#sterolineislight

[sixmorningsafter]

Ahhh after that last baroline set I couldn't help but wonder if you could write a pre-friends college fic for them. I mean obviously after you update, but I've read the chapter from your flashback fic like 30 times and I just love getting more info. Plus I think it would be cool to see another side of them and maybe how they got so close. Looking forward to Valentine's Day!!! ;) ~Lizzie

It’s absolutely going to happen at some point! Some of the flashbacks are definitely going to be random little scenes/moments that you guys either request or I write on a whim, but there are a few that are just set in stone for me, and that’s:

Bonnie and Caroline becoming friends

Bonnie, Caroline, and Tyler as a college trio

Bonnie and Stefan in high school (dark times and light times)

Stefan and Elena in some capacity

Damon and Tyler as teenagers

Caroline and Stefan meeting for the first time

Damon and Bonnie meeting for the first time

Potential childhood stuff

So that’s definitely on the roster! 

[sixmorningsafter]

Okay, okay this is SUPER important. Pretty Girl by Maggie Lindemann is SO Caroline in your fic. As soon as I heard it I was like I must message Gabi. I mean "Sometimes it's hard for me to show... there's more to me than people know," and "Some days I'm nice, some days I can be a bitch, Some days I'm strong, some days I quit" and finally the line that really sold it: "I don't let it show, but I've been through some shit." The song is also really good, I've had it on repeat so yea worth a listen!

Ahh, such a great find! It totally reminds me of her. I just added it to her Spotify playlist for when I revamp all of the character playlists (in that fantasy time dimension where I get things done...), but I’ll post it here too under her tag!

[sixmorningsafter]

(8) Anyway, onto Steroline like kinda watching porn? But like they were making fun of it, and like chilling out and stuff? I actually kinda loved it, the fact that they felt that comfortable to eat like crazy people and just bicker over unimportant things speaks volumes I think. Cause Caroline wasn’t that comfortable with Matt, not by the end of it, and I cannot picture Stelena like that at all. Also I’m pretty sure everyone that read the chapter (including me) googled houndstooth, Just saying

LMFAOOOOOOOO I love how everyone assumes they just spent two hours watching porn. TO BE CLEAR: they spent most of it watching like kissing/love scenes from movies and then slowly but surely, as they kept getting more and more obscure, they’d stumble onto weirder shit, and the last one they watched was like bordering on porn. But I almost like the idea that is was straight softcore porn the whole time because lolololol, why not. And yeah, that really instinctive feeling of comfort was totally what I was going for, like you could just imagine the subtle transition from the super awkward moment their sl left at to this lazy state of sprawl and snacking and bickering. I feel like a lot of SC’s development happens in these moments that sneak up on them despite how hard they both try to avoid them, and although in the past it’s been more romantic or flirty or angsty moments, this snuck-in moment was one of pure comfort. Just an easy, nonsexualized chemistry that showed they could let loose around each other, too. And I think you’re right in assuming that neither of them were always that comfortable with their exes (at least not consistently) because they were both kind of playing savior roles. Stefan was Elena’s hero and Caroline was Matt’s light. Those are stressful/limiting parts to play all the time, you know? They don’t leave a lot of space for being a petty goofball. And LMAOOOOOOO LISTEN MY DREAM IS TO ONE DAY WRITE A THING WHERE PEOPLE ONLY KNOW ABOUT SOMETHING OBSCURE BECAUSE I MADE THEM LOOK IT UP. Like those random facts/words where someone goes ‘I learned that from -insert show here-’ and like three other people are like ‘LOL SAME’. So YAAAAAAAS HOUNDSTOOTH CAN BE MY LEGACY.

[sixmorningsafter]

(11) And then Damon throws Bonnie over his shoulder, and drags her there without shoes. But he STILL notices how gorgeous she is, like dude you are SO whipped omg. And then the way it ends, because I have never been more stressed in my life. On one hand I’m like yes steroline, do it! But on the other I don’t want them too, because they’re only doing it cause they’re scared. Like Stefan is terrified of being blind sided, and Caroline is terrified of being used, that they are both like

“I feel nothing” when they feel SO MUCH. Like I just want them to blow up at each other, no make out sessions or anything. Just them plainly saying “I’m falling for you and I’m terrified of it, because it’s never ended well for me!” But idk, all that I know is that this chapter killed!

LMAO poor Bonnie, she’s just trying to change into a big comfy sweater and he’s like ‘GURL we’re late eff that hot dress it is’. But yeah, he’s definitely going to have trouble keeping his eyes off her all night - he’s seen her dressed up before and always knew she was hot, but it’s different now. Less distant. She’s been wrapped around him. He’s seen raw tears in her eyes. He has marks from her nails down his back. She registers differently to him, like this confusing, magnetic, stubborn little thing that he shifts into a different gear around. So yeah, Whippedville seems like a probable stop for him in the future. 

And LOLOLOLOL the stressful ending - sorry! Totally understand the desire for both of those scenarios. Based on what I have written, I think you’ll find something of an overlap, so woooo, best of both worlds! 

[sixmorningsafter]

(9) And then Caroline mentions Elena, and as much as she would deny it I think one of the reasons why she kissed him was to distract him, and like also make up for it. Because she knows how that feels, and she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But that kiss… man you could just feel how in denial they were about their feelings. I think that if either of them weren’t so crazy about the other, they would be able to tell. But they are both SO worried about themselves.

Oh, totally - I don’t think she even bothered denying that part of it was to distract him. Definitely downplayed it, but as you’ll see more of in 15, she’s past the stage of being unaffected by seeing Stefan down/doubt himself. It bothers her now. And yeaaaah, sigh, they’re… really setting themselves up for disaster when it comes to all that suppression, man, but I think 15 and 16 will start to crack through some of those barriers. Most notably, you’re going to see Stefan starting to pick up on what Caroline’s actually feeling, and I think that starts to change things because as of now he’s operating under the assumption that she feels nothing. Like you said, they’re both so fixated on trying to control their own feelings that they’re not really registering each other’s, so it definitely introduces somewhat of a shift when that awareness starts creeping in. 

[sixmorningsafter]

Also I have used “hey buddy wanna stop before you trip over one of those conclusions that you’re jumping to,” at least twice since I finished this chapter. Plus the fact that he’s reminded of Elena and jealousy, and then annoyed at himself for it. So now he’s like so determined to not be affected. Like I relate, but I mean just HEARTBREAKING. Also the fact that Stefan and Caroline have started to realize what’s going on between Bamon is amazing. I can’t wait until everyone finds out.

LMAO YESSSSSSS! I wrote that line and went ‘this definitely isn’t a saying but whatever’ so I’m glad it sounded like a legit one, lololol. And yeah, Stefan’s definitely trying to prove some stuff to himself and he’s got a pretty low chance of success and it’s just like... honestly everyone in that apartment is a mess. Going in, I felt like Stefan had been let off the hook a bit more than everyone else, though, so I thought it was time to get a look into some of his questionable coping. There’s a lot to that breakup that I haven’t covered yet, just a lot of stuff that really messed with his instinct to see the best in people and dented his self-esteem and whatnot, but the kitchen scene was definitely a good glimpse. He’ll be okay :) And YES, lololol, Bamon is not subtle at all, though honestly, it probably would’ve flown over Stefan’s head if it weren’t for Caroline. Damon and Caroline can sniff out drama from 3000 feet away, it’s ridic. We’re getting super close to everything being blown open. 

[sixmorningsafter]

(10) Also the freckles, and the eyes comment, and the way that she couldn’t remember what she didn’t like about him. Ugh they are so crazy about each other! And then them fighting over whether or not to tell Bonnie, while she’s right there. And she can totally tell by the way! I mean she called them out on their inside joke, but like she doesn’t want to say anything because she hasn’t told them about the whole Damon situation, and they are the same. Lol so excited for when everything is revealed

LMAO everyone is so convinced Bonnie knows and meanwhile I’m like ‘she probably thinks it has something to do with Elena’. Like the magnitude of the block she has up against the idea that anything sexual could ever be happening between Stefan and Caroline after watching them be legit allergic to each other for three years is that big. She’d probably suspect Stefan’s been talking to Elena and hiding it from her over Steroline being a romantic thing, like she’d assume he’s in a better mood and putting up with Caroline because Elena’s back in his radar or something. Also, I think it’s a testament to how badly Damon’s wigging her out that all these clues are flying past her, lolol. What I will say is she’ll probably be kicking herself over how obvious it was once it does click. But it’s definitely going to be a fun reveal!

[sixmorningsafter]

(7) But then also that she had the strength to push him away, because as much as I would have loved them to go all the way, I think they need to wait. Because as you say in this chapter, they still don’t really know each other well enough, and like I want them to trust each other before it happens. Also Bonnie’s tiny flashback of her making out with a stranger in a bathroom broke my heart.

Yeah, definitely! That’s so great to hear because it’s exactly the reaction I was after - half of you wanting it to keep going but the other half being like ‘WAIT no give it a little more weight’. Totally the trajectory I’m going for with them. 15/16 will have aspects of both the attraction and the emotional bonding, so there’s a solid stretch of development up ahead for them. And about Bonnie’s memory, yeah :/ It was a really chaotic time for her. Lots of things happened that she was way too young to handle well. @attolirene actually wrote a FAB drabble imagining what a teen Bamon encounter would be like during Bonnie’s spiral years, if you want more of a glimpse into that.