Nastriumden/Joell55 - Number One Zombie Wife

I wasn't trying to drag them in exactly, but rather, hoping to offer some input from personal experience and nastriumden came the closest to anything like it I've experienced. If I'd wanted to, I would have ranted about them in more than 1 post instead of just letting it go. As I've said, and I will say it again, I'm already over it since we are no longer translating NOZW and extremely appreciate the support which we've received throughout this period of time. Unfortunately, nastriumden is choosing to blatantly attack not just us, but everyone who chooses to side with us, as well as others.

I completely agree with you though, I would be glad to see Nastriumden making an effort to edit + proofread for the sake of readers and their sanity. Unfortunately, we have no say in this and neither do we wish to concern ourselves with it any longer. It's up to them to do whatever they may like. I would say that the emails we've dropped them have already been extremely polite (considering the amount of collective anger we felt after toiling for a month of back and forth with the previous translator where we only asked them to make the chapters private after explaining our rationale behind it) and we've waited for many weeks in vain without a reply. Nonetheless, we would have appreciated if they could take a minute to let us know and explain the reason for their decision.

 

Yeah So i was churning out more chapters to get ad revenue even when I was in wattapad... i have been in wattpad for 2 years before moving to a blogspot.... so yeah i was pain by wattpad.... to churn more chapters.... dont be a hater...

 

Oh, my point is that there's a strong monetary incentive for you to churn out chapters, but no external incentive to improve quality, so there's no reason for you to change as long as there are readers happy with your work.

Oh, and to answer MimiShijie's question "Why bother translating into a language you don't understand well enough to make clarifying changes to?" for money in the form of adsense.

 

When I say the people reading my translation are most english speaking people you dont get it do you...

the person said to share to raise awareness.... as I said set of fire.... not up for it... more anti LGBT countries are bad but mine takes the prize...

maybe you didnt catch the improving myself thing... Hey not chinese cant catch all the idioms and slangs and saying... some words you translate and they dont make sense.... like that one crying and laughing at the same time that gave me a whirlwind...

I did saymy translation is crappy... and whoever did the upload on NU stopped doing it... i was just quietly uploading on the wordpress... but they left the translation... then I saw somwehere that someone was lamenting that we both abandoned the translation... so I decided to redo the translation again... make it better... and alas they still call it MTL...meeh done convincing people

the Issue of feng mang is one of the novels sloted fro a retraslation... as I said i was good but the other translator left it .... haha funny story I actually got blamed for another things which i was innocent of

Again its sloted for retranslation as I said again and again people go to the past work for critisism.... and I get and accept it but you cant keep going to ooh that one there .... no one is born knowing...we all learn ...but some people thinks learning is not good enough... well sorry everyone does what they can

 

i quote "we would appreciate if you could remove your translation from your blog or make theblogs pages private since they are intended to be your private library and not everyones library" well this is the new polite??

i quote "we would appreciate if you could remove your translation from your blog or make the blogs pages private since they are intended to be your private library and not everyones library" well emails dont really lie do they? me feeling above others? Give me a fat break... after someone comes with this kind of reasoning im expected to toe the line?

I only careabout myself??... ooh says the person who stopped a translation midway? sure you can say you are following the author word to stop at ch66... but then arent you selfish for not continuing... I mean leave people hanging? yeah cause thats how I the selfish one do things... I will pass the pointy fingers

 

but that is where youre wrong isnt it... cause Im geeting better and improving myself... my readers they get me... I told them form early on... its abc... and they all know about the retranslation because I post about announcements there... well i dont know... adsense I put that there because I was annoyed... other websites were copying my translations and put them into their website and putting adsense on it... so im a bad guy for wanting to do it.... adsense just happened.... as I said wattpad doesnt pay adsense money yet i spent 2 years over there....

 

You didn’t address the nuance in my points, but that’s fine. I think I’ve made myself clear on what I wanted to make myself clear on.

I’m confused—first you said you use google translate and now you’re saying that you don’t MTL, so which is it? If you are actually literate in Chinese and not putting things through a machine to translate, then that’s another issue. If you don’t mtl and people are just calling your work mtl because it’s reminiscent of the broken English and fragmented phrases that come out of GTL, then I understand what you mean by you’re learning the language to improve.

 

its not that they dont understand the language but its used to soften the expectation of people not really about the language

 

i didnt say that I use google translate i said I use if for proof reading the correct use of the words... but I stopped doing it because it make my translation look like MTL because im proofreading it on an MTL copy.... its like the mtl copy is a guide not the translation

 

Maybe it's the language barrier, or the fact that text does not have tone, but the message they sent isn't rude. As vivi said before, they were likely quite frustrated that the novel they were working on was simultaneously getting picked up by Flying Lines, an independent translator and you all at the same time, which is why it's not in the form of some super formal-polite request.

As for this:

"I only careabout myself??... ooh says the person who stopped a translation midway? sure you can say you are following the author word to stop at ch66... but then arent you selfish for not continuing... I mean leave people hanging? yeah cause thats how I the selfish one do things... I will pass the pointy fingers"

What the heck??? Translators do not have to translate. The fact that they pick up novels in the first place is already a blessing--claiming that translators who drop novels selfish towards readers is incredibly self-entitled. Readers are not entitled to anything. If translators choose to drop a novel, that's their choice and it's absurd to call them selfish. Readers are reading something they get for free even thought TLers spend hours on their work and just because they're left hanging doesn't make the translator selfish; without the translator in the first place, you wouldn't have ever been able to read any of it.

Furthermore, you said in your post that you would stop if the author asked you to. The author of NOZW posted a public message asking everyone in general, not DT specifically to stop translating after Chapter 66 because that is when the free and accessible to public chapters end. Afterwards the author expects people to pay for their hard work. In this case, the one being disrespectful and selfish to the author's wishes is you.

--

About MTL:

If you don't use MTL, cool, CN is a hard language to learn. The fact that readers were calling your work MTL means they thought the quality of the work was straight-MTL quality. The original post that I assume brought you here saying that they think you and NovelTom should be banned, I disagree with as it seems you don't actually just post straight MTL. I think what some readers were asking for was just that you take extra time to Quality Check the chapters and not feel so rushed to release 10 chapters each time.

I took a look at your most recent posts and I would say that they do look a lot better. I look forward to seeing your future improvements.

 

@Joell55 If your English isn’t perfect, it’s okay. If you can speak more than one language, it’s already admirable. If you’re actively putting in an effort to learn & improve, that’s great.

If you spend hundreds of hours of your time to translate & edit stories that people want to read, and you are (freely) sharing it with the community, then there’s little room for complaint. At least from me.

I don’t pay for translations, and I don’t expect professional-quality work. People can decide for themselves whether to read from a specific site, or they can choose not to.

I understand that translator groups might get upset if someone else picks up a project they’re currently working on. Fan-translations are in a grey area, because fan-translators don’t usually have the (exclusive) legal permission to translate a story from the author/publisher. It’s kind of a free-for-all.

Ultimately, translating is about sharing stories you love with other fans. Who-gets-to-translate-what shouldn’t matter so much, IMO. I appreciate all translators.

The original purpose of this thread was to complain about the really bad MTL sites showing up on NU, that put in absolutely zero effort to edit or proofread. If you’ve put in actual effort in your translations, then all is well, and this is not about you.

Maybe you felt personally attacked and felt the need to defend yourself, but lets not insult others. Being polite goes a long way. If things get too heated, maybe just take a step back and ignore them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Arguing on the Internet is rarely productive. At the end of the day, most people will keep on doing what they’ve already been doing.

Well, that’s my 3cents (inflation sucks).

 

One of my translation was once called a fake gucci... i supposed once bitten by a snake ten years fear of water well rope

 

maybe i should stop maybe i shoudnt but i finish what i start so when the author sends me a dmca I will do the delete... i want to say lets respect the author... but then what about the readers... alas even if they buy the chapter they cant read chinese.... so imma struggle on... when the hammer drops... I will consider it the fat lady has finished the song

 

I agree with most of what @Szara said, and the most recent translations @Joell55 posted are actually pretty nice. I don't really wanna do the back and forth thing anymore either, so let's just clarify for once and for all that NastriumDen's current works are not pure MTL and by extension, not applicable to what this thread is about. I do think Joell cares about their novels unlike NovelTom, and they're the ones I really came here to rant about lmao

 

yeah... i will do better if that helps ...idk...

 

I’m pretty sure most translators on here agree that translation, by its nature, is hobby based, not many are seeking payment or this being their job (otherwise just be an interpreter), they just feel the need to share and whatever monetary gains are just a byproduct of reader’s appreciation. Since this is a hobby, does everyone have to start throwing personal attacks? (Ex. Selfish vs selfless, it’s not my fault that you don’t ____, etc...)

Similar to how you state Chinese isn’t your native language to give readers an expectation, DT has also stated they would stop at chapter 66, so I would say they have done their job in sending out an advanced notice.

But here is where my problem lies, if you know DT will just drop it at c66 couldn’t you have at least waited to pick it up then? It is common courtesy to at least wait for an official ‘drop’ notice or the 3 month (or was it 1 month?) NU rule. I remember reading NOZW before all this drama started, and at that time, they were releasing 2 chapters per week (they have active translation status). Because, that way none of this would even have been a problem.

And obeying the author’s wishes is a choice DT made. It doesn’t extend to everyone else whether they will also continue to translate. But if you had no intention to ask in the first place (until direct cease order), again, I cannot understand why you couldn’t just wait, you’re already translating 8+ works, I’m sure you’re getting enough variety. And after rechecking the dates, it didn’t take more than 3 months for DT to finish their quota. (Is it really worth it to face all this garbage in comparison to a 3 month wait?).

and from your tone, I can see that you prioritize readers first and foremost, but in this case, is complicating the updates on NU really benefitting the readers at all?

I’m not criticizing you, and maybe this is all hindsight bias, but these are the questions that are flashing in my mind when I’m reading this situation.

 

Wow, what happened here.
First, whoever insulted Nastriumden was very off topic and rude and should’t have done that, but the replies Nastriu did are even worst than the actual insult, so I am not inclined to stand on neither side. Are we in kindergarten or what?
If you want to fight please do it in private, this topic is just to talk in a civil way about Novelbear issue, which was already resolved. If you wanna insult others do in in another place please.

 

I would like to ask, what exactly about my email has been impolite? If so, what is polite? Ignoring and disrespecting others when they attempt to reach out to you? thank you for your enlightenment.

While I would admit we haven't used the best choice of words, it comes no where close to rude (mind you). Our words have been very straight foward, but apparantly not enough for you. Even more so, we explained the rationale of our actions and if you were unhappy, you could have sent us a reply and let us know your discomfort which you did not.

I had not released the full screenshot previously because I had wanted to drop the matter but since you mentioned it, everyone can see that we have been nothing but understanding. We only seeked your understanding and hoped that you could make your collection private since it was you who wrote on your blog that your translations were for your personal library which we respect and merely quoted.



If you could see with your eyes, none of us have told you to stop translating the rest of the chapters after 66. It was merely your own words 'if the author told me, i would stop.' Which I then kindly pointed out that the author, did in fact, mention it. Unfortunately you seem like the kind to twist your own words to whatever would suit you and I couldn't care less about it. So if you go on translating, I would respect that.

Regarding your words, I do not feel that we were selfish in only mentioning it in chapter 66. Prior to that, we had been in contact with the author's publishing team in hopes of working something out. We don't want to give false hopes to readers in case it fell through so we never mentioned it, unfortunately you chose to come in around this period of time and we also did not bother pursuing the mattwr since we'd lose interest in carrying nozw to the end anyway. Previously, I had known some one who was interested in continuing the translations even after 66 which had nothing to do with our team and I told them I would not concern ourselves with. However, after this whole fiasco, they had decided to pick up a completely different novel instead so I hope that you enjoy tling nozw.

Last but not least, most of us here have been extremely polite in our words and I hope you would do the same. With that said, I would also like to drop this whole matter, no idea why this thread was revived after being dead or awhile

 

But I didn't read their translation I only found out when a reader came to my wattapd account and asked why we were both dropping the translation.... back then the updates on NU had stopped at ch 120... but I had decided to honor their not on NU request and i was posting on wordpress and it didnt show on NU this was around August.... most readers are only reffered using NU links so he or she saw I stopped on 120 and thought I also dropped the translation... i quite simply told him or her that im translating on wordpress and the translation notice are sent on wattpad.... But by october and august i almost lowered down to 10 chapters per month.... so last week I told everyone that I was going to transfer the translation to my blogspot because i was subcounciously ignoring NOZW and I wanted to revv up my speed and finish it.... so in all sense of the word from august to december its 4 months my translation did not show on NU... this whole fiasco started when someone said I copy and paste entire MTL... that really offended me... because I may not be on that awesome level yet but I wouldnt offend my reader who told I will try to get better and NOT be using MTL....

my updates stopped showing on NU for four months.... its only this week that someone updated the links using the back dated so it appears that i didnt stop linking to NU but I did stop linking it here I only gave a upload announcement on wattapad

 

Maybe my threshold to what I consider rude I different from others... we come from different communities with different backgrounds so it ook an offfense to your word ... you might have thought they are not offensive but that thought lies on what you think is or is not offensive.... which to me is.... being told what to do by another translator? maybe I should tell you just a few months earlier another translator in wattpad told me in clear words that the sometimes she thought people should read her translation only and compared my translation to fake gucci.... maybe you werent offensive .... but to me being told what to do by another translator with experience i had before all rolled into one.... another fake gucci moment was in the making... so close your eyes and imagine someone who thinks youre the scum of the translators tell you with a sneer that last paragraph... if you dont take it offensive I appalaud you....