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Things TVD Makes Me Want:
Lately, TVD has actually been making me pretty happy and giving me things I want. Even if I might be reading against the text to get there. But its made me want other things too. Things I will likely never get, except for maybe in fic if I'm lucky. But I still want them anyways.
-Silas to continuing to use Caroline’s appearance as a way to manipulate everyone.
Yes, yes, this is bad for Caroline. Caroline would hate the very idea of it. But I LOVE it. Caroline has a position of power within the group that really no one else does, except for maybe Elena. And Elena currently is just as much as a threat as she is someone they care about and I’m sure Silas is enjoying the fact that she is distracting the only people that know about him and the cure (and that they’re determined to use it on Elena and not him.) But Caroline has a very similar power position, though she has basically stumbled into it by pure accident. She’s best friends with Bonnie, who’s powerful enough to destroy just about anyone, and cannot lose anyone else right now. She’s the closest thing Stefan has to a best friend as well as being that person who believes in him no matter what. Stefan once made a promise to protect her and he will keep that promise. Damon doesn’t care about Caroline and never will, but he knows Elena does, that’s what’s always made the difference. Plus, the last time Caroline died, Bonnie was willing to blame him for it, tried to burn him alive and the only thing that kept him alive was Elena, who for all intents and purposes no longer gives a fuck about him. Caroline is also one of the few people who holds any sort of power over Klaus, even if it’s limited. Caroline has the ability to sway and manipulate all of these people and more so, none of them will expect it or see it coming. Caroline doesn’t manipulate people; she can’t. She doesn’t have the skill set to; she can barely lie to them without it being completely obvious. And they all know this. So when Caroline appears and offers them a smile and suggests, maybe they should do this or tells them that Bonnie says they should do that, they won’t even blink an eye. Because sweet little innocent Caroline, who’s only good to serve as a distraction, would never be someone they had to worry about.
Also, attached to this, I want Caroline to learn that Silas is using her body to do his dirty work and uses it to her advantage. (Even if its just the one time this last episode.) She pretends to be Silas to get what she wants from people. Damon and Klaus cowering at her feet would be my suggestion. Because they may be stronger than her, but they won’t know that when she smiles and calls herself Silas and tells them she’s more powerful than they could ever imagine. Because Caroline is a terrible liar, but when she pretends, she’s magnificent.
-Elena sitting out to destroy Damon and Stefan.
To a degree, this might be happening already. But I want it full force, manipulation and violence and pure anger and retaliation. I want her breaking Damon bones and mocking Stefan with everything he’s ever confided in her. I want her to break into his bedroom and write a list of the people she’s killed because he wanted to “fix her”. I want her invade Damon’s dreams. I want her to steal their sunlight rings and leave them trapped in their own home. I want her to drive Stefan off the bridge in his own car. I want her to tell them that they made her this way and they only have themselves to thank.
-Bonnie’s amnesia being a fake-out.
Or short of that, Bonnie having the same goals she did before even after waking up without her memory. Because it was always Bonnie making the decision, maybe she was manipulated to get her there, but it was still her. It was her who wanted nothing more than to see her Grams again. To see Jeremy, to save him. Two people who put her above everything else, who looked at her and saw more than just magic. I want grief to completely cloud her judgment and for her to say “fuck the world” and raise the dead, the good and the bad, because she’s going to get them back.
I like characters making morally gray decisions. And the one thing I love about the show (though I hate the lack of acknowledgement about it) is that the protagonists almost always chose their own above everyone else. Because sometimes, a lot of the times actually, that’s exactly what would happen. You choose yourself because you want to survive, its instinct. You chose your sister, because you’ve grown up with her. Not everyone puts the greater good in front of what they want.
-Bonnie and Caroline being each other’s dates for Prom.
I’d include Elena in this, but she’s not exactly in the friendship mood right now. Otherwise, I’d want the three girls, all ignoring all the boys. Who needs them when they can dance with each other?
Also, Rebekah not getting played by Matt again at the Prom, as the promo pic suggests. Because the idea of it makes me sad. The idea of her eating Matt in retaliation, not so much.
Basically, I want all of the girls owning all of the boys all the time.
-Silas to continuing to use Caroline’s appearance as a way to manipulate everyone.
Yes, yes, this is bad for Caroline. Caroline would hate the very idea of it. But I LOVE it. Caroline has a position of power within the group that really no one else does, except for maybe Elena. And Elena currently is just as much as a threat as she is someone they care about and I’m sure Silas is enjoying the fact that she is distracting the only people that know about him and the cure (and that they’re determined to use it on Elena and not him.) But Caroline has a very similar power position, though she has basically stumbled into it by pure accident. She’s best friends with Bonnie, who’s powerful enough to destroy just about anyone, and cannot lose anyone else right now. She’s the closest thing Stefan has to a best friend as well as being that person who believes in him no matter what. Stefan once made a promise to protect her and he will keep that promise. Damon doesn’t care about Caroline and never will, but he knows Elena does, that’s what’s always made the difference. Plus, the last time Caroline died, Bonnie was willing to blame him for it, tried to burn him alive and the only thing that kept him alive was Elena, who for all intents and purposes no longer gives a fuck about him. Caroline is also one of the few people who holds any sort of power over Klaus, even if it’s limited. Caroline has the ability to sway and manipulate all of these people and more so, none of them will expect it or see it coming. Caroline doesn’t manipulate people; she can’t. She doesn’t have the skill set to; she can barely lie to them without it being completely obvious. And they all know this. So when Caroline appears and offers them a smile and suggests, maybe they should do this or tells them that Bonnie says they should do that, they won’t even blink an eye. Because sweet little innocent Caroline, who’s only good to serve as a distraction, would never be someone they had to worry about.
Also, attached to this, I want Caroline to learn that Silas is using her body to do his dirty work and uses it to her advantage. (Even if its just the one time this last episode.) She pretends to be Silas to get what she wants from people. Damon and Klaus cowering at her feet would be my suggestion. Because they may be stronger than her, but they won’t know that when she smiles and calls herself Silas and tells them she’s more powerful than they could ever imagine. Because Caroline is a terrible liar, but when she pretends, she’s magnificent.
-Elena sitting out to destroy Damon and Stefan.
To a degree, this might be happening already. But I want it full force, manipulation and violence and pure anger and retaliation. I want her breaking Damon bones and mocking Stefan with everything he’s ever confided in her. I want her to break into his bedroom and write a list of the people she’s killed because he wanted to “fix her”. I want her invade Damon’s dreams. I want her to steal their sunlight rings and leave them trapped in their own home. I want her to drive Stefan off the bridge in his own car. I want her to tell them that they made her this way and they only have themselves to thank.
-Bonnie’s amnesia being a fake-out.
Or short of that, Bonnie having the same goals she did before even after waking up without her memory. Because it was always Bonnie making the decision, maybe she was manipulated to get her there, but it was still her. It was her who wanted nothing more than to see her Grams again. To see Jeremy, to save him. Two people who put her above everything else, who looked at her and saw more than just magic. I want grief to completely cloud her judgment and for her to say “fuck the world” and raise the dead, the good and the bad, because she’s going to get them back.
I like characters making morally gray decisions. And the one thing I love about the show (though I hate the lack of acknowledgement about it) is that the protagonists almost always chose their own above everyone else. Because sometimes, a lot of the times actually, that’s exactly what would happen. You choose yourself because you want to survive, its instinct. You chose your sister, because you’ve grown up with her. Not everyone puts the greater good in front of what they want.
-Bonnie and Caroline being each other’s dates for Prom.
I’d include Elena in this, but she’s not exactly in the friendship mood right now. Otherwise, I’d want the three girls, all ignoring all the boys. Who needs them when they can dance with each other?
Also, Rebekah not getting played by Matt again at the Prom, as the promo pic suggests. Because the idea of it makes me sad. The idea of her eating Matt in retaliation, not so much.
Basically, I want all of the girls owning all of the boys all the time.
no subject
And I hope that for Bonnie too, and I think it's a possibility? She's been sneaking around enough to make it happen, and so often, and yeah, you're right about the personal vs. the moral high ground. I think her making a decision, based on her grief and loss, to go through with her plan would be in line with the show, because this show isn't Buffy. This isn't about the Slayer saving the world. This is about people making a mess of their lives because they want to love, they want to survive, they want to live, and sometimes the rest of the world just has to go to hell to make that happen.
I want soulless!Elena to develop a bit more personality? I don't feel like she's quite... someone, as much. But I DO appreciate her continuing to make her point on calling Damon and Stefan on their shit. She isn't doing anything after switching off her emotions that she hadn't decided to do before, that I can think of. They're the ones putting her humanity on a pedestal. And it's so hypocritical, from the one who gave her a vervaine necklace once to make sure all her decisions were her own and not even accidentally compelled by him, and from another who got in bed with her in a hotel room because he was waiting for her to tell him to, waiting for her to reach for his hand, waiting for her to choose him. Except now they don't give a damn what she's chosen to be, and they deserve the shit she's serving up.
no subject
I have my fingers crossed. Bonnie has already proven she's a capable liar when she's trying to get things done and knows others won't agree with her, so its a possibility I'm clinging to until canon proves me wrong. And if not, I'm holding on to the hope with all the same information, she'll still make the same choice. And yes, that's totally how I see it. For all the Buffy/TVD comparisons there are, one big difference is that Buffy was all about the greater good and the sacrifices it took to protect it and TVD is very much a survival game. One where more than like half the characters have already lost.
I've actually been really loving Elena and how they're handling the arc so far, but I think that's because I'm so focused on her manipulations of everyone around her and how flawlessly she seems to be playing everyone. (Though I do get upset on Caroline's behalf when its her but that's because she's my favorite) But I do agree, I wish there was more motivation behind it, more of her personality shining through to show us what she wants now that she's turned it all off. I guess the flip side could be that she doesn't want anything because she can't want anything. The flip is kind of confusing for how they portray it. But yes! I do love how she's handling the Salvatore and not putting up with their crap, because its just that crap. And I love the examples you used. Stefan especially was so apt to let her make all her own choices, but this is her choice. She's no longer under Damon's control so the only one keeping her emotions off is her. That's why I really loved the last scene with her. She sat them down, told them what she wanted and didn't want, they ignored her again, and she proved to them what would happen. I just hope the show sticks with that and letting Elena figure it out for herself and not having them trying to shove the cure or her own humanity down her throat by force. I prefer the she seeks revenge upon them version.
no subject
There are plenty of Buffy/TVD comparisons, but the basic fact is: the shows are entirely different genres. Buffy was a scifi/action genre that used supernatural threats to parallel the issues of life growing up. TVD is a gothic drama for the YA crowd where everyone has secrets, agendas, etc. You don't get more gothic than doppelgängers. But the thing is that, to some degree, all the characters, even the heroes, have in them the capacity and reason to be villains. They're not in it for friendship and world-saving.
One thing that HAS been shown a little bit has been Elena's empathy turned on its head- she attacks Rebekah's insecurity, she attacks Stefan's need for atonement. Where those have been things that have connected her empathetically to people in the past, she's now turned them around and wielding them as weapons, which is a great continuity.
I want what she does to look like revenge, but not be. I want it to be raining bodies, sure, but I want her to be making a statement: I have grown, I have decided who I am, respect me and respect that or I will make you get the fuck out of my way and my life. They think they want the cure for her, but they want the cure to be their own reset button. And she is trying to tell them, in every way she can, that this is life: there is no reset button. She could be human tomorrow and the biggest thing that would change is the amount of time that it would take her to break someone's neck. (Like humans can't compartmentalize and shut down their emotions? Like she hasn't dealt with enough to go ahead, as a human, and do that?)
She's choosing to keep her emotions off and that has nothing to do with being human or vampire. That's all Elena.
no subject
Yeah, for all the comparisons that can be made (and I often see made), they are essentially very different shows.
Yes! I love your take on Elena and where she's coming from. And this is basically all I want from the show. For them to acknowledge that the Salvatores are trying to find some magical fix all to make Elena into who they want her to be, and now who she is or wants to be and how that actually doesn't exist. And I want Elena to call them on it again and again, because they don't get a say in who she is.
no subject
Apart from that, absolutely nothing changes with her and her personality and Damon spends the next century making his man-I-fucked-the-toaster face.
no subject
THIS IS ALL I'M EXPECTING FROM THE NEXT EPISODE OMG. If the show doesn't give it to me, I'll cry tears of blood.
And yes to your Bonnie thoughts. I need it like I need air <33333333333333
(Btw, I can't stop listening to Bubblegum Bitch, and I blame your prompt.)
no subject
I've loved loved loved Bonnie's arc this season, so I really want them to continue it as it was and not go off on another path. Because that will make me sad.
(I will gladly take the blame for that, because its a awesome song and should be listened to repeatedly. XD)