I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for the fics from Lexa’s POV that point out all of the wonderful things about Clarke. So much of the fandom is Lexa obsessed and so am I but one of my favorite things about Clexa is Lexa appreciating all of the little and big things about Clarke that are so under appreciated in cannon - her mole, her laugh, her cleverness and quick wit, the way she sticks up for her friends even when they turn their back on her. Lexa - an ethereal vision, a lesbian goddess, a warrior princess - sure. But even if it’s not said I get the feeling people see Clarke as the abrasive, clumsy bisexual protagonist, a regular girl in extraordinary circumstance, blessed by the fancy of the commander.
But Clarke’s so much more than that. It’s often the people who speak out constantly and annoyingly that are the cause for change, for movement. It might seem at times like she’s headstrong or that she’s too… normal? That she’s no one special and overstepping her position. She’s just a girl among the skaikru, anyone could have been her. But that’s also it, anyone could have been her, been the leader. But they didn’t. It’s because of what many see as Clarke’s flaws (her decisiveness, her brashness, her taking charge) that makes her a leader. She’s literally the leader because she takes on that mantle when other people would rather point fingers. If she gets points subtracted for not being a chosen one like Lexa, for not being pushed into leadership by her people then so be it. I love Clarke because she is just like everyone else in Skaikru but she dares to be more. To not be insular, to fight and take responsibility. She dares to make mistakes and understand and accept the consequences of her actions. When no one expects it of her and eventually as everyone expects of her. That’s what makes her one of the most refreshing characters on the show. And why the crumbling of her progression at the end of S4 is so heartbreaking.
I love Lexa as a character but I love Clarke too. As Lexa said, “Clarke is special.” She is because she’s an excellent skaikru and overall person, because she chooses to be.
Lexa’s other worldliness is often the focus of fanfics, but I’d just like to give kudos to the writers that emphasize Clarke’s excellence because and in spite of her flaws in whatever world the fic is set in and highlight that Lexa can see the whole field, how all of who Clarke is contributes to the valuable, irreplaceable whole, that is Clarke Griffin, the love of Lexa’s life.
Back to my original point, in fics seeing how and why they mutually fall in love with each other is what makes Clexa on a level of its own. When they show how Lexa sees all of Clarke and falls more and more in love with her, the author reaches into the truth of cannon, that Lexa sees and loves Clarke for all of her (because you’re you).
So thank you, fic writers who tell this in their writing. I’m so appreciative that I got to see that in cannon and get to see it drawn out again and again in different ways through fan fiction.
