miss-vanilla

Damon is motivated by love, whether that is romantic, familial or friend/platonic, that much is canon and very much the core of Damon's personality. What I don't understand is why after all these seasons and development, no one seems to understand this about him except for Elena. Stefan in particular seems blind to this even when he has been practically drawn pictures and had it spelled out to him over and over again. He has brief epiphanies then he regresses back into his S1 way of thinking. On the other hand, Damon understands Stefan extremely well, as demonstrated in the episode "into the woods". He knows exactly what motivates him, and what makes him tick. I had hoped that Bonnie understood this about Damon too, but it seems that as soon as there was a bump in the road, everyone is quick to assume the worst. Bonnie does not have the full facts as to why Damon chose to dessicate, but she has chosen to not hear him out or let him give his POV. In short, she has judged and condemned him without trial. There is absolutely no empathy from anyone for his pain, but he is expected to mitigate his actions for everyone else. I haven't heard a single word of support from Stefan the most compassionate, selfless, empathetic vampire that feels everyone else's grief so profoundly utter any sign of understanding for Damon or Elena's current predicament. He has been consumed with his own relationship, and vengeance all season to pay heed to Damon, instead he has judged and lorded over him, dismissing his valid grievances over his mother's treatment of them and Elena's enforced coma state. Stefan could forgive his mother for not being there for him, for abandoning them and replacing them with a new family, but he can't forgive Damon for the one time in his life that he wasn't there immediately to take care of him? He berates Damon for holding on to hatred instead of forgiveness when he does the same the same thing in similar circumstances. He rejects Damon when he thought Damon had killed Elena, yet he forgives his mother for her part in Elena's demise? I do not get the logic in this at all. What gets me is that everyone has these massively high expectations of Damon, why is that? Is it because he showed them "better"? because if so, it's lost on him because he rarely gets credit for the things he does. The only thing Damon gets to hear from everyone is how awful he is, how selfish he is, and how he ruins everyone's life. Ironic really since most of them come to him when they need to get stuff done, and Bonnie of course. In this episode and the last, despite doing everything in his power to save them, both Stefan and Bonnie are resolute in their dismissal of him, whilst accepting his help. That is wrong IMO. Going back to Benzo. I don't think Enzo wants Bonnie because he thinks Damon wants Bonnie, I think Enzo wants the kind of unconditional loyalty that Bonnie has shown towards Damon for himself. He is all about loyalty, it's important to him, and he wants to feel he belongs. He was envious of the bond Damon and Bonnie shared and wanted that for himself, but it's not really about Damon per say. His motivation for siding with the heretics and Lily, then the Armory were about belonging and loyalty, and Bonnie made him think about his alliances. He admired Bonnie and respected her and her loyalty to Damon truly had him intrigued. He was once loyal to Damon, even after the Augustine stuff, and Damon was loyal to him. Both Damon and Bonnie combined saved him from the collapse of the other side and that meant something to him, hence his disgust at Stefan and his half-hearted attempts to find them.when they disappeared. Then the writers dropped the ball with him as fully admitted by Julie Plec. His latest rant at Damon re Augustine is retconned garbage, since we know why Damon left him.

I know, it feels like we are missing a seasons worth of development to get us to the point that Bonnie needs to acting like a woman scorned and Damon looking on with his ambiguous pinning/sad/jealous look, considering 3 episodes ago he didn't want to take the scar from Stefan because it potentially meant he would never see Elena again. Not to mention all the random vamps that have daylight rings that have appeared from nowhere. Are we meant to believe that at the precise moment the Phoenix stone blew up, hundreds of vamps were in transition just ready and waiting for possession? Are we meant to believe that Bonnie Bennett can't protect herself with her own magic? Her magic is supposed be all so powerful until she needs to defend herself. I liked the benzo love story, but i'm not sure I'm a fan of how that came to be. Bonnie is just not that stupid to give up her magic abilities on the word of a stranger that has put her in danger in the past and betrayed them all. Why on earth would she give up her best weapon- it makes no sense. The flashforwards had so much potential, it's just a shame that the reality of them doesn't live up to what was promised. The payoff certainly does not merit the lack of stakes they afforded in the present, (since we knew was alive in the future). In hindsight, I think the flashforwards were a bust, it would have been better to let things play out chronologically, then maybe do a time jump. At least that way the impact of other stories may have landed better.

You and me both. I'm also confused about where they are going with this. For now, I'm choosing to believe that Damon felt awkward witnessing intimate moments between his friends as well as sadness for his own loss.

@Slayer2. Despite your obvious dislike of Elena, your obvious, unbridled passion for all things Bonnie Bennett is lovely to see. I love her too and I was thoroughly enchanted by her romance with Enzo. For once she was center of attention, and Kat did an amazing job this episode. Because this is TVD, I'm seriously worried for Enzo now, uh oh! Good things never last for long on this show right? The Rayna nonsense continues... Where the heck have all these vamp corpses appeared from that the Phoenix stone vamps can inhabit? Rayna is now an Amara crazy pants redux? c'mon show, really? Loved, loved the vamp killing spree montage thing. So many great one liners and visuals. I need more of this please. The Damon and Enzo stuff was hot....., just kiss already. Kidding, but really? yeah, no. Not keen on yet another person boarding the blame Damon for everything train. Choo Choo! Enzo mate, remember when you killed Rayna and resurrected her from the flames? Yeah, thought not. Just shut the hell up and romance your girl, I like you better like that. The worst part of the episode, was the Stefan/Alaric/Caroline stuff, although it was nice to see Ric at least give Stefan some of the same he gave Damon last week. The parallels in the Defan story are being brought to the fore. I liked that a little balance was brought into the narrative this week. Not a bad episode for me. I liked it more than I have liked the last 5 or six.

HEEE! Those were good times. I so agree with the tribal mentality thing, it's something that I both love and dislike about this group, mainly because on the one hand it is so heartwarming to see how far they will each go to protect each other, but on the other, they are so oblivious in their hypocrisy. Nothing much has changed in that department, except their are no Originals to call them out anymore.

So, "previously on the car and phone diaries" Remember when TVD actually had sets, and people actually had scenes with each other.

No part of Luke that exists in Kai would ever kill his coven or sister, period.

Then please explain to me why Kai wanted to kill the coven? If Kai was a merge of Luke and himself, he never would have wanted to kill Jo or Liv. He couldn't kill Liv before, even when he really wanted too, and he wanted to make amends with Jo. Please don't tell me it's because Damon and Bonnie left him in the PW, because that does not track at all, not in my mind, so we will have to leave this one be.

Doram I agree with you re the Kat, Rebekah and probably many others scenarios, but these were "outside" characters and the story is being told from the POV of the MF gang, however, Damon is a main character, and we are in S7 of a show where the narrative for him has been of a similar ilk mostly, and has been ramped up this season to beyond ridiculous levels.

@doram. Yes he did, and that's why he cooked up the plan with Lily to link Bonnie and Elena.. The coven had nothing to do with that, so why did he kill them? The coven mean nothing to Damon and Bonnie, in the big scheme of things that would be of no consequence to them specifically. The coven had to die because as long as they survived, they would always be trying to find a way to remove him, like they did before. Kai might not have been interested any longer in being the leader of the coven, but he wanted to live and he wanted revenge. His post merge conscience was probably a lingering consequence of the merge that dissipated over time. Kai didn't have the means to kill the coven before. Turning into a heretic gave him the means to kill the coven and save himself.

Taken to the all seasons thread.

Everyone has personal accountability for the choices THEY make. If Stefan chooses to save Damon then that is Stefans choice, and he has to be accountable for the decisions he makes thereafter since Damon did not want or ask Stefan to do this for him. Stefan did turn Damon, that is true, but everything Damon did and chose to do after that is on Damon, not Stefan, or Katherine. Often these characters are put into situations when they feel forced into making a decision they wouldn't normally make, but ultimately, time and again, each and everyone of them have proven that they will do unspeakable things to save each other instead of probably doing the morally "right" thing and let their loved one die. They all have a choice though, and they are each accountable for them. The hypocrisy in the storytelling is that Damon is the only one considered bad and selfish for making those kind decisions, perhaps because he rarely bothers to mitigate them to himself or to others. For example, Ric recently tried to bring back his dead wife with a stone that Bonnie told him to destroy because it was evil. He did without knowing what the consequences would be, because he didn't care about that, he just wanted what he wanted. Yet Damon is hauled over the coals in the narrative for wanting to protect the town from the evil heretics because Elenas coffin was there. Bearing in mind, the town was only at risk because Stefan and Caroline started a war they couldn't finish. Lily is crucifying Damon for wanting desperately to keep Elena safe, blaming him for putting her in danger, just as she is planning on resurrecting her DEAD boyfriend, and after she made a deal with the devil to get her "family" back that she could not bear to live without. Hypocrite much? Caroline selfishly turned off her own humanity because she didn't want to feel the grief of losing her mother despite witnessing how terribly vampires without their humanity behave. Stefan chose turn off his humanity to save another Salvatore, knowing exactly what he is capable of when he does. Stefan went on a couple of suicide missions to kill Julian to fulfill his revenge, dragging Damon down with him. None of this is acknowledged at all in the narrative, and the word selfish or bad is never uttered in their direction. This current narrative seems to be saying that everyone else can have a self serving agenda, but Damon can't.

This one had some fun stuff, and was for the most part more reminiscent of the old TVD where plot points are wrapped up quickly. I enjoyed the majority of the dialogue, in was snappy, funny and spread out among a few of the characters Alaric "Your Barbie dream phone is ringing" The we hate Damon stuff is just hyperbolic now, and I've started to just tune it out since it just spoils an otherwise decent episode, and I don't feel like repeating stuff I've said every week for the last 5 or six weeks. The writers are determined to continue this plot like a juggernaut down a single lane country road, knocking down everything in it's path to get to the required destination which is Damon sacrificing something else at the end of the season as the final act in his "12 step redemption tour" (thanks Alaric). Not sure how to take Bonnies "therapy" sessions. Is she acting? I don't think so, I think she fell in love with Damon some time ago which is why she was so crushed when he left her. KG, does "hurt" so very well. The problem is Damon loves Elena, he probably always will, I wonder how this will all play out next season? For her sake, I hope she is over it, unrequited love is a bitch- ask Damon he is an expert. The save Stefan#7,464578 story was actually very entertaining. WE got some Dalaric banter, sassy Damon, sarcastic Ambrose, lots of blood, magic and action. The Stefan and Val break up was a bit contrived, but since I didn't really care that much in the first place it didn't bother me too much, however I guess that means the door is now open for more Steroline angst- shucks. Does anyone really care about this story? The sealed with a 'Bennett witch spell' vault, because we haven't seen this story play out at least 20 times before. Overall not bad, but somehow I'm not excited for the last few episodes like I usually am.

It doesn't make sense to me that Kai would want to kill his coven because of what Damon and Bonnie did to him. The more likely reason is that Jo was pregnant with Gemini twins, who were a threat to his leadership if they were born. The coven couldn't kill Kai because he was their leader and they would die too, but twins would have changed that.

Jo died because she was a Gemini. Kai wanted to kill all the Gemini coven for making him an outcast then sealing him in a prison world for 2 decades. This was not Damons fault. Kai took his other revenge out on Damon and Bonnie as a separate issue by putting the sleep curse on Elena. This had nothing to do with Jo, she was a gonna either way because Kai wanted her dead. ETA, did anyone else catch the guy at the Psych ward call Bonnie Miss McCullough? Nice book shout out I thought.

It's always a pleasure to read well written snark, and you do it so well.

I think the actress is fine, I like her. The script is what is doing the damage, because the acting, directing, editing etc is excellent quality most of the time.

In a season where he is living without his soulmate and love of his life that has given him his only moments of true happiness his entire life, I'm truly gobsmacked at the audacity of this story. If Damon were truly selfish, he would have left Bonnie for dead. Kai legit killed her for all intents and purpose and Damon chose to save her life when he could have let her die legitimately with zero blame attached to him, but he didn't. Bonnie was standing between his life with Elena and a lifetime without her and he chose to save Bonnie. The whys and wherefores will be debated forever, but there is one thing for certain, this decision did not benefit Damon but he did it anyway.The show gives zero credit for that, the same way it gives Damon zeo credit for recklessly risking his life in saving Stefan in S5. The show shows us one story whilst narrating another, it baffles me.

Damon and Stefan have never been better than when they are kinda getting along, working together on a plan but still annoying the crap out of each other. I agree that this melodramatic angst is bringing this season down in a way that feels forced and flies in the face of everything we have witnessed over the last 6 seasons. The running commentary from characters like Valerie, who has known the brothers, or at least Damon for precisely 5 minutes is beyond grating. I have my fingers crossed for the appearance of Oscar, he was a cool dude. I wasn't a fan of the over lengthy scenes of "Marty" in the cabin house thing, or the dialogue that he was spouting. Talk about heavy handed, however I did like the reverse body-jacking story with the serial killer in Stefans meat suit. He was more entertaining, and I like the irony of that more than the meta like version of Stefan stuck in a human body with addiction issues. Rayna continues to confuse and disappoint. For me she has been an epic fail, and so has her corresponding mythology. The writers can't even keep the fact that she is immune to magic consistent, never mind her motivations. It's a shame, because the glimpses we saw of her earlier in the season via the flash forwards were promising, and I was excited to get to that part of the story until they ruined it with her Stefan obsession. We get it show, all the women in Mystic Falls want be Stefan's girl. The Damon impersonating a cop was fun, especially hilarious when he named himself Matt Donovan. Never change Damon.

The heretics have almost become victims. They were oh so powerful but so stupid at the same time. Fan speculation before the season began was that they wouldn't make it past mid season. They weren't far out. It's a tad predictable that so far Val, the Stefan worshipper is the last Heretic standing in a season where the writers have removed every ally from Damon. I'm bored now. I sincerely doubt I will be back for S8. I really do not want to become a hate watcher for one of my all time favorite shows.

Well Damon didn't actually burn Elena, and he didn't even believe he was burning Elena in the first place because he was hallucinating Henry, so yes the situations are not that comparable in hindsight. What Stefan did was worse. He actively drenched his brother in petrol and intended to burn him to death save for Caroline. no hallucinations required. For me, Damon seeking out Elena for comfort under severe emotional distress is understandable and in character for Damon. The definition of being mentally unstable in itself means he lacked the capacity to understand what a risk that was. Damon was not himself, he would never knowingly or intentionally put Elena in danger, that much has been hammered home repeatedly in this show. Elena's life means more to Damon than his own, hence his downward spiral into self hatred and punishment. He wouldn't even allow himself the luxury off flipping his humanity switch. Stefan saving Damon in S2/3 was Stefan's choice. Damon didn't ask Stefan to do this for him, in fact Damon was prepared to die alone, with no fuss. He took off his ring and accepted his fate. The problem with Stefan is that he just can't let Damon die, which is very noble as long as you don't resent that later in the day. It's all well and good playing the noble saviour/martyr, but to blame Damon for saving him against his will is just hateful and toxic. Damon has no control over Stefans actions, just like he has no control over Bonnie now. If people choose to save Damon, those actions are on them, not Damon. He doesn't ask them too. When Damon saved Bonnie in 6x22, he resented her afterwards. It's the same thing and I didn't like that he threw that "sacrifice" in her face. He is over it now, but initially he made a choice to save her, and he resented her because it ruined his life, but he accepted it and got over it fairly quickly. Stefan holds that grudge forever it seems. It seems he regrets and resents the sacrifice he made for Damon, but he forgets one thing. Caroline is a part of this too, and she also made a choice. Caroline chose her NOT children over a life with Stefan. Caroline was not prepared to sacrifice a life with Alarics' children for a life with Stefan. Caroline put her happiness first is all i'm saying, and why shouldn't Damon right now especially when he thought he had a plan that could give them all everything. The flashbacks I mentioned were in S4 (1942) when Lexie implied Stefan would be happier without Damon. Doing what he thought would be best for Stefan, he put Stefan's happiness and wellbeing first. In season 5, he chose to spare Stefan the horror story of his Augustine hell, because he knew Stefan would feel guilty for not saving him. The S7 flashback was a human Defan story. It was an example of Damon protecting Stefan from the wrath of his abusive Father, All this time Damon believed Stefan stole Guiseppes money, which is why Damon took the blame. He was livid when Lily revealed it was her. Throughout the whole series there have flashbacks that unravel the story of the Salvatores from different POV's. The earlier ones were mainly from Stefan's POV, and the later one's have been mainly from Damon's POV. Like I said there is a push/pull dynamic here, but no one can doubt that neither brother would let the other die if there was an alternative solution which is why I don't accept this current narrative that Damon is the most selfish brother that ever lived, and he is the blight on the saintly life of Stefan Salvatore that never does a thing wrong, and that Damon is the root cause of Stefans problems. He isn't, but this season is Stefans season. The story is from his POV, much like last season was from a Damon POV mostly. Although Damon's selfless actions towards Stefan may not have always been theatrical life saving moments, Damon has shown time and again that he will put his brother first, and has followed through in quieter moments of the show., however, as we all know, he is also capable of being a jaw dropping hero too. Personally, I have enjoyed the quiet hero moments more, because they are private. Damon doesn't need an audience be heroic, he just does it because it feels right to him in that moment. I love that about him, his heroism is instinctual and not pre-meditated. When Damon actively tries to be the hero, it goes terribly wrong lol. Damon isn't the only one whose decisions hurt people. Stefan has made many decisions that hurt people, he just has selective amnesia. Aside from the "ripper" story, Stefan does make choices that have hurt others on a fairly regular basis, even back in s1 when he killed vikki. In S3 he chose himself and his vengeance put innocent lives at risk, including Elenas', Jeremy's and Alaric's. In S4 he chose to kill innocents to get the cure for Elena, even risking Jeremy again. In S5, he chose to attack and hurt Jessie, almost killing him save for Caroline. He again chose vengeance against Silas and nearly ruined Bonnie's chance of survival. In s6, he risked another human by invoving Ivy in his life. He also allowed another human to die (monique) because he chose Sarah Salvatore. He chose to flip his humanity off to save Sarah Salvatore again later in the season, which resulted in innocent humans dying. In S7 we have Stefan making choices, again due to revenge that endangered lives. Including his brothers. There is an annoying theme with Stefans' story and that is the "almost" theme. In order to preserve the halo effect, Stefan hasn't actually succeeded in killing anyone of note except Andie Starr. Stefan has always been protected by hero plot armor which manifests in other characters coming to the rescue just in time to prevent him toppling over into true villain territory in contrast to Damon when there is no one there to save him from himself. Intent for me is important, and in many circumstances Stefan has proven that he is just as willing to kill as Damon is, but at the last second someone is usually there to pull him back from the edge by either talking him down (Elena. Lexie Caroline), someone else doing the job for him ( Enzo, Damon), or someone preventing him forcefully (Bonnie, Damon, Elena). Either that or there is some other excuse for him like the "ripper", "No humanity", "PTSD" "Grief". Thats fine, but honestly, not allowing Stefan to dirty his hands makes Stefan a dull boy. Stefan is flawed show. Own it and stop trying to pigeon hole him into a place he doesn't fit. Stefan has made choices out of selfishness and out of protectiveness of his loved ones that have resulted in collateral damage. In this respect he holds zero higher ground over damon, and we have yet to see what his involvement in Penny's death he had.. One thing we do agree on is this tiring Defan dynamic. It's season 7 and the writers are determined to keep rehashing the same the thing over and over. I wouldn't mind this so much, but it's always Damons' character they regress and retcon to do it. It's so obvious that before the season is through, Damon will pull off something really heroic and prove himself a worthy brother to Stefan. Just no, we have already done this story in S5 and S6, and I'm sick of Damon having to seek Stefan's respect in order for Defan to progress every single time.

Nothing new here, I don't understand the furore to be honest. Ian has always vacillated between praise and disdain for Damon and Delena depending on the "mood" of the show. The Sire bond was a convoluted mess of a plot device that is still misunderstood by many, and it would seem by Ian too despite the fact that the writers tried to clear up that plot point many times. I don't blame him, he isn't a fan, he is an actor that turns up to work and does his job, goes home, but he is right in one respect, it was a train wreck of a story, which I think is what he meant. I doubt any of them sit there and analyse this show to death like the fans do. Just go on you tube and watch the many q&a/ quiz type interviews done in the past and you will see that the cast frequently get key things, plot points wrong about their own characters and the story. Ian is notoriously bad at knowing the story, he still thinks Katherine compelled him to love her. I like Ian, he is a cool, kind guy even if he is sometimes a bit OTT and a bit of a dork, but he means well. The fans need to get off his back because he said some things that were very true, especially about the writing needing to focus on the core characters and relationships.

@Hiddenpick. Great post, I agree most of it except this part. I don't agree with the current narrative of the show right now since I don't believe it is earned. I won't deny that Damon has been selfish in regards to Stefan, but he has also been shown to have been incredibly selfless also. Likewise Stefan hes been both Selfish and selfless regarding Damon. This dynamic has been a push pull from day one, but all of sudden everything Damon does is wrong/selfish disregarding story that has been told in this very season and in the past.. Damon and Stefan both had very different reasons and plans for killing Julian. Damon shelved his in the end to help Stefan carry out his, ie he put Stefan's needs first. We see in flashbacks how Damon put his brother first, 1942 (wartime), 1857 (as a child), 1958 (after Augustine) a few of many examples. I remember very recently that Damon was put into the phoenix stone because without hesitation he was saving his brother. He was saving Stefan from a situation that Stefan recklessly put himself and Damon in. Should Damon blame Stefan for everything that ensued after that? Damon doesn't think so since he never blames Stefan for anything, but it sure comes back in the other direction tenfold, and from every other character under the sun. Yes Stefan got the hunters mark that was meant for Damon, but I do remember that Stefan needed to be strongly shamed and coerced into helping Damon out in that situation, much like Val did to Damon in the car. Stefan was pissed at Damon for burning "Elena" yet he attempted to burn Damon's corpse. Stefan wanted to kill Damon for real to free himself from hallucinations, yet Damon is a monster Damon is selfish, Damon is reckless, Damon is dark???? This was like 5 episodes ago. I don't remember a time when Damon had to be coerced into helping or saving Stefan, Damon usually is already there on his own, just like he was in this episode, and many times before like in 5x22, 3x01, 3x02, 3x03. Very few are buying this now in S7, not the fans, the media or the recappers so I sure hope that the writers have a plan here otherwise this show is not going to survive this retconning of the Salvatore brother bond, it's barely hanging in there now. ETA: This post got long and a bit ranty, but it isn't aimed at you Hiddenpick, but the writing. I enjoyed your post.

Well, I guess it would be gamble as to whether Rayna would outlive Bonnie, one which Damon did not want to risk. All that changed when he knew he had run out of time and little bro was about to die. Damon said it, he tried to have it all and who can blame him. He was trying to save both their futures. Damon has suffered just as much as Stefan has, despite what the narrative implies.

The phoenix stone mythology has been this season's "travelers". None of it makes much sense, and hasn't done since the 7x10 when Damon's hellscape was featured. To this day, I'm confused as to what the function of the stone is as why? In the beginning we were told it was a nasty "prison" stone complete with eerie torturous images. It was supposed to be a punishment hell for vampires. Then it morphed into a "riddle" stone, a puzzle that needed to be solved before you can leave. Now it's function is life coach, to make someone better, to liberate them from the chains of whatever "IT" deems to be holding them back. WHY? I don't get it. Wasn't the huntress' purpose was to rid the world of vampires to avenge her Father's death, not rehabilitate bad vamps. This is how I see it. The whole purpose of this stone was to reset the brother dynamic back to S1. The dynamic where Stefan believes he is the good brother and Damon is the bad, and every character on the show, including perfect strangers reinforce that notion ad nauseum. The episode itself was fast paced, (aside from the Stefan/Val stuff), and if watched without any knowledge of previous canon and character development, I guess it was good, but I can't enjoy this story when I know that it undermines 6 seasons of previous canon. I have been perpetually confused since 7x10, up until then, I thought this season was going fairly well.