Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

haha!  thats what i thought about tjc, who is he… then first scene few scenes, still not shipping but as the story unravelled, i just really liked xiang liu more and more and so did the actor. 

ignorance is definitely bliss… i haven’t been soo affected by anything i watch until this (probably because of how it ended). 

 bugei:

haha! thats what i thought about tjc, who is he… then first scene few scenes, still not shipping but as the story unravelled, i just really liked xiang liu more and more and so did the actor.

I was like, oh my gosh I can feel my soul leaving my body and entering the television, and it wasn't via Roku, Chromecast or Apple TV hahahaha

Can't really pinpoint the exact moment. There was before and after, for sure. Since then I started to embarrass my ancestors on a daily basis ?

Ya'll leave poor Jing alone.  He's got his issues, like all of our boys, and yes, he's not as green flag as some folks make out, but XL made sure he was his beloved XY's companion, so he's got the 9 Heads Stamp of Approval.  Plus, XY has far too many issues herself, given her horrific experiences, that drive her actions and choices.  I keep reminding myself of that,  as I imagine my best octopus impression as I wrap XL up so tight he won't even think of dying on a battlefield.  :PPPP

 Kokuto:

Speaking of XY ... I think we discussed how the Poisonous Love Bug wouldn't go into him, because he wasn't in love with XY at the time.  But I wonder if that's the right interpretation?  I feel it is, but then I remember there has to be love between the couple ... so it's possible XY wasn't in love with XL at that time?

Wait.  Now that I think about it, she wasn't in love AT ALL, with CX when he got the bug!  Cause she didn't know it was CX, and vice versa.  So how the heck did that work at all???

XY definitely loved ZX. She just didn't love him romantically. XY got very lucky and happened to be a woman who sent the bug to a man that she loved and who loved her, even though neither of them were aware of each other's true identities at the time.

I'll sound like a broken record, but in the novel XY was able to "plant" the bug in him and have it start to work (by at least making ZX feel her pain) but it wasn't planted successfully because ZX did not willingly accept the bug. Which is why it could be transferred to XL.

In the drama, the old man says that love/affection is needed to plant the bug... or if there wasn't love then the bugs might still work but it would definitely cause problems. He also said the bug could be transferred if it had only been planted in someone for a short time and hadn't stabilized yet. But if it was going to be transferred, it would definitely need to be transferred to someone with love in their heart for the cultivator of the bugs. 

 Kokuto:

Ya'll leave poor Jing alone. He's got his issues, like all of our boys, and yes, he's not as green flag as some folks make out, but XL made sure he was his beloved XY's companion, so he's got the 9 Heads Stamp of Approval. Plus, XY has far too many issues herself, given her horrific experiences, that drive her actions and choices.

They had us on the first half, I'm not gonna lie LMAO

 Kokuto:

Yes, but XY didn't know it was CX.  So, this business about being willing or not doesn't seem to fly...

I'm not following? ZX didn't know that WXL planted the bug in him at first, so he did not willingly accept the bug then. When he finds out about the bug later (when it starts to make him feel XY's pain), ZX doesn't know that XY is WXL, so he doesn't willingly accept the bug then either. 

I've posted this excerpt too many times in this thread now ^^" but it's pretty clear.

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Xiang Liu sat down next to the raft and stared at the sleeping Xiao Yao before softly saying, “The tree grows old on land together, the mandarin ducks die together in the water – the Lover’s Bug connects heart to heart and our lives, and there truly is no way to remove the bug. Years ago I was only able to remove the bug from Zhuan Xu because he didn’t know it was you so he didn’t willingly accept the bug. So you never successfully planted the bug on him in the first place. But I….I was heart and soul willing, so the bug successfully planted in me. You asked me to remove the bug and I kept telling you I can’t do it, but you didn’t believe me. But I truly didn’t lie to you, I cannot remove the bug.”

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One other factor that I've posted before:

Xiao Liu didn’t answer and thought for a long time. Since he was a demon, and demons and creatures and monsters were all in the same world, perhaps he might know something. “It’s not that I don’t want to remove the bug, it’s that I can’t. Last time I was injured, you used all sorts of weird medicines on me. The bug had some type of transformation. He asked me to remove the bug and I lied that I’ll do it when he leaves. Recently I’ve been trying all sorts of ways to coax the bug out of him but nothing works.”

Note: XL used all sorts of medicines in the pool to heal XY after she protected ZX - when she realized who ZX was. It's possible that XY misunderstood the reason why the bug "transformed", and that it actually had something to do with her becoming aware of ZX's identity. But I'm a bit skeptical about that theory because ZX still didn't know XY's identity at that point. 

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Whether each host loves the other host or not is a separate question from whether the recipient willingly accepts the bug or not. 

 Kokuto:

I mean ... so the bugs are supposed to detect love, even if the people are totally unaware???

The bugs are magic / voodoo. They should be able to determine (in a fool proof way) whether there is love between the hosts or not. It would make less sense to me if the bugs didn't work when there really was love between the hosts simply because each host wasn't aware of the other host's identity at that point in time. 

 Kokuto:

And the cultivator has to have love also.  So again, is there an obvious point where she fell for XL?

Is there an obvious point where XY starts to have love in her heart for XL? IMO, no there isn't. But I don't think there's on obvious moment where XL goes from "now there definitely isn't love in his heart for XY" to "now there definitely is love in his heart for XY" either. They knew each other for more than two years by the time XL accepts the bug, and the novel doesn't show us every interaction they have. The drama even more so. And we know that they were both able to host the bugs for over 100 years without an issue.

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Again, the details in the novel are different from the details in the drama, so some of the analysis will differ.

The drama hasn't mentioned a recipient's "willing acceptance" of a bug as a requirement for successfully planting a bug in that recipient yet. They might later on (it's not mentioned in the novel until chapter 48), or they might not.

 nathsketch:

I don't get it either. There are a couple of kindergarten kisses, then that scene in episode 28 where he grabs her neck...lol are we really ready for a NECK discussion? Better sit this one out. Whatever, it's all so limply lethargic that even typing this makes me wanna take a nap.

lol I thought their kiss scenes were horrible. Even the one in episode 28 :| I shook my head when I saw it the first time. No sparks. Grabbing the neck is kinda Xiang Liu's thing...

 bugei:

i feel the same. so im just waiting for season 2 to finish. in one of tjc interview he mentioned that when we was dubbing his final scene some of the people in the studio were in tears. so im preparing myself for the ending. 

but theres also talks of a special segment of hi6 that was filmed earlier which might come out after season 2 airs so im hoping we get some HE there. 

I heard about the hi6 filming on Twitter. Fingers crossed there's a happily ever after for YaoLiu after season 2 ??????