Hi everyone!
It has been a very busy few weeks at Futile Devices, and with several projects approaching completion, some new projects joining the site, and quite a few changes happening behind the scenes, we thought this would be a good time for a full project update.
This is a longer announcement than usual, but we wanted to give everyone a clearer picture of where our ongoing projects currently stand, what to expect from our update schedule, and what we have been working on around the site.
Recently Completed Projects
First, three more projects have officially graduated from our ongoing list:
On the Necessity of Catching Ghosts with Physics (CG)
Dark Blue and Moonlight (DB)
The Hibiscus Canopy (HC)
Dark Blue and Moonlight may be an especially easy one to miss if you have not been checking the Completed section recently. It was a relatively new addition to Futile Devices, but because the project was shorter and moved through translation and posting quickly, it graduated almost as suddenly as it appeared.
So if you noticed DB joining the site and then wondered where it went, it has not disappeared. The full project is now waiting for you under Completed. ❤️
The Hibiscus Canopy has also officially finished its run after completing translation and posting, while On the Necessity of Catching Ghosts with Physics has joined them in the Completed section following its final chapters and extras.
Thank you to everyone who followed these projects while they were ongoing, especially those who stayed with them through translation, proofreading, revisions, corrections, and the occasional gremlin hiding somewhere in an old chapter.
Although a project is marked complete, we may still quietly correct typos, formatting issues, navigation problems, or other small errors whenever we find them.
“Complete” does not mean we stop caring about the translation. It simply means the story has finally been allowed to graduate. ❤️
BA: Almost at the Finish Line
BA is now approaching the end of its run on Futile Devices.
Translation and preparation have progressed far enough that readers should expect the remaining chapters to arrive relatively quickly as they clear our final review and posting process.
After such a long journey, this is one of the projects we are especially excited to finally move into the Completed section.
BA is coming home. 🥹
CL, MR, and BH: More Updates Ahead
Several other projects are also entering the final stages of translation.
CL, The Eternal Silence of Mountains and Rivers (MR), and BH are all moving steadily toward completion.
Because we are actively trying to finish these projects rather than leave their final chapters sitting in the queue, readers of CL, MR, and BH can expect increased activity and more frequent updates while we work through their remaining material.
MR in particular has required careful translation work because of its complexity, so we have deliberately avoided treating it as a race. Our priority remains completing it properly rather than simply producing chapters as quickly as possible.
The Succubus Takes His Job Very Seriously (ST): So… When Does It Actually End?
We suspect quite a few ST readers have been wondering about this. 😅
The main story has already reached its conclusion.
The complication is that the author keeps writing extras.
What initially looked like the usual collection of post-ending bonus chapters has continued growing into something much more substantial. As new extras are released, we continue translating and posting them, which means ST remains under Ongoing even though the primary storyline itself is complete.
So if you have been wondering why ST seems permanently close to completion without actually becoming Complete, that is the reason.
We are not withholding the ending, stretching out the project, or sitting on a completed batch of chapters. We are following the author’s continuing releases.
At this point, the true endpoint of ST is therefore in the author’s hands.
We will continue translating the extras for as long as the author continues writing them.
We, too, would like to know how many “extras” an extra can contain before it becomes its own novel. 😂
ML: Moving to Twice-Weekly Updates
Beginning now, ML will update every Wednesday and Sunday.
This is a deliberate pacing decision.
ML is unusual among our current projects because the original Chinese novel itself is still ongoing. We began translating while the author was actively releasing new chapters, but our translation has gradually been catching up with the available source material.
The author’s update pace has since slowed considerably. The novel remains officially ongoing, but new source chapters are currently arriving much more slowly than they did earlier.
Rather than continue posting at our previous pace, catch the original completely, and then suddenly leave readers waiting indefinitely for each new chapter, we think it makes more sense to slow FD’s release schedule now.
This gives the original author more breathing room while allowing our readers to continue receiving ML chapters on a predictable schedule.
ML updates: Wednesday and Sunday
If the author’s release situation changes significantly, we can revisit this schedule.
ML is not on hiatus and FD has not stopped translating it. We are simply pacing our releases according to the amount of source material currently available.
MI: Why It Is on Hiatus
MI is a different situation.
The original author previously explained that writing the story was not going as smoothly as expected and that she was having difficulty working through the characters’ psychology. She therefore needed time to adjust and warned readers that updates would become slower and irregular.
The original novel remains officially ongoing.
Because FD cannot translate chapters that do not yet exist, MI is currently on hiatus on our side while we wait for the author to continue the story.
This is not a dropped project.
Once sufficient new source material becomes available and the author resumes progressing the novel, we intend to continue with it.
For now, we would rather give the author the time she needs than turn every quiet week into speculation about whether the project has been abandoned.
Introducing TC
There is also a new baby joining the nursery.
Say hello to TC. ❤️
We have already begun preparing TC behind the scenes, including its revamped project page, navigation structure, source material, translation workflow, and the first group of chapters.
Some longtime danmei readers may recognize this story from an older translation. We are approaching TC as a fresh FD translation from the original Chinese source while also acknowledging the work of the previous translator where appropriate.
Our goal is not simply to continue from an arbitrary stopping point. We want TC to have one consistent translation from beginning to end, with terminology, names, formatting, and characterization handled under the same standards throughout the project.
More information and the first releases will follow very soon.
Consider this the official ultrasound photo. 😂
The Rest of Our Ongoing Projects
Our other active projects remain in progress and will continue receiving updates as chapters complete translation, proofreading, housekeeping, pre-post review, and final preparation.
Unless we announce a specific fixed schedule for a project, releases will continue to be handled primarily in batches rather than according to an artificial calendar.
LY2 should also not be viewed as the end of that particular journey. There is still LY3 afterward, so although LY2 itself will eventually graduate, the series will continue on FD.
LC has also been receiving a surprisingly enthusiastic response from readers. Thank you! We genuinely did not expect this little cultivation-and-gacha baby to charge through the nursery quite so aggressively. 😂
A Note About Jubo (JB)
Readers may also notice continued activity on Jubo (JB).
Our work on JB is somewhat different from adopting a normal new ongoing project.
We are retranslating the earlier material from the beginning so that the complete story can eventually exist in one consistent FD translation rather than asking readers to move between substantially different translation styles, terminology, and presentation.
It is a very large project, but we are treating that work as a long-term continuity effort rather than allowing its chapter count to dictate the pace of our other active projects.
Our Current Update Approach
With so many projects at different stages, we do not want to impose one artificial schedule on everything.
Most projects will therefore continue using our existing batch-based release system: when translated chapters complete proofreading, housekeeping, and pre-post review, they become eligible for posting.
Projects approaching completion, particularly BA, CL, MR, and BH, may receive more frequent updates while we clear their remaining chapters.
ML is the exception and will follow a fixed Wednesday/Sunday schedule for the reasons explained above.
MI remains paused pending new material from the author.
And ST will continue whenever the author feeds the apparently immortal Extra Machine. 😭
You May Notice the Website Changing
We have also been slowly upgrading Futile Devices itself.
This includes redesigned project pages, cleaner tables of contents, collapsible chapter sections for longer novels, improved chapter navigation, chapter dropdowns, updated menus, better mobile presentation, revised project information, and a more consistent visual structure across the site.
We are doing much of this while the site remains live.
That means you may occasionally encounter something strange while we work: a missing navigation button, a chapter dropdown behaving incorrectly, a table of contents temporarily looking odd, a menu item appearing in the wrong place, a layout behaving differently on mobile, or some other tiny creature escaping from the machinery.
If you notice anything unusual, please feel free to report it to us.
Reader reports are genuinely useful. With hundreds of chapters spread across many projects, it is very easy for one broken link, navigation issue, or formatting problem to hide where we cannot immediately see it.
Why Are There Two Covers Now?
Readers may also have noticed another change on our redesigned project pages.
Where possible, we are now keeping both the original cover and an FD fan cover.
We considered replacing one with the other, but ultimately decided that keeping both made more sense.
The original cover is part of the novel’s original identity and publication history. Some readers strongly prefer seeing the artwork associated with the Chinese release, and we think that should remain readily available rather than being replaced simply because we created something new.
At the same time, other readers enjoy the FD fan covers, particularly when an original cover is highly abstract, text-focused, or does not visually depict the characters.
The fan covers give each project a second visual identity and allow us to explore our own interpretation of its atmosphere, setting, and characters.
For us, there is another benefit as well.
When you spend hundreds of chapters translating the same characters, you naturally develop a fairly clear mental picture of them. Creating an FD fan cover gives us a way to turn some of that mental image into something visible. It can also help give long-running projects a recognizable visual personality across the site.
However, the fan covers are interpretations, not official character designs.
They are not intended to overwrite the author’s original artwork or imply that our version represents the canonical appearance of the characters.
Keeping both covers lets the two purposes coexist.
Readers who love the original artwork still have it. Readers who enjoy seeing FD’s interpretation have that too. We preserve the novel’s original visual identity while also giving ourselves a little creative room to imagine the characters we spend so much time translating.
So yes, the dual-cover format is intentional, and you will gradually see it appear across more of our redesigned project pages.
What’s Next?
The next stretch should be an interesting one.
Several longtime projects are approaching graduation. BA is very close, while CL, MR, and BH are moving steadily toward completion and should therefore see more activity.
TC is preparing to make its proper entrance.
ML is settling into its new Wednesday/Sunday schedule.
MI is waiting patiently for its author.
And ST is…
…ST.
We are no longer making predictions about ST. 😂
At the same time, we will continue improving older project pages, navigation, tables of contents, and other parts of the website in the background while translating, proofreading, and posting our active projects.
Thank you for continuing to read with us, for reporting problems when you find them, and for being patient when one project needs to move more slowly than another.
There is a lot happening behind the scenes right now, but the goal remains the same: complete the stories we start, take care of the translations already entrusted to us, and make Futile Devices a better archive for them as we go.
Thank you, as always, for reading and supporting Futile Devices. ❤️
Futile Devices