Thanks to everyone who reads, các bình luận and supports my articles. Special acknowledgement to paupaug.

I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot of negative các bình luận from depressed DE shippers regarding the current state of affairs. Maybe bạn are one of those shippers. Maybe bạn are scared that DE have come to the end of the road. Maybe bạn don't think they will ever happen now. Maybe bạn feel like giving up. It's normal to feel doubtful sometimes, (believe me, I have too), but have I ever felt like DE aren't going to happen, hoặc that I should just give up? No. I can understand fans' concerns, but I often think that most of the time, their fears are unjustifed.


"If Delena don't happen now, then they never will."

I think this is a result of receiving so many knock-backs every time something good happens. bạn have to remember that the tam giác will be a feature of the hiển thị for as long as it airs, which is probably 6 Seasons. That's a long time. "Do bạn really believe the tam giác will last that long?" opponents of DE sneer. Actually...yes, I do. If the writers take 3 seasons to establish and build a foundation for a DE romance, then isn't that a good thing? The thêm time they invest, the bigger the payoff will be. If bạn look at all the other couples on the hiển thị - SE included, NONE of them have received even a quarter of the amount of attention the writers have spent on Delena. And if a couple is simply thrown together, the easier it is to dismantle them. I believe that if the writers wanted to, they could have quite easily plotted a DE hook-up this season, which would have lasted as long as Stefan was away from Mystic Falls, only to chẻ, phân chia, split them up when he returned. However they didn't, opting instead to spend thêm TIME on the relationship, which proves how highly the writers value Delena, how important DE are to the show, and that the writers think it's important for Delena to be able to overcome any obstacle. I would rather the writers went for the slow-burning build-up instead of major fireworks that burned out before Season 4 ended. I think that when a TV hiển thị begins with a couple who are crazy in love, then no matter how được ưa chuộng they are, hoặc how much chemistry they have together, the longer the series airs, the thêm difficult it becomes to sustain that level of intensity all the time. The consequences are, that before the series has come to an end, the ship in câu hỏi just isn't as good as they used to be. The writers haved done so many things to them to keep their story going, they're not the same anymore. I can think of a few couples like this. Therefore, even though it sometimes irritates me when I hear rumours of Stelena getting back together etc; on the whole, if I really think about it, I don't think it's a bad thing that DE's development is slow.


"Julie and Kevin are only taking DE những người hâm mộ for a ride', 'The writers aren't serious about Delena and are never going to give us them."

Some những người hâm mộ fear that the writers are taking advantage of Delena's popularity bởi making people think DE will get together, when in reality, they're leading them down a long road to nowhere.
The reason why I don't buy this argument is because I don't believe the writers would spend two-and-a-half seasons-worth of screentime on a couple they weren't interested in, hoặc had no long-term plans for. There has arguably been romantic potential between other characters - Stefan/Katherine, Stefan/Caroline, Stefan/Rebekah, and Damon/Katherine, (some những người hâm mộ would even argue Damon/Bonnie) - all of which amounted to nothing. When the writers don't care about a couple, then they don't waste time on them bởi giving them a story. And I don't believe that Delena's mass popularity has much to do with it. It obviously does help, but Delena are one-half of the triangle, so they will always exist as long as the hiển thị does. Furthermore, the producers are well aware that there's interest in seeing a Bamon romance from the sách from certain fans, but they haven't pursued that relationship at all. The knowledge that a Bamon following exists has had no influence on the writing. I guess I can't bring myself to believe the producers would be doing any of this if they weren't invested in DE's relationship in a major way.


"Things are never going to get any better for them so I should just bail."

It troubles me when people feel like giving up after one hoặc two bad things happen, because it seems as if they want DE to happen right now, no matter what the cost. And the fact that DE aren't happening right now, hoặc in the foreseeable future is why they feel like giving up. They want to see the grand, romantic gestures, the sizzling kisses, the tình yêu scenes, but as soon as they get within two feet of any angst hoặc pain, then it's time to abandon ship. I want to see the romance too, but tình yêu is painful sometimes. DE aren't a fairytale, but fairytales aren't real. DE are. I don't like it when I see them having problems, but they can always be overcome and their relationship doesn't fizzle out, it just gets stronger. DE wouldn't be where they are without the struggles they've frequently had to face. Maybe Damon wouldn't have slept with Rebekah and Elena wouldn't have been unnecessarily harsh to him, but DE are never down for long. Things may look uncertain hoặc bleak now, but they won't stay that way for the remainder of the show. (If they did, there wouldn't be a story!) There's always hope, and things always get better.


"I worry that Damon might just be an 'obstacle' for Stelena to overcome." (Or, "I'm afraid the tam giác will never become real.")

The first time I heard this argument, I was amazed. The possibility that Damon might be an 'obstacle' had never crossed my mind. However, this argument, favoured bởi many a Stelena người hâm mộ and DE Hater is regularly voiced in the fond belief that Damon, and DE, are only there to somehow validate Stelena's epic love. Naturally, I really hate this argument, and I think the only reason it exists is because we haven't yet seen undisputed proof of Elena's feelings for Damon. Yes, she kissed him in 2x22 but he was dying. Yes, they became very close in the first half of Season 3, and yes she did Kiss him in 3x10 and didn't pull away, but Stefan was absent during that time, so Stelena shippers aren't convinced that she feels much of anything. But after doing a lot of thinking about this I've concluded that this claim/argument is implausible for several reasons.

1. The 'love triangle' as described above isn't actually a tình yêu triangle. It's not about two guys who tình yêu one girl and one girl who loves two guys, it's about 2 people who are effectively trying to figure out if they belong together due to the presence of a third party; (Damon).

2. Damon's role in such a 'triangle' is thêm hoặc less reduced to that of a plot device. He's not a serious contender for Elena's heart; he's just there to unconsciously aid Stelena in their journey to happily ever after. Now, if Stelena really did need an 'obstacle' in the shape of a third party to help them realise they should be together, the writers could very easily supply them with a character of less importance and value: an extra like an Original hoặc the introduction of somebody new, hoặc even Matt. Damon, however, is one of the male leads, and most definitely NOT plot device material.

3. If the only aim of the tình yêu tam giác is to reassure Stelena they belong together, then why does the hiển thị need to tell it over the entire series, when it's a relatively simple story that could easily be told over the course of one hoặc two seasons? Why do they need six? I know that the tình yêu tam giác is a long-standing feature of the books, but the hiển thị has deviated from them so wildly anyway. The producers are under no obligation to make the tam giác last as long in the hiển thị as it does in the books.

4. If Stelena truly are meant to be with each other, then why do they require an obstacle like Damon at all? SE những người hâm mộ tình yêu to quote from Elena: 'It's always gonna be Stefan' and 'It's bạn and me Stefan, always.' (Hey, if Elena đã đưa ý kiến it, then that means it's set in stone!) However, SE arguably are NOT 'meant to be' if it takes them six seasons to figure it out. I would certainly think very hard about the implications of such a tam giác if I shipped Stelena.

One DE người hâm mộ who đã bình luận on an bài viết of mine aptly summed up bởi stating: 'In my opinion SE are just meant to be an obstacle for DE not the other way around.'


"I'm afraid Elena will always tình yêu Stefan thêm than Damon."

If bạn polled one hundred DE những người hâm mộ on the things that trouble them most, this one would probably come out on top. Once again, the basis for this fear is that so far, we haven't seen concrete evidence of Elena's feelings for Damon. So far, the writers have been very subtle about it, and it's been implied she has them, but we haven't seen anything definitive. But the tam giác is only getting off the ground. Just because we're unclear about how she feels for him, does that mean she doesn't tình yêu him and never will?
In order to make Delena (and the triangle) genuine, then there naturally has to be a lot of resistance on Elena's part before she confesses to loving Damon. How believable would it look if she declared she would always tình yêu Stefan in one season, and then fall madly in tình yêu with Damon in the next? Not only would bạn seriously doubt if Elena even loved Damon in the first place after her supposed 'love' for Stefan had mysteriously evaporated; bạn would also be inclined to think that she would treat Damon as badly as she had treated Stefan, and assume DE's tình yêu would go the same way as Stelena's had. In short, Elena would look very fickle; her 'love' for Damon and Stefan would come across as shallow and fake, and the tam giác would be ruined.

I've had my doubts about the writers intentions for the tam giác long-term, especially after 3x14 aired. But I've concluded that they are going about it the right way. Of course Elena is going to be in deep denial about being in tình yêu with Damon. Of course she will be conflicted, and fight her feelings. It's a journey. We can't expect everything at once. I'm as anxious to see Delena happen as anyone else, but the writers can't take short-cuts to get them where we want them to be. If they did, the relationship would most certainly suffer as a result further down the line.
Another thing to remember, is that the current tam giác lacks credibility if it simply mirrors the one that happened with Katherine in 1864. I mean, two brothers falling in tình yêu with the same girl again, and once again, she prefers Stefan? Stefan is an attractive guy, but to suggest that every girl Damon falls in tình yêu with will always choose Stefan over him is too bizarre for words. What girl WOULDN'T fall in tình yêu with Damon?! (Not me!!!) If Damon wasn't the charismatic and insanely gorgeous vampire we know him as, and was instead, hideous to look at and had no personality hoặc redeeming qualities, then such a preference for Stefan would be expected. But Damon isn't the Hunchback of Mystic Falls, and if Elena was always going to tình yêu Stefan and not Damon, then there would be no point to the story.


"I'm afraid the writers will ruin Delena."

Do the những người hâm mộ who think this after 3x14/15 really believe that it was worse than what we saw in 2x01? In my opinion, the only way Delena would be ruined is if the writers destroyed everything about them that was likeable, and it got so that bạn couldn't remember why bạn had wanted them to get together so much in the first place. hoặc if their relationship was ruined bởi the writers letting bạn think they were going to be endgame, only for Elena to run away in the middle of the night to elope with Stefan. hoặc if Damon cheated on Elena with Katherine. Something really really HORRIBLE. Something that made such a huge mess, there was no way for them to pick up the pieces hoặc make it right ever again.

I didn't like what Elena đã đưa ý kiến in those 2 episodes. But although her words can't be forgotten easily, they are forgiveable. In a gần đây conversation with another DE người hâm mộ on YouTube about it, this người hâm mộ said: "Elena is in major denial when it comes to her feelings for Damon. Her biggest defense mechanisms when it comes to Damon is pretending like she doesn't care when in reality she does. When she admits that she has feelings for him, she'll stop saying hurtful things...but right now, she's afraid."
Elena's behaviour in the mô tả above strikes me as being very similar to Damon's in Seasons 1-2. Is this another parallel to add to an already looong list? It's worth keeping in mind as we observe Elena in future episodes.

I highly doubt the producers and writers would be that crazy hoặc stupid to knowingly wreck a relationship they had crafted for so long. What would be the point of that? It would be like an artist destroying a piece of work that had taken them a few years to create. If Kevin and Julie decide to do that, they clearly have no decency hoặc taste whatsoever. The only conceivable way I can see them doing something so awful would be to get Delena những người hâm mộ to switch ships because they were planning a Stelena endgame. But it would never work at such a critical stage in the series and is bound to backfire on them. It's not even worth attempting.

I am not trying to brush off fans' concerns about DE and the future. I can understand why they have them, được trao that Elena has yet to xác nhận she loves Damon. But I don't think their fears justify doing something as dramatic as abandoning ship. And as for the những người hâm mộ who already have, I think I can safely say that they'll be back before the season ends...