I think Dallas, especially when he first met the Curtis’s didn’t understand he was aloud to communicate HIS needs.
He was hungry? He wouldn’t say anything until he was on the verge of fainting. He was in pain? You wouldn’t hear about it until he was bawling on the floor.
That’s why when someone would just grab food out of a cupboard, or use the bathroom without asking first, he was shocked.
Because he realized that having needs didn’t make him any less loveable.
Oh 100%
Dallas grew up very independently. He was severely neglected by basically everyone in his life, so he learned that his needs or wants just didn't matter. No one was going to listen to him or take care of him, so he learned to tuck away all his feelings and not to ask for anything.
If he was hungry? He could figure it out. He learned how to decide between whether sickness or hunger was better when digging through the trash for food. He taught himself to cook, to budget, to stretch when he needed to.
If he was in pain? He could ignore it, work his way through it. If need be, he knows basic first aid, and it wouldn't be the first time he had to do his own stitches.
Also imagine his relationship with authority figures, especially parents. He knows how violent they can be, and the pain they can cause, so he interacted with the Curtis parents as little as possible at the start.
Watching the rest of the gang interact with them so casually, and take up space in their house without apology was SO weird for him. Even Steve and Johnny—the shyest of the gang and people Dallas looked to as kind of kindred spirits—were comfortable and even close to the Curtis parents.
Steve especially was extremely close to Mr Curtis (TRUST Dallas made assumptions about that).
It took a lot of coaxing from Mrs Curtis for Dallas to inch his way out of his comfort zone and start to actually voice his needs and feelings.
The first time he let her patch him up after a fight was a huge milestone for him. Then there was the first time he admitted he hadn't eaten in awhile, and he was immediately taken care of.
And the first time he cried around her?? Bro that was everything!!
Your au Jax can't speak or show much emotion right? So are there any sort of traits, from post abstraction, she still has?
She still tries to play pranks, sort of. She sneaks up on the others, not really to scare them, but because she often just wants something. They're all used to it by now - (TADC escape AU)
ok HEAR ME OUT Dally and Buck who both have struggled with depression since age 14 (I headcanon Buck as around 25 ish when Dally is 17) and just have super fucking weird ways to deal with it. Like cooking at 1am and sitting on the floor and jsut things liek that idk this is a half baked idea and also to add in Tally bc I love Tally when tim comes over he's like what the fuck? and Buck is like we're mentally ill do you want a pancake or not? (they also call depression the horrs bc it's the only way they'll admit when they're getting bad again) and also SH scars
TW// Talk of self-harm
I 100% believe that Buck and Dally have lived similar lives and have a lot of similar behaviors and coping mechanisms. In fact, I think Buck has sort of trained Dally out of his more harmful coping mechanisms and into the really weird ones that Buck has.
No matter what age, Buck is a disaster who can't cope for shit, but what he can do is make some mean ass French Toast.
He'll be up at like 2 am clanging around the kitchen because his insomnia is bad, and Dally will come down after having a nightmare and they'll just watch a western while they eat.
Dally has 100% laid down on the bathroom or kitchen floor for hours at a time, and now Buck mops regularly because he doesn't want the kid to get sick.
Tim will walk in to see them both on the floor just staring at the ceiling and he won't even react because he's so used to it by now.
Neither of them will EVER admit when they're getting bad again, but what Dallas will do is ask for French Toast when he's having a rough time, OR he'll make it his damn self if it's Buck that's going through it.
I think their seasonal depression syncs up kinda like their periods and now they're just experiencing the horrors together, but it feels better when there's someone to suffer with you.
Tim spends so much time checking up on them, bringing them food, and yelling at them both to wash up once in a while.
Barkovitch playing volleyball is very near and dear to my heart. He would be good solely because of the fact he puts all his rage into spiking and serving.
As promised here are my headcanons/ thoughts about Mickey Milkovich having PTSD:
TW: PTSD, Abuse, SA, brief mention of sex
Before I begin this I’d like to say I am NOT a psychologist, I have gathered this information through research and i apologize if i say something in an incorrect way.
This is also not completely canon compliant.
Mickey most definitely has CPTSD, nothing can change my mind on that. Having a childhood/ life like his it’s impossible not to have some sort of trauma.
These are some parts of his PTSD the manifest in the more obvious ways:
Always panicking for a sec when he wakes up (he often flinches and sits up quickly when woken up)
He’s very hyper vigilant and is always looking around
He also reacts quickly to loud noises
He is canonically very scared to be a father, even worried he’d hit Yevgeny
He gets defensive quickly, using anger as a defense
And here are some less obvious ways it affects him (less canon compliant):
He does not believe he deserves Ian
Not anymore but when he was a lot younger he would freeze up and it always made him feel so weak
Because of people’s comments but especially after Svetlana he always felt dirty, no matter how clean he was
He doesn’t cry often,almost never but when he does he CRIES and it lasts for hours, even if it was over something small
He likely didn’t know it himself but part of the reason he cried when his dad died was because deep down all he wanted was his dad’s love, and now it was impossible to get it.
Not usually, but in certain situations he genuinely believes it was his fault
Developed OCD, always making sure the doors and windows are locked, the stoves off, the kettles off, etc
He has nightmares a lot but learns to hide them really well
For a long time he never tells anyone he’s struggling because he thinks he’s: A. Not worth the hassle, and B. He thinks people already JUST tolerate him, so if he bugs them they’ll start to hate him.
I don’t think he ever goes to therapy, Atleast not for a VERY long time. But Ian (mainly in the future) does his absolute best to help him in small ways:
Tries not to touch Mickey to wake him up, just calls his name until he starts stirring
If he’s completely out Ian will lightly swipe his thumb over mickeys knuckles while calling his name
( I saw this headcanon somewhere but I can’t remember for the life of me) Ian always holds Mickeys hand while they’re having sex, especially if Ian’s riding him because that specific position always reminds him of when he was SA’d
Ian pretty much always lets Mickey initiate physical touch, and if Ian’s initiating he makes sure Mickey knows so he doesn’t startle him
Anyways those are my thoughts, they are also not proofread so my bad for any mistakes.
We do not have enough people talking about how Mickey most DEFINITELY has some sort of ptsd. I will be sharing my thoughts tomorrow when in full awake.
