♤

mars ☆ she/her ☆ likes/follows from @bluervelvets ☆ ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eckharts/

[eckharts]

People underestimate how much an awareness of Ivonne's existence, which nearly no one else had, influenced how Penelope acted. She's always thinking about how Callisto should be saving Ivonne or will leave her for Ivonne or how Eckles will be fine because he'll only care for Ivonne and be healed by her, or how Winter's already met Ivonne and will bring her back soon.

[eckharts]

Eorkan Names

It seems that the names of Eorkans fall into roughly 4 categories of origins: Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and (various subsets of) Germanic. Longer post below the cut, but tl;dr: Greek names specifically delineate connection to the origin of the empire/ancient history, and the majority of Eorkans have Germanic names though there are quite a few Latin names, and some even have Hebrew names. Maybe Eorka went through quite a few cultural changes over time and that's why there's so much variation.

Names in general are bolded, surnames are italicized, and I've denoted the aristocracy (A) vs common people (C) because obviously that can change the interpretation.

Greek

The surname of the empire (Regulus, A) is Greek in origin, and Callisto said that his family line is directly descended from the original ruler (whom we now know to be the Golden Dragon), so we can assume this hasn't changed since Eorka's inception. Callisto's (A) first name is also Greek, so I would assume that his father's would be as well.

Penelope (originally C) is firmly Greek in origin, which ties in with her Ancient Mage ancestry (following that the Ancient Mages were, well, ancient peoples who are closer in time to the era of the Golden Dragon, with the possibility of there being overlap).

Dorothea (A) for some reason. Maybe her family is distantly related to some older family from that era and they passed the name on, maybe her parents wanted a really unique name so they dug through some old books. Maybe Dorothea was the name of Callisto's great-aunt so Dorothea's parents named her that as a form of flattery. What do I know.

Latin

Terossi (A, Italian or French)

Dona (A, Italian)

Gloria (A, Latin)

Tulitte (A, French)

Laon (C, French?)

Emily (C, Latin)

Mark (Latin)

There are loads of possibilities as to what happened there but I'm thinking that this alludes to a different naming tradition at some point in the empire's history, or a regional difference within the current empire. Notably, Laon chose that name himself so either it's common or it's special enough to draw a kid's interest.

Hebrew

Maryanne (A)

Judith (A)

Becky (C, probably derived from Rebecca)

Gloria's and Maryanne's first names differ in origin from their surnames. In the case of Gloria, it makes me think that the category one's surname is from depends on the region/family and the her first name is a reference to her mother's original family. Or maybe, since there are so many more Germanic names and Gloria's surname is also Germanic, Latin names are a minority or a remnant from the empire's past (sometime long ago, between the Greek origin of the empire and the rise of the clearly deeply rooted Eckhart family + all the other families with Germanic names). If newer nobles, then newer is like within ~200 years because we know that Mrs. Dona is a noble but her family has already fallen. Regardless, it adds to Gloria's engagement to Baron Tulitte because either she is somehow connected to region he's from or their families' origins are from a similar era.

But Maryanne's case looks a little different, since there are so few Hebrew names, none being surnames, and one of them is a commoner from the same village as Emily (whose name is not Hebrew). It might be that Hebrew names aren't related to the nobles based on region or noble family of origin, but rather a connection to some tradition or history that people might choose. Like maybe it's considered old fashioned or not commonly an aristocratic name so there's no motivation for it to be common. Unlike Latin, there are no aristocratic surnames here, so I'm guessing it wasn't as widespread as the others.

Laila

Interestingly, the Laila tribe's name originates from Arabic which could be an attempt to distinguish them from everyone else...but it doesn't make much sense considering that they're an offshoot of the Ancient Mages and would therefore exist at the same time, in the same region, and with very similar culture to the Ancient Mages. We could instead refer to the Hebrew variant of the name, since we do at least have a couple other Hebrew names in VADD so there's some precedence

Germanic

Eckhart

Derrick

Reynold

Evelyn

Ivonne

Winter Verdandi

Cedric Porter (A)

Alice (A)

Kellen (A)

Ellen (A)

Albert

[eckharts]

Verdandi is the coolest naming choice in VADD. The Norse connection to the Greek Moirai while not being Greek (mage but not an Ancient Mage), being the "present" out of "past, present and future", the one who is "becoming" constantly.

[eckharts]

Winter's top non-Penelope ships being Ivonne and Reynold is funny because a) her pink haired siblings are his rebound, b) Ivonne and Reynold have the same personality (not that Winter would know that about Ivonne outside of the baby Ivonne he met once), and c) that would mean his fanon + canon ships (Penelope and the laila) are masochism for him

[eckharts]

I initially questioned if Winter falling for Penelope made sense when he, out of all the other male leads, had the most genuine romantic feelings for Ivonne (the laila) without the mind influence. But it makes perfect sense because Winter falls for people he pities and wants to help.

Ivonne (the laila) is a girl who remains selflessly kind in the face of undeserved adversity and it's easy to see why he wants to support her, make her laugh, and restore her to her rightful position.

Penelope, however, is to Winter what a misunderstood dark & brooding man is to women who believe they can fix everyone with a tragic past.

[eckharts]

Penelope and Eckles are interesting because you have to sit with the uncomfortable fact that they are both trying to commit acts that erase the other's basic rights to autonomy and selfhood at the most fundamental levels. Penelope's ownership of Eckles denies him power over his own self (a human right) and in response, he wants to sexually assault her to impose upon her the very power she denied him. It doesn't mean he's justified or by any means has a right to do that, but it does mean she can't meaningfully compensate him for her actions. That's probably why the ending feels so unsatisfying to so many people, but it's not a flaw imo.

Penelope still denies him the truth about his past, but she also frees him from any attachments to herself or the negative parts of that past (mostlt for selfish reasons, to be clear, but she did want him to move on as well). That's the best she can do because Eckles (pre-dragon) would only accept a total reversal of power as recompense and that's just not viable with a happy ending. He wasn't going to break the chain of abuse, so he had to be removed.

[eckharts]

Eckles will probably always be the most difficult to understand because we know very little about how he feels towards anything but Penelope. We have objective facts (large & loving family, spoiled with a wealthy lifestyle and no responsibilities, brutal experience in slavery at a very young age) but we know almost nothing about his feelings towards these parts of his life. Everything we construct about whether he cared for the people of Delman, how politically aware he was, what his greatest conflict (internal or external) was pre-Eorkan conquest, whether shame or anger was stronger while he was enslaved is entirely based on assumptions (sometimes well founded ones, but still).

We know Derrick has always felt pressure to live up to the role of the heir and guilt the loss of over Ivonne, Reynold's anger is misplaced grief and he isn't introspective, Winter is guided by a sense of duty to do what's right and protect mages, Callisto is volatile but cares about his position for more than the power he uses constantly. Compared to that, we only know how Eckles feels about Penelope, and how he feels about other people (Callisto, the other slaves from Delman) in relation to her. We are never shown what he thinks of the man who led the conquest of his country or the people he betrays outside of Penelope. The only exception is when he taunts Derrick while teaching Penelope to use a crossbow, which shows his resentment for a) the family who legally owns him, b) the empire who destroyed his country, and c) his pride in his country. That's relatively little considering that the next time he talks about the Eckharts, he's fallen into the pattern of relating them to Penelope (post-coming of age, when he threatens to kill them for hurting her). His willingness to see the Delman slaves as nothing but a means to an end may suggest a lack of solidarity on his part (and I certainly don't disagree that it does). His confrontations with Callisto are far enough that he can't think of anything but Penelope (the laila's influence + his own progressing obsession), or maybe he just didn't say that part out loud but felt it nearly as strongly as his obsession. We just don't know.

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Villains are Destined to Die is really good. Admittedly, at first I was just wowed by the print job; The first thing I noticed when I picked up the books from the library shelves was how heavy they were. They're full-color glossy pages the whole way through. And the art earns it; It's gorgeous work, page after page.

What I really like about the writing is how often I want to shout at the protagonist for her "suboptimal plays." For me, this is generally the sign of good character flaws. Too often, writers have protagonists with no true flaws. They'll have "inner pain" or "prejudices to overcome" but then, when it comes time to act, they'll do the optimal thing. The author thinks they're showing the audience a triumph, but we don't have an impression of a climb because we never see our protagonist at the base of the hill; only cresting the top. Penelope, our protagonist, constantly second-guesses how to approach people. Some of the time she's so caught up in the game element - being caught in a dating sim where failure means death will do that to you - but other times her own trauma from her past life colors her responses and makes her act out.

My personal favorite moments of this sort are where the author flips it around and venting her frustrations - being "unfair" with the person she's talking to - turns out to be the absolute best course to take. And conversely, I like it a great deal when the story screws her for treating the game as a game. Who'da thunk it, when she's manipulating people to get their affection meter over a threshold so they won't kill her, the more perceptive among them feel like they're being manipulated and that makes them trust her less.

Of course, both of these speak to a broader lesson; that my own annoyance at "suboptimal plays" is foolish and possibly hypocritical. I've actually already hit two points in the plot where plans I thought up early on for what I'd have done in her shoes would have failed catastrophically. It's amazing work, making me feel like I know better than the protagonist and at the same time reminding me chapter after chapter that I don't.

I've read at least three "reincarnated into red-haired villainess" stories, and while I enjoyed all of them so far this feels the best-written. I recommend it.

[eckharts]

I just know that his & Penelope's wedding day, the day they found out Penelope was pregnant and Judith's birthday are tied as the most important days of Callisto's life. I think they are probably top 5 for Penelope

[eckharts]

Addendum: the day they found out Penelope was pregnant would be Penelope's most important day too except her reasoning is that she made the discovery of a lifetime that answered so many questions in her field of study that nobody from Eorka would ever be able to engage in archeology without citing her work.

[eckharts]

I just know that his & Penelope's wedding day, the day they found out Penelope was pregnant and Judith's birthday are tied as the most important days of Callisto's life. I think they are probably top 5 for Penelope

[kibo-ichiro]

Second Prince: I mean, you’ve threatened to kill me a bunch of times. You once told me you were going to drown me in a river like a kangaroo.

Callisto: *warm laugh of fond reminiscence* I did do that.

[eckharts]

Isn't it crazy that you need the emperor's permission to commission the first empress's tailor? The man is clearly crazy about her in such a peculiar way

[eckharts]

Thinking about how Penelope and Callisto are going to have to explain to Judith one day that when they were #younghoes they decided to bind their lives together so she needs to be prepared to mourn both of them simultaneously when the time comes. Judith's going to be the first person allowed to openly judge them to their faces for being nutjobs

[eckharts]

Penelope from Callisto's and the duke's POV >>>

[eckharts]

og!penelope makes me so sad. her worst crime was being blunt and naive and not cunning. she threw tantrums...like children do. she yelled when no one listened...like children do. I don't care that she was still emotional and overreactive as a teenager because nobody did anything to make her feel like she could protect herself any other way. og!ivonne could have done all of that and worse and still have been loved & respected but og!penelope never got to be more than the difficult child the duke picked up.

[eckharts]

I think in manhwas:

Light pink hair = premium angelic blonde

Dark pink hair = red hair without the commitment to having a main character with red hair

[eckharts]

I do have to appreciate that, while the emperor may be scum of the earth who actively ruined the lives of his first wife and eldest son, he did recognize that there's no way the second prince could replace Callisto as heir. Just how incompetent was that loser for the emperor to not favour him significantly politically?