Actually, I'd say she started to become attached to him as a friend in 1x17, when they were saving Stefan together. -- Ah, yes, I don't disagree. I don't think I phrased myself well. Absolutely, Elena does begin to value Damon as a friend once he starts helping her with Stefan. That's when Damon starts proving himself to be somewhat reliable with people he cares about. But I think MMF is significant because his stepping in to save her from humiliation wasn't about Stefan. He did that for HER, to make HER happy, and he didn't have to. I think THAT'S the moment Damon stops being necessarily linked to Stefan in her mind, and starts being "hers".
I mean it gets more and more disturbing for her, up to the point when she actually starts thinking about it, consciously processing it, trying to figure out what to do next. -- Yeah, that makes sense. Though, it seems more like she's trying to figure out how to deal with a problem she refuses to acknowledge as existing. XD (See: 3x04.) MUST BE CONFUSING, ELENA.
There are friendships on which you don't have to work, you don't have to get to know each other, you're just geniunely attracted to someone's personality in a non-sexual way. I think that's the case with Damon/Elena. They are those two people who meet at the party and spend four hours talking over drinks, because they immediately find that they enjoy each other's company so much. -- YES! This is exactly how I see them. One of my faaaaaavourite scenes is their dishwashing talk in 1x03. They barely know each other, and yet Damon already intuits that cheerleading is not right for Elena, and Elena intuits that Damon is still seriously messed up over Katherine. This is the kind of thing that makes me D: when people suggest that D&E aren't really ~friends, for whatever reason, I want to be like FUCK YOU they are FRIENDS dammit. It's the other~ stuff that they suck at, lol.
And I think this ~instinctive understanding of each other is actually the very reason they would suck at having a conventional r/ship? Because the point of dating is having fun ~getting to know the other person, y/y? This is the social script that Elena and Stefan act out in those early episodes. They spend time together and talk about their hobbies and background, etc. etc. It's all carried out at this very reasonable pace. But with D&E, it's like there's too much familiarity. You're right in saying that they don't have to work to get to know each other; in fact, they actually have to work hard to achieve some sort of DISTANCE from each other. And for two people as guarded and distrustful as D&E, that's not a great basis for a stable romantic r/ship. It's already manifest that Damon resents Elena for tearing down his defences, and vice versa (2x12 and 3x02 are good examples).
Re: the evolution of Damon's feelings. Apparently there are some who find the evolution of his feelings confusing? The thing is, I don't think that he truly fell in deep until after S1. We kinda talked about this recently, no? I think in S1 the DE business is actually mutual. They're attracted to each other in a very simple way, they value the other person as a friend, etc. etc. Damon is starting to develop romantic feelings for Elena, but they really aren't cause for concern? It's not until the disastrous events of 2x01 that BAM. He's fucked. Because if Damon is in love with anything, it's the impossible. Damon is a masochist. He is like me with doomed ships. He is held captive by the perpetual unhappiness of wanting something he will never have, and he craves it like oxygen.
But it's not just that he wants things he can't have; it's that he is captivated by the POSSIBILITY that the impossible might become possible. Just that--just the possibility. If Elena actually suggested they date, who knows how he'd react. But what really appeals to him is the IDEA of defying the impossible. The idea that even though she's in love with his brother, and he snapped her brother's neck, and so on and so forth, it might still happen. Does that make sense?
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timeasmymeasure
Re: HUMONGOUS COMMENT PART TWO
Date: 2011-12-15 03:56 pm (UTC)I mean it gets more and more disturbing for her, up to the point when she actually starts thinking about it, consciously processing it, trying to figure out what to do next. -- Yeah, that makes sense. Though, it seems more like she's trying to figure out how to deal with a problem she refuses to acknowledge as existing. XD (See: 3x04.) MUST BE CONFUSING, ELENA.
There are friendships on which you don't have to work, you don't have to get to know each other, you're just geniunely attracted to someone's personality in a non-sexual way. I think that's the case with Damon/Elena. They are those two people who meet at the party and spend four hours talking over drinks, because they immediately find that they enjoy each other's company so much. -- YES! This is exactly how I see them. One of my faaaaaavourite scenes is their dishwashing talk in 1x03. They barely know each other, and yet Damon already intuits that cheerleading is not right for Elena, and Elena intuits that Damon is still seriously messed up over Katherine. This is the kind of thing that makes me D: when people suggest that D&E aren't really ~friends, for whatever reason, I want to be like FUCK YOU they are FRIENDS dammit. It's the other~ stuff that they suck at, lol.
And I think this ~instinctive understanding of each other is actually the very reason they would suck at having a conventional r/ship? Because the point of dating is having fun ~getting to know the other person, y/y? This is the social script that Elena and Stefan act out in those early episodes. They spend time together and talk about their hobbies and background, etc. etc. It's all carried out at this very reasonable pace. But with D&E, it's like there's too much familiarity. You're right in saying that they don't have to work to get to know each other; in fact, they actually have to work hard to achieve some sort of DISTANCE from each other. And for two people as guarded and distrustful as D&E, that's not a great basis for a stable romantic r/ship. It's already manifest that Damon resents Elena for tearing down his defences, and vice versa (2x12 and 3x02 are good examples).
Re: the evolution of Damon's feelings. Apparently there are some who find the evolution of his feelings confusing? The thing is, I don't think that he truly fell in deep until after S1. We kinda talked about this recently, no? I think in S1 the DE business is actually mutual. They're attracted to each other in a very simple way, they value the other person as a friend, etc. etc. Damon is starting to develop romantic feelings for Elena, but they really aren't cause for concern? It's not until the disastrous events of 2x01 that BAM. He's fucked. Because if Damon is in love with anything, it's the impossible. Damon is a masochist. He is like me with doomed ships. He is held captive by the perpetual unhappiness of wanting something he will never have, and he craves it like oxygen.
But it's not just that he wants things he can't have; it's that he is captivated by the POSSIBILITY that the impossible might become possible. Just that--just the possibility. If Elena actually suggested they date, who knows how he'd react. But what really appeals to him is the IDEA of defying the impossible. The idea that even though she's in love with his brother, and he snapped her brother's neck, and so on and so forth, it might still happen. Does that make sense?