Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-29929311-20160912190346/@comment-75.121.191.145-20170116170517

I can understand bad experiences with other shippers. It's why when two of my friends each got kys messages on tumblr I immediately turned off anonymous. I suffer from really bad anxiety, and getting a message telling me to kill myself, all because of something as silly as a fictional couple, isn't something I want to experience. But I know there are a lot of really sweet clexa shippers, one in particular whom I absolutely adore because of how positive she is. She makes me smile, and reminds me that shippers aren't bad, just certain people who ship ​can be. I've seen some really awful bellarkers too, and I'm sorry you had to come across them. I just think it's important to remember that people tend to be mean when they're scared or hurt. I try to be understanding, try not to take things too personally, because at the end of the day, life's already stressful enough, fandom is supposed to be fun.

I certainly didn't want Lexa to die. I'd actually been hoping she would have more scenes with other Arkers besides just Clarke. I really wanted to see how they, and she, interacted with each other. I know some fans were talking about her interacting with Murphy and I think that would've been the absolute best odd couple! But now that season 3 is over, I think I understand the distance Lexa/Clexa had from the rest of the characters. It was done intentionally, and even though it was frustrating, it was also kind of brilliant. I just wish they'd had more time to really flesh it out. So yes, Clarke and Bellamy were kept apart, but for a reason. Unfairly? Eh, not really. Only people who want them attached at the hip and don't look at the story as a whole think that.

I see Lexa as to Clarke as Pike was to Bellamy. Obviously, I'm not saying Lexa is exacty like Pike, but when it came to what they represented for Clarke and Bellamy's stories, then they're very similar. Clarke and Bellamy were kept apart to show how much better they are together, but that was only one layer of the story, because the Clexa love story was playing out at the same time. And all that being said, it's not just ​about Clarke and Bellamy and their relationship, because their relationship is representing all ​the delinquents here. They were all lost in their own way this season, only by finding hope and faith in each other were they able to overcome this, just like they do every time. And that was incredibly cheesy, but I still like it, because I really care about all these characters, and I'm a sucker for the found family trope.

Someone (way smarter than me) speculated on a really fascinating parallel for Clarke's journey in season 3 with Odysseus in The Odyssey. Specifically the story of Odysseus and Calypso as Clarke and Lexa, and Bellamy as Penelope, not necesarily in a romantic sense, but in a, he represents home, sense. Whether the writers really took inspiration from it, I have no idea, but it was similar enough to where they definitely could've. And I'm also just a nerd who finds that stuff cool.

I'm kind of tired of people not understanding Clarke. I don't care who they ship. I understand their frustration with the character, and they don't have to like her, but they can at least see things from her pov, or at least acknowledge everything she's done instead of blowing her off as arrogant and/or selfish. The white savior bit I can't really comment on, since I also have white privilege, so it's not for me to say. I'd certainly never tell a poc that they were wrong if they felt that way.

Did I say Bellarke fans wouldn't stop watching if Bellamy died? I can't remember, our posts are so long, lol. But if I did, then yes, I was wrong, because I'm sure there are those who would quit the show. I may love Bellamy, but I also love everyone else. These characters are honestly a hundered times better than the story itself imo.

I'm glad you feel so positive about the show, sometimes seeing other's negativity about how it will definitely be cancelled gets me down. Not that I want it to go on forever (that's never a good thing), but I get the sense that there's a plan here to this story, and I'd like it to finish in the way that it's supposed to. Basic rules of writing that I was taught are by three's. Act I, Act II, Act III, each being broken down by three themselves and so on and so forth. And since the end of Act II is always the darkest (like this season) I'm assuming season 3 was the midpoint of this story JRoth has planned. That's why I'm hoping for 5 or 6 seasons, I think that's how long it's supposed ​to be. Or I could be wrong and he's just writing by the seat of his pants, I dunno. I didn't know that about TWD. That's interesting. I think it's time for it to set an end point, like GOT. Stories have to end or they'll flounder.

Ok, I swear I had a point in saying that Bellamy and Gina's relationship was longer than both of Clarke's...but I can't remember what it was, lol. Sorry. Whatever it was, it wasn't to say Clexa was a fling, I may not have shipped it but even I could see that it wasn't a fling.

See, I have to disagree with you about Bellarke and Clexa being related. Yes, they have Clarke in common, but there's absolutely no reason why they should be thought of that way, because Clarke is more than any relationship. A past relationship of mine has nothing to do with a current one. Thank goodness there is only one happening at a time (I hate love triangles), but it doesn't have to boil down to who will Clarke choose like a bachelorette episode, lol. Clarke's better and more important than that, and so are Lexa and Bellamy.

Furthermore, feelings aren't at all neat and tidy. While Clarke loved Lexa, that's not to say she couldn't have feelings for Bellamy or anyone else. I don't mean like, "oh gosh, I like them both, what do I do?" but feelings aren't always as simple as, this is romantic love, this is friendship love. You love your friends, and without you even knowing or understanding it, it could become deeper than you think. I know you disagree, but that's what I honestly feel is happening with Bellarke. I think it was a revelation to Clarke in the finale just how much Bellamy meant to her when Abby said "start with Bellamy Blake." Along with the despair on her face, she was shocked that he was her weakest link. And I think it really all ties into the 'love is weakness' thing.

It was a good bookend to Clarke's journey, with both she and Lexa learning that love isn't ​weakness. Actually, the bookend to that lesson was really the finale as a whole, as it was a combination of Lexa and her father's love in the CoL, and Bellamy and Abby's in the real world, that made her strong enough to shut down ALIE. I really loved the symbolism of Clarke holding the Lexa chip in one hand while holding onto Bellamy's in the other.

I agree, it was cruel to kill Clexa to make way for Bellarke. That should've been handled so much better. But the thing is, to me, it honestly looks like Bellarke has always been the plan. I know you don't see it that way, I'm not trying to convert you, lol. But I'm understanding that it hurts you because it seems like if Bellarke happens then they only did it because Clexa died. When, to me, it truly, honestly looked like Clexa was just apart of Clarke's journey in this story of hers, but she was never meant to be the end of it. I'm not saying that to hurt your feelings, or because I hate Clexa and I'm so glad it's dead (that's me being sarcastic by the way), but because that's what the story looks like to me. Not when I see it up close with shipper goggles, but when I look at the beats of it (I don't know how else to describe it) it's all going along a very well-trodden story path. Couples are used in this way all the time, but the fact that Clexa was a wlw couple, made it very wrong and insensitive. Minorities should be handled with care in stories, and Clexa clearly wasn't.

Ok, I'll stop my blathering for now. And I'll totally understand if this is becoming boring and you want to stop :)