Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@AH

Please take my posts as friendly discussion. I don't take disagreement over a piece of fiction seriously. It's really difficult to monitor tone in written words, so if some of this comes across as combative, it isn't intended to be. 

 AH :

The fact that a bug connection was established between CX and XY calls into question whether the love that XY felt for XL necessarily had to be romantic love, since the love she felt for CX was platonic. However, the bug that XY planted in CX wasn't planted successfully. Tong Hua doesn't give the reader enough information about what that un-successful planting means to determine whether we can still use CX's connection to draw conclusions about XL's connection or not. I imagine Tong Hua deliberately left it open to interpretation.

It's called Lovers Bugs, not familial, friendship or even love bugs, but lovers. That word has a specific connotation. You don't call a truck a car even though they both have four wheels and are modes of transport.

Its unsuccessful implantation on CX demonstrated that you need to be willing for the bugs to take root. What kind of person would willingly have something this deadly planted on them? The kind that have a deep love for the other person. And I know, that's not proof that it has to be romantic love, however, the kind of love that would motivate someone to willing to subject themselves to this is the romantic kind (obsessive, possessive romantic). This isn't something that you would do with a friend or a sibling no matter how much you love them. Maybe with your child, but it wouldn't be called a Lovers Bugs then. It's Tong Hua hiding things on plain sight again :-)

 AH :

But Tong Hua has clearly told her readers that she considers LYF to be a happy ending. I don't believe she would take that view if she had condemned her female lead to marriage with a man that she had no romantic feelings for, after killing off the only man that she did have romantic feelings for. Especially after all the time and effort that those two men put into saving her from a loveless marriage earlier in the story.

Are we speculating on the author's thoughts? Have I rubbed off on you? (I'm jesting). My thoughts here are who's to say that marriage to someone you don't love deeply in a romantic sense means that you can't have a happy marriage? This occurs all the time where the focus is on companionship and sharing a life together. And XY does care about Jing, more than she cares about Feng Long. Not to mention what XY desperately wants is someone who will always place her as top priority above all else and Jing has done that (this was also something that Jing has over Feng Long that makes him more suitable for XY).  So she got what she wanted, why wouldn't she be happy? I noticed that XY's response to A Heng's question of "Why him (Jing)?" is essentially that he is the only one who never left her, no mention whatsoever about love. The thing that isn't said is as important as the thing that is said. It's Tong Hua being sneaky :-)

 AH :

So my conclusion is that XY definitely loved XL deeply and consistently, and I'm fairly certain that the nature of that love was romantic rather than platonic. I'm also fairly certain that XY loved TSJ romantically. The love she felt for each of them was very different, but it was romantic in both cases. XY also loved CX deeply and consistently, but her love in that case was platonic and not romantic.

We are definitely on the same page with the first and third sentence :-)

 AH :

But to draw a definitive conclusion about XY's feelings, we would need to compare XY with XY, not XY with how the reader would hypothetically act in that situation.

Yes, this is the thing with reading. We interpret things through our own subjective lens. I will say that it isn't about one particular thing, but rather a combination of things that lead to my overall impression. Like a tapestry that needs to be viewed as a whole rather than separate parts.

And speculating on the author's thoughts and intentions is a real slippery slope. It's fun though :-). So while I may hold certain opinions, whether XY loves Jing romantically or not is neither here nor there for me. Seems contradictory considering that I just wrote an essay in "rebuttal" to your post :-).

In the spirit of friendly discussion, I will say that while I wouldn't bet my precious boba tea on  XY's love for Jing being strictly platonic, I will bet 3 boba teas that her feeling for Xiang Liu is deeper, more intense and if he has been willing and able, Jing wouldn't even have gotten his foot through the door. 

Who else is with me on this one???

 AH :

What's the context for this part?

It's from the Leaked script Ep3  (S2 Ep11), here's the link:

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=2781331&page=162#p2781331

 AH :

But he hadn't ruled for long, and he invaded Gao Xing despite being sheltered there for hundreds of years and calling the Grand Emperor his Shifu.

I guess he didn't make a promise to the Grand Emperor that he would never invade Gao Xing (how cynical do I sound...!)

 AH :

It's interesting. The drama includes the scenes you mentioned, but ended up removing XY's childhood promise to marry CX (although the original version of the scene is included in the trailer). In the novel, at CX's first wedding, XY thinks to herself that this is not the wedding she envisioned, and she recalls the pledge she made to him as a child.

And there are a few places in the novel (including the scene in chapter 47 that you quoted) where it's suggested that XY would have married CX under the right circumstances (e.g., if she was his only wife, if she believed he could choose her over everything else, and if she didn't fall for someone else).

Oh yes, you're right! 

For the promise to marry him, I guess they remove it for censorship and propriety reasons...

 MengXiang:

@Headinthecloud 

I will bet 3 boba teas that her feeling for Xiang Liu is deeper, more intense and if he has been willing and able, Jing wouldn't even have gotten his foot through the door. 

Yeah sure why not. I'll die on that hill too. If he was willing  and able it's game over. She wanted to spend her life with him, the most.

The night on boat in the sea after Jing and XL returned from Jiu Li, she was about to jump into the sea and Jing was afraid of losing her forever if she did so or actually if he did not hold her tightly. Jing knew, we know that XY preferred XL by that time. XL hurt her so much after the wedding robbery. FFB didn't exist anymore. At that point, jumping into the sea means following XL. Very uncertain future. However, subconsciously she still had urge to follow XL. 

XY and Jing experienced more than 40 years of engagement peacefully because XL didn't show up in her life during that period. They had only 1 encounter about 8 years after the engagement. XL wanted to avoid her but She could still recognize him with a kind of subconscious instinct (he passed by on crowded street with different face then disappeared; she still managed to catch him in the casino. She talked with him, neglected or didn't aware that Jing was behind her). Whenever XL was around, she only focused on him. Jing seemed to be invisible. If XL had changed his mind and been willing to take her away, leaving the duty to Shen Nong army behind (even when she was engaged), I am pretty sure that she would follow him. A liberal life is what both of them desired most.  

 H19279:

"快感: pleasure, bliss

This word is often used to describe the feeling of joy and pleasure in things, events, actions, etc. For example, enjoying doing something, being happy when conquering something. Or it will be used in male-female relationships (aka sexual relationship)

You have done a great job in explaining the differences when 快感 is used in different contexts. When used in conjunction with physical interaction between a man and woman, there is a sexual connotation to the pleasure described e.g. arousal, even if there is no actual sexual intercourse.

刚开始是剧烈的疼痛，就好似利齿刺入肉中，可是渐渐地，疼痛的感觉变的怪异起来，疼痛中夹杂着丝丝酥麻，痛中有微微的快感，就好似有人在吮吸舔舐轻吻
At first, it was extreme pain as if sharp teeth pierced the flesh, but gradually the pain changed oddly. There was a sliver of numbness, a delicate sensation of pleasure mixed with the pain, like someone was sucking, licking and lightly kissing.
    -- Vol 1 Ch6

and this is also verified by Xiang Liu's response, which alludes to him being aroused:

相柳抬起了头，盯着小六，唇角染血，眸色变深，微微地喘息着。
Xiang Liu raised his head and stared at Xiao Liu, the corner of his lips stained with blood, his eyes darkened, his breathing slightly laboured.

防风邶沉默了一瞬，扶着小夭的手腕，几颗尖尖的小獠牙，刺破了小夭的手腕，这是小夭第一次亲眼看到他吸她的血，并不觉得痛，反而有种凉飕飕的快感。
Fangfeng Bei was silent for a moment then he held Xiao Yao's wrist and pierced it with his sharp fangs. This was the first time Xiao Yao saw him sucking her blood with her own eyes. She felt no pain, only a shiver of pleasure.
   -- Vol1 Ch17

 HeadInTheClouds:

If you asked XY who she would save first if both XL and CX catch on fire (can't be water since we know XL can swim :-)), poor girl would have a hard time answering. 

If I take TH's way of thinking into account, meaning take similar example in Once Promised. She would choose CX. 

In Once Promised, Ah Heng when facing her Big Brother (Qing Yang) and Chi You both in critical injury, she chose to stay and tried to save her brother. Actually, the connection between Ah Heng and Qing Yang is less strong than that between XY and CX and Chi You and Ah Heng loved each other. XY always had doubt if XL loved her or how much his feeling for her 

Haha, I read the following excerpt of chapter 43 (that @AH posted) again. The more I read, the more I find it written similar to a sex scene (of course there is no intercourse here) but the moves, the used verbs, the image of tide raising up and down, sleeping afterward. All are very commonly used to describe a sex scene in literature. Was XY still in her red wedding robe? FFB/XL had robbed her from the wedding (in wedding costume), and here it is like they "consummated" their "marriage" (the wedding night supposed to be between XY and Jing). HAHA. Sorry for Jing!

Chapter 43:

Xiang Liu was furious and his fangs bared. “Don’t push me to eat you!”

“If you want to eat me then eat me!”

Xiang Liu jerked Xiao Yao into his arms and bit down on her neck in one move. Xiao Yao’s body shivered and then she fell slack, docilely nestled into Xiang Liu to accommodate him.

Injured Xiang Liu was like a dying of thirst traveler in the desert encountering an oasis, drinking up her blood in big gulps. Xiao Yao rested her head on his neck and closed her eyes, feeling only the rising and falling of the tides around her.

It wasn’t clear how much time passed when Xiang Liu stopped drinking her blood. Xiao Yao drowsily opened her eyes. “You can drink more, I’m fine.”

Xiang Liu raised his head to look up at the star-filled sky and the hazy moonlight. “Aren’t you scared one whit? You should know a demon is a demon. When gravely injured, a demon will lose control and revert to basic instinct. I could have sucked you dry!”

Xiao Yao softly touched the corner of his lips with a trace of blood on it and tenderly said, “You’re the one who is scared!”

Xiang Liu scoffed “I’m scared?”

“I saw your demon form, and it wasn’t hideous at all! And you didn’t suck me dry either!” Xiang Liu stared darkly at Xiao Yao and she got up her courage to continue. “Your form is larger than me……uhm, okay! So it’s not just larger, it’s much much bigger……and you have more heads than I do, just eight more only…..but the laws of nature didn’t say that a one-headed type like me is the norm, right? It just so happens that us one-headed types are the majority, if nine-headed types like you were the majority, I would feel self-conscious that I only have one head.”

“You have so much energy, clearly I should suck some more of your blood!” Xiang Liu’s expression was still dark, but when he leaned down to bite Xiao Yao’s neck and began sucking, Xiao Yao felt only a frisson of excitement and tingling, with no feeling of pain.

Xiao Yao said, “Hey! Hey! I was just being polite just now. And you’re really sucking again? A demon really is a demon…” And with that Xiao Yao fell asleep and finally stopped talking.

Xiang Liu stopped drinking and lifted his head to stare quietly at the sleeping Xiao Yao in his arms.

@H19279

You are not mistaken, it is described exactly as a sex scene, I noticed all the red details since my 1st read, but I guess I was shy to point it out, because people might have thought I am imagining things, lol. 

 windiaaa041293:

Why did Xiaoyao turn a blind eye to Xiang Liu's love, but was willing to be Tu Shanjing's mistress? Xiaoyao mental disorder, psychological analysis1 month ago · From the column Analysis of Sauvignon Blanc

Thank you for this particular post discussing XY through the lens of the DSM-V. It's an interesting read. While I wouldn't go into all the depth that this particular analysis did, I will say that Tong Hua took into account the psychological aspects of trauma in her creation of XY's character.. I think this was what Tong Hua meant when she said that XY's choices were due to her psychological deficiencies