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beevean · 15 hours ago

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I feel in a very generous mood, and after I talked about how much Lenore fails as a character, I wanted to for once praise the few times when she was pretty well written for who she was meant to be, a professional abuser, liar and manipulator with excellent strategies to make Hector lower his guard. All of these scenes happen in S3E6, for some reason: before and after, she's actually rather sloppy and in your face, and only succeeds because Hector was lobotomized by the writer lol. But this episde is what I mean when I say she had potential.

First, the part where Lenore "offers" the leash:

Lenore: Now then, would you like to go for a walk? Bit of fresh air in the starlight? Hector: I think I would, yes. Lenore: Good. Sadly, there's a condition. *shows leash* Hector: Oh. Lenore: Not my idea. Striga insisted. It should be quite comfortable. She just wanted a little extra security. Hector: You're ten times stronger than I am, Lenore. Lenore: Striga pointed out that you're a magician. And you do want to go for a walk, so… would you mind?

So.

Lenore kickstarts the episode with some fresh humiliation, because she has no time to waste. She jokes that Hector is now walking "on his hind legs" and looks "almost human", jokes again that she dressed up Hector so that his dick won't be stolen by birds, and asks him to smile in the face of his embarrassment like a creepy old man harassing a woman on the street.

This is the prelude to her downright falling into sexual abuse, which is this entire part.

The request is obviously unfair. Hector has been cooped up in his stagnant cell for what could be weeks, so it's only natural that he would enjoy some fresh air. But in order to get that basic comfort, Hector has to accept being treated like a literal dog for no good reason. And his braincell does activate for a moment, as he points out that yes, there is no good reason to force a leash on him, because Lenore sure showed him how strong and fast she is:

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There is no way Hector would even attempt to run away, not when he has no tools at his disposal, he's starved and weakened, the castle is full of other vampires, and Lenore could snap his ankles in a second Annie Wilkes style.

But Lenore is undeterred. First, she says that it was Striga's idea. To this day, we can't guess whether this is a lie or the truth: Striga couldn't give less of a fuck about Hector and shows no reaction when, later in the episode, she sees the two on the balcony; that being said, the fact that she is the one complaining, in E8, that Lenore is taking Hector "on fucking walkies" implies that yes, Lenore lied and mentioned the queen who was less likely to bother Hector.

But it doesn't matter, actually. What matters is that Lenore is shifting the blame on someone else. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wouldn't do this to you, but I'm a poor little girl and I had no choice 🥺 blame her, not me, I'm just the cute princess obeying superior orders 🥺". And since Hector doesn't know Striga at all, and she has no intention of talking to him, he can believe that. She also subtly blames Hector, because well, he wanted to go on a walk, and she's just giving him what he wanted! He should be grateful, really!

Naturally, this excuse falls flat on its face because even if Striga was the one who suggested the leash, it's Lenore who decided to make a sexual game out of it. She is the one who has expressed multiple times her attraction to Hector, first by kissing him after beating him to a pulp, and then by playing some more "genuine" compliments during the interrogation - as genuine as they can be after she spent the entire interrogation making him realize how much of a dumbass he was. She didn't need to do any of this. She's having fun for her own amusement, lording her power over Hector.

(mhh, Lenore using sexual abuse for no reason? It's almost like it's a pattern :) it's almost like being a rapist is in her character :) )

But she's not done! Because at Hector's "You're ten times stronger than I am", Lenore retorts (again blaming Striga, because she has to look blameless) that he's a magician. This is a profoundly stupid excuse because Hector is not a magician, he's a Devil Forgemaster who can't do shit without a forging tool: if he were a "magician" like, say, Sypha or the one who brainwashed an entire village, Lenore would already be a pile of ashes. But again, logic doesn't matter: what matters is that Hector is painted like the real threat to Lenore, the one who has the power to hurt her and not the other way around. This comes into play later.

Now, were Hector a stubborn person who valued his own dignity, this would be the moment where he'd show Lenore the middle finger and resign himself to staying in the stagnant cell. But Hector is not stubborn. Hector doesn't care about his own dignity and honor: he wants to feel safe and cared for. Plus, Lenore has already beaten him at the first sign of defiance: how does he know that she wouldn't punish him again if he refused her proposal? Even just by taking away the few "gifts" she had given him. So, powerless, he caves in, because he's willing to give away his humanity for a few minutes of comfort and pretending Lenore is taking care of him.

Before I move on, I need to point out the half-clever, half-frustrating ironic echo the "magician" line gets in S4E6 that almost redeems it:

This is what in a vacuum I would call a "big dick move" lol. How delightfully sassy it is for Hector, after getting his heart broken and biding his time by coddling his abuser's feelings, to throw Lenore's excuses back in her face to put her in a position of helplessness! Oh, he can't be trusted because of his powers, and that was the reason he was treated like a dog and had a slave ring brute forced onto his hand when he would have willingly agreed to becoming Lenore's pet? Well, then Lenore was a giant idiot for trusting him after raping him into slavery and believing he would be harmless and happy with her, right? :)

(it would have been better if they used the exact word again, but whatever, nitpick)

Sadly I can't be fully happy with this scene because, despite his satisfied smirk shown here, Hector isn't really getting back at Lenore for the disgusting way she treated him, but he's instead trying his best to protect her with no malice in his heart, as shown when Isaac arrives and as shown by how he apologizes before trapping her. The parallel between Lenore "protecting" Hector by ruining his life because of her selfishness and Hector returning the favor is obvious, but it's as unsatisfying as possible, because by now the story wants us to feel sorry for Lenore and Hector's gesture is meant to be tragic, not the rightful comeuppance. Also, due to how wishy-washy the worldbuilding is, I really can't tell if Hector deliberately used the wrong word as a reference to make Lenore really feel bad for her past actions (unlikely, given how he forgave her of everything, but a girl can dream), or if he's seriously calling himself a wizard, which even in the context of the show is very wrong and would be yet another way the animated franchise has watered down the concept of Devil Forging.

That being said, I can ignore the rest of the episode and pretend Hector was being snarky against his abuser 💖 I don't care if it's OOC and it's not like Hector to be this spiteful 💖 go king 💖

After this digression, back to S3E6.

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I talked about this scene here, and mostly said that it was wasted potential for Lenore's final act in S4 for multiple reasons. But, for the purpose of this post, it is another nice attempt at manipulation, even if it's a basic "look how nice this place is!". Symbolically, it could be seen as Lenore dragging Hector away from humanity and towards the world of vampires... which would be poignant if Hector didn't start already as someone who turned his back against mankind in favor of vampires and hasn't budged from his beliefs. But eh, I get the idea, and it can be seen as foreshadowing to Lenore allowing Hector free roam of the castle once he becomes her pet.

Then, we have the scene on the balcony:

Lenore: Does it hurt? Hector: No. It just reminds me of the last time someone put a collar on me. Lenore: In Braila? Hector: When Carmilla almost killed me. Lenore: Well, she does have a temper. But she would never have meant to kill you. Hector: No. Because she needs me to be her forgemaster slave. Lenore: No, because if she'd meant to kill you, you would quite simply be dead. Hector: Hmph. Lenore: And if she'd meant to torture you, you would have arrived here carrying your guts in both hands with a spike up your arse. Hector: I suppose that's true. I mean, I can see her doing it. In nightmares and such. Lenore: She does have a temper, but she's logical. She never lets it run away with her to the point of, oh, I don't know, condemning the entire human race to death? Just a recent example of what being genuinely insane with murderous rage looks like. Hector: All right. Lenore: You may not have been treated like a boy king on your way here, but you did show up alive. Hector: Might have been nice, though. Lenore: Have you considered that you're only alive because you listened to Carmilla back in Dracula's castle? Hector: I hadn't. She tricked me. Lenore: I don't think she did. I think she made complete sense to you, and you felt guilty, understandably, about how it all played out. Hector: She made me betray Dracula. Lenore: No, she didn't. She showed you the old man was insane, and she saved you from the consequences. Nobody here wants to harm you. We just don't quite trust you yet. Hector: Trust me? Lenore: You did try to hurt me, Hector.

I still don't know why I can't find a clip of this part. With how crucial it is to their development (and you know, shippers would get a kick out of seeing the peggable boy leashed by the dommy mommy having a cute bonding moment), you'd think there'd be plenty of videos.

Nevertheless, this is the only time Lenore disgusted me in an intentional way, which I appreciate. Hector has no moral qualms about working for vampires who want to turn humans into livestock, but he is still angry at Carmilla for tricking, beating and imprisoning him, understandably so. She is the only reason Hector still hasn't accepted Lenore's proposal: he doesn't want to work for her out of spite. So what does Lenore do with her amazing diplomacy skills? Launch herself into some pristine abuse apologism, the likes of which are only paralleled by Lenore stans themselves, using every excuse in the book to downplay Carmilla's brutal, sadistic beatdown of Hector, because oh, she just has a temper! Oh, it was just a one time thing! Oh, she saved your life nonetheless, even if you were treated less than royally! Oh, but Dracula was even more insane, so you can't be mad at Carmilla!

She's hitting every point possible to make Hector give up his grudge, because who cares about how he was treated, he's alive now, right? He should be grateful that he was "rescued" from Dracula's insanity, shouldn't he? Which is very similar to Lenore's overall attitude, like when she lowkey implied that she was the only one in the castle willing to treat Hector nicely after brutally beating him :)

And as the cherry on top, she is blaming him for that, too! Hector tried to hurt her, so really, no wonder he's being treated like a dog! No one wants to hurt him, she swears, and if Lenore beat him to a pulp the other day, well, it's all his fault, so he can't complain. Mhh, reminds me of another scene...

Goodness, but Lenore must have gotten a degree in abuse apologism with flying colors! Look at that flawless DARVO! She would be a brilliant portrayal of a self-centered piece of shit who refuses to take responsibility, if I knew it was all intentional!

I also like that, near the end, when she's rebuking Hector's protests, for once she doesn't sound insufferably smug, but like she is patiently correcting a stubborn child making him reason. This is much better than her usual tone of voice that can only be described as "I get wet at seeing you humiliated", and not just because it's less grating on the ears: she is supposed to sound trustworthy and well-meaning, emotionally comforting Hector and not making fun of him. This is the tone she should have had from day one. It also would have helped distinguishing her and not making her sound like Carmilla 2.0, BDSM patch included.

The rest of the sequence speaks for itself. Lenore gives Hector a bigger cell (with added symbolism of her tugging his leash to lead him to it, showing that she is forcing all these comforts on him), complete with a book about vampires that he might find interesting, and engages in yet some more sexual play by removing the collar in the most erotic way possible for the joy of the shippers and the thirsty fans. But I want to focus on two things.

One, the book.

When it came to convincing Hector that nighttime is better than daytime, I said it was redundant because Hector already feels closer to the vampire world than the human world. This, however, is a much better way to lure him in: Lenore is welcoming Hector even further in their world - or rather, her world. She is sharing their knowledge, much like when during their walk she flaunted the castle's hypocaust that keeps the cells warm ignore that it's normally kept lit by slaves, giving us some unintentionally clever foreshadowing. Most importantly, this really hits one of Hector's weakest spots: feeling appreciated for his talents. It's all but said that the reason he feels more comfortable around vampires is because they mostly value him for his Devil Forging and necromancy, unlike humans who chased him away for that. Lenore giving him that book "given his profession" shows that she's meeting him on his level, and she doesn't simply see him as a tool like Carmilla, but someone whose blasphemous knowledge is respectable and worth nurturing.

But the really brilliant line is this one:

The levels of mindfuckery here!

Lenore coerced Hector into wearing a dog collar and leash for the simple purpose of walking around, making him feel like it was his fault he had to be treated that way, and all for the purpose of gaslighting him into forgiving Carmilla for hurting him. And after that gratuituous display of power over him, she is acting like they just went on a date and she is sheepishly asking permission for another one. (There is no clip, but the tone sounds soft and honestly grateful, too, like he's really doing her a favor.)

This is the exact same strategy of blaming Striga for the leash. She's passing the responsibility onto someone else: Hector, in this case. Lenore is pretending Hector has any power over their encounters. She's just a poor girl who wants to spend quality time with him, but she would never intrude upon his space without permission 🥺 even thought she just literally did by nearly kissing him while taking away the collar 🥺 no, really, she leaves the choice up to him 🥺 (so that everything that follows will be his fault, obviously)

But Lenore doesn't just delude Hector into feeling like he has control right after stripping it from him: the point is, naturally, making him feel wanted. Not just as a thing to play with, because otherwise Lenore can just visit him whenever she pleases, but as a person worthy of respect. She likes spending time with him, and she demurely asks if he too wants to see her - and after popping a boner after her little stunt being lovebombed like that, of course Hector can't say no. Not after feeling genuinely cared for as a person, his biggest weak point.

How nice, after their rough start, they're finally developing a relationship of equality and respect despite their circumstances!

This is what Lenore should have been since the beginning. Wearing the mask of the demure little girl whom others make fun of, who is completely harmless (unless the other person deserves it), really, her hands are tied but she always tries her best! And subtly but constantly snipering at Hector's heart, sensing the chinks in his armor and pouncing on them like only a consummate liar and inherent predator can do. Not smugness, not humiliation, not sexual molestation: the believable lie of love and affection, targeted to someone who would sell his soul to taste those crumbs.

Or worse, the other interpretation is that this isn't even malicious lying at all. Now sure, Lenore can't spent one second in S3 without that obnoxious smirk on her face because she's just enjoying so much taking advantage of the power she has over her prisoner, and sure, I have proof that the ring was a pointless act of cruelty that nullifies all her hard work... but who says every word out of her mouth is a lie meant to harm and psychologically break Hector? Maybe it's just 90% of them! Maybe she's genuine when she shows attraction to Hector, and compliments him, and is happy when gets "permission" to see her again because it also makes her feel wanted (after all, Lenore's priority is felling good about herself). Maybe she does care about him and she was earnest when she tried to "comfort" Hector after raping him into slavery - oh, my bad, into a position of pet... problem is that she is still a vampire, who cannot conceptualize love as humans do, and sees relationships as inherently unbalanced where she is the one where she has to have all the power. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to gain it, say every lie that comes to her fangs, twist every word, shift every ounce of blame, as long as it's for her pet's own good. Because that's what vampires do.

It's a shame those are the only instances Lenore is well written as a villain, because man, the depths of the realistic, relatable horror displayed in one episode are staggering and well conveyed. And most of this behavior is still carried into S4! ... completely by accident, which ignites my fury like few things.

She could have been a great, viscerally repulsive villain and an accurate depiction of an abuser who truly thinks she's in the right, and not just mere masturbation fodder. Now, if only Hector was written with more spine than a beached jellyfish...

#Youtube #netflixvania thoughts #lenore thoughts #<- i don't want it to appear in the main tag of the character but you know...#long post #another nice thing i can praise about lenore is her leitmotif #which sadly was never released officially except for her death theme which is like an extended version of it #but in some scenes you can hear this chime - even in the interrogation scene i linked #and i really like it. it sounds creepy at a first listen like an ominous music box. but it's tragic after her death #i think it was composed when she was still meant to be a 'princess in mourning' because that's what conveys to me #some sense of aching emptiness or a tearful smile #which is why it makes for an *excellent* death theme #even though it doesn't fit the character as she was finalized lol #and that's the real tragic part. her own theme speaks of depths she never ends up showing. i'm sure whatever concept was brilliant but alas #(reminds me of lapis lazuli's theme actually. there are scenes where mirror gem plays during poignant scenes and it sounds similar)#anyway i have the worst kind of brainworms and i need to unleash them #i have a lot of fun analyzing writing :) no matter the quality :)

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the-witchs-cafe · 4 months ago

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Nemesis

The Witch of Dead Zones, with a trapped nature. Hear the echoes' calls- hear the tides' songs. Floating amidst these acidic, corroding waters, her fragmented memories have all but fully slipped away from her grasps; forever rewinding between every moment's abrupt end and beginning- a clash between her preservation of the sweeter past and her current afflictions.

The frigid chains binding her to the ocean's crushing depths have even pierced the very foundations of her mind; robbing the witch of whatever hope there was for liberation as her veins and limpid tears coalesced into rivers of reflective ice. As the Earth turns and rotates without care, the witch shall remain- feeling every tremble and tremor of the world outside of her freezing prison as its residents dance their hearts away without a shred of awareness or care towards her punishment.

Barrier appearance:

If I may be honest, I feel like this could very well be a case similar to that of Homulilly's; in which Nemesis' countless mistakes, hailing from her former life, have come back to bite her. Trapped within this underwater, claustrophobic prison, the chains tying her down hail from the heavens above, far beyond the skyline, and appear to fade away into the distance as she writhes on the deep, dark ocean floors.

As you dive deeper, away from the wooden debris, torn VHS reels, and rotting foundations of what was once a save haven, the waters' darkness shall deepen, until all that is left are these shining shards surrounding you, replaying old memories like broken records, and these cruel chains that still appear to go on forever. The memories, your memories- they appear to be out of order; a pathetic, corrupted mimicry of all these cherished times you and your loved ones have endured together, as though the witch was either heckling at or even punishing you for even risking it all to reach her.

There is no "final warning"; this is your one and only chance to take the hint, a hike, and move on with your life as if you've never discovered this area in the first place.

The crushing depths, as painful as they were to traverse through, have ultimately assisted you in the end; using the heightened gravity of the ocean's deepest corners, the shards around you began to chip away until you realize that all that are around you now are these specks of broken glass- pathetic, the size of a strand of hair, and having lost their luminescence. It's so dark in here- aside from the glow of your soul gem, there's nothing but pitch black surrounding you...

This can't be it, can it? Usually a witch's labyrinth is sprawling with their little familiars- you can't exactly put it into words, but there's a sense of activity in them - never a dull moment for when it comes to fighting witches -, but...not in this one. In every sense of the word, this barrier is nothing more than an abandoned, lifeless wasteland. If not for the faint traces of magic that have lead you here, you wouldn't be blamed for believing that this might be some unique case where a labyrinth like this one has been abandoned somehow. If a witch couldn't even conjure up the familiars required to keep her own abode safe, then either she was a whole new level of weakling, or so full of herself that she saw no need for them.

So, you continue on. Still swimming, still scouting, still on your guards- yet there's nothing there. You're almost certain that you've reached the bottom; how long has it been since you've last entered this underwater realm, anyway? It couldn't have been over a few hours...

This witch sure loves her game of hide and seek, huh? As lengthy as it was, now's the time for the fun to reach its end. You checked on your soul gem one last time just to be extra sure, and, of course, the witch's magic is still present. All you gotta do now is drag that sorry bitch and make her see justice for all the curses she has inflicted upon mankind...

... That, and because you really have to recharge your soul gem after you've used it to track that bitch down repeatedly. Oh, she's going to pay dearly for all this trouble she's-

...caused?

A surge of warm water have pushed you forwards without warning; causing you to lose balance and briefly forget how to swim for a good 5 seconds. Gathering yourself together, you turn around and attempt to cast a bright glow from your soul gem so that you could come face-to-face with this monstrosity-

Riiiight before you just got beaten to the punch. The light emitting from the angler jutting out of her head got brighter with each second; revealing the witch's grotesque form at its fullest. A behemoth that definitely looked like she deserved these freezing chains digging into her scales and bones, if her bloodied, glass teeth and deep, dark, and sunken eyes were any indication. She's been in this state for quite the stretch of time, too; the witch's limbs, as strong as they appeared to be, were slim and lacking in muscle tissue; even the webbing on her hands were torn apart in various areas and sections, and she had to take some time so she could turn her head towards your direction.

You weren't exactly terrified of the witch herself in particular, though.

What had caused your heart to sink down to your stomach was another beast; one possessing little to no humanity or even compassion when compared to the witch herself. A silhouette of a disaster to come, it looked like that monster was looking down at you with sadistic glee...and was smiling giddily at the event that's about to unfold.

Oh, boy.

Her witch's kiss could be best described as an image of a sprout of some sorts; a cold, frigid seed cracking open in order to grant the fleshy tendrils that have been biding their time within their long-awaited chance of escape- an omen of impending disaster that is just around the corner.

Familiars:

Adrasteia. Minion of the Witch of Dead Zones. Her duty is to share her burdens. A fellow inmate, the beast residing just beneath the surface the witch lays upon, the reflection of all her fallacies and her failings- nothing more than a mindless shadow of what her master wishes to hide away from the world. A haunting memory for years to come, this pathetic mimicry of a behemoth embodies nothing but every meaning of the word "power" that still echoes within the halls of the witch's mind.

Neither master nor minion tolerates the other's company, yet, to this familiar, the witch is her other half- she "completes" her. As much as she despises her current role in all of this, these brief moments of freedom and bloodshed still manage to make all these years of agony and atrophy all the more worth it.

#could have been the mirror witch but winchester had beaten nemesis to the punch #Steven Universe #Puella Magi Madoka Magica #Lapis Lazuli #su lapis #Nemesis #Witch Cards #if there are any errors lmk- I am finally done w/ it while studying

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