#but it's ha this time and blast of all people

[that-weird-thing-in-the-woods]

A redo of one of my most popular post! ~{ here’s the OG post 🖤🤍Void & Prism🤍🖤}~ Enjoy!

Void and Prism

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After a long day of school and than dealing with ghosts all Danny wanted to do was go to sleep but that’s when tragedy struck as Danny was changing back into human form his parents come in and saw him

They just stared to the other for a few moments but for Danny it feels like hours, no one moved until Jack pulled out a blaster and shot him in the his side and he wailed at the pain and his yelling got Jazz’s attention and she come running to the door as Maddie tried to knock him out and put restrains on him when Jazz grab something [ was that a bat? ] and hit Maddie in the back of the head and grab Danny and ran to the portal when she’s trying to get the portal to open until trying to keep Danny awake and to get him to hold the area where he was shot to try to stop the bleeding

That’s when Jack and Maddie came in blasting [How is she still up?!] as the portal opens Jazz and Danny get hit by one of the blasts going through Jazz and into Danny but due to dying by an Ecto-Blaster she does not become a ghost but the second hit fully killed Danny and the force of the blast sent him flying through the portal and though something and all Danny can remember before he passes out is yelling [was that him or Jazz?] and something cold holding him it almost feels like the Void…..

=====================================

The Void was not used to visitors and they never would be [Not that they wanted to be, they don’t like people in their lair ever] so when they felt a core in their lair they expecting it to be like the last time something come in here but when they see the small ghosting with nobody else that could be their parents that makes The Void get closer to see them

But when they see that the baby is injured on their side The Void makes a decision and just thinks “MINE” and grabs the injured baby and brings them back to their nest in their lair and as they do they grab some of the void and bandage the baby’s side

A few hours later the baby wakes up in the nest and seems confused which is to be expected from the baby but a few seconds later the baby starts crying and wailing and starts to wrap them around us and lets them cry…

=====================================

After a few months [ or at least a while time is odd here ] and the Void and Danny grow closer even though he had to explain that he is not a baby and the Void says they understand but he doesn’t really believe them but they stoped calling him ‘Baby’ so he’s not really that upset about it

And they started to call him ‘Prism’ so progress….he guesses and he’s started to notice that he looks more….wispy? Airy..? let’s just go white Airy Like his hair [ that has grown out a bit ] and moves like there wind even if there isn’t and instead of the tail he has when flying fast it looks more like fog

So of course Danny ask The Void what is going on and The Void reveals that due to him always being in their lair [and didn’t get the core ripped out of him] his core and The Ghost Zone has recognized him as The Ancient of Creation the opposite of The Void [!!Explanation!! The last Ancient of Creation kinda dipped to get away from The Void and they needed a new one that wasn’t going to leave because of sharing a lair with The Void and picked Danny due to The Void actually liking this one]

=====================================

Now for the DC part of this!

As Tim was going through the time-stream looking for Bruce, He was walking around looking for anyplace he might be when was pulled into what looked to be a Void and a few minutes later he wakes up [he passed out when he was pulled in] as he stands up he looks around and in the far distance

There is a large black temple with white fog and accents on it and the areas plant life that is around it looks like it is fighting for its life but all around the temple is floating islands that look like it’s been slowly eat it kinda like how water corrodes some rocks it looks like that and the area where the sky or something should be there’s just…nothing

but Tim can’t think to much into it as that’s when he sees a person flying around close to him but just far away to not see him it looks like their looking for something and time hides not wanting to be seen by this mysterious but very powerful person..

Danny was flying around the edges their lair just to move around [who would have thought that The Void was so protective that they wouldn’t like it when he gets to close to the edges] when he feels a presents that was here and he had to find them before Void did [They Hated people in their lair at all much less without permission ] so he goes looking for them

So when he sees a flash of red from his side he turns and looks down that the…boy? How did he even get in here the entrance alone should have killed him?? [Clockwork] but now is not the time to be thinking about that as he had to get the boy out of here

So Danny floats down to where the boy is and ask who he is and why he’s here so Tim explains that his adoptive father is lost in the time-stream and everyone else believes that his adoptive father is dead but he knows his alive and Danny feels bad for this boy he has definitely not slept in days by the eye-bags and the general tiredness in his stance and wants to help this boy who he finds out his name is Tim [also due to his role he feels more sympathetic to things that past Ancients of Creation made and humans are one of them , the past Ancients of creation were either killed by The Void or dip giving up their role due to The Void]

Anyway so Danny grabs Tim’s hand and flys them both to where The Void main body is to explain to them to help [ and not to kill Tim ] which goods… surprisingly well Danny expected to have to protect Tim from them and The Void says they will help if Tim comes but some time for Danny and when ask why the just say “Enrichment” and Tim and Danny aren’t gonna push it so they leave it at that

The Void gives Tim a compass to show him where Bruce is and The Void and Danny send him on his way

=====================================

When Tim accepted the deal with The Void he was think that they would send a portal to come get him and he can just hang out with Danny for a bit and just do that for a bit

What he was not expecting was when he and other hero’s were stoping a cult that was try to bring back “The Great Calamity” and stuff Tim really didn’t care all to much [ not to mention that the Batfam fucked up and Tim is a bit mad at them ] that one of the cultists while they were fighting would finish the ritual and open portal but thankfully Constantine and Zatanna shut that down fast but not fast enough for one the The Great Calamity’s large hands [which look very familiar..hmmm] to grab him and pull him though the portal with them

So now here’s him sitting in the black temple with Danny by his side making and growing flowers and plants in his hands [ he tired to give one to The Void who was watching them but the Flowers disintegrated has soon as they touched :( ] but his chill right now and his sure the other hero’s are doing fine without him

[ What Tim doesn’t know is the chaos back home ]

=====================================

Now onto one of my fav parts the details!

For Danny I’m thinking this for what he actually looks like

And for hair

Not this complicated but you get the just of it

And here’s the “more” human from of The Void

And a photo of how Danny shows that he’s mad that The Void ~{ lol }~

The Void and Danny holding hands⬇️

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

And that’s about it I hope you all like it! See you things that live it the walls later! Byeeee

[bambi-kinos]

I've heard Paul say that Linda and John have something in common. What do you think about this ? What's the difference between Paul's love for Linda and his love for John?

Paul likes people who are good at getting what they want. John had that in spades, Linda lied her way into being a photographer, even Heather Mills was good at that since she had to bounce back from losing her leg. That is probably one of the big things Linda and John had in common, they wanted to live their lives on their own terms. Paul is someone who would have lived his life completely on rails until he found John so that's a quality he would admire immensely.

I think Linda, John and Heather also did something that no one else in Paul's life was willing to do: they validated his anger. John said "your father is fucking awful let's get the fuck out of here." Linda said "your bandmates are fucking awful let's get the fuck out of here."

When it comes to Heather, there's a few articles from that era talking about how Paul is visibly angrier than usual and it brings to mind this quote from Brian:

Paul is endowed with an immense talent, he hides a great inner tenderness and a formidable sensitivity under angry outside. In my opinion, it is the one that most appeals to strangers, autograph hunters, fans and even other artists. He has a beautiful smile and a formidable enthusiasm that he uses, not to be laughed at, but because he knows that these are assets that can make people around him happy.

...Therefore, I do not take into account his mood swings and hold him in high esteem. I would not want to lose his friendship under any circumstances.” - Brian Epstein, A Cellarful of Noise, 1964.

It's interesting that Brian saw an angry outside to Paul when we would not call Paul angry. But Brian saw more than most and saw Paul's rough side and tl;dr I think that's what Brian is referencing here. I think that Heather Mills saw that in Paul and said "stop acting like you're not an angry person, why are you repressing this?"

Linda had a saying for Paul as well: "it's allowed." She didn't judge him for having feelings. When Paul was starting out with John, John didn't judge him for having feelings either.

I think the difference between Paul's love for Linda and his love for John is that Paul trusted Linda more. John was someone that Paul loved deeply but by the time Linda came along, Paul could only safely love John from a distance. The LSD hysteria, the heroine, the Yoko shit, it was all too much and Paul couldn't keep standing next to the blast furnace. Who fucking would? It's not fair but the addict's lot in life is to drive away everyone who loves them until they are alone.

Linda was someone more worldly and she already survived a failed marriage. John at that point was prone to severe mood swings and hysterical outbursts; Linda notably was not. When you're in Paul's situation and you see a sane person who isn't calling himself Jesus Christ reborn and who isn't trying to foist some weird avante garde artist on you? You cling to that lifeboat. Linda wasn't going to stab Paul in the back for money, she wasn't going to call Paul's lawyer racial slurs, she didn't bitch and whine that everyone was an evil racist that was trying to stop her from being with her twoo wuv. Linda in many ways was very similar to pre-drug addiction John Lennon: she knew what she wanted and she went after it.

Paul was able to love her up close because he trusted her more and because she demonstrated that he could trust her. Paul did love John but it was something he did at a distance which frankly was the only thing he could possibly do. John was a black hole of vanity and selfishness that was dragging everyone down with him which is why George got out while he could and Ringo made sure to live far away.

Part of John and Paul coming back together would have included John getting sober and proving that he could stay sober, that he was committed to sobriety for sobriety's sake, and that he wasn't going to go off the rails trying to sabotage Paul's career while Paul was trying to provide for his children. Otherwise Paul should have and would have kept a distance and refused to commit to anything interesting. I think Paul learned his lesson when he showed up to the Dakota and John turned him away saying "you can't just show up like its Liverpool in the 1950s."

That's another key difference between Paul loving Linda and loving John. Linda actually wanted Paul around, John didn't. Paul loved Linda actively and loved John passively.

[mymanyfandomramblings]

Any headcanons for toh?

Oooooh. I have several, including an entire section dedicated to my love of the terrible Blight family dynamics. Here we go:

Luz and Gus both love Hamilton. Amity does not love Hamilton, but she tolerates it.

Amity's music taste is either 'the softest, lightest, saddest pop music' or 'heavy metal'. all happy songs on her playlist were added because she associates them with Luz or her friends, not because she listens to them.

Luz is convinced that Elvis is alive somewhere on the Boiling Isles.

All of the Hexsquad are the type to call each other in the middle of the night because an idea occurred to them. it's usually Willow who ends up being called.

Willow has tried--and failed--to understand the hype with either The Good Witch Azura or Cosmic Frontier. She however does know so much lore about both, and is so good at pretending, that her friends have yet to figure out that she doesn't care about their fandoms beyond 'you're really happy talking about it'.

Edric and Emira see Gus as their unofficial little brother

Darius makes Willow's wedding dress, when she gets married.

When Hunter and Willow get married, Gus is a combination of best man/man of honour and Luz is a combination maid of honour/best woman. Amity's just a bridesmaid, but her feelings are unhurt by this.

Hooty writes terrible RPF

Lilith likes Raine just fine but she will not let them know this.

Luz and Gus will corner Hunter at some stage and be like 'listen, we know you like Willow. If you're going to date her you have to treat her like a princess. Spare no expense, leave no stone unturned. when you ask her to Grom you must do a big romantic gesture."

Willow does not like big romantic gestures nearly as much as Luz and Gus do.

Gus helps Luz and Amity plan their big dramatic Gromposals, so that they both ask at the same time, with equally massive fanfare.

Amity is not naturally a big romantic gestures person, but Luz is, so she has adapted to a big romantic gestures person.

Eventually Gus and Luz will figure out that neither Hunter or Willow are 'big romantic gestures' people. it will take too long for them to figure this out.

Camila and Darius are appreciative of each other for raising Hunter. Beyond that, they don't actually mesh all that well. She doesn't understand his dramatics.

Darius is occasionally prone to calling Raine and Eberwolf in the middle of the night to drag them on sidequests.

Back when Lilith was head of the Emperor's Coven, Eda used to go to wherever the coven heads would meet, and she'd sit under the window with a boombox and blast the Boiling Isles equivalent of 'You May Be Right' and 'Everybody Loves Me Baby'. This stopped after Lilith left the Emperor's Coven, but a little while later, Scooter Crane resigned, Raine Whispers ascended to head of the bard coven, and Eda and her boombox returned.

When Hunter starts attending Hexside, he isn't sure what he wants to study, and with the track system being far more flexible--and him being very traumatized and not very well-socialised--Principal Bump lets him have a blank schedule and go to whichever classes whenever. This often ends up with him spending much of the day in Plants, where it's peaceful. or at least he says it's because it's peaceful.

Grimwalker physiology is pretty similar to witch and human physiology, however it has some strange and inexplicable quirks. One of these things is a complete and utter lack of a detectable heartbeat.

Eda and co. would not all have survived high school without Raine there to keep the peace, and rein in the more stupid ideas.

Also, my incessant headcanons about the Blight family:

Odalia's family used to be one of Bonesborough's richest and most eminent families, however either thanks to a bad business deal or a scandal they lost most of their fortune and repute while Odalia was a child, and by the time she started Hexside, she's been living in genteel poverty for years. This has given her high-class trappings, memories of having wealth, and a desperation to regain it.

Darius was the one to originally introduce Odalia and Alador. he eventually regretted this.

Odalia wasn't always a terrible person. She was always unscrupulous, sharp-tongued and a social climber, but she is also capable of genuine pleasantness.

Odalia and Alador once did like each other--or at the very least were attracted to each other originally. This soured over years of an unsuccessful marriage.

They got married very young. Odalia was keen to lock down the last heir to the Blight fortune as soon as possible, and Alador thought she was pretty, and a good business woman.

Everything started falling apart when the twins were born, and properly fell apart when Amity was born.

Odalia's pregnancies have never been easy on her, and she experienced bad bouts of post-partum depression after both.

Alador is most definitely autistic. and also undiagnosed. among the things he finds overstimulating are a) children and b) Odalia when she's in a bad mood.

so when Amity was born and suddenly there was a crying baby, two chaos twins, and a very irritable post-partum Odalia, Alador's response was 'spend as little time in the house as possible.'

This is about when any last love between Odalia and Alador left the marriage.

Back to general headcanons, Edric gets bad asthma attacks

Emira is like a very immature mother to her siblings. they'd be lost without her.

Amity is unambiguously the favourite child. not that this gets her preferential treatment from her parents, but it does foster resentment among her siblings.

it took the twins much too long to figure out that Mittens has other emotional needs beyond 'an ego check'.

Alador just...gives them their inheritance when they asked for it. Amity put hers into saving, Emira uses it to be the hot rich single aunty to her nieces and nephews, and Edric spent his all at once on something like a waterslide for his house.

Edric needs budgeting lessons ASAP. he's not very good at it.

Post-divorce the twins joke incessantly about the fact that their mother is in jail.

That's all I can think of right now.

[evenmorefatallyobsessed]

Hey so to anyone whose ever wondered why I like Jaune I could probably give a good amount of reasons.

From his knight aesthetic, to him not being a Gary Stu, but a very flawed, believable character whose trying to improve himself. Hell I LOVE that he is a reference to Joan of Arc.

That he's not classically played masculine, but also isn't portrayed effeminate or flamboyant to oppose it either. I like that Jaune feels like someone who at a glance could be from a earth.

He feels like he was a Civilian, and you know what, I also have a weakness for blue eyed blondes... Maybe that's why I Love the idea of there being a whole family of them.

Heck conceptionally Jaune has a lot in common with the stereotypical Shonen protagonist... But then again so does Ruby and Yang. And Blake fit the more edgy manga Protags...

But if I had to name one thing I like about Jaune, even more then his determination/ Willpower (Stubbornness when it's misdirected like it was in Jaunedice)

I think what I like most is, well... That Jaune is arguably the bravest character in RWBY (Oscar could be argued to be that too though)

Let me explain, so... Everyone else in Beacon is different then Jaune mentally. And the reason is simple. a combination of their aura and training...

All the main cast besides Jaune were overpowered teenagers with strength like Captain America. And there in lies the reason.

They don't view things the same way Jaune does, in the Red Trailer, we literally see Ruby tear apart a horde of Beowulves in minutes on the way to visit her mother's grave. Which implies she does this regularly on said trek.

Now for those watching we gain the same mentality and understanding as the girls of RWBY. Beowulves aren't that strong, their mobs... Weak, easy to beat and need big numbers to be even a bit challenging.

But if you simply look at them, compare them to Ruby... Every Beowulve is a freaking WEREWOLF!!!

That is fucking terrifying, take away the aura and that is a brickshitting situation Ruby is in. But to her it's really not, because she has spent her whole life killing these things to the point where she can do so effortlessly.

Hell we see this again in Yang when she literally doesn't just enter a fight with a gang of known armed criminals but starts it! Literally grabbing the kingpin by the balls.

Which, why wouldn't she, she punches fucking armored Grizzly bears to death. And so everyone one of JNPR and RWBY outside of Jaune look at Grimm and Criminals in the sense of...

Oh neat, a bad guy, let's kill/ beat them up...

When their being fired at their not thinking they could get shot, NO! Their thinking it's okay to get shot a few times cuz they have aura that'll protect them.

And that's why Jaune is so brave, he went to Beacon as a civilian, unaware of aura. Now stop and think about how far behind Jaune was actually in his own mind.

Because remember, he didn't know about aura, the stuff that lets everyone else be so OP. Jaune fought a Ursa Major and killed it without prior training and wasn't using aura techniques, he had enough physical prowess and strength to cleave through it in a single shot...

A literal Marine couldn't do that... But Jaune did, if it were a world without aura, Jaune would've easily been one of the physically strongest people. But because aura existed, people who were trained their entire lives with it are worlds apart above him.

But my point is this, everyone else isn't so much brave as confident and in Yang and Weiss's cases moreso arrogant. Ruby looked at a Goliath while she was in Mt. Glenn and her first thought was to go and kill it... That thing was a fucking Kaiju. And she wasn't scared of it, oh no she was excited to kill it!

Initiation was literally fun for Yang, she had a blast during it, Nora too, Blake wasn't concerned and until she was forced to ride a Nevermore Weiss was so at ease that she was willing to strike out on her own instead of teaming up with someone else, not once but twice.

But Jaune is different, to him, a Beowulf is a monster that can kill him in a single strike...A Ursa is a beast that could kill the strongest men... A single attack could end you life...

And yet he was still willing to take initiation, there was no second chances, or magic barrier to protect him, hell he didn't even have a gun.

Dude was gonna fight bears and Werewolfs with a sword and shield. In his mind a single blow would kill him, this wasn't fun, this wasn't exciting or something to be taken lightly.

It was a life or death struggle, and just because Pyrrha gave him aura doesn't mean that mentality magically goes away. No to Jaune Grimm still are threat, it why he shows nervousness when fighting them unlike everyone else.

But he still does... everyone else fights Grimm like it's a game or chore. But to Jaune he is actually fighting for his life, these things scare him, fighting scares him, and mentally he is still very much leaning more towards civilian.

But it's because of that that when he fights he is being braver then all the others. Not to say their cowards though.

I think ultimately that's why I like Jaune most, because I never stop realizing that he is fighting in a darksouls game while everyone else feels like their in DMC.

But despite that he doesn't hesitate to fight beside them, to try and help and is willingly putting his life on the line when everyone else is just having a easy run of it.

And I'd argue this is why Ozpin made him leader.

[scrapingby]

There's one character trait from Rhun that we have seen more than any other and it just breaks my heart.

Like sure, they are abrasive (Wer? Wer gefragt hat?!) and they are/used to be snarky (that scene when they were kids about the monster under the bed). And there is a whole lot to be said about Dark and White and Grey respectively.

But mostly they are just so very soft.

Roughly by point of order:

They worry about the kids that are being affected by the sweets that Klaus and Fips are giving to them. They also appear to feel strongly about people being influenced for the worse and being taken advantage of. (Weil ihr sie eh nur benutzt. Ihr Unwissenden habt schon genug Seelen beschmutzt!)

They make sure Ray knows that his efforts are known and appreciated (even though they immediately follow this up by telling him about the mean things that are being said about him, but even that is said to declare that those people are wrong).

While searching for Dark they take the time to make sure LurkyGirl is okay.

They make sure not to hurt the streamer (Papaplatte I think?) that Dark is using to hold Rhun off.

Yeah, they go along with Oskars plan to capture Dark. They were desperate (and I would guess not for themselves but for what it would mean for the world if they couldn't continue to due their job) getting weaker by the minute and all other attempts had failed. And the moment they realized that the chains were hurting Dark they stopped. Stopped and freed Dark and the telling Dark that they wanted it to be on both of their terms to merge again.

They worry about Oskar, some guy they have only known for a short time. When confronted with his betrayal and real plan, they don't react with hate or declarations of revenge but with concern about what their actions will cause.

When Pete, Joon and Ju find them, their first reaction is neither happiness nor relief. Instead they see Fips and all they can wonder sadly what happened to him.

They don't even rush Joon at first, even though they are currently living through the worst pain possible because they are still chained. Only when Joon is finished with his tale do they (Rhun and Dark) tell him to finally free him. And the best part? They listened. Because when they tried to send them home, they opened a door to North Korea. Because Joon told them that this is where he was born.

They make sure to save both Rainer and Joon, because they can actually do something for them.

Once they are at the hotel their first action is to return all their workers to normal and send them to safety.

They try to do the same with Joon and Rainer and then they loose their cool (and who wouldn't? They have guarded Eos face for hundreds of years. They were only just betrayed and had to spend the past whoever-knows-how-many days in unimaginable pain. And then such an obvious lie? -> side note: I hc that Rhun tries to be cautious but they are still very naive and always end up believing in the good of the people. This often ends badly for them and is one of the reasons they hate when others are being taken advantage of. It's too close to home). But then they let Joon and Rainer stay (Joon did say that they came in the hope of being safe at the hotel) and even take them to their most closely guarded secret.

Also, when Eos takes over and that energy blast sent Rhun flying? I think the only reason Joon wasn't also hurt was because Rhun was somehow protecting him with their magic.

I also need to mention that that scene where Eos is about to kill Rhun and Rhun doesn't say anything? Just bares their teeth and braces for it? That scene hurts on a different level.

And finally: Rhun not only saving Julia but also taking the time to (bluntly) explain that she has to be more careful. They even try to comfort her and help her deal with her fear! And then they make sure that Julia will never get lost again by giving her the Zahnseide (which going by the old Zahnfee song is probably not the first time this has happened. They did sing that the Zahnseide was being used in very unvonential ways).

Just.

I love Rhun so much.

[ladyloveandjustice]

And finally, the second and final part of this fic has arrived. It's long. So much longer than I thought it would be. God I got so carried away with the conversations and it took forever. Turned into a monster. But it's finally done. Again, not as funny as I'd like, but hopefully a little cute.

Thank you to @schrodingersauthorii for saying something in the comments to my post that inspired some of this second part!

Part 2

The atmosphere of the meet was a lot nicer than he expected. The other students were kind to him, many complementing them on his sports day performance. The team members and Coach Sakuragi were less, well, mean to each other than the team he’d briefly been part of, cheering each on rather than acting sullen when anyone outperformed them. The coach at his old school had always responded to any mistake with a torrent of frustrated criticism that made Natsume tremble in shame. But Sakuragi never acted disappointed or angry. She came off like she was giving friendly suggestions, and she pointed out what they were doing well at lot too. The team responded to her advice eagerly, rather than fearing her.

It was nice, and Natsume almost wished he was the kind of person who could be a part of this. But he knew himself too well. He’d feel terrible each time he missed out due to being sick or waylaid by yokai. And that would happen a lot. The nicer these people were, the worse he’d feel about letting them down. It didn’t matter if they were fine with it, he wouldn’t be. And to be honest, even if he liked his teammates, he didn’t like thinking about huge crowds watching him, he didn’t like the idea of watching other people cry in frustration when he beat them, any of it.

So when Sakuragi asked him if he wanted to do a practice run with the others, he agreed, all while planning to run much slower than usual. He’d explain to her after that the performance on sports day was a fluke, and he usually wasn’t that fast, and there was no way he’d be able to pull it off consistently. Sakuragi would hopefully stop wanting him to join the team, and even if she still asked him, she and the others wouldn’t feel bad when he turned her down.

He took a deep breath, as he stood at the starting line, closing his eyes and blocking the gaze of Sakuragi and the other students out. If he didn’t imagine a yokai was chasing him, running slower was pretty manageable, and he was experienced enough with doing it in phys ed that he knew he could pull it off without looking like he was holding back. It would be fine. He’d be fine.

He got himself into position, taking off when Coach blasted the whistle. He lagged way behind the others, while doing his best to look like he was really giving his all. It was going pretty well, he thought, until he looped around on the track and saw a yokai directly in his path.

It wasn’t a big one, not even coming up to Natsume’s knee. It was black, so it had blended in well with the track. It was sort of blobby and shapeless in form, like an inkstain, with beady eyes and a wiggly head.

Natsume’s heart raced and his mouth went dry. It might look small, but he knew better than anyone not to trust a yokai’s appearance. It could be dangerous. Was it here to get the Book of Friends, or was it trying to do something to the people here? It didn’t matter. He had to do something. He couldn’t just slow down, that would give it time to attack

Instead, he vaulted over the creature. His ankle twisted under him when he landed. He fell, knees and hands scraping the ground. He immediately sprang to his feet and ran as fast he could. He had to lead it away from everyone else.

His sneakers pounded on the rubber and intense vibrations raced through him with each step. It felt like his bones were shuddering. Somone was calling his name, but it was muffled and distant, everything was. He has no room in his brain for anything but his goal. I have to protect the people here. I have to protect the Book of Friends. He crossed the finish line and veered into the grass, ready to grab his bag and sprint out of school grounds. But he looked over his shoulder, he saw the blobby yokai hadn’t moved after him at all. It had simply flattened and spread out on the ground. It’s eyes were closed.

Was it…taking a nap?

Relief filled Natsume as he skidded to a stop. Yes, it was sleeping. Its breathing was even, and as sounds came back to him, he could hear some faint snoring. But he also heard something else, which was Coach Sakuragi screaming at him.

“NATSUME! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? WHY WOULD YOU RUN ON A SPRAINED ANKLE?” She shouted while running toward him.

Sprained…? Natsume looked down and saw his ankle was swelling. Suddenly, intense pain shot through his leg, his ankle folded under him, and crumpled. Sakuragi caught him under his arms before he could hit the ground. She lifted him up easily.

 Wow, she’s strong, Natsume thought dazedly. Bet I look pretty pathetic right now. He could see students had gathered around to stare at him, expressions worried or shocked. One girl called “Are you okay??”

“Y-yeah,” he said as his mind screamed in humiliation.

Sakuragi could have probably carried him, but thankfully she chose to simply pull his arm over shoulder. “Don’t stand on that ankle, keep it raised.” She commanded. She turned to the cluster of team members. “We need the chairs, the ice bag from the cooler, and the first aid kit. Go get them.”

The student’s responded quickly, three of them running off.

Soon they all came back with all the supplies, including two folding chairs. Sakuragi eased him into a chair. Natsume couldn’t help groaning in pain when a student propped up his leg on the chair in front of him, resting his ankle on a folded towel.

Natsume hated that he was disrupting the entire track meet and making so many people fuss over him, but he knew protesting would be ungrateful, so he softly thanked the other students instead. They smiled back at him.

Sakuragi placed the ice bag on his ankle. Natsume sighed in relief as the numbing cold broke through the pain.

 Sakuragi bent down to examine his foot. “It don’t think it’s broken, but you’re going to need to check it with a hospital. It’s badly sprained because of all the weight you put on it. Hopefully you didn’t tear the ligament completely.”

“A-a hospital?” Natsume’s stomach dropped. That was really going to worry Touko and Shigeru. He felt so stupid, putting them through all this because a harmless yokai was taking a nap.

Sakuragi straightened up and clapped her hands. “Okay, this isn’t a show, people. Give us some space and get back to practice.”

The team dispersed, and Sakuragi crossed her arms, frowning down at him. Natsume winced, thinking she was going to yell again. Instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “Natsume.” she said calmly. “I don’t understand what you were thinking. This was just a practice run. Your first one, too.  I’ve seen students try to run on injuries before, but this wasn’t even an actual race!”

Natsume’s looked at his ankle, which was rapidly turning purple, burning with shame. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“You don’t have to apologize. I just want to know what’s going on. Why did you run on that ankle?”

“I-I didn’t do it on purpose. It was just kind of…instinct?” Natsume said. He instantly realized that how weird that sounded, and so, apparently, did Sakuragi.

“Instinct?” Her frown deepened and her eyebrows drew together. “Your instinct is to keep running even when you’re hurt?”

“No, no, it’s not like that, I’m just used to—!” He snapped his mouth shut.

What was wrong with him? He was usually better at covering things up. He’d almost said he was used to having to run while injured. He’d twisted his ankle running from yokai plenty of times, and at some point he’d learned to just block out the pain until he got to safety. But obviously he couldn’t tell the coach that.  He desperately searched for another way to end the sentence, but before he could, the coach bent over, looking him directly in the eye.

“Natsume, you looked very frightened when that “instinct” kicked in. Like you were being chased down. Are you used to being chased? Is it something that happens a lot?”

Natsume’s blood froze. Did she know? Why? How? What was going on? His ankle was throbbing so badly now, it was hard to think the haze of pain. His breathing got faster, his ears buzzed… He had to say something, anything to throw her off…

 Sakuragi put her hand gently on his shoulder, “Natsume, you can tell me anything. Is it someone who goes to this school? Or even more than one person? Have they been hurting you? I know it’s scary to talk about it, but I promise I can help--”

Natsume’s shoulders slumped as relief flooded him. She’d was asking if people were chasing him. Obviously she’d meant people.  What was wrong with him? Sure, his ankle felt like it was being hit repeatedly with a giant hammer, but that was no excuse to lose his head.

Doing his best to come off as relaxed, he said “Oh, It’s not like that, Sensei, you don’t need to worry. People don’t chase me at all anymore.”

Sakuragi narrowed her eyes. “Anymore?”

He clearly should just stop talking forever. Maybe he’d sprained his brain along with his ankle.

Yes, he’d been chased by people, of course he had. And not just enthusiastic track coaches. He’d had to run away from plenty of classmates looking to teach the liar a lesson. Running from bullies was usually a lot easier than running from most yokai though, since people eventually tired out. He’d only been caught a few times.

At least this slip up didn’t put his secret in danger, it just made every inch of him cringe. He didn’t want to talk about any of this with her. But he had to make her understand everything was okay. Even if it meant embarrassing himself.

“Sensei, ever since I moved here, things have been so much better. People are so kind to me, my friends are amazing, the Fujiwaras are so warm and giving…” He ducked his head, unable to meet her eyes. “I feel like I belong here. Actually belong.  I’m happier than I ever thought I could be….”

Sakuragi was listening to him intently, and when he trailed off, she smiled at him. “I’m glad to hear that. Sorry for the interrogation.”

She took some bandages out of the first aid kit and started wrapping his ankle with a steady practiced hand. “It sounds running is really connected to some… difficult experiences for you. I’m a teacher who’s supposed to look out for you. I shouldn’t have pressured you to run. I should have considered your feelings. I apologize.”

“No no,, it’s not your fault Sensei, you’re honestly the nicest track coach I’ve ever—"

But his reassurance was cut off by a shout, “Natsume! What happened?!”

Natsume looked over his shoulder, and saw Nishimura, Tanuma, Taki, Kitamoto and Sasada all coming around the corner of school building

 What the heck are they doing here? His stomach dropped at the expressions of worry on their faces. Nishimura led the pack as they rushed toward him.

“How did you get hurt already?!” Nishimura exploded the second he was within talking range. “It’s been fifteen minutes since school let out! Fifteen! I bet you were doing some kind of crazy thing again, don’t you realize-?”

“Nishimura, calm down,” Kitamoto said, smacking him on the shoukder. “But seriously, Natsume, what happened?”

“I—"

“Did somebody trip you?” Sasada asked, fixing the scattered team members with a hawklike glare while they looked baffled in response.  “Are there bullies here?”

“No—”

“It’s not broken, is it?” Nishimura was wincing as the looked at the ankle. “It looks so swollen—”

“Guys!” Taki cut him off. “Why don’t we stop freaking out and let Natsume get a word in edgewise?”

“Well said. I know you’re worried, give him the chance to explain,” Sakuragi said in a slightly amused tone.

Nishimura, Sasada, and Kitamoro jolted, like they hadn’t noticed the teacher before.

“Sorry, Sensei,” Sasada said immediately, bowing her head,

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to yell at you, Natsume,” Nishimura mumbled.

Tanuma, who’d been quietly watching, stepped up and put his hand on Natsume’s shoulder. It was a timid, gentle touch, but Natsume could feel the weight of Tanuma’s concern through it. He smiled reassuringly at him, and then looked at the others.

“I just tripped, guys, that’s really all. I was doing a practice run and I stumbled and twisted my ankle. Though I uh, also…” He was going to freak them out if he told them he’d kept running on it, and he wasn’t sure how he’d explain it, but—

“He also bumped it a bit while I was guiding him to his chair,” Sakuragi cut him off, giving him a small smile. “That one was my fault.”

Natsume blinked at her, shocked she’d covered for him. She shook her head at him slightly as if to say ‘just this once’.

“See, Nishimura?” Kitamoto elbowed him. “You of all people can’t be mad at him for tripping!”

“Yeah…” Nishimura said sheepishly. “Sorry…”

“No, I’m really sorry for worrying you all,” Natsume said, guilt racing through him. “But, uh, what are you guys even doing here?

“We wanted to support you. The plan was just to meet you when you were done and walk home together,” Taki said gently.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before,” Tanuma squeezed Natsume’s shoulder slightly, looking bashful. “You just seemed kind of stressed about it, and I was a little… It was a last minute decision. I was thinking if you wanted to, we could even hang out at my place. I probably overstepped”.

‘It was one of those times his friend’s kindness and care filled him up so much he thought he would burst. Those times where he  wondered how he’d found people like them after all these years. When he ached to give them even a fragment of what they’re given him.

“No…” Natsume said, hoping he didn’t sound choked up, “No, I would have liked that, thanks.”

“That’s really sweet,” Sakuragi said with a grin, resuming with wrapping Natsume’s ankle. But then her grin dropped, and she looked at Nishimura questioningly. “Does he get hurt a lot?”

“Kind of. It’s all because he’s reckless, Sensei. He doesn’t think things through!”

“A lot of time he’s trying to help someone, though,” Tanuma said hastily. “It’s not his fault, really.”

 “You always go way too easy oh him, Tanuma. But yeah, he’ll do things like shove a girl out of the way when a bunch of heavy boxes are falling on her and get conked in the head. He’s too good a guy—"

“Come on, you’re embarrassing him,” Taki admonished, which immediately silenced Nishimura.

Sakuragi seemed to relax at this, and she finished up wrapping Natsume’s ankle. “Ok! Now, can one of you go fetch crutches from the nurse’s office?” Sakuragi took a key out of the first aid box and tossed at Nishimura, who caught it with a startled expression. Kitamoto went with him. Sasada looked around awkwardly, and then did a double take.

“Chiyo, what are you doing here?” Sasada’s hand immediately jumped to her hair, and she started twirling a lock around her finger.

The short-haired girl walked up, wiping her neck with a towel and flashing Sasada a crooked grin. “The track team lets me practice with them sometimes. Gotta train to beat you next time. What this I hear about you threatening everyone and calling them bullies?”

“I didn’t—”

“Oh, now I remember, Natsume, that’s your friend, no wonder you were all aggro!”  Chiyo waved at Natsume, who waved awkwardly back. “Sorry she’s so overprotective, man. She means well.”

“You—come on!” Sasada grabbed the other girl’s hand and dragged her away. Chiyo looked unreasonably happy about this.

Sakuragi had stepped away to chat with some other students too. Taki squatted next to Natsume and Tanuma leaned closer to him.

“Was there yokai trouble?” Tanuma whispered.

Natsume shook his head. “Not really. I basically overreacted. I saw a little yokai on the track, freaked out because I thought it was dangerous, and tripped. It’s harmless, though. It was just napping. I feel pretty stupid.”

“Did anyone notice anything?”

“Yeah, they noticed I was acting really weird. Especially Coach Sakuragi. She’s…intense.”

“Oh, I should have thought about that and warned you about that.” Taki sighed. “It’s really hard to keep a secret from her, especially if she thinks you’re struggling. Her heart’s in the right place, though.”

Natsume nodded. “I can tell. I feel bad that I worried her. I ended up saying some bizarre things while I was trying to throw her off. I think she thinks I’m traumatized from my childhood or something now.”

Tanuma cleared his throat and looked away. Taki studied her shoes carefully.

“Uh, what’s wrong?” Natsume asked, trying to figure out if he’s said anything strange.

“Nothing,” Taki said quickly. “Hey, what does the little yokai look like?”  She looked off in the wrong direction.

 “Oh, uh…kind of blob-like…” he squinted at the sleeping yokai, examining it more closely. “Oh wow, I couldn’t pick it out before but it has ears actually, Oh, they’re kind of shaped like cat ears…”

Takis gasped excitedly “Is it cute?”

“Uh…maybe ugly cute?”

“Then it’s cute,” Taki said firmly. “I wish I could see it.”

Natsume suddenly realized that it was probably for the best Taki couldn’t see yokai, otherwise she’d be terrorizing every weird looking little monster non-stop.

Tanuma looked around at the team members looping the track, as others chatted and laughed on the sidelines. “Were you having a good time with everyone? You know, before everything happened?”

“Yeah…it was nice. Everyone was really great. I feel bad I ruined things.”

“You didn’t—"

“We’re back!” Kitamoto and Nishimura arrived carrying the crutches.

A shock of pain went up Natsume’s leg like lightningn when Tanuma and Sakuragi eased him onto his crutches, but he gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out. He couldn’t worry everyone even more.

“Okay, you’re good to go now. But make sure your parents to get you checked at the hospital right away. I will be asking Ms. Fujiwara about that our weekly grocery store chats.”

Natsume nodded meekly, filled with dread at the thought of Touko’s panic and distress. At the same time, he noticed she’d called the Fujiwaras his parents…not foster parents or guardians…just parents. It kind of felt nice. Really nice.

Sasada was still talking with Chiyo, laughing and swatting at her playfully. She noticed that Natsume was up, and reluctantly pulled away, giving Chiyo’s hand a quick squeeze before she left.

Sakuragi smiled as Sasada rejoined the group, observing all of Natsume’s friends clustered around him. “Take care of him, all right?”

“Don’t worry, Sensei, we won’t let anything happen to him,” Nishimura said confidently.

“We’ve got his back!” Kitamoto assured her.

“He helps us a lot. It’s the least we can do.” Tanuma chimed in unexpectedly.

“Of course!” Sasada and Taki finished things off.

Natsume stared at the ground, hoping nobody could see the expression on his face. Taki patted him on the shoulder.

“You’re right, you do have good friends.” Sakuragi ruffled Natsume’s hair. “Do you need me to get you a ride home? Or can your parents come get you?”

“Oh, it’s fine, I can just walk.”

“You’re seriously going to try to hobble all the way to the Fujiwaras?” Taki said severely.

“Okay, maybe to the bus stop…”

“That’s not coming for another hour,” Sasada tapped her watch. “You can’t wait that long.”

“The Fujiwaras don’t have a car, right?” Nishimura said. “My parents have a car, and Mom should be home. I’ll call her to pick us up.” He pulled out his battered cellphone, glaring at it. “If I can ever get service in this stupid town…can’t believe I begged for a phone and it’s useless…”

“Nishimura, no, I don’t want to drag your Mom into this…” Natsume said in a panic. “I really can just—”

“Natsume.” Tanuma said quietly but firmly, holding out his arm in front of him before he could hobble away. Natsume’s voice died in his throat.

“My Mom would be mad at me if I didn’t call her about this” Nishimura held his phone high in the air, face screwed up in concentration.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, you get your nosiness from her,” Kitamoto said lightly.

“Man, shut up. Aha! I got some bars!”  And just like that, Nishimura was on the phone with his Mom, and Natsume could do nothing to protest it.

Sakuragi laughed and started to turn away. “Great, I’ll see you—"

“Sensei, wait,” Natsume called quickly.

 She stopped, looking at him questioningly.

“I just wanted I wanted to say, I did have fun here. And, well, I don’t think I can join the team but…would it be all right if I came here once in a while? Just to practice, or I could help with whatever… unless that’s…

Sakuragi’s face split into a huge grin. “Of course, Natsume! Just having someone like you to race against is a huge help! But are you sure you--?”

Natsume nodded. “I want to.”

“Well then, do your best to heal up and we’ll look forward to seeing you.”

Nishimura got off the phone. “Mom said to out front.”

Waving goodbye to Sakuragi, Natsume’s friends flanked him as he slowly made his way around the school building.

“I’m happy for you, Natsume,” Taki said.

“Yeah, that’s cool!” Kitamoto agreed.

Thanks,” Natsume said. “I’m sorry I ruined the plans to get snacks and hang out…but maybe we could do it another time? Touko would probably be okay with you all coming over.”

“Of course!”

They all busied themselves planning  the get-together until they reached the bench out front, though Nishimura was oddly quiet.

After Natsume sat down, his friends gave their well wishes and reminded him to check in with them after the hospital, before dispersing to walk home. Taki caught up with Sasada and as they walked away, Natsume heard her say “So you and that Chiyo girl, huh? Do I detect some romance?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sasada said primly.

“Come on, it’s me. Come over to my place and tell me all about it.

“Fiiiine, if I must.”

Natsume laughed slightly. He looked over at Nishimura to see his reaction, but for once in his life, he didn’t seem interested in what Taki was doing. He was staring stonily into the distance.

“Nishimura, is something wrong--?”

“I’m sorry, Natsume,” he said abruptly, still not really looking at him.

“Huh? What are you sorry about?” He wondered if Nishimura was still feeling guilty about yelling earlier, and was prepared to reassure him, but—

“You’re hurt because of me.”

“What? What are you even talking about?” Natsume couldn’t help but laugh but stopped when Nishimura glared at him.

“It’s because of me. You don’tlike  running in front of people, I know that, but then you had to because I screwed up. And when you were talking to the coach, I could tell you were nervous, I could tell you didn’t want to go. And instead of returning the favor and helping you, I pushed you to do it anyway.” He put his head in his hands. “It was such shitty thing to do.”

“Nishimura, come on, you didn’t--

“I did. You were trying to say no, you can’t pretend you weren’t.” He dragged his hands down his face. “I just…got carried away because you were so cool when you won the race! And you’re kind of down on yourself sometimes,…so I thought maybe if you joined the track team, you’d see how amazing  what you can do is and people would see you’re…ugh, it was stupid.”

Natsume’s cheeks burned. “That’s.. it sounds like you were thinking of me, Nishimura, thank you—"

“No, don’t thank me!” Nishimura said fiercely. “I wasn’t considering your feelings at all, I just decided what I wanted for you without asking you.  I didn’t think things through. And God, I didn’t even think about injuries!”

Natsume stared at him in bafflement. “Why would you need to think about injuries? It’s not like I need special protection. I knew what I was getting into. People get hurt in sports all the time. It’s normal.”

“No, it’s different with you.” Nishimura slammed his hands down on knees, red blotches spreading on his face. “Because when you get hurt, you downplay it or try to hide it, and if you do that in track, it can mess you up for life!” Nishimura was talking faster and faster, the words just pouring out of his mouth “It’s dangerous because you act like it doesn’t matter, like you don’t matter, and you don’t get why we all care so much, and I know it’s because you’ve been through a lot and I don’t want to pry, but it makes me so---"

He stopped short, blanching. “Oh shit. I didn’t mean to say all that. U-uh, sorry, just forget it, It’s none of my business…”

A lump formed in Natsume’s throat as shame welled up, hot and bitter on his tongue. “No, I’m sorry, Nishimura,” he said hoarsely. “I didn’t realize you were thinking all that, that you were worried. I never wanted to—”

“Natsume, no, I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. I know it’s not on purpose, I know it’s not your fault.” Nishimura pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is about me saying sorry, not you. I really am sorry. And I know you told Sakuragi you wanted to come back once in a while because you didn’t want to disappoint her, but you don’t have to go back there, I’ll talk to her—"

“You don’t have to talk to her.” Natsume swallowed his shame for now, determined to set things straight. “I liked the team. I really do want to come back.”

“You don’t have to pretend, I told you, don’t lie if you don’t have to—”

“Nishimura,” Natsume interjected gently, putting his hand on the other boy’s shoulder. Nishimura finally looked over at him, eyes downcast. “It made me really happy. When we won, and everyone was cheering, and I saw how excited you were…I don’t know. Running is just something I do sometimes, and I don’t think it’s special or particularly like it. But being able to help you was the first time I felt like it was something…more.” More than survival. More than something I’m forced to do.

“Really…?” Nishimura hesitated, looking disbelieving.

“Really. And I really am glad I came here. I enjoyed it, you know, until I tripped. But even then, everyone was nice and helped me. It made me want to come back.”

Nishimura stared at him for a while, expression unreadable. Then he sighed and leaned back. “Okay, well, good.” Natsume could see Nishimura’s shoulders slump as the tension drained out of him. “But I still pushed you. You don’t have to make excuses for me. I’m just sorry I did it and I won’t do it again.”

“Okay, apology accepted.”

Nishimura looked startled, like he’d expected Natsume to keep fighting him on this, then his face broke into a grin. “Thanks, man.”

“You don’t have to make excuses for me either. I’m sorry I’ve been stressing you guys out when I get hurt. I’ll stop hiding it or trying to downplay it. I mean, I do want all of you to understand I…” Natsume knew better than to say he was “used to it” now, so he searched around for a less alarming but still honest way to phrase it. “I have a high pain tolerance, so sometimes it really doesn’t seem like a big deal.”

“Dude, that doesn’t make me feel better.” He could tell from how Nishimura looked at him he’d heard the “I’m used to it” even though Natsume hadn’t said it out loud.

“No, I know. Look, from now on, I’ll admit when something hurts.” He looked down at his ankle, wincing. “Like my ankle really hurts right now. I don’t want to go to the hospital but I’m kind of looking forward to getting painkillers.” He looked over at Nishimura. “Did that work? Or did it just sound whiney?”

“Nah, you need to whine a little more, man.” Nishimura punched him lightly on the arm. “I’m telling you, it feels good. When I sprained my ankle a couple years ago, I whined to everyone I knew. That whine was weak. Try harder.”

“It’s…uh, agony. I…might die? Was that good.”

“You need to work on your delivery, but it’s a start.”

They both laughed. Just laughing soothed something in Natsume, his stomach unknotted, and his racing heartbeat slowed. His ankle even hurt a little less.

When the laughter settled, Natsume looked down, twisting his fingers in his lap. “Look, I know I… kind of lie and hide things as reflex a lot. But I’ve been trying to be more open with the people I care about.”

Nishimura shrugged. “It’s fine. I mean, Kitamoto and I aren’t that stupid, we know there’s something going on with you, but you can take as much time as you need. I know you must have your reasons.”

“Thanks.”

Nishimura chuckled suddenly, looking past Natsume.

“Uh oh, here comes your cat. He looks mad! It’s almost like he knows something happened.”

Nyanko-sensei was indeed stomping towards them, his eyes narrowed.

“Agh, I’m really in trouble this time,” Natsume said. Nyanko-sensei jumped into his lap, making sure to throw his heavy weight around as he landed. “Oof.”

“Oh, your troubles have just begun. Don’t forget Touko!” Nishimura said cheerfully.

“Like I could.”

“I wouldn’t use the “I could die” line on her, she might believe you.”

“Amazing advice, thank you.”

Nishimura smirked. “I’d tell you to run, but, you know.”

Mmm…” Natsume said, stroking Nyanko-sensei, who was making faint, irritated noises. “That’s okay. There are some things I don’t want to run away from”.

---

And that's that! f i n a l l y. I'll add it to the running post, make a post with the complete thing, add it to ao3 etc later!

Running the Gauntlet: A Natsume Yuujinchou fanfic (Part 1)

Part 1 of my fanfic based on the idea I had in this post about Natsume's running abilities making his life at school difficult that blew up.

Includes a couple silly footnotes!

Running the Gauntlet

“I wish Natsume wasn’t our anchor,” a classmate complained.

Natsume flinched. It’s not like I wanted to be, he thought glumly. He pretended he hadn’t heard, hunching over and tying this shoe. So many students and teachers milling around on the grass, waiting for the big event, whoever it was probably hadn’t noticed he was nearby.

But then, Nishimura’s response made him feel even worse.

“Man, shut up. You haven’t really seen Natsume run. He’s friggin’ fast. We’re lucky to have him.”

Natsume appreciated Nishimura standing up for him, but inwardly he was screaming at him to please stop talking about this.

Then Kitamoto chimed in, “Yeah, one of the first times we saw him outside of school, he basically dashed out of the woods at warp speed. So don’t be rude.”

He saw Kitamoto glance quickly at him, clearly aware might be in earshot.

“Fast? Come on you two, I know he’s your friend, but the guy is sickly. You’re expecting me to believe someone who collapses every other day is a good runner? I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, I’m just not counting on him to win this”. The classmate, who rarely spoke to Natsume, adjusted his glasses.

“You’ll see,” Nishimura said smugly.

Natsume groaned inwardly, straightening up.

He eyed the various students hanging out in different colored headbands, the boy handing out water bottles from the tent, and some teachers talking off to the side.  There was even a chattering crowd on the small set of bleachers. A crowd that included parents.

But worst of all was the looping black track, sizzling in the sun before him. He, Nishimura, and the rest who’d been chosen for the relay race would be lining up on it soon.

He hated Sports Day.

To be fair, this was his least hated sports day so far. He’d never actually experienced sports day while having friends before. When he was a kid, he could expect being pushed to the ground and mocked, or having classmates complaining loudly to teachers about being paired up with the liar. Best case scenario was he’d merely have to feel lonely as he was left out of class celebrations, watching parents and friends cheer others on when there was no one to cheer for him.

But this year he’d been able to cheer wildly for Taki during the bean bag toss, laugh at Tanuma as he was forced to dance awkwardly with the rest of his class during their group performance, and smile as Tanuma got some sweet revenge by beating him at the scavenger hunt. He’d gotten to high five Kitamoto and Nishimura after every victory, and even Sasada once.

So many parents being here was still a little intimidating, though. He kept expecting one of them to yell at him to get away from their kid, even though he knew it wasn’t like that anymore. The Fujiwaras hadn’t been able to come, as they had a relative’s wedding to attend today. Natsume hadn’t even told them today was sports day, because he didn’t want them to feel bad about it. He was also kind of relieved they couldn’t come, because he would have been even more nervous if they were watching.

Overall, it had been a good day. He was basically enjoying himself.

But there was no getting over the dread of his biggest obstacle yet—the relay race. He was really going to have to pay attention to his running. It was such a tough balance…he didn’t want to let down the class, but he also needed to think of…

“Natsume, are you okay?” He blinked, noticing Sasada was suddenly next to him. “You were spacing out a bit.”

“I’m fine! Actually, are you okay?” She looked pale, and she kept fiddling with her glasses. It was strange to see her without the usual air of confidence.

“I’m nervous,” she admitted. She’d been chosen for the relay race too, and was looking at the track with almost as much trepidation as he was.

“Sasada! Natsume!”  Nishimura ran forward before Natsume could reassure her. “It’s all up to us!”

“Yay,” Sasada said blandly.

“Whar’a wrong, Sasada?” Nishimura grinned smugly at her “Worried you’re gonna be the sports day cliché?”

“The…what?”

“You’ve seen it on TV, right? In anime and stuff? There’s always the one person who trips during the relay race. They scramble to their feet, tears in their eyes, and pass off their baton…” Nishimura imitated the gesture dramatically. “But don’t worry! You can trip all you want, I’m so fast it won’t matter! No need to be nervous!”

Sasada shook her head, putting her glasses back on. “You know what, your stupidity has calmed my nerves a bit, thank you,”

“Glad to be of service.”

---

Considering all that, Natsume wasn’t exactly surprised when Nishimura was the one who tripped.

Natsume winced when his friend went down, hoping he wasn’t hurt. It would be okay, right? Nishimura was so good-humored. This wasn’t a big deal or anything. He’d just laugh it off and…

Nishimura stumbled up, his knee bleeding, his face burning with shame. Natsume could see his eyes were brimming with tears. Of course he was devastated. Nishimura may act carefree, but he hated letting people down.

Natsume sighed.

Fine then.

“Nishimura!” He called out, offering his hand. “Don’t give up! I’ve got this!”

Nishimura’s face lit up instantly. He jogged as fast as he could and slammed the baton in Natsume’s hand. Natsume faced forward. The others had a massive head start, but that wasn’t enough to make him give up.

A yokai is chasing me, he told himself. A big one with sharp teeth.

And next thing he knew, he was crossing the finish line.

Cheers exploded around him as the other runners caught up, lagging after him. And then, suddenly, what seemed to be the entire class was rushing towards him. He had to resist the urge to put his hands up defensively.

Nishimura slammed into him from the side, embracing him. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was whooping and laughing. Heat spread up Natsume’s neck and face. It was the first time Nishimura had ever hugged him. Or cried so openly in front of him. He knew it was considered fine for guys to cry and hug only when it involved sports for some reason, but it was still a surprise.  He wasn’t used to that kind of intimacy. Not that it was bad. It was kind of nice.

 The rest of his class gathered around him, yelling things like “way to go” and “that was amazing!” Even Sasada, her face still red and sweaty from her run, was screaming her head off and jumping up and down. Kitamoto clapped Natsume on the back and soon several classmates followed suit. Natsume was sure a red handprint was permanently etched on his back now.

“Dude, I knew you were fast, but I didn’t know you were that fast!!” Nishimura yelled through his tears.

“Seriously, do you have a secret running regimen I don’t know about, or is it just natural talent?” Kitamoto said.

Natsume heard some more cheering explode behind him, and looked over his shoulder to see an uncharacteristically excited Tanuma waving at him from the other side of the track, “Congrats, Natsume!”

“Tanuma, you could at least… pretend to care… that our class lost,” said the boy Natsume had gone up against, still doubled over and panting.

“Sorry.”

There was loud whistle from the stands and Natsume saw it came from Taki. The girl next to her had covered her ears. Taki didn’t notice, and let out another impressively strong blast, waving at him. She removed her knuckles from her mouth and shouted “Woo, Natsume!”

Natsume was torn between being happy his friends supported him and so embarrassed he could die.

“I owe you an apology, Natsume,” said the boy with the glasses, whoever he was.

“Hell yeah you do!” Nishimura responded.

“Nishimura…” Kitamoto’s said scoldingly, his eyes flicking to Sasada.

“Ah…I’m sorry too, Sasada,” Nishimura said sincerely. “You really showed me.” (Sasada had been fast enough to give Nishimura a head start, as Natsume suspected she would be, she’d certainly caught up to him out of nowhere plenty of times in the early days of their relationship).

Sasada wasn’t listening, she was looking at a fit girl with short black hair from another class, who was also still panting from the race. “How about that, Chiyo!” she called over to her.

“You win this one, but I’ll get you next time, Jun! Just you wait!” Chiyo called with a matching huge grin and an excited look in her eyes. For some reason Sasada blushed delicately in response*.

“Okay, okay, give him some room to breathe,” Kitamoto said, shooing at the others. They all stepped back, though Nishimura remained by Natsume’s side. Natsume was grateful for Kitamoto, he was dizzy and overwhelmed. He’d had no idea races like this were such a big deal to people. He was more grateful than ever the Fujiwaras weren’t here to add on to all this.

“Look Natsume!” Sasada had finally torn her eyes away from the other girl and was pointing at the stands. “Even the track coach looks impressed!”

“No wonder, you’re faster than half her team,” Kitamoto said. “Bet she tries to recruit you!”

Natsume’s stomach dropped like a stone. Indeed, the track coach, a woman with short brown hair and sharp eyes, was looking at him with interest. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. His personal hell had returned. Had winning a measly race been worth it?

Natsume looked over at Nishimura, who was still jumping up and down and hollering about how he was going to treat Kitamoto, Sasada and Natsume to some manju, not even minding when Kitamoto snarked at him about it how it must be a cold day in hell if the man who sponged off everyone was paying the tab for once. He flashed Natsume another ecstatic grin, and Natsume smiled back.

Yeah, it had been worth it.

--

Natsume had experienced a lot of reoccurring horrors, but the most annoying of them was being hounded by track coaches at every school he went to.

Apparently, spending most of his life running from yokai had made him faster than the average person. He’d been unaware of this until his first year of middle school. When it came time to run the track, Natsume had heard whispers around him, a couple of the kids placing bets on when he’d collapse. One boy had even smacked him on the shoulder and screamed “The liar’s gonna come in dead last!” in his ear.

Natsume hadn’t really done much racing against other kids on the playground, and he’d been sick during a lot of gym classes, so he’d also figured he’d struggle against the other kids. It had completely shocked everyone, himself included, when he blew past them all with ease. He’d reached the finish line only to find the other kids several feet behind him, panting and gawking.

The gym teacher’s eyes had gone wide, and he’d immediately started urging Natsume to join the track club. The man had even gone to Natsume’s current guardians about it.

His guardians had resented that he was getting attention while their real kid was an overlooked benchwarmer on the baseball team. They’d thrown lots of snide comments Natsume’s way. And…well, he hadn’t had a good time on the track team at all. When he’d inevitably had to move again after those same guardians got tired of him, leaving the track club behind had been the silver lining.

Upon transferring to a new school, he’d decided to keep his speed under wraps. But then a coach noticed him running when he was late for class one day and his troubles started all over again. At first he’d avoided the coach by coming up with excuses about responsibilities or detention or headaches, but eventually he was just reduced to hiding under the bleachers when he saw the man.

At another school, a coach tried to recruit him for her team SO aggressively he’d made the stupid mistake of running away when he saw her—and naturally, seeing how fast he could book it had just increased her interest.

So, when he was gathering up all the extra water bottles from the hydration station tent at end of the day, and saw the track coach approach him, his heart started pounding, He fought back his urge to bolt, even a flashbacks filled his brain.

“Natsume, right? I’m Sakuragi, if you don’t remember,” The woman had a wide, genuine smile. He’d only spoken to her a few times, but he was pretty sure she was Taki’s homeroom teacher. “You showed some impressive hustle today! Have you ever thought of joining the track team?”

Fortunately, Natsume had his excuses pre-prepared. “Oh wow, that’s such an honor, Sensei!” He said, continuing to gather up the water bottles while still maintaining polite eye contact. “But, you see, I get sick very easily, so joining a team is a bad idea. I’d just end up being absent a lot, and I’d let the team down.”

“That’s not a problem.” To his horror, the teacher bent down and started picking up the water bottles herself.

“You don’t have to trouble yourself—” He began quickly, but she cut him off, saying “ I’d never require you to come in when you’re not feeling well. You wouldn’t need to worry about calling out sick. We’re a fairly large team, so other students can easily sub in for you if you can’t make a race.”

What kind of laid back track team was this? Never mind, Natsume had a backup excuse. “Well, that’s great, but I’m also concerned about making trouble for my foster parents. It’s a lot to ask them, and I don’t want to put them out. I’d be around to help them less. They’d have to pay for expenses, like when overnight trips at the inn when we go to other towns, or shoes—”

“The school supplies the shoes and other essentials, and we can cover trip expenses if need be. Also, I chat with Ms. Fujiwara at the grocery store often, and she loves bragging about you. I can’t see her turning down a chance for you to develop your skills and enjoy some team spirit!”

Natsume looked down at his shoes, sure that he was tomato red right now. Touko bragged about him? What did he even do worth bragging about? “He only missed ten days of class this month”? “His grades were perfectly mediocre again”? “He hasn’t come home covered in dirt in a while”? “He made five whole friends in school, somehow?”*

Still, through his embarrassment, he felt a little warm inside. She was proud of him. It was a still a new feeling, and he wasn’t sure what to do with this strange, shy happiness.

“Natsume?” The coach’s voice snapped him back to reality. “Is there anything else bothering you, or would you like to come do a practice session with us? If you don’t like it, you don’t have to join. I’ll respect your decision.”

“I…” Natsume was searching for another excuse.  

 Nishimura jogged up. “Natsume, do you need any—" He noticed who Natsume was talking to and his eyes widened. “Oh, sorry to interrupt, Sensei! Natsume, are you being recruited? That’s so cool!”

“Ah, you were his teammate today, right?” Sakuragi smiled at Nishimura kindly.

Nishimura flushed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, Natsume really saved me out there. He’s a dependable guy! And he’s a great runner!”

Nishimura flashed a grin at Natsume, who was wishing he had telepathy so he could tell him to stop. He tried to send a signal by shaking his head slightly, but Nishimura wasn’t looking now.

“Well, that definitely sounds like track team material,” Sakuragi said jovially. She turned to Natsume. “Looks like your friends vouch for you. But it’s up to you, Natsume. Would you mind just stopping by?”

Natsume couldn’t bring himself to directly say no to a teacher in the first place, and now Nishimura and his enthusiasm had been added to the mix. “I’ll give it a try,” he mumbled, forcing a smile.

“Great! Just come to the track after school tomorrow. I think you’ll find it’s a lot more fun than you’re thinking.”

Natsume kept the smile fixed on as they carried the water bottles back into school. When the coach departed and they came ouside again, he and Nishimura met Taki and Tanuma. As always, Nishimura immediately started blushing and fidgeting , but as always, Taki failed to notice.

“I saw you with Sakuragi-sensei!” she said with a smile. “Impressing her is a big feat, Natsume! And don’t worry, she’s really nice.” She put her hand on Natsume’s shoulder, and Nishimura let out a strangled squeak. “She won’t get mad at you, whatever you decide.”

“Are you okay?” Tanuma said softly. Clearly both he and Taki had noticed he wasn’t actually happy right now.

“I’m fine,” Natsume said, letting the fake smile drop away and replacing it with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’ll just check it out. No big deal.”

---

“I don’t get why you’re whining so much about it,” Nyanko-sensei said, trotting beside Natsume as he walked to school the next day. “It’s just one measly meeting. What’s so bad about this running team thing anyway?”

“The people who took care of me when I joined the track team the first time were really bothered by it. They didn’t like having to drive me places, or the attention I got—”

“The Fujiwara’s aren’t like that, so that’s a stupid excuse.”

“That’s true, but it’s more than that,” Natsume sighed. “Last time, I was constantly late or absent. A yokai would attack me or I’d get sick...”

“Wimp.”

“Shut up, Sensei. Anyway, whenever that happened, the coach yelled at me for flaking out. I let everyone down.”

“But this woman said it doesn’t matter if you’re sick and can’t come, right?”

“She says that now, but she might change her mind,” Natsume mumbled.

“You’re so gloomy,” Nyanko-sensei shook his head. “It’s annoying.”

“Look, even if what she says is true, my teammates probably won’t like me. They didn’t last time. And I just…I just hated the feeling of all those people looking at me.”

He’d struggled a bit with just the sports day crowd watching him, but being on a real team was a million times worse. All those people judging, all their hopes riding on him not messing up… He shivered, remembering the way his skin had crawled, the way his breathing turned funny, the way his hands had shook. All those eyes on him…the weight of their gaze had made him want to curl up so small they couldn’t see him anymore.

“And there’s the actual reason. You’re bad with other people and you get stage fright. Boring.” Sensei yawned. “Just get over it. You have yokai trying to eat you all the time, why’s this scary?’

“I’d rather deal with yokai than the track team,” Natsume said emphatically.

Nyanko-sensei scoffed.

“A couple years ago there was this coach who was always chasing after me to recruit me. I was running from her, trying to get off school grounds so she couldn’t follow me, but then I saw that there was this huge yokai on the path out of school. Big fangs, sharp teeth, claws, all that.  I’d have to double back to avoid it, and the coach would catch me. So… I took the better option, and I ran past the yokai.”

“Idiot. Did it attack you?”

“I took a swing at me and knocked me out. But because of that the teacher was reprimanded for making the sickly kid collapse and they threatened to fire her if she ever chased a student again. She stopped trying to ask me after that. So it all worked out.”

“I don’t understand humans,” Sensei sighed. “Anyway, I’m in favor of the track team. If it helps you run faster, that means less of you getting snatched by yokai and less work for me.”

“Stop being lazy and trying to skip out on your bodyguard duties, Sensei. Yokai shouldn’t be chasing me down in the first place, it’s your job to take care of them.”

“I’ve got my own life to live! Stop being so selfish!”

“I’m the selfish one?”

They bickered all the way to the school gate, and though Natsume would never admit it to Nyanko-sensei, it did make him feel a lot better.

---

Part 1 complete! Part 2 to come. This is probably about halfway there, if not more.

Footnotes:

*Yes, Sasada has a sports and academic rival yuri storyline in the background. Yes I'm being self indulgent. It's what she deserves. It probably won't come up much more, I just thought it would be funny. Sasada's having this whole romantic epic while Natsume's worrying about track.

*Touko has been bragging about how kind and helpful you are, Natsume, you dummy. And about the garden he made and how it was good it was and other things Natsume does really well he hasn't noticed. She's also probably noticed he's fast and relatively strong for his size, he's always fetching and carrying stuff for her, but Coach thought she was exaggerating. UNTIL NOW.

[porcelain-gal]

random things i've scripted

i never embarrass myself.

no one ever throws up on me.

no one ever hears me pooping.

everything works out in my favor.

all parties i go to are fun and lively.

people are always willing to help me.

i have my house address memorized.

i don’t get bad second hand-embarrassment.

i’ll never get a tattoo or body modification that i’ll regret.

i never get a stiff neck from laying, sleeping or sitting weird.

whenever i get cocky, it’s perfectly justified because i am that bitch.

my nails (both hand and toe) don't catch on or scrape against things.

i am never an angry or abusive drunk (i'm taking no risks with my bloodline.)

my ears never get damaged when blasting anything at a high or full volume.

grease isn’t hard to wash off of stuff and doesn’t leave stains on any of the dishes i use.

i can tell when an animal is showing specific kinds of behavior (e.g., casual, affectionate, hostile, etc.)

you can't shame me for shit. i always own the shit i've done with my chest and can acknowledge when i'm wrong.

all the places i stay, especially hotels, have completely soundproof walls unless i don't want them to be for a reason or i scripted a scenario or whatever.

the majority of humans commonly can live up to 200 (i'm not human in most of my drs and ion want my human friends just dying on me too quick.)

i'm pretty good at regulating my emotions and i never let them get out of hand to the point where i'm impulsively or thoughtlessly hurting someone or something.

i enjoy rollercoasters, fair rides, etc., and have no fear of them. plus all of the ones i go on are completely safe, stable, and fully-functioning and no one ever gets hurt on them.

my disorders rarely cause me issues with physical intimacy (sexual and non-sexual) and if they do, there's always simple ways around the issues that doesn't really inconvenience me or anyone else.

whenever i commission someone or pay for a service, i always pay exactly on time or sometimes even before. i never allow people that work for me or give me any kind of service go unpaid or unsupported.

none of my friends, followers/fan, family members, or anyone i am currently aquatinted with or will be aquatinted with ever had a racist/homophobic/sexist/etc phase nor do they support/defend that type of thing.

i never slam any part of my body into doors, windows, books, and vice versa (i slammed my finger into my grandma's front door once and it took literal years to turn back to its normal color. plus it hurt like shit so NEVER again.)

any online creator who has harmed, is harming, or is attempting to harm any other creator without valid and justifiable reasoning has their platform taken away and can never get said platform back nor are they able to rebrand and start over.

i always give the best advice for people when they ask me things. like the advice i give leaves people with new perspectives and hope and all. and i also deliver it in a very good way that doesn’t offend or make people or uncomfortable or feel like they’re being berated or whatever. it’s just incredible advice delivered in the best way without sounding bad or sketchy.

anti-shifter, proship/profic, ageplay, pro ana, bigot/incel, and any variation dni

[skekthesilly]

sprunki lore according to my sisters (i have not seen sprunki at all and i think they might be lying to me) (theyre just making up a story at this point and im rolling with it) PART: 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

very silly story under the cut:

black had a really bad day. he stubbed his toe, fell, spilled his coffee, and had an annoying ass conversation with wenda. black is so pissed at wenda that he punches her. apparently, black was holding a hypnotization bracelet so when he punched wenda the bracelet shook around and hypnotized her, causing her to snatch said bracelet from him and punching the latter - hypnotizing him as well. now they are both hypnotized and crazy.

this is why they are evil and killed a bunch of people - except wenda didnt kill grey because wenda loves him, and black didnt kill jevin because black loves him.

apparently. according to my sisters.

pinki was going to get a tattoo from black at a tattoo store. black was going to tattoo a skull with the words "bye bye" to pinki's forehead, but accidentally ripped her face off.

fun bot also punched wenda and black in the faces, in an attempt to un-hypnotize them. it did not work, because they did not have the hypnotization bracelet. black and wenda got angry and chased fun bot until they lost sight of them.

wenda didn't give simon enough food, so he decided to eat brud instead. after eating brud, simon was satiated.

mr. fun computer was dying, and said that he needed battery. so jevin, who was conveniently right next to him, plugged in a charger but it was the wrong charger. this turned mr. fun computer into a catboy, and made him chase jevin all around the room (because theyre in a house for some reason). so jevin ran out of the house that they were both in and teamed up with grey for shelter, because grey was hiding from wenda. but before they found shelter, black killed oren.

grey and jevin are in a forest trying to survive. grey is stressing out and babbling nonsense until jevin interrupts grey by saying "just shut up and kiss me already!" they fall in love and make out passionately. (note: THIS STATEMENT RIGHT HERE HAS TURNED ME INTO A GREY X JEVIN SHIPPER AND I CANNOT GO ONE SECOND WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT THEM KISSING. CURSE YOOOOUUUU RAAAAAGGHHHHH........... GETS BLASTED WITH YAOI BEAM.....)

raddy was pretending to be jesus. wenda got so mad at him that she nailed raddy to a cross, jesus-style. wenda then asked simon to eat half of raddy's body. suddenly, simon choked on brud's bucket (which had apparently been stored in his stomach and somehow got regurgitated) and passed out.

mr. sun was going to get a tattoo from black at a tattoo store. black says "okay but you need to burn down the forest and everyone in it first" and mr. sun agrees. after the deed is done, mr. sun gets a tattoo on their left eye.

however, pinki (who was apparently in the forest) survives the forest fire, along with grey and jevin. grey and jevin fled to a different forest when the saw mr. sun burning the first forest down.

vineria was in the second forest looking for food, but then she mistook plant food for normal food, so she ate it and felt really sick but she ate it anyways because she thought it was still food. she went to sleep, and the next morning her eyes were hurting a lot. she said "omg it feels like my eyes are gonna pop out" and guess what? they did. she then realized too late that the "normal food" was dangerous plant food, but by the time she realized this, the weird growth stuff in her insides were growing and reaching her brain, making her pass out. she died shortly after.

sky saw all the craziness happening everywhere and tried to find grey and jevin. but while they were running, they stepped on a booby trap and metal pipes burst out of the trap and impaled them, causing them to die.

(guess were switching to present tense now lmao)

grey and jevin are wandering in the forest when they find an abandoned house. inside, they find a shovel and keep it for defense in case something bad happens. they decide to stay in the abandoned house.

a day later, while grey and jevin are searching for food, they see sky's dead carcass and go "man. we should bury them." so they bury them using the shovel they found.

wenda and black are searching for weapons when they stumble upon an abandoned house (not the same house that grey and jevin are in). turns out that the abandoned house is actually tunner's house, and wenda finds a gun, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, and cowboy clothes. she decides to wear the clothes and keep the gun, and is so intoxicated with the idea of being a cowgirl (she's always wanted to be a cowgirl) that she goes out into the forest, finds tunner, and shoots him because she wants to be the only cowgirl in sprunkiland and doesnt want any other cowgirls or cowboys to live.

wenda then gets really hot outside so she takes the cowboy clothes off.

a few minutes later, black is bored and wants to do something, so he goes "hey wenda. wanna see something cool???" and she goes "yeah sure." so black uses magic (which he apparently has for some reason) and magically revives all the dead sprunkis into evil zombies. wenda goes "woah. thats cool. can you control them?" and black goes "nah. lol. lmao. i cant control them" and wenda goes "omg bro youre so STUPID....... were LITERALLY GONNA DIE..... theyre like UNDEAD ZOMBIES NOW.......theyre NOT GONNA DIE ANYMORE........ bRO........" and black is like "haha. lol. i was bored. lmao. tee hee." he has no fear of consequences.

grey and jevin are still in the second forest, still hiding out in the abandoned house they found, but then clukr walks into the house (grey and jevin haven't locked the door because, in my sister's words: "theyre dumb") and for some reason they just dont notice clukr. but its because hes being quiet. they continue not noticing until clukr reaches the second floor (the house has a second floor and grey and jevin are on the second floor). then jevin goes "omg is that wenda" and brings out the shovel (he cant see clukr very well because its dark outside ((the lights barely work inside, theyre trying to conserve power)) ), but grey goes "wait thats clukr thats my semi-pookie clukr" (hes kinda basically a cat. like i know its canon that hes not a cat but me and my sister have decided that he is now a demon who looks like a cta. whatever. he has night vision too) and jevin goes "hmmmm. hmm.... hrmmm..... okay. whatever. sure ig."

but black was watching everything that was happening while holding a grey and jevin detector blessed upon him by mr. sun, and a chainsaw blessed upon him by mr. fun computer. black floats to the second floor back window (he has magic) and throws the chainsaw into the window, aiming for grey and jevin. jevin quickly deflects the chainsaw with the shovel but it bounces off directly into clukr's head, slicing it.

clukr is just introduced and then literally immediately dies like 5 seconds later. justice for clukr

anyways because of the magic that turns dead sprunkis into evil zombies, clukr dies but is immediately revived and is evil now. clukr then tries to attack both grey and jevin but clukr cant see very well thru his giant cymbal head and jevin just starts repeatedly beating up clukr with the shovel. yaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now clukr is dizzy, but grey is freaking out and goes "we need to get outta here NOW" so he grabs jevin's hand and runs out the broken back second story window and gets cut up by all the broken glass, but he doesn't see black at the window and rams head-first straight into his stomacg. like. REALLy hard. so them black got a really bad stomachache and went spinning off into the distance while grey and jevin fell down the second story all the way down to the ground. and. note this. take notes of this.

after falling, grey and jevin are NOT INJURED. at ALL. not injured by the fall at the sLIGHTEST. but then they immediately pass out once they reach the bottom. like they literally jump out the window, are perfectly fine, and just ragdoll once they touch the ground. roblox style. like they just jump out and go "yippee!!! yahoo!!!!!" and land on the ground UNSCATHED and just. "uuuurrghhhhh!!!!!! passes out on the ground"

anyways my sister said that grey landed on all fours (like the totally awesome demon cat that he is) and is perfectly ok and has like a whole two seconds of being conscious until he just randomly ragdolls roblox-style on the ground. then jevin is about to fall to the ground beside him also perfectly ok, but in midair his body is just. magically teleported on top of grey??? and he falls on grey and he just passes out after?????? i have no clue just roll with it chat

anyways fun bot sees both their unconscious bodies at the back of the house and brings them to their secret underground base. jevin wakes up first in one of the beds in the base and fun bot notices and says "did you know that you passed out on top of grey.... thats kinda gay. thats kind of gay of you to do that"

jevin says "uhhhh no??? i didnt do that???? wtf???"

and fun bots like "yeah you did. i saw it with my own two robotic eyes. i saw it. i would not lie to you. you passed out on top of grey yaoi-style. i saw it"

and then grey woke up and was like "omg!!! where am i"

and fun bot goes "dw youre safe youre not gonna die by that weird creepy catboy mr. fun computer"

and jevin was like "oh yeah i remember he turned into a catboy and chased me all around the room"

and fun bot says "we gotta stop black and wenda. did you know that theyre hypnotized? i tried to un-hypnotize them but i need the magic bracelet black had and unfortunately its destroyed so i cant un-hypnotize them until we fix it"

grey hears something in the base and goes "uhhhhh.... is there other people down here?????"

fun bot says "oh yeah pinki and brud are here too idk how they survived but they did"

and grey's like "o. wow. so like. can we see em. like can we see how theyre doing"

and fun bot's like "yeah ok sure"

so grey and fun bot go deeper into the base to find pinki. once they find them pinki goes "omg!!!! hi!!!!! how are you!!!!!" but its kinda garbled bc like. she has no lips

and greys like "omg wtf happened to your face"

and pinkis like "oh yeah i got my face ripped off. btw if you wanna find brud hes at the cafeteria. straight ahead"

and greys like "ok"

so grey and fun bot go to the cafeteria and they see brud there and bruds like "ae"

and then hes like "omg!!!!!! is that wenda and black!!!!!! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱"

and greys like "no???? its me and fun bot"

and bruds like "who"

and greys like "ok. whatever. at least youre still alive"

and fun bots like "ok chat we should go find the pieces of the magic bracelet. theres six pieces scattered across sprunkiland. also btw brud you should stay here bc i feel like you are absolutely going to die if you take one step outside of this base"

then fun bot goes to the area pinki is in and asks her "yo pinki wanna help us find the magic bracelet that will un-hypnotize black and wenda" and pinki goes "yeah sure but first you gotta fix my face bro this sucks" and fun bots like "man. i only have bandages and medicine. not skin grafts. i also have toilet paper to wipe off all the blood n yucky stuff from your face. you should take the bandages n the toilet paper. i dont think youll need the medicine bc like. im 99% sure youre not sick. actually take it just in case. oh and we need coats. it cold outside"

and pinki goes "ok lemme put on my coat rq. man. i miss my husband oren, fun bot. i miss him a lot."

and greys like "ok..... uh.... lets go get jevin. i dont think he needs a coat, he has his hood already"

so they walk to the area where jevin is in and once they find him they notice jevin has found a surplus of guns. hes like "yo check out these awesome guns i found. fun bot why didnt you tell us about this" and grey goes "vro..... youre literally going to kill yourself put those guns down.... do you even know how to use them" and jevin stares at grey with his big round sopping wet gay eyes and goes "pleade. were gonna need them" and grey goes ".....ok. sure. ok. dont shoot yourself" and jevin goes "um. well you see" and shows a comically perfect bullet hole that you can see straight through, and the bullet hole is IN HIS STOMACH. and my sister made a note of emphasizing that he is PERFECTLY FINE AND NOT IN ANY PAIN AND THERE IS NO BLOOD ANYWHERE. and he is just FINE. he is just JIGGY WITH IT. and he goes "yo grey can i have those bandages youre holding" and hes like "omg. jevin. you. you literally. ok. sure"

so jevin covers the bullet hole with bandages but then brud bursts into the room and goes "whERES THE BATHROON!!!!! i nEED to Take A Dump™️" and fun bot says "ok. go straight, turn a left, straight again, to the right, go in the elevator, 2nd floor, then go straight, turn right, up the left stairs, third door to the right, and you'll find the bathroom :)"

and bruds like "ok 🤤" and bashes straight through the wall

and fun bots like "okay. well. we need to get another thing-" and pinki goes "i know what it is!!!!!!!!!" and pinki runs out of the room and after a whole 10 minutes she brings a wHOLE ENTIRE ELEPHANT INTO THE ROOM. and shes standing on the elephant and she says "alright!!!! were ready to go now!!!!!"

so they exit out of the secret base. with the elephant

PART 2 COMIG SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- my sister

[ma1dita]

zuko, give em pumpkins to talk about, chocolate bar. please im beggin actually

runnin' with the devil

[STARRING: PRINCE ZUKO x reader “Really? Now? God, you have terrible timing.”] wc: 1.1k warnings: none. erm allusions of kidnapping and kinda stockholm syndrome, this is pre-character development baldheaded ass zuko so he’s a jerk… yandere? no he’s just a dick. this ended up fluffy

monster mash-terlist

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷

There’s a part of you that likes it.

The catch and release— running from him gives you an adrenaline rush you can’t explain. It’s been almost three years of this— a predator chasing after his prey but still he hasn’t killed you, if that’s any consolation. People have been thrown overboard or blasted into ashes for less—loyalty is important to the Fire Nation after all, especially with the forgotten prince. 

Some values are instilled so deeply within a person’s core that it’s difficult to break free.

But you find yourself not wanting to as he chases you for an nth time, on this occasion, through the underbrush of Kyoshi Island. Flames lick at your heels as you push forward, your calves burning in exertion. You could’ve sworn he already left to chase the Gaang before you made a break for it—but if they didn’t know Zuko and the 41st were here already, well… the wildfire spreading through the village should be proof enough.

“Stop running!” the prince roars, and the two of you barrel past townsfolk who scream and run in different directions, anywhere to be away from the both of you. None of them fought back of course—neutrality was the island’s selling point, a reprieve from the Hundred Years’ War. But they were kind enough; pretty girls with painted faces and fists of steel trying to determine if you were friend or foe as you slipped off the boat to search for new shoes from a nearby market. You didn’t suit any of the military-issued gear on board, often having to get crafty or sneak away for personal necessities. The Kyoshi Warriors only intended to protect their own, releasing you from your restraints after they realized you were but a lost girl with no escape plan. 

Or was it no plans to escape?

“Then stop chasing me!” you yell back, hair whipping in different directions as you look back at his angry face and then—CRASH!

Headfirst into a cabbage cart with an old man groveling at finding his produce in the dirt, you lay there with your vision spinning until all you can see is him. Zuko stands over you with an incessant glare on his scarred face, “Get up.” His hand reaches for your tunic and you flinch, before he grabs you by the scruff like a yowling puppy, watching you kick and scream for dear life.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Jeez, hothead—you think anyone in their right mind won’t start running if flames are shooting past them?” Your arms are crossed as he sets you down, a warm hand still pressed on the nape of your neck as if he expects you to change your mind. 

“I just wanted new shoes. Spirits know running from you has worn mine through.”

It’s kind of annoying to him that even when you’re mad at him like this, he can’t find it in himself to give a damn. You look petulant, glaring at him through your lashes and he knows if you were actually useful—you’d probably shoot lasers out your eyes.

But you can’t, much like how he can’t be without you. This arrangement of convenience is something he can’t live without—even if Iroh tries to make him admit it. You were the last gift to him from his father, after all.

A gift should be treasured. This one just likes to make him work for it.

“You could’ve asked me. You’re not my only problem, you know!”

And then you’re smirking, like you know that even if that’s true—boy were you his favorite one to deal with. Every single time he leaves to ‘catch’ the Avatar, he also leaves an opening for you to set yourself free. Whether it be a door left ajar or Iroh whistling and swinging the keys off his fingers, you wonder why a skilled tactician like him always gives you an option.

Maybe it’s because he knows you don’t want to leave him. Maybe that’s his secret hope.

Wind blows overhead as Appa and the Gaang arrive to protect the island that only protects their own. Thinking about it from a broader perspective, you can see the appeal of the villagers and why they do so. Zuko cares for you too, in his own convoluted, disorganized way. 

So maybe, you should’ve warned Zuko about the Kyoshi Warriors. But it’s kind of funny to watch his ass get kicked once in a while, especially since it’s hilarious to see him so mad every time it happens. You and the crew are soaked to the bone after the battle, teeth chattering as the unagi douses the flames that dance around the livelihood of the island until there is nothing left but char and smoke. The 41st runs up the ramp, preparing to set sail for the South Sea, and your feet are sinking in the sand.

Here’s your chance—you look back to the destroyed forest and for a moment, you wonder if you should disappear into the distance that separates you from that boat. Maybe become a warrior yourself, or live in the simplicity that comes with being nothing but a memory.

“Your highness! We need to go!”

Zuko’s standing on the deck, staring at you. He’s not saying anything, nor does he need to—your feet make the steps back to him before your mind can make the decision.

It’s easier to choose a familiar hell instead of an unknown heaven.

Iroh smiles at you softly, patting you on the head as you walk past him; he hands you a warm towel to wipe your feet. You wash away the dirt and grime of the day as you watch the setting sun, staring off towards the horizon.

A pair of new embroidered shoes knock against your ankle, bouncing against the wooden floors. They’re your size, and nicer than anything you’ve ever known. Zuko stands against the railing, pretending to not see his uncle’s shit-eating grin.

He protects his own, and by extension, what he can admit—-is that includes you.

If this is the part in the story where you get your supporting character development arc to change the tides of fate, you surely hope defeating Firelord Ozai won’t be affected by kissing the cheek of his exiled son. 

“Did you steal these?” You tsk, holding them by the tips of your fingers and nudging him, his face steaming from a featherlike touch that if he thinks hard enough, he’s not sure if it happened. Zuko doesn’t know how to handle affection—so he does what you two both do best—chase and catch. And run his mouth.

“Really? You know, we wouldn’t be in this situation if you didn’t have terrible timing,” he rattles off, getting angrier as you walk away, miming him blabbering as you skip around the ship in your new shoes.

In all senses of the word, you’re already his.

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷

ma1dita's monster mash is closed for requests but ongoing for the rest of october!

[stellamancer]

this is so embarrassingly self indulgent. do not look at me writing reader insert with 100% me in mind okay?

You do a quick scan around you, debating before reaching into your pocket to pull out the case for your wireless earbuds. The rules are that you're not supposed to wear them while the store is open, but some people pop one in their ear so they can listen to their own stuff rather than whatever is on the work radio. Or talk to people on the phone; you're not that brazen though. All you want is just a bit of your own music to keep to sane.

Lightly, you tap your earbud and as soon as your music starts playing, you return to work, moving in time with the beat. The energy of the music is motivating and you hum a little as you sift through produce, checking for quality. As much as you want to, you make sure to not turn the music up too loud just in case a customer comes up to you to as a question. It's hard though, the next song that starts playing is a banger and you want nothing more than to blast it.

You settle with swaying to the beat, doing the faintest resemblence of a dance as you start picking tomatoes. That much is fine, right? The store's pretty busy so it's not like anyone is going to notice.

But then you turn on your heel, like you're doing a dramatic spin on stage and you catch sight of a customer, holding a bag of potatoes. He stares at you, a shy amusment in his big green eyes. You've seen this guy before; and though you know it's mostly because he shops at the store regularly you have the distinct feeling there's something more to it than that. When your eyes meet his he gives you a small smile despite the fact that it looks like he has something he wants to say.

The fact that he doesn't fills you with an embarrassment worse than death.

You give the customer a little bow and run back to your cart as fast as you can, turning your music off and dooming yourself to bland work radio for the rest of your shift.

[ghostxrose]

Time Stood Still | Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

Summary ~ Katsuki is tired of everything to do with soulmates and mushy love crap. The love stories that he's subjected to listen to are all the same; disgustingly sappy. Each one solidifies that he doesn't want, or have time for, love and a soulmate.. then he comes across you.

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!Reader, character death, angst, sad ending, soulmate au, hurt no comfort, let me know if I should add any other tags..

Note ~ Hi, Lovelies! Sooo, this is me getting back into writing with just a teeny tiny bit of angst, lol.. It is short and not nearly as angsty as stuff I've written before, but I hope you enjoy it all the same! I love and appreciate you all, Lovelies!! <3 <3

Katsuki could feel his perpetual scowl deepen the further he scrolled through his social media feed. Every other post is a “found my soulmate” post, and he legitimately wonders just how he could be seeing posts like that every day with his friend list being so short. He also wonders why every post seems to say the same gushy crap every time. Honestly, he doesn’t even know why he bothers scrolling through any of his social media when it’s all the same crap. Every. Single. Day.

“Time stood still..”

Katsuki has heard or read those three words his whole life whenever people described meeting their soulmates. His parents, his relatives, and even some of his friends who have met their soulmates already. And it’s always the same sappy story that gets told leading up to that same stupid line.

“Time stood still..”

And he’s never believed it for a second because how stupidly cliche is it for “time to stop” when looking at someone? Even if that someone is supposedly who you’re meant to be with because some “higher power” said so.

“Time stood still..”

It’s all crap in Katsuki’s mind, straight-up bullshit. He doesn’t want or need a soulmate, and he doesn’t believe anything would happen if he ever met them. Time wouldn’t stop. No one would be running into each other’s arms. None of that gushy, lovey-dovey, movie crap would happen. It’s all completely unrealistic stuff that people add to their stories to make them sound better, and Katsuki doesn’t want any part of it.

Right as he’s hitting the point of wondering why there’s no “disgusted” button between every like and dislike button out there, a villain attack alert fills his phone screen. With the crackling of his comms coming to life officially marking the end of his lunch break, he slips his phone into his pocket. As he blasts off to the location of the villain attack, all thoughts of soulmates and sappy crap are replaced with the slightly feral excitement of an impending fight.

Getting to the scene, all of Katsuki’s excitement dissipates as he takes in the wreckage that has already been made. The operator he has been receiving details from had said that the villain’s Quirk is dangerous and destructive. Looking around at the crumbling buildings and cracked pavement, Katsuki feels the description was a gross understatement.

For only a moment longer, Katsuki watches the few rescue heroes that have already arrived on the scene work before he steels himself and takes off toward the latest location of the rampaging villain. When he does catch up to the villain, he’s secretly relieved to find other heroes have arrived as well. Deku, Kirishima, and a few other heavy hitters whose Quirks would work well against the villain’s Quirk. Wasting no time, Katsuki is patched through to the frequency that Deku and the other heroes are using, and he joins the battle.

The fight is grueling and goes on for hours before the villain is finally taken down and apprehended. It doesn’t feel like a win to Katsuki, though, not with the carnage left in the wake of the fight. There’s rubble everywhere from downed buildings, chunks of pavement are missing from the ruined streets, and then there are the casualties.. There aren’t as many as there could have been, but they are still civilian lives lost. Katsuki forces himself to stay in hero mode as he helps with rescue efforts. He can focus on the pain of his injuries and his self-deprecating thoughts later.

He continues moving through a half-collapsed apartment building, calling out and asking if anybody needs help. He manages to help a few injured civilians out of the building, making sure to get them to the teams of medical personnel right away. Luckily, it seemed that most of the people who had lived in that apartment building managed to evacuate before the villain came ripping through it.

In the midst of helping an elderly woman to an ambulance, Katsuki notices a few medics surrounding somebody and performing CPR on the person. Kirishima is standing off to the side of them with a grim and guilty look on his face. Katsuki quickly makes sure the elderly lady is in the care of a medic before making his way over to his friend. Now, Katsuki is absolutely not the face of comfort, but in growing up he tries to be there for his friends when they need it, damn it.

“Red,” Katsuki rasps out, his tone a touch gentler than it normally is as he walks up to his friend.

“She.. she was barely breathing when I found her, but I.. I thought that if I was fast enough, they could help her..” Kirishima explains helplessly, his voice thick with emotion, as he continues staring at the scene in front of him.

It’s then that Katsuki looks over at the medics and the woman they are trying to save. Unfortunately, he chooses to look over right as they declare the time of death and they all step back from the woman. Getting a clear look at her, Katsuki’s breath catches in his chest, and a pain like he’s never felt before spreads through his chest.

He had believed it was all bullshit. He had believed that everyone just spewed that crap to make their stories more sappy and gushy. He’s never even wanted a soulmate. Never believed he could love some stranger even if they were meant for him. Time doesn’t stop for anyone or anything, so why carry the belief that it would even feel like that while looking at some random? It was all crap in Katsuki’s mind..

Until now.

Staring at your limp and lifeless body, a peaceful look on your face underneath the blood and dust, Katsuki is in complete disbelief. It.. it was all supposed to be bullshit. He didn’t even know it was truly possible to feel anything like this..

“Baku- Dynamight? Are you okay? Did you know her?” Kirishima’s voice sets everything back into motion, and it’s fucking painful.

Gritting his teeth as tears well up in his eyes without his permission, Katsuki’s voice rasps quietly, “I think.. she was my soulmate.”

Anything else Kirishima says is lost to Katsuki as he feels his knees give out, his chest feeling like a hole was blown through it. The pain of loss consumes him, choking him with a lump of emotions he never thought he’d feel. Thoughts of what it would have been like to get to know you, what your voice sounded like, how you would have helped him learn how to love someone.. they all race through his head, crossing the painful finish line of it all being ripped away from him before he’s even had the opportunity to give the whole soulmate thing a chance.

His whole goddamn life, Katsuki had never believed a word anybody said about love and soulmates. Then he saw you and in the worst way possible..

Time stood still.

Divider Credit ~ @deadbranch

[ludmi0u0]

SO continuing this Big deal Orion doesn’t “meet” D-16 then? Well yes and no This is a switch sort of au

He takes Jazz place. Sort of.

D and Jazz aren’t some interchangeable aspect of Orions og past, I think Pax would still 100% meet D-16 but they wouldn’t be close good coworkers at best and neither really want to advance it. WHY?

Well from Orion’s side it’s the obvious “I’m actively trying to not get him in this mess” but for D? Well let’s just say Orion isn’t the best at acting like he doesn’t know him.

“Hey! I found this cool Megatronus thing for you!” “Who are you? How did you?” “ah… well um I- I saw your sticker and thought you would um.. appreciate it…   I’m Orion. Orion Pax” “Right. I’m D-16”

And talking about D-16 what does he do since he’s not actively saving Orion now? Well the movie did tell us subtly that he was a hard worker so now he’s actually advancing to the point that instead of working under Elita they work side by side

So that incident of a guy getting trapped on a mine and OP helping out well it wasn’t D-16 or Jazz some other poor soul got that faith.

BUT WHAT ABOUT SENTINEL? THAT’S HOW HE- yeah that

SO after Jazz and Op get Elita fired to waste management and afterwards go to Iacon5000

Airachnid doesn’t meet two bickering bots but instead two bots absolutely laughing their afts off and so does Sentinel who tells them “I love the attitude, you two are the best examples” blah blah. And you know the movie

They meet B-127 who gets along with Jazz. Two absolute yappers and Orion is wondering if this was D-16 perspective.

Anyway, adventure ensues. When knowing of the betrayal Jazz of course agrees with Orion’s ideas and starts helping formulate how to show everyone the info. Orion is relieved, the future seems to be changing and maybe there won’t be a war at all.

The Elite high guard finds them but there’s no confrontation they are trying to resonate with them but Star ”A united cybertron is a myth” scream isn’t really helping. Eventually it’s Elita who ends up beating some sense into them (literally).

With no cannon shooting the sky airachnid doesn’t find them as easily therefore they have more time to plan an attack and when she arrives she takes Jazz and B. At this turn of events Orion falls into a sort of panic attack cause “it hasn’t changed oh god what have I done to Jazz” and Elita pulls him out of it (she sort of believes she might misjudged how actually close Jazz and Orion are). And they go to the city. Orion goes to recruit the miners and who confronts him there? D-16 who at the news of the potential betrayal is taken a back but the information Orion is saying correlates with the new amount of energon Sentinel asked for. And they follow Orion’s lead but D-16 isn’t just a follower, so he rallies the miners with a speech doing what he (as megatron) does, create followers and soldiers with the promise of freedom.

When Sentinel is exposed they hold him in the central plaza for the people telling him that he shall repay for everything he has done to Cybertron. Starscream is the first one to suggest killing him, the high guard quickly following but the surprise is the miners who following D-16 agree and say he shall pay with his life for all he has done to them.

I am still debating on how the matrix arrives rn the idea is The matrix comes, kills sentinel and Alpha trion projects and praises OP for his leadership and exposing Sentinel

Another one is Sentinel manages to free himself and when they try to hold him again Orion gets blasted and thrown to primus.

Either way the high guard are still unhinged and lowkey don’t agree with Optimus and surprise surprise D-16 and the newly cogged miners agree “We were betrayed once what tells us you’ll be different? How could we trust the bot who was obsessed in finding the matrix? You probably did it for yourself” Megatron is inevitable with or without Orion being close. He just needs to be witness.

@rowvel thank you for your questions it helped me figure some of this out :D and I hope this also solves them

I MUST SCREAM THIS ONE OUT

Ok so this idea has been popping in my head SO WHAT IF Optimus prime for some reason went back in time (not on purpose) and woke up as Orion pax again but not an already a Miner he is THE Orion pax that hasn't been sent to the mines

Ok then what? Well what if in a moment of brilliance he decides "maybe If I never involve d-16 in my adventures he'll never become Megatron and then the war can be avoided" but of course he's hesitant because that is D-16 his best friend ~~love of his life~~ and to not involve him means not being close.

And so with all the hurt in his spark he manages to moved farther away he no longer has D-16 recharge station infront of him. But as Orion he can't help it he needs someone to help him when he goes to the archives (he is not willing to mess with the line of events any more thank you very much) and so in a twist of events his new friend and partner in crime became Jazz.

But Jazz isn't D-16 , he doesn't wait for Orion to come back he actively goes with him to the archives and when He says hey let's get into the Iacon race? Well Jazz was already formulating a plan.

Idk how else to continue but don't worry Jazz doesn't become Megatron or evil that's not the plan

But for now I'm calling this D-Jazz switch au

[zurka-durka]

i'm not planning on discussing opm chapters here in the future but staying silent when THIS just happened

they actually acknowledged saitama's strength. i thought we'd be stuck in "must've been someone else" trenches forever

not only that they brought the possibility of him being some kind of a threat. which is my dream come true scenario

garou has mentioned it before and the idea never left me

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

At your side [End of Season 2]

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[the-sweet-hibiscus]

Yeah you didn't invade anything but dug through MONTHS of chats to find that screenshot of me speaking, considering I left the server in June.

Yes, I am black. Here's a recent photo of my hand to fucking prove it i guess, even though I thought it evident from my selfie used as my profile picture.

If you weren't aware, the screenshot you're referring to is when another black girl made disparaging remarks another someone bc she assumed they were white, which, as the screenshot suggests I was talking about my own experience in the black community! Talking about how SOME black people act. in a space I thought was safe to do so! I, as a black person, am allowed to voice my opinion on if I think people are acting in bad faith or not, regardless of skin color.

Especially bc I can't believe i have to address this but not all black people are a monolith and there's a difference between defending creators against racism (aka people bashing POC actors and actresses, attacking black creators for simply having an opinion, purposefully disparaging the black community, etc.) and literally pointing out a lived and well documented phenomenon in the space. It is a common archetype for people like me, in my community, to inherently distrust and lash out at white people. And I said so. Could I have phrased it better? Yes, which is what I did in that same conversation but that doesn't fit your narrative.

"People invited me so it's okay for me to screenshot their private conversations and spread it to the world" is not a flex. It is still invading a space bc you took what was supposed to PRIVATE discussions and blasted on the internet without context to paint people as racist.

Again, I left in June so this wasn't a "I got in and noticed they were being racist" it was "i got in, dug through months of chats to cherry pick the worst I could and paint it in the worst light to write a hit piece / expose".

That same chat has me clarifying that I'm not talking in a monolith. In fact, there are several chats in that server specifically where I specifically discouraged overgenrtalization, which is easy to fall into when venting with friends. There are also times when there are situations that I and many others highly discouraged harassment and reporting people just because we didn't like them. But that doesn't fit your narrative that they're racist bullies who plot the downfall of everyone they see.

I havent been close with these girls in months, and I left the fandom over this exact bullshit but you'd rather come on the internet with half truths.

Not once did you mention just asking people what they meant or to clarify what they were saying. No you saw out of context messages and decided they were racist simply bc there were other people of color involved. that's shit but you wanna double down and get mad when people react to it get fucked.

Fellas is it bullying to vent frustration with people consistently and maliciously spinning narratives about you in what is supposed to be a private chat with trusted friends.

OR

is it bullying to invade said private spaces, purposefully screenshot said venting out of context, and use it as a smear campaign to further ostracize people.

[lucabyte]

i burned the bridges thoroughly but still everyone's trusting me again and i should be relieved but it happened so suddenly (and i know in my heart i haven't earned this, but everyone acts like my concern isn't a problem like nothing is wrong with my very involvement)

but i know how the song ends (x)