"I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true 사랑 along a broken road
I got 로스트 a time 또는 two, wiped my brow
Kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

That every long 로스트 dream led me to where 당신 are
And others who broke my heart,
They were just northern stars pointing me on my way
Into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God bless the broken road
That led me straight to you."

(Rascal Flatts)


Whenever I try to imagine what a picture of Delena's journey looks like, I know it wouldn't be one straight, smooth road, free from obstacles 또는 troubles. But far from being a bad thing, I believe that's actually a sign that the writers are 더 많이 heavily invested in Delena. I know that might sound strange to some of you. There are 팬 out there who have become so jaded with the 삼각형 and how Season 3 ended, they have decided that Stelena will take the crown for Season 4 as well, so it's best not to get their hopes up. I however, cannot agree with them.

Unless I'm mistaken, people have this theory that because SE have an easier time, and because they became a couple within the first 10 episodes and pretty much stayed together ever since, (give 또는 take Season 3); then...that must mean they are the producers and the writers' favourite couple. I don't know if that's true. Ship wars aside, Stelena as a couple are weak because their story has been weak. I'm sure there are SE'ers who will argue that Stelena have had their problems, and maybe they did...for ten minutes. But when the majority of the fandom feels like tuning out 또는 taking a nap when SE are on screen - then that's a sign that something's not working. If 팬 are not being pulled into the story and carried away with it, then it can only mean one thing: that they find Stelena boring. Yes, SE have an easier time of it, yes the writers are always bombarding us with scenes of them making out 또는 worse - but 의해 doing so, they haven't achieved what every powerful 사랑 story requires if it's to be a success: it hasn't captivated the audience and blown them away. I'm not denying that SE are not in love; what I'm denying is that a vital spark, a key ingredient that makes a couple interesting to watch is missing from them. When a writer 또는 producer wants a fanbase to root for a couple, then he/she usually tries to keep the couple apart, while giving the 팬 enough reasons to keep believing the couple belong together. With Stelena, Julie and Kevin gave the 팬 what they wanted right away, and 의해 doing so, avoided the necessary reasons for WHY SE should be together.

The fact that Stefan and Elena got together first is what often causes the most worry for DE fans, leading them to speculate that perhaps the order in which the 삼각형 develops sets the standard for the rest of the series. It can sometimes feel as if Damon is at a disadvantage, because his feelings for Elena grew before her's. It can feel like Delena isn't equal with SE because Stelena met and fell in 사랑 at the same time, at the start of the show. I can understand why they would feel like that, but I don't know if I share their fear. Having Damon fall in 사랑 with Elena before she returned his feelings was an excellent way to draw the audience in and become emotionally involved in the story. We saw Damon's heart-break and the unconditional way he loved Elena, and couldn't help but wish she loved him back. This kind of beginning is so different from two people who meet and fall in 사랑 instantly. That kind of story is nice to see as well, I'm not saying it isn't; but it arguably does not speak to the audience in the same way. There is something about the way a character loves somebody who is in 사랑 with someone else that appeals to us. It strikes a chord deep within us in a way that watching someone who never has to struggle 또는 go through any heartbreak to get what he/she wants does not. And that is why the majority of the TVD fanbase aren't into Stelena. They may have had to go through a few small bumps, but afterwards, it was forgotten about and everything was fine. Any problems they've had have been few and far between. Their journey is too easy, and that's why they aren't interesting to watch. Take away Stefan being a vampire and the other 수퍼내츄럴 stuff, and 당신 would be left with an ordinary, sweet teenage romance.
Stelena went through very few hardships and very little pain to become a couple. They haven't even been threatened 의해 dark forces which could tear them apart forever, a la Bella and Edward in 'Breaking Dawn', unless 당신 count Stefan's brief relapse as a 'ripper' 또는 Klaus. SE'ers might argue that Damon is the biggest threat 또는 challenge to Stelena, but since most SE'ers don't seem to believe that Elena loves Damon anyway, that doesn't seem like a credible theory.

I'm not claiming that because SE were spared much of the anguish, heart-ache and longing that characterized Damon's 사랑 for Elena, that that means they don't deserve to be endgame. However, I do think that the reasons for an SE endgame are sketchy at best. Because they 사랑 each other? Because Elena fell in 사랑 with Stefan first? They've been together for the best part of 3 Seasons - but their epic 사랑 story has been an epic fail in every respect. As a nice, cuddly high school romance, they are perfectly fine. But they are nothing 더 많이 than that. And just because Elena fell in 사랑 with Stefan first, that does not mean he's the 사랑 of her life.

Here's the thing: 의해 putting scores of DE 팬 through so much pain and heartbreak, and making them want DE to be together so much, but also making them wait and watch while she continues in her romance with Stefan; the writers and Julie are putting themselves in a tenuous position. Because they've made the 팬 feel as if they've earned their right to a DE endgame. Now, it doesn't make any sense if Julie forces the 팬 to wait it out, only for Elena to keep choosing Stefan in every season finale. Not only have all the seasons of suspense and development come to nothing, but Julie has basically led thousands of 팬 on and encouraged them to keep believing that DE will get together when she knew all the time that they wouldn't. So essentially, she has lied to everyone. Even though she never said that DE WOULD get together one day, the CW has kept advertising the show as a 사랑 triangle, and thus let people think that DE had a chance. If this happens, then Julie has no way out. She has no way to escape the fury this will rightfully incur. What can she possibly say to defend herself? "I just wanted to make a really good show"? The only way she can give 팬 the ending they deserve is to make Delena endgame. That's the only thing that can make all the years of waiting, despair, angst and heartbreak worth it. If not, then it would have been better for everybody if she and Kevin had thrown DE together and then tossed them to the 늑대 halfway through the series. It would have hurt a lot of people, but it would have been kinder to do that instead of toying with 팬 emotions and making them wait for a resolution that only ended in grief 6 years down the line. 당신 know, we've waited and watched, and had our hopes dashed again and again, felt like giving up, but got back up and shipped DE even harder than before. But if the show ends with Stelena, then...I just...I don't know what to say. I don't know how 당신 can justify DE's journey without a happy ending. The writers can't give Delena a broken road to travel on if it doesn't go anywhere. It can only be worth it if it leads them to each other in the end.