Heavens to Mergatroyd

every weekday they’re all expected to get up early enough to be at school by 8am and then they usually spend their whole day sitting in desks but are expected to be wide awake. each hour they have to go to a different class but they only have like five minutes to get there. more or less rinse and repeat until 2:30ish with the tiniest break for lunch and that’s their whole school day.

lunch is like only half an hour and both the quality and quantity of food served at the cafeteria has been on a steady decline for a while now. i seriously went home for lunch every single day of my senior year because the food was so truly awful. there was this point where they stopped caring so much that they literally served a piece of garlic french bread (the shitty frozen kind, you know what i’m talking about) with marinara sauce and that was the whole lunch entree. 

along with their required classes, in order to look good to colleges they’re expected to take AP classes and advanced classes and extra classes what have you, as well as get good grades in them. all those teachers then proceed to pile ridiculous amounts of homework onto them in order to “prepare them for college” but you know what? as someone who took six AP classes in high school, i think AP classes are harder than college classes. they’re probably about the same content-wise but the general environment of high school is so overwhelming and stressful that it’s so much harder to focus on actually learning.

on top of academics they’re expected to be involved in extracurricular activities, sports, music, volunteering, internships, etc. and of course this is all in order to look good for colleges. because what is free time, right?

by the time they turn 16 (or maybe earlier) they’re also often expected to get a part time job. some of my coworkers who were still in high school worked 25+ hours a week, which is a fucking insane amount of time when you’re also a full time student. 

along with all this, they’re expected to get at least eight hours of sleep every night, which is A) a fucking joke, and B) literally impossible if you’re doing everything they want you to, and also if you’re not. high school is just such a truly awful environment to be in. i played sick really often because i hated being there so much. i overslept all the time because i never got enough sleep. i graduated two years ago and i still have anxiety dreams about high school because it was such a blight on my life for four years. 

Zoe, to Suzy: “Shhh! Suzy!”

Suzy, to Peppa: “Shhh! Peppa!”

Character Chart Character’s full name: Reason or meaning of name: Character’s nickname: Reason for nickname: Birth date: Physical appearance Age: How old does he/she appear: Weight: Height: Body build: Shape of face: Eye color: Glasses or contacts: Skin tone: Distinguishing marks: Predominant features: Hair color: Type of hair: Hairstyle: Voice: Overall attractiveness: Physical disabilities: Usual fashion of dress: Favorite outfit: Jewelry or accessories: Personality Good personality traits: Bad personality traits: Mood character is most often in: Sense of humor: Character’s greatest joy in life: Character’s greatest fear: Why? What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? Character is most at ease when: Most ill at ease when: Enraged when: Depressed or sad when: Priorities: Life philosophy: If granted one wish, it would be: Why? Character’s soft spot: Is this soft spot obvious to others? Greatest strength: Greatest vulnerability or weakness: Biggest regret: Minor regret: Biggest accomplishment: Minor accomplishment: Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: Why? Character’s darkest secret: Does anyone else know? Goals Drives and motivations: Immediate goals: Long term goals: How the character plans to accomplish these goals: How other characters will be affected: Past Hometown: Type of childhood: Pets: First memory: Most important childhood memory: Why: Childhood hero: Dream job: Education: Religion: Finances: Present Current location: Currently living with: Pets: Religion: Occupation: Finances: Family Mother: Relationship with her: Father: Relationship with him: Siblings: Relationship with them: Spouse: Relationship with him/her: Children: Relationship with them: Other important family members: Favorites Color: Least favorite color: Music: Food: Literature: Form of entertainment: Expressions: Mode of transportation: Most prized possession: Habits Hobbies: Plays a musical instrument? Plays a sport? How he/she would spend a rainy day: Spending habits: Smokes: Drinks: Other drugs: What does he/she do too much of? What does he/she do too little of? Extremely skilled at: Extremely unskilled at: Nervous tics: Usual body posture: Mannerisms: Peculiarities: Traits Optimist or pessimist? Introvert or extrovert? Daredevil or cautious? Logical or emotional? Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? Prefers working or relaxing? Confident or unsure of himself/herself? Animal lover? Self-perception How he/she feels about himself/herself: One word the character would use to describe self: One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? How does the character think others perceive him/her: What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Relationships with others Opinion of other people in general: Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others? Person character most hates: Best friend(s): Love interest(s): Person character goes to for advice: Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Person character feels shy or awkward around: Person character openly admires: Person character secretly admires: Most important person in character’s life before story starts: After story starts:

rose quartz: “BLUE DIAMOND, LEAVE THIS PLANET!!”

blue diamond: