#love all the dropship throwbacks

[okmcintyre]

Bellamy and Monty debate letting Jasper stay behind (with a little help from Wells)

#the 100 #bellamy blake #monty green #wells jaha #thelonious jaha #how did I not notice Wells the first watch through!?? #love all the dropship throwbacks #even the angsty ones 😭 #the delinquients #the100edit #t100kt

[burninghoneyatdusk]

The 100 Final Season Speculation Tag

Tagged by @iishallbelieve & @sassmasterblake , thanks ladies! I’m not one to really think a whole lot about spoilers and write meta or spec, but here it goes:

1. Which character are you most excited to learn the endgame of?

I think of course I have to say Bellamy & Clarke. I want them so badly to be alive and together for endgame. I think that it’ll be a bittersweet happiness regardless because I’m sure more will die, but if those two are alive and canon I’ll be thrilled. 

I’m also excited to hear about Octavia and Murphy. I think they both are finishing their redemption arcs and because of that, they’re two that I think are in risk of dying, but I hope they don’t. I can see Murphy sacrificing himself, and thus finally having put others before himself when he has always been a ‘for himself’ survivor. Octavia I can see sacrificing herself in a grand gesture in order to make up for her actions as Bloodreina, dying in the process but finally at peace.

2. Which character are you most excited to learn the backstory of?

I haven’t heard anything regarding if we’re learning the backstory of anyone, but I’d love to hear what the deal is with Hope. I feel like backstories are rare with the 100 but I’d love to see flashbacks of literally any of the mains. 

3. One character that deserves a new look?

Okay, I’m ignoring the one character thing. I personally am not a huge fan of beard/big cardigan Bellamy so I’d love to see him revert back to his style from older seasons. I think S6 showed us the opportunity for the characters to dress up or differently (e.g. Clarke, Murphy, Emori) and I’d love to see that for all of them - more “normal” clothing and less black/leather fighting clothing. But, that being said, wasn’t a fan of how S6 had characters like Raven in perfectly curled hair and makeup, that just wasn’t realistic, so less of that please.

4. Two locations you want to revisit?

More than usual, I truly don’t know what to expect with the anomoly but I think more than ever we have a shot of seeing some old places. I think JR said there isn’t time travel, but I’ve heard the idea of alternate universes and returning to Earth floating around. So that being said, I’d love a throwback to the dropship where it all began. I think it would be incredibly bittersweet especially because even going into S7 there’s only six of them left. 

I’m always dying for Ark flashbacks, especially a bellarke one like this arrow/olicity one where we see one of them noticing each other or something. I’m sure we won’t get that though. 

5. Three brotps you hope get more screentime.

I think there’s so many relationships that still need more closure. I’m really hoping for more talking/character development/feelings than pure fast action in this last season, although I doubt we’ll get that. But in an ideal world:

Clarke/Raven: I’m not sure if these two are really even ‘friends’ let alone brotp, but they have so many issues. I’ve read great meta by @sometimesrosy on these two about their arc and unresolved issues even dating back to Finn. It really blew up last season and I’m hoping we get more resolution than the short hug/acknowledgement from the end of last season. Would love for these two to really hash things out and grow closer. 

Clarke/Murphy: Much like above, I don’t think these two were ever ‘friends’ let alone brotp, no matter how much we love team cockroach in our fics. That being said, I think they do have a lot in common and it was shocking for me to watch Murphy so unforgiving of Clarke last season after all he’s done, and then more shocking for him to not seem to care she died until he found out she was alive. Clarke is the queen of forgiveness and seems to have already forgiven him in that scene, but she deserves an apology from Murphy or at least some acknowledgement of what he did.

Bellamy/Octavia: Okay siblings are not brotp, but I’m excited to see where their arc finally ends. I absolutely loved Bellamy learning that he’s no longer responsible for her actions, even though he clearly loves her. I think it’s a fascinating relationship and I’m not on the “Octavia is a black and white abuser and evil and deserves no redemption” train that some have hopped on. I think that these two have an incredibly dysfunctional and complex relationship, with so much shared trauma and unhealthy codependence and they’ve gone on such a journey learning what that means on the ground. I think we’re almost there with their arc, but I’m exciting to see how it ends. 

6. Who will get the happiest ending?

Once again, my bellarke ass hopes it’s these two. The two of them have shouldered so much trauma and always lived for others, I hope they can truly live for themselves and find some peace together. 

I’d love to see Raven, Murphy, and Octavia find peace too. As I said in Q1, I think for Murphy and Octavia it might be bittersweet - finding peace at the end of the redemption arc but maybe dying in the process. I don’t see Raven dying but man that girl has been through hell, it would be nice to see her happy.

7. Which minor or new characters you want to see more of.

MILLER. Miller shouldn’t really be a minor character, but he technically is. He’s been through as much as the others - was one of the 100, the only one left from the Mt. Weather crew, resisting Pike, and then becoming part of Wonkru. But none of these things is really explored for him as a character so I would love to see that. Also, Mackson, and just Jackson in general. We don’t really know a lot about Jackson but he’s been a constant with Abby so I hope they show how he handles her death more.

8. Who will eventually snap Jordan out of the funk we see him in, at the end of 6x13.

Oh man. Honestly I have a bad feeling about what Jordan is going to go through or do, and the only reason I think he will find his way back and (probably) won’t die is because he’s marper’s kid and that would be pretty brutal for their legacy, even for the 100.

I think the obvious answer is bellarke - marper had left them in charge of everyone, but especially their son. Not to mention that bellarke has the experiences to be able to tell him why he’s going down the wrong path. BUT I don’t see that happening after S6. If anything, I think Jordan was specifically disillusioned with bellarke and blames them more for what happened in Sanctum, so I’m not sure they’re right to pull him out of it.

I think in the end it’ll be some combination of spacekru/the delinquents. It’s interesting that Jordan clearly grew up on all the stories from both their time on the ground and spacekru in space, so I think he would feel a connection to them in a sense and it would be poetic to see them be the ones to pull him out of the darkness, given who marper was to them. 

I did just have an interesting thought that maybe Gabriel would be the one to talk to sense into him. He certainly has a specific experience with Sanctum and has been around a long time, so probably has some wisdom in that regard...maybe. 

9. Who will be the first to tell Bellamy he can’t immediately run into the Anomaly after Octavia?

I think this depends on the timeline. I mean, if it’s immediate as in it’s possible for him to find it right away again, then I guess it would be Echo because it’s only her and Gabriel there and she obviously would feel stronger about wanting Bellamy to be safe.

But if they go back to Sanctum first and more people are pulled into the fold, it would be interesting to see. I think Murphy has some pretty strong self preservation so I can see him being straight with Bellamy about why it’s a terrible idea.

It would be interesting to see Clarke’s reaction. Nobody is more attuned to the Blake sibling relationship than her, and as seen in S6, she seems to be the only one who says what Bellamy needs to hear when it comes to Octavia, so I can see her having an influence either way. Head!Clarke may convince Bellamy to slow down and come up with a plan first, but part of me thinks that Clarke will just insist on going with Bellamy into the anomaly so at least he’s not alone if he’s diving in head first although then how would they possibly fulfill the per season Bellarke Separation™. Clarke also has Madi to think about which could prevent her from joining Bellamy.

10. To reference Monty’s ‘do better’ mantra: 

I think that definitely Bellarke will continue to. They’re leaders and were the ones to continue referencing it the most in S6. But also spacekru too. 

11. To say ‘go float yourself’: 

Oh man, probably any of the delinquents. The original Angsty™ Ark residents who have no chill. Don’t piss those ones off.

12. Random object or prop you would bring back for S7 if you could:

I’m with @sassmasterblake in that I would love to see Jake’s watch if it’s even still around. I’m trying to remember if Clarke was wearing it in her mindspace at any point but I’m note sure.

Oh! I would love to see more of Clarke’s drawings - her notebook from S5 or even new drawings she’s done since being in Sanctum. I guess the S5 one would technically be impossible but with the anomaly nonsense I’m not counting anything out. 

13. Book One storyline/reference you want to see back in S7?

I mean - book one was still pretty much the whole show. And personally I think that the show’s themes and such haven’t really changed much from book 1 to book 2, so it’s more just a reference to the overall arc the story has taken since the beginning.  

I’d love more references to the general bellarke head/heart dynamic journey and all the changes that’s gone through. I’m team “believed the radio tree would somehow be related to Clarke’s 2199 calls and Bellamy would hear them” and continue to foolishly hope that we (Bellamy) hears what Clarke had said and that they talk more about this, but I think it probably concluded in 6x01.

I’m hoping that in the bittersweet ‘happy’ ending we get, there’s just a general sense of “now we get to live, not just survive” which has really been the general theme of the show. Living - and deserving it, which we began to see this season with Bellamy and Clarke attempting to do better, but that quickly fell apart. 

14. Dead character you would like mentioned:

Say it with me, WELLS JAHA. I know they tried to get the actor back for Clarke’s mindspace and couldn’t because of scheduling conflicts, but I think it’s a shame he’s so rarely mentioned. Maybe it’s me writing him in fics to blame for not being able to let him go, but I think that it’s annoying how his existence in Clarke’s life has been minimized/swept aside. The story starts with them at 18 and exists only for ~7 years, but Wells was so important to Clarke for her first 18 years and I’d like to think that’s recognized. 

Maybe unpopular opinion - Finn Collins. I know, Finn went crazy and he’s The Dick™ in all of our fics, but I think that he’s important for both Clarke and Raven finding peace. Both individually - Raven losing her lifelong best friend and boyfriend, first to Clarke and then to death in a horrible way. Clarke’s first “love” who isn’t acknowledged in the way Lexa continues to be, but as she said, he broke her heart. And then she had to mercy kill him. And as I said above regarding the Raven/Clarke relationship, I think it’s still something hanging between the two of them. 

Obviously I’d like more Marper mentions, which I do think we’ll get, but I get irritated when the focus is all on Monty instead of Harper. Harper is her own woman and should be remembered as such.

15. How do you think Hope and Octavia know each other (from S6)?

Like the rest of the fandom, I’m guessing that Hope stabbing Octavia has a more complex/non-malicious reason behind it. They seem to be partners of sort, or share some common mission. I originally assumed the ‘him’ was an enemy to the two of them, but maybe they work under him willingly? Who knows their intentions, but they’re definitely in cahoots. 

16. How do you think it will all end?

In short, I think it’s going to end in a way none of us are expecting, but these are some general things I assume will be included in the ending:

The ending will be bittersweet, but generally hopeful. I think that means that some characters will die and some will live. 

I have NO clue what’s happening with bellarke. Whether there will be any formal declaration of love or if they will officially get together. Whether they both die, one of them dies and carries on the legacy of the other, or they both live and get a semblance of a happy ending. I think it’s all fair game, but the thought of one dying and one living without the other is especially heartbreaking to me.

I think Octavia will redeem herself in terms of bloodreina, which may or may not include her dying.

I think Murphy will make a selfless action to save others, which may or may not include him dying, and finish his arc from ‘I’m looking out for only me (and Emori)’ to ‘I’m putting others before myself’

I don’t know why I just feel like Raven will definitely live. Not necessarily because she’s been through so much pain that her dying seems wrong (although a little of that too), but mostly I don’t see anything in her character arc that would find some resolution from her dying. But like a lot of the fans, I was confused by her character arc for S5 and S6 and am hoping we get more clarity on her in S7.

I think Emori will live, with or without Murphy. I feel pretty 50/50 on Echo living, but am leaning towards yes. I can see Miller and/or Jackson dying as a random casualty, but like Echo I feel like they have a 50/50 chance.

I think that Gabriel will definitely die - it just feels poetic given how long he’s been alive and the harm he did. But I think he will figure out the mystery of the anomaly first. Or will maybe die because of his pursuit of the anomaly. 

I think in some form or another, a group will make it back to Earth and resettle it. Like so many are speculating, I think they will get the ‘final journey to the ground,’ but I’m unsure about who ‘they’ will be. I think it’ll be a group - more than just bellarke as some are speculating. Given that bellarke has sacrificed so much for others, I don’t see them being the new Adam and Eve actually being a happy ending for them (not to mention the logistics of them not being able to just populate the Earth alone...). I think it would be very bizarre for them to have a happy ending by settling in Sactum and haven’t forgotten the words of the little girl in 6x02, “Are you hear to take us home?” That was never addressed, and feels to specific to be nothing. I think they’ll take what’s left of Wonkru, grounders, eligius, and Sanctum back to Earth, but that some people might choose to stay. 

My final thought is I have no idea what TF the anomaly is or means and it feels harder than ever to speculate on S7 because of that.

There are probably tag repeats, but tagging @bookwormforalways , @griffinnblake , @ktanansi , @keiraknighted , @carrieeve , @choose-wonkru , @jasperjoordan , @harpermacintyre , @fen-ha-fuck-you , @hubrisisterminal , @sometimesrosy , @useyourtelescope , @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold , @superficialseer , @eyessharpweaponshot , @jellamyjake , @nvermindiseeyou , @marauders-groupie and anyone else following who wants to do it, consider yourself tagged!

#the 100 #the 100 spec #the 100 season 7 #the 100 s7 #tag games

[easilydistractedbyfanfic]

Throwback to S1: Raven & Murphy

I have a lot of thoughts about Raven & Murphy, my two favorite characters in this mess of a tv show that I obsess over, and when I saw @johnmurphysreddit post about doing some Throwback Thursday stuff on S1, I figured here’s another chance for me to blather on about them. I watched the show from 1x01 but never got involved with fandom until S5. 

I liked Raven immediately, no question. She was the first “delinquent” character I connected with. Murphy was fun to dislike and his character motivations intrigued me from the get-go because I do enjoy sarcastic, push-the-boundaries characters, but 1x10 “I Am Become Death” not only gave me a new insight to both their characters but it was also the episode that solidified my dedication to this show, even during the times when I’m frustrated with it. It’s for sure in my top 3 episodes even after six seasons. 

I gotta give a shout out to my fave girl Raven - in this ep she risks her life to collect the leaking, explosive fuel from the wreckage in order to get the components for the bomb they need, AND when she realizes she’s so sick she won’t be able to get off the bridge, she lays down nearby to take the shot from close range, knowing she’s too close to the bomb and will die in the explosion. But she does it anyway to save everyone else even though she hardly knows any of them except Finn. This is only one of MANY times she’s ready & willing to sacrifice herself but her dedication to blowing up that bridge and the strength of character she showed in this episode is a huge reason why I love her. 

Anyway, at the end of this episode, Raven is sick in the Dropship and it leads to basically the first time Raven & Murphy really do anything in the same sphere. Clarke and Finn are nearby. But in case you missed it, Murphy is nearby too. He’s sitting on a cushion near the foot of Raven’s hammock, and he stays there the entire scene. (yes I know this photo is ridiculous I literally took a pic of my tv with my phone)

Look at him being all nosy! It’s interesting to consider WHY the show makes sure he’s in this frame, isn’t it? The scene shifts as Clarke leaves, nodding at Murphy on her way out. We get a deliberate view of him again, making it clear he’s in the Dropship AND that he’s awake & alert as well as very close to what’s about to happen. Raven breaks up with Finn, pretty much cementing my undying admiration for her. She gives her raven necklace back. And on a side note, the song here, which started playing during a Linctavia scene just before this one, is The Antlers by Kettering, and damn are the lyrics fitting. 

After that, Clarke and Bellamy have a scene where they discuss Murphy and giving him a second chance, and that transitions to him in the Dropship in the last five minutes of the episode. 

We get the above shot, which is the absolute first moment I started shipping Raven & Murphy, and hah funny coincidence it’s the first moment there’s any kind of real scene between them. In real life I don’t believe in love at first sight but did I ever feel it for this ship when I saw this! I had so many thoughts about what Murphy was thinking in this brief but meaningful look that I wrote my second fanfic about it, My Regards. 

But whether anyone else ships them romantically or not though, I like to think that Raven’s words when she broke up with Finn had an impact on Murphy, and not just in how he thinks of her, but in how it influences his own mindset about himself and his relationships (both in the past - ie his parents - and going forward from S1). I think this scene where he sees/hears Raven being vulnerable is a big part of what leads him to be vulnerable with her in 2x01, giving her a chunk of his background, letting her see him cry and helping her. Yes, he feels guilty he shot her but that’s not the whole of it, IMHO. Something in him is willing in that moment to let her know him, and all shipping feelings aside on my part (of which there are many!), I think part of that willingness from him stems from how he knows her because of what she said to Finn in this ep. Making things more equitable, you could say... or you could say maybe he felt safe in that moment. Actually, I could say a lot about it but that’s 2x01 and this post is about S1! 

So I’ll end this post by saying that the very next interaction Raven & Murphy have is in 1x11. It’s short, but I think it’s incredibly relevant to Raven’s emotional arc. It’s no coincidence that the camera focuses on Murphy literally ripping out the guts of a fish when he’s metaphorically ripping out Raven’s guts by insinuating that Clarke & Finn might be doing more than just hunting together in the woods... although I don’t actually think this was intentional on Murphy’s part. I actually think that he intended to reassure Raven about Finn’s safety but since he’s Murphy and he sucks at empathy at this point in time, he makes a mess of it and Raven ends up more upset rather than less. However, his words push Raven into sleeping with Bellamy, and what I think is Raven’s new mindset of using sex to avoid emotions, which I go into depth about here. 

After this, we don’t see these two together in any scenes until AFTER Murphy shoots her, which fully changes how they interact, and sends us into S2. I didn’t get much between my faves in S1, but dang did they ever hook me. 

#murven #murphy x raven #my meta #raven reyes #john murphy #the 100 s1

[blodreina-noumou]

Throwback Thursday - Season 2 - Tag Game

Tagged by the wonderful @boomheda @osleyakomwonkru and @johnmurphysreddit Thanks as always, my friends.

Favourite look:

Lexa’s commander gear, specifically the moment where she and Clarke first meet, and she’s toying around with that little knife.

Iconic, cool, just a lil bit extra. And so very like Lexa, to keep a weapon directly on hand while first meeting an adversary, yet remain cool as a cucumber during the conversation itself.

Favourite episode:

2x08 - “Spacewalker”

In this moment, from this very line, you know Finn is gonna die. The rest of the episode is an excellent, slowly building tension, culminating with Clarke mercy-killing her first love, in front of their enemies, Finn’s people, and Finn’s only surviving family.

I’d been hot and cold on this show since 1x05, waiting for it to make full use of its premise in a compelling way. This episode, and the scene where Clarke kills Finn, is still the peak. It’s what finally let this show sink its claws into me, and somehow, years later, I’m still watching. Genuinely shocking, gut-wrenchingly emotional, and full of the interpersonal character moments that make such epic and difficult scenes worth it. From Finn and Raven’s last goodbye, to Clarke impaling herself on Indra’s pike to prove her determination, to Raven’s soul-searing shriek of despair when she realizes Finn is dead. It’s tense, emotional, and maybe my favorite episode of television, ever.

Favourite song: 

I also love the soundtrack of this series, so I’m 100% with you, Luce. I think “Home” is a great contender (linked here). It’s emotional without being overwrought, epic and soaring without being cheesy. It sets the tone for the rest of the season really well.

I also really love “Couldn’t Stop Caring” playing behind the moments where Abby confronts Clarke about the bombing of Tondc (linked here). The song doesn’t kick in until towards the end of the scene, and I think it’s a well done moment of soundtrack. It’s an interesting juxtaposition, because, at this point, Clarke has really lost touch with a lot of her humanity in her quest to save The 47 from Mt Weather. She’s embraced “love is weakness” - yet the climax of the song states: “I couldn’t stop caring.” The heavy beat, the rising wall of sound, the grim tone and expression on everyone’s faces as they march towards war - it’s effective, chilling, and kind of badass all at the same time.

Favourite scene: 

Season two is full of good scenes, honestly. I think one underrated, really well-done moment is Lincoln’s resurrection in 2x07, “Long Into an Abyss”. I was genuinely so scared as Lincoln seized and died, all while Lexa is approaching the dropship. She’s staring around in horror and rage at the burned bodies of the 300 warriors she sent to attack The Hundred.

You can see how ready for vengeance she is - and then, she arrives in the dropship, and it could not be clearer to her that Skaikru lied, that they couldn’t cure reapers, that Lincoln is dead. Octavia’s wailing, undercut by the tense, scared glances Skaikru share with one another, realizing they’re doomed -

- and then, Clarke saves the day, telling Abby to use a shocklash as a makeshift defibrillator. Miraculously, it works. In the most dramatic, tense way possible, Skaikru proves their value to Lexa and to the grounders at large, and for a moment, it seems like things will be simple.

Least favourite scene:

Probably Ghost Finn, tbh. Wtf was that?? Clarke banished her delusions with the power of “love is weakness”! That’s so dumb!! Grief will do crazy things to a person, but damn!

Most interesting character on first watch: This is Clarke’s best season, hands down. She struggles so hard, but finds herself getting the short end of the stick, again and again. It turns her ruthless.

Her desperation and slow descent into genocide is very compelling to watch. She goes through so much, and it’s only her single-minded determination to free her friends that keeps her going. She loses almost everything, is betrayed time and again, comes up against countless obstacles. At the end of it all, she finds herself with the blood of a civilization on her hands, and at a complete loss for who she is. That’s a compelling story.

Most interesting character on rewatch: 

Octavia Blake. It’s a sleeper season for her, but her transformation from plucky, mouthy scrapper into full-blown warrior is incredible.

It has its downs. I don’t love the way she treats Lincoln upon his return from reaperdom, but overall, it’s a really exciting storyline, with a satisfying payoff. Seeing Octavia march among the rest of the grounders, finally content in her place, secure in her role, is so satisfying.

Favourite arc/storyline:  

This season is still my favorite, so it’s hard to choose. 

The beginnings of Clexa are the best part of Clexa - their uncertain yet undeniable connection carries the season through its lowest moments. 

Pike’s journey into the desert, Murphy tagging along because he “has nothing better to do.” That thread eventually leading to the insanity that is the CoL storyline - but the Prophet’s Quest through the Dead Zone is a really fun diversion from the rest of the season, which is particularly heavy.

Raven and Wick, genius-rivals-turned-lovers, providing a lot of very necessary comic relief. Raven’s struggle to adapt to life, now that her leg doesn’t work.

The struggle of The Delinquents inside Mt Weather, especially Jasper’s. He’s really the main character of that location, and it’s his best season. Watching him fall for Maya, feeling the dramatic tension of him trying to grab ahold of his own story, like the main protagonist he wants to be, only to have the actual main protagonists intervene out of nowhere, and ruin his life. It’s tragic. But getting there is actually a lot of fun, with juvenile delinquent shenanigans and scrappy underdog vibes.

Getting to know the Grounders on a cultural level, seeing what makes them tick, learning a bit more about how humanity survived in the 97 years since the bombs.

Favourite dynamic:

Clarke and Lexa; Octavia and Lincoln; Jasper and Monty; Jaha and Murphy; Raven and Wick; Bellamy and Octavia...

It’s a good season for most of the character dynamics, tbh.

Favourite New character introduced this season: 

It’s a toss-up between two of the best grounder women to ever exist -

Favourite quote:

“Thanks, princess” is definitely up there. Heartbreaking, succinct, too perfect.

“We’ve all got a monster inside of us, and we’re all responsible for what it does when we let it out.” Lincoln was too good for this show.

“Yu gonplei ste udon” - I gotta include some Trigedasleng, as this was the season where it’s introduced.

Tagging: @lovelyrosaye @blodkru @captainwilldameron @dylanobrienisbatman @nightbleeder @bellarke-addict @spacegamora @imacreepygirl and anyone else who sees this and wants to throw it back!

#throwback thursday #the 100 #tag games #stephspeaks

[idioticimagination]

The Queen of The Sky | The 100 | Part 9

Request Here!

Pairing: Bellamy x Reader Rating: M Fandom: The 100 Word Count: 2,875 Summary: Three years ago Y/N, queen of the tribe known as the Ladrones, was sent to the ground as punishment for her crimes. Now the dropship has just arrived along with 100 delinquents. Among which there are many familiar faces. Several stories to be told. Will Y/N’s dark past unravel for all to see? Will her secrets finally be shared with the world? Will the queen of the sky cause sunny days or stormy nights? Is she a villain? Or just the goddess they needed?

In celebration of 100 followers part 9 is almost 3,000 words! =)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

I looked at Kai, who was now in a panic. The footsteps were getting closer, and I heard Bell cock his gun.

“Kai, stay calm,” I whispered. I walked out of the entrance to see Bell with his gun aimed at me. “It’s just me,” I said with my hands raised.

Bell put his gun down as he let a breath of relief escape him. “Throwback to when you had no idea I existed,” I said while I rolled my eyes, fixing my cloak as I cleared my throat.

“What are you doing here?” he grunted as he rubbed his face. He glared at me. He was covered in a sheen of sweat, completely shirtless. His hair was a mess. Bruises littered his chest, shoulders, and neck. He was with someone. Why did that hurt?

My jaw clenched, and I gritted my teeth. “Sorry,” I apologised, a hint of sarcasm in my tone, “Was I interrupting something?” He gave me a confused look before he caught sight of what I was looking at.

“Jealous?” He asked. A smug smile on his lips. I scoffed. This was not why I was here.

“Sure, whatever floats your fucking boat,” I sneered. I let out a sigh as I slowly brought my sword out. Bell watched me with a look of confusion. I held the blade to his throat, giving him enough space to move, but not enough to move forward specifically. He froze at my movement. 

“There’s something you might want to see, but I’ve got a guard in there. I need you to turn around so I can let him go.” 

Bellamy rolled his eyes as he turned his back to me. I kicked my foot against the metal ship so Kai would know he could leave. I heard footsteps behind me and a knocking against what I assumed was the bark of a tree trunk. I took that as a sign that it was safe for Bell to turn around. I sheathed my sword and took a step away from Bell.

Bellamy faced me with a grumpy look on his face. “Is there any particular reason as to why I can’t see the dude’s face?” 

“Jealous?” I teased as Bellamy took his turn to scoff at me. I followed Bellamy’s lead as I walked into the dropship. I took a look around, realising this was the first time I actually went inside the camp, let alone the dropship! I wasn’t looking at where I was going, so it was inevitable that I bumped into something. Or someone. I looked up to see Bell’s back, scratch marks all over it. He was frozen in place. 

“What happened?” Bell asked as he turned to look at me. I glanced at Wells.

“He was stabbed,” I said in a matter of fact tone. Bellamy got a grip on my throat as he backed me into the wall. His nostrils flared. Obviously, he wasn’t happy.

“I’m not in the mood for you to be a smartass right now, Angel. So if this was because of you or one of your ‘guards’ tell me now,” he said through clenched teeth. 

“Careful, Bell, or your hickeys won’t be the only bruises you collect tonight,” I threatened. He let go of me. My hand raised to my neck as I rubbed where he held. I cleared my throat as I pulled my cloak closer to me, hiding whatever marks were left by Bell’s tight grip. 

“I’ll deal with this. I need to talk with you. Tomorrow. First thing in the morning,” Bell said as he walked out of the dropship. He looked over his back at me, his features seeming softer than before. I let out a huff of breath before I left. 

I met up with Kai, more tired than ever. I leaned back against the tree as my eyes drooped close once again. “Don’t think I can’t see the bruises on your neck,” Kai said before I can fall into my deeply wanted slumber. 

“I like kinky sex. Fuck off,” I said as Kai laughed. 

“I don’t like him,” Kai said, referring to Bell, “He is not worth the effort you put in to make him happy.” 

“You don’t like anyone, Kai,” I said. I finally opened my eyes to look at him. His arm was sat upon the leg he propped up as he leaned against the tree, looking down on me. He shrugged as he laughed at me and my attitude. “Good night, Kai,” I said as I turned my back to him. It seems like it was just piss off Y/N day. Kai snickered before greeting me a good night. 

I woke up to a pebble being thrown at my face. I looked down to see Bellamy staring at me as he bounced a slightly bigger rock up and down in his palm. I groaned as I rolled over. I felt the rock hit my back before I sighed and dropped down from the tree. “What?” I said looking at him.

“Awww, is the princess still upset that I’m sleeping around?" He laughed as he proudly pulled his collar down to show me his hickey. We walked to our usual clearing as I sat down, taking my knives out so I could sharpen them as we talked. 

“No,” I said, “What I’m upset about is being awoken by the same idiot who decided to strangle me for saving one of his fucking people.” I threw my knife at the tree he stood next to. It stuck against the bark.

Bell took the knife out, moving it around in his hands to get a good look at it. I pulled my cloak down to show off the bruises from his tantrum the night before. “What do you want? You’re the one who wanted to talk, so fucking talk.” 

“I need to know what happened to Wells,” He said, “and... I want to know more about you.” I gave him a dull look. “You know, since we’re getting closer to each other we may as well find out more about each other.”

“Closer?” I asked, throwing my latest sharpened knife into the ground to join the rest. “We’re getting closer?” 

“Yeah. I mean I would think so considering you apparently get jealous when I sleep with other women-”

“And you get jealous when I simply mention that I have a male gaurd,” I smirked. He glared at me, but I wore my smug smile with pride. “Don’t you have an attempted murder case to solve?”

“We’ve already started on what we’re gonna do about the grounders-” 

“It wasn’t a grounder,” I said. He looked at me with confusion. 

“What do you mean? You said it wasn’t any of your people, so if it wasn’t a grounder then-” 

I looked up at him as I propped my elbows onto my knees and leaned forward. “It wasn’t a grounder. If a grounder was targeting him, he would have been dead when I found him. It. Was. Not. A. Grounder.” I stood up as I walked over to him, taking my knife back. “Was he anyone of importance? Come from a family of criminals? Killers? Wealth?” I paused before continuing, “Was... one of his parents... someone important? Someone with a lot of power?” 

Bellamy nodded. “His dad was the Chancellor. He-uh, he was the leader of our home. He... had a bunch of people killed for... ’crimes’,” he said, “Like my mom.” 

“Was? Is he dead?” I asked. Bellamy swallowed and looked at me with a haunted look. 

“I-I don’t know. I-A lot can happen in a few days,” Bell said stuttering and stumbling over his words. I gave him a weird look. 

“So... there must have been a lot of people that hated him. Considering you’re a camp full of criminals-” Bell cut me off before I could go any further.

“How do you know everyone here is a criminal?” Bell asked as he arched his brow and crossed his arms.

I froze. “I keep watch almost 24/7, Bell. There’s a lot I know about you people,” I said. It seemed believable. I guess it was considering Bell relaxed a bit and uncrossed his arms. “Anyways, so a lot people probably hate him. Or at least hate his father, but I mean- taking somebody that someone loves away... it can be much more effective than killing the person themselves.” 

“So you think it was one of the delinquents?” Bell asked. I nodded as I put my last knife back into its sheath. “A stab to the neck... the only other person I’ve seen do that would be Clarke. And if I remember correctly, she hated Wells. Says he ratted her dad out for some crime and got him killed.” My eyes widened at the information, but it couldn’t be her. I shook my head.

“Good motive, but she knows what she’s doing. Whoever stabbed Wells had no clue on what to do. If it was Clarke, saving Wells would have been impossible.” Bell nodded at me and continued to think it over. 

“Can you take me to where you found him?” I nodded and led the way. “On the way there we can talk about why you’re so upset about me being with other girls.” I rolled my eyes for what felt like the thousandth time since reuniting with Bell. I looked at him to see a mischievous grin on his face.

“I’m not upset that you sleep around. I don’t even know you! I have no reason to be upset that you sleep with other women,” I complained. 

“Good! I agree!” 

“Good!” 

It was silent for awhile while we walked through the woods. The only thing to be heard was the crunching of pebbles, dried leaves, and twigs underneath our feet with every step we took. 

“So then why were you so upset when you realized I was?” Bell asked as he caught up to me leaning over my shoulder to whisper into my ear. I groaned as I turned to face him with a stomp. 

“Why were you so upset that I have a male guard?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Bell’s eyes widened as he froze in front of me.

Bell walked closer to me, so we were inches apart.“If you answer my question, I’ll answer yours.” I grunted and tried to turn away from him. “Come on! It can be fun! Like a game! I ask you 20 questions, and you ask me 20 questions, and we both have to answer truthfully! It’ll be a great way for us to get to know each other better!”

“I don’t need to know 20 things about you,” I said as I continued walking. I don’t remember the walk being this far!

“Alright then 15!” 

“3″

“10″

“3″

“8″

“3″ 

“I don’t think you know how compromises work,” Bell said as he stood in front of me to keep me from walking away.

“I don’t think you know how I work,” I said with a smirk and walked around him.

“I don’t! In fact I don’t know anything about you! Which is why we should ask each other 20 questions,” He said as he ran to my side. I glared at him as I blew a strand of loose hair out of my face.

“You’ve got 3. Choose wisely,” I said before walking away and over to where I had found Wells.

“Alright. How old are you?” Bell asked as I tried searching for any clues that could help us figure out anything. “I’m 23.”

“I am 22,” I answered while moving a shrub to the side, trying to see if any marks or traces of blood could be found. Nothing. “You seem to be the only person in your camp over the age of 18. Is there a reason for that?” 

“Um... back on the Ark, where we’re from, if you were above 18 and committed a crime you’d automatically be killed, but if you were under 18, you’d just be arrested until you turned 18. So anyone who is under 18 and committed a crime were known as delinquents. My sister is one of them, and she was chosen to get sent here, but I made a deal with one of the guards back home. If I did something for him, he would get me a spot on that ship, so I could protect her.” I nodded my head at his answer. He cleared his throat before he asked his next question. “So if I remember correctly, you said you founded your own ‘kingdom.’ But where are you from? Where did you come from before you left?” 

I couldn’t tell him I came from the Ark. I thought over my words carefully. “I stayed with Trikru for awhile before I got sick of being their tool. But that’s a story for another day...” I trailed off before going closer to the wall. I checked for any scratches, marks, or prints. Anything. “What did you do?” I asked Bell, “That favor, for the guard what did you do?”

Bell froze. “I don’t think I should tell you.” I looked at him with a hint of annoyance. I scoffed at him while we continued to search the area. “Alright, fine. I’ll tell you what I did if you tell me your name.” 

“Why are you so fascinated with my name?” I asked, frustrated that he kept bringing the question up. 

I saw a glint in the light between some bushes. I walked towards it, crouching down to get a closer look. It was a knife. I took a look at it as I toyed with it, tossing it between my hands. I then noticed the initials carved into the blade. J.M.

A twig snapped behind me and I instantly unsheathed my sword and stood up, turning to face the source of the sound only to see a familiar blonde. I retrieved my sword, letting out a sigh.

She looked at me with a shocked expression. She stood completely still and tense. I stuck my hand out to offer her a handshake. She hesitantly took it, her hand trembling as I grasped it. I nodded my head, letting go of her hand, before I introduced myself. 

“Nice to finally have a chat with you, Griffin. I’m-” I paused, “Well, Bell calls me Angel among other things, your people seem fond of ‘the masked maiden’, but feel free to call me whatever the hell you want,” I said as I winked, a smirk on my face as I used the phrase once said to me so long ago.  She nodded as she put on a kind smile. I heard Bellamy scoff from behind me as he walked away.

“What’s that?” Clarke asked gesturing to the knife in my hand. Her head tilted to the side as her brow arched. I looked down at the knife.

“I just found it. It might be the weapon used against the victim, but-” Clarke took the knife from me before I could finish. She took a close look at the knife before she looked up at Bell and me. 

“The grounders didn’t kill Wells,” she mumbled under her breath. She turned to look at us. “It was one of us. There’s a murderer in the camp.”

“Yeah, there’s several murderers in the camp. This isn’t news. We need to keep it quiet,” Bell said as he rubbed at his face. His frustration showing as he groaned at Clarke.

Bellamy tried to take the knife from Clarke, only for her to take a step back and hold the knife out of reach. She tried to walk past him, but Bell blocked her path, glaring at her. “Clarke,” he warned.

“Get out of my way, Bellamy,” she threatened through gritted teeth.

“Clarke, be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved… the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us,” Bell argued as he stood as still as stone. He refused to get out of Clarke’s path no matter where she turned. However, she came to a halt at his words. 

“Oh, good for you, you mean. What? keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?” 

“Yeah. That's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall. And besides, what are you gonna do… just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is,” Bell said. I mean he had a point. 

I would have kept it quiet for as long as possible. Even if I did know the killer, fear was a great source of motivation, and if it got what I needed done, then I’d use it for my advantage. In fact I have. Then it would be as simple as dealing with the criminal behind closed doors. Say they went missing, probably got captured by grounder too, and then they’d be even more motivated. I hadn’t realised how lost in thought I was until Clarke pushed past Bell and bumped into me.

“Oh, really? J.M. John Murphy. The people have a right to know,” Clarke said, before storming off. 

Tag List:

@the–real-wombat @jodiereedus22 @captainam-erika-trash@superflashallen @ilovelyai

#the 100 #the 100 series #the 100 fandom #the 100 fanfiction #the 100 fanfic #the 100 fic #the 100 rewrite #the 100 x reader #the 100 bellamy #the 100 bellamy blake #the 100 bellamy x reader #the 100 bellamy blake x reader #the 100 bellamy imagine #bellamy #bellamy blake #bellamy blake imagine #bellamy blake x reader #bellamy x reader #bellamy imagine #fanfic series #fanfiction series #series rewrite #the 100 fanfiction series

[survivormoves]

i love how murphy came up with the bomb and the collar okay. it’s a nice little throwback to the bomb he made on the dropship all those years back when he needed to escape from bellamy after the whole ordeal. and a nice little fuck you to mccreary and his goons for the torture they put him and raven through. cheers to my smart boy.

#the100spoilers #ᴵ ᵏᶰᵒʷ ʸᵒᵘ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᶠᵉˡᵗ ᵐᵘᶜʰ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ᵗʰᵃᶰ ʸᵒᵘ'ᵛᵉ ˢʰᵒʷᶰ | character study

[sometimesrosy]

About Clarke calling Bellamy "Bell". It feels like maybe it's more something between Octavia and Bellamy. No one has ever called Bellamy Bell other than octavia (outside of your theory of course) and no one (not even Lincoln) has called Octavia "O". It's really between them. Is this about trust and love and others will eventually call them that? Or is it really only between them, as siblings?

I think it’s an intimacy thing. Inner circle. Of course Clarke is in the inner circle, but still, because of all that’s gone down, they’ve both got their defenses up, even against each other, so it’s something she doesn’t mean to say out loud. That’s why they don’t say how they feel about each other. And why each hug is so momentous. And why she’ll give up humanity for him.

They’ve got a few boundaries left between them that keep their relationship from becoming… more than anything else.

Saying they love each other. Words of endearment. Nicknames? The whole princess thing is either a throwback to their antagonist days or a leveling up of intimacy. There’s still a barrier considering where it came from.

IDK. What’s interesting is that everyone in Spacekru was at one point or another, against Bellamy. If not an outright enemy, then working against him, whether at the dropship, or during the Arkadian revolt or as a grounder. But six years together alone, we might break through all that and reach that intimacy. They might very well all come back to earth calling him Bell. 

I think they’ll be family. Family calls him Bell. Poor Clarkey, left out of the family again. I feel bad for her. 

#the 100 meta #bellarke #bell #spacekru #the 100 speculation

[filipeteimuraz]

The Best Dropshipping Companies

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Dropshipping is when you sell a product that’s shipped directly from the manufacturer to your customer. It is never held by you in a warehouse or a spare bedroom, and you’re not responsible for the packaging or shipping. Your dropship partner takes care of all that.

Sounds dreamy, right? No warehouse rent to pay, no upfront investment in purchasing inventory, and no shipping work on your end. Those are the perks.

But those are also the drawbacks. You don’t have the inventory in your warehouse, so you don’t have control of a customer ordering something that’s out of stock. There’s no shipping work on your end, so you can’t control the shipping speed, or the packaging. Long ship times = canceled orders. Weird packaging = bad reviews. And, you’ll still need upfront money for advertising, building your website, and all the other steps you’ll need to take to start your business.

And, because you’re basically outsourcing those storing and shipping tasks to your dropshipper, you may not have as great of margins that you would if you took that all in house.

In this guide, we’ll round up some of the best known dropshippers and some lessons from top dropshippers, including what to consider before you get started.

Like any business partnership, before you get involved you need to do your research on who you’re working with, what it’s going to cost you, and what you’re expecting to get out of it.

What’s the best dropshipper?

Trying to find the best dropshipping company is a little bit beside the point. It’s like asking for the best eBay seller or the best store on Etsy.

There are things that make dropshippers great, and they’re a lot of the same things that make an eBay or Etsy seller great: They’re super communicative and have fast shipping. The product arrives as promised. It looks like the listing and it arrives in one piece in packaging that looks nice and not chewed up by an alligator.

Just like an eBay seller, the best dropshipper for you is the one selling what you’re interested in buying. They will reliably, communicatively, and quickly shipping the product you’re after at the price that’ll be profitable for you — that’s your best.

Dropshipping suppliers, databases, and tools

It can be hard to break into dropshipping because most dropshipping businesses don’t like to share their items or their suppliers. The thinking is: you’ll just replicate their shop and eat into their market.

Many dropshippers use a Shopify store and an automation app like Oberlo or Spocket. This is a quick way to get set up in minutes.

Shopify dropshipping apps and tools

Oberlo is a plugin service that works with Shopify stores. You’ll browse the Oberlo directory (which includes suppliers verified by Oberlo) to find inventory you’d like to sell in your store. You’ll be able to see how many pageviews, sales, and star-rankings each item and seller has. Once you make a sale, you’ll use Oberlo to order the item to be shipped to your customer. Oberlo has a forever-free plan, though you’ll need to pay for a Shopify subscription, too. Oberlo has 4.7 out of 5 stars from 2,258 reviews in the Shopify app store.

Spocket is a database app of dropship items that you can sort by country and simply upload into your Shopify store. Spocket makes it easy to find US and EU items that’ll ship within your country rather than from China, cutting down on slow ship speeds. The Basic plan (25 products with unlimited orders) is forever free, and upgrading to Pro is $39 / month for 250 products and branded invoicing. The Empire plan unlocks unlimited products for $99 / month. The app has 4.8 out of 5 stars from 1,008 reviews in the Shopify app store.

Dropified is a Shopify app for populating your store with items and automate your orders on AliExpress, including customer shipping address. There’s no Dropified marketplace, but rather a browser plugin that’ll let you pull from anywhere on the web. You can set up margin parameters and rules for changing the price points in your store. There’s a free 14-day trial; after that it’s $47/month for the Builder plan. The app has 4.8 out of 5 stars from 98 reviews in the Shopify app store.

Dropwow is like Oberlo or Spocket, but has more negative reviews. The tool claims to automate your orders and help you locate dropshippers located in the US and elsewhere. However, with only 3.8 out of 5 stars from 108 reviewers on the Shopify app store, and a monthly subscription of $29/month, we don’t recommend it.

Dropshipping databases and software solutions

SaleHoo – A $67 yearly membership grants you access to this database of wholesalers and dropshippers. There are currently 8,000+ suppliers on the site, and they’re all screened by Salehoo before they’re added to the directory. There’s a 60-day free trial period, and the customer service gets high marks: 9.6 out of 10 with 239 reviews on TrustPilot.

Doba – This 2 million product database doesn’t just bring a number of suppliers into one marketplace — you’ll also place your customer orders within Doda as well. That being said, it’s not cheap and we’ve read a number of negative reviews, many of which mention that the prices aren’t low enough to profit. Doba has a 14-day free trial, so you can log in and run the numbers to see if a membership (which ranges from $29–249/month) is right for you.

Wholesale2B has a variety of plans: sell its products on eBay, Amazon, on a Wholesale2B site, or your own WooCommerce / Shopify / Magento / BigCommerce site. Any one of these options costs about $20–30/monthmonth. Handle the orders yourself by becoming a registered reseller with each supplier or pay Wholesale2B a 3% fee to handle that for you.

Worldwide Brands – For $299, you can get a lifetime subscription to this database of wholesalers and dropshippers.

Wholesale Central – This free directory lists suppliers you can work with individually to order products from. There’s nothing fancy about it — it’s like a phone book — but has useful information to use as you do your research.

Sunrise Wholesale Merchandise – A $99 yearly fee gets you access to Sunrise’s selection of goods. It’s a bit smaller than other databases, but there the shipping times are pretty quick: typically 5–7 days. Packages arrive to your customers with a receipt from “Customer Service” that’s not branded.

Megagoods – A California-based warehouse and will dropship your goods under your packaging and branding, typically in less time than it’d take to ship from an overseas supplier. Check the added fees to make sure that your margins are good.

Inventory Source – An automation tool that allows you to either sync the suppliers products with your page (inventory automation) or to sync the entire customer purchase flow so that your orders are automatically placed with your supplier (full automation). Inventory automation is $50/month and full automation is $150/month.

Dropship News – This free online directory of suppliers is worth sifting through. We found some great US-based suppliers. Most of each supplier’s dropshipping information is on their profile, which saves you some clicking around.

National Dropshippers – This site is free for the first 7 days, but its products are hard to find and search for, and the returns and shipping policies aren’t favorable. You can give a try to see if there’s a product that’s only available here, but if you can find it elsewhere you’ll probably be better off going with the alternative.

DropshipDirect.com – This site makes some enticing claims: 100,000 items in its inventory, a SaaS-approach to data, and quick shipping from its Michigan warehouses. However, the sign-up form is in private mode and the company seems to be on a year-long hiatus. We’ll keep an eye on Dropship Direct and report back.

Online marketplaces

AliExpress is a Alibaba’s online retailer. It’s based in China, but doesn’t sell products to anyone in mainland China. The site has lots of user reviews and analytics that are super useful during the product research phase.

DHgate – There are over a million Chinese suppliers on DHGate. Best practice for buying off DHgate: check user ratings and feedback. Just like you would when buying something off of eBay, be wary of anything that could be a knock-off or imitation, and be prepared for slow shipping and nuances like new-with-box items arriving with their boxes unassembled.

4 Steps to start your dropshipping company

1. Find items to sell

Find your niche.

There’s lots of chatter on the internet about finding your dropshipping niche, but this is just a trendy buzzword for product-market fit: are there people who want to buy your product? From you?

If not, you won’t have a successful business.

You’ll have the most success dropshipping a product if there’s an audience that wants to buy it and doesn’t have an easy way to access it. That’s where you come in.

Some ways to find your niche: brainstorm rabid fan groups or audiences with a common need or interest (dog lovers, anime fans, parents who love to dress up their kids in matching outfits, sailors, very tall people, people who love 90s throwback tees). These are purchase-ready populations looking to love and buy things that they’re interested in.

See what’s trending on Facebook.

Doing a quick search of a phrase like “Get yours here” or “Buy now” and look at the videos featuring items for sale that are getting traction. This can give you a sense of which products are interesting people on Facebook right now. Look for a high number of views in a short period of time, then search for the item at a dropship supplier like Oberlo or AliExpress. Consider the price-point of the item in the video and the assets you can create for it. Can you replicate — or improve on — the current trending video? If so, you may have an item worth dropshipping.

Don’t sell anything dangerous or copyrighted.

If you’re a beginner, don’t start with something that goes in or on a person’s body. If you do not know the quality and source of the ingredients, and something goes wrong, do you have coverage for that liability?

Also, if there’s a celebrity or character from a movie franchise on the item, it could get you in trouble. Steer clear of mice with big round ears.

Look at seller’s reviews and order a test product.

How long has the seller been selling? What feedback have they been getting. When you order a test product, does it meet your expectations? What do you need to tell your customers so they’ll be happy when they receive the product?

Consider dropshipping only some items.

Just because you’re dropshipping some things doesn’t mean you need to dropship everything. Perhaps it makes sense to use dropshipping for large, bulky, high-priced niche items.

Say, for example, you have an online store that sells nautical gear. You may want to personally store and ship some items, but dropship the anchors. For items like this, your customers may also be more accommodating to longer shipping times since it’s a large and more considered purchase. Same goes for home goods: perhaps you keep small items in stock, but dropship the couches. You can increase your inventory breadth very simply this way.

Go directly to a supplier and build a dropshipping relationship with them.

This is a killer plan: there’s guaranteed to be less competition. You’re basically creating a new audience for an under-marketed product that’s not getting seen by a ready-to-buy audience. If you use a database, every single other subscriber is using that same database.

2. Nail the basics

Invest in a good domain name.

We buy all our domain names from Namecheap. (You can read our full review on the best domain registrars.) They come with free privacy protection. Skip all of the upsells — you don’t need them.

Set up your website.

If you go with Shopify, you’ll be up in minutes. Lots of dropshippers recommend the Shopify Brooklyn theme with a good font choice. You can also use another ecommerce option. Here’s our review on the best ecommerce platforms, if you’re interested in exploring.

Get a professional logo.

You can get one for a reasonable price (and no design expertise) with 99Designs.

Use a professional email address.

It should be a sensible start (help@, support@) with your own domain name. We recommend getting G Suite for $5 a month per user. There’s nothing to trust about emailing a customer service that’s at yahoo.com or gmail.com.

Give your customer strong trust signals.

You can do this with high quality photos and unique item copy, a real and robust About Us page, and thoughtfully using things like discounted prices and pop-ups.

Ask yourself: Would I buy from this store? Would I feel comfortable suggesting it to a friend or family member? You’ll need some trust logos and some FAQs at minimum.

Set shipping time expectations.

Most dropshipped items aren’t going to get to the customer very quickly — and in world where Amazon Prime has set the standard at two days, that means dropshipments of 30 days feel extremely slow. If you don’t prepare your customers they’ll be very unhappy. We’ve seen very straightforward copy, like: All our items ship directly from our suppliers in China. Shipments are processed the day of your order and arrive in 25–30 days.

Make sure your orders go through.

Bundle credit card orders so your bank doesn’t cancel your numerous orders. Let your bank know what types of orders and in what quantities you’ll be placing, so they’re not flagged as fraudulent. There is no pain so rich as having to reorder orders you’ve placed. (You do have a business credit card, right?)

Prepare for returns and cancellations.

How will you deal with unhappy customers? What’s your return policy and how will you chargeback customer payments? Will returned items be shipped to you, or to your distributor? How will that work? Like with anything in business, it’s important to set it all up from day one like it’ll be a huge success.

Set aside money to pay taxes.

If you’re using Shopify as your payment gateway, once you get to a certain sales threshold, Shopify will automatically report your sales to the government. You’ll want to make sure you have money available to pay applicable taxes. We also recommend getting an accountant and a lawyer (we’ve heard good things about UpCounsel and LegalZoom) and setting up Quicken.

3. Differentiate yourself

Make your store listings and ads unique.

Remember, if you can quickly and easily set up a dropshipping order for a specific product, it’s likely another store will be able to do the same. You will need to find an edge: why would someone order from you, or find your store selling the product, and not your competitor?

Take your own pictures. Write your own copy. Shoot unique social videos. Really put thought into how to best convey the product and why a person would want it: What problems does it solve? Can it make them feel joy?

Import user reviews.

If you’re using AliExpress, you can import the user reviews. No one likes being the first to buy something.

Consider offering free shipping.

Do all orders have free shipping or only when a certain order spend is hit? What threshold or minimum spend works best?

Market your store.

Make sure people know about your store. This can be through word of mouth, social media ads, viral memes, influencer programs, SEO, a newsletter. You’re going to need visitors to make sales.

4. Iterate iterate iterate

Use ads to test and gather data.

We’re assuming that you’ll be buying ads. If you do, buy and use the data to test what’s working. What gets traction? Double down on it. What doesn’t? Trash it. This may lead you to changing your products, your ad style, your audience. Following the early traction means you head toward what’s working and away from what’s not.

Analyze your sales.

What’s selling well? What’s not selling at all? Is there any common theme in the items? Replicate what you can. Stop what’s not working.

Dropshipping vocabulary

Arbitrage – The simultaneous buying and selling of an item to take advantage of a difference in price for the same asset. Say there’s a board game for sale at Walmart for $20, but the lowest price on Amazon is $45. Arbitrage is listing the game for sale on Amazon and buying the Walmart game. For every sale you make on Amazon, you take advantage of a $25 price difference. If your arbitrage is online to online, with free shipping, the math suggests you could simply sell on one site, buy and ship from the other, and pocket all the profit. This does not take into account any hiccups: returns, merchandise not accurate, merchandise no longer in stock, price changes in either market, etc.

Dropshipping (DS) – The supply chain system in which a seller does not keep items in stock, but rather transfers orders directly to a manufacturer, supplier, or wholesaler who ships the item directly to the consumer.

Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) – Some sellers set a floor to how low you can advertise or display your product for sale. This is not the same as the price you can sell it for. So, the MAP price does not take into account coupon codes or sales, or other tricks like offering a gift card with a purchase, offering rebates, or doing things like showing an even lower price in the cart.

Dropshipping examples and press

You may have seen the posts we’ve seen — the ones about people starting dropshipping businesses and raking in the sales. We’re talking five-figures in a single day, six-figures every month. What is this magic sauce, we wonder.

The magic sauce is the same sauce as any other business: it’s a math equation based on margins. How big are your margins? How big is your customer base? What’s the conversion rate? How stiff is the competition?

Welcome to a little-known corner of the e-commerce world, where small entrepreneurs use social-media ads and hip virtual storefronts to entice people into buying products listed on online marketplaces such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s AliExpress.

The process often involves online storefronts transferring customer details to an AliExpress seller, which ships the goods directly to the customer; the storefront bills the customer. Called dropshipping, it is a twist on a fulfillment technique that major online retailers also use to send goods directly from their manufacturers to the customer.

The entrepreneur profits by charging a high markup, betting shoppers are unlikely to stumble upon the less-expensive goods on a marketplace site. AliExpress is the most popular such marketplace, but some entrepreneurs order from sellers on other marketplace sites like Amazon.

—“The Mystery of the $70 Hoodie That’s All Over Facebook,” Wall Street Journal

The mystery of the $70 hoodie is also not a mystery: it’s a one-time sale that’s not going to turn into repeat business. It’s a simple equation:

high price + low product quality + poor customer experience ? repeat business

Dropshipping seemed cool because it made starting an eCommerce seem easy: I didn’t need to buy products in advance; I didn’t need to have space to hold them, and it didn’t require extra time and effort to ship the orders myself. Dropshipping does have disadvantages, but it really appealed to me, so I continued my online search.

There are numerous ready-to-use eCommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce or Squarespace. Most of them start at around $20 per month, which seemed like a good deal for a first-time entrepreneur like myself.

It took me two days to set up the store the way that I wanted it to look. Shopify is totally non-programmer friendly. All you need to do is open an account, select a look for your store, and that’s it – you’re ready to sell.

When I set up my store, I had no definite idea of what I should sell. I wasn’t sure if I should pick a product I was passionate about or just a random product I was able to find in dropshipping databases like WholesaleDirect.com or the like.

“This Guy Made $12K In One Month While Working Full-Time,” Huffington Post

“This guy” is Justin Wong, and he made his business work by studying Instagram marketing, set up affiliate partnerships with influencers, and matched his product with his marketing technique. And, he’s not confused about the pros and cons of that marketing strategy: when the posts age on a influencers feed, his sales go down.

My name is Jacky Chou. With my partner, Albert Liu (albeliu on Reddit), we launched a home decor dropshipping site that went from negative 3k to 250k a month in 8 months at 30-40% margins. We’re both first generation Asian-Canadians who moved from Vancouver to Berlin to work in marketing.

We started our dropshipping store as a ‘practice what you preach’ case study, as we’re both working as digital marketing consultants (Albert as a freelance Facebook consultant and I’m a founder of an SEO agency, Indexsy).

— “We made 250k USD last month with our dropshipping side hustle. Oberlo / Shopify reached out to us to do a success story. AMA!,” Reddit

Further reading

Buzzfeed News “Small American Businesses Are Struggling Against A Flood Of Chinese Fakes”

Wall Street Journal “‘Drop Shipping’ Looks Set to Go Mainstream as More Retailers Get on Board”

Racked “The Fake News of E-Commerce”

Vox “Why an ad for bootleg Hallmark socks is one of the most ubiquitous of the holiday season”

Inc. “Why Weebly’s CEO Is Saying No to the Hottest Trend in E-Commerce”

Entrepreneur “Why It’s Nearly Impossible To Stop This Amazon and eBay Scheme”

The Atlantic “The Strange Brands in Your Instagram Feed”

Reply All “The World’s Most Expensive Free Watch”

Inc. “How to Earn Money While You Sleep: A Step-By-Step Guide to Building a Drop-Ship Side Hustle”

Vox “Here’s why Trump threatened to pull out of a 144-year-old postal treaty”

Today.com “‘Drop-shippers’ reveal the hard work behind the legitimate work-from-home model”

http://www.quicksprout.com/best-dropshipping-companies/ Read more here - http://review-and-bonuss.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-best-dropshipping-companies.html

[kinetic-elaboration]

April 19: Thoughts on 1x11 We Are Grounders Pt 1

It’s late, I’m all upside down, and I just reread some of my old meta so I’m thinking about how Smart I am and also how bitter I am about this show. So here’s more of my rewatch!

Today’s episode, We Are Grounders Part One

I wonder if Jaha was so quick to throw up his hands and walk away from the DNR group in S4 because, especially prior to what was basically a religious conversion, he has a similarly strong death instinct himself. I’m not saying he didn’t do everything he could in favor of survival many times, but honestly how many other times has he been like ‘well, okay, tried everything, time to die’? Like compared to other characters? I’m not saying he actively wants to die so much as that he is more comforted than the average bear by the possibility of a ‘good death.’ (Also I think this has a lot to do with having lost his son tbqh.)

Note to self: someone I’m assuming is a station rep referred to her constituents.

An incredibly bleak but fitting ending for this show would have been to kill the Ark in S1 and then to have the delinquents and grounders kill each other in an escalating S2 war. It would have fulfilled certain foreshadowings/themes of the first season (all the war escalation stuff, the nuclear-age throwbacks) and it also would have been an appropriate ending for all these truly terrible, morally rotten people.

Literally Jaha v. Kane is Jasper v. everyone else (or at least, like, Clarke and Monty) in S4. Truly this show ran out of original ideas after 2 seasons, see again my previous point lol.

Speaking of Jasper there is my angular boy.

There is nothing about the delinquent camp I don’t like. Raven in like a council-level position, ish, Bellamy’s speeches and blatant emotion, everyone’s outfits.

I completely forgot Tristan existed.

I also forgot how many fake out main character deaths this show used to do. Abby, Finn. Can’t get away with that 4 seasons in. The audience knows anyone important is getting a real death scene.

Omg Bellamy has a whole like war plan with little figures and stuff.

Bellamy has this reputation for being all emotion and I think that’s him at heart but ignoring Clarke, Monty, and Finn’s disappearance is a logic-based decision. A sort of...overcompensatory logic-based decision. Also not in line with the show’s morality, like, at all. Hence why he drops it later.

Yet again impressed by how Jasper managed to change more than any other character over 4 seasons while still remaining IC. Even young and comparatively innocent he could be snarky and sarcastic and he also was honest and straightforward in his confrontation with Bellamy, and he kept on being all of those things later, but with bitterness and bite.

Murphy (having just obviously suffocated a boy): He stopped breathing. I was trying to help him. Jasper (nodding slowly): Yep, sounds about right, totally legit, lots of evidence that that is what went down. Yep.

Also I’m like 99% this ep is basically their last canon interaction so btw this was the end of what is absolutely, canonically (see the pilot and the Pike-class flashback) a same-station-forged friendship. And probably also explains why Murphy’s reaction to Jasper’s death was like ‘Jasper who???’ though that doesn’t make it any less an unforgivable sin.

There’s nothing not perfect about this scene overall, but the most perfect thing is “Tell Bellamy what?” coming from Jasper’s pocket. I love both that he tried to be sneaky and the comedic value of it.

TWO HEADED HORSE TWO HEADED HORSE TWO HEADED HORSE.

Lincoln was criminally underused. He not only saved Finn and Clarke, he “killed one of his own people to do it.” This isn’t about Octavia. He’s just been looking for an excuse to rebel his whole life.

Jackson’s being so lovely and supportive and Abby’s still calling him by his last name. Knowing this show they probably forgot it was his last name.

Today’s reminder that Octavia likes literally 4 people in the universe lol. And one of them was Jasper. Until the show forgot about that too but whatever not bitter.

RE: Raven getting in under the floor. I’m thinking about my fic and my work around for opening the dropship from the outside and okay on the one hand if such a device existed, Raven would probably know about it as much as Monty but on the other hand, there has to be a way to close the dropship from the outside, because it’s closed in S3 and there’s no one in it. So logically it should open from the outside too, without recourse to loose panels and stuff. So maybe I was a little, like, short-cut-y in my solution but the show is not consistent so we’re even. (We’re not even but I’m self-conscious now.)

Bellamy talking on the walkie with Murphy might honestly be the most beautiful he’s ever been.

Legit question: who do the Grounders battle? They have this coalition, with like Ambassadors and shit. Which doesn’t mean they can’t battle each other but there’s also some diplomacy going on, like, clearly. Which should make battling less necessary, one would think. And even if they do battle each other, over fucking what??? Land? Literally never seen solid evidence that land boundaries matter to them. Shits and giggles? Bragging rights? They have an enemy in Mount Weather but Lincoln sure as shit wasn’t fighting battles against them.

T100 drinking game: take a shot any time says ‘cauterize the wound. Take two if they actually cauterize a wound.

“We lost Clarke, we can’t lose Bellamy too” is probably the first indication literally anywhere in the show that anyone acknowledges Clarke as an delinquent leader.

I miss the Raven + Jasper dream team. Tbh Raven has so few people who can appreciate her professionally. It’s literally Monty, Wick for a hot second, and Jasper (even though his skills aren’t the same as hers, they fit with hers nicely).

I miss my alternate universe where Jasper lives but becomes pacifistic in nature, where he abandons this ‘give me something to shoot through’ attitude and eschews the use of weaponry entirely.

I don’t think this show is 40% as badass or sick as it makes itself out to be but every now and then it lives up to that ideal. I mean this extended psychological torture sequence in which Murphy makes Bellamy hang himself is super fucked up.

The young Jaha and Griffin families were adorable.

“If you were never [in the tunnels] how did you map [them]?” / “Spoils of war.” I realize this is probably just quick plot-hole filling but nevertheless I sense a story here.

The Reapers were also a sick and twisted invention of this show. I feel like in S2 it was pretty clear that the Reapers were given dead bodies to feed on, so either I’m wrong/the Mount Weatherians were more efficient in their use of their limited resource of Sky People bodies versus Grounder bodies/the show has bad continuity/that living dude in the cart is an outlier/some combo of the above.

“The Eastern Sea” lol. The Chesapeake probably.

I never cared for Luna but she could have been cool and also she and Lincoln are ex’s pry this headcanon from my cold, dead hands.

I’m pretty sure Finn pounding in the Reaper’s head was his first kill. Would his S2 story be possible without that moment?

“They look up to you. Almost as much as they look up to Clarke.” Okay I’m sorry, this is just textually, canonically wrong. This is the show retconning Clarke’s position as a leader. And it’s so unnecessary! Her story line works better if she isn’t positioned as the main delinquent leader, imo. Like, lines like that are outliers that don’t make sense within the universe; they’re obviously outwardly pointed: here audience, Clarke is protag 1 and Bellamy is protag 2 and she’s the REAL leader, don’t forget that order! If you do, you might occasionally question her leadership credentials later, when we lazily write everyone just following her regardless of their actual interactions with her or the most recent developments of her storyline! (Not that I think they were already setting up the laziness of S4 this early, but I do think they were tipping the hand of their own biases and their inability to tell the difference between what’s going on in-universe and what the audience sees and understands.)

On the other hand “Well I think the princess is dead, but I know the king’s about to die, so who’s really going to lead these people, huh?” is a good line and I do like positioning Bellamy as king (of these people specifically) versus Clarke as a princess (of the Ark--an old position based on a class background that is irrelevant to their current society).

Lol @ Murphy’s plans being delinquent-domination though. Like that was going to happen.

Actually I think Finn’s S2 story line is created in the moment when he washes the blood off his hands: he’s killed, which changed him, and Clarke comforts him in that critical moment, and he comes to associate her with that event and its aftermath. He also says “I should have fought for you,” which I see as this...hard to describe but like...the creation of a devotion beyond what he’s so far felt. Not that he loves her more but that he’s convinced himself he loves her more, that she can save him in some way, that she is necessary to him. He has a lot of idealistic notions and I think this narrative gets created within him with Clarke at its center and everything else gets blurred out. Or something.

This Jasper and Bellamy scene is the best because it combines two things I love: Jasper’s hero-worship crush on Bellamy, and Jasper’s intense devotion to Monty. I’m a little sorry that Clarke and Finn’s return/these loser Grounders robbed us of a Bellamy and Jasper rescue mission though.

I guess it’s possible Bellamy said “Whatever the hell we want” all the time but really I think it was just the one time and the writers have already forgotten that Jasper never heard him say it omg sometimes I just want to knock their heads together their memories are such shit. (Yes I’m also bitter about Jasper’s pilot outfit returning out of nowhere in S4 and Clarke wearing his intact goggles in S5 even though he already smashed the plastic out of the lenses sometime in S3.)

Poor Jasper. He thinks Monty’s come back with them. He barely even has time to process that disappointment before they start debating whether or not they should leave.

Basically I have a lot of Jasper feelings.

Bellamy’s speech is better than Clarke’s. Come on Griffin, never start with ‘my opponent is right’ that’s a bad rhetorical move. I also find it intensely unrealistic that they’re all like ‘yes, Clarke, we will do what you say!’ when, I cannot emphasize this enough, she has literally never led them before. All of her leader decisions have been strictly BTS. Her only real advantage here is that they know they have no gunpowder and few other resources, so it’s probably just a straight up fear-flight.

“Crowds make bad decisions. Leaders do what they think is right.” I mean basically the theme of the show there lol.

I’m going to rant about this next time I watch but just gonna say here that Clarke is definitely, unequivocally, ultimately wrong in this and Bellamy was right. They should have stayed. People literally died because Clarke tried to take them out when she shouldn’t have.

The camp doesn’t look like I expect or picture in my head...where are their tents? How much land did they claim?

I remember watching this the first time and thinking Jaha’s plan to get them to the ground on the Ark itself was the outright coolest thing I’d ever see and you know what? It holds up. I stand by it.

#the year 2018 #2018: the 100 s1 #2018: fandom thoughts

[team-adults-blog]

4.06 We Will Rise

Broken up by characters. This was such an awesome Marcus Kane episode we don’t even need to talk about the Jasper quoting Dr. Seuss. It’s the longest one yet. buckle up. 

Jaha

[ Arkadia aftermath] Jaha playing with the cult coin piece. He’s probably going to go looking for another site or read into this cult leader dude. It’s clearly important if we keep having short call-backs to it. He’s also the dude that will literally join any cult, so...

(Overhearing speech against Ilian) You ok with all of this?-Monty. ­They’re just blowing off steam. Blowing off steam? Is that what we were doing when we strung up Murphy for killing Wells? HEAD SNAP. YOU NOW HAVE MY FULL ATTENTION. So Clarke tells Jaha that Wells didn’t make it when he asks about him S1. This is her way of protecting Jaha, her parents’ friend whom she also knows pretty well from her child hood, from the knowledge that Wells died as a result of being his son. The son of the chancellor who locked them all up. The one who was trying to get them to work together. The kids all know that he was murdered by Charlotte, but hate for Murphy was so great they wanted it to be him. This is news to Jaha because “killing Wells?” He didn’t know his son was murdered. The kids have kept much of their early days hush hush from the adults and rest of the Ark aside than fighting with the grounders. Not only was he murdered, but it was Murphy? My John? My sarcastic John that I traveled through the desert with and sacrificed people to a sea monster for before finding ALIE’s mansion and almost destroying everything? That John Murphy? Monty’s tone here implies that it was a mistake, that he didn’t actually do it, but that mob mentality can be dangerous. It’s interesting that Jaha never talks about Wells. Is that guilt for following the law and sending him down on the dropship? Is it grief for the loss of his son he’s still not been able to deal with because of all the other brouhaha going on (I’m home so you can thank my mom for that phrase)? I’m so amazed that after the shock of someone bringing up Wells to him, followed by the murrrrderrrr (which he may or may not have known, I’m saying he did not) results in Jaha turning and saying pour. to the bartender. He’d rather drink to forget his son? Alcohol is not a good coping mechanism for grief (just look at Jasper), you have to work through it and it fucking sucks. Alcohol hides it and temporarily can help you forget it, but it doesn’t make it disappear. Monty is only even bringing up Wells to get a reaction out of you so you’ll DO something to stop these people because they listen to you! And you repress your feelings instead. Say something. (Jaha turns away from Monty and drinks) With all due respect, Your son would be ashamed of you. Jaha stops. Ouch. Monty is 100% right. I really want to know more about Well’s mother because his moral compass is true North and he was a way better man than his father. Then Monty tells Niylah, I’ll go get Kane.

I’d like to take a minute and congratulate myself on predicting Wells would have another moment back after 4.02 -Lexa had her moment in 4.01 and Jake in 4.02, I thought Wells would be next in 4.03. It came later than I thought, which is a better pace. He’s brought up and will probably be a character we call back to every now and then (but less frequently than Lexa and Lincoln because they were around longer and knew/ interacted with more of the current characters) to remind us of our most moral character. Just now thinking of the fact that the most moral and good person didn’t survive and what the show is trying to say there- everyone has a breaking point and has to make compromises and sacrifices. I don’t think they’re saying you have to sacrifice your morals as much as they’re exploring the theme of at what point do you sacrifice them. food for thought. Back to the point: Wells can’t be laid to rest as long as Thelonious is refusing to acknowledge and work through his grief instead of trying to forget he ever had a son.

From the ashes we will rise. Cool. We’re going to join another cult under coo-coo-Jaha.

Kane

YA GIRL CALLED THE ILIAN SCENE WITH KANE PROTECTING HIM OK? It looks like Kane is all alone from the shot and I was like mmmmmm okay, there’s no way he just fought off a mob by himself, but then we see the rest of the guard so I’m cool. BAMF right here. I love him.

Clarke and Kane talk. Oh.My.Frail.Heart. Let’s break down this scene by the important lines that are jam packed with meaning. Go pick up some omega-3’s (because ya eyes are gon be burnin’ after you’re done cryin’ from all the heartwarming stuff here, and you need to replenish your tears for next week. If you don’t like fish oil I hear flaxseed also works).

I’m going with you. You can’t. I’m the chancellor, I do what I want. That’s why you can’t. have to stay here.

I know you’re worried about my mother- I like that Clarke 1) acknowledges this relationship past the 4.01 cheek caress. 2) tries to reassure him that Mom/Abby will be ok. This is important to me because Clarke hasn’t been around for the majority of Kabby’s development. She know’s their backstory of possible friendship turned enemies to mutual respect, but lil’ Clarkiepoo BOOKED IT after Mount Weather (hurting Abby and Bellamy the most). We get Kabby hand holding in the end of S2, but that didn’t necessarily mean relationship! for Clarke watching them on the journey back to Arkadia. So basically she’s been off doing her own thing/ avoiding her mother, hanging around the woods and then Polis while Kabby is growing and developing. feelings. This acknowledgement that yes, you and my mom are a thing, and I’m aware and not objecting to it is super important. Kane knows Clarke is #1 for Abbs, hence why he’s like “to Clarke” in 4.02 when Abby has to leave Polis.

She’s going into space. In a 100 (hundred) year old rocket. Do you have any idea how many things could go wrong? Marcus Kane is 110% right here. He has reason to worry about this plan, and even more to with it being his boo blasting off into space.

Clarke responds with faith™ in Raven followed by faith™ in her momma. She’s had to rely on Raven’s brilliance every season and she’s always pulled through. There’s a lil pause when Kane knows her arguments are right, but he still wants to find a way to convince her to let him go because how on earth do you protect someone if you’re not near them? THEN.

I’ll send her your love.

This 1) Firmly tells Kane there’s no point arguing anymore; he’s staying behind. Mom skills. 2) MEGA CONFIRMS CLARKE KNOWS THEY GENUINELY CARE FOR EACH OTHER TO THE POINT THAT SHE SAYS ***love*** Holy cow my heart broke. Kabby is so lost for each other I have so many feels for this scene especially when Marcus looks down and blinks a few times and says Yes. Please do that. And I’ll make sure there’s something left to save…When you get home. Clarke is the queen of no-chill and calls it like she sees it. She sees the love we all see and calls it by its name, even though Kabby hasn’t said it. Lil’

Marco thinks for a minute, like wow. She just said love. I haven’t said that to Abby yet. But yeah. This is love. I’m so frickin’ LOST (wink) for her. Love is an accurate word for my emotions. Am I willing to admit that aloud to another living soul, much less Clarke? Can I tell her daughter that? Will it be weird? We’ve got 6 months to live. Fuck it. I love Abby Griffin. Tell her that. Tell her you’re cool with it too. Your mom just validated you being bi and that you loved Lexa, validate adults ~50+ still having sexual feelings. The “when you get home part” is so nice because he’s saying he knows she’ll somehow make things work. And he’s hopeful that maybe they can be a fam? When you and my wife come home, that would make me really happy, essentially. And she gives him a little smile like, I’m worried but that would be nice. I’m glad you want me to come “home” to Arkadia because I don’t really feel like I have a home. Clarke’s been off in Polis for far too long before coming back to Arkadia. She needed someone other than Bellamy to tell her this is her home and she should come back and stay because everyone hates her because of the list stunt, even if it’s not an issue anymore. If Clarke skipped me on that list I’d remember.

HUG. AND HE INITIATED IT. CLARKE I CARE ABOUT YOU TOO PLEASE BE SAFE. At first Clake’s feeling... uh this strange to me..but…strangely…nice. She relaxes into it and hugs him back more than the reactionarly ”someone is embracing me I should lightly put my hands on their back and pat to show my discomfort after 3 seconds.” No. she closes her eyes and does a little shift down into his shoulder.

If later Clarke runs to him (upon return) and initiates it. UGHTRHFGHHUGHHHHH. Fetch the smelling salts, amiright. The last time I remember them having a GOOD/ long dialogue with just them was shortly after Clarke and Anya make it to Arkadia S2 and they’re sitting on the steps/ a bench? I recall them talking about leadership and/ or Abby (again! Cool) and Kane had the early scruff look. 10/10. Now I’m having all these flashbacks to earlier scenes where Clarke tells him what to do and he respects her and listens or debates. Throwback to that scene where she’s like hey, Kane I want to do this and my mom doesn’t want me to, help a girl out. He’s got that smug look and is all (step)dad!kane right before Abby comes in and has a fit. (also S2, but EARLY facial hair phase. Minimal scruff, but great hair and I love all phases of this beard who am I kidding. Current S4 hair could use a slight trim because I don’t see the show letting hic go shoulder length hair)

[Monty goes to get Kane after annihilating Jaha]

Kane gets some guards and puts medical on lock down.

MILLER SENIOR sir, maybe we should reconsider….On the Ark we floated people for this. Dude. I’ve loved you since you popped up on screen. What are you doing? Mob rule will not dictate us in this camp. Miller senior with the most annoyed eye roll and head turn. But still subdued, much like your son, not Murphy. Kane is waaaayyyyyyy past “if this happened on the Ark” arguments because. Hello? He’s already made those mistake S2 when he gets to the ground and maintains laws under the Exodus Charter. Abby taught him that the ground can be different. He still got strong-armed into shock lashing Abby, but he sure as hell regretted it. Where were you? Why didn’t you ALSO learn this lesson?

Kane puts the clip in his gun, David Miller starts to freak out and plead with him. These are his people and Miller sees why they’re upset, possibly sympathizes with them.  

Octavia lets the people in. MILLER SENIOR SHOCK BATTONS KANE. I actually screamed. Miller, I get it, but this is the chancellor and I THOUGHT. your friend. There are some serious consequences for this. He’s writhing on the frickin’ floor, everyone is staring at you and all you can do is say a super emotionless I’m sorry. With a shrug??? He lets them take Kane’s gun. The only redeeming thing he does is stay with Kane until he’s able to move.

It is wrong to talk about these awesome ladies on the show in the context of the men, but Octavia’s plotlines cross with Kane and Bellamy significantly, so she’s sorta mixed in both. Clarke is everywhere because she’s the main lady. I’m aware of my sin.

Monty can’t stop Octavia. Ilian: Get it over with.  OMG my friends and I were yelling about the Lincoln parallels. OH NOW JAHA DECIDEDS TO COME OUT. I wonder whose idea it was to yell black rain. It was a good one, but these two are secretly scheming together like nobody’s business. If Jaha suddenly has this idea, kudos. If they’re planning this the way they said “It worked” when they hugged in 4.01, I’m SUPER interested in their coconspirator relationship. Especially when Kane just wants Jaha to be on his side in the pilot. The fact that Kane says “I don’t know” makes me think Jaha did assess the situation and come up with this on the fly, but he’s got an ear piece in?

He put Lincoln on his knees too. FLASHBACKS. Ugh. The parallels are now blatantly in our faces. Pike stood right there.  Nice overlapping screen, good stuff. Right where you’re standing when they put a gun up against his head. I was there.You do this, you do this and you’re no better than he was. mmmmm. Showing Lincoln getting shot again was not fun and turned this interesting way to see into Octavia’s mind and have her reliving his death slightly tacky. Its alright its ok. Octavia, it’s alright. Come inside. My heart hurts. For Octavia reliving that and having to deal with that. For Kane trying to comfort her in the best dad!Kane way he knows how. She pushes him away. ANOTHER punch to my heart. Octavia, wait! Octavia. Hi, I am crying more and more and I don’t know if it’s because it’s 2:30am (whoopsies, I did half the ep and then went and had a real life (crazy I know), and wanted to finish it when I got home) or because I feel so bad that the Blakes can’t both be happy at the same moment. Kane’s barely able to keep one stable at a time. Bellamy was good, so he got to go off, but Octavia is still (understandably) a wreck. He’s chasing after herrrrrr.He stops because she’s runnin’ Wait! Where will you go…? HE SAYS BLINKING BACK TEARS. This man. This man guys. I am hurt. What a great actor such emotion and beauty. He just has to watch her leave, powerless to protect her. She doesn’t even have her sword.  I’m all alone with no one to hold me.

PREDICTION: Octavia goes to Indra. Gaia becomes part of the story again.

PREVIOUS PREDICTION: As I said in the 4.02 piece, I thought Wells would be next (and we’re working on that, hopefully), but it was too soon for Octavia to lay Lincoln to rest. I think Octavia will probably be working through her grief (for real, instead of murdering people)

FURTHER THOUGHT: Monty’s mom? He did have to “kill” her twice. If he already dealt with this let me know, but I remember her disappearing from the CoL in the S3 finale but no working through of the emotions. I trust Monty to be doing that off screen with Harper because he’s a good guy. Aaannnddddd he told Jasper that he was dealing with stuff too.

 Bellamy

Azgeda is burning trikru as they move through on their way back to Polis trying to keep peace. ½ deserted, Roan doesn’t blame them, it’s a sucky situation.

Bellamy: “do you blame them for burining trikru villages as they go?”

Roan: “that’s funny coming from you”

Kane: “Enough” once bickering’s number one fan. Now saving the day from pettiness and jabs. 

What a burn. What a hurtful call back to the mistakes in writing S3 where Bellamy has to spiral to drive a plot point. Due to editing/cutting/rushed storylines, we never got a satisfactory explanation for exactly why. The massacre is part of his character now, but I’m surprised they’re bringing it up again- the Riley scene was his acknowledgement of the massacre. He’s clearly going to be working on forgiving himself and this redemption ark all season.

Let me just go check on my sister before I roll out. She almost died the other day and we had a hug but things are still rocky…

Octavia is dead. She died when you killed Lincoln. Damn. He played a part in this, but definitely didn’t want him dead.

Clarke tells Bell Octavia’s forgiveness will take time. AKA: They talk about his feelings.

What is she doing? Being Clarke. No one else gets out. *proceeds to get out too* classic.

ICE MELT THERE’S A NEW RIVER CREATING A COMPLICATION. What a real thing that could happen with climate change.  

They’ve taken the truck. fuel. Clarke. Yep. Clarke. mention the truck and fuel first so Roan thinks you have your priorities sorted, but casually slip in #3. 

Bell races ahead to cut Clarke off in the untimate game of chicken with this grounder. He’s such a good shot that he can hit the grounder (and not Clarke) from at least 20 yards away? I guess that’s the magic of tv. “I’ve got this gun, and girl, it don’t miss. It makes baaaabiiieeessss”- J Roddy Walston & The Business. Look it up.

Good job Clarke for braking that quickly. I didn’t.

I’m going to take the Rover back to camp. Clarke: Octavia? Nod. Bellarke with knowing each other so well.

Clarke: She’s your sister, she’s blood. She’ll come around and see how special you are. Incredible look from Bell. ALSO. I’m not sure if this was an intentional word choice (probs because look at the Kane and Clarke Scene. Actually go rewatch it, it was really good.) and if I’m supposed to pick up on “Special” parallels with Clexa where Lexa describes Clarke as “different” and “special.” I’m seeing more and more parallels for Clarke and Bellamy with cannon relationships, namely Kabby and Clexa, so it’s looking like they could go down a romantic path, but not anytime soon. They’ve both got so much crap going on plus trying to save the planet that I don’t think the writers would want to explore that yet. To caution/ dissuade excited bellarke shippers, Niylah is probs more present in the plot right now than she would be (and here in this ep, still nakey for this important conversation about Lexa Lexa would be proud of you) + Niylah stays because Clarke wants her to stay alive. So, naturally, I have to predict her dying. Not because she’s gay, but because Clarke is Wanheda. I don’t actually think she’ll die. I’d rather see her take over the Nyko grounder-medicine knowledge void (RIP. I had so much hope for your character. May Niylah carry on your legacy).

Clarke. If I don’t see you again… // No. You Will. See what I mean? Kabby parallels from the 3.09 Kiss. (also Lincoln died in that ep). She’s doing exactly what her mother did. Stubborn Griffin love is great. 

Roan

High School Musical has ruined the phrase “we’re all in this together” for my generation. I can’t not start singing it. And doing the overhead clap.

License plate man doesn’t want Roan to drive behind Clarke because he follows no one. I’m laughing at his license plate armour, but honestly it’s probably really effective.

What could possibly go wrong? Understatement of the year.

License plate man stays behind with Clarke. Trikru killed ‘em.

The whole jumping from one truck to another is crazy hard, but of course Roan would have no problem.

Once we’re all nightbloods do we go back to killing each other?

Thanks for killing the bellarke mood with a problem. Just what they need.

Becca’s Lab: Raven x Murphy x Luna

Raven head bothering her. Murphy annoying her.

Rips him apart. At least I’m not a mental patient like you. Not cool. Raven and the meditation. How does Luna hear but Jackson and Abby stay asleep?

She doesn’t apologize. Harsh. He provokes, but it comes from a place of being insecure and not

Luna is great. She’s saving everyone’s mental health. Murphy is trying to meditate, but he’s got the words wrong. Humorously wrong.

Swim away. Murphy and Luna come up with this idea and tell raven to screw the computer. Murphy! Thanks. Good, Raven. That’s what he needed. It works. Well duh. Did the Ark not have Apollo 13 on their space drive? This is how we land on Earth now (to my knowledge), we only need the fuel for soft other planet landings. 0% cargo destruction! But wait. We are short a barrel. SIEZING GO GET MOM.

It would be awesome if we could get more emotionally invested in some of these plot lines? You know, so they actually hit us and we feel the pain of the characters when things don’t work out? First, Octavia not actually being dead and Bellamy immediately figuring it out. We saw one scene of grief. We know she’s alive, but 12 min later do does he. Now we get a rocket! In the next episode, the rocket solution may not work because of the punctured barrel. High stakes, but low stakes presentation, so what’s the point?

Overall, I liked this episode. Obviously for Kane, but Jaha, Monty, and Luna had interesting things working for them as well. The next episode is called “gimme shelter” so I’m feeling a black rain coming on as well as Clarke and Roan reaching Doctor-Tech Squad.

 I also went from writing ~1 pg to this, which is ~6 pgs, single spaced. Half of it was Kane. Shocker. I didn’t need to do a line-by-line breakdown, but they were just so packed and I had so many feelings. Sorry. No editing whatsoever was done past MS Word’s spellcheck as I wrote it. 

#4.06 #reaction post #The 100 #just my thoughts #not all of them are good ones #marcus kane #tagged because 50% of this is him #it's 3:35 am #i hate myself