#these two are born for angsty romance with inevitable tragic ending and I am here for it

[head-and-heart]

I'm not agree with dragging out ships till the end. In the case of BC I get why they didn't put a kiss yet. They were broken, mourning someone, the end of the world... they're not going to happen like the others but I do think after the time jump, following the romantic trope there should be a kiss/confession. The will they/won't they doesn't work anymore and I feel fans/viewers reached the state where they're more tired and annoyed than excited. Writers shouldn't take that risk imo

I mean I think that the will they/won’t they trope actually is pretty effective (that’s basically what slowburn ships are when it comes down to it) - but to a certain extent. So long as the relationship continues developing without the added romance factor, the trope will work. The relationship is still interesting, still evolving. The problem is when the only step left for the relationship to take is into romantic territory … and the writers still don’t take the leap.

I think that’s where people’s frustrations with Bellarke were happening in Season 4. They didn’t seem to be developing platonically much more. Their relationship was beautiful and supportive and full of trust, respect, honesty, and - yes - love, but we already knew that. So fandom started tapping their feet and asking “what the hell is taking so long”?

It didn’t really become clear until the end of the season that a large part of Clarke and Bellamy’s relationship this season revolved around their fear of losing the other and their hesitance to express their feelings (4x06, 4x13) when deep down they both knew the possibility of them burning in Praimfaya was extremely high. They didn’t want to take on the undue pain, they didn’t feel like they had enough time - that’s why their relationship is so tragic. It all comes down to that goddamn ticking clock, and the pressures of everything they had to do for their people without leaving enough time for them to give in to what they wanted for themselves.

If you look at the plot of Season 5 now, what’s the better story: a) Bellamy and Clarke becoming romantic in Season 4, losing each other, and having to deal with their awkward old feelings (especially if Bellamy comes to the ground in a new relationship) which inevitably creates more unneeded drama I hoped we left behind in Season 1 and essentially ruins the excitement of their first kiss and witnessing the immediate aftermath of it OR b) Bellamy and Clarke both realizing their feelings for each other but never acting on it and regretting it every day for six years, only to come back together and have to relearn each other and discover that even though they have changed, that they still fit and fall in love all over again - stronger and more mature this time - so we get that epic, long-anticipated first kiss born from love that withstood the obstacles of literal space and time with the hope of a future established relationship between these two characters who love each other to look forward to.

For me, I’d way rather watch option B. It suits my angsty heart’s needs. But the thing is, the process of Bellamy and Clarke relearning each other and readdressing their feelings from all those years ago that they never managed to quite bury is sensitive and delicate and absolutely necessary to be done well. It’s IMPOSSIBLE for Bellamy and Clarke’s relationship not to develop in Season 5, due to circumstance. And for that reason, it may take longer for the actual romance to happen. But I’m OKAY with that, because I know that so long as their relationship doesn’t remain static, so long as it keeps evolving, the story will always be worth it in the end and - really - so long as the story is good, and the end result is worthwhile, it really doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there.

There is an inherent difference between writers dragging out the will they/won’t get trope simply for the sake of dragging frustrated shippers in the dirt season after season in order to maintain viewership and the alternative of putting off the romantic inevitability of a pair because there is still a story left to tell before taking that extra step. I have high hopes for Season 5 because, while I don’t know if Bellarke will finally be canon, I am confident that we’ll see their relationship evolve in ways vastly different and fresh from what we witnessed in the first four seasons.

Oddly enough, I actually am a lot more open-minded about the possibility of Bellarke being put off going into this season than I was going into Season 4. Last season it really felt like there was only one way for their relationship to develop, and during 4B it became frustratingly clear to me that my worries about Bellarke canon being put-off were turning out to be true. But this reboot changes things: it means that Bellarke’s relationship, romantically or otherwise, simply cannot be static after a time-jump of that size. I know I may be creating a minority here, but because of the reboot I’m actually okay with waiting a little longer for my OTP, since I am content in knowing we’ll get new developments in their relationship regardless.

(That being said, I really do hope for canon Bellarke in Season 5. But I’ll survive if we get some good relationship developments and then canon in Season 6.)