#loumen

[eyesofanapothecarian]

Fengxian also has a very typical Asian body.

Her high price was due to her personality and unbeatable ways.

The fact that MaoMao has no "assets" is because she is 17.

Asain women like FengXian who when she had MaoMao was in her early 20s do grow alittle more as you can see.

MaoMao is young.

She very typical Asain and this is just my opinion add based on past Mangaka but she likely based on the author herself.

Furthermore the La Clan hasn't even shown a natural born women in its ranks.

Except MaoMao

The two Lahan talked to are not of the clan they are Yao the physician and her Attendant that work with MaoMao later on.

This is the manga hasn't not be anime adapted yet.

But based on most of MaoMao features her and her Mother and regular Asain build and use their intelligence more then body.

[iwillfightformydream]

Maomao: i’m easily expendable, if I do something wrong in the palace, I’ll be easily executed. There is nothing you can do Jinshi-sama

_________________________________

If Someone Wanted To Execute Maomao

Lahan: oh hell nah I not will not allow my sister to be executed.

Lakan: Not on my watch.

Loumen: I think it’s time for me to use that favor a client owes me.



[maomaojinshi]

Luomen &maomao

#薬屋のひとりごと #Kusuriyanohitorigoto

[bdxpelik]

Chapter 18 of the 8th LN of the Apothecary Diaries is hilarious simply because Jinshi was pissed.

For context, a Go tournament was held because of this interesting trend that started after Lakan published and distributed a book on Go. The goal was to advance through the tournament and compete against the master strategist himself. If one were to win, Lakan would grant them one favor. So Jinshi decided it was worth a shot and very nearly almost won a game against Lakan by playing dirty tricks, subtly drugging Lakan with tiny doses of alcohol and exploiting his heavenly good looks - this is important otherwise he'd never even have a chance.

Lakan and Jinshi's game was interrupted (again, Jinshi was winning) by an angry buffoon who demanded Loumen to find his missing son (related to a case Maomao and Luomen handled earlier in the novel). So the chapter consists of our gang trying to solve this mystery. And Jinshi fuming in the background because he lost his chance to beat Lakan thanks to some Karen of an old man.

And it is HILARIOUS to me cuz this is one of those rare times where I ACTUALLY feel like he's a bona fide Imperial prince with real authority, barking orders at people and making them cower in fear. It's also really rare for him to openly display his anger in public sans his celestial maiden mask.

I was so entertained. It was hard to focus on what was happening in the chapter cuz at every line I can still feel Jinshi's disgust. Mind you, he had nothing to do with that case but he sat there listening because he was curious (very typical of him) and he needed some compensation for his frustration. So, watching a drama unfold is good enough.

This got me so good: Jinshi was quiet and fiddling with Go stones the majority of the time. But when the discussion was going off the rails, he used his princely authority to redirect the situation, making sure to take extra care to remind the old baffoon that "You interrupted my game". I bet there was a good dose of poison in his voice. Jinshi ordered that old man to shut up a total of 3 times in the chapter, btw lol.

The chapter ended with the mystery solved and Maomao (who at this point thinks about him wayyy too much *wink*) feeling sorry for Jinshi who she believed was the least fortunate person there. NOT the old dude who lost his son, we didn't care about him.

Anyhow, I just really loved this chapter because Jinshi didn't use a fake mask to interact with his subjects nor did he let them walk all over him and I'm like, yasss king. You da boss, make it clear. Also, he validated Maomao's skills and intelligence in front of everyone. That's your dose of Jinmao.

[roboticchibitan]

Something I really like about the Apothecary Diaries, especially the light novel cuz it's more obvious, is that the characters have real life problems.

I have dysgraphia and it's mentioned in volume six that Pairin, the courtesan who's like a mother to Maomao, sometimes writes her characters backwards and no amount if practice fixes it. That's dysgraphia!! And consort Lishu has deadly allergies and a lot of less than deadly allergies. An unnamed consort in volume six has seasonal allergies.

Maomao is clearly autistic (this is more obvious in the light novel) and I interpret her as ace because she can identify that Jinshi is gorgeous but it does absolutely nothing for her, which I as an ace person find entirely relatable.

Lakan has faceblindness (somewhat common in autistic people, I have a mild case of it) and it's treated as a disability he has to overcome. And Loumen and Chou-u are physically disabled.

Like! Those are real disabilities or real brain or sexuality things that real people have! They have depth! Their lives aren't perfect! I think that's really great and adds dimension to the world

[linnaearosie]

Usually I don't really have cohesive sexuality headcanons for characters, but I'm so in love with the apothecary diaries that I just love to add lore pieces to it. So, I think that after reading 8th volume of ln my headcanon is:

maomao - bisexual probably demiromantic ( shisui was her bi awaking);

Lahan - bisexual ( his love for jinshi's beauty is wildly known but he also flirts with women)

Fengxian - asexual demiromantic ( she wants to play shogi and go and this is her love language)

Lakan - demisexual and demiromantic (fengxiansexual)

Ah dao- non binary and probably aroace

Current emperor- bisexual ( he just gives me the vibe that he wouldn't be against taking male lovers for political reasons and than sleeping with them but ah dao is his one and only love)

Shisui - bi but prefers women

Kokuyou - probably gay

Joka - lesbian

Loumen - gay and he unknowingly had small harem in the past. You can't tell me there wasn't something going on between him and eunuch that teach palace women how to read.

Pairin - bi but prefers men

En'en - lesbian

Verdict on following characters is not reached: jinshi ( he borderline on maomaosexual but maybe lakanchildren sexual as he acknowledged similarities), rikuson ( i know that he is important in later volumes), suirei, sazen.

[aashi-heartfilia]

[spades1360]

The Apothecary Diaries Light Novel Spoiler:

Maomao goes missing for a whole year and Loumen doesn’t do shit

Maomao goes missing for a few days, and Lakan is busting down a palace wall the moment he catches wind of it

You’re trying to convince me this man is irredeemable? Too weird???

I understand why she’d be angry with him but for the love of god give this goofy man a chance

[aplaceforallmystupidshit]

I’m gonna write down what I liked about The Apothecary Diaries before i excise this thing from my brain completely. Very mild book spoilers I guess? I’ll put it under the cut anyway, just in case

Ultimately the thing I liked most was how I perceived Maomao, as a very low empathy female heroine. I guess I don’t read a ton of books in this type of genre, but I feel like a true low empathy female character, much less a sympathetic heroine, is super rare and I enjoyed experiencing the world from her eyes.

I honestly really loved that there was a really really (really) select few individuals who she would genuinely feel angry or sad on behalf of! When almost anyone else was going thru it she didn’t feel much but like, when her dad was suffering she would get furious on his behalf!! I thought it was really special relationship and showed how much she cared about him, and by extension how little she truly felt for most others. Tbh the only people she really seems to show empathy for are her dad (Loumen, the person she considers her father and who considers her his daughter), and those two palace maid girls? Shisui (my fave!!) and the other one. And maaaaaaybe that girl in season 1 that faked her own death? Even then not really, I think she saw them as kindred spirits more than anything. The fact that even after like ~12 books that list can be counted on one hand means a lot, and makes Maomao an interesting POV character.

Disclaimer that I read the official translations before anyone comes at me for not interpreting based on the Aurikat (sp?) translations. But like, I saw some people in the fan discord talking about she was lying to herself or denying her feelings at times but it super didn’t come off to me like that? Maomao seemed like a very straightforward, borderline aromantic, low empathy, neurodivergent woman. She doesnt feel feelings very strongly, which is a consistent piece of characterization.

Jinshi is fine, tbh. He’s alright as a male lead and the only reason I’ve got 1 eye on the anime is cuz I want to see the lil Moon spirit dance. But like. To be sooooo honest I kinda lost a bit of interest in him once I realized he wasn’t actually a eunuch (so like, book 1 lolol). Thought he was gonna have do some palace intrigue but learned (after truly too many books) he tended to be more the one affected by politics than the one instigating them. It’s a shame, I really wanted to explore gender of a beautiful eunuch attracted to women, but alas, another day.

Last point is that i know I lowkey shit talked Lakan up there but he surprisingly one of the funniest most endearing characters in the entire novel? I didn’t expect to like a deadbeat dad but fuck me, I’m still hopelessly endeared by a wife guy. And the kinda gentle mediation on longing, grief, and rememberance occurring the background of Lakan’s story is one of the things I think I’ll remember most about this series. Lakan, Loulan’s whole deal, and little low empathy Maomao

[sebfreak]

I´m the type of person who can accept a tragic backstory of a character and still dislike him.

As I´ve said before I´m always on Maomaos side because I can understand her. I get it that people wish that Maomao starts to like her biological father again but yeah it´s very difficult for her and we should accept it.

For her, her real father is Loumen and not Lakan. This is how she sees it and it´s totally fine by me.

And yeah I don´t like Lakan because of his attitude and personality. Also there is a tiny little bit more, which will probably shown in the next episode?! I´m not sure because the preview looked more like a recap but yeah... I hope they will show it so people can understand a little bit more why Maomao doesn´t like him. Because for me it´s pretty much unfair to force her into liking her biological father and ignore her feelings. (trust me i´ve seen a lot of comments about it where people critized Maomao that she can´t forgive Lakan) And what she witnessed was a traumatizing to her, which I can absolutely understand. But let´s talk about it once you see it.

At the moment we only saw Lakans story which is (again) very sad but yeah that´s it for me.

Oh and I don´t like Fengxian for what she did to Maomao but it must be really shocking to her and traumatizing. Getting pregnant and losing everything from one day to another. (very short explanation but you get what i mean) It´s very tragic in a whole situation and it shows that life can be very unfair but for me it´s not an excuse for their behaviour.

That´s pretty much everything i have to say about it. So if you like lakan then good for you. I can understand it but i won´t start liking him. I´ve decided that i will always stand beside Maomao and once she starts accepting him then i will do it too. But yeah don´t come at me with words like: "you do not understand him!" because you feel hurt that people can´t like him although his past is tragic. I see it from Maomaos perspective.

[eyesofanapothecarian]

Poll time.

Which of the following characters are you excited to see make a big move in season 2 of The Apothecary Diaries?

[iwillfightformydream]

Every member of the La clan has autism.

 Examples:

Lakou:While he may be considered one of the less exceptional individuals within the La clan, he still possesses a penchant for scheming. His expertise lies in agriculture, with a particular fondness for sweet potatoes.

Lakan:He is notoriously eccentric, excelling as a brilliant tactician with expertise in Go and shogi. However, he struggles in almost every other aspect, including face recognition, except for his 'Lover' and daughter.

Luomen: He thinks it's better not to talk about stuff if there's no proof for it.

Lahan: He is extremely good with numbers and finances, and he actually good at social cues.

Maomao:Her passion for poisons and herbs drives her to conduct experiments on her own body, finding great pleasure in consuming these substances.



[spiegelgestalt]

Reblogging myself to add something: this is also a good example of a scene were Mao Mao removes any romantic/sexual connotations from a situation which should have them. Remember Jinshi asks her after she mentions that she will have personal customers. Sex is very much on the table but Mao Mao ignores it while Jinshi wants to talk about it very very much. This Is also one of the few scenes were Mao Mao shows a hint of sexual desire (when Jinshis lips are stained with her lipstick it does something to her). But this gets even more ignored than the other things. Because Mao Mao is very uncomfortable with sexual desire/romantic desire in herself. While She doesn't mind it in others.

(Spoilers for LN 10: Currently Mao Mao is at least able to say that she values jinshi as much as Loumen - which is very high praise from her, but she still denies any sexual interest)

Mao Mao's real super skill is completly rewriting history

Jinmao is a pairing that makes me go feral because it somehow exists in the text and the subtext at the same time. my girl lives for the plausible deniability. You see she doesn't have any feelings except an interest in medicine - there is nothing else there. NOTHING don't you dare look further. And if she happens to have had a feeling at some point she well rewrite history that it never happened. Let me give you an example. Spoilers for the end of season 1/ the beginning of season 2 under the cut

So Mao Mao has left the Rear Palace and is working as courtesan. She isn't happy about it. Jinshi is super depressed about it. They meet. Mao Mao says: maybe i will take personal customers (i.e. customers she will have sex with). Jinshi answers:

Mao Mao starts with: don't joke and than stops herself:

(SN: Look at his precious, precious face. Oh my poor boy it won't be that easy) and she continues:

(SN: the disappointment!!!! this makes me so happy) Anyway what's important about this exchange is that Jinshi is half joking. He's not being serious and expects a no. It's Mao Mao who says Yes. Jinshi wouldn't have bought Mao Mao if she hadn't told him to do it. Let's see how Mao Mao will describe the incident from now on:

Suddenly. out of the blue Jinshi appears and makes a real good offer Mao Mao can't refuse. From now on we won't mention the conversation that preceded that offer. It didn't happen. It's even more explicit in the Anime where Mao Mao claims at one point that Jinshi tempted her with his strange medicinal herbs... Girl you were down to go with him, with or without medicinal herbs. Stop lying. And this his how it always happens: something romantic or nearly romantic will happen and after that Mao Mao will deny, deny and deny.

It makes me go crazy

[grim-lief]

A late artfight return for @loumun-versen!

[di1617-blog]

Emission d'agenda et découvertes musicales, tout en passions et discussions – Musicophilie à son paroxysme... Pour résumer ce début de novembre 2017 : une scène brésilienne très active à Bruxelles, le concert à venir de Aksanyi et un compte rendu du concert de LKJ dans le cadre du festival des libertés. En programmation : redécouverte des albums du MDM band ( le groupe de Martin de Marneffe ), le nouveau single de Loumen...

- RH factor : « family » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_xWceWfZDI )

- Johnny Guitar Watson : « the real deal » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqzoSFxF8PA )

- Loumen : « la javanaise 3,0 » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ns32G5sok )

- Solati : « 숨» ( http://rubyrecord.com/portfolio_page/solati-movie/ )

- Angela Johnson : « whatever it takes » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGfQI-k9DIA )

- MDM Band : « jolyn's mood » ( https://mdmexperience.bandcamp.com/album/wake-up )

- Impénetrable Trio : « fausse grâce » ( En DL Gratuit : https://www.impenetrabletrio.com/ )

- Pedro Moura : « Saracoteia » ( https://youtu.be/cXVQ-myeBKw )

- Raggasonic : « J'entends parler » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6c8qkGQDP4 )

- Linton Kwesi Johnson : « Englan is a bitch » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isMjvRpAckU )

- Black So Man : « on s'en fout » ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oh5Pbz5600 )

- Askanyi : « presenting askanyi » ( https://youtu.be/dTWblxSNvG4 )

- Munir Hossn : « Cabra Tenario » ( https://indigenajazz.bandcamp.com/ )

[miridicalkalon]

۪ ⊹ ֗ ꫂ 𓇼 - ̗̀ 𝐒tubborn —-— that he was. but although some would see that as a flaw, loumen had always seen those traits as strong. the stubborn ones had always fought the hardest, and while the man himself has always been rather sutble and humbled in his youth. he saw many who lives on will strength alone. this boy was no different. ততততত

The man took his sights off of his work to let his attention fall on the youngman who bowed in his gratitude. “ then I'll be sure to keep that offer in thought and mind, ace. but, for now the only requests we ask of you is to rest. you recovered extremely well. but you still need more time. ”

The man instructed him before turning back to his work at hand. taking a few herbs and placing them into a stone bowl to grind them into finer particals. “ don't think I didn't witness you struggle to even crouch over. . you're too excited and in a rush. I'm sure there is a reason but you will have time to rush to that reason later after you've fully healed. ”

after all, it wasn't as if they were to force him to stay. he was a client as any other and will be on his marry way once he was recovered. by this rate he will be ready to go soon enough. “ As far as Maomao, - ”

【ヾ somewhere along woodsie trails of the wano village. The Apothecary who had just been on her way back home from work. had taken a small stop at a herbal field she so happened to have found. his eyes gleaming with excitement as she rushed over to the wild herbs & plants.ヾ】

“ I sent her to make a delivery for me on her way to work. she should be back shortly. ” he said as he added dried dandelion to his mix. although there seemed to be a hint of worry in his tone.

“ however, do hope she's remaining vigilant of her surroundings. I'm not sure if you've heard, but lately there has been many reportings of young girls going missing in wano. ” he took a pause in his work to release a deep sigh. “ I know she can handle herself, she is a strong girl. but — ”

【ヾ maomao giggled to herself as she reached to pluck one more flower from the ground. borage flower, it's purposes being multi including —-— however that thought was cut off as multiple shadows covered her own and thick laughter followed it. slowly her eyes grew wide as she slowlt turned around. her blood running cold the moment she saw the rope in their hands. ヾ】

“ — there is only so much a person could do in this situations. ” it was why she wore those freckles and heavy makeup to hide her features. for her safety. but suppose the abducters has grown desperate to even take those as well for money.

The sudden voice of the man startled him causing him to jump ever slightly before turning to face him. This was Maomao’s FATHER. Another who worked tirelessly to ensure he survived his ordeal, to soo many he might have been a goner..someone not worth the risk because of what little CHANCES there was of Ace’s survival, not to mention he had also been slain by the king of beasts. The flame emperor was rather fortunate there were people so kind and brave.

━━   ❝   𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧.   ❞  The young man says with a grin on his face, quite happy to be alive. Then Ace would bow courteously and in complete and utter gratitude. “But really, thank you both so much, I’d say I was probably both lucky and BLESSED.” Still he wanted to help this country, now even moreso since now there’s a debt that needed payment. All that was left on his body from that tragic day is a scar where Kaido had impaled him. 

“Still, if there’s anything you’ll need just say the word..” A light chuckle left his lips as the tip of his finger flicked the edge of his hat. “Though..where’s Maomao anyway?? I figured she would have been here by now to check up on me.