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Elena->Damon
First, I want to talk about the actual Elena->Damon devleopment, or lacktherfor. I've been rewatching Gilmore Girls and I feel that the Jess/Dean/Rory triangle in the second season was done very very well. Jess was into Rory, Rory found him exciting and slowly began to lose interest into Dean, who clung onto her.
The most important part of the triangle for me, what made it really work, was the fact that we got Rory/Jess scenes of the two of them connecting. Jess filled a need in Rory she didn't know she had, he drew her in, she drew him in. Jess wasn't just there hitting on her while she was completely steady and in love with Dean. Hell, she and Dean had some problems that couldn't be dealt with easily and I can easily picture them breaking up even without Jess (and I say this as Dean/Rory shipper).
Which brings me to Elena. Who, throughout the season, has relied on Stefan for emotional support. He's her boyfriend and she's happy with that fact. They were both going through so much shit, but, for the most part, the two of them could count on one another for mutual emotional support, love, and a few moments of normal and fun between all the danger and death.
Meanwhile, Damon was, to put it plainly, terrorizing her all season. Elena would be pissed off and then time would pass and Damon would pester her enough to forgive him. Or she's be so caught in pain and new reveals and guilt and self-hatred that she wouldn't have time respond to Damon threatening to break her arm.
We frankly don't have a scene or two with them having fun. With the two of them actually supporting each other. We mostly have Damon abusing her. And abusing Andie while he's at it.
It's a cheat, not to allow Elena to fall in love with him. Frankly, the kiss read as Elena giving him comfort while he was about to die. Which, fine, that may be the intention.
But there's also.
Timing
Let's be frank. Elena's plan to kill Klaus and save everyone she loved failed. Failed, big time. She lost Jenna and John. It's been less than a year since her parents died in the car crash she lived through. And only weeks, maybe, since she watched her birth mother kill herself on her own grave while mourning what could have been.
Between all of that, she's thrust into a deadly situation. A situation she's involved in for no fault of her own - she was just born into it. She watched people she loved die and get hurt around her. She could blame no one but herself. And she was willing to die, wanted to die.
She began to recover from that, but the situaton she's in - at the center of a deadly sacrifice that could spell doom for so many people - means she couldn't get in a place where she felt safe and secure. And you need that to recover from PTSD.
And to throw another thing at her, she thought she watched her best friend die to save her. And Damon was pretty careless about her feelings in it all.
She's the lead in a genre show. I know that hits are going to come and come and come. I expect it. And I want it. But Elena deserves to get to take a step back and breathe. Or at least not be written into an abusive relationship for the sake of white manpain.
That Elena isn't giving her wish to have time to forgive. That she's not allowed to truly mourn Jenna in the episode after he death. This is sexist writing at its worst. Her part in the finale is about comforting her abuser, not dealing with the deaths of the people she loves.
Lets talk about.
Abuse
It's telling that the first time Elena kisses Damon is just moments after he shoved her against a wall and drank her blood, in a very sexualized manner. No, it wasn't his fault in this instant, but him sexually abusing her is not a new thing. He's done it before.
That the writers chose to have Elena kiss him, forgive him, and tell him that she likes him the way he is (after a season of abusing her) is telling. Either the writers really don't give a damn about Elena's sanity, emotional health, and right to her own body and are more focused on ~DRAMAS~ of Damon's man pain or the show is going for fuckedupness.
If I shipped Damon/Elena, I think I'd be frustrated at this scene because it was all emotional manipulation. There was no need to write the Damon/Elena kiss that way. It reads as Elena just kissing him because he's about to die. She's comforting and forgiving him (and she wanted time to forgive) because he was about to die, not because of anything he's done to earn it. She didn't even get time to process.
There's nothing steady or secure here. Add...
Stefan
One way I could tolorate Damon/Elena is if they grow closer after trying to find and save Stefan. If they're just going to do OT3 like Katherine suggested, I'd... My feelings would remain the same but careful and thoughtful writing could fix it.
Last we checked in, Elena and Stefan were pretty secure, as much as Elena can be secure of anything. If season three has Elena breaking down and trying to figure out what she wants and drifting to Damon in a messed up way because she has no idea what's healthy anymore, I could buy and even enjoy that to a degree.
What I fear is that the show is telling me that Damon is on the path to goodness when he's done nothing of the sort and Damon is better for Elena because of that while Stefan is out being a ripper because he was willing to do anything to save his brother. It would take away the moral ambiguty of Stefan's choice, it would be a disgusting erase of Damon's abuse of Elena, and would ignore Elena's voice in the matter.
And more than anything, that pisses me off. I'm completely fine with Elena breaking it off with Stefan if that's what she wants. I'm not okay with her getting into an abusive relationship with Damon and I'd be hoping like hell she could get out. But the last thing I want is her to be an accessary for Damon's manpain in the show that's suppposed to star her.
SPN, YOU BETTER NOT FUCK UP IN THE FINALE. I MEAN I'M AN EASY EASY EASY PERSON WHEN IT COMES TO SAM'S CRAZY MIND, SO IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'D HAVE TO WORK HARD.
Elena->Damon
First, I want to talk about the actual Elena->Damon devleopment, or lacktherfor. I've been rewatching Gilmore Girls and I feel that the Jess/Dean/Rory triangle in the second season was done very very well. Jess was into Rory, Rory found him exciting and slowly began to lose interest into Dean, who clung onto her.
The most important part of the triangle for me, what made it really work, was the fact that we got Rory/Jess scenes of the two of them connecting. Jess filled a need in Rory she didn't know she had, he drew her in, she drew him in. Jess wasn't just there hitting on her while she was completely steady and in love with Dean. Hell, she and Dean had some problems that couldn't be dealt with easily and I can easily picture them breaking up even without Jess (and I say this as Dean/Rory shipper).
Which brings me to Elena. Who, throughout the season, has relied on Stefan for emotional support. He's her boyfriend and she's happy with that fact. They were both going through so much shit, but, for the most part, the two of them could count on one another for mutual emotional support, love, and a few moments of normal and fun between all the danger and death.
Meanwhile, Damon was, to put it plainly, terrorizing her all season. Elena would be pissed off and then time would pass and Damon would pester her enough to forgive him. Or she's be so caught in pain and new reveals and guilt and self-hatred that she wouldn't have time respond to Damon threatening to break her arm.
We frankly don't have a scene or two with them having fun. With the two of them actually supporting each other. We mostly have Damon abusing her. And abusing Andie while he's at it.
It's a cheat, not to allow Elena to fall in love with him. Frankly, the kiss read as Elena giving him comfort while he was about to die. Which, fine, that may be the intention.
But there's also.
Timing
Let's be frank. Elena's plan to kill Klaus and save everyone she loved failed. Failed, big time. She lost Jenna and John. It's been less than a year since her parents died in the car crash she lived through. And only weeks, maybe, since she watched her birth mother kill herself on her own grave while mourning what could have been.
Between all of that, she's thrust into a deadly situation. A situation she's involved in for no fault of her own - she was just born into it. She watched people she loved die and get hurt around her. She could blame no one but herself. And she was willing to die, wanted to die.
She began to recover from that, but the situaton she's in - at the center of a deadly sacrifice that could spell doom for so many people - means she couldn't get in a place where she felt safe and secure. And you need that to recover from PTSD.
And to throw another thing at her, she thought she watched her best friend die to save her. And Damon was pretty careless about her feelings in it all.
She's the lead in a genre show. I know that hits are going to come and come and come. I expect it. And I want it. But Elena deserves to get to take a step back and breathe. Or at least not be written into an abusive relationship for the sake of white manpain.
That Elena isn't giving her wish to have time to forgive. That she's not allowed to truly mourn Jenna in the episode after he death. This is sexist writing at its worst. Her part in the finale is about comforting her abuser, not dealing with the deaths of the people she loves.
Lets talk about.
Abuse
It's telling that the first time Elena kisses Damon is just moments after he shoved her against a wall and drank her blood, in a very sexualized manner. No, it wasn't his fault in this instant, but him sexually abusing her is not a new thing. He's done it before.
That the writers chose to have Elena kiss him, forgive him, and tell him that she likes him the way he is (after a season of abusing her) is telling. Either the writers really don't give a damn about Elena's sanity, emotional health, and right to her own body and are more focused on ~DRAMAS~ of Damon's man pain or the show is going for fuckedupness.
If I shipped Damon/Elena, I think I'd be frustrated at this scene because it was all emotional manipulation. There was no need to write the Damon/Elena kiss that way. It reads as Elena just kissing him because he's about to die. She's comforting and forgiving him (and she wanted time to forgive) because he was about to die, not because of anything he's done to earn it. She didn't even get time to process.
There's nothing steady or secure here. Add...
Stefan
One way I could tolorate Damon/Elena is if they grow closer after trying to find and save Stefan. If they're just going to do OT3 like Katherine suggested, I'd... My feelings would remain the same but careful and thoughtful writing could fix it.
Last we checked in, Elena and Stefan were pretty secure, as much as Elena can be secure of anything. If season three has Elena breaking down and trying to figure out what she wants and drifting to Damon in a messed up way because she has no idea what's healthy anymore, I could buy and even enjoy that to a degree.
What I fear is that the show is telling me that Damon is on the path to goodness when he's done nothing of the sort and Damon is better for Elena because of that while Stefan is out being a ripper because he was willing to do anything to save his brother. It would take away the moral ambiguty of Stefan's choice, it would be a disgusting erase of Damon's abuse of Elena, and would ignore Elena's voice in the matter.
And more than anything, that pisses me off. I'm completely fine with Elena breaking it off with Stefan if that's what she wants. I'm not okay with her getting into an abusive relationship with Damon and I'd be hoping like hell she could get out. But the last thing I want is her to be an accessary for Damon's manpain in the show that's suppposed to star her.
SPN, YOU BETTER NOT FUCK UP IN THE FINALE. I MEAN I'M AN EASY EASY EASY PERSON WHEN IT COMES TO SAM'S CRAZY MIND, SO IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'D HAVE TO WORK HARD.