#kong x ilene

[gorillageek27]

How goji flirts with mothra

Goji: my beautifuk queen. You are more radiant than the morning sun, more breathtaking than the vass cosmos. You make the very earth cry with your beauty

Mothra: oh. Goji!.

How kong flirts

Kong: i wanna eat raw meat off your body and lick the blood

Off

Ilene:... okay.

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

Kong and ilene sharing meat, some blood drips on ilene's cheek and kong, being the good husband he is, lick it off her cheek.

Awww that's so sweet. Ilene blushes a lot...

Meanwhile...

Godzilla and Mothra watches them afar.

Godzilla: ...Are you seeing what I'm seeing?

Mothra: Yep.

Godzilla: Bet we could do this again.

Mothra: You regurgitated that time for me, *shudders* I'm not eating your food...

[lisanees]

welcome to my world, won't you come on in?

[suzieloveships]

Obsess with the fact that the closest thing Monsterverse has to a main M/F is a ship between two titans. Pretty much all of "main" human x human ships in this series are gay. Mike and Charlie from Skull island? M/M. May and Cate? F/F. Keiko Bill and Lee? F/M/M. Like sure, there are M/F couples, two scientists in Kong, the couple from Godzilla 2014 (but we don't talk about that one), but they are def not a main focus. GxK has two people that use to dated, but broke up bc it wasn't working out, casually working together, no big deal, they are just friends now and it is legit so refreshing. The closest that movie has to a romantic scene is a lizard and moth hearteyeing each other, I fucking love it. Your favorite franchise could never

[hrodvitnon]

Jia: *riding on shimo's head*

Ilene: *signing* jia. Get down from there right now

Jia: *signing* i'm on a titan's head you're not.

I already made this joke for GvK, but once more, with feeling.

Ilene, signing angrily: Jia, get off the Titan.

Jia, cheeky signing: You're not my mom.

Ilene: GET OFF THE FUCKING TITAN, I AM YOUR MOM.

Jia: You're not my mom.

Ilene: I AM YOUR MOM, GET OFF THE FUCKING TITAN.

Jia: I'm on a Titan and you're not.

Ilene: HEY. GET OFF THE FUCKING TITAN.

Jia: I'm literally on a Titan, you're not.

Ilene, trying not to laugh: GET OFF THE FUCKING--

Jia: You're not my mom.

Ilene: LITERALLY, GET OFF THE TITAN.

Jia: You can't tell me what to do, I don't give a fuck.

Ilene: GET OFF THE FUCKING TITAN.

Jia: No.

Shimo: *has no idea what's going on but is here for it*

[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.

[fandomnerd9602]

Sorry if I keep bugging you, but can I get another Godzilla x kong the new empire request plz🙏 This time with Ilene Andrews x son of Godzilla reader

Y/N looks out over the Hollow Earth as Ilene joins him…

Ilene: so Godzilla’s a softie at heart?

Y/N: he watches over a few of us over the years. Feeds, protects, like you with Jia

Ilene: it’s an honor looking after her

Y/N: and it’s my honor to look after the two of you

Y/N gently takes her hand, earning a smile from the scientist

[leoprime13]

Decided to add Jia’s stepmom into my gijinka AU: Ilene Andrews. I gave her prosthetic legs for lore reasons

Voice Actress: Rebecca Hall

[thezanyarthropleura]

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is... my favorite Godzilla movie?

Or: how the MonsterVerse changed my mind after 10 years.

I hate to be that person in a fandom who's constantly saying things like "the old stuff was great, but the new stuff sucks!" however, when it comes to the kaiju genre... for a time, I unfortunately got pretty close to that. I once rolled my eyes at the notion of the "Kaiju Renaissance," and how between Legendary and Toho it had "something for everyone" and thought that for me, that was only really true if you counted some of the IDW comics, the 12-minute Godzilla vs. Megalon short film, and the renewed availability/merchandising for the originals - which means I've recently seen about 20 classic films I never had before, including some of my new favorites, so in that sense, it sort of did feel like a Renaissance. It just wasn't feeling, at the time, like the newer movies had much to offer for me personally.

It isn't that I had a great many negative things to say about the MonsterVerse films, I just... didn't have a lot of positive things to say either. Due to a number of things I can now look back on as mostly minor nitpicks, there was a sense that they didn't even belong to the fandom I loved at all, and Toho's offerings as of late... had felt pretty much the same. Now, I'll have you know I do in fact love the heck out of Godzilla: Minus One, and in a way, that film feels like a great "part one" of my change in attitude toward the new kaiju boom, but in the end, I like it more because it's an excellent film overall than specifically because it's a kaiju film.

The Godzilla solo films, or films where kaiju are presented exclusively or almost exclusively as an antagonistic force, are *in theory* some of my least favorites of the bunch. I end up holding quite a few of them very highly on their own merits as movies, but what I'm mainly looking for in these films actually started with the original Mothra film in 1961 - the expansion of the genre from disaster film into urban/contemporary fantasy, and the treatment of giant monsters as spiritual, cultural, supernatural forces that can represent a whole slew of things other than a threat or crisis.

Now, if that just sounds like a fancy way of saying "giant monsters beating the crap out of each other" then you're not entirely wrong. I do love a good hero story, and it informs a lot of which films end up being my favorites. But there are other factors I find exceptionally strong in many of the classic films - personal resonance with the human element, the interaction of the human and monster elements, the overall uniqueness and earnestness of the story being told - that I just wasn't finding with the MonsterVerse.

...Until now

GXK SPOILERS AHEAD!

I went in not expecting too much from this movie. From all the hype surrounding it, I was prepared for a monster brawl I could sit back and have a good time watching, and that was about it. I thought the opening Hollow Earth scenes were cool (if a little gory), I laughed out loud in the theater at Doug's appearance, and since I was already spoiled on Scylla's death, I didn't take it too badly (she was my favorite of the MV original Titans, but since I wasn't that invested, it was easy enough to switch back into "oh, we were never supposed to care about them" mode).

Things changed as we got introduced (mainly re-introduced) to the human cast. It was specifically the car scene, with Ilene picking Jia up from school and the short conversation they have in sign, that resonated especially well and gave me the sudden hope that this film was, in fact, going to have a very strong emotional core. It sets both of them up for deeper, more personal character arcs than they had in their previous appearance in Godzilla vs. Kong, and that only continued as we got more scenes with them, and then added Bernie into the cast.

There's something I really love about the Ilene and Bernie scene - Bernie is, in a sense, a meme character, in that his laser-focused self-interest is continually played for laughs, but then we put him in a scene with an increasingly emotional and desperate Ilene. The contrast between the two of them cuts deep at the appeal to underlying humanity that we see play out with this cast, in small moments, across the rest of the movie. Jia was already the best character in the MonsterVerse, but she has an even stronger pull when we've been introduced to a deep emotional angst looming in the background of all her scenes. Ilene's worries about her strained relationship with her daughter are carried through and don't ever feel like they've been left behind for the sake of expediency. Bernie has always had a few serious notes to his character, but even though the jokes continue, his insecurity around being hounded by skeptics is eventually played seriously and he becomes much more than the memes by the end of this film. Trapper doesn't feel quite like he gets a complete arc of his own, but as the new addition, he has a great vibe and acts as a supportive presence for everyone else's arcs.

GxK is very much a "quirky people in a situation have decided to support each other" movie, reminding me very strongly of Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), which previously held the title of my personal favorite Godzilla movie. And yet, given this specific cast of characters, both in literal dynamic parallels and how enjoyable they are to watch, I can't help but also draw favorable comparisons to the Heisei era Gamera films - which I hold in their own, higher tier that eclipses anything that's come out of the Godzilla franchise. I'd specifically mention Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) as probably the closest comparison, both in character and overall tone. Both of those movies are already in my top ten, along with a few other comparable films like Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster (1964), which also has similar vibes in the human cast but far more direct parallels on the monster side.

As for the tone - great. GxK has one kaiju sex joke and one Skull Island style death, in something that feels like a "last hurrah" for the MonserVerse's previous sense of humor, but after that, it takes on a certain Showa-style earnestness for even the fantastical story being told. When there is humor, it has more to do with the characters' personalities playing off one another, and IMO, it works very well (I still think it could do with less green/yellow blood splatter and monster gore in general, but most of that is also kept to the beginning of the movie). Overall, the film doesn't feel like it's making fun of itself or the genre it's in, or if it does, it's doing so more tastefully than some previous entries.

It's probably well known by now that Godzilla himself isn't in this movie all that much, mainly relegated to Kong's backup - which is fine by me, as that's actually more or less my exact favorite use of Godzilla. He doesn't need to be the main character, or a significant narrative focus, he doesn't even need to be an outright hero, he just needs to be convenient. Godzilla showing up in all his glory, to make a situation at least slightly better for someone I care about, so I can cheer him on. That's all I ask, and this film finally delivers that. The best I can figure, the previous MV films either made him too brutal/vengeful or made his enemies too sympathetic, or some combination of the two, such that he never felt like he had that big hero moment I was looking for until now. But Scar King is just enough of a love-to-hate villain that it easily tilts the moral compass in Godzilla's favor, and this film even does make a point of having a few moments where Godzilla chooses to set his rage aside and spare a former enemy (Scylla and Tiamat notwithstanding. RIP to them, I guess).

Now, as for Kong - I've never been a Kong fan. I don't have much interest in watching previous Kong movies outside of Toho's versions and sometimes the 2005 film. The classic take on the character, with the kidnapping elements and inevitable tragedy, just doesn't appeal to me, but even when I wasn't quite sold on the MonsterVerse, one of the things I did acknowledge was that it was actually starting to make me like Kong. This film cements that, and I have zero problems that it's more of Kong's movie over Godzilla's (and for as much of the movie as the trailers spoiled, I'm really glad they managed to hide almost everything to do with Suko. His story has so much more depth than "Kong adopts a cute baby ape," it's actually wonderful).

(I could also gush at length about Mothra, but most if it would probably be incomprehensible. Just know that despite her small role and short screentime, she's at some of her very best here).

So yes, a MonsterVerse film has, as far as I can tell, somehow topped my list of favorite Godzilla films, and is now up there competing with Heisei Gamera and the third Rebirth of Mothra movie for my top pick in the genre. But the next question is, did one good movie actually change my mind about the whole MonsterVerse?

...Kind of, yeah. With as much as GxK made me love Ilene, Jia, and Bernie, I now immensely enjoy Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and I've found myself rewatching it many, many times just to see more of them, not to mention also appreciating it a lot more as Kong's film. Mothra and especially the focus on Monarch as an organization also brings me back to Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), whose characters I've since reevaluated and found that I also quite enjoy. Kong: Skull Island (2017) remains an enjoyable popcorn movie for me, also elevated slightly for being a Kong film and having Skull Island and Iwi lore, and Godzilla (2014)... is also part of the continuity, I guess. I do enjoy a lot of what it has to offer, but it's probably my least favorite.

To get serious for a moment, these days every new release, in any fandom I'm in, makes me feel like it might be the last one I get to enjoy, if not the last one period. And if that ends up being true about this movie, then at least I'd be able to say that as far as I'm concerned, the kaiju genre, if not human media in general, has gone out on a high note.

I'm not in a place where I can concern myself at all with sequels or spinoffs, anything we might get in the future. But for now, this is a good movie, and I'm going to be enjoying the heck out of it. I've seen it in theaters three times and counting. I bought the novelization audiobook and have listened to it twice so far. I'm writing a fanfic. I keep impulse-buying the playmates toys. I started learning sign language. I'm choosing to be not at all normal about this movie and if the world ended with it being my entire personality, maybe at least in some sense I'd die happy.

So from me, a classic kaiju film snob who could talk at length about how Japanese films from as early as the 1950s and 60s have more progressive values and better storytelling than modern Hollywood, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire gets an absolutely GLOWING recommendation. Somehow.

...and in case I don't see you, so long and that's a lot of fish.

[funtimespringscare101]

Some More BloodFox x GxK/ShiMom AU incorrect quotes because brainrot is doing its job.

@magic-thing

*at the final fight in Rio* Goji: Uhh, dude, what are those rebels doing here? BloodFox, glancing at Scylla and Tiamat, whose asses he saved earlier: BloodFox: BloodFox: I told them this was their “community service”. —————————— *based on that one comic you did* Kong: I’ll like to introduce… Kong, motioning to Shimo: My wife… Kong, motioning to Goji: My Boyfriend… Kong, motioning to Mothra: …and his wife. Kong, kneeling over Shimo’s kids and Suko: Oh, of course, can’t forget my darling children… Random ape: Random ape, pointing towards BloodFox: But what about that guy? Kong, looking at BloodFox, helping Skar King’s S3x Sl@ves: Kong: Kong: Our Therapist with an existential crisis and family issues. ———————— Trapper and Bernie: *existing* BloodFox: BloodFox: 🏳️‍🌈? —————————- BloodFox: Good. Now send it to him. Ilene: Hey Guys, what are you doing over here? BloodFox: Me and Jia here are trying to troll Trapper. Ilene: Oh Really? How? BloodFox: So Jia just sent him a “suggestion” to play over the ship’s speakers and- Speakers:

Trapper, from inside the ship: OH YOU LITTLE FUC-

[scifipinups]

Rebecca Hall Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024)

[gorillageek27]

Kong: Man, we sure have some strong-willed women, don't we, Goji?

Godzilla: its rough, well most of the time. To be honest i like her fiestiness

Kong: i hear ya. That why i'm with ilene too

Godzilla: we're wired that way. Didnt know? Alpha titans only like strong woman

Kong: what!?

Rodan: that explains everything!

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

Kong is very territorial with Ilene. He doesn't try to be; it's just his nature. He can't help but worry that someone will try to take her from him, and Ilene discovers she's just as territorial as Kong is.

Preg!Ilene with uncontrollably mood swings, goes out to their territory and proceeds to punch trees, displaying her savagery.

Ilene's Monarch comrades won't visit her that day.

Kong is proud.

[lisanees]

assuming this was cut from the script like most additions the novelizations include are, I'd have loved to see this scene in the film

I love the idea of all the major Monarch scientists together, maybe Monarch season 2 can pick this up

[cowboycannibalism]

I think Trapper and Bernie should have kissed

[hall0wedwyrm]

reading GxK and I have to say I love it so far. all of the additional info and the world building and stuff is so good. giving all the characters who didn't have explicit names is awesome too

also I nearly cried-

and I'm only at chapter 5-