roommates would be amazing! same deal really, basic lydia background! parents divorced when she was young and she lived with her mother and grandmother until she passed, which hit her hard since she was closer to her grandmother, then she kind of shut down and went ice queen because feelings are hard. she realized pretty young that "pretty and dumb" unfortunately made her more friends than "smart and opinionated" so that took over too. but by high school she realized she wasn't happy having to put on an act anymore, since it was permeating into multiple areas of her life. it was attracting the wrong kind of people to her both romantically and for friendships, and she kind of just got tired of having to put on a show especially for people who didn't even treat her well. she threw herself into books to distract herself from the realization finally being herself was the most vulnerable she'd allowed herself to be in years, and kept people at arm's length because, you know, people rejecting the fake you is whatever. the potential people could for the first time reject her actually was horrifying. she has gotten better with age and finally finding good people who appreciate her as she is, but she was a tough cookie to crack for a while there. i'm pretty sure i'm keeping that she went to mit? but beyond the years she was in college, she's been in nyc her whole life!