Alright. Normally I ignore these Klamille posts but when they are blatantly false and people don’t even try to make solid arguments I need to say something. You cannot compare TVD!Klaus and TO!Klaus because these two characters are completely different. They share nearly nothing. When Klaus crossed over to TO he went from a near sociopaths, cruel manipulative genius that was always 10 steps ahead and was in Rose’s words:
Damon: He’s one of the originals, he’s a legend.
Stefan: From the first generation of vampires.
Rose: No. Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He’s a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal.
Rose: He’s your worst nightmare.
He went from a legend to a whining boy that cried every episode and threw the most ridiculous tantrums. Just because he is the protagonist does not mean he has to be a hero. The villain he was on TVD was the person that garnered the insane fan base. But they are not the same.
Caroline did see the good in Klaus she just happened to treat him the same way he treated MFG when he first came to town.
I don’t understand why Caroline being mean to Klaus is such a bad thing. I mean he came into town nearly killed her, killed Elena and Jenna, then turned Tyler into a hybrid against his will. Why shouldn’t she she treat him badly. He had done nothing to deserve any kindness.
Klaus showed absolutely no regard for any life and he was the enemy. That’s what makes their relationship so beautiful. They’re both complex independent characters that, when they intertwine, become something entirely new. However, they can exist independently to each other.
Caroline didn’t stroke his head and didn’t treat him like a wounded puppy that needed to be cuddled. When he threw something in her face she threw it right back and didn’t compromise herself or her values in order to satisfy his ego. She gave him credit but did not expect anything from him. Because he runs hot and cold. One minuet he’s playful, the next he’s threatening to kill you. That’s what makes Klaus so incredibly dangerous. He is so impulsive and yet carefully crafts out his plans and precisely follows through on them without regard to anyone. He is the master of manipulation and controls everything in his life. Or as Elijah stated:
Elijah: Klaus’ obsessions have made him paranoid. He’s a recluse. He trusts only those in his inner circle.
Not to mention Klaus and Caroline met under way different circumstances the Klaus and Camille did. He entered her life at a point when she was in a committed serious relationship with Tyler whom she was in love with.
Why would she be immediately attracted to him or immediately form a bond with him? At this point it was black and white for her.
The problem with Camille as character was that she cannot exist without Klaus. She was created to serve as a love interest and be a beacon of morality and hope. I agree, she was the moral compass of the show, but, she was a compass first and a character second. Her plot was mainly driven by the significance of her relationships to other characters, rather than having her own story. She wasn’t organic or natural, she was a prop/symbol first, and a character second.
Her existence as a therapist was a purposeful choice in order for the audience to get info dumps on Klaus, for non-viewers of TVD. They were to lazy to continue on with complex writing and instead of allowing the audience to go on a journey with the character and figure things out for themselves, and analyze him themselves, they had a character explain it to them. This was evident form their very first episode together.
She even confirmed this in her last words to him. Something along the lines of wanting to do more than fail as his therapist.
This was so obviously meant to bond them and show the audience who Klaus was instead of letting them discover it for themselves. This was the producers fault who were to lazy to proceed normally.
Not to mention she suffers form the same affliction Hayley Marshall has: Special Snowflake Syndrome. Whoever wrote this episode wanted to shove symbolism in the audience face without even an attempt at subtlety. And before all you CK fans attack me. Darkness IS NOT A FLAW.
I mean nobody from TVD would have ever said :
‘you know what, Klaus should really see a shrink and let us witness his man pain.’
Camille’s existence in most scenes was mainly a device to further the romantic plot and therefore further Klaus’ character development.
TO!Klaus is also OOC because his behavior is completely diametrical to TVD!Klaus. His fast and unexplained affection for Camille (and why it makes no sense) is shown best by this:
Klaus, in only the rarest of cases has shown affection or even affinity for humans and those are mostly historical figures such as Dickens or Magellan. Those were not random choices he favored, they were special. Not random girls he spent 5 minutes with.
Camille excused his cruelty. She believes it to be a persona he put on and a personality accumulated over 1000 years, and under all that bad at his core he is good. That is the exact opposite of who Klaus really is. Klaus is not a good man that does bad things. He is a monster that occasionally does good things. That isn’t even the problem. Klaus doesn’t have to be good. He can kill and maim and slaughter as long as it has a purpose. That’s what’s Klaus’ problem is. He condones violence without reason.
Klaus’ attitude towards Camille is made even more OOC specifically because he was so gentle with her. Klaus love is destructive, cruel, fierce and passionate and all the people he has loved he has hurt because he doesn’t know how to love any other way. He doesn’t treat the people he cares for like gentle little wildflowers.
Just look at what happened between him and his son, Marcel. Klaus can be gentle and is capable of being fiercely protective and comforting as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of his personality. His relationship with Rebekah is the best example of that.
That’s why the CK ship is so unlikely and unbelievable. I’ve always seen Klaus feelings for Camille were like Gatsby’s feelings for Daisy. Both woman represent an unobtainable ideal that he male characters believe they could obtain if they get the girl. In Gatsby’s case his obsession was for wealth and status and he wanted to achieve the American dream and become a true East Egg. With Klaus, Camille represented the unobtainable ideal of the man his family always pressured him to be.
His family always judged him criticized him and wanted him to become a person which he could not become which resulted in his feelings of inadequacy which resulted in him alienating himself from them. This was only fueled by the discovery of his heritage and him being the only hybrid in the world. His uniqueness was his true curse and while he often boasted about being the hybrid, this was a defense mechanism he used to justify his actions. He was simultaneously filled with self-loathing and extreme arrogance. If Camille saw this light in him he could construct a fantasy world in which he was accepted and loved in which his monster was not who he really was.
You can see Klaus’ pain and his desperation to be seen, if not as an equal, than as a superior. He covers self-loathing with arrogance. Camille reflected everything his family pressured him to be.
Even the apparent darkness which many CK fans claim as Camille’s flaw, I want to repeat. Darkness is not a flaw. If she didn’t have any darkness she would only be a one dimensional ‘snow white’ character. Therefore her fascination with darkness is not a flaw. So when the writers escalated this in season 3 and hyped her up to be a violent ‘smashing a beer bottle on a guy’s head’ girl she was obviously manipulated by the writers in order to make her relationship with Klaus more relatable and eventually stand out as good and healthy against the clearly dysfunctional one he had with Aurora.
Caroline darkness was a continuous trait and a part of her character arc which she had to discover, deny, live with, and then accept as a part of herself. It was a natural organic progression. She‘s good because she tries to be good. She tries to make good decisions and has to put effort in to maintain her humanity. Despite being a vampire and the blood lust that comes along with it.
Camille felt guilty and ashamed of her darkness and so did Caroline at a certain point. But the difference was that while Camille was afraid of it and ashamed that she enjoyed it, Caroline wanted to accepted that it was a part of her but denied the attraction to it. Caroline’s arc didn’t end however. She continuously overcame her darkness and made choices that defined who she was which is why Klaus and Caroline are so complementary to each other. Klaus needs to understand that he has a choice and that darkness can exist within him and he needs to make peace with his demons and co-exist with them, instead of extinguishing them. Klaus does not need to be afraid of his demons and he doesn’t need to be ashamed of them.
Camille feared that her darkness would overcome her as a vampire and would rather die than live like that. She was unable to let the darkness in for fear that it would consume her. She was unwilling to combat her own demons because she was afraid she would become what she feared most. What she had spent years talking Klaus out of. Caroline eventually learnt to embrace her darkness while Camille’s was used a prop and thrown into scenes with the thoughtlessness of throwing a dart blindfolded. Caroline darkness existed as a form of character development for herself and show her own internal struggle as well as showing her understanding of Klaus. Camille’s was used as a plot device to not only make her more relatable to Klaus and add angst into their relationship and show a different side of the pure Camille.
GENEVIEVE: You don’t think I did this? What kind of monster do you take me for? How ugly I must seem next to the pure, innocent glow of your precious Camille.
Let’s see a quote from Aurora, another one of Klaus’ love interests:
(To Klaus): “You were drawn to her under the mistaken belief that she is pure, and she tells you that people want to be good, but she’s not quite the ray of unwavering sunshine that you believe her to be. No. There is a darkness in her. Why else would she be drawn to the darkness?
Why else would she be drawn to you?
See, I might have my own imperfections, but at least I am not a fake. Whereas Cami here? Well, she’s… she’s just an illusion.”
This is an extract: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CommonMarySueTraits
and the phrase that stood out most to me:
If Mary Sue is not on screen, the characters will be talking about her anyway, giving them a chance to speak “honestly” about her. If they like her, they sing her praises; if not, they will gripe about her and thus be portrayed as evil and jealous.
Klaus love interests ranged from demented to crazy slut in order to highlight the effectiveness and purity or his love with Camille which is not only offensive to women and female characters but also is a flat meaningless prop. They couldn’t introduce a good female love interest for Klaus because they couldn’t possibly take Klaus’ view off of Camille so to add conflict they decided to use her darkness as angst without any forewarning whatsoever.
One of the biggest problems I have with Camille is her expectations of Klaus. She expects Klaus to treat her with kindness. She expects Klaus to satisfy her needs. She expects Klaus to cater to her will. When she doesn’t she throws a tantrum, as she did about her dark objects. She uses him to intimidate her guard because she has the expectation that Klaus will protect her.
That’s my biggest problem. Camille expects Klaus to make good choices and when he doesn’t she reduces it down to a psychological level and criticizes him. And as Mr. Salvatore so wisely said.
Caroline never expected anything of Klaus. He bit her and nearly killed her just to get revenge on Tyler while he was in love with her.
And she knows he’d hurt her and she knows he would kill her but does she ask him to save her no. She knows exactly what to say to get him to open up. Let down his facade. But she doesn’t ask for help or expect him to heal her because he needs to make that choice himself. Choose hatred or love. Forgiveness or revenge. He chose her.
But she never asked him because that’s the most remarkable think about them, she isn’t going to beg him to take mercy on her because he needs to do it himself. She will not compromise herself because she has enough self respect to not be around a person who acts the way he does. Klaus recognizes this in her and respects her even more for it. She’ll stand her fucking ground and tell him
“I’m not going to move. You move.”
because she won’t bother trying to be his friend or be close to him, if he doesn’t bother to meet her halfway.
This is completely opposite to Camille who keeps pushing and pushing and pushing him in a ludicrous way which results in him mostly doing things to cater to her needs for peace and good, rather than his own will.
This goodness you say Camille inspired in Klaus I believe is not goodness at all.
The goodness she inspired was more validation for good behavior.
e.g. If a kid eats his vegetables, he gets desert.
He does something good and in response he got…
… her validation and admiration in response to him doing something good. Caroline doesn’t budge a fucking inch. She knows that he did it for her that he did good things but she isn’t compromising because she understand that isn’t enough. He can’t just do good things hoping to get her affection or attention he needs to do it out of his own free will.
He is a villain that pets the dog. Does good thing to inspire an aww from the audience but Caroline stands by herself and opposite him and making it perfectly clear that she expects so much more than that. She will treat him with the exact same respect he gives others as well as her. The respect he offers all people and not those she deems worthy.
Klaus’ need to have Camilles validation is only spurred on by the fact that she’s not afraid of him and continues to show no fear. Her completely irrational trust in Klaus is ridiculous and unfounded. Klaus as I’ve stated, is not the same character we were introduced to on TVD so his interaction with Camille can only be analyzed with caution given the OOC'ness of TO!Klaus. Her lack of fear in the face of such danger is for Klaus is forced and unnatural, and an unrealistic progression of a relationship involving a violent sociopath.
Even Klaus has to an extent painted himself as the wronged hero beaten down by his enemies. TVD Klaus is completely opposite to this owning all of his history and reputation to the fullest.
So I will once again delve into the traits of Mary Sue.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RelationshipSue
A Mary Sue who exists to be the perfect mate for a specific character. (Camille is perfect for Klaus)
This character has everything in the plot conspiring to enforce this One True Pairing (How many times were they brought together unrealistically)
Gaining the canon character’s attention are qualities that the Relationship Sue almost never has. She could kill her beloved’s pet kitten and mail it back to them, and they’d still tell everyone how in love they are with her for her modesty. (Has a secret inner darkness, sleeps with Klaus’ enemy, steals the one weapon which can eliminate his entire family, therefore being partially responsible for Elijah almost dying.)
The worst situation for a canon character, however, is when at any point of the story they are made to suffer Character Derailment to become a more perfect match for a Relationship Sue (the entirety of Klaus’ character)
Anyone in the story who isn’t a possible romantic rival, if they like the character whom the Relationship Sue is having the relationship with, will like him/her, too—regardless of whether they normally would. (Elijah, Rebekah, (Lucien, Mikael, these two flirted or were rather complimentary towards her despite being her enemies))
Klaus Characterizations is argued to be a character development but given the fast unnatural pace this cannot be a valid argument, because he has a completely different personality.
Then there’s their completely irrational conversation:
I came here because you need me.
[She walks toward him despite the violent behavior she just witnessed]
CAMI: You need me to tell you that this? This is not you. And I know you are hurt, but please listen to me.
[Dahlia, having neutralizing Freya for the time being, joins Klaus and Cami in the courtyard]
CAMI: You are better than this.
Klaus: Not at all. Just another victim.
[Klaus starts to walk toward Cami, but she stands her ground]
CAMI: No, Klaus. I know you won’t hurt me. I’ve known that from the second we met.
[Klaus finally stops walking when they standing are face-to-face]
[Klaus caresses her cheek with his hand before speaking]
Klaus: Then you’re already lost.
In The face of complete danger she has an unwavering trust in him which exceeds the lengths anyone would go to and is completely polar to everything Klaus and Caroline had. This unwavering trust is not only naive and reckless but also shows how her validation continues to spur him on despite the fact that she has no good reason to trust him. Especially not since the moment they first met. What character faced with a murderous sociopath has complete faith they won’t get hurt? This just shows how the writers and producers change and alter the natural plot progression in order to make Camille the ideal mate for Klaus. She has no independence from him.
As for Caroline not seeing the good in Klaus I think this speaks for me:
No she didn’t love Klaus. She understands Klaus. She gets he has good in him but doesn’t compromise her own morals or values in order to validate him.
That’s thing about Caroline. She stands up to Klaus. She forgives but doesn’t forget. She doesn’t bow down and sighs at every sweet moment hes displays. She doesn’t budge a fucking inch and stands her ground. He shouldn’t do it for her. There’s a difference between him sparing/saving a life in order to please Camille or Care, and him going out of his way to make choices that define the goodness in him.
But you’re right about one thing. Klaus has never smiled with Caroline.
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