Caroline Forbes: Woman Love Fest, Day 3

[upupa_epops]

Title: To remember
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Rating: NC17 (for general mindfuck and mentions of sexual abuse)
Spoilers: 2x16
Wordcount: 1200
Warnings: mentions of past sexual abuse, psychological abuse nad mind control
A/N: Originally written in Polish (see here), translated by idrilka, because I'm incapable of translating my own work. I definitely owe

Comments

[ever_neutral]

aaaaaaa this is absolutely brutal. And brilliant. Props for not shying away from the abuse at all.

all you have to do is flip the switch and snap

sdkfjdsdslfjds GAH. Love what you've done with that.

She remembers what Katherine had done to Stefan almost a hundred and fifty years ago and thinks that maybe, of all people, he has the right to say things like that.

Oh, that's such a good point. Man, this whole show is like The Cycle of Abuse. Fascinating, but brutal.

[upupa_epops]

Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it!

About flipping the switch - I love this quote and I often hoped I could use it in a fic, but the way it translates into Polish is just horrible (basically because the best equivalents for "flip" and "switch" unfortunately derive from the same root, so it souds ridiculous). I could make it work, but there was no way for the reader to spot the quote at once, so the wordplay was lost. And now I could just go for it \o/.

You have a point with the whole Cycle of Abuse. The very idea of compulsion is such a temptation for any vampire. They can do virtually whatever they want, and humans are helpless. That's why it freaks me out so much; it's so wrong I can't even begin to describe how wrong it is.

[upupa_epops]

Bardzo mi miło :).

[goldy_dollar]

I'm late to this, but I really liked it. I'm so glad you tackled the abuse head-on because it was sadly something we never saw in the show (and something that I think a lot of fans paint over as well, sadly).

She remembers what Katherine had done to Stefan almost a hundred and fifty years ago and thinks that maybe, of all people, he has the right to say things like that.

I love that you brought this up too! Great line.

[upupa_epops]

Thank you so much :).

I'm so glad you tackled the abuse head-on because it was sadly something we never saw in the show (and something that I think a lot of fans paint over as well, sadly).

Sad but true :(. Apparently it's hard to process that such a cute boy can be an abuser and a rapist. And I needed to say it out loud, I guess.

[youcallitwinter]

Oh my god, this was stunning :O I think you managed to capture Caroline-in-transition perfectly; having to cope not only with becoming a vampire and dealing with having been killed (not to mention the best friend drama), but also having to cope with all the memories of what Damon had done to her. The bracketed quotes from the show sound so stark and brutal and horrific out of context (even though they were pretty much the same IN context, but here the effect is just really powerful). And I love how Caroline's self-definition as a victim changes, because she has things to focus on, but it never completely goes away, it's always there at the back of her mind. And then the last part which is just deja vu, except this time she's equally in power, except sadly enough she's never going to feel like that, because he's ingrained far too deeply in her human memories.

Just, excellent all round, YOU SHOULD WRITE MORE OF THEM, NOT KIDDING.

[upupa_epops]

Whoa, thank you so much :D. This is one of the most difficult and exhausting things I've ever written, so I'm really glad it worked for you. It just made more sense for me that at this point all the Damon-related trauma would be a background noise for Caroline, because, horrible as it is, it's also in the past. Caroline has issues here and now, and if she doesn't deal with them now, they might actually kill her (like bloodlust, or the fact that her mother is a vampire hunter). Damon is the only issue she can afford to push to the background, because right now he doesn't pose any threat. But at the same time this is just pushing, not solving, so it's bound to mess with her head.

I don't have any Caroline-related project in mind right now, but she is one of my favorite characters, so I'll probably come back to her eventually :).

Thank you for reading the fic, and for the amazing Caroline discussion we're having. I'm enjoying it so much!

[swirlsofblue]

Oh, wow, this is stunning, and so so so beautifully/sorrowfully done. I love the way you've captured Caroline's need to play the positive role and pretend nothing happened all the while it affects her deeply and also the reliance on the Salvatores bit because that's the thing that makes it so hard for her. Perfect fic is perfect.