Long Live the Mikaelsons

Whenever I discuss race, I do want to preface it by saying, I am white so I am speaking from that point of view. If you disagree or have another perspective, I would love to hear it.

That being said, I don't even think we can call what happened on the set and in the show "subtle" racism. There was such overt racism throughout the show that it is hard to discuss the show in any way without discussing racism. Just because Julie Plec doesn't view her actions as blatantly racist, it doesn't mean they are not.

Just the fact that they had two actors who are ethically not white but were portrayed as white is telling. Both Michael Trevino and Michael Malarkey were made to appear white in the show when there really wasn't a necessity for it. Tyler being Mexican could have added to the history of the wolves or it could have even come from his mom's side, allowing them to cast a Latina woman. For Malarkey, his race isn't really discussed but it would have been so easy to show him making Bonnie a nice Lebanese meal when they were staying at the cabin (cause lord knows the zionists running the show wouldn't allow him to be Palestinian). I also personally just like Tyler and Enzo more than Damon. I would have been fine with killing Damon off earlier to allow more screen time for them.

A year or so ago, my friend began watching the show for the first time and by the time we got to The Originals, as soon as Sabine walked on screen, she said "Does she get killed this episode?" People of color, especially women of color, were treated as disposable by the network. To the point that Tyler and Enzo likely only survived as long as they did because they were "white" characters. But it is also still obvious how much worse they were treated than any other side characters. Tyler and Enzo are both killed in such nonsensical ways and then they have no justice or even mourning. Tyler was a lifelong friend of the Mystic Falls gang and yet Damon isn't even sternly lectured for killing him for zero reason. Tyler had escaped the supernatural world. What was the point of dragging him back on the show just to kill him and have Damon suffer no consequences. He was Caroline's first epic love and she just forgives Damon for it? And what was the point of Enzo's death? Just to make Bonnie suffer more? Just to make her attend the wedding of his murderer? I know Stefan had his humanity off, but that doesn't change the fact that Enzo was dead and Bonnie was still grieving.

Moving on to how the fandom treats them. There is honestly so much hate in this fandom sometimes, and you're right, there is definitely a racial element to it. The way Tyler is treated by the fandom is so telling. I don't know if a lot of the fandom even knows Michael Trevino's ethnicity, but he is clearly seen as "other" or "less than" by the fandom. We also have to acknowledge how his "angry outbursts" are seen as unacceptable but when Klaus does it, it is because he is just so "passionate." The scene where Caroline keeps pushing Tyler to forgive her for sleeping with his mother's killer comes to mind. He snaps but he makes no move to touch her, and this is after repeatedly telling her to leave and her pushing his boundaries. I have seen the fandom call him "disgusting" and an "abuser" because of this, celebrating the fact that Stefan punches him. Stefan uses physical violence against Tyler's words, yet Tyler is the abuser? Then we have, Klaus, who runs her through with a coat hanger and bites her because she said something slightly rude to him and he is praised for "saving her life." It's hard to believe there isn't a racial element here. I often say Klaus gets pretty privilege, but why isn't that awarded to Tyler? Because we can't deny that Michael Trevino is attractive (I'd say more attractive than Joseph Morgan but y'all will come for me).

There was so much left of Tyler's story. The fact that they even had the Lockwoods as the protectors of Inadu's bones in TO would have been a perfect way to bring him back. Can you imagine Hayley or Klaus having to go beg him for help? It would have been such an amazing moment. But no, instead they bring Matt Davis onto the show to make sure he could infect every single spinoff.

You mention all of these characters and that's just in TVD. TO was no better. One of my mutuals recently got into a Twitter 'discussion' with one of the writers and the writer attempted to claim that the Mikaelsons were white supremacists and that was the point of TO, to show it was bad. Yet, when did they do that? How did they show being a white supremacist is bad? The Mikaelsons were at the top of the food chain the entire time. Yes, they constantly had people coming for them, yet they always won and the writing was always done in a way to make the audience root for them to win. How many POC characters were sacrificed in order to prop up the main characters throughout the shows?

Whenever we talk about racism in the show, we have to talk about Bonnie. Bonnie was constantly having to sacrifice her own wants and happiness in order for her white friends, and even enemies, to get what they want. Often when she set a boundary, the fandom villainized her. According to the writing and the fandom, her entire purpose was to serve the white characters. That is blatant racism.

But it's not just Bonnie. It's her entire ancestry. The fandom seems to believe Emily is Katherine's friend in the flashbacks, but she is clearly either being enslaved or at least some type of servant to Katherine. We can go all the way back to Ayana who Esther stole her spell to create the vampires. Or to Qetsiyah who was cheated on and used in order to aid the white doppelgangers. These things separately may not raise any flags, but the fact that we see it happen repeatedly throughout the show tells us it's more than just a coincidence.

Let's not forget Damon was not a confederate solider in the books. Julie added that. And yes I know he deserted but he says it is basically because he was missing Katherine, not because he morally opposed what he was fighting for. They added the founding families and yet didn't make the Bennetts apart of it even though they had been there longer than anyone. They were actively celebrating slave owners. Tyler's mom makes a passing comment of why they have the chains in the cellars and everyone just moves on. They chose to have the Mikaelsons live on a plantation in New Orleans. They chose to hire a very white cast and make it even whiter by white washing and killing off POCs.

Sure TVD is set in Virginia, but Virginia is only 65% white. So why was the cast 99% white? Then they create a whole show in New Orleans where 59% of the population is black, yet we still have a majority white cast? And when they introduce POCs it is usually to serve the white cast. Both Vincent and Eva were brought on so there bodies could literally be used by the white characters. Eva and Vincent's trauma were completely neglected and Eva was even killed off to allow Rebekah to use her body as she pleased whenever Claire Holt wasn't available to be on set. I've already discussed the difference in how Aurora is treated versus Celeste by the show and the fandom. You can read that here. Marcel is constantly belittled and sidelined, even after he is upgraded. There are so many witches of color in New Orleans, yet Davina is the most powerful? Why couldn't she have been played by a POC?

The show repeatedly dehumanizes people of color, especially the women. It's not a coincidence. It is pure racism. And because the show does it, the fandom does it. I am not taking responsibility away from the fandom. Each individual person should know better. But media is supposed to influence society. If we grow up with media that glorifies and celebrates different races, cultures, ethnicities, the fandom will begin to as well. Julie had no desire to do that. All she cared about was ratings and her own racist viewpoint of the world. She could have done more research, or hell, even just listened to her cast, but she chose not to. The writing of the show suffered because of it, but even worse the actors and even fans suffer because of it.

There are so many great creators in this fandom who are POCs and I highly suggest following them. They are able to give better insight in the discussion of racism in the show. But please keep in mind, they do not owe you their time or energy. It is up to each of us to do our own research and learn.

Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered it. Sorry it was so long.

TW: Discussions of abuse

I've said it before and I'll say it again, no abuse someone suffers allows them to become an abuser themselves.

That being said, if you have a character who you need to redeem quickly, the best back story to give them is child abuse. That sounds terrible, but it is an incredible affective back story. Children are inherently innocent. Especially in Klaus' case. They go out of their way to show Klaus being a sweet child. The only time we ever see any of the Mikaelson children is when it was used to show just how sweet of a child he was. The show purposefully did this to blame the abuse for his behavior. It is explicitly said by numerous characters throughout the show. Klaus every other episode is finding something new to blame his behavior on. This way Klaus never had to take accountability for anything which would have required the writers actually developing the character. And because the writers are so uncreative, they do the same thing for each "unredeemable" villain -- Damon, Kai, even Katherine.

But again, no matter what abuse a person suffered, they do not get to use it as a way to justify abusing others. There's not a statistic that I'm willing to cite since I haven't been able to verify the numbers, but a majority of abusers were once abused themselves. Yet only about 30 to 40% of abused children become abusers. Many children who had abusive backgrounds get the help they need and stop the cycle of abuse. So to say that Klaus' abuse justifies his abuse towards his siblings is disturbing.

Even how Mikael speaks, it is clear to me that he raised his children no differently than he was raised. We have to remember they grew up in a very different society than we did. This does not excuse child abuse, but it can put it in context. This idea that Mikael had no reason for his abuse is also a misnomer. Yes, he says it in a scene, but this is after an entire season of them emphasizing that Mikael was attempting to strengthen Klaus and this is why the abuse was targeted on Klaus. We have that entire scene where Klaus is blaming Esther for giving her the necklace and weakening him, making him the focus of Mikael's ire. Parallel this to Mikael training Davina, talking about power and strength. Again, this does not in any way justify the abuse. But it does show the cycle of abuse that Mikael was subjected to and then put on his own children. Mikael is never given any sympathy because of his childhood because it is not explicitly said. But that is something I think most Klaus stans would say doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if Mikael was abused, it does not justify him abusing Klaus. By that logic, Klaus being abused does not justify him abusing everyone.

I also think this fandom loves to focus on certain character's abuse and forget other's. The worst villains who suffered child abuse are excused for everything (i.e. Klaus, Damon, Kai) but then the characters who aren't as bad or suffered abuse in a different manner, or even just later in life, are given no sympathy.

The fandom loves to pretend that children who grow up in abusive household are not affected by the abuse. Or if it is not explicitly shown, then they were never abused. I find it hard to believe that Mikael only ever abused Klaus. If that was his method to make them strong, I would imagine he abused all of his sons. Rebekah even talks about them all being afraid of Mikael. I don't put it past him to physically abuse both Rebekah and Esther as well. But even if this is just my take on it, we know they were all emotionally abused. And yes, this is a form of abuse that can be just as harmful as physical. As someone who works with domestic violence survivors in real life, I hate how this fandom treats abuse. You cannot compare abuse, one is not inherently worse than another. They are all extremely damaging.

Because Rebekah's abuse happened later in life and Klaus always came up with justifications for it, the fandom loves to say "it's not abuse" or "he was doing it to protect her." This is why they dropped the storyline that Mikael was doing it to strengthen Klaus, because if that was the justification, Klaus may have actually had to take responsibility for what he did to his siblings. He may have had to faced the realization that he became his father.

We also see this in TVD. Stefan was clearly terrified of their father as well, but only Damon is given sympathy because in one scene in their entire lives, we see Damon get punishment over Stefan. If we talk about later abuse, people love to talk about Damon's time with the Augustine torture but skip over the fact that Stefan drowned for an entire summer. The fandom picks and chooses what abuse justifies what behavior. Stefan also had his autonym stripped away, which is abuse, and was forced to become the thing he hates for an entire summer and this is used as a plot device to justify his girlfriend and brother developing feelings for each other. No sympathy is given to him, but Damon is given sympathy for every bad thing that ever happened to him.

Also the fact that Tyler clearly grew up with an abusive father but is given no slack ever because he isn't the perfect victim. His behavior in season one, screams abused child. But Tyler actually has character development, unlike other characters.

All of this to say, Klaus' childhood abuse does not excuse what he did to his siblings. Klaus abused them all for a thousand years. There is no question about this. I will not debate this. He emotionally and physically abused them. Just like there is no justification for what happened to him, there is no justification for what he did to his siblings. But I don't think childhood abuse necessarily made him redeemable. I really blame his pretty privilege, his accent, and his humor. The fandom looks for anything to excuse his behavior because they want to love him. Even as he is abusing people, he makes a joke and that somehow makes it okay. But the backstory allows the fandom to feel okay about liking him. Whereas with characters the fandom doesn't like, the abuse is just disregarded, or worse, minimized.

Thank you for asking! I do truly try to have a "non-biased" view of the show but, of course, I am only human. I have my own biases, however, as I said, I do work with domestic violence survivors and have personal connection to the topic, so I definitely focus on it when I see it in media. I hope this answered the question!

I adore platonic Carenzo.

If the writers hadn't been so determined to sideline Bonnie and prioritize Damon, Steroline and Bonenzo could have been such a fun group. Enzo and Stefan would have annoyed each other but they would have put up for it for Caroline and Bonnie. I wish they would have continued Stefan and Bonnie's friendship from the early seasons rather than giving it to Damon. It always seemed more realistic for me. Also, Enzo's loyalty to Damon and hatred of Stefan never made sense to me. Honestly, Enzo and Stefan could have bonded over being betrayed by Damon. Enzo just decides to forgive Damon for abandoning him and killing his love and blaming Stefan for everything??

I personally never wanted Caroline and Enzo to be romantic. They bonded during a time where Caroline really needed a friend and Enzo stepped up. It is one of the reasons I love Enzo's character. Enzo was the character they wanted Damon to be. He did a lot of bad (even terrible) things but was striving to be a better person and actually made himself a better person. I would have been fine with them writing Damon off and brining in Enzo for better storylines than they gave him. I also just love Michael Malarkey.

I am a huge advocate for platonic relationships. It's fine to ship people, but not everyone who gets along needs to be romantically invovled. Although I do definitely see why people ship them. But I liked that Caroline and Enzo grew to care for each other but never needed to make it romantic. And honestly, Caroline needed just friends. I feel like the writers were matching her up with anyone she came in contact with. Stefan was gone for five seconds and they had Enzo flirting with her. I wanted the show to focus on friendships/family more than the ships at times.

My favorite ships for Caroline are Steroline and then Forwood. I love friends to lovers. Nearly all of my favorite ships are. Both Steroline and Forwood had that great foundation before they started dating. They were each other's best friends. To me Steroline was always endgame. The way they fought for each other and looked out for one another was great. Forwood is a close runner up and would have been endgame had Klaus not gotten in the way for no reason. Tyler didn't deserve anything Klaus put him through. I think they could have found their way back to each other but they had both already moved on by the time the dust settled.

I did actually like Matt and Caroline at times but they were both just in emotionally fragile spots when they dated. But they were a cute high school relationship. I don't consider Klaus and Caroline a relationship -- it was just straight abuse.

I know I went on a lot of side tangents, but thanks for the ask! I don't talk about TVD nearly enough.

I am continuing TGW Outtakes! I'm also already writing scenes of them spending the weekend in Paris. There will be lots of wine, art, and kissing. I am just writing very slowly now that we are near the end of the story. There are so many lose ends to tie up.

I told myself I wasn't going to answer any more asks today but I loved this one too much.

Tyler Lockwood is one of the most over-hated and underrated characters in TVD.

Just focusing on what Klaus did to him and not even his trauma from his parents and friends, Tyler's pain is so overlooked. I think the best way to discuss Tyler and Klaus is just to lay it all out.

Tyler and Klaus' first interaction is when Tyler is forced back to Mystic Falls because Klaus has someone attack his mother. This is their first interaction, Klaus harming Tyler's mother to manipulate him. Klaus could have chosen a different werewolf but targeted Tyler for whatever reason. Klaus then traps him with Caroline on a full moon and he nearly kills Caroline.

Their next interaction is Klaus killing Tyler. He does so with little remorse or concern about whether Tyler will survive the transformation as no one had before. He survives and becomes sired to Klaus, who abuses it and essentially enslaves his hybrids. Everyone likes to get mad at sired Tyler, but he has limited bodily autonomy. This is a major violation that the show glosses over. Klaus uses this to make Tyler harm the people he loves. The MFG seems to have a lot less sympathy for Tyler than anyone else who suffered from sire bonds or even villainous charm. Elena also did bad things under Damon's sire bond, but everyone blamed Damon. Tyler gets the full blame and anger from his friends instead of understanding or helping. Everyone likes to credit Klaus for saving Caroline's life on her birthday, but Klaus ruined her birthday by forcing her boyfriend to nearly kill her. Tyler, who hates Klaus, has to go to him and beg him to save the girl he loves.

Because of the sire bond to Klaus who forced him to harm his friends, specifically Caroline, Tyler recruits Bill Forbes, someone known for torturing supernaturals, to help break his sire bond. He then leaves to break the bond. He subjects himself to hours of torture and pain so that he won't ever have to hurt his family again. He comes back from this pain to find Klaus flirting with his girlfriend. Klaus then possesses Tyler's body without his consent for a matter of time.

Tyler then works with Hayley and the other wolves to free them of Klaus' enslavement. Klaus kills their friend, thanks to the help of the MFG. Not only does Klaus kill his friend, Caroline agrees to go on a date with Klaus in exchange for killing his friend.

Klaus then proceeds to murder all of Tyler's hybrid friends and then his mother, the last family member Tyler had. Klaus once again tries to kill Caroline to control Tyler and makes Tyler beg him to save her life. Klaus forces Tyler to run once again, forcing him from his friends and family. Before he leaves though, he leaves his home to Matt so Caroline will have a safe place to hide from Klaus. Even when Tyler tries to sneak back into town to have one dance with his girlfriend at prom, Klaus shows up to chase him out again.

Tyler then seeks revenge against Klaus.

Given everything, Tyler is completely justified in going after Klaus. Is it a bad plan? Sure. He can't kill Klaus and even if he could, he would die with him. But that's not the point. The point was Klaus cost Tyler everything. He tortured Tyler for months, attempting to steal his girlfriend while doing it. He murdered his mother in cold blood all because Tyler helped free the enslaved hybrids and himself. Klaus was a monster.

We see many characters seek revenge for things much less serious and are supported. Klaus is celebrated for murdering people for no reason. Tyler didn't even only act for himself but for all of the wolves Klaus planned to enslave. Tyler was completely in the right and the show/characters spent too much time trying to make Tyler seem like the bad guy.

I only wish Tyler had lived long enough to know Klaus died. Tyler deserved so much better than the hell Klaus put him through. He didn't get a break for years all because of Klaus' petty jealousies and insecurities.

Tyler was a better man than Klaus any day of the week. Yes, he's done some bad things but the fact that so many terrible men are celebrated and Tyler is constantly attacked is so questionable to me.

Thanks for the ask!