Thanks to everyone who reads, 评论 and supports my articles. Special acknowledgement to paupaug.

I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot of negative 评论 from depressed DE shippers regarding the current state of affairs. Maybe 你 are one of those shippers. Maybe 你 are scared that DE have come to the end of the road. Maybe 你 don't think they will ever happen now. Maybe 你 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, 或者 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. 你 have to remember that the 三角形, 三角 will be a feature of the 显示 for as long as it airs, which is probably 6 Seasons. That's a long time. "Do 你 really believe the 三角形, 三角 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 更多 time they invest, the bigger the payoff will be. If 你 look at all the other couples on the 显示 - 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 分裂, 拆分 them up when he returned. However they didn't, opting instead to spend 更多 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 显示 begins with a couple who are crazy in love, then no matter how 流行的 they are, 或者 how much chemistry they have together, the longer the series airs, the 更多 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 问题 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 粉丝 for a ride', 'The writers aren't serious about Delena and are never going to give us them."

Some 粉丝 fear that the writers are taking advantage of Delena's popularity 由 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, 或者 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 粉丝 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 由 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 显示 does. Furthermore, the producers are well aware that there's interest in seeing a Bamon romance from the 图书 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 或者 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, 或者 in the foreseeable future is why they feel like giving up. They want to see the grand, romantic gestures, the sizzling kisses, the 爱情 scenes, but as soon as they get within two feet of any angst 或者 pain, then it's time to abandon ship. I want to see the romance too, but 爱情 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 或者 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 三角形, 三角 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 由 many a Stelena 粉丝 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 吻乐队（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 爱情 triangle. It's not about two guys who 爱情 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 更多 或者 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 或者 the introduction of somebody new, 或者 even Matt. Damon, however, is one of the male leads, and most definitely NOT plot device material.

3. If the only aim of the 爱情 三角形, 三角 is to reassure Stelena they belong together, then why does the 显示 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 或者 two seasons? Why do they need six? I know that the 爱情 三角形, 三角 is a long-standing feature of the books, but the 显示 has deviated from them so wildly anyway. The producers are under no obligation to make the 三角形, 三角 last as long in the 显示 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 粉丝 爱情 to quote from Elena: 'It's always gonna be Stefan' and 'It's 你 and me Stefan, always.' (Hey, if Elena 说 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 三角形, 三角 if I shipped Stelena.

One DE 粉丝 who 评论 on an 文章 of mine aptly summed up 由 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 爱情 Stefan 更多 than Damon."

If 你 polled one hundred DE 粉丝 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 三角形, 三角 is only getting off the ground. Just because we're unclear about how she feels for him, does that mean she doesn't 爱情 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 爱情 Stefan in one season, and then fall madly in 爱情 with Damon in the next? Not only would 你 seriously doubt if Elena even loved Damon in the first place after her supposed 'love' for Stefan had mysteriously evaporated; 你 would also be inclined to think that she would treat Damon as badly as she had treated Stefan, and assume DE's 爱情 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 三角形, 三角 would be ruined.

I've had my doubts about the writers intentions for the 三角形, 三角 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 爱情 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 三角形, 三角 lacks credibility if it simply mirrors the one that happened with Katherine in 1864. I mean, two brothers falling in 爱情 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 爱情 with will always choose Stefan over him is too bizarre for words. What girl WOULDN'T fall in 爱情 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 或者 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 爱情 Stefan and not Damon, then there would be no point to the story.


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

Do the 粉丝 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 你 couldn't remember why 你 had wanted them to get together so much in the first place. 或者 if their relationship was ruined 由 the writers letting 你 think they were going to be endgame, only for Elena to run away in the middle of the night to elope with Stefan. 或者 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 或者 make it right ever again.

I didn't like what Elena 说 in those 2 episodes. But although her words can't be forgotten easily, they are forgiveable. In a 最近的 conversation with another DE 粉丝 on YouTube about it, this 粉丝 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 描述 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 或者 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 或者 taste whatsoever. The only conceivable way I can see them doing something so awful would be to get Delena 粉丝 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, 给 that Elena has yet to 确认 she loves Damon. But I don't think their fears justify doing something as dramatic as abandoning ship. And as for the 粉丝 who already have, I think I can safely say that they'll be back before the season ends...