#the thing about having an exuberant attention seeking exceptionally gifted younger sibling

[yellowhollyhock]

Cuz Mikey has a quirky way of speaking confuses me sometimes. What I mean is it’s hard to tell if he’s just be endearing or mean about something lol

oh yeah that's fair. Personally I see him as rarely being deliberately mean, more that he's trying to be endearing and sometimes takes the joke too far or doesn't think about someone's particular sensitivities. Might seem like that shouldn't be cuz he's so often very good at being sweet and very smart with people, but he's also 15 and extremely sheltered

Thinking about when he stepped into April's shop during a fight all pleased with himself, wanting to say hi, and then when she freaked about him bringing a fight into her shop (fair) he hits himself (his bros aren't there to do it)

halfway relevant personal story, as the oldest of the young siblings I always sat in the back with the three Crazy Ones on roadtrips. They would take something from me while I was looking out the window and wait for me to notice. Make jokes about the car falling off the mountain because I'm really scared of heights. Sing directly in my ear and dance practically in my lap and then tattle on me for being a stick in the mud about the music. Were they being mean and annoying? Yeah. Were they being sweet and trying to bond with me since I was often distant and they were excited for me to be literally stuck with them? Also yes. I get it, I'm a younger sibling too. Sometimes reminding your moody teenage older sib that you are a little menace with many jokes and they are both Unimpeachable and Highly Pokeable in your eyes is how you express your love. But also your annoyance that they aren't paying attention to you. But also your concern about what they're going through cuz you're a kid and you don't understand hormones. idk children don't know how to communicate yet, sibling relationships are complicated

I guess what I'm saying is some of my fondest memories are of my siblings being jerks. And we had to do some work to get there, kind words go a long way to make hard memories sweet, time passing helps a lot. I would give up a lot for them to be (relatively) care free kids playing pranks on me again