Elena, and her MAGNIFIED EMOTIONS...
...so there is a lot of meta out there that I haven't even had a chance to properly read yet, and I will do my best to get to it, but for now I just want to jot down my biggest impressions.
So, we all know that Elena has feelings for Damon. This isn't news. And we all know that Stefan has needed to be called on the carpet, oh about 10,000 times, for his lying, manipulative ways. So, as it turns out "WAGaLMS" is to Elena as "The Return" is to Damon. It was a total stripping away of all her lies to herself, the things she avoided, or was able to avoid as a human, but no longer can as a vampire, and well, like "The Return," it was simply glorious. She was stripped down and laid bare, and she embraced it. [An interesting parallel/mirror thing is that she killed Jeremy at the beginning of the episode -- the spark to her self-realization, whereas Damon killed Jeremy at the end of his episode -- the culmination of his self-realization.]
Twice now Elena has used the phrase "I wasn't myself." The first time she said it to Damon with regard to his snarking about her not telling Stefan about their "dirty dancing" at the frat (in 4x05). Then she said it again to Curse!Connor about killing him.
But, here's the truth: as a vampire, Elena has lost her filter. And it's AMAZING. She can't funnel away her attraction to and trust in Damon for anything other than what it is: based on his own merit, and the way she feels about him (has always felt about him). That was the point of Stefan's remark about how he understood how she had grown to care for Damon in his absence -- she'd needed someone, and Damon had filled the void. And while that is partially true, it's important to note that it's the way Damon filled that void that made him indispensable to Elena. Their emergence as a TEAM is what was always missing from her relationship with Stefan, because, for the most part, Stefan was always covering his ass one way or another.
But the real revelation in all of this -- through the guise of hallucinatory!Katherine is that Stefan will not love the "real" Elena. Because she too hid herself from him. They were never honest, ever, really with each other. They played the role the other wanted them to. And that's why whatever love they have is not forever love, could never be forever love, and will not be forever love.
So, now the lovely Elena is experiencing the fact that all her feelings for Damon are demanding to be explored. For real. For their entirety. Not just a hot and heavy make-out session for a stolen moment, but a real live shot. To see what they might become.
Elena's anger at Stefan, and specifically her line about not wanting to hear him talk his way out of it, was so indicative of the fact that she's been angry about a LOT of OTHER things for a long, long time, but was never bold enough to address it. But now, she is. And it's wonderful. And their break-up got me in my feels, it really did. Because it's about their dysfunction, and that they aren't a match anymore (never really were, in reality), but it's sadder and harder because both of them know: she is a match for Damon, if she chooses to go there.
So, I am so looking forward to what lies ahead, because now? Now I feel like Damon and Elena will finally have to deal with their real issues, which, as we all know, really have nothing to do with Stefan. I CAN'T WAIT. SO EXCITE.
Love my ship, forever and ever.
So, we all know that Elena has feelings for Damon. This isn't news. And we all know that Stefan has needed to be called on the carpet, oh about 10,000 times, for his lying, manipulative ways. So, as it turns out "WAGaLMS" is to Elena as "The Return" is to Damon. It was a total stripping away of all her lies to herself, the things she avoided, or was able to avoid as a human, but no longer can as a vampire, and well, like "The Return," it was simply glorious. She was stripped down and laid bare, and she embraced it. [An interesting parallel/mirror thing is that she killed Jeremy at the beginning of the episode -- the spark to her self-realization, whereas Damon killed Jeremy at the end of his episode -- the culmination of his self-realization.]
Twice now Elena has used the phrase "I wasn't myself." The first time she said it to Damon with regard to his snarking about her not telling Stefan about their "dirty dancing" at the frat (in 4x05). Then she said it again to Curse!Connor about killing him.
But, here's the truth: as a vampire, Elena has lost her filter. And it's AMAZING. She can't funnel away her attraction to and trust in Damon for anything other than what it is: based on his own merit, and the way she feels about him (has always felt about him). That was the point of Stefan's remark about how he understood how she had grown to care for Damon in his absence -- she'd needed someone, and Damon had filled the void. And while that is partially true, it's important to note that it's the way Damon filled that void that made him indispensable to Elena. Their emergence as a TEAM is what was always missing from her relationship with Stefan, because, for the most part, Stefan was always covering his ass one way or another.
But the real revelation in all of this -- through the guise of hallucinatory!Katherine is that Stefan will not love the "real" Elena. Because she too hid herself from him. They were never honest, ever, really with each other. They played the role the other wanted them to. And that's why whatever love they have is not forever love, could never be forever love, and will not be forever love.
So, now the lovely Elena is experiencing the fact that all her feelings for Damon are demanding to be explored. For real. For their entirety. Not just a hot and heavy make-out session for a stolen moment, but a real live shot. To see what they might become.
Elena's anger at Stefan, and specifically her line about not wanting to hear him talk his way out of it, was so indicative of the fact that she's been angry about a LOT of OTHER things for a long, long time, but was never bold enough to address it. But now, she is. And it's wonderful. And their break-up got me in my feels, it really did. Because it's about their dysfunction, and that they aren't a match anymore (never really were, in reality), but it's sadder and harder because both of them know: she is a match for Damon, if she chooses to go there.
So, I am so looking forward to what lies ahead, because now? Now I feel like Damon and Elena will finally have to deal with their real issues, which, as we all know, really have nothing to do with Stefan. I CAN'T WAIT. SO EXCITE.
Love my ship, forever and ever.