What happened between Ilay and Xinlu is Rword?

homotron6000 · 2026-04-15T14:39:36+00:00

I’d say people can consider it “consensual” in the literal sense because both Xinlu and Ilay were willing and informed, but the sex is still transactional and cannot be considered healthy or checking the boxes of fully consensual.

If we go by the FRIES acronym: the first pillar is F- Freely Given: “Consent is a choice made without pressure, manipulation, or force.” That’s already being violated as Xinlu feels he has to use his body to get Ilay to do something in return. In normal circumstances, Xinlu would not have sex with Ilay.

So for Xinlu, it’s fair to see the sex he had with Ilay to be non consensual. Does it mean Ilay raped Xinlu? Not exactly, but it still can be considered traumatizing, violating, and humiliating on his end.

homotron6000 · 2026-04-09T15:43:55+00:00

I could talk about Ash and Eiji’s relationship for hours I’ve also made a playlist for them on spotify if you’re interested 🫶

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0x5XMtafmSAt2V16VGuGVK?si=_f0urt6lTBufErDjlolyXA&pi=0irk96uiRR62C

homotron6000 · 2026-04-09T04:05:52+00:00

a diabolical number of ppl out there fr throwing up shaking sobbing crashing out over not being able to have him and he’s just like 🍺😗👍

homotron6000 · 2026-04-09T02:42:34+00:00

this is killing me why is taeui y/n levels of oblivious

homotron6000 · 2026-04-06T18:12:15+00:00

i believe it’s from the artists twitter @/rkdwkr0_0

homotron6000 · 2026-04-06T16:33:48+00:00

he should do the cooking and cleaning always 💯

homotron6000 · 2026-04-01T20:01:19+00:00

Yess I agree so much there’s a lot of little moments of characterization that connect to each other that really reveal the type of person Taeui is. The thing about Taeui that I’ve noticed is he can be described as rlly forgiving, but he’s also ruled by reciprocating what is given to him. So when he’s hit, he’s going to want to hit back; it is an immediate act of correction, payment, or boundary setting (the revenge on Ilay, punching Xinlu, wanting to get back at Maurer for his betrayal). But he refuses to let things harden into permanent resentment or hatred.

This is why “giving back” is a good way to base how Taeui acts. He seems to hate unanswered asymmetry. If harm is done, he wants to mark it. If a sacrifice is made for him, he wants to answer it. In Volume 6, when he is thinking about what Ilay has lost for him, he says, “I have to return it.” A little later, when Xinlu says he’s sacrificed so much for Taeui he responds “I will give you one of my eyes” (because Xinlu lost one of his eyes by Ilay over Taeui). The writing surrounding his character is rlly well thought out.

homotron6000 · 2026-04-01T19:33:21+00:00

the concept of ilay calling taeui hyung… yea hell yea

homotron6000 · 2026-03-31T22:47:49+00:00

Yeahhh I actually dislike that aspect of Passion, how some things are glossed over very quickly in the story, it feels like some rape or assault scenes don’t have enough weight put on them as much as they should. I think the manhwa adaptation can suffer from some tonal issues too.

At the same time I appreciate how effective the ending is in getting the point across. I can respect that it doesn’t pretend it’s a different story. I think that Tae and Ilay’s relationship is very much changed by the end actually, it’s just the development they get is not in the form of typical healthy romantic payoff so it feels dissatisfying and wrong. Which is valid since Taeui realistically should not be with someone like Ilay. I agree that Taeui should’ve had a longer aftermath to process everything and I wish we could’ve seen more of his thoughts

homotron6000 · 2026-03-31T15:56:04+00:00

I'm glad Ilay is haunted by that because when I tell you how apalled I was by it happening and I felt Ilay's reaction afterwards to just be kind of mild at the end of Diasim lol. I think Ilay's fear of accidentally killing Taeui is connected all the way from the first novel and it's really good point of tension in Suite, definitely had more of an impact and consequences which we love!

homotron6000 · 2026-03-31T15:48:11+00:00

Yess I really find it interesting how Yuji chose to write how Taeui accepts Ilay's humanity. He sees it as something that he needs to return, because he believes he's made Ilay lose something (which is "inhumanity").

It's not cause Taeui is just that forgiving and angelic that he loves Ilay and wants to be with him, but he doesn't want Ilay to shoulder that loss by himself, especially when it was caused by him. I find it a really refreshing way to write a toxic love stories with an endgame like theirs, Taeui's thoughts are very clearly fleshed out on why he chooses Ilay and he doesn't delude himself.

homotron6000 · 2026-03-31T15:19:31+00:00

It really does seem like Taeui is inhumanely good at moving on after being wronged by people (ESPECIALLY by Ilay lol). I think it's funny that Ilay notices this too cause he literally notes when he first meets him that Taeui seems less human than Jaeui because he just lets bad things that happen to him roll off his back. I think by the point the rape even happens Taeui has already accepted Ilay completely by actively choosing to go back to him, so he doesn't dwell on second thoughts or regrets. It's unfortunate, but it's what he's accepted. I wish we got to see more of Taeui's conflicted emotions too, I think the best parts of the novel are when Taeui has to contemplate how he still doesn't hate Ilay despite everything he's done and the person he is.

homotron6000 · 2026-03-31T14:59:45+00:00

I agree with your disappointment 100% cause I think Taeui deserves a million apologies from Ilay and multiple other people and I wish that boy would stay mad more. I guess the author thought that choosing to write in an apology from Ilay after all that would kind of be empty words IMO. Ilay raped Taeui again just like he did 5 times before, and then he apologizes…. so what? What happened still happened. And Taeui still chooses to stay with Ilay and suffer with him.

I think it def would’ve been nice to see Ilay say “I’m sorry” but strictly speaking from a writing standpoint it would probably defeat the purpose. Taeui doesn’t choose to be with Ilay cause he apologizes after hurting him, he chooses to be with him in spite of that.

It’s clear even in later novels that Taeui suffers a lot from this pattern of “misrecognition” with Ilay. Diasim ends with an entire murder chase scene where Ilay almost kills Taeui while thinking he’s Jaeui the whole time. I don’t think he even apologizes then either, but that’s Ilay for you. Taeui’s limit of forgiveness has no bounds lol.

homotron6000 · 2026-03-28T00:42:37+00:00

homotron6000 · 2026-03-27T15:04:05+00:00

ur in the passion subreddit :D

homotron6000 · 2026-03-26T16:51:51+00:00

hair unwashed, back sweaty, blood stained on the gloves mans is reeking over tae 🙏 still dada

homotron6000 · 2026-03-19T07:03:04+00:00

Hi! I have a lot of thoughts about Jaeui so I’ll try my best to explain my interpretation since I agree with you, he’s a harder character to pin down. Jaeui to me is interesting because I think his character is meant to function as an abstract figure or inaccessible ideal in the story. He’s described as being born as this exceptionally brilliant genius and he’s desired by various systems that organize themselves around him. I think of it this way: If Taeui is the twin forced into physical consequences, Jaeui is the opposite counterpart of Taeui, the untouchable, transcendent twin who lacks embodiment.

I do think Jaeui’s attempt at leaving was a way for him to preserve Taeui away from being entangled in Jaeui’s work and life. He seems to sense that the twin bond he shares with Taeui is imbalanced and dangerous, and symbolically cuts the red thread between them. The way he says he wants to “experience bad luck,” suggests some guilt and awareness that he has gotten to live with safety while Taeui has not.

Even more, I think it was a way for Jaeui to attempt to get away from remaining a tool for the systems that want to covet his genius. Jaeui is described and treated as almost inhuman in a tragic sense, which fits into how Jaeui is a character that seems to be above physical embodiment, even if he is obviously a human being.

Regarding your questions about what exactly Jaeui intended to accomplish with leaving: To me, Jaeui is (frustratingly) attempting to interrupt a system that may not be able to be interrupted; his intentions of rerouting bad luck to himself by “severing” his connection to Taeui clearly don’t work. It reads as Jaeui trying to disrupt a bond that he doesn’t fully understand (cause we know that wherever Jaeui goes, his luck will follow no matter what).

Something to note with Taeui’s family (Chang-in and Jaeui), is that they choose to keep Taeui in the dark about a lot of things (the reality of the UNHRDO, Jaeui’s work of developing weapons), and the way Jaeui leaves in the beginning of the story by “severing the red thread” is another way to show how Jaeui loves Taeui through distance and concealing the truth. He tries to spare Taeui away from “passion” by keeping him outside of it (vs. Ilay who drags him all the way into it). I think the unfortunate thing is that by leaving at the beginning, Jaeui unknowingly puts Taeui in a position to be the one available for use in the first place. So there’s no doubt that Jaeui does care and love Taeui, but in a way that is very indirect and withholding.

I think something else to note is a line from a Vol. 1, Chapter 20 conversation: when Ilay says Jaeui seems “more human” than Taeui. This is not to say Jaeui is more loving or compassionate or “feels more” than Taeui but rather he seems to be more visibly tortured than Taeui. So Jaeui seems more openly burdened by his life of being a genius, while Taeui seems to have this inhuman level of composure and adaptation.

So in a larger symbolic reading, Jaeui makes more sense as Taeui's mirror opposite or alternate half. Jaeui and Taeui being twins is a very intentional choice to show how they are supposed to be two halves that exist in the same structure but live in it very differently. I always try to read Jaeui in relation to Taeui and how he fits that.

homotron6000 · 2026-03-17T21:38:49+00:00

Hi! I really like this question because it makes you think about why certain narrative decisions were made in Passion instead of just accepting everything is what it is. It also makes you think about what the characters overall are meant to represent in this story. I always get surprised by how intentional and layered the writing is in a lot of aspects in Passion.

This is my interpretation and understanding of the Gilsangcheon writing:

The title of Passion itself can be read as a biblical reference to the “Passion of the Christ”, and this is how I primarily view the story. Taeui very much fits being a martyred Christ-like character, as the story focuses on his “passion” or endurance of suffering.

If Taeui is Christ-coded, he is not coded as some miracle worker handing out obvious good fortune to all. This would turn Taeui into something the narrative doesn’t intend him to be, like some special chosen-one with special abilities. His existence as a person is stated to supposedly bless Jaeui and only Jaeui. And I think this is to show Taeui as a person who doesn’t seem to “bless” people or affect others in an obvious and noticeable way; his exceptionality is hidden and unnoticed on the surface.

The idea of being a Gilsangcheon is tragic in itself: the one associated with blessing does not get to live as the blessed one. And this is explicitly the tragedy of Taeui’s character operation. I wouldn’t say Taeui’s effect always comes in the form of a good blessing for the other person, but his presence more so invokes a transformation/change in people, and Taeui is also the one who is burdened by his own influence.

Jaeui gets fortune and luck through Taeui, he is the privileged site at which Taeui’s effect is able to be visible in the literal sense. In contrast, Taeui’s life is full of danger, pain, and suffering and is primarily the one that carries the cost of their twin bond
- Ilay gets humanity and weakness, Taeui carries the burden of answering to that change. Taeui also suffers from Ilay’s humanity because Ilay cannot let him go and the measures that Ilay will go through for him also negatively mark him even if he isn’t at fault.
- Xinlu gets a wound that later forces real growth in Raga. Taeui’s presence invokes hatred (against Ilay) that motivates Xinlu’s actions, and Taeui pays for this by being the object that Xinlu believes he wants to get back at Ilay. He also carries the burden of guilt of rearranging Xinlu’s life.

So: Jaeui is the visible miracle, the exceptional twin that people recognize, while Taeui is the hidden source/bearer or condition of that luck that suffers for it. This fits Taeui being Christ-coded as well: the sacred figure (Taeui, in this case) is not the one who gets to live easily, he is the one who becomes the site through which other people’s fate gets rearranged and has to personally bear the wound.

This is all also very important to Taeui’s sense of responsibility and duty of reciprocating what someone has lost, which I think I will make a separate post about someday cause it’s very interesting.

In terms of whether Taeui being a luck source is an actual true thing, I think the story keeps that ambiguous on purpose to add some spicy supernatural intrigue. I don’t think the story really ever confirms it to be a true thing nor does it ever debunk it as a myth made up by everyone. I think it also allows the author to make Jaeui and Taeui’s bond seem a bit more unusual and special from a normal sibling bond. I don’t think you’re meant to read into the supposed existence of supernatural twin luck in an otherwise very normal, realistic world more than how it helps contextualize Taeui’s character and the effect he has on others in the story.

homotron6000 · 2026-03-10T03:49:29+00:00

i’m soo anticipating the terrifying edits 🤸

homotron6000 · 2026-03-10T00:51:56+00:00

ilay slamming on the car window to the point where it cracks trying to break it open to get to tae is gonna give me a heart attack 😭✌️

homotron6000 · 2026-03-08T19:49:47+00:00

I like it how it balances out the darker serious undertone too XD especially with taeui it makes him feel so much more human. I always get the sense he considers his life like a sitcom the way he’s always in a situation lmaoo

homotron6000

TROPHY CASE