ELENA GILBERT APPRECIATION WEEK 2012 - DAY 4
Day 4: My Favorite Elena Gilbert Ship
ELENA/ELIJAH
Elijah approaches Elena as an equal. He respects her and after their initial meeting, never talks down to her. He doesn’t take her choices away from her or try to control her. He's chill with her making her own decisions, knowing they could hurt her or him. And he understands why she makes the choices she makes, because he would make the same ones. And I think that Elena understands that, even if she can’t articulate it. I definitely believe it’s one of the reasons why Elena felt so much guilt over her actions mid season 3, because she sees in Elijah a kindred spirit.
And honestly, the equality in the Elejah relationship is possibly my favorite part of it - with all the bullshit on television where the girl is expected to sit back and let the men tell her what to do and how to think and control her every move, it’s GLORIOUS to see a relationship (not necessarily romantic - YET) where the guy is cool with the girl owning her agency and respecting the fact that she’s a human being who can make her own decisions. Those decisions may end up hurting, but I’d rather see the girl make them as opposed to being told what to do. I’m a big fan of female characters with agency and I feel that Elena owns her agency the most when she’s around Elijah.
When Elijah offered Elena the deal in season 2, I kind of melted - first from the fact that yes, that scene was tense and Elijah was a freaking troll and I’m a sucker for sketchy chemistry and OMG this all started in 2.08, but more importantly from the fact that HERE IS A VAMPIRE WHO IS RESPECTING ELENA AND IS ACCEPTS THAT SHE CAN MAKE HER OWN CHOICES. I liked the idea of it in 2.08 (HELLO SKETCHY CHEMISTRY!) but I fell in love with it after 2.11.
Yes, there’s betrayal and reneging on deals, but what matters to me is that it’s always been done by one of them in order to protect family - and that’s something that they are always going to understand about each other.
I guess, there's just this old soul connection between them. Elena and Elijah would do (and have done) ANYTHING to keep their loved ones safe (even if characters have a habit of denying Elena's agency and disregarding her wishes to keep her from following through and then blaming her afterwards), and can be downright ruthless in order to do it and I think that might be part of what draws them together. I think Elijah sees in Elena all the things he's held dear from being a human and that Elena sees in Elijah the qualities she wasn't sure a vampire could still possess.
Simply put, Elena and Elijah just get each other. And I love that about them.
I REALLY LIKE THESE TWO TOGETHER A LOT, OKAY?
AND THERE WAS THAT TIME IN 3.22 WHERE HE WAS TOTALLY COOL WITH FORCING HIS FAMILY TO GO ON THE RUN FROM A PSYCHOTIC VAMPIRE HUNTER SO ELENA COULD HAVE A CHANCE AT A HUMAN LIFE. ♥
AND NOW THERE'S POTENTIAL (in my head, at least) FOR ELENA AND ELIJAH TO JUST FUCKING SNAP AND KILL EVERYONE AND LICK THE BLOOD OFF OF EACH OTHERS' BODIES.
See also: Elena/Agency, Elena/Happiness, Elena/Exploiting The Weaknesses of Others Around Her
Oh, and my crack ship is Elena/Klaus.
Previous:
Day 1: Why I love Elena Gilbert
Day 2: My Favorite Elena Gilbert Scene(s)
Day 3: My Favorite AU Elena Gilbert Scenario(s)
This entry was originally posted at Got_Swagger. Feel free to comment here or there.