Stelena

"I know we've only known each other for a short while, and I know I'm in competition for your affections, but uh … I've never met a woman quite like you. I look at you and I see … an angel. I touch your skin, and my entire body ignites. I kiss you, and I know that I'm … I'm falling in love."

- Stefan to Elena

Stelena is the het ship between Elena Gilbert and Stefan Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries fandom.

TV-Series
Stefan and Elena first met when he returned to town to get to know Elena after saving her from a car accident. He went to her school and the two bumped into each other in the hallway. They were both infatuated with each other and had trouble maintaining a conversation without getting tongue-tied, Stefan in particular was in awe of Elena and looked back at her after the two parted ways. When Elena visited her parent's graves and was scared off by Damon Salvatore (unknowingly), she ran out of the forest until she bumped into Stefan again. The two kept admiring each other like before, and eventually Stefan properly introduced himself to Elena, to which she said she knew who he was since they had history together. Throughout Season 1 the two maintained a beautiful relationship. Whenever Elena would be in danger, Stefan would always be there to protect her from Damon and anything else that harmed her. After Stefan revealed he was a vampire, Elena was shocked and afraid at the existence of supernatural beings. While the two distanced one another from each other, Elena had fell in love with Stefan deeply, and knew she could never be afraid of him. When Stefan tried to leave her for her own safety, she told him that was not his decision to make and that she loved him. The two shared a kiss, but when Stefan told Elena he could not control his vampirism, she encouraged him he could, and told him not to hide from her.

In Season 2 they fell out of contact since Stefan left to save his brother, although they both stayed faithful to each other. When Damon tried to kiss Elena, she pushed him away and tried to tell him as gently as possible that while she cared about him, she loved Stefan and it was always going to be Stefan. Broken by her rejection, Damon snaps her brother's neck and leaves. Stefan arrives almost immediately and holds Elena, comforting her throughout the night. In Season 3, she rejects Damon and chooses Stefan. The two shared many romantic and beautiful moments together, and their relationship was rekindled and lasted at the beginning of Season 4. When Elena was still human as she was transitioning to a vampire, she told Stefan that out of all the decisions she'd made in her life, loving him was the best one she'd ever made.

Elena and Stefan's love for each other is the most recurring theme in The Vampire Diaries. The two formed a strong and deep relationship that even many of their enemies praised. When Klaus turned off Stefan's humanity and ordered him to kill Elena, Stefan fought back and refused his order. Klaus commented on their relationship stating “that kind of love never dies” even Katherine Pierce, who had tried to break them up many times because they "didn't belong together" told Stefan that even with one night or an eternity he would never look at her the same way he looks at Elena.

Another recurring theme is Stefan and Elena's supportive and positive relationship. Even broken up the two still had affection for each other and understood one another better than anyone else. When Silas locked Stefan up in a well for the whole summer, the only thing that kept Stefan from turning off his humanity were his thoughts of Elena. When he fake proposed to Elena he told her she “brought him back from the edge” and when Caroline turned off his humanity, he asked only Elena to bring him back. The show focuses on how the only thing that makes Stefan keep his humanity was and would always be Elena. This recurring theme does not only happen to Stefan however, when Damon forced Elena to turn off her humanity after Jeremy's death, he was not able to return it while Stefan was. When Vicki sets Alaric’s car on fire and Elena is trapped inside along with Stefan, who's knocked out by vervain, Elena calls out to him and he wakes up after hearing her. He weakly calls out her names and when he realizes that she’s in danger, even in his weakened state, he uses all his strength to kick the trunk door off it's hinges so that Elena can get out safely before the car explodes. They were constantly by the other's side. The only time Stefan did not save Elena was when she asked him not to. He respected her choice regardless of how much he wanted to go against her wishes.

"She's the love of my life. I'd go back to her in a heartbeat."

- Stefan about Elena In the last episode of The Vampire Diaries, Stefan and Elena share an emotional goodbye before his death.

Quotes
"Well crazy or not, that kind of love never dies."

- Klaus about Stefan and Elena. "One night, an eternity. You'd never look at me the way you look at Elena, would you?"

- Katherine to Stefan. "I loved her more than I ever thought I could love somebody else."

- Stefan about Elena. "Dear Diary, this morning is different. There is change. I can sense it. I can feel it. For once, I don't regret the day before it begins. will see him again. For the first time in a long time, I feel good."

- Elena in her diary about Stefan. "I'm awake. For the first time in a long time, I feel completely and undeniably wide awake. I welcome the day. I will see her again."

- Stefan in his diary about Elena. "If you walk away, it's for you because I know what I want. Stefan, I love you!"

- Elena when Stefan tries to distance herself from her. "You are the woman that I love. I love you."

- Stefan to Elena. "If It was my choice, I'd wanna be with you forever."

- Stefan to Elena. "I never stopped loving you."

- Elena to Stefan. "It's always gonna be Stefan."

- Damon to Elena. "No matter what I feel for you, I never unfell for him."

- Elena to Damon about Stefan. "No. I don't think we'd get together if you were still human. You had a choice. You chose Stefan. Human you was on your way home to him."

- Damon to Elena. "Stefan is your epic love."

- Caroline Forbes to Elena. "Thank you for bumping into me that day in the hallway. I never thought I could be happy again and then I met you. You changed everything for me. You... you quite literally saved my life. I love you so much."

- Elena in "I'm Thinking Of You All The While"

Behind The Scenes
"What this (Stefan and Elena's relationship) is about, it's that love is eternal. And that's an universal and timeless theme."

- Kevin Williamson. "We always said in the PILOT It's a girl who feels dead inside, and a boy who IS dead inside, and how they bring each other back to life."

- Julie Plec on Stefan and Elena. "It is the most romantic moment of the series. It's a guy trying so hard to hold onto to his humanity through his love for this one girl- and watching as it gets ripped out of him. And we went back and said: Make it epic. Make it sad and beautiful, use the love cue that Stefan and Elena have, use that cue, not the scary cue."

- Julie Plec on Season 3 Episode 5. "Oh yeah. Caroline is still a Stelena fan."

- Candice Accola on Caroline. "Of course. If Damon and Elena get together I'm gonna get very jealous. I don't know what's going to happen with that, but I think Elena's true love is Stefan. Speaking from an objective place I really believe that it's her true love. And as charming and good looking as Damon is.. I think it'd be more of a fling."

- Paul Wesley. "He's madly in love with Elena. And.. umm.. he .. That's his girl, Elena. She's his one sort of light at the end of the tunnel."

- Paul Wesley on Stefan. "Stefan, who's.. at the beginning she just think he's a great guy who's obviously attractive and intelligent and she just has great time around him, but they also had this unspoken connection and chemistry that neither of them can just really explain. But they just.. they just jive at another level."

- Nina Dobrev about Stelena. "Stefan. Whenever he's around she just.. it's almost like melts into his arms and she feels somewhat relief."

- Nina Dobrev on who Elena loves. "I think that deep down she's in love with a person Stefan is. She loves the type of... She loves warm hearted people."

- Nina Dobrev on what kind of person Elena loves. "Marry Stefan."

- Nina Dobrev playing "Screw, Marry, Kill" "When the show first started I really liked.. I thought Stefan and Elena's storyline was very interesting and I really love that romance that they've.. I thought it was really special. Very beautiful. I think the show is sort of rooted itself in that romance. I think of that romance on kind with the kind of basis of The Vampire Diaries in many ways. Um.. Well, you know, once Nina left the show we needed to develop other relationships and I thought that this Stefan/Caroline relationship was pretty great. So, It's hard to compare the two because there is something interesting about Stefan and Caroline- friends sort of becoming romantic. It's completely different, I think the Stefan and Elena's storyline was a little bit more- kind of the HEART of the show."

- Paul Wesley on Steroline VS Stelena. "If Nina had never left, I would’ve loved to have been able to see if Stefan and Elena could've found their way back to each other."

- Julie Plec on Stefan and Elena. "That’s a beautiful commitment in their relationship. It’s kind of like a monogamy commitment in a way. It’s a little cheesy and it’s very perverse, but I thought it was kind of beautiful and special. One very telling thing that he said two episodes ago was that he has something else to live for. The difference between last year and this year is last year he didn’t believe he deserved Elena’s love. Right now we’re at a place where Stefan has come to terms with some of his demons and is feeling very strong in his love for Elena and is confident that she loves him in spite of their current relationship problems. Stefan opens the closet door and he sees her, and they come face-to-face. It’s the strangest moment because she’s in his, like, murder board closet, but the way they look at each other… and you realize, ohmygod, these two have not seen each other in so long, and they love each other so much, and the look on his face… We know how much he needs her, how she’s what keeps him from falling over the edge, and he’s in this predicament: Oh god, is she about to get caught? Am I about to get caught? It’s just this powerful reunion that always makes me get a little teary."

- Julie Plec on Stefan and Elena. "They (Stefan and Caroline) are sharing an experience of having to say goodbye to someone they care about who ultimately is Stefan's true love."

- Julie Plec about Elena. "I'm a Stelena. I've gone on record as a Stelena. It's Stefan and Elena for me. That's who, in another universe, that's how I would have ended the show. However, we lost Elena in the sixth season."

- "Williamson then reveals in a shocking twist that initially he wanted to get Dobrev back for the entire final season, not just the last episode. Had she been able to return for all 16 episodes of Season 8, that would have changed the ending dramatically." "The bottom line is that Elena and Stefan are the true epic love story of the show. Damon is the third point of the triangle."

- Julie Plec. "I just want (Stefan) in the end to find his love, that's all he cares about. Of course I want him to end up with Elena. Cause I have to, that's all I can hope for."

- Paul Wesley on the TVD finale. "I'm telling you, all it takes is one shift in writing. All it takes is one intelligently shifted moment or new storyline to sort of diverge and — boom! — we're back on the Stefan and Elena train."

- Paul Wesley on TVD. "Don't hide from me."

- Paul Wesley's favorite TVD scene (In 2022)

Fanon
Stelena is the most popular ship in The Vampire Diaries fandom, second only to Delena. Many fans felt that even though Elena got together with Damon at the end of the series, their love wasn't quite as real as her and Stefan's. There is rivalry between Delena, Steroline and Stelena shippers.

Fans of the ship are intrigued with their love story. Not only is the ship popular because of it's soulmate themes but also because of the character's dynamic and personalities. Stefan is deep and understanding, but has trouble sealing the dark part of himself away. Elena is compassionate and kind and was potrayed to be the light in his life. They were both supportive of each other and loved one another very deeply. Stefan had always respected Elena's decisions and had done anything he could to protect her, and even though they broke up in the later seasons, fans still believed mutual feelings had always remained between them.

Fans also think had Elena never turned into a vampire and never been sired with Damon, she would've chosen Stefan in a heartbeat. Damon also believed this in canon. Despite rivalry with Delena and Steroline shippers, Stelena and Klaroline shippers have a positive relationship with each other's fandoms. Klaus and Caroline are also jokingly known as "King and Queen of Shipping Stelena."

On AO3, Stelena is the third most written romantic Vampire Diaries ship besides Klaroline and Delena. It is the second most written ship for Elena and the number one most written for Stefan.

Fandom
AO3

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Stefan is a Scorpio and Elena is a Cancer. Astrologically, they are very compatible.
 * In the novels, Stefan and Elena are Soulmates.
 * Many characters on the show have been open in their support of Stelena. That includes Klaus, Caroline, Silas, Jeremy, Bonnie, Rebekah, Lexi and Matt.
 * Many celebrities have said they supported Stelena. That includes Dinah Jane Hansen and Lauren Jauregui from Fifth Harmony, Torrey DeVitto, Steven R. McQueen, Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, Charles Michael Davis, Danielle Campbell, Daniella Pineda, Paul Wesley and Julie Plec.
 * Ian Somerhalder prefers Stelena over Delena.
 * Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley are Stelena shippers and have supported the couple ever since the first episode. Paul and Nina are also very close friends in real life.
 * Stelena is the only ship name that was said in the show (by Caroline).
 * Elena describes to Damon a dream she had about getting married to Stefan, and calls it her perfect life and a paradise.