#but literally no one cared about matt and Vicki's situation

[enobariasdistrict2]

no because like how were vicki and matt related, was she the older sibling or the younger one?? also how did he literally just forget about her like she never got mentioned in matt's character arc until the very end... idk even if i didn't have a good relationship with my sibling i would still be sad and traumatized for DECADES if she went missing for days and then i found her body buried in the woods somewhere ....

[bennett-mikealson]

I saw one of your mentions about Bonnie, realized I really dislike the majority of tvd fandom & why I don't bother exploring the tags outside of Bonnie centered stuff for the sole reason that she is never even discussed in detail among the majority. She's largely overlooked in these anti Delena, anti Klaroline mentions & they somehow turn it around into the same old "xyz is the real victim here". Literally saw a post were they discussed all these third tier characters like Lexi, Vicki, Rose & some other irrelevant stuff in comparison to Caroline/Elena that basically falls in line with how their plots were ignored or done terribly (even though they WEREN'T & literally had more screentime/agency than Bonnie - a main witch character who served more purpose plot wise). Its really annoying that they complain about things that are fine & don't need fixing.

They will do anything to avoid talking about anything Bonnie related other than the tired slogan "Bonnie deserved better", which always sounds like a lazy fake attempt at pretending to care. & Worse, when actual Bonnie fans discuss how to write her plots better, those said stans try to cut down any theories outside of canon & say how it's unrealistic or some other tired excuse they never give to any other characters except hers.

See that’s why I can’t stand when Stan’s say Bonnie’s a fan favorite or say she’s the most loved character bc she just started to get her hype and even then she still gets an equal amount of hate. THB looking at how ppl talk about Bonnie outside of her Stan’s to me its like looking at another version of the writers. They see her as a plot device just as much as the writers and they don’t care about her struggles nor care to understand them.

For example when Bonnie ignored Elena after her grams died everyone was all like “omg Bonnie’s such a bad friend” or would think that Bonnie was blaming Elena for Grams dying when she never said that. In the show she even told Elena that she didn’t blame her for grams death. She just wanted space from her and considering how Elena was buddy buddy with the Salvatore her distancing herself from Elena was valid. But They don’t care about how Bonnie felt seeing her friend all lovey-dovey with people who caused her pain. They say “well maybe if Bonnie didn’t beg grams to open the tomb then she wouldn’t of died” (which is not true) but if Bonnie didn’t open the tomb then the Salvatore would’ve been stuck and y’all still would’ve been hating on Bonnie.

Same thing happened when Bonnie didn’t like Damon at first. Ppl called her annoying for being rude to the Salvatore’s when Damon almost killed her and he did nothing but cause problems. But ppl wonder why Bonnie didn’t like him. Then suddenly they love her in season six when her and Damon became best friends. Then it was “oh I love this new side to Bonnie”. 🙄

Even when Bonnie didn’t deactivate the Gilbert device and Caroline became a vampire; Bonnie was distant to her and Stans acted like Bonnie’s actions were unjustified and villainized her. Even though they knew Bonnie has had nothing but negative encounters with vampires before and had suffered bc of the presence of vampires so it would make sense why she’d be guarded with Caroline. Caroline‘s mother and father reacted the same way and so did Matt when they found out she was a vampire. They say Bonnie had no right to treat Caroline rudely when she is the reason Caroline a vampire even tho Katherine is the one who killed Caroline. Yet she gets praised all the time for making Caroline a better person. They even try to use the fact that Bonnie asked Damon to give Caroline blood against her and villainize Bonnie more when her intentions in asking Damon to save Caroline were pure and Damon didn’t have to listen to her. The thing is even if Bonnie did deactivate the Gilbert device in the situation ppl still would’ve gotten hurt bc the tomb vampires were ready to attack founding family members so Bonnie still would of been hated on for not “doing her job”.

There was really no winning for Bonnie at all. They just want her to do what needed to be done to protect their faves then go in the shadows.

It even shows when some Stan’s write fanfictions. Them time travel stories of Bonnie messing up a spell and it pushes Elena or Caroline or both back in time with the Salvatore or the Mikealsons; She still a plot device to Stan’s.

These be the same Stan’s that claim Bonnie Stan’s be trying to make her the main character or that we’re trying to steal Elena and Caroline’s shine when we make suggestions on how the writers could have written Bonnie’s character better. And like you said they always make it seem like anything outside canon is unrealistic or “outside of Bonnie’s character” when in reality they’re just can’t stand the thought of Bonnie being with their favorite white men. Just like the writers. 🙄

Also, sorry for the late response. I just recently got into tumblr more than before. 😁

[kiss-my-freckle]

I saw a Stelena fan say that situations had to be forced for Delena to interact in a way that was inauthentic and that times like Elena staying behind to take care of Vicki's body wasn't believable instead of her going to Jeremy and happened for Delena. The part about Stefan's relationship with Elena had me like "And...?" As long as Elena wanted to be with Damon too I literally do not care and find Steffie's tears delicious:

I noticed the writers forcing Damon and Elena into nonsensical situations in order to forge a bond. My go to example will always be Elena staying behind to help Damon with Vicki’s body instead of going home with Jeremy. Because why wouldn’t she leave the vampires to deal with the vampire mess and go home to take care of her brother. Because we need Delena “tension” It was all very contrived and with little substance so I always thought the “build up” was extremely mediocre. Most of it is Damon disrespecting the boundaries of Elena’s relationship with Stefan and then their conversations were 95% about Stefan. I was extremely confused by their relationship because there was no substance to it. Not to mention their romantic moments always made me feel weird because they almost always came after Stefan had just saved Damon’s life. It felt so contractual - "well we marketed this show as a love triangle, so we're going to love-triangle-it-up even when it makes no sense." Elena goes from slapping Damon and wanting to kill him for what he did to Caroline to laughing with him about the fun he had with Miss Mystic Falls. It's such a mess how they kept ruining her character to force their "bond". Damon was a narcissist sociopath who was obsessed with his brother's love life. I love how Klaus tells Stefan in season 7 that Damon consistently ruins his life and Stefan acknowledges that and the show ends with Stefan dying on his wedding day to save Damon. I love it when character development is a circle.

I'd consider Delena situations fated rather than forced. Delena is the most organic vampire-human ship in the show. Stelena is the ship that's forced and inauthentic, and I mean this literally. Stefan forced himself into Elena's life and lied through most of their relationship. Lying in itself being a manipulation tactic. To be authentic, Stefan had to be real with Elena, and he rarely was.

Elena staying behind with Vicki's body is more than believable, it's true to her character. It's not like she had no idea where Jeremy was going and it's not like she couldn't talk to him when she got home. Vicki was about to be buried in a hillside grave with no tombstone whilst having no funeral where her loved ones would've paid their respects. Elena would've stayed behind, then went home to her brother... and she would've done it to pay respects, to say goodbye. Not only for herself, but for Jeremy and Matt and everyone else who loved Vicki. That's the kind of person Elena is.

Nothing in the show happens for Delena's sake.

[imagineofallkindsxxx]

Eternal Flame- Kol Mikaelson 7/?

A Hundred Dead Witches!?!

Summary: 'You never know whats in a persons heart until you truly know them' - Belle French, Once Upon a Time

Singing. Thats all what Alexandra Gilbert has cared about since she was young and all she would care about until she met him.

With Alexandra fighting vampires, werewolves and all between she may do a thing she vowed never to do, fall in love.

And to think it all started with a walk in the woods...

Tonight was the night of Illuminations, a town tradition that has been going on for centuries so a group of us had volunteered to help or in my case forced to. While hanging lanterns from the trees Carol Lockwood decided to make a speech to the volunteers deciding to thank the people actually doing the work instead of sitting around making speeches along with introducing Tobias Fell. 

"Remind me why we're here again?" I whispered to Mark but before he could answer Sam butted in. 

"It's my uncle Tobys night, my mom's forcing me to volunteer and I'm sure as hell not doing it on my own." Making me roll my eyes at the bassist. 

  "Yo, what'd I miss" James said coming behind us making me jump out of my skin giving him a push. 

  "Nothing the speech is about to begin." Sam informed him. 

  "The first illumination..." He started, going on about history of the town and the founders. 

"I'm gonna dip. Finish my lantern" I whispered to James making him look at me incredulously. I just looked at him and blew a kiss at the drummer before a quietly and as slyly as possible trying to escape the wrath of Sam Fell who although may look skinny and weak can destroy you. 

When it looked like I was in the clear for now I walked up to Caroline and Bonnie who were tying lanterns to a branch.

"-comment on that." 

"Comment on what?" 

"There. You Commented" 

"I'm confused, what are you commenting?" Asking the duo confused at what is going on and what is being commented. 

"What do you want me to say Caroline?" She asked clearly distressed before finally addressing me "I went against the balance of nature when I brought Jeremy back to life and now, I'm paying the consequences. Whenever he wants to see Anna and she wants to see him, she's still here". Jesus this is fucked up. 

"Bon..." I started looking at her sympathetically before Caroline butts in 

"I want you to tell me you're not okay with it." 

"I'm a thousand times not okay with it. I just don't know what to do about it" she said looking deflated at the entire situation making me throw my arm around her shoulders in comfort. 

"You, Bonnie Bennett are the most powerful, smartest and amazing witch. You'll figure out, trust me. You're Bonnie Bennett for Christ sake!" She smiled at me giving a small laugh before a blue Camaro comes out of nowhere pulling up with a raven haired vampire driving. 

"Greetings, blondie, witchy, brainy. I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan." She tells us with an annoyed expression on his face. 

"Vicki Donovan?" I questioned confused to how a dead vampire was being brought into this conversation, 

"What do you mean, why?" Bonnie questioned the annoyed/annoying vampire in front of her. 

"Because I'm pretty sure I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost." He explained. What the hell did Damon do to that poor and attractive werewolf? 

"What?" Bonnie asked very confused. 

"And why exactly do you think that?" I asked wondering how Mason Lockwood was the first person he thought of.

"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker into my chest. let's say I'm having deja vu." With this being told me and Caroline both look at Bonnie who looks very confused and conflicted. 

"I thought you said ghosts couldn't interact with people." Caroline said talking straight to Bonnie thinking how it can't be possible that Bonnie may have been wrong. 

"They can't" 

"Yeah well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up fix it." He ranted towards the witch after that he drove away extremely quickly and most likely above the speed limit. 

Across the road was Matt watching the interaction of the four of us. I was the first to cross the street to talk to the quarterback with Caroline and Bonnie following closely behind. I asked him quickly if he had seen Vicki.

"I haven't seen Vicki, I swear" He told us all before looking down upset about having to go through the loss of his sister a second time "I sent her back like you told me to do."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked making sure that Matt actually did get rid of Vicki "Because she has just as much reason to haunt Damon as Mason Lockwood does."

"90% of the people who have been killed in the past two years has as much reason to haunt Damon as much as Mason Lockwood." I added making Caroline nod in agreement.

"She's gone Bonnie. If she was here, I'd know it" I gave him a small sympathetic smile it clear that he was severely upset about this whole ordeal.

"Why do you think its Vicki and not Mason?" Caroline asked the witch.

"Because if any ghost other than Vicki Donovan has a physical foothold on our side, that means Damon's right." Words I never thought I'd hear "and something has gone really, really wrong." Bonnie states looking extremely worried about this situation and what would happen if all the ghosts from our past come to literally haunt us.

"I've had enough of this ghost stuff to last forever. So can you guys can leave me out of this one" Matt tells the three of us, I nodded understanding that if that happened to me, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed forget going to work. He walks away from us, and you can hear Caroline talking.

"I feel so sad for him. It took a lot for him to send his sister away."

"Yeah" Bonnie replied shortly.

"I highly doubt I could do that, if I got to saw my mom or dad again... I don't know if I would be able to let them go." I stated feeling so much sympathy for the blue-eyed boy. "It took a lot of guts anyway." This made the other girls nod.

"So much strength in a man." Caroline continued looking at both of us.

"Caroline it's never going to happen, get over it." Rolling my eyes at her Insinuating that Matt would be a perfectly good boyfriend as she's done for the part two months.

"I've got a ghost problem to deal with, Caroline. Save the Jeremy lecture for later" She snapped while grabbing her bag all of her stuff falling out when the strap broke. I bent down and helped her pick up her things and just as she was going to put her grimoire up it opens itself to a page in the center of the book.

"Did that just..." I asked the witch and vampire not believing my eyes.

"I think so." Bonnie said cocking her head to the side while picking up the book reading the page that the book opened itself to.

"Okay please tell me that's a recipe for witch cookies" Caroline half joked half serious about the page Bonnie was currently reading.

"It's a manifestation spell. It's used to reveal veiled matter." Bonnie told us the meaning of the grimoires spell.

"What's veiled matter?" Caroline asked and before Bonnie answered I said in shock.

"Ghosts." looking at them all.

"What do we do? Do we do the spell? What is the spell exactly?" I questioned Bonnie repeatedly wanting the ghosts to be a thing in the past and look into the future.

"I think we need to go somewhere more private."

***

Caroline pulled her car up to an abandoned creepy looking house. the three of us enter the front room me and Caroline a little bit more apprehensively than Bonnie.

"So, this is where you brought Jeremy back to life?" I asked Bonnie looking around the room severely creeped out, the interior being as bad as the exterior.

"Yeah. Sorry, I know it's creepy, but we needed a private place to do the spell." Bonnie apologized getting ready to do the spell.

"Hmmm. There's no chance it's haunted by the hundred dead witches who were horrifically burned to death in this very spot, is there?" Caroline question clearly scared, and that question alone made me just as scared.

"A hundred dead witches?!"

"They're not here anymore. And they made it clear they were never coming back." she reassured us both trying to calm our nerves or well attempted to.

"Right. You pinkie swear?" Caroline asks trying to make a joke in the tense environment. Making me give her a look. I got the candles out and gave Caroline a lighter so she can help light the candles with me for Bonnie to start the spell.

"Ready do you need us to do..." I started turning around to see Bonnie already starting to start the spell "Right. Okay" I looked at Caroline while Bonnie was continuing to do the spell getting louder every chant a breeze beginning to surround us getting stronger and stronger by the second making everything in the room moves. Seeing all of this makes my eyes widen and start to worry about Bonnie and how safe this is for her.

"Bonnie, I don't like this. Bonnie..." Caroline voices my thoughts while also looking around that was until we saw something shocking.

"Oh my God, is that your...?" I started but couldn't finish due to the pure shock of what I as seeing. All three of us shocked Bonnie can't say anything, it even leaves Caroline speechless. The silence was broke with Bonnie saying quietly.

"Grams."

*************************************************

A/N:

Small chapter but next is quite long an different than others as a special character will be appearing. Hope you enjoyed, Part two will include more of the boys (a slight twist).

Please correct any grammar, spelling or British slang.

Any positive or negative feedback is appreciated.

Thanks for reading lovelies xxx 

[snowregent]

I feel like there’s a lot of people that don’t know that much about this version of Elena and I wanted to share a look into who this character is and my own opinions on her and the way I write her on this blog. As a forewarning, this post is rather long. 

“Elena had been like a force of nature: take her or leave her for the passionate, cynical, idealistic, self-centered, generous-to-a-fault, girl that had been her mortal self. A wild tropical storm rising in a millpond. An orchid in a field of daisies; a gryphon in a herd of sheep. Elena had never been like anyone but herself.”

     Elena is the quintessential golden girl, the girl next door. Initially, she can come off as selfish, competitive, proud, and headstrong, however, that does not take away from the fact she can still be considered a good and decent person below the surface-- her general alignment being chaotic good. To this end, she has referred to certain students as ‘minions’ as they would readily do bidding for the most popular girl in the school and had been willing to spread rumors to further her own agendas. That said, Elena also showed a willingness to help her friends and protect others when various threats arose which would see them harmed. Some of Elena’s more positive traits are that she is: outgoing, confident, brave, optimistic, ambitious, loyal, protective, and strong-willed. She is a very good leader and as a result, is good at leading most situations that require solid leadership.

“Noblesse oblige”, Meredith said softly. “If you’re going to be queen of the school, you have to put up with the consequences.”

________________________________________________________

“Somewhere in the middle of it, Elena realized that she was going to be all right. She was herself again, not lost, not a stranger, but Elena Gilbert, the queen of Robert E. Lee.”

     Elena cares about her social status, willing to do research and find out details in order to use them against enemies if need be. At times, this means Elena may be willing to manipulate for what she deems is a greater good or to maintain her social standing, however, in most cases, she still has lines she will not cross to achieve these specific goals. Elena is a girl with a plan for everything, sometimes not as readily willing to accept other's motives as pure unless she knows them well. She is a Queen Bee, bossy at times even giving edicts from the grave. Still, she would never change herself or do something she did not think was right (by her definition of the term).

The girls in the senior class, even the ones that had been nastiest and most spiteful, were crying and holding hands. Girls Elena knew for a fact hated her were sniffling. Suddenly she was everybody’s best friend. 

There were boys crying, too. Shocked, Elena huddled closer to the railing. She couldn’t stop watching, even though it was the most horrible thing she had ever seen. 

Frances Decatur got up, her plain face plainer than ever with grief. “She went out of her way to be nice to me,” she said huskily. “She let me eat lunch with her.” Rubbish, Elena thought. I only spoke to you in the first place because you were useful in finding out information about Stefan. But it was the same with each person who went up to the pulpit; no one could find enough words to praise Elena.

________________________________________________________

“A lot of people weren’t nice to Elena after Halloween,” she said, wiping her eyes and going on. “And I know that hurt her. But Elena was strong. She never changed just to conform to what other people thought she should be. And I respected her for that, so much…” Sue’s voice wobbled. “When I was up for Homecoming Queen, I wanted to be chosen, but I knew I wouldn’t be and that was all right. Because if Robert E. Lee ever had a queen, it was Elena. And I think she always will be now, because that’s how we’ll all remember her. And I think that for years to come the girls who will go to our school might remember her and think about how she stuck by what she thought was right…” This time Sue couldn’t steady her voice and the reverend helped her back to her seat.

     In fact, Elena is intensely protective of her friends and town and will typically not betray a loyalty unless she has been betrayed first. Even then, as seen with Caroline, even though Caroline had stolen her diary, plotted against her, and even tried to turn the town against her and Stefan, Elena still was compassionate toward her and wanted to help her. Another example of Elena's ability to be compassionate can be found in the final book when Elena goes back in time and, knowing what will happen to Vicki, makes the choice to include her within her friend group as the girls get ready for the dance. When she goes back in time, she puts aside her popularity, she has matured and only seeks to make things better for everyone that had been doomed in the original timeline, even if it means she has to give up her connections with them. Elena also always fulfills her obligations, as Stefan has said ‘even to the undead’. She is fully aware of the dangerous game she plays at times, her being very emotion-driven can, at times, lead to her taking action without considering others or the fallout from her decisions. That said, she is usually willing to take responsibility for these actions and choices and she is not above admitting when she is wrong.

“…she had been a different person then. Ice-cold outside, manic inside—or was it the other way around? Still numb from the death of her parents so long ago. Jaded by the world and by anything to do with boys…A princess in an icy tower…with a lust only for conquest, for power…”

     While having been nicknamed “The Ice Princess”, “Ice Queen”, and “Snow Queen” by many, for she sometimes possesses the impression of appearing cold, distant and aloof towards those who do not know her well, as time goes on her character evolves, learning to sacrifice for those she cares about and becoming a warmer and more mature person as Elena and her friends face various trials. She demonstrates a willingness to put her life at risk to protect others though is also, at times, willing to risk the majority to save one. This was seen in the series more than once including when she threatened a guardian (angel) that she would not use her powers to save humanity if they didn’t change her mission (which had been to kill Damon). She is extremely stubborn, so much so that when presented with the doom of those she cared about and her own death, she literally refused it and convinced a guardian to allow her to go back in time and alter the chain of events which led to this, thus changing the entire course of the series and resetting the timeline.

“I’d better stop writing now. Stefan’s leaving, and Matt and Meredith and Alaric and I are going to see him off. I didn’t mean to get so into this; I’ve never kept a journal myself. But I want people to know the truth about Elena. She wasn’t a saint. She wasn’t always sweet and good and honest and agreeable. But she was strong and loving and loyal to her friends, and in the end she did the most unselfish thing anybody could do. Meredith says it means she chose light over darkness. I want people to know that so they’ll always remember. I always will.”

     While Elena has openly admitted at the beginning of the series that she always used boys and treated the opposite sex as if they were prizes and trophies to boost her confidence and self-esteem none of the boys that she has ever encountered, met, or dated (including Matthew Honeycutt) has ever had an enormous, unusual, life-changing or highly influential impact on her the way that Stefan Salvatore, in canon, and in other specifically featured verses on this blog, Archie ( @skeletcnkey ), who has drawn out more of Elena's kinder side, and Kol Mikaelson ( @psychotickol ), who has drawn out more of Elena's true nature and tempted her by her own darker traits, have had. While having developed on her own, it must be acknowledged that, at least in part, Stefan, Archie, and Kol have inspired her to become more open-minded and spiritually awakened.

“I wanted to ask you something and it’s a little embarrassing.  I remember one thing Elena told me, and that was that you used to—well, to take on her discarded boyfriends for a little while, to comfort them, before turning them lose in the world again.  And I was wondering—could you think of me that way?”

Meredith’s eyes flew open and her held breath exploded in laughter.  “You!”

“I fulfill all the requirements, I’m sure.  Low self-esteem.  Can’t sleep, can’t eat.  I think about Elena night and day.  I can’t picture myself—ever—wanting another girl—”

Meredith laughed and laughed and the tension that had been holding her rigid broke.  “All right, all right.  You’re an Elena’s-ex.  Join the very large club.  But what can I do for you?”  

     In respect to Elena's loves both in canon and on this blog, many are driven by a key concept of the novels: THE SOULMATE PRINCIPLE which is an ancient theory frequently used in most of L.J. Smith's trilogies and book series. "It is the theory that two people who are true destined soulmates are connected by a 'silver cord', only visible to the destined soulmates themselves." It does not always mean that your connection to that person will be a romantic one, but could be that of a friend as well. The key point is, they are destined to be a part of your life in some fashion, to challenge you and to impact you in a profound way. Your soulmate can awaken more of yourself through your interactions with them. "Through the silver cord, soulmates can often feel what each other are feeling if the person concentrates through the strength this connection and how long it takes to uncover may vary... Exchanging blood is one way for a person to find out they are soulmates. Soulmates can often enter each other's mind and see their memories, thoughts, and feelings. Thoughts and memories can be blocked, though this takes concentration-- if the concentration lapse during the time that one person is in someone else's mind, the blocks will fall down to allow the other person to see everything. It is the idea that for everyone in the world, there is ONE soulmate who is perfect for them. You don't have to look like your soulmate, act like them, be the same age as them; you don't even have to like them at first, but from the moment you meet them, you know that you'll never be completely happy without them."

“Involuntarily, Stefan glanced up.  Yes, he’d had the strong feeling of her presence here tonight, too.  Elena.  Still scheming from the spirit world.  Elena couldn’t help him any longer with her blood, but that wouldn’t matter to her.  She had three humans that she could still influence, and that was fine.  It wouldn’t matter to her that Meredith got a bit of a shock or that Bonnie might be playing with fire, or even—well, she wouldn’t have done anything to destroy his friendship with Matt, but he hadn’t known that before.”

     All in all, Elena is a complex character who many often misjudge both within the series and by readers. She may not be perfect, is not always agreeable, and she even may not be the character that everyone even roots for right off the bat, but she does evolve. And as it's often said, she is not anyone but herself. She does not apologize for being who she is but she does own up to who she is and the choices she makes. Elena is capable of making the hero’s choice but is not always the hero of the story. Elena knows loss and is challenging and daring and brave. She learns and grows and becomes a woman who can be vain but giving, who can be selfish, at times, but still willing to sacrifice.

[zalrb]

What do you say to people who defend DE by claiming “every tvd ship is abusive to some extent”?

Well if that were the case that shouldn’t be cause for defending DE but cause to condemn all of the ships but I don’t think it’s the case, so. 

I sort of talk about that here: http://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/145272258730/stefan-pushed-elena-to-a-wall-she-was-constantly

http://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/145189963455/i-love-how-youre-continuously-bashing-delena-and

http://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/141810996640/but-isnt-it-a-fact-that-stefan-literally-stalked

http://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/162678807080/stelena-wasnt-healthy-their-problems-are-worse

http://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/156271893305/what-is-a-toxic-relationship

But what it basically boils down to is angst vs. abuse and isolated incidents contextualized by external circumstances vs. a history and pattern of toxic and abusive behaviour. 

For instance, SE vs DE. When Stefan bites Elena it’s because choice was literally taken out of the equation, he was compelled to do so after spending so much energy fighting the compulsion to break her spine if she left the gym. That literally isn’t Stefan’s fault. 

When he pushes her against and a wall and threatens to drive her off Wickery bridge, I explain it in the link I posted but both situations are indeed contextualized by the fact that in the first instance, he is spiraling from blood lust and in a chaotic mindset because of it, the Wickery bridge incident is contextualized by the fact that he wouldn’t be in this position if he didn’t save Damon but yes, it was emotionally traumatizing, he crossed a line he shouldn’t have and with both instances, what happens. 

In 1x20, Stefan is so abhorred by what he did that he actually attempts to commit suicide because of it 

After Wickery Bridge, not only does Stefan apologize for what he did and admit that he was wrong

and the fact that he crossed that line and hurt Elena that much is what kickstarts his actual road to recovery 

With Tyler and Caroline, I was uncomfortable with Tyler taking out his anger on Caroline but those situations are still contextualized. 2x13 is sloppy because Damon is the one who killed Mason and if the show was more thorough in their details of Tyler’s arc then Caroline should’ve actively been covering up Mason’s murder so Tyler has more of a reason to freak out and the Mason coverup plus vampire presence comes across as more of a conspiracy instead of bunch of people knowing something and just having that information but the fact of the matter is, Caroline is supposed to be an enemy to Tyler in his scene, his uncle was murdered and the people he trusted were lying to him and a part of tearing his family apart so this is within that context 

5x12 is a bit of a divisive scene on my blog, it’s caused a lot of debate because I don’t fault Stefan for hitting Tyler for wolfing out on Caroline, just like I would not have faulted anyone who came across Stefan and Elena in 1x19 and then hit Stefan, so I think it’s fine that Stefan hit Tyler but Tyler wolfing out on Caroline is not only contextualized by the fact that he found out she slept with the man who murdered his mother but he repeatedly told Caroline to leave because he could feel himself get angry and Caroline refused to go 

Throwing a bottle next to Caroline was ... I don’t like that scene, he could’ve thrown the bottle on the floor or anywhere else.

But with Damon and Elena, Damon not only consistently disregards boundaries but he does things to purposefully exert control and fear over Elena and had done so since the first season.  

He terrorizes her with a crow, he tries to compel her to kiss him, he breaks into her room and strokes her face without her knowledge or consent, he force-feeds her his blood not to mention turning Vicki and then sending her to the Gilbert house not caring what the damage was, he kills Jeremy because she rejected him then lied to her about seeing the ring until he finally decides to ‘fess up, he manipulates her into blood-sharing with him, he kills Aaron because he thinks she dumped him then kidnaps Jeremy and gives Enzo the go-ahead to suffocate him (and when Kalena finds out about, when they show her a picture of Jeremy tied up, Damon grins, he derives pleasure from causing her pain), he lies to her about the cure, putting his insecurities first plus all the other things I can’t even remember right now because there are too many to count. That isn’t angst, these aren’t isolated incidents, it’s a pattern of predatory and abusive behaviour and most of the dynamics on the show that would be considered abusive involve Damon like Bamon and Daroline and whatever dynamic he has with Matt because he is a predator and is a constant source of pain and destruction in everyone’s lives. 

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “Batman” (1989)

Decided to rewatch this classic before I watch the new Justice League movie that’s out this week

I, for one, am so glad Danny Elfman brought the Batman theme back into “Justice League”

*jams out to the Batman theme*

JACK NICHOLSON

Billy Dee Williams!  And he’s only in it for like 5 minutes

Jack Palance! 

Oh my gosh, I forgot Prince did music for this movie

Aaaand it’s the Batman symbol!

Matte painting!  Matte paintings everywhere!

Why do they always portray Gotham as freaking packed?  I know it’s supposed to be a bustling metropolis but this is too much.

Why yes, random family, let’s take a shortcut through a shady ass alleyway.

What the...

Batman, brought to you by American Express

*Batman floats down behind the robbers*  Eeeyyyy!!

*Batman gets shot*  Welp, he’s dead.  End of movie.  Cue end credits music.

Gotta take your sweet ass time revealing your cape...

He raises his arms so high in the air in order to do it.

“I want you to tell all your friends about me.”  “What are you?!?!?”  I’M BATMAN! DAAAA NA NA NAAAA NAAAAA

Lando?!?

Mayor Borg?!?!?

“People of Gotham City, I [Harvey Dent] am a man of few words.”  Nah, he’s a double-crossing, no-good swindler.

All righty, unpopular opinion time:  I don’t like Jack Nicholson as the Joker.  I just don’t.  He’s just... Jack Nicholson in clown paint.  Plus they establish him as a character before he becomes the Joker.

Oh, and of course, they name the Jack Nicholson character “Jack”

So who’s the Lieutenant character again?

Heelllooo shady lookin’- oh it’s Jack Nicholson.

Bob the Goon!

Matte painting!

This movie should be subtitled “Matte Paintings:  The Movie”

Oh my God, Lando, what did they do to your hair?

Eeeeyyy!!  Bob Kane!

“Vale, will you marry me [Knox]?”  “Nope?”  “Wanna buy me lunch?”  “Maybe.”  “I eat light!”  Pffftt....

Story time:  the Quidditch coach/captain of the team here at college (who is notorious for being a flirt) asked me to buy him supper one time before practice.  I knew it was a joke but I told him “Nah, you gotta earn it” and I was applauded by the team

Obligatory purple Joker suit!

Obligatory Joker card!

Why is it such a big deal that Jack Nicholson is involved with that one particular moll?

You gotta hammer it in that Jack Nicholson’s gonna become the Joker

Why is there a casino set up in Wayne Manor?

Michael Gough!

Why is Vicki Vale dressed like she’s getting ready to be married?

I like that we don’t actually meet Bruce until like 20 minutes into the movie.  Plus they establish him as a mystery character- technically the main characters at the beginning of the movie is Knox and Vicki and then it shifts to Batman.  And then again, we don’t get a lot of background on either Batman or Bruce.

I never really had time to appreciate how great Michael Keaton is as Bruce Wayne but dang he’s good.  And I love the reasoning behind this casting:  there’s no way he could be seen as Batman and when we do find out, it’s a big shock.

Holy crap, how many cameras are set up around the manor?

Oh my gosh, Bruce has reading glasses!

Sound stage!

FreEEEZZZEE!!!

AN:  I’m only 25 minutes into this movie.  We gots a bit to go because I’m such a motormouth

Boom goes the dynamite!

Yes, let’s have a police shootout in a chemical factory!  Great plan, guys!

Man, Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon would be on the ball when it came to this situation.  Pat Hingle’s Commissioner Gordon just stands around and gives orders

Um, officers, you’re walking into a puddle of toxic chemicals...

In all seriousness though, I want Jack Nicholson’s hat

Never have I seen a smirkier Batman than Michael Keaton’s Batman

Well there’s also Kevin Conroy’s Batman

*Jack Nicholson falls into the chemical vat*  Welp, he’s dead.  End of movie.  Cue end credits music.

AXIS

Why were Jack Nicholson’s fingernails dyed green from the chemicals?  I know it’s comic book logic but still...

This scene in the dining hall is my dad’s favorite scene in the movie.

That is an impossibly long dining table.

Aaww, they’re having dinner with Alfred in the butlers’ quarters!

“Alfred’s great.  I [Bruce] couldn’t find my socks without him.”  Cue in Batman:  The Animated Series, Joker literally cannot find his socks because Harley’s not there.

That is no way to take bandages off properly, Jack...

Mirror... MIRROR!!

“You see what I have to work with here.”  Yeah, those are some shitty surgical tools there, buddy.

Oh, throw that shoe, Bruce

“Who the hell are you?”  “It’s me [the Joker].”  *sings* IT’S MEEEEEE

“Jack?  Jack is dead, my friend.  You can call me.. Joker!  And as you can see, I’m a lot happier!”

This freaking circus music though

*Bruce and Vicki cuddle while sleeping*  Cue Bruce going “Aw man, I can’t enjoy spending time with this awesome lady because I gotta brood, man.”

WHY IS HE UPSIDE DOWN?!?!?

WAIT ‘TIL THEY GET A LOAD OF ME!

Why the hell is Jack Nicholson dressed like that?

What kind of hand buzzer is that?!?

HAVEN’T YOU HEARD THE HEALING POWER OF LAUGHTER?  NOW GET OUTTA HERE!

YOUUU... ARE MY NUMBER ONEEEE... GUUUYYYYYY!!

How does Bruce Wayne AKA Batman not notice Vicki trailing him from his house to Crime Alley?

Random mime... more random mimes...

Why is Bruce just standing there?  Ooohhhh... wait a minute.. there’s this whole schindig about him recognizing Jack later in the movie

There is literally no reason why Jack Nicholson becomes the Joker since he’s already been established as Jack Napier before the whole ACE Chemicals thing. 

THIS TOWN NEEDS AN ENEMA!

Alfred just wants some grandkids, gosh dang it

How the hell did you get those pics, Vicki?

Oh my God, I hate that this Joker has this weird crush on Vicki.  I hate it so much.

“I’m in a mind to make some mooky.” Ugghh...

Oh my gosh, the Smylex commercial

Oh my gosh, the newspeople aren’t wearing any care products... pfftt...

What kind of cake foundation does Joker have?  That’s like the stuff we had to wear in high school

That waiter just addressed Vicki as “sir”

Did Joker write that message in crayon?

That elderly couple is dead after falling off the balcony like that

LET’S BROADEN OUR MINDS!

*jams the crap out to “Party Man” by Prince*

*One goon paints over a bust*  Hey look, it’s the Jared Leto Joker

What the crap is this music that plays?  It plays during one of the trailers for “The Shape of Water”

Oh wait, it’s the theme from something called “A Summer Place”

I quote the “one dollar bill” quote all the freaking time at my house.

The prosthetic work on Alicia looks pretty sweet, I gotta say

Oh, a little song.. a little dance... Batman’s head on a lance...

Oh my gosh, I forgot how much Kim Basinger screamed in this movie

They even color coded the cars for Joker’s goons

*The police get involved in an accident involving a farmer’s market truck*  NO, NOT THE CABBAGES!

There is no way in hell that Vicki only weighs like 108

Remember when the Batsuit was made out of rubber, you guys?

*Crazy, sword-wielding guy goes after Batman*  Seriously?  Did you not see “Raiders of the Lost Ark?”

For the Batmobile, it looks like they made the toy first before constructing it for the movie

Gotta love that Danny Elfman score...

*Vicki tries to see under Batman’s cowl*  Yo, Vicki, don’t distract Batman while he’s driving

The Batcave!

Why is there just this one random bat hanging out in a bird cage?

Forgot that Michael Keaton literally could not turn his head in the Batsuit

Oh my gosh, how short is Michael Keaton here?

Oooohhh nice transition!

How the hell did Vicki end up back there?

Gotta admit, that’s a nice apartment

“You see, my life is really...”  Batsy!

JUST TELL HER YOU’RE [Vicki] BATMAN!

I like how Bruce walks right by the fire poker in order to get a freaking tray to hit Joker with

YOU WANNA GET NUTS?!?  C’MON, LET’S GET NUTS!

EVER DANCE WITH THE DEVIL IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT?

“Never rub another man’s rhubarb.”  What?

There is no way in hell that Bruce deflected that bullet with the tray

Matte painting!

“Can you hear me?  Just the two of us.”  *sings “Just the Two of Us” by Will Smith*

Gotta admit, Michael Keaton’s Batman has an awesome thinking/pensive face.  It’s probably the eyebrows that help

What is it with families being targeted by random gun-wielding criminals in abandoned alleyways?

There’s no way that that’s Jack Nicholson playing young Jack Napier

Nevermind, it’s some dude named Hugo Blick

*scats the Batman theme obnoxiously out of tune*

Batman’s belt just slipped.  Never gonna un-see that

Why is it that every time this Batman is in the Batsuit and glaring at somebody, he looks like he’s really constipated?

Seriously, is there not a bathroom in the Batcave?

Is this another Prince song?

So where exactly did Joker find the time to find all of this stuff and prepare for an impromptu 200th anniversary parade?

The Batplane!

Matte painting!

“Me?  I’m giving away free money!”  And it looks faaaaakkkeee...

Something is up with that clown balloon’s nose... just saying...

Yeah, lets go after the Joker’s goons with a baseball bat, Knox.  That’ll go well.

I love the sounds all the buttons make on the Batplane dashboard

“My balloons.  Those are my balloons!  He stole my balloons!”  Iconic.

Hahaha he [Joker] used Bob the Goon as a step stool off the parade float!

*The Batplane pauses in front of the moon*  Eeeeyyy!!

*Joker pulls out the gun with the really long muzzle out of the front of his pants*  No comment

Again, why is Vicki Vale dressed like she’s either getting ready to get married or go to a wedding?

“Better make it ten [minutes].”  What makes this awesome is that ten minutes actually goes by both in-universe time and movie run time.  My dad actually timed it the first time I watched this with him.

Mad respect to Tim Burton for the aesthetic in this movie, I gotta say

The eyebrows on Batman’s cowl strangely match Michael Keaton’s.  Was this intentional?

*Joker “dances” with Vicki* Now see the last time I recall Joker dancing with somebody was the 5 second long Alex Ross scene with Harley Quinn in “Suicide Squad”

Unpopular opinion time:  I like Jared Leto’s Joker better than Jack Nicholson’s Joker  *gets bombarded with hate mail and darts*

Eugghhhh Vicki’s pulling a freaking Jasmine from “Aladdin”

“You wouldn’t hit a guy with glasses now, would ya?”  Cue Wreck-It-Ralph

How the hell did Joker pull Batman and Vicki off the roof like that?

Oh my gosh that 80s falling effect

Yeah no, from that drop, the Joker’s body would be a freaking mess

“The reign of crime [in Gotham City] is over.”  BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh hi Billy Dee Williams!

You know what would be awesome:  if Kim Basinger had a cameo somewhere in the Batman solo movie directed by Ben Affleck.  Just saying

Yoooo....

[epicallies]

SUMMER CLEAN-UP POST

since i’ve been on semi-hiatus for a bit and now i’m ( finally ) coming back, i thought it’d be a good time to organize the blog a bit by posting what my plans are and what i’d rather not do/drop. so, i’d love it if anyone who’s interested in roleplaying with me/is currently roleplaying with me could read this through! thanks!

under the read more there are some points i wanna let you all know as well as thread ideas for specific characters, so read it through if you’re interested !!

ONE.  i have dropped a few threads on my threadtracker. this is nothing personal, and it doesn’t mean that i don’t want to roleplay with you anymore. i would just rather start a new thread that i have lots of inspiration for than get stuck in a rut and only reply every few weeks because of lack of inspo. for my threadtracker, click here. 

TWO.  i unfollowed quite some blogs, for the sole reason of getting this blog a bit more organized. i’m sorry to anyone i unfollowed who’s upset by this, but if i just don’t think that our writing is a ‘match’ i probably unfollowed you. 

THREE.  okay mutuals, i have some ideas i would like to try out. they are character specific, i’m listing them below, and if you are interesting in plotting out these ideas, come and let me know! also, ‘plotting out’ are the key words here: i tend to be someone who jumps into things headfirst, but i want to try having a more ‘set’ path to follow as well, to see if that makes it easier to really have meaningful threads and not just like floating around, if you know what i mean. so if you’re interested in that, hit me up!

- stefan and elena →1864 au: this can be ANYTHING but i just really want to explore what their relationship would be if elena had been born around the same time that stefan had been.

- stefan and katherine  → shippery ship ship, I AM HERE FOR STEFERINE: i LOVE the typical snappy steferine convos, but i also L O V E steferine in general, and i’d love to do a heartfelt thingie. this doesn’t mean all fluff, i mean it can be super angsty, but something where neither are actually denying (side eyes stefan) and so it’s like his heart is saying yes but his mind no but he CARES and its real okay

- stefan and klaus  → okay so i don’t actually have ideas for this but i really really really love klefan. maybe something where stefan is dragging klaus out of a situation? you know like the usual would be klaus stepping up when his “”””friend”””” is in trouble but this time klaus is off the deep end and tadaa steffy is there. or something like that? idk just klefan

- stefan and tyler  → how about stefan trying to help tyler deal with his anger, or just his werewolf things in general. could be because care asked, could be just bc steffy is a nice guy™, or… idk i just think that the connection between ty and stef wasn’t explored enough in the series so.. gimme.

- stefan and rebekah  → okay so most of the stebekah threads are either in 1920 ripper phase or stefan being mean to rebekah now, which is fun, but i am a ship whore and i want this ship. could be passionate hot stuff, could be sweet stuff, maybe even steffy comforting rebekah for things that happened in TO (read: you tell me me about anything that happened in TO as i haven’t watched it yet lol) idk just i really like stebekah

- lexi and matt  → okay so i dont have a particular plot in mind but i just think they’d be friends oaky they’re both nice and i wanna see where that goes bc they’re just good ppl. like i can just see her being v compassionate to him just wanting to live his fekkin life and just like explain things to him when everyone else is running around not including matt which is Not Okay.

- lexi and klaus  → DONT JUDGE but this is like my guilty pleasure ship. so if you wanna explore a klexi ship??? come at me??? with literally anything?? angst fluff action whatever there is i am down for it hehe

- lexi and vicki  → since lex didn’t die vick didn’t either okay and like lexi likes having fun and vicki likes having fun and let’s face it stefan isn’t exactly the Grand Master of teaching new vamps. poor fella’s still struggling himself. so give me lex teaching the vamp basics™ to newly vamped up vick. 

- lexi and jeremy  → okay i almost wasn’t gonna write this down bc i have no ideas but i just feel like there’s a friendship here, like jer’s sister is with lex’s almost-brother so idk i just feel like this could be fun

- lexi and bonnie  → okay so lex mostly just keeps to herself so she doesn’t know that many witches so this would just be nice. maybe bonnie could even make her a daylight ring but like DOWN THE LINE not immediately obviously bc i dont think bonnie would just want to go around making daylight rings for vamps. but i can just see lex being interested in spells and all that, not for personal gain but just because it’s Cool. so yeah bonnie and lex friendship. 

- also an extra i wanna rp with hayleys bc she seems like a cool character but i dont know TO that well so i dont know much about her ( just that shes werewolf mommy to hope and that she has some kind of thing with elijah ) okay so @hayleys if you dont mind explaining lots and lots to me and you wanna rp HIT ME UP

 - also hit me up for any ideas you have with other characters of course!!! even if it’s a plot completely revolving around your character, that’s totally fine, i’d love to help out with character development so if you need a thread that will do that for your muse don’t hesitate to message me!

FOUR. i have some memes in my askbox and lots of replies that will be getting to e v e n t u a l l y hopefully in the next few days haha it’s just that i’ve been having lots of head aches so i cant really spend too much time behind my pc which sucks lol. but yeah im getting to them!!

FIVE. i also have been having this idea for an oc character, it’s a guy who is drawn to mystic falls ( as ppl are ) because he’s looking for his sister. if you wanna hear more/think it could be interesting to put up your muse for me to test him, hit me up!!

thank you for reading through this, & happy writing!

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Vampire Diaries: I Was Feeling Epic (8x16)

I cried so much, you guys. So much. I don't even care that that was the cheesiest effing thing I've ever seen in my life. I cried a lot. I can't. I fucking cannot. I feel emotionally manipulated but I'm just letting it sink all over me. This is just a teen soap. This is one of the first shows I ever got emotionally invested in. I can't believe they did what they did. I can't believe I cried SO. MUCH.

Cons:

I don't know, man, I would have liked to see Jeremy and Elena interact a bit at the end? They got the actor playing Jeremy to appear for like 0.2 seconds. Couldn't they have had them reunite? The whole thing was a sob-and-cheese-fest, and that was one moment that I missed out on seeing.

The only thing that got a LITTLE too cheesy was Enzo and Bonnie. I felt like we got a good scene of Enzo being Bonnie's cheesy little spirit guide in the last episode, and then when he kept popping up it felt a little bit like overkill? But that might be because this episode was so teeth-rotting in its cheesiness that the Enzo stuff was what pushed it over the edge? I don't know. Small complaint.

The other thing is this: virtually every itty bitty little thing about the last ten minutes of this episode made me cry. A lot. Like, a lot, a lot. With one exception: Matt and his family still didn't feel like they got a proper place in the story. Matt said a bit in his voice-over part about Vicky finding peace, or whatever, and we even see that Tyler found peace too, but all the stuff about Vicky and her estranged father reuniting, and Vicky continuing to ring the bell to save herself from Hell... it was all soooo much less important to me as a viewer than I think it was meant to be. It's not like I hated it, but I just didn't care all that much in the face of all the other stuff. I wish we could have seen Matt and Elena share a moment, or Matt and Caroline, or Matt and Bonnie. Really, if we had just seen Matt have one moment of connection with the rest of the gang, that would have been nice.

Oh, and since I'm wishing, the most important relationships got a lot of really juicy and sappy screen time. Stefan and Damon took the cake, which, just, thank you. And Caroline and Stefan got a lot of good stuff, and we got to see Damon and Elena's epic reunion. Then there's all the ending moments which had me sobbing inconsolably. But you know who didn't get any time? Bonnie and Damon. Also, Alaric and Damon. Two friendships that were such a big part of this show, and they weren't even really referenced. I feel like we didn't get to see Ric and Damon get closure after all the stuff that went down. Probably a small, pedantic point in the grand scheme of things, and since we flashed forward over the human characters' long lives, I'm sure Damon and Bonnie became closer than ever, and I'm sure Damon and Ric bonded over the Salvatore boarding school. But some small visual reference to this sure would have been a treat.

Pros:

The plot is... complicated. But I don't even really want to go into it all that much. I just want to talk about the characters and say goodbye to them. Suffice it to say, the gang finds a way to defeat Katherine's evil plan to destroy Mystic Falls. It involves Bonnie doing some hella impressive magic, and then it involves Stefan sacrificing his life to make sure that Katherine, and Hell with her, are destroyed for good. Bonnie wakes Elena up using her newfound intense witchy magics, and Elena and Damon grow old together - did I mention, Stefan managed to pass Damon the cure just before he died? We get lots of cheesy montages showing how Bonnie traveled the world to keep her promise to Enzo, Caroline and Alaric helped open the school for gifted children, and Caroline got a large donation from a certain Original we all love to hate to love, and Elena went to medical school and then came back to Mystic Falls. She and Damon lived a long life, and then we get to see that when they died they reunited with their families. Elena sees her mom and dad, her Aunt Jenna, and even her biological father. And Damon, against all he believed about his own afterlife destiny, got to reunite with his little brother. We close on a shot of Damon and Stefan embracing.

I'm. Emotionally. Compromised.

I mean, where to even start? I guess let's start with Alaric, Caroline, and the girls. I love that Ric puts the girls first and doesn't even hesitate to get out of Mystic Falls when the danger starts. Alaric got one of the least significant roles in this finale, but I think it was fitting in that he's spinning off to The Originals, so this didn't have to feel like a goodbye to his character. I love that he gets Caroline away from the situation, and I love that he's the one to tell her the devastating news about Stefan. Ric is honestly such a good guy.

I'll have more to say about Caroline in a minute, but let's turn to Bonnie. As this episode starts, we see her "die" for a moment, and actually reunite with Elena in some sort of afterlife. Elena is devastated, because Bonnie isn't supposed to be dead yet. With Enzo's help, Bonnie decides to live, and she wakes up to a very relieved Caroline and Stefan, who had been trying to revive her. From here, Bonnie is the one to come up with the plan to destroy Hell and defeat Katherine. Stefan makes his sacrifice, but Bonnie is the one who has to be a bad-ass. She uses her newly found powers to redirect the hellfire that Vicky released, syphoning it through the tunnels to the Armory. She then uses her power to hold the wall of flames back. Just as it seems she's not strong enough, Enzo shows up to encourage her. She finds that her Gran is with her, and then the rest of the Bennett witches.

There was something so powerful and heartwarming about watching this incredible, strong black woman and all of her black female ancestors stand together to defeat the evil. The magic on this show might be hokey, but the fact that Bonnie gets to save the world at the end is just such a fitting way for her character to finish her run on this show. I'd also just like to thank the creators of this show for not killing Bonnie. There were about three moments in this episode where I thought she was going to die so that Elena could finally wake up, but no. She lives. She gets to live the long and happy life that she has always deserved. Sure, she lost Enzo. But she gets to keep him with her always, in a way. She gets to be happy, and content, and powerful as all hell. I think back over the treatment of Bonnie on this show, and I'm just so grateful that it ended the way it did.

And then let's take a break from all the warm feelings to talk about my queen Katherine Pierce, who came back to sass it up one final time. We actually get a fake-out here, where the Elena/Damon reunion we saw in the promos is actually Katherine up to her old tricks again. I love the moment when Damon is hugging "Elena," then suddenly realization strikes, and he just unceremoniously drops her. She says "rude," in that perfect Katherine tone of voice. Her snark is the thing of legends. It was so fun to get Nina Dobrev back as both Katherine and Elena. She really is such a talented actress. It's hard to believe she stepped out of these roles two years ago, because her return felt so seamless. The show did a really smart thing in not spending too much time with either Elena or Katherine. They made their presence felt in a really big way, but they didn't overshadow the other characters.

Let's talk Stefan and Damon. They get into yet another argument about who's going to sacrifice themselves to destroy Hell, and it's just everything one could hope for.  We get lines like this:

Stefan: "you have quite literally an eternity with Elena ahead of you." Damon: "which means a lot less without you!"

Damon: "I love you, little brother." Stefan: "I love you too."

Damon: "I am the big brother. I'm sorry I wasn't better at it until now."

And we get Stefan saying that although he doesn't want to leave Caroline, he has to do this for Damon. In the two centuries since Stefan forced Damon to become a vampire, he's wanted him to become a person who deserved happiness. And now he has, and Damon is going to get to live that life. He's going to get that happiness.

Stefan: "Let me do this for you." Damon: "No." Stefan: "Then let me do this for me."

It was at this devastating point that I knew Stefan was going to be the one to die, but they do trick us one last time. Damon compels Stefan to leave the cavern, leaving Damon to finish things with Katherine and the hellfire. Of course, Stefan had been taking vervaine since becoming human. He shows up, sticks Damon with his blood, thus giving him the cure, and kills Katherine, sending her to Hell so that she, and it, are destroyed with hellfire. Stefan Salvatore is dead.

I'm... I can't explain what this scene was like. Damon and Stefan both crying, their voices cracking... it was the most emotional performance from Ian and Paul of the entire show, and it worked wonders. And the sappy sadness does not stop there.

Elena's first appearance with Bonnie in the afterworld place sets up Stefan's death really nicely. Elena appears to "wake up" at the high school, where Katherine had trapped her, and she comes out into the hallway, bumping in to Stefan the very same way she does in the first episode of the show. And then Stefan explains what happened. He tells her that Damon wanted to sacrifice his life, but that Stefan wouldn't let him. We realize that Stefan is dead. He hugs Elena, and asks her to deliver a message when she finally wakes up. Stefan says it was really good to see Elena. This scene makes me really emotional. It manages to capture the nostalgia for the early days of the show, without sucking us back into the Elena/Stefan romance. These two are really important to each other, and it was touching to see them share this final moment.

Of course, then Stefan goes outside, and... Lexi is waiting for him. They hug, and Stefan lifts her off the ground and spins her around. I'm. I can't believe it. Lexi. I love this character so much. Stefan had to leave behind Caroline. He had to leave behind his brother, even if he hopes he'll be able to see him again someday. But he gets Lexi. He gets to see his best friend again. I can't believe how emotional this made me.

I said I'd be pissed if Stefan was the one to die in the finale, but when it happened it felt right. It felt like he'd already started to die the minute he was turned human, and this way we get to see him redeem himself for all his crap, and he actually gets peace. We also don't have to contemplate Caroline, the Only Vampire Left spending 60-some-odd years with an aging husband. Instead, we get to say a real goodbye to Stefan, and we get to see him giving a real goodbye to Elena, a real goodbye to Caroline, and a real reunion with his big brother, the most important person in the world to him.

Let's turn back to Caroline for a moment. She promises Ric that she'll survive this whole hellfire thing so she won't leave her daughters without a mother. When Elena is trapped in Mystic Falls, Stefan has to stay behind to try and convince Damon to leave without her, even knowing it's probably a lost cause. Caroline and Stefan have to say goodbye, and it's pretty heartbreaking. They just got married, and yet the situation demands they part. Caroline has to be there for her daughters, and Stefan has to be there for Damon. As Caroline, Ric, and the girls flee, Alaric breaks the news to Caroline that Stefan and Bonnie have a plan that involves Stefan sacrificing his life.

This is where my heart is just completely ripped out of its chest. Caroline gets out of the car and she calls Stefan, leaving him a message. She tells him that she understands. She tells him that she'll love him forever, but that she understands. I don't think I can underscore what a big, huge deal that is. Caroline and Stefan have always had this very selfless love. Stefan has always been the selfless one. He was willing to let Elena die when she and Matt went over the bridge in the car, and now we see that Caroline is willing to let Stefan die to help save Mystic Falls, and Damon and Elena's future. There's something so depressing about realizing that Caroline is the last vampire left, but it also feels so right. She's the only one of these people who was good at being a vampire. She was supposed to be a vampire. And she's brave enough to say goodbye to the people she loves. She's brave and strong enough to let Stefan go, and carry him in her heart forever. I'm just so emotional about this.

So then we get Bonnie, in her awesomeness, waking Elena up by breaking the spell. I don't know why I never thought of that as a possibility, and despite the deus ex machina-ish aspect of it all, I really don't give a shit. Bonnie is just the best, okay? She could do anything and I'd buy it. There's something so powerful and wonderful about Bonnie being the one to save Elena. These two besties were there at the beginning of all of this mess, and now they actually get to grow old and be in each other's lives. Once again, I'm super emotional. They hug in joy at seeing one another again, and then pull back, each with grief in their eyes. Elena doesn't even have to say anything to let Bonnie know she's aware Stefan is dead. She just says: "where is he?" and Bonnie says: "with Caroline. Saying goodbye."

And we get another amazing scene with Caroline and Damon. The two of them stand at Stefan's memorial in the Salvatore crypt, and Caroline says she knows they will see Stefan again someday. Damon says he's sure Caroline will, but he's destined for the other place. Caroline encourages him, and the two stand there together, remembering Stefan, holding each other. These two just... I mean, Caroline is a saint. As I think I mentioned above. I love that they can stand there and be united in their love for Stefan, even as Damon knows he'll be living out a human life, while Caroline still has a long eternity stretched in front of her.

Of course, we get some slow-motion reunion stuff with Elena and Damon, as they share their first kiss as two humans who are going to spend their lives together. I love it. It's cheesy, it's overwrought, but who cares. We see Elena passing Stefan's message on to Caroline. He got her message about understanding, and says he'll love her forever, too. We see the gang at Stefan's funeral. And then we transition into our final montage.

The ending montage turns back to one of The Vampire Diaries' least consistent story elements: the diary thing. In voiceovers, we hear how everybody's lives shake out, and we see everybody being watched over by their departed loved ones. It's the cheesiest thing in the world, but... I don't give a damn.

Matt gets a bench made in his honor, and continues as the sheriff of Mystic Falls. He sees Vicky and Tyler watching over him, both at peace.

Bonnie is going to travel the world, the voice of her love Enzo there to help her through the rough moments. She's determined to live her life to the fullest.

Alaric has my favorite of the little voiceover lines, since it made me laugh and cry at the same time: "Caroline and I got what Damon decided was Stefan's last wish," that is, funds to open the Salvatore Boarding School for gifted children. We see Jo watching over Ric and the girls as they play and goof off, and we see that setting up the school requires help from some old friends, and that Dorian and Jeremy are both enlisted to help.

Okay, and back to Caroline. This episode so brilliantly set us up for a world in which every character we love and care for is either dead, or is human, which in this finale means you get to grow old and die. We can assume that Bonnie, Alaric, Jeremy, Matt, and of course Damon and Elena all live long and happy lives and die peaceful at an old age. So where does that leave Caroline? I was so curious in the buildup to this last episode as to how they were going to reconcile all the different characters and their various states of mortality. So, what do they do? They set Caroline up for future happiness in the best way imaginable.

We see her working hard to make the school great, to make her mother proud. We see Liz watching over Caroline. And then we see that Caroline has gotten a note from... Klaus. He donates an obscene amount of money to the school, and basically implies that he wants to be a part of her life once more, "however long it takes." This is great. We take Caroline, the only immortal left, and spin her off into future potential happiness. She'll always love Stefan, but that doesn't mean that she and Klaus can't be a thing. I'm a happy camper.

Elena gets the last voiceover portion. We see her writing in her diary at her parents' grave, within sight of the Salvatore crypt. She writes about her crazy, wonderful life. She went to med school, then back to Mystic Falls. She's truly happy with Damon. She says that she owes it all to Stefan, since when she met him, she was dead inside, and he brought her back to life. I mean, I'm tearing up just writing about it. Elena says that she knows Damon is still worried he'll never see his brother again, but Elena knows he's wrong. They live a long life, and we see that Elena finally dies, and gets to have peace - she gets to find her family again. Her mother. Her father. Aunt Jenna. John. I really want to praise Nina Dobrev's acting in this moment, because all of the cheesy hugs and the music swelling and all that would have been a hard pill to swallow if the performance hadn't been genuine. Elena is so happy and blissful to be with her family again, and it's honestly just the perfect resolution for her character.

I thought they were going to close on Elena hugging her whole family, (sans Jeremy, who I guess outlives Elena. That's a good sign!) and I would have been happy with that. I mean, it was Elena's show, right? But no.

They give us the thing. They give us the ending that I didn't hope to dream of. After living a long human life with Elena, when Damon dies he gets to go to the afterlife. And in the afterlife he goes to the Salvatore mansion and he gets to see his little brother again, something he worried he'd never get to do. And they hug. And that's the closing shot of The Vampire Diaries. Not Damon and Elena. Not Stefan and Elena. Not even Elena and her family. It's Stefan and Damon. They echo their words from the pilot. Stefan opens the door and says "Damon." and Damon says "hello, brother." And they just hold each other tight and it was all they were both waiting for. I can't handle this. Just... thank you.

Before I go, I guess I should say I totally understand why a lot of people hated this finale. It's sort of a cop-out way to end a show, to just show everybody in the afterlife. And a lot of people hate that Stefan died, because for some reason Damon gets absolved of his crap while Stefan has to keep feeling guilty about it right until the end. But I honestly think this whole story can be framed as being about Stefan and Damon's relationship. Stefan always loved Damon more than anything else, it just took him a while to get there. And in the moment when Damon was willing to give up his life, his future with Elena, for the sake of a little brother who was mortal anyway, Stefan knew he'd finally succeeded in getting the brother he always knew was in there. And also, this is honestly the only way I feel like Caroline gets the ending she deserves. It was always going to be difficult, ending with a couple where one was immortal and one was not. So now we get a human Damon and Elena, and an immortal Caroline ready to move on to other things, in time, while still loving Stefan forever. And Stefan gets peace. It's hard to believe, but I'm actually pretty happy with how it all shook out.

I guess this review is probably long enough, huh? I fully acknowledge that this show is a silly, campy, soap opera full of pretty people running around being gorgeous and dramatic. And I fully acknowledge that this finale was doing everything in its power to make me feel nostalgic. And I fully admit that it worked on me. I don't know, man. The stars aligned. All that sappy stuff about a promise of peace, and the reunion at the end... it was just what the doctor ordered. In short, it was a shit show. But it was a shit show that got through to me. My emotions about The Vampire Diaries are so tied up in high school, and the very beginnings of being a fan. I think this was the first drama I ever really binged, other than Gilmore Girls. But that show was ending as I was just entering high school, while with The Vampire Diaries, I started it when I was sixteen years old, and I went through college and now young adulthood still watching it. This finale managed to put a big focus on the one aspect of this show I loved the most, that of the Salvatore brothers' relationship, while also making me feel weepy and nostalgic for the beginning of my fandom days. I'm really happy with it.

This complete mess of crazy stupid awesome ridiculousness gets high marks from me.

9.5/10

The show as a whole? I feel like I should wait a few days so I can be more objective, but I'll force my way through and think about this entire mess. I still maintain that Elena Gilbert is one of TV's finest female characters. I still maintain that Nina Dobrev is a gifted actress. But those two things aren't enough to actually make this an objectively good show. At most, it's a fun show. A silly show. A teen soap. And without it, I never would have discovered the other CW content that I watch, so I have to give it props there as well. This really does feel like the end of an era. And while it wasn't always a good era, or an era with particularly high quality material, it was, in a word... epic.

7/10

[trendingnewsb]

The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

Exclusive: study suggests that 26.8% of the population qualify as food insecure based on risk factors such as missing meals or relying on food banks

Karla Peralta is surrounded by food. As a line cook in Facebooks cafeteria, she spends her days preparing free meals for the tech firms staff. Shes worked in kitchens for most of her 30 years in the US, building a life in Silicon Valley as a single mother raising two daughters.

But at home, food is a different story. The regions soaring rents and high cost-of-living means that even with a full-time job, putting food on the table hasnt been simple. Over the years she has struggled to afford groceries at one point feeding her family of three with food stamps that amounted to $75 a week, about half what the government describes as a thrifty food budget. I was thinking, when am I going to get through this? she said.

outside in america

In a region famed for its foodie culture, where the well-heeled can dine on gold-flecked steaks, $500 tasting menus and $29 loaves of bread, hunger is alarmingly widespread, according to a new study shared exclusively with the Guardian.

One in four people in Silicon Valley are at risk of hunger, researchers at the Second Harvest food bank have found. Using hundreds of community interviews and data modeling, a new study suggests that 26.8% of the population almost 720,000 people qualify as food insecure based on risk factors such as missing meals, relying on food banks or food stamps, borrowing money for food, or neglecting bills and rent in order to buy groceries. Nearly a quarter are families with children.

We call it the Silicon Valley paradox, says Steve Brennan, the food banks marketing director. As the economy gets better we seem to be serving more people. Since the recession, Second Harvest has seen demand spike by 46%.

data

The bank is at the center of the Silicon Valley boom both literally and figuratively. It sits just half a mile from Ciscos headquarters and counts Facebooks Sheryl Sandberg among its major donors. But the need it serves is exacerbated by this industrys wealth; as high-paying tech firms move in, the cost of living rises for everyone else.

Food insecurity often accompanies other poverty indicators, such as homelessness. San Jose, Silicon Valleys largest city, had a homeless population of more than 4,000 people during a recent count. They are hungry, too: research conducted by the Health Trust, a local not-for-profit, found food resources available to them are scattered and inadequate.

These days Peralta earns too much to qualify for food stamps, but not enough not to worry. She pays $2,000 a month or three-quarters of her paycheck to rent the small apartment she shares with her youngest daughter. Even just the two of us, its still a struggle. So once a month, she picks up supplies at the food bank to supplement what she buys at the store.

She isnt one to complain, but acknowledges the vast gulf between the needs of Facebook employees and contract workers such as herself. The first thing they do [for Facebook employees] is buy you an iPhone and an Apple computer, and all these other benefits, she laughs. Its like, wow.

The scale of the problem becomes apparent on a visit to Second Harvest, the only food bank serving Silicon Valley and one of the largest in the country. In any given month it provides meals for 257,000 people 66m pounds of food last year. Inside its cavernous, 75,000 sq ft main warehouse space, boxes of produce stretched to the ceiling. Strip lights illuminated crates of cucumbers and pallets of sweet potatoes with a chilly glow. Volunteers in PayPal T-shirts packed cabbages and apples that arrived in boxes as big as paddling pools, while in the walk-in freezer turkeys waited to defrost.

Inside a warehouse belonging to Second Harvest food bank in San Jose, California, where PayPal staff volunteered for the day. Photography: Talia Herman

Because poverty is often shrouded in shame, their clients situations can come as a surprise. Often we think of somebody visibly hungry, the traditional homeless person, Brennan said. But this study is putting light on the non-traditional homeless: people living in their car or a garage, working people who have to choose between rent and food, people without access to a kitchen.

He added, Youre not thinking when you pick up your shirts from dry cleaning, or getting your landscaping done, or going to a restaurant, or getting your child cared for, is that person hungry? Its very easy to assume they are fine.

Matt Sciamanna is the sort of person you would assume is fine. Hes young, clever, and a recent graduate from San Jose State University. Yet here on campus, he says, food insecurity is a daily problem. Students, and even part-time professors, have been known to sleep in their cars or couch surf to save money. Sciamanna, who works on the Student Hunger Committee, says a survey of more than 4,000 students found about half have skipped meals due to the cost.

His investment in the issue is informed by his own experience. With his parents unable to finance all his living costs, Sciamanna worked in a restaurant while studying full time. But at 20 he was hit with a life-changing diagnosis: multiple sclerosis, a disease that left his grandmother bedridden. Unable to keep up with the pressures of restaurant work, he took a job on campus that paid just $400 a month.

Matt Sciamanna studying. Photo: Jeromy Cesea

My weekly food budget, after other expenses, was $25-$30, he says. Trips to the grocery store became a game of numbers: a bag of apples and bananas cost less than $5 and would last a week. A bag of frozen vegetables, another $5. Sometimes I would see a ripe peach, and I would want it, but then Id think, damn, theyre $1.50 each. Its not like Im asking for a car. Im just talking about a peach. That feeling leaves a scar.

While Sciamanna says his food situation has improved, another fear looms: healthcare costs. His father, a garbage man in San Francisco, has already postponed retirement so that his son can stay on the familys insurance. Without it, Sciamanna says he could face out-of-pocket costs of thousands of dollars a month for his medication. In that scenario, obtaining food would become even more difficult. His parents live in Clear Lake, three hours outside San Francisco, meaning a six-hour daily commute for his father. You feel like youre this dead weight, youre trying to advance yourself but you dont have the money. Its a shitty feeling.

Hunger and the housing crisis go hand-in-hand. In Santa Clara County, the median price of a family home has reached a new high of $1.125m, while the supply of homes continues to shrink. A family of four earning less than $85,000 is now considered low income. These realities mean food insecurity cuts across lines of race, age and employment status.

On a cold, bright afternoon at an elementary school in Menlo Park, kids trickled out of their classrooms and onto the playground. A food distribution was being arranged in the school gymnasium, and adults lined up outside with strollers and shopping carts, waiting for the doors to open. Most were women, many of them mothers whose children attend the school. Once inside they moved slowly and quietly around tables filled with bags of fresh produce, milk and bread, canned goods and beans.

A food distribution taking place at an elementary school in Menlo Park. Bottom right, Vicky Avila-Medrano, a food connection specialist with Second Harvest. Photography: Talia Herman

The Latino community is passing through a hard time, says Vicky Avila-Medrano, a food connection specialist. She runs a program that sends current and former food bank users out into the community, which has been disproportionately affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

Here in Silicon Valley, we have a big problem. This is a beautiful place to live for people in the tech industry, but we are not working in that industry.

Even people who have full-time jobs can find themselves with no way to put food on the table. Outside the gym, Martina Rivera, a 52-year-old mental health nurse, explained that her troubles began when her entire building was evicted last year. (Mass evictions have swept the area as landlords seek higher-paying tenants). Issues in her personal life, which she preferred not to detail, left her separated from her two children and their father. She thought about moving in with family, but worried about the burden. My brother was recovering from a stroke, and my mother is old, she says. I couldnt put more struggle on them. So what I found was my car.

Martina Rivera, 52, originally from Peru, lived in her car for six months while working as a nurse.

She told herself it was only temporary. I work night shifts at a veterans hospital, so I would go to my moms house to shower, and wait until it was time to work. I waited and waited for the storm to pass. Eventually she found a room without a private bathroom or kitchen. She shopped for food at 99 cent stores, ate mainly canned food, and cooked in a microwave. It took a toll on her health, she says; she gained weight.

I was having panic attacks. My body was like the walking dead. But I thought, I need to keep strong. And I never quit my job.

Rivera says that for many working people, pride is a barrier to admitting need. People dont have money to buy food, but they are shy to ask. But there is no reason to feel ashamed.

The day before Thanksgiving, Karla Peralta invited me to her home. She loves to cook, and prides herself on pulling together a healthy meal even when resources are scarce. I have to cook with what I have. Even if I only have a piece of chicken, a little bit of this and that, I am a cook. I make it work.

Karla Peralta, who works in the cafeteria at Facebook, demonstrates in her kitchen how she cooks with ingredients she picks up from the food bank. Photography: Charlotte Simmonds

That evening she worked with ingredients from the food bank: potatoes and chicken, cans of beans, corn and tomatoes. Dignified and good humored, Peralta says her current job is one of the best shes ever had, even though she still needs help.

As we sat down at her kitchen table to share a meal, we talk about her plans for tomorrows holiday meal. Shell be making ham with pineapples, her daughters favorite. There will be turkey and mashed potatoes, and her niece is bringing bread. And we got some rice from the food bank, she said. Ill probably make that, too.

Do you have an experience of homelessness to share with the Guardian? Get in touch

Sign up to Chronicling Homelessness, our monthly Outside in America newsletter

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[zalrb]

“he hid her in a cabin/made sure she didn’t die of starvation/it wasn’t nearly as romantic and protective as people like to think” he RESCUED her from the armoury and protected her from them, from whatever experiments they wanted to do on her. “[not] a situation in which other options were available but Enzo chose Bonnie, wanted Bonnie/ valued above others” he CHOSE to protect Bonnie, expecting nothing. He might not have LURVED her at the time, but what’s so wrong with love growing from that?

He hid her in a cabin and kept her whereabouts a secret, that’s it. It wasn’t this epic rescue mission. And my issue with the “love” growing from that is how it’s packaged because it’s Enzo not giving a shit about Bonnie until the show suddenly wants him to with no logical explanation which is why he randomly shows up in her dorm one day to “rescue” her when that wasn’t earned and it’s Bonnie vibing on him for no reason and being his bestie for literally no reason because they were never close like that. It’s Enzo pining after Lily and Bonnie being like you deserve better:

and Enzo being like:

while Matt beforehand has to be like

It’s not a two-way street and Bonnie is the only one who has to deal with that. Elena and Stefan had an instant connection while Matt was pining over her and Damon randomly starts falling for her.

Even though Matt was still torn up about Elena when he and Caroline started dating, the reason why that worked for me is because they were both in a place where they were lonely and they needed someone and they were there for each other and it’s not Matt telling Caroline she’s lonely, we see it through their respective stories. Caroline was rebuilding herself after being in an abusive dynamic with Damon, she and her mom don’t get along while Matt essentially doesn’t have a mother, Vicki is dead but he doesn’t know that he thinks she’s bailed and the girl he likes is moving on to a better model, they’re both dejected and they come together organically

Then Caroline gets her story with Tyler where they bond and grow together through their build-up because Caroline’s vampirism allows her to be strong and emotionally independent while Tyler becoming a werewolf makes him vulnerable and they rely on each other. It’s symbiotic. Bonenzo wasn’t and Bonnie is the only who doesn’t get a symbiotic relationship. Not to mention, a very strong case could be made, which some of my anons have stated already, that Enzo “falling” for Bonnie wasn’t about Bonnie but about the loyalty that Bonnie has for the people she cares about i.e. Damon

so it’s just too much of a flimsy relationship for me that JP and co put together real quick to shut Bonnie fans up, I don’t judge or fault anyone else for shipping it but not my thing, for something that is supposed to be the relationship of Bonnie’s dreams, the love of her life, it is severely lacking

[zalrb]

TVD 1x17 Review

1.       I legitimately don’t understand Pearl and the others’ desire to stay in MF and that’s what happens when the flashbacks are mostly about Katherine, Stefan and Damon. These vampires should’ve been pillars of the community and then turned on or something to that effect because then the desire to stay in the town would be reasonable. If they just want to kill people then they could go out and kill people.

2.       “I’m sorry he just makes me so cranky.” That’s all, Elena? The rapist and attempted murderer of your best friend just makes you cranky? Cool. But the way she folds into Stefan and closes her eyes as she leans against his chest, that level of solace and comfort and relief is so great to see.

3.       “Which means nothing if you’re not safe too!” I love how Stefan brushed her hair and then she moves her hands from his chest to his wrists. Little details, man, little physical details.

4.       Their fireplace hug is still one of my favourites. They’re just wrapped around each other.

5.       Jeremy, cut your hair.

6.       Also manipulating Anna like that is mean. Then again, she manipulated you too. So, fair, I guess.

7.  ��    I love how Matt gently teases Caroline about staying off her cell phone. They were mad cute.

8.       I forget. Was it established that tomb vampire dude knows Stefan’s routine, that he would know that Stefan would hunt for animal in the woods?

9.       I like how this rain scene had all the DErs like OMG DE RAIN, TENSION, LOVE and Elena is literally trying to fight Damon to get into a house full of vampires to get Stefan back.

10.   Even the way Damon holds Elena’s head is like he’s talking to his sister-in-law.

11.   This is a terrible situation for Stefan but I am seeing topless Paul so I mean, plus.

12.   Alaric is also hella chill about the fact that Damon killed Ms. Gibbins.

13.   “Who is that?” “It’s not my mother.” I don’t know, Michael’s delivery was done well here.

14.   Anna, Jeremy, you two aren’t even being subtle about secret texting. Like Jeremy is deadass standing up and LOOKING at you AS he texts.

15.   LMAO I am LAUGHING because Elena runs out of the car and when she gets to the house, she realizes there’s a separate entrance leading to the basement and that’s where she goes to get Stefan. If Damon had actually done some recon on the house and did that too then he would’ve only had to kill the vampire standing guard of Stefan and then they could’ve gone out the same way Elena got in. Much simpler plan.

16.   “What about you?” Elena, there’s no reason why you should care if Damon lives or dies.

17.   I just realized that when Elena falls down and scrapes her hand, Stefan stares at it, hungry obviously, and then asks “Are you OK?” My guy was legit tortured and he’s asking about Elena, which is like in 2x21 when he keeps saying “I’m so sorry” even though Damon pulled a bitch ass move and stabbed him. And people want to talk about how he never loved Elena enough?

18.   Fredrick! That’s tomb dude’s name.

19.   I also find it hilarious that in season 4 they make this entire narrative about Elena being this lost little girl who was too scared to do anything when she literally went into a house full of vampires to save Stefan in this episode and then stabbed one with a vervain dart. She was more active as a human.

20.   Elena feeding Stefan her blood is still such a beautifully tragic scene. Paul’s look of anguish gets me every time, he is in so much pain but what shines through the most is this profound fear for Elena and it’s heartbreaking but Elena’s insistence of staying by his side and trusting him with her vein, so a powerful scene for their relationship.

21.   And the way she smiles when he responds to her blood. I have this post about how agitated Elena gets when Stefan is hurt and how relieved she is, like physically and mentally and emotionally relieved when he gets better.

22.   Also Stefan immediately retracting his vampire face when he shoves Elena and that absolute look of embarrassment and shame and guilt is WONDERFUL, Paul is such an underrated actor.

23.   An anon asked me about underrated SE scenes and I haven’t gotten around to answering it, but one of them is the scene I’m watching where Elena is clearly distraught at seeing Human Blood Stefan and says he was like this whole other person and she’s nervous and anxious and then Stefan touches her face and she closes her eyes and she has this look of almost serenity on her face as he continues to stroke it and it’s like, he’s always that person, no matter what, he is that person for her.

24.   I think we could’ve lingered on Elena sort of just sinking onto the stairs after coming home from Matt’s when he finds out Vicki is dead and Jeremy is going upstairs and have her just sort of bunch her hair in her fists or something, I don’t need her to cry but like something to show conflict.

25.   And Stefan shame-drinking blood is pretty fucking sad.

 Thanks for reading! I will try to do another review tonight but I have a thing I need to go to in like 5 minutes so it depends on how long it’ll be and how buzzed I’m going to get, which means either a drunk review or no review tonight.

[trendingnewsb]

The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

Exclusive: study suggests that 26.8% of the population qualify as food insecure based on risk factors such as missing meals or relying on food banks

Karla Peralta is surrounded by food. As a line cook in Facebooks cafeteria, she spends her days preparing free meals for the tech firms staff. Shes worked in kitchens for most of her 30 years in the US, building a life in Silicon Valley as a single mother raising two daughters.

But at home, food is a different story. The regions soaring rents and high cost-of-living means that even with a full-time job, putting food on the table hasnt been simple. Over the years she has struggled to afford groceries at one point feeding her family of three with food stamps that amounted to $75 a week, about half what the government describes as a thrifty food budget. I was thinking, when am I going to get through this? she said.

outside in america

In a region famed for its foodie culture, where the well-heeled can dine on gold-flecked steaks, $500 tasting menus and $29 loaves of bread, hunger is alarmingly widespread, according to a new study shared exclusively with the Guardian.

One in four people in Silicon Valley are at risk of hunger, researchers at the Second Harvest food bank have found. Using hundreds of community interviews and data modeling, a new study suggests that 26.8% of the population almost 720,000 people qualify as food insecure based on risk factors such as missing meals, relying on food banks or food stamps, borrowing money for food, or neglecting bills and rent in order to buy groceries. Nearly a quarter are families with children.

We call it the Silicon Valley paradox, says Steve Brennan, the food banks marketing director. As the economy gets better we seem to be serving more people. Since the recession, Second Harvest has seen demand spike by 46%.

data

The bank is at the center of the Silicon Valley boom both literally and figuratively. It sits just half a mile from Ciscos headquarters and counts Facebooks Sheryl Sandberg among its major donors. But the need it serves is exacerbated by this industrys wealth; as high-paying tech firms move in, the cost of living rises for everyone else.

Food insecurity often accompanies other poverty indicators, such as homelessness. San Jose, Silicon Valleys largest city, had a homeless population of more than 4,000 people during a recent count. They are hungry, too: research conducted by the Health Trust, a local not-for-profit, found food resources available to them are scattered and inadequate.

These days Peralta earns too much to qualify for food stamps, but not enough not to worry. She pays $2,000 a month or three-quarters of her paycheck to rent the small apartment she shares with her youngest daughter. Even just the two of us, its still a struggle. So once a month, she picks up supplies at the food bank to supplement what she buys at the store.

She isnt one to complain, but acknowledges the vast gulf between the needs of Facebook employees and contract workers such as herself. The first thing they do [for Facebook employees] is buy you an iPhone and an Apple computer, and all these other benefits, she laughs. Its like, wow.

The scale of the problem becomes apparent on a visit to Second Harvest, the only food bank serving Silicon Valley and one of the largest in the country. In any given month it provides meals for 257,000 people 66m pounds of food last year. Inside its cavernous, 75,000 sq ft main warehouse space, boxes of produce stretched to the ceiling. Strip lights illuminated crates of cucumbers and pallets of sweet potatoes with a chilly glow. Volunteers in PayPal T-shirts packed cabbages and apples that arrived in boxes as big as paddling pools, while in the walk-in freezer turkeys waited to defrost.

Inside a warehouse belonging to Second Harvest food bank in San Jose, California, where PayPal staff volunteered for the day. Photography: Talia Herman

Because poverty is often shrouded in shame, their clients situations can come as a surprise. Often we think of somebody visibly hungry, the traditional homeless person, Brennan said. But this study is putting light on the non-traditional homeless: people living in their car or a garage, working people who have to choose between rent and food, people without access to a kitchen.

He added, Youre not thinking when you pick up your shirts from dry cleaning, or getting your landscaping done, or going to a restaurant, or getting your child cared for, is that person hungry? Its very easy to assume they are fine.

Matt Sciamanna is the sort of person you would assume is fine. Hes young, clever, and a recent graduate from San Jose State University. Yet here on campus, he says, food insecurity is a daily problem. Students, and even part-time professors, have been known to sleep in their cars or couch surf to save money. Sciamanna, who works on the Student Hunger Committee, says a survey of more than 4,000 students found about half have skipped meals due to the cost.

His investment in the issue is informed by his own experience. With his parents unable to finance all his living costs, Sciamanna worked in a restaurant while studying full time. But at 20 he was hit with a life-changing diagnosis: multiple sclerosis, a disease that left his grandmother bedridden. Unable to keep up with the pressures of restaurant work, he took a job on campus that paid just $400 a month.

Matt Sciamanna studying. Photo: Jeromy Cesea

My weekly food budget, after other expenses, was $25-$30, he says. Trips to the grocery store became a game of numbers: a bag of apples and bananas cost less than $5 and would last a week. A bag of frozen vegetables, another $5. Sometimes I would see a ripe peach, and I would want it, but then Id think, damn, theyre $1.50 each. Its not like Im asking for a car. Im just talking about a peach. That feeling leaves a scar.

While Sciamanna says his food situation has improved, another fear looms: healthcare costs. His father, a garbage man in San Francisco, has already postponed retirement so that his son can stay on the familys insurance. Without it, Sciamanna says he could face out-of-pocket costs of thousands of dollars a month for his medication. In that scenario, obtaining food would become even more difficult. His parents live in Clear Lake, three hours outside San Francisco, meaning a six-hour daily commute for his father. You feel like youre this dead weight, youre trying to advance yourself but you dont have the money. Its a shitty feeling.

Hunger and the housing crisis go hand-in-hand. In Santa Clara County, the median price of a family home has reached a new high of $1.125m, while the supply of homes continues to shrink. A family of four earning less than $85,000 is now considered low income. These realities mean food insecurity cuts across lines of race, age and employment status.

On a cold, bright afternoon at an elementary school in Menlo Park, kids trickled out of their classrooms and onto the playground. A food distribution was being arranged in the school gymnasium, and adults lined up outside with strollers and shopping carts, waiting for the doors to open. Most were women, many of them mothers whose children attend the school. Once inside they moved slowly and quietly around tables filled with bags of fresh produce, milk and bread, canned goods and beans.

A food distribution taking place at an elementary school in Menlo Park. Bottom right, Vicky Avila-Medrano, a food connection specialist with Second Harvest. Photography: Talia Herman

The Latino community is passing through a hard time, says Vicky Avila-Medrano, a food connection specialist. She runs a program that sends current and former food bank users out into the community, which has been disproportionately affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

Here in Silicon Valley, we have a big problem. This is a beautiful place to live for people in the tech industry, but we are not working in that industry.

Even people who have full-time jobs can find themselves with no way to put food on the table. Outside the gym, Martina Rivera, a 52-year-old mental health nurse, explained that her troubles began when her entire building was evicted last year. (Mass evictions have swept the area as landlords seek higher-paying tenants). Issues in her personal life, which she preferred not to detail, left her separated from her two children and their father. She thought about moving in with family, but worried about the burden. My brother was recovering from a stroke, and my mother is old, she says. I couldnt put more struggle on them. So what I found was my car.

Martina Rivera, 52, originally from Peru, lived in her car for six months while working as a nurse.

She told herself it was only temporary. I work night shifts at a veterans hospital, so I would go to my moms house to shower, and wait until it was time to work. I waited and waited for the storm to pass. Eventually she found a room without a private bathroom or kitchen. She shopped for food at 99 cent stores, ate mainly canned food, and cooked in a microwave. It took a toll on her health, she says; she gained weight.

I was having panic attacks. My body was like the walking dead. But I thought, I need to keep strong. And I never quit my job.

Rivera says that for many working people, pride is a barrier to admitting need. People dont have money to buy food, but they are shy to ask. But there is no reason to feel ashamed.

The day before Thanksgiving, Karla Peralta invited me to her home. She loves to cook, and prides herself on pulling together a healthy meal even when resources are scarce. I have to cook with what I have. Even if I only have a piece of chicken, a little bit of this and that, I am a cook. I make it work.

Karla Peralta, who works in the cafeteria at Facebook, demonstrates in her kitchen how she cooks with ingredients she picks up from the food bank. Photography: Charlotte Simmonds

That evening she worked with ingredients from the food bank: potatoes and chicken, cans of beans, corn and tomatoes. Dignified and good humored, Peralta says her current job is one of the best shes ever had, even though she still needs help.

As we sat down at her kitchen table to share a meal, we talk about her plans for tomorrows holiday meal. Shell be making ham with pineapples, her daughters favorite. There will be turkey and mashed potatoes, and her niece is bringing bread. And we got some rice from the food bank, she said. Ill probably make that, too.

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