The last part?? Hello, that was NOT mentioned as graphically in the manhwa. Imagine going to such lengths to TORTURE someone, literally MAGICALLY PRESERVING her heart so she COULDN'T DIE. I bet a kidney they justified it as 'retribution' or 'justice,' too.
Even if Penelope really did try to poison 'Yvonne', that would only be because she already knew it was Laila, and was trying to stop her. She was trying to KILL Laila to stop the cult, nothing else.
And EVEN IF the others didn't know that, and were BRAINWASHED, I think people overestimate it.
Because as you can see...
Those brainwashed need to WANT it, for it to work. Think of it like a more intense version of their desires. That means that they needed to have WANTED to hurt Penelope.
Laila only magnifies that feeling. They felt it by themselves, in the first place.
I felt dirty after the last AU I posted, so I spent some time drawing that first one I did (I still have no clue what to name it lmao) which has a sort of fluffy premise about a soul piece of Penelope being the one to find Yvonne.
On another note, do ya'll fuck with Witch Hat Atelier? If so, you already know what scene I used from there.
I think I'm developing a love-hate relationship with this drawing hobby, too. THE FUCK you mean I spent TWO HOURS on this shit?? I haven't even colored it or nothinnn
An AU where Leila went after Penelope after Vinter turned back time, since Penelope has a lot of potential of being a useful "brawn," given that she is a descendant of the ancient mages.
It was an idea inspired by how in the OG world, Leila (I'll call the Laila that possessed Yvonne's body as "Leila" for distinction's sake) let Vinter live because he swore allegiance to her when he was brainwashed.
And these scenes, too.
I get the feeling that Penelope would have been Leila's BIGGEST, most lethal weapon. Her younger mind would have been easier to manipulate than an adult's like Winter (not saying she's weak, just that even if she resisted, her brain is just biologically not fully developed yet), AND she was an ancient mage, so she (if awakened) can most likely take on other mages like Winter, as well as possibly the other Lailas that were sealed in the mirror that tried to kill her after being freed.
So, Penelope can possibly guarantee her safety from both the Lailas sealed in the mirror AND from mages that can stand up to them.
However, it is double-edged. Because IF Leila awakens Penelope, yes, while that COULD make her such a boon if she got her in the cult, it could ALSO backfire BADLY if Penelope breaks out of it.
That's why Leila will have to make sure Penelope loves her TO HELL; at least until she finds a way to restrain Penelope and deal with potential threats on her own—
Because having to use human souls to get power is just WAY too much of a hassle if you consider the mages' abilities, and how not only the Laila cult seems particularly weak to ancient magic, but their vessels can still be harmed even with non-enchanted weapons (like the dagger Siyeon stabbed Yvonne's body with), if the mirror is still incomplete.
So Leila will have to complete the mirror first, among other things, before she can attempt to get to Penelope.
But seeing as the reason it was incomplete in the first place because Siyeon took a shard from her in Soleal, it can be assumed that by the time she returns to the manor, she would have ALREADY completed the mirror.
Especially seeing as Penelope knows next to nothing regarding these things, Leila can act as her "enlightenment," and feed the former any information she wants her to believe. Yes, grooming (eugh) basically.
So yeah, if Leila went after Penelope, there would be no hope for humanity at all.
Honestly, I would have loved a special chapter of OG Penelope.
Like, you're telling me she literally died so many times, was implied to have all sorts of experiences in her attempts to stop Leila, but NOT ONE TIME was her pov shared?
Don't get me started on how disappointing Leila’s character was. I mean, she's okay as a villain, but I genuinely cannot imagine her or her cult as a true danger when they never really 'won' in any depictions of it. It was like as long as Cha Siyeon had the male leads around, she'll win (at least for the majority of the time).
Leila is centuries old, and you're telling me she lost just like that? It apparently took her the ancient mages to have her cult sealed away, but she couldn't defeat the cast (Vinter is a mage, but logically speaking he couldn't have possibly been on par with the ancient mages who Leila dealt with) apparently.
It would have been fine if it was her intelligence that made her scary (like Johan), but even then, there was not even any of that. No shows of her being sly or cunning that genuinely makes her intimidating.
There was SO much potential for her (she can literally suck the life force of someone via a kiss, and can remember the loops) but instead she was simply the bad guy, nothing more than that. Not even a brief glimpse to her mind or anything, of why she's so okay with treating humans like tools, or how she was able to defeat Penelope so many times, of even FOR WHAT she was doing it for other than the cult's unified desire to extend their own lives, and so on.
Smh, I swear I'm gonna make this blog all about it. It will be over for yall once I figure out how to draw or write to make proper content of what's going on in my head.
