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VictualSquid posted:It hasn't gotten much focus in the Anime yet, but Jinshi absolutely would disagree with saying she understands people's emotions. She's operating under certain assumptions about him that would drastically change her understanding of his goals. *ribbit*
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Nov 14, 2023 23:13
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Fair enough. She certainly doesn't have a typical way to look at the world compared to her peers, but it might still be neurotypical.
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Nov 14, 2023 23:53
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Lt. Lizard posted:I would go as far as to say that outside of her fascination with poisons and drugs, Mao Mao is a pretty smooth operator, who is capable of seamlessly navigate trough highly delicate social situations without ruffling feathers of anyone important and that in a very complex environment of an imperial harem, where she is an outsider. That's pretty much the opposite of being autistic. imo she is coded somewhat like an adult woman on the spectrum who has figured out how social interaction works in very rigorous and logical terms (as opposed to doing things by real-time observation and neurotypical intuition) out of necessity in a difficult environment. constructing explanations of social situations in terms of motivations that don't rely on fundamental attribution or hand-waving about just-so narrative elements isn't something that comes naturally; it's something some people learn to do because they'll never find the right assumptions or conventions to make their guesses work the easy way. however this doesn't necessarily mean anything, as this will inevitably be the case whenever someone writes introverted, clever people who navigate a situation that is constructed as a mystery or intrigue (i.e. the reader can only be given the bare minimum of information to make the deduction believable) without specifically trying to manage it. virtually all detective characters are "like this" whether the story wants to do anything in particular with it or not
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Nov 15, 2023 04:31
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I think you're reading a lot that isn't present into the story. She's never shown any difficulty in forming friendships either in the LN or the anime. She just doesn't place a very high value on them and wants to focus on her apothecary work.
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Nov 15, 2023 05:18
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this allusion meant posted:imo she is coded somewhat like an adult woman on the spectrum who has figured out how social interaction works in very rigorous and logical terms (as opposed to doing things by real-time observation and neurotypical intuition) out of necessity in a difficult environment. constructing explanations of social situations in terms of motivations that don't rely on fundamental attribution or hand-waving about just-so narrative elements isn't something that comes naturally; it's something some people learn to do because they'll never find the right assumptions or conventions to make their guesses work the easy way. however this doesn't necessarily mean anything, as this will inevitably be the case whenever someone writes introverted, clever people who navigate a situation that is constructed as a mystery or intrigue (i.e. the reader can only be given the bare minimum of information to make the deduction believable) without specifically trying to manage it. virtually all detective characters are "like this" whether the story wants to do anything in particular with it or not Maybe we have different exposure to detective characters, but while I think this applies to characters like Sherlock or House or L or I don't know, Columbo, to me this very much does not apply to Maomao. She is hyper aware of her social surroundings, not necessarily in an overtly logical/analytical way, much more in a "street smart" way. Which makes sense considering she grew up in a a brothel and otherwise in poverty. Like, when she noticed Lishu's maid was smirking after noticing Lishu had trouble eating that one dish, she didn't go into analytics about why or anything, she instead immediately went "ah gently caress i shouldn't have seen that, hope this doesn't come up and bite me later". I think one of the smartest characterizations about Maomao is her dedication in conditioning almost every deduction she makes with "well, this is only my opinion as a lowly maid" because she is aware that definitive statements, even the ones that she has complete confidence in, can get her or the perp or both in trouble. She's so careful in even expressing an opinion to anyone that she knows has the power to do something about said opinion. She can (presented as quite easily) consider what to say and what not to say to people that do and do not matter. In this manner as well, she is shown to be super aware/conscious of everyone's social standing (unlike any of the aforementioned detective characters), particularly of maid staff, noting that she doesn't want her words to hurt anyone unless they truly deserve it. For example, in the latest episode, she knows very well Lishu's lady-in-waiting swapped out the dishes, basically having all evidence to accuse her of (accidentally) poisoning one of the head consorts, but refuses to do so in front of Jinshi because she knows that would likely end up in the maid's execution. Or, only admitting to Lady Gyokuyou what she really thought happened with the sleep-walking concubine only after being pressured to by Gyokuyou at the very end and in an "off the record" manner, because she didn't want her scheme to be discovered and then get in trouble for it. She consistently, repeatedly tells Jinshi "here are the (barest) relevant facts that you need to know, make of them what you will, leave me out of it and goodbye". Heck, even something as simple her waiting for the quack doctor taking the first bite out of the roasted mushrooms she harvested (making him de facto just as guilty) clearly shows she has a ton of cunning and ability to politically maneuver around people. I don't think she is particularly introverted, she just knows not to stick out in a royal court lest she gets the wrong attention and her head lopped off. Or, even if the right attention from the wrong person, like the emperor. Not to say neuroatypical people can't be... any of this, but I think a lot of Maomao's character is written as cunning, street smart, and aware/observant of her environment more than anything else. With respect to earlier discussion about (stuff inferred from manga knowledge) Maomao not really getting Jinshi's affections, that can be pretty explained as her operating under the assumption he wouldn't want anything to do with her romantically, both because she again grew up in a brothel being surrounded by women all up to the conventional standards of ~late imperial China (which she very much does not fit in and is aware of that) and that Jinshi is so beautiful/of high standing that he could choose anyone he wanted to. Why would he ever bother with her as both not being conventionally attractive and well beneath his stature. Her confidence in her body is repeatedly brought up as pretty low, even if by modern standards she'd be adorable. This is just what I think at this point, but growing up in a brothel probably hosed her up a bit and she always likely assumed no one would ever love someone that isn't beautiful, works as a poor apothecary, and comes from a broken family of no standing. RuBisCO fucked around with this message at 08:45 on Nov 15, 2023 |
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Nov 15, 2023 08:32
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RuBisCO posted:Not to say neuroatypical people can't be... any of this, but I think a lot of Maomao's character is written as cunning, street smart, and aware/observant of her environment more than anything else. Edit: I apparently can't read. Nitrousoxide posted:I think you're reading a lot that isn't present into the story. I think there's a few cut bits involving her talking with Xiaoran and more or less getting along with her though there'll be more significant scenes later on. Xelkelvos fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Nov 15, 2023 |
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Nov 15, 2023 14:40
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Xelkelvos posted:Are you saying that neurotypical people don't typically do any of that? Or is this really bad/weird phrasing because that seems to be the weird implication. The scope of what counts as neurotypical seems way more narrow than what I'd assume. No? I'm saying I think Maomao is pretty neurotypical because she presents as pretty cunning, street smart, etc., but not that neuroatypical folks can't necessarily be any of that because I don't want to generalize.
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Nov 15, 2023 14:45
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Xelkelvos posted:Are you saying that neurotypical people don't typically do any of that? Or is this really bad/weird phrasing because that seems to be the weird implication. The scope of what counts as neurotypical seems way more narrow than what I'd assume. RuBisCO is writing "neuroatypical" in place of the more common "neurodivergent", which I suspect might be throwing you off here.
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Nov 15, 2023 14:53
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KOGAHAZAN!! posted:RuBisCO is writing "neuroatypical" in place of the more common "neurodivergent", which I suspect might be throwing you off here. Oh, yup. That's probably it. My mistake. Sorry.
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Nov 15, 2023 15:05
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yeah okay there’s different ways to characterize her vibe i guess. it’s not a big part of what i’ve been paying attention to in the story, just something i wanted to note about how people adapt to stuff as they grow up and how it interacts with stories with intellectual precocity
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Nov 15, 2023 15:22
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I think Maomao and Columbo should team up and solve a mystery
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Nov 16, 2023 07:15
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Soup? Oh, no, gee, I couldn't. My wife, we had her whole side of the family over for dinner last night, and she just loves to entertain. I tell ya, she made enough food to feed an army. So, and I mean no offense, ordinarily I'd love some soup, but I couldn't eat another bite. Now my partner here, she tells me she's ravenous. Hasn't eaten a thing all day. But the crazy thing about her is, she's very into to poison. To taste, I mean. Just loves the stuff. Isn't that funny? Some people get into the craziest things. I don't know why I'm even bringing this up, I'm sure giving food to the emperor's concubine, and I do apologize for interrupting you during such an important ceremony, I'll be out of your hair and let you get back to things as soon as I can, but anyway, I'm sure my partner will be pretty disappointed that there isn't any poison in this soup. After all, why would there be?
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Nov 17, 2023 01:47
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This episode confirms once again that Maomao is very powerful. This episode also shows us where she got it from.
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Nov 18, 2023 21:54
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me and the wife rewatched it in all the english episodes out, Drug goblin gonna Drug goblin.
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Nov 19, 2023 12:39
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New Chapter and the start of a new mystery
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Nov 19, 2023 18:23
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You touch a man's frog just once and he gets all possessive 
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Nov 19, 2023 18:32
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It is a rather large frog, to be fair.
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Nov 20, 2023 00:28
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I wouldn't dare to touch another man's frog.
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Nov 20, 2023 07:39
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Lt. Lizard posted:I wouldn't dare to touch another man's frog. My four large frogs are very upset by this I will have you know.
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Nov 20, 2023 12:41
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What do you need four frogs for
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Nov 20, 2023 22:32
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AtomikKrab posted:My four large frogs are very upset by this I will have you know. 
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Nov 20, 2023 23:00
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I've never met anyone with four frogs. And I wouldn't touch them either if I did.
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Nov 21, 2023 02:31
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Saoshyant posted:I've never met anyone with four frogs. And I wouldn't touch them either if I did. This is probably the best for the health and wellbeing of both you, and the frogs.
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Nov 21, 2023 12:32
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LMAO at certain facial expressions near the end of this episode. Show still good.
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Nov 26, 2023 00:54
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RIP Jinshi's mental state
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Nov 26, 2023 05:41
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Jinshi's brain shorting out at the end there was wonderful.
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Nov 26, 2023 05:42
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And then the reveal that everyone else was listening in outside, and their various reactions 
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Nov 26, 2023 09:00
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the bonk on Maomao's head was also great
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Nov 26, 2023 17:19
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GateOfD posted:the bonk on Maomao's head was also great And Gyokuyou enjoying Maomao's antics as usual.
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Nov 27, 2023 02:18
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Maomao sure did get up to some hijinks this episode. She sure loves teasing him.
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Nov 27, 2023 02:27
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Nov 27, 2023 10:59
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wish Maomao would provide me with a night of blissful dreams
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Nov 27, 2023 17:08
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GateOfD posted:wish Maomao would provide me with a night of blissful dreams Eh, she would just give you some melatonin and valerian root. You can just buy that yourself these days.
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Nov 27, 2023 17:18
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GateOfD posted:wish Maomao would provide me with a night of blissful dreams No horny.
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Nov 27, 2023 21:50
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I too wish to be introduced to a high class brothel that will slowly drain me of my wealth, no doubt stagnating or ruining my formerly promising career.
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Nov 28, 2023 00:01
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 Must be cold.
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Nov 28, 2023 02:45
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Haystack posted:I too wish to be introduced to a high class brothel that will slowly drain me of my wealth, no doubt stagnating or ruining my formerly promising career. Life is for living
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Nov 28, 2023 03:04
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Haystack posted:I too wish to be introduced to a high class brothel that will slowly drain me of my wealth, no doubt stagnating or ruining my formerly promising career. If only we could all be so lucky to die a hero’s death o7
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Nov 28, 2023 03:45
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GateOfD posted:wish Maomao would provide me with a night of blissful dreams Does she know how to make Ambien?
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Nov 28, 2023 05:09
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Blissful, not hosed up beyond all recognition.
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Nov 28, 2023 07:23
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