#21051

21051

@21020 I completely agree with you for the most part. My favourite released theirs and I am so grateful for it.

Elena is NOT going through what Damon went through at Augustine.  Not even close.

1.) Elena has hope and it's very reasonable hope.  People will be looking for her.  Damon may have had hope that Stefan would rescue him but that was a long shot.  People noticing that both Damon and Elena are missing and then connecting it back to Wes?  Not such a long shot.  It really shouldn't take them more than a day (and that's assuming Damon doesn't get out somehow).

2.) Elena is going to be there all of what? Three days tops?  Any amount of "torture" is horrific, but let's be real- three days is NOT five years.  It's not even three months drowning in a safe over and over again (holy crap did I just give Stefano credit?)

3.) In the 50's, Dr. Whitmore was doing research about the enhanced healing abilities of vampires.  Damon was put through agonizing procedure after agonizing procedure in order to heal from them.  This is not what Wes is doing.  Wes is trying to "train" vampires to crave vampire blood instead of human blood, presumably so they're no longer a threat to humans; which brings me to my next point-

4.) I'm pretty sure Elena isn't even going to be tortured.  Wes is going to try to reprogram her into craving vampire blood.  I'm not sure what this entails but I don't remember Wes actually torturing Jesse (not saying what Wes is doing is okay at all, for the record).  I think Jesse's unhappiness and discomfort was more from the fact that he didn't know what the heck was going on or what was happening with his body.  I'm sure this experience will be unpleasant and something Elena will be more than happy to forget, but it's still not exactly torture, at least not the kind where organs are systematically ripped out of your body.

My point is that people have this idea that Elena should understand why Damon did what he (supposedly) did after she experiences what he went through.  But she's not going to experience what he went through.  I love Elena but she isn't exactly the best at putting herself in other people's shoes.  If she thinks something's wrong, it's wrong.  She's compassionate, but not necessarily empathetic.  She cares deeply and she loves fiercely but she's also headstrong.  

And if her experience wasn't that horrific and if she can understand why the research that Wes is doing might be beneficial, there's a good chance that she's seriously going to struggle to identify with Damon and his need for vengeance.

So it doesn't surprise me that Damon and Elena might have a rocky road ahead of them.  And I'm not even sure if I'd be all that upset with Elena for being judgy because even after spending time at Augustine herself, she still doesn't know.  Nobody knows except for Damon, Enzo and us.  It's kind of a hard thing to relate to, ya know?

Now if she just flat out tells him he's a horrible person and unforgivable, well then I'll put a copy of Season 3 in a bag of rocks and throw it at Julie Plec and Caroline Dries' heads.

I'm just really trying to think positively and rationally about Delena, guys.

On the one hand, I absolutely hope it's not true.  To say I'm uneasy with innocent people paying for what someone they just so happen to share DNA with did is an understatement.  I don't think I like what it will mean for Damon's growth.  And I don't like what it will mean for the relationships he's forged in Mystic Falls.

But on the other hand, DENZO!  The idea that, with or without his humanity, Damon could not just wash his hands of what had happened.  He couldn't just let go.  Damon chose self-preservation.  He did what he had to do.  But it's not okay.  Everything was not fine after that.  Nothing will ever make the events that transpired at Augustine okay.  But Damon has to try to atone for what he did in the only way he knows how.  Damon desperately needs to prove his loyalty and gratitude to Enzo and fuck what anybody else thinks about it, including Elena.  Because holding onto Enzo- this stranger turned brother that saved his life in every way possible- is bigger than anything else.  And killing all those (possibly) innocent Whitmores is the only way Damon knows how to live with himself.