Elena Gilbert and fanfiction

[upupa_epops]

I'm in the middle of finals right now, so I'm trying very hard NOT to do anything particularly time-consuming in fandom (you can't imagine how many fic and meta ideas I have when I look at my vocabulary handouts...), but I had this awesome discussion with youcallitwinter about how Elena is depicted in fanfiction, and now I have loads and loads of questions!

Comments

[scorpiod1]

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FINALS! *snuggles snuggles* *waves pom poms for you

[upupa_epops]

Awww, thank you! *clutches you*

Idk it's a very line fine to go from "Elena being worried and insecure that she's turning into Katherine and having doppelganger issues" to "Elena is actually Katherine without the trauma and will eventually be just like her and that's what the writer wants us to believe." It is a lot more complicated like that in my head; like, I think a completely amoral Elena would resemble Katherine a lot but still be Elena, if that makes any sense?

It makes ALL THE SENSE! Elena is very much like Katherine, and they share some inborn traits, but Katherine's life experience is unique. Her cultural baggage, the experience of motherhood, loneliness... It's like... they have similar personality, but they're two different people? Neither polar opposites nor mirror images.

#still badly wants the fic where Elena gets to have normal and it just DOES NOT FIT HER AT ALL

I am writing a fic like that... No marriage and no kids, because she's only 18 in this fic, but still.

MAYBE THOSE FICS WILL STOP NOW THAT ELENA IS A

[scorpiod1]

YEEES THAT. They're similar, given their circumstances, but they are both separate people at the end of the day, doppelganger issues aside.

I am writing a fic like that... No marriage and no kids, because she's only 18 in this fic, but still.I WANT IT *MAKES GRABBY HANDS* Maladjusted, PTSD human!Elena, I want it :D

[upupa_epops]

I WANT IT *MAKES GRABBY HANDS*

It's my heroinebigbang fic, so the bad news is that it'll prob be posted some time in July, and the bad news is that I feel morally obliged to finish it, because I already have an artist assigned.

Like, I think he'd be better than Stefan

Well, his attitude is certainly healthier than Stefan's, but somehow I can't see Damon lecturing Elena on vampirism ;). I could see him try to help her. But, at the same time, Elena as a human had a habit of letting Damon see the worst of her. So I imagine that, as a vampire, she would also direct her extreme emotions at him. Which would be extremely exhausting, and full of expectations. So I could easily imagine Damon trying to shield himself from Elena, treat her as an emotional burden, do everything he can to push the "mentoring" on someone else.

I QUESTION EVERY SENTENCE, SO I'M ALL *FLAILY HANDS*

I'm sure you can figure it out!

[badboy_fangirl]

I feel like all of us even responding to this somehow enables you to not study. Thus I should feel guilty, thus I should not post....and yet....

Here I am. Being a terrible friend.

I find that when I write Elena, most often what I'm trying to achieve with her is honesty. That's my main goal--to have her be honest, and usually that leads to her being forthcoming about her feelings. I've written her as angry some of the time in that effort, but since all most of my fic is Damon/Elena with the goal of getting them together by the end, that's what's going on. Sometimes though, I've found her to be passive when it comes to anger, but she'll get there eventually. Other times the anger is very close to the surface and easy to explore

[upupa_epops]

Don't worry, those comments actually gave me something to look forward to when I was crawling my way through a book I was supposed to read for class (I actually loved that book, but it wasn't easy to read), so thank you!

I've written her as angry some of the time in that effort

I mostly write her angry, but I rarely go into the theme of honesty. It's mostly because, at some point, some discussions in D/E fandom pissed me off, and now I see red when I hear about Elena being "self-deceiving" and in need to achieve honesty. I know that I'm overdoing it, and that Elena actually is self-deceptive to some extent, but I can't help it. Out of spite, I tend to write extremely self-aware Elena.I'm probably beyond help.

Additionally, one of my all-time favorite D/E fics is not perfect to me, though all the rest of it is excellent, because of this aspect. I remember there being something about Stefan not satisfying Elena--like he was a selfish loverI actually grew to enjoy the trope of Damon being not such a good lover. I mean, he's spent a

[badboy_fangirl]

I do try to write it so that there's an event that causes Elena to be honest. She doesn't just say, oh, it's Tuesday, I love Damon! or anything, and that is fun...finding the thing that gets her there. I mean, we talk about how she should be angry for this thing or that thing, I always feel like she should have more epiphanies--like, OMG, I feel this because of that! But to each their own

[upupa_epops]

I've noticed that you're always writing Elena's epiphany as a process rather than take an easy way out with something like oh, it's Tuesday, I love Damon! :). Tbqh, this is why I often just don't know what to do with your fic -- because, as we've already established, we do tend to interpret D/E differently, so I often end up disagreeing with your characterization, but, at the same time, you're a good writer, so everything makes a perfect sense within the story! What a head-scratcher!

Oooooh, good point, I do tend to interpret D/E a lot like Zoe does! When I read her fic, I often react with: "YES, this is my Damon and this is my Elena".

The idea that Elena doesn't find him attractive/isn't attracted to him/doesn't have feelings greater than friendship for him are all subjective -- like what level is she at?

I have a complicated relationship with this thing. ever-neutral once pointed out that Damon and Elena are both very similar people (which is where their "understanding" is coming from -- they both have a tendency of projecting their own

[bellonablack]

Tough question! I think I've only written her a few times, with a pov and then some pairings

[upupa_epops]

I like stories about people discovering some things that may or may not like about themselves through external circumstances. Which in Elena's case, are extensive.

OMG, yes. She's such a rich character! Many, many things to discover :). YES to fanfic being about the lead character's exploration of the self \o/