Sometimes I wonder if the reason Bonnie claimed to feel death after touching Stefan that first time wasn’t actually because Stefan was undead or responsible for the deaths of so many people, but it was actually a glimpse at her own future, a warning that if she allowed Stefan to enter her life, she was welcoming death into her life. And I say that because of her words, “It’s how I imagine death to feel like.” And I think we can agree that Bonnie felt death maybe the most after the Salvatores entered her life. And of course I do know that Bonnie senses vampires when touching them, but that isn’t always the case, and we could chalk that up as a writing error, but where is the fun in that? And I wonder if when witches touch supernatural entities, they sense magic maybe, or maybe the sense how this person will affect their own selves.
Because if it were an all the time sense, which it kinda appears to be a passive skill, as when she accidentally makes contact and she isn’t expecting to feel whatever she feels each time, and she has a look of shock when she feels the magic of a witch or a vampire. The only time she really sought it out was I think Caroline? But I think because it’s a passive skill, it’s also not an every time skill, a premonition of what this entity means for her specifically, and it’s a warning on the first time. Because if it isn’t, imagine feeling death every time she hugs Caroline? Elena later on? And even including her friendship with Damon, how does she handle that? Especially Damon. And there are the moments she is fooled by Katherine (I think. I do think Caroline and Bonnie win still at least fooled, but even then, it’s hard to tell. I do excuse them for the Katherine taking over Elena’s body for a few reasons, but I can get into that later).
But I also think the reason why this skill appears less and less is because her life gets so encroached by death, on and on and on. She is so steeped into it, the warning becomes moot. And it’s why other witches can sense her being so surrounded by death later on.
And the words “It’s how I imagine death to feel like” and not “it felt like he was dead” makes me think of her becoming the anchor later, and how instinctually tied to death she becomes (I do think we as a fandom should probably discuss how Bonnie was briefly a minor deity in a way. But also the whole Silas and Amara plot line was so iffy that I can excuse that we don’t discuss that. But I do think it was really cool how Bonnie technically was that for a moment).
This whole thought is kinda of messy, so I understand not really want to adopt it lol, but just a thought I had.
Especially since I think Stefan is the reaper in her life more than anyone else. The other reason I say it’s more likely a warning, is because of Elena and Tyler themself. I wonder if she as a young kid felt the magic of them, but young as she was didn’t really think about it. Maybe it’s why she never really connected with Tyler. Maybe the fact that a doppelgänger and a Bennet witch are intertwined is why she connected to Elena despite it, or maybe she was too young to think of it.
Because yes, Bonnie’s life was thrown of kilter the moment the Salvatore’s came to town. But it’s also not completely the Salvatore’s fault either. She was the Bennet Witch and her best friend is the Doppelgänger, it was always a matter of time (which I really do love about the show, it first leads you to believe that the Salvatores are the reason these teens lives seem to erupt in flames, but no, the Salvatores are strangely just a victims to the doppelgänger shit as the rest of them. Even if you erase the whole Silas and Amara and Qetsiyah thing. Even then.) But I think Stefan’s presence was the most palpable because it was the moment when her life truly was at the precipice of change. And we never really see her react with the same intensity again, and yeah, that could be because it was the first time something inherently witchy happened to her, but also, I think it was because he really was the precursor for change.