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Nov 28, 2023 10:10
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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. This seems like a bad move on the brothel's part. Wouldn't it make more sense to leave him with enough wherewithal to continue to move up in the world, so they can continue to drain him? I mean he's a soldier it's not like he's an investment banker as long as he can crack skulls/direct the cracking of skulls effectively he should be good
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Nov 28, 2023 12:13
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She utterly destroyed him with those words Just ripped the soul out of his body.
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Nov 28, 2023 12:41
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OnimaruXLR posted:This seems like a bad move on the brothel's part. Wouldn't it make more sense to leave him with enough wherewithal to continue to move up in the world, so they can continue to drain him? Given how easily manipulated he was I guess they figured that he'd risen as high as he could from sheer meatheaded muscle power and was never going to survive long in the cutthroat world of palace politics so he'd be a bad longterm investment. Much better to run a quick 'pump & dump', to borrow a phrase 
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Nov 28, 2023 13:51
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Snowglobe of Doom posted:Given how easily manipulated he was I guess they figured that he'd risen as high as he could from sheer meatheaded muscle power and was never going to survive long in the cutthroat world of palace politics so he'd be a bad longterm investment. Much better to run a quick 'pump & dump', to borrow a phrase Pairin would never be satisfied with a simple pump-and-dump.
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Nov 28, 2023 13:58
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Snowglobe of Doom posted:Given how easily manipulated he was I guess they figured that he'd risen as high as he could from sheer meatheaded muscle power and was never going to survive long in the cutthroat world of palace politics so he'd be a bad longterm investment. Much better to run a quick 'pump & dump', to borrow a phrase He doesn't seem to be an idiot, we just rarely see him in his element. Enabling access to any of her "big sisters" suggests Maomao thinks he'd be worth it going forward - yeah she needed the favor, but she also loves her sisters and knows how the madam works. It is, despite everything, a vote of confidence in him.
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Dec 1, 2023 00:06
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Snowglobe of Doom posted:Given how easily manipulated he was I guess they figured that he'd risen as high as he could from sheer meatheaded muscle power and was never going to survive long in the cutthroat world of palace politics so he'd be a bad longterm investment. Much better to run a quick 'pump & dump', to borrow a phrase If they didn't think he'd make it further or have possible broader connections, they'd have pumped him for all he was worth already and then cut him off. But given that they're sending him off with a smile and a promise of a return entrance (and that Paimon is fond of his body), they see promise in his future earnings. Maomao didn't exactly have much choice in picking him but she is fortunate he was liked well enough. Also, to add another "anachronism" to the pile, CPR is just a thing people know I guess? Not the mouth-to-mouth part which is fairly old historically, but the chest compressions in conjunction
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Dec 1, 2023 00:57
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Xelkelvos posted:
https://cardiothoracicsurgery.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13019-020-1086-5 the more you know
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Dec 1, 2023 03:09
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Ancient China is op. Westerners too busy with black plague
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Dec 1, 2023 05:28
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Been reading the LNs as well. Translation's a little stiff sometimes but it's fun to get the extra details. The narration kind of shifts randomly between an objective narrator to something tinged with Maomao's perspective even though it's not specifically her narrating. This ends up making the observation that Jinshi is so pretty he could "bring the country/world to its knees" feel even more like it's coming from Maomao than an objective narration, and it comes up a lot. (Or feels like it does. I'm binging a bit.) Sure, lots of other people are into the very pretty eunuch, but she certainly dwells on it. Makes Maomao feel way more in the LNs like she's got it really bad for Jinshi but is also violently allergic to even acknowledging that train of thought - which, y'know, fair. And puts an amusing perspective on her more... ahem... catty observations about Jinshi early on. She's so fixed on not thinking too deeply about him that it makes her constant inability to put together all the Very Obvious Foreshadowing just another product of the stubbornness that makes her own life messier and harder sometimes.
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Dec 1, 2023 07:56
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re: what you're saying about maomao's monologue in the light novels- I think this week's episode gets a little bit into why maomao is not super into the idea of a relationship with jinshi, although I agree that she doesn't necessarily dislike him Her asking him to please execute her with poison if he ever needs to do it is basically her (in a morbid, obtuse way) pointing out the power differential between them and how it's unhealthy. She's in a position where she's expected to do whatever he tells her to do, and if she oversteps her bounds, her execution would be reasonable as well. Jinshi's obviously horrified by the idea but you can hardly blame maomao for being wary of someone with that much potential power over her. Particularly since two people died in just this episode All this is more obvious in the LN where maomao semi-regularly brings up in her narration that she's really not in a position to refuse his requests. The tonal shift at the end of this episode might feel a little more abrupt in the anime, I guess, because most of their interactions are so light and goofy and we're not as privy to maomao's thoughts sharkmafia fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Dec 2, 2023 |
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Dec 2, 2023 21:00
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Oh, absolutely. Aside from her general cynicism from growing up in the Pleasure District, Maomao's got lots of very good reasons not to even begin to entertain any thoughts further than "he sure is pretty" because of how aware she is of the differences in station. Poor girl feels like she's in denial more in the LNs than she comes off in the manga or anime thanks to the nature of the presentation. She almost deliberately refuses to be aware she's actually in a number of powerful people's confidences and could get away with being more informal and frank when in private with them... and then she goes and does one of her weird little drug goblin antics, and doesn't understand that she did anything wrong and how much slack she's actually being given. I love it.
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Dec 2, 2023 23:50
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Yeah. The problem for jinshi is that maomao's bluntness and willingness to show her disdain for him is what attracted him in the first place, since it's so different from how everyone else treats him. Yet he'd never be able to have a genuine relationship of that kind with a commoner, only a performative one. maomao knows this, jinshi maybe hasn't figured it out yet How far are you in the light novels, anyway? I'm focusing specifically on the show here but it's not like this problem goes away anytime soon
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Dec 3, 2023 00:24
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Mid volume 3, specifically the story getting into the dead former emperor in more detail than just "he liked little girls in the very bad way." So still behind where the manga's at in Japan but a little beyond the latest official English release. (Which I intend on picking up very soon.) Cripes, there are like 14 volumes of the LN, only 9 of which are out in English yet. The anime hasn't left volume 1 yet. I am really looking forward to the volume 2 content hitting just because a certain hilarious rear end in a top hat who features heavily is still my favorite secondary character, and I want to be able to talk about them.
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Dec 3, 2023 00:37
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My favorite volume of the LN is probably still volume 2, yeah. I have some issues with the later light novels that I'm not going to get into because of spoilers but I love all the material the anime is going to cover in this season, or even in a hypothetical second one of the same length
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Dec 3, 2023 00:45
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This episode reminds us that alcohol is a form of poison and as such something Maomao loves. Also I love how she specifically has a rule to never touch dead bodies, because the urge to use them as ingredients would be just to strong. It's also good that she finally told that guy why their power imbalance is a problem. Even if he likes you, hanging out with the guy who may eventually order your death for some perceived slight to anyone further up the ladder is stressful. He seemed genuinely shocked by that.
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Dec 3, 2023 10:37
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i think she just likes alcohol on its own too. Its a luxury her commoner self probably doesn't have a chance to indulge in a lot given their budget at her regular home. got me curious what would be a lethal amount of salt would be that would kill you in one sitting. Though even if you can't taste the salt, with that much salt...wouldn't you taste the grains and feel the 'dirt-like' flakes in the liquid...oh well GateOfD fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Dec 3, 2023 |
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Dec 3, 2023 16:59
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GateOfD posted:i think she just likes alcohol on its own too. Its a luxury her commoner self probably doesn't have a chance to indulge in a lot given their budget at her regular home. From what Maomao was implying, I thought it was that they'd been slipping him massive quantities of salt in all his drinks for some time rather than just one drink, and relying on nature to take it's course at some indeterminate point rather than arranging a specific date for his assassination.
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Dec 3, 2023 18:05
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The LD50 for salt is 3g/kg, so it would take 150g or ~9 tablespoons to kill the average man.
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Dec 3, 2023 18:33
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sharkmafia posted:My favorite volume of the LN is probably still volume 2, yeah. I have some issues with the later light novels that I'm not going to get into because of spoilers but I love all the material the anime is going to cover in this season, or even in a hypothetical second one of the same length Wikipedia claims it's been set for two cours so we're absolutely getting volume 2 next season.
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Dec 3, 2023 18:33
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E: Quote is not edit
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Dec 3, 2023 18:34
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Maomao when she finds out how much salt the avearge american consumes daily
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Dec 3, 2023 18:36
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disposablewords posted:Oh, absolutely. Aside from her general cynicism from growing up in the Pleasure District, Maomao's got lots of very good reasons not to even begin to entertain any thoughts further than "he sure is pretty" because of how aware she is of the differences in station. Poor girl feels like she's in denial more in the LNs than she comes off in the manga or anime thanks to the nature of the presentation. She almost deliberately refuses to be aware she's actually in a number of powerful people's confidences and could get away with being more informal and frank when in private with them... and then she goes and does one of her weird little drug goblin antics, and doesn't understand that she did anything wrong and how much slack she's actually being given. I love it. That said (spoilers for later plot developments), even though she doesn't see him as such her birth father is both powerful and influential enough that even the Emperor will casually joke about not wanting to piss him off. So, were she willing to use that connection (which she doesn't) she would have a significant amount of social weight to toss about.
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Dec 3, 2023 18:44
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Haystack posted:The LD50 for salt is 3g/kg, so it would take 150g or ~9 tablespoons to kill the average man. I imagine that since both alcohol and salt are dehydrating, that LD50 is probably significantly lower in conjunction with a high degree of alcohol consumption. Also is salt not rare in this world? Wasn’t salt usually very expensive for most of human history?
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Dec 3, 2023 18:46
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Most of the people involved are operating at a level where salt is much more affordable. And it seems to be here that once you have much of any money, you're very much expected to be profligate with it.
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Dec 3, 2023 18:53
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Talorat posted:I imagine that since both alcohol and salt are dehydrating, that LD50 is probably significantly lower in conjunction with a high degree of alcohol consumption. The capitol of Li is relatively near the coast. They have a steady and affordable supply of fish. So sea salt is not terribly difficult to obtain. Plus this is the literal palace of a big empire. A lot of wealthy people and trade routes converge there.
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Dec 3, 2023 19:08
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GateOfD posted:Maomao when she finds out how much salt the avearge american consumes daily ...or the amount of alcohol the average american consumes daily. 
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Dec 3, 2023 19:17
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GateOfD posted:i think she just likes alcohol on its own too. Its a luxury her commoner self probably doesn't have a chance to indulge in a lot given their budget at her regular home. This woman almost died from drinking too much soy sauce, so presumably about that much in salt. Pyrotoad fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Dec 4, 2023 |
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Dec 4, 2023 07:39
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I worry for Maomao, if she keeps talking around cases eventually she's going to run into a noble with no tact who might punish her for not speaking clearly. I understand she doesn't want to implicate people but sometimes you just have to
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Dec 4, 2023 08:38
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Talorat posted:Also is salt not rare in this world? Wasn’t salt usually very expensive for most of human history? Nope. Salt is fairly common and was only expensive if you were far away from a source (mines or the ocean) and China (well, the areas with the big cities where the emperors lived) didn't have that problem. trucutru fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Dec 4, 2023 |
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Dec 4, 2023 08:56
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Kwyndig posted:I worry for Maomao, if she keeps talking around cases eventually she's going to run into a noble with no tact who might punish her for not speaking clearly. I understand she doesn't want to implicate people but sometimes you just have to Half the reason she's talking around cases is to avoid being punished. She's just some commoner servant; accusing people in the palace directly of major crimes could get her into some serious poo poo.
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Dec 4, 2023 09:06
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Yeah, she is being indirect specifically so she cannot be held responsible for any outcomes. She's just a humble servant offering her humble observations, let the superiors make the calls.
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Dec 4, 2023 09:19
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Yeah, speaking tactfully and indirectly round a subject would have been a necessary survival skill and most people in either palace would have been real familiar with how it all works
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Dec 4, 2023 12:20
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It's expected of her. Of course some particularly assholish noble might still declare it a slight and have her killed for it. The power gradient is a bit steep here, which is a reason that she doesn't actually want any sttention on her in the first place.
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Dec 4, 2023 14:47
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She does specifically observe a couple times in the LNs that even her displays of humility must be handled very carefully because if they go too far they end up sounding like she's contradicting the person who's sent for her for a task. Her first clue that she's pushing it is usually the attendants' reactions, if any are around. It's also part of why she almost never volunteers information unless asked, because a truly humble servant shuts the hell up unless called upon.
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Dec 4, 2023 18:28
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cant cook creole bream posted:It's expected of her. Of course some particularly assholish noble might still declare it a slight and have her killed for it. The power gradient is a bit steep here, which is a reason that she doesn't actually want any sttention on her in the first place. I mean, yes, but a particularly assholish noble might kill her for any reason or no reason at all, so it's not especially useful to plan around that.
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Dec 5, 2023 09:18
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the best defense is to go completely unnoticed. that's already out. the second best is to avoid offending anyone. well, that's out too.
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Dec 5, 2023 22:08
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Eventually she's gonna cycle through that to being on the offense and establishing dominance.
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Dec 6, 2023 00:54
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the fundamental coercive power of the state is what mbembe, building off of foucault and agamben’s dueling conceptions of biopolitics , calls “necropolitics” - the power to decide not just how one lives, but how one lives and dies. the palace is an agamben-style “state of exception” where the necropolitical power of the state is unmasked in the absence of checks and in service of uploading an ideological goal, in this case the centrality of imperial power (although note how this is distinguished from the literal preservation of the emperor as an individual). maomao is a fundamentally revolutionary force because she is able, from the subaltern’s position, to exert necropolitical power (not just through poisoning someone; in true socialist realist fashion what would ordinarily be considered a potentially revolutionary form of murder is incorporated into the system in a formal way with food testers and so on), but also by being able to cure one who is poisoned, and so unseat the necropolitical order. if she were merely a doctor or merely a potential assassin or merely immune to poisons she would lack this inherently revolutionary influence. because she has all three she is a true, if generally unwitting, enemy of the state, and perhaps even of all centralized states.
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Dec 6, 2023 04:43
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Mraagvpeine posted:Eventually she's gonna cycle through that to being on the offense and establishing dominance. Conquer the kingom and fully indoctrinate all subjects as the only means of survival.
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Dec 6, 2023 21:37
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