"This is HEARTBREAKING..." - A Weeb & Normie React - The Apothecary Diaries [S1E11-12] (Highlights)

[@WinnetouiriVamp1]

the reason why Ah-duo was that upset was a combination of losing the child she would have been able to actually raise (even if he was technically her brother in law) and being sad about having given up her son, even if it was for his own safety (they did also say that her making the choice to switch was when she wasn’t acting fully rational after how traumatic childbirth and losing her uterus in those conditions was)

[@Tyarrk]

not to mention there might have also existed the possibility that she could get her son back in the future if both boys lived, which would now be impossible.

[@neretilderem7029]

27:41 "-Jinshi is gonna be here. -You think so?" I mean... that's the whole reason Gaushun organized the party, because he wanted to reunite them. Another brilliant clue hunting from the show to piece together the small details: During that Jisnhi-mushroom sulking scene Gaushun realized that Maomao isn't just a toy for Jinshi. He said -with some extra text from me in brackets-: "If finding a replacement won't do.... (then i'll reunite them) Perhaps i can speak to that military officer (named Lihaku)" When Maomao and the courtesans enter the party she says "I heard Master Lihaku introduced us to these high-ranking palace officials". Gaushun used Lihaku's connection to the Verdigris House to hire everyone for gazilions of gold just to make two of them meet again.

[@hunrahel]

The frigging subtext in this show,sheesh. Great explainer

[@are3287]

Fengming was afraid of having Lishu near Ah-duo cos she has the almost dying from honey as a baby story and if Ah-duo heard that she would connect that the baby dying was Fengming's fault, or that's what Fengming was afraid of happening anyway.

[@hunrahel]

This tangled lineage would be so much easier to follow if the characters ever spoke about the emperors involved by name

[@galaxa13]

The whole burn situation went like this: Fenming needed to get rid of Lady Lishu before Ah Duo heard the story about infant death from honey, she decides to poison her at the banquet, needs to contact someone outside of the palace to smuggle in the poison, uses little planks treated with different chemicals to make fire signals, different colors caused by the different chemical reactions makes a coded message to someone observing the palace from outside, while sending these messaged Fenming gets some chemical burns on her arm and kimono, she throws away the rest of the little planks and her ruined kimono, trash disposal services start burning the trash collected in the palace, strangely colored fire and burns without fire - WE'RE CURSED!!!, Maomao is on the case and points out the planks were treated with chemicals to make the weird fire, Jinshi is now on the lookout for anyone who received similar burns because it means they handled the secret message planks, finally finds Fenming and sends Maomao to infiltrate and discover what she's up to.

[@jacksparrowismydaddy]

this show epitomizes "ignorance is truly a sin".

[@johnyshadow]

And yet Maomao again and again tries to live "ignorance is bliss", basically saying "not my problem" to quite a lot of the big questions going on around her, but she´s too smart/curious for her own good and gets involved in the trouble anyway. (It´s pretty much the difference in her view on the medical problems, and the political ones.)

[@Chiyo-r6d]

The emperor doesn't care so much about the concubines because they only exist to give birth to heirs for the emperor. He cares about their ability to birth more children in 2 of the 4 cases. Ah-duo is different being someone special to him (like a sister) and Lishu being young (and they explain that much later in the manga). 11:45 They're talking about people connected to Fengming and her family. Jinshi says Maomao told him she had been kidnapped so it's alluding that her kidnappers are somehow connected to Fengming or her family.

[@Odysee89]

apothecary diaries is such an incredibly good written story... just like frieren, absolut peak storytelling and world building... so deeply loving those shows! ❤

[@WinnetouiriVamp1]

this hasn't really been explicitly stated in the anime yet, but the eunuchs have had the entire package removed, not just the beans

[@蔡民傑-t7y]

Fengming try to poison Lishu to prevent her from mentioning newborn can die from honey

[@BioshockChar]

32:53 those are caterpillars with Cordyceps fungus growing out of them. It's similar to the fungus I the Last of Us games or the mushroom on Paras/ Parasect in pokemon

[@DesertHomesteader]

It appears that Jinshi is the son of Concubine Ah Duo and the previous emperor. In other words, he appears to be the current Emperor's brother...but he doesn't seem to want his relationship to the emperor to become public. It seems like he just wants to lead a normal life outside the politics of the palace.

[@R0ary]

You misunderstand. Ah Duo was even then the _current_ emperor's concubine. Jinshi appears to be the emperor's full-blooded brother by way of the emperor's mother, the empress-dowager. However, he's actually the child of the _current_ emperor and Ah Duo.

[@willpina]

According to Maomao's theory, Jinshi is the son of the current emperor and Ah Duo. But everybody would see him as the emperor's brother not his son. Ah Duo was the concubine of the prince (current emperor) not the former emperor.

[@starrymoon194]

Jinshi is the son of Concubine Ah Duo and the Current Emperor not Former

[@originaldcjensen]

I am not sure Ah-duo knew at the time about the swap, so the grief was real. We shall see.

[@Mirthy0902]

Mao Mao tiene una interpretación retorcida sobre el amor, así que es muy difícil que alguien llegue a su corazón de esa manera. Pero eso lo veran en la 2da parte

[@originaldcjensen]

Jinshi bought out her debt, not her.

[@HaibaneRakka571]

Will-they won't-they probably works pretty well for this particular show because of all the tangled plot threads and mysteries surrounding the court politics. Maomao being removed from the palace because of the staffing scandals was a lot more interesting way to build tension so it doesn't feel tiresome the way they weave the romance imo

[@originaldcjensen]

44:24 it has been suggested that Maomao is on the Autistic spectrum. She is hyperfixated on some specific things. She doesn't care about some societal norms, etc.

[@manjiimortal]

The trope of the Evil Eunuch is exaggerated, for while there were eunuchs that were corrupt, and abused the connection they had with the Emperor, you also had cases of eunuchs being the ones that allowed Emperors to reign independently, by killing regents that were overbearing and all-controlling (Emperors He, Huan and Ling of Han were such examples), and then the vast majority of eunuchs just went about doing their jobs, and didn't get involved in such matters. More serious, and more frequent, I believe, was the problem of the Consort Clans, the Empress's relatives, monopolizing power, either because they were regents and ruled while the Emperor was a minor, and afterwards because they could control the Emperor (Again, Emperors He, Huan and Ling of Han), or because the Emperor wasn't interested in ruling (Emperor Shao of Han was such a case), and just allowed their father/brother-in-law or his ministers to do the ruling instead. You also had the issue of Dowager Empresses ruling as regents, which happened a few good times during the various Imperial China dynasties, and sometimes they did a good job (Regent Empress Dowager Deng of Han), and sometimes they were very corrupt and power-hungry.

[@Mirthy0902]

23:53 el motivo de las quemaduras de fengming es que ella se quemó la ropa y también la piel intentando revelar el mensaje oculto de las tablillas, mensaje con su cómplice y familia para conseguir el veneno. Al final entregó las tablillas envueltas en el vestido quemado en la esquina lo que fue indicador de que el intruso de quemó el antebrazo

[@Mirthy0902]

42:49 la autora quería bajar la popularidad de Jinshi para poder acabar con él, ni más ni menos. Y es totalmente canon, dicho por ella misma, ella no quiere desarrollar una historia de amor, pero la audiencia está apuntando a eso

[@galaxa13]

"What's the point of basically kissing her [if he's a eunuch]?" Speaking as an asexual person, I have have desired to kiss people before. Kissing is not the same thing as sex. Even more so when the kiss was on his own fingers and not against her mouth.

[@galaxa13]

I feel like the reason why "will they won't they" stories are frowned upon now is because they are stories that are focused on the romance, so the audience gets worn out when the whole premise is "yes, they will". Apothecary Diaries is NOT a romance, there are romance elements for sure, but it's more a detective or political thriller story. So for me, it's fine if the author wants to drag out the potential romance between Maomao and Jinshi.

[@johnyshadow]

One story where I really enjoyed the "will they, won´t they" ("yes, they will") was *Kaguya, Love Is War* , because it was more focused on the comedy. Speaking of, if they decide to react to some romance, I´d recommend this one.

[@Mirthy0902]

46:11 es algo que el anime no mencionó, pero los eunucos si se pueden casar, de hecho, Hongniang está interesada en Gaoshun apesar de que es un eunuco. Y algunas concubinas se les castiga con un matrimonio con un eunuco

[@Mirthy0902]

Soy una persona muy actualizada con las novelas ligeras y puedo decir que sin mucho spoiler: Ah dúo es una persona muy maternal, miren como es con Lishu, así que sí le dolió la muerte de su pequeño cuñado, después de todo lo estuvo cuidando como su hijo, adicionando de que si ese niño no hubiese muerto, Ah duo podría volver a intercambiarlos cuando se arrepintiera, pero ahora se ha creado una brecha irreparable como madre e hijo.😢

[@MokiNS1]

12:54 dofuq even is this conversation, her baby died, who cares if it's her biological son or not

[@originaldcjensen]

Perhaps you should reserve judgement until later on a few points.

35:45 and Maomao…has cat ears sometimes?

[@are3287]

Ohoho

[@Mirthy0902]

Usted hablando de que el autor está pasando en construir una historia amorosa y los que verdad conocen la obra o el Twitter de la autora saben que ella quiere a Jinshi fuera de este plano, pero su popularidad y su hermana no se lo permiten

[@petthequeenofmaddness8592]

tyftv