#i honestly was such a stelena girl way back when and

[kiss-my-freckle]

I used to read this recapper's pro DE/anti SE thoughts during TVD and while the site doesn't exist anymore there are archive links to their posts. I think you'll enjoy reading this on 4x6 and Elena's subconscious with Katherine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130528231733/http://www.rophydoes.com/other-recaps/the-vampire-diaries/406-we-all-go-a-little-mad-sometimes/

This post is a treasure, and I thank you so much for sharing it with me. Believe everything you read because I agree with all of it. I'm actually bookmarking the blog because I love it that much, so I hope it never gets deleted. I haven't read the whole thing yet because it is quite long, but this link is everything I feel about 4x6. The blogger is more thorough than I am, and they word things better than I do. But the way I blog isn't so much for a wide audience because honestly, my ADHD is unmedicated as I choose to be. This writing is perfect for a large audience, so it's easy reading. Everyone that has read this blogger's post now knows what I've been saying. I knew Stelena was over in this very episode. You can literally feel the beginning and the end. Something I often talk about when Pastor Young flicks his lighter and blows up his farm house. He blows the kitchen because Elena is gonna be cooking without Stefan. And Pastor Young does this as soon as Stefan puts the daylight ring on her finger.

Elena's subconscious during the hunter's curse is a lot like the Legacies prism. That's why it's appearing as three different people rather than Elena herself. Elena is warring against herself, and she's getting buried in it. The curse wants her to give up, so it's hitting her pretty damn hard. It won't give her a moment to breathe, to relax. It's coming at her in a way that's a lot like Damon and Sybil in the cellar, only for Elena, it's everything she needs to move forward in her new life. She just needs them to pull her out of it like they pull Damon out of his head. Because yes, that's where she is in this episode - Her head.

I feel the same of Elena's feelings for Damon in 3x22. I will add to that. It's my continued belief that Elena wanted to break up with Stefan in her bedroom, and right before he kissed her. However, Elena had to wait for that breakup because of who she is. She can't break up with Stefan, then have him leave her house to face Alaric. That's not something to fight with. So she told Stefan that they could talk later. I'm not saying that she would've picked Damon, only that she was ready to break up with Stefan. I specifically love the portion about the doppelgangers and how Elena views herself regarding that aspect of herself. Beautiful work on that.

I love how this blogger mentions Elena being reborn because that's exactly what it felt like for me. More to the fact that water is used for them, so her drowning was perfect for it. They did the same thing with the daylight ring that they did with the vervain necklace, only they used fire for that. They pull this insane flashback montage as Elena is marching her way to the bridge because they're basically rewinding to 3x22 and throwing her back into the water. It's what you'd imagine. She's washing off the pains of the day and prepared to live true to herself. So when Elena wakes in her room, they're in her room because they've literally rewound it to the beginning of 4x1. That's why you'll see Damon sitting at her window like he was before. And yes, it was supposed to be Damon sitting on her bed with her, not Stefan. She let go of the normal girl she was, and is now ready to embrace this new girl that she is. She's emerging from the lake with her truth, and her desire to live in that truth.

So what I see in the Delena scene is their beginning. Elena wanted them to continue sitting on her bed, holding each others hand and... nope, Damon takes the high road. She didn't want him to take the high road at this point, she wanted to enjoy the moment with him. This is what drives Elena in her scene with Stefan. Since the moment she watched him walk away in 4x1, she's been forced to let him go over and over again, and she's just done with it. The section on the Delena bedroom scene… you'll understand what I mean when I say they're organic. The writers have them falling so naturally that I'm like… damn. They're everything that Stefan and Elena are not, and I love them for it. They built this, all of this, and in a natural way.

The Stelena scene is their end. I agree with Elena being the one who broke up with Stefan. I've felt that way since my first watch. But it's not without explanation. At the open of the episode, she refused to let Stefan make it about Damon. Here, she's purposefully making it about Damon because she's pushing Stefan to break up with her. I mean, she just survived an insane war against herself and all of these feelings she's been soaking up since time began. So after dealing with the curse, she wants this breakup to be easy. She's pushing Stefan to say the words. Just as much, she wants the breakup to be his. All I can think about is that movie, How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days.

I love it when people give me posts like this to chew on. I'll be enjoying it for a while.

[piperslovebot]

NO hate, I promise, but I'm just genuinely curious why you dislike steroline! You're definitely not alone---most people seem to hate them even if they don't really ship Caroline or Stefan with anyone else :)

There are a lot of reasons and I actually wrote a meta on this a year or two ago, but I can’t find it :(

But I’m down to write something long and nice so here it is Nonnie!

I tried to like Steroline because I didn’t hear a lot of things about them (good and bad). And I’d read fic for them but I just couldn’t get into them as a couple.

And honestly even as a brotp, I feel like the whole "healthiest" friendship take is completely false (to me at least).

In season 2, they were adorable. They had such sweet interactions and great chemistry. But the scene in 2x13 when Stefan goes to Care’s house to check on her is when I’m like "okay, they’re cute". Stelena and Forwood are my otps but this moment was cute af. The only thing I didn’t like about their arc in that season was the fact that they replaced Stefonnie's dynamic with them, when they all could’ve just been a trio.

After that is where it changes. They don’t really have a lot of interaction in season 3. Caroline is all about Tyler and there’s that whole triangle with Klaus. While Stefan was all about Elena and kissed Rebekah.

Season 4, they were cute but not as great as season 2. Like I don’t wanna say Care has a "hero worship" of Stefan (but I understand that criticism), but she did take his side more than necessary.

For example, her pushing Elena back to Stefan constantly. Disregarding the fact that Elena is in a very shitty place mentally when it comes to dealing with her hunger. It just seems like she took Stefan's side over Elena's, the girl she grew up with.

Also the whole thing where Caroline just joined in with Stefan and had Tyler's friend killed. AND ratting out Tyler’s plan to Stefan. Literally why? I get her pov but also the whole “Scooby gang vs everyone else” narrative sucks.

Then the fact that after all of that stuff Caroline does for Stefan, what does he do in return? He makes her work with Klaus. Klaus, who stabbed Caroline with a lamp and bit her because she talked back at him, and sent her bf out of town. Given how close they are, Stefan should’ve known about this, but did he care? Nope. Elena getting cute was first to everything else for him.

Season 5 is where they start to get annoying for me, but there’s the fact that Caroline is literally so trapped in her own world that she doesn’t notice that Bonnie is dead nor that Stefan was drowning in a safe. Elena gets called out for the latter, but she also had a bad feeling and when she found out, took action immediately. What exactly did Caroline do? I mean she wanted to help with Stefan's PSTD ig.

Then there’s the infamous Stefan PUNCHING Tyler scene and then him and Caroline's being dipshits and all smiley. For starters, Tyler had every right to be angry and just wanted Caroline to leave him alone. But somehow he gets turned into the bad guy by those dumbasses.

Also Stefan saying that Tyler almost killed Caroline (When he didn’t. He just wanted her to leave him alone.) while having her interact with Klaus and Damon who have done way worse than try to kill her and Stefan knows that (besties after all). He only cared when it was convenient.

Then there’s Season 6, where Stefan leaves town to grieve his brother and then Caroline calls him a "dick" for not returning her calls. Which okay, that wasn’t very wise, but Stefan’s brother DIED and he was grieving. And all Caroline cared about what was SHE needed. She needed him blah blah. Also she didn’t care about Stefan while he was out with Klaus and didn’t notice him drowning and trapped in a safe, so I think I can cute Stefan some slack here.

Then apparently she’s mad at him for not having feelings for her, something he can’t control. Doesn’t invite him to Friendsgiving, but invites her RAPIST there. Also don’t even get me started to the nh!plotline.

I can go on all day, but this essay is already very long so I’ll just stop right here.

[scienter]

Do you think J.Plec ever intended to write Defan differently?She tried to sell this powerful brotherbond and yet not even 1% of the said brotherly love was reciprocated by Damon.Defan was always written in favour of Damon and Delena.The only way they could have achieved any character growth was if Damon had stopped centering his actions & choices around Elena ,stopped being selfish,vindictive and actually taken some real responsibility.Instead we had Damon I-met-a-girl-&-she-made-good going around in circles and then maybe 2 seconds of epiphany where he would realise he should have been there for his brother and then next thing you know he'd be back at square one.As for Stefan instead of ever learning how to draw a healthy boundary,how to live in moderation(barring the beginning of s8,maybe),he centered his entire existence around -I need my brother-drama & the thought of disappointing/losing him quite literally multiplied his need for the said brother.Plec, in my honest opinion, knew if she focussed on this then she wouldn't have to give narrative importance to Bonnie and Caroline who not only deserved it but were quite capable of carrying the show especially after Nina left and yet they were shafted in the most non-consensual, gross storylines with irrelevant plot props, where zero effort was made, simply for plot convenience that did nothing to further either of their characters.How did we even think Belvafore could save this show?This was never gonna happen.Julie never let go of her obsession with that triangle of doom and catered to the whims and fancies of a giant part of the fandom who sincerely believed(probably still does) that being a a certain Petrova held precedence over everything and everyone.Having stepped away from all the fandom chaos and with the hyperfixation gone,it helps see things in perspective.No wonder Plec wrote the series finale like that.It was to reestablish that triangle that, in her mind, never really ended (don't honestly blame KW.He was nothing but consistent with his D-J/S-E fandom wank) which is precisely why there was so much disconnect between that one episode and the rest of the season.She couldn't care less about the story and was more into giving "closure" to that triangle that, in reality ,had perished in s3!!! *sigh* I could go on and on with my ranting.Anyway! Happy New Year :)

Happy New Year, anon!

I think Plec and the rest of the TVD writing staff wrote Defan exactly the way they wanted to write it. The story didn’t write itself. The writers did that. And they seemed to think that it worked and Defan arc wasn’t bad storytelling*.

I think that Defan was hit or miss. Defan worked when it explored Stefan and Damon supporting and resenting each other (e.g., the flashbacks). Defan didn’t work when it forced Stefan and/or Damon to regress because of the plot or Delena/love triangle (e.g., Damon's regression in season 4).

I 100% blame the TVD’s lame ending on Kevin Williamson because he stated that it was HIS IDEA. Julie Plec/TVD Writers originally wrote a different ending (Damon dies and Stefan lives), but KW changed it because he was salty that he wasn’t going to get his preferred Stelena ending.

*The only time I ever read Plec regretting a plotline or admitting that a certain character arc didn’t work was Enzo’s story in season 6.  It’s rare for TV writers to admit when their writing sucked or a storyline didn’t work so that tells you how awful Enzo's season 6 storyline was. Just saying.

[jonquilete]

random but stefan’s character was fucked in every way and caroline was the saving grace of his character but also the doom. damon and ian won the hearts of everyone with his character and making them ship delena since s1. the writers tried to write good charachterisation especially for the past but ended up making damon better and human damon in contrast with his vampire self was so delicious especially since he was soooo pathetically in love and didn’t want to live and be a vampire but stefan makes him. stefan never stood a chance. and then we enter the whole i respect her wishes even if it kills her to damon being the bad guy just to save her like?!?!?! and then klaus and being the ripper and the whole s3 lskdjd. yes elena always loved stefan bc that was the right thing to do based on her being the main character so when she still chose stefan in that finale everyone went nuts so they had to come up with something like how stefan wants her as a human and sees her as a problem to be fixed. the only good writing is when stefan says something like i want to enjoy at being a vampire with her and join her but because of his problems he can’t. that’s the only reasonable explanation bc everything else is just out of character. also that whole he stalked her and wanted to know her and insert himself in elena’s life was a turn off even more for some which looking at it with fresh eyes isn’t something that bad. it’s just isn’t attractive. stelena being together immediately was just cliche and not as interesting as delena period. then they inserted delena meeting first ksjdj.

also stefan wasn’t really involved with anyone, didn’t have any dynamic besides caroline, where damon had with ric and liz forbes, the friendship with bonnie is just so beautiful, the occasional matt donovanism. like he just was funny and had nicknames for everyone. stefan didn’t have any besides care. they started involving him in s4 when they knew they were gonna make delena happen so they had to involve him somehow. and then make silas be a doppelgänger. like lmfaooo. That whole storyline is just nonsense written to prop Stefan’s character and importance and frankly is pathetic. They started that tid bit with caroline and some elena scenes and universe bs and he came back to life. S5 is just dumpster fire for delena too and it sucked. which s6 saved it. now we have stefan moving on with his life. I liked this season and rewatching it it was good, ofc the gemini storyline carried. stefan and caroline start to happen. honestly not a fan. and this is why he again was fckd. bc delena was clearly the romance of the show but nina left. they couldn’t make the changes they supposedly wanted to so delena became the endgame. and they make steroline kind of happen but just in the worst ways ever. and left it for s7 to become the main romance. now klaroline had huge fans so yet another situation similar to delena like lmfao it’s bad luck all around. they hated for making steroline happen bc klaroline was already sooo loved and popular. valerie was a nice touch and i liked them a lot while watching. him and caroline just didn’t work at all. stefan’s whole character was elena being his soulmate and how perfect they were for each other he never had a thing with any character for four seasons. he didn’t look at any girl any way, he had eyes for elena always. the writers were dumb man. so putting caroline with him was just not it. i get why julie wanted to have a stefan lexi thing going on. bc it’s something huge and meaningful. she helped him his entire life with vampirism and that’s why she probably wanted that to happen somehow bc what is there left? so they tried doing that with caroline but itjust doesnt work. care was a kiddie pool and shallow from the beginning. she was a self insert character, the audience’s mouthpiece and a karen later on. stefan’s character just didn’t fit with her at all. if the writers actually wrote for him something how they wrote for damon and elena in s1 then maybe it would have been possible. but they just didn’t have anyone to pair him up with so let’s go with caroline even though klaroline was much more loved. and then s8 dying as a hero ksjdndn. like this character had no chance. he was constantly that main character that needed to remind the audience he is the main character, the right best man, but it just made people turn off even more bc he was so broody and always the annoying right character and arrogant somehow. i mean ofc we have him barely treating any girl right like rebekah or caroline. especially caroline. she in s6 was desperate and in love but he didn’t have that till he supposedly figured it out later. and then the whole turning their emotions off was so annoying and boring to watch and they had s*x?! just a disaster ship. he is a tragedy character. damon didn’t struggle with being a vampire. he had a blast in fact. it was stefan who did, who struggled so much, was both the monster of the story but also the hero. who his heart was still pure. and who never stopped trying to be better. being a human again was his desire but damon got that too alongside with elena. i think people just at the end always simplify things. the writing was complicated and the fans were just going with vibes. the first season has all the moody mysterious dark vibes of vampires and that’s all stefan too. the whole red flags of how he stalked her and when he started to take blood how he changed and gaslighted elena and stuff. those are all vampiric sides. we explored everything of a vampire through stefan. the hard struggles. damon didn’t deal with that. he got to be the fun cool one. so much more but anyways

[theshipdiaries]

Damn so many of the things you said were WRONG. Klaus tried to sleep with her without her consent??? Are you kidding me??? He tried to stop her TWICE.

"This is going to sound incredible but" - she cut him off

"Wrong time wrong place wrong equipment" she cut him off again.

If he wanted to sleep with her he would've kept pretending. But he didn't even pretend AT ALL.

Saying stefan is the reason Caroline became a good vampire takes all the credit from her. All stefan did was teach her to hunt bunnies. That did NOT help Caroline. She had to end up breaking up with Matt because of that. She learned on her own.

Yes he did that for her kids but that doesn't change all the things he did to her before. Honestly if Caroline had forgiven him AFTER that I'd understand completely. The problem is she forgave him for no reason BEFORE that. After all the pain he put her through. "He lost his brother" at least on s7 he was still alive. Just in a sleep (and again, that would be putting Damon first). And on s6 Stefan was still a good friend to Elena. "He knew Caroline would bring him back" well how do you explain that after Damon Came back he apologized to everyone EXCEPT Caroline. And before that, pushed his ex girlfriend on to her and was gonna dip. WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE. Then, he didn't trust her when she said she could control her no humanity self. And he is the reason she lost control BECAUSE he made everything about himself. Even Elena told him that Caroline had it under control but NOO. Since Stefan can't control it, no one else can. Again, he didn't know her at all. Also, his proposal? Copy from the dream stelena proposal. More proof that Caroline was just a second/third choice.

"She doesn't like the bad boys"

Ok, here is a quote from Caroline;

"Some girls just like the bad boys, the more sheltered they are the more likely it is"

Klaus "you say that like it's inevitable, it's not a right of passage"

Caroline "for some girls it is, it was for me. If there was a bad boy within a 5 mile radius I would find him. And some were even way too old for me"

Klaus tried to kill her twice, not three times. How many times did Caroline try to kill him? The same amount. The first time she was just collateral damage in his war with Stefan. Honestly it could've been anyone it wasn't personal. The second time his brother had just been murdered in front of him. And Caroline and Tyler were threatening him and insulting him. And he lost control. He is literally a murderous 1000 year old vampire werewolf hybrid. Like- I'm not surprised he did that. He chocked Hayley (you know, the girl you ship him with) when she was pregnant because he was angry. And when he is angry he can't see clearly or reason.

"Chose Tyler" ofc she chose Tyler. She was in love with him. Also, Caroline wasn't battling her love for Klaus. I don't think she was in love with him in tvd at all. But she felt attracted to him. That's what she was battling. Also battling how she liked being a vampire when everyone else hated it. When she was free of Tyler what did she do? On that's right, have sex with Klaus

Ofc she celebrated his death. HE WAS HER ENEMY. How many times do I have to say that? Idc what bad things he did while they were enemies. It's fair game. But the good things he did while enemies, that's what matters. He changed because Caroline inspired him and he wanted to earn her respect. And Caroline never compromised herself until he actually did.

"Klaroline was made by fans" so? There is a reason don't you think??? They had chemistry, and for many fans, they made sense. Because Klaus could show her to embrace her vampirism. How amazing it could be. On her birthday all she had said was how horrible she felt because she was a vampire. What did Klaus do? Explain the beauty of it. Klaus only ever saw her. Klaus would put revenge and even his family after Caroline. He appreciated her. "Stefan got to know Caroline" girl- he gave her a Mystic Falls snow globe from a gas station when they were bffs even though all Caroline had ever wanted was to get out of that town. Again, Stefan didn't know Caroline wanted her kids. Don't you think that's something important he should know of the woman he loved?

Fyi just because a ship is planned doesn't mean it's good or was well executed. Caroline's biggest insecurity was being people's Elena back up. And they made her be with someone who was canonically supposed to be Elena's soulmate (I'm a delena btw)???? And he only saw her that way after EVERYBODY had to tell him to. After Elena had completely moved on from him. After her mother died.

I'm not saying Caroline didn't love stefan, because she did. But honestly? She was hung up on the boyfriend he was to ELENA. Even though time after time he proved that he wasn't that boyfriend to her. And Stefan? I think Caroline was just a save choice. Yes he loved her, but not as much as he loved Elena, his brother or hated himself. He killed himself on their wedding day. Like-

Here is a little something Candice said about steroline on season 7. Normally I don't take into account Actors' opinions on ships but everything she said here makes sense and is true. And I know Candice doesn't understand klaroline and that's fine, not everyone can or has to. But everything she said about Steroline here is exactly how I feel.

Hating steroline because "Caroline deserved better" then turning around to ship klaroline is so insane

[zalrb]

What are the 5 very best Stelena gazes of the series and why? They have SO many but judging by things such as the meaning/significance, what they're communicating to eachother at that moment, the general aesthetic/magic/beauty. It's so hard to choose but I was wondering which 5 you'd go with if you had to pick.

I will do five for today, if you asked me tomorrow I'd probably choose a different five and I'm also going to cheat and use two gazes from the same episode for some of the options. Sorry, but if you've been on my blog long enough you know I do this and if you haven't then now you know!

First Time Gaze(s)

I mean, this is the most obvious choice, but honestly: 

Stelena was about savouring being with each other, it was about connecting with each other, which also brings me to this, there’s so much eye contact between Stefan and Elena because they want to see each other, they want to engage with each other, they really want to feel each other.

I do not want to be afraid I do not want to die inside just to breathe in I’m tired of feeling so numb Relief exists I find it when I am cut

Is the actual “seeing” it’s the turning point because neither Stefan nor Elena want to be afraid anymore, they’re tired of being living ghosts, they’re tired of running from each other, they don’t want to feel anymore pain just to feel anything at all, they want to feel something good and they feel it together, which is why Stefan allows her to see him and she doesn’t only accept what she sees, she embraces it, she embraces him and that provides relief for the both of them; she’s relieved that he stopped running, he’s relieved that he can stop running

Mikaelson Ball Gaze(s)

I focus on the right gif a lot: 

I love every SE scene of 3x14. I like it because that entire episode encapsulates the push-pull, can’t-fight-it, overwhelmed, I-just-love-them-so-much narrative that DErs insist DE has [...] what I love about the dance itself is that it starts off a little awkward, Elena is kind of wrong-footed and she doesn’t really know how to act but then Stefan makes a joke and then it hits her that this is Stefan and she’s comfortable and at ease and they naturally fall back in place and they smile at each other because this is them, this is their history, their present, their future, this is Stelena and there’s just such security between the two of them and their dancing becomes less stiff, they’re not like everyone else in the ballroom who are rigidly sticking to the way they’re supposed to dance, and then during the dance, Stefan reaffirms that he is indeed still Stefan by simply being Stefan which leads to some serious eye sex

But I love the left gif and that scene so much because the ANGST 

and then when they’re outside and Elena asks for Stefan’s help, he has the opportunity to tell Elena that he still cares about her and he hesitates and she’s hopeful, she is silently pleading with him to let her in and you can see that he wants to so much but he just can’t do it

Fireplace Gaze

I go on about this stare so much but the sheer amount of longing here? I still think it’s incredibly underrated because they’re talking about this life, this beautiful, perfect life they could’ve had together and Stefan is kind of tiptoeing around how good it felt but when Elena says “amazing?” and he just looks at her like so we’re going to say it? so you felt it? so you know how I feel? and he validates it with a “yeah” and my girl exhales like that? COME ON. 

Bloodshare Gaze 

Earlier in the episode Stefan and Elena argue about Stefan’s need to drink human blood, it is their biggest obstacle at this point because human blood is a gateway to Stefan’s depravity, his demons, and after what happened in the latter half of season 1, of course Elena doesn’t want him to drink from it, it’s a very loaded argument between the two of them, which ends with them actually getting closer together, being more entwined with each other since Elena not only gives him her blood to drink but reaffirms how she’s not leaving his side no matter what. And when Stefan drinks and Elena sees his veined face, she has enough faith in his love for her, her love for him, their commitment to each other for her to kiss him to settle his ripper urges and it works.  And then afterwards, because of all of that, because of their argument and their reconciliation and Elena’s faith and Stefan’s commitment, when they stare at each other, it’s this “I love you so much” stare but Stefan looks at Elena like “So I love you so much and we’re about to go upstairs so you can know how much”.

Humanity Gaze

Because this is a visual representation of there is a bond between these two, a trust, a devotion, an intimacy that Damon just can’t touch. He just can’t. And I’ve said this before about SE but one of the reasons why they work so well for me is because their love is treated as fact, their connection is treated as fact, it just is, this is just how they are and everyone else has to watch it. 

[we-pay-for-everything]

Oh my gosh, I LOVE what you pointed out about how Elena's martyrdom was not just an indicator of how wonderful she is but actually a sign of her darkness - how part of her no longer valued her life as highly, secretly wanted it to be over and felt like she should have died when her parents did. You're right that she's a more layered, cerebral and interesting character than she's given credit for. She feels like she has to be the perfect girl but does have real issues underneath. I always felt like she's one of the few TV protagonists I could have deep and really interesting conversations with. I would love to know whether you believe that she was genuinely in love with both Stefan and Damon at various points? I'm a Stelena shipper (sorry---please don't hate me!) but I do believe her love for both of them was very real. I would also love to hear your thoughts on Bonnie---other than being like an Elena Light, I don't get what her personality was supposed to be at all, especially because she was SO different in the first few episodes of the series!

I don't mind Stelena at all, so it's no problem haha.

Is it really possible to be in love with two people at the same time? Honestly, I don't know much about love. Society has drilled into us that we can't truly be in love with multiple people, but that's surely not true, considering we can love multiple people at once, like friends and family. I think being in love with more than one person must take a lot out of you, because of how intense romantic love and relationships can be, but, in Elena's case, she had a big heart and she fell for Damon when he was there for her and Stefan wasn't. When Stefan left at the end of season 2, Elena was still in love with, and faithful to, Stefan, but I think that, like she said, Damon "snuck up" on her; he was her rock throughout that whole Klaus period and his obvious love for her, as well as their mutual attraction, made her fall for him. But I don't think she ever stopped loving Stefan, especially after her feelings for Stefan were "rekindled" by his return to normal. It's very likely she loved both of them in different ways for most of season 3, but, imo she loved Stefan more than Damon, and I'm not sure she fell for Damon all the way in that season. In season 4, though, again Damon offered her something Stefan couldn't - freedom, acceptance, attention, because Stefan had become so obsessed with finding Elena a cure - and Elena and Stefan's relationship which never truly recovered from the blow delt by Klaus's interference, just couldn't sustain itself anymore. Elena and Stefan became too distant and her connection with Damon too strong. Truthfully, Elena had felt an attraction to Damon even in season 2, and the more distant she felt from Stefan and the closest she became to Damon, the harder it became for her to repress or ignore those feelings of attraction, which were not just sexual, but on a romantic and intelectual level too.

After Elena chose Damon, she laid her relationship with Stefan to rest. She had truly given it her all and it hadn't worked out; she loved only Damon after that. If she was ever in love with both of them at once, it was in late season 3 - very early season 4. I think in late season 3 her connection with Damon faltered because of Stefan's refocus on her, yet, because of Damon, she couldn't truly commit to Stefan. She then chose Stefan in the season 3 finale, but her world changed right after that, and Stefan quickly stopped making Elena feel loved. An important character trait of Elena's is that she didn't like looking back. She loved Stefan and stayed true to him in season 3 because she was loyal and they had never truly broken up but she finally ended things when she felt she couldn't move forward with him. She gave it one last try - it didn't work, she moved on and didn't look back, imo.

I don't know why Bonnie is called Elena Light? I've heard that before, but Elena wasn't a dark person, so Bonnie wasn't the light to Elena's dark? Is it because in the beginning Elena was depressed and Bonnie was so bright?

I don't think Bonnie's personality changed after the first episodes. She only became less trusting, a bit hardened, and closed-off, after her powers began to manifest themselves and she got caught up in vampire business. But Bonnie was always loyal and protective of her friends, kind, selfless, brave, caring, assertive, moral, stubborn, careful, and suspicious of vampires - which, truth be told, also caused her to, at times, distance herself from her closest friends. In the first episode of the series, when she touched Stefan and got a bad feeling, she immediately became cautious of him and protective of Elena. It was only after Stefan saved Vicky that she warmed up to him again. Also, in the first episode, she looked after Caroline, who was drunk and had been rejected by Stefan, and coaxed Elena out of her shell. That was pretty normal Bonnie behavior. I think her personality was very consistent. She just became a bit bitter and harsher, but 99% of the time that was only to vampires and other supernatural beings, who were all murderers. Bonnie was a witch, so it was her duty to protect humans, even if she helped her non-humans friends out a lot. Her priority was always to help others, never herself...

If anything, Bonnie became an Elena Dark. Morally, she didn't lose her morals like vampire Elena kind of did - though her choice to protect people like Damon didn't reflect well on her principles - but while Elena was protected by everyone Bonnie did the protection and was sacrificed for everyone else's well-being - so she became a tad darker than Elena in many ways, especially season 6 Elena.

[firelxdykatara]

Reader anon here with a thought!

Do you like love triangles? I personally don't, there is something about them that is incredibly frustrating lol. Same thing for harems, though there are some that do it tastefully 😌 so I can't be too upset by them.

It honestly depends on the love triangle and the way the author writes all three relationships (and, for any genuine love triangle, there should be three relationships--they don't all need to be romantic, but there needs to be an existing and strong relationship between all three points on the triangle, otherwise I'm almost certain not to be at all invested), how they are presented, and what the narrative purpose of the love triangle is.

Ironically, one of the best examples of a love triangle done well (at least... to a certain point in the story, which I'll explain in a bit) happened in a television show that is fairly notorious for turning to utter shit in the latter four seasons and alienating pretty much the entire fanbase, to the point where most of us dipped well before the end and everyone celebrated news of the show's cancellation.

I'm talking about The Vampire Diaries.

(under a cut because i went on a LOOOONG ramble about tvd and why that love triangle worked initially and then why it failed, and then i talked a bit about another love triangle that was pretty weak and failed almost from the outset in OUAT but was ultimately axed in favor of the stronger relationship and character being given focus, and what all of this means for how i feel about love triangles in general)

While this is still very much a case where I only shipped one side of the triangle, hated the other, and couldn't wait for it to be resolved so that I wouldn't have to deal with the side I disliked any longer (the writing was on the wall as far back as season 1, no matter how in denial a certain portion of the fandom remained right up until the series finale) the development of the triangle itself and how it affected all three characters and their relationships with one another was done very well for most of the first four seasons. Damon and Stefan were brothers, with a bloody and complicated history and relationship, and they both fell in love with this human girl--Stefan almost instantly, because she looked just like Katherine and he found himself... (and here I'm going to be as fair as I possibly can to him, but if you want my full anti stelena rant I have many of them prepped and ready to go) following her, at first to make sure she wasn't Katherine, and then inserting himself into her life to protect her. Damon, on the other hand, took much longer, because he was still in love with (and trying to rescue) Katherine, and so when he did fall in love with Elena, it was because of who she was, not because of some idealized 'Not Katherine' pedestal he placed her on the instant he met her.

(I swear, I swear I'm trying to be fair to Stefan, it's just very hard.)

The thing is, Elena was in love with Stefan almost from the jump. (And one of the reasons I never really shipped stelena is because that kind of insta-love with very little conflict that isn't manufactured by the plot just isn't compelling for me, and I fully jumped ship about halfway through s1 when Damon and Elena took a road trip together. It's a long story, but that remains one of my favorite episodes in the entire show and it marks the beginning of their actual journey together.) Stefan showed up at a time when she desperately needed someone, and to his credit he did help her through her early depressive spiral--in large part because Elena's recent trauma (survivor's guilt due to her parents dying in a car crash from which she was the only survivor) meant that finding out Stefan was immortal and could not die and would not leave her resulted in her getting fiercely attached.

He was safe, he was stable, she could rely on him. But she could not grow with him, because for him, she was essentially a morality pet/the anchor to his humanity, and that meant that he could not accept when she began to grow out of her need for him. The fact that this coincided with her becoming a vampire only made things worse--because she settled into being a vampire much more easily with far less strife than he'd ever managed, and an Elena who enjoyed being a vampire in ways Stefan simply couldn't could no longer function as the idealized reminder of humanity he was desperate to cling to.

Damon, on the other hand, was the one who fell in love with Elena--not Not Katherine. He never put her on a pedestal, he never asked more of her than she could give him--when he realized how deep his feelings for her ran, he made her forget his confession because he knew he did not deserve her and he didn't want her burdened with his feelings when she was still in love with his brother and was always going to be. Elena's growing feelings for Damon coincided with her growth from a depressed and suicidal teenage girl into a young woman who began to realize that it was ok to want things for herself--to be a little selfish, to take what she wanted, to admit what she wanted. And, again, the fact that this coincided with her transformation into a vampire (although her growth within her relationship with Damon began well before that), meant that Damon's reaction to Elena-as-a-vampire was thrown into sharp relief against Stefan's--because he accepted her where his brother couldn't.

Ultimately, this led to Elena fully outgrowing her feelings for Stefan, and accepting, nurturing, and reveling in her feelings for Damon. The triangle was resolved, all three characters had growth separately and in their different relationships, and they could then move on from there along their different paths. Stefan could have had some truly excellent character growth involving moving on and finally living for himself rather than trying so hard to be this perfect brooding tortured vampire because he was the Good Brother, since there was no longer any need for that Good Brother/Bad Brother dichotomy. They'd both grown past it, as characters individually and as brothers together.

Unfortunately, where TVD ultimately failed (and this coincided with the way the show utterly lost the plot in terms of storylines, character arcs and cohesiveness and became an unsalvageable mess) is in refusing to let the love triangle die.

What should have happened is that once the love triangle was resolved--Elena growing as a character and moving on from her immature first love and fully embracing her feelings, as an adult, for her much more adult relationship with Damon--they abandoned the love triangle premise and let all three characters continue to grow outside of it. Damon and Elena should have been allowed to grow together and explore their relationship, Stefan to figure out where he still fit in their lives--as Damon’s brother, and one of Elena’s closest friends who she still loved dearly even though she was no longer in love with him--and then explore relationships of his own outside their family unit as he finally began to fully move on and grow out of his own overly idealized feelings for Elena.

Instead, what wound up happening is that the stelena side of the love triangle kept being teased--probably to keep the avid stelena shipping contingent invested in the story, hoping for ‘another brother swap’ as was lampshaded in one of Nina’s final episodes before she left the show (and, indeed, many of them remained utterly convinced that stelena would be endgame, right up until the series finale)--and rather than growing together, delena fans were constantly hit over the head with how ‘toxic’ Damon and Elena were for each other (even though this ran contrary to everything we’d seen in the show to that point, including having Damon regress repeatedly for, presumably, no reason other than to never let fans forget he was the Bad Brother and always would be, and Elena just couldn’t help but love him anyway), and all three characters and their relationships wound up suffering horribly for it.

That is an example of a love triangle that had a very promising foundation and development, right up through what should have been a resolution, and the reason it is generally looked on so unfavorably in fandom circles is because the show refused to move on from the triangle organically when the story needed it to, because it had already served its purpose.

For an example of a love triangle that, in my mind, simply didn’t work from the very beginning, I’d say my go-to example is from Once Upon a Time--the short-lived love triangle between Emma, Killian, and Neal. I think the first stumbling block there was that there weren’t really three relationships that mattered. Technically, Killian did have a connection to Neal--because they’d met in Neverland, prior to Neal remaining in the Land Without magic--but it functioned more as a backdrop to explain why Killian knew him when they got to Neverland again in the story, and why Neal didn’t trust him. It wasn’t actually developed as anything outside of that brief flashback, and they didn’t have any connection in the present outside of one episode where they essentially fought over Emma and she (rightly) got angry at them for it. There was no real exploration of who they were to each other outside of the fact that both of them had feelings for Emma, so it really was just one woman torn between her feelings for two different men, and with no real stakes attached to her choice.

The other problem with this particular triangle is that one side of it was... conspicuously weak. While Emma’d had a full season and a half worth of interactions and development with Killian--where they went from enemies, to grudging allies, to Killian openly acknowledging that he hadn’t ever believed he would be able to love again until he met Emma--she had... very little to support her potential relationship with Neal outside of their history. History which consisted of then-young-adult Neal knocking up underage Emma (she was 17 at the oldest because she was still in Juvie when Henry was born, and he was already ten years old the day she turned 28; so she was either 16 or very newly 17 when she got pregnant) and ensuring that she got sent to prison for his own crime, at which point he didn’t see her again until she was nearly 30. When he did see her again, he treated her incredibly poorly, up to and including getting angry at her about the fact that she didn’t tell him that Henry was his son--even though he had no right to that information, because Emma was in prison because of him at the time she found out, and she had no clue that he was in any way connected to the Fairy Tale world until she was helping Mr. Gold track down his son and it turned out to be Neal.

A big point is made, throughout the early seasons especially, about Emma’s walls and how much difficulty she has trusting people--and a great deal of that stemmed from Neal’s betrayal. This could have been the foundation for a story of healing and growth and two people coming back together--however, with the way Neal treats Emma in the present and how little closure she actually gets for what he did to her in the past, it comes across more as ‘well, she never did get over her feelings for him, so maybe he still has a shot even though she has no real reason to want to be with him now’.

Killian, on the other hand, never doubted Emma’s abilities and always had the utmost trust in and respect for her (after they became allies), and it was obvious that this is something Emma experienced very little of in her life. It’s notable that the first episode where they really interacted is the one in which Emma’s history with Neal is revealed, and it very deliberately paralleled and contrasted with her interactions with Killian. This already presented him with a leg up on the love triangle once Neal did show up, because Neal was the reason for a lot of the walls Emma had built around her heart, and it wasn’t until meeting Killian that she finally began to let some of them down.

I think that the show recognized this, and it pulled something that is actually a very frustrating pet peeve of mine--rather than write out the story that makes sense and have the main point of the love triangle make a choice and stick to it, the third point of the triad was simply written out. In this case, Neal essentially killed himself via his own stupidity, allowing Emma to angst about losing him without actually having to tell him she wasn’t in love with him and wasn’t going to choose him. (Veronica Mars pulled something very similar with the Logan/Veronica/Duncian triangle in season 2--rather than admit within the narrative that her relationship with Duncan was built on flimsy feelings of infatuation bc of their history, and a ‘stability’ that didn’t really work for who Veronica was at her core, he simply got written out of the story, running away for Plot Reasons and never forcing Veronica to confront the fact that she wasn’t actually in love with him and hadn’t been for quite some time.)

I think that in OUaT, the love triangle could have worked if a relationship between Killian and Neal was not only established in the past but developed in the present--Killian was in love with Neal’s mother centuries earlier, and something I’m actually really upset we never got is the two of them talking about Milah and maybe Neal getting some closure for his mother’s abandonment and someone apologizing to him for what they put Baelfire through as a child--giving stakes to Emma’s choice beyond ‘one of them will be all uwu sad that he wasn’t picked’. It also would have worked much better if we were given any reason for Emma to still have feelings for Neal in the present beyond the history they shared, which caused Emma nothing but pain for the last decade and change. If Neal had treated her more fairly--if he’d treated her like someone he actually cared about and even still loved, rather than blaming her for things that were his own fault and undermining her belief in her own abilities, among other things--then their relationship might have been strong enough to stand on its own opposite Emma’s relationship with Killian. I don’t think it ever would’ve been a relationship that appealed to me, personally, but then I could have at least enjoyed watching the three of them grow together and seeing all of their relationships grow and change.

So, ultimately, TL;DR: I do like love triangles, conceptually, but there are a few requirements they must meet for me to feel anything other than irritated at the inclusion. One: there must be at least three equally important relationships between the three characters. If it’s just one character torn between her (or his, but it’s usually a woman) feelings for two unrelated people, that can be compelling for a short time but ultimately I’m going to be left feeling frustrated by her refusal to just make a damn choice and put me out of my misery. Two: there should be some sort of development in each relationship which makes the presence of the triangle narratively significant. Why is it important for one character to have conflicting romantic feelings for these two other people at the same time? What purpose does it serve either their character arcs or the story as a whole? While I am both a Bangel and a Spuffy shipper, I’ve never considered Angel/Buffy/Spike to be a love triangle--they are very different relationships that she had at very different points in her life, and while her feelings for Angel never really went away (and do cause some angst for Spike near the end of btvs) they are never really competing for her affections in any meaningful sense. If that competition does exist, there needs to be a compelling reason why. And, as a further addendum to this point, I need to at least understand why the main point of the triangle is invested in each relationship, even if I don’t ship it and actively dislike or even outright hate one side of the triangle. (I loathe stelena, but I’ve always understood why Elena was in love with him in the beginning of the show, for example. And before s5/s6, I was really pleased with how the show handled her feelings for him and finally allowed her to grow and move on from them.)

And finally, three: the triangle needs to be resolved at some point--and, when it is, it needs to stay that way. Where TVD ultimately lost me (aside from the ridiculous plot contrivances and rampant character assassination) was the refusal to let the love triangle die a natural death when it is what the story called for, and all three of their characters, their relationships, and the show as a whole suffered massively for it. So, when the primary point of the triangle makes a choice--particularly if she had made one choice in the beginning of the story, but it was clear that she was ultimately moving towards choosing the other side as she grew and her feelings and relationships grew and changed with her--let that be the end of it. Move on to exploring what that choice means for the main pair and the party not chosen, sure--maybe explore their feelings about not being chosen and how that affects their relationships with both of the others afterwards--but don’t constantly tease the possibility of the ‘losing side’ getting back together just to keep shippers invested. It’s only going to hurt your show and make everyone look callous and stupid.

Alternately, a final possibility: make it an ot3 instead. But again, if the other three conditions aren’t met (particularly number two, and its addendum; if I don’t understand why the main point of the triangle is in love with both other points, an ot3 is unlikely to resolve that issue and I’m only going to wind up resenting it), then this won’t work, because it’s just going to wind up a lopsided and stilted mess of a relationship that leaves me wishing the offending point of the triangle had been killed off just so I wouldn’t have to keep hearing about them.

[andsmile]

I really wanna know if even a little part of you doesn’t feel like A doesn’t wanna lose V because he was already rejected by B? He was fully ready to risk it and didn’t even respond to “... and you love V right?” I know he loves V but that convo he had with B where she rejected him is the final thing that made me leave the V/A ship and want better for V. Or are you just looking at the silver lining. A just makes V doubt his feelings for her so much (with her “BFF” don’t even get me started on her) and I absolutely hate it so just broke away. She’s happy with him so if she ends up with him, good for her but how can she trust him fully again? I’ll just always feel like she deserves way better

Okay, time for an honest conversation about this, and I’m putting it under the cut because it’s gonna be long!

People cheat. Real people cheat everyday for a lot of reasons, and when someone cheats on someone else, it rarely is because “OMG I am so in love with this other person that isn’t my S/O that I cannot CONTROL myself anymore”, although fiction often justifies it like that. 95% of the times people cheating has to do with something going on inside themselves--sometimes it’s not even because their relationship sucks. Sometimes it’s because they’re seeking reassurance, sometimes it’s a matter of ego, and sometimes it’s a matter of confusion. Cheating isn’t a nice thing and it’s not something that needs to be forgiven so easily or at all, but it’s something that happens. Some people can forgive being cheated on; some people can’t.

Now, Archie Andrews isn’t a real person, and neither is Betty or Veronica or Jughead. They’re all written to act in a certain way, and sometimes the way they are written doesn’t make any sense. It makes zero sense to me for Betty to cheat on Jughead and Archie to cheat on Veronica when they did. Ok, they had their brief fake dating thing and possibly some feelings that were buried (don’t even get me started on how the narrative never showed this but anyway) but there’s absolutely nothing in the narrative that backs up their point of view with the cheating, that they’d gravitate towards each other and start this emotional affair out of nowhere because they were having problems with their S/O’s. So, why they cheated? Remains to be understood. My guess? Drama. Shock value.

The following episode was written to expose Betty’s reasons for the cheating--she was caught up in nostalgia and wanted to feel safe since everything was changing. Archie was not given the same chance of point of view exploration, so you just see him being confused and, well, willing.

The little POV we have from Archie is when he talks with Fred’s grave and says he doesn’t know where his heart is pointing. He says he doesn’t want to lose or hurt Veronica. He clearly just wanted to have a ~moment with Betty to be sure of whatever he was feeling for her--it’s even what his stupid song says, that they have to try to find out what’s up. Betty shuts him down and doesn’t let him try. I know he didn’t answer that he loved Veronica when Betty asked the second time, but his answer wasn’t “No, I don’t love her,” (love doesn’t work like this anyway). His answer was, “but then what is this all about?” referring to their emotional tryst. If they weren’t going anywhere with it and they loved their S/O’s, why were they even doing anything? Then, he admitted to his mom that he was being flaky and that he needed a fresh start.

Now, the season was interrupted and according to RAS, I think Archie possibly will be given a point of view about his confusion and why was he so willing to start something with Betty. We don’t know! It’s hard when we don’t know. But, honestly, as an Archie fan and especially as an Archie and Veronica fan, I think that Archie has never before made her doubt his feelings. Honestly, he’s always proven himself and his love for her, in numerous occasions, when the fandom was always expecting him to let the other shoe drop. Yes, this time he did act flaky and it might have something to do with Betty--of course with Betty whatever happened would be more significant than with any other girl, they do have history. When it comes to Archie’s character in the comics and in general, it’s always Veronica or Betty for him, normally B when Veronica isn’t there--but it’s definitely a lot more about himself and his own confusion, how lost he’s feeling with his future and his life since his dad died. A few times we saw Veronica and Archie saying they didn’t know where they were going in the future, and that might’ve contributed as well--the uncertainty of their own future. Not trying to justify that he cheated, but Betty did get an explanation, and I expect that we might still have one for Archie too, and that might be crucial with how I view this ship in canon.

It sucks that the writers didn’t write this better. It also sucks that they write Veronica as someone who’s confident in so many things but so insecure when it comes to Archie...but that’s because it’s Betty. And I don’t think it’s because of their shared history or anything, it’s because Veronica views these two kids as the second coming of Jesus, since she doesn’t think she’s a good person. Both her and Jughead have this tendency of seeing Archie and Betty as the purest, best thing that ever happened and they’re the evil that touched them and fucked it up, so why would Archie ever choose her instead of B, in her mind? And I absolutely hate that she tricks herself into being insecure about Betty but that’s how the writers write her, and that’s not on Archie or how he acts. Before the cheating plot he never gave her a reason to doubt his feelings for her, and she always does when is someone she feels inferior to.

(If we take into account that this is a latina character feeling inferior to two white characters so many things are wrong, but anyway)

If she’s written to forgive Archie and to trust Archie again, if Archie is written to love her more than anything again, she will forgive and trust Archie, Archie will love her, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. And I am pretty sure this is where this is heading, whether it’s satisfactory or not. Some ships I can forgive after the writing screws them up. I did it with Brucas. I did with Stelena. Some ships I cannot forgive because I am presented with a better option: I didn’t forgive Chair, and I started shipping Dair.

Now, does Veronica deserve better? I don’t think she deserves better than Archie himself. I think Archie is a good boyfriend for her despite his latest screw up. What I do think is that she deserves to be better written as a character and not to feel inferior to him or Betty, and not to always go back to her father regardless of their emotional abuse. I think she deserves to be strong in other points of her life and maybe holding her head up with Archie is one of those points, but we don’t know what’s coming, so I probably am looking at the silver lining. What’s better than Archie for her in canon so far? We don’t have it. The Riverdale girls don’t have a lot of options when it comes to love interests, do they? Especially the WOCs. Reggie, arguably, but he asked too much of her and dropped her too, and lowkey manipulated her into things. She was not in love with him as she was with Archie. We are not going to see her with a good new love interest, we are not going to get her around Jughead or Cheryl or other potential ships, so why not root for the redemption of the ship I already love?

So, yeah, as much as it’s hard to cheer for canon Varchie and being a Veronica fan in this moment given these writing choices, I choose to cheer for them knowing that there’s no character destruction without character redemption, and also looking at them through some other lenses. I have learned to separate fanon from canon from the comics from whatever. Ideally, Riverdale would be better written, but it’s not. That’s why we have fanfic and that’s why I don’t wanna watch the show anymore. But I’ll keep on supporting canon Varchie as long as I find that they can overcome the obstacles in their way--Archie’s confusion might be one of them, if it’s written to be.

Now, mwah! Hope you have a nice week.

[livlepretre]

So we’ve established that Klaroline was set up horribly and never made much sense—plus it totally wrecked Tyler’s storyline, but were there any other ships you thought were ooc or done very poorly? Or any ships you wanted to see or thought had good potential? I still wish the show was willing to admit what was really happening with Klefan in the 20s...

Well, first off, I agree with you about Klefan with the power of a thousand burning suns. It’s so very very very clear that Klaus and Stefan were ALSO involved, and that they were involved in a messy ménage à trois with Rebekah. That detail makes Klaus insisting on Stefan going with him that summer so much more potent-- like, of course Klaus wants Stefan there, of course it’s this bizarre messed up power dynamic where they were definitely sleeping together that summer but Stefan has no idea that he and Klaus have a history, he’s just high and angry and depressed and this force of nature has entered his life and knows just exactly how to get him off?? And the angst that would cause with his reunion with Elena-- the idea that they had true love, but probably less than a month after he leaves with Klaus, he’s sleeping with him? Devastating. The fact that Klaus is so jealous over Stefan, the way that Stefan goes after him like an angry ex in season 3? Fantastic. I love this ship. I approach TVD as though this is canon because honestly it has to be?? The subtext is basically vibrating so hard it reads as just plain text. 

This also brings up the thing about Klaus calling Stefan “brother”-- Klaus has a weird incest thing to him. I’m not sure I would call this “a ship with potential” but I do think there is a really strong implication that Klaus is sexually obsessed with his sister and I understand that TVD was never going to go there as it was a CW show, but considering they are vampires and just how WEIRD their chemistry is on the show and the whole thing where they were definitely both dating Stefan, I tend to headcanon this as well. It’s part of why things are so fucked up between them. 

I suppose on to the final hinge of this triangle, this is the ship I most regret not really getting in TVD: Stefan x Rebekah. I remember after 1x03 aired, I was convinced that we were about to launch into a sickeningly angsty (read: I lived for this) situation where Stefan would be in love with both Rebekah and Elena, through no fault of his own, and be unable to put one before the other (at least, not without a really long and epic emotional arc). I really enjoyed this idea in particular because Rebekah so embodies the parts of Stefan that Stefan most loathes about himself, the parts of him that he works so hard to suppress, but which are also very deep and intrinsic elements of his character. Elena represents a different side of himself: the person he tries to be, that he tries to change himself into, with lesser and greater success. It would have been a really fascinating ship that would have given some real tension to Stefan in season 3 and also lent Stelena its first real obstacle. 

Obviously I wish there had been some actual Elijah x Elena and some actual Klaus x Elena, because everything pointed that way and it would have been FUN, but the show seemed to think that Elena could only have so many love interests, which, shame. 

In some of my more lucid moments when I can tamp down my die hard Delena feelings, I can admit that Damon x Bonnie would have been a great ship. I don’t personally like the idea of it because I really really am all in for both Delena and Stelena, but it probably would have been utterly magnificent. 

As for what I think was handled poorly:  

Salt under the cut. 

obviously klaus x caroline 

I was never very happy with Steroline... a little surprising to me that I disliked it when I actually received it, because I shipped it pretty attentively in season 2, at the height of my interest in the show. My main issue with it was that by the time it happened, the show had pretty much convinced me that anyone other than Elena would always be #2 in Stefan’s eyes-- from what I’ve seen of the finale, it seems like the show went out of their way to reinforce Stelena again at the end, even though Stefan had married Caroline by that time. I suppose I just think what we actually got really sucked for Caroline, and it makes me sad for her. 

Elijah x Katherine-- Loved the idea that they would find a way to be together-- and even that Elijah would overlook how cruel Katherine had become (not that he should be throwing stones, or, in Elijah’s case, pebbles). HATED how quickly he left her to pursue the plot of the Originals-- I was NEVER given a satisfactory excuse for that-- the idea that they would still burn for each other 500 years later, that they would finally have a chance to be together, and what? Elijah discovers Katherine is in fact Katherine, the monster he and his brother made, so he ditches out? LAME. ALSO the fact that he didn’t come to her bedside AS SHE LAY DYING in 500 Years of Solitude?????? UNACCEPTABLE. This was WASTED. (But also. Because of this ship. I had to hear with my own ears “the sweet peasant girl you fell in love with way back when is dead”. UMM. EXCUSE ME. Nothing about the flashbacks imply Katerina was a peasant? Girl obviously had the connections to go to England? I’m so embarrassed for Elena’s wild lack of understanding of any basic history, I curl up and die every time I hear this Godforsaken line.)  

Elijah x Hayley-- OOC! I pretty much hate this ship. Mostly because if Elijah was going to pull what he did with Katherine, he ought to have been wrecked by it, not forgetting about Queen Kat and falling for random mean teenager Hayley. Maybe if it had been introduced later in The Originals, but it was like whiplash for me as a viewer and it set me against it right away 

Bonnie x Enzo-- look, I understand that people are into this ship and say it’s really well done, and I can admit that I haven’t really seen enough of the later seasons to judge fairly, but my gut feeling to encountering this has always been wtf? I just have a lot of trouble grappling with the idea of Bonnie with a vampire. The thing about Bonnie is that she’s consistently just about the only one with their head on straight. She knows vampires are THE WORST. and also, does no one remember that time that Enzo murdered Stefan? I DO. I SURE DO. I can just about buy the idea that over time Damon would get under her skin enough that I could see Damon x Bonnie, but this thing with Enzo strikes me as bizarrely out of character for her. Girl is too smart for this!! 

Anything pertaining to Silas/Amara/Quetsiyah-- kill it with fire 

OH and anything pertaining to Caroline x Alaric please smother it with a pillow-- I know a lot of people are into teacher x student as a kink and that Caroline had grown up by then, but teacher x student has and at this point probably always will squick me to no end and I hate the way that this ship brings Alaric’s character down, because Alaric is just so wonderful and has gone through so much grief, he should just get to not have this storyline tainting him 

[stephkaylor]

FAVES and FAILS: The Vampire Diaries

So I have decided that since The Vampire Diaries has a spin off, The Originals, I am going to divide the characters based on where they appeared the most. So on this list I will be talking about the Salvatores, the Petrova/Gilbert line, the Bennets and Caroline, etc. but I will discuss the Mikaelsons, Hayley, etc. on their own list with the other characters that appeared on The Originals mostly. As always, spoilers are abound as I will discuss storylines and character arcs below, so be warned of that.  In any case, here’s my FAVES and FAILS for The Vampire Diaries. 

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: Damon Salvatore

Could it be anyone else? I don’t think so. He’s a delightful little sociopathic shit and I love everything about him. He is 99% id and 1% ego, if that, and even when I hated him, I loved him (god, I sound like Elena…). In any case, love this man, five stars, would recommend, chef’s kiss. 

LEAST FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: …I think Matt Donovan…?

Ugh, it’s hard to pick between Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy, but I think it has to be Matt. I never enjoyed his judgey attitude against everything supernatural, he seemed pretty whiney most of the time, and he was just genuinely uninteresting for the majority of the show.  Not into it. Pass.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Katherine Pierce (Katarina Petrova)

I thought about giving this post to Caroline by default, but if it comes down to it, Katherine nudges her way into the top spot. Katherine gave no fucks, knew what she wanted and was unapologetic about how she went about getting it, and an all around bad bitch. Was she primarily evil? Yes. But, to be honest, it never really bothered me. 

LEAST FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Bonnie Bennet

God, this woman was annoying. She was hypocritical, judgmental, and far too holier than thou for me to swallow her bullshit. She constantly played favorites with Caroline and Elena (I’m sorry, you hold Caroline becoming a vampire against her for like two seasons, but when Elena becomes one, it’s not her fault? Sure.). She hated all supernatural creatures because they “go against nature”, but it’s totally chill for you to perform sacrificial magic to get what you want, unleashing a terrible evil in the process (but it’s not her fault). How she nearly excommunicated Caroline just because she stayed with Stefan after Stefan killed Enzo, as if it was her fault in any way. How everyone treated her like she was a special little unicorn because she’s a Bennet Witch and she’s so magical, like, please, gag me. I could go on, but I honestly cannot be bothered. Hard pass. 

THE CHARACTER THAT DESERVED BETTER: Caroline Forbes

She was essentially shunned by all of her friends and family for becoming a vampire, even though she didn’t choose to become one at all. Also, she was basically used as collateral damage for the entire Salvatores and Gilberts versus The Mikaelsons debacle just because Klaus liked her. She was always the second choice no matter what the situation was (unless it’s her being impregnated with magical twins without her consent and then guilted into carrying the babies, but poor Alaric just lost his wife. I’m sorry, unless it’s your uterus, shut the fuck up). I’ll just be over here doing what exactly NO ONE on the show did, and pick Caroline first.

DEADWEIGHT CHARACTER WE SHOULD’VE DUMPED IN 2009: Tyler Lockwood

I couldn’t pick Matt twice, so Tyler, I guess. He was selfish, a terrible boyfriend to both Caroline and also Liv later, and if I have to hear that boy whine about his fucking sire bond one more time I will literally throw my laptop off of a bridge. 

UNDERHYPED CHARACTER: Lorenzo “Enzo” St. John

Honestly, he’s one of the one things that made the last few seasons of the show bearable.  His delightful British rogue was a lovely way to fill the void that the Mikaelsons left in my heart, his devil-may-care attitude was man-made-manifest of what I was always thinking while watching the show, his BFF relationship with Damon and later Caroline was a joy to watch, and he was way too good for Bonnie. 

OVERHYPED CHARACTER: Alaric Saltzman

He is marginally more bearable right now on Legacies, but he annoyed the shit out of me while he was on the first show. Does he hate vampires or is he best friends with them? Does he want to be a hunter or does he want to stay away from anything supernatural of any kind? Also, he (along with nearly everyone else) basically guilted Caroline into carrying his magical siphoner babies, which is a touch too icky for me…

SHIP YOU WOULD SELL YOUR SOUL FOR: Delena (Damon and Elena)

Could it be anyone else? I never shipped Stelena, as I found both Stefan annoying and Elena too woe-is-me while she was with him. She made Damon want to be a better person and he made her embrace who she really was, monster and all. They had a perfect balance between themselves, and it was a joy to watch. He got the girl, guys. 

SHIP YOU JUST WERE’N THAT INTO: Steroline (Stefan and Caroline)

They were just too…meh. I was entirely uninterested in them, whatsoever, and isn’t that even worse than a ship that you hate? I used their scenes for a bathroom break or to get a snack, as I was guaranteed to miss nothing interesting or important while they were on screen. 

CHARACTER YOU LOVE TO HATE/FAVORITE VILLAIN: Kai Parker

What does it say about me that all of my favorite characters are violent psychopaths…? I’m just going to leave that to be unpacked with the future therapists I’m bound to hire. Kai was the perfect evil. He was powerful, purposeful, and unapologetically demonic in the very best way. I could watch him terrorize my favorite characters forever and not get bored.  Perfection.

FAVORITE STORYLINE: Stefan and Damon’s Brotherhood

If you don’t think this is what the show was about at it’s core, you’re wrong. They loved each other, they hated each other, they died for each other, they killed for each other, and, ultimately, they let nothing and nobody come between them. If you asked me who Damon loved more, Elena or Stefan, I COULD NOT answer you, and isn’t that just the fucking point?!

STORYLINE WE COULD’VE DONE WITHOUT: Magical Babies

I know that a major reason this was even a storyline is because Candice Accola got pregnant, but still…how? Like…she is a vampire..? She is unable to biologically change…? Like can someone grab me a biology textbook and explain how this a thing that can happen BIOLOGICALLY, please? I get that they are mythical creatures, so science doesn’t mean much here, but it just doesn’t make sense in any universe. Also, as I said above, the fact that Caroline was impregnated without her consent and then largely guilted into carrying the babies is a touch too rape-y for me…

BIGGEST PLOTHOLE: Do they go to school, or…? 

Like, are they just compelling the teachers to not notice them not attending class like 90% off the time? Also, how do the people in Mystic Falls not know anything about the supernatural? Like, they aren’t subtle AT ALL so how do they keep sliding under the radar? Also, in a lesser way, how are hybrid witch/vampires a thing? Like, I thought if a witch dies (like they would have to if they become a vampire), they lose their magic…?Make it make sense, Julie!

MOST HEARTBREAKING MOMENT: Damon Dies (the first time)

Honestly one of the saddest moments in the entire series was Damon’s ghost watching Elena lose it when he doesn’t make it back from the Other Side. They were finally happy and together and they can only enjoy it for like five minutes before it goes to shit. Why, Julie??!

BIGGEST EYEROLL MOMENT: Magical Babies (again)

I try to not use something twice on this list but COME ON. This was ridiculous and I do not support this in any way.  (Also this twin bullshit is still fucking annoying on Legacies, if anyone was wondering).

MOST SHOCKING MOMENT (any spit-takes?): Elena forces Kathrine to take The Cure

This was one of the moments that I literally gasped aloud. Most of the time the foreshadowing on these shows is seen from miles away, but I honestly did not see this coming at all. Also, Kathrine was basically the LAST person who wanted that cure so it’s crazy that she was the one to end up taking it and turning human.

MOST BADASS MOMENT: Kathrine kisses Damon at the end of Season 1

Like I said before, she is the original BAD BITCH of the show (not an actual Original, but you know what I mean…) and this was an amazing entry for the character who would be, largely, the villain of the series. It played on the feelings that Damon is developing for Elena, it finally introduced the person who started it all for the Salvatores, and it showed us exactly who she is at her core, and that she isn’t sorry about it at all.

SERIES FINALE SATISFACTORY LEVEL (use no words, just gifs):

OVERALL MARKS OUT OF TEN (10 being this show has changed your life for the better, you happily rewatch the series over and over, and the show has made your life better in some way. 1 being this show gave you nothing but trust issues, a stomach ulcer, and high blood pressure, and you honestly do not know why you did this to yourself) 

7 out of 10. 

I look back on The Vampire Diaries with the kind of fondness that only comes from a bizarre mix of nostalgia and incredulity. When scenes from this series show up on my instagram feed or on my Youtube recommended page, an involuntary smile creeps across my face without me realizing. I could do without like half of the characters and some entire seasons were completely unnecessary to watch, but it gave me some of my very favorite characters and ships, and spawned an entire universe that I still enjoy to this day. This magical, crazy, beautiful world was a joy to experience, even when it made me want to beat my head against a wall at least once per season.

If you want to see the other ones I have made, here's the original post with links. x  Hope you like these! (I say to probably no one...)

[kiss-my-freckle]

Recently (the 19th) was the 12th anniversary of the Delena motel kiss and I'm feeling super nostalgic. I remember 2 days before there were Canadian fans who claimed to have seen a clip "Why don't you let people see the good in you?" scene and within 24 hours later there was a Canadian promo that spoiled the Delena kiss and Julie tweeted "Dear Canadian promo people, what the fuck?" There was a weeks long break before 3x19 and the promo for it right after 3x18 while not spoilery was exciting and it was promoted as a Delena episode. The promo had the soundtrack "Turn it Back" which doesn't make sense for Delena since it has the lyrics "Turn it back to the days when you were mine." There were Stelena fans threatening to boycott after the kiss leaked lol. Because of the motel scenes in the promo I couldn't hold my excitement and would constantly lurk on Julie and Nancy (TVD editor for 3x19)'s Twitter for potential spoilers for weeks. The producer's promo for 3x19 before the kiss leak had Julie start smiling when she said the episode would be about Elena exploring her feelings and that it's just awesome. There was a spoiler that a Florence and the Machine song was featured but most fans speculated it was "No Light No Light." I miss the Delena fandom back then, but I was more of a passive bystander before I stopped watching for years, but wish I was active back then because the fandom now drains the enjoyment of being in it. There were people speculating Delena would have sex in 3x22 since there was a spoiler hinting at either them or Caskett but it ended up being Caskett. The Damon met Elena first spoiler was leaked a day before the finale but most fans thought it was a fake spoiler. I heard some fans on the now nonexistent official TVD forum (which I unfortunately never saw) convinced people who worked on the show to leak scripts to them so they could read it before episodes came out. I do remember during season 4 someone said someone they knew told them a Delena sex scene was being filmed and that person thought it would be 4x4 but it ended up being 4x7.

I honestly wish I watched the show as it aired because that was the moment I knew she was Damon's girl. I would've been posting on Twitter all week long in my support of their inevitable Delena ship. Damon's response to Elena's question is insane because he's straight-up telling Elena he doesn't wanna disappoint her, and he's saying this while laying next to her in bed with his shirt completely unbuttoned. Damon is leaving the disappointment to Stefan, put it that way lol. Stelena fans should be more pissed at the scene as the full episode airs than when the kiss is leaked because it's not just a kiss, it's a surrender. Stefan's girlfriend is gone. imo, she's been gone as I consider 3x5 her un-fall, consider both Stefan and Elena ghosts in Ghost World. The repeat is necessary.

"But it's not real. She's dead. Gone. Everything that you're holding on to is in the past, Jer."

"A Japanese lantern is the symbol of letting go of the past. Well, here's a news flash: we're not Japanese!"

Interesting how fans considered No Light, No Light by Florence + the Machine as it speaks to the end of a relationship and more from Stefan's pov. When the Light Dies Out by Christel Alsos is perfect for Delena's car ride home. Their track for Stelena's 20s dance is from Stefan's pov. I would've laughed my ass off seeing that promo with the "Turn it Back" soundtrack. Had I watched the show as it aired and saw the leak, I would've guessed the right soundtrack for Delena's kiss based on 3x10 and 3x11. I expected Elena to be fully transitioned in 3x22. While I could see her sleeping with Damon at the motel, you can't rush perfection. I wouldn't have considered the flashback of Delena in 3x22 as a fake spoiler for the same reason Stefan met her before he met her. They didn't just know of her existence. They both met her at some point based on their pilot comments. They had to show Damon's pilot comment, and they did. Stefan first meeting her needed to be as it was because they already spoke of how he saved her from drowning. It's through Stefan's own comments that fans had to know Damon met her before their car went off the bridge. Had Damon met her after their drowning, Stefan would've known he was home and likely stayed out of Elena's life for the sake of keeping Damon out of her life. They can't have Stefan stalking her, yet have him know nothing about her meeting Damon. OMG, I'm so glad they didn't do Delena's sex in 4x4 because I really love their college party dance scene. It's great to see Elena have fun with him before she has sex with him.

[ywhiterain]

but pleaseeeeee talk more about kalijah. i miss them a lot. i wish they could have stayed together at the end.

This gets lost because of everything that went down in the Originals. But Elijah gave up on Klaus. He’d finally had enough. Look, Elijah will never not love Klaus but for a moment he was actually choosing his own happiness over Klaus’ potential redemption. He mourned Klaus with Rebekah and then... he left.

He straight up told Klaus that he was going to build something with Katherine. And when Klaus was like NO I WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE FOR LOVING ANYONE BUT ME (AND REBEKAH BUT MOSTLY ME) he just calls him a basic pathetic loser. 

He moved onto Katherine. And I’m pretty sure she’s the only woman he’s ever called his (I don’t think he ever called Celeste his but I could be misremembering). In a thousand years, Elijah has only been in love three times (because I suppose he’s technically in the strictest sense he’s not in love with Klaus and Rebekah) and his romance with Katherine was the most compelling to me.

Look, Katherine didn’t suddenly become a good little girl and she never will and Elijah may have fanciful ideas about saving Katherine, but he’s also pragmatic and he was getting to a place where he was seeing her as Katherine instead of Katerina.

She killed Jeremy. She was certainly using Elijah to take Klaus down. But the idea that Elijah might actually have given up on her actually had her doing something legitimately selfless. Katherine Pierce has exactly one line she won’t cross: anything that would hurt Elijah enough for him to no longer love her. 

If there had been no Hope, I honestly see no reason why he wouldn’t have gone back to Katherine after helping/stopping the witches going after his brother, depending on his mood.

And I really love Hope! And Hope+Elijah might actually be my favorite part of the whole damn show (maybe Rebekah/Elijah, depends on my mood but he tells her Hope was never a mistake in season five and i’ve only watched parts of it and it still made me cry because asdlkfjawoerfaeo0iafae). And I was here for Hayley/Elijah and I’m still pissed that that was broken up for faux feminism instead of committing to them having a HEA or breaking down for organic reasons intrinsic to their bond.

But in terms of sheer romance and Elijah forging out an identity outside of his family? Katherine. And Rebekah would be salty for a minute but be glad he’s happy and Rebekah secretly wants to be everyone’s friend so she’d probably end up begrudgingly befriending her in spite of herself. And Kol would honestly be delighted. Not only is Elijah actually forging actual boundaries with his stupid Klaus obsession his girl is wickedly pretty thing with sharp teeth. And Klaus can just pout away okay. 

But it’s so hard for me to actually write. Because I love Elijah with Hope and I’m glad he was able to repair his relationship with Klaus some. He got Kol back. He let Finn back in. He met Freya. And he had his beloved Rebekah again. He fell for Hayley and forged a new relationship with Marcel. I’d never not want him to have that.

But I do think he might have been healthier overall if he’d just stayed with Katherine. I kinda think his ending was really sad? I mean, I’m really glad Klaus had that moment with him and that Elijah was there for him. But I’m team Kol here: Elijah needs to unbind himself from his family and form attachments on his own terms in his own life. 

though man I need to figure out how to write Katherine/Elijah in the originals. Maybe in a world where Jackson gets to stay alive? I think it’d be hilarious if she just showed up to met this baby Hope she’s hearing about and accidentally fall for her? Because Hope is literally made of hope and light and healing. And Katherine would be like Hope’s favorite person in the world, just to spite Klaus.  Because he kinda deserves it.

also Katherine is still a vampire because fuck that twist. I hate the cure it ruins my fun. The only way I’d accept it: for Abby Bennett or with Stelena getting their happy human happily ever after. 

okay now I think I’ma write a fic where Katherine kidnaps Hope to get back at Klaus and ends up?? like accidentally kinda loving her.  And just sort of ends up in that ridiculous mess of an extended family that is the Mikaelsons. And Klaus can’t kill her because Hope luffs her so much. (Like Hope isn’t even that bothered about being kidnapped? She’s so used to be hopping from one place to another and she’s very sure her Daddy will come back after this trip but she’ll whine for Rebekah to read her a story.)

brb starting another stupid fic that will take over my brain

[hauntedbasementqueen]

TVD: Delena vs. Stelena

So yes, I am a Delena shipper. And yes, this topic is a little old. But so far I have not found anything online that defends Delena for the reasons I ship them, so I am going to write this anyways.

This is three pages long, so be prepared.

Spoiler warning ahead.

I am not going to be defending against accusations, nor am I going to be using factors such as chemistry or attractiveness, although in my opinion both are in favor of Delena. This is only talking about the characters and how Damon, Stefan, and Elena all benefited from Delena being endgame, as well as why I think it was the best choice for the show.

From a screenwriting perspective, Stelena was a good starting relationship for the show. It had intrigue, and some passion, and, most importantly, it was steady enough to give the watchers time to get to know the characters. Stefan was unambiguously the good guy, despite being a vampire, and in the first few seasons the show had not built up enough loyalty to the characters to risk putting the main character with someone as morally grey as Damon.

In terms of the characters themselves, Stelena was also a good starting point for Elena after her parents’ deaths. She was hopeless, and what she needed was a constant, kind presence in her life who had just enough danger and mystery to draw her interest. Stefan gave that to her. For the first few years after her parents death, Elena couldn’t deal with the demands of a relationship with Damon (who, incidentally, had a lot of growing up to do as well). She needed Stefan, who could carry a lot of their relationship himself, rather than her having to take care of or monitor him, giving Elena time to heal and navigate this new supernatural world. And their relationship was… charming. The love there was real (although in my opinion, it was more platonic than romantic-- more on that later), and there was certainly enough drama to keep us engaged. For the beginning of the show, Stelena was good.

Around season three, however, is where it started to sour (and no, I am not talking about the Ripper or any of the other plot devices, only characterization). In the first two seasons, most of the Stelena drama was about them developing their relationship. Elena was figuring out who Stefan was and discovering his secrets. After season three, however, the showriters started to run out of ideas. Stefan’s past had been revealed. There was more to reveal about Stefan, of course, but all of the major things that would impact his relationship with Elena had been used. The ripper storyline had been done. Pretty much any other drama would seem artificial and out of character. Why? Because Stefan and Elena were both such stubbornly loyal people that any sort of betrayal on either of their parts would only seem in character if it relied on miscommunication, which is a subpar plot point at best. In addition, Stefan and Elena had a steady, quiet sort of love rather than the explosive type that viewers tend to want. To put it simply, Stefan and Elena’s relationship was becoming boring. Changing it up was in the best interest for the show.

In terms of characterization, Stelena also needed to end around season three. Elena was mostly healed from her parents’ deaths. She was headstrong, always running into danger, and would do anything to save the people she loved. More than anything, she was self-sacrificing, to the point where that was perhaps her biggest flaw. Stefan was the exact same as her. And that’s why in the beginning, when the stakes were lower, their relationship worked-- they understood each other. But as the stakes got higher each season and every decision was life or death, Elena could not be with someone who was just as self-sacrificing as her, for her own physical health. Stefan loved Elena. And yet he was the kind of person who would be a martyr and give her up, if that’s what she wanted (and he does when she becomes a vampire, saving Matt instead of her). This seems good on paper- until you consider that Elena is so self-sacrificing that oftentimes she tries to turn herself in before she considers all other options. And Stefan is so selfless and so respecting that he doesn’t stop her. 

Take the part about Elena becoming a vampire, for example. Yes, in the end it turned out fine and Matt and Elena were both saved. But Stefan didn’t know that Elena had vampire blood in her system. If she hadn’t, she would be dead. The choice was clearly between Elena and Matt- one of them was going to die. Elena wanted Stefan to choose Matt, so he did (after wasting several idiotic seconds arguing about it, but I digress). If it weren’t for luck, Elena would be dead, and honestly it would have been Stefan’s fault more than anything else. He knows Elena is incredibly, stubbornly self-sacrificing. He should have saved the life of the girl he loves first and then gone back to save her friend, no question. Instead he let Elena die because he was too much of a martyr. Yes, he did regret it later, but I believe that he would probably do it again in a similar situation-- their characters are just too selfless.

Enter Damon. If Damon is anything, it’s selfish. As the seasons go on, he becomes a better person, but when it comes to Elena, it is always, always, whatever is best for Elena first. And that is exactly what Elena needs. She’s grieved for her parents. She can stand on her own now. She doesn’t need someone to be kind, and to prop her up like Stefan did. What she needs is someone who can match her step for step and who can and will stop her when she goes on one of her self-sacrificing rampages (yes, I like Elena too, but you have to admit this is one of her flaws). Damon does that. He gives her the love, and the compassion, but he also gives her the strength of will and the selfishness that counterbalances her own selflessness. Not to mention as Elena grows on the show and becomes more confident, her character grows into more of an adventurous, witty character rather than the damsel in distress type she was in season one. The new Elena fits better with Damon’s adventurous and witty streak than with Stefan’s more steady, dry nature. 

Damon and Elena is also, in my opinion, far more interesting to watch than Stelena, and I think most people would agree. They are more passionate, both in love and in anger, and I personally like their banter far better. They have far more opportunities for angst and plot points, being more different than each other and both of them having grown to be similarly volatile (Damon becoming less volatile, Elena becoming more so). Thus, Delena made the show more interesting without having to force outstandingly interesting plot points or side relationships.

Looking at the show as a whole, I see Stelena as a better platonic relationship, and Delena as a better romantic relationship. Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev have incredible chemistry, no doubt about that (and Pual and Nina have very little-- fight me on that), but in terms of the characters themselves it also makes more sense for Stelena to be platonic. Even when they were together, it reminded me more of a best friend relationship, especially in season two. They loved each other, and they were compassionate, but they were not passionate. There was no real spark between them, because they were too similar. Ideally, partners should have many of the same interests, but they should also complement each other. Best friends, meanwhile, are usually very similar. They don’t complement each other-- they are each other. The way that Damon complements Elena makes him a better romantic partner, while Stefan is an excellent friend to Elena due to their similarities. 

Now that I have covered how Damon and Elena are better off together, I’m going to briefly go over the Caroline aspect of Stefan’s character arc.

From the show’s perspective, putting Stefan with Caroline made the show a million times better. They complement each other, just as Damon and Elena do. Both of them are kind and optimistic, but Caroline is single-minded and driven, while Stefan is more calm. Caroline gives Stefan’s life excitement, and Stefan gives Caroline’s life steadiness. Not to mention from a showrunning perspective, they have excellent banter. I was starting to grow bored with Stefan until he got with Caroline. Caroline’s over the top, wordy dialogue matches really well with Stefan’s more dry, monosyllabic tendencies. 

So to conclude, while Stelena was good at the beginning of the show, in the end Delena was better for all of the characters. And Stefan is not the cheated victim, watching the love of his life with his brother. He found his own epic love. Those who support Stelena, in my opinion, are just pining for the past. Move on.

[multifandomaddictedfangirl]

The Vampire Diaries Thoughts & Opinions (rewatch)

S1 :

OMG I completely forgot how cheap was this show! The dialogues in s1 feels so forced and fake 🤮 Not to blame the actors, but sometimes it feels really unnatural, like you know you’re in a fantasy young adult tv show. It doesn’t feel like real life, like what real people would do/say. It’s too obnoxious and dramatic and... overly intense ?? 😕 Rewatching it, it might be the biggest flaw of the early seasons 🤷‍♀️

They all look SO YOUNG tough 😳

Mmmm... Stefan acts like a total creep in s1, it’s really giving me Twilight vibes 😅 like if I was Elena/Bella, I would be terrified of Stefan/Edward ! 😰 They’re creepy and stalky and weirdly intense / edgy about ordinary stuff... Their entire personality screams : “I AM A VAMPIRE AND I CANNOT CONTROL MYSELF AROUND YOU” which... #yikes 🤔

Caroline Forbes is my favorite character of the entire show, I love her SO much ❤️ “I’m never the one” is still one of the most powerful lines, for me, and I loved her characterisation throughout the show

Matt has been irrelevant since s1 🙄, honestly he was maybe funny/quirky in the double-date episode and regarding his relationship with Caroline (while not having moved on from Elena)...? But that was like a couple of episodes and apart from that he was just useless. I do not understand why he stayed alive that long

Jeremy.... oh Jeremy 😔 He was... such a cliché! He was what adults see as the “typical” rebellious edgy teenager who does nothing of his life except smoking weed. And no, I don’t like that caricature. His relationship with Vicky... 🤷‍♀️ I mean, sure, it was sweet that he cared for her that way and that he saw more in her than just the “stoned-ass trashy girl” 💁🏻‍♀️ that she was supposed to embody. But Jeremy really acted like “The Nice Guy”and it seemed like he was expecting something for being nice with Vicky. He acted like if Vicky owed him something, while she never asked for him to interfere in her problems 🙅‍♀️ I don’t know, I guess he was just supposed to be a lost teen, damaged by trauma, and I get that.

OK, so if I was Elena, seeing Katherine’s picture would FREAK. ME. OUT 😱 I would run away. So far away. I would tell everyone I love to run away 👀 I would just completely shut down. I would never want to see the guy ever again (who clearly has a fetish and an unhealthy obsession!!). I mean, talk about being clinched to your ex

Damon and Caroline’s relationship was SO TOXIC in s1 !! 💥 And the show never really acknowledged that!! I mean, sure, they did, but I don’t think Damon realised the pain he caused her: he manipulated her, fed on her, hurt her, compelled her, used her to get what he wanted, abused her, put her life in danger, over and over again ���🤬😡

LEXIIIIIIIIII 💖💖💖 Finally! I remember I liked her a lot, but she’s just one of the best, purest character! I’m so happy Stefan can AT LEAST count on her 💕

WHAT?! 😱 SHE DIED SO SOON IN THE SHOW??!?? 💔😭 I didn’t remember that at all! I think my mind erased that fact from my mind because it hurt too much!

Ugh, Logan 😑

I hate what they did with Bonnie 😡 In s1 she’s this incredibly judgy character who ruins every single plan by having ridiculously high moral standards (for this fictional universe, at least), ugh. I love her but they used her to create unnecessary conflict in the show and she didn’t deserve that. Also she didn’t deserve all the pain, the deaths & the misery. She’s one of the (many) characters who have suffered SO MUCH throughout the seasons and they really did her dirty and i’m so mad about that !!

The flashbacks from 1864 were quite well done. I always found it interesting to learn more about Katherine’s past and the Salvatore brothers’ tragic origin story.

*sighs* John Gilbert... urrffffgh 🙄

Isobel being Elena’s biological mother AND Alaric’s ex wife was... so weird 🤨

Overall, I don’t have a lot of opinions for that season because I was bored half of the time 🤷‍♀️ I just really wasn’t interested about the plot and/or the characters because it was all so cliché and cheap. This season was really bad. It’s not working at all, for me at least.

S2 :

Katherine is a GREAT character and you can’t fight me on that 💁🏻‍♀️👠👑

The addition of the werewolves was quite a good idea, though it was predictable so far. Werewolves and vampires often come together in fantasy 🤷‍♀️ Tyler’s storyline was interesting though 🤔 The whole idea of a curse that you activate when you become responsible for someone’s death, no matter your intentions, was good.

CAROLINE BECOMING A VAMPIRE WAS ONE OF THE BEST THING HAPPENING TO THIS SHOW : YES ! 👏 She was such a better person as a vampire. She was arguably the best vampire of them all, the one who truly succeeded the most at adapting at her new life 💕

I DO NOT understand WHY Damon would ask for troubles to Mason, a werewolf, whose bite is DEADLY to him 🙄

Elijah was so different in s2 than I remembered. So uptight, and yet so evil ?? I remembered him as the nice brother in the Michaelson family. But the way he relentlessly targets Rose and her family and friends... yikes 😣🥺

Klaus was so HYPED by the show. Even Katherine herself was terrified of him 😱 And when you think about it, he might be one of the most dangerous creature of TVD’s lore... 🧐 But compared to other vilains, he was quite friendly.

Bonnie and Jeremy... mmm.... sure. You know what, it doesn’t scream “soulmate” but it doesn’t have to be. It can be just a messy, complicated, unexplainable crush. It can just be two people liking each other and enjoying each other’s company without trying to look for a deeper thing. Plus the situation is so awkward, with Jeremy being Bonnie’s best friend’s little baby brother, that it was fun to watch! 😄

My heart still feels for Jenna 💔 She had just learnt the truth about vampires and she had JUST figured out why everyone in her life was acting so weird... and then she died. And idk she was a lovely, messy, funny, pure heartface, completely lost gardian... 💕 and I’m gonna miss her. I would have liked to see her react to what happened next on the show (and how she could have supported Elena & Jeremy through all of this, etc.) 🥺

OF COURSE STEFAN WOULD MAKE A DEAL WITH KLAUS TO GET A CURE FOR HIS BROTHER! Is this Supernatural?

So, yeah, same thing here: most of the storylines developed in this season didn’t interest me whatsoever. So I don’t have a lot of things to say about this season, but just bear with me pls 🐻

S3 :

I absolutely adore Stefan as a ripper in s3. Especially regarding his complicated relationship with Klaus... I think his dependency / addiction to blood is really interesting 🤔 Stefan can’t be a regular vampire, drinking blood from humans then erasing their memories / drinking from blood blags. He can’t because he feels so guilty for the lives he takes / the pain he inflicts on other. So he’s like all or nothing 🤷‍♀️ A human blood-free diet guy. Or a merciless killer.

Regarding of the whole delena / stelena ship war... *sighs* 😔 I honestly don’t know 🤷‍♀️ Both relationships seem hella toxic (for different reasons, but still). I do believe Elena loved them both (maybe not at the same time, though). So, I don’t know who she should have ended up with... I remember shipping her with Damon on my first watch, but now I realise that was purely for the bad boy vibes (i.e bad boy, who, deep down, isn’t so bad because turns out he can change and blah blah blah... ugh what a cliché i know 🙄). So anyway, I’m not gonna defend Delena, it’s as messed up as Stelena if you ask me. But that’s where my heart went on the first watch and that’s who she canonically ends up with, so I’m not gonna fight it and try to make a case of whether she should have ended up with another person (or alone?). In my head, she’s with Damon 🙃 Just cause’ it’s easier, more convinient, and I’m lazy that way 😅 But I understand people who ship/prefer Stelena over Delena. I’m just not THAT invested in this freaking love triangle anymore ✋

The show really took off when they introduced the original vampires if you ask me 🧛‍♂️ Their backstory is so tragic, and after that, it makes more sense why Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus are so close, trust each other so much and manage to forgive the worst of each other💖

Rebekah, that poor girl who only ever wanted to have a human normal life and to BOND with people (whether they were family, friends or more than friends...) 💕has been betrayed by EVERYONE 🔪She was daggered more times than I can even count, and I’m surprised she hasn’t killed everyone out of pure revenge yet!

Yeeeeep. Still ships Klaroline. ❤️

My God, what would I give to see Caroline explore this world and enjoy the perks of her vampire life with Klaus...🥰 She wanted that. She secretly dreamed of that. And frankly, she deserved that. She deserved to feel happy and fulfilled and excited about her future! She deserved more than the life she got in Mystic Falls ✨ More than Tyler! More than Jessy. More than Damon. And more than Stefan too, even if she did seem happy with him in the end. I think I liked Klaus as a romantic option for the same reasons I liked Damon back then. For the challenge. For the way they always push their girlfriends further, and make them want more of life than what they’ve got. For the way they make them ambitious.

I think the reason this season feels so useless is because they try to find a way to eliminate the Original family... only to find out that if they do that, EVERY VAMPIRE EVER WILL ALSO DIE 👏

I despised the whole evil alter ego trope that they did with Alaric 😪😴 I liked the idea of the ring having real bad consequences. But here, Alaric can’t take responsibility for wanting to cheat on death precisely because he has a second personality that he cannot control. The blame is just put on somebody else, an entire other person that just cohabits in Alaric’s body. I never really liked the whole Dr Jekill & Mr Hide trope 🤷‍♀️ And I don’t think it was bringing anything to the table, honestly. It’s boring (because SO obvious and predictable) and it takes forever to deal with (ugh) 😑

NOOOOOOOOOO RICK 😭💔 He was one of my favorite character. I really loved his relationship with Elena and Jeremy + his friendship with Damon. I’m gonna miss him really hard. The scene with Damon on his grave was really sweet 🥺

S4:

Elena being a vampire : YES! 👏 We’ve been waiting for this for so long, the show really needed this to go on (realistically the show would have had trouble to move on if Elena would have stayed human for a lot longer). So I’m really glad about that being the premise for s4 ☺️ Plus her transition is well handled, with her memories coming back + her emotions being heightened (the scene where she bursts into laugh and cannot stop was really funny and somehow relatable 😂).

The scene in the car with Stefan, Matt & Elena VS Stefan, Elena & her father was really well done! 👏 I loved the parallel where she wants Stefan to save Matt first, just like her father wanted him to save Elena first. So touching 💕 It’s a tough choice and Stefan will have to live with both consequences for the rest of his life, which will NOT be easy with Damon blaming him for Elena’s death. But, really, Damon kinda has a point : "in what world are you [Matt] the one that gets to live?”. Matt has been saved so many times on the show and it’s legit to ask yourself : WHY? Why him? 🤷‍♀️He’s so irrelevant and useless. But I get that’s the whole point. Human life is irrelevant and useless (in the great scheme of things). And yet, we fight for it ✊ Because somehow it matters.

S4 helped me remember what I didn’t like about Stefan, regarding his relationship with Elena. He really had a big problem with her being a vampire, and he spent half of his time trying to “control” / “fix” her 🙄 He’s got such high standards for Elena when she turns into a vampire. It’s like he expects her to not make the same mistakes as he - or any other vampire in the history of vampirism - did. He desperately wants her to be a “good” vampire right away and avoid the “killer without humanity” phase 🤔 Which is understandable. He doesn’t want her to become a bad vampire who doesn’t care about human life, as he was during his ripper phase (or like Damon).

Damon truly accepted her, the new her, vampire! Elena 👐 You can argue that it’s because he’s selfish and he wants people to act as bad and carelessly as him (that’s why he tried to manipulate Stefan into drinking human blood again in s1 : he doesn’t want to be alone and he needs someone else to party with)... But he isn’t selfish when it comes to Elena 🤷‍♀️ The show proved us that. He wanted her to have a human normal life, to be happy, to grow old and have children. He wanted to give her that, and that’s why he would have saved her over Matt on the bridge. He’s not happy that she is a vampire. That’s not what he wanted. Never. But now that she is, and that there’s nothing they can do about it (that they know of), Damon tries to make the best out of it

Anyway, Caroline is such a better teacher then Damon or Stefan 😅 Drop the Salvatore brothers and get educated on the vampire life with your bff, Elena !

Elena being sired by Damon, OMMGG! 😮😮😮 So much drama, I really loved it. It was smart to use that as a way to postpone Delena for a little bit - playing on the general doubt that Elena might not truly love Damon and she might just be under the influence of the sire bond. Which, let’s be honest, was a legit consideration to have. So, yeah... REALLY GLAD that, in the end, the sire bond didn’t create those feelings out of nowhere, it only heightened and amplified what was already there beforehand. Otherwise, it would have been really problematic, especially regarding consent issues 😕

I love that Damon makes the right choice again with Elena and “sets her free”. He doesn’t want their relationship to be fake. And so he uses the sire bond to send her away, to be herself, to live her life without worrying about what makes him happy. You can say everything you want about Damon, at least he gets it right by her ☝️Just like when he confessed his feelings to her, but compelled her to forget because she’s in love with Stefan and he doesn’t want to mess it up. He was not selfish when it came to her.

It was really heartbreaking to see Jeremy becoming a hunter and having the sudden urges to kill his own sister and basically everybody else in his life 😢

Poor Carol Lockwood! 💔 She didn’t deserve to die. She tried so hard to help for Tyler, even when she learnt he was a werewolf, she cared so much for him...😭

Their inability to communicate with each other is INSANE. At some point in s4, they all know Shane is practicing a magic called “Expression”. Damon and Stefan also know that kind of magic is incredibly dark and dangerous (from their little trip to New Orleans when they tried to find a way to deactivate the sire bond and the witch there told them she wasn’t practicing this kind of magic). But NO ONE has still put two and two together. And so, Bonnie keeps blindly trusting Shane and hanging out with him 🤦‍♀️

The whole search for the cure was quite interesting and entertaining to watch! Each one of them wanted it for a different reason : destroy it, use it, share it, give it away, save it for later... Which really well portrayed how people can react to the idea of mortality. The fact that there’s only one dose was really genius! That makes it even more interesting to see who’s gonna fight for it (i.e. Rebekah, Stefan), who’s gonna just drop it because turns out they didn’t really want it to begin with (i.e. Damon, Caroline), who’s gonna exchange/bargain it and for what (i.e Katherine, maybe), who’s gonna get it the end and what will they do with it. Will it all be worth it? 🧐

Jeremyyyyy 💔😭 R.I.P 💀

Honestly, even though I still think Matt is irrelevant to the show, let’s remember he also has lost every single person in his life (his dad and his mom are basically gone, Vicky is dead, Tyler left town again, his goddamn history teacher died too) - and now he can add Jeremy, his best friend, to the list 😭 He’s handling it all WAY better than anyone else. I mean you don’t see him burning down the house he grew up in for instance! However, I agree that Elena have lost more people in her family than him (her adoptive parents, Jenna, Alaric, Jeremy, even John... and Isobel is basically gone too). But it’s not like you can compare their lost, anyway. They boty suffered a lot, but I just wanted to say... I liked that the show acknowledged Matt lost someone important for him too 💕

No humanity! Elena, OOMMMGGG!! 🤯 I was so mad when it happened, because Damon could have just used the sire bond to make her deal with her brother’s death, he could have just helped through the grief and tell her it was going to be okay. He didn’t need to make her turn off her humanity 🙄 Real dumb move here!

I kinda liked the friendship between Elena without humanity and Rebecca! Their little trip starting off in NY was fun!

Katherine is, and will always be, the baddest bitch in town! ❤️ I was quite surprised to see her kill Jeremy so heartlessly, but I guess it fits the character. She’ll always be looking out for herself and the opportunity to take the cure and be one step ahead of everyone was obviously too good to leave out. She always had to fight for her own survival, in a world that’s always been dangerous and ruthless against her, so it makes sense she became who she is 🤷‍♀️

Of all the things that could have triggered Elena’s humanity flip switch, really? Matt Donovan? 🤨😑 I mean, it makes sense since Elena seems to value his life over everything else, including her own. But from what we’ve seen so far, she wasn’t really happy when she was dating Matt 😕 They used to fight a lot, they didn’t want the same thing out of life, they just were really different people. And that’s fine, they didn’t work out as a couple, but they can stay friend... Except you don’t really see them interract THAT much as friends. I mean it’s a lot of "say" and not enough "show", for me 🧐 You don’t feel the bond that two best friends should have... between them. You don’t see inside jokes, common interests, similar hobbies, laughters and tears, serious conversations that last for hours, or small talks over the phone... Anyway, from what we were shown so far, she shouldn’t feel that close to Matt. Not more than, idk, Bonnie, Caroline, Damon or Stefan for instance! So the fact that she cares SO MUCH about him is kinda strange 🤔

“He was your first love, I intend to be your last. However long that takes” LOOK WHO’S BAAAACK 👀 My favorite hybrid! Awww of course he was gonna come back for Caroline ❤️

Btw the ceremony was very cute 💕 It’s the end of high school! The end of an era! And they all graduated 🍾🎊🎉

Awwwwww, when Bonnie dropped the veil and everyone got to see their dead friends and family again! Stefan & Lexi, Damon and Alaric, Elena & Jeremy 💖

BONNIIIIIE, OH NOOOO, WHYYY 😭💔 oh no no no no no no no, she wants to keep her death a secret from everyone, that is such a bad idea!!! 😣

OMG SILAS IS A DOPPELGÄNGER OF STEFAN !!! 🤯 POOR STEFAN IS STUCK IN THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE AND NO ONE KNOWS, NOOOOOO 💔😭

S5 :

The whole college experience with Caroline and Elena was so fun to rewatch😁 I wish Bonnie could have been there though, even if she kinda was.

It feels good to watch Elena and Damon being happily in love together and enjoying the summer ❤️☀️ But when you think about Stefan drowning over and over in that lake... it feels so bad :(

Katherine as a human is devastatingly entertaining! "I’m the freaking moonstone" 🤣 So iconic that she, of all people, took the cure! I loved that twist.

I loved the complicated and messy love triangle between Quetsiya, Amara and Silas. I want to empathise with Quetsiya and support her, because Silas screwed her over in such a supernatural, mystical way... he cheated on her and tricked her. He manipulated her to get what he wanted. So yeah, I’m all team Quetsiya ✊ but then again, she is sort of over-paranoid and obssesive? 🤷‍♀️ And being screwed over by a guy doesn’t exactly justify her quest for vengeance. So... I guess the only one who’s okay is Amara?? We don’t see a lot of her but I respect her wish to die after thousands of year in pain, as the anchor of the other side (which, btw, was BRILLIANT! 🤯 Quetsiya’s a genius! o.O)

"You are my life" ❤️ GOD, Damon always finding the right words!

I hate the travelers storyline 🙅‍♀️ I find it incredibly boring and I’m not that attached to Nadia. The only thing I liked about her was her relationship with her mom, Katherine. But apart from that, I don’t really like them as villains, nor as their storyline with Silas 😑😕

Stefan loosing his memory is okay-ish. It’s such a cliché as a trope, but it sort of works because Paul Wesley does such a great work at portraying different Stefans 👍 and it’s always entertaining to watch. And even though I usually ship Delena, I have to admit Elena recreating some moments with Stefan was very cute! 💕So it works but I’m not a big fan.

What I am a big fan of is the evolving relationship between Damon and Jeremy! 🥰 I mean, you can see that he didn’t really care about him, that he was mostly protecting him as a way to please Elena... But then, something changed 🤔He started caring for him for real, kinda like a big brother would:)

"You’re Katherine Pierce. Suck it up" hell yes 💪 keep fightingt, love !

Awwwwwww Bonnie 💔 Why do you always have to sacrifice yourself and put everyone else’s happiness before your own?? It’s really sad to see her becoming the anchor of the other side, feeling literally every single death of all the supernatural beings out there :’(

The Augustine vampire storyline!! 😮I’ve had completely forgotten about that! I love how they connected Damon with that institution, and how they introduced Enzo as Damon’s old mate. Well done👍

Katherine in Elena’s body: OMG! Love it! She’s such a survivor ❤️ That’s gonna mess things up so bad xD (btw the fact NO ONE notices anything is kinda weird and if I was Elena, I would be offended)

Nooooooo, don’t break up with Damon as Elena !!! 😱😱 Uuuughhh!!! Whyyy 😭

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG CAROLINE SLEPT WITH KLAUS !!! ❤️HELL YAS B**CH!!! SHE FINALLY ADMITTED HER FEELINGS FOR HIM !!! THEY KISSED !!! IT’S OFFICIAL !!! (i know klaus will never come back to TVD ever again buuuut... i’m still so so SO happy about that Klaroline reunion!)

Awwwww my baby Liv ❤️ I’ve missed her, she was so precious in season 5 !

Katherine AGRESSIVELY flirting with Stefan, while pretending to be Elena, was... both fun and hard to watch 😅Katherine was soooo pushy! And the fact that Stefan still doesn’t see she’s not Elena was infuriating! Like there’s just no way Elena would ever act like that!

"You’re never gonna as interesting as the next guy she wants to sleep with” poor Nadia 😭 that’s so true though :/ she didn’t deserve to die, I was really sad for her. She deserved a better life than the one she’s got 💔💔💔

FINALLY! 🙌 Finally they put two and two together and figured out Katherine is inside Elena’s body! Thank God 🙏 Caroline made me laugh so much with her "it’s Elena, we would have noticed something" speech. I was like YES. MY POINT EXACTLY 👏 I loved when they figured out all the little details that have been wrong ever since the beginning of this whole mess, like : Katherine was the reason that Tyler knew Caroline slept with Klaus. And Caroline’s like : oooohhh it all makes sense now. Wow. Congrats for figuring this out just now! 🙄

R.I.P Katherine ❤️ Weirdly, she will be missed. She did deserve better.

Jeremy was kind of a jerk with Bonnie in s5 ? I mean he was okay in the first few episodes i guess but then he completely ignored her... not cool bro, not cool 👎

The whole "Why do people seem to expect more of me?" speech of Caroline felt very relatable 👏 Just because she’s kind, because she’s trying to do good, doesn’t mean it’s easier for her! 😤 Plus, why do people keep slut-shaming her for having sex with Klaus when she’s not the first, nor the last, to have had one night stands with - arguably - bad people! ✋

Damon and Elena breaking up : lol 😆 As if. We know they’re endgame. Please. It’s only a matter of episodes until they find their way back to each other, which is why they are kinda cute as a couple.

Ugh 😑 Markos 🤦‍♀️ I just can’t ✋

Bonniiiiiiiiiiie !! Stop lying to everybody!! I hated how she was pretending she had a spell to escape the Other Side collapsing! Haven’t you learnt anything by now? Talk to your friend, figure out a plan together and if not, at leat say your goodbyes and enjoy your last moments with them!

Did I already say I hate the travelers storyline? Well, I do. I hate it 🤬

Season 5 finale was PEFRECT, I loved it. Bonnie resurrecting everyone, Liv doing the spell, Silas helping them just to be destroyed in the end (a fitting ending), Damon and Elena driving through the Grill to kill all the travelers, Alaric coming back, Markos dying... BUT. But, but, but, I was so upset about Damon!! It was just a matter of time and if they would have just kept going with the spell for a few seconds (damn you, Luke!), he would have been able to come through! And Lexi, omg 😭 at least she found peace❤️

Btw, that’s exactly what I meant about Bonnie’s character. Throughout the seasons she never stops sacrificing herself for other people (sometimes those people don’t even deserve it). She keeps lying to everyone. She lied when she died the day of graduation. She didn’t say how much it hurt her to be the anchor. She lied when she said they had a way to bring her back from the Other Side when it was collapsing. She kept minimising her (big-ass) problems. She kept putting other people before herself. And she’s one of the characters who suffered the most. Her storyline revolves around pain. The show doesn’t allow her to be fully happy. And btw, no one truly cares about her happiness (except maybe Jeremy and then Enzo), at least not when somebody else’s safety or comfort is at play. She’s never number 1 on the priority list. If somebody needs her to do a spell or whatever, they will use her. No matter how much danger she puts herself in 🤬

"Please don’t leave me” 😭😭😭 I felt that... It crushed my heart 💔

S6 :

I loved the way everybody coped with Bonnie and Damon’s deaths 💕 Elena got addicted to some magical herbs that made her hallucinate Damon again because she couldn’t deal with his death. Jeremy left a tone of angry voicemails to Bonnie’s old phone - which he paid for. Caroline got dragged into work and research in order to find a way to get back in Mystical Falls. Stefan moved on completely and started off a new life. It’s just... a nice way to show grief 😊

Ooohh I smell some Steroline moments!! Poor Caroline. To me, she deserved better than Stefan! He was such a jerk to her, especially in the beginning 😤😡

NOOOOOOOOOOOO 💔 ELENA DON’T ERASE YOUR MEMORIES! WHAT! WILL! YOU! DO! WHEN! DAMON! INEVITABLY! COMES! BACK! Elenaaaaa 😤 You have to learn how to deal with grief for real !

The fact she trusts Rick completely to do that was so beautiful though... They’re family and it was nice to see their bond.

Bonnie and Damon were kinda cute ! Like I don’t ship them, per say. But I get why some people do 🤷‍♀️ They had chemistry and they worked as an enemies to lovers trope. Anyway, I personally liked their friendship, how they both learnt how to support each other, how to function as a team, how they helped each other through the worst! In the end, Damon truly cared about her, and that’s why he was ready to do anything in order to save her 💪

Kaaaaaaiiiiii 🙈 i’m so conflicted about ya

I totally ship Jalaric ! ❤️ I loved how Elena tried to fix them up together! They’re really cute together. They both have complicated pasts and a messy family. They understand each other :) And Jo is such a confident woman! She knows what she wants, she’s not afraid of speaking her mind, she’s kinda fierce!

The fact that Elena wanted her memories back JUST when Alaric became human again was just... aaarrghh 🤬

"I think I deserve better than that” YES 👏 YOU 👏 DO 👏 CAROLINE! Stefan treated you like shit and you’re right to protect yourself, sweatheart 💕 I really didn’t like how he tried so hard to make amends... without acknowledging how much he hurt her, how he abandoned everyone, how he behaved like a jerk. I liked that Caroline took some distances for her own good 💖 #SelfRespectIsReal

The Gemini coven was really interesting. This idea of such a dysfunctional family, with a psychopath brother who killed half his siblings to merge with his twin sister in order to get leadership for the coven... it was all very compelling! Loved it ❤️

I think I have a thing for storylines about supernatural families in TVD : the Salvatores, the Mikealsons, the Parkers !

Liv and Tyler... mmm... don’t care 🤷‍♀️

You’re telling me that Damon got out of the prison world, even KAI got out, and BONNIE still gets stuck over there!! 🤬 Wtf ?? Why does this show hate this character so much? Why is she always the one who gets screwed in the end?? I just hate the way they treated her!! 😱

There was literally no good outcome to that whole twin-merging-together mess. If Liv merged with Luke, one of them would die and that’s not an option! If Kai merged with Jo, there was a huge chance he would win, which is simply not acceptable at all. Anyway, what a mess!

Kai literally sucking all the magic from the travelers’ spell, finally breaking it, allowing vampires to come back to Mystic Falls, was just... wOw! o.O

Luke merging with Kai 😭 R.I.P 💔

The ONLY good thing about that merge was watching Kai trying to deal with his feelings like ??? what’s going on??? 🧐🧐Why do i... feel??... stuff ?? 🤨🤨

"So I googled how to process emotional pain", i mean i hear you my boy, let’s not pretend that’s not my usual monday 👩🏻‍💻 "so i start writing and this water literally started pouring in my eyes ?? does that ever happen to you ??”, again same 😂

Jeremy going to art school... meh, it was okay. Clearly they didn’t know what to do with him anymore, so yeah, why not art school? 🤷‍♀️ The going-away party was nice :) Damon giving a joint to Jeremy was sort of sweet, Elena smoking it with him was also cool and quite funny!

Ugh 😑 Enzo & Sarah Salvatore... 🙄 this storyline was so boring, i just didn’t care

First Steroline kiss! 😳😮 Okay, that was kinda cute, I have to admit. But still, I don’t like the fondation of this ship, I think that Stefan hurt her too bad and, most importantly, didn’t respect her enough to get to come back and kiss her.

Sheriff Forbes being sick was KILLING me 😭😭😭 She didn’t deserve that at all, she was the sweatest, kindest, purest, most compassionate woman on this show... and she passed it on to Caroline...

The scene with the bike and little Caroline was so touching ❤️❤️😭 RIP Liz’!

OMGOMGOMG!!! Caroline flipped her humanity switch! 😱 "I just need the pain to be gone" 😭 I get why she did it, and I also thought Elena was being a little bit condescending with her. She had the right to turn it all out. Everyone else did. I get why she thought it was unfair :/

BONNIE’S BACK Y’ALL ❤️❤️❤️

I do not understand why people on this show just won’t accept people turning off their humanity switch 🤷‍♀️ I mean, Stefan, Damon, Elena,... they all did it! And every single time, the others tried really hard to fix that. And I’m like : why? I’m not sure it’s the smartest move here 🧐 Because they usually end up making things worse 😑 Look at Elena : she just wanted to not feel the pain of her brother’s death for a while. She even tried to make a deal with Stefan and Damon : leave me alone, let me do my things and I’ll behave. But of course, they refused 🙄🤦‍♀️ Because they couldn’t accept the fact that their precious Elena would ever be bad and do bad thing 😒🙄 And then Elena became ruthless! Who would have thought? 🙄 Same for Caroline! The poor girl lost her mother. She just wanted to get waisted, sing some karaoke songs, and live her vampire life without any care in the world. She even erased Liam’s memories when she fed on him. Her first instinct was to buy new clothes to start over and come back to her dorm to keep leaving her old college life! She kinda had it under control 🤷‍♀️ And then, she suggested a deal, kind of like the one Elena tried to make with Stefan and Damon :☝️ one year without humanity, and she behaves and doesn’t kill anyone. That’s a good deal if you ask me 🤷‍♀️ Why not let her have that? Why not agree with that deal? Caroline without humanity is still Caroline (sort of) : she’s functional, and to quote Caroline herself : she is not an idiot. She doesn’t want to feel so she’s ready to do anything to not be bothered. I think she would have respected her end of the deal. If you take a good look at it, in both cases, it’s when other people tried to bring them back, when they broke the deal, that Elena/Caroline became killers.

Stefan shutting off his humanity was so dumb 🤦‍♀️🙄 Elena was going to find Sarah, he still had time! And even if she didn’t, and Liam killed Sarah, it’d be one ☝️ dead body. But by turning off his humanity, Stefan practically ensured that there’d be more dead bodies after that!

Damon’s mom... urf, yeah? sure. I guess I should care? 🤷‍♀️ Honestly, even when I first watched the show, I found that storyline super boring. She didn’t inspire me anything whatsoever. Anyway, using her as Stefan’s emotional trigger was sort of smart, but kinda reckless. I mean, they had no idea if it was gonna work or not, and still they still risked it, I-... urf 🤦‍♀️

I liked Stefan’s little revenge 😈😈 He’s like : no, no, no, Caroline, you don’t get to have an elaborate system that protects you from feeling guilt whenever you’ll decide to turn your humanity back on. I’m gonna make your life a living-hell. I’m gonna break you. You don’t get to ruin MY life and keep being the same control-freak, organised, college girl 💁‍♀️

Alaric&Jo thinking about baby names 🥰

The cure is BACK??? Hell no 😤 I mean, sure, it was interesting the first time, don’t get me wrong. But we’ve already watched that storyline. So 🤷‍♀️

Btw, I hate how suddenly, everybody’s like "omg poor Elena will NEVER get the life that she truly wants, she’s condamned to an eternity as a vampire, without ever having the possibility of settling down and starting a family" 😱 like i don’t know Elena’s been FINE about her vampirism for like 4 seasons. She seems happy, she seems to have found a way to make the best out of it. But sure, NOW that the cure is back, she feels like her life is unbearable - how convenient🙄

"For the first time, I’m putting ME first" HELL YES, BONNIE ✊🏿 I wish she could do that more often though.

Awwww Caroline getting her humanity back was really sad and emotional 💕💕The LETTER 😭 The fucking letter 😭 "I’m sorry Stefan, I ruined everything" 😭

Are we gonna address Matt, Tyler and Alaric’s alcoholism or are we simply gonna pretend they don’t have a drinking problem and their behaviour is totally socially-acceptable ?? 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I know it was her choice and it was probably for the best, but I think Elena taking the cure was a big mistake 😕 The show was way more entertaining when she was a vampire, and they basically erased every possibility of a "happy" ending for my favorite characters 💔 Elena will loose everyone she ever cared about, including Stefan and Caroline. She will have to move out of Mystic Falls and isolate herself from all her former friends. Damon is taking the cure with her so he will have to say goodbye to his own brother, the only family he has left. All of that... for a human life ?? A meaningless job?? Bills to pay?? School?? Money issues?? A house to maintain?? Misery and despair?? Children?? In that messed up world?? With that economy??? And the environment crisis we’re living?? Nope, I don’t get it 🤷‍♀️ I just don’t.

Secretly, I had always dreamed of Elena, Stefan, Damon and Caroline all being vampires and spending eternity together. And double date forever, I guess 😅

NOOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭 R.I.P Jo 💔

LIV !!!! 💔 NO, NO, NO, NO! Whyyyy 😭

AND THAT BASTARD GETS TO LIVE!!! What did do you do Lily? Oh my freaking God, why would you turn Kai into an heretic? He was already such a pain in the ass and now he’s even more powerful! Thanks to you, he has killed his entire family and he gets to live!! 🤬🤬

I ABSOLUTELY HATE WHAT THEY DID WITH BONNIE AND ELENA!! That whole "I linked your life with Elena’s" 😡 Cause it’s like : OF COURSE, we want to pick the main character. Of course we want Elena to come back to life. Of course we would be ready to sacrifice Bonnie if it means that Elena gets to live in the present with her friends and family. BUT BONNIE DOESN’T DESERVE THAT! She deserves to be the one, as Caroline used to say, to be picked upon everybody else. She deserves to live as much as Elena, even more (after everything she has done, everything she has sacrificed for her friends). She deserves to be happy! But now, everyone resents her for being alive, because if she’s alive then that means she is taking "Elena’s place". Now she feels guilty for being alive and breathing. For. Fucking. Being. Alive. Think about that. Again, I’m sorry if I repeat myself but : WHY THE HELL DID THIS SHOW HATE BONNIE’S CHARACTER SO MUCH?? 🤬🤬🤬

I’m just gonna say it once : The show is just not the same without Elena 🤷‍♀️

Btw, I KNOW Kai specifically said not to try anything to undo the spell he casted - otherwise Elena and Bonnie would BOTH die... But I’m surprised they didn’t even try to search for a loophole 🤔 I mean, let’s be real, when has Damon ever listened to anyone trying to reason with him? When did any of them? 🤷‍♀️ Bonnie would NEVER stop looking for a magical loophole to save her best friend. Caroline would read an entire library of mystical books to find a clue. Stefan and Damon would travelled the whole world to meet with different witches, trying to find some kind of magic that could undo the spell. No one would ever listen to Kai and just do nothing! I mean, he could be bluffing for all they know 😵 He could be saying that in order to mess with them. Were they really gonna take his word for granted? 🤔 I’m not saying "try the first anti-spell you find and roll the dices", but at least try and look for something!

S7 :

Anyway, AT LEAST, we get to see some good sweet Bamon scenes ! I love how Damon seemed to genuinely care about Bonnie. He didn’t want her to die, even if it meant he would see Elena again 💕

"You’re my best friend" awwwwww ❤️

I... liked the Heretics!😳 They were a fun new, even if they reminded me of Pearl and her vampire friends (in the "we are trying to coexist with humans but some of us don’t want to" trope). And again, I kinda have a thing for supernatural dysfunctional family, so... 🤷‍♀️ Valerie was very relatable as a depressed immortal being, Beau was so loyal it was really sweet, Malcom was boring but he died pretty quickly so he wasn’t in the show for long, Mary Louise and Nora were... the absolute cutest couple ❤️

How many times can they evacuate Mystic Falls without people realizing something’s wrong? 🤔 How many stories about gaz leak can they come up with?? 🤦‍♀️ Where are all the humans going? They’re moving away because they’re all compelled, sure, but to go where? like how can that many people find new homes in new cities, especially considering this crappy housing market? It just seems pretty unlikely that these people would just start over so easily, find new jobs, new homes for their families🧐

Stefan & Valerie was basically Steferine all over again 🤷‍♀️ I don’t have anything against Valerie herself. I think she’s probably the nicest one amongst the heretics. I even liked her chemistry with Stefan but it’s the same storyline recycled all over again, so I don’t really care much. Plus, I liked the idea that Katherine was Stefan’s first love (💕). First of all, Katherine being Stefan’s first love makes their story... EPIC. We, as an audience, care deeply about Katherine (whether we like her or not). She’s a regular and important character. We want her to have a compelling story, one that fits the legend that was Katherine Pierce. Valerie, as nice and interesting as she can be, only appears in the two last season. Plus, if Stefan had already been in love with Valerie and had already had his heart broken BEFORE knowing Katherine, then he should have acted differently when he met her 💡 He should have been way more suspiciously towards her 🧐 he wouldn’t have so easily trusted another woman, coming at his door with a pity story... if he had already been betrayed and abandoned by THE FIRST WOMAN he ever loved, the one who took his "v-card", his first love.

Hello Oscar... Goodbye Oscar 👋

Are you kidding me ? Bonnie is in pain yet again, because of some mystical element AGAIN, and nobody cares AGAIN. People keep using her, lying to her, manipulating her to get what they want and I- 🤬 Btw HOW is she okay with this? How would Bonnie ever agree to help raise people from the dead? What about her values and morals? What about everything she believes in??

These "Three Years from Now" scenes were just TERRIBLE 🤦‍♀️ Epic failure. I simply don’t care about whatever happens in the "future”. I’ll make my own headcanons, thank you ✋

JULIAN... UGH 🤢🤮 Could you be even more despicable?? Beating up a pregnant woman to the point of loosing her baby?? Poor Valerie, she didn’t feel like she could tell her own mother about that cause’ she knew Lily wouldn’t believe her 😢

Awwwwwww Ric bringing ""Jo"" back from the dead 😭💖 I felt bad for that poor vampire who just woke up in somebody else’s body, after years being trapped in some hell... And It was really heartbreaking to watch him get his hopes up and then realise she wasn’t his wife :’(

OMG CAROLINE’S PREGNANT??? 🤰WITH RIC’S BABIES??? 😱 I... I don’t even know what to think of that. I don’t really know how to react... Good for the twins? I guess? Yay, they’re alive? But... I don’t know, seems kinda rapy to put someone else’s babies inside a woman’s body without her consent ?? 🧐

The fact that Valerie HAD to confess her very traumatic story, to multiple people, MULTIPLE TIMES... because it was convenient to the plot was disgusting! 🤮🤬 She was merely used as a reason to try to kill Julian... Valerie was beaten by Julian to the point she lost her baby! She never said anything because she was afraid no one would believe her/people would judge her/people would hurt her - which is completely understandable considering how traumatic this must have been for her! But then she comes back to MF and Stefan keeps asking her to justify herself like she owes him a goddamn explanation for not having returned earlier as she had promised... um? I get that Stefan had his heart broken back then, but aren’t you mature enough NOW to understand something wrong must have happened?? And that maybe she just doesn’t want to talk about it because it still hurts?? It’s HER life and she is entitled to live it however the hell she wants?? EVEN if she just changed her mind and decided not to come back for an entirely different reason, it’s her choice! Having sex with someone ONCE doesn’t mean you OWE them anything! 🤦‍♀️🤬 Promises were made, sure, but they were both very young and things can change! ANYWAY... And when they need allies to kill Julian, she is almost forced to tell her story again, just to make people feel pity and sympathy... She’s not a damn tool, for God’s sake, respect the poor girl! 😤

While rewatching the show, I kind of like that they addressed Lily’s romantic patterns and how she had a tendency to chose violent, controlling, abusing husbands (first Giuseppe, and then Julian...) 🧐 It was touching to hear her story, and to understand that she only stayed with Giuseppe back then to protect her sons, Damon & Stefan. She had a plan to run away, she wanted to escape because she knew she was in danger with him, she was well aware he wasn’t treating her right. But sometimes you can’t just go away. Sometimes things are more complicated. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ I liked that she realised her own pattern and that she tried to stand up for herself against Julian after that... even though it didn’t end well (which... seriously? 🤦‍♀️ She killed herself? Is that the message you wanna send to all the people stuck in abusive/violent relationship? 🤮)

Poor Lily 😭😭😭 R.I.P. 💔

Damon burning Elena’s coffin... 🔥🔥 Yeah. Sure. As if 🙄 Honestly, even on my first watch, I wasn’t believing it. The show without Elena is such a catastrophic mess! If she had died in her sleep, it would have been devastating. I don’t think the show would have survived that. I think it would have been cancelled before s8, or something like that.

Stefan was... surprisingly not reacting a lot to Caroline being PREGNANT🤰?? I mean... I don’t know... I was expecting some kind of big talk about it. Like "hey Caroline, how are you feeling about all this? What are your thoughts about having Ric’s babies? Do you even want to pursue the pregnancy (cause you DON’T have to carry someone else’s babies!)? What does this pregnancy mean to you? What will happen once the babies are born? Would you consider having shared custody with Ric? Or if you don’t want to be involved at all, would you like the twins not to know you were the one who carried them? Did you ever or would you ever want to be a mom? Would you want to have children of your own in the future? Do you ever think of that?” 🤷‍♀️ And those are just EXAMPLES. He didn’t have to ask all of these questions all at once! But you know, I wish they could have at least discussed some of these points together. Instead, he just let her "handle her things", because good old organised Caroline has every figured it out, of course! 🙄🙄 sure, she can take care of everything on her own 🤦‍♀️

I didn’t like the idea of putting Damon & Stefan in the Phoenix Stone... if it was all JUST to do THAT in the end. They tried to add some PTSD, pain and remorse but failed at making it compelling to the audience. Wooow, Stefan must let go of his toxic relationship with his brother in order to save himself... How obnoxious can you be, TVD? And oooohh, Damon must get rid off his toxic masculinity to face the fact that he loved and misses his mother... how original!! 🙄 I just feel like TVD was trying hard to be deeper than they were, and it didn’t work (for me)

FINALLY JULIAN IS DEAD 🙌🙏🎉

The Huntress was, like, a JOKE, okay? She’s supposed to have killed a thousands of vampires. Even heretics feared her. Stefan & Damon should already have been dead by now! What is she doing? How are we supposed to be afraid of her? She’s not doing anything, she is barely a threat 🤦‍♀️

Am I the only one who kinda saw great chemistry between Nora and Bonnie?💕

I LOVE how Klaus just IMMEDIATELY understood that Caroline was NEVER gonna let go of these kids 😍 I just love how he ultimately gets her, how he’s able to predict exactly what’s she’s going to do because he just knows her that well. Their phone talk was VERY cute ❤️ I love how he teased her with her own words : how she said she couldn’t possibly allow herself to be with him because she was "in college, building a life for herself” and he just wasn’t in the picture... and then turns out... she had kids! 😅 He sounded surprised but not completely shocked and I love how he was very understanding and sweet with her, she needed that 💕

Btw this season is just desperately LONG!

Awwww... Caroline... 😬 I understand why she wanted to stay in Dallas, and why she asked Stefan to consider moving here... but she should have been honest with him right away, the minute he picked up the phone. She should have told him she wanted to be involved in these kids’ life. I know that she was afraid Stefan wouldn’t want to “settle down" with her and take care of the twins... but she could have asked him. Directly. Clearly. Maybe he wouldn’t have minded living with her and raising the twins in some kind of shared custody 🤷‍♀️ Family comes in all shapes and sizes (💖), and as long as they told the truth to the twins, it wouldn’t have been a problem. And if Stefan didn’t want that at all, or wasn’t ready, or whatever, then they could have ended their relationship in a healthy way. By acknowledging they both wanted different things and that it just didn’t work out, as it often happens in life. But here, they’re just stuck in the middle... and it’s awkward 😳😐 Clearly, Caroline wants to live near the girls. She wants to be their mom, and clearly Stefan doesn’t seem THAT into it. But no one is saying anything and it’s just weird! 😤

I understand why Damon would make the choice of dessiccating in a coffin until Elena came back 🙂 He didn’t do it just for love. Not just because he missed her. Not because life was unbearable without her. That would have been really lame btw 😒 He did it because he didn’t want to directly or indirectly hurt people around him. And you know what, for once that was kind of the best, most reasonable - and most noble - decision to make. I was proud of him. The letter he gave Alaric was pretty sweet, but I’m glad Bonnie got to catch him before he left 💕

Bonnie saying "I’m not okay with that”😭 I was soooo glad that FOR ONCE she said what she was really thinking ! 👐Damon is her best friend, and I truly believe learning he left in a letter would have been devastating for her 😞 His choice means she will most likely NEVER see him again, ever, in her entire life 💔 I can totally understand her asking sincerly "are we friends?" cause if one my friends dared to do that, I would be pretty upset. I liked that she asked him to be honest. No joke. No deflecting mecanism. No sarcasm. No insults. Just the truth. ❤️

I REALLY REALLY don’t care about what happens "three years from now" 🤷‍♀️ Ugh I hate this season, things are so slow and boring, the storyline isn’t interesting at all, and frankly... i wanna die💀

NOOOOO MARY-LOUISE AND NORA DIDN’T DESERVE THAT 💔😭😭

Ugh 😑 The whole idea of the vampire souls trapped in the Phoenix’s stone being reunited with the wrong bodies was just lame and boring 😒

I genuinely felt bad for Valerie 😞 you can see she truly loved Stefan and it must have hurt to see he didn’t feel the same, despite having spent basically three years together :/ Again, that’s kind of my general problem with Stefan: he’s so afraid he’s gonna hurt people that he’s never fully honest with anyone! 🙄 Same shit with Caroline. He just abandoned her because he couldn’t deal with this situation. What Stefan fails to realise is that he does hurt people by keeping things from them, by always running away. I’m sorry but women around him deserve better 🤷‍♀️

Bonenzo... I remember shipping it back then, but now, I just don’t feel it 🤷‍♀️ i get why people do, sure they both care deeply about each other and you can clearly see that (the guitar scenes were very cute 💕)... but it’s mostly flashbacks and that doesn’t have the same effect on me. Because I wasn’t there to see them developing a special bond over time. I still think they’re cute and I’m happy to see Bonnie finally fall in love with someone who truly loves her back ❤️

OF COURSE BONNIE IS THREATENED BY SOME MAGICAL ELEMENT THAT IS SORT OF CONVENIENT FOR THE STORY. OF COURSE. 🤬😡 I’m so mad, I’m so fucking mad at the show for treating her this way. She’s always the one in danger. She can never be happy for more than two episodes!!

Ooooohhh nooooo Bonnie’s the new Huntress 😭😭😭 She’s gonna want to kill everyone: Damon, Stefan, Caroline, even Enzo!! Nooooo 💔

OH THANK GOD, SHE DIDN’T KILL ENZO 🙏🙏🙏 I was so afraid. For Enzo but most of all for Bonnie! She would have been devastated if she’d killed him!

“You changed my life” awwww I feel bad for Ric, the same way I felt really sad for Valerie... They both hoped the moments of pure happiness they shared with their partner would turn out to be something more. They both dreamed of starting new with their loved one, to have their own perfect little happy life... 💕 even though they knew deep down the other one didn’t love them back. Not the way they wanted to be loved. And that’s sad 😭

Damon & Enzo being manipulated and brainwashed by that thing in that vault, at the end of s7 🙄 seriously? Who would have seen that coming ? 🙋‍♀️

Ugh, s7 was PAINFUL to watch 😑

S8 :

Yiiiiikes 🤢🥴 whatever that thing is, it’s not friendly! That scene where Damon and Enzo feed it was kinda freaky!

Ric running the armory makes sense actually! I’m quite happy about that :) he’s been wanting real hard to get back to his Indiana-Jones type of life ✊ He would have never been happy with a perfect little family life... even with Jo, I believe 🤷‍♀️ He truly loved her but at the end of the day, he has just seen too much. He knows too much to just stop fighting at all. That’s what makes him Ric.

A SIREN !!!! Cool ! Now we’re talking 😎

I understand why Damon would submit completely to Sybil : he has always hated himself for all the terrible things he’d done, he has always thought he wasn’t worthy of redemption, and now Sybil provided him a proof of that, a vision of literal Hell, of eternal torture... 👺😈 plus she erased all memories of Elena 😭 he has no reason not to work for Sybil. She’s the only one who can provide a way out of Hell. Who wouldn’t take that deal? If I suddenly found out no matter what you do, you’re damned to an eternity of pain and misery and loneliness, and the only way to escape that is to work for Satan, aka Cade, I would probably do it too 🤷‍♀️

The way Enzo resisted Sybil’s mind control for Bonnie was really sweet 💕 I felt bad when he had to shut down his humanity to save her life 😭

Honestly, I know I should care about Tyler’s death but he was never my favorite character and he’s been so... in and out of the show that I kinda stopped caring about him at all (since he wasn’t exactly a regular character) 😕 But he surely didn’t deserve to be collateral damage in that mess :( Also, I thought Caroline would react a bit strongly. I mean, Tyler was important for her and she barely said something? Weird 🤷‍♀️

CAROLINE AND STEFAN ARE GONNA GET MARRIED !! 💍 She said YES! OMG! Tbh I might not ship them (because I think Stefan got away with the pain he caused her a little bit too fast) but I’m happy for Caroline: she finally got to have her June Wedding!! 💛🎉 (though I’d prefer she married Klaus of course!)

I really liked the whole mythology of the sirens 🧜‍♀️ the story about the village girl and the island girl becoming sisters, having to kill and eat people in order to survive, was heartbreaking! But I was so sure Sybil was the “nice” one 🥺 Poor girl

Noooooo, poor Georgie 😭💔 knowing she is going straight to Hell is horrible, considering she’s seen and experienced it before and she knows what awaits her :(

Sebine played her game very well, no one suspected her to be Sybil’s sister 🤔 she’s really creepy and I’m so so so afraid for the girls 😱 she clearly has an evil plan for them and I’m so anxious 😱

"I’m your brother and I love you. Please come home with me” awww Stefan ❤️

Awwwwww Enzo and Bonnie ❤️ “I’m never leaving you” okay now I remember why I shipped them! They’re adorable! She chose him over her own best friend. She picked Enzo because no one else did. Ever. And she thought he deserved a chance, because deep down he is such a sweet, loving, caring person. He might not look like it, but he’s maybe the one who cares the most and who’s actually ready to do anything for his loved ones. I think Enzo might be the big love of her life. And I’m so happy she got to have that. I’m so happy she got to meet him, to enjoy his company for a little while, to appreciate every happy moments ❤️

AAAAAH SELINE TOOK THE GIRLS!! 😱

Caroline finally doing the healthy thing and prioritising her daughters over everything else 💖💖💖 Take that ring back, Stefan. At least for now. Caroline took the right decision. She cannot make compromises when it comes to the girls. She cannot allow herself to add any more variables to this already messy situation. Yes, it’s selfish but she has to be.

WHAT? I seriously hope you’re kidding Ric! HOW DARE YOU telling Caroline she isn’t the girls’ mother? 🤬😡 She carried them, she agreed to pursue the pregnancy and give birth to kids who weren’t even “her own”, she raised them, she put food on their table, she tucked them in at night, she loved and cared for them more than anyone could have ever askef her, she basically had to let go of her entire life in order to live with them as a family... She IS their mother. She will ALWAYS be ❤️

Damon and Stefan’s deal with Cade to take the twins’ place !! 😱😱🔥 I really hope they find a way to get out of this one, but I don’t see how, right now... And Stefan is heading to a dark place :/ I hope Damon will be able to bring him back!✊

Speaking of Damon, I am SO glad he got to free himself from Sybil’s influence! 🙏 Stefan, on the other hand... meh? 😒 I’m not so sure I’m a fan of the old ripper storyline, I mean we already watched it once and we KNOW it’s not gonna last for long cause they have to wrap it up eventually, and I feel like this is just here as a cheap way to create drama between him and Caroline and idk that was kinda unnecessary 🤷‍♀️

ENZOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭💔 NONONONONONONONONOOOOOO!!!!! Poor Bonnie 😭 She was finally gonna get the happiness she deserved! RIP Enzo ☠️

OMGGG STEFAN’S HUMAN 🤯🤯🤯 Wow I wonder how he’s gonna take it, I mean on one hand being a vampire brought him a lot of pain, but on the other, it’s all he has known for centuries... rethinking your entire life, the basis of your existence, after all that time... ouch!

Kai is BACK ? Seriously ? Again ? I mean I like him, but let’s just say there are other people I would like to see again (#enzo❤️)

Btw I’m really conflicted about Bonnie trying to bring Enzo back : I want her to do it, of course, I want Enzo back, but I don’t want her to loose herself in the process 😱😭 I’m so scared for her :(

Stefan literally killing the Devil like 😎😎 “oh yeah bitch, bet you weren’t expecting that uh” ☝️ I am so so PROUD of my babyface :) also I’m really glad they got rid off Cade (ugh, I was so done with him)

Ahah, Kai’s in another prison world 🤣

OF 👏 COURSE 👏 KATHERINE 👏 IS 👏 THE 👏 QUEEN 👏 OF 👏 HELL 👏

Aaawwww I really really loved when Damon gave Elena’s necklace to Caroline 💕 their little chat was very cute: he knew she was quite sad because her wedding was being rushed and used as an excuse to drag out Katherine; she was going to walk down the aisle without her mother; Bonnie wasn’t gonna come; Elena wouldn’t be there; Alaric didn’t want to come... the MOST important day of her life was basically ruined 👰 and... idk he was being very sweet and compassionate with her :)

OOOOHH THEY’RE ACTUALLY GETTING MARRIED FOR REAL THOUGH! And Bonnie’s here!! Soooo cute 💖 I love how Damon insisted on the “does anybody want to object against this wedding?” part, like “really? No one?”

NOOOOOOOO THE GIRLS 😱😱🔥🤬

Omg they’re fine, I’m so relieved 🙏

Awww Bonnie saying goodbye to Enzo for real... that was so... bittersweet 😭 But he’s right: she’s gotta live her life. She cannot spend her entire life thinking about the people she could have spent more time with: Enzo, Elena, for instance. She has to focus on herself. On being happy. And I’m really glad for her ❤️

Katherine is literally gonna blow up the WHOLE TOWN !! Seems a bit extreme but I’m really not surprised xD such a Katherin-y thing to do, if you think about it

OMG FINAL EPISODE 😱😱😱

Okay, first I was like “I don’t understand why is everybody so obsessed with the idea of saving Mystic Falls”. 🤷‍♀️ Sure it’s their home, their childhood town, full of memories and all... but since Matt helped evacuate the entire town, there was no immediate danger for the population of MF. And at the end of the day, it’s JUST a town 🏙 It’s just buildings and roads and objects that can be replaced. It can be rebuilt over time. So Bonnie, Caroline, Damon, Stefan... they could have all just run far way from MF and then everything would have been just FINE 👍

But THEN Katherine captured Elena and trapped her in the high school 😈 NO WAY the Salvatore brothers would have just sacrificed Elena in hellfire 🔥🙅‍♀️

NOOOOOO I don’t want Damon to die 😭 But I also don’t want Stefan to die! Why do their plans always include one of them dying? Sounds like Supernatural 😅

THANK GOD 🙏 Bonnie’s here to save the day 💖 Damn, what would they ever do without her?? I liked how she fought for herself till the very end :) “it’s not my time” YOU BET YOUR ASS IT’S NOT 👏

OOOOMMMMGGG STEFAN’S DEAD 💀😱🔥 HE CAME BACK!!! HE CAME BACK FOR HIS BROTHER!! HE SAVED DAMON!! HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF!!! HE LEGIT DESTROYED HELL!! AND HE KILLED KATHERINE WITH IT!! 🤯

AND DAMON IS HUMAN!!! 🤯🤯🤯

AWWWWW LEXI IS THERE!! 🥰 I’m so happy to see her! I’ve missed her! Awww he found peace with his best friend 💕 I’m so glad for him! He deserves that!

“I was feeling epic” 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Honestly, it felt kinda cheap and too easy that Bonnie would just suddenly realise she had enough power to do ANYTHING, including breaking the spell that she wasn’t supposed to interfere with in ANY way, because she would be risking Elena’s life (and probably her own). Like, ok, she destroyed hell and that boosted her confidence enough that she decided she would just try it ? 🤷‍♀️ mmm... seems too easy... like why didn’t she do that earlier then ? Why did this entire season even happen then ? What was the point? What was the point of Bonnie realising she was worth living her life and that she didn’t have to feel guilty about Elena? Why would the show erase that wonderful character growth??? I- 🤷‍♀️

“We’ll see him again” ❤️ awwww I really love how they decide to develop Damon and Caroline’s relationship in the end... They both really acted like brother / sister in law. And that was genuinely cute. They both lost someone they loved and cared about deeply. I like that they know they can count on each other.

Awwwww Stefan got Caroline’s message, that’s really cute :) I hope it will help her move on, knowing he heard her, and he will love her forever too 💕

BONNIE’S HAPPY!!! SHE’S ALONE BUT SHE IS FINE BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T NEED SOMEBODY ELSE TO BE HAPPY! SHE LOVES HERSELF AND SHE LOVES LIFE AND SHE’S GONNA ENJOY HER LIFE TO THE FULLEST AND TRAVEL THE WORLD!! YAY! 🌈🎊🎉

The Salvatore boarding school : so it’s basically Hogwarts? Okay why not 🤷‍♀️ It’s not the big ending I was expecting for Caroline and tbh I’m a bit disappointed (but I guess her story doesn’t stop there and it’s more of a To Be Continued kind of ending) but it makes perfect sense for Alaric 🤔 Jo seing her daughters 💖 And Jeremy is a teacher there LMAO 😆

Awwwwww my Klaroline feels ❤️❤️❤️ “however long it takes” I CANNOT BELIEVE THE SHOW GAVE US A “MAYBE” FOR THAT SHIP. Honestly it’s more than I ever wished I would get! I’ll make my own headcanons, it’s perfect!

“I owe it all to Stefan” awww, true :’)

So what I got from Elena’s monologue: she had a great life, she was happy, she became a doctor, she grew old in Mystic Falls, she married Damon (funny how she doesn’t mention having kids? It was one of her biggest dreams, so idk 🤷‍♀️), then I guess SHE died before Damon did (-> what makes me think that is the scene where she holds his hands and says something along the lines of “I know peace exists and I know he will find it someday even though he doubts it” and then he disappears and she finds herself in the after life), and then she found peace and got reunited with her family in death 🧐 So bittersweet, I liked it! 💕 Even if I think it would have deserved to be a bit longer, a bit more explained, a bit more developed than just a “here’s what happened” 🤷‍♀️ It did feel rushed :/

“Hello brother” WAS THE LAST LINE OF THE SHOW! HOW. EPIC. IS. THAT.

[therealawkwardstarfish]

I think found out why Stefan said that Damon is the better man

I wrote this theory a few months ago. I was re-watching TVD on Netflix and watching clips different scenes on YouTube and reading the comments about how people didn’t understand why Stefan said that Damon was the better man when It's clearly Stefan. Even as a Delena shipper, I was confused because I didn’t understand what Stefan met. So, I decided to do some digging I think I just understood the whole story of TVD that has to do with Stefan and Damon. I told some friends about this and they said that they actually wanted to re-watch the series again to see if my theory checked out. This is just a theory or more of an analysis of Damon, his love story with Elena and How Stefan realized that he is the better man.

So let me start with the beginning 

Basically ever since Damon and Stefan were kids, Damon has Basically sacrificed everything for him (his happiness and his well being) in order to protect Stefan from their father who was abusive. Everything that Stefan did, Damon knew that his father would get angry for, he took the blame for in order to protect his little brother. This can be proven in some of the flashbacks of when they were kids in the show.

Damon loved his little brother so much and probably didn’t really ask him to do much for him. All Damon did was to try to please their father, but also protect his brother. He went to war to please his father but also to make sure that Stefan didn’t go. But their father was never pleased. He always saw Damon was a disappointment. But I really think that their father saw Stefan as the good child only. Only because Damon took the blame when they were growing up.

And then Katherine Joined the game

From what I can remember, Damon and Stefan both knew that both of them were in love with Katherine and that they were okay with it. Damon didn’t mind sharing Katherine with Stefan because he thought that Katherine truly loved him and his brother (I know that’s messed up but that's the only thing that I can think of that makes sense of them sharing her) Damon was madly in love with Katherine, he was willing and wanting to turn into a vampire for Katherine and wanted to with her forever. 

But Life has its ways

After Katherine supposedly “died” in that church and after their father killed them and ended up making them into the transition phase of a vampire, Damon lost the will to live. He wanted a life with Katherine and since she was“dead” he wanted to just die and not become a vampire. So he finally decided to ask his brother something as his dying wish. “Just let me die” He wanted to not drink any human blood and dies as a human because if the love of his life wasn’t alive for him to live with forever, he would rather join her where she is.

But Stefan had other plans. He did the one thing that he will regret and that I honestly believe that created the Damon that we know from the series.

He didn’t let his brother die

In one of the flashbacks, he threw a girl on Damon’s lap and basically caused his older brother to turn. After he became a vampire, Damon was furious at Stefan. The one thing that he asked of his brother to do for him was to let him, he didn’t do Damon would’ve gladly sacrificed everything for his little brother because he loves him so much, but his brother couldn’t do the same for him.

Damon was done. He was tired of being the nice guy id this was how he was going to be treated. He was done protecting Stefan from everything. He felt betrayed by his own brother, one person that he thought actually cared about him. But it looked like he didn’t in Damon’s eyes. Damon told Stefan that he was going to live in eternal misery because he did this to him.

And that’s the day that Damon and Stefan went their separate ways

Damon just gave up on life. He knew that from now on that he’s going to be a monster, so he might as well become one. He put up a facade that he didn’t care about other people and learned to accept himself being a vampire and maybe even started to like it a little. The only thing that he kept locked up besides his old self, was his heart.

Throughout the years before he met up with his brother again, he believed that Katherine was the only woman for him and that no one actually cared for him. He emotionally and psychologically stayed in solitude for years until finally, he met his brother again.

And he missed Stefan.

A lot He was still mad at his brother for what he did, but also in a way forgave him for what he did. He just wanted his little brother by his side.

But that was short-lived when Stefan enlisted to join the army to make up for what he did when he was a ripper. Damon wanted to go with him because for years he’s been alone and never around the one person that thought still cared about him, his brother. He knew that he needed his brother, but Lexi begged Damon not to go because it would only hurt Stefan because he would start to wonder why Damon is walking around without any guilt and go back into being a ripper. She asked him for once to not think of himself. This is true cause ever since Damon became a vampire, he was finally able to do stuff for himself without thinking about his brother. But since he never had this amount of freedom, he basically tended to be seen as selfish because he never really had to do something that was fully his. He decides to not go for his bothers sake and sacrifice his happiness for Stefan again. 

Soon Damon ended up turning his humanity off and Stefan gave up on his brother. Which even more caused him to stay with his switch off longer.

Which will I believe is the Damon that we see in season one.Because the one person that could help him, gave up.

This is where I gonna talk about when he met Elena and their love story since it does play a part. ( Stelena shippers, be nice, please. I was Stelena before DE so I’m not trying to rub my ship in your face)

So Damon met Elena first on the night of the death of the car crash that would lead to her parent's death. Damon still had his switch off during this time. The only reason why he didn’t kill her was that she looked like Katherine. Damon still thinks that Katherine is his and doesn't want to kill someone that he feels that is in his possession. Also, he could've thought that she wasn’t worth killing since he told her to forget their little chat. 

Due to his humanity being off Damon gave up on life even more and had a love for killing and feeding off of people. How it got turned back on was because of Katherine. When Damon couldn’t find Katherine in the tomb, he lost it. He broke and that’s how his humanity comes back.

How he fell in love with Elena

So Damon of course at first was attracted to Elena because she looks so much like Katherine. The woman that was his first love. That was during the time when he thought she was dead or MIA. But slowly he fell in love with her because she was the one that he felt that truly cared about him. She saw the real him underneath that facade that he has and ended believing that he was for years.

A monster

When everyone saw Damon as a lost cause, Elena didn’t give up. She was the only one that truly cared and saw the man that he was before he gave up. Damon wanted Elena to love him because she was the only one who knew who really cared since his brother gave up on him.

But he wasn’t the one that Elena loved at first. It was his brother

Stefan

Stefan basically had everything that Damon didn’t.

 Everyone loved him and so did Elena. Damon loved his brother, but he was tired of Stefan having everything. He wanted something that could be truly his. But he knew that he couldn’t be selfish with Elena. Even though he will sacrifice his life for her before anyone else because she was the one who actually cared for him. He didn’t want to make her love him. The care she had for him was not worth risking and after finding out that Kathrine never loved him, but his brother Stefan, he didn’t want it to be a lie. He wanted it to be real.

So he put up with the pain of seeing the one he loved the most, the one that he showed his old self being with his brother. The one that had everything. He wanted Elena to choose him herself. But as time went on his emotions kinda got the best of him a few times.

Those times are like the scenes in the hotel and when Stefan left Mystic Falls to name a few.

And while this was going on Elena started to fall for him, but she ended up in denial. But everyone knew it.

Then she became a vampire and Damon felt like it was his responsibility to take care of her. It was his blood that did this. He wanted to teach her what he knew cause he wanted to pay her back for all of the things that she has done for him. Damon still loved Elena regardless if she was a vampire or a human because to him, she was still the person that cared for him.

When the sire bond situation happened Damon was heartbroken because he really believed that for one he had something that was his, Elena’s heart. But the sire bond made him question if she really actually loved him or if it was a lie. So to have his heart from pain and to hopefully get away from Elena, he went to a cabin to help train Jeremy.

He still loved Elena so much, but he wanted her to love him by choice. He knows that Elena has feelings for him but he doesn’t know if she loves him.

He was willing to give Elena the cure because he wanted her to live a happy life without him because he believed what everyone believed him to him be  A monster and a bad influence on Elena.

But Elena declined and told him to take it. He didn’t want to take it because he didn’t want to live old and die if Elena was going to live forever. He wanted to either be with her forever or not at all. He still saw himself as wrong for her because that is what everyone thought of him and he thought that of himself too. 

He’s been a bad person even though what people see is a mask. He became his mask.

He gave up on being the nice people because he didn’t want to deal with the disappointment like what happened with his father. He wanted people to actually care for him and not give up on him if he messes up. He gave up on life because he tried to be nice and sacrificed so much until he had enough when he nothing in return.

To him, his brother didn’t care. No one did. So he thought “you know what? If that’s what they think I’m a monster then okay, I’ll be one.”  So he did

And then Elena inspired his old self to come out more.

When Elena told him that she loved him, he was happy. He was finally happy because he got Elena’s heart.

And then he died.

And Elena erased her memories of him

Which made him upset because he wouldn’t do that because she changed his life and made him happy and reminded him of who he used to be.

Then Elena got put into a deep sleep and he was depressed because she was the one to keep him from sinking. 

Then season 7 and 8 happened which lead to a lot of stuff (especially finding out that their mom was alive)

So, Why Damon is the better man?

Stefan didn’t really realize what he did to Damon until years after they separate. He did kill his father for being a monster to Damon, but he never realized why Damon was so mad at him until later. He regretted not letting his brother die because he created the monster that his brother is and he is paying for it.

He tried to help his brother but ended up giving up after multiple tries. Which at the time was kind of a wrong move. 

Which is lead to the whole series of TVD lol

In the end, Damon decided that he was going to sacrifice everything to save brother and everyone. For one last time, Damon decided to show his old self and sacrificed everything, just like he did when they were growing up. What Stefan saw was not the monster he created, but the brother before the monster

.

And that person was the one that Stefan knew had to live.

So he sacrificed himself and made Stefan human.

To make up for that dying wish that Damon had for him back in 1864