#datherine analysis

[andreal831]

Do you think Damon really loved Katherine? Could they have made it work if circumstances were different?

I definitely believe Damon loved Katherine. He even stated that she never compelled him. The biggest reason I believe it is because of the difference between Stefan and Damon after they turn.

Stefan hated Katherine after he turned and he saw through the compulsion. But Damon stayed obsessed with her for over 150 years. He knew who she was and was willing to become a vampire for her. When he thought she died, he was willing to die with her, leaving Stefan. Much like he was willing to desiccate for 60 years with Elena. Damon's issue is his love consumes him in a very unhealthy way.

Which is why I don't think they could really work in the long run.

While Katherine loved the attention, she didn't just want someone to follow her around like a puppy. She wanted someone who challenged her and pushed her, like Stefan and even Elijah did.

While I do think Damon in Season 2 was closer to this, he still had a tendency to get completely wrapped up in his love. To Katherine, that was suffocating. The way Damon completely fell off the rails when Katherine pretending to be Elena broke up with him. Katherine viewed that as pathetic. She had the chance to make it work with him when she took over Elena's life and she did everything to destroy him.

Damon also has a tendency to strip women of their autonomy, something Katherine wouldn't stand for. We see him do it with every woman he is intimate with. Katherine and Damon would have been fighting constantly. They could have had a hot, but very toxic whirlwind of a "romance" but it would fizzle out so quickly because neither of them could get control.

So, yes, Damon really loved Katherine, but she never really loved him.

Thanks for the ask!

[zalrb]

Hey Zal, do you have a post explaining parallels vs comparisons? I've found some posts where you touch on the topic. The ones which explain/illustrate the difference most imo are about characters like Cordelia vs Caroline(and tropes) or Damon vs Pacey, or similarities in dynamics vs narratives with SE vs DE and PJ vs DJ.

I'm trying to explain to a friend lol. I showed her your Rose/Cal parallel to DE gifs that I find funny, but her response was about context and I'm just explaining how it's not about in-depth similarities or comparisons (...though I think there are some? She thinks Cal/Rose are more like Damon/Caroline). SO anyways haha, I'd love a breakdown from you of the difference between parallels and actual comparisons and similarities? I've looked through your masterlists (and key word searches) and I can't find one, but if you have and you can link that would be great!

OK first of all, I just have to say that Cal and Rose are nothing like Damon and Caroline. Cal wanted Rose as a trophy wife,

he had her followed, he ordered food for her, 

he wanted to possess her like, once again, a trophy

which is why he gives her the heart of the ocean as a way to buy her obedience, he says that he’ll give her whatever she wants as long as she does whatever he wants, that’s that exchange.

Damon saw Caroline as something to be used and discarded, he saw her as a puppet 

she was basically a tool 

which is different.

but you’re right about parallels vs similarities, in my Cal/Rose and Damon/Elena parallel, it wasn’t meant to be an in-depth analysis of characters or dynamics where I’m saying they’re the same or that they’re similar, what I was doing with that gifset was just being like lol both Cal and Damon are dicks and because they’re both dicks, there just happens to be some overlap in their behaviour 

just like the comparison with gaston/belle because obviously the contexts of the scenes are different but belle and elena’s expressions are the same and that’s what made the parallel funny 

elena looks as uncomfortable with damon

as belle did with gaston

just like how elena looked as unmoved and dead-eyed getting the necklace from damon

as rose did from cal

but that doesn’t mean I’m saying they’re similar characters just because they’re all dicks, there are many different ways to be a dick.

Now when I talk about similarities, I’m talking about something more specific. For instance, to use Damon again, I remember when I said that the only character I would ever consider shipping Damon with now is Rebekah and anons were like whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, Rebekah deserves so much more than Damon and I was like, that is absolutely true or they’d go Stebekah is better and I’d say that is also very true but my reasoning was because Damon and Rebekah had similarities and that Debekah was what people kept saying Datherine (and Rose and Damon actually) were:

hope this helps (and makes sense).