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gwynSo I have to take a work break to write this out because I'm still sort of WTFing about this today. A while ago I was writing about how I'd had a few requests to translate a fanwork but how I figured at this point, after more than a year in some cases, I was never going to see them (and of course, right after I wrote that someone posted a translation into Russian of one of them). Even though I give blanket permission to translate, I've noticed people still will ask, usually in comments on AO3 but sometimes on Tumblr.
I got a message from the person who'd asked about translating the Groundhog Day story I can't remember how this started (but I can tell you exactly how it ends); she'd left a really sweet comment and said that there was nothing like it in Russian and would it be okay if she translated? I said yes and thanked her for her lovely comment. On Tumblr last night she sent me a private message, though, saying she was the person who wanted to translate it--and between autocorrect and language difficulties, I'm not totally sure I understood everything completely, but that she wasn't feeling really sure about it (I did love that she said Russian grammar is terrible, because man, I feel that, I think grammar in every language is terrible!) but she'd had a lot of trouble finding anyone who would check the translation for her.
She said that she finally found some girls who would look it over but that she had to bring it to what sounds like possibly some kind of con or gathering (a "fest") at the end of the summer; she said they would only look at it then, and that she had to delete the comment on the story at AO3. Which I just…what kind of weird Russian mean-girl shit is that? Like, you can't have a trail of asking for permission to translate, or you can't have a trail that you liked the story and left a comment? I can't figure it out for the life of me, it struck me as SO WEIRD. Cultural differences, yadda yadda, but I felt so bad for her that they were putting her in this position just because she was excited by a fanwork and wanted to have a translation out in the world, and also, deleting a comment affects the author, too. I mean, it's the most-commented on story I have so it's not a huge deal, but that's not saying a lot, as I don't tend to get a lot of them--so their demands affect both people, the translator and the writer, in a really odd way.
I responded that of course I remembered her, and I was glad she'd found someone to check the translation and that of course I was sorry to see her lovely comment deleted, but that it was her comment and so she should do whatever she wanted with it, and that I hoped the fest would be fun. But I couldn't stop puzzling over that: why they would only look at it there and why they would demand that she remove the comment on the fic. It's just so peculiar.
ETA: So it turns out that this is actually a legit fest thing with some seriously hard core rules, which you can read some explanations of in the comments! I assumed that it was something negative because her message sounded so sad and frustrated and anxious, but I'm hoping that it'll turn out to be a great experience for her.
I got a message from the person who'd asked about translating the Groundhog Day story I can't remember how this started (but I can tell you exactly how it ends); she'd left a really sweet comment and said that there was nothing like it in Russian and would it be okay if she translated? I said yes and thanked her for her lovely comment. On Tumblr last night she sent me a private message, though, saying she was the person who wanted to translate it--and between autocorrect and language difficulties, I'm not totally sure I understood everything completely, but that she wasn't feeling really sure about it (I did love that she said Russian grammar is terrible, because man, I feel that, I think grammar in every language is terrible!) but she'd had a lot of trouble finding anyone who would check the translation for her.
She said that she finally found some girls who would look it over but that she had to bring it to what sounds like possibly some kind of con or gathering (a "fest") at the end of the summer; she said they would only look at it then, and that she had to delete the comment on the story at AO3. Which I just…what kind of weird Russian mean-girl shit is that? Like, you can't have a trail of asking for permission to translate, or you can't have a trail that you liked the story and left a comment? I can't figure it out for the life of me, it struck me as SO WEIRD. Cultural differences, yadda yadda, but I felt so bad for her that they were putting her in this position just because she was excited by a fanwork and wanted to have a translation out in the world, and also, deleting a comment affects the author, too. I mean, it's the most-commented on story I have so it's not a huge deal, but that's not saying a lot, as I don't tend to get a lot of them--so their demands affect both people, the translator and the writer, in a really odd way.
I responded that of course I remembered her, and I was glad she'd found someone to check the translation and that of course I was sorry to see her lovely comment deleted, but that it was her comment and so she should do whatever she wanted with it, and that I hoped the fest would be fun. But I couldn't stop puzzling over that: why they would only look at it there and why they would demand that she remove the comment on the fic. It's just so peculiar.
ETA: So it turns out that this is actually a legit fest thing with some seriously hard core rules, which you can read some explanations of in the comments! I assumed that it was something negative because her message sounded so sad and frustrated and anxious, but I'm hoping that it'll turn out to be a great experience for her.
