Paul Wesley as Stefan, Nina Dobrev as Elena. Quantrell Colbert / The CW © 2009

“Without such a talisman, we die in sunlight as if in a fire,” Stefan tells Elena in The Awakening.

L.J. Smith introduces a lot of unusual things in her Vampire Diaries books—and the stone Stefan and Damon’s rings are crafted from, “lapis lazuli,” is one of our favorites.  We know that lapis lazuli protects vampires from sunlight, but we wanted to find out where it comes from and figure out why L.J. chose this particular kind of stone.

In our research, we found out that lapis lazuli is a real semi-precious stone that has been mined for over 6,000 years.  It’s also fairly rare and often used in jewelry because of its beautiful blue color.  We still aren’t exactly sure why L.J. Smith chose lapis lazuli … we think the fact that it’s rare, ancient, and beautiful—kind of like the Salvatore boys themselves—is reason enough.

Find out more about lapis lazuli here and tell us why you think L.J. Smith chose this stone for her vamps’ rings in TVD!

What could possibly make us more excited for the second season of TVD than we already are?  The CW’s SEXY new promotional poster ads for The Vampire Diaries! Elena is pictured with both Salvatore brothers by her side—as usual.  And she’s clearly connected to both Stefan and Damon—which is slightly scandalous but not too surprising.

Tell us what you think of TVD’s season two look!

Nina Dobrev as Elena, Paul Wesley as Stefan. Andrew Eccles / The CW © 2009

“When it came to Stefan and Elena’s relationship, Elena was definitely in control.  As humans said: She wore the trousers in the family.” –Damon, The Return: Shadow Souls,

As you can see from the quote above, Damon thinks Elena is the one with the upper hand in her relationship with Stefan.  But, while it’s very apparent that Stefan is obsessed with Elena, we think Elena is pretty obsessed with Stefan too.

We know what Damon thinks, but we want your opinion.  Do you agree with Damon?  Or do you think that Stefan has just as much power over Elena as Elena has over him?

Nina Dobrev as Elena, Paul Wesley as Stefan. Quantrell Colbert / The CW © 2009

One of the most important themes in The Vampire Diaries is something most of us can relate to – friendship.  Honestly, can you think of anyone who has more loyal and caring friends than Elena Gilbert?  Stefan can’t. In fact, in The Return: Nightfall, Stefan actually writes Elena this note about her friends:

“…trust your friends.  They can all help you.  I trust Matt’s instinctive protectiveness for you, Meredith’s judgment, and Bonnie’s intuition.  Tell them to remember that.”

Can you think of other qualities that Matt, Meredith, and Bonnie have that make them amazing friends? Which of them would you want to be friends with?

Nina Dobrev as Elena, Katerina Graham as Bonnie and Candice Accola as Caroline. Photo by Quantrell Colbert / The CW ©2009

“But why?” said Bonnie. “Why would anything evil just happen to pick here?  Haven’t we been through enough?”

In the fourth TVD book, Dark Reunion, the question of why there’s SO much trouble in Fell’s Church (a.k.a. Mystic Falls) is finally addressed.  Stefan explains to Bonnie, Meredith, and Matt that evil is attracted to Fell’s Church due to “unquiet spirits.” And, of course, nobody in town attracts evilness quite like Elena and friends.

Bonnie, Meredith, and Matt could leave Fell’s Church or – for once – let someone else deal with all the bad vamps and restless spirits. They could. But they never do. They can’t seem to quit all the drama – or each other. Do you think they’re sort of addicted to the supernatural? I mean, how boring would their lives be if they moved to some town full of mortal vegetarians?