me thoughts on the whole “six years later”

honestly idk. i just feel the need to clarify my feelings on the (possible) situation with b//ell/arke, b//ec/ho, and b//ra/ven.

rambling and speculation under the cut

first off, i am as big of ho for b/ell//arke as any out there, let this be known. do i think it has a large chance of happening in show? absolutely. beyond my own otp emotions hoping that it will, evidence and practicality suggest it will end up canon/endgame. it’s just a matter of when.

i do not ship b//e/cho. echo has treated bellamy awfully the majority of the time they have known each other, and bellamy actively distrusts her and probably holds some underlying hatred towards her for what she did to octavia. it’s not a great ship as it was left for now in show.

as for b//rav//en, i have no particularly emotion towards it. i think it could be cute, but considering how much of a diehard bellarke shipper i am, im not exactly singing praises to gods to make br/ave/n canon. however, they have the strongest basis for becoming canon after be/ll/ark/e, i find.

further elaboration, now with consideration to the timeskip and events of the season four finale.

clarke doesn’t know if bellamy is alive, though she knows there is a chance, no matter how small, that he has, and she clings to this. bellamy, on the other hand, believes that clarke is entirely dead, given what we know (i doubt he ever received any of clarke’s radio messages, because if he had, then he would have been on the ground as immediately as possible given resources and time passed). he does not have that same sliver of possibility like clarke does, and therefore probably spent a good deal time (potentially literal years) absolutely despaired over the situation and how he “failed” clarke. bellamy feels shit deep, too. he would likely -not- allow himself to get over it for a long time, beyond not being able to to begin with. so, bellamy spends a lot of time upset and grieving up in space, and in marches potential b/ech/o and br/ave/n.

my thoughts for be/cho involve it beginning as a “vent” for bellamy. he’s frustrated emotionally, both by clarke and his role and the difficulty of living in space, and physically, too, probs - he’s prob restless after spending so long running around like a gazelle in the forests on earth and now he’s trapped on the goddamn ark again, and it’s stifling. and honestly, the dude’s gonna be sexually frustrated, too, lbr. he’s gonna need an outlet, and i think echo could be that. i’m not gonna rule out echo here, she’s her own character, too - she has a great potential to become a “good guy” and redeem herself to bellamy and the others, and the audience, too. i don’t like her much right now, but i’m interested to see where her character might go, especially now that her actress is a series regular.

echo is in a somewhat similar situation to bellamy, though her distress is more pronounced in certain areas. she inevitably probably has ghosts floating about regarding people she “left” on the ground/never got a proper goodbye with, chiefly roan, i think, whom she didn’t really have time to sort out her feelings for (not necessarily romantic, i’m not implying that, but she obviously cared for roan, she was loyal to him both officially and probably personally). beyond this, she proves to be understandably frightened about going to space, looking quite terrified when in the shuttle and raven starts floating in zero g. having been born, raised, and lived on earth all her life, this situation is incredibly stressful, even more so given how long they will be up there is very uncertain, being anywhere from five years to much longer. like bellamy, she’ll have adjustment issues, but even worse than him given that earth and the freedom that came with it is all she’s ever known, and now she’s been confined indefinitely to this stuffy, foreign space station for an indefinite amount of time. for her, it is entirely strange. at least for the others (beyond emori), they are returning to a familiar place, even if it holds negative connotations for some more than others - overall, it was once “home” for bellamy, murphy, harper, and monty for all of their lives up until two (?) or so years ago (i’m assuming it’s been roughly two years since they were ejected to the ground). echo has no attachment or idea of this place. she’s anxious and terrified, things i cannot fault her for considering the situation.

so, here we are: bellamy and echo are both restless and frustrated. they don’t have the greatest relationship, but they’re going to have to learn to get along, in the very least, considering the need to cooperate for their situation and because it’s not going to help if things worsen. overall, the both need an outlet, because it’s equally as non-conducive if they are so worked up they can’t think or operate. so, the opportunity presents itself, given enough time has passed that respective tensions can no longer last and/or that they both have numbed enough to the point where it works out well enough, that they could become each other’s “vents”. i, personally, think this is one of the most viable way that b/ech/o could start. they live in close quarters, constantly interact to some degree, and at first, there’s a suitable enough emotional disconnect between them that it works out well. they’re both young and raring (lmao), and given that two out of the four girls on the station are taken, bellamy’s options are echo or raven (and we’re discussing b/ech/o right now, so raven’s irrevelant for now). emotionally, they may not have much going on, but physically, attraction could be there.

so, yeah, they start banging. why not, they’re both consenting adults - it’s not emotionally the best but it helps ease mounting stress and makes living up in the station a lot more bearable. so, personal assumptions here, say bellamy does his thing grieving over clarke/tiding himself over for two years and echo is off doing her thing, working out excessively to distract herself from thoughts of earth, but at some point it snaps and they’re both there, so they go for it. they fool around whenever they feel like it for a year or so, and it works out fine. i think echo would become more emotionally attached/dependent first, as she comes to improve her relationship with bellamy and begins to trust him more (and vice versa). in the past, she’s expressed the want for bellamy’s approval (think 4x01 - “think you’ll ever trust me again?” “i doubt it.” or something along the lines of that), and she has the most personal history with him, so she’s more willing to rely on him emotionally with all of her stuff going on. bellamy, i think, would still be a lot more detached and it would take more time to allow himself to open up, given he is still probably hung up on clarke (one doesn’t even have to interpret this romantically, but also just in a friendly/partner-sense - i consider it both, because bel/ar/ke is more than just the one or the other) and has other people he trusts more beyond echo, especially raven (and monty), that he can divulge personal issues to more easily and openly. they’ve all known each other longer/been through more/been positively involved for longer, it’s only natural. but it’s not impossible that he might allow some (not all) walls to fall down given enough time (and six years in more than enough for something - or even the beginnings of something - to form) and as he sees echo genuinely open up to him. so, he thinks clarke is dead, and there’s nothing he can do about that, nothing he can do to resolve his feelings for and about her ultimately, and though it was not born of ideal circumstances, he is now involved with another he might be able to legitimately move forward with. he may not move on completely, inevitably will think back to clarke sometimes and fall into a pit again for a bit or longer, may dwell on her memory, but he doesn’t have to stay miserable and cornered off forever. so, maybe, he begins to allow himself to carry on with echo, and things are kind of chill and calm and happy for a bit between them. depending on when and how things happen, by the time they go down to earth again, it’s not preposterous to consider that he and echo may have committed to a legit relationship, and that he’s not as tied down to how he felt about clarke, because she’s “gone”. i love be/l/larke to death, but i also want everybody to be content and happy, understand this, and though i love that Spicy Drama that comes with bellamy not being able to let clarke go entirely, i do think he would eventually attempt to settle himself and find happiness, if not by himself, then by the urging and intervention of the others.

how this plays out is still up in the air, as is all of this. is it inevitable he will be extremely shaken up by finding out clarke is a live and well, and she will most definitely likely take a forefront in all his emotions and actions, leading to echo being sidelined. echo herself will be dealing with the reality of returning to earth, but will also understandably be upset by being potentially ignored by bellamy, especially given if she has become more attached than he. as things settle, he will be faced with the need to choose between clarke and echo, even if it may be a struggle between all three forces in the end - out of my personal opinion (and being a be/lar/ke ho), i think how he feels about clarke will be too much to ignore and will easily overpower his relationship (i think “making up for lost time” will be a big thing with be/lla/rke in season five), or lack thereof, with echo, ultimately leading to the dissolution of b/ec/ho and the beginning of our endgame canon be/l/larke. i think it would be difficult for bellamy to justify staying with echo when clarke has suddenly been reinserted in his life, because no one will quite be on clarke’s level to him - not even raven, who is his next closest relationship. i do not think even six years, some double or three times longer than he has known clarke, would be enough to place someone else on the same pedestal clarke occupies in his heart. i’m not saying someone couldn’t work their way up to a similar position, i def think raven could, but the fact of the matter is that it will not be the same as clarke’s, or comparable just by so many factors. they are both important, but on different levels (i liken it to have two children - they both occupy places of their own in your heart, and to compare them is just not realistic or possible to oneself. they are both important, and just because one “came first” doesn’t diminish the “worth” of the second). clarke is bellamy’s partner in a lot of ways he would never relegate to another, though he may allow another to build themselves up to a similar state with and to him.

NOW, with most of my thoughts about b/ec/ho articulated (i think lmao), i’ll now go on about br/ave/n. first and foremost, bellamy’s next strongest relationship (outside of clarke, octavia, and kane - just people on the station) is with raven. they are good friends, have been for years, trust each other well, support each other, and work together easily and efficiently. they already have a strong relationship and friendship. honestly, i do not think that there is a romantic basis at “this” point in their relationship - i.e., where they are at this point on the station. back in season one, they slept together. raven was upset about finn putting her off and knowing about him and clarke, and bellamy did not have any particular affinity towards raven beyond an inclination to getting laid - if she wanted to have sex with him, that was fine for him, at the time. after this, the moment has never been extensively brought up and clearly both raven and bellamy are past it, having worse things to worry about and being mature enough to realize that it didn’t mean much more than a quick bang with no romantic connotations when neither were at particular peaks in their lives. beyond this, they have grown a solid friendship with ignorance to it.

so, switch to them on the station. once again, bellamy thinks clarke is dead, and so does raven, whom both were very close to. on the station, they are the ones who will feel clarke’s loss the hardest out of the seven of them on board. unlike with echo, bellamy will be much more immediate and open to expressing his feelings to raven because of the previously established closeness there, and likely vice versa. i do still believe that either way, bellamy will understandably take his sweet time grieving clarke regardless of whom he “goes” with or opens up to. raven, too. she will take her own separate time to process clarke’s “death”, but i think she’d be more open with bellamy first over it considering she is a fairly honest character. i feel as though she would talk to him first, because he’d be able to understand the best, and that after some time, he would be comfortable enough venting about clarke back. for sure, they will be the other’s best support system in all they do on the ark.

now, it’s possible that they might “start” the same way b/ech/o would, aka, sexually. it’d be a vent, but with an initial fondness there that would not exist, at first or at all, with bellamy and echo. again, they’re mature adults with a positive, solid basis for what could happen between them. they know how to appropriately separate their sexual relationship from their friendship, and, if they should want to, mix them. but a part of me thinks that their relationship would be much more gradual, as bellamy and raven both find emotional relief in each other by confessing and venting their frustrations in a way that would not force bellamy into a point of total emotional breakdown given a situation where he is unable to express himself in a healthy way like he could have with raven.

so, years go by, and the blow of the loss of clarke for both is softened by their mutual support of each other. their relationship only grows fonder and stronger, a healthy bond long since established. and one day, maybe, when they are alone and comfortable and genuinely happy with each other, a kiss happens. over a bit more time, it happens more, little changes and shifts that display their interest in each other. there’s nothing wrong with this, they’re extremely close, have been for years, and if any characters deserve thorough and total respect and happiness, it’s raven and bellamy (-especially- raven!!!!!). this is where i begin to wobble a bit in my thoughts regarding ships. in a situation like this or similarly, i could really genuinely get behind br/ave/n. it’d be hella cute and entirely warranted and healthy, a rare display on television, though my b/e//l/lark/e heart would scream woe at this revelation. i would not be totally upset if this happened, whereas i’d be more irritable about b/ech/o if done poorly.

so, bellamy and raven have thing going, they express their romantic interest in each other, and enter a real relationship. i think this would also be a relatively healing relationship for both - again, i still think clarke would be on bellamy’s mind, but maybe lesser so with a stronger, consistent relationship with raven going on at the forefront. they may go as far to fall in love with each other and actively express this fact to each other - the reality is, they may legitimately resolve to be together permanently and forever, regardless of everything else (you know, not at the time knowing about clarke about to come back into their lives lmao). problems arise a lot more severely when you factor in clarke again, though, in a way that they cannot with b/ech/o given a lack of history.

okay, so, both learn that clarke is alive and well, and they are excited about being with her again. i do not think that raven would have issues with bellamy being ecstatic to find and be with clarke - she knows they are close, as she is with clarke, and considering how perceptive she is, she is likely the character with the most insight into how bellamy and clarke truly, deeply felt about each other. she knew they cared, and with the romantic aspect considered here (this is a shippy post after all), she knew that bellamy may have potentially loved clarke, and vice versa. she knows that he may still, in a way, and even maybe again immediately with the whole sudden influx of emotions that would come with her being back in their lives. however, she also knows that bellamy loves her, too, and is committed to her, as she is him. she trusts him, and he trusst her - she knows he will not stray and trusts in clarke that she will not overstep her boundaries once clarifications have been made and asserted however way they might. it’s all understandable, there’s a lot going on, but they’re not children, and there is trust there for all.

but this is where things become a little messy, depending on how the situation plays out. possibly, neither bellamy nor clarke are able to separate their feelings from the other, and while this is expressed, i think they have more than enough maturity and respect for each other and raven to -not- act on them. they may insinuate or even outright admit after all that has gone on, for everyone’s sake, but i HIGHLY doubt they would go behind raven’s back, even at their most emotional, because raven simply does NOT deserve that, and if the writers did that, i’d be pissed, even being a fervid be/ll/ark/e shipper. raven deserves so much better, and i hope she will get it in spades. clarke and raven had already been in a similar situation with finn some eight years ago or so, and if my memory serves me correctly, clarke absolutely backed off from raven and finn once she learned what was going on and denied finn despite his repeated advances while he was still with raven. so, from this we know that clarke is unlikely to do anything behind backs, even given how much more strongly she feels for bellamy than she did finn. raven does not need to, once again, go through the paranoia and pain of a lover going behind her back to be with another, especially her closest female friend now at this.

they are all far past the drama of late-teens/early-young adulthood at this point, and are mature enough to not muddy relationships needlessly. bellamy is also not the type to carelessly pursue without appropriate consideration and tact examined situationally. more than this, i like to think that he legitimately loves both clarke and raven in this situation, and would not want to hurt either. he would have a monstrous decision to make, and either way, someone would be spurned, most of all raven should she be broken up with. given how well things are handled, i think if the situation is built up well enough, that it may be realistic for him to choose either one.

but at the same time, i do not think it’s much of an excessive stretch to think that in a sudden burst of emotion upon meeting again or having been together for a while afterwards, that bellamy and clarke may have a moment, one they may both regret and not. raven is not stupid, she would pick up on trying to keep it hidden/push away feelings easily, or bellamy and clarke might be straightforward about what happened in a way that places them all in the same situation as above - a choice needing to be made and someone inevitably coming out hurt in the end. even if all avenues were taken to avoid hurt or anything happening, i think raven may become understandably jealous or unsettled about bellamy and clarke’s closeness as they reacquainted and possibly became... quite friendly and involved.

OR! maybe bellamy would end it with both, wishing to prevent as much damage as possible, and try to take time to sort it all out alone for everyone’s sake. or maybe he won’t get with anyone, though i doubt it will be that easy, honestly. if he does get with raven, i want it done right. i want her respected, and if he ultimately chooses clarke, then i want it to be handled well and realistically in a way that isn’t unnecessarily cruel to her. if he chooses raven overall, then let him commit to her fully and utterly in the way they both deserve, in a way that allows him to get over clarke and clarke to get over him but still be best friends, and for raven to rest easy and be content and happy with him. if he gets with echo, let it be fleshed out well and carried out with some level of mutual respect and fondness between them, instead of simply being shoehorned jealousy drama fodder (same for raven!!!!!). and hey, if he gets with clarke overall, let it be well done! overall, above all, just let any of them be done WELL.

on a separate topic, and my final blabbing, the idea of bellamy having a kid with either raven or echo because “oh clarke ‘has’ a kid now with maddie”... i REALLY don’t like this for multiple reasons. first, it feels like it would be way too melodramatic and unrealistic in a lot of ways - their technical situation up in the station is precarious and difficult enough as it is, without adding a child into the mix - that’s without going into how that would drastically alter the unresolved personal issues of it all (i’ll not go into details about how these relationships would change with a potential child in the mix, because that’s a whole other can of worms that i’m not ready or currently willing to open, considering how seriously it would change the scheme of it all). up on the ark, there is very limited resources for just the seven of them, let alone a baby or two. and the issue of getting back to earth with additional passengers that young (or at all) just complicates it even further. ultimately, i think that, most of all, bellamy and raven would have more than enough sense to prevent a pregnancy and child, even if they get involved (there’s gotta be some condoms left on the ark somewhere... and even if not, raven or echo are more than smart enough to regulate themselves pretty sharply... all of them are, for they all [guys included] realize the severity of it all) - they’d probably be pretty vigilant about not wanting one with all the stress of everything going on around them, at least not on the ark. for harper and monty and emori and murphy, though, i can see maybe having a kid - most of all, emori and murphy. but i feel like it’d be a total accident and it’d be just the once, because they literally -cannot- afford to expend their resources excessively in a way that they would need to to accommodate a child. ultimately, while i COULD in theory understand a child happening, as it’s not entirely out of the scope of reality, i just don’t think it would happen and that it would be a cheap pull made by the writers to give bellamy one.

okay, that’s alllllllllllllll of my two cents on the situation, i think. this is -really- fuckin long (!!!!!!!!!!! over 4000 words!? ...this is also not proofread, lmao...), and i think i might have convinced myself into slightly shipping br/av//en... but either way, here it is. i doubt anyone has read this far, for there’s not really any reason to, but if you have, i commend you, i really do.

well, that’s it, i’m out. peace.