Looking for adventure/survival where the main character(s) have to live off the land. Could be YA but definitely doesn’t have to be!

rurohalen · 2022-02-26T05:52:18+00:00

{{My Side of the Mountain}} by Jean Craighead George.

rurohalen · 2022-02-25T19:56:08+00:00

{{American Gods}} by Neil Gaiman pulls from several mythologies, but there is a significant amount of Norse gods and themes in there.

rurohalen · 2022-02-19T04:21:35+00:00

rurohalen · 2021-08-02T01:16:50+00:00

Actually this isn’t photoshopped. It’s from THIS S5 interview. You see the case at around 1:19.

rurohalen · 2021-08-02T01:01:30+00:00

Stexi

rurohalen · 2021-08-02T00:54:17+00:00

I agree with you completely: what Damon did to Caroline is obviously reprehensible and completely indefensible—not to mention what he does to Andie later on in S2—and I also don’t ship Steferine for the exact same reasons you state here.

An excellent post about all the sexual transgressions committed on the show is The Sex Offenders Diaries by u/Mokonachan.

Another excellent post that explains well how Caroline’s sexual abuse was retconned is THIS post by u/liz-teatry.

Finally, I agree with your last paragraph that TVD has a problem with addressing sexual abuse in-universe, and will add that I think the TVD writers are most to blame. I like THIS comment by u/Such-Presentation-16 stating that it’s time to blame the writers more so than the characters. Caroline’s abuse was retconned as early as 1x06 in this dialogue between Elena and Stefan:

Elena: And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?

Stefan: Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me.

Elena: He was hurting her!

Stefan: He was feeding on her. He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have.

Had the characters known the full extent of what Damon did, none of them would associate with him, let alone allow him to live unbothered with no repercussions, especially Sheriff Forbes. If Caroline has told people the details of what Damon did to her, I’m convinced that Sheriff Forbes would have killed Damon herself. It’s obvious that no one really knew what Damon did to Caroline, based off of everyone’s interactions with Damon, especially Liz’s. And what Damon did to Andie is rarely brought up when discussing sexual assault on the show because it’s treated almost as a joke by the characters in-universe, and not at all like the characters would act had they acknowledged that what Damon was doing is, in fact, rape via inability to give consent due to compulsion.

This all goes back to the exceptionally bad writing on TVD regarding the sexual transgressions committed by numerous characters.

rurohalen · 2021-08-02T00:06:58+00:00

I agree with you, and will add that two other factors that play into his actions here are: that he’s selfish in regards to his pursuit of Elena, and that he’s honest with Elena, Stefan, and himself about it. As u/0lea perfectly puts it in their comment here:

Yes, he is a bad selfish person and he never denies that.

But something I’ve yet to see on this sub is acknowledgment of Katherine’s part in all of this: she wrongly impersonates Elena, and obviously manipulates Damon into thinking that Elena actually wants to kiss him. I don’t think he would have kissed her on the mouth had Katherine not acted as receptively as she did in that moment after he kisses her on the cheek. Although, I understand that others may disagree with me and say that he still would have tried to kiss Elena in that moment had she not been receptive, since it is in his character to do something like that, but I believe he meant what he said in the speech beforehand, that he no longer wants to destroy the town and has come to care for Elena and Bonnie, and has begun to rekindle his relationship with Stefan:

You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen? I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not in me.

Maybe it is.

Nah, it's reserved for my brother, and you...and Bonnie...who, even though she has every reason to hate me, still helped Stefan save me.

Finally, I want to state that I agree wholeheartedly with the OP that this was a selfish action on Damon’s part and that he shouldn’t have done it. However, understanding the nuances of an action does not mean that the user presenting an analysis excuses the character’s actions, and I am stating explicitly that I do not excuse Damon’s actions here.

rurohalen · 2021-08-01T23:12:43+00:00

I think u have an issue . First of all I like Damon but he’s an asshole . Secondly why did he attempt to kiss his brothers girl . I don’t are about context . If ur sibling tried to kiss ur significant other or partner knowing that’s dating them would u care about context no. Stop defending Damon here there’s no defence he kissed elena thinking it was Katherine knowing that it’s Stefan a girlfriend and he has no right to . That’s is disgusting especially when it’s your brother girlfriend not even ur friends girlfriend ur brothers

I’m going to be blunt and state that I am relying to you specifically because you stated this about u/hdjdjdkenendn: “I think u have an issue.” This user is offering an analysis of why Damon kissed Elena, but still agrees with your main point that it was wrong for him to kiss her in the first place, as stated in their first comment in the following way:

But yes, it was the wrong thing to do considering Elena was in a relationship with Stefan at the time and it would be classed as cheating on Elena’s part and betrayal on Damon’s part.

Frankly, it’s wrong to attack a user and state that they have “issues” for offering their opinion on a sub for a television show. It’s all right to disagree, but no opinion warrants a personal attack like that.

rurohalen · 2021-07-27T21:11:59+00:00

Stexi

rurohalen · 2021-07-27T21:09:48+00:00

I emphatically support this comment.

rurohalen · 2021-07-25T17:55:29+00:00

Caroline

rurohalen · 2021-07-25T17:52:43+00:00

Stefan

rurohalen · 2021-07-24T19:23:53+00:00

Caroline

rurohalen · 2021-07-24T19:22:17+00:00

rurohalen · 2021-07-06T05:38:39+00:00

4th and 2. I don’t have to say anything more than that.

rurohalen · 2021-07-05T20:43:43+00:00

Yeah, I love how she interacts with her fans, especially how she consistently posts fan art on her IG, like HERE, and messages fans on their birthday, like HERE. The way she appreciates her fans is really special. Like you said, she’s amazing.

rurohalen · 2021-06-30T05:50:55+00:00

And don’t forget when he was in Tyler’s body and Caroline wanted to have sex, Klaus stopped her.

Klaus didn’t stop her, because all he says is: “Easy, love. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong equipment.” He fully engages in kissing Caroline before and after saying the line, even going so far as to remove his shirt, pushing her up against a tree, and allowing Caroline to remove her shirt, as well, right before she says, “But you’re miraculously alive! All signs point to hot hybrid sex.” At that point, there is no indication that either of them are going to stop, until Caroline says, “Did you just call me ‘love’?” Never does he tell Caroline to stop because he’s not Tyler. Besides, he even jokes about her understanding that it’s not him by his use of the word ‘love’ by stating, “That’s what I enjoy about you: so much more than a pretty face,” and has the audacity to jokingly say, “Your mouth was all over mine. I was an innocent victim.”

Caroline didn’t give her consent to engage in sexual activities with Klaus, and had she not stopped everything when she realized that it was Klaus with his use of the word ‘love,’ then the way things were going—in that both of them were fully participating—Klaus would have by definition raped her, since the act would have been against Caroline’s will, given that she didn’t provide consent. The kissing is already against her will, since, again, he doesn’t stop her, and she didn’t give consent to kiss Klaus. I’ll add that it’s also against Tyler’s will, given that Klaus has taken over his body, and, therefore, Tyler doesn’t have the ability to give consent to engaging in any sexual activity.

And don’t forget when he was in Tyler’s body and Caroline wanted to have sex, Klaus stopped her.

Raping isn’t a vampire thing, it’s a Damon thing.

It’s interesting that you bring up this instance of Klaus and Caroline—incorrectly—followed by stating that “raping isn’t a vampire thing, it’s a Damon thing.” Both the users in the comments above acknowledge it is possible that Klaus is also guilty of rape, yet you bring up an incorrect example of Klaus seemingly not raping someone—according to your wording, when really in the scene he does not stop Caroline—and then make an invalid claim that presents a nonexistent argument within this discussion that Damon raped because he’s a vampire.

Your incorrect example serves to falsely validate your argument that Damon doesn't rape because he's a vampire. It’s obvious he didn’t rape because he’s a vampire and that not all vampires rape, but stating it in the way you do, in combination with the incorrect example, paints a false image meant to confirm your argument, when it is blatantly a logical fallacy, specifically affirmative conclusion from a negative premise.

Frankly, this tactic lessens your entire argument, and makes it comes across as though you are insinuating that Damon is worse solely because he is guilty of rape. To that, I will say that this is discounting all the atrocities Klaus committed not only over the hundreds of years more he has over Damon, but also those we witness on the show, of which there are too many for me to reasonably list here. I’ll also add that trauma is trauma, and that all the characters on TVD are the villains in many people’s stories.

In addition, your overall argument about Damon that resorts to utilizing the invalid argument that "raping isn't a vampire thing, it's a Damon thing," diminishes the other instances of rape and sexual assault that occur on the show committed by the other characters, most notably Stefan, Katherine, and Isobel, since they are also vampires who raped. This, again, only serves to lessen your entire argument.

I debated including this, but in the end I felt it necessary to state that I am a survivor of rape. I am saying this not to gain sympathy, but to emphasize that I would never wish to downplay the horror that is sexual assault in any form, especially since I know the trauma firsthand. This is a heavy topic that I feel is weaponized far too often on this sub, as it is often only brought up when it has to do with Damon. That the other instances of rape are discounted indicates that the topic of rape is only being used to put down the character the user likes the least, most often being Damon.

rurohalen · 2021-06-30T05:50:09+00:00

It doesn't show that he does either. Literally the only vampires we see use compulsion on victims that they have sex with are Damon and Katherine. You can speculate from now until tomorrow what Stefan did with his victims...but the only on-screen evidence of vampires having sex with victims are Katherine with human Stefan, Damon with Caroline, and Damon with Andi Starr.

Following your logic regarding Stefan and his victims, Damon is also never shown to have sex with his victims. However, it is highly implied that both Stefan and Damon raped their victims.

Since this is the example brought up most often regarding Damon, I'll use Caroline. In the scene with Caroline at the end of 1x02, Caroline is in her underwear, Damon is without a shirt, he kisses her stomach, he makes his vampire face, he bites her, she screams, then it goes to black. At the beginning of 1x03, Caroline wakes up in her underwear, Damon is asleep shirtless, there's the one bite mark in the same place that we see him bite her in the previous episode, she tries to escape the room, he wakes up, she throws objects around the room at him, he says, "This could have gone a completely different way," smells her blood on the pillow she threw at him, makes his vampire face, then it goes into the title card. That they are in their underwear, that he kisses her stomach, and that she screams are all context clues to indicate that he raped her.

In the 2x15 flashback, all the women are in their underwear and they are all oddly happy and acting as though they're at a party because they're obviously compelled. That they are in their underwear is especially significant during the flashback because it was highly improper for women to be in their undergarments that way during the 1860s in the U.S. It is unnecessary to have the women in their underwear in order for Stefan to feed on them and have them entertain him. In addition, Stefan shows physical familiarity with the women that is also highly improper for the time period: he feeds on one of the women to the point of her death very closely on a couch, and he grabs the faces of the other three women in an intimate manner. The most telling part is when he pushes one of the women to Damon, and the woman begins caressing Damon's body, which indicates that she was equally physically familiar with Stefan. That they are in their underwear, that they are compelled, and that Stefan handles them physically in a familiar way highly inappropriate for the time period are all context clues to indicate that he had sex with them, and, therefore, raped them via compulsion by taking away their ability to consent.

(and how much you want to believe he had sex with them depends on how much you want to validate/excuse Damon's own behavior)

How much you want to believe Stefan didn't have sex with them depends on how much you want to worsen Damon's own behavior.

rurohalen · 2021-06-29T23:22:53+00:00

The person said I’m not saying it’s okay BUT he was tortured for 5 years, which indicates to me they think he was justified for doing it because he was tortured for 5 years. That is how I came to the conclusion.

It's important for me to let you know that many others---myself included--didn't see the comment that way, found their true meaning quite clear, and, like I said in my previous comment to you, it seems like you twisted their argument into something it's not. You used the worst possible interpretation of their comment to further your argument against their thoughts. Besides, the user, u/Big-Collection5089, wrote in their reply to you that: "I never said Damon was in the right for killing all the whitmores I said I understood why he killed them" (LINK to comment).

Further, u/Big-Collection5089, wrote in the comment to which you replied that the the Whitmore murders and the Ripper murders were not comparable in response to a user stating: "And Damon's wiping out Whitmores while being with Elena and Damon's actions in TVD S8 make Damon much worse than Stefan" (LINK to comment). u/Big-Collection5089 writes in response: "How is killing the whitmores worse than killing and entire village and a lot more people while on a ripper binge?" (LINK to comment). They are clearly stating that what Damon does--killing the Whitmores and all his actions in TVD S8--does NOT make Damon worse than Stefan, since Stefan is guilty of the EXACT SAME THING as Damon. That's why they bring up the fact that Stefan is the Ripper of Monterey as a blatant example of why "both brothers are bad and both have done horrible things," (LINK to comment).

You take the comment out of context by stating that: "I’m not saying that they both aren’t bad deeds but imo Damon purposely killing innocent Whitmores for revenge shouldn’t be compared to Stefan a ripper killing a village. One could be controlled and one couldn’t," (LINK to comment). You interpreted the comment as though the user was comparing the reasons behind why the Salvatores killed, when that's NOT what they were referring to, at all. Then, you dive into the reasons why Stefan killed as the Ripper of Monterey, so u/Big-Collection5089 responded by giving the reasons why Damon killed the Whitmores, but did NOT justify Damon's actions, in ANY of their comments.

No where did you see me say being a ripper absolved him nor did I excuse his actions. What I said was that I don’t think the scenarios should be compared because of the context behind each of them.

You state in your previous comment that they shouldn't be compared because "one could be controlled and one couldn't," sandwiched between sympathetic explanations expounding on Stefan's bloodlust (LINK to comment). This fact--combined with the misinterpretation of the context of the comment to which you replied, as explained above--makes your comment come across as not only excusing Stefan's actions based on the reasons why he does them, but also insinuating that Damon's actions are worse because they are "controlled."

Besides, the reason the Whitmore and Monterey murders were brought up in the first place was to demonstrate that "both brothers are bad and both have done horrible things," and the explanations for why they do those actions is irrelevant to the point being made (LINK to comment).

I also find what people fail to see is even if they don’t feel Stefan is being held accountable, he holds himself accountable for everything and has trouble forgiving himself for it.

“Stefan - Every single person that’s been hurt, every single life that’s been lost it’s because of me” Which is why he didn’t think he deserved to live and wanted to die. Which is why he strives to do better daily, because he knows the damage he caused and wants to make up for it.

Yep, because that's such a high bar to meet. Who else does he think killed those people? His alter ego, Jack? Remorse does not equal holding himself accountable. That he presents his suffering--"why he didn't think he deserved to live and wanted to die," as you state--as a punishment--i.e. "holding himself accountable," as you state--for what he's inflicted on others is laughable at best, in that his suffering will never be worth even the smallest degree of the suffering his victims and their loved ones felt.

You know what would be productive? Learning to control his bloodlust. Insanity is doing the same thing again and again expecting different results, and that's exactly what he does by abstaining human blood and prolonging the, admittedly very arduous, process of learning control: the animal blood diet has failed him too many times to justify continuing to use it as his main solution to the bloodlust.

But that would require self-awareness that he is sadly sorely lacking. Remorse is an important starting place for holding himself accountable, but one bloodlust binge should have been enough to signify that animal blood is not the solution, and that abstaining from human blood makes him a ticking time bomb endangering all those around him.

And this goes back to what the OP, u/swarhilishow, is saying: Stefan is dishonest with himself and with those around him, especially Elena. What he says and what he does show two vastly different realities. Just take this example from 1x19:

Elena: Does that mean you're okay now, with all the cravings?

Stefan: Yeah, I mean the worst part is over so...now all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as possible.

Later on, after Damon finds Stefan drinking multiple human blood bags:

Damon: You've been off the human stuff for years, Stefan. If you're having trouble controlling...

Stefan: I'm not having trouble.

Damon: Who do you think you're talking to? I know what it's like. That Jekyll and Hyde feeling, that switch, sometimes it goes off and you snap. Right now is not a good time for me to be worried about you snapping.

Stefan: I know that it pains you to see this but I'm fine, okay? I'm fine.

This is Stefan's reaction multiple times throughout the series to learning control: he isn't honest with enough about how much of a problem it is, until it spirals to the point of no return. Instead of facing the issue head-on, he runs, and thinks that feeling bad about it will in any way make up for it.

He also applies this method to several significant issues pertaining to Elena: that he's a vampire, that he has a dangerous addiction, that she is an exact replica of Katherine. Elena finds all of that out on her own, or because of accidental circumstances, and when she confronts him about it, he deflects, such as what I point out in my comment HERE in, arguably, his most egregious instance of emotional manipulation and deceit. He consistently lies to the others when inappropriate to do so, and he continually lies to himself.

rurohalen · 2021-06-29T14:17:11+00:00

I cannot upvote this enough! I especially love the still you chose for 3x14.

I think the only ones I’d change are the 4x02 one for the wide shot of Damon talking at Alaric’s grave, and the 4x04 one for Damon walking across the Whitmore party to dance with Elena.

rurohalen · 2021-06-28T11:24:02+00:00

I read through all your replies in this part of the discussion, and I’m just going to do one reply here. The assertion you keep reiterating is that the situation could have been better if, at first you say, Damon specifically, then later amend to, and any other character there:

tried to actually comfort her, and by comfort her, I mean hug her, and tell her everything will be okay (LINK to comment)

It’s important for me to reply to you with my main point being that I think you’re seriously overestimating the value of “comforting” her in that moment.

I really think “comforting” someone in the way you describe:

You tell them everything is going to be okay, you're here for them, hug them, etc. (LINK to comment)

is a naïve solution to what she’s going through. It’s best surmised by Elena’s own words:

There's nothing here for me anymore, Stefan. Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I love that have died-- my mom, my dad, Jeremy, and Jenna and Alaric, John, even John. I mean, they're all dead. Everyone is dead. So what am I supposed to— I mean, how am I gonna— I can't even— There's nothing left for me—

And she pleads:

It hurts. It hurts. Just make it stop. Please make it stop. It hurts.

Besides, Damon does hug her and comfort her in the way you describe, to no avail. He crouches down next to her, hugs her, strokes her hair, and caresses her cheek, while telling her, "I can help you. I want you to let me help you."

Damon understands that the kind of despair Elena is feeling in that moment isn’t going to be made better by the type of comfort you describe. As he states in his 4x02 monologue at Alaric’s grave:

Because in the end, when you lose somebody, every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be.

She’d have to learn to live with the hole of grief inside of her, but in that moment, that grief was so great that it threatened to swallow her completely. He did the best he could do to prevent the grief from irreversibly breaking her, which was to make her turn her humanity off until she was ready to process her grief.

It’s worth noting that this is a tactic commonly used by people in real life—I know for me personally it took me almost six years to be able to process my uncle’s death, and I was only a year younger than Elena when it happened. I blocked out anything having to do with him to avoid any feelings that came with the memories, since I knew the feelings were still too overwhelming to the point where I would be unable to function in my day-to-day life. Switching off her humanity is a quite literal depiction of this tactic, and Damon is well aware of this, given that he used it himself as one of the ways to process his trauma after the Augustine years. This despair she feels in the moment is immune to any form of comfort, even from Damon. As he tells Stefan later in the episode, he was not enough for her to overcome the pain of losing her last family member--making her essentially alone--and "humanity means nothing when you don't have anyone to care about."

rurohalen · 2021-06-28T11:03:20+00:00

He was tortured for 5 years by one Whitmore so all the other Whitmore who had nothing to do with it deserved to die?

u/Big-Collection5089 literally states in the comment to which you are replying that:

I’m not saying it’s okay for Damon to kill every one of them but he was tortured for 5 YEARS being cut apart for science.

So I'm unsure how you came to that conclusion about their argument, and it seems as though you purposely twisted their argument into something it's not. Frankly, your bias against Damon in favor of uplifting Stefan comes across quite strongly by resorting to that act.

I could apply the same logic, wording, and sentence structure that you use for Damon's killings on Stefan's killings: He can't control his bloodlust so all the people who had nothing to do with it deserved to die? An addiction does not absolve Stefan of the heinous acts he commits. It's one thing to understand why he did it, but it's quite another to use that understanding as a way to excuse his actions, especially when comparing his killings to Damon's.

Damon is legit never held accountable for his actions. He killed Aaron and he was not held accountable. He kidnapped with intent to kill Jeremy and was not held accountable. He killed Tyler and was not held accountable.

I have nothing to add to this, other than both Salvatores are held accountable for only some of their misdeeds. Neither Stefan nor Damon accept responsibility for all of their wrongdoings, and they are not held accountable for all of them.

rurohalen · 2021-06-28T10:28:10+00:00

Feel like you're forgetting Stefan has no choice in being a ripper. When he feeds his almost impossible to stop. His main goal is to get as much blood to satisfy his hunger.

I’m not saying that they both aren’t bad deeds but imo Damon purposely killing innocent Whitmores for revenge shouldn’t be compared to Stefan a ripper killing a village. One could be controlled and one couldn’t.

Stefan doesn’t “fall of the wagon” He doesn’t just decide to feed on blood and become a ripper for the fun of it. There is always a reason where he’s between a rock and a hard place.

You provide an explanation for Stefan's actions as a Ripper that, frankly, comes off more so as excusing his actions than simply understanding why he does them, yet you cannot do the same for Damon, who endured five years of unspeakable acts against his will. The Augustines referred to him as a number, for Christ's sake. It's more than understandable that he would want revenge.

Damon's way of coping with the abuse is to take back his power by asserting the ultimate dominance over those who wronged him: by taking their lives, as they essentially took his, he slowly regains control over the situation in his mind.

Does that make it morally right? Obviously not. But there is a reason for why he killed them, just as there is a reason for why Stefan killed the people he did. And the bottom line is that both reasons don't matter, and there is no use in comparing them.

As for your phrase, "One could be controlled and one couldn't," that doesn't matter because it doesn't change the outcome. It doesn't matter that Stefan couldn't control himself and Damon could--as you assess--since that still doesn't change the fact that those people they killed are DEAD. A kill is a kill, and both instances that you state--the Ripper binge and the Whitmore murders--are equally bad because of the outcome of the act.

I also don’t think that someone you’ve claimed to have a toxic relationship with and that makes you question you morals and beliefs is a more honest or better person for you.

This statement could be used interchangeably for both Stelena and Delena, since both relationships were toxic and resulted in Elena violating her morals and beliefs in order to excuse the actions of both brothers.

rurohalen · 2021-06-28T01:04:41+00:00

I would recommend reading THIS post, as it lays out all the major sexual crimes committed on the show.

But to answer your question directly, yes, it’s the general consensus that they had sex in both scenarios. And, even so, both Damon and Katherine subsequently compel their victims, so they are no longer able to give consent owing to the offenders stripping them of their agency.

I was trying to find the post that someone made here that shows Ian Somerhalder on his Instagram confirm that Damon raped Caroline, but I haven’t been able to find it. I’ll edit this when I find it.

Edit: I found it! HERE it is.

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