#anti-stelena for ts

[kmze]

Thought on 5x12 - 5x22 welp what a nose dive in quality that took! Not that the beginning of the season was great writing but at least I was having fun, this not so much. There's stuff I liked of course, the Steroline build-up is great and they got some beautiful scenes. I love Liv and Luke and the finale was awesome (this and Katherine in 1x22 were the best cliffhangers they ever did). The problem is the bad parts all outweighed that. I cannot STAND Enzo and this is the worst Damon has ever been which is saying a lot. Every DE monologue made me groan and the travelers are probably the worst villain this show ever had (Markos wasn't terrible though, he fit the description). But I made it, and you can read me bitching about it below!

5x12

I really hate how they used Caroline having sex with Klaus to somehow make her come around to DE because now she knows what it's like to "want the bad guy" RME! Caroline sleeping with Klaus was about her taking an opportunity to get him to leave her alone and have an itch scratched. Damon is still her rapist.

Katherine’s face at the KC sex reveal LMFAO she’s dying inside.

Honestly Stefan punching Tyler has a lot more to do with him not liking Tyler and less to do with him thinking Tyler was in the wrong. Do I think Tyler deserved to get punched absolutely not, Caroline needed to leave him the hell alone! But I’m not Stefan and I like Tyler and think he’s allowed to be really fucking angry at Caroline for awhile.

What Katherine said to Damon as Elena is exactly what Elena SHOULD say to Damon but never does.

The switch from “I want Stefan Salvatore” “Well I’d hate to be the person standing in your way” to a shot of Caroline is absolutely intentional. This scene is also adorable and say what you want but Stefan is absolutely flirting here, especially when he's like "I have no idea what Klaus saw in you, what was he thinking!" because he knows EXACTLY what Klaus saw in her!

5x13

Caroline leave Bonnie alone! She does not need to be single-adjacent she has suffered enough.

“Come on Damon, you’re better than this” he’s really not though Stefan! He’s pretty consistently been awful this whole show.

LMFAO there was a definitely a lot of foreshadowing that Stefan was gonna kill Enzo.

Caroline looks so hot and gorgeous in that dress and the way her hair is clipped *faints* no wonder Stefan checks her out. There's also a few moments where the wind blows her hair and she just looks stunning. Bonnie looks smoking hot too, I love her bob and the lace on her dress is super sexy.

Katherine’s eye roll at the dramatics of Damon kidnapping Jeremy and needing to show her concern for Jeremy... honestly same, this is a stupid ass plot. I do appreciate that Katherine knew to be worried about Caroline if she has feelings for Stefan. Like Damon is a moron so dispatching him was easy but Caroline, she’s gotta know what she’s up against.

EL OH EL the framing is so funny though how Caroline keeps popping up every-time Kathlena gets a moment with Stefan. And he looks guilty AF when she opens the door. Caroline also looks so good standing in the doorway with her little turn.

5x14

Caroline you know damn well the good news is that we might get to kill Damon, not the bad news.

Ugh Stefan is totally jealous of Tyler this show is so stupid you had the perfect love triangle set-up and you BLEW IT! FOR ENZO! I mean Stefan really? Acting like Tyler was gonna kill Caroline, please he knows that wasn’t going to happen. He just doesn’t want Caroline to go back to him because he’s totally crushing on her and refuses to see it!! He’s the same as Caroline because his bad news was actually good news for him.

Uh we don’t all love Matt Donovan Katherine, okay. Some of us have wished for his death every season. Words matter.

I appreciate Stefan pointing out Elena has never cared about Damon doing horrible shit before, and that’s like his first clue something is off.

Katherine asking who Stefan loves more Damon or Elena, girl don’t play that stupid game! You are only gonna win stupid prizes! Katherine should also know better than this, she knew Damon was the key to saving Stefan in 3x09 because she knew he wouldn’t let Damon die even with his humanity off. It feels like the show is doing that thing again where they make characters dumber than previously shown for the plot. Maybe you could say Katherine was off her game because she became impatient, but like she didn't survive for 500 years being impatient! DUH Stefan would do the most Stefan thing ever and put himself in danger instead of killing Damon, I mean what show have you been watching Katherine?

I love how domestic Steroline got in these last few episodes, Caroline made herself right at home at the Boarding house AS SHE SHOULD!

5x15

I love Liv lol.

You know I love LOVE Caroline but girl leave that man alone! Tyler needs space. While I agree about Caro monologue that people always expect good from her and she has flaws Tyler doesn’t need to forgive her and he really hasn’t been harping on her that much. Damon was right Caro took the nuclear option to end her relationship with Tyler. Even if I understand why she had sex with Klaus she still knew what it would do to Tyler.

I guess in retrospect Katherine was right, she made sure if she couldn’t have Stefan no one could.

I feel like the writers did a lot more damage to how they see Elena's character after the sire bond storyline than they realize. I don't mean that it ruined her character, I mean it ruined how they feel about her and how the inevitably treat her. This was a really fucked up thing to do to Elena, I mean she had complete autonomy of her body taken away for 3 (almost 4) episodes! That would have never happened in S1-3 because of how the writers felt about her, she was the special snowflake of human frailty MUST PROTECT. You can also tell by her styling, it's been off and on all season (especially the hair) as opposed to when she always looked stunning in S1-3.

5x16

CRYING at Elena’s “memories” and it's just her having fun in a bar dancing Iike a normal college girl and she’s like OMG the horror! What a loser!

“I wouldn’t lead you on like that” girl I- did you not watch yourself with Am!Stefan? That was 4 months ago!

Ah good Caroline is back to talking shit about Damon to Stefan, balance is restored.

Stefan just casually joking about having brain damage as his way of flirting, he’s so weird I love him.

THIS SCENE! When I watched this episode live I was ready to give up because I was so over the triangle of doom and straight-up not having a good time and then Steroline got these scenes in this episode and I was like OMG this is really gonna happen!?! When Stefan said "Me, and I would do it for you, too" he just confirmed that Caroline was up there with Elena and Damon for him aka people that he LOVES and Caro's face was my face like *tingle*. Then Caroline confirms the same when she says "You'd do the same for me right" and HIS FACE!!! He really didn't know she was so ride or die for him, and then his total jealousy over Enzo, I cry.

Damon and Elena are THE WORST my god. This is the stupidest dialogue I have ever heard on this show and that's only because it's second to their monologue in 4x23!

5x17

TOM AVERY TOO PRECIOUS FOR THIS WORLD

I’m sure Damon’s dialogue is supposed to be sexy but all I feel is rape-y.

God I absolutely LOVE the scene where Caroline can’t kill Tom and snaps Enzo’s neck instead! The way she reacts to Stefan is always more intense than any of her other love interests, sorry not sorry. She looked into those green eyes and remembered Stefan said he was a good person and the emotion from that meant she couldn’t do it.

Liv asking to be killed rather than listen to Damon and Elena, bestie I CAN RELATE!

Why are we doing with the Jeremy might be cheating on Bonnie subplot with Liv? Just so unnecessary MY GOD LEAVE BONNIE ALONE ALREADY!

The van scene is so <3333 I think it’s very obvious they both have feelings for each other in this scene. The way Stefan keeps looking at Caroline’s lips and the sultry voice he’s using *flails* and Caroline feels it too. I think this is the moment she realizes she’s falling for him. For Stefan I feel it started last season and it got even more confusing after his amnesia stint and this is probably the point where he starts pushing his feelings away because it's scaring him. He does not think Caroline has feelings for him with the way he talks about Enzo and her so for him it’s better to push it away than possibly ruin their friendship. Even if he’s such a dummy because OBVIOUSLY STEFAN she’s got a thing for you. I love them so much man, they just make me feel things!

Welp Bonnie hasn’t been tortured in like 3 episodes so of course we had to make up for that -_-

5x18

Oh man they even put Elena in her old S1/2 wardrobe and her straight hair is back! Totally gassing it up in these visions huh?

It’s amazing how interesting the traveler plot sounds with taking over MF like invasion of the body snatchers as opposed to how unbelievably boring it actually is.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before but I really don’t like Kol and I don’t know why I have to keep dealing with him.

Liv with her little sexy knife play, mark me down as scared and horny.

As someone who has watched the Steroline 8x02 proposal let’s just say A LOT, the Stelena vision proposal in 5x18 IS NOTHING LIKE IT YOU WEIRDOS. I mean the ring was in a drawer, that's literally it.

I did not remember that Vicki got sucked into Cade’s hell and IDK that’s a bit harsh show, Vicki did not deserve hell.

Turns out hell is every Delena scene this season.

The Stelena scene by the fire is an example of how the show uses nuance in scenes to keep ships alive depending on how you read into it. For me it feels like closure, they talk about how they grew apart and ending the spell kind of signifies that draw they felt has ended. However, you could say it shows they'll always love each other and now with the spell gone if they found their way back to each other it would be completely natural. YMMV.

I always thought "I think you can either be friends with someone or in love with them. I don't think you can be both" was such a (!!!) quote from Stefan since it shows you how he compartmentalizes people because he's a control freak. He puts the women he loves into these two categories from everything we've seen so far. Caroline and Lexi fit into the "friend" box, Elena and Katherine fit into the "in love" box and the two boxes do not mix. He moves Elena into the friend box now since he's not in love with her anymore, but the problem is Caroline. Unlike Lexi Stefan does feel more than friendship for her (he says it in 6x16 argue with the wall) but he can't mix the boxes! He doesn't think you can mix the boxes! He doesn't think you can have both. This line is a Chekhov's gun IMO he says it because we're either gonna learn it's true or it's not.

5x19

I was about to say how much of a loser is Stefan that he keeps helping Elena study but obviously he would not miss a chance to be pretentious so I get it.

Poor Tyler this is the beginning of his tragic downfall of the writers not GAF about him anymore.

Enzo on the other hand is A LOSER!

This episode might be rock bottom for me in terms of being boring and stupid. I would almost rather go back to a stupid DE monologue, ALMOST.

5x20

Oh it’s the Steroline first kiss cabin!

Hehe Damon called Bill Forbes a dickwad, sometimes I like you Damon I admit.

Caroline knowing right away that Stefan and Elena were being lying liars who lie, my BB has come so far in her ability to read people. And her idea to expose them is through charades because she’s always gotta have a theme!

I have no idea what’s going on with Jeremy, Tyler, Matt and Bonnie besides the fact that Bonnie deserves better. Always and forever.

“I didn’t want you to think any less of me” TINGLE!! When I saw this scene live I was like okay I give in I WANT ALL THE STEROLINE! Knowing full well it could still get used as a prop for SE but like I couldn’t help myself! He brushed the dirt off her cheek! He did the thing he always did with Elena where he only wanted her to see the good parts because that’s what this fool does when he’s in love! Truth be told I do not think Stefan is in love with Caroline here, I think he loves her as a friend but his feelings for her have become something more than friendship. Caroline however knows she’s falling in love you can see it on her face when he walks away.

The writing for Elena is very passive these past few episodes and it feels weird. Like she’s just there, she doesn’t move the plot or really do much but exist in the scenes they put her in. It’s such a stark difference to when she moved everything and everyone revolved around her. Oh well!

5x21

Omg Enzo if you didn’t want to be dead then why did you let Stefan yank your heart out. HE’S SO ANNOYING!

Stefan was so proud of that “if Caroline Forbes were here right now we’d both be laughing” joke. What a dork!

The anti magic spell was a good twist, and I like that it took awhile to get rid of.

Even Luke feels a tingle for the Stefussy!

Damon’s note LMFAO

Poor Caroline she had to see dead Stefan way too often. I totally forgot she didn’t snap Julian’s neck because she was afraid of getting bite again, poor BB had PTSD about that (thanks a lot Klaus *side-eye*)

5x22

LEXI!

CAROLINE MAKING MOVES! I told you nothing gets a reaction out of her like Stefan.

Ugh I hate this scene! Poor Tyler that was cruel and I hate that they de-powered him! I think de-powering for male characters on this show is basically a death sentence because the ‘verse works on hard power for men and once you lose that your days are numbered (unless you’re Matt Donovan).

No Lexi he doesn’t, because he’s a moron.

Bonnie that was obviously not Stefan lol but she’s going through a lot I will let it slide. Why does Silas want to be resurrected now! Everyone was so ready to die until they actually did huh!

“This is my choice and I need you to respect it” ASDSFFDHGFJKHG I am always here for making fun of that!

Bygones! Great Bonnie scene!

The last few Delena scenes have not made me think I’d rather be chewing glass so kudos.

BAMON 1994 ERA AND STEROLINE RENAISSANCE AWAITS!

Lines that made me laugh:

Damon: It's the obnoxious theme song of the travelers. (the chanting was ridiculous!)

Damon: Liv has a twin? Is it possible for there to be just one of someone around here? (he's not wrong!)

Enzo: Eh, it's probably the bedroom. Stefan's pretty vanilla, but apparently that's Elena's favorite flavor. (okay points for making me laugh but I doubt that’s true Stefan had crazy bitches crawling out of the woodwork for sexy Stefan time)

[hydesjackiespuddinpop]

Saturday sleepover: tell us why you love forwood (I do too) and why you like them more than steroline! For me it's that Caroline lights up around Tyler and they seem so much happier at their best and to have far more romantic chemistry than steroline :)

For me it’s for the same reasons you listed. Also he's the one guy she doesn't feel super insecure with and also respects her as a person. I also LOVE that Tyler is able to take no for an answer when it comes to her and how hard he fights for her. I also love the star crossed lovers thing they had going on, similar to SE, a ship I also love.

And for my thoughts on sc, check out my anti steroline tags

[catoscloves]

whenever i see an SE shipper or an anti SC person in general (nothing towards my SE mutuals ily all <3) claim a power imbalance between stefan and caroline i'm always kinda struggling to understand....

"stefan was not as invested in the relationship than caroline" uhm no that was m*roline, where matt was constantly putting caroline down and inadvertently pitting her against elena. people think that that was the situation when it came to stefan's elena versus caroline narrative (as in which one he wanted as a romantic partner) when ultimately it wasn't true? when stefan was with elena he didn't express romantic attraction to caroline - in fact he politely and gently rejected caroline's advances because of his interest in elena WITHOUT leading caroline on or comparing her to elena or pitting the two women together. stefan never insults caroline as a person (that was matt - 'deep's not really your thing') - other than that idiotic calculator comment which obvs wasn't great but is not the worst thing a white man said about a woman on this show - and he even respects and values caroline/admires her growth from insecure and 'shallow' and petty to levelheaded and assertive and in control WHILE he's still committed to elena. the fact that he was attracted to elena first doesn't necessarily make caroline a runner up/second best to elena either, and that seems to be a common opinion shared between stelena shippers (which is an opinion y'all are entitled to have, i just think it's wrong lol).

and people like to bring out caroline's claim that stefan "only had eyes for elena during their first meeting" which was essentially true i guess, in their anti steroline gifsets. but they forget that when stefan was an amnesiac, he trusted caroline, a girl whom he'd basically "just met," over a man who introduced himself as his brother and a woman who must have informed stefan at some point that she was his "(former) epic love." stefan also called caroline his attractive "best friend" at their first meeting ('you're hotter in person'). stefan made plenty of advances toward caroline (he initiated!!!!!!), romantically and otherwise, and even chose to dance because it made her happy, without her having to plead (which was always the case when he and elena were together). stefan respected her space and the fact that she needed to work through and resolve her issues after liz's death, their relationship was decided on HER terms ('when you are ready for me i'll be ready for you'), and stefan and caroline were equals in their platonic and romantic relationship (one of the healthiest relationships on tvd lbr).

also if any stefan relationship had a power imbalance it was st*lena imo, not steroline. stefan was a 100+ year old man who harrassed and stalked a seventeen year old that looked like his ex, consistently lied to her and ommitted important details throughout s1, basically forced an already traumatized girl to do his emotional labor/help him pull through his addiction, then almost killed her for the sake of his vendetta against klaus (forcing her to relive her bridge related trauma and the death of her parents), and planned to hunt her down/force feed her the cure she repeatedly and clearly communicated that she DIDN'T want. while caroline was the same age as elena and also an insecure teenage girl, which is why it makes sense that steroline could have easily become that kind of dynamic, none of these problems ever came up for steroline. stefan politely rejected caroline (not even as a person like d*mon and m*tt did, insulting and belittling her personality and values, but simply because he was pursuing another love interest), caroline moved on, they built a mutually respectful and fond friendship dynamic, and caroline had an equal amount of power because she wasn't a vulnerable human but a vampire with control (vampirism also clearly gave her a self esteem boost and helped her work through her insecurities), which meant stefan never had an opportunity to take advantage of her vulnerability.

[bakerolivias-archived]

tired: elena and either salvabro

wired: ELENA AND ELIJAH OR REBEKAH

[firelxdykatara]

not gonna lie I would love to hear more about the drama and infighting that went on in The Vampire Diaries fandom if you have the time (and also want to use that time to give your experience with the fandom, which from the snippets you've told sounds Not Fun so I get it if you don't want to lol)

oh god, there was like, SO MUCH, i just

i really feel like tvd is one of those fandoms that is so hard to describe without a lot of ‘you’d have to have been there’, but it really felt like this huge and all-consuming beast for about five years until the show finally imploded and the fandom basically turned on it en masse. (you ever see that post going around that’s like ‘if you ever want to know what true regret feels like, ask someone who once called tvd their favorite show’? still a mood, all these years later. basically the entire fandom thought the show should have just bowed out with whatever shreds of dignity it had left at the end of season 6, and became more of a hatedom than a fandom for the last two seasons. when you have an entire fandom cheering news of your show’s cancellation, i think that’s a sign you done fucked up, julie.)

first and most infamous, of course, are the ship wars. which are pretty much inevitable in any teen-centered drama, and i really think the CW fucking thrives on them, but it was particularly egregious in TVD’s case because not only was the base premise of the show a love triangle, but the two main romantic leads were brothers that the show constantly pit against one another--in pursuit of elena’s affections, but also because it kept up this insistence on the ‘good brother/bad brother’ dichotomy which stopped making sense after about season 2 (by which time we have found out that the good brother was never as good as he appeared, and the bad brother has been growing and isn’t nearly as bad as he pretends to be)--and the question of which brother ‘deserved’ elena (and no, what elena wanted very rarely factored into these discussions, especially in the team stefan camp because they turned on her when what she wanted was no longer The Good Brother, but i’ll get to that in a bit) was hotly contested.

i’m not kidding when i say the shipping wars were vicious. i started watching tvd shortly after it began to air, which was late 2009, and kept up with it fairly sporadically over the years. i didn’t come onto tumblr until 2011/2012, and by then, the fandom was already pretty much a garbagefire. there were anti ship and anti character blogs, any time something bad happened for one ship the rival ship would invade the tags to gloat about it (seasons 3 and 4 were especially rough, and i’m not gonna pretend delena fans weren’t just as bad about tag invasion and shit, but as that was my side of the road i saw a lot more of the stelena shippers being assholes, which soured my opinion on the ship a long time before i started rewatching and realized the red flags were there from the start), confessions blogs were popular also toxic as fuck (so much fighting happened in the notes of those posts, good gods), and this was right around when twitter’s popularity was on the rise and the line between Celebrity and Fan was thinning, so the fandom was absolutely atrocious to much of the tvd cast and crew.

(some of them deserved a lot of the later backlash, but in the early years a lot of it was ‘how dare you write the story in a way i dont like, you terrible fucking person’, and gods don’t get me started on the dobsley vs nian Thing)

i think what really encapsulates my feelings on the tvd fandom as a whole, though, is the way they (to this DAY) treated elena gilbert, which can be summed up in one meme that gained a lot of traction around season 3 if i remember right: that gif of pam from true blood, with the text altered to read “i’m so OVER elena and her precious doppelganger vagina!”

i swear at one time i had over half the active tvd fan accounts on tumblr blocked, because i got to a point where i would no longer tolerate elena hate, and she was (and still is, in what remains of the fandom; you’ll see a lot of ‘elena was one of the worst things about the show’ takes from ex-fans, too) one of the most widely despised characters in the entire fandom. because she -checks smudged writing on hand- was a traumatized teenage girl who -reads off a crumpled notecard- couldn’t always perfectly sort out her own feelings and -squints at the ceiling- sometimes made mistakes or bad decisions. (except a lot of the fandom also insisted that she was a mary sue who had no character traits or flaws or faults and it was like....make up your fucking minds???? is she a calculating conniving bitch whose somehow manipulating these centuries old vampires to tie them around her little finger or is she a boring flat character with no depth and no flaws??? jfc)

there was this massive double standard, too--like, stefan and damon could fuck whoever they wanted and that was fine, but elena was constantly raked over the coals for the crime of developing romantic feelings for the two men who had become constants in her life and whom she cared for deeply, and oh my GOD the slut shaming that happened when elena slept with damon was fucking wild. (and also happened in canon lmfao. like the show had one of elena’s best friends basically call her diseased on screen for falling in love with someone other than stefan. it was gross and ridiculous and the friend in question was also being a giant hypocrite at the time since she was happily flirting with someone who was directly responsible for the deaths of like four of elena’s loved ones and her own boyfriend’s mother but that’s beside the point) but like elena was called a slut and a bitch and a whore for ‘cheating’ on stefan (she hadn’t, and she had in fact broken up with him on screen the episode earlier) and ‘immediately’ jumping into bed with damon, even though none of them said fucking boo when stefan had one night stands or damon had fuckbuddies or whatever.

shit, caroline didn’t get any of this treatment when she started falling for tyler while dating matt! which isn’t to say i think she should have, just that i think it’s fucking ridiculous that elena was absolutely demonized by the fandom for daring to have feelings for two guys at once and eventually acting on them--despite the fact that the entire premise of the show was a love triangle. it’s not a love triangle if both sides don’t eventually get explored, and the crew had been pretty explicit about the fact that delena was going to happen at some point--but when it did, a huge chunk of the fandom absolutely threw a fit.

and a lot of these elena haters were alleged stelena stans, and i say alleged because they hated her so much for not wanting stefan’s dick anymore that it was clear they were really stefan stans and only wanted stelena to be endgame because they wanted stefan to ‘win’ at the end of the day, because ‘he’s the good brother’ so he deserved elena more.

it was all very gross and very misogynistic and very sex shaming (apparently delena was a ‘shallow’ and ‘superficial’ relationship because they had sex after two years of unrequited feelings slowly becoming requited and then pining for ages on both sides, and because they had a lot of on screen chemistry that the show capitalized on for years so of course they did a lot of making out and shit but it’s not like stelena didn’t have its fair share of making out and sex scenes, stefan was just too much of a coward to let elena top i’d apologize for that joke but i’m really not sorry because it’s true), and when i say it was egged on by the crew, that’s because they refused to let the love triangle die back in season 4 when it should have.

they insisted on stringing stelena fans along, dropping little bread crumbs to keep them invested, like dreams of a future where they were married and revealing that stefan was also a doppelganger and he and elena were descended from a pair of star-crossed lovers (a plot that ultimately went nowhere, to no one’s great surprise), and then fucking like. julie plec turned around and threw nina under the bus after she chose not to extend her contract and pretended that stelena might have happened again if she hadn’t left the show, which....i mean frankly i wouldn’t put it past her, but it would have been shitty writing. then again, she thought having a vampire pregnancy where a uterus was magically transplanted from a witch into a vampire that could somehow......carry the babies to term.... made sense and was a good way to accomodate candice’s RL pregnancy rather than like literally ANYTHING else, soooooo. but anyway julie saying that around like, end of s6 sparked off a new wave of nina hate and elena hate and ship wars bc they SEers took it as ‘confirmation’ that stelena was REALLY meant to be endgame and it was all just a hot fucking mess

another thing is that, while tvd was in its prime before the anti/purity culture shit started picking up any real steam, there was still this pervasive attitude throughout the fandom that if you liked Damon, you were A Bad Person. liking damon was apparently grounds for insults and harassment, and apparently he was The Worst Person on the Show even though literally nothing he does on screen is any worse than shit we know stefan has done (and frankly every other vampire too, but i mention stefan specifically because he was always held up--in the show but especially in the fandom--as the Good Brother while damon was the Bad One, and if you liked damon more then that had to mean your morals were dodgy and you clearly couldn’t appreciate what a heroic and saintly figure dear stefan was and....oops, i’m sorry, my salt keeps leaking -cough-).

meanwhile klaus quickly became a fandom darling despite not even really having much of a redemption arc (on tvd anyway, he just became more ‘affably evil’ as the show went on and more inclined to work with the main characters rather than try to kill them; i have no idea what went on over on his show, though), and like i can 100% appreciate liking villains and not caring that they do dodgy villainous shit, even just liking them bc they’re hot and wanting them to kiss a main character bc they have insanely good chemistry (yes i ship klaroline, no i won’t apologize for it, they could have been Really Great), it’s just really the double standard that gets me.

and all of this, incidentally, required ignoring some truly gross shit stefan was responsible for wrt his relationship with elena, that frankly it has always bothered me never really got addressed in the show. i get why elena herself would never be able to actually call him on it, but the fact is that he stalked her for months after he first saw her and thought she was katherine (meanwhile it only took damon .5 seconds to realize she was someone else entirely, but that’s another topic entirely), and then he deliberately inserted himself into her life because, in his words, ‘i have to know her’. he never gave a thought to how his presence in her life might affect her (or rather, he did, and tormented himself about it in his internal monologue, but never let this actually dissuade him from disrupting her life), and elena would wind up blaming herself for every tragedy that befell her friends and loved ones as a result of getting mixed up in vampire bullshit even though none of it was her fault--she literally blamed herself for existing but most of the fandom didn’t give a fuck about that lmfao--and stefan did shit like find out that she was adopted and then withhold this information from her until she got pissed about another secret he was keeping (her resemblence to katherine) and drop it on her to try and distract her from her very reasonable anger, and like... i should stop before this becomes a whole rant about how much i hate stefan fucking salvatore, but the point is, he did a lot of really sketchy shit he never answered for and elena never really took him to task for, and the fandom just kept eating up his insistence that he was the Good Brother and therefore he deserved to have elena, and if she didn’t want him anymore it was because she was a heinous bitch who didn’t deserve him.

uh.....i think i got off track there. and there’s probably a lot of shit i missed, like i think i was incandescent with rage for most of seasons 5 and 6 so i missed a lot of the interfandom shit cause i was too busy being increasingly pissed off at the show itself, but if nothing else this should give you an idea of how much of a goddamn cesspit the fandom was while the show as in its prime. there’s a reason both the show and the fandom have such a lousy reputation lmfao.

[nocakesformissedith]

suddenly remembered that

Stefan and Elena; who share many (some explicitly pointed out in the show (by characters and the narrative) and some more implied or subtextual) similarities and traits and values, with numerous parallels between them, who have several times outright stated what attracted them to each other and why they love each other (ex: Elena affirming that Stefan accepting her choice despite not “wanting” to is exactly why she loves him),

were retconned into being ~magically cursed~ to fall in love because they’re the doppelgängers of two people in love (with the implication being that those feelings were disingenuous or at least not entirely their own)

Not Damon and Elena who got together bc of the sire bond, prior to which there were constant and consistent confirmations of Stelena’s feelings for each other and the future they wanted together, with that whole issue being dropped after Elena gets her humanity back, who constantly talk about how toxic they are or how Damon is the worst choice for her, with their love (or maybe just her love for him) being in canon something said to be inexplicable and something neither of them can “control”

[jamescarstairs]

Every time you reblog or post a stelena gifset you bring back the 5 years of my life that delena took away, thank you

it’s okay

[slayercommaarchive]

i haven't gone here in like five years but the tvd series finale's tomorrow or whatever and i just wanna say i'm already mad about elena's ending and she deserved miles better

[lookformebymoonlight]

delena stans certainly love elena more than stelena stans who constantly call elena a whore, think she regressed because she didn't pick their brother of choice and sweep stefan's abuse of her under the rug. lol and imagine thinking i'd ever ship elena with somebody who reminds me of abusers i have met irl and who encouraged her suicide tendencies as somebody who is mentally ill. but then you are the same person who proclaims that delena stans get off on rape when some of us are rape survivors.

I dont associate with stelena shippers who call elena a whore, first of all. not that those stelena shippers even claim to love elena. And i have never swept SEs abusive traits under the rug, I have multiple meta posts calling them out. If Stefan triggers you, okay, that’s fair. But to say he encouraged Elena’s suicidal tendencies is reductive. He supported her bodily autonomy, but also challenged her on her plan to sacrifice herself. That was one of their biggest arguments in 2x14-2x15. He got angry with her and challenged her to fight for it but he didnt shove his blood down her throat. Also I have NEVER said that DE fans get off on rape wtf? Don’t make up shit. I have said Damon is a rapist, and posted examples of people fangirling over Damon’s abuse - that is not saying that DE fans get off on rape, that is pointing out the very real problem of the DE fandom romanticizing Damon’s abuse. And I am not interested in arguing who is “more abusive” because a) what is more triggering to someone is very personal and b) i could pull from every season to prove why de is a vastly unhealthy relationship even by tvd standards and de fans would find a way to twist canon and the writers seem happy to ignore the gross implications of de. But no, you dont love Elena if you ship her with the man who murdered her brother for rejecting him, who sexually assaulted her multiple times, who ignores her autonomy and frequently used physical intimidation to do so, who threatened to break her neck bc she wasnt doing what he wanted, who murders and tortures while with her and she admits she has to bend her morals to be with him, who as soon as he thought she dumped him, murdered her friend and kidnapped her brother. none of that is good for her. Damon drags her down. They are toxic per canon.

Also nice to see that the DE stans are coming out of the woods to my inbox again. Funny how I only ever see DE stans do this and I have never sent anon hate. Shouldnt you guys be busy squealing over your shit ship getting reunited? Don’t bother messaging me again, it will go in my trash. You just caught me sick and grumpy.

Tvd for ts, anti delena, stelena, abuse //, rape //

[kmze]

Thoughts on 5x01 - 5x11 again SO MUCH FUN watching this half season. Does the plot make sense? Not really. Was it a compelling storyline? Not so much. Did I laugh a lot? YOU BETCHA! The thing with this season (at least this half) is you cannot take it seriously, it is the most this show has ever been "meta" because this was just episode after episode of laughing at the Triangle of Doom. I would say DE got it the worse but even SE got hits against it too. Stefan was mocked by having amnesia Stefan point out all his worst qualities. Damon was mocked relentlessly via his insecurity. Elena was mocked by being the flip flopper that she is. It was beautiful. Silas and Tessa were great as scorned lovers/enemies and I truly enjoyed the doppelgänger shenanigans. Amnesia Stefan you will always be famous! Of course there's bad stuff, like Bonnie's storyline and Jesse's treatment and sadly that's not surprising because Dries (racist) was in charge. I touch on all of this below!

5x01

LMFAO at Elena’s little shimmy

Damon is such a moron that is obviously not Stefan, when would Stefan ever say “Chateau Salvatore” thank god Jeremy could tell. Katherine too like when has Stefan EVER blatantly flirted with her like that, but Katherine was just thinking with her downstairs brain I understand.

Poor Caroline, but at least Jesse is smoking hot.

Random observation: last season the beginning of the season did not look like it was filmed in the summer like every other season and I've always kind of wondered why that is. I think I read somewhere that they continued filming the beginning of S4 when S3 ended and that's why you never get the summer attire in S4 like we do here again in S5.

5x02

Elena coughing up blood/water after kissing Stefan keeps happening and it’s so mean LMFAO

CRYING at the camera angle and lighting of “Stefan” seeing Elena and her getting all googly-eyed at him and then hanging up on Damon. Serves him right for not telling her! Silas causing problems with Delena almost instantly, amazing no notes.

Katherine shooting Silas YAS QUEEN

This scene LMFAO!!! The fact that they made thinking about Stefan be the thing that stops Elena from trying to kill Damon is just a hilariously mean thing to do to Damon!

Caroline’s face seeing Damon and Elena in what looks like some weird sex thing DEAD.

Paul does a good job of differentiating Silas from Ripper Stefan. They’re both evil of course but Silas has more calmness to him and more quips whereas Ripper Stefan is chaotic and mocking.

Lexi changed clothes on the other side so why can’t Bonnie!

5x03

Katherine and Silas are having way too much fun making Damon feel insecure about Stelena and I truly love it!

Stefan saying he didn’t want to turn his humanity off so he could be himself when he murdered Silas. Classic Stefan! Revenge is his biggest motivation in life I swear.

The doppelgänger curse (aka creating shadow selves every 100-ish years because of Silas and Amara) is good mythology, I thought it was a good reason to explain the existence of doppelgängers. But I also think it hurt some of the special-ness that Stelena had because it cheapens the fate part about it (and that’s before we find out it’s a literal spell pulling them together). Tessa saying she watched versions of S&E fall in love over and over the last 2000 years makes it feel like it’s predetermined destiny, which is a weakness against a ship IMO. It actually gives more power to Delena because having a love that conquers destiny is a great trope. I'm not even sure the writers meant to make this hurt SE at first because I don't think they like DE either. I know Dries was the showrunner this season and it's hard to understand what she likes when it comes to the triangle (her fav is Katherine that's all I understand about her). Everyone always thinks it's DE but LOL the person who wrote this season does NOT like DE I assure you. It would make sense she'd think this storyline is strong for SE on paper, but in tone it's not. It's like she cut her nose despite her face.

Delena being described by Tessa "like a soap opera, but boring and with no volume control" best description ever!

Silas saying his doppelgänger's face makes him wanna vomit THEY JUST KEEP GOING!

I like that they almost made you believe Damon was going to leave Stefan there lol, but even Damon isn't that selfish.

This season is just one big kinda mean commentary on the show and I love it LMFAO. I can see why it’s hated because it’s not really an intriguing plot as far as forward movement (I mean Silas' motivation is to die). But I'd be lying if I said the way it’s being used to mock and almost break the fourth wall isn't giving me so much joy. I guess I’d describe it as camp? Like Silas said messy but fun to watch.

5x04

Am!Stefan not remembering Elena’s name and the look on her face ADXSFXGGGKKHK (this episode makes me so incredibly petty)!

Again, Damon worst sober sponsor ever.

I’m sorry but Elena is cracking me up the way she is GLOWING at making Am!Stefan remember when he bumped into her. The way she spreads her fingers over his chest DEAD! Her excitement at molding her Stefan back together with only the pieces she wants... I have never seen her more alive!

"Whenever someone tells me I can’t do something I prove them wrong" her life’s motto!!!

Am!Stefan being like “I need time to process that I let my girlfriend drown” I KNOW RIGHT? It’s so crazy isn’t it you’re just like flabbergasted.

Sometimes this show just hits my narrative and this episode is it baby! Am!Stefan knowing Caroline’s full name (unlike Elena), that she’s his best friend and BLATANTLY flirting with her saying she’s much hotter in person (the way he totally checks her out a few times too) THAT'S THE STUFF. Then you’ve got Caroline being the only one who actually stops the ripper because she reminds Stefan who HE is, not who she is (because just to point out again she didn't have to because he studied her pictures and knew her instantly!!!) Damon and Elena on the other hand keep telling him who they are (which is a bunch of liars) and that’s why Stefan trusts her and not them. Their scene in the crypt is so nice too, it's one of the first times they get a scene like this with the hand holding, the comforting emphasis, and a beautiful shot on the bench. Plus Am!Stefan staring at Caroline's lips *swoon* you can really tell he has a crush on Caroline.

This Bonnie memorial is so infuriating I can't believe this Bonnie is dead for 8(!!!) episodes was a plot.

5x05

This shows racism towards black characters is really disgusting the more you become aware of it. I swear everytime a character is cast that’s going to get tortured or brutally murdered they are always black. Luka, Jonah, Aja, Connor and now Jesse. There’s no way it was a coincidence.

Nina’s physical comedy as human Katherine is just perfect!

The costumes Caroline picked ARE KILLING ME! First having her and Tyler as Bonnie and Clyde because they almost ran away together (and perhaps a part of her knows they’re doomed like B&C). Having Damon and Elena as Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn because she hates Damon and thinks he’s so bad for Elena he’ll get her head chopped off LMFAO. And then Stefan as JAMES FRIGGIN' DEAN can’t make this up, I know I keep saying this but amazing, no notes.

CTFU at Am!Stefan TOTALLY IGNORING Tyler when he asks Caroline to dance with him, like even with amnesia he knows he doesn’t fuck with Tyler. Am!Stefan’s face when he twirls her HE IS SO SMITTEN (and so is she if we’re being honest), James Dean daydream look indeed.

EL OH EL Silas trying to get Tessa to admit that she’s still in love with him. Honestly Silas your doppelgänger is way better at this, Stefan would have gotten that confession no sweat.

Poor Forwood but honestly I do think this makes sense and neither of them is really wrong, they are both acting like themselves. It makes sense Tyler can't just let Klaus walk away after what he did, and he especially can't deal with Klaus giving him permission to be with Caroline. Caroline on the other hand wants to move forward with her life and as far as she's concerned Klaus is out of sight out of mind. Caroline's also not a big revenge person, I don't think she's ever cared enough to enact revenge on someone (with humanity of course).

Amnesia or not Stefan will always be smarter than Damon.

5x06

For my own sanity I’m not even gonna pay attention to scenes talking about the cure and how it works because I’m STILL not over that bullshit in S8.

Silas again being the audience surrogate and pointing out how SUPER WEIRD it is that Defan keep falling in love with THE SAME FACE!

KATHOLINE TEAM-UP!! You know Caroline enjoyed slamming her against the wall after Katherine used her as her lackey in S2.

Crazy bitch kinda is Stefan’s type ASASCDHGHKKHH

God I love the Katholine team-up.

KATHERINE’S CHURCH HAIR!! I’m not even kidding I have tears in my eyes. This is the BEST! Omg Aaron is so much more smitten with Katherine than Elena, but like she’s absolutely adorable how could you not be!

Am!Stefan being like "I didn't think you deserved to be killed" translating to "I will always protect you Elena, memories or not" is an impressive delulu journey Elena has decided to take. She was acting like he was dead because he wanted to talk to Caroline and not her! Elena he has amnesia, he doesn't have the script anymore for the persona he's supposed to be performing.

Tessa was trying to do God’s work too getting Stefan to let go of Damon but he never learns!

5x07

Elena get out of your ex-boyfriend's bedroom JFC she’s so desperate.

Tessa kinda the best vindictive bitch ever! Janina Gavankar is also a beautiful and stunning woman who is just a pleasure to look at. But why was she so cold to Bonnie? Dries again I'm sure...

THANK GOD BONNIE IS ALIVE AGAIN!

Elena's thought process about this speech she gives Stefan is something else... I just don't know what kind of delusional narcissist you have to be to think this was a good way to ask if someone is okay. Stefan absolutely looks done with her too lol. This is the season where Stefan's facade from the earlier season really starts to come down. He doesn't want to be the person in his journals anymore.

5x08

FINALLY THAT HIDEOUS WIG IS GONE!

Oh look! Stefan not telling anyone he needs help, something new and different for him! /sarcasm

Matty Blue-Blue might be my favorite nickname ever used on this show and there’s a lot so that’s saying something!

I love how much Caroline embraced being a teacher for baby vamps! Makes her endgame even better!

Caroline is right why couldn’t Elena just snap his neck or just not stab him in the heart stab his back shoulder.

One thing about Stefan he has never seen a crazy bitch in danger that he didn’t want to save. I do really enjoy Steferine with human Katherine because it gave all the power to Stefan since she can’t physically hurt him anymore. It’s kind of like the scene in the series finale where Caroline comforts human Damon because he can’t hurt her anymore and she doesn't need to be afraid.

They really had to interrupt Bonnie’s first SEX SCENE EVER IN 5 FUCKING YEARS so she could scream in agony because the show killed another black character. Dries you will never see heaven!

Gee I don’t know Elena when is someone supposed to get over the fact that they were abused and raped by your fucking boyfriend. And you laughed about it with him! Never? I’m gonna go with never. And yes I realize it’s a bit hypocritical to enjoy Steferine and hate Daroline when they both have the same consent and rape issues. I fully admit Katherine is a rapist too. Stefan might be over it, Caroline is not and that's what matters to me.

5x09

I like that Katherine knew to ask Caroline for help knowing the other morons would be no good.

I know the answer is “plot reasons” but how did Damon not immediately recognize Whitmore when Elena started going to college there or even last year when he visited it?

Enzo… yeah *falls asleep*

Not to defend Stefan because I still think he’s an idiot for not seeing that Caroline had feelings for him. But he hears this whole conversation Caroline and Katherine are having where Katherine asks if they’ve slept together and Caroline is appalled like no absolutely not we are friends and I’m just saying! It makes sense why he never thought she did with scenes like this. Mostly because Stefan compartmentalizes people but that’s a topic for later this season. Katherine though bless her heart is not blind and can obviously tell these two feel a tingle for each other.

Not sure how intentional this was but I like the parallel back to the scene in 5x07 where Stefan said when the safe opened he wanted Damon and Elena to be the ones he saw. And now that he went back into the safe to get over his PTSD from that (and their betrayal) the person he sees when the safe opens up is Caroline.

5x10

Katherine’s exhilaration at sleeping with Stefan CTFU I can’t help it, she’s too much!

I love how little Elena is wearing essential what S1/2 Elena used to wear.

Feels like they just implied Grayson was testing if vampire blood could cure cancer. Would have been good to check on that next season folks!

Stefan starting off on the wrong foot with Enzo already LMFAO

Anytime they try and make Matt more relevant to a plot I instantly zone out from that plot. Case in point, I have no idea what is going on with the passengers and travelers and all I really know about Nadia is she’s Katherine’s daughter.

OMG Elena torched her Dad’s experiments! Important information what are you doing!?! I guess that’s why they don’t check next season.

5x11

Caroline throwing a breakup breakfast because Delena broke up is why she is my favorite character ever!

Stefan is so sanctimonious lol.

I like how they reminded me how awful Klaus is with the Katherine flashback before he has sex with Caroline. This show.

OMG Damon is insufferable! First his list of evil things Katherine did are all things HE did and now he's just torturing her because he's mad he broke up with Elena??? Can we just put him in the '94 prison world now I need him gone.

Stefan really switched from heartbroken to team Delena in like 3 episodes lol. I get it was the PTSD and we gotta speed stuff up but it did not take long. Another moment of "what are people talking about on Reddit" because they are always like "it took Stefan so long to move on from Elena" IT TOOK 3 EPISODES!

It's kind of amazing how many parallels and mirroring storylines Stefan and Caroline get with each other (these gifsets illustrate it well (x) (x)) but I really like how Steferine and Klaroline are used similarly for Stefan and Caroline in their journeys (these gifsets are great (x) (x)) and this season shows that a lot. Klaus and Katherine were both looking for love confessions from Caroline and Stefan respectively and while they sleep with their admirer/abuser they don't give them a love confession in return (because they don't love them). There's even the Klefan and Katholine connection as they are both used as their lackeys (Stefan in S3 and Caroline in S2) but then they also have a kind of understanding with each other. They both show pity for Katherine in this episode and they both felt remorse for betraying Klaus in 4x09. If this had actually been Katherine's death it was similar the Klaroline's ending on TO, with Caroline giving Klaus the date in NOLA and kissing him goodbye. Stefan sleeps with Katherine after she helped him through his PTSD, then he gives her peace with the memory before she dies (he thinks). Too bad the show had to RUIN that!

Look Stefan has his flaws (manipulative, enables Damon, can be a dick, serial killer) but one thing I love about him is he has a willingness to forgive the unforgivable. He didn't have to give Katherine peace after everything she had done but he did. I think it does come from a place of he believes everyone can be saved because he wants to believe he can be saved, but I also think he has a lot of empathy (at least for women).

The Katherine twist was great I will give them that, she's a survivor!

Lines that made me laugh:

Am!Stefan: I think I still need to be drunk to understand this story (REAL I chose edibles instead but YMMV)

Katherine: So are you part of the secret society? You know the "Society" (SHE KILLS ME)

Tyler: You're the hottest serial killer here (LMFAO the levels to this line are what makes me laugh the most)

[hydesjackiespuddinpop]

DE shippers will literally be like "stefan wanted to erase his memories of elena in a moment of weakness because the end of their relationship caused him pain that was difficult to process wow he doesn't love her AT ALL" and then continue to ship dullena even though elena literally did the EXACT SAME THING in s6 because damon's loss caused her pain she couldn't cope with as well?

like personally i don't particularly care for either ship but it's basically the same situation which is why the double standard DE fans have is so weird. imo there are more legitimate reasons to hate on SE but this doesn't really prove their "stelena is awful de is awesome" argument

Like honestly de'ers are just ugh. It's rlly hard to take them srsly. Like I don't even hate the ship, it's too much of a joke for me to even hate. And as for the stefan part, rewatching I do understand the criticism of his treatment of elena but de'ers are not one to talk. I mean I do agree that he slutshamed elena but damon was the one being gross to her so it's not exactly a plus for them either. And back when I was a de shipper, I used to be upset about the memory wipe but now I actually think it's the first smart thing she did as a vampire. And even tho I love stelena, I can understand some of the criticism but when de stans moan on about stefan being bad to elena, it's like....damon was no better. I don't even hate him anymore (mostly love-hate; it's complicated) but srsly just stop justifying his abuse of elena.

[catoscloves]

i literally am trying not to be one of those "not my elena gilbert" people because that's literally just bitter salvabro fans (mostly st*lena) who think elena shouldn't have actions that reflect development and a characterization outside her love interests but like. how did the elena who was so justifiably angry and bit into a frat boy that roofied someone (like a slay girlboss) also slut shame caroline and belittle her trauma from being r*ped by her boyfriend. feminism applies to the friend that annoys you too!!!! and r*pe victims in general bestie!!! not just when it's convenient for your bloodlust or moral superiority

[scienter]

I know this is such old news now lmao but I honestly can’t believe that there are still some diehard stelena shippers who will die on the hill that stefan would have “gone back to elena in a heartbeat”, even after everything that bitch put him through?? Like they legit think that he would choose Elena over Care?? I’m just... speechless and still not over it all these years later lol I nearly got in an argument about it haha help

I mean at this point if someone still believes that Stefan & Elena could have been a thing after EVERYTHING that went down . . . they believe it because of motivated reasoning. 

Motivated reasoning is a psychological phenomena where a person’s emotionally biased reasoning forces them to conclude the most desired result rather than the result that actually reflects the evidence. It’s the cognitive bias that to some degree is the foundation of every fandom. Some fans suffer from this cognitive bias more than others. The SE torchbearers are one of them.

Stefan fell in love with Caroline. Elena fell in love with Damon. There’s zero evidence that Stefan and Elena had any romantic or sexual interest in each other after season 5. And it’s impossible to argue with anyone who believes otherwise because you can’t logic someone out of a position that they didn’t logic themselves into. If SE-4-Ever is the hill they want to they want to die on then so be it. That’s the nature of fandom. 

[bakerolivias-archived]

stelena kind of went to hell this season and i don't really give a shit about them at this point but. what elena said was actually really important insight on her character, and what she wants in a romantic relationship: to be listened to, to be trusted, and to be able to make her own decisions without being controlled and have those choices be respected, and stefan did that which was why she respected him in return at one point (before he forced her to relive her trauma so he could manipulate klaus which. big yikes).

it doesn't make sense for her to want d.amon or to choose him, and is out of character, because elena wants a relationship founded on trust and mutual respect, and how can she have that, especially with damon, of all people? d.amon, who forced vampire blood against her will and would have turned her to a life of vampirism, which should be a choice made out of free will, but in this case, wasn't. who mistreated her as well as her friends, who forces her into damseling when elena's capable of getting shit done, who "shelters" her in the name of love and protectiveness and can't see how harmful and toxic his behavior is? damon remorselessly suggested he and alaric tie up elena and lock her in a room to keep her safe (which is disturbing in and of itself, especially since he's suggesting this idea to a white man in his thirties lmao, who is elena's teacher.). not only does he exhibit many red flags, elena doesn't have his respect and if he won't allow her room to make her own choices, she can never reciprocate it herself.

neither stefan or damon are the ideal partner at this point, and if anything elena's not in the headspace to be pursuing a romantic relationship right now, being the traumatized teenage girl she is who is grieving the loss of her parents and her aunt, at seventeen, no less. and she especially shouldn't be pursuing two predatory white boys who can't respect any of her clear boundaries and constantly take away her agency.

[kmze]

Thoughts on 4x13-4x23 TBH I had a lot of fun watching this half! I liked Elena’s no humanity arc and I enjoyed Silas fucking around with everyone and getting inside their heads. I also liked the detours to NYC and the storybook town Katherine compelled. There is some good foreshadowing this half and it was definitely much better than the first half of S4 (at least to me) The worst part was Bonnie’s storyline because of how tragically it ended and that she wasn’t in control of herself for much of it (this season was rough for her, might be her roughest). Also everyone appears to be dumber for plot reasons (or maybe it was just Damon being put in charge too often). Thoughts below!

4x13

The way Rebekah body slammed Elena CTFU!!

Klaus is such an asshole. As much as I have enjoyed some of the Klaus and Caroline scenes this season (my feelings about them have evolved, they are a necessary evil lol) stuff like this will always turn me off about them.

This Forwood scene is both touching and heartbreaking. Caroline reassuring Tyler he did the right thing because he freed the hybrids, and calling him a leader. They’re so great.

Again it's so cruel how the show is handling Beremy in regards to Bonnie. They came back together pretty quickly, which isn't a bad thing because it shows Jeremy has been pining this whole time (which your own fault my guy). However, they are just setting Bonnie up because he's gonna die! All those shirtless muscle grazes for nothing.

Rebekah dropping truth bombs though about how everyone should shut up about taking the moral high ground.

I like that Caroline always finds a way to stay alive! She knew she could use Klaus’ feelings for her against him to cure her, and she doesn’t have to give him anything in return. Adapt or die.

4x14

I am so tired of hearing about the cure already!

These beach/forest island scenes are making me zone out, I have no idea what's going on with this plot and very ready for it to end.

Nah Klaus was being way too nice and forgiving, Tyler and Caroline needed to be quicker figuring that out.

For someone who hates Elena she sure does talk about her ALL THE TIME JFC Rebekah, get a life.

But EL OH EL at Elena trying to get Stefan back to worshipping her by talking about his feelings on being human and when she asks why he didn't tell her he says "because it wasn't about you" BURN!

I like how you can subtly tell its Katherine when she goes to bite the hunter. Elena never would have done that.

Poor Forwood :(

Klaus is so fucking delusional “you know I would never hurt you” you just did less than 24 hours ago!

4x15

Stefan and Caroline have great silent communication.

Sometimes I read Reddit against my better judgement and for some reason they all believe Stefan and Bonnie should have happened. But I’m sorry after 3.5 seasons into this rewatch Stefan doesn’t give a flying fuck about Bonnie! Whatever “friendship” people think was “ignored” does not exist! He basically told Damon to leave her on that island with a 2000 year old psychic immortal because Damon needed to use the sire bond (!!!) on Elena. Bonnie doesn’t really fuck with him either, ever since Grams died she keeps her distance more than I noticed before. I think Bonnie recognizes how much Stefan is a lying liar who lies.

I think that’s why Bonnie ultimately got closer to Damon than she ever did to Stefan. Not that she trusts Damon or even really likes him until S6, but he at least shows her who he is all the time.

Damon and Caroline do not have good silent communication lol.

The crazypants Bonnie scenes are amusing in a scary way during all this heavy stuff.

This was one of the most emotional episodes of this show ever and I mean that in a good way. Nina deserved more accolades for her performance because it’s really heartbreaking, and she does a fantastic job of switching from extremely emotional to “emotionless” humanity off.

The scene where the trio walks out of the house while it’s burning you see Damon and Elena keep walking together but Stefan stays back a bit to look at the house and gets separated from the two of them. I felt like that was foreshadowing that Stefan is going to move on and essentially leave the triangle.

4x16

Wait did Elena just imply Caroline has seen her naked!

Damon’s list of things Klaus sucks at CTFU!

I feel like Stefan always has a vervain needle in his pocket LMFAO! Phone, keys, wallet, vervain needle. It will also endlessly amaze me how often vamps get roofied by vervain needles in broad daylight and just no one cares.

The way NH!Elena stops when she sees Stefan and Caroline dancing and stomps over GREATEST MOMENTS IN TVD HISTORY! I firmly believe this is the first time we see Stefan have his more than friendship feelings for Caroline (the ones that scared him and he pushed away) and actually act on them.

OMG am I ready for Rebekah to go away already!

Klaus and Hayley have ZERO chemistry wow. They definitely get better on TO but this was painful to watch.

Personally I would have told Stefan “not my problem” re: NH!Elena but Caroline is nicer than me. She’s also still kinda falls for his tricks at this point (wait until S6 my friends).

4x17

Love the 1977 flashback mostly for the use of Psycho Killer.

KLEFAROLINE! I can’t believe this is the only episode ever that they all shared scenes at the same time.

Isn’t Shane dead?!? I can’t follow this storyline at all man.

You can always tell how bad the show is treating Bonnie by how bad her wig/hair is and right now it's getting bad again. It looked great with the curtain bangs but the full bangs are a no-go. How this show managed to make Kat Graham look NOT gorgeous on purpose is it's most heinous crime.

I think we can all agree when Klaus said “don’t underestimate the allure of darkness Stefan, even the purest of hearts are drawn to it” it was him propositioning Stefan and Caroline to have a threesome.

I’m really enjoying the NYC scenes and the flashbacks. It’s giving a different feel to the show and I like it, almost the opposite of how it made me feel in the beginning of the season. Maybe we’re transitioning with Elena again but this time it's about having no humanity and hedonism so it's like grimmy, dark and sexy. Also change of scenery once in a while is a good thing.

Klaus pushing Stefan against the tree was way more sexual than the script intended me thinks. Then Caroline rushes over, and that’s why we only got one episode of this throuple, le sigh.

Damn NH!Damon was cold blooded in the flashback with Lexi, I forgot about that.

4x18

Katherine compelling a whole town reminds me of WandaVision now.

Stefan pointing out how incompetent Damon is lol always funny (and true).

NH!Elena intimidating Katherine is GOLD! Nina is having so much fun with this arc and I love that for her.

Damon and Stefan being like “ew” at Katherine and Elijah like they both haven’t slept with her AND her doppelgänger.

Honestly the vial the cure was in did not look like a 2000 year old vial so like again, morons. Damon for some reason thought Katherine was as stupid as him and hide it in the most obvious spot.

NH!Elena is right how fucking stupid is Elijah that he trusted Katherine or believes anything she says EVER. He's just as gullible as his sister.

I’m with Elijah honestly Klaus no one cares about you being tormented, you’re the worst and this is karma. I'm also with him in regards to Rebekah and her insisting on taking the cure, you wouldn't last one day without superpowers, you're just bored and need attention.

4x19

Caroline still got the better dress lol. I do love when she uses men's affections to get herself things.

Silas appearing as everyone was a good villain for this half. Gave everyone an opportunity to play something different, plus there’s always something scary about a shapeshifter especially one that can read your mind.

Bonnie going cray-cray again but even worse her hair and this dull dress WTF?! Like they gave her prom queen but at what cost! I hope Kat burned this wig once she was free from it.

I personally feel like the Steroline prom dance affects Stefan more than Caroline. She maybe feels a little tingle after they share a look but Stefan’s reaction is way more played up. He’s the one who lowers his head like they might kiss and then the breath he takes after. My heart. Love how this becomes such an important moment in their love story, especially for him. He mentions it in his speech about loving her changed his life, and oh yeah his friggin' wedding vows!

See another vervain needle! This guy!

I'm sorry but LMFAO at Klaus talking about humanity saying mockingly "why does this always happen to innocent people" because he's kinda right! Being human in this world would be super lame with all the supernatural power and knowledge they have.

Elijah knows there's a super-powerful immortal psychic who can impersonate people wondering around and he doesn't ask for even a little bit of clarifying information when "Rebekah" says she passed his test. Also he just believes she passed his test? HOW IS HE THIS GULLIBLE?!

4x20

The first scene cracks me up in retrospect like “we three are contractually obligated to be in all episodes so here’s some random dialogue to fill that” LMFAO

MARCEL <333 you beautiful sexy ass hell man, I shall always crackship you with Bonnie Boncel4lyfe

Elijah is just as bad as Stefan when it comes to his brother, like OMG just let that man GO! Some people just don’t want to be saved man.

The Klamille scene when they looking at the painting and discussing it is really nice (plus great song). I know technically he looked at art with Caro first but like Cami actually appreciates art and Caro couldn’t really care less beyond distracting him lol.

4x21

IDK if I can believe Caroline was valedictorian… I mean I don’t think she’s dumb or not determined enough to get it but there is no way she attended enough classes to get it. Sorry show I don’t believe you.

You know Caroline is moving up in the TVD food chain when Matt turns a dig about her from Rebekah into a compliment!

Matt being the trigger for Elena made sense, he got the biggest emotional reaction out of her when she first saw him in the woods. I don’t think Damon got any real emotional reaction out of her tbh, and Stefan got some with her jealousy over Caroline and when he compared her to Katherine. This just proves Matlena should have been endgame like I’ve always said!

4x22

Stefan definitely had Caroline babysitting Elena.

Sorry but I love how everyone doesn’t even entertain the idea Elena could kill Katherine. They are like she’s 500 years old and 500x smarter than you, you will die.

Lexi’s comments are great foreshadowing for Steroline. They are ambiguous enough that they don’t say Stefan has feelings for Caroline but they don’t deny it. Lexi definitely seems to think so though and she's known him for over 100 years so...

I know Katherine and Elena have tons of reasons to want each other dead but it felt like they played it up on purpose this episode and the next one to make them fight and give Katherine the cure. It’s not OOC or anything just feels more manufactured than it needed to be.

I can’t believe they killed Bonnie! I know it’s temporary but JFC she can’t catch a break, this was an awful season half for her. Fuck Julie and Dries.

4x23

I can’t believe they had Stefan graduate LMFAO zero people believe he attended more than 2 classes this whole year.

I like how the Klaroline scene in 4x23 and the Steroline scene in 6x22 work in tandem. I used to view it as a conflict but now I appreciate how they work so well for Caroline. Two hot powerful guys promising her their heart and she gets to choose which one whenever she wants since they both gave an open timeline. It girl behavior!

I don’t think I ever zone out more than when Damon and Elena make one of their yelling love declarations of toxicity. I will never understand their appeal.

Poor Stefan. I do feel a little bad but they did hint all season he was going to be the one to move on and he knew it too. Through a rewatch it’s easy to see the hints and foreshadowing. His scene with Damon where he says he’s “not not happy for you” is great too because that’s what matters to him more in the end.

Human Katherine! Such a great storyline excited for it!

HELLO MY SHADOW SELF

Lines that made me laugh:

Rebekah: You’re like Sherlock Holmes with brain damage (she's annoying but she is funny!)

Elena: You got Lexi’d! (CRYING I swear everyone is funnier without humanity)

Caroline: I don’t know if this is your new weird way of flirting, but it sucks. (her delivery was the best part)

[kmze]

Thoughts on 4x01 - 4x12 again I wrote a novel. This is probably my least favorite rewatch half since S1 and it's because the stuff I liked I really liked and the stuff I didn't like I really didn't like. It kind of ebbed and flowed for me, I didn't like the first two episodes (they felt weird I don't know how to describe it) but then I liked Connor and the hunters mythology. I liked the Klefan team-up and the hybrid sire bond breaking with Tyler (I liked his plot the most of anyone) and obviously I liked that the show remembered Steroline existed and all the friendship and sober sponsor goodness. But I didn't like when the hunters mark turned to the cure and Silas because I honestly lost the plot on the convolution of that. I loathe LOATHE the sire bond stuff and DE in general and while 4x09 was a highlight the next three brought it back to not enjoying myself as much (I blame the lack of Caroline).

4x01

“I made a choice that I will regret for the rest of my life” see even Stefan knows that was a stupid ass decision!

Not to defend Matt but can the Salvatore brothers leave him alone like damn it’s not his fault. Especially Stefan like projecting much? Damon wanting to kill Matt so badly is tiring like what is even the point?

God the DRAMA over Elena deciding to transition or not became downright annoying.

Bonnie you need to listen to Grams and stop saving these damn people!

RIP the Council you were useful for one day and then you got blown up.

4x02

I don’t really see how the animal diet wouldn’t cause more duress since you have to kill an animal, as opposed to just drinking from a blood bag? IDK Stefan you need to maybe reassess your vampire training manual because this doesn’t seem to be a diet anyone chooses unless they have drinking problem. Plus the dramatics over Elena feeding and possibly killing someone come on man, there’s like six people watching her I think you can all manage if you do it in shifts.

Damn I forgot how hot Conner is *bites fist* and I love that he shots first questions later! Someone who gets shit done and actually shook the table around here!

Tyler is the only one around here actually willing to put himself in danger to cause the least amount of casualties. A motherfucking G!

I’m sorry but Elena told April to remember it was a beautiful service but like it wasn’t! Tyler got shot! I would have included that information.

Why did Damon start kinda breaking the fourth wall suddenly?

Between Stefan starting it off by listing people Damon killed and Elena mourning HERSELF this is the most in sync’ Stelena has been since S2 LMFAO!

4x03

These past few episodes have been so overly emotional and dramatic it’s a bit much for me. I think it’s because the show is making us “feel” Elena’s transition like we’re doing it along with her, but please show I don’t ever want to be forced to relate to Elena.

Klaus getting so excited to try and breakup a high school couple is both sad and hilarious. Like he is glowing at the thought!

Man Rebekah is RUTHLESS!

The motorcycle scene is so bad!

I know I get more of a buzz from this than most but the Steroline scene is really just a nice scene. There is so much self righteousness and postering going around in these episodes and finally someone is like “I need help will you help me” “of course” and it is so nice! Stefan gives her these heart eyes when she says she's good at it because of him that just make me melt. I don't even think it's about the boost to his ego, I think he just really needed to hear that he did something right. This is also such a huge moment in relation to Stefan because it's the first time he ASKED for help with his blood addiction. With Lexi, Damon even Elena they told him they'd help him and they all did a bit but Caroline was the first person he sought out help from. And he trusted her when she said he could come to her whenever he wanted and she wouldn't let him lose control. Because Caroline is a genius at self-control. I always liked how we got the line "you don't have to pretend with me" from Stefan to Caroline in 2x13 and now you see how Stefan starts to learn he doesn't have to pretend with Caroline either.

4x04

Even the voiceover recap is dramatic!!

Stefan’s “we’re not in a fight this is our resting phase get over yourself” comment was hilarious.

How does Caroline not know how hard it is Elena hmm not like she woke up all alone having no idea what was happening to her since NO ONE told her about the supernatural world before that! The only possible information she had was visions of Damon abusing her, raping her and feeding on her! Not like she didn't have to work her ass off to prove to EVERYONE she could do it (only Stefan had some faith in). Then after that she was tortured by her own father despite being "too good at it". Yep no idea how hard it is.

Klaus sitting at the bar with a glass of wine smirking at Rebekah’s failures should not be as funny as it is but I am DYING!

Klaus’ smile when Stefan figured out his motive, what a sap! At least he's using new methods to get his (boy)friend back now. Instead of ruining his life he's like "wanna manipulate people and be shady" the best way to Stefan's heart.

While I do enjoy the Bonnie/Shane storyline (mostly) I am immensely tired at how often Bonnie loses her powers. This never seemed to happened to the witches on TO... and of course we all know why (racism).

Everything about Damon in this episode disgusts me. When he basically described S1!Caroline as the perfect "feeding victim" I wanted to reach through the screen and stake him. Can't even enjoy Bamon crumbs during this time period.

Stefan manipulated Rebekah into giving up all the information after one conversation… I just cannot. If Rebekah wasn’t mostly indestructible there’s no way she’d have lived this long, she will give all her secrets away to the first person who shows her a modicum of warmth.

4x05

Elena is so out of the loop and I love it (because I am a HATER)

I'm glad Bonnie got to just vibe with Shane instead of being forced to help this hostage situation, good for her.

The Hunter plot is good, I do like how they have their own symbols and the tattoo only other hunters can see. It gets a bit too complicated when Silas and the cure get introduced but it was good while it was just about the hunters.

Matt and Jeremey getting April a vervain bracelet THANK YOU!

Farewell Connor you should have been Too-Hot-to-Die!

The cracks in Forwood are starting :( because Tyler is right, Chris was his friend and more importantly Tyler wants to keep everyone safe and values everyone's life not just those he believes are important. But Caroline doesn't believe that, she'll try to save everyone and she'll at least feel bad but she will always save her friends first. There's also the fact that she's already started picking Stefan's side over Tyler's which will come to a head soon...

4x06

Caroline’s grin at tricking Klaus LMFAO

They would make Elena be haunted by her first kill after telling me how SHE JUST CARES TOO MUCH and her compassion is her greatest weakness the last five episodes. I hate it here.

Jeremy being so eager to stake Damon LMFAO!! I mean can you blame him? You know how many problems would have been fixed if they killed his ass.

They make it the Stelena break-up all about Elena's feelings for Damon which... is not the full problem here. If anything the problem is Elena's feelings for Damon mean her and Stefan aren't in sync like they were in S2. Because when SE works it's when Stefan can be the ideal boyfriend who respects Elena's choices and always protects her (at the expense of others if needed) and Elena can uplift that. She'll even remind people of it, like Elijah in 2x19 or when she would remind Damon, like when she invited Stefan into the boarding house first and embarrassed Damon on the condition he follow her rules (and Stefan smiles smugly). I mentioned it in my 2x12-22 recap thoughts how Elena wants to have a relationship with both brothers, but it only works if Elena isn't in love with Damon. Because then the roles don't work anymore, and Stefan has more self respect than Damon and quite frankly has zero interest being a side piece. Because we KNOW Damon will be in love with Elena no matter what like he was in love with Katherine for 145 years (until he transferred that over to Elena) but Stefan can move on (and does fight me).

4x07

When Caroline is talking to Stefan about her disgust at Delena and goes “and you’re you” the way Candice says it and her body language is PERFECTION! You see that small part that feels a tingle for Stefan pop out for a second after she buried it when they became friends in S2 (it stays there until S5 IMO).

Klaus is such a dick lol, he knows exactly what’s going on (that Elena is sired to Damon) and he just gives Caroline another riddle.

Everything with Damon and Elena this episode (most episodes lbr) makes me ill so I'm just going to ignore it :)

The Klaus and Caroline scenes at Miss Mystic Falls are kinda cute, I liked when he was teasing her with the application lol. The hummingbird analogy was kind of like "what TF is he talking about" though. Also why didn't we get Caroline saying if she'd take the cure or not, feels like they purposely wanted to keep that lingering.

I do like how much shadiness is going on this season, like not really knowing Hayley's motives and now we know she's working with Shane. Stefan and Klaus' team-up and how that brought a lot of hostility to the trio and also makes Caroline a more primetime player.

Another precious moment! When Caroline is going on her pro-Stelena rant and she’s like “her and Damon” *shakes in disgust like her whole body icks over the idea* (samsies). Then Stefan does this d’aw look and shy smile trying not to laugh because Caroline is Caroline and just BEING HER makes him forget how crappy his life is.

Now one of my favorite eras begins aka "Stefan and Caroline figure everything out by the fireplace (and fall in love)" era.

4x08

Stefan is being more sanctimonious than usual and if it were any other character than Damon I’d be like "let's not throw stones from glass houses..." But since he’s Damon and he still doesn’t do the right thing after all this, I'll allow it.

The show tried to push the side bond as feelings but like that’s not why the sire bond is bad. It’s the lack of consent because you are forced to act based on what you’re told by one person and it prohibits free will. THAT'S THE PROBLEM! No one thinks Elena didn't have feelings for Damon before she turned we fucking know this.

The scene with Caroline, Elena and Bonnie drinking and partying in the Salvatore living room is very cute and funny and I love it and it sucks that every other interaction between them this episodes fills me with hate. The part where Caroline says "It's not your fault, Elena. Damon took advantage of you!" you really hear the fear in her voice.

Elena is a bit too intrigued watching the hybrids bow to Tyler...

I thought Stefan was going to say "because he's my brother" when Caroline asked how he could trust Damon and how utterly annoyed it was going to make me, his excuse was a least a little better than that. He was wrong of course, because Stefan never learns when it comes to Damon.

4x09

The first scene of this episode is… why? They just established the lack of consent with the sire bond and Damon and Elena are laying on top of a bed together.

Caroline looks ETHERAL (and yes the very petty part of me loves that she gets to look stunning while Elena looks dull and miserable even her hair doesn't pop like it used to *evil grin*)

The way Tyler says "you told HIM" AJSHBCFJSFHJ god I love this scene, and the way Stefan moves in front of Caroline to protect her from HER BOYFRIEND, god I love it. I love when two characters just straight-up do not like each other based on personalities and not plot contrivance. Because Tyler and Stefan have never gotten along and they would never speak to each other if they could help it but they have to, because they both care about Caroline. That's how you do a triangle. Love how Tyler threw in Stefan's face that he already got one of the hybrids killed so he doesn't owe him anything. Sterowood you deserved more.

The Klefaroline stuff is also so great, the little art critic remarks and Klaus saying "you've been dodgy and Caroline's been lovely which I've come to recognize as a tool of distraction" (took him long enough lol). I do really enjoy the Klefan conversation about loneliness (which was what Caroline said about the snowflake) and memorializing their dead. Then the remorse that Stefan and Caroline feel at leading Klaus to slaughter and then cutting to... Klaus brutally murdering 12 hybrids to a Christmas carol. This show!

Watching Tyler find all the dead hybrids... damn I just feel so awful for Tyler. He was just trying to help them and never really wanted to be the alpha and now he has to feel immense guilt over them trusting him.

4x10

I’m sorry Becks but getting mad at Stefan for his dirty tricks girl... maybe stop letting yourself get manipulated ALL THE TIME!

I do appreciate Damon shooting Klaus for Carol.

Man Shane can resist compulsion too why are these idiots still not learning that! Morons all of them.

The prospect of Rebekah ramming the cure down Klaus throat does give me a perverse amount of joy! Really would have loved to see him deal with that predicament MWAHAHAHAAAA!

Stefan is such a drama queen this episode. Look the sire bond is gross and the way Damon is using it to his advantage is gross but like... Stefan is mad at Elena having feelings for Damon because of the sire bond but HE KNEW SHE DID BEFORE HE LET HER DROWN! And again maybe you shouldn't have been so comfortable with your brother being in love with your girlfriend Stefan because it "proved their was a part of him that was human" or whatever bullshit he used to say.

4x11

I do love how sassy Stefan got once he detached from Elena, he’s so much more fun this way!

Even Matt is questioning Elena’s choices about Damon oh how the mighty have fallen!

Sorry not sorry but I’m ready for the Original family to leave for their spin-off. I don’t care enough to even understand their issues now it’s so zzzzzzz, Klaus is the only one who mildly entertains me and that’s only when he’s around Stefan, Caroline or Tyler.

I know he's just trying to aggravate Damon but Klaus saying "Stefan would never dream of hurting Elena" um sir we all know that is not true. You were on the phone with him when he threatened to turn her into a vampire and drive her off a bridge! So much so that you actually stood down!

For someone who wants to be human so bad Rebekah is obsessed with Ripper Stefan and I don't get it! Do you know what Ripper Stefan does to humans? He eats them! And not in the sexy way! I'm also forever over these vampires say they want to be human so badly when they clearly love their vampire powers.

Elena like “wanna commit genocide real quick” girl...

4x12

CTFU at Stefan looking so guilty when Klaus opens the door like he’s been caught cheating!

Two episodes in a row with no Caroline WTF I don’t deserve this!

I know Bonnie’s Dad literally appeared out of nowhere but he’s not wrong in basically everything he’s been saying. She can’t really protect the town like she says when she’s working in vampires' interest. And thank god someone put vervain in the water supply!

It’s kind of sad to watch Bonnie’s parents finally give a shit about her and started telling her to stop putting herself in danger for Elena. Because they are completely right with everything they’re saying and Bonnie just won’t listen now.

The Stebekah 80s “date” does a good job of showing the duality of Stefan. I think he’s being completely genuine in having fun with Rebekah and that it reminded him of his time with Lexi who always made him happy. But he’s also doing this to distract her while Elena and Jeremy try to kill her brother. And I like that he doesn’t have Matt dagger her because she was honest with him and he didn’t want to betray her after she did. But then he manipulates her into being back on his side to get the cure and to not be mad Jeremy and Elena killed Kol. Oh when he’s good he's good.

There’s so many mentions of burning Elena’s house down lol. They couldn’t wait to torch this sucker.

The Klonnie scene where Klaus is like "witch" and she gives him a death glare... they could have been a fire hateship man!

Bonnie’s face was like oooooo watching the triangle drama lol (samsies).

Lines that made me laugh:

Klaus: For future reference, one voicemail is just as effective as nine (this was an ongoing theme with Klefan and it was hilarious)

Stefan: *snaps Damon’s neck* You’re welcome (LMFAO all in the delivery sassy Stefan never leave me!)