#also lol at caroline saying damon finally made the selfless choice

[rememberdamonn]

Well written characters have a core conflict that consists of a goal that the character wants/needs to achieve, and an obstacle that gets in the way of that goal. For Damon, that core conflict is Love vs. Fear. His goal is love - to be loved, to have love. The obstacle that gets in the way of that goal is his own fear - fear of being abandoned/betrayed/rejected, fear of not being enough, fear of letting people down, fear of losing his loved ones... in short, fear of losing love. Every majorly bad decision that Damon makes, he makes either in reaction to or in anticipation of that fear being realized. When he kills Jeremy in S2, and Aaron in S5? He does it because he’s just been abandoned and rejected by Elena/Katherine. When he hides the cure from Elena in S6? He does it because he’s afraid that if she becomes human he’ll lose her. When he feeds Elena his blood in S2? He does it because he’s afraid he’ll lose her in the sacrifice. These seeds are planted throughout the entire show. In 4x15 when Damon sires Elena to turn off her humanity (another thing he does out of fear), Stefan tells him that it was a mistake because despite Elena losing her brother, she still has Damon. Damon’s reply? “I’m not enough.”

There's a conversation that Stefan and Damon have in 7x22 that lays it all out neatly:

Stefan: You really think I did the right thing by taking Caroline against her will?

Damon: One hundred percent.

Stefan: You said that's how you know you love someone. And for a second there, I actually believed you. I thought that my love for Caroline was so strong that I would do anything to protect it. But then I realized, that's not love, Damon. That's fear. That night that you put yourself down, it wasn't because you love Elena. It was because you were afraid if you didn't, you would do something terrible, and you would lose her forever. And that fear was so powerful that it overrode any love that you felt for me, or Bonnie, or anybody else. I refuse to be ruled by fear. I refuse to be you.

In 7x10 when Damon is forced to face the truth while in the Phoenix Stone, he tells his mother, “Give me a chance to let you love me.” This is representative of Damon’s entire journey throughout the show. Damon doesn’t let people love him because he’s scared that they won’t. That’s why he tells Elena in 3x19 that he doesn’t want to have to live up to anyone’s expectations, and he tells Bonnie the same thing in 8x10 when he reads her his letter. Damon’s self sabotage and his insistence on pushing everyone away is a product of the fear of what will happen if he lets people love him - but by giving into that fear, he ensures that he’ll never get what he wants most.

In order for Damon to have a successful, satisfying ending, he has to 1) overcome his fears. He does this in 8x16 when he attempts to self-sacrifice for the right reasons, in direct contrast to his self sacrifice in 7x22 for the wrong reasons - a sacrifice he makes out of fear:

“There is a girl waiting outside for you, and if you go in there with me and get all screwed up, you're gonna have problems with her, and you're gonna blame me.” - Damon to Stefan, 7x22 (S7 is written to be a tragedy but that’s another post)

And 2) he gets the chance to let himself be loved. That’s why Delena has to be endgame. Damon finally getting a chance to let himself be loved is central to his character in a way that makes any other ending a tragedy for him.

So what about Stefan? Stefan’s goal is Choice. The same way that Damon has lost in love, Stefan has repeatedly had his choices taken from him. Katherine takes Stefan’s choice away when she compels him, bloodlust takes Stefan’s choice away when he becomes a ripper, Klaus takes Stefan’s choice away when he enslaves him. This is why Stefan is so protective of Elena’s ability to choose, and it’s also why narratively, Stefan’s worst crime is taking Damon’s choice away when he forced him to become a vampire. Morally, it’s far from the worst thing Stefan has done, but thematically it’s the misdeed that matters the most. That’s why it’s brought up again and again.

The obstacle that’s getting in the way of Stefan’s Choice is Vampirism. Whether it’s his own or someone else’s, Stefan can’t choose the life he wants to have or the person he wants to be without vampirism getting in the way. For Stefan to have a successful, satisfying ending, he has to 1) reconcile his relationship with vampirism. He does this by escaping his vampirism when he’s cured. And 2) he has to have the opportunity to choose. That’s why human Stefan is immediately on vervain, and that’s why he maintains the ability to choose to sacrifice himself even after Damon attempts to compel him in 8x16. Is it the best way to have Stefan accomplish his goal? Personally, I don’t think so. I would’ve preferred to see him accept his vampirism rather than escape it, and I would’ve preferred for him not to die. But in a finale where one brother makes a choice to sacrifice himself and the other brother gets the girl, it’s clear which has to be which for their arcs to resolve in a thematically satisfying way.

[zalrb]

I Could've Been Watching Goblin {TVD 8x11 Review}

OK! Hi all. For those who read my reviews you know I write this in real time which means any mistakes I make at the beginning might be cleared up in the end. There will be anti-Damon, anti-Delena, anti-Steroline, anti-Bamon sentiments. I will probably reference other shows and Julie's blatant misogyny. If you don't like it don't read. This was done on my phone so beat with me. Let's go. 1. So I don’t remember if this is from 8x09 or 8x10 when Sybil explains that opening the door from Cade’s world into this world will destroy everyone in this world but that is literally Buffy season 5.  Glory is a hell goddess who wants the key back into her dimension but if the key (who is Buffy’s sister) opens her world then the dimensions will bleed together and reality will cease to exist. LIKE??? Does Julie even know what an original thought is? 2. Is it supposed to be super evil that Cade killed Sybil and Seline? 3. So Bonnie doesn’t know what Cade looks like? 4. Cade is a petty villain. Him breaking up a couple’s marriage is like Katherine “breaking up” Tyler and Caroline because she slept with Klaus. 5. Damon is entirely annoying and I get that he’s supposed to be annoying Stefan by being all “my humanity is back!” but they’re BOTH boring me because HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE SEEN THIS? One of them chained or vevained or bleeding out or WHATEVER while the other is being the annoying brother being like “get your humanity back on!” like I’m OVER IT. 6. I could be watching Goblin now.  A show TVD could’ve used as a road map for interpersonal relationships. 7. “Contrary to your popular belief, it’s not all about you” that’s rich coming from Damon and from the show dedicated to centring everything around Damon. 8. So did Matt just get his job back? Like just like that? 9. “Left behind by the first settlers” so we’re just going to ignore that they would be colonizers then. I guess. 10. Lol Caroline’s other obligations is a time capsule? 11. “Look at Damon, humanity on and he’s a new person!” HE IS EXACTLY THE SAME. DAMON ALWAYS REMAINS EXACTLY THE SAME. MAGNUM IS THE SAME LOOK AS BLUE STEEL. OH MY FUCKING GOD. 12. So is Caroline just not going to be there to help get Stefan’s humanity back or…? I watched the “Inside ‘You Made A Choice To Be Good’” and Julie Plec said something along the lines of Caroline is living her life and just waiting out Stefan’s non-humanity because she’s over it and you know what if Stefan had chosen to turn off his humanity just for the fuck of it then I would be like Caroline, girl, do you but considering he did this for her daughters, I would like to see more commitment and not just “I’m staying positive.” 13. So Matt can say that it’s still Stefan who tried to get him to destroy the entire town but he can say that Damon turning and effectively killing Vicki is a long time ago, him murdering Tyler wasn’t him. OK true. Not transparent at all TVD. 14. It’s hard to keep giving him a pass. But Damon gets all the passes in the world? WHY? 15. I COULD BE WATCHING GOBLIN. 16. Goblin is a Kdrama btw. Since my followers have been asking. 17. Ugh I every time I see BE I actually just groan. 18. Why is Damon giving him pancakes and not blood? Is Stefan not a vampire? Is he drying Stefan out? What’s the point of this? 19. I’m actually still really irritated that Matt said that he couldn’t keep giving Stefan a pass. Damon has killed so many people in this town. LIKE OMG. But Matt has a knack of blaming Stefan for shit that ISN’T HIS FAULT. 20. Also Matt calling intern dude and intern dude being like “I am a person not just your Wikipedia” is giving me Bamon vibes. 21. Oh my God, I am literally only 10 minutes in. 22. Oh his name is Dorian. 23. My anons keep telling me how Ian has these huge ass arms. I’m not seeing it. 24. The race track is giving me OTH vibes. 25. The twirl is cute, I will admit that. If there’s one thing BE can do, it’s Enzo twirling Bonnie. 26. But they just don’t have chemistry that it can sustain my interest. 27. Ugh Matt’s annoying me. 28. Cade is not intimidating. 29. There is SO MUCH TALKING. 30. Can they just get to when Stefan kills Enzo already? 31. Does Caroline work at The Grill? 32. DID MATT JUST SAY, REAL TALK? OH MY FUCKING GOD. NO. 33. Things are taking too long to happen. 34. I want to find Bonenzo cute but like … ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 35. People are talking a lot. 36. Wow, I found Damon mildly amusing in this scene. “I thought you promised you wouldn’t do anything stupid?” “When did I ever promise THAT?” 37. But Damon always does something stupid and people give him a pass but Stefan sacrifices and it’s hard to forgive him. Mmkay. 38. 21 minutes and 41 seconds. 39. The music is telling me that the stakes are super high but I don’t feel anything but boredom because people are JUST. TALKING. 40. No but seriously, does Caroline own The Grill or what? 41. “For generations we thought we were cursed” just like how the Whitmores thought they were cursed? Original, Julie. Also remember when the Whitmores weren’t cursed it just so happened that Damon was murdering all of them? But oh yeah that’s easy to forgive. My bad. 42. Talking talking talking talking 43. This is the final season though? 44. Stefan agreeing to kill Elena is too ridiculous for me to even be mad at it. 45. It actually just looks painful when Bonnie hugs Enzo like her arms are stiff. 46. “Your selflessness is part of what makes you you.” “Your humanity is the one thing who makes you who you are.” “Because that’s what makes you you.” How many times are we going to repeat the same sort of line? 47. BE kissing is just awkward. 48. Maybe run Bonnie? Like why are you walking? Like fam you’re taking for fucking ever. Enzo is no longer able to come into a house that you thought you owned. SHOULDN’T THAT BE A LITTLE I DUNNO SUSPICIOUS? 49. Don’t vampires have super speed? Like superhuman speed? I always thought a vampire would be faster than a car. So if Damon is so pressed about Stefan killing Elena like I would think he should just vamp speed to where he is. 50. Bonnie’s reaction to Stefan killing Enzo was anticlimactic. Stefan killing Enzo was anticlimactic. Bonnie turning Stefan human was anticlimactic because there wasn’t even a struggle. He just stands there! 51. Although I do find something poetic in the fact that Elena’s blood is in Stefan’s system. 52. I don’t care for Bonenzo but seriously Julie taking away Bonnie’s happiness at every turn is a blatant hatred of her character, I don’t give a shit if she says she gets an unexpected happy ending, the unexpected happy ending will probably be her and Enzo reunited in death or something. 53. Also Bonnie let out a psychic blast with her cry of pain like Cade did, if Bonnie becomes a next devil I will lose it. Or maybe her psychic world will be all angelic and shit and Enzo’s soul will be there and that will be her happy ending. I was extremely bored this episode.