chelen

[chelen]

#2ha #2ha meta #ranwan

Jumping in this discussion of this ask and this ask-post by @thegreymoon (follow them to get in your dash incredible art and 2ha content.)

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The list of content warnings at the beginning of the novel is clear. While Meatbun narrates, at no point is there any justification or absolution for the acts committed by Taxian Jun or for Chu Wanning's feelings towards a minor. 2ha doesn't have a banner that says "ranwan overcomes the obstacles of dubious consent, abuse, violence, and loving a minor, and in the end, you have a happy ending with two stable characters according to the readers' moral standards." I said love towards a minor because it isn't pedophilia, Chu Wanning only felt sexual attraction after his retirement and sees an adult Mo Ran. He turns on because of his horny dreams that are with an adult Mo Ran/Taxian Jun. As a matter of fact, the idea of Mo Ran and him having sex was impossible and nonexistent in his mind until Mo Ran shouts "Watch me fuck you to death," and the proof is Chu Wanning's reactions towards Mo Ran's previous acts like that gifted embroidered handkerchief; he goes "cute, I have an adorable student, he is the best, amazing boy, most generous and kind, truly this master's favourite." After Mo Ran's words (fuck you to death), Chu Wanning's reaction was the equivalent of "This student of mine, he is getting astray, he is getting bolder, he is being rude, defying my authority, what have I done wrong?? 'Fuck me?' what a joke! he needs punishment, and someone to teach him manners!!".

What Meatbun does is offer perspective from both sides. That is to say, on the one hand, we see how Taxian Jun abuses his teacher, but on the other, we see firsthand (through dreams) Chu Wanning's perception of those acts. Then we have Chu Wanning feeling guilty about the attraction he feels towards his student (note that despite what he felt, he never acted on it), but we also see what Mo Ran's feelings were towards him. Later, when Mo Ran begins to discover what really happened and notices Shi Mei as the mind behind everything, he never uses the flower to justify his actions; the violence he committed against Chu Wanning he finds it unforgivable; and Chu Wanning finds his attraction to Mo Ran a crime, a violation of his professorial status, and an impossibility that should not happen. And it is precisely all of the above that makes the interactions between these two characters in the world created by Meatbun so attractive to many of us.

RanWan develops not by justifying acts nor by forgiving them, but by accepting what happened and without taking away the name or weight of the violence. In the end, the only person who can declare his forgiveness for Mo Ran's actions is Chu Wanning, and the only person who can deny or accept Chu Wanning's feelings is Mo Ran.

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan #ranwan fanart

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#svsss #scum villian self-saving system #bingqiu #svsss fanart #bingqiu fanart

Art Dump!

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

I’m so Erha pilled right now,,, I’ve been listening to 怎配 by 镜予歌 on repeat,,, AND I’M SOBBING

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

Art dump (2/2) for today! 😭

I wanted to keep the wontons scenes separated from the other comics I did!

Also I watched Kictor’s Guessing Things About 2ha video and I thought this meme reference was PERFECT for 2ha, so I drew it!

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

Happy Birthday WANNING!

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#2ha #2ha fanart #ranwan

Art dump (1/2) for today!

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#cfc #병안본 #bab #bab meta

I get what you mean about XQC not succumbing—yes he hurt himself and yes he scared his sister, but XQC didn’t despair of HY when HY was cutting himself, he despaired when HY brutally raped and tormented someone else—XQC is all about being in service of others. Ofc XQC needs to live for himself too (he freaked about feeling something under aphrodisiac!) & HY (because of upbringing not illness) needs to care for others better, & that’s what they need each other for, but HY can look to XQC for hope

OMG, Anon, I think you live in my brain because this is it EXACTLY.

The whole tag for this novel is something like "don't succumb to suffering." And on one level, the word succumb means something really basic - XQC does not look like he will die from psychological ebola, raving mad and locked up, like patients 1-4. He will die from the physical effects of RN-13 but that is different. He will not succumb to psychological ebola itself.

But also, when I use that word "succumb," I don't mean temporary moments of despair, even suicidal despair, or anger or w/e - I mean doing something monstrous and inexcusable. And to me, just as to you it looks like, the crux isn't the cutting or He Yu falling out of window or even various screaming or fighting or w/e but THE VIOLENT RAPE. And then utter lack of remorse but continuing forcing XQC into a sexual relationship through blackmail. That is gross. That is disgusting. That is succumbing to the worst in you, whether because of illness or otherwise.

Because to me, He Yu succumbed when he became a rapist. XQC has never crossed an inexcusable/monstrous line (at least that we know about; Meatbun can always prove me wrong later) but He Yu has. Side note - I find universal through fandoms use of terms "noncon/dubcon" a kinda obfuscating way of referring to things that minimizes the ugliness. I read and love some dark and fucked up stuff but I dislike pretending that it is what it isn't. I think people are often reluctant to use the true ugly names and find it easier to use euphemisms but I think things should be labeled what they are. He Yu is a complex, fascinating character but he is also, making no bones about it, a rapist and thus by definition did something utterly vile. (Just as Mo Ran is my favorite web novel character of all time but as Taxian Jun 0.5 he's a torturing raping mass murderer.)

And that's the thing - I use the words monstrous and inexcusable on purpose. Because what he did is not necessarily unforgivable - it's up to his victim and XQC can forgive him if he chooses. It's also not irredeemable, because Meatbun's ultimate credo is that anyone can be redeemed if they are genuine and work hard enough. So, despite doing something horrific, it does not mean He Yu cannot become a good person worthy of being loved (by XQC or in general.) But he is not one now. Which means he has succumbed - to his illness, to his issues, to combo thereof, whichever way you want to put it. Because his actions have an explanation but not an excuse - they are the definition of "cool motive still murder."

Now it doesn't mean he cannot climb out of the pit, or that he is not worthy to climb out of that pit, or w/e. In Meatbun's worldview, there is no such thing as a person who cannot be redeemed unless they do not want to be redeemed (see Hua Binan; how Catholic.) But for now he's neck deep in that pit and XQC's story will hopefully be a ladder - that you are not doomed to succumb and die mad and homicidal, that you can go through life without becoming a monster. And while the latter is not possible for He Yu any more - he's already become a monster with the club - it can serve as a wake up call that you can stop being a monster; it's not his inescapable destiny.

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Sorry if this is kind of an odd question but, as you’re the person who truly made me understand BBBF!Mo Ran, do you have any examples of foreshadowing or stuff about Nangong!Mo Ran? Because I’m sure it exists (Meatbun’s too good a writer for it to not exist), I just can’t remember any of it.

Hey, nonny!

That one was a big twist that had a lot less foreshadowing than the flower curse and Mo Ran being a BBBF, primarily because this was something that Mo Ran knew and was in control of, so he took care not to reveal it because he was invested in keeping that secret out of a sense of self-preservation.

But of course there is still foreshadowing, it is just vague and I did not pick up on it until I reread, knowing all the spoilers. The biggest thing is razing all the cities of the Rufeng Sect to the ground. This vendetta was personal. If we look at how he treated other cities he conquered, we do not see him burning and killing senselessly, regardless of what he may want us to think with his unreliable narration. All the people on Sisheng Peak were dealt a chess piece and turned into the heavenly bridge and the sect itself became his new palace. Even Jiang Xi was first offered the chance to cooperate and only killed after he refused. The same goes for all the other sects he fought, the people were used for the bridge and everything else was repurposed and reused, except for the Rufeng Sect, which was a bloodbath, where he actually killed everyone and burned the city. Rufeng Sect was razed to the ground. It was the same kind of systematic rage and destruction he inflicted on the people in the brothel because they had wronged him so deeply and his hatred of them was so personal. We don't necessarily pick up on it on the first read because we are so invested in the idea of TXJ killing "senselessly" when it was not nearly as senseless as the first books make it out to be, plus we additionally think that his vengeance was because of his poverty and his mother dying of hunger there, which, true, it was, but that was not the whole story. Mo Ran wasn't taking revenge against a famine and society in general, but against a particular group of people who had wronged him personally.

There was also this part in the book that is, I think, in book 5 of the 7S translation (I'm not sure because I haven't read the new book 5 yet, it could be later) where Mo Ran talks about how much he hated one man in particular in the Rufeng Sect and whom he had tortured to death in the previous life. In this life, he was careful not to go anywhere near him because he was not sure he could control himself and not kill him again. At the time, he does not say who this person is. It is only later, knowing his backstory, that we put together that this man whom he hated more than any other was his father.

I am sure that there are other things there too, but these are the two big ones that immediately come to mind.

I hope that helps! :)

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#2ha #2ha meta #ranwan #chu wanning #mo ran

I know that some people say that meatbun involved the flower curse to give Mo Ran/ Taxian Jun a “cheap pass” but I definitely don’t think that’s right. In fact, I think she involved such a curse to give Chu Wanning a reason to forgive Mo Ran/Taxian Jun

Meatbun fully redeems Mo Ran and lets him fully and completely atone for his sins before she ever reveals the curse. She constantly includes cruel taxian jun scenes and continuously reminds us of the terrible crimes Mo Ran committed, she doesn’t gloss it over, or allows us to ‘forget’ about the extent of the cruelty, or excuses any of it as the curse for at least 70% of the novel. No, she fully portrays Mo Ran as a previously bad guy and makes him suffer for each and every single thing he did before fully redeeming him and allowing him to rest easy after heavy atonement.

If that’s the case, and since she was successful, why involve a curse? As a quick excuse? A way to undo all her previous hard work? To guarantee more readers forgiving him in case some still hated his guts? Well, I actually think it’s to give a reason for Chu Wanning’s (and the other characters’) forgiveness.

Before Chu Wanning 0.5 discovers that Taxian Jun is cursed, he absolutely hates him and detests him. Gone is all the love he had for him. He sees him torturing Xue Meng, his own brother, burning 70 cities, delighting in the misery of all those innocent people and then coming back to the palace to rape him and humiliate him no matter how much Chu Wanning begs him to stop. You can feel the anger and hatred and heartbreak that Chu Wanning starts to harbor for Taxian jun, you can see him loving Taxian jun less and less with every flashback that meatbun includes. Until he discovers the curse. And then it’s like the long forgotten fire of love within him is passionately reignited with hope. Suddenly his previous indifference and hatred turns to misery and sadness and forgiveness and “please forgive yourself” and “please stop before you can no longer stand yourself” and literally sacrificing himself for the other

Similarly, when present Chu Wanning first regains his previous life’s memories, he can’t stand to look at Mo Ran. He literally says, “if you knew that it was me who fed you the rice porridge when you were five, would you have been as cruel to me? Or would you have shown me some mercy?” And Chu Wanning had every right to be mad. You know, I was actually worried and nervous that meatbun would make Chu Wanning readily forgive mo ran when he regained his memories, I was worried that she was gonna dismiss and belittle all his trauma and the fact that he was a rape and abuse victim for the sake of ‘love’ (which ISNT realistic and is actually disgusting). But no, Chu Wanning WAS angry, he didn’t want to be anywhere near mo ran and it was fully understandable if he later on chose never to see him again (despite that being absolutely heartbreaking and tragic), or their relationship never being the same, or him being unable to stand mo ran’s touch. But then he discovers the curse, discovers that Taxian jun sacrificed his kindness for him, that everything was given away just for him, and he is devastated and heartbroken and, how can he still hate him? How can he still turn away from him? He was a victim but so was Taxian jun and it absolutely tears him apart.

This also applies for the rest of the characters such as Xue Meng, I mean if it wasn’t for the curse, why would he forgive Taxian Jun, who literally killed and murdered his own parents and family? All the characters, Xue Meng and Chu Wanning included, can forgive Mo Ran cause he DID atone and redeem himself and change for the better, sure, but since they were victim under his hands, they have every right never to want to interact with him ever again, much less reconcile their previous relationships with him, not because they don’t believe in his change but because they themselves suffered greatly because of him. But when they realize that he’s a victim just like them, that creates an opening, that creates a reason.

You say meatbun included the curse as a back door to all of Taxian Jun’s actions? I’ll do you one better and say, she created it to give the characters around mo ran a reason to forgive him and accept him again and take him back and rebuild their relationships with him, without disrespecting and disregarding abuse and rape victims and their trauma and having Chu Wanning unrealistically forgive mo ran easily.

In conclusion, meatbun is an absolute brilliant genius who literally put EVERYTHING into consideration

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I'm going to get personal while talking about Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian

A lot of you don't understand what it's like to be a neglected child

I'm not saying Wei Wuxian was in an enviable position in the family as both the Golden Child (to Jiang Fengmian) and the Scapegoat/Troublemaker (Madam Yu)

To receive all the attention BOTH good and bad is not a pleasant position to be in (especially as it feels that while Jiang Fengmian favoured Wei Wuxian he didn't really see him, he saw his parents)

But to be the neglected child is awful

To know that your parents wouldn't notice if you weren't around hurts. To never receive attention and care and certainly not positive attention or care ever gives you severe insecurity and a feeling that you will never be enough and all your accomplishments are worthless because it doesn't matter how good you are or how diligent or how hard you work.

You don't matter

Your accomplishments don't matter

Your feelings don't matter

And yes you are resentful and angry but no one allows you that anger

They laugh it off or act like it's out of no where

No one sees your anger as justified. How could it be? You're not in the firing line! You're not getting the worst of it

And no you don't want to be seen in the bad ways and hurt in the same way but you fucking want to be seen

By anyone!

Just to have your hurt and your sadness and your loneliness and your successes and triumphs seen and heard and validated

That's all you want

And you want to protect your sibling from being the constant victim and try to play peacemaker but that doesn't work when you're invisible and you also hate that you will never be as good as them at anything and how there is nothing that is just yours. Your accomplishment that they haven't already done better

But they are also the only one who sees you at all

The only one who gives you comfort when you cry or backs you up when you do something well

But they don't keep promises anymore than anyone else

And there are reasons. They have their own hurt. Their own issues. They are also a child trying to grow up in a hostile world

But they still hurt you and leave you and don't see you enough

And there is resentment from them to you because you don't get targeted and you don't have to live up to anything and carry a weight that no one person should carry

Now I had enough issues with my own sibling (and they had enough issues with me. The causing each other pain went both ways) but we are reforming a relationship as adults

But if you add in secrets like the reason why Jiang Cheng lost his core and the core transfer that happened after plus the complete lack of communication from Wei Wuxian during it all and the seeming betrayals and rejections

Yeah it's no wonder that Jiang Cheng reacted like he did

And I gotta say I do like the relationship he has with Jin Ling. A Jin Ling who chooses to sit with Jiang Cheng. He sees his uncle and his hurt and his pride and he is proud of him, proud to be his nephew

And Jiang Cheng for all he is rough on the outside and makes empty threats and demands (that Jin Ling knows are empty and says as much) He is very caring and loving towards Jin Ling. This is shown in the trust Jin Ling has in him and how he gravitates to Jiang Cheng whenever he is insecure or afraid

And as crushing as the core transfer reveal and Wei Wuxian just leaving again was, Jiang Cheng did not go catatonic. He did not completely fall to pieces. Because he still has to care for his nephew and his sect

And I think that really shows how he has developed from a teenager

He had an embarrassing freak out but at the end of the day he can continue on. But he's still hurting

I think he can reconcile with Wei Wuxian but it's going to be painful and awkward and slow

I'm not saying Jiang Cheng is always right but I'm saying his hurt and his reactions are very real and very in character from the point of view of a neglected and unloved younger sibling

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#2ha #mo ran #chu wanning

introducing our protag, Burnt Squid Ink

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MDZS

Wei Wuxian: Lan Zhan!

Lan Zhan, appears by his side.

Wei Wuxian, leaps into his arms laughing.

TGCF

Xie Lian: San Lang!

Hua Cheng, appears underneath him and twirls him around while they laugh together.

SVSSS

Shen Quingqiu: .........

Shen Quingqiu: Sigh (pulls out a dog whistle and blows.)

Luo Binghe, bolts to his side like lightning, destroying everything on his way there: SHIZUN!

Shen Quingqiu: SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!