Love and Permanence in the World(s) of "The Vampire Diaries"

In a world populated by vampires and other immortals, concepts around love, family, and permanence take on new meaning. Within the changeable world of The Vampire Diaries – both the book series, the television series, and their spin-offs – ideas of everlasting love are surprisingly and somewhat incongruously common. High schoolers declare eternal love, brothers swear eternal vengeance, and family connections are “Always and Forever,” even as the series establishes competing canons between its different iterations and authors. As Young Adult fiction and television, the concerns within The Vampire Diaries universe are of great import to their audience: namely, romantic, peer, and familial connections. The characters within all yearn for permanence of love, be that within family or other relationships. But what does “forever” mean in a multiverse?