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nevermindirah · 3 years

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Yitzhak!

is a character! who Gregadiah What-Is-Math Rucka gave us almost no information about!

I've gone through Tales Through Time #6: The Bear and #1: My Mother's Axe with several magnifying glasses and done a lot of googling and taken my copy of the Tanakh off my shelf for the first time since (well, since the last time I needed to read Torah for TOG reasons, which I think was Booker Passover headcanons) and here's the best I can come up with.

In The Bear we meet someone who goes by the name Isaac Blue:

Read on for a lot of comic panel analysis and historical research and Jewish flailing!

So what do we know about this Isaac Blue person?

He's Lorge, he's got curly hair, he's basically a taller version of Joe as drawn by Leandro Fernández (ie an antisemitic stereotype why the fuck did they approve this character design?? and then why did they double down and copy-paste it to Yitzhak??):

He's got a mezuzah on the doorpost of his house in Alaska!

I screamed about the mezuzah way back in January in this post where I (very reasonably) assumed this character was Joe and spun myself a tale about how Booker is still Joe's brother so the mezuzah stays up even though Booker isn't welcome in that house for a century. Bottom line: the mezuzah is a tradition with origins in the commandment from Deuteronomy 6:9 to "write the words of G-d on the gates and doorposts of your house" and evolved over the course of the Rabbinic period into the modern mezuzah we see here.

I did unnecessary levels of google image search to glean absolutely no useful information about Yitzhak’s origins from this panel:

I've decided the variant cover of TTT 6 is Yitzhak because of a panel in My Mother’s Axe, shown here, and what's likely an unnecessarily deep reading of Exodus, discussed further down:

The person at the right of the bottom panel is wearing the same clothes as in the TTT 6 variant cover and has the same shoulder-length curly hair and hairy forearms.

Left to right, the people in this panel are Lykon (I'll never get used to him being white in the comics), Andy, Noriko (I think? why doesn't Andy mention her by name here?), and Yitzhak. Andy's robe has a stereotypically Greek design on the sleeve cuff, and I had to stop myself 10 minutes into a Wikipedia rabbit hole because Gregorforth doesn't think that deep about this shit. The solid clues as to timeline that we get in this panel are:

Andy's iron axe

the presence of Lykon, who Andy first met in 331 BCE

So all we know is that Yitzhak is an immortal, he was a contemporary of Lykon, and he's Jewish.

Isaac is the most common Anglicization of Yitzhak (which in turn is the most common Anglophone transliteration of יִצְחָק‎), and Greg always uses the (transliterated) Hebrew when he refers to this character. Yitzhak is the long-awaited child of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, the child who G-d commanded Abraham to sacrifice but spared at the last minute. I see what you did there, Gregory.

Why Isaac Blue? This is where I pulled out my Tanakh. According to the New JPS translation, blue is the first of three colors of yarn listed in Exodus 35:6 among the gifts requested of the Israelites to construct the priestly garments for the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Then in Numbers 15:38 the Israelites are commanded to "make themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner."

And now for sandbox timelines party! Gregadiah gave us ALMOST NOTHING to go on, so I'm gonna make my own fun.

I, like many modern Jews, think the stories in the Tanakh are foundational mythology that are valuable because of how they've shaped our people but that contain some fucked-up shit and either way aren't meant to be a record of historical facts. Modern scholarship generally agrees that the community we now call Jews emerged as a distinct group of Canaanites sometime in the late Bronze Age (cw this video's host says the Name of G-d aloud despite being a religious studies scholar who knows that is not a name anyone but the Temple priests are allowed to say). The first non-Biblical written record of the people Israel is from an Egyptian source c. 1200 BCE, and the Biblical kingdom of David and Solomon was probably an exaggeration of whatever really happened during the Bronze Age Collapse. We start getting into historical-fact territory a few centuries into the Iron Age:

588 BCE Solomon's Temple destroyed, Babylonian exile begins

538 BCE Cyrus of Persia allows Jews to return to Jerusalem

515 BCE Second Temple construction complete

332 BCE Alexander the Great At Something I Guess conquered Judea, beginning the Hellenistic period of Jewish history — 331 BCE Andy & Lykon find each other

167 BCE another jerkface Greek king desecrated the Temple and basically outlawed Judaism

164 BCE recapture of Jerusalem and Temple rededication during the Maccabean Revolt

70 CE destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, beginning of the Rabbinic period of Jewish history that we're still in now

What if... and hear me out... what if immortals come in pairs, and the pairs are:

Andy & Quynh

Joe & Nicky

Booker & Nile

LYKON & YITZHAK

What if Yitzhak was a priest of the Second Temple? What if he and Lykon killed each other just like Joe and Nicky would in the same city around 1300 years later, but instead of enemies-to-lovers speedrun with an absurdly long happily-ever-after, when Lykon died permanently Yitzhak decided to separate from Andy and Noriko and become the hermit we later see in Alaska?

We don't know how old Yitzhak is compared to the others, only that he was a contemporary of Lykon at a time when Andy was using an Iron Age version of her mother's axe. Other plausible origins for him:

a Jew of the early Rabbinic period, maybe a child or grandchild of people who were still alive before the Second Temple was destroyed

a Judean of the Second Temple era under the Romans or Greeks or Persians, maybe a priest, maybe not

an exilee in Babylon, maybe of the generation who got to return, maybe of the generation who was exiled (he doesn't look like he was 50 at his first death but who knows, he could've been mortal for both)

an Israelite of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, maybe a priest of Solomon's Temple or again maybe not

an Israelite wandering in the desert with Moses

THEE Yitzhak, ben Avraham v'Sarah, our patriarch who was brought up for sacrifice and then spared, and then spared again, and then spared again, and again, and again...

or! he could also be a Canaanite or other Levantine who predates the people Israel, who at some point in his very long life chose to join our mixed multitude, who like Andromache before him (and like Avram and Sarai would in this case do after him) took a new name to reflect the magnitude of influence this people has had on him

Why do I keep saying Yitzhak might have been a priest? It's thanks to the one detail in the artwork I could plausibly connect to solid research without getting a PhD real quick. Take a look at the gorgeous detail on the opening of his robe in the TTT 6 cover. He's dressed in rags, holes and dirt everywhere, rough stitches probably from hasty repair work — except for the neck opening. Compare that to this description from Exodus 39:23 of the construction of the priestly garments for the Tabernacle: "The opening of the robe, in the middle of it, was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around the opening, so that it would not tear."

The next verses describe the intricate designs for the hem of the priestly garment. Yitzhak's ragged garment looks like the hem was torn off entirely.

Am I overthinking this? Yes I am! You're welcome!

My friend and historical research hero @lady-writes is in a Discord server with Gregadiah and asked the man himself some questions about all this. He clearly thinks he's being sneaky?? No shit Yitzhak is Jewish, dude, I want DETAILS!

I will not be giving up my Jewish Booker headcanon, I've put too much thought into it by now, the internalized shame of antisemitism explains Booker's depression too well for me, and it just adds so much richness to Booker/Nile both being children of forced diasporas. Fortunately (for him, not me, bc I'd do it anyway!) Gregothy supports fan headcanons even when they're not in line with his own:

One last thing before I close like 100 research tabs and go back to writing historical fantasy and/or porn! I love that, despite that atrocious caricature of a face design, our canon Jew and our fanon Jew are both Lorge and Soft and Kind, flying the face of the antisemitic stereotype of Ashkenazi Jewish men as small and weak, but also not falling into the New Jew / Muscle Jew stereotype that Zionism created. (I am trying SO HARD not to talk about Israel/Palestine for once ughhhhhhhhhh) Anyway here's a (US-centric but very good) primer on both these stereotypes of Jewish masculinity. Is this why I'm forever projecting my transmasc diasporist feels onto Jewish Booker the service sub? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ll reblog a second version of this with full image descriptions so that there’s a version accessible for folks who need IDs as well as a version accessible for folks who get overwhelmed by walls of text.

#TOG POC Love Fest #yitzhak #jewish booker #tales through time spoilers #tales through time #tog meta #tog #jewish things #mine #antisemitism #hi i'm an antizionist jew no i don't really want to talk about it

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hopetofantasy · 4 years

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Culture, parallels & meta - S3 E1

Previous season Prologue: Vlogs (1) - Vlogs (2)

Zaterdag 21:43

The time lapse already showing us a string of places that will be important later, like the dark alley, the Meir with Noor’s workplace, the university neighborhood, the Scheldt river where the boys hang out, ...

Perfect parallel:

The second season starts Zoë’s POV with a (washing machine) door, whilst the third opens with a door to a party that Robbe attends.

Robbe glances back at Noor passing through the shot this episode, an action he repeats when he spots Sander in the second episode. - A very subtle hint to where his love life may lead.

The first one starts with two unknown LGBT+ girls kissing at a party, the last episode shows two known LGBT+ boys (Sobbe) kissing at their own party.

The aerial shot through the floor to introduce us to Robbe’s POV here and the aerial shot through the roof to say goodbye to him in the last episode.

Moyo saying “No one would do you” to Aaron in this episode, Aaron realizing “No one here wants to do me!” in the last.

Where’s Wally? Noor greeting Marie, accompanied by Jana and Britt. Max dancing with Keisha in the crowd.

How ‘meta’ of you: Newsflash, yes you are!

Nod to the OG:

The deliberate messy POV: following everyone that we know already and then slowly settling on the Isak version in a tub.

Robbe saying Noor looks like ‘Natalie Portman’, which is what people said to the OG Emma when they flirted with her. Everyone, except Isak, that is.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Moyo keeps pressuring Robbe into explaining what type of girl he likes. The boys laugh it off when he answers that ‘he doesn’t have a type’.

Lost in translation: Moyo mocks Noor’s Dutch accent, making his ‘g’ and ‘st’ sound harsher, while also adding ‘hoor’ at the end - a typical word used by the Dutch to emphasize a point.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Jens is playing with the weed bag. Keisha is one of the girls that Moyo mentions as Jens’ ex-girlfriend or ex-fling. Not only did Noor nót flush the toilet, but she didn’t used any toilet paper either!

Zaterdag 22:44

C is for culture:

Noor rescuing Robbe on her scooter - In Belgium, you’re allowed to drive a moped or scooter once you’ve reached the age of 16. Nothing is needed if the vehicle doesn’t go above 25 km/h. If it stays between the range of 25-45 km/h and max. 50 cc, you need to pass a theoretical exam, 4 hours of driver’s ed and a practical exam to get the license. Anything other than that, has a whole new set of restrictions, types of driver’s licenses and minimum ages. Noor and Robbe are, however, still breaking the law. As long as you’re not 18, you’re not allowed to have an extra passenger with you. Especially if they’re not wearing a helmet. (Plus they ignored a red light. Those rebels!)

“You do know that you always have to have it with you?” - The Belgian law states that everyone above age twelve, has to get an ID to identify themselves. Some might have had a Kids-ID already - for travel purposes - but that’s not mandatory. However, once you're fifteen years old, you’re obligated to carry your ID with you at all times.

Perfect parallel:

Luca being all jealous whilst staring at Noor and Robbe making out in S3, her glaring at Maud and Robbe every chance she got in the last season.

Robbe and Noor having fun on the scooter while screaming and Robbe filming their adventure in this episode. Robbe and Sander doing a similar thing, but on their bikes in a later episode.

Wink to other remakes: Robbe sporting a brown jacket. (Eliott, anyone?)

Surprise bitch, guess who: It’s Willem Chanterie, the on-set costume designer and social media production assistant!

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Noor has a ‘Fuck Trump’ sticker on her helmet. Robbe says “Hey, it’s red” in a very clear Antwerp accent.

Zaterdag 23:11

Hello from the outside: The garbage truck they sprayed, still drove around the city regularly. The art piece itself is named ‘#Genoeg mama' (= ‘#Enough mommy’). It blames the consumer society as toxic, making young people its victim.

Oopsie: Inside the graffiti den, Noor suddenly sports a tote bag with supplies, even though we never saw her wearing that in the previous shots.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Noor has black combat boots. The photographer is obviously Sander, in case you have missed that subtle clue.

Zondag 13:41

Lost in translation/Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity:

“Check die pekie’s”. The word ‘pekie’ is actually Amsterdam slang for ‘beautiful girl, girlfriend’. In recent years, more and more Dutch slang are making their way into the Flemish dialect, because of the Dutch rap songs gaining popularity with the youngsters.

“Vamos, flikkers”. The word ‘flikkers’ can mean ‘wussie’ as well as a derogatory term for ‘homosexual’. Again establishing the fact that the boys use a lot of homophobic or toxic words for each other.

Robbe’s clumsiness meter: +1, him tossing the bag behind Jens instead of into his hands.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: There is a football right next to the skateboards.

Maandag 16:04

C is for culture: “The whole art school was talking about it” -

Secondary school is divided in four sections: general, technical, art and vocational. Which section you choose can have effect on further education. In one of these sections, you pick what you want to study from your first to last year (‘directions’). That means that you have some courses purely focused on the direction and others that are obligated for everyone, regardless.

Art high schoolers can choose to go to work or study a specialization afterwards. Their coursework isn’t solely art based, there are general required courses too. That’s why some foreigners - including the Dutch - come to Belgium, since they’ll get a more rounded and higher level of art education than in their countries. ‘de!KUNSTHUMANIORA’ is the high school in Antwerp Noor goes to and is known for having students with unique styles.

Perfect parallel:

Noor waiting outside the school for Robbe and him reacting somewhat confused here, Sander doing the same and having an instantly happy Robbe in a later episode.

Robbe having no problem kissing a girl ‘as a straight guy’ in front of the gates in this episode and scared for what might happen if he kissed a boy ‘as a gay guy’ later on.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The insta caption underneath the art work says ‘An inspirational message on a Sunday! Just discovered this in Antwerp city today. Artist unknown... Can you remember when you last called on your mother?’ (That last sentence, oooofff, the symbolism!)

Dinsdag 14:57

C is for culture:

“Yes, mini enterprises are so chill.” - Mini enterprises are often used as a tool for Economics in the fifth/sixth year. The goal of these is to ‘learn whilst doing it’. Like the name specifies, mini enterprises are actual miniature companies set up by a group of students. During the school year, they’ll try to work together on commercializing a product. All aspects of entrepreneurship are at play here: writing a business plan, holding meetings, doing bookkeeping, marketing the product, produce and sell it, ... If the enterprise idea is good or well executed, it might even win a national prize by the company making this education formula.

“What if he contacts child protection services” - Actually, those services doesn’t really exist in Belgium. There are, however, other youth organizations for these types of things, like JAC - Youth Advice Centre, CLB - Centre for Student Guidance and the Centre for Mental Healthcare.

Perfect parallel: The boys hyping Aaron up to walk over to Amber and talk to her - yet he fails in this episode, them doing the same and he succeeds (after some fails) in the last episode.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Jens saying “Damn, seems like someone is on his fucking period”, after Robbe snaps at him due to the difficult telephone call with his dad.

Lost in translation: Jens saying “Mijn kop staat er niet naar” (= “My head’s not standing there”) can actually mean different things: I’m not in the mood, it’s not the right time, I don't want to do it, my head’s all over the place, ... It depends on the context, on which interpretation would suit the situation the best.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The girls are all fawning all over Britt’s cellphone, so there is a good chance that they’re discussing (pictures of) her boyfriend, Sander. Also, Jana’s braces are gone!

Donderdag 17:13

Perfect parallel: Robbe stating that he can’t talk to his dad or he’ll fight and Zoë getting that, as she said a similar thing to an understanding Senne about her parents in S2.

How ‘meta’ of you: Ah, yes, fandom ship names in SKAM. We applaud!

Oopsie: If you look really hard, you see that the body type and hair of Robbe’s dad, doesn’t correspond with the version waiting at the restaurant later on.

Wink to other remakes: This shot reminding you of a certain S3 trailer? 👀

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: The numerous references to Zoënne’s relationship in their room (relationship pics, Senne’s guitar). The paper Milan gifts to Robbe is the written permission by his parent to live with them, as is obligated by law.

Vrijdag 20:04

Perfect parallel:

Senne pulling Zoë up after a kiss here, just like with their first kiss in S2.

Robbe pushing Milan away after thinking he wanted to kiss him at the party in S2, them hugging it out in after talking about it in S3.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Zoë and Milan making some healthy party snacks like cauliflower and cocktail sauce, cheese with tomatoes and salami squares. She pulls back the bottle of gin that Milan wants to steal. Senne also bought paprika and tortilla chips from Colruyt (a discount store).

Vrijdag 20:54

C is for culture: “Noor, Robbe’s girlfriend” - (Teen) dating culture is different in Belgium. Usually, if you have kissed, hung out, texted or just said/did something to show your mutual interest, you’d pretty much consider yourself in a relationship. It can go from 0 to 100 very quick. Unless there is, of course, an agreement that what you’re doing is no such thing. Also, nobody really ask you to be their gf/bf. It just implied or stated to their family or friends.

Perfect parallel:

A reluctant Robbe pushing himself to do stuff to Noor (playful dancing, kissing, riling her up) as far as putting his hands on her bra here. A totally different, excited Robbe not even thinking twice about doing these things to Sander, even licking his nipple during their reunion.

Noor pushing Robbe on the bed and climbing over him, whilst Robbe looks all sad in this episode. Him pushing Sander on the bed and being happy as Sander crawls over him during their reunion.

Oop, there it is, the homophobia / heteronormativity: Robbe tries to convince himself into liking heterosexual sex with Noor and fake laughs with his friends about having it.

Where’s Wally? Keisha laughing with Amber and later dancing with Marie.

Blink-and-y’ll-miss-it: Jens is talking to Senne. The decorations behind Milan saying ‘Welkom Robbe’ (= ‘Welcome Robbe’). Noor has a beautiful tattoo of a pin-up girl covered with butterflies on her lower arm.

#wtfock #wtfam #skam #skam belgium #cpm rewatch

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edogawatranslations · 5 years

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Danganronpa Kirigiri (3) - Chapter 1, Part 1

Table of Contents | Previous: Introduction and Translation Notes

Danganronpa Kirigiri: Volume 3

Chapter 1 - The Boy and the Count

The dawn of a new year.

That was how he referred to it.[1]

What awaited us was quite possibly not simply the turn of the calendar year, but instead, the end of one era and the start of another.

January 7th.

Winter vacation had ended, ushering in the new school term.

The gentle rays of the sun streamed in through the windows, illuminating a row of my classmates’ drowsy faces. Even though the school bell had already signaled the start of class, an air of lethargy still hung over the room. The only hint of liveliness came from the pesky sound of the teacher’s chalk dancing across the blackboard.

Once recess began, I walked over to the middle school classroom.

Kyoko Kirigiri’s seat was empty.

I approached a nearby student, who confirmed to me that she was indeed absent.

—She’s been missing since that day.

That day, when we emerged victorious from the Duel Noir at Norman’s Hotel and witnessed the peculiar sight of the stage curtain behind the murder game unraveling. That place, from where the two of us escaped hand-in-hand, trembling with fear.

Thinking back to it now, parting ways afterwards was a mistake. I should never have let go of her hand. I didn’t stop her from going back to her house, as I believed that to be the safest place for her. After escorting her home, I returned to my dormitory room.

The following week was filled with nothing but ordinary days, devoid of any murder investigations or Duel Noirs. Yet, every waking moment—when I was working on homework, taking a shower, or even lying in my bed—the image of those who died weighed heavily on my mind. My heart was still deeply engrossed in the case. I couldn’t help but think that the peaceful, uneventful hours passing by marked a temporary suspension of reality.

Longing to speak with Kyoko, I tried calling her house, but nobody picked up. Not her, not even her grandfather or her live-in housekeepers. It was the same no matter when I called.

Finding it odd, I decided to stop by her house in person. Pressing the intercom button outside didn’t trigger any response. The surveillance cameras at the gate gazed coldly in my direction. From what I could see of the residence over the tall fence, all the lights were off, and nobody seemed to be home.

Did something happen to Kyoko?

Knowing that she hadn’t been coming to school, my vague anxieties cemented into grave concern.

It was almost as if Kyoko Kirigiri had been whisked away from this world.

Did the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee finally make their move? The organization’s leader, Mikado Shinsen, was somehow connected with Kyoko’s detective grandfather. Perhaps she had gotten entangled in some trouble between the two of them.

If she had been abducted, then it would be up to a detective with a Detective Shelf Classification number of [88]—those specializing in kidnapping cases—to find her. That meant me.

I’ll save her.

—But the way things were, I had no way of knowing if she had actually been kidnapped. She couldn’t have fallen into the hands of the enemy so easily. As the sole daughter of the Kirigiri detective clan, she possessed extraordinary talent and abilities, which I had the pleasure of witnessing with my own eyes many times over.

Just where did Kyoko disappear to?

———

Tracking down missing persons was a detective’s duty.

For my first stop, I decided to pay a visit to the Detective Library, hoping that there would be a message or clue left for me there.

The Detective Library contained an archive of files with information on approximately 65,500 detectives. The collection was open to the public, making it so that anyone could freely browse through at their leisure. Any person seeking information pertaining to a detective would be wise to make it their first priority to come here.

I got off the bus once it reached the Detective Library, and slipped through the old-fashioned gates. The front porch of the building was designed with a western flair, and as I stepped onto it, I once again found myself standing in front of the portal that led to the forest of detectives.

I had come here many times in the past. Just a few days earlier, Kyoko and I had entered through these doors. Yet, on this occasion, standing before the Detective Library inspired not only the usual sense of wonder and mystery, but also a certain feeling of dread that a formidable darkness lay within its walls.

That apprehension was most likely the result of me having been through two Duel Noirs. I couldn’t help but imagine that the dark shadow of the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee was cast over the Detective Library.

On the surface, the Detective Library labeled itself a neutral institution, free from the influence of all outside organizations. But was that really the truth?

Mikado Shinsen, the architect of the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee, was one of the individuals who played a key role in establishing the Detective Library fifteen years ago. The detectives summoned for Duel Noirs were determined on the basis of their DSC rank. Furthermore, the detectives with the highest DSC rank of [000] had apparently joined forces with Shinsen.[2]

Considering the facts, it wouldn’t have been at all surprising if the Detective Library and the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee were secretly conspiring with one another.

If that were the case, then I was about to venture into the enemy base all alone.

Everything was fine. I wasn’t scared—

At least, I hadn’t been before I stepped off the bus.

To compensate for my fright, I marched through the doors towards the counter with my head held high, though I don’t think I was able to completely mask the fear on my face.

“Are there any messages for me?” I asked, flashing my Detective Library ID card to the grizzle-haired staff member at the counter. The thought that he could be part of the sinister organization crossed my mind.

He took my card into his hands and glanced at it before shaking his head. “There are none.”

“Then... Please update my record,” I requested.

With sluggish movements, the employee turned to the nearby computer and inserted my card into the terminal.

After a brief moment, he said, “There are no updates for you.”

“Wait, really?”

The employee gave a silent nod and handed me back my card.

Sure, maybe I wasn’t much help during the last Duel Noir, but I still expected my rank to increase by at least one. Alas, reality was unforgiving.

I stepped away from the counter and made my way into the archive room.

Countless files lined the organized rows of bookcases. The room was deserted and still, with the silence broken only by the sound of my footsteps echoing off the lofty ceiling. I weaved through the aisles until I reached the [9] section—homicide detectives.

I located Kyoko’s file, pulled it out, and flipped it open.

Nothing in her file had changed since the last time I visited. There was still not a single word written about the Norman’s Hotel case. It was possible that there was no record because Kyoko wasn’t summoned as the detective for that Duel Noir.

No, but the Sirius Observatory case was clearly listed in her file, even though she hadn’t been selected as the detective back then either.

Then, perhaps no record of the case existed because it hadn’t been made public. There were no reports of the case on TV or in the newspapers.

An idea suddenly popped into my head. I shuffled over to the [900] shelf and found the file for Suisei Nanamura, the double-zero class detective summoned for the Norman’s Hotel case.

His file overflowed with his glowing accomplishments. However, nothing alluded to the conclusion of the most recent case. Detectives who passed away normally had their profile column updated with their year of death, but Nanamura’s file contained nothing of the sort.

I had no doubt that Nanamura was dead. After all, he shot his head with a pistol, right before my very eyes. His body, along with the entire hotel, folded into the scenery and vanished into thin air.

Mikado Shinsen had folded his handkerchief inches from my face, and at the same time, the scenery behind it had been folded up as well. The whole scenario felt like a dream.

But Kyoko assured me that all of it was real.

“His handkerchief prevented you from witnessing the scene, but I can confirm that the hotel flipped into the ground,” she said.

“‘Flipped into’?”

After the case had concluded, the two of us returned to investigate where the hotel had stood, and we discovered the slightest of gaps beneath the base of the wall encompassing the area. According to Kyoko, the hotel had been standing on a thick board-like foundation that had a revolving axis running through its center, forming a mechanism that made it possible to flip the building into the ground to transform the property into a vacant plot of land. The wall served as camouflage, obscuring the gaps in the dirt.

Kyoko nodded. “You theorized that the walls in the hotel rooms rotated to create the locked rooms. But it wasn’t the walls that could flip—it was the building itself.”

The reason Mikado Shinsen used his handkerchief to block my view was likely to momentarily conceal the apparatus. A trick often used by magicians and illusionists alike.

Kyoko continued, “A device of unimaginable proportions would be required to smoothly rotate a building that large into the ground without making a sound. Perhaps all the locations used for Duel Noirs have mechanisms set up that allow them to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. The buildings are normally kept out of sight, and only surface when a murder game is about to unfold.”

“Then how do you explain the surrounding scenery being folded up and vanishing?”

“I think it did exactly that—folded up and vanished. The background was likely designed so that it could be easily disassembled at any time, like folding backdrops used in plays. Since we can think of Duel Noirs as a kind of production, it wouldn’t be strange if even the scenery was constructed as part of the stage.”

Kyoko expressed confidence in her theory, but I couldn’t shake my skepticism. The Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee planned numerous crimes in many different locations. Did they really have the capacity to design all those elaborate devices and portable sceneries? All the money in the world didn’t seem like enough to accomplish that.

Money wasn’t the only limiting factor. The organization also needed a sufficient number of stagehands. Preparing and dismantling the set required a considerable amount of manpower, but the more people involved in the production, the more vulnerable the organization was to having its secrets leaked.

And yet, Duel Noirs were still being held without arousing public suspicion. Who knew how many challenges had been issued? However large the organization was, it must have been extremely meticulous and methodical in its affairs.

Just how many people were involved with the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee? Was I simply too oblivious to realize that I was walking amongst its rank and file every day?

That thought caused chills to run through my body.

When Shinsen and the other Committee members left the scene that day, they made clear to us their tremendous financial power and their organizational capacity. And perhaps more terrifying, their ability to turn even the most ridiculous nightmares into reality...

If I had more thoroughly searched the scene back then, maybe I could’ve at least unearthed Nanamura’s corpse. As long as he and the other victims’ bodies remained undiscovered, the case would likely never see the light of day.

I let out a heavy sigh and returned Nanamura’s file back to its place on the shelf.

Perhaps a great number of the detectives listed in these archives were associates of the Crime Victims’ Salvation Committee.

Then, how many truly dignified detectives remained in the world? Even the triple-zero class detectives, who commanded the respect of many, belonged to the enemy camp.

I couldn’t let my guard down. The scene before me right this instant may very well have been a manufactured illusion.

With Kyoko missing, there was nobody whom I could place my trust in. How would I go about discerning between fact and fiction?

In the end, the Detective Library offered no clues relating to Kyoko’s whereabouts.

Since the library’s closing time drew near, I started making my way to the room’s exit. My eyes may have been playing tricks on me, but the room seemed to grow ever-so-slightly dimmer. The lamp above the door flickered on.

In the faint light, I motioned to step through the door frame, when all of a sudden—

A figure appeared, slipped past me, and entered the room.

A sweet scent lingered after them and found its way into my nostrils. The smell wasn’t artificial like a perfume; it was more pleasant and nostalgic, something that reminded me of flowers blooming at dawn.

The person who passed me was a young boy with bright, colorful hair.

He was dressed in a vest like an adult, with a suit jacket draped over his right arm. Without making a sound, he continued walking. I only managed to catch a glimpse of his face the split second we passed one another, but it was enough to make me gulp.

I had seen him somewhere before.

He wasn’t someone from my past, however. Rather, he reminded me of an angel in one of those religious paintings, or a sprite from a fairy tale gamboling in the sunlight. He was a pretty boy who looked strangely familiar, yet whose existence had to be that of a phantasmal being not of this world.

I spun around to try to get another look at him, but he had already disappeared. The faint aroma lingering in the air indicated where he went.

I felt like I had just seen a ghost.

Was that kid looking for a detective?

Something about him captured my imagination, but I decided not to dwell on things any further, and left the Detective Library empty-handed. To me, finding Kyoko was more important than wondering about some mysterious boy.

[1] (TN: "He” being Mikado Shinsen at the end of Volume 2.) [2] (TN: At the end of Volume 2, Yui and Kyoko see two of the three triple-zero class detectives—Gekka Ryuuzouji and Johnny Arp—leaving the scene of the hotel with Mikado Shinsen.)

Next: Chapter 1, Part 2

#danganronpa #danganronpa kirigiri #dr kirigiri #translation #light novel #novel #kirigiri

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courtneyrobinson97 · 5 years

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IXD301

Where does content come from?

This week was all about where content comes from and also who owns that content. We looked at sources of content, for example:

Client Supplied

Self Generated

User Generated Content

APIs

Etc.

We also identified different sources of imagery, etc., for example Illustration, Icons, Photography… from places like:

Illustration

iStockPhoto

Shutterstock

Getty

What is copyright?

Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture, and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.

Copyright touches our lives on a daily basis. Whether you read a book, watch a film, transfer music, or take a photo, copyright issues are ever-present.

Copyright law aims to balance the interests of those who create content, with the public interest in having the widest possible access to that content. WIPO administers several international treaties in the area of copyright and related rights.

There are two types of rights under copyright:

economic rights, which allow the rights owner to derive financial reward from the use of their works by others; and

moral rights, which protect the non-economic interests of the author.

Most copyright laws state that the rights owner has the economic right to authorise or prevent certain uses in relation to a work or, in some cases, to receive remuneration for the use of their work (such as through collective management). The economic rights owner of a work can prohibit or authorise:

its reproduction in various forms, such as printed publication or sound recording;

its public performance, such as in a play or musical work;

its recording, for example, in the form of compact discs or DVDs;

its broadcasting, by radio, cable or satellite;

its translation into other languages; and

its adaptation, such as a novel into a film screenplay.

Examples of widely recognised moral rights include the right to claim authorship of a work and the right to oppose changes to a work that could harm the creator's reputation.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organisation devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organisation has released several copyright-licenses, known as Creative Commons licenses, free of charge to the public.

These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators. An easy-to-understand one-page explanation of rights, with associated visual symbols, explains the specifics of each Creative Commons license.

Creative Commons licenses do not replace copyright but are based upon it. They replace individual negotiations for specific rights between copyright owner (licensor) and licensee, which are necessary under an "all rights reserved" copyright management, with a "some rights reserved" management employing standardised licenses for re-use cases where no commercial compensation is sought by the copyright owner. The result is an agile, low-overhead and low-cost copyright-management regime, benefiting both copyright owners and licensees.

Portfolio Website Content - So Far...

<div>

<h1>HEY, I'M COURTNEY.</h1>

<p><i>METAL GIRL WITH TATTOOS.</i></p> <p><i>ANIMAL & COFFEE ENTHUSIAST.</i></p> <p><i>UI DESIGNER & FRONT-END DEVELOPER.</i></p>

<button>VIEW MORE ABOUT ME</button>

</div>

<h1>PORTFOLIO PAGE</h1> <div>

<h2>WHO'S THAT GOOD BOY?</h2> <h3><i>SKILL : APP DESIGN / PROTOTYPING</i></h3>

<p>The educational app for all ages, encouraging users to travel and discover the many varieties of doggos we have in this beautiful world even right on our own doorstep.</p>

<p>Who’s That Good Boy? allows users to have a fun, interactive experience as well as sharing the experience with family or friends.</p>

</div>

<h2>SELF BRANDING</h2> <h3><i>SKILL : CORPORATE IDENTITY - BRANDING</i></h3>

<p>My brand vision is to create unique and exciting solutions within the design industry which adhere and relate to my selected style and approach to design.</p>

<p>In this section you will see my start to finish process of making my Monogram, Wordmark and Visual Marque.</p>

</div>

<div>

<h2>DEMENTIA IN THE UK</h2> <h3><i>SKILL : DATA VISUALISATION - INFOGRAPHIC</i></h3>

<p>During my first year of university, my Nannie suffered from and passed due to the affects of Dementia.</p>

<p>I decided to base my infographic on the topic of Dementia in the UK as it's a disease that, unless witnessed first hand, not everyone understands the full extent and issues it raises.</p>

<p>I wanted to make something that would provide people with the relevant information in an interesting but informative way.</p>

</div> </div>

<h1>ABOUT PAGE</h1>

<div>

<div> <h3>Hey, I'm Courtney.</h3>

<p>I’m a young, enthusiastic UI designer based in Belfast currently seeking placement opportunities for 2020-2021.</p>

</div>

<div> <p>I'm currently a second year student at Ulster University, Belfast, studying a Bachelors in Interaction Design.</p>

<p>My key areas of interest include:</p>

<ul> <li>Front-End Development</li> <li>Branding</li> <li>UI Design</li> <li>App Design</li> <li>Data Visualisation</li> <li>Illustration</li> </ul>

</div> <div>

<p>Before coming to Ulster University, I achieved a Level 5 HND in Graphic Design at Belfast Metropolitan College. It was here that I discovered my passion for digital design whilst building and designing projects for set briefs.</p>

</div> </div>

<h1>CASE STUDY PAGE</h1>

<h2>The Challenge</h2>

<p>Create an illustrative travel app considering elements such as mobile design principles, colour and thumb.</p>

<h2>The Process</h2>

<p>For this project, I began by exploring the potential answers to the problem given by drawing a mind-map of ideas after hearing the topic “Travel”. From this, I was able to branch the ideas out further to see which ideas held the most potential in regards to fulfilling the set brief of creating an app using illustration but also considering the potential needs of the intended users.</p>

<p>After discussing my list of ideas in class, my next stage was to begin market research. I had to gain a sound knowledge and understanding of all the elements that need to be considered when building and designing an app before I could begin developing my own concept. Looking at how existing apps use illustration in regards to travel as well as their navigation layout approach, icon sets and branding were all helpful as it made me consider what was needed for my own app in order for it to be successful.</p>

<p>As I’d never created an icon set before, I used the design technique of master apprenticing to recreate a set of travel icons so that I would have a better approach to designing using just simple shapes. I enjoyed completing this exercise and it encouraged me to research the history of icons to see how they have varied in design approach from the 1900’s to present day.</p>

<p>Now that I had a better knowledge on what needed to be included in an app, I then went back to my initial mind-map of ideas. From this I decided to create a dog themed app as I felt it held strong visual stimulation for creating illustrations. My inspiration behind the functioning of the app stemmed from looking at Pokemon Go. I wanted to design an app that encourages the user to travel in real life to collect as many dog breeds as they could, gaining a stamp for each breed as a reward.</p>

<p>The idea for the app is that the user would photograph a dog they find whilst out exploring, the app would then transform the dog into an illustrative id card which would then be stored. Each dog discovered gains the user more ranking and also unlocks mini challenges like a treasure hunt as they have to answer questions and follow clues to end up at a final destination.</p>

<p>Turning to my sketchbook was the next stage of my process so that I could start developing visuals for my app design. I created many rough sketches in regards to icons, illustrations and wireframes so that I could move on to digitising the app using Sketch to develop them into clean, finished design elements which would piece together to finalise the overall app design.</p>

<p>I produced a high-level mock-up of my app to present in front of my classmates in order to receive constructive feedback that would then help guide me to a finalised app design. Once I made the recommended changes to my designs, I created a functioning prototype using InVision to best show how my app design answers the problem set in the original brief.</p>

<h2>Some Obstacles</h2>

<p>The main challenge I encountered was when I was digitising the dog illustrations as at this point I had limited experiences using Sketch for these purposes. The illustrations therefore took quite a bit of time to create however I feel that this experience helped strengthen my skill set in regards to using this software.</p>

<h2>My Reflection</h2>

<p>Throughout the process of this project, I feel like I was able to strengthen my existing skill set for developing and designing concepts from start to finish, however, I also got to experiment and learn some new techniques I hadn't tried out before such as prototyping and considering the rule of thumb.</p>

<p>To read further notes and my reflections on this brief, click the link below to my Tumblr page!</p>

<button>VISIT MY TUMBLR</button>

</div>

<h1>CONTACT PAGE</h1>

<p>Check out the ‘Hire Me’ page for my CV or fire me an email using the link provided below whether it be for job opportunities, an invite to groups/events or perhaps even for a killer collaboration project.</p>

<p>I’m currently seeking placement opportunities for 2020-2021.</p>

<button>GET IN TOUCH</button>

</div>

<h1>Courtney Robinson</h1> <h2>UI DESIGNER & FRONT-END DEVELOPER</h2>

</div> <div>

<h3>Design Experience</h3> <h4>Content Marketing Manager</h4> <h5>Robinson Financial Services</h5> <h5><i>Oct 19 to Present (Part Time)</i></h5>

<p>Roles & responsibilities:</p>

<ul> <li>To expand the company’s digital footprint and brand awareness</li> <li>To take full responsibility of the companies digital marketing strategies including use of social media, email campaigns, blogs, SEO (to name a few) to increase digital lead generation</li> <li>To provide administrative support to the Company Director</li> <li>To perform other incidental and related duties as required and assigned</li> <li>Responding promptly to customer enquiries in person or via telephone & email</li> <li>Working to tight deadlines</li> </ul>

<h4>Freelance Designer</h4> <h5>Courtney Robinson Designs</h5> <h5><i>June 17 to Present (Part Time)</i></h5>

<p>Roles & responsibilities:</p>

<ul> <li>Responding promptly to customer enquiries in person or via telephone & email</li> <li>Create visuals based on customer requests (print or digital)</li> <li>Strong use of Adobe Creative Suite and Sketch Software</li> <li>Daily reports on the status of pending work</li> <li>Good general IT skills</li> <li>An ability to communicate design ideas clearly</li> <li>Working to tight deadlines</li> </ul>

</div> <div>

<h3>Education</h3>

<h4>Interaction Design (BDes)</h4>

<p>Ulster University, Belfast</p>

<p>Sep 18 - May 22</p> <p>Result: Pending</p>

<h4>Graphic Design (QCF)</h4>

<p>(EDEXCEL BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma)</p> <p>Belfast Metropolitan College, Belfast</p> <p>Sep 15 - May 17</p> <p>Result: Pass</p>

<h4>OCN NI Level 2 Award in Social Media (QCF)</h4>

<p>Belfast Metropolitan College, Belfast</p> <p>Sep 15 - May 17</p> <p>Result: Achieved</p>

</div>

<div> <h3>Design Skills</h3>

<ul> <li>Sketch</li> <li>Adobe Creative Suite</li> <li>HTML/CSS</li> <li>InVision</li> <li>Branding</li> <li>Digital Marketing</li> <li>Web & App Design</li> <li>Data Visualisation</li> </ul>

</div>

<div> <button>DOWNLOAD PDF</button> </div>

Sources:

https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/

https://creativecommons.org/

#ixd301 #designingwithcontent #ulsteruniversity #belfast #design #ixdbelfast

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the-master-cylinder · 4 years

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SUMMARY Claire Ward hires private investigator John March to look into the increasingly bizarre activities of her husband Charles Dexter Ward, an esteemed Rhode Island chemical engineer. Through a series of conversations with John, Claire reveals Charles’s recent unexplained isolation in their carriage house, his sudden uncovering of his family history, and their visitation to an abandoned ancestral farmhouse near Pawtuxet where he found a painting of a man named Joseph Curwen, to whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Since these events, Charles has purchased and moved into the farmhouse, leaving Claire without explanation.

Upon investigating, John finds that numerous deliveries are made to the farmhouse, and inquires about them to Charles, who is evasive; Charles explains that he is undertaking routine chemical tests using animal cadavers. Shortly after, an elderly man in a neighboring home is found brutally murdered, only a few remnants of his bones left in the house. Police assume he was attacked and eaten by an animal, but John is skeptical. Claire and John go to visit Charles together, and find him pallid and speaking with an archaic affect. They attempt to extract an explanation from Charles, but he simply tells them he is on “the edge of greatness”, and that in six weeks’ time, they will understand.

Claire agrees to have Charles committed to a hospital. Doctors find his metabolism to be inexplicably high, triggering ravenous hunger, and attribute his change in demeanor to hormonal issues; however, they are unable to explain his craving for blood and raw meat. Meanwhile, John uncovers a diary in the carriage house from Ezra Ward, Charles’s fifth-great grandfather, dated 1771. The diary explains how Ezra had an affair with Joseph’s wife Eliza, and that Joseph had been practicing necromancy in catacombs he constructed on his property. After a flood penetrated the catacombs, the townspeople discovered a grotesquely malformed creature in the river, which they burned alive. The diary ends leading up to the townspeople’s raid of the Curwen house, and Eliza’s admission to Ezra that she was pregnant with Joseph’s child; Claire, John, and John’s assistant Lonnie surmise that Charles’s biological great-grandfather was actually Joseph, not Ezra.

John and Lonnie decide to search for catacombs on the farmhouse property with Claire. They uncover the entrance in the house’s basement, and inside the catacombs find a laboratory and half-grown creatures in wells; Claire also discovers Charles’s briefcase. They attempt to flee but are attacked, and Lonnie is killed by one of the creatures. John leaves a bomb in the catacombs, and he and an injured Claire escape with the briefcase before the house detonates. John takes Claire to the hospital where she is sedated, and the doctor informs him she is pregnant.

John goes to visit Charles in the psychiatric institution, and confronts him with the briefcase, which he discovered filled with human bones. He accuses Charles of in fact being the 250-year-old Joseph Curwen, who successfully found a way to conquer death through his necromantic experiments. Joseph admits his identity, and confesses that the bones in the suitcase are those of Charles, whom Joseph killed after Charles raised him from the dead. He explains his plan to regain his health and eventually be discharged from the hospital, after which he can impersonate Charles. Joseph attempts to cannibalize John, but John pours the restorative potion from the laboratory over Charles’s bones. Charles’s skeleton reanimates, and begins to tear the flesh off Joseph, before the two disappear in a cosmic explosion.

DEVELOPMENT Two facets of Lovecraft’s work create problems for filmmakers, who must not only wrestle with expanding his short stories to feature length, but must also find a cinematic method of conveying the sense of malign cosmic conspiracy underlying many of his later plots. Perhaps the closest anyone has come to capturing Lovecraft is Roger Corman’s THE HAUNTED PALACE (1963), which, despite its Poe title is actually a previous adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Though Corman retained little of Lovecraft’s plot, many of the author’s more outre concepts survived, and Corman’s visual style was a fair approximation of Lovecraft’s literary voice.

THE RESURRECTED was initially written as a spec script by Brent V. Friedman, whose interest in adapting Lovecraft was piqued by the work of Stewart Gordon. “I didn’t really start reading Lovecraft until I noticed that RE-ANIMATOR was based on his story,” recalled Friedman. “I went out and devoured everything I could by him. The one story that struck me as having filmic potential was The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, because there’s so much there. His stuff is mostly short stories I saw some great little ideas, but I didn’t see a film in any of them.”

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is one of only three short novels that Lovecraft ever wrote. At approximately 120 pages, its length seemed optimum for translation to the screen. Noted Friedman, “Because I was so naive at the time. I thought, ‘This will be easy to adapt.’ It was very difficult. The way the novella is written is just how the title implies—it’s written as a kind of objective look at this strange experience. There was no real main character. Unless you want to make a documentary, that doesn’t hold up.”

Friedman set about adapting the novella without being aware of Corman’s film. “I didn’t see it until after I’d written the script I didn’t realize what it was based on until someone told me,” admitted Friedman. “It’s an interesting little film, but it’s a very different version.” After several drafts, Friedman managed to dramatize Lovecraft’s tale well enough to show the script to producers Mark Borde and Kenneth Raich, who took it to Toni Scotti of Scotti Brothers Pictures. In looking for a director, Borde sent Friedman’s script, then titled SHATTERBRAIN, to Dan O’Bannon through a mutual friend. The choice was appropriate: O’Bannon’s RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD had been an effective low-budget directorial debut; perhaps more importantly, O’Bannon’s ALIEN, though an “original” screenplay, captures many of Lovecraft’s more visual concepts probably better than any official adaptation, particularly in the sequence exploring the alien planet and derelict spaceship.

Coincidentally, O’Bannon had already been trying to adapt Lovecraft’s novella, and he brought many of his ideas to the script. “My script is relatively different from the film,” said Friedman. “I set up the main character as a psychiatrist examining Ward. The thrust was how the case affects this psychiatrist. He’s coming from a scientific background, thinking there’s a rational explanation, and takes on a case which makes him rethink everything he believes. After finding out there’s a supernatural explanation, he ends up going slightly crazy.

“When O’Bannon came onto the project, he had been trying to write a script from the same material, and he felt that he had never cracked the third act. He read my script and said, You’ve solved a lot of the problems, but the way I’d always had it in my mind was the main character’s a detective.’ If he was going to get involved with the project-which everyone was very keen on-he wanted to tell the story his way. Everyone was skeptical at first, because my script was getting good response. O’Bannon wrote out a 15-page treatment to show how you could integrate parts of my script with what his idea was.

Rejected Creature Design

“I can’t even tell you what a thrill it was to find out he was involved with the project.” Friedman enthuses. “In just the past six months that I’ve been working with him. I’ve probably learned more about writing than in the previous 26 years of my existence. It’s almost as if, until that point. I was just winging it.”

“Dan’s thinking was this story naturally lends itself to a detective because there are so many clues to be discovered. It looked good on paper, but the execution was a lot trickier than he had made it seem. The toughest thing was to keep the detective not only intellectually involved, but emotionally involved. Dan’s idea was to involve him, a la CHINATOWN, with the wife—which works on a certain level but on another level becomes distracting.”

The change in lead characters resulted in a change of title as well. “The word ‘shatterbrain’ is actually a Middle English term for crazy,” explained Friedman. “It was more relevant in my original script, because the psychiatrist came unglued. It does sound a little like a B-movie, but at the same time it evokes a certain image, so it was appropriate. I pushed for it long into post-production-people got very bored with my suggesting it. THE RESURRECTED, to me, gives too much away. Once you meet the three main characters -well, one of them’s been resurrected, and it’s not too hard to figure out which one!”

PRE-PRODUCTION Devising a photographic look that would capture Lovecraft’s tone fell to cinematographer Irv Goodnoff, who went through an interesting audition process for his director. “There was one other director of photography interested,” said Goodnoff, “so Dan gave us an assignment to bring in what we thought our interpretation of the script would be.

I went back and studied a number of painters that had the flavor of what H.P. Lovecraft felt like, expressionistically speaking. I brought in 30 books, marked out with the pictures I liked. About a week later, I got a phone call saying Dan wanted me.”

Pre-production lasted from June to October 1990, followed by seven weeks of principal photography in Vancouver, Canada, which doubled for Lovecraft’s beloved Providence, Rhode Island. The Bridge Studios, which cover almost 50,000 square feet, provided ample space for the construction of a labyrinth of tunnels where dwell the ghastly results of Curwen’s experiments.

“It’s a contemporary piece, but there’s also the 18th century and the whole world of the catacombs, so, in essence, the picture has three looks,” explained Goodnoff. “We used two different film stocks: Kodak for most of it, and Agfa for the period scene. The Agfa has a more creamy pastel look; the Kodak is much higher contrast with a denser black.

I try to create a flavor and a feeling. Sometimes, a third of the screen is black, and there are shafts of light. When you’re doing horror, you don’t show everything. Dan O’Bannon told me, “You set an expectation for the audience. Then you make them wait, and you make them wait, and you make them wait. When you finally suggest that they see something, they’re going to be scared.’ That was basically our approach.

“It was the most difficult job I’ve ever had to do. The scheduling should have been nine weeks, but we only had seven. We wrapped principal photography just before Christmas. It was one of those deadline days. The plug was being pulled at midnight. I’ve been on a couple of pictures like that: because of bonds people, financial and contractual things, one minute over 12 means you’ve blown it. Those bottom-line people have no grace in a lot of cases. We had three different units going. I was running from one to the other, checking, then shooting my own unit. It was a 14-hour marathon.”

Sarandon with O’Bannon

“Charles Ward is basically a well-intentioned, good man who is led astray by a desire to conquer this great scientific problem that his ancestor has posed. It’s kind of a parallel to Frankenstein: a good man who is consumed with something that he shouldn’t be messing with. The big theme here is basically “Don’t screw with death.” – Chris Sarandon

SPECIAL EFFECTS The premise of the story is best summed up by a passage Lovecraft quotes from the alchemist Borellus: “… from the essential Saltes of humane Dust, a philosopher may … call up the shape of any dead Ancestour from the Dust where into his Bodie has been incinerated.” Typically, Lovecraft refers to the results, when not all the “essential Saltes” have been gathered, simply as the “livliest awfulness” without ever describing them in detail.

Such restraint doesn’t work on the movie screen, according to Friedman. “He didn’t really show you a lot,” said Friedman of Lovecraft. “In a book that’s almost scarier, because the reader uses his imagination to fill in the blanks. In a film you can’t just keep talking. Ata certain point you have to deliver the goods. The way the script plays is you get up to the point where he left off and then you have to start creating on your own.”

Coming up with specific designs for Lovecraft’s livliest awfulness fell to Masters, who took his initial inspiration from Friedman’s script. “There were incredibly bizarre descriptions which I had a lot of fun interpreting,” said Masters. “When it finally came to materializing these, O’Bannon would show me books of paintings by Francis Bacon, who I’ve always been a fan of. He would express himself in these imageries, these strange concoctions of paint and color and light rather than form and shape. Dan really got into talking about the character rather than the form, so it was an interesting challenge to come up with a design. What we tried to do is take the human form as groundwork and completely distort a certain aspect of itas long as there’s something the audience can grasp, it’s quite frightening. We designed about 30 monsters; in the film there are about five. I’ve still got reams of designs that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to use for anything else because they’re so weird.

The effects unit during principal photography was directed by supervisor Todd Masters because O’Bannon was on a tight schedule. “Dan would take a sequence all the way up to where the effects jumped in, and he would finish off a sequence,” said Masters. “He would leave us the middle. My crew worked nights, mainly for sound reasons we didn’t want to cause troubles with the other unit. We had to match a similar camera style. Things marry very nicely.”

“We’ve done more tricks on this film than on any other I’ve ever worked on,” said Masters. “We have monster suits, remote-control animatronic characters, puppet heads, stop motion, and pneumatics. We had a set of prosthetics on Chris Sarandon for a good portion of the end of the film. You can’t tell he’s wearing anything—they match his face-until we turn on the lights. It’s networked with fiber optics, so it gives the illusion that his veins are glowing when he comes to his climactic end.”

“For most of the monsters, I was given a long leash,” Masters explains. “O’Bannon started coming down with quite a strict design on one creature that I called the ‘Darwin monster,’ which in one of the early drafts of the script was actually supposed to be Darwin resurrected. As the script developed, that monster kind of got pulled all over the place. Some of the earlier maquettes had some really wild designs, but O’Bannon finally just said, “Well, you know, what I really want to see in this movie, which we haven’t done yet, is a half-skeletal body-being that these are supposed to be resurrected corpses with its other half this kind of swollen, amorphous, elephantitis looking guy.’

“I was never too excited about that,” Masters admits, “just because I always thought it was more interesting when [the Charles Dexter Ward character] made these mistakes out of these corpses’ ashes–they didn’t always come together in the right place, and would elongate and do strange things. Dan wanted something that was a little stricter, closer to human, so he actually sat down and pencilled out this sketch which would eventually become this monster, and I did a maquette and a variety of sketches to hone in on what he was trying to get.

“It’s a pretty neat monster,” Masters concedes, “but it’s not my favorite in the film, because to me it’s too much of a solid substance. Many of the other ones are so disturbing and so amorphous that it’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what every piece is.”

I though there are a number of creatures in The Resurrected, Masters points out that there isn’t an overabundance of gore for gore’s sake-although there are some healthy sprayings of blood.

“That’s one thing that Chris Sarandon and I were really trying to steer away from,” he clarifies. “I’ve never been a fan of gore, and I don’t really care for splattering walls with blood even though I did splatter two sets with blood for this film. Actually, one day I flew in from LA, got off the airplane, and Dan came up to me and said, ‘Do you have a lotta blood?’ I said, “Well…yeah.’ And he says, ‘Well, do you have lots of blood?’ It’s like, ‘I don’t know.

Extensive visual effects, supervised by Todd Masters in post-production, helped the ambitious nature of screenwriter Brent Friedman’s evocation of the horror of Lovecraft. Though many of the effects in Friedman’s script were deemed too expensive, Masters-originally hired to produce makeup and physical effects-sought to find a way to retain them, working closely with production designer Brent Thomas.

“Thomas really pulled rabbits out of his hat,” said Masters. “He loved the project from day one. He and I would get together after office hours at the studio and sit down in the hotel bar to concoct ideas. That’s how the movie turned into such a crazy fiasco. We thought the whole idea of Brent Friedman’s script was so bizarre and wonderful that we kept wanting to play.

“Every time something was pulled away from us, because there wasn’t money for this monster or that set, Brent Thomas and I would figure a way to put it back in. We didn’t want a film that has small production value. Horror films deserve all the scope and scale they can get.”

The horror that was to be resurrected by detective John Terry early on in Curwen’s laboratory got axed so Masters’ effects unit could afford to rent a studio to work in. As a low-cost stop-gap director Dan O’Bannon suggested that Terry resurrect just two fingers, “a goofy idea,” said Masters, who came up with a believable, low-budget finger monster concept instead. “We had to keep fingers in it,” said Masters, “so we turned this thing into almost a crab monster with fingers, an eyeball, and some external organs.”

After principal photography wrapped, Masters and producers Mark Borde and Kevin Raich viewed a rough assembly to determine what effects were still needed. What was originally intended to be a few weeks of rotoscoping expanded to six months, four shooting miniatures and another two adding opticals. “The producers really wanted it to be an effects-filled film,” said Masters. “We made sure that we kept the budget down. I’ve coordinated a lot of visual effects in the past. Since our eyes were looking through the camera, and our eyes only, we cheated to hide all the expensive stuff just inches out of frame.”

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One amusing episode involved a four-foot-high balsa wood miniature of Curwen’s mansion, rigged to explode. “This was part of Ted Rae’s unit—he did two miniature shots in the film,” said Masters. “We had it set up in Ted’s parking lot, waiting for nightfall. As I was painting part of the chimney, I heard these little cracks in the structure. As I was ready with the final dab of paint, a big gust of wind came and blew the whole thing down! What a nightmare! Ted and I jumped underneath the house and tried to hold it up, but we ended up having to recreate the whole building in a day and blow it up the following night.

“Everybody that worked on this film put their blood into it,” Masters summed up. “It turned into a labor of love for a lot of us-which I know sounds cliched, but everyone was really pulling for it, and it shows in the film.”

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The extensive post-production schedule turned out to be a hindrance for composer Richard Band. “They made about eight edits the night before my recording session,” said Band. “That’s a composer’s nightmare, but all too common these days.” Band came up with a synthesizer score that boasted a full orchestral sound. “To have done this score with an orchestra would have cost $400,000,” said Band. “The producers have resigned themselves to a synthesizer score.”

Summed up Friedman, “I think we retained more Lovecraft than any other adaptation I’ve seen. We didn’t just use the concepts as springboards for our own story. In fact, there’s one scene lifted word-for-word, dialogue-wise, involving the first time you see Curwen posing as Ward, and he’s talking this strange 18th century speak. So there’s some place where Lovecraft is completely intact, and there are others where liberties were taken. It’s not as grossly amusing as REANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND. It takes a much more serious, Gothic slant. In the end, I wish we could have made my original script, but I’m still happy we made something.”

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CAST/CREW Directed Dan O’Bannon

Produced Mark Borde Kenneth Raich

Written Brent V. Friedman

John Terry as John March Jane Sibbett as Claire Ward Chris Sarandon as Charles Dexter Ward/Joseph Curwen Robert Romanus as Lonnie Peck Charles K. Pitts as Ezra Ward Megan Leitch as Eliza Lauren Briscoe as Holly Tender

Special Effects by Jason Barnett … prosthetic effects David P. Barton … prosthetic department head (as David Barton) Julie Beuscher … prosthetic effects Bryan Blair … prosthetic effects Evan Brainard … prosthetic effects Kevin Brennan … prosthetic effects Jeffrey Butterworth … first assistant special physical effects (as Jeff Butterworth) Scott Coulter … prosthetic department head: Todd Masters Company, Inc. (as John Scott Coulter) Bernhard Eichholz … prosthetic effects (as Bernie Eichholtz) Earl Ellis … prosthetic effects: Todd Masters Company, Inc. Kevin Flemming … special effects photography Thomas Floutz … key effects makeup artist (as Thom Floutz) Mark Garbarino … prosthetic department head Karin Hanson … prosthetic effects Marty Huculiak … special effects assistant Timothy Huizing … prosthetic effects (as Tim Huizing) Gil Liberto … prosthetic effects (as Gilbert Liberdo) Geoff Martin … special effects key grip Todd Masters … special effects unit director Mike McDonald … special effects gaffer (as Michael McDonald) Kevin O’Leary … special effects assistant Gary Paller … special physical effects coordinator Dennis Petersen … special effects assistant Tom Price … special effects assistant (as Thomas E. Price) Jonas Quastel … special effects first assistant camera Robert Sheridan … special effects assistant Mark Sisson … prosthetic effects James Slavin … prosthetic effects (as Jim Slavin) Chris Spouler … special effects assistant Candace Van Woerkom … prosthetic effects Andrew Vincent … special effects lamp operator Scott Wheeler … prosthetic effects Shawn Wilson … special effects assistant Andre Bustanoby … prosthetic effects (uncredited)Visual Effects by Bret Alexander … visual effects miniatures Jim Aupperle … visual effects director of photography Asao Goto … visual effects miniatures Dave Gregory … optical effects supervisor Todd Masters … special visual effects Jeff Pyle … visual effects miniatures Ted Rae … additional miniature / visual effects director of photography Marc Tyler … visual effects miniatures David Williams … additional optical camera: Illusion Arts (as Dave Williams)

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Cinefantastique v22n06 Fangoria#106 Fangoria#112 Gorezone#22

The Resurrected (1991) Retrospective SUMMARY Claire Ward hires private investigator John March to look into the increasingly bizarre activities of her husband Charles Dexter Ward, an esteemed Rhode Island chemical engineer.

#90sMovies #Lovecraft

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litanylanguagelearning · 3 years

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The Surprising Benefits Of Word By Word Translations

Litany offers a way to tap on words to have them spoken out loud. It didn't always offer this feature. The reason it was added was because I was having trouble determining which single word translation corresponded to which word in the full translation.

So I added the feature that if you tapped on a word in the word-by-word translation it highlights and speaks the word in the full translation.

It looks like this.

And you know what? I really like it. A lot.

The main reason is that it slows down the text. When you press play on a phrase it'll speak out the text out loud and it says it very fast. Especially for a new speaker.

The old version of an app allowed you to play back the text at half speed to try to get over this problem. And it worked, but it was pretty hacky.

But you'll notice in the new design there is no longer an option to play the text back at half speed. Because the word for word translations obviates the need for it.

And it does a fantastic job of it. You can even use it without the word for word translations. Just tap a word to say it out loud. Even languages that don't have spaces.

In fact it helps the most with the languages without spaces because it can be difficult to know where one word ends and the next begins.

Sometimes I have no clue what a phrase is and when I begin going word for word I occasionally start to get a sense for its meaning. It's really neat.

And of course there's the obvious benefit the feature was originally meant to solve. When you first start a language you sound super robotic and cut out all the function words entirely. This feature allows you to fix that.

Sometimes I'm like, "Oh, I said 'I went car', what I meant to say is 'I went to the car'".

For the past year I've been trying to learn a language using Anki. And although it's a very nice tool it always felt like it was missing something.

So I made my own app and it fixes all the problems I've had with Anki and then some. I am incredibly happy with how it turned out and you can try it out for free here.

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operationrainfall · 6 years

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Title Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ Developer Otomate (Idea Factory) Publisher Aksys Games Release Date March 30th, 2018 Genre Visual Novel, Otome Platform(s) PS4, Switch Age Rating T for Teen Official Website

What do the collective works of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Jules Verne, Maurice Leblanc and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all have in common? All are considered literary masterpieces, all continue to remain in circulation, and all have seen various adaptations across other mediums. Additionally, these works were also first published during the same span of time (19th century into the early 20th century). Aside from these basic observations, they also heavily contribute to the heterogeneous mixture of concepts and ideas presented in Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~.

When I picked this one up, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had not seen any coverage or descriptions of this game prior. My basic understanding was that it was an otome visual novel split across two smaller titles: Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~. The first of those initially saw a release on the PS Vita back in 2015 (2014 in Japan). That one is comprised of just the main story, having a clear conclusion for each path. The second title was released in March of 2018 (2016 in Japan) and is essentially a collection of side-stories and “where are they now” events. This PS4 compilation that I am taking a look at released in March of 2018 as well.

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The story in Guardian of Rebirth is structured into a single path of 8 chapters, after which an important decision must be made. Those first 8 chapters are entirely from the perspective of the protagonist and most of the decisions are fairly inconsequential. Towards the end of chapter 9 though, you are given a very important decision: which potential love-interest will you go exploring with to find clues. Depending on your answer to this question, chapters 10-13 will be entirely different. I don’t mean that you will see the same story told from another vantage point, I mean the story will take a complete detour and you will end up with a totally different conclusion for each one. No pressure at all, right? With this in mind, there are only 13 numbered chapters, but given the option of 5 different routes, there are a total of 29 unique chapters. Each chapter is a little over an hour in length and the last 4 focus on the protagonist becoming closer to the person who she chose to go with.

So who are these eligible bachelors? You may have heard of some of them already. The first is Arsène Lupin, the world-renowned gentleman thief who pulls off all of his heists in style. He is the self-appointed leader of your party and you are unable to follow his story route until all of the others have been cleared (they saved the best for last?). Next is the genius, albeit childish, engineer, Impey Barbicane. Though his long-term goal is to land on the moon, Impey makes it his short-term goal to flirt with the protagonist. Then there’s the alchemist turned terrorist, Victor Frankenstein. He’s a former researcher from the Royal Alchemical Society and is currently on the run from the British government. Moving right along, your next choice is Abraham Van Helsing. A legendary marksman and hero of the great Vampire War, his past decisions have made him moody and hard to get along with. And finally, there’s the kindhearted aristocrat who puts up with the rest of the party while offering them free room and board. Count Saint-Germain is an eccentric young man who often pays for the expenses of the group and wears a perpetual smile. Not much is known about his past or where his wealth is drawn from.

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Perhaps just as eclectic as Lupin’s band of “specialists” is the storyline that brings them all together. It’s the late 1800s in an alternate reality Great Britain where King Edward ascended the throne instead of his brother William IV. The UK (specifically its capital city of London) has advanced itself to a level of technology that is unparalleled by the surrounding nations. Renamed Steel London, its various steampunk-inspired technologies were brought to life by a prolific scientist named Isaac Beckford. It’s here where our protagonist, Cardia, looks for answers. Cardia is a young woman who, at the onset of the game, lives isolated in an abandoned mansion outside of Wales. Her memories of who she is and why she is in that mansion only reach back 2 years into the past. To make matters worse, she is regarded as a monster by those in the neighboring village, as her skin is poisonous to the touch and causes things to disintegrate and die. She leaves the mansion not long after the opening events of the game, spending the rest of it looking for answers to her questions about her past, present, and future.

In terms of story presentation, each chapter is roughly the same length. I appreciated this because it helped me anticipate how many chapters I’d be able to get through in one sitting. What I didn’t appreciate was the lack of a visual flowchart to help me keep track of my decisions and where I was in the story. From the main menu, you can navigate back to previous chapters that you’ve already completed, but there is no indication of what choices exist within those chapters or which ones were chosen. Having said that, I did appreciate that regardless of which love interest I chose to pursue, the chapters for each were segmented in the same way. I also appreciated that while each bachelor’s story was wildly different, they all had similar threads that linked them together in the end (a “true” ending which I won’t spoil).

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The story itself is one of the biggest pros and cons of this game (depending on how you look at it). The borrowed concepts from Dracula, Frankenstein, and Sherlock Holmes (to name a few) are meshed together really well. All of them fit perfectly with that turn-of-the-century steampunk vibe that the game is going for. Even though the examples listed above have little to do with one another, they are married quite well and don’t seem overly forced. All literary references aside, one of the things that both drove me crazy and made me happy was the sheer abundance of deus ex machina moments presented throughout the story. Nearly every problematic encounter that the adventuring party must overcome seems impossible. Without fail though, there’s always some sort of miracle that happens or some unrealistic foresight on the part of the characters that “explains” how they are able to get by unscathed. I say that this is both a pro and a con at the same time because none of these moments feel natural or realistic, but I’d be lying if I said that they weren’t entertaining and added to the charm of both the story and its characters. I think it’s very interesting to see Victor Frankenstein exchange banter with Abraham Van Helsing and then arrange for a meeting with Queen Victoria of England. It’s absurdity of the greatest kind. Overall, I’d say that the story was very enjoyable and the characters were developed really well.

In terms of artwork and sound design, I was also very impressed. The background music wasn’t overly memorable, but it did fit the mood for each scene appropriately. The voice acting was a sizable step above and the actors did a great job conveying each character’s personality. The art was also quite striking. The backgrounds were very reminiscent of what one might expect of a Thomas Kinkade painting. They were all surprisingly detailed and full of color. Obviously Kinkade never included anime-styled character portraits in his paintings, but the portraits in Code: Realize all fit quite well with the backgrounds. There are more than enough distinct emotions for each character that they didn’t seem stiff or uninteresting. It also wasn’t too noticeable that they were overlaid onto the backgrounds, as the edges seemed to blend right in. The character portrait for Impey’s dog, Sisi, was a bit disappointing though. In porting both titles to PS4, the transparent background for Sisi was not maintained. The result is a completely visible transparency grid that was jarring to look at whenever Sisi was on screen.

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Some lesser issues that I found include the English translation, the glossary feature, and some of the random changes in perspective. As for the translation, I can’t recall finding any spelling mistakes. There were however some missing words and a number of grammatical errors peppered throughout both titles. At one point, the subtitles for Victor’s dialogue refer to Delacroix II by his name in the Japanese version. These issues are rather unfortunate, but understandable for these types of localizations. The aforementioned glossary feature is one in which the player has the option of pressing a button during a scene to display a brief explanation of words that appear in bold. The basic idea behind this is nice and even allows you to revisit these explanations from the main menu. The execution of the idea isn’t as nice though. Half of the time, the bold words don’t directly correspond to what is actually being described. Additionally, it often felt like every other screen had one of these glossary items pop up. This felt a bit excessive and initially took me out of the experience. In that same vein, the changes in perspective were also bittersweet. Near the end chapters especially, there will be random jumps from the protagonist’s inner thoughts to those of another character. This was a nice change of pace since 90% of this inner monologue is from her perspective, but these switches were never announced or explained. Context clues will be your only guide to understand these switches. All three of these “pain points” are relatively minor, but they do deserve consideration nonetheless.

In contrast with the first title, Future Blessings is segmented into 5 short follow-up chapters for each love interest, each just over an hour in length. There are also 3 side stories that span about 3 to 4 hours each. These side stories were by far my favorite parts. All of them take place either right before or right after chapter 9 and take the story in some really new directions. One has you getting caught up in some violent problems within the London Mafia. Another shows you an alternate retelling of chapters 10-13 from Finis’ perspective. Yet another let’s you follow along with the adventures of Lupin’s arch-rival, Herlock Sholmès. This extra content was by no means needed given the satisfying endings of the first title. Having said that, it is more than appreciated and feels right at home with the original content. It may not be as long as the first title, but it feels like a natural extension of it.

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At the end of the day, my playthrough of Guardian of Rebirth clocked in at right around 39 hours. Future Blessings was shorter and disjointed, but it still took me about 16-17 hours to complete. In total, the Banquet of Rainbows compilation took me somewhere in the ballpark of 55-56 hours to complete. Despite some issues with the translation and the lack of a viewable flowchart, I was quite pleased with my time investment. Interestingly, there was an anime adaptation of the first title released in late 2017 and there is a follow-up game planned for localization sometime in 2019. If it’s any indication of my feelings towards the story, I plan to give both of those a look too. Code: Realize ~Banquet of Rainbows~ is available exclusively for PS4 (in North America) at an MSRP of $49.99 USD. There are also the Vita versions of Guardian of Rebirth and Future Blessings. A Switch version was recently released in Japan, so a North American release of that is also likely at some point. Given the abundance of content and its overall quality, I’d say this one’s definitely worth your time.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

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A review copy was provided by the publisher.

REVIEW: Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ Title Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~

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marketingadvisorvietnam · 6 years

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I want mommy: Australian’s 17-year-search for Vietnamese mother continues

Marketing Advisor đã viết bài trên http://www.ticvietnam.vn/i-want-mommy-australians-17-year-search-for-vietnamese-mother-continues/

I want mommy: Australian’s 17-year-search for Vietnamese mother continues

“As the plane ascends

The screeching chaos

I turn to take on last look.

What am I fleeing from?

I cannot yet comprehend.

Where am I going?

that…

God only knows”

Sue Bylund’s poem asks a question with retrospective effect going back 44 years.

She was 36 days old then.

That day, when she and 17 other children were taken out of Vietnam, she was too young to know or understand anything. She now knows a lot more, but fundamental questions remain, and she has been looking for answers for many years.

Sue Bylund during her first days in Australia

Fateful flight

Sue Bylund was born at the Maternity Hospital Saigon on April 18, 1974 (Vietnam war time), under the name Luu Thi Van, and was taken to an orphanage the same day. A month later, her name was put up for adoption by an Australian couple, Richard and Marlene.

“On May 24, 1974, I was taken to Australia and started a new life under the name Sue Bylund,” she told VnExpress.

The little Asian girl with dark skin and black hair was nurtured with unconditional love by her pale skinned, blonde haired adopted parents and brothers. They didn’t hide the fact that Sue was adopted and talked openly about it.

“As a child, I could never fully comprehend the depth of tragedy and sorrow I would learn later to associate with losing my birth family and identity in the war.

“It wasn’t until my adoptive father passed away when I was nine years old that I began to understand what it meant to lose someone you loved.”

The suburb of Perth where Sue Bylund grew up was a diverse community with mix ethnicities. Her mother, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, often invited newly arrived immigrants over, and supported other families who had adopted children overseas.

Living in a multicultural environment, Sue slowly became aware of her different origins, and realized that there were many questions about her journey to Australia that needed answers.

“I soon learnt that you can’t be expected to pour your heart out to every stranger and acquaintance you meet who asks my country of origin and how I came to live in Australia.

“In truth, I was afraid of my connection and history with Vietnam. Afraid of the unknown.”

Sue Bylund with her adoptive parents and brothers in Australia.

What really ignited Sue Bylud’s motivation to search for her heritage and look for answers was the birth of her daughter in 1999.

In getting her daughter’s birth certificate, Sue was surprised to find many more documents concerning her adoption that had been kept by the local authorities.

They were Australian legal documents, some translated into English from the original Vietnamese papers, like the commission certificate from the orphanage, the certificate of assurance from Vietnamese lawyers. She thus found that she was born to a woman named Luu Thi Hanh who left her at the Sancta Maria Orphanage in Saigon. An unidentified man was with her then.

The second journey begins

In 2001, 27 years old, Sue Bylund returned to Vietnam to look for her mother and answers to many questions in her mind.

Before returning, she had a chance to talk with a Vietnam War veteran, Graham Edwards, who lost both his legs in the conflict. He had returned to Vietnam for the first time since the war just before Sue met with him. They talked and shared their stories and reflected on how their lives were intertwined.

With Graham’s contacts and all the documents she got from the Western Australian law courts, she embarked on her journey back to Vietnam. Her first destination was the main Maternity Hospital in Saigon’s District 1. Without the ability to speak Vietnamese, or any idea what she was looking for or what to expect, other than to put a place to the address on her documents, she experienced a small miracle.

When the staff understood that she’d once been a baby in the hospital, she was introduced to an elderly nurse, who worked in the maternity ward from 1972-1975.

“She had tears in her eyes…she had looked after hundreds of the babies who had left Vietnam after they had been given to the children’s home and orphanages,” Sue said.

“The elderly nurse had always wondered what had happened to all those children, we had been the first to return to find her. Through a teary smile, she said she happy to see I was healthy and strong, and with a hug and kiss, we parted.”

Sue Bylund at age 3

New clues led Sue Bylund to the People’s Committee of Saigon’s District 1, and here, to her astonishment, an officer produced her birth certificate. In blue biro pen, a line in the bottom right corner indicated that Luu Thi Hanh, her biological mother, resided at “Huong Lo 14, Phu Tho.”

However, what seemed to be valuable information turned out to be a dead end. After a lot of attempts to verify the address, she learnt that the above address was now in Luy Ban Bich Street, Tan Phu District. Unfortunately, visits to the street yielded no further information.

Sue Bylund has returned to Vietnam several times since, but her search has made no progress.

“The area on my paperwork, I understand, was an area during the war where Vietnamese people who had lost their homes or were in transit congregated. So addresses were very general and temporary.”

Her journey is still incomplete and there are many unanswered questions: Is Luu Thi Hanh really her mother and where is she now? Is she alive or dead? Who is her father? Why was she abandoned? What’s the meaning of her name?

“No name or place, date or time,

from which I came to be.

A mothers’ kiss upon my cheek,

did she ever place on me?”

Unbreakable bond

As a child, she’d been filled with anger and hate towards Vietnam. She wished she could conceal her Asian appearance and Vietnamese ancestry from the crowd. But with time, and the unselfish love from her family, she found the strength to continue to fight for the right to be herself.

Although she hasn’t been able to find her birth mother, after her return to Vietnam in 2001, Sue Bylund began networking with adoptees around the world. She shared her knowledge with them, and discussed how they could find positive ways to reconnect with Vietnam and if they wanted to search for their biological families.

She understands the difficulties, both in the outside world and their inner world, adoptees face in their journey to trace back their heritage, as well as the obstacles that have stopped many mothers from finding their long lost children.

“Not every adoptee is confident or willing to search for their families. Adoptees were sent all around the world, to countries in Europe, so far away from Vietnam and so far from cultural influences from Asia.

“From what I understand, the gap is huge between the inner acceptances that they are Vietnamese by blood, but they struggle to find comprehension about how, or what that means to them personally.”

With two other adoptees, Sue Bylund has assisted 20 people in the search for their Vietnamese families.

On April 18, 2019, she and her associates organized the Celebrating Vietnamese Mother event in HCMC to create more opportunities for reconnections and reunions.

It will offer a safe and supportive environment where people can lodge their details and DNA to search for their children or family member, or simply meet up with adoptees to understand their experiences and share their stories.

Sue Bylund now

Sue Bylund feels that she’s more fortunate than many adoptees, as she grew up in a multicultural environment, surrounded by Asian influences, had access to festivals like Tet (lunar New Year festival), saw Vietnamese food everywhere and saw Asian faces everyday.

She is a qualified interior architect, has been running her own design business for 18 years. She currently works with the Victorian School Building Authority. Even though she’s not living in Vietnam, her bond with the motherland is being preserved and continued.

Sue Bylund’s eldest daughter, her “first known blood relative”, is taking a gap year before going off to university in Vung Tau, about two hour car ride east of HCMC, teaching English and assisting at the My Huong Children’s Home.

“She has now lived in Vietnam longer than I have, which is very special. It reminds us that our connections to Vietnam remain strong across the generation, and throughout our entire lives.

“I believe that one day I will be able to know the answers to my questions and I will be in the presence of those who I have loved in absence.”

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omnipop-mag-blog · 6 years

Link

http://time.com/money/5271495/rihanna-net-worth-fenty/

Rihanna first sang “all I see is dollar signs” in 2012, but six years later, nothing has changed.

The “Pon de Replay” star is preparing to launch her latest business venture, a lingerie line called Savage X Fenty today — a power move that’s sure to not only break the internet but to also pump up her profits. And forget not-so-casually reminding people they’d “better have [her] money” — if last year’s Fenty Beauty debut was any indication, the lingerie collection will be a huge seller.

Not that Rihanna needs the extra cash: According to Celebrity Net Worth, Rihanna’s net worth is estimated at about $245 million. As of 2016, she was Forbes‘ fourth-highest paid woman in music, pocketing more than $70 million a year.

Oh, and by the way, she’s only 30.

Wondering how Rihanna pulled off such a seamless pivot from singer to businesswoman? Here’s everything we know about Robyn Fenty’s finances.

Her Music Is a Major Moneymaker

Rihanna is first and foremost a musician, and a popular one at that. Roc Nation’s website brags that Rihanna is the “top-selling digital artist of all time,” having sold more than 60 million albums and 215 million digital tracks. That buzz translates to profit: Billboard reported in 2016 that she earned $7.6 million from streaming, $2.5 million from sales and $10.1 million in recording royalties. (The figures haven’t been updated yet for 2017.)

Rihanna does a lot of work, work, work, work, work live, too. Even back in 2011, her “Loud” tour grossed over $90 million (for comparison, Jay-Z and Kanye’s tour that same year made just over $48 million). In 2013, her “Diamonds” World Tour brought in more than $137 million.

She’s also a part-owner of the streaming service Tidal, which has recently been having issues but was at one point valued at $600 million.

Christopher Polk—Getty Images for NARASRecording artist Rihanna performs on stage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City.

Rihanna Stacks Endorsement Deals

When it comes to teaming up with other companies, Rihanna is an expert — she’s the world’s most marketable celebrity.

The bio on her website contains a laundry list of her partnerships with Mac, Armani, River Island, Balmain, Dior and more. A quick Google search turns up even more brand deals. She inspired a $25 million agreement with Samsung in 2015; she designed three collections for Manolo Blahnik in 2016. She even created bejeweled socks for Stance.

One of her most prominent sponsorships is with Puma, where she became creative director in 2014 in a deal rumored to be over $1 million. It almost immediately paid off for the brand — within six months, footwear sales had increased by about 16 percent. Sneakerheads seem to truly love RiRi designs: In September 2015, a drop of The Creeper shoes sold out in three hours; in May 2016, another Creeper installment sold out online within 35 minutes.

She’s a Beauty (Business) Queen

Perhaps Rihanna’s most well-known side hustle is Fenty Beauty, a makeup brand she named after herself. It launched last September to much fanfare — within days, several of the dark foundation shades had sold out.

There aren’t concrete numbers publicly available on how much cash Rihanna has raked in so far from Fenty Beauty, but we do have a few clues as to how the launch went. In the first month, according to People, the brand earned $72 million worth of earned media value, or online publicity. WWD reported that initial sales were five times those of Kylie Jenner’s official cosmetic company. And a Vogue cover story from this month had the most specific estimate so far, reporting that Rihanna’s makeup line brought in “a staggering $100 million in sales within 40 days.”

Fenty Beauty is linked with the incubator Kendo Holdings under LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. In a news release from April, the company said the collection’s launch was “an exceptional success,” contributing to the 10 percent growth the company saw in the first quarter of 2018. LVMH called Fenty Beauty’s debut “the first-ever global beauty launch in history,” noting that it became available both online and in 1,620 stores in over 17 countries.

Separately, Rihanna has created at least six fragrances; one of them, Reb’l Fleur, brought in an estimated $80 million in sales in 2011.

Vittorio Zunino Celotto—Getty Images for SephoraGeneral view of Sephora loves Fenty Beauty by Rihanna store event on April 5, 2018 in Milan, Italy.

Rihanna Turns Financial Failures into Victories

Rihanna hasn’t always been financially savvy, but she seems to learn from her money mistakes. Case in point: A few years ago, she settled a lawsuit against her ex-accountants, whom she accused of making her “effectively bankrupt” by giving her bad guidance back in 2009.

She also may be in the process of becoming a house flipper. Despite taking a loss on an eight-bedroom house with water issues back in 2012, the singer has recently expanded into real estate. She bought a Spanish-style West Hollywood home for $2.75 million in August 2017 and put it on the market for $2.85 million in October. The Observer reported that it hasn’t sold yet, so in the meantime she’s renting it — for a cool $16,500 a month.

And for all of that, she certainly deserves to take a bow.

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Here’s How Much Rihanna Is Worth — And How She Built an Empire of Music and Makeup appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

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I want mommy: Australian’s 17-year-search for Vietnamese mother continues

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