[ grace van dien | cis woman | she/her/hers | twenty-four ] ââ  welcome to grimrose, cassiopeia moore. itâs cool that youâre here, you know. havenât you heard of the history of this place⊠anyway, howâs being a local who has been in town for fifteen years, especially since you spend most of your days as an employee at the clearing: museum of cryptids and curiosities? also, not that itâs a bad thing, of course, but iâve heard people say you can be a little eccentric more than you are kind⊠but thatâs just coming from people who are bored here, i promise. to me, you remind me of you spin me round by dead or alive and ink stained fingers, loose papers in a bag, excitement bubbling over, an old blue bicycle, lattes, believing anything, sunsets over the water. hope to see you around, cassie.
Basics:
Full Name: Cassiopeia Moore
Nickname(s): Cassie, Cass
Name Meaning:Â She who chooses to excel
Age: 24
Date of Birth: July 2nd, 1974
Place of Birth: Portland, Maine
Currently Living: Grimrose, New Hampshire
Gender: Cis woman
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Sexual Orientation: Tragically heterosexual
Religion: Agnostic
Job: Employee at The Clearing: Museum of Cryptids and Curiosities
Educational Level: Bachelors in History and a minor in English
You came to Grimrose for the beach and stayed an extra week for the stories of the place. You never considered yourself to be interested in the tales Grimrose was peddling to people like you, but there was only so much to do here. Eventually, that museum in The Outskirts had to visited. You didnât expect to meet a contained explosion of pink there, though. Her makeup was perfectly done and she looked like someone managed to bring a Barbie to life. How someone like that was working in a place like this, you had no idea. She was cute though. Figured you might as well shoot your shot, leave this little place with the story of a summer fling.
When the group she was helping left and she shuttled them on her way with a wave of manicured fingers, she turned to a notebook, stuffed with loose papers in black ink, the same ink that stained her hands. She held that book like it held the secrets of the world, like it was a lover. You messed with your hair, trying to look artfully disheveled. âHey,â you greeted as you walked over. âWhatâre you working on? Your next great novel?â
She turned to you with a smile. âIâm charting historical Bigfoot sightings and then cross referencing them with UFO sightings! I think the Grays that Iâve been seeing might be related to a previously unknown species of ape-like creatures that we think are Bigfoots! Weâll see if thereâs any relation to my theory that the Jersey Devil is a more mutated Chupacabra!â
open starter // location: flora florentineâs florist shop
the morning after the storm, diego drives carefully to florentine's, dodging large pieces of tree and other debris on the road. thankfully, it's a short drive to the shop from his place, and not a lot of people seem to want to brave the roads today anyway. diego doesn't blame them.
he pulls into his usual spot behind the shop and grabs his lunch off the passenger seat before stepping out to walk around to the store front. immediately, he notices one of the large potted plants on the sidewalk that frame the door tipped over and speeds up.
"great," he audibly groans, seeing that the dirt spilled under the door - he mentioned the gap a few weeks after he got hired by they told him no to worry about it - and the cracked rim of the pot.
as diego lifts up the pot and haphazardly brushes some of the dirt and pieces of pot out of the way with his shoe, little sprouts of weeds shoot up between the cracks of the sidewalk. his heart races at the sight, blood going cold, and he looks around, trying to mask casualness as he spots someone walking close enough to maybe have noticed.
(or maybe that's his anxiety talking ... he hasn't had anything like this happen in years)
diego fumbles his keys out of his pocket, immediately gripping the shop key and shooting the person a quick smile because that's just what you do in small towns.
open starter // location: flora florentineâs florist shop
the morning after the storm, diego drives carefully to florentineâs, dodging large pieces of tree and other debris on the road. thankfully, itâs a short drive to the shop from his place, and not a lot of people seem to want to brave the roads today anyway. diego doesnât blame them.
he pulls into his usual spot behind the shop and grabs his lunch off the passenger seat before stepping out to walk around to the store front. immediately, he notices one of the large potted plants on the sidewalk that frame the door tipped over and speeds up.
âgreat,â he audibly groans, seeing that the dirt spilled under the door - he mentioned the gap a few weeks after he got hired by they told him no to worry about it - and the cracked rim of the pot.
as diego lifts up the pot and haphazardly brushes some of the dirt and pieces of pot out of the way with his shoe, little sprouts of weeds shoot up between the cracks of the sidewalk. his heart races at the sight, blood going cold, and he looks around, trying to mask casualness as he spots someone walking close enough to maybe have noticed.
(or maybe thatâs his anxiety talking ⊠he hasnât had anything like this happen in years)
diego fumbles his keys out of his pocket, immediately gripping the shop key and shooting the person a quick smile because thatâs just what you do in small towns.
*
That storm had been something else. In her time here in Grimrose, Cassie couldnât really remember anything like it. It had been something to watch, safely holed up in her apartment about as far as she could get from a window just in case a rogue branch or a Moss Man had made the trip up from Florida. Sheâd always wanted to meet one, especially after seeing something called Swamp Thing in her comic nerd cousinâs room. The storm had been incredible though. Sheâd spent most of looking for signs of the mothership she was sure had taken off in it.
The aftermath of it was less incredible. It was even borderline horrific and when sheâd woken up that morning, Cassie knew she needed something lighter, something pretty to distract from everything around her, preferably in a few lovely shades of pink. There was no place better for it than Floraâs and she headed over as soon as she thought sheâd be awake enough to make it over without tripping over her own feet.
It was a mess outside, and as she picked her way over the shop slower than she normally would so she didnât trip over the debris littered over the ground, she considered what a tragedy it all was. And then she was close enough to Floraâs for the thought to drive itself from her head. The man working there stood up so quickly that Cassie couldnât help but frown.Â
What could have... Her gaze stuck on the pots and sidewalk by the door. âItâs ok,â she called out, raising one hand in greeting, âI donât blame you for the mess. That storm was a lot, and I didnât even catch sight of the mothership.â Looking over the area again, she frowned. âThough you could use some weeding out here. Anyways,â she turned back with a smile, âare you open? I need pink flowers!â
   rikki just nodded along to whatever cassie said. she truly had no actual words or thoughts to add as she was just trying to understand what exactly just happened. a small chuckle left her lips as she let out a breath, her shoulders falling when cassie said her break was now. â i wanted to see if you were interested in joining me to a trip to the last chapter. a few new books were released and i wanted to see if this town even got new shipments. care to join ? â
*
Cassie knew that nod that graced Rikkiâs head well. Sheâd seen it more than once in her life and would, no doubt see it many other times. It did nothing to diminish her grin. Time would prove her right and Rikki was one of her favorite people in town. A little bit of head nodding wasnât going to change that. âIâd love to go! I havenât been able to swing by there in way too long and i have a few things I want to check on myself.â Grabbing her coat from the chair sheâd thrown it over that morning, she gestured towards the door. âLead the way! 3D can handle it for a bit, Iâm sure. Whatâre you looking to find?â
Jackson was still getting used to the town, since moving in only a few months ago. There was a lot of places he still hadnât ventured to. Instead, spending most of his days at work or trying to make his apartment look like a place someone would actually live at. Considering motels were the closest Jackson got when it came to home in the last ten years, it was going to take a lot more work than he had put in. As a result, the mechanic didnât like spending too much time in his place lately and started to do more exploring. He wasnât sure how he wound up in the museum, but as he stood in front of a random display, his head tilted in confusion as he was trying to decipher what he was looking at. He almost jumped as soon as someone came over to him, before looking over a bit sheepish he had reacted in such a way.Â
 â Oh hiâ Jackson replied with a small smile. â How am I?â He replied back as though he was unsure if he had actually met her before or not. He may have and had been so in his head that he had forgot and that made him feel bad in response. â Yeah, what am I actually looking at right here?â He asked pointing to the display
*
Some people seemed to find their way to the museum as if they were following the energy of a ley line, only to come back to the world around them surrounded by the things Cassie loved most and with no small degree of confusion painting their face. It was the look that seemed to have made its home on the face of the man who had just come in. That was alright though, all these newcomers to town could use a little bit of a crash course in something as great as the realities of their town and the world.
âYeah, how are you,â Cassie repeated tilting her head to the side when Jackson didnât answer the question and instead parroted it back to her. âUnless you mean how I am, in which case, Iâm good. Sorry if you said that and I didnât catch it, I swear the Men in Black have some weird thing they do to my ears when people ask me questions. Itâs like their little monitoring thing kicks on and off randomly sometimes.â Walking over to what he was looking at, Cassie takes a brief pass over it, before nodding. âOh, thatâs a reconstruction of the actual creatures the Fiji mermaid was trying to copy! They live in tropical waters and are huge! Longer than some ships, even. Iâm Cassie, by the way.â She broke into her own train of thought, turning to Jackson. âCassiopeia Moore if you want to be fancy, but everyone calls me Cassie.â
The voice nearly made Koda jump with surprise, but they managed not to. Instead turning head to see the blonde bee-lining for them with an arguably intense energy. â Uh, no, Iâm okay. Iâm good. Just looking around. â The assured, offering quick nod and friendly smile with their words. She was just doing her job, and she liked her job. Maybe that was what prompted them to continue, looking back to the display in front of them as they did, â My hometown had a bunch of these, like, legends and stuff. Things that lived in the mines or in the quarry. Just stories to keep kids out, yâknow? â And the moment those stories stopped being scary, they started being challenges for the youth of Kodaâs hometown. â But this all ⊠seems kinda serious, â They mused, looking back to the blonde with a smirk pulling at the corner of their lips. Or it at least seemed that people took it seriously. They werenât sure if that made them think any of this stuff was more likely. â You guys take it pretty serious, right? â
*
There had been so many new faces in Grimrose lately. Cassie had always considered it a point of pride that she could identify most people living in town, if not know them on sight at at least one thing about them. This influx was throwing her off. There was only so much she could learn this quickly, and as she squinted at the person across from her, fingers tapping one after another in a pattern she counted in her own head. âCody, right?â It didnât sound right, so she squinted harder. âKobe...? Koda! Hi Koda! I completely forgot your name there, sorry, but itâs awesome to see you here! Feel free to keep looking, observation is key to the truth,â Cassie reassured them.
âOh, mines and quarry creatures? Like Tommyknockers?â Cassie pulled out her omnipresent notebook with a matching pink pen to take notes. âI always thought Tommyknockers were some distant cousin of that Slide-Rock Bolter in the Rockies. But yeah,â she noted with a smile, âwe absolutely take this seriously. Itâs all true, after all, and the truth deserves to be known! Whyâd you swing by today? Are you looking for answers?â
   â boundaries, sweet lady â â rikki couldnât help but laugh at cassieâs eagerness once the bell to the front door had stopped its ringing. she couldnât blame her; slow days were the absolute worst. instead, rikki gravitated towards some of the smaller gift shop items, running her finger along the shelving. â i actually came by to confirm if you were working or not. got any breaks coming up soon ? â
*
âBoundaries are a lie forced upon the unsuspecting population by the touch-averse, Nessie-related pseudo-humanoids around us you know,â Cassie shared completely seriously before grinning and taking a few steps back. Of course Nessie didnât have empathetic abilities. That was something reserved for Champ. âIâm always workinâ, Rikki,â she joked, spreading her arms and turning in a small circle. âBut I do have a break in... Oh! Right now! What did you have in mind?â
Cadence had only been in town for a few weeks, but she was trying to check out as much as she could. The museum was the last place she was expecting to find herself, but maybe it was the fact that she was homesick, and her adoptive parents had always enjoyed museums, libraries, and art, and she just wanted to be reminded of home. Either way, she stepped into the building and was very, very welcomed by the excited employee. She let out a small laugh as she looked the other over. âIâm just taking a look around at some of the things in town.â She gave a little shrug. âAnd Iâm well.. how are you.â
*
New blood arrivals were the soul of Grimrose. People like her, those that had grew up with the salt of the sea and the memories of what had happened last time couldnât do much. There was only so much an already-small population could do as time wore on. Cassie loved new people. Not as much as she loved the mysteries and impossibilities of the world, but they were up there. âI donât think Iâve seen you here before,â she noted, grin still firmly in place. âIâm Cassie, Iâm the âspooky Mulderâ of Grimrose, though realistically, Mulder is the âbubblegum Cassieâ of...â She trailed off. âOff topic! Ignore that! Iâm so well! So much better now that youâre here!â A small clap of her hands punctuated the statement and she looked at the other woman. âYou look like someone thatâs seen a jackalope. Glad you found your way here, we have loads of history on them.â
open to everyoneÂ
location: cosmic balance stall on main street
âiâm not a mindreader - iâm a psychic, thereâs a differenceâ perhaps she had reached a new low arguing technicalities with the know it all fourteen year old in front of her, but could you blame her? the little shit was adamant that she should know what should be going on in her mess of a teenage head, that and perhaps she shouldnât have guessed that her crushes name was chad. she went as basic as she could, rikki would be ashamed â âif i give you a free tarot card reading later this week, will you run along?â she still had a business to run as much as she could say the childâs talk was cheap, this town was small enough to create a buzz. she hadnât realized she had gained a spectator till she turned around to a chuckle â
*
Cassieâs hand flew over her mouth, a blush immediately tinging her cheeks. âIâm so sorry,â she gasped with her hand still over her mouth, muffling the sound of her apology. âI didnât realize I made that noise out loud!â That had always been an issue with Cassie. So many times her head had been so loud that the noises within it slipped out into the world around her. She thought that she had gotten better, but this was proving her wrong on multiple levels. âI just... Everyone knows psychics are humans,â she explained, âbut only those touched by a ghost and the Flatwoods Monster are mindreaders.â
Where: The Clearing: Museum of Cryptids and Curiosities
With: Anyone interested!
It had been... Well, Cassie almost hesitated to say it, but it had been a slow day and she was bored! There were so many things in the museum that were truly something amazing, something incredible, but she couldnât share that with people if there were no people there. When she had taken the job after her parents had moved away literally overnight, she had expected crowds of people flocking to what she considered a modern wonder of the world. Not everyone agreed with her, though, and as she saw someone walk into the room sheâd been standing in for longer than sheâd like to admit, Cassie couldnât help but grin as she walked very quickly over to them. âHi! Can I help you with anything? Do you have any questions? How are you?â
she smiles seeing cassie walking up to the booth, she grabs the tiny little bigs that she had brought for people that wanted more than one thing. who would she be to deny them free stuff? she put some of the buttons she had made into the tiny bag and reached over for her to take it. ânot selling, theyâre meant to be prizes for my booth but i figure if you like âem have âem.â her radio show had been a thing for a couple of years now, and was always surprised when anyone took interest in it. âcryptids the lore of our town, a little bit of everything really. iâd be delighted to have you on.â not many guest starred, there were a few of her friends out of town that had experienced alien sightings that occasionally came on but it was quite the trip to come all the way to grimrose. âlet me know a good day for you to come and be on. we can work it out.â she smiles again, running a hand through her hair. âare you manning a booth at all?â
*
âYouâre the best, Yasmina,â Cassie grinned as she flexed her fingers to prevent her hands from just shooting out and grabbing the bag before her friend was done with it. As a child, Cassie had expected to never find anyone like her. She was too loud, too energetic, too entangled and embroiled in the oddities that wrap around the world like mist to fit in with most. But that was part of the magic of Grimrose, wasnât it? The veil was thin here and people like her werenât unusual. She treasured that, like she treasured Yasmina. âAre you sure you donât want something for those, though? Just a little donation for the library, maybe?â Nothing came for free and Cassie didnât want to take such amazing things for nothing.
âI never listen to the radio,â Cassie pouted, realizing she probably had missed months worth of good Grimrose history and lore because of her obsession with these nifty little things called Walkmen. âIâm sorry Yasmina, I feel like a really bad friend for not knowing about it earlier. I should have...â She trailed off, biting her lip. Nothing to be done for it now. âIâd love to be on it. Iâm sure 3D can handle the museum for one day by himself, but really, any time works for me. Iâm not exactly going anywhere!â Cassie laughed at her own joke, loud and clear, before she turned her smile back to Yasmina. âIâm not running one, no! I donât have a lick of business sense and also, if anyone wants my âboothâ, itâs really just the museum. Thatâs my bread and butter, you know!â Looking around at the other stalls and back to Yasmina, Cassie titled her head in a sign that a question was coming. âHave you had much success today?â
âNah, the market organisers just said theyâd pay me forty bucks to stand here all day, and even though cash will be no good to me when the alien overlords turn Earth into a D-List safari planet, it does mean I can get a burger at the diner tonight,â 3D answers with a good-natured shrug, more than used to Cassieâs unusual trains of thought by now. If he can say nothing else for her, sheâs never boring.
Already letting himself out of the booth, 3D extracts the cigarette from behind his ear and gives Cassie a conspiratorial look. âI wouldnât dare leave you here alone with these duckies, Cass. Theyâre vicious, and only I have the mysterious power to control them,â he says, only able to play at being serious for a moment before a grin breaks across his features. âCâmon, letâs check out the food stalls, Iâm starved.â
Clicking his useless lighter a couple of times, 3D glances sidelong at Cassie as they move away from the ducks, and then speaks around his cigarette as the flame finally catches. âSo, is there a good time for me to ask about whatever youâve got going on in those bags, or am I waiting for whatever monster you stole that arm from to come sprinting around the corner?â He teases.
*
âOh, a burger!â Cassie clapped her hands, fingers striking each other instead of the palm and making the noise dull and quiet. She was nothing of the sort, of course, but she had been the younger of the two daughters and far happier to lay in the background as a child. Now, she was the only one left in Grimrose, and that meant there wasnât much need to stick to the quiet and reserved. âYou know, some people thing the meat in hamburgers and hotdogs are the remains of our Area 51 test subjects,â she shot off cheerily, though it was completely at odds to what she was saying. âBe careful you donât get any weird alien disease. If anywhere has alien-burgers, itâs probably here.â She paused, tapping her chin. âMaybe thatâs why weâd be a safari planet! Revenge!â
Pulling out her omnipresent notebook, Cassie stopped everything just long enough to scribble down that revelation in her personal shorthand code, something that looked like a cross between Inuktitut and Arabic. Nodding decisively once she had finished, she stowed it back in her pocket and returned her attention to her favorite, and only, coworker. âI donât trust ducks,â Cassie sincerely protested, âIâve seen how many teeth a goose has, and I donât trust anything with a bill after that!â Following after 3D, taking two or three steps for every one of his. âThat sounds good, but I am getting a funnel cake come hell or high water, and your ducks can survive. Iâm sure powdered sugar is going to mess with their... Evil plans but, like I said, they can handle it.â
Watching 3D attempt to light his cigarette, Cassie had frowned and opened her mouth to comment. The flame caught not long afterwards, and she didnât need to comment anymore, but she did anyways. âYou know, they have matchbooks for that,â she remarked. âIâm pretty sure Aleister Crowley had something that could light it automatically, but he really was a shitty wizard. His poems suck too, you know. Donât trust a Crowley ritual, 3D! Iâm not going to help with it if you do!â
Cassieâs face split open into a grin so wide it looked painful at the question of what she bought. âChristmas gifts,â she chirped. âAnd things for my walls and other decorations, plus things to bribe people at the museum who are determined to tell me Iâm wrong!â Pouting, she turned to 3D, âwhy is it only the guys around my age that tell me Iâm wrong, 3D? I know this better than anyone! So, I have some bribes for them to get them to shut up.â A slightly manic light appeared in her eyes. âIt was that or cleverly disguised mousetraps, you know.â
where: grimrose farmerâs market (hook-a-duck booth)
when: afternoon, probably, thereâs no way 3D got up early for this
who: open!
Somehow 3D has managed to land himself a gig manning the hook-a-duck booth, which has mostly consisted of him sitting in a lawn chair and eating leftover Halloween candy while he hands out literally whichever prize is closest at hand, rather than the ones assigned to the number written on the bottom of each rubber duckie. Oh well, the kids all seem pretty psyched about the twenty-odd pet goldfish heâs given out so far, so is he really doing the job wrong?
âHey, you wanna play? Speak now, my friend, âcause Iâm about to go on break, and that means no duck-wrangling action for at least a half hour.â More like forty-five minutes, if heâs being honest with himself.
*
âOh, hi 3D,â Cassie chirped, holding a few bags that nearly overflowed from how much she had shoved in them. A little green hand waved at whoever passed on a towel and there were a pair of gloves with fur on the wrist, designed to look scaled that were nearly falling out of another. âWhy are you running the duck booth? Did they convince you it was for the good of the world so no giant flood came and we all became the ducks for our alien zookeepers?â
It was a fair question. Cassie had been considering lately the possibility of Earth being something like the Jurassic Park-zoo of the interstellar community. It may have been in the unfashionable backwaters of space, but surely that much water and green had to have some appeal. Plus, biodiversity for the win, or something like that. âI donât think I want to hook one, but I could maybe come with you on break if you wanted to hang out! Or I could watch the booth for you while you go. Iâm sure youâve seen enough of me this week.â
it all looks a bitâŠ.ridiculous. being one of the only librarians in town had its perks in say what the library farmers booth would look like. mina had crafted to her best abilities something that would appease the small children while trying to get everyone to get a library card ! though immediately next to the booth was her own booth for her radio show, harbingers cross, which was much more extravagant in the hand painted sign, the very sad attempts at merch ( that wasnât really merch in hindsight, but all things that cryptid lovers would find interesting: buttons of bigfoot, aliens, jackalopes and the like ), with pamphlets describing everything that you needed to know about her unfortunate time slot on the radio. âhereâs the deal, you get two lucky spins for prizes on both booths,â the prizes werenât by any means great, but they sure were something made of love! âi might even throw in an extra candy. what do you say? want to take a spin?â
*
The squeal that permeated the fair when Cassie saw the merchandise options at the library booth was enough to cut through the general din of the street market, permeating the cloud of chatter and the bustle that bodies produce in confined spaces. A few heads turned to look towards the noise, but upon seeing a moving mass of pink, most returned to whatever had their attention previously. The town of Grimrose had long since grown accustomed to the antics of one Cassiopeia Moore. âYasmina,â Cassie gasped as her hand shot out to the buttons, âYasmina, these are amazing! Are you selling these? Can I have all of them? Is your radio show about cryptids too? Can I be on it?!â By the time she finished speaking, Cassieâs voice was several octaves higher. âYasmina,â she shouted, âI love this!â
