#the lxa show

[yiangchen]

it's so tragic funny that while i was watching t100, jroth was so adamant that there was nothing romantic there with bellarke, that it literally made me doubt what was very clearly being written as romantic (and it actually was. like, we know this now. it has been confirmed).

looking back, bellarke could have kissed at so many different points in the show, without changing anything else but having them kiss, and it would have made perfect sense. it would have flowed. it would have aligned with their relationship development.

just think about it. 1x09. unity day. is this a bit early? yes. but do they have the chemistry? yes. and have they had sufficient build up for two characters to have their first kiss? yes. honestly more than a lot of ships that happen in the first season of their show. especially since day trip just happened! plus, the flirting during unity day was...not subtle.

listen...she wanted to kiss him here so bad. seriously though. clarke could have and that would have been a very natural progression of this scene. it would have especially fit the early drop ship days vibe.

(or you could add in a scene where clarke finds him later, now sufficiently buzzed, they flirt some more, then she kisses him, and bellamy's like, "woah, woah, princess, what are you doing?" but he's smiling and she just shrugs with a smile and goes in to kiss him again, saying "having fun", and bellamy says, "you're drunk" and clarke is exasperated saying, "well you told me to!" and bellamy laughs, very amused, and from the look in his eyes, you can tell that he is also very very VERY smitten.)

if you still think that's too soon, yeah, i tend to agree. i love the idea of s1 bellarke in fanfic, but for the show, i prefer a bit more of slowburn. so let's push it to season 2. no, that's not a true slowburn, but still, you had to wait a little for it, and a lot of shows do this successfully. so anyway. 2x05. post iconic reunion hug, shot in a very romantic way i might add.

bellamy is watching clarke sleep by the fire, she wakes, we have some platonic gazing with firelight flickering across their faces...

we all know how the scene goes. he reassures her. he confides in her. she reassures him back.

i'm sorry, but the way they are looking at each other here? dude, if they had been sitting any closer, they could have kissed. i tend to think it would be more in character for clarke to initiate a first kiss with bellamy in s1-4, but in this scene, i 100% could see bellamy going in to kiss her after this.

(and yes, i'm aware that octavia was pretending to be asleep this whole time, but honestly, her reaction to them would have added some much needed levity to the situation. octavia is a bellarke shipper, after all. also, some people might say that this would make clarke's "i love you" to finn less believable, but i disagree. you can have feelings for two people at the same time. i mean, she literally kisses lxa very quickly after finn's death sooo yeah...plus, it would have made the bellarke angst of s2b/3 even better.)

maybe you still want more of a slowburn though, and that is perfectly fair, which brings me to s3, which in my opinion would have been one of the best seasons for canon bellarke. alright. 3x05. hakeldama yup! it was prime time for a first kiss. i mean, all the build up of s1/2 obviously, but also...this had just happened:

but anyway...back to hakeldama. this is the peak of their angst. nothing tops it.

but then, after the heat of the moment, the softness comes in. as it always does with these two. they wind up sharing the softest, most romantic scene in this entire show (fight me).

that last gif, man...at this point, i think they would both go in for the kiss. mutually initiated. god, it would have fit the scene so well!

(some people might say that this would invalidate clarke's love for lxa, considering everything that happens two eps later, but again, i disagree. like i said before, you can have feelings for two people at the same time. people might also say that this would undermine bellamy's relationship with gina, but you know what? the whole fucking narrative undermined that relationship, so i really don't care. i loved gina, but if clarke can kiss lxa right after finn's death, then bellamy can kiss clarke right after gina's death. this show is messy, okay? and bellarke are messy as fuckkkk.)

still think it would be too early? okay. season 4 then. very recently, i realized how easy making bellarke canon in s4 would have been, holyyyy. starting off in 4x03. bellamy is sleeping on the couch and clarke watches him sleep with the softest smile on her face (i'm still crying about this btw). i can't find the right gif, but you all know the smile! then clarke is struggling so bellamy wakes up and is there to support her, making a declaration that has romantic undertones, it just does!

and then clarke lowkey makes a move on him lmao. for real though?? what was this???

i would only change one thing here. he takes a seat beside her first and then puts his hand on her shoulder. so that way they are eye level (aka kissing level).

when she lifts her head off their hands, their faces would be so close. maybe bellamy would tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, not realizing how intimate that kind of thing is until he does it. i could see them kissing here. clarke would initiate. although, i think it would be so much better if it was just an almost kiss. bellamy tells her she should get some sleep right before it happens.

and then in 4x06...

it's actually so funny how she says that and then she's like 'oh no. that sounded like it implied something. i did not mean to imply.'

and bellamy's over here like 'omg she's implying.'

which leads to him literally about to confess. i'm sorry, but there is no other way to interpret....

and of course clarke interrupts, but this is the moment, you guys! this could have been the moment.

right after this, before roan's interruption, there's a pause, and then clarke kisses him. it's a quick one. the kind of kiss where she has both of her hands on his face and he's so stunned by it that his eyebrows raise in surprise and before he can even process that it's happened, she's pulled back and they're looking at each other, a bit in awe, both surprised that she just did that.

then in 4x09, we actually get to see the reunion!! and it's the running kind. just like 2x05. only this time, after they run to each other and hug, bellamy pulls back and takes her face in his hands to examine her for injuries, and once he realizes she's okay, probably after she reassures him and puts a hand on his face, then he kisses her, but they both go in for it (and i cry).

in 4x13, i would change the location of the head and heart scene. somewhere more private...a bedroom (!). so, after this moment:

and bellamy turns away, upset, clarke pulls him back to face her and takes his face in her hands. his eyes are watery. so are hers. she kisses him. one thing leads to another and we get the sex scene we deserved!! then they're lying in bed, cuddling. bellamy's head is on her chest and clarke's playing with his hair. that's when she decides to ruin the moment lmao and continues the head and heart convo with "we've been through a lot together, you and i." i can just see it so well. they would shift so that they're laying on their sides, facing one another. maybe clarke's fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck now. when she says he has a big heart, her palm rests on his bare chest. when she says he has to use his head too, her fingers of her other hand shift from his neck to his temple. when bellamy says, "i've got you for that," clarke kisses him. their foreheads stay touching for a few breathes, then she pulls back to look at him and says that raven's premonition came true. like...am i crazy or would this have worked so well?? literally the same dialogue but...they're together.

(plus, this could have led to clarke raising bellamy's kid--august--along with madi over those six years they are separated, i'm just saying!)

maybe you still think that season 5 was the ultimate time for bellarke to go canon, and you know what? i honestly might just agree. the set up was there with clarke calling bellamy every day for 2,199 days. the potential was there. madi was the biggest bellarke shipper i swear. she wanted them to be together even more than all of us combined i think. for a bellarke kiss though, you would almost have to drastically change the course of events...unless you go with 5x13 and blecho have broken up earlier in the season. after clarke wakes bellamy from cryo (still crying about this moment, yeah!), i could see them having a moment.

before jordan walks in, maybe clarke helps bellamy out of the pod, and once they're both standing, bellamy would finally make his move. instead of bellamy asking why they're the only ones there, clarke does. bellamy tells her, "we'll figure it out, clarke, but first, i have something i wanna say." maybe he does something soft, like take her hand or brush her hair behind her ear. clarke is staring at him, not quite believing what is happening right now, but deep down, she knows. he tells her, "those six years without you were the worst of my life and i don't wanna waste any more time." clarke is wearing a watery smile, still not quite sure she believes what she's hearing. she tells him, "i radioed you every day you were gone." bellamy's whole face lights up and he tells her, "i know." their foreheads touch. both of his hands are cradling her cheeks, her hands are cradling his wrists. she whispers his name. it's the kind of kiss where the time before the kiss is excruciatingly long, but once they kiss, it becomes much more urgent as they finally give in to all of the feelings. god. would have been ICONIC.

plus, they both looked absolutely gorgeous in this scene. hello???

would have been one hell of an aesthetically pleasing first kiss holyyyy. then jordan interrupts and makes some comment about how his mom and dad were right all along :)

if not season 5 though...moving onto season 6. 6x10 to be exact. i know i've said that other times were the ultimate time for canon bellarke, but this episode is too! or right after it in 6x11. there are two scenarios that i see playing out here. (in both, blecho have broken up previously.)

in the first scenario, it's 6x10. as soon as bellamy saves clarke and she wakes up, instead of going in to hug him, i swear when i was watching it that i really thought she was going in for the kiss. that was the one and only time where i legitimately thought they were about to kiss while watching. it had never made more sense than in that moment. even with all of jroth's attempted brainwashing, my mind was stronger in that moment. it saw it coming. or at least i thought i did lmao. i know they didn't actually kiss.

but listen.

they really should have.

clarke is literally looking at him like this:

come on, man.

i usually say that bellamy should be the one initiating post s4, but in this moment, it would have been clarke.

and if not then, the other scenario is that they hug as usual. clarke gets some rest as usual. but when she wakes up in 6x11 and bellamy is at her side, they are in a separate private tent. they have that same conversation that they do. they argue about clarke risking her life again. but then...

he tells her, "hey, i just got you back." he says it firm but soft. i see bellamy initiating the kiss here, especially since he's almost lost her twice now, but once clarke realizes that this is really happening, that after all this time he wants her just as much as she wants him, she would for sure be the one initiating everything else. she would be sitting in his lap making out with him so fast jfsldkjfaslk and you know what? good for her!! they either just kiss a lot here, laying down on the bed, all tangled up together, and then they're interrupted, or maybe, just for once, they're allowed to be happy, uninterrupted, and they sleep together. either way. natural progression.

that's really the point of this longwinded post. so many times it could have happened. all of them a nature progression of the story that was being told.

then comes season 7...

there are no words.

6x13 left them off in a perfect place...

the set up was literally right there! they should have kissed in 7x01!! they should have lived happily ever after with madi in a seaside cabin situated in a field of gold!!

[bellamyblake]

hi!! I’m a former HUGE fan of the 100 and bellarke, but after the final season completely shattered my heart and destroyed my trust in showrunners 😀, I haven’t been able to really return to the show or ship at all.

Did you have a similar experience? How do you still enjoy it without the sting?? 💔 Just curious, thank you!!

I understand that this is how it is for most fans, that everyone pulled away because of the ending and I understand and respect that.

I think for me, it's simple, i'll be honest that I never expected Bellarke to happen as much as I wanted it and for me the simple reason why was because of the way things happened back in season 3 with Lxa and everything else. I wanted it, of course, I was hopeful for it, especially after 6x10 and I wished for it to happen but when we found out Bob needed time off, I understood that decision and I understood why it won't happen. Yes, I still think that it was just JRoth being absolutely bitter making that ending, they all admitted it, even the writers that for example Levitt's ending where he gets hurt in the final episode was supposed to be Bellamy but that didn't happen because Bob needed that time off. And yes, I am pissed because of the fact that she killed him, I don't think I'll ever get over it but I just...find it to be absolute bullshit and that is because of the way Clarke's character is ruined to me rather more so than Bellamy's.

I know people talk about him being OOC in s7 and him never doing that, never believing Cadogan, I get that. I do agree that it is somewhat OOC. BUT

I have always been a person to look at all sides about this and that is why I survived season 3 and the way fans were back then (may I remind you the bellarkers hated Bellamy and people were awful to him) and I do think that I find it i my mind the reason why he chose that side. I have my own theory about Bellamy's choices about season 7 but I won't indulge here in that because I'm sure I'll bore you to death (It's a Jasper-Monty-Bellamy meta that I have talked about before I think and for me they are still the only three characters who reached a sort of understanding of how to survive/not survive in this world but who separated themself from the cicle or wheel that Clarke talked about in s7 and who saw things for the way they were, as grim and sad as they happened to be at the time-again, another meta if you want me I can indulge).

But the truth is I have always been realistic about Bellarke and them not happening (Not that it didn't hurt me that they didn't happen, i catch myself wishing I saw a kiss) but I also cannot say I was too surprised. For me, and people talked again a lot of shit about Bellamy in s5, but I do think Clarke is a lot more different in s5 than she was before and I think from there on now we don't see the character we first saw, just glimpses of her. The problem with s6 as much as I like it and find it interesting is that we don't see Clarke much in it since she's kidnapped and I hoped we did saw her in s7 but I feel like she wasn't really herself back there.

So...anyway I can talk a lot and probably bore you to death, but I don't want to do that. The simple truth is that I CAN thankfully separate myself from the show and what I love. I know it was shitty what happened, I cried and still cry when I think about my boy Bellamy dying (Because I will be honest, I was always a Bellamy fan first and Bellarke second, I even write more familial fics with Bell than I do Bellarke, that's how I am) but I can find my reasons behind his actions and no, I'm not blindsided by my love for him, I know his mistakes, I can point them out and I can explain why they happened.

I really have no other simple explanation other than I chose to enjoy what I love and have always loved and ignore the last part. I know most people can't and I do not judge them. He brings me joy. Bellarke do bring me joy still, I love think, headcanon and meta about them and just because someone was bitter and because they didn't really show any understanding and BECAUSE and let's be honest, he didn't want to make Bellarke because Bob and Eliza happened and he refused to play into the narrative of actors being married in real life and indulging fans in the fantasy one, is not my problem.

I often think about JRoth and how shitty he was on more than just the Bellarke occassion (that's another meta) but just how much he, because he is an a**, hates religion for example, so he absolutely demolished it and made fun of it and then used it to show stuff in the most awful of ways just like not just with the deciples btw, but starting from season 1 where he crucified the kids on the trees, how he made fun of the grounder's religion and the commanders, everything JRoth did was a mockery caused by his own inability to deal with his problems so ...honestly WHY would you give away something you love to that guy? I think that's just bs.

Again, I am sad and devastated, I always will be but I choose to separate myself from this narrative, enjoy my Bell and writing about him, enjoy reblogging gifs and making gifs in our now little circle, I enjoy seeing new fans of the show too and them reblogging our stuff. That's basically it.

My love for Bellamy Blake is stronger than JRorth's bs.

[asphodel-night-adder]

Fandom rant incoming

Broooo I'm so tired of LxA like in S10 it was fine and actually kinda cute, but I felt it was a one sided thing b/c the show (weirdly) just focused on Amity's attraction to Luz and Liz kinda seemed oblivious and only really treating her as a friend and working on to mend bridges with her. But w/e it was s1 and chemistry was just building up.

Then s2 happened. Look, I get that the show was axed and fucked up the progression of the show, but did they have to make Luz so ooc?? Like girl was stumbling like a moron and I get that she is cringy but they really made her act all gushy and blushy with Amity in one episode and deadass having her call Amity a "goddess" (ew). We attraction for Amity was NEVER EXPLORED OR SHOWED IT WAS DEADASS ONLY AMITY. It all felt too rush and since they got together, I really felt that Luz's character downgraded to worshipping Amity's feet. Like she's fine if Amity is not involved, but everytime they're on screen together she's.. idk she acts like a self conscious moron who is obsessed and dependent on Amity and Amity is the "cool and loving one".

It doesn't help that everyone just ships it and makes Luz be essentially a servant to Amity and have her whole character be surrounded to her. It fucking pisses me off b/c this is a show with a Latina lead and the fandom barely cares about her only the other characters (some of y'all latched onto that Hunter dude reaaaaal quick and made so much fanart and analysis of him immediately meanwhile Luz is always second fiddle to everyone else and rarely has her own piece or analysis).

I'm not saying it's inherently racist, but I hate that this "uwu so pure" ship has Luz worshipping Amity and barely having any character development of her own. It feels racist and I get that most fans are probably not thinking of how that dynamic can come across, but come on use your brain for a second PLEASE.

It's kinda funny that so many people are taking a dunk on WxH but they literally had mutual chemistry since they first met and it has been a slow buildup from there (like how LxA SHOULD BE). I get the fans can be annoying, but goddamn you have the most annoying ship in the fandom, hypocrite much?

Anyway that was just a dumb rant lol, don't take me seriously and I'm not bashing on anyone who likes the ship btw I'm just uhhh venting lol

[kirschengift]

okay, just saying, you asked for this

it's honestly just the entirety of the Lxa storyline. in s2 she's a formidable character in the making. starts out as an antagonist, turns into an ally after some truly fucked up shit that changes the main character forever (Clarke killing Finn as an act of mercy, but killing him nonetheless, Lxa telling Clarke that love is weakness while she is extremely vulnerable because of her grief (the grief she's only dealing with because while Lxa did not make her kill Finn, she backed Clarke into a corner until Clarke was convinced that killing Finn was a mercy), & Lxa convincing Clarke that they should save themselves and let everyone else die in Tondisi). that was an incredible arc for Clarke to live through and it wouldn't have been possible without Lxa. in s1 she was surrounded by people to carry her decisions with her (whether that's Finn, Bellamy, Jasper, Raven…) but in s2 she's still surrounded by those people but gets isolated. her decisions are hers alone (or shared with Lxa) and it fucks her up so bad and it's fucking amazing!

basically all of Clarke's key relationships suffer during s2:

Raven & Clarke are working on it and we can argue for a long time about Raven's "it's always Clarke's fault" attitude in later seasons but you can easily pinpoint Finn's death as the event that fractured their relationship to the point where to Raven it's just easy to blame Clarke. Raven was also present when Clarke lied to Bellamy about Octavia being in Tondisi and would know that Clarke chose not to evacuate Tondisi.

I don't think Finn & Clarke would've made their back to each other romantically but I do think that in a perfect world where they didn't want to write him off and he got some therapy and maybe went soulsearching with Jaha & Murphy or something, he could've come back around to being a part of the group. I know he's pretty much hated by the fandom but given how many characters have been redeemed on this show, they could've done it. In any case, Clarke tried to save him, failed, and now she has to live with the "what if".

Abby & Clarke is a relationship that's been rocky since s1 because Abby got Jake killed but this time around… "Please tell me this wasn't you" hits so hard. Clarke basically just lost her mom. Again. They come back around by the end of the season but it sucks anyway.

Octavia & Clarke is… oh dear. Clarke didn't tell her about the missile, so that's a negative, especially because Octavia could've easily died. surviving the missile hit, she was "just" traumatised. on the other hand, she saved Octavia from being assassinated by Lxa which she never told O about, so… it's complicated. also Clarke kinda sent O's brother to go die. speaking of

Bellamy & Clarke. "you said it wasn't worth it." "i was being weak. (go die)" that's it. i love telling my friends to go die. strengthens our friendship. amazingly, Bellamy chose forgiveness & understanding but by that time, Clarke just lived through her part of s2 and went into self-destruct mode the woods, leaving her friends to deal with their trauma on their own and making it impossible for forgiveness & understanding to actually take root.

so basically, Clarke ends s1 as a part of a strong team. she might be in charge but she's sharing responsibilities, they're getting better at working as a team and everyone is a valuable member of said team, a piece of the puzzle. s2 slowly shifts that. Clarke alone has to carry the plot of building that alliance - an alliance that won't matter in the end, but the damage to Clarke's person has been done by all of those little things OP has listed and of course the big sacrifices of Finn & Tondisi and it breaks my heart because Clarke wanted to be a doctor & her first love was "The Pacifist" and when everyone in camp wanted to give up on Jasper, she refused to, and when her first love ended up having a girlfriend, she met that girl with grace and friendship, and I really love baby!Clarke, okay? and I love her evolution into the girl who brought guns to a peace talk and who decided that her home & her family were worth defending after all else had failed, and that she abandoned her friends in Mount Weather with the intent to come back to save them, even if she didn't know how she'd go about it… by the end of s2, she's gazed into the abyss and the abyss has gazed back and she's just killed over 300 people (again) and she's weeping in her mother's arms who consoles her because "sometimes there are no good guys" and i fucking love Clarke Griffin at the end of s2.

and after a lot of talking about s2 in a rant about s3…

s3 ruined all of that.

again, in terms of storytelling, Lxa was an amazing influence. in-universe however… she literally made a face-heel-turn at the end of s2 which was a perfect set-up to make her a big antagonist who of course could still be redeemed but had so much potential to be a formidable opponent for Clarke in particular.

for the Arkers, you get the question of how do you move forward in dealing with these people after their leader has betrayed you like that?

for Clarke, it's all the more complicated. not only has she sold her soul for that alliance, but she obviously felt at the very least attracted to Lxa who to her felt like a kindred spirit. we already know that Lxa's a little bit more complicated than "love is weakness" and "i'm the chosen one" because she does care for Clarke and has to walk a line there because she can't be the mythical chosen leader of her people if she puts anyone above them. so she's 100% redeemable

just not for Clarke. it's the whole "abusive people can better themselves and build healthy relationships moving forward but their previous victims don't have to forgive them" thing. not to say that Lxa was abusive to Clarke in s2. they had a very, very questionable, potentially toxic relationship and although given the setting we can excuse a lot, i still believe that Clarke should've never forgiven Lxa (or at least not within a handful of episodes, three seasons minimum, think Spuffy). be civil with her? sure, they're leaders of two factions who have to either annihilate each other or work together but ultimately all the sacrifices Clarke made to gain Lxa's support were thrown away the second a "better" opportunity showed itself.

was there a point to Finn's death if the alliance fell through? was there a point to letting all these people die? those were jaw-drapping moments meant to raise the stakes and emotionally, it did, practically… not so much because in the end it was just our favourite delinquents who took down the Mountain and all but two (Clarke & O) were already INSIDE the Mountain by the time Lxa turned her back on them. sure, the people inside the Mountain felt the tension as well but that was also in huge part to Bellamy & the 47 fucking shit up for Cage. the grounders weren't needed. they never were. the kids we met in s1, stumbling around a meadow and getting high on jobi nuts, were enough to take down a military complex.

Clarke's entire arc in S2 was about forging that alliance and in the end, it didn't matter.

that's such a good set-up for a season where one of the three big plot points is "distrust of grounders due to previous trauma" which eventually gets used by the second big plot line, "an ai wants to relieve people of their trauma and makes them live in a perfect world without negative emotions". (the third one being "grounder shenanigans")

BUT THERE'S NO PAY-OFF. they talk about it but are there consequences besides mistrust? what happened to "she dishonoured us all", Indra? the Ice Queen was pissed with Lxa not because she has no honour and goes back on a promise her people have already bled for (Tondisi + arguably the five decades of blood sacrifices Azgeda and Trikru had already made to the Mountain) but because Lxa wants to have a peaceful relationship with Skaikru?? ma'm, I don't think Skaikru wants a peaceful relationship with anyone right now, much less you in particular, just let them lick their wounds for a second. sure, the Mountain might make Lxa look weak but no one is bothered with what it says about her. what if one clan is attacked by another and Lxa promises to solve the issue? is she going to go back on that promise, too? why does that Coalition even exist unless it's more like the British Empire and less like the USA.

does Clarke get to deal with all that trauma OP listed? does she get to heal and seek forgiveness from her friends? does she get to be angry? she gets to spit in Lxa's face and threaten her with a knife but afterwards? no, Clarke has to working for Lxa's cause because she's key to the survival of her people. what Clarke went through doesn't matter. she doesn't get to hold her grudge like she did with Wells. even if on paper she doesn't forgive her, the narrative forgives Lxa the second that hood is lifted off Clarke's head. just imagine s3 with similar scenes but this time around you can feel Clarke's trauma every time she looks at Lxa. she can still be attracted to her (we can hate hot people) and maybe even give in to that attraction but for the love of god, don't make it lovey-dovey. have them skin each other alive or whatever. if you want to make it toxic, make it toxic. if you want to make it lovey-dovey, don't make her kill her first love and spit on his grave afterwards.

s2 showed us all the reasons why Pike could be chancellor in s3. even after everything Clarke & the Arkers have been through (I'm still crying about the end of Resurrection when Sinclair & others show up at Tondisi, probably having walked all night, all because if they CAN help, then they MUST help, these people are shitty but they're also so good and kind), they can't count on the grounders to not stab them in the back. they'll do whatever their leader tells them to do and their leader has proven to be untrustworthy.

show Arkadia getting progressively worse and let the viewer believe that this is the right thing to do because while we all know fascism is bad, it can look very appealing. they don't start by talking about camps but they talk about safety and unity and culture, all things that would be very appealing to Skaikru.

Kane & Abby are reluctant but they kind of agree? there are a few Trikru villages they're trading with but otherwise you really can't trust grounders, you know?

and then a scene of Monty and his mom. she talks about her first days on the ground and how his father was slaughtered when he tried to save the children and he tells her about how Jasper was speared in the chest and then, he almost sobs, he says, "he hates me" and they hug and she tells him that Jasper doesn't hate him, he's just angry and sad and maybe the camera slowly pulls away when Mama Green asks about Mount Weather and the next scene we see her in (with Pike or whatever, back to the plot), it's obvious she just cried.

we get to see the delinquents like Miller and Harper (Team Kane in canon) talk about something that bothers them about the Guard, maybe Miller questions whether it's the right job for him because while there're still guards on the walls, they're also stationed inside the Ark and all in all it's just feeling a lot like the Ark again.

when Jasper is attacked by Ice Nation in 3x01 (?), it's as huge a deal as the beacon because once again an Arker was attacked by a grounder, Ice Nation or not. and how come Lxa didn't know that up north they're hunting Farm Station for fun? or did she know but didn't tell? we'll never know, neither will Skaikru. they're paranoid, some of them for good reason. the delinquents still remember the days when the trees had eyes and swords.

when Lxa fights Roan, Pike needs to take a seat because wtf, people, that's your pope?? fighting a prince?? with swords???? wtf is wrong with you guys????

show Arkadia to be at it's worst. they're demoralised, whatever moral they can find is borderline fascism. have Pike call Lincoln "one of the good ones" and keep him close to learn more about grounders and their tactics.

a bunch of these things were done by the show but ultimately, the entire plot line fell completely flat because while Arkadia is heading towards a military dictatorship, Clarke is completely disconnected in Polis (and while she was somewhat disconnected in s2, this time it hits different. she barely gets to interact with anyone other than Lxa and maybe Roan & Titus). and it fucking sucks. the person who should have the biggest grudge with the grounders because she sacrificed everything only to have it all be meaningless, Clarke Griffin who refused to forgive her best friend for a year, who never even considered that her father could've confided in somebody else, that girl is angry with the person that betrayed her for about one episode and then everything is more or less just fine. she's a little snotty, tells the audience that she's doing this for her people and she really doesn't want to stick around, pinky-promise, but Lxa's too important to let her die… and then we get the romantic framing. we get that night scene with the beautiful blue nightgown. cozy time with Lxa napping and Clarke sketching. it looks like Clarke has a pretty nice life. is she a hostage? probably. does she make heart eyes at her captor? yup. the viewer is supposed to root for them.

for all I know, the girl that finished s2 was replaced by an android while she was hiding out in the woods. the real Clarke Griffin is dead in a ditch.

i hate all of it. i know, a lot of it was influenced by fandom reaction, but giving Lxa all of those great shots ruin the entire storyline in Arkadia. why does he hate the Commander? hasn't he seen her pretty big eyes and how lovingly she gazes at Clarke? and Clarke has forgiven her, why shouldn't we? really, Pike's just a racist and a fascist and should just die already we see Lxa being cool and strong and sometimes even tender while Pike is frothing at the mouth and killing the one good person in the entire northern hemisphere. leave in Lxa kicking that guy from the balcony, make her a lot more vicious during her fight with Roan (who was previously stabbed by Clarke, so he's easy pickings - or don't, show Lxa making Roan look strong, so when she crowns him, his people will think him strong! makes her look intelligent and in control), maybe introduce Aden as her favourite because she personally gives him brutal sword play lessons, telling him to get knocked down and get back up again. and then, as a treat to me, have him ask her why the fuck she abandoned Skaikru at MW when MW has been their mortal enemy for decades and giving them the opportunity to walk the ground would be kind of batshit insane…

(she can still be a marshmallow deep down, we've already seen glimpses of that in s2, but now that's all we get to see and after that set-up in s2 it's so boring and bland. s2!Lxa would hate s3!Lxa.)

SHOW US WHAT PIKE FEARS. remember a thousand warriors standing at the gates of Camp Jaha for one person? that's fucking terrifying. i, too, would piss myself if the person who just abandoned us at MW would send a "peacekeeping" army right to our doorstop. no thank you, ma'm, i'm fine.

you can easily argue that Pike's storyline is key to the entire season as it's a) the clear follow-up to s2, b) actually features the most characters already known to the viewer, c) hides the big, lore-related storyline, ALIE, in plain view, and d) enhances that storyline, while e) influencing the "grounder shenanigans" storyline (which arguably starts the plot of s3 but would just vanish into nothing without Pike being Pike and serving as a villain in both storylines)

meanwhile, every time that plot gets going, we're interrupted by another extended scene of whatever is happening in Polis. we waste so much time on a handful of characters and while I will take Roan to the grave with me, I just don't care. this show already has so many amazing characters to love and care about and a storyline about how attractive fascism can be would've been incredibly on point in 2016 (at any point in time really) and again, it would have been so easy to write about given what we had by the end of s2. the Ark was already used to a lot of things that can be components of a fascist society which we saw in s2 with the Exodus charter (and all of s1) and all that trauma that was handed out in s2 which Clarke Griffin is such a poster child for, those basically paved the way for that

only for them to fumble it. for a love story which pretends to be enemies to lovers but is honestly just "you were a big old meanie, so I'm upsetti spaghetti, just kidding, pls don't kill my people, babe".

wtf

Accidentally tripped my way back into my t100 obsession, and am once again begging everyone to remember that Clarke didn’t just mean irradiating Mount Weather when she said “what I did to get them here”. Of course she means that part, but she also means killing Finn, letting the bomb drop on TonDC without warning anyone besides Lexa, even leaving the 47 behind when she was forced to escape in order to get the rest of the Delinquents a real rescue, lying to Bellamy about Octavia being in TonDC, telling Bellamy to. his. face. that it’s worth risking his life to take down the Mountain with the Grounders, and any number of other specific wrongs Clarke would 100% feel she had done. Bellamy’s “what we did” is unbearably kind, and does not even pale as an example of their partnership and love for each other, but he is only thinking of one part of Clarke’s enormous guilt to bear. As is his right. He did just help her commit genocide, he’s not going to be on top of his game (understanding Clarke), nor is he going to necessarily see many of these burdens the same way Clarke, in her special brand of self-deprecation, would.

It does feel as though we as a fandom focus on the same thing as Bellamy. Fair. Genocide of the entire Mountain is certainly going to be more devastating in the way of guilt than lying to Bellamy about Octavia’s safety, or even killing the boy she loves/loved. But Clarke spends much of season 2 either battling for a voice at Camp Jaha, forcing Lexa to take the alliance seriously, or trying to find any way to reach the 47 and get them all out safely, and she has Bellamy and any number of allies and friends alongside her for much of the journey, but the choices she makes for the 47 are largely still hers alone, especially once Bellamy goes into the Mountain. She has many reasons to feel guilty, and not all of them are choices she and Bellamy made together, so his support, while meaningful, doesn’t actually encompass all that is haunting Clarke.

[sometimesrosy]

What was the s3 theory on how COL was going to be beaten w/o Bell & w/ L as the hero? I only joined the fandom in the past 7 mo. so I haven't experienced all the past shipwar nonsense. I'm really curious to just how so many ppl misinterpreted the text so badly. Hell, where does C fit into this theory where L is the hero over her? Did she decide to just sit this one out? How does a side character have more license to save the day over main characters? Were BC never supposed to be reunited? How?

I don’t actually remember the actual theory, because so many were going around. But yeah. Not just CL but Bellarkers believed that L was the hero of they story now. HUGE respected meta writers said it was OBVIOUS that L was the hero. (still say it)

And I’m going, but, no she’s not, it’s CLARKE’S story, and L is keeping her from moving forward in her story, so even though she’s the love interest she is THE ANTAGONIST. 

They looked at L as the HERO, Clarke as the girlfriend love interest, the grounders as the protagonists, the sky people as the antagonists and Bellamy, in specific as the villain.

And it wasn’t just the CLs that adopted that concept. Bellarkers ALSO said that the writers were villainizing Bellamy. And I’m like, but no, he’s being torn between Pike and Kane, he will choose to do the right thing (and he did.)

You can still see people sticking to the same theory today, but now they say it was bad writing that made things UNCLEAR about Bellamy’s motivation (it wasn’t,) and turned Clarke into a passive follower for the heroic L (it’s called dysfunction, ptsd, trauma, and was part of her journey.)

In the theory where L was the hero, they basically had L as the main hero, so taking Clarke’s place, and Clarke as the love interest-secondary hero, so taking Bellamy’s place. They saved the world together. I wish I could remember if they got it right except for who’s story it was, but when she refused to address such a major part of the story, I stopped paying attention to her meta, because HUGE blind spot.

They did NOT think BC was important. Not even as a platonic best friend at this point, although now, that’s the story. He was A VILLAIN. They were okay with him in Mount Weather where he did his mission, but nope. Not partners. They did NOT think getting Bellarke back together was important. They did NOT think Clarke should return to her people. Her people were THE OBSTACLE. They called them “sky rats.” They thought Clarke was HAPPY in Polis, not in hiding or separated from herself or traumatized. They did not recognize that L had done ANYTHING wrong to Clarke or the skypeople, but everything she did was good because she said it was.

L was their focus and that’s who they cared about. Some viewers only came in to the show because they heard of CL, and they didn’t watch any episodes before L arrived. Some just ignored everything that didn’t lead to their ship and fave and that meant they were ignoring, at that point 75% of the show.

They just. Ignored. It. And they filled in the blanks with heroic Lxa fanon, and created a mythology around CL that had NOTHING to do with The 100 and everything to do with the kind of wlw stories they needed, and weren’t getting. This was so close to being their lesbian warrior queen romantic fantasy, so they just ignored everything that didn’t fit that interpretation. And then they attacked anyone who pointed out the CANON story that had Clarke as hero, Bellamy as second hero, the delinquents as protagonists and L herself as an antagonist/love interest. Making it so no one could interpret it in ANY other way, because they came after you en masse, as a holy war. Lxa was their goddess.

It was the worst.

[daisyjohnscns]

It should have been Bellamy or Madi. Not her.

[astridandoddsandends]

To provide context to @travllingbunny's comment:

What the podcaster revealed about what he thinks about the shippers (she stopped making podcasts on the show after s5 following these comments from Jason and others Kim Shumway would have made on Unity Days):

2. That adds up to what Aaron said in a podcast in 2014 (at that time the writing team apologized and relativized Aaron's words but time confirmed it).

3. This again adds up to something a fan commented on twitter in 2021. She left the fandom after being warned by a writer of seasons 1/2:

4. Jason's ego on set. He has a history of punishing actors who proposed changes to his storylines: Ricky wanted Lincoln to have a mediating role in Polis (basically Clarke's role in s3). He also has a history of punishing actors who need time off (Zach's case):

5. His desire to subvert expectations and be edgy: Aaron's comments on that podcast give an idea of what he was looking to generate with his narrative (the "delicious" pain he wanted to achieve and referenced before and after filming Lxa's death).

6. He certainly loved when his show was compared to Games of Thrones.

Hi. Why do you think 7 season of the 100 went so bad? What happend?

Frankly, I've been thinking about it for three years and I'm still short of a good answer. I cannot believe that this has been the design for the moral of this story from the beginning, because it doesn't make any sense and has nothing to do with the plot or the characters' journey throughout the years. Never mind the fact that this has never been a deus-ex-machina aliens shows 🤦‍♀️

Honestly, the only thing that ever made sense to me was, well, spite.

Jason used Bob's unavailability to punish him, Eliza and the entire fandom for--being there for the show since the beginning, basically. They dared to momentarily divert attention from his brilliance and we were a little too smart and figured out where the story was going too well. And instead of being happy that we were so devoted to the show and to the story, he got his ego hurt. It's not a rational thing and it's not how grown-ups should behave in grown-up situations but here we are. I genuinely believe that this turn into the unexpected was Jason's way of proving that we ain't as clever as we thought we were. I mean, hands up, who guessed that ending?!

Also, actor's temporary unavailability is a shitty reason to kill off a character and every time that happens, I become enraged. Actors have stuff going on all the time. They get pregnant, they get other gigs, they get ill, break bones and go to rehab all the damn time. The writers do know how to get around that. Teen Wolf worked Dylan O'Brien leaving into a pretty fricking fantastic story in 6A. NCIS: Los Angeles worked Miguel Ferrer literally dying into the plot and give his character a touching send-off.

Choosing to use this opportunity to enact revenge and prove that you are the overlord isn't just childish, it's stupid. But at least, he seems to be paying for that now. His prequel got scrapped faster than you can say "ha-ha" and I haven't even heard a whisper about a new project, which is well and truly deserved.

So, to sum up this long-winded tirade, I think what happened was bruised ego. Which the most moronic reason for wrecking shit up I've ever heard of.

[goddess-aelin]

I have to fucking see one more stupid ass post about how Le.xas death was SO much worse than Bellamys, I will throw up. L was a side character, a guest. She had a certain number of episodes from the beginning that she was supposed to be on. Her actress had another commitment for another show so they did the best they could with what was given. I absolutely get the outrage at the bury your gays trope 100%!!!!! Not only should it not have been done that way, but it should probably not have been done at all. But anyone with eyes could see she was going to be on the outs. Despite all of that, her name is brought up every damn chance they can get. She had a death scene that was at least 5-10 mins long and another scene after that of clarke grieving.

B on the other hand was a MAIN ass character. A MAIN MOC LEAD. His death, when it happened, should’ve been the most significant death scene to date. Because that’s how it works with the male lead! He’s the second most important person on the show, no matter how that makes you feel. To get an 11 second long death scene after an entire season of having about 3 different scenes, almost none of which were significant and furthered his relationship with other characters, is an absolute travesty. To not get any kind of closure, to have him on the “wrong” side, to have him think he was hated by his friends? TO BE SHOT BY HIS BEST FRIEND!??????????? That’s the worst writing I’ve ever seen. No disrespect to the writer who I’m sure did the best he could. Mad disrespect to Jroth tho because he’s a weasel in human form and was petty and vindictive to not only bob but also the fans of the show. I’m not mad they killed him off. I’m mad that the MAN OF COLOR lead didn’t get a proper storyline nor a proper send off.

[jazon-todd]

“Maybe this will make you rethink how y’all reacted during lxa’s death” it doesn’t but thanks

[ragnarssons]

some of y'all are too funny saying they can't have c/aia endgame just by pushing it down our throats in a few eps. um have y'all seen clxa and bleggo??

[yiangchen]

Lexa deserved a better death (because wow that one was anticlimactic) but she was a terrible person who should no longer be mentioned because it’s been a long time and she’s been brought back too much BRING BACK WELLS!!! As a flash back or Clarke’s subconscious in the form of Wells to comfort her and call her out on the stuff she’s done

KINDA

Send me The 100 opinion and I can only answer with DISAGREED/AGREED/KINDA

[bellamyblake]

so many things in s3 lack sense or are not fully told...and what pisses me off to this day is showing so much grounder and Lxa stuff in comparison to the Arkadia storyline so it can make sense to you. you can see so much is cut off, from Bellamy’s SL, from Jaha and the chip too even though it’s considered to be the second SL in the first half. I think that if they had the chance, they would’ve shown the struggle Bellamy was going through in so much more detail and it would’ve made everything more interesting instead of seeing all the Polis stuff and all the extra details there nobody needed. 

People hate on Bellamy so much in s3 but the entire time you can see his struggle and the fact that he disagrees with Pike but follows him in an attempt to make sense of things and follow the right way this time, so that no more people get hurt, that is his goal and you can see the entire time that he’s doubting this but also that he’s been betrayed by everyone else and I’m sorry to say this but this includes C,larke, K,ane and Ab,by. They made poor decisions when it came to camp whilst C,larke thought everything would be alright if she left and he was in charge. And I am not blaming her but I think she gravely diminishes the fact that he went through something super traumatic. Yes, she did too, she made this choice to kill the people in mount weather, she bears the weight but so does he. I honestly can’t decide which is worse. Her saying ‘It’s worth the risk’ in season 2 or her saying ‘I knew I could leave because they had you’ in 3x05 because honestly...like okay but that’s fucked up. I understand her POV and her wanting them to be safe with him and assuring he’d take care of them but also considering Bellamy’s history and the fact that his mom shoved a baby in his arms and told him here, this is yours now and your responsibility...welp C.larke kinda basically does the same. She says well I have to go but you’re here, so they’d be fine.

And he does try his best. He follows K.ane’s rules for three months and what happens next?

The grounders destroy mount weather. They kill Gina. He ends up right where he started, with death in his feet. 

That is why he follows Pike and yes it’s wrong but like Kane says ‘He truly believes this is the right thing’ and that is exactly what Kane does back up on the Ark when they kill 300 people to save oxygen and he makes that call and insists on it. He believed in it as much as Bellamy does believe that the grounders won’t change (let’s be real they won’t and they prove it even in s3x06) and that he has to protect his people because Clarke’s gone, Kane and Abby dk what to do and he’s all there by himself.

But he senses Pike is wrong from the start and he questions him and he does see that something is not the way it should be but follows him because at the moment with the circumstances they’re in PIke’s words make more sense than Kane’s or Abby’s or Clarke’s. 

And I can talk more about C.larke too and I do not blame her but her actions in s3 are less her than Bellamy’s are compared to season 1. He is right when he says that you’re wrong, this is who’ve I always been. The thing is that he knew what the grounders are capable of from the start, he just let himself trust the others and their diplomacy but they failed, they all did. And yes he goes back to that darker, less caring side of himself but that’s only because he hurts massively after mount weather’s destroyal (twce!!!) and nobody notices. Not C,larke and I not O,ctavia. Don’t forget what Miller told O in 3x06-he says, you should talk to your brother but she refuses. She just says he’s on the wrong side and that’s it. K.ane, Clarke everyone else try to convince him this is wrong but not her. Why? Because she still holds onto that anger that he is the reason their mom’s dead, that he shouldn’t have come to the ground, that he tries to maybe control her (which he can’t and doesn’t attempt at anymore). He loves her unconditionally even then while she still holds onto their old lives and I get that, I probably would be too.

It’s stupid cause writing doesn’t make sense. At one point K,ane is like this is my fault, I forced those elections and I got us here, he also says he understands where B,ellamy is coming from and why he truly believes what hes doing is the right thing but that he’s also the key.

And the next moment he says “He’s the enemy’ and that’s it, which also in parts understandable considering he was caught and trialed and almost murdered but still...I expected more of him when it came to Bellamy even if I love that relationship and write fics about it.

Anyway what I mean to say is that Bellamy’s actions are not a result of individual decisions but rather the collective grave mistakes they all do as leaders (old and new).

That of course does not excuse him of what he does in any way. he made mistakes and he bears the consequences of them for years later. (I wont remind you of s4 an dhis constant beating up)

I’m also very annoyed at the Polis parts and I wish there was so much less of it.

[quietmonologues]

.

[alicentflorent]

Seeing your blog have "Bellamy Blake defense squad" in it is honestly hilarious to me as a former fan of that show, and because I was just thinking about the bizarre amount of hate Edwina keeps getting as a character and how it actually kind of reminded me of t100 and specifically season 3 when a lot of fans turned against Bellamy as a character without even trying to understand his position in the season or at the very least understand that the writing was placing him in this position on purpose. It's one thing to complain about lack of proper dialogue writing or continuity but to continue to hate a character for said bad writing gets weirder as it goes on and that was especially continuous with Bellamy in season 3 and even now with Edwina in season 2. Do I agree with all the lines she was given this season? No, and I do think the writers could've tried to make sure there's better continuity between episodes so that viewers don't deliberately misinterpret lines as being the characters' faults (like saying Anthony 'warned her' about him not loving her when in truth he never said that to Edwina, he merely said he wasn't a man of poetry and barring Kate, every other adult pushed for the union because of his position and obvious interest in pursuing her). But the crux of what her character goes through is there, and to instead see fans bash her character while not allowing anyone else to discuss the other characters' faults feels pretty familiar to how t100 fandom operated back in the day, unfortunately. Thanks for being so understanding of these characters, btw!

Oh my god this is so weird because I actually was thinking the Edwina hate reminded me of the bellamy hate too right down to the racism and trying to invalidate the characters race and insist they experience a certain level of “white privilege”. I don’t know if you remember the whole “bellamy is white” thing from the 100 fandom and their insistence that Bob was “white passing” and had “white male privilege” when he had opened up about the racism he had experienced throughout his life. Now to a lesser a extend some fans have tried to invalidate charithra/Edwina’s race. They’ve been calling her 1/4 white edwina and insisting she has light skin privilege compared to Simone/Kate which is quite frankly bullshit because she isn’t light skinned and they’re invalidating charithra’s own race and experiences just like the 100 fans did with Bob so that they can.. insist their fave wins the oppression olympics?

Anyway I absolutely agree with everything you’ve said here and I’m glad you feel the same way about edwina and bellamy. Thank you❤️

Edit: I also realised another thing these fandoms had in common is being so much more understanding and forgiving towards the white characters like clarke, lxa, octavia, murphy and anthony, eloise, penelope, daphne

[sometimesrosy]

It is sad,but true a lot of this fandom doesn't believe in bellarke anymore,they set up romantic bellarke in s4 finale,now they start like this,people just gave up,a lot left the show and others are back as casual viewers,i don't know how is gonna go the next episodes,maybe some come back or not,i'm not happy either,but we've seen bellarke coming during all the hiatus in cons,promo and media,clearly s5 is gonna be canon BC,b/e is just an a typical soap romantic obstacle that made BC more clear.

I REALLY don’t get it.

There’s SO MUCH OBVIOUS evidence.

Yeah. we get it. You don’t trust and your feelings are hurt. BUT ARE YOU NOT WATCHING THE SHOW?

Feelings are yours. They aren’t actually reality, just your feelings. Reality is the canon, in which we watch them set up B/E to be doomed as soon as Bellamy finds out Clarke is alive.

I mean. How do people see the evidence and take it to mean the opposite of what it means?

Is it because I’m looking at it as if I was planning and outlining a story that I see it, and they are just letting the story sweep them away? I mean, it’s like a blaring siren to me. 

[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.