#even recontextualizing the infamous beating down scene

[beevean]

I think I can finally pinpoint what bothers me so much about the Lenector ship - not even how it was treated in the show, but the very idea of making it "nuanced".

Long story short, I found an author that promised to flesh out the Lenector storyline in the show, including getting a better insight into Lenore's thought process and rewriting some of the dialogue (I appreciated that they fixed the "interrogation" in S3 to make Hector specify that he never cared about a reward, it made him look less stupid)

Author never rewrote the rape scene, which disappointed me but oh well, but they did write Hector and Lenore finally talking about the ring, a discussion sorely missing in S4. It was more or less what I would have written: Lenore swearing that she had no choice and it was for his own good and protection, and Hector lamenting that she still tricked him and made him into a pet and she could have been honest because he would have agreed to work with them.

... but he's still in love with her. He kisses her gladly. And his "conflict", his anger at the betrayal, is framed as something in the way of his love, an obstacle that he'd have to get over it.

And there it is.

Even with the acknowledgement that what Lenore did was horrible, there is the assumption that Hector, after a good talk, is bound to forgive her. That it still makes sense that he'd be attracted to her. That it's okay, because she meant well. That it's okay, because she didn't technically lie, only twisted the truth to wear down his mental defenses (already worn down by imprisonment and abuse)! Oh, I guess I must have dreamed Lenore saying that she wanted to run away with him before kissing him :) to be fair, it was a terrible piece of writing. Good thing it wasn't real, apparently!

Yes, Hector's forgiveness should have taken time, but it should have happened. Because Lenore is not a bad person and they deserved to be together. Because what she did, which was deliberately push her prisoner in a delicate mental state into having sex with her so that she'd put an enslaving ring without his consent, was just an honest mistake and doesn't speak at all of her morality.

She's the best he got. She's nice to him, because she makes cute dick jokes and goes to whine to him. She's better than Dracula, who lied to him (Lenore never did), and better than Carmilla, who was violent with him (Lenore never was). This is not to be taken as a sign of how horribly this man has been treated in life, and how he'd be happy with the smallest of crumbs because he has been broken that badly. Lenore is the happiness he deserves. Ignore how "your life could be worse" is literal textbook abuser logic, it's true in his case.

The problem with S4 is not that it excused Lenore's rape by deception. It's that it rushed the forgiveness that was due and didn't allow them to be together. Lenore's suicide was Ellis hating this character that completely overtook Carmilla's already established role and was treated far more magnanimously than the similar Japanese not-twins, clearly!

And this is the impasse I cannot get over. Every time, every damn time, even when fans agree that S4 was a disaster, all arguments funnel to this one part: Lenore raping Hector for her plans is not a moral event horizon. Hector loving her makes perfect sense and it is a tragic, "nuanced" romance that should have ended with the two kissing in the sunset, finally having in their arms someone who truly respects them.

^ the face of someone who only wanted to protect and take care of the prisoner whom she tricked into sex. She should have been happy with him forever and ever, really 🥺

I'm not judging the shippers' morality, obviously, I don't know any of these people. But the arguments they use make me sick to my stomach, which is made even worse by the fact that the show itself pushes this narrative, just in a way that was so shitty that even the fans were like "bruh".

I won't bother rewriting this trash, because I can do better with the gameverse. But if I ever did, I'd only ask for Hector to at least be conflicted until her sunning (which is not as nonsensical as fans seem to think lol, it just needs to be worded better). Like he recognizes that she did improve his life, but she used unforgivable means for no good reason. You want a tragic romance between two kindred souls? Remove that despicable, cruel act. The Lenore of S3 and the Lenore of S4 are irreconcilable and trying to do so always degenerates in rape apologism whether you mean it or not.