#ivonne eckhart

[eloise175]

The entirety of this scene screams “Did I beat you at your own game?”

Penelope is such a menace, going all out now that she knows the end is coming, she doesn’t gaf anymore

Love to see her girlbossing like this even if she’s gonna choose violence

[jeding-png]

Chapter 152 or "Yes, btch, I'll make you cry."

Let's go through the list... this chapter had a lot of character tears, a lot of reader tears... and my angst radar was broken in general.

"You are my daughter too, Penelope."

I was pleasantly surprised to see the scenes where Reynold and Derrick tell the Duke that Ivonne is missing.

Reynold's tears, the pain and guilt on Derrick's face... and in the end as Pennel is the only one who sees the Duke's true pain over the loss of his daughter.

Without exaggeration, I love this chapter. I love the last two chapters. And while I wanted the coming-of-age ceremony to finally be shown...I realized I needed the Duke and Penelope talking. I needed all these frames, from the first to the last.

I feel that little Og Penelope's smile has fooled me. This sunshine mercilessly broke my heart-!

Thanks to this chapter, we were able to see the scene of the meeting between the Duke and Og Penelope in a different way. Thanks to this chapter, we are more sensitive to the moment of Penelope's adoption.

And this is not Cha Siyeon. This is the girl who disappeared in the prologue of the manhwa and the novel.

The girl who didn't hear all the words... the girl who didn't feel the warmth of said father's awkward embrace.

"Goodbye, father."

Thanks, @red-hot-temper , for showing the new chapters!

[penelope-regulus]

Penelope (The villainess) face when stabbed at first meeting with Callisto:

Laila (Heroine) face when stabbed at first meeting with Callisto:

[pruneunfair]

My feelings on villains are destined to die and how it writes a toxic family, what lead them to where they were and if they chose to end the cycle or repeat it.

For one I can see why it's so popular, the plot is unique for its time since it was one of the first villainess centered manhwas and there characters are 3 dimensional. VADTD has its fair share of flaws as all media do but my problem is with the fanbase who seem to get the idea that liking something or someone means you must support it at all times otherwise it means you support the opposing party.

This will be mostly centered around our FL that you've probably seen somewhere before even if you haven't read VADTD, Penelope Eckart

If you think I'm here to dog on Penelope don't worry, I think she's a beautifully made protagonist that is actually morally gray and not a bitch with morally gray excuse. So despite how much the fandom says she's a perfect girlboss, Penelope isn't a good person. She sees everyone as just a video game character in the beginning so she doesn't care if characters like Emily would get hurt or how Eckles felt, that isn't too unreasonable since she did get transmigrated into a video game but there are lines that she crosses, she knows the horrors of abuse very well from her past life which is why she's so attached to the og Penelope, but it's clear she is willing to repeat the cycle for her own needs.

Introducing one of the most controversial characters: Eckles (or Eclis/eclipse)

Eckles as a character was designed to make you feel uncomfortable. He's a slave bought by Penelope at an auction and trust me, she isn't very nice about it. He's always wearing a collar with a spell that causes him to be paralyzed and unable to speak if Penelope touches the Ruby ring given to her by the auctioneers, (Because there's no way that could be abused) and everything about him just seems to miserable, his life depends on Penelopes love and care for him and he's willing to keep the collar just so he can be useful..everything about him seems to be the embodiment of Stockholm syndrome and a lack of identity. The saddest part? He knows why Penelope wants him around and he despises her for it (reasonable) yet he still "loves" her

Word for Word, this is what Penelope said to him when she bought him + a few more she says that are concerning to say the least

"Look at me Eckles. This is the face of your master who paid 100 million gold for you. I didn't pay such an extravagant price for you because I'm rotting in money, not even an insane noble would the equivalent of castle for a slave from a fallen kingdom, what is left for you even if you were able to resist and escape from here? You don't even have a country to run to. I despise those who don't know their place. I saw potential in you and that is why I invested in you, that is all our relationship is. Prove your worth so that I have no regrets about the price I paid for you, otherwise I'll send you back here with no hesitation. Do you understand?"

"A dog should act like a dog Eckles! What use is a son of a bitch who bites his master!?"

"You dare bite your master?"

That is NOT good person behavior, Penelope is desperate to live yes but that was one of her lowest moments. Buying a man, contributes to the buisness of slavery with 100 million gold, straight up threatening him to sell him back to slavery if he doesn't obey, and manipulates him for means of an end. But that's the point. Penelope is a gray character so naturally on top of all the good she can do, she still is capable of repeating the cycle of abuse on another person.

They have a sort of co-dependent relationship later on, Penelope views him as a beast and her way of keeping him on her side is buying him a bunch of gifts and then leaving him for long periods of time, forgetting that all he asked of her was to visit him. Of course Penelope is in no way obligated to do so just because Eckles loves her, and by love, I mean obsession to the point where Eckles starts to commit extreme acts all in the name of his obsession for her. He's no longer a person, he's just Penelopes worshipper who also "betrays" her.

Thats another thing people hate him for, for betraying the woman who bought him and treated him more like an animal than a person. And yeah, bringing Leila back to the mansion was a dick move not to mention betraying his own people but when it came to betraying Penelope.. you can't really owe your slave master loyalty, I saw this more as a consequence of Penelopes actions rather than a "poor pene" moment because im just gonna say it: Penelope had no right to be that upset when the slave she treated as an animal wound up betraying her. There was no right in that situation just two wrongs and yet there's a ton of people who solely blame Eckles for not being grateful that Penelope didn't do anything extremely egregious when she owned him (wtf!?)

Yes Eckles isnt a great person either, as i said he put all of his country to death when he snitched on them so he could stay by Penelopes side but just because Penelope is the protagonist with a tragic backstory, that doesnt mean shes an innocent lamb and while fans will glorify the toxic relationship, the way the narrative portrays it is too uncomfortable to be a romantic path, it's meant an abusive past where Penelope can choose to stay at her worst and that would honestly be depressing if she did get with him, itd be a twisted master-slave relationship where Penelope can do whatever she wants to Eckles and he can't say nor will he want to, and I think she knew to some degree that she wouldnt want to be that monster and what she was doing was inhumane which is probably she stays far away from him since she's beginning to see these people as humans and not code. It's both a mix of desperation for her own life and a desire to not repeat an abusive cycle just with extra steps.

A slave and their master isn't a forbidden romance, it's just Stockholm syndrome covered in glitter.

Now on to the other characters, the love interests/ brothers.

Theres a lot of love for Callisto and I can see why, he's not a cardboard cutout and has a personality that didn't revolve around Penelopes goals. I'll admit I didn't like him at first but he's grown on me

But I have a feeling there's another reason fans adore him outside of his character and goals. He's the only love interest that isn't an abusive one. Unlike Eckles, Callisto is closer in equality to Penelope and he's you know, not her fricking step brother. After all when the other options are lava and toxic chemicals, you would much rather stick your hand in a mysterious substance that could benefit you even if it could also kill you. That's what Callisto was when we met him, he's the one who killed OG Penelope the most in hard mode and when he first speaks to Penelope, he's putting a sword at her throat, even though he's killed Penelope in so many timelines, the timelines where he doesn't are the happiest... which I honestly don't know how to feel about that.

then there's Derrick, and uh yeah, I don't blame the fandom this time, he does suck and he has a sister complex.. Fantastic

Still though for such a hateable character it's done so well. He's not always so in your face about it, Derrick is still a 3d character with a "reason" that explains his stepbrother-stepsister love he has for Penelope, he's afraid of losing her like he lost Ivonne (that just opens so many weird doors though with how they imply it) and even if you take that away he's still a perfect example of abuser. No matter what Penelope did he's consistently blaming her for the negatives of their family, he loves her but he also controls her and makes her feel like shit. It's like another form of Eckles and Penelope which is kind of depressing since it's more portrayal of repeating cycles of abuse. *SPOILERS* He also gets to live normally after that and apparently becomes a loving uncle to Penelope and Callistos daughter which I interpret as the harsh reality that abusers who are family aren't likely to go away especially if they are older and hold more power over you, they can stop it all they want but that wound never got treated.

Reynold is another one I have a weird relationship with, he's not as terrible as Derrick but the shit he put Penelope through is yet another example of generational abuse that he started

Reynold represents the regret an abuser can feel after the harm is already done. The entire family has issues in general and communication is one that's seriously lacking but Reynold indirectly started it and justified it when he found the og Penelope praying that Ivonne would never return and from both sides, you can understand why. Penelope doesn't want to go back on the streets and Reynold is still grieving over his sister and the replacement was just wishing for that little sister to dissappear or die, but no matter the reason, abuse is still abuse. But he was willing to change after hearing her true story, but he continues to reprimand her for the past, not letting go so easily which made him a easy target for Leila to brainwash, as I've said, the damage is already done and while the two can remain civil, I wouldn't be surprised if Penelope never feels comfortable around him again.

EDIT: I thought about it and maybe "never feeling comfortable around him again" might be a little too far, OG Penelope probably wouldn't but I think the current Penelope would be more likely to move on.

And now for the figurative and literal embodiment of the lost/ghost child: Ivonne who represents how we handle grief and lost child syndrome.

Almost nothing is known about Ivonne for a long time, the family has fond memories of her but we never get to see what it was like beyond a single memory of the siblings sneaking out to the festival the night Ivonne went missing. In grief we tend to over fantasize the person we lost, usually as a perfect being who did no wrong. Thats what Leilas control represents, Ivonne is dead, her skin is cold to the touch like a corpse as described by Penelope , the goddess Leila who took over her body represents flaws the deceased may have had or a toxic coping mechanism in general and causes everyone under her control to only think about the best of her.

For Ivonne as a character, she is lost child personified, she's literally lost so it's already right there, a lost/ghost child is the type of child that stands by the toxicity of the family, they blend in and no one really bothers about them, though this is more of a reach then the other two, there arent a whole lot of chapters that mention Ivonne beyond comparing her to Penelope and the chapters where she actually does appear, shes separated from everyone else. Even her own father who spent years searching for her, he still gave up and what pushed Ivonne to become a literal ghost child is when she sees the Duke take Penelope off the streets to be his replacement daughter when his real child was staring right at him. Ivonne ends up in a mirror forever, where all she can do is watch the family from afar.

final main character is Winter, and he was the trickiest to place.

I forgot about Winter half the time since he kind just shows up at random, his introduction is literally happening to be there at the right moment when Penelope is running away from Callisto. So I wasn't very interested in him until the battle against the Leila cult, but even though I wasn't interested in him, I still preferred at the time if he was the love interest instead since he was the least violent of all the guys, he actually wanted Penelope to be happy, and very protective of nor just her but the sorcerer children so it was just green flags all around with the exception of the age gap. (I don't know how to feel about since Winter is 26 and Penelope is physically 18 but mentally she's in her 20s)

My interpretation of him is that he could be the friend/therapist that's outside the family, the one to give a little break from the disaster of a homelife. But a therapist or friend can really only do so much and in rare cases they could start suspecting you as a liar since they are also people who are dealing with their own set of problems. Kind of like how Winter starts to lose Penelopes trust when suspects her to be from the Leila cult.

Conclusion: VADTD is popular for a good reason and it has tons of great commentary on toxic households and that no character is truly innocent, but it doesn't get enough credit in that department since tons of people misinterpreted it as yet another basic reincarnation girl boss story where everything is black and white.

This is part 2 to a series I want to call "my feelings on", I'll read through a manhwa/anything one webtoon and I'll either critique it or come up with my own interpretations of it.

[the-mad-dog-of-eckhart]

Villains Are Destined to Die, preview of Ep. 156!

You can't just do whatever you want and go away.

[dyinggirldied]

The body snatcher vs the true owner of the body

[vinyls-corner]

A what if ending where Yvonne and Og Penelope reborn in a better place and became sisters. Then, they lived happily with their family.

A what if ending where Winter dies because his soul eventually gives up after being burned for an eternity. Then, he was reborn as a doctor in the modern world.

[its-lene]

What happened to Ivonne's face????? Like, DAMN, a friend of mine said that she looked like a rat and i couldn't disagree... fr, she looks so ugly in this panel 😭💔

[red-hot-temper]

I'm going to Rip & Tear this demon, I swear!!!

[kibo-ichiro]

Yvonne: Hewwo! I will be youw suwgeon today! Intewnal bweeding you say? Let’s make ouw fiwst wittle incision.

Reynold: Dowcto, wewre loswing him!

Yvonne: Quick! Hand me the defibwiwatow!

Derrick: Please, turn off my fucking life support.

[bluebutterflyrose]

Derricks Distress Of The Past!

Damn he looks ready to cry!

[eloise175]

With the release of chapter 138 of the manhwa, we got to see the first attempt at brainwash up close, and also how Penelope’s suspicions cement themselves as true. Time for another chapter analysis and theory-crafting session RAAAAH 🦅🦅 (be mindful that it contains spoilers!)

We’ve seen before how Penelope had this idea that the Laila was Ivonne, and it appears that she’s becoming more and more convinced of it.

Penelope is very much creeped out by this, and also doesn’t feel inclined to interact with ‘Ivonne’ more than necessary since this signals the ending of hard mode approach. Though that does not stop ‘Ivonne’ from trying to get close to her…or better yet, to play victim whenever Penelope’s around, to try and make it pass off as Penelope’s doing, with fake tears and everything.

After a conversation, which Penelope cuts short (understandable), ‘Ivonne’ tries to follow her but trips and falls. To someone else it might look like Penelope might’ve done it (that is exactly what ‘Ivonne’ aims at).

Penelope catches her mid-fall, and notices with dread for the second time that ‘Ivonne’ is unnaturally cold, just as you’d expect a corpse to be.

This is the part where Penelope gets overwhelmed; it hits her that this might truly not be the real Ivonne and so Penelope tells her to pretend like she doesn’t exist, she’s basically telling her to do whatever she wants because she won’t intervene with her plans.

This is where you can see how things are starting to affect Penelope mentally, but also physically as she will become increasingly thinner because she avoids meals to not be anywhere near the ‘real daughter’.

During this, Reynold comes back from training assumedly, and something interesting happens with him, something that can be seen in his eyes, basically that strange glow.

His change in demeanor is very odd, as he tells Penelope off for whatever reason, accusing her of wanting to hit Ivonne all along. It all spirals when he uses Penelope’s past against her, aka what she told him in the attic, saying that her behavior is the motive she isn’t treated as an Eckhart.

It makes something in Penelope snap, because she actually had high hopes for Reynold, but in the end she got disappointed again. Her words “You haven’t changed at all.” get Reynold out whatever trance he was in and he follows after her where he apologizes for having misunderstood. This is where the chapter ends currently.

From here the theory-crafting/speculating starts.

Some time ago, SUOL-nim made a post on her Twitter/X account where she posted this image:

This is one of those moments when you applaud the artist for their great attention for details, because if you look closely there’s a pattern going on. Both Reynold and Derrick have this pink highlight at the bottom of their eyes, but when you look at Ivonne, she has a green highlight.

I was suspicious when I first saw it, but looking at it now, it was obviously overshadowing.

We can see it more clearly here, right under her pupils where the green spots appear. It looks unnatural and artificial, almost as if it wasn’t meant to be there in the first place.

It could be related to the glow that appears in Reynold’s eyes when he is under the control of the brainwash.

I think that Reynold wasn’t supposed to break free of the brainwash here. But when he does shake off the effects of the mind control, you can see how his gaze changes from indifferent/angry, back to normal.

When there’s that unnatural glint in his pupil, his eyes look lifeless, with most of the light having been sucked away from them, and the usual pinkish highlights turn a murky grey. Even the blue’s shade looks darker and more muted.

Maybe this might be the initial stage of the brainwash? What if it changes and becomes even more evident the longer the target is under the effects of the brainwash?

Tbh I’m curious to see how the others’ eyes changes under the effects of the brainwash and how they look even while resisting it. After the greenhouse scene (which is going to be in the upcoming episodes) it is hinted that Callisto seemed to resist being brainwashed, can’t wait for that.

[jeding-png]

End of Hard Mode.

Ready to meet chapter 156?

Although for readers of the novel who were waiting for the legendary scene of this arc, they didn't get it in today's chapter... but damn! This chapter is equally full of emotions!

Do you think the first frame is Penelope's reaction to Derrick bringing Ivonne? Oh no, dear readers, you're forgetting about Penelope's eternal tormentor... the system's notification.

What she worked so hard for, dripping with sweat and blood, is a mls' affection score.

All the men have their % down, but Derrick and Eckles have -20%, while Callisto, Reynold, and Winter have -10%

What strikes me is how the locks on the first two are completely dark. I'm so glad that SUOL-nim decided to make similar details in the third season. Agree, it looks beautiful and interesting.

What about men? And they are all frankly shocked (can understand them). At least they were struck by the laughter of Penelope, who is aware of her position.

But Penelope is just a goddess. I give a standing ovation, take the Oscar from Ivonne and Eckles to give to her.

She announces that it is true that her only older sister, the Duke's true daughter, has returned. Of course, Duke Eckhart wants to deny something, but Penelope makes an innocent but deliberate statement:

"But it's my birthday, father..."

His words hang in the air, and my breath catches in anticipation. And you know... I'm pleasantly surprised to see this face:

As you can see, there is now a conversation between Penelope and Ivonne, during which another glass is brought. Not one of the servants, but this lovely maid.

Oh, so you see that breathy blue glow in her eyes, too? After that, she definitely won't inspire confidence. Meet Becky, dear readers!

Tumblr limits the number of images but also explains the moment with the poison Penelope ordered from Winter. It was a kind of way to escape into the real world after finishing hard mode, as I understood from the Korean translator (sorry, I sometimes forget such details-)

And of course, the golden glow of Penelope's necklace does not go unnoticed not only by Penelope but also by Ivonne.

Our clever girl immediately understands that the glass in Ivonne's hands contains poison.

It will be a big scene if the duke's real daughter, who was "locked alone in a room and hidden from everyone" on the fake daughter's birthday, suddenly gets poisoned, right?

"...Ivonne, you're holding not your glass."

But both of them can play this game. And Penelope knew exactly how to take advantage of the other's confusion when the necklace never stopped shining with a yellow glow.

[penelope-regulus]

Can we talk about how soft Derrick was at 18??

Penelope and Ivonne look more mature at 17 than he did back then, ngl-

Firstly there's this:

This, the face of a baby maximum 9 or 10 years old. Not a fully grown adult. Or perhaps we're just not used to seeing him smile?

But then his height should also be taken to account.

He was more than a head shorter than the duke at 18, then a full head taller at 24? Okay....

Let's imagine it's physically possible.

Even in that case, Penelope is taller than he was at their current ages 17, and so is Ivonne since she's the same height as her-

Even without her heels, she'll be a few inches above his shoulders, unlike a certain young man-

Not to mention how much more mature her face is too, compared to how his was back then.

Am I the only one that finds it strange?

There's also Reynold, you know, who's only two years older than what Derrick was before and looks just as old now as Derrick does at 24;

Maybe Derrick grew a lot in six years, but what about Reynold? You can't change that drastically in just two years after your 18th birthday so he definitely looked older than Derrick did as a young adult-

[justapersonalarchive]

Ivonne stop scaring me 😢

[the-mad-dog-of-eckhart]

Villains are destined to die, preview of Ep. 149!

“He… is a member of the royal family? Blonde hair, red eyes... ."