a female gazing

Oh no that sounds brutal....guess we'll be getting Yixao pining instead potentially. I'm cool with it, bring on the yearning arc!!

Sensed there was something up with Murong Yao from his first appearance, when he strolled up to Feng Suige's carriage and plopped himself down in it while all the townspeople were watching. Felt like ominous foreshadowing — a visual representation of an interloper brazenly sitting in the rightful heir's throne, in a public and perhaps even humiliating way. And Suige—who trusts so few—realizing he's allowed himself to be betrayed again by someone he considers an ally will be heartbreaking. I doubt Yao is the final boss; the editing alone makes it clear to me he's a red herring. It's far more likely someone else is pulling his selfish little strings to fulfill a much larger geopolitical conspiracy between the warring nations.

SO glad our leads have admitted their feelings openly — I'm loving their romance, it's very well balanced and never too sickly sweet, and so far we're not in annoying miscommunication territory! But I'm already feeling the keen sting of their upcoming separation though. I wish Fu Yixao would stop stepping away from her group to investigate things alone because it never seems to end well for her lmao, and she's way more fragile than before as she recovers from surgery.

My prediction (I haven't read the novel so idk) is that we're looking down the barrel of another memory loss arc for her sometime soon. Tension will be at an all-time high and the blood clot in her brain will burst, and she reverts back to the "Prince Feng Suige and Susha are my mortal enemies and I'm loyal to Jingshi and Jinxiu" default. It's gonna be an angsty pain train my friends!!! Maybe this happens after she discovers Murong Yao is the masked man (or is involved directly with him) but loses her memory before she can share the discovery with Suige? She'll probably disappear back to Jinxiu and Xia Jingshi will take advantage of her blank slate, much to Feng Xiyang's chagrin....

Alternate possibility is Jingshi takes Ning Fei out of that secret location and Yixao ends up taken there in return like Ling Feng said would happen, but now she's a brand new amnesiac all over again lol. The possibilities are endless, but damn it's gonna be insane watching Suige go totally feral trying to find his girl. Soft Suige is dreamy, but I won't lie, I also miss the earlier episodes when he was terrifying and ferocious — like, breaking the necks of shady adopted sons with his bare hands, in broad daylight. Ugh, my ovaries.

Side note, I haven't seen much discussion of Emperor Pingcheng, but Zhao Bin's performance is utterly captivating bro. I find the character deeply complex and cannot wait to learn more about his motivations over the years....something about him is so vulnerable and human, but the way he's written and the way Zhao Bin chooses to play him makes me feel like there's far more under the surface than anyone realizes. His "weakness" and submission to the Empress is intentional. I think he's playing the long game here — he's 10 steps ahead of where anyone thinks he is. Loved finding out he privately sees Ling Feng every year. Probably knows the Empress and Prime Minister are backed by much more powerful players and wants to protect his kids until Suige can take the throne. Idk, idc, but I love that man with my whole chest.

So far I'm absolutely loving this for the most part. Cannot wait for more!!!!

The more I think about it the more certain I am she would have been the PERFECT fit for this part. I will never get over how fabulous she was in the early eps of In Blossom. A stunning natural beauty with incredible natural screen presence, but who I could totally see pulling off a masculine soldier look with finesse. Man, what could have been!!! I'm so sad I haven't seen her in more stuff since she blew up the internet with that IB cameo

Omg, I actually forgot about Crystal Liu in Mulan! You're totally right — the drama is super limited by the production's hesitation to let its leads look 'bad' (not the right word, but hopefully you know what I mean). It is def an idol drama, so probably out of fear of disrupting traffic on major platforms.

ZY's He Yan gives no indication she was raised as a male in a VERY gritty, violent, and brutish environment. She's very feminine to me from every angle so the whole premise is a tough sell. I was hoping I, the viewer, would see real masculinity in her but I see none. Just a little lady who's excellent with a sword. I definitely should have tempered my expectations from the get go lol — we were clearly never getting something like the pic you shared, unfortunately! Would have definitely been a superior production if we had though.

I replied above with some ideas off the top of my head, but Sun Qian or Zheng He Hui Zi would probably be at the top of my list of actresses who have a physical sturdiness to them that could allow them to visually pull off 'raised as a boy most of their life'

Oh wow I hadn't even considered Elaine Zhong — her performance in Born To Run was absolutely stunning. She would have been phenomenal in this!!

I never had any particular actresses in mind, but I suppose I could see Crystal Liu, Zhou Yu Tong, or Sun Qian here? Zheng He Hui Zi may have been really good, not too delicate and sturdy-looking. Who knows. Maybe even Sun Zhenni — she's got so much charisma I'd probably watch her do anything for 2 hours a day lol, but she's also quite feminine facially.

I really hadn't stopped to think "who else would have played this better" because what's the point, but this type of role requires a lot of screen presence. It's already going to be twice the battle (forgive the pun) for someone who is noticeably VERY petite to successfully pull off a character like this, but it's obviously not impossible with a truly knockout performance.

I think with enough charisma and physical control it can be done by lots of different actresses. I was hoping ZY would surprise me but I'm still feeling like her size and stature places broad limitations on her performance, or at least my personal experience of it. Either way, I hope she surprises me and I'm still looking forward to seeing how the rest of the story unfolds!

I'm honestly glad for ZY to hear it's being well-received in China. Again, my comment wasn't meant as hate for the actress in any capacity. I know she's a capable performer and wish her continued success in her career. Chinese viewing data aside (lol), her casting just isn't doing it for me, personally. I'm just one viewer and everyone's opinion is subjective here. I remain hopeful that further on in the drama, we'll get to see some more nuance from her. I'll be sticking around regardless to support!

I remember being very concerned when I saw Zhou Ye was cast in this role, but I stayed cautiously optimistic because she can still pack a punch even in that tiny frame! Unfortunately, I now think I was right to be worried. I'm enjoying this drama for what it is, but considering how beloved the novel is, I was expecting....more from this one?

No hate whatsoever, but ultimately I believe Zhou Ye was truly miscast here. Not only is she physically unbelievable in this role — small women can definitely be great fighters, especially with other opponents within their weight class, and she clearly is a phenomenal swordswoman — but imagining her as a great general is stretching it a prettttty far for my brain and eyes.

It's not only her size; her whole appearance and way of behaving is very childlike and immature. It's extremely difficult to take her seriously as someone who is battle-hardened and probably pretty traumatized to some degree. It's not fun to say this because it's not her fault at all: she just doesn't have the physical presence or gravitas to take me on this journey. A lot of these flaws can be overcome with enough charisma, but in the show so far, she's lacking that, too.

Cheng Lei's aura is really something else, though. He takes up the whole screen when he's on it, you know? But it's actually making the blandness of Zhou Ye's performance starker in comparison. They are very, very unbalanced which is impacting my suspension of disbelief. None of this is meant as a personal attack btw: I've seen Zhou Ye in some shows where she really shined, even if the rest of the project didn't wow me. Sadly this simply isn't one of them.

I'm digging their chemistry though, I'm excited to see how their relationship develops. So I'll definitely continue this one as it airs, but with greatly reduced expectations.

Thank you for saying that. "I love this show, but it has problems" is exactly my attitude in a nutshell! It's aggravating that with only some minor tweaks, the director/writer could have totally sidestepped these flaws. And I'm happy as a clam with slow burns, even glacially paced ones, as long as the narrative is coherent, the characters have strong writing, and it feels like there's some sort of growth and payoff happening. But that's not entirely been the case here. They pushed the envelope a liiiiiittle too far — and the pacing and delivery suffer for it. It's not my lack of patience that's the issue, as I've seen some commenters saying in response to critiques.

Still, I'm holding onto my optimism for the remaining eps, and this is still generally elevated material for the genre. I'll stick around hoping they pleasantly surprise me. BALANCE 😂

Totally agree. We are long past the point where she should have experienced some revelation, and I'm sure this will bite her in the ass soon and she'll be very regretful.

I think they weren't sure how to balance the Strong Woman Character with actual likability, and that sucks! So preventable. But ultimately as a viewer, I should naturally feel motivated to root for the FL, even when she makes mistakes — even though she is flawed. It's frustrating to not feel fully onboard enough with the character to do that.

This is a really good and bewitching drama but I do feel like some criticism is justified, and people are being treated like haters for pointing out very real flaws with the script, characterization, and world-building.

I know I'm expected to empathize with Song Yimeng and I do — she's doing her best to survive this situation, knowing there seem to be some inevitable outcomes — but enough has changed from the canon plot that there should absolutely be more doubt in her mind about everyone and everything. She mostly skimmed a lot of the script/novel, and there's lots of context she's missing (which she should logically have realized by now).

The narrative reeeeeally emphasizes her empathy and compassion for every single other person, so for the average casual viewer, her constant vindictiveness (not just verbal abuse but also physical violence) against ML comes across as excessive and extremely callous. I'm watching closely and I DO understand her desire to avoid getting entangled with ML, but this show was marketed as a romance and considering we are 2/3 of the way through now, there's still truly very little of that happening. I'm not at all surprised viewers are fatigued.

It was REALLY late in the game to try and give her a tragic backstory in episode 27 with her parents dying in a fire IRL; that seems like a last-minute addition to garner sympathy. For the sake of her characterization, this absolutely should have been handled earlier....like idk, during that massive fire at the Lantern Festival. And then having Nan Heng not press for more details considering her actual dad is still alive in this world seemed a bit silly and weird considering how smart and calculating he usually is. Idk.

They could have easily alleviated some audience exhaustion by peppering in a few more scenes here and there of FL experiencing real inner conflict, or having the self-awareness to question her own behavior. Like, ML has had many pointed lines of self-defense (both as Nan Heng, and as Liu Shiliu) but not a single time did they land with her or shake her whatsoever. She's barely had a hint of doubt about who he really is or that she might have gotten some things wrong. That kind of pride gets really tiring, especially from a character who hasn't actually 'experienced' the awfulness that SYM from canon did. She wasn't reborn from that life, like for example in SOKP. No, FL literally read the TV show script on her couch, but then proceeds to take everything sooo personally. And she's had zero inclination to reconsider her own biases in a discernible way until episode 27, and....barely even then.

Again, I'm enjoying the show, but they could have easily prevented a lot of criticism by making FL a little more narratively consistent and....less unlikeable. Sorry, it is what it is. At this point it's a reach that ML is so in love with her when she's only ever been so incredibly cruel and unfair in her judgment of him. I don't find it enjoyable at all to watch, especially so late in the game. It's willful ignorance on her part now to emphatically believe Nan Heng is totally evil, selfish, and wanting her dead when he didn't even kill her in the actual story. Technically SYM killed herself. This isn't the point lmao but I'm just saying, man!

I keep seeing versions of "nan heng tried to kill her at the beginning of course she's suspicious!!!!!" but song yimeng tried to kill him too, multiple times lol — but he loves her anyway and forgives her for misunderstanding him. Her failure to show the same insight and introspection for so long is beyond stubbornness, and makes it harder to root for her (even though I want to!). It's simply getting old that she keeps hammering on about The Script, even going so far as to say "this whole world is just a storybook on a page" — if this is really still how she feels about her environment and these characters, then why the hell does she care anymore, about any of this? Why should I? Does anything even matter? Do any of these people even matter?????

that ridiculous script scene was meant to be satire about how much tv show adaptations change things around from the original source material (in this case—the graphic novels FL is reading later, which as we can see ALSO are very tropey and not super great themselves).

the director/producer literally says "we're going to play up the love triangle even harder!" and "audiences LOVE this kind of overkill drama!!"

audiences hate both of those things. that's the whole joke lmao

Oh wow, the trailer is phenomenal. It's been a while since I've seen a promo so gorgeously put together. I am seated. The cinematography on showcase looks stellar and if the teaser is anything to go by, this drama will be a definite feast for the eyes if nothing else.

Story-wise, it's giving sinfully fun and deliciously dark—nearly horror movie vibes, so not at all what I was expecting when this was announced, but it's actually right up my alley aesthetically.

I couldn't care less about the 'half-sibling' plot point, y'all, this is South Korea. The leads are obviously not blood-related so I have no idea why anyone is even worried about that. Though...to be totally transparent, even if they were (they're not), I also wouldn't be bothered by a tragically star-crossed will-they-won't-they morally bankrupt incest-adjacent romance. I'm in the minority here, but what's the big deal? This is fiction. Just tell a good story, and I'm pretty much in.

I CANNOT wait to binge this one, I hope it doesn't disappoint. I adore Lee Jae Wook and I'm certain he'll deliver an incredibly nuanced and charismatic performance in this type of role, but 'The Impossible Heir' made me want to invent time travel so I could go back to a time when I'd never seen it. So there's that to consider.

Guess we'll have to see if the finished product can match the top-notch marketing materials. Fingers crossed.

If you're looking for quiet/romantic slice of life dramas with similar soft melancholy comfort vibes, I recommend checking out:

- When the Weather Is Fine
- Call It Love
- Our Beloved Summer
- Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
- Reply 1988
- Twenty-Five Twenty-One

I actually have a list of them with way more, especially if you're open to Chinese & Japanese dramas as well: https://kisskh.at/list/389xP5O4

An absolutely insane and unhinged comment section full of people who think an affair is more morally bankrupt than MARITAL R*PE????????????

Unbelievable and disgusting.

Xifan and her ex-boyfriend were together for 7 years; from flashbacks to their college days he used to be a normal and sweet partner, in stark contrast to his character now. His behavior and attitude toward her is very clearly shown to have changed slowly over time. She's not "meek" — she was being gaslighted for multiple years by someone she believed loved her.

It's pretty insidious when relationships become toxic like this. Think of it like a frog in a pot of water on the stove: the water slowly gets hot, and the frog doesn't notice the increase in temperature because it happens gradually. By the time the water is boiling, it's too late for the frog to escape.

That's essentially what happened to Shen Xifan with her ex. He really, really damaged her self-esteem and her trust in herself, so much that it gave her insomnia and made her ill—the unconscious stress of being treated this way was literally manifesting in her body. I have seen this happen in others and it's awful. People like her ex use this kind of behavior to control and emotionally manipulate their partners/victims, and in such subtle ways that the victim believes it's their own fault.

It's not uncommon and doesn't imply meekness or weakness at all on Xifan's part. She was being emotionally abused and didn't (and probably still doesn't) even realize it.

I'm definitely enjoying this one — it's very atmospheric but hasn't fallen off the deep end into melodrama quite yet, and I'm impressed by the cinematography and lighting, which are usually an afterthought in Cdramaland these days.

Zhang Ruo Nan is fantastic in this, truly. She's vulnerable, naive, and subdued without coming across as childish or immature. I'm so enjoying her understated performance and I appreciate that she never over-acts. There's SO MUCH going on behind her eyes, I can't take my eyes off her when she's on screen! Really excited to get to the meat of her backstory and see her shed some of her armor.

I'm still waiting on Bai Jing Ting to wow me though. No disrespect because he's proven many times over that he's a very talented actor; his performance in Reset is one of my favorites ever! It might just be the writing not giving him a ton of room to play or express, but by episode 16 he still feels sort of one-note. Hopefully when more gets revealed about Wen Yi Fan's painful experiences, we will get to see his character become a little more dynamic.

Anyway regardless of my critique, this show is so far way superior to other offerings from 2024 in the same genre. Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out!

This show is like a cup of hot tea while you watch the sunset. So freaking calming and gentle—truly the ASMR of Cdramas lol

BRUH. THEY BURIED HER WITH HIS ARM 😭😭😭😂😂😂