ever_neutral | as i always have, and always will.

Well, firstly:

+ STEFAN SALVATORE WAS EVERYTHING I COULD HAVE WANTED AND MORE.

DECADES, PEOPLE. DECADES. THANK YOU, SHOW. I get the complaints about Stefan inexplicably being a special snowflake to Klaus, but honest to God, I DON'T EVEN CARE BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT I HAVE WANTED FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW.

And, you know, I think I can say it now, because the show is LETTING me feel it -- I am firmly on the Stefan love train now. I do not give a fuck about what a perfect boyfriend he is or how respectful he is or what a better person than Damon he is or any of that noise. I do not love characters for how correct they are. Stefan willingly throwing himself off the bandwagon because he prioritises his brother over the many innocent lives he's going to take?

THAT IS LOVE, PEOPLE. THIS IS HOW I LOVE.

Also, I fucking love and adore and worship Paul Wesley for PUSHING for this, this whole time. Dude gets it.

+ As for the other brother. Heh, weirdly I don't have much to say about Damon in this episode. He was mostly just lying around dying, so. I was at first a tad underwhelmed by the flashback subplot. (Though more on that in a bit.) Not the Damon/Katherine BECAUSE THEY ARE FLAWLESS IN EVERY WAY. But, because I was expecting maybe some glimpses of the ~change from human to monster. And also for a psychoanalytic character study thing, it didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know -- Katherine was hot and awesome, Damon was her bitch, Nina and Ian together make me vomit rainbows, etc. I already knew that Damon essentially threw away his life for Katherine, that he was disconnected from humanity to such a degree that he cast Katherine as his 'saviour', around whom he built the entire meaning of his existence. I think this episode was more interesting for the possibilities of where Damon will go next. Now that he's dealt with all his ISH. I think Stefan going off the rails and Damon having to help save him will be VERY GOOD FOR THEM BOTH.

+ Oh, but one thing:

"It's okay to love them both. I did."

VINDICATED.

I AM SORRY. I FUCKING CALLED IT. I MEAN, COME ON. COME ON.

NEVER NOT SHIPPING IT. CANNOT STOP WILL NOT STOP.

+ One thing I'm really not looking forward to seeing bitching about Elena in this episode. I don't think she's being too easy or forgiving, or betraying Stefan, or what have you. Damon's her friend, he's on his deathbed, she's a kind enough person to be kind enough to give him some grace. It's really as simple as that.

+ On that note -- oh dear Lord, Damon and Elena are so fucked up and miserable and pitiable and bring out these throbbing sores in the other so easily, I don't even know what to do with them.

mollivanders puts it better here. *squishes her* oh, also

bluesuzanne here, too.

Now, about that ~much-discussed kiss. lol, I interpret it platonically? I mean, I don't think Elena has purely platonic feelings for Damon, but she kissed him for platonic reasons, if that makes sense. And Damon got that. ("Thank you"/"You're welcome". lololol.) I don't think it was a "pity kiss" or whatever the fuck. Elena never does anything with Damon that she doesn't want to. She kissed him for the first time on his deathbed because she wanted to, just like she hugged him for the first time back in S1 (minutes after he held her hostage…) because she wanted to. ELENA IS LIKE ME, WITH MY NEVER-ENDING VAULT OF COMPASSION FOR THE GUY. DAMON AND I ARE THE SAME. ELENA AND DAMON ARE THE SAME. THAT'S ALL I'M SAYIN'.

No wait, I will say one more thing -- D/E is legitimately pretty flawlessly constructed? Their individual arcs over the season have amounted to them both basically running into death's arms. It's only after being faced with the prospect of immortality that Elena the suicidal martyr realises she wants to live (and it HAD to be Damon who spurred that realisation. it had to be); and only after being confronted with his own mortality does the guy who likes "being the eternal stud" realise that life has meaning, and that he threw it away years ago for an empty dream. (Actually, okay, I've talked myself into liking the flashback subplot better now.) Then there's the symmetry of the perfect, gorgeous, romantic kiss in the S1 finale being FAKE, and this wholly less romantic/aesthetically pleasing kiss being real, bookending Elena's flat statement in the S2 premiere that she'd never kiss him. And okay yeah, I'm going to stop here before I'm tempted to write an essay or something.

+ lol, it is stupid how excited I was by that 5-second Stefan/Katherine scene. DARK OTP, WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? THIS BETTER BE RECTIFIED NEXT SEASON, I'M TELLING YOU. KATHERINE WAS THERE WATCHING THE WHOLE THING FOR A REASON. PLEASE THAT BE FORESHADOWING FOR RIPPER!STEFAN COMING BACK TO TOWN AND GETTING WITH KATHERINE AND THE TWO OF THEM LAYING WASTE TO THE TOWN TOGETHER. this will never happen, but a starved shipper can dream.

+ DAMON AND ALARIC. SOBBING. THAT IS ALL.

+ I KIND OF LOVE KLAUS AND ELIJAH'S BROMANCE A LOT, TOO? Am I the only one who was getting a sexy vibe from that first scene where Elijah was watching Klaus put his clothes on? lol. Also, whatever, Klaus is a hot piece of werepire, haters to the left.

+ Elijah will be back. You just know that Klaus killed him for the LULZ PWNED YOU moment.

+ lol what the fuck is up with the Jeremy storyline. He sees dead people now? Vicki and Anna are actually back? I'd prefer the latter, but I doubt it. And why was that the ~season cliffhanger? rofl. Well, at least Jeremy will be GETTING a story now.

+ Oh, I loved the Alaric-Jeremy bonding. MORE OF THESE ODD CHARACTER COMBOS, SHOW.

Okay that's all my thoughts for now. Heckle at me.