In other words, meet my puppetsona for Welcome Home. This is Oaksley, a shy and imaginitive nerd who writes novels for a living. He runs a library with shelves absolutely lined to the brim with books. Though, he has a hard time enforcing any due dates for late books because he hates confrontation and would rather jump off a cliff than have an argument with someone. He's the introverted type who likes to hide away in a good book and curl up by a fireplace. That's not to say he isn't a team player, because he can easily be dragged into things by the other neighbours. He's lenient to a fault and insecure about himself and his actions. He couldn't crack a joke on the spot to save his life, but he will absolutely infodump for hours if given the chance
As for his dynamics with the other neighbours, I have the full list:
Barnaby would be constantly making bad puns about poetry and book titles, and sometimes visits his library just to make jokes about the titles and covers, much to Oaksley's chagrin, since he does not have an inside voice. It disturbs anyone else who is quietly reading in there, but he can't build up the courage to kick Barnaby out, since he does occasionally say something he finds funny and checks out joke books in the end. Oaksley's tried riding on his unicycle once (because Barnaby kept egging him on until he relented) and crashed into one of the neighbour's houses. He hasn't tried since, and almost broke his nose because of that
Wally is a fellow artist, so they gravitate towards each other whenever either of them are low on inspiration. As seen above, Oaksley will read a part of his latest story out loud and Wally will paint what is described. Wally has tried to show Oaksley how to draw before, and he sometimes scribbles on his papers when he gets bored because of this. Wally's always excited to see these sketches. They have a mutual agreement to go and ask for help together if something is wrong or if either of them have a problem. Wally helps Oaksley feel less alone as an introvert and gently nudges him to advocate for himself. Wally is one of the few neighbours Oaksley actively goes and visits first instead of being approached by them instead.
Frank and him get along pretty well, and he's a frequent visitor at the library. Think of a favourite customer sort of deal. He's the non-fiction to Oaksley's fiction, and they get into friendly debates often, especially when Oaksley's reading him a manuscript of his stories. Frank points out every scientific inaccuracy and Oaksley justifies them, usually by explaining it away as magic or that it HAS to happen for the plot to move forward. Frank voluntarily helps him organise the library books when others mess the shelves up
Sally barges in to drag Oaksley into her plays sometimes, and he doesn't like it. He's a writer, not an actor, and she's constantly telling him to be more expressive and confident in his performances. He'd much rather stick to the sidelines and watch other neighbours perform. Sometimes, she'll steal his glasses, because she finds that he's more expressive without them. In reality, it just makes him freak out because he can barely see anything. She manages to reach the end of his slow temper the most often. They don't get along that well. On occasion, he does ask Sally for writing advice for character dialogue, since she can act out what's being said and they can guage if it sounds natural, and she makes suggestions for changes. Mostly, he tries to avoid her as much as possible in fear of being picked on
Julie is similar, but Oaksley tolerates her a LOT more. He's not big into physical activity and games, but her energy manages to get to him, and it makes him more outgoing and willing to try them. He loves when they settle down for board games or word scrambles. She's like the extroverted friend who carries Oaksley outside and gets him to go to places besides the library or quiet spots. She's the reason he managed to get to know every neighbour well, since she introduced him to everyone when he first got to the neighbourhood and left NO room for awkward avoidance or hesitation. They can be found together if Julie disappears for a while
Poppy treat him like a son. He always gets some of her freshly baked cookies, and he never manages to startle her because of his soft spoken voice and attitude. Though she can be very overprotective because of this, and he has to reassure her that he can do things on his own. He gets a lot of hats and scarves from her, often inspired by the stories he tells. They write and knit together by a fireplace in comfortable silence as music plays from a radio. He visits her whenever he needs to have a break, and Poppy's happy to oblige
Eddie is someone he doesn't get to see as much, since he's constantly running around, but he requests for more notebook paper from his post office whenever his stack runs out. It's a nightmare for Eddie at times when he's particularly inspired and in the zone. They are both very scared of bugs, so they can relate to each other a LOT whenever one of them startles or leaves a room because they noticed one crawling around somewhere nearby. I imagine that Oaksley used to work for Eddie as an assistant before he founded his library, so they know each other very well as co-workers
Howdy gives him a hard time when he comes around to his shop. Oaksley can't crack jokes in an instant like Barnaby can, and he always needs a few minutes to come up with one. They often fall flat, and Howdy just gives him what he's buying out of pity because Oaksley starts getting really flustered that he can't get it right. Howdy is quite intimidating to him. He talks fast, and he has a hard time comprehending everything that he says all at once. He'll blankly blink at Howdy after he says a big paragraph of words and stutters a response out. Howdy will often compare how he reacts to Wally, because he just stares, but he's very thankful that he's not an apple thief like the former
