#manny's many obsessions

[jazziejax]

𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲

𝐌𝐬.𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥

Pairings- Black!OC x Abbott Elementary Cast, later Black!OC x Manny (Can be read as x Reader though!)

Summary- Pilot Episode Experience with Naoya Lovel

Warnings- Swearing, kids, mixed race reader( those aren’t warnings really, just what to expect)

Jazzie’sNotes!- let me know what you guys think!! I’ve been really obsessed with Abbott Elementary recently and I’m contemplating if I want to write S1&S2 just to get to the Manny season. I want to get there fast but I know what won’t be possible with two seasons worth of writing. Let me know what you guys think I should do.

Word Count- 6,358

“Okay, so you wouldn't put the number on the bottom because that's what?” The older woman asked, drawing out her words as she stood in front of her fourth-grade class, pointing at the whiteboard behind her with her yardstick.

“The denominator.” The class answered.

“Correct, and what do we call the one on top?”

“The numerator.”

“Yes! You guys are killing this lesson.” She smiled as she placed her hands on her hips. She caught the camera crew in the corner of her eyes and then turned to them. “Or should I say I’m killing this lesson?” She smirked, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she posed. It was silent for a moment as they all watched her just smile.

“Wouldn’t you agree?” She’s asked, looking at one of the guys behind the camera. He nodded, moving the camera along with him, causing her to smile and adjust her glasses. “Why, thank you.”

“Hello! My name is Naoya Lovel. Pronounced Now-Ya, it’s Japanese because I’m half Japanese. Don’t ask why I’m half Japanese in Philly, it’s a long story.” She sighed as she shook her head.

“Well, actually, let me tell you the story because it’s actually kind of crazy.” She chuckled, starting to explain, but it then cut to another clip of her in the class.

“Ms.Lovel, we ran out of paper towels.” A student said, standing in front of her desk with paint on the palms of his hands. Noaya looked up, at him, a slight frown on her face. “Ohh, okay, well I have some in my desk.” She started, pulling open her desk drawer. The camera angled down to catch the empty towel box staring back at her. She smirked up at them awkwardly and shrugged her shoulders. “What, I have a constant runny nose.”

“As a teacher, you teach kids how to solve problems while solving your own. In your personal life and at school. And in this school, there are a lot.”

“Ms.Lovel, I need paper towels too.” Another student said, showing her blue and pink palms to her teacher. Noaya then stood from her seat, looking around her room. “Okay, okay class. Give me one sec.” She said, nervously looking around her room to solve her paper towel problem. She the. Saw a stray beach towel near the window on her small bookshelf. “Oh! Here we are, guys.” She said, rushing over to the towel and snatching it up.

“This could be a lesson too.” She smiled excitedly and grabbed a pair of large scissors from her desk. “I probably shouldn’t have these just sitting out.” She mumbled to herself, giving the camera a sideways glance. “So class, this is going to be a hands-on moment. If there are almost thirty of you, how many pieces would I need to cut this into for you guys to share?” She asked, looking at all of them. There was a moment before anyone said anything, the kids thinking over their answer. Then, some of their hands shot up. Naoya flashed the cameras behind her a quick smile before turning back to the kids.

“Noaya, Jacob, and I came in last year with 20 other teachers. We’re three of the four left so…trauma bonding, I guess?” Janine said, in regards to the other girl.

“Yeah, I taught for two years before I got here, I transferred from Addington to here because those people are a bunch of stuck-up freaks who are just in it for a little extra on their check.” She said with a smirk. “And that’s not what I’m here for, I’m here to change lives.” She boated, folding her arms.



“Hey, Melissa, can you please tell “Ta-Nehisi Quotes” here that “white boy” is a term of endearment from the corner store people?” Janie said as she walked into the break room on the second floor.

“Ooh, cheese steaks?” Naoya questioned as she looked up from her papers, knowing the full situation after only hearing the words ‘white boy’ and ‘corner store’.”

“For Zach Ertz, yeah.” Melissa started, turning around with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands. “For him. It’s an insult.” She smirked, then paused at the sight of the cameras in her face.

“Well, you guys, I need a new rug. Mine is officially done.” Janie said.” Coming take a seat right next to the working woman.

“Mhmm! Me too.” Jacob started, taking a seat on the other side of her. “I shook mine out and all the asthma kids had to go to the nurse's office.” This conversation caused her to raise her head, placing her work aside and adjusting her glasses as she listened.

“Yeah, mine’s busted.” Melissa started. “And you can’t class up a rug like you can a couch with a nice coat of plastic.”

“You guys have rugs? All we have is a little mat.” Naoya started, looking between all of them. They all cringed at her words, but couldn’t say more before someone’s loud voice cut through the air.

“Hey-yo! What it does, baby-boo?” Ava yelled as she walked into the break room and over to where they were sitting. “What yall think about this little film crew I bought in here.”

“Distracting makes our jobs harder,” Melissa said disinterestedly, shooting the crew a glare.

“I wish I would have known this was going to be a video thing, I would have made myself look better,” Naoya mumbled, causing the camera to turn her way. She smiled, making her face appear happier than usual.

“But exciting. We about to be on TV.” Ava said, looking between them all.

“Because they are covering underfunded, loosely managed, public schools in America.” Barbra interrupted in a matter-of-fact tone.

“No press is bad press, Barb.” Ava practically disregarded the woman’s claim, continuing to smile at the camera. “Look at Mel Gibson. Still thriving.” She laughed. “ “Daddy’s Home 2”? Hilarious!” She looked around the room, either expecting people to laugh with or or just so confined in her large ego that she didn’t care if they laughed or not.

“Ava’s the worst person I know,” Noaya stated. “I’ve never seen her show an ounce of care about anything other than money. Which is a terrible mindset to have as a principal because you’re literally in the brokeest position of power.”

“There you are.” Ms.Schwartz sighed as she rushed into the room, spotting Ava. “Ava, can I talk to you?” The woman was out of breath as she stood before the principal, and her attire was disheveled. “I-I need an aid. I’m outnumbered there. The kids are crazy.” She ranted this wild look in her eyes. “One of the kids told me to ‘mind my six’ this morning, I don’t know what that means! I need help!” She ranted. Ava placed and hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down.” The darker woman said, cutting Ms. Schwartz off. “They’re just kids. And, besides, aids cost money, and we don’t have that.” She said before flashing a quick smile at the cameras. “Right, but I just—” Ms. Schwartz started again.

“Do you want to split your salary with somebody else?” Ava asked, leaning closer and angling both of them away from the cameras.

“No.” The other woman said dejected.

“No!” Ava cut her off before she could continue to rant. “No, I didn’t think so.”

“Well, if we can’t get aides, maybe we can get new rugs?” Janine chimed up, standing from her seat.

“All I’m hearing is “new, new, new, need, need, need,” Ava answered. “And yet, Barb, one of our best and most senior teachers here.” She continued, walking over to the older woman who sat at the table with Melissa and drank her coffee. “She never complains. What is your secret, Barb?”

“Knowing there’s not much you can do, Ava.” The woman said with a sarcastic smile. But Ava didn’t care to hear her condescending tone.

“So understanding.” The principal smiled, looking around the room. “Be like Ms.Howard, people.” That was all she said before she left the room.

Noaya shook her head as she started to collect her things, knowing the bell would be ringing anytime soon.

“But, I’m not Ms.Howard.” Ms.Schwartz cried from where she stood.

“Ohh, Tina, look.” Janine started, walking over to the stressed woman. “Try some counting exercises, between one and forty the kids start to quiet down.” The other woman gave a slight nod before she exited the room, still in obvious distress. “You, know, a little support might help make things happen, ladies,” Janie said, turning around to face the older two women in the room.

“My support was gonna do about as much as that five-year-old bra you’ve got on right there,” Barbra said as she pushed in her chair. The camera then cuts to Naoya staring at the camera, her jaw clenched. Janine looked down at her chest for a slip second, before covering it up with her sweater and deciding to ignore the woman’s bra statement. “Hey, it’s not impossible to get things. Melissa asked for those new toy cash registers for her classroom and got them.”

“Yeah, those aren’t toys.” The Italian woman stared as she put on her coat. “I know a guy who wired a Walmart demolition. I got a guy for everything. I know a guy right now working on the stadium build. Need rebar?” She asked, looking around the room.

Noya just shook her head.

“No,” Janine answered.

“Melissa is resourceful, capable.” Ms. Howard started, looking between all the younger teachers. Naoya’shead jerked back at what she was insinuating but before she could say anything, Janine placed a hand on her shoulder and started talking.

“Well, I think the younger teachers are capable.”

“Really? Then why is it that Ms.Schwartz’s hair is falling out? Why does Jacob here need a smoking break every five minutes?” The woman sassed, gesturing over to the male beside her.

“I switched to an herbal vape.” He tried to defend himself.

“And why can’t any of you stick it out longer than two years? More turnovers than a bakery.” She hissed before her and Melissa walked out of the door. Once it shut behind them, Naoya turned to her friends beside her.

“I almost lose my job every day dealing with the people here.” She shook her head, resting her butt on the table behind her, the other two following suit.

“You know what? Hell, I think we should still try for rugs.” Jacob’s said.

“Yeah.” Janine agreed.

“You know, before I taught here, I was in Zimbabwe.” Jacob started, causing Noaya to stand up completely and begin to walk to the door. “I was going Teachers Without Boarders, and what I learned—.”

“Jacob.” Noaya cut in, turning to face the two of them. “What did we say you about, like, not talking about your time in Africa?” She said, gesturing between her and Janine. The boy stuttered, trying to come up with an appropriate answer.

“We told you to stop. Yeah, it’s weird.” Janine finished, looking over at the male.

“I have an immense amount of respect for my elders, including the ones I work with.” Naoya smiled at the cameras. “But Mrs.Howard has a smart mouth on her. A mouth that has never been directed at me.” She continued to smile, although strained, and raised her hands in mock defense. “But the day it is the day I got to prison.” And although she was finished, she was cut off by the sound of quick hurried footsteps making their way around the corner. She turned around just in time to catch Janine with a student.

“Noaya, come quick, there’s a fight.” The older woman got out as best as she could, although out of breath. Naoya ran around the corner, practically leaving the child and shirt woman in the dust.

“Damn, she’s fast,” Janine said, briefing glancing at the kids next to her before rushing to follow the running woman.

“What the hell is going on here?” Naoya yelled as she entered the hectic scene with a bat in her hands. She saw the crazed look the teachers were giving her and she shrugged. “I heard there was a fight, I brought it just in case.”

“Where did you get that? I was right behind you.” Janie asked, out of breath with her hands on her knees.

“I didn’t know she had it in her like that.” Melissa nodded a proud smirk on her lips. “I like her.”

“That’s beside the point, what happened?” Naoya asked, looking at the older white woman standing in front of a child. “He hit me first!” Ms.Schwartz said, pointing at the boy across from her.

“Liar!” The boy yelled back at her, being held back by Ms.Howard.

“I’m a liar? I'M A LIAR?” Ms.Schwartz asked a crazed look in her eyes, her gaze solely trained on the little boy.

“I can’t believe she hit a kid,” Noaya said, shock written all over her face as she folded her arms. “I mean, I threaten that I will but I never actually do it.” She shrugged.

“Okay!” Ava yelled, interrupting the conversation between the small group of teachers. “So, not good. Ms.Schwartz was out of line and clearly didn’t know how to handle her class.” The woman sighed.

“You hired her.” Melissa spat back.

“And fired her,” Ava responded. “They give me a lot of power around here. It’s crazy.” The woman smirked.

Melissa and Noaya both gave the camera a look of disbelief.

“In the meantime, Mr.Johnson will be watching her class.” Ava finished.

“Mr.Johnson the janitor?” Naoya spoke up. “Our conspiracy theorist janitor? Teaching social studies? Do we not see the problem with this?” She asked, looking around at the group.

“I think maybe we should alert the school district to this,” Jacob spoke up, getting spins of approval from the rest. “I mean, a child was harmed.” He tried to finish before Ava cut in.

“Hey! Harmed?” She questioned. “I handled this. No need to let them know that a child was harmed on my wa—” She stopped, remembering that she was being recorded, and looked towards the camera. “On the school's watch, to be clear.” She clarified.

“Ava, this is not handled,” Janine spoke up. “There is a 70-year-old custodian who voted for Kanye teaching social studies right now.” The woman stressed, pointing down the hall. “We need help. Look, I know we don’t have any money—“

“Okay!” Ava cut her off. “Alright. I’ll make a small emergency budget request to the district, and then you guys can get pencils and hire aides or whatever else you need.”

“So, even rugs?” Janine asked her entire demeanor from earlier changing at the woman’s words.

“Sure! Just email a request.” Ava replied.

“Okay! I can- I can write an email.” Janine smiled excitedly.”

“Another day in principal life.” Ava smiled at the cameras before walking away, horribly singing some old song. “I believe the children are our future.”

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“Um…Hello?” An unfamiliar voice called out as she came into the school building, making their way to stand in front of the desk. “I’m looking for Ms.Coleman.” The man said. Melissa looked up at him. “Oh, yeah she’s—“ She was cut off by Ava rushing up next to her.

“Hello.” Again said flirtatiously, looking the man up and down.

“Hi, I’m Gregory Eddie. I’m the sun for the teacher who, uh…” He trailed off, looking down at the papers he pulled from his briefcase. “Pinter a student.” The man said worriedly, looking back up at her.

“Oh! You’re the sub.” Ava said. “Forgive me, I thought one of my colleagues here hired a stripper for me.” Ava laughed off, dismissing the looks Melissa and Barbra gave her. “Okay.” That was all Gregory could say to that, giving the woman obvious judgmental looks.

“Nice to meet you, young man.” Barbra offered him a kind smile.

“Yeah, nice to meet you, Ryan,” Melissa said, staring at the together papers.

“It’s Gregory.”

“Eh, let’s see how long you’ll be here.” She said, only flexing up after she was done stapling. “Then I’ll remember your name. Okay, Tim?”

Gregory didn’t even have time to fully digest the interactions he just had with the women before him before Jacob came around the corner. “Yes!” He smiled, stalking up to the man. “My dude.” He said, arms open for some sort of hug but was cut short by Gregory putting his hand out. “Oh, yeah,” Jacob said, placing his hand on the one offered out to him. “Keeping it profesh. I like that.” He smiled, leaning against the counter. “I’m Jacob. It’s nice to see another male teacher in here. It’s not a lot of us. Hey, now I got somebody to talk sports with. You like women’s tennis?” The paler man asked, before shooting the camera a sideways glance. “Or, as I call it, you know, regular tennis.”

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Naoya was walking the halls, whistling a tune with her bad over her shoulders when she came across a tall, good-looking man in a gray sweater. Hearing her, the man turned around to see a tall, light-skinned woman with a large, light brown puff ponytail at the back of her head. She had on specs that covered most of her face, enlarging her eyes. She was dressed in a slightly baggy pair of dark wash denim jeans with brown shoes that matched the brown in her green sweater, paired with a white shirt underneath. Seeing the mysterious man, she furrowed her brows at him from down the hall.

“Uh, hello.” The man waved awkwardly from down the hall.

Naoya waved back as she made her way closer to the man. “Uh, hi. Are you lost?” She asked, slowing down when she got in front of him. “In a school building?…And smelling like pee and/or vomit. I’m calling security.” She started to back up and pull out her phone, or even yell before she stopped and frowned. “Oh wait, I am security.” She said, moving her bat to her good hand getting ready to swing.

“Wait!” The man yelled, sticking out his hands in defense. “I’m a sub! I’m here to fill in for the woman who kicked the kid.” He defended.

Naoya visibly relaxed as she looked the man up and down, taking in his formal attire. “Okay.” She said, dropping her defensive pose. “That still doesn’t explain the smell.” She said, giving the man a disgusted once over. Gregory stuttered to get an answer, embarrassed by the cameras and such an awkward situation in front of another beautiful woman.

“It’s a long story. A broken toilet, a student wet his pants, another one threw up.” The man shrugged, a look of disgust crossing his face as he thought it all over. At his words, Noaya nodded with a look of understanding.

“No, yeah. I get it. Well, um, congratulations on being here considering…” She trailed off, gesturing around the school and then to him. “If you need anything at all, I’m at the very end of the hall. I'm Naoya Lovel, and I teach fourth grade. I’ll be here to help any way I can, I am known for having everything anyone might ever need, so.” She shrugged and began walking away, pat him, and to her class. The man nodded, a sliver of a smile on his face as his eyes stayed trained on the spot she just left. Catching the camera out of the corner of his eye, she quickly straightened up and then turned the opposite way to face her. “May I ask why you’re carrying a bat?” He asked.

Naoya stopped walking, the bad still in her hand as she angled her body slightly to look back at him. “No, you may not.” She said with a smile before continuing to walk away and into her classroom. Gregory just nodded and walked into his room as well.

“Today was utterly disgusting, but she and Janine seem nice.” He smiled slightly.

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“I got a good feeling about this,” Jacob smirked at Naoya and Janine as they and the rest of the teachers gathered outside at the entrance of the school. It had something to do with Ava needing them to see the improvements she made to the school. “Right? Me too!” Janine said excitedly. Naoya rolled her eyes, stuffing her hands in her pockets due to the cold weather.

“I wish I could live in the blissful ignorance you guys call optimism.” She said, looking between her two friends. They only rolled their eyes at the girl, who was usually a pessimistic person, so they didn’t take her words too seriously.

“Good morning!” Ava said to all the teachers before her, who were obviously in no good mood. “Good Morning!” Janine was the only one to respond.

“Gregory.” Ava finished, giving the man a look. Noaya furrowed her brows slightly, throwing the man a sideways glance.

“The district was so moved by my plea that they approved the emergency budget and sent us the money right away,” Ava said to the group. The crowd started clapping, Jacob and Janine were genuinely happy while most were in shock that the district pulled through.

“Okay, we could have hired aides, we could have got rugs.” Ava continued as the clapping died down. “But then I thought, “No. We need something more immediate.” She said, her words causing Naoya to nod her head as she began slowly making her way away from the group. She knew this wasn’t going to end well, and this was her stopping herself from throwing her loafers at Ava’s head.

“Oh, no, no. The rugs are immediate.” Janie spoke up. “They’re like instant Xanax for kids. I explained it all in my email.” She told the group as she made her way to extract her phone from her purse.

“Girl, who told you to send an email?” Ava asked, looking down the steps at the shorter woman. Jannie stopped what she was doing and glared at Ava. “You did.” She hissed, looking at her confused.

“Anyways, I always feel better when I get my hair done.” Ava continued, not caring for what Janine had to say, as she showed off her new blonde number. “Thus, I do better work, like I’m doing now.” She smiled at them. “You know, fix the outside, the inside takes care of itself.” She then gestured up to the giant tarp over the building, the man pulling it down to show a sign.

It was a giant Willard R. Abbott Elementary sign with Ava on it, leaning onto the letters. The teachers just stood there and looked up at the sign, no words were said between any of them. But they all had the same thought.

What the fuck?

“Yall seeing this?” Ava asked, copying her pose that was on the sign.

“A plastic sign?” Janine asked, looking between the woman and the sign.

“Thank God for the school district, because they gave us $3,000 and I had to spend all of it.” Ava said as if she didn’t care about the severity of the words she just said.

“You spent all of the money on this?!” Janie asked in disbelief.

“Rush job, can you believe this quality?” The terrible principal continued.

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“This is fucking ridiculous, she has gone too far,” Naoya said as she, Jacob, Janine, and Gregory rushed back into the school.

“Somebody needs to do something before I get my bat back out. Actually, Forget the bat, I’m gonna go get a gu—.”

“Okay! Yes.” Jacob cut her off, trying to ignore the scared look Noaya received from Janine and Gregory, while she just continued to sit in her anger, not even seeing them. “Somebody, anybody but you, should do something.” The man said to the angry woman.

“You know what. I’m gonna do something.” Janine said, as stored up and Naoya. Well, maybe not as much but still fired up.

“Okay, alright. Whatever you do, I will co-sign it.” Jacob encouraged. “Yes!” Janine said. “That is how change works. Someone does something and somebody co-signs it.” He finished.

“I want Jannie to succeed in what her plan is because Ava needs to be out in her place, “professionally”, or whatever Jacob said,” Naoya stated, rolling her eyes. “But I also want her to prove something to Barb. For her sake. Because Janine really needs a mother figure in her life and the constant groveling for Barb’s praise is starting to make me want to choke.” She finished with a shrug. “That’s my girl though, I love her.”

“Hey, you two, wait up! I’m going out to lunch too.” Janie called out to Melissa and Bard as they walked down the hall. The camera caught Naoya, who rolled her eyes at the situation she was just talking about making an appearance as she walked after Janine.

“Oh yeah, where are you going for lunch pip-squeak? Bird feeder?” Melissa joked, putting her purse over her shoulder.

“Thought you’d be working on your next miracle from Saint Ava.” Barbra pushed.

“Ha ha, No.” The shorter woman defended herself. “I don’t think I’ll need anything from Ava ever again.” Janine smiled, her words causing the other three women to look confused.

“What does that mean?” Naoya chimed in from behind them, ready to go out for lunch as well.

“Well, I emailed the superintendent and told him everything Ava has done today. No way she doesn’t get fired.” Janie bragged.

“Oh, for the lives of God.” Melissa groaned.

“Janine,” Noaya said in disappointment. “This is why I told you to tell me.”

“What?” She asked, looking between the three women.

“The superintendent never sees our emails,” Barbra told her. “He has them bounced back to the person in charge of where they came from.”

“Wait, I’m sorry.” Janie stared. “Person in charge? That means the emails go back to…” She trailed off, the dots connecting. Just in time for said person to come in the intercom with an announcement.

“Teachers, it’s come to my attention that some of you—one of you—.” Ava clarified, looking through the glass of her office at the group of women standing at the door, her eyes trained on one in particular. “Think it’s okay to go over my head. So, during lunch break—this lunch break—we’ll be having a trait workshop so that we can learn how to become a woke family.” The woman was clearly pissed off, glaring at Janine from where she sat. “It’s gonna be fun!”

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“We are at a crossroads, this is a crisis,” Ava stressed as she stood before the hired group of teachers.

“No, a crisis is eating the cafeteria pizza for lunch.” Naoya chimed in from where she sat in the back.

“Uh, why are we here, exactly?” Gregory asked his seat right in front of hers.

“Well, chocolate drop.” Ava started, causing Naoya to snicker at the name. “I learned that someone here doesn’t respect me. But it’s not about me. Because if you don’t respect me, how can you respect this school?” She continued, causing them all to look at her confused as such a stupid correlation. But, it looks like Ava took that as a look of confusion due to her question.

“You can’t. It’s mathematically impossible.” She finished.

“W-Whoa. Who doesn’t respect you, Ava—I mean, the school?” Jacob asked.

“Me,” Naoya said but seemed to be completely ignored.

“It’s not important. We’re gonna make this a group matter so as too not to single any one person out.” The woman answered him. “Let’s try an excuse where we say whatever we want out loud to each other, no matter how critical. It’ll be fun, let’s start with Janine.” She said, looking over at the short woman who was practically shrinking in on herself.

“Janine?” She asked, smirking evilly.

“Yes?” Janine asked dejectedly, knowing that this whole situation was her fault and knowing that Ava did the exact thing she said she didn’t want to. Single her out.

“You’re pushy, squeaky and annoying,” Ava stated.

Collective disagreement was heated around the room.

“Excuse me?” Melissa piped up.

“Thaya just…” Gregory said.

“When is it my turn?” Naoya asked, starting to take her earring out of her ear.

“No, it’s not bad. No.” Ava defended. “We’re shaking to make us all better. Constructive. Hershey kiss, why don’t you try, start with Janine.” She pushed.

“I don’t want to.” The man sighed.

“You’re right, it should be someone who knows her better. Noaya, Jacob, Barbra?” She asked, looking between the two.

“When is it your turn? I wanna go when it’s your turn.” Naoya stated, folding her arms to keep herself at bay. Gregory glanced back, seeing the look of pure hatred on her face.

“Well, her hair is—“ Jacob started before getting cut off.

“Not!” Noaya and Barba said at the same time, the younger more so talking to her friend next to Janine, who gave the man next to her a look of disbelief.

“Ava, no one’s doing this to anyone.” Melissa started, looking at the woman before her.

“Hold on, I came prepared for this. Sheena, come on in.” Ava said, looking behind her to a student who was sitting behind the library desk.

“Ava, that is my student, she should be at lunch right now,” Janine complained, as everyone in the room looked at the little girl, trying to see what Ava's plan was.

“I am kinda hungry.” The little girl sighed, begrudgingly walking closer to the woman.

“Sheena, remember what we talked about? What was the thing that you wished was different about Ms.Teagues?” Ava asked the little girl. She just stood there, not knowing what to say as the whole room waited on her.

“She got some big feet.” Mr.Johnson chimed in from the very back of the children’s library where he was sweeping.

“Okay.” Janine sighed before standing from her seat. “Everyone, that’s enough. I am the person who disrespected Ava. I emailed the superintendent to tell him that she spent the school's money on a sign.”

“And got her hair done,” Naoya said, Janine, gesturing over to her in agreement.

“I’m sorry, Ava.” She continued. “And I’m sorry everyone missed lunch, especially you, Sheena. But I didn’t it because I care about the kids in this school, and that shouldn’t be a bad thing.” She ranted. “I—Okay. You know what.” She sighed, done talking. She felt as if no one was listening anyway and just wanted to leave. She was on her way out before turning back around. “Sheena, you should have this. I’m sorry.” She said, handing the school pizza over to the girl.

“Uh, no thank you.” The girl said, shaking her head. Janine just sighed again and turned to leave.

Ava chuckled as she watched the girl walk off, shaking her head. “Not a compelling speaker.” She smirked as she shook her head. “Charisma vacuum, am I right?”

Noaya cracked her neck as she stood up. The teachers in front of her filmed a little at the sound and her sudden movements. But she ignored that. “You know what, Ava? I was going to whoop your ass in the parking lot, and as much satisfaction as that would bring me, I don’t want to lose my job. Because I care about these kids. Just like Janine. And she may be a lot of things, like naive, a bit clingy and too cheerful—.”

“Ooh, this is good stuff, let me call her back in here,” Ava smirked as if she didn’t hear the first part of the girls’ speech.

“But she is also right.” Barba cut in, standing up with Naoya. “You know, actually wanting to help the children at this school shouldn’t be a bag thing.” The older woman finished for her. Afterwards, both her and Naoya walked out, letting Ava sit with their words.

They walked out to find the girl in front of her classroom, looking through the window. “Janine, ignore Ava. Big feet are a sign of fertility.” Barbra stated.

“I’m telling you to just give me the signal, I can have her framed for mur—something.” The light skinned girl said, catching herself in front of the cameras.

“Every lunch period, guys.” Was all Janine said before stepping out of their way to show the inside of her class. They both looked in seeing a little boy napping on his jacket, as the library door sounded again. “Every single one, Amir comes and naps in the rug.” She said, informing the whole group as Melissa, Jacob and Gregory joined.

“Mm-hmm. He was in my class.” Barbra said with a fond smile on her face. Mom’s got a lot of kids. Dad’s not around and when she is, the parents fight.”

“Right, so he doesn’t get much sleep. I told him to sleep at his desk, but she says that rug is softer—.” The shirt woman paused, trying to get emotional over the whole situation. “Softer than his bed at home.” There was a moment of silence as all the adults sat with her words. It’s hard hearing about the life of the kids you see everyday, knowing they live lives no one should. And knowing it’s on you to create a better life for them at school.

“You know what? I don’t care I you think I’m good at this or not anymore. I care about whether or not I can make a change.” Janine told Barbra as sternly as she could, which wasn’t a lot.

“Janine.” The woman started. “Teachers at a school like Abbott— we have to be able to do it all. We are admin, we are social workers, we are therapists, we are second parents. Hell, sometimes we’re even first.”

“Mm-hmm.” Melissa agreed.

“Why?” Barbra continued. “It sure ain’t the money.”

“Yup. I can make more working the street, easy.” Melissa chimed in. Causing Jacob and Naoya to look at each other in concern.

“Prostitution?” She mouthed over to the man, who shrugged.

“Look, we do this ‘cause we’re supposed to.” Melissa said to Janine. “It’s a calling. You answered.”

They all looked at eachother fondly, before Jacob started.

“I believe it was Brother Cornel West—“

“No.”

“Don’t.”

“Not right now, white boy.”

They all told him, causing the man to retreat back to his corner.

“You want to know my secret?” Barbra asked, ringing the subject back to where it was. “Do everything you can for your kids.” She smiled. “We’ll help. Hey, I suggest we put our money together and buy Janine the rug.” The older woman encouraged. “What yall think?”

“Absolutely.” Melissa said, pulling out her wallet.

“Guys, you can’t.” Janine started, looking between them. “You don’t have it. I know because I have the same salary as you and I overdrafted on a doughnut hole this morning.”

“Don’t tell me how much money I have.” Noaya stated, holding her hand out as a halt to the girl's words. “I do not claim that broke energy.”

“Well, why are you gonna do?” Barbra asked. “Steal a rug?”

“Not me, but I know a guy who knows a guy?” Janie trailed off, looking between Noaya and Melissa. The light skinned girl raised her hands. “I don’t know a cute guy that can steal that many carpets that fast.” She shrugged, a hopeless look on her face as she glanced at Melissa.

“Way ahead of you.” The woman said as she started typing into her phone. “I’m gonna have to bake a ziti.” She said, holding the phone up to her ear. “Hey, Tony, ya big strung, listen, you still working that stabiuk build?” She said into the device as she walked away from the group.

Sometime later, a guys pulled up in a truck around back with a bunch of rugs for them. They all celebrated, going one by one to grab a rug. “Yay! I finally have one! My room was so depressing.” Naoya said as she waked down the hall with her rug.

“You’re on a mission.” Gregory stated, looking at the shorter girl in between him and Noaya. “It’s cool to see.”

“Thank you. Just a day in the life of being a teacher here. You get used to it.” Janine smiled.

“And that smell in the walls?” He asked, pointing.

“Oh no, you’re never gonna get used to that. Sometimes I wish I had a bad nose like Naoya.” She joked, elbowing the girl next to her. The taller woman lightly groaned. “Janine, you know that’s a big insecurity of mine. I have a fear of smelling bad.” The half Japanese girl tried to clarify to the male. “You’re subbing to go full time right?” She asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Um, we’ll see.” He said as they all briefly stopped in the hallway. “This job definitely surprises me.”

“Well, I hope you stay.” Janine said. “For the kids.” She clarified. Naoya shot a quick glacé to the camera, a small smirk on her face. She then decided to walk away. The camera caught Gregory’s eyes jumping from both women walking away, a small smile on his face. He then looked in the camera and dropped his expression.

“I’ll stick around for a while.” He said. “You know, for the kids.”

“Look guys!” Naoya said as she rolled out her shakes rug for her students. They all celebrated, clapping excitedly at the fact that they had a rug now.

“Ms.Lovel, I hate the egales.” One student said, standing next to the woman.

“Yeah, me too, kid. But don’t tell anyone I said that.” She said, patting the top of their head as Ava walked past her door. She paused at the sight of the rugs. Naoya placed her hands on her hips and cocked her neck, making Ava glare at the woman for a quick second before walking away.

“And that kids, is how you get rid of the enemy without fighting.” She said, pointing around the room to make sure they were watching. “Now that we have a rug, let’s watch that nature documentary!” She said excitedly, causing all the students to yell with excitement well.

[coeurify]

drabble req about abby being lowkey obsessed with the reader in the wlf her thinking you don’t even know she exists, then much to her surprise when she finally gets the courage to talk to you gasp, you know her name! and you think she’s very cool and talk about successful patrols she’s had double gasp and you ask her to spar with you triple gasp 🍰

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: straight up fluff. 18+ still.

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: CAKE ANON I JUST LOVE THIS. PLZ ENJOY. i made reader a bit idk like outgoing and she teases abby a bit ok? ok.

Abby liked looking at you from afar. Maybe it seemed a little odd to put it like that, but really, it infatuated her.

Like seeing you from across the mess hall, deep in conversation with someone. Abby always wishes she could know what it was you always got so passionate about. What made your eyes get that sparkly type of look to them— what made you lean forward, hands motioning with lips she couldn't follow. Often her cheek would rest in her palm, forgetting whatever food served that day because of your presence across the room. She tried not to stare too obviously as you went on one of your tangents, but you never seemed to notice anyways.

She liked seeing you walk around the Stadium turned base, hearing your voice call out to friends as you hurry around the close corners of the stairs, lined with different zones, weaving through the areas to find whatever your always wandering mind seemed to be searching for that day. Abby would catch you randomly during these times, sometimes stopping in the same stand preparing food, looking for people in the same hidden corners, or down on the grass near the livestock. So many times she could have said hi.. and didn’t.

She never got close enough to talk to you, usually easily avoiding it due to never sharing assignments. But whenever she was caught looking a little too long, blue eyes wandering off from the face of whoever was speaking to her to instead follow the sound of your voice passing by.. people always asked why she didn’t just introduce herself. Most times these comments came from Manny or Nora, which Abby easily shrugged off. The blonde would claim she had no time and didn’t know you well enough to strike a conversation.

Honestly, Abby was a little scared to talk to you. There wasn’t much a soldier like her was nervous for, not that she would admit to at least, but you were one of them. You didn’t even seem to know you existed, flying high in the clouds above Abby’s feet always planted firmly into the ground. Why reach for the sky when you can just look up at it in admiration instead?

Things stayed this way for a long while, until a smaller group formed in a training section off to the south side of the stadium one night, chatting at tables with cards and drinks. It was a gathering of some of the younger faces around the WLF base, of which Abby had never even seen most of. She didn’t mind it too much, being properly glued to her seat near Manny, who was going on and on about something that had happened with the scars that day.

Abby of course was more focused on the top of your head across the area, which nodded quickly as you spoke to Nora. Your nose scrunched at something she said, and Abby had to force herself to look away before she felt any more sickeningly childish. She had a textbook schoolgirl crush on you, down to the refusal to even say hi. The butterflies in her stomach always present, heart always searching for any bit of attention from you. It was sort of humiliating for her.

“Abby, are you even listening?” Manny asked, tapping her arm with a pointed finger. “Ah,” he sighed dramatically, “Of course you aren’t, she’s here.”

Abby’s chin turned down as she shook her head, a small section of her braid that had snagged out following the motion, “Oh my god, Manny can you not right now? I’m listening, swear it.”

Manny shoved her shoulder gently, “You definitely weren’t. Just go say hi before she catches you staring. Get some of this..” he pushes a small cup toward her, grinning, “In you and go. Or I might call her over here myself.”

Abby’s muscles tightened immediately, eyes falling on Manny with a certain warning sign that anyone who wasn’t him would probably back off due to. Manny just pushed the cup closer.

“God, Manny you make me miserable,” Abby muttered, sliding out of her seat as her hand gripped the cup, a disgusted look tugging on her lips as it slid down her throat with a gulp. “Don’t judge my tastes,” Manny called after her as she walked.

If Manny wasn’t watching, Abby would have promptly turned around the moment she saw your pretty eyes flick up as she walked closer. Unable to do so, she found her own way to be a bit of a pussy— staring only at Nora when she stood in front of the two of you. Her stomach was a mess of knots she couldn’t dream of untangling upon feeling your gaze on her.

Abby tried to avoid the small sound her throat made as she cleared it, “Hey, uh— Nora I just wanted to check on you, heard your rotation today was shit.”

Nora’s eyes seemed to falter for a second, pinching her eyebrows together, not understanding why Abby had waltzed over so uneasy looking. Then she remembers who she's sat next to, Abby’s eyes obviously avoiding glancing that way. “Yea, they had us packing shit from the hospital all fuckin’ day,” Nora shrugs— awaiting some sort of greeting for her friend next to her.

You beat her to any sort of acknowledgment of your presence with a large smile, “Abby! Hey! Come sit with us, we were just talking about how crazy everyone’s assignments have been.”

Abby thinks she may have floated up to the clouds you so often rested in right there. She swears she can feel the sun on her neck as your mouth falls open to speak. The way her name came from your lips was enough to send her down into the seat, trying her best to seem nonchalant. But you knew her fucking name. She wouldn’t have been able to fathom that fact at all before now, countless days and nights gone wondering what it may be like to hear you say it, see your smile reserved for only her— and now it had happened.

And Abby was absolutely screwed because of it. She knew this the moment your lips stayed in that cute smile as you watched her sit. She knew it right away when you tilted your head to include her in the conversation with Nora. If she had spent too much time thinking about you before now, it was about to be astronomically worse. Now she could detail the spots on your face, the way your cheeks moved with your grin, your eyelashes, everything and anything Abby could take in was committed to memory at that exact moment.

“Hey,” Abby greeted you gently, your name rolling off her tongue easily, if Abby could have known the way your own heart sped up at the realization she knew your name, she would have lost her damn mind. All she got however was the slightest movement of your legs, knees pointing toward her.

Nora took in the sight of you two together for a minute, to which Abby wished she could give a big fuck you for. She was not subtle at all, unfortunately for Abby. After a second, she spoke, “Yea. It’s been awful lately, but Abby’s doing great as always out in the city, right?”

Abby wants to chastise her friend for the all too obvious attempt at wingmanning, but any frustration the blonde may feel falls out of her mouth and into the air with a breathy laugh when you make an exhausted sounding noise.

“Oh I’m sure,” you shake your head, “Heard so much about that group you always go with.. hm who else is it usually? Manny and some others right?” Your eyes point straight at her, unafraid to make eye contact with the shifting blue ones.

Abby spreads her legs a bit, gearing up for a story of some sort. “Yea it's usually Manny. Isaac’s got us doing all the real long missions lately. Can't even tell you how many groups of scars we’ve run into.”

Abby doesn’t miss how your gaze follows her head as it shakes, feeling her stomach turn inside out at the small notion you may be paying extra attention to her. This sickness only worsens when you lean in closer, Nora scoffing gently as she becomes a slight third wheel.

“I’ve been training lots lately to try and get on those sorts of assignments, seem so cool,” your tongue licks over your top lip in concentration as you think, Abby’s eyes following it. “I'm getting tired of the farm work.”

“Not sure you wanna offer yourself up for that type of stuff, it’s real hard,” Abby shrugs, leaning back against her seat. The stiffness in her body was disappearing slightly, easing into the conversation— one that she thought she would never have. She was still very aware of every movement you made, the way your shirt stretched just lightly as you tilted your body, glancing at Nora. The way your eyes rolled just a bit at her words.

“She doesn’t think I can handle it, Nor..” you sigh dramatically, stealing all that relaxation straight out of her body, watching as she sits straight up again, searching the two girls next to her with frantic eyes. “What? That’s not-”

Nora chimes in, “Well, Abby doesn’t think anyone but herself can handle it, y’know? She just doesn’t get that not everyone can crush a runner’s head with their own foot.”

“Her foot?” You gasp, shaking your head sadly, “And here I am with only a gun.. definitely too hard for me.”

Abby had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep the blush from clawing it’s onto her cheeks, now far too aware the two of you were teasing the way she must come off.

“That's not- '' Abby tries, starting again after a few scrambled attempts at words, “Not what I was trying to say. The assignments just suck..” The blonde says it all rather quickly, scrambling to shoot down the idea she had meant anything differently. You definitely found it cute, that sparkle in your eye returning as she spoke.

“Just messing with you Abby,” you hesitantly lean to press a small pat to her shoulder, “Know what you meant blondie.”

The nickname only makes Abby feel more heat in her face, if possible. You were playing with her like you had known her for years. All this time she had been too scared to utter a word to you, and here you were making it natural as ever. She doesn’t show that heat creeping on her cheeks, sitting up a little taller, arms crossing over her chest.

“I do need some help training if I wanna get on a team like yours; though,” your eyes narrow just a bit, a playful glint in them now as you look directly at Abby, “You think you could show me that foot move? Or treat me to some regular sparring at least?”

Abby thought she may die on the fucking spot.

[onmyyan]

How do your OCs react to a s/o that is really cuddly when they're sleepy? Like will just curl into them even if they (the s/o) are fast asleep.

Caspian my love, he likes to wait until you fall asleep usually, gives him extra time to admire you, so if you cuddled up to him in your sleep he'd have to bite his fist to keep from squealing at your adorableness. He once more thanks his foresight because he has that adorable display on camera and you better believe he watches it on a loop.

Gabe likes to wrap himself around you, big spoon all the way, he loves the feeling of you in his arms, makes him feel like a protector, and the way you cling back just as tight, he's never been more at peace. He's all giggly and soft the next morning, like he has some big secret, its cute really.

Ricky, the sweet baby, please hold him. He's guilty of staying up late on purpose just because he knows you'll wait up for him and get all cute and snuggly. Does he feel guilty about it? Sure. But the way you sleepily blink up at him, how you yawn into his chest, all worth it. He turns to absolute putty when your smaller hand curls up in his shirt, he has taken pictures of you when you're like this many times.

Marcos love love loves this side of you, he can't get enough of your touch when you're awake so to have you subconsciously reach out for him, to have you look for his warmth even when you're unconscious, scratches this deep-seated need to wanted, more often than not he gets swept up in your cuteness and just has to leave a flurry of kisses on your face he's just gotta!

Manny is so obsessed with every little thing you do, even if you just started dating he takes this display of affection of yours very seriously, he holds you that much closer, that much tighter, because he knows its want you want, your body calls for him even when you're sleeping, you must feel the same blood curling devotion he feels for you, why else would you touch him so tenderly?

[yourfavouritefighter]

OK obsessed with the swap ​​idea

- Does Jackson still get bullied?

- How is Holt's life in the monster world?

- How does the trigger work?

- What is their personality like in this world?

- How out of touch is Holt?

- Do they know about each other?

I would love a first days fanfic?

yo glad you like the au! I don’t have all the details set in place so sorry if things are a tad bit inconsistent but here we go! (Also sorry for the late reply I didn’t see the ask rip)

Bullying

-I feel that both of the boys would get bullied but in different ways and for different reasons, Jackson would be pushed around since he’s quite nerdy, so I feel manny still wouldn’t like him. However holt would probably just be excluded from things, or have rumours spread about him, but due to him being prone to fighting back it wouldn’t be direct bullying like it is for Jackson.

Holts life in the monster world

-Holt would still Dj however he’d most likely do it whilst in a disguise of some form, (even if it’s just a mask or some make up) as many monsters don’t trust him. He doesn’t like the fact he has to Hyde his identity but the extra money comes in handy.

Triggers

-This may change in the future but my current plan is to have Jackson be triggered by extreme silence. So there has to be near to no sounds for him to appear. As such the headphones double as extra noise if necessary or as music. I also thought about him being triggered by piano specifically alongside the silence trigger.

Personalities

-Holt: He’s a bit of a joker and pretty immature, he likes to just chill and have fun in life. However he is quite hot headed and can have a short temper. This pairs to mean people don’t trust him too well and don’t want to mess with him (well not directly at least, no one minds the anonymous pranks or rumours just as long as it doesn’t tie back to them).

-Jackson: He’s more reserved than his counterpart, preferring to follow rules and structure, unlike holt’s ‘rules were made to be broken’ mentality, he prefers to stay out of the public eye, whether it be due to not wanting people to find out his identity or avoiding the bullying (since I haven’t decided if people know about him and holt yet). His quiet nature means he can be quite the push over at times making him prime for taunts and attacks from his peers.

(Man I really gotta draw some art of Jackson interacting with people)

Out of touch?

-I’m not too sure what you mean by this, whether it be out of touch with monster culture, or out of touch in the sense of being isolated from his classmates. Either way due to his DJ-ing and being a student at MH he’s picked up a lot of monster slang and culture. And as for friends, he’s known Draculaura since before MH and managed to meet Frankie on his first day, so he isn’t alone there. In the au I’ll still have him be friends with a lot of the usual characters (e.g deuce heath frankie etc with some exceptions)

Do they know?

-As of joining MH definitely yes, but as kids their mother tired to keep it secret, as she doesn’t get along with her Hyde, as such it was a shock when during quiet time at school he burst into flames. Holt was quickly pulled from the school, switching between a mix of homeschooling, monster schools and normie schools. Usually not lasting long at any of them, due to his temper and monster side.

A fic?

-Maybe??????? I’m not too great of a writer, but I might work on a one shot or really short fic about it….someday? If I have the chance and people are interested in it I might take a crack at writing lmao

I hope that covers everything! I’m happy to answer any more questions people have on the au and I really appreciate all the support it’s got! (I really wasn’t expecting it lmao)

[satansapostle6]

Kids | Rodrick Heffley

Spotify Playlist Link

Rodrick Heffley becomes obsessed when he finally meets his thirty-five year old band mate, Bill Walter’s, younger sister.

Warnings: Mature themes/language. Drug use. Sexual content. Violence.

“Heartbeat”

“The Angel From My Nightmare”

There was a war going on in Rodrick Heffley’s head. An even bigger one than usual. He nearly drank maple syrup at breakfast that Friday morning.

“Are you okay, Rodrick?” Greg asked him. “You seem even more stupid than usual. Which is saying something.”

“Shut up, you little butt muncher!” he snapped, throwing a grape at his younger brother.

“Rodrick, sweetie, be nice,” Susan Heffley frowned as she sat down for breakfast with the boys, feeding Manny. “But Greg’s right, you seem irritable. Is there something on your mind?”

“No, Mom,” he huffed impatiently.

“Is it that girl you were seeing? Bill’s sister?” his mother assumed.

“No, Mom! It’s nothing,” Rodrick insisted.

The truth was, he hadn’t spoken to, or even looked in the same direction of, Sara for weeks.

“She didn’t try to go too fast with you, did she?” Susan asked in a panic she had created herself.

“Mom!” Rodrick exclaimed, appalled.

“Susan…”

Frank wasn’t of much help. And neither was Greg, who just laughed.

“You know, I knew girls like her in high school. Developed too early, started making mistakes with boys…” the woman trailed off, adjusting her glasses as she shuddered at the thought.

“Ugh, why is everyone being so weird?!” Rodrick groaned, earning looks from everyone at the table.

He got up, completely abandoning the food despite his hunger.

“I’m out of here!” he announced dramatically as his father just widened his eyes, returning to that morning’s paper.

Rodrick angrily grabbed his backpack, which was practically empty, running out to the van as he sped off to school, so distracted he nearly hit a parked car on the way out of their neighborhood.

“Fuck!” Rodrick yelled within the safety of his van as he arrived at the high school. “I’m starving,” he realized.

Meanwhile, Sara wasn’t having a great start to her day, either.

“Sara Walter.”

Sara reluctantly stood up in her home room class, walking up to her ancient history teacher’s desk as she waited for him to hand her her test back.

“Hmm. Sara Walter… You wouldn’t happen to be related to a student I had a while back, would you?” Mr. Emerson thought aloud. “Bill Walter?”

“Yes. I am,” she crossed her arms, not in the mood for conversation, let alone polite conversation.

“Huh. I can certainly see the resemblance,” the man chuckled at his own joke, gesturing to her dark makeup and shaggy blonde hair through laughter. “Bill Walter. Wow. What a throwback… Did he ever mention me?”

“Yes,” she responded.

“Oh really? What did he have to say?” the man asked her with a burning curiosity.

“That you’re a Confederate sympathizer, and you smell like an onion farted,” Sara recalled perfectly. “May I have my text back, please?”

She watched as his face fell.

“Yes, I suppose, here it is,” Mr. Emerson said in embarrassment.

She grabbed the test, slumping back down in her seat as she sighed at the C-. Not her finest work, but certainly not her worst, either.

“Girl, are you okay?” Lauren Do asked quietly. “You seem like you hate this class more than usual.”

“I’m fine,” she sighed. “I finally have a Friday off, but my mom wants me to take Connor to a birthday party, at the roller rink.”

“Oh. I’ll come with you,” the girl volunteered. “We can stand off to the side and people-watch.”

“Thanks,” Sara nodded appreciatively, “That sounds like about all I can handle. Not like I have too many plans as of late, anyway.”

“Whatever happened to you and Rodrick?” Lauren asked her. “You two looked so hot together.”

“Rodrick’s… nothing,” Sara concluded coldly.

“Ew, what a dumbass,” her best friend said in disgust.

“Tell him, not me.”

Later that day, at lunch, Sara and Lauren sat out in the courtyard together, as Sara decided to spend her time drawing her friend as a pinup. It was entertaining, and it took her mind off the gaping void.

Sara sat on the cement with her knees up to her chest, drawing frustratedly as she occasionally looked around her at the world, hating it every time. She eventually looked up, facing the exit out of the school, as three all-too-familiar guys came walking out. She looked down quickly, returning to her drawing as she spotted Rodrick. Luckily, they hadn’t made eye contact.

But, unfortunately, it seemed Lauren and Sara were so far off to the side, they hadn’t noticed either of them as they walked past, having a loud conversation amongst themselves.

“You should ask Vicky to the prom,” Ben laughed as he teased Chris.

“No way. I’m not tying myself down to anyone. Especially not Vicky,” Chris Merkle scoffed.

Ben nodded approvingly. “Girlfriends are overrated as fuck, dude. Why have one girl sometimes, when you can have all the girls, all the time?”

“Hell yeah, man,” Rodrick ad-libbed emptily.

Chris just shook his head at him, amused by his stupidity. Sara did the same thing, but for another reason. She felt she couldn’t have expected anything else; why would Rodrick Heffley, of all people, have the balls to be the contrarian in a group of teenage boys convinced that monogamy was the stupidest human invention?

*****

Later that day, Rodrick and the other boys picked up their band mate to hang out at the dirty part of the park, smoking different things together where no one else liked to go.

“Yo, Rod,” Bill said, coughing on the joint he was sharing with Chris.

Rodrick turned to look at him, enjoying a cigarette by himself.

“Wanna go to the store?” he asked. “I want some chips.”

“Yeah,” Rodrick nodded, as both of them stood.

“Get me an Arizona!” Ben called.

“Me too!” Chris said as he took the joint. “And barbecue chips!”

Rodrick and Bill walked off towards the grocery store down the street.

“Want some?” Rodrick asked, offering him the cigarette.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Bill nodded, taking a quick drag before handing it back. “Yo. What’s going on with you and my sister?” he asked suddenly.

Rodrick winced at the topic, looking at him awkwardly. “Nothing.”

“Nah, not nothing,” Bill insisted, wheezing through his cotton mouth, “You and Sara haven’t talked in like forever. Both of you avoid each other when she takes me home from practice, and you change the topic when I bring her up.”

He just stared at his older band mate, not used to hearing him think so coherently.

“Dude, I’m not an idiot,” Bill said as Rodrick tried not to laugh at the irony. “I notice things.”

But he still didn’t say anything. He couldn’t think of anything.

“Look, not to be that guy,” he said readily, “But I thought you and my sister were crazy about each other. The chemistry was, like, unreal. Did the date go bad? Did one of you do something?”

“No, no,” Rodrick said automatically, feeling bad, “Nothing like that…”

“Then, what happened?” Bill questioned. “Why won’t you talk to Sara? I thought you liked her.”

“I do,” Rodrick promised, seeing the way this genuinely bothered Bill, “I do like her.”

“Then why the cold shoulder?” Bill asked. “Is it you, is it her, is it both of you…? I can’t even tell.”

“It—It’s me,” Rodrick Heffley sighed.

“Why?” Bill asked him.

“I don’t know, I just… Me? A girlfriend?” Rodrick thought, “It just doesn’t sound right.”

“Why not, man? You’re a catch!” his friend encouraged him.

“No, it’s not that…”

“Then what is it?” Bill asked.

He sighed, trying to explain. “I don’t know, man. It’s just… What if it doesn’t work out? What if I’m just better off being single, playing the field?” he wondered.

“Oh, because you got so many better options?” Bill pointed out.

Rodrick just frowned, not finding the response helpful.

“Okay, sorry, but you kinda deserved that one, man! You’re an idiot if you think a girl like Sara’s not something you should take the chance on!” he cried. “I mean, I know I’m her brother and all, but she’s a good person! You don’t meet girls like her all the time.”

“But weren’t you the one who told me being in a band gets you girls whether you’re on or offstage?” Rodrick questioned, not understanding his logic.

Bill just sighed guiltily, realizing his mistake.

“Alright. Yes. I did say that… But there’s more to life than sex, and fame. As awesome as they feel, at least when you’re young.”

“Yeah! They do feel awesome,” Rodrick scoffed, “They feel… really good! And I don’t know if I’m old enough to give them up, you know?!”

“You know you still get sex when you have a girlfriend, right?” Bill asked. “I mean. If you’re doing it right.”

“That’s not what I mean!” Rodrick exclaimed. “I just mean… I don’t know if I should’ve told her I want a relationship! What i’d I don’t wanna give up random sex just yet, you know? Like, I’m Rodrick! I’m young, and I’m crazy, and I’m in my prime!”

“You’re in high school, and let’s face it, you’re kind of a fucking loser,” Bill snapped.

Rodrick just gave him a wounded look, frustrated with the way the conversation was going.

“Okay, that was mean, I’m sorry. I apologize,” Bill conceded.

He tried to find a middle ground, but nothing seemed to be working so far.

“Alright, look, here’s the deal, man. You know I’ve been with Becky a while, and you know things weren’t always so good,” he reminded him. “Things were real rocky in the beginning.”

“What happened?” the younger guy asked.

“Me happened. When Becky and I first started going out, I was kinda like you. I wasn’t convinced I should give up ‘playing the field’,” Bill admitted. “I was back and forth, hot and cold… And I played around. I’m not proud of it, but that’s what happened. It really fucked things up. I didn’t think she’d still wanna be with me.”

Rodrick nodded sympathetically, taking in everything his band mate had to say.

“So, why’d you stay together?” he wondered.

“Well… When she found out, I realized I fucked up. I felt like shit. I knew I fucked over a good girl, and I wished so bad I could go back, and fix it. But I couldn’t,” he confessed, seeming distraught still. “I broke her heart, and it killed me inside.”

“I, uh…” Rodrick thought for a moment, finding the affinity he shared for him profound. “I think I know what you mean.”

“Look, I don’t wanna be a Debbie Downer,” Bill said awkwardly, “But… I know you’re young, and you’re cool, and you think taking a chance on somebody is a huge risk… But sometimes, so is passing up the chance,” he concluded.

“So you’re saying… I should take the chance with Sara?” Rodrick asked.

“No, man! Are you even listening?!” Bill sighed, as he just stood there looking lost. “No. I’m saying… you should think about Sara, and how you really feel about her. And, if it’s good enough for you to take the chance, then you should take the chance,” he finished.

“Oh. That’s even better,” Rodrick remarked. “Fuck. You’re a genius.”

“I have my moments,” Bill shrugged.

“Fuck, I gotta win her back!” Rodrick realized, starting to panic. “What should I do?!”

“What are you good at?” Bill asked him.

“Uh, we’re in a band?!” he cried.

“Oh. Right. There you go,” Bill nodded quickly.

“What’s a good way to apologize?” Rodrick thought out loud. “Where’s Sara gonna be tonight? Does she have work?”

“No, she’s taking our brother to the roller rink.”

“The roller rink! Perfect!” Rodrick snapped, pointing a finger at his band mate. “I got it!”

Once they returned with snacks, Rodrick determined it was a good time to pitch his idea to the others. They were more than excited, so the plan was set in stone. The boys took the next few hours before Sara would be arriving at the roller rink to prepare.

When they finished practicing one of their covers and loaded everything into the van, all Rodrick could think about on the drive was Sara, and the way he’d stupidly ignored her for the past week.

“What the fuck was I thinking?!” Rodrick yelled as he frantically ran a red light. “I’ll never get another girl like Sara! I can barely get a girl like Sara now!”

“I don’t know, man,” Chris murmured nervously, “But can you watch the road?! Like, at least a little?!”

Rodrick slowly breathed in as he raced them to the roller rink, praying the public display would be enough.

-

10 Things I Hate About You

[the-owl-house-takes]

character hotness rankings are IN !!!!!!!!!!!!

belos: 10/10. literally nothing could convince me to lower that number. somehow all the sexualities at once. somehow both a top and bottom at once. attractive voice, relaxed demeanor, gorgeous hair. the evilness is a plus. (magical in its forbiddenality.)

titan: 10/10. absolutely feral for this big ass creature of a man. and DO i mean 'big ass'. could probably snap any of his partners like a twig. for those looking to get into metallurgy, ship him with belos for maximum heat. your standard bear.

piniet: 9.5/10. for those undiscerning viewers who might struggle to recall this individual - this was the hot evil lizard man from the fanfiction-book-writing episode. fucking obsessed with his voice and you just can't go wrong with lizards. your standard token scaly.

eda: 9/10. she's hot for sure, with an attractive voice and gorgeous hair as well. points off bc she gives too many shits about children. (possibly i like milfs only in theory, not in practice.) but she regains points bc of her harpy form. gawd dayum!

darius: 9/10. suffers much the same fate as eda, in that he's hot normally with an extra hot super form, but unfortunately he cares about kids. your standard gay hunk.

warden wrath: 8/10. hot af in the first episode. good banter with eda as well. points off since he becomes pathetic later on. your standard himbo.

bump: 7.5/10. just a touch too old for my tastes, but he has a great voice and is just generally pretty attractive. competent, too. solid man.

camila: 7/10. manny was a lucky man.

alador: 6.5/10. i like him more than his exwife but he doesn't care enough about his children. still, your standard moderately hot dilf.

salty: 6/10. again, no shade to those who don't remember. this was the pirate guy from the selkidomus hunting ep. he was actually reasonably hot. nothing nuclear, but i'd prob smash if i was at sea with him for a while.

odalia: 5.5/10. good level of evilness present, but she just isn't my style. nothing 'gainst her though.

raine: 5/10. your perfectly average gnc twink.

lilith: 5/10. she just looks like a regular person to me, sorry.

terra: 2.5/10. she's just kind of old and not hot. points for evil i guess.

statistics characters rated: 14 total hotness: 100.5/140 (71.78% potential hotness achieved) average hotness: 7.18/10

thanks for reading

-

[hannahssimblr]

For Simblr Gratitude Day!

This year, 2023 has been a really really amazing year for me creatively. I wrote over 270K words, I started and finished both parts 2 and 3 of Lucky Girl and I started Lucky Boy! When I began writing last year I really didn't see myself at this point, having written so much, having improved so much, and most importantly, having falling completely head over heels for this amazing community

Without the support and amazing feedback from so many people I would have quit a long time ago, but coming here and talking to you guys and being so incredibly inspired by other work is what really pushed me past the finish line. I want to express my gratitude for every single person who engaged with me this year, for those who liked and commented and shared and left me questions and anon asks, and even those who didn't, and just read along in silence - I see you there! You can't hide! Thank you so much.

This graph only shows my top 10, but I reached over 50 countries this year! that's pure mad.

You can see that it's the Americans and the British who really came through for me, and I'm sorry for poking gentle fun at you in my story - I know you are more than semi-automatic machine guns, UFOs & undesirable tourists, you know how it is, we're like the ignored middle child between you two and I'd be going against my cultural heritage if I didn't act up a little bit.

Most importantly I want to thank specific people today! Starting with @armoricaroyalty for making this day happen, and @daniigh0ul for coming up with the idea. I'm really excited to get to know you both much better in the new year & finally find the time to start reading your stuff - I've heard only good things.

to @sirianasims for poking me to join the writers group that has now absolutely swallowed up my free time (in a good way lmao) and for being hilarious and fun and just generally a gorgeous, open and supportive person. I've been reading Siri's story lately and I INSIST you check it out - I'm on gen 3 and completely obsessed by the thought that goes into this, the complexity of the relationships and really sensitive exploration of difficult material.

to @lynzishell for always being so positive and engaged, always taking the time to leave thoughtful comments and get genuinely excited over everyone's work! I'm DUG INTO her legacy, which is still on gen 1 and it makes my day better every single time I see an update from her - and I'm not even just saying that to be nice. It's an honest to god thrill for me to get to read about her characters. I'm beyond excited for what she's going to do in the new year

@mannylikessims deserves a shout out too for writing some of the best and funniest simlit I've had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Those Villarreal kids (and Jacques, obviously) have me on the edge of my seat. I feel insatiable for this story, like, give me more, all of the time. Just shovel it into my mouth. Manny has also brought me to literal tears with her comments. It's rare enough that you meet a reader that seems to truly understand what you're trying to say in your work - like, right to the heart of it, and Manny is one of those people.

I've just recently started reading @rebouks Somnium and Forever In Between (Don't do what I did if you haven't read yet - start with Somnium) and when I say I am HOOKED I mean it. The visuals alone are enough to make me want to burst into tears with the knowledge that I will never wrangle something so beautiful from the game, but you know what, that's okay, because I can come here and sob over Becca's work instead. I'm not even halfway through and I'm already bowled over by the character development, the dialogue, the humour, everything. The only thing I wish is that I had unlimited free time and 0 commitments so I could absolutely consume this work in one sitting, but I guess savoring it is good too.. Thank you Becca for pure inspiration <3

@pixelnrd for The Langston Legacy, a decades challenge which was actually the first sims 4 legacy I ever read - I stumbled across it on my very first day on simblr and I've loved loved loved it every since. The visuals are gorgeous, the story lines are always engaging, and just about every topic under the sun has been covered now. The dedication to accuracy is really admirable, and now that we've reached the 80s I'm genuinely beginning to feel nostalgic. I always find myself wanting more. I'm so much looking forward to the 90s! (And I can't believe you've made it this far, that's an achievement and a half)

Other storytellers and creators I want to shout out are @simstrashkingdom, @bakersimmer @simmysunset @igglemouse @simsstuph - You guys have created some really great stories this year, and I so long forward to reading more!

To @nexility-sims for creating our wonderful writing group (and for pairing with me) I'm dying to start reading your work properly, because even the small bits I've read have been so beautiful.

And to everyone else in the writing group! I know I have so many stories to catch up on, and I'm very intimidated by that fact, but I know that it means that 2024 holds a lot of exciting times! I want to learn from you all and be inspired and support you, so this is the year I'm going to do it <3

[awakefor48hours]

It's time for me to finally talk about what I love so much about this moment.

When Belos is turned human again, he immediately blames his problems on a curse that witches put on him and this is pretty reminiscent of something that abusive parents do.

There's parents who will abuse their kids and any time someone says something, they hide behind their disorder/disability. To use a real example, I knew a parent with BPD that mistreated her kid and whenever her kid said something, this parent would retort with "well, I have BPD, it's not my fault."

*I want to make it clear, I'm using this parent as an example and an example only. I know there are many parents with BPD who are good parents.

Even if Belos was cursed, he's still hiding behind a disability to manipulate Luz and Luz knows this. She lived with someone with a curse for nearly a year and knows that a curse won't do this unless you let it.

Eda has never hidden behind the Owl Beast curse to escape blame. She knows the Owl Beast curse is dangerous and if doesn't take her elixirs medicine she'll lose herself to the curse. When Eda got too obsessed with Hexes Hold'em that she was behind on getting elixirs, she knew that she had to change. She literally ate the cards to stop herself from playing.

Ever since Luz and King found out about Eda's curse, they've never felt uncomfortable or endangered around her. They know that Eda is capable and willing to take care of herself.

Luz also had a father who died of an illness (from what we can understand it was most likely chronic and terminal) and from what we can understand is that Manny also didn't hide behind his illness. Considering that the Nocedas moved so to be closer to a hospital, Manny seemed to be proactive about taking care of himself. Also judging by how Camila and Luz react to Manny, he was a kind and caring person.

Another part to Belos blaming what he did on a curse is that he probably used this same excuse to hurt Hunter. We've seen Belos abuse Hunter throughout the show but Hunter still loved him. From Hunter's POV, Belos doesn't have control over his actions all the time and the times when Belos hurts him are the times when the curse is taking control.

This is especially prominent in Hollow Mind when Hunter is constantly making excuses as to why Belos is doing something. There always had to be a reason because, from Hunter's POV, Belos was a good person who only did bad things because of the curse.

There was absolutely no excuse or lie Belos could use in this moment to save himself because his actions have always been his own. He's a terrible person and he did this to himself.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s8e20 pac-man fever (w. robbie thompson)

(same sam, same. every day)

okay. OKAY. this is very reminiscent of the ghost ship xfiles episode. the music in one scene in the hallways was used in the crow too so i did a little post about it here but it's one of the best (maybe the best???) sequences in the entire series and so i had to include it in its entirety here and now (eternal crush on gillian anderson started in the early 90s and she's such a doll in the 40s getup)

supernatural s8e20 (night hop by benny carter) / the x-files s6e3 triangle (hot liquorice by dick walter)

mitch pileggi aka skinner aka not-so-good-grandpa also briefly appears in the xfiles clip :)

same vibes. (hannibal s1e9 trou nomand)

DEAN In the neighborhood? How the hell does she know where we are? SAM Uh, well, she doesn't. Not exactly, at least. It says she tracked our cells to a twenty mile radius, then the signal went out. Huh. This place must be in some kinda, like, Bermuda Triangle.

lol

sweetness ♥️

CHARLIE Well, after you guys left, I dug into all things monsters. I'm a wee bit obsessive. If "wee bit" means completely. I also found this series of books, by a Carver Edlund? [SAM and DEAN exchange awkward looks] Did those books really happen? CHARLIE (cont'd) Wow. That is some meta madness. [to DEAN] Thanks for saving the world and stuff. [to SAM] Sorry you have zero luck with the ladies.

the awkwardness of this situation if you think about it for more than a second is off the charts

CHARLIE What about, uh, Castiel? He seems helpful, and dreamy.

not the word choice i'd expect but okay

DEAN He's MIA, with a tablet of his own, doing God knows what. I mean, to be honest this whole thing is... I mean, Sam's a tough son of a bitch, but... Cas is saying that these trials are messing with him in ways that even he can't heal. CHARLIE If it's any consolation, having read your history, there is pretty much nothing the Winchesters can't do if they work together.

pretty sure i said "that's nice" out loud

CHARLIE Must be nice, having a brother, someone to always watch your back.

not that their thing is on any scale of normal. also *squints* whatcha gettin at here, show. are we adopting charlie?

DEAN Nuh-uh. Back on the horse, kiddo, come on.

operation adopt-a-sister engaged

same, charlie, same.

hey, it's jason mendoza from the good place! didn't recognize his face with the hair being up but his voice immediately rang the bell

the good place s1e8 most improved player - manny jacinto as jason mendoza

DEAN I know you wanna help, I do, but— SAM Dean, you cannot take care of the both of us. I need to be out here. Play through the pain, right? DEAN Come on man, don't quote me to me.

but dean taking care of you is kind of a non-negotiable you know that

CHARLIE So the boys said they noticed something on the body's arm before it covered them in years of future therapy. Said it looked like a blue handprint. DEAN Sounds like something you should read about. In a book. At home. SAM I'm not leaving until we find out whatever is doing this. DEAN Whatever. [stalks off] CHARLIE You guys fight like an old married couple.

JUST LET ME TAKE CARE OF YOU 😡🔪

CHARLIE Alright, well, breakthrough means snack time to me, and I wanna just stretch my legs. I will pick us up some grub, and unlike you, Sam, I will not forget the pie.

sweetness x100

isn't it nice to have someone else they can be affectionate with and there's no need to worry about ~romantic tension~

none of the emotional trauma of the previous episode, some very solid heartwarming moments, not too many cringe inducing moments of embarrassment. i'll take it, robbie

[theworldvsyoshiko]

Presenting the graduating class of 5507:

This is a big one, and it's gonna really hurt. This doesn't just represent the core of the colony's fighting ability, but the kids who handled a lot of the day-to-day work. Also it's going to break Yoshiko's heart, because every single one of these were under 13 when they showed up, so she adopted them all. I mean, you can adopt people over 13, but that's kinda the cutoff point I set for now. Anyway, yeah, two sons and three daughters ready to head out into the world.

Also? Not a single missing limb among them. Stein's missing a finger and a toe, but that barely counts.

Stein, despite being paralyzed when he first showed up, missing a chunk of his childhood as a result, and needing genetic modification before he was even safe to keep around, has become basically the adult in the room when Yoshiko's not around. He's great with a gun and just about single-handedly responsible for taming and controlling all of the colony's war animals. As many animals as that is, and as few robots as we have (more on that later), he's probably a bigger help in a fight than Yoshiko herself. He has 102 kills.

Who's gonna train our huge pile of war animals once he leaves? Good fucking question. Literally might have to eat some of them.

Also Yoshiko bit his toe so hard that it bled once, so that was fun. Thanks to his weird appearance, it's rare for him to have many friends in the colony, but I'm sure as hell gonna miss him.

Wester has been here since she was 4 years old. She might be the graduate who's lived here the longest? Which I guess might explain why she's close with almost everybody. She blew up a mech cluster with a synthetic tornado that one time. She's solid with a gun, the best artist around, and just generally competent or better at most things. Oh, and she and Manny did basically all the gardening, so that'll be fun to lose.

Thanks to the overlap of her artistic development with the colony's peak rabbit population, she made a lot of sculptures depicting people sterilizing rabbits. And rabbits getting eaten by predators. And rabbits getting shot by the colony's enemies. I think that keeping dozens of free-roaming rabbits around when you have small kids is maybe a bad idea.

Manny has only been here since she was 10, and upon turning 13 she decided that she's a pacifist. Fortunately, she's good at basically everything that isn't combat or mining, and you know what? Having a really good doctor waiting back at the base, who's almost guaranteed to not have a fresh bullet wound, has proven pretty handy after a lot of firefights.

The whole 'adoption counts people as Kin rather than Sons/Daughters' thing struck here, in that the game recognizes that Manny and Cisneros have some kind of familial relationship, but doesn't consider it close enough to prevent romance. So those two are dating.

Tiger is, it must be noted, ugly as fuck.

You'd think this would be a bigger deal than it is. Not only is most of the colony willing to overlook this, but she did a lot of research, which meant a lot of time sitting by Yoshiko and chatting, so they've usually been pretty close. She's also a gun-obsessed weirdo, so Yoshiko's trend of adoring small violent children continues.

Tiger's probably the third-best combatant in the colony after Yoshiko and Stein, and her accomplishments include: once snapped and did about half of the drugs in the storeroom all at once, walked away addicted to a couple of things, and spent the next year or so fucking miserable.

Cisneros has, for whatever reason, been Yoshiko's best friend pretty much since the day he arrived. She adores her weird blue cat son. Whereas he's like the one person in this list who isn't a national-level expert in multiple fields of endeavor, and he's not very good in a fight, so I will miss him the least.

Bye, kids. I'll miss you. (Except Cisneros.)

[askblaisedebeste]

How many times did manny bitch to you and gant about that One Defense Attorney (Gregory)?

Keep it between you and me, but I think he had a bit of an obsession, y’see. Always ranting about Edgeworth this and that. It gets tiring, listening to someone complain so much.

..

But I get it, y’know? Meddling defense attorneys are never any good.

As much as I sympathized with him, I couldn’t let him get too out of line either. Eventually I had to give him a penalty, and well, you know how he felt about that.

[ficklecat]

OC Intro: Violet Roberta Hughes

(dialogue responses to the OC interview prompt)

1. Please state your full name and occupation.

“Violet Roberta Hughes. I’m a biology student in undergrad, but I’m about to graduate soon!”

2. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

“Ummmm…let’s see. Well I’m a Scorpio for starters so feel free to make your assumptions on that! I love creepy stuff, big fan of horror and all things spooky. My brain is Halloweentown 365. What else…I love to cook and bake, I’m always trying out new recipes with Manny and Finn as my Guinea pigs. I like video games but I’m no good at them, I love movies, and I’m a closeted nerd. There’s plenty more but I never know what to say with questions like this!”

3. How would you describe your childhood?

“I mean…not terrible. Not the greatest though. My parents hate each other and before they divorced they fought a lot. My dad’s a classic abusive drunk, and my mom is super critical. I think it made her bitter though, she didn’t always used to be. Or maybe she did, I don’t know. My dad always tried to have fun with me and mom was the hardass. It’s easy to see now they were trying to play me against each other. They probably still do, whatever. After they divorced things got a little easier but wasn’t the same. But the fights and stuff stopped, no booze in the house anymore, that kind of thing.”

4. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

“When I was suuuper little I wanted to be what I called a ‘grave guard,’ which I guess was like a security guard for cemeteries? I have no clue where I got that idea, I don’t even think that’s a real thing!”

5. Do you have any role models? Tell us a little bit about them.

“This is gonna sound so shitty of me but I kinda don’t. Most people I know are just like…fully faking it till they make it, and that’s fine, everyone is, but I don’t want to put anyone on a pedestal for faking it slightly better than everyone else.”

6. Are you introverted or extroverted? Why?

“I’m both I think. I like my ‘me time’ but I also love being with my people, or people in general. I think it’s a shame some people ‘hate’ being around others. It’s so lonely sounding. I get it for some but still, I don’t think I’ve ever been that way.”

7. How would you describe yourself in three words?

“Ugh this is hard. I’m so much more than three words!” (laughs) “Hm. Ok. Stubborn probably. Caring, but—more like nurturing I think. And…I don’t know. So many words come to mind! Let’s say thoughtful. Stubborn, nurturing, and thoughtful.”

8. What do you like to do for fun?

“Definitely love to bake or make stuff in general. I like crafts even if I’m not good at them, and I can’t be trusted to go into a Michael’s alone.” (laughs) “But I really like doing movie nights with Finn and Manny. I always pick a scary one usually and Finn gets all flustered and spooked, it’s so cute. We watched Hereditary recently and Manny and I were just obsessing over Toni Collette because how can you not, and meanwhile Finn was literally sitting there watching from between his fingers. So adorable. He puts up with a lot from us.”

9. What's your greatest achievement? Why do you consider this your greatest achievement?

This has been answered in an ask, check the tag to see!

10. What's your biggest goal? How do you hope to achieve this?

“My biggest goal used to be to get married to a good man, but that was really more of my mom’s goal for me. Now, I think it’s just to find myself fully, to fully realise who I am. I know that’s cliche, but I’ve done so much self-discovery just in the past year and it feels so good, to learn and know yourself better each day. It’s like…playing in your childhood bedroom again, you’re finding all your favourite toys and remembering their stories. I don’t know. It’s like that. And I don’t even know how I’m achieving it. I think when I finally let myself just…be who I am, and found people to support that, it was easy. It came naturally. I’m super grateful.”

11. What does your dream room/house look like? Would you mind showing some inspiration pictures?

“I’d totally live in a haunted mansion or some shit but Finn would never sleep again, and he’s already an insomniac, so I think I’ll have to pass.” (laughs)

12. How would you describe your style?

“I wanna say subdued goth. I wear mostly black with pops of colour, like pink and red and blue and stuff, and I love to accessorise. In high school I was definitely more into it but doing two hours of makeup and dress in the morning is not it anymore.”

13. What's your favorite song?

“Ugh! I can’t pick, honestly. I listen to music all the time. I guess right now I’ve got Ghosting by Mother Mother on repeat a lot, so that one.”

14. Where are you happiest?

“Wherever Finn and Manny are, truthfully. I’ve never been so happy as when I am with them. They just bring out the best in me and each other. I love being around them.”

15. Who is the most important person in your life? Why?

“Besides my partners, I need to say…probably me. I know that sounds selfish but I’m really trying to focus on what it feels like to show up for myself and I think part of that is learning that at the end of the day, you’ve only got you. Before anyone. Might as well treat her right.”

16. Do you believe in soulmates? Why or why not?

“You know I always go back and forth on this. I did with my ex, then I didn’t when he broke my heart, then I did again, then I didn’t. Now…I don’t know. Maybe. If I do, it’s because of Finn and Manny. But if I don’t it’s only because I believe the heart wants different things at different times, and I think that gives it space to grow. I know, that’s so cheesy, but that’s how I can put it in words.”

17. Have you ever been in love?

“For sure. I’ve thought I’ve been in love way more often though. Now I know what it really feels like, I think.”

18. Have you ever been kissed?

“I was kissed just before I came in here!” (giggles)

19. Describe an average day in your life.

“Warning, it’s boring! Basically I just go to class and hang out with the polycule after. I prefer to have all my classes done by the afternoon which means I force myself to attend 8AM’s, but it’s worth it. I can get home or go to Finn’s and take care of things, do chores or homework or whatever, and just have a nice afternoon to myself. I also try to have lunch with my friend Ash at least once a week, but she works a lot so it’s hard to be consistent.”

20. Describe your nighttime routine.

“It depends on where I’m sleeping honestly. If it’s by myself at my place I’ll usually just watch a show in the background and scroll on my phone or do homework and stuff until I’m tired. Then I’ll remove my makeup and go to bed. I try not to use my phone in bed much but that doesn’t always work. That’s during the week, but most weekends we stay at Finn’s place and if I’m there it’s usually hanging out after dinner, maybe—well, usually—we’ll have sex and then I’ll take a shower because he has one of those really great rainfall shower heads that I love. After that I’ll drink some tea with Finn or cuddle with Manny upstairs until we all fall asleep.”

21. (Make up a question) Tell us a “low-stakes” unpopular opinion you have.

“I LIKE candy corn!! Yeah it’s weird and overly sweet but it’s candy! Of course it is! It’s pure sugar! And YES the different colours totally taste different I will die on this hill!” (laughs) “Manny bought me a bumper sticker for my car that says ‘end the stigma’ and it’s got candy corn all over it I love it! Candy corn is good, it deserves respect. It’s the herald of spooky season, that’s an honour itself!”

[neurodivergentbraingoblins]

Okay, I need advice or information or something because I'm very confused right now.

So the name "Neurodivergent Brain Goblins" comes from these bits of myself that I've named and given an identity to in order to help other people understand my brain.

I've had neuropsych testing done (4.5 hrs of testing, surveys, and forms). They agreed that I have C-PTSD and dissociative symptoms with a somatoform disorder, but they don't agree that I have DID because I don't lose time and don't have other personalities that take over/replace mine.

My brain goblins are their own people but also are just me. Mini little parts of me that sometimes control more of my life than I often do.

Reynold is my logic. He is my assistant manager who definitely wasn't given enough training and is more of a glorified babysitter than anything else 😅 I honor the amount of shit he puts up with every day. He is second in command and acts as a buffer to all the other brain goblins.

Then there is Jeff 🫠 I call him my ADHD goblin. Jeff loves buttons. He loves pushing them and watching them light up and hearing them make noise. Jeff also loves running around, jumping, making ridiculous noises, and seeing how many times he can do the same exact thing in a row before it pisses everyone else off 🤣 sometimes Reynold will give Jeff a tennis ball to go bounce against the wall for a while just so he can get some real work done.

(I'm not done drawing Jeff, but this is him so far 😊 he is a very mischievous little shit lol)

I also have Frank my OCD Goblin. He carries around an abacus instead of a calculator because 1. He is obsessed with numbers and 2. Physically moving the pieces to count calms his anxiety 😅. Frank loves simple repetitive tasks that he can do on repeat so he can count them over and over again. He often teams up with Jeff because of this and then they bug Reynold all day. Kind of a "hey! Hey! Hey check this out! Look what we can do! Hey!"

Bobby is my Autism Goblin 🤣 I love him so much but like sometimes I just.. he tries so hard and his effort is absolutely beautiful, but he just isn't good at any of it 🙃 he is the director of communication, so anytime I socialize Bobby shows up to help navigate talking. But like he just REALLY isn't good at it 🤣 the heart and soul he puts into it though is why he is still the communications director 🥰

I also have Manic Manny, Depression Dave, Sensory Sally. Though they like to work from behind the scenes. Their control is really strong but everything they do is by sneaking up and whispering in Reynolds ear and *poof* disappearing. He can't ever see them, but the weird creepy crawly feeling they give him makes him act on what they said every single time.

There are lots of other Goblins that work in this factory, but they are more like background characters? Like, everyone has a job, but most are just quiet office workers that help to keep the lights on 😅

If you have read this far thank you so much!! My question now is, what are my brain goblins? Is this DID or is it something else?? Tbh I don't really care what it is because these are my Brain Goblins and I love them no matter how much they annoy me 😅 but I also like learning information because sometimes it can really help me with managing life lol

[object-obsession]

| Combined post #5 | Some kids series

Inanimate Object Characters List | Entry: 49

I've said this before: I'll probably won't be able to cover ALL kids shows, because there are TOO MANY and I know barely any of them. But I want to mention at least A COUPLE of them, because some series are just very famous , so they can't be ignored - and I find some of the eligible characters really fun, so I won't ignore them.

(And those characters that I find fun will all be in this post.)

I'm not gonna do kids shows with vehicles right now, because as expected, the list is long with such series. There are MANY.

--

We're starting of with Dora the Explorer, because who doesn't know Dora? Just like many other people, I grew up watching Dora as well. Strangely enough, I do not remember Map being my favourite character back then... Now I'd say he is (I mean, of course I don't watch Dora anymore, but I like him as a character best - aside from Dora herself - and I wish there was Map lore), but I might have watched this show even before my obsession started? Maybe...?

Characters: Map, Backpack

TV series: Dora the Explorer (2000-2019)

Next we have Dora's cousin, Diego! I didn't watch this series as a kid (maybe a few times with my younger brother, but that's all). Though I do remember playing both Dora and Diego's video game on the Wii.

Character: Click

TV series: Go, Diego! Go! (2005-2013)

Handy Manny is another series that I did not watch myself as a kid - and I also didn't know about it until recently, but I came across it a few months ago (because apparently people have been saying that every single guy looks like one of these, lmao) and to be honest, it certainly seems like a kids show that I would have found a blast when I was younger. The characters look fun and I'm fond of tools.

I'm female, so the comment of looking like one of them wasn't addressed to me, but I'd say I'd be Turner. My face is round, too. Lol!

Characters: Rusty (pipe wrench), Pat (hammer), Flicker (flashlight), Dusty (handsaw), Felipe (Phillips head screwdriver), Squeeze (pair of pliers), Stretch (tape measure), Turner (flat-head screwdriver)

And there's a bunch of other tool (and two non-tool) minor characters throughout the show.

TV series: Handy Manny (2006-2013)

Finally, we have Finley the Fire Engine and yes, I said I would not do kids shows with vehicles just yet, but 1. there's a character I like in this series and 2. not all characters are vehicles (including my favourite).

I didn't grow up with this series, plus, I found out about it at a relatively "old" age (considering the very young target audience), but because of that one character, I have seen some episodes anyway.

It's Suds, by the way. That character I'm talking about is Suds.

Don't ask me why, but he's is just too good for this series. I'm serious.

Characters: main characters (Miguel, Finley, Jesse, DJ, Gorby, Isabelle), Suds, Mr. Bell, Polly, Lyle (left) and Lois (right)

And there's a bunch of other vehicle characters throughout the show.

TV series: Finley the Fire Engine (2007-2012)

[michelleelizabethtanner]

Love your analyses on all things brio. You observe things so much deeper than I do lol

Why do you think rio didn’t kill beth after she said she lost the baby? I don’t think he ever truly believed she was pregnant but wanted to get her to admit that herself and stop lying to him but once the whole pregnancy game was over why didn’t he kill her?

You are keeping me FED with these asks, you know that, right? Just like, who cares about my boring regular life when I can think about Brio all day. 🥰🥰🥰

The psychology of Rio (and Beth) is basically what keeps me coming back to these insane characters. On the one hand they’re so over-the-top toxic and crazy, but on other hand they are also both so relatably human. I talked about this particular part of season 3 in this post, discussing Rio’s feelings about Beth’s imaginary miscarriage. Where he suddenly realized that while he still felt anger, he also felt other emotions for her, which complicated his murderous plans.

And isn’t that just so relatably human? This cycle of abuse couples keep perpetuating, not knowing how to extricate themselves. The initial draw of Beth for Rio was rooted in juuuuuust enough validation to get him hooked. There are lots of jokes about Beth’s magic vagina that got Rio acting crazy. And it’s true in part. It isn’t the vagina though, it’s HER. She fulfilled something in him that he felt was missing, and that he somehow craved. We can’t pinpoint exactly what that specific craving was, but Rio is very much attracted to Beth’s life. Even Manny Montana described the Brio relationship this way, and I fully agree. The freedom and power that Beth envies in Rio is reflected by a similar envy and craving in Rio for the freedom of balance and privilege Beth has and takes for granted. That feeling of “you’re just like me but you have what I can’t” is gotta be crazy-making. I can see why he became obsessed. Sat outside her house at all hours of the night, just feeling the vibes. Trying to understand how a monster like her can hide in plain sight like that while he himself has given up everything for his kingdom. I imagine he had his own moment (or many moments) like Beth did in his closet, just examining her existence and trying to understand how she is who she is.

Given all that, given that compulsive attraction that’s so deeply rooted in his own psychology, in the absence of immediate and strong emotion, I don’t see how he could ever bring himself to kill her. He can’t even leave her alone, much less get rid of her forever. Because she serves a psychological purpose. She validates for him the absence of that maternal domesticity that he for whatever reason needs. Like people with “daddy issues” seeking endless validation from powerful men, Rio NEEDS Beth to validate his own humanity to himself. Rio’s personal self-outlook, I think, is rooted in a lot of darkness and shame. He masks it with playing to things he thinks are his strengths – his meticulousness, his leadership, his intelligence, even his attractiveness. But deep down I don’t think he likes himself as much as his cocky demeanor would lead us to believe. I think he grieves the loss of the child he was and the dreams that boy had to give up. Rio always felt he had no choice. That he HAD to be like he is and denied himself an enormous amount of happiness because he believed that was the consequence of being king. And then he sees Beth who hasn’t given up those things, who has the privilege of both ruthlessness and softness, and he cannot kill that. That would be like killing a part of himself. A part he’s always wanted for himself.

For the same reasons Beth can never kill Rio. They are linked. They feed each other’s inner child and they validate each other’s most secret desires: to be seen, to be understood, to be given permission to be themselves without losing all they’ve built. And it was this specific relationship that was in my mind when writing Rough Night. Their giving in to who they each always wanted to be and achieving happiness in the process. A fix-it.

[jamjoob]

What inspired your art style? Eeeeee like how did you discover it? And who is your favorite dc character or who comes closest? Am I allowed that many questions? Did I exceed my question limit? Did I go over my daily limit!?

WOA WOA TOO MANY QUESTIONS >:0 . Jk

I have a lot that i take inspiration from, so I'll just list 5 things in no particular order:

Yoshitaka Amano

Tekkonkinkreet

Manny Edeko on insta

Takeshi Obata

Matteo Scalera

Disclaimer: I think trying to focus on finding a style is limiting. I don't think I have a style, just a particular process I'm comfortable with.

BUT best way to get comfortable is to get obsessed w something & want to draw it a million times lmao.

And fav DC character is the Condiment King