#i have the thoughts

[beevean]

I went here into how much Hector's plan in S4E6 makes zero logical sense, but the layers of suckage of this onion keep being unpeeled to reveal even more suckage, in a Mobius strip of pain.

Hector planned to die at Isaac's hands and also to live and escape at the same time. This is profoundly stupid for all the reasons I said in that post. But clearly, his A plan was to die. So, in short, he wanted to:

help with Dracula's resurrection to "atone" for his mistakes; the fact that this would likely lead to him returning to his mass slaughter, something that he opposed in S2, doesn't seem to cross his mind

"protect" Lenore from Isaac's rampage by keeping her in a magical cage

die, leaving his former colleague, his owner/girlfriend and his former Lord alone without a proper apology/closure

if all else fails, set into motion that complicated plan of escaping that took all of his efforts offscreen and rebuild a life outside. or perhaps killing himself with his own hands, who knows anymore

Got that? Okay.

First assumption: how could Hector be sure that the spell would have survived past his death? What if magic in this setting doesn't have ontological inertia? It's said in S2E6 that magic carries intent:

Sypha: I have to be able to see [the castle] to put my intent on it. Alucard: Your intent? Sypha: That's all magic is, Alucard. Changing things in accordance with my intent.

We can assume then that, if the person exercising the intent dies, the magic stops working. I know that Hector, despite his epic "I'm a wizard, not to be trusted" comeback, is not a real wizard, but surely he would know something about magic since it's a topic that fascinates him, right?

Second assumption: if Isaac assaulted the castle thirsty for revenge, how could Hector be sure that he'd spare Lenore? Sure, he has no personal beef with her, but she's still a vampire queen that aided Carmilla and an obstacle. Again, Hector is assuming that the cage will keep existing after his death, so Lenore will still be trapped and not a threat (not that she tried a thing to get free, like turning into mist)... but Isaac can enter that cage. Hector doesn't know Isaac enough to assume that he'd be merciful. The last time they spoke, Isaac still carried a ton of hatred and disdain for everyone, and he wasn't particularly fond of vampires either.

He's also assuming that Lenore, who two months prior beat him to a pulp and slashed him with her claws, would be no match for Isaac. Hector never saw Isaac in combat, by the way. We know he's a Gary Stu and that she's a coward who wouldn't seriously hurt someone if she doesn't have the advantage, ofc, but as far as Hector knows, a human with a dinky knife would totally chop into pieces a super fast, super strong, shapeshifting, pissed off vampire. okay.

Even the idea that Hector took into account that Isaac would bring an army of Night Creatures is flawed, because Isaac himself was surprised when he realized he could just do that for himself. Until then, both of them made Night Creatures only under orders, and took one year to create a sizeable army. And that's not mentioning that Hector had to guess that Isaac would go on a slaughtering rampage on an absurd scale to make said army in two months. And if he was willing to kill a shitton of innocents just to give himself a leg up, why in the fuck would he spare Lenore??? Again, Hector has no idea that Isaac found Enlightenment a few days prior the assault of the castle! Can you imagine S2 Isaac leaving Lenore alive out of courtesy for Hector, the same man he looked down on and spoke to like a stupid child? Because I can't, and neither should he!

Third assumption: did Hector even consider about how his beloved Lenore would feel? So let's assume that Hector was right, and Isaac would have killed him but spared her in a bizarre showcase of honoring the wishes of a man who ruined his life (Isaac stopped thinking so, Hector certainly didn't, since he wanted to "atone"). Okay. So Lenore would have been the only survivor of a dead castle. She would have lived on, for eternity, with the crushing failure of not being able to protect her home. She would have watched as Isaac slaughtered Hector in front of her eyes and then went to kill Carmilla, perhaps Striga and Morana too if they returned and attacked him in retailation. She would have lost everything, her home, her friends, and her slave/boyfriend who chose to die and leave her alone, and chose to make her watch everything. And, if Hector really assumed that the magical cage would have kept existing past his death to keep Lenore safe and harmless, then she would have been stuck there, Hector's corpse rotting under her eyes, until she starved to death, which at this point might have been more merciful!

Hector banked on all of this happening. This is what he was genuinely expecting to happen.

And what happened in reality is only marginally better, because he lived on... to then aide Isaac into killing Carmilla and destroying Lenore's life anyway. And then keeping her trapped with him out of a horribly misguided sense of caring. (Lenore, being Lenore, probably missed the incredible irony in all of this, just as she missed how bitchy she'd look when she chose to kill herself and leave Hector alone with his trauma. more likely, it's just the sanitized writing)

Now, obviously, I'm not asking for a victim of abuse to care about his abuser's poor feefees. The show did that enough already. As I detailed here and here, in a vacuum Hector showed Lenore the mother of all middle fingers, and I should be satisfied. But the story framed this whole scene, of Lenore running to Hector to hide him somewhere safe (without thinking of removing the ring to free him from the confines of the castle, naturally: reminding us that she trapped him, and the way she did it, would make her look bad 🙂 except that now she looks even worse because she did jack and shit to truly make up for how horribly she treated her "pet") and Hector protecting her at the cost of his life, as tragically romantic. I'm meant to be touched, that Hector thought of her safety before his own, aww they really do love each other and he forgave her for abusing and raping him and mocking his trauma because her puppy dog eyes were just too cute 🥺

Lenore raping Hector into slavery for the sole purpose of keeping a pet, even when he became useless to the plan and he would have accepted to belong to her anyway, is deeply selfish. Lenore only talking about her woes and dismissing Hector's is deeply selfish. Hector planning to force Lenore to live on in grief is deeply selfish. Hector forcing Lenore in a "cage", useless and depressed, just to have some company in his miserable life is deeply selfish (deserved, don't get me wrong, but he had no malice in doing so so it's not even cathartic). All of this could have been elaborated on and showed a toxic relationship between two horrible people who don't know the first thing about love and did nothing but cheat and lie and ruin each other's lives under the pathetic desire of being cared for. Those two should fucking despise each other by the last episode! Have some genuine drama already!

But the shippers wouldn't have been happy, so here, have this absolute clusterfuck of a plan that was not thought for more than 5 seconds, for the sake of giving a bone to both Lenector fans and even N!Isaactor fans, with the whole "cutting the finger" and "absolving Hector of the sin of being stupid" thing. Look at this! Look at how the writing bends because the writer knows what is supposed to happen and how to forcibly smooth any conflict!

... and I didn't even touch that stupid ass escape channel that breaks every sense of logic and only exists to make Isaac's life even easier than it already is i hate it i hate everything - and you know what, it's even stupid from a Lenector perspective, because you're really telling me that Hector planned to both "protect" Lenore from Isaac (not considering how she would have been driven insane by grief, but whatever at this point) and also to run away leaving her alone under the mercy of Isaac, or even Carmilla, since she was going mad to the point that Lenore was lowkey scared of her? bruh??????? is it too much to ask for one (1) consistent character in this joint 😭

[cursefought]

talking to miki has reminded me that i need to make a hc about how angels & half angels / aasimars feel about gender identity, because it reflects why zynth & farise kind of just [shrug kaomoji] about the whole thing and don't understand what you're talking about half the time, but do know what it generally means to "identify" as this or that

[chosenson]

oke i said i'd write but im gonna save that for tomorrow & instead chill on ffxiv <3 take care y'all

[izzythedemigod]

I just found the funniest font ever

Like. What is this. Why is this. Who is the target audience of this?

[yeepof]

I understand that tall men are our POV characters, but surely being like a foot taller than everyone around them would have some occasional consequences

[bumblingbabooshka]

Vulcan teen on Vulcan [tiktok] saying "I have just lost track of my father in the grocery store." The camera turns to show the viewers the grocery store in which almost every single older middle-aged man has a bowlcut and long robes. Camera turns back to show the teen's face which is expressionless and yet communicates all it needs to.

[valtsv]

stuck between "psychological horror statement" and "objectively the funniest thing you could say to your real flesh and blood dad" in the father's day card aisle

[bearvverine]

me and gang at the haunted house

[cartoonsinthemorning]

Since you guys liked Marcille as Kermit that much, it seems fitting to thank you for my 12k milestone with MORE Kercille. And this time, Miss Falin is also here.

Thank you so much again everybody! MWAH 💗

[mochasucculent]

Dumb thing that would not leave my brain

[visenyaism]

“girl dinner” “girl math” “i’m just a girl” okay but I am an adult I am six feet tall I am loud as fuck I take up space I am smart and capable. So are you. Why would we want to laugh at jokes where the punchline is that women aren’t? Why would we want to make jokes about being small and childish and incapable? Who do you think laughs at those jokes the loudest?

[yaknowlikenyah]

We need to bring back the bait fish because sometimes it feels like yall can't tell when someone is trolling you

Look at him! He's so cute and he knows that someone posting stupid, brain dead or offensive comments is just trying to get you mad, and you should make fun of them for that.

We as a website need him back in our lives

[kiddokori]

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[depressedlochnessmess]

im sure this has been done already but uh mimiku

[twinliches]

sometimes it's not even enemies to lovers. sometimes you get handed the leash of a snarling, barking dog against your will and realize with dawning horror that you are now responsible for teaching it not to bite