I have returned with a new idea!
Idea 15: Vanessa is good at bedtime stories
This idea is inspired by a point I made during idea 2 that I wanted to attempt to elaborate on. This is actually based on the fact that Vanessa's voice actor, Heather Masters, was known for reading children's books before getting involved in FNAF (I am not kidding, check her interview with Dawko).
It is logical to assume that most young kids would probably get more nightmares when their parents are not at home. As such it would be a good idea to learn how to calm them down. Vanessa, as a teenager, initially made stories using the video games that she plays as a base. This turns out to work a lot better than she expects, so she continues to refine and use it until she stops babysitting when she goes off to college. This will be important later.
Anyways, let us set the scene. It has been a few weeks since the Pizzaplex decided to reenact the Sampoong Department store collapse. The robots have been handling their new “jobs” at Silver Parasol fairly well. Roxy and Monty serve as sources of motivation for the team. They have also taken up smaller versions of what they used to do; RC car racing for Roxy and setting up a small putting green for Monty. Chica makes lunch for everyone, proving she can make other things besides pizza in the process. Freddy helps organize schedules with the management. The Daycare Attendant serves as a sort of mental health checker, working with Roxy and Monty. And of course the ALMIGHTY MAPBOT “gives out” (forces people to take) maps for the building to the people working there, except for Vanessa, whom he decided to forgive after she fixed his speech issues. All of the animatronics do still interact with children when employees bring their own or their friends' children in for various reasons.
The VR games also turned out to be a hit, and with Fazbear Entertainment no longer taking any percentage of the profits, it is earning Silver Parasol a large amount of money. In fact, they have so much excess that they start making plans on buying a building to serve as a proper location for the animatronics. This idea was actually spearheaded by Vanessa because she feels bad that they don’t have a real “home” and wants to return the favor for them being so nice to her.
Speaking of Vanessa, after all these months, she can finally say with full confidence that she feels like her old self again. She is able to use knives, look at rabbits and not feel scared among other minor things. She has also become a lot more confident and outgoing than she used to be. Vanessa recently even went on an actual proper date with Luis.* It went really well, considering that they both are awkward nerds! So a lot of things are going well for our blonde…beneficiary?
*Everyone is just surprised that it didn't happen sooner. Roxy and Monty even had a bet going on for when they would do it, Roxy bet over 4 months and Monty bet under. Roxy won, meaning she and Chica got to “redecorate” Monty. I will let you decide what that means.
However the same cannot be said for Gregory. He has recently started to have terrible nightmares, which he hasn't had since before his mother died. The reason that he only appears to be having bad nightmares now is ironically because he now knows that he is in a safe and STABLE living situation. Back when he was living on the streets, staying silent at all times was key to surviving and not being caught. This included being quiet when sleeping, so he just stopped having nightmares. This continued for the first month or so he was living with Vanessa since he still didn't completely trust her yet. But now that she has proven herself to be an actually really good person and safe to be around, the nightmares have returned in full force.
They start out consisting of what you would expect for a kid like Gregory. Vague things such as being abandoned. Then they start to be about things like being chased by hundred pound animal themed death machines (sadly not like those ones). He could handle those ones easily enough. As the months go on, they get worse, more specific. They start to involve Freddy turning evil, Vanessa turning back into Vanny. They usually end at that point because the real Freddy, in his plush form, notices that something is wrong and would wake Gregory up. He then comforts him by simply reassuring Gregory that it was just a nightmare and giving him a hug. However, this method has been getting less effective as time goes on.
Something else that you have to know is this, most of the animatronics are not good at storytelling or making up stories. They are simply not designed or programmed for it since they are not meant to be doing any activities that involve sleeping. You would think that the daycare attendant would be good at this since he is supposed to help kids fall asleep. He does tell stories, but they are preprogrammed and all end with some variation of the theme, "Buy Fazbear Entertainment merch". This is because he was originally intended to generate his own stories like DJMM can generate music. However FE couldn't risk him coming up with a story that already existed and getting sued so they attempted to make their own. Also some of the in-game logs indicated that he isn’t even that good at getting kids to go to sleep regardless (yes I know he was partially hacked, but something tells me that the getting kids to go to sleep problem existed before this issue). Basically, Freddy and the gang are not good at getting kids to go back to sleep beyond basic reassurance.
Then one night, he has a nightmare that is worse than all of the others. He is cornered in a dark storage room inside of the pizzaplex, surrounded by all of the animatronics including Freddy. Gregory knows that they aren’t themselves, their eyes glowing a distinct purple. In the center of it all, is Vanny. She is in that disturbing suit that he saw burnt before his eyes, her posture aggressive and towering over him. The shadows over her mask make it appear even more deranged than normal, and her knife in hand ready to kill him and make his death as painful as possible. Before Gregory can even react, Vanny grabs him by the neck and forces him to the ground and raises her knife into the air. As he struggles to breathe all he can hear is Vanny’s insane laughter, so unlike Vanessa’s it is almost impossible to believe that they were once the same person. Vanny raises her arm and then plunges it into his chest. As searing pain and darkness overtake Gregory, he wakes up with a horrible scream.
Vanessa wakes up when she hears the noise and upon realizing that it came from Gregory, immediately rushes over to his room to see what’s wrong. Both Vanessa and Freddy are very concerned, because Gregory has NEVER cried or screamed before. Sure, he’s looked freaked out before, but never has he ever appeared to be this scared. Vanessa slowly and quietly moves to his bed and sits down to try and calm him down. Eventually Gregory’s crying is reduced to occasional sniffles Freddy is at a loss of what to do, so Vanessa decides to, hesitantly, ask Gregory if he would like to hear a story. Gregory at first wants to refuse because he is a big boi. However he looks up at Vanessa’s face that shows genuine concern, and with a sniffle says yes.
Vanessa starts telling a story about a kingdom and princess, one who brought joy and hope to all who saw her, who could almost literally brighten someone's day. She tells of how this princess was deceived by a stranger in purple, who then locked her inside her own castle dungeon and spread evil throughout the kingdom. But it was done in such a way that no one noticed anything was amiss. The differences were simply too subtle for anyone to notice.
Everyone except one person, a knight. One smaller than most, but no less brave. He was the only one to realize that something was wrong and ventured into the kingdom to figure out what was wrong and fix it. He quickly found some assistance in the form of a large yet friendly bear, who had somehow managed to avoid the corruption that had befallen the other creatures.
They discover that the kingdom has been corrupted and learn of a way to get rid of it using 3 keys or sorts. So the 2 go on an adventure to find these keys and save the kingdom. They encounter a multitude of trials and tribulations on their journey as the bear and knight bond and work together. In the end though they find the 3 keys, unlock the dungeons to free the princess and defeat the corruption, saving the day! And thus the 3 of them, the kind bear, the brave knight, and the imprisoned princess all lived happily ever after
By the time Vanessa has finished speaking, Gregory has fallen back asleep hugging both her arm and Freddy close. Freddy is just looking at her with that dad-like “I’m so proud of you” type expression instead of saying it since he doesn't want to wake Gregory up. Vanessa rolls her eyes but accepts the gesture. Upon seeing that she can’t go back to bed since Gregory has effectively latched onto her, she decides to just spend the night with him.
And thus, with no more nightmares to trouble them, the 3 of them have a rest filled night and will proceed to have many more. For although healing might take a long time and be full of setbacks, the end can make it all worth it. :)
i love this! the idea of Vanessa reading books to Gregory is so sweet, gosh. (I also had no clue her VA did that, woah!)
I love the new jobs the main robots have too, it fits them all really well
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L'APPEL DU VIDE
okay so. jack! jack. what a collection of guys. the overlap between jack and the beanstalk and jack the giant killer, though. that sure is something! sometimes king arthur is there, which always takes me by surprise.
this. specifically. is an idea I've been kicking around. jack and the beanstalk is not a story I've ever enjoyed, as a kid it was probably my least favorite to read. as an adult, I was INTENSELY fascinated by reading j.g. ballard's the drowned giant. I think about it frequently, and somewhere during a re read of it, I ended up revisiting jack.
combining different versions of jack into one character is not a new concept, but it IS a fun one! the version I've been assembling together plays less with the fun elements of a jack story (and adjacent folklore stories), and focuses more on the potential for tragic elements with the addition of the usual grim and jagged narrative edges that I personally enjoy.
jack with the backstory of the devil and the three golden hairs, only jack doesn't find love, he's TIRED, all he wants to do is go home, but there isn't a home to go back to. what is the point of being born lucky if this is what it gets you? jack the giant killer, only he doesn't want to kill giants, jack who saw a body of a giant when he was a small child and cannot bring himself to do as a king commands. jack, who climbs up the beanstalk and stops halfway to look down. etc.
to go back to the drowned giant real quick, both to set the tone about jack seeing the body of a giant as a youth, and also because I've been haunted and obsessed with this excerpt of it ever since I read it:
J. G. Ballard, The Drowned Giant
anyway! this was originally like, a two illustration concept to get out of my system. however. I'm halfway through outlining a narrative. so. maybe it will also be several illustrations and also comic.
bsky ⭐ pixiv ⭐ pillowfort ⭐ cohost
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