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Something I really enjoy so far about Jinshi as a character and Jinmao as its approached by the author is how his royal status is not written as a fairytale prize for Maomao but it’s actively an obstacle for BOTH of them.

Spoiler talk below the cut.

Jinshi to me is a well-meaning character who is honestly extremely progressive for the time period he is being written in. And yet, his privilege both as a man and as a member of the noble family is something he has to examine constantly and Maomao is a catalyst for that.

The moment where she explains how she came to serve in the palace is framed as such a turning point in his affection for her, and it’s only the beginning of him questioning his place in the world and how this system affects others.

There’s so many other instances too, such as when they’re undercover and he asks Maomao what could lower the value of a courtesan.

And in the LN’s, reading the chapters within his POV are so interesting to me because you see this gradual shift in his perception of himself and how his position affects Maomao in terms of their relationship- beginning with him “firing her” and subsequently buying her out all the way up to LN 13’s epilogue where Maomao has finally accepted his affection and yet he feels as though he’s still in this power imbalance with her- and he cares about her so much that he can’t abide it.

It’s so refreshing and interesting bc usually the ‘secret prince’ trope is played out as a reward for the ‘commoner’ Cinderella protagonist but The Apothecary Diaries doesn’t do that- it really forces the reader to examine the question of how much of a choice Maomao really has. Maomao herself is very aware of her lack of agency- to the point that she is pretty much accepting of anything that happens to her and she’s endlessly adaptable (she’s def repressing and denying her own trauma but that’s another meta entirely).

And as such, the reader is not so much reminded of this power imbalance and its unfairness through her, but through Jinshi. To me that is such a narratively interesting and nuanced way to go about examining this issue- so refreshing to see the male character in this instance taking responsibility for the situation and remaining grounded in reality instead of being gallant and optimistic and overly romantic (although he is these things in his own way) And he keeps Maomao’s desires (as he understands them) in mind too.

Because the issue is not whether or not they can be together within the constraints and world of the story- it’s whether or not they can be together in a way that leaves Maomao with as much independence and agency as possible.

And yes, at times the slow burn can be agonizing, but I trust how these characters are being handled so much at this point and it feels so realistic that I don’t mind it. Having this conflict tied up with a pretty bow as if the craziness of LN 5 and 8 didn’t happen wouldn’t be satisfying to me anyway.

Anyway tldr: The fact that Jinshi being the Moon Prince creates more problems than it solves is just a neat way to play with this trope that leaves so much room for character development and time to examine the issues of the given time period THROUGH the lens of the people living in it and I really like that shit, ya know?

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DAY FOUR!!!!

IT'S TIME FOR THAT ACTUALLY WAY FASTER THAN YOU ANTICIPATED VESPA RIDE!!! WE'RE GOING THROUGH NARROW STREETS WE'RE GOING 60 ON THE HIGHWAY IN A WOEFULLY INADEQUATE OUTFIT WE'RE DODGING FRUIT STANDS!!! AND WE'RE SPRINTING THROUGH AS MANY UNDER 2K FICS AS WE CAN AND LEAVING COMMENTS COMMENTS!!!! COMMENTS

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I've just finished the first Murderbot book and it's very funny coming from Star Trek to this. In Star Trek you have androids and such actively campaigning for themselves to be considered full people with rights that deserve the same considerations as anyone else. Meanwhile in Murderbot all the humans are telling this guy that it's a person with rights and it's their friend and they like it and its response is basically

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First thing you see after you zoom in is how you die

How you dying 👀

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fhe sleepies -^-

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new official art from dana and its of our BOY

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Super weird to have innocuously added a silly personal anecdote to a post you didn't realize was super popular...

Only to have it cross your dash a week later and find out that like 12,000 people think you're lying.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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some leia sketches because i remembered i love star wars

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#lukeposting

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Batmuppet Chapter One: The Rainbow Connection

“It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight!” The manor ought to have been silent as the grave when Bruce returned, so it caught him by surprise when he heard a familiar jingle drifting through the empty halls. He paused at the foot of the grand staircase, head tilted to the side as he listened to the Muppet Show theme song jangling away happily. It sounded like it was coming from the first floor, which meant the most likely origin was Dick's bedroom. Which would be fine, if it also wasn't almost three am... [Keep reading on Ao3]

What do you do when you come home late and find the orphan you've taken guardianship of is crying alone in his room watching the Muppets?

You sit your brooding ass down and join him.

And if you later end up on a talk show with said Muppets and end up embroiled in a running gag about your playboy persona being in a throuple with Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog, well, it's not like anyone's ever going to believe you're Batman now...

Based on the Tumblr shitpost.

***

Listen, I had no intention of posting this until I finished the whole thing, which is now about 70k worth of words in my drafts. But I'm going to be so real right now, I need to feel a shred of happiness right now, or I'm going to break, so you get to read BatMuppet in installments, and I get dopamine from completing tasks. Sound fair?

Cool. Thank you for reading and commenting if you do <3 I'll just be over here in the corner playing with my favorite blorbos until things stop happening to me.

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I have a lot of gripes with the admin culture of discord users but easily the worst thing is the proliferation of channels. You do not need that many channels. You are 100 people. Entire IRC networks have fewer channels than this. Show some restraint.

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[ MULTIFANDOM ] - RARE PAIR EXCHANGE NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN!

Posted by: rarepairmod Do you have a rare pair you've been dying to nominate and either receive or create fanwork for? Our nominations are open! See the nomination guidelines on how to nominate. rarepairexchange is a multifandom exchange focusing on rare pairs! We classify rare pairs as works with less than 250 on AO3 (criteria includes completed works written in English and filtered using the otp:true filter while logged into an AO3 account). We have a minimum requirement of 1,000 words (or work equivalent) and allow fic, art, and podfic. You must have an AO3 account and be 18+ to participate. 2025 LINKS Rules and guidelines | AO3 Collection | Tagset 2025 SCHEDULE Nominations: Monday 4 August to Sunday 10 August [ In your timezone + Countdown ] Tagset clean-up: Monday 11 August to Tuesday 12 August Sign-ups: Wednesday 13 August to Wednesday 20 August Assignments out: Sunday 24 August at the latest Works due: Sunday 21 September Collection reveals: Sunday 5 October Creator reveals: Sunday 12 October The exchange runs on EDT/EST time. All deadlines are 11:59pm EDT/EST. comments via The Fandom Calendar https://ift.tt/0hzo6gV

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The important questions of what if bird were fruit

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Expelled from Word, he is now trying to contact you through other programs...

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Send me to Mars with party supplies before next august 5th

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Galaxy Garden: scale model of the Milky Way in Kona, Hawaii