Abby and Owen as Lovers?

[Lee Kyle]

My impression of Abby is that she wants a physical relationship but not a sexual relationship. This makes sense if she is mentally or emotionally twelve years old. It makes additional sense if she has some negative baggage in this area.

[PeteMork]

My impression of Abby is that she wants a physical relationship but not a sexual relationship. This makes sense if she is mentally or emotionally twelve years old. It makes additional sense if she has some negative baggage in this area.

I tend to agree. I'm sure her past is dark, and her relationship with Thomas, though probably not particularly dark (at least in the sexual area), was almost certainly eye-opening for her as Thomas grew older. It would have been extremely difficult for the both of them.

(By the way, I'm about half-way through your "Let Me In 2" and am enjoying it immensely! You should contact Wolfchild and post it here also. We need some good FF here about LMI, and your tale might encourage others to have a go at it.)

To anyone who hadn't noticed the link in your signature, Here it is: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7423061/1/Let_Me_In_2

[DavidZahir]

I agree, Let Me In 2 is one of THE best LMI fanfics I've read so far.

[Lee Kyle]

PeteMork and DavidZahir, thanks for the encouraging comments about Let Me In 2. I'd like to post on this site, but I don't know how. All the fanfic seems to be for LTROI.

[tman]

I agree, Let Me In 2 is one of THE best LMI fanfics I've read so far.

I'll +1 that. Your LMI2 script is just brilliant. About half way through myself, and enjoying it immensely.

[gkmoberg1]

Sounds like I should go read Lee Kyle's story!

Yes, please add it to the Fan Fiction area. Why not? It might be interesting to see what reviews you get. And it might be interesting to see what your story might lead to; perhaps you will inspire others.

[Angelalex242]

I read your LMI2 recently. You get into Abby's head much more then typical Owen Abby fics, which, if they want Owen and Abby 'having fun', have him turned almost immediately. (Let the Old Dreams Die upped even MY timetables on how fast Owen/Oskar should be turned.)

[Vilhelm77]

The 'basement' scene came to mind. Before Owen gets the 'brilliant' blood pack idea (Way to go Owen; really smooth even if the girl wasn't a vampire.), it's Abby being subtle but assertive.

"So what did you want to do down here.....", with a 'cool aide' smile on her face.

Seems like Abby had something a little 'special' in mind, and if Owen had kept his foot off the breaks....!! Sorry, I squint everytime I watch that scene because that would have been me proposing something equally dysfunctional. "I know, let's play dodgeball!!.....Uh Abby? Why are you leaving?"

My point being Abby seems weary of people wanting 'special' things, but she seems interested when allowed to set the pace.

Other examples for me are Abby's cute twirl for Owen after putting on the dress. She comes off as playful when relaxed and receptive to Owen.
The note she leaves Owen in her apartment; "I really like you. Love Abby" (So Sweet. I rewatch that scene just to read the note.)
The 'kiss' scene in Abby's apartment before she 'has to leave'. Owen doesn't move, Abby moves to Owen and kisses him lip side. (Sad & Sweet.)
Sort of tongue in cheek; Abby's loud roar and dismantling of the bullies in the 'pool' scene. I'm guessing if a woman/girl/vampire makes that big a fuss over someone, they probably want to be more than just 'friends'.

Then again I'd be the one trying to play dodgeball with Abby in the basement so I could be wrong.

IMO the Abby loves Owen and they seem destined to interact physically. Abby may have to make the first move, but there's nothing wrong with that.

[missyxxmischa]

Hmm I'm a bit torn on this one. I feel like because of what happened in Abby's past (being castrated) he/she would be a bit weary of intimate relations. But then at the same time, while her body has not aged, she has still matured in other ways, so at times she might have those kinds of feelings.

I found Eli to be the more sexual of the two. Sounds kind of gross because they are 12...but you know what i mean. Her stroking of Oskars arm in bed, shows the knowledge and awareness she has of being intimate. And it reinforces the fact that it is a 12 year old boy in bed with a hundreds of years old vampire...which is quite perverse.

But i think abby and eli would not be lovers with oskar or owen. I think because they were turned before puberty kicked in, they dont have the overwhelming need for it. But it is probably something they wish they could do, kind of like a longing for that human side of themselves.

[sauvin]

Hmm I'm a bit torn on this one. I feel like because of what happened in Abby's past (being castrated) he/she would be a bit weary of intimate relations. But then at the same time, while her body has not aged, she has still matured in other ways, so at times she might have those kinds of feelings.

LMI is a "re-imagining", with important departures from the novel and the original movie. For this reason, I don't feel as bound to try to hold the movie to the novel. On the DVD are deleted scenes, one of which is the "be me a little" scene complete with what's pretty clearly Abby, a girl, shown being raped. For me, then, Abby is not a castrated boy. She's a real girl, inside and out (so to speak).

Weary, you say. I suspect you meant "wary", and I believe you'd be right for a number of reasons. The rape certainly didn't help, but if she really is only twelve mentally and emotionally as well as physically, it's hard to believe that adult physical intimacy would be particularly comfortable for her because it makes demands - physical and emotional - that she'd have trouble with. One suspects she'd understand them mostly empirically. Complicating normal human passion is the fact that she's a vampire and presumably would have to be constantly guarding against "giving in to the moment" even if it were possible for a girl of her age. Her "love bites", one imagines, could be terminal.

I found Eli to be the more sexual of the two. Sounds kind of gross because they are 12...but you know what i mean. Her stroking of Oskars arm in bed, shows the knowledge and awareness she has of being intimate. And it reinforces the fact that it is a 12 year old boy in bed with a hundreds of years old vampire...which is quite perverse.

I've always been bemused by people who express revulsion towards the idea of preteens being curious - even frankly sensual - while at the same time glossing completely over the fact that either girl is a serial killer of unprecedented scale.

The word "intimate" in this context is a bit troublesome. There are many kinds, and I believe what you're discussing here is the "adult" sort. Other forms of intimacy are shared between siblings who've remained close but haven't seen each other naked since they'd been toddlers or between best friends who share turkeys at Thanksgiving, bottles on New Years and are there for each other when one of their houses burn down.

It's suggested (very quietly, very subtly) that Hakan isn't Eli's first "bad news" helper. With this suggestion comes the very real possibility that Eli is indeed "weary" of physical intimacy because she's had to endure it without understanding it the way you or I would. Weary, and yes, and presumably knowledgeable - but only in an "academic" sort of way.

What's shown in the LTROI movie's bedroom scene doesn't strike me as being the slightest bit sexual. Eli might have had it up to here with physical intimacy, but fairly long passages in the novel make it very clear that Eli is an almost total stranger to other forms of intimacy, the kinds that don't stir up physical passions. I believe this is what we're seeing in the LTROI movie: Eli exploring something very new, very wonderful. This impression is borne out very strongly by her trying very hard not to cry.

Even without the deleted scene, Abby's story is apparently very different. The photo booth strip of pictures Owen sees during the "are you a vampire?" scene implies that Thomas has been with her for forty years or more. Coupled with what I'm claiming is obvious tenderness shown between the two in the kitchen scene ("Are you going out?" "Not much choice.") and at the hospital, I'd think that Abby has a more abiding notion of most forms of human intimacy.

Besides, Abby is "looser", "slinkier". Much less guarded, much less rigidly controlled. And in the basement scene, when she closes her eyes and smiles, what do you suppose she's really expecting Owen to give her? Another piece of candy? I'm thinking she's expecting a kiss, is welcoming the idea, and is apparently completely unafraid that Owen might want more.

But i think abby and eli would not be lovers with oskar or owen. I think because they were turned before puberty kicked in, they dont have the overwhelming need for it. But it is probably something they wish they could do, kind of like a longing for that human side of themselves.

I'll agree, hands down and no questions asked, that neither girl would have an adult's driving need for sexual intimacy. At least, not directly. Eli, in particular, has nothing to feel sexual desire with, although the jury is still out on whether or not Abby has crested puberty enough to have begun feeling its first stirrings.

Consider the plight of a growing Oskar or Owen, though, assuming they remain unturned. Owen's path can't be radically different from what Thomas' must have been, and we know Owen used his telescope to explore heavenly bodies on earth as well as in the nighttime sky.

What happened as they grew, as they began to experience normal human urges in earnest? I'd presume they'd try to explore these urges first with the girlfriends they'd bound their lives to. Each boy represents a huge emotional investment to his respective girlfriend, and if he found his girlfriend unsatisfactory in this way, would he take his love to town? And if he did, how would she feel? Would she be emotionally advanced enough to understand that taking his physical needs to town has nothing to do with the emotional bonds he feels for her?

Would he be advanced and mature enough to understand this?

I'm thinking... not. At that age, those urges can be powerful. A man is anecdotally said to have two heads for a reason, and one often speaks much more forcefully than the other.

What I don't doubt is that if Oskar or Owen were to start "exploring" relationships with other girls, Eli or Abby would start feeling threatened. One can certainly hope each girl is human enough to understand that threats and suchlike won't help keep their emotional bonds secure, and so would have to find other ways of keeping her boyfriend from wandering.

And so, yes, I could very easily see either girl becoming lovers in every conventional sense of the word, out of a perceived necessity if not of actual direct desire.

Again, this line of speculation assumes neither boy is turned. JAL's epilogue has Oskar being turned just as soon as they got off the train from Blackeberg, so for Oskar, the whole question seems moot.

But Thomas, we're given to believe, has been with Abby for forty years...