#he's a fun character and it's highly entertaining to watch him be bitchy to the vampires

[gh-0-stcup]

Examining: Paper Bags

So this is legitimately one of the worst things a character has done in the series so far, imo. It gets a bit lost in the Saw trapping and general craziness surrounding it, but it's quite horrifying when you actually imagine it.

It's also just...bizarre. How do two people end up going through with this? It makes me want to put both of them in a glass room for an extended study. So let's do a deep dive into all this.

In high school, you told a girl you'd only "do her" if she had a paper bag over her head. She agreed and you did it even as she cried.

The first sentence is awful, but fairly normal as far as teenage boys go. The second is where thing goes off the rails. My first question is - what kind of girl agrees to this?

Everybody's wondering what the fuck is wrong with Daniel, but I haven't seen too many people wondering what was going on with this girl. The two are tied together. To see what's wrong with Daniel, you have to look at the girl he did this to.

The most likely way this situation started was the girl (Jane Doe) hitting on Daniel. It also seems likely Jane had some pretty strong feelings for Daniel, given what she was willing to do for his affection. The rejection doesn't come across as something you would say to a close friend, so it's probable Jane was a classmate crushing on Daniel from afar.

I think it goes without saying that Jane had very severe serious self esteem issues.

We have a few options here.

She was so obsessed with Daniel that having him in such a hauntingly degrading manner was preferable to not having him at all.

She was consumed with self hatred and used degrading sex as a form of self harm. She sought out Daniel because she knew he'd hurt her.

A twisted combination of the two.

Another important point in this is that Jane cries, but does not say no or tell him to stop. She "allows"¹ Daniel to continue to completion.²

We've somewhat puzzled out our mysterious and tragic Jane Doe - what does this say about Daniel?

It's Jane agreeing to put a paper bag over her head that makes Daniel interested in having sex with her. The level of desperation this displays, the need to have Daniel even at the cost of harming herself, could very well be what made him want to do this.

It places Daniel very far above Jane. She is nothing, not even worth having her face uncovered. He is everything, the boy a girl would degrade herself for.

That he continued even though Jane was crying strongly suggests that he gets off on the humiliation and degradation of other people.

Putting it all together, Daniel is a sexual sadist with an ego problem who is drawn to desperate, damaged people that have an unhealthy attraction to him. He will exploit their problems for his own gratification and derives gratification from the exploitation itself.

Daniel's intuitive understanding of the emotions of others does not inherently grant him empathy or compassion for them.

¹ I would like to make it very clear that saying Jane "allowed" it to continue is for analyzing her thought process and state of mind in the moment, not a statement about whether this was a consensual act. That isn't up for debate - Daniel raped that poor girl.

² Armand would have mentioned if Jane had protested outside of her tears. The phrasing "you did it" implies that Daniel "completed the act", so to speak.

[markantonys]

Hi! It's L'allieva anon!

Omg I was dying by the end of the season when Claudio kept leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere 😂. You'd think she'd learn what triggers Claudio's change of humor but nooo she had the same shocked pikachu face each time.

You know, I thought I was the only one who started to like Ambra. At the beginning I didn't stand her, but toward the end of the season when she stopped being jealous about Claudio and Alice, the writers allowed her to be more than a one dimensional character. I was actually excited that she was pregnant! I really wanted her to stay and see her struggle to be the best while dealing with the pregnancy and questioning what she wanted in life. It could have been the start of a lovely friendship between her and Alice too ( because that woman befriends everybody!!)...but nooo they had to make her leave. Though later I found out that in the books Ambra lost her baby and actually died ( Alice investigated her death)...so it's better that they didn't kill her at least.

Speaking of bitchy rivals, I really enjoyed Beatrice in s2.

Jesus Alice's hair is disastrous in s2, as is her wardrobe! I don't know how they managed to make her even more child-like visually but they succeeded. She looks like a schoolgirl! They only positive change is Claudio's wardrobe! I love his new suits and the vests suit him so well! Somebody finally understood they have to keep that man in various shades of blue haha.

I feel you with the love triangles!

Well I'm not going to spoil you but let's just say Arthur is like an annoying cockroach that won't fucking die.

I too was stunned that they kept dragging that relationship untill the s1 finally...i was actually cheering on Claudio when he was ranting at her after the congress because she WAS acting like a teenager.

And Yes! Marco not being bi is a fucking missed opportunity because he totally gave me bi-vibes. I was like "get him a boyfriend! Or say he had a secret boyfriend and his family -beside Alice- didn't know about him" .So I am adopting your HC as my own! Bi-solidarity!

I love Alice and Claudio! Their bantering is so entertaining and it's the spice of the show! Though their communication issues are killing me...but they're improving season after season. I think Claudio is the one who grows the more each season, and it's beautiful to watch him mature emotionally and change for Alice. And this season is fun because we get a full on Jealous!Claudio 😁. Alice on the other hand, is slow with personal growth but I digg her professionnal growth! How she becomes more sure of herself, more efficient but doesn't lose the empathy and the willingless to help that makes her who she is.

I haven't seen non uccidere, it's on my list to watch because I LOVE Miriam Leone!

NICE i’m not the only one who grew fond of ambra! oh my god she dies in the books? that’s awful i’m so glad they didn’t do that!! if she had to leave i’m definitely glad she was just written out rather than mercilessly killed off damn

aww i like alice’s wardrobe haha it’s so cute! oh nooo i thought arthur was gone for good jfc are we going to get a love square situation with him and claudio and sergio lmfao most of the time i would make fun of the tropiness of every single person who meets the protagonist falling instantly in love with her but like. it’s alessandra mastronardi so i get it

yess the alice/claudio banter is the best! right now claudio is being annoyingly emotionally stunted so i’m looking forward to see him grow in that respect haha and you’re so right, alice’s professional growth is really nice to watch! i’m glad they actually pay attention to the fact that she’s a student still learning and developing her career rather than only using that as the setup for crimes and love triangles

and i highly Highly recommend non uccidere, it’s probably my favorite italian tv show i’ve seen so far (granted it’s also the only one i watched with professionally-done english subs so i also just understood it better lmao) and miriam is absolutely fantastic in it (plus matteo martari is there as the love interest so what could be better than that!)