liaur17

I srsly love this manhwa sm. besides the demonstration of genuinely good men and healthy relationships, I love its *actually* profound conversations on gender issues. as a politically neutral girly I love all the nuances and how it’s not radical abt a specific definition of women empowerment. for example, a common debate when describing feminism is whether women empowerment is rooted in women’s ability to do anything a man does (fulfill “masculine” roles) or in the fact that empowerment is inherent in femininity.

take for instance that one chapter that mentions how society views a queen as “incomplete” as she needs a king. this is disproven by the fact that the empress united 99 kingdoms on her own. i think this (and a bigger part of the story) leans more into how women can fulfill conventionally masculine roles.

which is why I love arsinoe’s arc. at first, I was also pretty depressed by how arsinoe gave in to finding a marriage partner but quickly realized how this was the realistic outcome. as the arc explicitly showed, arsinoe did not have the practical knowledge, wisdom, skill, and ambition as with our mc, empress, etc. bc her environment molded her that way. she’s traditionally very feminine and she’s undeniably a “damsel in distress” character. but by being thorough in finding a good husband and a person that she could love by her own standards, arsinoe found her empowerment through her ability/freedom to CHOOSE.

dont get me wrong I equally love both approaches im just emotional by it all.

also (and probably an unpopular opinion) but I don’t get the queer-baiting and lesbophobia accusations COS BRO. the author was alrdy so explicit with why yuri had to dress as a man even before she met her love interest so idt their romantic tension when yuri was still masc-presenting counts as queer-baiting. not to mention how leonheart (forgor his first name) didn’t mind yuri's hypothetical being a man??? THATS QUEER SUPPORT RIGHT THERE albeit subtle. also r u saying that any female character or irl woman that’s not typically fem-presenting (e.g., yuri and empress) gotta be gay like I thought we were done mixing up tomboys and lesbians n shit.

as a sapphic myself ofc sapphic and queer representation is great but bruhh on this gay ahh site?? there’s alrdy a bunch and yall alrdy probably reading them come onnn gems like these are so hard to find in the ocean of mf brainrot that mangaggo is. and lets be fr if u guys were the author how will u make a sapphic relationship between yuri n the empress or idk realistically work GIVEN THE SETTING AND PLOT without sacrificing the quality of the story. sure certain female characters looked good tgt but be frrr. this manhwa wanted to deliver a clear and specific message, so for the ppl complaining, pls stop forcing ur own agenda onto it.

i knew it those grannies are ducking married