#2ha meta

[thegreymoon]

Mo Ran is so gay it isn't even funny.

Now, this is just my opinion and I realise other people have their own interpretations, but this whole episode is super telling to me of just how unreliable his narration is about having tons and tons of sex with people of both genders in his previous lifetime. He's just so... oblivious. None of this reads as a man with a lot of previous experience with many different people. He did not pick up on her flirting with him at all. Sure, he did have a lot of insane sex in his past life, but as the book unfolds, it becomes very clear that most of that sex was with Chu Wanning. At best, there were only a handful of other people he was involved with, and one was a prostitute he was paying, while the other was his wife whose relationship with him was also transactional.

I know people argue that he is bisexual because he married Song Qiutong, but when we actually get her POV on their marriage, it turns out that they had unenjoyable sex only a handful of times, at least one of which was him taking her from behind and very much imagining that it was Chu Wanning in her place. There are plenty of gay men who end up married to straight women (and vice versa) for whatever reasons and none of this makes them any less gay. He also identifies as a 'cut-sleeve' himself at one point, so he doesn't seem at all confused about his sexual attraction to men. Later on, when we finally get his unaltered POV on his life in the brothel, it comes out that he considered the girls there as sisters at best, never as sexual partners. The only other named sexual partner is Rong Jiu, who is male, and I can buy that there were possibly other people who looked like Shi Mei that he was with under the influence of the cursed love spell, but there was never any real attraction there, which is why some argue that he is attracted only to Chu Wanning and would still be attracted to him regardless of gender.

But I think that this is also not true. He definitely was obsessed with Chu Wanning from an early age, which makes it hard to see what his preferences would have been if Chu Wanning wasn't in the picture, but that chapter when he finally realises his feelings also reveals that he does have a type, which he never dared to think about before because he thought he was unworthy of having a choice. However, Chu Wanning fits this type to a tee, so it's easy to run away with the idea that he is shizunsexual and that Mo Ran's attraction begins and ends with him.

With that said, we do get confirmation later on that he does find other men attractive, in particular, Jiang Xi. It's just that he never has the space or the inclination to do anything about it because of his preoccupation with Chu Wanning. In the extras, when Mo Ran misunderstands Xue Men's relationship with Jiang Xi and thinks they are having a love affair, in his unfiltered Taxian-jun state, he is full of approval because he personally finds these powerful, beautiful, prickly, emotionally unavailable older men to be the height of attractiveness. If Chu Wanning hadn't been in the picture, Mo Ran would have definitely been attracted to Jiang Xi or someone similar. Even Ye Wangxi, whom he also fixates on, fits this type (except for the older man bit because I understood her to be only a few years older than Mo Ran). The fact that she turns out to be a woman also cannot be used as an argument for Mo Ran's bisexuality because she very much presents as a man throughout the book (but whether or not she actually identifies as one is debatable).

In short, Mo Ran does have a type of man he is attracted to and it is definitely men that he likes, regardless of his few dubious and very unsatisfying dalliances with women. While Chu Wanning definitely fits this type of ideal man, there are other men out there whom Mo Ran finds attractive too, it's just that he is too unhinged about Chu Wanning to actually do anything about it. Also, I very much doubt that Mo Ran was nearly as promiscuous as he makes himself out to be because he reads as very oblivious when it comes to sexual relationships in general. Even with Chu Wanning, who was right there and about to pass away from sheer horniness that he couldn't even begin to disguise, Mo Ran was still going, "Shizun is so pure and virtuous!" 🙄

(I'm not going to get into the whole Shi Mei situation and how badly he misread him every step of the way too, but that is because his brain was so badly mangled by him that he really stood no chance on that front until it was entirely too late.)

#2ha #2ha meta #mo ran #chu wanning #ranwan #jiang xi #song qiutong #rong jiu #shi mei

[chen-feiyu]

The impact of Chu Wanning and his values on Mo Ran's morals in the second timeline of 2ha

When I read 2ha, one of the most satisfying things about the story for me was observing how Mo Ran's growth as a person was intrinsically linked to the way in which he perceived Chu Wanning and his values since, deep down, he has always been his reason for existence and the force who restores his faith in humanity.

1.0 is complicated in terms of morals, in the sense that he has no interest in helping others and shows contempt toward Chu Wanning and Sisheng Peak for caring about injustice and the common people so fiercely - albeit with Chu Wanning, there's the added resentment that he devoted his life to helping anyone in need, yet let Shi Mei die during the heavenly rift and refused to acknowledge Mo Ran during all of the time in which he was his disciple.

He loathed to be dismissed by Chu Wanning when he was Taxian-Jun too but at this part of the novel, Mo Ran's PTSD opts to repress most of Chu Wanning-related thoughts for avoiding emotional pain, to the point in which he even comes up with a different retelling of Chu Wanning's death in 0.5, where it occurred by his own hands.

Unlike Taxian-Jun, Mo Ran 1.0 has no desire to trample over the weak or perpetrate suffering. He's merely self-absorbed and focused on enjoying the moment and newfound positive emotions, considering he didn't have any for decades.

Mo Ran is, however, fully aware of the gravity of his actions since the beginning. He doesn't sugarcoat it, doesn't pretend that he had any justification for the pain that he caused, and deliberately makes the choice to not take revenge on Rong Jiu in chapter 2 of the novel, giving us a glimpse of the Mo Ran who strived to stand by Duan Yihan's maxim of repaying gratitude and not holding grudges.

The novel starts with Taxian-Jun being suicidal, talking about his crimes, calling his life sinful, stating he has blasphemed and that his hands are stained with blood. In this regard, Mo Ran is an outlier in comparison to characters like Song Qiutong and Rong Jiu, who don't hesitate to explain their behavior and justify themselves with their circumstances. In Mo Ran's eyes, he's someone who sinned irreversibly and it's a miracle that he got a second chance when he didn't do anything to earn it.

Mo Ran tends to describe himself as a simple person who doesn't like to overthink and has difficulty grasping complex things, especially emotions, yet he knows what he craves the most is acknowledgment and acceptance. He can't overlook when someone does something for him, which is why his feelings for Chu Wanning tend to be so conflicting after the injury in Butterfly Town arc.

After this, Mo Ran begins to observe him closely and is unable to stay away entirely. Instead of feeling sheer hatred at Chu Wanning's lack of ability to take care of himself, he's concerned and takes him food he can actually eat since he really doesn't want Chu Wanning to starve or suffer, and rationalizes his need to protect by thinking he's only doing things because he doesn't want to owe Chu Wanning anything.

At random parts of Book 1, Mo Ran would make passing mentions about how when he looks back at some of the things he did in his previous life, he's horrified and unable to understand how could he become so cruel.

It is important to mention that while these are attempts for Mo Ran to truly reflect on what happened enough to make amends, it isn't until he hurts Xia Sini, realizes how selfish he was, and is able to see Chu Wanning in Xia Sini's words, that he stops being able to repress the influx of guilt, regret, and confusion over the person that he used to be and the things he did. Chu Wanning's figure as his moral compass begins to shape in full form over here, given it is his memory that triggers the need for repentance.

Something I must add about Mo Ran being different than RJ or SQT is that during Xia Sini's soup incident, is very clear that the reason he made Xia Sini wait was due to Shi Mei's insistence on Mo Ran to stay by his side, yet Mo Ran takes full responsibility for what happened and doesn't excuse himself at all. Accountability is something he definitely doesn't struggle with.

It is a common belief in the fandom that without the heavenly rift event, it'd have been difficult for Mo Ran to change his mind about Chu Wanning, and I'm inclined to agree here because as I stated before, disliking Chu Wanning's hypocrisy about the common people and his disciples WAS one of his values.

Hypocrisy is a trait that Mo Ran detests profoundly in any person regardless of the timeline where he's at. It's precisely the reason why Ye Wangxi will always be worthy of respect in his eyes and not Song Qiutong.

Knowing that Chu Wanning died for him changes his paradigm and shatters his reality entirely.

Mo Ran 1.0 used to be a person with no purpose who barely reflected on things, tried to remain in the present as much as possible and assumed that because he already experienced many things in the past, he could take advantage of what he knew and keep going mindlessly as long as Shi Mei was around. He didn't feel the responsibility to help or make amends. Caring about humanity wasn't even an afterthought, but an absurd concept overall in his mind.

2.0 is the exact opposite.

Before Duan Yihan left, she took good care of providing Mo Ran with a maxim that he could hold on to since the world was cruel, and she was aware of what could happen to him if his values didn't remain strong.

The flower removed this and broke Mo Ran's biggest value, leaving him with no sense of self other than spite and resentment over all of the tragedy he had to experience. There was nothing to feel grateful about: Shi Mei and his mother were dead and his Shizun always hated him, so indulging in destruction, debauchery, and revenge was all he could do, regardless if he found it enjoyable or not, if it made sense or not.

Mo Ran 1.0 is the middle ground between a bitter, tired adult who had been drowning in hatred for decades and a teenager who was acquiring new experiences and slowly developing empathy as a consequence.

Mo Ran 2.0 is a profoundly traumatized and broken man who doesn't know what to do with all the pain he carries inside and the voices in his mind who tell him he's dirty, irremediably evil, and undeserving of the sacrifice that Chu Wanning made for him. He can't exteriorize any of this, and can't give up on life either because it was a gift that Chu Wanning granted him.

He's worthless in comparison to Chu Wanning, but if he can dedicate his days to acting in half the decent way that Chu Wanning did, then maybe that would be enough to clean the stains on his soul, if only a little, at least.

In 0.5 Duan Yihan gave Mo Ran a purpose, the flower took it away from him and Chu Wanning tried to restore it, with no luck, when he asked Taxian-Jun to think about kindness and not harbor evil.

In the second timeline, Mo Ran starts his new life with no purpose, Chu Wanning gives it to him by showing him genuine kindness, by letting him see that he had always been acknowledged and protected from the shadows. A pure soul took care of him and gave him another chance, and his purpose in life became to not fail him in return.

Chu Wanning turned into Mo Ran's pillar. He was the person Mo Ran thought about before making any decision, the one who gave him strength during lonely days, and the God of salvation who visited him as he hallucinated during his episodes.

Doing good deeds in Chu Wanning's name became his second nature. Anything Chu Wanning would do, he'd do it too without hesitation and with this, he forged an unbreakable moral code, impulsed both by his devotion to Chu Wanning and crippling guilt.

As the story advances, Mo Ran is able to see that his lack of understanding about his feelings toward Chu Wanning and the inexplicable, obsessive things that Taxian-Jun did over Chu Wanning in 0.5 strived from a misconception about the relationship between sex and love.

Once this is clear to him, all 2.0 can see in Taxian-Jun's actions is nonsense which only works to reinforce his beliefs about his lack of intelligence. I'll discuss his sense of self further in future posts.

In conclusion: Chu Wanning has had a different, yet consistent impact on Mo Ran's morals throughout all of his life stages.

In 0.5, Chu Wanning started as a force who restored Mo Ran's faith in humanity and then gave him a strong sense of identity over being the disciple of the man that he perceives as the embodiment of justice, goodness, and compassion. In my next series of meta posts, I'll be exploring how this is the reason behind Taxian-Jun's cognitive dissonance around him.

In 2.0, Chu Wanning and his sacrifice disrupt Mo Ran's misconceptions created by the flower and external manipulation.

Chu Wanning's selflessness used to be annoying for him, then unsettling because he didn't understand it properly, and in the end, it devastated him so much that it shattered his reality and helped him to forge a moral code.

#first post for my series of 2ha meta! #the first series will be fully focused on mo ran but I'll be addressing other themes in the future #long post #2ha meta #2ha #the husky and his white cat shizun #2ha spoilers #mo ran 1.0 #mo ran 2.0 #mo ran #chu wanning #ranwan #二哈和他的白猫师尊 #mine #erha #erha spoilers #my meta

[rejectedfables]

"how to reconcile Chu Wanning's cooking skills vs Mo Ran's love of The Wontons", a Guide:

(NOTE: I have only read the first two official English translated volumes, and scoured the internet for spoilers-- if there's later canon confirmation of something that I haven't encountered yet, I don't know her)

Chu Wanning is shown cooking things badly (such as the cabbage and tofu stew), and cooking specific things very well (the wontons). He is also implied to have cooked other things at least tolerably well as Chu Fei. Evidence:

The wontons are described thusly, with the implication that they're just as good every time Mo Ran has had them:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning can cook at least this one thing consistently, and Mo Ran loves it every time. As far as we know Mo Ran is the only one who's ever eaten them, so him loving them is not actually an endorsement that they ARE good-- just that HE thinks they are.

When he's going to make the cabbage and tofu stew, this is Chu Wanning's response to being asked if he even knows how to cook:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning is at least not confident enough in his cooking abilities to claim proficiency. I would be tempted to chalk this up to "he's so skilled at other things and so critical of himself that he's downplaying his cooking skills" except he absolutely flubs the recipe so badly that it's unrecognizable, and everyone who eats it gets sick.

When Mo Ran is half asleep, and believes himself to still be in his previous life with Chu Fei, he says this:

Conclusion? Chu Fei frequently cooked non-wonton food for Taxian-jun, which Taxian-jun enjoyed enough to request more of it.

I've compiled options of what this all might mean when put together:

Probably authorial intent: Chu Wanning isn't a BAD cook he's just a SLOW and METHODICAL cook, and that does not lend itself to batch cooking like he was expected to do in Mengpo Hall.

POSSIBLY authorial intent: Chu Wanning is a REALLY GOOD cook when he knows a recipe, but had never made the cabbage and tofu stew before and had no real instructions, so he fucked it up and got an unfair reputation for being a bad cook. This is a loose parallel to how he is broadly misunderstood as a person.

Sappy/sad option: the wontons are fine but the fact that they were made FOR MO RAN makes them special to Mo Ran. He's associated them with feeling good, and because he thought they were from Shi Mei, his happy memories of them weren't warped or stolen by the flower, leaving them as his favorite memory of food. They're untainted by hatred, and therefore they are the best.

Funny option (not supported by canon): Mo Ran just has bad taste.

Funniest option (not technically UNsupported by canon >_>): Chu Wanning is a bad cook, and frequently hurts himself while cooking. Unbeknownst to Mo Ran, the flower's bloodlust can literally be sated with literal blood. Mo Ran's memories of the wontons are his least tormented by the flower, because while eating them he's consuming Chu Wanning's actual blood, so the flower is sated and pleased. They taste the best to Mo Ran because their secret accidental ingredient (blood) overwrites their actual mediocre flavor.

My favorite option: The reason the wontons are the best food Mo Ran has ever eaten is because they're literally just... all of Mo Ran's favorite foods combined into one dish. Chu Wanning isn't a good COOK so much as he's an encyclopedia of knowledge about Mo Ran. The wontons are perfect because they're perfect for Mo Ran specifically.

#erha #2ha #erha he ta de bai mao shizun #erha spoilers #the wontons #ranwan #chu wanning #cwn #mo weiyu #mo ran #mwy #erha meta #2ha meta

[liberty-or-death]

The Gate of Broken Legs - 2HA Chapter 8

Meatbun makes a really punny joke in this line. XD

派中流传一段戏言：“水榭藏美人，美人诏天问。入我断腿门，知我断腿苦。玉衡长老，助您自绝经脉的不二选择。” The sect disciples had an inside joke: “The pavilion hides a beauty; the beauty holds Tianwen. Enter through the Gate of Broken Legs and know the agony of getting your legs broken. If you want your meridians busted, look no further than the Yuheng Elder.”  - 2HA Translation Chapter 8 This Venerable One Gets Punished 

Again, let us admire how awesome Meatbun is because “入我断腿门，知我断腿苦 Enter through the Gate of Broken Legs and know the agony of getting your legs broken” is a pun off a Li Bai poem/ci. 😂. And the line is hilarious af once you’ve read the original verse HAHA.  

The original line comes from the lovey dovey ci “Autumn wind.” Omg I felt like I ate too much sugar after translating this.

秋风词 | Autumn Wind Ci

秋风清，秋月明，落叶聚还散，寒鸦栖复惊。

The autumn wind is desolate, the moon shines so radiantly.  Scattered are the fallen leaves; even the crows perched on the trees are startled.

相亲相见知何日，此时此夜难为情；

Thinking back on the times where we met lovingly that day; my heart is troubled on this autumn night. 

入我相思门，知我相思苦，

I walk through the door of lovesickness, and I know the agony of lovesickness. 

(Meatbun swapped lovesick with broken legs LOL WTF HAHA I CAN’T)

长相思兮长相忆，短相思兮无穷极，

Lengthen lovesickness and memories for eternity; the shortened love sickness also goes without end 

早知如此绊人心，何如当初莫相识

If I knew how it would entangle my heart, it would be better not to know one another in the first place.

#2ha #2ha meta

[mygoodshizun]

i love reading qq/wushuang and learning things that explain so much about erha. i had a feeling he was some sort of nature deify but literally the god of agriculture MamkskskajjJgdhskakk no wonder cwn is so good with plants and ya know the forest spirits. like it really emphasizes the divine wood stuff kwlqkjsjdjskq. unrelated but too bad in tgcf xie lian didn’t meet shen nong

#erha #2ha #2ha meta #chu wanning #peerless #wushuang #tgcf #xie lian #my good shizun

[tentative-wanderer]

2ha: To Do or Not to Do, and How to Do, Those are the Questions

Love to hate the antagonist? Hate to love the antagonist? Love to love the antagonist? Read this mini essay so that you can make an informed decision!

Everyone knows what the protagonist’s point of view is like; now it’s time to put on the antagonist’s glasses and explore the options and perspective of a chessmaster born of dire straits!

🛒🛤🚂🛒🛤🚂🛒🛤🚂

Relationships: Butterfly Bone Clan/Freedom, Hua Binan/Freedom, Shi Mei/Headache

Tags: Sisheng Peak, Trolley Problems, Ethical Dilemmas, Moral Dilemmas, Exploring Hua Binan’s alternatives, Character Analysis, Animated GIFs, Battery Farming, Meta, Djinni & Genies, Pigs, Patriarchy, Emancipation Campaign, Childhood Trauma, Tianyin Pavilion, Slavery, Guyueye, Vegetarians & Vegans, Buddhist nuns and monks, Feminism

Characters: Shi Mei | Shi Mingjing, Hua Bi'nan, Chu Wanning, Hua Gui (The Husky and His White Cat Shizun), Xue Zhengyong

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38696820

#2ha #erha #dumb husky and his white cat shizun #the husky and his white cat shizun #2ha meta #shi mei #hua binan #shi mingjing #2ha spoilers #my stuff

[catradoraism]

something so sexy about chu wanning’s confession culminating in “i love you and i’m willing to submit to you” like both lifetimes it’s shown that mo ran is very possessive over him, all he’s ever wanted is for chu wanning to be his and instead of mo ran having to unlearn all of that and creating healthy boundaries or whatever, chu wanning just admits that he’s into it

#i think we overuse ‘they’re insane’ nowadays but it is never not an exaggeration when applied to Them #iirc the narration also shows that mo ran is more touched by the declaration of submission than the declaration of love #meatbun: i will create a toxic dom/sub relationship that is actually very loving #i also think it’s like important or thematic for his character or whatever #bc control is such a big thing for both of them #a more articulate person has surely written some great meta on that #2ha #erha #ranwan #chu wanning #mo ran

[rievriev]

i was wondering about something post canon in 2ha... if mo ran 2.0 is basically the version unaffected by the flower, the one who wholeheartedly loves cwn as he did from the start, then like... wouldn't taxian jun change as well? since he doesn't have the flower in him anymore right? when mr initially regressed back in time, as txj to his 1.0 self, he still 'hated' cwn, but realised his mistakes as plots were revealed (cwn making wontons, being his saviour) and went on redemption.

Now after the end, sharing a body with txj, wouldnt he go through that same process? they are the same person after all, and txj does also love cwn. having the same memories as well, wouldn't they blend into the same person after a while? or is he stuck permanently in that personality since he's technically meant to be dead- idk anymore

#2ha spoilers #this has been eating me away #somebody sedate me #the husky and his white cat shizun #erha #2ha #ranwan #mo ran #chu wanning #taxian jun #meta

[mejomonster]

Modu by priest was truly such a good read. If you like romance? It has a sweeping romance, with a well done bisexual and gay lead (and straight best friend) all written in ways that manage to feel realistic, it's got features people likely found it for when looking for a danmei - rich manipulative younger man, older investigator who's got a hero streak, and yet those categories don't really do justice to them (and of course tao ran is the more grounded detective story lead who keeps his theories to himself and worries about dragging others into his mess).

They're so much more... Fei Du is a traumatized young man who's worried he's as monstrous as the people who scarred him, who is preparing to take the leap and cross the line to become an even more terrifying version of himself if it will destroy the corruption poisoning this city and harming so many, Luo Wenzhou is a cop that used to want to be a hero and learned he will fail people and be unable to save people and holds onto Fei Du as someone who reminds him he DOES fail but also reminds him why he wants so hard to keep Trying to help people even when it seems impossible... why trying and putting in effort to care and help Even when its too late to fix things is Worthwhile. Tao Ran is a contrast to them both, Fei Du living in a world where there's only monsters and victims and Luo Wenzhou desperately trying to force the world to be a place where justice CAN prevail and win even as he sees it fail over and over, trying so hard to believe all people have the capacity for everything and are worth trying to save. Even though Fei Du doesm't believe that, being around Luo Wenzhou makes him want to consider it. Tao Ran, their contrast? Believing the world can go either way, and its up to people like him to create any justice at all, any structure at all, or else everything is just meaningless suffering chaos. As characters, the three of them serve to explore how the world works and views on it in terms of a detective murder mystery encompassing the whole city, the small scale version of the world. Modu is a romance, but its also fully commited to being a murder mystery that wants to tackle the kind of themes that come up in the setting it's created. Its characters are so much more than Insert Character Ship types here. These characters were made this way to explore these ideas (just as the villains are all made to parallel and contrast Fei Du to explord these ideas in comparison to our point of view Fei Du moments, our impressions of Fei Du from Luo Wenzhou and Tao Rans varied perspectives, all of them are different lenses to view humanity and how it works, if the world is just or if we have to make it good, if we can be inherently good and if good people will reach out to us if we just keep treading water to survive, if its luck and chaos, and how much... and much more frankly).

Modu is like. If you want a story about a corrupt city and its victims, symbolizing a corrupt world and all of us at its mercy, and you want to see the heart of the people doing something about it. First the main trio, but also every victim Fei Du recruits to help, every murderer recruited to the corruption, all the people in the cases swayed to some side. Thats what Modu is about.

The romance is just one facet of exploring that, the personal debate about what these things mean about the world as told through two people who view this world incredibly differently. Yet find some way to exist in the same space, same mutual world, when together. It hooks you in and doesn't let you go and youre wondering right there with them, left to draw your own meaning in the end. Hopefully that its worth trying, that doing something is worth trying even when its just the trying you can do and not the succeeding, at least thats what I got from it (at least in regards to Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou meeting each other, unable to live up to the pillar they put each other on but trying anyway, is what I felt from them).

Then like? Modu gives you THAT story, which in its own right is enough to make you contemplate.

And if you're like me and care about people, about characters? Well it gives you, like I said, those big themes and a city's nightmares symbolizing the world, and brings them down to an individual level. You read from the mind of the little girl who grew up in this (one of my favorite scenes and when I felt this novel was going to not shy away from dark psychological moments and bringing them to you). You read from the mind of Fei Du when he knows himself, when he doesn't. You read from the minds of all kinds of people, and the heart of much of the investigation is peoples motives and things they'd gone through and how that shaped what they'd do next. Why they'd do it. Leaving you to wonder who's right. Jaded idealist Luo Wenzhou who wants to believe in the goodness of the people he loves, but also is willing to risk that strangers may have good intent? Fei Du who thinks theres only victims and perpetrators and everyone is going to fall into one in the right circumstance? Tao Ran, who feels the world is too messy to dare declare predictable, who thinks even your closest can betray you and even you can accidentally hurt them, nevermind strangers, and the only thing you can control and rely on is your own choices? Some mix? None of them? The side characters as they come up, grow and evolve, do they understand the world better or worse, and is the world they experience different than anothers and justify why their worldview is likewise different? Modu gives you that up close and personal, over and over. Im still thinking about it. And the way its done, they all get to feel like lived in people. Not structures to tell the themes only. But on their own, there's a personal struggle between Fei Du feeling like a monster who'll destroy Lup Wenzhou if he loves him, like his dad destroyed his mom, and Luo Wenzhou carrying the guilt he could never save Fei Du and desperate to believe in Fei Du (and keep trying to save him in that way if only that way) as person who can do good despite not being saved and despite Fei Du's fears. You could cut the entire city's plot away, all of the crimes and make the city calm, and still that core of their plot would be carrying a Lot of weight. Theyre playing a game of "enemies" to lovers sure, or whatever romance story structures they fit into. But they're also made to be deeply rooted into each other, their personal beliefs tied into the outcome of what they hope or fear happens if they are close together. Modu made me care about that. Its like the fears many people might have, abiut theur own flaws, about getting close to others, about trusting and being unsure if that trust is safe to give. Its that and magnified into bigger form, in this landscape of a fucked up city and the tragedy of Fei Du and Luo Wenzhou's meeting and former lives.

Its like. Id love to to read another danmei (Ive got a lot on my to read list). But what's going to give me roo

#modu #silent reading #lb #meta #like... modu was so fucking good. #it was 3 characters symbolizing their city symbolizing the world in terms of worldviews morality justice and if theres a point to #trying to help at all. like damn #i want to read ANOTHER danmei that makes me weigh those questions. that uses the characters this personally and intimately with the readers #because the Characters weigh the themes in their OWN lives so heavily. #like... i know priest can probably give me this kind of huge delivery in can ci pin and sha po lang (at least i estimate #priesr probably can as theyre very popular novels by priest) #and 2ha can (because ive read half and know its themes) #but like. what other danmei can? can thousand autumns? can peerless? can wu shang jie? #can Mistakenly Saving the Villain? #like... the only non priest danmei i read was svsss and i got supremely lucky #cause i personally LOVE satire and critique commentary affection for the topics it explores #and svsss AS a satire is incredibly well done. having read 2ha first? and seen Eternal Love? #svsss does an amazing job at critiquing webnovel culture and flaws. at the way capitalism effects writing #at the way some tropes have become staples of certain genres and when used well yeah you get 2ha but when used badly you get #the fake novel svsss was making fun of that there Are many real novels like

[hallwyeoo]

I'm reminded so much of Binghe in Cixous’ 'Stigmata' (specifically ‘Love Of The Wolf’)

“For us, eating and being eaten belong to the terrible secret of love... The story of torment itself is a very beautiful one. Because loving is wanting and being able to eat up and yet to stop at the boundary." (pg 78)

"...who says or doesn’t say, but who signifies: I beg you, eat me up. Want me down to the marrow. And yet manage it so as to keep me alive... and I urge you: bite me. Sign my death with your teeth." (pg 78)

like cmon, you mean to tell me this doesn't remind you of them?

"The wolf says to the child: I’m going to eat you up. Nothing tickles the child more. That’s the mystery: why does the idea that you’re going to eat me up fill me with such pleasure and such terror? It’s to get this pleasure that you need the wolf. The wolf is the truth of love, its cruelty, its fangs, its claws, our aptitude for ferocity. Love is when you suddenly wake up as a cannibal, and not just any old cannibal, or else wake up destined for devourment." (pg 77-78)

Now while I've yet to do an in-depth analysis of Bingqiu's relationship, I have done one of Binghe and I really really love how he aligns with a concept I can't fully name. it has something to do with love as defying your nature, or the expectations set for you, or your past. Love as a choice you make, and as a conscious effort to be better.

I don't know if I'm just connecting two things I enjoy or making everything I do about the Thing I Currently Like, but I thought id put it out there anyway (cause I'm pretty sure if it doesn't apply to Bingqiu, then it applies better to another ship from danmei I've yet to read *ahem a lot of them*)

#im also pretty sure im sick? #so who knows maybe i wake up tomorrow horrified that i posted this #that is a very real possibility #I think? based on what my friends have told me about 2ha that the other danmei couple would be Ranwan??? #but anyway I had to do my semi-annual rereading of love of the wolf because I've been obsessed with it for so long #'sign my death with your teeth' is so fucking romantic to me for no reason???? “want me down to the marrow” YES PLEASE #i could be so horrifically wrong about the Ranwan thing btw #hélène cixous #stigmata #love of the wolf #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #svsss #mxtx svsss #bingqiu #mxtx #shen yuan #bingyuan #text post #meta #feel free to discuss #i mean i have my own interpretations of these characters but im also very aware that it could be me projecting #analysis #character analysis #?? ig

[thegreymoon]

I love your analysis of CWN in that other post and it reminded me of a comment I once read about CWN's asceticism / abstinence (couldn't find a way to not spoil...)

Basically that besides his (probable) neurodivergency and him being raised in a temple, it's also possible that he was deliberately brought up to believe that desires (of any kind, sexual, non-sexual, emotional intimacy, etc) were not permissible to him.

Because Huaizui made him as an eventual vessel for another soul (sorry I've actually forgotten their name), he wouldn't have wanted CWN to have any desires of his own, as that might interfere with the acceptance of the other soul into CWN's body / "sullied" the body for the other soul.

Which is also why Huaizui was so enraged when he's faced with the proof that CWN has his own desires and personality. (When he wanted to go down the mountain to save the masses.)

So, yeah. In short... HUAIZUI!!!!!!!!!! 🤬

... Sorry for barging into your asks and dumping this >.<

Ahahahaha, barge into my asks any time to dump 2ha meta, it's the best thing to happen to me all day!! 😂

Absolutely, 100% agreed, the damage that fucker did is immense, but, yeah, no way to talk about it on the original post without spoilers. 'Raised by a monk on a mountain' is very much a simplification of what happened. Yeah, Huaizui would have very much wanted Chu Wanning to remain "pure" before he killed him. He was trying to create a "perfect" vessel. He was soooooo put out even by Chu Wanning having his adorable little quirks even before he wanted to go down the mountain, such as sleeping without a blanket and disliking washing clothes. How dare he have a personality of his own, or any wants or desires?

Of all the shitty parental figures in danmei, Huaizui really takes the cake, even if he did see the error of his ways and did eventually come through for Chu Wanning in a big way. But, like, the damage he did to him is so insidious. Chu Wanning is so good, so powerful, so smart, so beautiful, and his self-worth is non-existent. Also, he was so isolated from people during his formative years because of Huaizui's selfishness, he has NO IDEA how to function in any social setting, or in a relationship. He is just lucky that Mo Ran is damaged in just the right way for the two of them to fit together and move forward relatively harmoniously (after they resolve their issues, ofc).

Both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning need a few hundred years of the xianxia equivalent of therapy to come to terms with their shitty childhoods.

#2ha #2ha meta #chu wanning

[chen-feiyu]

Because I hadn't said it here since Twitter is the main social media website I use: my series of Mo Ran meta will be long, meticulous and supported by canon evidence as much as possible.

My main thesis is that Mo Ran, just like Chu Wanning, is demisexual and he displays symptoms from the following conditions throughout the novel: BPD, ADHD, and PTSD — As for Chu Wanning, I perceive him as an autistic-coded character who struggles with masking heavily due to the dehumanization that has been enacted in him all of his life.

Having these mental conditions affect Mo Ran's perception on plenty of things, to the point the reader might end up having the incorrect opinions that Mo Ran holds about his person if several of his behaviors aren't analyzed as trauma responses, mental illness symptoms or mere misconceptions due to constant emotional manipulation.

One of the main BPD symptoms that characterize Mo Ran 1.0 is black-and-white thinking, in the sense that he hates Chu Wanning, gradually changes his view on him as he gets to know him better, then goes back to hate when he's triggered. He can only think about Chu Wanning in absolutes (God he admires for his strength and desperately craves approval from/heartless hypocrite)

The second symptom is his warped view of self: he has faith in his cultivation and boasts about his accomplishments as Taxian-Jun, and in the next paragraph he calls himself stupid, uncultured and incapable of grasping difficulty concepts.

As for Mo Ran 2.0, he doesn't like himself at all and experiences full time BPD episodes with dissociation, intrusive thoughts, self-harm and even hallucination. He's the phase of Mo Ran who carries the most gruesome side of BPD and shame.

Now, for Taxian-Jun, I'll focus on the "favorite person" part of BPD and how his impact was so big in baby Mo Ran, his mind latched onto the love he felt for Chu Wanning and tried to find ways to thrive among the hostility that surrounded Taxian-Jun due to the flower.

I'm not a professional, but I'll be basing all of my arguments on my own experiences as a person who struggles with BPD, ADHD and PTSD.

The meta essays I'll be posting throughout the next months are the following (not necessarily in order)

1. Analysis of his core beliefs and ethics and how his love for Chu Wanning turned into an anchor and entire reason of existence, which explains Taxian-Jun's cognitive dissonance when it comes to Chu Wanning.

2. Justification for my theory that he can only be a strict dominant top for claiming control about sex reasons + his PTSD symptoms when he gets restrained or beaten by Tianwen. He could never take degrading talk in bed unlike Chu Wanning, who actively enjoys it.

3. A complete description of all of the BPD and PTSD symptoms displayed in the novel, along with his comorbid ADHD.

4. Examination of all his self-harm behaviors in the novel (including casual sex)

5. His wrong perception about his cognitive skills which comes from all the verbal abuse and internalized classism that he received from multiple sources, but especially Xue Meng, the "beyond remedy" comment, his period of homelessness and his childhood at the brothel.

As for other non-Mo Ran 2ha meta that I want to write eventually, these are the topics I'll be addressing:

1. An analysis of classism and patriarchy in 2ha's cultivation world.

2. Finding evidence for autistic Chu Wanning in canon.

3. Long dive into Chu Wanning's fantasies and how his experiences with sexual assault in 0.5 shaped his tastes in sex, which is Chu Fei's tragedy, because Taxian-Jun was forcing him to experience things he clearly liked but it wasn't out of love, just punishment and humiliation.

#yet another long post #but I'm autistic and I wanted to be clear on what I'm planning to do with the meta series! #also for accountability! I don't want to lose my energy for completing this project #long post #2ha meta #2ha #mo ran #taxian-jun #ranwan #mine #erha #my meta

[gayhokage]

another thing i love about 2ha is how the narrative directly reflects how mo ran feels about taxian-jun

book 1 mo ran: i am taxian-jun

book 1 narrative: mo ran and taxian-jun are the same person

book 2 mo ran: taxian-jun is the me of the past but i am working towards learning from the mistakes i made to become a better person

book 2 narrative: mo ran and taxian-jun are the same person, though they are different from one other

book 3 mo ran: i am not taxian-jun

book 3 narrative: mo ran and taxian-jun are different people

it’s like roughly the middle of book 2 that the narrative starts to portray mo ran and taxian-jun as two different people bc it’s right around then that mo ran begins to disconnect himself from his own relation to “taxian-jun” 

but it becomes incredibly obvious after chapter 198 and there’s so much foreshadowing (throughout the entire story) but esp leading up to 234 when taxian-jun and mo ran do come face to face as two separate people

#2ha #anyways. more meta i was thinking about today :^) #someday i'll write my essay on mo ran

[liberty-or-death]

Shura Field, Red Lotus Waterside Pavilion - 2HA Chapter 8

但是红莲水榭是什么地方？是楚晚宁那孙子的居所，人称红莲地狱的修罗场。 But just what kind of place was the Red Lotus Pavilion? It was the residence of that bastard, Chu Wanning, the accursed den that everyone called Red Lotus Hell. - 2HA Translation Chapter 8: This Venerable One Gets Punished

Wow I was working on another meta, when I read this. AND LO AND BEHOLD MAJOR ERRORS LOL. (what's new lmao)

I just had to critique this translation because it’s just not accurate lol.   To be exact it should be “It is the residence of that bastard (那孙子 - a Beijing slang fyi) Chu Wanning, otherwise known as the Shura Field of the Red Lotus Hell”.  There’s no mention of it being an accursed den.  IMHO, the official translation does erase a whole meta without bothering to explain it, so I can't say I’m terribly impressed lol. 

So what exactly is a “Shura Field”?

Firstly, Shura, sometimes known as Asura, is a titan/demigod in Buddhism/Hinduism. The “Shura Fields” refers to the battlefield where the Emperor Shitian and Asura fought in Buddhist scriptures.  So this term refers to a bloody battlefield.  There’s also a second, more modern meaning, which refers to the complexity of interpersonal relationships (often used in a romantic sense in romantic novels or office politics lmao). It isn’t wrong to describe their romance as a “Shura Field”.  If anyone’s interested, there’s a whole thread on Reddit discussing how commonly used this phrase is. 

I do wonder if Meatbun used this term deliberately as a form of foreshadowing lol. Ranwan's romance IS a whole ass “Shura Field”.

They are depicted like this in ancient sculptures.

There are several reason why it’s wrong to term an Asura as a devil

Firstly, when translating a devil from CN>ENG, conventionally it would refer to the term 魔 Mo (ie. the same Mo in MDZS).  This term takes its roots from Mara, which is a different entity altogether. 

It does change the vibe of the sentence.  In the CN novel context, Asura’s usually refer to something akin to God of War as opposed to being entirely demonic and evil.  They’re more Ares than Hades to put it this way.   So the line isn't saying that Chu Wanning is evil per se.

It’s also disrespectful given that Buddhisim and Hinduism are active religions in Asia Pacific.  Hinduism is the largest religion in Asia FYI.  Rude af to change the terminology of other religions. 

It does have a pre-existing English term.  Use it lmao.  Even MTL gets it right.

There’s also an interesting meta around “Red Lotus Hell”.  In Buddhism, the Red Lotus Hell is described as one of the “Eight Cold Hells.” It was said that those who were born into this hell are severely cold, their bodies turn red and their skin is frozen and cracked.  (This does sound a little like Chu Wanning lmao). The idea of the Red Lotus Hell/Flame was also described in one of the scriptures of the Yehuo Sect “火焰化红莲，天罪自消衍 The flames turns into a red lotus, and the sins of Heaven fade on their own.”  The flames refer to the “fire of trouble” and the lotus “a comfortable state of mind”.  Hence, it means through (Buddhism) practice, karma can be eliminated, troubles can be relieved, and a state of freedom can be achieved.  

The beautiful flower looks like this.

I’m not a Buddhist expert so correct me if I’m wrong lol.  Anyway, if you combine the mental image of the Red Lotus Hall with that of Shura’s Field, you’d understand the vibe that Meatbun was going for.

On another note, 水榭 is quite specific to a type of Pavililon. It's not just any Pavillion, it's a pavillion that's beside a waterbody. There is another type of pavillion that's based on land, so if you want to be specific, this is how it probably looks like.

Additional links

More 2HA meta

#2ha #2ha meta

[ithacanradio]

absolutely insane chu wanning pov

#the meta of it all..... #2ha #yeah i was struggle reading this part is so nice tho

[mxtxfanatic]

Maybe I'm misinterpreting/misunderstanding things but a lot of the things that happened to Mo Ran in theirs second life is a reflection of what happened to Chu Wanning in theirs first (and at the beginning of the second technically), right ?

I mean not everything because there were years of abuse by Taxian-Jun/Mo Ran with the flower but still...

There is Mo ran instead of Chu Wanning being the one who is losing all of his blood in the hour glass, there are the scenes in the prison between the trial and the punishment (or in other words execution), they both got they core ripped out of them and the threat of ripping his heart out actually happens to Mo ran as well, they both of them die twice (i think), there is also Chu Wanning preserving Mo Ran's body like Taxian-Jun did for him (did I forget one ? Maybe)

I don't know why but I kinda think it's neat.

I cannot answer this with any certainty because I read 2ha only once a few years ago, but best believe I am bookmarking this idea to return to for when I do my reread.

#2ha asks #anon #so many things happen that it’s hard to know what to keep track of on a first read #but i am all about metas about parallels and cyclical narratives #next reread is gonna be sooooooo fun