Disclaimery Stuff: I own nothing, all rights to their respective owners. I don’t normally write fanfic so this might be total shit. Also, I haven’t written a book form story in like 5 years (since my book was published) only scripts so my tenses might be completely off. If so, maybe be nice and don’t point it out unless it really fucks with the story.

So basically I got all inspired by Daniel Gillies wish to have the Originals in a spinoff that involved them as like mafia in New York. I started writing that story except too much exposition was having to happen about how they left Mystic Falls. Which I would have left out except Caroline is with the Originals and I felt like there needed to be reasons for why she left which meant there needed to be reasons to get the Originals out alive. Which is all to say that the prologue ended up really damn long and I wrote it in random pieces and then got tired of writing Bonnie scenes because I’m really not a Bonnie fan and this isn’t the Mystic Falls story. So that’s why there’s a fair amount of exposition to start things off. It’s also why all the scenes include at least Caroline or an Original or both. Once the chapters start, you’ll see more Elijah and Rebekah.

We’re about two months past the events of “All My Children” (which means time moves really slow in my version of this world). Tyler returned and apologized to Caroline again, asking for another chance. Caroline forgave Tyler but chose Klaus, to the Original hybrid’s shock and unbridled joy.

It turned out that a witch transitioning into a vampire was more difficult than anyone had anticipated. The whole balance of nature meant there was in essence a war within one’s self. Abby wasn’t strong enough to survive the changes and died a few days later. Elena did her best to respect Bonnie’s request for privacy, though she found small ways to try and tell Bonnie that she cared. It wasn’t enough. With Abby’s death, something in Bonnie finally snapped.

She found her own spell in the Martins’ collection of grimoires that allowed her to access the power of her ancestors. Esther learned of this and secretly returned to Mystic Falls with Finn and offered her assistance to Bonnie if she would help her kill her children. Bonnie told Esther in no uncertain terms that Esther started this mess when she created the vampires in the first place. Bonnie had no faith that Esther would get it right this time. Then Bonnie channeled her ancestors and ripped Esther’s heart out without even touching her.

Finn fled and found Elijah, telling him what happened. Finn has since disappeared, while Elijah tracked down Kol and returned to Mystic Falls. The Originals have kept an eye on the situation, making sure Elena is safe as the doppelganger, but until a couple days ago, stayed uninvolved. However, Rebekah has since learned that Bonnie has the remainder of the white oak, so it’s only a matter of time before they get involved.

Over the last few weeks, Bonnie has been on a rampage, killing hybrids and other vampires. Her additional power has allowed her to intensify the pain of the aneurysms she can send to a supernatural brain. Bonnie hits the hybrids over and over with the pain until their heads literally explode. Klaus is annoyed by all this as one might expect, but he’s also so infatuated with Caroline that he’s adopted a “don’t give a shit” attitude for the most part. Once he learns what Rebekah knows, everyone is hoping that will get him involved, so that there might be a chance of taking down Bonnie.

Elena and Caroline know that Bonnie needs to be stopped, but because they haven’t seen her in action, haven’t realized just how off the reservation she’s gone. They don’t realize that the Bonnie they used to know is gone, completely shut off. That’s all about to change, as Bonnie is using Tyler to show her former friends just how serious she is about ridding the world of vampires, hybrids and werewolves, and restoring the balance of nature.

Still, a lot of discussion and planning has happened as Bonnie’s been on her witch rampage. The need to stop her is there. Leading to the following culmination of events.

~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~

Outside Caroline’s House

Bonnie shoved Tyler to the ground in front of her in disgust. It didn’t take but the smallest effort to send searing pain to his brain over and over again. Tyler’s body contorted as he screamed, begging Bonnie to stop.

Elena and Caroline raced out of the house and skidded to a stop in horror.

“Bonnie, stop it!” screamed Caroline. “Stop hurting him!”

Bonnie leaned towards Tyler, who whimpered in agony. “Do you want it to stop, Tyler?” she asked. “Do you want me to take the pain away?”

“Please,” begged Tyler, his voice breaking.

Elena sprinted off the steps towards Tyler, terrified of what she saw in her former best friend’s eyes. “Bonnie, no!” yelled Elena.

She wasn’t fast enough. It was over in a matter of seconds. Bonnie surged her power at Tyler’s brain, sending aneurysms so fast, his brain explodes, just like the other hybrids. Elena fell to the ground beside Tyler in tears. Caroline was at her side in an instant, cradling Tyler’s now lifeless body in her arms.

“What the hell is wrong with?” Caroline screamed at Bonnie. “Tyler was your friend! He never hurt you.”

Bonnie’s lips twisted in disgust. “He’s one of them. So are you.”

“Oh give it up, Bonnie,” snapped Elena. “You’re a witch. You’re one of them too.”

“I told you,” said Bonnie, eyes glittering with anger. “The world doesn’t need vampires or hybrids. They don’t belong here. And if you support them, I will take you out.”

“So you’ll just keep killing all of your friends?” asked Caroline, horrified at just how far Bonnie was willing to go.

Elena shook her head in disgust.

“This is your fault, Elena,” yelled Bonnie. She wasn’t about to let Elena think she was better than her.

“My fault?! How the hell is this my fault?”

“You had to get involved with vampires. If you hadn’t started dating Stefan, none of the last two years would’ve happened.”

“Bonnie,” interrupted Caroline. “Elena didn’t…”

“Don’t Caroline,” snapped Elena. “I’ve got this.” Elena turned on Bonnie. The Petrova fire was nearly spitting sparks, Elena was so furious. “I was born the doppelganger, Bonnie! I didn’t choose to be the key in a thousand year old curse. And don’t even try pulling that on me. You were born a witch! Your own mother knew about me and never bothered to tell you, but you’re going to blame me for her death?!”

“She died because of you!” screamed Bonnie. “Because you had to be saved.”

“She died because she picked the wrong side. It’s that fucking simple,” yelled Elena. “We were both born into supernatural destinies over a thousand years old and your mother picked the side of an evil witch. Don’t you dare try and put that on me.”

Caroline stood and joined Elena. “And what about you, Bonnie? You keep saying vampires are your enemy but you’ve got a lot of blame to carry for me being a vampire.”

“Excuse me?!” Bonnie was furious.

“You left that device spelled, which put me in the accident, you made Damon give me blood and you told Katherine about it!” Caroline spat the words with venom. “That’s on you, Bonnie. Not Elena.”

Bonnie started screaming back at them as Elena moved a hand to wipe tears from her eyes. What had happened to them? How could everything have possibly become so messed up? She was tired. Tired of fighting yet another battle every two seconds, tired of worrying about who might come after her next. She looked down at Tyler, whose dead eyes still registered his fear and shuddered.

“Enough,” said Elena wearily. “Can’t it all be enough?” She reached towards the girl who had been her best friend for 17 years. “Bonnie, we’ve all been through so much this year. You can stop this. We can figure out how to move on. We have to find a way to get past this.”

Bonnie slapped Elena’s hand out of the way. “I don’t want to move on, Elena. I sure as hell don’t want your forgiveness. I want it over.”  As she finished speaking, Bonnie sent a surge at Caroline’s brain, causing the young vampire to collapse on the ground. Bonnie pulled out a stake and lunged at Caroline.

Elena flew at Bonnie, fighting to get the stake away. Bonnie slams her elbow into Elena’s face, sending her flying backwards. She adjusted her grip on the stake and reached for Caroline, who was still struggling to fight against the constant pain in her head. Bonnie had the point of the stake pushed through Caroline’s skin when she flew backwards as though hit by a train. When she recovered, both Elena and Caroline were gone.

Caroline’s head stopped pounding as soon as Bonnie’s concentration had been broken but it took her a few minutes to register that it was Kol who was running with her in one arm and Elena in the other. “Kol,” she said weakly.

Kol stopped instantly, unceremoniously dumping both girls to the ground. “You are constant trouble,” he remarked, a characteristic smirk on his face.

“Excuse me for not wanting to believe my best friend would actually try to kill me,” huffed Caroline, recovering quickly. She wanted to smack the grin off Kol’s face. “What were you doing there anyway? I thought the Originals were staying out of ‘the commoners problem’ as you so insultingly put it.”

Kol sighed. “I was trying. But if you die, then Nik will start brooding again. I hate when he’s moody,” complained Kol. Over the centuries, he’d seen enough of his brother’s moods to be sick of them. “He’s always slaughtering villages or going to war when he loses a favorite toy.”

Caroline chose to sidestep the personal insult. “You don’t like killing people?” she asked in disbelief.

“I love killing people,” replied Kol, with a grin so malicious it made Caroline take a step back. “The look in their eyes when you finally break them, when they look at you and see death…it’s better than the blood itself.”

Caroline shuddered. Just when she thought Kol was showing signs of normalcy. Next to her, Elena was beginning to wake up.

Kol continued, “But my god you have no idea how depressing mindless slaughter can be. It’s no fun if you can’t hear them beg. The Livonian war was such a bore. The Inquisition though…that was a good time.” Kol smiled at the memory before moving on. “So as you can see, saving you keeps my brother interesting. Which in turn is in my best interest.”

Elena had come to and clearly heard the last of Kol’s speech. She focused on the part that mattered most. “If you’re going to be helpful, could you get Klaus on board? I want the people I care about, at least those who are left, to be kept safe. I can’t do that on my own.” She didn’t add that she knew how obvious that last part was.

Kol glanced at Elena as she rose to her feet. “Does your offer still stand?”

Elena nodded. “One pint of doppelganger blood every month, as long as I live. And I won’t suddenly pull a Katherine.”

“Then I’ll get Nik to agree to your terms. After today’s events, I doubt I’ll need to persuade him.” Kol turned to Caroline. “Get Elena to the Salvatores. I need to talk to Nik.”

Caroline hesitated.

“What is it, Caroline?” asked an exasperated Kol. His willingness to help only went so far.

“Since when is that the safest place to be?” retorted Caroline. Kol might give her the creeps but she wasn’t going to let him be a constant ass.

“Since Elijah arrived there an hour ago. Trust me, Nik may play hard to get but the rest of us returned once Beks called to tell us Bonnie had found the white oak tree. At least what was left of it.” Kol was done explaining. He needed to kill someone, anyone, to work off his energy. “Go,” he snarled, ending the conversation.

Caroline looped an arm around Elena and sped off. Kol headed towards the Grill. He needed a bite to eat before facing his older brother.

~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~

Mikaelson Home: Living Room

Klaus looked up from his sketchpad as Kol walked into the room. He’d heard him storm into the house a moment earlier and was curious as to what had brought his brother back to Mystic Falls.

“Elijah’s at the Salvatores with Rebekah. I told him we’d be there within the hour.” Kol wasn’t interested in wasting time. Far too much was at stake.

“I thought I made myself clear several weeks ago,” snapped Klaus. “I have no interest in making deals with the doppelganger or her little band of incompetents.”

“That little witch has the remains of the white oak,” returned Kol.

Klaus didn’t even look up. “She’ll be dead before she ever gets close enough to use it.”

“Perhaps not. Apparently this venture into evil has given the witch more confidence. And with it more skill. We need a plan, Nik.” Kol ripped the sketchbook out of his brother’s hands, determined to make sure he understood the gravity of the situation.

“Get out.” Klaus’ voice was low and quiet, in a tone that did not invite argument.

Kol wasn’t finished. “Bonnie tried to kill Caroline today.”

That got Klaus’ attention, just as Kol knew it would. Klaus growled, snapping his teeth in rage. “Where is she?”

“Caroline’s at the Salvatores,” replied Kol.

“No,” clarified Klaus. “That witch. I’ll see her in pieces before this day is over.”

“You can’t. Rebekah already tried. It seems Bonnie has used some of the white oak ash to cast a protective spell. We can’t touch her.” Kol bared his own fangs at this, unable to hide his own desire to rip the witch’s throat out. “Sorry, Nik, but it seems we need Elena’s help after all.”

“Fine.” Klaus rose to his feet. “Kol?”

“Yes?”

“I want you to protect Caroline. Keep her out of harm’s way.”

“She’s a vampire, Nik,” complained Kol. “She doesn’t need a constant bodyguard.”

Klaus stared down his brother. “I wasn’t asking Kol. Don’t let her get hurt.”

Kol turned towards his brother. “Just how important is Caroline, Nik?”

Klaus glared at Kol. “Very.”

“Not enough. If I’m to put my life on the line to protect her, I want a scale. Caroline or Anastasia?” Kol asked, referring to Anastasia Romanovna. Klaus had loved the original tsaritsa more than anyone had thought possible. Though she refused to choose Niklaus outright, the two had carried on a secret affair until her death. Kol had assumed that Anastasia was just a passing fancy and not blinked an eye at the danger she’d been in until it was too late. Kol had hated the decades after that as Nik spend every day antagonizing the war efforts of Anastasia’s husband. Even for an Original vampire, a quarter of a century was a long time to waste on getting over a lover. Kol wanted to know just how much Caroline mattered to Nik.

Klaus responded without hesitation. “Caroline.” He watched the shock in his brother’s eyes, though Kol quickly recovered. “I gave Anastasia’s bracelet to Caroline,” he added, as a way to insure his brother knew how much the young vampire meant to him.

“I’ll look out for her,” promised Kol. He left immediately, determined to make sure that this time, the woman his brother loved, stayed alive long enough to love him back.

~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~

Bonnie’s Home

Bonnie paced across her living room, furious that a vampire had gotten the jump on her earlier. The white oak ash spell she had created protected her but it had to be activated to be useful. Caroline was so young, Bonnie hadn’t bothered with the extra protection. And now she would have to work harder to bring the vampires down. For a brief moment, Bonnie considered the fact that it was Caroline, a girl who had been her best friend for years that she was trying to kill. But only for a moment. Caroline made her choices, Bonnie would make hers. This was war. And in war, one can’t afford friends.

~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~

Salvatore House: Library

Stefan threw his glass into the wall in frustration. For several hours now they’d been discussing how to defeat Bonnie. Klaus wanted to use force. If they all came at her at once, surely one could kill her. Damon agreed with that plan, as did Rebekah. No surprise on that front. Of course, none of them were listening to the fact that Bonnie’s spell prevented all vampires from getting to her, not just one. “We’re getting nowhere,” he remarked. “Witches talk about that balance of nature bullshit all the time. That means there has to be a way to beat Bonnie.”

Elijah looked at Stefan with disgust. Outbursts did nothing to help the situation. “What would you suggest, Stefan?”

“Find a way to stop the spell,” answered the younger Salvatore.

“And then what?” Damon interrupted with a raise of his eyebrows. “She can still make your head explode.”

“Damon’s right,” noted Caroline. “Bonnie would have killed me today if Kol hadn’t shown up and the white oak spell wasn’t even in effect.”

“Besides, who’s to say she won’t reactivate the spell right after we stop it?” interjected Rebekah, rolling her eyes at the Salvatore boys. Unlike them, she’d already encountered that very problem with Bonnie.

“Then you find a solution,” snapped Stefan.

Elena spoke up. “We have to block Bonnie’s ability to cast the spell in the first place. She’s channeling the energies of nature to make it work. The only way is to block the spell.”

“That doesn’t solve all of our problems,” said Damon, though he said it more gently. He and Elena were still working through their issues but he was trying to be gracious.

“If we can block the spell, then we just have to distract Bonnie long enough for one of the Originals to get to her,” explained Elena. “As long as Bonnie is focused on us, she won’t be able to have time to get rid of the block and reactivate the spell.”

“A sneak attack before the full on force,” observed Kol. “Sounds good to me.”

“One problem,” interrupted Alaric, who had been quietly whittling stakes in the corner. “We still don’t know what blocks a witch’s spell.”

“Chrysoberyl.” Elijah spoke from his chair by the fire and the others silenced. As the elder Original, he observed before making judgment, seeking the best course of action. “According to our mother’s grimoires, a witch’s spell can be blocked with a chrysoberyl gemstone.” He glanced at the confused faces of the others. “Cat’s eye.”

“The problem,” noted Klaus with no small amount of frustration in his own voice, “is that Bonnie will notice if we simply start throwing a cat’s eye gemstone at her. It has to get past the spell to start blocking it.”

“And none of us can get to her,” groaned Damon. “We’re back to square one.”

“I can get to Bonnie,” said a voice in the doorway.

Everyone turned to see Matt standing at the edge of the room, a solemn look on his face. “Bonnie believes I want to stay out of this entire mess. If I ask her for protection from the rest of you, she’ll give it to me. That will allow me to get close enough to stop her.”

Elena walked over to Matt and slipped her hand in his. She knew how much this hurt Matt. He had hoped his friends would work things out. None of them had expected things to come to this. “Are you sure, Matt? You realize what you’re agreeing to?”

Matt nodded. “I don’t like this supernatural stuff. But I’m in it. Closing my eyes doesn’t make it go away. Which means I have to do something about it.”

“You’re okay to help kill one of your best friends?” asked Rebekah in disbelief.

“No,” answered Matt. “But Bonnie’s made it clear that she’s not backing down. So the way I see it, I lose one friend, or I lose everyone. And in a way, we’ve already lost Bonnie.”

“Then it’s agreed,” said Elijah. “Thank you, Matt.”

Matt joined the others in the living room as they worked out exactly how everything would work out. Within another hour, the plan was set. By this time tomorrow, Bonnie would be dead.

~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~

Salvatore House: Front Yard

Klaus followed Caroline out the door of the Salvatores. Rebekah was still bickering with Kol in the driveway so the two walked further away. Vampire hearing or not, Caroline at least preferred the illusion of privacy. Klaus stopped in front of her, not sure how to proceed. They hadn’t had a moment alone since he’d learned that Bonnie was trying to kill her.

“Caroline love,” said Klaus hesitantly. “Are you certain you’re well?”

Caroline smiled. There was something so touching about how gentle Klaus was with her; when he never let his guard down around anyone else. “I’m fine.”

Klaus was unconvinced.

“I promise, Klaus. I’m fine,” reassured Caroline. She wasn’t, not really. It wasn’t exactly easy to get over one’s best friend trying to kill you but physically she felt perfectly fine.

“When Kol told me…” Klaus barely choked the words out. His eyes darkened with rage yet again.

“I know.” Caroline stepped closer to the original and clasped his hands in hers. “But we have bigger things to worry about now.”

Klaus frowned. “I’ll send Kol to watch out for Matt.”

“Like I’d trust Kol to look out for Matt” huffed Caroline. The last time Kol and Matt were alone, Kol had crushed the human’s hand. Neither man had forgotten the incident.

“Different circumstances, sweetheart,” returned Klaus. Kol knew better than to screw this up.

Caroline sighed. “I’m still going, Klaus. This is my life and these are my friends. I’m not leaving them alone.”

“I want you safe,” snapped Klaus. As far as he was concerned, the other citizens of Mystic Falls could die. Caroline, and Elena for her blood, were the only people Klaus worried about. He might be helping but it didn’t mean he wanted to lose Caroline.

Caroline yanked her hands from Klaus and stepped back. “I can’t believe you,” she ranted at him. “You’re as bad as Damon and Stefan.”

“What’s wrong with trying to protect you?!”

“It’s not your decision! You can’t control my life.” Caroline was furious. How could Klaus not see that she needed to be a part of this? No matter how much it hurt to plan to kill her former best friend, she couldn’t let it happen second hand. Caroline took a deep breath. “I chose you, Klaus. I. Chose. You. But you don’t own me.”

“She has a point,” interrupted Kol. He & Rebekah stood a few feet away from the two of them.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. She’d been assigned to guard Alaric while they picked up several cats-eye stones. Elijah had found an owner in a small town a couple hours away with just a few phone calls. Rebekah was not happy being relegated to bodyguard and she made no attempt to hide the fact.

Klaus snarled at Kol, not appreciating the interruption.

“Oh shut up, Nik,” drawled Kol. “I’ll be there to look out for Caroline.”

“Because that’s reassuring,” muttered Caroline.

Rebekah and Klaus smirked.

Kol rolled his eyes. “She’s guarding Matt, Nik. The one person Bonnie isn’t trying to kill. And I’m guarding Caroline.”

“That has to be enough, Klaus,” added Caroline, willing him to understand.

“You’ll keep her safe, Kol?” asked Klaus, an unspoken threat in his tone.

“I said yes, Nik. Move on.” Kol didn’t care enough to keep pushing the issue.

Alaric pulled up at that moment and Rebekah hopped in the car. Kol took off as soon as they left, assuring Caroline he would be at Matt’s later that evening.

Klaus reached for Caroline’s hand, pulling her back to him in the afternoon sunlight. “There’s something else we need to talk about love.”

Caroline looked up at him, slightly puzzled.

“Elena’s deal means my family leaves town,” clarified Klaus. “That includes me.”

“I know,” said Caroline quietly. “I heard the deal.”

Klaus didn’t speak. He was afraid to ask what that meant for them.

“I chose you,” noted Caroline firmly. “You, Klaus. I never expected to stay in Mystic Falls forever.” She gripped the edges of his jacket in her hands and pulled him close, kissing him softly. “I’ll go where you go.”

Klaus stared at Caroline for a long moment. He’d been amazed a few weeks ago when she had chosen him over Tyler, saying she would give him a chance to prove that the love he professed was real. Yet when he had made the deal with Elena earlier, he was certain that meant losing Caroline. Unable to speak, Klaus slipped one arm around Caroline’s waist, holding her close, and weaved his other hand in her hair, kissing her passionately. For now, having her in his arms was all he needed from the world.

~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~

Mikaelson Home

Klaus sank into a chair in the living room after leaving Caroline. She was going to spend a few hours with Elena before heading to Matt’s. Elijah and Kol had already made it back home. Elijah sat in a chair near the fire while Kol lay sprawled on the couch.

“Rebekah hasn’t returned?” asked Klaus.

“She’s within an hour’s drive,” replied Elijah.

“An hour by her standards or the human’s?” joked Kol, knowing his sister’s reckless nature behind a wheel.

“The human’s,” answered Elijah with a slight smile. He took a sip of his whisky. We have a few things to discuss as a family.”

“Such as?” Klaus was curious as to what Elijah wanted in this move. Their family was leaving Mystic Falls, no one had discussed what that entailed. Klaus’ siblings weren’t as angry with him since it had turned out he did a good thing by killing their mother so long ago, even if it didn’t stick. But he wasn’t sure that meant being a real family. After all, they were only back now because Bonnie had become a legitimate threat.

“I am uninterested in seeing this family scatter yet again,” said Elijah. “We are stronger united. I would prefer we stay that way.”

“I’m in if everyone else is,” said Kol. “But are we going to do anything fun? This will be the first time that we’re all together and not on the run.”

Klaus agreed with Kol. They were Originals after all. Drinking at a small town bar every day didn’t suit his fancy.

“There were times when we controlled much of the supernatural world,” stated Elijah. “I should like to see us regain that control.”

Kol perked up at this. Whenever Elijah started his “we need to be The Family, The Originals” speech; that meant Kol got to play with the latest forms of torture. Not that most modern forms interested him. Hot iron was so much more interesting than chemical cocktails.

“And just where do you plan on accomplishing this?” Rebekah walked in and shoved Kol’s legs aside, sitting down in the vacated space.

Kol threw his book at her. “Brat.”

“Oh shut up, Kol,” retorted Rebekah. “No one asked you to open your mouth.”

“And no one ever has to ask you either,” cracked Kol.

“Enough,” said Elijah firmly and Rebekah’s hand froze in mid air as she refrained from slapping Kol. Elijah continued. “I believe New York will be the best fit. Though some travel will be necessary to insure the full reach of our control.”

Rebekah smiled. New York meant she could finally shop at decent stores again. It also meant parties with her brothers and no end of mischief. Even a bossy Elijah couldn’t completely stop her fun in New York.

“We’ll need a home,” stated Klaus. “Offices. Business enterprises.”

“I’ve already secured everything we need,” said Elijah. “I didn’t spend the last few weeks on a walkabout.”

“You knew we’d be leaving?” asked Rebekah.

“Eventually.” Elijah had actually been the one to give Elena the ideas for the terms of her deal but he saw no need to share that with Klaus. Both brothers were still struggling to trust the other.

“Will Caroline be joining us?” asked Kol.

Rebekah groaned. The baby vampire annoyed her.

“Cheer up Beks,” laughed Kol. “At least it’s not Elena.”

“Bite your tongue, Kol,” snapped Rebekah. “That blonde bitch has some good taste, I’ll give her that.”

“Rebekah,” said Klaus with a warning in his voice.

“Oh don’t start, Nik. I won’t try to kill her and I’ll accept that she’s coming but I’m not going to be nice about it.” Rebekah folded her arms in a huff.

“Fine,” said Klaus, exasperated. “Elijah if you need help with any other arrangements, let me know. I’ll have several hybrids begin packing our belongings for the move.

Elijah nodded. So long as their family was in agreement, the other details could be worked out later.

~                             ~                             ~                             ~                             ~

Matt’s House

Caroline sat in a chair on Matt’s porch while Kol leaned against the railing. Everything had to come together tomorrow and they were on guard duty until then.

“Why did you back me up earlier?” asked Caroline. Klaus had tried to insist that she stay away from the danger with Kol to watch out for her. She had adamantly refused of course. While her choice had been made, she still cared too much about Matt not to look out for him. But she hadn’t expected Kol to take her side.

Kol turned to study Caroline before answering. “I knew you’d be here anyway. It seemed to make more sense to be certain Nik understood that then sneaking off and fighting with him later.” That wasn’t the only reason but Kol wasn’t the type to give extra information if he wasn’t asked.

Unfortunately for Kol, Caroline was the type to ask. “I don’t believe you. You fought for my right to be a part of this. It wasn’t about making a point. Why?”

“Because no matter how much Nik may want to keep you safe, you deserve to make these decisions for yourself. It’s your right,” said Kol.

Caroline couldn’t hide her shock.

Kol shrugged. “Look, I know I’m an ass. I’ve been one for a long time and I don’t really plan on changing that. But if my brother is going to fall in love with you, he has to allow you to be yourself. Everyone deserves that right.”

“Thank you, Kol,” said Caroline softly. She never would have guessed that would come out of Kol’s mouth.

“Besides,” he added, “you chose him.”

“What?” asked Caroline, confused again.

“You chose my brother,” clarified Kol. “He’s loved very few people, especially romantically, and not one ever chose him. He’s never been anyone’s first choice. But you made him yours.” Kol paused, realizing that this might be the only time he got the answer to why Caroline was different. “My turn to ask why. Why pick Klaus?”

Caroline smiled, remembering the look in Klaus’ eyes when she told him she was choosing him. “I told Klaus if he wanted me to care about him, let alone care for him, he had to earn it.”

“The diamonds weren’t enough,” laughed Kol.

Caroline shook her head. “Not with things. I wanted honesty, someone to connect to. I want someone who understands me.”

“And Nik does?”

“He’s trying,” answered Caroline. “For now, that’s enough.”

Kol accepted her answer silently. Perhaps there was more to Caroline than he’d first thought. Caroline didn’t seem to be waiting for a response from him. She was playing with the bracelet around her wrist, a small smile on her lips. Kol waited a moment before sitting in a chair next to her. The two sat quietly, each lost in their own thoughts, as Matt slept inside the house.

~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~

Outside the Witch House

Elijah and Damon watched, hidden in the trees as Bonnie set up her protective spell outside the witch house. She was here nearly every day so this had seemed the best place to attack her.

Damon whispered so low only a vampire could hear. “Why don’t we just kill her now? Before she sets up the spell?”

Elijah sighed. “Her reflexes have been heightened with the extra magic and she carries white oak stakes, Damon. I’m not going to end up dead because I was impatient.”

“We have the element of surprise,” hissed Damon.

“Fine,” returned Elijah. “Then you go give it a try. She probably won’t think anything odd of you attacking her after she went after Elena yesterday. Test her.”

Damon had a moment of thinking better of his idea but he didn’t like the way Elijah was clearly mocking him. He moved away from Elijah so as not to attract attention and then rushed at Bonnie from the edge of the woods.

Bonnie barely glanced up. 20 feet away from her, Damon keeled over in agonizing pain before Bonnie used an unseen force to slam him into a tree. “Really, Damon?” asked Bonnie.

“You went after Elena,” groaned Damon.

“And I’ll go after her again. As long as she’s on your side,” returned Bonnie. “But I appreciate you stopping by. Now I don’t have to find you to kill you.” She took a step towards him and at that moment, from across the clearing, Stefan broke a branch. He stayed hidden but it was enough to distract Bonnie from immobilizing Damon.

Damon sped away to the safety of the woods and found Elijah. “Don’t say it,” he muttered.

Elijah merely smirked. If Stefan was here that meant Elena was with him. Elijah listened closely as the rest of the group reached their places along the edge of the clearing. They formed a circle, surrounding Bonnie, with the witch house behind her. The plan kept Bonnie outside but they already had contingencies in case Bonnie made it into the house. She could burn in it just as the other witches had. Rebekah and Alaric were there, Klaus stood alone and finally Kol, Caroline and Matt were in place. It was time.

Matt turned to Kol. “Do it,” he whispered. He knew Kol was far too happy about his role in this but they had to sell it to Bonnie. Kol gleefully took Matt’s arm and snapped it in two, then punched him to get a good welt going. Matt stifled a groan as Caroline looked away. She didn’t like seeing him  hurt, no matter how necessary.

Matt took a deep breath, used his good hand to check that the cats-eyes were still there, and took off running down the path to the house. “Bonnie!” he yelled, the pain from his arm making him sound desperate.

Bonnie turned. “Matt? Matt what happened?”

“Kol,” choked out Matt. “He was waiting for me this morning. I threw the ash at him like you told me but I don’t think it’s going to last.” Matt grimaced and held his arm, trying not to pass out from the pain. “You have to help me Bonnie. He’ll kill me.”

As Matt was convincing Bonnie to help him, Kol let Caroline throw a small bit of white oak ash at him. Klaus had only had a bit left but the effects were similar to vervain. It burned Kol and made him the slightest bit slower than normal. He was still fast though, and quickly flashed over to the clearing.

“Well, well, Matt.” Kol grinned maliciously. “One pathetic teenage witch isn’t going to stop me from ripping that arm clean off.”

Bonnie recited her spell quickly and a circle of small white flames sprang up around her. “Stay close, Matt,” said Bonnie, pulling him towards her and into the circle.

That was it. Stefan, Damon and Caroline flew out of the woods at Bonnie. The flames kept the Originals out but they weren’t Originals.

Bonnie hit each of them with a succession of aneurysms, causing all three vampires to collapse, a few feet from the circle.

The split second distraction was all Matt needed. He slipped the stones into the bag at Bonnie’s side and jumped outside the circle.

Rebekah came racing in from the woods, looped an arm around Matt, dragging him to safety, before returning to the fight.

In the few seconds that took Rebekah, Elijah and Klaus joined Kol, facing down Bonnie. “Our turn,” growled Kol, as Rebekah returned.

Bonnie smiled. “You can’t reach me. And I still have the stakes that can kill you.”

The Originals moved as one towards Bonnie. Kol darted in a hairsbreadth ahead of the others and Bonnie gasped as she realized her spell had been blocked.

Bonnie grabbed a stake at her side and spun at Kol, sliding the stake into his ribcage.

Kol screamed in agony and stumbled out of the circle. His skin started burning where the stake sat.

Elena and Alaric knew their cue and raced towards Kol. Elena quickly pulled the stake out and tossed it aside while Alaric handed Kol a blood bag. The two watched to see who needed them next.

The other Originals rushed at Bonnie, whose attention was also focused on keeping Caroline and the Salvatores on the ground in pain so they couldn’t reach her. It was almost enough distraction.

Bonnie threw the spelled white oak ash at Elijah and Klaus, momentarily disabling them, though Klaus’ hybrid nature was letting him fight it faster.

Rebekah used the moment to sink her teeth into Bonnie’s neck but she wasn’t fast enough. Bonnie had another stake in hand and jammed it upwards into Rebekah’s neck.

Bonnie stood in the midst of her circle, her power pushed to the limits as she tried to keep each supernatural at bay. Alaric had reached Rebekah and removed the stake but the female Original was unconscious. She wouldn’t be able to help them for some time.

Bonnie increased the power of the aneurysms at her former friends while Elijah and Klaus fought against the spell. They had almost had her. Another few seconds of a distraction was all that it would take to bring Bonnie down and they were out of players.

A disturbing smile crept over Bonnie’s features. “You can’t win,” she gloated. “I belong here. A servant of nature. You’re an abomination.”

As she spoke, a blur flew from the woods and to everyone’s shock, Katherine stood in front of Bonnie. She didn’t hesitate as she slammed a knife into Bonnie’s stomach. “I hate witches,” snarked Katherine. “So judgmental.”

Klaus saw the opening he needed. As Bonnie summoned up enough energy to throw Katherine away from her, he leaped at her. Klaus’s fangs came out and he bit on the girl’s throat, ripping her life away in less time than it took Bonnie to form a scream.

~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~                      ~

Klaus’ Bedroom

Klaus was resting after the day’s events in his room. The Originals had disposed of Bonnie’s body and burned the witch house to the ground. The cats-eyes were sunk deep into the soil under the ashes, to prevent other witches from accessing the power of the dead witches in the future.

Alaric & Elena had taken care of the others. Stefan and Damon were at their home, regaining their strength, while Elena and Caroline stayed at the hospital with Matt until he was released from surgery.

Klaus could tell that Caroline needed to be with her friends, to mourn the loss of another friend. So he had gone home with his family, none of whom were particularly bothered by the day’s events. They’d won after all and this wasn’t the first time a witch had been out of control in the last millennium. Bonnie had come closer to killing them than anyone else in a very long time though, so there was a sense of heightened awareness. Security would be important at their new home.

So it was puzzlement that Klaus looked up when he heard a noise at his door.

Caroline stood there, her eyes red from crying. She tried to explain why she was there but couldn’t figure out the words without bursting into tears again.

Klaus moved the quilt on his bed to the side, offering Caroline a refuge. He could tell that words of comfort weren’t what she needed, though he wasn’t sure exactly what she did need.

Caroline silently crawled into bed next to Klaus, resting her head on his chest.

He pulled Caroline close and wrapped the blanket around her as he leaned back into the pillows.

Caroline held onto him tightly and began to softly cry. For the first time in several days, she began to feel like her life would someday be whole again. She didn’t need soothing words. She needed Klaus.

Now I’m certainly not saying I’m perfect at being on Elena’s cheer squad. I’m not. I get frustrated with Elena too. I noted in this week’s SBH reaction post that I think Elena needs to take ownership of the fact that her actions keep her friends and family involved in her life. Yes, they have to acknowledge that they make their own choices but the people who love you don’t leave you. So as long as Elena’s choosing to stay in Mystic Falls and have a life involving the supernatural, she is, though inadvertently, putting her loved ones in danger. I want some acknowledgment of that. I don’t need Elena to be guilt ridden about it. Acknowledge, accept, move on.

I was going to follow that comment with the issue of Elena’s “magical golden vagina”. Oh I joke about this one a lot. However as I think about it, I’m going to do my best to stop that. See, when it comes to the guys who are interested in her, we have a bunch of vampires who are intertwined with doppelgangers in ways we haven’t even begun to explore. @CindyMcLennan did an amazing job of getting into this in an older recap of hers. So while I don’t doubt genuine feelings, I think there is something deeper pulling the Salvatores towards love for Elena. (I feel like there is a filthy joke there somewhere and I’m missing it). And of course Elijah’s affection for Elena is explained by this as well. That led me to say okay but what about everyone else always jumping to save Elena? Where’s the reversal? But it’s right there. Elena works just as hard to save the people she cares about. She’ll martyr herself, stab a knife in her gut, throw herself in front of a stake and walk into a house of bloodthirsty vampires to save the people she loves. This isn’t a girl who says you save me and I’ll wish you well. She fights with everything she has for the people she loves.

This week’s episode, “All My Children” brought with it even more criticism of Elena, especially when she came to Caroline’s to see Bonnie after Abby was turned. I heard a number of comments about Elena making it all about her. But how exactly? Elena found out that one of her best friends was hurting and came to see what she could do. If it was supposed to be about Bonnie’s pain, not Elena’s concern, then Bonnie could get off her ass, come to the door and MAKE IT ABOUT HER. Two days ago Bonnie didn’t give a shit about Abby and now she’s blaming Elena for this? Bullshit. And just for a moment, let’s go further on that one. Elena also gets told that Bonnie was hurt because she was trying to help Elena. Really? Really?! *It’s time for REALLY with Melissa*.  Really Bonnie? You were trying to help Elena by meeting with an all powerful thousand year old witch who had already tried to kill Elena (and more of you) a few weeks ago? And really? You were trying to help your friend when you freely chose to let this same witch channel the ancestral power of your entire family line? Really?! You walked up to Esther, said sure, suck my power away for a spell that I don’t even know the full effects of, but that’s Elena’s fault? Really?! And finally, you decide that the woman who abandoned you with no explanation and who has the personality of a dead fish, is the person you love and so you can’t go to the door and explain to Elena that you’re hurt by yourself? You have to stick Caroline in the middle? REALLY?! Shut up, Bonnie.

I’m honestly at a loss ya’ll. I have no way to explain how it is that Elena trying to comfort a friend, a friend who walked into the entire mess in the first place, yet somehow it’s her fault. Truly, I’m baffled. Let’s go a little deeper for a moment though. After all, Elena is the doppelganger and chooses to date vampires so she is putting herself at risk. And as I mentioned above, that puts her friends at risk. But here to, Bonnie doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Bonnie was born a witch. And not just any witch, a Bennett witch who’s lineage can be traced right back to the Originals and the first Petrova. Caroline has a right to be pissed at her friends for screwing her over. The Forbes (as far as we know) don’t have any such history. Hell Caroline can blame her entire vampire existence on Bonnie. SOMETHING SHE’S NEVER DONE DESPITE BONNIE BEING A BITCH TO HER. Even when Elena & Bonnie were born, their parents had already set things in motion. We’ve learned that they knew Elena was the doppelganger (there’s a reveal I want answers to) and it was Abby, Bonnie’s own mother, who entombed Mikael. Neither Bonnie nor Elena ever really had a choice in this. The supernatural was always going to find them. ALWAYS.

This is already getting on in length but I’m afraid I’m just getting started. Like I said, I had some severe issues with the “All My Children” episode on a number of levels. But I’ve had this Elena defense in the works for a while. So let’s talk about some of the main issues people bring up. I’ve already covered the magical doppelganger appeal so we can ignore that one. There’s the people always get hurt trying to help Elena argument, so I’ll look at whether we can say Elena’s suffered as well. (I don’t know how people can ask that question, in all honesty). There’s the Elena makes stupid plans and is an idiot idea. We have the issue where she’s supposedly stringing on both Salvatores. If I missed any issues, I’m sorry but I feel like that’s enough to get started with.

First up, how has Elena suffered compared to her friends? In the case of Elena’s friends, I’m going to use Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Matt & Jeremy. The other supernatural people own their actions, as do the adults in the town. Even Alaric is quite adamant that he makes his decisions on his own. Okay so Jeremy has lost both his parents, two girlfriends and his aunt in about a year and a half. Two years if we’re being insanely generous with the time line. He’s also been killed a couple times, treated like a blood bag by Katherine and learned how to chop off a hybrid’s head. He also learned how to be a cheating dick but that was all Jeremy. Caroline has lost her father and become a vampire. She was compelled, abused and essentially raped by Damon for several months, she was kidnapped to be used in a sacrifice ritual and then her boyfriend tried to kill her. She was shot in the face, kidnapped and tortured by werewolves. Her parents have both hated her at different times and her father tortured her in a dungeon. Tyler learned he had a werewolf gene, was manipulated into turning into a werewolf, lost his father and uncle, was turned into a hybrid, learned he had no free will of his own and thus few friends. His ex-girlfriend died and the other isn’t exactly thrilled with him since he nearly killed her dad and nearly killed her. Bonnie lost her grandmother, was cheated on by her boyfriend, nearly killed by Damon and I won’t even count the Klaus “battle” because Bonnie faked the whole thing. So that’s Elena’s friends. Clearly, life hasn’t been easy.

Let’s move to Elena now. How’s her life been? Well she starts by losing both of her parents. She then gets to see a couple people die in front of her. She sleeps with her vampire boyfriend for the first time only to discover that she looks exactly like his ex-girlfriend, the love of his life. She’s kidnapped a total of 6 times so far in the series (if my memory is correct). She finds out her biological parents are a psychotic vampire ex-wife of her history teacher and good friend and the uncle she’s always hated. That uncle/dad gives up his life to save her just as they were beginning to find a relationship. Her mother kidnaps her and sets herself on fire in front of Elena. Her brother was killed. Her aunt was killed. She kills her newest guardian to save him. She sends her brother away to keep him safe, leaving her alone. She offers herself as a sacrifice to save her friends. She stabs herself with a knife to protect her friends. Her boyfriend becomes a bloodthirsty killer, attacking her friends and then kidnapping her and threatening to throw her off a bridge and turn her into a vampire. She’s attacked by an original vampire then a ghost tries to kill her. She was killed in a ritual sacrifice. Call me crazy, but I’m thinking Elena’s got some serious balls just to get out of bed in the morning. Elena is constantly suffering and a damn lot of that isn’t from any decisions she’s made. It’s from the adults in her life completely fucking her over.

Next up is whether or not Elena’s plans ever work. Let’s see, she learned that a centuries old, all-powerful vampire was coming after her and would use her friends in a sacrifice ritual so she left town and offered herself separately, in an attempt to keep her friends safe. Which was working just fine until Damon showed up and screwed it up. Now I’m not saying a death wish is a good thing, but Elena’s plan made sense based on her knowledge of the situation and was working. She’s also resourceful as hell when put in danger. Elena runs to caves where no vampires are allowed, finds the sunlight, daggers Original vampires and breaks chairs into stakes to face down other vampires. There’s also that time she stabbed a vampire with a pencil like a badass. She slips away to the masquerade after everyone’s tried to shut her out of a plan, which turns out to be a good thing since she was linked to Katherine in the first place. Her plan with Elijah is to make a deal to keep her loved ones safe no matter what they do to him. Which Elijah agrees to and does. She cuts deals with original vampires, manipulating them so that she’s not completely screwed over. Do her plans always work? Hell no. But I find it hard to find the time where they don’t work because of Elena. She’s not the one screwing it up.

Is Elena stringing along both Salvatore brothers? Though I think this particular problem stems more from the question of is Elena stringing along Damon. Well Elena started dating a cute guy named Stefan who turned out to be a vampire. She was hit on in creepy ways by his older brother, who she kept telling to take a hike. Then Elena found out that she was the exact twin of the boys past love, Katherine. Still, she and Stefan worked out their issues. Season one continued with Elena and Stefan together and happy. She began to become friends with Damon and he started to fall for her. Season two established Elena as firmly dating Stefan, as she told Damon in no uncertain terms that she would always choose Stefan. While there were a lot of struggles, Damon and Elena held a tenuous friendship that through various circumstances grew stronger, though Elena never showed any signs of reciprocating his affections. Stefan and Elena broke up as Elena needed a semblance of normalcy in her life but she soon discovered that she was fucked on that front regardless of her boyfriend choices. For the remainder of the second season, Elena and Stefan were together, while Damon’s love grew. Elena did acknowledge Damon’s feelings but she was very clear about her love for Stefan. Then Stefan sacrificed his own life to save his brother and left as a ripper with Klaus.

I think this is where people find things start getting tricky. Over the last season, Elena and Damon have grown much closer. She trusts him, not just in a fight but in day to day life. And she has developed feelings for him. I feel like that was evident when she told Stefan that she kissed Damon. It wasn’t just about taking ownership of her actions, it was taking ownership of her emotions. Elena knows herself well enough to know that she wouldn’t just kiss Damon for the hell of it. There are feelings to deal with. Yet, Elena’s actions haven’t implied in any way that she’s moved on past Stefan. She’s spent most of the third season fighting to get Stefan back. Not always back to her but back to himself. She’s fought to get him to find his humanity and overcome the bloodlust, to be a better man. And I feel like Damon’s been overlooking that. Or trying to overlook it. I think he hears Elena say that they’ll have to let Stefan go, but he ignores the fact that her actions are completely different. Elena’s not over Stefan and to be honest, why would she be? They never had a true breakup or a real fight. Stefan left in a sacrificial way. That doesn’t give a girl closure. Another issue that Damon likes to bring up is that he’s not going to be Stefan. Elena’s never asked him to be. What she’s made clear is that there are acceptable ways to behave around her and there are unacceptable ways. And lashing out because he’s pissed off isn’t acceptable. Now Damon’s getting a bit smarter and lashing out in very pointed ways but he still reacts emotionally. And yes, Elena takes him to task a bit more than necessary but my bigger issue is that he lets her. Sorry Damon but if you want to call Elena a tease, you have to stop bending over backwards to do whatever she asks.

There are issues to be dealt with in the triangle that’s certain. Issues that I could go into with a different post. But in this case, I don’t agree with the idea that Elena’s been stringing either of the boys, but especially Damon, along. Her actions and words have shown a developing love for Damon but a true love for Stefan. That could change down the road of course. But where we are now is not a Katherine situation. I just can’t see justification for Elena stringing along the boys. And I think she’s still learning how to fully differentiate her relationship with Damon from that with Stefan. Give the girl time. She’s only 18 after all.

So because this is now 4 pages long and I want to get back to writing my Originals story, which makes me so much happier, let’s wrap this up. As you can see by the rest of the post, I’m a pretty big fan of Elena. I think she’s strong, compassionate and tough, more so than anyone gives her credit for. So maybe the next time we start to yell at Elena, let’s take some time to consider all she’s been through and just how far she’s come.

Car Sharking

That's on-deck wine. Also Laurie speaks the words of my soul.

Oh and then there were lots of interviews from Daniel Gillies today (which normally would make me nervous and it sort of still does but Zach’s been doing a lot of interviews and Matt’s still alive so maybe Elijah will last until a spinoff too). But he made mention of how he envisions a spinoff of being sort of Originals as like this ultimate Mafia family. Which I think would be epic. Actually, it would be beyond epic. So plese, please, please can we get an Originals spinoff up in here?!

Um let’s see what else happened that was fun today? Oh that’s right, the list of artists for the Hunger Games soundtrack (which is not the same as the score, to be announced later) was released and for the most part its a pretty kickass list. It is missing some Florence & the Machine though because her entire album would be perfect for the movie. Not a ton of squee but a little. Now I’m going to start sending out Portrait assignments (been kind of behind on that one and not kind of) and watching Grey’s. I’m up to the “Into You Like a Train” episode which is one of my favorites. I feel like this is the episode where the show really came together and got all the pieces working as a cohesive group. It’ll be a highlight of my S2 rewatch recap.

Also, I need all of the Originals to stick around. Well maybe not Finn except in flashbacks because he’s trying to kill Elijah and Klaus and Rebekah whom I love and Kol who I’m starting to love. But all the rest have to be in the show. And sometimes Caroline can go on trips with Klaus. Or Stefan during his ripper days.

Dan & Blair kissed! No, I have not seen the episode yet. I didn’t care. I read a couple recaps, looked up the kiss on youtube, told Serena to suck it and then just keep replaying the moment. To say I’m ecstatic does not even begin to describe it. Like you know how ya’ll Damon/Elena fans have been begging for something to happen that puts all those feelings out there? And then there was the kiss and yeah there’s been some obstacles since and they haven’t gotten a relationship, but its out there and has to be dealt with instead of some giant not-really-secret? That’s been me with Dan & Blair. I don’t need them together right away, in fact that wouldn’t make total sense to me but I did need something to happen to force Dan’s feelings out in the open so that he and Blair would have to address them. AND SHE TOTALLY KISSED HIM BACK!

Recappies: (That’s not a word. In case you weren’t sure).

Offcolor-TV is basically my recap home so you should just hang out there forever. Seriously, its the best. Anyway my final Once Upon a Time recap is up (and if you are upset that I’m not recapping it anymore, where were your comments the last few weeks? *crickets* Yeah, that’s what I thought) plus because apparently the CW isn’t coming in on digital channels in Boise anymore (stupid) I can’t cover Hart of Dixie for a couple weeks. So instead, @offcolortv is doing a fantabulous job and of course appropriately swooning over Wade and adoring Lemon & Lavon in her recap. As it should be. @Dayna_Barter had a pretty kickass recap of Smash, a show I’m really enjoying and the best part of the day is @hockeybychoice’s weekly gif recap full of delicious goodness. Be sure to read them all.

If you’re like me, you have a need to react to Vampire Diaries over the weekend and analyze during the week. If you haven’t checked out the following recaps yet, you really should. By the way, these are the recappers that I always recommend because I think they do the best job and have slightly different angles in their approach. @CindyMcLennan of Television Without Pity is great at analyzing the why behind actions or mythology and her more recent trick of letting the characters do some of the recapping has been highly entertaining. I almost enjoy Damon/Elena/Stefan more this way. @offcolortv is seriously the best person ever at finding Ho-Yay in the Vampire Diaries but even better are her analogies about certain moments. Gale has more of a reaction style recap but I can honestly say that you won’t find someone who has a better grasp on who these characters are and what makes them tick. Then The Salvatore Boarding House reaction post is the one that I’m a part of. To say we have some of the dirtiest minds around is kind of an understatement. But if you need some fellow squee or righteous anger, you’ll need the SBH. I also think that @entertainocd ‘s reaction style recap is fabulous (and full of unicorns) while @thomascgalvin’s are pretty epic too. Plus Neville Shortbottom the DevilCorgiPire (longest dog name ever) has been sharing some hilarious insight.

Finally, if you’re into TV, you’ll want to be heading to the ATX Television Festival in June. They’ve got some kickass stuff lined up including HBO programming, special Friday Night Lights screening, Lone Star & Life Unexpected programming and a lot more to come. Plus on their advisory board are some really kickass female EPs so you know it’s going to be awesome. Once pilot season is over they’ll be announcing more programming. However, if you want to get tickets to the event at a much cheaper price, you’ll need to get them now. The festival is on kickstarter and is just shy of the amount needed for this first round. Ticket prices go significantly up so I highly encourage you to get in on this awesomeness now. Plus once other shows are announced, you know tickets are going to sell out fast. If you can’t go but are still interested in supporting, they’ve got a pretty sweet deal. For $25 you can get a shoutout on twitter from Arielle Kebbel (Lexi from the Vampire Diaries), Julie Plec or Liz Tigelaar. That in itself is awesome. So go check it out and support the fact that we can finally get a festival focused solely on television!

I think that’s all of the morning’s recommendations and squee. If I think of anything else, obviously I’ll share it with you. And if I missed anything epically awesome, please tell me in the comments!

I lied. I found more awesome. Did you know George Takei shares random pictures on facebook every day? I did not. But they’re awesome. I love punny jokes and other random crap. So here are several from the last two weeks that entertained me. Everyone needs a laugh on Tuesdays!

I'm Your Person

I’m not completely sure what triggered my rewatch of Grey’s Anatomy but I’m now a couple episodes into S2 so I thought it might be fun to do a few posts about my rewatch. Plus not being on twitter means I have a lot of extra free time. (Seriously ya’ll just try not being on twitter for more than a couple days. It is TOUGH. I want to respond or RT stuff but I know that if I let in a little, I won’t be working on myself. It’s like that line between 1 tequila shot and drunk, a line I usually miss). Anyway, that little tidbit of info aside, let’s get into Grey’s Anatomy.

If you haven’t watched Grey’s, it’s a soapy medical drama set in Seattle. Occasionally you’ll get a very obviously LA scene in the show (where its actually filmed) but for the most part, the show does a decent job of looking like Seattle. (I say this having lived in Seattle. Again, its not perfect but its better than a lot of shows). Grey’s Anatomy launched with a ten episode pilot season in the spring of 2005. Creator Shonda Rimes was a fairly new face in the TV world so folks wondered how this show would work. Fun fact: Shonda Rimes wrote “Crossroads” the Britney Spears movie that every 90s girl loves but won’t always admit to. (Trust me, we love it and sort of want to do the karaoke bit with friends.)

I always enjoy rewatching shows after several years. Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, Gilmore Girls and Friends are top favorites. The newer seasons are often more polished but the early seasons are when everyone’s figuring out who they are. So it tends to be more refreshing. Like S1 of Friends and Grey’s have these people in their mid to late 20s just figuring out who they’re going to be. Since that’s the age I’m at, I enjoy knowing that’s a normal thing.

Since I’ve seen Grey’s dozens of times and done more than a few rewatches, it can be hard to have a fresh opinion. Like I don’t mind Izzie in the early seasons but I’m not nearly as invested in her storylines as I once was. Except the S2 finale stuff. That wrecks me. And I can’t get invested at all in Burke anymore. I wasn’t his biggest fan in the first place but after Isaiah Washington came out as an asshole, it just changes my viewpoint. But I do find myself loving Meredith and Alex more and more. They are easily my favorites.

I’m also a fan of McDreamy. I know people have gotten fed up with Derek and even Meredith to a point, though I think Shonda’s done a lot better in recent seasons about taking away Meredith’s magic vagina that lets her get away with far too much. But I’ve always liked Derek Shephard. I have a tough time figuring out how I feel about him hiding the fact that he was married. On the one hand, it seems like the kind of shit you tell someone. But on the other hand, it had been like 2 months of dating. That’s not exactly a long time to figure out how to spring the fact that you were married and that your wife slept with your best friend. In the end, I guess it boils down to I don’t fault Derek but I like that Meredith takes a while into the 2^nd season to realize she can get past that because of her feelings for him. Plus he’s a little scared of Bailey (as one should be) and that’s always entertaining.

The big friendship of S1 is of course between Meredith and Christina. The others begin to connect and find common ground but the core is Christina and Meredith realizing they are each other’s person. Okay technically the “I’m your person” thing happens in S2 but they got there in S1. I love it. The picture I included is of the moment when they acknowledge this and it’s just great. I think we all want to have that friend (or maybe even a couple friends) who can know exactly what we need and will be there for us no matter what. The kind of friend who is more than happy to call us out on our shit but let someone else start getting on our case and they start throwing punches. Having a person is awesome.

Overall, there aren’t real big episodes in S1. It’s really more about the relationships and beginning the changes to characters that will continue to be issues even into the current seasons. But I did want to share some of my favorite songs from season one. Grey’s Anatomy has always been top notch in regards to the soundtrack but the first season was especially good.

My Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack Choices:

Rilo Kiley “Portions for Foxes”

Thirteen Senses “Into the Fire”

Keane “Somewhere Only We Know”

Tegan and Sara “You Wouldn’t Like Me” & “I Won’t Be Left” & “where Does the Good Go”

The Ditty Bops “Wishful Thinking” & Wake Up

Rosie Thomas “Let Myself Fall”

Sia “Sunday”

Jem “Save Me”

Wilco “Hummingbird”

Joe Purdy “I Love the Rain the Most”

78 Saab “No Illusions”

Iron and Wine “Naked as We Came”

To backtrack a little, I posted a blog entry on Friday about my frustration with the new Entertainment Weekly articles on shippers and on The Vampire Diaries. Some parts were agreed with, others taken issue with and what I knew could be a touchy article became a powder keg. At this point I’ve had more views of that article than of every other blog entry combined. I’ll come back to this in more detail further on (and if you were one of those who was upset, I ask that you please read until the end before forming or adjusting your opinion of me) but suffice to say, tempers flared. Being an angry person, my own temper was no exception. I found myself blasting back in comments, using twitter to vent my rage and bringing my friends into the discussion in private so I could vent further. That’s not a good thing.

So this morning, after much more frustration, I decided to take a break from twitter and all things internet to try and calm down. What I told myself was that I was going to take a break and then ignore the people who disagreed with me and just not focus on it. (If you’re thinking that’s a very immature way to handle the situation, you’re right. I just wasn’t there yet.) As I worked on cleaning my apartment and getting chores done, I received a phone call from a friend. She asked if I was free because she really wanted to talk about the fact that she kept being angry all the time, she didn’t want to be, and did I have any advice. To my shame, the first sentence out of my mouth was “well, here are a few ideas.” Thank goodness that I believe in a God who isn’t interested in letting me stay an asshole forever because as I tried to continue, I couldn’t. I sort of sat there speechless for a moment or two as the full weight of the hypocrisy of my words fell on me. And then I started to cry. What was I thinking? Here I’ve been raging against people, using completely inappropriate language and descriptions, and I’m about to start giving advice on not being angry? Believe me, I saw the absurdity of that almost immediately.

I so appreciate my friend because she immediately started talking things over with me and working through some of these issues. To explain a little more to ya’ll, as far as the anger goes, there are parts of it that I can trace and parts I can’t. My life isn’t perfect. No one’s is. And there are things that I’ve been through that I don’t talk about that make me very bitter and very angry. Therapy would probably be a smart idea. But over the last year especially, as I’ve let the discipline of my faith fall away, I’ve found myself reacting in anger over little things and building up resentment. For someone who already struggles with anger management, this creates many more problems.

The other background that might be helpful is my faith. The briefest version of my testimony is that I grew up in a Christian home but never bought into it until the summer before my senior year in a moment where it felt like God was knocking at my heart and saying ‘that whole put up a mask & not deal with life thing you do? Yeah we need to talk about that.’ After that, everything seemed to go to shit. It took several more years and some great mentors for me to understand that contrary to what a lot of people say, God isn’t a bandaid for a crappy life. He’s there with you, but there aren’t any promises that life is going to be sunshine and unicorns. At this point, I know what I believe and I know who I want to be. It’s getting there that seems to be the hard part. I also get very frustrated at people who shove RELIGION (not faith) down other people’s throats and insist that everyone should follow the same set of rules because they are the right ones. The morals that I strive to live by (I say strive because as many of you know and have witnessed, I fail a lot) stem from WHO I believe in, not WHAT I believe in. And because I don’t like to do the street corner preacher thing about rules, I tend to keep quiet about my faith. Clearly that’s becoming a problem. Not only am I disobeying one of the greatest commands of my faith, by not talking about it in any way, I’ve let the ugly sides of my personality take center stage.

As I talked to my friend, I initially tried suggesting what I thought was a decent compromise. I wouldn’t necessarily make a big public statement, but I wouldn’t talk about this whole situation with the blog post anymore or the people commenting on it. You’d like her because she called me out fast on that one, pointing out that if I felt convicted, I had an obligation to say so to all of my readers. She noted as well that while you may not believe my sincerity or may still be angry, the point was that I knew the right thing to do, and thus far I hadn’t done that. Which brings us back to yesterday’s blog entry.

Most of you agreed with my letter to the editor of sorts. Apparently quite a few of you tweeted a link to my post before reading it in full though. I would highly encourage that you read any of my posts completely before sharing. I tend to think in rabbit trails so I may say something part way through that you do not agree with and don’t want others thinking you agree with it. That was the case with the postscript that I had in the post. I have since removed the comments and added a small sentence directing readers to this post to hear my apology and explanation.

Let me be clear, though you can make your own assumptions (and I’m certain some of you will), this apology comes from my own convictions, not from peer pressure. I don’t actually like apologies derived from pressure because they are nearly always fake. I do stand by my impression of the article. It is not the first time I have gotten that impression from an interview or article and I doubt it will be the last. I would love to say that I’m going to reread the original article with an open mind but that would be at best delusional and at worse a flat out lie. I know I have a bias. I tend to be fairly open about that bias. At this point in my life, I don’t think I could get past it enough to apologize for what I said. What I do apologize for is WHERE I said it and HOW I said it. I gave the impression that my post covered a very different topic and caused confusion among readers. In addition, there are appropriate forums and channels that I could’ve used to exorcise my frustration with the quote and wording and I did not use any of them. Considering my prior bias came into play, I also didn’t give enough background on that to you as readers, apparently leading many to get an extreme opinion. To be a little more clear, I don’t think Ian was being intentional in his words, but I do feel they gave a false impression. I was being intentional in my words and they were hurtful and unfair in their context.  However, several of you demanded that I owe Mr. Somerhalder an apology.  This is not an easy thing for me to do but here it is: “Mr. Ian Somerhalder, I highly doubt you will read this post or saw my other post. I’m a small member of The Vampire Diaries fandom and so it seems doubtful you read my recent rant. Regardless of your knowledge of my words, the manner in which I made my frustrations known was inappropriate. I should have taken issue with your words by directing my concerns to the magazine that printed them or to your publicist for clarification. My choice of blogging about it was inconsiderate and did a disservice to you and your fans. For that, you have my humble apologies.”

To continue on, I owe a couple other apologies. I ranted, rather pointedly but also slightly ambiguously, on my twitter account over some of the comments that stemmed on my blog and on twitter. (I have since deleted these comments, and my own replies, because I don’t wish to continue a fight that I never should have started. You are of course welcome to explain on your own to anyone asking about the situation, though I hope you will be more gracious to me than I was to you.) But I digress. “To those of you whom I ranted at, cussed about, or essentially dragged through the mud with my words, I’m sorry. You were, like me, stating your opinion about an article in a public forum and attempting to right a perceived wrong. I took the attitude of ‘I can say what I want but you can’t say anything back’, an attitude that was rude, inconsiderate and hurtful. I apologize. I should have talked directly with you and strived to find a solution.”

Finally, I owe an apology to my closer friends, several of whom I involved in this issue rather unfairly. “I’m sorry for asking you to come in the middle of a tense situation. We have mutual friends and for me to ask you to take my side against one of your other friends was, and is, entirely uncalled for. Please forgive me for putting you in a troublesome situation or getting you angry over something that didn’t need to involve you.”

To sum up, because this post is getting dangerously long, I’m going to be taking a more extended break from twitter. When I say extended, I mean several weeks. At least.  I will still post the occasional thing on my blog and I’ll keep up with recaps because I’ve made a commitment there. But if anything, this situation has shown me that I need to take some time and reconsider the image of myself that I’m displaying to the world. I will respond to tweets tonight, and if any of you want to continue talking with me, I’m happy to send you my email. But I need to take a step back and reevaluate my priorities. I need to decide what sort of person I want to be from here on out and take steps to become and exhibit that person. I’m not entirely sure what that will look like yet. But it needs to look very different from the person I’ve been lately. A favorite quote of mine is by Ralph Waldo Emerson, wherein he says: “People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” Clearly I’ve overlooked that in the last year. So I’m going to take some time for prayer, meditation and even some professional therapy to get my character back on track. Hopefully as I do, my opinions will reflect who I truly want to be.

So imagine my excitement when pictures of an upcoming cover were released featuring Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder of The Vampire Diaries. Could the “other vampire show” finally be getting its due? The fans were ecstatic, believe me. Three collectible covers, a feature article and on top of that, a separate article about the shipping phenomenon were being released. I was thrilled and joined fellow fans in rejoicing that a magazine with a large circulation was finally recognizing this show that is consistently praised by critics and viewers. Add to that my excitement about the idea of an objective article about shippers and I’m sure you can understand my expectations.

But before we should go further, perhaps you should understand me. I like to say I’m not really a shipper. But that would be a lie. I ship quite often. The Vampire Diaries has proven that my loyalty is incredibly fickle; as one recapper (iphignia939.dreamwidth.org) put it, “I only go where I am led” but I still ship. Your article accurately defined shipping as “being invested in the romance or possibility of romance between two characters”. So yes, I ship. To be more specific, I think you would call me an intense fan but casual shipper. My investment in romantic couplings stems more from my interest in individual characters but I’ll certainly admit to being swept off my feet by a well-placed “As you wish” or “I fancy you”. We still read Jane Austen novels in high school and watch Disney princess movies in elementary school. My mind is hard-wired to respond to swoon-worthy moments.

When I ship though, I tend to chat about things on twitter and reblog gifs (small moving pictures) on tumblr of moments that did especially well in wooing me. I occasionally search out fan-made videos but most are sent to me by friends. Of course, word of mouth is a large factor in sharing fan videos. So many are made that finding the good ones can be troubling. I rely on referrals. I enjoy fanfiction, especially when it involves supporting characters, since their screen time is minimal. And from time to time, I blog a more extensive thought about why a show is or isn’t going with a particular coupling. And most of the shippers I know tend towards this attitude. Moments of obsession but a general outlook of patience and enjoyment of a little extra with our favorite shows.

Now here we are at Friday and the new issue has come out. I’ve included a small addendum at the bottom of this letter noting my frustrations with the TVD specific article but for the time being let’s focus on the shippers.

My first offense comes in with the first page, when you note that “there are even–no joke–Simon-and-Paula shippers. (They’re grieving, so please: soft giggles)”. In what is introduced as an insightful look at shippers, you immediately relegate us to a TMZ version of the matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof. I know very few people who waste time shipping real life couples. Being invested in the gossip? Certainly. But if having an albeit abnormal interest in who’s dating who is considered shipping, what were the thousands of people lined up to see Will & Kate tie the knot? No, shipping is reserved for the fictional world. Beyond the inaccuracy, you’ve immediately made the implication that all shippers are a wee bit off their rocker. That in turn, negates some of the impact of Andrew Marlowe (Castle’s creator)’s next statement, where he talks about shippers being some of the most engaged fans. Instead of a picture of passionate fans, we’re left with the idea that all shippers don’t understand the line between fiction & reality.

Secondly, I find your mention of the Once Upon a Time shippers to be severely lacking in research. If you take a look at the blogosphere, you would see that fans are actually quite frustrated with the show in regards to the Emma/Graham dynamic because those choices hasn’t paid off. (Unless the only reward was to piss off fans without incorporating the death into the story). Furthermore, the true shippers for that show revolve around Snow White & Prince Charming’s story.

We follow that with a mention of Supernatural. Fans have long waited to have this show, with its talented pair of actors in Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles, recognized on a large scale. I don’t watch Supernatural but if I didn’t have friends who did, I would assume that the biggest aspect of the show is hints of incest between the main characters. This comment would be much better placed after your discussion of slash fiction, as a way to note that one might be surprised by just who can be shipped with whom.

There’s a brief nod to early slash between Kirk/Spock but it is stated that “shipping and slashing became ways for marginalized, neglected sci-fi fans to … impishly subvert a geek fan culture that until recently has been largely male-targeted and male-driven”. The idea supposes that slash fiction is only written by sci-fi geek girls as a middle finger to the industry. Never mind the idea that there might be more chemistry between a same-sex couple than a straight one and that’s where the desire to write comes from. There’s a reference to Buffy being “key to the development of shipper culture” AND THEN YOU NEVER MENTION BUFFY AGAIN. What is that?

And now we get into the meat of the matter where you note that “shippers … ship anything with a romantic pulse”. Do you also think that if you put two people in a room they’ll start f*cking like rabbits? Or your comment that because one fan watches Castle, that automatically makes her a shipper? In this case, we’re all shippers. I’m nearly at a loss for your choice of talking to a “shipper” who writes Wincest, where she comments that her writing of incest stems from the same desire as writing slash. NO. Again, where was the research on what slash truly is or the fact that most fans consider ‘Wincest” to be nasty.

The article gives no answers or insight to those outside of fandoms as to why shippers make the choices they do. It says nothing about how a look or a few simple words can inspire romantic stories between characters. Worse, it implies that shippers merely exist to write incestuous storylines, fight with creators over how a character should behave, and put a song to a slide show.

Beyond the inaccuracies and ignoring of all shipper aspects, the article was flat out boring. Where was the writing that indicated the passion and excitement behind shippers? Where was the acknowledgment of the show’s writers in being able to spark such vested interest in their characters? I’ve read scientific journal articles that were more interesting. Anyone reading this article would think that shippers and the shows they ship are boring and passionless.

Why bother? Why not write a fascinating look in to the shipper culture and really delve into how that works? Where were the interviews with actors (who often spur on these fantasies) or with bloggers who analyze the working of fictional relationships? Instead, we got a lazy, boring article that made every shipper, regardless of intensity, appear like an idiot with no grasp on reality. In fact, we got an article that heavily emphasizes slash fiction, incest and a lack of understanding.

And if you did want to ridicule the whole shipping concept, there are better ways to do it. Mention the way fans will rage at the cast and crew of a show over fictional characters or insist that they hate other fans based on the pettiness of a single line in one episode. There is a section of crazy shippers out there. If you wanted to imply that we all fit this bill, believe me, there are better ways to rip a fandom apart.

So in the end, I want to appreciate the efforts but on second thought, stick to the Twilight covers. I’d rather not see my shows and fandoms dragged through the mud.

Sincerely,

A Reluctant Shipper

There was a postscript to this article. For the reasons why it is no longer here and why specific comments to this post have been deleted, please read my latest post, “Apologies and Convictions.”

For another perspective, and a fabulous one at that, check out Erin (@entertainocd’s) thoughts on the shipper article. 

Anyway, the story of Anne & Gilbert in its simplest form, reads a lot like the story of Dan & Blair on Gossip Girl. This is something that I hadn’t realized until recently. I have been loving the story of Dan & Blair, in fact it’s really the only reason I watch. And I was talking to a good friend the other day about them. She pointed out, quite rightly, that there isn’t really a romantic spark between Dan and Blair. I think there was at one point last season but this season that hasn’t really happened. Oh Dan certainly has shown his love but on Blair’s side, he’s just a good friend. Even that, the friendship, was only recently acknowledged by Blair in a way that was meaningful. But there is definitely more a friendship there rather than a mutually reciprocated romantic love.

That’s where my Anne and Gilbert thing came in. Because I was trying to tell my friend about this quote that I love from Anne of Avonlea. See, Anne and Gilbert started out as bitter enemies. He called her “carrots” at school and as Anne’s red hair was the bane of her existence, she broke her slate over his head and assured him that she would hate him forever. Anne is damn good at holding grudges too (she and I hold at least that in common). So for years, she hates him. And then one day, she realizes that maybe Gilbert is worth having as a friend. There’s no romance on Anne’s part. She just sees that Gilbert is dependable and cares about her and is someone she can count on. Gilbert however has been in love with Anne since the day she broke that slate and his love just grows as time goes on.

That sounds a lot like Dan and Blair to me. Two people who have hated each other, teased each other, and more, who somehow, against all odds, have become friends. Dan has romantic feelings towards Blair but her feelings are platonic. While Anne knew how Gilbert felt, she pushed the idea away, certain that her true love was a tall, dark and handsome man. Kind of like how Blair has long been obsessed with this idea of a prince, or her Audrey Hepburn fantasy. Interesting isn’t it, that most of Audrey Hepburn’s movies involve her falling in love with the normal guy, hell the writer half the time, and Blair wants to be all of her characters? *

*HOLY CRAP. Another tangent. Most of Blair’s favorite Audrey Hepburn movies have her falling in love with a writer. Screw it. I’m calling it right now and saying that the Gossip Girl endgame will be Dan and Blair. Not because I want it but because it fits so ridiculously perfectly.*

Okay anyway, Gilbert keeps trying with Anne and she has this idea that romance starts as romance while friendship stays friendship. And then one day she realizes that maybe she was wrong. The quote, which I love, is as follows: “Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.” 

And as I was trying to tell my friend about this quote, I was struck by how similar Blair and Dan are to Anne and Gilbert. I’m now fascinated to see if this continues.

Aw, adorable right? Okay anyway. After the episode there was endless gushing going on over Kol because Nate Buzolic has a sort of puckish, Peter Pan met the Newsies and got really hot quality (not that I rewound that scene 20 times to determine this) but also he looks like Elijah so of course we’re going to love him. Finn however was a little different. There was quite spirited discussion over what type of Original Finn is. Abby (@abbygraham) is quite certain that Finn’s crazy eyes means he chews on the furniture. I said he looks like what would happen if Aragron drank all the rum, dressed like a pirate and went to join the gay pride parade.

See? Crazy Eyes!

Then Vee (@dieslaughing) threw out the idea of a vampire-pirate (vampirate) metal band. At least I think it was her. Anyway, Amber (@piratetothenah) and I joked about wondering when auditions were being held. And because I was bored on a Sunday morning, I created this audition advertisement. That’s when everything sort of snowballed. If you’ve been part of this fandom for long, you know that when we latch onto something, we really go to town. Take the Elijah for Mayor Campaign, which has been recently revived. Last spring that was quite the hit. So Amber and I took off running with the idea that Finn was the lead singer of a vampirate metal band called Original Plunder.

This is the band's logo.

As you can imagine, a logo wasn’t enough so we just kept going. There’s a backstory and the whole family is involved, after all, as Elijah says “This is family business.”

Everyone has a role to play.

I’ve included a list of all the things Amber & I have come up with so far and I’m betting they’ll give you at least a few laughs. Be sure to keep on the lookout for more as well. We’ll be adding things on a regular basis.

Finn Mikaelson & the Original Plunder facebook fanpage: This has all the scoop on the band and of course behind the scenes tidbits. We’ll be releasing stories over the next few weeks about all the tribute bands who have played in honor of Finn (who’s been on hiatus for the last 900 years). There will be concert posters, stories of the concerts and you might just be surprised at who’s stepped in to honor their favorite vampirate metal singer.

If you decide to become a fan, be sure to check out The Wenches facebook page too. The Wenches have long been fans of Original Plunder and are stoked to see the band is back. We’ll introduce you to the first Penny Lane and release pictures of wenches through the years. The group has been a big part of keeping the love for the band alive over the centuries.

You can even pick up merchandise from the band like the shirts & buttons shown below here.

So check out the fun, feel free to audition by emailing the band manager @ originalelijahsmith@hotmail.com and spread the word. The world’s favorite vampirate metal band may be coming to a city near you. We’ve even heard rumors about the release of the lost EP, “Viking Voyages” songs that are a tale of the band’s early years that will change history as you know it. For now we’ll leave you with this preview poster, to get you excited about “Original Plunder”s sure to be epic return.