#they're doing great :3

[windfighter]

In and out in a jiffy

Prompt: ”It’s broken” / whumptober 2023

In which Kouji and Kouichi gets kidnapped and Kouji gets hurt. Again.

tw: kidnapping, blood, broken bones, drugging, police

-----

Kouichi blinked awake. Stared at the ceiling. His body felt heavy.

”Hey.”

Kouji’s voice. Kouichi turned his head and the world spun.

”You’re a little drugged”, Kouji continued. ”It’ll wear off soon.”

”Wha-?”

”You’re drugged”, Kouji repeated. ”I was a little worried there for a while.”

Kouichi tried to sit up. His limbs wouldn’t cooperate and he didn’t move.

”Where… what?”

…

”Drugged?”

The fog in his brain was slowly evaporating. Kouji was sitting leaned against the wall, face pale. He grimaced.

”Drugged”, he confirmed. ”Not sure which type, but it was kinda weak.”

Kouichi didn’t… quite agree with that. He lifted his head from the floor. The world didn’t spin. He sat up.

”Where are we?”

Kouji shrugged.

”Outskirts of Tokyo, not sure exactly where. Don’t worry though.”

Kouji closed his eyes. There was blood along the right side of his face and the way he supported his left arm with his right… Kouichi moved a little closer and Kouji opened his eyes again. Looked at Kouichi. Kouichi met Kouji’s gaze, then looked at the arm again.

”...it’s broken”, Kouji said.

Held it a little closer to his chest. Kouichi moved closer, stopped infront of Kouji.

”Can I do something?”

”I’ll be fine.”

That was neither a yes nor a no. Kouichi bit his lip, frowned.

”What happened?”

Kouji’s eyes got sad. He looked away.

”We’ll get out of here soon”, he said.

Didn’t answer the question. Kouichi wanted to push, but instead he sat down next to Kouji, leaned against the wall. Kouji slid down, rested his head on Kouichi’s shoulder. Explosions echoed somewhere in the building.

”Gunshots”, Kouji said.

He shivered. Kouichi put a hand on Kouji’s thigh, tried to rub some warmth into him, didn’t know what else he could do. The door opened. Kouichi stared into the eyes of a police officer. Nothing made sense. Kouji moved next to him.

”Osamu”, Kouji said.

”I am gonna talk with your dad about your disrespect”, Osamu answered, but he was smiling.

”Get in line”, Kouji said with a laugh.

Kouichi… felt lost. What was going on?

”We need a medvac”, Osamu said into a walkie talkie. ”How are you two doing?”

”I’m okay”, Kouji said.

Kouichi wanted to protest but his brain was still reeling from what was going on. Gunshots, drugs, police. He pulled a hand across his face.

”Kouichi got drugged, I think he’s still feeling it.”

”I’m fine, I’m just…”

Kouichi didn’t know what he was. Kouji spared him from having to figure it out.

”Is dad here?”

”He’s outside.”

Osamu held the walkie talkie towards Kouji, who nudged Kouichi. Kouichi’s hand trembled as he grabbed it.

”Dad?” Kouji asked.

Static noises. People moved on the other side.

”An ambulance is on the way”, Kousei’s voice said through the device.

”Yeah yeah”, Kouji obviously didn’t care too much. ”We are gonna have a talk about the GPS in my clothes later.”

What? Kouichi blinked.

”What?!” he said out loud.

”Volume control”, Kouji winced.

”What do you mean GPS in your clothes?!”

Kouichi couldn’t believe his words. It sounded like something straight out of a dystopian novel. Osamu laughed.

”That’s how we found you”, he said.

Kouji nodded.

”I guessed, so I’m not angry”, he explained into the walkie talkie, ”but we are going to talk.”

This was the weirdest day ever. And the worst. No wait, dying probably ranked higher on that scale, Kouichi thought. It was definitely weird though.

”Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

Kouji and Osamu both looked at Kouichi. Kouji looked away, sat up straight. Osamu kneeled infront of them, put a hand on Kouichi’s shoulder.

”Welcome to one of Boryokudan’s prisons”, Osamu said.

Kouichi blinked. Boryo…

”The fucking Yakuza!?”

Osamu nodded. Kouji’s face turned paler and Kouichi turned to him again. Noticed a dark spot on Kouji’s sleeve. Thoughts about Yakuza quickly slipped his mind. That was blood.

”It’s an open fracture. You’re a fucking idiot. Why am I surrounded by idiots?”

He didn’t know who he was actually angry at. Probably the world. More people appeared in the door, EMT carrying bags and stretchers. Kouichi wanted to ask more, yell more, get more answers. Osamu took the walkie talkie again and Kouichi was put on one of the stretchers as the EMTs checked him over. They turned him away from Kouji and Kouichi stared at the wall. He’d demand answers when this was over.

~~~~~~~~

Kouji was asleep in the bed. Kouichi watched him, sat crosslegged on his own bed. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Breathing was hard. Yakuza… why had the yakuza taken them? No one had explained it yet, everyone had been too busy. Too busy making sure the drugs were out of Kouichi, too busy getting Kouji to surgery, too busy talking to the police. Kouichi clasped his hands together, took a shaky breath. Too busy to talk to him.

Well, yakuza kidnapping people was probably a big deal, but still. Kouichi would have liked it if someone had sat down and told him about the hows and the whys and the what’ll happen next.

The door opened. Kousei stepped inside, looked at Kouji. At Kouichi.

”Hey”, he whispered.

Kouji’s eyes opened instantly. Kouichi moved to the edge of the bed.

”Hey”, Kouji said.

Kousei laughed.

”Didn’t mean to wake you. How are you two doing?”

”I always sleep lightly afterwards”, Kouji yawned.

He didn’t move to sit up. Kouichi hung his legs over the edge of the bed.

”I hate it here”, he said. ”No one is telling me anything.”

Kousei sighed, grabbed a chair and sat down between the two beds. Kouji yawned and closed his eyes again.

”What do you want to know?” Kousei asked.

”I…” Kouichi looked at his knees. ”Why, I guess. Why did this happen?”

”We’re not… entierly sure”, Kousei said. ”We got to you quick enough that they didn’t have time to come with any demands.”

”Dad’s a lawyer”, Kouji mumbled.

He sounded half-asleep. Kouichi glanced at him before looking at Kousei.

”What does that have with anything to do?”

”I… deal with them a lot”, Kousei said. ”They don’t like it.”

”And here comes the big reveal I didn’t want you to know”, Kouji muttered.

Kouichi blinked. What? That didn’t make any sense. What reveal?

Kouichi’s brain screeched into overdrive. Kouji’s nonchalance at the situation, talking to the police officer like they knew each other, the GPS, ’I always sleep lightly afterwards’. This…

”This has happened before”, Kouichi said.

His stomach churned. He swallowed, trice. Oh gods he was five seconds from throwing up. Why did they let this happen? He reached for the trashcan and Kousei gave it to him. Just as Kouichi’s stomach turned inside out.

”How….” he started when he was done. His voice shook. ”How many times? Why hasn’t anyone stopped it?”

”I’ve lost count”, Kouji said.

Kouichi didn’t like that at all. Kousei looked away.

”Fifteen.”

”The first three doesn’t count”, Kouji protested. ”I was like… two.”

Kouichi slid off the bed. Put the trashcan on the table and walked over to Kouji’s bed.

”I… I’m sorry”, he whispered.

He leaned down, wrapped his arms around Kouji.

”I should have been there to protect you.”

”I was two”, Kouji said with a laugh.

But it sounded tense, his voice a higher pitch than normal.

”You couldn’t have protected me even if you wanted to.”

He patted Kouichi’s back.

”I’m fine, ’niisan. I’ll bounce back, don’t worry. Just need my arm to heal.”

Kouichi pulled away again. Kousei grabbed him, pulled him onto his lap. Kouichi took another shaky breath.

”What happened today?”

”Do we really need to talk about it today?”

Kouji sounded both tired and frustrated and sad and angry and… mostly sad. Kouichi felt his eyes tear up and took a deep breath, shook his head.

”We can talk later.”

He wasn’t sure later would ever come.

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay but it's super interesting how

Din = Power = Ganondorf

Naryu = Wisdom = Zelda

Farore = Courage = Link.

Because Din, in the hylian creation myth, created the physical world. Naryu then created the laws - gravity, time, etc. And Farore finally created life - plants and people.

Din created the body, naryu the mind, Farore the soul.

And the triforce and its wielders so perfectly reflect that.

Ganon is physical power, he is big and intimidating and he breaks things. He is cunning and determined, but that's not what he focuses on. He is might makes right.

Zelda is wisdom and cleverness. She is stall tactics and information and team work. She is a powerful mage with a spine of steel, but that's not how she'll win. She is the pen being mightier than the sword.

Link is courage and persistence. He is the wild card sneaking behind enemy ranks, always moving, plunging into terrifying situations head first. He's a phenomenal fighter with a keen wit, but that's not what will get him through his challenges. He is bravery not being the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

They sit in perfect parallels to each other.

And ganon is reborn through his body - his resurrection is immortality. No matter how low he is cast, as long as he has a body he can claw his way back. He can cling to his power, build it ever higher.

Zelda is reborn through the magic of her bloodline. It's the accumulated knowledge handed down for generations, the unique power she must master, the skills she must develop to survive and get her kingdom out the other side intact. Even her name, the knowledge of herself, is handed down from all the way from the very first. Her ancestors knowledge of her future presence, her stability, is what gives her the edge.

Link is reborn in spirit. He is not bound by flesh or blood. Just like his wanderlust soul he can reappear in any time or place. His variation, his unpredictability, is exactly how he fights. It's what makes him so hard to pin down.

Ganons need to build strength means he can't chase after link. Links impulsiveness means zelda can outwit him. Zeldas stationary predictability means she's an easy target for ganon.

But the other direction?

Fire melts ice, ice redirects lightning, lightning burns fire.

And that's the very essence of the triforce.

[yeonjune]

Yeonjun about the strain he felt while preparing for his debut solo project ✙ "GGUM" MAKING FILM

[cecoeur]

it's hell on earth to be heavenly them's the breaks, they don't come gently

[zivazivc]

So in the second movie we see poppy and branch get, basically drugged by smooth jazz. Do you think different kinds of music can be like drugs to trolls who aren't off that genre? I'm just thinking about floyd & his ex band mates just getting high after putting on a funky record

I can't explain to you how much i love this ask, Sapphire! Like it made me obsessed sljhfdjd I was focusing so much on that ringpop pacifier from the third movie and thinking of other troll drugs I could come up with (like sour worms lol) that I completely forgot about smooth jazz!!

Eventually Floyd got up like in a trance, started dancing hippie-style, tripped over his own feet, and never got up

Floyd is still 14 here and they are all morons. Also I think Floyd would in general be much more affected by this genre because he doesn't have any Rock Troll blood like the rest of them. Slowly they will learn through morally dubious trial and error... Pray for them.

the records Flea borrowed:

[arthursfuckinghat]

Take!!! A gamble!!!! That love exists!!!! And do!!!! A loving!!!!!! Act!!!!!!!!

[shorthaltsjester]

@percahliaweek -- Day 7: Yours / Later

The Legend of Vox Machina, Seasons 1&2&3* // The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

[blueskittlesart]

deeply refreshing to see someone critical of Swift who also like, genuinely likes her. Like i'm neutral to positive on her, but the online discourse has been absolutely rancid. flipping between "Taylor Swift has never done anything wrong ever and she's a fucking genius" and "Taylor Swift is the worst lyricist of all time and also a bad person" is exhausting, so thank you for like. nuance or something lmao

not to make it serious for a sec but i genuinely think that being able to like things that are bad is really important. like I think that it's an important skill to be able to look at something and see what you personally enjoy about it and then take a step back and acknowledge that objectively it's flawed. and to also be able to acknowledge that liking something isn't necessarily an identity or a moral stance. and i think that fandom space in general could really benefit from more people taking the time to learn how to do that. it's okay to like things that are bad

[dubiousdisco]

they should have burned lionel luthor at the stake

[this-is-a-name-dont-worry]

"Wait is that lore?" moments in Antoine's return stream

These ones are likely jokes, but (you can use it in your headcanons):

With Tubbo, explaining his absence by saying "I was dead, I think, but not anymore, I was tired of being dead"

"I couldn't explain to you, it's out of my understanding how I'm dressed. The human mind cannot comprehend how I'm dressed and so the human brain shows it that way, but it isn't exactly like that. It's not powerful, it's just weird"

"You know me well!" "Heh, I know you as if I made you!" *silence* (closest to maybe serious)

These ones are more serious:

He isn't romantically interested by Cucurucho, he just likes his ass (that totally a human is aro that's what I mean)

He really missed Pomme, he stopped coming because without her it wasn't interesting anymore (this one is just cute)

Very invested in knowing what happened to the eggs while they were away

Accidentally gave Pomme one of the books Ourson (I think it's this one?) gave him, immediately panicking when he realized. When Pomme asks what it was, he first tries to pretend not to understand, and is pretty serious when he tells her that it's nothing; he'll tell her about it one day, and it's his little secret garden, everyone should be allowed to have secrets, don't she think? she isn't against secrets, right?

Certain that the eggs went to some kind of other dimensions/got doubles?? I mean there was a theory inspired by Stranger Things but despite what Pomme is saying he's not letting go of the idea

After asking Pomme if she met dark Cucurucho and she talks about the Watcher: "Je crois pas qu'on parle de la même chose. Là tu me parles de l'oeil, et moi je pense que je te parle de quelque chose d'autre. Je pense que tu me parles du Watcher... là où moi je te parle d'autre chose." ("I think we're not talking about the same thing. Here you're talking about the eye, and me I think I'm talking about something else. I think you're talking about the Watcher... when me I talk about something else" again how does he know the name "Watcher".)

Knows that Maximus is dead, when all the other players seem to have decided to play the "don't know if he's alive or dead" card (bonus: Antoine and Pomme talking about telling Aypierre, and Pomme thinking she won't be able to find the right words "I don't think there are right words..." ok im sad now thanks). Since we're at it, when reading Pomme diary where she worries about Baghera and Antoine being dead, saying they can't be dead, he doesn't share that worry in the slightest, as if he knows Baghera's not dead (this one's dubious and I am very willing to put it as cc!Antoine not thinking rp)

He and Pomme are talking about what she remembers of the Watcher and honestly the whole conversation deserves to be clipped and transcribed. To go with him name dropping the Watcher, he is now only calling it the creature with one eye because that's how Pomme calls it

Pomme explains that the Watcher was observing her and Richas and there was a threatening aura to it, so they immediately fled. Antoine in a very serious voice "You were right to, you were right to, you were right to. Because I think it's this person who was at the origin of your disappearance."

[massivementalitynut]

My Connection Lost Comm of White Fang Members by @ogariane

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Y'know, I wouldn't mind if they actually start producing visual novels or RPGs as actual Sonic games in-between major Sonic Team releases.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was a pretty solid game, all things considered. For a free April Fools joke it got me laughing through most of it, and I really enjoyed its touching moments, especially during the last act and the whole arc around the Conductor.

I can see them striking some gold handling projects like this with bigger dev teams and actual budgets. The fact they can use smaller games to tell short stories in Sonic's world and make it feel so alive and connected is something I've been craving for a while, and it doesn't even have to be a platformer! Ever since I discovered fangames like Sonic and the Mayhem Master years ago, I wondered if SEGA could take another shot at the RPG genre, or something more story-focused.

And sure, this time it was a visual novel, but it landed pretty close to what I had in mind. This whole experience was well worth my time, and some real cash too if they asked for it. I hope this charming little joke game can open more possibilities for the future of Sonic games.

[letterex-fyofm]

Honestly, contrary to popular opinion, I don't mind rare pairs. And when I say I don't mind, I mean I can really get to enjoy them. For example, I can't tell you how many pairs with Yamaguchi I've read in the past years. Like, I can't count. Yamayachi? So cute and so wholesome. Yamayama? Kageyama having a crush on Tadashi is just such a cute idea, and there are several dope fics about them. Kuroyama (don't ask, I was myself surprised but there are a couple of good fics about them)? It can be so freaking funny. Osayama? Osamu literally told Yamaguchi he would make onigiri for him one day, and not only he did, but there was a panel of I think Yamaguchi helping him in the kitchen? THAT IS SO CUTE.

The same goes for Tsukki, to an extent. I don't usually engage in fanfiction or fanart that has any Tsukki pairs besides tskym, mostly because my head (which is hard af) can't see it most of the time. BUT, I can see it - in some way. Like, Tsukikage? It would be so funny that after all this time bickering and picking on each other (tho most of that was Tsukishima so) they'd like each other. Tsukihina? That is so funny and cute at the same time. Overall, most of my opinions on Tsukki rarepairs are "Can't see it but this is so funny actually, like I would read things about them." And the art is so cute!

However...nothing kills me more than when I read a fic where tskym is entirely platonic...but only for one part. Like?!?!?!?!

Every time I encounter things like Yamaguchi having unrequited love or Tsukki being the one who suffers through that breaks my heart, and I'm like "NOOOOOOOOOVDUOSDOFJOJFSFJ"

And this really goes for any fic, honestly. I usually am so sad whenever I read something with love triangles because even if the pair I like is endgame, I feel so sad for the other one who was left.

LIKE NOOOOO DON'T BREAK MY HEART LIKE THIS

This really shows the type of reader I am, where if everyone doesn't end up happy me neither. I just contemplate the meaning of life after.

[deedala]

SHAMELESS CREATORS NETWORK DECEMBER THEME: GIFT

Fiona + The Giving Tree

[plush-paws]

Soft paws in stirrups🐾

[chaosxcrushed]

There's a certain CCCC summary video that we really, really like. We think it is a great video for people if they want to grasp the story more clearly, if they're confused, or if they're listening to the album for the first time.

That video being Chonny Jash and the Weight of the Mind on Youtube by W3tBl@nk3t. We think they cover it really well.

However, I'm sharing this for a different reason; they say few certain things that really struck with us until now, that I'd like to share with the fandom. Sometimes, we see people really just.. Miss the point of CCCC entirely, and I'd like to shine a light on what was said here. If you'd like to hear this for yourself on video, the timestamp is 35:57-36:45.

“..I bet we all could relate to that, they are the prime example of the side of you that suffers and the side of you that hates yourself for suffering:

The side of you that just wants to slow down and feel everything even to the unhealthy extent of not being able to do anything else(1), but also the side of you that so desperately wants you to get over it(2).

Sure, laying in bed all day every day to rot isn't healthy, but neither is boiling things down and invalidating your own emotions. Both are paths to inevitable disaster, and that's what Chonny is doing here. Keep in mind that the idea behind this album is being whole, and that means neither of these sides are entirely in the right or the wrong; this album is about inner compromise and acceptance(3).”

1.) The side of you that suffers; Heart. He is representative of Whole's emotions, he holds them. Your emotions can go haywire, especially when one's mentally ill and has no way of their feelings being validated. An emotional person like Heart suffers under the weight of crushing, devastating feelings. He wants to feel things out, have time to just process everything, even if it takes them days or weeks to get over it. It's not healthy, but feeling is what he does, and he wants to help because he knows he has importance. Solely focusing on just your emotions isn't the best thing to do, however.

2.) The side of you that so desperately wants you to get over it; Mind. Many people have been there, have wanted themselves to stop wallowing in their own emotions and just do something else, even to the point where you think feeling things out is unnecessary. This is also unhealthy, but not intentionally. Like Heart, Mind just wants to help, everything he does is in best interest. This is what he thinks will get them to move on the quickest; to leave behind emotions and focus on anything BUT that. Also not the best thing to do.

3.) This album is about inner compromise and acceptance; About being whole. Neither of Heart and Mind are right nor wrong. They have their own ways of doing things, of what they think will help their whole self out the most, but both are unhealthy despite the good intentions. They fight over who's wrong or right, when they shouldn't even be doing so in the first place. It's your thoughts against your emotions, basically; your feelings contradict your thoughts, and it leads to an inner war of sorts. This won't make things better, which is why you can't have Mind over Heart or vice versa; you'll need both of them. In the album, they are only able to be whole when they get along. They harmonize, they 'combine', they see eye to eye with each other and work together instead of fighting over and over. Inner compromise is achieved with this, and acceptance can lead them away from any disaster that there's to come.

What we're trying to say is that mental health is a large thing tackled within CCCC, and yet we see a lot of people who overlook it; thus, end up missing the point of the whole album. We see a lot of people believe Mind's perspective a little too much and treat Heart quite harshly, or the other way where people demonize Mind and say that Heart is perfect, when it's not really that in the slightest.

This is not a hate post towards people's interpretations of CCCC or how they view characters, I'm just saying that people can tend to overlook what's in the very narrative, and we see a concerning amount of people do such.

Anyways. Stream CCCC and put your Hearts and Minds in the get along shirt. Have a nice day.