Homer Simpson sat on the white marble, wearing a white robe. The most depressed man in Heaven. A massive figure with a white beard approached him.
"I'm sorry, but heaven isn't heaven without my family in it."
"They exist here as you remember them."
"It's not the same. I know they're not real. I know my real family is dead."
The giant figure sighed.
"What do you truly want Homer?"
"Just send me back to Earth and put off this whole rapture Hoopty doo for another couple of years or so."
"To Do what you're asking I'd have to turn back time?"
"Superman did it."
"Very well. The Apocalypse shall be undone."
The Figure of God sat beside him.
"Thanks"
Home patted him.
"Could you do one more favor?"
"You want me to help you with your alcoholism."
"No I'm in a good place with that."
Homer got up and climbed up onto God's lap, standing on it to whisper into his ear.
"Very Well."
God rose up and clasped his hands together.
"Deus Ex Machina!"
And with that…
Everything Faded to White.
Bart Simpson woke up. His first thought was that it was all a dream. He hoped it was all a horrible nightmare. That thought dissolved away almost as soon as it was conceived. The first clue was it was far too vivid. The second was when his family confirmed it just with their expressions.
The rapture had occurred.
And they were alive.
They all frantically began talking to each other. They were alone in the church. Herb, Maggie and Lisa had been raptured. They had no memories of what had transpired while they were in heaven. Maybe it was God's mercy. For Homer, Marge, Bart and Hugo. They had very different memories of all that had transpired. They had fought. Many had died. Homer and Marge were closer than ever. Homer had fought and died to save his family. He told them of his conversation with god. They believed him at first…Then Jesus spoke publicly and claimed he had killed the Antichrist, which reset everything. The family was unsure who to believe. Homer still thought he played a part in making everything right.
There was now a desire to return to normal. The Family was back under one roof for a little while longer. No one wanted to leave. We were. Back in Arlen now. There was a sense of victory in the air. We had faced the darkness and won. This called for a Barbecue.
-Do the Bartman: The Unauthorized autobiography of Bart Simpson.
So Dad went out and bought a Barbecue pit. He saw a commercial which included a weird bit about Hippo. It went wrong. First thing he did was put the cement down and then all the stuff pulled out of the box. The English side was caked in cement and he tried to go to the French instructions. I heard him say "Le Gril? what does that mean?" He mangled it further in rage. Then he looked over at Hank Hill's Barbecue Pit, which he had just installed. I could hear him say.
"Ah, that is one fine looking Barbecue Pit!"
"…Why doesn't mine look like that!"
Ultimately, we ended up just asking Hank Hill if we could have a barbecue at his place and he agreed. Dad knew how to grill. He grilled a pig before, which I destroyed in rage when I became a vegetarian but still. Hank had some specific requests.
"Firm, but with a little give. Yup, these are medium rare."
"What if somebody wants theirs Well Done?"
"We ask them politely, but firmly, to leave."
So yeah, day was saved thanks to Hank. Though he disapproved of my Veganism[1]
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
There was no time better for unity than in the planning for the 2000 Olympics. It was sad to find Springfield was on the short list before the nuke went off, which trajectory indicated had been fired from Canada. Hank Scorpio had gone underground and after the rapture no one really wanted to fight. Before that it seemed we would all nuke each other. So now the question was where to hold the Olympics. Tensions had been high since the refugee Springfieldians had moved to Shelbyville and though they'd begrudgingly gotten along there was still some clashing. Arlen was seen as too remote. Ultimately the US was passed up but to compensate we were given the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City[2]. Dad did design a mascot called Springy for the event though which was considered but dropped.
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
A New Fortune Megastore opened in town. My guess is since the Megalomart wasn't there anymore. Still the owner Arthur Fortune was there since it was the 112th store. He was an entertaining guy and gave away free money at the event. He showed footage of himself bobsledding down Mount Everest and getting knocked out by Muhammad Ali[3].
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
"LOCH NESS MONSTER FOUND!"
-The Mirror,
"Hey did you hear? They found the Loch Ness monster?"
"Good. He owes me Tree Fiddy."
-Jerome "Chef" McElroy interview onJerry Rude and the Bathroom Bunch.
"Millions came to see The Loch Ness monster, who was surprisingly photogenic. Jumping out of the water, splashing. Though of course no one could get too close to it for safety reasons[4]."
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
"I was invited to join Mensa! Finally I was being recognized. I started talking to the Springfieldians living in Shelbyville. Skinner, Jeff Albertson, Professor Frink and Lindsey Nagle. It helped that I already knew them. I wasn't sure who the membership was before then. We were all working together to bring back Springfield. Frink was working on a way to remove the radiation on the site. We could do it. We could repopulate the town, and actually do some good. So we got to work. Progress was slow at first. We had the full support of Mensa. We got it into our heads that Neo-Springfield would be better than ever, A Town built by committee. We set up a Geniocracy. Among our roles was free health care and the Metric System. Of course, you know about the problems like Albertson wanting a Ton Farr mating ritual from Star Trek, banning certain sports, changing traffic lights. Still for al we did we raised Springfield's spot in the 300 most livable US Cities. Moving above East . Albertson called it "A Crime Ridden Slum" and had to publicly apologize[5]. Stephen Hawking visited the town and it broke our hearts a bit when he was not impressed and pointed out many flaws in our plan."
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
"We needed a Vacation. Honestly we were fine with anywhere but Flanders had discount tickets to Japan so to Japan we went. After an exhausting 13 hour flight we were just looking to find our hotel and relax. Then…oh yeah no one spoke English. We kept running around asking people but they couldn't help us. Finally we did find a guy and…the trains were very confusing. Fortunately we eventually did find our hotel and collapsed dead tired. We were in Tokyo so the things to see were the Tokyo Tower and the Imperial Palace, where Dad shouted at the Emperor as he walked past during the tour, embarrassing all of us. We saw a Kabuki Show about the 47 Ronin. We also went to a Sumo match and Dad got us in trouble when he jumped into the ring. He was arrested but not held that long because it was the Sumo wrestler that provoked him. Bart ran in trying to stop the fight(or maybe try to help Dad) either way it ended badly. Mom bailed us out but we'd spent a lot of the Yen we had. I was disappointed everywhere we ate was just an American restaurant, including Americatown where all the food was American and all the tables were states.
Dad heard my complaints and made an origami Crane out of one of the yen. I woke up to find it next to the bed[6].
And the best part! We got to take a tour of Monster Island! It was so cool. We saw Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan and Mothra! They were even all standing together and I took a picture.
VISIT LOVELY MONSTER ISLAND
-Monster Island Tourism Poster
HISTORY OF MONSTERS
Godzilla first appeared in 1954. He devastated the native of Odo Island before attacking Tokyo itself. The city was reduced to rubble. The creature then fled. A scientist Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, invented a device known as the Oxygen Destroyer, which was weaponized against the creature. The assault was a success, reducing the monster to a skeleton. Serizawa, fearing that he may have just invented the new atomic bomb, took his own life after destroying his research.
The entire event including the investigation into the islands and the attack on Tokyo was documented by reporter Steve Martin. No relation to the comedian. It was either the press from the name he gave or himself who mispronounced it but the original name "Gojira" was translated as "Godzilla" which has remained commonly used as the official English translation.
In 1955, a pilot named Kobayashi spotted an apparently alive Godzilla and another monster later dubbed Anguirus. A fight between the two monsters devastated Osaka. Godzilla seemingly killed Anguirus by slicing its throat but the monster essentially just passed out. Radiation from the monster was thought to be it decomposing but it was only essentially playing possum by entering a suspended hibernation as it healed from injuries sustained from Godzilla's atomic breath. The Japanese Self Defense Force lifted away the monster and dumped it into the sea. It sank and began its long process of healing. It would emerge again 13 years later.
This new Godzilla as the original Godzilla was truly dead, was discovered to be a member of the same species. While there was some belief the creatures were created by the radiation of nuclear test sites. It now known they were actually much older. The nuclear testing only woke them up
Not wanting to wait around a plan was made to kill the creature. Kobayashi himself led the assault and saw a chance to bury Godzilla by causing an avalanche. He sacrificed himself to ensure Godzilla was buried in the snow.
In 1956, another monster emerged. A race of giant insects were attacking the mining town of Kitamatsu. The Kitamatsu are believed to be one of many creatures created by the advanced ancient society of Mu. An investigation discovered two eggs which hatched into two mutated Pteranodons, nicknamed "Rodan" for short. The creatures ate the giant insects but became a much bigger threat as they flew and terrorized the country. A plan was conceived to lure the Rodan into an active volcano, which succeeded with a triggered eruption. One Rodan had its wing burned and fell from the sky into a tie row burning magma. It fell into the volcano and the second Rodan flew after it, believed dead. That Rodan was later discovered to have survived.
In 1961, A Joint-Japanese-American team discovered Infant Island, an island submitted to radiation tests but which had evidently survived with a native people. They discovered an egg which was taken back. Two small beings named the Shobijan were taken as well and claimed the egg belonged to the Earth protector Mother. The egg hatched into a larval like creature, which then cocooned into a butterfly before rescuing the Shobijan and flying away back to Infant Island.
In 1962, A U.N. Submarine accidentally awoke frozen Godzilla after investigating a radiation signal. Around the same time a company called Pacific Pharmaceuticals was investigating Farou Island. They found that a member of the Kong species like the one found on Skull Island, only it was much larger likely due to radiation. The Kong escaped upon arriving in Japan and battled Godzilla. While being defeated in the first fight Kong clashed with Godzilla again and both fell into the water. Kong resurfaced and swam towards Farou Island but was reported to have settled on the similar Mondo Island instead.
In 1964, a monsoon watched an egg belonging to Mothra on the shore of Japan and revived a catatonic Godzilla. The egg was discovered to have belonged to Mothra. A deal was made for Mothra to fight Godzilla but she was killed in the attempt. The Egg hatched, revealing two larva which attacked Godzilla. Godzilla was ensured in silk, unable to move and fell into the sea. He departed while the two Larva headed back to Infant Island. Upon arriving one ate the other. They were always intended to be one being. Being born twins was a fluke and the two needed to be one to become Mothra again.
An alien race called the Xiliens launched an invasion of Earth by sending King Ghidorah to the planet. It dug into the Earth and began draining the planet's energy. The Shobijan had stayed in contact with the Japanese Government and explained that Mothra was willing to help but was not yet strong enough. Ghidorah's attack was noticed by Godzilla and Rodan emerged from the volcano. The effects of King Ghidorah on Earth had changed them and they had a semblance of sentience. They still distrusted humanity. Mothra attempted to telepathically convince both monsters to help stop King Ghidorah but they refused. Mothra went in a lone but Godzilla and Rodan arrived to help, having either changed their minds or realized Ghidorah endangered them as well. Ghidorah was driven off the planet. While Mothra returned to Infant Island. This experience changed Godzilla and Rodan. While Rodan was angered at the death of his mate, he chose to no longer attack humanity, realizing that it had been self defense. Godzilla on the other hand, greatly enjoyed fighting to save the Earth and decided to no longer attack humanity but instead fight to protect it.
In 1965, The Xiliens, not yet having had their control over Ghidorah revealed, make contact with Earth and claimed to need help defeating the monster's attack on their own planet. They abduct Godzilla and Rodan to the planet. Mothra was currently in cocoon form and was not detected due to hibernation. The Xiliens then revealed their true intentions and brainwashed Godzilla and Rodan along with Ghidorah into attacking Tokyo. It was discovered by scientists that they were using a special frequency to control them, which was countered with a different frequency, freeing the two Earth based monsters, which attacked Ghidorah and forced his retreat. The Xiliens left on their planet, which they referred to as Planet X.
Dr. Sueko Togami, who was working on helping victims of the Hiroshima bombing along with Dr. Kenichiro Kawaji and American doctor James Bowen, discovered a young boy who had been mutated from radiation and had gone feral attacking and eating animals including dogs owned by residents leading to his capture. The boy had stumbled upon a metal box containing the heart of the Frankenstein Monster. It had been recovered by the Nazis. When they fell, the research was transferred to Hiroshima where it was thought lot in the bombing. The boy found and ate the heart, irradiating him. The boy started growing and broke out but retreated into the wilderness to resume his old life. Another monster named Baragon. Appeared and would kill many before disappearing by burying underground. The boy was dubbed " Frankenstein" by the press even though that is the name of the creator and not the monster. He was blamed for the attacks until the two met and fought. The boy snapped Baragon's neck and tossed the body aside. He was then attacked by a giant octopus which he forced to retreat but it dragged him into the sea where he drowned. Baragon's body was recovered but lost when it was buried in an Earthquake.
A plane carrying an atomic bomb crashed in the Arctic, reviving an ancient giant turtle like creature called Gamera. Gamera initially attacked sources of fuel but it was later discovered it was not evil, only lonely and trying to regain its strength from consuming flames. A plan was made to launch it into space.
In 1966, Mothra entered a period of hibernation to regain energy in order to lay another egg. The Communist Cell Red Bamboo had set up a base on Letchi Island and learned how to control the monster Ebirah with a special fruit. They abducted natives from Infant Island for slave labor and brought them over. A resistance cell formed but the natives were outgunned and Ebirah would destroy any boats who fled. A sailor named Rota discovered the island and helped the natives. They discovered Godzilla was nearby and goaded him into attacking bot the Red Bamboo Base and Ebirah. Mothra awoke only to find that most of the threat had been taken care of but helped evacuate the natives back to infant Island. The Red Bamboo set their base to self destruct. Which it did though the escapee, Mothra and Godzilla survived the resulting blast.
The rocket carrying Gamera was struck by a meteorite and Gamera freed. This time Gamera engaged another monster named Barugon in battle.
In 1967, A research team was attacked by three species of giant mutated Praying Mantises, who were evidently after an egg emitting radiation. Godzilla was drawn to the egg and protected it, killing all but one of the praying Mantises, which were later dubbed Kamacuras. From the egg hatched a baby Godzilla, dubbed "Minilla" of "Godzilla Jr". This Godzilla interacted with humans from a young age and as a result was immediately friendly towards them. He was also attacked by the giant spider Kumonga and once more saved by Godzilla.
Gamera engaged and battled a pterodactyl monster called Gyaos.
In 1968, The United Nations, seeing that the monsters were populating the islands in the Pacific, and as a request from Japan, launched an operation to relocate the monsters to an island in the South Seas. Scientists realized the insect monsters such as Kamacuras and Kumonga would settle down in nests whole Godzilla and Rodan no longer attacked humans. Thus began Operation: Monster Island.
Solgell Island, where Minilla had hatched, where Kamacuras and Kumonga already lived and where Godzilla now resided was chosen. By luck, though likely due to knowing Godzilla as both had developed sentience at around the same time, Rodan settled on Solgell Island as well. It was decided that there was no need to move the giant King Kong, which had moved to Mondo Island. A search for the missing monster Ebirah discovered Anguirus, who for the first time since 1955 had just woken up after fully healing. He was guided to Solgell Island. While he was unconscious at the time of King Ghidorah's attack on Earth. His intelligence had also grown to the point of sentience. Upon arriving he approached the other monsters. Surprisingly there seemed to be no hostility towards Godzilla. It is speculated that a friendship of sorts formed between the two or possibly they developed a view of Godzilla as the Alpha male for defeating him. Most of the monsters Godzilla and defeated bowed to him, leading to his nickname as "The King of the Monsters". Ebirah was also moved to the Island once he was discovered.
Finally there was Mothra. While Mothra could be left alone and in fact was seen as a hero by the world for their part in helping fight Godzilla and convincing them to fight Ghidorah. The Shobijan were asked and they reluctantly agreed for a few reasons. They made a deal that Mothra would be moved to Solgell Island in exchange for UN Protection for Infant Island so that nothing like the Red Bamboo incident would happen again. The Shobijan would also eventually die and Mothra would need guidance once they were reborn. They would be safer on Monster Island with Godzilla and Rodan now being allies. Mothra could also telepathically speak to the monsters and had convinced the other two to help save the world. The UN wasn't yet sure if Godzilla or Rodan would willingly fight to save the planet at this time and hoped Mothra could help tame them. Mothra became a larva again and swam to the island, forming a friendship with Minilla as the two monsters essentially grew up together.
When news got out of this endeavor the press dubbed Solgell Island as "Monster Island" or Monsterland. Fan clubs for the monsters(mostly Mothra and Godzilla as they had largely exclusively fought to save humanity) would sprout up over time and the island became a popular tourist destination.
Gamera, another protector of the Earth, was mind controlled by an invasion of the squid like alien Viras, which were defeated. He then moved to the island as well.
In 1969, Gamera helped defeat an alien race claiming to be from a Counter-Earth called "Terra" and their monster Guiron.
In 1970, Gamera fought and defeated the monster Jiger.
In 1971, Pollution and radiation resulted in the birth of a creature known as Hedorah. Godzilla, for the first time, arrived willingly in Japan to fight Hedorah in one of the toughest battles of his life up until that point, being badly burned an injured multiple time as his foe shapeshifter. He finally defeated the creature by using towers which he realized gave off electricity which could harm the creature and ripping out two orbs from its being that was where its life truly resided. Godzilla then returned to Monster Island though let out a roar towards the city, presumed to be in rage for causing the pollution that had created the monster. Godzilla was cemented in the eyes as many as a hero and defender of humanity.
By 1972, an alien race called the Nebulans had infiltrated Earth. They saw Godzilla as their main threat and began infiltrating society. Part of there cover was the construction of an amusement park called Children's Land, which took advantage of the popularity of Godzilla by including a replica of the monster with a weapon designed to kill him inside. The Nebulans used a frequency to summon some monsters. Godzilla and Anguirus sensed the frequencies. Godzilla ordered. Anguirus to investigate but he was mistaken for a threat and attacked, retreating as he did not want to fight the Japanese Self Defense Force. The Nebulans summoned Ghidorah and Gigan, which engaged Godzilla and Anquirus in battle. The hidden weapon was destroyed as was the Nebulan base. Ghidorah and Gigan were freed and fought but were forced to retreat. Godzilla and Gigan returned to Earth. This event led to the formation of the Alien CounterInsurgency Defense agency or A.C.I.D.
The Nebulians had made contact with the undersea civilization of Seatopia, who also wanted to declare war on the surface. In 1973, they targeted Professor Gorr Ibuki, who had recently invented a robot called Jet Jaguar capable of growing to massive size. The Seatopians launched their own Kaiju Megalon and contacting Gigan. Godzilla was contacted to aid in battle. Gigan and Megalon were forced to retreat. The Seatopians activated an earthquake to seal off contact with the surface world. Godzilla and Jet Jaguar shook hand and Godzilla returned to Monster Island.
Hikaru, a being from the planet whose name was roughly translated as "Peaceland" arrived on Earth to act as a hero during the time Godzilla was active, his status cemented as a hero. They battled Ghidorah and Gigan and repelled them before departing.
In 1974, Earth faced an invasion from a race called the Simians, who constructed Mechagodzilla to combat the true Godzilla. Another monster, though a peaceful defender, named King Caesar was discovered on Okinawa. It could be awakened to fight by having a specific song being sang to it before returning to sleep at the battle's conclusion. Mechagodzilla was sent to attack Japan disguised as Godzilla but the real Godzilla appeared to attack it'd destroying its disguise. Godzilla was badly injured and forced to retreat. King Caesar also tried attacking the monster only to be defeated. A fully healed Godzilla, aided King Caesar in destroying Mechagodzilla. An army attack on the Simian base eliminated them.
In 1975, the Simians worked to rebuild Mechagodzilla from the obtained pieces along with the monster monsters were defeated by Godzilla and the Simians thought defeated for good.
The Monster Island project would expand to even more monsters being taken to the island. Some like Megalon and Totanosaurus were confirmed dead. A forcefield was built around the island to contain the monsters, though if they needed to leave the forcefield could be lowered to allow certain monsters out. The final Kamacuras was a some point killed when he attacked Minilla without Godzilla to protect him, leading the young monster to kill him in self defense. Space technology left from the invasions led to a UN base on the moon.
The Simians made their return as part of the alliance against the Rigelians and the transformation of Barbara Streisand into the cyborg host of Mechagdozilla before her destruction, which seemed to be the permanent end of the threat.
In 1985, Gamera defeated an alien invasion by a species called the Zigra. He later on helped defeat another alien warlord named Zanon.
Once security measures were put into place, Monster Island became open to tourism.
Recently, in 1999, another alien invasion was launched by the Kilaaks, which were silicon based lifeforms. They did not wish to attract attention from A.C.I.D. and covertly brainwashed political and industrial leaders with devices. Larger devices were created to be used on monsters. The Kilaaks took control of most of the Monsters before making their invasion known, sending them to attack various cities. In the old timeline, The Kilaaks had united with Damien Thorn and the brainwashed monsters had been a devastating factor in his reign of terror. In the post-rapture timeline, the UN Team where able to discover the cause. While one man had been brainwashed and opted to commit suicide, the brainwashing device was found on him. Once this was discovered in a UN base in Mount Fuji, all monsters were commanded to attack Tokyo.
The UN discovered the base on the moon had been compromised and attacked it. In the Pre-Rapture world they had nuked it to oblivion, though the Kilaaks were able to regain control of the Kaiju. Here a special forces team was able to take control of the base and directed the monsters to attack the Kilaak base. The Kilaaks revealed their secret weapon to be King Ghidorah. An attack destroyed the base, freeing the monsters. Godzilla led them to attack Ghidorah and in an intense battle, Godzilla with the aid of all the monsters finally destroyed Ghidorah once and for all. Godzilla then led them back to Monster Island.
-Infosphere, History of Giant Monsters in Japan(excerpts)[7]
Well, I guess I should talk about the incident. Had we not been there it would have only been a national incident. Now Japanese TV was already weird. American Game Shows reward knowledge. Japanese Game Shows punish ignorance. And while we laugh the abuse is quite horrific. It feels like the Comedy is there to hide all the pain. Without it, it wouldn't be funny, especially one calledThe Happy Smile Super Challenge Family Wish Show, which is the rough translation. But still it was normal compared to the Chocobots show we watched that gave us Seizures. Dad was out of the room when it happened and immediately called room service. We work up fine some time later but we weren't alone. A lot of children had watched that show and while most recovered, some in the ambulance. Three went to the hospital. It was a big scandal and we got compensation for it, which helped us get home and helped cut down on the money to bail Dad out when he started that fight with the Sumo wrestler. We made some extra money as Dad took advantage of looking like to do some promotion for them. Then there's what happened to Bart…
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
"So there were were gutting fish. Hugo was used to it. I honestly enjoyed it way too much. Then one of the fish talked to me. "Spare me and I will grant you three Wishes it said." I said sure. I was going to gut is because it looked like a normal fish. No one would have noticed either. I'd seen Aladdin so I asked if there were rules. There were but they were basically Aladdin rules. Can't bring anyone back from the dead. I made the wishes quick. People were starting to come over when they saw I wasn't working.
Wish #1: A Million Dollars. Which immediately appeared and poured all over. Everyone freaked out and grabbed as much as they could.
Wish #2: I asked for Springfield Back. I tried to make it so that it was never nuked, but it didn't take it. But it did bring the entire town back and the radiation was gone.
Wish #3: I couldn't bring everyone back to life, so I wished for Death. I asked for Hank Scorpio to die. At the moment I wasn't worried about . He's died in front of me and I hadn't really seen Lester and Eliza for awhile.
I had no way of knowing if that last one worked.
After that I let the fish go and it squirmed away. God knows where. The rest of the family was too busy picking up the cash from all the other fish. All in All we had enough with all of us pitching in to get home. I told the family but they didn't tell anyone else.
In hindsight, I wished for some other stuff. World Peace maybe even though the world is mostly at peace now. Maybe Super Powers. The Shining isn't all its cracked up to be[8]. At least we had enough money to leave.
-Do the Bartman: The Authorized Biography of Bart Simpson
"When we returned we heard the bad news. The Hills had gone skydiving…Peggy Hill's parachute hadn't opened."
-Moaning Lisa: The Autobiography of Lisa Parkfield.
Notes
[1] The episode's plot of Mom and Pop Art is averted. Butterflies means the family isn't in Springfield anymore so likely don't run into. Astrid Walker, who would consider Homer's mangled Barbecue pit attempt art. Plus flooding Springfield for similar reasons as well as the improbability.
[2] The Episode in question "The Old Man and the C Student" is also butterflied due to Springfield not existing. It was offered to Shelbyville but since in real life, the 1996 Olympics, which would still have happened as it was prior to the alien invasion later that year, were in Atlanta. The Olympic committee is unlikely to choose the same nation to host the Olympics twice in a row.
[3] Arthur Fortune is based on Richard Branson and the Fortune Megastore is based on the Virgin Megastore. In the episode Fortune shows he knocked out Muhammad Ali by showing up at his front door, ringing his doorbell and punching him. This would be a PR Disaster assuming Ali didn't punch him out in response. My guess is he suggested it but his team said no and convinced him it was a bad idea. Getting punch by Muhammad Ali at an event on the other hand could happen though he likely pulled the punch.
[4] Burns may be dead but if the Loch Ness monster was real I feel they'd find it sooner or later.
[5] There is an amusing story. Albertson, or Comic Book Guy's words here were said in response to a reporter from East asking why the city was singled out.. They were said by the writer Matt Selman. He went on vacation and the rest of the Simpsons staff had to deal with the backlash and controversy. When he got back they explained he had to publicly apologize to the mayor of East , actually played by Marc Wilmore. He blamed everyone but himself before realizing it was a joke when the other writers couldn't stop laughing.
[6] Drawing from my own experiences in Japan. Getting around is difficult and I used Google Maps and Google translate. I don't envy getting around in 1999. Another minor change is the Emperor seems to be fairly reclusive so him getting so close to Homer like he did in the episode for Homer to throw in probably wouldn't happen.
[7] There are many different incarnations of the Godzilla franchise but the one that Simpsons and South Park for that matter seem to draw the most from is the Showa Era, so I'm using Show Era continuity which ran from the original Godzilla in 1994 until 1975's Terror of of the films are set the date they came out except for Destroy All Monsters, which is set in 1999 and makes a good distant finale to the Showa era with so many monsters and King Ghidorah finally dying. It also bring sit quite nicely into the current year here as well as justifying the Simpsons seeing the Monsters because of how peaceful Monster Island becomes in the future.
Note that Gamera is actually not a Toho owned Kaiju like the rest shown but the Simpsons had the monster appear twice along with Mothra and Rodan. In a Dream in "Lisa on Ice" and then in Thirty Minutes over Tokyo. All these monsters are friendly at this point so the scenario of grabbing the plane doesn't happen.
The Term Kaiju didn't really become popular in real life until Pacific Rim, so it is unlikely to be used here, at least by an American source.
[8] It originally didn't make sense to me for the Simpsons to be stranded in Japan and therefore be forced to gut fish in a factory. But in that scene, Bart finds a wish granting fish that says it will grant three wishes if it spares him. To my knowledge no such creature exists in Japanese mythology but I ran with it and here he actually hesitates when the fish starts talking and given the setting he blurts out the wishes. I decided to make it Bart because otherwise some random person uses the magic wish fish. Going by the Monkey's Paw episode of Treehouse of Horror, Bart's first wish would be to be rich and famous which they are already famous here. Bringing back Springfield would be because he grew up there and saw most of his old friends had to abandon their lives along with the casualties from the nuke.