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narukuwrites · 6 years ago

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003. Part 1

Words: 3,165 Tags: Heavar, Dracula AU, Dracula!Heahmund, Viking!Ivar, Violence, Mature Themes, Drama, Suspense, Angst (these tags are subject to change) Summary: Ivar deals with some of Bjorn's scouts in his usual manner and Heamund makes a decision to make a trip to London to plan his revenge.

Authors Note: So its finally begun. I want to thank @skylessnights for helping inspire me to write your AU verse into a novella. This is for you, myself and all of the Haevar fandom.

This will be updated a little slower than 002. but rest assured it will be worked on just as much, as previously written works. Heamund’s part isn’t as long as Ivar’s but I think as this progresses that will change.

Ivar smirked and twirled one of his small daggers with an artful grace as he sat back, resting against the wall as he gazed up at the stars - pausing his fluid movements with the dagger to allow himself to enjoy this moment of quiet. Today had been exhilarating and he was confident that his city was protected for a while and that no raids would be attempted. He was very aware that he was both feared and revered almost similar to how his father Ragnar Lothbrok had been. Unlike his brothers, who had all but left him to his own devices. Ivar knew he was the most like his father in many respects, and no doubt his father was in Valhalla with the gods and all those who died gloriously in battle.

Ivar hoped his father would be proud of what he had accomplished. He would continue to carry on his father's legacy, and his reputation as a fearsome warrior and brilliant strategist was something that set him apart. He sneered at the thought of Lagertha, that bitch who had killed his Mother out of jealousy and whom he had avenged. She was in Hel, where that bitch belonged. The Gods had seen to it, the Seer had told him so.

Yesterday, a neighboring country that his eldest brother Bjorn had settled in, had sent some scouts in an attempt to map the land and get an update on the changes that had taken place to fortify Kattegat from invaders. However, Ivar's men had found a solitary longboat, badly hidden in what was a rush, during their daily patrols and as such, the hunt began to find the scouting party. Ivar had led them of course, riding his chariot gleefully and chasing the men down, wearing them down before their capture and bringing them back to the capital for punishment and to make an example of them. He would keep making examples of them until the message fully sunk in.

It wasn't uncommon of course, Kattegat had become a great city now, successful and thriving so it was only natural for invaders to want to claim it as theirs. But Kattegat was his - and he would not let it go. He would end the existence of anyone who tried. Over the years, even though he was still incredibly young - he had become famous throughout the lands. Even if he was essentially a "cripple" - he had been born with a defect that made it nigh impossible for to him to use his legs like others could. Instead, he had used them as weapons, wielding them with a ferocity - his legs gave him an advantage, his enemies would not see a cripple as a threat, especially those who didn't know who he was.

However, it had been a rough childhood for Ivar, but he had grown strong because of it. He had always been clever from a young age, always watching and planning, figuring out a way to fashion something that would help him make use of his legs. It hadn't been too difficult to make, but it had taken a few attempts before he had finally succeeded in making himself crutches that he could use, Of course, he had allies who would assist him, should the need arise, but it was rare that he had to ask for their assistance.

He let out an amused chuckle, eyes burning with something manic as he reminisced on the fact he had the day before, in front of all Kattegat, decided to send a message, leaving just one survivor and slaughtering the rest and forcing the lone aggressor to watch it all.

"You come here to think you can take Kattegat away from me..?" Ivar asked with a tilt of his head, a manic look clearly visible on his handsome face, which only served to heighten his attractiveness. "To prey on my people and stalk my home..?" he continued, prowling around the three men in a deadly manner, even though he was using crutches and fastenings on his legs. His captives shifted uncomfortably; they were prey now.

One of them shook his head, fear, and panic clear on his face, the stress of the situation clearly starting to affect him. These men weren’t stupid they knew that Ivar the Boneless had a reputation, one that made him feared and admired across the land. This formidable reputation was seen by many as a challenge, one that you would likely end up losing your life to, but should someone have succeeded... Well, that was something only a brave few had attempted. They had quickly met their demise.

"No, no you misunderstood...this was all a mistake, we didn't - " Ivar interrupted the man by grabbing a nearby axe that and effortlessly throwing it with an accuracy that could only come from someone who has tirelessly trained and was adept in this particular skill. The axe landed between the man's eyes, cleaving his skull and face in half from the sheer force at which it was thrown. The body of the now dead man fell to the floor with a loud thud, causing the crowd that was cheering a moment earlier, baying for blood, to fall into a revered silence.

"I do not like those who lie to me...." Ivar drawled in a bored voice before turning his focus onto the two other men that were left and narrowing the distance between the two remaining men he'd taken captive. Both men looked terrified and panicked. They were now only realizing just how much danger they were in like many had done in the past when being confronted one such as Ivar.

"We are all equals here, are we not?.." he said, his voice taking on a curious tone as he paused to glance around the room, garnering a few nods and mutterings of approval before continuing on.

"Surely you can speak to me without telling lies? Unless you want to meet the same fate as your dear friend.." he said with a devilish smirk as he pulled the axe out of the man's head and licked the edge of it manically, letting his eyes fall closed as he savoured it and opening his eyes and held the gaze of the dark-haired captive, grinning wildly. With a bloody smile and a hypnotic gaze, he used the axe to point at the man, pulling the prisoner from the moment that had occurred between them.

Ivar then turned his attention to the corpse and poked at it in with one of his crutches, in an uncaring and disrespectful manner, nudging it harshly and causing the corpse to turn over, so that it was facing outwards, visible for all to see. He was met again with silence from both the audience watching him, the people of Kattegat and the prisoners.

"Have you lost the ability to speak? Did someone cut out your tongues?" Ivar asked of them, a sort of dark amusement clearly audible in the tone of his voice as he continued on, his attention now focused on the blond man, who was reasonably attractive in some way. Ivar paid no attention to that thought, he needed to find out who had sent these men. "Do I need to cut out your friend's tongue? Clearly, he had no use for it..." He drawled, trailing off and slowly taking a knife out from the myriad of places that he hid them in his leather pants. He was interrupted by the other man, the one with dark hair.

"Please don't do that. I'll tell you what you want to know. We were sent by Bjorn, in retaliation for his mother's passing - we are merely scouts trying to get a scope of the area...."

At hearing the mention of his step-brother he let out a laugh and reached out to gently pat the dark-haired man's cheek in a parody of kindness, as Ivar's stunning blue eyes took in the man knelt in front of him, hands tied behind his back. This man had spoken truthfully even though it had taken a little longer then he would have liked, regardless he would reward this man. The fool his brother had sent to his demise.

"Then you will return to my brother with a message yes..?" he asked tilting his head as those eyes continued to appraise the man in front of him, who only nodded. Grateful it seemed that he had been allowed to live, thanks to Ivar's benevolence of course.

"Very good then we are in agreement.." Ivar said happily before deciding that he had no use for the other man, his co-conspirator had given him all the information he needed and well Ivar needed his reputation to stay true to his ideals. And with the same deadly grace as earlier he took out a long knife from, somewhere within his leather pants, with its multitude of hidden pockets and slit the throat of the other and watched as the man bled to death in a detached and calm manner before glancing around and seeing that the crowd that gathered were enraptured. But there was fear also clearly visible on the faces of many in the crowd but Ivar didn't think too much about that. It was always the way when events such as this took place.

"You will be my messenger, and I will make sure that Bjorn does not make another attempt such as this one.." was all Ivar told the now lone survivor of the scouting party that was taken by two men and led outside, with Ivar following after them still deadly and powerful with his movements, on this crutches and the crowd of townsfolk followed after him. And he had his men place the man, laid down flat on a stone table - one designed by Ivar and was made from stone. Unlike wood, it was easier to clean. And it became increasingly clear that from the darken bloodied stains on the stone, was an indication that something truly horrifying was about to happen and the dark haired man, panicked now looked at Ivar imploringly, silently asking to be given a reprieve and struggled fruitlessly.

"Don't worry I don't plan on killing you.." Ivar said with a smile that turned into a smirk as he had his men hold the man down as he cut away the man's leathers - leaving him with the canvas of skin that would be used to hold his message. He could still hear the screams and anguish of that man as with one of his more specialist and sharper knives, wrote the message into the man's skin, but carving each letter into the skin. It was fortunate for Bjorn's surviving scout that Ivar was well practiced in this art and as such would make sure that the man would survive long enough to give Bjorn the message - which simply said:

Come here then, face me alone, let us see if you are capable of doing something so callous as murdering your family. You would become like me then no? And how dear Lagetha would be upset at knowing that you become what she so hated?

His brother's love for his Mother was something that Ivar would use and it would for the time being make his brother disregard the notion of revenge. He had lived with all of his brothers when he was younger and had seen all of their weaknesses as well as their strengths and he used all of this to his advantage. Ragnar had always told him to learn as much as he could, about everything and anything. Knowledge was power and that learning to use his anger intelligently would guarantee that one day the whole world would fear him. And he liked the sound of that - to be feared and known throughout the world.

With that happy thought, he got up with the help of his crutches and decided that it was time for him to join the feast, that the people of Kattegat had done in celebration of his success. He was very aware there was a tenuous balance between him and his people but as long as he succeeded in the endeavors of his people and looking after them, all was well. He would enjoy himself and revel in the celebratory feast tonight, for who knew what tomorrow would bring.

Meanwhile, in a land far away from the shores of Denmark, a handsome man sat quietly in his castle - its beautiful architecture and decor and the gothic style he was particularly fond of. On the table, laid out in front him was a pretty looking brunette clad in nothing but a white cotton dress, shivering from the cold and unable to move. This decadent virgin had been given to him as a gift, the village near his castle respected him. He gave them protection and because of that, it had flourished. Sometimes they would gift him with young boys but Heamund was careful to make sure that - he only took what as needed. He could control his thirst and hunger - he had after all been around for a very long time.

"My dear..you are truly something sublime... I will enjoy partaking of your flesh and your blood.." he said his handsome face shifting into his vampire one before he got up gracefully and carefully slid his hand under the young, girls body allowing him to lift her up and ensuring that her eyes were kept firmly on him.

"Come close your eyes and let be gather you in my sweet embrace.." he murmured and the young girl under his thrall, succumbed to his request and as her eyes closed, his handsome face shifted into a much more monstrous one. And with a groan, he leaned in and his sharp fangs pierced the delicate skin that protected her jugular and he let out a loud moan of pleasure as he drank from her and took this moment to reach up and squeeze her breasts as he did so. So soft and nubile was this virgin. when he was done with her - gently carried her towards the large open fire that was burning in the outer courtyard and illuminating the architecture beautifully.

When her body was given to the fire, he looked up at the sky and let out a sigh. It would not be enough to help him survive the journey to the port but nevertheless, his thirst and hunger would be quenched for a short time. There was no shortage of those willing to give their life to him - but he led a lonely existence, with the death of his wife and the betrayal of the order he was once a part of. He had sequestered himself away and mourned for the loss of his beloved.

Heahmund had been around for centuries since then, the name he was born with was Vlad Dracul and yet he never forgot about what they did and yet he was no closer to finding a way to challenge and take down the order. He would continue to search through, the order still survived. Heamund made plans of his own, ensuring that he had several residences scattered across the world - places he could stay, should the need arise. Even now he was sure that the Order kept a watch of his movements. He had to leave his castle, on many occasions to feed and see how indeed his land and world had changed. There had been great advancements in science and medicine within Europe and it would seem London was the very forefront of it.

That caught his interest, how fascinating all the changes in this modern world were. Not surprisingly he had a residence there which he had bought a long time ago, one which was looked after and maintained by one of his most loyal servants - a creature of the night he had sired. So he had made the decision he would go to this London and see if perhaps there - he could find something to sate his thirst for revenge.

There was something else that had caught his attention though. Over the years he had heard of many stories from the Northern reaches of Europe, a land that was filled with a lot of war and chaos, and that within them, there were a few rare individuals who showed great skill and the strategy of both planning and carrying out attacks with such a ferocity that he couldn't help but admire. There was one, in particular, one in Denmark who was notoriously vicious and bloodthirsty and seemed to truly revel in the violence of it all. Whomever that was, he hoped he would one day come across him.

Heahmund was also very aware of everything that happened in his land and indeed the entire county of Romania. The comings and goings within his land were something he had focused a lot of his time on, it was a good distraction and told him a lot about how the country as a whole was fairing. When he had learned that in a few days there would be a boat what headed for London that would dock for a day before making a few more stops at various countries before eventually reaching the destination it was bound for. This was the moment he had been waiting for and Heamund would be sure not to miss this opportunity.

He planned to be on that boat and had already packed everything he would need for the long journey. It would not be a pleasant trip, boats were something he was fond of but he had managed to acquire a first-class cabin for himself. He would have to take care during these travels though, he could control his appetite and go for a long amount of time without needing to feed and drink on blood - which was the key to his longevity, the last thing he wanted to was raise suspicion and attract unwanted attention. He would make sure to fully sate himself during the time it would take to reach the port and that would help make it a little easier.

The sun would rise shortly and he pulled his gaze away from the sky which was becoming to bleed with red signalling the onset of sunrise and so he made his way back into the dark, depths of his beautiful castle and to his coffin - where he would sleep the day and when night came he would hunt and then travel once more. His aversion and weakness to the sun was something that he couldn't quite cure but that was another reason why he had decided to go to London. If he could walk in the daylight then it would give him a far greater advantage in his retribution against those who wronged him and his family.

#novella #fiction #ivar x heahmund #heavar #dracula au #ivar the boneless #heahmund #dracula heahmund #vikings au

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sp00kworm · 7 years ago

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Resurgence (Castlevania: LoS fanfiction) Chapter Three

Summary: The infected and followers of Satan have all been extinguished. Monsters are a rarity and the world seems to teeter on the thin line of peace. The world has rebuilt itself after the night of chaos and death, and life has returned to some sort of normality with people having long since returned to work and running through the daily routine of life. The Prince of Darkness, however, has been cooped up in his Castle, slowly falling between the lines of reality and memory as he looses his grip on his own mind. What will the finding of a chest amongst the rubble do for his sanity? Perhaps a revelation is what he needs in order to regain his grip on the reality of the world.

A03 Link

Chapter 2 Chapter 4

The Brotherhood of Light

Dracul was remarkably amazed by how quickly the woman could move. It had been only a number of seconds, and she was quickly blending with the crowds, and more or less, out of sight. So, he deigned to follow her smell. The scent of lavender, incense and old paper cajoled him to follow her. A strange reminder of his love long past. Marie would tuck lavender into the wardrobe and linen closets, and the scent of it wafted where ever she roamed. He ducked into an alley, leaning against the wall as she came to a halt in front of a vendor's stall. The old woman stood behind the counter smiled at her fondly, asking her about her day. It seemed the girl came often, and was a regular customer. Dracula watched, peering around the brick of the wall, as the old lady fussed over her forehead, offering her a cream to take down the swelling. The woman politely declined but asked for a bunch of Sunflowers and Irises. The requested bunch was made up, and she took them, giving the elder a paper bill before walking away, the flowers clutched close to her chest. The fragrance of the flowers mixed with her underlying smell and The Dragon cursed, curling his nose at the overly floral scent as he continued behind her.

Her next stop was to pick up some supplies from a large commercial shop. Following her in, he was overwhelmed by the intensity of the artificial bright white light that illuminated the store. Squinting, he watched her flit through the aisles, basket in hand, as she chose fruit and vegetables from the shelves and a few other products, none of which he actually knew, before making her way to the checkout, her purse in hand. Just as suddenly as she had moved, she stopped and shivered. A ripple of panic ran through him as he figured out the best way to blend into the crowd. Turning into a horde or rats or a writhing cloud of blood to possess someone was not really advisable in such an open, public place- panic was the last thing he needed to start. So he opted for the easier option. Moving closer to a woman with her small child, he tapped the mother's shoulder to get her attention.

The woman was young, but well old enough, at least when he was a man, to have birthed a few children. He smiled, his teeth gleaming as she looked into his shinning eyes. That was her mistake. In a matter of moments her face went slack as she fell under his will. Red eyes gleaming, he laughed pulling her closer to him by the waist. She obliged and quickly, he willed her to laugh too.

“I am your husband, this is our son. What I just told you was funny, laugh.” And, like a robot, she began to laugh. The sound was shrill to his ears, but he grinned chuckling. Leaning forward, he looked into the pram she had with her. The child was blissfully sleeping, his chubby little hands fisted into the blanket wrapped around him. A small spark of feeling reverberated through him. This was something he and Trevor had never shared, and never would. The boy was far too old now, bordering on nearly one thousand. Not exactly the perfect age to be coddling him at. And even if he did take to trying, the boy would be quick to shove at him or hiss and storm out, much like a teenager now he thought about it. He snorted at the thought.

Dracula bowed his head as the woman he had been following appeared at the top of the isle, her eyes scanning the crowds with a frown. She seemed to feel something, though she would have never have guessed the Prince of Darkness was following her around. She paced the length of the isle and Dracul kept his head down, the girl at his waist muttering to him about her day as he picked up items off the shelf and eyed them. Bright, vibrant colours assaulted his vision and he found his nose crinkling in distaste as the products screamed artificial ingredients. His female pursuer was quick to return to her own devices with a final shiver running down her spine, and Dracula found himself sighing lightly, a human gesture, as she retreated from her search. The girl he had his arm wrapped around giggled and leant closer into him, and an old couple cooed from the end of the isle, watching them snuggle and laugh. He groaned internally. It seemed he'd have to pull this show off for a little longer, as not to arouse suspicion.

He managed to grab what the woman required for her shopping. Most of it was bottle formula and some soft baby foods, but it was tedious and painful on the eyes none the less. Brightly coloured brands stuck out of plastic bags as he loaded her pram up, still laughing and smiling like a fool. It didn't take him long to wave his hand in front of her face and release the trance once they were comfortably out of the range of prying eyes. The young mother's face fell slack once more and he whispered a few words before striding away and into an alley. As though suddenly awakened, the girl snapped her head up and groaned, holding her head. Dracula watched as she looked around, slightly startled before checking her pram and baby. Content nothing was harmed, if not somewhat confused, she pushed the buggy down the road and left, cooing at her baby as she went. He was just in time to watch the brunette he had been following step out of the large superstore, a single plastic bag in hand.

The girl was quick to walk away from the shop, her movements swift like a fox as she weaved in and out of people like the cunning creature would do the undergrowth. The spring in her step drove her further and quicker than most, and Dracula had to rely on his nose more often than not as she eluded him through the hoards of people. Her sweet, cozy scent was easy enough to pin point amongst the grime and overpowering wafts of grease and sickly sweet perfumes. His nose led him right up to her back at one point, his eyes failing to register her as he approached her back. She had tensed and peered over her shoulder, but he had reacted faster, moving like a shadow, sprinting through the crowd before she could even fully turn her eyes to look. Dracul had cursed her alluring scent at that point, and the memories it had brought back, rekindling a strange warmth he reserved for his long lost love, deep within the vault of his heart. His curiosity was not quelled when she finally came to a halt outside an rather large apartment block, on the outskirts of the Downtown area of the city, close to the Arts District.

The girl swiped a card in the magnetic lock and typed in a pass code before the door beeped, and she pulled it open with a small huff, stepping inside. Dracula watched with gleaming red irises as she disappeared from his view. Closing his eyes, he could still pick up her lingering scent, intoxicating and haunting at the same time. Carefully, he focused his senses, looking up to the floors of the block, waiting for a light to turn itself on. Sure enough, on the sixth floor, a large window lit up with yellow light. He could clearly hear her sigh and throw her bags down before she appeared in the glass pane, pulling the thick, gold embroidered curtains closed. After that his inhuman senses were somewhat impaired, though he could still clearly hear the giggles and gasps coming from the second floor. Other than that, he could hear little of the activity going on in her home.

Dracula strode out of the small alley he had situated himself in, just across the street from the building the woman had strode into. His boots, shorter and more suitable for the time, clicked as he walked out and into the rode before crossing. A lone car passed every now and then, but this side of the city was relatively deserted at this time in the night. Most workers had gotten home to their families, or were at work for the night shifts. A dark eyebrow rose as he looked up at the building. The magnetically locked doors were a no entry, so he paced around the corner, looking for a suitable fire escape to climb up. Sure enough, there was a wrought iron ladder and stairs system,that lead up and onto the roof of the building, painted black and peeling from years of misuse and lack of tending. Dracula found himself grinning as he strode over to the ladder. It was a small task to tug it down from it clipped position on the rusty balcony. The metal fell with a 'slick', orange rust on orange rust as it fell and met the pavement with a clang. Dracul was quick to ascend the ladder and pull himself up onto the small balcony with little effort. Inquisitively, he peered upwards, leaning over the balcony railing to get a look upwards. Nobody had heard him, or if they had, they hadn't taken the time to look out of their window. If he were human, he would have let out a sigh of relief. Moving onwards, he quickly pulled himself up the rungs of the ladders and reached the balcony just below the girl's window.

Silently, he moved against the side of the building and peered around the window frames. Any sort of crack could be used to get into the apartment. He found none. Frustrated, Dracula stepped back and looked for another way in. An air conditioning unit hummed quietly in the wall, the fan beating as it sucked cool night air into the room. A grin crept onto his lips as he spread his arms wide, as though welcoming an embrace. The sound of laughter from inside the woman's apartment caught him off guard.

“And so I told her she could go find someone else to do her paper work, maybe someone who actually gave a fuck.” He heard her voice ring as clear as a bell.

“Language. So what then? Has she been harassing you for weeks? My poor baby.” Another burst of laughter lit a fire of rage in his belly. Dracul focused his hearing on the conversation, a strange sensation churning deep in his stomach. Something he was not accustomed to, and did not like.

“Marie. No one is going to take you away from me. You're the only girl for me I promise.” The words were sickly sweet and brought bile up and into his throat. Dracula found his claws curling into the white paint of the window sill. Marie. Her name. He felt sick. Her laughter tinkled in the air.

“Oh shut it you. Eat your dinner. If it goes cold I wont be making you any more. You'll go to work hungry.” She chuckled once more and the man with her joined in, his voice was hardened, but light.

“I suppose I better eat this and then head off to the vaults. They've been having a lot of trouble down there recently.” She gave out a sigh through her nose and Dracula perked his ears. The Vaults were not a place he knew of.

“Promise me you'll be careful? I may just get to read papers all day, but I'm not sheltered enough to know that its dangerous down there. The monsters down there are not child's play.” The man gave out a sigh and drew her close, clothing rustling as she was grappled closer to him.

“I promise okay love? Don't go worrying yourself. I promised Victor I wouldn't go dying on him, but look at what he went and got himself into. Dead in the street. That monster didn't even look at him twice before he took off.” His voice was dark, dangerous and Dracula's attention was captured despite his disgust and anger. So the child knew Victor. This definitely deserved a little more investigation. Marie said no more about the matter and Dracul deigned himself to be quiet. So he sat on the balcony with his anger, seething as a strange feeling coiled around him and churned deep within his heart.

The boy she was with left not half an hour later, but the young man's motives and investments were not worth wasting his evening over just yet. As before, Dracula spread his arms wide, whipping himself into a cloud of red streaked black mist. His mist form floated effortlessly through the air conditioning fan and flew into the room, sucked unceremoniously into the small sitting area like an insect would be. He could hear Marie humming in the kitchen and the clatter of dishes as she washed the plates used at dinner. Reforming himself Dracula quickly moved into the shadowy closet she had. The shelves were stacked with books and various films. Stacks of albums swayed as his coat brushed the towers. Focusing, his body was quick to shift and morph. The towers of DVDs and CDs got larger as he shrunk down into a rat. When his bones finally finished cracking into place, Dracula gave his spine a stretch, his small clawed feet pushed forward and his pink coloured tail curling close to his torso. Quickly and quietly, he then scuttled out of the small cupboard and into the open living area.

Dracul had last used this ridiculous rat form when he'd been creeping around the heavily armoured, if not somewhat stupid, trigger happy guards the acolytes used to disintegrate all those who tried to interfere with their plans. He knew first hand how much those plasma guns hurt. Having the side of your torso blown off with one and having to heal the bones, organs and flesh was a painful process. One he didn't want to go through again. Then again, having stake after stake thrust into your body was just as bad, and well, that had failed to kill him all those years ago. His wet nose twitched as he scampered across the wooden flooring, and peered around the corner of the wall to look upon his lost love's beauty. Again, he was mystified. Her hair was loose, falling in loose chestnut waves to her waist. She'd shed her blouse and skirt and had a loose, white silk night gown on instead. The material fell in ripples over her curves and it was hard to deny her likeness to his long past wife. A thin gold chain clinked around her throat as she placed another dish onto the rack to dry. Looking closer, a small rose hung on the end of it, the petals made up of deep blue sapphires with gold inlaying holding them in place. As she hummed, Marie's dark eyes twinkled with warmth and Dracula found himself remembering the cold evenings they would spend together in front of the hearth, when the snow was too deep and the blizzards too cold for Gabriel to go off into the wilderness. Her eyes and her singing were always the things to chase away his dark moods.

Dracul crawled closer to her, his furry belly close to the tiles as he crept along. Her singing paused for a moment and she looked around, her thin eyebrows furrowed as she shivered. Every time he came close to her, she shivered almost as though she could sense his presence. It was something he did not know how to feel about. Was it because of his power or because of his simple presence in the home of someone so pure? He could not be sure, but it didn't stop him from creeping ever closer, watching with beady red eyes as she returned to her task. It didn't take her long to finish the dishes. Marie was quick to wipe her hands on a towel before flicking the light off and moving into the living area, before continuing into a study room of sorts. He scampered through the door behind her, careful to avoid brushing up against the bare skin of her legs. She shut the door too, just behind his tail and then made her way over to a large, dark wood desk against the window in the room. Papers rustled as she flipped through the pages and piles on top of the desk. Humming still, she picked up her portfolio case. The black material bag was something he remembered her carrying when he bumped into her on the crossing. Once unzipped, she carefully pulled out a number of large scrolls, all bound with dirtied ribbons, the parchment brown and ripped in places. They were definitely old writings. Yet, he found himself intrigued, and Dracula moved closer to her chair, trying to get a look at the wax on the bound scrolls, holding them closed.

Many of them were simply bound with coloured ribbons, tied neatly in bows around the brown rolled papers. Marie pulled a number of them out of the bag, and Dracula squinted his small rat eyes to catch a glimpse of a very familiar seal. The curled ends of the cross, intricate and sleek, were all too well known to him. Those scrolls belonged to the Brotherhood of Light. He felt his already cold blood run colder as the news settled over him. A permanent frost settled itself over him. Not again. The brotherhood had already claimed Marie from him once. His human son had been turned against him, brainwashed and turned into a stone cold killer. They had betrayed him and ripped everything he held dear, forcefully from his life. The angelic glow of Marie's spirit confronting him on his journey flashed before his eyes. “Oh god no. Please no.” He'd been betrayed at every corner. He would not allow for them to take her from him again. Her involvement with the Brotherhood would end her in time, and it was not something he could live with. She would not be ripped away from him again. Not this time.

Gazing upon her once more, the rat form he had taken moved, and turned, heading back to the door. His tiny claws scratched against the laminate flooring. Stealthily, he squeezed through the small gap between the door and the frame, and made haste towards the large wooden door of the apartment. His small rodent ears twitched, spinning on his head as he listened. She was still rustling her papers. Focusing his energy, he shifted himself back into his normal form, his eyes glittering like rubies as his blood reshaped itself, folding back over and over, weaving in and out until he was in his normal shape once more. Dracula did not make a sound as he fell apart into smoke, moving under the door and into the corridor. He reformed himself and scowled, clenching his fists as memories assaulted his mind.

A roaring fire crackled in the hearth as the wind howled outside. It wasn't winter, nor particularly cold, but Marie was more susceptible to chills and drafts than himself. He'd spent many winters outside in the training grounds and scouring mountain tops for Manticore and Wyverns. The two had been wed that morning, spending the afternoon and most of the evening laughing, dancing and feasting until Marie's father could barely stand. A smile curled his lips upwards as he looked down at Marie. She was snuggled against his side, drinking in his warmth and the solidarity Gabriel provided. The blue roses she adored so much had been weaved into her hair, the fragrance was sweet and subtle. Leaning down, Gabriel pressed a kiss to her forehead. She hummed contently but opened her eyes, the reflection of the flames dancing across them. He smiled down at her softly.

“It is our wedding night Gabriel yet you press innocent kisses to my forehead.” Her lips curled into a devilish grin and Gabriel found it hard not to smash his lips to hers right then and there. He chuckled instead, leaning backwards slightly so she could not pull him down for a kiss.

“And here I thought you enjoyed my attention Marie, it seems I was wrong.” She gently ran her hand up, across the expanse of his thick muscled chest, curling her fingers into the material of the thin cotton shirt he usually wore under his armour. Her eyes were positively smouldering as she looked up at him once more.

“Oh I like your attention Gabriel.” She grinned draping herself across his lap, “But I would prefer those kisses to be on my lips.” Gabriel let out a low growl, pulling her face up before their lips met in a passionate embrace. Tenderly, Gabriel caressed Marie's face, cupping her cheeks before running the palms down and over her waist. He quickly tugged her closer, hooking an arm through her legs and the other around her back before he effortlessly carried her over to the bed. Dropping her down,petals scattering from her locks, he was quick to cover her with the weight of his body.

A low growl ran through him as he thought of what he had lost, and what he could now loose once more. He would not have his love taken from him again. Opening his blood red eyes, he opened his palm and summoned his void powers. Cold mist curled from the freezing palm of his hand, and he watched as the dark blue petals of a rose formed, growing as a lighter coloured ice stem pushed the flower up. The dark ice glittered like a jewel as his pale fingers gripped the icy stem. Tenderly, he knelt down and placed the flower down outside of her door. The void created ice would not melt. It was only shattered in powerful running water and by very much alive and moving enemies. Shards of glass like ice were sprinkled around the winter rose and he let a small smile creep onto his face. Dracula knocked three times on the door before he walked around the corner, and waited.

Sure enough, Marie opened the door, her nightwear covered by a long black dressing gown. She peered from side to side, confused, before she looked down. Her eyes widened as she picked the rose up off of the ground. Two fingers rotated the winter flower around between the icy thorns. She marvelled at the rose for a moment before she clutched it close to her breast, smiling gently as she went back inside and closed the door behind her.

Dracul rounded the corner, descending the stairs two at a time as he continued down to the bottom floor. The magnetically locked door opened with the simple press of a button and the vampire moved out into the cool night air, a strange swell in his heart thundering through him. Peering up at the sky, he almost felt like sighing. The moon was full and round, the stars twinkling against a canvas of dark, midnight blue. The night was in full swing, and in no more than a few hours, dawn would start to creep across the horizon. Peering back at the sixth floor, he watched the lights of the apartment click off for the night. Turning back to the street, he memorised the road and area, committing it to memory so he could navigate back to the apartment building. Before he headed home he needed to feed, but he found the hunger somewhat repressed as his body thrummed with excitement and a bursting feeling of affection. It was something he had not felt in centuries. Turning on his heels, he stepped into an alley before summoning his darkened angelic wings. Beating them three times he was high in the air, soaring over the city.

Dracula's cold heart seemed to beat inside his chest once more as a tender smile softened his features, and turned his lips upwards in a genial smile as the wind ruffled his hair and billowed his clothing.

#castlevania #castlevania lords of shadow #castlevania: lords of shadow #los #castlevania Los #dracula #alucard #chupacabra #trevor belmont #belmont #gabriel belmont #dracula x marie #marie belmont #marie #gabriel x marie #satan #demons

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mirovoi1 · 8 years ago

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Embarking on a Massive Journey

(March 25 2017. I’m sitting on a balcony in the spring sunshine in the middle of Anatolia, almost at the end of my trip)

22,000kms of driving, three continents, twenty+ countries over a span of six months with many hours to contemplate life itself, the natural world and more importantly, human beings and the world that they think they live in.

Over the course of three seasons; an autumn, a winter and a spring, my gray Nissan Primera station wagon and I snaked our way across many mountain ranges; the Transylvanian and Swiss Alps, the Pyrenees, Caucasus and Atlas Mountains, through snow and sunshine, fog and potholes. We followed the Mediterranean coastline and slept on beaches on the Black Sea. We lay awake on the sand looking up at the stars above listening to the surf crash down on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. We had afternoon naps in the sun in deep valley gorges, under palm trees in desert oases and in sleepy village parks. I fed the car petrol, and it fed me the chance to dream. Together we came face to face with exotic and thought-provoking places and vocabulary such as the Sahara Desert. Europe. Cappadocia. Communism. The Middle East. The Côte d’Azur. Dracula. Africa. Islam. Asia. Nazi Concentration Camps. Casablanca... I gave the car oil changes, and the car gave me changes in perception...

(My buddy in action - Nissan Primera from Georgia)

But putting big numbers, fancy names and poetic writing aside, it was one quite incredible journey. As I went along everything seamlessly blended into another leaving me feeling that I had made three key discoveries: 1> despite differences, everything is the same. 2> Nothing is ever what it appears to be 3> Reality is all in the head; it does not exist.

So, is this what I got from this trip? After traipsing around for six months I come to the table with nothing but three little sentences? Yes, for the essay at least, as this is because I believe they may just be the what religious scripts have been trying to say in their eight thousand pages. Oh, yeah, and ‘love one another’ (that’s their one) – ‘love your life’ would be my one…

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, my stories of travelling never include recommendations of where to go, what to see and what to eat, because who the f**k cares. One could be dressed to the nines, pretending to be as rich as or richer than the next fake person on board a luxury cruise liner, meanwhile having a shit time vomiting over each wave. On the other hand, one could find extreme pleasure with a stick of bread on a park bench. Instinctively, different things appeal to different people and that’s the reason recommendations don’t really work and it is always the mood of the moment that makes or breaks it. Recommendations also set people up for expectations and disappointment and we don’t want any of that here. Besides this, if one really needs recommendations for everything it means one’s been lazy to seek out what would appeal to them personally. Or worse still, is that they are displaying self-unawareness and still have a way to go in knowing their true desires and the reason they were born into this world…

(I am sitting at the table enjoying a Turkish coffee and Little Maryann comes along and asks me to recommend something to do in Europe) Me in reply: “There’s a public carpark in central Milan where there’s this big Nigerian guy and if you give him a couple of euro he keeps the police away from your car (it’s cheaper than paying per hour in the parking machine). I would quite appreciate it if you would cure my curiosity about how he manages to do this. If you really want a modern day European experience, well, there are more dark, tall and tough immigrants around than Eiffel Towers these days, and figuring out what is going on there will be more useful to society than a selfie with a baguette. Little Maryann, recommendations are out of fashion, go make your own discoveries and come back and share with me what you have found! What you discover alone will be of the most value.“

(Little Maryann didn’t quite grasp what I was getting at) Me: “Well, Little Maryann, if you want a couple of stories and if I must, a ‘recommendation’, then here you go: you could visit the famous Sagrada Família, a big Roman Catholic basilica in Barcelona – I visited it! As for a story that is more interesting, then this will be a suitable one. One afternoon my driver’s side window decided it was going to stay down and not come back up. Well, that’s not OK, because when you’re travelling you never really have any safe place to park a car and you do not want to leave the windows down when you’re not there and all your stuff is inside. What made it worse is that it was Sunday and even worse than that was it happened in France. And what’s even worse than that was it was raining that Sunday in France. And even worse than that is the frickin’ French don’t work on Sundays. And even more unfortunate is I was driving along the Mediterranean coast and I was not only getting blasted through the window by wind and rain, but by sea waves too.”

(Little Maryann’s expression is like ‘so what?’) Me: “Little Maryann, if we look into these two activities we come to a conclusion. The Sagrada Família has taken 135 years to build (and is still not finished), but to me, on that particular day, it was a worthless tacky looking piece of revered junk which pissed me off for wasting my time queuing up and paying for. I took no photos of it! I wondered if I was being an arrogant spoilt brat for even having negative thoughts toward something so overly ‘recommended’, or whether I should feel guilty denying my camera a look for itself, but it is ugly, Little Maryann, just like the look on your face right now. One thing I do not do is hum and ha over something just because that’s what all the other people do. One lesson humans have given me is that if one behaves like the masses, one doesn’t often get very far.”

(Little Maryann begins to smirk and looks intrigued) Me: “So, if I must make a ‘recommendation’, which one shall I recommend? The Sagrada família in the Spanish sunshine with hordes of gits dressed in socks and sandals with their tour guide telling them how brilliant it isn’t… Or driving with a wet shoulder and lazy, emotional window, that is obviously trying to be French? The answer is clearly the latter. The experience of tolerating a cold shoulder brings more rewards than marveling over an object, particularly a big Christian stalagmite that should be moved back to a cave somewhere”

(Little Maryann gives a little giggle and after relieving me of my last drops of coffee, she leaves)

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You might not have given it much thought, but windows can also bring very important lessons on 1> Creativity. (Trying to bag up a window in the wind. (Hint: it doesn’t work!) 2> Communication: (How can I shout: “Someone please stop the rain!” in French, and 3> Problem solving skills (“If I twist the car up this curb facing that direction with that tree there will that keep the seat dry?”) But the Sagrada Família might do it for you if it was safety you were seeking. But if you it was safety you were seeking, then you probably would not have left your front doorstep in the first place. So, if you’re seeking life’s real adventures, leave the Sagrada Família to the art lovers and geologists, and seek out something scarier (other than socks and sandals). If you’re going to get anything out of travelling (or life), then it should not, by any means, be easy! You don’t need to go far to have a stick of bread on a park bench to feel happy and probably less far to find a window to learn from, but the advantage of travelling is that it brings new ideas that may have otherwise never come to mind.

This facetious window, taught me about the power of women - It took a woman three seconds to fix it after asking two random men to help - both of whom had no clue what to do with it. Somehow her magic female hands managed to slide it up and I still don’t understand how, because I definitely tried that, and so did the other two men. I also now finally understand why Romance languages (i.e. French and Spanish) divide nouns into feminine and masculine genders - la fenêtre (French for window), la ventana (Spanish for window and ‘la’ being the feminine form of ‘the’) may possibly prove that windows share feminine traits of being both vicious and emotional – the early Europeans were clearly on to something there). I also learnt about what the French and windows have in common – they obviously don’t like working. Life could also be viewed like a window; sort of as transparent or murky as the owner allows it to be, as open or closed as the owner chooses it to be, or as friendly or bitchy as the window itself decides to be.

But jokes to piss off the PC police aside, ‘travel’ is an abstract idea. For me, I can no longer distinguish between what’s ‘travel’ and what’s ‘daily life’, and what’s ‘work’ and what’s ‘fun’ because they are intertwined, as they should be. I’m not a fan of tacky clichés (because clichés are like religions that have been so overused that the real meaning has been lost), but, here goes, ‘life is a journey’ (ew!) really has some sense to it. Unfortunately, though, despite life’s rain and windows that many people may have battled against, they still live their days more like a trip to the Sagrada Família… following the masses in their uniforms admiring stalagmites in disguise. Or in other words, putting emphasis on the most insignificant things and being blind to the most important things.

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Now I think Little Maryann may have got the point. It’s almost nightfall and I’m still here on the balcony, and I can see her in the distance stumbling up the side of a hill in the direction of the moon. I don’t know where she is going but maybe she’s on her way to discovering something of her own. Well, she’s packed her bag and not in socks and sandals, so there’s a good start. But she never mentioned anything about a hill, not least how to climb, why to climb or which hill to climb. She is just going. She’s just doing it. Maybe she’s on her way to the Milan carpark in Nigerian custody to get some answers? Or maybe she’s just trying to get the f**k away from me… She could possibly be on her way to the Sagrada Família to form her own opinions of it, and fair enough! But I don’t need to know. I could shout at her to come back and give an explanation, but she probably doesn’t fully know either. A person is never quite sure what they are looking for, so I’ll just let the world flow because that’s what the world does best. Little Maryann, like everyone, is in pursuit of her own window to battle against, her own waves to vomit over, her own goals to fulfil. In the meantime, that black hill under the moonlight can be as dark or as bright as she wants it to be, she will determine that. But she seems to be on the right path and I hope she will come back someday with her own stories to share.

#Travel Essay #Essay #Travel #Experience #Life #Journey #Creative #Freedom #Inspiration #Road Trip #Europe #Nissan Primera #Georgia #World #Wisdom #Lessons #Ideas

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years ago

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Why Elvis Presley Is Your New (Old) Style Icon

http://fashion-trendin.com/why-elvis-presley-is-your-new-old-style-icon/

Why Elvis Presley Is Your New (Old) Style Icon

It’s 1968, an NBC TV special. There’s a small stage, surrounded by primly-dressed women with big bouffant dos and men dressed as though they might be accountants. On the stage is a raven-maned man who occasionally sits on the steps to be among the people. But he is clearly not of the people – not least because he is in head to toe black leather. He’s the embodiment of rock’n’roll. He is, of course, Elvis Presley.

It’s not a look that would be easily pulled off unless one was a rock’n’roll legend, or perhaps a TT Race rider. But for Elvis it marks not just his famed comeback but the pivotal point in his wardrobe. Thereafter, through the 1970s, he would lapse, along with his fried peanut butter sarnie waistline, into pure stagewear: the rhinestones, the flares, the capes and those Bill Belew-designed, high-collared white jumpsuits (perfect for those black belt karate moves), like some hip-swiveling anti-Dracula. This, unfairly, tarnished Elvis’ reputation as a style icon.

Even Elvis wasn’t such a fan of it. That legendary, $10,000 gold lame suit of a decade earlier, which Colonel Parker commissioned for Presley from the rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn – the very man who made Johnny Cash the ‘Man in Black’? He didn’t much like that either – he’d often swap the trousers out for something plain and black. In the end he only wore the full suit three times. When it was suggested a new version be created for his ’68 comeback, Presley declined. “I have to be honest with you,” Presley said to Belew. “I always hated that suit.”

Presley’s earlier wardrobe, throughout most of 1950s, was much more him, and ironically, much more now. Think of Elvis today and you might first imagine ‘showtime’ Elvis – all exaggerated hair and jumpsuited up – but it’s his earlier dress sense that marks him out as a true style icon. And it feels particularly relevant today – Cuban collar shirts, wide-legged, pleated trousers, blousons – these are all garments making the rounds on the menswear circuit, but they were also integral to Elvis’ 1950s style wardrobe. He did it all first.

Elvis wearing a Cuban collar shirt in 1955

On stage, he said, generally he’d wear clothes “as flashy as you can get them”. “[But] in public,” he added, “I like real conservative clothes, something that’s not too flashy”. Indeed, in many respects Presley wore the clothes of his era. As a young man he’d shop at Lansky Bros in Memphis – to which he was a loyal customer all his life – where he learned to pop up his collar and where he bought high-waisted pegged trousers, two tone shoes or simple black loafers, short sleeve shirts, loose-fitting sack suits, skinny or bootlace ties: rockabilly, in other words.

One thing he wouldn’t wear, no matter how fashionable they became: jeans. Presley always associated working clothes with the sharecropping poverty of his youth. He’d only wear them if, say, a film role the likes of Jailhouse Rock demanded it. Or if money did. Ironically, Elvis lent his name to Levi’s for their ‘Elvis Presley’ style, the first black denim jeans.

In 1956, wearing a Cuban collar shirt, black trousers, penny loafers and argyle socks

“He was very much a product of his time,” argues Dennis Nothdruft, curator at London’s Fashion & Textiles Museum, “albeit a very fashionable version. What made him stand out was less his clothes as him – because he was extremely attractive and he had this louche quality about him, which shows in how he wore the clothes. They seemed to be less fitted as draped on him, which reflected the way he moved. I think it’s fair to say he wouldn’t be a first choice for purely sartorial reasons but he did have a certain something about him and, of course, he did look incredibly cool in that black leather for his comeback.”

Performing on the NBC special in 1968, wearing the famous all-leather outfit

Indeed, even at its most preposterous off-stage, Elvis managed to pull it off. When he met with a strait-laced Richard Nixon in the White House in 1972, Presley wore a gold-buttoned pea coat style jacket draped over his shoulders, a shirt with a collar bigger than the lapels on Nixon’s jacket, and a belt with a buckle the size of his head. Well, what else would a King wear to meet a President? “You dress kinda strange,” Nixon is said to have commented. “Well, Mr. President,” Elvis is said to have replied, “you got your show, and I got mine”.

Even when wearing what might seem merely his contemporaneous clothing choices, there was plenty of attention to detail. When he started making money Presley had his shirts made bespoke – he had elastic added at the cuffs and the elbows to give the sleeves a more billowing look. He was, unlike more pedestrian men of his era, comfortable wearing colour: for shirts and socks his favourite was bubblegum pink, then considered a distinctly feminine shade.

He’d happily clash patterns. He’d get his grandmother to embroider his shirts with some distinctive detail. His jewellery, of course, became increasingly excessive, but started with subtleties the likes of his ‘TCB’ (‘taking care of business’) signet ring – a deft bit of personal, and later profitable, branding.

Elvis eating an army-supplied packed lunch on the day he reported for duty, 1958

And then, crowning it all, of course, was that hair, a long, unfashionable pompadour – inspired by Presley’s time working as a truck driver, that being the signature ‘do for the kings of the road through the early 1950s – and most definitely counter to the favoured crewcuts of the period. Presley knew just how important what one disapproving child psychiatrist called that “badge of emptiness” was to his style, his rebel image and to his sex appeal. His hair was regularly dyed to ensure Presley’s naturally sandy blonde colour achieved that jet black shade – men dyeing their hair was unheard of at the time – and required three different kinds of hair wax, at the same time, to achieve the desired look. He’d have a jojoba oil and vitamin E scalp massage daily.

That Elvis was aware of his image was certain. What he was less aware of was the impact it would have on menswear at large. While his performance attire was never likely to be emulated, the sheer magnitude of Presley’s fame – enhanced by his starring in 31 movies over just 13 years, genuinely redefining celebrity in the process – meant that his more personal wardrobe inevitably would be.

“I think most people would think of, say, Paul Newman or James Dean as stylish men from roughly that era before they’d think of Elvis,” as John Harrison, the creative director of Gieves & Hawkes has it. “But it’s different if, say, you work in the fashion industry. Then Elvis embodies that whole ’50s look. He’s definitely a style icon.”

Three Key Elvis Looks

Workwear Chic

In King Creole (1959) Elvis wore the most workmanlike outfit of his career – even against the stylist prison uniform of Jailhouse Rock. A chambray shirt over a white T-shirt, flat-fronted, wide-legged trousers and a moleskin, twin pocketed blouson. Elvis returned to similar jacket styles throughout the ’50s and beyond, and it’s easy to see why. Today this look is easily replicated and has recently been plugged by the likes of Prada x Mr Porter, Oliver Spencer and Burberry.

Rebellious Tailoring

For one of his earlier performances, around 1956, Elvis dressed in a way that simultaneously mirrored convention and defied it: he wore black trousers and loafers, with a white shirt under a loose fitting, contrasting tailored jacket. It was smart but sassy too, even disruptive. “I can’t over-emphasise how shocking he looked and seemed to me that night,” one Roy Orbison would later recall. Apparently the first thing Elvis did was to spit some gum onto the stage. Disapproving mothers no doubt fainted on the spot.

Mid-Century Ease

One of the key attractions of Elvis’ early style was the ease of it. Yes, the way he wore his clothes added to his nonchalance, but the garments themselves were simple and easy to wear. Today, in a confusing world of fluorescent streetwear and flossing, this is an enticing way of dressing. Take this look as a case in point – it’s made up of straight leg trousers, an open neck polo shirt, a bomber jacket and white sneakers. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s an effortless combo that anyone can recreate. And no, he’s not flossing.

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thejohncamp3ablog · 8 years ago

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Donna Dickens on the MCU vs DCEU debate

This article will focus on what is to come in the future and why I think DCEU will own it.

Now let’s start with MCU’s popularity, they were the first movie studio to share 2 or more separate movies in the same cinematic universe, specifically in the comic book genre successfully. Why do I say successfully, because we have had cinematic universes before as you might or might not know

- from Universal in 1931 with Dracula and other monsters;

- Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005) sure look like the first MCU attempt to me, released 2 years apart and both have Kevin Feige as producer and same cast in the titular characters. While I realize that he might have been added for color here, he might have tried this idea a long time ago and ended on his ass with both movies not doing good.

- All Quentin Tarantino movies are in the same universe apparently

Now in one way or another their popularity in the times of Phase 1 is part of the fact that some of the founding characters of the MCU have never been in live action films before (well they have but in 1978 Avengers TV movie, which was to say the least not even Batman and Robin level worthy, and Iron Man looked very much like an iron), and the thirst for that was big back in 2008, when the genre was already solidified by Batman Begins and the Dark Knight ruling the worldwide box-office. It was their time to shine, and they did.

I do understand the pure joy of a Marvel comic book fans seeing Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk unite together with Hawkeye and Black Widow in the Joss Whedon directed The Avengers in 2012. The idea was fresh, 5 solo movies for 4 characters that lead into an event movie, never before seen in this age. I am happy for those fans of comic books, they were also happy and they deserved it. This can’t be argued and twisted, it was a success.

In the years to come the conversation however turned from “We are happy for Marvel, to DC sucks!”, which is mostly pushed by bloggers and Youtube “stars”, and when I say stars I mean random failed actors, directors and failed writers. Now don’t get me wrong, some of them belong on some sort of geek related show on the tune and are doing a good job, but somehow they have become very confident in their business expertise in the hallways of Hollywood and are throwing scoops and opinions that turn to news headlines and when you repeat one lie a thousand times it eventually becomes truth to the masses that don’t fact check everything they read on the internet everyday related to Entertainment news.

Most of these type of nerdy Youtube shows are related to a website that writes for movies, games, entertainment in general and having in mind how many of them are now circulating, you can see how your daily Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr news feed is full of the same “news” told in a different perspective or pushed to sounds much different than the actual fact.

Now why do I bother you with this, well because I have been seeing the same pattern in most of them, for the same type of event or release, like let’s say a re-shoot for a movie. We have the following examples:

SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING GOES INTO SCHEDULED RE-SHOOTS!

WONDER WOMAN IN TROUBLE, GOES BACK FOR RE-SHOOTS TO ADD HUMOR AND LIGHT!

Rick Famuyiwa leaves the FLASH, movie stuck in development hell!

Edgar Wright leaves Ant-Man probably for the better because Kevin Feige is out lord and savior!

(I added a bit of drama on the last one, so you can get the point faster)

Now probably people that love MCU’s approach will blame this to Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad’s critical reception, but let’s be honest in the age of the millennials, I can’t say Rotten Tomatoes is the place I will check for a movie score and base my opinion on it. I see a lot of modern movies that are pretty much crap with 10 % better scores than classics from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s and movies made for retards with 90 % positive reviews.

(I am looking at you Ghostbusters 2016, YOU large piece of movie vomit that got away because it’s an all-female cast blah blah, the movie sucked end of story)

Now let’s slowly get the point, most of these Youtubers and bloggers discuss movies like its baseball or investments, which for many fans of cult cinema sounds a bit like Game of Franchises and Monopoly, not cinema art. I do agree with the fact that a Studio CEO is interested mostly in profits, but I am sure deep down they also want to leave a legacy of movies behind them. Cult movies, movies that transcend decades and are loved for years to come. So if we play along with the Youtuber’s modern logic and interpretation of movies being sports and mathematics and you are pushing the agenda that the DCEU is losing some sort of a game, let’s see the score board and try to understand why DC is losing, shall we.

First 5 MCU movies have grossed around the 2.3 Billion mark, the same as the first 3 DCEU films.

Coming up from DCEU is Wonder Woman and Justice League, two movies that got some negative headlines from the same old same old fake news outlets a year before they were even released in cinemas. Random example: Sasha Perl Raver with internal knowledge of Wonder Woman and that the movie is a mess, something that doesn’t really fit with the narrative of what people saw at Wonder Con 2017 and other more official outlets. Justice League is attacked just because it’s Zack Snyder, and Cyborg is apparently too CGI for Marvel fans and bloggers, the same who embraced so many Iron Man movies, Abomination (The Incredible Hulk), Hulk himself, Ultron and much more CGI characters. They are attacking something that is clearly 7 months away and in pre-production, which means visual FX are still being worked on.

Now based on these constant attacks, let’s see the worst case scenario - Wonder Woman and Justice League get the DCEU treatment. They get attacked by those who can’t do, (the internet critics) and end up with underwhelming scores on Rotten Tomatoes. In that scenario, if you believe it or not, as any movie with negative scores, opening weekends are affected hugely (see Ghost in the Shell). We had the same issue with the previous two DCEU instalments and they still made good business for DC money wise, especially in the after cinema life where they both performed great on Digital release (Suicide Squad has now added 63 Million from that alone, making it over 800 Million). In that scenario we are looking for a Wonder Woman box office around the 450 Million (worldwide) and 900 Million (worldwide) for Justice League. I say that because Justice league will not do worse than Batman V Superman, with a lighter narrative, a straight up story and brand new characters like Flash ,Aquaman, Cyborg, Mera and Gordon. I just don’t see those same BVS fans not returning for Justice League and doing repeat views. Wonder Woman on the other hand can rely on the same fans and comic book female fans that have been waiting for 70 + years for this movie, so worst case for her is 450 Million. I just don’t see how even bad reviews take her below that box office performance.

Now let’s discuss the better scenario, they get for the first time some realistic critic scores. That will mean that those critics will needs to exit their little Marvel centric lives and see the diversity, how a company is unafraid to put women and minorities front and center of a major franchise. Yes, Marvel have black lead movies we haven’t seen yet, yes they have a female lead movie coming as well and they do have black sidekicks in all of them, but neither Falcon, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch or War Machine have been the center of a movie or a story, have they?

If Wonder Woman and Justice League get good scores, I expect the following numbers in the box office, 750-850 Million for Wonder Woman and a 1.3-1.5 Billion for the Justice League. This will put the DCEU first 5 movies in a whopping 4.35 Billion to 4.65 Billion worldwide gross, which is about 2.3 Billion more than their counterparts from the MCU.

How is that TROUBLE? How is that failing? In a mathematical driven conversation, a sports driven conversation, which is what Screen Junkies, IGN, Nerdist, Collider Movie Talk, ComicbookCast, Views from the Cave and many other do all day/365.

They say it’s doing bad based on their personal opinion, not facts.

And just to be fair to MCU fans, I will add The Avengers as the MCU’s 6th movie which made 1.518 Billion and add it to their total gross of 3.8 Billion, now add the possible Aquaman take which I will put relatively low just to prove a point and make it an even 600 Million Worldwide (I bet with what I know it will make 750 Million). This will make a round number of 4.9 to 5.1 Billion for the first six DCEU movies. I don’t see losing here, I see hard first steps in making a shared universe, something Marvel can relate to with their underwhelming phase 1 in terms of Box Office success. They had the hearts of the critics, and DC have the hearts of their fans.

Personal opinion for what Marvel are releasing this year and in the future on their big screen, in terms of excitement on my behalf.

Spider-Man Homecoming, which might be a very popular movie for MCU fans, but all I see is the 6th Spider-Man movie, no risks are taken from what I saw in both trailers released, still in high school (in the comics he doesn’t stay a teen 99.9 % of the time), the scene where he encounters the bad guys dressed as Avengers looks like the scene with Andrew Garfield (brilliant actor) talking to the car thief in terms of approach and humor, the main bad guy (Vulture) reminds most audiences not of a brand new villain, but of a bad guy flying on some tech wings for the 4th time in 6 movies, weird teen moment in the high school cafeteria reminds me of Tobey’s scene from Spider-man (2002), so what is so brilliant and new here?

What has your “lord and savior” Kevin Feige done, that I haven’t seen before? He just inserted gently his best seller Iron Man to shift the focus on him as he does every time (ask Captain America), with Spidey wearing his suit, fighting villains more or less created by Stark(as explained by the trailers and quotes from Keaton) and I bet he has more than 4-5 scenes in there as well. I don’t see new here, I see the same old tired formula.

Avengers Infinity War, we have The Russo brothers coming from a great start with the Winter Soldier, to a generic Civil War (that neither matched the epic comic book story line, neither concluded a great solo trilogy for Captain America, no one died, the consequences were comparable to watching a Disney XD cartoon not a live action movie), and now IW and i need to believe that they will make a 3rd movie better than Winter Soldier?

A villain (Thanos) that has been sitting on a chair for 14 movies, looking like he is enjoying an episode of Friends. Yes, I know, the epic conclusion of the 18 movies they were building to, is here. Well this has been hyped so much, that if they don’t do something super epic (like kill some Avengers that mean something, or deliver a dark and well-rounded villain, or not be funny and put one liners every 3 seconds), they just might sink their own ship on this one. Since The Avengers, their movies featuring the entire case have been bringing in less money each time and I don’t see this as a win for them at all. I don’t know about you MCU fans!?

Captain America and Iron Man are the ones to die and make MCU fans care for their death.

Thor won’t be as impactful for MCU fans, Hawkeye, Widow, Vision, Witch, Falcon are all possible deaths. Hulk is hard to kill, but he isn’t solo movie material for them, so he can go too.

Point is, if they go light, funny, expected and as per the formula - they might blow it big time for not delivering on the huge HYPE built for 18 movies prior. If they kill their cash cows, life can get difficult for them.

Spider-Man might be off the MCU after their deal with SONY ends, and he is supposed to be a huge player in case the original line up is killed off before they re-boot. If SONY see that he is popular and they need him they might use the positive reactions and just use him for their own cinematic universe or want better conditions for the sharing rights. Dr. Strange on the other hand, as much as MCU fan boys are trying to push him as something great, made less than both BVS and SS (and they are considered bad movies critically, and he had a FRESH 90% score on RT) and hasn’t solidified his place as a leader yet.

Black Panther we haven’t seen yet, but he looks to not be as funny as his other colleagues in the MCU, not sure if this is Marvel material. Ant-Man I believe will be better than the first one they did, but will not be able to carry the Avengers franchise as Iron Man and Captain America did. Question is who will be the Chris Evans or the RDJR figure to carry the new Avengers once the old ones are dead or not coming back because of contracts being not re-signed? Would it be Captain Marvel, will they risk letting a woman sell their toys? Will they be embraced as the current ones?

With DCEU we have unexpected things left and right Nightwing, Batgirl, Black Adam, Shazam, Flash, Aquaman, Gotham City Sirens, Suicide Squad 2, Green Lantern Corps, Man of Steel 2, a new Batman, some might be PG 13, other R Rated, we do not know, and that is what is exciting.

I don’t want 5 solo movies followed by a Justice League, make 6-7 solo, villain, group movies before Justice League 2, I don’t care. Be original as you are now, with Marvel I know what I am getting - safe, kid friendly, light, over the top humor, bland visuals, bad music scores.

The future is more suited for DC than Marvel. In my opinion off course, in yours you might want to vote MCU and that is fine with me.

And to the weekly DCEU hate speeches by Jon Schnepp from Collider, no one has seen your movies dude, your IMDB average score is below 4 and you will never make a movie as good as Man of Steel. You can bash Geoff, Zack or Ben, but still they have more talent, knowledge and charisma than you will ever have.

if you don’t like the DCEU don’t include their movies in your HEROES or MOVIE TALK panels. When the cast of Power Rangers came to play their Movie Trivia Schmoedown, everyone on Collider was giving praise to that garbage movie in their reviews afterwards. How professional!

I guess you aren’t supportive of the movie getting 48% on Rotten Tomatoes in this case, are you giant nerd!

#DCEU MCU BATMAN WONDERWOMAN FLASH AQUAMAN CYBORG SUPERMAN JUSTICELEAGUE GREENARROW CAMPEA SCHNEPP

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nathanielwharton · 8 years ago

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My 2016 in Pop Culture

Same deal as last year. This is what meant the most to me last year in pop culture.

Top Forty Things From 2016

40. Penny Dreadful Season 3 This turned out to be the final season of the show, and while it feels a little rushed to a conclusion in the end, the majority of the season was another wonderfully ghoulish ride. With the characters scattered at the end of the second season, the third season adds a weird western flavor to the Penny Dreadful world, finally pulls the trigger on introducing Dracula, and once again offers a stellar Eva Green showcase (an invaluable service). I'll miss this one.

39. Achewood Returns As with Bloom County last year, Achewood made something of a surprise return in 2016. Though updates have again petered out, it was a real treat to spend some time with those characters once a week.

38. Gravity Falls Series Finale Disney XD finally dribbled out the last Gravity Falls episode in early 2016. And boy, the wait was worth it. The ending was as funny, strange, mysterious, and ultimately moving as the show was at its best.

37. The Witch This was a movie to sink into, with an immersive atmosphere and a creeping sense of unease that became almost overwhelming by the end. And then in its final moments, that unease bloomed into something thrilling. Terrific movie.

36. The Fireman Joe Hill's latest novel, and it's another rich, engrossing yarn with good characters. Always excited to see what he's cooked up, and this one didn't disappoint.

35. Galavant Season 2 I just really loved this show and am sorry to see it go after a second season that did fun stuff with the characters and avoided the pacing hiccups of the first season.

34. The Jungle Book/Pete's Dragon It seems like it is going to become a running theme in these lists that I express concern about Disney's "make live-action versions of our classic library" strategy (it can seem pointless, and certainly seems like a dead end road if they're not generating new original films in addition) and then end up loving the resulting films. And I loved both of these ones, finding them dazzling to look at and, ultimately, moving.

33. Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special I've loved the Mickey Mouse shorts that Paul Rudish has been doing for Disney Television Animation, and this first half-hour episode they made as a Christmas special maintained the style and energy I've enjoyed in the shorts and applied them to a Christmas story with new music and a focus on Donald Duck. So of course I loved it.

32. The Shallows/Nerve/Don't Breathe/The Boy It was a great year for smaller genre fare. All four of these accomplish exactly what they set out to do, and do it with wit, style, and craft that exceeds what you might expect from movies like these. They were also all GREAT audience movies.

31. Paper Girls It was a good year for "kids on bikes," and this comic series is a really great entry in the genre. I wasn't prepared for some of the twists and turns in the story, and I'm pretty interested to see where it goes.

30. Grease: Live Holy smokes. This was a dazzling adrenaline rush of live television. It was a fun mounting of the show, with nice performances, and while some of the staging and performances occasionally felt strange when they too closely seemed to be doing karaoke of the movie version, it was mostly a really fun and thrilling piece of television. A best-case scenario for the new TV-musical boom.

29. Archie Comics Mark Waid's Archie continued to be really fantastic, and the new Betty & Veronica, Josie & the Pussycats, and Reggie & Me all got off to excellent starts. But my favorite of the lineup is probably Jughead, now written by Ryan North (of my beloved Daily Dinosaur Comics). It's a truly perfect match of writer and subject.

28. Hell or High Water A great hang-out movie, with characters and actors I just loved watching interact, but it also features a story with opportunity for both excitement and commentary. A great western.

27. Kubo and the Two Strings Somewhere between the wonderful The Boxtrolls and the dazzling Kubo and the Two Strings, Laika solidified their image as a can't-miss animation studio for me. Each time out they come up with something different, but they share a few general qualities: they are gorgeous, they are funny and off-kilter, and they are unlike anything else currently on offer in American animation.

26. Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 2 This was, in many ways, an improvement on the already great first season. It explores a number of other horror subgenres through the Evil Dead lens, ramps up the thrills and carnage even further, and gives Bruce Campbell even more to play. And it features perhaps the most disgusting sequence in any Evil Dead.

25. Star Trek Beyond The third film in the Kelvin timeline, Beyond also functioned (by default, as the only new filmed Star Trek this year) as the 50th Anniversary celebration of the franchise. Luckily, they came prepared with the best of this new series of films. The crew continues to be as wonderful as ever (and the film finds opportunity to pair them up and give us some excellent character moments). And the story works as a nice interrogation of some Trek principles, proving them fresh and sadly relevant as the real world took a turn for the isolationist and regressive.

24. Arrival I wrote about this one for SportsAlcohol.com.

23. “Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster” The X-Files revival was, appropriately for the original series, a mixed bag with the good, the bad, and the nutty all jumbled together. But there was a clear highlight, and as I'd hoped, Darin Morgan basically justified the entire revival in his one episode. His "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" was funny and weird and moving, in the best tradition of his previous X-Files work. It was packed with winks and references, Duchovny and Anderson were clearly having a ball, and interestingly it seemed to offer a different perspective (or even a response or rebuttal) to the main thematic concerns of his episodes from the original series. At the conclusion of his episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" (one of my favorite episodes of TV, full stop), Chung narrates, "Then there are those who care not about extraterrestrials, searching for meaning in other human beings. Rare or lucky are those who find it. For although we may not be alone in the universe, in our own separate ways on this planet, we are all alone." Though he was known for writing the funny ones, this loneliness, this belief in the impossibility of real human connection, forms the emotional underpinning that grounds Morgan's X-Files episodes. And his episodes are often hilariously critical of Mulder. So it threw me for a loop when "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster" was surprisingly sympathetic toward him, and ends with this simple exchange between Mulder and the titular monster. Guy Mann - I don't mean to get too personal, but this has been a real trying time for me. I've been through a lot. But just having someone like you to... Look, what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad to have met you. Mulder - Like... Likewise.

22. Star Wars I guess this works as a proof of concept for Disney being able to sustain this new pace of Star Wars media. The comics continued to be generally excellent. Star Wars Rebels dug a little deeper with their own characters and made canny use of characters like Ahsoka, Darth Vader, and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Aftermath: Life Debt, the second in the trilogy of novels telling the story of the immediate...aftermath of Return of the Jedi, offered some cool glimpses of what characters both important and obscure were up to in that time period, and also develops some intriguing story threads that look to pay off in the next novel and in Episode VIII & IX. Catalyst, the novel that provided backstory for some of the main characters in Rogue One, was also one of the most enjoyable. And the publishing highlight of the year was Bloodline, the novel focusing on Leia Organa's exit from the new galactic government she'd fought to establish and her role in the origin of the Resistance in the new trilogy. And Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a proof of concept all on its own, building some real goodwill for me toward the notion of these Star Wars spin off films. It offered up a new batch of characters that I liked, a cool story with some interesting Star Wars world building, and some rad filmmaking with a bunch of iconic images.

21. Weiner This documentary might play more like a horror movie after the 2016 election season, but it played like a raucous audience-participation comedy with the New York audience I saw it with. Weiner is an incredibly fascinating subject, and the movie has surprisingly intimate access through some rough times for Weiner, his campaign, and his family.

20. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping I wrote about this one for SportsAlcohol.com.

19. The BFG Steven Spielberg adapting a wonderful Roald Dahl novel with a screenplay by Melissa Mathison? Yep, this was an easy guess to be one of my favorites of the year, and that's exactly what it was. As with most Dahl adaptations, it finds a little more sentiment in the story than I found on the page, but it's a charming, wondrous marvel. And Mark Rylance's BFG is just perfect.

18. Beyonce's "Lemonade" on HBO I don't know if you'd call it a movie or a collection of videos or something else altogether, but it was beautiful and moving and very special. Any insight I could offer would pale compared to the great writing it inspired by others, but I found it dazzling.

17. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life I really loved this revival. It was full of checklist hitting and Palladino self-indulgences, but I even mostly loved that stuff and was pretty into the stories they chose to tell. And, as is the goal of a revival like this, I loved getting to see all of the characters again. Sure, I'd have loved to spend more time with some of them, but I was pretty satisfied overall with the balance we got. And I loved the ending.

16. The Handmaiden I wrote about this for SportsAlcohol.com.

15. Hail, Caesar! I wrote about this for the SportsAlcohol.com list.

14. Green Room I could describe this literally as a white-knuckle thriller because it had me actually clutching my armrests when I was watching it. Impeccably crafted and astonishingly intense. And a perfect final moment.

13. Marvel Cinematic Universe It was another good year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite some disappointments (Agent Carter had a delightful second season and was summarily cancelled, Luke Cage and Daredevil both started out great and petered out to varying degrees). Agents of SHIELD continues to be a lot of fun (I don't know if it gets better and better in an uninterrupted curve, but I look forward to it each week). Doctor Strange was super cool, introducing new characters I'm excited to follow in future adventures and providing a really dazzling experience in the theater. But the highlight this year was surely Captain America: Civil War. A really exciting example of how this shared universe, long-form storytelling can pay off, this was a great movie. I loved the characters, both returning and brand new (psyched to see Spider-Man and Black Panther in their own movies), and I found the story to be really intriguing, posing some interesting moral questions and paying off story threads planted throughout a number of the previous films. And it builds to a climax where the feeling of dread that had been building in the pit of my stomach throughout left me emotionally drained at the film's ending.

12. The Get Down Season 1 What a blast! The history of hip hop in the Bronx presented as a super-hero-origin musical Baz Luhrmann fantasia. It may not be accurate, and it may be a Luhrmanny mash of ideas and characters, but I loved it and I'm excited to see the rest of it when it goes up on Netflix.

11. 10 Cloverfield Lane The trailer for this movie could have been on this list by itself, both because it is a fantastic trailer and because the revelation of the title at the end of it was a genuine surprise. And then the movie itself turned out to be equally fantastic. Mary Elizabeth Winstead kills it, and John Goodman gives an incredible performance. If they turn out movies like this, they've got me onboard this Cloverfield thing for a good long while.

10. "One Trek Mind" Panel at Star Trek: Mission New York I went to my first Star Trek convention this year! I had a great time, and on the morning of the last day I went to my favorite event of the weekend. The panel was really just moderator Jordan Hoffman hosting a discussion with the audience with the goal of selecting the ideal crew from all iterations of Trek. You can hear it here, but the experience of being in the big hall as the debate was waged was something else. The audience was really engaged, it was a delight to see folks argue their picks (a group of young girls who came up to advocate Dr. Crusher was a particular highlight), and the way the crowd rallied behind Captain Janeway was freaking thrilling. And seriously, this thing was bonkers. Just look at that picture.

9. "Hallelujah" on Saturday Night Live Like a lot of folks, I was pretty surprised and upset by the results of the 2016 presidential election. And as much as I love Saturday Night Live (and I do! I could have gladly put Kevin Roberts, David Pumpkins, or this Russel Crowe sketch among many others), I was dreading the first episode after the election. I was in no mood to see some wan jokes about Donald Trump yukking it up in the White House or painting the walls gold or something, so I was particularly dreading the cold open, the kick-off sketch of the show and the traditional spot for a political sketch. I was surprised, then, to see this performance, done as tribute to both Hillary Clinton and the recently departed Leonard Cohen. Whatever I expected from that opening sketch, it wasn't to be moved to tears. But while it was a small thing, I found it cathartic.

8. Vice Principals Season 1 I wrote about this show for SportsAlcohol.com. And I'll just say that after that stunner of a final episode, I can't wait for the next season.

7. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them/Harry Potter and the Cursed Child This year marked J.K. Rowling's return to her wizard world, and I really loved it. I'm super on-board with the idea of her telling stories in that world in a different format (in this case a play and a film, instead of a new novel), allowing the seven existing books to stand as they are. I found Cursed Child intriguing and moving (and I'd really love to see it onstage), a lovely extended epilogue to Harry's story. And I loved Fantastic Beasts. I found the new characters instantly endearing, the world building and intimations of story in the world around them pretty exciting, and I adored the final moments of the film. Really into following along with whatever else she's cooking up along these lines.

6. Zootopia/Moana I loved Finding Dory, but this year Walt Disney Animation Studios really brought their A-game. Zootopia was a wonderful surprise, thoughtful and engrossing, and Moana proved about as adept as Frozen in getting me to well up with emotion throughout. Both films were hilarious, gorgeous, and exciting. What a great year for Disney fans.

5. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 2 I wrote about this for SportsAlcohol.com.

4. The Fits What a wonderful, special little movie. It weaves a powerful, mysterious spell, and I really loved it. I don't want to talk too much about it if you haven't seen it, but I'd definitely recommend it.

3. The Nice Guys Russell Crowe is a freaking delight and Ryan Gosling gives probably my favorite performance of his yet, but the tremendous pleasure of this film pretty much comes down to Shane Black. It's the Shane Black special, with clever and unexpected plot turns, hilarious dialogue, terrific characters, and just a real cool vibe. On the shelf along with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang as a movie I'd happily watch any time.

2. Stranger Things Season 1 I'd been following this since it was announced as Montauk and all that was known about it was that it starred Winona Ryder and might have an Amblin-y vibe. So I wasn't so much surprised by its existence as I was by how successfully it was what it attempted to be. Like the greatest Stephen King miniseries that never existed, it was involving and atmospheric, and I just loved it. And it stuck the landing so well that I'm equally excited for the next season and wary of them opening up an ending I loved.

1. Shin Godzilla I wrote a bunch about this one for SportsAlcohol.com.

Top Twenty Things I’m Excited About in 2017

Kong: Skull Island I'm down for a King Kong movie at any time, but the posters and trailers for this one have been so great that I worry my expectations are impossibly high. Can't. Wait.

War for the Planet of the Apes The other two films in this revival Apes series were genuinely great. Everything I've read about this one has been really intriguing, and the teaser was excellent.

Baby Driver Edgar Wright's new movie! He's four for four, and it's almost four years since The World's End came out. It was kind of a toss-up whether I was gonna put Baby Driver or Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled or A Cure for Wellness, the new Gore Verbinski movie, on here. Or even Colossal, Nacho Vigalondo's kaiju film. Really excited about all of them, but I think Baby Driver might top the list.

Okja Bong Joon-Ho has a new movie coming this year. That's enough to warrant my excitement, but it's also got an interesting cast and some kind of monster or giant creature. This is also a Netflix release, and they've also got Duncan Jones's Mute and Jeremy Saulnier's Hold the Dark, so they're really earning my subscription fee.

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara Spielberg directs a new screenplay by Tony Kushner. I'm there.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi I am riding high on Star Wars love, and this year is going to have plenty to keep me afloat. More Star Wars: Rebels, more great Marvel comics, a handful of novels, and finally at the end of the year, the new adventure with Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, and Luke Skywalker! Written and directed by Rian Johnson! Holy smokes!

Blade Runner 2049 Really cool teaser, an interesting director, cool cast, and now I'm really into this one. And honestly, I’d be intrigued by a sequel to Blade Runner no matter what.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales AND Beauty and the Beast For all the hemming and hawing I do beforehand about these live-action adaptations of Disney's animated classics, I've been pretty into all of them after seeing them. And Beauty and the Beast looks great. I also adore the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and I found the fourth one disappointing and I still kind of like it. So I'm pretty psyched that the new one promises a return to form, with an exciting directing duo and a couple of beautiful teasers.

The Mummy I still have intensely mixed feelings about this whole approach to reviving the Universal Monsters, but I've really liked some of what I've read in interviews with Kurtzman, and the teaser for this one was intriguing. Who am I kidding? I'll be there for this.

God Particle This may be the next Cloverfield movie, and even if it isn't, it's got a terrific cast and an intriguing premise, so I'm into it.

Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2017 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming both start out with a lot of goodwill on my part (both general Marvel Studios goodwill and based on the original Guardians and the new Spider-Man's appearance in Captain America: Civil War). The Guardians ads have been spectacular so far, and the Spider-Man trailer pressed the right buttons for me. On top of that, this fall we get Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, which I'm already too excited about and I haven't seen a single frame. There's also Iron Fist and The Defenders due on Netflix, the continuation of the current season of Agents of Shield (which I'm really enjoying), and a few other potential TV projects like the IMAX/television Inhumans. I feel pretty safe that the MCU won't be slowing down for me this year. (And it's not Marvel Studios, but Logan looks great.)

Coco A new, original Pixar movie! Of course I'm excited. (Note: I'm even into seeing what they're up to with their Rocky III sounding Cars 3, so there's no chance I'd miss their fall offering.)

Riverdale Another one where I'm equally excited and afraid. In any case, I'm super interested to see how this works, so they've got me for the season!

The Leftovers Final Season The final season of a show that moved me like very works of art ever have. Not sure what to expect or even what I want from it, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. HBO is also serving up final seasons for Girls and Vice Principals, so I guess it's a good year for me to get super excited about the ends of shows I've loved.

Star Trek: Discovery I am going to subscribe to CBS's streaming service for the months this show is airing. That's how excited I am for it.

Twin Peaks Like Blade Runner, it is so strange that this is coming out and stranger still that it's in a form that is so exciting in its own right. Lynch directing (and co-writing with Mark Frost) like eighteen hours of new Twin Peaks! I genuinely don't know what to expect from it, but I'm excited.

Fourth Cormoran Strike Novel After a thoroughly enjoyable year of new Wizarding World material, I'm also anxiously awaiting news about J.K. Rowling releasing a new Robert Galbraith mystery this year.

Stranger Things 2 I really loved the first season, and as much as I think it ended perfectly and am kind of wary about them following up with a sequel, they built up a lot of goodwill and trust with me the first time around. And that teaser for the second season (and the episode titles they released) pretty easily override any doubts.

Olaf's Frozen Adventure It's a Frozen Christmas special from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Up. My. Alley.

The Fate of the Furious Of course I'm psyched for this. But it would be on this list over some others stuff I'm excited about for the perfect genius of the title alone.

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