Apothecary Diaries 2x9

It's the exact opposite haha

poisonivybag

The author has explained that he was abused by older women, hence his aversion to being touched by them.

poisonivybag

It's already been clarified several times, Jinshi was raised to believe he was the current Emperor's son, but they are actually brothers. They're only like 10 years apart. Publicly they claim the emperor's brother is "sickly" so he doesn't come out much.

Hollow

I think the daughter is the girl that faked her death in season 1

thezz

The emperor might of had some form of autism, just based on not being very vocal, doesn't like to be touched, and hyper focus to be a great painter. I don't know enough about it to say if that could also make him a pdf.

Huemon Nottabear

It’s the reverse of what happened to previous emperor as a child. He became emperor as a child and the concubines at the time were trying to get pregnant immediately to secure their spot. This is likely what traumatized him to adult women. The fact that ainshi (current empress dowager) had the conviction and ambition to steal on her sister at her age is a flip on the how at all points the previous emperor was truly taken advantage of by all ages in the end.

Darren Banks

I know, was trying to give benefit of the doubt 😭

Loadedfrenchfry

Them getting hacked didnt affect them making videos, they uploaded on youtube as soon as they got their account back and uploaded this video yesterday. This is normal tbh

Prxj3ct

whats up w the drops today?

Finka Clash

Hope we starting Spider-Man this week, need that schedule Roshi lol

Doc Anime!

When I saw they got hacked I knew the week was cooked, understandably so unfortunately

Loadedfrenchfry

Yup tbh I'm thinking we might not get anything until tomorrow

CentipedeKid

Bring me reactions to Spider-Man!!!!

Jamaal Ellison

Late drops today I see.

Otto

Spoilers so if you dont wanna know dont read again spoilers, but anshi (empress dowager) is jinshis grandmother and the current emperor is his father. Anshi got pregnant again with the previous emperor. but cause she hated the emperor, when she gave birth, she plotted with ah duo who was also pregnant with jinshi, to switch the babies. so thats how this family dynamic happened.

Ivan Uribe

I think I honestly just worded my original comment poorly, that's my bad. I know which line you're referring to, but there's a lot more context in the LN during that scene, and specifically around Anshi being very unreliable as a narrator and essentially lying to herself as a way to cope with the trauma. It's also more clear in the LNs that even if she technically "knew" she did not understand the implications of what that meant fully. It's tragic either way.

KomodoughDragon

Schedule?

Jamie

The Empress Dowager (Anshi) is the mother of the current Emperor, so she's either the grandmother or mother of Jinshi depending on what you believe 😁

poisonivybag

The amount of people who forgot(not just yall) that the previous emperor dropped the orpiment is very funny to me lmao

slavicandsapphic

Actually it is lmao in the light novels.

slavicandsapphic

We gotta also remember that the previous emperor became emperor when he was very little. And concubines would’ve wanted to become pregnant right then and there. It obviously doesn’t make his actions right, but it makes sense on why he is so afraid of adult women

slavicandsapphic

just wanna point out jinshi mom isn’t the empress dowager we saw in this episode, remember he got switched with her son and the son of the old concubine from last season. officially he’s her son the empress dowager, but in reality he’s ah duo son. the empress dowager i think is like his great aunt or something so kinda explains the resemblance and purple hair kinda. but the former emperor is his dad cuz remember he gathered a child with both ah duo and the empress dowager.

Dymanni Lovell

So it was orpiment! Not lacquer, my bad, but both still are toxic when used continuously and both still can deter decomposition. I still think I'm on track with thinking the former emperor's mom abused him and that's why he was scared of adult women. His mom/other older women had "power" over him, others around him already felt like he was a "powerless emperor", so to win back some of that power, he turned to little girls because it meant he had power over them. That does not excuse his behaviors at all. I do hope that in future episodes and/or seasons we get more backstory on him and the empress cus I definitely think there's more there to be uncovered. And lastly, the way Anshi said "You better hide your favorites, or else someone else may hide them from you" felt soooo chilling to me. It's like she was saying "You may think you're fooling people into not knowing Mao Mao is special to you, but if you don't start distancing yourself from her, she's gonna have an even bigger target on her back." At this point the only person Jinshi's affection isn't obvious to is Mao Mao xD. This season has solidified that I have GOT to read the light novels. I'm tryna wait til this season is done but I just know there's stuff that didn't make it into the anime and I need to know lol!

Lea Garrido

love is blind vod pls and thanks 🙏🏾🙏🏾

halsa

“she was plotting” SHE WAS 10????

Mrlanie

We're almost there 👀

poisonivybag

@Butthead faxe I was screamingggg lol like kids plot how they gonna get in the cookie jar at night when their parents are sleep, NOT how to move into a political position of power by offering their whole body and life to an adult 😭

botanbutton

@A. Oh for sure! I understand it that way, but do they understand it that way? lol

botanbutton

The emperor i think has a phobia of adult women (because it's one thing to like kids, but it's totally different when you act like an insect bites you when an adult woman touches you) , probably because of his mom. So the emperor loves her, but he can't bear to look at her because of his phobia. That's why he painted her back when she was younger hence the yellow colors. Also maomao saw the picture.

Random Guy

Gosh, so many names and so many plays. I can't keep up with the plot sometimes XD This is still awesome, I just wished I had better memory to piece all the clues together myself as well.

Olemgar

There's probably all kinds of CP behind that first picture lol

My abba taught me a few things too, like how to rip the skin off by using my own mouth

yeah i think Anshi knows that Jinshi isn’t her real son, because even in this episode she says “child of immortality, child of a mistake” i believe mistake is meant to be regarding the child swap and his current position? bc going off the theory the emperor is his father, he should be next in line for the throne. I wonder if Jinshi himself knows this?

Mima

Hoping for your lie in April someday 🙏🏻

TChang23

patiently waiting for the 🐸

corLeonis

Anyone else wanna see Roshi react to that new Death Stranding 2 trailer just for that one moment near the end? Lol.

Carlos

That’s not confirmed

Mufid Lassissi

Maomao's adoptive dad got banished because he was blamed for Ah Duo's "son" dying although we know it was actually an accidental poisoning with the honey.

poisonivybag

I think Anshi was probably saying it that way because she revised it in her mind to take power back. If you think about what happened to her, being sold by her parents and taken advantage of by the emperor with the approval of everyone in the court, it's really awful. If you think Anshi as a 10 year old plotted to become the mother of the nation, that's a little more palatable. #girlboss

A.

I think Anshi knows who he is or at least it is known, because the truth supposedly came out about the swap at some time in the past. Isn't that why Maomao's dad got kicked out?

A.

Palace drama lore doing backflips to my brain. Also, yeah I'm pretty sure Maomao's adoptive dad was punished with a broken kneecap and banished due to the baby swap. It could be that Jinshi is one of the few who actually knows Ah-duo is his mother, and Anshi doesn't. A scene that keeps sticking in my head is the episode where Ah-Duo was leaving the palace. Jinshi was crying that night and we never really got a definitive answer as to why. He also specially went up to say bye to Ah-Duo on her way out. Both of those would make perfect sense if he knew Ah-Duo was his mother.

King of New York

Love how the show handles complex characters. What the Emperor did was clearly wrong but it gives you a lot more to think about when it comes to him, as well as Anshi.

King of New York

Yeah ever since the middle of S1 it seems like every time her mind takes her closer to discovering secrets about Jinshi's lineage she quickly shakes it away because she just doesn't want the trouble.

King of New York

Did u miss the please I added to the end or are u just blind

ThiamThi2

Probably

King of New York

Nah this is peak.

King of New York

Maomao about to find a new career: Therapy Diaries

King of New York

This is also exactly what my current theory is.

King of New York

This is my conclusion. Jinshi is the son of Ah Duo and the current emperor. Anshi and Ah Duo was giving birth at the same time. Anshi child died and got swapped with Ah Duo child (Jinshi). So Anshi thinks Jinshi is her second child and the brother of the current emperor, but in reality Jinshi is her grandson.

Bob Bob

This is one of those shows where I really gotta not read ahead to avoid spoilers

Luciaron

I thought MaoMao's adoptive dad was banished when they found out about the swap though.

Barry

The whole thing with Ah-Duo and the Empress being pregnant at the same time, I guess I just assumed Maomao put two and two together. Maybe as you two pointed out she mental blocked it to keep herself safe from things she's better off not knowing.

Fenpai

So am I to understand that ALL the little girls in the painting on the wall were little girls the emperor 🍇 'd not just Anshi?

Alexis Sullivan

I heard that animal penis posses great value in Chinese medicine. I would love to have maomao examine my dick every day and I don’t even mind if she decide to cut it off

Eris Greyrat

So, I haven't read the LNs @KomodoughDragon, but a commenter above said that Anshi did know what her parents were plotting, and I saw a quote from the LNs on another site that indicates that while the half-sister wasn't aware, Anshi did know the emperor's proclivities. It seems likely that she was trying to follow her parents' wishes, as messed up as that is. I really like @poinsonivybag's take on this above.

Sekraan

Reminder that as far as the viewers can tell, Jinshi is actually the son of the current emperor and the purple-haired concubine who left the palace last season. There was the baby swap, and the rape baby of Anshi and the previous emperor died due from the honey.

Sekraan

Damn you can’t ask nicely

Boogie

The new MHA movie is out. Don't forget to react to it pls

ThiamThi2

The Netflix Asia subs translate that line as: "Even if they call it an illegitimate child, or say it was a child switched at birth." That's quite the difference! Looking around online, it appears the LN and manga translations are closer to this. Crunchyroll also obviously mistranslating Gaoshun's saying he will find the servant vs. telling the lady to do so doesn't inspire much confidence.

Sekraan

yeah whole situation is fuuucked but if it was the other way around jinshi would be dead so WE UP❗️❗️🗣🗣MY GOAT LIVES

Butthead faxe

right the way they was saying that had my eye twitchin I can't lie😂

Butthead faxe

I think it's a really good representation of how victims of abuse can have very complex and conflicting feelings towards their abusers. Anshi obviously resented him for what he did not only to her but to other young girls but in some ways she also wanted him to choose her. She loathed him and getting ignored by someone she loathed (yet wanted attention from) eventually drove her to assault him.

poisonivybag

Anshi was not plotting at 10 years old, her parents were, pls. 😭

botanbutton

Okay for anyone who doesn't want to know please do not read below. . . . . . . . . . . . . . So the current Emperor does know that Jinshi is his son and not his younger brother. Ah Duo and the current Emperor have a very close relationship even after she left the palace and she made him promise a long time ago to let Jinshi do whatever he wanted. Jinshi himself doesn't know he's the current Emperor's first born son but he's obviously had suspicions as we've also seen in the anime. He doesn't want to be Emperor though, hence why he wants the Emperor to have a son so he's never obligated to take that role.

poisonivybag

I feel like An Shi doesn’t want to think that the former emperor drew her because that would kind of imply that he was thinking about her near the end of his life since it was the last thing he painted. I don’t think she wants to feel bad for the emperor at all because she has so much hatred for him, rightfully so, so she’s trying to kind of push away any good thoughts or sympathetic towards the emperor even though deep down I think she knows regardless of what he did he was going through something and may have even regretted his actions near the end. I don’t think she wants to acknowledge that because of all the horrible things he did. Which is very interesting kind of dilema to see the story explore.

Cameron Robinson

Honestly, I want to be surprised by the show!

Marlia

The author of the LN actually stated that he was abused by older concubines since his mother, the Empress Regnant, started as a lower concubine and was unable to protect him like she wanted. He became emperor when he was a child, so she drew all power to herself to protect him.

botanbutton

There's a tweet from the author https://x.com/NaMelanza/status/1898030141965844767?t=Yfyhr7hrpJ1axuHlWyHXXw&s=19 that's gives a bit more information. She doesn't explicitly state that he was assaulted, but it's a fair conclusion to draw given that he was described as someone incredibly beautiful and he needed to produce an heir quick to secure power, and there were quite a few consorts in the palace. I'm assuming these consorts were originally tied to his older brothers who died of an illness (mentioned in the shrine of choosing episode).

poisonivybag

It's kind of sad that, to her Jinshi is the child of immorality, but her actual child already died 19 years ago and she does not even know.

Marlia

Y'all seem confused about how the stone got into Jinshi's box. A few episodes back, in Jinshi's dream, we saw the old emperor walk up to Jinshi with the stone and then dropped it when he was dragged away by his mother (the woman on the wall mural). Jinshi picked up the stone as a toy.

Marlia

It's not stated in the manga. Even in the LNs it's pretty vague. All we know from the LNs at this point in the show (no spoilers for anything further), is that he was terrified of his mother (who was abusive) and terrified of adult women in general. People are left to draw their own conclusions about how he became that way.

KomodoughDragon

The former emperor kind of reminds me of this fucked up li anime called My Happy Sugar Life. In there a teenage character gets sexually abused brutally by a female boss of his and afterwards he kind of grow this aversion to adult women. In his trauma, he kind of demonizes adult women as dirty, vulgar and evil on the flipside kind of idealizes the innocence and cleaness of a child character in the show. I wonder if they’re doing something similar with the former emperor and probably his relationship with his mom. Maomao kind of spun their relationship as a loving one at end, but I’m wondering if it was not sexually abusive , it may have verbally abusive and by the way he was kind of scrubbing his arm at when that woman touched him, maybe even physically. I know this does not justify his abuse of children, but I feel this might be the explanation they give.

Cameron Robinson

These bitches don't need an empire they need fucking therapy.

Baron Salt

So to clarify (no spoilers), "officially" Ah Duo's son died young because he was accidentally poisoned by her lady-in-waiting which we discovered last season. The death was then blamed on Maomao's dad who got banished from his role in the palace. We also discovered last season as that Jinshi is working in the rear palace under an alias as a test of loyalty, and he's doing this on the Emperor's orders. There was a scene last season where the Emperor talked about Jinshi "managing his flower garden". Jinshi's official title is the Imperial Brother and Jinshi himself believes that the current Emperor is his older brother. This has obviously been questioned on a few occassion for a reason 👀

poisonivybag

I'm interested!

Dyastro

I get both points but I'm with Roshi on this. MaoMao is smart but she doesn't have enough information to completely figure it out. Thats why we got the empress dowager POV. But MaoMao does also prevent herself from digging deep, which is obviously for her survival. Also I don’t think any of them apart from ah duo and possibly the current empress know about the child swap.

hrt4u

that's so crazy I lowk assumed they all figured it out and was just hiding it from jinshi and everyone else to not cause trouble

Butthead faxe

Could you elaborate on the old Emperor getting assaulted by older women? I don't remember that part in the manga---

Dyastro

so her calling jinshi "child of immorality, child of mistake" is basically confirming that she herself believes jinshi to be her real son who was conceived that night she 🍇 the emporer so if jinshi not her son the only one who knows is ah-duo and MAYBE the current emporer broo

Butthead faxe

Anime only viewer: I would imagine that the emperor knows, just because of the last episode, jinshi initially thought that the emperor was his father, maybe he raised him knowing that jinshi was really his son. And it appears that the old emperor wants jinshi to be his successor, only because of the color doors interaction, about thining the bloodline or whatever. But we still didn't see much of the emperor perspective yet.

Sam

Remember there was an implied baby swap between the former emperor and the current one. So I am pretty sure that officially* the current emperor’s first son died and the former emperor second son lived and is currently away “studying”. What I think actually happened Maomao’s dad was helping Ah Duo, current emperor’s oldest former concubine, give birth. The former emperors wife, An Shi, was also in labor (apparently with the SA baby) and he got pulled away to help her, but the baby still ended up dying. Someone decided to switch the babies, so Jinshi was born from the current emperor but was secretly raised as the former emperor’s 2nd son. For some reason, we don’t know yet, maybe because people thought he might look different. Someone (maybe the Empress Mother) decided to give him a secret identity as “Jinshi” to live in the capital in secret. Maybe because of the secret and the death Maomao’s dad was banished. I also wonder if An Shi knows Jinshi isn’t her son because she seems very caring about him at the end.

Cameron Robinson

So, the way the previous Emperor reacted to being touched by an adult woman and the absolute fear he showed makes me wonder why that is. His mother must have done something to him, maybe sexual? Two episodes ago we saw a flashback of the previous Emperor and his mother and he seemed scared shitless of her. Idk. But his mother was definitely just using him as a pawn for herself to gain power, kept him close to her and manipulated him so he couldn't live without her. All of this + not really growing mentally all contributed to him being a PDF. Not to excuse it of course, but i do feel a bit bad for him - he was clearly not ok mentally, he was not mentally "developed" let's say, then forced into a position of power he didn't want, not allowed to follow his true calling in painting and just the general fuckery of his mother, he had no chance to be normal at all. Him becoming a creepy, PDF, "idiot" Emperor was all the result of how he was brought up. In another world, he's probably just like the 6th in line, no expectations, his mother leaves him alone since there's no point playing for power, and he's allowed to goof off and paint (and is hopefully not a PDF). But alas (also, it's kinda funny how the current Emperor went the complete other way in taste of women to his father lol, what a guy). Idk man, just a messed up story all around, for everyone. Super fucked up but fascinating story.

Shockzz1234

anshi: did i curse him? maomao: nahh anshi:😐

Butthead faxe

Yeah I like that people are pointing out this because I've seen a few reactors now say that Anshi as a child was plotting like... She was 10, she had no agency. She could not consent. Anshi as a narrator is unreliable in the sense that she's saying she was "ambitious" and that she knew she was sent to the palace for a reason, but that's just how she copes with what happened to her.

poisonivybag

It appears that she thinks jinshi is really her son, maybe the only one who knows about the change it's jinshi real mom, but I don't know for sure at this point.

Sam

In a way I think the empress dowager wanted to be the responsible for his death, she hated him and wanted him to suffer the same way she suffered. In the end, she was kinda disappointed that she wasn't the responsible, and didn't acknowledge that the woman in yellow was her, and jinshi thought the woman in yellow was her.

Sam

There was some confusion around her motives and whether she was aware of the emperor's tastes (she was not), as well as not stating how young she was. The show skips over pretty major details during these scenes and muddies others as a result.

KomodoughDragon

I can give you information form the light novels if you're interested.

poisonivybag

Whether Jinshi is the child of the current Emperor and Ah-Duo or the previous Emperor and Anshi, he would still be related to the previous emperor so it's not surprising that there is resemblance.

poisonivybag

I think there was a bit of confusion with Anshi's motives and the relationships, so I've put some bullet points together. No spoilers from the manga chapters or light novels included. -The author of the light novels has told us that not only was the Empress Regnant (mother of the previous Emperor) controlling and abusive, the previous Emperor was violated by older women when he was very young. His fear of older women stems from that and most likely has a part in the development of his sexuality. You can also see it from his reaction when Anshi's older half sister tried to touch him, that's clearly something that stems from trauma. -Anshi (Empress Dowager) was sent to serve as her older half sister's attendant when she was 10 because her father knew that the Emperor was a pedo and he wanted to use his daughter for political gain. Whilst Anshi says she knew of the Emperor's tastes and said she was ambitious, a 10-year-old cannot give consent. So she's 100% a victim, even if she tries to tell herself that she had a choice or any control. -Lishu (the youngest consort) is essentially in the same position as Anshi was when she was sent to the palace because she was originally the previous Emperor's consort. Luckily she was never touched by him and the current Emperor is not interested in her. -The previous Emperor was already mentally unstable when Anshi assaulted him (which led to her second pregnancy) but it was definitely the last nail in his mental coffin. -Anshi had no idea of the yellow pigment being poisonous nor how it impacted the previous Emperor's body, so it wasn't a test. Sure, you can say she's indirectly to blame because of how the previous Emperor shut himself in his room to paint after being assaulted, but she is under no suspicion of having anything to do with his death. She had no idea he was spending all his time painting, especially with paint that was harmful.

poisonivybag

You say that, but the episode tells us this several times

Baron Salt

Genetics can be funny. My baby has bright blonde hair (I do not) her sperm donor had dirty blonde hair but my mother had BRIGHT blonde hair as a kid. It's just the way it goes sometimes.

AttackRunRepeat

The show really tones down a lot of the details re: Anshi & the late emperor. Anshi got her period much earlier than the girls around her and her parents sent her to the palace knowing that the emperor was a pedophile in hopes he would get her pregnant. In the light novels, they're explicit about stating that she was 10 when she gave birth to the current emperor (late emperor was 30). In the light novels, she was not aware of why she had been sent there by her parents, she was under the impression she was just tagging along with her sister, and didn't mean to catch his attention. And yes, she assaulted him years later in an attempt to traumatize him into not touching other little girls, and also because she was furious at being treated second-rate by someone she considered filth. It's how she got pregnant with his second child (there was no other way he would have touched her).

KomodoughDragon

Butthead faxe

So Jinshi thinks his grandma is his mom and the current emperor is his brother, but in reality, the current emperor is his father. I wonder if the current emperor knows that Jinshi is his child (with Ah Duo), not his brother. Did he know his real brother and his son were switched at birth?

Marlia

More likely than not she’s the woman in the center, because the yellow dress was what she wore and while he avoided her as she aged, he was afraid of her until…that happed. I’m not excusing his behavior, I just admiring how how AD is at making layered characters. He’s afraid of grown women because he was made emperor very young, when all his brothers and dad died so he was a kid at the mercy of a harem that was made to accommodate several males that just got reduced to 1 and all those women’s families were using them to gain power for their own family….in short…he was manipulated and SA’d a lot and there wasn’t much his mother could do to stop it, she could rule the country for him but he had to pop out heirs and maintain alliances through the harem. It’s hurt people hurting people, and if he wasn’t redirecting his trauma by hurting kids I would feel sorry for him. And no the child wasn’t plotting, she was however prepped by her parents, her father sent her there because they knew the emperors preference, but it wasn’t an open enough secret by then to straight up send their young daughter so they sent both (the older one didn’t know) knowing the he’d go for the younger one. The Dowager is the 1st of the concubines to be that young and started the era of child concubines in the rear palace that ended with Lishu’s generation. Yea 1st of the child concubines but Dowager’s father had to find out his preferences somehow….mean he was already doing it

Jordyn Brown

Around 8:13 is what im referring to. Bro got ths Dolby Atmos version of the ep.

_monjiro

Am I trippin or was the audio HELLA good quality on this react?

_monjiro

maomao need to run away I don't want her marrying into this cursed ahh bloodline😭😭

Butthead faxe

Honestly why the emperor didn't decay was pretty obvious to anyone who knows the basics about art history (specifically regarding artists more so than art itself as such) the moment last episode they showed the room littered w/ random mismash of paint colors etc, and weird smell

Skebaba

I love the writing in this show. So complicate and so intriguing. This show has moment that got me hooked so deep, way better than any action main stream anime out there right now.

Rin Okumura

The entire lineage is fucked to be damn. Everyone has extreme trauma and everyone has done monstrous things.

Baron Salt

As usual appreciate the Sunday post

Krype

Nice sunday surprise

PJ Rivera

Yehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Hasnain Khan