An irritated, almost hostile glare could be seen from Ryuko, where she sat glowering on the couch across from a certain someone. Why Satsuki let him come over whenever the hell he wanted, she had no clue. It was the same for the other former Elite Four members, but it was more difficult dealing with his insufferable attitude.
And, of course, her dear big sister had to go out on an errand while he was visiting and leave her stuck here in the living room with him, while he kept busy on his laptop. This. Totally. Was. Not. Awkward. At all. Finally, something in the delinquent seemed to snap, as she suddenly slammed down her hands on the couch, and jerked to her feet.
“Dammit, Inumuta, if you’re gonna be here at least get your lame ass off that stupid laptop and talk to me! Jeez!”
Under the cut you will find my response to a fanmail I got recently asking my opinions on Haylijah, Klamille, and Klayley! It turned out to be pretty long and pretty meta-worthy, so I am posting it to my blog for anyone else who is curious.
For hardcore shippers/anti-shippers: know that I have good and bad things to say about all three of the pairs in question, so proceed or do not proceed accordingly!
I'm beyond flattered to have my opinion valued so highly! These are really big questions. I don't officially ship any of the three, but I do have a lot to say about all of them, as relationships and as romantic relationships in specific. I wrote a list of summaries on my feelings towards all the TO ships before the second season started, but since you're asking about three in specific, and since it was pre-season-two, I'm going to go more in-depth. That list can be found here.
Klamille: The thing that I do not like about this ship is that the writers use it as a crutch ALL THE TIME. Cami is a very sympathetic character, in that she is human and she is learning about Klaus as the audience learns about him (of course most of the audience knows even more than she does, but compared to other characters, she's the one we're to identify with) so the writers use this to TELL Klaus' character rather than SHOW it. Too many things between them could have been written more complexly, or more subtly, or just left out completely. For this reason most Klamille scenes really get on my nerves, though it's not at all the characters' fault their dialogue is poorly executed. But this relationship is very, VERY important to Klaus and to the show.
I do not think Camille was intended to be a Caroline-replacement in the same way that some of her critics do. Of course there's going to be a sympathetic, 'angelic' character in a show like this. Of course now that Klaus has his own show, a character like this will be introduced. Caroline fit a trope for Klaus' relationships on TVD, and just because Camille fills that trope on TO does not mean she is a knock-off Caroline. As to why Camille in particular is necessary, not just for the sake of the audience but for Klaus' sake, I explained her chief (to me) importance here. To sum it up, Camille is the kind of person he hopes his daughter can some day be - able to face the evil in the world and still live her life and have faith, positivity, and healthy morals. He is fascinated with Cami because he does not understand how someone could be so good amongst so much pain and evil. He does not want to necessarily learn about her for his own sake, but for his daughter's and for his role as a father, since he tried to raise Marcel to not follow in his monstrous footsteps to the best of his ability, and for the most part, he failed.
The Klamille romance never really caught me, something about their chemistry (maybe because I relate Cami/Marcel/Hope) never sat right with me. I LOVE when they are intimate/close/etc. (their hug and near kiss almost killed me, though the general dancing was ruined for me by the lazy dialogue beforehand and the cheesy closing move :( ) A romantic relationship between the two of them, in my opinion, would be wrong for both parties. I want them to share a kiss at some point, for the sake of all of the sexual tension, but if it goes any further I think the plot could suffer along with them. Klaus KNOWS he's no good for her, and she does too. There is no healthy relationship where he is concerned, and he has displayed time and time again that when it comes to Cami, her emotional health is more important to him than anything else (besides his own insecurities, but these insecurities would never spur him into romance). Also, I don't think Klaus is sexually attracted to her. He is sort of worshipfully, platonically in love with her... which mimics romance, but it is lacking. This may change in the future, but as for now, that's my non-shipper opinion. (ofc Cami is sexually attracted to Klaus, like, who wouldn't be, like his own sister can't resist *coughcoughKLEBEKCESTcoughcough*)
On the subject of Cami's infatuation, I don't think I quite covered it above like I did with Klaus'. She has said multiple times that she is drawn to the 'bad boy', and Klaus certainly fits the bill. But she is also in a prime position to sympathize with him, due to her studies in abnormal psychology. If anyone can justify away his actions, it's her. Not that she should, but it allows her to see a more open and human Klaus, and to think about 'evil' Klaus on more complex terms. Who wouldn't be infatuated with Klaus? Even after the emotional abuse? I would be pining after him too.
Haylijah: Let me preface this by saying I am pretty sure I would be a die-hard Haylijah shipper IF
hopepeacebamonslovemikaelson had written her 'Control' meta series and I had read it before the premiere of The Originals
The Hayley/Elijah deleted scenes from the pilot had NOT BEEN CUT.
I never saw Hayley as a legitimate character on TVD, and I was initially very dubious as to how she could contribute to The Originals. I thought Tonkin's acting was weak, and that Hayley was a flat character. If I had picked up on the things that Ashley had in the Control meta, I would have had a lot better impression of Hayley going into TO. (More of my feelings past and present towards Hayley/Tonkin can be found here, in the part about acting)
As it stands, I am still willing to ship Haylijah, but I feel as though I do not have enough backing it. To me, Elijah needs someone who challenges him. Hayley certainly fits that bill, but she doesn't challenge him in the way he needs to be challenged, from my perspective. Her 'in-the-moment' speech last season, and his fascination with her philosophy certainly had an effect on him, he tried to act for himself 'if I want something I take it,' but that isn't the kind of wake-up call he needs, and it has certainly worn off. Even as he says it, he doesn't mean it. It was a very interesting attempt, and one I'm glad happened, but I think Elijah needed to hear something else that night.
I absolutely adore any moments where Elijah is affectionate or tender, much more so than with Klamille, so Haylijah moments are pretty much like crack to me, even though I don't ship it.
From the current scenes, I simply cannot see Elijah falling for Hayley, or Hayley truly falling for Elijah. He is drawn to her since she is connected to his family (and therefore it is okay for him to care about her) and since she is a pregnant, single woman (if you haven't noticed Elijah's thing for knocked up brunettes, you haven't been paying attention.) What is it about Hayley - "a tomboy with a bad attitude" that Elijah loves? What is it about Elijah that Hayley loves?
To be honest, if these two met on less dramatic terms I think they would annoy the hell out of each other, and not in a romantic way. Of course they are currently in a state of annoyance with each other, but that's romantic and it is certainly fueled by drama. What I mean is, Hayley and Elijah couldn't share a home together, wake up and make breakfast together, spend the day together... I just don't see it. Like I said, I'm willing to be proven wrong, even hoping to be. But as it stands I think their chemistry and compatibility is all due to circumstance, and that is not nearly enough for me to ship something.
You were particularly curious as to why these two are attracted to one another - on Elijah's part, like I said, her circumstances are pretty irresistible to him, especially once he realizes that Klaus has no intentions towards her. For Hayley, Elijah is a knight in shining armor. She hates vampires on principle, but Elijah is just so good to her he breaks the stereotype. blakemebellamy has written a lot about pro-Haylijah points, and she covers this stuff pretty well - why Hayley, who usually goes after the charming bad boys (Klaus, Tyler) and who has never had stability, is drawn to Elijah's comforting and trustworthy (and FINE AF) gaze. She never thought she was worthy of a guy like him, but now that's she's thrown in with him, now that he shows her such tender affection... She realizes that being cared for by a gentleman is a very, very nice thing.
The scene in 2x01 where Hayley smashes the crib still stuns me to this day. It has to be my favorite scene between the two of them, because things really have changed, Hayley's right, but they both still love each other. I don't think either knows whether or not that love is still romantic, and you can see Elijah's heart breaking for her and all that she has gone through. I will forever be bitter that she walks away and doesn't stop when he calls to her, I needed to hear what he was going to say.
I would love to see this relationship develop further on the show, especially since Elijah hasn't gotten any since, oh,TVD 4x20? Maybe even before that? But also, less selfishly, I would like to see it play out so that it can be done with. As much as I am willing to become a Haylijah shipper, I do not think their roles on the show would do well as a couple, and I think the plot would suffer if they became a true item.
Klayley: Of all the ships on TO, I think people would be quick to assume that I ship them, since I reblog so much Klayley. Truth is, when I started in the fandom, I pretty much only followed Klayley blogs, and so my dash is still a bit unabalanced.
To be honest, I followed mostly-Klayley by design. I felt as though even if I was unimpressed with Tonkin and Hayley, the potential for Klaus and Hayley was too powerful to ignore. I trusted Klayley shippers to have a more in-depth view of the show. This was probably misplaced trust, but I don't regret it, not with the friends I've made because of it and all the fun times I've had picking at the edge of their fandom.
Why does Klayley have so much potential? First off, because they share a child, no duh. Also because of Hayley's position, Klaus' dual identity, their mutual struggle to find what it means to be a parent, their twin insecurities when it comes to family and trust. Plus, they have some really great chemistry. They have all the ingredients for a really moving and powerful story arc that can really set the stage for so many great stories and situations.
So why don't I ship it, if I have all these great things to say about it? it's similar to my impression of Haylijah, in that as personalities they don't quite fit (though they fit much better than Hayley and Elijah's personalities, imo) Also, since their relationship does have so much potential, so much of their dialogue is over-dramatic and poorly executed, because the writers don't consider character as heavily when writing these two together, knowing that the drama carries the scene. I'm not saying this happens in every case, certainly there are beautiful character moments between them throughout the series, but it happens often enough for me to be disappointed and roll my eyes.
Another problem I have is that, as a die-hard Klaus groupie, I want to see him with someone a little more... impressive than Hayley. She has certainly risen in the ranks of badassery and character development since the beginning of the show, I will not deny, but overall she still seems a bit underwhelming compared to the legend that is the Original Hybrid.
To be quite honest, though, I feel as though Klaus can never really have a romantic relationship that I will be satisfied with - similar to Joseph Morgan's feelings on Klaus. He's just too damaged at this point to really be able to have that with somebody. And his one true love will always, ALWAYS be Hope.
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So there it is, Klamille, Klayley, and Haylijah according to yours truly, and again, I am flabbergasted to hear that someone is so curious for my opinion! I hope I have answered your questions to your satisfaction.
