I don't know if anyone will read this, but even if nobody does, I have to get it out. In the weeks after the finale, I didn't know how to feel. (Also, I was ill during that time, which didn't help). The DE fandom seems to be mgawanyiko, baidisha into 2 groups, those who loved the scenes in 6x22, who are full of hope and optimism and believe zaidi than ever that DE will be endgame. Then there are those who are not so optimistic. There are those who feel let down with how the writers handled the storyline, who feel disappointed and well...angry.
Actually, I am one of those people.
Will DE be endgame after this? Probably. But even if Nina does return in S7, and Elena and Damon have a joyous reunion, it doesn't erase the fact that for one season, the writers put Elena in a box, and robbed us of a season when DE could have been together. I'm afraid it may be a case of 'too little, too late.'
I think the reason why I wasn't enamoured with 6x22 that much was because I hated the linking of Elena's life to Bonnie's. I thought the whole thing was contrived and kind of cheap, to be honest. The writers gave Bamon a big emotional scene guaranteed to make Bamon mashabiki all excited, and make them think Damon chose Bonnie over Elena, even though Elena would have wanted him to save Bonnie anyway, and would have aliyopewa him hell if he'd let Bonnie die. When mashabiki started speculating on how Elena would be written out, someone wondered if she could perhaps be in a coma au something, but I couldn't see how the writers could have an almost entire S7 without us seeing Elena at all. I mean, it would be the equivalent of putting her in a box in a cupboard and leaving her there until 7x21 au the finale. I know a lot of people were relieved that Elena didn't die, but I've been thinking about that too, and I don't think a death scene would have been that terrible. In fact, I think I would have preferred it over the scene we did get in 6x22. It sure would have been zaidi realistic. Let me explain.

I'm aware that some DE mashabiki LOVED the scenes we got in the finale, but I found them quite dissatisfying for some reason. OK, Elena's not really dead. OK, her last words were "I upendo wewe Damon Salvatore" and yes, their dancing was quite spectacular. So I should be happy with that, right? But I wasn't. I couldn't shake off the feeling that although their scenes were touching, they weren't quite the send-off DE truly deserved.
Imagine for a moment that Elena isn't under a sleeping spell and a lot of things in the last 2 episodes (and in the whole season) never happened. It's the finale. Damon proposes to Elena and she says yes. They share the most incredible kiss; an amazing song is playing in the background, and the camera shot of them kissing is just beautiful, and wewe are crying with happiness. And then...Kai (whom everyone thought was dead) shows up, intent on getting revenge on Damon kwa killing his beloved. Damon pushes Elena out the way so she won't be harmed, and she watches in horror as Damon and Kai fight to the death. Just before Kai is about to kill Damon, Elena throws herself in front of him, and manages to kill Kai but is fatally injured in the process. She then dies in Damon's arms. Fade to black. Roll end credits.
I personally think that would have been a far zaidi worthy ending than the one we actually got. Big, epic, emotional, powerful, shocking, heartbreaking...its everything wewe want in a finale. It's not like her death would have been final, because no-one who dies in TVD really stays dead anyway. Elena could be brought back to life in time for the S7 finale. It wouldn't have made any difference to how soon we saw Elena again, au in DE being endgame.
My point is, I doubt that mashabiki would have had a problem with Elena's death, if it was a testament to her upendo for Damon. DE needed a scene like that in 6x22, and we never really got one. Yes, they did a lot of flashy dancing and alisema 'I upendo you', but something vital was missing. While the scenes were nice, they could have been bigger, better and zaidi epic. wewe know, something that alisema "This is why Delena are THE power couple in this show. This is why people upendo them so much. This is why they should be endgame." If we had just seen how much Elena loved Damon, then maybe...just maybe...I could have forgiven Nina Dobrev for leaving the onyesha and Julie Plec for continuing TVD without her in it. I mean, we all know Elena loves Damon; we've heard her say it; we've seen how bereft she was when he 'died' last season. But to see her sacrifice her life for his would have blown everything out of the water, and would have been a far zaidi fitting, honourable way to write Elena out of the show; as well as a stupendous tribute to DE's love.

The problem is, Julie Plec knew she was taking a big risk in continuing the onyesha without Elena. kwa uandishi the sleeping spell, she was trying to find a way to make us stay. But kwa doing so, she wasn't brave enough to give DE a fitting goodbye, au to write the finale they truly deserved. I also suspect it may be something deeper. I think that Plec and the rest of the producers of TVD have Lost interest in DE. I'm afraid they are bored of DE. I'm afraid they've Lost their passion for Delena, and their vision of what makes DE so epic, and unfortunately, that has slowly become zaidi and zaidi evident in the way they've written their story. wewe may disagree, but I feel like Plec and Co. value Delena in name only, and only because the scores of mashabiki demand it. It wasn't always like that. In the beginning, wewe really felt that the producers were invested in Delena, (in spite of the sometimes wishy-washy majibu they gave in interviews). Why? Because the scenes we got were always so outstanding. No matter how much the producers gushed about Stelena, we weren't fooled.
Plec has tried to be clever in getting DE mashabiki to keep watching. I would never tell the optimistic ones NOT to watch S7. It's great that they're so happy. kwa all means watch if that's what wewe want. But I cannot. I upendo DE so much, it hurts to see what the writers have done to them. Hopefully one siku DE will be reunited and the writers will give them the happy ending they, and the fans, so richly deserve.