#Anti TO Klaus

[hurricanejane]

Klaus could've gotten sober in a skirt, STEVE.

[sublimeinal-messages]

I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but you’re not a bad person for seeking happiness after the abuse you suffered, and your life has value just by existing. Full stop. No negotiation. You do not need to atone for the ‘crime’ of being born

[queenbonniebennett]

✨STUNNING✨

[laurrelise]

rip to all the people who discovered tua because of season 4 and only heard how terrible it was and never watched the first three amazing, wonderful, well-written seasons because they knew the finale would be a letdown

[thewalrusespublicist]

Hello! Love your blog and your takes, objective and sane and well researched chefs kiss! I had a blast scrolling through it like it was my feed yesterday lol can you elaborate on klaus and Paul if possible? People mostly talk about them like it’s already understood but I don’t understand 😭 I’m kinda lost on their (all of them, including stu) dynamic during the hamburg years specifically when it comes to Paul

Aww thank you anon! Tbh I was starting to feel a bit down about my blog and what I was putting out ( the eternal crisis on how to give full answers and opinions without being stupid, boring and annoying lol). So I really, really needed this. :)

Oh Paul vs/and the Exsis, it's quite a long one so buckle up.

Disclaimer: all of the people involved are essentially art kids/young adults who are famously the most exhausting people on the planet. Do not blame them for being dramatic, it's their natural state of being.

If we want to go into Paul and Klaus, we have to kind of start with the John, Paul and Stu. Now these three are a mess that's too big to go into here (though I have THOUGHTS about how Stu is utilised in the Beatles narrative that I'm more than happy to share if asked lmaooo). But in short(ish):

John and Paul had had an intense year and a bit of closeness. Then John meets Stu at art college.

John and Stu become c l o s e for many reasons (being peers, living together, similar artistic leanings + ego, Stu being a gentle guide to John, sharing art projects/poetry/long letters and feelings etc.) They became 'closer than two men' a friend had seen (remind us of anyone gang?). Most importantly, John could be open about his feelings with Stu in letters. If John had BPD which I subscribe too, I think Stu was his 'favourite person' and as Aunt Mimi said his 'special' and 'closest friend' from this period up until his death (though imho the transference back to Paul was starting prior to his death).

It's not clear what exactly happens as there's differing accounts but Stu uses his money to buy a new bass as John wants him to come to Scotland then Hamburg and play bass as he will 'look good'.

Paul doesen't like being relegated to the seat behind John and Stu when he used to sit next to John. He also isn't thrilled when he gets to Hamburg and not only does he get to sleep in the other room with just Pete but Stu cannot be arsed to play because he's hanging out with his hot new girlfriend Astrid (more on her in a sec). Our boy has spent a lot of money he doesen't have and given up on further education to be here and is jealous and annoyed.

Paul and Stu probably were friends and I think their mutual antipathy is overegged. HOWEVER, can't be denied that Paul is jealous of Stu and Stu is jealous of Paul (and getting flare-ups from increasing brain damage). John and Stu tease Paul and steal his money, Paul is mean to Stu (as are the others encouraged by John). Do I think John was playing games with both of them? Yup. They end up scuffling onstage because Paul said something about Astrid (not clear what, one account is that Paul said that Stu could borrow money off Astrid if he needed it which isn't really that bad a dig but who knows Yoko??).

Why is this dynamic important? Because it directly impacts the 'Exsis' (Klaus, Jurgen and Astrid's) group's relationship with Paul:

The Exsis were young artists living in Hamburg. They were artistic, cool, interesting and edgy. They were paramount in introducing the Beatles to cool new concepts, aesthetics and ideas. They also took themselves VERY seriously ie pretentious as all hell.

Astrid met Stu at Kaiserkeller and hit it off. They embarked on an all-consuming romance.

Letter from Stu to Astrid, c.1961

I've seen people say they were the proto-John and Yoko in terms of making their romance the whole world and influencing John years down the line and I can see that. With Astrid and Stu it's far more endearing though because they ARE young and the right age to have a relationship like that. Stu is popular with the Exsis in general and brings them into the Beatles group.

The Exsis didn't like or trust Paul. Astrid said later it was because Paul was 'too nice' which she herself admits is a ridiculous reason. The others also thought he was a bit of a show-off. It makes sense though if you're cool and edgy and want to stick it to the world to be sus about a guy being friendly show-off with seemingly no inner world. The other problem was a perfectly reasonable one imo, you're not going to like your friends frenemy who you don't connect with. Compound that with Paul not taking drugs as much as George or John and being in the other room and you begin to have a division.

Paul had been popular his whole life, like from what we know since-primary-school-popular. He had never been in this position before, let alone in a foreign country. I believe it became a bit of a brutal feedback loop. Paul's response to this type of behaviour consistently it to go more surface level, snide and passive aggressive. The natural response of any group with a designated 'ugh' person is to become more shady and exclusionary. The cycle continues and gets worse. Stu letters back home at this time says that in a shocking turn of events Paul is hated by everyone but Stu 'just feels sorry for him' (lmao OF COURSE you do Stu, its giving 'loathing' from Wicked lol). Klaus drew a lot of artwork of the early Hamburg Beatles that includes this highly unpleasant picture of Paul in 1961 which I think says a lot:

Klaus is also a musician and fancies himself a place on bass. When Stu leaves to pursue art, Klaus asks John if he could take over but John says that he thinks Paul is going to do it.

Klaus has later gone on to say that he thinks he was a better bass player for the Beatles' sound at the start and then Paul developed into being better for the group. It's one of those I cannot believe those words actually left your mouth and you are not deeply embarrased moments. But it's important to keep this desire and viewpoint in mind.

Klaus stays in touch with all of them and close to John and George, George especially. They visit Klaus on holiday in tenerife in early 60s and Klaus later draws the Revolver artwork.

This whole context of how they met and Hamburg is crucial and has to be taken into account when hearing Klaus' statements. Klaus and Paul started off with a lack of connection and with Paul on the outs, the Exsis got an incomplete view of Paul and an inaccurate snapshot of the Beatles dynamic overall. This is why when Klaus says 'Paul was always slightly apart from the others' and that 'divorce was inevitable' from early 60s we should remember that that is what Klaus is expecting to see as that's what he saw in Hamburg.

Klaus wanted to be the bass player (and was holding out hope to join a band with George and John in the 70s), was really close with George and suffers as many did with 'John Lennon aspiring boy bestie syndrome' (JABBS). Paul had what Klaus wanted and from the Hamburg experience, you could see why Klaus thought he might have an in and may have been jealous of this 'shallow' Paul of all people having the connection that he felt he should/could have with John and George. As with most sufferers of JABBS, he took John's side with everything, always refused to say any regrets about his involvement in How do you Sleep and thought Paul was fine with the song because 'he was even closer to John than [he] was. (Again Klaus to put yourself in that level of closeness with John that it's comparable to Paul is ???.) JABBS and its secondary condition PMIETGSH (Paul McCartney isn't even that good shut up) are virulent diseases that incapacitate sufferers objectivity and judgement, so it's fair to say that Klaus is a source you have to take with a pinch of salt on the early 70s period.

It seems that Klaus and Paul did get on a lot better the older they got (probably without the jealousy complication of George and John) and developed a sweet friendship. Here is Klaus' tribute to Paul for his 80th:

Here is the jam session he's talking about:

He now wants Paul to live in his house lmao so things have gotten warmer. But Klaus and Paul's dynamic is a great example of how and why natural bias, little jealousies and spats can consciously or subconsciously influence our internal narrative and why we need to be so careful about not taking one perspective as gospel.

[pinkhysteria]

"Actually, where is Mr. Saltzman? Oh, that's right... I killed him."

[andreal831]

Who's Responsible for the Monster Klaus Became? (I'll give you a hint, it's Klaus)

It's a question as old as time (or at least as old as the show): Who should be blamed for Klaus' actions because surely it cannot be Klaus? Should it be Rebekah for wanting to seek her own life? Should it be Kol for planning to kill him? What about his son, Marcel, for taking his city? His parents for cursing him? I've heard all of these, but the most common one I hear is, of course, Elijah.

I'm referencing a specific discussion, but it's one I've heard many times. We should not feel any sympathy for Elijah because he is the reason Klaus became evil, and then abused everyone he ever encountered. Not only should we blame Elijah for Klaus turning evil, but we need to blame him for all of the abuse everyone suffered at Klaus' hands. Elijah is the true evil of the show, despite Klaus naming himself as such.

The argument starts as such: Klaus was a perfect person before Elijah helped Esther and Mikael suppress his wolf side which made him turn evil. We are conveniently going to skip over the SA on Tatia at the festival. He's just a product of the time, I guess. And then to top it off, while Klaus was being perfect (despite the catalyst event they claimed caused him to go evil had already occurred), Elijah vindictively made Aurora break his heart, turning him into the complete evil person he was. Although, we cannot call him evil. We have to continue to say, "no one is born evil, they are just broken." Removing all accountability from a thousand year old man.

However, there is a fatal flaw with this argument. If we are saying that betraying someone and breaking their heart shifts the responsibility from one character to another and removes any sympathy, this should first have been used to protect Elijah from any blame.

The entirety of The Originals originates with Klaus taking his kid brother to watch the wolves turn, despite knowing better. During this event, Henrik is killed. Now, I don't blame Klaus, but if we are blaming characters for all of the unforeseen consequences of their actions, we would have to blame him. Because of Henrik's death, Esther and Mikael turn their children into vampires. As we all know, Klaus kills someone, triggers his werewolf curse, and goes on a killing spree in their town, leaving Elijah to clean up the mess as he does. But that doesn't make Klaus evil, the murders were all an accident, I guess. Based on the lack of blood on Elijah's clothes, it doesn't seem like Elijah even took the time to feed himself (an assumption, but still). Leading to Elijah losing control and killing his love, Tatia. All of this happened in a short period of time. So when their abusive parents bring up the idea of binding Klaus' werewolf side, I don't blame Elijah for going along. Even still, we see that he does so reluctantly. He saw his brother's body, which had been torn apart by wolves, and then watched his brother turn into one of those wolves and kill people they grew up with. Even after all of this, he still stood by his brother's side, not from guilt, but out of love. He comforts his brother who is covered in the blood of their neighbors.

But this is really where the logic really falls apart. Sure, maybe we argue that binding the werewolf side sent him off the rails, but let's not forget the people he killed in his village before that happened. And I'm pretty sure hybrids can control their werewolf side...

Before we even get into Aurora breaking his heart, we see Klaus and Aurora killing in such savage ways (with the rest of the family, minus Finn), that Mikael has found them. We don't really know who was doing it, but we see Aurora and Klaus taking joy in it. Do you know how much chaos/savagery they must have caused for Mikael to have gotten word before modern technology?? They were on a completely different continent than when they first started running from him. So I'd argue that Klaus was already pretty evil at this point.

The other argument is that Elijah lied to Klaus and broke his heart because of Aurora, causing Klaus to spiral. But who lied and broke whose heart first? Elijah and Rebekah made a vow of "always and forever" to Klaus based on a lie and a huge deceit. That Mikael killed Esther. This to me is the moment Klaus loses touch with his humanity. He is so ashamed by what he's done, he lies to the people closest to him. At the end of the day, Esther was still their mother and Klaus killed her in cold blood. He is so traumatized by this, he puts her body in a coffin and carries her with him for centuries!! No matter what she did, he still feared his siblings would not forgive him. So he lied, causing them to run for their lives with him.

So again, who lied and broke whose heart first?

It is not until Elijah accidentally compels Aurora to tell him what she knows that Elijah finds out about the lie. And in his heartbreak he compels Aurora. His actions are spurred on by Klaus' betrayal. And now, don't get me wrong, I blame Elijah and believe Aurora has every right to be angry at Elijah for those actions. But if we are trying to use this logic I laid out above, Elijah shouldn't be held responsible because Klaus made him that way. Klaus lied and betrayed him, breaking his heart, so Elijah had no choice but to become evil and do evil things.

This is why this logic is bad. There can always be some event or person who "caused" a character to act that way. It's called their lore. But that does not erase who they are and what they do. It does not excuse it or shift the blame.

Klaus ruins countless lives after this, doing far worse than what was done to him, and we don't see those people turn evil. Rebekah is abused by him for a thousand years and doesn't come close. But according to Klaus stans, all of their pain is just a "side effect" of Klaus' actions and Klaus can't help that. It's not like he's a grown man or anything. People have trauma, but it doesn't mean they get to do whatever they want. They are still held responsible for the person that trauma turns them into.

Also this person tried to argue that Klaus' actions weren't responsible for Elijah because of intent. Klaus didn't do anything intending to hurt Elijah, whereas Elijah acted in every way to hurt Klaus and only stayed by him out of guilt. This is just a gross misrepresentation of both of their characters. Elijah regretted his actions so much that he literally erased them from his memory. And yes, I do think part of his toxic devotion comes from guilt, but even when his guilt has faded, he does not waver from his love of his brother. Klaus is the one that weaponizes the guilt anytime he thinks Elijah may choose a different path.

Honestly, I don't get how people enjoy TO with this logic. It ruins all of the complexity of stanning the villain or liking morally grey characters. If you want to love a villain, love a villain. Don't try to turn them into a defenseless teddy bear who can't be helped for his own actions.

[anewkindofme]

Kol is such a baby in this scene and I love him for it. Clearly, Klaus can't resist how adorable he is either.

Another reason to resent Julie, because imagine if The Originals was actually about the family becoming whole again...

[stelenasfav]

just got to season 4 of my tvd rewatch. i hate damon and his stupid sirebond. forever a damon and delena hater

[sxnshxnxxnddxxsxxs]

sometimes i just think about bonnie bennett

and how she was never intended to be black. her equivalent character in the vampire diaries novels is white and the only reason she’s black is that the producers of tvd told julie plec that she couldn’t have an all white cast. yet bonnie bennett is the embodiment of the magical negro trope, she’s probably one of the best examples of it in 21st century television. and it just makes me wonder what bonnie bennett would be like if she got the storyline julie plec would have given her had she been white. both joseph morgan and ian somerhalder argued for bonnie to get a romance plot with their characters. i personally would have liked a subplot of kol teaching bonnie magic in tvd season 3 and 4 perhaps with a romantic plot within it. but the symbolism of kol who was taught magic by ayana being the first person who teach bonnie since her grams died and teaching her all these ancient bennett spells from his childhood is something that i think just made so much sense for both their characters.

sometimes i just think about bonnie bennett and who she would be without julie plec’s racism.

oh and this is everyone’s reminder that stefan and damon had nothing to do with the confederacy in the vampire diaries novels they were just 500 year old dudes from italy. the whole mystic falls confederacy lore is entirely of julie plec’s own making.

[themoonandthedogstar]

You’re telling me Hayley “set up the deaths of 12 people to get information on a family she thinks abandoned her” Marshall and Freya “has sacrificed children for a family she’s known for a year” Mikaelson raised Hope and she became a martyr?! I don’t believe it sorry 😭

[dumbblondesposts]

[hyperactivewhore]

People who actually think Tyler cheated on Caroline with Hayley drive me insane.

It's 2024, people. Hayley was the only one clearly interested, Tyler looked uncomfortable as hell anytime she flirted with him and she was the one who didn't understand boundaries. Tyler adored Caroline, and Caroline adored him, until Hayley and Klaus ruined their relationship.

Like, I'm pretty sure Klaus was the one who slept with Hayley, the girl he thought Tyler had been unfaithful with on the girl he was currently in love with.

[klaysexual]

My daughter has an advantage Klaus never had, she will never ever know you.

THE ORIGINALS | A Closer Walk With Thee (1.20)

[wearesociety]

one of klaus’ redeeming quality was how much he hated damon. he was always on that man’s neck. he treated him like the dirt on his shoes and i had to stan just because of that!!!!! like the amount of times damon would offer himself in place of stefan to be his ripper buddy and klaus would be so disgusted. it reminds me of how bonnie hated him in the earlier season. no one has ever hated damon like klaus and bonnie have. we had to stan the smartest tvd characters.

[queenbonniebennett]

These two live in my head rent free😌