#no one else really notices anything off because they're trying to act normal

[esoteriamaya]

Astro Observations Pt.. ????

No, I cant keep up with the number. Lol. Lets go!

7th house placements def need to pick a side. They also need to put their foot down. Never let people who disrespect you back in. And if you're going to cut off one person for doing it, you gotta do it with everyone else. Just cause they relationship is long term doesn't mean much.

10th house placements need to focus on the things they truly love vs always digging into what they need to do for their career. Worry less about your ambitions from time to time and enjoy the flow. I know ti sucks but, you gotta relax a little.

Sun/Pluto placements can have a lot of rebirth experiences, but one thing that is important is their for growth. Which always seems to come through transformation, but not all the time. It comes through people, and the expression of being around people who love you. Thats what transform them the most. They need the world to truly see them for who they are, other wise they will only show one side of them, and that will ultimately be the version they transform into but it will only kill them from the inside and not benefit them.

Venus/Neptune placements have an inkling for romanticism, fantasy and philosophy in their relationships. They need something that makes them breathe words of enlightenment, purity and emotion. They have the tendency to make things seem more than what they are, rose colored glasses are no match for them at times. A little insight on them is that their emotions can go a little array when they aren't surrounded by the right people. They tend to suck in energy like a sponge, this is neptune energy. But with them you can notice a small difference between them and their lovers, like is it making them glow or is it draining? Thats what they need to ask themselves at times.

Jupiter in the 11th house can proudly be the most optimistic friend in the group. They could become the leader of an organization. They could be the one people come to for advice on certain matters or they could easily be someone people go to when they want to learn more about something. Very charismatic and sharp. Stern but sweet. A little rough around the edges but they get things done!

5th house Suns have a universe of emotions that express themselves in all types of ways. They'll have kids that are just as sweet & charismatic as them. They are a NATURAL at making people laugh! They normally have gorgeous spirits and people do enjoy their company.

Gemini placements have an alluring nature to them due to their minds. Their mysticism is through the art of words and are very tricky individuals. They have come here to master the mind and find ways to fully express their intellect in hopes to connect with as many as possible. They are a one of one when it comes to this area of life.

Moon in the 1st are seen as thoughtful, loving sweet creatures who everyone seems to be super fond of. They hide a lot of their emotions but sometimes we can tell when they're not okay.

Theres just something about them that brightens a persons day. They try to make a good example to others by the why they embrace their feelings and this usually inspires others to do the same.

Sun square neptune - Might be in the wrong crowd from time to time. Has to stay sober most of the time, getting into drugs and alcohol can be addictive and might not be worth it at times. Genuinely misunderstood. Might need a doctor to figure out why they act the way that they do (all jokes).

Very spiritual, this is contained tho. They dont really open up to people about religion or anything connected to spirituality/God. Its their own thing, and its very special/private to them.

Moon/Uranus placements - Needs a doctor. Okay im joking lol. Anyways their lucky to have this one because their minds are very capable of entering into mass amounts of information that is truly locked away from the rest of the world. Like their neptune friends, they have a connection to divine sources that strikes down to them from time to time almost like a brain blast. Could be a oracle, psychic, someone who just knows whats going to happen in the next years to come etc. Could be really creative too.

4th house placements can be friends you can depend on all of the time. They have a warm, soothing personality and their the type of friends you grow up into adulthood with.

[petrichor-idyllic]

Hellooo how about a Minho x she/her reader where Minho has been hit by the lightning and hs the scars and one day Reader walks on Minho being half naked and she traces his scars and theres tension building up ;) THANK YOU

I love lightning scars Minho so absolutely.

This is a relatively new request, but I'm trying to get some of the easier ones done since I'm currently away.

And I just liked this idea.

SPARKS

MASTERLIST | MINHO MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. After TDC in the Safe Haven. You're a Right Arm member because I just like the idea.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, spice, typical dumb horny teenage bullshit. That's it, really.

You're a member of the Right Arm.

You're not high-ranking or necessarily special. You just ended up tagging along after Vince came through the refugee camp you were staying at.

But that doesn't mean you don't do anything. You're bold and forward, and you went through life-risking measures to help WICKED's Subjects escape.

Because, well, everyone did.

That doesn't matter now, though. They're safe, you're safe - everyone is safe and everything is okay.

Well, kind of.

Trauma doesn't just vanish. But, people are getting on with their lives.

And so are you.

You've ended up befriending some of the Gladers. Originally, you were friends with Harriet and Sonya since they'd been around a while - and they introduced you to the boys. So, you've got your own little friendship group now.

You're particularly close to Frypan and have some friendly competition with Gally. But you like them all the same.

Well...

Almost.

You don't know what it is about Minho that has you in such a chokehold. Sure, maybe if you were some innocent girl from a Maze who didn't know how to act around boys, it would make sense. But you're not.

You've survived the Scorch and the land outside of the remainder of society. It's not like Minho is the first person you've ever been attracted to either. So, why does he make you feel like this?

Apart from the fact he is undeniably attractive.

You figure it's just dumb surface level physical attraction. And with nothing else better to do, you decide to test the waters a bit.

Glancing at him across the table as the bonfire dances and his friends chat, often meeting each other's gaze. He holds it longer than he should. He always does.

Always standing or sitting next to him; your arms or your knees brushing as neither of you make any effort to grow the distance between you.

Playful inside jokes that often have subtle suggestive undertones. Normally, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it style that the other Gladers brush off or don't notice. This results in Minho smirking into his chosen beverage, drinking up your figure out of the corner of his eye.

It goes on like this for a while; just being in the same friend group with some subtle flirtations going on. It's actually kind of fun and a much needed way to relax.

But it doesn't actually go much further than that. And you're fine with that.

For a while.

The jokes start becoming more explicit. The eye contact becoming less subtle. The closeness becoming drunken dancing instead of just standing together.

People are starting to notice.

The dumb attraction is starting to become actual feelings. He's brave and strong and funny and everything you want - and it's just making the sexual tension thicker.

God - it's getting bad. Anyone and everyone in a room with you two would be able to feel it.

The Gladers often tease Minho about it, talking about how he's one wrong move away from ripping your clothes off and cracking where he stands.

It's taking a lot of resilience from the both of you. Especially since you're both stubborn - it's become a silent game of who will crumble first.

"Hey, (Y/N)!" You're currently sorting out bedding and hauling different types of sleeping arrangements around camp. With Gally being put in charge of the Builders now, the huts are being thrown up like there's no tomorrow.

The Gladers and other Maze Subjects got the first available buildings, along with high up Right Arm members. You don't really mind, to be fair, you enjoy the hammocks and are happy to help the Gladers.

But as Thomas shouts you, you groan, turning around, blankets threatening to spill out of your hold. "Hey, Thomas. You good?"

"Yeah," something seems off about him as he fiddles with the hem of his shirt, "I know you're already busy, but could you check on Minho for me?"

"Huh?" You tilt your head, concern immediately setting in. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Uh," Thomas did not think this far ahead of his dumb plan. "Well, we just haven't seen him all day - seems kinda down. Figured you'd be the best person to speak to him."

This perplexes you. "Why me? You guys are closer."

And you could've sworn you'd seen Gally and Minho shoving each other about earlier today. Though, maybe you're just mixing up your days.

"Yeah, but he likes you, so..." You pause, farrowing your brows. He likes you? In what context? Like you know that he likes you. But... like, more than just the dumb flirting?

You shake it off. "Alright, gimme a second."

You dump the bedding off where it needs to be and make a beeline for Minho's hut.

Little do you know that Minho has just gotten out of the shower - and is completely fine. Thomas and Frypan decided they'd had enough of enduring the tension between you and this is the result that.

Reaching the door, it's slightly ajar, and in your concerned state, you, for some reason, decide not to knock.

"Hey, Minho, are you-?" You push open the door and immediately freeze.

Well, shit.

Minho stands with his back to you, loose sweatpants hanging off of his hips and he's without a shirt. He rubs his hair with a towel, freezing at your voice and turning slightly to look at you.

Which would be less awkward if you weren't in some kind of trance.

Minho is tall and muscular, and he doesn't have to be half naked for you to be aware of that. But, that's not what's stands out.

All over his upper body, mainly populating his back, are pinkish lines. They travel down his spine and split like webs across his back, some whisps creeping across his sides and grazing his front.

"You just gonna stare or ask me about it?" Minho says after a good few seconds pass.

What do you even ask?

"Uh, what... why..?" You trail off and Minho raises his eyebrow before scoffing.

"I got hit by lightning." He states matter-of-factly. "Ended up giving me some scars."

"When did that happen?"

"Out in the Scorch, just before we met Brenda and Jorge."

"And you never mentioned this?"

"Well, it didn't seem like a big deal," he smirks. "And I'm kinda enjoying the look on your face."

This kind of snaps you back into reality. You're here for a reason.

You clear you throat, closing the door behind you for more privacy just in case the ex-Runner is on the verge of a meltdown. "Are you... alright?"

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Minho is growing more concerned by the second. What is happening here?

"Well, Thomas said that something was wrong and asked me to talk to you."

Minho scoffs, putting the dots together and slowly nodding his head before rubbing his face with his hands. "Did he, now? Shuckin' slinthead. I knew they were up to something."

"Huh?"

"They're messing with you - us, even."

"Huh? Why would- oh! Oh."

Ah. That makes more sense. And is mildly mortifying.

"Yeah." Minho shakes his head, turning away from you again as he mumbles to himself. "Sorry, my friends are dicks."

"It's uh, fine. It's fine."

Your gaze falls back on Minho's chiselled form. He's practically mouth-watering.

And it's not like this is weird. You've been pushing each other's boundaries since day one. This could be another opportunity to see how far you can take things. I mean, he would if this were the other way around. So, with a sudden peak in confidence, you walk over.

Minho chucks his towel on his bed. "So, are you-?"

Minho doesn't even get the chance to finish his question as electricity sparks through him. Again. This time, not because he's nearly dying, but because your fingers graze his back.

His entire body stills, his mind immediately becoming foggy, and the hair on his arms stands on end.

"Do they still hurt?" You ask, your gaze focused on his skin and your voice low.

You're gentle in your moments, letting your fingertips barely tickle his flesh. But with the immediate and tense reaction, you're reminded that Minho is about as touch-straved as someone can get.

He's just good at hiding it.

"Uh, no, not really. They kinda feel weird sometimes, and I was really buggin' out about them when I first noticed them. But I guess I had bigger klunk on my plate." He tries to maintain his composure, but his voice wavers at several points.

You bring your hand higher, dancing across his spine and between his shoulder blades.

"Why were you buggin' out?" You've grown somewhat used to the Glader way of speaking.

He hesitates for a second, physically jumping when your other hand joins in, using your thumb to rub circles and pull at the scars threating to escape to his middrift.

"Well, I uh- shit," he mumbles the cuss word, stepping back more and into your touch, letting his head fall back. "I just... they just look weird, yanno?"

"I think they look hot."

Okay, you're becoming very bold.

"Hm? You think I look hot?" He asks, half-looking over his shoulder at you, not wanting to fully turn around and lose the feeling.

"That's not what I said."

"That's what I'm askin'."

You blink at him, watching his lopsided smile creep across his face.

In a game of confidence - Minho will always win.

Which means trying to play it cool.

"I just think scars are interesting, they tell a story."

"Do you go around touching everyone's scars, then?" He cracks a wicked grin you can't see as he turns his head away again. "That might get you in a bit of trouble around here."

"Yeah, but not with you." It actually is genuinely fun tracing the patterns in his skin. You have one hand following one path and the other following a different one.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know that?"

"Because you like it."

He peers at you again, his face suddenly serious and his tone lower than before. "You're really starting to push it, yanno that?"

"Push what?" You tilt your head, pretending to play innocent.

"You know what."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"So, you're just feeling me up because you think my scars are hot?" He scoffs. "That's what's happening here?"

You think for a second. Fuck it. "Yep."

"Well, there's more scars if you wanna touch them?"

Your eyes flicker to his face, letting your arms fall from his skin. He turns around, holding his hands behind his back, he rocks on his heels.

From his back, travelling to his front are smaller webs of the scarring. At first glance, you thought they only reached around his sides, but now you're realising there's thinner, less noticeable branches trailing across his abs.

He presses his lips into a thin line, almost like he's calling your bluff. Because this is the game you've been playing. Pushing each other. And you've pushed him so he's pushing you.

Though, this very well might end up being the breaking point.

Too stubborn to back down, your hand connects with his stomach area. He flinches, but very quickly relaxes again. You gently run your fingers across the lines and the curves of not only the remains of the electricity, but of just his body.

Your eyes flicker to his face as you expect him to make some cocky comment about how that's not a scar. But he doesn't. His eyes are fixated on your hand.

It's a feeling he's never really experienced before - watching someone enjoy him. Someone touch him with such care. With such want. Someone touching him like this at all is new.

And it's you.

You're the one touching him.

You.

And that's making it so much worse.

He doesn't make any effort to hide or stop the tightening sensation in his pants or the way his chest is rising and falling. His mind is falling into complete fog; he feels like he's taken something he probably shouldn't have.

You notice it, too.

"Minho-?"

"Shut up," he says almost immediately, eyes finally meeting yours. His pupils are wide and his eyelids heavy. "This... this isn't fair. You can't..."

He seems a strange mix of stressed and turned on.

"Okay, I'll stop," you pull your hand away, but he immediately grabs it, laying it flat against his middrift. "Minho?"

"Don't," he mumbles. "Don't stop." He can't look at you properly.

God, what's happening to him?

"Look," he continues, trying to gain some sort of clarity for a second. "If you're just messing around, that's fine, but leave now, okay? 'Cause this is getting cruel."

His words and the way he's acting is sending heat straight to your core. You step towards him, your faces inches apart.

"Are you caving, Minho?" Your voice is sultry as your hand slides further down his front.

"Are you?" He responds, leaning in further, your noses brush and you can feel his breath on your face.

"We can't keep doing this, yanno? One of us has to break eventually." You mumble, practically into his lips.

His eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips.

"Shuck it," his hands come to your waist, yanking you closer as he finally kisses you. You squeak from the force behind it as you throw you arms around his neck, clawing into his back to try and steady yourself.

It takes a matter of seconds for Minho to spin you around, pushing you onto the bed, both of you tangling together. Desperation sets in fairly quickly.

Minho's hands under your shirt as you try to pull it over your head. His lips on your neck and chest as he slips a hand under you, trying to yank your jeans down. You leave stains on his skin from your nails.

It's a blur of emotion and hormones.

Then Minho hesitates as he sits back. At first, you think he's just admiring you as you lay in your underwear, but there's something else.

"You good?" You ask, becoming concerned.

"You know we're not gonna be friends anymore if we do this, right? Like the flirting and klunk is fun, but this is different. We can't take this back. A-and I've never done this before. I don't wanna shuck up our friendship or make things weird."

You blink at him before sitting up. He watches you as you move onto your knees and kiss him again.

"I don't wanna be your damn friend, Minho. Take the hint."

It's like there's a light behind his eyes, a smile creeping across his face, but unlike his usual cocky smirk, it's soft and warm and genuine.

He pecks your lips. It's sweet and unusual for him. "You wanna be more than friends, then?"

"Yeah," you chuckle, "but I'm sure we can worry about that later. We're a bit busy right now." You wrap your arms around his neck again, lightly touching the scars on his back. He grins at you, connecting your lips again as he pushes you down.

He pulls away, his teeth brushing your ear lobe as he lets out a low chuckle.

"Sounds like a good plan."

Here ya go, another spicey Minho piece for y'all.

I hope you enjoyed :))

[billlydear]

Hi ;) It's me again 😅 What about a fic where Reader has her periods and, you know, it's just Billy being there for her to help her get comfortable and taking care of her. 🥺 Maybe she is too embarassed to tell him at first but he notices she isn't feeling well so eventually reader tells him the truth to ease his worries. Like he doesn't get a damn thing about how periods work so maybe he goes to Max and asks her to give him some tips ? I know it's very scattered and a bit over the place, but I figured it would be very fluffy and sweet you know. 🤍 But of course you know best, so really if none of this inspires you be free to just ignore this 😅😂 Thank you so much ! Your fics make my shitty days better. 💕

MOODY - BILLY HARGROVE X READER

W.C 1165 - INBOX (please request !) - GIF CREDIT TO OWNER

A/N: I'm so happy that you like my writing! I hope you enjoy this, too, I'm sorry it's a bit late 😅

Max dreads the sound of Billy's heavy footfalls outside her door. They're light and stealthy when they need to be, but when no one else is home, Billy stomps around like a soldier.

She preps herself for an infuriating conversation before the door even opens, and when it does, it slams against the wall. It tries bouncing back, but Billy's arm stops it as he stands tall in her doorway.

"What?" She demands with narrowed eyes.

"You're a girl."

She fakes an incredulous glance down at her chest, "Oh my god. You're right! All this time, and I've never known."

"Cut it out." He snaps, eyes ablaze, "I mean, you're a girl. So you know how girls work."

"We're not all clones, y'know." She scoffs, "What, are you having trouble with Y/N?"

"Yes," Billy huffs, "She's in a mood."

"So? How am I supposed to help?" Max's nose scrunches, "She hasn't told me anything."

"Because you're always in a mood!" Billy finally crosses the threshold of her doorway, sitting on her bed even when she slams her feet against his leg to try and shove him off.

"Listen, I dunno what's wrong with her, she just gets off in her head or something, and she's all weepy and shit, 'real pissy. She refused to eat any of her lunch today just 'cause one of her chocolates melted and got onto her bag of chips. It wasn't even touching them, it was just on the package. And- and fuck, there's, like, no sex.

"Ew!" Max's mouth falls open, brows furrowing, "Gross! I- God, Billy. I mean, have you ever thought about asking her?" Max stares at Billy, unimpressed, "That usually helps."

"No, Maxine, I have not," Billy gripes, "Because it comes and goes. When I finally decide enough is enough, and I go to ask her, it is enough. She just goes back to normal."

"Well... Is it, like, a recurring thing, then? Like, every Friday or something? It could be a weekly quiz in a class she doesn't like, or a family dinner routine she's not thrilled about."

"Not even weekly," Billy muses, "It's, like, every couple of weeks or something. I dunno."

"Wait." Max finally folds the magazine she was reading shut, her fingers trapped inside to hold her place. She squints at Billy, "Your girlfriend has been getting pissy every few weeks, crying often, having intense mood swings for days at a time, and being... conservative with her body, and then like magic it just goes away one day?"

Billy calculates her words in his head, nodding silently.

"You're so stupid," Max guffaws, resuming her casual flip-through of a cosmopolitan she shouldn't have in the first place, "Go talk to your girlfriend, butt-brain. And whatever you do, don't act grossed-out."

--

"Spill." Billy demands, turning his head to stare at you where you sit in the passenger's seat.

"What?" You look over at him warily, "Spill what?"

"Whatever's making you all sad and shit," Billy waves a hand, and it hooks back onto the wheel despite not needing to. He's parked outside the movie theater, waiting for you to confess.

"I'm not- I'm not sad and shit, Billy." You promise, but the way your eyes widen momentarily makes him realize you're covering up, "Don't worry about it, okay? I got, like, no sleep last night. I'm just really tired."

"Yeah, well, I don't doubt that." Billy murmurs, running a thumb under your eyes. It catches the skin there, sensitive and baggy. "But there's something else. I.. I asked Max, and she said I should ask you."

"Oh." You supply lamely, cheeks burning at the thought of your boyfriend's younger sister knowing you're on your period. "Uh, it's really not anything super important, if you just wanna move on it'll be over in a few days."

"No," Billy shakes his head, curls flying, "I wanna know now. I'm trying to be supportive, don't you want to talk about it?"

"I- I appreciate that you're being supportive," You nearly cry, embarrassment flooding your chest that Billy takes as despair, "It's just.. kind of embarrassing? I'm- I'm on my period, okay? That's all. It's just making me a little crazy."

"Oh."

Billy, admittedly, does think it's gross. Not because of the whole misogynistic-natural-body-processes-are-gross type deal, but because he's only ever seen blood as a result of injuries like cuts, so thinking about it coming from your vagina makes his own parts ache, and not in a good way. Even if he knows you're not cut up down there, that it's natural and that the bloodshed itself doesn't hurt, it'll take a while to reprogram his brain's perception of blood. But he'll get over it, after all, you have to.

"O-kay," He drops one hand from the wheel, reaching out for your own that's laying limp in your lap. "So, like, walk me through this. My mom didn't stick around long enough to have any talks with me, and if Susan tried I'd kill myself."

"I just need to be sad sometimes, or- or irrational. Even if it seems silly to you, don't tell me that, it'll just make it worse. I have to get it out."

"Okay," He shrugs, "I already don't tell you when I think you're being silly, y'know. I'm not in the habit of insulting you."

"I know," You can't help the smile that curves soft over your face, "I just mean, like, stuff might seem really dumb sometimes. But just go with it, okay?"

"Okay." He repeats; a promise, "Oh- and, uh, sex is a no?"

"Big mess," You mumble, cheeks blazing, "Not worth it."

"Well- I think I'd like to be the judge of that," Billy stammers, "I don't mind a mess. I encourage it, actually."

"Not like this," You chuckle bashfully, "You do realize it'll get, like, on you, right? I'll just suck you off for the week, or something."

"That's not fair to you," His lips puff into a frown, "I don't care. Let's just do it, I can trash the sheets if it's really that bad."

"At least use a towel!' You groan, burying your burning cheeks in your hands. Billy isn't quite sure why you're so embarrassed by the prospect of bleeding on him. It's bound to happen eventually, he reasons, a leaky pad or a surprise visit, why not enjoy it?

"Towel. Smart." He grins, teeth shining bright under the dim streetlights outside the car, "So that's our plan, then?"

"That's our plan," You try concealing your smile when you lean in to kiss him, but it doesn't work, and instead you bump grins. He presses his lips to yours as best he can despite his smile, and you let your nose linger against his own for a second longer than you need to.

"Let's just make sure Max isn't home," You worry, but Billy's more preoccupied with peeling out of the parking lot and racing for home, "You owe her, big time for this one."

[bnhaficsforthesoul]

oh god it has been so freaking long since I did a request here lol but I'll do one because well the requests are open heheheh~ could u pls do sfw and nsfw headcannons for how being in a relationship with the bakusquad (poly ofc cuz i'm a sucker for those babies) would be like??

this relationship started as you had been a part of the bakusquad from the beginning, all of you were very close

but during sleepovers and such you all started to notice just how much cuddling and touching you were all comfortable with

lots of you even sleeping in the same bed together, completely tangled together

a few of you probably even 'platonically' kissed or made out

eventually a couple of you who were brave enough, probably being Kiri, you, and Denki, were able to have a conversation about possibly liking everyone in the group

you decided to bring it up to everyone else, who had no complaints. even bakugou didn't fight it too much

and so suddenly you were all officially dating, spending your last year of high school as a poly group, but you probably kept it lowkey for a while

because you guys didn't know how people would react to ALL OF YOU dating each other, it might seem weird

(even though all your classmates could sense something weird)

from the beginning you guys tried to figure out how to keep this as fair as possible so no one felt left out - talking about making sure everyone had 1 on 1 time with each other, as well as group time together. and doing anything you can to prevent jealousy

it was kind of awkward at first too, because you were all such great friends that it felt weird to try and be coupley, but you all soon found a way to do so

Katsuki gets kind of embarrassed when a part of the group, especially if everyone specifically goes after him to coddle. he does love all of you, and he more so shows this through acts of service or one on one time. Again, he loves you all, but he's better at expressing this 1 on 1

he loves cooking for everyone, or helping you all train, things like that

eijirou is kind of overwhelmed by having all these people who love him so much but he adores it. he's great for when you all hang out together because he's trying to give everyone attention. you'll probably be holding his hand and look over to find him kissing katsuki while also holding minas hand, it's kind of funny

denki and Mina are very excited about everything constantly, they love giving and receiving affection from everyone. they always wanna spend time with everyone. they're both very cute and among the less shy about showing off your relationship

sero also tries to act casual about it and easily gets embarrassed by all the affection from everyone. he tends to prefer one on one time or smaller groups when he's being more romantic

overall it really is just having super caring best friends that you touch inappropriately sometimes

nsfw

you guys definitely waited a good while before becoming fully sexually active with each other

mainly because you all weren't entirely sure how to make it a fair thing for everyone to start off with, and wanted everyone to be equally ready to do it. because honestly you would all most likely be taking each other's virginity

whenever it was clear you guys were ready to, you probably just like had some random chooser or whatever to figure out who would be who's first, that way there was an even amount of none of us know what were doing, and it didn't seem unfair through purposeful choosing

you ended up with denki, eijirou with katsuki, and sero with Mina

it was very comfortable, not super serious and you two probably giggled and joked around as you figured everything out, but it was a good first time. and everyone seemed to agree on their parts

after this, it was kind of free game. Just normal 'fuck when you wanna fuck'. for a while everyone (especially kiri and denki) went kinda on a sex rampage wanting to get to experience everyone fully

for a while it was mainly just duo or maybe threesomes, definitely some like orgy type situations where you're all fucking in the same room just separately, but you guys had to figure out how to approach doing smth with everyone

you probably tried those like train type positions where anyone who has a dick is in someone under them while someone is in their ass, and if you're afab you and Mina would take turns with a strap or maybe both use it sometimes

it takes a lot of experimenting to find comfortable positions and ways to go about it but you're all pretty dedicated to figure it out

but in general, expect TONS of head or like hand action because it's a lot easier to give attention to multiple people that way

[tjodity]

Loose Transfem C!Tommy thoughts:

@maigetheplatypus57

transcript below cut:

I think Tommy would be fine still going by Tommy and it's easier to remember but she would get so so much gender euphoria from being called Clementine I think when she's younger she doesn't feel any attachment to being a guy and really really wants to look like the girls she hangs out with but doesn't have any context for those feelings and just assumes it's kinda normal and tries to make a joke out of it. Hence "Manly man ulimate man tommyinnit" and "I love women" being running bits. She really idolizes Schlatt just from commercials and interviews and stuff she sees as this guy who seems to just. nail being a man so flawlessly. When Tubbo transitions she's like wow that's so cool I wish I could do that. Anyways. but that's kind of the first even incling that she'd like to be a girl but she doesn't think about it again for a while. Then everything with Manberg happens and she gets to see Schlatt and realizes 'oh this guy is so fucked up. oh this guy was an insecure wreck who ended up destroying everything around him and himself while pretending so hard that he was fine. huh' and the feeling that something is wrong with how she's going about things gets a bit stronger. But she keeps putting it off because of everything happening. BUT THEN WE GOT EXILE. nothing can force you to think about your own identity like being kicked out by your best friend and completely isolated on an island for a few weeks and grappling with suicidal ideation. At this point she's kinda like fuck I don't wanna be me but is having a hard time sorting out what's gender and what's depression and what's escapism. I think her habit of trying to ignore it and overcorrect flares up really badly when she's living with Techno. Cuts her hair short and tries to put on this very cold, violent exterior-

because she's just very scared and feels completely betrayed and alone and deeply uncomfortable in her own skin. Post Disc Finale she spends a lot of time trying to grapple with herself. She finds some of Niki's old clothes that she abandoned somewhere and tries them on in private and gets really freaked out by the fact that she likes wearing them and puts them away. She's not really on speaking terms with Eret and Tubbo at this point she's friends with but he's not always very approachable. Ironically I think the first time he voices any of her thoughts about gender is when she's trapped in prison because Dream won't tell anyone and she doesn't really care about what he thinks of her. And cDream is. a very bad person. But he's also not transphobic, and he also cares about Tommy in his own horrible fucked up way, and he can kind of relate just based on wanting to be someone else and weeks spent in different performances and disliking parts of how he looks. He comes across as dismissive but also tells Tommy that she can just be a girl if she wants, and that she's stupid for stressing out over something like gender. Then a few days later he beats her to death but yknow. I think the first person she'd properly like. come out to would be Sam Nook. Basically saying like hey could you act like i was a girl for a little while pleaseplease please and Sam Nook's just like Okay ^_^ I think she might come out to like. Ranboo next. She doesn't know him suuper well but she just finds them easy to talk to and it ends up slipping out

It would take her a whiiiile to tell Tubbo because she has a hard time talking to him and doesn't want to mess with anything that could upset their friendship but after they start making an effort to hang out more and Tommy starts living in Snowchester she would try to mention it very very casually just when they're doing chores one day. Then Tubbo is hit with like several years of memories of Tommy being arguably very clockable as an egg and him just. not realizing and he has a crisis about not noticing something like that. But when he calms down he becomes #1 Tommy girl supporter. He calls her pretty and cute and Miss and Ma'am and drags her out to go shopping so that they can get dresses and makeup and things for her. Tubbo vaguely remembers how to do makeup and Ranboo wants to learn with Tommy so they have a fun time with that. I think Tommy would love love love wearing dresses and doing her makeup and stuff but would not give any fucks about being traditionally pretty or presentable. She'd run around with very cute dresses wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts below it with very assymetrical makeup having the time of her life

also she'd grow her hair out and loooove braiding it. Her transition also comes with a lot of relief because for a loong time she's enjoyed things that are traditionally feminine (sewing, domestic chores and upkeep, etc) but wasn't letting herself enjoy them and just letting go is so nice.

I also think with cTubbo #1 Tommy being a girl supporter and also Tommy living in Snowchester with him and Ranboo and them being so close Tubbo would absolutely accidentally call Tommy his wife at some point in conversation. And then there's a beat and then he's like ohmygod im so sorry i didnt mean to say that and Tommy's just like no I'm that from now on. Husband<3 and Tubbo's just completely dumbfounded

[misc-obeyme]

Had if mc had really bad back pain (I have really bad back pains due to my spine being weird how would the brothers and dateables deal with that?

Hi there, anon!

Okay, I did a general back pain situation, I'm sure that manifests differently for different people, but hopefully they make sense! I also did just the brothers, since I no longer do all the characters in a single post anymore. Hopefully that's okay!

Thanks for the request!

the brothers react to GN!MC who has back pain

Warnings: none!

Lucifer

Depending on how well you hide the pain, he might not notice right away, but he definitely does when you no longer have the ability to keep it under wraps. Perhaps you wince when you move a certain way or stretch out your back regularly. He sees this and knows that something's going on.

He confronts you about it almost immediately. Did you think he wouldn't notice your pain, MC? Tell him what you need to make it better. He's quick to provide anything that you say you need to help you deal with it.

Lucifer gets protective of you. If he thinks you're going to do something that might exacerbate the issue, he will gently redirect you with a hand on your shoulder. He will also just block people from touching you if he sees they're going for a part of you that he knows will hurt.

If you're in a relationship with him, he'll massage the pain out of your back himself. Takes the time to learn how to do it best to promote healing and prevent further damage for you. He acts like it's no big deal, but he looks forward to doing that for you.

Mammon

He doesn't realize that you're having trouble until you hug him for the first time. When he hugs you back, you shift uncomfortably and he can tell that something about the way he had his arms around you caused you pain. Of course he panics. Are ya all right, MC?! Please reassure him, he's really stressed out about it.

Once he understands that you have back pain, he's really careful about how he holds you. He will ask you directly if you're okay because he never wants to cause you extra pain. He also gets protective, threatening to fight off anyone who looks like they might try to touch you at all.

He's always offering to give you rides to places in his Demonio. He's realized how sometimes just walking too much can cause your pain to flare up. He suggests taking his car far more often than he might normally, even if you're not going very far.

Mammon will also make sure that you're never carrying anything. He will absolutely get one of his younger brothers to carry your books, for instance, but if nobody else is around, he'll do it himself. You can't be expected to haul heavy things with a bad back.

Leviathan

It comes to his attention when you have trouble sitting and playing video games for too long. You might stand up randomly, pace around his room, stretch out your back, or even lie down on the floor in weird positions. He's going to ask you what you're doing and while you might respond casually about your pain, he's going to freak out about it a little bit.

Why didn't you tell him your back hurts?! Levi is already on Akuzon, searching up ergonomic cushions and special pain relieving chairs. There are plenty of options, MC! Help him pick something out! Don't bother protesting because he's going to buy you a fancy chair to sit on while you're in his room whether you want one or not.

Kinda thinks you probably shouldn't sleep in his bathtub. He really would love to have you cuddle up with him in there, but he's worried about your back. He'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're comfortable if you reassure him that it's okay. If it really is a bad idea for you, he'll just go sleep in your bed with you.

He will take you to do water physical therapy. Not in any official capacity or anything, he just thinks it will help if you can move around with minimal pain. Takes you to a pool or a pond and walks around in it with you.

Satan

He realizes pretty much instantly that you've got back problems. He can tell by the way you stand. He probably knows far too much about human anatomy than a demon should, so you know he's going to talk to you about your spinal structure. Might even pull out some diagrams and ask you to indicate where the worst pain is.

Although he wants to give you a bunch of books about healing methods, he will not make you carry them. Brings them to your room and sets them down on the table for you. Peruse them at your leisure, MC, but he thinks you'll find something useful there.

Satan will definitely fly into a rage if someone bumps you or otherwise causes you additional pain. You might have to talk him down because if you don't, any demon that carelessly does this probably won't see the next day. He'll listen to you, though, if you tell him to relax, that you're okay. Really get him to back off by asking him to massage your back instead.

Okay so this might sound a little odd, but have you considered letting a cat walk across your back? Because he's pretty convinced that their little paws will be the healing cure your bad back needs. You'll likely have to talk him out of this idea, too.

Asmodeus

He also notices right away. If you so much as wince, he's asking you questions. He wants to know if you're okay. When you tell him you have back pain, he is on it. He has a million suggestions. Healing spa treatments, special lotions, taking twenty baths with herbal supplements to alleviate the pain. He's got it all.

He likes to support you physically. He'll take your arm if he thinks you're having a hard time walking due to the pain. He will also clear people out of the way so you don't have to twist in awkward positions to get by. He'll make a big fuss just to be sure nothing happens to you. Glares down anyone who gives him a hard time about it.

Listen, MC, you have to soak in his bathtub. He has the perfect bath salts for this kind of thing. The warm water and the healing remedies will have your back pain gone in minutes! If he feels like you've been having a rough day or if it's clear that your back pain is really bad for some reason, he will absolutely insist that you take a bath. He'll join you if you want, but if not, he's happy to just sit beside you and chat.

Asmo will also employ cuddle therapy. If you're in a relationship, he'll make a point of kissing gently down your spine, especially lingering on spots he knows are tender. Pays extra special attention to every part of you that deals with pain in an effort to ease it for it you. If nothing else, his touch relaxes you.

Beelzebub

Probably doesn't realize you're dealing with back pain at first. He'll figure it out at some point, especially if you refuse to do anything too physical that might strain it more than normal. At that point on, he takes it upon himself to make sure that you never have to carry anything ever again. If he thinks you're about to pick up something that's too heavy for you, he will swoop in and take it from your hands.

He wants to carry you everywhere. You don't need to walk anywhere, MC. He's more than strong enough to carry you. Let him take you to RAD and back. Let him transport you anywhere you need to go. There's no reason for you to do anything that will cause you to experience more pain.

Another one who might try to get you to do some kind of exercise therapy. Beel just thinks if you move or stretch, it might help. If you decline, he'll accept your answer. But if you accept, he'll walk you through some soft slow stretches. Might have you take up something like tai chi.

Any time you look like you're in pain, he will ask you what he can do to help. You might try to keep it to yourself or act like it's no big deal, but he's going to insist. Please give him some way to help you. He just really hates seeing you hurting.

Belphegor

It also takes him a minute to notice that there's something up with you, but when he does, he asks you about it directly. Do you have some kind of injury pain, MC? You're always wincing or stretching. He wants to know exactly what's going with you, so you had better tell him exactly what the issue is.

Obviously the best way to deal with pain is to get plenty of rest. And since you've got back pain, you should do that on a bed with plenty of pillows to prop you up. He wants you to nap with him all the time, but he won't ever get you to squeeze yourself into a tight place to do so. Not if it's going to cause you pain.

Uses Levi's Akuzon account to buy you ergonomic pillows. There are some you can put between your knees while you sleep that are supposed to help with this. He wants to know if you've tried any of these things and if you haven't, you will be soon. He's going to test them out with you because he wants to make sure you only have the best.

Belphie just wants you to be able to rest without being in pain. If sleeping sometimes causes you pain when you wake up, he'll do everything he can to help alleviate that. If just letting him hold you somehow makes a difference, he'll happily do it every single night.

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[rpstartersinc]

* 𝐒𝐈𝐗 / 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝟐.

feel free to change pronouns / wording!

" do not go outside until we tell you. "

" never use my name. "

" is it not your fault. "

" i can't watch this. "

" what kind of security they got around here? "

" are there other points of entry, doors, windows, places people can get in? "

" careful, there's pieces everywhere. "

" you'll feel better once you kill something. "

" it's gotta change a man, having a child. "

" you ever think what you'd be doing if you weren't doing this? "

" they know where we live. "

" you're overreacting. "

" i know that this isn't what you wanna hear, but trust me - you're looking at it the wrong way. "

" who's there? stay back! "

" i'm risking my life being here with you. "

" this is normally where i put a gun to your head. "

" the things we do for love, huh? "

" you still here? "

" you smoke, don't you? i can smell it on you. "

" i am your only connection to the world. "

" trust is our currency, we earn it by any means, even by lying. "

" i want you to meet my family. "

" you have no more cards to play here, none. "

" i am you. "

" we need to spend some time apart. "

" it's really lonely at the top. "

" i want you to leave me alone, i want you to go away now. "

" i'm only here because you want me here. "

" there's so much blood. "

" i told you not to go back there. "

" please, i'm afraid to be out there right now. "

" i need a gun. "

" so you like to live dangerously, huh? "

" are we gonna have a problem? "

" next time shoot faster. "

" i should kill you where you stand. "

" you never let things get to you. "

" so all these people, these alive people, you know i just see them dead. "

" i could never kill anyone. "

" this is it, this is the last conversation you'll ever have. "

" i needed to see how far you're willing to go for the cause. "

" your enemies are now my enemies, your family - my family. "

" remember what happens to those who betray me. "

" try to negotiate with me again, and i will have your tongue cut out. "

" we've been through a lot, you can trust me. "

" with every round, pieces of him just... fell off, one by one. "

" silence is golden. "

" it worked for me. "

" i was just happy to see you alive. "

" we don't have time for careful. "

" i'm glad you told me. "

" i'm alone in this world, but you don't have to be. "

" i don't like this anymore than you do. "

" we might be walking straight into a trap. "

" one misstep, and i can put a bullet through your fucking head. "

" you're damn convincing. "

" convince him to keep you alive. "

" last thing you'll see before you die is my face. "

" we're all on our own paths. "

" keep your weapons out of sight. "

" all you believe in is fear. "

" all you know how to do is kill. "

" it's dangerous for women up here. "

" projectiles into tissue and bone is not my thing. "

" anything else that could've happened, would've happened. "

" we take risks and we follow orders. "

" this place gives me the heebies. "

" act normal, no more guns please. "

" waiting is the hardest, the mind? it imagines too much. "

" you want some advice? bury it, just bury all of it. "

" i just realised i have never thanked you, for anything. "

" this is not about you. "

" they came for me, they knew my name. "

" it's what the cia does. "

" everyone breaks. "

" the only thing you can do is give them as little as possible. "

" was she alone? "

" should i hang up? "

" i haven't been psychologically fit since i slid down the birth canal. "

" make yourself at home. "

" does it bother you? killing people? "

" the thing i noticed is that everyone is surprised at the moment of their death. everyone. you can see it in their eyes, thinking that this has to be a mistake, that they're special, to the very end. "

" you guys are all the same, you think you're special to the very last moment. "

" they think you're a cia plant. "

" i want you to trust me. "

" we need to leave. "

" i'm not negotiating. "

" you're more trouble than you're worth. "

" i gotta believe you got more to life than making your body a fucking scoreboard. "

" sit down opposite me where i can see you. "

" he's playing you. "

" it's a dead end. "

" i need to know for sure. "

" i did not betray you. "

" nobody betrayed you. "

" you ran away. "

" what the fuck was it all for? "

" thank you for the good and the bad. "

" we can't always fix things, we can't always make them right. "

" you thought you could kill me. "

" i am so ready to start over. "

" it's me, it's okay. "

" we're gonna make it. "

[xdesiress]

It's very late at night and I just had a big realization moment to let out of my chest.

People who think individuals with BPD are being purposefully manipulative couldn't be far from wrong. Sure, it won't be EVERY case, but a good damn majority of us don't notice anything wrong with ur behaviour until it's pointed out by someone else-- and even then, it still sounds weird that something that's done our entire life would be viewed as negative.

In a lot of cases these behaviours where we become "dangerous", "manipulative", "aggressive"-- it all can be linked to childhood trauma. I've been trying to understand my own person a lot for several months now, and I see it now that without lashing out, occasional lying and in between other things, I never got what I genuinely NEEDED in the past. It's like a survival response; when things don't go your way, when relationships or anything meaningful or close to you start dwindling, your first response is to act on emotions rather than acting rational because you don't want to lose that thing. And you don't understand why it's happening.

I have many other personal problems. But BPD also influences on a messed up portrayal of time, memory gaps, you lose control of yourself and most importantly, there are times you don't even feel as though you are in your own body. There are many other things, but these are a big struggle, not to mention some who end up thinking the only way out is through their own disappearance from how intense it gets.

People think all these said "manipulative" moments are on purpose and thought-out, but they're all done on impulse from things that no one even bothered to try to guide any of us out of and we learned it was normal. I act on the heat of the moment. I've told people several times my struggles with telling theirs' and my tones but they never once did help me realize my mistakes, no; they left instead. Im learning slowly on what I can TRY to improve and grow out of. It's not always a given but to know there are people whom I'm hoping will help realize things around my circle makes me feel better. But a lot of us struggle with also letting go of the people that caused further harm, wether they meant genuine harm or not. We hate the fact we miss them.

One habit I struggle to rid myself off of is abrupt leaving of voice chats or any conversations anywhere for that matter when things get heated even in the slightest. To prevent myself from exploding at someone, wich would happen often on the past due to nervousness on them possibly getting mad at me for a mistake that could be deemed simple by ANYONE, that's the mechanism I developed instead. Just leaving without a word, taking some minutes alone before coming back or not returning at all and just texting instead.

Acting sarcastic unintentionally, huffing constantly at even the slightest complain, mocking people when they turn around out of annoyance or feeling nervous-- these are all things I also need to work on.

It's not easy, but I'm trying. I really am.

All these accusations I've faced with "friends" on the past, all the finger pointing towards me for things I didn't understand-- it all made sense just now for me thanks to a singular text I read.

I can finally not feel so badly about myself knowing that I wasn't at full fault, not on purpose.

I can finally have a restful night.

[theflyingfeeling]

I literally explained the most unhinged fic to you, you don't get to do this. We like ridiculous and thrive in unhinged. Please do share this royal/ballet dancer au idea

as if I could actually shut up about my fic ideas on main 🤧 ping @mosvu and also @goth-automaton @sparfloxacin @cosmicfire 🖤

(still hiding it behind a readmore though lol)

Starting off with a disclaimer: I don't think there's anything revolutionary about this fic idea, it sounds very familiar to me and I swear I've read/seen something similar but I can't pinpoint it... In any case, it's not my intetion to copy anyone!

Then I'm just quickly gonna give you some pictures for aesthetic reasons / to illustrate what I'm imagining them to look like in this AU (clean-shaven and twinky for Olli, comfy-casual and twinky for Aleksi 🥰)

(pretend they're drinking tea lol)

And as I said, this is absolutely ridiculous lol, but I've been watching a lot of The Crown recently and this is not inspired by that per se, apart from the fact that Aleksi is some sort of royalty, a prince maybe but spare instead of direct heir to the throne, because I cannot imagine even a modern-day monarchy that wouldn't be sort of home-of-phobic lol. Anyway, Prince Alex is super lonely because he doesn't really go out much because he's an introvert and doesn't know how to handle all the attention, so he rather stays at home most of the time, trying to avoid any sort of public appearances if he only can help it.

The only place he goes to willingly and often is the Royal Ballet. There could be some sorta backstory to this actually 🤔 Maybe he had an aunt/uncle who he really liked as a child and would always take him to the ballet (this aunt/uncle was obviously queer and only years after their passing when Aleksi's already a grown-up he realises this).

One day Aleksi notices a new soloist, and even from the royal booth he can tell this new dancer is the most beautiful person Aleksi has ever seen 😭 He goes to watch the same ballet again literally the next day because he can't get the beautiful male dancer out of his mind and becomes so enamored with the man that he sends him flowers the next time he goes to see the show 💐

Meanwhile Olli is dumbfounded by his new admirer and can't really believe his luck after being handed the comically huge bouquet of flowers backstage after the show 😳 His fellow dancers all tease him and maybe also make fun of poor Prince Alex, who's always presented in the tabloids as this socially clumsy simpleton or something along those lines. Eventually Olli laughs along and decides it must be some sort of practical joke from his friends or whatever, because WHY would Prince Alex be sending flowers to him, of all the dancers in the Royal Ballet?

A couple of shows (and pompous flower deliveries) later, Olli is fetched by a fellow dancer again, telling him some important looking men are asking for him, and so he's taken to some kinda secluded room where Prince Alex is waiting to speak to him 😨 It's awkward more than anything else, and they're both uncomfortable because Olli doesn't know how to act around a member of the fucking royal family and poor Aleksi is desperately trying to appear casual and "normal" but he just doesn't know how 😭 He does manage to invite Olli "for tea" in the palace though, and obviously Olli agrees even though he's not entirely sure what he's agreeing to, because he can't say no to an invitation from the bloody prince now can he?! Prince Alex then leaves and Olli is freaking out and his colleagues keep asking what the prince wants with him and he doesn't know and later in the evening he rants the ears off his roommate Joonas about it 😩

At this point I need to give you some background info about Olli: he's bi and has a sort-of-girlfriend (another ballet dancer); I say 'sort of' because they're mostly just having sex instead of actually dating. Olli also occasionally hooks up with Joonas when they're both horny enough. This is relevant later on 😏

The day of Olli's "tea party" with Prince Alex comes and he's picked up from his apartment by a black car and driven straight to the palace where he's taken to the prince's personal chambers (this is already starting to sound kinky lol). They do drink tea but nothing much else happens because Aleksi is just too goddamn nervous in front of this beautiful human being to think of much to say (relatable af eh? 😭), and Olli feels sorry for him but he can't really come up with anything to talk about either because he's still not quite sure what's going on and why he's even there in the first place and what could a commoner like him even say to an actualy real-life prince? 😬

I mean, I haven't quite figured out myself what Aleksi's intentions here are lol, only that it's not as creepy as it may sound. I guess he just wanted to get to know this beautiful ballet dancer better and couldn't think of any other way to do it other than having him driven to the palace 🙈 I need you to imagine him tossing and turning in his bed unable to sleep because he just can't stop thinking about this ballet dancer, and maybe his brother the crown prince fished enough information out of him to learn his little bro is lusting after some ballet dancer and, thinking it's a female dancer, tells him to just "have them come over for 'some tea' lol, you know grandpa used to do that all the time with dancers from the Royal Ballet" (🙃), and jokes on the crown prince, Aleksi does exactly that, because it's not like he'd ever be able to hang out with this person in public 😶 And just to clarify, he did NOT invite Olli over for the same reason his grandfather may have been inviting those dancers (🙃🙃🙃), he just wanted a friend to talk to other than his brother and maybe the occasional entitled af cousin 😭

After the first meeting Olli tells all about it to Joonas who cackles all through the story as he imagines Olli and the prince just sitting in silence and sipping tea and Olli even spilling some on a very expensive-looking royal rug. Olli doesn't think it's quite as funny at first until they're both laughing about it, because he might as well, since the prince won't definitely be inviting him over for tea again, right?

Wrong! Some days later he receives a similar invitation which he simply doesn't know how to turn down (this time the invitation is delivered just from a royal security dude at the door of the backstage room at the ballet, before the show so that Olli almost trips on his own feet stressing about it on stage). The next day he's fetched from his apartment again, and this time the prince seems a tiny bit more relaxed and asks Olli all sorts of questions about his dancer career to have him relax too. It then occurs to Olli that the prince must just be incredibly lonely and in need of a conversation partner, although he still can't figure out why he was the one chosen for the purpose.

Time passes and Olli starts visiting the prince more regularly, so that he can no longer hide it from his sort-of-girlfriend, who is just as curious as Olli is to find out why the prince has taken such a liking to Olli. Olli wishes he knew, especially because the more he spends time with the prince, the more he begins to like him; his sense of humour and his kind, calm nature and, of course, his looks, both with and without glasses. He curses his horny bisexual ass for beginning to fantasize about the prince, because what chance would he ever have with someone so above him in the class hierarchy? And even if he would, he's a prince for fuck's sake, so it would be doomed before it would even begin.

He talks about prince Alex to his roommate Joonas aaaaaaall the time, enough for Joonas to get the gist eventually, although he says nothing of it, because he reckons he should let Olli have that realisation by himself 🤭

I don't think I'm ever actually going to write this (the perfectionist in me would not want to half-ass any ballet nor royalty-related details), but if I did, it would be so incredibly slow burn that Olli and Prince Alex wouldn't even kiss until chapter 12 or something lol. But when they do, it quickly escalates from there, because they're just so into each other and it just feels so nice 😭 so that eventually they start making out the second Olli enters Aleksi's chambers lol, and maybe there's also some dry humping on a very old and expensive satin sofa 🥰

And I hope you hadn't forgotten about the 'anal fingering' tag I talked about lol, because oh my oh my 😌 So Olli is still seeing that girl from his ballet company, mostly just to hook up because he doesn't really know how to say no to people (and the sex is still pretty good tbf). One day while blowing/wanking him, the girl sneaks a finger up his bum. Olli sort of freaks out, mostly because he's caught off guard but also because it felt surprisingly good, even though he asked the girl to stop (he's a top and has never been penetrated before; btw this is low-key inspired by a scene in the latest season of Sex Education lol). He becomes curious though and later asks Joonas about how it feels. Joonas, the good fuck-buddy he is, offers to finger Olli, and......... yeah. Imagine Olli arching his back in pleasure as Joonas fingers him 🥵

So the next time he visits the prince and they get all hot and bothered, he instructs Aleksi to finger him and 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴 (now imagine Aleksi sitting on that royal sofa and Olli straddling him, sort of 'riding' his fingers until he cums 😳🫠

Aaaaaaaand that's about how far I've gotten with this as of yet, I sort of got stuck with the visual image of Olli being fingered 🙈 obviously this has a happy ending, although not without drama, but I'm yet to figure out the rest of this. I'll keep you updated? 😇 One scene that I have imagined that would take place way after Olli and Prince Alex are deep in their secret relationship is one of Olli helping Aleksi put on some black eyeliner and other cool make-up to make him unrecognizable (at least at first glance) and oh-so-hot so that they can hit the club together and make out on the dance floor without no one batting an eye 🥰 (obviously this would eventually end up on the tabloids when someone recognizes him but sshhhhh let's not talk about that 😭)

The others will be there too, of course, even though I haven't really given that much thought. I was thinking Tommi could be Joonas new-found fuck buddy since Olli is now too busy fucking the prince. I was also first thinking Joonas could be a ballet dancer as well, but I think I'd prefer him to be doing something else (or maybe he used to be a dancer and that's how he and Olli met but he had to retire because of an injury or smth). Joel could also be their more grumpy roommate, a catwalk model maybe. Niko? No clue. Any ideas? 👀

[spookyscarydemonbabe]

Ok so listen up. You know I'm going through some emotional shit. One day I'm fine, the next I'm crying because my brain likes to stroll down memory lane.

But imagine (10000% based on my life right now) the reader is going through a TOUGH breakup and they are trying to just keep moving forward, but they just get super down sometimes and need to cry it out. Well, they're friends with Eddie and gang and Eddie notices that she isn't doing well emotionally/mentally and offers his support and just to be a calming/healing presence for her and how that can develop from there. Not necessarily romantically, but I'm also not opposed to that.

That's all, and I love you ❤️

I totally get what you’re talking about sis, and I’m sorry things have been so rough for you for the last few weeks! Everything is going to get better for you soon, I know it! And you know that you’ve got Eddie there always with you, telling you how you’re going to get through this 😊 (and i love you too 🖤)

Feels Like Home

Genre- Hurt/Comfort, Fluff

Warnings- Mentions of depressed reader, Breakups, Crying

Tag List- @thatsthewaythechrissycrumbless @munsonology @esme-viridian

Words- 2.4k

Some days like today, you felt completely normal. Like there were no worries, no sadness, no stress. You would be able to go on with your day like everything was fine, going to work with a smile on your face, seeing your friends and family and being able to hold up normal conversations with them, but unfortunately for you your best friend knew you all too well.

Eddie was someone you had always been close with. He didn’t feel like a brother to you, or much like a boyfriend either. You weren’t sure how to describe the friendship that you two had, but you knew that he loved you and you loved him. There was a sense of always wanting to be there for one another whenever something was wrong, and Eddie always knew when something was wrong.

He had known you were in a relationship for a while, and he always respected your boundaries when it came to things that made your significant other uncomfortable. But he didn’t act any less of your friend. He would still let you know that he was always there for you when you needed him, and you had always been so thankful that he stuck by your side through it all.

As the weeks had gone by, he had started to notice little things here and there that would let him know that there was a problem.

There would be days where he noticed you would just seem a bit out of it, not really paying attention to much until you were pulled out of your deep thoughts by him putting his hand onto your shoulder. Days where you would be completely fine and there wouldn’t be anything that he or anyone else could tell was wrong, but the next day would be entirely different. Your moods would get to you and your thoughts would consume you, getting into your head and making you more closed off than normal.

He would see your puffy eyes and hear your sniffles and want to help as much as he could, but he wanted to be respectful of the boundaries you and your significant other had set with him. Still, he wanted to care for you like he always had in the past, and he needed to know what was making you this way.

As you were lying in bed, a one of your cassettes playing in your stereo as you tried to listen to something to make you happier before you drifted off for what felt like your tenth nap that week, you heard a soft knocking at your bedroom door.

You lifted your head off the pillow and heard the knocking again, recognizing the voice that followed it soon after.

“(y/n)?” It was Eddie, peeking into your bedroom to see if you were there, “You alright?”

You picked your head up off the pillow as you sat up in bed and wiped away the dried trails of tears that were left on your cheeks and the corners of your eyes, wanting to hide any trace how you had been feeling for the last few weeks.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” You sniffled once more as you smiled up to him, “You can come in if you want, you don’t have to peek in like you’re spying on me.”

“Sorry,” He said with a smile as he opened your door wider, stepping into your bedroom and shutting the door behind him before making his way over to sit next to you on your bed, “You’re sure you’re alright? You seem kind of down.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine.” You sniffled once more and Eddies eyes scanned over your face, seeing how red your cheeks had been and how your eyes were slightly puffy.

“(y/n),” He said sternly, “I know you better than that. Come on, don’t lie to me, I know something is going on. I’m not going to make you tell me if you don’t want to, but will you at least let me help you feel better?”

Your smile slowly dropped seeing how worried he was for you. Unfortunately, sometimes when you got into moods like this, it was common for you to forget to inform your friends of what was happening in your personal life. Sometimes it would get to be too much for you to handle and you would end up not really noticing when you would close yourself off from others. But Eddie always made sure to be there for you, even during the times when he knew that it was getting rough for you again.

“What’s going on. And don’t try to tell me that you’re fine again,” Eddie moved closer to you on the bed but made sure to keep a comfortable distance, so he didn’t make you feel like he was prying you to open, “I just want you to know that I’m here for you. Do you just want to talk?”

You sighed and looked down at your feet, trying not to let him see the tears that were pricking your eyes.

“Yeah, we can talk.”

“Do you want to talk? Or do you want me to listen?”

You sniffled once more and wiped away the stray tear that fell down your cheek,

“Listen.”

“Ok, that’s alright, I’ll listen for as long as you need me to.”

You nodded and looked up to the ceiling, taking a deep breath as you collected your thoughts,

“There’s just been a lot going on you know? I’ve been trying my best to make sure no one got worried, but it’s just been so hard to keep everything in sometimes…”

“I get what you mean.” He put his arm around your shoulder and brought you into him for a hug to try and comfort you.

“It’s just been one thing after another that’s been piling onto me, and it just gets too hard to deal with everything at once.”

Eddie nodded and let you take your time collecting your thoughts as you used your sleeve to wipe the tears from your eyes,

“I’m sorry I’m throwing all this at you too,” You sniffled, “I’m sure you don’t want to sit here and listen to me ramble and be all sad, but I appreciate you waning to be with me and listen, no one else has been checking in with me like you’ve been… You’re a good friend Eddie.” You smiled to him and leaned up to gently kiss his cheek,

“Thank you.”

He smiled down to you as your lips touched his cheek,

“Of course! You don’t have to thank me; it’s what good friends do.” He squeezed your shoulder a bit tighter as he hugged you, “Your boyfriend hasn’t been checking in on your or anything?”

You looked down to your feet and gently shook your head,

“No, um, actually that’s kind of what’s been getting me down the most…”

You looked up to Eddie, tears welling up in your eyes and his heart was breaking seeing you so torn up inside,

“We broke up a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to mention anything just because every time I thought about telling you it got me like this, but I hated having to keep it from you… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” He turned his body towards you and placed his hands on your shoulders to turn you to face him, forcing you to look at him with tears in your eyes, “You have nothing to apologize for. Do you want to talk about it? Or do you just need someone here?”

You sniffled and moved your hand up to wipe away a few stary tears before leaning into Eddie, your head hidden into his shoulder as your arms went around his waist to hug him close,

“I need someone here…”

His arms went back around your shoulders, holding you close into him, one hand going to gently hold the back of your head as you wept into his shoulder. He rested his head onto yours and he let you stay there for a moment, not wanting to disturb you. There were times he knew you just needed to get your emotions out and have someone there to support you and now was one of those times. He wanted you to feel safe and secure with him there, especially during a time that was affecting you so much.

“I’m here sweetheart, I’ll be here for as long as you need me to be.”

He placed a gentle kiss to your temple as you held each other, listening to the soft music still playing from your stereo as your breathing slowed. You had tried your best to calm down but your emotions were getting harder to contain. But knowing that you had someone there with you, knowing that Eddie was there with you, helped more than he would ever know.

Eddie was someone you wanted to always confide in, and during your relationship it was hard to continue a friendship that made your partner uncomfortable, but you never knew why. You respected their wishes, keeping your distance from Eddie when you were asked to, but it was hell not being able to see the one person you cared for the most.

Though you were just friends it felt like so much more to the two of you.

You had been friends for ages and had always been able to tell one another your fears and your dreams and everything else in between without being afraid to really express your feelings with one another. But not having Eddie be there with you through your hardest times hurt more than anything else in the world, and you were happy that he was there with you now.

Your breathing had slowed to a steady pace and Eddie could feel the tears stop as you slowly lifted your head from his shoulder, your hands moving from around his waist back up to your face to wipe away the dried trails of tears that had been left there,

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for being here,” He looked down to you and smiled, his hand moving up to wipe away one last stray tear from your cheek, “it’s what good friends do. And I’m sorry you guys broke up, I know how much you liked them and I know it probably wasn’t very fun to have to keep all that in but you know you can always trust me with things like that. If something is going on I want you to tell me, ok?”

You slowly nodded and the corners of your lips curled into a shy smile,

“Ok. I promise.” You smiled up at him and leaned up just a bit, gently kissing his cheek before laying your head back onto his shoulder, “You’re a really good friend Eddie.”

“I have my moments.” He said with a smile, earning a small giggle from you.

You sat with each other for a few more moments, just enjoying being there with one another, and Eddie loved being able to hold you again after so long.

He was always respectful of the boundaries you had set with him once you and your partner were together, he had absolutely no issue with that, but there was a lot of times where he really missed having you there with him.

Hugging him and jumping around after another successful campaign during Hellfire, lying with one another as you watched those cheesy horror movies he loved, even doing things he hated like being dragged around to every store in the mall just because you didn’t want to go home yet. It took losing you for him to fully understand why it hurt so much to have you away from him.

He couldn’t help not knowing he had feelings for such a close friend.

And you missed having him there as much as he missed you.

Not being able to call him late at night like you used to, not being able to spend as much time with him or the rest of the guys during school or even after classes, not being able to hug him close during all the scary parts of the horror movies you watched when you snuck in through the side doors of the theater in town. All those silly things you took for granted were now making you realize that as much as you loved being his friend, you wanted him so much more than that.

He always made you feel so safe and so secure, he never invalidated your feelings and was always there when you needed someone to laugh or cry with. Having him back was the best feeling in the world, even after your heartbreak.

“Hey,” He said, grabbing your attention as you lifted your head from his shoulder, “what do you say you and me just spend some time together tonight? Just you and me, some snacks, some weed, some really awful horror movies. It’ll be just like old times. And I promise not to mention them at all tonight, scouts honor.”

“Eddie, you were never a scout.” You said with a giggle, “And yeah, that sounds nice. I could really use some company right now anyways; I appreciate you wanting to be here and help me through this.”

“Anytime sweetheart.” He pushed your head closer to him and placed his lips onto your forehead, “I’m going to head home really quick and pack up a few things alright? When I get back, I want you all cleaned up and I don’t want you to be crying over them anymore. We’re gonna go get some munchies for later and I’m buying. Don’t try and stop me.”

You smiled at him as he stood back up from your bed and made his way to your bedroom door, looking back at you once more before he opened the door,

“20 minutes tops, I promise.”

You smiled and nodded to him as he quickly left back to his van.

Being able to be with Eddie again was exactly what you needed. The feelings you had for him could be addressed another night, tonight was about getting back into the normalcy of your life before them, being able to spend time with the person you cared the most about. The person who always made you happy and always went out of their way to make sure that if you woke up upset you’d still go to bed with a smile after seeing them. The person who made you feel at home.

Eddie always felt like home.

[evil8keta]

mercs x reader who steals their clothes!

SCOUT

- gets an immediate ego boost from it. seeing you in his clothes makes him feel so cool and important!! he will totally brag about it in front of the other mercs like "hell yea guys my s/o loves me SO BAD. they're even wearin my stuff!!" but honestly all his clothes are ugly and smell funny so....just saying. i wouldnt wear them if i were you but if you really wanna wear them then go for it. you're gonna make scout really happy :D

SOLDIER

- holy shit!!!! you look like mini him!! he will NOT shut up about how cute you look. he's gonna convince you to train with him because uh oh now he actually thinks you ARE a mini version of him?? have fun being his recruit lol. but other than that his clothes are surprisingly comfy, 10/10 would wear again. plus you get soldier yelling about how badass and awesome you look and how much he loves you

PYRO

- pyro doesn't really wear anything else other than their hazmat suit but they have a huge collection of gas masks! and since you are their s/o, you can totally wear those :D just please ask for permission first! when you actually do put one on though? they're gonna SQUEAL. legit they did NOT expect you to look so cute in one of their gas masks but...you do?? wowie!! pyro wil grab your face and give you a bunch of head boops and nuzzles because OH MY GOD you are so adorable

HEAVY

- ohhh heavy's clothes are very comfy. they're SO big and made from very good material and they smell like books and gunpowder (ah yes what a comforting smell...). if he sees you wearing his clothes he's gonna get this SMALL but very very happy smile on his face. his thoughts rn are like "s/o you are tiny and so so cute heavy love you". he's just silently appreciating you, yknow. also i think heavy always liked to offer you his clothes, either because he thought you seem cold or for some other reason. but now, heavy offers you his clothes just because he thinks you look very cute in them :)

DEMOMAN

- acts casual everytime he sees you wearing his clothes but as soon as you leave he turns to the others guys all wide eyed and blushing like "HAVE YA SEEN THAT??? THEY'RE WEARING MY CLOTHES!" one time you 2 were just chilling and demo just straight up asked you WHY you wear his clothes all the time. you said they smell like him and that it reminds you of him and my man pulled you into a tight hug and started sobbing. he loves you so much

ENGINEER

- thinks you look very cute. very silly. engie lowkey has the most normal reaction out of all the mercs, but that doesn't mean he loves seeing you wear his clothes any less!! he sees you wearing his overalls and he's like "ah yes that's my s/o wearing my stuff right there, aint they a cutie?" engie likes to leave his clothes in visibly convenient places so there's a higher chance you wear them.... he acts very cool about it so you don't suspect anything, but eventually you DO notice. if you tease him about it he will blush so bad and try to deny it

MEDIC

- medic wears VERY stylish clothes so if you wanna look like a smart doctor (like him) i 100% recommend stealing his clothes. but other than that, medic really likes seeing you in his clothes :) he actually gets very dramatic about it and can't keep his hands off of you. he once saw you wearing his lab coat and literally couldn't stop hugging your for HOURS!! he kept saying how adorable you look and how you should wear his clothes more often and how much HE LOVES YOU AND AAA

SPY

- actually, don't. just don't. he won't let you use his very expensive suit no matter what and i highly advise you to NOT wear his stinky balaclava either. it's for your health i promise. however there's a bunch of other shirts he wears so if you want you can wear those. they're comfy and high quality and they stink-- i mean, smell just like him :)) when it comes to his reaction, it seems like he doesn't even notice since he doesn't comment on it...? well SIKE!! this man DOES notice and he is SCREAMING of joy on the inside. he's just very good at hiding it because he doesn't want the others to think that he's a weak and lovesick fool (everyone knows that he's an absolute simp for you dw)

SNIPER

- absolutely LOVES it but he also tries to hide how he really feels. except unlike spy, he actually fails HORRIBLY. there's literally a big goofy lovey dovey smile on his face and yes everyone can notice including you. also i said this already but you're the only one who gets the privilege of wearing his hat. he even bought another one for you so you guys can match but turns out that you like wearing HIS hat SPECIFICALLY. this realization made me him feel very special and warm inside :D

[brandwhorestarscream]

Courtesan au

Hehehe so the trineshipping slowly begins. But Sywarp’s seriously gonna have his work cut out for him if he’s trynna make Thundercracker and Starscream happier people

I’ve said it before and I’ll say again but I’m actually in love with this idea

Im in love with this idea too 🥰 I'm so glad you like it!!

So! As for how Skywarp brings back their light! He watches them closely and tries to understand their mannerisms.

He probably sees a lot of himself in them, ironically: they're not happy in their positions despite having everything. Starscream likes being royalty and all the power and pampering that comes with it, but. He can't pursue the one thing he's actually passionate about. Thundercracker has never made a single decision for himself and is utterly depressed and apathetic to most things because of it. They're perfect in public: polite, sophisticated, graceful, well spoken. But their optics are dead and hopeless and have no real light in them. The second they get back to a random suite or parlor in the palace after a party, they both heave an identical sigh and collapse into plush arm chairs or the chaise or whatever. They don't seem to want to be perfect in front of him, which is. Weird

The two of them not keeping up the act with each other, he understands. They've been engaged since they were practically in diapers, and have known each other even longer. They're partners in misery together, they don't care if the other sees their flaws, because it doesn't matter. No one else is around anyway. Except Skywarp. They're comfortable enough with him to drop the act, and it's... unsettling. They seem so sad. So lifeless. He's had depressed clients come to him before, desperate for a meaningful conversation and affection, but they never ask that of him. He doesn't understand them at all

In public they're perfectly respectable nobles, poised, cordial, and polite. Starscream is an introvert that's great at pretending he's an extrovert, so he makes perfect conversation and people hang onto his every word. Thundercracker on the other hand is an introvert that's terrible at being anything else, and anyone attempting to speak to him gets short, curt, noticeably safe answers. It's no wonder people whisper behind his back that he's cold and arrogant.

He has no idea what to do to make them happy, and in fact only has a breakthrough after a particularly exhausting garden party held by one of the other noble houses. The party had lasted through brunch and into the early afternoon, but there's still several megacycles before Thundercracker is meant to return home. As the prince's fiance he's expected to spend the majority of his time at Starscream's side, so every morning he's fetched by a royal transport and every night is returned to his aerie. They're in Starscream's library, and while the heir to the throne is laser focused on a physics textbook, Thundercracker has made himself comfortable in a chair by the window and is reading his latest book. It's the final one in a series he's loved for years, and finally he gets to know how it ends. Skywarp wanders back and forth between them, pacing really, mind wandering but optics keeping a vigil for anything out of the ordinary.

Then, it happens. Thundercracker sighs, but not his normal melancholy sigh. No, this one is more forceful, pushed through all of his vents with a sharp hiss. He turns off his datapad with a decisive jab, and sets it onto the side table. His fingers curl in his lap, and he's frowning so deeply you'd think he'd just been insulted. Skywarp teleports to his side and immediately asks what's wrong.

Thundercracker sighs once more, rolling his optics. "What," he spits in the most venomous tone Skywarp has ever heard him use. "Was that?!"

"Uh-"

"Airstrike and Cannonfire conjunxed?! Why?! They've been trying to kill each other for the last 8 books! She killed his carrier! The prophecy said Termaria would be razed after their final battle and now they're a couple?! WHY?! It doesn't make any sense! They hate each other! He burned her country, and she assassinated his entire family! Including poor little Clifface, he was only 8 vorns! They- are you hearing this, Skywarp?! They had to work together to put the Titans back to sleep, which fine, they are the best ones for the task, but that was more than halfway through the final book and that suddenly makes everything alright?! Not just alright, suddenly they're in love?! Listen to this nonsense!" He snatches up his datapad again and flicks back a few pages, beginning to read aloud, "'She truly can't believe it, even still, that this mech is to be her mate in just a few short cycles. Hatred still burns in her spark but now, somehow, it's easy to turn it onto passion and love. She'd been mistaken of his true colors, and was willing to pardon his sins if he would only pardon hers.' What is THAT?! This is atrocious! This is disgusting! I waited 10 vorns for this book and this is the ending they give me?!"

Thundercracker's huffing and gasping for air by the time he's done ranting, having worked himself up into quite a fit and actually throwing the datapad down onto the table.

"...I apologize," he takes a deep, slow intake and Skywarp can see all the passion and warmth draining out of him once more. A practiced thing, he suddenly realizes. "I'm... f-frustrated. This ending is awful," he's starting to look sick, and suddenly Sky sees tears beginning to bead in his optics. His EM field reeks of barely-concealed, incredibly heavy disappointment. "I- I didn't mean to raise my voice, but... I've waited such a long time for this, and..."

"And it's not what you dreamed it would be?"

"Yes! Exactly!"

Skywarp let's him continue venting. Its clear this series has meant a lot to him over the vorns. He has first edition copies of every file, and has read the first three so many times he can practically recite them from memory. From what he's gathered, the story isn't even a romance. It's a vast saga about a fantasy world at war, and the two bitter rival leaders of each side had suddenly and inexplicably found themselves in love at the very end of the final book.

After he's said everything he can and is sadly searching for another story to read, Skywarp suggests, "You know... you could always rewrite it."

Thundercracker is entirely taken aback. Rewrite the ending? Skywarp says that yeah, why not? If he hates it that much, maybe he should rewrite it the way he thought it should go. Make up his own ending. Ignore the author's weird intentions and fabricate his own. TC has honestly never considered that before, never thought that he could. He tries to decline, saying he doesn't have the skills to be a writer, but Skywarp is persistent. Just try. It'll be therapeutic, if nothing else, and its not like he'll ever have to let anyone read it.

Suffice to say 🤭 Thundercracker tries it out and it unlocks a love he never knew he had. He's never tried creative writing before, but after sampling it at Skywarp's behest, he discovers that he loves storytelling. Within a week he returns to the palace with a personal datapad in hand, giving it to Skywarp to read. His revised version of that terrible ending, and he wants Sky to read it! It wouldn't exist without him, after all, and he had such a great time making it! There's light in his optics, sudden and bright: he looks like a person at last, not a perfectly structured drone. He goes on and on about the piece he wrote and how he's so excited to do more! There's not really any other endings he wants to fix, but there's plenty of characters he enjoys that could have more adventures!

Thundercracker looks great with a smile on his face, a real smile, and Skywarp is sure to tell him. For the first time, ever, Skywarp sees him genuinely accept a compliment, before placing the datapad in his servos and going to greet his fiance. He's given Thundercracker something to look forward to, something to make his days bright and worthwhile, something that truly makes his spark happy, and he couldn't be prouder.

One down, one to go. Next, he's gotta figure out how he can bring meaning and joy to Starscream's life

[tlbodine]

Socializing 2.0 - Talking to People Who Are Upset

I was trying to write this as a reblog to my other "how to socialize" post and it keeps glitching out, which is very irritating. So here, let's try it on its own post.

Last time I talked about some tips for making small talk, and some scripts/talking points for how to show interest in what people are saying even if the topic doesn't excite you.

Now, I want to talk about a different scenario that can be really challenging for everybody (but, I think even harder for folks who don't come by empathy easily). Which is: How do you talk to somebody who is upset or having a tough time? How do you express sympathy without making the thing about you and your feelings?

While I'm by no means an expert at this, and I can't claim I've got the solution for every scenario you might encounter, I do have some tips and techniques that have helped me along the way and hopefully they can prove useful to you, too.

STEP ONE: Identifying that a person is upset

Sometimes it's very easy to tell that someone is upset, because they will yell "ARGH I AM SO MAD ABOUT THIS!!!" or they will be crying or some other obvious outward sign. Other times, though, it can be kind of tricky to tell. It's even harder in text, where you sometimes have to guess whether someone is jokingly mad or mad-mad when they post keysmashes, all caps, angry emojis, etc etc.. Folks also sometimes deflect from their actual emotions by joking them off. Or they'll say something you feel is alarming, but then don't act like it's a big deal.

People are complicated, in other words. So it's OK if you get this wrong sometimes. Everybody does.

In general, some signs that people might have something the matter:

Obvious outward expression of emotion (yelling, crying)

Acting more withdrawn or subdued than normal

Appearing distracted or disengaged

Looking more disheveled than usual

Acting unusually rambunctious or like they're compensating

If you notice somebody seems upset but you're not 100% sure, you have a few options:

Politely ignore it.

Let them bring it up if they want to. This is a safe bet if you are not very close -- ie, they're strangers, coworkers, acquaintances etc. HOWEVER, if you choose this route, you can still do this person a kindness by not imposing on them.

For example, if your coworker seems upset about something and you have a question about the job, could you ask someone else instead of approaching upset coworker? Could you quietly do them a favor? For example, could you offer to take over for them at the register and let them work in the back? Offer to watch things while they take a break? Small kindnesses can make a big difference in someone's day. It's not always possible, but it's nice when you can!

If nothing else, try to avoid dumping anything on them while they seem upset. If you're also having a shit day, you can probably find someone else to rant to.

Ask if they're okay.

This is more appropriate if you have a rapport with the person. If they are your friend or romantic partner, or if you have a rapport with them and want to express that you care, it's probably best to acknowledge that you've noticed something is wrong. Avoid saying anything that might be perceived as aggressive; don't way "What's wrong" or (even worse) "What's wrong with you?" Instead, try, "Is everything okay? You seem a little down today."

They may respond:

I'm just a little tired

I'm kind of distracted

What? Oh, haha, no, I'm fine...

Sometimes they mean this at face value, but more often what they actually are communicating is "I'm not OK but I don't feel comfortable talking about it."

That's fine. Don't pry. Drop the subject, and proceed as above -- politely ignore their perceived signs of discomfort, but be kind to them and avoid dumping anything on them unnecessarily.

Do not be surprised or alarmed if, after some time has passed, they come back around to reopen the subject and start to open up about whatever is bothering them. Then again, don't take it personally if you never figure out what the deal was. Maybe they really did just have a headache. Maybe they had an issue they figured out on their own. Either way, it's no longer your problem.

(note: this is a little more complicated if it's someone you live with and it goes on for a while, but that scenario is out of scope for this post).

STEP TWO: They Told Me They're Upset

Okay! So whether you started here with them, or this just came up after you asked if things were ok, you now have confirmed that a person is upset!

If they tell you the gist of what's going on, it's a good idea to acknowledge it. But stay fairly neutral about it and avoid value judgments.

For example: "My grandpa died"

An appropriate response might be, "I'm sorry to hear that" or "Oh jeez, I'm sorry :("

Some other great all-purpose responses when someone says something bad happened are: "Dude, that sucks :(" and "oh no!" or "oof."

Next -- and this is really important -- you should follow up by asking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

(you can also use that question any time someone says something vague like "I had a shitty day today" or "I'm so pissed off.")

If they say no, they don't want to talk about it, follow up with, "Well, let me know if there's anything I can do." And then, ideally, volunteer a couple options of things you can do, depending on your relationship and what you are capable of doing: cover their shift, approve their time off, take care of a chore, listen if they change their mind.

If they DO want to talk about it, by all means, let them talk.

Ask if they would like advice or if they just want to get it off their chest. If they don't ask for advice, don't give them any.

Use your active listening skills and ask questions. Avoid prying or traumatic questions, but don't be shocked if you receive more intensive answers than you expected. A safe question to ask when someone says someone died is to say, "Were you close?" or if a pet died, "How long did you have them?"

Validate their emotions, but avoid bringing your own judgments to the table unless they ask for your honest opinion. For example, if someone is ranting about their romantic partner, it's cool to say, "I'm sorry that happened. You shouldn't have to put up with that." but it's not so cool to say "Your SO sounds like a dick, you should leave them."

Ask if they would like a distraction or to be cheered up. If you're in person, and you're amenable to the task, "Do you want a hug?" is also acceptable. (just respect whatever they said).

You'll want to be mindful of your energy. I personally have the best luck with projecting calm, neutral, slightly joke-y vibes. "It do be like that" and "Dude, that sucks" delivered with some genuine warmth in your tone or an empathetic emoji can go a long way.

STEP THREE: How to Not Make It About You

There are a few ways you can unintentionally make something be about you when someone else brings up something that's upsetting them:

One-upping them. "That's nothing. This one time, I had...."

Invalidating them or passing judgment. "That's not a big deal" or "What an asshole!" (you can agree with them that someone is being a dick, bit they need to be the one who says it first)

Trying to relate to them by telling a story about your own experiences, which ends up taking a really long time, or puts them in the awkward position of feeling like they have to comfort you.

OK. So a couple things.

Relating to people with relatable experiences is not a bad thing! In fact sometimes it can be really helpful! HOWEVER if you go that route you need to be really cautious of a couple points:

The story needs to be brief and stick only to the most relevant details. it's FINE if you don't provide the full absolute context of the entire scenario. You just need to tell them the relatable part, and then relate that back to them and how they are feeling.

For example:

"I'm so sorry to hear your dog died. I had to put my cat to sleep last year and I remember how guilty I felt, worrying whether I waited too long. Did you have a lot of time to prepare with your dog or was it pretty sudden?"

This is good! Here you are relaying information that you understand some of what they're going through, introduce an emotion that may or may not resonate with them, and then hand the conversation back to them with a question. Now they might tell you all about how, yes, they worried about that same thing too! Or no, their thing was really sudden and unexpected. Or whatever they tell you!

Then you can respond to that thing like, "Oh wow, I can't imagine how rough that must have been." or "Jeez, that's so hard. How are the kids taking it?" or whatever else seems appropriate in that moment.

STEP FOUR: OK But Now They Won't Shut Up About It?

One downside to expressing concern in other people's affairs is that this can sometimes mark you as their new confidant, purely because people so rarely just listen and care about other people.

If it's just the occasional bit of ranting, it's probably fine to just let them do their thing. And if they're coming to you to rant and off-load their stuff, then it's probably fine and expected that you can respond in time and maybe you guys are just ranting buddies.

But if you end up in a scenario where they can ALWAYS complain about their thing, but you can NEVER complain about your thing, that is a toxic dynamic! That requires some intervention! Friendship cannot be built on that foundation.

If you've expressed your condolences or listened to someone rant about whatever is pissing them off and you feel you have nothing more to offer the conversation, you can just say that: "I don't know what else to say, really. It's a tough situation and I hope it gets better for you."

And then you can just. Exit the conversation.

Some additional lines to keep in your back pocket include:

"I think that's beyond my pay grade to help with. Have you spoken with (a therapist/counselor/clergy member/whatever)?"

"That's so frustrating! You should definitely go talk to (the person they are complaining about) about that."

"Well, if you ever need someone to (specific thing you actually are willing to do), let me know."

Being kind to people and showing concern for their problems does not mean you have to become an unpaid therapist or doormat. You get to maintain boundaries about that stuff.

Anyway! This is super long! There is so much more I could get into here but I'll leave it at that. I hope this is in some way helpful to you.

[qqueenofhades]

I am not into economics AT ALL so i was hoping you could explain what's causing all this inflation?

Several things:

The war in Ukraine has had a huge knock-on effect on energy prices, because of Russia's status as one of the world's biggest oil and gas producers. Putin uses this supply as political blackmail and has done so for years, and while Europe is attempting to wean itself off Russian energy, that means there's disruption and change in the supply, fluctuating prices, uncertain sources, etc. When energy is more expensive, EVERYTHING is more expensive. This is part of why high inflation is hitting all developed economies right now, not just America. Though of course, you wouldn't know that to listen to Republicans, who insist that this is all, personally, Biden's Fault.

Two years ago, we were in the middle of a massive pandemic, the economy was crashed through the floor and shedding jobs like crazy, nobody was going out or spending any money, etc. To bring that back from the dead (since we didn't learn anything about how much of a shell game it actually is) you obviously have to inject a lot of cash, and when supply-and-demand lurches from one extreme (none) to the other (a lot), inflation will automatically rise with it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as it means your economy is once more on the move rather than being totally stagnant, but it does also automatically result in prices going up, because people want to recoup the money they just lost in the downturn.

At least in the UK, where the Tories have been acting as if it is the 1980s all over again and running out the Trussonomics mini-budget that wrecked the pound and caused her to claim the dubious title of shortest-serving Prime Minister in history, conservative economic policies (tax cuts for the rich! Tax cuts for corporations! SUFFERING FOR EVERYONE ELSE) have likewise meant that people have no prospects for real-time growth of their wages or ability to afford commodities that have spiked in value. This contracts the economy further and raises inflation, as producers try to compensate for not selling as much product by raising the prices for the products they do sell. Which people still can't afford, etc.

Again: inflation, especially after a period of contraction/crash as drastic as the COVID pandemic, is a pretty normal event, and since the US economy is posting strong numbers otherwise in regard to job creation, deficit reduction, and GDP, this means that getting it on its feet again is going better than anyone would have expected. But because there is the war putting a massive pinch on energy markets, which in turn affects everything else, the natural swings and fluctuations of a recovering economy have been pushed past their normal boundaries.

So yes. You will notice this is a complex and global network of factors, and not just something Biden can't be arsed to fix on his own, but shhhh. Don't confuse Republicans with facts.

Edited to add @thebisquid's very important point that a lot of this is just also rampant corporate greed: they're hiking prices and blaming inflation, even though that really has nothing to do with it, just because they can.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 182

Epilogue: "Dreams Come True"

I'm gonna be honestly with y'all, no matter how many times I've read through this chapter over the last couple days to try and prepare myself, all my thoughts and comments are still so similar to what I originally wrote two years ago. I doubt anything I say now could top it but I'll apologize in advance if I really do sound like a broken record this time since my feelings regarding this beautiful finale really haven't changed since then. I'll start off with saying that I am a tiny bit bummed that we never got the chance to see the children explore the large city they arrived in, but the second season's ending slideshow sorta filled in that need for me. While the city is definitely a complete contrast to what they were used to living in back in the demon world, I love they all decided to create their own little village around where Emma lives. That'll definitely make her feel more at ease with being somewhere she's familiar with and I'm sure a majority of the kids fancy the wildlife surrounding them too, especially Ayshe and the dogs. Let's not forget how impressive it is that these kids were able to build so many houses on their own as well! And the idea of them taking turns to visit Emma so she doesn't get overwhelmed with so much attention at one given time makes me so happy. Speaking of our girl, she looks so pretty! She definitely looks like the Emma we've come to know and love with that big smile on her face (even if seeing her without her iconic 63194 still upsets me a little) while looking fondly at new photos of her large family. Sure, anyone in this world could've taken the photos, but of course I headcanon that it was Ray who purchased a new camera to do so.

Emma's face here is damn hysterical and Phil looks so proud of himself for surprising her. Seeing these young kids casually riding on top of a plane that large is truly quite a remarkable sight, but she had to at least hear that thing flying closer, yea? No way something that huge can sneak up on someone.

It is so darn cute how the younger kids act like buying a plane that size and flying it everywhere they go is totally normal. Their chill attitude has poor Emma completely speechless. I'm so proud of her for learning everyone's names though, not only by recognizing their faces but their voices too as she knew it was Phil calling to her from outside. Seeing Violet become a pilot is surprising but the job fits Oliver very well since he was typically seen holding onto a plane toy during numerous Goldy Pond flashbacks. Looks like he achieved his dream and I'm happy for him!

I'm even more excited to see Chris feeling 100% better and finally reuniting with Emma! It's sweet how he still loves her so much regardless her lost memories. I'm only noticing now but it appears Jemima even brought flowers for Emma? Ahh, these kids are too precious for words!

It's crazy how they're able to visit so many different places and experience countless new things all in the span of one single day, but I suppose traveling is pretty simple with a plane like that, not to mention how this world doesn't have any national borders to worry about. Seeing Yvette get inspiration and sketch everything she sees is adorable and of course you have Ray being the strict older sibling who makes sure everyone else behaves while out in public. I still wish more of the Goldy Pond kids were invited to join the trip, but I understand how meaningful it is to see all the GF escapees finally live out their dreams which they shared with us at the very beginning of the story.

One of the most ridiculous and funniest things this extra chapter reveals to us and Emma is how Norman became the leading man behind some huge multipurpose company. I know his motive was to act independently from the Ratri clan (which is fair because I wouldn't wanna rely on those bastards either) but at least have the company be a fresh idea in his mind or a little new, not hit us with his total success right outta the gate! I can accept this life for him further into the future for sure, but not at 15/16 years old! You're still a child sir! Dude must have really loved hearing others refer to him as "boss." Vincent would obviously be okay with that and I imagine Ray making fun of Norman each time, or jokingly calling him "emperor" like he did in one of volume 15's extra pages. Speaking of my boy, he looks way too chill and perhaps unbothered about this whole idea, or maybe he's just so used to his friends having crazy idea that he's become immune and knows deep down there's no way he can change their minds once they get this passionate about something. Even though this chapter is primarily focused on the GF children, it's nice to learn more about what Nigel and Sony are up to nowadays with their new roles.

Hearing how Norman was capable of skipping grades and essentially graduating is the most believable thing about this page. I'm sure the schools in the human world were nothing compared to the difficult tests he passed with ease at GF and Lambda. I'm relieved he and the rest of the Lambda crew are healthy as well, but I can't imagine him recovering while simultaneously constructing a large company from the ground up. Perhaps he focused on getting better first and then started on his career path, but then I'd have a harder time believing this boy managed to do so in less than two years, depending how long it took for him to fully recover beforehand. Norman is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Moving onto everyone's wishes now and ooohhh my, the girls look simply gorgeous!! I love each of their outfits so very much! I especially like how often Anna has her hair up in that ponytail too. It suits her and she's beautiful! And it's adorable how she and Gilda pull Emma along with them so they can all take advantage of the 3-for-1 deal. Emma looks great in her new outfit too but I very much prefer her previous one, only because it's reminiscent of her GP out a little bit. So happy our little musician was able to witness an opera too. I've been to several Broadway plays and musicals before but seeing an opera is still on my checklist for sure.

I gotta give kudos to all the children because while it's certainly insane how they're hitting everyone's dreams all in one day, not once do they ever look exhausted. They're having the time of their lives and are beaming with excitement no matter if they're fulfilling their wish or someone else's. Some of their wishes are really simple too if ya think about it, like a handful are things us readers could try out for ourselves, but after all the drama they fought through in the demon world, they absolutely deserve to enjoy everything this world has to offer them. I'm once again loving Ray being that caring older brother who makes sure his younger siblings don't exert themselves. Not to mention how damn hilarious it is to see him not even flinch while touring the haunted house. After the traumatizing childhood he lived through and the wacko world of the Seven Walls, nothing should frighten my boy, so I'd like to imagine he only entered the haunted house to look out for the younger child like Rossi and Alicia who are absolutely regretting their life choices. What matters is that Yvette is loving every moment of her wish and possibly laughing at her sibling's expense.

Despite mentioning how we could visit such places ourselves, I have yet to actually go watch an official soccer game, visit a hot spring or eat lunch in such gardens. I mean, I visited such botanical gardens down in the city but not once have I ever had a fancy picnic there! These young kiddos are out here making me jealous for real. I still find it so amusing that Rossi, a child who had fled from actual demons before, is amazed by dinosaurs. I guess it would be interesting to see such creatures whether they're alive or not. As of this previous weekend I can say I finally rode one of those old style trains as well, but Phil is way more excited about the adventure than I could ever be. So glad this moment of his was sorta animated, though he wasn't bouncing in his seat as wildly as he is here.

Everyone has these grand experiences in mind for their wish and Norman is over here just vibing with his two favorite people. It's real definitely simple compared to everything else but with how often the trio was forcefully separated throughout the story I know how much he doesn't wanna feel that pain ever again.

While I love how excited Emma was upon seeing the giraffes, I'm certain her reaction was due to seeing these animals up close for the first time. Of course I'd be ecstatic if our girl would slowly gain back some of her memories over time, they choose to show us the anxieties she probably feels every day about whether or not she's really Emma deep down and if she should act like the girl her family loves so much or just be her new self.

Phil being that one good boy who chooses to focus on Emma and her sudden mood switch while she's battling herself in her head.

I wanna say "oh sweetheart, you're anything but alone," but I know her amnesia makes her feel as if she's isolated from her family by not being able to remember every detail about them, the experiences they shared, or her true feelings. She can imagine this giraffe wish would've made her old self happy, since everyone else's wishes brought such big smiles onto their faces, but that's because they all wished for these kinds of moment their entire lives. New Emma is hearing about this dream for the first time and has no clue on how to react to a wish that isn't truly her own. She's probably even feels a little scared that she won't come across as genuine about the idea and she doesn't wanna disappoint her family by not living up to their expectations of what the original Emma would've done in her situation now. It really breaks my little heart to see her doubt herself so much when she literally has the greatest family in the world who would accept her regardless of what she acts like or feels.

One might think that Emma yelled so loudly to try to convince herself and her family that she's really excited about this wish, but to her surprise, she's rewarded with beautiful laughs. Once they arrived, Emma asked if her dream was to see a giraffe but no one bothered to correct her about how original Emma always wanted to ride one instead. To see this Emma reach deep down into her heart and shout with such confidence about what she really wanted to do is perfect in every way, so little does she know that her reaction was exactly what her family expected of her and they couldn't be more delighted to hear such words come from her again.

I'm in love with her adorable, surprised face and how she's in complete awe to learn that perhaps she and the original Emma are more alike that she's realized.

Aahhh it thrills me to no end that this little joke from all the way back from the first chapter is exactly how this series ends. We're coming fill circle baby!

Favorite panel/moment:

Oh no way, Ray's wish as my favorite? Wow, who could've possibly guessed that? Not to show any dislike towards the Mona Lisa or anything, but I'm very glad the story chooses to show us the kids visiting the Sagrada Familia way better. The architecture of this damn thing is impressive and it's insane how it looks this breathtaking despite it not being completely finished yet.

More importantly, this smile of Ray's is the most precious and beautiful thing I've ever set my eyes on! He's probably filled with so much emotion just by standing in a place he never imagined himself to be. He believe he was gonna die a long time ago but now that all his trauma is behind him and he fought his way to freedom, he's so grateful he's alive to actually see this gorgeous structure actually in front of him and realize that all the hardships he fought through alongside his family was truly worth all the effort. This face of his has absolutely lived rent free in my head these past couple years.

BEST GIRL!! I am so incredibly happy and proud of you that you achieved your dreams!! Truly inspirational and she undoubtedly keeps her top spot as my favorite shonen protagonist.

And with all that, I can finally say: End of series.

Seriously though, thank y'all so much for reading through all this, whether you were here from the very start back in April or ya caught interest somewhere down the line, I appreciate every single one of you! I dunno exactly when these posts went from a couple short comments to full length chapter reviews, so I apologize for all my rambling since I honestly didn't intend to write out such long posts. I literally couldn't help it. The love I have for this series is as strong as ever and I'm very surprised that even after these last couple years I still somehow manage to learn or notice new stuff about this world and these characters. One of the many benefits to reading through this story at a slower pace I suppose, and wouldn't you know it? Today is the perfect day to experience it all over again from the beginning.

(Yes, having the project end today was 100% planned from the start.)

[themightymoose]

Okay, the thoughts of the chaotic trio are thoughting 2night. Cause I have this scenario that one day Russell is really frustrated. He had a long day being all responsible trying to organize everything and anything while also keeping an eye on the other six. Basically, he's all tired and not thinking straight, so when at the end of the day Pepper, Minka, and Vinnie with their perpetual cheeriness and joling atmosphere ask why he looks so sour and he tells them to which they reply that yeah, that does seem tiring and that they feel bad for him. Russell however in his frustration says something like "Oh yeah? No, you three would never understand! You don't work as hard as I do!". So Vinnie, Minka, and Pepper just look at each other and in their reply do kinda, but not quite, fully allude to the fact they they're working every day to keep everyone's spirits high and them happy. And Russell, again, in his frustration says that this is nowhere near as hard as what he does especially given that they're naturally like that. So they all make a deal, for the next day the chaos trio won't act like they normally do. Russell tells them to just not do whatever they do to keep the atmosphere light and cheery and they will survive. So that's exactly what happens.

Next day comes and Russell now free of his frustration has almost forgot about this whole silly deal, partly because he doesn't expect much to change. Because will Pepper, Vinnie, and Minka even be able to stop themselves from acting like that? It's in their personalities after all, come on! That is until he sees them along with Penny, Sunil, and Zoe. Pepper, Minka, and Vinnie... they're there too, but they genuinely don't do any of what normally defines them. There is no silliness, jokes, randomness, there is no chaos that usually follows them and for better or for worse affects the rest of them. They're not mean by any means, they're just kinda cold and calculated, talking in that monotone voice that doesn't fit any of them.

And everyone, especially Russell feels so off. And they don't stop, Pepper, Vinnie, and Minka act this way the entire day, just kinda doing nothing. It's so weird to see them this way for everyone but still, they'll survive, right? Well, they do survive, but not only does Russell and everyone else learn that without their antics it's just not the same but also... they can stop acting like that, which means being this chaotic, cheery bunch might not be as much in their genes as the others thought. Which also means to some point they force themselves to be this way.

Because come on, no one is naturally this happy and energetic on their own all the time, right? Takes a lot of care to be careless, huh?

>:) hehehehehe scrumptious chaos trio angst hehehehe

Yeah I do imagine Russell to have that kind of resentment towards them. It's not like he dislikes having them around and bouncing all over the place, quite the opposite actually. It's just the audacity of them to pretend to know anything about what he goes through on a daily basis, it seems insensitive to him. Of course when you're frustrated you say things you don't mean. Russell kind of notices how they all seem to flinch and get uncomfortable when he says all the optimism is natural, which he brushes off as him seeing things since he's extremely tired

The next day comes and the other four are extremely confused, usually those three do something silly, or y'know... chaotic. Now they're just quiet and not really making themselves known like usual. They do try to start up conversation with them, including Russell. He tries to chat with them but is surprised when he gets three nasty glares in return. Because from their point of view, Russell is acting like nothing happened and is just expecting them to act like nothing happened in an attempt to gaslight them

Yes they know Russell probably wouldn't do that, but it's hard to believe sometimes okay? All three of them grew up around emotionally abusive people and the things that Russell said hit a bit too close to home

Russell is later confronted by Zoe, Sunil, and Penny. They quickly debunk that Russell is the cause of those three being so withdrawn, and demand an explanation. He explains everything that went down yesterday and as he's repeating what he said, the guilt crushes him all at once. Why did he say those things??? God, he was so awful to them! They were only trying to help! Russell immediately tries to apologize to them, but they're having none of it.

First, Russell tries to go to Vinnie. Now, let me talk about his trauma response, it's all about how loud and aggressive you can be. You push; he pushes harder, that's how it's always been for him. So during Russell's apology (or attempt of, he did not plan it out. He wanted to talk to them immediately) Vinnie lashes out, he's screaming and breaking things and quickly kicks Russell out. Russell decides to go to Pepper next and give Vinnie some time to cool off before trying to approach him again

Now Pepper and Minka are kind of similar in a case where screaming is a massive trigger for them. So once Russell finds Pepper after that confrontation with Vinnie, Pepper is acting off more than she's been today. Pepper trauma response is just kind of freezing up, when she was a child she would get belittled and screamed at, so she learned to just take it, she'd just be standing there with a blank expression on her face. So Russell finds her on the couch, phone in hand, but she wasn't exactly looking at it. Pepper's staring straight ahead, hands shaking and sweat running down her forehead. Russell is very concerned when he sees this and tries reaching out, only to get zero reaction. A couple moments get by with Russell having no idea what to do until Pepper suddenly turns to him, it seems like she only just noticed she had company. But when she talks she stutters and says "I-Is it safe now?" which only confuses Russell more, but Pepper doesn't wait for a response before immediately leaving. Russell notices her movements are janky and awkward, he can tell she's having somewhat of an anxiety attack

Russell decides to talk to Minka now, he'll just talk to Pepper and Vinnie later, he gets the feeling that he's not exactly welcome at the moment. Now, Minka's trauma response is to make herself as small as possible and get out of sight. Basically her only thought right now is 'hide' but she doesn't get very far before Russell approaches her. Russell accidentally startles her by tapping her shoulder, and he is surprised by how hard she flinched. Russell tries to do his third apology of the day, and Minka stares at him for about five seconds before mumbling and saying that it's fine and she's probably just overreacting like usual. Russell can immediately tell that Minka is lying (obviously) and tells her that he can tell there's more going on and that she can talk to him, he won't be mad, he promises. Minka keeps denying that anything's wrong, which makes Russell push a tad bit more. He can obviously tell that Minka and Pepper are very shaken up by Vinnie's outburst. So Minka denies and Russell pushes, it gets to a point where they're both starting to get frustrated, which results in raised voices, the thing that caused this whole mess in the first place. Minka is about to leave, but Russell is still trying to talk to her and grabs her by the shoulder to stop her from leaving, a little too forcibly. Minka spins around and finally goes "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, DAD!?" And Minka notices she's crying and leaves before anything else could be said... or acknowledged

Russell stands there for a moment in utter shock, just wondering what the fuck just happened with a pinch of immense guilt. But that's when it hits Russell, all the reactions from those three... they were trauma responses. And Minka had blurted out 'dad' You see, the others knew they didn't have good childhoods, but that's basically it, they don't know anything else about what their lives were like, because they didn't want to pry. But Russell ends up putting two and two together. The usual happy-go-lucky ones of the friend group, some of the happiest people he ever met, his best friends... are victims of severe child abuse

And they didn't see Russell as himself. No. They saw him as their abusers