Theorizing - Tumblr Posts

Ssoooooo how are you doing.. not good,

well come and listen to and add songs so we can all cry together.

What's gonna happen to Lunar?

this post will include spoilers and mentions of child abuse, sibling abuse, Stockholm syndrome, kidnapping, and manipulation!

Due to the things moon had said about how Lunar is with eclipse still despite them not trusting Eclipse and being horrified of him to a point merely hearing his name gives him a panic attack. I feel like if he is kidnapped, it could create a holt on the ability to use star power at free will due to his fear in a similar manner as when his bodies appearance changed after eclipse spoke to him through the computer. I also feel like due to the abuser and victim dynamic between eclipse and lunar I could see some sort of brotherly Stockholm syndrome happening by eclipse manipulating Lunar. Reason I predict that is because if Eclipse is to get his hands on Lunar he'd need to make Lunar use his power which would have to be done in two ways 1. Torturing him with pain and various things to make him purposely lose control 2. Manipulate him into trusting him or believing eclipse actually cares about lunar, which could be done through means of something such as love bombing.

This would be done by eclipse giving Lunar positive brotherly attention but the moment Lunar does something 'wrong' he retracts the attention from Lunar as some sort of punishment and an act of disappointment. Which psychologically once someone starts receiving all that positive attention and its taken away he's likely to try to chase after Eclipse to try and get the previous attentions back since now that Lunar is in that situation the natural need to feel wanted and needed would be being played around with. Which would inevitably lead into Lunar re-entering a state of dependency on Eclipse. Because despite Lunar constantly having the tough guy act and preaching about how he hates Eclipse which of course he does. After all eclipse abused him mentally and physically and even killed him. But when you also keep in mind the fact that manipulation victims can easily be put back into those situations if pushed hard enough, and when you consider the fact Lunar is in constant refusal and denial to cope with his problems? It also makes him more vulnerable to eclipse. I believe that Lunar also could be put into a weaker role since even though Lunar was repaired his coding was never changed merely fixed.

However this is all possible if Eclipse gets to Lunar before Solar and Moons security guard is done, and with how often earth and monty are spending together without Lunar I can see it leading to Lunar being put into a vulnerable situation due to being alone more often. The risks are even greater due to the fact Pollux and Castor are not aloud or required to meddle with such problems unless something bad happens that could affect the astrals.

If anyone has a theory or a question they'd likes an opinion on feel free to ask or comment and I'll make a post on it!

Fandom Theories vs Canon

SHOW: We’re building up to a big reveal! Can you guess what’s going to happen?

FANDOM: (dozens of theories based on evidence from past episodes)

SHOW:

FANDOM: Well, that’s fine, go ahead and do the reveal!

SHOW:

Something I had thought about is how philosophical and even brutal is killing the Ender Dragon

All End Ships have a dragon head at its stem, which means there were previous dragons that were killed

We can find chests with gears like swords and armour, meaning there were humans before us

It is common for humans to hunt animals merely just for fun, there is evidence of this since prehistory. Combine it with the fact there are no other dragons in the End and you'll see it's probably the case here that the dragons were killed without any purpose

The End Crystals works only for Ender Dragon well-being, its usage being for preservation and resurrection. Assuming the crystals were made by other humans to protect whoever tries to kill the Ender Dragon, it is plausible to assume that the few humans left were trying to preserve the last one dragon

And what do we do? We destroy every remaining defensive mechanism and fucking kill the last one dragon without any purpose

Ok I always thought the "I am ---" trilogy and the Clé trilogy were two separate things but I've also always been confused by "I am YOU," the featured track from the final "I am ---" album. Like, it's sweet and all, and it makes a little sense (the line "I see myself in you" really clears things up for that one tbh), but it's never really felt like a resolution.

If I think about it, though, the Clé trilogy seems to be another identity-finding journey that centers on separating your identity from others. I don't mean, like, uniqueness, but rather not relying on others for your sense of identity. If I'm right, then Clé is actually a continuation of the "I am ---" albums.

However, the I am WHO album kind of doesn't fit very well here, because the main featured track is "My Pace," which is about not paying attention to like. peer pressure and stuff and doing the things you want to how you want to do them instead without comparing yourself to others. That kind of feels like it fits better with the whole separating self from others thing Clé has going on.

I vaguely remember hearing that the other song they were considering making the main track for I am WHO was "Awkward Silence," which, don't get me wrong, I LOVE that song, but it does not fit the vibe of the album so I'm kind of glad they did not do that, but it's also about not feeling pressured in social situations.

I guess you could say "My Pace" and "Awkward Silence" fit the progression of the "I am ---" albums, in a way, because they're starting to realize who they are, but I feel like they're too far ahead for having a whole 'nother album left. To be honest, I've always thought "Question" fits the vibes the best.

Anyways, I have a sort of theory for how the progression goes and ties together between these 6 albums:

I am NOT - hold on a minute who do I really want to be? what do I want in life? are the things I want really the things people tell me I should/do?

Representative songs: "NOT!" "Awaken"

I am WHO - if I'm not who everyone says I am, then who am I? (starts discovering self a bit)

Representative songs: "WHO?" "Question"

I am YOU - forming a good relationship (of any kind; could be significant other, friend, parent, whatever), or perhaps returning to one. it could be like a new relationship they're very happy with or it could be reaching an understanding with the people they rejected in I am NOT. part of their identity comes from this relationship. a large part of their identity, actually, probably, because like. it's. I am you. uh yeah

Representative songs: "YOU." "I am YOU" "Hero's Soup"

Clé 1: MIROH - whoah guys I'm pretty rad amirite

Representative songs: "MIROH" "Victory Song" "Boxer"

Clé 2: Yellow Wood - wait actually something is wrong? life is not as easy as I thought (kind of like that)

Representative songs: "Side Effects" "TMT" (not gonna count any of the mixtapes bc they're really more like singles that just happened to be released in this album)

Clé: LEVANTER - I defined myself too much by my relationship with this person (maybe the person from I am YOU) and lost sight of what I wanted for myself, so when they left me (possibly in Clé 2) I no longer knew what I to do. However, I now realize this and can take hold of my desires for myself.

Representative songs: "STOP" "Levanter" (most of the other songs carry similar 'I'm gonna do what I want now' sentiments, however, they do not include the same ideas about breaking free as "Levanter" and "STOP," while it also does not in words, the fact that it is pretty close to being the same song as "Road Not Taken" from Clé 2 but with mostly different lyrics indicates a connection to the unsureness of that album with a sense of moving on from it)

From the resolution of the Clé albums, most of their albums follow a trend of confidence, like that in Clé: MIROH except they haven't gone back to an uncertain theme afterward. Not every song is so confident, but there were confident songs in the beginning, so why shouldn't it be the other way around?. Case in point: "Grow Up," from I am NOT didn't start with confidence, but it ended with it, and there's also "YAYAYA" from the album from even before their debut. In TOP, which, yes, is now like 3 years old or something (I'm really behind on their newer albums so idk what most of the songs are but I am literally actively working on it right at this moment) and was for an anime, there's "SLUMP," which was written/composed/arranged by Han and Chan so it definitely fully counts, and it's fully super not confident. Nevertheless, the fact that I knew all the songs up through, like, THUNDEROUS, and still had a really hard time thinking of less confident stuff means there's definitely a trend of confidence since the resolution of the clé albums.

I think the dragons were the reason the humans turned on Hiryuu in the first place. They wanted their brother back so they must have thought, "If the humans he loves so much turned on him, if they hate him and hurt him, then he will stop loving them. He will want to leave them and in his hour of need we will come down and save him."

But Hiryuu surprised them. Always he has done what they did not think possible. A dragon wanting to leave the heavens. A god wanting to be human/mortal. And now, a dying man loving his persicuters.

Hiryuu loved the humans more than himself.

But just as Hiryuu did not give up on the humans, so too the dragons would not give up their own wants. Dragons are possessive beasts.

It was not a change of heart or a compromise that had them seek out humans to be their vessels and protect Hiryuu. The red dragon had unknowingly told them how to bring him back to the heaven. They forcefully bonded him to four humans, killed his human flesh, and cursed the humans they manipulated him into loving above all other humans. And then let the humans suffer over and over and over so that when Hiryuu's soul was finally reborn, he would once again sacrifice himself for the sake of his humans, but this time in their favor.

But they forgot something, and so have we.

Hak.

Hak has not been part of the dragons plans. His ancestors were not cursed by dragons. His choice to follow and love Yona was not forced by the bond of blood.

Hak follows her of his own will. His power is of his own making. And I do not believe he is at all part of the prophecy. He carries no shield and he wields no sword. I think Mizuho was purposeful when giving him a glaive and not a sword like nearly every other non dragon warrior in this manga.

When Yona faces the gods, Hak is going to be there and it is through his actions, loyalty, and love that Yona will find another way beyond the prophecy.

Thoughts that I had after reading chapter 260.

Who is toying with whom?

Yona has once again demonstrated extreme, unbending determination to save the people she loves. All of them, with no exception. And she has turned her back on the gods to the extent that she would toss them from the skies if they mess with the people close to her.

But now, if we think soberly and put aside the coolness of her statement, there’s another side of the coin. Like it or not, she is as much responsible for Zeno’s and everyone else’s suffering as are the dragon gods. Did she forget? SHE was the one that permitted the cycle to continue with no hesitation. SHE was the one that told Hiryuu to keep the dragons and Zeno until she meets them. SHE is the very person she should be angry at in the first place.

She’s angry at the gods for the suffering of her friends, yet she doesn’t care that both them and other countless people have been suffering like that for 2000 years because she asked for it? It’s very ambiguous.

I hope talking with the dragon gods will finally put her brains in place and remind her whose wish it was and who is to blame for the fact that Zeno begged her to grant him death. She is the reason he’s still alive. It doesn’t matter that she didn’t MEAN for anything bad to happen, because it still did happen. She has to face this reality to see the situation objectively.

The only thing the dragon gods can be blamed for is that they made the 2000 year cycle “painful”: Zeno’s eternal existence, the dragon warriors’ broken fates and short lives, the Crimson Illness. And the only way for Zeno to finally die is to be killed by Yona? It is extremely cruel. It was not Yona’s doing and she’s absolutely right for being angry at them for doing it. But she had a hand it letting it all happen.

The deal with the Dragon Gods

Now about her dealing with the gods. Despite her statement, of course she won’t be able to throw the gods out of the sky or anything like that. The gods are still gods, and she is only human (with a dragon god’s soul in her). Therefore, even though she will be able to convince them through aggressive confronta..khm..I meant reasonable argumentation, they are unlikely to comply with her conditions without a benefit for themselves. And they have one desire: to return the crimson dragon back to heaven. They did everything they did, made all those people and even both Hiryuu’s human forms suffer only to achieve that goal.

They will grant her wish to save the people dear to her, in exchange for the return of the red dragon. I can’t imagine any other condition they may have. And fate is cruel. Unfortunately, the soul of the crimson dragon is inside of Yona.

And I don’t think the dragon gods will back down. It has already happened once:

Hiryuu went against gods’ wish, stayed in the world of humans and…you know what happened next. If he stays, the dragons will not leave. The only way to end this is for the crimson dragon god to return to the skies.

The dragon gods cursing the dragons warriors along with Hiryuu’s descendants and making Zeno’s life eternal was a plan to return the Crimson Dragon to heaven?

The dragon gods are GODS. They created the prophecy, gave Hiryuu the relics and they knew what was going to happen in the future. Maybe they knew that Yona would make the decision to keep the dragons and continue the cycle. The gods made the cycle painful and made countless people suffer to make the empathetic human-loving red dragon leave the human world in order to stop it. They will face Yona / Hiryuu with the reality and the consequences of her / their decision, which may result in Yona having no other choice but to sacrifice herself and let the crimson dragon’s soul return to the heavens to stop the cycle and amend for what she did. Maybe that was their plan all along. Any decision we make comes with a price and Yona is not an exception.

So, then Yona will face two options: Yona lives on, nothing changes, everyone continues dying / Yona dies, everyone is saved and lives. I guess we know which one she will choose. She wants to save everyone.

But there has to be a trick to it, something that will save her from dying completely. After all, she and Hiryuu are two different people and the dragons want Hiryuu himself, not his reincarnation. That lake Jinsui is still on my mind, there has to be something about it.

That’s how I see the plot proceed unless any other circumstances rise up or unless Yona magically convinces the gods to leave them all alone.

And what’s the deal with Yona’s blood? Zeno’s blood never “reacted” to the medallion, but hers instantly did. What might that mean? What can she do? Will she be the one to go to the realm of the gods or will they descend to the human world?

I REALIZED WHAT THIS MURAL IS

i remember seeing a while back that people couldn't figure out what this mural was. and at the time i was puzzled too! it is only now that i realize this could be the outlaw mural!!

we already know that murals tend to follow the very vague shape of their corresponding symbol as you can see here: the horns perfectly follow the outline!! furthermore: the mask goes well with the T shape as well, although that could just be my art style as well. we have enough space in the torso to fit the karma 1 mark. the shoulders are a bit tricky, they do not perfectly fit the outlines of the outlaw symbol, but they are still vaguely there! NO CLUE IF THIS IS COHERENT BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY THE OUTLAW MURAL???? if not then i may be looking into this a bit too much

Thinking of Watcher DLC...

It's been 4 months and I am still thinking of Watcher DLC, so I am just gonna yap here- this is mostly my speculation. i need watcher dlc to come out auughhh i neeeed it i neeed it i need more rain world I NEEED MORE RAIN WORLD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE HYPERFIXATION IS HYPERFIXATING !!!!!!!!!!!!

Trailer details:

First, the trailer

I want to bring attention to 3 things: -poleplant -rot -void theme/watcher coming out of the shadows First I'll start with the pole plant as it will be easiest to explain. This most definitely takes place before saint's campaign, as I have not seen pole plants (I believe they went extinct?) in saint's campaign. Further details about the timeline are with the blue lizard's typical appearance (lizards look slightly different in saint's campaign), which too suggests that this is at least before saint. (Also lack of snow but I think that is too obvious) The rot is another thing I wanna focus on. We only see rot originate from two things: the iterators, and failed purposed organisms. The rot is also not specific to pebbles, as iterators have already known about the rot before pebbles got it. We can assume that we are either near an iterator district, or directly in it (judging by machinery and pipes in the background.). Now who is this potential new iterator? I am unsure, but I know it's definitely not pebbles' and moon's district both due to the screenshots on the steam page, and the fact that we've already explored all major plot points in pebbles' and moon's stories, adding more to their stories would be a rather bold move. Last thing, void themes and seemingly watcher's ability to come out of the shadow. I believe these two are connected. Although I have no clue what watcher's ability is, and what it has to do with void, but perhaps watcher can camouflage themselves in the shadows similar to how white lizards blend into their environment? Perhaps this ties into the void theme somehow? Although really I am unsure for this one.

Steam page, specifically the description:

"Rain World: The Watcher is a DLC expansion of Rain World. Journey beyond to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed. When the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles, will you hold on to all you once knew? Or dive into the unknown?

The wilds that await will be unlike all that's come before.

Unknown creatures stalk and climb and dive and hunt. New breeds rip and pluck and burrow and hide. Predator and prey redefined. And through the middle of it all, a lonely lost slugcat trying their best to outlast the ravages of a warped world."

"Journey beyond to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed." caught my attention first. This further proves that this will not be in pebbles' and moon's district. However the last part, only ever glimpsed, suggests we know about this new place at least by some extent. Perhaps we have heard about it in character dialogue? Perhaps it is one of the districts of iterators we already know (NSH, Suns, UI, CW, SoS, and all the miscellaneous broadcast ones)? I believe that the latter is the case, especially with UI (close to pebbles, justifies the rot? also I am coping because UI has no lore), NSH (unsure how rot will tie in to him, but we have definitely heard a lot from him) or Suns (once again unsure how the rot will tie in, but we have heard from them a lot too). "The wilds that await will be unlike all that's come before." too shows that we are definitely gonna be in a new place. Another thing, the "when the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles," this can either be a metaphor for a major change, or quite literally some kind of collapse or disaster. Honorable mention to warped world, also playing into the major change metaphor, or some kind of disaster.

"Unknown creatures stalk and climb and dive and hunt. New breeds rip and pluck and burrow and hide." I believe there will *definitely* be new creatures as well, some perhaps using the sand (and... salt... i think?) to burrow, and jump out at ya' like a dropwig or stalk ya' like a white lizard, or swoop down at ya' like a vulture! Except it's gonna be new variants or perhaps some new creatures altogether!

Screenshots:

I do not have much to say about this except for "this isn't pebbles' or moon's district", which has become more and more clear by now. I am very curious about this pink place however:

Why is it so pink? Is this iterator machinery or some kind of mast / tower / tall place ? Why can we not see any fellow iterators. I believe, the regions shown in the screenshots are still wips to some extent, so if this is the case, perhaps video cult and the dev team have yet to add iterators.... if not, I wonder where exactly this place is? Is it far far away from iterators? Is it facing somewhere an iterator cannot be built? WHY IS IT SO PINK!!! I unfortunately do not have much else to say about screenshots aside from they're very funky and I cannot wait to play Watcher DLC................................... I need watcher dlc omfg I need more rain world this hyperfixation is no joke......... I hope this ramble has been at least to some extent comprehensive, and that I did not make myself sound like a fool trying to seem too smart XD If ya'll have anything to add on, or speculate on other details, please please do in the notes or comments!!!

What are your thoughts on the Eunuchs in Dashing Youth?

Thanks for the ask! 😺 I have many, many thoughts about how the eunuchs were handled. Though I’ll get into the show’s shortcomings regarding the Five Eunuchs, I will say that Zhuo Qing was the greatest highlight of Dashing Youth for me (especially regarding the captivating conflict centered around Zhuo Qing, Li Changsheng, Emperor Tai’an, and Baili Luochen).

More often than it should have, Dashing Youth had poor structuring and ill-timed dips in tension. However, the plotline involving those aforementioned four characters was carefully built up, well-paced, and high-stakes—with significant payoff. The thing is, Dashing Youth has something of an antagonist problem, where most of them are either killed off very quickly or cease to be antagonistic. Zhuo Qing and Emperor Tai’an stand as excellent exceptions to this dulling trend in the writing. For a show like this, antagonistic forces are incredibly important. While the “bloody youths” were the heart of the show and very entertaining on their own, the “dashing youths” could be better described as the center of the drama—and good drama needs compelling antagonists. Because of this, Zhuo Qing steals the show.

Zhuo Qing

His relationship with Emperor Tai’an is so fascinating. With their multilayered power dynamic and their decades of companionship, there is a palpable tension between Zhuo Qing’s careful, calculated submissiveness and the sharp edges underlying Emperor Tai’an’s familiarity. The actors have great chemistry and the camera loves both of them—especially their beautiful hands with gorgeous complementary thumb-rings.

Just as riveting is Zhuo Qing’s rivalry with the Immortal Li Changsheng. So many emotions churn under the surface, threatening to spill over with every interaction. Pride, fear, anger, respect—no one can get such a rise out of Zhuo Qing as he.

Overall, Zhuo Qing is a complex, entertaining, and formidable villain with strong motivations. As mentioned previously, the plotline focused on him has excellent pacing and intense stakes. His voice is incredibly calming and his actor is highly adept. Zhuo Qing was the character I was most excited to see, and that particular anticipation was satisfied in full.

Jin Xuan (positives)

I do have one significant positive thing to say about how Dashing Youth handled Jin Xuan. He makes for an amazing foil to Baili Dongjun and I appreciate how the show positioned him in that respect. It helped me think of some fascinating ways the two characters could also be considered foils of each other in the Blood of Youth and its novel.

Jin Xian

I love how his first scene with Zhuo Qing highlights both the kindness Zhuo Qing can show and the terror he can inspire. An intriguing duality, which Jin Xian mirrors in how he carries peaceful prayer beads in his left hand and a sword of violence in his right. Speaking of which, the significance of his Blizzard Sword is so fascinating to think about—even more so than before. Also, I love the way he protects Jin Xuan at one point, especially since Jin Xuan is wearing TBoY Jin Yan’s clothes—the visual makes my Jin Xian/Jin Yan shipping brain happy.

Jin Xuan (negatives)

There was a crucial moment in Zhuo Qing’s story which truly seemed like Jin Xuan should have been present for. Sweet as it was seeing Jin Xian supporting his shifu, it really seems like it would have been far more impactful to Jin Xuan’s psychology for him to witness it instead.

Overall, his character feels really off. There are moments that feel more like him, especially in the times he interacts with Yi Wenjun, but otherwise, for the most part, he feels like an entirely different character. Him wearing TBoY Jin Yan’s robes probably isn’t helping me in trying to find him recognizable, but, most importantly, I really find it hard to believe that Jin Xuan would ever involve himself in an affair with a prince other than Xiao Ruojin in this period of time, even if it is a part of Zhuo Qing’s plan.

Zhuo Xin, Zhuo Sen, Zhuo Luo

Of the same generation of the Five Eunuchs as Zhuo Qing, it really seems like these three should have been in the show, especially during Xiao Ruofeng’s destruction of the Dragon Seal Scroll—they were more or less implied to be present for it in Jin Xuan’s dialogue to Jin Xian in TBoY Episode 34. At this point, I’m wondering if the live-action universe is an AU where Zhuo Sen and Zhuo Luo died very early, forgotten by time and unmentioned forevermore.

Eunuch Li and Eunuch Cheng

These two were pretty interesting. They weren’t in the show a lot, but it definitely feels like there’s layers to them and their relationships with other characters. I would like seeing more of either eunuch, though I’m satisfied with what we got—I can use my imagination for how Jin Yan ended up incorporating Eunuch Li’s official robe into his casual outfit in The Blood of Youth and the implications thereof 😼

Jin Yu, Jin Yan, Jin Wei

I would say “last but not least,” but Dashing Youth essentially reduced these three to background characters, especially Jin Yan, who doesn’t have a single line of dialogue. I would have liked to see more of them in the finale, and really feel like we got shorted. Given how much more attention and focus the Five Eunuchs got in the Blood of Youth’s novel compared the live-action, I’m guessing that Dashing Youth’s lack is something of a departure from the source material. I really do get the vibe from the author that the Five Eunuchs are some of his favorite characters to write about—I don’t believe he would shortchange these three to this degree.

There is also notably the matter of the baffling clothing situation (Jin Xuan and Jin Yan switched official attire in the time between Dashing Youth and The Blood of Youth. DY Jin Wei wears TBoY Jin Yu’s. Jin Yu has a different outfit entirely). I’m hoping the live-action Dark River show that comes next will either clear up the confusion or increase the intrigue.

As for the sword situation… I can understand Jin Yan possibly wanting to have a sword if Jin Xuan does, though I don’t think Jin Xuan would have a sword in the first place. Jin Xian and Jin Wei are the swordsmen among the Five Eunuchs. Jin Xuan, Jin Yu, and Jin Yan all practice palm techniques—why would they be carrying swords? It also seems strange that the sword Jin Wei is carrying does not appear to be the Abyssal Eye Sword. I mean, the live-action version of the sword (a Bichen prop from The Untamed, seriously? Cool easter egg, but the Abyssal Eye is far too important not to have its own design) isn’t as imposing or ghostly or evil as the novel’s or the donghua’s, but it makes no sense for Jin Wei to not bring it along for the climax of the story, instead carrying an even less interestingly-designed sword.

As a side note, my theory about The Blood of Youth’s Jin Wei wielding a Bichen lookalike is that it was likely originally planned to be the Blizzard Sword. The novel describes Jin Xian as having worn white to travel the Martial Arts World, so Bichen’s design would have matched (and would possibly encourage the audience to see the mild similarities between Jin Xian and the owner of Bichen, particularly in the context of Jin Xian helping out Jin Yan when the world was against him). Live-action Jin Xian ended up having a costume design more similar to the donghua, however, and Bichen’s design would no longer match him so well. But, of course, the people making the show might still have wanted to use the prop—so they looked to the next sword-wielding eunuch: Jin Wei.

Overall, Dashing Youth was incredibly favorable for Zhuo Qing, and somewhat lackluster in its use of the rest of the eunuchs, except perhaps Jin Xian, Eunuch Li, and Eunuch Cheng. Despite Dashing Youth’s writing problems, Zhuo Qing and Emperor Tai’an bring enough to the table that I found it worthwhile. Some other characters I liked were Qi Tianchen, Sikong Changfeng, Lei Mengsha, all of Baili Dongjun’s family, Wu Fa and Wu Tian, Qixuan and Yuji, Li Hanyi, Ye Xiaoying, Xiao Ruofeng, Needle Granny, and Yan Bietian. My feelings about Li Changsheng are complicated, but he certainly does interest me.

Interesting thought! At first, I gave the partial-castration theory more consideration for the Blood of Youth eunuchs, though I ended up favoring the complete-castration theory after doing some reading into the subject. The usual practice regarding imperial eunuchs is to chop off the penis and testicles at the same time, so it’s more likely that the Five Eunuchs don’t have anything there. The Blood of Youth is fictional, though, so the world-building and headcanons thereof needn’t be historically accurate.

I would like to note, eunuchs with everything cut off can still be capable of sex and orgasms—just no erections or semen. Here’s an excerpt from wikipedia about Chinese Eunuchs and sex:

I can’t remember if the partial- or complete-castration status of the Five Eunuchs is stated explicitly in the novel, but Lei Wujie does point out that Jin Wei can’t get hard, after Xiao Se asks if he wants to do things the hard way. This dialogue would lend itself to supporting the complete-castration theory, as partially-castrated eunuchs can still get erections.

All I'm saying is, I believe only the balls are removed for the Eunuchs in Blood of Youths which means they're still capable of having a hard on, orgasms, and sex... just no semen. So.... who's to say?

Ideas about Kuroshitsuji's possible ending

As we know, the contract between Sebastian and Ciel goes that once Ciel has exacted his revenge, Sebastian gets to eat his corrupt little soul, and that's that.

The only possible way for this to NOT happen is if the contract gets broken. And the only way for the contract to get broken is if they do not keep their end of the deal. For Ciel, breaking his end of the deal would happen if he loses his objective. And the consequence would be that Sebastian gets his soul early and there's no revenge.

In book of Atlantic, we see this almost happen during the scene with queen Elizabeth, when Sebastian asks him if he's now satisfied to live a normal life. He agreed and pauses, so Sebastian began to creep toward him, ready to devour his soul, until Ciel continued his sentence, saying that he still seeks revenge.

That got me thinking, then, that what is the probability that Sebastian would break the contract by not keeping HIS end of the deal? Which is to protect our ciel, never betray him, and to never lie.

Whenever I thought to the end of Black Butler, I always assumed it would end with Ciel's soul getting eaten, and that being that. The ending always seemed set in stone. But I began wondering if that might not be the case. Perhaps Sebastian, for some reason or another, ends up breaking the curse on his end. And as a result, Ciel is now free of the contract and gets to keep his soul.

But that's only under the assumption that Sebastian plays by the rules he established for Ciel. Even if he breaks the rules, who's to say this demon won't take the soul anyways? Though, he does claim to be a just demon in comparison to others.

Furthermore, there's also the possibility that Sebastian just straight up dies and cannot carry out the contract. There are beings out there that match his lever of power. Case in chief, the Undertaker, as seen in the Book of Atlantic when he inflicts considerable damage on Sebastian and almost prevents him from keeping Ciel alive. Sebastian is already weakened from not eating food in a long time (souls), so it's a possibility he could end up killed.

Just exploring alternate endings to the most obvious one of Ciel being killed. Honestly, I think its best if his soul does end up devoured because it can keep with the theme that life isn't fair for anyone and that there are consequences for your decisions, no matter who you are, even the noble and powerful.

Makes perfect sense and I do remember Rey, when she first arrived, found some writing in Basic but couldn’t read/make sense of it.

Fynn Ren … looks interesting … I kinda want put an ‘L’ between the ‘F’ and the ‘Y’

*laughs*

I have a question about Whom Hades Seized, how do the names of the Knights of Ren work? When you join are you assigned a name based off of your gift(s) or is it selected from a list or do you take the name of one that died/retired?

My answer turned into a short essay? Oops.

Knights whose given birth names are already in High Basic are not renamed. Hecate, Thanatos, and Dion were all born to Imperial/First Order parents, so their parents would have given them High Basic names from the beginning. Morpheus also named Phobetor in High Basic, even though it was not his first language. For those whose birth names were originally in other languages, their name would be transliterated and sometimes shortened into High Basic (not translated!). So Strei-kai-loro became Kylo. Morpheus, Nyx, and Pasithea all changed their birth names into the High Basic ones they use now.

The knights’ familial names are dropped and replaced with the title “Ren.” It is essentially a symbolic marker that they have joined the Knights. For example, Hecate was born “Hecate Soteria,” but when she joined the Knights, she became “Hecate Ren.”

There is no concept of retirement for the knights. They keep the title “Ren” until death. It is very rare, but knights may choose to leave, or they could commit some grievous wrong and be banished from the knights. In those cases, they would not be permitted to keep the title.

The normal naming rules don’t apply to the King of the Dead. Kylo retains all of his names and titles at once, both on the maternal and paternal sides. That would include the title “Ren.” You might have noticed that Thrawn didn’t quite understand this, because the ways of the knights are fairly hidden and they stay out of court politics. It is a common misconception that Kylo, like the rest of the Knights, dropped his family names to take the title “Ren.” Which would have made the blood rite impossible, since it requires one person to confer a family name onto the other person.