you'd have liked me.
“I’m surrounded by idiots. I need all the help I can get.” HAHAHA TRUER WORDS YOU NEVER SPOKE, DEAR BOY. So I don’t support Damon pushing for Bonnie to sacrifice herself, obviously. But I do love him for remembering that it’s an option. Perspective. And it really helps the plot, too. When there’s a character or several to step back and think about things, rather than everyone accepting every false dichotomy that comes their way, and you still don’t know how or if things are going to work out, that is far more engaging. Really, they do have a lot of people thinking their shit through - Matt, of all people! I was not expecting his oddly reasonable BDH moment, though I’m glad he got it.
Why not try the ring and the elixir? Or, idea. Bonnie’s spell. I love that I was sitting there wondering why nobody was floating the idea of Elena drinking vampire blood and taking that chance as a Plan C two minutes before Damon hopped to it. If a vampire body isn’t inherently evil, just another vehicle for consciousness, why not go for it? Desperate times, and all that. And on the one hand, Damon’s motivations are entirely selfish and ugly here, and it’s definitely a violation of her agency when he forces her to drink his blood. At the same time, Elena is so clearly Insano-Death-Wish Girl at this point, I can’t fully condemn anyone for trying to save her from herself.
“I guess I’ll just be dead *aggravated sigh*” LOL But I love that we’re getting her perspective on her own lack of perspective. I don’t know why I’m doing this. And her motives are a little bit mixed. Because I notice she doesn’t consider the possibility of not changing, and dying like she keeps saying she’s willing to. I’m gonna be a vampire. Which, if it were actually about the cause and she didn’t want to be a vampire, it shouldn’t matter if it happens at the ritual or a few hours after. It’s not even about dying, it’s about the BLAZE OF GLORYYYYYYY for its own sake. No matter how unnecessary, or who else it hurts!
Isn’t she the only, and therefore last, doppelganger? Shouldn’t Elijah have killed or turned her as soon as he rolled into town, if it’s SO IMPORTANT that Klaus not do his thing? You fail at evil mastermind, Elijah. I should be the evil mastermind. UM, NOT THAT I WOULD. BECAUSE IT’S WRONG. I love villains who do their homework. Like Klaus seemed like he was going to be, except not, because he should have just kept Isobel around to sacrifice, if he was just going to kill her anyway. Not that I’m complaining about VAMPIRE JENNA. She should go turn Alaric and they should run off with Katherine and Damon and then I can have another OT4. (It’s a little weird that Alaric is seemingly just fine?) Stefan and Elena can sit around waiting for a sword to leap on, as that seems to make them both perfectly happy.
HAHAHAHA, Caroline in the tomb. YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE COME BACK HERE. He probably got that one on his own, hon. Bad show, Tyler. Though this one I don’t think they’ll kill off so I will just sit here and enjoy the AAAAAAAAAAAAANGST.
The Sun Also Rises only gets bullet points. Meh.
As I Lay Dying
Because I knew he wasn’t going to be killed off, I’m a bit flippant about his whole thing. (Flashback hair! Excellent use of comic relief.) I am quite pleased that the cure was mother’s milk, as it were, which explains why they couldn’t help Rose. Because suspense is entirely out of the question (OH LIKE YOU WOULD REALLY DO IT), I actually like the use of death as character development for him - someone who’s used death to develop and sculpt the people around him for no other reason than his own short-term aesthetic joy. Of course he would make THE MOST DRAMATIC suicide attempt possible. Because he’s not going to give over trust and power for someone to do it for him, but he does want to do something they’ll remember. It’s one last gesture of flinging himself into the Damon Salvatore persona. He wants to leave one last mark on all of them, except he doesn’t actually think he has any other way to lash out at the people he does care about (and therefore really doesn’t want to hurt, though he does it all the time).
From Damon’s end, this is really a mood piece, getting him to “I made my own choices,” which he has known all along. He is so dramatically, self-indulgently, exorbitantly sorry about everything, now that he doesn't think he'll have to face anyone after admitting his self-loathing. He gets a moment to press pause, and it all overwhelms him, the way he always knew it would. Now that nobody can call his bluff, he is all sure that he deserves to die, AND EVERYONE HAS TO HEAR ABOUT IT ALL DAY LONG.
But the theatricality of it all doesn't take away from the fact that he absolutely means everything he says. Because, whatever is or isn’t the mythology (and Klaus’ spell suggests we’ll find out something along those lines), Damon clearly believes that death is it. Absolute obliteration, no chance at redemption, without having found purpose or forgiveness or even hope that he’s earned those things. And I don’t think he applies that “deserves to die” standard to anyone else - he comes closer to respecting Bonnie than I think he does anyone else, but he was all ready to send her off to die. He doesn’t think his victims deserved it. But oblivion appeals to him.
The “blaming” Stefan, I think, was more a way for him to use his brother to tether him down - jealousy, anger, anything - far more than any admission that Stefan holds the that kind of power over him. The amount of agency Damon had when he turned has seemed off to me? I could see a read where he was like “oh, well, ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT” and chose to turn himself; I could see him being way too far out of his head dying for anything resembling consent. Which…is disturbingly similar to the conversation we were all having about Andie on the last post.
I wrote the following sentence: Obviously he should be locked up to protect him from himself, but God, at least get the man some weed. several minutes before Alaric rolled in for their DATE. He’s all, FORGET MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND, I have a vampire in distress to distract! He really has NO ONE except for Damon, now that Jenna and Isobel are gone. This is the best-functioning dysfunctional dynamic on the show. A nice gesture that he stayed on the couch with Jeremy, too.
It’s Stefan’s story that really takes off here. He’s the good brother and Klaus is the bad one, he saved Damon while Elijah died, but he has sold his soul to the devil almost as literally as possible. He's come up against it now; he really can't tell himself it's about any larger code or moral principle now. It's about his people, above all his brother. I love how Klaus is like, dude, you can totally go see your bro! AFTER PLEDGE WEEK. Hopefully Team Salvatore will swoop on in like fuckin champs and kill Klaus soon before Stefan slides too far to come back from it. (Possibly he is not as out of control as he led Klaus to think, having worked on his tolerance throughout the season?) On and off the wagon. Ahahaha. Stefan has a past, okay?!? A PAST! FACEBOOK NEVER FORGETS.
IT’S OKAY TO LOVE THEM BOTH. I DID. Magnificent bitch, knew exactly how to fuck with them both. Damon in love is a Damon with purpose, who can build something solid and real - what it is and where it goes, we don’t know, but Katherine wants him floundering and on the edge, exactly the way she left him (really, the way she found him). Stefan has left her behind, and she needs to lure him back in with their love. And OMG, I CHOOSE YOU KATHERINE, to Elena - possibly just the werevamp fever, but it’s also maybe foreshadowing, that whatever Elena is to him, Katherine is in him. I’m kind of hoping she floats in and out? Or maybe goes with Klaus and Stefan?
Jeremy takes a bullet for Damon at the end of the season, after being killed by Damon in the premiere. What teaches you to live? Dying. As Damon taught Jeremy in the beginning, and learns in the finale. Good thing BONNIE GODDESS OF AWESOME was there to save him. And apparently all on her own, as those spirits are angry with her for her slightly-softer line on vampires. I have to say, Jeremy is ending up going to some really interesting places I never would have expected. He tried to die. He did die. He maybe came back wrong. All of these dead people running amok, and it is the totally un-superpowered human who gets the most direct exploration of what it means to be mortal. Leading to! OMG! ANNA AND VICKI! PLEASE BE BACK LADIES. THERE WAS NOT ROOM IN THE FRIDGE FOR ALL OF YOU WAS THERE.
So...WAAAAAT. SPOILERS ARE NO LONGER AN ISSUE, TELL ME EVERYTHING.
Why not try the ring and the elixir? Or, idea. Bonnie’s spell. I love that I was sitting there wondering why nobody was floating the idea of Elena drinking vampire blood and taking that chance as a Plan C two minutes before Damon hopped to it. If a vampire body isn’t inherently evil, just another vehicle for consciousness, why not go for it? Desperate times, and all that. And on the one hand, Damon’s motivations are entirely selfish and ugly here, and it’s definitely a violation of her agency when he forces her to drink his blood. At the same time, Elena is so clearly Insano-Death-Wish Girl at this point, I can’t fully condemn anyone for trying to save her from herself.
“I guess I’ll just be dead *aggravated sigh*” LOL But I love that we’re getting her perspective on her own lack of perspective. I don’t know why I’m doing this. And her motives are a little bit mixed. Because I notice she doesn’t consider the possibility of not changing, and dying like she keeps saying she’s willing to. I’m gonna be a vampire. Which, if it were actually about the cause and she didn’t want to be a vampire, it shouldn’t matter if it happens at the ritual or a few hours after. It’s not even about dying, it’s about the BLAZE OF GLORYYYYYYY for its own sake. No matter how unnecessary, or who else it hurts!
Isn’t she the only, and therefore last, doppelganger? Shouldn’t Elijah have killed or turned her as soon as he rolled into town, if it’s SO IMPORTANT that Klaus not do his thing? You fail at evil mastermind, Elijah. I should be the evil mastermind. UM, NOT THAT I WOULD. BECAUSE IT’S WRONG. I love villains who do their homework. Like Klaus seemed like he was going to be, except not, because he should have just kept Isobel around to sacrifice, if he was just going to kill her anyway. Not that I’m complaining about VAMPIRE JENNA. She should go turn Alaric and they should run off with Katherine and Damon and then I can have another OT4. (It’s a little weird that Alaric is seemingly just fine?) Stefan and Elena can sit around waiting for a sword to leap on, as that seems to make them both perfectly happy.
HAHAHAHA, Caroline in the tomb. YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE COME BACK HERE. He probably got that one on his own, hon. Bad show, Tyler. Though this one I don’t think they’ll kill off so I will just sit here and enjoy the AAAAAAAAAAAAANGST.
The Sun Also Rises only gets bullet points. Meh.
- The Rescuscitator Spell is not a particularly cryptic name. (Though, as per the finale, they may not be quite sure what gets resuscitated.)
- Presumily Stefan is putting himself into place for a reason and not just being a tool? Annnnd…I see I have too much faith.
- DUDE, WHAT THE FUCK? Jenna dies just because…um, because? She finally got an arc, and we can’t have that? What the fuck.
- I do love that Elena stalks all prissily past Klaus to the altar, like, I DON’T HAVE TO LIKE IT, DBAG.
- OH HEY THERE JOHN GILBERT. It annoys the shit out of me that he got the heroic, private, daughter-saving death while Isobel had her agency stripped from her and was killed in front of Elena, just to traumatize her?
- And in true form, the honor talk was bullshit. IT ALWAYS IS. ALWAYS. And oh, how I'm enjoying that being brutally exposed.
- No, the I FAILED nonsense is not making any of them more sympathetic to me. Shit happens. It just happens. You do the best you can. And being responsible for one’s part in it is admirable, and once in a while people taking on more responsibility than they should are sympathetic, but it’s way overused in this situation that seriously, nobody could have caused. Well, fine, Elijah and his family should have killed Klaus when they could have (notice how they are the only ones not apologizing). Elena didn’t choose to be the doppelganger; hell, Katherine did not choose to be the doppelganger.
- I do expect Damon to be fine, but really though, if they find a cure for him but couldn’t be bothered for Rose I’m going to be pretty annoyed. I am not sure how he thinks he is going to hide his werewolf sickness from Elena for long, but okay.
As I Lay Dying
Because I knew he wasn’t going to be killed off, I’m a bit flippant about his whole thing. (Flashback hair! Excellent use of comic relief.) I am quite pleased that the cure was mother’s milk, as it were, which explains why they couldn’t help Rose. Because suspense is entirely out of the question (OH LIKE YOU WOULD REALLY DO IT), I actually like the use of death as character development for him - someone who’s used death to develop and sculpt the people around him for no other reason than his own short-term aesthetic joy. Of course he would make THE MOST DRAMATIC suicide attempt possible. Because he’s not going to give over trust and power for someone to do it for him, but he does want to do something they’ll remember. It’s one last gesture of flinging himself into the Damon Salvatore persona. He wants to leave one last mark on all of them, except he doesn’t actually think he has any other way to lash out at the people he does care about (and therefore really doesn’t want to hurt, though he does it all the time).
From Damon’s end, this is really a mood piece, getting him to “I made my own choices,” which he has known all along. He is so dramatically, self-indulgently, exorbitantly sorry about everything, now that he doesn't think he'll have to face anyone after admitting his self-loathing. He gets a moment to press pause, and it all overwhelms him, the way he always knew it would. Now that nobody can call his bluff, he is all sure that he deserves to die, AND EVERYONE HAS TO HEAR ABOUT IT ALL DAY LONG.
But the theatricality of it all doesn't take away from the fact that he absolutely means everything he says. Because, whatever is or isn’t the mythology (and Klaus’ spell suggests we’ll find out something along those lines), Damon clearly believes that death is it. Absolute obliteration, no chance at redemption, without having found purpose or forgiveness or even hope that he’s earned those things. And I don’t think he applies that “deserves to die” standard to anyone else - he comes closer to respecting Bonnie than I think he does anyone else, but he was all ready to send her off to die. He doesn’t think his victims deserved it. But oblivion appeals to him.
The “blaming” Stefan, I think, was more a way for him to use his brother to tether him down - jealousy, anger, anything - far more than any admission that Stefan holds the that kind of power over him. The amount of agency Damon had when he turned has seemed off to me? I could see a read where he was like “oh, well, ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT” and chose to turn himself; I could see him being way too far out of his head dying for anything resembling consent. Which…is disturbingly similar to the conversation we were all having about Andie on the last post.
I wrote the following sentence: Obviously he should be locked up to protect him from himself, but God, at least get the man some weed. several minutes before Alaric rolled in for their DATE. He’s all, FORGET MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND, I have a vampire in distress to distract! He really has NO ONE except for Damon, now that Jenna and Isobel are gone. This is the best-functioning dysfunctional dynamic on the show. A nice gesture that he stayed on the couch with Jeremy, too.
It’s Stefan’s story that really takes off here. He’s the good brother and Klaus is the bad one, he saved Damon while Elijah died, but he has sold his soul to the devil almost as literally as possible. He's come up against it now; he really can't tell himself it's about any larger code or moral principle now. It's about his people, above all his brother. I love how Klaus is like, dude, you can totally go see your bro! AFTER PLEDGE WEEK. Hopefully Team Salvatore will swoop on in like fuckin champs and kill Klaus soon before Stefan slides too far to come back from it. (Possibly he is not as out of control as he led Klaus to think, having worked on his tolerance throughout the season?) On and off the wagon. Ahahaha. Stefan has a past, okay?!? A PAST! FACEBOOK NEVER FORGETS.
IT’S OKAY TO LOVE THEM BOTH. I DID. Magnificent bitch, knew exactly how to fuck with them both. Damon in love is a Damon with purpose, who can build something solid and real - what it is and where it goes, we don’t know, but Katherine wants him floundering and on the edge, exactly the way she left him (really, the way she found him). Stefan has left her behind, and she needs to lure him back in with their love. And OMG, I CHOOSE YOU KATHERINE, to Elena - possibly just the werevamp fever, but it’s also maybe foreshadowing, that whatever Elena is to him, Katherine is in him. I’m kind of hoping she floats in and out? Or maybe goes with Klaus and Stefan?
Jeremy takes a bullet for Damon at the end of the season, after being killed by Damon in the premiere. What teaches you to live? Dying. As Damon taught Jeremy in the beginning, and learns in the finale. Good thing BONNIE GODDESS OF AWESOME was there to save him. And apparently all on her own, as those spirits are angry with her for her slightly-softer line on vampires. I have to say, Jeremy is ending up going to some really interesting places I never would have expected. He tried to die. He did die. He maybe came back wrong. All of these dead people running amok, and it is the totally un-superpowered human who gets the most direct exploration of what it means to be mortal. Leading to! OMG! ANNA AND VICKI! PLEASE BE BACK LADIES. THERE WAS NOT ROOM IN THE FRIDGE FOR ALL OF YOU WAS THERE.
So...WAAAAAT. SPOILERS ARE NO LONGER AN ISSUE, TELL ME EVERYTHING.