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TEAM STEFAN, TEAM DAMON, OR BOTH?

“Oh, it's okay to love them both. I did"

By Nani CruzPublished 3 years ago 9 min read
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I have to admit that I have absolutely, undoubtably been Team Damon since the first time I watched The Vampire Diaries in 2017.

Was it that bad boy charm we all crave in fantasies, but could never put up with in real life? Or the way he held back his feelings for Elena because of how much he loved her? Maybe it was because he would spiral when things in his life went tragically wrong? How about when he never let people see his good side because he didn’t want people to expect good from him?

The answer: All of the above. And so, so, so much more.

The Vampire Diaries has been my guilty pleasure since my first semester of university in 2017. I would return to my dorm after class to slip straight into bed with my iPad and binge the heck out of the show. I’m talking six to eight hours of binging at a time. What made this so great was that all eight seasons of the show had already been released by the time I started watching. I was way behind when I joined TVDs bandwagon, but I preferred it like that. That way I could binge as fast and hard as I wanted without fear of catching up to the weekly releases of episodes on TV.

Please note: there are spoilers here! If you have not finished the show, you have been warned!

The Love Triangle

What good show doesn't have a thrilling love triangle between two hot vampires and a teenage girl?

I’m getting ahead of myself though. That’s just how much this show excites me. The Vampire Diaries is an eight-season show created by The CW network that has totally captured my heart. It’s full of vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, magic, doppelgängers, curses, prison worlds, hybrids, love, and endless tragedy.

Elena and Stefan

Elena is the main character of the series who finds herself in a heated love triangle between the devilishly handsome Salvatore brothers. Oh yeah, these dripping hot brothers also happen to be one hundred and sixty-year-old vampires who look like they are hardly twenty years old. Imagine keeping those dashing looks for decades!

Stefan and Elena

Stefan Salvatore is the brother who steals Elena’s heart from the very beginning, but she develops secret feelings for bad boy brother Damon Salvatore as time passes. The biggest difference between Stefan and Damon is that Stefan would let Elena make her own decisions, even if he didn't believe they were in her best interest. However, Damon would intervene and disrespect Elena's wishes if it meant keeping her safe, by any means necessary. Nonetheless, Elena had both Salvatore brothers in love with her, even though that wasn't her intention. Elena's internal struggle built even more tension for the viewers. Since Elena had a strong moral compass, almost nothing was going to make her act on her feelings towards Damon.

Well, until tragic things happened.

Elena and Damon

Elena spends the first few seasons suppressing her feelings for Damon, seeing as she doesn't want to hurt Stefan. Eventually, Elena faces a crossroads where she chooses Damon. A solid win for Team Damon!

Damon and Elena

With Damon being the more reckless of the two, this is an unthinkable crime of passion committed by Elena that she almost never hears the end of from her friends Caroline Forbes and Bonnie Bennett. I mean, he did take advantage of Caroline, kill Stefan's best friend, and continually make selfish decisions while trying to protect Elena. But we're still a strong Team Damon.

Caroline, Elena & Bonnie

Mystic Falls

The show takes place in the beautiful town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, which has historically had a supernatural presence and longstanding quarrel with vampires. The storyline takes you back and forth in time as mysteries about doppelgängers, vampires and werewolves are uncovered. Who doesn’t love flashback scenes to centuries prior?

Mystic Falls, VA

The town used to create Mystic Falls is actually in Georgia. Tourists can visit the real town and go through all the nostalgia. From the town square where so many influential moments take place to the Salvatore boarding house, you can see it all in person! I fully intend on visiting as soon as I possibly can.

Doppelgängers

Katerina and Elena

As the show progresses, we learn that Elena is the doppelganger of Stefan and Damon’s lover from the 1800s, Katerina Petrova, presently known as Kathrine Pierce, who happens to be a 500 year old vampire. The heartbreak and fear Elena feels when she discovers this is hurls her into an extensive search with shocking results about her family and her past, but I won’t give too many spoilers!

A casual lover's quarrel

What used to seemingly be a normal town to Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and Elena's ex-boyfriend Matt becomes the battlegrounds for all things supernatural. Throughout the show, the beloved characters face numerous villains, ranging from the original vampire family to the devil himself.

The Originals

Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah

The first villains of the series are Niklaus, or Klaus, and his sibling, who happen to be the world’s first, oldest and strongest vampires. These thousand-year-old vampires have so much family drama that a fabulous spin-off called The Originals was created by The CW to dive deeper into the Mikaelson family excitement. "Always and forever" surely got this family in some deep trouble, but certainly got them out of it, too.

Klaus and Rebekah

As if one spin off wasn’t enough, The CW created a fantastic spin-off of that spin-off called Legacies to follow Hope Mikaelson, the daughter of Klaus. Legacies is still running and just recently came back to air this week after delaying production last year due to COVID-19.

The Originals

Changes & Tragedies

When Klaus learns of Elena’s existence, he will do anything to get his hands on the doppelgänger. Being the first doppelgänger born in 500 years, this makes Elena the target of many villains in the show for various reasons. Of course, her friends and family do everything in their power to protect her, but they face losses and changes in the process.

Caroline Forbes

Caroline Forbes is the first to experience the changing effects of the supernatural world when Katerina Petrova kills her and makes her into a vampire. Just for being Elena’s friend! Yikes! This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Caroline, though. Caroline goes on to love her new life as a vampire, finds love and has children. If you want to know how a vampire can have children, you'll just have to watch the show.

Caroline and Klaus

A side story of love and tension that I thoroughly enjoyed was the brewing romance between Klaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes. Although Caroline was a Type-A character, she still found Klaus' dark side irresistible. The dirty love and tension between characters outside the Stefan-Elena-Damon love triangle makes this show that much more captivating.

Bonnie Bennett

Despite Elena being the target of many supernatural occurrences, anyone who has watched this heart wrenching show knows that Bonnie Bennett is the true victim. Bonnie discovers she is a witch early on in the show, but loses her grandmother, father, formerly long-lost mother, her lovers and her magic repeatedly throughout the series.

Being a Bennett witch makes Bonnie extremely powerful, but also makes her the key to many obstacles she'd rather be left out of. However, the love Bonnie holds for her friends goes beyond any measurable amount and leads to her getting involved in those undesirable situations, despite better judgement and warnings from her ancestor witches. Bonnie continually pays the price for this selflessness.

Damon and Elena

With a story full of this much drama and chaos, who wouldn’t get addicted? I even got my boyfriend hooked on TVDs, The Originals, and Legacies. I have rewatched The Vampire Diaries at least twenty to thirty times. It is easily my go-to binging glory. If I need a break from homework, I throw on the show. If I am folding laundry or eating dinner, I’ll play it. If I’m putting on a show to fall asleep to, TVDs is my go-to. There is something so familiar and comforting about rewatching a story that I love. Plus, there’s no fear that I’ll miss something if I fall asleep because I basically have the show memorized by now.

Season Nine Approaching

Oh, and let's not forget an exciting detail: The Vampire Diaries is scheduled to return with a ninth season after ending in 2017.

This was a huge surprise to fans seeing as the show wrapped up nicely about four years ago. We have seen appearances of beloved characters in the spin-off shows by The CW to further wrap up their journeys, leading many of us to believe that TVDs was officially done in 2017. I am definitely intrigued to see how they will add another season.

The Fantasy Continues in Real Life

I love this show (and its spin-offs) so much that I actively follow the real life endeavors of its actors, even though the show was over.

Candice & Kayla

Candice King, who plays Caroline Forbes, co-hosts a podcast called “Directionally Challenged” with Kayla Ewell, who played Vickie Donovon in TVDs. I enjoy listening to their podcast episodes while I’m in the car or at the gym. These lovely ladies talk raw and openly about how life doesn’t go to plan and how they don’t have everything figured out by their 30’s, even though that’s what they expected. They bring on guests to speak on a variety of influential topics.

Not to mention that Candice (Caroline) just had a baby in real life that is named after one of the daughters she had on the show as Caroline Forbes. Well, maybe not named after, but naming your real life daughter Josephine is no coincidence, in my opinion.

Brother's Bond Bourbon to release this year

The Salvatore Brothers maintain their on-scene closeness in real life and decided to start a bourbon brand together! Ian Somerhalder, who plays Damon Salvatore, and Paul Wesley, who plays Stefan Salvatore, launched Brother's Bond bourbon that will finally release this April, 2021.

For anyone who has seen the show, you know that bourbon was a staple in the Salvatore household, which makes Brother’s Bond that much more exciting and nostalgic for fans. Trust me when I say that I am on the waitlist for their first release coming this year.

A Never-Ending Fantasy

As you can see, The CW network and the real life actors continue to give fans endless nostalgia and excitement. If you are looking for a fantasy to dive into, you won't be disappointed by The Vampires Diaries world. If I dove into detail about all the wildly surprising things in this show, I'd never stop typing. If you haven't given TVDs a chance before, I hope that you will now, especially since there is a season nine to look forward to.

Nonetheless, I can proudly say that four years later, I'm still as big of a fan as I first was and I will continue to fan-girl over rewatched episodes.

And as always, #TeamDamon.

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If you liked my synopsis of The Vampire Diaries world, I'd greatly appreciate a heart and for you to share my work! You can also follow me on Instagram: @nani.quint

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About the Creator

Nani Cruz

As a 23 year old grad school student, I spend a lot of time writing academically. Now I’m taking time to write creatively and enjoy creating stories about whatever makes me happy.

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