#where i'm at right now

[theparadigmshifts]

[beneaththebrim]

Some thoughts upon finishing my translation project

(I’ll also be posting this in a twitter thread, but I figured it would also be good to have it in blog post form)

I'd like to talk about my progress in learning through this project and where I’d like to go in the future, partially in the interest of transparency (this being a 'learning translation'), partially just because it's been a fun and engaging way to learn a language, and it's something that seems worth documenting.

I've already spoken about the general course of my learning Chinese over the past couple years in this tumblr post (the last paragraph of which I screenshot below). tl;dr of that is that I’ve actually been unemployed the past couple years, which is what has allowed me to churn out translations so fast despite learning as I go (it probably does take me a good 2 hours per 1k Chinese characters).

I should also make the addendum that that 95% figure I threw out at the end of that post was specific to the novel I was translating, whose terminology I got intimately familiar with; starting to read a new novel purely through the raws, even by the same author, was definitely humbling, and that percentage definitely dipped down.

You might also notice that the 20-70% jump in my first (private) project was pretty high—I think this was primarily due to most characters in an average sentence being fairly common connecting, functional words. So, basically, even if I’m reading/translating a relatively constant number of characters a day, my unaided comprehension level tapers off after that initial jump; I retain new vocabulary at a concave-down-increasing rate, because so much brainpower is dedicated to holding in my current, ever-growing level of vocabulary.

I’ve been immensely privileged to basically just ride on my savings from my previous job and hyperfocus on learning and translating the past couple years, knowing that these skills would not in any realm of the imagination develop to an employable level in that time, and that these projects were purely for fun.

I’d like to recommend what I’ve done as a good way to get at a level where one can reasonably read Chinese webnovels on one’s own, however, a major caveat is that it is something that would be much harder for people without as much free time. But it’s doable, and translation really is a fun and rewarding challenge.

For me, however, every banquet must come to an end. Now that I’ve dipped below the halfway mark of the savings I had when I left my previous job, it really is time for me to take the job search seriously, which means I cannot in good conscience take up a new translation project, as it would inevitably divert my focus away.

However, I have grown rather attached to the art of translation, and I’ve learned from my last job that I cannot fully give up creative hobbies in the interest of advancing my career; I have done it before (giving up visual art at the beginning of grad school in a STEM field), and it is a kind of dying, a death which over years burns me from the inside out until I find there is nothing left to propel me.

I’d like to stay in the danmei translation community, if possible, but perhaps in an editing capacity, which probably actually plays more to my current abilities than raw translation does. So, if anyone around is looking for a beta-reader for their translation, feel free to reach out.

One last order of business: If anyone is willing and has the time, I would eventually like to have my shangxian translation fully beta-ed (ideally by someone who knows more Mandarin than me), because much as I try to be faithful, sometimes there are sentences that throw me for a loop, where I exhaust my research options without coming any nearer to comprehension and simply have to make my best guess; I fear there may be some places where readers of my translation might be inadvertently misled. Maybe it’s too late to find someone to beta it, as the endorphin rush potential of newly releasing chapters is all exhausted, and as there are indeed two other ongoing translations by people who are fluent in Mandarin—rendering null the need for mine to be so polished. But if anyone is interested, feel free to DM me. If no one volunteers over the next week, I’ll probably just brush up on the Chicago manual, do a surface level polish of this thing, and call it done.

[horsechestnut]

There are so many Dick, Bruce, or Tim kills the Joker fics on AO3, meanwhile Barbara was the one talking about how The Joker should be the exception to the No Kill Rule years before Red Hood Jason even existed.

[suiheisen]

you think YOU had a bad day at work?

bonus: sid shrieking "no!!!! NO!!!!!" loud enough to be heard in the stands and on camera

[lazylittledragon]

do any other artists feel like. yeah you're a 'good artist' because you draw things that look nice, but like. TECHNICALLY? you're really not great

i really hate that i can recognise that yes, my art is good, but is it VARIED? is it dynamic?? is my anatomy good? is it full of texture and colour theory? do i know how to do This? can i do That? no, not really. and that's quite painful actually

[egophiliac]

ok so as someone still relatively new to TWST (and someone just taking the events as they come to EN instead of keeping up with the JP side) and as a Jack Howl simp

I am of the (CORRECT) opinion that he should absolutely get an Applepom look because... fwuffy. and hat with ear holes. and he'd be SO insistent that he's used to the cold and doesn't need it but he will take it once it's insisted on because he's polite and won't refuse Gramma Felmier

Also I think a fun twist on the "someone's sled breaks and their plushie tears so they have to come up with another idea" bit from the other event is that Jack goes wolf mode to pull the sled (because as said in his starsending wish he pulls sleds back at home on breaks to try and get faster as a wolf!)

I'm biased though because I need more Jacc in my life

Thoughts?

thank you anon for bringing the mental image of harveston Jack into my life. he would be SO fluffy...so warm...he would haul so many apples...

also while I love the imagery of him pulling the sled, I feel like that would probably get them insta-disqualified. :( unless they can somehow 1) convince the judges that this enormous talking wolf is actually a very well-made plush, and 2) get Jack to go along with it (I do think Jack would instantly respect Marja as being more alpha or whatever and would have to, like, choose between his sense of JUSTICE, or going along with cheating at this sporting event so an authority figure doesn't get mad at him) (...wait this is just the plot of episode 2 again) (DANGIT)

[mobius-m-mobius]

I can rewrite the story.

Loki 1x01 // 2x05

[bitegore]

Zionists want you to conflate Judaism and Zionism. Zionists want you to believe that Judaism cannot exist without Zionism and that all Jews are Zionists. Zionism would have Jews believe that a Jewish state is the only way that they can be safe from antisemitism and will point to any instance of antisemitism as proof that Zionism is the solution- so Zionism wants gentiles to be antisemitic in their support of Palestine. They want you to conflate all Jews with Zionism and the state of Israel, and they want you to treat all Jews regardless of political affiliation as the face of Israel. Antizionist Jews exist, and incidences of antisemitism ostensibly acting against Zionism will not help dismantle the forces propping Zionism up.

Don't do their work for them.

[fiepige]

Compilation of EVERY single time they changed Hobie's filter in the digital version:

Left: Theatrical release Right: Digital release

You might have to click on some of them to get a better look at Hobie, sadly I don't have a video editor that allows me to make better edits than these :')

[andy-clutterbuck]

Rick's leather sling | requested by EVERYONE

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Welcome to the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

[novelconcepts]

One of the most fundamentally interesting things to me about YJ and writing fic, specifically, is how the blame changes hands depending on the story. On whose perspective you're writing from. On whose story it is at a given moment. The very thing I dislike about viewers missing the point becomes so fascinating to me from within the narrative. Who are these characters when seen through the eyes of their peers?

Who does Jackie become? If you're Shauna, she's the love of your life, and your greatest rival, and the other half of your soul, and the person you blame for your dead dreams. If you're Van, she's the respected captain who earns none of your respect in the woods, the one who left you to die without blinking, the easiest target for teenage malice. If you're Natalie, she's competition for affection, the blabbermouth who can't leave well enough alone, the hands putting themselves to no good use. If you're Jackie? You're just a girl. You're so tired. You're so scared. You're losing face a little more every day, and you're made of despair, and you can't even trust your best friend. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault.

Who does Lottie become? If you're Natalie, she's your direct foil, the splinter under the edge of your thumbnail, the smart mouth to match your own, the confusing amalgamation of normal friend and mad ritual. If you're Misty, she's the first shred of obvious power in months, a leader who might need to be nudged back into line, a fascinating exercise in hitching your wagon to the right star early on. If you're Taissa, she's flat-nuts and endlessly frustrating, she's got your girlfriend's full attention, she's incredibly dangerous. If you're Lottie? You're just a girl. You're so tired. You're so scared. You've built a pedestal you can't keep your balance on, and you're not sure if you're right or going crazy, and you didn't want this. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault.

From outside the narrative, there is no bad guy. There is no blame. It is no one's fault. It is Man v. Nature, they are doing the best they can with an impossible situation. They're all trying to contribute what they can to the story, for better or worse.

From inside the narrative, you are a teenager trapped in a society constructed entirely of bare-bones-survival with the wildest assortment of girls. From inside the narrative, to stay human, you have to love and fight, respect and judge. Every story changes the game. Every story shifts the blame. A hero in one has the bloodiest hands in the next. And that, to me, is such a thrilling sandbox to play in.

[brightclothesforwinter]

[yasmeensh]

Got the Master sword! I believe there is still one more upgrade to go...

Bonus Groose after Link sealed the imprisoned.

[knightofleo]

"This whole country mollycoddles Christians and I'm fucking tired of it" Trixie Mattel popping off about Republicans

[egophiliac]

Did peepaw come home?!

HE DID! :D! luckily it only took me three ten-pulls; I think my past experience of being so thoroughly denied a Fairy Gala Ortho made me more worried than I should have been. may the gacha blessings pay forward to everyone else! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

so far this is hands-down the funniest Lilia card, because he'll say something all edgy and badass in that deeper ~General Vanrouge~ tone and then follow it up immediately with one of the non-card-specific cutesy Lilia lines, and it gets me every time