this was a really sweet and funny series! i kinda wish it was clearer how and when the main leads fell for each other (maybe i missed it) but when they started seeing how much they cared for each other, their chemistry was really beautiful ;;; i also wished the ending part was longer but oh well it was cute lol and i loveddd the way the male lead looked at the female lead...his little smiles and laughs are so ♡ i have to admit i skipped quite a few scenes and didn't Really get interested until the last few episodes, but overall i enjoyed the development of the storyline and the characters' relationships! highly recommended!!

some spoilers and my essay of thoughts are below lol bewaree

*****spoilers ahead*****

lmao I've never been so invested in writing this much for a drama but i have time and passionfruits so here we go: my mini essay on gender discrimination in both cities of this drama

one thing (out of many) that i appreciated in this drama is how the drama later addressed a flaw in the female lead's script, where each city had its own bias towards a gender in the gender binary (women/men). at first i disliked that fl's idea of a "feminist" city was just a matriarchal (female-dominated/female-centered) society where women abused their power and treated men as the inferior sex (i might be wrong but i understood that the fl thought the princess' matriarchal city, Huayuan City, had a more "equal" society as compared to the prince's city, Xuanhu City, which was patriarchal or male-dominated). i felt that the princesses' city was nowhere close to having reached gender equality or equity - it was almostt the same in comparison to the prince's city and the unwelcoming patriarchal society that a vast majority of us live in today.

i mean maybe the fl wasn't aiming to make her script into a specifically "feminist" work but if she did, then I'd have to argue that she had a Lot she needed to change in her script, which she kinda started doing after she realized later on that Huayuan City was actually practicing gender discrimination in similar ways Xuanhu City was.

but yeah, feminist works don't aim for women to overpower men or anyone. while feminism does center women as their focus, ultimately it aims to address and tackle inequalities and oppressions, and to help uplift those that are underprivileged (I'm reading into this part of the drama quite heavily but lol i promise i understand that this is dramaland and that the attempt at a female-centric drama is refreshing and brave).

anyway, like i said,, in the last few episodes our fl realized how unfair and unequal Huayuan City's practices regarding gender actually were. when she resolved a lot of her storyline's issues and gained more royal power, she quickly worked w the city to help give women And men the same opportunities to educational, political, and economic power.

alllll that being said,,, i admit i was amused when, at the beginning, the women of Huayuan City were chastising/punishing and heavily criticizing men for various things that women in our REAL world constantly face and struggle with. it was satisfying to see and hear them say to men what irl men always say to me/women (specifically in my own asian community). and i say "satisfied" not to mean that i agree w that kind of system, or that i want to see men w a lower social status, or even that i like how men are treated poorly based on their assigned sex. i say that I'm "satisfied" to mean that it was nice how the drama blatantly pointed out the sexist ideas that exist in real life towards women, except this time the roles were switched and the "normal" in Huayuan City was to be sexist towards men.

to some people, women in Huayuan City may have seemed excessive or overbearing, but this happened in the fictional world...real life men/societies are actually like this and a lot of us are okay w it. I'm not excusing Huayuan City's ideas on gender roles,, I'm hoping that the seemingly ridiculous/dramatic presentation of gendered ideas in Huayuan City will let more people acknowledge the gender disparities in real life. through the mouths and positions of women in this drama, i felt that a lot of people (mostly men) in real life were called out. again, hopefully this factor in the drama planted a seed into people's (men's) minds and helped them realize how unfair our current societies are towards women.

i hope this all makes sense btw lolll it's midnight and I'm in my thoughts

sadly the world today is still very much like how ml's city, Xuanhu City, was (a male-dominated society). i saw this especially clearly when our fl moved to Xuanhu City. the way Xuanhu City's men treated their women, and even the way the women treated each other based off patriarchal influences....it all felt too painfully and frustratingly real. well, bc it is real for me.

oh and i also don't mean to make it seem like after fl improved the cities' situations, everyone in the cities instantly had equal social status - changing practices that are so deeply rooted in cultures and lifestyles takes much, much, Much more work than that. buttt, again, this is dramaland and the drama took a very courageous approach to addressing this issue.

i very much liked seeing the attention on gender discrimination overall. the shift in people's mindsets about gender roles, expectations, and stereotypes was nice too; for example with fl, minister pei, ml's parents, and the palace people in Xuanhu City. ml's dad was especially annoying - at a certain point of the drama he was wayyy more annoying than the second princess loll even tho he only appeared for like 2 episodes?? maybe he reminded me of men i know irl..lol

okay maybe last point for now: i teared up when ml helped support fl and women in front of his parents (esp his dad) and palace people. this hit me hard...bc irl, the support of men and their acknowledgement of both an unfair society for women and the lack of action from men,, are Such important factors in stepping towards a more equal world for women and men.

when ml talked back to his dad and genuinely supported fl and women in general, i began to love the ml That Much More. like, in this drama, ml is really genuine towards fl...he gives her everything he has while still being true to his feelings (altho i still struggle with seeing how he Really really started liking her so much lol sorry). he stands by her side, admires her and cares for her, and supports and understands her. more importantly he changes his thinking that women are of lower status than men, and goes against his upbringing and city's traditions (i also struggle with accepting how easy this happened tho lol...what can i say, dramas aren't perfect).

maybe this hit me harder bc Xuanhu City's patriarchal ideas reflect many of our own societies... altho i do see that Huayuan City's "matriarchal" ideas are also problematic in its respective ways, i don't feel as bothered (oops). maybe it's bc i view Huayuan City's female-centered practices as being highly fictional rather than real.

okay FINAL THING (I could go on forever lolll): i found it so funny and cool how ml's mom is...mulan? like at least i think she is......which is Super cool..she's awesome i love ml's mom w a full heart!!!