It's very interesting that you think Abel, perhaps giving credence to the whole "the greatest thing to fear is the unknown," or even "the devil you know." However Abel and Sophia's recent actions in the story really changed up how I saw all of the established club characters narratively, and I think their roles, in relation to Edwin, give us better context to the eventual raison d'être for the current club's leadership. You see, I had long held the idea that Kath, Chuck, and August were generational foils to Edwin, Ian, and Hana respectively, but with Edwin being the main character he also got a second generational foil in Victoria, his mother, as a hard counter to his future as a possible Kathleen protégé. Edwin's mother had a short dalliance into the dark underbelly of perversion and debauchery that Edwin is currently enveloped in yet also came back out and returned to normal society, a constant reminder to Edwin that no matter what you can always choose to leave. Kathleen on the other hand got a taste of this world and subsequently immersed and dedicated herself to it. So I had thought of Kath and Vicky as almost like the little devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other for Edwin and a foreshadowing symbol of where his path and choices may take him. Roughly the same situation for Ian and Hana with their club foils and their out of club life. You know, relatively basic theory stuff for this thread. Then along come Abel and Sophia and I'm all bright eyed and innocent and having an ice cream cone blissfully ignorant and thinking "Oh! Neat. These two are some cool antagonists that will the threaten the club and the blonde nazi scientist lady is hot!" yada yada yada.
That would have been fine if I had kept thinking that, but then the game kept giving them more and more cinematic focus, implying a deeper narrative role. Specifically two scenes really encouraged me to adjust my perspective and reexamine these characters, the make-out scene with Kath and the home invasion. On the surface, these scenes could be easily written off as simply one is hot and the other teases mystery about the upcoming plot, but I really think these two scenes set up Abel and Sophia as yet another pair of foils for Chuck and Kath. In the makeout scene, this is more obvious with Sophia and Kath both sitting on opposite sides of the MC and competing for his sexual desire. Hot right? It absolutely is. But it also led me to realize just how much Sophia and Edwin have in common from their pursuit of medical science to even how Sophia's emotional detachment is reminiscent of Edwin on multiple occasions, specifically whenever his mother getting gangbanged live on TV and some AM stations is brought to the forefront of his mind. Of course we also have seen Edwin have similar detachment during some of the harder BDSM scenes like his "reward" scene where Edwin starts thinking about himself in the context of the situation almost as an outsider studying Edwin rather than Edwin being a participant and present in the moment, albeit however brief. So does Sophia represent a third possible future for Edwin in addition to the futures represented by Mommy Dommy Kath and Mommy Milkers Vicky? I'm starting to think so. Perhaps Sophia is the most accurate glimpse into Edwin's future even. Kath represents Edwin indulging into his desire. His mother represents Edwin defeating or repressing his desire. But maybe Sophia represents Edwin doing what he does best, studying and analyzing his desire.
That brings us back to Abel von Doren. Abel's framing relative to Edwin in the home invasion scene really reminded me of a couple scenes where Edwin is found speaking to Uncle Chuck, but the demeanor of Abel is almost entirely opposite of Chuck. Chuck will constantly be leaning forward, smiling, and overall acting quite warmly towards Edwin and then the game goes out of its way to constantly remind us how dangerous he probably is. Chuck is very much encouraging Edwin to have fun and just "hang out with your wang out brochacho my nacho" or whatever the kids say these days, and coming off as inviting all the while Chuck actively hides his fangs from the MC. Contrast that with Abel who very coldly and rudely comes into Edwin's home, his physical demeanor is closed off, and he appears even reluctant to tell Edwin the exact thing he came into his home to tell him. His entire presence in that scene seems almost as if an officer from invading army is trying to warn the local civilian populace to get out before he invades. Why? Why would he do that? Is he trying to turn Edwin against the club establishment? He really doesn't tell Edwin enough to do that, even though we almost certainly know that he knows enough information that would have led to that effect if desired. It doesn't make any sense, right? Unless, Abel really is a foil of Chuck and instead of being danger disguised as friendliness, he is actually a hopelessly altruistic man disguised as a cold emotionless corporate CEO.
Considering Sophia's foil Kath is both respectful but cautious of Chuck because of the wickedness we deliberately haven't seen yet but most assuredly exists, what would cause Abel to have earned Sophia's unwavering and undying dedication and loyalty? To answer that, think about what we know about Sophia. She isn't necessarily a sadist. She doesn't seem like a masochist. Hell, desire doesn't even seem that important to her outside of her studying it. She doesn't seem to want to harm anyone, so why would she be so dedicated to someone who would? We do know that both her and Abel stick out like sore thumbs at the club, and I'd be willing to bet an Argentinian dollar that it is because these two are secretly good people in a den of wolves.
Edit: Shit, TD reacted to this post before I even finished editing the spelling and grammar errors. How embarrassing!
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