Hi. My question is in regards to 2ha. It's 2024 and we still have bad takes. However, one that annoys me the most is people saying that the flower twist happened to excuse mo ran's SA of chu wanning. What do you have to say about this? How can i frame my response in a way that'll shut these people up?
Unfortunately, you can't shut people up. People are going to have all kinds of takes and opinions and your best bet is not to get drawn into fandom wank.
With that said, I believe that the flower twist is very important for two reasons. The first reason is that the flower is not there to absolve Mo Ran, but to condemn Hua Binan. Some months ago, I not only didn't follow my own advice about not engaging in fandom wank, I also rolled about in it like a pig in a mire and in the process wrote a very angry rant because someone who had not even read the book was calling it dumb. In it, among other things, I said:
The message of 2ha is that violence breeds more violence and that suffering breeds more suffering. Monsters are created, not born, the world is cruel and unfair, and there is no justice, but no matter what was done to you, when you turn around and inflict that same violence onto others, you transform from a victim into the very monster that you hate. This is why Mo Ran, who was Shi Meiās first victim, also being a BBBF is thematically so important. By doing what he did to Mo Ran, Shi MeiĀ invalidated his own causeĀ right from the very start. This is Meatbunās explicit condemnation of Shi Meiās spree of retribution and quest for power.Ā
Shi Meiāwho was a member of a group of people who were dehumanised, genocided, brutalized and enslavedāproceeded to, for his own benefit, dehumanize, genocide, brutalize and enslave others. Whatās worse, he did not turn against those who had wronged him (or at least not immediately), but against those who were weaker than him, unguarded against him, and who would have, if they had known of his bloodline, loved and protected him anyway. Mo Ran, whom he violated to such a horrific extent, turning out to be a BBBF himself is a narrative rebuke of Shi Meiās actions distilled to its most concentrated form.
The flower is not there to excuse Mo Ran's SA of Chu Wanning, that is just complete nonsense. I feel like a lot of people get too invested in the idea of 2ha having a villain protagonist and cannot reconcile themselves to the fact that he was the victim. Accepting that feels like a loss to them, so it is easier to say that the twist is cheap and nonsensical than to change their perspective of Mo Ran as someone weak and controlled rather than as someone powerful and in control. Then, there is the other group which read "rape" in the trigger warnings list and skimmed through the book just to get on their high horse and flap their mouths about how superior they are for not letting the book trick them into excusing it. If that was the only thing one took away from this twist after all the important messages Meatbun conveyed with the fact that Mo Ran was also the victim here, then they have completely missed the point. People who are so bothered by the non-con to the extent that they are blinded to ANYTHING ELSE written in this book should not have read 2ha to begin with.
The second reason is that 2ha is beautifully composed. it is very cyclical, the plot starts out very vague and broad and then moves inwards, in concentric circles until we finally get to the core and there, we find that Chu Wanning was actually Mo Ran's first love, just like Mo Ran was his. It removes the taint of Mo Ran's idiotic obsession with Shi Mei from the start of the novel which was manufactured and fake. We finally get to see the full picture and that his true love for Chu Wanning was always there, fighting to break out all along, even when he couldn't consciously process it. In fact, that twist is hardly a twist at all once you know it, it is so logical, because even though we love to blame all the misunderstandings and miscommunications in the first half on Mo Ran being "dumb", it is obvious from the start that there is something wrong with his memory and his way of thinking. Suddenly, it all makes sense.
However, one of the most impressive things about this book is the balance and the symmetry between the two leads. One is demonic, the other is divine. One is an extrovert, the other is an introvert. One is neat, the other is messy. One can cook, the other cannot. But they are both powerful, they are both equally obsessed with each other, devoted, jealous and unhinged and as such, they must be equal in all things. Chu Wanning's suffering and sacrifice for Mo Ran were so great, Mo Ran's suffering and sacrifice had to correspond in both gravity and horror. This is where the flower comes in. Taking the flower is Mo Ran's sacrifice and existing as Taxian-jun is his suffering. Because, make no mistake, Mo Ran as Taxian-jun suffered beyond comprehension.
Anyway, if you go through my 2ha, 2ha meta, mo ran and taxian-jun tags I am sure you can find lots and lots of my thoughts on Taxian-jun, Mo Ran's true nature, the cursed flower and him turning out to be a demon in the end.
Anyway, I hope my answer helps! :)
jacobvanloon
dededos
izzy806
2087
