Late Satisfaction

[SoftGameHunter]

I found that translation description quite interesting. I'm a little surprised you are even using translation software. Your grasp of standard English is excellent, a thousand times better than my German ever was at its peak even when I lived there (it was an English-speaking workplace). As the original author, you have the language skills and the authorial authority to say exactly what you mean, or at least closer than any of the software packages can achieve. Little cultural clues slip in from time to time than you're not American, but the language will probably never give you away. At least not in writing. I have no idea how good you are speaking. I seem to recall you mentioned being from northern Germany, so your accent (to English ears) is probably milder than if you were from further south, particularly south-west.

[Claire]

If you're one of the readers who has voted in the poll but not rated the story yet, please do so! I asssume that reading to the end of chapter 2 and finding the office rape hot means you liked it at least a little. Your rating would mean a lot to me and it helps the forum too! It's really easy:

Thank you so much!

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There's an interesting 'non-conception' theme here. The Robertsons couldn't conceive a child, Eleanor couldn't conceive that Robertson was raping her

I haven't thought about that yet. It was most definitely not intentional on my part. I'm trying to wrap my hand around whether there is somehing there in the text or whether this is just wordplay with the different meanings of "conception". But I like it, I really never thought about linking these two sub chapters together that way.

It's so nice to see you back, Lucius. The forum is not the same without you!


@SoftGameHunter Thank you, that feedback means a lot to me. I'm using AI mostly to polish the text. Basically, I write my own translation and then I show the AI the original and my first draft of the translation to the AI. It will then point out typos and grammar mistakes to me. But it will also point out when it thinks that my sentences sound a bit unnatural or too German or if I accidentally use a common German way to phrase something. To give you a concrete example:

Eleanor just sat on the bed with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes.

The common German expression for slumped shoulders is "hängende Schultern", the literal translation being "hanging shoulders". In my first draft, I actually used "hanging shoulders" there. And then ChatGPT told me that this is unnatural in English. Basically, I'm using the AI as an editor for my translation to spot moments like this.

[Lucius]

It's so nice to see you back, Lucius. The forum is not the same without you!

Thank you, it means a lot to me!

... To give you a concrete example:

Eleanor just sat on the bed with slumped shoulders and downcast eyes.

The common German expression for slumped shoulders is "hängende Schultern", the literal translation being "hanging shoulders". In my first draft, I actually used "hanging shoulders" there. And then ChatGPT told me that this is unnatural in English. Basically, I'm using the AI as an editor for my translation to spot moments like this.

'Drooping shoulders' works as well, I think.

[AdmiralPiet]

I think I'll leave it at that. Maybe that was interesting for some of you. If you want to know something specific about German vs. English for any particular passage, feel free to ask!

Following up on that:
I was away for a few days without login. But I read up to the current state of the translation

All in all, it reads almost the same as the german version, the translation does not alter the "feeling"
I had just very minor instances where I felt it could have been translated differently or better.

Two that come to mind:

Eugene guckte skeptisch und biss in seine Pizza.

Eugene’s face showed a skeptical expression as he took another bite out of his pizza.

The translation here feels more formal and "german" than the original.
I would argue that "Eugene seemed/looked skeptical" is closer but does not feel quite correct.
"Eugene looked at it skeptically and took a bite of his pizza." is what the AI suggests.
That feels more in line with the original

Das Foto seiner Frau hatte einen Riss in der schützenden Glasscheibe

His wife’s photo had fallen over and there was now a tear in the protective glass

Tear is correct for "Riss" but I would use that for fabric or maleable materials.
With glass a "crack" fits better.

But as I said: Apart from such minor things here and there you did a good job

[Claire]

@AdmiralPiet Thank you for the feedback. That is extremely valuable.

You're abolutely right about the cracked glass. "Tear" is just the wrong word here. I'll fix that soon!

I'm not so sure about Eugene's skeptical face. I don't like the AI suggestion here. I need to think a bit more about that.

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Now, independent from this story, I would like to ask you for help. I noticed that you didn't rate the story despite giving the German original a high rating and also liking the translation. Now, maybe you want to wait until the story is finished before you give it a rating. But my gut feeling is that you forgot to rate the story. And I think the reason might be the user interface of the rating system.

I would like to ask you as someone with considerable drawing skill whether you have any suggestion on how to overhaul the user interface of the rating system to make rating easier and more intuitive for users.

The lack of ratings for stories people like is undermining how this whole forum is supposed to work. Even on sites like Literotica and AO3 that are even worse in terms of reader engagement, at least rating/liking a story is fairly common. And you can see that here too. To give you a few examples:

1) The poll on this thread currently has 11 votes. The two votes not for option A ("Hot") rated the story already. That leaves 5 ratings on the story in comparison to 9 votes for A. @HumiliationInc rated the story, but he says he only read the first chapter so far, so I doubt that he participated in the poll. So that's at least 6 people who read to the end of chapter 2 and were willing to engage with the poll saying that they found the scene in the office hot but who didn't rate the story.

2) In basically every story contest we had, the winning story had more votes in the contest poll than it had ratings. And that is odd. Naturally, you would expect it to be other way around. You can rate a story positively, but still vote for another story in the contest that you liked even more. So if anything, the contest winners should have more ratings then votes.

3) And to give just one more concrete recent example: @groff32 wrote a comment praising @Vile8r's story here but didn't rate it. As a matter of fact, that story didn't receive a new rating since November 7 despite thousands of views since then and @Vile8r being the most well-known author on the forum.

To me, that is a clear sign that something is wrong with the user interface. Because in all these cases it is clear that the users are willing to engage with the stories on some level, either via comments or voting in polls, but for some reason not with the ratting button. So, I would really like to know whether you consciously chose not to rate Late Satisfaction or whether you somehow didn't think of it. And if it's the latter, I would love to hear if you have thoughts on what we would need to change to make rating stories more intuitive. I know that your skill in drawing does not translate directly into designing an intuitive user interface. But we have nobody on our moderation team who shares your skill in drawing/graphic design. Your perspective would be very welcome!

[AdmiralPiet]

I'm not so sure about Eugene's skeptical face. I don't like the AI suggestion here. I need to think a bit more about that.

It does not need changing. Like I said: It is something minor, and if no one else chimes in you can easily log it under "readers personal preferences"

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But my gut feeling is that you forgot to rate the story. And I think the reason might be the user interface of the rating system.

Yes. I forgot. I regulary forget taht there is a rating system at all.
That might be a me thing however. I barely rate anyting, not on youtube, nor on newgrounds or Hentai Foundry etc.
Even when I vow to use it more often, it soon dies like new years resolution

The only thing i regulary use is the retweet on twitter or bluesky if I particulary like something. And during that operation I usually press the like button as well.

I would like to ask you as someone with considerable drawing skill whether you have any suggestion on how to overhaul the user interface of the rating system to make rating easier and more intuitive for users.

But we have nobody on our moderation team who shares your skill in drawing/graphic design. Your perspective would be very welcome!

I would not rate my skill as considerable, and as you said: Drawing porn does not translate into good UI design.

But what I could immediately suggest is this:
Make the interface more prominent. I was about to suggest moving it from the top of the post to the bottom, only to realise that it is already there.
If other people are like me it might not make any difference, because I would manage to see it, and just not use it, for some reason.
Maybe move it to the middle of the screen?



Kinda like this.
No need to make it overly flashy, but somewhat more noticable.

Alternatively, but I doubt that is possible with the forum software:
If someone comments for the first time on a story: Use a intermediate screen with the rating UI before one can proceed to the comment editor.
But even if possible: That might be seen as a nuisance and hurt comments instead of helping rating.

From my experience at work though: The only surefire way to make someone do something: Force it.
No one, even me as quality manager will consistently input the lot-number or aditional info into the measurement system without being forced, by virtue of the machine not starting otherwise.
Similar with the tool storage system: Why use the system to manage storage? Just grab from the open drawer until it is actually empty but not reflected in the inventory and then complain about no one ordering more.

[RapeU]

Well, I got around to reading part of this. And I'm enjoying the callbacks to Record Chaser. Don't think I've read Venus' touch yet, so that'll have to be read at some point.

I didn't read the office scene on purpose because as a teacher myself, I can't risk the fantasy bleeding into real life. Perhaps it's silly of me to be cautious like this, but still it's a risk I don't want to take.

The wife being unknowingly raped though, that's an interesting twist. Elanor almost raping Eugine, that's another interesting one too. Does Elanor become a female rapist? I forgot to check the tags...

...nope, don't see the female rapist tag. Too bad, that could have been an interesting origin story. Then again, her mind being fractured is somewhat on the nose here.

[Julia]

@JTCK, @Blue, @Mister X, @LaLia, @AdmiralPiet, @Irenova, @Julia, @Interception

All of you read and liked the original German version. Unless you find the English translation horrible, I'd appreciate if you could give the English version a rating too. Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the translation! I put a lot of work into it and I'm dying to know what someone thinks who is familiar with both versions.
...

Ich entschuldige mich schonmal, deine englischen Geschichten nicht zu bewerten/ zu lesen. Mir liegt die Sprache einfach nicht so gut und die Hälfte der Zeit mit dem Übersetzer arbeiten zu müssen, macht den Lesefluß leider kaputt... Aber ich lese gern alle deutschen Geschichten (von dir und den anderen)...

[Claire]

@Julia Schön mal wieder von dir zu lesen! Wenn Englisch nichts für dich ist, mach dir keinen Kopf! Ich freu mich über Feedback zur Übersetzung, aber natürlich nur von denjenigen die auch gerne in Englisch lesen.

@AdmiralPiet Thank you for your feedback. I had something similar in mind as the example UI you posted. Can we maybe ask you for help if we need help designing some nice buttons for the ratings?

[Claire]

Don't think I've read Venus' touch yet, so that'll have to be read at some point.

It's a quick read, about 10,000 words.

I didn't read the office scene on purpose because as a teacher myself, I can't risk the fantasy bleeding into real life. Perhaps it's silly of me to be cautious like this, but still it's a risk I don't want to take.

I kind of get that. The whole scene is in a college setting though, not high school.

The wife being unknowingly raped though, that's an interesting twist. Elanor almost raping Eugine, that's another interesting one too. Does Elanor become a female rapist? I forgot to check the tags...

Well, it's interesting you call it rape. I think that's one of those scenes that different people might judge very differently. And regarding Eleanor's future behavior: You can not trust my tags on that. If I wanted to write a story with a surprising twist where the victim becomes a rapist herself I would not give that away with a female-rapist tag.