#for context it is a mohawk; not like one that goes straight up but like relaxed y’know

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 324: Is There a Force Field Around Him??

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all “please tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.” Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all “if only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Ochako was all “LISTEN UP PEOPLE.” The mob was all, “god??” Ochako was all, “NO, IT’S ME, OCHAKO. I’M REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HE’S JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.” Let’s see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “so I have this speech planned out, and it’s really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but I’m gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.” Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and it’s all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.

omg we are opening on a callback to chapter 212, a.k.a. the chapter with by far the cutest flashback that doesn’t involve any baby Todorokis

baby Ochako is lethally cute. she could literally murder someone with her cuteness. I just want to scoop her up and play airplane with her until she accidentally activates her quirk while we’re spinning around and we both helicopter up into the air never to be seen again

“a child’s insistence” huh well that’s all well and good, but I sure hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to drag out the whole “sternly lecture the obnoxious citizens” plot for another whole chapter. no offense but I think we’re good

so page 2 is just continuing the whole happy/worried faces monologue, which of course is very important to Ochako’s character as it provides the context for why “who protects the heroes” ended up becoming her thing. and this is making me think we actually are in for a whole second chapter of this sob. when will my boy finally get to rest

OH MY GOD SUDDENLY THESE PEOPLE HAVE EYES IMAGINE THAT

HORIKOSHI: [reaches for a box of tissues while tearfully penning an homage to his beloved Spider-Man 2, specifically the train scene where the crowd sees Peter without his mask and they suddenly realize just how young he is]

HORIKOSHI’S HOMAGE SCENE: “COME TO THINK OF IT, I GUESS IT WAS KIND OF MEAN FOR US TO PICK ON THIS TEN YEAR OLD KID WHO WEIGHS 75 POUNDS AND LOOKS LIKE HE LOST A FIGHT WITH SATAN’S MOLDY OLD BASEMENT”

lol at this one guy who can feel the mood of the crowd shifting and is all “WAIT, NO, I WANTED TO KEEP BEING AN ASSHOLE DAMMIT”

as many pointed out last week, this man is wearing an All Might shirt. that’s some fantastic irony there

-- SDKFJWIGKS

“LITTLE GIRL, I HOPE YOU’RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE WALKING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A SOVIET-ERA BUS STOP.” heh. last week I said I was ashamed of BnHA being my favorite manga. that was a lie, actually

(ETA: in the original Japanese Ochako’s next two lines are basically “the only ones covered in mud will be us heroes!” followed by “please give us some time to get rid of the mud”, with that second line basically being the single funniest thing I’ve ever read rdslkjl. Ochako thank you so much for supporting my running gags. “YEAH WE KNOW HE’S DIRTY. WE ARE GONNA TRY AND CLEAN HIM UP, BUT IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, I’M JUST SAYING. I MEAN LOOK AT HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE AN ASBESTOS COSPLAY.”)

doesn’t the megaphone kind of look ever so slightly like an axe that she’s wielding maniacally here

easy there Lizzie Borden

also that’s a really bold claim to make there. and not one she necessarily should have to make, either. but as we all know, there’s nothing that shounen manga likes more than having its heroes bravely hoist heavy burdens of responsibility like good self-sacrificing citizens

p.s. lowkey loving how Kacchan is positioned here standing slightly behind Deku. not presuming to stand in front of him all overprotectively (because he would hate if anyone ever did that to him), and kind of being unobtrusive and letting others take center stage -- but still being close enough to Deku that he can catch him if he stumbles or passes out again

(ETA: or maybe not lmao.

DEKU: [falls to his knees]

KACCHAN: [glancing up from his phone a few minutes later] “someone just sent me the stupidest meme about milk crates -- oh. uh. you good...?”

really, son. “the burdens you can’t carry, we’ll carry them for you. ...later, I mean. right now it’s late, and we’re all cold and wet.”)

also lowkey loving this OchaTsu moment here

I was going back and binging Ochako chapters this past week for reasons, and I gotta say it really stuck out to me just how often these two are paired with each other. they do everything together. it’s a really sweet friendship that often goes unappreciated but it’s very cute

meanwhile, not to be outdone by the OchaTsu, Iida is staring at Ochako with open admiration talking about how she’s fighting too. it’s been so long since we’ve had any IidaRaka you guys. I was starving and I didn’t even know it

oh my lord IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING

THE LIGHT IS BACK. he finally looks like him again. what a cathartic fucking moment omg

ffklkdw

“I KNOW YOU ARE ALL SCARED, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, WE DEFINITELY CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY AND WE ARE ALL SCARED TOO!” good pep talk there kiddo

BUT, jokes aside, truth be told this is the exact right approach to take imo, and something that’s long overdue. I’ve said this before, but this new generation of heroes is shaping up to be much more transparent than the All Might generation. they’re basically abandoning the almighty, untouchable Superman “heroes as gods” concept in favor of the more nuanced “heroes as people” concept instead. and that’s a good thing. seeing their heroes as humans, with human limitations and weaknesses and flaws, will hopefully not only lead to more scrutiny and accountability, but also more awareness of how hard some of them are working and how much they’re sacrificing. that’s something All Might never quite grasped back at the start of the series -- that the weak, vulnerable, injured him could be just as inspiring as the mighty, invincible him -- perhaps even more so. there’s a power in seeing otherwise ordinary people show extraordinary bravery and compassion. it inspires others to try and do the same

SSDLHK AIZAWA SIGHTING AAHHHHHH

so he was still back at the hospital this whole time?? smdh at this disrespect. that feeling when your sexy self-insert character’s powers of rationality are too strong, and so you have to nerf him so that he doesn’t ruin your Deku Angst arc twice over by (1) immediately talking some sense into Deku and making him come home Right This Instant Young Man, and (2) not allowing him to leave U.A. in the first fucking place. excuse me, you want to do WHAT now, Midoriya?? that’s it, go to your room

also living for Katsuki and Hawks’s soft expressions. Shouto’s too, although his is tinier and harder to see. and Jeanist’s 12-foot-long neck. imagine Jeanist’s head with Mic’s hair. maybe Jeanist had a mohawk back in the day and that’s why U.A.’s doors are so big now

speaking of soft faces, Enji’s is also excellent

what could this random close-up possibly imply?? hell if I know. but Horikoshi truly fears no discourse and that’s what I love about him

OMGGGG

“smh my child is so dumb.” poor Ochadad. your child is cute af count your blessings

SDOFFHSMH

I’m telling you guys. lethally, catastrophically cute

this speech is still ongoing lol. Horikoshi you’re doing so good but I think we get the point now my dude. you gotta learn how to transition out of these things

UNEXPECTED TOGA WHAT

“there we go” Horikoshi says, crossing off the last line on his list of Ochako ships. “that’s all of ‘em”

poor Ochako is just repeating the same “LET HIM REST, PLEASE, WITH EVERYONE’S COOPERATION, IF YOU DON’T MIND, WE APPRECIATE IT” talking points over and over again hoping someone will throw her a bone and acknowledge her already. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HER

literally they’re all just staring up at her silently omg. work with me people!!

now she’s saying it for the 56th time but more dramatically all of a sudden

they got so dramatic that for a minute I thought she had suddenly leaped off the building or something

look, not to rush you or anything Horikoshi, but I’m starting to get the feeling that this is yet another one of those “the volume is ending soon so I need to either hurry things up or slow things down in order to make sure we end it on my perfect cliffhanger ending” chapters where you go to ridiculous lengths to drag things out much to the exasperation of your week-to-week readers

(ETA: ftr, volume 31 ended on chapter 306, and I’m predicting that vol. 32 will end with chapter 316 (a.k.a. “you’re next!” [explodes]). I’m guessing vol. 33 will follow suit and likely end on chapter 326, so keep your eyes peeled for a big cliffhanger in two weeks’ time. Deku’s dad?? All Might in peril?? U.A. traitor at long fucking last?? we shall see.)

is Deku straight up falling in love with Ochako right on the spot lol what is happening

I know I just said that I enjoy when Horikoshi gives zero fucks about discourse, but shipping discourse is a whole different beast lol. I hope he’s prepared

(ETA: and for the record, I have no interest in shipping discourse either, as always. and I think this scene can be interpreted as platonic, tbh, with the context being that Ochako was literally introduced as someone who was willing to help him so casually without a second thought, and now here she is saving him again.

I don’t think it really fully hit Deku until this moment how much he needed saving. like I said in another meta somewhere, selflessness is basically just selfishness on behalf of others. and Deku is selfless to a fault, but that’s okay, and it doesn’t mean he needs to change -- he just needs friends who are willing to be be selfish on his behalf in turn. and I think the full emotion of what it means to have friends like that just hit him at last. everything his friends have done for him, how much he needed it and didn’t even realize, and how grateful he is. anyways what a terrible day for rain.)

-- son of a --

is he apologizing?? or pleading?? please tell me that’s not the case, because what the actual fuck. Deku you beautiful precious radiant selfless child, this is the exact opposite of how this should be. all these motherfuckers should be on their knees apologizing to you

DEKU WHY

I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS FREAKING BOMBARDMENT OF EMOTIONS GODDAMIT. OUT HERE ARMED WITH YOUR FREAKING TREBUCHET OF FEELS TO LAUNCH AT ME UNPROVOKED. WHAT’S WITH THAT

FREAKING CHRIST. THIS BOY IS CRYING HIS EYES OUT AND HORIKOSHI IS JUST ZOOMING IN WITH THE CAMERA, LIKE CAN WE JUST CUT HIM A BREAK ALREADY. ENOUGH OF THIS. HE’S SO YOUNG AND HE TRIES SO HARD AND I JUST NEED HIM TO FEEL SAFE, HORIKOSHI PLEASE CAN YOU JUST GIVE ME THAT ALREADY WHAT IS THE FREAKING HOLD UP!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY!!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY PLEASE BE MY HUGGER BY PROXY!! SERIOUSLY GIRL IF YOU JUST HOLD YOUR UMBRELLA OVER HIM OR SOMETHING AND DON’T GO THE EXTRA MILE I’M ABOUT TO LODGE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW

!!!!

A KOUTA IS GOOD TOO!!! oh my god if Kouta hugs him I will seriously 100% straight up cry. go on and test me

FOR THE LOVE OF --

is this man expressly forbidden from drawing hugs in his contract or something. DO YOU DO IT JUST TO SPITE ME?? this is tyranny, sir

AND I KNOW, THIS PAGE ACTUALLY CHALLENGED THE VERY PREMISE OF THE SERIES ITSELF, AND HERE I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT HUGS, OR THE LACK THEREOF. “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes.” and just like that, he waves a polite middle finger at all of the Strongest Greatest Chosen One shounen protags of old, in favor of something much less conventional, much more interesting, and much more suited to Deku’s character. because if that one sentence doesn’t just sum up Deku to a T. he gladly relinquishes his Greatest Hero status in favor of acknowledging the hero in everyone. what a class act. that’s my protagonist

I love this kid so fucking much I swear. only just PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. GIVE HIM HIS HUG

[vee-angel]

Upcoming Story Introductions

I just wanted to write a brief introduction to give a quick look at some of up-and-coming stories and story series I have in the works.

--The Pervert Pentet--

This is going to be a series of stories exploring the lives of five women who each embrace and exemplify a certain extreme fetish lifestyle. There is:

Potty-Mouth Piper- Skinny girl with Swedish ancestry and a punk-rock aesthetic. Piper is the epitome of a filth-fetishist. On top of living up to her name in the sense that she often insists that her mouth be used as a toilet, she speaks and acts in the most obscene ways possible. As an example, she has a tattoo on the side of her head (which is shaved into a green mohawk) which reads “Ass to Mouth 4Ever.” However, rather than the normal interpretation that anything that’s been up her ass must immediately go into her mouth, she insists that anything that goes into her mouth must have first been up her (or someone else’s) ass. Piper identifies as a lesbian, but is more-or-less free-use for any gender, due to her love of obscenity and bodily fluids. The early part of her story takes place in high school where she meets the love of her life; a timid filth-fetishist names Mackenzie; she becomes obsessed with Piper, who slowly helps Mackenzie open up to her fantasies. Mackenzie helps Piper feel as though she has someone who actually accepts her.

Sharking Sherry- Soft, feminine body with very pretty breasts, slightly large for her frame. Half-Japanese/Half Caucasian. Exposure/exhibitionism fetishist. Sherry grew up in a very Americanized family, but from a young age, she felt drawn to her Japanese ancestry. Her parents had no objections to her engaging in her Japanese culture (after all, things like Pokemon and anime were becoming increasingly commonplace). Due to their ignorance regarding how “adult” anime and manga could be, Sherry was exposed to themes of female humiliation/embarrassment as a form of comic relief at a young age and eventually started watching hentai in her early teens. As she became more adult, she became interested in a Japanese activity called sharking; the trend and fetish of exposing a woman in public against her will where it would be filmed and posted online. After high-school, she takes a year off to visit Japan where, much to her delight, she becomes the victim of a sharking video, but to her disappointment, only her panties are exposed. The experience re-ignites her interest and she later tries to make arrangements with someone online to participate in another sharking video in which she would get to shark another girl, but leaving her completely naked in public. However, due to a miscommunication resulting from her incomplete comprehension of the Japanese language, the people she meets with believe she wants to be the victim. With her having been so adamant about wanting to make the video, she ends up stripped completely naked and is forced to walk back to her hotel without her clothes. She finds the experience humiliating, but at the same time incredibly exhilarating. She decides that whatever else she does with her life, one thing she absolutely wants to do is to have her body and her sexuality exposed, and to expose the bodies and sexuality of other girls. In fact, this is how she ends up meeting Piper, who she ends up sharking, much to Piper’s amusement.

Non-consent Nancy- Nancy grew up as a shy, bisexual, African-American girl. She was bullied through much of her youth, but rather than resenting the bullies, she tried to befriend them in hopes that they would stop. She always tried to think of things they’d like, or ways she could be nice to them. Over time, she developed the coping mechanism of empathizing more with abusers and rapists and bullies than with their victims. In her mind, she often finds herself adamantly defending them and thinking that their victims should be punished. While in public, she maintains a persona of a typical college feminist/black lives matter/lgbt activist, she privately fetishizes victimization, often using her role as a rape-crisis counselor to arrange the re-victimization of women who confess their trauma to her, and to help and defend known rapists. She has an athletic build, due to exercising and women’s self-defense classes, but secretly, she uses her athleticism to abuse and rape other girls. She eventually develops a close friendship (in which she becomes something of a subordinate side-kick) with the artist Teira Volks.

Torture-lover Teira- German-born artist Teira Volks, average build, early 30’s, aryan features, straight blonde hair, perpetually serious expression. As a youth, Teira was close to her grandfather, who was a Nazi officer during WW2. She became fascinated with the idea of torture and suffering. Due to her connection to heinous war crimes, the idea of pain and despair felt very real to her. Not just like some abstract that people read in a history book. As she grew up, she became a controversial performance artist, often causing herself so much pain and harm that it became difficult for her to even find venues that would allow her to showcase such extreme self-abuse. In the past, she had sometimes employed assistants who would allow themselves to be abused, but she usually found them to be insufficiently masochistic, or unwilling to endure her forceful and pushy style of management. She eventually comes across Nancy, who she allows to participate in a performance with her. She finds that no matter how much Nancy hates what is being done to her, or how much she’s hurt or abused or humiliated; Nancy keeps coming back and never says a harsh word toward Teira. In time Teira takes on Nancy as a sort of full-time assistant, often treating Nancy as a slave; forcing her to participate in performances against her will. They meet Piper and Sherry at a performance near their college. The theme of the performance is “mirror,” in which anyone is allowed to do whatever they like to Teira, on the condition that they will allow it to be done to themselves. After Piper imposes her kinks on Teira, and subsequently submitting to having those same kinks imposed on herself, they become friends. With Piper, Teira, Nancy, and Sherry occasionally getting together and forming a tight-knit group.

Bimbo Bailee- Tall and pretty, in a trashy way. Bailee has huge fake tits and dresses in an incredibly exhibitionistic way. Her origins are a bit unclear as she seems too ditsy to remember ever not being a bimbo. Sherry, Piper, Nancy, and Teira meet her at a plastic surgeon's office. Piper makes an obscene comment upon noticing her (“Holy shit, look at the size of the fuck-bags on that little cock-socket!”), while Sherry discretely takes some upskirt pictures of her to post online later. After talking with her, they discover she seems to be profoundly stupid and impossibly gullible. As an example, after someone comments on her tramp stamp that reads “Butt Slut” she consistently says “Nuh uh, it’s a butterfly. That’s what the tattoo guy told me.” At times seeming to become flustered due to the fact that everyone keeps commenting that her tramp stamp (which she still insists is a butterfly) clearly reads “Butt Slut.” She seems to be so gullible that nearly any embarrassing trick or prank will work on her, regardless of how little thought is put into it. She’s consistently vain and often critical of the appearances of other women, generally contextualizing everything they do in the context of how attractive it makes them to men. She sometimes makes comments indicating that she doesn’t believe lesbians are sincere, and are only with each other as a way of getting attention from men. Despite her ditsyness and frequent critical comments about the other girls appearances, Piper, Sherry, Nancy, and Teira decide to invite her into their friend group due to how entertaining she is.

Each of these five characters will be getting their own story to start, and after they all meet up, there will sometimes be stories that involve all five of them, but more often stories will involve only a fraction of the full group.

--The Kinky Mass-Effect Fanfiction Trilogy--

This is the series that is the most fleshed out by far. This is going to be a trilogy of full length erotic novels set in the Mass Effect universe. The third book in this series was actually my first attempt at writing erotica (it sort of evolved from a sort of roleplay, and before I knew it, it was turning into a book). But a ways into the story, I realized that there was a lot of story leading up to the one I was writing, so I decided it needed to be a trilogy.

The story follows Dr. Biavalia Bi’tarah (usually called Beebee, by her friends), a dutiful asari slave and whore for her human master. Her playful sexuality and juvenile sense of humor belie her skill and competence as a fighter and engineer. The first book in the trilogy follows her as she deceives Commander Shepard (female) and Jack (aka Subject Zero) into helping her find someone who could aid her and her master into gaining an edge over the other slavers of the Terminus systems. Aria T’loak also makes an appearance. Throughout the first book, Beebee will happen across situations where sex and kink are preferable solutions to fighting (though there will still be a decent amount of action). And for those of you (like me) who were disappointed that Jack didn’t have any girl/girl romance options in the game, rest assured that the psychotic biotic will be having plenty of sapphic fun with the sapphire slut.

--Unnamed Female-Inferiority World--

At some point in the past, a genetic virus came about that only affected females. If untreated, it would degrade their DNA, and would eventually become fatal. It was discovered that the only way to repair the genetic damage was by administering incomplete pieces of human genetic material (i.e. human sperm). Early attempts to synthesize a more stable treatment were failures, and eventually society came to accept that all females would need to regularly absorb male semen, either anally, orally, or vaginally. This new sexual desperation among females reshaped how males and females interacted, with women having their very lives depending on how sexually appealing they were to men. Over the generations, women with unappealing bodies or personalities became scarce. Yet, every woman still knows that her long term survival depends on being more sexually appealing than the women around her, so even the most attractive and obedient females are still competitive.

Men in this world have become entitled and demanding as women have become more accomodating. Feminism is the greatest crime a female can commit and is punishable by a fate worse than death.

These stories will likely involve a strong emphasis on heavy and extreme kinks. Misogyny, rape, humiliation, torture, filth, and even snuff will be recurring themes. This is most likely going to be a series of stories exploring various aspects and characters of this alternative universe. While I’ve had multiple fantasies set in this universe, it’s probably the least developed so far.

[pkmatrix]

I am super interested in the reason behind the big cuts you made in your version of Final Wars? I understand cutting Minilla all the way out, but what about the others? A combination of personal preference and pacing issues?

Yep, personal preference and pacing pretty much covers all of it.  Here’s my thinking going through:

Antarctica Opening and Pre-Credits Narration

Going in, one of the first things I wanted to do was cut the opening narration sequence just before the opening credits.  Personally, I don’t like narration in movies as I find in most instances it’s unnecessary.  The audience isn’t dumb!  We can figure out things through dialogue and context!  So I knew that had to go.

Originally, though, I wasn’t going to cut the Gotengo v. Godzilla sequence - I like that sequence!  It shows the classic Gotengo/Atragon!  But, after cutting the narration bit, I noticed an issue:  the movie now went:

Gotengo v. Godzilla, Opening Credits, Gotengo v. Manda

And just stepping away, trying to think about it objectively, I realized it made no sense to have two sequences with Gotengo battling a monster, basically back-to-back, right at the start.  And when you get right down to it the second one, against Manda, just makes more sense as an opening sequence.  Yeah, it’s missing Godzilla and the classic Gotengo, but the Manda fight is both more entertaining (IMO) and actually introduces us to two of our main characters, Gordon and Ozaki.

Cutting Classic Gotengo vs. Godzilla was the hardest decision I had to make while working on this, but one I think was the right one.

Ozaki v. Kazama Sparring Match

The second scene I knew I wanted to cut was the sparring match between Kazama and Ozaki.

While it’s a sorta entertaining fight, like a lot of the human action in the movie (IMO) it really self-indulgent and just goes on way too long.  It also, if we’re perfectly honest about it, adds nothing to the movie beyond a fight scene for the sake of having a fight scene.  I don’t mind doing stuff with the human characters, it’s their story after all, but it’s just tedious and drags out an already dragged out first act.

Godzilla movies take a while to get to the monsters, that’s normal.  But for a movie that wants to be a fast-paced Sci-Fi/Action film, a whole lot of nothing happens for the first 20 to 30 minutes disguised as action.  Cutting this fight helps the movie get to the point - introducing our leads, introducing the Mutants as a concept, mummified Gigan, the Fairies, and finally the monsters attacking the world.

Cuts from the “Monsters Attack the World” Sequence

Going in, there were two scenes I knew I wanted to cut:  the infamous “Pimp scene” and the brief scene of the little chocolate-covered boy.

The Pimp scene had to go.  I’m sorry to anybody who likes that scene, but I’ve always found that scene very uncomfortable to watch and incredibly unfunny.  Atop of this the scene really kills the pacing of monsters attacking!  We go from Rodan attacking the Secretary-General’s plane very suddenly, to this completely out of nowhere, pointless, and an uncomfortably unfunny scene that drags on, then back to Rodan attacking New York. Its placement makes no sense, it’s distracting and kills the pacing, so it needed to go.

Most of the rest that was cut are little things, mostly to fix what I felt were pacing issues and remove what I felt were jokes that just don’t land:  Zilla eating the mohawk-sporting guys in Sydney, the chocolate-covered boy, and Kumonga killing the guy in the trailer being the main ones.  I don’t find them funny, and if they’re not funny then they’re just ruining the pacing.

The other big part cut was the Mutants fighting Ebirah.  Again, like the sparring matching, it’s another scene that’s entertaining but really kinda serves no purpose and just interrupts the bigger sequence.  I was originally going to cut Ebirah entirely, but Redem as AH.com pointed out that there was enough there with Ebirah prior to the fight to keep him so that’s what I ended up doing.

Otherwise, I rearranged some of the shots and scenes throughout the sequence to make it flow better:  it starts with the monsters attacking, then the regular military trying to respond, then the EDF battleships responding, then finally with the Xillians intervening and revealing themselves.

The Xillians discussing their plans

This is a pretty brief scene, and I’m not sure if people will really notice it missing, but I felt this cut was needed for story.  In the scene the Xillians discuss their plan to trick the humans and their replacing people with robots...which comes right in the middle of our heroes slowly uncovering the alien plot to do just that.  It killed whatever suspense and mystery the movie had going there, IMO, so it had to go.  Otherwise, there was really nothing wrong with it.

The Motorcycle fight

So, you’ve probably noticed by this point that I’d cut almost all of Kazama’s big scenes from the movie.  This wasn’t intentional, I didn’t go in planning to cut the character from the movie.  But it just so happened that three of the character’s four big scenes were on my kill list going in so...

Like the first fight with Kazama, this fight is kinda entertaining at first but pointless, going on far too long and ultimately becoming both tedious and interrupting the movie’s pacing.  With this scene gone, we can go straight from the Xillians revealing their true nature to the monsters being unleashed again.

Surely, cutting out the middle man and getting back to the monsters can’t be a bad thing, can it?

Ozaki and Kazama on the Gotengo

It was only after cutting the motorcycle fight that I realized this scene made no sense anymore, since by this point considering the other scenes cut the audience wouldn’t know who this character is.  So, it was cut.

Godzilla vs. Kumonga

This is another scene I didn’t intend to cut, and had intended to keep.  It’s the other one I went the most back and forth on, because I like this fight and I like Kumonga.

My thought process here, though, was that all the monsters Godzilla fights after escaping Antarctica are monsters that were originally introduced during that first “Monsters Attack the World” sequence.  I cut Kumonga killing the guy in the trailer, which served as her introduction.  So, it followed, without that intro it wasn’t going to make much sense for Kumonga to fight Godzilla later on.

I understand if people vehemently disagree with me on this one, as I’m not fully convinced of my own decision.  But, I stuck with it and that’s the rationale behind it.

Kazama’s Sacrifice

I did not want to cut this scene.

This is actually one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie, it’s a really fun and kickass scene!  When I was planning this out, I fully intended to keep it.

But, like the previous Kazama scene, by this point the character had been pretty fully cut from the movie so you were left with a cool action scene featuring a character you didn’t know whose sacrifice you felt like you were supposed to be sad about but not know why.

The most disappointing part though?

Cutting the scene literally does affect anything.  Please let me know what you guys think about how the scene of Gotengo attacking the Mothership is now, because I was really stunned at how once the scene was cut it didn’t feel like anything had been cut at all.

The Keizer subplot

This was another change I hadn’t intended going in, but was suggested by @spacehunter-m back when I was posting about working on the rough draft.  And, yeah, it makes sense to cut it.

Considering how much the Keizer subplot, which really doesn’t exist until the third act, interrupts the monster action and drags on and ON, I’m really surprised all the people who complain about G’14 cutting to the humans during the finale don’t complain about GFW doing the same (and more egregiously, IMO) during its finale.

With that subplot removed, the third act becomes a fast-paced intercut between the Godzilla/Mothra vs. MonsterX/Gigan fight and our heroes fighting the Xillians, as now all the fighting that happened during the Keizer subplot now happens during the rest of the human action.  I honestly think the third act is much better paced without this subplot taking up so much space.

Minilla, the Grandfather, and the Boy

Now’s probably a decent time to talk about why I cut the Minilla subplot.  And, honestly, it’s for pretty much the same reasons as all the rest:  it’s pointless and tedious.

There’s only two points where the Minilla subplot crosses with the main plot:  during the Godzilla vs. Rodan/Angurius/King Caesar fight and during the ending.  I retained ONE shot from that subplot during the first sequence:  the truck driving along as the spaceships fly over, the rest was cut remarkably easily.

Cutting these characters from the ending was also remarkably simple (at least video-wise, thanks to the audio mix it was a NIGHTMARE to clean up the audio enough for me to be satisfied).

You really have to wonder why these characters (and Kazama) were included at all if they were SO easy to remove and not be missed.

I hope that answers your question!  :)

[teencophater]

clearly i must not be understanding my parents because i didn’t know asking for a haircut could take over a month . i am, quite literally, boys, begging to get a haircut. who knew it would be this hard ??