#the more i look at them the more i feel like jinghua actually looks like chinhua 😳🤯🤯 its the philtrum im telling you 😂

[xinyuehui]

Like mother, like son 🙄

[3m0t10nal-cr1s1s]

Very curious about what the Mu third gen personalities are like, there designs are very cute and pretty

Hiii thanks for the question!! I worked really hard on their designs and colors so I'm really glad you like them! Personality ramble under the cut cause it's quite long. Also, spoilers ahead for the FMC storyline.

From oldest to youngest:

Mu Beiyan: In my mind, a lot of pressure has been put on Beiyan ever since he was a kid, and even more so after he became the crown prince. He feels obligated to succeed, not only for his parents and family, but for the empire as well, so he always tries to finish his assignments and solve problems as effectively and efficiently as possible. As his father would have.

Even though, deep in his heart, he doesn't want to be emperor and wants to go back to those days of playing with Lingxi and flying kites, he knows that those days are over, and he needs to grow up if he's going to inherit the throne. He's still playful and a bit childish buried deep underneath the more responsible, serious, and often sleep deprived exterior. Even though he's been praised from every direction, Beiyan still feels inadequate and feels that other officials and even Xiurong would make a better emperor than he would.

Mu Lingxi: Lingxi's Doukou redesign is what kickstarted this whole thing. I imagine she's more refined and more confident than she was as a child. A true lady that her mom would be proud of. She greatly respects Ling Ruo and Xu Rongyuan and is often torn inbetween becoming a female official and being a physician.

She still loves tanghulu and bunnies and is kind and cheerful and still a bit of a cry baby. She also misses the days when she was a child and things were simpler, but she also understands that she has grown a lot. Mostly, she misses Beiyan. He's grown so busy that they can't see each other as often as they once did. She often tries to have tea parties with he cousins but the only ones who show up consistently are Jinghua, Jingfei and Hualing.

Mu Jinghua: Jinghua is the oldest of the two twins, mostly referred to as A-hua by her mother and brother. She comes off as mean-spirited and haughty at first, using her appearance as a leverage and generally acting above many of the nobles, but it's all an act she puts on as she's wary of other palace folk. Her branch of the family is looked down upon because of the stunts her father tried to pull to take the throne.

If you get to know her, she's actually kind and clumsy. The definition of sweet, if a bit gloomy. She feels that she's stifled as a noble lady and wants to do more with her life, but she's scared of change and wonders if anyone will accept her, even if she's the daughter of Mu Lingfeng. She wants to be something, anything, other than his daughter.

Mu Jingfei: Jingfei is the younger of the two twins, mostly referred to as A-fei by his mother and sister. Jingfei doesn't put on the same mean exterior Jinghua does. He mostly spends his time at the Ginkgo institution, being mentored by Xiao Qian and Xu Rongyuan so he's not around nobles as often as his sister is. Most people coming in don't care about his parentage and just wants to be treated.

He's a giant sap and always wants the best for his patients. He often worries about them long after his shift had ended. He's definitely more sensitive than Jinghua. Even still, he resents his father greatly and refuses to address him as 'father' at all. He's seen how the burden of the throne weighs on Beiyan and questions if that was what Mu Lingfeng wanted, and if he had successfully taken the throne, would Jingfei be put in Beiyan's position? Would Jinghua be in Lingxi's?

Mu Xiurong: From a young age, Xiurong has been taught by her mother how to think critically, get out of messy situations with her words and deal with court affairs and drama. At the same time, she was being taught by her father on how to ride a horse, wield a weapon and how to defend herself. For these reasons, she's always kept to herself and put on a blank face to prevent people from predicting her next move, whether that be mental or physical. She wants to make both her parents proud, even if she's young.

She's very loving and worries about her younger brother and Beiyan often. Since she's aiming to become a court official like her mother, she's often the one by Beiyan's side during the day and deal with situations with him. Xiurong doesn't like to think of the relationship between her and her brother as a rivalry, but occasionally will give Renshu a reason to keep trying to surpass her in skill, just because it's funny. She actually can't participate in much strenuous activity since she has a bad leg.

Mu Renshu: Growing up, Renshu was given all of the same opportunities as his older sister was, but whenever his mother taught him he quickly became bored and would want to go outside to train. That quickly changed when his mother mentioned something about Xiurong being easier to teach for both her and Lingchuan and suddenly, Renshu was determined to surpass his sister in something. Even though they have a three year age difference and he'll have a lot of catching up to do.

He's stubborn and unrelenting, if a bit childish and immature. Even though he knows he wields a sword better than Xiurong, it doesn't change the fact that she can ride horses better and has better handwriting. His one sided rivalry is mostly in good fun, but sometimes, he does get discouraged that Xiurong is looked upon more favorably than he is. Still, he worries about her and often asks how her health is.

Mu Hualing: Hualing was adopted by Xu Rongyuan in an impulse decision. A patient of his had died in childbirth and her family was unwilling to take the baby, since it was illegitimate. Rongyuan and Linghao is trying to raise Hualing the best they can, asn she loves them, and recognizes them as her dads. She's unaware of her actual parentage but she knows she's adopted.

Hualing, or 'Lingling' (as in the sound of a bell) as nicknamed by her family, often follows her cousins around if she's not in school or doing homework. If she's following her cousins around, it often means she's avoiding school work. She curious and inquisitive with a love of Osmanthus cake and anything that could be made into a percussion instrument. She finds Jinghua quite fascinating, copying hairstyles in an attempt to be close to her. Jinghua things it's adorable.

Also these alignment charts I made because I thought it'd be funny

[dainarps]

Of course, out of all the people at the party, it was Chongbai Jun who approached them first. It couldn’t have been someone from some nice, peaceful sector. No, it had to be Chongbai, who’d had eyes on his sect since it’s demise. Daidouji had gotten their first, and had given him a more than generous offer, and so joining up with whatever the hell kind of conquest Chongbai was planning was thwarted once he hit Jinghua-Jiantou and the sects that stood with it. Still, he had no problems coming over to discuss just how much of a failure he was.

Kurogane didn’t care what people thought — that was the honest truth. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t start a fight with someone who thought he had a right to talk to him like that. He folded his arms over his chest and stared levelly at Chongbai, who seemed less interest in who Yuui was, and more interested in dragging his name through the mud.

As if everyone here didn’t already think something about him — a curse, a harbinger of death.

Yuui beat him to the punch, though, delivering a blow that even Chongbai didn’t expect. The look on his face was enough for Kurogane to quickly transform his own from shock to smugness. He had no idea where this had been going originally, but seeing Chongbai nearly shit his pants brought an endless amount of delight to him.

“It’s true,” a voice said from the entryway. Tomoyo had arrived, donning her purple hues, an ornate crown, and being escorted by a woman dressed as a bodyguard. Highly unlikely that was the case, but Kurogane said nothing.

“Sweet Kurogane sent me a letter months ago, seeking my blessing in place of that of his parents. Of course I gave it! And I got to witness the actual proposal tonight. Kurogane had wanted his love to have something special to wear on such a wonderful night, so he had to wait until I arrived with this charming outfit.” She greeted Fay with a smile and a warm squeeze of the hand, completing the picture of an overly please mother.

Then, she turned her attention to Chongbai.

“Your outfit is, as usual, something else, Lord Chongbai. The color combinations are such interesting choices!”

The woman on her arm poorly disguised a laugh as a cough, and Kurogane’s smirk grew even wider. He pulled his arm from Yuui’s and instead draped it around his shoulders, keeping him close.

“Was gonna have Lord Doumeki announce it later in the evening, but thanks for ruining that,” Kurogane said, turning and giving Yuui an apologetic look, before looking back to Chongbai.

“Hope you don’t cause a scene like that at the wedding — not a good look to come off as an idiot twice. Speaking of weddings, though, you found yourself a cultivation partner yet? If someone as...what did you say again? As cruel, murderous, rude and unstable as myself can find someone, you must’ve by now.”

Watanuki could feel the tension from where he sat beside Shizuka, yet he did nothing to stop it. He instead leaned over Shizuka to get a better view, and watched as one of the most powerful men in the room got ripped to shreds by a runaway bride, a disgraced sect leader, and a powerful cutsleeve arm in arm with her lover.

An AU inside an AU

[marhvee]

Soul Contract Event Q&A Translation

Hi there, Soul Contract fandom! I’ve been lurking around here for a while and I’ve seen such great energy and passion, so I wanted to contribute to this tiny but lovely fandom myself by offering a translation of the in-character Q&A section from the fan event! I don’t think I’ve seen this particular section of the event get translated, so I figured I’d try my best at it. (As for the other parts of the event, spideronthewindow did a spectacular job subbing them previously -- thank you so much!)

The Q&A video is here if you’d like to follow along; translation is under the cut!

Note: Text in parentheses with a * is a note from me, since some parts were difficult for me to translate (I don’t know a lot of sophisticated Chinese vocabulary since I usually speak very colloquial Chinese with my family, so there are some words/phrases I’m not certain about). Also, this event appears to have taken place around when episode 18 aired, with episode 19 available via VIP access. (For those who don’t know, Lanling is Yang Jinghua’s VA and Mingyue is Duanmu Xi’s VA.)

Host: For our next segment, you will now get into character for Yang Jinghua and Duanmu Xi to answer some questions!

Lanling: Okay. (joking) So I’ll be Duanmu Xi and answer some questions. (audience laughing) Oh, and it looks like we have some emoticons (? *not sure what the word he used was but it’s in reference to the little masks/cutouts). (audience cheers)

Host: (to Lanling, handing him the Jinghua mask) Hold this one properly, alright?!

Lanling: Okay, okay. (audience laughing)

Host: (to Lanling) What are you so upset about?

Lanling: (*not entirely sure what he said here — something about not being able to see…?)

Host: There’s a small hole. (laughs as Lanling pokes at Jinghua’s ahoge, lol) Hey, it’ll break if you keep poking at it! Keep that straight!

Lanling: Okay, okay, okay.

Host: (to audience) You guys, come on! If we’re so serious and uptight, how are we going to ask them any questions? (to Lanling and Mingyue) Are you two ready?

(switching Lanling to Jinghua and Mingyue to Duanmu since they’re now essentially in character)

Jinghua: Ready!

Host: Your ages are?

Jinghua: 23!

Duanmu: 17. (audience laughs)

(*I’m not sure what the next question is, but Duanmu says something about always calling Jinghua “Yang Jinghua” while the audience protests that he calls him “Jinghua” sometimes too. Duanmu replies with “Rarely! Very rarely” while Jinghua scoffs at him, lol.)

Host: What were your first impressions of each other?

Jinghua: Korean oppa! Filming a drama — and a little crazy. (*both of them say something at the same time so I can’t catch what Jinghua says here) Likes to dye his hair. (audience laughs) But later I found out it really wasn’t dyed.

Duanmu: ….got hit by a car. (audience loses their shit)

Host: That really was very blunt…didn’t you see him before he got hit by a car?

Jinghua: He has a bad memory.

Host: Ah, so that’s how it is.

Host: If you were to describe each other as animals, what would they be?

Jinghua: Uh, oh my…(to Duanmu) what animal do you think you’d be?

Duanmu: You’re a monkey. (audience laughs)

Jinghua: Despite that Duanmu Xi is more seme than me, I think he resembles more of a…what’s it called…like a very sickly snow leopard.

Host: … ‘very sickly?’

Jinghua: Yeah, since he’s not expected to live much longer! (audience laughs)

Host: Ah! So that’s how it is…

Host: Then…were there any moments in which you thought the other was sexy? (audience oooohhhs at the BL potential)

Jinghua: I think he’s the sexiest when…he’s not there. (audience laughs)

Duanmu: When he transforms.

Host: He really is very sexy when he transforms…(*and something else I can’t quite catch)

Host: Hm, this next question is very good. How did you feel when the other performed the ‘kabedon’ on you? (*I believe ‘bi dong’ is the Chinese equivalent of the ‘kabedon,’ in which ‘bi’ means ‘wall’)

Jinghua: Ah, when I performed the ‘kabedon’ on him — (everyone laughs) — it was honestly a mistake. My foot slipped and I kabedon’d him. It really wasn’t a big deal.

Host: Then how about when you were kabedon’d by him?

Jinghua: Never! Did that ever happen?

Duanmu: He’s lying.

Host: I didn’t ask you if he was lying, I asked you how you felt when you were kabedon’d!

Duanmu: Never happened (*the kabedon, he means).

Host: This answer is indeed very blunt/succinct but isn’t really what we wanted.

Duanmu: Well, there was this one time where it was a ‘bed’-don. (audience loudly agreeing)

Host: Ah!

Jinghua: That time…it really was me…who pinned Duanmu Xi onto the bed. Oh my god — it really was me who did that!

Host: Yeah, that really was you!

Duanmu: Honestly, I didn’t really feel anything emotionally. Just…very untimely.

Jinghua: Hm. (glares at Duanmu)

Host: (to Duanmu) He gave you a look just now.

Host: At what moment were you happiest with each other?

Jinghua: Uhhhh…uh…him…I…you… (audience laughs at his stammering) This question is so hard!

Host: Were you happy when he fed you?

Jinghua: No…

Host: Oh, so that’s how it is.

Jinghua: He just…he just…this is so hard!

Host: You might pretend not to like him but there’s no way you don’t actually like him at all! You’re hiding a full-blown romance in there…

(*Not sure what they say here — some kind of disclaimer about the relationship between two men so probably something along the lines of bromance, lol)

Jinghua: Um, well, I guess I’m happiest when he’s not there to boss me around!

Duanmu: Well, there was one episode where Situ Lu chased us…and at that point I had lost most of my strength. I sent Jinghua away, but he ended up coming back to rescue me. (audience clapping because aww)

Host: At this point, Jinghua has answered every question except you still haven’t really told us when you were the happiest with Duanmu.

Jinghua: I gave an answer! Okay, fine — well, in the final episode…never mind, I can’t spoil it. Then it was just when he was covered in wounds and his body was coughing up blood — I mean, his mouth was coughing up blood —

Host: (laughing) His body was coughing up blood?

Jinghua: He was coughing up all that blood and yet he still tried to take back that hair tassel.

Host: Ah, yes, that was a very moving moment — I watched it.

Jinghua: You watched it already?!

Host: I watched all of it!

Jinghua: You watched all of it?!

Host: I have VIP access; I watched the 19th episode too! I bought the VIP access just for this.

Jinghua: Was — was I seme? (audience laughs)

Host: (fanning herself) It’s suddenly really hot weather, huh…with all these lovely suns in the room.

Host: Okay, then the next question is: typically, who is more finicky/difficult (*I’m not certain this is exactly what is said, but the context seems to point to something like this)?

Jinghua: (sighs) This question — Duanmu Xi.

Duanmu: (referring to Jinghua) Him.

Jinghua: Duanmu Xi.

Host: Continuing like this will get us nowhere…we all know who’s more difficult, right? So we really don’t even need to ask you guys this question!

Jinghua: To be really honest, Duanmu Xi really is the more difficult between us. Because if anything is on Yang Jinghua’s mind, he’ll say it out loud. If he doesn’t like you, then he doesn’t like you and he’ll annoy you. If he likes you, then he likes you. Duanmu Xi isn’t like that. (to audience) Right?

Host: They disagree.

Jinghua: Who disagrees?!

Host: That miss over there — she’s shaking her head the hardest, saying “that’s not right!” (to the girl disagreeing) Your hair was flying up in the air!

Jinghua: Who? Which row?

Host: The third row. The one next to the person holding up a phone, wearing glasses, now looking away — that girl.

Jinghua: I’ll remember you now. That guy (*referring to this girl’s boyfriend, maybe? not sure lol) isn’t bad. (audience laughs)

Host: Now, next question: what was the most touching phrase you’ve ever heard the other say to you?

Jinghua: ‘Let’s go home.’

Host: Yes, that was very touching indeed. (to Duanmu) He said, “Let’s go home.” What about for you?

Duanmu: ‘I will fight all of the enemies whom you can’t fight.’ (audience claps)

Host: There is a similar theme here…

Jinghua: My most seme phrase!

Host: (peering at Jinghua) I think I can see some sparkles and flowers in your eyes…

Jinghua: Uh, I didn’t sleep well!

Host: That phrase that Duanmu said on the car about going home was a really touching moment indeed.

Jinghua: Yeah, and then I…(stabbing motion)

Host: Mm. And then — (makes stabbing motion and sound effect) (audience laughs)

Host: Then, at this point, you have answered all of the questions we have. How do you feel now? You can take down those little masks now.

Mingyue: I’m so exhausted!

Lanling: It’s so hot! It’s so hot and tiring — well, actually, it wasn’t that bad since it’s not like I had to change much.

Mingyue: (SIGNATURE DORKY LAUGH) (audience laughs with him)

Lanling: It’s very painful to have him not laugh.

And that’s the end of this hilarious segment of the fan event! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did, lol.

One final note: I’m one of those unfortunate Chinese American kids who can only understand spoken Chinese and can barely read any Chinese, so I can’t offer much help in translating the manhua. orz;;; I can, however, help translate/summarize any of the other anime/voice actor events and behind-the-scenes stuff that involve spoken Chinese, so if people enjoy these kinds of things, I might translate those in the future too. If you happen to come across any of these videos and want a translation, feel free to shoot me an ask/let me know!

[yuukililith]

Okay, so I finished watching Ling Qi/Soul Contract last night and here are my thoughts.

I enjoyed it quite a bit! It was a very cute show and I enjoyed the characters a lot. It was my first Chinese animated show I’ve watched aside from short films, so I tried to keep an open mind animation wise. I liked the art style a lot and the effects work was really pleasant to look at!

The animation mistakes I did catch didn’t bother me that much, though that may be because my standards were a lot lower than usual as I’m not used to webtoons.

My main complaints are mostly related to pacing and lack of character development outside of Yang Jinghua and Duanmu Xi, though I have heard that a lot was cut due to the length of the series.

I wanted to see more of Qin Siyao, to be honest! I really like it when the ‘rival’ female character is more than just a cheerleader for the main character or a jealous manipulator. While she does have some jealous tendencies, I like how they actually play into the plot or is played for laughs. Also the fact that she plays LOL made me nearly fall on the floor laughing.

The antagonists really needed more build up, in my opinion. They fall a bit flat. I’d say more but my opinion on them is about as one note as they are.

Okay! Time to talk about the leads. Jinghua is hilarious and acts like a young adult man which is unfortunately rare in BL these days. I also enjoyed him not being a typical goody-goody and being kind of a brat.

Xi felt a bit flat in some respects and now that I’ve read the first few chapters it feels like they deliberately made him more of a stoic character, which I felt wasn’t necessary since he was already pretty closed of in the manhua.

As a couple, my only real complaints are that I think they need to communicate a bit more and, of course, the age gap. As far as BL goes, it’s not the worst age gap, and with Jinghua being dead it makes it more stomachable but I am rather uncomfortable with Jinghua looking like he’s 13 most of the time, plot reasons or not.

All in all, I give the series a 6.5/10. I do hope there’s more of it and that the fantranslation of the manhua continues!