#mostly came from mothra

[mr-hammer-exe]

NES Godzilla Retake - Prologue

NEXT: NG Retake Chapter 1 - Earth & Mars

When I was a little kid, I loved the Godzilla franchise. I was first introduced to it when I saw a TV spot for “The Return of Godzilla” back in 1984. I practically begged my parents to take me to the theater the following weekend because of how captivated I was by the concept of creatures that were big enough to topple even the tallest buildings. 

Since then, I picked up every piece of merchandise I could get my hands on, whether it be films, books, or even toys. I also grew up playing NES games, so you can imagine my excitement when “Godzilla: Monster of Monsters” came out. It was like a match made in heaven, a dream come true to my young mind. Well, almost. 

To sum it up, you’d play as Godzilla and Mothra, getting through repetitive outer space-themed levels while smashing up tanks, jets, and other obstacles before fighting against other monsters. 

Overall, it was pretty mediocre in the eyes of critics and collectors alike, but I didn’t care. When I got the game as a present for my tenth birthday, I played it night and day - whenever I got home from school, before I went to bed, every time I got the chance.

To me, it was a fantastic game. Unfortunately, and much to my regret, I traded it for Amagon a year later. When I saw what that game was like, my interest in NES games as a whole mostly died down for a while. That was until recently, when I found myself growing tired of my 9 - 5 life, and I bought a new NES system.

With it, were cartridges of Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Through a lot of hunting and asking around, my friend Billy managed to find other games such as Legend of Zelda, Bomberman, some racing fighter called Action 52, and, to my joy, Godzilla: Monster of Monsters.

“Finally,” I thought, “a much-needed blast from the past.” I was pumped to play my favorite childhood game after so long, so much so that it never occurred to me to ask Billy where he got it from.

I was given the game on a Wednesday, so all I could think about for the rest of the week was how I would go on a weekend-long nostalgia trip. When I got home from work that Friday, I eagerly started the game up, but not before hooking up my laptop to the TV with an adapter. I did this to take screencaps of the game as an excuse to test out a new program I’d heard about, and to show off whatever images I got. 

When the fast-paced 8-bit title theme flooded proudly through the speakers, I was grinning like an idiot. Some people may find it ridiculous how I play such outdated games, but I’ve never had much enjoyment for any games other than those on the NES. 

Those 8-bit games take me back to a time in life when things felt more simple and safe. But after what’s happened with this game, I don’t have those feelings anymore.

[cycleofstars]

-- rp: @multiverseofmischief

multiverseofmischief:

Hachi takes notice of more paintings in the hallway, deducing that they were significant events throughout their father's life. One such painting shows Ginrai, Mothra, Godzilla and some white Titan with blue crystals on it's back surrounding a golden three-headed in some arctic environment. He doesn't know why, but just looking at the painting of that gold dragon sends a chill down his spine. "Is that...Ghidorah? It took five of them to take him down?" He was THAT powerful?! He doesn't even hear his dad's explanation, too engrossed in the paintings. Looking at another, he sees Wukong on his knees in the Celestial Realm, in the background was Ginrai in his Titan form, obscured in silhouette, along with The Buddah. "...Wukongs failed siege against the heavens..." Ginrai soon joins his children, with Wukong gazing at his failed siege with regret in his eyes. Ginrai however, is drawn to an image of a member of Godzilla's species, although it seems twisted in a way...It's dorsal plates resembling white crystals, with a cluster on the end of its tail. Large white crystals just out of its shoulders, and adorning its head as a small orange crystal, like a crown. The name of the painting simply says; "The Rival. The Crystalline King. The Oathbreaker." Ginrai snarls quietly, images of his rival devastating the Hollow Earth, and his territory. It took everything he had at the time to chase him off the earth, and it burns at him that he still doesn't know if the bastard is dead or not.

The paintings were like a legend come to life from one achievement to the next. Miwa took in each one, unsure how to feel about some but a sense of awe came over the girl in others. Mostly the one about the Crystalline King.

"Dad... who's that?" She asked, pointing at the painting. "You look mad, so..."

She had heard of Ghidorah before. A terror from the skies. Too perfect. Not natural. Many things she had heard, but this one? She had heard nothing.

[sonicasura]

Yeah sounds about right that Mina would be the only who don't lose her shit about it. She mostly likely ends up being Kafka's boss as well since she can handle the constant bullshit Kafka gets into. Even with being bounced to different divisions they have to ask Mina for permission should they try some 'exotic' tests or experiments.

Yeah having the Iwi tribe makes survival alongside raising the Big 5 much easier and might even funnier as they watch Kafka look after the babies. Seeing them following the man like ducklings most be a sight. I won't be surprised if they believe Kafka has some special power or is a chosen one of sorts thing either.

I'm also seeing giant headaches for Isao and other high ranked members of the Defense Force upon learing why the Big 5 like the himbo. Kaijus being able to actually imprint on a human, much less 5 of them, seems like an impossiblity to them and many others. Wonder how the public would take the news about it? Can't be good for Kafka's private life thats for sure.

Lol yeah, Rodan and Kong being mischievous little shits at times and pranking the hell out of the Defense Force sounds about right. Honestly, I think Kong, Toto and Mothra would do such things too its just rare with them as they like to be more subtle about it.

Rodan and Zilla always seems to be the most stubborn out of the lot among the kaijus in the monsterverse, at least in different aspects. Rodan reminds me of that nabor kid thats too confident and is stubborn about being the 'main hero'. Meanwhile I've always seen Zilla having a trouble child stubborn with a bit of a bully trait. Thats the best I can explain it anyways.

And my roomate have been reading these asks and wanted to add somethings of his own. He's a big monsterverse fan and the reason I know so much about this stuff. He did not even know of Kaiju No 8 until I spent the new year showing him the manga and anime. He's hooked.

In your Always A Kaiju AU, he came up with the idea that what if Kafka knew Kong's parents for years and thuse have meet Kong a few times after he was born. Becoming a sort of strange uncle to the guy. And is well know among the Iwi tribe as being friendly to them for generations and the only know kaiju that can speak the human tongue. So when Kafka finds out what happened to Kong and his family don't take the news all too well to say the least. The skullcrawlers ends up almost on the endangered list after Kafka's rampage is over, even the Skull Devil has to hide far and deep to avoid Kafka's rage.

Kong is shortly after taken to Japan and stays with Kafka for years to come, and will return to Skull Island one day once he is ready to fight the kaijus that killed his family. And adopt a certain deaf human girl and look after and treating her the same way Kafka did for him. Kafka is happy in playing the grandpa role for the girl much to everyones amazement and amusement.

Also, all of Kong's siblings are there to help cause fuck those skullcrawlers. They are nightmare worthy and I really did not like them the first time I saw them.

Mina is definitely his boss with Soshiro being close behind her in the pecking order. He can handle crazy pretty even when it's this absurd. Plus the Vice Captain would get along quite well with Kafka.

The Iwi Tribe saw something unique in the man hence why they helped him so much during his stay on Skull Island. Especially from how the five kaiju flourished under Kafka's tender care. A subtle foreshadowing once a certain larval kaiju makes themselves known.

Isao is already gearing up for the madness once the public finds out. The Big 5 are quite popular as those who live in their respective areas deal with less kaiju attacks. (Not counting the ones caused by No 9.) Some places even flourish thanks to their constant presence. For example, the ash that often falls off Rodan's body can revitalize dying fields.

Mischief is a given though but nothing too bad. You can expect cars getting webbed up, seaweed on the roof, vehicles being placed in very strange spots, fish at the doorstep, ash piles on the pavement. Basically inconveniences at worse but with noteworthy samples to make up for the work.

Kaiju!Kafka has been around since the Edo Period so he definitely met Kong's parents. In Always A Kaiju, he was raised by a human woman as a whelp during that time period. A large chunk of his teachings are passed down from her.

Kafka is pretty old so Skull Island would be a place he often visits from time to time. He was absolutely livid and saddened upon seeing the orphaned Kong. Kafka would give his parents a proper burial so no one would desecrate their grave. Any Skullcrawlers who were foolish enough to stay on the surface at the time were given a very painful death.

Kafka appears on Skull Island when he senses the massive storm approaching. He was able to save most of the tribe while Kong manages to rescue Jia. She's taken in by Kafka while the large kaiju helps the Iwi Tribe rebuild.

Jia absolutely threw the Defense Force through a loop because they weren't expecting No. 8 to be caring for a human child.

[henshinwolf89]

Zeiram 1 Retrospective

When it comes to Tokusatsu, it can be somewhat tricky to initially get into. With such a long history and back catalog, and an often 50+ episode long commitment, it can be daunting to newcomers. That’s why I usually say to find what appeals to you and go from there. Maybe find something that’s on the shorter side of things before trying to tackle the bigger ones. Standalone Tokusatsu movies can be a good starting point.

That leads me to suggesting one such movie series as a potential starting point into the larger world of Tokusatsu, the Zeiram series, which consists of two feature-length films and a six episode OVA. Zeiram was created by the insanely talented Keita Amemiya, an absolute legend in the Tokusatsu industry. Having worked on almost every major Tokusatsu franchise in some form at one point before creating his own series, such as the incredible Garo franchise, he quickly established himself as a unique visionary of the business.

Zeiram is Amemiya’s second film after Mirai Ninja, his debut movie in 1988, and began its life as a sequel to it before evolving into its own thing. The first Zeiram movie was released on December 21, 1991, and reportedly had a smaller budget than Mirai Ninja, thirty million yen, which is roughly two hundred thousand dollars. The entire film’s budget is apparently the cost of just a single episode of Garo! However, just because it had a smaller budget doesn’t mean that they skimped on the special effects. The film deploys an impressive array of special effects, ranging from amazing suitmation, puppetry, pyrotechnics, wire work, fight choreography, and even stop-motion animation!

The film stars actress Yuko Moriyama as Iria, a tough as nails intergalactic bounty hunter. Moriyama was a relatively new actress, having her start on a contact lens commercial for Seed Contact Lenses and mostly doing TV work. Moriyama was initially hesitant to play Iria, as she had no prior experience playing action roles, but enjoyed her experience as Iria by the end and came out with a very positive outlook. She wasn’t used to using guns or gun props and was pretty surprised by the impact of the model gun the first time she used it. She got used to it eventually as she knew Iria was a professional and needed to act the part. Soon, she found firing the guns to be really fun. Moriyama also stated having difficulty with the suit Iria wore. It’s bulkyness making her feel like a robot and bruising up her body quite a bit. She got used to it after a month. However, the suit was very squeaky and noisy. You could always tell when she was nearby, much to the amusement of the rest of the cast and crew.

The other two major characters are the two average working Joe electricians, Teppei and Kamiya, played by Kunihiro Ida and Yukijiro Hotaru, respectfully. Ida was in Amemiya’s previous film, Mirai Ninja, and is a varied actor being in the original Japanese version of “Shall We Dance?” Hotaru, on the other hand, is an accomplished stage actor and should be a familiar face to Tokusatsu fans. He played The Evil Emperor Diable in Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine, had a cameo as the suicidal man in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack or GMK for short, and most famously played Tsutomu Osako in the Heisei Gamera trilogy, and Gonza Kurahashi in Garo. Hotaru and Amemiya are good friends, and they both have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

Moriyama, Ida, and Hotaru all developed a great working chemistry with each other. Ida was very supportive of Moriyama, frequently psyching her up and giving her emotional support, while Hotaru often gave her acting advice. They did line readings together often and read through the script many times before shoots. They did this in advance as often as possible. Hotaru during shoots would hunch over to make himself look smaller in comparison to Moriyama, so Iria had a larger and more imposing presence.

Next up is Bob, Iria’s A.I. partner. Who is voiced by Masakazu Handa. He sadly died at the young age of 47 due to heart failure on August 26, 2014. Handa was a professional voice actor who also did a lot of narration work and announcement work at events like martial arts tournaments and sports games.

Finally, the titular monster, Zeiram, is played by suit actor Mizuho Yoshida, and the suit was made by famous sculptor and artist Takayuki Takeya. Yoshida’s first role was in Mirai Ninja, but he has played many Kaiju characters as well, such as Mother Legion in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, Zedus in Gamera the Brave and Godzilla in GMK. In the Rebirth of Mothra movies, he played Desghidorah and Dagahra in the sequel. He has also provided motion capture work for video games such as the Tyrant from Resident Evil CODE: Veronica, Dylan in Dino Crisis 2, Dead Rising, and Onimusha. Most notably was the mo-cap actor for both Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 1-3.

Amemiya drew many designs to find the look of Zeiram, an alien wearing a sedge hat. He settled on the look of a traveler from the Edo period, as he thought it would be scary to see someone like that in the streets in the middle of the night. The Zeiram costume was quite heavy, most of the weight being on the head with tension on the neck. According to Amemiya, Zeiram is female, but in the films, the characters use male pronouns, so I’ll be using gender neutral terms to refer to Zeiram. I mean, it’s a bio-mechanical alien. It probably doesn’t even fall into our human definitions of gender anyway.

But enough about the behind the scenes tidbits for now, let’s get into talking about the actual film!

The movie opens with an intense scene showing how dangerous Zeiram is. A group of armed men are brutally slaughtered by the ruthless alien. A bounty is placed on the capture of Zeiram, and Bob accepts the order and claims no one may interfere with Iria and Bob’s job. Next, we see Iria skulking through the streets of Tokyo, gathering supplies. Then we are introduced to Kamiya, who is elated to finally strike it big gambling on horse races. Kamiya is divorced, most likely due to his gambling habits. Teppei is next, trying to contact Kamiya about their next set of jobs. He wants to quickly get them done as he has a date with the company’s secretary, Yumi, something Kamiya teases him about.

I like Kamiya and Teppei. They’re just two average dudes that are about to find themselves in something extraordinary. They are the source of comic relief and provide a contrast to Iria’s stoic badass demeanor. Their hapless antics don’t distract or ruin Iria’s action scenes, and they even contribute tremendously to helping Iria. Honestly, they remind me of Val McKee and Earl Bassett, played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward from the movie Tremors.

Anyway, Iria and Bob’s base of operations are siphoning a lot of electricity, and so Kamiya and Teppei are called in to investigate. Iria and Bob are building a device to trap Zeiram in a place called the Zone. They need to use the Zone to capture Zeiram to avoid causing collateral damage to Earth’s environment and population. Bob says that they need this job to pay off debts racked up by Iria. After catching Zeiram in the Zone, the two electricians arrive, and Teppei accidentally stumbles into the Zone’s teleporter. Iria gives chase, and Kamiya invites himself along. This is where the movie primarily takes place in the Zone, where no other life is allowed in outside those permitted or teleported there.

Iria traps Kamiya in a protective barrier and goes off to pursue Teppei and find Zeiram. Unfortunately, Teppei encounters Zeiram first and is attacked. He flees, and Zeiram produces a creature called the Lilliput monster to give chase.

The smoke in the scene where Zeiram attacks Teppei with the Lilliput was created with oil at 2 o’clock in the morning. One of the first locations they shot according to interviews. People who hung their clothes out to dry had them covered in oil the next morning, Amemiya feels guilty for it and was sorry. The Lilliput monster was played by suit actresses Mayumi Aguni. Apparently, an early example of a woman playing a monster in Tokusatsu. It’s unfortunately difficult to find information online about female Kaiju actors. The only others I’m aware of are Yumi Kameyama as Super Gyaos in Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and, of course, the popular and adorable Rie Ota as Baragon in GMK.

Back to the movie. Iria manages to track down Zeiram and lures it to a warehouse that she previously laid with booby-traps. She ensnares Zeiram in a wire trap and begins to gloat about her victory. Her confidence gets the best of her as Zeiram seizes the opportunity and surprises Iria with the parasite in it’s hat, and cutting itself free. Meanwhile, Teppei stumbles upon Kamiya frozen in the barrier. He attempts to free him. The fight between Iria and Zeiram rages on, as they exchange fire between each other. However, Bob warns that conventional weaponry is useless, so against Bob’s wishes, Iria reveals her battle armor and switches to hand-to-hand combat.

Iria’s armor proves effective as Zeiram’s payload of artillery is reflected. Zeiram chooses to fight with melee as well and begins to overpower Iria with shear might. Iria lures it to another trap, restraining it in place. Zeiram unleashes more Lilliput monsters to buy itself time to escape. Iria defeats the Lilliput monster, but Zeiram escapes its binding. Zeiram presses forward and corners Iria, but just before it can finish her off, she manages to finally trap it in the same confinement barrier she trapped Kamiya in.

With Zeiram in custody, Teppei finds Iria and requests she release Kamiya. Iria complies, and she explains the situation to the two men. Just as Bob is preparing to teleport everyone back, a Lilliput monster attacks the group. Iria defends the two but gets transported along with the monster, leaving the electricians behind with the frozen Zeiram. The scuffle with the monster damages the control panel, cutting off access to the Zone. Bob reveals it has also destabilized the Zone too, and not much time is left before it completely vanishes.

Waiting for Iria, Teppei rifles through Iria’s bags as Kamiya grows impatient. Another Lilliput monster attacks Kamiya, and Teppei uses Iria’s weapons to fight it off. In the struggle, Zeiram’s stasis pod gets damaged and releases it. The two electricians attempt to flee by hot wiring a truck. Unfortunately, Zeiram corners them and bites Kamiya’s arm with it’s parasite. They manage to shake off Zeiram and escape. It’s revealed that by consuming its victims’ DNA, Zeiram creates its clone monsters. It creates an imperfect clone of Kamiya, but it is unable to follow orders. In its rage, Zeiram kills the clone.

The scene where Kamiya gets attacked by Zeiram’s tentacle is one of the final scenes to be shot. The tentacle was controlled by wires, and the prop was quite short. They had to utilize camera tricks to make it look longer. After Zeiram removes its scarf, revealing its face, to make the Kamiya clone, its face seems reminiscent of the Predator. I wouldn’t be surprised if Predator played a role in inspiring Zeiram in some way.

The two electricians flee into a beer storage warehouse and attempt to defend themselves from Zeiram. The fight causes Teppei to get separated from Kamiya. Teppei is unable to locate Kamiya, escapes, and contacts Iria. Iria and Bob debate sending Teppei the Metis Cannon to fight Zeiram after Teppei resolves to make a last stand after he assumes Kamiya might be dead.

Teppei heads to the drop-off point on a motorcycle to retrieve the Metis Cannon, Zeiram intercepts, and corners Teppei. Suddenly, Kamiya returns to save Teppei with a construction crane. However, Zeiram overpowers it and knocks Kamiya out of the vehicle. Then Iria swoops into the rescue, armed with a bazooka. Iria unloads the bazooka’s only shot towards Zeiram, severely damaging its body. Zeiram discards its lower half, revealing its true body is the hat, and mutates into a more skeleton-like creature to continue pursuing our heroes.

The bike scene was shot in a plane hanger in Haneda Airport. Amemiya had no prior experience with shooting a scene with a stunt like this before and was worried about the safety of the actors. The wire connected to the stunt actor on the bike fortunately snapped off, had it not, Yoshida, in the Zeiram suit, would have been hit and seriously injured. The Zeiram skeleton showcases Amemiya and his teams talent at practical effects with an impressive display of both stop-motion animation and puppetry, bringing the creature to life.

The trio, with Zeiram in tow, flee through a maze-like web of rooms in search of the Metis Cannon to kill Zeiram. Iria stays behind to stall Zeiram, leading to her being flung out a window after damaging Zeiram with a grenade. Kamiya and Teppei find the Metis Cannon but struggle to put it together in time, Zeiram tracks them down and corners them. Iria locates them in the nick of time and quickly assembles the Metis Cannon and uses it to destroy Zeiram’s skeleton. She then captures Zeiram’s hat in a barrier.

Bob transports Kamiya and Teppei back to home base outside the Zone. Then, he brings back the captured Zeiram. Next, he attempts to bring back Iria. However, Zeiram breaks free, damages the transport device, and goes on the offensive once again mutating further. Iria is trapped within the Zone as it is collapsing. Bob instructs Kamiya on how to repair the transport device as Teppei attempts to hold Zeiram back with a makeshift wooden barricade. Zeiram breaks free and is poised to kill Teppei when Kamiya fixes the device, and Iria arrives to save the day by lighting Zeiram up with as many shots as it takes, finally killing it.

As the morning comes, the trio catch their breath and thank each other for everything. Iria cuts off two locks of her hair and gives it to Kamiya and Teppei as a way of saying thanks and for them to have something to remember her by. Bob then asks if the three could group up for a commemorative photo. As Bob snaps the picture, everyone smiles and credits roll.

Though Moriyama was inexperienced as an action actress, by the time of filming the final confrontation with Zeiram, she was completely in character. Amemiya found it easier to direct her, as she had become accustomed to fighting, and he had gained more experience as a director. Despite a few bumps in the road, the cast and crew had a pleasant experience with the movie. The only major problems were the weather, which seemed to be against them, according to Amemiya.

As for my thoughts on the film? I absolutely love it! I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone, whether you’re into Tokusatsu or just like monster movies or creature features, like Predator or Alien. I’d even recommend this movie to a Resident Evil fan! I couldn’t shake the feeling of being reminded of my love of the intense rivalry between Jill Valentine and Nemesis. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film played some role in inspiring Resident Evil 3, though I have zero evidence to back that claim. Zeiram even goes through several mutations, like a final boss from Resident Evil.

Even if you’ve never heard of Keita Amemiya’s work prior to this, chances are you’ve encountered his work vicariously through some games you may have played. Games like Hagane: The Final Conflict, Onimusha 2-3, Clock Tower 3, Genji: Days of the Blade, Final Fantasy 14, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. Like I said, he’s a legend of the industry, and he has fans all across the world.

If you’re interested, you can easily pick up a Blu-ray copy for a good price. It recently received a fantastic 30th Anniversary Edition re-release back in 2021 by Media Blasters. Go check it out! You won’t regret it!

[mossizi]

Thoughts on GxK? If you've seen it, of course.

HECKKK YEAHH!!

Spoilers for those who still haven't watched it.

[sorry if it's a ton]

Bernie and trapper became one of my favourite characters, their dynamic is top tier. They carried that movie with the amount of comedy relief and still playing a good part in the story, the scenes they have together are really cute and goofy.

The scenery of hollow earth hits so differently from last time, like I'm blown by the amount of wonder there is, it's so obscure in design by looking warped and yet so beautiful. It makes me want to live there!! (I'd get killed but whatever)

The concept of Iwi people worshipping either Kong or Mothra was really well presented, with the fact mothra's symbol was present during Kong: Skull Island (from what I can remember) I always assumed the Iwi were both Kong and mothra followers since in the original mothra movie, she had her followers.

I find it extremely weird that there's no fairy twins, no shobijins in gxk. They were there for Kotm then never showed again 🤷‍♂️

Suko and Jia were probably the only two characters that made me cry throughout the whole movie, mostly Jia with her "I don't belong here" story.

I think the pink design for Godzilla was a bit "overhated" by a small portion of the Godzilla fans when it first came out. But he absolutely rocked the look.

plus the cute little coliseum scenes where he just goes to bed, like some cat. (His actions were inspired by the director's cat 😭 which is adorable)

[pyroanime2k16]

Humanized Godzilla ideas

So, this was supposed to stay on my deviantart account. But editing literature posts sucks ass on that site, so I have to cross post it here. All refs were used with permission.

FORWARD

A few things before I start. This is largely inspired by @KaijuGirls and @TSURUGIKNIGHT's stuff, primarily the fact that the kaijus are humanized and @TSURUGIKNIGHT's refs are used for the protagonists, while @KaijuGirls's refs are used for the antagonists. Note that it was with permission and is done so with credit.

Plot

1: Origins Arc

The story starts off with an origin tale of how the kaijus came to be. Godzilla and Mothra were the first, followed by Kong, Muto, and Rodan, and others. Mothra sacrificed herself for the benefit of early humanity and Godzilla, grief-stricken, let humanity fend for itself.

Eventually, come the modern era, Godzilla was a neutral creature and wished nothing more than to remain in solitude, before humanity successfully killed the kaiju with the aid of Kong. He was then taken by worshipers and was experimented on.

The worshipers also managed to get their hands on an ancient human who was once a messenger of Godzilla's. They sought to use this individual as Godzilla's new body, not caring about the consequences.

Eventually, Godzilla was made into a female humanoid, before escaping and making it into the wilderness. The worshipers wanted to commune with their supposed "god", but only recreated him as something entirely different. Godzilla's mostly humanoid and female.

Godzilla now had an identity crisis, as he and his messenger were now struggling to determine which one was the real self. This is over-arching.

The kaiju stayed there for a few years, warding off humans and getting used to her new body, before eventually being found by a hiker when she was seriously injured. After the human helped nurse her back to health, the human suggested that she hide with him for now. Reluctantly, Godzilla accepted.

Eventually, Godzilla (taking the fake alias of Juu-Jou) attempted to get integrated with society, finding it significantly difficult and frustrating. Ultimately, she considered heading back into the wilderness, before being forced into a confrontation with black ops forces.

After fending herself from her attackers, she found herself being...admired by her onlookers, even some worshiping her. Godzilla then returned back to her temporary residence. These actions occur a few more times, resulting in the various militaries launching Mecha-Godzilla, codenamed Kiryu.

2: Rivals Arc

The onslaughts on Godzilla continue, resulting in her transforming and thus regaining some of her initial powers back. Seeing as most media and some of the populace are siding with Godzilla, almost to the point of worship, the UN launch Kiryu to engage the kaiju.

The two kaiju get into a violent confrontation, before Godzilla used her powers to short-circuit the mech's programming. This, in turn, forced the learning and adaption programming installed in the mech's AI to overwork itself, thus developing a new identity for Kiryu.

Since Kiryu failed...and Godzilla tapping in to her kaiju powers once more, the United Nations reluctantly approached Kong with the task of detaining Godzilla. Kong and Godzilla then faced off, resulting in Godzilla slowly giving in to her rage and aggression, undergoing another transformation and thus leading to Kong's defeat.

Godzilla spared her though and brought her to a hospital to be treated. As a result of this, the world powers are forced to leave Godzilla be, unable to fight, capture, or even plead to her for help. A few years would pass on, during which Godzilla's able to get more comfortable with this new existence and she and the hiker start a relationship.

3: Ghidorah Arc

During these years, King Ghidorah arrived to Earth, convincing eco-terrorists to turn him into a female humanoid to battle Godzilla on equal grounds. Now QUEEN Ghidorah, separated into three individuals linked by a hivemind, the alien proceeded to wipe out the entire eco-terrorist group, before hunting down Godzilla.

A few years after her confrontation with Kong, Godzilla was relaxing with the hiker, who is now her spouse, both having thoughts on having a child. The kaiju's hoping that the kid would not turn out like her, instead hoping that they were more like the father.

Late at night, Godzilla was woken up by the unexpected arrival of Kiryu, who explained the arrival of Ghidorah. Reluctantly, Godzilla agreed to help. After getting the hiker to safety, the two kaiju go after Ghidorah, only to be easily defeated.

Godzilla is forced to consume nuclear radiation to strength herself, unintentionally transforming herself yet again, while Kiryu upgrades herself. The two fought Ghidorah as second time, just barely coming out victorious as Godzilla absorbs Ghidorah's power (thus shrinking her) and eats the Ghidorah named Ichi.

4: Galactic Arc

About a few months later, Godzilla was swimming in the ocean, before noticing an asteroid approaching the earth. She successfully destroyed it, only for an extraterrestrial creature to attach to her and drink her blood.

The creature slowly morphed into Space Godzilla, before easily defeating the kaiju. Godzilla retreated, before alerting Kong and Kiryu of the situation. Not wanting Godzilla's daughter to get harmed, the two chose to fight Space Godzilla themselves.

They encountered Space Godzilla and fight her, forcing the doppelganger to retreat, but unable to kill her. Eventually, they located her again, fighting again only for Kiryu to sustain serious damage.

Kong finally tracked Space Godzilla down and fights her again, successfully mortally wounding her. Space Godzilla then warned Kong that Godzilla would be very useful in a war, in an effort to make Kong spare her, which fails but changes Kong's thoughts on Godzilla somewhat.

Meanwhile, the Ghidorahs Ni and Kevin attempt to make someone turn them into Mecha Ghidorah. This fails, unfortunately.

5: Family Arc

A few more years later, Godzilla Sr. is spending time with her daughter, Godzilla Jr. Suddenly, the hiker collapsed, leading Senior to bring him to the hospital.

The hiker reveals that he is actually a disguise, shedding the human body to reveal her true form as Mothra. She apologizes to Senior for her deception, before leaving.

Over the course of a couple years, Senior attempted to bring Mothra back, not wanting to be left alone again. However, it's not long before Senior had no choice but to leave Mothra be, allowing her to finally rest in piece.

Afterwards, Senior held a private funeral, before returning home. Senior tried her best to explain to Junior what happened to her father, before promising to protect and raise her.

This is what ultimately separates Godzilla and the messenger, allowing both to depart to the afterlife, while Senior is able to have her new life.

Meanwhile, the Ghidorahs Ni and Kevin managed to make themselves stronger by feeding off of the Earth's lightning storms.

6: Junior Arc

Over the next several years, Junior slowly grew and matured. Senior and Junior have been shown to have a very tight relationship. Junior was shown to be developing similar powers to Senior and her own abilities.

Junior became more attached to humanity than Senior, slowly becoming their champion. She had a rebellious phase at this point, but it's ultimately short-lived, as Senior was nothing short of understanding towards Junior's choices.

Junior was trained by Senior, as well as Kiryu and Kong. Kong and Senior were more serious with the training than Kiryu, who viewed it as friendly competition. Kong was also more strict than Senior, as Senior was training her daughter to defend herself.

Senior and Kong got into a fight over this, as Senior simply wanted her daughter to be safe, while Kong believed a war was coming. Senior loses, only for Junior to attack Kong in retaliation and knock her unconscious.

Meanwhile, the Ghidorahs Ni and Kevin eventually chose to split up, hoping to kill Senior one way or another. Unfortunately, Kiryu managed to kill Ni.

7: Destoroyah Arc

Eventually, during the early adult years of Junior's life, humanity finally began studying the remains of Space Godzilla and Ghidorah (Ni and Ichi). This eventually led to the accidental creation of Destoroyah and her escape.

The UN ultimately have no choice but to plead to a dying Senior for help. After some continuous back and forth, Senior ultimately agrees to help via Junior's pleas. But promises that it'll be the only time.

Senior, Junior, Kiryu, a reluctant Kong, and humanity joined forces to take on Destoroyah, but she proves to be a very formidable opponent. Everyone was easily defeated, Kong is even killed, but Junior refused to give up.

At the sight of Destoroyah killing Junior, Senior snapped and lets herself give in to her kaiju instincts, transforming into an unhinged beast and killing Destoroyah, before using the last of her free will to let her body meltdown and use her radiation to revive Junior.

In the end, Senior dies, but Junior lives once more...as the new Godzilla.

8: Death Arc

As a result of Senior's sacrifice, Junior gained power and a transformation on par with her mother at her prime. Thus being considered the New King...rather, Queen of the Monsters.

Junior and Kiryu lived together now, but were soon interrupted by Kevin, the last of Ghidorah. She mocked the two for allowing Godzilla to die, but is allow furious that she couldn't kill her old rival herself.

Junior and Kiryu then took the unhinged alien on, leading to a stalemate. Eventually, Kevin attempted to bite out Junior's throat, before Kiryu gave her life to give Junior as much nuclear energy as possible, allowing her to achieve near god-like status.

Junior then killed Kevin, before using her power to transform Senior's remains into stone, thus enlarging her mother to a nearly-1000-foot-tall statue.

She then held a private funeral for both Kiryu and her mother.

9: Inheritance Arc

Several years after the death of her mother and her aunt Kiryu, Junior took up the name of Godzilla in honor of her predecessors, continuously visiting her mother. During this time, a parasitic alien species arrived under the control of the vengeful spirit of Ghirdorah, remaking the tyrant into various forms.

Several Keiser Ghidorahs then appeared in Japan, leaving the new Queen of the Monsters to fight them alone. She left none of them standing, viciously killing them in however she saw fit.

Ghidorah then sacrificed the alien species to create Void Ghidorah for himself, which was larger than the size of the stone form of the human Godzilla. The second Godzilla fought on valiantly, transforming again to face the threat, successfully animating her mother's stone body to fight the abomination.

These new forms and powers destroyed Void Ghidorah for good. After her mother's body returned to stone, Godzilla then noticed that new humanoid kaiju species were being born from her mother's stone body, ultimately deciding to lead and raise them, establishing her own nation and kingdom in the process.

Characters are below this line.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Godzilla Sr./Messenger of Godzilla

Once a messenger...now the QUEEN of the Monsters and Godzilla's vessel. Her personality is unique, as she's struggling from an identity crisis, though is similar to various counterparts, as she's a caring and protective mother towards Junior, a tragic creature just trying to live in modern human civilization, a bringer of order and balance, and a necessary "evil".

That said, she has a very large disdain for humanity after being experimented on and forced into her now human form. After a "human" showed her respect and helped her manage her new body, her hatred slowly mellows out, finding affection for some humans and eventually marrying the "human" who helped her and having a daughter.

However, she is also a creature of curiosity and knows how to have fun every now and then. Despite her hatred and anger, she's arguably quite fascinated by her new body and will take advantage of any situation to satisfy her adventurous urges.

Despite that, she is also a very paranoid and frightened individual, often scared of her own power and the risks it has. She knows just how powerful she is and tends to be very careful with her usage.

Because she is technically still a kaiju, she can used her god-like power to tap into her kaiju abilities, thus transforming and growing in size. However, this comes at this risk of slowly giving in to her former kaiju instincts.

Showa is used as an incomplete stage, 1st Monsterverse is used for Queen, 1990s/Heisei is used for Raging/Burning, 2nd Monsterverse is used for when Queen and Raging/Burning later merge after a timeskip, Shin is used for Destroyer, and Earth is used for God (only happens postmortem).

Her forms are listed as (with height in feet): Incomplete (50), Queen (262), Raging/Burning (326), Raging/Burning Queen (394), Destroyer (389), and God (984).

Godzilla Jr.

The daughter of Godzilla Sr. Unlike her mother, Junior is far more in touch with humanity, often siding with the species during significant conflicts. Her being half-human almost helps with that. She has her mother's strength, intimidation, and determination, but has her father's kindness, empathy, and reasoning.

Though as she grows older, she goes from fun-loving and cheerful, to serious and firm. If you anger her or harm her loved ones, pray that you die quickly.

Junior had a bit of a rebel phase, thus the purple hair-dye (2000), though it was fairly brief. Eventually, she grew to become humanity's new defender, thus resulting in her more mature mindset (Zilla/1998). After her mother's passing, she inherited more of her power, able to transform in a Berserker state (Final Wars) and a God state (Monster Planet).

The height for her forms are as follows in feet: 50, 100, 150, 200 (teen to adulthood to queenhood), 300 (Berserker) and lastly 600 (God).

NEW POWERS

Because it might be brought up.... The Godzillas have a few new powers. Growth, for one, which is mostly uncontrollable for Senior as it is based on nuclear radiation absorption and consumption. This also includes eating matter and other kaiju. Junior, being a hybrid, does not have this weakness. However, her growth powers are not as powerful as her mother's because of that.

Senior is able to manipulation radiation and energy to create organic matter or even transform organic matter back into energy or non-organic matter (i.e.: Certain rocks, metals, and gems).

Junior is capable of manipulating radiation and energy, not to create matter, but to enhance it or its products. I.e.: She can make certain metals and rocks much more durable or lighter.

Telepathy is a huge benefit. The Godzillas can telepathically communicate with each other, which helps them keep tabs on each other for their own and each other's safety. This also helps them understand each other on a more personal level.

SUPPORTING PROTAGONISTS

Kong

Not to sound like a broken record, but Kong here essentially has a very similar personality to her Godzilla Vs Kong portrayal. However, unlike her Monsterverse counterpart, she has a very tight bond with humanity, is very protective of the species, and is often worshiped as the Goddess of Protection. Also unlike her Monsterverse self, she is 100% vegan.

Kiryu/Mecha-Godzilla

Much like her Monsterverse incarnation, Kiryu was built by humanity. However, she has an AI based on the mindset of Godzilla-fearing humans, thus enforcing her role as Godzilla's destroyer.

Despite that, her AI was made to adapt, learn, and even empathize with others...so it wasn't long before she sided with Godzilla Sr. and instead mimicked her mindset.

Unlike her organic counterpart, Kiryu is much more a peace with her being humanoid and a machine. However, she is a very destructive individual when it's necessary. She will not hesitate to kill or be carnivorous.

She also more or less worships Godzilla Sr., which is uncomfortable for the latter, as she sees herself as a warrior and a queen only.

Mothra (not pictured)

Effectively similar to her Monsterverse counterpart, but serves as Godzilla and the Messenger's conscious. Mothra is very aware of what the two are going through and seeks to remedy it. Either one of them "dies" or they merge together, which may or may not be good.

ANTAGONISTS

The list is as follows: King…or rather, QUEEN Ghidorah (separated in Ichi, Ni, and Kevin n human form), Destoroyah (1 Arc only, not pictured), Space-Godzilla (1 Arc only), and certain humans.

Ghidorah serves as the overall villain of the story.

[giantmonsterpolls]

A theory I’ve heard for Destroyah being female is that the only thing similar to the aggregates in nature would be parthenogenesis, which is something only female animals can do (mostly arthropods, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and a few birds), where the female makes clones of herself to reproduce.

I’ve also seen a few female Varan interpretations, as well as a female Desghidorah and a handful of female Gryphons (1994 scrapped film antag).

Also there’s at least one female Monster X (and another one that’s genderfluid/nonbinary)

Mothra Leo being either transmasc or genderfluid crops up a lot, I’ve noticed.

There’s a rampant interpretation that the Godzilla in G2000 and vs Megaguirus is female, I’ve also seen female ShodaiGojis and Minillas (apparently Tanaka’s original plan was for Minilla to be female).

I’ve seen lots of people refer to Ramarak/the Skull Devil as female, though it was originally given a masculine name (McArthur) and what little material can be found on the subject flip-flops between male and female

I saw a handful of references to the Ion Dragon as female during the lead up to and early days of LOM but this appears to have dropped off

Moving outside the G-Fandom to the rest of the kaiju fandoms, if you’re interested:

Jiger is iirc confirmed on-screen to be female

Legion is assumed by nearly everyone to be female

I’ve seen an ever-increasing amount of female Gyaos, especially because they are seen on-screen to reproduce via parthenogenesis (see above) even though it’s not called that in the film.

Iris/Irys from my understanding was originally most often referred to as male, but in recent years I’ve seen more female, demigirl, nonbinary, and genderfluid Irises than males. And the bonus feature interview with Iris and Gamera that came with some versions of the film gave Iris a female VA.

I’ve seen one female Gamera (but that person was explictly basing Gamera off their female pet turtle)

Pacific Rim: Otachi is canonically female, Onibaba is very commonly referred to as female, I’ve seen Slattern, Mutavore, and Scunner also referred to as female to varying degrees. There are a few fans who claim that since the PR kaiju are all clones, they should all be female.

I don’t interact with the NGE fandom very much at all but I’ve seen Ramiel referred to as female multiple times

Jean Jacket is referred to with female pronouns on-screen but we never get a confirmed biological sex

The adult Clover at the end of The Cloverfield Paradox is very widely assumed to be the mother of the first film’s baby

Raiga, an Indonesian kaiju, is either confirmed female or very widely assumed to be (among the people that know of her)

Of the Ultra Series: Litra, Birdon, Melba, and Gigantron/Emi are confirmed female (there’s definitely more though). Seen female Eleking, Gomora, and Jirahs interpretations, can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head but there’s probably more.

Can’t think of anyone else atm

So Godzilla, being film franchise that dates back to the 20th century, understandably lacks a large female cast, I wanted to see how many female kaiju the series actually has, but while thinking this over an interesting thought occurred

Japanese, as a language, has some differences regarding pronouns compared to English, and a lot of Kaiju get referred to in much more gender neutral language in original Japanese than they do in English, this has resulted in some interesting fan interpretations over the years regarding the genders of kaiju, and you bet I'm going to catalogue the ones I've encountered

Starting off, the explicitly canon female kaiju of the Godzilla cast:

Mothra

Biollante

Zilla (I think the movie tried to deny it, but the cartoon confirmed it, although final wars zilla is another question)

Megaguirus

Monsterverse actually brings a number of explicitly female kaiju into the fold including:

The female Muto from 2k14

Barb, the other female Muto

Scylla

Tiamat

Na Kika (formerly Kraken)

Shimo

Phosphera

Some of the other unseen titans from King of the Monsters might also be ladies, but given as they are still unseen, that's just blind speculation

Now we get to the interesting part, the fan interpretations

Manda, Kumonga, and Destoroyah all being female is a pretty common and old fan interpretation, I know from firsthand experience that it at least dates back to the 2000s, but it could even be older

Baragon by comparison is far more recent, and I know for a fact this interpretation can be sourced primarily to the fact that in GMK, Baragon's performer was Rie Ota, and a behind the scenes clip of her doing the roars in the suit made waves around the fandom and even outside it in the 2010s

Hedorah is another more recent one, but interestingly enough I've also seen enby, bigender, and genderfluid interpretations of Hedorah as well. I guess there's something about the smog monster that screams gender to fans

Titanosaurus is again a newer interpretation, but fascinatingly a even newer idea has popped up in the past couple years that Titanosaurus is the kaiju equivalent of a femboy twink

Rodan being female is a very interesting case, both in origin and mainly due to the fact it only really applies to the Showa continuity and various fan continuities that desire. Basically the origin of this is that in the original 1956 film Rodan, there are two Rodans, a mating pair. At the end they both fall into Mt. Aso. When Rodan reemerges from Mt. Aso in Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, there's only one. There's been speculation for years as to the origin of this Rodan, but for the longest time it was either assumed to be the male or somehow the child of the pair from the original movie. But in 2010s a new idea rose to greater prominence: What if the Rodan that survived and subsequently appeared in the rest of the Showa films was the female of the pair?

Battra is an uncommon interpretation, but I have observed it

@lydiathespiderqueen did some fanart of a female version of Toho's Frankenstein, as well as the Gargantuas, and it's really good

and @thesilkenlair did a compelling analysis of Spacegodzilla being female due to possessing physical characteristics of Biollante, as well as their behavior in the movie lining up disturbingly well with a phenomenon in nature where an animal will kill or try to kill the extant children of a prospective mate so undivided attention can be given to it and any potential offspring it may have

And that's all I've encountered, please do tell if I've missed some

[not-active-on-this-account]

@georgetheblob-art

Um, hi. I know you didn't ask for this, and I'm pretty sure I never asked too. BUT I felt really tempted to draw your Spacegodzilla.

He always looked good in your style!

And while I was drawing this, he kept reminding me of Rosalina.

(Sorry if I did this without permission. :( )

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 4-10, 2022)

GigaBash's Godzilla DLC is now available, and they defied expectations (well, my expectations) by offering a lineup of Heisei Godzilla, Kiryu, Showa Gigan, and Destoroyah. I can't offer any insights into how they play, since I haven't had time to delve into this game, but they certainly look great.

An extremely special collection of Godziban episodes are out on Blu-ray and DVD. The main attractions are two all-new specials ("The Greatest Monsters on Earth" and "Mothra vs. Bagan"), starring the imposing lineup above, plus the entire Destroy All Monsters cast. Extended versions of the season 1 episodes "Son of Minilla", and "The Godzilla Who Came on Christmas Eve!" are also present, and the Blu-ray adds on the Godzilla Fest 2020 special episodes "The Xilien Who Turned Red" and "Lullaby of the Skies" and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Both formats come with a sizable booklet too. They're pricey, as is typically for Japanese home video, so as eager as I am to watch Bagan get pulverized by a couple of moths, I'll probably wait for someone to rip the Blu-ray.

Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors - All Hail the King! #3 is mostly Ghidorah doing Ghidorah things (although this might be the first time he's burned down Westminster, good for him). King Caesar can't wake up soon enough. This issue also plays a bit with All Hail the King's status as an unplanned sequel. In #2, Cedric questioned why King Caesar didn't intervene when Godzilla was on the brink of destroying the world in the original comic. The Shobijin have many abilities, but breaking the fourth wall isn't one of them, so they gave a vague answer about destiny, and it's just adding to the friction between him and Karen, a member of the family who can communicate with the shisa. Interested to see where they're going with this.

Tickets for the U.S. limited release (January 11/12) of Shin Ultraman are now live. Since Fathom primarily books at Regal, Cinemark, and AMC theaters, Fandango should allow you to see most anywhere it's playing near you. I will be dragging as many people as I can to the subtitled showing.

Mill Creek has issued the 1992 animated series Ultraman Kids: 3,000 Light Years in Search of Mother on DVD. I know nothing about it, and those designs are powerfully unsettling... but it's never even been subtitled before, so good on them?

Normally I wouldn't bother mentioning the millionth Godzilla crossover with a mobile game, but The Ants: Underground Kingdom is an unusual pick—it's a strategy game where you run an ant colony. These are clearly special ants, since the teaser shows them giving Godzilla a boost after King Ghidorah knocks him down. (I'd rather see him take on the ants from THEM! though.) The collaboration runs from December 16 to January 14.

[sonicasura]

I think I need to look up the show, never heard of it up until now. Mind giving me the full name? It sounds like a very fun concept really with those Cyberlinks, but I have a bit of a hard time imagien it.

Also, Mina being part of the team that rescue him after getting to know about him never coming back from sea. Feels like him going missing will get set her ass on fire due to worry and it somehow ends up with them fix their friendship. And she somehow ends up learing about the kids Kafka raised on the island.

That got to be one heck of an explanation.

I can actually see when both Toto and Zilla was still very small, Kafka would carry them around when he had to move his 'nest' from time to time. If not due to sudden increase in kaiju activities near them, then perhaps becasue the Defense Force got too close for Kafka to feel comfortable with. Which during one of these moves the Defense Force actually get to see the two baby kaijus and suddenly there are many new updates on No 8's file. And new ones made due to seeing his kids. And later on lossing their minds when they realize Kafka has like three more they did not know about.

Lol, of course both Toto and Zilla will eventually give up. If not for how stubborn Kafka can be and knowing how to handle larger kaijus, then becasue said moves leaves them in awkward positions. Kong and Rodan might also just resign to the occasional groom as well. Though I feel Rodan would last the longest if not for his ability to fly then because the sheer heat he can make his body get at. That bio-vulcanic nature of his is not to mess with.

I don't think Mothra would have a problem still being groom by Kafka though, well excpet when it comes to her wings. Kafka has rather sharp teeth and defently have a stronger jaw strength too then in canon.

The show is called Kong The Animated Series and it came out in the year 2000.

Mina is definitely part of the rescue team as his coworkers would know his connection to her. Plus she no doubt pays attention to missing cases as sometimes it could be kaiju related. If anyone could find him, then it will be her.

There would be some suspicion when human Kafka continuously gets dragged into mishaps involving the Big 5. He's bound to get questioned for being at the heart of multiple incidents with them. Also instant spit takes when the man later admits to raising all five kaiju.

Kaiju!Kafka absolutely relocated his nest quite a few times over the years. The Defense Force were mostly responsible since the more overzealous members often got too close for his taste during their research attempts. No.8's file went through a lot of revisions over the years.

There is drone footage on the day he adopted Kong but not the others' subsequent adoptions so everyone assumes the other four are biologically related. A good chunk of officers avoided the Science Division when Mothra was discovered. Same goes for Rodan as their theories got especially wild.

One of Kafka's abilities is Personal Biology Manipulation which means he can alter his own body to suit his preferences. That would include withstanding Rodan's bio-vulcanic nature to groom the stubborn pterodactyl titan. He's definitely careful when it comes to grooming Mothra's wings.

[dissonantia-goddess-of-chaos]

Yorata/Jorat, the Bat-Dragon kaiju (2022 redesign):

Edits to the picture:

It is meant to say "long sticky tongue". You know, like a frog. Kinda.

I know I misspelled "Kaiju". It was 3:00 am when I finished this, cut me some slack.

I forgot to mention that she can mimic other monster cries. Not perfectly, but still good enough to fool them.

She will volunteer to take care of Godzilla's son and nurture him.

Will immediately chase monsters off her territory, except Godzilla. She will give chase if she sees Mothra.

She naturally goes after large sharks and blue whales, but will accept fruit, meat, and rice offerings from her people. She also likes chilé.

Very soft fur and sheds every month on the seventh day.

Almost always a group of researchers are following her and recording her every move. She has zero privacy when courting Godzilla.

Once a month, she'll visit Skull Island to steal a creature to eat later, mostly the large octopi and skullcrawlers.

She lives in underground caves deep beneath the earth. She will often tolerate miners working in the smaller tunnel systems, often watching them with curious (calm) eyes.

Black and white fur.

She does a spin funnel in the air to dry herself off after hunting at sea.

Often visits Godzilla's underwater home.

Absolutely despises Rodan and Ghidorah.

She surprisingly is on good terms with the Queen MUTO, based on observations, but has eaten deceased MUTOs and their eggs in the past.

No one knows where she came from, but it is said in legends that she is an ancient goddess worshiped by the Aztecs and was believed to be part of a group of spiritual animal entities who fought each other for territory, shaping the Earth with their many battles. But there is evidence that she might be a creation of the Aztec bat god Camazotz; all of the cave tunnels she digs leads back to an extremely large chamber underneath central Mexico, with the walls filled with aztec hieroglyphics and images engraved into them describing how she came to existence: when the Spanish conquistadors came and destroyed the Aztec Empire, as one final attempt to save their culture and history, the people did sacrificial rituals and prayed to the Gods to save them. Camazotz and Quetzalcoatl, hearing their cries of desperation, created Yorata to guard the treasures and remains of the fallen empire.

At a closer inspection, the quills on her tail are similar to that of a porcupine, but are laced with sedatives. It is theorized that the quills are used as tranquilizer darts used against both prey and attacking predators.

It is unknown if Yorata sleeps like a bat (upsidedown) or laying down (stomach or side).

She is partially mammalian with no visible scales, so she would most likely give birth to live young, but there is a chance she could lay eggs.

She is resistant to paralysis toxins and venom of all kinds.

Her stomach acid is highly corrosive, three times more than human stomach acid. When she accidentally vomited on a car, it melted in ten seconds. It is theorized that the usefulness of her stomach acid is to dissolve the tough armor plating of other monsters to reach the soft tissue.

She often locates forgotten warheads for the military.

Explosives and mines don't damage her, as they are too weak to cause any harm to her skin. Her gills might be her weak spot.

Rarely eats humans, as we are too small to satisfy her hunger.

Dogs never bark at her.

Her quills are collected to make painkillers.

She is observed to bring food offerings and gifts to Godzilla, and doesn't seem interested in anything in returned. She can be also seen laying on his back when he surfaces, chin resting on top of Godzilla's head.

Her purring can be heard from a mile away, as well as her mating calls to Godzilla.

She can actually smile, and form other facial expressions.

Yorata is observed to tease, play with, and annoy Godzilla, constantly rubbing against him as if she was a cat.

She constantly "cleans" Godzilla with her tongue and teeth, but she could be feeding off of the radiation on his skin.

Mentioning radiation, Yorata also emits "good" radiation that helps environmental growth, as shown with the studies of plants growing in the cave systems she inhabits and digs.

Bats from the Hollow Earth react to recordings of her vocalizing, often tilting their heads in confusion or calming down after being provoked.

It is theorized that, since she is rising up on the food chain and defeated Mothra several times, she is technically the Queen of Monsters.

Her worshipers annually gather every year around the Gulf of Mexico to celebrate a festival dedicated to her. To prevent accidental tsunamis, high barriers are placed on the beaches curving towards the sea. Massive amounts of food is prepared and cooked for both the attendants and the Kaiju—she often brings Godzilla along to enjoy a quick meal. The fattest of cattle, swine, and herds are sacrificed to Yorata. Absolutely NO fireworks are allowed!

Her screams and shrieking sounds like an amplified Aztec Death Whistle. It is an effective psychological sonic weapon against other monsters.

In the main chamber, an Aztec artifact that has been discovered appears to be a giant version of the previously mentioned death whistle. It is theorize that the Aztecs used it to summon Yorata.

Theme song.

[dinohunter2]

Here's the big one: the whole dang format skeleton for Terra Monstrum 2, when last I worked on it (plus sketches of new kaiju). This was the same draft that all the Ghiddy teasers came from. Long story short because I just wasted the last hour writing more than anyone including myself ever wanted to read Ghidorah would return and become King of the Monsters, an enormous but undisclosed period of time would pass by, and the setting would completely and totally transform. Ghidorah's character was going to be washed up and insane. He hated that he missed his chance on getting revenge on the one monster who ever stopped him from doing what he wanted and after hundreds of years? centuries? millennia? of having nothing to think of but THAT, nothing to do, nothing to work toward, and nothing to interact with he'd just kinda... lost it, living in ennui mostly just out of spite, clinging to old memories and the impossible hope that he might one day get what he wants.

Godzilla actually WOULD return in the story, though not through genetic engineering or anything like that. It was a fairly weird idea but one that I think makes sense for the character. Ghidorah is elated and makes a big show out of it, pretending to be just moments away from destroying the Earth and flaunting his stolen title by harassing Godzilla with an army of minions- a generation of new monsters he and the readers would not be familiar with who are allegedly the last monsters on Earth. Of course Godzilla trounces all of them and the conflict escalates into the final Godzilla vs Ghidorah rematch.

I did a couple versions of that story, and in the first one that was where it ended. In the other that became one of two fights between Goji and Ghiddy, with Ghidorah "winning" the first bout and Godzilla sinking into the Earth's core- not dead, but so unlikely to escape the impossibly huge, unnavigable magma trap that he might as well be, so Ghidorah feels his life fulfilled and starts the final countdown for real. Godzilla unexpectedly breaks through into the Hollow Earth and finds some of his old buddies being forced into hibernation by one of Ghidorah's minions and returns to the surface for a full out monster war, with Godzilla leading an army of C-listers like Gorgo and Reptilicus to combat the new kaiju on the block. Then Godzilla and Ghidorah would have their final battle.

Not sure I prefer that version, but it's where I left off.

Some miscellaneous other plots points:

The Shobijin generationally reincarnating, though sadly to their (temporary!) detriment, because their powers are linked to the Earth's life-force and continuing with so little of it is slowly robbing them of what makes them special and is thus turning them human.

Humans playing a bigger role in the story and the remnants of modern civilization being split between underground shelter-cities and a space station hidden behind the moon.

The sole inhabitants of Ghiddy's surface world being "Hellbats"- van-sized larval Miba that emerged from the Earth's core.

Rodan would get his boo back, because after everything that went on in the Heisei series I think it's safe to say lava is more of a hindrance than a death sentence in the Godzilla-verse. I'd have used the Radon name for her and her return would've made Rodan significantly less moody and jaded.

The kaiju "Mbizi" was the Monster from Green Hell. "Avivoca" was THEM! "Ghilus" was The Giant Gila Monster. "Maltero" was The Las Vegas Monster. "Garra de Sombra" was The Black Scorpion and was the hardest to name. I have "Garra Oscura", "Toro Demonio", and "Matizar" as other options in my notes.

The nature of Godzilla's return would imply that all Earth-born kaiju can and will eventually "come back to life", albeit through a process that takes thousands to millions of years. Despite how long he was dead Godzilla actually appeared super early, which was not an accident and may or may not have had something to do with Mothra and the Shobijin...

Despite having an even darker setting than the first TM it would have a much happier ending with it being VERY heavily implied that what follows will be a time of unprecedented prosperity, both for mankind and the Earth.

I wanted Jinzou (the manmade Mechagodzilla core) to return as Barubaroi for Terra Monstrum 3, which would've been the final entry and might've even involved Ghidorah and Godzilla teaming up to stop him... assuming I didn't just kill Ghidorah at the end of 2, which probably would've been more thematically appropriate but I digress! None of that matters because:

I will never, ever write this story.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[brainimpediment]

[door to the ask box slams wide open] Characters PLEASE tell me your character thoughts if you have any. Favorites? Top 10? Somebody had a wacky hairstyle you liked? Infodump to me if you'd like to I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on it (especially Chapter 2. Top 3/5 favorites, you know how it is)

OH!!! Im glad you asked !!!!

I was reading it like pretty late at night + just got out of school so I’m trying to recall everythign that even happened,, but I know 4 sure I rlly enjoyed it!!!!!:33:3:3:33!!! AUGHH ranking all the characters in a top 10 is gonna b so hard,,,,, I can rank all the Gordons tho I think!! (I’m not ranking them from “best” to “worst” rlly, more like,, how attached I am to th character, how much I know abt them,, stuff liekthat) huge apologies if I misremember sruff or use the wrong names or pronouns or anything like rhat, everything is kinda foggy for me rn 😭💔

loverboy/Gordon b./leading light/whateva u wanna call him:3,,, idk if u could tell by the recent sketches I’ve been doing but I’m def a fan,,, all of his designs r incredible and the character overall has been super interesting 2 see develop, esp in Ep2.,,, like. Out of all the Gordons, I rlly did NOT expect LB to be the most genuinely villainous,,,,,!! + the thing that was said abt how he took advantage of Benrey similarly to how he tried to and like,.. completely flipped everything from Y2KVR around tonally was super neat,,, he is #1 lovecore in myheart 💔

Probably Doc!! I feel p similar abt LB to Doc,,, I ended up being rlly invested in his backstory and how his character was developing, and his dynamic w/ sleepless n the others was so fun,,,, :33 also love all his designs sm ,,, including the other characters in his AU, they were great :]] will b drawinf him next !!i prommy!!

Hjonesslty,,, prob Malcom & Player,,,,being from something I had never read I was worried I’d like,, not “get” the character,,, but I found them both super interesting!! The overall concept of the AU was so silly but also rlly compelling,,,and the ultimate outcome of their arcs iguess was cool2 me :] Kittle’s redemption and Player’s complete shift in Ep2 were both great :]

Freeman,,,! I initially figured his character wouldn’t change very much and would mostly just serve as liek,,, a foil to all the absurd characters rhat surrounded him, but I was pleasantly surprised and Very excited to see that he had a lot more to him!!!! :D and was rlly prominent in the story !!!!! Esp him in Ep2!!!!!!!!!!! iwanna write more sobad but I keep getting distracted sndliie I may need to skim thru everything again as a refresher,, ihave So many thoughts ,,,,cant form them 💔

Swap is all that’s left!!! It wss so hard for me to put them at 5 becos I rlly like them but I had nochoic e ,,, swap AUs r always so iconic burlike,,, unlike most others from other fandoms, this roleswap AU introduced lots of unique elements to the stories and characters that it became way more than just “what if this character had the opposite outfit and personality!” Which I REALLY appreciate and enjoyed a lot in the story,, esp when it came to Swap themself!!!! Like!!! Aaagh!!! Them being an alien from Xen!!!! Is so cool{!!! I’ll def have to read the original fic eventually becos it seems rlly good,,, anyways!! I loved their relationship w/ Neo (and Neo in general!! All the “normal human/player” characters were so silly ilovethrm) aaaaaa

uaaoaoaaithtiejfmghtn ‼️‼️‼️ istill have So Much 2 say abt everythugn but iam struggling to get it all out ,,wuaaa… I’ll talk more abt it later 4 sure :33 overall I very much had fun reading it all and iam SOSO excited 4the finale,,,,, AAAA!!!£!!3!! I’m pretty sure I did see some more stuff to read tho, so I’ll be doifn that later as well!!!!!!!!!!! And potentially live-blogging it too since peopl seemed 2 enjoy rhat :3 sorry if this is completely incomprehensible, I can see that I was typing sort of repetitively but I am too eepy to fix it💔

Extra note: I loved Mothra a lot :3 them just dipping at the end was super silly and is also very much hinting at a return so I am excited for that !!!!!!!!

[sparrowshrike]

Godzilla: Crossroads AU Christmas Special

SPOILER ALERT! 

You have been warned

Ivory and Emerald by @cardbrobot

Endera/Enki by @imjustwhiddle

Bakunawa by @tuzi0usagi0bunbon0bunny

Miwa by @hot-tortilla-fish

2066, Christmas Eve

Emerald stretched her legs as she awoke before noticing a blue streak across the sky. Grandpa! She thought as she skittered across the icy terrain. 

Jet Jaguar had just come from His Mother’s grave in NYC, he visits her every holiday. He Grew back to his normal height of 360 ft. just as Emerald skitted across the dock nearly falling into the icy waters. Jet Jaguar snatched up his hyperactive Grandchild and placed her on his shoulder.

“Where’d you go Grandpa?” Emerald Chirped “To visit my Mother, I hadn’t been to see her in a while.” Jet said walking towards his den, which was an old aircraft hangar “Your Mother? But what does that make her to me?” The little hybrid asked “She would have been your great grandmother, and I would like to believe...” Jet sighed “That she would’ve been glad to meet you” “Why couldn’t I meet her?” Emerald cocked her head “Because she passed before you were born” “Passed? Like Grandma and Grandfather?” “Yes like Grandma Mothra and Grandpa Goji, but she passed more peacefully” “What about grandpa’s mother?” “Godzilla’s mother? Never met her, but I have met Mothra’s” Jet said as he entered the hangar “Who’s that?” Emerald said climbing down his arm “Baki? you’ve met her” Jet said grabbing a pillow for her to sit on “but I don’t remember her... is that wrong?” Emerald lowered her head Jet snapped his head upward and looked over to her, before placing his finger under her chin and lifting her head back up “It’s not wrong, you were just to young to remember...” Jet suddenly had an Idea “Tell ya what, we’ll go visit her today, how’s that sound?” Emerald Smiled

“That sounds like an excellent Idea” Minarva said lifting her head up, It appeared the conversation had awoken her “Morning Beloved”

“Morning My Love” Jet said placing his head against hers

Ivory and Junior liked the idea as well, but Junior did have one request. He wanted to visit his brother, to see if he’s changed. Jet was hesitant to grant this request, Ultima(Formerly Minilla) was locked up for a reason, he tried to kill Miwa, Ivory, and Emerald. But when Minarva volunteered to take Emerald elsewhere while they talked to Ultima, he agreed.

Junior, Ivory, and Emerald loaded onto a barge that Jet pulled across the ocean, when the time came Minarva offered to take Emerald ahead, while Junior talked to Ultima. Jet Jaguar was behind Junior just in case

“Brother...” Ultima Snarled “Come to gloat?”

“I would never, Minilla” Junior moved closer to Minilla

“MY NAME IS ULTIMA! You pathetic wimp!” Ultima said charging up his atomic blast, only for his cage to release a carbon based mist that dampened him. Ultima coughed before falling unconscious due to the mist also being an anesthetic. 

“Well, that went exactly as I expected it.” Jet Jaguar rolled his eyes, as the group boarded the raft and blasted off towards the Philippines.

Bakunawa’s home was mostly recovered from Bathala’s attack 18 years ago, and she had even been given a new Christmas tree by the locals, as a thank you for watching over them. The Serpentine Goddess floated in the air above her home enjoying the night sky, until she heard a familiar roaring noise. Not an actual roar, but one of engines. The Blue speck of light caught her eyes on the horizon. She raced across the ocean to reach it, and it was who she thought.

“Jet! It’s good to see you again. Did my children wish to speak to me again?” Baki asked, Since Mothra died, Jet Jaguar and Leo have been the only ones capable of communing with the departed. He can see Mothra, and she says that Goji’s there too, but Jet hasn’t seen him. Jet will visit Baki if Mothra or Battra ask him to, he would also do it if Kaezia asked, but she never asks him for anything.

“Nope, it was actually someone else.” Jet Jaguar pulled the raft forward, Emerald was practically teetering on the edge of it, her tail wagging like a puppy.

“Great Granny!” Emerald Chirped at the Serpent

“Oh My Dear Emerald, How much you have grown” Bakunawa said, swishing her tail to below Emerald. The little hybrid hopped on to it, as her parents climbed onto dry land nearby. Bakunawa took Emerald on a ride through the sky, and regaled her Great-granddaughter with her favorite story, how she ate the moons.(Jet’s still not sure how true that story is, but he can’t disprove it either so...)

After Emerald went down for bed, Bakunawa asked Jet if she could talk to her children.

“Of course, All right guys, I’m turning on my vision. If any of you jump scare me, I’m pulling out my proton knuckles.” Jet said before his eyes shifted from blue to green. “AHHH!” Jet Jaguar fell on his ass “Get back here you ectoplasmic pain in my ass!” Jet flew into the sky after a being Bakunawa could not see, but definitely knew was Battra. Jet eventually returned to ground, and prepared to act as medium.

Mothra was first. “Hello Baki, I’m happy we are able to talk again” “Hello Mothra, how have you been child?” “Fine, I’m mostly assisting Jet, with a little visit to Leo know and again” “And why are you spending more time with your knight than with your son?” “Leo doesn’t want me over his shoulder all the time, but he enjoys my company.”

“Also my knighthood is not hers anymore” Jet Interjected “It’s Queen Miwa’s” 

“You will always be my daughters knight in my eyes”

“Thanks I guess?”

Jet proceeded to Channel Battra and Goji, but their conversations were much shorter, as Jet is less friendly with them. Jet eyes returned to blue, but before Baki left Jet asked her to wait.

“I remember your stories fondly, the good and the bad” Jet said, collecting himself. “I remember how you told me with such delight about your mother, and how much she loved your tail” Jet pressed a few keys on his gauntlet, a beam of light spread out and scanned Baki. A hologram of Baki showed up on Jet’s wrist.  “And the sorrow in your eyes as you told me how you lost it” A Double Helix appeared near the hologram of Baki. Then the Double Helix twisted into the shape of Baki’s missing tail  “Now I hope to return that delight, and diminish that sorrow” The hologram of Baki and her Tail joined toghether recreating Baki as she was.

“My gift to you, old friend”

[graspingremlinhands]

Not me and my newest hyperfixation(Eternals) and an old one (Godzilla) merging into one thing:

Basically just thinking about what of the Eternals' powers Godzilla and the others could have when in their "Human form" (an idea not totally scrapted from one of my Au): take notes, the human form cannot sustain too much power, so either they have to turn complitely in their Titan form or have a mid-trasformation( that drained them up a good bit) or risk the failure of some organs:

Godzilla ofc keeps his atomic breath, but since he had to grow back the dorsal plates to use it, has learned to redirect the energy into his hands, so like Gilgamesh, he can pack very powerful punches. And like him, Goji loves to cook, he is very protective of his loved ones, but you have to look under the brooding and deadpan to find a sweetheart.

Mothra and Ajax have a lot in common, power and personality-like. Motherly, strong-willed, loving the human life. So she keep the healing powers, but also Ikaris' s flight and rays, that she can shoot from both eyes and wings. She need her wings to use her powers. as for the sting , she can use it only when in Titan form.

Rodan, more than an Eternals, his powers are more like the ones of the human torch. He can set himself on fire, entirely, but mostly just his hands to burn or melt things( for a limited amount of time) and fly(wings needed). But since I headcanon him as the youngest, why not giving him Sprite's power of illusion? Change his appearence or just turning invisible is something he would do. Especially since he has the tendency to get in troubles.

For Ghidorah I have to set the record straight: the brothers don't share the body, all three have their own. Something that is really different and more tiresome.

For Ni at first his powers have always based on electricity( after the stunt he pull in KOTM). He can generate, store and absorve it, then redirect it for attack. But after seeing Thena, I can't but help but imagine him, with a spear made of electricity, throwing himself in the misdt of battle, like the crazyman he is.

Ichi. Honestly he is the only one without Eternals power( for now). Since I have learned Ghidorah attack is called "Gravity beams" I imagine his power could be controlling gravity. So he can levitate, break his or others fall, walk on every superfice, immobilize foes, throws objects. Something good for both attacking and defending.

And San, good old San. The brother people seem to fear less, not without cause, he came as the most approchable. But what if I tell you, he has the power that I personally feared the most. Apparently it may seem he is powerless, or maybe he just have a superior agility and speed in comparison with a normal human.

However, dormant inside him, lays a peculiar ability. San has Druig's power. He is the one who can control minds. A power more easily attainable for him, when Ichi is in charge. When "he" thinks for them all. But now that San is in his own body he learned that he is more capable than he has ever tought. To use it he has to be complitely focused and in control of his emotions. Have a clean mind. Something that he is not very good at it. So he cannot use it on the fly, but needs a bit of more time. Has to be said, the power doesn't work on other Alphas and he has to be in mid-form to made it work on other Titans.

All three keeps the regenerative power, but not as strong. So sometimes they have to rely on someone'else( 🦋)

Well, a long a** post about something, that probably will never see the light of day. But I haven't posted anything of my own for long and seeing Eternals has been the most exciting thing of the last few months.

[ambersock]

On the Edge of Forever

Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Lucifer (Cassifer)

Summary: Sam has a plan to deal with the Darkness. Dean is definitely not going to like it.

Word Count: 4095

Warnings: Angst, Minor Sam Whump, Swearing, Sam Winchester Has Self-Worth Issues

A/N: Takes place in Season 11, after 11.10 The Devil in the Details. More notes at the end.

Now: Dean

Baby’s tires squeal in protest as Dean uses up a month of tread taking yet another turn too fast, her back-end fishtailing with only intermittent traction keeping her from spinning out. He’ll apologize to her later. Dean slams the accelerator down as he exits the curve and hits 90 on a straight section of the backwoods road on the outskirts of a town probably called Where The Fuck Are We We’re Lost. He starts to recognize landmarks from the last time he was here almost three years ago; he’s close. Not close enough.

He hurtles towards his destination, praying to who the hell knows what (because, really, there’s nothing out there that gives a shit, is there?), that he makes it in time to stop his idiot brother from doing an idiotic thing. Because he idiotically let his brother go to talk to fucking Lucifer, and of course Lucifer got inside his head. And here he is again, wracking his brain to figure out what the hell he can possibly say to convince Sam to abandon his insane plan.

Five days ago: Sam

Ever since the train wreck that was supposed to be a “safe” visit to the Cage to ask for Lucifer’s help against the Darkness, Sam has been replaying the Lucifer-guided tour of his worst fuck ups over and over on an endless loop, hoping that repetition and whiskey will numb him just a little more each time. For the hundredth time Sam curses his hubris, thinking he would even register on God’s radar, let alone that He would answer his prayers and send him visions. For the hundredth time he curses himself for being so naïve that he never suspected that the visions were just a lure from Lucifer to reel him in, break him down, and use him as a ride out of the Cage. And he hates himself for how close he had come to caving in. More than once.

On his third shot of whiskey and his umpteenth rerun through his trail of regrets, it hits Sam: within the chain of events of disaster begetting calamity begetting catastrophe, there is one moment in time where it could have easily all fallen apart. One small delay, one broken link, would cause a cascade failure and drastically alter everything that came after. He can’t help fantasizing, over and over, about all of the different little things could have happened that would have changed the entire outcome. If only.

On his fourth shot of whiskey, Sam remembers the sigil that allowed Henry Winchester to travel through time, and he huffs out a laugh.

On his fifth shot of whiskey, Sam staggers to the archive room and starts pulling books.

******

Sam continues to stare at the passages describing the Enochian time travel spell. The task he’s set himself is a flame that has both sustained him and consumed him for days on end. There’s a tree’s worth of paper covered in notes scattered across every horizontal surface, held down by mostly empty coffee mugs distributed randomly around the cramped space. His eyes are dry and red, an eyestrain headache thrums in the back of his skull, and his back is aching from being hunched over musty tomes for hours at a time attempting to deconstruct and reverse engineer the spell, to adapt it to his specific purpose. He’s not sure when he slept last, and Dean has started to give him those sideways I-know-something’s-eating-you looks which means he’s got limited time before Dean drags him out of the bunker “for his own good”. Sam forces himself to clear his mind of everything except the patterns of Enochian writing in front of him. He’s close, he thinks he’s found the right figures, he just needs to understand how to combine them with the original blood sigil. As Dean would say, he’s on the one-yard line and it’s time to push through it.

Hours later something finally clicks like a circuit closing in his brain, and suddenly the pattern of the lesser symbols within the larger whole makes sense to Sam. The solution is simple and elegant, and it’s so obvious to him now that he can’t believe he didn’t see it sooner. He adds the figures to a drawing of the original blood sigil and he knows, just knows, that this is going to work. He allows himself to luxuriate in the endorphin rush that accompanies success, the feeling that he’s about to score a win. For the first time since he threw himself into the Cage, he feels like he’s finally doing something right.

The only problem now is finding the right way to tell Dean. He’s going to need some time and distance, a head-start to get out in front of Dean’s inevitable knee-jerk reaction, because Dean is definitely not going to like this. Even if it was his idea.

Yesterday: Lucifer-wearing-Castiel

It was a stroke of luck, really, that Lucifer landed Castiel as a vessel instead of Sam as he had originally intended. Dean might have caught on to Lucifer-wearing-Sam, but it was just too easy to pass himself off as the besotted pet angel when Dean had caught him tearing through the records. A contrite little “I’m sorry Dean” coupled with a soulful look and Dean was sold. It is surprisingly so much easier to masquerade as someone else topside than it ever was in the Cage. He never could fully convince Sam that it was Dean who was carving out his organs.

Fun aside, there is now a possible monkey wrench in Lucifer’s carefully laid and, so far successful, bid for freedom. He stares at the disarray of notes decorated with Enochian symbols strewn all over the small bunker storage room by his erstwhile vessel, and can’t dismiss the growing possibility that everything is about to unravel.

“Oh Sammy-boy, what are you up to?”

His vessel has been mucking around with a time-travel sigil, and it seems like he’s pretty far along. Logically, Sam would be looking to prevent the release of the Darkness, which also certainly means undoing the events leading to the damage to the Cage that allowed Lucifer to escape. There are two lessons he files away for later: one, never speak Enochian in front of a chew toy; two, sending Sam Winchester on a guilt trip tends only results in a manic attempt on his part to fix things, which is exactly how Lucifer ended up back in the Cage the second time. He takes a moment to appreciate the irony of how tormenting Sam with his past regrets might now colossally backfire on him. He questions whether it was really worth it just to see Sam squirm like that once again, but then he can’t keep a smile of contentment from spreading across his face.

Yes, yes it was. Definitely worth it.

So now to the problem at hand: Lucifer-wearing-Castiel has other important, and definitely more amusing, things he needs to attend to, such as feeding Crowley his own intestines. But this potential threat to his plans is not something he can abide. He mulls over the merits of just disintegrating Sam—not very satisfying, but efficient—when he feels a tickle from a small, dark corner of his consciousness. He sighs in irritation.

“What do you want, Castiel?”

I believe I can help.

“Yeah, not really buying that.”

Give me five minutes, and I promise that Sam will no longer be of concern.

Lucifer is loath to cede control, but at the same time his curiosity is piqued. He can always return to Plan Disintegrate later. Or maybe he’ll think of something more entertaining while he’s waiting.

“Five minutes.”

Castiel takes out his phone and picks Dean out of his contacts. As Dean picks up, Castiel reaches for the page holding the altered blood sigil.

“Dean… I’m afraid your brother is planning to do something very foolish…”

Earlier: Dean

“You’re going to what?”

“I’m going to fix this. Fix the Darkness. I figured out a way to take Abaddon off the board in the past. No Abaddon, no Mark of Cain. No Mark, the Darkness stays locked up. Kevin lives. Charlie lives. It’s a no-brainer.”

Dean is standing in the room where Sam had been doing his clandestine research, now devoid of the notes that Castiel had described. After 17 frantic, unanswered calls to Sam, who had gone missing all night, Sam has finally called back and Dean knows that something’s seriously off. He sounds eerily upbeat, which immediately sets off Dean’s alarm bells given how shaken and preoccupied he had been after coming back from the near-disastrous visit to the virtual Cage. Whatever Sam’s planning, Dean is pretty sure he’s not going to like it, and Sam’s not exactly forthcoming with details. Either Dean needs to get Sam to spill, or he at least needs to get a trace on his phone and figure out where he is.

“Aren’t you the one who always says not to screw with time? Mothra Effect, or whatever? And if you go back and meet yourself, won’t the universe, like, explode or something?”

“Butterfly Effect. And I’m not going back, I’m sending something back. Seriously, Dean, do you really think I can possibly screw up the time line any worse than The End of Everything?”

Dean doesn’t have a good response to that, so he switches the topic to keep Sam talking. “So how, exactly, are you gonna take Abaddon out without the Mark and the First Blade? You planning to send her one of your documentary podcasts and bore her to death?”

There’s a huff of exasperation on the other end and Dean swears he can hear Sam roll his eyes. “Hilarious. Look, I’ve found another way.”

“Then tell me where you are and I’ll come help.”

Silence.

Then, “Don’t worry Dean, I’ve got this. It’s an easy spell. You should keep researching the Darkness in case this doesn’t work.”

Sam being evasive confirms that Dean has good reason to be suspicious about this plan, but the trace is still going and Dean plays for more time.

“Don’t worry? Might as well tell me not to breathe. Let me guess: you’re sending a bomb back to blow Abaddon to fucking bits so we can’t sew her head back on.”

“…Huh. Interesting idea, but there’s too much risk that I’d end up blowing up one of us. Anyway, it’s a blood spell. Whatever goes back has to be infused with DNA so that it can latch onto the same DNA. I’m just sending some cloth back. Like I said, it’s simple.”

Dean gives in to his growing irritation at Sam’s caginess and decides to go for the direct assault.

“Sam. What aren’t you telling me?” Dean already has his suspicions of what Sam isn’t telling him; there’s only one way he can think of that takes Abaddon out of play and saves Kevin. He’s hoping he’s wrong. He’s also dying to know how time travelling cloth comes into this.

“Don’t get mad.”

“Sam.”

“Look, just promise you’ll hear me out, okay?”

“SAM.”

Dean can hear Sam take a breath, like he’s getting ready to plunge into deep water. “…I’m going to make sure I finish the third Trial.”

There it is. Damn it.

“LIKE HELL YOU ARE.”

Click.

Sam disconnects before the trace finishes, but Dean doesn’t need the trace to know where to find him. He hauls ass to the garage where the Impala is waiting.

Now: Dean

Dean stands on the brake and Baby skids to a halt next to the car Sam had appropriated, sitting in front of the old, decrepit church. It’s exactly as he remembered it last, like it’s been frozen in time waiting for their return. Overgrown bushes still cling to the rotting siding, and stained glass still litters the ground from the blown-out side window. The only thing missing is the shower of angelic fireballs cascading toward the earth with Sam dying by his side, an image that perversely reminds him of watching fireworks in a field with next to his little brother.

The last time they were here, Sam was half out of his mind with fever and remorse, and Dean’s desperate I’m-Your-Big-Brother-You-Have-To-Do-What-I-Say tone had actually, thankfully, gotten through to him and Sam had backed down. He can’t believe that he has to talk Sam down from the same fucking ledge again, only it’s worse this time because Sam is laser focused on his mission to fix the problem. This time, emotional pleas and yelling and demanding aren’t going to work. This time, so help him, the only way Dean will be able to talk Sam out of this will be to throw logic at him.

Dean launches himself out of the Impala and bursts through the doors of the church to see Sam sitting, chin in hand, in the chair that once held a nearly human King of Hell. A crimson stain is spreading on a strip of cloth that he’s holding to his arm, and there is a bowl of already-mixed spell ingredients on the floor in front of him. Sam has clearly been waiting for Dean.

“Well, that was quick.”

Dean, bent over huffing, heart still pounding from breakneck drive here, is seriously tempted to punch Sam.

Before Dean can take a deep enough breath to start in on forcefully explaining to Sam how idiotic this is, Sam launches into his sales pitch. “Look Dean, I know what you’re going to say, but just listen. I’m not throwing my life away on some impulsive, reckless act. I need you to understand that, that’s why I waited for you. I’ve had days to think this through. This endless cycle of crossing lines we’ve got no business crossing, of throwing away the world to save each other, this is where it all started, and I can stop it before it starts.”

“Damn it Sam, are you even capable of coming up with a plan where you don’t die? Closing up Hell wasn’t worth your life then, and it’s not worth it now—”

“Isn’t it though? I mean, my insides were going to be deep fried whether or not I finished it. You were right when you said you shouldn’t have pulled me back. Look at everything that came after—Kevin, you becoming a demon, and—and the things that I had to do to get you back, to remove the Mark… getting Charlie killed… and how many people died when the Darkness infected that town? I mean, how can you tell me that saving all of them isn’t worth it?”

Dean feels a knot growing in his stomach because he knows damned well that it wasn’t Lucifer who got into Sam’s head. It was the Mark that told Sam that he should have been on the pyre instead of Charlie. It was the Mark that told Sam he should have died finishing the Trials. It was the Mark that told Sam that he was evil. It had said all of this to Sam for his crime of saving Dean from an eternity of suffering.

But it was Dean who never apologized, never tried to set things right.

They have both said and done abhorrent things to each other while under the control of some entity or force, and there has always been an unspoken understanding between them that they don’t take it personally. Mostly. Sometimes. Okay, Dean usually gets mad, leaving Sam to trail after him afterwards apologizing profusely. But Sam always brushes these incidents aside and moves on without a word. Hell, the first thing Sam had done after the hammer episode was to go out and get Dean a double bacon cheeseburger with extra onions and three different pies.

But this… this has really gotten to Sam. He didn’t just dismiss it like he did when they were under the influence of the Siren. He buried it instead and let it set down roots and infest every corner of his brain. And when Sam gets like this—like after he set Lucifer free, like after he found out what he had done while he was soulless—he just can’t let it go until he does something to atone for it. This is ironically what Dean both most admires and most infuriates him about his little brother: his unwavering determination to make things right and his absolute faith in their ability to do so. More than once he has carried Dean along in his wake by sheer willpower when all Dean wanted to do is crawl into a bottle. But these crusades never end well for Sam, and the one thing that Dean will never be able to protect Sam from is himself.

Sam crosses over to the oversized wooden double doors at the entrance, already adorned with the augmented blood sigil. He winds the cloth through both handles and ties it securely as blood continues to ooze from the cut on his forearm. Dean gets what Sam is doing now. He’s using the spell to send the blood-infused cloth back in time, homing in on his own blood in the past, to hold the doors shut back then. Dean had barely gotten to Sam in time to stop him from curing Crowley, and if it had taken him just a few more seconds to push through the door it would have been over. Will have been over.

“Kah-nee-lah. Poo-goh.”

The sigil on the door starts to glow dimly, and the reality that This Is Happening hits Dean like cold water in the face. He had every intention of trying to talk Sam out of this with a reasonable, adult discussion, because he knows damned well that Sam doesn’t respond to orders being yelled at him. It all flies out the window at that moment and he’s barking at Sam like a drill sergeant, because if he doesn’t, he’d be breaking down instead. He grabs Sam’s arm and spins him around.

“What the hell, Sam? You know that nothing I said while I had that thing on my arm counts. You can’t seriously believe that I meant any of—”

Sam cuts him off, his gaze intense, his voice fervent. “It’s true, Dean, what you said. Mark or not, it’s the truth. I chose to cross those lines; I chose to let the Darkness out. You told me not to, and I did it anyway. So this is me stepping up and taking responsibility. If I’ve got a chance to undo all of this, I have to take it. And right now, it’s the only play we’ve got.”

Angry words propelled by desperation shoot out of Dean before he can stop them. “Yeah, that’s exactly what you said about your visions of the Cage, and how did that work out for you?”

Sam visibly flinches and pulls away from Dean as his expression hardens. “Kah-nee-lah. Poo-goh.”

The sigil blazes.

This is not at all what Dean intended. He came here to talk Sam back from the edge, and instead he’s pushing him toward it. Dean swallows his anger and it tastes like acid going down, and all that remains is panic.

“Sam, just stop. I don’t care what came out of my mouth when I had the Mark, it’s all bullshit. Sam, you don’t need to do this—”

“Yeah, Dean, I really do. I wasn’t strong enough to make the right choice then, but I can do it now.”

Dean flounders for whatever magic words he needs to get through to Sam and comes up empty. He does the only thing he can think of to shock some sense into him or, preferably, to knock him cold so that he shuts the fuck up and can’t finish the spell. Dean’s fist connects with Sam’s jaw, propelling him backwards. Sam goes down, sprawling on the floor, but he’s not out. He sits up, hand to jaw, and Dean expects to see shock or anger on Sam's face, but all he sees is compassion. And Dean knows that he’s lost.

“Sammy, don’t—"

“Kah-nee-lah. Poo-goh.”

A blinding light envelops the cloth holding the doors shut.

Yesterday: Lucifer-wearing-Castiel

Castiel ends the call after warning Dean about Sam’s intentions. He takes a marker to one of the added symbols and alters it slightly. He freezes as Lucifer gets back in the driver’s seat.

Lucifer asks suspiciously, “And what exactly are you doing with this, Castiel?”

I’m just disrupting the sigil. The change I made will prevent the spell from accounting for the current position of the Earth relative to its position within the—

“Summarize, Poindexter.”

With the change I’ve made, whatever object Sam is sending back will end up in space. Sam will think that his alteration failed, and he won’t interfere with your plans. You would know if I was lying.

“So… I’m trying to understand this. You’re helping me by sabotaging Sam’s work… why, exactly?”

To eliminate your motivation to kill my friend.

Lucifer considers Castiel’s response. “Huh. We’ll see.”

I can still expel you.

“Now Castiel, we both know that’s an empty threat.”

Castiel is silent for a moment. Then:

It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world—

“Alright, alright. Just kidding. Grow a sense of humor.”

Now: Dean

The cloth binding the door handles is gone, but as far as Dean can tell, nothing else has changed. Sam is still on the floor, a stunned expression on his face that would be comical under any other circumstances, and all Dean can think is thank fucking God, and he starts to wonder if maybe there isn’t something out there intervening on his behalf after all.

“I don’t… it should have… it didn’t work.” Sam looks around in dazed confusion for a moment before pushing himself to his knees, and he looks up at Dean, eyes filled with defeat. Dean can’t stop the memory from superimposing itself in his mind of Sam kneeling in front of him, resigned in his acceptance of Dean’s judgment of him, waiting for the scythe to swing.

“I’m sorry...” Sam apologizes for not being dead.

Dean thinks he’s going to be sick.

He drops to Sam’s level and doesn’t know whether to shake him or maybe hit him again. He pulls Sam to himself instead and holds onto him like he’s going to blink out of existence if he lets go. Sam doesn’t resist, but he doesn’t respond.

Dean knows that there is something that Sam needs to hear, something he should have said weeks ago. Dean hasn’t been able to tell him, because it’s selfish and the good guys aren’t supposed to be selfish. The good guys are supposed to put the rest of the world first, and happily throw themselves into oblivion for “the greater good”. He keeps his grip on Sam because he doesn’t want to see Sam’s reaction to what he’s about to say; he’s not sure what Sam will think of him afterwards.

“What you said… after you risked the world for me, when you said that you’d do it again in a second…”

Sam tenses in his arms, and Dean takes a breath.

“Sammy, that wasn’t evil. That was the best fucking moment of my life.”

The statement hangs there for a few heartbeats. Then Sam relaxes, lets his chin drop to Dean’s shoulder, and tentatively folds his arms around him. Dean feels him starting to shake.

“I wanted to—I couldn’t save them.” Sam’s words fall out of him between hitched breaths.

“I know Sammy.”

“It should have been me up there instead of—”

“Don’t.”

All of the mourning that Dean hadn’t allowed Sam to express as they watched Charlie’s body burn, all of the grief that Sam has held bottled up ever since pours out of him then, and Sam clings to Dean like a drowning man to a life preserver. He doesn’t know how long they stay there. His knees are aching and his legs are falling asleep but he doesn’t care because Sam is still here and he’s alive. He waits until the tremors slow and finally stop, then slowly pulls back.

“Hey, you don’t get to put this all on yourself. I’m the one who took the Mark without reading the warning label. We’re in this together. We’ll figure this out, both of us.”

Sam just nods numbly.

“Now let’s get out of here before we hit menopause.”

Sam rewards Dean with an expelled almost-laugh and a flicker of an almost-smile, and Dean chooses to count that as a win.

~~~~~~~~~~

More Notes:

I have this nagging need to address all of the drama from 10.23 Brother's Keeper that the writers just decided to drop on the floor.

The title is named after the ST:TOS The City on the Edge of Forever. The theme of the story, at least from the original script, is that it is possible to love someone so much that you would throw away your whole universe for them. I can't help but notice the parallel to SPN.

This is exactly what Dean wants from Sam throughout seasons 8 and 9, and when Sam does it in season 10, Dean calls him evil for it. Sam just can't fucking win.