#empire bay radio

[jpitha]

The battle was not going well.

The Starjumper Minor Key was taken by surprise near the border with the Xenni empire. They were escorting a pack of K’laxi cargo freighters back to K'laxi space and wouldn't link away until the K’laxi entered the warp gate. Pack Commander Na’varen was onboard to help coordinate communications with the K’laxi.

As soon as the attack started, the Starjumper put themselves between the Xenni and K’laxi to give them a chance to break for the gate. As they streaked away the Xenni had to choose between the larger, more valuable target of the Starjumper or put themselves at risk to pick off the vulnerable cargo ships. The Xenni, choosing glory, attacked the Starjumper.

The Starjumper, with War Emergency Power authorized was a sight to behold. Their main batteries were firing almost constantly, the piercing white-blue light striking the Xenni frigates and destroyers over and over again. Missiles streaked away from launchers and the point defense slug throwers shot any missiles sent to them.

For a moment, it felt like they were evenly matched.

While Na'varan was making his way back to the command deck with a Lieutenant to escort him there was a ripple of heavy thumps he felt in his feet, through his pressure suit. After the last thump was felt, there was a piercing, mournful howling alarm. It sounded like a scream of pain. It was so loud it overcame the noise and confusion of battle. Na'varan never heard an alarm like that before on any ship but at the sound, everyone around him went wide eyed and dropped what they were doing, in some cases literally.

"What? What is it?"

"Reactor overload!" The lieutenant shouted. "Helmets down, they're going to purge to vacuum! We have to leave, now."

Na'varan hurriedly flipped his helmet down and he felt the reassuring rush of air as it pressurized. It was mercifully silent for a second, then he was tied into the suit radio open channel.

It was chaos.

Everyone as shouting all at once, all at the same time. Na'varan couldn't hear anything out of the din. The lieutenant noticed this and clinked his helmet to Na'varans, enabling the suit to suit.

"Concentrate on my voice! Just listen to me! Tune the others out. Your survival now relies on it." In a deft movement, he clipped a line to Na'varan. "We're going. We have to evacuate."

"Leave? But we're in a Starjumper being attacked by the Xenni!"

"Exactly. They had a lucky hit." They started to run down the hall.

They didn't get a third of the way when there was another brace of heavy thumps along their feet and Na'varan suddenly felt weightless.

"Shit! The gravity." The lieutenant swore and reeled Na'varan in closer. "It's too much to hope that you have maneuvering jets on your suit is it?"

"You do?" Na'varan was bewildered. Why would human suits have jets on them all the time?

"Humans come prepared!" And from his shoulders, thighs and the small of his back, panels opened and little jets spun out. The Lieutenant grabbed Na'varan and hugged him to the front of his suit, and they zipped down the hall, now without gravity. He deftly spun and ducked and juked over debris and other humans as they all had their jets out and were moving like a shoal of fish towards the escape pods.

The pod bay was barely organized pandemonium.

Each pod held 4 humans. A petty officer was moving down the line, opening a door, counting 4 humans in, then slamming the red button marked "LAUNCH." She would move down to the next pod and repeat. For all the stress and havoc around, everyone was following procedures, lining up, not pushing or fighting.

"It's going so smoothly." Na'varan remarked.

"You practice until it's automatic. Then you don't have to worry in a real emergency." The Lieutenant countered.

As they waited their turn to evacuate, the alarm suddenly ceased. It was replaced with...a song? Music was playing over the PA and radios at full volume.

"It's Ode To Joy! The Minor is planning on sacrificing themselves!"

"What?"

"In the event of battle damage that the ship determines is fatal, they can choose their fate. The usual options are to be downloaded into a coffin box and evacuated with the crew, doing an emergency link to another location on their own, or sacrificing themselves by blowing the reactors. Ode To Joy signals that Minor is going to blow themselves up."

Na'varan was speechless.

After the first bars of the song started the Petty Officer in charge of the escape pods shouted "DOUBLE TIME! DOUBLE TIME! WE'RE GONNA LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!" Everyone immediately started going faster.

"In addition to the frenzied activity of the evacuation, the main batteries sounded different. They were wilder, firing faster, and with each pulse, Na'varan felt a tingle through his suit. "What's going on?" he asked.

The Lieutenant took a second to feel it too. "Minor is running the batteries on overload. They're trying to shed some of the energy from the overloaded reactor and buy us more time to escape."

Na'varan looked around. It seemed like most everyone was gone. They were going to be in the next few pods. "Where's Captain McVarish?"

The Lieutenant shook his head. "Captain goes down with the ship, Na'varan. Minor probably needs some help setting the final coordinates anyway."

"But you said that the song meant that Minor was going to sacrifice themselves."

"By linking into the Xenni fleet most likely. Come on, it's our turn"

Na'varan was hustled into the pod and the Lieutenant pushed the safety bar down over him. The Petty Officer looked in, counted to four, saluted, and slammed the door shut.

Nothing happened for two heartbeats and then the weight of the launch was so tremendous Na'varan passed out for a moment.

He came to as the Lieutenant was running a small joystick in his seat. "I'm connecting to the other pods. We're going to grab hold of one of the K'laxi freighters. They agreed to pull us through the warp gate. We don't have addressing modules in the pods, we can't go through on our own."

"And the Minor Key?"

"Look our your window."

Na'varan looked and saw the massive Starjumper. It was rotating slowly, orange fire and flashes of detonations rippling across its sides. The whole time, the batteries were firing though, and still scoring hits. Then before he could even blink, there was a white flash, and it was gone.

"Where did it go?"

"Look at the Xenni!"

He looked towards the Xenni fleet just in time to see the Minor Key detonate. It was...breathtaking. There was a white flash, like a wormhole link except it just kept spreading. Larger and larger, with black tendrils on the edge of the explosion. Every single Xenni ship caught in the blast just...disappeared. In a few seconds, it was done. The Minor Key was gone and the Xenni fleet was taken with them.

Na'varan shrank into his chair, tears flowing from his eyes freely.

The Lieutenant saw him and said "Take a moment. But don't mourn yet. We're still not safe. Once we're out of these pods and on a Starbase, I'll buy you a round. For now though, we have to concentrate.

"On what?"

"Staying alive. Otherwise Minor Key's sacrifice will have been in vain."

[blackswaneuroparedux]

The adults sat around their radios and cried. The children gathered outside in the dusty road and whispered their bewilderment. We were most surprised and disappointed that the emperor had spoken in a human voice.

- Kenzaburō Ōe, A Portrait of the Postwar Generation

On On 15 Aug. 1945, Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender to the United States. The future Nobel literature prize winner, Kenzaburō Ōe, was only ten years old when he heard the emperor of Japan on the radio.

Throughout Japanese history, the emperor had been viewed as a demi-god, remote from the populace. That tradition was shattered on this day (Tokyo time) in 1945 when Emperor Hirohito made a 673-word radio broadcast accepting the terms of the July 26th Potsdam Declaration. His announcement marked the first time commoners in Japan, with a few exceptions, had heard the emperor’s voice.

The declaration warned Japan that unless it accepted its terms of “unconditional surrender,” the nation would face “prompt and utter destruction.” The document was signed by President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese Nationalist leader. It made no mention of Hirohito.


The Tokyo leadership, divided over how to proceed, dithered. One faction hoped the Soviet Union would broker a deal. (Instead, the Soviets declared war on Aug. 9, grabbing a share of the spoils.)

Truman responded by authorizing the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and a second bomb on Nagasaki three days later. They devastated the two cities, killing an estimated 246,000 people in matters of seconds.

Hirohito (1901-89) began his broadcast by saying: “To our good and loyal subjects: After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in our empire today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure. We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration.”

The emperor went on the say, falsely, that “we declared war on America and Britain out of our sincere desire to insure Japan’s self-preservation and the stabilisation of East Asia, it being far from our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandisement.

“But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone - the gallant fighting of our military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our servants of the state and the devoted service of our 100 million people - the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest.

“Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilisation.”

Hirohito’s broadcast culminated in the signing of surrender documents on the foredeck of the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.

[the-little-moment]

Part Two

In "Not Just the Carcass, but the Spark", Chief Medical Officer Dr. Senna Divehdi escapes the Empire, and a mind-controlled Crosshair, to join the rest of the Bad Batch in their search for freedom. In this story, however, she chooses to stay with Crosshair, and that choice changes everything.

Words: 1,408

Warnings: None

Loss

“What happened?”

“Shootout in docking bay forty-two. We lost almost an entire squad. Desertion.”

Senna turned from her examination of the injured soldier on the table to look in confusion at the sergeant who had brought him in. “Desertion? What? Who?” Troopers didn't desert. The very idea of it was abhorrent to them. Loyalty above all. It was in their very DNA.

The clone shifted his feet, looking uneasy. “Clone Force Ninety-Nine, ma’am. Most of ‘em, anyway.”

Senna stared at him, uncomprehending, while Bern straightened at her side. “What did you say?” the medic demanded.

The trooper coughed and looked to the side. “Clone Force Ninety-Nine. We tried to hold ‘em down, but they’re all gone, except the sniper. There was a kid with ‘em too. A little girl. Don’t know where she came from.”

Bern turned to Senna, but she was already running for her office. Inside, the doctor pulled out her commlink, pushing a dedicated number with shaking hands. “Tech? Tech? Please, honey.” She tried Hunter, then Echo and Wrecker, but every channel was dead. Finally, Senna tried Crosshair’s comm frequency, almost sobbing in frustration when the sniper didn’t answer. She leaned over her desk, sweating palms planted on the cool metal as she tried to clear her mind. The trooper in the medbay had said there was a girl with them. There was only one little girl in the Tipoca City cloning facility. 

Striding down the white halls as fast as she could without running, her long coat swinging from the weight of the med scanner and datapad in her pockets, Senna commed Nala Se. The geneticist answered, distraction in her usually liquid voice. “Doctor, I apologize, but I—”

Senna cut her off, “Mistress, where are you? I’ve just heard about the fight in the docking bay. Omega—where’s—”

“Doctor, please calm down. I am on my way to speak with the Prime Minister. Please wait for me in my office.”

The wait for Nala Se was interminable. Senna had already been headed to her office, a big, white room, at least to Senna’s human eyes, it was a workplace in name only. Se’s true work was done in her restricted laboratory, some distance from this clean, nearly empty office. Unable to sit still, Senna paced across the white carpet, fighting not to wring her hands and she imagined what could be happening to her boys right now, what the Kaminoans might be doing to Crosshair. She needed to find him. Senna tried each of the squads’ comms again, finally accepting that they were either on radio silence, or that her access to them was being blocked. The doctor had just slumped into one of Se’s uncomfortable chairs when the door behind her slid open, admitting the Chief Scientist. 

“Mistress Se—” Senna jumped to her feet, pausing when the Kaminoan held up a long-fingered hand. Se walked gracefully past Senna to sit behind her desk, then gestured for the doctor to resume her seat.

“Doctor,” the geneticist gave Senna a long look, “I am afraid that Clone Force Ninety-Nine, with the exception of CT-Nine Nine Zero Four, has deserted from the Empire. I’m not sure why, but they have taken Omega with them.”

Se’s confirmation of the news sunk like a stone in Senna’s stomach. “Where’s Crosshair?”

“‘Crosshair’ is currently being debriefed and receiving new orders. He has been elevated to a command position.”

“What?” What was she talking about? “You mean, he didn’t try to leave with the others?”

“No. CT-Nine Nine Zero Four has remained loyal. He led the squad that attempted to recapture Clone Force Ninety-Nine after their escape from the brig. It would appear they were planning to remove you from this facility as well.” Nala Se tilted her head slightly, as if waiting to see how Senna would react to the news. The doctor could only stare back in horror.

Standing outside of Se’s office, Senna pulled her datapad from her coat pocket. Crosshair might not be answering her comms, but she still had a way to find him, as long as he was still in the city. The doctor tapped in his CT number and, after a moment, the sniper’s image appeared on her screen, his current location listed beneath it. Senna sighed in relief and turned her feet towards the Batch’s barracks. 

It took about ten minutes to cross the facility from Se’s office to the part of the troop barracks where Clone Force 99 was quartered, but to Senna it felt like years, her mind churning through horrible scenarios as the white halls passed in a blur. She finally stood before their door, pushing the buzzer with increasing urgency. When there was no answer after the fourth chime, Senna pounded her fist against the metal. “Cross, please. I know you’re in there.”

The door slid open to reveal the sniper, and Senna blinked in confusion at his unfamiliar armor. “What—”

“Do you need something, Doctor?” He was standing below her in the room, the sunken floor making their eyes almost level. 

“Doctor?” Senna whispered. Crosshair’s thin face remained impassive, waiting for a response. Senna stepped down, forcing him to take a step back and let her into the barracks. When the door closed behind her, Senna gaped up at Crosshair. “It’s me. Why didn’t you answer my calls? Cross, I was so scared. What the hell is going on? Why did your brothers leave?”

For a moment, she didn’t think he was going to answer her, his armored chest rising and falling as he gazed down at her. Then, “They’re traitors to the Empire. They disobeyed direct orders on Kaller and Onderon.”

His strangely flat tone seemed to echo in the empty room. “But…that doesn’t make sense,” Senna protested dazedly, eyes dropping from Crosshair’s face and past his shoulder to Tech’s bunk. Everything was gone. The entire room had been cleared out. “They don’t—they’re not traitors. They wouldn’t…”

“They did. And they took that kid with them, the little troublemaker.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” she repeated. “Why would they take Omega? Why would she want to leave with them?”

A bitter tone crept into Crosshair’s voice, his lip curling ever so slightly as he answered, “You’re the one who knows her. You tell me.”

Senna lifted her eyes back to his face, feeling tears of frustration building behind her eyes. “I don’t understand,” she whispered.

Crosshair moved back to the door, pressing the panel to open it. “What’s to understand? They’re gone. But I’ll get them back.”

Bern knocked quietly on the door to Senna’s office. “Sen? It’s Bern. Can I come in?”

When the door slid open, the medic stepped inside, frowning when he saw the look on his friend’s face. “Sen?”

It was a moment before the doctor pulled her eyes from the console on her desk to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, stray hairs falling from her crown of braids. “I found out what happened.”

She turned the monitor towards him and Bern approached apprehensively. It was a security recording. He wasn’t sure if the doctor, even with her high rank, was supposed to have access to this, but he wasn’t surprised that she’d found a way to get it. The text at the bottom of the screen indicated that it was made earlier that day, in docking bay forty-two. Senna met his eyes wordlessly before she turned back to the computer, pressing a key to replay the scene. Bern squinted at the grainy black and grey figures as they moved towards each other. Then he heard a familiar voice, one that had always grated on his nerves, but now it sounded almost sinister.

 “Only one way out, Hunter. Your move.” 

The next three days passed in a haze of grief and confusion as Senna was forced to adjust to the changes between the Republic and Palpatine’s new Empire. All of her equipment, her datapads, her computers, even her personal commlink, were “upgraded” to new Imperial versions. She was given new security access with all new codes and code cylinders that stored in the pockets of her newly issued uniform. The crest of the Republic, in its place beside the Kaminoan emblem on her office door, was wiped away, replaced by the Empire’s six-spoked cog. Senna saw it replaced on the uniforms of every soldier on Kamino. 

What did the new symbol stand for? “Order,” the voices on the holonews said, “Security. Peace.” But Senna felt anything but peaceful. There was a word for the way she hadn’t been able to catch her breath since the soldier in the medbay had given her the news.

Dread.

Taglist: @freesia-writes @kybercrystals94 @clonethirstingisreal @bad-batch-lurker @just-here-with-my-thoughts

[ghostbustershq]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Teaser Trailer Full Breakdown

In the grand tradition of GBHQ trailer breakdowns, here we go with everything that’s fit to digitally print on the recently released teaser trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire!

The trailer pulls a great switcheroo in the style that has become common-place for large blockbusters like this, which really bums me out that the first experience many (if not all) of us have had with this teaser is seeing it on our phones, tablets, computers, what have you knowing that you’re watching a trailer for a new Ghostbusters movie. Can you imagine being in the theater, the lights darken, all the ads finish, the green band MPAA rating pops up, and then you see this not knowing it’s coming? The first 20 to 30 seconds of this trailer are wonderful and tense moments where you’re waiting for the turn. I have to imagine that circa-1988 Troy would have lost his mind with that unexpected firehouse reveal.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (more on the title a bit later) looks to be a great departure for the series, opening up the world both in terms of visuals and story, and seems to speak to literally all of my preferences and loves in life: Ghostbusters and the cold and snow. In other franchises like Star Wars, the ice planet Hoth continues to be among my favorites. Possibly the Colorado kid in me that I just love the aesthetic of a wintery snowscape. And it’s no secret that I hate warm weather and prefer the cold, give me those fall and winter clothes and coats and wardrobe any day.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s do it, eh?

IT’S A CRUEL SUMMER

The studio logos thud with the opening percussion of Cruel Summer and Lady Liberty is seen with some very orange-hue sunshine. It’s hot. It’s summer. Is this a Michael Bay summer blockbuster? Are we about to see a teen summer film trailer? What’s happening? I do love the fact that Bananarama’s Cruel Summer is used here both because it’s such a staple of the 80’s and immediately transports you into that mindset, but also because writer/director Gil Kenan is such a proud “formerly from Reseda” resident that there’s a little but of his Daniel LaRusso Karate Kid attitude present in the trailer here either consciously or unconsciously. You have to think it’s a little conscious given how close attention a scene of teens playing with a soccer ball on the beach gets.

A radio voice tells us that it’s a scorcher out there with heat alerts and record breaking temps on the horizon for New York and New Jersey. Kids are playing with an open hydrant. The Wonder Wheel is spinning with denizens at Coney Island splashing in the water. Eric Steelberg’s cinematography is on full display here as a slice of life has never looked better and more appealing. This idealized scene certainly won’t last, will it?

Sure enough. The song grinds to a halt, as does the Wonder Wheel. Something is amiss.

From the water, a storm cloud closes in and all the swimmers flee as if they’re leaving Amity in a hurry. Heavy Jaws vibes here, and that you know is intentional.

Spikes emerge from the ground and the Wonder Wheel flash freezes. Then comes this frame which: tell me I’m watching a Ghostbusters movie without telling me that I’m watching a Ghostbusters movie:

Chaos as the flash freeze hits Manhattan and the ice spikes emerge from the ground, we’re fully in disaster movie territory as we see a taxi cab impaled from street level. Fortunately for anyone in that cab, it looks to pierce right through the middle. Whew. The rumbling subsides as we follow the street toward a familiar looking building and Elmer Bernstein’s familiar Ghostbusters twinkle plays in the score.

I love this shot for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the camera move is evocative of that teaser trailer for Afterlife that followed the ground of a farm into the open barn to reveal the Ecto-1. Secondly, what an image, right? The Ghostbusters are surrounded. Claustrophobically closed in by the ice and spikes. The threat is visual. It’s overwhelming.

Hit It

The screen dips to black and we hear an engine rev. Could it be? You’re damn right it could be.

The Ecto-1 peels out, pulling off a full U-Turn at top speed and knocking over some trademark NYC garbage in the process. I’ve seen some criticism mainly on forums that the Ecto-1 in the original two films was slow and lumbering and it’s jarring to them to see the car pulling these high speed maneuvers. And, while I completely agree that the coughing and chunky Ecto of the 80’s was the car’s personality at that point in time, the car has obviously been souped up since the 90’s. Even if it was left to rot in a barn, a gearhead like Ray and someone who loves the car like Winston would have been futzing with that thing every day for decades. People change, so can cars. And the energy and excitement that a full-speed Ecto can provide for a film gives it a dynamic that harkens back to The Real Ghostbusters which we’ve learned from Kumail Nanjiani was a touchstone for this film and the filmmakers.

The Death Chill

The trailer kicks into high gear as we hear Patton Oswalt’s new character explain that for the first time, someone froze to death in New York City in July. Phoebe, in full (snow covered) Ghostbusting gear, stands next to the firepole in a darkened and ominous firehouse. Trevor, Lucky, and James Acaster’s new character stand side-by-side looking at something unseen. A very dapper looking gentlemen is suspended in frozen animation. Callie head turns with concern, also standing in what looks like the garage bay of the firehouse.

An apartment door bursts open having been frozen as Phoebe - standing next to Podcast who is seen for the first time asks, “What is it?” And, after a quick hero shot of Kumail’s new character, the answer comes from the one and only Ray Stantz. It’s the death chill.

As Ray gives us the exposition that you are literally scared to death and the last thing you see is your eyes freezing, the trailer rapid fires amazing and tantalizing imagery including a backdraft puff of smoke sucking back through the crack of a door, a hero shot of Paul Rudd’s returning Gary Grooberson, Winston Zeddemore and Peter Venkman, suited up and standing in front of the Ecto looking at an unseen threat, and one of the New York Public Library’s iconic lions snarling and roaring at what looks to be Ray based on the denim shirt he’s been wearing since 1984. Ha!

I Think We’re Going to Have to Put a Little Overtime Into This One

If ever Ray Parker Jr.’s theme song was going to kick in and we see flashes of the team saving the day, now would be about the time you expect it to happen. But this is, after all, just a teaser trailer and both of those particulars are saved for another occasion. Instead, a quick and violent shot of the firehouse doors being ripped away as we look over the shoulder of a couple of busters (and is someone holding some sort of new handheld piece of gear on the left? Dude. Can’t wait to see what that is.)

The street buckles and tears and threatens both our heroes and the Ecto-1. Trevor, Callie, and Gary are pinned against a wall in the firehouse with the ice spikes closing dangerously close to them. The wall around the containment unit cracks and shakes, threatening to collapse (and does that mean another containment breach could be possible?).

Bathed in ominous red light in a shot that looks straight out of a tense moment from James Cameron’s Aliens, Lucky appears to be in a bit of a pickle. From behind, we see a gnarly looking creature of some sort, perhaps the new big-bad, locking a broken horn into the socket on the side of its head. Oh man, is that creature design cool and we’re not even seeing the full breadth of it, I’m sure.

More flashes. James Acaster’s new character, surrounded by darkness and using a flashlight to illuminate something (and wearing one of the much touted by fans’ parkas, more on that in a second). Gary, Callie and Phoebe all suited up and trying to keep warm (love the turtleneck and gloves look with the flightsuit that Callie is sporting). Patton Oswalt slams an elevator gate as he escorts Ray, Phoebe and Podcast somewhere unknown. And perhaps one of my favorite and very mysterious shots in the trailer, Kumail’s character opening what looks to be a false wall in a pantry closet to reveal a secret room. I love a good secret passageway. One of these days, when I win the lottery, I’m going to have a basement with all sorts of cool secret doors and compartments.

Ray’s explanation of the death chill concludes and we see Lucky, fully suited up, seemingly on the verge of freezing to death and her eyes glaze to a frozen state. Certainly looks perilous for Lucky, could this be the character’s end? Or does someone hopefully come to save the day. Stay tuned until March of next year.

Gary states the obvious, that it sounds like Ray is explaining being literally scared to death. There’s a bit of a call and response here that I think is fully editorial as Gary and Callie are standing in what looks to be the firehouse during the daytime and Patton Oswalt’s character telling us how cool it is looks to be in a darkened room elsewhere. It’s a fun moment that shows both characters’ enthusiasm but a strong possibility these two moments are from two totally different parts of the final film that we’ll see.

Just before the title reveal, Trevor struggles to wield a proton thrower that seems to be amped up to eleven, while sporting one of his notable t-shirt choices - this time an old school YMCA shirt. And then, we see the title for the first time.

I’ll just flat out say it, subtitles to films are difficult. You’re sort of damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. For the same reason parents don’t reveal baby names to the general public before the kid is born, everyone has an opinion on names. A gut reaction. A feeling and opinion that they need to express. Movie titles have come under the same microscope. We’ve heard EVERY tired soap joke about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but the title was appropriate to the movie. Clear and to the point.

There’s something to be said for the good ol’ days of sequels where you just flat out said what it was: Back to the Future Part II, Beverly Hills Cop II, Star Trek VI. Also clear and to the point. But as the years progressed, a stigma around numerical titles developed where the higher the number of the film the perception of the quality decreasing became the punchline. Even if it wasn’t the case, adding a numerical value to a film title fell out of fashion and the subtitle became king. It’s also possible that increasingly complex titles started weighing on marketing and advertising and even just public perception of having to know a full title like Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. You’ve noticed that even the studios have bailed on the episode titles for Star Wars, opting just to ID them by their subtitle: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, etc.

All of that to say, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has the serial qualities of an old school sci-fi film while also immediately selling and stating what the film is. It’s the Ghostbusters sequel where everything freezes. Clear and to the point. And you can tell they were thinking about a play on words with the Empire State somehow but again — didn’t want to over complicate things. Forum and social banter have suggested, “Why not Ghostbusters: Death Chill?” Which yes, is a pretty evocative title but markets the film a little differently. You could see some parents resistant to taking their kids to a movie about the chill of death.

I love the title and think that it absolutely works. It also really frees up future story telling for the Ghostbusters films where they don’t necessarily have to be so wide in scope. They can be hyper focused on a scenario or threat. It takes the franchise in a great direction, in my opinion.

Okay, okay — what about the last two shots of the teaser. Which are outstanding. After the title reveal there are two more glimpses: one of presumably the big bad of the film and the other of our heroes standing atop the firehouse poised to tackle the threat.

Everyone loves the jackets. I do too. I want one of those things for this winter, that’s for sure. But I also love everything happening in the composition and blocking and pose of the characters here. It screams Shandor Rooftop. I love that Callie is wearing the Ecto-Goggles (tough to tell if they’re the Afterlife variant with the Polaroid camera capabilities) and that Phoebe has filled her grandfather’s shoes vigilantly manning the PKE Meter. You can see slight variations on the barrel of the Particle Thrower that Trevor is holding and — THE JACKETS, I MEAN COME ON. TAKE MY MONEY NOW. PLEASE.

If this composition isn’t part of at least one of the theatrical one-sheet posters, I would frankly be surprised. What a shot.

Final Thoughts

What a teaser. It gives us just enough without giving us too much. There are real stakes here. I’m worried about the futures of several of the characters and several of the inanimate objects like the Ecto and the Firehouse. And visually, I love how this film already looks in-step with the original film and Afterlife, but is opening the color palate and scope up a little bit. But also, how crazy is it that after decades of wondering when a third Ghostbusters film would be released, pouring over the glacial pace at the development of the film and every mention and update, to be sitting here dissecting a teaser trailer for a fifth Ghostbusters movie?

[hazbinned]

Plotted starter for @staticintone !

"Seriously. You're making a big deal out of nothing."

Yes, Vox had been lashing out at the other hotel residents. He'd incited multiple arguments with Vaggie-- at least six. He wasn't keeping track, but they could be counted on two hands. He'd made Niffty, the hotel's maid (and the one he was supposed to assist), feel so unwanted that she was refusing to talk to him, despite being what she had once dubbed a 'bad boy'. He'd goaded Angel Dust into a fight, and wound up pulling on the spider's hair. He'd gone off on a rant about Charlie's shortcomings, to Charlie.

The only one who Vox had been consistently civil with had been Husk. He could relate to Husk— Vox also knew what it was like to be an Overlord who had fallen from power and was now owned by Alastor.

They had common ground.

Husk didn't know what it was like to lose his lover and life partner in the same day, however. Valentino, Velvette-- their faces haunted Vox every time he closed his eyes, every time he blinked. Prior to the Extermination that had stolen them, Vox had always figured that he would be willing to sacrifice the other two Vees if it came down to it. If it meant preserving his power, it would be worth it. It would be easy.

He realized, now, that he couldn't have been more wrong. He would have allowed Alastor to keep him, his souls, and his empire, forever, if it meant that he could have Valentino and Velvette back.

Vox wasn't fond of that discovery. It was driving him crazy.

The issue at hand today was not Husk himself, but the fact that Husk, like the other residents, still had people who cared about him. Vox loathed him for that. He'd flown off the rails— Vox usually tried to keep his callousness at bay when Alastor was present, but he hadn't seen the stag standing there. He'd started pushing Husk's buttons, and it had spiraled into a big thing, details notwithstanding. Husk had rattled something off about the other incidents-- slights that had gone unchecked due to Charlie's kindness.

Now, Vox and the Radio Demon stood in Vox's room, behind closed doors.

"They can fight their own battles, Alastor," Vox elaborated, fixing him with a split-second glare before dropping his eyes to his own nails and examining them. "You're wasting your time and mine."

His voice was stiff, and so was he, but he felt like he was going to snap. He couldn't stand this. There had been a time where he would have done anything to speak to Alastor, but Alastor's act of 'mercy' from a few weeks back had Vox feeling completely cold toward him.

He'd never thought it possible.

[inlovewithfairies]

The one in which they think Maria died

ship: Blackhill (Natasha Romanoff x Maria Hill) - MCU

+ Natasha Romanoff & Nick Fury - Maria Hill & Nick Fury (not as a ship for fuck's sake)

words: 673

warnings: none I believe

author's notes: 1. I need Ao3 back... 2. I hate this but didn't want it to die in my drafts 3. yeah, i dont think it is actually angst, you were right em @emylilas

-

It could have been seen by everyone on the floor, it was so open and public, but she was alive. 

Natasha ran, she ran as fast as she could, avoiding people and the weird gazes as the flash of red aimed for the other side of the room, to a frail looking woman. Maria was half covered in blood, her arm up in a makeshift support, slight limp on her left leg as she walked down the quinjet; her eyes desperate searching in the landing bay, Bobbi was standing behind her, not in as much a weary state but also injured, she had blood combing through her blonde hair and a stab wound in the shoulder. Bobbi was taking most of Maria’s weight, helping her walk further away from the plane. 

Natasha caught up to them fast, long strides taking her last steps before she was engulfed in Maria’s hug. Maria cradled her close as Natasha rested her head over her heart, listening to the hurried beats, she was alive, she was going to be okay, she was-

“Masha-” It came out as a broken sob and Natasha cradled her closer. 

“I-I’m sorry” It was watery too. Natasha fell to her knees, burying her face on Maria’s stomach, hands circling her waist and pressing her closer, the heat of her body reminding her that this was not a dream. 

Natasha was not at all a religious person but she asked whatever was up and above to claw away the feeling in her heart, the memory of May’s voice calling that their team had been ambushed, the fireguns ringing in the audio, Bobbi shouting to Maria to look out, the guttural sound that followed, and the desperate voice of Bobbi telling “We need an extraction, Hill is-” that ended the tape, to let it be replace with the soundful beating of her heart. 

They had been radio silent for five more days, Natasha had taken a quinjet to go look for them, only managing to sit down before the systems were taken over by SHIELD and she was forced back. Nick Fury had had the sense to at least look remorseful then. Natasha had walked to his office, kicked the door open and aimed a gun directly to his head, her hands shaky. 

“Let me go look for her” It was mustered with as much courage as possible. 

“Agent Romanoff” Fury’s face betrayed no feelings as he stood up, but his eye was red. “This is not going to help her”

“I have to find her” The gun dropped to the floor.

“Natasha…”

“Your intel got her into this problem, I told you he wasn’t reliable, I told you he was going to betray you and you fell for it!” She aimed to punch him in the face and Fury caught her hand. “I warned you!” He stopped her next assault and brought her hands to his chest, stopping her motions. 

“Coulson’s team is looking for them. Everybody is looking for them”

“Then let me help” Natasha pleaded, looking up at the man, her emotions betrayed her and her eyes filled up with tears. “Let me go look for her, Nick” Her eyes fell close and Fury pulled her to his chest, holding her tight. “I need to find her, if I lose her, I don’t think I can go on”

-

A day after they were back, two weeks after they had lost contact with the team, Fury called Maria to his office. The Commander was quite put together, bandaged and limping but alive, she stood straight and composed. 

“Sir, you called for me?” Fury stood from behind his desk with a grave face. “What’s wrong?” He cut the distance between Maria and him and looked her dead in the eye. 

“Don’t you ever, you hear me, ever do that again” Maria found herself suddenly trapped in a hug “You had me dead worried, kid” He whispered. Maria smiled lightly and returned the hug with her good arm.

There was a reason love was for children, it would havoc an empire.

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (24-30 Mar 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😊 Murder at the Island Hotel (Miss Underhay Mystery #15) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - Kitty & Alice go to an island hotel to certify it for the local hotel owners assn & of course murder happens.

😍 Operation: Gros Michel (SquadOfCats) - 358K, stucky recovery fic - incredible, phenomenal fic - really digging in to trauma & recovery but in a way that doesn't feel too heavy/dark for very long - Steve's POV so we see his healing & recovery, and his finding purpose again. Amazing OCs. Plus a lot of really, really yummy sexy times. Reminds you that hope is an action, hope is hard, and hope has many manifestations of being. also makes you love Florida at least a little bit.

😊 Where The Inevitable Isn't (Survivah) - 41K, sterek, alternate dimension AU - enjoyable dimension hopping fic with Stiles Prime portaling to a more dystopic/gritty dimension where he & D are super together. I really liked the aspect that they could ping pong back & forth between dimensions, it wasn't just a one-time thing

💖💖 +121K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Deep Sea Diving (AidaRonan) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 5K - forever fave, comfort read

The Salt is All the Same (the_deep_magic) - The Eagle of the Ninth: Marcus/Esca, 23K - a really good omegaverse AU

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

D20: Adventuring Party - s2, e1-2 [Pirates of Leviathan]

Game Changer - s6, e4

Um, Actually - s9, e3

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Baron's Game" (s21, e12)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Big Clue Energy" (s16, e12)

D20: Mice & Murder - "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" (s9, e1)

D20: Mice & Murder - "A Scandal in Britannia" (s9, e2)

D20: Mice & Murder - "A Time For Clues" (s9, e3)

D20: Adventuring Party - s4, e1-3 [Mice & Murder]

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

The Allusionist - 191. Hypochondria

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #3: The Charter

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #4: In the Drink

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep3 "The Charter" and ep4 "In the Drink"

Imaginary Worlds - Doctor Who's Power of Regeneration

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Vent Haven Museum

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Short Wave - What's It Like To Live In Space? One Astronaut Says It Changes Her Dreams

WikiHole - Battle of the Bay (with Moshe Kasher, Guy Branum and Grace Kuhlenschmidt)

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #5: Water, Water Everywhere

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep5 "Water, Water Everywhere"

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Ganvie Lake Village

⭐ Death, Sex & Money - The Very Hot Marriage of Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts

Vibe Check - Welcome to the Chaos

Ologies with Alie Ward - Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF) with Paul Rozin

Code Switch - Who does language belong to? A fight over the Lakota Language

99% Invisible #575 - Autism Pleasantville

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Julia Gets Wise with Sally Field

Fansplaining - Episode 219: Tropefest Speedrun

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - A Journey Around the World with Sebastian Modak

Shedunnit - Bonus: Thoughts on Spoilers

I Said No Gifts! - Harvey Guillén Disobeys Bridger

Imaginary Worlds- Class of '84: Rise of The Villains

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #6: Fresh Fish

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Godzilla x Kong, Godzilla Minus One And What's Making Us Happy

Dear Prudence - My Partner Sticks Her Finger in Food to Taste Test It. Help!

Endless Thread - Shaq Time: Is Shaq OK?

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books - 608. Women as Shields and Scapegoats: Talking Kate Middleton with Melissa Blue

Consider This from NPR - A new biopic on Shirley Chisolm fills in the picture on a woman who broke barriers

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep6 "Fresh Fish"

You're Dead to Me - Mozart

I Said No Gifts! - "Weird Al" Yankovic Disobeys Bridger

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Chappell Roan

Disco 2024

Presenting Rob Zombie

Metal Radio • Pump-up

COWBOY CARTER [Beyoncé] {2024}

[swiftcola]

i love you mafia 2 i love you empire bay i love you 3 radio stations that play the same shit constantly i love you streets blanketed with snow

[cyarskaren52]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (@rockhall)

rockhall

From @rageagainstthemachine on becoming #RockHall2023 Inductees "It is a surprising trajectory for us to be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1991 four people in Los Angeles formed a musical group to stand where sound and solidarity intersect. We called ourselves Rage Against the Machine." Read more from Brad, Tim, Tom & Zack from the link in bio.

RAGE  AGAINST  THE  MACHINE

SHARE

"It is a surprising trajectory for us to be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1991 four people in Los Angeles formed a musical group to stand where sound and solidarity intersect. We called ourselves Rage Against the Machine. 

A band who is as well known for our albums as we are for our fierce opposition to the US war machine, white supremacy and exploitation 

A band whose songs drove alternative radio to new heights while right wing media companies tried to purge every song we ever wrote from the airwaves

A band who shut down the NY Stock Exchange for the first time in its history

A band who was targeted by police organizations who attempted to ban us from sold out arenas for raising our voices to free Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners 

A band who sued the US State Department for their fascist practice of using our music to torture innocent men in Guantanamo Bay

A band who wrote rebel songs in an abandoned, industrial warehouse in the valley that would later dethrone Simon Cowell ’s X Factor pop monopoly to occupy the number 1 spot on the UK charts and have the most downloaded song in UK history 

A band who funded and organized delegations to stand with Mexican rebel Zapatista communities to expose the Mexican government’s war on indigenous people

A band whose experimentation in fusing punk, rock and hip hop became a genre of its own

Many thanks to the Hall of Fame for recognizing the music and the mission of Rage Against the Machine. We are grateful to all of the passionate fans, the many talented co-conspirators we’ve worked with and all the activists, organizers, rebels and revolutionaries past, present and future who have inspired our art."

-Brad, Tim, Tom & Zack 

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Official Ballot Bio

The greatest rock & roll is the voice of change, and Rage Against the Machine shook the foundations of the status quo – lyrically, sonically, and philosophically. The band mixed hip-hop, punk, metal, funk, and rock in an entirely new way. They took aim at oppressive systems of power – cultural, political, and economic – and set a new standard for how to ignite a revolution through the power of music. 

Formed in 1991, the Los Angeles quartet’s self-titled 1992 debut and 1996’s Evil Empire ushered rap-rock into the mainstream and established Rage Against the Machine as a powerful force that harnessed strength from defying sonic boundaries. Zack de la Rocha’s stinging, hip-hop-inspired vocals drew on his days fronting a hardcore band. The rhythm section of bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk heightened the urgency of de la Rocha’s delivery with deep, heavy grooves grounded by a pummeling backbeat – no rhythm section could maximize volume while staying in the pocket more skillfully. Guitarist Tom Morello took the rap-rock hybridization further than contemporary groups. He used pedals, toggle switches, and alternative tunings to incorporate effects normally created by hip-hop turntables, samplers, and synthesizers into the language of heavy metal through Rage’s driving riffs and iconic solos.     

Rage Against the Machine were part of a musical tradition indebted to the MC5, the Clash, and Public Enemy. While plenty of 1990s rock bands supported social justice issues, Rage Against the Machine’s rebellious politics stood head and shoulders above. Onstage and off, the band members gave a voice to the powerless, calling out local and global inequalities and railing against censorship, corporate cronyism, and government overreach. Their lyrics were smart and pointed; “Freedom” highlighted the plight of Leonard Peltier, an imprisoned Native American leader, while “People of the Sun” showed solidarity with tyrannized Mexican citizens. Even today, their lyrics remain relevant. “Killing in the Name,” a stark indictment of racism and police brutality, still resonates deeply in cities across America. Rage Against the Machine forged brazen protest music for the modern world.

Selected discography:

“Killing in the Name,” “Bullet in the Head,” “Bombtrack,” Rage Against the Machine(1992)

• “Bulls on Parade,” “People of the Sun,” Evil Empire (1996)

• “Guerrilla Radio,” “Sleep Now in the Fire,” “Testify” The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)

• “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” “Renegades of Funk,” Renegades (2000)

Inductees: Tim Commerford, Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Brad Wilk

[henrysfedora]

@barbaro-supremacy this took me so long to write when i saved your ask to my drafts tumblr ate it. like, its gone, anyway

#13 "There's no shame in crying, I promise" - for henry/vito

from here

I'm sorry this took me so long but i hope it's decent, i hope you like it! i've tried this prompt so many times but i'm finally happy with this one so i hope you are too :) and if not well then.. shit lmao

this got long whoops - also forgive me if their dialogue sounds off. and we're post henry chop :) but he lived bitch.

Winter, of course when he had finally felt good enough to stand, to hold himself up right it was winter. Cold, barren streets and grey skies that blocked out the sun. He was sick of Empire Bay’s lack of colour, especially in this part of town, he was sick of the tapping of his cane, an object he realised was to stay by his side for the rest of his life and he wished that weren’t so. For the thing, the person, he wished to stay by his side forever, was the person he was about to apologise to. 

Oyster Bay, Marty’s old apartment, a place he wouldn’t have to visit if things went right.  

Henry knew, no matter how it would go he would see Joe after this, but right now he needed to see Vito. Henry knew he had failed the both of them, he knew that he could recognise the feeling by now, but he needed to talk to them each alone, to have their undivided attention once more, either for the final time or for one of the first of many more to come.   

He didn’t know how long he stood there for, at the start of the stairs, only a couple metres from Marty’s door, which was now Vito’s of course. Of course it was Vito’s, who got him stuck in the can with Brian? who ignored Marty? He looked up at the second set of stairs, soaked with rainwater and dripping onto the concrete below, his uncovered eye squinting when a drop of rain hit his cheek; his clothes were soaked and the smell of wet cotton filled his nose. He could’ve gotten a cab, but that would’ve meant a shorter trip and less time to think. Though now, he realises, he’ll have to walk through that door looking like a wet, lost dog. Pathetic, he thought. 

He grimaced when the tap of his cane was louder than he wished it was, he made his way up the stairs slowly, one at a time, when finally he stood in front of the door. And suddenly he felt as though he were back bleeding on the concrete again, it was hard to breathe and no matter how hard he tried to fight his throat kept constricting. His cane wobbled slightly, reaching for the door he tapped it - too soft the first time - so he did it harder: knock, knock, knock.  

Did he regret it already? He couldn’t.

He wiped his temple where he felt a raindrop trailing down it, quickly, positioning his arm by his side, calmly, balanced. 

A chain from the other side of the door tapped against the wooden frame, Henry knew he just had to breathe, no matter how hard that was when the door opened, and a man looked at him with eyes filled with sorrow and wear. There was no sunlight to lift that familiar dark shade of blue, none to make them shimmer, but there wouldn’t need to be sunlight if Joe were here instead.    

“Hey Vito..” A dull grey knife of agate on dark impenetrable walls of sapphire. 

“..Hey Henry.” Dark sapphires on the black cotton of a three piece suit that looked too alike to another, “What do you want?.. Jesus you’re soaked.” His voice was coarse. 

A ghost of a smile,  “Yeah. I just want to, talk.”

Silence. Was there ever a fear of silence, he wondered. There must’ve been. 

Vito nodded towards the living room down the hallway to which Henry slowly made his way in, his cane such a loud thing against the wooden flooring. It echoed off the walls and back into his ears as though thunder had occurred, it threatened to rupture his ear drums. Henry was surprised a little, the radio wasn’t on nor the TV, Vito must’ve been sleeping, that was whatever he did when, well whenever, whenever he could.    

When he turned around to look at Vito, he stood there still, turned away from him pressing the door closed. Henry’s thoughts were confirmed when he finally noticed Vito’s attire when he turned around, even when he throws things on to be presentable at the door, his heart aches. Simple slacks, a dress shirt that fitted him perfectly, its top buttons undone and collar wide, where smooth, unscathed skin used to be. 

“Well, what did you want to talk about, Henry?” 

Henry looked up from the now scarred and uneven skin, and his heart sank. Sapphires were finally on grey agate. He couldn’t meet both of Vito’s eyes like he used to be able to in the past, but that did not prevent him from admiring their beauty even if he could only view them with one eye.  

Well he thought Vito would know, “I wanted to talk about the deal.. About..” About what. About everything, about nothing, all of it, none of it. “About.. How you were right, it was a horrible idea.” 

Those sapphires looked away, “Well it was, Henry.”

“I understand that now Vito, I do..” 

Silence, once more, so familiar yet still so uncomfortable. 

“I get it, Vito.” Henry, shook his head in disbelief at himself, “I get it now.”  he did, he’d been thinking about it the whole walk here, he’d thought about it the entire time he was bed bound covered in bloody bandages and stitched up like a fucking child's toy.  

“Well you should’ve understood it before,” Vito shrugged, “before all of this, why didn’t you listen?” 

“I did listen..” Henry swallowed, he did.. but he ignored it, didn’t you, “I thought it would be fine in the end Vito. We deserved somethin’ good.”

Vito’s brows furrowed as he looked at Henry again, “Somethin’ good? What do you mean somethin’ good?” something fierce was etched into his eyes. 

“Money, Vito. You’re in this shithole, you deserve better than this, like you’ve always said, like you’ve always wanted, a place to call your own.”

“Money? and so what? You’d just been accepted into our family, Henry, was that not enough for you?” 

..it was enough, “But you two deserved more..”

“Henry that night was the best night me and Joe had had for weeks, we had everythin’ we wanted, we already had somethin’ good, we had you..” Vito stared, “And then you ruined it.” and Vito stared, “You pushed your luck.” 

His cane wobbled again, “I didn’t want to ruin it, Vito. I just wanted to do somethin’ good for you.. For you and Joe.”

Vito shook his head, “I thought you said this was all about business Henry and nothin’ to do with friendship.” Vito scowled, “Because you know that’s really what it feels like, that's what it felt like then.” 

“It isn’t just about business Vito, I know..” Henry repositioned his cane to regain his balance, “I.. care about you. And if I pulled this off you would’ve been able to get a new house or at least an apartment somewhere that was better than this..” 

“Well if you really cared about that Henry you would’ve listened!” 

“I did listen, Vito! I did! But-”

“No.” Vito stepped closer until he was looking down into Henry’s eye, “No more fuckin’ but’s, if you really cared Henry you would’ve listened and you would’ve thought, you would’ve really thought about what you were draggin’ us into.”

“I did.. I had been thinkin’ about it for weeks. Because this was supposed to be it Vito, somethin’ good, somethin’ great-” 

More creases were forming in Vito’s face, “All that time.” 

“I was doing somethin’ for you and Joe, Vito. Somethin’ that would repay you for what I’ve done.” 

Vito shook his head again, "You had all that time to think it through.."

"Yes and I thought about it in the back of my mind constantly Vito, I thought about it every night and every day because it had to be fuckin' good enough-"

“Stop it!” 

“No! I tried to repay you and Joe! And I still need to because I fuckin' failed! I have to.” Henry reasoned.

Vito balled his hands into fists, “You didn’t need to do anythin’! You don’t need to do anythin’!” 

“Well I clearly do! You said in it the car back during the deal, I've put you through so much shit, Vito, don't you think it’s about goddamn time I do somethin’ to make up for it? So let me!” 

Vito grabbed him by the arms, “You are enough Henry! Why don’t you get it?!” he shook him a little whether he meant to or not.

If it weren’t for the pain in Vito’s voice he wouldn’t have been able to tell he was crying through the blurriness of his own eyes. 

“It’s my fault you’re here, Vito. I just wanted to do somethin’ right for once.” god was it not already humiliating enough to have to apologise for his foolish behaviour, to cry in front of him too. He sniffed and straightened his posture, “How am I enough? When everything’s my fault?”   

“Because I love you you stupid fuck.” 

Henry wasn’t sure if he could still breathe. 

“And I’ve loved you from the beginnin’. And I forgive you, for everythin’. I do.” 

..no, he couldn’t. Henry covered his eye, wiping it with the back of his hand. How could he forgive him? After everything he’s done?

When he could just see clearly again he looked up at Vito who looked the same as him, tears falling down his face and meeting at his chin. He couldn’t recall if he’d ever seen Vito like this before, not just upset but completely heartbroken. 

Vito held out his arms. 

Henry let go of his cane, and then clung to him, "I fucked up I know, I know.” He held Vito around his shoulders as though there would never be anything to hold onto ever again. “I’m sorry,” as if he would never hold Vito again, “I’m a fuckin’ disgrace, a dishonourable son, that's what they would say.” he pulled back to wipe his tears.

Vito shook his head as he put his arms around Henry and pulled him close again, “There’s no shame in crying Henry, I promise..” his lips pressing into Henry's hair. "We aren't those guys."

Henry pulled away hesitantly and placed his forehead against Vito’s, “You were right.” he sniffed again, "And I'm not goin' to be this stupid ever again."

Vito smiled, “Good.”  

Henry couldn’t hold back a little laugh, it came with a smile.  

Vito's smile dwindled, "You can talk to us Hen, about anythin', anytime."

Henry nodded, more tears falling down his face, ones that Vito wiped away.

“Come on," he pat Henry on the arm gently, "let’s go see Joe, he'll understand too.” 

Vito's smile returned to its former glory and once more there was sapphire blue on grey agate, but this time those sapphires glimmered.

[werkboileddown]

If you like this, visit http://koramusic.net to see Alhaji Bai Konte's grandsons continuing the family tradition - the Great Gambian Griots kora duet videos - from the grandsons of Alhaji Bai Konteh!  16mm film by Oliver Franklin and Marc Pevar.  "Alhaji Bai Konte," depicts a day-in-the-life of the now-deceased Gambian Mandinka kora virtuoso, Alhaji Bai Konte, shot on location in Brikama, Gambia (plus one scene in Dakar, Senegal), West Africa, and narrated by world-famous bluesman Taj Mahal.  The film was co-produced by Oliver Franklin and Marc Pevar, and filmed by Harold Yates and Lenore French and edited by Rob Wallace. Alhaji Bai Konte's son, Dembo Konte, accompanies in the performance, and various family members and friends make cameo appearances. His wife, Nafi Kouyate, appears in the final scene, praying. Kora is a 21-stringed harp unique to the Mandinka, played by Griots who are oral historians as well as musicians. This group of Mandinka preserve and propagate genealogical and historical information through song and story, and are a source of immense pride and identity to the Mandinka people. Alhaji Bai Konte was the first griot to introduce the kora widely throughout North America, where he toured major folk, jazz and blues festivals, gave private concerts and mingled with many professional musicians.  His tours continued for seven years in the 1970's, often accompanied by Dembo Konte and Malamini Jobarteh, whose excellent musical skills were also a delight to their audiences. Alhaji Bai Konte appeared on TV and radio many times, most famously on the PBS TV series Jump Street, narrated by Oscar Brown Jr., and also on a historic NPR radio show recorded in Vermont, where he shared the stage with Elizabeth Cotton and Taj Mahal. That radio show aired for many years, with these iconic musicians representing the roots from Africa, the adaptation of kora picking styles to guitar, and the synthesis of the two fused into the modern era.  Both Elizabeth Cotton and Taj Mahal acknowledged that their music and instrumental techniques arose from the Kora, which Pete Seeger also credited as the source of blues and Jazz. Alhaji Bai Konte performed with many musicians including: Taj Mahal, Elizabeth Cotton, The Paul Winter Consort, Tony Bird, Pete Seeger, David Amram and many other musicians.  Alhaji Bai Konte's performances and media appearances opened the door to the American music market for the kora musicians who followed in his footsteps, and opened the minds of many Americans and musicians world-wide to the classical beauty of the kora, Gambian musicianship, the Griot culture, and the sophistication if this musical tradition that extends in time back 800 years to the era of the Mali Empire. - Marc Pevar

[tommytranselo]

the truly infuriating thing about mafia 2 is that empire bay is such a detailed city with so much lore hinted at or subtly given away through the radio and through environmental aspects and stuff like that, and there's references to current events etc which ground it in historical context but it also has geopolitical implications for the usa of the mafia trilogy because the games contain major fictional cities that appear not to replace their real life counterparts but exist alongside them, and there's all this history, so overall they've created this incredibly vivid world...and then they flat out do not give us enough time to enjoy it. there's so little downtime and even if you go explore you're neglecting mission objectives and it'll make you repeat shit if you die on accident. let us fuck around let us VIBE i hate how rushed it is!!!

[ahdenyadahling]

Final Fantasy XV- Fate & Destiny

Chapter One, Part One

Chapter One will consist of my own AU backstory, taking place around where Chapter 2 is in the game. For now, I don't believe anything is restricted, although as the story progresses, it will become more mature. Warning tags will be added then.

Chapter One: Fate and Destiny

Fate and Destiny. Synonyms of a sort, though one sounds like doom and the other, a happy ever after. Neither is correct, nor completely wrong. I suppose it depends on the fated or destined situation. I never dreamed one or perhaps both of those words would describe my fortune.

Within the Kingdom of Lucis, the Crown City of Insomnia had been at peace for more than a century. Though to have heard my father talk, it was simply a matter of time until the Niflheim Empire found an advantage, shattering our illusions. It was only very recently the Imperials had done just that, infiltrating and bringing the illustrious city to ruins in one fell swoop. An unknown source had conjured a way to break down the magical barrier which held the Empire’s menacing machines at bay for over a decade, leading to the destruction of the city.

I had only been to the Crown City once or twice when I was very small, and there’s not much I can recall besides long concrete roads and lighted buildings which reached the sky. It was impossible to forget the Royal Castle, the Citadel. It was a massive masterpiece of stone and marble, shining white and, to a child like myself, there was something warm and pure about it. For weeks after my visit, I would ask my father what it would be like to live there, to count how many rooms there were and find out what kinds of people worked there. He forced a smile and gave my head a pat. He told me of guards and cooks, of teachers and royalty, but said living there would be lonely, especially for a child.

He died a few months back, just before we heard on the radio that the Crown City had fallen, and so had the King, the Prince, and his betrothed. It was a sad situation, the Imperials trying to annihilate the entire royal family. Here in Duscae, southwest of Insomnia, King Regis no longer held the authority of his ancestors. Though most citizens still saw him as their ruler and protector, King Regis seemed a myth. It was his magic that had kept the Imperials from overtaking Insomnia and this outlying land, though some were bitter that his focus was kept on barricading his precious capital. It seemed as though he had traded the remainder of Lucis for the safety of the Capital. Since his death, my mother and I had seen several Imperial Warships pass overhead. They were gargantuan metal wonders, or rather, horrors, that appeared to carry perhaps thirty of their mechanized soldiers. I had seen some of these soldiers with my own eyes, dropping from the sky with guns, patrolling nearby towns or scouting the forests as if in search of someone. Rumor had it that they even had tall robots, large enough for a person to sit inside and control, with machine guns for arms, some able to shoot small rockets. With weapons like that, it seemed no wonder to me that Insomnia fell. Yet in all fairness, the warships themselves were a marvel. They had no wings, yet were able to glide through the air almost noiselessly. At night, they could be spotted by the huge, glowing red orb that seemed to power it. As fascinated as I am with Imperial technology, they can keep it far from me.

I’ve lived these past nineteen years in Duscae with my parents, Arthur and Louisa Willowby, on a little patch of land, part forest, part field, with nary a care for the larger world. My father spent the majority of his career in the Crownsguard, a soldier for King Regis, and spent weeks, sometimes months in the Crown City. My mother, also once in service to the King as a music teacher, retired when she found out she was pregnant with me. She and I were able to get by on our own while Father was away, cultivating our garden and raising a few animals. After an injury, my father was honorably discharged from service to retire. However, he claimed he needed to do more. He joined a local Hunter’s group, which basically made him a bounty hunter for large beasts and daemons that had begun to infiltrate the area. With his military background, he got a little cocky when agreeing to take a bounty. Even when a beast seemed out of his skill set, he wanted to make an attempt, to keep others safe. Yet this last mission, well, it was his last mission.

[kudosmyhero]

The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #431: The Carnage Cosmic

Read Date: October 16, 2022 Cover Date: February 1998 ● Writer: Tom DeFalco ● Penciler: Joe Bennett ● Inker: Bud LaRosa ● Colorist: Bob Sharen ● Letterer: Richard Starkings ◦ Kiff Scholl ● Editor: Ralph Macchio ●

Synopsis: The Silver Surfer has been possessed by the Carnage symbiote and now struggles to keep in control. Seeing the Surfer struggle, Spider-Man tries to help, but the symbiote can access Norrin Radd's Power Cosmic and uses it to keep the wall-crawler at bay. The Surfer tells Spider-Man to keep away and let him try and handle this situation. Flying away, the Surfer smashes through a building, forcing the wall-crawler to save nearby bystanders who are beneath the rubble. At that moment, at the Empire State University lunch room, Mary Jane and her friends listen to the radio for further reports about Carnage's recent escape from Ravencroft. Mary Jane is particularly worried and hopes that her husband hasn't done anything stupid like go into costume to face his foe. While at the hospital, Martha Robertson is released after the wounds sustained from being attacked by Carnage have been patched up. Deeply upset by the situation, Martha tells her husband Joe that he has a choice to make: He needs to either choose the Daily Bugle, or their marriage. That's when Joe hears someone calling for help down the hall. This turns out to be Spider-Man who has arrived to get Cletus Kasady some medical help, as he has been in a bad way since his symbiote abandoned him to bond with the Silver Surfer. Although the doctors on site are quick to take Kasady into their care, security tries to arrest the wall-crawler, forcing him to flee to evade capture.

Meanwhile, in deep space, Cosmic Carnage flies far away from Earth. The symbiote has tapped into a distant genetic memory of a time, many years ago, when a planet conquered by symbiotes became the latest in the many planets eaten by Galactus. Remembering how the Silver Surfer was present as his master consumed that world, the symbiote intends to use the former herald of Galactus to get revenge against the cosmic being that slaughtered so many of its own kind. While back on Earth, Spider-Man tries to call the Avengers, but unfortunately the team is not present at the mansion. The wall-crawler is forced to cut the call short when a trio of men try to capture him and claim the bounty on his head. Back at the hospital, Martha Robertson has calmed down and tells Joe that he can't just quit at the Daily Bugle for her, he must also because it is what he wants to do. Joe has a lot to consider, however the recent sale of the Bugle to Norman Osborn, things have been very different at the newspaper. In one of the other rooms, a doctor has determined that Cletus Kasady is suffering from a severe form of stomach cancer and that the symbiote was preventing from killing. Hearing this from outside the window, Spider-Man believes that death-by-cancer couldn't happen to a more deserving person, however, due to his moral code, the wall-crawler can't just stand by and let Cletus Kasady die. Unfortunately, he cannot do that unless he can find some way to separate the symbiote from the Silver Surfer.

Back in space, the Silver Surfer continues to struggle with the symbiote. The creature responds by flooding his mind with memories of Cletus Kasady and his abusive childhood. While on Earth, Spider-Man goes to Washington Square Park to see if his friend Nate Grey, the X-Man, is present. However, he is chased away by the strange cult that has gathered in the area to worship him. Swinging up to the rooftops a frustrated wall-crawler wonders why he helps the very people who fear and hate him and begins considering leaving Cosmic Carnage for them to deal with. At that moment, the Silver Surfer reaches deep within his mind and uses the Cosmic Power to stop the warring personalities that is sharing his mind. By this point, Peter Parker has changed back into his street clothes, still wondering why he even bothers. However, when he sees something come rocketing from the sky toward the hospital where Kasady is staying and realizes that he really can't just stand by and do nothing. Changing back into Spider-Man, the wall-crawler attacks Cosmic Carnage, not wanting the symbiote to merge with Kasady again, deciding that the menace of Carnage must end. When news of Spider-Man's battle is broadcast on the radio, Mary Jane faints when she hears that her husband is battling a Carnage possessed Silver Surfer.

The battle continues on, the Silver Surfer tries to convince Spider-Man that letting the symbiote bond with Cletus Kasady again is the right thing to do. Realizing that if Kasady dies, the symbiote could permanently bond to the Silver Sufer, the wall-crawler realizes that the lesser of two evils is the best solution in this case and helps the Surfer get past security. When the symbiote bonds with Kasady, Carnage is ready to start slaughtering people all over again. However, the Silver Surfer refuses to allow any more deaths to happen because of this and uses the Power Cosmic to imprison Carnage in an unbreakable shell of ethereal energy. While at the Daily Bugle, Joe Robertson pays a visit to J. Jonah Jameson to tell him that he is leaving the Bugle.

(https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_431)

Fan Art: The Hybrid Symbiote colored by ProfessorAdagio

Accompanying Podcast: ● Untold Talks of Spider-Man - episode 06

[gamesimp]

Mr American Pie -A Mafia 3 Fanfiction (Donovan X Reader) (Part 8)

Warnings: Language, Violence,

Note: I decided to do this sudden fast forward to actually make the 70's vibe

Times Square New York 1978, Its been a long time since Donovan and I had been in a relationship and we are going for the people who were involved in assassination of JFK for the last 6 years whenever we had time to go out of town and there were no rackets to do. And this is the last one of them. It was the 4th of July so a huge parade was happening on the streets. And its time to give him a taste of his own medicine. Despite what happened in 1963, he still had the guts to ride in a Convertible.

"(M/n), I have a clear shot! Over"

"Go ahead! Donovan, over"

The gunshot echoes throughout Broadway and the target's head gets blown up.

Donovan gets down from the roof and I told him to meet up with me at an alleyway.

I tried to make my way through the heavy traffic but the Hundreds of cars and yellow taxis making their way through the city especially during a Holliday made things worse.

"Come on!!!" I said before honking at the taxi in front of me.

I decided I would drive the wrong eay to get there faster. I weaved through the opposite direction of traffic while "Hold The Line" by Toto played on my radio.

"hey! What took you?!" He asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"well were in New York" I said as I shrugged.

"They saw me!" He said before opening the door and getting in.

He got into my new (but stolen and bland looking) Ford Fairmont Station wagon.

I immediately floored it and the NYPD was right behind us in their cruisers. We tried to drive to New Jersey so we can get to Empire Bay but cops were already there, so we had to go to Brooklyn instead then lose the cops there before we make our way to Empire Bay.

"Damn! Since when did these cops become so good?" I was so frustrated. I made a quick turn to the Brooklyn Bridge and Donovan started to prepare a bomb so we could get rid of the cops. He shoved it out the window and it blew up taking out the officers. The cops and the surrounding vehicles go up in flames. And Donovan and I, as unhinged as usual. Don't give a shit. We rode around the borough avoiding all checkpoints and abandoned the car somewhere. We went to a nearby parking lot and looked for a car we could take. We scanned cars by their locks and saw if anyone left their keys. Until we came across a 71' AMC Rambler left unlocked and keys in the visor. We got in and we were bound for Empire Bay.

We stopped at a motel at Empire Bay before continuing our road trip.

"We alert our citizens about two suspects we believe are involved at killing a certain group of people for a reason we are yet to discover."

Donovan took a sip of his coffee while I stayed focused on the road as the news played.

"The descriptions of the first suspect is an Asian Male, Below average height, slightly muscular, tan skin, possibly Vietnamese. The second suspect, Caucasian male, Blonde hair, Green eyes, sometimes wearing aviators, average height, slightly chubby, usually wearing a light brown suit."

"Meh, they ain't finding us, we're already at Alabama!"

I scoffed and just as I thought we were safe. A patrol car pulled us over.

"Pretend we don't speak English!"

"I speak Vietnamese but I don't look Vietnamese!"

Donovan complained.

"Russian then!"

I suggested before stopping the car and stepping out. The officer slowly walked towards us. The sound of gravel crunching under his shoes. Lights from the patrol car are still flashing, illuminating the evening.

"Licence please." The patrolman ordered us.

I started speaking mixed Vietnamese and broken accented English.

"Harro! You want ticke? Hele! ticket flom Wriglar Stadium at Rost Haben!"

I said trying to annoy the officer showing him a ticket which we used for an assassination at a Lost Haven Stadium during a game of the "Pups" and the "Triplets". Meanwhile Donovan started saying random stuff in fluent Russian.

"OK!!! Both of you! Just go!" The officer angrily blurted.

We finally got to drive back. To New Bordeaux. We were excited to see Lincoln again after a week of travelling.

We got to the newly renovated Sam's Bar. It was back up and running.

"Donovan! (M/n)!!!" Lincoln yelled as we entered and he embraced both of us in his huge arms. The new bar seemed like it wasn't wrecked just a month ago.

"Sam Would've loved this!" Donovan commented.

"does this jukebox work?" I asked examining the Jukebox.

"go ahead!" Lincoln encouraged me while pointing at a bunch of cassette tapes.

I started to play "Dont Stop Me Now" by Queen.

We started to party with the Underbosses as a celebration of the opening of the bar. The party was real hip. Well that's until tomorrow when we finally get a Hangover.

Soon the oarty ended and only me, Donovan, and Lincoln was left with the Jukebox still playing. The song "Yesterday Once More" then started playing.

Out of nowhere Donovan just took my hand and started to lead the dance.

"Donnie! Were still cleani-"

"I'll help you with that later!"

He cut me off and I turned red when Lincoln let out a soft chuckle as we danced in the center of the empty dance floor. It seemed to have triggered Donovan's memories of when we first danced together back in my old house.

[brookston]

Holidays 5.25

Holidays

Africa Day

African Freedom Day (Zambia)

African Languages Day

African Liberation Day (Rastafari)

Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day

Bojangles Day

Chuquisaca (Bolivia)

Common Arens

Cookie Monster Day

Day of Youth (Yugoslavia)

EMS Save-A-Life Day

Flitting Day (Scotland)

Geek Pride Day

George Floyd Remembrance Day

Global Change Leadership Day

GDPR Day (a.k.a. General Data Protection Regulation Day; EU)

Global Planking Day

Global Surgery Day

The Glorious 25 Day (a.k.a. Glorious Revolution, Glorious 25th of May; Discworld)

Grand Prix de Monaco begins (Monaco)

Gypsy Day

Heroes’ Day (Lesotho)

Integrity Day (Scientology)

International Heritage Breeds Day

International Missing Children’s Day (UN)

International Planking Day

International Plastic Free Day

International Skin Pigmentation Day

Julia Pierpont Day (West Virginia)

Kids Ocean Day (California)

Languedoc Day

Last Bell (Russia, post-Soviet countries) [5/25 or Friday before, if falls on a weekend]

Lemon Balm Day (French Republic)

Liberation Day (Lebanon)

Local Radio Day (UK)

Maddie May Day

May Revolution Day (Argentina)

National Adoption Day (Brazil)

National Ahmad “Captain Poodaman” Butler Day

National Bath Bomb Day

National Cody Day

National Don't Utter a Word Day

National Enzo Day

National George Day

National Hometown Area Local Day

National Missing Children's Day (US)

National Sing Out Day

National Stop the Bleed Day

National Tap Dance Day

National VTuber Day

Peruvian Clown Day (Peru)

Poetry Day (Florida)

Ramsey Lewis Day

Saint Cool Day

Self-Reliance Day

Senior Health & Fitness Day

South Liberation Day (Lebanon)

Star Wars Day

Stinky Pee Day

Tap Dance Day

Towel Day (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)

World Fish Migration Day

World Tarot Day

World Thyroid Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Brown Bag It Day [also Last Wednesday]

National Italian Beer Day

National Wine Day (US)

Independence & Related Days

Empire of New Prussia (Declared; 2018) [unrecognized]

First Government Day (Argentina; Sudan)

Jordan (from UK, 1946)

Kingdom of Africa (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Kingdom of Sycamore (Declared; 2018) [unrecognized]

Lunataria (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Neo-Dumnonii Kingdom (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Pilatia (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

4th & Last Saturday in May

Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day [9 Days before 1st Monday in June]

Defeat Depression Day (Canada) [Last Saturday]

Dillo Day [Last Saturday; Northwestern University]

Drone Day [Last Saturday]

Elmer Day (UK) [Last Saturday]

International Blacksmith’s Day [4th Saturday]

International Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Day [Last Saturday]

International Jazz Day [Saturday before Memorial Day/9 Days before 1st Monday in June]

Julia Pierpont Day (West Virginia) [Saturday before Memorial Day]

National Learn to Swim Day [Saturday before Memorial Day]

Pride in Armed Forces Day (UK) [4th Saturday]

World Enneagram Day [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning May 25 (3rd Full Week)

Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Governing Territories (thru 5.31)

Festivals Beginning May 25, 2024

Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic (Decatur, Alabama) [thru 5.26]

Atlanta Caribbean Carnival (Atlanta, Georgia)

Bavarianfest (Helen, Georgia)

BBQ, Blues & Brews on the Bay (North Bend, Oregon) [thru 5.26]

Brew at the Zoo (Baltimore, Maryland) [thru 5.26]

Caribbean Festival (Mt. Airy, Maryland) [thru 5.26]

Carnaval San Francisco (San Francisco, California)

Chuck Wagon Festival (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) [thru 5.26]

The Creekside Beer Festival (Boulder, Colorado) [thru 5.26]

FlavorFest at Mount Hope (Mount Hope, Pennsylvania (thru 5.26]

Great Alaska Craft Beer & Homebrew Festival (Haines, Alaska)

Happy Valley Strawberry Festival (Anderson, California) [thru 5.26]

Hood Canal Fjord Fest (Brinnon, Washington) [thru 5.26]

Horseshoe Crab & Shorebird Festival (Milton, Delaware)

Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival (Monmouth Park, Oceanport, New Jersey) [thru 5.27]

Koroneburg Old World Renaissance Festival (Corona, California) [6.23]

New Mexico Wine Fest: Las Cruces (Las Cruces, New Mexico) [thru 5.27]

Rib King NYC (Brooklyn, New York)

Roaring Camp Cook-Off (Felton, California) [thru 5.26]

Rockport Wine Festival (Rockport, Texas)

Rotary Art, Wine & Wheels (Mariposa, California)

Star Valley Strawberry Festival (Borden, Indiana)

Strawberry Festival (Beaver Dam, Kentucky) [thru 5.27]

Taste of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio) [thru 5.27]

Wine, Beer & Spirits Fest (Sierra Vista, Arizona) [5.26

Feast Days

Aldhelm (Christian; Saint)

St. Ambrose (Positivist; Saint)

Apollo Day (Everyday Wicca)

Barry Windsor-Smith (Artology)

Bede the Venerable (Christian; Saint)

Boniface IV, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Canius (Christian; Saint)

The Cat (Muppetism)

Celebration of the Tao (The Mother of the World; Taoism)

Cookie Monster (Muppetism)

Dionysius of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Dumhade, Abbot of Iona (Christian; Saint)

Dúnchad mac Cinn Fáelad (Christian; Saint)

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (Writerism)

Gennadius (Christian; Saint)

Gerard of Lunel (Christian; Saint)

Gregory VII, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Leo (a.k.a. Lye; Christian; Saint)

Madeleine Sophie Barat (Christian; Saint)

Mary Magdalene of Pazzi (Christian; Saint)

Maximus (Mauxe) of Évreux (Christian; Saint)

Mercurius (Ancient Roman Festival of Trade & Gain)

Ralph Waldo Emerson (Writerism)

Raymond Carver (Writerism)

Robert Ludlum (Writerism)

Sara-Kali’s Day (Pagan)

Stalin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Stan Sakai (Artology)

Towel Day (Pastafarian)

Urban I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Urbanas Diena (Ancient Latvia)

Venerand (Christian; Saint)

William Boyer (Artology)

W.P. Kinsella (Writerism)

Zenobius of Florence (Christian; Saint)

Hebrew Calendar Holidays [Begins at Sundown Day Before]

Lag B'Omer (Hebrew harvest time)  [17-18 Iyar]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 10 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [10 of 24]

Premieres

Alien (Film; 1979)

Back to the Future (Film; 1985)

Back to the Future Part III (Film; 1990)

Barefoot in the Park (Film; 1967)

Barnyard Babies (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1935)

Beyond the Great Snow Mountains, by Louis L’Amour (Novel; 1999)

The Cookie Carnival (Disney Silly Symphonies Cartoon; 1935)

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (Film; 1955)

The Day Lincoln Was Shot, by Jim Bishop (Historical Book; 1955)

Farming Fools (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1936)

Feud with a Dude (WB MM Cartoon; 1968)

A Gander at Mother Goose (WB MM Cartoon; 1940)

The Gastronomical Me, by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Essays; 1943)

Hair-Raising Hare (WB MM Cartoon; 1946)

Harry of Monmouth, by A.M. Maugham (Novel; 1956)

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, recorded by The Hollies (Song; 1969)

H.M.S. Pinafore, by Gilbert & Sullivan (Comic Opera; 1878)

Jesus of Montreal (Film; 1990)

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, by The Cure (Album; 1987)

The Little Sister, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1949)

Men in Black 3 (Film; 2012)

Mickey’s Revue (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

Midnight Cowboy (Film; 1969)

Moonrise Kingdom (Film; 2012)

Nadja, by André Breton (Novel; 1928)

Paprika (Anime Film; 2007)

Pearl Harbor (Film; 2001)

Piker’s Peak (WB LT Cartoon; 1957)

The Pink Blueprint (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1966)

Pink, Plunk, Plink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1966)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Film; 2007)

Safety, by Coldplay (EP: 1998)

Samstag aus Licht, by Karl Stockhausen (Opera; 1984)

The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins (Science Book; 1976)

Smoky Joe (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

Solo: A Star Wars Story (Film; 2018)

Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (Film; 1977)

Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Film; 1983)

Three Little Pigs (Silly Symphonies Cartoon; 1933)

Tubular Bells, by Mike Oldfield (Album; 1973)

Under My Kin, by Avril Lavigne (Album; 2004)

War Machine (Film; 2017)

Today’s Name Days

Beda, Gregor, Magdalene (Austria)

Spas, Spaska (Bulgaria)

Beda, Grgur, Urban (Croatia)

Viola (Czech Republic)

Urbanus (Denmark)

Urban, Urbo, Urve, Urves (Estonia)

Urpo (Finland)

Sophie (France)

Beda, Magdalene, Miriam, Urban (Germany)

Nefeli (Greece)

Orbán (Hungary)

Basileo, Beda, Erminio, Gregorio (Italy)

Anitra, Anšlavs, Ciemvaldis, Gunita (Latvia)

Almantas, Danutė, Urbonas (Lithuania)

Ragna, Ragnar (Norway)

Epifan, Grzegorz, Imisława, Maria Magdalena, Urban (Poland)

Ioan (România)

Urban (Slovakia)

Beda, Gregorio, Magdalena, María (Spain)

Urban (Sweden)

Celeste, Celestine (Ukraine)

Madalyn, Madeleine, Madeline, Madelyn, Madilyn, Marlee, Marleen, Marlena, Marlene, Marley (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 146 of 2024; 220 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 21 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 18 (Ji-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 17 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 17 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 26 Magenta; Fryday [26 of 30]

Julian: 12 May 2024

Moon: 94%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 5 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Ambrose]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 68 of 92)

Week: 3rd Full Week of May

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 5 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Odal (Home, Possession) [Half-Month 11 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 6.8)