#she’s one of the only white characters who’s regularly interacting with POC characters

[lady-green-sleeves]

It’s wild to me some people actually want and think Dany is gonna “go mad”🙄 like what do you just like bad writing or something???

But like really even if you don’t like Dany how is that a satisfying ending, this young girl who’s been through hell has been using the power she’s gotten to do good like try to end the slave trade is suddenly gonna go crazy just bc what the people in Westeros don’t love her enough?? How does that not sound crazy. Like yes I do think Dany wants to be loved but not bc she feels entitled to it but bc she’s grown up with an abusive brother as her only family and now even he’s dead now all she has left is her dragons who may care for her but at the end of the day they’re still wild animals

And I also definitely get why people call Dany a white savior (I could go on a whole rant about this alone bc in some ways I agree but at the same time) what was she supposed to do let the slave trade continue and let those people continue to be bought and sold and taken and treated like less than human, Dany herself was sold off to a man against her will so in a lot of ways I think she can really empathize (tho I’m aware at the end of the day Dany still has way more power being the Khaleesi ), I don’t she’s doing it so she can be praised and worshipped she’s doing it bc it’s what’s she feels now is right. She at the end of the day is still a child, a child with immense power more power than really anyone should have but definitely for a child to have, so she’s gonna mess up. She’s gonna do things that make you go ‘what the actual fuck’ but hopefully she can grow from those things and maybe even acknowledge times she really did something fucked up (you all know what I’m thinking of specifically).

I don’t like the Targaryens as a whole but Dany as an individual is a good person at her core and she’s trying her best. I don’t want Targ restoration in Westeros it would be kinda pointless my ideal ending would be Dany going back to Essos and continuing the good she’s started there. I don’t want her to continue to be queen in the tradition sense and I definitely don’t want her to be like an empress or anything. But imagine if Dany installed a democracy of sorts where all people are free and men and women are equal and the people get a say in who governs them. There’s a lot of people in Westeros who are there and willing to fight for change (Jon, Arya, Brienne, Bran, etc.) but Essos doesn’t really have that. Dany could be the good fighting for Essos and it’s underprivileged people.

[realwitchertime]

Hello! Fandom lurker and POC here. I mostly use this account for liking posts and normally I don’t do this but I have some thoughts I’d like to share.

I’ve seen some conversations about how TWN is using wigs/contacts to make the features of many of their actors of color look more Eurocentric. And they are absolutely right.

Francesca’s actress Mecia Simson is mixed (Jamaican and English) but you couldn’t tell based on the makeup they gave her on the show.

Triss’s hair this season is a red wig which wouldn’t be problematic except they made the wig a much looser texture than her natural hair. (We actually find her hair in S1 to be plenty red enough but MANY fans thought otherwise)

Even with dark skin characters like Dara and Fringilla, they could have been much more creative with their hairstyles. Dara has a basically a copy of Véa’s hair from S1 and Fringilla had sloppy braiding that wasn’t even dipped properly, resulting in jagged braids at the ends. I’ve done better end braids at 2am in my kitchen. For a show with creative design, they did not put in the same amount of effort for their hair as say Calanthe’s hair.

But we can’t ignore how fan reactions and what fans are interested in has played a role in a lot of these changes.

When the first season’s trailers came out forums were bombarded with racist remarks about every actor of color and once Season 1 came out Anna Schaffer had to face an high amount of racism for her portrayal of Triss. Many people here on tumblr would use Game Triss and erase Anna’s portrayal entirely. People would constantly talk about her hair being the wrong color and how this ruined the character.

Fandom largely ignored characters that weren’t white men. We don’t interact with fandom but I consume a lot of content. I found people would pour their hearts into side character white men from the games, create elaborate headcanons and backstories about random witchers, and mostly leave out any women of color entirely. Yennefer if lucky would be Ciri’s mom and relegated to the Geraskier matchmaker. At worst she would be demonized, exaggerating things she did in canon or making up new reasons entirely to hate her. Triss and Fringilla were outright ignored.

Yes. Hollywood has a racism problem. Yes. Hollywood has a whitewashing problem. Yes. They have a eurocentrisme problem. But we the fans are directly contributing to it by letting them know that women of color and characters of color don’t have a place in fandom. That we don’t want them here.

Fandom is no longer relegated to a dark corner of the Internet no one sees. Lauren Hissrich (no matter how much we might not like it) regularly interacts with fandom on twitter and so do many other people who work on The Witcher. They see us. And when we perpetuate erasure of woc and when we send the statement we don’t have a place for poc we are not helping the situation.

And some of the people I’ve seen commenting on how this eurocentrisme is being perpetuated on The Witcher don’t even seem to be invested in these characters. I’ve outright seen many of these people in the past hate these characters and even reblog posts about Triss’ hair or ignore the characters in favor of white men. It’s hypocrisy at its finest.

If you only critique the portrayal of poc in media but do nothing to support diversity in fandom you are part of the problem. And I’m tired of the hypocrisy. I’m tired of feeling like fandom isn’t a safe space for people like me. I’m tired of feeling like every poc has to scream to be heard in fandom.

And I know this won’t change much. I know white mlm will still dominate the Witcher fandom. People will critique any inch of diversity while having 99% of their content based around white men. But maybe this might change one person’s mind. And that would be enough for me.

For the people who support diversity in fandom ILY and I cannot thank you enough. I’m a lurker but I love all your work and sometimes it’s the only thing that makes me feel like this fandom is worth anything.

We have to bring attention to these issues in Hollywood AND support diversity in fandom. If you don’t do both. You are part of the problem.

[mostly-mundane-atla]

Got it. What about Inuit, Yup’ik and Inupiaq stereotypes? Are there a lot of harmful ones to avoid? I do know you shouldn’t make eating meat their entire personality, but what else?

Okay, this is going to get dark, so if you need to blacklist any content warnings (mine are tagged as "[insert content here] mention", do that before reading and if you need me to tag anything specific, please tell me and avoid this post until I get to it.

And again: Disclaimer that simply having an eskimo coded character fall into these stereotypes is not inherently racist or wrong. Keep this in mind as writers of color, and thereby Native writers, often get a lot of shit for writing our experiences as we feel them. Not to mention, yelling at someone trying to do justice to a dark topic, even if they don't succeed, is a shitty thing to do. Some of these have subtextual backing in canon. Remember that although we are looked down on for crimes, wrongs, or unpleasantness we're assumed to have commited, it's the members of our community who suffer most for it. There is value in understanding the pain that comes from the community that's supposed to protect you, and I don't believe the writers of the series had any malicious intentions toward us for writing characters that fall into any of these stereotypes. Recognize the nuance or get off my blog and find someone else to back up your discourse.

I'm going to use the term Native in this context. Natives come from many different cultures and cannot be assumed to be the same, but many of these stereotypes are used against more than just Inuit, Inupiat, and Yup'ik peoples. This is why I find it to be the most appropriate term in this context. I will add my understanding of where these stereotypes came from and why they're harmful, but I am only one person and a full understanding of the topic requires more than one point of view.

"Natives are drunks." The United States used alcohol on Natives the same way Britain used opium on China. They introduced it to us and blamed addiction on our own "weakness of character." This assumption of alcoholism carries with it assumptions of untrustworthiness. For a real life example: I was on a grand jury (a jury that decides whether a case is worth taking to court) years ago and one case was an older Native man accusing his brother of physically assaulting him. For some reason, a nearly all-white jury was deemed to be a jury of this man's peers, and two or three white men violently insisted that it shouldn't be brought to court because it happened at a party and therefore it was just some alcoholics from the village wasting a judge's time. Eventually, after some discussion about how no alcohol was mentioned, it was decided the case should be presented to a judge. I would also like to point out that the Native man in question was entirely sober, well put-together, spoke more cohesively than other cases that day, and had a bad limp.

"Natives are child abusers/molesters." This one actually links to the first stereotype mentioned, and a lot of what I've said on this blog about how abuse perpetuates. There was a lot of physical, mental, and, yes, sexual abuse in the US run schools, especially the Christian ones and boarding schools. (I've heard people mentioning that the priests would more often target the boys because they couldn't get pregnant.) When one gets regularly exposed to this sort of thing, they come to accept it as normal. This normalizing of abuse is bad enough for the one person, but it also affects the way they interact with others when put in similar situations as the abuser. They're hurt and traumatized and weren't effectively told that it was wrong and they shouldn't have been put through that, so they perpetuate it on people as vulnerable as they were when it happened. Movements have started in hopes of bringing awareness and getting help for these people before they can carry out the cycle further. Abuse between adults is also a tricky issue because the ways people are taught to give or not give consent are counterintuitive to cultural norms around verbal and nonverbal communication. See: the "they didn't say no" argument.

"The Stoic Native." There are a number of reasons one culture might emote less than another, especially around people they don't know. This doesn't mean that we don't feel or are too strong or brave to feel. Our emotions are our business and we don't owe anyone an explanation.

"Natives are part of the land." For some reason, a lot of non-Natives have trouble grasping that Indigenous Peoples are human beings in our own right. A lot of media portrays us not as people in the same sense that the outsiders are, but as extensions of the land or the spirits of the land. It's true that generations upon generations of living somewhere means the land will change to reflect the people, but that is due to the influence of people living there and how their culture says to interact with it. This trope reduces us to symbols of "a simpler time" or just as often white people's ideas of nature conservation. It's dehumanizing and infantalizing, ignoring our cultures and civilizations, treating us as either innocent martyrs for someone else's cause, or pests that are done away with once the land is developed.

"The Native Princess." Sometimes the only way non-Natives can see us as people is by pushing cultural norms and forms of government they're more familiar with onto us. Naturally, this means assuming that our civilizations were as successful as they were because they were like the non-Native author's. This is especially gratuitous in the case of Inuit, Inupiat, and Yup'ik peoples because we don't have anything resembling a monarchy. Yeah, this one is explicitly in the text so I can't expect much to be done with it

"Native women are always available to men." I don't know what it is about cultures that consider themselves more "advanced" seeing ones they consider "primative" where women have more autonomy in the relationships they have with men and fewer restritions on their bodies. I don't know how they misinterpret "she can do that here" as "she's there for the taking" but it's so gross and I would like it to stop. Sexuality being more open and not inherently sinful doesn't mean the women don't have standards or won't turn anyone down.

"Natives are broke and/or homeless." This is just the typical racism mixing with classism to make something even uglier situatation. The result is a lot of treatment you see non-Native POC get, such as being followed at the store because they expect you to steal something.

There are more, I'm sure, but these are the ones I get the most. Note that again, it's not inherently bad to write a Native or Native-coded character who drinks or has a lot of partners or is particularly connected to their homeland or poor, but take care to handle it with some sensitivity. Understand that there are implications to these things and real harm can be done by legitimizing racist stereotypes.

[selfiecharmedlife]

RE: The Politics of Queerness

               There is a character in the Fate/ franchise I’ve been thinking about lately. Astolfo is a recent entry in a long line of characters that have all the aesthetics of a femme enby or trans woman while keeping the character’s gender ambiguous. The appeal to queers like myself is obvious, but I noticed a certain subset of political reactionaries (read: alt-right) also gravitating to these characters. At first, I was confused so I asked some friends what they thought the appeal might be and I heard some interesting responses. Despite how the character looks, their gender is never confirmed. Consequently, Astolfo’s character allows people to play with queerness in a purely aesthetic sense, sometimes for shock value, without addressing the underlying politics of queer life. It’s not even a new thing. I’ve also become aware of a small sub-culture of “femboys” who seem to also cross into the territory of queer aesthetics while remaining ambivalent or even hostile to the politics of queer life.

               Suffice to say that queer life is inherently political. The first Pride was a riot against police disruption of queer spaces. In a world where the dominant message is that trans is worse than cis, just having self-confidence is a revolutionary action. Heck, even just living a normal life and having a slow morning in my PJs is political.However, life in late capitalism has also meant that queerness has also become a commodity. One of the most visible cases I can think of is the case of drag. My first exposure to drag, as I expect is true for many, was through the film Paris is Burning. The movie is a documentary covering the Ball scene in New York during the 1980’s. The film focuses almost exclusively on people of color dealing with the weight of poverty, racism, sexism and homophobia while trying to live their lives with dignity. It’s a beautiful film that I still think about regularly. 

                The community that created culture trends that persist to this day was inherently political. There is an extended sequence in the film discussing the idea of “realness” and how part of the Balls was to show how a person could carry themselves with dignity even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Performers would walk the runway dressed as doctors, lawyers, etc to express the message that they are capable of living that life. It’s hard to talk about drag in the year 2020 without also talking about Ru Paul and Drag Race. The show is extremely popular, and I first found out about it through my straight ex-fiancée. The show managed to take the culture of the New York Ball scene and sanitize it so it would be marketable to a straight audience. Politics aside from milquetoast centrism are usually ignored or only given lip service to avoid making straight people uncomfortable. 

              I watched a few seasons and became a fan of some of the queens but stopped watching after season 10. In this season, one queen made her performance overtly political. The Vixen steered conversations to address intersectional issues like racism in the gay community. It ruled. Her reward for it was being edited to be the villain in scenes and the discourse I saw around the show, especially from straight people I knew, turned against her. For having introduced politics and especially for having drawn attention to how an artform pioneered my queer POCs was being consumed by an audience of largely straight cis women, she was vilified.

               Drag Race is a cultural force that speaks to how queerness as an aesthetic can be packaged in a way that appeals to a straight audience. Another example you don’t have to look very far on twitter to find is “yass queen feminism.” This brand of feminism borrows the aesthetics of queerness while ignoring the intersections of racism and sexism to focus on the wants of straight white women first and foremost. “Yass” is a phrase I associate heavily with Ball culture but yass queen feminism doesn’t seem to care much about addressing the intersectional issues that produced it. It’s the kind of feminism that my sister seems to ascribe to. She would go to Pride and party with her friends to look like a good ally. However, when I came out as trans she hung up the phone on me. We haven’t spoken for almost three years now. I’m sure she believes that she is a good ally. She says the right things and goes to Pride, but she didn’t hesitate when it came time to choose between ally-ship and her comfort.

               I wanted to toss a bunch of stuff at the wall here and there is a dissertation that could be written on any of these topics from the anti-LGBT femboys to the demographic breakdown of Drag Race viewership. Each of these cases highlight how the aesthetics of a sub-culture born out of oppression can be divorced from the underlying politics that helped create it in order to create a safe commercial product. It becomes a fun novelty to be played with or reduced to catch phrases like “love wins” or “love is love.” Neither of those phrases addresses existing structural barriers for homosexual couples and never mind how those barriers interact with other systems of oppression like racism and sexism. They do however sure do look great on a yard sign. These kinds of sayings mostly serve to reassure people they’re being a good ally without having to step outside of their comfort zone. This is just my opinion, but if your ally-ship ends at the point of your own comfort you might just be a good ally.

[battlestar-royco]

sjmess in 2012: predominantly straight and white cast, average writing style, average worldbuilding, subsistent characterization, regularly interacted with fans

bardugo in 2012: predominantly straight and white cast, average writing style, average worldbuilding, subsistent characterization, regularly interacted with fans

sjmess in 2018: predominantly straight and white cast aside from blatantly obvious and stereotypical retcons of previously straight and white characters into queer/characters of color; vast majority of poc are either violently murdered, sidelined, or introduced 2/3 of the way into the story as irrelevant side characters; repins and reposts depictions of her supposedly “poc” or “queer” characters that are white and cishet; created a magic system that necessarily excludes any sort of queer identity and used it in both her series; almost unreadable prose filled with sentence fragments and plot holes; nonsensical, unoriginal, and inconsistent worldbuilding; endless retcons to make sure failsand and ratalien take precedent over everything else in the story; barely interacts with fans except to promote her books

bardugo in 2018: makes efforts to diversify her cast with humanized and 3d characters of different body types, ability status, ethnicities, and sexualities; only supports artwork that accurately represents her characters’ ethnicities, ability status, and body types; established firm and logical magic rules; successfully distinguished multiple cultures, cities, clothing styles, and histories within her world; balances and differentiates six 3d povs that all justify their presence as narrators in one book; publicly and repeatedly addresses the issues in her work; talks to fans to see how she can make it better and give them rep that works for them

sj/m stans: antis are mindless haters who hold sj/m up to a much higher standard than lbardugo for literally no reason. if lbardugo did something that mess did, they would praise her for it instead of tearing her down,,

[sepublic]

A Monsterverse Gigan Movie Proposal

           The movie opens up on a bit of a news-style documentary, discussing the cultural impact the Kaiju have had on us. We see various clips of the Kaijus’ impact; We have memes, plushies and toys designed after them. People have capitalized by selling merchandise and food themed after famous Kaiju. Cashiers get an extra tip by having boxes encouraging customers to vote with money who is better; Godzilla or Kong?

           There are talkshows, documentaries, conspiracies, all that jazz. High-end fashion is deliberately fashioned after Kaiju, with those designed after Kaiju such as Ghidorah or Hedorah being particularly controversial. There are even religious movements and straight-up cults that worship the Kaiju as gods.

           Everyone’s talking about Godzilla, Mothra, or Rodan and whatnot. People make art, and photos taken by drones are all the craze by tabloids and news outlets. People tend to make protests about the Kaiju, either advocating their destruction, or further cooperation, such as by leaving them alone, or tending to them, etc. As a way to build funds and encourage societal awareness and acceptance of Kaiju, Monarch has even authorized little tours where people can get relatively close to friendlier Kaiju, such as Baragon or even Godzilla!

           Alas, it’s not all fun and games, as there are many illegal versions of these officially-santcioned tours. The government has designated ‘Kaiju Parks’, areas where Kaiju tend to roam that are cut off from the rest of humanity for obvious reasons. While there are official tours through these parks to observe friendlier Kaiju (from afar, of course), others are a lot less… legal.

           And we see this in the film, where a boat illegally takes some tourists up-close to a slumbring Kaiju on some rocks in the ocean. While the tourists take pictures and selfies, the boat-driver quietly tries to take skin samples of the Kaiju, hoping to make a profit, when people suddenly begin disappearing, because surprise- The remaining Kamacuras, now more grown, has upgraded their camouflage to full-on invisibility and is using humanity’s tendency to flock towards Kaiju to get some meals!

           Ultimately, the movie is meant to discuss theatrics, culture, and our relationship with Kaiju and how we interact with them, and vice-versa… Or more properly, how we REACT to them, because by the end of the day we’re just ants in their eyes. And while society’s acceptance and relationship with the Kaiju has begun to peak, there are still those who would sabotage it, for a wide variety of reasons.

           After this big reveal and discussion, we cut to our regular human protagonists, as well as two new faces. One of them is a struggling, online artist who regularly draws Kaiju and posts them online, although she is disappointed by her lack of reblogs and thus has to work at some low-end job to survive. This Artist (who will be called as such for now) is clearly based off of Gengo Kotaka, and is additionally a bit of a meta representation of artists who post their works online but unfortunately get little attention.

           Artist also has another friend who draws, who is not-so-subtly implied to be a bit of a Monsterfucker, especially with her fanart (which is straight-up images from that one Godzilla manga where the monsters are buff and humanoid). Artist goes through her usual routine, lamenting a lack of commissions or anyone else interested in her work, when she suddenly gets an email!

           It’s from World Children’s Land, a company dedicated to the construction of Theme Parks and other attractions! The email is sent by a Japanese entrepreneur, who explains how he has had plans to create a themepark centered around Kaiju, for all ages! His plans for it are big, too- He hopes that this park, named Monsterland/Kaijuland, will become big enough to rival attractions such as Six Flags, Legoland, and even Disney World!

           Anyhow, the Entrepeneur noticed Artist’s work online, and impressed, is hoping to hire her to work as a graphics designer and cartoonist for Monsterland. Artist, thrilled to not only get work but also a job centered around her passion and hyperfixation, gleefully accepts her participation in this ambitious project.

           We learn more about Monsterland, as we see it getting constructed. It’s huge, about the size of your typical Disneyland, maybe even bigger. It has many attractions, including a hotel for guests to stay at, multiple rides based off of various Kaiju, restauraunts and appropriately-themed food, etc. There’s even a section for particularly high-class adults to party and discuss their love for Kaiju.

           And Monsterland’s biggest attraction? Why, it’s none other than a giant statue of Godzilla himself, the biggest in existence! It’s not quite the Big G’s size, but it’s close to it, and most impressive! It even lights up to mimic his Atomic Breath!

           The project was started by our entrepreneur (dubbed C1 until I figure out an actual name) and his protégé of sorts, C2. Both are from Japan, and explain to various news outlets how their main motivation for creating Monsterland is to celebrate mutually with fans all over the world their love of Kaiju, as well as encouraging an appreciation and understanding of the creatures.

           And to do this, C1 reveals that the Grand Opening’s tickets will be set at a lower price than usual! Lo and behold, Monsterland’s reception is amazing as pre-orders and tickets are rapidly sold out in record time, with Monster fans of all ages and locales marking their calendars and plans to attend Monsterland.

           Amidst all of these reveals, we also see our typical Monarch protagonists and Zilla, who has grown since his debut (although he’s still pretty small compared to other Kaiju). Zilla ends up fighting Crustaceous Rex, a giant crustacean-cephalopod monster that emerges from the deep. Zilla manages to win and C-Rex slinks off, although it’s clear it’s formed a bit of a rivalry with Zilla now.

           Other characters include Cameron Winters- While based off of the character from the 1998 Animated series, the two are pretty different. For starters, Cameron is female, and a PoC (probably African-American). A wealthy entrepreneur, Cameron is known for her striking white hair and her cunning wit.

           Having found no one she can actually bear to marry and have children with, Cameron, feeling the desire for a protégé, has adopted a hapless orphan girl and begun to raise her as a successor of sorts. This successor (named S for now) seems reserved and well-off, but deep down she’s uncomfortable from all of the pressures placed on her and desires freedom to be herself.

           Cameron is involved with some operation of sorts that has something to do with Monsterland, and S is just there for the ride. Also introduced is a hippy-type character who wants humanity to leave the Kaiju alone and whatnot.

           As Monsterland begins to form, it becomes clear that C1 and C2 are a bit suspicious. Aside from the two tending to act very stilted and forced, Artist notices while wandering around a few weird things every now and then. At one point, she swears she hears a loud skittering noise, even as she observes other employees who are stiff like C1. She eavesdrops on large shipments of materials such as Lead, and is at one point caught sneaking by C2. She’s spared and let off, and C1 advises his protégé to leave her be, as she’s ‘just doing her job and being curious’.

           Likewise, Artist can’t complain because C1 is receptive to her art and encouraging, the first positive reception she’s gotten in a long while. Nevertheless, she takes note of what she’s noticed, even as the Hippy loudly protests outside.

           The audience soon discovers the shadiness of Monsterland. C1 is apparently buying nuclear materials, and is working with Cameron Winters (who is for the most part unknowing of his true intentions) and other compatriots such as Raul, the new leader of the Red Bamboo, to illegally capture and smuggle various Lesser Kaiju.

           Among these monsters are none other than Zilla, who gets kidnapped. Even as our Monarch protagonists try to find him, new incidents sprout up when Anguirus appears from the ocean and attacks a city!

           For some reason, Anguirus is on the attack, despite being a normally peaceful Kaiju. He rampages through the city, smashing buildings as he heads for the center… When all of a sudden, he begins moving away from the city, further in-land. Similar incidents soon sprout up, with none other than Godzilla himself appearing.

           In the wake of these attacks, everyone is talking and wondering why the two are acting strangely. Some at Monarch point out that the two Kaiju seem to be focused more on heading into the city and digging at various points, than they are at actually attacking things. Likewise, the two seem pretty careful, waiting for humans to get out of the way before moving in, and at one point Anguirus was even warded off by the military.

           We eventually get a reveal of C1 interacting with none other than Alan Jonah himself (with Artist potentially catching this). We don’t get any context to their conversation, but Jonah is apparently wary of sabotaging Humanity’s one good deed in accepting the Kaiju. However, C1 convinces him that what they’re doing will result in Humanity being properly put in its place, once and for all.

           Of course, Jonah is suspicious of C1, wondering if they have any other motives, but C1 remains adamant. He also notes that with Godzilla and Anguirus on his tail, Jonah doesn’t have much room nor time to think and be picky, and advises him to choose wisely. Jonah, weighing the situation, agrees to collaborate with C1 on his plan to ‘humble’ humanity. In return, he needs help from C1 in keeping Godzilla and Anguirus away while the plan unfolds, and C1 promises a potent ally…

           We eventually cut to Godzilla roaming the wilderness in hot-pursuit of something, apparently looking towards the sky- When all of a sudden, we hear screams. We cut to none other than a new monster- Gigan, our psycho cybernetic space-chicken!

           Gigan quickly proves his bloodlust in attacking hapless civilians, slicing apart buildings and reveling in the bloodshed. Godzilla, angered, challenges Gigan, but it doesn’t go well. Godzilla is caught off-guard by how incredibly sharp Gigan’s blades are, and the audience in-universe and out sees him bleed for the first time at Gigan’s hands.

           Gigan quickly wounds Godzilla with countless cuts, bleeding him out as he takes sadistic pleasure in the battle. Before Gigan can finish off a delirious Godzilla, however, Kong comes in and rescues him. Gigan is driven off, and the two head to the ocean. Following this, Kaiju activity spikes as other Titans begin roaming around, apparently on Kong’s orders, looking out for something…

           The film’s climax culminates when Monarch protagonists such as Mark, Madison, Nick, etc., are invited to the luxury, high-end party in Monsterland. Meanwhile, Artist notifies others in Monarch of what she’s seen and heard of, and Jonah begins coordinating his cargo towards Monsterland.

           Cue Opening Day, as lots of fun is had and so forth. Rides are ridden, games are played, toys and plushies are handed out as guests treat themselves and bond with each other over a mutual love for Kaiju. At the high-end part of Monsterland, Madison is walking around in the highly luxurious party, which is populated by typical upper-crust people. Monarch is sure this is a trap, but they have no choice if they want to know- Plus, Zilla tends to listen to Nick and Madison anyway.

           Eventually, Madison meets S, and as the two get to know each other, the big attraction for the luxury party is revealed. A giant, in-door dome opens up to reveal an arena, where captured monsters are forced to fight one another as the audience makes their bets!

           Those at Monarch are clearly revolted, watching in horror as attractions such as Queen Bee or Rhinosaurus are made to duel. Worst of all, Raul takes center-stage, revealing himself to the protagonists and happily explaining how he became the new leader of the Red Bamboo. The other party guests jeer as the protagonists are rounded up, to be thrown into the arena with one of the monsters and executed amidst a bloodthirsty audience.

           S, taking a liking to Madison, helps sneak her out of her confinement, explaining that she feels little love for Winters. Madison finds Zilla in his cage, and after comforting and calming him down, quickly notices Komodithrax, the monster who is supposed to kill her and the others.

           Komodithrax is hostile, but Zilla manages to put in a good word for his human friends with her. A bit of a plan is hatched- Meanwhile, Godzilla and Anguirus arrive to attack Jonah’s cargo. Godzilla’s nuclear breath strikes an invisible object in the sky, revealing a cloaked, giant carrier transporting something…

           The big death match between our human friends and Komodithrax arrives (after a cruel battle between Zilla and Rhinosaurus that the former wins). At first, Komodithrax seems ready to kill the protagonists as the audience jeers… But it’s just to stall and distract while S and a group of other protagonists, led by Artist, help free all of the monsters.

           The monsters break free of their captivity, causing havoc as Zilla and Komodithrax break through the dome. The party-goers scream and flee as quite a few are maimed pretty gruesomely at the hands of monsters such as Queen Bee, who is able to rapidly-fire stingers from her abdomen, or Komodithrax, who lays smokey-gas traps before lighting them into explosions with a spark of flame.

           It’s utter chaos, and as Madison and Nick direct Zilla, who helps guide the monsters to freedom with Komodithrax, the other protagonists storm the Tower of Operations, confronting C1 and C2.

           The two reveal their plans, even as the scene cuts to showing the carrier, downed by Godzilla. The two head towards it… when it breaks opens, and out comes Ghidorah himself!

           But he’s bit smaller, and weaker- He only has two heads and one tail, and can’t even generate storms! Luckily for him, he’s got back-up in the form of Gigan, who helps him fend off the duo as they head towards Monsterland.

           The visitors panic as the two monsters get closer, and automated turrets rise from the walls of the park, keeping them confined. C1, with Jonah nearby, explains how Ghidorah needs to draw from huge sources of energy to regenerate- Like a volcano, for example.

           Jonah has been slowly nursing Ghidorah back to health, but the process is taking a while and is imperfect. Thus, in comes C1, who reveals that they’ve built an incredibly powerful energy-generator at the center of the park, hidden by lead walls, right beneath the giant Godzilla statue.

           C1 explains his plan- He allegedly feels that humanity has gotten too arrogant, too buddy-buddy with the Kaiju and need to remember their place. By creating Monsterland, the ultimately symbol of humanity’s love of Kaiju, he’s gathered Monsters’ biggest fans from all across the globe… Just so they can be slaughtered by the creatures they loved- In the case of the rich people, by the Lesser Kaiju (their release was actually planned by C2 and S was acting on his orders the whole time), or by King Ghidorah himself!

           The plan is to have Gigan protect and lead Ghidorah to the energy generator in the park. Ghidorah, feeding off of the generator, will be able to fully regenerate back to his full-strength, and with Gigan’s help, he’ll slaughter all of the visitors and defeat Godzilla and eventually Kong, reclaiming his title as King of the Monsters.

           His kingship regained, Ghidorah will resume his hunt and terraforming of the planet. Humanity will fear and hate the Kaiju, with the monsters’ biggest advocates having been slaughtered in one fell-swoop by the creatures they love in a symbolic act, while the rest are hunted down. An irreversible rift will be torn between Humans and Monster, as the former’s numbers are dwindled down. Due to their newfound hatred of Monsters, humans will refuse to rely on friendlier ones like Mothra, attacking them and sealing their doom in the process.

           The protagonists are horrified, but eventually Mark calls out C1 on his alleged worship of the Kaiju, wondering if he has ulterior motives. C1 admits to this, nodding at Jonah and telling him that his use is served, and he is now free to do as he pleases. For a moment, things are at a stand-off, when one of the protagonists manages to shoot C1.

           At first, they seem fazed… But then they quickly recover. More shots are fired but C1 keeps trudging onward, unaffected. Addressing Mark, C1 offers a hint to his true motives… Even as his body violently contorts, and out sprouts a hideous, cockroach-like monster, all Nosk from Hollow Knight-style!

           C2 joins C1 as they attack the protagonists. Jonah realizes he’s made a mistake (big surprise there) and he flees with his group as they try to recoup and recover from the revelations. The protagonists try to survive, avoiding their attackers (dubbed Hunters), as other employees reveal their true natures as well.

           S is surprised by this as well, and in the chaos she groups with Winters, who isn’t aware of her involvement. Meanwhile, Zilla arrives with his little army of monsters to destroy the armed turrets, briefly finding opposition from C-Rex, who arrives from the ocean for a rematch. C-Rex and Zilla clash, even as the visitors flee just in time to avoid Ghidorah and Gigan.

           The two head straight for the Energy-generator, only for Kong to appear as Godzilla and Anguirus catch up. Cue a huge Monster battle as Monster Land is utterly destroyed. Gigan continues to show his bloodthirstiness, even as Ghidorah tries to make contact with the generator. Anguirus gets his face slashed, but Godzilla quickly shows he’s wizened up to Gigan’s act.

           Amidst it all, the human protagonists desperately try to not die as the Hunters pursue them. Zilla comes to rescue them, his battle with C-Rex inadvertently taking down a few Hunters in the process. Winters even rallies some terrified rich people into helping her take down a Hunter using an axe and a chandelier.

           The big Monster Battle with Ghidorah and Gigan VS Godzilla, Kong, and Anguirus culminates at the center of Monsterland, with the giant Godzilla statue and the Tower of Operations. The statue is utterly thrashed, thrown to the side as it slams into the Tower, and the chaos causes it to further topple.

           Back on the ground-level, C1 and C2 are caught beneath the falling debris, mortally wounded and bleeding to death. Mark explains to a dying C1 that his plan has failed; Ghidorah won’t regenerate and will be defeated before he can. Humanity will continue to love Kaiju (er, probably) due to Godzilla and others saving them to begin with. Likewise, the visitors at the Theme Park were saved, so no tragedy there!

           C1 is angry and lashes out for Mark, but he steps back as he and the others retreat, riding on Zilla’s back. C-Rex, defeated, stumbles back into the ocean, even as the other freed monsters watch the main battle at the center.

           The battle reaches a climax when the energy generator opens up, now-activated with Ghidorah’s presence. Ghidorah briefly bites onto it, drawing energy as Ichi begins to grow from between Ni and Kevin… But luckily, the other Monsters pull him away. The battle ends when Kong uses Gigan’s own buzzsaw against himself, pushing Gigan’s left-arm into his chest and severing it at the elbow.

           Wielding Gigan’s arm like a sword, Kong mortally wounds Gigan, briefly abandoning him to help the others keep away Ghidorah. Even as Gigan flees, flying into the atmosphere, Kong uses his blade to slice off Ghidorah’s legs at the kneecaps, and eventually his tail and wings. Ghidorah, immobilized, is finished off when Kong repeatedly stabs him in the back with Gigan’s blade.

           Too wounded, Ghidorah falls unconscious, and the three Kaiju celebrate their victory. The human protagonists arrive alongside Monarch reinforcements, who begin to secure Ghidorah’s unconscious body. Military reinforcements fly after Gigan, attempting to shoot him down, when a giant golden object appears in space orbiting the planet. The craft beams up Gigan and disappears, to the shock of the protagonists.

Following this, a triumphant Kong splits off from Godzilla and Anguirus, leading some of the monsters to freedom, while the rest swim with Godzilla and Anguirus out into the ocean amidst the sunrise.

           In the aftermath of it all, humanity still appreciates the Kaiju as the reasons for Godzilla and Anguirus’ attacks are explained. Winters and S settle down, evading imprisonment through a bunch of legal loopholes, as Raul escapes into the night. The remaining Hunters escape, receiving assistance from none other than Jonah and his group. The protagonists are glad humans can still co-exist with Monsters, just as Serizawa wished, and Artist gets a new job working with Monarch and its Public Relations branch.

           This is revealed at the end of the film, in news headlines credits, post-credits scenes, etc. The final post-credits scene reveals a strange, armored being sitting in a golden command-center, surrounded by some Hunters as she observes the news. Frustrated at C1 and C2’s dumb idea, noting the Controller never should’ve listened to them, she decides to take command and send in someone named Mugalu.

Additional Notes:

-Prior to the big corrupt Monster-fighting party, we see a random rich dude getting ready to go as his wife criticizes his love of Monsters, citing that it’ll get him killed or something like that. This is foreshadowing to how the upper-crust elites invited by C1 are victims themselves, with their wealthy loved ones and friends seeing their deaths and being horrified, using their influence to spread Anti-Kaiju sentiment.

-C1 briefly talks on a device with someone named ‘Zaguries’, reassuring her that the Controller’s faith in him is well-founded. The being at the end of the movie is implied to be Zaguries, who had doubts over C1’s plan.

-During the chaos when the Lesser Kaiju are released at the Monster-Fighting ring, Raul manages to survive and escape by revealing another orb-like device in his eye socket. It acts as a flashbang/grenade/smokebomb, helping cover his retreat as he escapes.

-On Gigan’s character;

           Gigan is very clearly a cruel and sadistic Kaiju, reveling in the bloodshed as he attacks cities and takes glee from mass deaths. At times, the M-Hunters have to rein him in, as he gets distracted attacking people instead of doing his actual orders. Gigan quickly proves himself a brutal fighter, being the first to make Godzilla bleed. He repeatedly attacks Godzilla up-close, using his blades to hook onto Godzilla, and not giving him time to use his nuclear breath as he tears up his enemy.

           Gigan also has the ability to fly- Thanks to his cybernetic enhancements, he can turn off his gravity, enabling him to float and fly through the sky like an eel swimming through water. Gigan still needs to have time to lift off with a running start, though.

           Ultimately, Gigan is proven to be the quintessential bully, and he flees into space after getting his butt kicked brutally by Godzilla, Kong, and Anguirus in the final battle- As a bully, he’s inherently a coward. The Earth Defense Force tries to give chase, but ultimately Gigan escapes with his tail between his legs, leaving Ghidorah behind.