Anybody else kinda tired of fics that try to shove Stefan and Lexi into a romance? Their whole appeal was that they didn't go there. I just reread 'Confessional' by dustyarchive on AO3, and the author nails it—it's just them talking in a confessional booth after a particularly rough patch for Stefan, and it's all about this weary, centuries-deep understanding between them. There's no subtext, no longing looks, just a vampire and his oldest friend who's seen him at his absolute worst and still shows up with a bottle of something strong.
That's the dynamic I'm after. Fics where Lexi drags him out to a club not to fix him, but to remind him what being alive feels like, even if he's technically not. Or ones set in the '80s where she's trying to get him into neon and synthpop and he's just bewildered but amused. The friendship fics are quieter, often less kudos, but they feel more real to the spirit of their on-screen moments to me.
Sometimes you just want the platonic soulmates thing, you know? The person who knows your entire history and doesn't need you to explain why you're having a bad century.