1AM
I adore Stefan. He is seriously my embodiment of what a true tragic hero is and what a true tragic hero SHOULD be. People go on and on, giving him so much flack. Oh, he was a ripper. Oh, he almost killed Elena on the bridge. Oh, he broods too much. Oh, he is self-loathing. Um, yes, BUT THAT’S WHAT MAKES HIM SO PERFECT. That’s what a tragic hero is. A person who has a dark side, but fights against it every single day of their life. A person who WANTS to be good. And struggles to find that balance and control between their natural instincts vs. who they WANT TO BE. Gah, Stefan is so… amazing. And then there’s Damon. Damon, who is in perfect contrast to Stefan. PERFECT. In every way. It’s amazing how they are brothers, and yet, they are such opposites. Stefan saved Matt, Damon would have saved Elena. And that is probably the most telling distinction between them and how much their views on love differ. Because, you see, if Stefan is the perfect tragic hero, and Damon is in contrast to him, that can only mean one thing. That Damon is the perfect antihero. The character who has questionable morals/methods for everything they do and always will. The character who is, for all intensive purposes, “bad,” but occasionally performs heroic acts. Meaning that viewers can sympathize with him and feel for him more than anyone else, because the rarity of his goodness, heroism and emotion is unconventional and unexpected. That’s why people root for Damon so much. Because he is the bad boy who LIKES being the bad boy, but he has a soft side that pops up every once and a while. And to them, that is more compelling than the typical good guy. And alas, there we have it. Stefan vs. Damon. Hero vs. Antihero. And that is why there is such a divide in the fandom when it comes to these two characters and why they are so hated by fans of opposing parties. But here’s the beauty of the show. That the hero and the antihero are BROTHERS. So in this show, I can never fully hate one or the other. Because loving Damon means loving Stefan to me. And loving Stefan means loving Damon to me. Because one can not exist without the other. An antihero can not exist without a hero. The Salvatores can not live without eachother. And I know that’s not the case for every fan. There are some fans who hate Stefan or hate Damon. But those are the fans who can not see or fully appreciate those two roles. The role of the tragic hero vs. the role of the antihero. To me, they are both intriguing and worth appreciating. And unfortunately, too often, people overlook the tragic hero for the antihero. Because we want so desperately to see the bad boy change and go through his journey. But Stefan is on a journey too. A journey of self-acceptance and redemption, just as Damon is. And I just so happen to believe that, at the end of the day, Damon and Stefan’s journeys will lead them back to eachother. Two characters who completely contrast one another in this way, it’s not by coincidence. They have to come together to balance eachother out. They NEED eachother. And that’s why I believe that Damon and Stefan are the true love story of the show :)
SignalFire90 (via signalfire90)
April292012
You can have your opinions about Stefan but think of it this way: if he hadn’t sacrificed himself for Damon, Damon would be dead.
(Source: katherinemikaelson, via pdubber)