#this is a sublimation translation btw

[anyydidi]

SESHFHEWFOEWIHF i will literally off myself becaue WHAT IS THIS.

so i just found out that the biggest struggle of being a translator is converting names into czech. meaning i have to change the spelling so it's accurate and readable in the language. for example Kuai Liang-Kuaj Liang, Shang Tsung-Šang Cung, Kenshi-Kenši.

the one person who has been making my life hell is fucking SYZOTH. like wtf is that name, for fucks sake. i love the dude, he's my babygirl and in all honesty it's not that i literally hate his name. it's fine in english. but it's basically UNCONVERTABLE. so like what the fuck do i do? there were three options--i just leave him be and write Syzoth in the fic; as i've done with others i just change the spelling-Sajzof (but that sounds and looks absolutely fucking horrible and please just no); or try to think of a completely NEW name, like Syzák or Syzos or something like that. which i think i'll be forced to do the third option because i don't think i could just choose which names i convert and which i don't.

oh and don't get me started on the names that actually have a fucking translation. some are fine, for example Scorpion (Škorpión). they sound cool and stuff, but what about frickin Rain or Smoke?? you could translate Rain to Déšť or Liják but when i was checking the translation for grammar and i actually read Liják in the fucking fic, i couldn't keep a straight face because what the fuck is that 😭😭?? and smoke? who is, by the way, the centric of the fic? fucking Kouř or Dým. like dým isn't that bad, but still it makes me laugh so hard. and it all sounds so cringe. in my eyes at least. i know that it's nooormaaal to translate names like that but they just don't sound as cool anymore 💔.

and at last i am NOT excited when i actually get to Sub-Zero. gonna call him fucking Pod-Nulou (Below-Zero) and that's gonna be it. or zmrzlý mužík (iced man). because why not. this whole ordeal is making me go crazy anyway.

[niziye]

Omg

I read your thing abt Kai’s changing eye colour being due to abbey experiments and can I just say I am on the same frikin wavelength 😭😭😭😭 heck I even believe that the front grayish part of his hair was also due to the weird experiments

Forgive my rambling but oh my god it’s an HC very dear to me that Kai’s eyes turned crimson when black drawn we was split from dranzer during abbey experimentation, so his eyes are pure red to show that the “darkness” of his bit beast no longer exists.

I wanted to ask about your HC’s on the matter, I’m sure it’s interesting!

Love your art a lot btw keep slaying!

Wah, thanks for sending an ask ✨✨

Firstly, english is not my first language, so I'm using the good old translator and reviewing the things I know.

I love HC about the duality of Dranzer and Black Dranzer, so your HC about color reflecting the lack of counterpart is sublime. I loved this 🌟

To be very hosnestly about this HC (abt Kai's eye color change), I think it's incredibly common, but at the same time I don't see much about it out there. I wonder if it's because it's something very implicit in the fandom or it's just in my head lol

I've had that for a while actually, and several other things. I liked to use some of them when I was writing fanfics many years ago, nowadays they just gather dust in my notes 🍃

The fact that Kai's eyes change color I attribute to two things: 1) her state in relation to the control of Dranzer or Black Dranzer - and any versions of her - that are from another HC, and 2) the experiments at the Abbey. So I'm focusing on that second one.

Lesgo

✦ Kai began receiving medical treatment after the events of the first season in the Russian championship.

✦ He developed some late symptoms due to the lack of certain substances and one of the side effects was the change in the color of his eyes and the tone of his hair.

✦ This also happened to Tala and Bryan, it depends on the type of substance used and how long they were exposed.

✦ To alleviate symptoms, both physical and mental, a medical treatment provided by BBA in association with Miss Judy was developed.

✦ This treatment was difficult to achieve for the simple fact that the substances used were known only to Balkov scientists. At the time the majority were in prison, so Mr D had to give in to certain "methods" which included special treatment and reduced sentences.

✦ Ironically, Kai was a guinea pig even with the fall of Voltaire and Balkov, because even the emergency treatment was experimental.

✦ At first he took a lot of medicine, vials, packs and even injections. He was troublesome at first, but about two years in he managed to stabilize. Medications have also been used to try to improve the symptoms of amnesia.

✦ He still carries bottles with him, but only those for daily consumption.

✦ From time to time he finds flaws in his hair, sometimes strands appear in different tones or are "switched". He knows when he is close to undergoing another change by observing the roots of his hair and around the pupils of his eyes. (I find the idea that he actually "checks" very funny xD).

✦ Since he wears reading glasses, the contact lenses excuse is quite convenient.

✦ Sometimes the medicines are not enough to control some symptoms such as dizziness and tremors and he needs a few days off. Some medicines are really potent and he is often warned by his doctor not to exceed his limits, not when it comes to his medications and rest.

✦ At some point he was asked why he took medicine, to which he replied that they were, in fact, vitamins for your training, until one time Max secretly took a pill - they were for insomnia - and slept for a whole day. This caused quite a bit of confusion and so sermons and admissions were made.

- note: of course I'm going to use Kai's appearance in V-force to promote HC, it's convenient that this part of the story also works as a transition.

Sooooo

I consider this summary to be quite superficial, If I count all the side effects, we will have enough drama for the rest of the year (and I'm not even counting the Borg boys) bwahaha

Please forgive me for any translation errors 🙇🙇

[alethiometry]

my new favorite aesthetic is "klytaimnestra telling men to shut the fuck up"

[dyingfad]

punio bug in windowsill moments

[razberryyum]

TGCF donghua Episode 9 Thoughts (SPOILERS! for episode and novel)

I've heard of the words Sinner's Pit a while back, probably when I first heard of TGCF, but it wasn't until a couple weeks ago when I started reading the book that I finally understood what they meant, and why it was an event in the saga of HuaLian. Even though I've only been acquainted with it for such a short period of time, I still teared up when watching the scene, so I can only imagine how much more emotional this moment was for fellow fans who have been waiting years to see it. I really hope it lived up to everyone's expectations cuz it kinda blew my mind.

When the episode was delayed in its broadcast I actually felt dread, since I immediately assumed that the HuaLian Sinner's Pit scenes didn't pass the restrictions and it was going to be edited to death or worse yet, completely cut out. Thank God that was not the case. I was looking forward to much groppage of Hua Cheng from Dianxia, and that's exactly what I got...with an extra large dose of romance too thanks to the amazing score. If anything was left out in the scene I sure couldn't tell nor did I feel anything was missing.

I've watched countless fall and rescue scenes in cdramas, to the degree that sometimes it feels like it's a required element in romance cdramas, and of course it's usually the woman in the couple falling from somewhere and the man coming to her rescue and catching her. And they're usually so poorly done that I either eyeroll so hard my eyes feel like they're gonna pop out of their sockets or I feel almost nauseated from the cheesiness.

But the donghua did it PERFECTLY. Those stupidass cdramas should learn from them. HuaLian's fall and catch scene was paced just right, scored just right, shot just right...simple PERFECTION. Not at all cheesy or cringey, utterly sublime...and everything that followed between them was utterly sublime as well.

Talk about another perfectly captured scene. I loved this line. So sweet and wonderful. No wonder Hua Cheng's in love with this man.

Btw, I know it says friendship, but just in case anyone's worried the donghua is trying to friendzone HuaLian, those Chinese characters can just be a general way of saying getting along, usually in a friendly way, but it's not as friend zone-y as it sounds. Although, I doubt anyone actually watching the show and paying attention to it would even think Hua Cheng only wants to be bro-friends with Xie Lian.

I mean, I guessss bros can be touchy feely and eyefuck eyelove each other all the time, but I would personally like to meet them bros like that.

Also, not fair of the donghua team to cuteify these boys even more. My poor heart almost couldn't take it. Too adorable!!

Honestly, after that HuaLian-ful sequence, my brain was barely able to register anything else. Doesn't help that I already know how things will resolve in terms of this mystery. I am mostly looking forward to how the "new" characters whom are being introduced to looks and how they will bring to life certain non-HuaLian related events that sounded dramatic or even epic in writing.

For example the Banyue Guoshi...was totally not expecting her to look this adorable. She looks so innocent and pretty, who in their right mind would bully such a beautiful little girl??

Although, when she is on the attack, she definitely does feel like a wraith bringing instant death upon her victims. This was so beautifully animated: it looked both terrifying and truly impressive.

Lastly:

Hiiii puppyyyyy!!!! Nice to finally meet you!! Who's a good boy?? 😂 E-Ming's a total cutie pie and his first appearance was cool AF too. I freaked out a little.

OMG I almost forgot!! I LOVE the new ED theme!!! I hope they release an official MV for it soon!

~

NOVEL SPOILERS

Current Reading Progress: finished book 1, currently in book 2, knee-deep in Yong'an famine crisis. Every HuaLian interaction is a treasure, I know I didn't mention them at all last week but pretty much every time they meet up again I scream a bit. The temple scene, when Dianxia told chibi HC to live for him, got me so emotional (I also really want to hug little HC and protect him forever). Seriously felt like I finally reached some kind of important milestone since I read that line somewhere even before I even knew who or what HuaLian was. I don't know how many seasons of the donghua we'll be blessed with, but if we don't get as far as Dianxia's past, then I do hope we at least get to see Ghost City, Gambler's Den, Paradise Manor,and Qi Rong's cave. I can imagine getting into some of that next season but unless it's a long one, I doubt we'd be able to see all of it in one season.

And also, I don't think I love Qi Rong anymore. He really is a bad, bad boy...and not in the sexy way, but more in the holy shit you really are fucked up way.

Finally, the Yong'an thing... I'm already bracing myself. I could be wrong but I already see how that could lead to Xianle's downfall. The knives are probably coming, huh?

TGCF novel translation can be found at: https://tgcfmxtx.carrd.co/

[teddyscans]

Hello you guys thanks for the hard work✨

But do you know who is working on Sekaiichi Hatsukoi now?

If there's any help I can do with the cleaning I want to join!🥺

no one is working on sih at the moment, but one of my friends might do it individually.. i’ll let y’all know if that’s happening. nothing’s set in stone rn.

(btw, people asking if our group is picking it up, we are not! i have no personal interest in working on it and the rest of my staff doesn’t want to take it on for licensing reasons. please please please buy the raws and the sublime translation if you’re able!)

and, dm me :)

[amaya-chwan]

Sorry to bother you, but I saw someone asked you the other day about the group that was translating Therapy Game Restart into English and I wanted to let you know that they announced they've dropped the English translation since it's getting an official release in Dec. I think they're still going to be translating it to Vietnamese unless/until it gets localized there. Btw, thank you so much for doing takeaways, I really love reading them! :)

Hi there blahblahblah!

Ahh, don't be sorry! And thank you for letting me know! Honestly I don't know what's happening in the "scanlation" world since I don't read them 😅

Here's hoping that one day, sublime does simulpubs for the amazing BL stories we are following! 😭❤️💛💜

For anyone reading this post who'd like to see the manga when it drops in Japan, CD Japan does international delivery to most countries! 🙌🙌 (Been using this site for 3+ years now, so I highly recommend it if proxy shopping isn't your thing)

And you're most welcome! I'm glad you are enjoying reading them~ thank you for your lovely message! 💜

- Amaya-chwan

[morievna]

Ugetsu and mugs

Little late gift for Santa ^^ I wanted to write about this theme for some time actually.

What’s interesting once you are conscious of mugs, they are literally everywhere – in almost all scenes with Akihiko and Ugetsu. Of course, they aren’t present during flashback from high school – but it is intentional too. They represent Akigetsu as well as a broken aspect of their relationship, but school was more like golden times for them. Besides, mugs appear very often in anime too – even in additional scenes mugs are always present. In short mugs are important. Very.

Few examples - ch 8, 13, 25

In addition, a mug appeared too when Haruki mentioned Ugetsu in ch 24

It’s a bit funny that Akihiko immediately got about who Haruki was talking xD

In the same chapter Haruki commented earlier that Akihiko looked like “lost somewhere deep in his thoughts”. I assume that he was thinking about his life and Ugetsu – rethinking everything and a bit of preparation before going to him in next chapter with declaration about moving out.

Let’s move to THAT scene:

Ugetsu: “Around the time we had started to live together, when he brought me my first present, somehow… I hated that very much and I refused it saying – “I don’t want it!” Even though it was only a mug. Back then, I should’ve just say – “I am happy”.

I like so much double meaning in this monologue. It is not only about receiving a mug as present, but about receiving Akihiko’s love too. Overall it sums up Ugetsu’s situation perfectly – him being overwhelmed by first gift/Akihiko’s love and rejecting it because of being afraid of these feelings. And then there is regret that he should’ve react differently and accept it happily.

I also want to point out some difference between fan-translation and official polish translation about rest of that monologue:

Fan translation: “I want to be with him. But, I’m in love with music. Still... never more than that. Really.. he is good guy, isn’t he”

Polish translation: “I want to be with him. But, I love music and him equally. Even though I will never experience anything good as that again*. Really.. he is good guy, isn’t he”

*I am not sure if my rough translation from Polish to English is good enough, but it originally sounds like he consider that relationship with Akihiko is best what happened in his life.

I found it interesting how translator decided for less vague but more straightforward option. Though it way more sad too. I am curious how it will be translated in SuBLime’s release btw.

Another thing about this scene what makes me ponder is Akihiko’s carefree reaction. Like breaking that mug meant no big deal for him. I wonder if we get his POV on that someday.

To me it feels more that Ugetsu doesn’t like new mug because it reminds him of that regret and dilemma (to be with Akihiko or not to be). Since his feelings are “exponentially larger” I think that he remembers them more vividly too.

But it doesn’t mean that mugs are not important for him – just look:

Ch 24:

Ch 25:

The perspective in these frames is almost the same, so they are meant to be compared. Even though there is more mess (which itself tells a lot about Ugetsu’s state), mugs are still in their places. It even seems like he is not using them when Akihiko is gone. To me it is like showcasing that he is still waiting for him to come back.

Theoretically it could be end of my meta, but no.

What always intrigued me the most was that Kizu Natsuki specifically chose broken ceramics mug as symbol for this pairing. Because it is not like it can’t be repaired – it is actually opposite.

It’s called kintsugi (金継ぎ), literally golden (“kin”) and repair (“tsugi”). This traditional Japanese art uses a precious metal – liquid gold, liquid silver or lacquer dusted with powdered gold – to bring together the pieces of a broken pottery item and at the same time enhance the breaks. The technique consists in joining fragments and giving them a new, more refined aspect. Every repaired piece is unique, because of the randomness with which ceramics shatters and the irregular patterns formed that are enhanced with the use of metals. The glue traditionally used to bring the pieces together is the urushi lacquer, which is being sourced for thousands of years from the Rhus verniciflua plant.

Message it conveys is very in line with Given:

When an object breaks, it doesn’t mean that it is no more useful. Its breakages can become valuable. We should try to repair things because sometimes in doing so we obtain more valuable objects. This is the essence of resilience. Each of us should look for a way to cope with traumatic events in a positive way, learn from negative experiences, take the best from them and convince ourselves that exactly these experiences make each person unique, precious.

[source]

Another quote that I like very much:

The only willfulness in the process is the effort to assist with the rebirth of something whose existence has been threatened, something that has held value for others. [...] Simultaneously we have the expression of frailty and of resilience, life before the incident and life after. Yet the object is not the same. In its rebirth it assumes a new identity that incorporates yet transcends the previous identity.

[source]

I hope that we see more of character development of Ugetsu – that he will realize that he made some poor life choices and will try to repair his life and relationship with Akihiko in some way. I think he will want Akihiko’s forgiveness for hurt he caused. And in the end they will reconcile and their relationship will transform to the different and more beautiful quality. Besides, the fact that Akihiko is taking violin seriously now bodes well too – after all it was one of reasons why Ugetsu broke up with him because was feeling guilty that Akihiko abandoned his dreams (“my existence means fundamentally suffering for him”). So I think it will be sorted out too.

Given is about healing and second chances - this phrase is not only about letting go of past and starting something new, but also rectifying past mistakes and repairing broken things. I believe that it will be outcome of Akihiko’s and Ugetsu’s story.

As always thanks for reading. Of course, this is just my interpretation, but I will be reaally baffled if all that mugs were put in the story with no deeper meaning. But we will see.

[ask-missfinefeather]

Because the original post had spoilers in the usernames heres a censored version

[redacted] i had a really fucking weird dream where homestuck was a musical. like. a Broadway musical. and i went to see it and all i really remember is that 1) the opening number was called “everybody dies” and 2) bro strider was inexplicably played by shia labeouf, who did an interpretive dance scene with a smuppet that lasted roughly seven minutes. it was uncomfortable for everyone involved mortharris what do you mean “inexplicably” that’s exactly how it would go down [redacted] I’m pretty sure snoop dogg was aimless renegade? honestly it was an experience like the stage was essentially four room in the beginning and every time John would get a notification on pesterChum the particular room of whoever was messaging him would light up and you could see Jade Dave or Rose. when the trolls did their thing (it was early on), you could just hear the disembodied yelling of Karkat. Rose had a dramatic monologue that ended with mom physically pulling her away from her empty suicide threat. bec was just some guy in a fursuit. shia laBro passionately ripped off his shirt before kicking dave’s ass. lil cal was played by Ellen Degeneres(?) mortharris do you have a medium to talk to because the more you talk about this dream the more it sounds like you’re spirit channeling andrew hussie and i’m concerned [redacted] don’t get me started about the medium bro also when the trolls were introduced the lusii were these freakish jim henson monstrosities but honestly the best part was the felt. like. the actual composition of music was beautiful, and the choreography for the dance numbers was sublime. Dave also kept trying to sing but was continually interrupted by Bro Shia, terezi’s echoing ululations, and his own self doubt. once he finally had his moment his voice soared through the theater, only to come to an abrupt end as he was drowned in hot puppet ass. now that I think about it, dadbert was definitely nic cage, which was confusing as fuck because John kept talking about how Greatly He Was Caged By Nic while his father stood by. it was uncomfortable idk man, it’s been like a reoccurring lucid nightmare for the past week, but the sb&hj sequences were performed by acrobats above the actual stage, who looked dangerously inebriated and probably needed immediate hospitalization (they were also narrated by dave and a bunch of dissonant recordings of the cast? what the fuck man. what a visionary) mortharris i honestly don’t know what to focus on here because i’m wheezing and snorting right now but Dave also kept trying to sing but was continually interrupted by Bro Shia, terezi’s echoing ululations, and his own self doubt. was dave … was dave’s self doubt an actual part in the play [redacted] shIT I thought I answered earlier but apparently not. yes, daves self conscious is just a shitty cardboard cutout of zac efron wearing sunglasses who offers sage advice like “no one loves you”. he’s voiced by zac efron. yknow I forgot to note this but vriska has a lot of really aggressive musical numbers that make everyone visibly uncomfortable, mainly bc they’re unprovoked and don’t. make sense. like its canon but only to an extent. also I’m p sure that mom and dad /almost/ share a heartfelt duet–like there’s soft piano music and they look into each other’s eyes–but then Jack noir, fursuit edition, kills them. on that note, when rose goes grimdark it sounds like the Dresden dolls met born this way era lady gaga and then murdered each other while a thirteen year old descends from the rafters, hissing like a motherfucking snake on a plane btw “sICK FIRES” is a rap off with cello featuring the talents of yo yo ma himself mortharris “#i’m tired” “#why do you keep reblogging this” because it’s amazing [redacted] that’s objective but I’m just happy that people are enjoying this. like the tags are so nice and it feels pretty rad to know people are laughing at my hideous reoccurring nightmare musical extravaganza FYI there is a track called “flight of the bifurcated asshole/rest in peixes” and y'all know EXACTLY what it’s about krakendra can…. we kickstart this? tanoraqui this is EXACTLY what a homestuck musical should be like, though. The casting and music choices and how the set works with Pesterchum, it’s all…really good. Your subconscious mind translates the comic to Broadway really well. wikis-cosplay So I am imagining the rooms that light up are in the form of a sburb logo and when the trolls would talk that little box in the corner of the upper right square lights up and shows a silhouette of the troll talking till the trolls are revealed. When they are revealed Karkat just kicks off the cover and stick his head out to call John an idiot. mortharris IMPROVED [redacted] yes this is perfect, how did I Not See This Earlier karkat’s “my hate is your lifeblood” speech is accompanied by steady percussion and what almost sounds like some good ass army battle shit, and then John is just “hi karkat!” karkat blinks and has a solid five seconds of self loathing before breaking into song about john egbert ruining his moment. it’s also a dance number and karkat dramatically collapses into the arms of troll will smith, played by will smith, about three consecutive times. (briefly we get to see daves self doubt taunting him but Why?? who Knows??) mortharris i feel like i’m one of the king’s men watching william shakespeare [redacted] so…you’re sexually confused while wearing tights? which, by the way, is equius before getting murdered mortharris i meant in the presence of greatness, but i’m not wearing tights. also i hate you. also i love you. [redacted] it’s okay. I hate me, too, but not as much as karkat hates karkat candymuse @alkalinesnowflake god the audience would probably have to return to the theatre for like 5 consecutive nights to finish the show

By biggestCuttlefish!

[charliehopper]

MIXED COMPANY, no. 7. Fairport Convention, Unhalfbricking. A long time ago a friend of a friend hepped me to Richard Thompson. I went to a show, I started reading, I went to more shows. This band was his first gig, or his first high profile gig. I’ve actually played this album a lot over the years and if you find a more, uh..... I’m going to carefully choose this word and mean it fully—if you find a more *sublime* song and performance than “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” I will probably argue with you. The rest of the album is good although it’s all over the place: olde English songs like A Sailor’s Life and a long almost shaggy dog sad Dylan song about a mean judge. Then another Dylan, a cover of Million Dollar Bash before Basement Tapes came out that’s, eh, nowhere as magical fun as Bob and The Band’s tossed-off version. But I still enjoy this. Cajun Woman is lively. The French translated Dylan song is cute. And then there’s that serene diamond just laying there, “Who Knows etc.” that Sandy Denny wrote and sang. Lucky for us. I love love love this #albumcoverart btw. Those are her parents on the cover, I am given to understand <— seems like a phrase they’d use. #fairportconvention #unhalfbricking #whoknowswherethetimegoes #richardthompson #sandydenny #dylancovers #oldeenglish #coverart #albumcover (at Noblesville, Indiana) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJU8VuYrEDe/?igshid=axxuhji9b7ux

[myrinthinks]

You know, I’m really glad you answered like that - it’s like the other side of the coin of what I wrote in parentheses. Because I really do feel like that - I’m happy for any great mangaka’s chance to become more widely know in an international market, and it’s awesome when English-speaking fans who want to be supportive can now be so in a very concrete manner, especially since because of language barriers, most don’t even have a chance to, IDK, show their appreciation by tweeting great praise at the artist or something. BUT. I feel you so hard on your “I always feel like I have to be happy that something got licensed” tag. And I do, like I said above. But also... these are often more superficial feelings, if you know what I mean? Like, they’re not untrue but also, if I listen deep down into myself, I feel a lot more like this:

And honestly, if I think about it, it’s mostly because I’ve been spoiled too much by great scanlations, especially by you guys, but also the old groups like Dangerous Pleasure and thelike. Since my re-entry into the BL world, I’ve gotten to know a lot of new scanlation groups and I always, always find myself comparing them to you and I honestly have yet to find one which is just all-around satisfying to me the way your stuff is (not that these are bad groups by any means, btw! Especially some cleaning jobs I’ve seen have been out of this world, they looked so real and neat! But I didn’t know how much I valued the typesetting you do until I kept being confronted with a very different style that just felt “wrong” to me; who knew I actually do prefer some fonts over others?). And consequently, I do the same stuff with official releases, and they just don’t compare. I feel especially strongly about this regarding titles a group has been working on for a really long time already, to be honest. Like, in the replies to SuBLime’s tweet announcing Toritan’s licensure, there were a lot of requests for them to licence Honto Yajuu as well and my immediate, visceral reaction was “Do NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, lay a hand on Honto Yajuu I swear to god $%$&%&E=§!!!!!!“. And a big part of that is what you’re saying towards the end of your post, that it would take them a literal ten years to get to where we are right now with scanlations, but also because to me, HY is your project and I honestly don’t think I could even look at an Aki who says words that weren’t translated by fencer-x of September Scanlations. And I feel that way about quite a few titles, especially ones which have already been out for quite some time now. (Which makes me wonder - are pulishers more likely to licence titles which are fresh off the press? Does there come a time where they don’t bother anymore? What made SuBLime decide on Toritan, of all things? Because it’s finished, at two volumes not too long, but still relatively new? What are the criteria for that kind of decision?) In any case, I’m looking forward to your summaries of the last two-and-a-half chapters, which continues to be a great service provided by you guys. Because like you say, I absolutely want to find out how the story ends - and honestly, my heart dropped a little when I saw I was too late to grab this new chapter after that freaking cliffhanger from last time; I realise all that talk is very first-world-problems-y but I can 100% understand your annoyance at being sniped so shortly before the finish line. (Oh, and also! For the first time in about ten years, I pre-ordered the German version of a manga yesterday! It’s not licenced in English and I’ve already read the scanlations but this is a case where I really do want to show my appreciation and support “officially”. I’m curious about what quality it’ll be - in my experience, German publications share the same weaknesses as their English counterparts, mostly pretty sloppy/non-existent cleaning, but I’m willing to be open-minded about this. I’ll report back in April!)

Maybe a weird question but I‘ve been wondering how you guys feel when one of the works you scanlate(d) gets licenced? Like, not in an official or legal sense – obviously it‘s great when English-speaking fans get the chance to support a mangaka, and for a mangaka to get bigger exposure in a foreign market, and of course you have no legal rights to them – but, like, on an emotional level. This was obviously brought on by Toritan but I‘ve actually been wondering about this for years. Because [1/2]

I‘m just a mere reader and even I get a little sad whenever it happens, although I can‘t really put my finger on why (although part of it is surely that scanlators‘ version is often more polished than the official one which is just all kinds of wtf). Do you feel somewhat emotional about it, too, or is that just me and my sensitive heart? And is there a difference between whether it‘s a work you‘ve already finished vs. one you‘re still actively working on?

Sometimes I’m relieved, because there are some projects we worked on that I lost interest in and was mostly doing because people deserved good-quality scans with a good-quality translation, or I’d really enjoyed the series once upon a time (like Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi).

Most times, though, I’m disappointed. Because no official translation is ever going to be up to my standards (I own zero translated manga lol; and subs I mostly put up with because I need them to share series with friends and don’t have the time to subtitle everything I love myself), for one, and because suddenly there’s a huge swathe of people who can no longer access that manga, whether it’s for financial reasons (maybe they don’t have a debit card, even if they have the funds technically, and can’t make online purchases) or geographic reasons (maybe it’s illegal to import BL manga in their country, or maybe they’re geoblocked–looking at you, Crunchyroll). The manga I translate are pieces I love (or loved at one time lol) and thus ones I want as many people to enjoy as possible.

And licensing makes that more difficult, if not impossible.

So yeah, all legality and everything aside, I’m always disappointed. And thus I didn’t recommend supporting the official release in our Toritan post lol. Petty, and by and large big companies taking chances on great titles is BETTER, but I’ve never seen a translation of a manga I liked that really satisfied, because I like my own translations best usually, so it’s bitter. Not bittersweet really, just bitter.

And it doesn’t matter if it’s something we’ve finished or not (though nothing annoys me more than getting sniped right as we’re finishing a scanlation, because then our audience is left hanging while it takes the official licensors YEARS to catch up; see No.6, Love Stage, and now Toritan), it’s the same.

I do, however, make an effort to summarize in detail the endings for those stories when we get sniped–I’ve already been asked to do so for Toritan and will!

[cocktalehours-blog]

hello ! Sorry to bother you as I know that your crew is currently very busy translating (THANK YOU SO MUCH BTW) but uhm do you know anyone translating love stage and backstage ? Cause it seems like the folks at mangago and mangafox have given up on it and it's actually my favourite manga ==' THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !

Love Stage and Backstage were scanlated by September Scanlations, but they decided to stop because they are already licensed in English! You can purchase the complete volumes on Sublime :D

[translatetwo]

It may be a little odd to write a post about the 6th verse of John Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale”, a complex poem that is, among other things, an ode to death and dying as gateway to immortality.

(So it is 6/8 in Youtube-Notation)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44479/ode-to-a-nightingale

I have tried to translate pieces of it for years now, usually with long periods in between.

This verse I have translated when I was on the height of my cult around Benedict Cumberbatch. Around 2014.

He reads the poem like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdphtMWjies&t=41s

This verse comes on 3.18.

Back then I was crying with enthusiasm. Today I find this take far to kitschy.

But in the end it is the encounter with the better version and the better artist and the better work that makes us lose all interest in the things we used to adore.

And also in this case I have seen the incredibly tender movie “Bright Star” of Keats’ (authentic) love to his fashion designing neighbour in Hamstead Heath, London (back then a shabby suburb, today a very expensive district where btw Cumberbatch is living), with Ben Whishaw as Keats.

Whishaw is like Keats from a middle class background and not the son of posh swinging london parents like Cumberbatch.

Here is his take (with music from the movie):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYyciOTn74U

The verse is at 03.28

Now this makes me cry today. That elegance, that dry but tender and attentive sliding through the verses with such depth of feeling.

For this still is one of the few fully valid ways how a modern subject, always torn between science-based pantheism, decadent nihilism and some reworked trace of old folk religion, can face mortality and still, or because of it, rejoice with the best of Baroque Christians on the impossibility of immortality as the real. 

When I still had private money I miss today I spent it on trips to London and other parts of England. A folly I still cannot regret.

One of my trips brought me to the rather wild and rough forests of Hamstead Heath. When I was walking through it my Shaman self could clearly feel that with all my obsessive projections this was not a place welcoming me.

It does not welcome the poor lokal population either, but when I saw a drunk and shabby man there I thought that maybe if one lives there for very very long, as a person or as a family, one might have a low rent, as in Vienna. 

Be that as it may, I very much love Keats as he was living in a suburb that reminds me of my own. Before it was gentrified. Mine is still waiting for full gentrification, but we get there, with all the artsy labs my dears colleagues like to conduct with the Kultustadträtin’s blessing. 

How it was even possible to hear that nightingale sing during breakfast time, as has been reported, I am not ornithologist enough to judge. 

I can only recommend to watch the movie, as the scene dedicated to the writing of this ode is showing Keats lying on top of a blooming tree.

truly sublime. 

https://www.movies.ch/de/film/brightstar/media_scen_15.html