" Octavia whispers, when Clarke leans up on her toes to look out through the peephole. "Axe murderer? Serial killer?"  

"Close." Clarke breathes out a long, relieved sigh as she settles down on her feet again. Then she starts to unlock the door. "It's your brother."  

Any comfort Clarke felt at learning she was not about to die at the hands of a chainsaw-wielding psycho melts away, though, when Raven hits the light switch and she gets a look at Bellamy's face. There's a bad bruise already starting to purple around his eye, his mouth is bloody, and his hands are even worse. His shirt is torn. He sways back a little bit too hard when Octavia jumps forward and wraps her arms around him.  

"Did you know your phone is off?" he asks her. His voice is gruff, parched with exertion and stress, but Octavia doesn't seem to notice. She just holds him out at arm's length, scanning over his face to catalogue every cut and every sign of blood.   

"Bellamy, what happened?" Clarke asks instead, and then Octavia's eyes snap to meet his and she asks, "Did mom's new boyfriend do this?"  

"What? No—no," Bellamy insists, a hard warning on the last word. "I was out, and I got into a fight. It's not a big deal but mom can't know."  

Clarke rolls her eyes when she hears that it's not a big deal and steps a little closer, her arms crossed tight against her chest. "There's obviously more to the story than that—"  

"No there isn't—"  

"Clarke, just don't right now, okay?"  

"Guys, hey."  

Octavia's voice was all plea, but the look on her face had as much warning in it as her brother's words did a moment before, and Clarke feels a defensive anger, made all the worse by how bone-deep worried and honestly, secretly scared she is, starting to boil to the surface—all of which is sure to make the situation escalate at top speed. It's only Raven's sudden re-appearance in the hallway that cuts the growing argument off at the head. She's holding up a bag of frozen peas, wrapped in a dishtowel, and staring at them with a combination of surprise, concern, and judgement that puts Clarke utterly to shame.  

"I know Abby has a real first aid kit around here somewhere," she says, "but I improvised this for your eye, just to start."  

She holds the peas out, but it takes several long moments before anyone thinks to take them. And then it's Clarke, at last, who steps forward and passes them off to Bellamy. He winces as he presses the misshapen cold bag to his cheekbone. It's weird, but not that weird, that Clarke didn't even notice Raven stepping out into the kitchen. And it's weird that Bellamy, under the single hallway light, looks so worn and exhausted, so secretly fragile, and maybe a little scared, too.  

But not that weird.  

"Clarke will fix you up," Octavia promises, slinging her arm through his and leaning against his shoulder. "And I won't tell mom anything, I swear."  

She still has questions, too many of them, crowding in her mouth, jostling together in her brain, but all Clarke does is nod. Yes, of course. She'll fix him right up.   

The first aid kit is in the downstairs bathroom, tucked in under the sink, and even though the room is just a tiny half-bath, not even the edge of a tub to perch on, they all crowd inside anyway: Bellamy seated on the closed toilet lid while Clarke kneels in front of him and Raven and Octavia stand awkwardly against the walls. Raven had the presence of mind, at least, to turn off the hallway light, so now the house is dark again. No need to alert any parents here.  

The light in the bathroom seems that much brighter, though, in contrast: a hard antiseptic yellow bouncing off the tile. Clarke can see too well every break in Bellamy's skin, every new lilac-colored bruise just beginning to deepen to purple and blue. His hands are in worse shape than his face, which she supposes means he gave worse than he got. But she's not really up for offering him any congratulations. For a long time, she doesn't say anything at all. None of them do, still scared perhaps, or still too tense, although Bellamy sucks in a sharp breath every now and then through his teeth, as Clarke cleans and disinfects his cuts and scrapes. "Just another minute," she murmurs, as she watches herself as if from far away, watches her hands that look like someone else's hands, caring for him with such caution and such gentleness.  

Read the rest on AO3.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 3: Currently Writing

Today I went on a long walk and then spent time at the coffee shop drinking a coffee smoothie (the only type of coffee I will consume) and writing up some thoughts on my current projects. It felt like there were a lot, but really...there aren’t. More like a lot of ideas floating around. For purposes of this list, I’m only including projects I’ve already started or ones that are fairly well-defined.

To Edit

Bellarke Bed Share: modern AU flclet; the last of the anon requests! It’s finished at about 2700 words and I don’t plan on spending a lot of time editing it.

Monty S3: DONE, but long (12k words??) and so editing might take a while. But I do like it a lot and I don’t think I’ll make major edits to it. This is possibly a bad idea, since it’s objectively too long and meanders a lot but I don’t care. If I’m going to write something to appeal mostly to me I might as well make it long and fully self-indulgent.

Being Written

Smitten Clarke (request from @loreley02): modern HS AU; I think I have 3,000-some words written so far. It’s (mostly) pretty easy and fun to write, but of uncertain scope and thus uncertain end date. I’m slightly tempted to make it into a series or an expanded universe but I should probably finish this fic first.

Jasper/Monty Modern/Canon Story: I haven’t worked on this in at least a month, and I’m sort of intimidated by and thus stuck on it. Also it’s not a request and doesn’t have a deadline, so it’s easy to push it down the priority list. I do really like what I’ve written, though, and I want to get back into it but, I don’t know when or what it will take--might be time to outline the rest?

Party Fic: multi-pairing modern AU; low priority because not a request or on a deadline and not likely to be finished anytime soon anyway. Haven’t worked on it in a while but I’m not worried about it.

Need to Start

BFF September: Unsure which of two prompts I should use...one of them is probably going to lead to a shorter/simpler fic but the last time I tried to write it, it went really badly; the other is one I’m more excited about, but it’s probably going to be longer and more complicated and I’m not sure I have the time to write it this month. I should start it either way; at the very least I’ll get a head start on my next fill. This kind of needs to be a priority because I’m in denial about my deadline.

K/S Zine Halloween: I’m in denial about this deadline too because I SO want to do this but I keep flailing around a bunch of ideas and non-ideas. I don’t know. I was sort of planning one on the bus and I liked the intro but...the word count is pretty specific and not one that I tend to hit: I usually write shorter or much longer than what they’re requesting. I have a hard time gauging if this idea is going to fit easily in the allotted space. Also, while I sort of wrote out the introductory parts in my head, I ended up hitting a wall where I wasn’t sure how to pin down the main conceit. I know this is all very vague but...yeah...basically I have an idea and it MAY work but it’s still very nebulous.

[bellarke-angel]

Tagged by: @smolgaywithopinions thank you! ❤

1ST RULE: tag 9 mutuals you would like to know better

@sendrickftw @jonaerys-stargaryen @bellamyandclarke-2199 @loreley02 @obidad-kenobi @vintage-bellarke @thisgingerlovesbechloe

2ND RULE: BOLD the statements that are true.

APPEARANCE:

I am 5′7″ or taller

I wear glasses

I have at least one tattoo

I have at least one piercing

I have blonde hair

I have brown eyes

I have short hair

My abs are at least somewhat defined

I have or have had braces

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people

People tell me that I’m funny

Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me

I enjoy physical challenges

I enjoy mental challenges

I’m playfully rude with people I know well

I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it

There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY:

I can sing well

I can play an instrument

I can do over 30 pushups without stopping

I’m a fast runner

I can draw well

I have a good memory

I’m good at going math in my head

I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute

I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling

I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch

I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports

I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else

I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else

I have learned a new song in the past week

I work out at least once a week

I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months

I have drawn something in the past month

I enjoy writing

FANDOMS ARE MY #1 PASSION

I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES:

I have had my first kiss

I have had alcohol

I have scored the winning goal in a sports game

I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting

I have been to an overnight event

I have been in a taxi

I have been  in the hospital or ER in the past year

I have beaten a video game in one day

I visited another country

I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I’m in a relationship

I have a crush on a celebrity

I have a crush on someone I know

I have been in at least three relationships

I have never been in a relationship

I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings for them

I get crushes easily

I have had a crush on someone for over a year

I have been in a relationship for at least a year

I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a “best friend”

I live close to my school

My parents are still together

I have at least one sibling

I live in the United States

There is snow right now where I live

I have hung out with a friend in the past month

I have a smartphone

I have at least 15 CDs

I share a room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced

I know a person called Jamie

I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce

I have dyed my hair

I’m listening to one song on repeat right now

I have punched someone in the past week

I know someone who has gone to jail

I have broken a bone

I have eaten a waffle today

I know what I want to do with my life

I speak at least 2 languages

I have made a new friend in the past year

[bellarke-angel]

The Night We Met.

Requested By @loreley02 I hope you like it! Your prompts are just perfect! I love them! :) |  I have an other prompt to suggest !  So, Every time I listen to "the nigth we wet" Lord Huron, I think about Bellarke. I imagine a conversation between them "do you remember our first meeting?". Just for the pleasure of hearing again "stop, the air could be toxic"! It can also give something very emotional :).

Bellamy had been sat quietly beside Clarke for a while now, comfortable silence between them as they watched their people working busily around Arkadia. It was hard to think that they’d have to choose one hundred of their people to survive. It felt like the Ark all over again. Bellamy glanced over at Clarke, a sad expression plastered on her face as her eyes moved from person to person, he could tell she was mentally listing the most useful people. He could see the decisions were breaking her bit by bit, she hated not being able to save her people. Save their people. 

Bellamy hated seeing Clarke miserable so he fondly bumped shoulders with her, a small smile across his face when she turned to him. His smile bringing one to her face but it was only microscopic, not something you’d notice if you were far away. 

“Do you ever think about when we first met?” Bellamy asked a knowing smile dancing across his face as he pictured her climbing down from the steel ladder, determination scribbled over her expression. The memory always made a smile tug on his lips. Clarke seemed to be thinking the same thing, her smile widening and letting out a laugh as she nodded.

“Stop! The air could be toxic!” Clarke cried as she did the first time they’d come across that day. Bellamy chuckled, glad to see her finally smiling for once, the worries lines vanished from her face. 

“It feels like it was so long ago, back when I thought you were just a prissy, snobby privileged...which you were...” Bellamy grinned as Clarke’s mouth fell open and she shoved him, she did her best to stifle a smile but she couldn’t fight it.

“I was not snobby!” She exclaimed, giving him a soft glare. Bellamy laughed as he watched her, he knew she knew that she’d been uptight when they’d first landed.

“Come on, princess. You wouldn’t even take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the planet. Your mind just switches to work.” Bellamy told her, letting his eyes travel back to the people working below them. Bellamy knew it was highly dangerous for them to be sitting on top of the Ark, especially considering the structure was exactly perfectly stable. But Bellamy enjoyed the view, it had become the secret place where he could go to think, clear his head and when Clarke had questioned him on his whereabouts, he didn’t want to lie to her like he did to everyone else who asked. He simply took her hand without a word and left to find the entrance he took to get to the roof. Clarke had been marvelled by the sight, taking in the view with a smile.

Clarke rolled her eyes. “My mind was focused on surviving, not looking at the pretty trees.” 

“You know my first impression of you, what was yours of me?” Bellamy questioned, arching an eyebrow, his flirting face on as he smirked down at her. “Handsome, strong, pretty interesting guy.” 

Clarke scoffed. “More like arrogant ass,” Bellamy pretended to be offended, he knew thats what everyone thought because that’s what he was trying to act like. He didn’t want to get attached to people when he knew he’d have to run as soon as the others came down to earth. That clearly didn’t work. “Although I’ve always loved the way you look out for Octavia.”

Bellamy smiled fondly at that, he always seemed to forget that Clarke had been with him every time he worried for Octavia or when they had an argument, she’d always assure him that it would blow over, which it always did.

“I was purposely an asshole, I knew once Jaha came down, I’d be screwed and me and Octavia wouldn’t stay to find out what would happen to us. Knowing them, they would’ve shot me on sight.” Bellamy sighed, he could remember the fear he felt when he thought of what the Ark would do to him and his sister. Clarke gave him a sympathetic look and placed a hand over his, giving him a soft smile.

“But they didn’t, I’m glad they didn’t.”

“Me too...” Bellamy agreed, he couldn’t imagine not being here in this moment beside Clarke.

“I guess you could count that as me saving your ass before you began saving mine.” Clarke grinned, Bellamy let out a laugh and shook his head.

“And who was it that saved you from a pit full spears?” 

“You were debating on whether to drop me!” Clarke shot back, Bellamy knew he’d never have dropped her, but he knew he did consider it just to turn off her wristband. He’d felt horrible for thinking that as soon as he thought it, he didn’t want to hurt her.

“I wouldn’t have done it, it might’ve looked like I would, but I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” Bellamy replied in shame. He hated thinking he’d let any harm come to Clarke. He’d been spending his years making sure that didn’t happen, if she was hurt and he could’ve prevented it, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Clarke smiled at his words.

“Well I’m happy you didn’t, living seems much better than dying. How did you catch me so fast? I fell in like a second, I thought I was honestly going to die.” Clarke muttered, recalling her fear. But it had faded once she felt Bellamy’s vice grip on her wrist, she had her doubts about him but she knew even if he was thinking about it, he wouldn’t let her die. It wasn’t who he was.

“I don’t know, I guess it was just...an instinct. One second you were walking and everything sort of slowed when you fell and I grabbed you as quick as I could.” Bellamy shrugged, he was pretty proud of himself for reacting so fast.

“Your instinct was to save me...” Clarke smirked, “Well that’s stuck with you through the years, hasn’t it?”

Bellamy felt his cheeks warm up, but he shrugged. “Someones got to save you when your run into danger, which is probably more often than we realise.”

Clarke bowed her head, she knew she had a tendency to dash into unnecessary danger. “Sorry about that.” She blushed looking up at him, she knew he’d say it was fine, he always followed her into that danger, he didn’t abandon her halfway through. He stuck with her, keeping her alive as best as best as he could which included putting himself in danger. Clarke felt Bellamy flip her hand which had still been on his and he turned it so that her hand was in his. Clarke stared at their hands for a moment before a smile crept on her lips and she laced her fingers through his.

“No need for apologises, princess. I lead you into just about the same amount of danger.” Clarke knew that wasn’t true, but she didn’t bother arguing she just enjoyed sitting with him here, finally in silence, listening to life that went on below them. Clarke wondered if anyone could spot them up there but if they did they didn’t try to get them down. And Clarke was glad, for once she didn’t have to be interrupted whilst with Bellamy.

The pair stayed up on the roof until the sun began to set and people began to disperse heading to bed. Bellamy kept her hand in his as they left, their minds told them it was just so they didn’t slip but they both knew it was because they didn’t want to let go.

[bellarke-angel]

Requested By @loreley02 I hope I did well :)

Becho happens, they come back to earth to find Clarke still alive, even though shes overjoyed of her friends return, she’s hurt every time she sees Bellamy. Partially because of Echo and the other half because of the separation suffering she’d went through missing him, they have a tense conversation to talk it out. 

Clarke had been wondering if they’d ever come back to her, if they’d even made it safely to the other Ark. But here they were, the large casing of the rocket shattered and dented from the rough landing, Madi had been almost as excited as her, she’d been dreaming of meeting the people Clarke loved so. Preferably the tall, tousled curly haired boy with the constellations of freckles across his cheeks. Clarke had been dreaming of this day for six years, now it was finally here. Madi hadn’t moved from beside her, her presence the only thing keeping Clarke from bolting to the rocket door. But she was patient, she waited. 

Madi became agitated easily, the girl sighing every moment or so and usually Clarke would entertain her until she was no longer bored, but right now Clarke was glued to the spot. At least until a brunette clambered out of the machine. It might’ve been six years later but from what she could remember, the dark-haired girl was exactly as she was when she left. Clarke often wondered if she still had that witty attitude she used to use as a defense before she left. After Raven climbed out Emori came out, Murphy close behind her. Clarke smiled softly, she was glad the pair were still going strong. It made her wonder if Monty and Harper were, she expected them to be next, but Echo sprang out, she still had the athletic ability she had before she left. Monty came next then Harper but she reached back into the rocket to get something out and Clarke almost choked on her own saliva when she saw a shaggy dark-haired little boy get lifted out by Harper.

“You never said there was a child.” Madi whispered beside her as the watched from afar. Clarke realised she still had her mouth hanging open in surprise and she replied to the girl.

“That’s because there wasn’t one when they left.” Clarke told her, the young girls hand still in Clarke’s. Clarke didn’t want Madi startling her friends if she came bounding out of the trees.

The person Clarke had been waiting for the most was next, he climbed out swiftly, careful as his feet met the ground for the first time in six years, the eight took a breath in, taking in the fresh air and that was the moment Clarke decided to step out of the shadows, Madi close beside her. Her movement alerted them all, each of their heads snapping in her direction. Silence filled the air for a few long moments as they all processed the fact that Clarke was there, she was alive. Raven was first to hobble forward, a smile breaking across her face.

“Clarke!” The brunette cried in a happy laugh, trying to move fast towards her but Clarke knew she couldn’t so she allowed her hand slip out of Madi and she was running, only stopping when she collided with Raven. The pair of them lost their balance ending up with happy with streaming down each others cheeks as they scanned one another, taking in the fact they were really there. “You made it! I should’ve known, you don’t know how much I missed you!”

Raven’s laughter only made her realise how much she’s missed the mechanic. “You’re alive, I was starting to lose hope.” Clarke breathed, trying to catch her breath from crying and running. “You’re a year late.” Clarke saw someone extend a hand from the corner of her eye, someone else holding out another one to help Raven up. Clarke beamed when she saw the hand belonged to Monty and he pulled her up and into a hug. “I missed you guys so, so much.”

“Trust me, we missed you too. We’d thought Praimfaya had taken you.” Monty said sadly as he released her from the hug, eyes clouding with tears. “You missed so much, Clarke.”

Clarke let out a chuckle, eyes drifting to the nervous boy hiding behind Harper’s legs, Clarke crouched down then up at Monty. “Yeah, I noticed, hey little guy.” Clarke waved as she had to Madi at their first meeting when Clarke found the scared child. “And what’s your name?” He looked around four.

The young child looked up at his mother, she gave an approving nod and a smile gesturing him forward. He took a step away from Harper revealing himself, he anxiously held out his hand. Clarke laughed and shook his hand.

“I’m Clarke,” Clarke twisted, eyes scanning around the ground for her own little nightblood then smiling and turning back to the child. “That over there is Madi, she’s been waiting a long time to meet you and your family.”

Clarke’s words made the boy smile. “I’ve heard stories about you, sometimes daddy tells me one. I’m JJ.” Clarke was glad he was no longer shy and she ruffled his hair with a grin.

“Cute name,” Clarke rose to her feet and hugged Harper, bobbing her head to express how she’d missed Harper too. Clarke looked to Murphy who had his arm curled around Emori.

“Don’t even think about a sappy speech, Clarke.” Murphy ordered, knowing what Clarke was like. “But I-I uh, I’m glad you’re ok.”

Clarke never really got along with Emori so she moved along, Bellamy. The one person she’d been desperate to see again was now centimeters from her, so close. Clarke felt as though her heart had crept into her throat, she never thought she’d see him again. Clarke opened her mouth to tell him how she’d missed him, her feet beginning to step forward but there was something in his eyes, pain? Regret? whatever it was it wasn’t anything good. That was when Echo came bouncing over a unfamiliar smile dancing across her lips.

“It’s just how I remember, I’ve missed it so much,” Echo smiled, slipping her hand into Bellamy’s as she held his upper arms in excitement. “Maybe later we can take a dip in the lake.”

Clarke didn’t know how to express what she was feeling, it felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer and swung it at her chest. She wasn’t even sure if she was still able to talk. Her eyes just flickered between Bellamy and Echo, her heart shattering in her chest. Bellamy had moved on. Clarke forced a smile and swallowed her pain, Bellamy seemed to remain inaudible, he seemed a little speechless too.

“Clarke,” A small voice spoke up, silencing the others. Madi. Clarke spun to her trying to fake the smile too, but she knew Madi could see right through her. The child held out her hand for Clarke to hold for comfort and Clarke felt like crying right there. But she forced it back and introduced Madi to everyone, Bellamy last but Madi didn’t seem interested him one bit, simply nodding a hello to him as he finally spoke, greeting the girl but as soon as Madi had the chance she pulled Clarke aside. “What is it?”

Madi was only young but she knew sadness when she saw it. Clarke shook her head, hand brushing over Madi’s cheek managing a smile for the girl. “Nothing for you to worry about, I promise.” Madi opened her mouth to argue but Clarke silenced her. “Please, not now.”

Madi nodded, giving Clarke’s hand a squeeze before they returned to the group. Clarke didn’t look at Bellamy, she couldn’t face it. This was nothing how she imagined their reunion, she didn’t feel happy, her heart didn’t feel like it had lept out of her chest, she never imagined Bellamy moving on, not through the entire time he’d gone. Clarke could feel his gaze always on her as she moved around the group, Madi always near her, still worried but Clarke put on a brave front. But Madi saw the glances Clarke would make over to Bellamy and Echo at one point Echo was trailing kisses on Bellamy’s neck and Clarke’s face had paled worse than when the sickness from Praimfaya had hit them. Madi wanted to help, she wanted to shove Bellamy and Echo back in the rocket, make Clarke happy and full of hope again but that was impossible, she couldn’t heal her mother figures pain. So Madi just hovered near by the blonde pretending that she was just simply shy of interacting with the others.

Bellamy had his eyes on Clarke, he was still in shock that she was ok, that she hadn’t really been dead all these years, that she’d been down here with a young child, awaiting her friends return. It made his chest ache that she couldn’t look at him, he knew why. Echo. But watching her interact lovingly with everyone else hurt, it felt like she’d took his heart from his chest and squeezed. When he was finally free of Echo, Emori taking the woman to check out the woods, he made an attempt to get towards Clarke. She was whispering to Madi about something when he came up behind her, awkwardly tapping her shoulder to get her attention. Bellamy didn’t miss the glares that the child had been shooting him, he didn’t even know her and yet she hated him.

Clarke turned and he knew she was expecting to find someone else because her smile dropped almost instantly at the sight of him. Something that six years ago, would never have happened.

“I…” Bellamy really wasn’t sure what to say, he’d been dreaming of getting to speak to Clarke just one more time and now he was baffled, words didn’t really seem to want to form. It didn’t help with Madi’s intimidating eyes watching him as he struggled to talk to Clarke. “I’m so sorry.”

Clarke met his eyes at his words, a familiar furrow of her brows greeting him. “Sorry? F-for what?”

“Leaving you behind, closing the hatch when for all I know you could have been seconds away, seconds away and I left anyway.” Madi’s expression seemed to soften, Bellamy sounded completely broken. “I didn’t keep you alive this time, I didn’t take care of you like your mum had asked.”

Clarke seemed to have stepped closer, back in his personal bubble like she had long ago, some things never change, he thought. “Bellamy, you used your head…you listened to me, you did what you had to do. Besides if you’d have waited any longer then none of you would be alive right now, I saw how close Praimfaya was. You would’ve died if you stayed.”

“And that’s not what you would’ve wanted.” Bellamy finished, eyes dropping to his feet, shuffling slightly.

“Exactly…I needed you, as well as the others to live. Even if it meant me dying.”

Bellamy’s shoulders slumped, he could remember replaying closing that hatch door for years, sitting at the window with Monty’s creation of a new sort of alcohol, sharing a drink with her after a hard day. Clarke went to take another step forward but she pulled back, realising what she was doing, her line of gaze shifting to Emori and Echo who laughing and acting as though they were never once grounders. Because of course, they were all different people than when they were previously on Earth. Clarke fell back to Madi’s side, only giving Bellamy a smile.

“I think I’m going to get the rover, I’ll drive you guys to the mansion. We might have to make a double trip.” Clarke informed him, smiling at Madi stood beside. 

“Then I’ll accompany you, I want to know how you guys survived all these years, how you are.” Bellamy insisted but Clarke saw Echo’s suspicious glances over at them and Clarke sucked in a breath.

“Maybe we can catch up tomorrow, Madi is exhausted and I want to get her back before the others.” Clarke gave Madi a look and Madi understood nodding to Bellamy.

“We were out hunting before you came, we’ve been busy all day.” Madi lied, she wasn’t exactly skilled in it but she tried her best to seem like she was telling the truth. “It was uh, lovely to finally meet you.”

Bellamy looked disappointed by Clarke’s words but he nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Echo and clearing his throat. “Right, of course, it was nice to meet you too, hopefully me, you and Clarke could talk sometime, catch up. Give me details on how you survived Praimfaya, honestly that’s probably what we’re all wondering.” Bellamy chuckled lightly, holding out his hand to Madi once more and she anxiously shook it, giving him an awkward smile before moving towards the rover leaving Clarke to say goodbye.

“I’ll be back to get you later, if you could tell the guys I’m going to take Madi back and then I’ll come and get them seem as it’s a pretty far walk from here, I’d appreciate it.” Clarke avoided eye contact and spun on her heels to follow Madi, but a hand wrapped gently around her wrist, light enough for her to pull it out but she just looked at him, eyes wide. Bellamy seemed a little startled by his action for a second too but he snapped out of whatever he was in and tugged her arm, pulling her into an embrace.

Clarke was stunned, it had been years since she had a hug from Bellamy, she’d been longing for one since the moment she saw the rocket leave it’s launchpad. It didn’t take very long for her to curl her arms around him like she used too, the feeling of his hand moving up to rest in her hair as it used to and feeling him bury his face in her shoulder, she almost cried. She’d missed him so much. So much and she couldn’t even show him.

“I still can’t believe you’re alive, you really don’t know how relieved I am.” Bellamy whispered against her ear, Clarke closing her eyes at the feeling of his breath against her ear. Clarke scoffed, resting her chin on his shoulder.

“I think I do, but…” Clarke sighed, stepping out of his arms and meeting his eyes, then flickering them to Echo who didn’t look very pleased. “T-things have changed, Bellamy.”

Bellamy seemed to catch on to what she was talking about and he attempted to come forward but she took a step back, fighting the tears. She could see he was too. “I don’t…Clarke…if I knew you were alive I-”

“Bellamy, you can’t continue that sentence…” Clarke’s voice cracked, she tried to keep it steady but it was hard. “Not now, not when…not when you have someone else.”

Bellamy looked as though he was pleading her with his eyes and it broke her heart into a million pieces, she swiped the tear that had slipped down her cheek. “I have to go, Madi’s waiting.”

“Clarke…” But she was already gone.

[kinetic-elaboration]

this is why I have a negativity tag fyi

@loreley02​ asked me why I hate S4, and I went back and forth on how I wanted to answer that, or even if I wanted to because I’m not up for stirring up drama either in general or even just within myself. So between that and Thanksgiving it took me a while to answer.

Anyway, I have decided to answer, but it’s still semi-against my better judgement. I won’t be discussing or defending any of this. It’s just out here, read it if you want. Or not.

I initially wrote up a list of stuff I don’t like about S4 but “this is what I didn’t like” isn’t really the same as “this is why I hate it” because tbh I didn’t like a lot of stuff in S3 but at this point, at least, I wouldn’t say I hated it.

Basically I hate S4 for three (and a half) reasons. You might call these the unforgivable sins of the season imo:

Jasper’s death. Not just that he died (though he’s my fave and I don’t believe in “good deaths” so that alone is a big deal), but everything about the way that story line was constructed and handled. His general shafting all season. That he committed suicide. That his suicide was presented as inevitable and that the main lesson of it in the narrative was for Monty and Bellamy, to learn to just let some people go as useless, pathetic lost causes. That Harper was positioned as Jasper Lite so that when she didn’t die Monty could move on pretty much instantly with her and basically treat Jasper like discarded garbage. And so on. Just a train wreck from start to finish.

The half reason is DNR, which was a real travesty of story-telling and probably the biggest disappointment of my entertainment-consumption-life (I explain why here, just skip to “DNR”).

The end solution involving some people going to space. I was HEARTILY anti-space from the moment those leaked script pages came out in, I dunno, February. And I’ve long run out of ways to describe the depth of my hatred for this choice. But basically it just breaks all suspended-disbelief in me. Blasting off from nuclear-war-ravaged Long Island (or wherever) in a ROCKET like that’s even remotely plausible as a thing that could happen I mean I get dumber every time I think about it. It’s like...if I told you about a show that was basically like The 100 in terms of verisimilitude and then said “and in the last episode of the season a humongous kangaroo jumped into the middle of the scene and all of the characters got into her pouch and she hopped them away to safety” would you be able to take that show seriously? I would think not and that’s how I feel about this.

The time skip. I know this show has been treating its "teen" protagonists as adults since, like, s2, but still: I signed up for a show about teens in the post-apocalyptic wilderness, not people in their twenties, most of whose young-adult years got totally skipped. Also, a six year skip allows the writers to do literally anything with their characters' personalities, which...so what was the point of the last four seasons then?? What literally is the point? I'm also not keen on separating the characters out the way they have, especially Bell.arke. The slow burn's been going on too long.

If some combination of these elements were different, or especially if all of them were, I’d probably be primarily disappointed in S4 but I wouldn’t hate it. I’d throw up my hands on the show ever actually being good, I’d bitch a lot probably because that’s what I do, but I wouldn’t be so rage-filled about it.

The primary reason I think the season was bad, quite apart from the above, is that nothing happened during about 90% of the whole season. You could have condensed S4 into a TV movie and it would have been basically the same. And that’s pretty pathetic and frustrating. Again and again an episode's plot would be set up around some allegedly Tense Event that could Change Everything and then, often by the beginning of the very next episode, it ended up not mattering in the slightest. Examples include: the hydrogenerator (useless by mid-season even if they'd taken it), the list, everything that happened in The Tinder Box, Emori's ploy to get that other grounder experimented upon, the conclave.

Not only did nothing happen but all of the faux-happenings were about building tension that, for me, pretty much every time, rang completely false. The only conundrum whose end I didn't predict immediately was in Gimme Shelter, when Bellamy goes after the Coltons in the acid rain. I thought perhaps he might save them. But everything else: I knew they'd sacrifice the hydrogenerator (4x02), that there wouldn't be a war over the tinder box (4x05), that no one would experiment on Emori (4x08), that the conclave (4x10) would end with either the Sky People winning or some sort of pro-Sky-People loophole (or, as it happened, both!), etc., etc., etc.

Also--this was a challenge, given that the season had no plot--but JRoth et.al. still managed to make the show more about plot ("plot") than about characters or relationships. Why was Jasper and Monty's friendship sidelined even though S3 ended with their reunion? Why was Jasper literally an extra in the scenes where Octavia was considering killing Ilian even though he's one of like 3 people Octavia doesn't actively hate and their friendship was actually developed in the first 2.5 seasons? Why were we teased with the possibility of a "smaller" season that "felt like season 1" only to have Raven and a few intermittently-shown friends shunted off to Science Island a few episodes in, literally never to return? Where the hell was Miller the whole season? 

Basically, S4 just revealed to me that what I care about and what JRoth et. al. care about are totally separate. I am interested in characters, relationships, and world building. They're interested in creating (allegedly) high stakes scenarios over and over and replaying the exact same conflict, often in the exact same terms, ad nauseum, forever. Oh, and war I guess. War never gets boring!!

I was much more on the fence than this as the season was airing, but nevertheless here arethe responses I wrote up as the episodes aired. And here is a pretty good and more contemporaneous summary of my disgust by the end of the season.