Five Eunuchs - Tumblr Posts

So glad to see the Five Eunuchs mentioned in this recommendation! I got into this show because of Jin Yan's actor, and I've gradually become obsessed with all five of them 😸 They're so entertaining to watch, and it's so interesting trying to figure out what motivates each one. Their work outfits are gorgeously detailed and their casual clothing does a great job of conveying their individual personalities. All of them have such fascinating dynamics within the group and with other characters, and it's so cool how each one influences the events of the story. I've watched the show a lot, especially their scenes, and I'm constantly noticing new things about the Five Eunuchs. They're definitely a highlight in this amazing show, which has fun music, excellent costumes, and awesome fight scenes! ⚔️

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 少年歌行/The Blood of Youth

The Blood of Youth is a 2022 live-action adaptation of the tale of a deposed, disabled, and incredibly cunty prince who's on his way back to settle the score with his asshole father, and the rag-tag band of weirdos he accumulates along the way, including Spear Girl, Bad Monk, and Fire Puppy (pictured above).

I hope you like shounen anime, because this is the most shounen anime something is allowed to be without actually being based on something running weekly in Shounen Jump. What if Nirvana in Fire were also Naruto? It would be the Blood of Youth.

This show is an underrated gem of action-packed fun that not nearly enough people in English-speaking fandom have seen. In an attempt to correct that -- and ahead of an announced second season and prequel in progress -- I'm here with five reasons you should try it out.

1. Zero thoughts head empty

You do not have to pay an enormous amount of attention to this show to understand what's going on. The show itself does not always know what's going on. It got distracted by a shiny object over there, and now we're all gearing up to go punch the shiny object. We'll get back to the main plot when we're done with the punching.

It has a million billion plot threads going on at any given moment. Bad guys roll in from sects you've never heard of before, using superpowers with stupid names, only to get kicked into next week. There's approximately eleventy thousand characters -- so many, in fact, that I ran into problems several times while making this rec post, because there aren't readily available photos of everyone I want to talk about. Just look at the DramaWiki cast list. See how it goes on for like fifty screens? That's a little what the show feels like.

Except I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing, because the show knows it's doing this, and it acts accordingly. It telegraphs pretty well who's important and who isn't (and then it goes out of its way to color-code the latter, which is handy). What you're left with is absolutely a manga-style plot, complete with training arcs and semi-relevant sidequests, all working up to the final boss match.

It is an extremely self-aware show. On multiple occasions, something would happen, I would crack a joke about it, and then a beat later the show itself would make the exact same joke. I wouldn't call it an outright comedy, but it's still very funny, and on purpose. It has no illusions about being some kind of profound, meaningful epic. Mostly it's just here for a good time.

Yet this lightheartedness is what makes the powerful emotional parts really powerful by contrast. The show is not stupid; it's just goofing around most of the time. When it knuckles down, it can be devastating. And you know what? It does wind up being profound and meaningful about some stuff. How about that.

So yeah, if you're up for something that bops merrily right along and only occasionally rips your heart out, here you go!

2. Putting the poly in polycule

Bisexuals, rejoice! It's representin' time!

Here you go, I made a relationship chart of about 40% of the show's potential and canonical ships. I could have included so many more, but I only had so much space on the image, so I had to leave out some amazing ones, like the sword hedgehog who's real into this one cougar who could easily wipe the floor with him, or the rich nerd who thinks he has a chance with the aforementioned hot butch, or the fancy MILF who cheated on the emperor with a dreamy jianghu man and is trying not to cheat on him again with a different, slightly less dreamy jianghu man. See? There's just so much.

I would also say these are not exclusive ships. They are extremely inclusive ships. I am a fan of most (though admittedly not all) of the pairings listed here, and in fact of many of the three-and-more-somes indicated by these lines. They're such a cuddle puddle of shared intense feelings that it's hard to imagine anyone getting more than mildly jealous. Moreover, the potential for romance does not get in the way of hetero friendships; a boy and a girl who are each dating other people can go do adventures together, and (mostly) nobody gets weird about it, which is nice. If anything, what makes the overall dynamic so polycule-like is how equally friends and love interests get treated, meaning that it's not difficult to see a lot of crossover potential between those two categories.

If you're like me, you're hesitant about canonical romance, especially when it's straight, mostly because so many straight love stories wind up being tiresome, gross, and/or skull-poundingly boring. You will then be pleasantly surprised by how the canon pairings with members of the main cast are not like this at all!

Xiao Se and Sikong Qianluo are the main textual romance, and golly gee, they're just cute as heck. As the chart above indicates, I like interpreting them as two Kinsey 6's who have found their single exceptions, Mulder-and-Scully-style. Maybe one of the best things about their relationship is that it gets sidelined all the time for the plot. They're not so busy being in love that they forget to get shit done. Then they get a bit of downtime and get to go on a date, and you're like, aww, those sweet gay disaster babies are gonna do a little bit of heterosexuality. Just precious.

Tang Lian and Fairy Rui are right up there with the cuteness. She's a sex-positive dancing beauty who wants to ride that pretty boy like she stole him, and he's a shy sword boy so tightly bottled up that he'll explode if he sees a bare ankle. Avoiding spoilers, I will simply say that this is a pairing of two relatively soft people, until a bad thing happens to one of them and the other hardens up about it. If that's your jam, they're here for you.

Lei Wujie and Ye Ruoye are probably the most magical and the most practical of the bunch. They have a beautiful, super-dreamy, really horny sword-dance meet-cute, complete with its own pop song ... and then that's it, they're basically just together. She likes him, he likes her, good for them. In-laws aside, it's a refreshingly low-drama situation. Besides, I always love it when the hypercompetent woman gets the sweet, devoted himbo who'd do anything for her. Ruoye's had a hard life, and she deserves someone who can dick her down good at night and make her a nourishing breakfast the next morning.

And then there is, of course, The Ship:

Xiao Se and Wuxin are canonical, textual soulmates. The show treats their dynamic as more important than any other. It's so important, in fact, that the show has to sideline Wuxin for huge parts of the drama, lest everything get too damn gay. They each get a boyfriend catch on the other. They both do fairly reckless things when the other is in trouble. They are the secret hidden happy ending to the series. They share the kind of ride-or-die relationship built on mutually being the hugest bitches in any given room. Whether or not you think this is romance, it is extremely romantic, and the series agrees as much as it can, all things considered.

And if none of those flavors of love float your boat? Well, have you considered ... eunuchs?

3. She likes e4e

So I'm on record as being real into eunuch characters, right? Well, if you're with me on that, you are in for a treat here, because these are some absolutely buck-wild eunuchs.

There's five main ones, and I can't even begin to scratch the surface of what's going there. Like, really, I don't even think I understood all of what was happening with them. They're kind of the bad guys, but then they're kind of the good guys, but then some of them are the bad guys, but then they're just working for the bad guys, but then they screw over the bad guys, and ... it's just a lot, okay? It's a lot, and it's all happening with this bunch of catty bitches.

Also, you would not believe the difficult time I had finding any images for this section. I guess for some reason, fandom isn't way into a bunch of canonically dickless color-coordinated middle-aged men in weird hats? Whatever, man, they are missing out. If, however, you have the good sense to be into the intense and complicated (semi-romantic??) relationships among colleagues who also professionally just happen to be missing their external genitalia, buddy, strap in (and maybe strap on, depending).

Don't let me oversell how much these guys are in the show. They're not. They're vaguely important at points throughout, and they become incredibly important near the end, but they're hardly main characters. They're mostly back at the palace, doing their various schemes and looking absolutely fantastic.

So if they're such a minor part of the story, why do they get their own selling point? Well, I think their presence is a good example of two specific things about the show:

Specific thing the first: It's so queer -- not gay, but queer. Thinking back to my last selling point, you will notice how many of those straight pairings may look normie on the outside, but once you get down to it are not playing by cishet rules. (For instance, I've seen a lot of people read Tang Lian's resistance to sexual advances as asexuality, which, sure!) Likewise, there are lots of incredibly important, intimate relationships that don't conform to standard romantic pair dynamics. Add to that a lot of bodies with unusual characteristics and conditions, and you've got the makings of plenty of delightful non-normative love stories.

Specific thing the second: There are so many things going on with so many side characters that there's a kink here for everyone. Don't care for eunuchs? How about slinky villains with mind-control powers? Devoted servants who would do anything for their masters? Former bad guys who owe life-debts to the good guys who saved them? Bonded pairs traipsing around the jianghu together? Sons nursing legitimate grudges against the men who killed their fathers? Alcoholic widowers with incredibly slutty necklines? Mysterious cross-dressers with unconvincing moustaches? Vengeful brides? Martial siblings? Murderous royals? Guilt-ridden half-siblings? Boring star-crossed lovers? All these and more! It's a smorgasbord of rarepair fuel!

Also, I just love these toxic drama queens. It's like if RuPaul's Drag Race had the authority to have you executed.

4. The most intriguing outfits I've ever seen in anything (and yes, I'm including Winter Begonia)

Time for a fashion show!

The asymmetrical fits, the detailed embroidery on everything, the brilliant colors -- everybody just looks so good. And yet everything still looks ... eh, I don't know if "practical" is the word I want, but at least wearable. Nobody's dragging ten-foot trains of fabric behind them or wrapped in eighty floofy layers of gauze (except Rui, but she's special). Their outfits are strange and elaborate, but they don't defy physics.

What's truly stunning is how often they get new outfits. Xiao Se alone changes clothes about once every other episode, and more if he's getting a flashback. He is the fashion plate of the whole series, and every look he serves is pitch-perfect.

They're not outright color-coded, but the main characters do have certain colors associated with them -- which is extra-fun when you watch those colors bleeding into their friends' clothes as their relationships get stronger. I also think -- and I'm willing to be proven wrong on this point, but I think I'm right -- that they recycle some characters' outfits into parts of other characters' outfits. On more than one occasion, I'd swear that Lei Wujie shows up wearing the left half of something Xiao Se was wearing a few episodes back (tailored to fit him, of course, because that dumb ponytail boy is tall).

Where I think the costume design gets massive points, though, is that the costumes are themselves adaptations.

Before the live-action series, there was a 2018 3D animated donghua. I have never watched the latter, but apparently the drama is intensely faithful to the animated visuals, to the point where some fights are shot-for-shot remakes.

Of course, you can do a lot more with unreal clothing and bodies in animation -- and you can show a lot more skin, at least according to Chinese content laws. The live-action costumers chose to preserve about as many of the appearance beats from the donghua as they could manage, while still accepting the limitations of real-life bodies and materials. You can see some side-by-side comparisons here. The live-action outfits manage to be instantly recognizable without being slavishly devoted recreating to their inspirations.

So if you're sick and tired of dreary, ill-lit shows with bland palettes, this vibrant, colorful drama may be just the thing for you. It's a rainbow from start to finish.

5. Actually a good central plot?

Despite all the wacky delightful shounen nonsense that this show has -- and it has a lot -- the core of the whole narrative, which is Xiao Se's story, is surprisingly great and cohesive.

The short version is this: Xiao Se used to be Xiao Chuhe, sixth prince and somewhat heir apparent. Then he and his jerk-ass dad had a falling-out that resulted in the prince's having his martial arts abilities all but taken from him. He's been living the life of a very well-dressed innkeeper for several years, trying to avoid all of that palace garbage. But now his jerk-ass dad is dying, which means that a lot of horrible decisions are finally having unfortunate consequences for everyone, and Xiao Se's got to get back in there to make sure everything does not go to shit and land someone terrible on the throne -- even if it has to mean taking it himself.

His central conflict is between what he used to be and what he's become. Does he miss being Xiao Chuhe, high-ranked martial artist and future emperor? Or is he happier being Xiao Se, long-suffering nobody who can barely run a business, much less hold his own in a fight? What would he be willing to do to get back what he's lost? What are his obligations to himself versus his obligations to everyone else? How much is he responsible for his father's bullshit? And why has he wound up having to babysit this stupid Fire Puppy?

It's okay, they're best friends now. Lei Wujie decided.

No spoilers, but I liked Xiao Se's ending a lot. I feel it's very true to the character and shows a real understanding of who he is and what he values. And really, at the end of the day, sometimes all you need for a happy ending is your girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend, your girlfriend's girlfriend's boyfriend who's also your boyfriend, your other boyfriend, his girlfriend, and your long-distance for-real soulmate.

Feel like giving the youths a try?

You can find them on YouTube or on Viki. But be absolutely sure that no matter where you watch it, you make sure to go watch the epilogue as well. (And if you get real into the story, well, here's a link to information about all the other adaptations.)

You are also welcome for how I did not spend this post going off for five hundred years on how much I love Wuxin and his funky relationship to Buddhism. I figured that's way too niche of a selling point for most people, and might indeed have even been counterproductive. But know that I could have.

Also, I'm very happy about the announcement of a second season, because that's going to mean Liu Xueyi has to shave his head again, and he looks unbearably good with a shaved head.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the whole motorcycle photoshoot?

In case you hadn't noticed, the whole cast is stupidly hot. Hachi machi.

The Five Eunuchs

Behind the scenes photos of the Five Eunuchs 🍠

I’m going to make a compilation video of the Five Eunuchs’ behind the scenes shenanigans at some point, but for now, enjoy the sword one! 🗡️

I do find it amusing that at least 3/5ths of the Five Eunuch’s actors got ghostly or undead lipstick in other roles (twice in Yang Chaoran’s case, since he’s Happy Ghost and… grumpy ghost? Ah, I really need to watch A Group of Guiguzi). The middle two are even matching with dyed grey hair.

Almost forgot, there’s possibly a second one for Li Junxian. I think. Not sure about the context, but the makeup looks great

I had this silly idea when I was working on the Zhuo Xin piece. The formatting was a bit of a nightmare, but hopefully the end result is at least mildly amusing

Blood of Youth Eunuch Tree

I wasn’t sure whether Zang Ming is a eunuch, so I didn’t include him. There is a eunuch in the novel that has a similar role to him when traveling with Prince Bai, and I’m pretty sure Zang Ming in the show is an amalgamation of that eunuch and another character. So… fifty-fifty chance, I suppose.

As for Long Xie, I had figured that he was a eunuch before reading the novel, so I was seriously confused when I read that he had a mustache. However, it not only turned out to be a fake mustache, but also that he’s kinda secretly Jin Xuan’s student.

Also, I have no idea where he would fit on my tree, but if I remember correctly, the guy driving the freshly-exiled Xiao Se’s carriage is actually Xiao Se’s companion eunuch. He wasn’t given a name, at least that I could recall. Amusingly, Bo Yong wished to be Xiao Se’s new companion eunuch, but was kinda left hanging on an answer.

Zhuo Luo and Zhuo Sen are novel-only characters, directors of Records and Sword respectively. Given how Zhuo Xin is sort of in charge of them after Zhuo Qing died, I figured that perhaps Zhuo Xin is the second oldest.

It is mentioned in the novel that Jin Yu was the disciple of the previous eunuch of Records. I’m guessing that means both Zhuo Luo and Zhuo Qing are his masters, since he definitely calls Zhuo Qing shifu, and it also makes sense that he would receive specialized training from Zhuo Luo.

By that logic, Zhuo Sen might be one of Jin Wei’s masters, but I have less evidence of that.

The novel is weirdly silent about the Eunuch of Incense before Jin Xian. I wonder if he died early. The novel already makes a big point about how much responsibility Jin Xian has taken up (with even more duties than is typical for his position), so him having to take his role sooner than the rest would be consistent with that. The streaks of white in his hair could certainly be due to prolonged stress.

A mirror between eunuchs and ghosts

What do you think the other Eunuchs thoughts are on Jin Yan and Jin Wei's relationship?

A very interesting question! Thanks for asking! I have a few fairly speculative thoughts:

Jin Xian is probably not a fan of the occasions that Jin Yan and Jin Wei see eye to eye, but may be silently amused if he sees Jin Yan annoying Jin Wei instead of him.

On the one hand, Jin Yu is probably glad to see Jin Wei forming relationships outside of their main trio (Jin Xian & Jin Yu & Jin Wei), but likely views Jin Yan as a bad influence. For one thing, Jin Yu and Jin Yan serve different princes and thus are hardly allies despite both being part of the Five Eunuchs. For another, Jin Yu appears to very much be an idealist with a strong sense of morality that would lead him to categorize Jin Yan closer to villain than gentleman.

Figuring out Jin Xuan is a bit more complicated. He is shown to make efforts to call Jin Yan out and isolate him from the other eunuchs, but the circumstances of Jin Yan having a different shifu already create a degree of separation from them. Jin Wei is a valuable ally, however, and Jin Xuan can likely see some advantage in having Jin Yan whispering in his ear. At the same time… Jin Xuan’s allegiance is extremely ambiguous. I personally think his main loyalty is to the Emperor, but he doesn’t want to put his whole heart into one basket. Control is important to him, perhaps even more so than the affection he holds for His Majesty. Jin Yan being less isolated may make him more difficult to control, but him having a connection to Jin Wei makes Jin Wei easier for Jin Xuan to direct. It’s a trade-off, and Jin Xuan would have to decide whether to put his hand in their relationship or snuff it out.

Hello! From what I see in your blog, you're very knowledgeable about the Eunuchs in TBOY and Dashing Youth. I'm having problem to identify who's who so I'm just wondering if you have a guide of their names, position, motives, appearance and short backstory? An appearance guide with DY and TBOY actors comparison will be very helpful. At first I thought Zhuoqing of DY is the same guy in the TBOY who also has white hair that keep helping the red prince but I'm afraid they are different people. I hope this is not too much to ask because I genuinely want to know about them but I always ended up confusing myself more. Have a nice day.

Hello, thanks for the ask! 😺 It always makes me happy to see people being curious about the Five Eunuchs! If you want to know more about them, you’ve definitely come to the right place! I’ll probably make a more comprehensive guide at some point, but I can offer a good bit of information here.

The Blood of Youth Eunuch Tree

To start with, here’s a guide to the Blood of Youth eunuchs and how they’re related. I explain more about it in this post: https://www.tumblr.com/feng-huli/753083060426293248/blood-of-youth-eunuch-tree

Now, for Dashing Youth, I’m afraid that I have less to offer, as not all of the eunuchs have appeared yet. Still, I can show the ones who have.

Zhuo Qing

First, we have Grand Eunuch Zhuo Qing. He is the shifu of the Blood of Youth’s Five Eunuchs (except for Jin Yan, who was taught by Zhuo Xin). He serves Emperor Tai’an and is fated to guard the Imperial Mausoleum when he dies. Needless to say, Zhuo Qing is far from pleased by such prospects and is fighting to change the future that has been written for him.

Jin Xuan

Next is Jin Xuan, who succeeds his role as Director of the Five Eunuchs. Growing up, he was the study partner of Xiao Ruojin (also known as Prince Jingyu, Emperor Mingde), and now serves as his most trusted companion and bodyguard, among other roles.

Jin Xian (Jade Deity, Shen Jingzhou)

Jin Xian is known as the Eunuch of Incense in Tianqi and Shen Jingzhou of the Blizzard Sword outside it.

Other

There’s also Eunuch Li (pictured left) and Eunuch Cheng (pictured right). Less is currently known about them, as they aren’t in The Blood of Youth.

The Blood of Youth Loyalties

Finally, for now, there is the matter of loyalties. The eunuchs are honestly some of the most complex characters in the Blood of Youth, and this chart merely touches on the alliances between the eunuchs and the royals. Jin Wei has assisted all of the princes, but I believe his devotion is to his shifu above all else. Meanwhile, Jin Xuan is… ambiguous. Even if his greatest affection is for his emperor, he is reluctant to put his whole heart into one person or cause.

I hope this was helpful!

Like master, like student

The finale has left me with even more questions 😹 Dashing Youth’s Jin Wei is wearing the Blood of Youth’s Jin Yu’s clothes, and Jin Yu has a cool new outfit (and he’s played by an entirely different person than was listed on the cast list—what happened there?)

It’s interesting to see that Jin Xuan and Jin Yan swapped clothes between the shows, rather than Jin Yan merely stealing Jin Xuan’s.

Yes, many questions, but I’m definitely happy to see the five of them together again! 🍠 Here’s to hoping the Dark River show will give some hints or answers to the mystery of the Five Eunuchs’ switched clothing!

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.

Dance party of the Five Eunuchs! 🍠

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?

Perhaps I can convince you to work at Ghost Valley. Ignore those rumors of our boss eating his predecessor. He actually *checks notes* never mind. What I will say is that lately he has been leaving us to ourselves. None of that micromanagement silliness, and he—oh, he’s strangling one of our employees.

Moving on, we do have excellent management. Wuchang Gui always makes sure he and his subordinates are the best-dressed in the workplace. He may involve you in his personal projects, but I hear they’re excellent for team-building and don’t at all carry the risk of being poisoned and controlled by a rival company. Tragicomic Ghost looks out for the well-being of our female staff and throws parties with fun entertainment like watching people fight to the death.

As far as coworkers go, I would suggest befriending Happy Ghost. He’ll laugh loudly at your jokes and always has the best gossip. He has a bit of a temper, though, so watch out for his scissors.

Man-Eater Ghost? You’re wondering if he eats people? Here at Ghost Valley, as long as you don't eat your coworkers, we don't really care about your eating habits. It's hard enough to hire people as it is...

Cannibalism is a deal-breaker? (Thank goodness, I won’t have to explain the memory loss requirement). Well, there is an open position at the Palace in Tianqi. The boss is a bit of a tiger, but as long as you're not his brother you're probably fine. Just don't do anything silly like treason.

As for supervisors, there are five of them. The head supervisor knows everything that happens at the palace, and I mean everything. I heard that an ant once trespassed the breakroom, and he crushed it before it ate a single crumb. Don't go anywhere you're not supposed to, or that will be you.

There is, shall I say, a lot of faction conflict in the workplace. Many of the supervisors support opposing princes and will advocate for their interests, even if that means, well, treason (which, I repeat, is not recommended). Even the one that claims to be neutral has a favorite prince, and the one that actually acts the most neutral is following the wishes of the previous head supervisor. Yes, Zhuo Qing, known as one of the Four Great Evils in this world. Yes, I know the rumors about his ability to fragment the heart and dissolve the bones. Don't worry about such things. Even if the Art of Detachment was capable of that, it's not like any of his students secretly mastered it and would use it to kill one of their own.

Anyways, how do you feel about not having balls?

Hi, welcome to your first day at [X]! A schedule you say? Well, we try not to make one, becuase it'll always end up overturned.

Management? Sure they exist, but maybe you shouldn't spend too much time with them lest you become collatoral damage and/or they remember your name and you get caught up in the Plot.

Our retirement plan IS very generous, you're right. What's that? How many people have retired and been able to claim it?

...hahaha, what a good question. Let's continue the tour, here to our right is the cafeteria-

Hopefully everyone here gets well compensated for their work (Doubt(tm)).

Write-ins, propaganda, and images are welcome!

Jin Xuan vs. Jin Yan ⚔️

The Purple Potato Meeting 🍠: Details You May Have Missed

I love this scene immensely, and it’s so fun observing the reactions of all the eunuchs throughout it. Here’s a few moments I thought were interesting!

This gif is slowed down a bit, but Jin Yan’s face goes through at least three different emotions in as many seconds. I adore how he sneaks in a quick smile for Jin Xian before giving Jin Xuan a dramatic tantrum.

I’ll never get over the way Jin Wei whips his head away as soon as Jin Yan approaches Jin Xuan. Perhaps he’s seen things that he can’t unsee 😼

Jin Yan’s little finger twitch is adorable, and it’s incredibly interesting seeing him return to his full height after practically bending over at a 45-degree angle to grovel to Jin Xuan.

There’s something so sassy about the way Jin Yan says that he wouldn’t dare, and his exaggerated movements contrast wonderfully with the more subdued way the other eunuchs lower their heads.

A few more moments below:

Jin Wei going from glowering at Jin Yan to giving Jin Xuan his attention.

I love the way Jin Yan looks at Jin Xuan, and his smile is so soft.

Jin Wei’s quick glance at Jin Yan before putting his full focus on Jin Xuan. The possible relief of Jin Xian now that they’re leaving.

idk whats funnier. jinwei looking away or jinyu staring at the camera

help.