#overachievers

New Hitman cartoon about the short story Overachievers!

🎯🔫👨🏻‍🦲

› why high-achieving girls relapse into sabotage → decoding spencer's obsession with control | by @glowettee

hey lovelies! ✧

have you ever noticed how spencer always ends up in some version of a basement? literally or metaphorically, our favorite hastings girl finds herself spiraling in hidden spaces, plotting revenge, or having a full breakdown away from judging eyes. and honestly? same.

the basement isn't just a physical place, it's that mental space where high-achieving girls retreat when we're unraveling but can't let anyone see. it's where we hide our panic, our shame, our pressure, our secrets. it's where the perfect facade cracks but nobody's allowed to witness.

✧ the performance of perfection

let's be honest about something: nobody is born a control freak. we're trained into it, molded by expectations, and rewarded for our ability to keep everything (including ourselves) in perfect order. spencer wasn't born obsessively organizing murder boards, she was shaped into someone who needed that control to feel safe.

for girls raised to be "the smart one," our entire identity becomes wrapped up in:

getting straight As

being the responsible one

solving everyone's problems

anticipating disaster before it happens

never showing weakness

sound familiar? the gold stars and academic validation become an addiction. we literally start to believe that our worth as a human is tied to our productivity. we're not people, we're performers. and the show must go on (even when we're breaking).

✧ the relapse isn't random

when spencer spirals, it looks chaotic from the outside. but her self-sabotage isn't random... it's a carefully choreographed dance she's been practicing her whole life. the same goes for all of us perfectionists.

we don't just randomly implode. we return to our basements because:

it feels safer to destroy things ourselves than wait for someone else to do it

the pressure becomes unbearable and we need release

our inner child gets triggered (usually by feeling not good enough)

we're reenacting old pain that feels oddly comforting because it's familiar

think about it: spencer doesn't randomly lose control, she loses it in the exact same ways, over and over. competing with melissa. taking p*lls to study longer. becoming obsessive about solving the puzzle before anyone else. these aren't new behaviors; they're old wounds wearing new outfits.

✧ the ugly parts of ambition

there's a difference between healthy ambition and the kind that's fueled by shame. spencer's need to be the best isn't just fueled by achievement, it's fueled by outrunning the voice that says "if i don't win, i'm nothing."

the ugly truth about toxic ambition is that it:

makes you see friends as competition

turns rest into failure

convinces you that your value is in your output

keeps you emotionally numb through productivity

destroys relationships because nothing matters more than the goal

remember when spencer sabotaged melissa's relationship? stole her essays? betrayed her friends to get ahead? that's not ambition... that's desperation wearing ambition's clothes.

✧ control is a trauma response

spencer's need to control everything, to know every secret, anticipate every move, and stay three steps ahead... isn't just type-A personality traits. it's a trauma response.

when your world has been repeatedly unsafe (and let's be real, rosewood is the definition of unsafe), control becomes survival. the girl who color-codes her planner and can't delegate tasks isn't just organized, she's terrified of what happens if she lets go.

some signs your control issues might actually be trauma:

you can't sleep if things are unfinished

uncertainty causes physical panic

you micromanage everyone around you

you feel responsible for outcomes that aren't yours

your body stays in constant vigilance

you equate relaxation with danger

✧ rewriting the spiral

so how do we stop going back to the basement? how do we break the cycle that spencer never quite managed to escape?

recognize your basement triggers what sends you spiraling? is it comparison? criticism? feeling overlooked? identify the exact moments that make you want to retreat and self-sabotage.

create a physical "anti-basement" designate a space (even just a corner) that represents the opposite of your spiral zone. fill it with comfort objects, grounding tools, and reminders of who you are beyond achievement.

practice nervous system regulation when you feel the spiral starting, focus on your body first. deep breathing, cold water on your face, gentle movement, anything that tells your body "you're safe, you don't need to run to the basement."

redefine what winning means success doesn't have to mean perfection or being better than everyone else. what if winning just meant peace? what if it meant being present? what if it meant being kind to yourself?

speak to your inner spencer the part of you that's terrified of failure needs compassion, not more pressure. talk to her like you would a friend: "it's okay to rest. it's okay to not know everything. your worth isn't in your achievements."

✧ the girl who comes back upstairs

the real victory isn't never going to the basement again. it's recognizing that you don't live there anymore. you visit sometimes, but you always come back up.

spencer's tragedy was believing she had to stay in that dark place of control and obsession to be valuable. but the real win isn't solving every mystery or being the smartest person in rosewood, it's finding peace in the uncertainty.

you're allowed to put down the murder board. you're allowed to close the planner. you're allowed to exist without earning it.

the basement will always be there. but so is the sunlight upstairs.

xoxo, mindy 🤍

p.s. what's your favorite spencer spiral moment? mine is definitely pill-fueled study sessions that turned into hallucinations. too relatable (minus the hallucinations… mostly (and def the pills 😔).

A random elf thinks he's great at something and showed his arts to his friend then his one friend just scoffed and said. "Not as good as (insert son of Faenor here) but still acceptable.'

Apparently, there's a saying in the Undying lands. 'You think you can do something? Guess what? Faenor and co. Can and will do it better!"

You think you can sing? Makalaure have been belting high notes and could play every known instrument since he was a baby. That baby sung before he could talk.

You think you're a better hunter? Well Celegorm had you beat. That little shit could talk to animals before he could say baba.

Think you're so smart huh? Know that Caranthir is better than you.

You think you're so silver tongued in politics and diplomacy. Guess what? Maedhros perfected it.

You think you're good at linguistics? Faenor could make up languages on the spot.

Smithy? Sorry, Faenor, Curufin and Tyelpe still had you beat.

Sculpting? See that totally real, beautiful man over there? Yah no. That's a statue made my Nerdanel.

Pranks? The Ambarussa just wrote volume 3 of their most effective pranks.

Architecture? No.

Papercraft? Definitely not.

Fighting? Dude, you're looking at the family who literally made swords, shields and armor.

Killing? Say no more.

Tragedies? Hope you brought tissues.

I screamed all the way through this