[1264doghouse]

Tricycle Gang in Brooklyn, New York City (1930s)

[bdxpelik]

I think it's funny how the fandom is split between romantisizing Jinmao's every interaction and those who find them toxic and problematic. e.g. The thing about the age gap (practically non-existent btw they are ONE YEAR APART). If the show wants to show you problematic, they WILL shove it in your face. If the show is gonna show you pedophilia, they WILL and DID, along with discussing the countless horrific repercussions that come with it (see: The Former Emperor episode). Why bother looking for a problem that doesn't exists when it's right there in the other room?

Secondly, I don't really agree when people say Jinmao's relationship is completely healthy. It's a whole journey to reach the point where it is TRULY healthy. They have miscommunications. They make each other angry. They hurt each other. And if you think that scene in the cave is problematic then oh boy you got a thing coming in future arcs. They're young adults who make mistakes and trying to deal with inner conflict and pressure from those around them and each other. Sexual assault? Yes I can see why it looks like that. But I don't think the creators intended it so. Like I said, if it's problematic I'm sure the show will shove it in our faces. He acknowledged his actions, apologized afterwards and did his best to not make her scared and uncomfortable. Jinshi's not a total green flag and Maomao isn't a defenseless child.

[keksthecrunchy]

Their relationship isn't perfect, but people seem to forget the important thing is if something over the line between them happens, the show acknowledges is as such. The scene with honey? It wasn't romanticized. It's hella creepy and was portrayed as such. What happend in the cave? It put a literal wall between them (ok, it was a door a but yall get the idea). It's not the matter of avoiding these themes, it's about how the show handles them.

[samipekoe]

the rear palace's cat is #Back

[kaashina]

maomao and her dedication to never discovering anything about jinshi's personal life

fake idgafer final boss

[elinexee]

[buddyhollyscurls]

what i love about Maomao is that she is ALL for the girls like she doesn't judge or look down on the concubines she calls the courtesans she grew up with her sisters and when Lady Lihua looked like she was about to fucking deck Lady Shin she literally giggled and was proud that Lihua was standing up for herself like Maomao is the NUMBER ONE supporter of women and strong women shes a cheerleader for women and i will always love that about her

[isapolvorita]

Maomao is living the dream of being the smartest person in the room, being in a political situation in wich you dont have enough power to have responsabilities but also you are powerful enough so people let you do wethever you want, girl with big tiddies love her, a pathetic man that looks like a girl is in love with her, she wears cute outfits time to time, she helps other women, she even has a cat now.

Maomao the character you are

[batcows]

one of my favorite parts of apothecary diaries is how every one of gyokuyou's ladies in waiting immediately goes, "this is our maomao. we found her in a back alley, that's why she's so scraggly and weird. isn't she gross? what an angel. we would kill and die for her. she's such a little freak. insult her and we'll eat your family :)".not kidding it's actually almost instantanous.

[lovelyanimetrash]

Immediately saw her and were like “this poor child. WE HAVE TO FEED HER. SHES TOO SKINNY. HER ARM SHE MUST HAVE BEEN ABUSED. SHES OUR BABY NOW”

[mangakachan]

This is the first in a planned four part KnH fanart series involving, surprise! More flowers! 🤣 The five flowers in the vase represent the five consorts we see in light novels 1-4/seasons 1-2 of the anime, and are taken from the first OP of the anime’s 2nd season. The specific type of vase Maomao is holding is called a “moon embracing vase” or 抱月瓶 in Chinese. And knowing who the Moon Prince is, and how his typical flower symbol on official merch is the lotus, you can figure out who it’s a nod to 😉

The plum blossoms in the background is one of the Four Gentlemen in classical Chinese arts, with the plum representing winter and resiliency. Maomao was tossed into the inner palace after getting kidnapped, but she got on using her wits and tenacity. And while the garden party whose costume she’s wearing is suppose to be in spring, Chinese new year (and thereby the start of spring in Chinese culture) usually takes place around January to February, when meteorologically it’s still winter and often cold as heck in Asia 😅

[obroechlins]

maomao’s dedication to ignoring jinshi’s real identity is truly inspiring. the woman who has solved multiple murders based on minor clues in the environment keeps looking at every sign pointing to jinshi being royalty and going “damn, this could add up to something. good thing I can’t do math!”

[crysaaa]

It's so frustrating to see her with her insane deduction skills performing level 1000 mental gymnastics to avoid even one second of thinking about it, because subconsciously she already knows the truth and is wary of the ramifications. She has completely mastered the "minding own shit keeping head down" technique as it clearly is an extremely useful survival skill in her society, and honestly that's kinda sad but also realistic. It drives me insane but also makes her character even more interesting, since protagonists are usually the exact opposite in most stories, being the ones who dare to speak up when everyone else keeps in their line. All the while we know that she IS well able to overstep her boundaries when lives are at stake, as when she saved Jinshi by breaching the ritual while not even knowing it was him.

[im-xzikill]

They are like father and daughter

[friedwizardwhispers]

Okay, I feel like I need to say this: People have the right to like Apothecary diaries for the romance. The romance aspect is an important part of the story even if it's not just a romance and people are allowed to like it because of it.

And it's not because of the romance that people are not understanding the political plot. It's mostly because they are not paying attention (or if I want to be nice, because the anime didn't explain all of it yet)..

Maomao and Jinshi are the central relationship of the show/manga/light novel. It is going to be romantic and it is a slow burn. People enjoying that shouldn't ruin your own viewing.

[ultimatelyre]

[neo--queen--serenity]

It’s incredibly important to me that the anime decided to include this scene that wasn’t in the manga. In the manga, Maomao does pass out in Jinshi’s lap after saving him from what was obviously an assassination attempt.

HOWEVER, the manga cuts off at this point, keeping strictly in Maomao’s perspective, and cuts straight to when she regains consciousness in bed after being treated for her injuries. The manga doesn’t show how she got back. They SAY how, and she briefly mentions, “wow that must have been embarrassing; he carried me back,” but we don’t SEE it. We don’t get to feel the true impact of what that means. But the anime DID show us, and holy shit.

They SHOW us how taboo this is. They show Jinshi carrying her out of the temple, after a public attempt on his life.

They show us the shock and horror on Lakan’s face as Jinshi silently walks past him. Horror at the state his daughter is in, horror at another man—a man with a status he could never dare to question—staking such a public claim over his child, horror at the fact that he could never have this level of closeness with her (as Maomao would never allow it).

Everyone hides their gazes, as is their custom when someone of his rank passes by, but the air is different this time. Jinshi is furious, he’s terrified, and he could not give a single shit about how inappropriate it looks to these palace officials.

The shot that slowly follows her trail of blood—even though it’s a small detail—that in particular leaves such a intense impression of how poignant this is for him.

Maomao talked about this scene in the manga like it was nothing to her. She did what she set out to do: she saved the person who was targeted by the attack. She didn’t even know the target would be someone she knew. But she has no idea that this happened afterwards as a result of her bravery. To her, it likely wasn’t even an act of bravery at all. She acted on impulse; she did what she knew was the right thing to do.

The anime didn’t need to include this, because the manga didn’t show it. But damn, I’m so glad they did.

[anony-mouse-writer]

the manga did a little bit, but is was only one significantly less dramatic panel

[bloodraven55]

from a serious perspective these two moments were what sold me on the writing of maomao and jinshi’s relationship

[lanternlions]

"bro i hate maomao shes such an awful protagonist and so annoying"

ur just a hater because if i had a face card so lethal i had to nerf my appearance everyday, a long lost father who is always trying to get closer to me, an adoptive father who i mean the world to, 3 big adoptive big sisters in a brothel (one of them being a mother figure to her), a grandmother figure who runs that brothel, the most beautiful person in the country down bad for me, all 4 concubines of the emperor love me, my coworkers love me, AND the emperor loves me and everyone regards me as an extremely talented and respectable person within my first year of working somewhere i never wanted to be in in the first place? yeah, i'd be annoying about it. jussayin

[kaashina]

maomao when every important figure in the empire keeps asking for her help