"Stelena are the puso and soul of the show."
"Elena will always pag-ibig Stefan and put him first."
"Elena will always choose Stefan, she sinabi so herself."
"The tatsulok isn't real, it's just a gimmick to sell the show."
"The producers have pretty much sinabi that Damon will never be good enough for Elena."
"The writers have made it clear sa pamamagitan ng now that Elena will never pag-ibig Damon."
"And that is why..."
"And that is why..."
"And that is why..."
"Delena will never be together."
"Delena will never be a reality."
"You're wrong to ship DE."
"Stelena are the one true pag-ibig story of the show."

However passionate we are about our ship, it can sometimes be difficult to remain optimistic in the face of such constant negativity. Arguments abound on all sides: from Stelena fans, from Stefan fans, 'Team Defan' fans, the producers, fans who don't ship any couple but still criticise DE from every angle, and perhaps most depressingly of all, Damon fans who once liked DE but have become so disillusioned with the progression of the triangle, they have accepted defeat and grudgingly conceded that Stelena will be endgame, even if they don't like it. As a result, we feel we need to defend DE at every turn when we shouldn't have to, because at this stage in the show, the reasons should be glaringly obvious.
It's true that the past 3 seasons have been hard, and the Season 3 finale in particular. I've read comments on another TVD site from some fans who argued that the writers were so intent on turning Elena into a vampire sa pamamagitan ng the end, they had ibingiay no thought as to how it would happen, hence the reason for Stefan swimming off with Matt, leaving Elena trapped underwater. I have to say, I think this is a bit of an insult to the writers. We see Meredith taking Damon's blood way before the finale airs, which shows they must have had some idea as to how the season would end. It didn't have to be Damon's blood. It could have been Stefan's, or Elijah's or even Caroline's. It would have been especially meaningful if it HAD been Stefan's blood, because you know, he can't save her when he had the chance, but then it turns out he DID save her even though he didn't know it. It would have been very poetic for Stelena, and one madami reason for Julie to cheer them on in interviews. But it's not Stefan's blood that saves Elena. It's Damon's. And when we look back at the past 3 seasons, we can see that when it comes to Damon, Stefan, and Elena's safety, then a pattern quickly establishes itself.

Damon has saved Elena's life many times.
In 1x11, Elena gets into a car accident when she's driving away from Stefan. Damon happens to be in the area, gets her out of the car and carries her to safety. In 2x03, he uses himself as a shield to prevent her from getting shot at sa pamamagitan ng a cross-bow; in 2x08 and 2x10 he is there to protect her from Elijah; in 2x21 he is on hand again after the sacrifice takes place and carries her to safety. In 3x02 he dances with death sa pamamagitan ng distracting a werewolf and letting it chase him; in 3x05 he gets her out of hospital and on the road to recovery.
But when Damon isn't there, then BAD things happen. When he leaves her for an oras in Chicago, he isn't there to defend her when Klaus appears; when he leaves town with Katherine at the end of 3x04/05 Elena suffers at the hands of (who else?) Klaus who promptly wires her up as human blood bank. In 2x11 when Damon goes off with Alaric for a few hours, Elijah is free to enter the Gilberts' house unchallenged. In 2x17 she's kidnapped and in 2x20 she's taken away sa pamamagitan ng Klaus to be sacrificed in the ritual. Both times she is with Stefan. Finally, in 3x22, when Damon is battling Alaric, fighting to stay alive and nowhere near the vicinity, Elena drowns underwater even though Stefan promptly arrives at the scene of the accident to rescue her. This is not strictly all Stefan's fault, but still. Every time Damon has been there to get her to safety or protect her, Elena has lived. But when its down to Stefan to rescue her, she drowns and the only reason why she doesn't die in the conventional sense, is because unbeknownst to anyone but Meredith, she has Damon's blood in her system. Yet again, Damon saves Elena's life. The irony of this can't be Nawawala on DE fans. I mean, Stefan is right there to rescue her and fails, but Damon is miles away and still manages to save her life (with help from Meredith.) Any SE shipper who tries to defend Stefan at this point is heading straight for crazy town.

Julie Plec may see things differently of course. But even if she thinks Stefan's actions are noble and wonderful, she is seriously deluded if she thinks fans will see things the same way. How can any SE shipper honestly be happy with Stefan leaving the girl he loves trapped in a car underwater while he saves Matt? "But it shows he loves her too much to disrespect her wishes," SE fans might say. Elena's life is hanging in the balance and if she doesn't get to the surface in time, she'll die! Who cares if she thinks Matt should be saved first?! I don't believe that the accident and underwater sequence happened in order to prove that SE are an epic couple, and can overcome anything. There are many other ways to demonstrate that which don't involve Elena drowning while the guy she chose just ten minutos before rescues Matt; I don't care how noble or self-sacrificing Stelena are. Without Damon's blood, Elena would have died that day. So I can't accept that the reason for Stefan's not saving Elena first is to prove that their pag-ibig is stronger than anything. If that were true, then Stefan wouldn't have left her.

Even if SE somehow manage to escape from the consequences of the car accident unscathed, will the fans be able to forget about it, especially if Stelena remain a couple? If, sa pamamagitan ng some freak accident, Stelena are endgame, then how will it look? How can fans be happy that Elena ended up with the brother who took LESS care of her than the one who did everything in his power to keep her alive? That can't be right, surely. After 2x01 aired, Kevin and Julie sinabi in an interview that they felt Damon had a long way to go before he was deemed 'worthy' of Elena. (link)
Well, all I can say is, he has madami than proved himself since then. It would be downright hypocritical of Kevin and Julie to end the ipakita with Stelena in light of what happened in 3x22.

Perhaps one of the most striking observations about the finale and how it fits into the pattern of Elena being ligtas with Damon but not Stefan is that the accident happens when Elena and Matt are driving BACK TO STEFAN. Think about this for a moment. If she had chosen Damon then she and Matt would have been heading in the opposite direction, away from danger. They wouldn't have been on the bridge, the accident would never have happened, and Elena would still be human. I wrote in another artikulo about 3X22 that Elena made the wrong choice. Well, this seems to confirm it.
For the record, I know Stefan didn't intend to let Elena die. I know he loves her, but...there is something about the way Damon has been established as Elena's protector whilst Stefan falls short of the mark that is darkly ironic ibingiay SE's supposed status of 'Epic Couple/Epic Love'. How is Stefan worthy of being called Elena's 'soul mate' and how can they be considered 'epic' if he can't save her?
People who oppose Delena can cite a thousand reasons why they think it will always be Stelena. They can argue endlessly as to why DE are wrong together, and why we shouldn't ship them. But Damon would never have left Elena trapped in a car at the bottom of a lake while he rescued someone else. At the end of the day, Damon was the one who fought tooth and nail to keep her alive, and the only reason why she survived the accident is because his blood saved her. If that doesn't convince people that DE are meant to be, then nothing will.