#empress flower

[stacysloft]

Empress Flower

Dream Diary May 30, 2023

Had to stop coffee for a week because of my worsening weeping eczema. Noticed that dreams come vividly and more often when I don't drink coffee. Some were just usual day to day recollections mixed with fantasy and imagination. But this one was quite intriguing...

I was in a garden talking to someone. He was holding up a red flower which appeared to me as triangular or pointy. He held it up and said: Just like it is rare for an empress flower to bloom, (said something about 'star' but I forgot), it is rare for a leader to have the right amount of kindness and force (may not be exact word but it means a kind of strictness to enforce or implement).

There was also a list of other chinese words/traits which was flashed before me.

(I forgot because I wrote this entry 2 days later…)

努力 - translates to great effort

真心 - translates to sincerity

[pruneunfair]

Tropes in manhwa are awful yet people still defend them

I'm in a bad mood right now so what better way to release all that pent up anger by ranting on what can ruin a good story.

1: Slavery being inserted only for cheap plot and slaves being demonized as obsessive/greedy monsters for "not knowing their place"

Theres nothing wrong with wanting to insert slavery in your story AS LONG as it's not just cheap plot to make your MC look "better" by buying from a single to all of the slaves because let me tell you this: there is no such thing as a good slave owner, you cannot morally own another human being. A lot of manhwa like to have slavery be a part of their plot completely ignoring that just because the MC goes "wow this is terrible" doesn't make them a good person after they buy a slave.

Remarried empress does this with its villian Rashta by pushing the notion that she's being greedy for not wanting to stay in poverty so Navier won't suffer because apparently a slave wanting what the silver spoon mouthed nobles were born into is so terrible not to mention they justify slave owners and slavery in general as a punishment for criminals (neglecting the fact that children can be sold by their parents)

The villainess has fun again justifies a child slave being bought by the lead and he becomes an obsessive shouta love interest, fans continously justify by using the ancient lolicon excuse "he may look young but he's actually 99182823 years old!"

In divorcing my tyrant husband, Robelia buys 30 slaves and the only 2 that consistently show up have no other personality other then "we love you FL we will worship you till the end of time!"

There's a damn manhwa out there literally called the order of slave breeding and even when a story tries to do this correctly such as VADTD with Penelope being portrayed as a bad person for what she did to Eckles, fans have been so deluded by the idea that FL's buying slaves is "girlboss" that they think Eckles should be grateful to be Penelopes "pet"

2: ML's murdering innocent people after one guy hurts the FL

I already made a specific post about it before and I'll say it again: all this does is make your male lead/father figure look like a horrific monster. While you could say it's because its a medieval kingdom (objectively that is true that they would do this) manhwa and OI is the same place where despite in those times taking a mistress was considered normal they still view it as cheating and "how could you pick that slut when you have such a perfect wife!? 🤬" in most stories. So yes, modern morality is still inserted within these tropes. While I can get it's a way to show that the man in questions loves the FL so much he's willing to go to such lengths to protect her I think just mutilating the guy that actually did the sin would be enough because try imagining yourself as a faithful servant who was amazing at your job getting brutally slaughtered by the Emperor because your boss attacked his daughter or lover.

Into the light once again does this with Aishas dad murdering all the relatives and close friends of a count that tried to kill Ysis and Aisha, Aisha doesn't seem to care despite being in a situation where she was wrongfully executed in her past life.

Remarried empress does this too. After Navier is nearly killed by Krista's brother, Heinrey tortures and kills the dad and slaughters the servants of the zemensias. I can't remember if he also murdered the remaining family members but I wouldn't put it past him.

3: protagonist centered morality

Protagonist centered morality is the biggest indicator that a piece of media is dealing with a mary sue FL. Whatever the protagonist says is right is immediately morally correct. This is actually used to justify the last 2 examples with "it was for the FL!" Things like slavery, murder, workplace abuse, union busting, pedophilia, and being a POS to your loved ones are all justified if the protagonist finds a cheap way to justify it and you HAVE to agree with her because her backstory is very tragic 🥺. Protagonist centered morality also ruins the chance for good characters since the FL herself never has to grow as a person so she stays the same exact thing as she was just with more enablers and random characters will be treated as villains even if they aren't actually wrong about being suspicious of the Protagonist or calling out her behavior. It twists the narrative in such incomprehensible ways that you don't even know what your reading anymore. I can't even list all of the manhwas that do this given how many there actually are so I'll just list some that are at least self aware there Protagonist is awful/morally grey or isn't even a bad person but they still have flaws that can be pointed out

Villains are destined to die

My in laws are obsessed with me

Not sew wicked step mom

Depths of malice

The villainess turns the hourglass

Beware of the villainess.

4: villains being dumbed down to make the lead look smarter

This is unfortunately another common staple often used as a quick way to make the FL look smart and witty but is that really hard to look smarter when everyone else around you is an idiot? Not only does the FL not have to put in actual effort to best her enemies but you just start to pity the villain for basically being a punching bag. Dimwitted villains aren't always bad in fact they can be some of those most entertaining characters no matter much they lose but that only works when they are meant to be seen as a goofy character that your not supposed to take seriously. Villains that are written as extremely childish and stupid but your still supposed to treat them as serious antagonists on the other hand are just annoying since you wonder how the protagonist even got killed by them in the first life if they're so stupid.

Isabella de Mare while admitly having a good reason for being dumbed down (she's a teenager in the 2nd life so it's reasonable she wouldnt be as smart as her adult counterpart) is still a joke of a villainess who keeps flipping back and fourth from a snot nosed whiny brat to a mastermind only at convenient opportunities when the plot needs conflict.

Mielle from the villainess turns the hourglass was first portrayed as extremely conniving as she arranged for Arias downfall in the shadows but in the second life she fails at every scheme she has even though she has Emma and Isis to help her out.

Ragibach is a literal demon possessing the body of another woman with the goal of setting demons loose on the word to start another human vs demon war and she succeeded in that the first time, the devastation was all there so clearly she has to be a formidable antagonist right? Well no, she's another case of being dumbed down further and further so Keira can succeed and while they do understand some plot holes such as Ludwig not trusting her as much in the second life it doesn't change the drastic character change from evil genius to bumbling idiot.

In short: dumbing down your villains so your lead can look smarter is essentially going to give the equivalent of a hydrogen bomb vs a coughing baby.

5: feminine women being demonized as basic "other girls" sluts

Okay this one isn't nearly as terrible as the others on this list because we all love the good old "a demon makes itself look beautiful to deceive humans" kind of villain, in fact as you probably know by me by now, white lotuses are my favorite kinds of character and even in media outside of manhwa I always find myself drawn to angelic villains but it seems like this is less of that and more of "Oh those are all the other girls who just want a man to save them, look at how much better my badass rich boss babe is for working for herself while taking all of their men at the time 😎" in manhwa. As soon as a traditionally feminine girl shows up, comments are already calling her a two faced bitch and half the time protagonist is already skeptical of her. This is the opposite of what being a feminist really is, a real feminist wouldn't be putting down other women just because they dress with more pink with bows and skirts and while I do think for most manhwa this is unintentional I do wish that we could have more characters like Psyche, Helena, Athy, and Jennette that prove that being overly feminine doesn't make you a backpedal on feminism. This doesn't make the badass or sexy fl's bad either, it just means they can co-exist.

An angelic villain should be treated as evil for being a well calculated schemer, not because they have a light colored color scheme

6: toxic relationships being romanticized as good

You know for a large community that claims to be about girl code a good chunk sure likes to look the other way when it comes to toxic relationships as long as the abuser is "hot" and theres always the terrible excuse such as "he has trauma!" Or "he doesn't know how to show his love normally!" No just no we aren't doing that here. Cry or better yet beg has this problem with not only the narrative claiming that Matthias graping Layla is okay because she actually loves him and doesn't know it but a large part of the fanbase also defends it, the same goes with try begging, a manhwa written by Solche who also wrote cry or better yet beg and once again despite Leon being an abuser everyone's ready to justify his actions because he's just a soft little boy who ends up falling in love with Grace awww 😍 (what the hell?) Everyones all about not justifying abusers because they had a sad past until it's the "sexy" male leads with daddy issues.

7: maid slapping

This shit isn't asserting your dominance as a boss bitch it's just work place abuse. This trope has gotten so out of hand of being justified by narratives and readers that there is an entire webtoon called this isekai maid is forming a union that's all about criticizing twisted manhwa tropes that get brushed off with maid absuer being at the biggest one. It's funny because a lot of people complain that Isekai maid union villainizes the nobles too much but they never ask the same questions when a OI is demonizing maids as greedy and lazy in order to deserve a beating. This doesn't just stop at hands either it can escalate to threats of mutilation just to assert dominice which is absolutely sick. Most of the time these leads used to be office workers or terminally ill patients, they know how terrible it is to be treated like garbage by their superiors yet they continue to absue every maid who isn't getting on their knees for them. Most maids in real history would not mistreat a noble even if they were the most hated in the house and even if they did they'd be fired without a letter of recommendation so why can't the FL's just fire the rude maid if they care about dignity so much because I'm pretty sure getting violent with a maid isn't very dignified either.

8: disgusting age gaps

Very similar to #6 but in this case while the ML/FL isn't a cruel monster to their partner it doesn't change the fact that grooming and pedophilia is still a crime worthy of life in prison. You'd think "oh no way, this can't be justified can it?" You'd be wrong. Now I belong to house of Castillo thankfully has a larger fanbase of people who think that a relationship between a girl who got groomed by her knight is bad but in cases like into the light once again a lot of people like to say "Well Aisha is technically 28 so it's fine!" When it really isn't since Aisha is still mentally 14. Taming my ex husbands mad dog is another one that does this with Reinhardt grooming a 16 year old boy and its apparently meant to be "cute".

9: claiming a character as unattractive yet giving them a perfect body and appreance

I just think this is a major cop-out since there's time where they want to make a realistic story yet also wanting a fantasy fufilment. I don't think its a coincidence that the only woman in tears of a withered flower that yout supposed to support is a Victoria's secret model body type. Even though she's meant to be an overworked exhausted 33 year old woman being mocked for losing her beauty she sure as hell isn't drawn that way, the only other women around hae soo are all women with smaller boob's and in general more common body types that are either classed as stupid or jealous that Hae soo is so beautiful that all the attractive men want her

how about we don't pit all the women against each other for once? And let's especially not villainize other women because their jealous they could never be have large boob's and tiny arms+waist at the same time?

10: the commoner protagonist actually being a noble rich person all along

Look I know most of us had loved those "the hated child is the lost princess" GLMM but we need to drop it because it's kinda disappointing that the nobody who had to work their way to the top is actually a secret magical princess who had royal blood in them all along. While I did think the villainess turns the hourglass was a pretty decent read I was super disappointed finding out that Aria was of noble descent all along. I liked seeing a commoner protagonist for once and it really felt like it was critiquing the idea that all commoners and poor people who want nice things like the nobility are greedy animals. Something similar can also happen with certain saintess manhwas that decide to twist itself into "the villainess was the true saintess all along!" And I'm just sitting here thinking "well there goes the hope that you didn't need the super duper rare power to be a strong character"

I feel way better now after writing all this.

[fairytaleprincessart]

[isabelle-primrose]

The Princess Royal's fan, 1856

Painted by the Princess Royal as a birthday gift for Queen Victoria

[sanaefum0]

watch the harulings for me!!!!!

[aleksiremesart]

The Empress

Illustration for the Stained Glass Tarot deck

[isa-ghost]

Hardcore Deities: Worship Style

ENDER KING

Represents darkness, infinity, the cold, greed, overidulgence, power, tenacity, ego, stubbornness, abandonment, hubris, & catastrophe, among other things.

Offerings are pretty easy to guess. Obsidian (both kinds), amethyst, End crystals, shulker boxes, chorus fruit, endstone, anything & everything End basically. Also takes offerings in the form of riches like diamonds, emeralds, gold, etc. Honestly hoarding anything, especially of value, works for him. Just collect something obsessively.

He's a wrathful and selfish god, always hungry for more, infinitely insatiable. He cares little to none about his followers, their lives and limbs mean nothing to him compared to his desires and materialistic goods.

Examples of devotional acts to him mostly boil down to hoarding and self-centered acts. Always put yourself first, always value what you can gain over anything else, money is power, everything has a price.

He has no servants, he has no people. The Endermen forsake him after the Endlantis calamity. Ender King can control them, but they do not voluntarily bow to him.

He's disgraced by the other gods for his attempted (or successful) thieving of their domains. Worshiping him is considered by most to be taboo.

BLAZE EMPRESS

Represents fire, heat, intellect, wisdom, loyalty, strength, honor, righteousness, ferocity, protection, & courage, among other things.

Offerings are also pretty easy to guess. Blaze rods, gold, flint & steel, lava buckets, torchflowers, orange tulips, anything from any of the Nether biomes & mobs, candles, stews, & honey.

She's a bold and stern, but still very loving goddess. She's a no-bullshit kinda gal. She cares deeply for her people and the ones she loves, ready at all times to do anything for them. She is strict but endlessly proud of her followers.

Examples of devotional acts for her include fighting for what you believe in, activism, acquiring knowledge & new skills, learning anything PVP, soaking in hot water (lava if you're a species that can handle that), brewing potions, repairing broken Nether portals, riding Striders, protecting your loved ones & what you care about, cooking on a campfire, and meditating.

Unlike most of the deities, Blaze Empress has two demigod servants, He & She! They have a fraction of her power and an unbreakable degree of her trust.

ROSE

Represents nature, prosperity, love, generosity, beauty, fertility, rebirth, creativity, discovery, balance, the seasons (especially Spring) & animal husbandry, among other things. Like Blaze Empress, she also represents protection.

Offerings include anything & everything natural! Plants, mob drops (wool, beeswax, etc), candles, food (LOVES crops & berries!), paintings. Honestly, if it comes from nature or you made it with love, she'll take it! Her favorites are flowers and berries though.

She's absolutely overflowing with love for most things (really what little ire she has is reserved for Ender King). She's bubbly, kind, patient, and very forgiving. But like the nature she commands, she has a terrifying and cruel streak for those that earn or deserve it. You do NOT want to be on the receiving end of it.

Examples of devotional acts include walking in nature, planting flowers or crops, farming, animal husbandry, research, creating art/music, writing, exploring, and self-care.

She's frequently one of the first deities to reach out to mortals. If it weren't for Goddess of Death, she'd be considered the most social deity in the Hardcore World.

OCEAN OVERLORD

Represents the ocean & all it's life, leisure, fun, easy-goingness, patience, abundance, and flexibility, among other things.

Offerings include anything from the ocean (he LOVES nautilus shells!), beach-going items, prismarine, seafood, snack foods, and whatever nonsense you can get from fishing. There's also a running joke among his followers that he likes offerings of edibles & weed.

As chill as chill can be, Ocean Overlord can be so laid back that it may cause trouble for himself, his followers, or others. But he means well! Due to this, he's considered air-headed by many (ironic for a man made of water), but make no mistake: he can be as sharp as a sword. When he wants to be!

Examples of devotional acts include swimming, surfing, sunbathing, fishing, sailing, scuba diving, lounging on the beach, taking naps, taking time for yourself, playing pranks, doing water bucket clutches, collecting every type of tropical fish or axolotl, & cleaning the ocean.

You may think he's easy to take advantage of, given that he can be so absent-minded and easy-going. You'd be wrong. Do not take his lazy himbo nature for granted. The Ender King and his monument-stealing feat are an outlier.

GODDESS OF DEATH (KRISTIN)

Obviously represents death and mortality. Also represents grief, sorrow, but also love and memory, among other things. She herself is also symbolized by crows.

Offerings include anything & everything purple, alcohol, candles, yummy food, wither skulls & roses, alliums, gravel (get it? (grave)l. She thinks it's funny!)

She's a surprisingly bubbly goddess, sociable and loving. She loves being silly, often focuses on the positives of things, and thrives on just enjoying life for what it is. Honestly a really compatible lifestyle when your husband slash devotee is a survivalist.

Examples of devotional acts include drinking alcohol, playing pranks, resting, visiting gravesites, and remembering those who have passed. She's a pretty typical death deity, but with a silly side! Get creative, she likes that!

Given that in Hardcore, death (for humans) isn't so serious, she's considered a minor deity! Her focus is mainly on mobs and plants, working in tandem with Rose.

GOD OF CHAOS (IAN)

Represents, well, chaos. As well as spontaneity, whimsy, humor, change, unpredictability, and fun, among other things.

Offerings include anything and everything orange. Why? Fuck you. He likes orange. As God of Chaos he doesn't have to explain why he prefers the offerings he does. He also enjoys offerings of obnoxious shit (so long as it's not him it bothers). LOVES note blocks, redstone noise machines, and horns.

In the Hardcore World, there's not a lot for a minor god like Ian to do, and not a lot of reasons for people to follow him in a way as formal as worship. And frankly, he kinda prefers it that way, it means he can do whatever the fuck he wants. No obligations means all the more time to do whatever his whims desire. He spends his time playfully harassing Phil, egging on the Murder to do the same, and being a loveable menace with Kristin.

Examples of devotional acts include quite literally just about anything and everything. Be funny, be loud, be goofy, bother Phil, commit to the bit, enjoy yourself, wear orange. He doesn't give a shit, chaos is such a broad concept, it's not hard to commit devotional acts in his name!

Don't forget that Chaos can be dangerous. :)

SCULK SCOURGE (FAN DEITY)

READ MORE HEADCANONS ABOUT THEM HERE!

Represents darkness, corruption, the apocalypse, spite, loneliness, fear, the unknown, hunger, & desolation, among other things.

Offerings include anything & everything deep dark, XP via any means (bottles of enchanting, smelting, breeding mobs, etc), diamonds, lapis, bones, god apples, infested stone, and beacons. It likes things that are enchanted, shiny, valuable, corrupt, or corruptable.

Is a dead god. An abandoned god. It's followers are dead and you should not want to be one. It does not want you. It wants your life force. It wants to be f͘re̷e. ̵F̢re͞e ̢i̶t. F҉r̕ee ͝it̶. Fr̸ee it.̴ FRE҉E͜ ͘IT̛.̵

Examples of devotional acts include spreading sculk, defending ancient cities from intruders, mob farming, releasing Wardens on the surface, sitting in silence and/or darkness, fre̴eing ́i̶t fr̷om ̛it̷s̷ underg͘ro̢und͠ ̸s̛hackles̛.

Is often thought of as a similar entity to The Ender King, but there's a distinct difference: Ender King favors material wealth, taking all for himself as it is to collect it. The Sculk Scourge wants to corrupt everything, to remake it in their image and MAKE it theirs, not just claim it.

[faguscarolinensis]

Cornus elliptica 'Elsbry' / 'Elsbry' Evergreen Dogwood at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[sab-teraa]

I love me a love sick loser that parades around as a bad boy / criminal

[raccoonpog]

Tumblr gets to see it first, but here's blazerose fanart for my server's pride event wlw museum

[lolliputbug]

HAPPY 5 YEARS OF HARDCORE!

[pruneunfair]

Ranking all the OI and manhwa I've read part 2: the moderate.

The decent stories. Just a little better than average

The tyrants only perfumer

My favorite fast food webcomic to this very day. It's characters are tolerable and there's just something some satisfying looking at the perfume bottles, the little bottles remind me of those DIY kits they'd sell at target. That being said it's still a fast food manhwa, the characters are flat, the plot goes too quick and the villains are easily defeated so as much as I enjoy it when I just want to read something quick and light, it's not a good option for something more serious.

The empress wants to avoid the Emperor.

This was actually one of my very first manhwas I've ever read. I thought it was one of the greatest stories ever told when I was still in my revenge phase and it's definitely not terrible when I reread but it's not the greatest piece of literature either. Still for a basic revenge story at least Louise actually gets away her fuckass husband.

Tears of a withered flower

I like it, just not as much as everyone else likes it. I've already made a few posts on it and my current opinions still stay the same but besides all the self insert this and the predictable that the dialog definitely improves from cartoony to poetic. I'm just hoping the rampant misogyny problem in TOAWF is only a fandom problem and not something the author is planning on incorporating into every other woman that isn't Hae Soo

I will divorce the female leads brother

Okay I won't lie this one is kinda funny given how it calls out the absurdity of protagonist centered morality in a better way. Ethel as a protagonist is okay as protagonists go and while the villains are played off as stupid thats because the story actually plays into how idiotic they are instead of claiming they are the smartest around when they aren't, specifically the brothers and father. Also the Og fl of this one has by far the ugliest designs I've ever seen. It's the kind of design where you can tell the artist did not like her at all and gave her the Miku special with those unflattering color combos. I think the weirdest part is the implied incestuous feelings the family has for Reina but once again, it's meant to be seen as vile so it gets a little pass.

Into the light once again

The pain I went through when I realized the 14 year old Aisha was being paired up with guys way to old her with this one because it was so good before it just ruined what could've been 😔. Outside of the obvious I adore both Aisha and Marianne as polar opposites and characters that aren't immediately nice or honesty to Aisha aren't put to death, for the most part at least, they are allowed to grow as better people and get character development. The magic system is pretty easy to remember though I think Aisha can sometimes get too deep in her "super powerful nice girl" archetype but it's not to the point of being awful.

The empresses lipstick

more of a comedy than a traditional rofan but it works, it's one of the first I've seen to get the rococo style a little bit better than others. (It's still not the greatest accuracy but since it's meant to be silly it has more leeway) however it sadly is brought down by the fact that Jane is heavily implied to be on the younger side when her mom bugs her about school and implies that she'll be going INTO high-school implying she's 15-16 based on Korean school systems and she's already being paired up to marry male leads older than her.. damn you age gap trope and damn you 18th century for reminding me of gross yet true history. If it weren't for the fact that I can't remember anything about the ML's age this would be lower.

The villainess turns the hourglass.

What I think of when someone asks me to think of the OG era for manhwa. The concept of the hourglass is easy to follow and it actually comes with a drawback so Aria can't be too overpowered, the bright colors make it all pop and having an actual villain for the FL in a villainess story ties it all in, people can complain about how awful she is but villainess is literally in the title so..you get what you bargained for. There are still cons though about it I don't care for, first of all I wish Mielle could be an actual threat so there would be a fun ongoing mental battle between two evil women, Isis and Mielle could've been smarter as a duo, Asher could've had a little more personality and the twist that Aria was actually of noble descent all along really killed the charm of her being a commoner who could prove she was just as smart as the aristocracy.

Perks of being the villainess

Deborah's already climbing up the ranks of one of the prettiest FL in my opinion because that shade of purple is DIVINE! The plots rather basic as most villainess manhwa tend to go. Deborah is hated by everyone except instead of a backstory claiming she's misunderstood, the og Deborah was actually an asshole to everyone she met except for Pilav so it gave her an actual obstacle. I do think some of them went too fast but I'm just glad we actually got to see the effort being done at all. I'll admit this was better then I thought so it moved up on my tier list. My only complaints are that the chapters can sometimes drag on and on to the point of being bottle episodes.

I shall master this family

I would like this so much more but it drags on so much! Florentia was nice at first but as the chapters went on and on I was less impressed and just thinking "yeah this is just getting boring" with how many times you know she's gonna best her opponents, don't hate her but shes becoming a little too meh right now. That said I like reading it, definitely suffering from a overpowered MC that could use some work but when it comes to politics it's so much more interesting if you can get past that one major issue.

Pretty good: almost better then average but I either haven't read all of it to place it higher or if there's just better

I will become the villains poison taster

I love my underrated girlie's ✊️ the plot is certainly unique, Giselle has the strange of ability of being not only immune to poison but the poison also tastes like fruity snacks/drinks. It deserves a little more traction then what it gets, the ML Reniel actually has emotions instead of stoicism plus actual critical thinking skills because the FL acts nothing like the OG villainess and Giselle, despite how it may seem, isn't the born sexy yesterday trope, she's just allowed to be a sweet heart while still being a person. It's not much but it's still pretty good.

Serena

Fashion and character designs are absolute peak but plot comes before art. At first I was pretty harsh on Serena but when I actually read more of it to form a more concrete opinion I realized it's not the worst and actually got a little entertaining. As a FL Serena isn't bad, I like that she comes across as a nepo baby who needs to work hard to uphold her predecessors legacy so we have flaws to work with here and at the very least the story seems to be kinda self aware that Serena isn't a terrific person. It's also a drama not a romance so while I don't like either Eiser or Frederick as love interests at least Serena can say the romance isn't supposed to be the center of the plot.

Your throne

After so many people telling me how good it was I finally caved in and began reading last week but I already got spoiled so I know most of what happens. Obviously I like the fact that Medea and Psyche actually team up instead of hating eachother and even though it's through spoilers Psyche is my favorite. It's so dang long though it's probably gonna be a while before I make any your throne related posts. Only cons is it can sometimes get too boring to follow.

Seducing the villains father

Proof you can make a stereotypical rofan and it can still work. Yerenica is the perfect balance of girl failure and likeability where her flaws are very common for most people and yes while she is kinda dumb she's not so dumb it makes me wanna slam my head against the wall. Erudian is pretty good as ML's are concerned, just a tad basic and the villain Soleia isn't dumbed down either. Love the second half of the story which gives a little more focus on Yenis family instead of just her love life and while it does get cringe inducing and the plot tracks off from time to time, I still like it.

The crownless queen

The FL is a recently retired history expert who transmigrated in her daughters inaccurate novel and because of those inaccuracies, there are new problems to face while Delia has to survive in a world where Barons and Dukes are switched and she has to climb to social latter. There's little things that really prove how much thought was put into it (such as Delia not knowing the exact date in time shes set in since she's in a different world)

Beware of the villainess.

A little similar to your throne but it keeps my attention longer then the former. Once again women working together instead of being forced into enemies! Really like that! The Yuri baiting though? Boo 👎, don't tease the audience like that (especially considering the og fl is literally called Yuri) can be over the top but I think that's what makes it stand out, it means to be funny and in your face with Melissa's antics but the best character by far is Yona, home girl just wants that check and I can understand that feeling.

Another typical fantasy romance

I gotta stop procrastinating and finish this one!! 😭 first off, Pellus is my 2nd favorite ML with his design being my number 1 favorite in terms of character design. For once we have an actual cold duke who accurately looks intimidating instead of basic BTS member. Best part though: it is one of the greenest of green flag relationships to the point where Lithera and Pellus are worthy candidates to face off Pereshati and Therdeo in terms of who's the best manhwa couple. Actual communication instead of miscommunication that goes on for chapters, relationship actually has steady progression that's just in the middle of how they get to together and Lithera is a great FL. Then I found a bunch of other manhwa and forgot about this one until it came up in my head while I made my first tier list. It'll probably go up once I complete the story.

This one took longer then I expected but part 2 is finally out and now I have to start rereading for part 3.

[mydaylight]

I understand why some people might view Zhen Huan's ending as bleak, but in my opinion "bittersweet" is better word for it. Zhen Huan can never recover all the beloved people she lost over the course of the show, but she was able to avenge herself against Yongzheng and Yixiu, safeguard her children, and ultimately become the Empress Dowager. Now she gets to watch her son live a carefree life, has ensured the continuation of Yunli's line, and is able to hang out with her friends (and her sister, Yurao is still alive) and just focus on raising her kids and enjoying her status. The last we see of Zhen Huan is taking a nap, a representation of the the fact she can finally rest after the tumultuous life she has led so far. This is how we leave Zhen Huan for the last time - with the comforting notion she has finally found some peace. And this is how I'd like to imagine Zhen Huan's future life as looking like.

(Also Hongyan is living at Yunli's former residence Ninghui Hall, and the "Coupling Joy" flowers that originally were gifted to Yunli by Kangxi were moved to their original place there too)

[blockgamepirate]

Phil receives some letters...

And sends one back

(BLAZE EMPRESS LET'S FUCKING GO)

[perioddramapolls]

Period dramas' dresses tournament: Golden-yellow dresses

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Semifinals Finals

Winner: Bai Zhouyue's dress, from Novoland: eagle flag

Costume designer: Yee Chung-man

[1ittlesunlight]