ELENA/ELIJAH APPRECIATION WEEK 2012 - DAY 1
Day 1 - First moment you started shipping Elena/Elijah?
Oh boy.
Well, I was definitely intrigued by their first meeting in 2.08 Rose. I'm a sucker for sketchy chemistry (when it's not being presented as ~true love~ and not framed as romantically acceptable) and these two had it in spades.
See? Sketchy as fuck, but also intriguing and one day I'll freaking analyze this scene until my eyes bleed, but not today.
But the defining moment where I was like YES. THIS IS MY TVD SHIP. THIS IS THE SHIP THAT I WANT. was in 2.11 By the Light of the Moon when Elijah and Elena strike their first deal. I just... PERFECTION. PERFECTION UPON MY SCREEN. 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.
Elijah: Hey gurl. Your bros tried to kill me, nbd.
Elena: The fuck?
Elijah: Surprise!
Elena: Fuck.
Elijah: Forgive the intrusion. I mean your family no harm.
Elena: Why did you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?
Elijah: Because I didn’t want you to be taken. Klaus is the most feared and hated of the originals but those that fear him are desperate for his approval. If word gets out that the doppelganger exists there’ll be a line of vampires eager to take you to him and I can’t have that.
Elena: Isn’t that exactly what you’re trying to do?
Elijah: Let’s just say that my goal is not to break the curse.
Elena: So what is your goal?
Elijah: Klaus’s obsession has made him paranoid. He’s a recluse. He trusts only those in his immediate circle.
Elena: Like you?
Elijah: Not anymore.
Elena: You don’t know where he is, do you? So you’re trying to use me to draw him out.
Elijah: Well, to do that I need you to stay put and stop trying to get yourself killed.
Elena: How do I know you’re telling the truth?
Elijah: If I wasn’t being truthful, all your family would be dead and I’d be taking you to Klaus right now. Instead, I’m here and I’m preparing to offer you a deal.
Elena: What kind of a deal?
Elena sees RIGHT THROUGH Elijah; Elijah needs her. And there's the beginning of the thought that he could be of use to her - and Elena will absolutely use people when it suits her purposes. Elena is good at reading people and she can actually read Elijah.
Elijah: Do nothing. Do nothing, live your life, stop fighting and then, when the time is right, you and I should draw out Klaus together and I should make sure your friends remain unharmed.
Elena: And then what?
Elijah: Then I kill him.
Elena: Just like that?
Elijah: Just like that. I’m a man of my word, Elena. I make a deal, I keep a deal.
Elena: How are you gonna be able to keep everybody safe?
Elijah: I notice you have a friend Bonnie, is it? She seems to possess the gift of magic. I have friends with similar gifts.
Elena: You know witches.
Elijah: Together we can protect everybody that matters to you. So do we have a deal?
Elena: I need you to do one more thing for me.
Elijah: We're negotiating now?
And it has this gorgeous moment:
Elena, after being treated pretty craptastically in this episode (and ugh anyone who says "it's for her own good"), makes a deal with Elijah, an Original who TERRIFIES her, because he offers her a way to keep everyone she loves safe. Her friends went behind her back and BY FUCK SHE DID IT TOO BUT WITH MORE FLARE AND DEVIOUSNESS THAN THEY COULD EVER HOPE TO ACHIEVE. Elena, despite being considered helpless by her friends, ended up owning her agency in this episode and doing what needed to be done, and Elijah was a huge factor in that.
So basically I started shipping them in 2.11, which was later solidified to OTP status when Elena stabbed herself to trick Elijah so that she could stab him. ♥
G_S
This entry was originally posted at Got_Swagger. Feel free to comment here or there.