#anyway as usual my take is that lenore becomes a better character if you see her as a selfish cowardly insecure liar <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[beevean]

This is more or less the direction I took game Hector in relation to Isaac :P and dracula to a more complicated extent

It makes sense. They were both very unlucky, although Isaac was a victim too, one who perpetuated the cycle of abuse by being distant, aggressive and demanding in his profound insecurity: in my vision, it took some years for Hector to understand that Isaac was no angel nor devil, just a poor unfortunate boy like he was, and they cared for each other and he misses him but they were not good for each other.

Lenore has more in common with Dracula in this regard, having all of the power over Hector - and that's what could have made their relationship in S4 so intriguing from this point of view, that no matter how "nice" she acted by keeping him company, she was still his mistress and jailer and he did not choose to stay with her of his own volition, and by the time he did, he did so because he literally had nothing left in his life. It was a fake, hollow relationship, but it was better than nothing. Kind of like in the games, Dracula offered Hector conditional love, "I will welcome you here and keep you safe and praise you as long as you become my weapon", and he accepted because conditional love is still love. Lenore and Dracula gave the two Hectors crumbs of what real love is, but for a starved person, that is a feast.

Going back to the show, the frustrating part is not really the abusive relationship, but how cowardly the writing was. We all know the drill, the show forgot that Lenore was a cruel manipulator who raped Hector into slavery and wanted us to find their banter cute, Hector's choice to stay with her romantic, and her suicide a tragic loss. I pointed out how Hector simply doesn't have any feelings because the writing is more focused on making us feel sorry for Lenore and the fact that she was sidelined and all, as if her feelings of uselessness were more important that Hector coping with yet another instance of betrayal and imprisonment. It accidentally implied that Hector was happy about being raped into slavery because the gilded cage was comfortable, and he wasn't wrong in thinking so. And, of course, in a finale where everyone got what they wanted Dracula included, Hector was simply let with nothing but a roof on his head and a tentative ally, not having grown at all after all the torture he was put through.

If you (general) want to write delicate themes like abuse and manipulation and the lengths a human can go through to feel loved, commit. If you want to write a morally grey character that combines kindness and evil much like a human would, commit. But that would require sensitivity.

Lenore and Rosaly really are opposites, in the same way Lenore is meant to be an evil (show) Hector while Rosaly is meant to incarnate all the goodness (game) Hector had never experienced. Lenore is a bungle of lies and deceit and masks, she wears the disguise of a loving woman not knowing the first thing about love (perhaps not by her own fault: she is still a vampire, and vampires are inherently predators, again Carmilla's quote about vampiric love is perfect), while Rosaly is incorruptible pureness and innocence, perhaps to a fault, but it's precisely what the jaded Hector needs at that moment. She is what Lenore can only imitate.

Anyway all of this to say that I'm excited for your ideas and the scene where Hector confronts a mirage of Lenore reminds me of game Hector telling Dracula off in CoD which I love love love :'D

Hot take: Lenector is a much more interesting, compelling ship if you see it from the optics of two fucked up people hurting each other and stuck in a toxic, codependent relationship

I was wondering why Lenore was kept in the castle as a prisoner after Isaac conquered it. She's doing nothing. Isaac, who has vanished in thin air, doesn't seem to be wanting to ask her for help when he's a young inexperienced king who only got a kingdom by stealing the throne and she is one of the former queens and highly skilled in commerce - sure, probably she would have told him to go fuck himself, but had he asked her for help it would have been a good way to show that he was serious in his intention to build a kingdom. Basically Lenore is just a depressed mouth to feed (with Hector's blood, I presume, the stash won't last forever, not that the show ever touches on the idea of her parasitically feeding on her pet as exchange for his safety). She is not a threat. She doesn't want to do anything dangerous. And had she not killed herself, she would have outlived her jailers anyway and left free to regain control of the kingdom or do anything else she wanted. So, why isn't she let go?

Because Hector wants her there. For no reason other than, well, he has nothing left in his life. He was planning to die, but Isaac took it away from him, so he was left confused and lost and clung to his only certainty in his life, the woman who abused him but also kept him safe when no one else did. Even after physically freeing himself of her and mutilating himself, he did not mentally break free. He did not gain the courage to face the world, he was kept too sheltered.

Why doesn't she try to run away? Well, she has nothing left in her life but Hector. The same man who destroyed her life for no good reason, but also the same man who was willing to listen to her no matter what and never saw her as a stupid useless girl. Maybe she resents him, but hey, it's what she deserves after what she did, right? (assuming she has enough conscience to think so; in my ideal version she has, but she's too much of a coward to acknowledge it, remember "oh shush you were having fun")

I made a post a while ago where I compared Hector keeping Lenore safe during Isaac's assault on the castle to Hector refusing to kill Isaac in PtR, leaving him to witness the castle's fall. I said that in the latter's case, it's hard to say if Hector spared Isaac out of friendship or out of superiority. And if there were ulterior motives for show Hector's cruel mercy, it could have been brilliant. Finally, we're seeing the twisted Hector who resurrects dead animals because he wants pets because he just wants to be loved.

Hector is keeping Lenore as his prisoner not out of revenge, which never seems to cross his mind, but because he wants her as company. No matter how she or Isaac feel about it. After all, she never cared how he felt, and it's not like he knows much about love, so he's just imitating her brand of vampire love, the love you show by keeping things as close to you as you can :) underneath his kind demeanor, don't forget how selfish and out-of-touch with people he is.

Hector and Lenore are nothing more than tools without drive or direction. Hector only wants safety, and Lenore only wants comfort. They found it in each other. But it's not love what ties them. Not real, healthy human love anyway. They are miserable together, but they have no one else, and they are going to sink their claws in each other out of desperation and craving of human warmth that they cannot give to each other because they keep lying to each other in an effort to precisely mimicry that companionship.

This also ties with my idea that Hector would be filled with resentment for how cruelly Lenore broke his heart, but putting up a façade of politeness, and Lenore would be aware that he's not happy, but like I said she's too much of a coward to address it, so she puts up a façade of playfulness in hopes that eventually he'll get over it. He doesn't. He never grows to love her, only to depend on her. And Lenore never learns how to love as a human, she always sees Hector as her pet, a cherished one but a pet nonetheless. Which is why the situation of imprisonment drives her mad: she should have power, damn it! But she lost it. She only has Hector now.

They bonded through lies, deceit and betrayal, their relationship is nothing but toxic and the pretense of happiness is barely surface deep, and this would have been so cool if the writer did not spend so much time pretending she's a poor widdle girl who did nothing wrong

listen i just love relationships between two unwell people built on codependency and the primal need for each other no matter how unhealthy it is, it's why game Isaactor makes me go all 👀

(also yes in this sense Lenore killing herself makes more sense. She feels worthless, she is removing herself from the picture because she refuses to cope with her uncomfortableness and to free Hector from her toxic self. Without her, Hector is finally free to face the world. Or, since I would like Hector to have agency for once, they could just go their own separate ways, I don't want her to die, I just want Hector to grow, something he didn't do in the show.)

[blacknedsoul-blog]

Now I finally had time to sit down, read this wonderful answer, and chew on it properly. Thanks to you! I didn't expect such an interesting analysis of such a silly thing.

Where to start.

Since you're absolutely right about the whole first part, I want to dig a little deeper into the scene where Lenore calls Annabel a "damn liar". This is one of my favorite scenes in the comic.

The reason is that it has huge implications for both of them: it establishes Annabel as someone who, once she looks like a cornered animal, believes that nipping things in the bud is the best option. Lenore has clung to her in desperation, asking her to come back, telling her she'll be waiting for her. Annabel knows that is not possible, so she changes tactics completely: she tries to make Lenore hate her, to trade affection for resentment. She hopes that Lenore will believe her, chew on her hatred, and eventually stop thinking about her.

But, as you rightly point out, Lenore sees through her bullshit. And I think that's not only fascinating on a character-building level, but it ultimately lays the groundwork for their divorce: Lenore has seen that Annabel would rather be hated and seen as a villain than let her suffer for her absence, even though that relationship is something that made her so happy. Trust the Annabel of her memories. And that's not the same girl she's dealing with now.

Before moving on to more interesting things: I tend to say that Lenore is afraid of abandonment because of the scene where she hugs Annabel and begs her not to leave ("What am I supposed to do without you? Go back to the attic?") and the absolute panic she seems to have when the Deans inform her that Duke is going back to where he is at the end of the night. Also, all of her monologues are externalized onto someone else -usually Annabel- as if Lenore can't talk to herself (which is normal, after spending so much time in her own head, the poor girl must have serious trouble internalizing her emotions in a way that's comfortable for her). And I would add PSTD to the list of things that are so well done that you could almost be diagnosed with it.

As for what Annabel did to Duke, I'd raise the stakes: even if Annabel has some plan up her sleeve to keep Duke from getting hurt anyway, and explains how, on a logical level, she may not have had a better option (I suspect both, because the comic needs to convince us that Annabel is out of her mind, but she's not a freaking psychopath, and I think it would be less complex to work with those elements. After all, she already has to start fixing things because we have so many conflicts going on), Lenore will still be angry.

And not just because of a moral issue, which is easy to see, but because Lenore wants to prevent any of these people from getting hurt. And Annabel being the cause feels like a nightmare.

Now, to take everything you say about how Lenore has become "Theo" to Annabel and her friends (an analysis with which I very much agree and have nothing more interesting to add). Let me talk about why I tend to view characters like Lenore with some suspicion, and why I still love this girl very much.

Lenore is a good girl, no one disputes that. She's warm, noble, protective, and genuinely kind to the people around her. But because of all the trauma she's been through, Lenore doesn't see herself as someone worthy of affection, someone who needs to be protected, and she doesn't seem to know how to take care of herself.

At this point in the comic, if the Deans were to tell Lenore that all these people will have a second life if she sacrifices hers, Lenore would accept it blindfolded.

And that is something that completely tramples on the feelings of those who love her: Bernice preferred to stab Montresor even if she had no chance against him before even thinking about hurting Lenore, Duke preferred to reduce any chance of being rescued to 0 as long as she didn't blame herself for what happened, and Annabel, uff, no sacrifice is too great for Annabel if it means having Lenore with her.

Lenore's journey is not only about resolving her traumas, but understanding and accepting that as much as she wants to protect these people, they want to protect her back. They love her as much as she loves them. And not only can she not be so naive as to think that there will never be situations where her friends will get hurt, but she also has to respect that if they get hurt protecting her, it's a sacrifice they're making out of love and not a burden she has to carry.

Just like Theo.

And that's why I want to see her have her moment like Touhru from Fruit Basket or Sariphi from Niehime to Kemono no Ou. To see this character stand up and think that she wants to do these things not for others, but for herself: she loves her friends, she loves Annabel. And that is why she will fight for this second life, because she does not want to be separated from these people, not for them, but because she wants to stay by their side.

The comic so far seems to be really aware of the flaws and virtues of these characters, so I really want to see how this will all play out.

Greetings and have a nice week! Thanks for reading.

Random Tought of the Day (IV)

One of those "yes, this is a very serious and emotional moment, but my God, I'm choking with laughter" pictures are these two little vignettes from Lenore's flashbacks between chapters 42-44, specifically 43. These are the scenes where Annabel explains to Lenore the bet on her hand and how she can no longer avoid marriage.

Admire Lenore's face as Annabel talks about this guy who wants her hand so badly that he's competed for it 12 damn times.

And it gets better when she comments that they're childhood friends and that "he'd make a good husband". God, this girl has had her week ruined, I think she'd stab the guy with a rusty razor if she could.

Putting the serious note to this situation, Lenore being jealous sounds consistent with her character: due to her traumas, she is quite unsure of herself, of her abilities, she notoriously has a huge fear of abandonment, and many of her interactions with Annabel in the present suggest that, although Lenore seems quite willing to give love, she gets really nervous about receiving it back (possibly because she doesn't think she deserves it).

You know, she'll run across school in her panties after getting beaten up in the maze several times to meet Annabel in the greenhouse, but when she tries to fix her bandages, she has a heart attack.

This could be a really interesting topic to address in their relationship, especially considering how consistently the comic has shown Annabel to be someone who can't even take her own skin seriously, but if there's one thing she cares about, it's Lenore.

It brings a smile to my face to think of them talking honestly about this issue. With Lenore managing to express her feelings, understanding that she shouldn't feel guilty about them (I can see her saying something along the lines of "she doesn't want to treat Annabel like the rest of her suitors did" as a kind of prize to take on), accepting this is an insecurity and that she should treat it as such. Meanwhile, Annabel tries to understand these feelings, is careful not to appear upset even when she feels Lenore is talking nonsense (because you know, Annabel would rather die than not have her wife by her side. For Lenore to even think that she might be interested in someone else is absurd) and wants to find ways to reassure her, even though she knows Lenore will have to learn to deal with these feelings on her own.

I think that would be nice.