#Stefan speaks

[jessmalia]

Dear Bonnie, I’m a coward. I should be saying this to your face, not writing this letter, but I know if I do you’ll talk me out of running away from all my problems. You’re gonna make me face a future without Elena and you’re gonna help make me the best man I could possibly be, the same way she did. And I’m absolutely terrified of failing you both. So, I’m leaving. Because I’d rather let you down once, than let you down for the rest of your life. And I hope it’s the happiest life. Because you, Bonnie Bennett, are an amazing woman, a mediocre crossword puzzle player and my best friend. 

With great love and respect, Damon.

[ripstefan]

is it spooky season yet … god

[twofoursixohjuan]

deepest deepest sympathies to Ingvar. my man is stuck having myopia on a shipful of identical blond guys

[rememberdamonn]

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

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

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

Damon: One hundred percent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[rulers-of-poland-tournament]

SEMI-FINAL SIDE 1

choose your favourite be-moustached chad now!

[karouvas]

I love that even though Katherine constantly says she hates junk food she still consistently chooses to eat it and clearly loves it love that for her <3

[darcyolsson]

sometimes i will listen to a song and know in my heart and soul that if the lyrics were in english it would have tumblr in a complete, utter, nochildren.mp3-esque chokehold

[dors-ee]

Bonjour!

J'espère que tu ne m'en voudras pas de glisser un petit message dans ta boîte aujourd'hui!

Pour cette journée "Parle ta langue", je me demandais si tu aimerais nous présenter deux ou trois œuvres d'art françaises que tu apprécies particulièrement?

Evidemment, aucune pression ; ne réponds que si tu en as envie!

Je te souhaite une très belle journée!

Salut ! Aucun problème ! Art plastique j'admets préférer des peintres non français, en général. Après en littérature -j'ai fais une licence de lettres modernes- j'ai plusieurs auteurs que j'apprécie !

Albert Camus, du 20ème siècle, j'apprécie non pas seulement sa philosophie. La Peste est très poignant, une vraie histoire qui touche profondément. Caligula de ce dont je me souviens, pour quelqu'un qui n'apprécie pas plus que cela le théâtre, était assez agréable à lire. L'étranger, j'ai également bien apprécié, là aussi non pas uniquement pour la philosophie mais le personnage, l'histoire même. Camus était un romancier, même si j'ai l'impression qu'hors de France il est plus connu pour ses idées sur l'absurde.

À l'époque, jeune idiot en lycée, je n'accrochais pas mais maintenant des années après je dois citer Phedre de Racine. Je dois aussi citer Zola, Madame Bovary de Flaubert, et je n'ai plus le nom mais un truc obscur de fin 19eme. Je me souviens quand on a eu le nom en 1ere année de licence, puis lu le livre, tout le monde se demandait "mais c'est quoi ce truc?!". Mais j'en ai de bons souvenirs, ne serait-ce que pour l'étrangeté !

Pour Zola bien que c'était très laborieux à l'époque de le lire, jeune idiot en collège encore une fois, je reconnais aujourd'hui son apport. Et le fait qu'en vrai il est bien moins laborieux et ennuyant que Balzac! Quant à Madame Bovary je ne sais si je recommanderais de le lire. Il représente tellement bien l'ennui et sa souffrance à elle, ses aspirations, son ambition ses erreurs... Mais il est long et bien chiant soyons honnête. (Et c'est là qu'est son génie. Je trouve cela drôle).

En poésie j'apprécie Rimbaud, Les saisons, et autres je n'ai plus les noms exacts raaaaah, Baudelaire j'ai personnellement moins aimé, mais peut-être que c'était l'âge. Rimbaud me parlait plus. Jeune âme artiste torturé. Je me retrouvais dans ses élans émotionnels et élucubrations existentielles. Dans ses images surtout... J'adore ses images et son language.

J'ai perdu pas mal de références, je ne me souviens pas de tout... Donc je pense qu'il y en a plus pais ma mémoire me fait défaut.

Je citerai peut-être Antigone de Cocteau, là aussi mon idiotie de jeunesse me faisait le rejeter, mais il n'est pas si mal.

Maintenant, si tu permets, j'ai aussi lu des auteurs non français mais non anglais et certains j'aimerais en parler : Lampedusa et Le Guépard, très très intéressant et l'air de rien lui aussi peut aller assez en profondeur et faire réfléchir sur certaines choses. Il campe aussi la Sicile, à une certaine époque. Bien intéressant.

Zweig, magnifique, qu'en dire. Il est poignant, prenant, mais ausis exude un certain calme. Ce n'est pas le tumultueux Rimbaud, loin de là. Au contraire. Il n'est également pas aussi obscure et complexe que les russes. Et pourtant il parle d'émotions humaines, il donne des lessons qui touchent profondément rt marquent à jamais oserais-je dire. Je me souviendrai toujours de La Pitié dangereuse je pense. Ou de La confusion des sentiments. Ou de certaines de ses nouvelles.

J'ai aussi lu des auteurs russes, même si je ne sais si c'est vraiment une bonne idée d'en parler. Je dirais Dostoyevsky et Tolstoy sont... quelque chose. Chacun à leur manière. Mais Anna Karenina est lui aussi un de ceux qui restent en mémoire. Je n'aime pas Anna, ni Vronsky, ni son mari. J'aime Kitty et Levin, oh surtout Levin de ce dont je me souviens je pouvais tellement m'identifier à sa recherche de sens, son fonctionnement mental, ses pensées. Sa réponse était dans la famille la tradition et dieu... Mais je ne peux m'empêcher de penser et si ? Et si aujourd'hui ? Si il était un homme moderne avec tous nos philosophes ? avec les connaissances et diagnostiques...

A meek one, Crime et Chatiment de Dostoyevski m'ont marqué. Le grand inquisiteur... Mais bon Dois-je vraiment décrire Dostoyesvki ? Si vous avez des semaines à perdre à vous torturer et triturer les méninges je le recommanderais. Sinon... Je ne sais pas. Il apporte des choses évidemment mais il est si complexe !

Ah je pense à un dernier auteur français, plus un philosophe : Henri Bergson. Les philosophes ont tendance à m'énerver mais lui j'ai bien aimé.

Oh un dernier nom désolé ! Théophile Gautier (h ou sans h je ne sais plus. Les tags disent sans h donc sans h!). Bien pour des nouvelles ghotiques et fantastiques. (Je préfère largement à Maupassant je dois avouer. Jamais pu digérer Maupassant.)

Jeune j'ai apprécié quelques pensées sur l'art et le théâtre d'Artaud, et un peu de sa poésie. Mais je n'ai jamais pu pardonner son sexisme et sa misogynie. Je ne veux pas entendre l'qrgument "c'est son temps" pour lui. Si Monsieur était si spécial et un génie, il pouvait aller contre son temps non?

Oh non français... hum... celui qui a écrit la maison de poupée je crois... Icksen?

Bref je dois m'arrêter haha 🤣 (et retrouver le nom du gars avec sa torture ornée de gemmes oui celui qui était étrange et nous a tous questionnés en licence 1 haha).

Voilà j'espère que c'est ok haha !

Bonne journée à toi aussi ! Enfin, fin de journée si tu es sur la même timezone que moi !

(Je suis content d'avoir pu parler de littérature... je n'ai jamais terminé ma licence, dernier semestre non complété, et je suis maintenant perdu en psycho... La littérature me manque beaucoup. Donc c'est cool...).

[violentdevotion]

it would've been really funny if damon and elena started kissing mid fight outside of the tomb where stefan and katherina could hear

[tragedykery]

you know what? to be completely fair to dr victor hoppe, if that had happened to me, I, too would develop a complicated (read: fucked up) relationship with like. Everything

[thedragonemperess]

Episode 22 of the Vampire Diaries and I'm looking for a filler episode. Where is the filler episode. This is episode 22 of Season 1 and I am in dire need of a filler episode. These characters are great, I love seeing them interact, I want a little bit less of the rapid fire plot progression in which nothing gets the time to sit in itself or grow. How high is the bidding for a filler episode. I am desperately searching for a filler episode. Can someone please get me a filler episo-

.....What's that?

............There is no filler episode?

............................................

Well, fuck me.

[ripstefan]

whoever invented nerds clusters deserves a kiss on the mouth

[laufire]

literally WHO CARES* about stefan's feelings lmao. caroline wanted him. she got him. he died, preserving their relationship in the perfect moment in time and opening the door for her to go live a fulfilling eternal life removed from his cyclical wangst. the end.

[nikkiruncks]

Maturing is realizing that Elena deserved better than both Stefan and Damon

[nikohlas]

after i eat my ice cream , i’m gonna answer some memes ! ( unless my friends decide to get on fortnite lmao, then it’ll be after heh )

[faustandfurious]

One of the main pieces of evidence that what authors and books you read often has very little impact on who you are as a person and what you do in real life, is the fact that Benito Mussolini was a big fan of Stefan Zweig’s works