"Oh, come on - a little bit cool."

So, you know how you owe someone an email, but then it takes you a while to get to it, and then it's been so long that it feels awkward, so you figure you'd better have something really interesting to say when you do write back, and then, eventually, you just send that message that's like, "So...I suck. How are you?" That's what this blog is like. I was just being lazy, and then I was sick, and then I was moving, and then I was like, "Hm, I should write a nice long, funny, full-of-interesting-something-or-other post, since I've been quiet for so long," but that felt daunting, so I put it off, and here we are.

So, rather than trying to go over everything that's happened over the summer, I'll just jump back in with a post about The Vampire Diaries. I've spent much of the last few days in Mystic Falls, watching the 2nd half of season 2, which I'd fallen way behind on, in anticipation of tonight's season 3 premiere. My basic response at the end of the second season was "So. Much. Drama."

In a little more detail, and to quote Elijah, "OMG."
Lots of good stuff last season, some really funny moments, some Very Polite Evil, some plain old dumbassedness, and a whole lotta hearts ripped out, heads rolling, etc. And lots of manpain. I finished the season excited for season 3, though perhaps not for the main event -- as I said to J., I'm not particularly compelled by RipperStefan, but Klaus is unbelievably bad news, so I'm excited for him to strut his crazy stuff. I'm also looking forward to the rest of the originals, though I was sad to hear their backstory skirting so close to "Underworld" territory. I look forward to what happens when somebody un-kills Elijah. Again.

And, I think this needs to be the year of the dead parents. I want the skinny on Miranda and Grayson (Grayson? Really?) and Mama Salvatore.

But, for now, kudos to the writers for sandwiching some serious badness between the remnants of Stefan's fluffy-puppy-ness. Klaus is right. It's clear that Stefan still cares about Damon. The only reasons for him to warn Damon off are to keep Klaus from killing him and to keep Elena safe -- both by keeping her away from Klaus and by preserving Damon's ability to protect her, which he'll do a better job of if he's alive. (Klaus doesn't know about the Elena motivation. Yet.) But it's also clear that Stefan really is a Very Bad Man right now, even when warning Damon off for his own good. At first, I was thinking he would just go yell at Damon. Then I thought he'd compel Distraction and send her with a message, because that would be creepy. And, maybe the message would include her hurting herself, a la Katherine's message through Aunt Jenna. Then it became clear that it was time for her to die, and I figured Stefan would kill her and leave her as a message. Somehow, I did not expect him to kill her *in front* of Damon, right up until he did. I don't know why that makes it worse, but it does -- there's a cruelty to it that I still wasn't expecting. So, good job, writers - I might be a little less bored by the ripper plot.

Meanwhile, what the hell kind of help does GhostVicki need, and what kind of amateur lets a couple of ghosts haunt him for a whole summer without finding out what they want. And why wouldn't you tell your witch girlfriend who brought you back from the dead that you were seeing ghosts? Idiot.

Also, why is Carol Lockwood picking such an inconvenient time to become "useful"? And why the hell can't Caroline tell when people are acting suspiciously?

A good, albeit frustrating start to the season.