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the-zapped-part-timer · 1 year ago

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Penn Zerothon Day 8

3 Big Problems🏝

My Ramblings: Dodge ball showdown! I don't think you're allowed to kick the balls but whatever, it's Sashi, she don't care! Boone just straight up sacrificing people for shields is so out of left field it's comes back to being funny. Penn is pretty big brain here but, wow, what a dirty move using some firefighter's bell and pretending it's the school bell! How do they have time for this? All for the promise of pizza!? Either way, Sashi's blank expression is beautiful. We've all felt that.

And then that was the tragic end of Penn Zero. What a fun little show, if only he didn't cheat. Joking aside, Phyllis was straight up gonna send his ass to the sun because she thought he had Pandorian Moon Warts... savage. Is it really that bad? I guess so. At least she apologized.

He's so excited to just be a lizard, honestly? So would I. Nice Geico reference.

Love the twist in this episode, you'd think Rippen and Larry would be the kaiju, because in most media, kaiju are depicted as city-destroying, rage-fueled monsters but the other side of that spectrum, they can be good! Take Godzilla for instance, can either be a nuclear bomb or a protector of humanity. It would've also been easy to make the Duo evil monsters and have an awesome kaiju battle... damn, that actually does sound cool. Anyways, they make them human bad guys, not too dissimilar to The Iron Giant.

Like the detail of Sashi's mission display being humongous, just like them. And the detail of when Penn talks, small flames spew from his mouth.

KAIJU WILHELM!

How did Boone know he could toot his horn? Bringing back a classic Larry gag but with a simple twist to it, it's short.

The eyebrow checking joke between Ripoen and Madame President, like so many, have been ingrained into my mind forever. It's so dumb but good. During Rippen's spiel, Larry is so serious looking and laser focused, I love him.

TNT Museum... very American thing. But this isn't America, it's Island City, baby! Penn talking down to the humans for the city planning is so hilarious, makes him sound like he was never a human before. Love the delivery.

Have I mentioned my uneasiness for disaster movies? I just hate how that could just happen and I'd be screwed. Even if it's as farfetched as Kaiju or very unnatural disasters, it wigs me out. I hate thinking about what I'd do in that situation. Especially two movies that terrified me... one of them is dumb but the other... I hate thinking about so much, makes my stomach twang in anxiety a bit.

Why doesn't Sashi speak for Penn? I thought because he's an ape and there go, he can speak to humans? But no, Penn can talk to them, but you, fire. So why not Sashi?

I'd be on Rippen's side if I didn't know anything at all. I think the President is crazy, which she's a little... quirky. Just saying, way too much trust! Why hasn't she gone and talked to the Kaiju before hand if she likes them that much? The island was there before and it takes awhile to build a city on an island I'm sure.

And here's these two, Eva (President) and Larry... man said, like, two sentences and is already smitten, and drawing Larry all muscular as he carries her in his big, strong arms... Ma'am! It's a good quick doodle, I'll give her that but MA'AM!? Thank you, Rippen for taking her pen away. When she calls him handsome and rugged, he does take the compliment to Rippen slight surprise (and possible jealousy? Who knows with that guy). I do like her, by the way! She's hilarious in her deliveries and mania behind half of them.

Her logic makes sense, you want an easy code to the Monster Buster Bomb (tm) but also you want a more secure code to the Monster Buster Bomb (tm), just as secure as Rippen's diary. Which of course he has, I want to read it. I need to read it! Hey! Do give each other that look, men can have diaries too!

The "tell my best friend I love him" scene is so cute, Boone's even holding Penn's claw hand! ARGH! Sashi just cutting that shit out! Snap out of it, stupids, we're playing dodge ball with bombs!

WHY WOULD YOU BUILD YOUR CITY NEXT TO A VOLCANO!? MY FEARS! Rippen, you're a hopeless coward! I'm sure he's fine with that.

And see that? The instant Eva and Larry are alone and she offers a final dinner together, he nopes right out of there! Man is not interested at the least. Which says a lot, we know Larry, he's down for a lot of things but not this. I'm sure another reason is that he wanted to follow Rippen but still stands, we saw his face.

Hey, Boone gets called a genius way sooner. Good for him.

Iconic line from Madame President: "Bologna." Huh, the "G" is silent. That can't be my last thought!

"Let's focus on the positive!" Girl, the power grid, sewer system, and literally everything else needs to be addressed ASAP!

~The Characters~

Penn Zero:

Boone Wiseman:

Sashi Kobayashi:

Rippen:

Larry:

Dimension(s): Love me some giant monsters!

Forms: We have Godzilla, King Kong, and Mothra or Battra (I don't know for sure). All very fun and fitting forms. I like Penn's the most but Sashi's is really cute and Boone being a ape is the perfect match.

Rippen and Larry, while plain, look very good in those uniforms.

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Cereal Criminals🥣

My Ramblings: ART CLASS, FINALLY! Now we finally see Rippen as an art teacher, 8 episodes in! Starting it off with good Rippen and Penn banter. Also see that Larry is the principal! I'm sure Rippen just loves the thought of Larry being the boss of him everyday at school. And we see Pigoilet, Boone's favorite creation ever. I believe we did see in an early episode but I don't remember which, besides the Pilot. Sashi's are looks really nice! Looks like she may have used painters tape or something like that to get that all nice and straight, makes sense.

Is this the first time a teacher evaluation is used? Or is it the first time that the reward is Larry's parking spot? Probably the ladder.

What hell is must be to half to deal with that in the morning, water sprinkler row. When Boone says: "It appears that the glove is on the other shoe." Rippen is listening and watching Boone's hand so intently, it's funny. He looks like a cat.

Damn Penn, already planning to obliterate Rippen's teacher evaluation. Stone cold. I get it, he's evil and gives you nothing but F-'s. Still stone cold.

The jingles, I love them! Those being physically there, especially when Boone can read the kale flakes in water bit is icing on this cereal cake!

Love that they just assume Rippen is the Milkman, it makes sense. The Milkman himself? Boy, if I had a nickel for every milkman character I like, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. I love unsettling Milkmen! Can you guess the other one? I love how he talks, his design and his ads!

I'd struggle to if I had to say "crispity crunch crop" fast and with a silly voice too.

There's just a guy guarding the outside of Marshmallow Dreams Maximum Security Prison (great name)! Like just a human guy, I know there are human mascots and characters but it's... weird.

Did somebody say, WILHELM SCREAM!? And order a Silence of the Lambs homage?

"Do you like our place?" Larry says in the most adorable way followed with the cutest pose! Your honor, I love him to bits! "You've been here five minutes!" "I take our home seriously." Married couple core Rippen and Larry.

Larry seems kind of embarrassed and guilty-looking about the reason Otis the Opossum ended up in prison. His big wet eyes, poor little guy.

THE BEST SONG EVER! It's literally my ringtone! I sang that constantly, it's so catchy! Do all yourselves a favor and go listen to it again!

Teacher evaluation? Good for leverage. Rippen's little ear perks as Penn pushes all the right buttons, so cute! I wanna pet him!

Here we get Rippen's villain spiel: He's driven by his need to outdo his sister, Vlurgen. This man has some family issues, of course he does. His mama and papa always favored her more, which sadly, we do see later. She has everything he wants, a really evil car, a different magical scepter for everyday of the week, and competent evil henchmen. I like he says "no offense" to Larry, he's growing. Penn is stuck with the knowledge of Rippen's family woes. Just on and on with this guy, it's like he's stalling for time or something...

He is! 3 o'clock hits and they can't stop the Milkman, so Rippen wins, he's finally a full-time villain! HOORAY! Wait, I mean... boo? I mean SIKE! Big Brain Penn Time! He had Sashi set the prison clock back an hour during the pest song number. Everybody clap for them!

Question: How did Larry have that trap ceiling for balloons, cake and the full-time villain hat? Who cares! Also interesting Rippen calls his whole spiel a "blabberfest" like he was making it up or playing it down, but no, all stand very true. He's so downtrodden by this trick.

"I'm going on a milk run." Hard line delivery.

One of the few times that kale saves the day.

Milkman is so OP, it's ridiculous. But he's defeated in the most cursed way imaginable, get slurped into Penn's trunk... eck. Now that looks like, well, certain artwork.

Well, Rippen got a plow of an L, but thankfully an elephant never forgets. Why did he say "generosity" like that with his entire face? Because I wanna emulate that.

~The Characters~

I absolutely love how Rippen's whole spiel was tied in the ending: He told us his woes of no one in his family really appreciating his hard work, leaving him to feel inadequate and underappreciated. Yet, in the end, even after betraying Penn, the kid still put in a good word for his teacher with a glowing evaluation! Even if it isn't genuine, it still makes him feel like he actually earned something, like he finally won. That smile at the end. It's heartwarming! :)

Penn Zero: He's very smart in this episode. He uses Rippen's desire for the teacher evaluation to get him to talk, and when he correctly assumes that Rippen's need to win, he has the time set back just in case. Even though he did betray them, Penn keeps to his word and gives him a good evaluation, even though he wanted to obliterate him.

Boone Wiseman: No one knowing or liking him as Be Well Beaver is realistic. I like that he's has a slightly out of touch design and lingo us a nice touch, people who want to sell healthy stuff don't exactly know how.

Sashi Kobayashi: She has a gun and I'm sad she didn't get to use it more.

Rippen: We get to learn a lot more about him this episode. His deep-seated rage against his sister and the desire for his parent's attention. Sadly, we don't really get to see any more of this until the "Mr. Rippen" episode. Besides that, he is just as hilarious and devious as ever. Even when he's makes a deal to get a good teacher evaluation, he still backstabs them for the chance of being a full-time villain. He's lucky Penn felt nice that day.

Larry: He's so damn adorable, I couldn't take my eyes off him! He's just trying to make the prison cell look nice.

Dimension(s): Love this world, so fun and creative! It's also very interesting that the mascots are all real in their dimension, just here the mascots are real people. Must be mind-boggling. It's like seeing or reading about an actor and thinking: "Oh yeah, so-and-so from that show I know." But with cereal. Basically being zapped a semi-celebrities in a way.

Forms: Such fun and tasty designs! From chocolate elephant, fruity flamingo and healthy beaver cereals, I'm obsessed with all of them! Each have their own fun strengths, Penn and his trunk, Boone and his beaver skills, and Sashi with her gun! AND THE CUTE LITTLE JINGLES!? I CAN'T!

There's a brand of cereal I see sometimes that's chocolate and has an elephant on it and everytime I'm like: CHOCO CHOCO TRUNKS!? But alas, they aren't.

Wolverine Rippen and Opossum Larry? Adorable. Especially Larry, me and my bestie love Otis! They even quote him from the later episode! And the name Wrong Way Wally goes hard.

#PZPTH #Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero #Penn Zerothon #3 Big Problems #Cereal Criminals

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freezing-kaiju · 2 years ago

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Ok so! The getting to know 9 people better thing! Was tagged into this by @blisseylesbian hihihi buddy

3 ships: AsuRei, BarghestxAtalantaxShebaxNightingale, Passionlip/Esdeath. Two ones made with my darling gf, both crackships, and one that was the CORNERSTONE of my personality in 2020 and beyond.

First ever ships: symbra and widowtracer/widowtracily. Don’t recall earlier ones, but I was brought to this site by overwatch and it isn’t a badge of honor but it sure is a badge I’ll wear.

last movie: Shin Godzilla. Watched it back to back with Hereditary with my beloved and had a fascinating fucking time. It’s really long though, so I had to pause at a point to cope with the enormity of it all. Fascinating look at bureaucracy and unnatural batural disasters and I love how much Goji looks like it’s in pain all the time. Like breathing hurts, like moving hurts, like it rubs itself against rock just in the desperate hope that if it hurts different it will feel better.

Currently reading: Dante’s Inferno, A Modern History of Iran, and SEEEEVERAL yuris. Two of these are for class, and due to a project proposal the yuri ones have become also for class.

Currently watching: Denji Sentai Megaranger, Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger, Kamen Rider Geats, Kamen Rider Build. On a huge tokusatsu kick lately, it’s so so soososoososo fun.

Currently chomping: the dregs of Mac and cheese that I was too late to get, some barbecue beef, cucumbers, lettuce, and a bit of pizza. Didn’t eat breakfast or much lunch.

Currently craving: Mac and CHEESE goddamnit!!!! Fuuuuuck!!!! Macking cheese

LET’S TAG! @jerzeyjimmy ! @echidna-auxiliatrix ! @underwater-pinball ! @woolieshubris ! @muigi1 ! @pupmon1 ! @zhuhongs ! @moodorbs ! @folieadeuxsday ! A mix of old friends, new ones to tumblr, and people I’d like to be friends with! WAHOO!

#leanne grabs a megaphone #tag games #ask games

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kurmi · 4 years ago

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(vía Review- ′Godzilla. Unnatural Disasters′- Monster's Galore)

#godzilla #idw publishing #geekdad

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callboxkat · 5 years ago

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Infinitesimal (part 58)

Author’s note: It’s hilarious to me that this happens to come out in July, about as far as possible from Christmas. An alternate title for this part would be Christmas in July.

Warnings: Illness, hospitals, Remus, nsfw mention, mention of getting hit by a car, censored swearing, references to poor family relationships, peer pressure, Christmas stuff

Word count: 5186

Infinitesimal Masterpost!

Writing Masterpost!

...

When Logan got home from the hospital for the second time that day, he went straight to his room. He kicked off his shoes, set a timer on his phone, and turned to the bed. His body thumped on the mattress, and he was instantly asleep.

Two hours later, he was being woken by the song that served as his alarm. Normally, he enjoyed the song; at that moment, it was one of his least favorite sounds in the world.

Logan groaned into his pillow, then reached over and fumbled around on the bedside table, only to realize that he hadn’t actually taken the time to put his phone there before he fell asleep. He lifted his head from the pillow and looked around, finally spotting the device at his side on the comforter. He rolled over and grabbed the phone, silencing the alarm.

He yawned, glanced at the time, and reluctantly got out of bed before he could persuade himself not to. He needed to prepare dinner for himself and the “mouse-men”, and then he needed to go back to the hospital for the third time that day.

With Remus this time.

Logan wasn’t sure how he expected that visit to go. He hoped it would go well, or at least not end in disaster. Remus seemed like a bit of a loose cannon. Plus there was always the fact that he and Roman hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and Logan didn’t know why.

When Logan had gone to drop off Roman’s belongings, Roman had said that he was willing to see Remus sometime after dinner. Logan had texted Roman’s brother afterwards, letting him know the news. Remus and Logan had then agreed that Remus would be at the apartment building at 6:30, and Logan would drive them both over. Sure, Remus technically could have driven himself, but Logan got the feeling that Roman preferred that Logan be there, too.

…

Logan probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised that the knocking began only five minutes after the clock struck 6.

He frowned, pulling his phone out to confirm the time, and sighed, looking back to the “mouse-men”, who until seconds before had been eating their own dinner across from him.

“My apologies,” he sighed. “That must be Roman’s brother. I wasn’t expecting him for another half hour.”

Logan had warned the “mouse-men” that Remus would he returning, of course; but none of them had expected to be interrupted like this.

They seemed to accept that he was telling the truth, although Virgil still made a point of sending a warning glance his way, just in case.

Logan stood up, set his half-finished plate on the chair, and went to get the door.

Remus stood there, wearing a Santa hat and holding one out for Logan to take. Remus’s had lime green leopard fur where the white would usually go, and the one he offered Logan had comically large elf ears.

“Ready to go?”

“Um.” Logan frowned, looking down at the offered hat. “It’s only just past 6. We weren’t going to depart for another half hour.”

“Were we?”

“Yes.”

“Wellllll.” Remus made a face, then shrugged. “We might as well leave now; I’m here.”

“I haven’t finished dinner,” Logan said. “We’ll leave at 6:30, as planned. You can wait in the hall, or in the lobby downstairs.”

Remus pouted, but Logan stood firm.

“Hat?” he said finally, still pouting. He swung the object slightly closer, like he was trying to tempt Logan with it.

Logan sighed and took the hat, having no intentions of actually wearing it. He closed the door and went back to the living room.

“Sorry about that,” he said as he returned to his chair, taking another bite of his dinner.

“So long as he’s not poking around in here again,” Virgil muttered, probably to himself, but notably loud enough that Logan heard.

“Don’t worry; I asked him to wait outside.”

…

Half an hour passed, and Logan was ready to return to the hospital.

He’d expected Remus to have left, to wait down in the lobby; but instead, when he opened the door, there he was in the hall, his back and head on the floor and his legs up on the wall, playing a game on his phone.

“Man,” he sighed, when Logan appeared, “if I knew it’d take this long to get to the hospital, I’d’ve made them give me a ride. I could easily get hit by a car or something. Do you think if I did it right I could do a flip over the—” His gaze moved to Logan then, and he broke off with a frown. “Where’s your hat?”

“Inside.”

Remus didn’t blink.

Logan stared back at him for a second, then walked back into the apartment, grabbed the ridiculous hat, and returned to the hall.

Remus smiled and allowed his legs to slide to one side and thunk down on the floor beside him. He scrambled to his feet.

“Let’s go!”

…

Logan wrinkled his nose.

He and Remus were sitting in the car together. They were more than halfway to their destination, and perhaps Logan should have just let it drop; but an unpleasant odor was getting harder to ignore.

“I hope that one of your presents this year includes some deodorant,” he sighed as they turned onto the block the hospital was on.

Remus hummed. “Sorry, I’m out. I was feeling snackish last night.”

“…What?”

“Kidding. I forgot to pack it.”

“There’s a convenience store not far from the hospital. We’re going to stop there first.”

Remus sighed. “Fine, but they’d better have the good flavors.”

Whatever reply Logan might have given was interrupted by a sudden, loud ding!

…

Remus fished out his phone, turned down his volume, and opened up the new text.

Unknown Number: [photo message]

The photo was of Roman, lying down in a hospital bed, with a cannula in his nose. He was smiling crookedly, but he looked exhausted.

Remus wasn’t sure he liked the feeling that the picture made churn about in his stomach, but only a second later, a new message popped up under the first and made him forget it.

Unknown Number: I lived b*tch

Remus started cackling.

“Look, look,” he said gleefully, shoving the phone at Logan so the nerd could see.

“I’m driving,” the spoilsport said.

“So pull over!” Remus said, leaning back in his own seat and beginning to type a reply. “I’ve got comedy gold right here.”

Remus: Your a resilant Grape

Unknown Number: thanks Stinkbug

“Awww, he remembered,” Remus said. He tried to shove the phone at Logan again, only for him to dodge, leaning away to keep looking at the road. Rude.

Remus: Getting redy to stink up ur rm

While he waited for a reply, and occasionally nudged the phone at an unwilling Logan, Remus tried to imagine what an eight-year-old grape would look like. Would it be all wrinkled, like a raisin? Would it harden like some kind of fruit marble? Would it still be all moldy? Or was eight years way too long for that? Maybe the grape mold would have evolved into a grape mold monster, growing and growing and growing until it was too powerful to be held back by the constraints of a shelf life.

Remus fantasized for a moment about a giant grape mold monster attacking the buildings the car passed by, Godzilla style.

He was interrupted as the car pulled over, and Logan thrust out a hand. “Alright, show me this ‘comedy gold’ of yours.”

Remus grinned and showed Logan his brother’s texts.

“Ah,” said Logan. He didn’t seem to understand what was funny about a photo of Roman in a hospital bed captioned, “I lived b*tch”.

Remus stuck his tongue out at him, and went back to his phone, disappointed. “No sense of humor.”

Logan frowned, and they pulled back onto the road.

…

Once they had checked in as visitors to the hospital, Logan strode towards the stairwell.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Remus said, making him glance back, “didn’t she say he was in room 503? As in the fifth floor 503?”

“Yes.”

“Well, maybe you like being tortured; but I’m not walking up five flights of stairs!”

Logan glanced towards the stairs, then back at Remus, who was starting towards the elevator bay.

“Stairs are better for cardiovascular health.”

“My twin has asthma; that makes me asthma-adjacent, so making me go up stairs is child abuse.”

“You’re 19 years old.”

“So?”

“That makes you neither a child nor significantly younger than me.”

“Roommate’s brother abuse, then.”

Logan raised an eyebrow.

“It’s five flights,” Remus reminded him. “The elevator will be so much faster!”

Logan glanced towards the elevator bay, folding his arms. “…What if I wear the hat?”

Remus laughed. “Come on, like you’re getting out of wearing the hat.” He walked forwards, took Logan’s wrist, and pulled him towards the elevators.

“I’d really rather not,” Logan said as he was dragged along.

“What, are you claustrophobic or something?”

“…I’m admittedly not a fan of elevators.”

“You’ll be fine, it’s one ride.”

He pressed the button for the elevator, and they waited. Logan couldn’t help but glance occasionally back towards the stairs, especially since by the time the elevator arrived, there were three more people waiting for the same elevator.

The doors slid open. Logan was glad to see that it was not as small as he had feared—probably to make room for gurneys and wheelchairs, he reflected—and if anything it only had the same unnaturally clean smell as the rest of the hospital, and nothing worse.

Still, as all five of them crowded into the elevator, along with the frankly excessively large bunch of balloons one of them held, Logan was not exactly happy.

The elevator began to move, and Logan gripped the railing tightly, standing as far away from the others as could be managed in such a small space.

Remus kept eyeing the enormous cluster of balloons, a stark opposition to the single Get Well Soon! balloon that they had picked up at the convenience store, envy in his eyes.

A silver lining to the experience for Logan was that the three visitors got off at the third floor, and no one else joined them, so the trip up the last two floors was fairly tolerable.

Finally, they arrived, and the elevator doors slid open. Remus stepped out, and Logan followed after, trying to seem less relieved than he actually was.

“We’re taking the stairs on the way down if you want a ride back,” he told Remus.

“Fiiine. Now put on your hat, his room’s right there.”

Logan kept the hat in his hands as they approached.

Just before they reached the doorway, Remus paused. Logan glanced back at him. He looked nervous, suddenly.

“Are you ready?” Logan asked.

Remus grinned, adjusting the hat on his head. Logan noticed as he lifted his arms that the sweater he wore read ‘Merry X-mas F*ckers’.

“Yep! ’Course I am, why wouldn’t I be?”

Logan looked him up and down, then strode into the room, opening the door quietly. “Roman?”

Roman lay in the bed, his eyes closed, earbuds in his ears. His eyes opened as Logan came in, and he smiled tiredly. He pulled out the earbuds, tapping a button on his phone. “There’s my… favorite nerd. Back again… so soon? You must’ve… really missed me.”

Logan’s lips twitched. “I brought someone to see you.”

“Hazel, is that you?”

A confused expression crossed Roman’s face, and he looked past Logan to where Remus stood in the doorway in his lime green Santa hat and vulgar sweater, the Get Well Soon! balloon bobbing at his side. Logan moved to sit beside the bed, glancing between them.

“Jeez, I know you cried like a baby at The Fault in Our Stars, but you might be taking this fanboy thing too far.”

Roman cracked a smile, laughing softly and clearly trying not to cough. “That was… years ago. Now, get over here… Stinkbug.”

…

They spent nearly two hours at the hospital. Remus and Roman talked, and Logan did his best not to be too intrusive. He could tell they were dancing around the elephant in the room, the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in quite some time; but he figured there were better times to discuss such a thing.

Finally, a nurse came by to let them know that visiting hours had ended.

“Aw, come on,” Remus whined at him. “Tomorrow’s Christmas. Just think of the sleepover we could have.”

“I’m sorry, but you do have to leave. Your brother needs his rest.”

“Who says he’s my brother? Maybe he’s my cousin.”

The nurse glanced between the obvious twins, then towards Logan, as if asking for help.

“He’s joking,” Logan assured him. “We’ll leave in a minute; don’t worry.”

The nurse nodded. “Have a good night,” he said, before leaving the room.

Remus sighed, then looked back to Roman. “Sorry, The Man says we have to leave.”

Roman shook his head, looking amused. The expression faded a second later, though, at the prospect of being alone again. Logan frowned, remembering the news Roman had given him when they arrived—that the doctors thought it would be best for him to stay in the hospital for Christmas as well, rather than checking out in the morning as they had hoped.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Logan promised.

“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Remus corrected, grinning at Roman. “And I’ll make him wear the hat!”

“We’ll be back,” Logan agreed, deciding to ignore the hat comment.

…

“So, what’s the plan?”

Logan glanced at Remus, who had his feet up on the dashboard despite Logan’s repeated protestations about safety and sanitation concerns.

“The plan?” he repeated.

“Yeah. The plan, for tomorrow? For Christmas?”

“My only plan was to visit Roman.”

Remus’s mouth opened, and he stared at Logan for a solid five seconds. Logan’s fingers tapped on the wheel awkwardly.

“I take it that isn’t acceptable to you?”

“Isn’t acceptable—alright, come on. Really. You can do better than that. You can’t really make my brother spend Christmas in the hospital and not do better than that.”

“I’m not making him spend Christmas in the—”

“Missing the point, Nerdy Wolverine! We’ve got planning to do.”

Logan frowned, not liking where this was going.

“We can go back to your place and figure it out.”

Logan hesitated, waiting for a car to pass by before turning a corner. “I suppose we can do that in the building’s lobby.”

“Okay, seriously. What’s up? Do you really think I’m going to rob you or something? I know I haven’t been around lately, but you know I wouldn’t do that to Roman.”

Logan chewed on the inside of his lip. He didn’t mean to offend Remus, but he really couldn’t let him in the apartment, whether it hurt his feelings or not.

Remus looked out the window. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. Keep your secrets.”

“I just don’t know you that well,” Logan defended, unsure of what else to say. There wasn’t much else he could say.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever.”

They drove in silence for a moment.

“You do know where he’s got the presents hidden, right? Since you won’t let me get them?”

“What presents?”

“You really think Roman doesn’t have presents hidden away?”

“I hadn’t thought about it.”

Remus squinted at him. “…You didn’t get him anything, did you?”

Logan was aware of how telling his silence was.

“Oh my god.”

“I don’t celebrate Christmas; Roman knows that.”

“Did you not get him a birthday present either because it wasn’t your birthday?”

Logan sighed.

“He even got me a Christmas present. I got it in the mail already. Do you really think he didn’t get you one?”

Logan just huffed, until a realization dawned on him. “That’s how you knew where our apartment was.” Apparently the joke about internet stalking had just been that—a joke.

“Yep. And I didn’t even open my present yet because I wanted to come here and surprise him! And I get here, and I bet you two don’t even have a Christmas tree!”

Logan adjusted his grip on the wheel. Remus wasn’t wrong. In their defense, they had been a bit distracted, given what had happened with Emile and the other “mouse-men”.

“You’ve got a mall here, right? What time does it close?”

“…In about an hour.”

…

Logan closed the apartment door behind himself, stuck the keys in his pocket, and strode into the kitchen, pausing the flick on the lights. He set down the ridiculous hat Remus had gotten him on the kitchen table, and paused in front of the doorway into the living room. He’d left the light on in there for obvious reasons, since the sun had gone down even before he’d left with Remus.

As he debated going in to check on the guests within, Patton looked up at him and put a hand to his mouth. Logan realized he was holding a finger to his lips. He glanced past Patton and saw that both Virgil and Emile were asleep, Emile in his bed and Virgil on his side between his brother and Patton. Logan held up a hand in an acknowledging gesture, and continued down the hall and into Roman’s room.

Remus had said that Roman had always had a habit of hiding presents in an air vent, and would most likely have done the same now. Logan looked around and spotted the vent above Roman’s desk—fairly easily accessed, he had to admit.

He glanced around at the floor leading up to it, grimaced, and decided he had a little time to clean up, first. Remus could wait a few extra minutes.

He gathered up the rocks first—most of them were easily spotted, although several had made their way under the bed and bedside table, and a few even up to the bedroom door—and deposited them back into their box, which he returned to the bedside table. He also returned the fallen dresser drawer to its usual place. One of the corners of the drawer was broken, but it was only a minor cosmetic issue. Logan simply threw away the scrap of wood and slid the drawer back in the slot. Then, he collected the things that had fallen out of the drawer; and while he was certain that how he arranged them would not match whatever organization system Roman might—or might not—have had in place, he did his best. At any rate, it was certainly better how he had found it.

He found the inhaler last, sitting under the bed, not far from where he had found the expired one he had tried to help Roman with. Logan looked at it for a long moment, silently placed it on top of the dresser, and moved on to the vent.

He glanced around for a screwdriver, guessing that Roman would have one in here if he were really hiding presents in the vent, and spotted it on the desk, next to a fresh-looking scratch in the wood. Logan frowned, running a finger over the damage, then glanced up at the vent. Only three of the screws were in place. He glanced around, and, not spotting the missing one on the desk, finally spotted it on the floor.

Odd.

Logan shook his head, picked up the screwdriver, and stood on the desk chair to reach the vent. He unscrewed the three screws, pocketed them with the other, and removed the vent cover. There was something inside: a large plastic bag. He slid it out of its hiding place, waving away some stray dust motes that came free, and set it on the desk. He glanced inside, confirming that there were in fact presents inside. Then, he replaced the vent cover, stepped down from the desk chair, and left the room, bringing the bag of gifts with him.

He paused to wave good-bye to Patton, turned off the kitchen light, and went down to meet Remus in the lobby.

He found the young man sitting in a chair, his feet up in the one across from him, the shopping bags from the mall at his side. He perked up upon seeing Logan.

“You found them!”

“I did,” Logan confirmed. “You were right.”

“Of course I am.” Remus leaned forward and took the bag from Logan. “He’s so predictable. See, there’s two for you in here….” He pawed around in the bag some more, absently listing a few more names, then paused, pulling out three very small, carefully giftwrapped boxes.

“Who are E, V, and P?” Remus asked, turning them over in his hands.

Logan glanced over sharply, his eyes widening before he could stop them. “Those are, um, college friends,” he said.

Remus clearly didn’t buy it. “He got three college friends ring boxes? Ooh, are they his boyfriends? Does my bro really have three boyfriends? Is that what you didn’t want me to see in the apartment? Damn, he’s outdoing me! Is he going to propose to them all at once?”

Logan opened his mouth and shut it again. “…No,” he said meekly.

Remus grinned, looking over the boxes for a second longer. “Sure, sure. I believe you.” He obviously did not believe Logan; but he did return the three small boxes to their place in the bag, instead only removing the two with Logan’s name on them.

He set the presents aside and picked up one of their shopping bags, pulling out gift bags, tissue paper, and a few other items.

“So, let’s figure out tomorrow. What time should we get there?”

…

Logan reluctantly allowed himself to be herded into the elevator again. As much as he… preferred not to use elevators, he had to admit that he wasn’t keen to carry so much stuff up five flights of stairs.

Thankfully, no one seemed to want to share an elevator with them, given how crowded it would have been. Logan was relieved.

Roman grinned as they walked into the hospital room. “You wore the hat!”

“I wore the hat,” Logan confirmed, sounding disgruntled. It was only to free up space in his arms, and for no other reason, of course. Remus’s nagging about how much it would cheer up his brother had had nothing to do with it. He hadn’t come across any mirrors, but he was sure he looked ridiculous, with his professional attire clashing with the giant-eared hat.

“What’s… all that?” Roman asked, watching as they hauled in the large shopping bags.

“Christmas,” Remus grinned. He’d dumped his bags on the floor and was already pulling out the tree. It was small, and plastic—pickings at the store had been slim, and they couldn’t exactly bring in a nine-foot fir tree—but it would fit perfectly on one of the chairs. Remus grabbed one from beside the empty bed and dragged it over, setting the tree on top.

Meanwhile, Logan set down his own bags and began unpacking them, stacking the presents at the end of the bed, and handing the box of ornaments to Remus.

Roman watched them both with wide eyes as they transformed the hospital room into something more festive, putting up garlands (strictly where they would not be even remotely in the way, upon Logan’s insistence), decorating the tree (Remus held it up so Roman could add the star at the top), and placed a box of various Christmas cookies on the table. Roman soon wore a reindeer headband and a necklace of colorful LED lightbulbs. Remus had brought his laptop, and had (perhaps less than legally, Logan suspected) downloaded several classic Christmas movies.

“We can always go for some Netflix or Hulu if you’re not feeling the classics,” he said as he set it up on what was meant to be Roman’s serving tray, “and I personally love some good Krampus, but I know you’re like obsessed with Rudolph.”

Remus had also gotten a pack of colorful paper at the mall, so while the movies played, all three of them cut out snowflakes and slowly decorated the walls.

The nurses who occasionally came in to check in on Roman seemed to like what they’d done to the room, despite Logan’s worries that they might have gone overboard or inconvenienced them. But the laptop and quickly dwindling cookies were easily moved if need be, and none of their stuff was in the way of getting to Roman or his monitors.

Just past lunchtime, Remus reached out to pause the movie—Frosty the Snowman—and dramatically placed a gift bag in Roman’s lap. “Time for presents!”

Roman, who had seemed unable to stop smiling since they’d arrived, grinned wider. “Guys, you… didn’t have to….”

“Yes we did! And don’t worry, it’s not just you opening stuff. You’re not very good at hiding presents.”

Roman glanced at Logan, a trace of alarm in his eyes, and Logan quickly clarified, “He told me you like to hide things in vents.”

Roman relaxed, and he laughed, breaking off to cough. “It works… doesn’t it?”

“It definitely worked for me when we were kids,” Remus readily agreed. “Very convenient for early access.”

Roman threw his pillow at him.

“Alright, alright, no pillow fights in the hospital; you’ll break something.” Logan grabbed the pillow and handing it back. “Which of these would you prefer I open first?”

Roman pointed at one, and meanwhile, Remus nudged one of the gift bags on Roman’s lap closer to him. “Open mine first!”

Logan peeled back the paper on the first gift, careful not to tear anything, revealing a shoe box. He lifted the lid, and saw a book inside—one he didn’t recognize. It was thick, and had a dark red cover with a simple black design of a magnifying glass.

“What is this?” he asked, picking it up.

Roman had waited to watch Logan open the gift. “It’s a book! Well… a story. I wrote it. It’s about… Sherlock Holmes… but you’re Watson.”

Logan blinked, inspecting the book more closely. It did, in fact, have Roman’s name stamped where the author’s would normally go. “Really? How did you get it bound like this?”

“The internet.”

“Ah, of course. Thank you, Roman—I’m very intrigued. I’m certain I’ll love it.”

Roman grinned, only to have Remus shove his gift at him more insistently. Roman shook his head, amused, and picked it up. He took none of the care that Logan had in opening his present, tossing torn scraps of paper to the side. Inside was a teddy bear, but not exactly like the ones Logan usually saw in stores. This one was zombified, complete with blood and a partially exposed brain.

“You got this… at Halloween, didn’t you?”

“Maaaybe,” Remus said, grinning. He turned to tear into his own gift then, the one that Roman had mailed to him, with fervor. Logan silently gathered up scraps of paper as Remus scattered them. “Oooh!”

It was a book about frog dissection, complete with numerous illustrations.

“I’m going to rip these out and put them on my wall,” he announced, thumbing eagerly through the pages.

“Okay, open your… second one,” Roman said to Logan.

The second present was heavier than the first, but smaller. Logan unwrapped it carefully. It was a rounded, clear glass paperweight, the center engraved with the spiraling Milky Way Galaxy.

“Oh, wow…. Thank you, Roman,” he said sincerely, lifting it up so that he could look at it in the light.

Logan’s gift for Roman, despite being the last opened, was nothing special, in his opinion—it had been gotten in a hurry, of course, within the hour that he and Remus had had at the mall; but as Roman pulled out the book on Disney’s art through the years, the joy on his face was clearly genuine.

“Oh my gosh… Logan, I love this!”

…

They left most of the decorations up in Roman’s room for the night, with Logan planning to take them down before his roommate checked out in the morning. He figured there was no harm in it, and Roman clearly enjoyed them.

Remus and Logan drove back to the apartment building that evening, their stomachs full of cookies, a bow stuck to Remus’s forehead, and the presents they’d received in the backseat. Logan was still wearing the ridiculous hat Remus had gotten him.

“Thanks,” Remus said as they got out of the car.

“For driving you back? That’s no trouble, I assure you.”

“No,” Remus said. “Well, that too, but I meant… thanks for helping me with this. I can’t say the hospital was part of my plan, but I really wanted this Christmas to be special.” He shifted where he stood. “I haven’t seen Roman in a while, and I was hoping that… you know, that maybe I could just show up, and maybe… I don’t know. I wanted my brother back is all.”

Logan glanced at him.

“Anyway. Thanks for helping me.”

He grabbed his dissection book from the backseat, looked at the cover, and glanced over to his car. “Guess I should be going. I’ve got boyfriends to kiss, mischief to… mischievize.”

“Remus… may I ask you something?”

Remus tilted his head. “If you want to be my third boyfriend, I’m sorry, but I don’t date my brother’s roomies. Besides, you live kind of far, and I’m not into the whole long distance thing.”

“What? No.”

Remus cackled. “Kidding. Shoot.”

Logan cleared his throat. “I know that you and Roman had some family issues, but I must admit that I’m unaware of what they are. I understand if you are against telling me, but I would appreciate some insight, if you’re willing to provide it.”

Remus screwed up his face. “Well… if Roman didn’t want to say….”

“Of course.” Logan shook his head. “Forget I asked. That was insensitive of me. It was simply an impulse question, think nothing of it.”

Remus glanced towards his car again, then looked down at the pavement.. “I don’t know what exactly it was,” he admitted. “Our parents lied to me about it, said he… Well, they said some things that weren’t true, so I’d side with them.” He grimaced, then forced a grin to his face. “I got back at them, though. Let’s just say I “butt-dialed” them, in the middle of a very fun time with my boyfriends.”

Logan cleared his throat. “I get the idea, yes.”

“Anyway. I found out they lied, and I want to make it better, because I was kind of a d*ck to him about it. So, thanks. Nerd.”

Logan nodded, and watched as Remus walked off to his car, throwing and catching the keys as he went. He dropped them just as he reached the car. Logan watched as he picked them up, pretended nothing had happened, and unlocked the door.

It had been quite an unusual Christmas, to say the least.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #infinitesimal!sides #logan sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #emile picani #virgil sanders #ts sides #ts fic #ts fanfic #g/t #gt #sanders sides g/t #giant/tiny #sanders sides fan fiction #fanfiction #infinitesimal fic

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newtafterdark · 5 years ago

Text

Taste of Metal - Chapter 8: A Lecture on Trespassers

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157634/chapters/65517814

Summary: What if the overwhelming VR experience Gordon went through, had a deeper purpose than just being a simple simulation & a freelance debug job for him?

But most importantly- what if Gordon Freeman listens to Metal & used to be in a band? aka. the “Metalhead Gordon AU”

- - -

Gordon had to admit that it had been a while since he organized such a big breakfast. It brought his years at MIT back to mind where he and his roommates somehow collectively managed to keep each other on their feet, food included.

But his worries over the possible mediocrity of what he, Dr Coomer and Bubby might have created - with him being the only one who had actual physical experience with cooking - went right out the window when he saw the looks of amazement and gratefulness at the table.

Despite having said that he needed neither sleep nor food, Benrey had stacked his plate with a bit of everything that had been brought on the table. If he had been any other person, Gordon would have been concerned. But it was likely that everyone at the table either hadn’t had a proper meal in quite a while or had never had the chance to have one before.

So when Benrey was carefully layering a pancake with ham, a fried egg, cheese and peanut butter, Gordon just watched with a soft amused smile.

Meanwhile, Tommy was losing his mind over the concept of Nutella-Banana toast.

“I-I can’t believe I missed out on this! They never had anything like this at the Black Mesa cafeteria!”

Gordon chuckled.

“Doesn’t surprise me, bud. But now you can have that every day if you want.”, he added with an assuring smile.

Tommy nodded in excitement, already in the process of making another Nutella-covered toast, exchanging his left-over banana slices for Darnold’s strawberries.

Darnold added the banana to his honey wheat cereal in thought, then looked up to meet Gordon’s gaze.

“Apologies in advance for prying, Gordon… but I do have a question, If you don’t mind.”

Gordon blinked over the edge of his mug, cutting the sip of hot cacao short.

“Sure, man! What’s up?”

“Well… I recalled your reaction from last night when Bubby talked about exploring the world outside. You seemed… alarmed. Why?”

Gordon set his mug down, brows furrowed as he looked at his plate. He figured he’d have to tell the Science Team about the outside world eventually...

“It isn’t as safe as you’d think, guys.”

“No place is ‘safe’, Gordon.”, Bubby scoffed while cutting his omelette into bite-sized pieces.

“I am aware, but this is… simulation levels of ‘not safe’.”, Gordon clarified.

“What do you mean, Gordon? D-Do you guys had natural disasters recently? We understand! We can deal with stuff like that! No worries-”, Tommy threw in, but Gordon held up his hand.

“Let me… go get my laptop. I need you guys to know what’s going on.”

With that said, Gordon got up and went into his bedroom, missing the confused glances the Science Team exchanged among each other.

When he returned, Gordon set up his projector and plugged the connection cable into his laptop. He let out a sigh, then opened a folder on his desktop.

“Alright, welcome to class 101 of ‘Gordon explains what the fuck has been going on on Earth that shit’s fucked up outside’...”, he said, adjusting his glasses and getting into lecture mode.

He watched as the Science Team huddled closer to each other at the table, curiously looking at the projection on the wall… but still keeping at it with the breakfast. Gordon smiled softly before reminding himself of what he was doing.

“... August 10th, 2013. San Francisco. We thought it was a 7.1 earthquake at first. Bad enough to begin with… but then the video feeds and photos got to the news...”

The Science Team watched with high attention as Gordon opened up a video file of a news recording.

The Golden Gate bridge was swinging dangerously in clear view- until the camera focused on something else.

Something huge.

Something absolutely massive.

What emerged from the waters could only be described as a leviathan of a monster. It tore the bridge down with ease and almost instantly made its way towards the city, dragging itself through the water completely unphased by the military attacking it with comparably small aerial strikes.

“We called it “Trespasser” since it was the first of its kind we were forced to face.”, Gordon added, his voice sounding heavy with memories.

The video ended and Gordon turned back, facing his friends.

Tommy had his hands covering his mouth in shock, Darnold was holding Sunkist oh-so-gently with horror in his eyes, Bubby was clawing at the table as he stared with wide eyes and even Dr Coomer sat there with concern in his face.

The last person Gordon expected to be shocked by this though, was Benrey, who looked positively mortified.

“Dude, w-what the FUCK?”, he managed to stutter out.

“Y-You say it was the ‘first”? There were m-more?!”, Tommy asked.

Gordon just nodded at that.

“The next one arrived 6 months later in Manila-”

“Six months… that was barely time to rebuild the other city...”, Dr Coomer mused, more to himself than to the others.

“Then came another one 4 months later in Cabo San Lucas-”

“They were arriving faster???”, Bubby exclaimed with horror.

Gordon nodded, pulling up pictures after pictures, playing videos to put emphasis on the seriousness of the whole ordeal.

“It was a disaster… We faced smaller ones than Trespasser occasionally… but the big ones got even bigger over time. We faced several each year until only recently. As you can imagine, Earth is still very much damaged in a lot of places because of this. Some areas are completely uninhabitable because of the acidic and poisonous nature of the Kaiju remains-”

Benrey almost chocked on a piece of bacon-

“You guys called them ‘Kaiju’??? Like, uh- Godzilla? Big Lizard???”

Gordon let out a soft chuckle.

“Yeah… one of the lead scientists behind the research of these beasts is a massive nerd. At first, he only called them that at work to differentiate the samples he got… then the names actually stuck over time in the official reports.”

Coomer raised his hand.

“Gordon, how did humanity fight these beasts? It looks like the military was once again absolutely useless!”

Gordon clicked through his files, looking positively excited to show off whatever humanity's defence system had been-

“So, uhm, before I click play… basically humanity got together and formed the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps or PPDC for short. Within the PPDC was the research division… and that included the scientists and engineers who worked on these-”

What the team saw next in the projection, made several of them gasp in excitement and astonishment.

The video showed a dragon-like kaiju getting absolutely wrecked by what could only be described as a massive robot.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME???”, Bubby exclaimed.

“Yooooo, what the fuuuuuuuck, man...”, Benrey added, holding his head in his hands, eyes still glued to the projection.

“This… h-how-”, stammered Darnold, staring in awe.

“Oh, that is quite the fine work of robotics, Gordon! Very sturdy by the looks of it!”, Dr Coomer observed, giving an approving nod, “So you used these to defeat the kaiju in one-on-one fights?”

“Well, if we could, we had more Jaeger facing one Kaiju- and yes, my nerd buddy at the PPDC also named the class of the robots.”, Gordon clarified with a chuckle.

Tommy perked up at that.

“That man is your friend, Gordon? Can we meet him?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to Newton in quite some time… and not with Hermann either… I could e-mail them and ask where they’re stationed so we could meet and catch up? Heh… yeah, I should do that. Newt especially would love you guys!”

Meanwhile, Bubby leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and glaring at the images still being projected.

“So… the reason it’s dangerous outside is that these things could pop up anywhere at any moment?”, he asked.

Gordon made a so-so motion with his hand.

“Not quite. The Breach, that’s what we called the portal to their world, was closed not too long ago… but we still deal with the damages and the toxic kaiju remains...”

Gordon pulled up a photo of an entire coastline glowing in an unnatural blue in broad daylight.

“We call this ‘Kaiju Blue’... the closest comparison I could make is that it’s… like acidic oil-like blood. Basically don’t get near any of this at any point. Compared to it, the Green Sludge back in Black Mesa was just a glow-in-the-dark kiwi slushie.”

That comment earned Gordon a few chuckles and amused huffs.

“But yes… this is the main reason I want you all to be careful when we go outside. The PPDC still studies what the fuck this stuff can do to a human body… and I don’t want to find out what it might do to you guys. Just… no slurping the toxic alien juice, please?”, Gordon pleaded.

To his surprise, the team gave him assuring nods.

“Gordon, normally I would say that you’d be a party pooper… but since we’re all new to this terrifying information, be assured that we will listen. After all, you’re now the specialist!”, Dr Coomer said with a smile.

Gordon’s tense shoulders relaxed at the reassurance. This was a welcome change from what he had been used to from the Science Team in the simulation.

“Thanks, guys. I… I know this is a lot to take in- and please take your time to process it! - but I just… I needed you guys to be aware.”

“Oh, it’s alright, Gordon! I-I think it will slowly sink in over a few days, right guys?”, Tommy asked, turning to the others at the table.

“I’m already done processing… but we need your laptop for more research, Gordon. I want to know more details on that whole disaster before I take even one step outside.”, Bubby muttered before sipping on his now cold coffee.

“Of course! And don’t be afraid to ask me about anything, related or unrelated to all this! Honestly, the more I can help with you guys being prepared for the outside world, the better I feel about our whole situation.”

Gordon turned off the projector for the time being and sat back down at the table.

“And, uh… thank you all for listening and letting me explain? I’m not used to that from you guys… but yeah, thanks.”, he said with a weak but grateful smile.

Darnold reached over, putting a hand on his shoulder, while his other hand was still gently petting Sunkist.

“Hey, know that we’ll always listen to you from now on. The simulation was one thing… but this is reality. I think I speak for everyone when I say that while bantering with you is álways fun, we won’t push your buttons to a frustrating level anymore. Especially while you’re still recovering.”

Gordon simply nodded at that, playing with the rim of his shirt.

Suddenly, he stood up once more, startling Darnold slightly.

“Gordon, a-are you okay?”, the mixologist asked.

Gordon nodded, looking quite serious all of the sudden.

“I… I want you guys to meet someone.”

Benrey visibly perked up.

“Oh shit!- is it son time? Haven’t seen him around so… uh… road trip to go see Gordon Jr?”

“I can’t wait to meet your son, Gordon!”, Dr Coomer chimed in.

“W-Well, we don’t need to go anywhere to meet him… uhm… give me a second, I just need to go get my closet key-”

“CLOSET KEY???”, gasped Tommy in shock.

“TOMMY, DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT IT WILL MAKE SENSE IN A SECOND I SWEAR!”, Gordon yelled back while he was scrambling to find his keys.

The entire team watched in a mix of judgement, curiosity and excitement as Gordon unlocked the storage closet that Benrey had sat on top of earlier that morning.

They saw his anxious expression completely melt away to make way for a loving gaze as he pulled out something orb-shaped from within the closet depths.

A sleepy chirp-like sound suddenly emerged from what Gordon was holding.

“Hey… ‘morning, bud. Dad’s finally back home...”, Gordon said with the most gentle voice any of the Science Team members had ever heard him speak with.

Another chirp, this time a bit louder-

“....dad? DAD! YOU’RE BACK!!!!”

Suddenly the orb-shaped object launched itself out of Gordon’s arms and flew in rapid circles around him, making the man laugh. He reached out and pulled the orb out of the air, hugging it close.

“I am! Hey, uhm… dad brought some friends over. They are really excited to meet you. Do you want to go say hello to them?”, he asked gently.

The Science Team watched in anticipation as Gordon walked back to the table, arms wrapped protectively around something that was as big as volley-ball.

Tommy gasped softly as he leaned over to get a better look.

A small screen on the orb slowly came into view, displaying a curious little face consisting of numbers and symbols.

Two appendages, seemingly constructed in part out of computer mice, pulled the small being further up as it looked warily over Gordon’s arm at the Science Team.

Gordon smiled proudly at the display of mutual curiosity.

“Everyone… meet Joshua.”

#metalhead gordon au #hlvrai #hlvrai gordon #benrey #tommy coolatta #hlvrai darnold #hlvrai bubby #hlvrai coomer #hlvrai sunkist #WELCOME TO THE KAIJU ZONE #newton geiszler #hermann gottlieb #both of them only mentioned by name... for now #pacific rim #but also I WANT TO SEE MY LITTLE BOY #HERE HE IS!!!!#hlvrai joshua #fanfic #fanfics

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gear-project · 4 years ago

Note

Do giant monsters/kaiju exist in the GG world that aren't Gears? (And on an unrelated note. Are you interested in Godzilla vs. Kong movie?)

Most Kaijuu have an "almost mystical" background, or they are aberrant mutations of nature, so they are both a mix of elements of what you might deem a "Giant Youkai", or just simply a being born from unique circumstances surrounding unnatural disasters or global events.

Take Mothra and the Shobijin for example... while such a being "could" have been born from the Earth, and even have Psychic-like Fairies to act as its interpreter, what makes little sense is its ability to communicate with Humans who have made very few strides to communicate with other animals in nature such as it is. Or even the prospect that the Shobijin (Twin Psychic Girls) are even related to humans at all.

Still, in terms of Guilty Gear Lore, Giant Beings do exist, and so do Youkai... beings born from mysterious and often aberrant circumstances... and these by themselves, while mysterious, are also somewhat connected to the very nature of GEARS.

Unlike Gears, however, Youkai are usually born naturally and not manufactured, so they are more impacted by the natural world than Gears would be. But that would suggest the planet has a will of its own in some respect, that some beings are born from the Earth's will... either to protect or destroy threats (i.e. Mothra's modus operandi).

Youkai are more closely connected with the Backyard... or more precisely, to the concept of the Afterlife (and Death) and the concept of a great willpower or spirit. Mankind even mistook a being for a 'god' in the form of the Universal Will.

The Backyard is connected to nearly everything that exists, and even things that shouldn't normally exist but still do: exceptions.

It's more accurate to say that GEARS might as "well" be Kaijuu by definition, albeit they are manufactured in that sense. But they are not so far removed from Youkai as well, which are more closely connected with Kaijuu in concept.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, where Kaijuu are beings "born from nature", there are Kinjuu... Forbidden Beasts... beings born AGAINST the natural laws, like Zato=ONE's Eddie, or Millia Rage's Angra.... these "Kinjuu" break the natural laws as part of their powers.

Kinjuus' very existence are a threat to mankind in much the same sense as a Kaijuu, both in terms of their power, and in terms of how they are born (living parasites who can kill their hosts upon birth).

Furthermore, Kinjuu are the "natural enemy" of Gears, so you could argue that Gears are pro-nature, while Kinjuu are anti-nature. But some have made the argument that such conflicting values only existed during the Crusades (Dizzy says they no longer need to fight). Kinjuu are still derived from Gears (and Youkai) in concept, however.

Anyway, regarding the films... I don't exactly take them seriously, but I understand why people would be fans... not to mention the historical anti-war sentiment behind them.

#Kaijuu #Gears #Kinjuu #Forbidden Beasts #Youkai

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necropsittacus · 5 years ago

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I got a request for an Infodump Post on the Revelation imagery in King of the Monsters and tbqh one of my love languages is being asked about my Ghidorah opinions so Here We Go

note: I’m using the New International Version of the Bible, and also I have not rewatched KOTM for this (although I may end up deciding to do that) and am going on memories of my approximately three and a half past viewings. Other note: most of this is going to be me presenting specific Bible quotes and then talking about them a bit. Be prepared for that. also this feels super unfinished to me and shorter than it should be to treat the topic properly, and like i need to rewatch the movie and write an essay

The whole movie, and Ghidorah in particular, is very focused around apocalypse imagery--the end of the world, the rebuilding of a cleaner, better new world, the breakdown of that attempt to rebuild a better world. This has to do with the Book of Revelation’s focus on the destruction of the world as we know it and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.

except that here the attempt to destroy and remake the world (which, in Revelation, is an act of God, with the Devil as a major part of the narrative but not the prime mover) A. fails, and B. isn’t treated as a good idea to start with by the narrative. While the ending, and specifically information we get in the credits, does show us progress towards a better, brighter future for the world, it’s more “gradual healing” than “apocalypse and rebirth.” The burn-it-all-down apocalypse-and-rebirth style of fixing the world is rather associated with Ghidorah, and the people who release/awaken him. The human villains want to purge the world of humanity’s sins.

This is one of those places where the religious commentary mixes with commentary on environmental/climate change issues...Alan Jonah’s plan is standing in for, well, y’all know what kind of environmental rhetoric, the “humans are the plague, burn it all down so the earth can heal” type. They’re making a point about the inviability of that kind of goal, that you can’t just kill everyone and start over and hope the earth will fix itself, because it won’t (and, here, trying to make it work like that actively makes things worse--Ghidorah has no interest in *fixing* anything), and that gets mixed with the religious imagery in fun ways.

It could also have to do with the “false king of the monsters”/“Antichrist stands in the place of Christ” idea--Ghidorah is taking the role, as the one breaking and remaking the world, that in Revelation is assigned to God, but he’s more the Devil.

And that plays into the image of Ghidorah as the false Christ, the false prophet, the Antichrist--releasing him is supposed to cleanse the world of “humanity’s” sins (and this movie doesn’t explicitly go into the problems with that kind of approach--that it’s not humanity it’s capitalism--but I might argue that it’s implicit--that killing off humanity as an approach is explicitly criticized, it doesn’t work, it fails spectacularly), it just...doesn’t work that way, actually

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

I’m inclined to link this (and the idea is repeated a few times in Revelation, and elsewhere in the New Testament, this is just the clearest example) with the “they were here before us and they’ll be here after us” theme in KOTM.

One of the major things that happens in Revelation is the opening, one by one, of seven seals on a scroll, each opening followed by a new disaster. I’m inclined to link this to the unsealing and release from stasis of the Titans (supposed to be one by one, although of course Ghidorah disrupts this).

The Storm Theme

Luke 10:18 I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

Rev. 11:19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

Rev. 8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

It’s not clear from that quote, but what’s happening here is the opening of the seventh and final seal (mentioned above).

While Ghidorah’s primary weapons were originally gravity beams, here they more resemble lightning or electricity (or that has consistently been my impression, anyway). This image is reinforced by his/their identification with a tropical storm. I may be reaching with this, but in context of what I’m talking about below I don’t think it’s unfair to bring up the Luke 10:18 quote in this context, as well as the storms and lightning tied to apocalypse more generally.

This is, or leads into, one of the places where I really like how the climate change apocalypse symbolism I’ve been assured by other people is in there is folded in with the religious apocalypse symbolism.

Ghidorah represents both something that is unnatural, not part of the established order, a destructive force the planet is not prepared to handle (specifically in the form of destructive weather patterns--which has been pointed out to me as climate change imagery, although I didn’t initially pick up on it myself) and as both Satan and Antichrist from the Book of Revelation.

First, Ghidorah-as-Satan:

The motif of a fight against a multi-headed dragon is in itself arguable as Revelation imagery; Satan primarily appears as a dragon.

Rev. 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.

...

Rev. 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Here specifically we get the notion of a malevolent, multi-headed (and crowned--this one’s more metaphorical but checks out with the “false king” thing) dragon being thrown down from the sky, and also the forces more sympathetic to humanity triumphing over the dragon. Also, there’s more “star(s) falling from Heaven” imagery elsewhere that feels at least as relevant, but that gives me feelings.

Ghidorah as Antichrist

It’s not explicit in the Bible verses I’m working with (or particularly anywhere in the Bible), but I should have a little bit here before I start talking about it too much about what exactly the Antichrist is. The Christian concept of the Antichrist is someone who opposes Jesus and sets himself in the place of Jesus/God, and thus leads the world astray.

Wikipedia: “Antichrist is translated from the combination of two ancient Greek words αντί + Χριστός (anti + Christos). In Greek, Χριστός means "anointed one" and the word Christ derives from it.[6] Therefore, an antichrist opposes Christ by substituting himself for Christ.”

I want to point out the “substituting himself for Christ” piece here especially, in relation to Ghidorah’s status as the “false king of the monsters.”

Also, it should maybe be noted that a lot of interpretations don’t have one singular Antichrist figure (or even two), but rather an institution, a group, or many people can be meant by the Antichrist (e.g. in a lot of heretical and Protestant traditions the Catholic Church may be Antichrist). Here I’m treating the term Antichrist as referring to one singular figure, who is interchangeable with the Beast, because in the movie we get a specific character in the role. ALSO, the term “Antichrist” is never actually used in Revelation, and may or may not refer to the same thing as “the Beast;” my interpretation, a fairly standard one, is that the Beast is the Antichrist, but YMMV on that.

For convenience’s sake, I am going to be using “Antichrist” or “The Beast” interchangeably

and “the False Prophet” for the other beast; the terms are a little wigglier in actual usage. Additionally, the figure I’m calling the False Prophet is often conceptualized as a second, lesser or “mystical” Antichrist whose coming presages the “great” Antichrist (the Beast).

One of the slightly off things about these parallels is that while in Revelation there are three separate figures, Satan/the dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, in KOTM there are only two, Ghidorah and Rodan. Thus, Ghidorah derives his authority from himself alone, and not from an additional external figure (which also jives with the Satan connection, IMO; Satan’s whole thing in some interpretations is claiming authority for himself).

I’m going to repeat the introduction we get to the Beast here in full. There’s not a ton of physical similarity between the description we get of the Beast and Ghidorah besides the multiple heads, and, as mentioned, Ghidorah grants himself authority, not any external power, but there are other significant parallels:

Rev. 13:1 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

13:3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

We get this explicitly, which is the first piece of Revelation imagery that was pointed out to me--Godzilla bites off Ghidorah’s third head, which regrows (right before he claims the throne fully).

4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

This is, again, Ghidorah fully claiming the title of king, and being obeyed/followed by (most of) the other Titans.

Rodan as False Prophet

Rev. 13:11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.

Here we do get something for the physical description; I think it’s interesting that KOTM Rodan doesn’t quite resemble older material!Rodan (who as far as I can tell, and certainly in Jurassic City which is the other thing I’ve seen with him in it, tends to be basically just a weird red giant Pteranodon, “giant bird” comments from characters in-universe notwithstanding) as much as the other non-original characters. For the most part they just made him a lot birdier, and I don’t think “match the Bible description of the second beast” was like, a driving force in that, but he does sort of have horns. That’s mostly beside the point, anyway; if we’re taking Ghidorah-as-the-Beast as a given, Rodan is clearly the other Beast acting as essentially a second-in-command and herald to the first one. The fire coming down from heaven thing is significant; you could also take “coming out of the earth” to apply to his emergence from a volcano.

14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

Most of this doesn’t really say anything new for the parallels I’m reading into it, and there’s no equivalence to the idolatry or the Mark of the Beast, I just really like the false prophet as a figure, and it reinforces the “given authority under the first, higher-ranking Beast” thing.

Miscellaneous other things

Thessalonians 2:7 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.

“The lawless one” is another common descriptor for Antichrist. I want to point out “destroy with the breath of his mouth” in context of the ending and Godzilla’s atomic breath.

Additionally, Godzilla’s own rise from the brink of death (after having been nearly killed while acting in a capacity helpful to humanity (fighting Ghidorah), at that) parallels a very central motif in Christianity (the rise of Jesus from the dead).

Rev. 5:15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

This gives me feelings re everyone who can going to hide in bunkers.

I’m not going through the whole movie again looking for illustrations for this, it’s probably long enough as is, but I have this one saved anyway and I think it makes the Christianity theme REALLY blatant:

Just the framing of the shot here, the cross in the foreground, and Ghidorah’s pose kind of mimicking it, is telling.

I also want to point out this verse in terms of the visuals here:

Rev. 8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

We very much do tend to get dark sky.

Rev. 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

this feels like More Rodan Imagery Things

Rev. 8:8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

The first part of this, and the bitter waters, feel reminiscent of the Oxygen Destroyer idea (though that was taken from the original Godzilla, so I don’t think they stole this bit outright so much as they found a place they could mix Bible parallels with the older material they were working off). Also, there’s a volcano, probably. And “star falling from heaven” is again always a Ghidorah vibe for me, given the whole “alien descended to earth” thing; same thing with this next line:

Rev. 9:1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.

And also, I can’t remember if the thing about his responsibility for the K-Pg extinction event I’ve seen around a few times is a fandom thing or suggested in the movie, but if it is canon--that’s another place that folds the Biblical imagery in with the scientific mass extinction imagery.

Rev. 9:19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

This isn’t necessarily actually a Ghidorah vibe but “tails like snakes used to inflict injury” does make me Feel Some Things in that regard.

There’s also some other stuff I Think might be readable in that direction, but I’m not as certain about any of it and this is really long as is.

My conclusion is basically just...they went fucking ham with the Revelation imagery in this movie, both to play into the more major theme of environmental destruction, and I honestly speculate as a response to the criticisms of some other American Godzilla stuff as “taking the God out of Godzilla”--if that’s the case, they’d be putting a sense of spiritual reference into the movie that would be more familiar to a lot of Western audiences compared to the hints of that in the original Godzilla. and i love it and i’m always a slut for the book of revelation

Thank you very much for reading.

#mine #kaiju content #ok to rb if you want #though i still feel like it's unfinished

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