Oh yeah I definitely agree with all that, Damon was fun as a villain, but he never tried to earn the friendship of anyone in the gang but Elena, so it always seemed like a stretch that some characters (Katherine, Klaus, Rebekah) were forever villains in their eyes, but Damon got second chance after second chance from them, even after turning Matt's sister, turning Bonnie's mother, and trying to kill Jeremy again as late as season 5. I enjoyed season 6 drawing attention to how little Caroline cared for him actually heh, but in general it does seem to be an unwritten rule that they all accept Damon as one of them, even though he would happily go on a killing spree with Enzo if 'Elena' pushed his buttons enough.

Oh I also liked Matt last season being skeptical of Enzo and his vampire hatred coming up, that felt very fitting for his character, and I'm glad that season 7 is going to continue that idea. It feel like Elena's leadership role in the group got Damon way more passive acceptance than he would have had without her voice ( Bonnie and Caroline were treated as such killjoys for Elena's happiness whenever they did go against the grain and speak out against Damon or Delena for e.g), so it should be interesting to see how that shakes up with Elena missing in action when Damon yet again goes off the rails