I will never understand how Damon was made out to be the biggest victim in 1864 by the fandom. The 25 year old man who knew Katherine was a vampire, helped her kill two people, willingly took her blood, and repeatedly asked her to turn him into vampire. All without being compelled.
Meanwhile, there’s Stefan who was under the impression that the both of them were compelled by Katherine. He was terrified after seeing her true face and was assaulted. He had to be compelled to take her blood for weeks. Like Damon, he was ready to die rather than fully transition. His biggest mistake was going to his dad to apologize for his involvement with vampires. His dad tried to kill him with a stake and he shoved him back while underestimating his strength which led to him getting impaled. It’s not surprising that a newly-turned vampire with ripper tendencies inherited from his mother couldn’t resist.
And I’ll see people say Stefan was a bad person even without vampirism but where? Literally what hints at this? He wanted to be a doctor but couldn’t because of his bloodlust. He put the parts of his victims back together out of guilt. He woke up in the body of a drunk serial killer not knowing where he was, next to a flaming bus, and the first thing he did was rush to help the kids inside. He gave Dorian his files so he had the option of putting him in jail for his crimes when Dorian couldn’t go through with killing him. He was ready to take Jenna’s place in the sacrifice and saved Jeremy from Katherine without knowing there would be a way to get back out from the tomb in S2. He wanted to protect Tom Avery which would put himself in danger despite not knowing who he was.
Other lies by the fandom: Stefan thinks he’s such a good person. Damon is the better man because he does hide who he is. Trying to do better does not mean having a false face. Stefan admitted to Elena he was worse than Damon as a ripper, he calls himself a predator and says “we hunt, we stalk”, he says to stop excusing what he did just because he had his humanity off and that he is accountable for every drop of blood he’s spilled.
