Vadd Analysis - Tumblr Posts

No no, this is a fascinating angle to consider. And also a bit ironic that the love interests consider Penelope to be an imposter in the story because she kind of is. Novel readers will know that Siyeon is a reincarnated fragment of OG!Penelope’s soul, but for a while she doesn’t know that (and it still doesn’t really make them the same person). So she feels like an imposter, and Derrick and Reynold consider her an imposter not just because Penelope has replaced Ivonne, but also because she’s had such a drastic change in attitude and personality. Yet she’s still not the true imposter. Just really interesting.

[Kind of SPOILERS here]

I can't stop thinking that somehow the plot of vadd is similar to Among Us(at least a little bit).

Poeple stuck in a game World and having to do tasks and quests to survive (mainly Penelope/ we can also consider winter who's stuck in a mission of turning back the time everytime laila wins). Check.

One imposter that hides it's identity and kills poeple. Check.

Nobody can trust nobody(Penelope can't trust anyone because she's afraid laila brainwashed them/winter with his trust issues/Derrick doesn't trust penny on anything/..). Also Check

Everyone think that Penelope is evil/the imposter and ultimately killing her because of their own silly doubts.

The real villainess/imposter all along:

I should really go get some sleep 😭

VADTD cover analysis!

This stems from an analysis I did on the vadtd server (everyone is welcome to come and join us). Since there seem to be a few people who are confused about the order of covers or the seasons they represent, I decided to make a little analysis, (this is coming from someone who has almost all english physical copies of the manhwa). I shall fulfill my duty as self-proclaimed season speculator and covers analyst (•̀ᴗ•́)و

As of now we have 7 known covers, after Suol-nim made an announcement on twitter that the new and 4th season will begin on the 30 of September, and with it came a picture of what might be the new season’s cover.

(To make the placement easier to understand, just look at it this way: the odd numbers are the main covers, whereas the even numbers are the filler covers, which was pointed out by @seirclys as well).

1. Let’s start from the very beginning with the first cover.

The first cover ever that we know of, where Penelope is by herself. We've seen this cover plenty of times. It is the first season's start, and I'd also like to think that the fact that she is by herself is not only showing that she is the protagonist, but also her distance with everyone else.

We can see that there are various crystal hearts around Penelope and each represents one of the male leads. Penelope is laying in a coffin, (most likely showing the many in-game deaths), and surrounded by flowers, more specifically white lilies that we see in the novel illustration of Penelope.

She is wearing the dress which is said to be her favorite, that appears each time a panel of the actual game is shown. It seems to be her trademark dress.

Penelope is holding onto a dark red rose, which I believe is supposed to represent how she chose Eckles as her escape out since his affection score rises easily.

2. The second one is not a season start cover, nor a main cover, it’s a physical copy cover because the first season was broken in multiple parts when published as physical.

On the cover we see Penelope and Emily; I think this shows how now Emily is firmly on Penelope's side and will continue to serve her from then on. The duchy in the background and Emily's presence could also be symbolizing how other servants as well are now recognizing Penelope as their superior, like the head butler Pennel did.

Penelope’s dress is a stark contrast to the one seen on the first season cover. Her dress is very bright and shorter, looking to be made for a more leisurely time. There is also a book in her hand and her expression is calm, while Emily brings a cheerful air.

3. The third in line is a main cover, and consequentially, the second season's cover.

On the cover we see Penelope and Reynold standing back to back, and the place is the attic where they had a verbal altercation, however Reynold understood where he went wrong. Their position shows how they are close but yet so far; Reynold from now on will try to mend his relationship with Penelope (in his own way), while Penelope for the time being doesn't want to have much to do with him. They will grow closer as time goes by.

Reynold has a remorseful expression while Penelope is almost indifferent, neutral even.

Some of her hair is resting on his shoulder, and she is holding a pink rose, which from my understanding is a nod towards Reynold since now we know that his affection score is pink.

I think that it all means that, despite the two of them having clashed the most, Penelope is still welcome to allow Reynold to be close to her.

Thorny vines are present at the top, together with pink roses and blue roses that look to be yet again hinting at Reynold’s affection score, and possibly how his relationship with her will be meant to be: lighthearted feelings, with brotherly love.

4. Like the second one, the fourth cover is mostly a physical copy cover, since season 2 was broken in parts for serialization reasons.

On the cover we see Penelope and Callisto, who is very present in the hunting arc. His stance very distant from Penelope, signaling that the two of them are not that 'close' in that point in time/plot. Callisto could also be considered as being more in the background since he is the farthest away from Penelope, unlike Emily and Reynold so far.

Callisto is looking at Penelope with an observant expression, whereas Penelope is looking at us. I’d like to point out that Penelope is always looking at the viewer, while if there are other characters in the cover, they are always looking at her.

Both of them are wearing their garments from the hunting tournament. Their weapons are also in sight, which are quite important in this particular arc.

Penelope’s crossbow and her use of it is what got her banned the previous year, and this time around it will be used to save both her and Callisto from the assassins chasing them. Callisto’s sword will slay the bear that attacked Penelope, and it was also used by him to aid Penelope in their fight against the assassins.

5. The fifth cover is a main cover, and season’s 3 main cover.

It features Penelope and Derrick standing with their backs to each other, separated by prison bars, symbolizing Penelope's wrongful incarceration, as well as her cutting ties with Derrick after the trial.

The broken blue string is a call back to how Penelope was seen 'stepping’ on a blue ribbon, which is a figuration and meant to represent her relationship with Derrick, to show how she is once and for all cutting every connection to him, writing him out of her options.

Both of them are dressed in the same attire we see on them during the trial arc, showing exactly when their affiliation became strained.

Although they are standing back to back, it is very different from how Reynold did it, (Reynold was basically sitting next to her with her hair even falling on his shoulder, basically very close); Derrick on the other hand has no physical contact with Penelope whatsoever and we can only see half of his face, his figure is also fading towards the bottom.

In her hand Penelope is holding the dagger that was used as evidence to prove her innocence during the trial. The snapped string and the way she holds the dagger makes it appear as though she cut the string, which would be pretty ironic given how the dagger was the evidence of Penelope’s innocence, which Derrick doubted from the beginning, and because of his skepticism he did not get the chance to even know about the dagger before Penelope herself presented it during the trial.

Like with Reynold’s cover, there are thorny vines around the cover, however the roses here are darker in color and obviously meant to represent Derrick.

6. This is not a main cover, and is the filler cover for the continuation of season 3.

This cover represents the island arc where Winter is a prominent figure.

Like Reynold he is very close yet far at the same time, and like with Callisto, their distance shows a lack of complete trust from Penelope towards them. However whereas Callisto still didn't have Penelope's faith, Winter lost it in this arc.

Penelope's back is facing Winter, while he is reaching for her with a purple rose in his hand (the exact same color as his affection score), but there is no physical contact between the two.

Penelope is also adorning an almost indifferent expression. With his 'test’ to see if Penelope was a follower of the Leila, he endangered both the children and Penelope herself, which made her lose all of her hope in him.

At the season's end we see how Penelope cuts off ties with him as well and tells him to not look for her unless she looks for him first. It is pretty much the same situation that happened with Derrick; Penelope is giving her back to both of them with a serious and determinate expression on her face signaling how she ‘writes them off' her list of potential escape routes.

There is yet another pattern at the edges of the cover, consisting of thorny vines and roses in a coloring that represents the male lead featured on the cover.

The cover where Callisto is featured seems to be the only one so far (featuring a male lead) that does not have these thorny vines and roses, despite him very much being a male lead. I previously attributed that to his cover not being a main one, however after further inspecting Winter’s cover which is also a filler one like Callisto’s, I can say that it’s not the case. Perhaps the vines full of thorns are there to symbolize how each of the male leads did something that made Penelope reluctant to place trust in them and consequentially less prone to consider them successful escape routes.

7. The seventh cover was shared yesterday on twitter by Suol herself, and will most likely be the main cover for season 4.

This signals that the season will begin with Eckles coming back from his training, (I could explain the cover further, but it contains major spoilers so I won't include this segment, and I will be vague with the discernment of the cover's symbolism).

Eckles is shown to have a desperate expression on his face, and there is also a little distance between him and Penelope.

Due to the previous pattern of the last two covers, as well as Penelope's almost doubtful/ incredulous and somewhat 'angry’ expression, one could assume that Eckles did something that made him fall from Penelope's graces, so she'll most likely take a distance from him too.

His hand is still the one that's holding the magical sword Penelope gifted to him when they went out and she bought him all the training equipment, together with the amulets for the Duke, Emily and Callisto.

The background consists of the thorny vines that were present in the previous two covers and Reynold’s as well (which backs up further the theory that Penelope will distance herself from Eckles), with roses of pale and darker colors, which make them seem as they're withering; the two of them look to be inside of the greenhouse, where they did appear once before.

Their attire is the same as when they went together shopping, which is a little unusual since it’s an ‘old’ reoccurrence, and it breaks the sequence of the characters wearing the same clothes from the beginning of the season/arc they’re meant to represent.

I’d just like to point out that the reason Derrick isn’t giving Penelope a rose in the cover might be because he’s still coming to terms with his own feelings? Like, he’s aware that he cares for her too much, but he doesn’t want to fully acknowledge the depth of those feelings and what it means. That’s why the roses are in full bloom, but you can see some of the petals scattered around. The roses are starting to wilt, like Eckles rose.

Also, there are magenta roses on the cover. It might just be a way of adding some more pops of color and representing Penelope (magenta like her hair, roses are the Eckharts symbol) but magenta roses often symbolize gratitude and appreciation. None of their petals are scattered, and they’re attached to the thorns like the blue roses are. Admittedly, I’m not too sure what that could be for. Penelope being grateful that Derrick came to check on her in prison, only for her to be hurt when that assumption was proven wrong? Magenta flowers in general tend to be associated with love and passion, so maybe it leads back to Derrick’s own feelings? If anyone has a better explanation, I’d be happy to hear it!

So we are waiting for the VADD covers with Callisto and Derrick and their colors!

Am I the only one who thinks that one of the amulets Callisto wore for his birthday looked somewhat similar to the amulet Penelope gave him?

Both look kind of like a sun burst to me. Maybe I’m just overthinking things.

♦️Fun fact and spoilers from VADTD episode 130-131⚠️♦️

Callisto has currently worn a dark turquoise shirt and a magenta accessory thinking about Penelope♥️

We’re getting closer and closer to the greenhouse scene, which I estimate to be in around 2 chapters at most. 1 chapter until then if we’re lucky.

And by extension, we’ll get to see Callisto point out how thin Penelope has become.

Just look at how her wrists and arms are so visible and thin, even her collarbone is protruding

These panels too, you can see how utterly skinny her arms have gotten 😭

In the second one where she gets escorted back by the knights, her arms look like sticks T_T

It’s gotten so bad because you can clearly see there is a difference to how she was before. (See pic below)

Like here she actually looks healthy *sobs*

Tbh I’m scared to even know what her legs look like now if her arms are like that.

At this point it’s just ‘greenhouse scene save me’ because I can’t wait to see Callisto lose his marbles over Penelope’s unhealthy weight loss (and the angst that will come with it all too).

I love these panels so much, I’m never getting over them not only because of how beautiful they are, but also due to their meaning and how it perfectly shows the characters' feelings.

It’s the part where Penelope tells Callisto she doesn’t love him and his face crumbles, he’s so taken aback by it but for all the wrong reasons, let me elaborate;

(contains some novel spoilers!!)

From the beginning, Callisto knew that Penelope’s confession about how she fell in love with him at first sight was bullshit.

He knows she lied to him on multiple occasions but doesn’t mind at all; it’s stated later on in his pov that despite all the rumors and her deception, Callisto too found it surprising how he didn't get angry.

They also had this conversation in the cave and many other occasions when he teased her about it and she kept on saying that she wasn’t in love with him anymore.

However each time Penelope claimed to not be in love with him, Callisto was either amused or grumbled about it playfully.

It’s the setting that changes things. Back then it was all teasing and her getting fed up with him and his successful attempts at eliciting some sort of reaction out of her.

As the story progresses, their interactions become more tense due to the friction and tension being products of their feelings for one another.

We can see the first signs of Callisto ‘wavering’ during his birthday banquet as Penelope is about to reject him.

He looked crestfallen when she brought up love because he still can’t make sense of it, convinced that his feelings of fondness can’t be related to love—or more like, he’s trying to convince himself it’s like that.

Knowing what is about to come, he shushed her, while admitting to the fact that he knew she was going to reject him, hence why he told her to give him an answer on her coming of age.

It’s all because Callisto hoped she would change her mind and her answer would be the one he hoped for, basically her accepting.

Then in the greenhouse things become more serious. The talk about Penelope’s condition had an impact on the build-up of it.

Penelope is completely serious and firm about her rejection, she is more apathetic due to the impending deadline of hard mode’s ending and things falling apart continuously.

She doesn’t have any control of the things happening around her and it makes her grow more and more anxious, to the point where it all becomes too much and it leads her to resign to her fate.

Callisto’s reaction to it is so strong not only because Penelope kept on pushing him towards another woman (which he doesn’t even know) when all he wanted was to be with her, but because she disregarded his feelings in the process as well.

Penelope goes on to say that she doesn’t love him, and that’s the real nail in the coffin, Callisto is actually in love with her but fails to realize it, but his subconscious seems to be aware of it given his reaction.

It’s a “…she doesn’t love me?” slap in the face realization.

I’m saying this because later in the novel, Callisto reveals that he hid his desire to be with Penelope behind the guise of an arranged marriage because he was afraid to admit being in love with her due to what happened to his parents. You could say he has always loved her from the moment they first met.

➺ chapter. 201 from the novel:

Anyhow, Penelope talks about her circumstances and past, saying how while wanting love she also needs and wants someone to take her out of the hell she’s in.

She tells Callisto he’s not that person and he’s absolutely devastated by that statement. He even gets described as dazed in the novel when this scene happens.

It’s a point of no return for Callisto because he still refuses to acknowledge his feelings as love for Penelope.

He can’t have her unless he admits to loving her, but he’s afraid to do so due to his past, he's convinced that if he confesses then she would end up like his mother.

Callisto needs a push, and that push is the fear of losing her forever which comes in the form of Penelope’s poisoning on her coming of age ceremony.

It all boils down to “don’t make any assumptions about my feelings” and “you don’t know what/how I feel” but we don’t get that since Callisto is suppressing it.

He’s angry and rightfully so and Penelope’s earlier apparent indifference doesn’t help either.

But yes, Penelope’s rejection hurt him so much because loves her.

Callisto is conflicted and in denial. It’s like he’s already having an inner battle about his feelings and then Penelope comes and deals the final blow, stomping all over his heart while pushing him away.

"I chose you, Penelope Eckhart. Not your household." and “Does my proposal mean so little to you?” are so telling because it’s clear that he’s been strongly impacted by all of this.

Callisto genuinely wants to be with Penelope and get her to the safety of the palace but went about it the wrong way.

They’re so miscommunication, it will be so long before they get to talk properly about their feeling and we get that love confession I’m not okay T_T

Thinking about all the things that will happen before that is making my head hurt, I’m going back to reading my comfort fanfics…see y’all tomorrow when the beginning of the end begins with more yearning and angst as Callisto will come back :,)

Enjoy chapter 153 cuz next week there is a break—

Bon appetit, dear readers~

Today's chapter is just as delicious as the previous two, but this time, SUOL-nim has blessed us with a break from crying.

Let's start with Derrick and Ivonne's conversation!

In the novel, this conversation should have happened earlier, that is, we observe a similar situation as in chapters 86 and 87 (if I'm not mistaken, the conversation between Penelope and Reynold was also shown there at a different time).

Little Eckhart siblings and Ivonne holding Derrick's hand... it's so cute, especially in such colors—

In the preview for the chapter, it was written that each brother spends time with his sister. That is, Derrick spends time with Ivonne, who has finally returned, and Reynold spends time with Penelope (in the chapter, there are quite funny frames with them).

I'm actually a bit moved by the Derrick and Ivonne moment, but especially the frame with the three Eckhart siblings. Because you can see how Derrick blames himself for everything that happened. It can be seen that he has not accepted the loss of his younger sister for years, unlike the Duke and Reynold.

Yes, Derrick even has tea with her on the day of Penelope's coming-of-age ceremony—

But what is interesting is that the entire chapter did not show us Ivonne's emotions and gaze. Seriously. Therefore, it seems as if the stories where the girl from the stories about the disappearance of the real daughter are different from the one who actually returned.

Congratulations to Ivonne for finally being able to wash her hair outside of the sea and change her clothes!

But back to the coming of age ceremony!!

Did you want to see Penelope in a tiara? It's time! Look how beautiful she is!!

I like the fact that Winter's necklace was indeed, as written in the novel, slightly superfluous for Penelope's image. Mostly, it seems so because of its gray color, in contrast to the pastel blue colors of other decorations.

Magic works in this world, so the petals that resemble the same Elenvik flowers don't just fall out of nowhere, lol.

In the novel, it was said that Reynold even raised their hands even higher so that all the guests could see and have no doubt that the brother and sister had a good relationship, which also prompted an increase in Penelope's reputation.

I can't put into words how impressed I am with the costumes of the characters. Indeed. They look just fantastic. I especially liked Reynold's costume. The peculiarity is that SUOL-nim always draws outfits that have exactly the same style. That is, a certain element of clothing that we can see and immediately recognize for which character it is.

Also, I'm glad to see the same Reynold's ring that was in the first chapters of the manhwa again, haha. No wonder it is on the middle finger—

But nevertheless, in my opinion, this is an important moment of the chapter!

A conversation between Reynold and Penelope mentions the moment they last met, when Reynold was brainwashed.

Somehow you see what a mouth is for and that it can be used for talking and not just for kissing. Isn't that right, dear Callisto and Penelope?

You see images that were real and from the point of view of a brainwashed Reynold. He didn't act as if he deliberately wanted to reprimand Penelope, but on the contrary, to stop her.

Penelope sees Reynold and realizes that he is at least now brainwashed.

And now the moment I've been waiting for for a very long time!..

YES, THESE ARE THE SAME RABBITS THAT REYNOLD GAVE PENELOPE!

In the next chapter, there will be a rather interesting conversation about how Reynold tried to make a rabbit the color of Penelope's eyes. It's really cute moments between them.

But look at the similarities and differences between Derrick's and Reynold's gifts.

they both presented living beings;

both have similarities with Penelope's appearance colors: Derrick gave a bird the color of her hair, and Reynold tried to create a rabbit with the color of his sister's eyes;

different subtext and symbolism of gifts;

the bird has no one to communicate with, it is alone in the cage, and there are many rabbits, and they are quite fragile, but when they hatch, they are unlikely to live in a cage.

In this chapter, I smiled, while Penelope hardly did, if not at all. The chapter is over on the rabbits... so anyone who wanted to see Callisto, he will be in two weeks :'D

Red amaryllis

Red lily

I definitely think one of Callisto’s flowers is an amaryllis, though the bottom flower on the 4th picture seems like the petals might match the lily.

Because both flowers are red, they’re both associated with love, passion, and attraction. Which definitely fits as Callisto is currently in love with Penelope, even if he’s denying it; this seems like a subconscious declaration of love to her. Interestingly, lilies in general seem to be used quite often as funeral flowers, though usually white lilies are more commonly used for this purpose. It seems like it’s hinting at Penelope almost dying at the ceremony.

Hello VADD fandom!

I just want to ask what kind of flower or flowers do you think these are?

I'm thinking they are red lilies or red amaryllis and maybe behind them, there is a red poppy, but I don't know...

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-