Fireworks and rocket's red glare. Ten Most Stunning TVD Lines.
I got a surprise day off my internet hiatus, and this is what happened. You know how hard it was to actually choose a topic? I could do Top Ten Lines posts every day. There are too many good lines on this show.
Fireworks and rocket's red glare
Ten Most Stunning TVD Lines
Do you ever have those moments when you hear a line and you go all: O_O, because it was just so spot-on? A bit surprising, surprisingly honest - simply stunning? A line you keep quoting, because it's just too perfect not to? Yeah. Me too. I collect them. They get stuck in my head for months. So I might as well discuss them, right?
Without further ado: let me present you a purely subjective list of ten lines that made my jaw drop.
Warnings: This is not a very deep post.
10. Alaric is a joke
Alaric: I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment when my wife decided life with me wasn't enough.
Damon: She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man, she was smart, she had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her.
Alaric: That is enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear any more. I just don't want to waste any more of my life searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I'm done with all of this.
TVD 1x20, Blood Brothers
This is actually my favorite Alaric scene.
Because he laughs. He sits on a chair, grabs a beer and laughs. This line is the crux of Alaric's narrative: he's the character who refuses to be tragic. For a good part of season one he's a parallel to Damon (and Damon even talks about it openly in 1x15), in this scene they're both searching hopelessly for the women they loved... and Alaric stops. Given similar circumstances, he makes a different choice, rejects his chance to be a Tragic Romantic Figure, and decides to have a life instead. Because Alaric Saltzman is a big joke, and he's fine with that. He never lost track of how ridiculous he actually is, history teacher by day, vampire hunter by night, so he mocks his own loss and tries to move on. And that's what is stunning about this line: Alaric's self-awareness, his remarkable distance, clear judgement, realistically small ego. Just try to imagine John Winchester (Supernatural) laughing like that.
9. The full moon
Caroline: Oh my God... You're ok. You made it! You didn't get out. You're ok.
Tyler: No, I'm not.
TVD 2x11, By the Light of the Moon
Every time I rewatch 2x11, this line surprises me, like I expected Tyler to share Caroline's optimism. But he doesn't, because, hell, he's screwed. He went through hell, and he'll have to keep going through it for the rest of his life. He's too exhausted to be optimistic.
This line is not much, barely a few words, but it's incredible, because Tyler was supposed to say something else, he was supposed to use some meaningless, polite “I'm fine” and at least try to hide just how broken he is right now. Instead, he exposes himself even more. I will never not be in love with Tyler's rejection of platitudes.
8. Drinking game
Damon: You been on this bunny diet for the better part of 50 years, so how is it that Saint Stefan, of all people, gets good at a drinking game?
Stefan: Well, the bunny diet gave me a lot of time to practice. Wallow in despair. Drown in guilt. Regret my existence. It's precision born out of tragic boredom. Drink up, brother.
Damon: All that effort wasted trying to tell you how boring you were, and now you finally agree with me?
Stefan: Damon, you are worse than Elena. Getting me drunk. Brotherly bonding. What, you think I'll break down, and you can pull me back from the edge? Is that it?
Damon: I happen to like the edge, Stefan. Your problem is your inability to resist falling over it. You're all or nothing, man. You can't just be. Although... Who am I to judge? Drink up, brother.
TVD 3x08, Ordinary People
Choosing one line from this scene is HELL. I mean, most of the 3x08 dialogues are stunning, but this scene is just full of lines I love beyond reason.
This line actually made my jaw drop twice. First, when I heard it: because I've been thinking about something like that for months. This is how the Salvatores work for me, Stefan jumping between two extremes and Damon floating more or less towards the middle; only I never expected anyone on the show to say it out loud. My second jaw-dropping moment was when I was talking to softly-me, and she told me that... Damon is actually wrong about Stefan. From Stefan's perspective, it's DAMON who keeps falling over the edge, because Damon is too emotional, and that makes him extreme.
Basically, the Salvatores could write a book about how to make a great team while having no fucking idea how the other person works.
7. So much for fairy tale
Elena: Do you think I like going behind your back? I don't. But if I hadn't asked Stefan to help, then you would have tried to be the hero, and you would have ruined everything.
Damon: Sorry for trying to keep you alive. Clearly Stefan doesn't give a crap anymore.
Elena: Now you're mad at me for including Stefan?
Damon: No, I'm mad at you because I love you.
Elena: Well, maybe that's the problem.
TVD 3x14, Dangerous Liaisons
Because Damon's love is a terrible burden. Because no twisted Cinderella fetish can happen in this bar. Because Damon tried to use his love like a hammer. Because he actually BROUGHT HER SHAWL. Because Elena is a morally dubious princess who knows her huntsman well - well enough to know exactly where to strike.
6. Enough is enough
Klaus: The spirits won't be happy with you.
Bonnie: Spirits don't get to tell me what to do anymore. I'm done getting pushed around by all of you. I did it because I wanted to.
TVD 3x22, The Departed
This one little line managed to turn me into a Bonnie stan, and I'm a bit ashamed that it's only my number six now. I blame the fact that the episode is just too fresh, and I need some time to kick one of my old favorites off the pedestal.
Seriously, though. This is Bonnie taking her life in her own hands. Bonnie refusing to be anyone's pawn. Bonnie becoming her own moral compass. Because Nature? Nature is a bitch. Nature only cares about balance. Nature would have Bonnie stand idly as her mother and her friends die, and this isn't right. Nature isn't right. So screw Nature, screw vampires, screw everyone. It's Bonnie time now.
5. My darling boy
Katherine: My sweet, innocent Damon.
TVD 2x01, The Return
It's so weird that ANYONE would call Damon “sweet” or “innocent”, so off, so disturbing... And yet when Katherine says it, it makes perfect sense. It speaks volumes about who he was when she met him, about what she's done to him, about their relationship. This line is so wrong it's right, and it's so incredibly cruel at the same time, because even in 1864, there was nothing innocent about Damon.
4. Show me your good side
Elena: You never told me about that. What you did for Rose.
Damon: It wasn't about you.
Elena: Why you don't let people see the good in you?
Damon: Because when people see good, they expect good. And I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations.
TVD 3x19, The Heart of Darkness
Just like with the 3x08 line, this line is nothing new for me. I've known this about Damon for a long time, but I never expected canon to openly confirm this interpretation. I never expected Damon to be that honest, and I sure as hell never expected the show to be that honest. That's how Damon works: he fucks things up just because he's Damon, he's a terrible caretaker, he can't handle being in normal social relationships. The sad truth is that when you get out of a very restricting society, and then spend almost 150 without any social control, you don't suddenly wake up one day, knowing how to function among people. Damon is recovering, true, but wouldn't it be fascinating if he never actually learned how to deal with expectations?
3. Flip and snap
Jeremy: Elena, what's going on here?
Elena: Nothing, Jeremy. It's ok. Just... Just go back to bed.
Damon: No, it's not ok, Elena. He wants to be a vampire.
Elena: No, Damon, stop it!
Damon: You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares, it just goes away! All you have to do is flip the switch and snap!
TVD 2x01, The Return
This line is just so incredibly beautiful. I'll never get over the melody of short, sharp sounds one after another, flip and snap, what a simple solution. And what an amazing lie at the same time, Damon pretending to turn off his emotions, when what he actually does is turn them ON, let them break loose. People don't snap necks out of profound indifference. So much for the vampire switch.
2. This is not allowed
Stefan: Thank you.
Damon: No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big, badass brother again. All is right in the world.
Stefan: I mean it. Thank you. For... helping her take care of me.
Damon: You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, is not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You're not allowed to feel my guilt.
TVD 2x20, Blood Brothers
I adore how Damon manages to sound like a pouty child while delivering one of the most important lines of the whole show. Damon knows he's an abuser. And you know what? It was all him. He can't blame his bloodlust, he can't blame Katherine, he can't blame his father, he can't blame anything. He made choices, and all the consequences belong to him. He won't try to make excuses, and he won't try to shift the blame. And no, it doesn't make him a great guy. He's a dick. But he's a self-aware dick, and that makes him a hell of an interesting character.
1. I want to make my own decisions
Elena: But he did this to me, Stefan, which means he doesn't really know what love is. And to be honest, I don't know if I do. I'm 17 years old. How am I supposed to know any of this yet? I know that I love you, Stefan. I know that. But my future? Our lives together? Those were things I was supposed to deal with as they came along. I was supposed to grow up. Decide if I want to have kids and start a family. Grow old. I was supposed to have a lifetime of those choices, and... now? That's all gone.
Stefan: Elena, say it. Please.
Elena: I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan. I never wanted to be one.
TVD 2x20, The Last Day
And this is when Elena Gilbert had me, body and soul, because, seriously? A teenage heroine of a vampire romance stands in front of her boyfriend and says: “I don't want to be a vampire”? I couldn't believe my own ears. Guys, this is huge. This is Elena choosing herself, refusing to die for love, acknowledging her own fear, allowing herself to be angry, terrified, bitter, despairing. And the show is validating all that. She's only 17, she isn't obliged to know what to do with her life, and she sure as hell isn't obliged to humor Stefan or Damon just because they love her so. HER feelings are important, not theirs. We have a teenage heroine of a vampire romance who prioritizes herself over the guys who love her, and it's the most stunning thing this show's ever done.
Crossposted at tvdbloodstream: here
Fireworks and rocket's red glare
Ten Most Stunning TVD Lines
Do you ever have those moments when you hear a line and you go all: O_O, because it was just so spot-on? A bit surprising, surprisingly honest - simply stunning? A line you keep quoting, because it's just too perfect not to? Yeah. Me too. I collect them. They get stuck in my head for months. So I might as well discuss them, right?
Without further ado: let me present you a purely subjective list of ten lines that made my jaw drop.
Warnings: This is not a very deep post.
10. Alaric is a joke
Alaric: I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment when my wife decided life with me wasn't enough.
Damon: She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man, she was smart, she had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her.
Alaric: That is enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear any more. I just don't want to waste any more of my life searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I'm done with all of this.
TVD 1x20, Blood Brothers
This is actually my favorite Alaric scene.
Because he laughs. He sits on a chair, grabs a beer and laughs. This line is the crux of Alaric's narrative: he's the character who refuses to be tragic. For a good part of season one he's a parallel to Damon (and Damon even talks about it openly in 1x15), in this scene they're both searching hopelessly for the women they loved... and Alaric stops. Given similar circumstances, he makes a different choice, rejects his chance to be a Tragic Romantic Figure, and decides to have a life instead. Because Alaric Saltzman is a big joke, and he's fine with that. He never lost track of how ridiculous he actually is, history teacher by day, vampire hunter by night, so he mocks his own loss and tries to move on. And that's what is stunning about this line: Alaric's self-awareness, his remarkable distance, clear judgement, realistically small ego. Just try to imagine John Winchester (Supernatural) laughing like that.
9. The full moon
Caroline: Oh my God... You're ok. You made it! You didn't get out. You're ok.
Tyler: No, I'm not.
TVD 2x11, By the Light of the Moon
Every time I rewatch 2x11, this line surprises me, like I expected Tyler to share Caroline's optimism. But he doesn't, because, hell, he's screwed. He went through hell, and he'll have to keep going through it for the rest of his life. He's too exhausted to be optimistic.
This line is not much, barely a few words, but it's incredible, because Tyler was supposed to say something else, he was supposed to use some meaningless, polite “I'm fine” and at least try to hide just how broken he is right now. Instead, he exposes himself even more. I will never not be in love with Tyler's rejection of platitudes.
8. Drinking game
Damon: You been on this bunny diet for the better part of 50 years, so how is it that Saint Stefan, of all people, gets good at a drinking game?
Stefan: Well, the bunny diet gave me a lot of time to practice. Wallow in despair. Drown in guilt. Regret my existence. It's precision born out of tragic boredom. Drink up, brother.
Damon: All that effort wasted trying to tell you how boring you were, and now you finally agree with me?
Stefan: Damon, you are worse than Elena. Getting me drunk. Brotherly bonding. What, you think I'll break down, and you can pull me back from the edge? Is that it?
Damon: I happen to like the edge, Stefan. Your problem is your inability to resist falling over it. You're all or nothing, man. You can't just be. Although... Who am I to judge? Drink up, brother.
TVD 3x08, Ordinary People
Choosing one line from this scene is HELL. I mean, most of the 3x08 dialogues are stunning, but this scene is just full of lines I love beyond reason.
This line actually made my jaw drop twice. First, when I heard it: because I've been thinking about something like that for months. This is how the Salvatores work for me, Stefan jumping between two extremes and Damon floating more or less towards the middle; only I never expected anyone on the show to say it out loud. My second jaw-dropping moment was when I was talking to softly-me, and she told me that... Damon is actually wrong about Stefan. From Stefan's perspective, it's DAMON who keeps falling over the edge, because Damon is too emotional, and that makes him extreme.
Basically, the Salvatores could write a book about how to make a great team while having no fucking idea how the other person works.
7. So much for fairy tale
Elena: Do you think I like going behind your back? I don't. But if I hadn't asked Stefan to help, then you would have tried to be the hero, and you would have ruined everything.
Damon: Sorry for trying to keep you alive. Clearly Stefan doesn't give a crap anymore.
Elena: Now you're mad at me for including Stefan?
Damon: No, I'm mad at you because I love you.
Elena: Well, maybe that's the problem.
TVD 3x14, Dangerous Liaisons
Because Damon's love is a terrible burden. Because no twisted Cinderella fetish can happen in this bar. Because Damon tried to use his love like a hammer. Because he actually BROUGHT HER SHAWL. Because Elena is a morally dubious princess who knows her huntsman well - well enough to know exactly where to strike.
6. Enough is enough
Klaus: The spirits won't be happy with you.
Bonnie: Spirits don't get to tell me what to do anymore. I'm done getting pushed around by all of you. I did it because I wanted to.
TVD 3x22, The Departed
This one little line managed to turn me into a Bonnie stan, and I'm a bit ashamed that it's only my number six now. I blame the fact that the episode is just too fresh, and I need some time to kick one of my old favorites off the pedestal.
Seriously, though. This is Bonnie taking her life in her own hands. Bonnie refusing to be anyone's pawn. Bonnie becoming her own moral compass. Because Nature? Nature is a bitch. Nature only cares about balance. Nature would have Bonnie stand idly as her mother and her friends die, and this isn't right. Nature isn't right. So screw Nature, screw vampires, screw everyone. It's Bonnie time now.
5. My darling boy
Katherine: My sweet, innocent Damon.
TVD 2x01, The Return
It's so weird that ANYONE would call Damon “sweet” or “innocent”, so off, so disturbing... And yet when Katherine says it, it makes perfect sense. It speaks volumes about who he was when she met him, about what she's done to him, about their relationship. This line is so wrong it's right, and it's so incredibly cruel at the same time, because even in 1864, there was nothing innocent about Damon.
4. Show me your good side
Elena: You never told me about that. What you did for Rose.
Damon: It wasn't about you.
Elena: Why you don't let people see the good in you?
Damon: Because when people see good, they expect good. And I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations.
TVD 3x19, The Heart of Darkness
Just like with the 3x08 line, this line is nothing new for me. I've known this about Damon for a long time, but I never expected canon to openly confirm this interpretation. I never expected Damon to be that honest, and I sure as hell never expected the show to be that honest. That's how Damon works: he fucks things up just because he's Damon, he's a terrible caretaker, he can't handle being in normal social relationships. The sad truth is that when you get out of a very restricting society, and then spend almost 150 without any social control, you don't suddenly wake up one day, knowing how to function among people. Damon is recovering, true, but wouldn't it be fascinating if he never actually learned how to deal with expectations?
3. Flip and snap
Jeremy: Elena, what's going on here?
Elena: Nothing, Jeremy. It's ok. Just... Just go back to bed.
Damon: No, it's not ok, Elena. He wants to be a vampire.
Elena: No, Damon, stop it!
Damon: You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares, it just goes away! All you have to do is flip the switch and snap!
TVD 2x01, The Return
This line is just so incredibly beautiful. I'll never get over the melody of short, sharp sounds one after another, flip and snap, what a simple solution. And what an amazing lie at the same time, Damon pretending to turn off his emotions, when what he actually does is turn them ON, let them break loose. People don't snap necks out of profound indifference. So much for the vampire switch.
2. This is not allowed
Stefan: Thank you.
Damon: No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big, badass brother again. All is right in the world.
Stefan: I mean it. Thank you. For... helping her take care of me.
Damon: You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, is not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You're not allowed to feel my guilt.
TVD 2x20, Blood Brothers
I adore how Damon manages to sound like a pouty child while delivering one of the most important lines of the whole show. Damon knows he's an abuser. And you know what? It was all him. He can't blame his bloodlust, he can't blame Katherine, he can't blame his father, he can't blame anything. He made choices, and all the consequences belong to him. He won't try to make excuses, and he won't try to shift the blame. And no, it doesn't make him a great guy. He's a dick. But he's a self-aware dick, and that makes him a hell of an interesting character.
1. I want to make my own decisions
Elena: But he did this to me, Stefan, which means he doesn't really know what love is. And to be honest, I don't know if I do. I'm 17 years old. How am I supposed to know any of this yet? I know that I love you, Stefan. I know that. But my future? Our lives together? Those were things I was supposed to deal with as they came along. I was supposed to grow up. Decide if I want to have kids and start a family. Grow old. I was supposed to have a lifetime of those choices, and... now? That's all gone.
Stefan: Elena, say it. Please.
Elena: I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan. I never wanted to be one.
TVD 2x20, The Last Day
And this is when Elena Gilbert had me, body and soul, because, seriously? A teenage heroine of a vampire romance stands in front of her boyfriend and says: “I don't want to be a vampire”? I couldn't believe my own ears. Guys, this is huge. This is Elena choosing herself, refusing to die for love, acknowledging her own fear, allowing herself to be angry, terrified, bitter, despairing. And the show is validating all that. She's only 17, she isn't obliged to know what to do with her life, and she sure as hell isn't obliged to humor Stefan or Damon just because they love her so. HER feelings are important, not theirs. We have a teenage heroine of a vampire romance who prioritizes herself over the guys who love her, and it's the most stunning thing this show's ever done.
Crossposted at tvdbloodstream: here