TVD Picspam/Meta: My Top Ten Stefan Moments
I promised this picspam for hysteria_3ced something like two months ago and it has just taken me forever. I kept deleting and changing stuff around, REALLY SERIOUS DECISIONS HAD TO BE MADE OKAY. And I kept deleting all these Stefan/Elena moments too because I was confusing how much my heart ships my OTP with Stefan’s development as a character but clearly it means that I must do my top Stefan/Elena moments next. Yes.
MY TOP TEN STEFAN SALVATORE MOMENTS
Runner Up: 1x03 Friday Night Bites: Jock Stefan! \o/
I just. I cannot deny the delightful hilarity of Stefan playing on the ~high school football team~ SO I HAD TO MENTION IT. I remain sad that Jock Stefan was with us for such a short period of time. D:
10. 1x08 162 Candles: LEXI COMES TO VISIT
LEXI: One day a year, I get to you. One day that you’re not brooding and existing in your own head.
STEFAN: It’s... my birthday, right?
LEXI: It’s my day. And that guy - who jumped naked in the Trevi Fountain and got drunk on the tour of the Statue of Liberty - that guy can take a break from all his worrying for one night and go to a stupid party.
Okay I debated over this one for a long time because LOOK AT LEXI ISN’T SHE AWESOME HOW GREAT IS IT FOR STEFAN THAT HE HAS A FRIEND LIKE LEXI isn’t really a Stefan moment per se. But Lexi’s (way, way too brief) appearance is integral to filling out Stefan’s character beyond the brooding, lurking Edward Cullen type. I mean Stefan jumped NAKED INTO A FOUNTAIN :O and Lexi smacked him on the bum. After this episode, I had to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about Stefan. HE CAN ACTUALLY BE KIND OF FUN AND STUFF?? AND HAD A LIFE?
From a more serious character perspective, I like that there’s more to Stefan than Mysterious Loner Guy. Stefan did more in the last hundred years than mope and skulk in dark alleyways eating rats (lol Angel). He had friends and went to Bon Jovi concerts and is a huge football fan. One of the things I love so much about the Stefan/Elena love story is that she’s not his only reason for living, believing, seeing the light etc. He had a life before Elena came along and obviously while he loves and adores her, he’ll be able to continue having a life when/if she’s no longer his girlfriend (WHICH WILL HOPEFULLY BE A LONG TIME FROM NOW).
9. 1x16 There Goes the Neighbourhood: Stefan is not a jealous boyfriend.
You and Elena, you guys have a history, and ignoring it doesn’t do anybody any good.
STEFAN SALVATORE, YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD BOYFRIEND. This moment jumped out at me on one of my re-watches-there’s no jealousy, no possessiveness, no moping that a human boyfriend can give Elena things that he can’t, etc. Instead Stefan is Cool Unjealous Guy.
Vampire/human relationships are tricky because of the inherent imbalance in power-Stefan is older, he’s much physically stronger, he can control people’s mind-but he’s just so respectful of Elena and secure about her feelings for him. Elena has so much of the agency in the relationship and you KNOW that Stefan would always respect any decisions she made with regards to their future together. Love, love, love. Aside from the vampire thing, Stefan is totally the guy you want your best friends to date (because he will go on double dates with you and make an effort to care about your friends if you do!) and bring home to the parents.
8. 2x01 The Return: Katherine is back and Stefan is... indifferent.
Confession: while I really like Stefan/Katherine, I think I mostly like it as a one-sided Katherine thing? IDK, I am just so entertained every time she tries so hard to get to him and he acts so indifferent. I mean, I know that she gets to him later on, but I love so much of what Stefan chooses to be in The Return. Katherine is back, getting inside of Damon’s head and making him psychotic again, and Stefan doesn't budge an inch.
7. 2x06 Plan B: Can you play nice please?
BONNIE: Damon, I’m not going to help you hurt him.
DAMON: Mason Lockwood is a werewolf. Katherine’s evil. They’re the bad guys. Really? You’re going to play morality police with me right now? Let me put it to you another way - they’re a threat to Elena. You, witch, are going to get over yourself and help us.
STEFAN: Yeah, he meant that as a question with a “please” on the end.
Damon gets all the best lines, but Stefan has this very dry and sarcastic humour that we’ve got to see a little more in S2 and it is super exciting. ILU SNARKY STEFAN. Show us moar, writers.
6. 1x20 Blood Brothers: Stefan ate his daddy
Every time we get a glimpse of Stefan’s torrid past, it always feel like such a special treat. I suspect he has been the Stefan we know and that Elena loves for quite a while, but I still want to know more about the Stefan who killed his dad so he could turn himself and then fed a girl to Damon so he would turn. Somewhere inside of Stefan is a hidden psycho and I get so excited every time we get to see psycho Stefan.
5). 2x08 Rose: Stefan is sorry he turned Damon into a vampire
I guess I just need to say it and you need to hear it. I’m sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn’t want to be alone. I guess I just needed my brother.
MY HEART IN THIS SCENE. I never really expected to care so much about the Damon and Stefan relationship, but I just want them to be brothers again and love each other IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK. Anyway, I never really believed Damon when he claimed his reason for being so angry with Stefan was because Katherine turned Stefan into a vampire too-Stefan made Damon turn into a vampire and then Stefan had the audacity to bugger off and drink bunnies and stop being so evil. Hello Damon’s abandonment issues.
But anyway 145 years later, Stefan apologizes and Damon does that thing where he pretends like he is the cool unaffected guy but obv it is untrue. And also the way he parrots Stefan’s words back to Elena at the end-except of course Damon gets it a little bit wrong because where Stefan puts it out there on the table and lets it stand, Damon.... takes away Elena’s memories (her agency) and never has to face any consequences of his confession or hear Elena reject him again.
Also I find Stefan really hot in this scene and I don’t usually find Paul Wesley all that attractive, idk. The black and dark lighting works for him okay.
4). 2x01 The Return: Stefan threatens John in the hospital and FOR SOME REASON IT IS THE HOTTEST THING EVER.
You now have my blood in your system. All I have to do now is kill you. Now take my advice. Leave town. Elena doesn’t want you here. You have about 24 hours before the blood leaves your system, that’s enough time to disappear or so help me god, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do.
HELLO THERE, CRAZY STEFAN, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL OF MY LIFE. This scene is so hot, idk. And I love that he turns around and truthfully tells Elena about it and she hugs him. lol OTP, you are perfect.
3). 2x01 The Return: Stefan continues to be Cool Unjealous Guy
DAMON: So what’s it going to be, huh? Fight to the death? Go ahead, make your threats, stake your claim.
STEFAN: I’m not going to fight you.
Damon: WHY? I’d fight me.
STEFAN: Katherine is going to try and play us against each other, you do know that right.
DAMON: Brother, don’t you worry, our bond is unbreakable
STEFAN: We need to stay united against her. So, yes, as much as I would like to kill you, I’m not going to fight you.
DAMON: I kissed Elena.
STEFAN: Because you feel something for her. Because you actually care. And I’m not going to let Katherine come in here and just destroy that part of you that is finally after all of this time willing to feel something. She’ll try to break you. She’ll try to break us. And how we respond to that will define us. It’s our choice. So, no, I’m not going to fight you.
Damon’s face is so interesting to watch in this scene. He starts off trying to deflect-purposely trying to get under Stefan’s skin, but then as soon as Stefan gets going, Damon’s face grows steadily more troubled and worried and even defeated-because Stefan is right. It would be easier for Damon if they fought because then it would only be about Damon being an ass by getting with Stefan’s girlfriend, but it’s so much more complicated this time because Damon has real feelings-and Stefan knows.
I love Stefan fiercely in this scene. He shows some jealousy towards Damon, but he’s able to get passed it-because he loves his brother and he has never really given up hope that one day Damon might find his humanity again. Even if Elena has to be the catalyst.
Sometimes I wonder if Stefan would actually be most okay with a big Damon/Stefan/Elena OT3. The two things he wants most of all is Damon’s ~love~ and redemption and for Elena to be safe and happy.
2). 2x02 Brave New World: Stefan takes Caroline under his wing after she’s turned
When you feel the blood rushing, you tell yourself that you’re going to get through it, that you’re strong enough. Yes, yes-no matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it off, you bury it.
WHAT IS THERE EVEN LEFT TO SAY ABOUT THIS SCENE. He is so soft and gentle. He's such a nurturer at heart, Stefan. He naturally slips into the role of protector and he hurts when the people he loves are hurting. The wonderful/interesting thing about his character, I think, is that dichotomy between nurturer and vampire. There's been a lot explored about what Stefan's "true" nature is. Is it the Stefan who cradles Caroline so tenderly in Brave New World? Or is it the Stefan who chased Amber through the woods in Miss Mystic Falls? (The answer is that he is both vampire and nurturer and that part of his character arc has been about accepting the dueling parts of himself and sometimes using it to his advantage. LIKE THREATENING JOHN IN THE HOSPITAL, LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT THAT SCENE IS AGAIN.)
Also it... it kind of made me want to turn into a vampire so that Stefan would nuzzle my face and murmur to me too.
1). 2x04 Memory Lane: Stefan locks Katherine in the basement and tortures her for information.
Omg this scene, WHAT A CONTRAST TO THE STEFAN WE SEE WITH CAROLINE. Stefan is such a good guy all the time that I think it’s easy to forget that, hold on, no, this is actually the guy who locked his own brother in the basement in S1 and planned to starve him. So here he tricks Katherine into kissing him-and then chains her up and tortures her in the vervain basement. Dude. When I first watched this, I was like “....idek what just happened BUT I AM LOVING IT. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.”
It’s such a great sequence. Katherine is so manipulative even chained to a chair and flashback!Stefan is so pathetic and yet kind of endearing at the same time. I also love that he can’t quite bring himself to kill her-I’m not sure whether it’s because of residual feelings for her or because she looks too much like Elena or because Stefan just doesn’t like to kill, but either way, I actually think it bodes well for Stefan/Elena that he has trouble staking someone who looks exactly like his girlfriend.
But Katherine WINS THAT ROUND because she has spent 100 years injecting herself with vervain to build up a tolerance to it... WHAT A BADASS. I can’t even.
Sometimes I think I need to limit my TVD posts to one per day so as not to alienate my entire friend's list but I JUST HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY, I CAN'T STOP. I was re-watching some late S1 episodes yesterday because I haven't in like two weeks and pretty much came away with the conclusion that IT IS STILL GREAT. Someone send help.
MY TOP TEN STEFAN SALVATORE MOMENTS
Runner Up: 1x03 Friday Night Bites: Jock Stefan! \o/
I just. I cannot deny the delightful hilarity of Stefan playing on the ~high school football team~ SO I HAD TO MENTION IT. I remain sad that Jock Stefan was with us for such a short period of time. D:
10. 1x08 162 Candles: LEXI COMES TO VISIT
LEXI: One day a year, I get to you. One day that you’re not brooding and existing in your own head.
STEFAN: It’s... my birthday, right?
LEXI: It’s my day. And that guy - who jumped naked in the Trevi Fountain and got drunk on the tour of the Statue of Liberty - that guy can take a break from all his worrying for one night and go to a stupid party.
Okay I debated over this one for a long time because LOOK AT LEXI ISN’T SHE AWESOME HOW GREAT IS IT FOR STEFAN THAT HE HAS A FRIEND LIKE LEXI isn’t really a Stefan moment per se. But Lexi’s (way, way too brief) appearance is integral to filling out Stefan’s character beyond the brooding, lurking Edward Cullen type. I mean Stefan jumped NAKED INTO A FOUNTAIN :O and Lexi smacked him on the bum. After this episode, I had to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about Stefan. HE CAN ACTUALLY BE KIND OF FUN AND STUFF?? AND HAD A LIFE?
From a more serious character perspective, I like that there’s more to Stefan than Mysterious Loner Guy. Stefan did more in the last hundred years than mope and skulk in dark alleyways eating rats (lol Angel). He had friends and went to Bon Jovi concerts and is a huge football fan. One of the things I love so much about the Stefan/Elena love story is that she’s not his only reason for living, believing, seeing the light etc. He had a life before Elena came along and obviously while he loves and adores her, he’ll be able to continue having a life when/if she’s no longer his girlfriend (WHICH WILL HOPEFULLY BE A LONG TIME FROM NOW).
9. 1x16 There Goes the Neighbourhood: Stefan is not a jealous boyfriend.
You and Elena, you guys have a history, and ignoring it doesn’t do anybody any good.
STEFAN SALVATORE, YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD BOYFRIEND. This moment jumped out at me on one of my re-watches-there’s no jealousy, no possessiveness, no moping that a human boyfriend can give Elena things that he can’t, etc. Instead Stefan is Cool Unjealous Guy.
Vampire/human relationships are tricky because of the inherent imbalance in power-Stefan is older, he’s much physically stronger, he can control people’s mind-but he’s just so respectful of Elena and secure about her feelings for him. Elena has so much of the agency in the relationship and you KNOW that Stefan would always respect any decisions she made with regards to their future together. Love, love, love. Aside from the vampire thing, Stefan is totally the guy you want your best friends to date (because he will go on double dates with you and make an effort to care about your friends if you do!) and bring home to the parents.
8. 2x01 The Return: Katherine is back and Stefan is... indifferent.
Confession: while I really like Stefan/Katherine, I think I mostly like it as a one-sided Katherine thing? IDK, I am just so entertained every time she tries so hard to get to him and he acts so indifferent. I mean, I know that she gets to him later on, but I love so much of what Stefan chooses to be in The Return. Katherine is back, getting inside of Damon’s head and making him psychotic again, and Stefan doesn't budge an inch.
7. 2x06 Plan B: Can you play nice please?
BONNIE: Damon, I’m not going to help you hurt him.
DAMON: Mason Lockwood is a werewolf. Katherine’s evil. They’re the bad guys. Really? You’re going to play morality police with me right now? Let me put it to you another way - they’re a threat to Elena. You, witch, are going to get over yourself and help us.
STEFAN: Yeah, he meant that as a question with a “please” on the end.
Damon gets all the best lines, but Stefan has this very dry and sarcastic humour that we’ve got to see a little more in S2 and it is super exciting. ILU SNARKY STEFAN. Show us moar, writers.
6. 1x20 Blood Brothers: Stefan ate his daddy
Every time we get a glimpse of Stefan’s torrid past, it always feel like such a special treat. I suspect he has been the Stefan we know and that Elena loves for quite a while, but I still want to know more about the Stefan who killed his dad so he could turn himself and then fed a girl to Damon so he would turn. Somewhere inside of Stefan is a hidden psycho and I get so excited every time we get to see psycho Stefan.
5). 2x08 Rose: Stefan is sorry he turned Damon into a vampire
I guess I just need to say it and you need to hear it. I’m sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn’t want to be alone. I guess I just needed my brother.
MY HEART IN THIS SCENE. I never really expected to care so much about the Damon and Stefan relationship, but I just want them to be brothers again and love each other IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK. Anyway, I never really believed Damon when he claimed his reason for being so angry with Stefan was because Katherine turned Stefan into a vampire too-Stefan made Damon turn into a vampire and then Stefan had the audacity to bugger off and drink bunnies and stop being so evil. Hello Damon’s abandonment issues.
But anyway 145 years later, Stefan apologizes and Damon does that thing where he pretends like he is the cool unaffected guy but obv it is untrue. And also the way he parrots Stefan’s words back to Elena at the end-except of course Damon gets it a little bit wrong because where Stefan puts it out there on the table and lets it stand, Damon.... takes away Elena’s memories (her agency) and never has to face any consequences of his confession or hear Elena reject him again.
Also I find Stefan really hot in this scene and I don’t usually find Paul Wesley all that attractive, idk. The black and dark lighting works for him okay.
4). 2x01 The Return: Stefan threatens John in the hospital and FOR SOME REASON IT IS THE HOTTEST THING EVER.
You now have my blood in your system. All I have to do now is kill you. Now take my advice. Leave town. Elena doesn’t want you here. You have about 24 hours before the blood leaves your system, that’s enough time to disappear or so help me god, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do.
HELLO THERE, CRAZY STEFAN, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL OF MY LIFE. This scene is so hot, idk. And I love that he turns around and truthfully tells Elena about it and she hugs him. lol OTP, you are perfect.
3). 2x01 The Return: Stefan continues to be Cool Unjealous Guy
DAMON: So what’s it going to be, huh? Fight to the death? Go ahead, make your threats, stake your claim.
STEFAN: I’m not going to fight you.
Damon: WHY? I’d fight me.
STEFAN: Katherine is going to try and play us against each other, you do know that right.
DAMON: Brother, don’t you worry, our bond is unbreakable
STEFAN: We need to stay united against her. So, yes, as much as I would like to kill you, I’m not going to fight you.
DAMON: I kissed Elena.
STEFAN: Because you feel something for her. Because you actually care. And I’m not going to let Katherine come in here and just destroy that part of you that is finally after all of this time willing to feel something. She’ll try to break you. She’ll try to break us. And how we respond to that will define us. It’s our choice. So, no, I’m not going to fight you.
Damon’s face is so interesting to watch in this scene. He starts off trying to deflect-purposely trying to get under Stefan’s skin, but then as soon as Stefan gets going, Damon’s face grows steadily more troubled and worried and even defeated-because Stefan is right. It would be easier for Damon if they fought because then it would only be about Damon being an ass by getting with Stefan’s girlfriend, but it’s so much more complicated this time because Damon has real feelings-and Stefan knows.
I love Stefan fiercely in this scene. He shows some jealousy towards Damon, but he’s able to get passed it-because he loves his brother and he has never really given up hope that one day Damon might find his humanity again. Even if Elena has to be the catalyst.
Sometimes I wonder if Stefan would actually be most okay with a big Damon/Stefan/Elena OT3. The two things he wants most of all is Damon’s ~love~ and redemption and for Elena to be safe and happy.
2). 2x02 Brave New World: Stefan takes Caroline under his wing after she’s turned
When you feel the blood rushing, you tell yourself that you’re going to get through it, that you’re strong enough. Yes, yes-no matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it off, you bury it.
WHAT IS THERE EVEN LEFT TO SAY ABOUT THIS SCENE. He is so soft and gentle. He's such a nurturer at heart, Stefan. He naturally slips into the role of protector and he hurts when the people he loves are hurting. The wonderful/interesting thing about his character, I think, is that dichotomy between nurturer and vampire. There's been a lot explored about what Stefan's "true" nature is. Is it the Stefan who cradles Caroline so tenderly in Brave New World? Or is it the Stefan who chased Amber through the woods in Miss Mystic Falls? (The answer is that he is both vampire and nurturer and that part of his character arc has been about accepting the dueling parts of himself and sometimes using it to his advantage. LIKE THREATENING JOHN IN THE HOSPITAL, LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT THAT SCENE IS AGAIN.)
Also it... it kind of made me want to turn into a vampire so that Stefan would nuzzle my face and murmur to me too.
1). 2x04 Memory Lane: Stefan locks Katherine in the basement and tortures her for information.
Omg this scene, WHAT A CONTRAST TO THE STEFAN WE SEE WITH CAROLINE. Stefan is such a good guy all the time that I think it’s easy to forget that, hold on, no, this is actually the guy who locked his own brother in the basement in S1 and planned to starve him. So here he tricks Katherine into kissing him-and then chains her up and tortures her in the vervain basement. Dude. When I first watched this, I was like “....idek what just happened BUT I AM LOVING IT. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.”
It’s such a great sequence. Katherine is so manipulative even chained to a chair and flashback!Stefan is so pathetic and yet kind of endearing at the same time. I also love that he can’t quite bring himself to kill her-I’m not sure whether it’s because of residual feelings for her or because she looks too much like Elena or because Stefan just doesn’t like to kill, but either way, I actually think it bodes well for Stefan/Elena that he has trouble staking someone who looks exactly like his girlfriend.
But Katherine WINS THAT ROUND because she has spent 100 years injecting herself with vervain to build up a tolerance to it... WHAT A BADASS. I can’t even.
Sometimes I think I need to limit my TVD posts to one per day so as not to alienate my entire friend's list but I JUST HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY, I CAN'T STOP. I was re-watching some late S1 episodes yesterday because I haven't in like two weeks and pretty much came away with the conclusion that IT IS STILL GREAT. Someone send help.