moransearthworms

[moransearthworms]

If you read it English, how/where did you read 2ha?

Hii! :)

I did read it in English! So I read the first half (more or less) from the beautiful translation by rynn and suika, which they make available for free <3 (although now you can get chapters from them faster if you show proof you’ve bought 2ha on jjwxc, which I would strongly recommend either way). If you’re willing to be patient you can read the whole thing that way, since they’re steadily translating it to the end. I was not patient enough, and read the second half from this machine translation, generously edited by @wanning-of-the-night-sky, (it’s very good for a machine translation! but poetry and meaning etc is of course lost).

The carrd has: how to buy 2ha on JJWXC (and support our dear overlord Meatbun), translations into many languages, links to the (very good) audio drama, the manhua, a fansong playlist, and news about the live action drama!

#happy 2ha reading :)

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changed my blog name :) moransumbrella —> moransearthworms

#as my friend WHO JUST FINISHED 2HA!!!! reminded me #the earthworms are THE WHOLE DANG THING #also i still have ideas and stuff for things for this blog it’s not on ice until hyx! at least thats not the plan #….unless #(unless?) #unleeeeessssss hyx airs this month pls tencent yes this would be great for your profits dont overthink it 💕

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I GOT MY FRIEND TO READ 2HA AND JUST LITERALLY YESTERDAY SHE WAS LIKE “Narratively it would be cool if txj was somehow the big antagonist” AND TODAY SHE JUST GOT TO THE FIRST BIG REVEAL IN BOOK 3 WHEN TAXIAN JUN COMES BACK— AND SHE’S SUSPECTING SHI MEI AND

#THIS IS IT THIS IS WHEN SHE FINDS OUT!!!! #when i tell u i have been biting my lips HARD to hold back the spoilers i am not your strongest soldier meatbun but i did it 🙏🏼

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I got to the bit in chapter 183 where they are in the village and Ling’er is checking Mo Ran out as he’s handing out the food and by that I mean she’s ogling him like no tomorrow going “I know he doesn’t want me and I can’t have him and that’s fine but looking is no crime” and I (a) love her and (b) love Meatbun for the fact that her female characters even if minor aren’t uniformly evil harpies out to wreck our protags somehow like in some danmei I’ve come across where I end up wondering if this person writes danmei because they just dislike women.

(Also, this made me think how well Meatbun gets that everyone is the hero of their own narrative and their world doesn’t revolve around the protagonists. Even as minor a character as Ling’er is has her own life and her own goals and you get the sense of it from her few scenes that the presence of Mo Ran and Chu Wanning are all entertaining and exotic but very short interludes in her very long life, minor episodes with some fun color but no more.)

#yessss lling'er the self-insert we deserve <3 #i really like ur point about how she's so clearly her own person and the protagonist of her own life #and mo ran's dimples always worth mentioning :) #it's funny bc it's neither 'see nice-looking ppl are nice even if it's secretly' nor 'looking nice has nothing to do with your character' #it's like well sometimes ppl look kind bc they are. and some ppl just have symmetrical conventionally attractive features #or flsdkj in txj's case some ppl look nice bc they spent the first half of their lives as kind ppl AND have demon royalty genes #mo ran is very much a case of both winning and losing the lottery in the most extreme ways possible

[moransearthworms]

Here’s a little (spoilery) Does The Dog Die kinda evaluation of Erha for those who are scared by its reputation, or (like myself) simply like to jump into longer stories a little more prepared:

The warnings are not joking around, please heed them. In the terms of sex, gore, violence and questionable relationships, this is more or less the same category as A Song of Ice and Fire.

(But with a much better emotional payoff and less people randomly pissing all over the place in the name of Gritty Realism.)

The ‘underage sex’ warning is there because a teenage Mo Ran visits a brothel, not because of anything that happens between the main pair. The furthest that goes while Mo Ran is still a teen is him (either in a magically addled or half-asleep state) forcing a kiss on a startled or sleeping Chu Wanning.

Actually, paedophilia is one of the very few warning-worthy things that does not occur in the book.

(That said, this is… not a relationship guide. The title and the premise should make as much clear.)

The Dog Lives.

The Cute Little Paper Dragon Lives.

The Cute Toddler Does Not. It’s pretty graphic.

In the first third of the novel both Mo Ran and Chu Wanning experience flashbacks to their previous lives. They way these are presented and how the characters (especially Chu Wanning) react are very similar to intrusive thoughts, so if you have trouble with those, these might be really unpleasant to read. Personally, for me, they weren’t enough to put me back into that headspace, but just know that they are there.

I know some people have strong negative feelings about the ‘asshole has a point’ kind of villain - this book has one of those. It’s an interesting case though, as they actually accomplish the positive thing they set out to do, the main characters’ vicory is damage control, reversing the backlash this action caused.

Does it end well?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: It ends on a bittersweet note, you’ll gonna have to read the extras for some healing fluff.

#super useful!! #2ha

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One day I shall line up my thoughts in a semi-orderly manner, but till then I shall just incoherently splutter around like liSTEN the wontons were not an out-of-the-blue revelation, but a pot boiling over. They did not singlehandedly change Mo Ran’s feelings.

All the way up to that point there was a huge, noticable difference between the horrible Chu Wanning in Mo Ran’s head and the one whose action the reader could percieve, and this difference became more and more obvious to Mo Ran himself, it created a huge internal tension in him.

The wontons were just the culmination and the point was not that Shi Mei did not make them, but that Chu Wanning did.

(…Not to mention all the other stuff we only learn about much, much later.)

#YES!!!!

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Young Mo Ran saved earthworms.

#listen i just need hyx to come out if for nothing else then for the fanart of this moment #i need at least some of the many artists who do untamed fanart to come over. pls don't all be moral purists plssss

[moransearthworms]

Brand-new-1.0-Mo-Ran’s automatic script with Rong Jiu, besides being very chaotically a mix of 0.5′s treatment of people and “only had the curse for a year” inclinations, also is pretty inconsiderate of himself. He says about 6 times that sleeping with Rong Jiu disgusts him, but adds that of course doing so anyway is no big deal for him, Taxian-jun, who dares to do anything no matter how disgusting. It’s one of probably hundreds of seemingly throwaway “boastful” remarks that are actually not very coherent. Surely the point of “daring to do anything” is to at least do what pleases you? But it’s a matter of course that he’s not expecting to actually enjoy it, it’s good enough to get some revenge, that’s the script he’s been working off for so long.

#yeah!! #2ha #i’m going back through my drafts that’s why the old posts. They are still good!

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踏仙

#;______;

[moransearthworms]

Ranwan 0.5 Timeline

Spoiler Warning

I am putting together an 0.5 timeline because the events in the past just fascinate me dearly. It is quite hard because it requires skimming through the whole novel. Please let me know if there is a mistake somewhere.

15 years old: Mo Ran became Chu Wanning's disciple and a few months later, he was planted with the Flower of Everlasting Hatred.

19 years old: Shi Mei "died", Mo Ran started to secretly learn the Zhenlong Chess Formation and created the Shared Heart Formation.

20 years old: Mo Ran started his conquest with Sisheng Peak then Rufeng Sect.

Speculation: It is unclear when the siege on Rufeng Sect happened but it is safe to presume it would have been some time after Sisheng Peak got destroyed. In chapter 1, Xue Meng mentioned Chu Wanning once waited for Mo Ran to return all alone days and nights (it could mean a very long time).

Chu Wanning was present when Ye Wangxi was killed so it's likely that the battle between him and Mo Ran happened at Rufeng Sect. Then it would have happened closer to his coronation day.

22 years old: Mo Ran announced himself the new ruler of the Cultivation World. He also married Chu Wanning and Song Qiutong the same year.

So many events we learned about happened within the first year he became Taxian-jun: capturing Chu Wanning, the coronation day, Chu Wanning begging for Xue Meng's life, to their wedding.

Speculation: When did Chu Wanning find out about the flower? I found a hint - Song Qiutong resented "Chu Fei" because Taxian-jun once came to her because he was furious to find the letters Chu Wanning wrote to Xue Meng. This was before Taxian-jun celebrated his third year of being the emperor. So Chu Wanning must have made the discovery within the first two or three years after being captured.

25 years old: Taxian-jun got in a good mood since it was the three year anniversary of being the emperor and being married to Chu Wanning.

Their interaction was much different from other flashbacks, more peaceful and loving. Also, Taxian-jun referred to Chu Fei as his beloved and favored consort. And I like to think they had a bit over five years with moments like that every now and then.

30 years old: Xue Meng's assassination attempt happened. Taxian-jun laid waste on Taxue Palace. Chu Wanning passed away.

32 years old: :(

A piece of him then spent 8 years longing for the love he thought had abandoned him.

#thank you 😭😭😭😭 #2ha #i’m glad cwn found out about the curse relatively early 😬

[moransearthworms]

I can understand and respect Mo Ran not letting himself off the hook for what he did as TXJ. I agree that he shouldn’t before he knows it wasn’t his fault, and even though it hurts that he might still not after, I get it. He can’t be who he is, someone who really cares a lot, and forget about it just like that. He’d rather take too much responsibility than risk shirking any.

But that’s his perspective. I need everyone else to understand that he would have had to be a LITERAL bodhisattva to have avoided it, and that is just not a reasonable expectation to have of anyone, let alone a 15 year old, let alone one who had been hurt to that extent. To never have a vengeful or hateful thought? No one could do it, so if we can’t have mercy on Mo Ran, then who? Does everyone really only get one shot at doing life perfectly, and if they ever mess up they have to live in shame forever? How can we live that way?

#YEAHHH i love this angle too #2ha #gosh!!! so interesting #‘it’s precisely because of that that he understands the importance of kindness’ hit me like a truck #i think too mo ran and shi mei’s opposite responses to the cruelty of the world #has a LOT to do with taking cues from their mothers #mo ran’s mother tried so hard to show mo ran the importance of kindness and it WORKED #and idk if shi mei’s mother was gunning as hard in the opposite direction but her legacy was that flower so #in his understanding of her at least he made good on what she would have wanted just like mo ran

[moransearthworms]

I can understand and respect Mo Ran not letting himself off the hook for what he did as TXJ. I agree that he shouldn’t before he knows it wasn’t his fault, and even though it hurts that he might still not after, I get it. He can’t be who he is, someone who really cares a lot, and forget about it just like that. He’d rather take too much responsibility than risk shirking any.

But that’s his perspective. I need everyone else to understand that he would have had to be a LITERAL bodhisattva to have avoided it, and that is just not a reasonable expectation to have of anyone, let alone a 15 year old, let alone one who had been hurt to that extent. To never have a vengeful or hateful thought? No one could do it, so if we can’t have mercy on Mo Ran, then who? Does everyone really only get one shot at doing life perfectly, and if they ever mess up they have to live in shame forever? How can we live that way?

#this makes so much sense!!! #digression 100% necessary #and that poem 👀👀 holy shit #2ha

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Gosh,, you are right you are right. For one, Shi Mei really does treat everyone else as objects. And rather than being born that way, I think he deliberately suffocated the caring part of himself, because he does seem to have ONE PARTIAL exception, his sister... who he totally used but to some degree hoped and expected to make it out alive. I don’t think people who CAN’T see other people as people are known for making deliberate exceptions like that.

And I’m very into this take on the way he hates Mo Ran. I didn’t quite pick up on the fact that his disgust and sadism towards him was there from before anything even happened. I’m still puzzled by it-- not that Shi Mei could hurt him so much, but that he zeroed in on Mo Ran specifically, given that not only did Mo Ran do nothing to harm him, he didn’t even do anything to particularly rub Shi Mei’s face in the contrast between them? Oh... until the confrontation over the flower. Did it start there or was it going on before that?

It wasn’t about luck, or he would have hated Xue Meng the most. Was Shi Mei mad because he could tell that Chu Wanning chose Mo Ran in a different way to how he chose Shi Mei (regardless of how he intended to repay it)? Did he just hate Mo Ran particularly because being around someone so apparently uncomplicatedly happy was irritating? Did he really not particularly hate him until he gave himself up for Chu Wanning, for obviously being traumatized and not hating the whole world, making completely opposite choices?

At any rate, one of the most horrific things to me is the sense of deliberateness I get from Hua Binan. Like Mo Ran’s one voluntary Day of Murder is so much a lashing out in agonized self defense that it barely feels voluntary. And generally the defense goes “they were pushed to this extremity.”

I can understand and respect Mo Ran not letting himself off the hook for what he did as TXJ. I agree that he shouldn’t before he knows it wasn’t his fault, and even though it hurts that he might still not after, I get it. He can’t be who he is, someone who really cares a lot, and forget about it just like that. He’d rather take too much responsibility than risk shirking any.

But that’s his perspective. I need everyone else to understand that he would have had to be a LITERAL bodhisattva to have avoided it, and that is just not a reasonable expectation to have of anyone, let alone a 15 year old, let alone one who had been hurt to that extent. To never have a vengeful or hateful thought? No one could do it, so if we can’t have mercy on Mo Ran, then who? Does everyone really only get one shot at doing life perfectly, and if they ever mess up they have to live in shame forever? How can we live that way?

#2ha #like he didn't care about his sister WELL and may only have done so as a holdover from his innocence or something #but she was apparently the only non-interchangeable person to him #which seems more like the exception that proves the rule than anything redeeming #and yeah even his sanitized answer for chu wanning about the earthworms is completely devoid of compassion #i just wanna knock on young hua binan's head like a melon #WHAT is going on in there you hateful hateful little dude #also 'mo ran was no longer mo ran in any meaningful way' just kicked my ass all over again

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#HA! omg it’s perfect

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Rong Jiu coming to Sisheng Peak to accuse Mo Ran of something he really did with the backing of someone who wants to steal Mo Ran’s cultivation 🤝 tianyin pavillion coming to Sisheng Peak to accuse Mo Ran of something he really did with the backing of someone who wants to steal Mo Ran’s cultivation

#MEATBUN!!!! #2ha

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HMM so here i am with an update on my pokemon evilution but minus cute names bc my brain is too fried from scrolling through tumblr for two days straight

Level 1: I Acknowledge No Gods And Know No Shame. All Is Peaches, Sunshine, and Getting Away With Being A Little Asshole. Feral Pollyanna (age 0-9)

Level 2: Morality Is Everything. Pain is no excuse!! although if I can smile through it, does it REALLY count as pain? and anyway suffering for ur ideal is the most meaningful thing u can do in life!! (12-17)

Level 3: Morality is Still Everything but it’s getting kind of excruciating in here, this is really longer than i thought i’d have to hang around, and my ability to deliver, like, anything,, is really slipping. Other ppl get a pass, there is such a thing as extenuating circumstances u know!! Not for me though. This makes perfect sense (19-22)

Level 4: ALL THE PASSES FOR ME, FUCK DUTY, MORALS WHO??? TRAUMA IS REAL AND IT MEANS I CAN DO WHAT I WANT (24-28)

Level 5: *is loved unconditionally* *watches the untamed* *reads 2ha* Hold… hold on a minute?? Me being happy is inextricable from other people being happy??? others suffer when i suffer??? Being good is a choice i can still make and doesnt have to be pure to be real??? *cry-laughing in a truly unhinged way*

Level 6: Trauma is real AND Morals is real,, understanding is not the same as getting a pass and u don’t NEED a pass u just need to like. let the past be what it is and know ur just a little creature with actual needs doing ur best,, and if your needs aren’t met it makes perfect sense that you wouldn’t be able to live up to your ideals. Which, congratulations, you have always had, why did you think rejecting them was so painful silly

#i was gonna make a formal post about Trauma and Morality but decided hashing out my life story for the whole internet would be more fun #we don’t talk about him here bc overexposure but #i truly love wei wuxian (cql ver. still havent read all of mdzs) #and this post is why i also identify with him SO HARD #literally the untamed changed my life for real and it was bc i could see that wwx should be happy and in many ways We Are The Same #2ha has been an extremely helpful follow up for sure and i genuinely love mo ran #but i can love myself bc i love wwx and that’s. no other art has given me that

[moransearthworms]

tbh after i read the cursed chapter 279 i had to stop reading it any further bcs of the stress & how traumatized i got. It took me a week to finally continue reading it. 😩

Hbu guys?

#this meme format is hilarious to me #and very apt #ought to be a catholic or amish family w like 12 kids though #’Shizun am i clean yet’ #’i didn’t lie’ #’please don’t throw me away’ #ETC ETC ETC