#if you dislike the angst of caroline becoming human again

[averseunhinged]

hi, friends! i've been unwell most of the past week, so writing's been a struggle. i woke up feeling considerably better this morning, though, and managed to unearth and clean up something from the archives.

this is another snippet of the amnesia fic from a billion months ago. i forgot how much i loved this concept, but still have no idea how it ends, so idk when it'll see the light of day again.

She was much the same as she had ever been, pretty and leggy and bright in flat sandals and a short, white sundress, a cobalt blue bikini top peeking out. Her hair was lighter, like sun bleached bone, and her skin was kissed golden, darker freckles sprayed sweetly across her nose and forehead.

"That's her," Klaus confirmed

"My associate claims there's been no sign of her mother. She still introduces herself as Caroline, but he ran into difficulty unearthing a surname or current residence."

There were so many places he wanted to take her. A summer tourist town in a remote part of Downeast Maine wasn't one of them, but she looked like she belonged there. He easily envisioned her, windswept on a sailboat, laughing in a lobster bib, perched on a rocky outcrop like a siren, while he painted her against the offing.

“How incompetent are your minions, brother, that they cannot follow one teenage, amnesiac vampire home?”

“An excellent question, one I posed to Jean-Marc. He was adamant it was through no fault of his own.” Elijah left Klaus leaning over the photographs spread out on the table and shrugged off his suit jacket before collapsing into an armchair near the unlit fireplace.  “I'm inclined to believe him. He swears there is mind magic at work. Every attempt he made at ascertaining her location ended back where it began, his memory not erased, but blurred. He described it as neither like, nor entirely unlike compulsion.”

Klaus picked up one image: Caroline at a large, bustling farmer's market. She was holding a melting, chocolate ice cream cone and laughing with a tall, handsome young man running a smoked game meat stall, as he offered her a paper napkin.

“How has this happened?" he murmured. "Rebekah, Hayley, her friends were all made to forget. It took weeks of everything seeming off-center for my own mind to break and then heal itself."

"Whereas I never forgot her, nor her mother."

"A conservation of power, perhaps. You would have had no reason to think of her if I hadn't broken free from the manipulation."

He glanced over at his brother, finding him stone-faced and grim, the angular lines only he had shared with Finn carved in gargoyle relief.

“I find I must apologize, Niklaus," he admitted, still focused somewhere beyond Klaus. "I assumed your insistence on obtaining the cure had more to do with either the manufacture of more hybrids or simple paranoia. I should not have underestimated your misgivings regarding the extent of Silas's power.”

“We all underestimated him,” Klaus admitted absently and moved to pour himself a drink. He froze halfway to the decanter and instead pointed directly at Elijah. “It could be witches. An artifact. An alchemist's creation. Any number of things. Your conclusions, however, went directly to Silas, even though he was desiccated and, if Stefan did his job, dropped down a very deep hole.”

Elijah remained silent long enough that Klaus thought he might not answer at all. In the end, he pressed his thumb and forefinger against his closed eyes, rubbed them wearily, and acquiesced. “I thought perhaps it best to wait, given that I have not confirmed it myself. Jean-Marc was asked to look for an infant vampire with remarkable control over her impulses, but so far as he has been able to ascertain, the girl is human.”

Klaus looked at her again, at the smile that always made him feel found and lost and found again. At her hands, bare of the gaudy daylight ring that had never quite matched her more understated taste in jewelry. He threw the photo back onto the table and took out his phone, finding the contact for someone he grew more and more convinced would never answer again. His fear grew as the call went to voice-mail once and then twice.

“Ripper,” he grit out the third time, crisp and vicious. “If you do not return this call with all haste, you'd best hope yourself already dead.”

With careful, delicate fingers, he replaced the phone into his pocket. The roaring in his ears made him spin with vertigo, his vision blurring out of focus. He bowed his head until his chin touched his chest.

There had been so many places he wanted to take her.

“Niklaus,” Elijah began in that calming tone Klaus had always hated.

He responded by picking up an antique mahogany chair and turning it into kindling against the far wall.

“This is my fault,” he seethed amongst the splinters. “I should never have left her there alone. To hell with her independence. I should have forced her to come with me.

“She would have hated you for it. I only spoke with her a few times, but she didn't strike me as the sort of woman who responds well to orders and subjugation.”

He laughed bitterly. “I wouldn't have heard the end of it. Yet, she would be here, furious, but alive and safely immortal. Not counting down her days, nothing more than a vessel containing some ancient witch's spell ingredient.”

“I suppose remarking on the irony won't do your temper any favors, will it?” Elijah sighed at the venomous glare Klaus leveled at him. He loosened his tie and undid the top buttons of his shirt. Unfastened his cuffs for good measure and began rolling his sleeves. “If Silas fed her the cure, he must have a way to extract it. It was too precious to him to waste on a petty revenge he assumed you would never know about.”

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

No rush, but if you're in the mood for another question: pick your one favorite and least favorite season of each of these series :) Charmed, BtVS, Angel, Friends, TVD. I know it's hard to pick just one favorite and one least favorite, so good luck ;)

Charmed

Favourite season: Season 4

What can I say about this season? It’s just brilliant. Although Prue is my favourite character, the aftermath of her death, introduction of Paige and transition to a new trio is handled brilliantly. I love the different dynamic that Paige brings to the show and how Piper and Phoebe’s worlds are completely turned upside down by losing Prue and finding Paige. I love getting to know Paige in episodes like A Knight to Remember and A Paige From the Paige, I adore seeing the process of Piper accepting Prue’s death and embracing Paige and their magic in episodes like Hell Hath No Fury and Lost and Bound. And despite the controversy surrounding the Cole/Source plot, I enjoyed Phoebe’s arc in this season with adapting to becoming the middle sister, getting married and pregnant and suffering the most life-changing, soul-destroying losses imaginable. We even got a Leo-centric episode with Saving Private Leo which finally gave us insight into Leo’s past. Season 4 is a consistently strong season in my opinion (albiet with a weak finale) and episodes like Charmed Again, Hell Hath No Fury, Charmed and Dangerous and Long Live the Queen are some of the most memorable episodes of the series for me. You can read more about why I love season 4 here.

Least favourite season: Season 8

This season is so weak. The show could’ve (and probably should’ve) ended with season 7 so the whole season suffers from a complete lack of direction. All of the characters have already gone full circle with their arcs and development so there’s nowhere new to take them. As a result, they all feel watered down. Phoebe and Paige lose all of their personality and spark, whilst Piper is reduced to a stereotype where her snark and sarcasm is taken to unnecessary levels. Billie and Christy are poor villains for the final show-down and neither actress fits within the show. They steal too much focus from the sisters and since it’s the final season this is the season that should be all about the sisters. In addition, there’s a complete lack of sisterly moments in this season, Darryl is absent and Leo is removed for a large part of the season. Not to mention, Paige and Henry and Phoebe and Coop are rushed romances established simply to give Phoebe and Paige their “happily ever after” for the season finale. Even the final episode is pretty weak. Whilst I appreciate the happy ending, it all seems cheesy and too good to be true, and it’s way too Piper-centric and lacks balance. You can read more about why season 8 is my least favourite here.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Favourite season: Season 2

This season is a solid and a really great season. We have Spike and Drusilla as the best villanous pairing in teleivision history, a brilliant two-parter with a dramatic twist in Surprise and Innocence, the Angelus arc which I never get tired of watching and a strong ending with The Becoming Part 1 and 2. For Passion alone this season deserves to take the number 1 spot, but my love for Angel/Angelus (and Bangel) only adds to how much I love the season.

Least favourite season: Season 7

Whenever I rewatch BTVS, I rarely make it through the final season. It’s just not a good season. I don’t like the direction Buffy and Spike’s relationship is taken in, I dislike the introduction of the Potential Slayers, the after-math of Willow’s dark arc is handled poorly, the Willow/Kennedy romance is rushed and completely forced, The First is a poor final villain to end the series with particularly following villains like the Mayor, Angelus, Spike and Dru. All of the supporting characters (Willow, Xander, Anya, Dawn etc.) are pushed aside and given no real arcs or development. Overall this season is completely forgettable and a very weak end to a brilliant series.

Angel

Favourite season: Season 2

Ah, it’s so hard to choose because it’s a toss-up between season 2 and 3. At this present moment, I’m going to go with season 2. I love Darla’s arc in this season and her dynamic with Angel, it’s also so satisfying to see Dru and Darla wreak havoc together. Angel gets pushed to arguably the darkest place he’s ever been (up until this point) and I love seeing him lose all faith in the world, life and humanity only to then have an epiphany where his entire perspective shifts and he gets absolute clarity. Seeing Cordy, Wes and Gunn go off on their own is great, I love their dynamic and how strong they are in this season. This is also the final season that features Kate, who I really like and think is very underrated. There’s a lot of focus on other minor characters who I love such as Lilah and Lindsey. This is also the season that we get the newest additions to Angel Investigations: Lorne and Fred. Honestly, the end of this season really lets it down for me, but the beginning and middle is so strong with Darla and Angel that it always sits near the top as my favourite season.

Least favourite season: Season 4

This probably won’t come as a surprise to any Angel fans reading this. Season 4 is undoubtedly the worst season of the series. It takes a beautiful, complex, well-developed character in Cordy and completely decimates her. Everything that she is and that fans love her for is stripped away, her agency is removed and she’s hijacked by an evil being who uses her body to commit horrendous acts. Seeing Cordy!Jasmine sleep with Connor will always make me feel physically sick. For Angel to have to witness that and endure the pain of seeing the woman he loves having sex with his adolescent son is disgusting. Overall, the treatment of Cordy and Connor in this season makes me so uncomfortable. Fred and Gunn’s relationship is dismantled to make way for Fred and Wesley, which in my opinion is by far the weaker ship. Even the appearance of Angelus and Faith later on in the season doesn’t make up for the rest of the season. Losing Cordy and Lilah are huge losses that also make this season my least favourite.

Friends

Favourite season: Season 3

This is a great season. Whilst every season of Friends is generally a mixed bag in terms of the quality of episodes, season 3 is pretty consistent. The ensemble feels at its strongest in this season and every episode gives focus to the group as a whole. Ross and Rachel’s relationship is great in this season and their break-up is genuinely heart-breaking; we have Janice this season who I find highly entertaining; Monica and Richard’s relationship which I enjoy (despite being a Mondler shipper) and of course, the chick and duck. Despite this being a sitcom, all of the characters go through genuine development in this season too. Joey gets to experience what it’s like to be on the other side of things when he falls for Kate who plays around with his feelings; Chandler navigates his first serious relationship with Janice where he has to try and overcome his fear of commitment and later deal with the hurt of their break-up; Monica deals with the loss of her first great love in Richard and has to reconsider what she wants from her future; Rachel progresses in her career and tries to establish her own identity and independence for the first time; Ross has to face up to the damage his relationship with Carol has done to him in regards to his jealousy and insecurity. It’s rare that we see character development like this in a sitcom, but season 3 is definitley a strong season for this. There are so many golden episodes from this season: TOW No One’s Ready, TOW the Flashback, TOW the Football and TOW the Morning After.

Least favourite season: Season 9

Lets get this straight, there’s no such thing as a bad season of Friends, however, this is the weasest season in my opinion. I don’t like Chandler’s move to Tulsa, the direction Ross and Rachel’s relationship takes, how Rachel’s feelings for Joey are handled and the two parter TO in Barbados is my least favourite season finale, I really, really don’t like those episodes. I also find that there are quite a lot of episodes in this season that are just plain bad and not funny like TOW the Sharks, TOW Phoebe’s rats and TOW Monica sings just to name a few. Overall, there’s not a single season 9 episode that I could name as being a favourite or even coming close to being on my top favourite episodes list.

The Vampire Diaries

Favourite season: Season 3

This is an easy choice for me (although season 2 is a very close second). I love season 3. It’s the season of the Originals and for that reason I can’t do anything else but love it. Klaus is the best villain and feels like a genuinely terrifying threat to the gang. The overall plot across the season is tight and well executed. Despite my dislike for the triangle, it’s handled amazingly in this season and it’s the only season where I can genuinely appreciate the triangle and the dynamics within it. As a Stelena shipper, I live for the angst between Stefan and Elena in this season and adore every single scene they have together. I also love Stefan’s arc with him being forced to become Klaus’ side-kick to save Damon and then being compelled to turn off his humanity despite how hard he fights against that. It’s a great season for Stefan’s character and shows the complexity of him better than the previous two seasons. Elena is also at her best in this season. Her strength and resillience really shines through and in this season she stops feeling like a by-stander and like someone that’s taking charge of her life and getting shit done. Alaric’s arc is dark and heart-breaking. Caroline and Tyler are strong in this season and they’re one of my favourite TVD ships. However, Klaus and Caroline’s dynamic is intruiging and brings a new flavour to the show. And although I never wanted Elena to become a vampire, the season finale is fantastic and a very strong ending to a brilliant season.

Least favourite season (note that I haven’t watched seasons 7 and 8): Season 5

Urgh, this season is just the worst. It totally retcons the mythology and history of the show with making Stefan a doppelganger. As much as I love Paul’s acting, Silas is such a crappy character. The Travellers are pointless; Damon and Elena’s on-again-off-again relationship is tiresome, the Augustine plot goes no where; the switch from high school to college is bumpy; Stefan is completely sidelined by awful writing choices; the best character on the show (Katherine) is done a huge disservice and her exit from the show is pitiful; Bonnie suffers once again (surprise, surprise); the introduction of Nadia just doesn’t work; there’s stupid scenes and episodes that are present for the sole reason of baiting Stelena shippers (5x04 and 5x18) and the finale is completely dumb. There’s not a single thing I like about this season.

Thanks for asking, lovely!