Hello, class, and welcome back to Shipping 101! I decided to do this in lieu of our typical Fanfic Wednesday because sometimes a ship just comes at you like a battering ram and all you can do is let yourself be swept away. Today, we’ll be talking about my newest obsession—Bellarke.

As some of you know, I recently started watching and recapping The 100, and found myself waylaid by one of the biggest ships in the fandom. For anyone yet unfamiliar with the post-apocalyptic CW show, here’s the shipping need-to-know: Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake were born in space 97 years after radioactive bombs destroyed the remainder of humanity on earth. When the Ark can no longer sustain its population, 100 underage delinquents are sent down in a dropship to see if the earth is survivable again. Clarke and Bellamy become the de facto leaders of the group, making difficult decisions in the face of moral and ethical questions right out of Lord of the Flies or Lost. Clarke grew up as the privileged daughter of the Ark’s doctor and Senior Environmental Engineer, while Bellamy was raised by a single mother who had a second (illegal) child she was forced to hide under the floorboards of their apartment. Although they were both raised on the Ark, Bellamy and Clarke come from vastly different worlds. But hey, opposites attract, right? The two didn’t agree on anything during the first several episodes of season one, and at one point it seemed as though Bellamy wanted Clarke out of the way. But after saving each other’s lives a few times, they learned to rely on one another and became fast friends. It isn’t hard to see that they trust each other, love each other, and would die for each other. Hell, they’re more than friends. I would call it a profound bond on the brink of a slow-burn romance.

I could wax eloquently on why they are my new OTP…or I could let them say it for me.