the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ how to break up delena

here are some tips on how to breakup delena. i was thinking about doing this for a lot of couples. i noticed that sometimes people struggle with breaking up a ship naturally and just make the character do something completely out of character like one of them having an affair or something that they wouldn't normally do.

now, from an audience perspective (and this applies to many ships not just delena) there can be obvious reasons as to why delena might breakup or maybe why they never get together in the first place.

but we're the audience. we aren't the characters. the reality is that the reasons that we may think are reasons for them not to be together aren't something that broke them up in the show.

for example, the audience might think that elena shouldn't be with damon because he killed jeremy.

but the reality is, that didn't stop them from being together in the show.

so no, if you want your story to be accurate, you cannot use that to break them up. because it didn't.

and yes i know this happened before they got together but you get what i mean.

you can't breakup ships in the show just because you don't like them if you want your story to be accurate to the show. if you don't like them and want them to break up that's fine, but justify it.

what you really need to do is lean into your original character. they will be key in this. you are introducing a whole new person into the show. you need to take advantage of this.

for example, in my fanfic, damon and elena break up.

why?

because my original character is elena's sister.

you'll have to read the fanfic to fully understand, but damon was really against my oc dating kol and had compelled her to forget him, had tried to kill kol, and tried to kill my oc while her humanity was off because she was going to kill elena.

so two things happened here:

1. lydia (for other reasons too) cut elena off and moved in with kol. keep in mind that this is something jeremy never did. aside from making a few comments, he was never very forcefully against damon and elena, but because elena now lost her sister, she was forced to confront the problems with their relationship.

2. kol killed damon. so delena kind of had to end in my story.

you need to use your oc to your advantage.

because there are a lot of places where characters could've broken up in the show but for whatever reason didn't. you can use your character to really push these reasons.

this also means that it most likely won't happen quickly. tvd couples are shown to be very passionate and they put up with a lot from each other.

the best way, in my opinion, is for it to happen slowly. unless one of the characters is to do something so significant and troublesome that they break up, which again, all the characters have done some pretty bad stuff so you're gonna have to be creative.

this also means that you shouldn't just randomly change their feelings.

for example, damon isn't going to one day just decide he doesn't love elena and walk out. that didn't happen in the show. and we know this because they died as a couple.

does this mean they can't fall out of love?

no. but you need to give a reason as to why they do. it can't just happen. justify why it's happening.

you want to look at what time in the show it is too. when does your story start?

is it before elena and damon even meet?

if that's the case, maybe your oc is close with one of them and so there's already some established relationship that you can use to your advantage later on.

you need to have a clear timeline. detail what's going on in their relationship too throughout the show. look for moments of weaknesses between them that you could use to your advantage.

delena is a pretty easy couple to break up to be honest because they do have a lot of moments that you could really narrow in on and use to break them up.

but my point is, you want it to come naturally.

not forced because you don't like the ship or because you just need one of them to be single.

now if your oc doesn't have a direct link to them this might be more difficult.

for example, your oc might not be a love interest for elena or damon but you want them to break up for whatever reason.

in my story, my oc was elena's sister so it was a little easier because oc does have a connection to elena.

here is just a list of moments i think you could really dive into if you're trying to break them up.

1. the obvious, damon killing jeremy.

again, this does not happen in the show. so you need to explain why it's now happening in your book. perhaps your oc is great friends with elena and really doesn't let this go, causing elena to see. in my story, the oc is lydia's sibling who damon continuously mistreats and so it becomes a pattern that elena realizes she has to break if she wants to keep her sister in her life.

2. the sire bond doesn't happen.

i believe that it was one of the writers that said that if the sire bond didn't happen, delena would've taken decades to get together. so don't let it happen. i'm sure you can find some ways to stop damon and elena from falling in love for decades, if you can't as always just let me know, but i don't wanna spend too much time here just coming up with that.

maybe your oc is a vampire and their blood is used instead. elena got damon's blood because the doctor gave it to her, maybe your oc is there with jeremy when elena passes out. i don't remember what caused the injury, i think it was klaus, but maybe for some reason that doesn't happen. again, just pay attention to see where you can make the change happen.

3. write one of them off.

again, in my story kol killed damon because he hurt my oc, who is his girlfriend. . . technically ex-fiancée at the time,

4. when elena erases her memories of damon, maybe she falls in love with someone else. this complicates things when he comes back because she's now in love with someone else too.

5. maybe damon falls in love with someone while elena is under the spell, though at this point elena is gone off the show so if you're looking to actually break them up maybe not or want to write before that.

6. maybe your oc is really close to elena or damon and one of them does something to hurt/betray your oc that they can't forgive.

these are just some ideas. it's hard to make them specific because i of course would have to know what the story is to make it specific.