#Rodan is Rodan so...he's got a point

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

Based on your post @sassyassblog 😁:

P.S. I'm using the MonsterVerse Kaijus as humans since this is also from my GenAU MV Edition. So no worries.

Here's the scenario:

"Man..." thought Godzilla as he walked tiredly towards his mansion, "I need a quick nap..."

Turning around making sure no one was sneaking at him, he knelt down to the front door and snag a key he secretly kept from a carpet. He opened the door and enter before closing it shut.

The man took off his shoes and socks before putting it on a casket beside the door. His darkish black to navy blue hair is in mess due to the extreme heat back from where he work at a city and also in due course of his job. As usual, he often comes late at home since his wife, Mothra, usually is first to arrived home shortly before himself.

Still, she's not here, so maybe Godzilla need an extra free range of their cozy house. Once his wife arrived home, he smirked at the deal that he told her a few days ago.

He needs to arrange a few things.

It was already 5:15 PM, Godzilla thought about his best friends. Most likely, Rodan, Anguirus and Kong were sometimes having a sleepover with him (which Mothra denies it for their unruly manners, something that Godzilla feared for her anger), only for 2 days. Or even a week if there's an activity going around the mansion he and Mothra owned. Currently, Rodan had finally found a job as a chef from a local restaurant, Anguirus deliberately needed to pass an exam to be a history teacher, and Kong...well...he's still a policeman and work tirelessly to earn some savings for his adoptive deaf daughter Jia and her adoptive mother Ilene Andrews.

Success earns hardwork and support, that's something Mothra - yes, she is a science and art teacher - reminded them for their lives.

Anyway, just as Godzilla was about to head upstairs...

"LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKK AT ME~"

He jumped from a sudden breakout of a familiar voice that scared the shit of his pants. Well, whoever broke in to his home without permission shall get the beat out of their shit in no mercy, he swore it.

Instantly, the man heard a sound of a running water coming across the bathroom (the door was practically open slightly). Carefully not to make any noise, Godzilla tiptoed from the source, only for his eyes scanned from something he just ever seen in the entire motherfucking world.

"WHAT THE FU-"

"TELL ME WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT YOU SEE~"

Standing in the middle of a shower is none other than RODAN!

By the looks of it, his back was on a curtains, showering by himself, and practically naked (well, half naked to be exact). The fiery red haired Mexican man didn't seem to bother that Godzilla was there peeping. In his hand was a brush used to scrub on a skin, preferrably the ones that Mothra used it.

Damn, of all places...

"AM I GOOOOOOOOOOOOOODD OR BAD~"

Godzilla had never been slack-jawed of how fucking awesome Rodan's singing voice is. I mean, he had seen Rodan singing crazily after drinking a shot too much back from their old times sake, which he and even Kong dragged him all because of his violent manner after having a fight with some unwanted men from a bar. But this one...

"Woah..." Godzilla breathed, "Rody's not so bad with that voice, I bet some girls would swoon over him if he was a celebrity."

"DON'T YOU JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDGGEE SO FAST~"

But as Rodan twirled around...

"Hey, hey, hey-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Rodan let out a mightiest girlish scream of the entire mansion, almost shook off the ass out of his confidence. His eyes wide as dinner plates when he saw Godzilla on the door peeping, who was indeed startled by the redhaired man's scream.

Knowing he is caught red-handed, and indeed naked, he covered himself with his arms and hands, purposely snagged a towel beside the sink and wrapped it around his waist, before marching towards Godzilla and slammed the door shut.

"What was that for, Rodan?!" Godzilla growled.

"Like indeed you are peeping me without knocking!" Rodan bites back.

"Oh really? Then you should've closed it before your bird-brain of yours!"

"You just entered my-our own house without texting me?!" Godzilla said angrily, "You know what happens when Mothra finds out just like what happened to you and Ghidorah!"

"That's in the past now, we'll never do it again! I promised!"

"Then what are you fucking doing here?!"

Rodan slowly opens the door with a dull expression...

"...I'm running out of water back from my apartment and I haven't pay a rent so..." He gave him a puppy eyes.

Oh great. Just fucking great.

Rodan had barely payed a rent just to avoid himself kicked out by the landowner. Many times, he would got himself into trouble, and Godzilla and Kong even needed to bail him out because of that.

Godzilla sighed heavily, massaging his temples just to avoid 10 times headache and all.

"Okay, fine! I'll gave you a cash."

Rodan beamed.

"But! I'm not taking any chances! You need to worked harder, and you're already hired as a chef. I'm counting on you, Rody."

"Gracias mi mejor amigo."

"Now hurry up before Mothra finds out and gonna beat you out of your daylights."

"Okay!"

"BTW, Rodan..." Godzilla leaned over the wall, "I didn't know you have a wonderful singing voice."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, good thing nobody would notice your quite voice and good looks..."

"And that you are indeed a good singer."

Godzilla and Rodan are startled by another voice, because that voice was no other than Godzilla's wife and His Queen, Mothra.

Sweat trickled down their foreheads, seeing the expression of the white-haired woman...

"Now..."

Oh boy.....

Outside, infinite babblings and pleading were heard followed by a loud smack as Godzilla and Rodan are deserved to be punished.

But at the same time, Mothra quitely likes the singing voice of the red-haired man, but hated the fact that Rodan dared to enter their house without permission.

Lesson learned, Rodan, the Fire Demon.

~✦~

From @adm-starblitzsteel-4305

Also, the song Rodan sang in the bathroom was titled "Good Tonight" by Daniel Pemberton and Anthony Ramos from the movie The Bad Guys.

Also, my MV Rodan's voice actor is Anthony Ramos. I thought that would be fun since Ramos voiced Mr. Piranha. 😁

And I am still looking for MV Mothra's voice actress while my MV Godzilla's voice actor is Keith David.

Well anyway, have fun reading it!

😉

[cappucosmico]

i went to da hospital bc weed did nightmare shit to me (advanced)

[suspect-3]

Photo taken of Godzilla, November 3rd, 1964.

Dr. Miki Serizawa log entry 0054

Subject first surfaced on October 8th, 1961, and ever since then, humanity has been ravaged for years, by the monster now known to the world as, Godzilla. Throughout the 1960s to 2030s, Godzilla has stayed as mankind's greatest enemy, and was #1 on the GDF's kill list, however after E Day back in 2037, Godzilla has been gone for the last 15 years. Not much is known about Godzilla, no one knows where he came from, how old he is, how he was able to go undetected for so long before being discovered, or his current whereabouts. What we do know is that:

He is male and is unable to asexually reproduce.

Stands at 100 meters tall, formerly 80.

Had an offspring once, nicknamed Godzilla Jr, who is, unfortunately now deceased, and her existence implied that Godzilla had a mate at one point. Most would agree that the mate is also dead.

Has a strange, almost brotherly bond with the Kaiju known as Anguirus.

Is one of the strongest Kaiju on Earth, he is capable of taking down the Empire state building with a single tail swipe, can regenerate faster depending on how severe an injury is, his atomic breath was able to destroy Mt. Everest during a fight with Megalon, survived being nuked by the Tsar bomb, and held his own against King Ghidorah for 5 hours straight. It's theorized that he grows stronger the longer he fights or the angrier he gets, however even if that's wrong, I'd still say that he is quite incredible.

Behavior is similar to that of Grizzly bears, despite being reptilian.

Has shown behaviorial signs that suggest depression and schizophrenia.

After the death of his daughter, Godzilla has grown more hostile, attacking anything that gets near him, although he has been spotted attacking White Rodan, the alpha female of a Rodan flock and adoptive mother of Godzilla Jr, unprovoked.

The only Kaiju that Godzilla hasn't been hostile to or attacked, are Anguirus, Zilla, and strangely enough, Mothra, despite her being in constant conflict with Godzilla multiple times, a leading theory is that Godzilla seems to admire Mothra's beautiful wings and is too distracted to attack, while Mothra strikes at him repeatedly. Although a running joke is that Godzilla has a crush on Mothra.

On December 25th, 1964, Mothra's egg washed up on Yurigahama beach, however before Mothra could show up to take back her egg, Godzilla appeared and for reasons unknown to us, he started protecting the egg, attacking anything that got near it. Maybe it was just his paternal instincts kicking in at the wrong time, maybe he just mistook it as one of his own, or maybe, just maybe, the loss of his daughter stuck with him, and all he was trying to do, was cope.

He hates us...and he will never forgive us...

Currently the GDF has begun searching for Godzilla, but the public's view on the monster has changed ever since Ghidorah came to Earth. Some believe that Godzilla must be destroyed because of everything he has ever done, all the pain, the suffering, all that death, all those losses, the destruction he caused daily, it's either him or us. However there are others who believe that we have caused more suffering to him than he ever could for us, and we need him to fight the threats that the GDF can't handle, such as King Ghidorah and Destoroyah. As for what the public thinks on Godzilla's whereabouts, most are unsure, some believe the GDF captured him and turned him into a cyborg, but we all know...he's still alive out there.

End of log entry.

[goddamnwebcomics]

I hope Toho sues you, also way to miss the point of Godzilla. Godzilla is not some innocent victim who got turned radioactive by human error. Godzilla is an allegory for the nuclear bomb, his reaction should be more akin to "YOU FUCKED AROUND AND FOUND OUT MOTHERFUCKERS"

Mothra and Godzilla are ALLIES you stupid fuck! They have only fought in two movies, and I guess since this musical is an adaptation of multiple Godzilla movies from the Showa Era, does that mean Godzilla had a run in with King Kong in this musical??? What is the budget for this thing???

Okay, RODAN IS A FUCKING GUY. AND HE AND GODZILLA WERE NEVER LOVERS. MORE THAN ANYTHING IT WAS MOTHRA AND GODZILLA PEOPLE SHIP FOR SOME REASON.

Okay so after fighting Mothra and fucking Rodan, Godzilla just...stomps around in what I presume is the recreation of the first movie again? Also what is up with these stupid critics reviews? Critics didn't start praising Godzilla until Minus One hit the theaters!

Wow! We're jumping from straight from Showa Era to fucking Heisei Era with Godzilla vs. Destroyoah adaptation???

Well, this is an even bigger crime than making our protagonists into babyeaters, the amount of Godzilla lore that is completely wrong is just. Appalling.

[widowshill]

GIVE ME A CHARACTER MEME — perhaps Adam? ♡⁠˖⁠꒰⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠⑅⁠꒱ If not that's Okie!!!

GIVE ME A CHARACTER.

How I feel about this character

okay I will be completely honest ... I don't like Adam that much ... i'm sorry to Temu Frankenstein .... I know that he has quite the fan following here and I'm more inclined to think about him fondly because of all the love people like Mal show him <3 if nothing else, people adoring a character I didn't care for on the first viewing makes me want to look at them further to see what they're seeing!

primarily my issue with Adam is the whole redpill incel-ification of him .... and also I don't really likeeee the whole "constructing a new woman to be his personal sex doll" thing, and when women don't want to fuck him or have thoughts or opinions this is troubling to him and he throws tantrums about it. (this is a disease with which many Collinsport men are afflicted, so Adam is hardly a stand out case). and I don't care that much about the old house trio by that point so I kind of got bored with the "barnabas and julia try to raise a toddler ft. Governess Willie and it goes Badly because they suck at being parents" thing. there are more interesting subversions of the nuclear family unit within dark shadows itself (in my opinion) but I suppose it's fine for what it is. frankly, maybe some fic authors should rewatch this arc again before they make julia get pregnant and have barnabas' children. at least as anything other than a horror story.

it's kind of impossible to divorce my experience of this arc from watching it during the rule the internet manosphere of the 2020's, the widespread phenomenon of young men as early as elementary school turning towards the far right and violently misogynistic ideology, and the surplus of men like Tate, Peterson, Rogan, et al. flourishing like bacterium in the fetid environment of impressionable young, isolated, resentful brains, for which Adam's character could be read as allegory if it weren't written 60 years too soon. so! I fully admit that I'm heavily biased — but the plot hits just too close to home for me. there's not that usual cognitive distance between myself and the gothic monster to find the abuse transgressive in the fun way and not the "I could open Elon Musk's twitter account right now for the same experience" way. best of love to Robert Rodan and whoever the guy was that played his corpse arm though. oh yeah i forgot also jeff and lang are here. who I also don't like. so like there's just a lot going on with adam that makes me :/ hm. don't like that

what I think ... the show is driving at, that interests me with Adam (and Eve) is the influence of the environment; that the teachings of Freud are not inherently true, for Adam, they are true if they are taught as true — hypothetical male sexual violence becomes reality because Adam receives those teachings about the world being owed to him, and they become his scaffolding for understanding the world. it is not something innate within him that is revealed and blooms as he matures — Adam is no more innately violent, powerful, or prone to kill than Eve (if anything, the reverse is true — it's Eve, not Adam, that's born with original sin, which I suppose is Hmm in a different way) if I find the parenthood metaphor interesting, it's more for the way that Nicholas (and Barnabas) use the bond between father and son to create an agent of their psychology and self-interest — because a person, thus formed in the ideological pressure cooker, becomes a tool that shapes what is true about the world and the way it works. Lang creates the biological vessel; Nicholas creates the mind; and Adam acts upon the world — not only through the violence that he himself commits, but his actions influence other men around him. for example: abducting David, or Carolyn, creates the conditions in which Roger once again is shotgun toting and shooting people after having calmed down significantly since the last time he was pointing guns at Burke. it's very much in conversation with the way that Roger's abuse of his son forms David to resentment and violence — which causes a ripple effect when that kind of childhood bears rotten fruit.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

ehhhh. see previous lmao. honestly if I see potential in anything I do jive with his and Carolyn's relationship, because I think Carolyn is, crudely, a monsterfucker at heart — and she's less of a passive victim in the scenario than someone who chooses of her own will to care for him despite or because of his rough treatment of her. from early on Carolyn claims to want someone who will abduct her out of Collinwood forcefully — who will claim her forcefully — and whether or not that's true Adam certainly enables her to look those fantasies in the face. (and it's with the caveat of a sympathetic villain — who can be won over with compassion and care; who will regard her as special — which if that's not the driving force behind bodice ripping gothic romance, what is?)

also with Carolyn I think part of the appeal is the contrast of manners. Carolyn's WASP-y New England-ness, surrounded by a social set that are accustomed to stinging politeness and covering up their real feelings and never saying what they mean, dressing well, speaking well, breeding well, without admitting to the rot of what they really are or facing their own sins of the flesh in the mirror. and Adam is the antithesis of that, in many ways: with the restriction of his language, he's forced to be blunt in the way a child is blunt, only with more adult desires — and he has strength enough to take what he wants. I'm not sure that I would say that's the appeal for Adam — possibly? I don't imagine he's thinking too deeply about the difference in social conventions yet, when he's like three days old — but almost certainly that's part of the appeal for Carolyn.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Willie! I do love a good sibling-esque relationship, it must be said, and it is funny to see Willie going through what every older sibling has gone through since the beginning of time, which is everybody paying attention to the new wailing baby all the time. forget doting on you; your job is to care for the new baby.

My unpopular opinion about this character

to be honest I don't know that I engage with enough Adam material to know what the popular opinions are about him? certainly the popular tumblr read of him seems to be more of a genderqueer interpretation vis-à-vis rocky horror or phantom of the paradise. which I'm not saying is a wrong interpretation by any means! there's certainly much you could read into Adam and Eve having bodies created for them, and a purpose assigned onto a jumble of parts, their role given to them by some outside authority which they really want nothing to do with (and certainly nothing to do with each other). but I think I feel the connection to idealized cis manhood more strongly, when the enforced gender role is embraced as a route to power — and the harm that comes out of that, not just for everyone else, but for the child.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I do think it's unfortunate that they get rid of Adam before they arrange the surgery to get rid of his scars that was set up so nicely? I think that would have offered some interesting commentary about male beauty, specifically, and the way that intersects with beastliness and respectability — is Adam still a monster to them when he's handsome, with no visual reminders that he's just a cobbled-together corpse, and the monstrosity lives only in memory? when he has sharpened his manner of speech after more time spent in society — when Stokes teaches him how to dress, how to behave, so as to not frighten them off? what happens when a polished outside meets a rotten inside — if he does not abandon those beliefs that the world is owed to him and ought to be seized, but rather has an easier time doing so because women (and men) welcome him more easily with an attractive face? which I suppose is a little unkind towards Adam's capacity to change and to rethink his system of beliefs, but I don't think it's entirely unmerited — conventionally attractive men often have a blank check for cruelty, and considering Adam shares a life force with Barnabas it stands to reason that he'd follow in his footsteps when he's able to perform elegance as well as brutality.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (June 25-July 8, 2023)

I picked a bad time to skip a week lol

Ultraman Blazar, the 35th entry in the Ultra Series, has made the scene. Episode 1 throws us right into a battle between humanity and a space monster. Blazar's the pushy type, all but forcing Gento to transform, but he doesn't speak Japanese—just yowls. For now, that makes him the show's central mystery. The show's defense team, SKaRD, won't actually form until the next episode, at which point we should have a better sense of it. But I'm intrigued so far.

Free streaming TV service Pluto TV has added a Godzilla channel. It boasts, or should soon boast, all of the Japanese Godzilla films minus King Kong vs. Godzilla and Shin Godzilla, plus Rodan, all the Mothra movies, The War of the Gargantuas, Godzilla (1998), and Godzilla: The Series. A Blu-ray.com user has composed a detailed rundown of the versions of the films used—short version, nothing we haven't seen before apart from a few small changes.

I got to see Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken before its official June 30 release date thanks to Regal's Monday Mystery Movie series. I guess I didn't retain much memory of the trailer, because it surprised me how early in the film the title character first grew into a kaiju. I can't give it an especially enthusiastic recommendation—comparisons to Luca and Turning Red are inevitable and don't flatter Ruby at all. But I get a kick out of seeing kaiju in such alien territory as a hyperactive animated kids' movie, and they continue to show off their flexibility as metaphors (Ruby is plainly neurodivergent). 7 outta 10.

Nimona dropped on Netflix the same day, and that's one anyone reading this column should sprint to watch. It saves its kaiju for the third act, and I've held off on posting much about that part of the story yet, but trust me, Ishiro Honda would be proud.

After years of lackluster Gorgo home video releases, Vinegar Syndrome seems poised to finally do it right in 4K Ultra HD. (If you're like me and don't have a way to watch such discs yet, don't worry, it comes with a Blu-ray.) New scan, new audio commentary, special features both new and old, and a killer cover. For those unfamiliar with the company, note that this release is "only available on [the Vinegar Syndrome] website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them."

Every episode of Chibi Godzilla Raids Again is now subtitled, a fine excuse to get acquainted with one of the Reiwa era's biggest surprises. No stakes, no budget, just a bunch of Toho's biggest stars acting like a bunch of fools.

There's always more Godzilla toy news than this column can hope to cover, but a few highlights:

Bandai's ever-expanding Movie Monster Series will release Gamera 1965, Gyaos 1967, and Battra larva later this month. The defunct Daiei Kaiju Series last offered a Showa Gamera in 2006, and never covered any of his foes from that era; here's hoping Gyaos is the first of many.

Hiya Toys now has the license to produce figures from the Toho Godzilla films, not just the Monsterverse.

Super7 will be selling ReAction figures of Godzilla chomping some helpless people on a subway train at San Diego Comic Con. They just get it (and hopefully the many of us who aren't going will have some way of getting it that doesn't involve scalpers).

The new unit in Godzilla Battle Line is Monster X/Keizer Ghidorah. The former evolves into the latter after his first death. Keizer is a heavy hitter with a twist: he regains 20% of his health with every defeated foe. Great against swarms, but you don't see too many of those these days.

Believe it or not (many are still in denial), but Pacific Rim turns 10 on Wednesday. Thankfully, per this Tweet from director Guillermo del Toro, the effective start of the Kaiju Renaissance (and one of my all-time favorite films) won't go unrecognized on its first big anniversary. I'm guessing a cast reunion?

More translations from Noah Oskow await on Toho Kingdom, these a collection of synopses of early versions of Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla from the Toho DVDs. Much of this has been translated in greater detail already, but the later drafts are interesting.

[thelunarbar]

Episode four here we go

Jackson has a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time

Gruesome.

Love that Lydia is totally oblivious. Just really really bad selfies damn

Admittedly it’s nice seeing Jackson get his ass beat

Ok by why doesn’t Peter sound like a wolf in this scene?

Stiles and his dad are my favorite

Why are teenagers always portrayed as angsty and mad all the time? Obviously not all of them at least in this show but I just hate how often they’re portrayed that way

How did no one notice Derek and Scott on the roof? Ig there’s a lot going on but like nobody glanced up at all and was like wtf?

Liar liar Kate

The actress who plays Kate did a little too good a job. I hate her so much

How did I forget Allison is seventeen? I literally do not remember this scene at all wtf?

Chem teacher. Hate him.

Danny needs more love. Ik he gets a lot but he deserves more.

Oh stiles my beloved goofball

Killing his family isn’t enough gotta rub it in. Fuck Kate.

Why is he shirtless? Was that really necessary?

Knowing what she did to Derek as a literal child her admiring him in so so sick

We’ve all felt stiles frustration with Scott at some point and if you say you haven’t you’re lying.

Maybe Kate and the argent weren’t responsible for Laura’s death but she fucking tortured him before us doing it now and does it again and she set fire to his house and killed his entire family soooooo

Derek deserves so much better

Deaton is so fucking deadpan and uberchill

Wouldn’t their parents have been called if they skipped

I would totally believe the woman who plays Lydia’s mom is actually holland rodan’s mom

I will never lot love coach saying he likes to be called cupcake 😂 and then the sheriff actually calls him cupcake 😂

Coach is my favorite. Him and his lil lacrosse pen

How come Scott is the only kid who was going to present at his mom’s parent teacher meeting??? None of the other parents seemed to be expecting their children so why??

Why do Chris and his wife(whose name has totally slipped my mind, Victoria maybe??) have the same haircut 😂

Ah parent stand offs gotta love it(esp given the fact that Melissa and Chris end up together at the end of the show which I love btw)

Mass hysteria! Everybody panic!

Where did Melissa go???

Wow just fucking back into the sheriff why dontcha jeez

Love that nobody cares he just got hit and is laying in the ground wtf guys

Mountain lion dun dun dun

[generalb]

Mothra concept card for my custom Godzilla set(edit: changed up the back of the card for smoother comprehensibility. Made a typo with “its power is 2 or greater”. Ah well)

first things first I want to explain why it has partner. First off, the colors for the Godzilla Precon is Blue Red Green, as evidence by my current Godzilla card:

And with all precons, it’s become customary to have two different commanders. I chose Mothra and Anguirus because they are the two that I know from experience and my small knowledge of pop culture to be great allies of Godzilla. Heck, I haven’t even gotten to when Anguirus helps Godzilla and I already know that he’s a good Kaiju! However, Anguirus doesn’t have blue vibes, and Mothra certainly doesn’t have Red. So, as the two most known companions of Godzilla, why wouldn’t they team up? I did look up to see their relationship just in case, but the internet said they were on good terms so it should be fine.

Now for the abilities: I think this Kaiju might be the most barebones I’ve made yet, but its abilities should be great with the theme of the deck. You might spot some similarities with my old Shin Godzilla card idea, which began all of this! Speaking of that card, I’m going to rework some of it in the later days as I plan to put it either in the Ghidora set or outside the precons, just like the Rodan card which funnily enough doesn’t match either precon colors. I took heavy inspiration from Edgar, Charmed Groom and Frodo, Sauron’s Bane for its Chrysalis form, and decided to give it that +1/+1 ability on its front because that felt more interesting than making it a 3/6. I mean, think of it like this; if every player had a rad counter when she enters, she enters a 4/5. Not bad for its mana cost, not to mention that you’ll get Anguirus out of the deck if you’re running Godzilla. And its Coccoon form gives out rad counters for at least 4 turns, so it won’t be very weak when it comes out.

Something that’s been bugging me lately with the Godzilla films is the lack of issues caused by the mass radioactivity. Yeah, sure, the giant monsters are the more immediate threat, but at some points it gets treated like Energon or some other mystical energy that powers Kaiju.

Another gripe I’ve got is that I haven’t given Mothra an ability that would do her Silk shot attack. I wish I thought of that. Ah well, I suppose I could make that an instant. Or maybe an artifact that taps a creature until it leaves the battlefield? Nah, sorcery feels right.

Anyways I’ve rambled on enough. As always I appreciate feedback and new ideas, and as always,

[chunibyo-x-sorcerer]

"If I have to become a monster to win, so be it!" Kisho yelled so dramatically. Then right away, the blitz sound is heard as Kisho, Yuria, and Taz pull the triggers and shout at each other. All of them fell down.

"Everyone! What we just are that players just shot each other and the points went up." Zilla asked.

"Wait...so who is in the lead?" Rodan asked, looking at the point score between two teams.

Yuria folded her hands against her chest like a prayer like she died. She sticks her tongue out.

"I will rise again...like a true phoenix" Daichi mutters before going, "Blaaaahhh!" He lets out a sound, turns his head, and sticks his tongue like he's dead.

"Ugh...we did it Megumi...we avenged you." Taz said before she lets a giggle and then, "BLLAAAAHH!" She did the same as Kisho.

'For the first time in my life, this is the dumbest amusing thing I ever seen.' Kinie Ger commented. The animatronics got into it as well, making a slient prayer.

"The flame is the soul’s breath" Rodan begins a prayer, "The black smoke is the soul’s release. Ashes thou wert and art. May thy soul return to the great flame of fire!" Rodan lets out a breath with his eyes close, "Látom"

"Did you just say a prayer like those firemen?" Zilla asked.

"Yes I have, G-Man!" Rodan said. "I always want to say that! It sounded badass!"

Seriously...this is straight out of the drama show, it's ridiculous! Kisho shot Megumi, "I did it. Yuji! I have avenged you." Kisho said then stiffened up when Miko went to his side. Taz cries when Megumi got shot, "Megumi...big brother."

Again...not dead. Kinie Ger reminds her, just for the fun of it now. Taz sniffles, "Go back to the spirit world!" In other words, recharge so he can come back!

'What the heck am I seeing here..' Sukuna sighed seeing this. He didn't know what to say at this point and it was just plain silly. Or dumb. Though, he did get a light chuckle back then but they were really taking it seriously.

"This wasn't supposed to be this way!" Kisho cries with his hand on the laser gun shaking, pointing at Miko and Taz.

"Y..Your the ones that started it! You t..took Megumi and the others out! You..you monsters!" Miko said aiming her lazer gun at Kisho and Yuria. "I t..thought you were our friends..and y..you..how could you!" she cries to Kisho.

Wow. I feel so moved... Kinie Ger commented sarcastically.

"Yeah...oh how painful..' Sukuna spoke sarcastically as well seeing this.

[zydrateacademy]

The House Party (12/6/24)

Attendees: Dibbe, Afraid-of-Mudcrabs, Brings-Dawn, Elias, Sansi, Tiny-Tail, Varona

Around twelve years ago, Dibbe led a raid against a major Telvanni vault in Vvardenfell. They fled the country after using a smuggling estate in one of their many islands, being forced to flee from a Telvanni advance. The Dunmer lacked reach but not resources, and hired outside help in order to bring justice upon them. This came in the form of an independent but human-led organization called the Thief-Takers. Led by Thief-Taker General Charles Notter, who spent a year tracking down the crew responsible and murdering them outright. This culminated in a street fight that left Dibbe paralyzed, and her longtime friend Sajadar was able to escape with her in tow, and with their lives.

For a decade she remained off his radar, and perhaps in a sense, justice was served. But then a certain branch of the Thieves Guild began operating in more force and caught his attention, interrupting a bank robbery that Dibbe had hosted. 

Now, Charles never really got a good look at Dibbe’s face, their confrontations were always masked up. Still, during his survey of the bank while the Guild was casing it, he seemed to have inferred who she was and who she was there with.

Over the next few months he would terrorize them in various ways. He captured and interrogated Afraid-of-Mudcrabs and killed a Bosmer thief they had recently hired, for the mere crime of being associated with the Guild. Essentially, a slow repeat of history that Dibbe would prefer to cut at the knees.

She’s been tackling him as a problem in two ways. Sansi had been looking for a way to disable his anti-everything enchanted armor by way of anti-magic artifacts. That route will ultimately end up being lethal for him, Dibbe has openly admitted she does not intend for him to survive for much longer. 

However, adhering to Garrett’s oath of non-lethality, she set forth a plan to at the very least, get Notter out of her Guildmaster’s backyard. To that end she arranged a party, months in the planning. A soiree of nobles with various checkered pasts to gather and be cajole, convinced, or otherwise seduced towards the Guild’s way of thinking and eventually summon a High Rock court to bring Notter to task.

The targets were thus;

Lord and Lady Rodane and Elizabeth Woodsley, lower level bureaucrats and traders. Lord Edward Calloway, a senior-ranking judge and thrill-seeker. Lady Rielle Barthis, a noble with a secret.

Sarah Deveraux, a very young knight waiting to inherit her titles.

Countess Jacqueline DuBois, the haughtiest of the haughty. Lord Renauld de Fontainebleu, an experienced security officer. Francois Bordeaux, Food-Lover and Cook.

Many of these details the Guild didn’t know immediately. They had an intel packet that Dibbe had acquired in the dark market for the first three. The feuding married couple and the judge had a one-sided rivalry, but the rest of the information had to be figured out during the party. Dibbe ordered everyone to be on their best behavior and dress in their best finery, as to make sure they didn’t offend any of the partygoers. Much of what is to follow largely happened all simultaneously.

Varona felt a bit out of her element, attending the initial meet and greet with a gorgeous spider silk dress of her own. She wined and dined but ultimately was more curious to how her acquaintances operated, as she was hardly interested in any criminal endeavors herself.

Inside, Tiny-Tail and Mudcrabs went to work speaking with Lady Rielle and discerning why she was so focused on a displayed golden bust with a high, six-figure value. They generally knew that she was the Night Fox, a prolific master thief in High Rock… But they could not easily point that out as she seemed anti-guild and lost favor with the group as general crime was noticed over time. 

Sansi immediately went to the kitchen, being a cook herself and finding the rotund and jovial Lord Francious. They hit it off immediately, as Sansi was made aware of his past attempt at becoming a pirate. Through his love of piratical stories and cooking, they bonded into a genuine friendship in their short time together and he would later happily assist the guild in their endeavor.

Brings-Dawn attempted to cajole Lady Jacqueline but the gap between them in culture was too wide. She recovered by acting more like a servant and fetching the Lady some wine, and shortly after Sansi swooped in with more boot-licking language, locking her in as an ally.

During most of that, Elias engaged in a long conversation with a very young knight. He lost her a bit when he accidentally reminded her of some circumstances that took her parents' lives but he recovered once he figured out her love of mythology and stories. He regaled her about some tails of the Tribunal and offered a new avenue of lore for her to explore. Like Sansi he seemed to have developed a genuine friendship, and ultimately became a night she would remember fondly. And indeed, will later assist them in the court to come.

Having locked in four of the six they hoped to acquire, Dibbe briefly got the Woodsley’s to make a trade deal. They were essentially high-end pawnbrokers, fond of buying low and selling high given their modest lands were in an inconvenient location. Therefore, most of their capital comes from wheeling and dealing and the Guild knew that was the angle they should push. However as their mood improved, the Lord Judge Edward would not approve, as he holds a grudge from forcing him into a more high profile bribery case. The three nobles shook it off with time but it hurt his bottom line.

Sansi met with Lord Renauld, and had an interesting moment. She flubbed her approach at first but immediately negated it with her words. She noticed this ex-military chief was not one for pomp and flowery verbiage, which is where she made her initial mistake. But she recovered quickly and noticed he approved of her candid way of speaking and immediately brought Charles Notter up as a problem. Despite being a sort of captain of security himself, he saw the wisdom in Sansi’s words and after a short conversation he was convinced of his threat and Sansi was able to move on after having gained him as an ally.

As Dawn looked into making a trade deal with the Woodsleys, Sansi noticed the one-sided grudge and immediately got to work in dealing with the Judge before his mood tanked and left the party. It turns out he was a bit of a thrill-seeker, something Dibbe noticed about how he acted when Sansi said something about sneaking upstairs. Once the information was relayed properly, Sansi was able to push this advantage to the highest order and had no problem sneaking him through the tied-off upstairs to give the man a quick jolt of adrenaline. He had fun, and thus approved of the Guild’s endeavors against Charles Notter. It’s a good thing too, he might have been a thorn in their side in his own right.

Eventually Dawn was able to secure a trade deal regarding medicinal reagents with the Woodsley’s. After having made two deals, they were rather pleased with the profits of the evening and became allies.

Lady Rielle was a difficult nut to crack, Elias would come over later on the near-end of the party but ultimately Rielle noticed too many things happening that she didn’t like and left the party. He had even tried to speak to one of the servants but the only information he acquired was that she didn’t like seeing crime happen so openly. Despite Sansi having cast invisibility on herself and her thrill seeking escort, this was still something such a Master Thief would make note of. Eventually she overheard their ventures upstairs and decided to leave the party, making her the only noble of the group they could not acquire for the court to come.

Still, seven out of eight wasn’t bad. The party entered a late hour and left to reconvene at Dibbe’s Riften villa. The guild that remained spoke on the steps to come. That, being within the next few weeks or perhaps after everyone is done being distracted by the New Life festivities, Lady Shadowcrest herself would summon the court, their newfound noble allies, and call Notter to task. He will be given the opportunity to defend himself. However, under normal circumstances he’d be yelling at several fairly neutral observers and would have a chance to talk them out of exile. Instead, they planned properly and almost every noble present will see how the Guild sees things, which will go a long way to getting Notter out of High Rock.

Thoughts: We had another cursed attendance rate, like the Market before it. We started with 9 people and eventually lost four or so. At least three were stated to be a bit under the weather. Leaving me as the DM-PC, the eventually eventually just had four people actually playing the minigame. I had a whole “Mood” system that I was constantly keeping track of every time someone posted. I do wish everyone who wanted to stay, could have. I floated the idea of making it a two parter but we ultimately decided to soldier on.

Every noble had some mechanics behind them and there were several traps that I laid that almost nobody fell into. Rielle in particular had no +’s so to get her, it required a series of passed persuasion checks that ultimately nobody could quite press her on before she made her exit. Other traps, like the Two-For-One married Woodsleys had a built in negative to the Judge. I thought they would have been tempting to rush and gain favor with, but instead were one of the last to be acquired and gave Sansi enough time to lock the judge in. I laid the temptation, and people didn’t take the bait. There were three or four other instances of this, and I’m proud of my guild.

[the-firebird69]

You better brush your teeth and be right back. And he did and he came back and he made Max mad again they said he's within the 80% tile of being correct and he said so I can be a professional guesser and he had to go through the whole thing every time and it's like okay so really I have this car idea and it's Rodan it's time to get it going and we get a lot of questions lot of inquiries from hours a lot of reasons why and a lot of smiling faces and interesting :-) interesting as in this point out some things and we need it we're going around circles so blabbing we're not getting power and we need an example and this will do it poverty and things like that don't always happen no there's usually been some but they shouldn't be but here we go what I want to do is put a contest out he says we always do that but oh but oh okay to us and yeah that usually works it is to design the best Rodan that we can. And it has to be based on the Firebird the 1996 and they say terrific and we're going to go ahead and do it and everybody wants to be involved and we want everybody involved we do suggest mid-engine just as a also another prerequisite and we're going to go ahead and start and we are organizing teams there's going to be a lot of teams and we are going to sit down and go over the designs we of course are going to use our basic chassis it is from Austin Martin it's our design he said because of the different class and the higher speed we need to use it as only a reference and so I get that and he's thinking about how it would be probably wider channels and maybe an angular and people are applauding him for being smart as you don't want drag down there and I'm going to work on it he's got to start and I get widened it's going to be a wider wide body than our Firebird version and he likes it and they like it but we're going to start doing it and I will call if I have questions

Hera

We have several announcements to make and they are abysmal these people did so badly today I thought I would just go in there and shoot all of them for their constant last night behavior through that son and he's doing his best to ignore you but some of you commanded attention and you just waited a while and said whatever you smoked anyways and pisses them off and you still need it on purpose and it had good results you see your spoiled you're riding your dumb you're lazy you're a nap and your lack respect for people who know a lot more than you and we are not going to deal with you anymore and we are going to then proceed after getting over some hurdles tons of people are after John remillard and we will be too right now has to sell things because he's not using it it has to buy things what he has does not fit the bill we are moving out shortly and we are going to do the job so more shortly we'll make announcements

Thor Freya

Hi Chris!!! I've got great responses on this car it's a terrific idea and I love it and I'm heading it up and he says terrific someone has to I'm glad someone took the initiative this time that's funny people always do but we need to make that clear that's good too I appreciate the help so fun car this is going to be great I do appreciate you helping me design it I know you're saying too kind of has to look like the other one it has to fly like the other one it's going to be cool

Hera

He says I hope we can see out the thing he wants to make it look cool

Thor Freya

There are there's too much glass in the other ones really he's got this idea now

Olympus

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

The invasion of time (episodes 2 and 3):

'the matrix rejects the candidate' -> this seems to cause the doctor physical pain, the matrix can choose people, also it can probably see into his mind and see his intentions

'he is the matrix now, it can not reject him' -> the president becomes part of the matrix itself, idk if i have much to say about this, but something something the merging of technology and biology

self induced cataplexy as a defense mechanism -> this is treated as a completely normal thing, so it's probably just something that time lords can do

'high lords' -> what are the rankings within time lord society? who is allowed into the panopticon?

the doctor is taken to the chancellery to heal -> why there specifically?

outside of citadel is referred to as the outer world

leela knocks down two time lords with practically no effort -> love her for that, also says something about how these guards are 'trained' though (i'm very much on the side of them being largely ceremonial)

andred is wearing a gold breast plate -> ceremonial wear for the presidential induction?

the doctor talking about the alarms ringing in his head -> we can clearly hear the alarms out loud, but now that he is a part of the matrix and the matrix records everything that happens in the capitol, so it's probably at least somewhat in his head as well as out loud, which is not something i would personally want to experience (also something something being president of the time lords changes you in a physical sense, idk i think this gets talked about in alien bodies)

president gets referred to as 'excelency'

secret passages (can't remember if these were also in the last episode or not) -> these ones at least are voice activated, palm and retina also used to access things on gallifrey

chancellery guard continue to be a bit useless (this is not the last time this appears in my notes, but i don't think I'm going to write it down every time)

security control room is directly beneath the panopticon (on level 30)

why have a door between rooms when you can have an invisible force field -> still feel like that open wall type thing is kind of weird architecture, but whatever, that's not really the point here

'one of the highest security rated rooms in the citadel' -> referring to rodan's office, her job is basically traffic control, interesting what their priorities are

'that's their affair' -> in relation to not reporting that leela is there, doesn't want to get involved

'the guards and the time lords' -> some fascinating implications here, do you not need to be a time lord to be in the chancellery guard, or is this just a way of differentiating the guards from the political officials there

'i've passed the seventh grade' -> rodan what does this mean, how does time lord schooling work (and is this something i would understand if i was british or is she just saying shit?)

'i could never interfere, only observe'

'nothing can get past the transduction barrier'

love andred having absolutely no idea what to do with a jelly baby

borusa has a tapestry -> what is art like on gallifrey

there's ramps next to the stairs in like this one hallway -> gallifrey wheelchair accessible? (idk, feels like based on the other sets we've seen (and also when this was made) probably not, but i still wonder why this is there)

'i knew i'd like you, come in' -> you're letting a wanted alien you met ten minutes ago into a high security room, sure rodan, do that i guess

'no creature would dare' -> rodan in reference to someone approaching gallifrey -> what does this say about their reputation

'code beta three. an alien space craft within two spans' -> first use of spans (?), seems more like a measurement of distance here than time (something something the time lords relationship with time makes them slightly interchangeable? idk)

'raise the transduction barriers to factor five' -> they've got different levels of defense

alien invasion considered a red alert

everyone seems remarkably calm about the whole their planet is being invaded thing

'didn't you hear the lord presidents announcement, we must submit' -> yikes, doesn't even consider, you know, thinking for herself (like seriously no one is questioning him here, even borusa who doesn't seem happy about this)

'we are rational' 'you are cowards' -> leela have i mentioned that i love you (seriously though, i have problems with the whole 'companion leaves because she falls in love with a man she met ten minutes ago' thing, but i feel like leela was the perfect companion to end up on gallifrey, she is everything that a time lord isn't, yet she's the one that ends up living in their society for what i have to assume is hundreds of years, existing among them for so long that outsiders mistake her for a time lord)

also why the fuck are they putting leela in heeled boots, she wouldn't be wearing heeled boots (trust me on this, she told me herself) (like come on, she's a warrior, she's constantly running around, and they thought heeled boots were the correct costume choice?)

'the president need not apologize' he doesn't need to say thank you either it seems -> the president is treated more like a king or a god than a president

'you and the other time lords are singularly logical ... you also lack humor and imagination'

'my mind is too easy to read' -> not in the literal sense, they were just talking about mental shielding, but in the sense that he doesn't really know how to lie (adding this to my pile of evidence that narvin being a bad liar isn't actually all that detrimental to his job, time lords aren't as a whole creative enough for lying to be a thing they would need to know, and so much of their everything is based on their ability to change the truth (whether literally through timeline manipulation or just the perception of events) so they don't need to lie, they just need to make what they say the truth)

this part is just 'the polycule' in my notes (it's leela, rodan, and andred having a conversation)

there are time lords who aren't just blindly following the doctor's orders, but at this point it's like two people

well entirely unsurprisingly kelner is corrupt and power hungry

they get cloaks -> red for leela and a more maroon color for rodan

rodan has never left the citadel before this

'why are you scared?' 'it's all so natural'

show us gallifreyan plants you cowards, i know its more than just desert out there, i heard susan talking about those trees

kelner wants the presidency and is definitely willing to let the doctor die for this

the outsiders seems to immediately be able to tell that something is different about leela -> they make comments about her being odd, but not rodan, is it something int he way she's acting/dressed or something like what we see narvin doing in erasure (both?)

they're wearing shorts and what look to be short sleeves, but also heavy looking fur cloaks -> this really tells me a lot about gallifrey's environment, thanks (they're also all wearing headbands, but it seems pretty windy, so this one makes sense)

'an alien, that's dangerous' -> not time lords, but still have time lord attitudes about non gallifreyans it seems

rodan has little food capsules -> she also seems to never have eaten real food and wouldn't know what to even eat (says no to having ever had 'flesh or fruit')

'i'm so tired and cold' -> so gallifrey is cold then

the president doesn't have authority to order the chancellor to do anything under the constitution -> the one thing against the president having absolute power i guess (probably also makes chancellor a very desirable position) (well, unless you're narvin)

'acting vice president' -> they have a vice president?

love the doctor just fucking with kelner

'the quantum force field around galllifrey' -> seems to be a different thing to the transduction barriers, have the ability to vaporize the whole planet if tampered with (also seemingly impossible to turn off when the transduction barriers are not)

'we were until we decided to drop out' -> outsiders talking about being time lords, seems to be a thing that can be given up

'never mentioned' 'well not it wouldn't be. it might upset their cozy little world' -> the time lords don't talk about the things they don't like, they might as well not exist

'loyal to the old ways' 'what other ways are there?' -> time lords love tradition

regeneration number seems to be the main determination of age, body age seems to matter less/is referenced less

exile as a punishment -> doesn't seem common and in the scale that the doctor's doing it, but also it seems to be a possible punishment

andreds trying to lead a revolt, they successfully have more than two guys who aren't just blindly following the doctor now

'and it'll mean breaking my oath, but i believe he's forefitted the right to protection' -> chancellery guard take oath, something relating to protecting the president it seems

'kelner's tame bodyguard' -> they really do just keep talking about time lords like they're dogs, don't they

so i've decided to watch through every episode that gallifrey appears in and take notes on them (not doing this for every episode a non doctor time lord is in because that's too many) for the purposes of either ranking them, figuring out the lore, or later comparing eu depictions of time lords to how they're shown in the show, i'll figure it out later. this little intro thing is basically just for myself to make a post where i can put the highlights of my notes (very much not putting all of them since so far its been an average of 1.5 pages of notes per episode)

[kaliido-s]

Op i wish I could hug you/gen

I love with Capital L your post, your take on the relationship Godzilla and Mothra have. Me neither ever shipped them and sometimes it made me feel outcasted in a way for a bit. Then i said damn it and started shipping w who I want.

But yeah more friendships with the same strenght and devotion of a love story. (Also I may be biased but for me their are wLw and mLm solidarity, but as I said it just me).

I was hoping you could tell more about Godzilla' relationship w other kaijus like dunno Rodan??

Aw, thank you for the kind words! I’m very happy that my Goji and Moth thoughts made you feel seen lol, I’m not malicious or anything to Mothzilla, but I feel like sometimes it is kind of discouraging when nobody else seems to share your opinion.

Now Rodan is kind of tricky to talk about, since most of the time I use their relationship for laughs and don’t really take it that seriously lol.

But anyways, I consider their relationship to go through a lot more growth than others. Pre-KOTM, Rodan was stuck hibernating in his volcano under the order of Godzilla and Mothra. Rodan was less than pleased about it, and considered both of them as old, stuck in their ways and overbearing. Neither had ever really interacted that much outside of orders being given. He wanted more freedom in his life, and to do what he wanted. He got a taste of that freedom in KOTM where he had a blast fucking around with Monarch. After Ghidorah forced him into submission, Rodan was more than happy to cause some chaos after being trapped for so long. He relished in what he was allowed to do, and because all Godzilla and Mothra ever did for him was keep him stuck in one place, he didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about attacking them. Getting to ragdoll Mothra for basically the entire fight did no favours for his growing self-confidence, until Mothra put him in his place and he screamed about it for probably 5 days. Afterwards, Godzilla was very, VERY displeased with what Rodan did to Mothra and that he helped Ghidorah, and there was a lot of tension between the two of them. It took a few years for either party to forgive each other, which, once Mothra came back, was probably helped by her, who was very forgiving towards Rodan since she understood his circumstances. Once the past was accepted as the past, then Rodan and Godzilla started to be friends. Not as close as Godzilla and Mothra, but they enjoyed their company, although it took some getting used to. Godzilla thinks of Rodan as young and in over his head, but recognizes his skill and more importantly, why Rodan did what he did, and he’s come to respect him. Rodan thinks Godzilla is old and egotistic and complains too much, but has come to respect and forgive him too. Rodan would never really fight Godzilla at this point now, since a. Godzilla would probably kick his ass, and b. Rodan’s come to realize what makes Godzilla a good king in the first place, although not without flaws that Rodan is quick to point out and make fun of. Most of their relationship is banter and smug quips and yelling. Godzilla isn’t as close with Rodan as he is with Mothra, and Rodan usually spends time hanging out with Barb. Bottom line, the both of them could spend all day complaining about the other, but do respect and like each other.

Also, if you wanna know, to me Godzilla is bi, Mothra is ace panromatic, and Rodan is gay and transmasc :)

[balanceoflightanddark]

The Metal Tyrant

The 70s were...an odd time to be a Godzilla fan. For a while now, the series had been slowly but surely been reworked to appeal more to kids. Granted the signs were there since Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster by turning Godzilla into a good guy (I for one don't have a problem with that, it's mainly a question of execution), and had been ramping up to right before Destroy All Monsters by giving Godzilla a son (again, it's more a question of execution as opposed to the very idea being bad).

Starting with All Monsters Attack! though, the series had kicked into the kiddie appeal fully. There's a lot of reasons I can point to such as trying to compete with the rise of television at the same time, but regardless, Godzilla's glory days were far behind him. And the resulting dork age had colored the public's perception of the King of the Monsters for a long time.

...kind of surprising then that Mechagodzilla, one of the Big Five (Toho's most popular monsters: Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, and Mechagodzilla) originated from this period. Even more surprising that Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla actually ended the series on a high note (in my opinion) before declining tickets sales put the series on ice before the Hesei reboot.

Again, some of the reasons include a return to a darker tone in line with the early Showa era films, but one of the big reasons is Mechagodzilla himself. And how different he was from the rest of the later Showa era villains.

In wanting to appeal to kids, the newer monsters like Gigan and Megalon had personalities that would appeal to kids. They were evil, but were expressive in an odd childlike way. Gigan celebrated whenever he got a hit on Godzilla while Megalon was a bit of a simpleton. Again, evil but not necessarily a threat.

Mechagodzilla on the other hand?

He didn't give a fuck.

Designed as a robotic duplicate with the purpose to kill Godzilla, Mechagodzilla had the demeanor and cold-bloodedness of a Terminator. The 1992 book Special Graphix Godzilla vs Mothra sums up why exactly the mech stood out so much compared to the rest of the rogue's gallery:

If King Ghidorah is a dignified villain, then Mechagodzilla has the image of a nihilistic killer. Gigan has a similar image of a killer but his image of a bloodthirsty, ferocious cutthroat serves as contrast, as Mechagodzilla has a strong image of a consistently cold-hearted and composed professional. This is because Mechagodzilla is a literal mecha, so its true feelings are unable to be seen. Thus is the charm of Mechagodzilla.

Mechagodzilla wasn't just cold hearted, he was brutally efficient. His first fight with Anguirus (disguised as Godzilla) literally had him breaking the ankylosaur's jaw. He then followed that up by wounding Godzilla and forcing him to retreat to heal up. All with the demeanor of a seasoned killer getting a job done. Which ironically makes him more terrifying since you're basically up against something that will butcher you with all the passion of a calculator.

And it's that dedication to actually getting the job done that made him a terrifying threat. Mechagodzilla doesn't take a moment to relish in getting a hit on Godzilla. He'll just pour in his entire arsenal of missiles, lasers, and weapons without relent just to make sure Godzilla doesn't get up again. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he unloaded his whole destructive capabilities into Godzilla's corpse just to be on the safe side.

It's that unrelenting brutality which made him such a threat. Godzilla needed the help of King Caesar just to even the odds, and Mechagodzilla still turned the lizard king into a blood fountain. Hell, Mechagodzilla got even closer in the next film when along with Titanosaurus they beat Godzilla so bad he couldn't stand up and literally buried the King of the Monsters. Mind you, Godzilla at this point had defeated virtually everything after Destroy All Monsters with varying degrees of difficulty. Yet every battle against Mechagodzilla turned into a fight for survival.

And his popularity quite reasonably skyrocketed. He'll come back again and again in subsequent series to deliver more beatdowns with (outside of the Millenium series) the same demeanor that almost spelled doom for Godzilla in the first place.

[chrisnewbie]

“Check it out,” Oscar pointed to the finished piece in the middle of his garage. “Nice, right?”

Duncan whistled. “A real beauty,” he agreed.

“Yeah, well. She’s yours.”

“What?!”

“I made it for you! Finished it this morning. You can get around a lot faster in a cruiser of your own, wouldn’t you say?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Duncan admitted. Oscar pulled the stunned deputy in for a tough handshake.

“Ah, don’t mention it,” he beamed. “Oh, and I made sure there’s lots of room in the trunk for all your stuff, too. I’ll help you pack.”

“I don’t know about this,” Duncan whimpered. “Living in my car?”

“I mean, that’s gotta be better than a gas station, right? You can drive around and see other places. The wide open road. Just think about it.”

“But - I like it here. Rodan likes it here.”

“You’ll be fine, cowboy.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to come back lots - for gas.”

“For gas.”

“And maybe a donut or two?”

“Sure, pal.”

“This isn’t goodbye,” Duncan opened the car door. “I’ll be ‘round.”

“You got it,” Oscar smiled. Had he finally gotten rid of Duncan? It was looking good so far!

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

Rosegarden Week 2022🌹 1st May: Silver & Gold

@rosegardenweek

It starts like another romance. Or at least that’s what they tell people. Well, what Oscar tells people.

When he first sees her, she’s got two cuts on her face and a black eye from the massive beating she took in the ring, a silver medal on the bench beside her.

He comes into the locker room because he thought it was the men’s room and when she sees him, doesn’t bother to correct him that ‘no, you can’t come in here, this is the ladies’ room. Take it somewhere else.’

But it breaks his heart to see her look so beaten. He’d been ringside on assignment, but he hadn’t seen how a fight could break someone like this. The lights, the roar of the Olympic crowd, the ring of the bell,

“You okay?” he asks, after finishing his business.

Ruby barely registers his words when she replies, “I don’t know.”

“For what it’s worth, it was a point victory,” he says.

“The other girl was a tank,” Ruby said, “I felt every one of those points.”

In spite of himself, he sits down beside her.

“Do you… do you want me to tell your side of the story? I’m a journalist. That’s what I do.”

🌹🌲🌹🌲🌹

He spends the next month and a half on the road with her, her family and her dog, writing down everything she says and every detail of the places they visit.

And each time, there’s new surprises.

Stopping their big tour bus at roadside diners and hotels whenever the minibar runs low on leftovers, arcades and drive-ins that the rest of the world has forgotten that hold hidden treasures like the original arcade Donkey Kong and showings of Rodan and Mothra vs Godzilla in all its grainy, English dubbed glory.

Soon, he was buying journals instead of notepads, then a tape recorder, and finally, a video camera, to transcribe every word Ruby Rose said, to capture ever gesture she made as she trained, talked to a fan, spent time with her sister or her dad, played fetch with her dog, just be her really.

He learns how her older sister, Yang, is also a boxer, training for a different weight class. He learns her favorite food are chocolate chip cookies, that her favorite color is red and that she’d been training for that Olympic gold medal that had narrowly evaded her grasp since the phone call telling her she could qualify for it.

Pretty soon, he was running out of excuses to send his editor about. Running out of excuses that his heart didn’t flutter as he watched her spar with her father and sister, train with her uncle, go about her everyday life in that particularly Ruby way.

Soon, he’s holding the training mitts for her to hit, soon he’s her running companion, soon she’s seeking him out.

Soon there’s odd silences between them.

Soon, it’s the Olympics again, the event which had defeated her last time. The event that brought them together.

He’s on the edge of his seat the whole match, a tense eight rounds of two women smashing their fists into each other’s’ faces.

And he wants to be in her corner. Desperately. And when she staggers in round six, he’s on his feet and has to restrain himself.

But then there’s a flash of white in the ring and the bell rings and his heart pulls tight. She was too much for her opponent. And he wondered why he’d doubted her. And as the Gold medal is hung around his neck, he thinks to himself as she beams ‘she never looked more beautiful.’

🌹🌲🌹🌲🌹

They celebrate at a hotel until the early hours of the morning, when everyone is blinking to stay awake and the night is neither hot nor cold, but he doesn’t like the way his shirt sticks to his skin.

So he retreats to his room and takes it off.

“You look nice.”

He freezes at the voice and he turns slowly. Ruby’s in his room, wearing her medal and a flush from the dirty shirleys she’d been drinking.

Looking in the full-length mirror that had come with the room, he sees what she meant. Helping her train had toned his wiry physique and trimmed away any remaining baby fat.

“Thanks,” he says. And then she’s on him, a sloppy drunkards kiss that he doesn’t want to respond to because… well, he’s drunk.

“I know I’m drunk,” she says, pulling away, “I just wanted to let you know… thank you.”

After stumbling over her words, she stumbles out his door, leaving him to just stand there, replaying the event in his mind and wondering what to make of it.

🌹🌲🌹🌲🌹

His editor talks him out of quitting the paper, managing to coax a book deal out of him. He’s staying on the road with Ruby, staying with her as something more than her Boswell. The book hits the stores early October of the next year and he can only smile when he sees the cover because he’d fought tooth and nail to keep that title.

Silver to Gold: the Ruby Rose Story by Oscar Pine.