#yo knh

Work Group Chat - Hosted on a platform similar to Slack. Has all of the medical professionals, including Dr. Liu and Luomen. Almost entirely serious and work-oriented, but you just know that Guen (the Quack Doctor) posts "GOOD MORNING DON'T FORGET TO SMILE!!! 😁😁😁☀️" type gifs and cat gifs all the time and nobody has the heart to tell him to stop. Dr. Wan-wan and Yo think it's kinda cute though. The bosses originally planned not to tell Guen about the work chat but one of the younger workers accidentally let it slip, so now he's there. Sometimes, Guen comes crying asking for help on very basic things and Luomen has to gently walk him through it. Meanwhile, everyone is passive aggressive to Tianyu when he speaks in this chat. Also, En'en agrees with/gives 👍 emoji reacts to Yao when she says literally anything.

The No-Tianyu-Allowed Group Chat - Hosted on a different platform. Has all of the younger people in it (Maomao, Yao, En'en, Dr. Wan-wan, Dr. Li, Yo, Changsha, and others) minus Tianyu because they all agree he's annoying as hell. At first, it's mostly just used for things they don't want to say around Dr. Liu. But then it evolves into just hating on Tianyu—especially after what he did during the Emperor's surgery and his punishment ("the lashings 😭😭😭" but, like, literally)—and seeing whose turn it is to torment him this time.

Maomao, Yo, and Changsha - Offshoot with just these three. Changsha uses this one solely to vent about how immature Yao and En'en are. Yo spoke when it was first created but has since been totally inactive in this chat despite talking to Changsha a lot elsewhere. It's basically just Changsha ranting to Maomao who tries to be levelheaded about it. Basically a Maomao & Changsha DM in all but name.

Active DMs

Yao & En'en - En'en always checks in on her mistress when they're separated for any significant (i.e. >6 hours) amount of time

Yao & Changsha - After the LN16 dinner, Yao is like, "Please teach me, Changsha 🙏🙏🙏" and she lets Changsha be merciless to her in this chat as a form of therapy (it's also pretty cathartic for Changsha, too). Yao is careful not to let En'en know but En'en is very suspicious of how she's been acting lately

Maomao & Dr. Wan-wan - One day, Dr. Wan-wan DM'd Maomao a fun fact about body parts and she was like "Whoa that's so cool tell me more" and then it just became a thing where he regularly messages her fun facts and Maomao earnestly goes "Omg that's awesome" every time. Both Maomao and Dr. Wan-wan subconsciously believe it's a platonic thing, similar to Maomao's time with Lihaku, but let's pray Jinshi doesn't find out about this chat

I loved all the side stories in Apothecary Diaries LN16 so much. The La clan villa scenes and the dinner scenes with the medical gang all eating together, in particular, had me thinking about that cozy OVA from Durarara!! called "My Heart is in the Pattern of a Hot Pot."

If you don't know DRRR!!, all you need to know for this post is that this series (like a lot of series by Ryohgo Narita, including Baccano! which I also love dearly) has a big, diverse ensemble cast full of freaks and weirdos traversing the city in their own crazy plotlines. A lot of them know each other, but it's not exactly common for them to just all hang out together. This Hot Pot OVA brought many of the core cast together (not everyone, it's too big a cast for that) in the headless woman's apartment (she's a kind headless woman, don't worry) for a nice, warm get-together where they all just relaxed, ate hot pot, and told each other childhood stories. It's the kind of thing that I love to see with any large cast of characters, but it especially hit hard for me with this show because of the sheer weirdness of every character and the mix of various different friend groups and age groups.

Alt text of the image identifies who's who, in case you're curious. The one wearing the helmet is the headless woman.

Bringing this back to Apothecary Diaries, I propose a hypothetical hot pot night specifically in the La clan villa, sometime after LN16. The basic circumstances: Maomao went in to check on Zhizi (specifically at a time when the freak strategist is not there because he's out attending something; Lahan, Sanfan, and Onsou are accompanying him so they're gone, too). But Chue decided to tag along and she invited some people, who then invited more people, and then it ended up being an unexpected get-together.

Here's the guest list:

Maomao - Main character's gotta be there, of course

Sifan, Wufan, Liufan, Zhizi, and Kan Junjie - Already there at the La clan villa. They're also eager to see all the guests

Lahan's Brother - Already there at the La clan villa. He's going to be surprised but he'll be welcoming nonetheless. Because of Kan Junjie's presence, he will end up calling himself "Lahan's Brother"

Yao & En'en - Already there at the La clan villa. Similar to Lahan's Brother, surprised but welcoming. En'en is gonna be one of the chefs of the night, on account of her skills. Yao, having sharpened her cooking skills, might also help

Luomen - A heartwarming hot pot night is incomplete without Pops being there, so let's say Luomen hears about Zhizi and wants to see how she's doing

Guen - Oh yeah, and the quack doctor tags along with him because he'll be very hospitable. He can help with cooking

Chue - The catalyst for all the other guests. Baryou will not be in attendance because you know him, he can't stand other people. She is also one of the chefs of the night, working with En'en

Maamei - Good friend of Chue, why not bring her along?

Bakin - Tags along with Maamei

Maamei & Bakin's Children - Tagging along with Maamei and they get to play with Sifan, Wufan, Liufan, Zhizi, and Kan Junjie!

Lihaku - Chue saw him and was like, "Hey wanna come?" and he was like "Yeah sure!"

Basen - Tags along with Lihaku, who convinces him it will be a good opportunity to unwind

Lishu - Chue, knowing that Basen is coming along, invites Lishu knowing there can be some cute awkward bonding between the two at this party

Yo & Changsha - Chue met them at the dinner in LN16 and they were pretty fun (well, impromptu therapy aside), sure let's bring 'em in!

Kokuyou - He's friends with Yo so he's invited too. It's just a party, everyone will treat him with respect (most people unaware of his penghou trait) so there's no need to worry

Sazen - Really needs a break, so Kokuyou invites him. He gets along with Lahan's Brother because they bond over being constantly pushed around by everyone to the point of naturally frowning and quipping all the time

Chou-u - Fuck it, let him come in with big bros Kokuyou and Sazen. This one's interesting because he'll likely give the cold shoulder to Maomao and serve as a reminder as a part of her life she's been neglecting. But that aside, he'll settle into the party just fine what with the other kids and all. He might do some drawings

Dr. Wan-wan - Maomao evidently has a lot of respect for this guy, but Kokuyou also had fun with him at Red Plum Village so he's the one who brings him along after unexpectedly seeing him on the way to the party

Dr. Li - Tags along with Dr. Wan-wan. He'll also get along with Lahan's Brother and Sazen

Many different opportunities for little groups to form to tell each other childhood stories, lots of great food, lots of love. We got the La clan kids and the Ma clan kids (Maamei & Bakin's children), most of the medical gang, Basen/Lishu, Lihaku and Lahan's Brother being the bros of the house, Maomao and her Pops, Maamei & Chue, etc. Overall forms a heartwarming and sentimental mosaic quite similar to that DRRR!! hot pot OVA, with weirdos and normal people alike. Also features Maomao subconsciously realizing how far she's come with all these friends and family at her door.

A man can dream!!!

P.S. Now of course, I have to mention him because I'm sure someone will ask: What about Jinshi? And look, as much as I'd love for him to be a part of this, you know he can't. He will make 90% of the people there nervous in the presence of the imperial prince. Remember that in LN14, when Jinshi lamented he couldn't attend the meeting of the named clans, Maomao said, "Master Jinshi, what would people think of a boss who popped up right when his subordinates were having a nice drink together?" You could say he might try a disguise, but he wouldn't truly get to be himself that way and he'll be constantly on alert trying to make sure people don't notice him, and it's likely some people might.

Shinra: "In this world, there are people without such harmonious fortune, people who eat their hot pots alone."