User blog comment:Weavillain/How Do You Relate to Your Favorite Character?/@comment-4618045-20170719213014

When I first got into the show, Leni was the first one to catch my eye. At first, I thought it was just because I liked her design (she looks adorable). I guess when you're suddenly introduced to all these main characters, you gotta use something to set them apart.

But once I knew all of them and got more into the show, I started to realize that Leni was more than a character with a really stunning design. She was a character that I could relate to. Sure there's Lincoln and Lori to serve as everypeople for the masses, but Leni is the only character I feel is personally tailored to me (even though Savino doesn't know me).

What do I mean?

Well not in the sense that I'm into fashion (my passions lie elsewhere). Not even in the sense that I'm a nice person (although Leni's example does encourage me to be more considerate to others). Instead, it's our struggle to connect our thoughts to our actions.

I don't think Leni is as stupid as she lets on. There's that obvious line from "Its a 4xLoud House", "One Flu Over the Loud House", but there's also some of the lines she says in other episodes where logic is hidden behind poor wording (like her suggestion to Lori in "A Faire to Remember" about Ronnie Anne). In my life, I feel like I can't effectively communicate everything I want to say (or even the thing I know to be right).

She has also proven to be able to comprehend certain subjects when it's delivered with the right words. I also find myself being susceptible to confusion at things I could normally understand. Sometimes it's one term someone uses that throws me off, or the sentence structure, or even my ear's ability to translate noise into coherent words. It's not because I'm stupid, it's just that my brain has quirks that can sometimes interfere with my ability to pick up information I could otherwise understand.

Another feature of Leni that I don't think a lot of people explicitly discuss is that Leni is passive. She usually isn't forthcoming even in situations where she probably should. Take "One Flu Over the Loud House". For a lot of that episode, she tries to explain her reservations about the escape plan, but even as nobody else is listening to her, she lets herself be dragged from one battlefield to the next without trying too hard to assert herself. It's only in an extreme case (Lincoln is about to shoot Lily) that she finally decides that she can no longer tolerate this. While you could argue that the other children are also passive (especially when they act as a unit), however Leni's passivity is accentuated by the fact that she isn't seen as a caregiver despite being one of the older ones. Lori babysits and Luna tries to be a cool sis to Lincoln and the others. Leni though, despite the fact that she's nice, doesn't play as active a role as those other two. I can very much relate to that because I feel I have a lot of trouble asserting myself even when I should. I feel like in real life, other people have to nudge me into doing something or give me a stamp of approval when I want to be outspoken. Also, I feel like whenever I disagree with others, I'm only doing it just to disagree. Therefore, I tend to acquiesce just to avoid conflict or an awkward situation. When I leave comments on the Internet, I'm very worried that others will be offended or find reason to question my line of reasoning. And when that does happen, I have a bad tendency of assuming the other person is right even if I was thoroughly convinced of my own thought process beforehand.

Finally, and I think this is a crossroads of the other reasons I espoused, Leni is underestimated both by the other characters and (I dare to say) a good chunk of fanfics. Because Leni is seen as dumb and submissive, this leads to the perception that she shouldn't be a reasonable authority figure nor someone to aspire to be. I've seen this on the show both in the forefront ("Driving Miss Hazy") and in the background ("No Guts No Glori") where it's assumed that Leni will never amount to anything no matter what happens. Anyone else would step up in Lori's absence just for the sake of her not being a factor. I have also seen fanfics where Lori is away and Luna is left in charge because no one trusts Leni to even keep the House in tact. And for the reasons stated above, people assume that Leni wouldn't mind because she's either too stupid to notice that she's underestimated or she's too passive to speak up about it. To that, I point to "Its a 4x Loud House" to demonstrate these assertions are simply not true (or at least not entirely true). I myself have and continue to live with a similar struggle. This is not to say that I'm never given any responsibilities or expectations, however I feel like other people (including my family) set the bar lower for me than they do for everyone else. I constantly feel the need to impress people to prove to them that I'm competent, just so that they'll start to respect me as an equal. It isn't easy and I get down when I don't quite meet my own expectations for myself. That's why I admire Leni. Even when faced with all this pressure, she can still smile and be happy (or at least come across as so).

Long comment, I know. But I have strong feelings about my favorite character.