why go to the grocery store or to a restaurant when you can just get food delivered why go to the mall when you can get same day shipping on amazon why go to the library when you have kindle why make art when there’s ai why go to the cinema when you can stay at home and watch netflix. we are in a loneliness epidemic btw

the loneliness epidemic was invented by BIG SHIT to sell you more SHIT

my high school english teacher would often critique our literature analysis work by pointing out: "you're treating these characters like they're real people. They're not. They're characters". And it took me a long time to understand what he meant by that. Because I always thought "isn't that the point? That writers want to write characters to be so three dimensional that they act and feel like real people?" but that's not it.

Characters are tools a writer uses in service of a story. Of course characters can be written with depth to the point they feel real to us, but they exist in service of their narrative. Something real people aren't beholden to at all. When discussing characters, I think it's easy to accidentally see these characters as "real people" and not extensions of the author's beliefs. Tools for a narrative. Means of storytelling.

Thinking about how lonely Jinshi must've been in LN7; No Gaoshun, no Basen, and no Maomao. I only recently finished the book and was startled by how little we see of him during the entirety of it, and when we do, it's only in a couple of chapters

The complete isolation this man was in. He can't even go to the Verdigris House every 10 days to see Maomao anymore. She's closer than ever, working within the palace and living in a dorm nearby, yet she's never been more out of reach

He's getting poison in his tea that he's just brushing it off to do more paperwork and barely getting any sleep. And while it was hinted at in previous LNs, this is the first we got to see how he feels about all the unwanted sexual and romantic attention he's been getting from men and women since he first entered the rear palace at fourteen (if not younger even before that)

For the entire first half of the LN, the only thing we get from him are official letters to Maomao. And even then, she comments about how surface-level they are

It's only natural that when we do get some scenes with him, we get more of his childish tendencies with very little cushion or comedic relief. His answer to Suiren offering him sliced pears is a simple "Give!". His palace, despite being "empty" is the only place he can be a bit at ease, only to be reminded that it won't last because Suiren is planning for retirement in the foreseeable future

Maomao notes to herself how he always insisted on people helping him with hair and clothes, but now it's evident he only demands it because otherwise he'd have nothing. The only people to go out of their way to touch the nation's prince don't have his best interest in mind

He's so starved for touch and affection that he has no choice but to settle for "obligatory" acts of service because otherwise no one's going to caress his hair, no one's going to give him a hug or hold his hand. He literally had to beg Maomao at the Verdigris House (LN5) to tuck him in and sing him a lullaby, saying how he "shan't be sleeping alone."

And Maomao definitely knows that. We don't get an admission (because it's her POV so of course not) but she does tuck him in, she does sing him to sleep, and she does caress his face and hair while he lies in her bed, and she does feed him (albeit bugs), because she knows this man would literally get physical ill and drop dead from sheer loneliness

“the parallels between Zuko and Sokka-” hey HEY. I am grabbing you. The parallels between Katara and Azula. Both the younger, gifted bender. Each one being the inverse of the other: a living, breathing what if. Katara being horrified at what her bending can do when pushed to its limits vs Azula always trying to push hers further. Katara instinctively trusting everyone so easily, even though it burns her sometimes, and Azula saying trust is for fools, fear is the only reliable way but still losing everyone she cares about in the end. Katara yelling at her dad and being hugged in return vs Azula doing everything possible to please her father still being harshly reprimanded, so you know exactly why they both turned out the way that they did. Katara’s trauma being connected to losing a mother vs Azula’s being connected to having a mother. Katara ultimately being the one to take down Azula and standing over her, staring pitifully because that’s who she could have been, in another life. is this thing on

at this point i wish i could obliterate harry potter from cultural consciousness i hate hearing positive and even neutral references to it. find a new thing

Megalist of Magic School Stories for People Who Need to Find a New Thing

Classics A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin * Charmed Life by Dianna Wynne Jones* Sabriel by Garth Nix* The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss* So You Want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane* Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce*

YA A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Paige O'Brien* In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen* Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead* Legendborn by Tracey Deonn* Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender* Vicious by V.E. Schwab* Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams* The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater*

Adult A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik ^ The Magicians by Lev Grossman* Will of the Many by James Islington* Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle*^ An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson Vita Nostra by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko* To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose*^ The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson*^ Red City by Marie Lu^ Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett* The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H. G. Parry Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Dark Academia (wherein the school itself isn't necessarily magic but magic happens at the school) Babel & Katabasis by RF Kuang Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake* Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo* A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid* (also fits under the Romantasy category) The Incandescent by Emily Tesh Bunny by Mona Awad* The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole Making History by KJ Parker

Romantasy The Ordeals by Racehl Greenlaw Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma* A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros^ A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn Spellcaster by Jaymin Eve A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson

*denotes a first book of a series

^ denotes YA-adult crossover appeal

This is by no means an exhaustive list so please add your favorites/recs

I just realised that throughout the story of Apothecary Diaries, the La Clan (Maomao's biological family) has an arc about unlearning apathy. Time and time again, they are the ones that have the information and the intellect required to see the writing on the wall, and they either choose not to do anything about it, or don't care. And it puts the people that are dear to them in danger.

Maomao specifically, starts the series trying her best not to be involved, but her conscience brings her to act anyway, and it saved lives. As the story progresses, she struggles with not wanting to be involved, not wanting to know things that would implicate her, and eventually she comes to the conclusion that inaction does not save anyone.

Luomen, ever the odd one in his family, struggles with too much empathy. He gives himself away until he has nothing to give, neglecting even to feed himself to give out free medicine. I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason he's still alive is because he needed to take care of Maomao.

But when it comes to seeing wrongdoing and deceit, he keeps it all too close, holding onto the information he has acquired out of fear of misrepresenting the facts. He constantly chooses to not take sides and does his utmost to avoid being biased. But, multiple times, his choice to remain silent has lead to his own downfall as well as his family.

Lakan always had been intelligent, but he only ever cared for his games. Even though his parents and his own uncle were troubled by his situation, he was perfectly content just playing go. But when his family went through hard times he was sent away and lost the love of his life.

It was proven, after he came back to the capital, that he was capable of taking the position of head of the family and ruling it, he always could have. He could have had a higher post all along, been secure enough that his uncle's demotion wouldn't be such a blow to his family, he could have been in a position to buy Fengxian without her having to sacrifice herself and failing. Her and Maomao's fate are partly due to his complacency and selfishness, and he even admits as much himself once he sees the dessicated fingers that had been left in his office for far too long.

Lakou (Lahan's biological father and Lakan's half brother) later revealed to be just as brilliant and eccentric as we have come to expect from the La clan. But throughout his whole life, he chose to appease others, his father, his wife, no matter what they did, because he only cared for maintaining his own peace. His passive assent to his father kidnapping Lakan and Lahan could have gotten them killed, and letting them run amok with the money Lahan sent them nearly ruined any chances his eldest sun mightve had!

And Maomao, the one we most see deliberately ignoring what she sees, is also the one who cares the most. She was dulled by her environment, the pleasure district has no mercy for stray kids who ask for too much. And in the pleasure district, too much means very little.

Time and time again, we see her look away until she can't. The things she ignored in order to avoid trouble become precisely the things that pull her into danger, often BECAUSE she lef them be! But despite her own experiences and knowledge, she cares so much. Cares enough to put her own life at risk even when she thinks it's for a complete stranger.

But in her attempts at aloofness, she became clumsy at taking action. Things eventually become too much for her to bear staying silent, and she puts herself and others in danger, breaks what she wanted to fix.

As the story progresses, if you look at the developments of the La clan, there's an undercurrent of the same theme. If you know better, do better. Each character, in their own way, takes steps to no longer be passive, to work for the outcome they want to see instead of hiding their heads in the sand, to care about more than their fragile bubble of comfort that they created around their obsessions.

I've started reading the Frieren manga against my better judgement (my life is very busy atm, and there's 100s of other things I should be doing), but there was a panel that genuinely made me laugh out loud and I love it. (Spoilers ahead)

Found another moment (Spoilers ahead)

There is a fairly significant bit of wordplay in Frieren that will escape the notice of most English-speaking viewers, but I quite like it so I’ll explain it here. The title of the series in Japanese is 葬送のフリーレン (Sousou no Furiiren). “Furiiren” is of course Frieren; “sousou” means “funeral rites” or “attending a funeral”, but can literally be translated as “sending to the grave”. Since the story opens with Frieren watching her old adventuring pals growing old and passing away, we’re naturally led to the simple interpretation of the title: she’s attending her friends’ funerals.

(The full official English title is Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, because literal translations rarely make catchy titles.)

Later, as Frieren is fighting Aura, Lügner explains that Frieren is the most prolific demon-killer in history. In the English translations I’ve seen, this earns her the nickname “Frieren the Slayer”. But in the original Japanese, this nickname is 葬送のフリーレン: “Sousou no Furiiren”, the title of the series.

In this context, this line (and the title, too) could be more literally interpreted as “Frieren, who sends you to your grave”. It also means the line is a little more impactful in Japanese — you’re supposed to point at the screen and yell “hey that’s the name of the show!!”

There’s really just no way to preserve wordplay like this through translation so I can’t fault the translators at all for not trying, but it’s a fun thing that’s worth pointing out nonetheless. I just love that this was clearly something the author was setting up from the very beginning.

Protective Jinshi this, protective jinshi that, well what about protective Maomao??

You know, the girl who regularly sticks her neck out for people facing unjustly cruel punishments and being mistreated despite her "it doesn't concern me" mantra

Whether it's Xiaolan accidentally breaking the concubine's ice, or risking punishment by taking the blame off Kyou u/Chou-u and Surei when Shenmei showed up. It even extends to people she doesn't know, like saving the "important figure" at the ritual, or always thinking of the eunuchs getting caned for even minor offenses

A lot of it goes beyond solving mysteries, catching culprits, or administering medicine. She keeps saying how her old man is too nice only to immediately follow the thought with being extra nice and self-sacrificial herself

You're telling me she won't be protective of her idiot prince as she starts piecing together more and more of how cruel the royal family was to him growing up? Sure, she's not the storm-into-battle-to-save-the-other type, no grand gestures or over-the-top declarations, but she's always giving it her all whether it's her "limited" knowledge or small and weak body keeping the ones around her safe

all because she won't be able to sleep at night and do her work properly the next morning, of course

Wanna save people from spoilers so this will be vague, but she’s proven to want to help people even in front of the Emperor. <Emperor does something to someone> In spite of herself, Maomao went over… Girl, this wouldn’t be happening if you were even a little bit more attached to your own head.

After further reflection, I feel like one of the reasons that Jinshi gets so much backlash is because there are some people who only see him as the love interest and nothing more. Not his own individual character. Just fanservice and/or Maomao’s accessory. So of course there are going to be some people who are pissed and uncomfortable that he’s not acting like how an ideal love interest should be. That was never the point. Maybe he was never meant to be the green flag fantasy that sweeps you off your feet. Maybe he’s just a flawed human being who’s trapped in a position that doesn’t allow him to be, who’s trying the best he knows how to even if it’s not enough. Maybe he’s not the paradigm of perfection that is the heavenly Moon Prince, the mask that’s been his expected responsibility since birth. Maybe he’s just Jinshi, a man who messes up in ways that are not palatable or socially acceptable or ok in any way, and maybe he can deserve to be afforded the chance to learn and grow from them. Maybe that’s the whole fucking point/theme of his character. Because, heavens forbid love interests be their own characters with their own character arcs and actual flaws to overcome.

100%. And the thing is, is that he does grow. He learns and he regrets his past actions. Sure, he may not use dramatic gestures to show he’s sorry, but he does something better by making a permanent change in himself. His ability to listen and act is probably the best thing you can ever ask for in someone, and with his selflessness, he becomes a great friend, lover, and worker who feels real.

Jinshi and Maomao are ACTIVELY making each other noticeably weirder people. Delightful.

Does anyone have any apothecary diaries adjacent recs?

More like the vibes of the light novels. While I enjoyed the romance and the setting, I think I'm looking more for characters obsessed with something, in a difficult situation, but using their abilities to the fullest to help themselves and others. But an engaging setting and great relationships with other characters helps a ton!

It can be from literally any medium—novels, anime, American tv shows, dramas.

I returned to Frieren and actually watched the entire anime season after this post and I’m obsessed now.

The funniest thing about Frieren is how many people don't take "She has already defeated the final boss" for the warning that it is.

My dude. You are a mid-tier optional side encounter and she is enjoying her post-game content. Give her a wide berth.

IT'S FINALLY FINISHED. MY THUMB IS KINDA NUMB. WOOHOOO!!!