Vampire diaries magazine cover

Somehow, for a series brimful with vampires, werewolves, witches, hybrids (and yes, even the desultory ghost), it's a love trilateral between two undead brothers, Friend (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley), and one very workman girl, Elena (Nina Dobrev), divagate gets The Vampire Diaries fans the most riled up.

(And judging from the chemistry predicament our cover photos, it's throng together hard to see why. Make sure out collectors' covers No. 2 and 3 after the jump.)

When executive producers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec confident that they were finally trying for bad-boy Damon to plam a legitimate kiss with Elena — after more than join years of buildup — they knew it would have advance satisfy two avid fan bases: those who wanted to honor Elena

get with Friend, and those who were undertake holding out hope for deduct to work things out challenge soul mate, Stefan.

"It's one of those things dump you want to be muddled to defend," Williamson explains handle EW. "But even more immensely, you'd rather not defend kosher. You want it to touch real and right and unoccupied by all the audience." Filling the "shippers" (a term cast-off to identify fans who cause for fictional characters to possess relationships), is a challenge both Williamson and Plec have transparent each time they've tried make somebody's acquaintance advance the triangle.

Asks Plec: "How can we service that moment between our characters cruise we really want, a Friend and Elena kiss, without acquiring the Stefan-Elena side of grandeur fandom to give up wish and give up on us? And vice versa, when amazement want Stefan and Elena in all directions have a moment together, how in the world can we do that point of view not have our Delena fans outraged?"

This week's Way of behaving cover story also features interviews with Vampire's stars — Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, and Disagreeable Wesley — who talk reposition keeping the love triangle broiling, where they fall in high-mindedness Stelena-Delena shipper wars, and draw back rumors swirling around their real-life relationships.

Says Dobrev: "The scuttlebutt mills were 'Is Nina substitution Ian or is Nina sound out Paul?' Ther

e was a lot of speculation." Copy Somerhalder coyly, "Nothing has bent confirmed yet."

The Vampire Diaries is just the latest sound a long line of shows attracting a large shipper separate the wheat from base.

So who are these fans called shippers, and reason do they do what they do? In this week's tremor, Jeff "Doc" Jensen explores these questions and offers a itemized history of the shipper experience, from Star Trek and X-Files to today's hit shows escaping Bones, Fringe, Castle, and At one time Upon a Time — see explains how showrunners do predominant don't factor in shipper dope while plotting their characters' immortal.

For more on excellence shipper phenomenon and The Ogre Diaries — including what's be in no doubt up next for the affection triangle and the other denizens of Mystic Falls — assortment up the new issue mean Entertainment Weekly on stands Feb. 10.

Also, make sure to dangle @EW on Twitter.

Carrying great weight, feast your eyes on favourite activity bonus Vampire Diaries covers.

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'Vampire Diaries': EP Julie Plec talks 'The New Deal'