Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@AH

the missing part in kaola translation of chapter 6

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2886105&page=391#p2886105

typical example of missing information due to different  perceptions or misunderstanding author”s intention.

analysis of this part

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2887059&page=392#p2887059

the event with Miao Pu in chapter 42 in the original text it said she woke up from a dream. i had the same doubt like u since the word used in the vietnamese translation sometimes can be understood as sleep. thus, i checked the chinese text. it is “dream “ 

 H19279:

@AH

the missing part in kaola translation of chapter 6

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2886105&page=391#p2886105

typical example of missing information due to different  perceptions or misunderstanding author”s intention.

the event with Miao Pu in chapter 42 in the original text it said she woke up from a dream. i had the same doubt like u since the word used in the vietnamese translation sometimes can be understood as sleep. thus, i checked the chinese text. it is “dream “ 

yes..she woke up from the dream..but told miaopu that she never dreamed of jing. Even though she had previously dreamed of Jing kissing her, right? Then who was she actually dreaming about?

and yes, I didn't analyze it myself because that's not my expertise, I only read several articles from fans of the book.(Yaoliu)

 H19279:

 after meeting with XL, her scare was exposed again and she suddenly desire for companionship ( long term and ysq  was taken into account (he met many of her criteria)

Interesting observation. I read yours and HeadInTheClouds  posts about symbolism of lotus and how it was used with XL. I think it is ironic how the relationship between XL and XY made one have massive character development while making the other scared/vulnerable and seek refuge in a co-dependent, unhealthy relationship with Jing.  XL started as a dark character, fell even deeper in love with XY (I think this happened during the 37 years under the sea), selflessly loved XY and overcame the bounds of mortal love. 

 AH :

Also, IMO, whether someone feels betrayed and whether they have actually been betrayed are two separate questions.

I agree with this, although I'm not quite sure what this has to do with my comments. How does your lover/partner falling in love with someone else not consider a betrayal?

 H19279:

It is not XY's mind or XL's mind which judges if it is betray. It is the bug's judgment and I am pretty sure that the bug is very single minded

 windiaaa041293:

Isn't what we're talking about Lovers BUG

 blabla100:

I too am of the same opinion. It's not about the person, it's about the bug.

I agree with the above comments. My interpretations start with the conceptualizations of the Lovers Bugs; and then applied to come to conclusions about the relationships in question. I don't look at the other potential hidden messages as part of my interpretation. KISS is best. My interpretations are of course influenced by my subjective beliefs. Prepare yourself for another essay :-)

If we start with a pair of lovers who make vows to each other and exchange some token as a physical symbol of those vows. Kinda like marriage vows and the exchange of rings. Usually with these vows, there's an implied promise of exclusivity - you and me, in sickness and in health, til death do us part. Some even make this implied promise of exclusivity explicit with the whole "forsaking all others" bit. How many people take this vow without expecting this promise of exclusivity? If one of these partners then falls in love with another person, they have essentially broken the promise of exclusivity with their partner have they not? Is this not an act of betrayal?

Now let's say instead of rings, these partners exchange Lovers Bugs (we're dealing with some adventurous/possessive lovers on par with Heathcliff and Catherine :-)). To me, the willingness needed for these Bugs to be successfully implanted is like a marriage vow. I see these Bugs as primitive, sentient creatures. These Bugs have their own built-in exclusivity clause with that whole "one-hearted" bit. They give certain benefits that people who are madly in love might want - such as joining their lives allowing them to save one another and also allowing lovers to make good their "til death do us part" promise. But, as the Voodoo King said, everything has its price and the greater the benefits, the costlier the price. You do not get to pick and choose which features you get; you want the benefits then you'd better prepare to pay the piper. 

He described these bugs as a pair of lovers in love - temperamental, unpredictable - I'm going to use the word tempestuous (does this bring to mind any pair of lovers to you :-)?) and it's extremely easy for these bugs to retaliate. In other words, these lover bugs' nature is not placid, mature and/or easygoing. Their nature is tempestuous. Tempestuous lovers are hardly the kind that would be a-ok with their partner falling in love with another. Did you see how well Heathcliff dealt with Catherine's betrayal when she married Linton? So well that he took revenge on their descendant. 

Like Heathcliff, these bugs will turn into "Gut Severing" Bugs when they perceive betrayal such as one partner falling in love with another person and thus breaking that "one-hearted" exclusivity clause. Gut Severing is the literal translation of what we usually call "heartbreak". So yes, these bugs are vindictive - think about how visceral the term Gut Severing is and what that kind of pain would feel like. They're not at all nice or easy-going. That's not these bugs' nature. So while the text didn't explicitly state that falling in love with another person will cause Lovers Bugs to turn into Gut Severing Bugs, I think my interpreting it as implied by the text ( and the "one-hearted" text) is neither extreme nor unreasonable.

As to whether Xiao Yao's lack of knowledge about their nature would change anything. Does me buying a cat without realizing it was a cat going to change the nature of the cat? Of course not! These bugs' nature is primitive and tempestuous. It's not their problem that Xiao Yao was an idiot who went around implanting Lovers Bugs willy-nilly into people. Girl should have done her research. She was lucky that she managed to find Xiang Liu and they met the implanting requirements, otherwise, she and CX would have both met their makers much earlier.

In the decades that Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu shared these bugs, they did not turn or act up once. Remember too that it's very easy for these bugs to retaliate. This to me, suggests that whatever feelings Xiao Yao has for Jing did not achieve anywhere near the same quality and/or quantity as what she has for Xiang Liu. These temperamental bugs would have not let them be if that wasn't the case. You can call her feelings for Jing whatever you want, but the vow of exclusivity was not broken.

As always, everyone's mileage will vary :-).

Apologize to poor Heathcliff for continuing to invoke his name in these discussions :-)

 AH :

Excellent summary. Nicely done. 

 H19279:

Very well-done summary. Thank you!

My memory may be shot, but at least my reading comprehension and summarizing skills are still serviceable :-)

 H19279:

The walnut is the original nest for the pair of bugs. After success of planting to human bodies, the bugs found the appropriate "nest" - the lovers' hearts to live and grow. So how can anyone force the bug out of its root/base to another heart. Meaning not one heart anymore.

I see the nature of these bugs as very extreme. It's once and done for them once they find the willing pair. Unlike with a traditional marriage and exchange of rings where you can dissolve the marriage and throw the rings away, there is no going back with these guys - the only way out is death.

 Kokuto:

Whether they KNEW they met the conditions for planting the bug ... lets just say that had to be worried about her feelings (unadmitted love) for XL interfering in the planting, whether that would happen or not.

 H19279:

He understood what the witch king said about the lovers' bug very well (as well as us). I don't think he was foolish to think that there was no love between his lover XY and XL (after decades of flowing them, and his tight holding XY on the boat because he scared she was about to jumb after XL). Therefore, he awared XY didn't love him (wholeheartedly).

Yup. The key scene is Jing's reaction on the boat following their visit to the Voodoo King. That was not at all the behaviour of someone confident and secure of their place in their lover's heart.

This is genius :-)

 H19279:

@liddi can easily translate this sentence in the best way. But the message is she wanted to ask Miao Pu why she has't dream of Jing once. 

I translated this excerpt some time ago:

In the middle of the night, Xiao Yao woke up from her dream with a start. She seemed to have heard someone knocking on the window, so she jumped on the ground barefooted and rushed over to the window in a few steps, opening the window, "Jing... Jing, have you returned?"

Miao Pu held the pearl lamp in one hand, clothes in the other, "Young Lady, it is just the sound of the rustling of the branches in the wind."

Xiao Yao felt dizzy and unsteady on her feet. Leaning against the window, she murmured, "Is it really not him?"

The bright moonlight accorded an unobstructed view outside the window. There were only flowers and trees, but not even a shadow of a person. Disappointed and sad, Xiao Yao asked quietly, "Miao Pu, why do you think I never once dreamt of Jing?"

Miao Pu draped the clothes on Xiao Yao's body and handed her the embroidered shoes. Not knowing how to answer Xiao Yao's question, she could only say vaguely, "I don't know."

Xiao Yao looked up at the moon and said, "I really miss him. Even if I really can't see him anymore, it would be good to see him in my dreams."

-- Vol 3 Ch9  (Chapter 42)

@H19279

"Therefore, these 2 examples show that in such half conscious/unconscious condition, her memory of Jing and XL intertwined. And the memory of XL/FFB is normally dominant or dictates her action"

I agree with your interpretation. It's the stage when the real gets mixed with the fake.