#September 23 1985

[spacefrontier]

Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off the pad at the Kennedy Space Center during STS-51-I. August 27, 1985.

STS-51-I's primary mission was the deployment of three communications satellites. The Australian Aussat-1 and American ASC-1 were deployed on the first day of the mission, and the Department of Defense-leased Leasat 4 was deployed two days later. All three satellites reached their geosynchronous orbits without issue.

Discovery over the Pacific Ocean during STS-51-I. Typhoons Pat and Odessa can be seen. This is the first ever photograph of paired typhoons taken from space.

Discovery also performed a rendezvous with the malfunctioning Leasat 3 satellite, which was repaired during two extra-vehicular activities performed by Mission Specialists William Fisher and James van Hoften. Both EVAs totaled 11 hours and 46 minutes, owed in part to an issue with the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System.

STS-51-I on-orbit crew portrait, from left: Mission Specialist James van Hoften, Mission Specialist William Fisher, Commander Joe Engle, Pilot Richard Covey, and Mission Specialist John Lounge.

Discovery completed STS-51-I on September 3, 1985 when it touched down on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Discovery landing at Edwards Air Force Base, completing STS-51-I.

NASA 1, 2, 3, 4

[souurcitrus]

Batfamily Time-line

Decide to do a quick timeline for Batman's core family, since it seems like the Comics writers don't know how old the characters should be, and with the stories being due between New Earth and Prime Earth, things get even more confusing.

I don't really like the New 52 and most reboots irritate me, so I made this timeline based on old Batman stories. Anot all information are correct, and some is more speculation based on the Comics.

1939 -

• August 16th - Alfred Pennyworth was born.

• (His age is never specified in any type of media, but it seems like he was at least on his 30s when he became Bruce's guardian).

1962 -

• Bruce Wayne's birthday is officially February 19th (though I don't remember when the exactly year).

1970 -

• One night, while returning from the Monarch Theatre, the Wayne family was approached by the criminal, Joe Chill, who murdered Thomas and Martha and fled.

• Bruce (age 8) was left in Alfred Pennyworth's care (age 31).

1971 -

• January 26 - Kate Kane, Bruce Wayne's cousin, is born.

1973 -

• At age 14, Bruce Wayne's eyes were opened to the level of crime in Gotham and he was determined to do something about it, swearing to rid the city of the evil that had taken his parents' lives.

• He left Gotham City and spent his youth traveling the world, training himself to intellectual and physical perfection and learning a variety of crime-fighting skills, including chemistry, criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, disguise and escape artistry.

1975 -

• September 23 - Barbara Gordon is born.

1978 -

• March 20 - Richard "Dick" Grayson, son of John and Mary Grayson, two acrobats from The Haley Circus.

1984 -

• (Batman: Year One, Batman #404-407)

• Bruce Wayne (22) returned to Gotham and began acting as a vigilante, taking on the title of Batman.

• Bruce named Lucius Fox president of Wayne Enterprises and brought him, Alfred Pennyworth (45) and Leslie Tompkins their plans.

• Along with James Gordon, Sarah Essen and Harvey Bullock, Batman faces corruption and crime in Gotham.

• August 16 - Jason Todd was born.

• (Catwoman: Her Sister’s Keeper)

• Selina Kyle was inspired to become a costumed thief when she sees Batman in action and becomes Catwoman.

• (Batman: Shaman, Legends of the Dark Knight #1-5)

• That same year, other rogues appeared, before the Joker even existed: Man-Bat, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and Riddler.

1985 -

• (Batman: Year Two, Detective Comics #575-578)

• Batman inspired the vigilante movement, leading to the arrival of the likes of Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Black Canary and his old friend Oliver Queen as Green Arrow.

• January 26 - Cassandra Cain, daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain, is born.

• (Batman: The Man Who Laughs, Detective Comics #784-786)

• The first appearance of the Joker.

• (Batman: The Long Halloween #1-12)

• Batman, James Gordon and Harvey Dent worked together to bring down the organized crime syndicates led by Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni.

• They also had to investigate a serial killer named Holiday that had been killing mafiosos. Gotham's new breed of criminals was replacing the traditional gangsters.

• This was the first time Batman met Selina Kyle dressed as Catwoman.

• After a long investigation, Maroni was brought to a trial, during which he threw it at Dent's face, leaving him scarred. Later, Harvey reappeared calling himself Two-Face and shot Falcone twice in the head.

• He was accused of betraying the things he believed in and arrested.

1986 -

• (Superman, vol 1 #76; Superman/Batman annual, #1)

• Superman and Batman meet for the first time, as Superman came to Gotham and they work together tracking the dangerous psychopath Magpie. They both gained respect for each other, although they doubted, they would ever work together again

• July 19 - Timothy Drake is born.

• (Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity)

• Clark later introduced Bruce to Wonder Woman while chasing "The Purge" led by Ra's al Ghul.

• Already a hero to Gotham, Batman (26) became a hero to the world when he and six other heroes fought Brainiac's invasion and formed the Justice League of America.

• August 11 - Stephanie Brown is born.

1987 -

• (Detective comics, vol 1 #37 / Robin Annual #4 1995)

• July 15 - Bruce (27) watched the Flying Graysons perform an acrobatic act and continued to watch as they plummeted to their deaths due to the act being sabotaged by Tony Zucco, leaving only his orphaned son, Richard "Dick" Grayson (9).

• Upon learning that Dick had no living relatives, Bruce saw himself in Dick and adopted him. Dick discovered the Batcave and convinced Bruce to train him to be a vigilante.

• (Alfred's age: 48)

1988 -

• (Robin Annual #4)

• Due to his acrobatic skills, Dick Grayson (10) already had a foundation to build on and so Gotham's Dynamic Duo was born with the first appearance of Batman and Robin, beginning the era of young heroes.

• Barbara Gordon (13) becomes an orphan after her parents tragically die in a car accident. Her uncle, Jim Gordon, adopted her and took her to live with him and his wife Sarah in Gotham City.

• November 18 - Harper Row is born.

• (Alfred's age: 49; Bruce's: 28)

1991 -

• (Detective Comics, vol 1 #359, 1967; Batgirl: Year One, 2003)

• Barbara Gordon (16) debuts in an improvised costume as 'Batgirl' and is nearly killed. Eventually she is accepted by Batman and joins the "Bat Family", being Bruce's new apprentice.

• Duke Thomas is born. (Couldn't find his birthday)

• (Alfred: 52; Bruce: 29; Dick: 13)

1994 -

• (The brave and the bold, vol 1 #54-60; Teen Titans vol 1 #53; Teen Titans: Year One)

• The formation of the Teen Titans happened mainly due to the kids' mentors making them feel inferior, which they quickly realized was not right about them.

• Dick Grayson (16), along with Wally West / Kid Flash and Garth / Aqualad teamed up; later, Donna Troy / Wonder Girl (13/14) joined the team along with Roy Harper / Speedy (14).

• Together, they cured the heroes of their mind control; later, their mentors (Batman, Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman) supported the idea of ​​the teenagers becoming a heroic group, the Teen Titans!.

• (Alfred: 55; Bruce: 32, Barbara: 19)

1996 -

• When Jason Todd was a child, he lived in a very poor neighborhood with his father Willis and his stepmother Catherine. As his wife was suffering from an illness, Willis became a criminal and started working for Two Faces to pay for her treatment.

• Willis was killed in a shootout after betraying his boss and Jason was left to care for his mother alone, resorting to also getting involved in crime to get money.

• (Teen Titans vol 1 #53)

• The Teen Titans split up and follow different paths in their careers

• Dick divides his time between working with the Titans in New York and working with Batman in Gotham.

• (Batman and the Outsiders, vol 1, 1983)

• Batman (37) leaves the Justice League and forms the Outsiders.

• (Batman and the outsider's, #32; Justice League, vol 1, 1987)

• Batman leaves the Outsiders and joins the New Justice League.

• (Alfred: 57; Bruce: 34; Barbara: 21)

1997 -

• Bruce Wayne (35) begins to notice that Dick is growing up and moving around, living between New York and Gotham. Afraid of being left alone, he fires Dick.

• (Detective Comics vol 1 #495)

• Dick Grayson (19) goes to Hudson University and leaves after the first semester in July.

• Meanwhile, Jason Todd (13) cared for his mother Catherine until her last breath.

• After his death, legally an orphan, Jason lived in his father's apartment in an abandoned building in Crime Alley, where he turned to crime out of necessity. Jason has become highly skilled at stealing tires from vehicles.

• (Batman #408-409, 1987)

• Jason tried to steal the Batmobile's tires, but was caught by Batman, who decided to take Jason in and began training him to be the new Robin.

• Six months after Dick left Gotham, Jason's training was complete and he stepped in as the new Boy Wonder.

• (New Titans, vol 1, 1980)

• Dick Grayson (19) then formed the new Teen Titans with Raven, Wally West/Kid Flash, Donna Troy/Wonder Girl, Koriand’r/Starfire, Victor Stone/Cyborg, and Garfied Logan/Beast Boy.

• (Nightwing: Year One, #101-106)

• However, his identity as Robin no longer suited him and he soon adopted a new identity: Nightwing.

• (Alfred: 58; Bruce: 35; Barbara: 22)

1998 -

• Bruce (36) leaves another Justice League.

• Barbara (23) starts working in a library and has much less time to be Batgirl.

• (Batman: The Cult #1-4)

• (Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1, Batman #417-430 and Batman Annual #12)

• Some Batman stories with Jason (14) as Robin, this collection does not include "death in the family ".

• (Alfred: 59; Dick: 20)

1999 -

• (The killing joke; Batman Chronicles #5; Oracle: Year One)

• At some point, Barbara Gordon (24) is attacked by the Joker.

• The criminal broke into her apartment and shot her, leaving her paralyzed, in an attempt to drive her father, Jim Gordon, crazy and prove that anyone can be as crazy as him if they have just one bad day.

• As he grew older, Jason Todd proved to be a challenge for Bruce (37), despite being skilled crime fighter, he was very rebellious and often disobeyed Batman.

• (August)

• Jason turns fifteen years old.

• (Batman #425-429, A death in the family)

• Batman decided to remove Jason from his duties as Robin to allow him to grieve the death of his parents.

• Jason discovered that the woman he knew as his mother was his stepmother, so he decided to find his biological mother.

• He found her, Sheila Haywood, an aid worker in Ethiopia. She proved to be the right person and she and Jason had an emotional reunion.

• However, unbeknownst to Batman and Robin, Sheila used to run illegal operations in Gotham and was recently blackmailed by the Joker, to whom she handed over her own son (now in his Robin costume).

• The clown brutally beat him with a crowbar. Robin was soon unconscious in a pool of blood. The Joker then left him and Sheila in the warehouse with a time bomb.

• Batman arrived too late to save them as he was stopping the Joker's venom from reaching the city and they died from their injuries.

• Batman pulled Jason's body from the rubble and took him to Gotham City, before he called Wayne Manor to deliver the news.

• (New Titans vol 1 #55, 1989)

• Dick (21) received the news too and returned to Gotham to look after Alfred and Bruce.

• (Suicide Squad vol 1 #23-28, 1989-1990)

• A mysterious Hacker, called Oracle, starts working with the Suicide Squad.

• (Batman: A lonely place of dying, Batman #426-429, #440-442, and New Titans #60-61).

• Some time later, Timothy Drake (13) discovers the secret identities of the Wayne family and tries to join them. He uses Jason's old costume to save Dick (21) and Bruce (37).

• Orphaned by organized crime, Tim was placed in the care of Bruce Wayne. Tim asked his new caretaker to allow him to train as the third Robin, but Bruce refused due to the fact that he was still grieving the loss of Jason Todd.

• Discovering the breadth of Tim's intellect and deductive genius, Alfred opposed Bruce and began training Tim in secret.

• (Detective Comics #618-621; Batman #480-481)

• Tim's mother is murdered and his father is left in a coma, from which he eventually recovers.

• (Robin: A Hero Reborn, Batman #455-457 and Robin #1-5)

• Tim Drake's first missions as Robin, where he heads to France to study specialized fighting techniques under an old master.

2000 -

• (Batman: Birth of the Demon)

• Bruce discovers the origin of Ra's Al Ghul.

• Helena Bertinelli became Huntress and also began fighting crime in Gotham.

• (Detective Comics vol 1 #647-649, 1992)

• Bruce hears about a young girl named Spoiler causing trouble around town.

• Stephanie Brown (14) wanted to anger her father and began following in Batman's footsteps.

• The mercenary Bane discovered that the effects of Venom increased his physical strength. He arrived in Gotham with the aim of defeating Batman, who he thought owned the city.

• (Batman: Sword of Azrael)

• Bruce met Jean-Paul Valley (18), a student who was being controlled to become the dangerous vigilante Azrael, and then took him in as his new protégé.

• (Robin III, 1992)

• Tim start dating Ariana Dzerchenko.

• (Batman: Knightfall)

• Bane invades the mansion when everyone is away and, being extremely tired, Bruce is unable to face him. Bane breaks his back with one blow and takes control of the city.

• Out of options, Bruce gives Jean-Paul Valley the mantle of Batman.

• (Robin vol 2 #3-5, 1994)

• Spoiler also joins them and gets closer to Tim.

• Bruce, still with a broken back, travels across Europe on a healing mission with Dr. Kinsolving. Alfred despairs at how little he is taking care of himself and resigns in protest.

• Meanwhile, Dick and Kory's relationship becomes worse. They almost get married, but decide to separate and the Teen Titans are disbanded.

• In the months that passed, however, Jean became an extremely cruel and aggressive Batman, distancing himself from Robin and going against Bruce's request.

• He even manages to defeat Bane and tries to break his back, but Robin stops him.

• (Batman: Knightfall) comes to an end. (According to the comics, this arc last at least 6 months)

• Before more damage was done, Bruce recovered and realizing the mistake he made, faced Jean and returned to being Batman in the conclusion KNIGHT ’END.

• (Batman: Prodigal)

• Bruce decides he wants to go on vacation and Dick becomes Batman, with Robin following him.

• Barbara Gordon (25) finally returns to work with her family, revealing herself to be the mysterious Hacker, Oracle.

• At this time, Cheshire became more distant from Bruce after Alfred moved to London and became more busy with the search for Ace and the others from Royal Flush.

• (Nightwing: Alfred's return)

• Dick (22) goes to London to try to convince Alfred to return to Gotham.

• (Batman: Contagion; Batman: Legacy)

• A plague spreads across the city and Batman, Azrael and Gordon try to find a cure. Robin meets Catwoman and reluctantly joins her to also find the cure on a super long journey.

• Nightwing and Huntress deal with rioters in Gotham, and Tim becomes infected when a sick looter spits in his face.

• (Alfred: 61; Dick: 22; Barbara: 25; Bruce: 38; Tim: 14; Stephanie: 14; Jean Paul: 18)

2001 -

• Batman (39) and Azrael (19) go out again in search of a cure.

• Gordon and Mayor Grange fight to keep the city from panicking.

• Batman is forced to leave the city and reluctantly puts Huntress in charge. Helena interrupts a Penguin's plot to cause chaos.

• Batman and Robin (14) travel with Nightwing (23) to the desert and discover that the person behind the virus was the "Immortal" who is revealed to be Ra's al Ghul, who plans to exterminate 90% of humanity so he can dominate the world. world.

• Batman eliminates the virus by blowing up the Aventine Casino.

• Vaccines are distributed and Gotham is saved. Despite Wayne Enterprises exhausting their resources in the relief effort, Bruce is shocked to see the large number of dead bodies.

• Batman, Nightwing, Huntress, and Robin feel guilty for the lives they couldn't save, but Alfred reminds them that every citizen of Gotham would be dead if it weren't for their efforts.

• (Nightwing vol 2)

• On March 20th, Dick turns 23 and moves to Blüdhaven.

• (Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey, 1996)

• Barbara (26) begins working with Black Canary, eventually forming the Birds of Prey.

• Dick and Helena form a romantic relationship in (Nightwing/Huntress).

• (Robin Plus Impulse; World's Finest Three (Superboy/Robin); Young Justice: The Secret)

• Tim meets Superboy and Bart Allen / Impulse and then saves a mysterious girl named Secret.

• (Justice League of America: World without growth; Young Justice vol 1)

• They form Young Justice.

• (Batman: Cataclysm)

• There is a huge earthquake that passes through Gotham City, destroying many buildings and tearing up the foundations. With the chaos caused by the earthquake, many criminals are released, the city is completely isolated from the rest of the world.

• (Robin vol 2 #57, 1998)

• At some point, Tim breaks up with his girlfriend Ariana to be with Stephanie, who realizes she is pregnant, so tosses the mantle of vigilante aside for a while.

• (Batman: Aftershocks)

• In the weeks that pass, Gotham tries to recover. However, Bruce's efforts to help the city are futile when the world decides to turn its back on Gotham.

• (JLA/Titans #1-3; Titans vol 1)

• Dick returns with the Teen Titans.

2002 -

• (Batman: No man’s land)

• After the US government's declaration, Gotham City became a No Man's Land, which effectively quarantined the island. Bridges were destroyed and any other means of entry or exit were guarded by the Army.

• Although the Justice League did not assist in the quarantine for ethical reasons, they were so busy preventing outside forces from conquering the city that the internal situation was left to Batman and his allies.

• According to Barbara Gordon (27), it has been 93 days since the quarantine began and "Gotham is still dead."

• Batman disappeared all this time, and when he returned to the city to reconquer it, he saw that the criminals had already taken over.

• During this arc, Bruce reclaims the city, meets Cassandra Cain (17), daughter of David Cain, a former mentor, Barbara hands over her Batgirl mantle to Cassandra, Lex Luther hires Bane to destroy Gotham's gallery, so he can take control of the city, and James Gordon's wife is killed by the Joker.

• (Alfred: 63; Dick: 24; Barbara: 27; Bruce: 40; Tim: 16; Stephanie: 16; Jean Paul: 20; Cassandra: 17)

2003 -

• Eventually, thanks in large part to the financial and political machinations of Lex Luthor, Gotham City was liberated and rebuilt, and became part of the United States again.

• (Batman: Evolution; Batman: Turning Points; Batman: Officer Down)

• Ten weeks after No Man's Land ended, Commissioner Gordon is shot and retires.

• Alfred (64) goes with Tim (17) when he starts studying and isn't talking to Bruce.

• (Batman & Huntress: A Cry For Blood)

• Helena Bertinelli is being accused of murder and, while avoiding the GCPD and the Bat-Family, she revisits her childhood with The Question in hopes of trying to uncover the true culprit.

• (JLA: Tower of Babel)

• Ra's Al Ghul steals Batman's plans to defeat the Justice League of America.

• Dick (25) goes to the police academy. He and Barbara (28) start dating.

• Tarantula debuts as a vigilante (ew)

• (Batgirl vol 1 #3-6, 2000)

• Cassandra (18) continued as Batgirl moved into Barbara's Clock Tower.

• (Robin vol 2 #87; Batgirl vol 1 #20)

• Bruce tells Stephanie (17) Tim's identity and begins to train her.

• Jean-Paul (21) has established a base of operations near Gotham.

• (Gotham Knights #17, #20-21)

• Bruce (41) finally adopts Dick (25) as his son.

• (Bruce Wayne: Murderer? / Bruce Wayne: Fugitive / Consequences)

• When Vesper Fairchild is found dead at Wayne Manor and Bruce is imprisoned at Blackgate with Sasha Bordeaux, the other members of the bat family try to help break the case.

• However, Bruce has had enough and escapes from prison announcing his intention to do away with Bruce Wayne's identity, and exist solely as Batman.

• Some members of the Family continue to doubt Bruce's innocence in Fairchild's murder, as it appears he has truly crossed the line this time.

• They undergo an extensive investigation as Bruce struggles with identity complications from fighting crime on the streets.

• Eventually, they discover that Vesper's real killer was the ever-devious David Cain, who was hired by then-President Lex Luthor to destroy Bruce.

• (Batman: Broken City, Batman #620-625)

• Batman embarks on a journey of self-discovery that forces him to reflect on the life he has led and the choices he has made while hunting the killer of a young boy's parents.

• (Azrael: Agent of the Bat, vol 1 #100)

• Azrael (21) ended up being killed in a fight with his two biggest enemies, Biis and Scratch, after an attempt to frame Azrael for various crimes. Azrael was hit in his armor and fell from a balcony.

• Although his costume was recovered, his corpse was not.

• (Batman: Hush)

• It's a hell of a mystery that lasts at least a whole week or more. Jason is not here, it's fucking Clayface.

• (Arkham Asylum: Living Hell)

• (Batman: Tabula Rasa / Veritas Liberat)

• Bane (41) discovers that Thomas Wayne was close to his mother before his death and goes to Gotham, demanding that he and Bruce take a DNA test. He stays at Wayne Manor for a while, and there he and Batman fight crime together, with Bruce trying to convince him to be less aggressive.

• When the DNA test arrives, it becomes clear that he and Bruce are not related, he is devastated and lost.

• Some time later, Bane meets his father, the King Cobra, Sir Dorrance, but they do not get along and Bane, who has developed a small respect for Batman, protects Bruce from being shot and almost dies, but Bruce throws him in the Lazarus Pit.

• Bruce lets him leave Gotham a free man.

• (Batman: Death and the Maidens, 2003-2004.)

• Ra's al Ghul dies

• (Titans/YoungJustice: Graduation Day; Teen Titans vol 3; Outsiders vol 3)

• A team-up between Young Justice and the Titans goes horribly, resulting in several deaths, and both teams breaking up. Tim ends up joining the latest version of the Teen Titans, and Dick is reluctantly convinced by Roy to join the new Outsiders.

• (Birds of Prey vol 160.)

• Huntress joins the Birds of Prey, and things are finally looking good for her.

• (Nightwing vol 2, #83 and #95)

• In Blüdhaven, Dick's life is terrible, including Barbara breaking up with him, his old circus being burned down, and his building being blown up, culminating in Blockbuster's death.

• It's a bad time.

• (Robin vol 2 #127-128)

• Soon after, Tim's father discovers that he is Robin and forces him to retire. Stephanie temporarily becomes Robin before Batman takes the mantle from her again.

• (Batman: War Games)

• Immediately afterwards, the War Games begin – Stephanie starts a gang war to prove herself to Bruce and is murdered.

• (Identity Crisis)

• A few days after Stephanie dies, Tim's father is murdered.

• Barbara's Clock Tower is destroyed.

• The police are against the vigilantes

• (Robin #132, Batgirl #58, Robin #133, Batgirl #59)

• Tim, mourning his father and girlfriend, and a little tense with Bruce after the Stephanie stuff; and Cass is mourning her best friend; they move to Bludhaven, where they begin a stronger friendship.

• During this period, Tim placed himself in the custody of a fake uncle, after rejecting Bruce's offer to adopt him.

• (Nightwing vol 2 #107-115)

• Dick left Bludhaven and Gotham, working briefly with the mob in Detroit, and then with Deathstroke.

• (Birds of Prey vol 1 #74)

• Barbara moves to Metropolis with the Birds of Prey.

• (Batgirl vol 1 #66-73)

• Cassandra goes on a personal quest to discover her mother's identity, is caught with the League of Assassins, is killed, thrown into a Lazarus Pit and comes back to life.

• (She doesn't seem to tell anyone about this.)

• (Batman: Under the red hood; Teen Titans #29)

• Jason Todd (17) goes back to Gotham, kills some guys, tries to kill Tim (17), does his whole sad thing and leaves.

• While Under The Red Hood is happening, Dick (28) leaves the name Nightwing and becomes Renegade.

• He chooses to work with Deathstroke of his own free will because he is in a bad place mentally and thinks that Deathstroke can help him with his goals.

• (Infinite Crisis)

• Tension between superheroes and villains increases. Bludhaven is blown up and Dick returns to Nightwing, but does not return to Blüdhaven.

• (Alfred: 64; Dick: 25; Barbara: 28; Bruce: 41; Tim: 17; Stephanie: 17; Jean Paul: 21; Cassandra: 18)

• (Jason is 17 now, he died when he was fifteen. So maybe he was revived two years ago)

2004-

• Bruce's last paranoid spy turns bad and almost kills everyone, Superboy dies, Dick almost dies and the universe semi-explodes again.

• Bruce decides to take Tim (18) and Dick (26) on a fun trip around the world.

• When Cassandra (19) returns from her spiritual quest, she takes over Gotham in their place.

• Also during the holidays this year, Kate Kane (33), Batwoman, appears for the first time, although she actually has a lot less connection to the main Bat-family than you might expect.

• (Alfred: 65; Dick: 26; Barbara: 29; Bruce: 42; Tim: 18; Stephanie: 18; Cassandra: 19; Jason: 18, Kate: 33)

• (I don't know if Kate's age is stated at any point. And I don't know if the writers know either.)

2005 -

2006-

• (The events of "One Year Later" begin)

• Jim Gordon comes out of retirement to be commissioner again, for reasons that will never be explained.

• (Nightwing #118)

• Dick returns to NYC, where he has an unpleasant - but brotherly - encounter with Jason, who is still an anti-villain.

• (Batman vol 1 #654, 2006)

• Bruce offers to adopt Tim again, and this time Tim accepts and moves into the mansion.

• (Outsiders: Five of a Kind, 2007)

• Dick (28) leaves the Outsiders, and Bruce takes over the new team.

• (Batman and son, Batman #655-658, #663-669, #672- #675, 2006)

• Bruce discovers that he has a biological son with Talia, Damian Al Ghul (10) and takes him in. But Damian wants to be the only Robin so he tries to kill Tim and no one likes that so he apparently dies along with Talia.

• (Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul)

• Ra's tries to steal the Damian's body to revive him. Things don't work well, he ends up in a different body and Talia and Damian disappear again.

• (Titans vol 2, 2008)

• Dick and company reform the Titans once again.

• (Robin #170-174; Robin/Spoiler Special, 2008.)

• Stephanie makes her return to Gotham.

• Tim is initially thrilled to see her, but this becomes an uncomfortable tension as her fake death takes hold.

• (Batgirl vol 2, 2008-2009; Batman and the Outsiders vol 2 #2)

• Cassandra returns to live in the mansion, Bruce adopts her and his daughter.

• At some point, Damian returns to Gotham and tries to reconnect with his father. He starts to live in the mansion with Bruce, Alfred and Tim.

• (Batman: The Heart of Hush)

• (Batman RIP)

• The Final Crisis happens and Bruce "dies" aka is lost in time.

• Dick returns to Gotham because someone has to keep this city and his family intact. And the Teen Titans split up again.

• (Batman: Battle for the Cowl, 2009)

• Tim convinces Dick to become Batman, with Damian as his new Robin.

• (Red Robin #1-4, 2009)

• Tim doesn't like Damian being Robin, and he also believes Bruce is alive so he becomes Red Robin and goes on his murder mystery tour.

• He also doesn't believe Bruce is dead and searches for him.

• (Batman and Robin vol 1)

• Dick, Damian and Alfred move into Wayne Tower, living in the penthouse and working in the underground bunker below.

• (Batman: Long Shadows, Batman #687-691)

• Dick becomes the new Batman. It doesn't take long for the city's criminals to put him to the test.

• (Batman and Robin, Vol. 2: Batman vs. Robin)

• (Batman: Streets of Gotham Vol. 1: Hush Money)

• Hush tries to pretend to be Bruce Wayne but Dick, Damian and the Outsiders put him under control.

• (Batman: Streets of Gotham – Vol. 2: Leviathan)

• (Batman: Life After Death)

• (Batgirl vol 3)

• On Bruce's posthumous orders, Cassandra gives the mantle of Batgirl to Stephanie. After she leaves the Outsiders and Gotham, she is later revealed to have gone to Hong Kong.

• Dick joins the Justice League as Batman.

• Stephanie returns as Batgirl. Dick tries to bring Jason back and he refuses, preferring to remain an anti-hero.

• (Red Robin vol 1 #10-12)

• Tim returns to Gotham now as Red Robin, now having proof that Bruce is alive, he also becomes president or something of Wayne Enterprises.

• (Alfred: 67; Dick: 28; Barbara: 31, Bruce: 44; Tim: 20; Stephanie: 20; Cassandra: 21; Jason: 20, Kate: 35; Damian: 10)

2007-

• (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne / Bruce Wayne: Road Home; Batman: The Return)

• Bruce returns to life thanks to his allies and family. Dick returns Batman's mantle to him.

• (Batman and Robin, Vol. 3: Robin Must Die!)

• (Batman & Robin: Dark Knight vs White Knight)

• (Batman: Streets of Gotham Vol. 3: The House of Hush)

• Tommy Elliot cracks under the strain of living as Bruce Wayne and plots his ultimate revenge against Dick Grayson, Selina Kyle and other members of Bruce's friends and allies.

• Cassandra becomes Black Bat in Hong Kong.

• (Batman and Robin vol 1 #23-25)

• Jason (21) escapes from prison, works with Damian (11) and Dick (29) then disappears.

• (At this point Tim and Stephanie should already be in college, right? Let's pretend they are!!)

• (Batman: The Black Mirror)

• Dick, as Batman, has to deal with James Gordon Jr.

• (Batman: Eye of the Beholder)

• (Batman: The Night of the Owls)

• (Batman, Vol. 2: The City of Owls)

• Bruce meets Harper Row (19), who becomes the vigilante Blue Bird. She doesn't have as many appearances as she should and is soon left aside in the comics.

• (Batman and Robin: Born to Kill)

• The killer Nobody goes after Batman and Robin (Bruce and Damian). This is the first time we see Morgan Ducard and Titus, Damian's dog.

• (Batman and Robin: Pearl)

• Damian tries to prove to Bruce that he is worthy of being Robin just like his older brothers.

• (Alfred: 68; Dick: 29; Barbara: 32, Bruce: 45; Tim: 21; Stephanie: 21; Cassandra: 22; Jason: 21, Kate: 36; Damian: 11; Harper: 19)

• (I don't know if Harper's age is stated at any point.)

2008 -

• Jason (22) joins the Outlaws.

• Dick (30) sees that Damian (12) needs to make friends and develop compassion, to curb his harsh ways. He then takes Damian to Titans Tower, where Damian, despite not being a teenager, takes steps to become the leader of the Teen Titans.

• After dealing with his first mission, which at first was a disaster but ultimately went well, Damian leaves the Titans.

• Upon returning to Gotham, Dick notices that his brother has become more patient and less likely to use his weapons.

• Damian infiltrates Gotham Academy, where he meets Maps Mizoguchi (13), a big fan of Batman and Robin, who becomes his friend.

• (Supersons)

• Damian becomes friends with Jon Kent (10).

• (Gotham's Most Wanted; Batman and Robin: Requiem)

• They happen a little differently. Let's not make Talia the worst mother in the world, please, I hate what they did to her in these comics.

• Robin dies and Bruce is expelled from Gotham. One of the differences here is that since Azrael is dead (since we ignore the New 52).

• (Robin: Son of Batman 2015—2016)

• Damian meets Maya Ducard (Nobody).

• (Batman: Urban Legends Vol 1 #1)

• Jason Todd (23) is reinstated into the Wayne family.

• (Joker: Endgame)

• The Robin war begins.

• (Batman Vol. 10: Epilogue; Batman #51-52, Batman: Futures End #1, Batman Annual #4)

• Bruce tries to recover from the events of Joker: Endgame. Duke Thomas (17) joins the Bat-Family as the vigilante Signal.

• Gotham and Gotham Girl debut.

• (Let's just ignore most of I am Suicide, I am Bane, I Am Gotham and all that shit. Alfred is immortal and stays alive after this, please :'].)

• (Alfred: 69; Dick: 30; Barbara: 33, Bruce: 46; Tim: 22; Stephanie: 22; Cassandra: 23; Jason: 22, Kate: 37; Damian: 12; Harper: 20; Duke: 17)

2009 -

• (The Next Batman: Second Son)

• Jace Fox becomes Batman.

----

According to the comics, Damian is like 14 right now (and we ignore what the comics did to Jon), so Alfred should be 71 (since we pretend he doesn't die), Dick is 32, Barbara 35, Bruce 48, Tim, Stephanie and Jason are 24, Cassandra is 25, Kate is 39, Harper is 22 and Duke is 19.

[yourdailyqueer]

Diana Ortiz

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: 23 September 1985

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Singer, songwriter

[farahsamboolents]

stranger things major dates:

(this is actually part of a much larger post i plan on making, with a loooot of background bullshit that nobody cares about, but this is just the dates :P please note that it took me a while to get the hang of this note taking thing so it’ll get more accurate as the seasons progress, feel free to fact check me)

(other thing to notes: I'm assuming that all of these dates are one after the other or even simultaneously, but according to wikis online, the timeline is much more stretched out, implying that there are other days we don't see.)

S1

Will went missing on November 6th, 1983. There were search parties November 6th and 7th; on November 7th there was the big storm and it was called off.

Steve’s party was on a Tuesday . Steve broke Jonathan’s camera the next day, which was the day of the funeral, as well as the day Will was rescued .

[UPDATE: i missed a day in here, because Steve breaking the camera was a catalyst for Nancy seeing the photos, which led to Nancy and Jonathan going monster hunting, and they spent the night together before Will was rescued. Sorry for the goof!]

Other dates mentioned:

Joyce has worked at Melvalds for ten years

According to Hop, the last missing person was summer of 23, last suicide in 61.

Seven years prior (1976) there was a drowning in the quarry

S2

The season starts on October 30th

Mike says into the walkie that it’s day 352

el tells hop on November 1st that it’s day 326 (since she moved in with Hop). She runs away on day 327.

Wills birthday is March 22nd.

The time skip is implied to be late November/early December (okay honestly i don’t remember how i came to this conclusion, it’s just in my notes. I think the title card must’ve said “one month later” or something.)

^ this is when Hawkins lab gets raided by govt vehicles with Murray watching, as well as Hop getting El’s forged birth certificate. The Snow Ball is around this time as well.

Other dates mentioned:

“Last month a coworker of Ted Wheeler’s” discussed El. Not sure how he blabbed after almost an entire year.

Steve was aiming for early application into college, which was closing soon.

Steve and Nancy were working on their Halloween costumes for “a stupid amount of time”.

At some point between S1 & 2, they took Will to a doctor in Chicago.

Nancy says she waited. Jonathan says only a month.

S3

The only actual date on the timeline I noted was the fourth of July. Sorry. I'd have to count backwards for the rest of the plot points and I guarantee I will count wrong.

There is a time skip for three months later, which would now be October 1985.

Other dates mentioned:

El watches Miami Vice on Fridays. It starts at 10.

The Hawkins Post tagline says "Courage in Journalism since 1947".

The Journal Tribune publishes an article headlined "SCANDAL ROCKS SMALL TOWN" about Starcourt on July 11th, 1985

The Indianapolis Gazette publishes an article headlined "THIRTY DEAD", and the subheader reads "Hero Chief Dies in Fire" on July 15th, 1985

The Journal Tribune publishes an article headlined "MAYOR UNDER FIRE", and above it there is text that reads "Hawkins makes headlines around the nation" on July 12th, 1985

After the three month time skip, a news special on Channel 4 WCPK-TV links Satanism and D&D for the first time within the show

The Byers are packing up after the time skip. Jonathan says, "Seventeen years of my life. Packed up in one day." (kind of impressive tbh)

Mike initially planned on visiting the Byers for Thanksgiving, and El is supposed to come back for Christmas (this obviously does not happen).

S4

The massacre at Hawkins Lab was September 8th, 1979.

(apparently I neglected to take note of any actual Date Dates after this)

The season starts on the Friday before Spring break.

Mike arrives in Lenora on Saturday morning.

El is arrested on Sunday.

Joyce and Murray are told to meet Yuri in two days on a Saturday, which means that episode takes place on a Monday.

The original Creel murders happened in 1959.

When Erica yells at Jason, she says she's been covering for Lucas for two days.

The faux reference latter that Nancy has for Director Hatch is dated March 29th, 1986

Lucas and Max agree to a movie date the following Friday

The death toll two days later is 22

Other dates mentioned:

Max sees Miss Kelly on Thursdays

The Indianapolis Gazette published an article headlined "3 Dead as Police Probe Grisly Scene" about Creel on Thursday, March 18, 1959 (the text on the date is super blurry, I'm mostly confident I got Thursday and March right but I can only mostly tell the date is two digits, and the first digit is a 1)

Victor Creel was back from war for 14 years when he bought the house in Hawkins

Billy was born March 29, 1967

The Nina Project was named after the opera Nina by Nicolas Dalayrac in 1786

Dustin's birthday is in two months, three days, and five hours (from when they reach Suzie)

The dates on Brenner's tapes:

Dustin's shirt says "Craftsbury Banjo Contest" with the year 1986 on it

The Hawkins Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1897

[laboitediabolique]

Promotional poster for the cancelled TV anime Omega Zone 23, September 1984. The main sponsor of the show pulled out at the last minute forcing a halt to production. It was then decided to reformat the completed scripts into an 80 minute direct to video film (known as Original Video Animation or OVA) and was released in March 1985. The format was still fairly new and seen as a risky investment at the time. However the OVA, retitled as Megazone 23, sold over 26,000 copies, mostly in the rental market, a feat which would not be matched for an OVA release for over a decade.

[rastronomicals]

2:23 PM EDT August 24, 2024:

Tom Waits - "Gun Street Girl" From the album Rain Dogs (September 30, 1985)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

--

[d3d9]

Official Akira Pre-movie Timeline

Character childhoods, historical events etc.

hiiii Akira tumblr, I haven't been around here much but here's a translation I did. I've never seen this full timeline translated anywhere, so maybe it'll be of interest !😳

(I did a condensed version on Twitter a while ago, but I figure it's easier to follow in its original format .)

(Long post under the cut)

Source is the book Poster & Graphic Akira released in 1988. Also a special thank you to my old friend Shina-san for the photos from the book, I don't yet own a copy myself !!

1970

Nezu's birth - Born in Chiba as the third son of farmers.

1976

Colonel's birth - Has an older sister and an older brother. His father served in the Japan Defense Agency, JGSDF major.

1977

Nezu age 7 - Started elementary school.

1982

Nezu age 12 - Started middle school. Excellent grades.

1985

Nezu age 15 - Started high school.

1988

Nezu age 18 - Started law school. The disaster of Akira’s awakening occurred. In the chaos of the next 3 years, he studied life as a black marketeer. During that time he became acquainted with the people of this underworld.

Colonel age 12 - His father died to Akira’s first awakening. (He was on a special mission, suspected to be related to the Akira Project). After the world war (which ended after 3 weeks), until he was 15 he spent the next years of chaos with his mother and siblings. These events would profoundly shape his later development. (Until 1991, Japan lacked a governing body and was controlled by the US)

1992

Colonel age 16 - Started night school. Studied while working.

1993

Colonel age 17 - Having regained autonomy, Japan emulates the US and establishes an American-style military.

1994

Nezu age 24 - As university resumed operation, he returned to school.

1995

Nezu age 25 - Graduated. Passed the bar exam, and became a lawyer.

1996

Colonel age 20 - Graduated night school. Enrolled in the newly established military academy (National Defense Academy).

1999

Colonel age 23 - Graduated military academy with excellent grades. Admitted to Officer Candidate School on recommendation.

2000

Nezu age 30 - From around this time he begins to appear in politics.

Colonel age 24 - Graduates from Officer Candidate School. Enlists in the Army as a First Lieutenant.

2001

Colonel age 25 - Studies abroad at the US Department of Defense.

2002

Nezu age 32 - Hears about Miyako-sama, and becomes a devoted believer.

Colonel age 26 - Returns to Japan. Establishes the Army Special Forces. Becomes its commander. Promoted to Major.  Dispatched in the Soviet-DPRK War, which had been ongoing since 1996. He is awarded a decoration for his service.  

2003

Colonel age 27 - Through matchmaking by his superior officer, he gets married.

Kei - Born in April. Her father, born 1967 (age 36), is a teacher. She has an older brother. They're 14 years apart.

2004

Kaneda - born in September (at this time, schools would have September enrollment and August graduation). His father born 1977 (age 27). His mother born 1978 (age 26).

Yamagata - born in November. His father is a Yakuza.

Colonel age 28 - By creating a new unification of land, sea, and air defense systems, he successfully allows Japan to gain independence from the US protective defense system.

2005

Nezu age 35 - He trains diligently under Miyako, and establishes himself. From around this time he separates under a new sect of Miyako's religion, and starts a political organization, becoming its president. Behind the scenes he is backing anti-government activists at the same time.

Kai - Born in January. His father works in the construction industry. He is blessed with a good home environment.

Tetsuo - Born in July. His father born 1980 (age 25). His mother born 1981 (age 24). In 1984, as part of the Akira Project, experiments were conducted on children around the age of 10, and genetic manipulation was (secretly) performed on newly born children. The effects of this skipped a generation and manifested in Tetsuo… and are gradually beginning to show in other children.(His grandfather was a genetic engineer. He participated in the Project. He died during Akira's awakening in 1988)

Colonel age 29 - He and his wife separate. They have no children.

2006

Yamagata age 2 - His father is arrested. He will serve 25 years. His mother makes a living as a hostess.

2008

Kaneda age 4 - His little brother is born. His parents open a laundry service. His little brother is born with a disability, and goes between home and treatment centers since the time he's 2 years old.

Yamagata age 4 - His mother gets a boyfriend. A little brother is born.

Kei age 5 - Her father dies. (Illness)

Tetsuo age 3 - His father (a graduate student), who's been sickly since birth, develops pneumonia from the common cold, and dies. His parents were never officially married, so as his father's child born out of wedlock, he's poorly received by his mother's side of the family.

Colonel age 32 - He is appointed commander of the nation's top secret 'Akira Plan' as Colonel. (The 'Akira Plan' began 3 years after Akira's awakening in 1988, when the US began investigating, and in 1996 it was turned over to the Japanese government. Since then, despite organization of records and repeated experiments, there hasn't been much progress. This may be why the US let go of it….) The heads of government began to feel threatened by the Colonel's excessively growing power, so even though it was a top national secret, they appointed him to this do-nothing position to force him to withdraw from the front lines, as a means of dismissal. …As for why the Colonel resigned himself to this sinecure, perhaps it's because he was seeking answers about his father's death, or trying to fulfill his father's dying wish, or maybe he himself saw potential in this investigation…. There are various possibilities, but one can only speculate.

2009

Yamagata age 5 - His mother gets another boyfriend. A little sister is born.

Kei age 6 - Starts elementary school. Her older brother is 21. He's already a student activist while also supporting the family.

Tetsuo age 4 - His mother remarries. Tetsuo is adopted by another family. But he can't get used to his new home and is gradually shunned as a gloomy child.

2010

Kaneda age 6 - Starts elementary school. Due to the fatigue of nursing his younger brother, his father collapses.

Yamagata age 6 - Starts elementary school. Another little brother is born.

2011

Kai age 7 - Starts private elementary school. Gets excellent grades.

Tetsuo age 6 - Starts elementary school. At this time he starts repeatedly running away from home.

2012

Kaneda age 8 - Changes schools due to his little brother changing treatment centers. His mother runs off. They live off of government assistance. His father shows a distinct turn towards alcoholism. 

2013

Kaneda age 9 - His father is deemed unfit to take care of the children, so Kaneda is sent to an orphanage. His little brother is kept at a hospital. Half a year later, Tetsuo comes to the orphanage.

Tetsuo age 8 - His parents try to return him, but his birth mother won't accept him, so he's sent to an orphanage. He then meets Kaneda.

2014

Kei age 11 - Starts middle school.

2015

Kaneda age 11 - Graduates from the orphanage and goes to a boarding middle school. He's separated from Tetsuo.

Yamagata age 11 - Starts middle school. His mother continues to have children, both boys and girls. She also keeps changing boyfriends.

Kei age 12 - Her older brother is arrested as a suspect in a major incident. (Something like the Mikawashima train crash). There are rumors that it was a US plot against the organization her older brother was connected to. Following this, Kei's family was supported by donations from her brother's group, organized by her brother's junior, Ryusaku.

2016

Kaneda age 12 - His defiant attitude stands out in school.

Yamagata age 12 - Caught by the police for shoplifting. He was stealing sweets for his little siblings.

Kai age 12 - Goes to the same private academy for middle school.

Tetsuo age 11 - He's adopted again by another family. He then starts middle school.

2017

Nezu age 46 - He may be doing it to spread the religion's ideals, or he may be using the religion for his own desires, or perhaps both….?

Kaneda age 13 - A complete juvenile delinquent. His grades are above average.

Yamagata age 13 - His mother joins a new religion. He leaves home.

Kei age 14 - Her older brother dies in prison. The authorities claim it was a suicide, but it's suspected that he was tortured. Kei leaves home and asks Ryusaku if she can become an activist too.

Tetsuo age 12 - Becomes truant. Frequently runs away from home.

Colonel age 41

2018

Kaneda age 14 - Expelled after a brush with the law. Starts at vocational school.

Yamagata age 14 - Starts at vocational school.

Kai age 13 - His father runs away from home. They find him. His father confesses: "I'm gay, and have been deceiving our family this whole time…." 

Kei age 15

Tetsuo age 13 - Due to misconduct with an elementary school student, he gets in trouble with the police. From this point forward he stops going to school.

2019

Kaneda age 15 - Forms a motorcycle team at the vocational school.

Tetsuo enrolls.

Kai age 14 - As junior representative, he reads an essay titled 'Is Life A Joke' to the graduating seniors, and is suspended. One week later, he turns in his notice to withdraw, and enrolls in vocational school himself.

Tetsuo age 14 - His parents convince him to go to vocational school. He reunites with Kaneda, and is admitted. There, he joins the motorcycle team.

[turtlycute]

2023 Anime Watch List

October:

This post is part of my ongoing record for the new (to me) anime I watch in 2023. I'm excited to see what new shows and films I discover as this list grows through the year.

Since it's spooky season, I've spent October watching anime with Halloween-ish themes.

* Indicates shows that are rewatches

In/Spectre* (2020) episodes: 12 started: 10-6-23 finished: 10-7-23 rating: 7/10

In/Spectre Season 2 (2023) episodes: 12 started: 10-8-23 finished: 10-9-23 rating: 7/10

Vampire Hunter D (1985) film watched: 10-10-23 rating: 7/10

Devils and Realist (2013) episodes: 12 started: 10-10-23 finished: 10-11-23 rating: 7/10

Devils Line* (2018) episodes: 12 started: 10-12-23 finished: 10-16-23 rating: 7.5/10

Mermaid Forest (2003) episodes: 13 started: 10-17-23 finished: 10-18-23 rating: 7.5/10

Vampire Knight* (2008) episodes: 13 started: 10-19-23 finished: 10-20-23 rating: 7/10

Vampire Knight Guilty* (2008) episodes: 13 started: 10-21-23 finished: 10-23-23 rating: 6.5/10

 Devil Survivor 2 (2013) episodes: 13 started: 10-24-23 finished: 10-25-23 rating: 7/10

Ghost Stories (2000) episodes: 20 started: 10-26-23 finished: 10-28-23 rating: 7.5/10 note: of course I watched the English dub for this one. It's ridiculously bad but the hilarious dub makes all the difference

The Vampire Dies in No Time (2021) episodes: 12 started: 10-30-23 finished: 10-31-23 rating: 8/10 note: additional cuteness rating for John the armadillo 11/10

Previous Months:

January Watch List

February Watch List

March Watch List

April Watch List

May Watch List

June Watch List

July Watch List

August Watch List

September Watch List

[starchaseriseverything]

Birthdays (bc I can)

I put my own fancasts and my headcannon b-day'

Euphemia Braithewaite-Potter - January 4, 1907

Walburga Irma-Black - April 17, 1907

Fleamont Potter - May 15, 1909

Charlus Potter (Monty' brother) - August 19, 1900

Lucretia Black (Orion' sister) - August 3, 1914

Orion Black - September 30, 1920

Druella Rosier (Axel' sister) - December 31, 1928

Axel Rosier (Rosier twins dad) - November 14, 1930

Cygnus Black (Black sisters dad) - July 30, 1938

Adele Jacob-Rosier (Rosier twins mom) - June 7, 1938

Alphard Black - June 26, 1925

Rodolphus Lestrange - October 19, 1952

Rabastan Lestrange- September 21, 1954

Lucius Malfoy - July 1, 1954

Enid Pettigrew (Peter' sister) - January 30, 1962

Mason McKinnon (Marlene' brother) - December 20, 1952

Mitchell McKinnon (Marlene' brother) - June 25, 1955

Matthew McKinnon (Marlene' brother) - November 7, 1958

Maxwell McKinnon (Marlene' brother) - February 29, 1962

Petunia Evans-Dursley - January 10, 1958

Mavan Rosier (Rosier twins brother) - March 14, 1965

Annabella Rosier (Rosier twins sister) - April 16, 1968

Elizabeth Meadows (Dorcas' sister) - May 1, 1965

Fabian Prewett - September 30, 1958

Gideon Prewett - September 30, 1958

Molly Prewett-Weasley - October 30, 1949

Billius Weasley (Arthur' brother) - May 26, 1952

Arthur Weasley - February 6, 1950

James Potter - March 27, 1960

Remus Lupin - March 10, 1960

Sirius Black - November 3, 1960

Peter Pettigrew - August 31, 1960

Lily Evans-Potter - January 30, 1960

Mary Macdonald - September 16, 1959

Marlene McKinnon - August 1, 1960

Dorcas Meadows - April 2, 1960

Bartemius Crouch Jr. - July 9, 1961

Evan Rosier - June 20, 1961

Pandora Rosier - June 20, 1961

Regulus Black - December 31, 1961

Alice Fortescue-Longbottom - August 14, 1960

Frank Longbottom - September 14, 1959

Ted Tonks - March 20, 1953

Emmeline Vance - July 18, 1957

Rita Skeeter - December 19, 1951

Ophelia Zabini - January 15, 1951

Emma Vanity - February 28, 1960

Andromeda Black - October 10, 1953

Narcissa Black - July 19, 1955

Bellatrix Black - May 2, 1991

Tom Riddle Jr. - February 19, 1979

Mattheo Riddle - January 20, 1980

Aliana Riddle - January 20, 1980

Mandy Lestrange - March 13, 1985

Cara Lestrange - May 23, 1986

Delphini Riddle - August 16, 1987

Lorenzo Berkshire - December 17, 1996

Nymphadora Tonks - October 8, 1973

Nina Tonks (Nymphadora' sister) - June 13, 1978

Lucas Rosier (Rosekiller child) - July 21, 1985

Nicholas Rosier (Rosekiller child) - July 1, 1987

Draco Malfoy - June 5, 1980

Lila Malfoy (Draco' sister) - June 5, 1980

Artemis McKinnon (Dorlene child) - September 13, 1981

Aries McKinnon (Dorlene child) - October 17, 1982

Jack McKinnon (Dorlene child) - January 23, 1987

Harry Potter - July 31, 1980

Lillian Potter (Harry' sister) - July 31, 1980

Rose Potter (Harry' sister) - May 24, 1981

Leo Potter (Harry' brother) - February 16, 1983

Pansy Parkinson - August 1, 1980

Blaise Zabini - November 1, 1980

Teddy Lupin - April 11, 1985

Neville Longbottom - July 30, 1980

Juliana Longbottom (Neville' sister) - October 15, 1986

Nicky Longbottom (Neville' brother) - October 15, 1986

Penelope Vance (Emmary child) - November 12, 1988

Hermione Granger - September 19, 1980

Violet Granger (Hermione' sister) - May 14, 1979

Bill Weasley - November 29, 1970

Charlie Weasley - December 12, 1972

Percy Weasley - August 22, 1976

Fred Weasley - April 1, 1978

George Weasley - April 1, 1978

Ron Weasley - March 1, 1980

Ginevra Weasley - August 11, 1981

Luna Lovegood - February 13, 1981

Eclipse Rosier (Pandalily child or Luna' sister) - January 11, 1985

[archivist-crow]

The Fall - This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)

Thirty-nine years ago today, on September 23, 1985, This Nation’s Saving Grace, the eighth studio album by the Fall, was released. One of the idiosyncratic post-punk band’s best (and most accessible) albums, it was initially quite well received by the UK press. However, the band’s music—odd, angular, and antagonistic—never found much of an audience in the US and remains to this day something of an acquired taste. Retrospectively, the album is now counted among the best of the 80s and as The Guardian put it the album shows the band “operating just on the edge of the mainstream and at the peak of their accessibility and yet strangeness”.

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #666

There has been almost 20 instances of demons or the devil appearing in Muppet related media. About three times in The Muppet Show, technically six times in Dinosaurs, twice in Muppet Babies, once in Muppets Tonight, The Muppets, The Jim Henson Hour, The Storyteller, Sesame Street, and Miss Piggy's Guide to Life.

The instances in The Muppets, Muppet Babies, and Miss Piggy's Guide to Life are all examples of the devil (and angel) on your shoulder. The "devil" in Sesame Street is just Maria in a Halloween costume.

Sources:

Sesame Street. Episode 0911. May 10, 1976.

The Muppet Show. Episode 307: Alice Cooper. November 2, 1978.

The Muppet Show. Episode 420: Alan Arkin. March 7, 1980.

The Muppet Show. Episode 509: Debbie Harry. January 25, 1981.

Miss Piggy's Guide to Life. Miss Piggy, as told to Henry Beard. Photos by John E. Barrett. Muppet Press/Alfred A. Knopf. 1981.

Muppet Babies. Episode 204: "The Great Cookie Robbery." October 5, 1985.

Muppet Babies. Episode 412: "The Frog Who Knew Too Much." December 5, 1987.

The Storyteller. Episode 106: "The Soldier and Death." April 28, 1989.

The Jim Henson Hour. Episode 106: Monster Maker. July 9, 1989.

Dinosaurs. Episode 203: "I Never Ate for My Father." October 2, 1991.

Dinosaurs. Episode 222: "Slave to Fashion." March 30, 1992.

Dinosaurs. Episode 311: "Wilderness Weekend." December 18, 1992.

Dinosaurs. Episode 406: "Terrible Twos." July 13, 1994.

Dinosaurs. Episode 408: "Into the Woods." Aired via syndication.

Dinosaurs. Episode 412: "Life in the Faust Lane." Aired via syndication.

No Strings Attached. Matt Bacon. MacMillan. 1997.

Muppets Tonight. Episode 202: Rick Moranis. September 14, 1997.

The Muppets. November 23, 2011.

[kaijuposting]

All the Pacific Rim Character Birthdays I Could Find

...And by "all," I mean I will be writing down character birthdays from all the sources I can find, some of which contradict each other! It definitely sheds some insight into how ideas changed during development, and I think it shows some evidence that not everyone was always up to date - for example, Mako and Raleigh's Drift Space bios seem to be up to date, but Newt's is clearly an older version, as indicated by his age being given as 45 rather than 35.

Update: I found a post on Travis Beacham's blog that lists birthdays! I've added them now.

Mako Mori Bio posted by GdT on Twitter: January 9th, 2006 Drift Space Special Feature: April 23rd, 2003 Man, Machine, & Monsters: April 23rd, 2003 Pacific Rim Novelization: April 23, 2003 Travis Beacham's Blog: April 23, 2005

Raleigh Becket Bio posted by GdT on Twitter: April 11, 1991 Drift Space Special Feature: December 11, 1998 Man, Machine, & Monsters: December 11, 1998 Pacific Rim Novelization: December 11, 1998 Travis Beacham's Blog: December 11, 1998

Yancy Becket Travis Beacham's Blog: November 7th, 1995

Stacker Pentecost Bio posted by GdT on Twitter: September 9, 1983 Man, Machine, & Monsters: December 30, 1985 Pacific Rim Novelization: December 30, 1985 Travis Beacham's Blog: December 30, 1985

Hercules Hansen Man, Machine, & Monsters: November 10, 1980 Pacific Rim Novelization: November 10, 1980 Travis Beacham's Blog: November 10, 1980

Chuck Hansen Man, Machine, & Monsters: August 14, 2003 Travis Beacham's Blog: August 14, 2003

Sasha Kaidonovsky Man, Machine, & Monsters: February 9, 1991 Travis Beacham's Blog: February 9, 1991

Aleksis Kaidonovsky Man, Machine, & Monsters: January 31, 1998 Travis Beacham's Blog: January 31st, 1989

The Wei Triplets Man, Machine, & Monsters: December 24, 1998 Travis Beacham's Blog: December 24th, 1998

Tendo Choi Man, Machine, & Monsters: May 17, 1992 Travis Beacham's Blog: May 17th, 1992

Newt Geiszler Drift Space Special Feature: January 19, 1980 Man, Machine, & Monsters: January 19, 1990 Pacific Rim Novelization: January 19, 1990 Travis Beacham's Blog: January 19, 1991

Hermann Gottlieb Man, Machine, & Monsters: June 9, 1989 Pacific Rim novelization: June 9, 1989 Travis Beacham's Blog: June 9, 1989

Notes:

Beacham stated that Aleksis Kaidonovsky's 1998 birthdate was a typo.

Beacham's blog lists Mako's birth year as 2005, but given that 2003 is listed far more commonly, I'm inclined to think his date may be in error.

[frankendykes-monster]

Countdown to Halloween 2023, Ranked

43. Swamp Thing (1982)

42. Curse of Bigfoot (1975)

41. The Haunting (1999)

40. Orca (1977)

39. Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958)

38. The Beast (1975)

37. Don't Go in The House (1979)

36. Countess Dracula (1971)

35. Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)

34. Beware! The Blob (1972)

33. Alien Space Avenger (1989)

32. Baby Blood (1990)

31. Shriek of The Mutilated (1974)

30. The Mutations (1974)

29. Phase IV (1974)

28. Curse of The Faceless Man (1958)

27. The Sadist (1963)

26. Jennifer (1978)

25. The Wasp Woman (1959)

24. Noroi: The Curse (2005)

23. Girls Nite Out (1982)

22. The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

21. The Cat and The Canary (1927)

20. Tell Your Children (Reefer Madness, 1936)

19. The Company of Wolves (1984)

18. It's Alive (1974)

17. The Wolf House (2018)

16. Michael Jackson's Halloween (2017)

15. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)

14. The Omega Man (1971)

13. Gamera: Rebirth (2023)

12. Student Bodies (1981)

11. Night Caller From Outer Space (1965)

10. Inhumanoids (episodes 1 - 5, 1986)

9. Blind Woman's Curse (1970)

8. Maniac (1980)

7. The Child (1977)

6. Zombie 3 (1988)

5. Return of The Living Dead (1985)

4. Spider Baby (1967)

3. Basket Case (1982)

2. Messiah of Evil (1973)

Godzilla (1954)

Woof. Okay. This has been a mostly disappointing viewing experience.

Critical difference between this year's countdown and the past two is that now that I have stable employment, there is far less time to be watching horror films. I normally begin the countdown in September but we started in July of this year and still barely managed to crack 40, with my original goal being a full 100 this year. Timing. As such a lot of my plans and possible viewings were cut short and compared to last year specifically we fell back on a lot of "seen it already" at least for the top of the list.

This year's batch of viewings were largely blah, but a step up from the shitshow I put myself through last year (watching nearly every Texas Chainsaw sequel does things to a person). As such it'll be difficult to conjure up words for a decent chunk of these mostly because yes, these movies exist, I watched them, I would not recommend that you yourself watch them. That is all. If I write briefly on a given film that's not necessarily an indictment of its quality as there a decent number of these that I saw and enjoyed it's just their impact might be a bit fleeting. You will know which ones I actively disliked. I mostly just want to write about the top five or so but I will play fair.

Our grand loser this year is Swamp Thing, the DC Comics adaptation by Wes Craven. I watched this pretty much entirely because I finally got the Alan Moore Swamp Thing run in paperback this year after quite some time of having it on my to-buy list. Longtime Rachael/Ray/Ratchet fans may recall me reading it in early 2019 alongside [REDACTED]. Still one of the best Moore comics, and a second volume of Swamp Thing wouldn't have been possible without the success of this film. For context I did read the early Swampies by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson and my general reaction to those was a'ight but there was definitely material for a serviceable film adaptation there. This is not that serviceable film adaptation. I'm not hung up on details like how Abigail has no connection to Arcane now despite being his niece in the comics, but this film is just kind of painful in how relatively unambitious it is which is saying something for Swamp Thing sword fighting another human mutation at the end of this. It's just silly and stupid and not scary or awe inspiring or anything, the Swamp Thing suit sucks, the action sucks, any sense of pathos is not there or gone, it stretches for 30 minutes too long like it's a padded TV pilot, the only highlight is being able to see Adrienne Barbeau's breasts. Fuck this it's a miserable experience to sit through. My mistake for watching a Wes Craven film that doesn't have "Scream" in the title.

Our next shitter is the two-for-one abomination that is Teenagers Battle The Thing (1958) and Curse of Bigfoot (1975); these are the same movie except Curse of Bigfoot has a 25 minute opening scene framing device that is bizarre given that "The Thing" of the original film is a Native American mummy of some sort unearthed by a group of white high school students. It's the rare personal pet project movie made for fun by some locals but the only highlights are the occasional kill scene, Curse of Bigfoot ranks lower just for making me sit through it longer. Blah.

Speedrunning through a bunch of these because theyre all varying degrees of bad and I don't want to spend any longer writing about these than you probably do reading about them: The Haunting is awful and I don't even super care for the original film so adding shitty CGI monsters and a moral lesson of "it's about family!" doesn't help. Orca is a shitty Jaws cash-in that's like a reverse Moby Dick where the sea animal hunts down the human, nice finale where the orca and shitty poacher guy are fighting it out in the Arctic but otherwise avoid. Don't Go in The House is a mysoginistic torture porn movie that really doesn't sell the "seemingly normal guy is a closet nutcase" thing even though movies made before and after have done it well (see Maniac several paragraphs below). The Beast is advertised as this really scandalous porno film but most of it is French aristocrats sitting around in stuffy rooms arguing about real estate. I think I only watched Countess Dracula for its inclusion in the "if this is her vibe I would fucking cum" meme and it's barely worth bringing up at all. Hillbillys in a Haunted House has an absolutely lovely Tennessee country soundtrack that I wish I could listen to without having to watch the actual movie which is devoid of both scares and laughs. Beware! The Blob gives off the feeling of sitting at a funeral for a family member that was just distant enough for you to be aware of them but not actually be upset but it's still a funeral so it's not like you're smiling, stick with the 1988 Blob film. Alien Space Avenger has some decent gore effects but that's all I can recall from it. Shriek of The Mutilated has one of the best titles for an otherwise uninspired yeti movie that has a needless third act twist about it being a cover for a cult and blah blah blah fuck you. Baby Blood has an alien mutant whatever crawl up a woman's vagina into her womb and she has to eat people to feed it and yeah I'm actually struggling to remember what happens here. The Mutations has a scene where a guy cuts into a tree and it bleeds, I think he's played by Donald Pleasance. Yeah, it's like Freaks except it plays to the freak show straight so you get to laugh at all the outcasts of society, no thank you.

Some odds and ends that I'd say are decent-to-pretty-good: Phase IV has some footage of ants and synth music. All you need is some footage of ants and synth music. Curse of The Faceless Man employs a rarely seen archetype of the living statue monster, it's cute. The Sadist is another starring vehicle for Arch Hall Jr., who was also the star of last Halloween's Eegah! (1962), though this film is a bold trendsetter for the 1960's with Hall being a unhinged killer holding people for ransom until they can fix his car and he can make a getaway. The film lives and dies by Hall's performance and it's mostly the latter until we get to an absolutely superb final act with him hunting down his remaining victims, it makes the whole film worth seeing. Jennifer is an oddball that plays out mostly like a character drama ("It wasn't my fault Daddy it was that stupid hillbilly bitch Jennifer") that suddenly remembers that it's supposed to be a cash-in of Carrie (1976) in the last 20 minutes and cue our titular character being able to summon and control snakes to send after her tormentors. Girls Nite Out is a plodding meandering slasher that's oddly hypnotizing considering so much of it takes place in pitch-black night and the killer is wearing a bear mascot costume with serrated knives hidden under the glove, not sure what fully to make of it. The Monster of Piedras Blancas is made up of leftover parts from the Gillman, Mole People, and Metaluna Mutant, but still manages to star in a decent enough film that gives a sense of what a series of monster attacks would do to a small seaside community. The Cat and The Canary is "cute" for lack of a better term being a horror comedy before the former genre had fully crystalized. Reefer Madness is horror adjacent more than anything but a hilariously good time about how the use of "marihuana" will drive today's youth into becoming crazed fiends and get involved in organized crime.

We can do this.

The Company of Wolves has an excellent story book like setting an atmosphere that you can't get in films nowadays and it's a shame that it's mostly remembered for its transformation sequences. it's Alive is the best Larry Cohen film by default of not sucking but it's still not "great", genius however for playing the concept of mutant newborn killer baby completely seriously without any sense of humor to the proceedings. The Girl Who Knew Too Much is almost a parody of giallo films which is interesting given those hadn't fully sprang up in 1963; absolute highlight is the main character being interviewed in bed by doctors and reporters and the like that yes she did see a murder and no she doesn't drink. I've always been fascinated and haunted by I Am Legend and while The Omega Man doesn't really capture the novel to a superb degree it's so beautifully shot that it lands high in the rankings for that alone. Night Caller From Outer Space is hilarious to me because of how it shifts halfway through from a Hammer-esque mystery about a meteorite with radioactive properties to a film about an alien that lures women in through a modeling advertisement. Blind Woman's Curse I've mentally confused with Irezumi for a while now (haha all 1960's Japanese genre films where woman have large animal tattoos on their backs are the saaame), and it's one I mostly watched for being directed by Teruo Ishii, but there's enough bloody yakuza fights and cats licking up blood for me to stick around; not the strongest Meiko Kaiji vehicle compared to Female Prisoner Scorpion or Lady Snowblood. Maniac I find mostly interesting as a precursor to American Psycho (2000) but also it's probably the only serious film to successfully pull off it's ending trope (which I will not spoil here). The Child is an absolutely lovely 1970's only-a-dozen-people-made-this-and-not-much-more-watched-it horror that oozes atmosphere, I could watch stuff like this all day. Aaand Zombie 3 is far and away the best film that Lucio Fulci has been involved with that I've ever seen. I love random scenes and set pieces of ghouls just massacring people that are shit out out of luck.

Okay, now for the ones I actually want to write about.

The Wasp Woman is one that sticks in my head way more than any other random monster movie that Roger Corman directed in the latw 1950's. I've said on here and Letterboxd that it could have served as a standard pop-feminist piece about how the cosmetology industry is built on misogyny and invariably a monster is accidentally created because of that, but this most recent viewing has made me sort of "get it" because that might be what the film is going for considering Susan Cabot's performance leads me to believe that she is aware that she is becoming a homicidal wasp monster but views it as a tragic means to an end where she still has the ability to have a new advertising campaign with her as the star. Tragic. This is why you don't wear make up.

Both Noroi: The Curse and The Wolf House are ones I didn't care for whatsoever but I put them in places on the ranking that I thought were fair given that people should probably watch them regardless of my personal thoughts. Noroi's format didn't really lend itself to the escalation of tension and reveal of information that the plot demanded and I found myself thinking it meanders quite a bit. The Wolf House was an odd one where everything that was happening onscreen bounced off of me mostly because I felt intimately aware that I was watching a movie, that someone had made something and that I was now being shown it. Blah. People like these so don't let me stop you.

Our animated offerings this year...

Michael Jackson's Halloween more than anything feels like an unlicensed creation that later had an English fan dub commissioned, not something that actually aired on CBS twice. Any laughs that I found in this thing were the unintentional type as we open up with Bubbles talking and being Jackson's chauffeur; you know exactly what you're getting into. Very little of the plot is explained but I'm assuming Jackson (who has no lines given this was made posthumously) orchestrates a dark fantasy adventure to hook two...teenagers? People in their late 20's? And convince them to follow their dreams of performing instead of working a deadend dayjob. I'm not sure who the actual audience for this was given it feels like so much of it was made for children but I will say anything that has this much of Michael Jackson's music in it can't be all bad, though I'm not sure why they didn't largely stick with tracks from the album Thriller (in the contention for best album ever, I don't care).

Gamera: Rebirth is one I feel like I'm on the outside on compared to most other tokusatsu fans because I didn't really *love* to a serious degree even though, yes, Gamera is finally back. The first three episodes are mostly just kind of a slog for me with the backhalf not doing enough to retroactively make me think highly of it, though giving off End of Evangelion vibes may make me consider that a second viewing must be in order down the line. Rebirth's strongest attribute is that it feels like it takes into consideration and influence from every prior era of Gamera, no stone is left unturned, and it's a marked contrast from how every recent Godzilla property only captures a single facet of their respective character. But that also creates unique issues like how a lot of criticism of ongoing US military presence in Japan is undercut so there can be a white kid in the main cast (because white children were always present in half of the Showa series) or having the ancient civilization that genetically engineered the kaiju now being malicious and actively sacrificing children as a means of reshaping the world gives me vaguely anti-semitic tones, I don't know, Gamera is still here, I guess.

"I was just a little twerp who liked Scooby-Doo and Smurfs, now I was viewing Cthulhu mutants ruin the Earth."

Everyday that we have Inhumanoids is a gift. Inhumanoids is another Hasbro/Sunbow production like G. I. Joe, Transformers, or Jem and The Holograms, and it is truly tragic that it never got anywhere near that level of attention compared to its siblings. The fact that a 1980's action figure tie-in cartoon is named for its antagonists is only the start; the series follows a small paramilitary outfit of scientists named Earth Core that are tasked with more or less saving the world alongside the Mutores, elemental beings, when the Inhumanoids, eldritch abominations, are unleashed. The degree of world-building beyond your typical "good guys vs. bad guys" affair is astounding with villainous humans and virtuous monsters abounding, but Inhumanoids is mostly magical and remembered for saying fuck all to any type of broadcast standards. Seeing giant monsters destroy cities, undead armies, and spelunking deep into the Earth (where nightmares begin...) are just standard fair here, as are witnessing the actual Inhumanoids such as Metlar (basically the devil) or D'Compose (giant undead entity that can zombify people by touching them and uses his ribcage like a jail cell) in action. The first five episodes here are the pilot movie of sorts for the series which only lasted thirteen overall, and they get more grissly from here on out, but maybe it's best that Inhumanoids is the short lived cartoon and no the cartoon that went soft as early as its second season. I will never not love this show, to this day it's one of my favorite animated series from any decade, much less the 1980's.

Back to our regularly scheduled live-action programming...

Student Bodies is a fascinating film for a myriad of reasons the first of which is that there were somehow enough slasher films by 1981 for there to be a comedy poking fun at all the already established genre-cliches. It's essentially Scary Movie (2000) a full 20 years ahead of the curve only actually funny in spite of the subject matter frequently being as juvenile and prejudiced; but it also reminds me quite a bit of Scream (1996) with stuff like two killers working together. All I know is I was in for a decent time when the film opens with three identical shots of a house just with different framing text: "HALLOWEEN," "FRIDAY THE 13TH," "JAMIE LEE CURTIS' BIRTHDAY" and then the killer, The Breather, calls the opening kill girl doing nothing but breathing heavily, she hangs up, he calls back with "I SAID [heavy breathing]."

Return of The Living Dead is one of those films that should have destroyed the any artifically-imposed boundaries between "high" and "low" art. Every aspect of this film is brilliantly made, it just so happens to be made for stuff like Scooby-Doo music overlaid on top of thunderstorms over graveyards where one female character is stripping to the concept of dying. Media involving ghouls is incredibly oversaturated, and this was still the case in the 1980's where a film like this had to redefine the rules to make it so killing ghouls was basically a non-option. It only recently struck me on this viewing that that's the whole purpose of removing virtually all weaknesses they have, to keep the characters as the nail instead of the hammer. Compared to the Romero films, there's never a point where anyone is in control of the situation, it just escalates further and further until there is literally no way out. Taking that into consideration, there's no way this film couldn't have been a comedy that frames people getting swarmed and eaten by ghouls as hilarious.

The soundtrack and the faux-punk sensibilities lend this a daft feeling of "you shouldn't be watching this" in spite of it not being one of the MOST gory horror films of the 1980's. I still don't get how this never broke into the mainstream. I mean somehow people know that ghouls (in this film) speak and only eat brains but I can't go down to Target and get a Tarman action figure like I can one of Michael Myers. As such Return of The Living Dead remains a criminally overlooked film regardless of its subject matter. It's made me laugh and cringe and feel disgusted and revolt at the concept at dying but mostly it's made me feel a delicious sense of joy at seeing corpses rise out of the ground to the tune of "Do you wanna party? IT'S PARTY TIIIME!" Some of you need to sit in the corner and think about your life choices for making stupid shit like Re-Animator (1985) or fucking Shaun of The Dead (2004) more popular than this, fuck you.

The act of watching Spider Baby is like discovering the missing link. For as much as 1960 gave us an explosion of horror (Eyes Without a Face, The Ship of Monsters, Psycho, Jigoku, Black Sunday, etc.) and Night of The Living Dead (1968) reins as the perennial transition point of the genre, Spider Baby is the road by which we go from The Cat and The Canary and The Old Dark House to the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eraserhead, it's magical finding an essential piece of a genre you love so much. Both the former and latter points of comparison are apt as a family of now only children [and their butler] suffering from Poe-esque hereditary illness have their condemned house set upon by distant relatives and everything slowly unravels.

Lon Chaney Jr. is an actor who for the longest time I felt never got a proper chance to shine wherein the last 25 years or so of his career was spent playing as side character actor in independent films. Spider Baby is his crowning achievement. Seeing him smile through almost tears on several occasions as he has to play bridge between worlds of sanity and madness and lie to everyone that he has some sense of control over the situation is brilliant in ways I always knew he was capable of but had never seen before this point. Bravo.

I will never not love Basket Case with everything I've got. This is the epitome of 1980's horror and my clear pick for best of the decade. It has everything from being a grungy putrid grindhouse spectacle to being an intimate character drama to everything presented through a wry ironic lense where you can't tell if any "bad" performances are all done on purpose. Between this, Brain Damage (1988), and Frankenhooker (1990), there is literally absolutely no reason why Frank Henenlotter shouldn't be more popular than Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna, and Lloyd Kaufman *combined*. It's tragic that the world of cinema being enclosed and captured by studios again in the late 1980's prevented us from getting more from him, but realistically could we ask anymore than what we already got from Basket Case? I could watch this every day and never grow tired of it. I will never stop making more and more people watch this.

If Basket Case is the apex of 1980's horror, then Messiah of Evil is the same for 1970's horror. This is one of the most efficient horror films ever made in how not a single frame is wasted, the opening scene is literally a guy running from unseen force, seeking refuge, getting his throat slit, cue title card with synth music that then leads us to a sunburnt hallway as our narrator descends into acceptance of complete lack of control of the situation. Every night shot in this film must be 50 - 75% completely black with whatever headlight or store front there is just making the scenery look like a dollhouse that our characters are trapped inside. There's so many shots of people running away or walking down streets that make them look tiny as the camera is so far.

Every scene is an exercise in building up dread. There's no point where the film relents, something awful is not only coming, it's already here and there's nothing anyone can do. What I love particularly is that the mystery being laid out doesn't offer any answers because there's another mystery on top of what our characters find out only too late. Layers upon layers of dread that even the titular Messiah of Evil isn't the center of. The world is a cruel fucking place where this film languishes in obscurity whilst shit like The Exorcist enjoys mainstream attention. A lot of my taste amounts to "why isn't this thing I like more popular" and cases like Messiah of Evil vindicate me.

"Godzilla is the son of the atomic bomb. He is a nightmare created out of the darkness of the human soul. He is the sacred beast of the apocalypse." - Tomoyuki Tanaka

Generally a yearly trend is that a #1 pick for Halloween is self-evident to me and this year it was Basket Case for all of 30 seconds until I picked Godzilla back up.

There's something to be said how Godzilla isn't quite a horror monster? Terrifying but not necessarily creepy, but what power do things that go bump in the night have against the destruction of everything you know? Everytime I watch Godzilla is like the very first time, when flashing lights out at sea destroy fishing ships I have no idea what happened, or at least any much of a clue as anyone in film does when we're told that the entire ocean exploded.

Godzilla is a reptile, but lacks scales and its entire body is coated in keloid scars. In 1954 Godzilla must have been the largest monster every committed to film, trains are derailed from running against its ankle and bell and radio towers are throttled for being a sensory inconvenience. Godzilla's first on-screen appearance on Odo Island is obscured by a hurricane but the impression is clear; you can't fight Godzilla in the same way you can't fight a natural disaster. When Tokyo is reduced to complete ruin amidst a sea of flames, it's an onslaught of destruction never before seen in a film of this genre. Survivors being afflicted with radiation poisoning shows that Godzilla will claim victims long after being driven back to sea.

There's a sheer apocalyptic dread to all of this sensed by all the characters. Love tries to exist on the edge of annihilation. There's nothing that can be done but persevere and maybe hope tomorrow will be better. A scene that always strikes me is when Serizawa is adamant about not using the Oxygen Destroyer until forcibly confronted with the results of one night of Godzilla making landfall in Japan. The absolute pain felt by everyone in the finale starts here, things couldn't play out any differently as the "scientist of the century" can't join in and celebrate his victory.

Godzilla is a rare perfect film. I will never tire of it.

[thatsrightice]

I’ve been doing a LOT of digging on what path the Top Gun pilots would have taken prior to the events of the movie, specifically Iceman of course, but I found some information regarding the squadrons that Iceman and Maverick would have been apart of directly prior to TOPGUN.

In a preliminary script for “Top Gun”, Maverick speaks to Iceman saying, “You were in 124 with Bargamian.” In Maverick’s line, 124 refers to the VF-124 Gunfighters, a fleet replacement squadron (FRS). Iceman would have been assigned to the F-14 Tomcat and VF-124 in the selection after flight school, and Bargamian is likely a reference to the last name of a pilot Maverick had likely known well. The squadron was located in NAS Miramar, California, and in 1972 the squadron became responsible for training pilots and RIOs in the F-14A Tomcat in the Pacific. These training fleet replacement squadrons would fly out to aircraft carriers to fly day and night carrier qualifications.

In the movie, however, Iceman wears a patch for VFA-25 Fist of the Fleet. This means that he was likely reassigned to VFA-25 for deployment. What is interesting about this is that the squadron never flew the F-14 Tomcat, rather, they only flew configurations of the F/A-18 Hornet. VFA-25 was based out of NAS Lemoore, CA, and was in Carrier Air Wing CVW-14 at the time of the movie. They deployed on the USS Constellation from February 1985 to August 1985, and from September 1986 to October 1986. Their next deployment wouldn’t depart until April of 1987.

In the movie’s opening scene, Maverick and Cougar use the flight callsign ‘Ghostrider,’ the callsign for a real F-14 squadron (VF-142). In the early 1980s, VF-142 was deployed several times on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as a part of Carrier Air Wing CVW-7 flying F-14s. They deployed from April 1980 to December 1980, from January 1982 to July 1982, from April 1983 to December 1983, from May 1984 to May 1985, and from July 1985 to September 1985. Then they had an extended turnaround while the ship returned to the shipyard for an extensive overhaul and did not deploy again until 1987 with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

However, you may notice that Maverick’s patch is NOT for VF-142. The patch has VF-1 written, referring to the F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron known as the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack deployed on the USS Ranger from January 1982 to February 1982 and from April 1982 to October 1982. Then they deployed on the USS Kitty Hawk from January 1984 to August 1984 before returning to the USS Ranger from May 1986 to July 1986. They deployed again on the USS Ranger from August 1986 to October 1986 and from March 1987 to April 1987.

But this does not match the logo for the squadron, rather, the patch’s logo depicts a bird in flight. Aircraft from the NAS Miramar-based squadron VF-51 Screaming Eagles and VF-111 Sundowners were repainted in fictitious markings for the film. One could presume that the logo is meant to be a nod to the VF-51 Screaming Eagles. The Screaming Eagles flew off the USS Kitty Hawk in 1981 but transferred to the east coast following an accident that killed a deckhand from the squadron and injured an aircraft’s crew when an A-7E Corsair II from VA-22 struck one of VF-51s aircraft. They flew off of the new USS Carl Vinson from March 1983 to October 1983 as the ship traveled to its homeport in California. VF-51 is the first F-14 squadron to intercept several Soviet aircraft including an armed MiG-23. The squadron cruised with the USS Carl Vinson from 1986 to 1987.

Obviously, we know that Top Gun was filmed on the USS Enterprise, so this is another inaccuracy regarding his squadron. The USS Enterprise sailed with CVW-11 many times in the early 1980s. They deployed from September 1982 to April 1983, May 1984 to December 1984, from January 1986 to August 1986, from January 1988 to July 1988, and from September 1989 to March 1990. CVW-11 consisted of VFA-14 Tophatters, VFA-41 Black Aces, VFA-86 Sidewinders, and VFA-97 Warhawks.

Basically, none of it will paint you a clear and accurate picture. Obviously, I didn’t expect it to be accurate in terms of dates or aircraft carriers lining up and overall accuracy, but the patches and bars on their uniforms would have been nice. I’ve been trying to put together a timeline for Iceman’s career prior to TOPGUN but it’s a little hard when they don’t flesh out a character with a complete and fool proof backstory. I mean, Val Kilmer had to come up with his own headcanon in order to play his character with at least a little bit of depth.

EDIT: you can find a lot of information on different Naval squadrons using the website seaforces.org, they’ll give you info regarding their deployments and what carriers they were on and what planes they flew. Also, Wikipedia is legitimately a great starting place in terms of research :)

[beauxned-blog]

Kraig Urbik

Position: G 6'-5", 323 lbs. (196 cm, 146 kg) Born: September 23, 1985 in Hudson, WI College: Wisconsin

[dndhistory]

415. Michael Reaves -  Dungeons & Dragons, Episode 23: The Time Lost (September 21, 1985)

Another episode of the Cartoon series and this time we get some time travelly, cross universe, goodness with Venger showing himself as a Nazi. In fact, Venger has a plan to bring both a modern day (1980s, I mean) fighter plane and a World War II nazi plane into the world of D&D, so as to give the nazis the superior technology which would allow them to win the war back in out world and therefore stop the kids from being born at all in our universe.

What Venger didn't count on was transporting a "nice nazi" into his world, who quickly strikes up a friendship with the party of kids and sees his new condition as a way to start his life afresh. Captured by Venger he does go along with his plan, only to at the end return to WWII in order to help defeat Hitler. 

Not really an episode that progresses that story much further or that really explores the world of D&D, it's still an interesting one in terms of the extent to which Venger will go to defeat the kids and retrieve their magical weapons. Straight up Nazi supporter, not nice Venger. The German pilot is called Josef Muller which was the name of a couple of germans who resisted against the Nazis (both related to the Catholic Church) but none of them was in the Luftwaffe, so they don't really match, even if the episode gives us to understand that this was an actual historical character that helped defeat Hitler.