Monthly Archives: January 2019

by

Favorite scene from The Originals episode 1×14

Hayley examining Elijah

First, we get Marcel and Elijah as men on a mission to try to find Klaus and Rebekah. Including Marcel’s slip “I want her back just as much as you do. Both of them.” Yes. Both of them – but especially Rebekah, right, Marcel?

And then… there is no good reason why Elijah called Hayley in to make that list. Marcel could have done it just as easily. Nope. Elijah wanted Hayley to do it. Hmm… was there a part of him imagining her hands on him, maybe? And Hayley’s reaction when she walked in the room… That stutter. That stare. She was very definitely liking what she saw. And who can blame her? Also, can we discuss the fact that Elijah was barking orders at Marcel, but Hayley got a “please”?

This is the scene that inspired my very first fanfiction. Because HOW they didn’t kiss here is beyond me. And, it remains one of my favorite scenes of the entire series.

Elijah and Marcel getting the death records from the mayor

This scene and the next one, I couldn’t find clips of. But, I just love how neither Marcel or Elijah are taking any shit. Watching them be their badass selves is always fun. That is all

Elijah and Marcel discussing the werewolves

Elijah’s usual snark is great, here. Then we get even MARCEL seeing that Elijah has feelings for Hayley. And Elijah threatening him. Because he’ll be damned if he’ll let ANYONE hurt Hayley. Though, can we talk about Marcel wondering how Klaus would react to finding out that Elijah left him to suffer while he went and saved Hayley? Why does everyone seem to forget the not-so-little detail of HAYLEY IS PREGNANT WITH KLAUS’S CHILD? If Elijah had rescued Klaus, and left Hayley – and the BABY – to die, Klaus would have killed him. Do they all really think that he cares so little for his own baby?

And then they “solve” the riddle. I love Elijah’s line, there: “I suppose we have our answer. Only I have no idea what it means.” His tone of voice there really sells it, too. (Though, MARCEL knows what it means…)

Marcel tells Elijah what he and Rebekah did

I can’t quite figure out why Elijah seems to not want Marcel to know what he and Hayley are talking about. But, I find it weirdly amusing. But, mostly, I just love Elijah’s attitude here. “How do you know?” His tone of voice, his expressions. The way he folds his arms, just waiting for Marcel to spill what he knows. It’s awesome.

Elijah strangling Marcel

Pissed off Elijah is always fun. And then we get Hayley’s “oh, here we go. This is not going to be good.” expression – and her resignation. And then Marcel goes and turns it around. Tells Elijah that he loves Rebekah, but as long as Klaus was around they couldn’t be together – and adds “but I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that, huh?” Everybody knows that he’s talking about Hayley. And Elijah lets him go, then. But not before lowering his eyes, like he’s thinking about something. Hmm… considering what lengths he’d be willing to go to be with Hayley, maybe? Maybe even admitting to himself that the baby was the least of the reasons why he saved Hayley instead of Klaus or Rebekah?

There we go. Some Haylijah yumminess, Elijah and Marcel being badasses, and Hayley just getting to the point where not much surprises her, anymore.

by

Favorite scenes from The Originals episode 1×13

Klaus, Elijah, and Marcel examine Papa Tunde’s body

This scene is funny as hell. Elijah is examining the body, and Klaus is getting all snarky, basically comparing him to Sherlock Holmes, asking if he wants a pipe or a magnifying glass. Marcel comments on how witches used to just kill a chicken and leave it on your doorstep when they wanted to send a message. And Elijah, king of snark, comes back with “it’s a rather large and ominous chicken, wouldn’t you say?” And then I died of laughter.

And then it segues right into another great scene

Elijah asking Rebekah to take Hayley to the plantation house

Elijah being so concerned for Hayley’s safety. The way he tells Rebekah that it’s because he trusts her that he’s asking her to do this. Because, yes, he is trusting Rebekah with the most precious thing in the world to him. “You know why.” Just… that line. We’ve gone beyond “it’s complicated” to him basically admitting to Rebekah that he’s in love with Hayley – added to when he comments on how he can’t control his feelings. And Rebekah telling him that maybe he should take Hayley himself. Now that the heat of the moment is over, and she’s no longer angry with him, she’s back to shipping Haylijah. I love it!

Well, this was certainly a short post. One other thing I want to comment on with this episode. Celeste comments on Elijah choosing to save Hayley over his own blood, and how “always isn’t forever, after all.” Just two problems with that assessment. One, Hayley is pregnant with Klaus’s child. Which means that she IS his own blood. By saving Hayley, he also saved HOPE. And two, he made exactly the choice that Rebekah and Klaus would have wanted him to make. That baby is the one thing that every last one of them would die for. Would Klaus have thanked Elijah for saving him, and leaving his child to die? Would Rebekah, whose one real wish is that she could have children, want to be saved instead of Hayley and the baby? Not to mention that whatever is happening to them, they can’t die. There is still time to save them. Hayley was the most vulnerable.

This was a decent episode, but nothing really stood out to me as being a particularly great scene after that bit near the beginning.

Tomorrow, though…. Next episode has the scene that inspired my first ever attempt at writing fanfiction. I will be doing a lot of flailing while watching that scene.

by

Favorite scenes from The Originals episode 1×12

Elijah apologizes to Hayley for “neglecting” her

I kind of like Hayley’s sass at the start of this scene. But, most of all, neither one of them came out and said the words, but… The subtext is definitely there. They just sort of told each other that they love each other. I may be reading into it a bit, but… It’s there on their faces. Elijah is afraid to say anything at all, and Hayley just says how much it sucks that they have to stay away from each other because of Klaus. But, the subtext is there, for all the world to see.

Flashback to Marcel coming home from the war

Cami is just adorable at the start of this scene. And I love how, when Marcel says that he kept trying to leave New Orleans behind, but “something kept pulling [him] back”, the camera focuses on Rebekah. Yeah, sure Marcel. Something kept pulling you back. More like some ONE did. And then we get treated to more brotherly banter between Klaus and Elijah, complete with Elijah being all snarky. I just love Elijah’s snark, man.

Elijah questions Thierry

Elijah in “beware the nice ones” mode is… if I’m being honest… sexy as hell. Hayley is just awesome in this scene. And I LOVE how, when Elijah tries to get her to stay behind, her response is that Rebekah is in trouble and she’s going. I LOVE the friendship between Hayley and Rebekah so much. They are adorable. And then Elijah doesn’t even try to argue, just tells her not to leave his sight. His need to protect her is just… *Flails*

Elijah and Hayley save Rebekah

The conversation with Sophie is hilarious. And I love how Klaus ran to Marcel’s rescue. But, the best part, is Hayley. She doesn’t even hesitate. Elijah needs her blood to save Rebekah, she holds out her wrist. No questions, no hesitations. She is awesome.

Elijah watching Hayley

It’s ridiculously short, less than a minute. But, just look at his face. And, for one second, he starts to move towards her, and then stops. He wants so badly to go to her. And I am just yelling “do it! Go to her! You know you want to!” But, of course he doesn’t. Because he is an idiot. Also, this scene makes me kind of angry at Rebekah. Yes, she was hurt about Elijah, once again, putting what is best for Klaus above what is best for her. But, she didn’t need to drag Hayley into that argument. I think that had she not given Elijah that line about how his feelings for Hayley were going to destroy the family, he would have gone to Hayley, here. So, yeah… pardon me while I smack Elijah and REBEKAH for a bit.

Weirdly enough, considering how many scenes I have on here, this is not really one of my favorite episodes. There were a lot of little things I liked. Every bloody time Elijah and Hayley were in the same room together, for starters. But, really, this episode was good for the relationships between Hayley and Elijah, and Rebekah and Marcel, but the rest I thought was kind of… meh. Didn’t much care for most of the plot, this episode. I was just here for the ships.

by

Favorite scenes from The Originals episode 1×11

Elijah and Klaus

In all honesty, I just love Elijah’s snark, here. He can be such a smart-ass, sometimes. And the fact that he’s being snarky in a bout of brotherly banter with Klaus just makes it that much better.

Davina’s earthquake

Another scene where the reason I love it is such a little thing. Sophie is freaking out, and the Mikaelsons just calmly sit there – through an earthquake. Because Sophie can die, and they can’t. They can afford to be blase about it. (Though, they might have been slightly more concerned had it occurred to them that they may be immortal, but Hayley is not.)

Klaus and Hayley bring food to the church for the werewolves

Argh! I can’t find a clip of this one, which annoys me. Anyway, I like Klaus’s concern for Hayley when she’s getting things together, not wanting her going out in this. And the way he just picks everything up when she reminds him that her people are stuck out there. We get to see Klaus’s good side, here. He’s doing something nice for other people, not out of hopes of gaining something for himself, but just because it’s the right thing to do. But, my favorite part is him telling Hayley not to give up on Elijah. Here is where KLAUS starts to ship Haylijah, and I love it.

Elijah’s plan to have Esther consecrated

Elijah calmly suggesting letting Sophie consecrate Esther to give her the ability to finish the Harvest and stop what is happening to New Orleans. But, what I love about it is that this is the first time we get to see him use political influence to get what he wants. Foreshadowing for one of my favorite scenes from 2×01. And then we get Klaus’s smart-ass remark at the end about fetching their mother. I just love these two.

Davina deciding to go through with the Harvest

This is one of the saddest scenes in the entire series. But, no matter how you feel about Davina, you almost have to be proud of her in this moment. She’s only sixteen. And she is probably the first Harvest Girl in HISTORY to truly give her life willingly, to actually be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the city. I can’t stop crying.

Klaus comforts Marcel

Starting with Davina calmly saying that she believes and letting herself be sacrificed. Then Sophie’s reaction when it didn’t work. Say what you want about Sophie’s methods, but if there had ever been any doubt about WHY she did what she did, watching her break down here put them to rest. And then we get to Marcel losing it, and Klaus comforting him. You realize that Davina was more than a weapon and a bargaining chip. He loved that girl like she was his daughter. And Klaus saw it, and compared what Marcel is going through with his own reaction to thinking that MARCEL had died the last time they saw each other. It was just so beautiful and heartbreaking. And amazingly acted by everyone involved.

Yet another almost-kiss

I wanted to smack these two at the end of this scene. Hayley is over here telling Elijah that when she feels something she acts, and when she wants something she takes it. And I am yelling “so then kiss him, already!” And then ELIJAH stops her from walking away. HE is the one that initiated the almost-kiss. And then pulled away at the last possible second, because he’s an idiot. It’s a good thing Hayley loves him, or she might have washed her hands of him right then, afraid of getting hurt because he can’t seem to figure out what he wants.

This is another favorite episode of mine. As can be guessed from having SEVEN scenes in this blog post. It was an emotional roller coaster. From snarky fun to emotional breakdowns, to an almost-kiss that had me screaming. Ending with a major reveal, that I straight-up can’t remember if I was actually surprised by. Fun episode, all around.

by

Favorite scenes from The Originals episode 1×10

Elijah helps Hayley with her dress

Okay, let me just start by saying that I love Elijah in his suits, but that dressed down look he’s sporting here is sexy as hell. Probably made all the sexier by the fact that it’s unusual for him. Anyway… Dear Gods, the way he looks at her. He can’t stop smiling, and it is freaking adorable. And his look of disappointment when she hesitated when he offered to take her out that night. Followed by the smile coming back when her reason was just not wanting to cause problems between him and Klaus. And then we get to him unzipping the dress he just helped her zip up. Pretty sure she didn’t need him to undo the whole thing. And he certainly could have managed a zipper without looking at it. Plus, look at the way she closed her eyes. These two haven’t even KISSED yet, and they were both imagining him taking that dress completely off of her, you could just tell. Dayum, these two are so hot. (Just ignore the bit after that. This clip splices that scene with like the last scene in the episode. Interesting scene, but has nothing to do with this one. (Though, Elijah telling Hayley that he’s “better now” when she walks into the room WAS kind of adorable.))

Josh talks to Klaus on the phone

I can’t find a clip of this one. But it’s hilarious. Klaus calls Josh, who tries to claim that he’s moved to Turkey – while the casket girls festival is going on right outside his window. And, bear in mind, he’s talking to KLAUS. A normal human being could probably hear that festival through the phone. No way in Hell Klaus doesn’t. I love Josh, so much.

Josh tells Davina not to hold back

Here is Josh’s loyalty, again. This time, to Davina. He knows that if Davina manages to kill Klaus, he’ll die too. And he doesn’t tell her. Because he wants her to be safe. And he’s willing to die for that safety. He’s willing to die for HER. Scenes like this one are why he’s one of my favorite characters.

Davina takes on Klaus, Elijah, and Marcel

There were no clips that combined both parts of this scene. So, had to use two of them. Anyway. As much as I love Elijah, and hate to see anything bad happen to him, Davina was awesome in this scene. The girl made THE original hybrid start to transition. I really think that she might have pulled off killing them, if she had really wanted to. I’m glad that she didn’t obviously, but it was kind of awe-inspiring to watch, anyway. And then Rebekah comes in with her girl power mantra, and probably actually saves everyone. Also, kudos to Claire Holt (I can’t credit the writers, because this has been done the wrong way on The Vampire Diaries, so many times). Rebekah caught Tim the right way. She didn’t do the usual movie/tv thing of him slamming into her arms three feet above the ground somehow didn’t kill him. She kept him moving, and just slowed his momentum down before setting him on the ground. You rarely see that done properly.

So, those are my favorite scenes. Obviously any decent Haylijah scene would make the cut. And I do love Josh to bits. Davina being a total badass, and Rebekah being awesome finish it up.

by

January 7 check-in

Word count: 1,452

Blog posts and a bit of fanfiction. This scene I’m writing is getting a bit unwieldy. It doesn’t help at all that it comes much later in the story. So, she’s telling a story he may have already heard part of. My favorite “Bella, you’re not making any sense” moment is Elijah asking where Andrea fits in all of this. Umm… he knows that Klaus is Hope’s father. Pretty sure that THAT’S where Andrea fits into this. Unless he meant how she ended up being turned, which could certainly make sense. But, this scene is still a lot of fun.

Step count: 7,059

I have no idea where I am on calories. I still need to enter my baked ziti into my app. But, pretty sure I was mostly okay. Might have gone a smidge over because of too much soda. I really need to start weaning myself off of that.

I am at the point in my outlining book where I actually start writing revision notes, again. Which, for this chapter, means going through everything I have, not just from going through this book, but my old revision notes, and actually try to assign scenes to certain points. Basically, I’m at the point where I’m supposed to start actually outlining this thing. It’s scaring me, and I think I’ll wait and start on it on Thursday when I have more time.

I have also started reading this interesting organization book. It’s all about finding your own organizing style (there’s a quiz. I’m a butterfly. This doesn’t surprise me), and then spending 15 minutes a day working on one thing at a time. I think this should be doable. I’m actually looking forward to getting started with it.

Anyway, that was my day, yesteday.

by

Favorite scenes from The Originals episode 1×09

Klaus and Cami telling Marcel about her role in Klaus’s game

Cami is just too much fun, here. The way she has no trouble telling Klaus off cracks me up. She knows, not only how powerful he is, but also how ruthless. She knows damn well that he not only CAN kill her in a heartbeat, but that he wouldn’t hesitate to do so if it suited his purpose. And she always speaks her mind, anyway. And then we get Klaus making jokes. I love Klaus’s sense of humor. So much fun.

Hayley asking Rebekah and Elijah to save the wolves

Hayley doesn’t even know yet that she’s an Alpha. And she’s already acting like their Queen. And of course, she’s smart enough to play the one card that even Rebekah can’t refute – family. She knows Rebekah well enough at this point that she knows that pointing out that these people are her family will get Rebekah on board. Because family is the one thing that Rebekah will always fight for, no matter what. Of course, Elijah would need no coaxing. He’ll do just about anything for Hayley – even if neither of them is willing to admit that, yet.

Klaus, Marcel, and Kieran

Marcel certainly knows how to push Klaus’s buttons. Though, watching him use that knowledge to keep Klaus from hurting Kieran was pretty awesome. But, the best part of this scene is “how do you expect me to remake the mayor?” It seems that Cami’s snark and take no bullshit tendencies very much run in the family.

Elijah and Rebekah stopping the wolf hunt

Aaahhh!!!! Rebekah teasing Elijah about Hayley. Elijah’s smiles every time Hayley is mentioned – Rebekah doesn’t even need to say her name. He knows who she’s talking about, and it makes him smile. “It’s complicated” along with that damned smile! HE JUST ADMITTED TO REBEKAH THAT HE HAS FEELINGS FOR HAYLEY AND OMFG! And then we get to Elijah being such a badass that he doesn’t even need to DO anything. He just reminds the vampires about how his “baby brother” handed their asses to them despite even greater odds and they fucking RUN.

Klaus sends Cami away

Starting with him asking Kieran for help saving his and Hayley’s people – from the orders he himself gave. For all that he told Rebekah and Elijah that family is overrated, he does care about these people and needs to keep them safe. And then we get Cami’s reaction to the visions Klaus gave her. She doesn’t cower in fear of the monster that he is. She sympathizes with her first glimpse at WHY he’s the way that he is. Sending her away was quite possibly the hardest thing Klaus has ever had to do. But, for once, he put somebody else ahead of himself. He will protect her at all costs – even if that means never seeing her again.

Elijah and Hayley almost kiss. Elijah apologizes to Klaus

I wanted to scream watching this scene. I actually DID yell “kiss, kiss, kiss” at the tv the first time I saw it. You KNOW they both want to. And just the way Elijah smiles when he tells Hayley that the wolves are safe can melt your heart. Rebekah was right, while doing the right thing was certainly a point – Elijah wanted to “impress the girl”. He was so proud of being able to tell her that her family would be okay. And his heartfelt apology to Klaus, and Klaus’s equally heartfelt acceptance of that apology was just beautiful. Rebekah is going to be pissed about losing Marcel, but the brothers have mended the rift and once again become a united front.

And then there’s Davina and Cami. As much as I love Cami, and ship Klamille, and am happy that Cami is staying… I kind of hate Davina in this scene. After Klaus so heartbreakingly put Cami’s safety first and sent her away for her own protection, even though that hurt him… Davina comes in and rips it all away just so that she can have someone to help her deal with her problems. Gotta keep reminding myself that she’s 16, and thinking that the world revolves around you is normal at that age…

by

January 6 check-in

Word count: 1,411

Monthly total: 7,335

Yesterday’s words were my blog post and starting a scene of Hayley and Freya telling Elijah the “family history” that the Mikaelsons made up to tell him. Since the whole hybrid thing, and Klaus being able to father children is not exactly something they can tell him because it would raise too many questions. Therefore, they had to make themselves all MUCH younger than they really are. It’s an interesting scene. I cried through a lot of it. Which then had me laughing at myself. Because, even within the story universe, this story is fiction. But, in a way, while the reasons may have been different, the emotions were real. Hayley was explaining about how Klaus had blamed himself for Henrik’s death. It was very sad. Granted, today it occurred to me that this conversation cannot take place the way I wrote it, unless I come up with a way for Josh to “figure out” that Andrea is a vampire and tell Elijah. Because that is NOT a conversation that can happen in letters or over Skype. Yes, Hayley knows that Elijah is one, but she’s still not going to come clean in a situation that she can’t compel him to forget if she’s “wrong”, because she needs to keep up the charade that she just met him. But, figuring this out is future me’s problem. I’m going to keep writing this scene the way it’s playing out in my head and make any changes necessary to make it work with where it needs to be in the timeline when I’m getting ready to post it.

Step count: 1,508 I really need to figure out a way to make myself actually get moving on my days off…

Not entirely sure about calories, because I still have to enter the recipe I made into my app, but pretty sure I did alright.

Got myself a couple books on organizing, and fell into an Amazon rabbit hole of books on coping with ADD. And then got into a conversation with some friends on Twitter about burnout, and ADD, and procrastination. Weirdly enough, these two things are NOT related. It’s just a coincidence of timing that two different internet brouhahas managed to converge.

by

January 5 check-in

Word count: 257

Month total: 5,924

As you can see, I failed miserably, yesterday. Procrastinated far too much. Ended up only doing my check-in blog post for Friday and added a net 13 words to my fanfic. I did get that posted, though. So, there’s that. Made someone cry. Any day that you’re told that you made someone cry is a good day in a writer’s life.

Didn’t really get anything else done, either. Except go grocery shopping. At least got THAT done.

Step count: 9,122

And, in my defense, that step count is part of why I accomplished little else. Not the whole reason, as the party didn’t start until 5pm. But, my work’s Christmas party was yesterday. Had so much fun. Spent most of two and a half hours dancing. As much as I need more money than that place can give me, yesterday reminded me of why I’m going to miss it once I find something better. I love my coworkers so much. Don’t really like the JOB – I’m not sure that anyone particularly LIKES working retail, and an introvert working retail is just… Well, it’s not fun. But, I do love my coworkers. And even more so on nights like last night, where we can all just let our hair down and have fun.

So, yesterday may have been an abject failure in terms of my New Year’s resolutions, but it was a much-needed balm to my mental health. And I’ll take that trade-off.

Today I need to do another blog post, and then write the scene that was writing itself in my head this morning. And then whatever else I can do to get my word count for the day. I refuse to lower my yearly goal in the first week, dammit! I WILL catch up!

I have also discovered a book on organization specifically for people with ADD. I think I may buy that. Because it is right up my alley.

by

January 4 check-in

Words written: 1,409

Total words for the month: 5,667

As has been the usual this month, that was my daily blog post and my fanfiction. I finished that chapter of You Can’t Fight Destiny. Elijah made me cry. He ruined my plans of having a Haylijah kiss – brought on by the way they looked at each other at the end of his flashback in the tv episode. We’ve all been saying ever since it aired that if he didn’t have a girlfriend, he totally would have kissed her. So, when I started writing this story, I fully expected them to kiss when I got to that scene, since there was no Antoinette holding him back. But, then he didn’t, because he didn’t trust himself to leave it at one kiss. He was afraid he would ask her to stay – and he didn’t want to be a rebound. I wanted to cry. Both because I wanted my Haylijah kiss, dammit! And because he was breaking my heart. He was falling for this girl, just from spending one day with her. And even though she was flirting with him, he took her as being on the rebound. Chapter ended with him hoping that she had felt the same connection that he did and would come back to him. I’ve been calling him my poor, lovesick fool.

Step count: 7,066

Stayed within my calorie goal, but that was in large part due to earning bonus calories.

And, that’s about it.