#llewellyn

So I recently binge-read the manhwa Cassmire: The Loyal Sword in a night and I had a lot of thoughts. I've already written essays on this so I'm just going to keep it short but the lost potential for this piece is expected but still dissapointing. Though the one thing I wanted to talk about is the lack of development due to pacing choices.

So much of the time goes into introducing all of the male leads and their time-allotted, heart-thumping, romance scenes with Cassmire that other characters, particularly the side characters, don't get developed to create an overarching story. And if you already couldn't guess from the art, this post was practically made because I immediately latched onto the potential Carl Crisis and Llewellyn Descardo ship.

My senses immediately started sensing a potential romance when they made eye contact in chapter 53 and then they appear in a scene together again in chapter 106/07 where it hints at this development. I think I love them as a couple the same way I really loved the idea of Gerald and Cynthia being together in Rebellious Villainess.

There is so much potential for growth for these characters that are often just shoved into the background which leads to a less rounded world and story. (Which Rebellious Villainess is doing very slowly as is this one.)

And this isn't just a problem with this manwha, but with the transmig/reincarc/time-reverse villainess genre as a whole because it often refuses to focus on other women and their lives outside of the MC, which would round out their characters other than being friend #1 or friend #2, out of a fear that it'll not allow the MC to stand out as the woman we're supposed to look up to. So they are often regulated to devoted friends or devoted family, though none are allowed to be more righteous or angelic as our MC. (*As seen with the art choice for Aria in later chapters.)

They just kind of disappear into the background until needed. This was mostly the main reason I originally wrote this post as well because after the hunting tournament, Llewellyn, and even Aria to an extent, practically disappear and we don't see them till a lot later. The newer chapters felt like they're fixing this but again, it really bogged down the story. Mind you, I began sketching this before I realized Llewellyn's appearance in Ch 106 because I literally skipped and skimmed everything due to how it felt like the chapters began dragging after chapter 56. (And that was only because I wanted to find more references for this sketch!)

These stories also usually have the brothers/family members devoted to the MC so it would be really nice if Carl did end up with Llewellyn, especially since it felt like the author was hinting at that potential when Carl states that he would also like to find love like the type Cassmire has for Aria when they're out in a battle in the earlier chapters.

But one thing I do appreciate about this manhwa is how they keep Cassmire's scars on her hands/arms/legs instead of doing the trope of, "Oh, here's some magical cream to fix all of that!" It's just so nice to see a warrior woman character not lose scars just because it doesn't fit the beauty "ideal". It's also nice that there are other woman characters who have a buff body type, like her mentor.

I also like that in the later chapters, they start showing (or at least hinting) that some people choose to be bad and that Cassmire can't really save everybody even if she desperately wants to, which leads to a more rounded story. Though this was what I got from a glimpse so I may have to go back and reread it. Again, had so much potential but wasted a lot of it on creating all these moments with the male leads in the beginning that it forgot to focus on pacing.

I think if they kept up the tension from the beginning with the story telling from the later half, the middle part, which is what dragged us along the floor, would have been a lot better. I'll tune in from time to time since it feels like it is getting better though, but here's to see. Anyway, here's a brief sketch!

(Note: I'm also gonna defend Cassmire here because, yes, it makes sense that this woman, who has been working since childhood and became a knight during her youth, is so naive regarding romance. Even before we finally get more background info in the later chapters, I think it's actually pretty rational for Cassmire to be naive given what we already knew. This woman has never had to time for love and romance due to having to take care of Aria, her sister, from a young age. She doesn't have time to date or fall in love when she's out all day working. Our conceptions around romance is usually based on the patterns that we see, so yes, Cassmire being naive on love is pretty on character.)