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Do you think, if they survive the second apocalypse and the end of the show, that Clarke and Bellamy could ever have a family? How do you see each of them handling parenthood?

This has been sitting in my inbox forever, mostly becauseparenting and to have/to not have kids is a topic that risks alienating peopleand it is so difficult to talk aboutwithout someone feeling like you’re shitting on their choices and I have nothad the brainpower recently to navigate it. However, @wellamyblake‘s awesomelymorose headcanon on this subject (I loved it. I cried. I loved it some more and then yearned for fluff) has inspired me toput digit to keyboard at last.

This may border on fluff. You have been warned, but WE ALLNEED HAPPINESS RIGHT.

Disclaimers out the way first, because this stuff isimportant.  Women in all walks of life faceso much pressure to have kids and it annoys me immensely that happy story endingsfor ladies almost always involve children somehow, even if a female protagonisthas repeatedly said she doesn’t want to procreate (I’m looking at you SuzanneCollins). THAT SAID, it also annoys me immensely that parenting isrepeatedly shat on as a lesser (i.e. feminine) choice more generally, as inbringing up other humans could not possibly compare to the Very Important ManJobs that also make the world go round, and I wish that parenting and itsassociated joys and terrors were tackled more frequently in the media moregenerally.

You see the minefield we’re dealing with here.  (Sidebar: my feminism is undoubtedly not whatyou were after with this ask but I offer no apologies for delving into it.  THIS STUFF MATTERS.)

So what follows is just my read of Bellamy and Clarke and myown personal headcanon – no more valid than anyone else’s – and is inevitablycoloured by my own experience as a parent.

OK, so the question at hand. Could I see Bellarke family? The short answer is YES PLZ, because mybeautiful space babies have been through so much and I would dearly, dearlylove for them to have a shot at family life after everything they’ve beenthrough, and to reap the rewards thereof. Not actually in-show, mind you (JASONNO), but this is what my headcanon looks like.

I’m going to reference MJ throughout because her headcanonwas so beautifully put together and I super agree with lots of it. Bellarke’slegacy will absolutely be cemented in the lives they’ve saved over and overagain and I don’t think Bellarke kids would be relevant to their legacy per se.So too, Bellarke’s legacy will exist in the found family they have amongst thedelinquents.

But honestly, I think that having a family would besomething selfish, just for them and just aboutthem as a couple, and that’s what I like about it so much after all thesacrifices they’ve made for their people.

Let’s rewind for a second. Why would Bellamy and Clarke evenwant kids?  Well so much of it for me isbound up in their respective childhoods. Bellamy’s family life was clearly veryimportant to him.  He loves his sister.He loved his mother very much too. It is this love from which he derived somuch of his strength in impossible conditions in the Ark, and later on theground. In fact, Bellamy is basically made of familial love – the love for hisactual family, his love for his found family, and his love for the variouswaifs and strays he picks up on the way (Charlotte and, *cough* Riley).  How awesome would it be for him to have afamily on his own terms?  A family whichhe chose to have (rather than foisted upon him), with the woman he loves? Thethought of it warms my tired, grizzled heart to a veritable furnace.

Need I mention this:

Clarke’s situation is slightly more complex, as biologicallyshe would bear the initial brunt of parenthood, and let’s face it, Clarke is aperson with Shit To Do. But in my headcanon, Clarke is tired of saving theworld, ready to try something different even if it’s just for a little while,and take on a challenge of a different nature. And my girl NEVER shies awayfrom a challenge if it’s something she wants. I get the impression that Clarke’schildhood was relatively happy, and I think Clarke, like many people, wouldlike to recreate that childhood happiness for someone else with someone sheloves.

Also this

And just, drawing from my own experience, having a familytogether is about building a life together, and while achieving that through kids is not the right thing for everybody, I think Bellamy and Clarke’s depleted family connectionsand unique situation would drive them to create something new in their ownimage.

Now, MJ made the absolutely valid point that Bellamy andClarke wouldn’t feel worthy of passing on their legacy via the gene pool,having had  hand in circa 1,600 deathsbetween them. This is 100% fair, but one thing about being a parent is this:you want better for your children than you had for yourself.  You want your children to be BETTER THAN YOU.You want to pass on the wisdom gained from the mistakes you’ve made so thatthey don’t make them.  And Bellamy andClarke, who have made so many mistakes and had the courage to face them all,would have more than a little invested in passing on their wisdom to a secondgeneration of Skaikru.

As for how they’d handle it. Well parenthood is and alwayshas been about sacrifice, but (where it is a choice) it is also a selfish thingtoo – about bringing life into the world partly for your own benefit. And whoknows more about sacrifice, or deserves more selfish pleasure than Bellarke? What’smore it has always struck me that Bellamy and Clarke are both naturally very affectionatepeople.  They enjoy lavishing love andaffection on people and receiving in return. Again, own family, own terms.

And most importantly, Bellamy and Clarke have each other.They are a team. Bellamy may struggle with letting his impulses get the betterof him, or expressing himself; Clarke may struggle with relating to those sheloves, but between them they’ll muddle through because they always have andthey always will.

(Before embarking on yet another sacrificial journey though,both Bellamy and Clarke deserve a long, long rest of several years, just them,spending lots of time together lounging in long grass, swimming in lakes andscrewing in caves. Just have a look at the fanfic, OK? It’s all there.)

I warned you about the fluff. Now I’m embarrassed and I’mgoing to shove my face in a cushion until you all go away and stop looking atme.