battleaxe

the performances were good, and again i think its mostly the director's credit.
the costumes, makeup, and most of the production were also really nice
the script itself was the weak link, it was mostly meh

i like li shu, i've found her to be a very pleasing fl since the first episode. she is quite well written, which is a pleasant surprise bc the story's main premise is too funky, bc wdym the emperor won't dethrone the cp unless he commits treason? *a thousand eyerolls*. he placed his own pride above his people's wellbeing, which makes him the main villain in the story, but ig none of the writers gaf
on the flip side our dear ml just barely registers, they drowned him out with all the other big personality/complicated male characters. sometimes i even forget he's part of the drama

btw, the crown princess is the only one smart enough in the entire drama to go band for band with the fl, fortunately she's married to a foolish man so
i wondered why an le wouldn't just run to their father when her dear gege was forcing her on cui, turns out she a bird frfr
and its silly to drag out the remaining eps, they should be ending the drama on a crisp note its not that deep

that crown princess clearly hates her husband, yet she's proactively aiding his evil. what's your deal girl.
i'm glad that whole cui business is finally over with, he was such a burden. like a literal rope around li shu's neck.
the king will have to die for the cp to end up together happily

when she finally takes down the cp i hope he doesn't die, i hope he and his cprincess live on for decades and decades in utter misery. also what kind of idiot rushes to sacrifice his sharpest strategist? he's so jealous of her 🤭💀
i get so annoyed every time li shu's non husband jumps in front of her to 'protect' her from the cp. like 1. that's not she wants and its unhelpful 2. no one asked you 3. why are you so useless? but i do like that he's more impotent than evil bc that's even worse

so her father recognizes her brilliance but still dislikes her why? bc of her mother? but isn't she half you as well bruh? shouldn't he be brimming with pride? what an idiot. although he did make her the cp's strategy/dustbin/whipping boy as soon as he clocked her and that's kind of brilliant, the half wit cp being the backbone of the nation and all. anyway, what a sht father, no wonder why all his kids hate each other

this drama reminds me a lot of princess royal. elaborate costumes, sets, the lighting, loverboy ml, elder princess fl neck and ten toes deep in politics with all the dudes, and calmly clearing the path for favourite weaker little bro to inherit the throne, the servant's robes are almost identical. i like. oh and even the favourite little bro in that one plays the useless nonhusband in this one

i love it when cdramas just drop without any notice, its one my favourite things ever lol

the shadow sovereign, kong xue er's new drama

i enjoy watching the fl and 2ml match wits, for a min i thought he was gonna have the upper hand. he would as well if he wasn't so obsessed with her, lol what a fool.
i'm watching this drama and the shadow sovereign at the same time and its such a double treat! that one also has a for real intelligent fl who's absolutely dominating the story.

what exactly was the ml's plan? bc so far the fl has been bailing him out at every step. didn't he and the 7th prince have some sort of plan before he became top scholar and threw himself into danger? at least he's on brand, all the men in this drama generally aren't that smart, but they do have power. its the other way around for fl

i saw those breathtaking mountains and added this to my ptw asap!

i like that they're lovers from the start, its so grown, and very sweet
also the ml seems to be better now at acting, he no longer cranes his neck forward or look like he'd rather be anywhere else
i hope there's another prince idling away somewhere bc these two are not it

i have medium to moderate hopes for this, the first ep was good and i love a princess fl doing politics with all the dudes. also for once its not a reborn fl story. plus its only 18 eps so they should be able to keep the pacing tight. the costumes and sets are pretty, and it has a slight dongua feel. but whhy did they have to make that beautiful kind eyed boy her husband?? imma need him to do something despicable, and quickly, bc i can't root equally for him and the ml at the same time

the first six eps were nice, also the leads' performances are both better than usual, the director is doing a good job. they look good too

when the ex boyfriend reappeared after 8 months in the beginning i was like girl don't let him in, he came back only bc he's homeless. turns out he really was homeless 💀

awww i'm so happy to see her in a 1fl role!! i called it yearrrsss ago when i saw her play the fl's glutton maid in unchained love.!

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏you go girl

ah jin ze, sigh

the ai already pmo, but fl is also the carbon copy of ml's mummy? i'm not in the mood for this

the business part took up the lion's share of the story, then the past lives drama also took up like 20% - unfortunately both parts bored me
but the cp were so lovely, and their ride or die besties were just the literal best. the little boy was also so precious, the grandpa was awesome, and that one ost was really nice.
i'd say watch if you're looking for something calm/to unwind with

i know these two lead actors can only do so much, but even they were wasted on this script. shame, bc i saw the bts a few months ago, and it seemed like the production put so much hard work into this. that's mainly why i hung on grimly until ep 22. oh well, better luck to everyone next time