The Overthinker Has An Obssession

Mallory has had to live a life of lying. Her and her sister survived off of conning people. They were professionals by definition and experts by trade. This is a skill utilized to keep her and her sister safe. They have to go to great lengths to get people to believe them, but they make it work and know what to say and do to make others fall for it.

This makes it so much funnier that some count found her really really cute and just lied through his teeth, desperately trying to figure out how to get her to stay with him… And it WORKED!! He lied charmingly enough that he didn’t need to go through all these loopholes to get her to believe him. He flashed a smile, tried to look sincere, and gave her something that would be so valuable, she doesn’t even think to check if it’s real or not. It definitely helped that he was actually desperate to get their help with his little ghost problem.

At this point, my daily experience has just turned into to-

Like, I think it’s safe to say Oscar and Ruby really encompass this. I mean, Oscar asks basically everyone else how to make his flirting obvious because apparently bonding over food or fighting over video games wasn’t obvious enough. BUT, Adrian and Nova??? They are so much worse at it.

What makes them worse is that they both KNOW the other is flirting, and still somehow manage to go “mmmmmh, I’m sure I’m reading too much into this”. This is what I need, I need more obvious pining and flirting and leads who just cannot fathom the idea of a hot person flirting with them.

First, Reynold. This is the one that really got me thinking about this, but even when these two were horribly at odds, they still acted like siblings would??? Like, Reynold HATES Penelope, but he still insists on sneaking out with her to the festival. Derrick showing up also really seals that “the two younger siblings got caught by the older sibling” dynamic. And this just… kinda continues. He shows this odd care for her that develops into an actual “I care about this person” without ever really crossing the line into romance.

Winter also is set up as feeling bad for her, but not really able to do much to help her. He has all this magic, but at most can offer a flimsy hand that doesn’t do much. His introduction he gives Penelope a handkerchief and tried to comfort her, but I mean, this doesn’t fix what happened. Given, she was the one to push her away, but I am not sure I would have left someone in her state alone with just a handkerchief and a “hope you get better soon” mentality. We also see this carry throughout the story. He wants to help her, but either can’t to the best of his abilities due to his circumstances or her pushing him away, or he doesn’t trust her and actively tests her. In short, they start arms length apart, and they stay that way the whole story.

Eckles also has this trend. He and Penelope both play their parts perfectly, but it is obvious something is just not right with their relationship. From the start, he was willing to do pretty terrible things in order to gain her favor, and she was willing to lie and play a part to get his. This doesn’t ever change similar to Winter. He continues to be obsessive, and, if not for Penelope, there would have been several times he got into fights with people like Derrick. Aka, people he really cannot afford to get into fights with, but that was never what mattered. Being the only one close to Penelope was what mattered.

Derrick is probably the best example of this. Our literal introduction to the story is him punishing her, then his next appearance is him blaming Penelope for what happened with the rotten food and Emily. This not only appears throughout the rest of the story, but actively causes so many problems for Penelope because he shows he does not care about her so much as maintaining appearances and she has become the scapegoat for that over the years. Another thing that occurs repeatedly with him is wanting to see Penelope smile, and showering her with physical gifts, but never achieving that because he doesn’t understand that what she needs is emotional availability and he is too busy blaming her for everything to give her that.

Even side characters like Emily, Pennel, and the Duke are not exempt from this, but oddly we see these relationships develop more intricately. Penelope does not start with a good relationship with any of these people, but we see that change over time and they all come to love her and are very loyal to her. However, there are tends they are set up to have and do carry out. The Duke is the doting father, Emily the loyal maid, and Pennel the helpful butler.

Callisto is also the only love interest whose introduction did not set up his behavior for the rest of the series. He nearly kills Penelope in the first introduction. This scares her so bad that she does everything in her power to avoid him. However, we learn later that he is honestly not nearly as violent as his introduction made him seem. That is not to say he isn’t violent, but he isn’t out here cutting people down for no reason. This allows a lot of room for their relationship to change and develop in ways the other guys just do not get to enjoy.

Part of me thinks the reason they are able to have a little bit more development is because, aside from Callisto, Penelope is not romantically involved with any of these characters. In the case of Callisto, the other love interests have these characteristics that never change in order to let him shine even more.

Derrick blames Penelope for everything where Callisto blames those actually responsible/the duke family.

Winter can only help to a certain extent whereas Callisto can offer any amount of support Penelope needs. He also just offers help when he sees there is a need where Winter almost hesitates to do that in many instances.

Reynold could not see the absolute pain Penelope had to live through her whole life and how it turned her into what she is now, leading to their odd relationship. Callisto, however, sees and understands that pain.

Eckles is obsessive and wants to restrict Penelope, and Callisto is obsessive but wants to see Penelope spread her wings. He does not want to own Penelope like Eckles does.

I genuinely cannot think of another period romance where there were other men courting our leading lady without being outright evil, but Pride and Prejudice doesn’t do that. We have Wickham, who is the second biggest contender, and is that outright nefarious man, but there is also Mr. Collins and Darcy’s cousin I can’t remember the name of, nor can I be bothered to look it up.

What I love most is we get to see how each are a bad match for Lizzy. Starting with Mr. Wickham, he is a liar and very willing to pursue any woman who can either elevate his situation, or he can blackmail the family of into giving him money. He does not have good intentions in the slightest, which really doesn’t gel with Lizzy’s uprightness.

Mr. Collins is the next obvious bad pick for similar reasons. He is self centered and self righteous. He cares more about flattery than actually being a sociable person. He is not someone Lizzy can respect, and that is very important to her. She needs a respectable man with a backbone and Mr. Collins just isn’t that.

Darcy’s cousin stands apart from these two in that he is respectable, has a good background, and is honest. However, he doesn’t work with Lizzy because they both need to marry above their station in order to have the means they need to live comfortably.

These men really stand to elevate Mr. Darcy because we get to see how he has everything every other suitor lacks. He is honest, works on becoming sociable, has the means to care for a wife and children, and is respectable.

Like, I spent so much of that book just being so sick of Luc. Maybe it has something to do with I don’t typically like possessive/obsessive men in stories, and he really nails down that characterization real good. He wants to own Addie. I think- along with knowing Addie and Henry had a beautiful healthy relationship that will not get to progress any further and was cut off shorter than either wanted- the end is tragic because Luc wins in a sense. He gets to “own” Addie in his eyes.

However, this is also what makes it cathartic. We, as the audience, know he does not actually win the war. Addie finally outsmarted him with the wording of her new bargain and she will get to see a day where he is not haunting her. It gives hope for her future. Yes, she was separated from Henry and that is tragic, but she has hope for a better future past that.

We start the very first book with Nova straight up throwing this man out of his own hot air balloon, but we also never see him hold this against her. He was a prisoner for effectively, the whole series and never once tried to get back at her for it. He had so many chances to. He could have told them Nova was Nightmare that very first interrogation Adrian has with him, but he didn’t.

Even when he did give away the fact that Nightmare was not dead, part of me thinks this was less of a “slip up because I’m crazy” and more of a “I’m crazy and ain’t nobody gonna believe this KID if I say this”. At no point in his capture does he do anything to get Nova caught, even though he is not privy to what is going on.

Then he literally dies for her. He gives his life to save hers. It is tragic and unfair, especially since he was just granted his freedom. And he did it all because Nova was a light spot for him.

Nova was much more antagonistic against Winston than he was to her, but we do see those nuggets of affection. Repeatedly throughout the series she thinks back to how he was her playmate and helped her have a closer approximation of a childhood, despite their horrid living conditions. Winston also confirms she did this for him as well.

Nova mourns that he died to save her because there was a lot she wanted to fix and apologize for and did not really get that chance to. This is probably made even worse by the fact that she really didn’t internalize just how much she actually cared until it was too late for that.

But that’s where the tragedy of their relationship comes in. They (Nova in particular) grew up in an environment that would not allow for her to see the value in what Winston did for her. She was raised by a criminal who raised her to be a deadly tool, and someone like Winston did not fit into that mold she was told was necessary. This eventually pushed it to the point that Winston became an obstacle in her goals. He became someone she needed gone to be able to keep moving forward.

For Winston, Nova became a cold person. She became someone who would no longer have fun the way he needed.

Not only do I really just love the women helping women, and men drinking their respect women juice, and the healthy relationships, but the prose and plot setup are just amazing in my opinion.

Like, both books have a similar beat breakdown, and are kind of slow in the beginning, but I personally thought that helped with the overall pacing. We have foreshadowing and time to establish the characters before the last third of both books when everything just goes down so quick. The best way I can describe it is like setting up all the dominos, and then watching them fall.

I know the Bennets are… out there. I mean, Mrs. Bennet has no tact and is so over dramatic I am not sure there is a word good enough to encapsulate just how over dramatic she is, Mary cannot read a room, Lydia ran off with Wickham, and Kitty is more her mother than her father. Like, I totally understand why Darcy said what he did in his first proposal (not that it made it right). BUT, none of the other families we are presented with are much better.

Look at Bingley’s sisters. Ms. Bingley and Mrs. Hurst spend every moment they are in the story berating other women. The only times they ever say anything good about another woman is when it is in their interest to act like they care. Bingley had obvious affections for Jane, so they sing her praises until they get Bingley separated from Jane. Then they stop acting like they care. While they, all things considered, wouldn’t be the worst of the in laws, it definitely would be uncomfortable knowing your sisters-in-law don’t want anything to do with you because you aren’t “good enough”.

Then there is Wickham. I don’t think I need to say much about him. Even the end of the book acknowledges no one wants him around because of the scandal he drags with him.

Then, my absolute favorite, is Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Woman is entitled and crazy and loud and very forceful. She has to have her nose in everything and is determined to have things go her way. Despite what she says during her confrontation with Elizabeth, there is no way she would have stayed completely detached from the couple after they were married.

I had gone into the epilogue of Supernova with some mild spoilers. I knew it was from Magpie’s perspective and that, in general, it left most people reeling. So I cannot tell you how confused I was the first few paragraphs because it just felt like… Nova from the first book. I genuinely thought it was Nova until we are told Nova is on the float.

Personally, I really loved this. It really drives home that they are sisters by showing the similarities in their personalities. They are both snarky and rude and have an issue with the system. They recognize underlying problems with the way Gatlon City is run, and I would say the biggest difference between them is Nova is extremely proactive. She sees an issue and wants to be part of the solution no matter what, whereas Magpie is content to just fade into the background for the most part.

I will say, Magpie also shows that same kind of umph at the arena in Supernova. She saw she the helmet and knew there was something she could do to help, so she did. It’s not that she won’t help, she just is not as nosy as Nova. She isn’t seeking out new ways to help and move plans forward. She is definitely reactive.

I am usually pretty good at guessing what is going to happen when consuming any story in any format. This is why my sister hates watching movies or shows with me. To me, if an author can set up something that I can predict, it is a show a good writing. I don’t like when all the dominos in a story are set for one thing to happen and the author does and “oh, gotcha!” moment just so they don’t seem predictable.

SBG though sets SO much up that I have literally no idea what to do with all the information given. Everything plays out in a relatively logical manner, but Red is so good at burying the leads. I never really trusted Mr. Thomas, especially after the reveal that he could see Ashlyn’s altered shadow, but at no point did I guess he was the main antagonist. When Maverick was introduced, I was convinced they were one and the same, but some of the wording had me second guessing myself.

Then there are just the moments like the whole ending of season 2. I never guessed they would be separated because it breaks the status quo so much, but it does it in such a believable way! Or the escape from the facility going wrong. There are big moments that you can see coming. There was no way that escape was going to go right, but Logan shooting a woman? The experiments getting released? I didn’t see it coming until it was happening.

So I have been absolutely obsessed with Villains are Destined to Die since the crazy year of 2020. I found the webcomic by chance and then NEEDED to know how the story ended and read the whole light novel series. It is just such a fantastic story, but something that has really stuck with me is the foils in the guys.

To start, Winter is really the only odd one out. I feel like this fits super well considering he was the only one to break free of the brainwashing the first go around and then reversed time. While he doesn’t remember this past, it isn’t the only thing that sets him apart. The other guys all have similar skill sets and Winter is the only one that does not fit in line with that, but also has magic. He honestly is much more similar to Penelope herself given she isn’t much of a physical fighter and relies on her magic.

Now on to the actual foils, I’m going to start with Reynold and Derrick.

Now, I personally really REALLY hate Derrick. This is because he is so confusing and his behavior is frustrating. Even after getting explanations, it never justifies what he did to Penelope. He blamed her, shamed her, and basically disowned her, but he still wanted her to rely on him. He wanted her to smile and treat him well, while also wanting her to ignore his problematic behavior.

At the start of the story, Reynold isn’t much better. It’s not that he wants Penelope to continue acting like she cares and ignoring his bad behavior, but his bad behavior was almost worse than Derrick’s at the start. I mean, it was his actions that ultimately led to Penelope turning into a monster, and her suffering years of horrid abuse at the hands of the staff. Then why don’t I hate him??? Because unlike Derrick, he displays growth.

They both did awful things to Penelope, but that’s how they complement each other. Derrick won’t admit he was wrong and continues with his old habits of just blaming Penelope. I know he was brainwashed for part of that, but we are shown very clearly how he treated her like this even without the brainwashing. If anything the brainwashing just made him more emotional is the best word I can think of. However, Reynold admits he was wrong. He apologizes, and he does not at all think that his apologies are enough. He actively works on his relationship with Penelope. He wants very similar things to Derrick in terms of their respective relationships with Penelope, but he does not expect her to give him what he wants. He works to get what he wants, and understands that does not entitle him to her affection romantic or familial. Even when he slips back into bad habits because of the brainwashing, he still admits he was wrong, apologizes, and explains himself. He goes through so much growth and self reflection where Derrick remains pretty freaking stagnant throughout the series.

Callisto and Eckles also foil each other in a very similar way to how Derrick and Reynold foil each other.

Now, for as much as I hate Derrick, I hate Eckles more. I understand he has been through quite a bit. It is no small thing to be a young prince and the sole survivor of your family while watching your kingdom fall apart in front of you. Then he was sold into slavery and was horribly abused and used. This will undoubtedly mess a person up, and then Penelope wasn’t much better. They were both very aware they were using each other and that a lot of what they displayed in front of each other was false. However, this was the perfect combination for an obsession to bloom. We see that he does not at all love Penelope; he was obsessed. He was possessive and willing to put her in horribly dicey situations knowing it could, and hoping it would, impact Penelope negatively so she would have no one else to turn to but him. He admits this to Penelope after he brings Ivonne back to the estate. He needs her, but not in a healthy way. He does not try to become someone Penelope can rely on, but tries to force her to rely on him. He rarely, if ever, prioritizes what Penelope wants/needs. This next example is spoilers for the comic readers, so skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid those. But it gets to a point that he even subscribes to the mentality of “if I cannot have you, no one can” after trying to straight up kidnap her.

Then we have Callisto. He is a character that is for sure, and to say he doesn’t share some of those fun qualities with Eckles would be a lie. We see how Callisto is possessive and can be forceful. I mean, he takes the medallion from her at the hunting competition, insists she is his partner at his birthday banquet (given she had technically said yes), forced his way onto the balcony after they danced, and even just insisting they are a couple through like…. The whole series. He also wants her to rely on him. However, I view this as being different from Eckles because he approaches these qualities differently. He at no point that I can recall, puts his feelings above Penelope’s. He will not force her into unfavorable situations just so he can posses her. He sees her as his lover, not his object. We see that so clearly when they basically break up before her coming of age ceremony. He was angry and confused and hurt, but he ultimately respected her decision. We also see how he changes for her good ol’ Mr. Darcy style. He knows she doesn’t like his violent tendencies, so he works really hard on restraining himself. Even actively not killing Ivonne because he KNOWS Penelope would not be happy to see a dead body outside. He wants her to rely on him, so he goes to her and helps her when he knows she needs it. At all intersections, he prioritizes Penelope’s wants and needs.

These two are really just two sides of the same coin. Eckles is that toxic love, the obsession that prioritizes owning someone versus a deep and passionate love that prioritizes becoming the best you can for someone else. They both want Penelope, but they want her in different ways and take different steps to win her over. For as forceful and Callisto seems, he is not willing to push, and for as passive as Eckles seems, he will to anything to force her over to him.

The long and short of it is I really, REALLY love their interactions, as few of them that there might be. It’s less of a “I ship it,” and more of a “they are such great co-parents to the rest of the gang”, but would I be mad if they got together? No.

Anyway, what I love most about them is the leadership dynamic. It’s pretty obvious, and pretty well stated in the comic, but Ashlyn is the leader of the group. If something comes up, everyone looks to her for answers. This isn’t to say no one else puts in input, and we have seen before how the others are more than capable of making important decisions without her, but when the group is together, she is usually the default decision maker.

However, we also see how Tyler also steps up as the leader when Ashlyn is MIA (my mind initially goes to when she got the concision in season and was barely conscious while they are trying to get the car). Not only that, but he is usually the one to fight Ashlyn on her decisions. It usually doesn’t go in his favor, but he has the self preservation where maybe she doesn’t (because maybe jumping on a train was their only option, but it wasn’t a great idea).

I feel like they also just… complement each other. They have a similar attitude towards the overall situation, and to the others’ behaviors, and thus can understand each other in a way that the others just wouldn’t. They also care about each other. This one isn’t exclusive to them, but considering how they fight/bicker, it’s nice to see those moments when they put aside everything else to help each other.

I love it so much, and it KILLS me that we will get none of it next season. I was already getting fed so little and now I will starve 😭.

She does the big show of what happens, the poor souls that were trapped, all that, but I love the reveal of the little biting fairy being that boy who would bite all the pretty girls in Gavaldon.

I loved this reveal because we basically start the book with him biting the crap out of Agatha. When first reading, I think it’s pretty natural for the reader’s response to be, “oh, Agatha LOOKS evil, so the good little fairy is biting her because he doesn’t trust her”. Finding out his origins later really spins it to be “Agatha was beautiful all along”.

It is just a really nice touch since a huge theme of the book was kind of showing how looks do not matter. What really matters is what is on the inside as cheesy and cliche as that moral is.

We know Raven deeply cares for Jest. I mean, he straight up dive bombs Cath because Jest and been hurt. However, I genuinely feel he really cares for Cath too. Unlike Hatta, who you could tell never liked Cath and would choose to be antagonistic when he could, Raven supported Cath pretty much from the start. His behavior didn’t swing wildly because is attachment to Jest was not the same as Hatta’s.

Yes, he got mad when Jest had been wronged. He also fully supported the couple when he realized Cath had NOTHING to do with the King of Hearts’ announcement of their engagement. However, none of this is what interests me the most.

The thing I think I loved the most, or at least found most interesting with these two is how dependent they became at the end of the book. Raven’s loyalty was stronger to Jest than it was his kingdom. If not, it doesn’t make sense he would stay in Hearts with Cath even after they get their vengeance.

They both broke in a similar way, and I think really found comfort in one another because they knew what Jest meant to the other. This is different from Hatta who never really made his true feelings known, so he and Cath could never really see eye to eye. Raven though? He knew Cath loved Jest, and she knew Raven also loved Jest deeply just in a different way from her. They wanted the same things and in a way, they were all the other had left of Jest.

Honestly, I was so sad to realize the bracelet Jinu wears at the end of the movie is a chain and NOT the bracelet Rumi gave him, BuT I felt it gave her bracelet even more depth.

The bracelet symbolizes hope. Rumi gave Jinu hope in a very literal sense by giving him the bracelet. As sad as it is that he ends up not wearing it, I feel that fits almost better for the end of the movie. He has discarded his hope. He doesn’t believe he deserves good things or happiness and so he gives up.

By wearing the chain instead of Rumi’s bracelet, the creators were really showing us how he allowed himself to be chained down to Gwi-ma because he doesn’t believe there is any chance of winning against him.

Personally, I really love the detail in animation, but that’s a post for another day. I want to focus on how Jinu, to me anyway, looked fearful for Rumi when she came to confront Gwi-ma. Maybe it’s part, he gave up his hope, so how on earth could she still have any left? But also, he doesn’t have hope they can win, and he is probably thinking he is about to watch her die.