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Kyro’s cracking me up putting on all the clothes for Marie 😂 looking like modern day Aladdin in the one, how was Marie not blushing with that six-pack on display haha. Personally I liked the black outfit on him, think it sets off his more masculine features.

This was such a cute moment for Kyros and Marie. His earnest pursuit of her affection and desire for her joy is sweet. Do I think it’s always realistic that a guy who looks like Kyros would be so head over heels? Not necessarily, but that isn’t the point of anime like this. It’s just good cotton-candy fun and it’s nice to believe someone can look at another person and simply see the beauty in pursuing them for the enjoyment of making them happy. That can be a mutual feeling, which we know it is since Marie wanted to purchase something for Kyros but was unable to with that guy intervening.

I still find it funny that Kyros doesn’t get Marie wasn’t desired before he met her because yeah, it’s obvious she’s pretty and likable but we get that her parents purposefully hid those things to keep people away.

What’s ironic though is that it’s because Marie doesn’t see herself in a too-confident light that Kyros loves her. If she had grown up knowing she was beautiful and smart and praised for it she likely wouldn’t be the same Marie he appreciated for her quiet, respectful and bashful personality. Those things formed because of her difficult background. That’s why we can’t always begrudge the things that shape us because while Marie and Kyros can recognize what her parents did was wrong, they wouldn’t have met otherwise.

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To me what’s so beautiful about Maomao and Jinshi’s relationship is the normalcy of it. People can be “oh they’re freaks together” but no, not really. They have quirks yes, but for them it’s the rhythm they get into together so fast that sets them apart as being clearly meant for one another. It’s what shows that we say love is hard but it isn’t when it’s right. Jinshi makes accommodation for Maomao without much thought because he knows he wants her in his life. Working hard for her is easy in that being with her is the reprieve. For Maomao, she’s found someone who can match her intellect, whom she doesn’t always have to explain her thought processes to and what she needs nor wants. Being with Jinshi means less mental strain because he already understands her sometimes before she even gets to a conclusion. And this is how love should be, not loud, not always big and flashy but just having someone who knows you and someone you’re willing to make the everyday choices for because being with them is the reward in and of itself.

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KYROS GRANADO v. LUIPHON SANDHALKIA DILTZ

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Concept Art of Rumi and Jinu

By Celine DaHyeu Kim, the Art Director of Kpop Demon Hunters

The description for this concept art is so beautiful omg

“…the city she needs to protect becomes a pressure on her. And once Jinu appears, nothing matters and the background goes out of focus.” 🥹

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I think I know my opponent. I think I know his weakness. Really? I hope so.

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𝒮𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 ♡

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I loved the way Jinshi made the freak strategist completely lose interest in helping Gyoku-ou's war plans, just by saying "we're gonna have a shortage of medicine" 💀

And then the old-adorable-fart immediately acts like this shogi game with people is not interesting anymore.

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Autumn🍂🍁

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This whole exchange is so important. Because we often think that when someone has been shut away and abused, the best thing to do is to then shower them with all they were lacking. But as Kyro’s mother points out, you don’t want to trade one cage for another. The best thing is to be the encouragement behind someone, so the person can discover what they might actually want to do now they’re free to pursue it.

Instead of keeping Marie at the villa because he’s worried of her suffering derision due to societal standards, Kyros needs to see that she wants to be part of his life and be presented to society beside him. His protectiveness comes from a good place of seeing how she was ridiculed and overworked as a child and not wanting her to bear burdens now that he has the ability to lighten her load. However, for Marie, that recognition of her efforts means more since her parents never cared to acknowledge when she tried hard.

Although he doesn’t expect her to, for Kyros to see that Marie is learning etiquette so she can be in the world with him and not sheltered from it is part of knowing that she’s accepting what it means to be his wife. Also of course that she is coming to love him and I think wants others to see him the way she does but these two are too awkward to notice that yet haha. I just think it’s sweet that they’re both working so hard for the other and in the process learning what deep, meaningful love looks like. 💕

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Yes! Jinshi is always the one to put Maomao as a priority. The way he’s disheartened at her state when he sees her in the carriage, his gentle turning of her collar to see her bruising and is concerned someone may have hurt her. His growing love for her is expressed in the way he won’t rest until he knows she’s well. So when she compliments him even slightly, he let go of some of his better judgement due to excitement at the potential for reciprocation of his long held feelings. At his core though Jinsh is deeply respectful and when they both realize something is going on he snaps out of it and follows everything Maomao says to save the children so we can’t say he didn’t care about them. It’s just that exhaustion, combined with deeply held concern finally bubbled over when Jinshi thought he had another moment to be honest with Maomao but as per usual, interrupted haha.

I have beef with the tone changes the anime made to the carriage scene at the end of LN4/S2

I didn’t comment on this much when it came out, but since then, I’ve been seeing the most insufferable discourse on Jinshi attempting to kiss Maomao in the carriage while the “dead”bodies of the Shi children were there. I think much of the confusion can be resolved by returning to the source material and seeing that the scene reads very differently in the light novel. Here’s an excerpt, where I’ve highlighted what I think is a particularly relevant portion:

Most of the defense of Jinshi I’ve seen regarding the scene has been along the lines of, “he just got off the eunuch medication, he hasn’t learned how to control himself, he’s just very overwhelmed sexually at this point,”, etc. I agree that this is the way the anime presents the scene—comedic, sexual—but it seems clear in the light novel that this is not really the reason that Jinshi makes an advance at this point.

Rather, it’s more that he’s just incredibly relieved to have her back with him, safe and (mostly) sound, after having been worried sick about her for weeks. His behavior at their original reunion was understated, with Jinshi confining himself to a few brief questions before ordering Lihaku to get Maomao out of the fortress safely. Now that the whole ordeal is over, he’s desperate to show her how he feels before crashing with exhaustion. Maomao’s compliment to him encourages him to think that she might actually be ready to hear what he has to say.

I don’t think the scene is totally devoid of sexuality, of course, but I do think that the anime overemphasized that aspect at the expense of the more serious emotional undercurrent of the interaction. Jinshi desires Maomao, yes, but more importantly, he loves her (the latter being the primary thing he’s worried about communicating at this point), and I think that should make us all a little more forgiving of the timing/location, which Jinshi himself acknowledges as less than ideal.

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⋆⋅ KAIJU NO. 8 E15 ☆ NARUMI GEN ⋅⋆

dedicated to Mishmish (@peskyfirefly)

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Gojo…is that you? 😂 no really though this “ridiculous senpai who’s actually a boss at their job” trope works so well I don’t even care that they keep repeating it. Not to mention the “oh by the way, they’re hot” part haha. Love Narumi and honestly he’s gonna become my favorite I can already tell…

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If anyone thinks Maomao doesn’t like Jinshi just look at the times in the novel when they’re alone together and she starts profusely sweating or mentioning how she’s sweaty or nervous, that’s your clue…she’s awkward sweating around her crush y’all 😂

“Healing people is an apothecary’s job, isn’t it? Good thing I have one right here.” The way he said it, so casually, made her want to punch him in his beautiful face. Instead she took a deep breath, poured some water from a carafe into a cup, and took a drink. She didn’t bother asking Jinshi for permission. Calm down calm down calm down!

“Maybe just don’t push yourself too hard?” Maomao breathed slowly, trying to keep her heart rate down, trying to keep the flush out of her cheeks and hands. Even so, her heartbeat and the sweating got away from her and she could feel her hand growing slick.

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👆this. just said something to this effect about why he can’t be emperor. it kills him that no one can speak to him like a human being, it’s why he cherishes Maomao so much because she’s the only one who does

god the way jinshi just wants to be himself. he wants a clan name because he wants a name people can say

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Do you think, despite all his protestations, that Jinshi will end the series as emperor? I know most people see it as a ‘bad end’, but the idea still tickles me. We (and Maomao) know who his dad is, he went through the Shrine of Choosing with his ‘consort’, Maomao has chosen not to flee from that potential outcome, etc, and just beyond that there are a lot of issues with the politics around the baby Crown Prince. Some of them are just plain racism, that’s undeniable, but the issue does exist. The current Emperor is also waving death flags left and right while his (second) eldest son is only about three.

Obviously Jinshi is not psychologically ready to be Emperor, that’s abundantly clear, but while stories ending with a protagonist reaching their longterm goal (in Jinshi’s case: ‘gtfo’) are common, so are stories where a protagonist reaches an understanding of themselves that changes their goals. Jinshi’s flaws of being self-sacrificing and having low self-worth are not addressed by running away, they are addressed by stepping into his position.

The paired JinMao Emperor ending also confronts some issues that don’t seem to be healed by business as usual. Some ‘typical’ man inheriting the Empire and the Rear Palace doesn’t answer questions that the series does ask. Jinshi would not want the RP to exist, he wants one woman, just like his dad, and the RP comes with the massive ‘eunuch issue’ not just around doctors but also around all eunuchs now necessarily being basically enslaved foreigners looking after concubines. JinMao are very progressive and set in their beliefs unlike a kid with unknown guidance is, especially if the current Prince loses Gyokuyou as an influence or the You Clan butts in more aggressively.

I feel like if the Emperor dies any time soon, Jinshi, and by extension Maomao, just flat out can’t escape being at least regents. Maomao isn’t exactly maternal but she does want a kid and that would be delayed until she’s Ah Duo’s age at this point. Their ‘dithering’ on the topic has also run Maomao into the age range of much better maternal outcomes (20+).

I know plenty of people would see it as a bad ending, and I do think it’s a bad ending right this second, but isn’t that sort of the whole point of character development?

You’ve made good points and I do understand where fans are coming from who can see the obligatory path of Jinshi becoming Emperor as unavoidable. However, I don’t think character development necessarily has to mean that a character ends up in the place we’ve been watching them work hard to avoid for 15+ novels now and for good reasons too. I lean more on the side saying he won’t become Emperor.

Jinshi’s strategies to stay away from being Emperor may have at first been selfishly related to him not wanting to fulfill his role as Crown Prince but he did selflessly step into that position when he was called to, namely when Maomao was kidnapped by the Shi Clan. I think this is where it’s important to note that Maomao has actually become the new catalyst for why Jinshi doesn’t want to be Emperor. The same reasoning remains for why it wouldn’t be good for him in many ways, due to his likelihood of early death because he would spend himself dry trying to fix too much and wouldn’t be able to delegate as easily as he’s shown an inability to do as Prince. However, the main drive behind why Jinshi won’t accept being Emperor is different. Before we could say it may have been due to more petulance as a child and lack of ability to accept adult responsibilities. He’s shown now that he can accept all of that when needed so that argument isn’t the case anymore. Now his reason for avoiding the throne rests solely with knowing it wouldn’t be the best for his relationship with Maomao.

I also think it has much to do with Jinshi's desire to be viewed as a man and not as royalty or a heavenly being. He's spent much of his life being treated in a way where people didn't care about who he was as a person and only about his status or his appearance so he wants to be able to help people as himself, without the manipulations for political position or sexual elements coming into play. As Emperor he would be completely removed from the people and only viewed as a person to be continually fawned over, catered to and given special status which is the last thing he wants. For Jinshi, his greatest desire is to be a man who gives what he's able to his people and a good woman. But being Emperor wouldn't allow him that ability in a simple way.

But then, was it any less mad, what Jinshi had been forced to live with? He had the power; he could have done any number of even crazier things. That he had the generosity of heart to listen to Maomao’s words made it hard to shout at him now. Young women are sometimes described as sheltered, but Jinshi had been similarly isolated, packed into a little box until he had been crushed. Many might have simply died, smashed by the pressure. I sure as hell wouldn’t have put up with it. Neither, it seemed, would Jinshi. Just like Maomao, he would fight back, try to escape.

We could say that yes, Maomao has come to terms with what being in a relationship with Jinshi would mean even should he be Emperor. But, although he doesn’t know this, Jinshi doesn’t want to live the life his father did. There is no clean way currently to abolish the rear palace nor the concubine system. Jinshi does only want one woman for life. So to take on the role of Emperor would effectively cut him and Maomao off from the life they’re wanting to live together which is one man and one woman, married to each other and having children together without political complications.

I’ve mentioned before and I’ll link the post below, I believe the best scenario is actually for Maomao to take her position in the La Clan, for Jinshi to abdicate and enter her household through marriage, then take over Lakan’s position as Commandant. It’s been made evident how good Jinshi is at strategy and military affairs. Lakan, although he’s good as well doesn’t particularly care for his actual job, just for playing Go. He could happily retire and give the position to Jinshi, who would then be a strong backer to the new Emperor and keep others from challenging him. It would also allow Maomao to have a place in the palace and then both to still work on abolishing the rear palace which they do want.

I agree their ages have become such that too much longer of a plot dragging out and both marriage and children seem less realistic in-world as far as they’d have already done both given the time period. However, I appreciate that Jinshi doesn’t want to force Maomao into being his concubine or marrying him when she only would be pressured under his status, even though at this point she likely would accept. For me, I’m hoping we see a resolution where all parties are in a position they don’t feel “obligated” to be in. The point is to find a way where if the Emperor should pass, his son by Gyokuyou would be surrounded by people who wouldn't contradict his every move or try to control him.

Also, I don’t believe character traits like Jinshi’s self-sacrifice is necessarily a flaw. It’s for this reason that he takes on the burdens for Maomao and is working towards the goal of them being together. If he were more selfish he’d have taken her as his concubine already or acted differently towards her which isn’t something many fans would’ve wanted. I’d prefer him as a character to be the kind who takes more weight on himself because he’s shown to have a caring personality which is the very thing that would crush him as Emperor, than to lack that sympathy for others and be able to take on the mantle because he can deal out harshness. It’s Jinshi’s kindness that is what draws Maomao towards him in many ways, as it’s what makes her compare him to Luomen, whom she greatly respects.

Jinshi was too direct, too honest, and sometimes it cost him. Maomao had a certain respect for that part of his personality, but it could be infuriating.

And while I agree that Jinshi can have issues with his own worth, likely related to being appreciated only for his appearance since he was young, I again wouldn’t want him to become someone too overconfident either. The whole point Maomao has made in Jinshi being a problem as Emperor is that some want him there just because he’s beautiful and can manipulate others from a charm / looks standpoint as well. And although he likely wouldn’t take that path, the fact that politicians would be looking to steer him that way and use him is what concerns Maomao and those close to him because they know Jinshi would be hurt by constant manipulative people trying to get to him, like in LN 8 when he reveals how many have been sending him proposal gifts or trying to poison him already.

“And one more thing.” This time Jinshi took out a spoon—it was silver, but the metal was clouded. “There has been poison in my tea at my office. And during one ritual, someone shot an arrow at me.” Did those things happen? Maomao thought. If they hadn’t reached her ears, then Jinshi must have ordered everyone who knew about the matters to be silent. There were those who wished to make Jinshi an ally, yes, but there were others who saw him as an obstacle. Such was the world of politics.

There’s also a point to be made that many only consider Jinshi as the one who would make changes to the rear palace as Emperor but I think Gyokuyou’s son could equally step into that role given his mother wanted that kind of “one woman only” love for herself even though it’s not what she received with the Emperor. This is something I’m sure she would want to work towards with her son as her daughter Lingli would be in line to be given to another nation in marriage and she would at least want it to be a love marriage vs political as hers was. So, I think where people only assume Jinshi and Maomao are the ones who could accomplish these goals, maybe Gyokuyou could be the Empress Regent that the previous one was not for the former Emperor in feeding his wrong tendencies and shutting him away, crippling the Empire by creating the rear palace system. Gyokuyou could be a regent who helps her son grow into a healthy ruler who respects the leadership of others, looks for a wife who benefits his nation but also him as a person and the two do love one another. This way without Jinshi the rear palace system could be destroyed anyway.

Lastly, I think few consider that while Maomao taking on her role in the La Clan can be beneficial for say Jinshi getting a lower position or him leaving the palace, it wouldn’t be helpful if she were Empress. She was the illegitimate child of Lakan and a woman from the pleasure district. They weren’t married when they had her, her mother was a courtesan and never officially became Lakan’s recognized wife. Even though he was head of house La and bought her out, he planned to introduce her formally to the family and never did as his wife so she was still technically what amounted to a mistress. So even though Maomao is “legitimate” because he did marry her mother, things could be thrown into question since her mother was never formally married into the family, as I believe it was presented. As such Maomao’s birth would be in question and her overall claim to a status like Empress. Even if Jinshi still went on to claim her it would cause all kinds of disputes, furthering the whole issue of why he and she don’t want to get involved in such matters in the first place. This is why I think the author is going to go a different route and keeps having truths that we as the readers and some of the characters know (like Jinshi’s true status and some of Maomao’s) remain quite to the in-world universe as a whole.

So I think in general the Emperor ending is not just a bad ending because it’s bad right now due to lack of development towards that end, people dislike it because of the development completely against it. For the fact that the author has made characters who now seemingly wouldn’t fit in that ending and so if she decided to go that direction it would feel as if all the lead up for Jinshi and Maomao to be free was all for naught. I get your points about stepping up and owning their places, about their ages and the reality of that in this world. Just in general though I think fans don’t like the idea of Jinshi being Emperor because we’ve spent so long watching him fight not to be. And now we’ve even had Maomao, who holds her emotions, feelings and wants so close to the chest express that she doesn’t want Jinshi to become Emperor in LN 15. So for fans having them go that direction after watching this slow burn build for so long, the two fight for each other separately and together to not be obligated to the palace only to end up there in that particular position would feel like a defeat to the fans. It’s different if they find a way to make other positions work, like regent or Commandant, etc. but Emperor and Empress I don’t see with how the characters have grown.

"Don't you think you're pushing yourself too hard?" The last vestiges of the Moon Prince vanished. "Is there ever a time when I'm not?" From the moment Jinshi had been born a member of the Imperial family, freedom had not been a word in his vocabulary. Maomao realized she had simply asked the obvious. "How much more 'too hard' can you push yourself, then?" There had to be a limit to how much Jinshi could take. "You ask tough questions. We don't know where the limit is until we find it, do we?"

I think this is why Hyuuga is such an excellent author because truly though there’s the argument to be made either way. She could pick either ending and there’s a path to be drawn saying that Maomao and Jinshi were destined to end up Emperor and Empress or not to be with the plots that are given. In the end I trust the author and the series doesn’t seem to be coming to an end for awhile still so wherever she chooses to go with it will be how it ends. I just hope for a happy Jinmao ending that makes sense for who they’ve become as characters.

(Other Possible Endings Ask) - Here’s the link for the other ask where I addressed possible endings, hopefully it’ll help answer any other questions you might have. And thanks for the question 😄

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Season 2 of My Happy Marriage kind of ended on a disappointing note. While Miyo and Kiyoka can be cute, there’s only so many times I can hear “Miyo…Sir” before my ears bleed, like why can’t she use his name 😭 I’m all for the soft wife, protective husband story but Miyo borders on being a perpetual child. I didn’t want her to become a girl boss or anything but her hypocritical behavior sometimes confused me. Like Arata being willing to sacrifice himself to take down Usui who was hurting so many people, yet he recognizes the wrong he’s done even in going undercover for that and all Miyo can focus on is that Arata hurt her. Plus wanting to sympathize with Usui, after all the bad he did and how he creep stalked her mother for years. That just made me really dislike her. In the end I still like Kiyoka but after this second season I just found myself so irritated with most of the plot and wishing they hadn’t even continued after season one.