#Ilene Chen

[dasavvyexpert]

You know what would’ve made GxK even better? If they brought back Dr Ilene Chen, considering she’s supposed to be the MonsterVerse Shobijin.

[greatrunner]

Interview with the Vampire got me thinking a lot about how memory is, at best, unreliable, with the finer details of a moment lived. From Louis's recounting his relationship with Lestat, to the things he only remembered from talking to Daniel.

It really got me thinking about how I remember things from my childhood and the period in my life when I was so obsessed with getting the details down, I journaled myself into burnout. Now, I'm actually afraid to put pen to paper (most days). I kid you not.

So, to make this about Godzilla: King of the Monsters, when I saw the film twice in theaters, there were two moments I remember going one way instead of another.

After the crew rescues Godzilla, I remember Ilene Chen and Mark Russell holding each other's hands as the submarine is hit by shockwaves from an explosion. When they surfaced, I remember them hugging, relieved they were alive.

But when I rewatched the scene a couple months ago, Ilene was the only one who grabbed Mark's hand, and they don't hug after the submarine surfaces.

I really sat there looking at my computer screen like

"Why did my thoughts betray me like that?" Like, I spent a good chunk of my day trying to figure out why I remembered those moments like that instead of how it actually happened.

[lollipencil]

SuperMoon: Part 6

Here's the next part! Finally.

Enjoy and be gentle ---

Layla watched the news with a growing realisation.

Nothing had happened when she'd first woken up. Her dad and Marc lay close by, both fast asleep. A contemplative air had filled the kitchen as Layla brewed her coffee. But the questions she'd thought of then, were viciously silenced by what she was seeing on the screen.

Right there, on the news, was a vast creature. Laying asleep partly buried in the sand. Some form of military stationed all round.

Layla's eyes refused to leave the screen, even as she leaned over to nudge her dad. Even his harshly whispered swears couldn't stop her looking. Because her eyes were firmly on the very familar green feathers lining the creature's neck. "That's closer than last night," her dad whispered. This had her turn away finally: "What? "That's closer to civilisation than where he left us," his eyes were wide, "Oh, oh no."

Layla waited as her dad breathed in deep. "He knows where he is. Khonshu is coming."

---

She could feel it when she woke.

Why? It had been so long, why had he woken up? She knew her mate felt it too, was likely already heading in that direction. For a challenge or otherwise. At least, her followers were close by.

The queen of the monsters spread her wings. She would get her answers.

---

Within hours, a mobile research site had been built around the nest of the tentatively named Khonshu. By the time Ilene's helicopter had landed, everything was pretty much ready. "Anything noteworthy?" she asked upon stepping out onto the sand. "We've identified what he was digging up," a soldier quickly fell into step with her and handed off a tablet.

The image rendered her speachless for a second. "Well, the paleontologists are going to be very happy," Ilene finally commented, "Where's the head?" "We believe he has it," the soldier waved to a cluster of tendrils wrapped around something. Ilene hummed and entered a tent: "Any further details from the temple?" "Residue of an unknown substance was found in the lower portion," a scientist piped up, "alongside feathers similar to the titan's but smaller, and this."

Being carefully handed by the scientist, was a torn bullet-proof vest. Ilene stared at it. "How are we on locating Dr El-Faouly?" "No trace of him near the titan's nest, but we've sent a team to his home address, and another is attempting to contact his daughter."

Ilene nodded, "I want a full list with images of everyone missing from the dig site." The soldier nodded and walked out of the tent. "Who do you belong to?" she thought as she looked at the vest, "and what happened?"

[deeppapertyrant]

"All the legends, the stories, they are true. They really were the First Gods." - Dr. Ilene Chen, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

[nerdypuddincup]

Godzilla vs Ogra

The Titan known as Ghidorah, the False King. A three-headed abomination that sought to become the dominant creature upon this planet by reshaping it to his own whims. Battling Titanus Gojira for supremacy. When victory was all but assured for the golden dragon, the beast called forth to the other sleeping giants throughout the world. They awoke from their centuries of hibernation and following the call of their new alpha, they began to lay waste to the areas in which they had inhabited. The untold death and destruction caused by this Mass Awakening was the single greatest loss of human life ever recorded.

In the heart of what once was Boston, the true King of the Monsters made his stand against the usurper. And, after a long and bloody battle that resulted in the loss of the city Godzilla was victorious. Many of the Titans that had been awakened by Monster Zero's call surrounded their alpha and bowed before him. Letting out a mighty roar, the Lord of the Titans returned to the sea with many of the others either following him into the murky depths or going back to where they saw fit.

Under Godzilla, many Titans had actually proven to be beneficial to the world in which they inhabited. They giant mammoth like Titan Behemoth was able to stop the fires that ravaged the rain forests, and even managed to breathe new life into the foliage making it better than it had ever been before. The Cthulhu like beast Scylla was able to slow the devastating melting in Anatartica and even stabilized the sea levels. Even the King's path underwater were restoring natural reefs and increasing fish populations. Titan waste had been found to be a viable energy source as well. Ecosystems all around the world were healing and many species were taken off the endangered species list. It truly seemed that coexistence was possible and it was happening now.

Sadly however, as is often the case with mankind they would surely find a way to disturb such perfect balance.

In the heart of London, an amusement park had managed the impossible. Somehow, they had acquired an actual living Titan for all the world to see for themselves. This was truly incredible as Titans had gained celebrity like status throughout the world. People flocked from all over the world to see this gargantuan be paraded around for the amusement of the others. For a Titan, this one was relatively on the small side. Coming up to about 70 feet tall in the air was this creature that the park had named Gorgo (after the mythical Gorgon). Large green bumpy scales ordained the Titan's body, long arms that ended in massive webbed hands, a Komodo dragon like head with two webbed appendages sprouting from the sides like ears. The eyes of the creature were blood red and seemed to glow as the thing became scared.

Naturally the multi-national organization known as Monarch had stepped in and attempted to have this creature freed. They knew that it would not do well for anyone to have a Titan of any kind enslaved and shown off for the amusement of others. The park owners denied Monarch, pulling out legal documents that showed that the Titan had been sold to them fair and square. Monarch could not dispute it just yet as there were no laws prohibiting such things yet. The laws on Titan rights were still in the midst of being debated by the UN. They demanded to at least be able to stay and study the creature and ensure that nothing gets too out of hand. The owners were more than happy to oblige that request.

Gorgo had apparently been attacking fishing boats off the coast of Ireland. The creature would tear apart the vessels and eat the catch that the fishermen had collected. One day, the residents of the fishing village had loaded a bunch of fish that had been laced with chloroform and set it out directly in Gorgo's path. When the Titan inevitably attacked and ate his fill, the giant creature was finally put to rest. That was when the owner of the amusement park first laid eyes upon the sleeping Gorgo. He knew at that moment that he needed the Titan to be his main attraction. He bought the sleeping thing off the fishermen who were more than happy to get rid of the thing and then had him transported to London.

Monarch was disturbed to find the binds that held this Titan were the same metals that they themselves had used to contained the Titans back before Monster Zero unleashed them. How this rag tag amusement park had managed to find out about such things confused them. Dr. Rick Stanton quipped that you could get anything off the internet if you looked hard enough and that he would know from experience as he sipped his coffee.

Gorgo was not very fond of all the attention he was getting. He just sat there, staring at the tiny ants before him. His eyes full of sadness. There was nothing exciting that he would do to perform for the audience members who gawked at him. Any attempts to prod the beast into provoking the creature and scaring the people had no effect. That was until finally the Titan did do something. Standing up fully, the creature tilted his head back and let out a deafening roar. The sound was like that of a bio-foghorn. It echoed even through the busy English streets. It was a sound so helpless and sorrowful that almost everyone stopped what they were doing and just listened to the harrowing sound and feeling deep within the pits of their own stomachs a fraction of Gorgo's pain.

Sound of course, was how Titans communicated. It was how they were able to find one another. Sound has an interesting way of traveling. Bio-acoustics, echolocation. These were the means in which Titans did everything. Deep beneath the crust of the Earth, off the coast of Ireland there was a small island known as Nara. It was here that an ancient race of Celts had worshiped a creature as their god. Through the centuries the creature had gone by many names, but its most famous had been Ogra. The islanders would tie a virgin to a raft and send it out to see in an attempt to appease Ogra and permit them safe fishing. As with Monarch's motto, 'Myth is our Compass' for the wailing of poor Gorgo was heard by the fearsome Ogra who had awoken from her deep hibernation finally and rose up, heading towards the sorrowful sound at full speed.The legendary Ogra wasn't the only one who had picked up on the heartbreaking sound. Deep within the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, golden eyes opened. The King awake, and using the tunnels of the Hollow Earth Godzilla was on the fast track to come colliding with the other Titans. "Uhhh guys, we have an issue." Dr. Stanton said, looking at his readings."Looks like Shrimpy over here just sent out a distress call."

"The response?" Dr. Ilene Chen asked, approaching Rick's station. Looking upon his screen.

"Looks like we got a decent sized one coming right for us. But..." Rich then points to his other monitor. "The Big Guy just woke up too and then we lost him."

"Godzilla has been keeping the other Titans from making landfall in populated areas. Perhaps he knows that whatever is coming is dangerous?"

"Or maybe this is gonna be thing that finally pisses off Godzilla and he decides to join his new friend here and turn London into an all you can eat buffet."

"Don't be so paranoid Rick." Chen told him. "We'll get G-team, see if they can't get this new Titan to change course before it makes landfall."

Red piercing eyes rose along with a pointed crown within the English bay. Bright lights danced around, a sight Ogra had never witnessed before. Mankind had indeed changed since last the creature was last awake. Now bright lights were shined right on the dark scales of the creature as flying machines approached. Now, coming up from the surface of the water the visage of Ogra was seen. It looked very much like the smaller Gorgo but almost five times as large. "I think we found Momma." Came the voice of Barnes who was leading G-Team.

Chen's eyes widened at that revelation. "We have to free Gorgo, the mother has heard her baby's cries!" She said, pulling Rick up from his computer chair. As they made their way out of their little temporary Command Center, she ordered Director of Technology and liaison to the Government Sam Coleman to get in contact with authorities for backup.

Missiles fired the flying machines, whizzing through the air and exploding upon contact with Ogra. She bellowed a mighty roar in defiance. Her massive hands swinging up and reducing one of the choppers to scrap. Her eyes fell upon another, taking a step forward her blood red orbs began go glow brighter until she let out a truly deafening roar that seemed to be concentrated into a sonic attack that caused the second chopper to just explode.

Despite the best efforts of G-Team Ogra did not change her resolve. She made landfall, standing just higher than Big Ben. Soon she was standing much taller as a swipe from her webbed hand brought the old and respect structure toppling to the ground. Mother was angry, and all of London would pay until she found her baby.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" The owner of the amusement park Richard Dorkin demanded to know as he found Rick and Chen attempting to break Gorgo's bounds. The creature clearly had become excitable upon hearing the voice of his mother though still far away.

"We are releasing this Titan and returning it to his mother before all of London is destroyed." Chen said as she pulled at the binds. "You have no legal right!" Dorkin said angrily, attempting to grab Chen away from the chains. Before he could lay his hands upon Ilene, Rick socked him right in the jaw and Dorkin went down.

"Yeah? Well screw legality pal." Rick said, shaking his fist off. It hurt since this was the first scrap he'd been in sober for some time.

Ogra continued her rampage through London, making a line straight for her child. G-Team's main mission was now to evacuate people and reduce the amount of lives lost through the devastating attacks of the Titan. She roared furiously as she pushed past cars, bridges, and even smaller buildings. It was at that moment that Ogra's fin like ears began to twitch. A loud bassy hum was heard from behind the Titan. Then, it incrementally got higher and higher in pitch until when she turned around she was met with a flash of bright blue. The beam ripped through the night sky, shining brightly as it blasted Ogra and pushed her back and down upon the ground. She roared in pain as she lay there. Her red eyes landing upon the figure the stood before her. A low pitched growl was made from the Titan before, a single step of his massive foot rocked the ground around him. Yellow eyes fell upon this unfamiliar creature, nostrils flared, blue light flashed from the jagged dorsal plates, and finally a mighty roar pierced the silence. There before Ogra stood her King, Titanus Gojira. Godzilla. His head turned a little as Ogra rose up from the ground. She let out a defiant roar of her own. She had come this far to claim her child and she would not be stopped now, not even by the alpha.

Ogra's eyes once again began to shine bright red, a high pitched noise rising up from within the Titan until finally unleashing her pointed sonic beam right at the King of the Monsters. Godzilla's hands went up to clutch at his ears, clearly stunned by what had just happened. Ogra used this opportunity to charge at him, throwing her massive fists up like gigantic wrecking balls that sent Godzilla crashing down to the ground with a loud crash. Everything beneath him being destroyed in the process. Godzilla growled, his brow furrowed as he rose himself back up. Another roar was made as he reached out, grabbing onto her neck and then sinking his teeth into her scaly flesh.

His massive legs marching forward and despite Ogra's attempts to stop with her feet Godzilla seemed to effortlessly push Ogra back. She wrapped her claws around the sides of the beast and sunk her claws into him. Her head ripping away from his jaws which she then used to crash into Godzilla, still holding him there so he would get the full force of it. Groaning at the pain of it, again the low pitch was hear from Godzilla. His dorsal plates began to shine bright blue starting at the end of his tail and working their way up until finally he unleashed his bio-atomic breath directly at Ogra once more.

She was send back a good ways and collapsed upon landing. The full force of Godzilla's beam was too much for the formidable Titan. She attempted to get back up but simply could not. The victory seemed to go to Godzilla. He then began to approach Ogra. Whether to finish her off or drag her off to the sea was unclear. But, he was stopped in his tracks when he felt something grab onto his tail. His long tail whipped forward, sending whatever had attached itself rolling towards the downed Ogra.

To Godzilla's surprise it was a miniature version of the much larger creature. Rick and Chen had successfully managed to free Gorgo it seemed. The very small creature rose up and stood in between Godzilla and Ogra. Though much smaller, Gorgo let out a roar that told the alpha to back away from his mother. Godzilla' nostrils let out a heavy breath at the sight of this. A memory sparked within the King's mind. A much smaller Godzilla's body limp and lifeless. The body had been charred and burnt by lightening from the sky. No, not lightening. From that [i]thing[/i] that came from the sky. Godzilla tried to nudge the smaller creature with his nose, hoping to wake up the poor thing. But no, it was dead. Godzilla's son lay there dead at his feet, now he was truly alone. The last of his kind. Letting out a sorrowful roar that snapped him out of the memory Godzilla looked upon Gorgo. At this point, Ogra had managed to get back onto her feet and had pushed her child back so that Godzilla could not harm her baby. Her red eyes met Godzilla's yellow and they seemed to have a moment of understanding. Turning around, the King of the Monsters lead Ogra and Gorgo back to the sea. The mother took her child in her massive hands and cradled him very much like a human would do to their child. London very much in ruins behind them. The three Titans let out one final roar together before they were swallowed by the ocean once more.

[blade-liger-4ever]

Glad I'm not the only one who ships them. 😊

“I don’t suppose your family has any tips in slaying dragons, do you?”

“Slaying dragons is a western concept. In the east, they are sacred. Divine creatures who brought wisdom and strength. Even redemption.”

[hrodvitnon]

I love how Monarch now has two Illenes lol.

Now I want both of them in a single movie or episode, someone says "Ilene" instead of "Dr. Chen/Dr. Andrews" and they both react.

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

This is what happened when you haven't predict your chosen path, and yet you are willing to fight/die in sacrificing those whom you hate/love, right?

Feat. my own take of MonsterVerse Belvera as Fei Lu Chen (left) and Ilene Chen (right).

Belvera is an alias she christened herself as Alan Jonah's right-handed eco-terrorist companion. She will be an antagonist on the second unnamed Godzilla fanfic.

But be warned!!!

For she will suffer a greatest curse between the Black Prince and a Void Black Star...

HUGE ANGST IS INCOMING FOR HER.

LET THIS BITCH SUFFER...

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...or so?

"The price is so dear...but so too the reward."

[uhhhyaenbyjade]

How I Would Change Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (if i was smart enough to direct and write movies)

DISCLAIMER: I loved GxK, and I believe it is an entertaining movie! This is just my take on how I would've liked to see things happen, with it connecting to the previous installments more, as well as tweaking some minor details here and there.

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE

So, the biggest change I am adding is that Madison Russell from Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong. I was honestly surprised when I heard that Millie Bobby Brown wasn't involved in the project at all, and I feel like Maddie's presence could have really helped flesh out some of the human aspects of the movie.

The only other thing I am really changing from the movie is adding cameos that link the movies together better, as well as making some minor attempts at making the science less... fantastical. I am not deleting any scenes from the movie, just altering them and adding a few more. Hopefully, this keeps a good balance between the human aspect versus the Titan aspect. So, the movie would probably turn out to be approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes in length, compared to the 1 hour 55 minute run time. I am only going to have bullet points for the parts I am altering/adding, so anything I leave out from the movie is otherwise unchanged or doesn't have enough of a difference to warrant a bullet point.

During the scene where we see updates of MONARCH over the past few years, we don't just see Dr. Ilene Andrews in interviews, but also cameos from Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling Chen, and possibly some other cameos like Sam Coleman or Mark Russell. Less emphasis on being thankful for Godzilla's help (because yeah he's helping, but also thousands of people are dying directly from him), but more emphasis is placed on MONARCH helping with relief efforts, and the usage of the Titan Warning System we saw in MONARCH: Legacy of Monsters. Also, instead of the other MONARCH person we see in charge (who I think is Hampton, Rachel House's character?) we see Deputy Director Verdugo.

Another small change is that MONARCH isn't trying to "stay ahead of DC" here. I understand why they did that, but from my understanding of the previous iterations in the Monsterverse series, MONARCH was supposed to be considered trustworthy and the top Titan research group after King of the Monsters, especially after the fall of APEX. So, instead, MONARCH is just trying to find what answers they can give to the United Nations as soon as possible.

When Godzilla kills Scylla, we get an explanation of how Scylla was causing problems to the natural world, as well as directly challenging Godzilla for Alpha status, which was explored in Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted.

At the MONARCH school (which I really hope is a school for children of MONARCH employees, or at least a school funded by MONARCH, and not an indoctrination school), we see that Jia is a student at the school, and Maddie is there as well (I don't know what year this movie takes place in, but it takes place sometime after GvK in 2024. Timeline-wise, Maddie was 17 in 2024, and probably a junior/senior in high school, so depending on how long it's been since GvK, she could be a teaching assistant of some kind, or a senior in high school) and friends of each other. They both have visions as the Hollow Earth signal is received; Jia has flashbacks of her past on Skull Island and of her time in Hollow Earth, and Maddie has flashbacks of her encounter with Mothra, Godzilla, as well as when she faced Ghidorah and MechaGodzilla. Both of them also have the same quick flashing vision of the future events of the movie.

When Ilene comes to check on Jia after the incident of her drawing on the desk, Maddie is there, and there's a new scene where all three of them talk about what is going on. Maddie says that MONARCH is too rigid in their thinking, and mentions that there's someone who could help them.

In Miami, Maddie and Ilene meet up with Bernie, and Maddie is integral in helping Ilene convince Bernie to help.

During Trapper's introduction scene where he gives Kong his new tooth, we also have Nathan Lind and Mark Russell show up to witness the event. They are both there to say goodbye to the Hollow Earth transport team, and Maddie joins Trapper, Ilene, Jia, Bernie, and a MONARCH military member (instead of the asshole Mikael, it would be one of the G-Team members from Godzilla KOTM to add more emphasis on their death; either Jackson Barnes or Anthony Martinez would probably be the most recognizable ones)

Instead of Godzilla going to France's nuclear power plant and destroying the place to absorb the radiation, and therefore attacking the humans who attacked him (which kind of went against the whole "the Titans are the guardians of nature" thing and the previous characterizations of Godzilla in the Monsterverse), he goes to some abandoned nuclear site. I would say Chernobyl, but I doubt they'd put that in the movie due to Russia's Invasion right now. But just some abandoned nuclear plant somewhere would work.

Inside Hollow Earth, there are issues with the HEAV due to the signal disrupting the systems, but they are quickly able to figure out the best way to traverse the land; when Jia and Maddie sense the pulse, the HEAV lands until it is over, and then repeat. On their first landing, the G-Team member dies. After they find the Mothra temple, it is Maddie who approaches the glowing dragonfly and presses the button on the wall, allowing them to find the Iwi civilization.

In the scene where we first see Shimo, there is more emphasis and origin on the crystal that Skar King uses to control her; perhaps the crystal is a part of Shimo's ice crystals that we see on her back, and has strange properties due to the Hollow Earth's radiation? We also give Shimo more of a personality. When she first appears, Shimo would be curious about Kong, but flinch at sharp movements from anyone. And then when she is forced to attack, it'd be obvious that she doesn't want to, but Skar King forces her to with the crystal.

I want Shimo to have more characterization in the movie. I've seen people complain that she was just... kinda there. Like, her whole purpose was to keep Skar King from getting bullied too badly. So, by really showing that Shimo is being forced into this and that her natural state is curiosity and warmth (as opposed to her icy nature ;D ), it provides more depth to her character, making the viewers want to see her freed.

When Godzilla arrives at Tiamat's lair, they fight again, but instead of killing Tiamat, Godzilla is able to force Tiamat out like he did in Godzilla: Dominion. Again, too much unnecessary (although insanely badass) murder for a "guardian of nature". He goes into the hibernation to evolve himself.

In the Iwi civilization, we get a more scientific look at the Iwi culture. I don't understand the gravity thing the movie tried to go for, so instead I want to focus on the cultural aspect; they are similar in most aspects to what was seen in Kong: Skull Island, but there are clear differences in dress, the markings they wear, and their ceremonies. This would also be where we go into more detail about how essential Mothra is to this group of Iwi people, instead of her being shoehorned in when all we've seen previously was the Iwi and Kong's species. We see Jia figuring this out and clearly being happy at this. I would also go into them using crystals more, like how we saw with the guard's spears, instead of the gravity-based science. These crystals would be seen to have a mystic quality, explained by Mothra's radiation, perhaps.

When Kong arrives at the Iwi civilization with Suko, that's when Trapper leaves to go back to the Outpost to retrieve the gauntlet for Kong, THEN we go into seeing the lore behind Skar King and Shimo at the temple. This provides a better sense of time between Kong's arrival and his getting the gauntlet since it honestly felt way too fast.

Inside the crystal temple itself, we see the history of the war between Skar King and his ape versus Godzilla and Mothra. I'd love to have Shimo seen more as a threat, with them explicitly saying and having a longer conversation that Shimo was the one who started the last Ice Age, and that before she was captured by Skar King, she had frozen Ghidorah in Antarctica. There is perhaps slightly more exposition here, with the prophecy including not only the "Iwi from Skull Island", but "a girl touched by Mothra".

In this scene, I want to explore Maddie's connection to Mothra. In the Godzilla: King of the Monsters Official Novelization, it is implied that there is some connection between Mothra and Maddie after the scene in the Temple of the Moth. It is hinted at when Maddie has a vision of Mothra while she is unconscious during the Boston battle. I would love to explore that more, and there'd be a deeper explanation in the Official Novelization, something with Mothra bonding with Maddie since there weren't any twin priestesses like there usually is, perhaps.

This is when Trapper returns and gives Kong the gauntlet, and when Jia sends the latter up to bring Godzilla down to help.

Maddie and Jia both go up the crystal temple to the top, where they find that Mothra has a cocoon up there; Maddie realizes that this is what Mothra must have been doing before she arrived in Boston to help Godzilla (I remember reading somewhere that the director said that Mothra was likely off laying an egg during her absence between showing MONARCH where to find Godzilla and her arrival in Boston. This would work really well in my opinion, and a lot better than her materializing out of magic crystal dust.

When Kong arrives on the surface to summon Godzilla, they still fight a bit. However, it becomes clear early on that Godzilla really isn't into the fight; he has obviously been sensing the signal the whole time, so he knows that something is happening with Skar King and Shimo. With previous movies (and especially MONARCH: Legacy of Monsters) trying to convey Godzilla's intelligence, it isn't a far stretch to suggest that Godzilla would figure out that Kong is trying to get his help. Still, the fight goes on for long enough that Mothra arrives to keep them from beating each other up too much. We see Jia and Maddie reach out to Kong and Godzilla respectively.

When Skar King arrives at the Iwi civilization, the Iwi tribe uses their knowledge of the region's radioactive properties (again, nothing gravity-based science-wise because that was all confusing and likely very bad science) to try and send energy through the crystals, messing with the portals from Hollow Earth.

There is no more anti-gravity fight scene. Although I enjoyed it a lot (seeing Godzilla swim through the air and the apes use the rocks to climb around were honestly so cool), it doesn't fit with the "improved" science I am attempting to do. Another ground fight, but they go around the tunnel so they're all still fighting on different planes.

Due to the close proximity to the surface, Ilene is able to warn MONARCH, and they work with the United Nations to evacuate Rio de Janeiro, since there is a tunnel appearing there. This brings us back to the beginning, where I wanted to do away with the "be grateful for Godzilla even though he destroys thousands of people's lives every time he's on the news" thing at the start.

When Skar King and Shimo arrive in Rio de Janeiro, since Kong, Godzilla, and Mothra are unable to stop them due to the immense amount of apes in Skar King's army, there is a lot of destruction. We see Skar King force Shimo into starting another Ice Age, though again, we see that she really doesn't want to do what he says. She starts freezing the city, and the MONARCH evacuation teams there panic as they get closer to their position, before Godzilla, Kong, Jia, Maddie, Trapper, and Bernie (the humans are in the HEAV, with a brief exposition that Mothra was staying back to stop all of Skar King's apes from destroying the Iwi civilization).

This fight is pretty much the same, but the civilians are barely present, and we only see them evacuating a few people away in the HEAV. The final battle still focuses mainly on the Titans, with a heavy amount of emphasis on the crystal from Skar King's whip. I'd keep the absolute bullying that Skar King got the same, but the explanation for this is that Skar King is much older now, and his opponents over-leveled themselves expecting him in his prime.

Mothra arrives from the tunnel, and this is what distracts Skar King long enough for Suko to use Kong's axe to break the crystal that controls Shimo. Once this happens, we see that Shimo can feel it, and she immediately stops attacking Godzilla and looks around in curiosity and amazement. She flinches when Skar King is trying to order her around while he is being bullied by Kong, but with a trill from Mothra and a growl from Godzilla, she joins in bullying her tormentor.

After the fight, there is more of a delay before the ending; we see Bernie on the news talking about his podcast, achieving his movie-long wish to be believed; we see Maddie saying goodbye to Mothra as she leaves and Maddie reunites with her dad and also Josh from GvK; Jia stays with Ilene, but she has a newfound connection to the Iwi sister tribe in the Hollow Earth; Mothra flies across the ocean while Godzilla swims below her to emphasize the symbiotic relationship, and they both take a nap in the coliseum (Godzilla is considerably more careful as he steps through the city this time); Kong returns to the Hollow Earth with Suko and Shimo, and he leads the apes out of their imprisoned area and to the main area of Hollow Earth, where his kingdom is.

For an end credits scene, it'd be Ilene and Jia in the Iwi civilization, where they get permission from the priest lady to see a special part of the temple, where it reveals prophecy-art of Kong, Mothra, and Godzilla fighting against their next enemy.

Obviously, without anything known about future projects, we don't have any end credits scene for this movie. If there is another movie (I thought I saw somewhere that Adam Wingard wanted to direct a trilogy of Monsterverse movies, which means another GxK installment could be in the future, perhaps?), I don't think they'd do what many people want and bring back a Toho villain. Based on the trend of what they've done in the series so far, the next installment would include an original villain with some connection to both of them. So I'll list out some options of what I'd like to see, of both Toho villains and original villains:

Toho: Hedorah, Biollante, Destoroyah, and my personal choice; Battra.

Original: Methuselah, Leviathan, another threat from space (not SpaceGodzilla, since that'd be difficult to work out in this series I think, but maybe something along the lines of Ghidorah's family, since I think they were briefly mentioned in the King of the Monsters Official Novelization), or another threat that goes against Hollow Earth and the surface. Maybe a giant worm-like creature or burrowing Titan could be a good idea, since it'd be able to go back and forth between the two worlds. It'd provide a nice background for how the portals are made.

So, there it is! I hope you guys enjoyed it and like my ideas for how Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire could have been improved. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[tinyreviews]

Tiny Review: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 2024. Violent kids show.

There’s a thin theme of parenting. With the relationship of Ilene and Jia on the line, and the lone ape and cub scenes. It’s all cursory to final fight. 

The closing mom-daughter moment could have hit harder, more emotional, imo. 

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a 2024 American monster film directed by Adam Wingard. It is the sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen.

[dasavvyexpert]

This is how I imagine Ilene Chen and Rick Stanton responding to Godzilla becoming more aggressive in GvK & GxK: The New Empire. Just a little callback to KotM.

[greatrunner]

"[...]When the shock wave hit them, Chen grabbed Mark’s hand. He was so surprised he nearly forgot they were about to die. He gripped back. It felt good. Warm, familiar."

"[...]But when it all sorted out, they were floating. Maybe not for long, but for now. The power was still on, if a bit jittery. He was still holding Chen’s hand. He didn’t let go. “Are you okay?” he asked her. Breathless and wide-eyed, she nodded. She didn’t let go either. He thought how long it had been since he’d held anyone’s hand, had the simple comfort of being physically in touch with another human being. It was especially nice in the face of pure terror…"

Memory is a monster, but I'm relieved to learn that mine hasn't completely fabricated events as I remembered them. It only did that a little bit.

[lollipencil]

SuperMoon: Part 5

This might be my favourite story I've thought of.

Enjoy and be gentle ---

Jake was staring down the barrel of a very big problem. One composed of various little problems.

The first had cuddled them inside their own head, and possibly changed them in whatever they were now. Second was that Steven was awake in Headspace, eyes wide with curiosity and confusion. Third, his neck itched like crazy.

"So, what's this place anyway?" Steven asked when the silence dragged on. "Headspace," Jake opted for honesty, given the situation. "Ok, and where's Headspace?" Steven frowned slightly. "Um, well, it's...it's like the inside of a wardrobe." "Ok?" "Yeah, you take something out when you want to wear it, and put it back when not, but it's ready for the next time you want to," Jake said frantically, hoping it made sence, "Everything has the 'owner' in common and-, and each piece of clothing is taken care of and is safe and real and I'm fucking this up, aren't I?" "No, no you're not," Steven soothed as Jake grit his teeth tightly, "It's ok. I don't really get what you're trying to say, do you think you can simplify it a bit?"

Oh, how Jake wished he could. He wished that a few simple words could smooth this whole thing out. But, he supposed, Steven was bound to eventually find out.

So Jake clenched everything he had and just said it: "We're inside the head of our shared body."

---

Dr Ilene Chen sighed internally, "So the deaths at the temple of Khonshu were caused by humans?" "Yes," the G-Team leader stated, "All have wounds consistant with bullet holes. Additionally, all members of the 'security detail' are absent. Although, we have yet to find a body for a Dr Abdallah El-Faouly, but we have found human-sized footprints leading to titan-sized ones." Ilene rolled this fact around her head. "Khonshu is associated with vengence and justice," her sister Ling replied, "It's possible that he saw these events or otherwise sensed them, and chose to save at least one member of the expedition."

Ilene nodded, "Maybe. Do we know where Khonshu is now?" "Drones have the titan on camera digging further out," G-Team Leader explained, "Looks almost like he's searching for something." Suddenly, a victorious cry split the night air. "Shit, the titan's on the move!" "Can you tell why their behaviour changed?" Ilene asked as Ling began to gather documents together. "Negative, sending in a spare drone to his previous location now." "Keep following Khonshu and see if you can get us the contact details of any living relatives of the doctor."

When the communication channel was cut off, Ilene turned to her sister. "I'll get the equipment ready," Ling said as they both left the room.

---

Abdallah couldn't sleep. The only time he tried, he was greeted with the fear-frozen, bloody faces of his colleagues and Marc's shrill screams. So he didn't.

Thankfully, Layla had opted to sleep in the living room as well.

Walking back in after getting a drink, he stopped and looked at them both. At Layla's calm and peacefullness. How Marc radiated the air of a cat lying in a sunbeam, even as his brow furrowed slightly. It was amazing, how he could be so at pease about the whole thing.

Unless it was because of the situation. The creature was clearly affectionate towards Marc, it took Abdallah promising to take care of him for the creature to reluctantly leave. Looking at Marc's feathers, it suddenly hit him.

That creature had adopted Marc. And Abdallah was babysitting.

He had to choke down a giggle. Of cource, why not? Tears of supressed laughter and cresting grief poured down his cheeks as Abdallah sat next to Marc's nest. A shaking hand settled into Marc's curls. He made no sound, but his head tilted to push into the warmth of his hand. Marc's brow relaxed minutely.

A wobbly smile worked its way onto Abdallah's face. And there he stayed, until a dreamless sleep finally claimed him.

[emeraldspiral]

Random unsorted thoughts on Godzilla x Kong:

Both this film and the last one felt like they had a story for Kong but were really struggling to come up with anything for Godzilla, so they just have him attacking random cities to kill time until they actually need him for the finale. This story in particular feels like they could've easily just cut Godzilla out all together and made it a solo Kong movie.

I'm glad Shimo didn't die, she's very pretty and she suffered a lot and deserved better.

When Ilene said to Bernie "We met in Hong Kong" I actually said out like "No you didn't". The two parties were never shown on screen together for the entire movie.

Mothra was underutilized once again but at least she's back now and didn't die, so hopefully she'll get her due in the next film. She really felt like a late addition though cause they didn't really do much set-up to explain why she was hibernating in the Hollow Earth already in moth form or why Jia was needed to awaken her.

Also, when they first introduced the Iwi leader before showing her face, I thought there was gonna be a plot twist where it turned out the Iwi didn't die in the storm, they escaped into the Hollow Earth and the leader would turn out to be Jia's twin sister. So the reason they needed Jia was because Mothra can only be awakened by a pair of twins with psychic powers. The fact that they didn't do this just kinda makes me a little angrier about the fact that they didn't bring back Ilene Chen or her sister when they were already set-up as the Monsterverse equivalent of Mothra's fairies.

It seems like they didn't get the music rights back for this movie because both Mothra and Godzilla's leitmotifs sound like generic knock-offs.

One thing this movie does that I really appreciate, and have actually been asking for, is extended sequences where we're just following the monsters with no humans around and no dialog. We get a lot of that in Kong's story, and I guess they felt like it was a safe enough choice because primates are very humanlike and can express themselves in ways that are very readable to humans. Plus the apes are supposed to be pretty intelligent, so they can put Kong into a story that could easily have been about a human character. I would like to see Godzilla get some of that treatment too, but I doubt they'll ever do it because it's harder to make him look and act human or put him into a humanly relatable plot. But like, I want that though. I want something almost like a nature documentary where it's just about animal survival in the wild, not a whole thing about finding a kingdom of primates enslaved by a cruel dictator using an ice dragon to keep everyone in line and fighting to liberate them from their oppressor.

Kong's arm brace was a deus ex machina if I ever saw one. Literally nothing hinted at its existence until it was needed to solve a very specific problem immediately after it was introduced. The entire thing plays out as one contrived coincidence after another. Like, "We had an idea for a thing, but they said it was a bad idea and shut it down. BUT ONLY AFTER WE ALREADY BUILT A WHOLE ENTIRE PROTOTYPE THAT WORKS PERFECTLY. Also, it just happens to be where we are right now. Also convenient that it was Kong's right arm instead of his left that got hurt, or one of his legs. Also, the explanation for it is that they wanted to give him an enhancement so he'd stand more of a chance against something like Godzilla in the future. It wasn't supposed to be a medical device, but it just happened to have a system for injecting Kong with meds built in, and also had those meds already loaded into the syringes ready to go at a moment's notice.

This is the third time a Titan being critically injured and needing human assistance before the final battle has been a plot point. When it happened in KOTM I feel like it worked because it was a very simple fix: Godzilla's hurt and needs radiation to regenerate, so we detonate a bomb to give him a lot of it at once so he can regenerate faster and kick Ghidorah's ass. Second time it happened it was like, "Isn't this already a discredited cliche by now? Like, that's not what defib paddles are for or how they work." In this movie, when they first introduced Trapper I was like, "Oh cool, a Titan veterinarian. That makes sense as a world building element and it gives the human characters a way to impact the story without it feeling forced." Like, the vet would be able to diagnose problems that the Titans are experiencing and figure out how to treat them, or make educated guesses about what an antagonistic Titan's weakness might be and how to exploit it based on his understanding of Titan biomedicine. But after pulling Kong's tooth, Trapper being a vet doesn't really affect the plot. Like, he didn't need that background just to know the arm brace existed and go get it and put it on him. They didn't even emphasize like, him having good beside manner to keep Kong calm because he knows how to work with animals.

I do appreciate that they introduced him as Ilene's ex so you think they're maybe going to get back together, but then for the rest of the movie it seems like it's actually Trapper and Bernie who've got the romance subplot going on.

I did not expect Kong being smart and resourceful and capable of making traps to end up being the set-up for some actually kinda hilarious moments like beaning a monkey with a rock and hitting Godzilla with pocket sand. Kong trying to drag Godzilla into the Hollow Earth by the tail was also funny. The whole reunion in general is kind of hilarious because they parted on good terms, Kong figures out that he needs help and goes to get Godzilla, but Godzilla's like "I thought I told you never to show your face here again!" so Kong just tries to straight-up kidnap him. Then Mothra shows up to make Godzilla understand why Kong is trying to make him deal with his problems.

Although, Godzilla was already juicing up like crazy because he was hearing the Iwi distress calls right? So he knew something was coming and he wanted to help, but he didn't want to hear it when Kong came to actually ask for help.

[monarch-afterdark]

Is it possible for a human to develop the ability to communicate with a Titan?

Not just through gestures, like Jia does with Kong, but perhaps through voice or even some kind of telepathy?

Potentially, yes, but just as Jia's bond with Kong is an exceptionally rare phenomenon, so too would telepathic or vocal communication with Titans.

In fact, Monarch's own Ilene and Ling Chen have mentioned a potential telepathic bond with the Titan Mothra that has run in their family for generations.

[blade-liger-4ever]

Five years later, and I still ship them.

this ship dynamic tho *chef’s kiss*