hedawanheda

Octavia has pretty much (always) been characterised to be this warrior who solves problems with violence. We see her slash this person up, that person up. And what are our first thoughts when we see her do so? That she's a badass. Take the many initial reactions of Octavia in the S4 trailer for example. 9 times out of 10 you'll see the words "She's a badass." (From myself included.) It wasn't until she beat up Bellamy that she was labelled as abusive. To me, abusive isn't the best term, as by dictionary definition abuse is 'habitual.' Octavia lashed out physically on Bellamy the one time. (If there are more, please correct me.) Once does not define a habit. Please understand that I also do not condone violence, nor will I ever, but to say that Bellamy is the victim of abuse is untrue. Is he the victim of assault? Yes. Abuse? No. I think this is one of the bigger issues. Viewers need to learn to differentiate between abuse and assault, otherwise we're all just throwing a strong term around loosely. I also think that Bellamy did not stop Octavia, because he knows that violence is a way for her to unleash anger. Her coping mechanism - her outlet. He's put his body on the line more than once for the people he cares about, and that's what he's doing again, though this time for Octavia. Partly because he thinks he's deserves it and party because he's using his body as her outlet.

Pardon me if this post is messy and off the mark!

ETA: I'd just like to add that I understand this is my own view and not all will share the same, nor do all agree with certain definitions.