KAT GRAHAM as BONNIE BENNETT THE VAMPIRE DIARIES 6x03 "Welcome to Paradise"

Hey! How are you? I was just wondering if you could write a forwood au drabble where they’re both married and have twins just like in the books. (With some stelena bamon endgames but I don’t wanna be too demanding)

I am so much better after having received this request. You are truly after my heart, this is the au that I LIVE for. So, I only did the drabble, no moodboard but if you DO want a moodboard for this au, feel free to just ask and I will be more than happy to make one because, again, this au is EVERYTHING to me. And now, for some domestic Forwood with some mentions of Stelena and Bamon:

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” Tyler asks sceptically. He sets the plate down on the table and then rests his hands on the back of the chair in front of him. “Don’t you think it’ll be… weird?”

Caroline breathes out a laugh, saying, “No,” then stops, whips around, and stares at him with wide-eyed alarm and a plate still in her hand. “Why? Do you think it’ll be weird? Oh god, it’s weird, isn’t it? This is insane! What was I thinking?”

Like a switch flipped, she dove right into the deepest end of the pool and sunk right to the bottom. Tyler’s gotten used to it over the years, but truth be told, he hasn’t quite adjusted to just how heightened she’s been since having the twins. 

“No, Care, that’s not what I said,” Tyler quickly soothes, moving over to stand in front of her. He reaches out and gently strokes her forearms. “You’re not insane. I was just thinking about you. You know, what with everything that’s gone down with Stefan and… with Damon. Are you going to be okay in a room with both of them?”

She looks him dead in the eyes like a startled little chipmunk for a good second or two. Then, with a sigh, she deflates like someone’s popped open the little seal on the back of her neck and let out all of the air that was filling her to bursting point. 

To his surprise, she flings her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. The forks in her hand jab a little uncomfortably into his right shoulderblade but he chooses to ignore it for the moment. He instead chuckles lightly into her hair as she takes a deep breath into his shoulder. 

“Hey, you okay?” he asks softly, stroking a hand up and down her back. He wonders if he should go and get the twins for her to focus her attention on; it calms her emotions right down to have them in her sights and be looking after them. 

“I just…” She pulls back to look at him with startlingly crystal-clear eyes, full of clarity and sincerity as she holds him at arms-length and smiles at him like he’s the only other person in the world. “God. I just love you so much. You know that, don’t you?” 

“Yeah, of course I do,” Tyler says with a twinge in his chest. He knows it, and he hears it often enough that it shouldn’t still make him feel like the romantic interest in a cheesy teen movie, but here he is anyway. “And I love you, Care.” 

Her smile stretches until her eyes crinkle like a joyful kitten, then she continues, “And I love that you care so much about me, and how I feel, if I’m okay. I really do. I promise you that I am going to be okay tonight. It’s all in the past now, and we are moving forward with our new life. We have the twins, we have our home. We have each other, and I could not be happier about that.” 

Tyler’s cheeks positively ache from trying to bite back the full extent of his smile. “Yeah?” 

“Yes, you dummy! This is everything I’ve always wanted.” She rolls her eyes. “I know it may have seemed like I wasn’t really one for the domestic, settling down… white picket fence life when we were at school, but… deep down, I wanted it. I hoped that I could have it, that I could actually do it and be good at it. Being a mother and… a partner.” 

There’s some emphasis on the last word, Tyler notices. He’s not stupid. But he’ll let her continue to think he is for another hour or so, just until they have the appropriate audience and dessert is about to be served with a particular piece of silver included. 

“You are amazing,” Tyler tells her fiercely, sliding his hands up the side of her neck. She leans into his touch, her bottom lip pushing out a little. “And, I totally believe you when you say that you’re all good about this dinner party idea. But be totally honest with me: how do you actually feel it?”

“Oh, I’m a nervous wreck,” Caroline says without missing a beat, confirming what he’s been observing for the last twenty-four hours. “Mainly just because I’m worried about a fight breaking out between either Stefan and Damon or you and them, but also because both Elena an Bonnie have confided some news in me that they’re planning on sharing tonight with each other and I’m not totally sure how they’re both going to react.”

Eyebrows raised, Tyler takes a step back, going back to setting the table as he prompts her with a simple, “Oh? Why? What’s their news?” 

She groans loudly, head thrown back, hands out at her sides. “Okay, so, technically I’m not supposed to say anything because I promised both of them that I wouldn’t, but you don’t count. I know for a fact that Elena tells Stefan everything, and the same for Bonnie with Damon, which, frankly, I think is even more insane than this dinner party because I wouldn’t trust him to keep a surprise party a secret, never mind anything of any importance.

“But anyway. Get this, would you believe, Elena and Stefan eloped.” 

Tyler’s eyebrows are practically off his forehead. “Wait, seriously? Wow.”

“I know! I mean, they’re married now! Which is totally crazy, right?” 

Biting hard on his cheek to keep a straight face, he nods with furrowed brows, and swallows hard before speaking. “Yeah, no, it’s crazy.”

He catches Caroline side-eyeing him, but he makes sure to give nothing away as he adjusts the last plate and she sets out the last of the cutlery. 

“And Bonnie’s news?” he asks, steering her back on track. 

It’s successful, too. Her eyes immediately widen and she’s talking a mile a minute, saying, “Oh god, that’s even crazier. I don’t think it’s even fully sunk in for me yet, I mean, I just can’t even picture it – I don’t want to, either, to be frank. Right, yeah. So… Bonnie’s pregnant.”

Tyler whistles through his teeth. “What? And it’s–”

“Definitely Damon’s, she says,” Caroline confirms, nodding.

“I can see why you’re nervous,” he says faintly, to her passionate agreement. 

He’s still processing that piece of information when the baby monitor crackles – not that they really need it when they both have hearing better than anything that requires a battery. 

Caroline’s head perks up like a dog’s ears. “Oh, is it five already? I need to feed them again.” She rubs her temples. “Do you think it’s worrying that Brianna is drinking more than Lucas is? Maybe it’s me. Maybe my milk is making him sick or something, do you think that’s possible?” 

“I think that they’re both perfectly fine,” Tyler says calmly, “but if you’re really worried, we can check in with the midwife again with any questions. I’m sure it’s just because Cas was a bit later than Bri. There’s always the formula stuff, see if it makes a difference for him.”

“True. I might try it,” she muses, biting her lip. 

There’s another groggy cry from upstairs. Seeing Caroline’s obvious need for a minute to go over her thoughts, he kisses her cheek and says, “I’ll get them.”

“Thank you, you’re the best, I love you!” she calls after him. 

“I know!”

Why is it everytime we ship Bonnie with someone, other mfs wanna tell us that we’re wrong???

No one shares their opinions when someone ships Klaroline, or even Steferine.

Literally, everytime someone post an edit of Bamon on tiktok, and just says they are cute together, there’s always a handful of people that says:

“I like their FRIENDSHIP.”

“I don’t ship them romantically.”

It’s almost as if no one fucking asked.

If anyone was to object a KB wedding would that be Damon?

I answered a similar question here. To make this simple, almost everyone has a reason to object. However, you mentioned Damon specifically and I'd love to discuss his reaction to Klonnie's wedding as a whole.

I ship Bamon romantically and was super disappointed to see all their chemistry go to waste. The show established that Bamon is platonic but continued to do things to press their boundaries. Damon inserted himself into the relationship Bonnie had with Enzo. It had nothing to do with Enzo and everything to do with Damon's relationship with Bonnie. He's very childish with his possession of Bonnie. That's his best friend and he doesn't really want to share. He certainly wouldn't want to share Bonnie with Klaus. Damon and Klaus are similar character types. I can picture Damon feeling like Klaus was replacing him. Klaus already stole his brother Stefan in the 1920s. Stealing Bonnie is going too far. Whether you ship Bamon or not, Bonnie is special to Damon and he would not be a fan of her joining the Mikaelson family. Does Damon object? Oh he wants to. He fantasizes about it. He wants nothing more than to kidnap Bonnie and drive her as far away from the wedding as possible. What stops him? Elena (she's smart enough to know when he is plotting something), his fear of Bonnie's wrath (she would kick his ass so hard) or Damon prioritizing Bonnie's happiness (he does love her like crazy and he still hates that Klaus makes her happy).

Also, a friend of mine is very interested in starting a Bamon-centric account similar to this one. Does that sound interesting to anyone? Bamon is kinda foundational to Bonnie's fandom and it's kinda sad seeing the lack of activity on here for them.

What are your favourite bonnie ships and why?

Sorry I didn't see this earlier! This is the hardest question. I ship almost all of them because Kat has a lot of chemistry with a lot of people. Many of my favorite Bonnie ships don't even have fics and if they do, then the fics are short or rare.

Let's start with the obvious favorite: Klonnie. I am literally writing a fic for them. Why? They are just the hottest cast members and I'm very interested in the power dynamics between the characters. Also, I'm just really interested in how these two could influence each other. Whether that means tapping into Bonnie's dark side or Klaus becoming a better man, there's potential for growth as individuals.

I'd also like to acknowledge Stefonnie as a ship I hold dear to my heart. I live for Paulerina's chemistry plus Stefan and Bonnie are almost mirrors of each other in a way I find intriguing. Remember when I mentioned rare pairs? I also ship Bonnie with both of Stefan's doppelgangers. Silas and Bonnie have an obvious history, but Tom and Bonnie never met. BonTom is my crack ship for Bonnie just getting the fuck out of MF.

Bonkai and Bamon are almost interchangeable to me. I like both. The potential was there from day one with Bamon. I don't buy them as platonic soulmates. They were meant to be lovers. Bonkai with witch!Kai is superior. Heretic!Kai was stupid and he died immediately which does sorta make sense in canon but is still annoying. There's a lot of unresolved sexual tension here with both ships and they deserve a chance to explore their feelings.

delena was so much better in the books.

elena in the books was, and i love her for this, a bitch. a right cunt sometimes. she basically thought the town of mystic falls rose and sat with her. so when damon tried anything she would just look at him like, “you look so dumb right now.”

and not to mention she, canonically, only cared about stefan in the first place because he didn’t worship her like the other guys did. of course she also was enthralled by him, but she even says she’s curious about him because he ignores her.

however.

delena in the show? oh my god. elena is so nice and she’s basically damon’s character development arch. it’s such a shame. it’s a gross parody of delena from the books, where damon and elena find better people in each other and themselves through their love, even thinking that they’re corrupting each other. elena becomes more soft for stefan, but she learns how to use her power with damon. damon learns that he isn’t the evil he has casted himself as, and his humanity is buried deep down.

delena in the show is more akin to bamon in the books. because bonnie in the books is so trusting, almost to a fault. they really switched the two’s personalities in the show (bonnie and elena’s) and it’s so confusing to me. i love elena in both, but elena in the books is so much more human, which is funny because she’s never been a full human, and relatable in my opinion. her flaws are so much more complex.

don’t get me wrong, i love elena in the show, i just don’t find her relatable, personally. and obviously, i’m not a delena shipper for the show. i genuinely love damon in the books, but i loathe damon in the show. i do appreciate the cute scenes delena has though!!

Ok I know you responded to this post a long time ago, but you're so right about Damon being the one to mastermind and manipulate both Bonnie and Kai (her hatred for him/the whole prison abandonment thing and Kai's unrequited feelings for Bonnie/guilt). Hilarious they tried to make Damon look like the hero by end of season 6, that's why it feels cheap when he reluctantly rescues Bonnie. Yes, Damon caused the domino effect in the first place. When really, all he cared about was freeing his crazy mother. So as usual, Damon is just using people to get what he wants. He was the one giving Kai hope under false pretense, while at the same time toying with Bonnie's emotions knowing she wanted nothing to do with them both. Difference is Kai was ACTUALLY sorry & trying to make amends. Can you imagine the bonkai fluff we missed out on that could have been squeezed out of this dilemma?! Meanwhile, Damon was just trying to weasel his way back into her good graces bc he needed to use Bonnie's magic again...for the millionth time.

There's definitely some discrepancies in the writing as well...Bonnie blames Kai for her suicide attempt, yet she already had a suicide pact with Damon prior to meeting Kai. I'm not buying that whole Damon had more remorse than Kai thing either. Kai tried to prove himself by saving Bonnie on her bday. You think if Bonnie knew that pertinent information she'd still want revenge on Kai so bad??! Either Damon and her friends carelessly withheld this info from her or the writers just got sloppy and left out key Bonnie backstory (its probably latter). Like this is classic drama 101, a good writer would actually want to capitalize off this & use it to their advantage but they left us bonkai fans hanging for no reason. So by extension, Kai is no less or more evil than Damon. I'm so sick of seeing fake Bonnie fans make that pointless argument. At least Kai had an excuse & at some point changed & was no longer a sociopath (post merge). Damon is just a reckless murderer who never learns his lesson, yet the fans think he's somehow more deserving of a meaningful relationship with Bonnie than Kai ever was *Eye roll*. She betrays him first by axe, then sends away her magic, telling Kai "i guess we're stuck here forever". Then acts shocked when Kai pays her back & leaves her in 1995. There's this misconception that bonkai stans overlook this, but we don't. We accept our ship for what it is. Bonnie deserved it... just like Kai deserved to be left in 1903. Obviously her leaving Kai in 1903 is justified, but that whole unforgiving act towards him falls apart bc she never-ever-once tried to do the same same with people like Stefan or Damon, who willingly betrayed her more than once (Enzos death/Abby's death). That's why they trash our favorite ship every chance they get...cognitive dissonance is really a thing. The Salvatores were never Bonnie's friends (at least only in theory) bc the writers did such a poor job at conveying what looked like a one sided relationship where the witch almost always happens to be cocered into using her magic either against her will and/or better judgment.

Bonnie shouldn't have lifted a finger to help anyone after season 6, considering the whole Kai bit supposedly "changed" her. Yet we never saw this development at all bc Bonnie was still annoyingly loyal to Elena & willing to risk life & limb for the same vampires who caused more trauma in her life than Kai ever did. Fans act like Kai was the worst thing to happen to Bonnie. If anything, it should have helped her see who her true friends really are. It's certainly not Damon. Lol & I say this as a Bamon fan, when done the right way.

I love everything about this Ask and I literally don't have anything to add.

Also cognitive dissonance - such a great phrase for describing how it sometimes feels to be a Bonkai shipper in the larger fandom.

Not quite sure if it's a hot take or not, but bamon remaining platonic not only made sense for the characters, it also served the narrative best. There is a bias here that I acknowledge considering I will forever and always be a delena, however, I do think that bamon becoming romantic would have been a disservice to the narrative. For starters, I'll just get it out of the way: there is no way that a writer (based on the first six seasons of tvd) could conceive a plot that would make it seem like Damon loved Bonnie as much as he loved Elena. It just wouldn't be possible as nearly everything Damon does he does for Elena; of course, there are exceptions and it's with Elena's love and compassion that he begins to do (what he sees) as the right thing by people like Stefan or Jeremy. This does not mean his love for Bonnie isn't strong or significant just because it's not the same kind of love he has for Elena. In fact, I'd argue that the importance of Damon having different loves cannot be overstated.

Bonnie does bring out the good in Damon (especially outside of his feelings for Elena), but I think attributing all of his growth solely to Bonnie is disingenuous at best. Their time in the prison world was marked by discussions of Elena, she was their tether to reality and each other until their relationship could stand on its own. Bonnie helps Damon become even more human. Without Bonnie's friendship, it's possible that Damon wouldn't have had enough human connections to have chosen to become human with Elena. However, I don't necessarily think Damon brings out anything new or interesting in Bonnie. She has always been good, but also willing to protect herself and her friends at any means necessary (even going as far as almost killing Damon in season two). He doesn't bring this side out in her, it's always been there. Even in season six, as she begins to put herself first (rightfully so), this isn't at Damon's prompting, it's because of him ALSO using her as a means to an end occasionally (this isn't to say Damon is a terrible friend--each time he's asked Bonnie for help it was for the betterment of Elena or others he cared about). As he's stated before, he's, ultimately, selfish. Throughout season six almost every conversation he has with Bonnie is to help him with something, and while he grows out of this it leaves a sour taste in my mouth for a romantic relationship between them. Bonnie deserves someone who will put her first, and that's just not Damon who canonically will never put anyone above Elena when it comes down to it.

Conversely, I /do/ think Elena and Damon bring out something new within each other. Elena, like Bonnie, is willing to sacrifice herself for her friends at the drop of a hat, but its Damon's insistence on the importance of her life that convinces her of this. Additionally, he is the only one who truly sees her and accepts her flaws and all; when she became a vampire, it was Damon who allowed her to grow and change. Even in season one, he saw how unhappy she was cheerleading and forcing herself back into the mold of her life before, and encouraged her to let that old self go. It is through Elena's love that Damon opens himself to other kinds of love. And I don't think this relationship can ever be overshadowed even with chemistry and best friendship.

Was there any point when you thought TVD might do something right with Carolena after all,have Elena apologise to Caroline for being a shitty friend instead of shoving that sham friendship on our faces?I don't know what exactly were the writers thinking having Liz say "Elena clearly misses you,Caroline" or have Elena say "I'm still here,Care" when Caroline said she was missing Bonnie and Stefan,or with Elena being all concerned for Liz and act big-sisterly with Caroline before and after Liz's death! Is it because Nina was leaving or is it because the writers wanted the girls to be at a good place because they were gonna make SC canon?Elena never understood or even bothered about Caroline's struggles with herself,mocked her control-freak nature & even slut-shamed her for sleeping with Damon even though she knew Damon had raped her.I don't think Caroline even considered it for a second that Elena would be there for her and that's why it was so easy for her to take Damon's terrible advice in 6×15.I mean why would she?Elena made liz's almost death about herself and kissed Damon.She made Jo's pregnancy about herself.She spent an entire day with Stefan and yet didn't tell him that Caroline was crying after he walked away in 6×03!!! She's been horrible to her probably since they were kids.TVD had a second chance with Baroline especially after Nina left and they failed on that too.After sidelining and relegating their main female regulars for an entire season,they ruined their friendship using irrelevEnzo's death and yet both the girls had to forgive Damon for everything he did and were okay with Elena being with him.And in the end Elena got everything while Baroline lost everything.How is that even fair?

No, I never expected the writers to do right by Elena & Caroline because Elena became a very one-dimensional character after she hooked up with Damon. That was kind of the point I think. After all, Elena described her love for Damon as “a love that consumed me”. Elena couldn’t prioritize any other relationship with a romance like that. So, she didn’t. And honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to Elena’s story in the later years. I just gave up on her character and focused my attention on Steroline & Bamon.

Top 5 major storylines from shows that you would erase or handle differently?

In no particular order…

1. Seasons 3 and 4 of Killing Eve in general. Like, just erase both seasons completely and start over. There’s so many cool places they could have taken the show after how S2 ended and they went with…that. If I had been in charge I probably would have leaned further into dark Eve during S3 and would have eventually had her go off on a rage-fueled revenge quest against Villanelle. (Which ofc would have ended with hate fucking lol).

2. Bonnie’s love life in TVD. (Really, just Bonnie’s storyline in general). Sorry to my mutuals who liked Bonnie/Jeremy or Bonnie/Enzo but both of them are a no from me. (Bonnie/Enzo had potential but the execution sucked imo). I would have had Bamon happen and start developing romantically in S6 or, as a second choice, introduce Nora a bit sooner and make bi Bonnie canon. Either of those options would have been better than what we got.

3. Buffy and Spike from btvs. If they still had to happen at all, I would have had it been completely over after Seeing Red. If it’d been up to me, Buffy wouldn’t have forgiven him, let alone make a big bulk of her storyline be about defending him during her final seasons. Fuffy would happen instead.

4. Speaking of btvs…I would have had Xander die during Seeing Red instead of Tara. He and Willow had been friends since they were kids, that would have been enough to trigger dark Willow. And then Tara would have been the one to bring her back. I have complicated feelings about Tara/Willow as a ship but I still think they should have been endgame. Also men dying for the character development of women? A+.

5. Zutara being canon in atla. I think Aang could have still had a crush on Katara but it would have ended towards the end of book 2 with them having a conversation and Katara telling him that she loves him but not in that way. Zutara would have been hinted at in book 2 but would not happen until book 3. I think it could have been cool if Katara somehow found out Zuko was the Blue Spirit during book 2 and they started having secret meetings in Ba Sing Se, where they eventually develop a tentative friendship with romantic undertones. Katara would spend that time trying to convince Zuko to fully switch sides and he almost does…only to fall back back into old habits when Azula offers him the choice in the catacombs. This would make Zuko’s betrayal even more dramatic and angsty because Katara would have developed feelings for him. And then Zuko would struggle with his relationship with Mai in the Fire Nation because he’d have Katara at the back of his mind…I’ll stop myself here lmao

Honorable mention to what the SOA writers did to Tara and Gemma’s dynamic. I would have 100% changed that too.

Thank you! ❤️

What are your thoughts on Klaus/bonnie? or more specifically bonnie who is a normal bennet witch and not as self sacrificing as in the show

well, I'm not really sure what you mean? the fact that Bonnie is so self-sacrificing is a major part of her character-- it's the expression of her love, which is fiercely protective. (also, she's totally the mom friend, and I think this ties in-- she's the one with the most common sense and the strongest moral compass by far-- of course she's protective! but it's not like it's unreciprocated-- Elena demonstrates plenty that she is ready to die for her-- Bonnie is just the stronger of the two and can easily push Elena back.)

So I'm not sure who Bonnie would be if she wasn't self-sacrificing.

So I'll answer based on who she is--

I think Klaus x Bonnie is such an obvious ship! Like, I don't understand at all why this wasn't the canon decision?

We know 1) Klaus is into witches-- he likes beautiful and powerful women, so the fact alone that Bonnie is a powerful, intelligent, beautiful witch is enough to capture his attention-- great, this is actually the first hurdle overcome, which is always going to be the question of, why is this ancient creature paying attention to some high school girl? 2) okay she almost killed him in season 2 and that's some Grade A material to start a ship on 3) one of my theories with tvd and the narrative function of the characters is that Bonnie stands for the moral True North in the show-- if one of the major arcs of the show is Elena being seduced away from human morality and into the vampiric darkness embodied by the Salvatores, Bonnie exists as her best friend and her moral clarity to pull her back. That's why, narratively, it's critical that Bonnie hates vampires so much-- because she sees them for the danger they are. She needs to be able to warn Elena with her eyes wide open. Also convenient that she can't be compelled, because her mind is therefore entirely her own. With this in mind, YES, this makes a potential spark with Klaus EXTREMELY INTRIGUING.

I actually have no idea what the angle would have to be to get Bonnie to give Klaus a second look. Honestly I see it going forward as Klaus being obsessed with her and maaaybbeeee she is interested enough to look his way twice. Or she just detests him and it feeds the glorious fire of the ship.

I think for it to happen there would have to be some sort of Incident that would trigger things. That sort of thing is always really helpful for ships where one of them is just. Morally Opposed (and also Generally Appalled).

(Like, if anyone wants to come at me about Bonnie x Enzo or Bonnie x Damon for Bonnie being okay with vampires-- like, yes, I know it's canon, or that bamon has great chemistry-- I honestly didn't watch the seasons with bonenzo so I have nothing to contribute and I would assert the scenario with 1994 Pocket After Life or whatever that was with Damon is a great example of an Incident leading her to put aside her natural feelings toward vampires in favor of one specific vampire she can allow that she actually does like.)

(But this is just further evidence that Klaus x Bonnie would need to a great Incident of some sort in order to make the ship go because I think otherwise Bonnie says Hard Pass.)

I would love to know whether you prefer bamon or delena and how you think a bamon romance would differ from what we saw from delena!

Probably Delena because of their build-up, intensity, and passion. It made them fun to watch. They were addicting. Almost like a drug.

However, I could've easily gotten on board with Bamon as well. I actually think they would've had a healthier and more balanced dynamic overall. A Bamon romance would've played out differently in that they had a progression that went from enemies to friends/confidants, and I think that would've laid a different foundation for a romance between them. It would've been built more on trust and companionship and respect rather than heady attraction, which, in my opinion, is largely what magnetized Damon and Elena. That wouldn't have made a romance between Bamon any less passionate, mind you. It simply would've taken shape in a different way.

And she wants to like…give a stranger what he wants (????) She wants it so badly that she almost kills herself. (????) That's the Sire Bond talking, right? There's no way not to be, there's so much I can't ignore about the toxic love of these two. Why do people ship this? it's crazy... It doesn't flow naturally to me, like… It never did.

I feel like it's as crazy as shipping Bamon, but Bamon was unacceptable to some people who shipped Delena. How does that make sense? I saw some old fandom discussions and people pointing out some facts that Damon and Bonnie were falling in love and everyone denying text and subtext to defend this ship.

Sire bond ship…

The witch was pretty clear with Damon, to truly break he had to let her go. When Elena didn't have feelings, she didn't have feelings. When she got them back that too came back too. She just knew how to hide it better, because what would make Damon truly happy was her pretending that he didn't boss her around and the feeling was real that she truly chose him, but it's obvious to anyone watching that this is bullshit.

(Damon at least did one thing right and invoked the sire bond to make Elena human.)

"Oh, but this rare sire bond exists because of Elena's feelings for Damon." Some people out there say...Sure, fine, whatever, but she can't get out of it anymore, she doesn't have freedom. Elena without memory shows me this VERY clearly.

Popular opinion has had such an impact on history that it makes no sense. I keep thinking about how much they've ruined Bonnie's character as time has passed. She sort of fell in love with Damon, then fell in love with his shadow self. Aka, Enzo… Trusted him when she should have run for the hills with her magic intact to protect herself…

If she weren't so vulnerable and this relationship wasn't borderline abusive, I could like Bonenzo more than I like Bamon. Bamon also has it's flaws as big as Delena, but at least it's a real relationship. I hate half the ships in this show and I don't care about the other half. Maybe I'm too picky...Fuck Canon.

(Yep, I was watching this season for the first time in 2023. And I'm grateful that I only just now, because the fandom is crazy. I see the old arguments and I wanna die. People deny text and subtext... They can't even admit that the script was implying that Damon was falling in love with Bonnie, apparently it's an unpopular opinion, even though it's right there, in your face.)

My Possible Unpopular TVD Opinions

DISCLAIMER: This is MY fucking opinions, lets be for real. If you don’t agree, then good. If you do, then great.

This fandom doesn’t realize everyone’s horrible. One thing I’ve noticed about this fanodm is that people really like to pick and choose who’s the worst or the ‘least worse’ character. Idk, I just find it weird that someone favors Klaus Mikaelson, but HATES Damon Salvatore. As if Klaus isn’t terribly worse. Almost every single character in this series has done a multidue of horrible things, especially the vampires, so it doesn’t make sense to people do that. I understand if it was based on personalities, but the way people express their likings, it doesn’t seem like it is. For example, the whole Damon versus Stefan debate. Some people hate Damon because what he’s done, but turn around and love Stefan even though he’s done the same shit, and even worse.

Damon didn’t need to be labeled as the ‘better man’. Look, Damon is my FAVORITE character. I love that man with all of my heart, but truthfully, I don’t think he should’ve been the “better man”. All Damon’s life he has been coming second to Stefan. With their parents, Katherine, Elena, and damn near everyone else. And honestly, I think it got worse with Elena because deep down, she wanted him to be “Damon with Stefan-like qualities”. But he’ll never be Stefan. And that’s okay. I think Damon’s arc should’ve concluded with him accepting the fact that he’ll never be the better man, and him being okay with being imperfect. Not everyone has to be the hero.

Bamon should’ve fucking happened! If Bamon has one fan, it’s me. If Bamon has no fans, I’m no longer on Earth. I just really, REALLY, love this ship, I don’t think you guys understand. Honestly, it might’ve been better than Delena. Damon and Bonnie have some underrated chemistry and tension since day one. And they had a great set up. Damon sworn to protect the Bennet bloodline and now he has this girl who pushes his buttons alot, while he’s constantly pushing her buttons—UGH, I love it. True enemies to friends to lovers. They should’ve ended up together, atleast once. But we all know why it didn’t happen *cough* julie *cough*.

Caroline’s such a fucking hypocrite. I love Caroline, but she also annoys the fuck outta me. And I think it’s just her natural personality. She’s just so judgemental that it drives me crazy, and personally, I can never be friends with someone who always has ann opinion on the shit I do. What really bothered me about her is her drilling down on Elena during the first part of season 4 about Damon. Which I would’ve understood considering her abusive past with Damon, however, she never mentioned or brought up that as a reason why she hates Damon or why Elena shouldn’t love him. Instead, she came off really fucking hypocritcial because not even five second after basically calling Elena an idiot for picking Damon, she’s LAUGHING WITH KLAUS?!?!? Aka the most evil mf in the entire series, like let’s be so fucking fr. Klaus is ten times worse than Damon and this bitch is laughing it up with him over champagne. And not to mention she sleeps with him later on.

Bonnie would’ve made a better protagonist. Bonnie’s storyline had so much potential to be stretched out. Like she came from a very powerful coven that dated back to the first creation of an immortal being AND the other side. Her ancestoral history with the Salvatore brothers. The way she became one of the most powerful witches—like she fucking stopped hell fire, bffr. And Bonnie’s fine asf, she’s that girl. I think her character arc is good, and would’ve been great if racism didn’t occur with Kat Graham.

Elena is not as bad as y’all say she is. Can she a be a little self-centered? Yeah. But it’s not hard to understand why. During the first few seasons, EVERYONE made everything about Elena—especially Damon and Stefan. Like Bonnie was about to die for her during season 2. Everyone has risked everything for her. Shit, if people treated me like that, I would think everything’s about me, too! And no, Elena’s not a crybaby. If I was going through everything she was going through, I would cry every day and night. Girl lost two sets of parents, her brother at one point, and both of her guardians (Jenna and Alaric). And at one point, lost the love of her life (Damon in S6). Not to mention, someone was always trying to kill her, and then she had to deal with an evil doppleganger. Shehas every reason to cry. And the weird thing about that is, everyone calls Elena a crybaby but not Klaus? Every damn picture I see of that man, he’s crying his eyes out. It’s always that same damn crying face too. I love Klaus but y’all really be pickin and choosin who to pick on.

Damon and Stefan’s background should’ve been talked about more. I still don’t know why the producers, or whoever, changed their origins from the books (as far as I know they were from the 1500s in Italy) but I think changing it was so unnecessary. I don’t know why people have such an obsession with 1800s, but it’s WEIRD how we collectively decided to treat that time as an aesthetic while this country was treating people like animals, but hey, that’s just me. ANYWAYS, I think they should’ve brought up the brothers’ history and background earlier in the series, instead of waiting till the end where the rest of the story was falling flat. Because if we’re being honest, in the early seasons, we don’t know much about them. Hell, I don’t even think we know their birthdays. Like we’re aware of their troubled past, but we don’t know their family backgrounds, and I feel like knowing someone’s familia backgrounds helps understanding their core.

“When I kill someone, they’re supposed to stay dead!”. Alaric should’ve stayed dead. Jeremy should’ve stayed dead. End of story.

Kai’s actions are not justified. This fandom and hundreds of others have a tendecy of babying these grown ass people. So what Kai’s family treated him differently. That literally happens to damn near everyone in this world. It does not give you anexcuse to kill your entire family, INCLUDING CHILDREN?? Bitch you deserve to get locked up. They should’ve killed his ass but that’s just me. But Kai’s fun, I suppose. I just don’t like it when people baby him trying to justify him killing innocent children just because his father didn’t love him enough. Who cares? Go to fucking therapy like the rest of us. And then y’all tried to ship him with BONNIE?? OUR PRECIOUS BONNIE?? It’s like y’all forgot how he made her life a living hell in that prison world, which led her to almost killing herself. Bonkai could burn, don’t ever bring up that garbage ass shit ever again in my presence.

Might do a part two

Who are your ABSOLUTE OTP, BROTP and NOTP from TVD? (I feel like the OTP is Stelena but I’m curious anyway! My OTP, personally, is Stelena and I would’ve loved to see a better ending for them. My favourite BROTP is probably Stefan/Lexi but I do also really like the dynamic between Caroline and Enzo when they actually interacted. As for notp, I’d probably say DE, but also maybe KC.)

My absolute otp in CANON is actually forwood but Stelena is a very close second. Almost tied. Both of these ships were just so beautiful written and the chemistry was just *chef’s kiss*. They were done so dirty by plec. Non canon is ovo Bamon because enemies to lovers is my fav. Also helps that there are a lot of parallels to dair imo.

Brotp is also stexi but I also LOVE monnie and Baroline. There were sm good friendships and family dynamics that deserved to be explored but the writers only cared about ships and bad writing.

Notp for me is also DE and KC. And not just because of SE and TC. But I don’t want to be too negative. I also don’t like Bonnie’s canon ships either.

You like Bonkai? Would you ever write for this ship? Can you rec any Bonkai fics?

Yes. No. No.

I really like Bonkai but most of the fics are almost unreadable for me. It's not necessarily the quality of writing because some of the fic authors are very skilled. I don't like their treatment of Bonnie as a character, their interpretation of Kai and their treatment of the Bennetts. It gets to a point where it feels racist. I had to ask a popular Bonkai writer if they were aware of the racial undertones (I was hoping that I was reading into it) and they said it was on purpose. I don't think I've truly read a Bonkai fic since. The Bonnie in these fics feel like a stranger and she's often put down to elevate Kai and his family. This partially echoes my issues with some Bamon fics.

Bonnie and her identity is such an afterthought which sucks as a Bonnie stan as they reduce Bonnie to her lack of magical training, minimize her pain and paint her as submissive. At times, Bonnie's trauma feels like just an excuse to write her as an angry black woman who is short sighted and ignorant.

I can't write Bonkai because of Kai. The version of him that I have in my head is very different from what you see in fanon. I like Bonnie. I like Kai. I like Bonkai. It's not my job to police Bonkai writers. They can do what they want but I'll admire the ship from afar.