#I HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGISE FOR

[eleadore]

the thing is i'll die before using a britpicker but im also incredibly overconfident so you should prepare yourself to read "bollocks" and "boy howdy" in the same paragraph

[the-real-sasuke-uchiha]

Yeah, you committed genocide against my clan, manipulated my brother to make him kill our family, lied to me, made me fight him, labelled me a terrorist and put a bounty on my head, even tossed me in prison after I helped you win a war.

But I got angry and threatened to do a lot of things I didn't even do in the end. So I guess we both are at fault here. Yeah, sorry.

SORRY FOR NOT SETTING YOU ALL ON FIRE, YOU GENOCIDAL SCUM.

[gravematic]

Adam.

*grabs the tiny man and ties him to a tree*

You are NOT allowed to say stuff like that to Jonah. How dare you!?

WAUH-

Huh- Wait what'd I say again.. Kinda forgot.

-🎥🍎

[absolutefilthimsosorry]

I’m so normal and should definitely be trusted with photos and video like this wdym

[penelopecolinb]

it seems like some of you don't really understand the social implications in regency england for an unpopular debutante when her good friend who also happens to be one of the most eligible bachelors of the ton declares that she's not worthy of courting in her own damn garden after being seen taking multiple liberties with her.

it has nothing to do with the fact that he doesn't return her feelings. it has everything to do with how absolutely careless he was with her. even if he didnt realise he was leading her on, that's what he did. he made things harder for a woman who already had so little by her side. he used to be one of the reasons she could stand being part of the ton, but in that moment he instantly became just like one of her bullies. and obviously that breaks her until she becomes what we saw in the sneak peek for s3.

people will see how her friends treat her and think it's fine to mock her to her face. she is the embarrassment, the laughingstock and it was fine when she thought she had the bridgertons by her side. but now she knows what colin really thinks of her. he validated all the bullies she had, when she was mocked for her looks or her shyness. that is such a painful betrayal, especially when not TWO FUCKING SECONDS ago he claimed that she was special to him!!!!!!!

is that not worthy of grovelling?????? cuz i fucking think it is.

[keferon]

I'm a beginner artist and I love how you draw Swindle. Baby needs more love and attention. Sorry for blowing up your motifs by spam liking Ur posts (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠)

Ah thank you:3

But also, feel free to spam like all you want. I don’t really care about numbers, so I turned off notifs for likes and commentless reblogs. The only thing I see is when someone saying/adding something. Like replying or leaving funny tags or something like that.

[butch-pilot]

Butch Mechs Part 3: IPS-N Tortuga

I wish I had more detailed or nuanced explanations for these, but it's literally just because it's another big protective tank and I really want to pilot it. Imagine rocking up in one of these and blocking a hallway to prevent the enemy from approaching any further. If IPS-N Drake is a knight with a sword and shield, IPS-N Tortuga is a knight in a huge suit of armour with a two-handed sword as tall as they are.

[what-if-i-like-my-mechs-older]

(In which the the mystery mech and Orion bone in the bath. I would like to make a point that Mystery mech is not an OC.)

Optimus realised he couldn't quite remember where the bath was and now had his hands out trying to find it. After all, it wasn't as if he knew this place like the back of his hand. Stepping forward cautiously, he really didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the mech whose presence he could now feel watching him.

"Here, let me help you."

Orion accepted the hand that took his and guided him to the bath.

The mech made sure Optimus didn't slip as he settled into the warm oil , listening as he groaned, even the sounds of contentment wound through him, watching as Orion stretched and savoured the feeling.

"And what do you intend to do tonight?"

"I could do a myriad of things to you, but tonight, let me appreciate you, let me show your fears can be put to rest."

"Heh, what are you going to do? Feed me your spike despite my fangs?"

Orion chuckled, though he kept his battle mask closed.

"I could, I'd like to be the first Decepticon you do that to. "

The mech answered as he took up a sponge and started wiping in smooth languid movements across Orions chest windows.

"You'd be the first anyone I did that to, my carrier started filing my fangs down because I kept biting at the feeding cables...which is understandable I can only imagine how much that would hurt."

The Decepticon listened but he didn't sympathise with the carrier at all.

"Did they care how much it would hurt you?"

Orion was quiet, he'd never really thought about that.

"I...think they did, but it was something that had to be done, they thought the bloodline was far enough for traits to stop showing, but it simply skipped a generation."

He made a soft sound of appreciation as his headlights were touched, his smile behind the battle mask becoming a little more fond and the mech could tell by the slight squirm.

Of course he stopped washing him, he wanted to see him smile, the way those pretty lips expressed themselves.

He knocked with a careful knuckle on his mask

"Come on , open up, I want to see your expression."

"Say please."

The mech rolled his optics and huffed with a smile of his own.

"Please."

He replied working now on the headlights on the right side, his hands coming to a stand still as he could see Orions fangs peeking in that smile.

How could Optimus be ashamed of them?

He himself was fighting not to grab him and pull him forward in a reckless kiss, even if it marked his own lips, he revelled in the thought of how delightfully dangerous it would be to do such a thing.

Optimus started to fidget as the other mech had said nothing, maybe his visitor had realised his error and that they were a terrible thing to have, he closed his mouth and sucked his lips in too quick, not used to having his fangs made a hissing sound as energon trickled from the bottom one.

Oh , oh that was not helping the mech who was watching him at all, he didn't even hold back as he climbed into the bath, catching Orion off guard as his face was held, the spread of the mechs fingers along either side of his jaw and thumbs resting on his bottom lip as he straddled him.

"Please...let me see them."

He leaned in kissing away the energon trail.

"I want to see you Pax, all of you."

"Hey now, what happened to my sponge bath?"

Orion teased , only to genuinely be surprised when he felt the sponge return to his grill, attentively cleaning its edges and each layer of metal, his cheeks going dark.

"Primus...are you just acutely aware of others weak spots?"

"I've been highly observant, watching every reaction, every public display of affection, paying attention to the way you twitch, the way your intakes shutter...your left final is more sensitive to the other...you were injured on right once. It doesn't move as much."

Orions mouth hung open and the mech stared at those pretty fangs, he wanted Orion to bite him, to leave scratch marks, he wanted to be the only mech at the end of them, but he couldn't be greedy, if he let Orion mark him in obvious places, he couldn't be so readily in his presence without giving away who he was.

Perhaps his colours would be off putting , his face , his body type, after all they were from different universes, what one found attractive in their world might be highly undesirable in another, he was just happy Pax accepted him like this.

"Say something...your voice...last time when you had your face buried between my thighs, the deep growl..."

Orion bent his legs so his thighs pressed up against his mystery mech, setting him off balance and nearly landing flush against him, he caught the edge of the bath before that happened.

Their lips but a breath apart

"Your voice had me coming undone."

It was enough for the mech to close his optics and press their lips together and slowly coax Orion to part them so he could feel the sharpness against his tongue, one hand holding his face as his other reached down, opening the Autobots chest, remembering how much he'd enjoyed the way he'd fingered his insides.

Between finger tips he massaged head rests and seat backs, to the actual seating and the flooring of his cab, his thumb scratching along the dash board.

He devoured each moan and stole glances at those beautiful fangs that Orion had been made to feel like an outcast for, kissing against them.

"If you like my voice so much, then I'll make sure to talk to you, could you imagine, in a meeting, I call you privately, you're trying your best in an Autobot conference to keep a reserved appearance..."

He kissed him again as he teased over the floor pedals, knowing a well timed rev of his engines could have him whining like last time.

"And I tell you about all the things I plan to do to you once you come back, and Autobots and Decepticons being as taboo as you make it sound, it's dangerous for us to even be playing like that..."

He pressed a finger against the gas pedal just long enough to see Orion start to arch and his mouth open , exposing once again those gorgeous fangs.

His own panel opening as he shifted to straddle a thigh, smirking as he saw Orions expression.

"I'm sure you don't mind me having my own fun?"

He purred , his hips slowly rocking, doing exactly what he'd wanted to do to Orion when he'd seen him under the shower with Warp.

"Not at all."

Orion took a blind guess at where the mechs hips were and guessed right, giving them an affectionate squeeze, he'd not expected to feel them jerk and subtly pick up the pace.

Optimus could feel the mechs node caressing along his thigh and bit his bottom lip, careful not to tear his own mouth open.

"You'd call me and tell me you want my spike, that you want to take over and ruin me?"

"Mmm perhaps you are more observant than I give you credit for Pax...but you are right."

The mech chuckled

Pleasure and humor being shared between them as fingers explored.

Drinking in the sensation of him using his thigh to get off, feeling his node swelling and lick along white metal, Orion felt his own excitement pooling down below, wondering what it would be like to have him sit on his face so he could eat him out, however the panel that opened on his own body neither of them expected.

"I...err sorry wrong panel, I was just thinking how much I wanted you to sit on my face and..."

The mech moaned loudly just at the very fucking though of sitting on that pretty mouth .

"Oh I will one day if we are able to plan more of these future meetings mmm I will be more than happy to oblige your request and as I said, feed you my spike."

"To be on my knees and have you fuck my face, like the dirty filthy autobot that I am, that better be a promise."

The mech kissed him deeply, moving Orions hands from his hips , only to then move himself so he could grab the back of Orions thighs and lift his legs so his knees were by his head.

"I don't care what panel you open, so long as I get to cum with you."

Before Orion could even respond he felt his node meeting the mechs own, pressing himself to it as they moved together.

The mech had been clever putting him in this position, It meant he could be closer to him without Orion figuring out who he was, that he could kiss him as he placed Orions hands on his aft, there was nothing there to give him away as their hips rocked together, as they moved and found themselves incapable of stopping, the slick sensation under the oil that now waved and splashed as they moved , spilling over the edges.

The mech purposely catching his lip on a fang to share an energon kiss, their glossas tasting and mingling the unbridled passion.

Orion, wanted to claw at his back, but kept his hands where they were allowed, pressing them closer as if they could sink as one into each othes plating. His optics rolling under the blindfold, thinking how in his world him being with a Decepticon was practically illegal and forbidden and here he was valve fucking one who's face he didn't even know, but Primus it was so good, so intoxicating he could feel even in the hidden identity of the mech that this Con wanted to get under his plating and consume him.

He kissed along his neck and jaw, wanting to touch him in anyway he was allowed to, only to be brought back into a kiss that was shared.

Their bodies moving faster and faster until half the oil in the bath was flooding the floor.

He felt the Decepticons breath at his audio receptor, that deep growl rumbling through him

"I don't care mmmph who you sleep with, but you're mine and I'll never let them take you back."

The possessive tone was too much, his grip denting the mechs aft metal and leaving paint streaks, his node throbbing as he overloaded and he could feel the mech follow seconds after as he rode out his overload, fast and desperate until it was a slow tracing sensation , he could almost sense the wicked smile as he kept moving and pulling out soft pathetic whimpers from him.

"Hmm do you want me to do that again Orion?"

He whispered nipping his bottom lip.

"Please...yes..."

"Good Bot, you know your manners after all."

Previous

Next

First

[kkoct-ik]

I do apologize if this is an odd and/or rude question, but I am genuinely curious about this

...Do your tastes change depending on who is fronting? (the question is mostly regarding food)

GUYS! THIS GUY WAS ABUSED AS A CHILD! AND NOW HE CAN NEVER REMEMBER ANYTHING! HIS PERSONALITY AND SENSE OF SELF CAN SHIFT RAPIDLY! HE WALKS THROUGH LIFE FEELING LIKE A SPECTATOR AND HATES REMEMBERING HIS ANY ACTION BECAUSE THEY DONT FEEL LIKE HIS OWN! THATS SO COOL! CAN HIS ALTERS DO TRICKS?

[jayflying]

Screw it, does anyone wanna hear about the Life Series AU I've been working on for two years now? It's absurdly large. It threads Third Life, Last Life, Empires SMP season 1 and Hermitcraft seasons 8 and 9 into one storyline. It's surprisingly canon-compliant for how much it keeps diverging from canon.

Highlights:

Scott pushes someone into a pool and it inadvertently kills a lot of people.

Someone knowing how to crochet is a genuine plot point.

BigB knows too much but doesn't realize it.

"Did Double Life happen?" is a very complicated question.

Most of the eldritch horror happens on Hermitcraft of all places.

There is a single overarching villain throughout all of this.

Redstone is psychoactive. This is relevant multiple times.

Somehow every traumatic event happens to catch Impulse in the crossfire. Including the ones in Empires.

There's a serial fourth-wall breaker and I guarantee you it's not who you think.

Really, just, ask me anything and I will gladly share my hoard of headcanons.

[livetogether--diealone]

MATTEO BERRETTINI, wins the first match for Italy - DAVIS CUP 24

[sunnymothmoss]

Discussing OCD through the prisoners of Milgram

What if all the milgram characters had ocd? Besides jackalope. (and Es, but I might come back to them). These aren't serious headcanons this is just to explore the diversity of the disorder and potential scenarios.

Just to get some things straight for people who don't know much about ocd - ocd themes and the intrusive thoughts around them are EGODYSTONIC, meaning they go against everything the person actually wants and who they are as a person. This will be at the forefront of what I will be discussing here. Furthermore my experience of ocd has been primarily "Pure O" (internal compulsions) so I know less about more externally compulsive ocd presentations.

Haruka - trauma-based/real event/harm ocd. Going off the theory that the 'second child' was himself, this doesn't work otherwise. I truly believe that Haruka really didn't want to hurt anything anymore after his horror at his murder. I believe that event deeply traumatised him and he became terrified of himself. Now, theoretically, this could result in constant intrusive thoughts about hurting others, despite it now being the absolute opposite of what he wants, particularly animals and children. In this scenario, his avoidance of those things is a compulsion, his eventual ability to overcome his fear of Amane is the start of his recovery from this. However, he died so that didn't get very far.

I will clarify, I'm not an ocd expert but I do have personal experience with the disorder. And the trauma-based/real event/harm combo, in particular, was one of my two main themes, though for myself it was sh.

Yuno - I doubt Yuno has ocd but for the sake of this I could theoretically see an existential theme. Existential topics are definitely something that weigh on her mind a lot and doubt over existential questions (e.g am I really alive?) seem consistent with her character. However I don't think we really see her having anxiety or anything around these so likely not.

Fuuta - moral scrupulosity ocd. Someone has already discussed this an I agree with what they said. Shout out to @azuremist, that's where this idea came from (me impulsively saying give all the milgram characters ocd like I wanted to make milgram worse for them or something 😭)

Muu - I don't think Muu has ocd tbh and I'm struggling to think of an idea for a scenario that fits with canon where she could have? Though this may be more on the basis of her having low empathy and my experience of ocd being empathy-based? People with low-empathy can have ocd but it looks different so I know less about it. This is not at all a judgement against people with low empathy btw! I am part of the autistic community and likely have a personality disorder so I know and understand a lot of people with low empathy (cognitive/emotional or both).

Shidou - ah 100%, someone else has also already discussed this. I think moral/harm ocd as well though. @vividstardustrevolution has written a theory post about it which was very thorough in analysis and I don't really have anything to add though idk if its on tumblr. Shidou is actually a character I really relate to

Mahiru - okay let's use our brain sunny. Relationship ocd - cheaters are who she hates the most, hence intrusive thoughts about cheating. I could definitely see that. Alongside her likely having bpd it would add to the intensity of her anxiety her relationship. The constant checking and calling could have doubled as compulsions to reassure herself that she still loves him and everything's okay between them.

Kazui - this is a hard one because he has a lot of irrational guilt but that's likely over internalised homophobia, it's seen that he does actually have a desire and genuine attraction towards men, he enjoys it, just feels that he shouldn't - so he can't have sexual orientation ocd. I also think due to the fact that he genuinely didn't love Hinako romantically, he didn't have relationship ocd. Unrelated to his main struggles, he definitely has excessive feelings of responsibility but I feel that that's more due to the situation he's in. Conclusion: I can't think of a way Kazui can have ocd, hell maybe he has somatic ocd or something who knows.

Amane - trauma-based/religious ocd. Almost self-explanatory. I think it's perfectly plausible that Amane experiences obsessive religious intrusive thoughts about 'sinning' and has to perform compulsions, maybe even continuing the abusive punishments her parents subjected her to or just simply praying, to in her mind, neutralise these thoughts.

Mikoto - again I don't know, don't really think Mikoto or John have ocd. Mikoto maybe? But I don't know what theme. EDIT - thank you @bravadoting for helping me come up with this idea: Mikoto somatic ocd headcanons fr. Because Mikoto is so hyperaware of how others percieve him he is constantly worrying about people noticing the tiniest noises and movements he makes. He worries about whether not being able to stop noticing his blinking or mouth noises will get in the way of his productivity or whether he is unprofessional for having to go to the loo often to make sure his bladders empty. He gets anxious when talking to his boss that he's blinking too much/too little, getting muscle twitches/tics in the 'wrong' body parts or making too loud mouth noises and that those things will be seen as unprofessional or creepy. He worries he'll get fired because he's not moving right. This extends to his interactions with everyone but his symptoms were most severe when he was at work/trying to do work due to the stress. John starts fronting whenever this becomes too overwhelming for Mikoto and has to mask as him to cover the rest of the situation.

Kotoko - yeah possibly? Stick with me here guys. Kotoko has very strong, if pretty skewed due to black and white thinking, moral convictions. She believes with all her heart that the bad guys should die but evidently has some deep seated self hatred towards herself as well (she views everyone as victim or monster and constantly reminds us she is apparently not a victim). Anyway I think Kotoko could totally have a taboo ocd theme or any moral related theme (tho not anything related to physical violence as we see she has no problem with that and probably not pocd as she doesn't seem scared of kids at all/doesn't avoid them). I just feel it'd make sense given she probably spends a lot of time thinking about how evil and unforgivable some people are then her brain responds to that with intrusive thoughts, worrying she could be like them (istg this happens to me whenever my annoying ocd brain comments about something being unthinkable, honestly at this point I've had intrusive thoughts about every 'unthinkable' thing) which further motivates her vigilantism because she feels she needs to prove to herself that she's not evil.

[six-white-venus]

the worst trait of me and my family is probably this: we never learned to say the word sorry.

i) my best friend and i, we are no people. knives? maybe. liars? definitely. but people? i’m not so sure.

knives were never forged to be tender (what a shame, what a shame) and we too, fall and slay what we meant to protect. him and i, we go for the throat when we clash. we hurt and bleed and oh, i should be terrified, i should be running for my life, but all i am is tired and a bit lonely and would really like his arms around me.

( “can we please stop fighting now.”

“oh god yes please.”)

because time and time again, this man has held my heart in his hands and cleaned its festering wounds with cotton dipped in alcohol (always the healer, always the lover) and wrapped gauze around them with clinical precision. and i have walked through the maze of his head and tended to his withering garden, have dragged the sun and fresh air and all the oceans to the barren land to make it bloom (always the poet, always the lover).

him and i, we have never needed words because we are knives forged in the same fire and at the end of the day, we both know that he will be the one who wordlessly stitches my broken heart and i will be the one who sings him to sleep.

ii) let me paint you a picture:

blue that fades into red that fades into black that fades into blue that fades into red. loud, clashing and nonsensical. a pit in your stomach that was dug with desperation and blunt fingernails. how do you colour anger that is also pain, grief, hate, love, fear and truth? the smell of the paint is foul and clogs your windpipes. blunt fingernails and blue and black and madness. can you bear to look at what you created without flinching?

that’s what anger looks like on my father. a horror. a mottled bruise. a hellfire.

all his life, my father has been scorned, belittled, beaten, spat on. his mother didn’t love him right because her mother didn’t love her right. my dad loves like he hates. something is fucked in his head and heart and his words fade into black and blue and red and this shitshow always ends with me sobbing, bleeding, dying on the floor. my father watches with his hackles raised and his eyes red and wide and glowing. once wounded, an animal never sheathes its claws. it strikes the ones it loves and walks away with its head held high and hands trembling.

but here’s what happens when the curtains close: he pulls me into his arms and brings me tea. he wipes away my tears with hands that has moved mountains to make me smile. he kisses my forehead and tells me that his mom didn’t love him right. my grief is like anger and indignation and love. i wrap my arms around him and cry all the tears he never had the luxury to. who should say sorry, really? is it him or his mom or his mom’s mom or this stupid fucking world? my father has never said the word sorry. he never needed to. this is what love looks like on us. a horror. a mottled bruise. a hellfire.

iii) despite it all, i am not usually an angry person. i take after my father and my mother, after all. i rage like my mother (quick, loud, fire that burns out almost as quickly as it sparked to life) and fight like my father (aim, shoot, bullseye). my sister does something even mildly upsetting and before i know it, i’m cursing her to be miserable till she dies. not even an hour later i’m draping myself over her shoulder and bugging her till she rolls her eyes and smiles ever so slightly.

(“do you have no shame?”

“yeah no i don’t think so.”)

my family and i, we never learned to say the word sorry. because the word sorry never meant sorry, not to us. because at the end of the day, that’s all it is: a word. and it sticks to the back of my tongue and the dents of my molars and gets tangled in my mouth when i try to spit it out. so i grab it by its throat and thread it into my being. i find it so much easier to hide my pathetic inability to do one thing that doesn’t scream that there's something wrong with me with the truth of another three words:

“i love you”

and they are always echoed back to me, just a few million times more tender, in ways only we can understand.

“yeah, i know.”

“that’s great, but there’s no escaping dishes duty.”

“oh, shut up, you.”

“what’s that for?”

a pause and a hum.

“i love you too.”

[snakesandstone]

all aboard the toxic yuri train or something

Tbi Loki is so fucking funny actually imagine being in the midgardian rebellion and one day completely out of the blue the tyrannical dictators lead engineer who she's at least vaguely homoerotic with shows up on your doorstep like "hi can i join you i need to blow up a train <3"

[kalevalaknights]

How do u answer so many asks with art so quickly (ToT) i have like 8 for yellow-hollow that have been there for months bc i put too much pressure on answering them (;_;)...tell me your ways

I can’t lie I really do feel for you. I’ve been taking my little breaks of course.. it’s a lot to start unlearning. The main reason I’ve started to post is so that I don’t judge myself too harshly, and I hope others can learn the same. There will always be someone on the planet that loves what you do.

With valentines asks I made most of them quick and simple by just being an above shoulder doodle. I can smash them out without worrying much.

You may notice with a lot of my art I don’t exactly take the time to erase all my mistakes / guidelines, my sketches are usually pretty quick. I don’t do line art, I have one layer, and if it looks good after a little bit of tidying up it’s what I consider finished at the moment.

I don’t pressure myself to make things “perfect” and “finished” exactly. Things don’t have to be perfect to be enjoyable and I try to keep that in mind.

Sometimes I get down about how my art looks rough and “unfinished” but then I remember I’m the only one making the art the way that I am. I am in my own lane, it has never been a contest.

I’ve always been a pencil and paper artist but since I’ve gotten an ipad and a stylus it’s always been the same process. Colouring is just a quick dash or two since I personally prefer doing black and white stuff.

If I ever feel doubtful of what I make I step back and listen to some good music. If I’m not feeling inspired or nothing looks good then I leave it for the next day. Sometimes things look better when you give it a day and a second take.

I wish I had something more meaningful and wisdomly to share, but keep in mind asks are optional. The deadlines are not real. Nobody expects you to be on time. Better late than never. Time’s a construct. And most importantly: if you’re not having fun with it, it may not be the right time to tackle it just yet. If you do not feel good about yourself, you will not feel good about what you create.

Take care of yourself 💚

[sillygoofyqueer]

I'm doing a second post of the mad scientist AU today because I have a headache and I'm certain that thinking too hard about the lore will help it!! Okay so now that they're finally OUT of the cave, I think I can finally talk about how Wen Qing and Wen Ning fit into this AU. YAAAYYY YIPPEE YAY!!! Okay anyway, obviously Wei Ying is dropped into the Wen ranks pretty early on in his life (six years old) and both of Wen Ruohan's sons are both older than him - as much as Wen Chao acts like a younger sibling, he is around one to two years older than Wei Ying. While that would usually classify as good playmate age, this is Wen Chao before he's realised that Wen Ruohan gives attention to Wei Ying - he's going to be a dick. But it's fine, Wen Ruohan has a nephew who is just the right age to hang out with Wei Ying!! Cue six year old Wen Ning being placed down in front of him and looking like he's going to burst into tears at the slightest hint of anything bad happening.

Wei Ying may be six years old but he still has memories of his papa telling him how to approach wild animals so he ignores all of that and goes "hi!!! I'm Wei Ying!! Let's go exploring," not giving Wen Ning a chance to even react before he's being dragged along through the palace. Wen Ning is just staring at this kid as he's handed different rocks when they get into the gardens, unsure of how to react to someone who doesn't mock and laugh at his timidness. Of course, they have a few more of these meetings with Wen Ning being hesitant and skittish, Wei Ying completely crashing through the air of tension to yapper on about whatever catches his fancy in the moment, not requiring Wen Ning to speak but still waiting patiently and nodding along if he does so happen to feel comfortable enough to try and stutter through a quiet response to a question.

During one of these meetings, they bump into other Wen juniors, who of course take the opportunity to try and assert dominance over the newbie picked up by Wen-Zongzhu by mocking the weak link, Wen Ning. Unlike Wen Ning, who curls in on himself naturally and avoids eye contact, Wei Ying fucking lunges at the closest junior. His mama and baba always told him to stick up for the ones he cares about (and also how to fight dirty because nobody expects a child to be able to fight, let alone fight dirty), and he cares about the timid, quiet kid that he hangs out with all the time! Later on, after he has been torn off the juniors with a busted lip, a broken nose and a black eye - holding his ground quite well considering it was like five against one - he meets Wen Qing, a stern twelve year old (yes six years age difference because if I'm not being given an estimated age I'll do what I WANT) who attacks him with medical supplies and a flurry of questions.

Now, Wen Qing was not told about Wei Ying and Wen Ning hanging out, Wen Ruohan not saying anything because he didn't find it necessary and Wen Ning because he thought that Wen Qing already knew anyway. So, when she asks this tiny child why he attacked children older than him and he says "well they were bullying my friend because he's shy so I had to stop them!" There's only one kid that's bullied a lot for being shy, and Wen Qing is now far more interested in what Wei Ying has to say, letting him start yapping about Wen Ning and how silly but kind he is without even speaking all that much (or, ever really). She asks if he's bothered about that, and he goes "nuh uh, mama and baba always said that some people just have different word limits every day, and they like to save their words for important things!" It is possible that Wen Qing has gained a new little brother as she rubs ointment into his skin, telling him not to brawl with the other kids again and just to tell her if they bother him and Wen Ning. She'll deal with them.

So, Wei Ying grows up with the Wen siblings as companions. While Wen Ning and Wen Qing are well aware of the outside world and how the clans really are, they are being threatened into silence by Wen Ruohan because obviously he's going to threaten these kids, they're not ruining his pet project. Every time Wei Ying starts to talk about the other clans, they divert the topic instead of straight up lying to him because they don't want to lie to him if they can avoid it! With a bright, social boy leading him around, it only makes sense for Wen Ning to get at least a little more social and confident as they grow up together. Plus, when Wei Ying starts his experiments, Wen Qing sort of has to be around both to 'assist with the biology of it all' and to make sure that Wei Ying isn't being too negatively impacted by the resentful energy (this is a secret venture, and not one that goes very well when he starts secreting himself away after the first death by his hands).

When Xue Yang comes into the equation, the Wen siblings are wary. This kid is definitely strange and almost immediately starts enabling Wei Ying's terrible self care habits and is the only one allowed to be in the boy's experiment space/personal quarters anymore, which is frustrating when all one is trying to do is make him sleep. However, they've also seen how he devours food quickly, as though trying to eat it before it is snatched away from him (and how he throws it all up later and stubbornly refuses help). They've been in the room when he takes short naps like a cat, jolting himself awake with the first sudden sound in his vicinity. They've seen how desperately loyal he is to Wei Ying, how he bristles at anything negative said about the boy and clings to him for comfort in rare moments of vulnerability. It's possible to feel sympathetic and wary at the same time, even if it becomes harder to be wary with every subtle bit of trust they hand over to each other whenever it needs to be given. He soon becomes part of the group, even helping with Wen Ning's confidence (even if it's just to ward off against his strange insults/teasing).