Published: Wed 18 March 2026
By Sissy Becky
In journal .
tags: toys
Ollie asked me a TMI Tuesday question on bsky... and ... It's answer does NOT fit in 140 characters.
Why status? Like um... wots it for?Is there ABy status an wots it mean? An... in a place like ABRI wots status rilly mean there?
— Ollie & Mary's Dollhouse (@ollieandmary.bsky.social ) March 17, 2026 at 8:16 AM cracks knuckles
Weeeelllllllllll.....
A lot of human interaction can be viewed as status interactions, both on the smaller interaction level, and at large. It seems to be a part of our social-brain machinery.
Welcome to my Teddy talk.
The whole alpha-bro mythology is related to this, except they view status as single hierarchy purely related to looks and money, rather than the complex force that it is. The primary status signifiers are "how many hot chicks you can bang" and the secondary signifiers are just means to that primary one.
Status itself is conferred through many different means. Certainly money and looks can play a part, but also: education, style, prestige, profession. It's in what you say, how you say it, what you wear, what's in your home, what kind of home, what you drive, and even how you drive it. When not consciously thought about, it can be quite pathological and very class based. New money vs. Old Money. Professional vs middle vs working class.
There is status in the main culture, but also subcultures have status. Jazz musicians confer status upon individuals who are great to work with, can rip a good solo, and are well connected in the scene. Adam Neely expounds on his video The Ethics of Fake Guitar .
In the ABy world, high status is probably granted to a lot of the popular smut creators (podcasters, writers, models and artists). Also community leaders get some status as well. Even just highly dynamic and welcoming individuals probably get status. I'm not going to guess at my status. That feals really gauche.
It's not a comfortable realization, especially if you're liberal or left-leaning. The implication that hierarchy and status seeking are baked into our culture, or worse, our brain makes a project of egalitarianism more fraught. David Marx (where I get all this philosophy from, either directly or indirectly) concludes with the notion that if we are aware of this status seeking behaviour, we can learn to drive it, instead of it driving us, which I agree with!
Status in ABRI would be very interesting to deconstruct. Like most real world status systems, it's multi-layered. The Director has explicit status, both as the runner of the show, and as the 'Top Dom'.
Christine's status is born both as the right-hand woman of The Director and her own skill as a Dom and Jill-of-all-Trades. NGL. She's a bit of a Carrie Drew (like a Mary Sue, see?).
I expect that the status of the staff plays out differently and is more based around mutual appreciation of each others skills, talents and kinks. Eddie as cook and bartender has his own status. Is it the same as the direct hierarchy as Christine? No. Could he tell Christine to "get out of here, and take a day off!". Absolutely yes. Do the staff generally love and respect him? Also yes.
Amongst the babies? Well that's part of the story! JayJay has loads. We see him through Becky's eyes, but he can lead other ABys around. Iit's an uncertain status, and not everyone likes it. Tammy has lots because she is dating a big. Becky (the Mary Stu self insert) is shaking things up. No one knows what her status is yet, but she did mess her diaper in the directors office, and those are her pictures at the elevators.
I want to explore some interesting status signals like "look at how much pain Becky can take!" and turn it on it's head a little. There is already a notion of an "All-5" having higher status, instead of it just being an expression of a preference. It's something I noticed on the ABRI discord server. But there is a germ of truth to it. In a fictional institution full of sadists, a masochist who can't say 'no' must be a very tantalizing prize.
But that's not the only form of status. Dan's own status as an All-1 caretaker is highly regarded, and he is a fan favourite, after all.
All this talk of status is just A way to look at the world, but to slavishly look at every interaction and every community through the lens of status can put you into a troublesome pattern, one that has you relying on outdated and retracted wolf studies.
But... 'status seeking' shapes identity, spurs creativity, changes culture and fosters customs and traditions (which links us to the past and the the future). A healthy status-pilling is one that reduces social hierarchy, and promotes and encourages radical creativity.