#shadowblade217

[hrodvitnon]

Since somebody did a Pacific Rim-related ask, I’m curious: which MonsterVerse characters do you think could potentially be Drift-compatible enough to work as Jaeger pilots?

I do have a couple of potential ideas that I think could work:

- Number-one pick would absolutely have to be the Chen sisters, because a pair of identical twins (who may or may not already have some kind of psychic abilities) are some of the best candidates you could possibly get for that.

- Assuming that this is a scenario where they’re both still alive, I feel like Vivienne & Serizawa could definitely be compatible.

- And once they’re both adults, I could potentially see Madison & Jia matching up pretty well (and the two of them in a Jaeger would definitely be a force to be reckoned with!).

All of them are good picks! Actually, I'm reminded of an ask from the ancient pre-KOTM days when I entertained the idea of Vivienne and Serizawa seeing a Mechagodzilla in progress in a post-credit scene, and being told it'll require two pilots... at least I think it was an ask, it's been so long since then.

#shadowblade217 #monsterverse #pacific rim

[zerm2v0hg]

After about two years of working on them slowly in the background, I now have my four Godzilla: King of the Monsters music video tributes to the four members of the Big Five in that film up on YouTube:

Rodan Tribute

Mothra Tribute

King Ghidorah Tribute

Godzilla Tribute

@lordofthefans @hrodvitnon @shadowblade217 @cowabungaitis @mynameisalredyused @tosho89 @darthpan @saurianking @geminamari101

#godzilla: king of the monsters #kotm #music video #my stuff #godzilla #godzilla kotm #mothra #rodan #king ghidorah #legendary ghidorah #ghidorah kotm #legendary mothra #mothra kotm #rodan kotm #legendary rodan

[zerm1v0hg]

Was browsing through Wikizilla in my free time and came across this on Walter Simmons' article:

So, let's see what we've got between these two.

Billionaire for now tech CEO? Check.

Building a real Brain-Computer Interface and putting it in a human head? Check.

Mutilating complex animals as test subjects for their project? Check.

Saying the Brain-Computer Interface is ready when it still has enough testing problems and bugs attached to it that completing a project of the Interface's nature now would be pure Stupid Evil even for a truly heartless CEO who cares about their wallets? CHECK.

So detached from reality and all common sense that he has the ideological and moral intelligence of a four-year-old when it comes to: "protecting humanity"/promoting "free speech" on a major social networking platform? Oh, C.H.E.C.K..

Makes one scratch their head wondering (and feeling a little concerned) that a man who acts THIS dumb somehow became THIS powerful and influential in this day and age? CHECK!

@hrodvitnon @shadowblade217 @tardisspacemug @lordofthefans @aggresivesquinter @bookwyrmth1rt33n

That's all I can immediately think of, anyone got anything else?

#godzilla #godzilla vs kong #gvsk #funny #monsterverse

[lordofthefans]

If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let’s get to know the person behind the blog! No pressure of course~✨

I am the proud owner of a collection of currently 362 movies and tv episodes all on DVDs and Blue-rays and plan on growing that number. 

The farthest I’ve traveled to was Germany for a two week stay. Favorite town had to be Rothenburg.

I’m currently trying to write a novel but have decided to take a break from it so as to get more life experience and inspiration when and if I come back around to it.

Sending to/ tagging: @hrodvitnon  @star-going-supernova  @shadowblade217  @dancingamongtheflames  @randomhumanmostdefinitely  @jetwave  @rebel-with-a-bowtie

#anonymous #ask #my life #tagged #others

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, November 3 - Thursday, November 5

Buffy: How are you? Angel: I'm alright. I think I'm better than you right now. They both look over at the carousel. Angel: I heard about this. People are talking. People are even talking to *me*.

~~Gingerbread~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Bad Timing (Buffy, Angel, Joyce, PG) by badly_knitted

Bambina (Buffy/Angel, T) by melodys_muse

vampyre (Spike/Buffy, E) by nothing_is_beautiful_and_true

No Toil for the Wicked (Marcie Ross, T) by esmerome

WARNING: LOCAL TEENS ARE STARVED FOR AFFECTION (Buffy/Xander, G) by lunarlychallenged

I Don't Like Tuesdays. (Dawn, T) by steeleye

sunday morning coffee (Jenny/Giles, not rated) by solaleonis

Inner Demon (crossover with Hellsing, Scoobies, Ethan, Spike, T) by Shadowblade217

To Dream, perhaps for real (crossover with Dream Park, FR7) by vidicon

Where In The World Was Clint Barton – Option 26 – The Senator's Son (crossover with the MCU, Xander, FR13) by Beriaearwen

Prelude to Parley (Buffy/Spike, T) by myrabeth

You Weren't There (Spike/Buffy, T) by myrabeth

[Chaptered Fiction]

Eye of Eleos, Chapter 71 (Spike/Buffy, R) by pfeifferpack

Mission #1: Lost (crossover with Devil May Cry, Willow, T) by madimpossibledreamer

What Makes Us Human, Chapter 1 (Xander/Spike, M) by idrewabee

Reordering the Universe, Chapter 1 (Spike/Buffy, E) by touchstoneaf

Weak, Chapter 1 (Spike & Scoobies, T) by Warped_Alignment

A Slice of Spike's Unlife, Chapter 1-3 (Spike/Buffy, PG) by Joan963z

Hellmouth Hurricane, Chapter 4-5 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by sandy_s

Flickers, Chapter 16 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Dusty

What Makes a Monster, Chapter 6 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by SleepingTigress

Death Wish, Chapter 33 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Sigyn

Reordering the Universe, Chapter 3 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Touchstoneaf

Dark Horizon, Chapter 4 (Spike/Buffy, R) by untouchable

Pictures of You, Chapter 69 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by kats_meow

Time After Time, Chapter 5 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by MissLuci

These Violent Delights, Chapter 31 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Touchstoneaf

Anniversary, Chapter 16 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Nik84

Kintsugi, Chapter 6 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

What They Knew and When They Knew It, Chapter 11 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Dorians Kitten

Eye of Eleos, Chapter 71 (Spike/Buffy, R) by pfeifferpack

What Goes Around, Chapter 2 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by celtic_goddess

Distant Thunder, Chapter 26 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Axell

Detention (v.2), Chapter 27 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Frillyria

Speranta Lumii, Chapter 66 (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by Irishrose

Oversight, Chapter 8 (crossover with Avengers, Buffy, FR13) by JoeB

Moonshot, Chapter 2 (crossover with Anita Blake, Joyce, Dawn, Buffy, Faith, FR15) by Ava

Buffy's New Home, Chapter 150 (crossover with The Vampire Diaries, Buffy, FR15) by Kittykitkat

Meddling in the Affairs of Phantom Menaces, Chapter 6 (crossover with Star Wars, Faith, FR13) by Cuautla

Echoes of Beljoxa, Chapter 12 (Spike/Buffy, M) by myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

Banner: Day of the Dead (Spike/Buffy, G) by teragramm

Banner: Day of the Dead (Spike/Buffy, G) by teragramm

Artwork: Happy Buffyday card (Buffy, worksafe) by lemiller96

Artwork: Oil painting (Sweet, worksafe) by icantnameanimals

Artwork: Spike tattoo (worksafe) by Kiah O'Rourke (@kiahohtattoo)

Podfic: Fanged Foursome, written by meridian_rose (Angelus/Darla/Drusilla/Spike, M), recorded by Ravin

Podfic: One More Lie, written by Merfilly (Faith/Buffy, M), recorded by Ravin

[Reviews & Recaps]

Doublemeat Palace is my favorite episode by nerdywholovesreading and others

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Boom!Studios #19 by DemonDogstar

What's your #1 favorite episode of Buffy of all time, and why? by handsopen

PODCAST: Chosen – Buffy The Vampire Slayer Watch Through: Empty Places/The Magic Bullet

PODCAST: Buffy Boys 090 - The Review (S05E12 "Checkpoint")

PODCAST: Still Pretty 134. Tabula Rasa (S6.08)

PUBLICATION: Rewatching Angel – Episode 90 (Just Rewards) by peckapalooza

[Recs/ISO]

Fic search: Spander Fic Long Read, Long Lost! by killedkelly

Fic search: Giles gets sent back in time, meets immortal Ramirez, finds the body when he comes back to now by ladyhatshepsut

More Links than a Bag of Sausages by petzipellepingo

Reacting to Rections - BtVS S3 (cont'd) by Stoney, redtent

Reacting to Reactions - BtVS S1 (cont'd) by Stoney

Hello fellow Scoobies. I want to read a fanfic, a love story. by fanaticnotfanatic

[I’ve been trying to find a gif of spike in that scene where...] by Myshellx

[Community Announcements]

Buffyverse Top 5 Is Now Closed and will reopen on October 22, 2021

Trapped Challenge Wrap-up at Elysian Fields

[Fandom Discussions]

[Spuffy equivalents of the Katie Cloyd "Sometimes love is a chicken cutlet" quote] by double_dutchess, thenewbuzwuzz

Would Lindsey and Kate have worked better in this season? [AtS season 3] (cont'd) by RachM and others

Does Angel S5 become too much The Angel and Spike show? (cont'd) by BtVS fan, Stoney

Was Angel originally meant to be an angel? by Lostsoul666 and others

Why didn't Faith go and get her knife? by TypicalPsychology6

Did anyone notice that in the episode S03E17 Enemies? (and Angelus' makeup) by Proud3GnAthst and others

What would Buffy do about Lilah and Lindsay? by jdpm1991 and others

[Spike and Xander are deeply in love with each other.] by Willdon231, moviephil4315 and others

D'Hoffryn knew Anya would... by awesometeacher101 and others

‘Missing’ or ‘plugging the gaps’ scenes you’d liked to have seen by purplemackem

What was running through your head when you watched the show for the first time and Dawn suddenly appeared? by Proud3GnAthst and others

Anyone else think it's crazy how completely unacknowledged Cordelia's death was? by nixon469

What are your least favorite seasons? For me its probably 4 & 7. by auto_pil0t and others

Hinton Battle was literally the perfect choice to play Sweet. by LunchThreatener and others

What did Spike and Buffy mean to each other throughout the show, by the end of season 7 and afterwards? by AbhiMary00

I wonder where Dawn was going for high school by TypicalPsychology6

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PUBLICATION: A Place Among the Dead review - Drusilla from Buffy turns the camera on herself by Leslie Felperin, theguardian.com

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series

[ao3feed-btvs]

Inner Demon

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/34Yiz0f

by Shadowblade217

An unusual choice of Halloween costume by one Sunnydale High School student results in the unleashing of one of the world's most infamous vampires upon Sunnydale. One-shot.

Words: 8797, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Hellsing

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Alucard (Hellsing), Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Buffy Summers, Angel (BtVS), Rupert Giles, Ethan Rayne, Spike (BtVS)

Additional Tags: One Shot, Takes place during the BTVS Season 2 episode "Halloween"

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/34Yiz0f

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs

[hrodvitnon]

Just had a couple of thoughts on the “different species of Titans interbreeding” idea!

The way I’m planning on handling that concept in my MonsterVerse AU fics, if/when it comes up, would be that whenever two Titans from different species interbreed, the resulting offspring will always be mostly identical to one of the parents’ species, except for one or two physical features or traits inherited from the other parent: basically they’re 95% one species and 5% the other. Going by that logic, for example, Leo would be almost entirely a Titanus Mosura, with a bit of Titanus Gojira mixed in (like maybe he has a row of spikes running down his back, and the ability to fire concentrated atomic-energy beams like his dad).

In addition, for each individual hybrid offspring, the odds are always basically 50/50 when it comes to which species they’ll favor. So instead of Titan hybrids always taking after their mother, it could always potentially go either way. And if there are multiple offspring born at the same time (say, if the mother is from a species that typically lays a clutch of eggs instead of just one), the odds are 50/50 for each of them, so you’d likely end up with a mixed bag: some resembling the father, some resembling the mother.

As far as the Shamhat AU goes, obviously that doesn’t need as much of an explanation since there’s more magical stuff going on there, but I feel like the same logic could potentially work: maybe human/Titan hybrids all start out human-sized when they’re born, but for some of them they’re born looking like their Titan forms and quickly grow to their true size over time, while others stay almost entirely human but develop superhuman strength & other special abilities instead (like maybe a child of Rodan can manipulate fire, a child of Godzilla can breathe underwater, a child of Mothra can heal other people’s wounds, that kind of thing).

Interspecies Titan Genetics is fun to imagine in that sense because there could be hundreds of ways potential offspring can look! And yeah, Shamhat is very much in the realm of "It's Smut, I Ain't Gotta Explain Shit!" but now that you bring it up it would be amusing to see Vivienne and Rodan's firstborn being either a fire-bending but otherwise normal human-ish baby or just a real itty bitty Rodan bebbeh.

#shadowblade217

[hrodvitnon]

So, just out of curiosity: now that GxK is out, what would you say is your ranking of the MonsterVerse so far (movies and shows)? I’d say this would be my ranking at the moment:

1. Godzilla: King of the Monsters

2. Godzilla vs. Kong

3. Godzilla x Kong

4. Godzilla (2014)

5. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Season 1)

6. Kong: Skull Island

7. Skull Island (the animated Netflix series)

Although I will say, rankings aside, I have genuinely enjoyed all the projects that have been made for the MonsterVerse so far.

Honestly, yeah, I'd say that would be my ranking as well. Some installments are better than others for this or that reason but they're all enjoyable in their own right.

...it's once again hit me that we're only a month away from 2014's tenth anniversary. Ten years of the MonsterVerse!

#shadowblade217 #monsterverse

[hrodvitnon]

Some Ideas/Headcanons for Abraxasverse GxK!

So, after having seen The New Empire, I already already have quite a few ideas for how it could fit into the Abraxasverse! I’ll write up a more thorough breakdown of how I’d do it sometime soon, but I figured I might as well start with some of the basic ideas. So, here goes!

- Just for a bit of context, I’m going by @zerm2v0hg’s awesome “Clash of Silver” fic as how the Abraxasverse’s version of GvK would’ve played out.

- Since GxK takes place in 2027, I’d have Ladon be officially introduced in 2025 and Shin in 2026 (both as Godzilla clones created by Apex), so they would both play a role in this version. Kiryu’s new body might still be under construction (since it took 5-10 years to build Mechagodzilla in canon, so I don’t know if 3 years would be enough time to finish building his second body after the first one sadly got destroyed in Clash of Silver), so I don’t know if I’d have him play a major role here, but either way his new body’s construction would be overseen by Project Powerhouse, the same division of Monarch that creates Kong’s new gauntlet in the movie. Maybe Ren Serizawa would be in charge of that project in this timeline, now that he’s not working for Apex anymore?

- For the events of The Hunted, I’d probably have it go pretty much the same way as canon, but I do love the idea of having Monster X be the one to go up against the Hunter mech rather than Kong, just because that way they’d be able to give Raymond Martin (aka Dickhead Tech-Bro) a Reasons You Suck speech while beating the crap out of his second-rate Jaeger ripoff.

- Scylla & Tiamat would probably still end up getting into fights with Godzilla or one of his sons, but while Scylla might still end up dying if the events of The Hunted play out similarly here, Tiamat probably wouldn’t, assuming that the potential backstory of her having a connection to Ozymandias is actually Abraxasverse canon.

- To give Godzilla & his allies more to do in the Abraxasverse version of GxK, I feel like it would make sense to incorporate the Xenilla arc into this portion of the timeline. So I’d have him land on the surface and start causing trouble for Team Godzilla at around the same time that Kong discovers Skar King’s hidden empire in the Hollow Earth, which would eventually lead to the final battle being a three-way battle royale between the Scarred Apes’ army (led by Skar King & Shimo), the heroic Titans (particularly Godzilla’s family, Monster X & Kong), and Xenilla.

- In this timeline, instead of Mothra being the guardian Titan of the Hollow-Earth Iwi civilization, it would be Leo. To me, that seems like a perfect way for him to be introduced into the Abraxasverse: as Godzilla & Mothra’s offspring who was born thousands of years ago, took up residence in the Hollow Earth during the Ice Age, and essentially “adopted” the surviving Iwi tribe after Skar King presumably abandoned them at some point. I’d also ditch the “prophecy” angle from the canon movie for Jia and just focus on her other connections with Kong & the Iwi, as Mothra already has a human link in the form of the Chen family.

- Godzilla’s transformation wouldn’t just be a random evolution/powerup; instead, it would be a side effect of his being badly wounded & infected by Xenilla during their first fight. Mothra would narrowly manage to cure & heal him (after taking him to Tiamat’s Arctic lair so he could absorb a bunch of extra radiation to fuel the healing process), but his appearance would still be permanently altered as a result. That’s where the elbow & tail spikes and the new color of his energy would come from, as he’d end up assimilating some of the crystal’s power for himself. As a beneficial side effect, his new form would also be immune to any further infection attempts by the Crystal Cordyceps.

- In keeping with that idea, Abraxasverse Xenilla would basically look like a fusion of the classic SpaceGodzilla and a more advanced version of Godzilla’s Evolved form, with white crystal spikes & plates, longer spikes on his elbows & tail, and red bioluminescence (to fit with the idea that the pink color of Goji’s Evolved form is a side effect of his partially undergoing that process but stopping it halfway through). I think it could also look really cool if he has crystal wings that unfold from his body when he needs to fly, and reform into a layer of extra armor around his torso when he’s on the ground. For how they’d look, I’m thinking maybe something like an all-white version of Tabuu’s crystal wings from the Super Smash Bros video games.

- Shimo would actually be the key to taking down Xenilla once she’s freed from Skar King’s control, as the heroes eventually discover that while Xenilla’s crystal armor has adapted to resist Godzilla’s atomic breath, it’s highly vulnerable to Shimo’s ice-breath. As a result, it ends up being a tag-team effort from her, Godzilla & Mothra (plus Ozzy managing to fight back from within) that ultimately brings the parasite down for good. It’s tragic, of course, given their past relationships with him, but they’re able to take some comfort in the fact that their victory also allows Ozzy’s spirit to finally rest in peace.

A longer, more in-depth breakdown of what I’ve got in mind will be coming soon, but I figured I’d see what you thought of the main bullet-points first. 😄

Oooh, here we go!

I've actually reached a point where I'm willing to call The Clash of Silver a part of AbraxasVerse canon. Hey, @zerm2v0hg! Have some canonization, as a treat!

Yeah, Kiryu being out of commission for a while makes sense, and it feels fitting that he'd be handled by Project Powerhouse. Ren could definitely use a job at Powerhouse after how his gig at Apex ended... and hopefully a therapist, depending on how he's been handling the whole "nearly got electrocuted to death and something happened to his brain but he doesn't know what".

AbraxasVerse Raymond Martin I feel can definitely stand to be less cartoonishly evil than his comic counterpart; maybe instead of gleefully trying to kill a pair of cubs after slaughtering their mother, his trauma from 2014 has reached the point where he simply can't stand seeing a happy family, human or monster, because it gets into his head that that ought to be him and his family. He's still a douchebag tech-bro who hates the Titans and would probably consider Monster X a traitor of sorts for embracing their new monster existence, he's just more clearly a broken man futilely raging against forces of nature because that's all he knows what to do now.

Scylla in MonsterVerse canon is a real nasty piece of work and while AbraxasVerse Scylla is comparatively better, I won't feel bad if she still ends up dying as a result of Martin's nonsense causing her nuclear feeding frenzy; this would be a good way for Ladon and Shin to make an impression on the world, that they're willing to fight to maintain the worldly balance just like their dad. Tiamat however has potential thanks to the Ozymandias backstory and I feel she can be better utilized in AbraxasVerse, especially in light of @tosho89's ritual idea...

Xenilla showing up here would be cool... maybe he was sent out to scout the planet in case a Titan of comparable power to Ozymandias has shown up in the time since that abduction? Leo being the Hollow Earth Iwi guardian could be a neat way to tie in MV!Mothra's reworking Phosphora/Phosphera's (how is that supposed to be spelled?) placeholder role without being too jarring.

Huh, Goji nearly getting infected is a GREAT idea for the sake of tension and sheer "oh SHIT" factor! He goes out of commission for a bit while Mothra heals him and Tiamat does her ritual, and he returns to the fore more powerful than ever... at the cost of becoming a beacon for the nefarious forces behind Xenilla's existence to home in on. And I am ALL FOR Shimo having more to do!

Cool ideas all around! I'm looking forward to seeing what else you've got!

#shadowblade217 #abraxasverse

[hrodvitnon]

Some Thoughts on GxK

So, now that I’ve had a bit of time to collect my thoughts regarding GxK, I figured I’d share them in more detail. So without further ado, here goes!

Pros:

- The action was absolutely fantastic, although I do wish some of the fight scenes had been a little longer.

- I enjoyed all four of the main human characters in this one: I thought Ilene Andrews & Jia’s relationship was actually really well-done, and the dynamic between Trapper & Bernie was hilarious. Also, I feel like Trapper is definitely the Steve Irwin of Monarch in terms of how he views & interacts with the Titans. 😄

- Highlight was definitely the scenes that focused just on the interactions between the Titans, especially Kong & Suko, the first meeting between Kong & the other Great Apes, and the reunion of Godzilla & Mothra (which was absolutely adorable).

- Goji channeling his inner cat and taking that nap in the Colosseum was amazing, and the fact that he went back to take another nap there at the end of the movie was a perfect cherry on top. 😂 (Although I wish Mothra had gone back there with him at the end.)

- Skar King was a really fun villain; he might not be quite as imposing as Ghidorah or Mechagodzilla, but he’s just as scary, and I feel like he definitely made up for not being as physically powerful by having so much personality & intelligence.

- Shimo is so sweet, and I love her so much! 🥺 They did a really good job of making her sympathetic; I felt so bad for her while she was under Skar King’s control, and the way she acted after she finally got her freedom was so pure and sweet. Also, I love that she technically got to kill her abuser, even if Kong was the one who finished him off after she froze him.

- All the new Hollow Earth creatures were really cool, and Doug popping in and stealing part of Kong’s lunch legitimately cracked me up. 🤭

- Cool to see Scylla’s return and Tiamat’s onscreen debut, even if they didn’t last very long. I also couldn’t help but laugh a little at the fact that Godzilla killed both of them using his “Kiss of Death” tactic from the 2014 movie.

- I’d seen some of the rumors & leaks regarding Mothra beforehand, but I still got so excited when they finally name-dropped her, and her glorious return did not disappoint! Also, again, her reunion with Godzilla was super-cute, and I love the little detail that despite all of his aggressive behavior in the previous movie and most of this one, he visibly calms down as soon as she shows up and stays that way for the rest of the film.

Cons:

- Some of the film did feel kinda rushed. It wasn’t too bad, but I feel like they definitely could’ve extended it by a half-hour to expand some of the action scenes and some of the character development a little more. The Rio fight, in particular, felt a little too rushed & short compared to the final battles of the other MonsterVerse movies.

- Like I said, I’m really glad that we finally got Mothra back, but the whole “Iwi prophecy” explanation for her return felt kinda weird & unnecessary. Why is Jia somehow the only person who can wake Mothra up? Where did Mothra’s new incarnation come from, since it seems like it wasn’t from the egg that Monarch found in the credits of KOTM? Why is her cocoon invisible until Jia touches it? (I guess that last one’s probably for camouflage purposes, but it did seem kinda weird.) I feel like they probably could’ve just had her already be awake & protecting the Iwi in her new body, and ditch the whole prophecy subplot in favor of Jia just bonding more with the Hollow-Earth Iwi tribe instead.

- The fact that both Scylla and Tiamat were killed off as soon as they showed up was a bummer, although I did enjoy both of those fights.

- And although I do like the look of Godzilla’s new Evolved form, it didn’t really feel very important, if that makes sense? Like, when he unlocked his Burning form against Ghidorah back in KOTM, it was really important in terms of the story and also gave his character some additional depth by emphasizing his symbiotic relationship with Mothra, but here it felt like he could’ve played the exact same role in the story without that new transformation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! Not my favorite of the MonsterVerse films (currently, I’d say my ranking from favorite to least favorite is KOTM, GvK, GxK, G2014, and KSI), but it was still a solid, fun Kaiju film, and I’m definitely planning on seeing it again while it’s still in theaters.

Oh yeah, big same all around! I definitely also expected the Rio fight to have more going on, and it would have been cool if Shimo was the one to end Skar King rightly in repayment for the hell he put her through. Mothra just suddenly appearing out of nowhere like that had me tilting my head, like what if her egg (somehow) was brought to the Hollow Earth and was chilling out on that pyramid in the cocoon stage, finally releasing when Jia did her thing (I didn't read it as Mothra's cocoon being invisible... time for a second viewing!); also surprising that Ilene didn't mention "oh yeah, Mothra, she laid an egg last time she was alive" or at least work in some way that Mothra could feasibly show up. The sudden prophecy subplot was odd, but okay movie, you do you. Maybe this will get cleared up in the novelization?

#shadowblade217 #godzilla x kong: the new empire #gxk spoilers

[hrodvitnon]

Some Abraxasverse Ideas/Headcanons: Ladon and Shin

Just a few potential ideas for these two!

- Shin was Apex’s first attempt at creating a Godzilla clone, but they rushed the job because they were trying to grow him as quickly as possible. As a result, his DNA was flawed, resulting in severe physical mutations: his undersized arms, his oversized tail, his extensive keloid scars, the split/cleft in his lower jaw, and an inability to properly process radiation the way most Titans do, resulting in his body constantly releasing high levels of harmful radiation. After they realized how badly they’d screwed up with the prototype clone, Apex moved their cloning operation to Hong Kong and took their time with growing Ladon, which is why he turned out much healthier but also why he’s initially a lot smaller than his brother (assuming that Shin’s at his canon height of 389 feet when he first shows up “onscreen”, while Ladon is at Minus One Goji’s height of 164 feet).

- One potential idea for how the “Shinlets” could be incorporated into the Abraxasverse could be something like this: Shin was grown in a remote, secret Apex lab, maybe on a decommissioned oil rig or on a remote island out in international waters. During the time when he was still being grown and Apex was still experimenting, some of the genetic material they used to create him was accidentally dumped into the surrounding ocean, where it was eaten by numerous sea creatures (sharks, fish, invertebrates, etc). Many of those creatures died, but some survived and were mutated, taking on characteristics similar to the Shinlets from the canon movie. Unlike Shin, however, these mutated sea creatures aren’t sentient or capable of reason; they’re just savage, disfigured animals, so unfortunately they have to be tracked down & killed after they start attacking humans. That could potentially be what initially alerts Monarch to Shin’s existence, before he eventually makes landfall in Japan looking for food.

- When Ladon’s a juvenile, he looks like Godzilla’s design in Minus One, possibly with some elements of Godzilla Junior’s design from Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. By the time he’s fully grown, he looks more like the depiction of the adult Junior in the Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex and Godzilla vs. Megalon short films.

- Once Godzilla finds Shin (after his initial landfall in Japan) and manages to calm him down, Mothra gently wraps Shin up in a cocoon and rewrites his DNA to remove as much of the corruption as possible, while Godzilla and Ladon absorb all of the radiation that’s released from Shin’s body during the process. When Shin eventually emerges from the cocoon, he looks more like the art that people have posted of what a healthy version of his design would look like, and he feels much better.

- Shin and Ladon have differing opinions on humans, due to the different circumstances of their childhoods. Since Shin’s aura of uncontrolled radiation made it too dangerous for the Apex scientists monitoring his growth to get close to him, they had to use radiation-shielded robots and monitor him remotely, so he didn’t develop a dislike for humans because he didn’t see any until after he escaped from the facility where he was born. Ladon, on the other hand, hates humans at first, because his healthier growth meant that the Apex technicians could get closer to him, so he knows that humans were responsible for his growing up in a cage for the first few years of his life. Over time, Godzilla & Mothra are able to teach him that not all humans are like the ones who kept him locked up, but it still takes quite a while for him to be comfortable with the idea of humans being anywhere near him.

- My headcanon for why both Shin and Ladon have extra-destructive atomic breath, and why it hurts them both when they use it (based on Shin’s movie and the way Minus One Goji’s beam affects him), is based on the myth that baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous than adults because they inject more venom when they bite. The idea would be that when a young Titanus Gojira first develops their atomic breath, it takes a while for them to learn how to control it; at first, they have a tendency to put way too much energy into each blast, so their beam is more destructive and they often hurt themselves in the process of using it. Since Ladon is more well-developed, his beam doesn’t hurt him as much, but until he learns how to control it, it causes a lot of collateral damage and he has to rest for a minute between blasts so he can recover & recharge. Poor Shin has even less control due to his mutations and his accelerated growth rate, so when he unleashes his beam in his initial form, he basically can’t turn it off and has to keep firing it until he runs out of energy and collapses. Fortunately, this problem is solved once Mothra cures him, and Godzilla then teaches them both how to use their power more efficiently, packing the same kind of punch without unnecessary collateral damage or self-inflicted injuries.

- Also, just as a fun little idea I had: Ladon eventually gets the “White Spiral Ray” that the adult Junior has in those short films, but since Abraxasverse Godzilla can only use his Red Spiral Ray when he & Mothra combine their power, Ladon develops his spiral ray by combining his power with Leo’s.

(Apologies for the wait between answers, the SIGNALIS brainrot is a particularly potent brainrot!)

I like the fleshing out of Shin's origins these headcanons provide, as well as nodding to the Shinlet idea and the reasons why Ladon and Shin's atomic breaths are just Like That, and Ladon being able to unlock his own Spiral Hay with Leo just like mom and dad is just, ooh! *chef's kiss* Makes me imagine a Family Spiral Heat Ray, like a Family Kamehameha in Dragon Ball.

#shadowblade217 #abraxasverse

[hrodvitnon]

Liking those ideas that people have been sending in for how an Abraxasverse version of GxK could play out differently! That does actually give me an idea too: since there’s supposedly gonna be a new Titan in this movie who has some kind of visual similarity to SpaceGodzilla (Shimu/Shimo), what if in the Abraxasverse, Xenilla just takes that Titan’s place in the story?

Like, maybe Xenilla shows up on the surface of Earth and starts causing trouble for Godzilla at around the same time that Kong discovers Skar King’s tribe of ape Titans down in the Hollow Earth. Then, once the two antagonists eventually cross paths, Xenilla offers to help Skar King destroy Godzilla (after demonstrating that the Scarred Apes can’t do anything against its power, so it’s in their best interest to cooperate) in exchange for some “resources” that it needs to take from Earth. However, it ultimately turns out that Xenilla is just using this new war between the Scarred Apes and the surface Titans as an easy way to provide itself with the “resources” in question: a whole bunch of wounded, weakened Titans, vulnerable and ready to be infected.

And that would lead to a three-way final battle between the surface Titans, the Scarred Apes, and Xenilla (plus any unfortunate Titans from either side who’d already been infected by that point).

That trailer's definitely proving to be a font of creativity, huh? Love it!

An extra wrinkle to Xenilla forcing an alliance on the Scarred Ones/Apes is that Skar King is likely old enough to know this alliance is not going to benefit his kind in the long run. But because he can't even harm Xenilla in a way that matters, not with any weaponry he holds, he just has his troops play ball for the time being until such a time comes that they can betray their "ally" without suffering too many casualties. But then, maybe Xenilla is smart enough to anticipate that plan in turn, so rather than turn out like Sindri Myr betraying Lord Bale it ends up like the Scarred Apes/Ones constantly improvising so their plans don't fold like a stack of cards.

Alternatively:

Scarred Ape: But King, now that Xenilla knows our plan--

Skar King: Ah, but that is the plan. Now that he knows our plan, he will plan around our plans. And so we shall in turn plan around the plan that he is planning around our plan!

#shadowblade217 #abraxasverse

[hrodvitnon]

Random idea for the Shamhat AU: Maia decides to get San a fake ID for his human form at some point so he can blend in more easily as her boyfriend, and he definitely ends up choosing Kevin as his human name. 😄

(Fortuitous, for we might just ring in the New Year with a Shamhat update...)

Because San turns out to be a huge nerd, he likes that Kevin is derived from "beloved birth" in Old Irish and gushes how his new humanized identity was born from Maia's love. She calls him Kevy when they engage in public displays of affection, which is a lot.

#shadowblade217 #in the footsteps of shamhat

[hrodvitnon]

Just had a thought about how Minus One Goji could potentially fit into the Abraxasverse: what if Minus One’s post-mutation design of Godzilla is just the Abraxasverse design of Ladon/Junior? He’s definitely small enough for it, and his design is similar enough to Shin’s that them both being clones of MV Godzilla would make sense. His overly-destructive atomic breath could potentially be explained by the idea that it might take a while for young Titanus Gojiras to learn how to control their firepower (similar to the myth that young venomous snakes are more dangerous than adults because they often use more venom), so he’s more trigger-happy than Goji but it takes longer for him to charge up each blast. And Minus One Goji’s intense dislike for humans could be explained by Ladon having a decent amount of PTSD from growing up locked in an underground Apex containment cell, and it might take a while for Goji to teach him that not all humans are like the ones who “raised” him.

(Also, I saw this meme of Legendary Goji with Minus One Goji recently, and I’m now picturing this being Goji & Ladon after the third or fourth time that Ladon puts way more power into his atomic breath than he meant to. 😄)

I like this a lot! It ties in nicely with a previous ask from @mysticaltheoremseeker about how quickly Ladon can fly into a rage, and since the AbraxasVerse Timeline established that Apex is already messing with Skullcrawler DNA I wouldn't put it past them to poke around with Ladon as well, giving him the Minus One retractable dorsal spines and maybe more digitigrade legs compared to Godzilla. Now I'm picturing Ladon having a bit of Grunt in Mass Effect 2 when he's not raging; he's smart, he has mental imprints of things that are important, but lacks the context that would make him care.

(Oh my God, this is such a good dynamic for them!)

Goji: Can we please scale it down a bit?

Ladon: DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

#shadowblade217 #abraxasverse

[hrodvitnon]

Finally got to see The New Empire last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite of the MonsterVerse films (I’d say it’s probably #3, behind KOTM and GvK but above G2014 and KSI), but it was still really fun and I loved every minute of it. Definitely going to see it again next weekend. 😂

More in-depth thoughts to follow when I have a bit more time, but I already have lots of ideas on how to adapt GxK into both my own MonsterVerse AU and the Abraxasverse, so keep an eye out for the latter too! 👀😄

Nice! I gotta take my friends to see it next time we meet up. Overall I don't think it's my favorite MV movie but in terms of the Fun Factor it's well up there.

#shadowblade217

[hrodvitnon]

Glad you and @tardisspacemug both liked my ideas for the Shi AU! It’s definitely pretty heartwrenching, but I figure there could be lots of room for a few different scenarios to unfold there, so I really wanted to put those ideas out there and see what you guys would think of them. And after reading through your responses to that last ask, I had a few more thoughts on this that I wanted to share.

First off, yeah, Option 1 would absolutely be a major tearjerker. 😅 That one definitely feels like the Bad/Bittersweet Ending out of those three scenarios (although at least it’s not a potential Much-Worse Ending where Ghidorah wins and Shi ends up being trapped with them forever), but I feel like it could still be very bittersweet and heartfelt. I’m picturing an ending scene where, after Godzilla incinerates Shi’s head, Vivienne has a vision where she reunites with Serizawa, and they have a final moment together before walking off into the sunset. I think that could be really beautiful, although personally I’d probably leave it somewhat ambiguous as to whether that moment was actually them reuniting in the afterlife or whether it was more of a Dying Dream that just allows Vivi/Shi’s spirit to finally rest in peace.

Out of those three scenarios, I think Option 2 is definitely my favorite: if I was to actually write out a one-shot or short story for any of those concepts, that one would probably be it. I definitely agree that Vivi/Shi would have a lot to do to make amends for all the things that she did when she was a part of Ghidorah, but I feel like the fact that she was forcibly converted into a monster by the “main” Ghidorah and that she was ultimately just as much of a victim as anyone else would be a pretty strong point in her favor, at least as far as the Monarch characters’ opinions would play into it. She’d definitely have a lot of guilt & grief to deal with, though, especially once she finds out that Serizawa sacrificed himself to bring Godzilla back (although I could also see a very heartfelt moment where Goji tries to comfort her by telling her about Serizawa’s last moments, similarly to how he remembered Serizawa in Abraxas). Her not having San around to help her out would be tough, but I imagine Godzilla & Mothra would still take her in and teach her everything she needs to know about how to use her new abilities properly. And yeah, I could also picture a scenario where Godzilla tells Rodan that as his penance/punishment for fighting alongside Ghidorah, he gets to help teach their new ally how to fly/hunt/etc as a form of Titan-style “community service.” Rodan would obviously be pretty annoyed by that at first, but I could see him loosening up a bit eventually (possibly helped by how eye-catching this new silver dragon Titan has become). 😄

For that route, I even thought of a couple of potential names for Shi’s new reborn form, as “Titanus Abraxas” probably wouldn’t work as a name for this version since she wouldn’t have the two-in-one thing going on. I’m thinking either Titanus Samsara (as “Samsara” is the concept of a cycle of reincarnation, which would line up pretty well with Vivienne’s having essentially been reborn/reincarnated multiple times in that scenario), or Titanus Athena (as 1: Athena was a goddess of both wisdom and war, which could work nicely for a scientist-turned-Titan, and 2: Athena was literally born from Zeus’s head, so that name seems almost too perfect in this case). I feel like either of those could potentially work really well.

And for Option 3, yeah, I get what you guys mean! For one idea, maybe the mind-transfer from Shi’s head to Mechagodzilla’s body has to be temporary at first, since the mecha doesn’t have a good enough battery life to host her consciousness for long periods of time, and that’s how Apex convinces Monarch to work with them on the Hollow-Earth expedition to collect a sample of the Zohar: if it can be used to give Mechagodzilla a long-term, auto-renewing power source, they’ll be able to make the mind-transfer effectively permanent so Vivi/Shi’s mind can remain in the mecha’s body for as long as she wants.

Also, just as a random thought, I’m imagining that Mechagodzilla’s colors in this version might change based on who’s in control: like, maybe its internal glow & Proton Scream are blue or green in color when Vivi/Shi is in charge, but then it shifts into the Abraxasverse Mecha-G’s purple coloration when the secondary command system activates and she gets locked out of the system as a human pilot takes control. I’m picturing a scene where, after Mechagodzilla gets the Zohar and is fully charged-up, “Mecha-Shi” emerges from the Apex headquarters and happily greets Godzilla (who would probably have been drawn to Hong Kong by a hidden ORCA 2.0 broadcast in this version, since the rest of Ghidorah is still perma-dead in this scenario). Goji isn’t sure what to make of Vivi/Shi's new body at first, but he recognizes her voice, so he isn’t hostile towards the Mecha… until suddenly, Shi gets locked out of the body’s control mechanisms, Mechagodzilla freezes in place, and its coloring suddenly melts from blue or green into a sickly purple as an Apex pilot takes control and shifts the Mecha into attack mode.

The outcome that I’d probably go with for that scenario would be that, while the Apex-controlled Mechagodzilla is fighting both Godzilla & Kong, Maddie, Josh & Bernie manage to short out the main Apex computers like Josh did in canon, which also interferes with the Mecha’s secondary control system and gives Vivi/Shi the opportunity to start fighting back. She manages to tell Goji & Kong what’s going on, so rather than them charging up Kong’s axe and hacking Mecha-G to pieces like what happened in canon, they manage to help restrain the Mecha long enough for Vivi/Shi to fully override the secondary control system and purge that subroutine from its computers (while also possibly frying the brain of whichever unfortunate Apex pilot had seized control of the Mecha), allowing her to regain full control of that body.

Just a few more thoughts on each of those scenarios that I thought you guys might enjoy. 🙂

@tardisspacemug Check it out! More food for Shi AU thoughts!

Not sure what else I could add to this route; though I second the idea of a reunion with Serizawa in death being kept ambiguous. Whether she does see him again in the afterlife or it's simply the result of chemical reactions in the brain, either way Vivienne is freed from a horrifying extended existence she was forced into...

This I might go so far as to call the Best Ending of the three scenarios, because Vivienne is reborn as a wholly new being and is allowed to do what she will with the power bestowed upon her, but at the same time has to struggle with the guilt of having taken so many lives back when she was, well, Shi. Vivienne knows she was as much a victim of Ghidorah's cruelty, but acknowledges that it was by her own hand... jaws, claws, etc., that so many people died. Plus this version appeals to my inner child who grew up reading The Call of the Wild; life as a wild Titan is new and violent and scary, but if she's quick and clever, she can adapt. (Also, Titanus Athena really is a fitting title, something I actually touched on in Abraxas!) Ah, no matter what continuity they’re in, Rodan and Vivi just can’t escape the Belligerent Sexual Tension, can they?

Perhaps Mecha-Shi could be the Good Ending? I like the idea of Mecha-Vivi's color glow being blue or green, because the former ties into how the color palette of Vivienne's colors changed to blue in KOTM to make her look like she belongs in Castle Bravo (plus it means she's flying her King's colors, heh), while the latter subverts a common trope of "undead" figures being associated with a sickly green if they're not associated with a wispy blue. Ah, but this route also won't be immune to the guilt of causing death and destruction caused during the time Vivienne wasn't in control of her mechanical body, even if those weren't directly her fault. (Silly little side note, but I just pictured after all the chaos of wresting control of her new body back and Goji and Kong stop trying to kill each other, Mecha-Vivi really takes a moment to to survey her surroundings and actually starts laughing to herself... because look how FUCKING TALL she is now!)

#shadowblade217 #shi au