While my biggest Vampire Diaries obsession will always be Delena, there's no denying that Klaroline has come rushing up from the sidelines to become a very close second in its utter shipperific perfection.
Here are the five biggest reasons to adore this insanely inappropriate coupling:
5. They are insanely inappropriateThe fact that Klaus is pure evil - as in worse than either Salvatore at their lowest ebb - is not the only reason why Klaroline is just wrong.
After all, Forewood is pretty much ruined now. I'm ashamed to admit that the sight of poor Tyler has started to try my patience. This is not fair, seeing as Tyler/Caroline have had such a sweet love story and have gone through so much together. It's even less fair to root for Klaus to get Caroline after he killed pretty much everyone Tyler ever cared about except Caroline.
But nothing about shipping is fair. As soon as Klaroline became a thing, Forewood became a hinderance.
As Klaus himself would say, "don't underestimate the allure of darkness..."
...or the allure of a snide English vampire.
4. HE DREW A PORTRAIT OF CAROLINE AND A HORSE
3. Witty repartee
For example,
Klaus: "I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow?"
Caroline: "How about a quarter to never?"
Klaus: "I was promised a date in return for one of my hybrids."
Caroline: "Yes, a date like to a movie where we don't have to talk and I can put at least three seats between us."
...or the prom dress incident:
2. Chemistry, Chemistry!
1. She brings out the best in him
Whatever tiny remnant of humanity there is in Klaus, we can be quite sure that it is irredeemably evil, just like his vampire self. Yet somewhere within that abyss of sociopathic, selfish, chaotic wickedness, there is a minuscule flicker of the potential for goodness.
And Caroline is the only one who can find it. Otherwise, Tyler would be dead and Caroline would have had to go to the senior prom in her underwear. There is something about Caroline's particular blend of the girly, the sexy, the good, and the sassy that forces Klaus to a) crack a smile, and b) give into whatever chance there is that he could ever exhibit kindness or compassion.
We first saw a glimpse of it when he saved her life by giving her his blood, the night Klaroline was born. The act of rescuing her became more than a smug concession; it was an unexpected pleasure.
While letting Tyler live the first time was mainly just a greedy (and probably fruitless) attempt to avoid having Caroline irrevocably despise him forever, the second time there was something else going on. Klaus wanted Caroline to have her dream prom night, even if it meant she would have a romantic interlude with someone else, the same someone who tried to destroy him.
The most moving and shocking attribute of their relationship is that Caroline can cause Klaus to smile an actual, genuine smile of unfiltered happiness. A smile of simplicity, empty of bitterness or darkness.
Because Caroline's vibrancy and passion represent everything he's lost about himself, or maybe never even had to begin with, he can't resist those qualities in her. They even make him vulnerable.
However, though they brought little consolation back in the days of Buffy and Angel, one can only hope that the inevitable TVD/Originals crossover episodes will include some Klaroliney goodness.
