Making this my first post of the blog to set the tone right. So:
IN DEFENSE OF THE GODDAMN FROG SCENE
Neither anime nor mangas were sufficiently delicate in their portrayals of this scene, but in the novel, it's even more apparent that Jinshi crawling over her wasn't too far off from the "pleasure district" humor Maomao used when scaring that Crystal Pavilion lady-in-waiting
The whole "Want to find out for yourself" is literally the same as "I'll just have to do things to your body you'd be too ashamed to tell him" and you know what happens next?
He doesn't move for a WHOLE ASS MINUTE! Maomao also doesn't say or think of anything beyond "this position looks pretty compromising"
She even mentions that he "looked lost for a beat" that's because he expected an immediate "get off" reaction/apology for not listening, or even some retort on her end, but from his point of view, Maomao just stayed there and maybe that's a sign to take thing further and lean down for a kiss (NOT A FUCK)
Their relationship had had a lot of mild flirting at this point, so I wouldn't put it past him to interpret it that way
If anything, had Lihaku's dog not interrupted them, the scene would've probably ended up not too different from how LN 5 epilogue/ LN 6 prologue did
SURE the scene doesn't pass for a perfectly consensual encounter and he knew that. That's why when going to apologize later, he says it's fine to keep the door closed.
