#Team Ancient vs Team Modern

[completeoveranalysis]

HELLO would you like to read some FIC?

Do you crave some fresh new Kurofai stories to get you through the season? 

Did you watch the recent Olympics and think to yourself, “Well that was fine but it could use a lot more fictional gay characters falling in love with each other in it?”

Well you’re in luck! The Kurofai Olympics is happening right now. 

Best of all, if you ever find yourself writing a comment on AO3 and going, “Gee, I sure wish I could also submit my thoughts via voting on various categories on a Google Docs,” well, they have that too! You can vote on each fic you read and help them choose the overall winning team of the year.

The official blog is here, but here is my personal little list of convenient links too:

Team Ancient

Asphodel (My Regrets Follow You To The Grave)

Asphodel - by The_Storybooker

Hemlock (You Will Be My Death)

Gods, Ascended - by godtiercomplex

Lady’s Slipper (Capricious Beauty. Win Me and Wear Me)

Your Heart Is My Sky - by cloverfield

Milkvetch (Your Presence Softens My Pains)

The Quiet After You - by yououui

Mulberry Tree (I Shall Not Survive You)

Like the Stars Miss the Sun in the Morning Sky - by tsubasafan

Pine, Spruce (Hope in Adversity)

Footprints on the Sands of Time - by aminiatureworld

European Sweetbrier (I Wound To Heal)

Ibara-ōji - by eternalsong

Tansy (I Declare War Against You) 

The Mountain Calls - by anduefex

Maiden’s Blush Rose (If You Love Me, You Will Find It Out)

The Knight, the Spirit and the Bridge - by saltedmoon

Team Modern

Asphodel (My Regrets Follow You To The Grave)

Home For Wayward Souls - by Uakari

Hemlock (You Will Be My Death)

Rule#34 - by xFourLeafCloverx

Lady’s Slipper (Capricious Beauty. Win Me and Wear Me)

For Want of a Hair Pin - by humancorn

Milkvetch (Your Presence Softens My Pains)

To Wilt or Bloom - NinjaCupcake

Mulberry Tree (I Shall Not Survive You)

Price for Life - ItheGodot

Pine, Spruce (Hope in Adversity)

Love Letters to Lost Limbs - VenusInRetrograde

European Sweetbrier (I Wound To Heal)

Spring, Anew - by PillarofAutumn117

Tansy (I Declare War Against You) 

Modern Warfare - by kuroganeattacksquad

Maiden’s Blush Rose (If You Love Me, You Will Find It Out)

Petal by Petal - by EdenAziraphale

Team Art

Asphodel (My Regrets Follow You To The Grave)

Asphodel - by boxdev

Hemlock (You Will Be My Death)

Hemlock - by ottostoast

Lady’s Slipper (Capricious Beauty. Win Me and Wear Me)

Capricious Beauty - by Pile0fBones

Mulberry Tree (I Shall Not Survive You)

Black Mulberry - by Squeeb100

Pine, Spruce (Hope in Adversity)

Pine, Spruce - by ConstellationMemories

European Sweetbrier (I Wound To Heal)

Of Martyrs and Heroes - by Chiru

And remember, it’s all for fun!

[squeeb-art]

Art fill for 2024 @kurofai-olympics, theme "Ancient vs Modern," prompt "Black Mulberry - I shall not survive you." I shared extensive thoughts about my process in the Ao3 post if you're interested.

[kurofai-olympics]

KuroFai Olympics 2024 - Fan Favourite Art

Voting for fan favourite art for KuroFai Olympics 2024 is now open!

Voting will close on 6th October.

[pile0fbones]

My piece for the KuroFai Olympics 2024, Ancient vs Modern.

Lady Slipper - Capricious Beauty. Win Me and Wear Me

[rose-morose]

alright everyone it's jiangshi time

that's right I'm back for more Chinese mythology in Jentry Chau vs the Underworld and we're talking about possibly my favourite creature from Chinese mythology, the 僵尸 (jiangshi)

(LONG spoilers under cut as per usual)

our resident JCVTU jiangshi is Ed, named for Edward Cullen the most commercially successful dead guy (except like Dracula probably)

(it's a Twilight reference btw) (I'm guessing only gen alpha missed that one)

when gugu's bestiary claimed that jiangshi are among the least threatening residents of Diyu, it wasn't kidding (not even joking or exaggerating its list of weaknesses is the longest section of its Wikipedia page)

jianshi aren't known to be particularly intelligent and are in fact often portrayed as mindless much like zombies, so I'm guessing the reason it was chosen to be the supernatural sidekick character was because of how little a threat a jiangshi poses to the main character

it is worth noting that traditional jiangshi of ancient depiction are known to be substantially more dangerous than their pop culture counterparts, but that's not Ed

anyways, jiangshi are often likened to the western vampire, they don't drink blood, but they do drain the qi of their victims (like Kit), they are undead creatures, they are often depicted as resting in a coffin or other dark place during the day, and they are sometimes known to be capable of flight (however I've never heard of them being able to "shape shift" in any capacity)

I did look into Ed's shape shifted form, and found that the most likely reason for this form is tied to the jianshi origin, jianshi myths are often attributed to the practice of "corpse driving" which was the transportation of the corpses of workers that died far from home back to their village to be buried with their families, the way that the corpses were transported made them appear to be hopping upright, but their is one specific technique that I believe inspired Ed's other form

I found this technique on Wikipedia, and it comes from an oral account of a two man team of corpse drivers, one man would carry the corpse on his back, both the corpse and the man would be draped in a long cloak, decorated with a Chinese mourning or funeral mask on top (though I've never seen a funeral mask as expressive or ornate as Ed's), the second man would travel ahead with a lantern to warn his companion of obstacles, but this doesn't seem relevant to Ed's design

I think this explains the extra tall incredibly flimsy inflatable arm tube man form being due to the design being based off of a corpse on top of another person with a cloak over them (like 3 kids in a trench coat) as well as the mask on top, I'm not sure what else could have inspired this design

moving on from that little side tangent, the common modern appearance of jiangshi (including Ed) is attributed to Hong Kong's jianshi film and literature phase where they just went crazy over them for awhile and put them everywhere

jiangshi appear to be adult men dressed in the clothing of an official of some kind from the Qing dynasty (though I'm not sure if Ed was created from the body of an adult), with pale greyish or sometimes greenish flesh

I mentioned earlier that the jiangshi are one of my favourite creatures in Chinese mythology, and it is purely because I love this design for their appearance, I just think it looks neat

there is another relevant little detail I found online about jiangshi, and that is that in modern media jiangshi are often combined with the idea of the 饿鬼 (egui), kind of pronounced like uh-gooay (that's not a very good pronunciation guide but it was the best I could think of), which literally translates to "hungry ghost"

in the show Ed is often very hungry and is always trying to get food to eat, and I'm guessing this is a reference to the egui part of modern jiangshi depictions, as I've never known them to consume anything other than qi

something I would also like to touch on is a very well known part of the jiangshi identity that is mostly missing from JCVTU, and that is the fact that jiangshi are often referred to as "Chinese hopping vampires/zombies" and that 僵尸 (jiangshi) literally translates to "stiff corpse"

there are two primary reasons a jiangshi would be stiff, and that is either rigor mortis or a fulu Taoist talisman placed on a jiangshi's head like the one shown above on Ed's forehead

due to their stiffness, jiangshi have been known to only be able to move by hopping around since they are unable to move their legs enough to walk or run

going back to the practice of corpse driving, one way that jiangshi are said to be created is by Taoist priests that reanimate the corpses, and use a bell to control the corpses and have them hop their way home, this was supposedly a way for poorer families, that could not afford standard corpse driving rates, to get their loved ones home for burial at a price they could afford

I am not at all disappointed by the exclusion of this design element which, while not being inherent to the traditional jiangshi design, is very often associated with its identity, I actually think it works better for Ed to be able to move around at will, but at least the first episode references this with the fulu paper talisman that traps Ed

another way jiangshi are believed to be created is by leaving a corpse unburied for too long, Ed says his body was thrown in a river, meaning it was never buried, but a jiangshi created by throwing a body in a river specifically does sound familiar to me, I just can't quite say where from, either way if Jentry had waited any longer, gugu's body was very much at risk of becoming another jiangshi which honestly would have been hilarious

the last thing I want to touch on are the jiangshi's many many weaknesses

one mentioned in the show is dropping rice in front of them, coins also work, but in either case the jiangshi would be forced to take a break for a moment to count the coins or rice on the ground

Ed mentions in the Alamo episode that jiangshi can't see you if you hold your breath, and this is true and very silly to me

there are plenty of strategies in Chinese mythology specifically meant for combating any form of undead like roosters and peach tree wood, and these all apply to the jiangshi as well since they are also undead

while there are plenty of other ways to fight a jiangshi, I'm gonna end here for now because this post is getting really long

I love taking any opportunity I can to talk about Chinese mythology because I love it so much, and Jentry Chau has given me an excuse to gush about pretty much all of it

I'd be surprised if anyone made it this far though, these posts get even longer every time, but I enjoy them regardless

anyways, moral of the story is go watch Jentry Chau vs the Underworld if you haven't already, and don't read the Twilight books or watch the films you have been warned

[thestalkerbunny]

Stalky's Live Direct React

It's mainly regarding Pokemon Z-A cause that's all I DEEPLY AND CARNALLY CARE ABOUT but let's get French

New Trainer fits look cute; the male protag looks a LOT like Sycamore.

ALL THE CHIKORITA HATERS CAN FUCKING HUFF MY DUFF, MY GIRL IS BACK, NOBODY TOUCH ME, THIS FUNKY LITTLE MANDRAKE DINOSAUR IS HOME. EVERYONE SUCK IT HARD.

Why it look like he on an awkward lunch date?

Now a new game changing mechanic: PARKOUR AND FALL DAMAGE /j

Tf is you

TF is YOU?

Mega Evos are BACK Bay BEE

LOOK OUT ITS A WELL DRESSED FRENCH WHITE WOMAN (With insignia possible new team boss?)

I HAVE FOUND THE WEIRD OLD MAN I WILL BE HYPERFIXATING OVER, EVERYONE ELSE MAY LEAVE, ME AND THIS WEIRDO NEED TO BE ALONE.

Wait....Wait is that the fucking GIANT from the last game.....

Oh my God it fucking is, That's AZ.

Someone getcha dog off the damn roof.

Hottest take-I think the overall theme is going to be Progress Vs. Nature. Much like the Art movement of Art Deco Vs Art Nouveau; human design compared to natural design. As seen in the Z and A logo Straight rigid lines vs organic curves.

NOTHING LIKE CHATTING WITH YOUR HOLOGRAM SON.

Ah I love the scent of french trash in the air.

One of these things is not like the other-one of these things is ANCIENT.

Ah that's who you is.

GOD HE'S SO FREAKISHLY TALL-FUCKING CROTCH HEIGHT TO HIM. Also HIGHLY cool choice to show him with a knee brace and a cane because in recorded history and science-WE ARE NOT MEANT TO BE THAT TALL and people who do reach that height often need disability aids to help.

We gotta get her. She's a fucking CEO.

I love that he just....has a hotel now. He's got old classic hotel vibes. Honestly-I really like it because if there's one thing I DONT like in design is ultra modernism where it's minimal with no colors or patterns. It actually irks me the heck off-I get pissed off walking into an apple store.

Fucking gated communities.

Ah...I don't think we'll be exploring the rest of Kalos and be primarily centered within the city itself. A tad bit disappointing, I was looking forward to returning to Laverre City to see what happened to the charcoal remains I left when I went there in XY and BURNT EVERYTHING TO ASH

New game feature: YOU ARE NOW IN THE ATTACK RANGE, FUCKING BRACE YOURSELF IDIOT.

THIS. THIS IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT FUCKING COMPANIES WITH FUCKING MINIMALIST DESIGN AND LOGOS AND SHIT PISS ME THE HELL RIGHT OFF.

DETECTIVE? D--DETECTIVE?!??! -frantically climbs over chair- DETECTIVE??!?!?!?!?

GET YOUR CRINGE ASS WORM OFF THE ROOF

Ah I love when Pokemon comes out around my birthday. It makes me feel so SPECIAL like it's a unique little treat just for me.

I'm honestly rather excited, Having the entire game take place in a contained singular city is a new angle. We're very used to being thrown willy nilly out into the wild to rough it between god and sheer luck. But now it's Urban Exploration. Which I think can be a strong idea on how FAR Lumiose city has developed since we long last saw it.

[preciousconstellations]

KuroFai Olympics, 2024: Ancient vs Modern

Team Art: Pine, Spruce - Hope in Adversity

Set in an AU where they're on opposite sides of some conflict and can only communicate through letters. Maybe Fai's a prince and Kurogane's a knight! Maybe they're from different countries and they're visiting the same kingdom for once! Maybe they're both nobles in a court but can't be seen talking to each other!

Anyway Kurogane probably writes some heartfelt thing and Fai just responds with:

[joseefinwrites]

Story Generator (Generic)

Create a story by answering a few short basic questions! :)

Genre of your story:

Fantasy

Mystery

Romance

Science Fiction

Thriller

Historical Fiction

Contemporary

Horror

Main conflict in your story:

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Society

Man vs. Self

Man vs. Supernatural

Man vs. Technology

Man vs. Man

Setting of your story:

Medieval Kingdom

Futuristic City

Small Town

Outer Space

Post-Apocalyptic World

Magical Realm

Historical Period

Modern World

Protagonist's main goal:

Find a lost loved one

Seek revenge for a past injustice

Uncover a long-buried secret

Survive against all odds

Save the world from destruction

Discover their true identity

Achieve fame and fortune

Love

Antagonist's motivation:

Power and control

Revenge for a past betrayal

Protecting their loved ones

Preserving tradition

Survival at any cost

Redemption for past mistakes

Seeking justice for a perceived wrong

Unexpected event that disrupts the protagonist's plans:

Natural disaster strikes

Betrayal by a trusted ally

Discovery of a hidden enemy

Revelation of a family secret

Encounter with a mysterious stranger

Sudden illness or injury

Loss of a crucial ally

Unforeseen technological malfunction

Capture or imprisonment by an unknown entity

Encounter with a mythical creature

Sabotage of essential resources or equipment

Accidental activation of a dangerous artifact

A sudden change in the political landscape

Unveiling of a long-concealed prophecy or curse

Unexpected time travel or dimensional shift

Encounter with a hostile faction or rogue agent

Major revelation that changes everything (basic + .. less basic):

The protagonist's mentor is actually the antagonist in disguise

The protagonist is a long-lost heir to the throne

The antagonist is secretly working to save the world

The main conflict is part of a larger conspiracy

The protagonist has a hidden power they never knew about

The true villain is someone the protagonist trusted implicitly

The main conflict is a result of a misunderstanding

The protagonist's memories have been manipulated

The protagonist is revealed to be a chosen one destined to fulfill a prophecy.

The antagonist is a relative or close family member of the protagonist.

The conflict is orchestrated by a higher-dimensional entity or godlike being.

The protagonist's entire reality is a constructed illusion, and they are actually living in a simulated world.

The true purpose of the protagonist's quest or mission is revealed to be something entirely different from what they believed.

The antagonist's actions are driven by a tragic event from their past, for which the protagonist unwittingly played a role.

The main conflict is revealed to be a test of character orchestrated by an ancient order or supernatural force.

The protagonist discovers a hidden connection or link between themselves and the antagonist that predates their current conflict.

Resolution of the conflict: (,again,, basic + a little less basic)

The protagonist and antagonist team up to defeat a greater threat

The conflict is resolved through sacrifice

The protagonist discovers a peaceful solution to the conflict

The antagonist has a change of heart and seeks redemption

The conflict is revealed to be a test orchestrated by a higher power

The protagonist realizes they were fighting for the wrong side all along

The conflict is resolved through a clever twist of fate

The conflict is resolved through forgiveness and reconciliation

The conflict ends in a stalemate, forcing both the protagonist and antagonist to find a new path forward.

The protagonist discovers a loophole or loophole in the conflict's rules, allowing them to outsmart their adversary.

A sudden change in circumstances renders the conflict irrelevant, forcing the protagonist and antagonist to reassess their priorities.

The intervention of a neutral third party brings an unexpected end to the conflict, leaving both sides with unresolved feelings.

The conflict resolves in a bittersweet compromise, where neither side achieves a complete victory but finds a way to coexist.

A dramatic revelation about the true nature of the conflict forces the protagonist and antagonist to reevaluate their positions.

The conflict is resolved through a symbolic gesture or act of kindness, transcending the need for further confrontation.

Josie

[blueikeproductions]

So with TFONE attempting to simplify the Primes and some recent cartoons trying to theme some shows around them, it has led to a thought how this could work.

The biggest problem the Primes have is that nobody really knows or cares that much about them. The only one most actually care about is The Fallen because of the Bay film. Vector Prime via Galaxy Force is fondly remembered by TF fans, but that version also predates the modern Prime mythology.

Transformers Prime was intended to look more into what it means to be a Prime, but never truly does so. It also introduced the modern 13 Prime lore, but also does very little with it. It’s mostly limited to Solus’ Forge being a reoccurring weapon, Megatron grafting a Prime arm on to him, with creatives unable to decide who it’s supposed to be, and Alpha Trion making a cameo (more so to reference G1 than do much with the Primes).

RiD15 also uses the Primes, with Micronus (the main rep and Optimus’ life coach) and The Fallen (the first season’s main villain) as the stand out ones. Despite Micronus being the first Mini-Con, he has no influence on the cartoon’s Mini-Con gimmick it adapted later in its run. Liege Maximo appeared in chapter books and is the only (not Fallen) one who got to properly do something. I still greatly insist Onyx Prime should’ve been the rep due to the Beast theme instead. Also Thundertron, but that’s a different problem.

Cyberverse used Alchemist Prime specifically, but while being one of the better characters, he’s not very memorable. Onyx and Alpha Trion have minor roles, with Alpha Trion getting a toy… that nobody bought. He was also there for G1 ‘memberberries, in a role similar to the old cartoon. The Cyberverse staff were not shy admitting to only writing the show for themselves and like minded fans and not actual children.

And now EarthSpark uses Quintus in a major role… but it feels like there’s some conflicting ideas about who he is. Storyboards suggest he’s more benevolent having everyone’s best interests in mind, while the show keeps insisting he might be shady and a dead beat dad.

And like the aforementioned Onyx, the series isn’t great about using Primes better themed to a show. Combiner Wars opts to NOT use Nexus Prime, when instead perhaps they could’ve made him into the evil leader of the Combiners, forcing them to wipe out non Combiners so Cybertron is theirs to rule. Vs the show just having them fight… because reasons. He also never got a toy in the Combiner themed line. This could’ve also been tinkered with once more in RiD15 for its Combiner Force, casting him as a neutral who gifts power of combination to the Bee Team and the Pack, seeing who’s more worthy to use the Enigma for an upcoming problem involving an ancient Combiner unique to the show. (Also having Chop Shop as a minor villain again.)

I think the problem is largely NOT letting the other Primes being proper characters. Vector Prime and The Fallen are allowed to be characters, with Vector allowed to be part of the Autobots, make bonds with them and the kids, and have a little arc of his own, remembering the value of life throughout time.

I think if we went back to that, having a surviving Prime join the Autobots and find their footing in the modern era on Earth during the battle against the Decepticons would help.

It’s actually kind of shocking in the current “DEI” era that they don’t have Solus Prime in such a role, working alongside Optimus. The downside to this is current writers would probably make her into a more arrogant Captain Marvel type, but ideally Solus should be cast in a role similar to Vector in Galaxy Force. I feel like it’d be funny if she especially bonded with the kids, a loving but firm grandma, who drives them around, with the gag being the kids are ferried around in a big purple construction vehicle. Solus is also happy to fix things with a gentle tap of her Fixit Felix hammer, usually the kids’ phones, but an episode sees some repercussions, where the phones and other gadgets start Transforming into semi sentient-semi automatic weapons.

Think the Appliance Bots from ROTF.

Amalgamous is really the only one that’s too abstract to use as he is. I feel like the trick is to create an in-story reason why he can’t infinitely Transform, limiting him to being a Six Changer like Sixshot. This way the writers and artists can be more creative, and have a character arc where Amalgamous learns to be one of the Autobots with a running gag he forgets he can’t change into whatever he wants anymore and turns into a car or dinosaur that isn’t appropriate to the situation.

Liege is easy enough. He’s the Sideways trying to nudge the Autobots, Decepticons and humans into doing what he wants for nefarious reasons.

I feel like Prima would be a hybrid of TFA Ratchet & TFA Ultra Magnus, a cranky foxy grandpa that means well and tries to guide Optimus and the kids, but he’s quite literally an overbearing helicopter parent trying to dictate what Optimus should be doing. While still powerful in his own right, Prima does get overwhelmed by Megatron’s sheer rage.

The 13th Prime is up in the air. It could be Zeta, Rodimus, Adaptus, Mortilus or a brand new Prime for the scenario. I got nothing.

I am a bit concerned about Vector. He was already used effectively, but his schtick is time travel and manipulation, and to move the story of TFONE along that didn’t help him against Quints or Sentinel. Can you even use time travel effectively anymore? Maybe if Vector was more in line with Time Patrol Bon, not that anyone watched the Netflix reboot of it.

[tlbodine]

Fae Horrors: Rawhead Rex & Troll

Up this week in our #Fae Horrors watch is a duo of films loosely connected by the theme, "fucking Christians I stg."

Both are folk horrors about awakening things that had been slumbering. But tonally and stylistically, they could, ah, not be much different.

Rawhead Rex (1986) was directed by George Pavlou, from a screenplay written by Clive Barker (and adapted from a Barker story of the same title). It's about an American historian/author who is interested in the way Christian churches occupy sacred sites belonging to older religious traditions. Conveniently, while he's visiting one little town in Ireland, a farmer has just awoken some kind of ancient deity/monster who goes on a killing rampage and can, ultimately, only be stopped with....a fertility statue?

Man, the plot on this thing is simultaneously threadbare and convoluted. It feels like it's missing some key exposition, because the main character makes a few leaps of logic that feel unsupported by the text. I'm normally on camp "Explain nothing! Just let the monster exist!" but in this case I really wanted to know what this Rawhead Rex dude's whole deal was.

Why does touching the altar in the church cause some people to become brainwashed acolytes of Rawhead, when the altar itself contains the fertility statue (?!) that destroys him? What is the significance of Rawhead decapitating his victims? Why does he avoid killing a pregnant woman but doesn't mind killing a child?

The creature design in this movie is also unfortunately, unintentionally hilarious. The monster looks like...well. he looks like this.

The 80s hair. The goofy gorilla face. The sparkly red googly eyes. the inexplicable bare chest and washboard abs. The punk rock jacket. Amazing. Absurd. Supremely dumb.

Far and away the most entertaining part of this film is the intense homoeroticism between the monster and a corrupt priest, Declan O'Brian, who plays the entire role with a kind of panting over-the-top horniness. He gets "baptized" by way of golden shower in a graveyard, and it just gets more overtly sexual from there. By the time he ultimately meets his demise (the monster picks him up around the waist and pins him against a wall with his hips while, uh, biting his

I haven't read the story it's based on, but I suspect it's better. There are some interesting things to say here about masculinity vs femininity, colonialism vs indigeneity, christianity vs paganism. Unfortunately, all of that is flattened into a mockery of itself in this film's execution. The sexual politics are especially eyeroll-inducing to modern audiences -- in attempting to make a feminist statement about womanhood, it kind of feels like it's making an argument for compulsory heteronormativity instead.

I did however have an excellent time watching it. I laughed so hard I cried, more than once. So hey.

Other films with similar vibes:

Pumpkinhead

The Wickerman

Nightbreed

Meanwhile, Troll (2022), directed by Roar Uthaug, is essentially a Norwegian kaiju movie. A mountain troll is awakened when a construction team excavates the mountain with dynamite. Nobody realizes that's what's happening at first, so the government assembles a team of experts, including a paleontologist who has been estranged from her dad for a while due to his dad's crazy conspiracy ramblings about mythological creatures. But hey, surprise! All the myths are true! Or at least, partly true.

Anyway, the government tries to kill the troll in a bunch of different ways, we find out that the government actually did know all along that trolls were real and are now extinct, and were driven to extinction by Christianity, and at some point we lure it to its death by loading an infant troll skull into the back of a truck and driving it away from the city.

I was solidly on #TeamTroll for this entire film and kept yelling at the TV to leave the poor thing alone. It's a good movie to watch if you want to get angry at Christian imperialism, but also we have the news for that. It's competently made, the effects are great, the creature design is beautiful, but I also struggled to stay engaged with the movie and its emotional beats kept kind of missing for me. But YMMV. I may have enjoyed this more if I weren't suffering tonal whiplash from watching Rawhead Rex first.

Other films with similar vibes:

Godzilla Minus One

Monsters

[batpham-discord-highlights]

2024 April fools and Anniversary Event Prompt List part 7

See what the event was and it's rule here!

Hero! Prompts:

Hero Strawberry

Tim/Danny picnic during Firefly season, Danny shows the city boy how to catch the fireflies

Tim/Danny wedding with a space theme ofc

new strain of fear gas mixed with a spell makes the bats relive each others worst memories

Hero Bucket O’Randomness

Wes Weston, the modern Cassandra, finally figures out his curse. It's time for a modern counter: Opposite Day!

Clockwork isn't actually an Ancient. His origins are from the time of Dan, and he stayed when the Observants sent him Back to stop Dan

Villains! Prompts:

Villain Nezu

Danny was originally born as Bruce's younger brother when he was kidnapped the same night Thomas and Martha died, leaving Bruce alone with nobody but Alfred left

Danny doesn't know why CW sent him back in time to Georgia of all states but something tells him it has to do with the scrawny kid he took in after he found him stuck in an old, rottening church filled to the brim with crows attacking him.

Villain Non-Malicious Animalization

Mr. Nygma and Dr. Quinn team up to give the Bats a Saw-esque challenge to face their feelings

Mothman vs. A Giant Lamp in court.

Villain Jayden

Three years after the Ghost Incidents first started, the students of Casper High finally start to move out. All at once they realize they really fucking need therapy.  Dr. Harleen Quinn is about to get really busy.

If anyone wants to use and post with these prompts the Ao3 collection link is here, or post with #April Fools event 2024

[completeoveranalysis]

I've been dedicated to working my way through all the Kurofai Olymfics I can this year. I think I've read all of the Team Ancient fics that aren't tagged NSFN now, and luckily still have a bunch of Team Modern to keep me busy this week.

I'm not sure if I'll get through them all before the end of the month but I sure will try!

[kurofai-olympics]

KuroFai Olympics 2024 - Ancient vs Modern

For this years Olympics we have 16 writers and 9 artists who have bravely stepped forward to enjoy the fun.

Our Teams are the following

Team Art

Team Ancient

Team Modern

The schedule for the Olympics will be the following

10 June - Posting schedule release. 19 Aug - Posting begins 30 Sep - Voting Closes 3 Oct - Results announced

[twosentencereviews]

Male friendship vs gay romance

Browsing the #arcane tag after the season 2 finale, I noticed something. There are a lot of posts highlighting both Vi x Cait, and Jayce x Viktor, with their respective story arc conclusions. There are even some posts with semi-ironic questions like "which is more gay", nodding to the fact that Vi x Cait feature an incredibly steamy sex scene, while Viktor and Jayce instead have a deep interpersonal, even magical, connection. Several artists have taken it upon themselves to draw a Jayce x Viktor kiss which never happened.

And this…bothers me, for something I'm going to call the "Frodo x Sam" trope, which can be stated thusly:

Any expression of emotional intimacy between men will be interpreted by the audience as homoerotic.

Or, less formally: "Having feelings is gay".

Let's talk about this.

The first observation to make is that spotting queer-coding in media is a deeply ingrained practice in LGBT spaces, and Tumblr in specific. This is not unfounded, and, in fact, is thoroughly justified by historical context of "wink-nudge" queercoding to get around censorship.

The question, though, is what is, and what is not, homosexual coding. Why do communities look at some fictional male-male relationships and say "that's gay" while other relationships are not? What actual difference does that imply for the characters?

The ancient Greeks recognized love as falling under many different categories. These ideas are backed up by modern understanding of neurochemistry and psychology. The Greek ludus (flirting), eros (passion), and mania are the early phase of romantic love, dictated by the neurotransmitters of adrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine. This is the spark and the fire of love, resulting in experiences that are thrilling, euphoric, and addictive.

But the Greeks also recognized many forms of non-romantic love, including philia (intimate frienship), pragma (compromising and acceptance), and storge (supportive protectiveness). These are dominated by the neurotransmitter oxytocin. This kind of love is about trust, belonging, and obligation. It's the near-telepathic understanding between a decades-long married couple, or a mother's protective instinct towards her child…or the warmth between two best friends who share their secrets and support each other.

Getting to that state of stable, deep connection and trust requires going through some kind of emotional trial, where intense emotions are revealed and validated repeatedly. A romantic relationship is one such situation. But, any sufficiently intense experience could be enough; a war, a disease, a disaster.

And, as it turns out, the conditions experienced by your typical fantasy action-adventure protagonist duo is more than enough. The author creates a situation of emotional intensity, shows a pair of protagonists struggling visibly through that, and proves the bond between them is strong enough to overcome all threats and achieve victory.

And then, if the pair is male/female, they often kiss in the finale. It's just kind of assumed that, if a man and a woman work well as a team and are emotionally supportive, that they are automatically an item. This is why so many people were surprised at the end of Pacific Rim when Raleigh and Mako just hug, and don't kiss. You mean this heterosexual duo of attractive people that just went through a harrowing ideal together and forged a bond of emotional intimacy aren't romantically in love with each other??

Now take an example where the protagonist duo isn't male-female, but is instead male-male. We have a cultural idiom of queer-coding and -decoding, where gayness is inferred more than it is stated. And we have the neurocognitive dynamics of love and trust, where the trials of a fantasy adventure are engineered by the author to create a high-oxytocin state of philia between them. So of course people will see Frodo and Sam go through Mordor together, tearfully decompressing as the giant eagles swoop in, and read that as homoerotic.

Here's the problem, though. Toxic masculinity means that in the real world, where men are not commonly pushed into life-or-death, save-the-world adventures, male-male friendships are fucking hard. Male loneliness is an epidemic, and a threat.

Men are conditioned, literally from birth, to believe that asking for emotional support is a failure of masculinity. Ask a cishet man when the last time he cried was--for many of us, it's been a decade or more. I guarantee that every man has had something in his life in that time that was worth crying over; a lost job, a death of a pet or loved one, any number of humiliations or injuries sustained in life. Losing the ability to express sorrow over one's losses is scarring.

Men will, under duress, ask for practical assistance, like moving a couch. But men do not, as a rule, confide their fears and insecurities with other men. Wives get frustrated when they turn to their husbands for emotional support, only for the man to try to "solve the problem" rather than listening and empathizing. That's the only context men are trained to handle.

But queer people don't have this same stigma. Or, more accurately, being a gay man already pushes one far enough outside masculine normativity that other conventions break down as well. A gay man bursting into tears at the end of an emotional movie is seen as, if not normal, at least consistently abnormal. The trope of the "gay best friend" as an emotionally supportive, non-threatening companion is likewise well-established.

This means that when two men in fiction have a close bond with a high degree of emotional intimacy, their masculinity is put into question. Watching a man having a tearful emotional breakdown in full view of another man is…unsettling. I think there's a need to solve this cognitive dissonance, to explain away the outburst. Saying "he's gay" accomplishes that. This is the third pillar that creates the "Frodo x Sam" trope.

Circling back to Arcane, Vi and Cait have a full-on spicy depiction of their relationship reaching its, uh, climax. But Jayce and Viktor are never explicitly shown to be romantic, not even kissing, even with an obvious opportunity to do so. As such, the default reading of the text would be to say that Jayce and Viktor are just friends--really, really, really close friends.

Choosing to instead read Jayce and Viktor as homoerotic is to assume Riot would use wildly different levels of text vs subtext in these two relationships. That is, sadly, plausible. Depictions of lesbian sex often gets a pass under the "male gaze" exception (see: Black Swan), a freedom not extended to sodomy. And besides, texts belong to their readers, what Riot intended isn't necessarily what they created. If you want to read Jayce x Viktor as gay, or anything else, no one has the authority to tell you that you're wrong, least of all some random guy on Tumblr.

But I would please ask, as you're building your headcanons, to consider; what would it mean for the characters if Jayce and Viktor (or Vander and Silco, or Frodo and Sam) were, in fact, not gay? What would it mean, for our cultural understanding of masculinity in general, to say that it is okay for men to have relationships with other men that are just as intense, or more so, as those they have with women? What would it mean for everyone if we acknowledge the existence and value of all love, even that which is not tied to romance or sexuality?

[the-most-humble-blog]

🛡 The Protector Paradox

Why Modern Women Say They Want Protection — But Sabotage the Men Who Offer It

“I want a man who will protect me.”

Oh, you do?

You want a man who will stand between you and danger.

Who will fight off home invaders.

Who will throw fists in the street.

Who will take a bullet.

Who will die for you.

Until, of course, the threat isn’t physical.

Until the threat is another man sliding into your DMs.

Or a girlfriend whispering jealousy in your ear.

Or a “girls trip” with three single women, five tequila shots, and zero accountability.

Then suddenly his protection is “insecurity.” His awareness is “control.” His instincts are “toxic.”

This is The Protector Paradox:

A woman demands the man be her shield —

But only if he never uses it on the things she actually likes.

🧠 Masculine Instinct vs Feminine Delusion

Let’s break it down with surgical brutality:

The masculine imperative is this: PROTECT.

Not just her body.

Her reputation. Her fertility. Her honor. Her soul.

A real man doesn’t just protect from violence —

He protects from erosion:

The slow moral disintegration that turns wives into Instagram memories,

and homes into battlefields of passive-aggressive resentment.

So when he sees:

A male friend who’s “just like a brother”

A club full of predators

A drunk girl gang headed to Miami

A shady ex texting “how have you been?”

He’s not insecure.

He’s tuned in.

He’s doing his job.

💥 The Girls Trip = Relationship Hospice

Let’s be clear: There is no such thing as a “girls trip” that strengthens the relationship.

There are three outcomes:

She cheats and lies about it

She doesn’t cheat, but now low-key resents you for “limiting her freedom”

She sees what single life looks like again and comes home colder

A girls trip is not “harmless fun.” It’s a preview of post-you life. It’s single cosplay. It’s emotional prepping for divorce.

And if you say no?

You’re called:

Controlling

Possessive

Weak

Abusive

When in reality?

You’re the only one in that room playing for the team.

😬 The Gynocentric Double Bind

This is the trap they set:

If you protect her from outsiders — you’re a “real man.”

If you protect her from herself — you’re a “red flag.”

You’re allowed to throw hands in a bar fight.

But you’re not allowed to say:

“I don’t trust that guy you keep texting at 2AM.”

You can work overtime to pay rent.

But you can’t say:

“Your friend who cheated on her husband is filling your head with poison.”

You can jump in front of a bullet.

But you can’t say:

“Maybe don’t post that thong pic to 300 strangers on Instagram.”

The modern woman wants your sword — but only if it never points toward her choices.

📖 The Adam Principle: Why Simps Still Fall

Let’s take it all the way back.

Adam. First man. First simp.

God gave him paradise. Purpose. Protection.

Eve?

Bored.

Talking to snakes.

Taking fruit she wasn’t supposed to touch.

Dragging him into the fall — and then blaming him for not stopping her.

“Why didn’t you stop me, Adam?”

Sound familiar?

“You’re supposed to protect me…” (…but not from my own impulses.)

This is the ancient curse.

This is what modern men are still dealing with.

You’re expected to guard the gates —

But not tell her she’s the one leaving them open.

🔥 What Real Men Know (That Cucks & Simps Never Learn)

A woman’s instinct isn’t to self-govern.

It’s to test the perimeter.

Push the edge.

Find the limit.

And if you don’t give her one?

She loses respect for you.

Because she can’t trust a protector who’s scared of her mood swings.

Simps think saying “yes” gets them love.

Cucks think being “secure” means never saying “no.”

Meanwhile real men get called “abusive” for laying a boundary —

Until she hits 35, gets dumped by a DJ, and finally understands what security meant.

🧨 Masculine Boundaries Are Not Abuse

Let’s set the record straight:

Telling your girl you don’t want her around men who want to sleep with her = 🔒 Protection

Saying no to a “girls trip” in a city known for bachelor parties and fentanyl = 🔒 Protection

Cutting off friends who sabotage your relationship = 🔒 Protection

That’s love with spine.

That’s leadership.

That’s the thing they say they want, until it costs them a dopamine hit.

And if she calls that abuse?

She’s not ready for a man.

She’s ready for a therapist, a vibrator, and an Instagram account full of quotes about “divine feminine healing.”

👑 A Woman Worth Protecting Understands The Cost

The right woman sees your boundary and says:

“Thank you for caring.” “You’re right. He was shady.” “You’re not controlling — you’re wise.” “I respect you for not letting me destroy us.”

She doesn’t argue with the alarm system.

She thanks it for going off when the door was cracked.

🧠 TL;DR — Read This or Repeat the Pattern

She wants a protector until he protects her from herself.

“Girls Trip” is a relationship coma.

A woman who respects you doesn’t need male friends.

Real men set boundaries. Fake men say “yes, queen” until they get left.

Adam loved Eve. But he let her flirt with the snake. Don’t be Adam.

💣 CTA (Clip This. Paste This. Tattoo It on Your Cheek.)

👉 If she calls boundaries “abuse,” walk.

👉 If she needs constant validation from strangers, she’s not yours. She’s the algorithm’s.

👉 If she thinks protection is only physical, she’s not ready to be led — just entertained.

👉 A real man protects spirit, flesh, and future.

👉 A real woman honors that. Or gets left.

⚖️ LEGAL DISCLAIMER (Carved in Iron & Flame):

This post is 100% protected free speech under U.S. law.

It is cultural analysis, political commentary, religious reference, satire, parody, and literary opinion.

If this post hurts your feelings, that’s because your feelings are based on lies.

This content is not hate speech. It is survival speech.

All attempts to censor it will be viewed as acts of cowardice, intellectual surrender, and a possible sign of simp infestation.

We are not asking for permission. We are stating facts. If they burn — that’s on you.

Cry harder.

We’ll be fortifying. Stay mad.

🔁 Reblog this if you’ve ever been called ‘controlling’ for having standards.

🧱 Share it if your girl’s ‘girls trip’ had more red flags than a Sith uprising.

🩸 If she says 'protect me' but cries 'abuse' when you set a boundary—REPOST THIS, KING.

[t470n]

One thing that's becoming increasingly obvious is the running theme of Old vs New and how Team New is definitely winning. The whole thing about Jonathan and Mina being very young, like early twenties or something, and their youth being clearly reflected in their behaviour and this clashing with how immensely old Dracula is from his withering body to his ancient castle to the implied centuries of history he has lived through and personally participated in.

Dracula holds onto old ideas about useless peasants being nothing more than an endless supply of cannon fodder that he used to use as meat to throw at his enemies and now uses as food for himself (and his roomies) and there is also his thing about wistfully looking back on the history of his great house. He's happy that the house Jonathan found is old because a new one would have been impossible for him to live in. He has a grossly inflated sense of his own entitlement due to his noble status despite the fact that he is considered a dead man from an extinct lineage. He still considers himself as noble and respectable as he would have been hundreds of years ago, hence why he is so concerned about not being respected/revered in England, his predatory feasting on the local peasants as well as his treatment of Jonathan. Jonathan is a working man who is there in service of Dracula and therefore beneath him. Dracula can barge into his room whenever he wants, destroy his property, force him to acclimate to nocturnal life for Dracula's comfort and use him as a means to an end that will eventually die, in a way using him up just like he does with the local peasants. The way I see their relationship is that Dracula is possessive of Jonathan, not protective. To him, Jonathan is an object for his use that he has taken a fancy to, little more than an entertaining puppy or jester who means nothing in the grand scheme of things because he is hardly his own person, he is Dracula's. It's the same "I am noble therefore I matter and if you aren't noble you are here to be used" mindset that would have been acceptable in the ancient past he comes from but not in the modern day.

On the contrary, Jonathan and Mina are aggressively modern to the point where Jonathan explicitly mentions this when he's afraid ("19th century up to date with a vengeance"). They are young, they write in shorthand and (*SPOILERS FOR LATER ON IN THE BOOK*) there is one point in the story where Good Guy Squad needs to do a lot of blood transfusions which, at the time, was the Hot New Science and extremely modern, hence the complete disregard for blood types which weren't really a thing back then. Jonathan mentions that writing in shorthand would have confused the Count and therefore allowed him to send messages or keep writing that Dracula wouldn't have been able to decipher and being able to keep his shorthand diary does help keep Jonathan sane. Mina also mentions in her letter practising shorthand so she can keep diligent notes on the conversations she hears and oh boy I sure do wonder if that's going to be useful when someone needs to take notes on what happens in the rest of the book. The relationships between the heroes are also very, for lack of a better word, modern. Dracula and his roommates have a clear hierarchy that is very traditional but doesn't exist with the heroes. There is no one person in a position of power over everyone else in the group, including in the individual marriages. Neither Mina nor Jonathan have any more power over the other than the other has over them. They are equals, both mutually in love and mutually intelligent and productive. At the same time, it's fairly non-traditional for three suitors of the same woman to become very good friends. In most traditional narratives of gothic fiction you'd probably find a dual for the Lady's hand, a secret love, some kind of tragic heartbreak or something like that but these are "19th century up to date with a vengeance" young men who will not be so silly. Not to mention the fact that the group mostly comes together because of the relationship between two women which is refreshingly modern. The technology, attitudes, and relationships of the heroes are what set them apart from the Count as well as what lets them succeed.

I just love the dichotomy between the withered villain trying to relive the glory of the ancient past while desperately holding onto expired ideals of bygone days vs the modern and up-to-date heroes making full use of modern technology and stereotype-breaking to defeat him. In a way it almost spits in the face of the very common romanticisation of the past that is especially common in gothic fiction where the pretty old castles and cathedrals make people forget about the endless supply of downsides to those time periods and how horrifically nightmarish it would have been to live in those times if you weren't part of an extremely tiny group of extremely powerful people