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summerlycoris · 3 months ago

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Is It Really A Birthday Party If You Wake Up In A Hospital Bed?

Chapter 3- Hey, this could be the worst day of my life.

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She could see her plushies panicking around her, trying to ask her questions. "What's your name? Can you squeeze my hands" And she tried to answer them. She told them she was okay, she just needed some more blankets. It must've been edging into winter- Mom had some spare blankets in the linen closet that she could go fetch.

But when she tried to get up, she just couldn't. The plushies- multiples of Roxy, of Chica, of Bonnie, of Circus Baby, even an old Rockstar Freddy she'd got off Gregory when she turned nine- were on top of her weighing her down. She couldn't move an inch. She tried to push them off, but even her arms were heavy. She could feel someone trying to push… a tube? Into her mouth- wait, what?- but it was just Roxy trying to shush her. "We need to be quiet, it could come back any minute."

________

They were on a picnic blanket, on a hillside under a tree. Roxy looked so much like her old self- and it was Cassie's birthday! It must have been, because there was carrot cake and carrot sandwiches and carrotdrop candy and carrot jelly and-

Wait, carrot jelly? Carrot sandwiches?

"Roxy, I like carrots- but not this much!"

"Yeah, I agree. It tastes better in small doses." She said, before passing her a piece of carrotdrop candy.

________

Then she was sitting just in front of Candy Cadet at the daycare. Sun was… where is he?

Anyway! Candy Cadet was gonna tell her a story! "Once upon a time…"

"She was found at the pizzaplex!? I… I was at work until 12am. Who would have taken her there?"

________

"Mom? Please come get me." She was standing at a public telephone just outside the pizzaplex. She'd gone there after school, hoping to catch a ride home with her dad. But he… didn't work there anymore. And mom didn't go there anymore. Nobody worked there anymore. There were newspapers covering up where the main entrance would've been. It was raining so hard- she was soaked through to the bone. She wanted to cry.

________

"Back at my old place, the pizzaplex there was… different" Gregory said. They were at the Fazpad. Gregory was drawing in a journal while talking to her. She was gonna be nine soon. He had just turned eleven, though you wouldn't be able to tell- he was about Cassie's height.

He and Aunt Miskovsky had just moved here. His Mom and her Mom were catching up nearby. Andy was trying to ask questions to his Mom about… well something dumb. Cassie guessed.

But none of that mattered, because she could really make a new friend. She just needed not to blow it. Gregory continued- "They had a Freddy themed disco, and a Bonnie themed bounce castle. It was really fun… Do they have those here too?"

"Umm, they have some cool attractions, but not those ones." She admitted. And saw his shoulders sink down. Is he homesick too? I was, when I first moved here… "But Fazerblast is super cool- it's a Freddy themed laser tag game! I'm sure you'll love it!" And there's Roxy Racers- it's a go-kart track based on Roxy. I've been on it before- it's the best!"

"Wait, Fazerblast, that sounds cool. Do you think our Mom's will let us play in it?" He said, putting down his pencil. He'd been sketching some strange mecha- Freddy, defending the city from mecha- Monty.

"We can ask- Dad got me a play pass when we moved here- it's still valid for a few months."

"I still have mine from home, I bet it could be used here…"

"Then let's go ask! I've got some money in my purse, in case we want any snacks."

They got permission, and ran off towards the Atrium, straight to Fazerblast.

________

Cassie sat down besides her dad, as he fiddled with an animatronic. Perks of having a technician for a dad- daddy daughter days were super cool! He was working on Chica, who stared at her with big, purple eyes. Gregory was on the floor nearby, drawing on some old construction paper. Aunt Miskovsky, a pale lady with wrinkles and dark black hair, watched over him from where she was fixing up Monty.

"Could you give this to Chica? I think she'll need it." Dad said, with a smile in his voice. So she did- lifting up the moldy cheese with one hand, while the other hand put Chica's voice box back in.

Gross gross gross-

________

She was at home, laying on her bed reading a magazine. She could hear Andy in the next bedroom listening to… something? It sounded more like beeping than music, honestly. But then, most of Andy's musical tastes were… experimental.

"Anddyyyy" She whined, and kicked at the wall next to the dining table. "I'm trying to study! Can you quit it?!"

Cassie could hear the guest room door open. Then she saw Andy in the archway, with her beaded braids and thick rimmed glasses, looking like she'd throw her cd player at Cassie's head. But instead, she asked. "Hey Cassie, did you want to hear a story?"

________

"...Roxy said 'But I've always wanted to be the best at racing. If I can't be first, does it even matter?' Foxy looked at her, then laughed. 'Of course it matters, Roxy- not everyone can be first! Most people don't even get second place! You should be proud of yourself. Now go up there and give their hand a shake!' " Mom read from a familiar book.

Cassie knew this story. It was from one of the first books released that had Roxy in it. Dad brought it for her years ago. And now mom was reading it to her. It was like she was six again.

________

Her Mom was mad. Cassie had gotten into trouble at school. She'd bitten Gregory because he'd been cheeky and pressed all the buttons in the elevator, trapping them inside. The principal didn't think ‘but he started it!’ Justified it and had called mom in for a discussion.

Mom walked out of the principal's office, and sat next to Cassie, holding her hand. "They think you got a bacterial infection in your blood first, then it became stepsister…"

"Mom? She's not my stepsister, she's my half sister? Of all people, you should know that…?" Cassie was really confused.

________

She was laying down in a casket. She looked down at herself. Wearing her old Roxy dress that she had to throw away when she was ten, holding hibiscus flowers in her hands clasped to her chest. Red, of course. They were such pretty flowers. There was someone saying the last rites nearby- no, her Mom, Dad, Andy, and the old priest from Salvador were saying it. And Gregory. And Aunt Miskovsky. But they weren't saying it right- wait no, it was in spanish? She laughed- well this was clearly a dream! I know for a fact Gregory can't speak a word of spanish! He'd always come to me for "help" with his homework, even though I know portuguese!

________

She was no longer in a casket. But instead a… hospital bed? Mom and Andy were sitting down next to her. Mom held her hand, stroking her dark-brown fingers across Cassie's right palm. It looked like they had been crying. Cassie squeezed her fingers around her Mom's, and Mom gave her a weary smile. She tried to speak. But still couldn't. Everything around her was so blurry. She could only see Mom, and Andy. Next to her, Cassie could feel something soft- her oldest Roxy plushie, from when she'd first been revealed. The prize of her collection. She wanted to grab it and drag it closer. But her left arm felt weird still. She could feel a cast on her forearm, and see a tube running into her upper arm. She just kept squeezing her Mom's fingers.

"Do you think they'll be weaning her off it soon?" Asked Andy.

"...She'll need to go to surgery first." Mom replied.

________

She was at their old house, in Salvador. It was so beautiful. With two floors, and wild, beautiful hibiscus growing outside. Red, of course. Cassie knocked on the door, and her dad opened it, a big smile on his sun-damaged, tanned face. "Oh, I knew you would find me." He said, as she flung herself at him for a hug.

"What happened to you?" She wanted to ask. But she didn't. He stared at her through the AR Bonnie mask.

________

He wasn't there. Not in the Superstar-Cade. Not at Bonnie Bowl. Not even waiting in line at that awful Roller Coaster.

And she'd been everywhere. She'd double checked and triple checked- looked everywhere for that Freddy hoodie.

She didn't want to think it-

But what else am I supposed to think?!

He'd abandoned her. Made off with her playpass while she was getting her stupid shoes. And now she couldn't find him anywhere.

She was left there, on the third floor balcony. Sitting down out of the way of everyone, near the exit to Bonnie Bowl. Those shoes still held in her hands.

Cassie was just a little girl, in a huge Pizzaplex. Nobody seemed to notice her. Even when her eyes started watering again.

She dropped the shoes to the side, so she could rub her eyes desperately. She didn't want to cry again.

(Maybe that's why he'd gotten sick of me.)

… Or maybe something had happened to him? Maybe he'd gotten lost looking for a bathroom? Maybe he'd seen Freddy and tried to follow him?

Maybe someone had taken him?

That thought sent a shiver up her spine. But nobody could do that, right? There's cameras everywhere- security staff wandering the building…

Someone would've noticed a kid getting spirited away, right?

(... They didn't in those video games.)

Now the self pity left her, to be replaced by dread. She might be the only thing between her new friend's life, and death.

(She wasn't even nine yet.)

She stood up, grabbed her shoes quickly, and looked around. Trying to figure out what to do.

Mom and Dad said, if I'm ever worried about something dangerous, to tell them immediately.

But if she did, Andy would punish her.

“If you go back to Mom or Dad without me, Cassie, I'll give you a haircut. Again. Understood?"

…

What if I'm overreacting?

…

What if I'm underreacting?!

She didn't know what to do.

Everyone entering or exiting Bonnie Bowl was so much taller than her. It was a common teen hangout, after all. It felt like all she could do was hold herself close, and try not to be swept away in the crowd.

Who could she ask for help? Roxy? Bonnie? She didn't know where they were…

Sun. I know where he is.

So she ran off through the crowd, with ‘excuse me’s, and ‘sorry!’s whenever she needed to push her way through a crowd. Down the escalators two steps at a time. She wish she was wearing her new shoes, instead of carrying them- they'd be better for running that her ratty old sandals.

It felt like it took forever to make her way over to the daycare, through the open doorway in Kids Cove. Sun would know what to do. Because he always did. Whenever she ran into an issue at the daycare, Sun would help fix it. Or Moon, both were so nice-

She got up to the slide, with its ‘slide into fun’ sign. There was a barricade in front of it, and a sign at the empty service desk.

The daycare is closed, for… she couldn't read that last word yet, it was too long.

Cassie panted from running so far, hands on her knees. Her mind whirred- she couldn't believe it.

I just need to yell. Even if it's closed, he'll still come out and help me, right?

So she did- “Sun? Moon? Hello? I need help- Can you come out please?”

But nobody came.

She bit her lip, and went to look over the railings, and through the netting.

There was no one there. The cheerful music of the daycare seemed designed to taunt her.

Nobody was gonna help her. She’d picked wrong.

She crumpled to the floor. A lost little girl, in a huge world.

There was the distant sound of a bunch of little feet, racing behind her back to the lobby. Cheering, and laughter that contrasted awfully with how she felt right now. It was like they were making fun of her.

Now she really did cry, loudly, as she threw her shoes at the service desk in frustration.

She couldn't do anything-

There were noises of heavy footsteps behind her, but she barely noticed over her wails.

“Good morning Cassie, you look a little lost today. Are you okay?” she started, and spun around while seated. Her dress getting caught around her feet. Bonnie had leaned down to her level. Besides him, stood Freddy. Had they been at a birthday party?

“I…” What should she say? “I… got seperated from my friend earlier. And now I can't find him anywhere- his name’s Gregory Miskovsky. He could be anywhere by now- Could you… please help me?” she sobbed out, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She tried standing up, but got tangled in her dress. She would’ve fallen over if Bonnie hadn’t caught her. He grabbed her under her arms, and set her upright.

Bonnie and Freddy looked at each other, then back to Cassie. “Of course we can help you. It will be our pleasure.” Said Freddy. He reached out a big hand to her, which she grabbed thankfully. Only being able to hold one of his fingers in her palm.

“Now Cassie, are those your shoes by the desk?” Bonnie asked. She nodded, and he went to retrieve them. “Make sure not to lose them- they are limited edition. You must have worked hard to save for them.”

She nodded again, thanking him. She didn't think they were important right now- but she had worked hard to save up for them.

“How about you come with me? I will take you to the stage- it is a good place to spot people from- while Bonnie and my friends go looking elsewhere for Gregory.” She nodded, then he led her away, back the way she came.

She could see Bonnie heading out, towards the lobby. And could feel the sensation of someone staring at her. But she was too focused and upset to turn around and find out who.

She wiped at her eyes with her free arm, trying not to get her tears on those shoes.

________

Cassie didn't like it when people stared at her. She didn't like it at school, she didn't like it at the shops. And she especially did not like it here. She was in a hospital? She couldn't move an inch. Her legs were propped up on… pillows? So it was hard to see over the blanket. Her left wrist had a tight bandage on it now. A man was staring at her. That tube was still in her throat. She could feel something in her nose, too. He just keeps staring.

She wanted to slap him. Throw some words at him that mom would skin her for using. But she couldn't move and she couldn't speak. How can an open room feel so claustrophobic anyway?

________

Now he was on the other side of the bed. Just great.

Bad news! The tube was still in her throat!

Worse news! This jerk is stealing my blood! She could see it coming away from her in tubes that fed into a strange box that was full of her blood. He was fiddling with the box. She tried to protest, but he was on the left side of the bed. When she went to hit him, she missed miserably. She tried to pull out the tube down her throat, to give him a piece of her mind-

________

Next thing she knew, she was watching an old movie with Gregory. Brazil- her favorite.

His Mom was busy- night shift. Cons of having a technician for a mom- they're not always home... So he was staying the night with them, as usual. It was the weekend, so Cassie had managed to convince her parents to let them stay up late and to have the family room to themselves! Perfect! Add some microwave popcorn, and a soft blanket to wrap around themselves, and it really was perfect. Her hand was intertwined with his, as they leaned into each other's shoulders.

Cassie was eleven. She was watching a dumb old dystopia flick right next to her best friend, and she wasn't scared of anything.

________

She went from being so happy, to feeling miserable so quickly that it was like she'd been slapped.

Cassie was alone. It was her twelfth birthday party. And nobody had bothered to show up. She could feel tears welling in her eyes as she slumped down near the bathrooms at the Glamrock Beauty Salon.

She'd invited some of her ‘friends’ from school. But I knew they only kept me around as a backup friend, someone to laugh at behind my back… just didn't want to admit it…

What really hurt was that Gregory hadn't turned up. Because she trusted him to be there. Because he'd said he would be. But the party had started an hour ago. He wasn't coming. Nobody was. She'd got all made-up for nothing.

Mom and Dad tried to keep her spirits up, until she excused herself to the restrooms so she could cry in peace.

She sat there, curled up for a while. Hoping Roxy would hear her and come back for her. Hoping no one would see her. Until she heard footsteps. She looked up- and there was Gregory! He was holding a tissue out to her, knelt beside her. "Sorry I'm late. You know I wouldn't miss it for the world."

(No, no, no, that's not how it went-)

She reached out to grab it, only to grab her Dad's worn old hand instead. She could see the veins through his knuckles.

He was kneeling beside her. "Hey, Cass? We just got a phone call off Jemima…"

She sniffled. "Aunt Miskovsky? Does she know where Gregory is?"

He just looked at her. Her heart sank. Something's really wrong.

"How about you come back with us? We'll have some carrot cake and… we'll talk there, okay?

(Not okay not okay not okay-)

________

She could feel Roxy threading her fingers through her hair again. She did it! She got Eclipse! She came back for me. Cassie opened her eyes, and saw Andy beside her instead, singing a little song in Portuguese under her breath. One of those nursery rhymes you'd sing for a little kid. But Cassie was thirteen now! I'm not a baby anymore, jeez!

…

As much as she hated to admit it though, it was comforting.

Andy kept running her dark-brown fingers through Cassie's hair. This time. This time, Cassie didn't miss, placing her hand on top of Andy's. Andy's eyes widened, then she asked- "You're really waking up this time?"

She tried to speak. She wasn't surprised to find out that stupid tube was still there. She squeezed Andy's hand instead.

"She's tolerating the awakening trial so far. If she keeps stable, we may be able to run a spontaneous breathing trial today. '' Said a man's voice. Cassie looked to her other side- and there was the blood thief! Writing some notes into a clipboard, and chatting quietly to a lady beside him.

I thought he was just a bad dream?!

Cassie could feel her eyes widen as she tried to get away. She couldn't sit up, or move her legs, so it didn't work. But she still tried. And Andy seemed to understand she was upset, because she started to try and sooth her "Hey, it's okay. Mom will be back soon- she just needed a coffee. She's coming back, Cassie, you're gonna be okay." She turned to the man. "She's so confused-looking. Is this normal?"

"Yes, it's normal to be confused after sedation." He looked up from his clipboard, straight at Cassie. Cassie couldn't help shivering. He must be a vampire or something. He's ashen enough for it- I bet he's hiding fangs too! He looked up at the monitors. "Maybe I remind her of someone? She's getting upset again- could you take over for a few?" The nurse nodded, and he stood up to leave.

Everything was so confusing for Cassie. Breathing trials? Awakening trials?! She'd been expecting to wake up in the tunnel, when Roxy brought Eclipse back-

Instead she was hooked up to some weird machines- the kinds you'd see in some medical drama on tv. She had the tube in her arm, what felt like a smaller tube up her nose, and the most annoying one down her throat. She could also feel some sticky things stuck to her chest- with more wires coming away from them through the neck of her gown. And there was a doctor-thingy (She… couldn’t remember the name?) Stuck around her left thumb. It was also attached to a wire, leading to the monitor. Her bed was tilted slightly, but straight. So that her feet were down, but her head was up. She could barely move- just being able to wiggle her fingers on her left hand at the moment. It felt like there was something around her right leg. And honestly? She felt sick. It'd be a miracle if she didn't throw up. She didn't want this weird vampire anywhere near her- thank goodness he was leaving! He went left, behind the curtains.

Andy reached over and grabbed the Roxy plush from the left side of the bed, and passed it to Cassie. She nearly forgot it was there. She clutched it to her chest for a bit and her breathing leveled off, until she heard a door open- and Mom was there, walking in from the right. Andy withdrew and stood back, as Mom rushed over to Cassie's side, filling the chair Andy had been in. She put her coffee down quickly, on a little side table, then grabbed Cassie's right hand and held it tight with both of her hands.

"Oh my goodness…my baby girl…" Mom choked out. Cassie's heart hurt, seeing her Mom cry. Because Mom never cried. Not even when…

She wanted to ask so many questions. Needed to know so much.

"Mom, don't overwhelm her. She's probably got a lot going through her head right now."

Her Mom nodded, and just kept clenching Cassie's hand, as Cassie slowly calmed down again taking deep breaths. Andy excused herself for a moment. "Just gonna grab something, be right back." And for a while, everything was still.

The nurse stopped standing and checking monitors, and sat down instead, looking at Cassie expectantly. "Good morning Cassiopeia, my name is Nurse Harris, and I'll be helping you today."

Cassie frowned. Don’t call me Cassiopeia- especially if you can't pronounce it right! But she couldn't say that yet. Mom stepped in, though- "She prefers to be called 'Cassie'."

The nurse let out a small laugh. "Well, that's good to know- Cassie, we're going to have to run a few little tests on you, okay? It shouldn't be hard- it's just to check whether you can stay awake, or if you need a little more sleep."

Cassie nodded slightly. She couldn’t move her head much, due to the tube.

The nurse quickly checked her clipboard. "I'd ask you to open your eyes, and to look at me, but you've already done that- you're ahead of the curve!" This is a little patronizing… Cassie thought. "Could I ask you to squeeze your Mom's hand? Big squeeze now."

Mom stopped clenching her hand so tightly, so that Cassie could grip it. And she did. She swore Mom stopped crying when she did. Nurse Harris made another mark on the clipboard, and rechecked the charts. "You're doing well, Cassie. We may be able to get you off the ventilator today. But we'll have to see if you can breathe without much help first. Would you like to give it a go? If you do, give Mom's hand a squeeze."

She did want to give it a go. So much. Anything to get that dumb tube out of my throat. She squeezed her Mom's hand super tight, letting go when she saw Mom wince.

She wished she could say sorry. She wished she could say a lot of things.

Like a knight in varsity-jacket-wearing armor, Andy returned. And she returned with a glittery purple notebook and pen. Holding it above her head like she'd just caught a huge fish, instead of a small book. "Ta-da- this'll make things easier!" She passed the notebook to Mom, and the pen to Cassie. "You can't use words right now- but your arms aren't painted on- use them to talk to us!"

"Andromeda, could you please behave? There are other patients resting nearby." Mom scolded.

Andy just shrugged, and sat down at the foot of Cassie's bed. "Well, they weren't bothering to be quiet last week..."

Mom just tutted, and opened up the journal, holding it out in front of Cassie. They were all on the same page, figuratively and literally.

It's kinda like writing on a whiteboard, but with more give, thought Cassie, as she tried writing on the page. "I'm Sorry."

"'I'm-' What? Cassie, you don't need to apologize. I'm just glad you're safe. It's whoever took you there that needs to apologize." Mom said, sweeping some loose hair away from Cassie's eyes. Cassie felt her eyes get watery, and tried to blink it away.

She asked for the book back by tapping it, and added a question below- "Where am I?"

While she was writing, Nurse Harris was changing some stuff about the throat tube. Disconnecting it in one place, and attaching a different piece. "Make sure to stay calm, and breathe, okay? It might feel a little weird at first."

Cassie nodded, then wrote another question on the page- "Where's Roxy?" She tapped the book to get Mom's attention. Mom started, then turned the book to read it.

"Cassie, you're at the children's hospital in St George. You've been here for about two weeks now… and Roxy?" Mom looked up at Cassie disappointedly. "Did you go to the Pizzaplex by yourself? For that robot?"

Cassie shook her head, as much as the tubes and cords allowed it. She felt strange, as her lungs had to work harder now. The nurse was right- it did feel weird. She gestured for the book back.

"No. Went to find Gregory. Roxy SAVED me." She wrote.

"... She saved you? Starbright, the firefighters and paramedics did. They got an anonymous tip that a young girl was trapped under the pizzaplex. They searched and searched, and found you."

"Though, Mom, they did find her with Wolfie and Flatface. If they hadn't been making such a ruckus, they could have missed her. Maybe she remembers that?" Andy chimed in.

Cassie frowned. Don't call them that! She wished she could yell at Andy.

Andy at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Fine- fine! Roxy and Sun. Don't look at me like that."

"...You went there for Gregory? But he's been missing for so long now. Did you see him anywhere?" Mom asked, eyes wide.

Cassie gestured for the book back, and had to think about how she'd answer this. She didn't want to lie, but the answer was… complicated. Too complicated for right now. So she wrote back "No."

The nurse kept looking at her, it was getting a little much, honestly. Cassie really didn't get all of this- sure, she broke some bones. But two weeks? Stuck asleep? It didn't make sense to her. Couldn't they have just put her in a few casts and sent her home?

"What happened to me? Why was I sleeping?" Then tapped the book again.

Mom read the page, and Andy read over her shoulder. "Oh, that's a long story, Cassie." Said Andy. And then Mom started explaining.

________

So, from what Mom could understand and explain, Cassie caught an infection during her misadventures. They didn't know when or how, only that she caught something. (I can guess a few places…) It got into her blood, probably through one of the many cuts and grazes she'd picked up falling out of vents, being forced through sewage, scrambling around the catwalks. So on, so on. And then her body decided to be a drama queen and majorly overreacted.

("So you know colds?" Andy remarked "They make you sneeze and cough and everything's awful? But it's not really the cold doing that- it's your body reacting to the cold. That's how sepsis is- except it can shut down your organs if it gets bad enough. Fun, huh?")

The rescuers found Cassie in the Atrium, being fussed over by "two robots" (Eclipse and Roxy- so they did find me!) But she hadn't been breathing right, and had been really loopy, giving them nonsense answers. (I can't remember any of that…) she wasn't really conscious, so they intubated her so she could breath, sedated her when she started to wake up, and brought her here. At first they hadn't realized she had sepsis- thinking this was due to her concussion. Her heart and lungs had started to give up before they realized what was going on.

She was asleep so long because her body needed to get better, and give her heart, and lungs a chance to heal. "They even had you on an ECMO machine for a while." Mom said. Cassie wanted to ask what that was, but didn't want to interrupt the story.

Because it wasn't over yet! She'd broken four bones between two legs, one bone in her wrist, and they needed to be managed. Once she was stable, she'd been sent in for surgery to fix the fractures, and for spinal fusion surgery.

This time, Cassie did need to interrupt the story. She gestured frantically for the book, then scrawled "spinal fusion?" Into it. Then she let Mom read it.

Mom and Andy looked at each other for a second, and Cassie started to worry. It couldn't have been that bad, right? My arm hurt worse…

But she wasn't silly. She knew she'd been lying to herself about it. And now she'd just have to deal with it. Even if the worry was now a pit weighing her heart down.

"Well… no one knows how you did it. But you got really hurt at the pizzaplex. They think you must've fallen… did you try to climb through the roof to get in?" Mom asked.

"Or did someone push you?" Asked Andy.

Cassie shook her head to both questions. How can I tell them what happened to me? They'll think I'm crazy…

Mom sighed, and continued. "You damaged your spine, around… L-1?" She looked to the nurse, who took over.

"You had a burst fracture at the first lumbar vertebrae and the twelfth thoracic vertebrae. This has done some damage to your spinal cord- but now you're awake, we can find out just how it'll impact you. It's not a complete break- so you may be able to feel your legs, or even move them again. We'll have to check if you're out of spinal shock first."

Cassie looked at her in confusion, luckily, the nurse explained quickly. "Spinal shock can happen when you first get injured- it makes you feel like you can't move- or can't feel anything- below the break. Did you feel like that after your accident?" Cassie nodded. The nurse nodded back. "It usually goes away a few days or a week after the injury. Spinal fusion is just how we fix your spinal column- by fusing the vertebrae to one another."

Cassie spent some time thinking about it. It was a lot to take in, and she didn't know how to feel about it. Worried? Sad? Angry? I mean- at least I'm alive… it could be worse… that wasn't a very reassuring thought. Would she have to use a wheelchair forever? What would that mean for her? Would people make fun of her for it? She didn't really do sports, so that was one less thing to worry about. But she had other things she wanted to do in life! One job that wasn't a pipe dream- that she really could be good at! She needed to know!

She gestured for the book back, scrawled her question, then let Mom and the nurse read it. The nurse struggled to keep a straight face, while Mom just sighed. Andy started reading over their shoulders.

"If I can't walk, can I still be a cosmetologist?"

Everything was still for a second, then Andy burst out laughing. Despite Mom asking her to shush angrily. Cassie felt a wave of embarrassment course down her back.

Shut up Andy! You just don't get it… whenever there's big time cosmetologists on tv- they're always walking around doing things. They're never stuck in a wheelchair! This was really frustrating her. And she hated how everyone was acting like she was silly. This is my future… It matters to me!

"Cassie, you dope- of course you can! The models are gonna be sitting down anyway, right?" Andy wheezed out.

Cassie glared at her, until the nurse stepped in verbally. "Even if you can't walk again- and we don't know that you won't be able to yet- there should be accommodations that can be made for you. Maybe you should ask your case manager about this, when you meet them?"

Cassie nodded. She really wanted to change the subject. She tested out her left hand. She couldn't feel any pain in her wrist anymore- but they had said she'd had surgery on it, so that made sense. Her fingers clenched around nothing, and she could slowly lift her arm

Perfect.

She got it out from the covers, and grabbed the book from Mom, who was telling off Andy. ("Cassie! Don't snatch- Andy, I'm not done with you….") She couldn't hold it for long- even a small book was too heavy for her- so she dropped it on the bed, just in front of her. The first page was pretty full, so she flipped the page. An empty canvas.

Turning the book sideways, she wrote in big letters "Can I please get the tube out please?" She looked at it for a second, then added some lines underneath for emphasis. And quickly drew some stars in the blank space, she didn't want it to look too pushy. Afterwards she handed it to the nurse with her right hand.

The nurse read it over. "It's been over two hours now, and you're feeling okay?" Cassie nodded. "Your breathing looks fine- but I'll need to talk to the respiratory therapist first, okay?" She got up, passed the book back to Cassie, and walked left past the curtains.

A few moments went past, and then she came back with Cassie's new best friend, Mr Vampire. Cassie clutched the notebook to her chest, then remembered- I can say things now, and wrote a message to him. Flipping around the book so he could read it.

And he did. " 'What did you do with my blood?'... What blood?"

Mom had now stopped arguing with Andy, and started paying attention to this. "Cassie, please don't be rude to the doctor."

I'm not being rude! I'm just asking… He's probably not a real doctor anyway.

She wrote another message, and showed it to him. "I saw you with that weird machine, taking my blood. What did you do with it?"

Did you drink it? You drank it, huh?

The nurse answered. "Oh, I think I understand- she was only mildly sedated for a bit, didn't she see you at the ECMO machine?" She said to the doctor.

He laughed lightly, then said to Cassie: "I didn't think you'd remember that." He explained what an ECMO machine did, then clarified- "Trust me- we made sure to put your blood back when we were done with it!" He smiled. He didn't have any fangs in his mouth.

Cassie let her shoulders relax. "And don't worry, Mrs Oliveira-Mathers, I've heard worse from other patients after coming out of sedation." He followed up, to Cassie's Mom.

Turning back to Cassie, he introduced himself, then started talking over how the extubation would go. (Including explaining what an ‘extubation’ was to Cassie.) Basically, they were going to take out the tube to replace it with a mask over her face. And if she could still breath well afterwards, they wouldn't have to put it back in. They used what looked like a little vacuum first (and said it was to help keep her airway clear), and tested to see if she could cough.

"It might feel uncomfortable. And you may have a sore throat afterwards. You'll need to take a deep breath, and then cough as it's removed, okay?" She nodded, and he started to remove the tube. She took a deep breath- and was glad, because it took a bit for the tube to start moving. It really did feel weird- too weird. Mom ran her fingers over Cassie's palm again, to help keep her calm. She shut her eyes and coughed a few times- honestly less because she'd been asked to, and more because her body was screaming at her to get it out.

And then it was out, and she gulped in some quick breaths before he secured the mask to her face and helped her settle back into the bed. All of it. The writing. Getting that tube out. Dealing with emotions. It was all so much.

Mom clenched her hand again, and asked "How do you feel?"

Cassie nearly went for the pen and book again, laying next to her. Until she remembered- she (hopefully) didn't need it anymore. It took a few tries, but she was able to squeak out " 'M okay." It came out in a whisper. Her throat felt sore and dry, like her voice didn't want to work yet. She coughed again. Her left hand found the Roxy plushie again, and pulled it close.

She took a few minutes just to breathe and calm down again. Then she said to the man " 'M sorry for tryna hit you. A few days go."

He smiled at her, then kept taking notes. "I hadn't even realized, don't worry about it, Cassie."

She nodded, then asked a question. "Can I gona sleep now please? 'M tired."

"That should be okay. We'll keep an eye on you, okay?" The nurse said.

Mom let go of her right hand and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "When you're less tired, we'll do something special." Which Cassie didn't really get- what kinds of special things could be done in an ICU?

Cassie closed her eyes, and pulled the plushie up over her eyes to keep the bright lights out. "G'night."

It didn't take long for her to have her first real sleep in a while. And this time, there were no weird dreams to confuse her.

________

When she woke, it was just after 6pm. She still had the nose tube in and the face mask on, and all the various cables and tubes that connected her to machines. But all in all, she was going okay. The respiratory therapist and the nurse were there, and told her she'd done well while she was sleeping- She'd been breathing okay, and it didn't look like she would need to be reintubated.

"Oh, good." Her voice was still croaky, and throat was still sore. But talking came a bit easier now, and they were able to give her some water.

("You can swallow around your nasogastric tube. So feel free to try eating and drinking. Remember to have small bites if you eat, and small portions in general. Small sips of liquid as well.")

She could really get a feel for where she was now- a hospital (duh), but in a little section of the PICU. There was a clock on the far wall that Cassie could read if she focused. There were curtains drawn to her sides, to give privacy to the other patients. But she could hear what sounded like a dad and their kid talking to her left.

She could also hear the muffled sounds of a tv. But she couldn't see it yet. Maybe she'd be able to later, if they moved the curtains? Besides her head, on both sides, were machines that were making little noises and beeps. The Roxy plushie had been moved down to her side while she slept.

Mom and Andy were not there. Something which made Cassie feel a little uneasy. "Where's Mom?" She asked the nurse.

"Your mother and sister went out a little earlier, they said that they needed to grab a few things. But they also said they'd be back soon." She thought for a bit. "They left some magazines and books under the chair, did you want something to read? Until they get back?"

Cassie nodded, and was given a magazine. It was hard to read it laying down, but she could hold it resting against her chest with both hands. The magazine was her copy of her favorite magazine- Girl Guide. She’d brought it just before�� but she hadn’t had much of a chance to read it.

It, as always for the August edition, had a section for back-to-school outfit ideas. Which Cassie beelined towards. Also, there were puzzles throughout, some confessions, and movie previews.

She was slowly working through a crossword puzzle (well, more like stuck on a crossword puzzle) when a nearby door opened, with Mom and Andy coming over to her bed. They'd been away for a while- the clock read 7:30 now.

"Sorry for being late back. Traffic was awful." Andy said. She was holding two wrapped gifts in her arms. There was a foil balloon with ‘13’ written on it tied around her wrist. Cassie slunk back in embarrassment. Oh no…

Mom was holding a box, with a smaller box on top. She put the small box at the foot of Cassies bed, then gave the bigger box to the nurse and doctor. "Thank you for looking after her so well." From the look of the packaging, it was a box of carrot cake. They thanked her, and the nurse took it away from view. Then Mom grabbed the small box, and came around to sit next to Cassie again.

Cassie didn't want to be rude, or ungrateful. But it wasn't her birthday anymore, and she didn't understand why this was happening now. Or here.

It's a bad place for a party.

Andy tied the balloon to the foot of her bed, as Mom said "Happy birthday, Starbright." And leaned in to give her a hug.

Andy sat on the left side of the foot of her bed, next to the balloon, and passed one of the gifts to Mom. "It's a little late, but better late than never right?"

Before she went to the pizzaplex, Cassie hadn't bothered planning a party for her birthday. She'd just asked Mom if they could have dinner at home- maybe order a pizza in- and if Mom could take a night off work to spend with Cassie. To watch dumb old movies with her.

Mom had agreed to it, and if Cassie hadn't gone to the pizzaplex the evening prior… Well, she probably could've had a nice night, watching Blade Runner or something with Mom on the couch. Scoffing down popcorn and pizza. And, of course, some carrot cake.

"Oh! Should we sing 'Happy Birthday?'" Asked Andy, to break the silence.

Cassie shook her head. "Please don't." She whispered. Andy didn't start singing to mess with her, which Cassie appreciated.

The doctor said he'd leave for a little "To give you some privacy."

Mom ran her fingers through Cassie's hair. "I guess this is a bit… different than what you'd asked for." She looked so disappointed. Cassie felt guilty, seeing that face.

Cassie forced a smile to her face. "No, Mom… I was just surprised! This is great, thank you."

Mom's face lightened up a bit, and she gave Cassie another kiss on the forehead. "We'll start with gifts first, this one's for you." She handed Cassie a small box.

Cassie started ripping the paper off, but needed a bit of help with the more stuck down sections. She got it open, and it was a box for a phone. Not a smartphone- Mom didn't believe in giving kids too many gadgets. Oh yeah, wasn't Mom saying she'd give me a phone when I turned thirteen? Previously, she'd been relying on using the landline phone for calls. And sending messages to Gregory over the FazFans forum on her laptop for school. "Thank you, Mom. I forgot about this."

Mom grinned. "If you don't break it, I'll get you a smartphone when you're sixteen, okay?" Cassie nodded.

Afterwards, Andy handed Cassie her gift. It was wider, and skinny. Cassie wondered what it could be- she hadn't been expecting more than a phone call off Andy for her birthday, and a card in the mail.

She got it open, and it was a set of makeup. Including some nail polish, some blush, some lipstick, all in the coolest colors. "Thank you, Andy. This looks so cool."

"This isn't kiddy makeup Cassie- smudge proof- least that's what the sales lady said. So don't waste it!"

"I won't." She put it next to the phone box. Then Mom opened up the small cake box. Inside was a small piece of carrot cake. Just a little rectangle really. With two more pieces left in the box for Mom and Andy.

She grabbed her square while still laying down, as Mom and Andy said "Happy birthday" together. She thanked them again, took the mask off and took a small bite out of her piece. It tasted wrong, mixing with the residual flavor of the tube that had been in her mouth earlier.

Roxy's wrong- it's worse in small doses. She could feel her eyes getting watery.

Mom gave her another hug, and kept her pressed close, trying to console her. She could feel Andy move up the bed, and place a hand on her shoulder as Cassie sobbed weakly. Her thoughts ran in circles- Was it worse than last year's birthday party? Her birthday this year had already been a wash- being betrayed by her bestie was worse than him going missing last year had been- but this party. Did it even count? It didn't feel like it should. Any party where you're at a hospital shouldn't count.

With that, Cassie came to a resolution.

This year doesn't count. Next year… next year I'll do it right. I'll have a party, and have friends to invite, and have fun, and the carrot cake won't taste bad! She rubbed at her eyes, and clung to Mom.

All she'd have to do was make some new friends.

It shouldn't be too hard. Right?

~~~~~~~~

Author's note- yeah, I know St George doesn't have a children's hospital. In our universe. But in the fnaf universe… children seem to have an absolutely abysmal time and you would NEED a children's hospital near Hurricane, at least. (Really, you'd want a children's hospital anywhere a Freddy's location opened.)

Cassie's dreams are a mix of dreams, distorted memories, accurate memories, and delusions brought on by seeing or hearing things she can't understand while sedated. Most of the distorted memories are hopefully obvious enough.

Also, I needed to try and keep canon compliant with GGY. When introducing Gregory's past in this chapter. Which is harder than you would expect. Because GGY shouldn't be possible with the school system Washington county has (I checked)- they have intermediate school for grades 6-7, and middle school for grade 8-9. Gregory, Tony, and Ellis are in year 7. But pass a year 8 kid in the hallway. That shouldn't be possible. Or fictional!Hurricane just has a combined middle school. Or the story of steel wool era fnaf doesn't even take place in washington county, in which case my story is just. Immediately wrong on a fundamental scale. Oops!

My brain hurts. This franchise man... Oh well, I cannot control the hyperfixation. It controls the me.

#fnaf fanfic #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #cassie fnaf #summerly writes #is it really a birthday party fanfic

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unidentifiedseacreature · 1 year ago

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They find you sleeping on the job

Ahhh, Ruin DLC... you rekindle my love once again.

This is actually old but I never got around to posting it. Inspired by:

I am on my phone and I am lazy so prepare for significantly worse formatting than previous posts ✌️

Freddy 🐻

- He spots you across the mall and smiles and waves.

- He's confused when you don't react at all.

- Squinting, he realises you're asleep.

- He stands there, like 70ft (20m) away from you, trying to decide if he should wake you.

- 'They're at work, they should be working... I don't want them to get in trouble if someone else catches them asleep.'

- He decides it's best to wake you up.

- He walks over and gently shakes your shoulder.

- "Y/N?" Your eyes slowly open.

- "Superstar, you're still at work."

- Once you're up, he asks you if you've been getting enough sleep.

- For the rest of his shift, he keeps his eye out for you.

- He'll probably ask you how your sleep was every shift for the next few weeks.

Monty 🐊

- He's strolling past when he does a double take.

- He smirks when he realises you're asleep, ideas to prank you filling his head.

- Then Monty's braincells kick in and he wonders if he should wake you up.

- 'They should be working, right? But it's not my fault if Y/N gets in trouble.'

- He sits down next to you and leans his head back, glancing at you every now and then.

- Only a few minutes pass before another staff member walks past and he panics.

- "Y/N GET UP."

- You scramble to your feet and pretend you're doing something.

- When your coworker passes, you thank him, saying you had a bad sleep last night.

- He unsympathetically gives you a comment along the lines of "Get better sleep."

- "Oh yeah, great idea Monty."

- "I DON'T KNOW HOW SLEEPING WORKS."

- He decides he won't be able to use this against you in the future because screaming at you to wake you up wasn't his finest moment.

Chica 🐔

- She came looking for you to tell you something but immediately forgot what it was when she saw you asleep.

- Her first instinct was to take plenty of photos to document the occasion.

- She then plopped herself down next to you to hang.

- When you woke up, you were met with two purple eyes staring at you.

- She profusely apologises and insists she wasn't staring at you the whole time.

- You call her creepy.

- She promises not to tell anyone but she'll probably bring up the photos when talking to the other glamrocks.

- It's not like she told your boss.

Roxy 🐺

- When she sees you sleeping she's unsure if she should wake you or not.

- She sits next to you for a while, trying to think of what to say.

- She ends up nudging you awake.

- "Hey, you're still at work" she says sternly but not unkindly.

- She just awkwardly avoids eye contact until you walk off to continue your duties, trying to stay nonchalant.

- She doesn't see you any differently, but she might say "you snooze you loose" next time she beats you at Roxy Raceway.

Bonnie 🐰

- Bonnie didn't particularly want the awkwardness of waking you up.

- So he sat down next to you instead.

- Crossing his arms, he scans the pizzaplex like a watchdog, ensuring no one catches you asleep.

- "Morning, sleepyhead" he greets you when you eventually do wake up.

- "How long was I out for?" You ask.

- "At least half an hour".

- You swear and run off.

- The next time you see him, he says "Hello sleeping beauty" you glare at him but everyone else just seems confused.

- He slips you an energy drink every now and then, you have no idea how he's been getting into the vending machines.

Foxy 🦊

- I'm sorry to all Foxy lovers but he does not care.

- He'd see you sleeping in the strangest situations and would just walk past.

- You were asleep standing up, leaning on your mop and the wet floor bot cared more than he did.

- Though ever since, he has thrown a protein bar at you a few times. One of those times, he threw it full force and knocked you out, so he's not very good at what he was trying to do.

- His arm also came off when he did that if it's any consolation.

Sun ☀️

- Jingle jingle *he spots you* JINGLEJINGLEJINGLEJINGLEJINGLE.

- Unlike the others, he actually knows how to wake people up.

- "Wake up, friend! It's not nap time just yet."

- It's surprisingly pleasant to wake up to him jingling around the room, singing an original Fazbear Entertainment nursery rhyme about waking up.

- "Thanks, Sun."

- "No need to thank me, I wouldn't want you to miss out on play time!"

- 'Playtime, my ass' you think to yourself, getting back to work.

- For the rest of the night he hums the nursery rhyme tune to himself.

Moon 🌑

- To be fair to you, tidying up the lavender scented pillows and blankets from the daycare is hard to do without getting sleepy.

- Moon is used to being around sleeping kids, so he doesn't think it's weird when he spots you.

- That doesn't mean they know how to properly act around sleeping people.

- He just sits there and stares at you.

- Feeling someone's eyes on you, you wake up and practically jump out of your skin.

- "Holy shit, Moondrop."

- "Don't say that, Y/N."

DJ Music Man 🎵

- You seemed to have fallen asleep in the arcade.

- DJ Music Man retrieves a blanket and lays it over you, patting your head goodnight.

- In his hands, the blanket looks like the size of a tissue

- He turns off his music and the main lights in the room, then continues cleaning up or settles down to take a nap beside you.

- When you awake, you're surprised to see your manager was too busy reprimanding Music Man to be mad at you.

- It turns out Music Man is a repeat offender, and you aren't the first person this has happened to.

- He hangs his head in shame. But he will do it again.

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rascalthehamster · 1 year ago

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Hi can I request hcs of yandere vanny?

Yandere Vanny

You weren’t really close with Vanessa. She always kept her distance from you.

Originally you were one of the day security guards. You worked the closing shift so you would see her in the changing room from time to time.

You tried approaching her every once in awhile. Saying hi but getting no response. Asking what her weekend plans were but getting a very blunt answer back. At some point you just gave up trying.

When you were promoted to the night shift you were excited. No more having to deal with shitty kids with their even shittier parents. Plus double the pay?! Who WOULD reject that?

The worst part was Vanessa. You’d be taking some of her shifts, but she deserves the rest. She works every night at the pizza plex and deserves a day life AND a night life. One that didn’t revolve around pizza and singing robots.

You signed all the necessary paperwork, and got prepared for the night.

Your list of things were to wander the pizza plex at least every other hour and that when the animatronics were out, to stay in your room unless absolutely necessary. Sounds simple enough, the worst part would be the boredom that would inevitably appear.

You did your first walk around and everything seemed alright. All the cleaning bots and security bots were working.

After your walk around you pulled out your phone. There was nothing better to do.

After about 30 minutes you got an alert on your computer screen saying that movement was detected. You used the camera to survey the room but found nothing that could have triggered it. You decide to just pretend it was a glitch and continue wasting time on your phone .

The next alert you got was that the animatronics were let out. You were told that this was normal. You roam an hour, then they do, then you roam etc.

You couldn’t help but scroll through the cameras and watch them wander around. What mischief could they possibly get into when no one was around. Monty went straight to his exhibit and so did Roxy but with hers, Chica was in the cafeteria while Freddy stayed in his room.

Another alert caught your attention and you jerked your head to see what it was. This time it was closer to your security room. It didn’t flash that an intruder was there, but instead that a fire had started.

You grabbed the emergency fire extinguisher and rushed out to the hallway. Your heartbeat was the only thing you could hear as you followed your mental map of the pizza plex, eventually making it to the fire.

You successfully extinguished it but before you could calm down and find the source, you were tackled down by something. You were so shocked by the experience that you dropped the extinguisher.

Your arms and legs were pressed down by a giant animatronic alligator. You tried pleading with it but all it did was stare at you with purple eyes, it looked lifeless. Normally they were so full of personality, you knew this because you had to watch over their concerts and meet and greats.

However he had a thousand yard stare and slightly slacked jaw as he gripped your wrists down.

The next thing you could hear was static. Your vision began to redden and blur. Monty released his grip from you, leaving red marks. You could barely move as your stomach churned. However you could peer your neck around and you could see the other animatronics standing in the doorways, just as lifeless as Monty was.

The static got louder and your vision blurred even more as a skipping figure appeared in your vision. It was a bunny.

You didn’t recognize it. It wasn’t in the line up and you never heard of any rumors of them adding in a new animatronic.

No it couldn’t have been an animatronic, it’s movements were too lifelike. You could applause the craftsmanship of the main cast all day but they still had their quirks that just barely broke the reality.

But this one, was clearly human.

It skipped around the room, as if it wanted to toy with you. You tried getting up but the weight was unbearable.

It spoke but it was barely audible over the increasing static. The voice being barely recognizable. As it got closer to your face you saw the knife it brandished.

It pressed the cold blade against your hot skin. Making you look up into red, lifeless eyes.

You tried running away but your body was frozen in place.

“Are you having fun yet?” It said as it pressed its knife further into your neck, drawing blood.

As it dropped down the knife you finally recognized the voice. It was your co worker Vanessa. You tried pleading with her but all she did was look through you.

She was finally through with your whining and began to slowly gab the knife into your throat. The more you begged the deeper it went.

You’ll learn this lesson soon enough. She’ll promise that.

#yandere #yandere fnaf #Yandere vanny #Yandere Vanessa

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kinetic-elaboration · 2 years ago

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December 22: Bellarke, String of Lights + Only One Bed

2022 Ficmas #3

Bellamy/Clarke, Modern AU, ~1200 words

For the prompt "string of lights + only one bed"

At first, when the snowstorm hits, they all have a wonderful time. No one's going to brave the roads in this weather, but the apartment still has electricity and heat, and Raven and Clarke keep their fridge stocked with plenty of food. An extension of Friends-mas, that's all: they watch another Christmas movie, make another round of hot chocolate—this time, not spiked, but with the extra marshmallows that Raven finds in the back of the cupboard—and huddle together under the blankets Clarke takes down from the top linen closet shelf. Outside, a heavy deluge of thick white flakes, slashing down endlessly through the black. They keep the curtains slightly open for a glimpse of the storm.

Inside, the artificial warmth of the heater, the softness of fuzzy blankets and thick fleece socks, and Clarke's head on Bellamy's shoulder while they watch Elf. Jasper and Monty do impressions. Miller leaves for a moment to call his boyfriend, to make sure he's getting home all right, comes back with a report that Jackson's safe in a roadside motel at least, and even Murphy murmurs a low assent: "That's good." Raven is sitting on his lap, under the pretense that she has nowhere else to go. The living room's not very big but it feels soft and safe in all its details, down to the familiar lumps on the couch, or Bellamy's steady breathing, which Clarke can feel because she's left her hand resting against his chest. Her mouth still tastes of chocolate and sugar.

When it's time to go to bed, the space becomes something of a problem. For a bit, Clarke had wondered if they'd all simply fall asleep on the couch and the floor. She saw Miller nodding off there while the credits rolled. But then Monty mentioned wanting to brush his teeth, and Jasper started stretching and rolling his head back along his shoulders to take out the kinks. Even Bellamy sat up, pulled his arm away from her and leaned his elbows on his knees and looked around, as if wondering what he should do next. The group falls apart along fault lines.

In the end, it's decided that Jasper and Monty will take the pullout couch. Miller volunteers himself to sleep on the floor, in the sleeping bag that Raven pulls out of her closet. Murphy will, of course, be bunking with Raven in her room.

That leaves Bellamy to stay with Clarke.

She changes into her pajamas, slowly brushes her hair while she listens to the water running in the bathroom: someone, maybe more than one someone, brushing their teeth. The evening has left her sluggish and half-asleep. How little it matters, and how much all at once, that Bellamy will be sleeping with her in her bed.

She closes the curtains against the still-raging snow, lines up her slippers next to her bed for the morning, turns on her bedside lamp and turns off the overhead light. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she turns on her Christmas lights, too.

"Clarke?"

Bellamy's voice, tentatively, from the other side of the door. He raps his knuckles against it softly. "Are you asleep?"

"No—" She pads across the floorboards in her sock-feet and lets him in. "Just got a start on turning off the lights. Come in."

He looks softer than she's used to, in a t-shirt and sweatpants he borrowed from Murphy's I-swear-I-don't-live-here stash, the legs too short and the t-shirt too small across the chest, and his hair still mussed because it always looks like that now. He's grown it out so long. She can see the way it wants to curl. He approaches her bed tentatively, and she has to pull the covers all the way back and slide into her side before he clambers in. Soft but large, against the tiny blue snowflakes on her comforter, her flannel pillowcases in purples and greens. Awkward, looking down at the rough palms of his own hands.

"I like your lights," he says, as Clarke pulls the blankets up over them. She's swallowing Bellamy up in her bedclothes, trapping him—they could be kids again, for a moment—she could pull the sheets up over their heads and make them a little fort.

For a few seconds, she doesn't know what he means. Then—"Oh! Yeah, thanks."

She's strung red and green Christmas lights from her ceiling, ringing them around the room. They blink slowly in the darkness. She tilts her head back to watch them, following Bellamy's gaze, and after a moment, she hears the light click of the bedside lamp shutting off. Nothing left now but the string of holiday colors. Slowly shading off and then back on.

"They're festive," Bellamy says, and then before she can answer—more small talk only; her voice, she's sure, would be as distracted and as distant as his sounds—he adds, "Are you sure it's okay, me staying with you?"

"Well I'm not going to send you out in the storm," she says. "And I don't think you'll fit in Miller's sleeping bag. And I know you don’t want to get between Murphy and Raven. And—"

"That's not what I meant."

He reaches out and grabs for her hand in the dark. She feels his broad palm wrapped around her fingers, crushing them together, as if he were searching for anchor. Asking a question he can’t ask.

"Yeah," she breathes, into a long silence. "It's fine."

In her heart of hearts, she knows, it's more than fine. She wants to fall asleep on top of him. She wants to listen to his heartbeat with her ear against his chest, and his arm around her. She wants him to feel entitled to splay his palm over her hip.

"We're friends," she adds.

For a long moment, Bellamy doesn't answer. He lets go of her hand and settles himself down on the bed. She can hear him moving against the sheets, and when she glances down, she sees by the glow of the Christmas lights, that he's moved onto his side, facing her. The green and red cast a soft sheen against his skin. "We are friends," he agrees. Smiles a little. "This is a nice mattress. Glad I helped you haul it up three floors."

Clarke slides down beneath the blankets, turned on her side, facing him. "I'm glad you did, too," she answers, and her voice sounds far away, and the words are just something to say as she looks at Bellamy's eyelashes and meet the steady gaze of his eyes.

She asks him if he'd like her to turn off the lights, and he says that it's all right, leave them on, and after a while, she moves closer, so his arm is around her again. But this time in the privacy of her room, the gesture feels like so much more. The cold winter storm rages on beyond her window. But she's warm and at peace in the quiet and the dark, falling asleep to the sound of Bellamy's breathing, soft in the heat generated by her body wrapped around his.

#the 100 #bellarke #bellarke fanfiction #bellamy blake #clarke griffin #mine #my writing #the year 2022 #2022: free write #ficmas 2022

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elecman108 · 5 months ago

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"They do get a bit... quirky, but there's so many of them that, in all honesty, if you get sick of one there's bound to be another that will piss you off even more." -Vincent, probably, to some new hire

Fuck! I finished the Fazbear Crew and almost forgot Manora Mouse from Popgoes! There's a few from Popgoes that I skipped over (Cody Coyote, Lillie Lamb, Holly Robin, Morse Mole, Owen Owl), some mainline characters I skipped (Jeremy Fitzgerald, Fritz Smith, William Afton, the Mimic, Map Bot/Staff Bots, Music Man, there's probably more I'm forgetting), and some that I do have that are missing for specific reasons (eg. Lefty missing bc Marionette is here, Fredbear missing bc Goldie is here, Spring Bonnie missing because Springtrap/Vanny is here*), and some other Fangame characters I probably would want to add, but this is already like, seventy characters. I'm taking a break from them lol.

You're insane for clicking the readmore by the way. All characters, in order of left to right, by colour set:

PINK: Helpy, Cindy, Pigpatch, Pete, Mangle, Bonnet, Cupcake, Chica, Cyan, Katlynn, Minirena, Bidybab, Electrobab.

RED: XOR, Bane, Roxanne Wolf, Foxy, Ned Bear, Stone, Ray, Eclipse, Circus Baby, Ennard, Cassie Stevens, Ella, Marionette.

ORANGE: Sun, Penguin, Gregory Fazbear, Freddy Fazbear, Bloodmoon**, Jackal**, Grimm**, Jackie**, Orville, Manora, Fen, El Chip, Wendy.

YELLOW: Deedee, Doug, Blake, Princess**, Springtrap, Goldie Fredbear, Blank, Plushtrap.

GREEN: Popgoes, Happy Frog, Lolbit, Virtua**, Dreadbear, Chester, JJ, Montgomery Gator, Glitch.

BLUE: Mike Schmidt**, Reiyn, Vanessa, Ballora, Carnie, Bonbon, Lolzhax, DJ Music Man, Candy, Sara, Moon, Balloon Boy, Bonnie, Stanley, Liz Schmidt**, Discord, Vanny, Monika.

PURPLE: RXQ**, Rachel, Saffron, Mystie, Mr. Hippo, MXES, Shadow**, Vincent.

*Vanny AND Springtrap are both technically "Spring Bonnie", as Springtrap is the original Spring Bonnie and Vanny took over the appearance as the "original" Spring Bonnie given Springtrap had transitioned decades ago.

**Everyone with this has an alternate name, so in order: Jack-O-Moon, Jack-O-Bonnie, Grimm Foxy, Jack-O-Chica, Nightmare Cupcake, Delilah Afton, Michael Afton, Elizabeth Afton, Alex/RWQFSFASXC, Steven.

And, for anyone wondering about the relationships across the board with so many random Bisexuals...?

(Shit Pic Quality is my passion <3)

Mystie divorced Mr. Hippo forever ago and she's well over it because she has so many kids (the adult Animatronics like Cupcake, Foxy, Monty, etc) and grandkids (the kid-like Animatronics like Minirena, Bonbon, etc) to take care of. Mr. Hippo is still sad about it and keeps trying but it ain't working.

Katlynn and Wendy are my favourite girls, yes they're OCs, but they're in my AU so they go here. <3

Shadow and RXQ are my two favourite dead spectral idiots who are kind of like sandpaper against everyone else but each other. They're the perfect flavour of weird for each other yet grate the nerves and invade the privacy of everyone else around them on purpose just to get a rise out of them.

Foxy and Goldie are like hell together - they're in love, then Foxy's over here flirting with every man at the bar and Goldie's in the arms of DJ Music Man and flirting with Sara for some reason. They are both entirely unfaithful to each other yet still keep the other in the loop of their actions and it's a disaster. They've been besties for so long and the mutual pining for sixty years is REAL.

Baby and Ballora met each other once and decided to be essentially married. They have been together since their location had it's opening night, and have three kids (Minirena, Electrobab, and Bidybab). They're essentially like Freddy and Bonnie, but well before Freddy and Bonnie even existed. They're the ultimate power couple.

Doug and Rachel both owned a business and are actually married. Rachel jokes that her coworkers (Ray, Bane, Pete) are kind of like her kids because she's always telling them off for antics, and Doug is just madly in love with his rabbit wife.

Vincent died once. Springtrap got a new lease on life. They're both exes of the disaster couple that is Foxy and Goldie. Springtrap tries to be smooth and Vincent ignores him, but the second Vincent is mildly romantic Springtrap overheats and faints and requires repairs. They are the true disaster duo.

Chica and Roxy are absolutely out to be gay do crime insult Moon and get away with it. Chica is the buff chef and Roxy is the shockingly good driver and enjoys cleaning. They probably have unofficially adopted Cassie too, don't get them wrong.

Balloon Boy is that one weird kid who hangs around his nerd Marionette and somehow they're perfect for each other. Marionette is the most normal of the Toy Series aside from Mangle, and Balloon Boy eats batteries. Need I say more?

Freddy adopted Gregory as his son. Bonnie adopted Bonbon and Bonnet when he learned that the rabbit kids' dad (Funtime Freddy) and his boyfriend (Funtime Foxy) were scrapped. You ever play Dream Daddy? A similar thing is going on here with these two dads.

There are some former relationships that I didn't include (Delilah and William, Mangle and Toy Chica, Lefty and Rockstar Foxy) because one side of the relationship is very destroyed. There's a lot of relationships where both sides are destroyed too. Also Delilah/Virtua totally divorced William's bitch ass before he murdered her and turned her into a robot in my AU.

And, because it's Pride Month and I probably don't have more art for you, here's a bonus D&D Crew Set!

I think there's an additional one since the last time I posted about my D&D PCs, but that'd be just Cyrus. I have another one I'm cooking up (maybe an aasimar of some sort) but I'm gonna think about it some more before posting about them.

#the disappointment speaks #drawings by me #ocs #I mean this could be an art dump depending on if you look at me yeeting my fullbody refs together as an Art Dump or not #I have like all my non-DND-FNAF fullbody refs to do #and one dnd ref to do once I decide how to make the character idea I have #and THEN I can put them all together and say ''look at all these bitches I've made'' lol #I have a plan for putting them all together too I may have posted about them but idr #hopefully my work calms down so I can keep working on my other stuff and personal projects more than one ref at a time right? lol #its pride month babey you know what that means? gay robots <3

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amphiptere-art · 1 year ago

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Since I can't draw their final refs. Here's all the work I had going into the cruel copy AU. You guys just get to see the whole design process.

The entire au is supposed to be fantasy based. This is Moon's version of everyone. And if he could have a giant fantasy castle in his mind space then he could dress up everyone as fantasy characters.

Moon himself is based on the kawaii giant hat figures. He has a giant hat that basically he could fit his entire body into. Like a sleeping bag. Plus the stars in his hat will turn red in order to signify that KC is talking.

Lunar is supposed to have wizard-esque vibes. He has big glasses because of his blindness. And a big cape with the phases of the moon on it.

Sun is supposed to look like an advisor or a Greek-esk physique. His design is simple because of such. Although his arm cape has a beautiful design of a sunset.

Monty is supposed to look like a vampire Hunter. Or any sort of fantasy Hunter. Clad in armor and cool vest's. He also actually has pants now. Gator skin pants.

Eclipse is supposed to look like your standard sort of vampire / Butler villain. Took more notes off of Butler outfits. But he does have a chest brace to help with the pain.

Blood moon is supposed to look like a werewolf. Or some sort of feral monster. His little hat drips in front of his face constantly. And he has a big giant ribbon tail that's longer than blue moons.

I don't know what to do with Earth's design. I know she's in a wheelchair. Technically she existed so she would have died but I'm not sure if Moon would actually revive her. It's not like he would have known her at all in this timeline.

Their colors are still up in the air. With no colors to test with I don't know exactly what they would be colored as.

I know Sun's yellow would be paler and I want to add a rustic red/orange to him.

Moon is going to have a more generalized pastel colors. Still in deep blues but just softer.

Lunar is going to take a lot of the purple and yellow. Maybe pink. But I know his cloak will be a midnight purple with white.

Monty's going to gain a black to his color palette. But otherwise it's going to stay the same.

Eclipse is going to borrow the colors from his new form. Although I'm definitely going to lower the contrast on all the bright red, oranges, and yellows.

Blood moon is going to gain a deeper crimson red. Mostly on the spikes. Although I do want to give him a more pinkish maroon on his hat.

I wanted to give these guys lots of clothing because of @synthcoyote's general design basis. Red blue and black doesn't have a lot of clothing to deal with. And drawing the clothing on his characters has been very enjoyable so I wanted to have an au with a similar look.

Also in general I'm trying to emote better with these guys. Channeling a lot of @artoutoftheblue facial expressions. Since whatever they got going works is really well in my style.

#cruel copy au #character design #tsams au #sams au #sams #tsams #CC Moon #CC Sun #CC lunar #CC Eclipse #CC blood moon #CC Monty

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reactivatedrockstar · 10 months ago

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[I saw a headcanon post about Monty having photophobia (light sensitivity,) which is why he wears the sunglasses and screams whenever Gregory uses the fazcam on him.

I have to say, I partially agree. I don't think he wears the glasses because he has photophobia, I think he has photophobia because he was designed with the glasses.

I know, I know, this is a Bonnie rp blog, but let me explain.

In my canon, Bonnie had similar shades, (his were blue, not purple,) When he was originally designed. He loved the aesthetic, but hated wearing them. He always complained about not being able to see particularly well, them falling off his face, losing them, them flying off his face if he moved around too fast, etc. Eventually he lost them for good and decided he didn't care enough to replace them.

Fast forward a few years later. They decide to create a drummer for the band: Monty. They decided they wanted to being back Bonnie's shades when designing the character, and they took Bonnie's complaints into consideration when designing Monty. This time, the glasses had magnetic arms so they could better cling onto Monty's face, and they upped his brightness settings, so that he could actually see at an optimal level while wearing the glasses. This, of course, has some adverse effects when the glasses aren't a factor, such as flashes from the fazcam outright 'hurting' Monty.

Idk, it was just something I was thinking about and wanted to share. Obviously, I don't have Monty as a muse, so you can more or less ignore this.]

#Out of Cake #Merchandise {Headcanons}#[Expect another headcanon post soon]

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artist-in-training-wheels · 4 months ago

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Sooo... my previous post about Dazzle absolutely blew up, so I've come back to offer my slight redesign of the precious baby. I feel like her theme is flowers and while I was tempted to just add more in general, I figured I'd just stick with a sunflower (that and it looks very similar to Sunrise's "symbol" so she's copying her papa)!

While there are some notes on the pictures, my ramblings and reasons for the changes/additions will be under the cut :)

General Notes:

Made her fur and hair less saturated and more red-ish.

Made the horns a slightly lighter color.

Gave her more freckles and added the freckles to her legs, arms, and tail.

Made her eyes less pea green and more emerald green.

Casual outfit:

I know the original design had stitches on the legs of hearts and a sun, but I think she'd want patches from the rest of her "family."

The only ones who don't have ones are Sun, Jack, and Neptor. This is mainly because Sun and Jack have friendship bracelets, and Neptor is "too shy" to give her a patch.

I added Monty because I feel like Monty would've met Dazzle at some point- due to them dating Earth, hence the added patch!

I might go back and tweak the patch designs/give her the stitches, but for now, I'm happy with the design!

Work outfit:

So it wasn't until I was finishing up the coloring did I realize that the purple dress might be her "uniform". ^^"

I considered adding details from that outfit to my design, but I really liked the idea of Dazzle wearing her family's clothes as her uniform!

With that being said, She modified a shirt from Lunar, got a spare bow from Earth, and managed to combine Sun and Moon's pants into one!

Dazzle doesn't give me the vibe of someone who would wear ribbons or cuffs with their bells (not counting the bows on her head) and instead would like the softness of fur- hence the fur cuffs.

I do think she'd like to gallop/skip, so the bells are on the outside of her ankles rather than the front like Sun/Moon/Lunar.

#my art #digital art #dazzle deer #sams #laes #laes dazzle #reference #I would still die for her in a heartbeat #if anything bad happens to her I'm killing everyone in this room and then myself #the sun and moon show #the lunar and earth show #ramblings #they are baby #I desperatly need to see more of her interacting with the other asap!#Might draw her and Jack next #possibly in their new room who knows

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animationstarlover1983 · 11 months ago

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Fnaf system reboot au

Character design changes ideas

1. Freddy: Freddy is slightly bigger and taller, he has a blue star on his back, he now has red painted pants with a star buckle and he’s has a tuft of hair on his head, his stomach hatch is bigger and looks more safe and actually ridable, Freddy also now has a tail.

2. Chica: chica now has a metal feather tail on her now.

3. Roxanne: Roxy is slightly bigger and taller, a bit more of Roxy’s hair is dyed red and purple and even the end of her trail is dyed green.

4. Montgomery: monty is slightly bigger and taller, he now has a purple nose piercing and his red Mohawk is much bigger and slightly longer.

5. Dj music man: the upper half of music man is much like his original variant with 2 long big arms, his lower half is more like his normal spider design with 6 arms as legs, this version is slightly bigger and taller and wears a built in jacket and his face also slightly resembles a boom box, his appearance is inspired by a counterpart from Roblox TPRR called glamrock music man.

6. Sun/moon: the daycare attendant is slightly taller and has much longer arms/legs, the back of their head now has a cover to protect the circuit board, they also have a hook/wire on their back that can be controlled and latch onto anything.

7. Tangle/The Blob/Cluster: the blob face looks like a combination of Funtime Freddy and Molten Freddy, his face color scheme is white and gray, his left eye is blue and his right eye is red, his body’s upper half is giant rusty/dirty animatronic looks like a fixed molten Freddy, his left arm is replaced with the scooper from the ruin dlc and the inside of his body is made from multiple parts from machinery, technology and past animatronics, his body’s lower half is like a snake, giant wires and cables connected to make a snake like tail to slither around, he also has multiple animatronic eyes poking out everywhere, his design was inspired by a fixed fnaf 6 scrap animatronics video on YouTube called fixed vs original animatronics by haze cinema, he was also inspired by art of glados from portal with the appearance of a robot snake figure made by one_tiny_snake (instagram), also in this au the blob will also be know as cluster (because let’s be honest that’s honestly a cooler name than blob or tangle)

8. Glitchtrap: glitchtrap looks more alive and realistic, he is able to move his eyes and mouth and facial expressions, he now wears a white suit with a purple vest covered in green rabbits over and dark purple pants, he’s a slightly brighter yellow and has claws and a few sharp teeth, when in his princess quest sludge form he looks a little like venom and can alter his shape and size, most of the time glitchtrap stays in his springbonnie/glitchtrap plush form that’s been given longer arms and legs and a built in camera and speaker system for him to interact with the physical world, as burntrap he keeps most of his appearance except most of his burntrap shell has been fixed and instead of Williams body it’s Luca from tales from the pizzaplex story pressure, as cybertrap he looks similar to glitchtrap but in animatronic form.

#fnaf #alternate universe #fnaf security breach #fnaf special delivery #fnaf help wanted #fnaf tales from the pizzaplex #making slight changes in out favorite peeps designs if that’s ok

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dearclem · 2 years ago

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𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑻𝑨𝑺𝑲 𝑶𝑵𝑬

— a look at clem's mobile device & social media ( ft. kage, montez, candy, aranya, finley, dae-eun ).

THE BASICS:

brand of phone:

apple iphone 14 pro max 1TB²

color:

deep purple.

case:

phone case: plain, matte black. popsocket: a ghostface call me, visual here

locked or unlocked:

locked with both a passcode and face ID. face ID is the preferred method, of course, but her passcode is her mother's birthday in the order of DDMMYR ( so it's 230373 ).

wallpaper:

THIS piece of artwork that she finds very cute ( pastel panting of ghosts sitting on a grassy hill with a crescent moon, clouds, and rainbow in the sky ).

lockscreen:

THIS photo of dao, her cat ( siamese kitten sleeping on its back in her lap with view of adorable toe beans ).

USAGE:

time spent on device:

it depends. on the days of her uploads, she's probably on it more than usual because of engagement. otherwise, she's only on it whenever she's reaching out to someone, when she's playing her games before trying to sleep, or she's looking up something and doesn't have her ipad or computer handy.

five most used apps:

spotify. kindle. webtoon. classic words. animal restaurant.

web tabs:

none are open. whenever she's done using one, she closes it.

last thing googled:

probably when she was looking for a new story, so something like japanese urban legends.

last text message received:

an update regarding a delivery of something she ordered for monty's upcoming birthday.

last voicemail:

probably a spam call and no, her voicemail is never full. she always cleans them out after listening to them, only saving the ones that are really special.

last thing on camera reel & what image was last saved:

last picture taken: THIS selfie. last image saved: THIS photo that she emailed to herself, which was taken for a previous concept to post on her company's instagram for httpfear. ( tw: fake blood ).

extra tidbits:

this is mainly just a section i wanted to add because these were things that came to me as i was doing this, but there was no real place to put them, so you're getting them here. as is true for her regular life, she keeps her phone very tidy and there is a place & reason for everything: all of her apps are organised in folders---e.g., daily, socials, entertainment, games, shopping, etc.---and she only has four folders on each page so the majority of her background is visible; like with her voicemails, she doesn't keep texts directly on her phone unless they're special and she cleans her call history regularly; if you're in her phone, trust she has you saved under a nickname, even if she doesn't ever address you using said nickname; she always closes both web tabs and apps on her phone the second she's finished using them; she is constantly sanatising it; physically CANNOT STAND having the red notification bubbles on anything and when some apps glitch and those things don't always go away immediately when they should is when you get to see angy clem; and she uses one of those privacy screen protectors so you have to be sitting at the right angle to see what she's doing.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

handles:

personal handles: dearclem. handles where she posts all podcast related things: BLKBoxStudios

instagram, latest post:

snapchat, latest sent:

using the mini tripod she has when going on adventures, she took this photo and sent it to monty, rubbing it in that she has goodies and he doesn't 😌

dating apps:

doesn't partake in the thing, no. has no desire and people can be creepy.

spotify:

top three songs of '22: fall in lust ╱ EDEN, jiselle {xx}

❝ we should ride this wave, until the sun comes up baby kiss me harder, make me feel the rush i don't wanna be alone tonight, so why don't we just fall in lust.. ❞

boomerang ╱ the summer set {xx}

❝ let's pop champagne, fake like we're billionaires just you and me, ain't much but we don't care you look so good, i love when people stare you on my arm, tryna keep you there.. ❞

call me back ╱ chase atlantic {xx}

❝ if you get a minute, call me back i'm so lonely and you're the only one that knows me and if you're busy, then i understand it it's bad timing, and i'm probably gonna end up crying.. ❞

last listened to: killer on the drive home ╱ kaiyko {xx}

❝ stop your crying it's not the end of the world but no one listens to a quiet little girl i wanna talk about it, don't wanna shout about it left me alone made me the killer on the drive home.. ❞

tiktok:

she has the app downloaded, but that's only because she gets sent tiktoks and it's just easier to have it downloaded than not. it's never something she finds herself scrolling on.

facebook:

this is another social media app that she wants no part of. she's never had one, nor will she ever because she has no family to keep in contact with and all her friends are nearby.

others:

has youtube, pinterest, reddit, & tumblr.

youtube is where she posts the videos she creates of her two podcasts.

ADVICE PODCAST. HORROR PODCAST. ( tw: horror images, fake blood, creepy eye drawing?, knife ).

pinterest is mostly a private thing ( as in most of her boards are hidden ) because she pins things for aesthetic purposes regarding different ideas she has and may wish to explore in the future. the only boards that are public are her own personal board ( about herself and things she likes ) and a board she's created for the book series she's already published and within that board, each book has it's own section with things like how she pictures the main characters, their connection, the aesthetic of the location & mystery, etc. reddit is something she uses as a way of connecting with some of her listeners and giving them a place to post their own stories and things they may want her to read/cover because whereas she gets some of her inspiration from r/nosleep sometimes, she also likes involving her listeners and that's a wee bit easier to manage in comparison to emails, especially considering she does everything all on her own save for someone she has help her with the editing of her youtube vids. tumblr is where she posts writings, something like a diary of sorts ( think like inkskinned & sue zhao ), though it's completely anonymous and she'd likely throw herself into the void if anyone found out it was her.

#nightrest:task001 #꒰ 🎙️ ꒱ tasks ╱ 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒕 ◞#also lets pretend that gif for the yt vid isn't from a movie thx :)#it was the tamest one i could find that wasn't too triggering :////

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angrenwen · 5 months ago

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"If this van has a fault its that it bears the unfortunate affliction that all lightly used white utility vans have in that the combination of an utter lack of branding features and the large dent/scrape I accidentally put on it while trying to escape a Denny's last Thanksgiving means that this vehicle is one addition of a Badly Spray-Painted "FREE CANDY" on the side away from being the sort of vehicle you see in an edgy horror movie.

It's got the same issue that Doberman Dogs have where they look like the sort of creature that likes to snack on toddler's faces whilst actually having personalities made of marshmallow fluff. This vehicle is unnecessarily menacing and I think nothing short of an airbrushed Epic Van Wizard will correct this. People see this van pull up and lean over and squint suspiciously at me when the driver's side door opens, and then look moderately confused when, instead of Charles Manson, a small, potato-shaped creature with neon purple hair and a statistically unlikely assortment of dogs emerges.

My own two dogs, Herschel the Hanukkah Goblin/Corgi and Charleston Chew The Taco Dumpster Dog, Do Not Like The Van. Even with the bed in it, they have a tendency to slide and roll around in the back, and both WILL chew through dog saftey belts or other attempts to secure them in there.

On the other hand, my house mate's dog, an exceptionally tall standard poodle whom we lovingly call "The Creature", loves the Van because SHE wears her doggy seat-belt with only mild complaining and gets to sit up in the passenger seat like A People.

Also like A People, The Creature likes to stand and walk around on her hind legs. It doesn't hurt her and it's entirely voluntary, but every so often I will feel a hand on my arm and instead of my husband or friend, it's a canine that's taller than I am on her hind legs who wants to stare at my face with soulful, concerned eyes. The Creature's favorite thing is that she is exactly the right height for me to hold her arm in Genteel Fashion and walk around the pet food or hardware store with her like I'm a count escorting a debutante around a royal ball.

---

As it stands, I am set to inherit this vehicle whenever my Honda gives up the ghost, and I fully intend to paint an Epic Van Wizard on it when that time comes.

The other peculiarity of The Van is that while Dad did manage to successfully install all his after-market electronics, not all the electronics get along. Sometimes, they fight for Dominance. The Terabyte Music Player and the Backup Camera have a particularly contentious relationship, and turning on the music has about a 25% chance of turning on the backup camera as well, and turning on the Backup Camera is equally likely to turn on the music.

Firthermore, The Van has a favorite song.

I am not kidding that Dad filled an entire terabyte hard drive with music and the software to sort it via the radio controls, but of all the Early Boomer Dad Rock (Kingston Trio over The Eagles) and Irish Folk and Symphonies and the entire discography of Weird Al Yankovic, The Van's favorite song- The one it picks to play as victory music every time it beats the Backup Camera at their weird electronic game of rock-paper-scissors -is The Liberty Bell March by John Phillip Sousa.

You all know this song already.

...but in case you've forgotten the tune:

youtube

Yeah.

The Van's favorite song is the goddamn Monty Python's Flying Circus Theme Music.

It does not play this song at a normal volume.

Every time I turn on the Backup Camera and it manages to turn the music player on as well, The Van insists on absolutely blasting this nonsense on at the maximum volume it's physically capable of producing, which I know is loud enough to be heard from the Denver International Airport's Pickup zone when they Van decided to start playing it from the economy lot about half a mile away.

Perhaps it's The Van's way of honoring the aesthetic sensibilities and sonic enthusiasm of Mr. Sousa.

...I can't help but wonder if the purpose of an Epic Van Wizard is to control this sort of faerie-like malarkey, and channel these chaotic energies into things like Spell of Don't Break Down In Nevada or Enchantment Of Always Have Good Parking.

---

So last Friday the 13th, I get a call from my friend and housemate, at said airport.

It's roughly 11PM at night, and I have already retired for the evening. I am in the exact minimum of clothing required to be a decent housemate and not scandalize the neighbors should I happen to walk by a window. My feet are up. There is a cat in my lap and fictional British people murdering each other in highly inventive fashion on the tv. -But my friend has returned from her friend's wedding,and either American or United Airlines has managed to lose her luggage, including, among other valuable possessions, the keys to her car. ...So she cannot just drive home as originally planned.

There are, as luck would have it, her spare set of keys not eight feet from me.

Being a good and decent person, I agree to bring the spare keys to her so she may get home before daybreak and not spend a semester's worth of tuition on an uber across the greater Denver traffic jam.

Being also that she Loves Activities, and it's her mom we're going to pick up, I elect to take along The Creature.

I am primarily focused on remembering how to get to the airport and not leaving my friend's spare keys on the counter, so I throw on a pair of flip-flops, step outside, remember that it's AUTUMN and my minimal evening attire is not sufficient thermal protection, step back in, grab the first coat in the closet I lay hands on, pull it on, check that I have her keys again and leave.

The trip to the airport is largely unremarkable, save that it becomes necessary for me to put on sunglasses to drive, despite it being nearly the witching hour and almost entirely darker than the inside of a cow.

It's necessary because this blissful darkness of night is violently punctured by a startling number of cars that seem to have installed miniaturized but no less powerful lighthouse bulbs in where their headlights ought to go so the oncoming traffic and sports cars that insist on tailgating me in the slow lane alike illuminate the road and my mirrors with the kind of radiance I'd normally associate with the arrival of a Seraphim.

I arrive at the distant highly discounted airport car lot where my housemate is waiting, deeply apologetic. It's nothing. I say. Once I see that your car starts up, I'm gonna go to that 7-11 across the way that I parked in front of, get a slurpee or something and I'll see you at home.

While she is retrieving her vehicle (an equally eccentric but much more stately Subaru that is old enough to be elected to congress) I rifle through the loose change in the glove box and discover that I have exactly $6.66 in small bills and coins. The Subaru, continuing it's long voyage into vehicular immortality, immediately starts up.

Upon her return, we all remember that my friend had all her camping gear in the backseat of the car and there is no room for The Creature to ride home with her parent, so I again assure her it's nothing, and will just take The Creature into the 7-11 with me. She is trained as a service animal and needs the practice after the plague.

I wave my friend off and turn to enter the 7-11.

I promptly trip over the jutting back bumper of The Van and fall, cartoonishly, face-first onto the sidewalk.

Fortunately, I have a lot of practice falling on my face, and have learned not to throw my hands out but instead cover my face, so my unexpected self-inflicted attempted curb-stomping lightly scrapes my hairline and nothing else -my sunglasses even stay in place- and I get up and resume my quest for a slurpee.

It's well known that the airport is a lawless place, and the 7-11 across from the discounted airport parking at the stroke of midnight is no exception.

I know it's the stroke of Midnight because there's one of those Audubon society bird-call clocks that makes bird noises, and my arrival is heralded by the twittering call of a Summer Tanager. I am almost charmed enough by the unusual choice of chronological device to excuse the exorbitant Airport-adjacent mark-up of Slurpee prices. I stand at the machine for some time, trying to decide on a size for the price and guess what the fuck "Blue Lighting Blast" is supposed to taste like.

The Creature is being Very Polite but is somewhat agitated, I assume because she *just* saw her mother for the first time in three days and then she LEFT with no explanation, so The Creature is on her hind legs, staring woefully into my eyes, asking to be escorted around the 7-11. Even though that's not what she's not supposed to be doing, there's nobody else in here, so I let her hang off my arm and discuss various Slurpee Flavor options with her.

We eventually decide on an experiment in which I try a Small Blue Lightning Blast, and discover it tastes a bit like licking a nintendo cartridge but in a pleasantly satisfying way.

I go up to pay and realize something is amiss.

The Cashier is a young man staring at me with wide eyes, one had over the register and the other wrapped up in his rosary.

I look down at myself.

In my haste to reunite my friend with her spare keys and service animal, I had left the house in the following accoutrements:

Flip Flops. Not matching. It's below freezing outside. That last part is not particularly odd footwear for the weather in for Colorado, but it's an important detail for the rest of the ensemble.

Assorted scrapes, bruises, cuts and welts on my arms and legs that come with doing outdoor work and living in a house with three dogs and a fully-clawed cat that all want to be in my lap all the time. It's cold out, so vasoconstriction has pulled the blood away from my skin, a trait that served my ancestors well during the last Ice Age, but leaves me with pale skin to contrast the various wounds and I look like a corpse that fell out of the back of a pickup truck.

The black Bootyshorts with "CRYPTID" painted in bright red gothic font across my ass, that @theshitpostcalligrapher gave me for my wedding present.

A peculiar but extremely comfortable garment that straddles the line between "Lacy Camisole" and "Industrial-Strength Sports Bra" like the Ever Given straddling the Suez Canal. It is also Bright Red. with black accents.

The Jacket I had grabbed out of the closet, which is in fact, a black Velour Dinner Jacket.

The Tokyo-Ghoul inspired reusable anti-covid mask a friend made me with the set of Coyote Teeth.

My sunglasses, which are shaped like a Halloween Bat. The lenses are the wings and the body is the nose bridge. It is ALSO bright red.

A Very Large and remarkably Humanoid Poodle that I have been audibly affectionately calling "Dear Creature" who is hanging off my arm like she's my Prom Date.

The Very Large and remarkably Humanoid Poodle is ALSO dressed up in a black Dog Sweater that has white bones printed on it to look like its an X-ray jacket showing off her skeleton.

I look like I am taking my Very Fancy Werewolf Girlfriend to a particularly casual Dinner Party for Vampires, but the thing that's really selling it and probably alarming the kid the most is the fun accessory I acquired in the parking lot not five minutes earlier:

The "Small Scrape At my Hairline" is actually a painless but PROFUSELY bleeding head wound that I had somehow entirely failed to notice covering my face, neck, decolletage and magnificent cleavage with blood like a Tarantino Film Extra.

This does explain why The Creature has been delicately trying to use her bodyweight to push me down onto the floor for the last ten minutes. So I don't injure myself while we wait for the paramedics she hoped this kid called to arrive, you see.

The Creature has such a High and Naive Opinion of humanity.

I decide this social situation is already fucked, and the only way out is through, and with haste, before I start dripping on the floor.

"Hi there!" I say cheerfully, to indicate this is a visually alarming but not terribly serious situation. "Just a Small Slurpee!"

The Cashier has entered the relevant code into the register before I finish the sentence. His gaze flicks off me just long enough to look at the total, and he grips his Rosary harder.

$6.66

"Oh cool! I have exact change!" I say, taking the money out of my as-yet-unsanguined pocket without looking and slap it down on the counter. "You have a good night and be safe out there!" I wave, leaving.

I get in The Van, mortified, buckle The Creature up, and as I make to leave, I have to put it in reverse, which automatically turns on the backup Camera.

It also turns on the music player.

I make eye contact with the cashier as the dulcet tones of John Phillip Sousa boom from the van hard enough to make the windshield and the windows of the 7-11 rattle for the nine-and-a-half seconds I have to wait to be able to turn the volume back down. Not knowing what else to to, I give him a thumbs up, and leave.

Anyway, now I know what my Future Van Wizard has got to be dressed like, and what their familiar is.

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The Van Has Officially Declared It Spooky Season

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I've got my parent's van for the week and it seems determined to establish my status as The Local Cryptid by terrorizing an innocent 7-11 clerk.

...I might need to back up a bit.

My mother is an eminently sensible woman who knows herself well, and when The Plauge hit, she knew she'd need some sort of mentally and physically engaging craft project to keep herself from going insane and massacring the local zoning and water management boards (even if they have it coming). So she and Dad acquired a utility van and converted it into a camper van because while they love camping, they're past the age where their joints and immune systems will tolerate sleeping on the cold ground in a nylon tent.

They did a terrific job of it and my mom taught herself woodworking and carpentry and now the van has it's own cabinets, fold-away dining table, and removable queen-sized bed with memory foam mattress. My Dad was already a computer engineer, but he learned the dark magics of automotive software and electronics to install after-market backup cameras, a media player that would take a terabyte hard drive and a solar-powered battery and outlet so they could wake up and just turn on the kettle and griddle for breakfast without having to exit the van into a cold morning on an empty stomach.

Truly, the height of Camping Luxury.

My parents are both in their mid-seventies and my primary life goal is to be at least half as cool and hale as they are when I get old.

Anyway, they take it out at least a dozen times a year and it works fabulously, but, being as I am on good terms with my parents and also finishing the process of moving house, I've been borrowing it to move large and cumbersome objects that will not fit in the back of my equally lovely but minuscule Honda hatchback.

It's a Great Van. Very easy and comfortable to drive. Stunningly good MPG for it's size. The best cruise control I've ever had in a car.

It's just also. Quirky. Mischievous, even.

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If this van has a fault its that it bears the unfortunate affliction that all lightly used white utility vans have in that the combination of an utter lack of branding features and the large dent/scrape I accidentally put on it while trying to escape a Denny's last Thanksgiving means that this vehicle is one addition of a Badly Spray-Painted "FREE CANDY" on the side away from being the sort of vehicle you see in an edgy horror movie.