Natepat & Septiplier oneshots

153. Path of Acceptance

SHIP:
Danti

WARNINGS:
Noneeee

EXTRAS:
Literally though this oneshot means a lot to me and I hope it does to you as well

Also I keep stressing this but self-care is important so please all look after yourselves

WORDS:
718 (probably one of the most meaningful oneshots I've written lmao)

_________________________

Anti took a deep, shaky breath and walked onto the stage. He could feel every pair of eyes on him in the room and his heart was pounding. He looked around and his eyes fell on his boyfriend Darkiplier who was giving him an encouraging smile and that was enough to push Anti forward.

"Hello and thank you for all coming, as you know I've been asked to speak about self-care and acceptance, and if you couldn't tell right now I am terrified," The Irish speaker laughed slightly, trying to hide his nerves, "When I was younger I never imagined I'd be able to stand up here and speak to all of you the way I am now... that on its own proves a lot." Dark gave him a small thumbs up to let him know he was doing fine. "So without further ado I'm going to jump right into it."

"Self-care is something that is incredibly important when it comes to 'the path of acceptance'," He used air-quotations to help him gesture his feelings towards this path, "You need to look after yourself and realise that sometimes it is okay to put you first, sometimes it is okay to stay inside and relax, sometimes it is okay to not do that one piece of homework cause every time you try it reduces you to tears. The point I'm trying to make is that you need to what you feel is best for you and your mental health. It'll do no one any good, least of all you, if you're exhausting yourself worrying about things and not taking the time-out you need. I know this well I use to be, and to an extent still am, stricken with anxiety to the point where I felt guilty if I didn't see people whenever they asked me and would feel terrified that they were speaking at me behind my back if I didn't go... even now I still worry about that but I let it bother me less and I try to focus on something else."

Truthfully Anti didn't know if he was the best person to speak about this but he was trying his best because in the end he did just want to help people, "And the most important thing you must do is accept yourself. Once you've accepted yourself it becomes easier to talk about things with people and even if they reject you it hurts a little less than it previously would have... because you know who you are and you're okay with it. You're never going to turn out as the person you imagined when you were a kid... I know I didn't. I'm completely different from what I imagined; what I saw was that I'd have a girlfriend, be a straight A student and be living life to the fullest and none of that turned out true. I do not have a girlfriend however what I do have is an amazing boyfriend, spoiler alert younger me - you're hella gay, I have average grades and I know what I'm good at and I may not be having great adventures like I'd pictured as a kid but in my own way I'm living life to the fullest way I can."

He was nearing the end of his talk. "The path of acceptance is rough and it's full of twists and turns however there is an end to it, although I am personally not at the end of it yet, and it will get better. Eventually you'll be able to stand up and be proud of who you are... no matter who you are." Anti smiled at his audience, "You'll look after yourself more and life will feel happier when you've realised the truth. Bad things do happen in life but they won't last forever... I know it's rough but happiness will return even if it doesn't seem like it."

"And thank you for listening to my TED talk," Anti snorted and starting walking off the stage, "Had to get a meme in somewhere, didn't I? But seriously I hope this helped you. Remember someone out there loves you."