#antibellarke

... I mean, to a point. But you also have to consider genre, which is the great failing of the Bellarkers here. If this was a romance novel and the two leads didn’t get together, or at least have a declaration of love before one of them died tragically of tuberculosis or something, then yes, that would be a failure.

But The 100 was post-apocalyptic grimdark sci-fi. That’s been the label on the tin since the first episode of the first season when a bunch of adults sent 100 teenagers to a radioactive planet in a Hail Mary pass for the survival of the human race. Happy endings, romantic affection taking centre stage, etc. were never on the menu. They were lucky afterthoughts. As is appropriate for the genre.

Knowing that this show is post-apocalyptic grimdark sci-fi, I predicted a great deal of season 7. I mean, not the aliens, but I predicted Cadogan as the Big Bad. I predicted Diyoza, Bellamy and Gabriel dying. I predicted Hope to be a vengeful mouthy little shit with a low opinion of Bellamy. I predicted an Anomaly Stone on Earth and an eventual return to Earth for the survivors. I even predicted transcendence. 

I knew that Octavia deserved the hero’s moment in the finale, because she was the character that had the Hero’s Journey. I knew that when put into a situation where Bellamy would have someone new and shiny to follow so he didn’t have to think for himself, he’d take it and proclaim to be saving his family and friends while doing the exact opposite. I knew that when questioned by strangers about the morality of her past actions, Clarke would double down on them and doom her people. Because that’s what season after season of this show has shown us.

So people can’t say that it was all wrong and didn’t make sense, because it absolutely did. Execution may have faltered in some points due to BTS bullshit requiring things to be rewritten and condensed and/or expanded, but genre-wise, the story fits.

Sorry totally meant to answer this ages ago when the drama actually came out haha.

I strongly agree. I think there’s a big disconnect between what fans seem to think of relationships in the show - what they want and then support in headcanons, fic, fanon-interpreted meta - and what the show ACTUALLY shows us. This doesn’t JUST happen for Bellarke (like....the delinquents as a whole group really were not a group or a found family for all that long compared to the show’s whole run) but it does happen THE MOST or at least the most strongly with Bellarke it seems.

I’ve referred to Bellamy and Clarke was work husband and wife in the past. Like they know each other in a professional kind of way in that in the first few seasons they’re co-leaders trying to keep the 100 alive and clashing before finally coming to work together. 

But they never TRULY seem to know each other on a personal level. Like, they don’t ever really even feel like friends to me. They don’t know who each other are outside of war and fighting. Does Clarke even know Bellamy’s mother’s name? Or that he’s a history geek? Does Bellamy know anything about Clarke’s father or her hobbies and interests outside of pulling levers and drawing?

When you look at the actual timelines of the show, Bellamy and Clarke BARELY know each other. And the brief time they did know each other was very characterized by the fact that they were trying to survive and fighting in wars. Which is why even though I buy that Bellamy had a thing for Clarke in early seasons, it’s very hard for me to believe that he would still be mooning after her after being separated for 6 years.

I can believe he’d be shocked and relieved to know she’s alive because it means he DIDN’T leave her to die. But this is a woman he barely knew for a couple of months, mostly fought with and disagreed with during that time, and then was separated for 6 years, which is a long time for them BOTH to grow into different people.

Raven - The eventual savior of the world

Echo - Master of the found family trope

Bree - hit it before she quit it

Gina - Raven approved so she must be OK

I feel like it’s meant to show that B3llamy hugs Cl@arke “differently” somehow, but it had the opposite impact on me. He grabs Octavia’s head/hair the exact same way he grabs Cl@rke’s.