Is MaoMao a mary sue?

>>279579519 (OP)
Maomao is a whore.

>>279579542
Yeah, mine

>>279579576
Okay Loulan

>>279579519 (OP)
She definitely knows way too much about things from metallurgy to architecture, even if she was educated in drugs by a former court medicine man.

>>279579519 (OP)
She can mary sue my dick

Is this a yuri show?

>>279579669
She has a harem

>>279579519 (OP)
yes

>>279579519 (OP)
I'd say she's close to it, but not fully there.
It's always implied she's not quite as clever or skilled as Luomen. And it doesn't seem like she's about to surpass him ot anything. There's also stuff that she can't do without help or gets wrong(or correct but too late)from time to time, even if only some.

To me, what makes MaoMao a mary sue isn't her intelligence or cleverness. It's the fact that the story is still framed as though she's some underdog peasant whose always at risk of being executed when in actuality she's now the legitimate daughter of the head of one of the most powerful noble families at court, who even the Emperor admits not wanting to cross.

She's basically just slumming it by S2, the stakes now feel artificial.

>>279580421
Yeah pretty much

>>279580421
That's a good point desu, but I wouldn't call it a Mary Sue trait. Mary Sues WOULD be the underdog peasants who inexplicably can get away with shit like trespassing or talking back to the emperor. Being related to nobility is more of a ,,muh chosen one" kind of shtick than MS. Shonens do that a lot.

>>279580421
I still have no fucking idea how Jinshi figured out Lakan is Maomao's dad.
And I still have no idea why everyone else at court apparently always knew it too. Didn't she get brought in as a slave?

>>279580714
Lakan literally told him, are you regarded

>>279579519 (OP)
She's useless in the current anime arc though? If you're actually watching the anime then there's no need to ask this.

She is on the edge of that line if it wasn't for the fact that she is a social retard on everything that isn't analyzing people.
For everything else, i do agree.
>85% of the time she is around when important shit happens
>Almost everyone involved with her is actually an important member of the empires government or has influence in it.
>Treats Jinshi with little care or scorn, dude turns out to be into that shit plus closet hebephile
>Everyone who hates her is retarded, evil, fears her or is soon to be her friend.
>Even the emperor thought about mattying her if it wasn't for the fact that Jinshi already wants to fuck her.
>Some people already want her to become an empress because she is a Savant.
>Very few times she gets her shit kicked in.

>>279579519 (OP)
Yes, but in a way that works. Makes her able to move the plot forward and it is usually how detective stories work. She is about as much a Mary Sue as Detective Conan or Hercule Poirot. They are meant to be smart and be able to navigate any situation, but half the other characters could beat them up/kill them which creates tension. A true Mary Sue or girl boss is the smartest in the room and usually the strongest too, not being able to do anything wrong or lose control of the situation.

>>279580421
>story is still framed
Nah it only feels that way when you see it from Maomao's perspective since she is an unreliable narrator. She tries to deny her privileges and convinces herself that she's just a lowly servant to stay out of trouble. What Maomao thinks of herself is not reality of the story and very different from how the other characters perceive her.

>>279580951
oh
so she is a mary sue

>>279580714
>I still have no fucking idea how Jinshi figured out Lakan is Maomao's dad.
Lakan told him in one of their official conversations back in S1.
>I still have no idea why everyone else at court apparently always knew it too.
Why are you under the assumption that Maomao being Lakan's daughter is some sort of dirty secret?
>Didn't she get brought in as a slave
No currently she's just working as Jinshi's servant.

>female's love interest is always related to the royals
but why

>>279581193
women love money and power

>freckled peasant whore x conniving eunuch love story is actually freckleless nobleborn lady x man with a penis love story
At least there are a lot of women with massive tits in this show.

>>279580714
>And I still have no idea why everyone else at court apparently always knew it too
Who? That isn't common knowledge.

>>279579519 (OP)
Jinshi's rare POV episodes are consistently more fun than Kotkot's. I don't know what that makes of her.

>>279580758
No he didn't. He figured it out on his own.

>>279581275
Tbh, the impossible romance between a peasant and a conniving eunuch sounds more fun to watch.

>>279580951
>Everyone who hates her is retarded
Don't say that about Basen
>Very few times she gets her shit kicked in
But it happens

>>279581270
natural instinct, it helps support babies

Being smartass than everyone else and born from royal family is average isekai template for mary sue mc.

>>279581587
Yeah no shit

>>279581587
There would be no romance in that case. Maomao is a realist, she would never even consider a dickless man an option.

>>279581755
Lolwat, she was trying to capture salamander tails to experiment with dick regrowth potions after musing what a waste of a man Jinshi was.

I should have read this when I bookmarked it in 2019 I never thought it would become so popular on /a/

>>279581755
>implying she wouldn't get impregnated by the king then used Jinshi as the beta provider

>>279581587
>>279581587
Yeah that's what I thought this would be, but too bad. Luckily for me I like when Maomao is detective mary sue so I'm still watching this.

Why did they try to demonise the previous emperor so much, he did nothing wrong.

The Anime really brushed over that the former emperor wasn't right in the head to begin with outside his loli preference

5 chapters ago I thought it will be going real uprising.
Turns it just some stupid tantrums from a grandma who just reaaalllllyyy wants to be a queen.

>>279581894
>>279582179
Admitting pedo emperor was himself a victim of the rear palace shit would be admitting everyone let him run wild on the lolis for their own gains. It's better to just pin every tragedy on the dead guy and proceed like nothing happened

>>279580986
MaoMao refusing to acknowledge or join her family doesn't change the fact that she's still essentially just a rich girl larping as a servant and pretending that she's oppressed, which is actually a mary sue-ish quality.

>>279582655
She would have been sold by the brothel owner if the totally-not-king-brother bought her first.

>>279582295
Its been awhile since I read that part but I felt like they talked more about how pedo-emperors mother was a fucked up crazy person and that he was essentially puppet ruler when it came to decisions for the country.

>>279581807
So you agree that Jinshi having a dick is very important to her then.

>>279582655
You do realize that Lalan being her bio father does not change her past experience growing poor and oppressed in the pleasure district?

>>279582717
Maybe, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have a romance based on working around his lack of a dick.

>>279583828
Maybe if this was a manga with more mature approach. After all, it was said that in real life back in the day court ladies and eunuchs would sometimes start living together as if they were married so they would at least experience the closeness of actual marriage, if they can't have sex.
But romcoms are basically sex fantasies, it can't have the guy with that kind of handicap in the bedroom.

>>279582894
Sure for anything before the S1 finale, MaoMao was technically a bastard up to that point. For S2 and beyond though, she is now just a noble girl larping as a peasant.

>>279579519 (OP)
>so pretty that she has to 'hide' her features under freckles
>Jinshi is instantly smitten and obsessed with her
>Sherlock Holmes level of knowledge and intellect without the necessary education to justify it
>Everyone loves her

>>279583828
Could he still have a prostate orgasm?

>>279583828
That concept can work only if Maomao has a total different personality.

>>279584417
Prease understand, standards so are low for anime nowadays we’ll take anything with a fun MC and interesting plot atp even if it has mary sue.

>>279579519 (OP)
>Watching because of high ratings
>Suspect MC is a Mary Sue
>4chan confirmed it

Time for me to drop this slop

>>279584252
>she is now just a noble girl larping as a peasant.
She has noble bloodline, however, her lifestyle up until now has always been that of a servant. She thinks and acts like one because that’s how she was raised.
She made a conscious choice not to be associated with Lakan. Why is that a problem? It’s similar to how Jinshi was born a prince yet he's doing everything in his power to be disinherited from the imperial family.

>>279584816
Then introducing their lineages is a fucking waste of time. They havent used their lineages yet.

Now I remember why I dropped the manga during the Kidnap arc. Harem intrigue was interesting, but the eunuch’s obsession and MC solving every problem ruined it for me.

>>279579519 (OP)
Yes, she acts like those female isekai characters that are sent into a vidya where she is the villainess and improves the lives and even the kingdom she is in with her superior intellect. Apothecary Diaries is basically a native isekai based in medieval China.

>>279584941
I wholeheartedly agree that The Apothecary Diaries is an hiding-power-isekai
>Omnipotent character
>Acting aloof but cant ignore troubles
>Other characters have lower IQ than her
>Born peasant but actually have the noblest blood
>Could have a harem, but scored the hottest guy without trying
Very blatant self-insert.

>>279584933
Lakan wouldn't force Jinshi's hands so deploy the army in such a short time if Maomao was just a random girl and not his daughter.

>FAKE FRECKLES
I will never forgive xiaomao for this

She's a Mary Sue
>what I wanted
Girl who is really competent in her field is juxtaposed into court life, she's inexperienced in her new environment but leans on her intelligence and core competency in medicine to navigate her new life. Gradually climbs the ropes
>what I got
Chinese wikipedia girl. Near limitless knowledge of everything even outside her field.

It's hard for people to write intelligence without conflating it with knowledge. The author also tries to write her as a bit of an autist but in practice she's rattling off 13 move deep inferred character motivations all the fucking time.

>>279579669
maybe

>>279589840
Yeah this. Everytime maomao just happens to know some random scientific fact about the way a particular chemical smells and why it only smells that way at a specific time of year I kinda roll my eyes. Also the fact that Jinshi wants her to stomp on his frog is really tropey but I guess that's anime for you.

>>279584417
>without the necessary education to justify it
Are you serious? Do you even watch the show?

>>279590319
No, I read the manga.
Her knowledge far outstrips what is feasible for her to have learned under an apothecary of that time.

>>279581193
That is the female way of seeking partner
The first option is always the one with the best social standing, prince, king, mr. CEO etc (which usually come with wealth) and good look of course
I only see in femMC in works written by men that have the ‘weak to strong’ trait for the main love interest

>>279579519 (OP)
No, she is a cat.

>>279589840
I can only say that the writer is competent at pandering to its main audience
And it seems like anime market is clearly lacking chinese court drama of such quality
But you only need to watch more than 3 of such shows to know all the tropes, and to realize being an Apothecary is only a gimmick (or the general setting)
For example being a cook in chinese court, being a teacher, being a babysister… etc

>>279589840
>Gradually climbs the ropes
This reminds me of how she bombed the court lady exam Jinshi arranged her entry for after she gave him a big speech about how her commoner life was nothing to the big and mighty nobles who hold the power of life and death over her.

>>279579669
yes

>>279579604
>even if she was educated in drugs by a former court medicine man
She was educated in everything from a noble scholar man from a genius autist family, it's just that she cares most about drugs.

>>279585901
Also has a perfunctory flaw-that-isn't with that "I like to taste poisons" routine of hers. It's portrayed as some kind of negative personality trait, but just happens to be a golden skill in the court environment she happens to be in.

>>279592595
Don't forget that she's also set up to be the ultimate lover, trained by 3 deluxe whores in the arts of seduction. conversation and social manipulation, but never had to step up and do the deed herself, so she's unsullied for her husband to be.

>>279579542
Fpbp

Can we talk about how the emperor is based?

>>279579519 (OP)
she's a peasant underdog that does everything she can to stay out of the way.
Her knowledge makes sense in the story.

>>279579542
Anal whore only

>expert in medicine
>expert in herbology
>expert in family therapy
>expert in being a whore
>expert in chemistry
>expert in bomb making
>expert in makeup
>expert detective
>expert in disguise
>expert in metallurgy
>expert in paper production
>expert illustrator
>expert arborist
>expert makeup artist
>expert manucurist
>expert in abortions
>expert in literacy
>expert in foreign relations
>expert in sanitation
>expert in fungi
>expert riddle solver
>expert perfumer
>expert in virology

Is there anything she can't do?

Can we get some serious politic or current grandma doesn't know anything about war but still want to fight the emperor is the most serious thing in this story?

>>279579519 (OP)
Yes. But she's fun so it's ok.

>>279595357
be real....

>>279595357
act

>>279589845
Wait, I just caught up to the manga. Is the anime caught up or even ahead?

>>279595357
Bring back Ed's mom?

>>279595357
She's just an expert in chemistry and sex work while generally being educated and clever, and you took that and stretched it to as long of a list you can make while also calling her an expert at many things she's merely competent at.

To be honest, yes, she is, even if you like to watch it for comfiness, she fucking is

goddamned drug addict

>>279579542
fpbp
>>279595357
most of it is just being good at chemistry and biology, things that coincidentally could've made you a good doctor back then.

>>279579519 (OP)
If anyone is a Mary Sue, it's Jinshi
>beauty unmatched by any woman, even the most beautiful proud foreign women realize their inferiority
>but still has a perfect muscular, masculine build
>everyone loves him, even men are stunned by his beauty
>can best the strongest warriors in swordplay
>somehow jumps off high walls and waterfalls uninjured and even dodges bullets when firearms were relatively unknown, and he did all of that while carrying someone
>understands the social manipulation and mind games of the women of the inner palace and knows how to expertly manipulate and charm these women whose entire purpose is scheming and feminine wiles
>skillfully maneuvers through the politics and power plays of all the nation's officials and factions
>is the second most powerful person in the nation as a teenager
>confirmed to have a massive dick

How different would the story be if it was set in Medieval Japan instead?

>>279598729
Different style of court politics, for one.

It's just slumdog millionaire ya losers.

>>279599014
We don't get to see MaoMao poop though

>>279579519 (OP)
Isn't she supposed to be ugly?

>>279579519 (OP)
Yes. She's a self insert for female otaku, equivalent to the male MCs of most isekai. The show may be well written otherwise but you can't deny this.

>>279598447
Jinshi is the ideal love interest. Not the same as a Mary Sue.

>>279598447
Silly anon, boys can't be mary sues. Jinshi is just a chad.

>>279599050
Lol no, put on some makeup up and a dress then she is the fairest of them all
Even having small chest is a bonus to make her stand out from all those dumb big breasts shallow whores

>>279597513
This, people act like her knowing a fun fact or two about different subjects means she's an expert in them.

Like figuring out the metal melting point thing (mostly via context clues in the room + in the fathers riddle) means she's suddenly an expert in metallurgy even though in a scene right before she admits to not knowing the names or properties of the metals displayed in the hallway, or how the melting metal is specifically even made.

>>279579519 (OP)
What makes her a Mary Sue is that almost all of her ‘flaws’ turn into ‘positive traits’ with no consequences
>social awkward, but maneuvered fine and loved by all the important people in the court
>dont need no male, but still got the hottest man in the realm simping hard for her
>being a peasant prostitution, actually daughter of one of the most powerful noble clans and court officer
>not beautiful, but that is all fake, just need a bit of makeup, a dress, and put down that freckles filter
>poison autist, but it’s quirky and cute while help greatly in her profession, and also caused no issue, like… actually being poisoned over long exposure
>small body, small breasts, actually help with self inserting and made her stand out compared to other common thots

>>279599465
Knowing crucial shit that she is not supposed to know, at the right moment, is exactly how a Mary Sue is, despite whatever the story claimed not an expert or whatever otherwise

>>279582703
The impression I got was more that since all the other princes died, she sheltered her baby boy who wasn't cut out for the job.

>>279579519 (OP)
Yes, in the same way a lot of detective story protagonists have to come off as a mary sue if you're going to have a varied plot that isn't a mundane domestic drama.
>>279580951
I think her most mary sueish element is having such a wide breadth of knowledge about subjects outside of what being the adopted daughter of a genius doctor and presumably having the genuine spark of having extremely intelligent while being immature is that she simply never had a formal education on certain things, or knew a intellectual who wasn't her adopted father growing up. Like, this is a child who taught concubines how to have sex better because she was raised by whores and also knows things about specific trades like papermaking, agriculture, architecture and cooking, at this point it would've been appropriate to have had her have some actual academic or scholar in her background that'd at least give her a reason to have had at least some briefing about many complicated subjects

>>279579519 (OP)
She has a flat chest, so no.

>>279599603
> She is not supposed to know
Again, she mainly figured it out via the clues in the scene itself. She's good at logically putting pieces together, even if those things are in a field she's not an expert in. The weird set up of the room/the cabinet/the fishbowl and the fathers riddle did the majority of the legwork in allowing her to figure out the puzzle, all she really knew about metalwork is that some metals have lower melting points than others, which isn't really too much of a stretch for someone who was taught by a well educated and worldly man.

>>279599743
It hasn't been explicitly stated, but even though his living conditions are humble Loumen is a educated man and he presumably has at least what would amount to a precious book collection given the standards of the time period. It seems reasonable for her to have had the ability to read about certain subjects even if she never encountered them in her day to day life.

>>279579519 (OP)
Misread the title as:
>Is MaoMao free use?

>>279582295
>Admitting pedo emperor was himself a victim of the rear palace shit
That's the implication of the story
>admitting everyone let him run wild on the lolis for their own gains
That is what happened and even worse, they put him in that situation for their own gain.
>>279582703
>>279599683
There's a reason she treats him like that. The author stated that back when he was a child, and she was still a minor concubine, she didn't have the power to protect him from the other concubines (take that statement as you will). That's also why he has a crippling fear of adult women.

>>279599554
and that's why she's my wife who can do no wrong

>>279579519 (OP)
She isn't a Sue because we don't see every young man in the show being amazed and in love with her. It's just Jinshi who's attracted to her because he has weird taste. Lihaku was hostile until she offered him Pairin and Basen literally hates her.

>>279599822
>>279599993
See, that is how a mary sue is, you would assume she is vaguely ‘educated’, so she could just pull random knowledge out of nowhere for the plot to move on
Everything could be justified with ‘may be she read about it in the book somewhere’

>>279600696
Sureeeeee, and Jinshi is the hottest next-in-line-Emperor that all the young women in the capital are thirsty for
Not very mary due huh

>>279600922
Jinshi is more likely to end up as a commoner than as future Emperor anyway so that is not really relevant.

>>279579519 (OP)
no, because she's *specifically* presented as having been trained by the best for years
and in matters not her specialty, she fails constantly and has to have others help to solve it.

In fact, nearly EVERY thing she does is dependant on the knowledge or actions of others

>>279600986
Doesnt matter, he is still the de factor successor, young, hot, very good at martial art, great influence in in the court
Even if, and that is a big IF, he doesnt become emperor, then he also would never randomly turn into a commoner, royalties in ancient chinkland cant just do that. He would still be a prince, a big fat one at that, with his own fief and pension paid directly from the treasury

>>279600922
That's wish fulfillment, not mary sue

>>279601135
Mary sue is written for wish fulfillment

>>279601183
No, or that would make basically every male character with a hot girl into him a mary sue.

Was she ever fucked or not?

>>279601223
Well duh, why do you most wish fulfillment shit like SAO are also called out for having Gary tsu mc

>>279600870
> You would assume
Not everything in the story should need to be explained to you so obviously. Maomao was raised by a well educated man who has travelled a lot (hell, even in the first episode that much is clear considering she can read and write well), we've seen several times that her curiosity is easily perked up, and she shows interest in books generally whenever they appear in the plot.

So her knowing a few tidbits about things she's not specifically an expert in (especially when those things are often made clearer to her by way of deduction and external clues) isn't remotely unreasonable given who she is/how she was raised. Even then, she often needs external help for a lot of the problems she faces, since she often lacks the ability to figure out the finer details. She figures out the 'puzzle' elements and leaves it to others to actually put the work and detailed knowledge in to actually solve the problems.

>>279601269
No, the granny was intending for her to be in order to get some money out of her, but she was kidnapped initially/re-bought by Jinshi later before she actually screwed anyone.

>>279601294
Just so we're clear, you are calling Ikari Shinji a gary stu?

>>279601333
>Not everything needed to be explained
>A few tidbits
Why are you downplaying those like it is nothing
They are for very crucial plot points, you cant just hand wave them and say may be she randomly know them from somewhere
That is shit writing for mary sue
I may ok with them if she only did it in some side stories like curing minor characters. But no, she pull this shit more and more as the story progresses

>>279601105
If he were so great then he wouldn't have been hiding in the eunuch position for years. Lakan demolished him in their last encounter, calling him out for being half-assed and incompetent yet Jinshi couldn't even say anything back.

>>279601388
Eva is not written for wish fulfillment (or so the author claimed), despite having hot women
Mao mao story is written for wish fulfillment, like you already said

>>279601388
>"the beta otaku like me" now is the world savior
not gary stu?

>>279601443
Just because the tidbits were related to big plot points doesn't change the fact that her actual technical knowledge of the things involves is usually pretty low/shallow, and needs to be bolstered by external clues and/or other characters giving her information or outright helping her directly.

>>279601453
The only real reasons for him to be an eunuch are
>Mao mao to make contact with a hot young man while still in the court
Yeah right, taking medicine to be one is also a hilariously bad excuse
>They dont immediately rape each others or it will scare away some younger audience

>Oh nooo I got shit on by one of the powerful court officer, im suddenly a peasant like 99,99% of not china,

>>279580951
>Very few times she gets her shit kicked in.
Only in S1 when her general dad is supposed to be a secret to surprise readers.
She is literally immune to whatever shits happen in S2.

>>279585901
>Omnipotent character
??
Maomao doesn't know everything, sometimes her speculations are completely off. An example would be the painting that the late Emperor painted on the wall. Based on the rumors and gossip surrounding the late Emperor, Maomao came to the logical conclusion that the grown woman in the center of the painting must have been his mother. However, people like Jinshi and Anshi who had access to more than just surface information could tell it was actually Anshi in the painting based on the color of the clothes.

>>279601482
>Eva is not written for wish fulfillment
Right. I'm sure all the hot girls around him is coincidental.
>>279601506
Then it's quite interesting that Shinji is called a gary stu much less on here when Eva is discussed a lot more. This obsession only comes out when the MC is female.

Where are the lahan and maomao doubleteam jinshi doujins

>>279601717
>all the hot women
Not when they are also deeply flawed, unlike in mao mao, the ‘flaws’ are surface level at best or actually not flaws like they are supposed to be

>>279601577
What are you even talking about? Jinshi never wanted to be in the line of succession, he’s been doing everything he can to remove himself from it. He’s in a difficult position because the Emperor has no son, Jinshi is forced to exist as a back-up option since he's the brother.
There are two reasons he assumed the role of a eunuch. One was to oversee the rear palace and ensure the Emperor could produce a healthy heir asap. The other was because he’s too insecure to face his true position, his eunuch persona was a safe place to hide.

>>279601866
>deeply flawed
>one of the most popular kuudere characters and tsundere characters
You don't know what wish fulfillment is if you think characters having flaws make it not wish fulfillment.

>>279601866
How are Maomao's flaws considered surface level but not the others?

>>279601937
nta but its not wish fulfilment because the girls are generally in quite an unpleasant relationship with Shinji himself. Rei is autistic and more interested in Shinji's dad than him, and Asuka may have liked Shinji a bit but constantly treats him horribly and their relationship is strained (at best) all the way to the end of the series.

If it were wish fulfilment then one of them would've undoubtedly ended up as his GF or otherwise mindlessly following him in whatever he does like a puppy.

>>279601937
Retard
Kuudere and Tsundere only took the attractive traits of the characters, like 99% of time
Do you even see mc and the tsundere doing shit like strangling each others in other stories?

>>279601368
>her own biological grandma wants to whore her out after already whoring out her own daughter/Maomao's mother
>Maomao is essentially saved by kidnappers and Jinshi
Nice family

>>279602171
Hey, gotta make money somehow.

>>279601921
> to oversee the rear palace and ensure the Emperor could produce a healthy heir asap
Other people could that, like, real eunuch, his own retinue that he should have had since he was a young prince?? I know, shocking right? Actually its more retarded to have the only direct heir doing that shit lol. Jinshi should have his own harem already pumping out as much kids as possible, instead of taking questionable medicine, playing mr.no dick while chasing after the mary sue
>b… but he is insecure, he doesnt want the job
Then the most logical choice is to retreat to his own fief and live there, out of the court and any political drama lol
As I said the only real reasons are to have a hot simp for the mary sue in the court and somehow dragging out this relationship as long as possible for more book sales

>>279601982
They are flaws in name only, never have any lasting consequences, are actually positive, or disappeared already
She is a poison autist, but it is more of a quirky trait to make her more moe, while she is perfectly healthy and still eating them like candies. Look at marie curie, she died due to disease from long exposure of radiation
She is socially withdraw and tries to distance herself from relationships, but she still functions perfectly fine in a socially competitive environment like the court, thriving even.
A similar character like her would Dr. House from House MD. Smart, competent, jaded, doesnt like human contacts, even randomly pull shit out of his ass to solve medical cases
But his personal relationships is a fucking mess, he got only a real friend and most of his co worker actively dislike him,
His psychical flaw is also actual flaw, a cripple leg with nerve damage (not bullshit like small breasts or fake freckles lol) that actually caused him trauma and physical pain

>>279599554
Nobody give her shit for accepting Jinshi feeling so slowly

>>279602440
Radiation =/= poison, people can and have built up resistances to certain poisons/venoms via low exposures. As things are, once she's brought into the rear palace she really doesn't even actually interact with poisons that directly. She WANTS to but is withheld from it on several occasions (or decides against it herself because its too dangerous) by others.

> but she still functions perfectly fine in a socially competitive environment like the court, thriving even.
Not really, she's either disliked or outright despised by most court ladies and ladies in waiting. The only real exceptions are Gyokuyou's attendants (who mostly view her with pity and are often exasperated by her actions) and Xialoan/Shisui, who are both just too airheaded to be put off by Maomao's blunt and often rude behaviour like the other women are.

She otherwise generally just keeps to herself when not being forced by Jinshi or the consorts to solve some problem for them.

>>279601368
Smart decision from the author actually
If she was an actual non virgin prostitution, it would ‘scare away’ like 90% of the male fanbase and mao mao simps lol. The female fanbase wont give much shit though

>>279602648
> people can and have built up resistances to certain poisons/venoms via low exposures
Lol a fucking meme that only exists in fiction
What do you think poisons even are?
> The only real exceptions
You mean the only actual people she has contact with and not random no face background characters?
Cmon even the Emperor himself found her delightful

Is she able to cure her mother or not in the source material? If not then she is not a mary sue. But then you can clearly see the author only punished her bc she dared to sleep with other men while the retarded Lakan didnt get kicked out of the clan

>>279602710
>Lol a fucking meme that only exists in fiction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism

>>279602827
As I said, fictions created by Mithridates myth

>>279579519 (OP)
Yes but she's cute so it's okay.

>>279602859
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/200-snakebites-later-one-mans-blood-may-hold-the-key-to-a-universal-antivenom-180986595/

>>279602859
Skip down to the 'in practise' part of the page, champ.

>>279602778
not in the source material her mother died before the story starts when she was too young

>>279602710
> You mean the only actual people she has contact with

Almost like she's socially isolated or something. As things are, basically every other lady she comes into contact with in court has a hostile relationship with her or at least just dislikes her because of her attitude.

She has 2 'actual' friends who aren't really normal themselves, and otherwise as I said, she just keeps to herself and/or spends time fucking around in the doctors office.

The other higher up's aside from Jinshi only 'like' her because she's useful to them, they aren't her friends. I wouldn't really call what she's doing at court 'thriving' socially.

>>279602899
Yeah better resistant to some certain poisons but got poisoned anyway due to the body creating other unwanted chemicals?
Also it should have other health issues even with better poison resistant, aka consequences

>>279602778
No. It's mentioned Luomen probably could've cured her, but Fengxian kept her illness hidden because she didn't trust him, and by the time the symptoms started getting worse the disease had spread too far to be treatable. Most that Maomao/Luomen could do for her was give her pain medication, she was just way too far gone to save.

>>279580045
>It's always implied she's not quite as clever or skilled as Luomen.
Nowhere near as clever or skilled. In fact when it comes to medicine there is a bit of a big fish, small pond situation going on since she is the only competent person working in medicine in the rear palace where men are not allowed to go and the only doctor is a quack.
This situation goes away when she applies for a new position that was created with her in mind aimed at training women in medicine to staff the rear palace now that making eunuch's is outlawed, the medical court lady. Once she starts training under the real doctors her knowledge in medicine is no longer particularly special, she's described as having the pharmaceutical skills of a mid level physician while lacking in many other areas. Her random trivia game and detective skills are still top notch though.

>>279602949
>The other higher up's aside from Jinshi only 'like' her because she's useful to them, they aren't her friends. I wouldn't really call what she's doing at court 'thriving' socially.
The girls at the Jade Palace are fond of her but see her more like an adorable cat, if anything I'd call her service there more of an attempted adoption. Yinhua and Seki-U tried to befriend her but their attempts were ultimately reflected. Lihua likes her but more in a gratitude way. Lishu is plain scared of her but probably admires her a bit. Ah-Dou likes her in a you amuse me sort of way. Gaoshun and Suiren have parent energy going on. The Emperor, I think he's more or less accepted that she's his future daughter and law and is just waiting on a certain someone to close the damn deal.
Socially, she's kinda shit and only makes friends when they stay in proximity and glue themselves to her.

So will the redhead concubine give bearth before Maomao returns or she will be forced into that plotline in the last minute to save the day?

>>279603687
She will give birth before.

>>279603687
Loumen delivers the baby. Maomao's role as doer this season is pretty well over except for (big spoiler)
realizing that Loulan dosed the children with her sisters revival drug so that Maomao and Jinshi can spirit them away after everyone saw the bodies. She doesn't even really figure it out, she and Jinshi are planning the kids burial in the carriage holding their bodies when they start to wake up.

>>279602213
Jinshi had known from a very young age that he was unfit to be an heir, let alone a future Emperor. He even begged the current Emperor to go fuck his concubines and produce more children just so he wouldn't be stuck as the sole heir. He only managed to gain the Emperor's permission to enter the rear palace as eunuch after winning a bet over a game of Go. That's why even after Maomao's gone missing for a long time, he still hesitated to return to his real position with much more power to find her. Even though he's a simp he still has his own urgency. His resolve to be free existed long before Maomao entered the picture.
>Then the most logical choice is to retreat to his own fief and live there, out of the court and any political drama lol
This is not an option. As the Emperor's brother he's forced to participate in politics.

>>279590673
>Her knowledge far outstrips what is feasible for her to have learned under an apothecary of that time.
Ah yes, that time, the time of the nation of Li, I remember that in my history books. Also she learned it under a world traveling doctor and scholar, one of the Empires greatest thinkers.

>>279602949
>>279602648
Yeah did people forget how Hongniang, Gyo’s head lady-in-waiting, shoved Maomao against a wall and threatened her not to betray Gyo? These people aren’t her friends. They’re nice to her because she’s useful to Gyo.
Maomao only had two friends and one of them just betrayed and kidnapped her. How exactly is she thriving socially?

>>279579519 (OP)
>Character isn't a completely worthless loser.
>Are they a Mary Sue
Your whole generation is pathetic it's warped.

>>279603687
She already gave birth offscreen.

>>279580421
You're complaining about a completely different thing:
The loss of tension in the conflict
The conflict becomes less interesting to the viewer because they know, regardless of the immediate twist or turn, the story has set things up in a way where the protagonist will prevail in some form, and the question is simply how.

But that's partly because you've missed what the actual tension is. Maomao is actively trying to avoid dangers that she doesn't know she isn't in. That causes misunderstandings, and distances her from the romantic interest.

The tension is on "what happens when they both know each other knows their secret"
The detective and imperial espionage stuff is just a backdrop, not the main driving tension

This is a romance, even if it's a slow burn one

>>279579519 (OP)
She's too strong for her role in the story.

>>279579519 (OP)
It doesn't count because strong female character good

>>279604055
>framing like she's some normal character
the cope is insane

>>279579519 (OP)
Define Mary Sue

Isnt Maomao a pick me? You would think femcels who are glazing her show be at her throat.

>>279603786
She did figure it out. That was the point. She tried to trick Jinshi and get him to leave the carriage but he wasn't fooled because he remembers that she's not allowed around dead bodies.

>>279604554
Female main character with no apparent flaws

>>279604613
A what?

>>279601921
>>279603896
>brother
Jinshi is not the emperor's brother, he's the first prince. This is revealed as early as the first cour of the first season of the anime and later confirmed by the empress dowager.

>>279604979
That doesn't really explain Mary Sue. It's a character that is essentially author's self-insert, universally loved, all her enemies either end up adoring her or die in horrible way, after only a very short time she can achieve feats better than people that have been training for years, and all cause of her exotic heritage of being part human/part demon/part unicorn, she starts terribly plain, but becomes the most beautiful woman in the story, catching the interest of the most handsome man (quite often the villain that she converts to good side) that will never question anything she does.

>>279595357
Is she a virgin?

>>279605647
As far as we know the only body part that got in contact with a dick was her hand, and it was through fabric. But oh boy, did she get a good feel of that frog, Jinshi had to ask her to stop before tadpoles started jumping out.

>>279579519 (OP)
>Loved by the emperor son
>Loved by most emperor concubines
>Only bad guys and foolish people hate her
>Unlimited knowledge about drugs, cooking etc that allows her to get closer to other people
>Great detective skills that allows her to pinpoint the truth pretty easily
>Has freckles that are supposed to make her look ugly but still cute and they are fake, shes actually beautiful

Only watched first cour but even then it was obvious she is.
And i didnt even include she was the daughter of a powerful noble.

>yes she's a marysue
>literally just describes a female sherlock holmes
Marysue as a concept has never made any sense in original stories anyways. It's more like a word reclaimed by mysogynistic retards because they hate to see smart women protags.

>>279579576
The point of a whore is that she does it with everyone

>another break after this week's episode
WHY

>>279608191
>smart women