#hua bainan

[amethystroselily]

It’s kind of hilarious that Hua Binan relegated Shi Mei to what is pretty much a customer service role. Like this man was so sick of pretending to be a functioning decent person that every time he had to do something that required being nice, he just made his younger self do it.

[hamliet]

Fly My Dark Butterflies Fly

Or the one in which I braved the MTL translations for 2Ha and finished, so here’s the updated review (SPOILERS below):

It’s a good story that I thoroughly enjoyed and that made me *feel* things, which is primarily why I read stories. That said, it was thematically... a mess, and so I’m going to rant a lot in this, but please also note that I did enjoy and like the novel and would recommend it.

Can everyone be redeemed? Or are you born good or bad? The author seems to imply that yes is her answer through the first third of her novel, and then kind of... chickens out? It’s hard to tell (and again, not reading in the original is likely part of this impression in me) whether it was well set up or not, but by the end I felt like her answer was closer to either you’re blessed or you’re not, sucks to suck. Which was disappointing. Despite the fact that the author does rightly indict society for failing people and thereby them turning out evil, she doesn't really get into the notion of society being responsible beyond a surface level. It’s acknowledged, called out even, but not explored as it is in, say, all of MXTX’s works.

I was severely disappointed to find out Mo Ran was really good all along and poisoned into doing those things, even if it sometimes pointed out that hey, we all have those desires but we have self-control and the poison only amplified them. Which would have been fine if this was better explored, but again, it’s kept surface level.

This plot twist also seemed pointless to me: like, by that point, anyone still reading reading is firmly empathizing with Mo Ran despite how evil he was in the past. Good. MAKE us uncomfortable with our empathy, as it seemed the novel initially set out to do--it was brash and exploring the limits of redemption and forgiveness, boldly so, but this seemed to suddenly draw back on that: "hey look it's fine you were empathizing because he was more or less innocent!" (Well, it's complicated. But I prefer it when, like Wei Wuxian in MDZS, the author is unflinchingly honest that despite the circumstances he *fully* made his poor choices on his own.) No, I am not reading this kind of novel if I want to be comfortable, Author.

I really disliked how the Butterfly Bone Beauty Clan was treated as well between Hua Bainan and Song Qiutong; hence, my title for this. Honestly like, eat the entire world, my dark butterflies.

Song Qiutong in particular.... I am baffled as to why the author had such animosity towards her. What is the worst thing she did? Accuse Ye Wangxi of rape? Yeah, that was really terrible and she was punished for it, as she should have been (like Nangong Si dumping her). However, why weren’t her circumstances and background considered like they were when the characters do similarly unforgiveable things? Song Qiutong was rescued from being sold as a pleasure slave/to be eaten and she had deliberately been set  up to look as if she was cheating on Nangong Si to provoke her into accusing Ye Wangxi. Which she did. Yes, it was still 100% wrong to do that.  But why does the narrative sympathize with Mo Ran when he's pushed to his limits and does evil, giving us his whole agonizing backstory, but not with Song Qiutong? Idk, but a girl who has been so dehumanized that it's only logical she'll be fearing that she's about to be cast aside (ie which, given her heritage, would likely mean being subject to rape and being eaten alive) trying to save her life is tragic, not scheming and evil. Was it because Mo Ran was self-sacrificial and Song Qiutong wanted to sacrifice someone else? Do you not remember your own words, Author, about how you wouldn't blame someone for wanting to live? That's a literal line in your novel. Or does it only apply to your MCs?

(The same issue was present in Rong Jiu's treatment. You can't make these points about how unfair and cruel it is and then be like "random coincidence they have no hope and Mo Ran does because he's loved, sucks if you're not!" That... isn't hopeful, and the problem is that the novel seems as if it is trying to be hopeful.)

Now, returning to the BBB Clan. WHY are the two we get to know evil? Seriously, you present a group as being persecuted but every single character you introduce from them is manipulative and evil? I just... no...(though, it is possible this isn’t the case. The MTL language was vague enough that I wasn’t clear on whether or not Mo Ran was also Butterfly Bone Beauty or some other demonic race).

Okay, there. Rant over. Now I can discuss what I loved.

Despite that, it's to the author's credit and utter talent that I still rooted for Mo Ran and Chu Wanning, because usually blatant protagonist favoritism makes me hate the protagonist. At that point, though, they had suffered too much and to their credit, taken responsibility for their actions, so I was glad they got their happy ending.

Xue Meng’s development, too, was fantastic, and I particularly enjoyed his relationship with both Mei Hanxues (who were actually decent twin characters, in that they were very very different from one another and had their own complex motivations!). I totally did not see the twist about Xue Meng’s origins coming at the end, and was pleasantly surprised.

The entire Xue family--Sect Leader Xue and Lady Wang--were wonderful, and it was amazing to see great parents in the story, because I totally did not expect that coming into it. It’s actually interesting to me how complex the parental figure were--Mo Ran’s mom was a good mother, and Ye Wangxi’s foster father was by all accounts a bad person but a good dad. No matter his motivations, he did love his daughter. Not only that, but Nangong Si’s love for Nangong Liu despite his father’s failings were quite moving, because it was realistic--you can’t just started hating someone you loved all your life even if you despise everything they stand for. (Nangong Liu, also, was another decent redemption, and I wish more had been done with him.)

Ye Wangxi was also the epitome of a great female character. I adored every development related to her, and her relationship with Nangong Si was a highlight. Every time she was on page I was like “kick his ass baby.”

The villain reveal... well, I was right about it, and I do think it was well done. There was enough set up to see it coming yet enough emotion involved to make you be like NOOO at the same time. Additionally, their connection to the butterfly bone sect was also hinted at not too strongly, but enough so that I had wondered, so the author is pretty great about setting up surprise twists.

Overall, I would rate the novel a 7/10 (same as I would rate FGEP) but feelings-wise an 8/10. I enjoyed 2Ha more than FGEP because it provoked my emotions more and was better written prose-wise (even in the MTL), but FGEP had much clearer themes despite other elements of shoddy writing. MXTX continues to be in a league of her own when it comes to narrative. 

[tazzmanien]

Well there you go, I was very wrong for once. Apparently Hua Bainan was a bad guy after all. And here I thought the author was trying to lead us astray. Hmm so now we have had 3 mini bosses and one very annoying Huang Xiaoyue. When are we gonna see the big boss?

[lalilula]

I’ve finished 2ha main story, so can someone tell me Shi Mei’s real name? Is it Hua Binan or Hua Bainan? Because the mtl seems to use both name, but which one is real?

[amethystroselily]

Hua Binan to Shi mei: If you don’t start pulling your weight around here, this genocide will never work

[amethystroselily]

I was so caught up in the angst that I almost forgot about Taxian-jun insulting Shi mei by calling his dick small, which was an iconic moment.

[amethystroselily]

I love that Hua Binan is just such a terrible person that he even accidentally made his younger self develop morals through pure spite (and guilt)