About Us

Welcome to Futile Devices Scans!

We’re a group of 28 BL enthusiasts from around the world brought together by one very simple thing: we love reading BL, and we enjoy translating the stories we love so more readers can enjoy them too.

The public representative of Futile Devices Scans is Elio, while the other members of the team prefer to remain anonymous.

Our group includes native speakers of Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Japanese, as well as members who are fluent in Thai and have some knowledge of Cantonese. Because we come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, we’re often able to help one another with context, slang, wordplay, cultural references, and those wonderfully troublesome lines that refuse to translate neatly into English.

At present, we only translate into English.

How We Translate

Our translations are created using a combination of personal translation, machine translation tools, and AI-assisted tools.

These tools are part of our workflow, but chapters are not simply generated and posted as-is. Every chapter goes through human review and editing.

When Futile Devices Scans first started, our original plan was to translate a novel from beginning to end and then conduct a full Chinese-language proofreading pass once the entire story was complete. In practice, we discovered that this made the final review process unnecessarily tedious, particularly when terminology, names, characterization, or earlier passages needed to be revisited across dozens—or even hundreds—of chapters.

Because of that experience, our workflow has evolved.

For our newer projects, we consistently proofread each chapter against the original Chinese, carry out a separate English-language proofreading and editing pass, and regularly review the story as a whole for terminology consistency, recurring names and titles, characterization, continuity, and narrative flow.

When a later chapter clarifies the meaning of an earlier term, event, or passage, we also go back and revise previously published chapters when necessary so that the translation remains consistent throughout the novel.

Typically, one translator works on the initial translation of a chapter. The draft is then reviewed by a Chinese-language proofreader, who checks accuracy, context, and faithfulness to the original source. An English proofreader then reviews the chapter for grammar, readability, natural phrasing, and overall flow.

When we encounter a passage that is particularly difficult, ambiguous, culturally specific, or simply refuses to translate neatly into English, we don’t rely on one person’s interpretation. Instead, we go through a systematic discussion within the team. We compare possible readings, surrounding context, cultural references, established terminology, earlier and later chapters, and different ways of expressing the passage in English until we agree on the approach that best preserves the meaning and intent of the original.

The final editing pass is handled by Elio, who reviews the chapter for accuracy, terminology consistency, characterization, continuity, formatting, and overall translation quality before publication.

Our general translation philosophy is simple:

Accuracy comes first, followed by natural English that preserves the original characterization, humor, tone, context, and intent as closely as possible.

Feedback and Corrections

Readers are always welcome to give us constructive criticism regarding our translations.

If you notice a mistranslation, missing context, inconsistent terminology, an awkward sentence, or something you think we may have misunderstood, please feel free to let us know.

We’re happy to discuss the passage, review it against the original source, and consider another interpretation. Translation can sometimes be subjective, and we’re always willing to revisit our choices when there is a good reason to do so.

If a correction is necessary, we will do our best to review and apply it as quickly as possible.

Our translations are works that we continue to maintain. Publishing a chapter does not mean we consider every translation choice permanently set in stone.

Please Support the Original Authors

Please always support the original authors whenever you can.

Every novel main page on Futile Devices Scans includes a link to the original source of the story, making it easy for readers to find the official publication.

Our translations are intended to help international readers discover and enjoy stories they might otherwise be unable to read. They are not intended to replace the original work or official publication.

If you enjoy a novel, we strongly encourage you to visit its official page and support the author through the legitimate options available to you.

Unofficial Fan Translations

Unless specifically stated otherwise, the translations published on Futile Devices Scans are unofficial fan translations.

Futile Devices Scans is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the original authors, publishers, platforms, or licensed English publishers of the works featured on this website.

All rights to the original novels, characters, illustrations, and related intellectual property remain with their respective authors and rights holders.

Rights Holders and Content Removal

We respect the authors, publishers, and other rights holders whose works we enjoy.

If you are the legal copyright owner, licensed publisher, or authorized representative of a work appearing on Futile Devices Scans and would like the translated content removed from our website, you are welcome to contact us.

Please provide enough information for us to identify the work and the content involved. We will review legitimate removal requests and take the appropriate action.

Translation Requests

We’re happy to receive translation requests and recommendations.

Whether we can take on a requested novel depends on our current workload, the availability and accessibility of the source text, and whether someone on the team is interested in working on it.

We can’t promise that every request will be accepted, but we’re always happy to hear what readers would like to see translated.

Release Schedule

We generally post new translation updates daily.

Because this is a hobby project and everyone has responsibilities outside Futile Devices Scans, there may occasionally be days when we are unable to maintain our usual posting schedule.

If we know that we won’t be able to post as usual, we’ll make an announcement in advance so readers know what to expect.

We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding whenever real life temporarily gets in the way of translation work.

Recruitment

At the moment, we are not looking for additional translators, proofreaders, editors, or other help with our projects.

We appreciate people wanting to contribute, but our current team is able to handle our existing projects.

If we ever need additional help in the future, we’ll make an announcement on the website with the relevant details.

About the Website

You may notice that our website is fairly simple.

That’s because we’re translators and readers, not web designers. None of us are experts at building websites, so we’ve kept things as straightforward as we know how.

Please forgive the occasional rough edge. As long as you can find the novels, read the chapters, and enjoy the stories, we consider the website to be doing its job. 😊

Why We Do This

Futile Devices Scans is a hobby project.

We are not paid for the translation work we do.

We’re readers first, and translating is something we do because we enjoy discovering stories, discussing language, untangling difficult passages, arguing over impossible-to-translate jokes, and sharing novels that might otherwise be difficult for international readers to experience.

We’re constantly learning as we go, and we know no translation will ever be perfect. What we can promise is that we’ll continue doing our best to check our work, listen to reasonable feedback, correct our mistakes, and treat the stories we translate with care.

Thank you for reading with us, supporting our projects, and, most importantly, supporting the original authors.

— Futile Devices Scans