But In This Sick Rodeo, This Bizarre Fucked Up Clown Festival, Were Here Celebrating What I Can Only

“But in this sick rodeo, this bizarre fucked up clown festival, we’re here celebrating what I can only describe as the sickness at the core of America.”  the unhinged ffps manager never left him idk

𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

★ — Jeez. Gregory's heard Michael say some weird stuff, but that's gotta be up there on the list of the weirdest. He stares wide - eyed for a second, brow raised in slight question.

" .... I'm kinda surprised it took 'em this long to get a reopening date for the pizzaplex. When you're crawling through the vents and maintenance tunnels, it's pretty obvious they don't give a shit about safety and cleanliness."

[ FORT ]: sender builds a blanket fort for the receiver following a long and difficult day. (let gregory have a normal kid moment!!)

this has been in my inbox for almost an entire year

★ — The living room is torn to pieces when he gets home, and all Gregory can do is stare from the doorway.

It's the last thing he expects ; he hadn't been sent home early from school, but it had been a near thing after a fight had broken out. The teacher who caught the incident had refused to hear Gregory out, and had sent him straight to the front office, where they had .... at least sort of listened, agreeing to talk to the other students that had been verbally harassing him until he had finally gotten fed up. But the office had also insisted on calling his parent— his guardian— to inform them of the situation.

So Gregory knows Michael knows. And he also knows that drawing attention to himself is putting their arrangement at risk. So he's steeled himself for the oncoming lecture, for the disappointment, half - preparing to be yelled at the moment he opens the door. ( all his foster parents would yell, they'd never listen ). But that doesn't come.

Instead, the living room is in shambles — and for a split second Gregory wonders if he'd made Michael that mad. It's too structured to be that, though, and that makes it all the more confusing.

He sees Michael poke his head out from underneath the cushions and blankets, obviously having heard the door open. Gregory's brows furrow. There's an invitation to come closer, but Gregory doesn't move from his place in the wide open doorway.

( he's still not entirely sure if he should bolt or not ).

"What'd you do?"

there’s nothing reassuring about what you just said.

this has DEFINITELY been in my inbox for like a year

★ — Nose scrunches up in obvious distaste ; Gregory shies a little closer to Freddy, tucking himself just close enough to his leg that he could dart behind the animatronic should he feel the need to. If the bear notices, he doesn't comment — likely for the better.

"What? All I said is Freddy's been helping me. He's not like the other animatronics — obviously, cause he's standing right here and not doing anything."

Freddy seems to shift uncomfortably at this comment. Gregory lets his eyes flicker back towards him, but doesn't acknowledge it more than that.

"The others can't see me when I'm in his stomach hatch— I know it's for cake, but I fit, and there's nowhere else for me to hide! It's how I hid from the security guard the first time! And we're careful about not using too much power!"

vanessa doesn't try and do anything fancy. she &. freddy at the table, (or vanessa fluttering around the table) with a birthday bag (of whatever she could afford, some snacks he liked -- she'd been taking note -- &. one more expensive gift). she'd also found a book on coding for them to work together on, &. almost shamefully, a glamrock freddy themed pair of nice sneakers to replace... well, those. there was also a boxed cake still in the pan so as to not entirely ruin the shape, with icing and a few blue candles stuck into it. she didn't bother writing on it. "hey, kiddo --" she tries when he enters. "happy birthday!" freddy chimes in with a chipper 'happy birthday superstar' - vanessa's head whipping around with a nervous smile. "i know it's not exactly a fazbear party, but it's better than most kids are gonna get nowadays."

★ — It's been years since Gregory has considered his birthday something worth celebrating. Years since someone has cared to make the day anything more than a mental tally mark to be made within the kid's own head.

Which is why he freezes upon entering ; a deer in the headlights when faced with the small set - up, Freddy waiting for him and Vanessa anxiously flittering about, both clearly waiting for him to get home ( to their home, his home, for real ). It's enough to make his chest feel tight, pressure pin - pricking behind his eyes. The threat of crying is enough to move him into action — quickly lifting a hand to press at his eyes, refusing to let any tears fall.

How fucking long has it been since someone gave a shit?

He hadn't thought Vanessa would remember his birthday, same as all his other guardians who knew the date for paperwork purposes but never bothered to commit it to memory — Freddy, maybe, only because the bear is programmed to do so for guests, but he had never expected this. A tentative step forward is taken, glancing over the small arrangement.

"Y'didn't — it woulda' been fine ——."

If you didn't do anything lingers in the air, but he can't bring himself to say it. Gregory's happy, even if he's struggling to parse through all the emotions the gesture is pulling at. A weak chuckle pushes past his lips at Vanessa's comment about a fazbear birthday.

"Thanks. It's great."

( and he really, really means it ).

just some doodles with my favorite brush :)

❛ The most important thing here is we need to stay together. ❜ @jeremangled

THE WALKING DEAD SEASON ONE SENTENCE STARTERS

★ — Gregory's never been outside the wall before.

The thought sits heavy in his chest— this is all completely new to him— a constant weight, a steady, thrumming fear. He has no clue what to do, how to maneuver this terrain, how to get where they're supposed to be going. Michael and Jeremy navigate like its second nature to the pair, and Gregory is acutely aware that he may as well be dead weight.

He sticks closer to Jeremy for the simple fact that the man makes him feel less terrible about that than Michael does.

Gregory hears ( more than he sees, eyes practically glued to the ground as if he can will the rocks and rubble to not shift under his feet and cause him to stumble as he walks ) Jeremy come to a stop and shuffles his feet to mimic the abrupt stop. Blinks in response, a little confused.

"Um — 'kay."

He lifts his eyes to nod in agreement, taken aback by the seriousness in his tone. A beat of silence passes. Gregory opens his mouth to ask a question— promptly closes it. He'll just annoy them. Jeremy turns to lead the trio once again, and nearly as soon as they take their first steps onward once more —— yeah, he can't help it.

"Why? Where are we going? Is there gonna be infected? Or is it more FEDRA patrols? Does FEDRA patrol this far out? Do you guys see fireflies when you come this far out?"