Read this interview with The Vampire Diaries creator Kevin Williamson, where he talks about the decision to have Damon and Elena kiss, Stefan as a tragic hero, and teases what’s coming up! Beware of milk spoilers.

Collider interviewed Williamson recently, and when asked about choosing to have Damon and Elena kiss this season, Williamson said:

Well, we would have pulled it off sooner, if we could have. We felt like it was time. […] It had to be an honest thing for Elena to do. We had to make it real for her, and we had to tiptoe towards it. If we hadn’t, you would have hated Elena. Stefan had to take that turn, so she turned her attention to the one person who’s showing her the love, and she’s tempted by him. Who wouldn’t be? It’s a great love story because everybody loves everybody. It’s a perfect three-way, if they would all just come together. If they could all get along, it would be a hot time.

He also says a bit more about the development of Damon/Elena’s relationship:

You can’t just have Elena jump into bed with someone because that’s what the writer wants them to do. You have to earn it, and the character has to do it. It took us this long to earn it. From the second episode of this show, when she walked into the Salvatore mansion and she met Damon for the first time and he kissed her hand, that’s when it began. It just took us two and a half years to say, “I think they can kiss. We’ve earned it.”

Talking about Stefan’s development, she says:

The sad part about it is that Stefan is such a man of character. He has such a good soul. And now, he’s taken this horrible turn, so no matter what he does, at this point, he’s never going to be able to forgive himself. It’s so sad to watch because now he’s in tragic mode. He’s a true tragic hero, in the greatest sense, even more so now then Damon ever was. It is a tragic fall. I’m hoping it’s one of those situations where the audience will love him until he can learn to love himself again.

Williamson also reveals that right now it’s Julie Plec calling the shots, as he’s busy working on a new serial killer drama he is developing for Fox. Still, he’s involved, and admits that he killed Anna because he knew it would rile up the fans.

On what he’s excited about coming up in the rest of the season, he teases:

I’m really excited about what’s shaking down between Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Stefan and Damon, and that triangle, and how that climaxes at the end of the scene, with the hybrid of it all. And, there’s going to be more exposure to the Original family. And, Alaric (Matthew Davis) is going to be a lot of fun, in the second half of the season. He’s been sidelined with his grief for Jenna (Sara Canning), and we’ve been dealing with Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) and his dead ghost ex-girlfriends. Now, Alaric is ready to take a front-and-center role again and really get involved. He’s got a good storyline coming up, so I’m excited about that.

Read the rest here at Collider.