Ayla explicitly IS a pushover-- not like a reincarnated villainess trying to be extra nice to avoid bad end and is like, accidentally a pushover, if that makes sense, Ayla is written to be explicitly and intentionally a pushover at the start, and to begin with I find that a really interesting take! But then her having to bite the bullet and learn to be mean and be a villainess? I love it. Ayla realizing how sick of everyone's shit she is and has always been, and how much of a badass it makes her feel to stand up to ppl and glare them down? Fuck yeah girl, drink your confidence juice!!!
I think i enjoy it a lot bc i can relate; i think im quite the pushover honestly, and i find it difficult to be mean to ppl on purpose (i feel the cringe in every fibre of my being bruh i just wanna be nice. Tho not to say i am Always nice and never mean, but like to be mean on purpose?? Intentionally?? Ow) but also god i want to have the confidence (and intelligence) to stand up and win an argument and look all cool and graceful doing so-- the catharsis... I too would love to fistfight god in a parking lot for the bullshit role i was handed in life. It would be so cathartic. Ayla, my role model, I would also like to become evil. For my mental health. LMFAO
Charlotte i also find interesting; on a lesser scale, but still. Shes not like, outright evil as far as i can tell? A lot of stories who pit the Heroine as the antagonist make them like secretly fucked up and evil and just rlly wanna watch the protag suffer. But Charlotte... she's not really as nice as everyone thinks she is, sure, but its like. Normal teenage/young adult girl kind of rude. Not "literal fantasy villain" kind of shit. I dont think shes even doing it like... intentionally, i guess is the best way to say? She's self centered because she's gotten an easy hand in life. She's pretty, and not really struggling to get by, and she's learned that things will naturally just go her way because she's pretty and she's nice. I think she really does think she's nice. She's probably the type who doesn't even realize how self centered and condescending she sounds. She makes a remark like "dont say that, the lady will be upset," which sounds kind to her, but it really isnt, and we all can see that. She then looks to Aylas reaction, because she's a normal girl with normal emotions-- emotions that can be ugly and unreasonable, ones that say "this girl is annoying. Shes a thorn in my side, always causing trouble for me, and i kind of *want* to see her upset" even though she knows she shouldnt act that way and so she doesnt say it out loud and doesnt outright act on it. But a petty part of her wants to see it, because... thats kind of normal. Not good, obviously, but its human.
I feel like shes not actually as fleshed out as i made her sound in this comment, but i just find it interesting that the take on this heroine isnt "secretly fucked up super evil and wants the villainess to suffer unreasonably" and more "normal girl who has had an easy and privileged life thinks shes actually kind but doesnt realize how self centered and condescending she is because of her skewered point of view, and is petty towards someone she doesnt like"... its not that unique of a take either i think, but i think its a take with a lot of potential when done right. I dont feel like this story will actually live up to that potential because i believe they want to portray Charlotte as purely the antagonist who wont rlly get her own focus, arc, or character development, but its a Thought nonetheless.