[destroyer of worlds]

Day 1: Favourite Ark-born female character

Raven Reyes







X | X

I also struggled to choose either her or Clarke but ultimately, it had to be Raven.
The moment this fiesty girl took off her helmet, I knew that I'd love her right away.
And every single scene that she was in from that point on, that love just grew and grew.
This is a girl who's been through so much and has loved and lost and gotten her heart
broken in the process; but she remains as tenacious as ever. And yet, she doesn't come off
as unrealistically perfect either, she has her flaws but she embraces them and thrives despite
her struggles/disabilities/feelings of insecurities. And of course, she's the baddest badass
mechanic warrior princess who has saved Arker butts more times that they can count.

001

[April7739]

Another Raven one. 3 Ravens so far, right?

Sarah, what a great gifset you found.

And also, I love that you mentioned she's not unrealistically perfect. I think that seasons 3 and 4 in particular did a great job of showing us that, even though she's strong, she's not above giving in to the temptation of the COL, and she's not immune to the mental and emotional fallout that happened afterwards.

[destroyer of worlds]

Originally Posted by April7739 (View Post) And also, I love that you mentioned she's not unrealistically perfect. I think that seasons 3 and 4 in particular did a great job of showing us that, even though she's strong, she's not above giving in to the temptation of the COL, and she's not immune to the mental and emotional fallout that happened afterwards.

Well said. She's still human and she falters just like everyone else and I think that it's great that TPTB go to such lengths to show that even someone as strong as Raven falls sometimes, but that she'll always get back up and fight ... because that's just who she is.

[Damocles]

I love everyone's answers When can we do the next one? Today?

[April7739]

I'm doing my next one today.


ETA: I'm almost done with it. It's gonna be my prettiest post of this entire thing.

[Damocles]

Ooooh I wanna see

[destroyer of worlds]

I started looking for GIFs yesterday but I didn't find anything that nice to post, got tired and had to get to bed. /csb

Can't wait to see it, April.

Paula, I didn't comment earlier but I loved what you said about being able to identify with Octavia.

[April7739]

Favorite Ark-Born Male Character


{X}

No, just kidding.



In what I’m sure is the shock of the century,
my favorite Ark-born male character is
Bellamy Blake.


{X}

Obviously anyone who knows me knows that Bellamy
isn’t just my favorite male character born on the Ark;
he’s my favorite character on this entire show.




{X}

Bellamy is my favorite character because he is so damn complex.
No other character is quite as thought-provoking to me as he is.
Bellamy has been the vehicle for some of the show’s darkest,
most divisive storylines. It takes an incredibly well-developed
and layered character to be able to anchor such complicated
and heavy subject matter, and honestly, not every character
on this show would have been capable of it. It makes me proud
that Bellamy is one of these characters. I’m proud to be a fan.

_______________________________________________________

{X}

Season 1

Season 1 introduced Bellamy as a bit of an antagonist, though
It’s clear that there was much more to him than the “power-hungry,
self-serving jackass” Monty dismissed him to be. (Just go back and
listen to what all the characters say about him in this first season.
They are so very, very wrong.) Bellamy soon proved himself to be
charismatic as hell in this season. I also think this speaks to his
criminally-underrated intelligence that he knew exactly how to get
people to follow his lead. Becoming a leader of any group is hard,
but it’s even harder when that group is a group of delinquent teens.
Bellamy gave them the passionate leadership they wanted/needed,
and in turn, he got to feel a sense of power and control for the first
time in his life. But the trade-off is that, instead of just protecting
Octavia, he ended up protecting all of them and putting even more
responsibility on his shoulders. That’s just who Bellamy Blake is.

{X}

Season 2

Season 2 takes Bellamy to a much more heroic place, and I think
It’s probably the easiest season to be a Bellamy fan. The progress
he’s made in season 1 is on full display here, as he literally risks his
life to free his people in Mount Weather. Bellamy’s infiltration of
Mount Weather is still one of the most badass storylines the show
has ever done, and we get some amazing, iconic scenes because
of it. (I still think the shower scenes at the beginning of 2x11 are
probably among the most iconic moments of the show.) I can
imagine how relieved the delinquents were when they found out
Bellamy was there, because I truly believe this is the character
who most of them would trust with their lives. I would, too.
While some characters suffer in terms of development when they
Are isolated from the rest of the cast, Bellamy really kind of shines
on his own. I love how he has to rely on people like Maya and her
father to help him, though, which makes it even sadder when he
and Clarke ultimately pull that lever. While I won’t say that it was
necessarily more difficult for him than it was for her, I think the fact
that Bellamy had to kill people who helped him and trusted him
adds an extra layer of complexity to an already complex decision.

{X}

Season 3

And then we get to Season 3, which, I think, was a hard pill for many
to swallow, especially coming on the heels of a season where Bell
was just so brave, so badass, and so easy to root for. To be quite
honest, while I would have preferred better pacing to the storyline,
I don’t really take issue with the storyline itself. It’s certainly not
pleasant or comfortable to watch my favorite character go down
such a dark path and make horrible choices, and I don’t agree with
what he did and will not try to excuse or justify it. But I do think
it’s a very thought-provoking storyline, and once again, Bellamy is
one of the few characters on TV who is strong enough to anchor it.
It’s not out of character, in my mind, either. I think people tend to
slap the OOC label onto something when it’s something they don’t
like, disregarding the fact that character development doesn’t just
have to be positive. But as a Bellamy fan, I can appreciate the good
and the bad of him. His willingness to go along with Pike reflects
some of his issues and more negative qualities and attitudes inside.
To fully appreciate Bellamy, I feel I must be willing to acknowledge
his flaws, of which there are many, and this season put them on
full display. But the back half set the stage for his redemption.

{X}

Season 4

And lastly, we get to my favorite Bellamy season, and my favorite
season in general. Probably a big reason why this season is my
favorite is because Bellamy is so freaking amazing in it. I just love
that the writers didn’t shove his redemption down our throats.
There wasn’t one moment where the audience was like, “Oh, okay,
he’s redeemed now.” There were just a lot of little moments
along the way that gave us the opportunity to see how he has
changed and what he has learned. Season four Bellamy, to me,
is like a perfect blend of all the other Bellamys who came before
him. He’s still that anti-hero he was in the first season, but he
also still has those heroic qualities from the second season. And
the darkness he inflicted upon himself and others in season three
isn’t forgotten or brushed past. It’s something he deals with and
lives with every day. This is how a redemption arc is written: it’s
careful, it’s slow, and it’s still very open-to-interpretation. This
season really does solidify my belief that Bellamy is the most well-
developed character in the series, because to be able to plunge
to the depths he did and then emerge from it and be better is
truly remarkable, and it’s not something every character can do.

_______________________________________________________





{X}

In addition, to the complexity and intrigue of his storylines,
Bellamy Blake is also the character that tends to generate
the biggest emotional response from me, in large part because
he is the emotional epicenter of the show. As Clarke tells him
in the season four finale, he inspires people and people follow
him because of his heart. I think that’s also a big reason why his
fans are so passionate about him, because they are drawn to
and love the way he loves his family, friends, and his people.


_______________________________________________________

{X}

Bellamy is a fascinating character on his own right, but of course
his relationships with others contribute to making him stand out.
Bellamy is the common figure in two of the show’s most pivotal
bonds. He’s the older brother/father figure in the Blake siblings
dynamic, which creates quite an interesting an unusual relationship.
And he’s the heart part of the head and the heart dynamic with
Clarke, which, however one wants to interpret it, has been so
absolutely integral to the storytelling and to the development
of both characters. I also love his interactions with Kane, Roan,
Jasper, Murphy, Raven, Lincoln . . . I could really go on and on.

{X}

_______________________________________________________




{X}

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that Bob Morley
is an incredible actor whose influence on the evolution of Bellamy
is a huge reason why I am such a fan of the character. Bob has that
unique ability to convey so much emotion in his eyes and on his face.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything like it on television, and
I’m so grateful that we have him playing the role. To write for an actor
like him would be, I assume, a great thrill, because no matter what
material is presented to him, he sells it and slays it like a boss. It also
doesn’t hurt that he is so hot, I literally feel like I’m burning up here.




{X}

HONORABLE MENTIONS

John Murphy
Marcus Kane
Jasper Jordan

[Damocles]

April that's so good

Um can I just quote April's and pretend it's my own answer

[April7739]

I spent way too long on it. But I was like . . . If I'm gonna go all out for any of them, it should be this one.

[kiss the wind]

April picking Bellamy???? You know what that means. Time to break out my fave gif:



You put so much effort into your posts, April, and I'm just here doing the bare bones minimum. You set the bar so high.

I love that you are able to appreciate Bellamy's growth, but also recognize his deterioration in season three in a way that you can critique and not blindly defend to the death. I obviously had problems with the way he was written in season three, especially after season two (which, like you said, was a season where it was a lot easier to like Bellamy).

I'm going to prep my post now...

[April7739]

Perfect time for that gif indeed.

You put so much effort into your posts, April, and I'm just here doing the bare bones minimum. You set the bar so high.

Aww, thanks. It won't be like that for all of them. This one, in particular . . . it's Bellamy. It's my man. I had to go all out.

I love that you are able to appreciate Bellamy's growth, but also recognize his deterioration in season three in a way that you can critique and not blindly defend to the death. I obviously had problems with the way he was written in season three, especially after season two (which, like you said, was a season where it was a lot easier to like Bellamy).

I think sometimes people think they're showing their appreciation for a character when they blindly defend that character, but I think a far more appreciative thing is to really dig into ALL aspects of that character, the good and the bad, to form a more well-rounded opinion. Maybe people are afraid it means they love the character less if they acknowledge their flaws, but in contrast, I think it's led me to love the character more.

And yes, coming after season 2 . . . ironically, even though he pulled a lever that irradiated an entire population, season 2 was Bellamy at his highest high as a character. And season three saw him at his lowest low. While I do maintain that it makes sense from a storytelling perspective, for viewers . . . yeah, it was just jarring and drastic. I know Bob really enjoyed the acting he got to do in season three, though, and I can see why. There was some incredibly meaty material to work with. Although I do love that season four is now his favorite, just like it's mine.

[the1marie]

Oh wow, April. I think I wrote about 3 sentences for this one

I especially love what you wrote about season 3

[April7739]

Thanks, Marie. I've come to have very strong opinions about Bellamy in season three.

[kiss the wind]

Day Two - Favorite Ark-born Male

Monty Green



x

How can anyone NOT love Monty is my question.
He's kind, smart, and supportive - exactly the type of guy you'd want as a friend.
Someone who doesn't give up, who keeps the hope, who does his best, who forgives you.
Plus, he's really funny. I know they haven't given Monty a whole lot of material lately,
but Chris kills the his scenes, especially his dramatic stuff.
I like how Monty is the light of the show, but he also has the potential to go to dark places.