#maomao saving me

[joocin-thebox]

oh man this cat.... this cat!!!

my crossover lore you ask?? how is knh palace in warrior cats?? WELL

our girl maomao, beloved, still does her posions and medicines! cant deprive her of her quirk! iirc there is a limited bit of medicine in wc and they have their shortages, but lets just say the knh location is abundant with herbs for an apothecary's usage!

and yes, she calls herself an apothecary bc her papa heard it when he used to be a loner and he just calls himself that now (so does everyone else, but healer / doctor are the main terms)

beloved maomao cant truthfully expierment with snakes and the likes the way she does in knh, but she finds her work arounds. for that reason she is an excellent hunter, being delightfully exceptional at hunting snakes and extracting their venom (how? who cares) to make unordinary cures and remedies :0 she keeps dead snakes and bugs around for harvesting when she needs them, and eats whatever is left over/expired (whether this is realistic doesnt matter at all)

She has like a million scars under her pelt bc she aggravates a lot of cats and loses plenty of fights, but they never hurt her too badly. simple scuffles and cuffs on the ear can get our meow meow to back off and watch her mouth (most of the time) the scars on her foreleg though are from her experiments :) ointments and such and whenever white/green/yellowcough breaks out, she's at the ready with tried and true methods, or something outrageous that only brave souls would try

(she willingly gets sick to test these remedies, but has since been banned from coming into contact with diseased cats alongside dead ones) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

now where does knh wc take place??? somewhere! that's for sure! no replacing any canon territories, there is no riverclan, there is no queen of england!

instead of a clan (bc it means something else in knh) the colony is called a palace, and it is like 4 times as large as a single wc clan would be! (imagine the lake / forest territories but they all belong to the emperor)

most terminology, laws, and roles are basically the same, still have our emperor, his younger brother, the consorts and the likes im thinking splitting the locations within the palace by direction like in canon, so one clan would equal one court, but all 4 clans are the palace and the area is usually referred to as such. there arent as many disputes bc the whole thing belongs to the emperor as for the rear palace? canonically it exists beside the actual palace, so idk! we'll figure that out later (or never)

starclan exists but its not a monolithic colony, so there are quite a bit nonbelievers but no one is splitting hairs over the fact

i think the only things that would have to change is some story elements and locations obv. like verdigris is a twolegplace colony that resides in the town near the palace, with the madam (grans) being only one of many leader types within it

verdigris is overrun with cats. there are people but not many, and the cats live in abandoned houses, sewers, old buildings, farms, etc!

maomao was born in verdigris, but as we know, her father isn't from there. Lakan is from the palace, specifically the eastern court! maomao has never been and as far as she knows, she has no father. Grans told her the cat that helped birth her disappeared and probably got eaten by dogs :) maomao has no reason or drive to question this information, but she is well aware of the shadow that seems to follow her whenever she's on the outskirts of verdigris...

her kidnapping?? uhhhhhh who knows! LOL! working in the rear palace? same as usual! i see no reason to change the poison taster factor when... like lets be so real... there is poison in warrior cats :) if shadowsight can live, maomao can live! but the types of poisons would have to shrink or expand dramatically bc they are cats

[sidebar: i had wanted to make a knh au where literally everything, and i mean everything, is the same, except the people are cats :) why didnt i? well... maybe im silly... and it's too easy...]

☆*: .｡. back to our program ᓚᘏᗢ .｡.:*☆

I will not be changing anything but the basic points of the story and it might as well end around e12 for this au

for my sanity <3

ill mostly be focusing on character designs, general locations, and arcs that are easy to translate IF i ever care enough to crossover anything other than the fengming arc :D

all fun and games (and finally peace of mind since ive been in art guilt paralysis for half a year)

biggest challenge??? cat jinshi... he's supposed to be puppy... and lakan is also supposed to be foxpuppy but i can translate fox into cat... AND LIHAKU IS PUPPY ARRRGHHH ill figure it out!!

[realrosielol]

no theyre literally so cute im having a heart attack

[atomicpowered]

A last minute print for Megacon 2024 in sunny florida, come see me down there!

[worstloki]

Says “I’ve read about this before” as though my extensive hyperspecific knowledge on a random topic was achieved through respected academic readings and not cobbled together through the special interests of novel characters I paid too much attention to

[honeybees-honeycomb]

I'm so obsessed with the apothecary diaries.

Terribly slow slow burns are my bread and butter and detective type stories are my jam

[randomositycat]

[aeroblossom]

the things i would do to this man stay between me and god

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

god okay so i'm probably never gonna write this au bUT

mini and rudy fit so well in an apothecary diaries au??? like, moots, if you don't know apothecary diaries, the character dynamics fit so well

there's the girl who's extremely knowledgeable about medicine/medicinal herbs, and who is very short (mini and maomao)

and the guy is a flirtatious, lowkey childish royal who cares a lot for the girl (rudy and jinshi), and is also taller than the girl

CAN YOU SEE MY VISION

[userfrieren]

maomao's such a comfort character to me, she cheers me up so much <3

[nanamimizz]

“my baby followed the will of the heavens” ☹️

[bbq-potato-chip]

you that one saiki episode where he's reading those mystery novels while saying he doesnt like romance but proceeds to get invested? that is me right now

[boypr1ncesss]

recent acquisitions

[randomositycat]

save me maomao

[neo--queen--serenity]

It’s incredibly important to me that the anime decided to include this scene that wasn’t in the manga. In the manga, Maomao does pass out in Jinshi’s lap after saving him from what was obviously an assassination attempt.

HOWEVER, the manga cuts off at this point, keeping strictly in Maomao’s perspective, and cuts straight to when she regains consciousness in bed after being treated for her injuries. The manga doesn’t show how she got back. They SAY how, and she briefly mentions, “wow that must have been embarrassing; he carried me back,” but we don’t SEE it. We don’t get to feel the true impact of what that means. But the anime DID show us, and holy shit.

They SHOW us how taboo this is. They show Jinshi carrying her out of the temple, after a public attempt on his life.

They show us the shock and horror on Lakan’s face as Jinshi silently walks past him. Horror at the state his daughter is in, horror at another man—a man with a status he could never dare to question—staking such a public claim over his child, horror at the fact that he could never have this level of closeness with her (as Maomao would never allow it).

Everyone hides their gazes, as is their custom when someone of his rank passes by, but the air is different this time. Jinshi is furious, he’s terrified, and he could not give a single shit about how inappropriate it looks to these palace officials.

The shot that slowly follows her trail of blood—even though it’s a small detail—that in particular leaves such a intense impression of how poignant this is for him.

Maomao talked about this scene in the manga like it was nothing to her. She did what she set out to do: she saved the person who was targeted by the attack. She didn’t even know the target would be someone she knew. But she has no idea that this happened afterwards as a result of her bravery. To her, it likely wasn’t even an act of bravery at all. She acted on impulse; she did what she knew was the right thing to do.

The anime didn’t need to include this, because the manga didn’t show it. But damn, I’m so glad they did.

[aashi-heartfilia]

The hypocrisy of Jinshi and MaoMao

*light novel spoilers*

I just love how hypocritical MaoMao's nature is. She yells at Jinshi for being a 'Masochist' and yet we see that she's no different. Now, by definition Masochist is a person who drives sexual gratification from their own pain and humiliation, plus it relates to Jinshi's tendency to do self harm (like burning his skin with a brand)

And what is MaoMao's most favourite thing in this world?

POISON

She literally takes pleasure in consuming it and no one can convince me otherwise. Plus she uses dangerous plants and animals and snakes whatnot in the name of her so-called experiments. Her dad may call her a 'mad Scientist' but that is a direct indication of self harm.

And she calls Jinshi a Masochist.

I mean, think about it! The amount of anxiety she gives to Jinshi! She came prepared with a vomit inducing medicine but even she had no idea whether it would work or not. She was just hoping it would work in the salt chapter.

And the same goes for her hand, on which she has conducted countless experiments. One flower even burned her skin and its marks never left her skin. She said it was all for her hobby. What kind of weird hobby is that? Maybe, our little adorable mad scientist is just like that.

One brands his own skin, while the other takes heavenly pleasure in consuming poison.

So my point is, Jinshi and MaoMao are not that different as one might think they are and that's why their dynamic works so well.

Let's look at the excerpts from volume 5:

She didn’t know how long they sat that way. All she knew was that Jinshi was looking down at her with a faintly triumphant expression, as if he saw that the breath had reached every corner of her body now. He wiped away the tears that had sprung to her eyes as she struggled to breathe. It was then that Maomao felt a flash of intense anger. “I said that if you were going to kill me, you should do it with poison,” she told him. “I refuse to let you poison yourself,” Jinshi said, his fingers tracing her lips. “You can’t pretend you didn’t know that you were one of the candidates. As much as I’m sure you’d like to.” He wasn’t done, either: “Who was that man, anyway? I’m sure you’re not a dancer.” So he had been watching them! “I was just paying for my drink,” Maomao said. “It didn’t cost much.” She tried to look away, but with his hand on her head, she really couldn’t.

Jinshi just choked her and yet he refuses to let MaoMao poison herself. A lot of people misinterpret this scene, and don't like it all that much, saying it was just fanservice stuff but this is how I see it: Jinshi wasn't trying to kill MaoMao, he was just trying to make MaoMao submit to him for once (even if the way he did it was very wrong, but guess he's kinky like that). MaoMao is actively trying to harm herself and Jinshi loves MaoMao a lot, he cannot just let her kill herself.

It was more about him trying to exert his dominance in their weirdish - complicated relationship and that also backfires on him as we see in the next volume that MaoMao escapes Jinshi's grasps using Pairin's techniques.

And then they both continue to avoid each other in the entire next volume! Because they both realised that they have crossed boundaries.

They both are hypocrites.

And they both refuse to accept their feelings.

In one of the later volumes, she gives Jinshi a piece of her mind on how he should tell her everything clearly, unequivocally, what he feels, and he literally declares that "he will make her his wife", which is nice and all but look at the wording MaoMao used here....

Excerpts from LN Vol 7, chapter 19 called "A man and a woman play the game"

"You’re forever telling me I need to use my words, Master Jinshi, but are you in any position to criticize? Everything you say to me, everything you do, it’s like it’s calculated to save you from ever having to actually say what you mean! To make me figure it all out! You know, you remind me of someone. You act exactly like a man who used to come by our brothel all the time. He was in love with one of the girls, but he would never just come out and say it. He thought it should be obvious from the way he acted. He was so sure he had a good thing going with this woman that he never sent her so much as a letter. I remember how forlorn he looked when someone else swooped in and snatched her away! He kept coming to the brothel after that—to get drunk and whine to the ladies. Well, in my opinion, he could have avoided all that heartbreak if he’d told the woman how he felt. Clearly, unequivocally, so that she knew where they stood. It was the least he could have done!”

Everything came out in a torrent. She felt like she’d said it all in one breath. It was strange, she thought, to hear so many words come out of her own mouth. She was mystified. Jinshi was no less startled, but the shock soon left his face, replaced by something else. He got up off the bed and stared down at Maomao.

Shit. Now I’ve done it. She’d given him a piece of her mind, and he was about to give her one back.

“So I should be clear, should I? Unequivocal? I should say what I mean? If I did, would you actually listen to me? Is that what you’re telling me? I’m going to hold you to that! Right this minute. I’ll say it all. Don’t plug your ears—listen to me!” He grabbed her hands as she was in the process of trying to put her fingers in her ears. He took a breath. He was looking at Maomao, but somehow he seemed almost embarrassed. Finally he managed, “Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you my wife!”

It's one heck of a chapter and I suggest you give it a go! The title of the chapter says "A man and a woman play the game" as if to emphasize the very fact that both Jinshi and MaoMao are playing the game.

Jinshi has never confessed his true feelings before this chapter and only implied that he wanted to make MaoMao his wife.

The implications were heavy though on Jinshi's part, and as smart as MaoMao is, anyone would have guessed that MaoMao was one of the candidates for Jinshi's consort. Even the clothes she received (the ones she wore to the banquet) were also provided by Jinshi along with the hairpin. It is never stated outright but seeing as the hairpin was from Jinshi, the clothes are also implied to be the same.

More or less she's always deliberately ignoring the possibility of having anything to do with him, that is more than professional. Some may call it denial, I call it dense. Maybe, to some extent, she herself is not aware of her feelings because she never lets herself feel anything.

Even Suiren pointed it out pretty early in the manga, that maybe it's MaoMao's way of being reserved. We need to keep in mind that MaoMao is an unreliable narrator and it's more of what she does, rather than what she says that makes a difference.

Even in the chapter that I have quoted above, she had every reason to leave Jinshi, she wasn't working for him after all. But she stayed to make tea for him, even after the fact that she had a long day too. She was almost just as exhausted as Jinshi and yet she was there preparing medicinal tea, so that he could get a better sleep.

Maybe she herself is yet to realise just how deep her feelings run. Till vol 12 she seems to have accepted them, but she still is yet to acknowledge their depth. Maybe it's because of her childhood.

It's not a traumatic backstory but MaoMao had a sad childhood nonetheless....

She was raised by her grand uncle and her real father was eccentric, who scared her. Her mother must also appear to be kind of demonic to her, since she was desperate enough to cut MaoMao's Pinky finger and send it to Lahan. So it's safe to say that MaoMao never received proper parental affection. And adding to the fact that, a brothel is not exactly an ideal place for raising a child.... especially when the birth of MaoMao was the one thing that brought the brothel to its knees...even if being born wasn't her choice.

Plus MaoMao stated it herself that when she was a baby, no one would come to sooth her until their work was finished, implying that even if MaoMao and her brothel sisters are close, they are not that close. A mother's love is different and she never received it. No one can love you more than your mother and MaoMao was deprived of that. She soon realised that no one was coming. Life is hard and she has no choice but to face it!

So, she got interested in poison.

Maybe she doesn't love herself or her life as much as she says / pretends she does. She's always like "yeah, I would very much like my head to be with my body" and "if I stay low profile maybe I can survive here" etc but maybe deep down that's not the case. Maybe that's why she loves poison so much. The implications are crazy.

And to break MaoMao's shell, Jinshi has no choice but to be a bit more forceful at times? At least that's how I interpret that choking scene. Jinshi was angry at MaoMao because she deliberately suggested him to marry consort Rishu and danced with Rikuson.

Even if Jinshi never said it outright, he was giving hints the entire time.

But well the tables turned and MaoMao topped him instead, lol (vol 7) and later we even see that our little stray cat has accepted Jinshi and she's ready to be in a relationship with him (vol 12).

Plus she is intrigued by the process of birth (she wants to eat her baby's placenta, it's kind of uggghhh.... but anyways, that MaoMao we're talking about, she's just weird that way)

Maybe not after too long she'll realise that if she has to give birth, she can only have it with Jinshi and no one else.

~Sunshine

[bdxpelik]

Wow, the way Maomao LOOKS at Jinshi in this episode...

She is ENTRANCED. She is ENAMORED. She is CAPTIVATED. She is in AWE. Eyes bright open with admiration, curiosity and wonder.

This strange, beautiful eunuch that she was openly disgusted with but spent enough time with to be comfortable around him, suddenly becoming the most interesting and mysterious thing in her life at that moment. But of course that wasn't the first (or last) time she asked the question, "Who are you, really?" but it always ended with "I cannot pry, I'm just a lowly peasant".

And the very sneaky yet in-your-face shot of the moon glowing brightly behind Jinshi as he walks in an almost regal fashion... the foreshadows are foreshadowing.

Side note: I feel like I rarely think about the kind of reactions/expressions that Maomao shows on the outside cuz I've always been reading the novels from her POV, like I'm in her shoes and she's kind of an unreliable narrator. I love the novels, for sure, but the anime really gave me something wonderful with portraying how Maomao expresses herself (which I often forget to insert in my imagination when navigating the novels). On the other hand, Jinshi has always been an enigma, we don't often get his POV in the novels but when we do, I learn new things about him every time. Same in this episode, hearing his concern about Maomao learning the truth and how it'd be easier if she'd just figure it out and save him the torment of hiding everything.