VAMPIRE MUSINGS. OKAY, WELL, DAMON ANYWAY.
Sherman has been in the shop again all week. *sadface*
This means that I have been crashing on my mom's sofa, since I can walk to the bus stop from her house. *sigh*
I miss my car!
And I miss my house!
But! I made Mom watch my shows on Thursday night, and she actually liked Vampire Diaries! SPN just confused her, but that's understandable. It's kind of hard to follow if you're coming in cold.
Of course, it doesn't say much about Vampire Diaries that it is possible for a complete neophyte to understand it when plunked into an episode halfway through the season. But I never claimed that the show was particularly deep.
I've seen some people make the argument that Damon is a true psychopath, unable to determine the difference between right and wrong. I disagree with that assessment. Others argue the common definition of a sociopath-- that he knows the difference and just doesn't care. I don't think either of those definitions are entirely accurate.
I think Damon is equipped with a moral compass-- it just isn't the same one you or I or certainly Stefan might use. I've said before that he is almost entirely motivated by self-interest . . . but that extends to certain others he chooses. In last week's episode, he publically humiliates Alaric, but the action seems to be more about lashing out at Stefan. It certainly backfires on him when it upsets Elena. Later, when Alaric is so enraged that he finally decides to try and kill Damon, he has to attack him three times before Damon finally loses his patience and ends the struggle.
I think it's easy to see there that Damon doesn't actually want to kill Alaric. He doesn't see any point to it. Alaric hasn't personally caused Damon any grief--in fact, the opposite is certainly true, and Damon isn't above taking some petty vengeance in explaining himself--but again, it comes off more as impatient and frustrated than anything else. Hell, Damon isn't even hungry enough to want a snack. The attitude seems to be that Alaric has deeply inconvenienced Damon by insisting on dying in his living room, but, whatever. Damon has other things to worry about.
Damon seems to like playing mind games, but he mostly likes to play them with Stefan. In fact, as much as he is obsessed with his memory of Katherine, the great of love of Damon's life is actually his brother. His world actually revolves around Stefan-- whether tormenting him or using him in some fashion, or even the few occasions where he seems to exhibit honest warm feelings, however brief.
I think Damon is angry, yes, but also bored, and--though he won't admit--very lonely. He's had nothing but endless rage to keep him company for the last hundred-odd years, and although he's allowed some relationships to go a little deeper, they've still mostly been superficial. And I wonder how many of them went bad for him and reinforced the trust issues he already had?
Look at what happened when he went on a road trip to visit an old girlfriend; she betrayed him and tried to have him killed. So of course his moral compass dictated that he kill her--not just as reflexive retribution, but I think also as a pre-emptive strike against any further actions. That's something else I see in Damon-- he has a temper, we saw that when he attacked Bonnie in a rage after she destroyed the amulet while possessed by the spirit of her ancestor, Emily-- but he's often very cool and calculating in his actions. "An eye for an eye" isn't just a saying for him . . . it's a way of life, and it kind of has to be, because he probably has to assume that anyone who's tried to kill him once will try again.
No wonder he has trouble believing in people. I sympathize.
Okay, yes, in addition to being more than halfway in love with Damon, I identify with him quite a bit as well.
Hell, if I were an immortal vampire with the strength and speed to be able to do it, I'd probably rip out the heart of someone who broke mine, too.
You know, because bloody mayhem and gruesome violence just relieve stress so much more than posting in one's LJ ever could!
*grin*
This means that I have been crashing on my mom's sofa, since I can walk to the bus stop from her house. *sigh*
I miss my car!
And I miss my house!
But! I made Mom watch my shows on Thursday night, and she actually liked Vampire Diaries! SPN just confused her, but that's understandable. It's kind of hard to follow if you're coming in cold.
Of course, it doesn't say much about Vampire Diaries that it is possible for a complete neophyte to understand it when plunked into an episode halfway through the season. But I never claimed that the show was particularly deep.
I've seen some people make the argument that Damon is a true psychopath, unable to determine the difference between right and wrong. I disagree with that assessment. Others argue the common definition of a sociopath-- that he knows the difference and just doesn't care. I don't think either of those definitions are entirely accurate.
I think Damon is equipped with a moral compass-- it just isn't the same one you or I or certainly Stefan might use. I've said before that he is almost entirely motivated by self-interest . . . but that extends to certain others he chooses. In last week's episode, he publically humiliates Alaric, but the action seems to be more about lashing out at Stefan. It certainly backfires on him when it upsets Elena. Later, when Alaric is so enraged that he finally decides to try and kill Damon, he has to attack him three times before Damon finally loses his patience and ends the struggle.
I think it's easy to see there that Damon doesn't actually want to kill Alaric. He doesn't see any point to it. Alaric hasn't personally caused Damon any grief--in fact, the opposite is certainly true, and Damon isn't above taking some petty vengeance in explaining himself--but again, it comes off more as impatient and frustrated than anything else. Hell, Damon isn't even hungry enough to want a snack. The attitude seems to be that Alaric has deeply inconvenienced Damon by insisting on dying in his living room, but, whatever. Damon has other things to worry about.
Damon seems to like playing mind games, but he mostly likes to play them with Stefan. In fact, as much as he is obsessed with his memory of Katherine, the great of love of Damon's life is actually his brother. His world actually revolves around Stefan-- whether tormenting him or using him in some fashion, or even the few occasions where he seems to exhibit honest warm feelings, however brief.
I think Damon is angry, yes, but also bored, and--though he won't admit--very lonely. He's had nothing but endless rage to keep him company for the last hundred-odd years, and although he's allowed some relationships to go a little deeper, they've still mostly been superficial. And I wonder how many of them went bad for him and reinforced the trust issues he already had?
Look at what happened when he went on a road trip to visit an old girlfriend; she betrayed him and tried to have him killed. So of course his moral compass dictated that he kill her--not just as reflexive retribution, but I think also as a pre-emptive strike against any further actions. That's something else I see in Damon-- he has a temper, we saw that when he attacked Bonnie in a rage after she destroyed the amulet while possessed by the spirit of her ancestor, Emily-- but he's often very cool and calculating in his actions. "An eye for an eye" isn't just a saying for him . . . it's a way of life, and it kind of has to be, because he probably has to assume that anyone who's tried to kill him once will try again.
No wonder he has trouble believing in people. I sympathize.
Okay, yes, in addition to being more than halfway in love with Damon, I identify with him quite a bit as well.
Hell, if I were an immortal vampire with the strength and speed to be able to do it, I'd probably rip out the heart of someone who broke mine, too.
You know, because bloody mayhem and gruesome violence just relieve stress so much more than posting in one's LJ ever could!
*grin*