1. Some of them talked me out of suicide. They didn’t judge me or tell me “grow up, you crying miserable b***” they just listened, talked with me for a long time, related to me with their own things, and didn’t make me feel guilty or like I’d done something bad by letting my emotions out. They were genuinely concerned for me and were almost like friends.

  2. When I was being harassed, they either dealt with them or offered me support/advice on what to do, and offered me encouragement, even if I was crying.

  3. Most of my friends at school were from this scene, and they were genuinely kind, loyal, and very funny people.

  4. One time I lost my purse and was freaking out. I was already having a bad day and some man who belonged to said subculture comes out of nowhere and finds it for me. Again, even though I was crying, he didn’t judge me or insult me over it.

When I’m feeling depressed, I look up videos, posts, etc about the subculture, and it makes me feel comforted. Relived this subculture that’s so sentimental to me is still going. Comforted, but also there’s this bittersweet feeling, because I think none of those people I knew before are with me right now, I either lost contact with them or the men who talked me out of suicide don’t hang out in the spot they hung out in anymore. Aside from therapists, they’re the only other group of people I feel comfortable about opening up to. I bottle up my emotions normally. I feel like if this subculture died out tomorrow my world would feel a lot colder.