Haha, I actually agree with most of what you're saying!
Like, he's ripping some girl's throat out, and I'm supposed to be OH POOR DAMON HE'S IN SO MUCH PAAAAAAIN.
Yeah, I get that. I was just complaining to eowyn_315 up there somewhere about the writing in "The Descent". I think Ian S. actually does a lot to make Damon less ~romantic and more menacing than possibly the writers originally conceptualise. (Though, there's no stopping fandom, unfortunately.) And the thing is, I do sympathise a lot with Damon, but I don't need him to be written in an overtly sympathetic way for that.
Your ideal D/E scenario is mine, too! I'm not in any hurry at all to see them getting together anytime soon. The only way I would buy that, actually, is if Elena got turned. Or got seriously shady in some fashion. I seriously question the sanity of anyone who thinks Damon is remotely capable of sustaining a functional, equal relationship at this point. Actually, history shows he's never been able to do that, so.
I will say that Damon's recent controlling behaviour is purely for the sake of consequentialism. With this current Klaus situation, he genuinely believes his methods are the most likely to be successful (unlike Stefan and Elena's "save everyone" approach). So, in a typically twisted Damon way, he's doing what he thinks is the right thing. I also genuinely don't believe he's doing any of this with the aim to win Elena over. I think he's quite resigned to the fact that it'll always be Stefan. Like, if Damon already had Elena, he wouldn't need to be this ruthless about trying to save her life - because he wouldn't be so lacking in power in their relationship. Does that make sense? At this point, he thinks that playing "the bad guy" and pissing her off is necessary to do what needs to be done. I'm not so sure he's got the right idea - but I imagine that that if they do beat Klaus, it'll be because they all compromised and combined their different strategies. Actually, one thing I really respected about the writing in "The Last Dance" was how it was impossible to completely side with either method.
So, idk, I feel like the actual direction they're taking Damon in is accurate, and sense-making. But, like you said, the tone is what's making it dubious.
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Like, he's ripping some girl's throat out, and I'm supposed to be OH POOR DAMON HE'S IN SO MUCH PAAAAAAIN.
Yeah, I get that. I was just complaining to
Your ideal D/E scenario is mine, too! I'm not in any hurry at all to see them getting together anytime soon. The only way I would buy that, actually, is if Elena got turned. Or got seriously shady in some fashion. I seriously question the sanity of anyone who thinks Damon is remotely capable of sustaining a functional, equal relationship at this point. Actually, history shows he's never been able to do that, so.
I will say that Damon's recent controlling behaviour is purely for the sake of consequentialism. With this current Klaus situation, he genuinely believes his methods are the most likely to be successful (unlike Stefan and Elena's "save everyone" approach). So, in a typically twisted Damon way, he's doing what he thinks is the right thing. I also genuinely don't believe he's doing any of this with the aim to win Elena over. I think he's quite resigned to the fact that it'll always be Stefan. Like, if Damon already had Elena, he wouldn't need to be this ruthless about trying to save her life - because he wouldn't be so lacking in power in their relationship. Does that make sense? At this point, he thinks that playing "the bad guy" and pissing her off is necessary to do what needs to be done. I'm not so sure he's got the right idea - but I imagine that that if they do beat Klaus, it'll be because they all compromised and combined their different strategies. Actually, one thing I really respected about the writing in "The Last Dance" was how it was impossible to completely side with either method.
So, idk, I feel like the actual direction they're taking Damon in is accurate, and sense-making. But, like you said, the tone is what's making it dubious.