Meet Dawn Miller

You might be thinking about the fact that “Dawn” probably wasn’t a very popular name in the ‘80s and, yeah, that’s probably true. To my knowledge, it wasn’t. In fact, I was originally going to name my girl “Melissa” or something. However, I was writing a story post for my Instagram and, on it, I said “the dawn of time”. In that moment, something clicked. I thought of Dawn from Pokemon, and then “Dawnessa”. I was just like, Yes. This is Perfect.. Haha.

Dawn’s story begins in ‘80s Hurricane Utah, where she’d been born to a small, tight-knit family. While she harbored a deep love for her parents, she also found their conservative values to be oppressive. Her well-meaning father would often use these values to dictate everything from the way she expressed herself to the way she chose to live her life. The enforcement of her father’s strict values left Dawn feeling torn between her love for her family and her sense of autonomy.

To save face, the girl coped with her living situation by hiding her feelings and desires from her family at all costs. Everything she expressed to them was little more than an act; a facade to keep peace within the house. More than anything, she yearned to live the life she wanted. From the countless local boys her family tried to pair her with to her seemingly never-ending list of church duties, Dawn had had enough. She cracked beneath the pressure and fell into a deep depression.

Her life, however, took a drastic turn once she set foot into Hurricane Behavioral Health. Soon enough, she found herself in group therapy, surrounded by peers from all walks of life. One person in particular caught her eye. Another young woman with vibrant rainbow streaks flowing through her blonde hair. Dawn quite literally couldn’t take her eyes off of her.

The woman’s name was Vanessa.

Between activities, the two found each other sitting side-by-side; confiding in each other and getting to know one another on a personal level. Dawn’s heart raced with anticipation whenever the opportunity arose to speak one-on-one with Vanessa. As the two fostered a deep bond, Dawn felt inspired–inspired by Vanessa’s bravery to express herself with her rainbow hair extensions. Inspired by her authenticity. Inspired by her ability to open up to her and express herself despite her inarguably much worse living circumstances.

As if spontaneously, Dawn followed in Vanessa’s footsteps and purchased bright pink hair extensions of her own. Instantly, something sparked within Dawn! A new side of herself; a much more open and expressive side of herself! I can do it..! Dawn thought to herself, I can!

The next morning, Dawn snuck out of her house with her extensions in hand.

Vanessa would be so flattered! She would be so proud that she inspired somebody like me.

Dawn thought to herself as she clipped the extensions in and stepped into Hurricane Behavioral Health. She loved the way the pink extensions flattered her red hair. Just as she imagined, Vanessa was floored! The two hit it off and had a wonderful rest of the day.

Things, however, took a turn for the worst when Dawn stepped into her house. With a newfound confidence and her head held high, Dawn shouted, “Father! I’m home!!”

”Dawn, he-!!”

A loud gasp escaped him as his lips furrowed into a frown. “Dawn!! What is the meaning of this?!”

”Meaning of what, Dad?!” Dawn shouted. Almost instantly, realization struck. Dawn looked down… She had forgotten to remove her extensions!

“We’re cutting those off immediately, Dawn!”

“Dad!! I didn’t even dye my hair. I can take them off! Chill out!”

“I knew those people’d be a bad influence on you, Dawn!” her father cried, “We are removing you immediately!”

Tremors wracked Dawn’s young body as tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffled and ran to her room. All that flashed through her mind were her fresh memories of Vanessa.

I’ll never see her again!

Sniffles turned into loud, pained sobs as Dawn overheard the fated phone call between her father and her therapy program and, just like that, everything was lost.

As months became years, Dawn never forgot the way Vanessa made her feel. To her, their bond far surpassed that of a normal friendship. Yet, Dawn had such a hard time putting her finger on what she’d call it. Friendship? Or something else entirely? Perhaps, Dawn was in denial. Maybe the truth was one too hard to accept.

As life caught up to her, Dawn knew she needed a job to help cover schooling and other related funds. Upon searching relentlessly for a job, she found a flyer reading “FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA! / HIRING NOW!!” and reluctantly accepted.

After her fated meeting with the career counselor, Steve Raglan, Dawn was on her way! Little did she know, however, that fate would bring her back together with Vanessa… as well as a brand new side of herself.

If you've read all the way down to here, thank you!! I wanted to provide some more context on why Dawn is the way she is.

Much like Catherine, she is directly based on myself (given that she is supposed to be a self insert). However, she is based on slightly different aspects of my life. On one hand, Catherine represents my struggles with fitting in, use of imaginary friends as a coping mechanism, and some other hardships in my upbringing. Dawn, however, represents my struggles with accepting my sexuality, growing up in a religious, conservative household, and, of course, my unhinged love for Vanessa (AND VANNY!!). XD Much like myself, Dawn also attends group therapy (IOP specifically) to help cope with her mental health struggles. For privacy reasons, I did not give her overtly similar struggles with mental illness. But they are close enough, in my opinion!

I also even wear pink hair extensions for my gyaru looks IRL!

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my Vanessa self insert!