Homecoming aka I am sooooooo sorry
This thing is a BEAST guys. Forever long, it never ends, I had too much love and too many thoughts and WORDS NEVER STOP COMING. So. This is divided into two parts, but not gifs/text as I had proposed, rather flail/meta. Of course, you'll have to forgive me if the two encroach on each other's territories, but they are clearly marked by big bold underlined text so you can skip to whatever parts you want to read. Provided that you want to read any of it. Also, characters names are underlined and bolded as well, so pick your favorite peeps and read about them (I hope that doesn't get super annoying).
Anywho.
Most of the flail is up here (and there is a lot of it):
-On the phone at the beginning, Stefan is such a dick. I’m a little miffed at him for being that way toward Klaus…which is completely irrational, but there we have it.
-I completely love it every time one of the boys calls the other “brother.” Throwing that out there.
-We made “dagger” a verb. LOL
-Also, Klaus has trust issues, Daddy Original admits. Poor bb. :’(
-REBEKAH MY BABY. “I miss you.” And you know she means it. And that’s what really convinces him to come home and Rebekah knows that’s exactly the button she has to push. (Mystic Falls is everybody’s home. Sheesh.) He really, really loves her. I love this relationship.
-Of course Rebekah is painting her toenails as she waits for her dad to come back to life. That’s one of those so-in-character-it-hurts moments. And then she tells him off because he deserves it. I love this girl. Like a lot.
-ELENA WHINING ABOUT NOT HAVING PROPER HOMECOMING ATTIRE. WIIIIIIIIIIIIN. Also, love the reminder that Elena has family too and that family comes before friends, even best friends, even best best friends. “He’s your brother.” LOVE.
-“I’m 162 years old and I’m going to a homecoming dance. I need better ties.” STEFAN, MARRY ME. Seriously, how much fun was he? TOO MUCH FUN THAT’S HOW MUCH. And I love love love his and Elena’s interactions during this whole Ripper thing. They are FANTASTIC. I don’t feel like we’ve lost any love, just that we’ve discovered a whole new realm for snark. I kind of want them to be like this forever tbh. But maybe less cruelty and more dancing. That would be perfect.
But oh gosh the things he goes on to say! I love him pointing out the obvious! GUH SO MUCH. But he’s so full of bullshit when he cites his freedom from Klaus as the reason for his concern about the plan. Stefan CAN’T not care. He TOTALLY cares about those two and it’s freaking bleeding obvious when he, well, talks, walks, breathes, ect.
-Why are Caroline and Tyler decorating a van? I don’t understand. Is this a Mystic Falls tradition? Is this a thing some high schools just do? I don’t get it. But the conversation is A-1. “Rebekah the Evil Blood Slut,” for example. LOOOOOOOL. Will never not be funny. Never. And Candice makes the absolute best faces. I think she’s better at this than Ian is by a landslide actually. Also, “If I’m sired to anybody, it’s you.” That was the point in the episode where I still shipped this. And shipped it a lot.
-This desire to go to high school, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. High school blows, guys. You vampires need to get over it. But I did desperately want Rebekah to get to go to the dance. I was really excited for her. :/
-Rebekah warning Elena to be careful. MY HEART. Rebekah is freaking perfect. No one in her family can be trusted she says and she’s so much the baby sister right there, it oozes off her. Oh Rebekah bb, betrayed and betrayed again but unconditionally loving her family all the while.
-ELENA BEING SNEAKY. And successful at it. Did not see that coming. And then she feels guilty. Good job, show.
-BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN ELENA AND KATHERINE = YES, SHOW, YESSSSSSSSS. NEVER STOP. I’ve been wanting this to happen for forever and then it did. :DDDDDDD The happiness, it comes in waves. (And that line: “It was a compliment! Sort of.” Brilliant delivery, Mr. Somerhalder.)
-“Do you trust me?” Aladdin flashbacks hardcore.
-Caroline freaked over the dance. I LOVE THIS GIRL.
-Klaus is SO AWKWARD up on that stage. I dunno, something about the way he stands up there is just weird.
-Okay, NOBODY CAN CURL THEIR HAIR THAT FAST. Obviously, Matt honey, she’s not Elena. And I definitely think he thought it was Elena because of the whole “It’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Us being here together.” Not something he would have said to Katherine, although it applies. I’m reasonably certain he would have been mum if he’d known who he was really taking to Homecoming.
-And will Caroline ever be let in on the main action? EVER. She needs to be in the thick of things here, show. #my only complaint #ONLY
-Oh Klaus bb. “Bygones will be bygones.” I don’t think you’re correct, sir. BUT I WANT YOU TO BE. Because I love you. But in terms of plot, I HOPE YOU’RE WRONG WRONG WRONG. Also, lol at the insinuation that Rebekah would have killed the homecoming queen had she been there. PERFECT FAMILY IS PERFECT.
-I LOVE the alternative vampire lifestyle we get introduced to with Mikael. Bunnies aren’t the only option! Stef, start eating vampires! EVERYBODY START EATING VAMPIRES. That’s just too cool, peeps.
-DAMON’S FACE WHEN MIKAEL ATTACKED STEFAN. BE STILL MY BROTHERHOOD HEART. Really, did you SEE his faaaaaaaaaaace?????? I’m going to be dying FOREVER over that. WHAT ARE MY HANDS FOR?
-Katherine does a pretty good Elena impression. Except for the TERRIFIED sliding down her curls.
-Caroline needs new boyfriends.
-BONNIE GOT TO DO THINGS AND DAMON GOT TO MAKE THE BEST FACES WITH THE WORST HAIR. Wicked awesome supernatural fight, too.
LOOK AT THAT FACE. (credit)
-The entire Mikael/Klaus interaction was gold. GOLD. “Nobody cares about you anymore, boy!” Baby, I do!
-Damon, you know where the heart is. Hooooow did you miss? O_o
-The MINUTE and I mean THE MINUTE Stefan pounced on Damon, I KNEW that it was for Damon, not Klaus. I was literally drawing hearts in the air. Big hearts. Full arm windmill action hearts. THE HAPPY I CAN’T STAND IT.
-Also love that Stefan immediately looks for Damon after being released from the compulsion. THESE BROTHERS I CANNOT
-“I’m sorry I stabbed you.” That’s a laaaaaame apology, bro. But I feel him about being sired. I understand, Tyler, and I don’t fault you for it.
-Damon freaking out over the failure of The Plan. I love it when Damon freaks out. And especially love Damon throwing things into the fire. <3333 DAMON/FIRE OTP.
-They’re making me really nervous with the “we have now destroyed every way to kill Klaus” deal. I hope they’re gonna let him live forever, instead of making up some really stupid and outlandish thing with an “Oh look, here’s the magic solution to our problem, we just didn’t see it/know about it before.” I will be angry if they do that.
-“Take care of yourself, Katherine.” I SHIP IT. Damon/Katherine YES.
Look how beautiful. Seriously, this is a beautiful gif. (credit)
-Stefan basically won in every way this episode. I mean, he’s still without Elena, but. He has his bro, he has his freedom. That’s a pretty good score at the end of the game.
-“It just keeps trying to fight its way back in. Sometimes I let it.” This explains so much about Katherine to me. I loved this line. I think everything she’s done makes so much more sense now, at least to me anyway.
There is still some flail down here, but there is mostly metaness:
- SHIPPER MOMENT! (Can you believe I had one? I had one and it made me giddy. :D) As Mikael is telling them about the white oak stake he has, Elena and Stefan turn to each other. I know, it seems small and insignificant, but it’s not. THEY STILL MOVE AS ONE. (They walked down together too, btw.) The thing is that’s exactly the kind of body language they’ve always used. They are a team, they think as a team, even in the way they move. Even now, with all this metaphorical distance between them, when-practically-Elena should be turning to look to Damon, she still turns to look to Stefan. MY SHIPPER HEART.
-“I compelled her [Tyler’s mom] to go to church and pray for your friends.” Klaus you say the best things. Now about this though, Klaus legit gets everybody Tyler (and Stefan) cares about out of the way-or has Tyler do it, same diff essentially. Why? Not because he isn’t assured of his victory, because he certainly is-Tyler’s ragtag bunch of friends is no threat. It was because Tyler (and Stefan let us not forget) Matters to him, he now considers him part of his family and he doesn’t want to cause him pain. Klaus places value on whom Tyler (and Stefan) places value because Tyler (and Stefan) places value on them. Klaus is kind of a good person in a twisted, arbitrary sort of way. Or in the very least, he tries. HE JUST WANTS LOVE GUYS THAT’S ALL. (Imagine how terrible it would be to be that devastatingly lonely for almost a thousand years. The family was an on/off thing, inconsistent companionship.)
-“Stefan wanted Klaus dead. More than anything.” I love how she voices the exact assumption that messed everything up. Stefan wanted Klaus dead more than anything except wanting Damon alive. You’d kinda think that’d just be tacked on to the end of everything that Stefan wants anymore, but these kids (that would be Damon and Elena) can’t possibly recognize that from their positions.
-“I’m never getting Stefan back.” Damooooooooon. But note that Damon says “I”; Elena brings “we” into the conversation. And speaking of, in that moment Elena responds to Damon’s pain and hopelessness the same way-the exact same way-she’s always responded to Stefan’s. Down to the Hands on the Face. And recall her words. “We.” She uses the magic “we”: “We’ll survive this. We always survive” [emphasis mine]. It’s so much the way she’s always spoken to Stefan, that she and Stefan have always spoken to each other, and as much as I enjoy Damon being brought into the “we”-I really do just want everybody to love him, in the way they’re meant to love him (Stefan as a brother, Elena as a friend-at least for now peeps, someone as a romantic interest in the future)-I’m worried that this isn’t going to work. You can’t deal with Damon the same way you deal with Stefan. It just doesn’t work. (I’d really hate to see Damon change as a character so much that it would.) I think this is going to blow up in their faces, unless Elena learns how to treat Damon as Damon and in a way that’s not manipulative, which we’ve been doing pretty good on so far this season, if I recall correctly.
And Damon staring at Elena like “Oh, look, someone who loves me. How did this happen? *want want want want want*” because he doesn’t know, can’t see, can’t possibly understand that EVERYBODY loves him (Katherine, Stefan). Damooooooooon. GUYS, MY FEELINGS ARE EXPLODING.
What strikes me so much is how betrayed he feels by Stefan. Didn’t Elena just tell him that Stefan’s love for him was basically The Most Powerful Thing? He was just getting used to the idea and now Stefan has chosen himself and, by extension, Klaus over Damon and that was, by law of The Most Powerful Thing, never supposed to happen again. Damon has lost sight of a love he was just starting to accept and hold onto and this experience reaffirms everything he’s ever felt: that he is second best, unlovable, unloved. No wonder he responds to Elena the way he does, all longing looks (more for the love she represents to him right now, the love he desires than her specifically at this moment. Also, I don’t think he necessarily desires romantic love only anymore, any kind will do) and “We’ll let him go” nods.
And then STEFAN KEEPING THE TRUTH FROM HIS BROTHER BECAUSE DAMON WILL BLAME HIMSELF. Stefan will take the blame faster than he will allow Damon to blame himself. I LOVE THESE BROTHERS TO DEATH AND BEYOND.
But, lest we should fall into the “Stefan is entirely too noble” pit, Stefan isn’t keeping the fact that he saved Damon’s life a secret only for Damon. He’s also keeping it secret for himself: he’s using his new status as “the bad brother” as an excuse to run away instead of going back and facing what he’s done. He doesn’t want “to let it all back in.” This move is not completely selfless, it’s also selfish.
Theory:
Stefan stole Klaus’ family (which lol for real) to pay back Katherine for helping, the revenge bit is icing on the cake. Otherwise, it’s just a really, really bad game plan with no conceivable good end. Except maybe to get Elijah back. Which would be worth it, but.
Tl;dr (because, really, this is ridiculous-2,000 WORDS PEEPS):
The only thing missing, the thing that would have made this episode absolutely, completely, utterly, and without doubt flawless was Stefan and Elena dancing. #things i’m lying about #no dancing was necessary #basically perfection on a stick
One Last Thought:
Somebody explain the plot to me. I am cracking up while writing this, but I honestly did not understand how the hybrids were gonna kill Damon. Our gang couldn't have handled them? Didn't Katherine turn around and kill a bunch? And wouldn't Mikael have been powerful enough to take them down? I'm so confused.
But it's good to know that plot doesn't matter to me at all. XP My love is not at all contingent on things making sense.
Anywho.
Most of the flail is up here (and there is a lot of it):
-On the phone at the beginning, Stefan is such a dick. I’m a little miffed at him for being that way toward Klaus…which is completely irrational, but there we have it.
-I completely love it every time one of the boys calls the other “brother.” Throwing that out there.
-We made “dagger” a verb. LOL
-Also, Klaus has trust issues, Daddy Original admits. Poor bb. :’(
-REBEKAH MY BABY. “I miss you.” And you know she means it. And that’s what really convinces him to come home and Rebekah knows that’s exactly the button she has to push. (Mystic Falls is everybody’s home. Sheesh.) He really, really loves her. I love this relationship.
-Of course Rebekah is painting her toenails as she waits for her dad to come back to life. That’s one of those so-in-character-it-hurts moments. And then she tells him off because he deserves it. I love this girl. Like a lot.
-ELENA WHINING ABOUT NOT HAVING PROPER HOMECOMING ATTIRE. WIIIIIIIIIIIIN. Also, love the reminder that Elena has family too and that family comes before friends, even best friends, even best best friends. “He’s your brother.” LOVE.
-“I’m 162 years old and I’m going to a homecoming dance. I need better ties.” STEFAN, MARRY ME. Seriously, how much fun was he? TOO MUCH FUN THAT’S HOW MUCH. And I love love love his and Elena’s interactions during this whole Ripper thing. They are FANTASTIC. I don’t feel like we’ve lost any love, just that we’ve discovered a whole new realm for snark. I kind of want them to be like this forever tbh. But maybe less cruelty and more dancing. That would be perfect.
But oh gosh the things he goes on to say! I love him pointing out the obvious! GUH SO MUCH. But he’s so full of bullshit when he cites his freedom from Klaus as the reason for his concern about the plan. Stefan CAN’T not care. He TOTALLY cares about those two and it’s freaking bleeding obvious when he, well, talks, walks, breathes, ect.
-Why are Caroline and Tyler decorating a van? I don’t understand. Is this a Mystic Falls tradition? Is this a thing some high schools just do? I don’t get it. But the conversation is A-1. “Rebekah the Evil Blood Slut,” for example. LOOOOOOOL. Will never not be funny. Never. And Candice makes the absolute best faces. I think she’s better at this than Ian is by a landslide actually. Also, “If I’m sired to anybody, it’s you.” That was the point in the episode where I still shipped this. And shipped it a lot.
-This desire to go to high school, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. High school blows, guys. You vampires need to get over it. But I did desperately want Rebekah to get to go to the dance. I was really excited for her. :/
-Rebekah warning Elena to be careful. MY HEART. Rebekah is freaking perfect. No one in her family can be trusted she says and she’s so much the baby sister right there, it oozes off her. Oh Rebekah bb, betrayed and betrayed again but unconditionally loving her family all the while.
-ELENA BEING SNEAKY. And successful at it. Did not see that coming. And then she feels guilty. Good job, show.
-BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN ELENA AND KATHERINE = YES, SHOW, YESSSSSSSSS. NEVER STOP. I’ve been wanting this to happen for forever and then it did. :DDDDDDD The happiness, it comes in waves. (And that line: “It was a compliment! Sort of.” Brilliant delivery, Mr. Somerhalder.)
-“Do you trust me?” Aladdin flashbacks hardcore.
-Caroline freaked over the dance. I LOVE THIS GIRL.
-Klaus is SO AWKWARD up on that stage. I dunno, something about the way he stands up there is just weird.
-Okay, NOBODY CAN CURL THEIR HAIR THAT FAST. Obviously, Matt honey, she’s not Elena. And I definitely think he thought it was Elena because of the whole “It’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Us being here together.” Not something he would have said to Katherine, although it applies. I’m reasonably certain he would have been mum if he’d known who he was really taking to Homecoming.
-And will Caroline ever be let in on the main action? EVER. She needs to be in the thick of things here, show. #my only complaint #ONLY
-Oh Klaus bb. “Bygones will be bygones.” I don’t think you’re correct, sir. BUT I WANT YOU TO BE. Because I love you. But in terms of plot, I HOPE YOU’RE WRONG WRONG WRONG. Also, lol at the insinuation that Rebekah would have killed the homecoming queen had she been there. PERFECT FAMILY IS PERFECT.
-I LOVE the alternative vampire lifestyle we get introduced to with Mikael. Bunnies aren’t the only option! Stef, start eating vampires! EVERYBODY START EATING VAMPIRES. That’s just too cool, peeps.
-DAMON’S FACE WHEN MIKAEL ATTACKED STEFAN. BE STILL MY BROTHERHOOD HEART. Really, did you SEE his faaaaaaaaaaace?????? I’m going to be dying FOREVER over that. WHAT ARE MY HANDS FOR?
-Katherine does a pretty good Elena impression. Except for the TERRIFIED sliding down her curls.
-Caroline needs new boyfriends.
-BONNIE GOT TO DO THINGS AND DAMON GOT TO MAKE THE BEST FACES WITH THE WORST HAIR. Wicked awesome supernatural fight, too.
LOOK AT THAT FACE. (credit)
-The entire Mikael/Klaus interaction was gold. GOLD. “Nobody cares about you anymore, boy!” Baby, I do!
-Damon, you know where the heart is. Hooooow did you miss? O_o
-The MINUTE and I mean THE MINUTE Stefan pounced on Damon, I KNEW that it was for Damon, not Klaus. I was literally drawing hearts in the air. Big hearts. Full arm windmill action hearts. THE HAPPY I CAN’T STAND IT.
-Also love that Stefan immediately looks for Damon after being released from the compulsion. THESE BROTHERS I CANNOT
-“I’m sorry I stabbed you.” That’s a laaaaaame apology, bro. But I feel him about being sired. I understand, Tyler, and I don’t fault you for it.
-Damon freaking out over the failure of The Plan. I love it when Damon freaks out. And especially love Damon throwing things into the fire. <3333 DAMON/FIRE OTP.
-They’re making me really nervous with the “we have now destroyed every way to kill Klaus” deal. I hope they’re gonna let him live forever, instead of making up some really stupid and outlandish thing with an “Oh look, here’s the magic solution to our problem, we just didn’t see it/know about it before.” I will be angry if they do that.
-“Take care of yourself, Katherine.” I SHIP IT. Damon/Katherine YES.
Look how beautiful. Seriously, this is a beautiful gif. (credit)
-Stefan basically won in every way this episode. I mean, he’s still without Elena, but. He has his bro, he has his freedom. That’s a pretty good score at the end of the game.
-“It just keeps trying to fight its way back in. Sometimes I let it.” This explains so much about Katherine to me. I loved this line. I think everything she’s done makes so much more sense now, at least to me anyway.
There is still some flail down here, but there is mostly metaness:
- SHIPPER MOMENT! (Can you believe I had one? I had one and it made me giddy. :D) As Mikael is telling them about the white oak stake he has, Elena and Stefan turn to each other. I know, it seems small and insignificant, but it’s not. THEY STILL MOVE AS ONE. (They walked down together too, btw.) The thing is that’s exactly the kind of body language they’ve always used. They are a team, they think as a team, even in the way they move. Even now, with all this metaphorical distance between them, when-practically-Elena should be turning to look to Damon, she still turns to look to Stefan. MY SHIPPER HEART.
-“I compelled her [Tyler’s mom] to go to church and pray for your friends.” Klaus you say the best things. Now about this though, Klaus legit gets everybody Tyler (and Stefan) cares about out of the way-or has Tyler do it, same diff essentially. Why? Not because he isn’t assured of his victory, because he certainly is-Tyler’s ragtag bunch of friends is no threat. It was because Tyler (and Stefan let us not forget) Matters to him, he now considers him part of his family and he doesn’t want to cause him pain. Klaus places value on whom Tyler (and Stefan) places value because Tyler (and Stefan) places value on them. Klaus is kind of a good person in a twisted, arbitrary sort of way. Or in the very least, he tries. HE JUST WANTS LOVE GUYS THAT’S ALL. (Imagine how terrible it would be to be that devastatingly lonely for almost a thousand years. The family was an on/off thing, inconsistent companionship.)
-“Stefan wanted Klaus dead. More than anything.” I love how she voices the exact assumption that messed everything up. Stefan wanted Klaus dead more than anything except wanting Damon alive. You’d kinda think that’d just be tacked on to the end of everything that Stefan wants anymore, but these kids (that would be Damon and Elena) can’t possibly recognize that from their positions.
-“I’m never getting Stefan back.” Damooooooooon. But note that Damon says “I”; Elena brings “we” into the conversation. And speaking of, in that moment Elena responds to Damon’s pain and hopelessness the same way-the exact same way-she’s always responded to Stefan’s. Down to the Hands on the Face. And recall her words. “We.” She uses the magic “we”: “We’ll survive this. We always survive” [emphasis mine]. It’s so much the way she’s always spoken to Stefan, that she and Stefan have always spoken to each other, and as much as I enjoy Damon being brought into the “we”-I really do just want everybody to love him, in the way they’re meant to love him (Stefan as a brother, Elena as a friend-at least for now peeps, someone as a romantic interest in the future)-I’m worried that this isn’t going to work. You can’t deal with Damon the same way you deal with Stefan. It just doesn’t work. (I’d really hate to see Damon change as a character so much that it would.) I think this is going to blow up in their faces, unless Elena learns how to treat Damon as Damon and in a way that’s not manipulative, which we’ve been doing pretty good on so far this season, if I recall correctly.
And Damon staring at Elena like “Oh, look, someone who loves me. How did this happen? *want want want want want*” because he doesn’t know, can’t see, can’t possibly understand that EVERYBODY loves him (Katherine, Stefan). Damooooooooon. GUYS, MY FEELINGS ARE EXPLODING.
What strikes me so much is how betrayed he feels by Stefan. Didn’t Elena just tell him that Stefan’s love for him was basically The Most Powerful Thing? He was just getting used to the idea and now Stefan has chosen himself and, by extension, Klaus over Damon and that was, by law of The Most Powerful Thing, never supposed to happen again. Damon has lost sight of a love he was just starting to accept and hold onto and this experience reaffirms everything he’s ever felt: that he is second best, unlovable, unloved. No wonder he responds to Elena the way he does, all longing looks (more for the love she represents to him right now, the love he desires than her specifically at this moment. Also, I don’t think he necessarily desires romantic love only anymore, any kind will do) and “We’ll let him go” nods.
And then STEFAN KEEPING THE TRUTH FROM HIS BROTHER BECAUSE DAMON WILL BLAME HIMSELF. Stefan will take the blame faster than he will allow Damon to blame himself. I LOVE THESE BROTHERS TO DEATH AND BEYOND.
But, lest we should fall into the “Stefan is entirely too noble” pit, Stefan isn’t keeping the fact that he saved Damon’s life a secret only for Damon. He’s also keeping it secret for himself: he’s using his new status as “the bad brother” as an excuse to run away instead of going back and facing what he’s done. He doesn’t want “to let it all back in.” This move is not completely selfless, it’s also selfish.
Theory:
Stefan stole Klaus’ family (which lol for real) to pay back Katherine for helping, the revenge bit is icing on the cake. Otherwise, it’s just a really, really bad game plan with no conceivable good end. Except maybe to get Elijah back. Which would be worth it, but.
Tl;dr (because, really, this is ridiculous-2,000 WORDS PEEPS):
The only thing missing, the thing that would have made this episode absolutely, completely, utterly, and without doubt flawless was Stefan and Elena dancing. #things i’m lying about #no dancing was necessary #basically perfection on a stick
One Last Thought:
Somebody explain the plot to me. I am cracking up while writing this, but I honestly did not understand how the hybrids were gonna kill Damon. Our gang couldn't have handled them? Didn't Katherine turn around and kill a bunch? And wouldn't Mikael have been powerful enough to take them down? I'm so confused.
But it's good to know that plot doesn't matter to me at all. XP My love is not at all contingent on things making sense.