Credit to @sademob1tch via @aromantic._.pride on IG.
Apothecary Diaries is pog as fuck bc serious political issues and dynamics from a woman's POV are rarely depicted in ANY form of media
It's always a man's world where women's issues surround him. Even if we get a female perspective once in awhile- it all comes back to how it facilitates his game in the end. She's a footnote in the overarching scheme of things. Misogyny exists. Back to the real plot.
Apothecary Diaries is strictly from a female perspective and how each class of woman has to act, what limits they have, what rights they have and don't have between each class, etc. These women have to behave a certain way under a patriarchy, which you would think makes it a man's story, but it never is. The women are THE focus of this show, their struggles are THE plot. The focus is about how the patriarch effects them.
Take the concubines for example. The show dives into how bearing a child affects their rank, how traumatizing it is to lose that child, the consequences of that, etc. We have barely seen the emperor who sired all these kids because this is not about him.
Jinshi's personal plot is secondary to Mao Mao's journey- he is mostly there to provide new cases for Mao Mao to solve and to learn more about the shortcomings of his class when taking care of citizens like Mao Mao.
Jinshi is not a bad person, but by virtue of his position in the higher classes, he cannot understand how harsh life as a poor WOMAN is specifically- he can only catch glimpses of it from what Mao Mao tells him and feel outrage but powerless in his wealth and luxury
Mao Mao is a fortunate commoner woman for what privileges someone in her class should and shouldn't have. She happened to be adopted by a knowledgeable man. She is allowed to read, write, learn, and has enough skill to be a poison tester and have a job EXTREMELY out of her class limit as an apothecary, also a job not traditionally meant for women
Mao Mao is not a "noT lIkE oThER gIrLs" protagonist, she is FOR THE GIRLIES. She only wants to help the women around her, and women are whom she has the closest relationships to. She sees a woman being harassed and can't let it stand. She sees a frail, traumatized woman dying from the recklessness of those who should be caring for her and spends day and night nursing her back to health, while also punishing the people who were so careless with her needs.
My girl has STUDIED UP on THE BODY to TEACH these upper class ladies on how to really HEAT things up in the BEDROOM
Sex depicted in Apothecary Diaries is both something women are not shamed to be enjoying, while at the same time being acknowledged as an unfortunately huge economic necessity to market themselves.
Like shit is just so real in this series???
Listen, I can go on and on about how GOATED the series and especially Mao Mao is but you get the picture
Zukka is a ship that I'm ultimately indifferent to but its existence gives me more glee than any other ship. As someone who obnoxiously spent the majority of my pre-teen years going to forum war for Kataang against Zutara, and watching as that war went on strong for years after I'd left my station, the rise of Zukka basically felt like this
"After ten long years the fight shows no sign of stopping. Kataang is once again bringing its ultimate attack of canon-compliance, while Zutara has released another essay on how it better suits the show's themes of balance- wait. What's this? Why it's-it's- IT'S ZUKKA WITH A STEEL CHAIR!!!!"
what does it mean to be barbie?
compare.
I am not sorry for the person i will become when epic: the cyclops saga drops this january 27
Leelah Alcorn’s blog was deleted and posts about her are being removed. Don’t stop spreading this. Reblog everything you can, post everything you can.
These are her pictures
here are some of her drawings
this is her note
Don’t let this die.
Not this.
This is absolutely hilarious and I am here for it.
Zukka is a ship that I'm ultimately indifferent to but its existence gives me more glee than any other ship. As someone who obnoxiously spent the majority of my pre-teen years going to forum war for Kataang against Zutara, and watching as that war went on strong for years after I'd left my station, the rise of Zukka basically felt like this
"After ten long years the fight shows no sign of stopping. Kataang is once again bringing its ultimate attack of canon-compliance, while Zutara has released another essay on how it better suits the show's themes of balance- wait. What's this? Why it's-it's- IT'S ZUKKA WITH A STEEL CHAIR!!!!"
This is so beautiful
Dust, Gas, and Stars in the Orion Nebula
the underworld in a nutshell
The Scorpio urge to stop by the same place and go check out the food.
the Gemini urge to eat shit and die
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