#Godzilla is a lovely dancer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chriscdcase95 · 1 year

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(The following is set twelve years after the events of ATLA, and seven years after my unwritten fic, The Ancient World. Hence the Godzilla refrences.

For more context read these two posts. Otherwise, just keep doing what you're doing and enjoy the read.)

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It's been seven years.

It has been seven years since the Titans re-awoke. Since the golden dragon was slain, and with it, snow fell upon the Fire Nation. Since the King of the Monsters reclaimed his throne, and returned to the sea.

For many, it was a nightmarish time in the Three Nations. Azula still has nightmares about those days.

But it wasn't the giant monsters that put fear in the former Fire Princesses heart, it was that sinking feeling she'd awake and find herself back in that dark place in life. It worked her up into panic attacks and night terrors, even worse than the dragon Ghidorah, or Bagan.

And almost every time she had these, Ty Lee would be there to wake her up. To remind her she wasn't broken; to remind her she overcame that point in her life.

And to Azula's chagrin, sometimes Ty Lee would sing.

On the whole, Azula had no issue with “Ancient World Music”, as it was called.

The more Republic City develops; the more the “Uncharted Lands” were willing to share the culture and art that they kept alive for millennia; the more the newly born music industry grew.

And the songs Ty Lee had a particular ear worm for were called “Tiny Dancer” and “Circle of Life”, “Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me”, “Don't Go Breaking My Heart” and “I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues”. Who made these songs with such long titles, Azula will never know.

And with Azula granted control over the industrial developments of Republic City - a bonus reward for her part in Ghidorah's defeat - Azula has become very accustomed to hear thousands upon thousands of songs being rediscovered and shared with the Three Nations each year.

That being said, you wouldn't catch Azula singing in public for the most part. She had a dignified and professional image to maintain as the United Republic's most powerful businesswoman.

Azula's rather theatrical rendition of “Burning Love” being the exception. That was some bachelorette party; she has since promised to mind her drinking.

Back to the point at hand, Azula would still dream of that dark period in her life. And even today, with her new success and status, she feared blinking and seeing it all stripped away. As if this was the dream.

Luckily, whatever Azula was dreaming of tonight, she awoke from it with a jolt. As usual, she'd blink several times, making sure this was still her life, and it took about four seconds to register the sound.

Yasuko was up and crying again.

Azula rolls over to see a sleeping Ty Lee. For the past five years, Ty Lee has made a decent living as a drill instructor (“Fitness trainer!” Ty Lee would insist) for the RCPD.

Ty Lee considered a job within the force itself, but Azula was pretty touchy about her putting herself in the line of danger.

Azula had no doubt that Ty Lee would be the best on the RCPD itself; after all, Ty Lee fought her one-on-one on that expedition years back. In fact, Ty Lee nearly killed her in that fight.

But as the later battle with the golden dragon showed Azula, Ty Lee was as vulnerable as everyone else.

And as the revival of the King of the Monsters showed Azula, she wasn't gonna let Ty Lee put her life on the line for some “small causes” (such Azula’s own life).

Ty Lee didn't mind; after (barely) surviving Ghidorah and Bagan, she could settle for being the RCP's drill instructor. For the time being, at least.

But for the past week, Ty Lee was fighting a cold that left her bed ridden, which meant Azula had to take up more house duties.

Azula didn't mind of course; she helped bring down Ghidorah after all; taking care of your sick wife and four month old daughter was only mildly more challenging.

Luckily, Ty Lee's cold has been clearing up the past couple days, but Azula wants to be sure, so she nudges her wife a little.

“Ty ?”

Ty Lee rolls over, still asleep and mumbling.

“Mmmm,” Ty Lee groans.

“Ty Lee ?”

This time Ty Lee speaks in her sleep.

“A two-piece special with lots of hot sauce and all the fries you can give me.” Ty Lee sleepily mumbles.

Azula lets out a mild “hmph” and amused smirk. At least Ty Lee was over her own nightmares. Nightmares about that “burned man”. He had knives for fingers, Ty Lee says.

Still, duty calls. Azula kisses Ty Lee on the forehead.

“Alright, you have this night off.” Azula saysm climbing out of bed.

“I don't want that cup. Why would I want a non-mint condition Grimace cup ? Your selection is shoddy.” Ty Lee mumbles again.

With another chuckle, Azula makes her way to the room across the hall, to Yasuko's nursery.

She doesn't bother turning on the lights, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness. The child's cries were like a foghorn in a dense fog.

Azula makes a beeline towards the crib, narrowly avoiding tripping over a stuffed dragon. Still a little tired, Azula leans over the crib to see a dark haired, wiggling infant for four months old, having rolled out of her bundle.

Yasuko’s little hands reach futilely towards the bars.

With an amused grin Azula reaches down.

“She thinks she can, she thinks she can...” Azula says teasingly, picking the infant up and holding her to her face “But you're too inexperienced to know if you can. And that's how the hare got humbled.”

Immediately sensing her mother, Yasuko stops crying, but still makes a series of whimpering and sobs.

“Now, what seems to be bothering you ?” Azula asks with a sigh, holding Yasuko close and resting the infant's head on her shoulder, protectively holding the back of her neck and head with one of her hands.

Yasuko says nothing but makes a few babyish noises.

“Oh, right.” Azula chuckles “You haven't figured out words yet. Well, you'll get a hang of it. And whatever's bothering you then clearly isn't now. So how 'bout we work at putting you back to sleep ?”

Yasuko lets out a little breathing noise through her nose, which Azula took as meaning “Great idea, momma! You always have the best ones!”

“I know I do.” Azula says, answering to the imaginary remark with a cocky smirk.

-----

Warming up a bottle of milk and settling into the living room, Azula sits down on a rocking chair, swaddling her daughter and feeding her.

Looking to the side, Azula glances out the window to a bright view of Republic City's nightlife. It always looked more alive at night, much like every other city in Azula's experience.

Matter of fact, this view brought to mind that play she and Ty Lee would catch every now and then.

It was a story shared across Uncharted Lands but only reached the Three Nations in recent years. It was about this King of the Lions, and they'd have performances of it every few years on Ember Island.

And so, unable to resist a wisecrack...

“Look Yasuko,” Azula says in a joking deep voice “Everything the lights touch is our kingdom.”

Yasuko says nothing, only letting out a relaxed sigh as she drunks from the bottle.

“Not into jokes, are ya kid ?” Azula sighs, “That's okay, we'll fix that in time.”

Standing up from her seats, and stepping towards the window, Azula lightly bounces the infant in her arms still working through the motions.

One would think that being a mother for four months would make her used to this, but ever the perfectionist, Azula was constantly on her toes that she might fuck things up.

Be it the coup of Ba Sing Se; her revival of Gojira, and seeing the downfall of Ghidorah; or even leading the new industrial age; Azula tends to think of Yasuko as one of her better achievements.

It was about a year ago she and Ty Lee even considered having a family. Azula never really saw herself as a mother before, being more work focused, as well as her personal relationships.

But like many things for Azula, shit changes.

Zuzu and Mai had a rugrat of their own the year before, and both Katara and Avatar Aang were expecting a little monster themselves. Needless to say, it brought out this sense of competitiveness in Azula.

Ty Lee going into “playful aunt” mode around Izumi didn't help Azula's resolve. Neither did the puppy dog look Ty Lee would give Azula when the subject came up. At first they considered adoption. Years after both Ghidorah and Bagan's rampages, hundreds of thousands of survivors were still displaced across the Three Nations. Especially orphaned children.

The problem was, Ty Lee just wanted to take them all, and couldn't stand to leave any behind. As for Azula, she couldn't afford opening a daycare in her house.

Eventually, Azula just threw six million into adoption agencies through her “Home For the Lost Ones” act. This effectively solved the bigger problem of orphans and refugees, but left Azula and Ty Lee back at square one.

Azula and Ty Lee considered male donors, but no options matched up to either Azula or Ty Lee's standards.

They put that option in the “Maybe” pile.

While they were still considering their options, it reached both Azula and Ty Lee that there is a method of drawing power from spirits.

If done right, one could bend the rules of nature a little; notably there were about a handful of recorded instances of same sex couples, conceiving together through this.

They differ between the genders of the couple, but this isn't a lesson on the mystical birds and the bees. Even so, these instances were very rare. So, during the Winter Solstice, Azula and Ty Lee took a gamble.

While not expecting it to actually work, they did draw upon the power of spirits. And through the act of tr- You know what ? What happens under the spirit-empowered waterfall, stays under the spirit-empowered waterfall.

Bottom line, neither of them expected to actually conceive...but Azula experiencing a week or so of morning sickness shot those doubts down.

Azula didn't expect to be the carrier between her and Ty Lee, but for whatever reason, the spirits picked her. And of course, Azula wasn't gonna back down from a challenge. It was just another in a long list of challenges that Azula would overcome and perfect.

So after nine months of enduring morning sickness; mood wings; fatigue; cravings for white and red meat (and peanuts); restless nights; Yasuko practicing her kick-boxing in utero; culminating in seven hours of labor ?

Azula would say she did a good job, all things considered.

During those, Ty Lee insisted that she and Azula take the last four off work, which was around the time her mood swings started acting up.

Azula was annoyed and reluctant at having to be taken care of as her due date drew near, but in retrospect Ty Lee deserves the world for putting up with her like that.

Azula still kicks herself for the things she said to Ty Lee during these mood swings and when Yasuko decided it was time to come out. When Yasuko was finally born, both Azula and Ty Lee took another six weeks off work.

During that time, Ty Lee proved herself to be a pro at this whole mom thing, so much so that she's taking about a year off work. As for Azula, she's still not sure if she has what it takes.

Everytime she holds her daughter, Azula minds every step she takes; always second guessing the way she holds Yasuko; even questioning if she put her to bed right.

Azula considered herself a master at many things, be it combat, strategy, politics and business. And yet this baby girl, a piece of her, has Azula questioning every move she makes.

Azula wasn’t even sure she could give this girl a bath or heat up the bottle just right without Ty Lee's help. And yet, with Ty Lee sick the past week, Azula manages to pull through.

Again, the whole “Help stopping Ghidorah” thing was just slightly less challenging.

Which is why when Azula found herself nodding off to memory lane, she silently scolds herself when she feels Yasuko's hand grabbing at her hair.

Yasuko lets out an airy “Ah” noise as she tries to take handfuls of her mothers hair and stuff them into her mouth.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Azula gives an amused grin as she gently pulls her hair out of her daughter's grasp “You're getting stronger everyday. I should keep an eye on you!”

As Azula holds her baby closer to her face, Yasuko takes the tip of her mothers nose into her mouth. It took Azula all her strength not to giggle.

“Well, that's one way of keeping an eye on things.” Azula says, gently pressing her forehead to Yasuko's. The infant lets go of Azula's nose in the process.

Yasuko says nothing, but makes a mumbling noise, before sticking her tongue out.

“Mm, I see.” Azula remarks, before glancing at the clock.

It was 2:30 now. If she doesn't get Yasuko back to sleep soon, they'll be up all night.

Carrying Yasuko back to their seat, Azula found herself humming a little tune. It was something released days ago as part of the ever growing music industry.

It was apparently another song from the Ancient World, kept alive through thousands of years of oral tradition, and now remade for a new world.

And unlike the thousands of other recreated songs, Azula found herself humming it twice now since its release. Once when she was in the shower, and again when she was asleep.

Both times, she thought Ty Lee couldn't hear her.

And yet as Azula finally realized she was humming it, she notices the way Yasuko is looking at her, as they sit back in their seats.

“You like the tune, don't you ?” Azula asks.

Yasuko makes a babble noise, before sticking her hand into her own mouth.

A smile creeps up on Azula's face, despite herself.

“Very well, if I agree to sing for you, will you agree to sleep for me ?” Azula teasingly asks.

Yasuko says nothing, but just looks up at her mother.

“I'll take that as a 'Yes'. Just don't let Mama know.” Azula winks.

And with that, Azula leans back into her seat, laying Yasuko on her chest, ear to heart. She rubs a hand up and down the infant's back, as she rocks the chair back and forth.

Humming the opening beat, Azula finds the lyrics slipping through her mouth. Even she's taken aback by how soft her voice is.

“There's a hero/If you look inside your heart/You don't have to be afraid/Of what you are...”

Yasuko snuggles into Azula's chest. So far, so good.

“There's an answer/If you reach into your so-o-u-u-ul/And the sorrow that you know/Will melt awa-a-a-a-ay...”

Yasuko lets out a hiccup, but Azula doesn't let it deter her.

“And then a hero comes along/With the strength to carry on/And you cast your fears aside/And you know you can survive.” Azula sings the chorus “So when you feel like hope is gone/Look inside you and be strong/And you'll finally see the truth/That a hero lies in you-u-u-u...”

In what was about a few seconds in real time, a whole slew of memories filled Azula's head at once.

“It's a long road/When you face the world alone/No one reaches out a hand/For you to ho-o-o-old.”

The memories were pretty unpleasant; they brought back a series of mucky feelings. Feelings she would rather do without.

Memories of her father, the asylum, and everything leading up to the Titans awakening, flooded her like a tidal wave.

“You can find love/If you search within yourself/And that emptiness you felt/Will disappe-e-e-a-a-a-ar...” Azula sings, trying to keep her voice down.

She had to blink a few times to be sure she was still here. That Yasuko was here with her, and that the past seven years were not just a dream.

“And then a hero comes along/With the strength to carry on/And you cast your fears aside/And you know you can survive.”

Again, a thousand thoughts fill Azula's head, in what was a couple of seconds in real time. Luckily, more welcoming memories and feelings filled her.

Like the explosive; the recreation of an Ancient World weapon that scorched the Earth and left poison in its wake. The kind that had the power to burn away a city with nothing more than a bright flash.

It was when the Titans awoke, when these weapons were uncovered, that Azula and her new team would recreate one of them.

At the time, Azula thought that by giving the Fire Nation such an arsenal, it would both demonstrate the power the Fire Nation still had, and provide the weapons that would slay the Titans.

For Zuko's benefit of course. He had everything to gain from this.

But that all changed, when the titan Gojira attacked.

“So when you feel like hope is gone/Look inside you and be strong/And you'll finally see the truth. That a hero lies in you...” Azula finishes the coursus, gently brushing her fingers through Yasuko's dark hair.

Azula remembers how the Avatar's crew and hers were left stranded in the Uncharted Country. How over time, she found herself connecting to those she never thought she would.

And how the very weapon she intended to fight the Titans, was instead used to empower the injured Gojira, once Ghidorah's true colors were revealed to the world.

It was what led to her and Ty Lee ending up together after all.

“Oh, oh, Lord kno-o-o-ows/Dreams are hard to follow/But don't let anyone/Tear them awa-a-a-ay...” Azula sings, noticing Yasuko was starting to snooze. “Hold o-o-o-on/There will be tomorrow/In time you'll find the waa-a-a-aay.”

Sensing someone standing behind her, Azula looks over her shoulder to see a tired eyed, but smiling Ty Lee, watching from the doorway.

Azula blushes in mild embarrassment. She tried her hardest to not let her wife catch her singing again, but a loss is a loss.

Contenting herself, Azula continues, as Ty Lee quietly makes her way to the couch.

“And then a hero comes along/With the strength to carry on/And you cast your fears aside/And you know you can survive...”

As Azula sings the next verse, she is sure Yasuko was sleeping by now.

“So when you feel like hope is gone/Look inside you and be strong/And you'll finally see the truth/That a hero lies in you...” Azula brings her singing voice down to a hush “That a hero lies in you...That a hero lies in you...”

As she finishes singing, Azula glances back at Ty Lee.

“Not a word.” Azula mouths.

“That was too cute!” Ty Lee beams, covering her mouth and wiping an eye.

Azula opens her mouth, but Ty Lee holds a finger up to stop her.

“And that wasn't A word; that was four words.” Ty Lee says, crossing her arms with a more cocky smile.

Azula closes her mouth with an amused smirk.

“Try not to wake her.” Azula says, slowly getting back up, her wife following after “Then she won't go back to sleep.”

“Who do you think you're talking to ?” Ty Lee asks, raising an eyebrow, gently taking Yasuko into her arms “Maybe the girl with four nieces and nephews has become something of an expert at the field.”

“Are you sure you can hold her ?”

“Oh yes.” Ty Lee nods “It's been clearing up since this morning. Come noon tomorrow, it'll be like I was never sick.”

Accepting Ty Lee's answer, Azula follows behind her to Yasuko's bedroom.

-----

Tucking Yasuko back into her crib, both Azula and Ty Lee took a minute to look down at the daughter.

“You know, sometimes I still don't believe it.” Azula sighs wistfully.

“Azula...” Ty Lee starts, knowing what Azula's gonna talk about.

“I know, I know.” Azula says, trying to keep herself reserved “I just had a few more of those dreams lately.”

Ty Lee doesn't push the matter. Azula talked about it extensively.

About how Azula would have a dream about waking up in the asylum; how she'd be a Firelord, but live a life that felt more empty; sometimes she'd wake up back to being a fugitive.

But the worst one was pretty vivid.

It was seven years ago, when Azula was preparing to revive Gojira. They were at Boiling Rock, where the golden dragon dropped the King of the Monsters following Bagan's defeat.

With the knowledge that the Titans fed on the power of these weapons, it was a no brainer. They just launch the weapons and empower the monster.

Except the only complete prototype could only be turned on manually. And it did not escape Azula's notice that most people were still afraid of her. Hated her even.

You'd think she'd be used to being feared and hated. But after weeks of accepting that love and compassion is not a weakness; and thinking that she was worthy of receiving it ? It hurts a little more.

Even after she helped save Ba Sing Se from Bagan's wrath, everywhere she looked she got these dirty looks. In the immediate aftermath of Bagan's defeat, almost everywhere she looked there'd be people giving her these dirty looks, or whispering behind her back.

As if they thought she was a greater monster than the so-called “Demonic Dragon God” that had killed nine-hundred-thousand people in its rampage!

Azula remembers the look Zuko, Mai and Ursa gave her when they first saw each other in the following Bagan's rampage. It looked like an addition to the nightmare they had on their hands.

So, while Zuko and his armies were evacuating the areas surrounding Boiling Rock, Azula took it upon herself to activate the weapon and empower Gojira.

She didn't care if she got incinerated, so long as she was out of everyone's hair, she'd be doing the Fire Nation its greatest favor.

But as she was setting up the weapon, expecting it to be the end of her story, word got to the Avatar and his friends what Azula was up to.

Avatar Aang, being a good boy scout, along with Katara and Ty Lee kept telling Azula was a life worth saving, how she doesn't deserve to be alone, let alone die here.

And so, when Aang, and Ty Lee both sat down beside Azula, refusing to leave her side as the timer started, Azula relented and allowed them to save her.

It was only when Azula was among the benders who aided bringing down Ghidorah did the general population accept Azula. The rest is history, leading up to Azula's new life with Ty Lee and Yasuko.

And because of this ? Azula's worst nightmares are the ones where she's back at Boiling Rock, the “weapon” at the ready, and the injured King of the Monster's staring her down.

Only this time, no one would come for her. She was destined to die there to empower a monster that would live for millennia past the Fire Nation. Doing the world the ultimate favor. And she was alone and worthless.

Azula is pulled from her train of thought when Ty Lee puts two hands on both her shoulders. They were here. In Yasuko's nursery. Ghidorah has been dead for seven years, and Gojira has returned to the sea for just as long.

Ty Lee moves Azula to face her. Azula didn't even realize she had tears, until Ty Lee wiped her eyes.

“I'm here.” Ty Lee says, reassuringly, before she puts her forehead to Azula's “You're here. And Yasuko's here; and she's always gonna be here. And so will you.”

Azula gives a sad smile, before wrapping her arms around Ty Lee's shoulder and buries her face into her shoulder. She doesn't sob, but she lets out these deep exhales as she lets this hurricane of emotions wash over her.

When Azula looks back up, towards the clock over Yasuko's dresser, she sees it's 2:37.

“I say it’s time we hit the hay.” Azula says with a sigh.

“It's like you read my mind.” Ty Lee nods.

Before they make their leave, they pay the sleeping Yasuko a final glance.

“We made something wonderful.” Ty Lee sighs, wrapping an arm around Azula's waist.

“Yeah, we did.” Azula says, reaching down into the crib, tracing a finger around Yasuka's head, without even touching her “And she will bring wonderful things into this world.”

“I'd expect nothing less.” Ty Lee says with a smile.

And with that, Azula and Ty Lee made their way to their bedroom. As they climb back in, they resume a cuddling position, with Ty Lee spooning Azula.

After a moment, Ty Lee speaks up.

“You know ?”

“Ty, not now.” Azula says, trying to get to sleep.

“I'm just saying, you sang to Yasuko and...” Ty Lee says, letting Azula catch on to what she's saying “Tap the headboard once for no, and twice for yes.”

Azula taps the headboard once. And then twice.

Stifling a laugh, Ty Lee kisses Azula on the cheek, slowly and gently rubbing her hands up and down Azula's arm.

“I sat on the roof/And kicked off the moss,” Ty Lee sings softly “Well, a few of the verses/Well, they've got me quite cross/But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song-”

“But you didn't write this-” Azula says sleepily, but with a snarky smile.

“It's for people like you that keep it turned on...” Ty Lee continues “So excuse me forgetting/But these things I do/You see, I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue...”

“They're clearly brown.” Azula says, a sleepy smile overtaking her snarky one.

“Anyway, the thing is/What I really mean/Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen.” Ty Lee continues to sing, slowly getting lulled by her own singing voice.

“I accept-” Azula yawns “Your flattery...”

“And you can tell everybody/This is your song/It may be quite simple/But now that it's done,” Ty Lee sings, completely unfazed by her wife's snark “I hope you don't mind/I hope you don't mind/That I put down in words...”

And with the next verse, both Azula and Ty Lee succumb to sleep.

“How wonderful life is while you're in the world.”

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picayunetown · 1 year

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Yes, okay, I admit it: performance-wise Pokemon Violet is a smoldering tire fire. No arguments from me. I can see that 3fps windmill as clearly as anyone. That being said, however, I love it and I am having the best time playing it. It’s nice to be the protagonist; you get all the frames.

My fightin’ critters are all rising 70 or so and I’m closing in on endgame rapidly.

Front line:

- the masked cat lady in her spotlight, always in her spotlight, do not try to steal her spotlight, she will Play Rough with you

- the ghostly dark knight, very angry about being on fire

- THE SALT ZIGGURAT

Rotating second-string/benchwarmers:

- the skeletal remains of a sheepdog

- once a humble dung beetle, now some kind of seventies prog-rock album cover

- a pink goblin with a steel hammer bigger than anything that has ever existed

- this Godzilla has a fat sword sticking out of his back, it was sheathed wrong, as a joke

- the ultimate incarnation of PIGMONKEY RAGE, rage so powerful it killed him at some point, he didn’t even notice, he was too furious

- he’s a duck, he’s a man, he’s a fabulous Carnivale dancer

- the squatting samurai bug humbly begs your forgiveness

#pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon scarlet and violet spoilers

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monstermaster13 · 1 year

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Oats and Corey in…

Transylvanian Vacation.

Oats and Corey both shared the same love of monsters that their friend Melanie ‘Mel’ Sanders did…and of course visiting Weta Workshop helped spark their love for making monsters, one afternoon the duo were playing a game of mad scientist when Oats asked Mel..’Where do monster stories come from? What inspires a horror writer to write what they write?’ ‘Sometimes it’s all based on a real piece of history.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Yes, would you like to learn all about how monsters are made?’ ‘Oh yes..we went on a vampire adventure recently and would like to learn all about vampire lore and in particular where it started.’ ‘Well I know just the place for you, follow me boys.’

Mel gestured for the boys to follow her, as she showed them to a doorway which opened in the wall of their bedroom and the duo followed her, they entered the doorway as their bed transformed into a hearse and the duo went on a ride to Brasov, Romania. Corey had heard stories about this Romanian city and that it was home to superstition and to vampires, which excited him as the duo jumped out and arrived.

Oats was confused when he saw it at first…’Mommy, you said this place was dark and scary, where are all the monsters?’ ‘Yes…I did say it was home for many horror stories we know and love.’ ‘But it’s so normal.’ ‘Maybe the monsters won’t show up until it’s dark.’ Corey scratched his head for a bit before going for a look-around and that’s where he saw a group of people from the city.

“Excuse me, do you know where we can go to hear about a monster story?”

“A monster story?”

‘Yes…that’s right.’ ‘You know, like a Frankenstein story?’ One of the townsfolk laughed at Oats, he whinnied in a reaction that suggested he was offended at what they said. ‘What?’ ‘Oatsie, why are they laughing at you?’ ‘I don’t know, I just asked a question.’ ‘Well you’ve only been here now and you’re asking a point break question like that?’ ‘What?’ ‘You asked about Frankenstein’s monster.’ ‘Yeah…’

“Wait wait…this is Transylvania, don’t you want to ask about Dracula?”

“Good one.”

“What about the creature from the Black Lagoon?”

Corey laughed for a few seconds before looking over…’That’s pretty funny.’ ‘I’ve got Godzilla in the back room?’ ‘Ooh, another good one.’ ‘How about the blob?’ The duo headed out with Mel and headed over to Bran Castle to begin their adventure.

Bran Castle looked perfectly normal, Mel always told them that’s where vampires came from and that it was famous for being used as a spooky scene setting but Oats was confused…he couldn’t see anything spooky about it, that is until they walked into the castle and looked around, it was very dark except for the torches on the walls that stood alight, he used his magic to produce a light which helped them to see as they walked through the hallways and corridor.

Oats held onto Mel’s hand as the trio walked around, seeing all the sets and noticing all the creatures dancing around, including some undead beings and some ghostly dancers wearing masquerade masks, the two arrived at the dining room and saw some of the furniture floating, walking over to the foyer they saw some sculptures that looked like they were alive and some gargoyles. ‘Okay…now we’re getting to the spooky stuff.’ Then they came across a path which lead to a bedroom area where they saw coffin shaped beds and then they followed another path which lead to a room with several coffins.

That’s where our equine friend saw some vamponies (vampiric ponies) waking up from their naps, one of them was a gothic pony princess who floated to Oats and tried to flirt with him before attempting to hypnotize him. Corey came across another path, which in turn lead to the ballroom where the ghostly dancers were, Mel bravely stepped up to help the duo with the ghostly dancers by putting on a song number.

‘Oh, the night is my world

City light painted girl

In the day nothing matters

It's the night time that flatters

In the night, no control

Through the wall something's breaking

Wearing white as you're walkin'

Down the street of my soul

You take my self, you take my self control

You got me livin' only for the night

Before the morning comes, the story's told

You take my self, you take my self control

Another night, another day goes by

I never stop myself to wonder why

You help me to forget to play my role

You take my self, you take my self control

I, I live among the creatures of the night

I haven't got the will to try and fight

Against a new tomorrow, so I guess I'll just believe it

That tomorrow never comes

A safe night, I'm living in the forest of my dream

I know the night is not as it would seem

I must believe in something, so I'll make myself believe it

This night will never go

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh’

Oats twirled around as he joined in and as he did, he became a vampiric/gothic version of himself that was dressed as Doctor Frank N Furter and Corey also joined in…becoming a floating vampirus (vampire virus) microbe as they performed with the dancers.

‘Oh, the night is my world

City light painted girl

In the day nothing matters

It's the night time that flatters

I, I live among the creatures of the night

I haven't got the will to try and fight

Against a new tomorrow, so I guess I'll just believe it

That tomorrow never knows

A safe night, I'm living in the forest of a dream

I know the night is not as it would seem

I must believe in something, so I'll make myself believe it

This night will never go

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh

You take my self, you take my self control

You take my self, you take my self control’

The group danced and sang and performed for the ghostly dancers and the monsters as the vampire ponies sang along, soothed by Oats’s voice, the vampire pony princess from earlier looked over at him. ‘Wow, you are such a talented horse. I am sorry I tried to hypnotize you earlier. I just wanted a friend to play with.’ Oats blushed as he kissed the princess. Corey noticed some more bats as he saw one of them take on the form of a humanoid shape, and he knew this was Dracula himself, or specifically the Hotel Transylvania version of him…’Yep, this Dracula sounds like Adam Sandler and/or Brian Hull alright.’

Corey also noticed Drac had his friends Wayne the Werewolf (and his wife and their pups), Mavis, Johnny (and their son Dennis), Griffin, Murray, and even some new monster characters. Oats was excited to meet Mavis as he flew over to her and introduced himself. They heard wolves outside but Wayne told them…’nothing to be scared of, those are my cousins.’

Dracula announced that it was time for a monster party as Corey and Oats cheered, a group of half undead musicians performed on stage as games and festivities took place including going on haunted tours, learning about vampire stories. Corey and Oats even take part in a couple of musical numbers. They had so much fun that they didn’t want to leave…which luckily they didn’t have to, at least not until later.

A couple of hours later the party ended and the group headed out as they saw a mad scientist experimenting on a creature, but there was no lighting…’Why is there no lightning?’ ‘Lightning? Pah. He doesn’t work with lightning, he hates it, he works with all this other stuff.’ Corey chuckled as they hopped back into the hearse their bed turned into and headed out again but not before saying goodbye to their monster friends.

They took off in the hearse and headed back home to their house in Nile Road, where the duo got out and had another playtime session where they pretended to be monsters, and Oats put on his special performance of Sweet Transvestite for everyone. That evening they had dinner and after dinner they listened to music and relaxed.

When it was time for bed they all snuggled up and closed their eye, as they did their bed took on the form of a carriage with a gothic design as they went on a monster researching journey through the city of Brasov. But if you think that’s the end of their adventures, once again…another adventure may have ended but another one will begin.

They had a monster researching journey in the city of Brasov in their dreams and had a funky monster party, with the other microbes and some halloweeny/spooky webkinz pets joining in on the fun. ‘This town certainly doesn’t say a town in fear does it?’ ‘Oh no Corey, I definitely don’t think so…I think it’s cute.’ ‘Yeah, transylvania’s kind of cute.’

The next morning they all put on a special play/performance based on their trip to Brasov. ‘Do you know what song sums up our journey?’ ‘Transylvania 6-5000.’ ‘Hit it…’ A ghostly musician band popped up and played the theme song from the movie of the same name as they all danced and had a lot of fun.

But as mentioned above, this isn’t the end to their adventure, stay tuned for The 2022 Halloween Spooktacular, ‘Corey and Oats: Koala Rescuers’ ‘Corey and Oats in Dreamland.’ And ‘Oats’s Magical Flower Garden.’

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fuukonomiko · 3 years

Note

ROBOUTE GUILLIBUTT!

TRICK OR TREAT ART PROMPT!!!

Roboute Guilliman as Dio Brando from Jojo’s Bizaare Adventure!!!!

The Primarch is not pleased.

“This reminds me of Rogal, and not in a good way.”

WANNA SEE A CHARACTER IN A HALLOWEEN COSTUME? CLICK HERE

Others:

Anastasis M’rez as Pretty Soldier Sailor Ana

Alexis Polux as Captain America

Vince as Original Bo from She-Ra

Vince as Obi Wan Kenobi

Talos Valcoran as Saitama/One Punch Man

Malcador the Sigilite as Saruman

Fuuko as a Kitty Cat

Vin Stav as Hawkeye

Lucius the Eternal as a pirate

Yvraine as The Corpse Bride.

Deadpool as 90s Wolverine

Ysedra as Dark Magician Girl

Godzilla as Avatar Aang

Dracite Aeril as Nurse Joy from Pokemon

Roboute Guilliman as Dio Brando

Kana Morta as a Flamenco Dancer

Bouddica the Savage as Lara Croft

Artemis Prima as Mirko of BNHA

Jaghatai Khan as Khal Drogo

Roboute Guilliman in his jammies

Konrad Curze as a Grumpy Cat

BONUS:

“WRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYY!!!!!”

Yes yes I know its weird proportion wise. Then again what isn’t.

Shoutout to my lovely friend @pholcidae for giving me ideas for Rob!

#mun art #my art #WIP #I'm trying #forever WIP #I want to be better #warhammer 40k #warhammer 30k #imperium of man #chaos #Halloween prompts #halloween 2021 #I know I'm taking forever #roboute guilliman #primarch roboute #ultramarines

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collisiondiscourse · 3 years

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Ok ok! So! We talked about ballerina godzilla and Kong, and I value the input that you think godzilla would not be quite as good at the dancing…

I think Godzilla would excel more in rock music, particularly the guitar. Which led me to thinking “he’s in a band, she did ballet” from Skater boy by Avril Lavigne, and so I present to you:

Skater Boy Godzilla who plays guitar in a rock band and their unrequited love with Ballerina King Kong, who broke up with them but now Godzilla had a totally cool new lover who is also a rock star and sometimes they open for each other’s concerts.

Anyway, had these thoughts and thought you might appreciate them💜 love ya lots!

oh. OH MY GOD....... DANCER KING KONG AND SKATERBOY/GUITARIST GODZILLA.....

im ngl. i hated kingzilla as a ship concept for the longest time but this.... THIS............

#asks #spiritual older sib

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dinosaurtsukki · 4 years

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haikyuu!! music idol au (seijoh and shiratorizawa vers.)

hello hello! now for the groups with seijoh and shiratorizawa! if you like this why not check out music idol au karasuno vers.

CROWN ENTERTAINMENT

okay so basically this is now the entertainment company for the groups FALCON and KING

HAHAHS THE NAMES I REALLY CAN'T GUYS I'M SORRY THE NEXT POST ABOUT NEKOMA AND FUKURODANI ARE GONNA BE MUCH WORSE

okay but yes

they're one of the biggest names in the country and their groups have been around for quite some time

washijo is CEO

they're known to be very hard to get into because all of their idols are trained to be polished at whatever they do

but all of their releases are top quality

so lets get into the groups !!

KING - seijoh

okay so KING has 8 members and most of their comeback concepts are pretty bubblegum pop and boy-next-door

our leader for this group is oikawa of course

he's also wanted to be an idol for so long and trained really hard for it

• he managed to pass the auditions but his trainee years were hard on him because of all the expectations and work

luckily he befriended iwa who was also a struggling trainee

they spent years helping each other out and leaning on each other for support until their debut came

oikawa's the all-around vocalist, visual, and dancer so he's almost always in the center

the kind who nails all the notes while busting out the hardest dance moves

he's also multilingual because he wants to talk to a variety of his fans

everything he does seems so natural but in reality he practices so hard that iwa has to drag him to bed

iwa's our main rapper and main dancer of the group

his audition tape of him dancing was a bit embarassing because he was wearing a godzilla sweater and his hair was gelled up

everyone likes to bring it out from time to time

his fans also like sending him anything godzilla

his rapping is pOWERFUL and he can also beatbox really well

he also leads the dance breaks in performances

everyone thought he was scary until oikawa accidentally called him iwa-chan in a radio show and now everyone calls him iwa-chan

while oikawa is the leader, iwa is the one who manages everyone and makes sure no one gets lost when they go to awards shows

matsukawa and hanamaki were trainees that came in later and they became friends because they were roommates

hanamaki saw matsukawa taping printed out pictures of memes on the wall beside his bed and immediately knew they would be friends for life

and they were

they're notorious for sneaking food into their dorms and also picking on oikawa

they're kind of like an inseparable duo especially since hanamaki is on vocals and matsukawa is on rap

they have a lot of onstage moments and fans love how playful they are

they kind of improvise a bit sometimes when it comes to dance moves which makes washijo want to pull his hair out but fans like it so :/

they're the oldest members but they still call iwa and oikawa 'mom and dad'

they like doing weird shit to hanamaki's hair and taking videos of it

the ‘what’s a contract? never heard of it’ duo basically

yahaba's like the resident beautiful guy apart from oikawa

his voice is really melodious and he's often the one harmonizing with the high part

also sUCH a fLIRT

camera: *is directed at him*

yahaba: *blows a kiss*

matsuhana try to get him into their pranks on oikawa but he's too much of a goody two shoes

likes to film his skincare routine for the fans

secretly oikawa’s favorite junior

kyoutani auditioned for CROWN because he thought they were forming a hip-hop group or something edgy but no he was put into KING and he has to be around softies

he was desperate to get kicked out at first until iwa convinced him that he could still keep his look

they gave up on making him smile or look bright on cameras and said that if he's going to glare at least make it sexy

only listens to iwa and always stands next to iwa during award shows

kindaichi and kunimi are their most treasured juniors and they'll do anything to protect them

both of them are vocalists and even though they don't often sing the melodies or hit the high notes, they're great harmonizing

actually knew of kageyama back in their auditioning days and were lowkey jealous of him

kindaichi is the sweetest junior he's always the one giving the members water and making sure they're alright

kunimi just silently observes the entire time and barely says anything but he'll often approach iwa for pointers when it comes to dancing

they were super young when they debuted and attended high school together in between practice

their seniors surprised them by coming to their graduation and even performing at the ceremony

both of them aren't as good as their fellow members yet but kindaichi works hard to be able to earn a few more lines in their songs

kunimi doesn't show much effort but he secretly likes to learn songwriting and music production because his dream is for KING to perform one of his songs

FALCON - shiratorizawa

another group that debuted about a year or two before KING

it is a POWERHOUSE of talent

also pretty much the OG group for most fans that inspired other upcoming groups

a lot of their concepts are centered around a mature gentleman image

idk what im saying but i'd compare them to super junior pretty much

they also do a lot of edgy concepts

ushijima's the leader of the group plus main rapper

he was actually inspired to become a rapper after watching another idol's performance

tbh he never expected to debut with a group but he had grown attached to some of his fellow trainees

he's also really talented at writing and producing songs

super stoic, even in front of the camera, but fans love his attempts at humor

tendou's like their main dancer and rapper

when he was younger people said his dancing looked weird because tendou could do those really cool, almost jerky movements

when washijo saw his audition tape he was like 'hmm we could use that'

thats because FALCON is super big on choreography, especially the ones that look like all the members are creating this huge other thing just by using movement

tendou pretty much leads the dance breaks all the time and he looks super serious and intense

he likes saying the most random, funny things during interviews

sometimes you'll catch him dancing by himself when they’re just waiting for results in award shows

so many conspiracy videos as to whether or not tendou has joints

now we have our shirabu kenjiro

this boy is like a prodigy he was destined to be recruited by CROWN and to end up in FALCON

the more i spell out these names the more i see how absurd they all look i'm sorry

tendou likes to call him his 'beloved junior'

he's as serious as ushiwaka is but with sASS

is known for sassing out interviewers and show hosts when he can tell that they're making up bullshit and now everyone's scared of him

he's main vocals and visuals

his voice is like a really nice baritone and he's very powerful with his singing that people don't question whether or not he lipsyncs

actually gets the most lines in their group

he likes to challenge the limits of his contract and even cut his own bangs and that's why they're Like That

he ended up getting chewed out by washijo for it

ya boi semisemi is out here being a dAncE gOD

he can learn choreography really quickly and in variety shows the hosts always challenge him to learn another group's choreo by looking at it once

so far he has not lost

everyone in his team cheers him on

also basically the group's main choreographer. he'll lowkey get mad at someone who forgot the choreo but teach them anyway

interacting with fans makes him so happy and soft he treasures every letter he receives and likes giving out gifts during fanmeets

he keeps his room really neat and likes to display the presents he receives from fans

also main vocalist in the group but just gets a line or two

his real skill though are opening dance performances during music award shows

he, tendou, and goshiki slay every opening performance and its amazing

reon is the last main rapper of the group and basically The Mom of the group

he's the one calming everyone down and checking up with people before they perform

his rapping sounds really smooth and very close to how he speaks normally so he shines most in the b-side tracks of their album

he had a lot of struggles passing auditions because most companies would discriminate because of appearance but washijo saw a lot of potential in him

he likes to speak out about the discrimination in terms of appearance in the music industry

everyone in FALCON supports him

lastly we have goshiki the precious little maknae of the group

everyone dotes on him because he was a skinny child when he debuted with the group

goshiki's like the legendary maknae who could do pretty much anything

he's main vocalist, dancer, and visuals

when he started out he was always super active and full of initative as a trainee

he trained super hard just to debut with FALCON because he looks up to ushijima

like shirabu, he gets a ton of lines and sings a lot during the chorus

when he graduated everyone from FALCON attended and he treated them all too lunch

after every comeback tendou's jus like 'our little baby goshiki is growing up'

i basically wrote him as jungkook from bts didn't i?

additional hc’s for funsies

oikawa was actually supposed to debut much earlier with FALCON but he had grown attached to his fellow trainees (iwa and matsuhana) and wanted to be in a group with them

FALCON and KING have a small rivalry ongoing to see who can get the most views in one day during every comeback video that the members do all these crazy things to get their fans to stream their comebacks

one of them was matsuhana promising to release a rare picture of kyoutani smiling

FALCON has Boardgame Fridays where they just play boardgames all night and it’s super fun and precious because goshiki gets super competitive

also all of his seniors tried to get him drunk after his graduation and goshiki did in fact get drunk and ended up spilling some secrets about how shirabu cuts his bangs on instagram live

FALCON and KING love having dance-off sessions with each other and the music they always choose is ‘Crazy in Love’ from the White Chicks movie

the reon and semi have a mukbang series on instagram live and sometimes yahaba and kindaichi join in

ushijima allegedly wrote and produced a song about the joy of farming but washijo rejected it from appearing on the album because it was weird but thanks to tendou spilling about it, fans demanded to hear the song and ushijima performed it in one of their concerts

kunimi also wrote a song about that was supposedly about a loving a bad boy despite being a nice girl and when people asked what his inspiration was he just said ‘kyouhaba’

haikyuu!! music idol au series: karasuno vers., seijoh and shiratorizawa vers., nekoma and fukurodani vers.

#haikyuu!! music idol au #haikyuu!! music idol au seijoh and shiratorizawa vers.#hnghhh it is DONE #oikawa tooru #iwaizumi hajime #hanamaki takahiro #matsukawa issei #yahaba shigeru #kyoutani kentarou #kindaichi #kunimi #ushijima wakatoshi #tendou satori #semi eita #shirabu kenjiro #reon ohira #goshiki tsutomu

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Lonesome Cruiser.

Blockbuster composer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, talks to Gemma Gracewood about composing for titans, his pride in Dutch cinema, friendship with George Miller and longing for Olivia Newton-John. Plus: his Letterboxd Life in Film and why he’s selling his prized collection of recording gear.

It has been a spectacular spring for Tom Holkenborg, the Dutch musician also known as Junkie XL, who has crafted the scores for multiplex fare such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate, Sonic the Hedgehog and the upcoming zombie banger Army of the Dead. Only weeks apart, two blockbusters landed on screens with his sonic stamp all over them: Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong and Zack Snyder’s re-realized Justice League.

Thankfully, the Godzilla vs. Kong score was complete by the time the Justice League telephone rang. Holkenborg—who had lost the Justice League gig along with Snyder the first time around—knew the Snyder cut was coming; he had closely watched the growing calls for it online. “Zack and I already started talking in 2019. He’s like, ‘What if we were to finish this? What would it take?’ Those conversations turned to ‘Well, how many recording days potentially do you need and how much of an orchestra do you potentially need?’ Finally, somewhere in April 2020, that’s when that phone call came: ‘Okay, light’s green, start tomorrow, and start running until it’s done because it’s four and a half hours’.”

Ray Fisher as Cyborg in ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’.

Holkenborg approaches the titanic task of blockbuster film scoring with an engineer’s mindset: “Building a fantastic, huge house with 20 bedrooms and the dance hall and the kitchen… You’re not going to start by building the third bathroom for the third guest room, right?” Once he has identified the scenes that are most important to his directors—for Snyder, they included the introduction of Cyborg, three fight set-pieces, and a scene of The Flash running that comes towards the end of the film—the composer identifies instrumental “colors” in order to build a theme around each character. Then he holds some of those colors back, theorizing that “if you want like an, ‘Oh!’ experience by looking at a painting that has a huge amount of bright yellow in it, it’s way more successful to see fifteen paintings in front of it, where yellow is absent.”

The Godzilla vs. Kong score satisfies Holkenborg’s life-long love of both characters. “I don’t have a preference for either one. I love them both for various different reasons.” Their respective histories fascinate him: Godzilla as a way to make sense of Japan’s nuclear fall-out, and Kong as a gigantic spectacle that ended up attracting the sympathies of the audiences he was supposed to scare. Even when the science makes no sense (“what the fuck are plasma boosters, anyway?!”), Holkenborg is still happy to wax lyrical about the emotional depth of Kong’s stories, the elaborate concepts of the Godzilla-verse, and his musical approach to the pair—dark, moving brass for Godzilla, with synthesized elements “because he is a half-synthesized animal”, and a more organic, complex orchestration for Kong, featuring “one of the world’s bigger bass drums”.

Adam Wingard’s ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’.

All of this seat-shaking bombast is composed on an “insanely massive sound system” in Holkenborg’s small home studio (though he reassures pandemic-stricken film lovers that he has recently seen both Godzilla vs. Kong and Justice League on his laptop—and “really enjoyed watching it like that”). The process, he says, was “pretty intense”, but only in terms of the sheer amount of score needed. Composing in quarantine was not much different from his usual workflow. “I’m a pretty lonesome cruiser anyway. Composing, by nature, is like a solo exercise—obviously with assistance.”

Like many creatives (Bong Joon-ho recently told a film studies class that he is up at 5:00am most days to watch a movie), Holkenborg is an early riser, waking by 4:00am. “I’m super sharp between like 4 or 5:00am and 9:00am, so I like to do a lot of creative work in that slot.” He takes care of business until mid-afternoon, when another creative spurt happens. “And then I have another batch of calls usually to make, and then around 8:30pm, I’m going to retire for the rest of the day and just chill out a little bit and watch stuff that I want to see, read things that I want to read. Right now I’m studying Portuguese.” By 10:30pm, he’s asleep. “And then at three o’clock I get up.” (Needless to say, Holkenborg’s children are no longer small.)

The pandemic simplified a lot of things for a lot of people: for Holkenborg, it has been a moment to tidy up the physical side of his work. In November last year, he opened an online shop to divest the bulk of his gear—synths, pedals, guitars, drum machines and much more—that he has been collecting since the late 1970s. When friends told him he’d regret it, he disagreed. “At some point I’m going to die. I can’t take them to the afterlife. I also found out I don’t need them. I love to have them around, but I don’t need them.”

Tom Holkenborg with the bass drum used in the ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ score.

It certainly solves the question of what he’d take if his house was on fire. “The hard drives with sounds and music over the last 40 years, 45 years, that’s hard to replace. So, that would be it. I’m just thinking about things that are absolutely irreplaceable and there are not that many, really.” Alas, it’s bad news for that bass drum. “I can’t take that with me when the house is on fire. Unfortunately, it’s going to make the house burn longer.”

Anyone who has interviewed or spent time with Holkenborg will agree: he may be a lonesome cruiser, but he is also personable, funny, loves to settle in for a chat. As he lights his second or third cigarette in readiness for his Life in Film questionnaire, I’m curious about his relationships with the esteemed filmmakers he has worked with—who include his mentor, Hans Zimmer, directors Sir Peter Jackson, Tim Miller, Robert Rodriguez and, especially, Fury Road’s George Miller.

The story of how Holkenborg scored Mad Max: Fury Road bears retelling: that George Miller did not want a soundtrack (“he was convinced that the orchestration of sounds of the cars would be enough to carry the whole movie”), that Holkenborg was only brought in to create a little something for the Coma-Doof Warrior’s flame-throwing guitar, that they hit it off, the job grew, and grew, into a score that covers almost the entire film.

The Coma-Doof Warrior in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015).

What is his best memory of Fury Road? “Well, obviously, when I saw the movie for the first time and I was like ‘what the hell am I looking at?’,” he laughs. “What I mostly look back on is the friendship that I developed with George and the film school one-on-one that I got admitted to, while being paid at the same time, to study with somebody like him. We would talk all night about all kinds of things and nothing, because that really defines our relationship so much—a joint interest in so many different things.”

Happily, Holkenborg and Miller are working together again, on Three Thousand Years of Longing. “It’s really great to be in that process with him again. It’s just like about pricking each other with a little needle. It’s like, ‘Oh, why are you saying that?’ We do that with each other to keep each other sharp. ‘Oh, but if you’re doing this, I’m going to be doing that.’ And then, ‘Oh, if you’re doing that, I’m going to be doing this.’ So it’s really interesting.”

What is your favorite Godzilla film?

Tom Holkenborg: 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante. It’s a very obscure one where he’s basically fighting a giant rose. Let’s not look for the logic there.

Why has that particular Godzilla captured your heart? It’s so corny. Yeah. Mothra vs. Godzilla is also great. Mothra looks like a very bad Arabian carpet that was imported through customs and it got delivered by FedEx completely ruined and then laid outside for like four weeks in the rain.

‘Godzilla vs. Biollante’ (ゴジラvsビオランテ, 1989).

What is the first film you remember seeing in a cinema? Bambi. I was six years old, yeah.

And is there a film you have fond memories of watching with your family—a movie that became a family favorite? Not, like, a family favorite because our opinions were too diverse for that, but the next movie that became very important to me when I was a little older was Saturday Night Fever. I thought the soundtrack was, like, groundbreaking, mind-blowingly insane. It’s not necessarily those three massive beats of the Bee Gees on there, but all these other really alternative, left-field tracks by bands like Kool & the Gang. And the way that that darker disco music played against that really dark movie about what it’s like to live in New York and become a competitive dancer, it’s incredible. And still, today, it’s one of the movies where film music and the film itself had so much impact on me, even though it’s not a traditional film score in that sense. It’s incredible.

What is the film that made you want to work in movies, given that you also have a whole musical career separate from movies? (Enjoy Junkie XL’s early 2000s remix of Elvis Presley’s ‘A Little Less Conversation’.) For me, the move from a traditional artist into film scoring was a very slow gradual process. There’s not one movie that pushed me over the cliff. It’s just, like, all the great movies that were made. And I still have a list of obscure movies, classic movies that I need to see.

Yesterday I saw the weirdest of all, but I do want to share this: the original, uncut R-rated version of Caligula, [from] 1979. He [director Tinto Brass] was notoriously brutal and he organized orgies and had terrible torturing techniques. But it’s really weird, there’s Shakespearean actors in there, and then it goes to full-on porn sections. It’s really weird. The music is incredible. You can find it online. You will not find it anywhere [else]. I can just imagine what this must have felt like in 1979 when the film came out. Suspiria, that’s another one. It’s just like, how weird was that thing?

What is your favorite blockbuster that you did not compose? Ben-Hur. I’ve seen that one at least 20 times.

What’s your all-time comfort re-watch? The movie I’ve seen the most is Blade Runner. It’s just, like, it’s a nice world you’re stepping into, that fantasy. It’s not necessarily because I have memories [of] that movie that brings me back to a certain time period, it’s not that. It’s just that I just love to dwell in it. It feels a little bit like coming home. You can use it as comfort food, you can use it as, “I’m not feeling anything today”, or the opposite. You feel very great and you feel very inspired and it’s like, “Oh, let’s go home and watch that movie again.”

Terrence Malick’s ‘The Thin Red Line’ (1998).

Hans Zimmer has been an important mentor to you. Do you have a favorite of his scores? Yes, The Thin Red Line. It’s also the filmmaking of Terrence Malick—he forces a composer to think a certain way. He would always say, “It’s too much, make it less, make it smaller, make it this, make it that.” So, A, it’s a very good movie and B, he got Hans into the right place and Hans just over-delivered by doing exactly the right things at the right time and then shining just because of that.

Who is a composer that you have your eye on and what is one of their films that we should watch next? It’s so sad to say, but I mean, let’s call it like a retrospective discovery if you will. I’m so sad that we lost Jóhann Jóhannsson. He was a composer I felt really close to. We started roughly in the same time period making our way in today’s world. Also, Jóhann came from an artist background, even though it was a modern classical background. He made really great records, great experimentation with electronic elements, with classical instruments, and the mix between the two of them—very original way of looking at music. With Denis Villeneuve as his partner in crime the movies that they did were just mind-boggling good, whether it was Sicario or Arrival or Prisoners, and his voice will truly be missed among film composers. So people that are not super familiar with his work, I would definitely check it out.

‘Turks Fruit’ (Turkish Delight, 1973).

What is a must-see Dutch film that we should add to our watchlists? Holland has small cinema, but it has a really rich cinema and a very serious cinema culture. Usually because there’s not enough work in film, people are serious stage performers but then they also act in movies so they understand both really well. And we’ve delivered. There’s a string of actors that make their way to Hollywood or star in well-known series, whether it’s like Game of Thrones, or what we just talked about, Blade Runner. Many directors like Paul Verhoeven, Jan de Bont, the cameraman.

And so a movie that I’d like to pick is an old movie, called Turks Fruit (Turkish Delight) from the 1970s. Rutger Hauer is a younger guy, like, this completely irresponsible guy that starts this relationship with a really beautiful young girl, and they do all these crazy things, they do a lot of drugs and they have a lot of sex. He’s just like a bad influence on her.

Then he finds out she [has] cancer and it’s terminal. And to see him deal with that, and to see him want a change, but also in that change he does a lot of bad stuff at the same time… It was a sensational movie when it came out. And it actually was directed by Paul Verhoeven, one of his earlier films. When you see it, you’re just like, ‘Why am I watching this?’ for the first 45 minutes and then it starts and it’s like, ‘whoa’. So it’s really good, even in retrospect.

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in ‘Grease’ (1978).

What is the sexiest film you’ve ever seen? When I was super young, it was definitely Grease, with Olivia Newton-John, when she was in her catsuit at the very end of it. I had her picture on my bedroom, above my bed sideways because I was only like ten years old or something. I was so in love with Olivia Newton-John. It wasn’t the film per se, it was her. Yeah, I find, personally, movies from the ’70s to be more sexy, but it has something to do with the super-loose way that people were dressed and people were behaving.

And the other one was later in life: Basic Instinct. Sharon Stone. I’m not talking about like the famous shot, right, where she crosses her legs. I’m not talking about that, but the way that she acts throughout the whole movie. It’s insane. It’s really great.

Are there any films that have scared you? Like, truly terrified you? Yeah, I’m not a big fan because I get sucked up too much in it. The found [footage] horror movies like Paranormal Activity and things like the Japanese version of The Grudge, I cannot watch that stuff. That gets me too much. Because when I watch a film, I cannot watch it with one eye half open, the other one closed, like, ‘Okay, kind of cool, interesting’. I just get sucked into it.

Is there a film that has made you cry like no other? Oh yeah. Multiple. Once Upon a Time in America. The Godfather. Hable con Ella (Talk to Her). Betty Blue.

Thomas Holkenborg, AKA Junkie XL.

These are the films that make you weep? Not like on a regular basis, but I remember those were the ones that I really got hit. I’m talking particularly about the third Godfather. That whole end scene when they get out of the church and then… It’s really well-acted. So many Godfather fans that were dismissive of the film when it came out, in retrospect, ten, fifteen, 20 years later, are like, ‘it’s a really good film’. And I actually think so.

Final question. Is there a film from the past year that you would recommend, that you’ve loved? [Long pause.] The thing is that I watch pretty much a movie a day. So, that’s like three to four hundred movies. It [has] happened so often that I watch a film and then I’m just like an hour and 45 minutes in, it’s like, ‘wait, fuck, I’ve seen this thing before’.

So, we have an app for that… [Laughs.]

Related content

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whatever-lola-wants · 4 years

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SPOOPY SEASON MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS

Hi. I watch tons of movies, and love horror that doesn’t rely too much on jump scares or CGI monstrosities running at the screen, so this list will be just movies with atmospheric horror, mindfucks, and animatronics/practical effects.

Hereditary (2018) Starts off as a family drama and quickly progresses to one of the most unsettling, emotionally disturbing, and straight up frightening movies of all time. There’s layers upon layers of diverse horror here. Expertly crafted slow burn. When there are visceral moments that are truly scary, they are earned. There are no gimmicks in the cinematography, no jump scares, just great shot composition and plenty of atmosphere with top notch acting. If you’re feeling adventurous, perhaps also check out one of its inspirations, Don’t Look Now(1973) based on a Daphne du Maurier story.

Starry Eyes (2014) - Awesome low-budget movie, an allegory for just how evil Hollywood is (but really, showbusiness in general), and an extended character piece. Brilliant script that progressively reveals so much about our protagonist as the movie goes on. She's a real person, not a character in a movie, and you empathize and are horrified with her. A slow burn with immense payoff. While Neon Demon is another movie with a similar premise, I like this one far more because of just how personal it is.

The Thing (1982) I’ve been waiting forever to gush about this. A true masterpiece. One of the best movies ever made, regardless of genre. Visceral and tense, with themes of paranoia, isolation anxiety, and the fear of societal and cultural change (the movie is from the 1980s after all), and some of the most creative, gross, downright beautiful animatronics and practical effects ever created. Characters act in a sensible manner according to the information they have. There are no “No! Don’t do that! Are you dumb?!” horror movie tropes here. The story follows a science team stuck in an Antarctic research station for the winter, with a nightmarish alien who lives to infect, assimilate, and assume the form of any living thing. Naturally, suspicion and paranoia run amok, as one or more of them might have already been taken over. “Man is the warmest place to hide”, indeed. Avoid the 2011 prequel at all costs.

Shin Godzilla (2016) A monster movie where the real monster is the bureaucracy. It’s a story told primarily through the lens of Japanese politics and culture and has plenty of satire and dark, quirky humor so it might not appeal to too many people who just want a run-of-the-mill Godzilla movie, but it has plenty of kaiju horror goodness, some very memorable scenes, and if you would only go into this movie with an open mind, you’ll know why this is the best Godzilla movie ever made.

Suspiria (1977) Ballet dancer enrolls at a German dance academy to perfect her art and quickly discovers the place is not what it seems, and neither are the people. Yes, witches are involved. Word to the wise, giallo horror is a very specific subgenre which has a distinct “this can’t possibly be real” quality to everything from the characters to the dialogue to the gore. It’s not for everyone. Given that, I love Suspiria, I think it’s unique within the giallo sphere because of the supernatural elements, the beautiful cinematography and pretty colors (lol), the ludicrous displays of gore, the music, and would definitely recommend it. I’d actually recommend the remake Suspiria (2018) with Tilda Swinton too cause I like it for very different reasons, but that one is a classic case of overthinking things and I’m meh about certain subplots and the ending. But whatever. Make up your own mind.

Videodrome (1983) - Classic Cronenberg. Surreal, reality warping body horror (oh, and how.) with plenty of commentary on the nature of advances in technology, the nature of entertainment, and their effect on society. The premise and message are still relevant in 2020.

#horror movies

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ckret2 · 4 years

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Heal Our Wounds

Long after the titan fight in Boston, Serizawa wakes up in a hospital bed, recovering unusually fast from radiation burns he only vaguely remembers receiving. Monarch immediately drowns him in love and attention.

Mark and Madison drop by to share a gift—and some of their post-Boston worries.

Has it really been two and a half months since the last fic, wtf. Anyway this is part of an ongoing series of post-KOTM almost-everybody-lives AU oneshots. If you don’t wanna read the others, all you need to know is that Serizawa survived and nobody knows how/why (answer: because I wanted him to), and Ghidorah's been chilling with Rodan and possibly dating him. Links to the other fics are in the source at the bottom of this post.

###

The first thing Serizawa noticed as Mark and Madison came into the hospital room was that they both had dark rings under their eyes. Serizawa was getting used to seeing his friends and colleagues like that. But they both smiled and their tired eyes lit up when they saw him.

He returned the smiles. "So! You've finally made time to visit me, eh?" he said chidingly, as if they'd just dropped in on him and not as if Mark had scheduled this visit a week earlier.

Madison immediately ran up to him for a hug. Mark reached out for her, mouth opened to warn her back; but Serizawa held up a hand to prevent Mark's protests. "It's fine," he mouthed to Mark over Madison's shoulder as he hugged her back.

"Wow," Mark said. "You're looking better already. A lot better."

Serizawa nodded and shrugged at the same time. "The doctors say I've been very fortunate," he said. "I think Gojira had a hand in it."

He wasn't sure Mark bought that, but Mark had the grace to keep his mouth shut and just tilt his head indecisively.

"How are you feeling?" Madison asked as she stood up.

"A little sore," Serizawa said. "But mostly tired. I've been recovering well, though."

Madison circled to the other side of Serizawa's bed so she could sit in the guest chair next to him. Mark followed her, but leaned against the bedside table. Serizawa really did have to ask the nurses if they could bring some more chairs into the room. Since he'd been cleared to receive visitors, his room had become a nonstop parade during visiting hours: Monarch staff and their families, government officials and sometimes their translators looking for advice on how to deal with their respective nations' new gigantic residents, various journalists and reporters interviewing him on current events and his involvement in the mass awakening of the titans...

And everyone seemed to start out with the same question: "I know you've told everyone that you don't remember how you made it from the bottom of the ocean all the way to Boston," Mark said hesitantly, "but...?" He shrugged questioningly. "I mean—anything? Weird dreams? Things you heard while you were unconscious...?"

Serizawa shook his head. "Nothing. I don't even remember the bomb going off. The last thing I recall is getting out of the submarine and seeing Gojira. And then waking up in a hospital, burning."

"Huh." Mark let out a long sigh, mouth twisted in confusion. "Well—whatever happened down there—and whatever's making you recover from your burns so well—we're all glad for it.”

"Gojira," Serizawa said again firmly.

"He's probably right, Dad," Madison piped up. "I've been reading about the effects of titan radiation. It starts out like radiation burns, but something about it makes organic matter heal a lot faster instead of just... breaking it down."

"Really," Mark said skeptically.

"Really! It's the same thing that makes plants grow back so fast in the cities that titans have been through! The research has been out for like three years, Dad," Madison said, rolling her eyes.

"There's a great deal we don't understand yet, but—what Madison says is true," Serizawa said, trying not to smile too broadly. Madison had always been such a precocious child, always talking about whatever interested her. For the longest time it had been insects; recently it had been camping and survival techniques—something that only in retrospect Serizawa realized was so worrisome. He was glad to hear her talking about science again.

"But we're not here to talk about that," Madison said quickly, practically squirming in her chair with obvious eagerness to move on to the next topic. She gave her dad a pointed look.

"Right!" Mark took off a satchel he'd slung across his body and opened the flap. "We—'we' meaning Monarch, basically—wanted to give you a 'get well soon' gift. Rick mostly put it together, but we all contributed the pictures."

"Pictures?" Serizawa asked.

"Of your new friends," Mark said, suppressing a smile. He pulled out a tablet, scrolled through it a moment, and offered it to Serizawa. "From all over the world. I'll email it to you, but we wanted to show it to you in person."

Serizawa took the tablet. When he noticed Madison leaning over the bed to watch too, he held it out farther to allow her and Mark to watch. It was a slideshow, the first slide of which said in large letters, "GET WELL SOON!!" and in smaller text, "from Monarch and the titans."

He swiped to the next slide.

Godzilla stared back at him with eyes crossed and snout smooshed up to the window of Castle Bravo.

Serizawa laughed.

He swiped through the notes and images, pausing to read the well-wishing messages from Monarch agents and their allies—some close friends, some he'd only spoken to once or twice—and to examine the pictures and clips they'd put together for him.

A video of Rodan dramatically bobbing and headbanging in time to a Spanish song. An attached caption mentioned that after recording Rodan bobbing to over twenty different songs and sending them to a comparative psychologist in California, they could definitively say that Rodan was actually meeting the official definition for "dancing"—deliberately moving in sync with the beat of the music—and he was better at keeping the beat than parrots, one of the few other categories of non-human dancers.

Several pictures showed Kraken hanging out next to various Monarch ships, mimicking the ships' paint jobs. In some of the pictures, he even displayed unintelligible lines across his head that looked like attempts to copy the text and symbols printed on the ships' sides.

The Chen twins included a selfie of themselves and Mothra, as well as a message they said was translated directly from Mothra herself: a sincere wish for Serizawa to either get well soon or have a smooth reincarnation if he didn't, and a thank you from both her and Godzilla for saving Godzilla. Apparently Godzilla thought of Serizawa as "the flashy human." (Serizawa had to pause to wipe his eyes before continuing to the next slide.)

Pictures of Behemoth moving heavy objects around for humans with patient amusement. A photo of "Quetzalcoatl" half obscured by the sea with a brief message informing Serizawa that, in action, Quetzalcoatl appeared to more closely resembled myths about a creature called "Manda." Poems, with an apologetic note that they were better in Arabic, that one of the Monarch agents at Outpost 75-B had written about Mokele-Mbembe.

A short note from Admiral Stenz that wryly said, "Even the Navy is having to adjust to your new friends," followed by an image of Ghidorah reclined on an aircraft carrier like a vacationer on an inflatable pool lounge.

From the corner of his eye, Serizawa saw Madison flinch. He looked up at her; her face had gone blank, but there was a terrible fear in her eyes. Mark put a hand on her shoulder.

Serizawa turned off the tablet and set it down on the bed. "Perhaps I should look at these when I don't have visitors."

Madison's gaze dropped. "I'm gonna..." She slipped out of her father's hand and circled around Serizawa's bed. "Gonna get a soda. M'thirsty."

Mark reached out for her. "Maddie..." But she'd already disappeared down the hallway. He sighed, sank down into the seat she'd vacated, and ran his fingers through his hair.

Serizawa let the silence settle for a moment before he quietly said, "She's been through a great deal."

"Has anyone told you that she got up close and personal with the Three Stooges? They saw each other. They interacted."

Serizawa shook his head, sitting up a little straighter. He'd heard that she'd made herself quite the hero—sneaking away from Jonah's terrorist gang with the ORCA; single-handedly breaking whatever control Ghidorah had over the titans; luring Ghidorah, Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan to Boston where they could settle their differences. It had been clear just how much danger she'd been in; but he'd never imagined that danger.

"She says she was as close to him as..." Mark looked out the window and pointed, "as that tree." The tree was near enough that Serizawa could see how the surfaces of individual leaves curved and rippled. "He looked directly at her—all three heads. He tried to kill her. Blasted..." Mark tried to pantomime with his hand in front of his mouth. "Blasted that lightning of his."

A chill ran down Serizawa's back. He'd known Madison since she was born. The thought of her ending like that, incinerated by an enraged titan...

"She's changed so much," Mark went on. "She's having trouble sleeping. She's sullen, she's so serious... Even the sound of the air conditioning coming on makes her jump. And I don't know how much of that is everything she went through, how much of it is whatever—whatever eco-fascist brainwashing Jonah put her and Emma through, how much of it's just her being a teenager..." Mark trailed off helplessly.

There was frustration in his voice and guilt in his eyes.

"I—maybe I'd know if I'd—been around. If I'd seen her often enough to know what she's like."

"You're around her now," Serizawa pointed out. "You cannot change your past actions, but you can support her now when she needs you."

Mark nodded reluctantly. "I just... wish I knew how."

That was where Serizawa's sage advice ran out. His child rearing experience capped out at entertaining agents' kids with titan stories and pocket watch jokes in fifteen-minute bursts of babysitting. "Have you... looked into therapy?"

"I'm her father. I should be able to help her through this myself," Mark insisted. He shifted his position uncomfortably. "And everyone's booked up."

Serizawa tisked.

"But Maddie's... she's strong." Mark sounded like he was repeating something someone else had told him, not something he quite believed himself. "She'll pull through this."

Serizawa could remember all the times over the past couple of years that Emma had boasted about what a strong young woman Maddie was developing into—a boast that, knowing what he knew now about what Emma had been training Madison for, was more chilling in hindsight. He wondered if Mark had been visiting Emma in jail to talk to her about Maddie.

Strong or not, though, facing down a titan attack and being responsible for saving the world was an astounding weight to put on anyone's shoulders, much less a twelve-year-old's. Pile enough weight on even the strongest structure, and eventually it buckles.

Mark muttered, "I can't believe he's still running around."

Serizawa didn't have to ask who. Mark's gaze was aimed at the tablet's black screen.

"If that thing was dead, maybe... I don't know, maybe Maddie wouldn't constantly feel like she has to watch her back. Like she's afraid he'll come back and finish the job."

Serizawa shifted to sit up higher. "I understand how your daughter's pain must pain you too," he said. "But that's no reason to condemn a living creature to death."

"It's not just that. He's dangerous, you know he is." Mark held up a hand before Serizawa could say anything else. "I know, I know—I should be making peace with the titans. I have with most of them. I don't think I'm at the point where I'd invite Godzilla to my birthday party, but he's on my Christmas card list."

From what Serizawa understood about American Christmas card customs, he was pretty sure that making someone's list was faint praise.

"But Ghidorah? He's not like the others. The others just... accidentally flatten human cities. To them it's like stepping on an anthill without looking. Ghidorah is that sick kid who holds a magnifying glass over an anthill. He's evil. Even you've felt it!"

Serizawa couldn't argue with that. He had seen Ghidorah up close in Antarctica—seen the way his eyes darted about, picking out humans across the ice so he could crush them. He'd seen the malice in Ghidorah's gaze. He'd seen the rage, too—a fury that had smoldered for eons, a fury that was older than the human race. He'd seen the light flashing off Ghidorah's eyes and teeth as he'd singled out Vivienne and devoured her.

But was what he saw in Ghidorah's eyes so different from the rage he'd seen in Mark's eyes when Mark had set foot in a Monarch facility for the first time in years, when Mark had snarled that all titans must be executed? Or the cold malice in Emma's eyes when she'd declared from the safety of a terrorist's bunker that human civilization had to be scoured from the Earth? If either of them had been Ghidorah's size, would Mark have been any kinder to Godzilla or would Emma have to Boston? Serizawa had his doubts.

There was no anger that wasn't somehow inspired by pain, by suffering, by fear. Even though Serizawa could still see Vivienne disappearing into Ghidorah's jaws over and over when he closed his eyes, there was some part of him that wondered what it was Ghidorah feared so deeply. And for that, Serizawa pitied him.

"You yourself called Ghidorah a false king," Mark went on. "You know he doesn't belong on this world."

"That is true," Serizawa said. "But he could belong. There is room enough on our world for him to find a place he fits."

"Wh—" Mark leaned away from Serizawa, blinking in disbelief. "How does a false king fit in on Earth?!"

"By learning to act like a citizen, instead of a conqueror."

"I—Wh—You don't think he's going to just do that, do you? Out of the goodness of his big, lightning-spewing heart? Before he floods the planet, or—or challenges Godzilla for leadership again?"

"What has he been doing since Boston?" Serizawa thought he already knew—although he wasn't currently working, he was receiving regular reports from several outposts, mainly from people who thought he'd enjoy hearing them—but he wanted to hear the answer in Mark's own words.

"Well, he—he's been skulking near Rodan's volcano, mostly. Throwing any trailers or tech we try to so much as get on the edge of the volcanic rock back into the village. He's been learning Rodan's language—did you know Rodan has a language—?"

Serizawa nodded. "I'm subscribed to Dr. Flores Rosales's YouTube channel."

That almost got a smile out of Mark. "Of course," he said. "Rodan's even been teaching him... more complicated calls. So the next time he tries to take over, he's going to be able to give the other titans direct orders. And he's been exploring the planet. Learning the landscape. Playing with our weather—he diverts entire hurricanes like they're nothing. He turns over tanks like they're toys. Experimenting with human technology—our technology. Studying how we work."

Serizawa nodded again, absorbing that analysis.

"Getting a better understanding of our planet," Mark concluded. "He's going to be better prepared the next time he attacks it. The longer we wait, the more prepared he gets."

Serizawa took a moment to process that, collect his words, and then reply carefully. "I can understand how his actions appear to you," he said. "And perhaps that is what Ghidorah is doing—studying us, toying with us. But when I look at those same things, here's what I see. Ghidorah has found a home—perhaps a temporary one, perhaps more permanent. He's established the borders of what he feels like is his territory, and when we respect his boundaries, he has respected ours. He's learning to communicate with his neighbors through words instead of through violence. He's shown us that his species sings—that he understands art. He's shown us he has a sense of humor. He's discovering that the earth is covered in unique, fascinating places, and that humans aren't playthings to torture and kill but inventors and engineers. He's made a friend—a friend whose lessons and advice he will sit and listen to, a friend whom he goes to great lengths to protect from discomfort, and a friend who he seems to care for."

Mark also took a long moment to think over Serizawa's words. He was growing a little bit, Serizawa thought. If they'd had this conversation before Boston, Mark would more than likely have steamrolled over Serizawa's interpretation and clung to his own—as he had with so many other opinions he'd had for so many years. Maybe discovering he was wrong about Godzilla had made him a more thoughtful person. Or maybe he was just working to be more respectful because Serizawa was in the hospital—time would tell.

Finally, Mark said, "A 'friend' who he fights with. All the time. Rodan clawed his wing up pretty good in Antarctica."

"And then kept him warm through the night, stayed near him for the next few days, and reactivated a volcano that's been dormant for four thousand years to give him a place to rest. I don't think it was a fight fueled by hatred," Serizawa said. "Have you been watching Rodan's language lessons as well?"

"A few. Not as many as I should," Mark admitted. "It's hard to look at—I mean—Ghidorah tried to kill me and my daughter."

Serizawa nodded understandingly. He had just about gotten used to the sight of Ghidorah curiously ask Rodan to clarify what the word "many" meant, and even at that Serizawa still sometimes instead flashed to a memory of Vivienne's last moments. "You should ask Xochitl if she has transcripts," Serizawa said. "Ghidorah and Rodan squabble over which fights 'count' and 'don't count' like two children trying to cheat at a board game. They see their battles as play."

"Huh," Mark said. "Like...?" He didn't finish the question.

Serizawa gestured encouragingly at Mark to continue. He had a feeling he knew where Mark had been heading.

"Well." Shrugging self-consciously, Mark said, "You know the joke theory that Outpost 56-B's been putting forward."

An amused smile broke out across Serizawa's face. "That Rodan and Ghidorah might be...?"

"Courting," Mark mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. "That what we're seeing is courting behavior. Or—or dating, are they intelligent enough to date? I mean, Ghidorah's building radios..."

"I think there's some potential to the theory," Serizawa said, still grinning. "Outpost 56-B has collected some very compelling evidence. It's not conclusive, but it's certainly suggestive."

"Suggestive." Mark shook his head again and rubbed his eyes. "There's no way they're reproductively compatible."

"Not all couples are. Either in the animal kingdom, or in our own species."

"So, is that the bet you're wagering?" Mark asked. "You think we shouldn't try to kill Ghidorah while we still have a chance because if he decides to settle down and make a big fiery nest with Rodan, he won't destroy our planet?"

Serizawa sobered up. "No," he said. "I think we shouldn't try to kill Ghidorah because his behavior suggests he no longer wants to kill us. It suggests that he is trying to leave conquering behind and trying to behave like a fellow citizen of our planet—cooperative, respectful of the other species he shares the world with, communicative with his neighbors despite the massive language barriers. If that changes, through Mothra we can call Gojira for help. If it doesn't change... then if Ghidorah is seeking redemption, I think we should let him seek it. Whatever his motive may be."

Mark thought that over, lips pursed. Finally, he said, "I hope you're right. You've been right about a lot of other things, but..." He sighed.

It would take Mark some time to accept. That was understandable; Serizawa saw no need to rush him. Ghidorah had directly threatened Mark's family, after all. But Godzilla had ultimately helped cause far greater harm to the Russell family—harm that couldn't be healed with time—and Mark had made peace with him. If Ghidorah's recent behavior really was indicative of a change, Serizawa was sure Mark could eventually make peace with Ghidorah, too.

For now, though, Serizawa should probably lighten the mood. A bit of humor creeping back into his voice, Serizawa said, "But, if it does turn out that what we've been observing on Isla de Mara is courting..."

Mark gave Serizawa a wary look. "What?"

"Do you remember what you said when we were trying to figure out why Ghidorah was heading toward Isla de Mara?" Serizawa asked.

"Oh no." Mark buried his face in a hand, but not before Serizawa got a glimpse of him fighting back a smile. "Not you, too. Nobody's let me live it down."

"You said he wanted a food, a fight, or a..."

"I know! What about it?"

"Well, then." Serizawa sat back, shrugged permissively, and said, "Let them fuck."

Mark huffed.

The conversation drifted to how their respective extended families had weathered the attacks and the corresponding changes to their daily lives, to Mark's tentative plans to balance getting back into Monarch against keeping Madison away from any active outposts, and to Serizawa's goals for once he was back on duty. Serizawa planned to return to work as soon as he was allowed out of the hospital.

"And to visit all of them," he said firmly, "the moment the doctors allow me on an airplane. If I can't take a plane, I'll ride a boat."

Mark chuckled. "All of them? Even the mean ones?"

"No such thing," Serizawa said confidently. "Maybe hurting, maybe distrustful of humans—or maybe so far removed from our cultures that they don't yet recognize humans as feeling people—but not mean."

"So you gonna go open up diplomacy with the titans on behalf of humanity?" Mark asked. "Go say 'hi' and have a little chat like you did with Godzilla?"

Serizawa smiled. "If they'll let me."

Madison finally came back in the room, smiling shakily but clearly calmer than when she'd left. She didn't have anything from the vending machine. Neither Serizawa nor Mark commented on it.

"Afraid this is leaving with me," Mark said, picking up his tablet from the bed. "But I'll email you the slideshow. They let you have your phone in here, right?"

"I have a new one." His old one had been with him during his meeting with Godzilla. It hadn't shared Serizawa's miraculous survival. Rick Stanton had helped him get all his old data out of "the cloud" onto his new phone, and once he had his photos back he liked his new phone better. It was bigger.

"We'll come back as soon as we can," Maddie said as she leaned in for a hug, then looked to her dad for confirmation.

"Of course," Mark said, nodding, "unless you manage to talk your way out of here before we find time to come by again."

Serizawa grinned. As much as he might want to, he probably needed to be able to walk out the door by himself before he could go. "If you don't come see me before I get out, I'll come see you." He had a whole list of people he needed to visit.

The last thing Mark said before he left was, "Get some rest. You've still got a lot of recovering to do."

On more than one level. "I will." Glancing between Mark and Maddie's tired faces, Serizawa said, "So do you."

###

(Do you guys know how long I've been waiting to write Serizawa saying "let them fuck"? Like half a year. Anyway so the “titan radiation heals injuries instead of making them worse” is, obviously, a lot of BS and Not How Radiation Works, but it’s consistent with KOTM’s “titan radiation heals nature and grows plants!!” and with Legendaryverse’s overall lack of people getting severe radiation burns from being so close to confirmed-radioactive kaiju all the time. If canon’s gonna act like kaiju have some made up form of Magical Healthy Radiation, okay, I’ll roll with that.)

(Replies/reblogs are welcome and greatly appreciated! Check the “source” link below for my masterlist of KOTM and Rodorah fics, as well as my AO3 and Ko-fi links.)

#serizawa ishiro #madison russell #mark russell #godzilla #kotm #fanfic #my writing

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doopcafe · 4 years

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Seasons 1--6), Final Analysis

Well, I made it through.

Let’s be absolutely clear: The Clone Wars (TCW) is not good television. For the most part, it’s not even watchable television. The show suffers from serious fundamental issues in nearly every aspect of storytelling. Characters are underdeveloped and inconsistent; the dialogue is expository and contradictory; the tone is disjoint and jarring; and most episodes serve no greater purpose than to be a twenty-minute vessel to house lightsaber fights.

So I want to put this part of the show to rest before I move on to Star Wars: Rebels (and before returning to watch season 7).

With two exceptions, the show poorly handles twists and reveals. In the earlier seasons, reveals were spoiled mostly due to telegraphing: Captain Sleaze in Cloak of Darkness, Senator Clovis in Senate Spy, and Yolo (?) in Senate Murders come to mind, but there were others. In later seasons, telegraphing was supplanted by “small universe syndrome” as the primary cause of spoiled reveals. In The Academy, a cloaked figure was seen doing shady, back-alley deals, but his identity could only have been the Prime Minister. During the “Ahsoka framed” series, Barriss was obviously the traitor, simply because her character suddenly reappeared after four seasons and there were no other candidates.

Probably the most successfully executed reveal was that of Krell, as his assholeness was at least initially masked as military rigidity. But even so, it was so over-the-top that when the reveal finally came to light, it felt more like an overdue disclosure than a dramatic twist. It didn’t help that, by that point in the show, the format of “asshole = upcoming reveal” had been firmly entrenched into the show’s DNA.

I would argue that the most effective plot twist of the entire show was when the dancer/singer girl shot and killed Ziro the Hutt in Hunt for Ziro. Although irrelevant to the greater story, it was an actual twist because it was strongly implied the opposite would happen (i.e., Ziro would betray the girl). If there is to be a second place, that award would go to Ahsoka’s decision to leave the Jedi Order at the conclusion of The Wrong Jedi. But this leads me into my next point...

Who was the main character of The Clone Wars? If we go by the logic that whoever had the most screen time was the main character, then Anakin probably wins over Ahsoka. But if we go by the logic that the most developed character was the “main character,” then this is a show about Ahsoka. Ahsoka---more than any other character---grows in a noticeable way (from impatient, violent child to impatient, slightly less violent teenager). In contrast, Anakin in Rising Malevolence is the same character as Anakin in Voices (only a little more violent and angry for some reason).

It’s unfortunate that her major character moments were never capitalized on. Intentionally sacrificing herself for the greater good in Weapons Factory apparently led to no lasting repercussions on her character. Her impatience and disobedience led to the deaths of thousands in Storm over Ryloth, but was similarly forgotten immediately afterwards. Even Ahsoka’s major character moment at the end of The Wrong Jedi resulted in her walking away from the show, never to address the implications of that decisions (although I suppose that’s the subject of Season 7).

On a different note, the show was riddled by a shameful amount of “references” and fan service, for reasons exclusively external to the story. These “nods” ranged from the obvious “Obi-wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” (or whatever Senator Jimmy Smits says in Cat and Mouse) to the innocuous design of a droid or background device.

These “references” are objectively problematic for at least a few reasons. (1) They contribute to the sense that the universe is a really, really small place. Is the Mos Eisley cantina really the only place in the Outer Rim where shady deals go down? Is carbon freezing really the only way to store a person in stasis for transport? How long do Rodians live for anyways? Greedo’s gotta be what, like 80 when Han shoots him in A New Hope? It’s ironic that ultimately, this incomprehensibly large, diverse galaxy actually feels much smaller after watching this series because we keep going to the same twelve places...

(2) “Fan service” is tricky to get right because different people have different memories and impressions of the source material. In result, copying material will oftentimes comes across as a blatant misunderstanding of the original content. For example, to me, Vader put Solo into carbon freeze because it’s what Lando had lying around. It’s not a galactically established method of transporting people. Obi-Wan trained Luke with those laser balls aboard the Falcon because Han had them lying around and Obi-Wan needed to improvise a training exercise to kill time.

(3) "References” and “nods” usually are just a band-aid for a lack of creativity. Some of the better episodes in the initial seasons were just direct rehashes of famous movies. Seven Samurai, Godzilla, Stray Dog, The Most Dangerous Game, King Kong... I mean, it’d be pretty impressive to mess-up stories like these, but it’s concerning that there were just so many episodes made from other people’s stories.

These “references” even seep into the most innocuous of scenes. When Prequel!Wan lands on Mandalore to attempt a rescue of Satine from Darth Maul, one of the Mandalorians takes aim at him, only to have their blaster pushed down by their companion who’s shaking their head. This is a direct reference o the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine when Luke went after R2 in the desert. Even if this scene served an important plot purpose (it didn’t), there’s undoubtedly a multitude of ways to communicate the same thing. Instead, a small reference to the OT is interjected into the show, deimmersing the audience from the events shown. Unfortunately, this is just one (very small) example of hundreds over the whole show.

Let me say something positive. The episodes that worked best (especially early in the show's run) were ones that focused on mortal people, usually the clones. Innocents of Ryloth was one of the first watchable episodes, simply because we didn't have to sit through twenty minutes of unlikable, unrelatable “Jedi” and instead followed around a pair of troopers helping a little girl using their limited abilities. Likewise, Pursuit of Peace was way more enjoyable than it probably should have been, simply because the story was understandable, the consequences clear, and the drama real. Plan of Dissent (when the clones actively rebel against Krell) was also noteworthy for similar reasons: clones we liked must subdue a “Jedi” we’ve learned to hate.

This isn’t to say that episodes focused on the major characters were inherently unenjoyable, it’s just that none of these characters had any room to grow (with the exception of Ahsoka). Dooku, Grievous, Anakin, Prequel!Wan... They were the same characters as portrayed in Episode II and III. As presented, there was nowhere for these characters to go. Dooku was literally identical at the beginning of the series as he was at the end, and the same can be said about the others.

But these are false constraints the writers imposed upon themselves. Grievous was not in Episode II and was introduced in Episode III. TCW could have started him however they wanted and then illustrated his change into the character he later becomes. Who was he? What was his motivation? Why did he hate Jedi so much? The show was handed a completely clean slate to deliver a character from scratch, but instead we were immediately shown “Episode III General Grievous” with zero introduction because fans were expected to already know who he was.

This is partly why the backstory episode to Grievous was so compelling, at least in premise: viewing his home was personal to his story and it represented a chance to learn a bit more about the character and where he came from. Of course, it was mostly mishandled by a reliance on meaningless action, but the high ratings of that particular episode suggest there was room for quality television here, it just was never capitalized on.

Instead, we have completely static caricatures, especially for minor characters from the movies. Admiral Tarkin, Admiral Ackbar, Greedo (among others) were written out of cardboard and their roles in the plot could have just as easily been played by anyone else (there was nothing unique about their roles that required them to be these characters).

This is a shame because a lot could have been done with the established premise to really focus on Anakin, his motivations, and his relationship to his Padawan. I would have been okay with a lot of backtracking if it meant I could begin to grasp his “fall” to the Dark Side. Instead, I’m honestly more confused than ever about his motivation.

One argument is that Anakin joins the Dark Side because he like, “loves” Padme (or whatever). However, what we’re shown in this show---consistently, clearly---is that Padme and Anakin have a toxic, dysfunctional relationship. He is uncomfortably jealous and rarely trusts her. They argue nearly every time they’re together. Their “love” (or whatever) must remain secret, equating their relationship to something “wrong” or even “illegal” that must be kept secret, even on the verge of death. In a later episode, Anakin orders Padme to listen to him because he’s the “man” and, as his wife, she doesn’t have a say in the matter. This is clearly a broken relationship and the best result is the one that actually happens: They stop seeing each other. Anakin wants to save this woman from a vision? Why?

This brings up a second point, which is that Anakin can’t stand the pain of losing someone. His desire to protect those close to him may be Anakin’s only redeeming trait. He has a single selfless scene (in the entire show) during the opening of Jedi Crash where he sacrifices himself to delay an explosion and save his companions. I want to stress that any other scene where Anakin saves or helps someone isn’t done because he’s a good person, it’s done because he’s a broken person. It’s done because he, personally, would struggle with the emotional toll of knowing he allowed someone close to him to be hurt or die. In other words, he’s doing nice things for selfish reasons.

As far as I’m concerned, Anakin has always been Darth Vader. He is given choices between being a Jedi and allowing a lot of people to die, and he enjoys choosing the second. In Ghosts of Mortis, we’re shown that the threshold between “Anakin” and “Darth Vader” is disconcertingly low, requiring only a few choice words and less than a minute to convert him. In short, what I’ve learned from TCW regarding Anakin Skywalker is that he was an unlikable dick, and his “turn” to the Dark Side was just a long-overdue reveal.

While the later seasons worked towards the events in Episode III in a way that at least made a bit of sense, earlier seasons were focused on adult-themed wacky hijinks. In a way, the show almost would have worked better as a kid’s show, but this was clearly meant for adults: politics, war, slavery, and lots and lots of horrific violence. In comparison, the silly adventures of Star Wars: Resistance worked well because the show didn’t take itself too seriously. It was very clearly, from the start, a lighthearted show about kids going on fun adventures. In contrast, TCW suffered because its themes were adult in nature, but was portrayed as a Saturday morning cartoon show. The humor was misplaced, the tone disjointed from actual events, and the violence excessive.

Let me say a few words on the “Jedi.” Initially I labeled them as overpowered (OP), because in earlier episodes they seemed invincible and dissolved tension in every scene. Later, we see a slew of them get cut down as plot fodder, even against widely different situations. We see Luminara and others push through hoards of droids only to see “Jedi” Master Yoda-like dude get taken down by a dog. We watch as Fisto *heh* powers through entire battalions and the cone-head guy counting coup against an army, only to watch as pink girl gets shot in the face by a single clone who stands in front of her for several seconds before pulling the trigger.

It’s nearly impossible to feel tension in these scenes because the metrics for judging the true strength of a “Jedi” keep shifting as a function of the plot requirements. Anakin suddenly forgets how to use the Force when the plot needs his help to fake some drama. Prequel!Wan pointlessly fist fights with a slaver cat for an hour until the plot needs him to get back up again and OP everyone in the room. Even their ships are only as strong or weak as the plot needs them to be. Plo Koon’s fleet is devastated in seconds in order to portray the Malevolence as being a threat; Anakin’s fleet powers through a larger force three times its size because Anakin’s like, really mad about something.

Secondly, the “Jedi,” in general, were unlikable assholes. They were consistently portrayed as violent and ignorant and I struggled to understand them as real people. Frequently, we witnessed them torture victims, default to a lightsaber to solve problems, and enjoy death to the point of counting coup against sentient life forms defending their homes. Anakin threatened civilians with his lightsaber. Ahsoka was annoyed when she’s asked not to murder a defenseless creature in Jedi Crash. Prequel!Wan and Anakin team up to hurtle enormous rocks into a beaten monster in Dooku Captured. A trio of Jedi Masters mentally gang bang a shackled Cad Bane. They supported state terrorism when it suited their needs, but agreed to abandon their friends for political reasons.

I mean, these are not good people...

This is a shame, because my impression of true Jedi comes from Luke, Yoda, and Obi-Wan in the OT, as well as the expanded universe novels that take place afterwards. It always seemed to me that being a Jedi was about conquering oneself, one’s fears, and learning to use the Force to selflessly help others and let go of all worldly attachments. You know, like the Buddhists they were originally inspired by. I always had the impression that the Force was extremely powerful and that Yoda was only showing Luke a portion of what was possible. That the Emperor was only using Force lighting to toy with Luke. That Vader only Force choked his officers because it was visually intimidating and kept them in line.

Instead, we’re treated to some garbage about how a “Jedi” is nothing greater than an actuator to swing around a lightsaber. When Luke enters Jabba’s palace in Jedi to rescue his friends, it’s not with lightsaber swinging, cutting shit up, flipping around like an acrobatic monkey. Imagine Anakin and Ahsoka in the same scene. They’d blaze through the palace corridors before Force choking Jabba as the Darth Vader theme plays. Forget the rancor, these are demigods. They have lightsabers. Have you seen them? They go “woosh woosh.”

In short, there was little to look up to in terms of a “hero” character. I can see how children can look up to Luke as a role model, someone they want to emulate or play with as a toy, but looking up to Anakin? Ahsoka? Hey kids, wanna learn to become a psychopath? First, you use your power to abuse those who are weaker than you. Then you need to get really really angry and uncontrollably choke someone, preferably your sister or one of your cousins.

And so, for a Saturday morning cartoon show, it is very unclear who we’re supposed to care about. I liked when Ahsoka went against Anakin because I hated his character so much. I liked everything with Hondo, a pirate. I liked Ventress a little, because she was actively seeking to kill the main characters. I liked some of the clones, but I don’t know which ones because they all looked the same. I cared about Darth Maul because I’m honestly a little worried about him, especially after the loss of his brother. I kinda liked General Grievous just because he hates the “Jedi” and was therefore relatable (even though the reasoning was never explained). And... that’s it.

At no point did I ever “look forward” to the next episode. I painfully died a little on the inside hitting the “watch next” button every single time.

This “review” is already way too long, so let me summarize by applying my five-star rating system (developed for movies) to each episode. In review:

5. Amazing, classic, culturally important. Something everyone should watch. 4. Great; very well done, no significant flaws. 3: Entertaining with only minor gripes/criticisms. 2: “Watchable,” but suffers from flaws and has some poor parts. 1. Uncomfortably bad; suffers from serious flaws. 0. Painfully bad, would actively fight against being forced to watch a second time.

The 3-star episodes were:

Hostage Crisis

Lightsaber Lost

Pursuit of Peace

Carnage of Krell

The Wrong Jedi

Hostage Crisis was the introduction of Cad Bane, Lightsaber Lost was the remake of Stray Dog (and the only episode to include a real Jedi), Pursuit of Peace was the random Padme/politics episode that was strangely well-executed, Carnage of Krell was the reveal of Krell as a bad guy and his clones working to apprehend him, and The Wrong Jedi was Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order (and the only episode to include a true character moment).

Also, I scaled the IMDB ratings of each episode to my ratings and then detected outliers in their overlap. In other words, I wanted to answer the question, “which episodes did I rate the most differently from others?”

Turns out, I rated every single episode lower except for seven. Those seven were:

Mercy Mission (+1.853) - R2 and 3PO discover an underground world with ents. This one is universally panned by “fans,” but was a competently handled episode apart from the disappointing resolution.

Pursuit of Peace (+1.382) - Padme struggles to win support for a Senate bill. Another competently handled episode that focuses on Padme and politics and is ranked low by “fans.”

Lightsaber Lost (+0.6471)

Weapons Factory (+0.4118) - An average episode with a dramatic scene of sacrifice by Ahsoka and her “friend” Barriss.

Shadow Warrior (+0.3824) - Grievous is captured during some dramatic moments on Naboo.

Hostage Crisis (+0.3529)

Front Runners (+0.0882) - One of the rebels episodes, I don’t remember which.

In conclusion, Star Wars: Rebels is next and I am somehow still alive.

#pie211-tcw #tcw #clone wars #the clone wars #star wars

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