#I really need Gregory in the next game

[williamafton2030]

Gregory deserves to be the protagonist of a future game

Gregory is a very curious character in Fnaf because the conception we had of him has changed over time.

In the first trailer we were supposed to understand that he would be a scared child who we would take care of like Vanessa (at that time it was hardly suspected that Vanessa and Vanny were the same person). However, in one of the figurines that Funko made in which he appears, he looks serious and determined, something that he was would begin to make us understand that he was completely different from what we thought, but we could not see this well until the release of Security Breach. In this game we see Gregory being brave, which many people explained by being an orphan and living on the street as we see in one of the endings, but no one would ever believe that he was actually patient 46 of the retro CDs and that He had indeed had a good life.

Having said all this, I would like to give my reasons why I would like him to be the protagonist again.

The first is that in GGY things are not left uncovered since he is not the protagonist but Tony. This means that the data we obtain from this story is from the perspective of this character, meaning that many things are not mentioned because Tony does not know them. The most important and the one that catches my attention so much is how he came to be trapped under the control of Glitchtrap, something that I see could be explained very well in a game where Gregory begins to remember about his past time.

The next one is because I think the contrast of Gregory's somewhat immature personality as a child (not remembering his GGY stage) to adulthood he will be more sensible (remembering GGY) can be brutal. There is an interpretation of Candy Cadet's story about the girl, the witch and the lying boy where it says that Gregory will return to the Pizzaplex to kill the witch who is Mimic but that he will be deceived by the lying boy who will be Cassie under the control of Mimic and I really want to see that. That would be amazing because I would love to see how Gregory spins Mimic with Glitchtrap and the GGY thing while trying to free Cassie and defeat Mimic.

To finish, give this last reason that would be more of a wish and that is that I would love for them to return to canon with a future game, whether starring (hopefully) or not by Gregory, the background he had in the history of GGY. As I have said before, people's perception of Gregory has changed over time, but I think the best one is the one he has now, being that he is given a past that he will deal with when he remembers and that will bring him many wounds that he will have to face so that they can heal.

One of those that I would love for it to go into depth would be how he ended up with Tony (we don't know much about Ellis so I don't think he died although it is also a possibility). It would be a damn cool thing to see that since we would see Gregory grow a lot in maturity like this since it shouldn't be easy for him to discover that he was the culprit of his best friend's death.

I hope Steel Wool makes Gregory the protagonist in the future (or at least explores more of him) because he has a lot of potential that deserves to be taken advantage of.

If you don't have the same opinion as me about whether Gregory should return, I respect it because it is your opinion and all opinions deserve to be respected, just like this one, which is mine.

[janeyseymour]

A story where R is really self conscious about their mobility aid (a cane if possible). Maybe one of the middle schoolers says something rude. And mostly a lot of comfort from Mel

i hope this is good enough because i wrote it in between teaching a bunch of first graders and babysitting two little gremlins

Lean On Me

WC: ~2.5k

You had finally decided to bite the bullet and get your knee replaced after months of agonizing pain with a little nudge from your wonderful wife. You had hoped it would be replaced and healed by the time the school year started up again, but unfortunately that was not the case. You weren’t able to get it replaced until the end of July, and with class being back in session at the end of August, you’re still using the cane and you’re under pretty strict restrictions.

“Maybe I should just take a month’s leave until I can walk without this damned thing,” you mutter to yourself as you’re sitting in Melissa’s classroom while she finishes prepping her room for this year’s upcoming little eagles. “I don’t want the kids to see me with this.” You lazily gesture to the cane that’s next to you.

“That’s up to you, my love,” Melissa tells you as she passes you by to hang a new Eagles sign. “But I do think that you’ll be incredibly bored while you’re recovering and no one is around.”

She’s right. You’ll be bored out of your mind if you decide to take off for a month- especially without her to keep you entertained. And you know that you hate having subs; if the principal would even be able to find a substitute for you this late into the game. So you decide that you’ll just have to tough it out despite the fact that you’re incredibly self-conscious of having to use the mobility aid at such a young age. You get stares while you’re just in the grocery store and hobbling around with your wife (she tries to insist that you stay home and rest, but you tell her that you like spending the time with her and that you need to stay at least somewhat active).

Development days come and go, most of your staff and team doing everything they can to make life easy for you- Ava even going as far as spray painting your parking spot in the front so that she knows not to rent out the space during the Eagles barbecue that she holds every year (both you and Melissa thank her for that). Janine and Jacob help you to set up your classroom while Gregory finds different workouts that are supposed to help it heal faster on top of the rigorous physical therapy that you’ve been attending. And Barbara is there to make sure that both you and your wife were well-rested and eating- offering moral support in any way she possible can.

And so, the first day of school is upon you. The redhead insists on carrying your things to your room, and she sets a chair outside of the door for you to be able to greet your students when they come in. As your old students run past you to get to their new teachers, they give you the biggest and warmest hugs, telling you that they hope you feel better. You see Melissa standing outside of her door, greeting her new students with the same gusto that she always does, and then she looks over to you. She gives you a questioning look, and you nod and smile in her direction- quietly raising your mug filled with coffee in a toast. She reciprocates your action and blows you a kiss subtly.

You hobble your way back into the classroom and take a seat at your desk while the kids settle in and do the morning work that is on their desk. After morning announcements, you have them all gather on the carpet and explain to them how this year is going to work. One of them raises a shy hand.

“What’s up, hun?” you ask one of the girls.

She asks you hesitantly, “Why do you have a cane? I thought only old people have a cane.”

You smile at her gently. “Thank you for asking, sweetheart. Mrs. Schemmenti had a knee surgery over the summer, and I’m still recovering. I’ll only need it for another month, maybe a little longer. But while I have it, everybody needs to be careful and gentle. I can’t walk around much either, so I’ll be teaching from my desk for the time being.”

Your class is overwhelmingly supportive of this, and they are so sweet about asking if you ever need anything or if they can help pass out papers for the entirety of the morning. This group is a bunch of love bugs who make you get well cards when you give them a bit of free time while you’re waiting to be called down to the gymnasium for the beginning of the year assembly.

You’re incredibly thankful that Ava calls your grade first so that you can make your way down slowly and find a seat before anybody else can swoop in- the last thing you need is to have to stand in the back because all of the chairs are taken. You’re pretty sure if that happened, your wife would riot for you, but that isn’t necessary.

You have your kids take a seat, Melissa slides in next to you and takes your cane to prop it up against the wall, and then you settle in for whatever ridiculous first day of school assembly will present itself this year.

Because you were the first ones in, you’re also the last ones out. It gives you time to get yourself and your kids ready to head back to the classroom for the small break they have before they head to lunch.

But when lunchtime comes, you get swept up in the sheer chaos of trying to get your students to the cafeteria in time so that you have your full lunch break. There are the little ones who are walking through the halls with their eyes wide and full of wonder, your kids who are walking at a fast pace that you’re having a hard time keeping up with, and then there are the older ones who couldn’t care less that you’re attempting to make your way through the halls without bumping into anyone. It doesn’t help that half of the middle schoolers now tower over you.

In a rush, one of them knocks the cane out of your hand with their lunch bag and snorts with laughter. “I thought canes were for old heads!”

Another one of them shouts that you’ve really let yourself go, and maybe it’s time for you to go into early retirement if you can’t walk around without the help of your mobility aid.

You stumble without the crutch there to lean on, and you nearly fall until Melissa has looped an arm around your waist and is helping to hold you up. You lean against her heavily as you try to steady yourself again. She turns to shout at the two who were making fun of you, but they’re already swept up in the sea of children that are all wearing the same uniform. She doesn’t know who to yell at, so she quickly turns back to you.

The student that is standing next to you looks absolutely appalled and picks up your cane immediately. She hands it to you gently. “Are you okay?”

You nod and gesture for her to continue walking. Your students do as they keep their eyes trained on you to make sure that you’re okay.

Once all of your kids are in the cafeteria and you see that they are all seated and eating or in line to get a school lunch, you turn. Melissa is still right at your side, her arm still looped around you.

“Go enjoy your lunch, babe,” you tell her gently as you take her hand away. “I’m just gonna sit in my room for lunch if you wouldn’t mind bringing my kids back down with you when the period is over?”

“You don’t want to have lunch with us?” the redhead asks you quietly.

“I don’t know if I can make it down to the staffroom, and then the lunchroom, and back today,” you admit softly. “My knee is really hurting from physical therapy yesterday.”

“I’ll be down with your lunch,” Melissa promises. She squeezes your hand gently before turning on her heel.

You settle at your desk, and despite yourself willing the tears not to spring to your eyes they do. You wipe at them furiously. The comments from the older kids really shouldn’t be affecting you the way that they are. And you really would rather not have your wife see you shedding tears over their idiotic comments- you know she’ll be roping Ava into a manhunt to see who it was anyway, and it’ll only be that much worse for the students if she catches you crying.

Your wife comes in with both of your lunches and an icepack for you- not that you requested one. You quickly wipe your tears as you hear her heels hitting the tile underneath of her, but she still sees it.

“Hun, does it hurt that bad?”

You turn to her with a sad smile. “No. I’m fine,” you lie through your teeth, but your voice betrays you and it cracks ever so slightly.

She sets your lunch in front of you and pulls up two chairs. She gestures for you to set your leg up on the second chair as she sits int he one next to you.

“Mel, you really can go enjoy lunch with he crew,” you tell her gently. “I’ll be okay by myself.”

“Ice,” is all she says as she takes a bite of lunch. She sets the pack on your knee, and you flinch slightly as the cool sensation ripples through your body, sending a shiver down your back.

You sit there, and she watches worriedly as you don’t make a move for your lunch at all. 

“Babe, you have to eat,” she says softly.

You shrug and wrap your arms around yourself. “I’m not that hungry.”

“My girl? Not hungry?” the redhead teases you. “C’mon.”

You don’t know what happens, but something within you snaps. “When I’m not burning nearly as many calories as I used to because of this fucking knee, I don’t get as hungry!” You burst into tears again. “God, I never should’ve gotten it done, and then I wouldn’t need this damn cane!” You throw it across the room in anger before curling in on yourself.

Your wife is up and retrieving it in seconds, only for you to throw it past her again.

“Babe,” she warns as she picks it up again.

“I don’t fucking want it! I’m sick of everyone staring at the young woman who has to depend on a god damn cane to walk!” you cry.

“Is this because of-” she starts to ask you, but you cut her off. 

“I’m sick of being stared at in the grocery store, or when we decided to go to Hershey and I had to use one of the wheelchairs! I don’t want the kids to go home and tell their parents that I’m some poor, crippled woman who can’t teach standing up!” you choke out. “I- I just want to be normal again!”

“So help those kids who pushed past you,” she grumbles before taking her seat back and wrapping her arms around you. She kisses you gently. “It’s all part of the healing process. You’ll be back to running around in no time, and you aren’t going to be in as much pain.”

“It’s going to be at least another month before I can walk without the cane,” you yell, frustrated tears falling down your cheeks.

“And you know I’ll always be here to lean on, your kids will clearly do everything they can to help you, and you know the staff here has your back,” she tries to comfort you.

“I couldn’t even properly take my kids to lunch,” you sigh, and you hate how whiny you sound.

“So I’ll take them and bring them back for you with my kids,” your wife tells you. “That way all you have to worry about is getting to and from the staffroom.”

You close your eyes and take a deep breath. “You already do so much for me.”

“And I will continue to do everything I can for you for the rest of my life,” she tells you with confidence. “When I said for better or for worse, I was serious.”

“I love you,” you whisper as the first genuine smile appears on your lips since the lunch incident.

“I love you too,” she mumbles as she leans in to kiss you. Then she pulls away and pushes your lunch towards you. “Now eat. I know you’re hungry.”

You pick up the fork and shovel some food in your mouth. So maybe you lied to Melissa when you said you weren’t hungry.

Come the end of the day, your wonderful wife picks up your kids and takes them out for dismissal while you ice your knee again. You see the kids off with a wave and a smile as they tell you that they hope you feel better soon. You’re given quite a few hugs, and a few drawings of you with the students are mixed in.

When you expect her to come back in once the kids are gone though, she doesn’t. And you can’t really leave without her because you can’t carry everything and navigate the halls with your cane just yet. You shoot her a text.

Did you forget about your crippled wife?

I’ll be down in a few, she responds quickly. Just chatting with Ava.

She’s telling the truth because the next thing you know, she’s in your room and grabbing your bags along with all of hers, and you’re heading out for the night.

“Why were you chatting with Ava?”

“Just had a few questions for her about this school year,” is all the redhead says. “Now let’s get going- you have physical therapy at 4:30, and then it’s an early night for the Schemmentis. I am wiped.”

The next morning, you and your wife are sitting and standing outside your classrooms getting ready to greet your students when two of the older kids come up to you. They hand you apology notes and hazard a glance at Melissa- they look terrified of her. She just folds her arms over her chest and smirks.

“Mel,” you sigh once they walk away. “I appreciate you defending my honor, but do not make two middle school boys look about ready to sh… their pants on the second day of school.”

“Nobody makes fun of my wife,” she shrugs. “Especially when it’s about something she’s already insecure about.”

“Is that why you were with Ava? You were looking at the security footage?”

Again, she shrugs. “Let’s just say, we’re having a school wide assembly next week about how we shouldn’t make fun of people who have mobility issues or any other sort of disabilities.”

[venbetta]

Okay so everytime I play security breach, I always have to trigger some bits of Freddy's dialogue cuz I just love how he says things.

Example of this is in the beginning, it's very mundane, but when he's carrying Gregory in his hatch and you try to enter any of the other doors backstage and he says

I would love to do a tour, but this door is locked.

It's just cute because he's just.. "Aww, this kid is really curious about exploring. It's too bad we're on scrapped for time. Also, those areas are inaccessible." That's how I interpreted it.

Most of these are based on how I personally interpret, just letting you know before I go too deep with rambling. If you have any different interpretations, drop them, I'd love to see it.

Anyways, one of the dialogue bits that make me giggle every time I hear it is during the Prize Counter mission. Gregory accidentally sets off the alarm and is panicked by it. Of course, we enter the mini game, trying to keep Monty and Roxy out for 3 minutes.

Honestly, despite playing the game so many times, it's one of the few missions I kinda dread. It's just nerve-wracking less than scary. Especially if it's later in the run with one or both of the bots shattered and you can't save right away.

But what tops it is after you survive the 3 minutes, probably having few near death close calls and stressing (Gregory definitely was), Freddy simply says:

All done! See, that was not so bad!

And it's like... Freddy? What do you mean?? I almost fucking died. You weren't even there! He sounds so cheery about it.

You spent nearly 4 minutes fighting for your life, and you're met with Freddy's lackadaisical attitude. It kills me. Freddy, when I catch you-

Don't get me wrong, what Freddy did was helpful, even if he just turned off the alarm. And he's been helpful for most of the game... (for the most part, maybe conceptually)

And I feel that he only says that as a way to soften the blow of the situation, like he usually does when something goes wrong. Always trying to find the bright side.. like a true optimist. It's like when a kid is about to do something scary and the adult can't do much, letting the kid be independent, and simply watch (and step in if they have to).

Once the scary situation ends in either the kid succeeding or maybe injuring themselves, the adult then steps in either praising or comforting them. "See, it wasn't that bad. You did it!" Or "Oh, I'm sorry, you did your best. There's always next time/maybe I can help you."

While it's annoying that Freddy responds in a causal way (again, it makes me chuckle), it adds something to him that gives him that paternal role Gregory (or the player) needs. He deals with kids all the time, and I'm sure he probably tries his best to be hands-on. Praising them when they do something, whether its minimal, like retrieving an item, or huge like winning a game and whatnot.

There's countless times Freddy graces Gregory with praise, no matter how treacherous or simple the task is. And that's adorable.

Of course, I'm still beating his ass though (affeftionate), cuz what do you mean you can't come save me 85% of the time? What else are you doing when you're not around me?

I love this dumb bear, but so help me-

[merrinla]

Halsin and Minthara weren't always mutually exclusive

Even though you can recruit both of them, in the game it looks like a funny bug. I guess this is what's left of the original idea. It was previously planned not only letting you have them at the same time, but also that they would interact in the party like other companions.

In the audio files, you can find lines of their reactions to each other's deaths. I don't know if these are triggered or not. They are both so bugged that sometimes I can hardly tell which is the cut content and which is the bug.

It's kind of funny that Halsin would be so sad.

I recently completed Halsin's quest with Mintara in my party. In the scene by the lake, when Halsin entered the portal, Minthara said "He made it. Now let's just hope he survives what's on the other side"

Actually this is exactly the same line as Tav's.

Halsin also share many lines with Tav and other origins. Most of them are unused. But in this case the line is not only voiced by Emma Gregory (Minthara's VA), it's triggered.

There is another interesting line. In Moonrise Towers, when Ketheric punishes Mintara for a failure in the grove and sends her to the dungeon, the player can choose not to interfere and leave the location without helping her. In this case one of the characters in your party will remind you that she can be saved as a potential companion. I was wondering if Halsin would say anything. And he did. "Minthara may prove useful to us, should we wish to save her…"

This isn't cut content. This isn't new content added with patches. It's in the game since the release. And this line works. Moreover, this is his personal line.

If they implement the dialogue with an ultimatum it will be nonsense. I mean, first he suggests to save her from the Absolute as a useful ally, and then in the camp he will say that it's the right choice to kick her back under the Absolute control. It's even hard to blame the character for such contradiction. Rather, it's just a stupid limit set by the script.

Next. In Act 3 if you make one of them to go up on the clown stage, the other one will approve.

There is also an unused flag for Act 3 in the game files with the description "Orin pretended to kill Halsin during the Minthara abduction campnight." Which means in Act 3 they were both in the party.

You can see what the abduction of Mintara looks like in this video. Only instead of Halsin, Jaheira is mentioned here.

Maybe there are other confirmations that I do not know about, that they were not mutually exclusive before. But that's enough for me.

They were both not originally planned as companions. Their roles were expanded much later. Most likely, Larian didn't have time to polish their content, so scissors were used. This is why their content seems so unfinished compared to others. Except for Wyll, probably. That's why they are so buggy.

I suppose the reason they are both mutually exclusive is because it is the easiest solution when you have a deadline on the horizon. Just easiest as "it's fine for a companion to just hang out at the camp". Otherwise, you need dialogs, animations, scripts, etc. And you also need to make sure that it will work with everything else. This is time and resources. But this doesn't mean that it's impossible to fix anything later.

I faintly hope that the defenetive edition will have the option to recruit them both.

And I really hope that in the future Larian will look at the games of their colleagues from BioWare (who made the original BG). I mean games from better times than now. The companions below will show you how much they "loved" each other. Not all of them became friends in the end. But nevertheless, we saved the world. Together.

[thesapphictimelady]

Ad Astra Per Aspera Chapter 4

WC: 1.5 K

TW: Implied domestic and verbal abuse

A/N: It’s a little on the shorter side today but I hope you enjoy! Comments are greatly appreciated and make my little gay heart happy!

“I told you guys I don’t eat lunch…” Cassiopeia started.

The look Barbara and Melissa gave her screamed that this wasn’t up for debate and Cassie sighed, watching the two older women put food on her plate.

“At least let me make my own plate,” she grumbled, “I’m not a child.”

“No, you are not a child,” Barbara said, handing Cassie a full plate and directing her towards a table, “You are a young lady who needs to eat. And Melissa and I are going to make sure of that.”

“I’m not hungry!” she protested.

Melissa sat at the table next to her and crossed her arms, “You’re gonna eat something. This is not up for debate.”

Cassie grumbled and pushed her food around on her plate. Barbara clucked her tongue disapprovingly.

“Cassiopeia!” Jacob yelled, running over to their table, “Cassiopeia, please switch groups with me! I beg you. I can’t be in a group with Mr. Morton.”

“Why not?” Cassie asked.

“Why not? Because he’s a scumbag!”

Melissa rolled her eyes, “Jacob, he’s not-”

“He’s insanely passive aggressive and he’s had it out for me since I got here! Please, Cassiopeia you HAVE to switch me.”

“No,” Melissa cut in, “Jacob you gotta get over this thing with Mr. Morton. It’s not worth it.”

Jacob sighed, “You’re right. He just really knows how to push my buttons!”

��Yeah, I know buddy,” Melissa said, patting his shoulder, “Go get some food.”

Jacob left the table to get some food and Cassie poked at a carrot half heartedly.

“Sweetheart, you have to eat,” Barbara said gently.

“I know, it’s just…the whole situation with my ex…”

Melissa placed a hand over Cassie’s, “At least try a bite. I don’t want you passing out.”

Cassie nodded and took a bite of a veggie kebab. Barb smiled encouragingly at her and rubbed her shoulder. Melissa excused herself from the table, pulling her phone out. She leaned against the wall and retrieved the number she had written down earlier before typing out a single message.

Melissa:

“We need to talk”

“The first game we’re going to play is a three legged race!” Janine said, practically bouncing with excitement, “You’ve already been split into groups of three so we’ll take turns! First we have…Cassiopeia and Melissa versus Jacob and Mr. Morton!”

Cassie dug into her bag to retrieve her ankle brace and then tightened her shoes.

“You gonna be able to run like that?” Melissa asked, gesturing at the brace.

“Yeah,” Cassie said, straightening up, “I’ll be fine.”

Janine came over and tied the two women together at the ankle and knee. Melissa wrapped an arm around Cassiopeia’s waist, causing the younger woman to tense up.

“Relax, kid,” Melissa said, “I don’t bite. Put your arm around my waist. Trust me.”

Cassie did as she was told and the pair walked to the starting line.

“On your mark, get set…go!”

Cassie and Melissa took off, quickly finding their stride and pulling ahead of the other team. Jacob and Mr Morton on the other hand…

“Mr. Hill, you have to move your left leg and THEN your right leg!”

“That is exactly what I am doing!”

“Then why have we only gone forward two steps?”

“I don’t know Morton, maybe YOU’RE the one doing it wrong!”

“Ooh somebody swing!” Ava shouted, pulling out her phone.

“Okay,” Janine said, jumping up from her chair at the finish line, “That’s enough of that! Melissa and Cassiopeia are the winners by…a long shot. Jacob, let’s untie you and why don’t you go take a break. Everyone take a quick break before our next game!”

“Did you see the way he was trying to trip me?” Jacob asked.

“Yeah, I did. Let’s go get you some water.”

Janine and Jacob left the gym, Gregory trailing behind them. Cassie untied her leg from Melissa’s and took a seat on the edge of the stage. The older woman sat down next to her.

“You okay, kid? Ya kinda tensed up when I touched you earlier.”

“Hm? I’m fine! I’m fine, it’s no big deal.”

Melissa raised an eyebrow at her and Cassie sighed.

“I’ll be fine, Ms. Schemmenti. Please, don’t worry about me. It’s just been a long day.”

Before Melissa could respond, Barbara brought over their water bottles.

“Great job, you two! You made a great team!”

“Thanks, Mrs. Howard,” Cassie said, taking her water bottle, “But I think the credit should go to Ms. Schemmenti. We wouldn’t have gotten our rhythm if she hadn’t told me to put my arm around her.”

“Well you did a great job. Oh, Melissa, your phone was buzzing nonstop!”

Melissa took her phone from Barbara and checked her notifications.

19 missed calls from: Unknown Number

Smirking, she tucked her phone into her pocket, and took a swig from her water bottle, “Thanks Barb. It wasn’t anything important. I’ll listen to the voicemails later. What do you think is next?”

“I heard pipsqueak say trust falls,” Ava said, leaning against the stage.

“Does she really think that’s a good idea?” Cassie asked, “I mean, Jacob and Mr Morton couldn’t even cooperate long enough to do the three legged race.”

“Oh, it’s gonna be a shitshow,” Ava said, “And I’m gonna be live-streaming the whole time.”

Melissa rolled her eyes, “Really, Ava?”

“My followers aren’t gonna influence themselves, Melissa!”

Ava went to adjust the lights in the gym as Janine, Jacob and Gregory reentered the room.

“Okay,” Janine said, “Our next activity is trust falls! Your group can decide who’s falling first, but only one person is catching at a time!”

“I guess I’ll go first,” Cassie said, “Promise you won’t drop me?”

Melissa and Barb both laughed and agreed not to drop her. Cassie stood from her spot on the stage. Melissa walked behind her and held out her arms.

“You can trust me kid,” she said softly, “I’ll always catch you, Cassiopeia.”

Cassie took a deep breath and leaned backwards, letting gravity pull her down towards the floor. A pair of strong arms caught her before she could get anywhere near the ground. On the other side of the gym however…

“Don’t you dare drop me, Morton,” Jacob said, arms crossed.

“Mr Hill, I can’t believe you’d accuse me of doing something like that!” Mr. Morton said, sounding genuinely hurt, “The whole point of this exercise is trust. Just trust me.”

Jacob leaned backwards, expecting Mr Morton to catch him. Instead he was quickly met with the cold floor of the gym.

“Oops,” Mr Morton said, “Sorry, Mr Hill. I thought I could catch you.”

“That’s it, Morton!” Jacob said, jumping up from the floor, “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts!”

Gregory was quick to put himself between the two men, but Jacob ducked under his arm and attempted to tackle the science teacher.

“Jacob!” Janine shouted, “Stop trying to tackle Mr. Morton!”

“I’m sorry,” Jacob said once Gregory had pulled him away, “He just knows exactly how to push my buttons,”

“Okay,” Barbara cut in, “I think perhaps we need to save any team building for another day.”

“But I still have activities!” Janine protested.

“And Jacob here looks like he’s ready to commit a crime,” Barbara said, “We can do more team building another day. Right now, I think we should all relax. We only have an hour until the end of the day. Let’s go back to our classrooms and finish prepping for next week and then we can all go home and enjoy our weekend.”

Janine looked disappointed but agreed and everyone headed back to their classrooms. Melissa and Cassiopeia laughed the whole way to the room, chatting about Jacob and Mr Morton’s strange rivalry.

“I’m glad you caught me,” Cassie said softly once they were in the classroom.

“I always will,” Melissa said, closing the classroom door so Cassie could take off her sweater, “And I don’t go back on my word.”

Cassie smiled and grabbed her bag off the table she had left it. After a minute of digging, she retrieved her phone.

Melissa snorted a laugh, “One of these days, I swear you’ll pull a lamp out of there. That bag is like Mary Poppins!”

“Well, I am practically perfect in every way,” Cassie joked as she powered on her phone. Her smile quickly faded though and she let out a strangled cry.

“You okay kid?” Melissa asked, alarm etched across her face.

Cassie turned to look at her, face pale, “I-shit-”

“Hey, you’re okay,” Melissa said, guiding her into a chair, “Oh, hon you’re shaking. You’re okay. Head between your knees. That’s it. Keep breathing.”

Cassie whimpered, struggling to breathe. Melissa slowly rubbed circles on her back, encouraging her the whole time until she had caught her breath.

“What happened?” Melissa asked softly, “You can tell me.”

Cassie shakily unlocked her phone and held it so Melissa could see the screen.

Unknown number:

“This is a really nice place you have here”

Beneath the message was a single attachment. The redhead clicked on it to expand it.

“Fuck,” she hissed.

On Cassie’s screen was a picture of a blonde woman inside the tiny apartment the young woman had moved into.

[nightmare-foundation]

ok enlighten me what is your glitchtrap michael theory . i’ve NEVER seen anyone else say this im so curious, i gotta hear the reasoning

Okay sorry this took a while to answer, I needed to put together my thoughts on this

Basically where I started with the 'Michael is Glitchtrap' theory is basically like. Process of elimination kinda?

I noticed that Glitchtrap didn't fit either William OR the Mimic. Glitchtrap is, well, not robotic from my perspective. He's sentimental for one (putting together the staffbots to look like the Aftons, the SL living room, Vanessa and Gregory directly referencing and paralleling Elizabeth and CC, etc), and doesn't really act like an ai program built to mimic things, unlike the Mimic seen in Ruin.

On top of that, Glitchtrap holds back. He has explicit rules; you have to find him, put his tapes together, and consent to merging with him (this is important). If this was William, he wouldn't bother putting together all these rules. Not only that, but Vanessa, Gregory, and Cassie are all still alive. And Glitchtraps appearance too- he's a costume, not a springlock suit. William always explicitly associated himself with spring Bonnie. Not the character, but the actual springlock suit itself.

Also, Glitchtrap knows things neither William nor the mimic WOULD know. The biggest clue is the Exotic Butters- how would William, and thus the Mimic, know about something only Michael would know?? And it goes deeper.

The color theory doesn't match up, either. William went from yellow (Midnight Motorist) -> purple (fnaf 2 and 3 minigames) -> yellow (springtrap). It's pretty clear that after William dies, he's associated with YELLOW now. His story is also over too, this was established with UCN.

Michael is sort of the opposite. The first time we see him, if you don't count fnaf 4, he's wearing purple. The next time in ffps, he's wearing yellow and blue. The natural next step is that he'd be associated with purple again. There's a LOT going on with the color theory too (yellow can mean both royalty and sickness, purple can Also be royalty and corruption, etc), in a way that connects to their stories.

Glitchtrap is purple; or, at least, his true form seen in PQ is. He's depicted as a costume deliberately; the yellow throws you off, it's not the truth. But take it off and you get a big black and purple blob. Not only that, it's a COSTUME. Michael has always, always been associated with masks, which are a part of costumes. William is associated with springlock animatronics, not costumes, even if they double as one, which says a lot to his own character.

Not only THAT, but everything since Help Wanted 1 and even the AR game has been referencing Sister Location, fnaf 4, and FFPS. Michael is the certain protagonist of ALL of these games, both directly confirmed or hinted at (yes fnaf 4 is Michael's nightmares after he actually got tortured by William post CC death, you'll have to tear this out of my cold dead hands). Michael is also repeatedly referenced in Security Breach, with the constant references to butters in sticky notes, again, only something he would know.

Also, of the main cast, Foxy is the only one that's missing. Foxy is VERY important to Michael and his character, and the different iterations of Foxy, especially Funtime Foxy and Ringmaster Foxy, are especially important. Yes I do think that each of the Funtimes represent the Aftons, and FT Foxy represents Michael. So we can gleam that Michael, similarly to his father, is a performer. He's the leader; the captain, the ringmaster, the older brother. This is hammered in with his monologue and the Security Logbook. This fits in exactly with Glitchtrap. He's theatrical, he performs, he pretends.

As for HOW Michael would've become Glitchtrap, I believe the circuit boards FazEnt got were from the computer in the ffps office. William is trapped in UCN, the Mimic was still trapped behind the wall in Ruin, and I don't think the mimic1 program existed at the time (not to mention Glitchtraps behavior doesn't fit mimic1).

Michael easily could've possessed those circuit boards on accident. You might be asking- well, Michael was dead, all of his Remnant would've burned up. And, honestly, I don't think he actually DID die at the end of SL.

Baby explicitly says "You won't die". The Scooper also injects Remnant into you, which is known to keep you alive and heal you. As for the rotting, that can easily be explained away as Michael literally being one giant walking infected wound. The scooper tore him apart stomach to throat, and Ennard went inside, tearing him apart internally. When wounds are bad enough, they rot, especially when they're left to fester and get infected. Besides, it would've been impossible to possess his own corpse. Remnant is best conducted by metal, not rotting flesh. And I doubt Ennard would've left enough of itself behind for Michael to actually control his own body.

So, Michael was likely actually alive and fully healed by FFPS. Thus, when he burned to death, he would've ended up possessing the nearest electronic things- the circuit boards in the computer. Whether or not he actually wanted to die (I don't think he did) matters; he possessed it anyways.

As for why he's now the main antagonist of the new games- well, I don't think he's evil. I think he's being affected by Agony.

Since the blob is one massive ball of leftover Agony from the rest of the animatronics, I think it's possible Glitchtrap has his own Agony too, especially if it's true that Remnant turns into Agony when burned up like I think it does. It'd explain why he's all black and goopy, since I believe Agony is described as a black, tar-like substance.

Some of Glitchtraps appearance would also be explained by Michael being him, such as the tears that are on the suit and his true form. Usually, lost souls are what have those tear tracks, like the dead kids. William has never been depicted with those same marks, EVER.

A lot of the above also explains why I don't think Glitchtrap is evil. I don't think Michael is fully sane, and Glitchtrap has a duality theme going on (purple and green are opposites on the digital spectrum). Plus, as I said, he actively holds back. He's cruel yes, and he's killed a fuck ton of people, but he sets rules and let's Vanessa, Gregory, Cassie, and for a time, Cassies dad, all live.

Also, he's a WAY more successful killer than William. He's smart, and while I wouldn't call William an idiot, he's not exactly good at hiding things. He's arrogant, believes he'll never die ("I always come back!"), he's theatrical to his own detriment, etc. Even in SL it was extremely obvious he was already being questioned, and was nearly caught and jailed. He died to CHILD GHOSTS. And Vanessa and Glitchtrap have never been suspected, not ONCE.

People really like to act like Michael is stupid, but he's FAR from it. He knew what was happening in SL, and pieced things together Really Fucking Quickly (in less than a WEEK). He also likely suspected Williams crimes beforehand, and if he hadn't in fnaf 1, he definitely figured it out in SL. He also very likely created fnaf 3; the building matches ffps's confusing labyrinth layout, clearly set up to burn down, the collection of Fazbear stuff, the audio lures, and the "to you, from working architect" in the security logbook. And then he helped Henry with the FFPS location, and possibly built the Rockstar animatronics (I say this bc it's a mix of Williams and Henry's styles of animatronics; the hard outer casing, extra abilities i.e. Freddy's coin thing, but they're cute, like Henry's, BUT the Michael thing is that they're.. well, Rockstars. I also think Michael made the plans for the Glamrocks but FazEnt stole them for these reasons lmao). Michael is far, FAR from an idiot, and all of these show he's actually REALLY fucking smart, likely smart enough that William felt threatened by him (part of why he was likely sent to the SL bunker). Glitchtrap is also clearly Very Intelligent.

Another part is that Glitchtrap doesn't hurt children. In one of the SB endings, on the newspaper it says 'missing locals', not missing children. Gregory and Cassie were never directly harmed by him either. Cassie was completely safe in the mall pre-Ruin, and Gregory seemed fine too, if possessed by Glitchtrap. It's never stated that CHILDREN are hurt, only the staff.

Also Glitchtrap is,, very sentimental. Neither William nor the Mimic would be sentimental about the Aftons, but Michael WOULD. He cares deeply about his family if SL is any indication, and would explain his favoritism towards Gregory, the CC lookalike.

Glitchtrap being Michael would ALSO explain why Cassies dad (aka bonniebro) was spared, long enough for the spirits in the staffbots to get JEALOUS. After all, what exactly makes him so special? He's Michael's old friend. Neither William nor the Mimic would care.

Also springtrap is consistently depicted as terrifying and beastly. Especially in hw2, where the place burns down and Springtrap hunts you down. William would've shown himself as the pinnacle of his inventions, not a nightmarish monster.

Oh, and another note, but almost every time William is in the game, whether in the background or not, Golden Freddy aka Cassidy is always there. Fnaf 1, 2, and 3 ('shadow freddy') follow this formula, but she's not there in fnaf 4, or SL, though I imagine she's not there in FFPS because William is already trapped, and for good this time.

The same goes for Michael and the Puppet/Charlie. Charlie is in fnaf 1 (implied in fnaf 2), fnaf 2 (the party Jeremy got bit at was for Michael), fnaf 3, fnaf 4, and FFPS. The exception is SL, but I believe it's because William is dead by then.

Notice how Cassidy doesn't show up past fnaf 3, but Charlie keeps showing up as the plushies. There's near constant references to her in every. Single. Steel Wool game. It's hard to NOT see it it's so often. So it's very likely Michael is still around, and only hammers in that he's likely Glitchtrap.

Also, writing-wise, it makes sense for him to become the new antagonist since FNAF was soft-rebooted. Typically the old protagonist is still important in soft reboots, whether that's as an important historical figure or the next games/series/movies antagonist, or a driving point for the next protagonist (think Peter Parker and Tony Stark). It also fits thematically, since it'd be a really weird spin around for the new villain to be an AI (doesn't fit fnafs formula) and having William be the villain Again would just be lazy writing.

Collapses. Okay I probably missed some things BUT. That's my main points. There's WAY more that goes into a much bigger theory (like PQ is Obviously Vanessa being freed from Glitchtrap, fnafs timeline, the ghost kids are back and are wanting to free Michael, the SW games are based on I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, etc), but that's mostly what I have for Glitchtrap Michael.

Feel free to look up everything I'm talking about, I haven't bothered to put anything up but I have all of my facts straight. I've considered pretty much every other option in order to TRY to disprove my own theory, but every single new game and book only keeps proving me right unfortunately LMAO.

I've had this theory since like... before Ruin. I've had So much time to get everything straight. I'm sad no one else sees what I see lol.

Have fun with this :3

[slipperyskell]

What if it was Roxanne?

Alright, alright, this one is a hell of a stretch since there’s little evidence that really supports this, but this thought hasn’t left my mind since I first found out about Bonnie’s appearance in Ruin and I just need to get it out there.

what if it was Roxanne that killed Bonnie? while she doesn't have the same claws as Monty would have (which again he did not get until after Bonnie was killed) she does still have them, as does Freddy. Her claws are also green, which might explain the plastic rub/paint that is across his chest. Not to mention in a lot of Roxy's animations, she uses her claws for a ton of things. The only time monty really does is when he's destroying the gator guns. Otherwise he's just punching shit. AND the fact that Roxanne’s green claws are the only ones to have survived up until ruin - not even Freddy’s did. Gotta be pretty durable considering how hard she’s been trying to look for Gregory.

Roxy Raceway is also RIGHT NEXT to Bonnie Bowl, albeit below. That probably doesn't matter much given that they'd all be in Rockstar Row anyway, but afaik after Bonnie went missing, the rest of the glamrock crew weren't allowed to leave their green rooms. I don't remember where this is mentioned in game but i want to say it's a line of dialogue freddy has.

Roxanne's an integral part of the security system being that she is the only one with a secrutiy node built into her system where all of the others don't appear to (assuming their deaths didn't deactivate their portions of the security stuff). Not to mention her eyes are very specifically designed to see things that other people can't, though the description discussing her upgrades also mention that it was just to help her win races (??? sounds like bullshit to me but okay)

Now I haven't been able to find what bowling ball model was used for the broken one around Bonnie's head, but Roxanne's are usually either red with purple swirls or solid purple. Monty's are either solid green, or green and purple swirls. And there's the giant roxanne bowling ball that's crushed much of the bowling alley in the lanes itself when you have the vanni mask on.

WHAT IF. Bonnie, being a prototype (as is implied in the description of one of his plushy collectibles), had been hacked by the Mimic, who learned, through afton, to associate itself with rabbits. Roxanne saw something was up, confronted him, they fight, and Roxanne takes him out. It's obvious she's not afraid to throw hands against other bots, and that leap of hers could have easily knocked Bonnie into the wall, causing that impact mark in front of him as she clawed into him. The only thing that really doesn't explain is why he died facing the wall on his back, Unless he was attempting to scoot back when Roxanne took the bowling ball and crushed his head with it.

Again, there really isn’t anything more that supports this theory than this that I know of, so I know this is a huge stretch, but I feel like, given the amount of things not adding up with Monty being the one to kill him (ESPECIALLY if it was merely out of jealousy and nothing more), I feel like Roxanne being the one to have killed him to protect the others is a more solid motive. If there was something wrong with Bonnie, she’d be the first to know and likely the first to act on it.

[heartsouls]

no plz tell me all your thoughts about the gregory hate so I can reblog it💀

OHHH boy this is gonna be a long one buckle up

Ever since Gregory was first announced I believe most of the fandom have interpreted him as this frail child who was always on the verge of tears and needed G.Freddy’s protection (think C.C 2.0), but once the game came out most ppl were shocked to see this kid actually has a lot of bite to him and kicked ass (ppl’s first reactions to him destroying the animatronics still make me laugh).

This was MY first introduction to him, so I wasn’t completely taken aback but still pleasantly surprised. Most if not all his actions made sense or at least made sense for a 10yr boy to think/act. Giant robots coming after me with the intention to kill (and insulting me for no damn reason)? Yeah I’d probably add an extra kick in there for good measure. Then came the first repair scene, when Vanessa revealed the high possibility of Gregory being an homeless orphan everything just clicked into place for me.

OF COURSE that’s why Gregory was so aggressive, he had to learn how to fight on his own to survive he’d probably had to face even worse than this! He wasn’t going to let that all go to waste bc some weird murderous rabbit lady wanted to drag him into her plans. It explains why he brushed off G.Freddy’s worries about him bc he’s used to have to just keep moving and bare thru pain, especially in an environment where that’s really the ONLY thing you can do. It’s why he’s so blunt and can come off as rude bc he was most likely never taught how to behave “correctly” bc really who has the time?

He was just using all the knowledge he learned on how to survive from a cruel and harsh environment for another. But this time he has an ally for once, an adult (father) figure who actually cares about his wellbeing, it’s no wonder why he became so attached (but struggles to show it bc he’s not used to it). And through all that easily irritable aggression, there are moments to remind us he’s still a kid.

A useless fridge magnet? Yeah that is pretty lame man.

Now imagine my shock when I see others hating on him and calling him a villain. “How could he KILL the poor animatronics? He was so mean, he’s the true monster!” Wh- DID WE WATCH THE SAME GAME? You mean the same animatronics that says he doesn’t have anyone to care about him? Yeah real sweethearts they are. Gregory isn’t a damn monster, he’s a survivor! He’s doing what he only knows best, IT’S TO SURVIVE!

“How could he be so mean to G.Freddy??? Those are his friends! He made Freddy feel bad!” Trust me when I say that Gregory cares about G.Freddy ALOT, did you see his reactions whenever G.Freddy got hurt??? That’s his father thank you very much!

“How could he have killed Vanny in that one ending?! He’s the real villain!” …Do I even need to explain this one?

And ohhhhhh don’t get me started on the awful “bratty gremlin devil” Gregory HCs. Now this isn’t to say that Gregory can’t be a gremlin or whatever. He can be, he is a bit cheeky, but then some started to intensify it and made it his entire personality. No, Gregory wasn’t just itching to rip Roxy’s eyes out or do the next batshit insane thing, he noticed the other upgrades and put two and two together (It gets more weird and slightly disrespectful when they add in the homeless thing as if that automatically makes someone act “feral”….tiktok.)

And then we have the complete opposite where some portray him as what I mentioned in the first paragraph. The poor helpless child who cant handle anything by himself…even though that’s complete bullshit (he’s also usually portrayed to be obnoxiously sweet for some reason). I don’t think many ppl realize how often were not in G.Freddy during SB, and Gregory is described to be quick on his feet and wits (plus his tools) and he doing damn well by himself! [Obviously this isnt to say that he didnt need G.Freddy’s help and protection, ofc he did, he just didnt need to RELY on it like some ppl make it seem he did].

(I know we went a bit off-topic for the last two paragraphs, trust me it connects)

All of this comes down to simply that some just can’t accept the fact that Gregory isn’t their perfect victim. He doesn’t crumble to the floor and beg for G.Freddy to help him up like they want him too. He’s not shy and sheepishly asking for help like they think he’s supposed to. And when they realize that part they try to push him into the other far end where he’s crazy, cold, and cruel. But he’s not. He cares, and he cares deeply. He’s still a little boy, he cried and tried to cover his face when he saw Vanny die. He should be leaping in victory, he killed his killer after all right? But he didn’t, bc despite everything she was still a human being, and he was so scared.

He has complex trauma (duh), he’s not this way or that way, and I get it. It’s hard to write or draw that kind of trauma for Gregory, especially when SB didn’t really give us much. But the way ppl act as if that’s what he actually is is soooooo frustrating. In my opinion the fact that his trauma is so complex and the fact he’s not your typical written victim is what makes him so interesting! And I feel like a lot ppl were slowly getting around to it…

Until GGY and Ruin happened and the hate came back so much worse, Welcome to the real Freddy Hell.

[puhpandas]

Between The Lines

(7,832 words)

Tony thinks that there's something about Freddy and Bonnie that make them seem closer and different than the other Glamrocks. It takes him a while to realize that there isn't on the outside like he thought, and that maybe, he just sees himself and Gregory in them. And that a certain drawing Gregory has given to him might tell him that Gregory had the same idea.

Greg and Ellis had looked like kids in a candy shop when theyd entered the West Arcade for the first time since the Pizzaplex reopened.

Just like all the banners strung about have advertised, theres brand new arcades and games to try out around the place. The place is fuller, not only due to the sheer amount of guests, especially because of the return of Bonnie, but also because of all of the new cabinets taking up space.

Tony had been content just following his friends as they floundered over what game to play first. They had such big smiles on their faces while wandering around... itd been nice seeing them like that. Tony knows Gregory has been having trouble lately. The whole GGY thing takes a toll on him, even after it's been over for months. He's not much different, but... Greg definitely has it worse. Tony's just glad he's loosening up for this.

Even Tony, who hadn't ever really cared for arcade games, can notice just how many new games have been added to the Faz-Cade. Every step brings his attention to a new cabinet here, another one there, all with new themes and art he's never seen before.

Despite how much he likes to be aware of everything around him, he usually can only focus on one thing at a time. His friends voices are only background noise to him while he gazes at all of the new sights in the Faz-Cade. They're saying something about grinding for points and scores, but Tony cant focus when he's just admiring some particularly cool art.

Subconsciously, his body stops along with his friends when they suddenly quit walking to admire some other cabinet. He startles at the change, and goes to open his mouth, a question already on his tongue.

But he never gets it out. His head doesnt turn, and his eyes catch onto a certain arcade game to their right that's angled directly for the cabinet art to be staring right at him.

The bright and contrasting colors of the two characters in the drawing are all he needs to see to recognize them at first glance.

It's a drawing of Freddy and Bonnie; the colors bright and art angled to look dynamic on the curve of the games' outer shape. Its brand new art, Tony's sure of it. Theres been multiple of Bonnie across the Plex so far since he's returned.

He would know.

Freddy and Bonnie... Tony doesnt know why, but he just cant stop looking at the art of them on the cabinet. They're shoulder to shoulder, bodies leaned onto each other and looking at eachother from the corner of their eyes. Not their instruments or who would be the viewer... eachother.

Its like they're in their own little world, Tony thinks. He doesn't know why he thinks that. He's never noticed a difference before. Is there even one? Has there ever been this kind of closeness in promotional art with characters like Roxy and Monty or Chica and Freddy?

Maybe he should get another opinion. He tilts his head, never taking his eyes off of the art on the cabinet over. "Hey, guys? Does this art of Freddy and Bonnie look--"

"Midnight Motorist!" He's cut off mid sentence by Ellis' exclamation. Ellis takes off from his side, and it finally tears Tony's eyes off of the drawing of Freddy and Bonnie. He races to a cabinet a few over and is bouncing in place looking it over. "I cant believe this is one of the new ones they added!"

Gregory is the next to leave his side after that, heading to join Ellis at the cabinet and blabbering on about something himself. But Tony finds it hard to listen when his mind is still stuck on the brand new official Freddy and Bonnie art for some reason.

He shakes it off, leaving it for another time. He knows sometimes his curiosity can take over his brain in the middle of something sometimes. He just... doesn't understand what there is to be curious about this time. It doesn't eat away at him like curiosity does to him every time, though. This time doesnt feel the same.

He shakes it off again, this time shaking his head physically for good measure. Later. He thinks. He leaves the cabinet and joins his friends by Midnight Motorist, and begins to catch their conversation.

"Do you think we can get the first high scores on it?" Greg is asking when Tony gets there. Theres a kind of rare wicked grin on his face. "Just imagine. Setting an example for everyone else before they can even try themselves."

Ellis huffs a laugh, and eyes Tony when he stands beside Greg. "Hey," Ellis grins. "Wanna watch me set the first high score ever on Midnight Motorist?"

Tony smiles, eyeing the completely empty Best Players screen. "Sure."

To Tony's suprise, Gregory let's Ellis play first and waits his turn until he's done. Ellis steps up to the cabinet, and Tony is content watching Ellis get to know the game and his steadily racking points.

The two of them have formed a little huddle around Ellis' shoulder. His shoulder. For some reason, Tony and Gregory arent on each side like they should be. Theyve decided to squish into the left side of the cabinet and watch from there.

Why? Tony's thinking. Theres a weird feeling in his stomach that he cant identify. Why didnt they split up? They're shoulder to shoulder and theyre pressed so close together Tony is hyper aware of Greg's presence.

He feels his voice reverberate through his own arm and it makes Tony's cheeks burn and his thoughts scramble to come up with a reason.

He cant find one, he realizes. The chimes and music of the game in front of him kind of fade into the background while he tries to think about it more. His brain runs at a million miles an hour, and hes half aware of the thoughts in his head and half aware of how his heart is hammering in his chest at the same time.

Its confusing to him why he cares so much. Why this one little simple action has made his thoughts run so wild.

But while searching for why he and Greg are so close instead of far apart, for some reason, in response, his mind conjures up the art of Freddy and Bonnie.

"Yeah!" Greg cheers beside him, and Tony startles slightly, his thoughts coming to an abrupt halt as he comes back down to earth. His voice is right in his ear and Tony doesnt know what the weird feeling in his stomach is. "You got this, Ellis!"

He breathes out, deep but quiet and slow. He tries not to be obvious, but after the past few months, he shouldn't be suprised when Greg somehow notices.

He twists his neck over to look Tony's way, and Tony makes himself look back. Theres concern swimming in Gregory's eyes that Tony's so familiar with from over the past few months. When Tony would be struggling with the GGY incident and Greg would try his hardest to help him.

"Hey," Gregory asks, voice hushed and soft. Despite the loud button presses and the music coming from the cabinet just besides them, Gregory's voice reaches him so clearly. "are you okay?"

Tony doesnt respond immediately. He just stares, and ignores the twinge in his neck from how hes leaning his head back from the proximity. For some reason, he flounders for words.

"Uh, yeah." He says after a second, offering a smile. "I'm, uh, okay, Greg. Don't worry about me."

Gregory doesn't respond immediately, just looking at him a bit longer. Despite the inches of height Tony has on Gregory, his presence just feels bigger. Tony dares to flick his eyes, and deep blue meets gold.

Another moment of silence passes, and it feels like it drags on forever. Then, Greg nods. "Kay." He says, then turns back to the cabinet screen.

And that's that.

The feeling in his stomach doesnt go away, and along with the exchange neither do the thoughts. He tries to focus on Ellis' high score and having a good time with his friends, but he keeps being aware of his arm pressed against Greg's and the way that hes so close to him.

He doesnt know what's going on. He doesn't have anything to think about it that isnt jumbled and incomprehensible, so he tries to leave it for another day. He takes a breath, calming himself and the storm thats going on inside of him that's leaving him wondering and confused, and watches the car move back and forth on the road on the screen in front of him.

During it all, flashes of blue and orange keep appearing in his minds eye.

-

If theres one thing Tony had missed since getting Gregory back, its seeing Greg enjoy his art.

He'd never taken it too seriously, just drawn the Glamrocks and himself and his friends a few times, and always just for fun. But that's the point, isnt it? Tony... Tony may take his writing seriously, but that doesnt mean Greg would have to take his art seriously. That's something Tony's learned the past few months.

That you should appreciate chilling and having fun while it happens. GGY wasnt something easy to come back from. It wasnt easy to have seemingly recovered very fast from his attack and gone back to school while still grappling with what happened. Especially after it'd only taken a day or two for the real Greg to show up at his house and tell him what really happened.

The point is, Greg hasnt really touched a pencil and paper in a while. At least... not that Tony's seen.

He understands. He really does. Even Tony hadn't touched writing for a little while after... everything happened. He needed time to process everything, and writing was just never something he'd wanted to do, despite it being something he has fun with.

Greg just needed time, is all. But even Tony couldnt stay away from writing forever. He's picked it back up relatively recently. He just wishes Gregory would do.

Which is why when he goes over to Greg's house; a small apartment where he lives with Vanessa, Tony immediately is drawn to the sight of colorful paper and pencils on Greg's desk.

And on one page, two very distinct colorful characters standing next to eachother peeking under a couple other papers.

"You're drawing again." Tony says with a smile when he walks over to Greg's desk.

Gregory doesnt respond respond right away. It gives more time to Tony to just admire some of the newest art Greg's drawn obviously recently. Theres some of himself, some of people he knows, like Vanessa and even him and Ellis, one of a girl he doesnt recognize, and lots of Freddy.

But Tony's eyes keep being drawn to the orange and blue peeking out from under the more recent papers, and his right arm twitches, wanting to reach for the paper and pull it out to look at it.

It's a strange urge, one that doesn't feel quite like curiosity but has no other name Tony could put to it. It gets the better of him, and before Greg can utter a word from behind him, Tony reaches out and pulls on the corner to slip it out from under the others.

"Wait!" Greg yells from behind him. It's a little loud, and when Tony turns around, he looks a little sheepish, along with something else Tony doesnt have time to put a finger on. "Uh, which one is that?"

Tony raises a brow, but he let's his eyes fall back on the drawing of Freddy and Bonnie. He holds it out to Greg, trying to smile. "Uh, this one."

Gregory doesnt say anything, just walking up to his side and looking at the drawing himself. Theres an expression Tony cant place on Greg's face, and he cant help but feel like hes maybe done something wrong.

"I'm sorry," Tony blurts out, lowering the drawing. His brows furrow as he turns to look at Gregory. "should I have, uh, should I have not looked at your drawings without asking?"

Immediately, Gregory's shaking his head, waving a hand. "Uh. No. You're fine." He says slowly, and he's glancing at his desk and the corkboard hung above it with old and new drawings hung on it.

"I display them myself. Its..." Greg trails off, looking deep in thought for only a split second before he says, "it's... okay for you to see them."

Tony's quiet for a second, but his heads nodding and hes blinking shortly after. "Okay, good."

"Here." Greg says, coming up to him with a new small smile on his face; usually, all of Greg's smiles are small, so Tony can notice when ones real or not. This one... it's real, but also a little... nervous? Theres an undertone to it that Tony cant place, but any thoughts he could have had about it wash way when Greg's standing next to him again, bringing up the page in his hand he'd held out of sight back in view with a gentle hand. "You can see it."

Tony holds the page like its porcelain glass, his grip gentle and careful. Greg has the other side, and the paper is longways; meaning Greg's pressed against his shoulder again.

It... theres that weird feeling, again. But Tony doesnt really pay it any mind right now. He just admires the drawing Greg's offered him to see and takes in all the details.

In the soft sunlight of Gregory's window, it gives him plenty good view to see the art. Its good. Its really good. Tony knows Greg is a good artist, but... this is better than he thought it would be. Tony takes in the details, the line strokes and the color choices and even the little blocks signature in the corner of the page. He smiles instinctively.

"Its... good." He mumbles, voice quiet, but earnest. The drawing is of Freddy and Bonnie, colors bright and popping like they were on the arcade cabinet back at the Faz-Cade. This reminds him of then, Tony realizes. The drawing is similar, and... it gives him that same feeling. That same wonder if theres something else there between Freddy and Bonnie.

They're standing beside eachother, and the pose isnt as dynamic at the cabinets was. They're facing forward, but looking at eachother. They have one arm on each instrument, but the others that are in-between eachother just... hang limply. It makes Tony's brows furrow. It doesn't fit with the pose Greg was going for.

This whole time, Tony realizes, Greg had been watching his reaction. He suddenly becomes aware of Gregory looking at him and how hes holding the other side of the page and how their shoulders are pressed together. How their hands are hanging limply next to eachother. His fingers twitch and burn, and so does his face.

"You like it?" Greg is asking, and Tony tries to ignore that exact same strange feeling in his stomach he's been having to answer him. His mouth feels heavy and locked shut, and he stammers.

"Ye-Yeah!" He manages, managing to keep looking away from Greg's eyes and at the drawing in front of him. He smiles, and it's real when he says, "Its-- Its great, Greg. Its amazing."

But then Gregory is silent for a second too long, and Tony dares to glance over. It's the exact same time Gregory switches his gaze to the drawing and shifts his body.

Greg takes his hand off of the page, pushing it gently with both towards Tony's chest. Theres a smile that stretches wide across his cheeks when he says, "Its yours."

Immediately, Tony sputters. "What? But--" He gapes. "Yo-You dont have to do that--"

"Its fine." Greg cuts him off, smiling at him. Tony finds himself going quiet and staring. "I... uh... I drew it for you in the first place."

Tony gapes, unfurling the paper from his chest with a gentle grip. He takes another look at it, feeling something warm bloom in his chest. His fingers shake and tremble as he holds the paper in-between his fingers. Just, admiring it again. The orange and blue of Freddy and Bonnie.

"You did?" Tony asks, softer than silk. It's barely above a whisper.

Greg nods in front of him, smile still on his face. It dissolves into a small chuckle. "Dont act so suprised."

Tony shakes his head, whipping his head up. "I'm not!" He says, but his eyes find the drawing again quickly after. It's like hes unable to look away. The drawing... it feels different now, knowing it was made for him. "Its-- its just... really cool, Greg. I love it. I really do."

Gregory goes silent again, this time for longer than a second or two. Tony glances up, and barely catches a blank stare from Greg for a split second, like he'd been thinking about something. It's gone in an instant, and Gregory's smiling at him again, looking at him with yellow-gold eyes that seem to be shining in the light from his window.

"I'm..." He trails off. "I'm glad."

"I'll treasure it." Tony promises, holding the page closer to his face. Theres even highlights in their eyes as they look at eachother in the drawing. "I promise. I wont let anything happen to it, either."

This time, Tony looks up just in time to see Gregory smile softly, and say "I know."

-

Despite Bonnie being Tony's favorite, he's never actually gotten to meet him face to face.

He would be lying if he said he had liked him before his disappearance. It sounds bad, but... Tony hadnt ever cared much for the animatronic characters. It was Bonnie's sudden vanishing that caused Tony to gain interest in Fazbears brand and characters and history and why they would retire him if they meant to. And so abruptly at that.

But... after reading up and seeing all of the history and different iterations of the characters and their merch and art and brand and evolution... he maybe got a little interested.

It goes deeper than a childish interest in the animal characters, though. He... he doesn't know how to explain it. He just feels connected to Bonnie, somehow. It's not like Freddy and Gregory. They... they have something else. But it... it feels like Tony sees more in him than the other glamrock characters. To an extent, Freddy as well. But Freddy has what he has with Gregory, and Tony doesnt feel that connection with him like he does Bonnie.

Which is why he'd been excited when Bonnie had returned in the re-opening. The bowling alley has been flipped and remodeled and the art replaced and updated since hes come back, and the place is pretty packed usually, now. Bonnie performs on his stage sometimes, and will come out and mingle with guests rarely, but Tony's never gotten a chance to talk to him.

Of course, he should have known Gregory wouldnt let it stay that way for long. Not with how he still travels across the Plex behind closed doors sometimes to see the Glamrocks often.

Which is how Greg had gotten Tony into Bonnie's greenroom in-between his schedule later in the day, when not a lot of people are at Bonnie Bowl.

Of course, Greg had always known, but... his sudden action was definitely influenced by how Tony's been talking about it, recently. How he wants to be able to talk to Bonnie alone one on one. How he's always wanted to.

Its just... Tony's been looking at the drawing Greg made him a lot lately. And it keeps reminding him over and over of how it feels like theres... more to Freddy and Bonnie. Theyve been paired together since the very beginning. It feels like theres something else intangible with them that there isnt with the other characters.

They have history. Theyve always gone together, like yin and yang. Fire and ice. Red and blue.

He's... he's just always felt a connection with Bonnie.

It doesnt feel like meeting a celebrity, when Gregory ushers him with a smile into Bonnie's greenroom and shuts the curtain behind him. He doesnt feel starstruck, or like he wants an autograph. He just wants to talk to Bonnie.

Bonnie's sitting at his mirror when Tony inches in, feeling strangely nervous and anxious and fiddling with the Bonnie keychain on his backpack. Bonnies ear twitches, the one with the earring, and then hes swiveling his chair to face him.

"Ah! You must be Tony, then." Bonnie says with a smile. Tony just stays quiet when Bonnie gets up and heads over to him, his mind running wild with what exactly it is he wants to say. "Yeah, Fred and Greg told me about ya. Said you wanted to meet me. That I'm your favorite?"

Tony nods, meeting Bonnie's eyes. "Yeah, that's right."

"Well then, its nice to meet you, Tony." Bonnie says happily, holding out a hand for Tony to shake. Tony releases the keychain and takes it without another word, shaking it politely.

It's only then that Bonnie quirks a brow at him, his ears drooping a bit. Theres a small stretch of silence where nobody says anything, and Tony feels self conscious, the nerves rising up even more.

Bonnie's kneeling down to be eye level. His ears aren't pointed straight up anymore, they're more relaxed. Bonnie looks at him, looking... concerned? Curious? And he sets a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright, now." Bonnie finally says, and Tony glances back at the curtain, than at Bonnie. Bonnie fixes him with a look that's inviting and warm. "What's on your mind, Striker? I may have just met you, but Greg has told me all about ya. He told me you had questions for me and would be bombarding me with them."

Tony's shoulders droop a little more, and he feels the nerves ebb away ever so slightly when Bonnie is nothing but warm and inviting. Once again, Tony doesnt feel like hes meeting a big star. He feels like hes having a conversation with... someone he looks up to. Someone he came to ask a question.

"But you arent." Bonnie points out, not unkindly. When Tony frowns, Bonnie smiles kindly.

"You dont have to be nervous, Striker." Bonnie tells him, his voice quiet and encouraging. "Theres plenty of kids that come to us to ask us things."

"Things that..." Bonnie trails off. "they just need a little friendly advice for that they may not want to tell anyone else."

He says the end pointedly, just enough emphasis to bring it to Tony's attention. It feels so childish. It really does. It makes Tony bristle to think about, that hes a kid who needs advice, and that Bonnie already knows that. That Bonnie is using tactics he uses on young children on him. But... that's what he came for, didnt he?

It sticks out to him, though. And Tony's aware that Bonnie's tactic worked. 'Things they may not want to tell anyone else.' aka, things that Tony had wondered about in bed and at school and at the Faz-Cade when he'd think about the cabinet art or Gregorys drawing. When... when he'd felt like there was something else.

To Freddy and Bonnie. To what appears on the outside. To what there may be on the inside. To the colors orange and blue.

He opens his mouth, not quite speaking yet, and Bonnie's waiting patiently. Hes looking at him encouragingly, and Tony sighs, letting the words spill out. The big question that he's mulled over for months.

Tony takes one last glance around him, not exactly knowing why but feeling like he needs to. It feels personal, or taboo somehow. Like this needs to be kept under wraps and only for his and Bonnie's ears to hear. He grabs at his keychain again, fidgeting with it.

"Bonnie..." He manages eventually, feelings and thoughts that feel disconnected racing through his mind. The keychain gives his hands something to do, but it doesnt help much with his nerves. "Are you and Freddy... uh..."

He stammers over his words, feeling nerves fry his stomach. This is hard to say, for some reason. It feels scary. Bonnie waits, though. Still ever patient, but his head does tilt in curiosity, a quirk to his brow.

Tony opens his mouth, taking a second to continue. "Well... I just..." He trails off, and Bonnie is still looking at him. Theres a moment where Tony says nothing, and Bonnie just meets his eyes and nods, smiling.

Its okay it feels like he's saying. Tony breathes out again, and pushes past the wall he'd been hitting. "Are you two together?"

Bonnie jerks a bit, barely noticeable, but Tony had been searching for any kind of reaction, small or not. Tony watches how Bonnie's face twists in suprise for a moment, and Tony's eyes widen, his shoulders hitching up.

"I just--" He stammers, and averts his eyes when Bonnie keeps staring at him. "I notice sometimes that your promotional art has you two... uh, closer. Than the others."

Its agonizing, watching Bonnie mull over his words. His eyes twitch and look down, and it's clear he's deep in thought. Tony feels his ears burn. He feels embarrassed. It all feels scary. Why? Why does it feel like he's spilling all his deepest darkest secrets?

Tony watches carefully, holding his breath as Bonnie says nothing. He's taking his time, thinking deeply, and Tony watches Bonnie's eyes flick towards the curtain. The curtain Gregory'd promised him he'd wait for him behind.

They widen, ever so slightly, and Bonnie's eyes then look towards Tony's hands, and the keychain hes flipping between his fingers.

Bonnie stares for just a moment longer, and then he clears his throat a bit, and Tony releases the tightness in his chest when Bonnie finally responds.

"Well, Striker..." Bonnie says, voice hushed and quiet, like he's telling a secret. "Just between you and me, Freddy and I do have something going on that... may not particularly be apart of the brand characterization of us."

Tony's eyes widen. Something shoots through his chest, some sort of burning blooming feeling, and he just stares at Bonnie speechless.

There had been something going on between the lines. There had been. Just like he'd thought. Did... Does that mean that the closeness, the undertones that Tony had felt just had to be between them had been there all along? That he really was right.

But... Bonnie had said that last part with the same emphasis he'd used before, and it only just now clicks.

Tony feels something he cant place. It feels crushing, scary, like... somethings caught up to him. Like he was somehow wrong all along. Wrong about Freddy and Bonnie? Wrong about something he never ever knew why he latched onto in the first place?

"So..." He begins uncertainly, shoulders feeling heavy. He realizes he hasnt blinked this whole time, and releases the tight breath he'd been holding. His eyes flick up to Bonnie's. "The promotional art isn't any different?"

Bonnie's ears droop, and he shakes his head. Tony just looks away.

"No, buddy." Bonnie replies. He shakes him a bit, just enough to get his attention, and Tony makes himself look back at Bonnie.

He looks knowing, somehow. It makes Tony bristle. He looks like he just figured it out. But what is there to figure out? Why is Bonnie looking at him with sympathy?

Bonnie doesnt say something like Tony had been expecting him to, though. He just stands to his full height, herding Tony by his shoulders gently to go down the hallway and stand just at the mouth of the curtain. They dont go through, but stay tucked in the shadows. Tony frowns, confused.

"Might there be a reason why you saw a difference with us in the first place?" Bonnie asks, a whisper. He nudges him, and Tony, despite the confusion and how his question begins to weigh on him, joins him in peering through the gap in the curtain.

Tony's not really sure why Bonnie's brought him over here; it's just Gregory and Freddy on the other side, and Tony cant help but feel a little bit of impatient-ness mix with the confusion inside of him, because Bonnie obviously knows something that Tony doesnt and its killing him.

But any remarks over it he bites down, and he tries to decipher the reasoning himself. There obviously is one, after all.

Tony just watches, looking for whatever Bonnie may be getting at. Gregory's faced half away from the curtain, talking to Freddy about something, and he doesnt notice Tony's observing him. Tony watches Gregory's face; theres a smile that goes as wide as to crinkle the corner of his eyes, and it dissolves into laughter soon after. He looks amused, like the funniest joke in the world was just told, and Freddy laughs heartily next to him.

Theres that weird feeling in his chest that been eating away at him again. The one he always gets around Greg and if he gets to looking at the drawing he gave him. The one of Freddy and Bonnie. Or if he remembers the cabinet art.

Tony just watches. He watches and is aware that Gregory barely ever smiles like that and that it makes his eyes sparkle, and it's like the gold in them shimmers even more. How it curves around his cheeks and even after it dissipates a bit, the contentment is still there. He watches him speak and how it flashes his teeth and his home-cut, shaggy hair kinda falls over his face like a curtain and he has to brush it out of the way with a hand. Theres the scar on his face that travels up his jaw and the sharpness to his eyes and the curve of his nose and--

Oh.

Oh.

He's long let go of the Bonnie keychain by now, but now, it weighs heavy on him. Suddenly he's all too aware of its presence, and Gregory's Freddy backpack that Tony can see on his back through the gap of the curtain.

Flashes of the cabinet art at the Faz-Cade and Gregory's drawing run laps through his mind. It makes sense, now. His mind is so jumbled he cant get a thought through, but he still knows what they're all saying. He feels it.

Freddy and Bonnie, the two always paired together that Tony saw a certain closeness between. Bonnie, who had always been Tony's favorite. Freddy, who is Greg's favorite. Who he draws all the time and has bonded with and who he's connected with.

Tony's always felt connected to Bonnie.

"Oh." Tony says outwardly, barely louder than a whisper. His voice cracks in the middle.

Bonnie tries to squeeze his shoulder, to open his mouth and say something, but Tony gently shoves him off, walking out of his hold and stumbling closer the curtain.

"Im--" He stammers, not knowing what to think. "I'm sorry, Bonnie. I-- thank you for this, but--" He sighs out, and it feels a little wet. He ignores Bonnie's worried expression and pushes open the curtain with one arm. "Ive-- I've got to go."

Bonnie doesn't try to stop him. He doesnt yell for him, ask him to wait, nothing. Tony appreciates it. Maybe that knowing look hed given him means he understands.

"Hey." Greg greets him on the outside, just like he said he would. Hes smiling, Freddy backpack still on his shoulders, but it drops a bit when he sees his face.

"Tony?" He asks, softer and less enthusiastic. "Are you--"

"I'm fine." Tony cuts him off, ignoring the guilt curling in his stomach when he walks past both Greg and Freddy. He needs-- he can't think right now. He doesnt know what to do. "Im-- I'm okay. I uh, just think im gonna go home."

Theres no response for a second until Greg goes "Oh." Its a little flat, and one hundred percent sounds disappointed and worried all in one. The guilt gets worse. "Are you--"

"I'm okay." Tony insists, and the tightness in his chest and rapidness of his thoughts dont go away. Greg doesnt get to ask again, because Tony's almost running away, now.

He can feel Greg and Freddys eyes on his back as he leaves Bonnie Bowl, not knowing how to feel.

-

Tony hasnt told Gregory.

How is he supposed to? He-- he hasnt even processed it himself. He doesnt know what to think or how to feel. He doesnt like not being able to think.

Every time he tries, it all gets jumbled and his brain twists in knots. He doesnt need to think to know. To know what it all meant and that he'd always felt this way. Since he'd gotten to know the real Greg.

That those moments where he and Gregory would be close where he'd have those weird feelings were because he liked him. He still does. He likes him. A lot.

He likes him and he'd-- Tony had always seen more in Bonnie and Freddy because he saw more in him and Gregory. Its always been that way. He's always felt closer to Greg. He's... he's the Freddy to his Bonnie.

The thought makes Tony's brain freeze up again. He blinks, feeling his arms burn from being sprawled out on the bed and holding them up for so long. He groans, long and drawn out, feeling lost.

His stomach does somersaults and his face burns when he looks at the drawing again. He's stared at it a lot already. Not only today, but since he got it. Its felt... special, to him. Now he knows why. That this drawing Greg gifted him always felt like it held something deeper. Something that... only Tony saw. That no one else would.

He grips the paper with his fingers, staring longingly at the art. It feels like hes getting a headache, lying flat on his back and straining his arms just to hold the drawing up in the air. He stares at the pencil lines and the colors and how Freddy and Bonnie's shoulders are pressed together and their hands are still awkwardly limp from where they fall by their waists.

Tony frowns, always feeling off about that part. It never fit in correctly. It never felt intentional. Not like everything about Gregory's art always has. It had always left Tony wondering. Like how he had with the feeling in his stomach and Freddy and Bonnie's official art.

He sighs, his arms drooping slightly from the strain. Today was a school day, and Tony hadn't gone with Greg to his house like he usually does. He's barely talked to him since his exchange with Bonnie. He doesn't want to avoid, him, he just... doesnt know what to say.

He doesnt know if he should tell him. Tony has always felt that he and Greg felt different, but he has no idea if Gregory does. Tony had been wrong about it being intentional in the art at the Plex. He'd created it himself because he saw himself in it. He doesnt want to-- to mess things up with Greg. He doesnt want Gregory to have never felt the same.

His brows furrow and he frowns as he readies himself to leave it for today, like he usually does. He takes a last long look at the drawing, eyeing Freddy and Bonnie's hands again, and how they look forced and awkward, and starts to drop his arms.

It's the afternoon, and the sun is setting and just at the right position to shine through his blinds and onto his bed. The blinds are almost fully shut, but the sun peeks through the cracks, shining on the back of the paper and highlighting the details of the drawing.

Tony wouldnt have paid it any mind if it hadn't revealed something hes never seen, never, about the drawing he's spent so long looking at.

He does a double take. Then a triple. Then some more for good measure. He blinks, and scrambles up on his arms to sit upright so he can see it better.

His eyes widen, and his stomach feels floaty. The same feeling from the cabinet art and when he and Greg will sit close to eachother at lunch and let their shoulders and knees touch or, stand closer to eachother than they should blooms in his stomach.

The sun, shining bright and golden through his window, illuminates the blank paper space adjacent to Freddy and Bonnie's hands in Gregory's drawing. They're bending awkwardly, out of the way, and it gives him room to see the faded lines besides Freddy and Bonnie's hands.

It starts from the wrist and the lines show up even through the marker Greg had used to color their hands with. It fits, Tony thinks, with the pose. With the original pose. This way, it doesnt feel forced or awkward. It looks like how it had intended to be from the start.

Because with the sun shining behind it and showing through the color and pen that had carefully covered it up, Tony sees faded pencil lines that before, had connected Freddy and Bonnie's hands.

His face becomes warm, and he just looks, feeling something blooms in his chest. Hope? Disbelief? Excitement? His brain short circuits and he's only feeling right now. He feels how sparks are flying in his stomach and it feels a little less impossible than before.

I... uh... I drew it for you in the first place.

This is how it had always been intended. For Freddy and Bonnie to be holding hands. Theres nothing else it could have been. It had always been unintentional in the Plex art. Always just created from Tony's own relation. But this... Greg wanted this. He wanted to draw Freddy and Bonnie holding hands and for that closeness to be more than an undertone. More than intangible.

Tony feels breathless. His arms and hands shake, and the paper in front of him shakes along with it. He doesnt care, though. The sun is still illuminating what Greg had intended in his drawing all along, the drawing he made for him, and Tony feels less unsure than before. He feels like maybe he isnt alone in feeling this way at all.

-

The next day, after a long night and day at school, Tony goes with Greg to his house.

The drawing sits heavy in his backpack. unfolded unfolded because he'd never want to crease it and he doesnt want the pencil lines to suddenly disappear, either. He handles it like porcelain glass, like itll slip through his fingers if he let's it go too much.

Even Ellis had noticed him acting weird, and Tony noticed Greg looking at him concerned from the corner of his eye. He knows why. He's been distant lately. But... at school today, Tony hadn't felt afraid of Greg. Of messing things up with him. He'd felt the warmth spread through his face and his stomach and fireworks go off and his face stretch in a grin when he'd seen him the first time that day. And he'd felt it times ten all over again when Greg had smiled back.

He wont lose him. Tony knows this. He'd spend all night and all day mulling it over. Greg feels the same. He'd felt the closeness like I had. He'd.. he erased it. He was scared, like I am now.

It feels different, walking into Greg's room. He hasnt been there in a couple days, but it feels almost similar to when he'd walked into Bonnie's greenroom. He knows now that it had been because he knew, deep down. It felt like he was about to confess something then. He pretty much had, saying that Bonnie and Freddy were together out loud.

It's not as far down, anymore. It's not buried underneath characterization branding and pencil lines and marker strokes and only revealed if the light hits it right. It wont stay under wraps. Not after today.

Tony becomes hyper aware of the bag on his back immediately after the door closes on them. Greg walks into his room first, slinging his bag off of his back and kicking his shoes off and talking about watching something, together, or writing like they always do, but Tony isnt listening. He's just balling up the hem of his green corduroy jacket in his hands and staring at the carpet and thinking about the colors orange and blue.

"Tony?" Greg asks him. Tony startles, looking up at Greg. Hes sitting on the edge of his bed, with concern etched on his face. "Are you okay?"

Tony opens his mouth, but theres no words on his tongue. He stands there silently for a moment, and he thinks about the drawing again. He knows it's time. The sun is peeking through Greg's blinds. His backpack and the knowledge that the drawing is inside and his Bonnie keychain weigh on him.

His eyes flick for a split second to Greg's backpack and his sneakers, and then he clears his throat, his mouth feeling dry. "Greg, can I show you something?"

Gregory tilts his head, looking a little worried. He jerks, patting the bed beside him. "Uh, yeah, of course."

Tony swings his own backpack off of his shoulders as he makes his way next to Gregory, but its gentler. Careful about the easily crinkleable paper inside. Pencil lines that have already been attempted to be erased.

It only fully sets in when he sits down next to Gregory on the bed, and he chose to sit close enough that their arms are flush against eachother and Tony's face gets warm. He doesnt fight it. He just unzips his backpack and carefully reaches in, grabbing ahold of the corner with light fingers.

He pulls it out, and Gregory looks suprised next to him, if not also a little but confused. Tony's face is still warm, and his fingers shake and tremble, and he turns his neck to face Gregory.

They're really close like this, and Tony's eyes widen and he has to fight to not look away. His heart hammers a hundred miles an hour in his chest, but he keeps his gaze on Greg's eyes. Gold meets blue, and they stay staring at eachother. Tony hopes deeply that Gregory gets the hint. That he understands.

Nothing, yet. Not a peep. Just a silent moment. Theres closeness now, Tony thinks. Closeness that feels carefully not one sided. That feels mutual. So after another moment, he forces himself to look away, pointing the paper at the wall and smoothing out the corners. Gregory follows his movements, still having not made a sound.

Tony doesnt, either. He just holds the paper up to the window on Greg's wall, or rather the beams of golden light shining through it, and just like how it did in Tony's room, it illuminates the pencil lines around the white of the paper.

Lines that had been hidden. That are being revealed now, brought to the surface because Gregory didnt have to be afraid. Becuase its mutual. It feels less like it was erased, now, and more like it was drawn in invisible ink. Blank to the naked eye, but the two of them know. Greg knows, he has to. He hid it himself. And Tony... well, Tony wasnt crazy for feeling that there was something between the lines all this time, has he? Not when there literally have been.

Tony looks at it for a moment, feeling like it's all being brought up to the surface. He feels connected to Gregory, right now. Like this isnt some big reveal. That its just an acknowledging of feelings. I know. Tony's trying to say. I always have, and now I know that you did, too.

He moves his gaze to Greg, who's staring wide eyed but almost blank faced at the paper. His lips are parted slightly, but other than that, he just looks... shocked. Suprised.

Scared

Tony's scared, too. But not in the way Greg is. Tony's nervous, and afraid, and excited, but Greg doesnt know if Tony knows. If he thinks the closeness is mutual.

He does.

He takes the leap, fire in his chest and on his face and sparks flying from where Greg's shoulder is pressed against his. "Maybe..." He begins, slow and quiet. He looks at Greg, meeting his eyes, and he points a finger at the lines that originally portrayed hands laced together. "...Bonnie and Freddy would like to hold hands. You know, like... in the promotional art".

Theres a fleeting moment of silence where Tony's words just hang in the air. Like in the promotional art, because Tony knows Gregory noticed, too. He knows he felt the same connection Tony had. He knows that he knows. He sets the paper down in his lap, no longer feeling like its needed. His hand lies on his leg, carefully positioned in-between them, like Greg's is.

Then, Greg stops looking so scared, and he meets Tony's eyes. The sun from his window makes them shine like gold, and Tony keeps ahold of his gaze. He hopes desperately that those few words were enough, that a moment like this that cant be shattered by big declarations gets across.

But then, Greg breaks from his eyes first, looking downwards, and Tony follows his gaze.

"Like in the promotional art." Gregory agrees. Tony watches as Gregorys hand twitches, and no matter how slow or agonizing, it moves to lace together with Tonys.

Tony doesnt dare smile, or laugh, or make a peep. He doesnt dare shatter the moment. His chest blooms and explodes with sparks and fireworks, and he knows. He knows that its requited. That Gregory knows, as well. That orange and blue go good together and that he was never wrong about there being something else there.

His head whips up from their hands to look at Greg's face again, and Gregory is looking at him already. Theres red on his face, too, like Tony knows there is on his own. Tony dares to use his thumb to brush against Greg's hand, and Gregory's eyes dart downwards for just a moment, before meeting his again.

Then, without a word, Greg smiles slowly. It's big and it stretches across his cheeks and crinkles his eyes at the corners. And Tony let's a grin appear on his own face.

The drawing sits in his lap, and a ray of sunshine continues to showcase the faded indents of pencil drawing laced together hands. Tony squeezes once, then twice, and shifts his hold to be tighter and more secure. Greg does the same.

ao3 link

[factual-fantasy]

27 ASKS!! AAA THANK YOU!! :DDD

Good question! :0 The Glamrocks would be quite creeped out. And actually, so would the sister location gang!

What I had in mind for my circus gang was that their face plates are not meant to move around to make them look more life like. They have the face plates for easy repair, replacement, cosmetic changes, and easy access to the endoskeleton if needed. When the animatronic is active, the faceplates are locked up tight and are not meant to open while the animatronic is active. Again, its just for easy repair and replacements.

So since the animatronics are not meant to move their plates, if one of them looked in a mirror and their face plates moved or opened.? They'd freak out! That's not meant to open! I must be broken! And they'd run to an employee for help <XD

NOOOO NOT THE BEAM ATTACK--

Maybe! :0 I haven't thought that part of the story through but I wouldn't be against that idea!

Funny how you say that when recently Browns headlights went out. Yeah he really does need glasses XDD

(He's fixed now btw don't worry👍)

She wasn't intended to have much of a role in the AU, considering Mario and Luigi are the only humans in the mushroom kingdoms dimension..

Maybe she could have been a childhood friend that they knew? Maybe she was their next door neighbor? Or perhaps a customer of theirs? What ever role she had in their lives back on Earth, it wasn't meant to be significant enough to remember/miss her..

@thebranflakescereal

The sister location gang? Prooobaly Circus Baby, with Funtime Freddy as a close second.

The Glamrock gang? Probably the daycare attendant XDD

@neo-metalscottic (Post in question)

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD I'm so glad you liked my designs! And I'm also glad that my more mellow "go with the flow" vibe for Freddy was seen! That's what I was aiming for! :DD

As for the map bot question, yes! The beloved map bot is alive and well <XDD He's not a threat to Gregory currently and he thankfully doesn't bother the main cast much. He just hangs around until he sees someone in need of a map! XD

@ghfhgkfngjvfnvmfkf

Hmm,, good question. I think if Funtime Freddy was decommissioned but they kept the Bon's around?.. They wouldn't put the bons with Circus Baby or Ballora becuase they'd be out of place. Ballora and the reenas are humanoid. They're pretty, delicate, and are ballerinas. Circus Baby, Ennard and the Bidybabs are all humanoid as well and clown themed. With specific color palettes and a clown performance.

What they'd probably do is put them with Funtime Foxy and just expand his act to accommodate for the extra people. They'd make Foxy a magician/ringmaster and somehow incorporate the Bons into his act. Since him, Chica and the Bons are all animals it would fit better.

You can just put it in a paint program and white out all the characters like I did. :0

I did keep some of Jevil's powers from the game yeah. :0 But I've altered almost all of them in some way-

In the Grillby fight he's seen "teleporting" to avoid Grillby's attacks. I believe I saw a gif of Jevil teleporting and there looked to be a motion blur effect..? So I interpreted that as he doesn't necessarily disappear and reappear...? More he just moves incredibly fast.

He miiight be able to turn into the scythe.? But I've mostly just interpreted that as he is able to summon a scythe to his hands when ever he may need it. I haven't made use of the cloning ability because, well, I didn't know he could do that- <XDD I'll definitely have to add that though!

For Goner kid I'm not too sure.. my version has her as Monster kids little sister. And I've seen a lot of interpretations of MK having fire breathing powers. Maybe she has fire related powers too..? Either way, it'll take a long time for her to remember the powers she has, and even longer to learn how to control them. So as it stands right now she's pretty defenseless..

Spamton is supposed to have most/all of the powers that original Spamton does in the game. But his attacks are kind'a.. broken. Spamton's physical injuries leaked down into his very soul and cracked it. So all of his attacks are messed up. I'd have to do some research on what his attacks actually are, and then make them broken if he ever tries to use them.

Like for example, 2/3 projectiles he summons will fly off in the wrong direction. Any weapons that he summons will have bent handles and break easy.. stuff like that :(

I've heard about that power, but as far as I know Mario and Luigi just kind'a.. have that power naturally.? While in my AU, all the bros power come exclusively from powerups. If there was a Firebrand mushroom and a thunderhand flower? Sure! But if its something they can just do without any powerup assistance, then it wont fit into my AU.. :/

(Video in question)

XDD I can see that happening to Shellington and Kwazii

With DJ, Sun and Moon? Its very possible XDD

I think they'd get a long great! My version of Funtime Freddy is toned down a bit compared to canon Funtime <XD No crazy, "HEY BAWN BAWN!!"

(Post in question)

Yes! Even though he has nothing to do with sister location (as far as I can remember--) I've still thought about adding him in some kind of cryptic way.. 👀

@clockworkthenightbard

Thank you so much!! :DD

@khoiazo

AKASNSWNDEO TRAUMATIZED XDDD

Nope! They're all very colorful and sparkly, but they are not intended to be Glamrocks. :}

@minnesotamedic186

Yoooo that's a good idea! I'll have to at least do something with the Electrobab XD

@milk-powrit (Post in question)

Thank you!! :DD I cant fully retrace my thought process- But I believe I wanted to make the Minireenas not scary. So I gave them cute faces and dresses. But I thought that having all these tiny little doll girls running around might feel a bit creepy to little kids..

So I thought hey! What if I slap some wings on them and make them fly around like fairies?? And to make them even less scary, I can make them look like familiar bugs that kids like! Lady bug, butterfly, bumble bee, dragon fly... and then I thiiiink I designed Ballora after.? Or maybe Ballora being based on a butterfly was what first inspired me.?

Either way- Ballora is based on a Blue Morpho butterfly! Very pretty :}}

@bunny-coffee

Sorry, I don't take requests! But that's not a bad idea.. 🤔 Maybe someday XD

@astrokea

Awe, thank you!! :DD I'm glad you like what I make!! :}}

@beryl-shade

Jevil and Seam do not reveal their injuries to anyone unless they absolutely have to. And when they do, yeah its only to each other..

Like for example; if Seams eye socket started to hurt and it needed to be looked at/tended to. Seam would only feel comfortable having it tended to by Jevil. But the whole time he'd still be incredibly uncomfortable and would cover it back up as soon as he could..

I'm not sure if I've answered this ask before and forgot to delete it, or if its an old ask that got buried and I never answered it at all-- either way!--

Yeah, Jevil would be pretty spooked by his original counterpart. Because original Jevil is clearly insane.. But he'd also feel kind'a bad for his original.. he's still trapped in a cell..

Seam is definitely envious of his original. He thinks his original got off easy. He doesn't even have shackles. And his stitched mouth doesn't seem to bother him..

My Goner kid arguably has it better than the original. Considering the original is still lost in the void somewhere..

And I intended for Grillby to encounter another version of him. Maybe not the original, but at least another version. He saw his other self with his daughter.. it was really hard for him..

@luna-purple454 @elegysonnet (Post in question)

Sorry for the late reply you three! I was intending to draw a comic for this but I never got around to it.. haha,, <:D ..anyways-

What ends up happening is Papyrus offers to help. Seam is scared out of his mind but he ends up taking Papyrus' offer.

Papyrus picks up Jevil and helps Seam stand up. They make their way out of the dying forest, stepping over fallen trees and branches. All the while Papyrus is talking to Seam. "What's your name? Where are you from?" Seam tells him their names but that's about all he can manage to say through his trembling..

All the while they're walking something just.. feels really off. Why are all the trees and grass dead? Why is it so warm around here? Seam is sure he's seen this place before in other AUs. Isn't there supposed to be snow on the ground?

Eventually they make their way into snowdin. Seam was so stressed that he didn't really take the time to scan his surroundings. Although he did notice that they were walking through snow now. They get to Papyrus' house and walk inside.

The house is lit by candles, and all the lights are off. Seam and Jevil are put on the couch, Papyrus goes into the kitchen to make some soup for them to eat.

This when things takes a horrifying turn. While anxiously waiting for Jevil to wake up, Seam looks out the window..

The snow outside isn't like a blanket of snow. Rather its gathered in big piles. The big lumps of wispy snow cover the ground in front of the houses, but don't go into the forest and it isn't on any of the trees..

And then he notices.. there's children's shoes and coats buried in the.. "snow"..

Seam is a darkener, so he does not turn to dust when he dies. But he knows that AU's that have a snowdin town in it.. the monster's there turn to dust when they die.

There are mountains of bodies outside. What happened here? Who killed all those people? Thats why there's no power to the house isn't it? That's why its so warm, that's why all the trees are dead. The people who man the core are all dead. Everyone in this AU is dead, everything is dead. But who killed them? What happened?

..Did Papyrus....?

Horror washes over Seam. It was Papyrus wasn't it. He killed all those people. And now Seam is in Papyrus' house. He doesn't have the strength to get up, he cant run- he cant escape-

Its in that moment of pure dread.. that Jevil started to stir, and Papyrus walked back in..

[hopepaigeturner]

My review of Bridgerton S3: Part 1

Ok, here we go...after rewatches, discussions and posturing. Here it is, a multi-part look at S3.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions, that does not make them right, nor am I posturing that they are the only opinion. Very up for discussion with y’all as long as it’s respectful.

Disclaimer: I do not stand for hate against any actors/actresses or writers. Please, please, do not send hate to them.

In a nutshell:

I loved moments, far more than the writing.

In this first post I'm going to highlight some of these moments before diving into the different storylines. So, in no particular order...

The family scenes. Part 2 gave us more family scenes and I adore them. They are the scenes that really keep me engaged in this universe. The bonds between this family, the different dynamics, the banter. *chefs kiss* .

THE BOYS IN THE CLUB. I adored the bromance between Benedict, Colin, John and Will. It is so rare in media to see wholesome, deep, male friendships that are just that—friendships. Both scenes with the four of them showed the genuine care and vulnerability they could be with each other. Colin revealing his worried about his writing? All of them supporting Will when his club closed? Benedict and Colin supporting John's worries with Bridgerton chaos? I LOVED IT AND WE NEED MORE.

Violet being the origin of her children’s obsession with their crushes eating.

The fact that Hyacinth and Gregory took Will and Alice’s son in as their friend without question? I loved.

The sets this season? The markets, the final ball, the balloon expedition—stunning.

Ginny Delacroix giving Pen great advice and a fun/enjoyable pre-wedding night get together. She is a queen.

Lady D staying behind when the queen threatened the Bridgertons… I grinned so much.

The charades game at the engagement party I ADORED. It was a good example of how writing can portray multiple things all at once.

The use of ‘light’ and ‘dark’ throughout the show. A really nice stylistic choice for Polin.

Bi Benedict? How did we? Huh? 2020 me could never realise my manifestations would come true.

Now…for the next post. Onto the main couple…

[poindexters-labratory]

I watched Dawko's playthrough of Ruin because I'm very uncoordinated and can't play video games right, also I'm broke as shit-ANYWAY, I HAVE FEELINGS AND OPINIONS.

(SPOILERS)

This, I like this. This feeds my sci-fi nerd brain that I inherited

Also, I really like rabbits and hares

Glitchtrap had the hare update, so he's Malhare now.

He's my pal

My rotten soldier

My sweet cheese

He's so stupid and annoying, I'm not even sure he knows what it's all for anymore

He can EMOTE.

My autism said, "him, specifically"

Big hare nose

Cassie is a cool character

Really sweet

Wonder if she and Roxanne Wolf are gonna have a special connection in the future

If Cassie even does have a future

I do think that the elevator ending is the true ending because it leaves the story open for the next game to start off with

Also, WHAT THE FUCK GREGORY??

I still have no idea what's going on with him.

He's a funky little anti-hero

He's friends with Vanessa- is Vanessa his guardian now or something?

I really hope they don't start incorporating the weird short mini story collection books into the games

What is this?

Why does it have human teeth?

What is it capable of?

I don't think it's The Mimic because it can only mimic voices, not appearances, and only Gregory's voice too

Maybe an early Mimic?

Maybe the game universe's Mimic??

It was possibly acting as Helpi as well

Must be capable of something because Gregory attempted to kill his friend over it

Question: was Malhare trying to stop us from letting this thing out or was just being antagonistic for the sake of being antagonistic?

Because if he has been trying to stop you the whole DLC from releasing the beast, that's kinda cool

Means that he's threatened by it

I ask because he gets on Cassie's case whenever she tries to breach the security nodes that lock the monster in

Whenever we start touching shit, he gets mad

(Shit being the child/security nodes.)

If this is the case, then I want a Malhare vs. Ruin Monster battle

idk, I just want Afton to have a purpose in these games at this point

Miscellaneous notes:

I like Eclipse better than Sun and Moon

Sun is too hyper for me and Moon is kinda creepy

Eclipse is so polite, so parent

ROXANNE

The mom we all needed

Were Glamrock Freddy and Bonnie boyfriends??

God, the Pizzeria Simulator location had a bigass basement

What's the plot of Help Wanted 2 going to be because of this?

This two and a half hour DLC gave us more story than the entirety of Security Breach, which was 9 1/2 (nine and a half).

So, I call that a win.

Still don't like Monty's Gator-Golf.

Feel free to share your own thoughts, feelings, and opinions!

[pineappleciders]

Hello there ciders! Is nice to see that your requests are open again ^^

Me wants angst (hurt/comfort) so 👀

Clyde, Gregory (if ya write for him), Damien, Kenny and Stan when someone literally points them out that they've been ignoring reader for like a week because they were speding all their attention on other friend and that they now are a crying and confused mess in their room (the room of the character that pointed that out).

Ofc you don't have to do it If you don't feel like it! <3 Stay hydrated and don't forget to eat, take breaks est and sleep a good amount of hours ^^

clyde, damien, kenny, and stan unintentionally ignoring reader; platonic hurt/comfort

A/N: HIII!! i havent had a lot of experience writing hurt/comfort but i hope this will suffice. im also not great at writing for clyde but i tried!! the friend character has been hanging out with is not specificed and is referred to as F/N. and thank you!!!

i wanted to write a gregory segment but honestly i think its hard to fully depict his personality as he was only in the movie, so i apologize!! :(

reader is referred to with they/them pronouns

clyde donovan

clyde can be. very..... unaware sometimes. so it probably doesn't click that he hasn't been talking to you until someone hammers it into his brain. when he realizes he feels really stupid and guilty

"clyde! dude, i need to talk to you." tolkien rushes into the living room, where clyde and his friends were playing games on the couch.

clyde gets up and looks at him, as tolkien takes him into the next room. "what's wrong?"

tolkien looks kinda uncomfortable. "it's Y/N. they had a total breakdown in my room. they said something about you, i don't know what to do."

clyde,, doesn't like to hear this. he's actually kinda scared to go in there and see you crying, but the fact that you mentioned him has him kinda curious.

he lightly knocks on the door before creaking it open. "...Y/N?"

he sees you, awkwardly curled up in tolkien's racecar bed, sniffles and hiccups sounding throughout.

he hesitates for a bit, stumped on what to do, before stepping in and shutting the door behind him. he plays with his fingers.

he's incredibly nervous, but he steps closer to you, trying to get a better look at your face. "Y/N?"

you look up, and upon recognizing clyde's face, you sit up and wipe your tears. "o-oh. hey, man. what's- what's up?"

he's really stumped now. what does he say?????

"uh, i was checking if you're alright. did- did something happen?" clyde seems to kick his foot a little, seemingly trying to look at everything in the room but you.

you continue to wipe your face with your sleeve. "um- no, not really. it isn't-" you stop yourself, and an inner conflict is visible on your face. you sigh.

"y'know what, whatever. clyde, why- are- i feel like- like you've been avoiding me." you look away.

it doesn't process at first. "huh? avoiding you?"

you sniffle. "i mean, yeah. you've been, like- not talking to me and stuff and it seems like you're always busy. did i do something?"

"... but we're hanging out right now, right?"

"...... well yeah but it's different.. i mean like, alone. like you keep walking past me in school, and, when i wanted to be your lab partner, you-" you pause and hiccup. "agh, this is stupid, i'm sorry dude."

you can see the gears turning in clyde's head. "so, you think i've been ignoring you on purpose? i haven't... oh." he kinda has a durr moment and realizes the events of the past week.

he grimaces. "oughh, i just realized i've been hanging out with F/N way more lately.. i'm sorry, man. i didn't mean to make you feel left out."

you look at him again, with a little hope in your eyes. "wait.. so, you're not mad at me?"

he shakes his head. "no. i just kinda got busy, sorry for ignoring you. we can be partners for mr. garrisons next project, OK?"

you wipe your cheeks once more and nod. "yeah, OK."

he does a stupid lil grin, one that's strangely encouraging. "c'mon, we gotta get a slice of pizza before the guys eat it all!"

damien thorn

he's erm. very confused as to why it bothers you that much

he tries to be sympathetic though. keyword tries

"oh, dear. damien, i'm so glad you've come! ...what happened between you and Y/N?"

"... ?"

"well, it's just that.. i was talking to them and it seems you've been ignoring them for about a week or so."

"..." he thinks for a moment. "..not on purpose."

pip plays with his hands a bit. "well, i think you should go have a chat with them. they're up in my room."

damien looks at him with an unreadable expression, before making his way up the steps. he stands in front of pip's door, unsure what to do with his hands.

damien opens the door, and you look up from your spot on the bed. "damien, uh, hey, dude.." you quickly wipe your face and look at him.

he stands there for a moment, the both of you feeling the awkwardness kick in fast

"..pip wanted me to talk to you."

"'bout what?"

"about me ignoring you. i didn't do it on purpose." you can tell it strains him to explain himself.

you wipe your cheeks a bit more. "i- i know you didn't, but.. i dunno. i saw you and F/N hanging out and- you seemed really happy."

you have to admit, it's a little strange sharing your feelings of friendship with the son of satan.

".. i'm here now."

"...?"

"i'm here, hanging out with you. would you prefer i left?"

"i- no!" you find yourself speaking louder than intended. "i-i mean, no, i don't."

his head tilts a little. "then what is it that you want?"

you rub your arm, once again feeling like a shrimp in the presence of a shark. "well- maybe we could just, hang out. i dunno. you and me."

damien thinks for a moment, before nodding his head. "very well. we shall go play xbox at your house."

"really?"

"yes. now come, we must leave quickly so pip doesn't ask any questions."

"hah, okay."

in the hallway, right before you walk down the stairs, you hear damien mutter, "i didn't ignore you on purpose."

you chuckle and pat his shoulder. "yeah, buddy. i know."

kenny mccormick

god. he feels so bad about it.

i can see him being kinda confused on why it upset you so much,, but he does get it to an extent and he's just like. damn.

"dude, kenny, have you been ignoring Y/N?"

"mmph? mph!" (what? no!)

"they started crying because they thought you were, you should probably go talk to them in my room."

he opens the door and he's incredibly confused why you were crying next to stan's bed with your knees to your chest.

"mmph, mmph mph?" (dude, what's wrong?) he slowly sits next to you, putting his hand on your shoulder

you sniffle and look away. "can.. can you tell me why you're upset with me?"

".... mmph? mph mmph mmmf mmph mph!" (.... what? i'm not upset with you!) he's really confused now. what ever gave you that idea?

you look at him a bit oddly, wiping a few of your tears. "then.. why were you ignoring me?"

he ponders for a moment, trying to scan through the week that's passed since you two last hung out. to him, it just seems like you two haven't really had time to talk...

and then it hits him that he's been hanging around F/N a lot recently. as a result, you two haven't talked at all. to him, it really wasn't that big of a deal, but he feels bad when he realizes that you thought he didn't want to be around you anymore.

"mm, mmph... mph mmphph, mmph. mmf mmf mmmphph mmph mmf mph mph mmmph mmph... mmf mmph mmmph." (aw, man... i'm sorry, Y/N. i've been hanging around F/N a lot recently and.. i didn't realize.) he seems sheepish, and rubs his arm.

kenny gets up and extends his hand to you to take. "mmf mmph mmph mph mph, mmph? mmph mmmph." (i'm not mad at you, okay? i promise.)

you look at him, still a little weary, but relieved that it was just in your imagination. "yeah.. yeah, okay. thank you, kenny." you take his hand and he pulls you up.

you can't see his smile because of his parka, but you see his cheeks lift and his eyes crinkle, almost as if he's giving you a pep talk through his eyes.

"mmf mmph mmph! mmphh mmph mmf mm mmpph mmmph! "now, come on! stan's mom is making tuna helper!)

stan marsh

"oooof, jeez..." he's like scratching the back of his head and grimacing. like he doesn't know what to say but he feels very guilty

"stan, what's up with you and Y/N?"

"huh? what do you mean?"

"they said you've been avoiding them for like a week, what happened?" kyle crosses his arms.

"avoiding them? i haven't been avoiding them! we hung out like..... last friday..."

"well, whatever happened, it had them pretty upset at my house yesterday. they started crying about it right before we went to bed."

stan is incredibly confused. he knows it's been a bit since you two hung out, but he didn't think it was that serious!

he tries to look for you around school, hoping to maybe find you in the cafeteria or in the hallways, but nothing.

he sighs, entering the bathroom, but perks up once he sees you, washing your hands.

"Y/N! dude, i've been looking for you everywhere!" stan runs up to you, his face showing an emotion somewhere between awkwardness and relief.

you look a little down as you greet him. "hey, stan. what's up?" you dry your hands and face him.

he averts his eyes a little. "um... kyle was talking to me earlier, about how you slept over at his place yesterday? and, about..." he trails off, looking to find the right words.

you realize what he's talking about, and get a little embarrassed. "oh, yeah. i... i wanted to talk to you about it, but i didn't really know how to.."

his voices gets a little softer. "listen, um, i didn't mean to ignore you. F/N and i have been hanging out a lot recently, and, i dunno, i guess i kinda got caught up in it. i'm not mad at you or anything." he fidgets with his hands a little.

you look up a little. "oh, well, that's a relief." you say, with a little chuckle in your voice. "i.. i was kinda worried you didn't wanna be friends anymore.. but i guess i was overreacting."

stan looks at you. "it's fine, dude. you didn't overreact. i'm sorry." he puts his hand on your shoulder and squeezes it a little, giving a small reassuring smile.

you smile back. stan's always had a sort of hard time finding words to comfort people, so it means a lot that he's trying.

he pats your back, before looking nervous. "now, if you'll excuse me, i really have to shit." he runs into the stall, slamming it shut.

you chuckle and leave before the smell hits you.

[summerlycoris]

Late Night, On A Couch.

Part of ggyweek 2024- nightmare. @ggyweek2024

Early Saturday morning, Vanessa, Freddy, and Gregory will be sneaking into the Pizzaplex.

It’s eleven-fifteen on Thursday night. Vanessa can’t sleep. And, from the noises she just heard from Gregory’s room, he can’t either.

What do you do when you can't get to sleep? Well, Vanessa watches old cartoon movies. Gregory joins in, as they try to avoid the issues scaring them.

Fic also under the cut. About 3800 words iirc.

It's been a massive change.

Over the course of one bittersweet night, Vanessa had gone from living by herself practically out of her car, to living with a talking bear head, and a fourteen-going-on-fifteen year old roommate.

And it was still a little hard to deal with, if she was being honest. Because she'd never exactly been what anyone could call a… maternal woman.

Luckily, Gregory hadn't really asked that of her. If he wanted fatherly advice- he seemed to ask Freddy for it. It wasn't that he hated her or anything. (anymore?) He was just an independent boy. They'd chat and joke around sometimes. About games or movies, or whatever was going on. They could plan together, about what to do regarding… their problem under the Pizzaplex.

It was the kind of plan that takes time. Something like that… they needed to get it right the first time. Because there wouldn't be a second chance to trap it if they failed.

But their hard work would (hopefully) be paying off soon. They had a plan that should be watertight, should work perfectly.

They'd be heading back to the Pizzaplex early Saturday morning. Around one am.

It was Thursday night. Around eleven fifteen pm.

And Vanessa was totally not on edge about it. Totally not awake after struggling to sleep not long ago. Totally not watching an old cartoon movie she remembered her Mom showing her.

…

She was watching it at a low volume, in the small living room of her new apartment. All snuggled up under a blanket she’d stolen from her bed. And leaning sideways against one of the cushions that she'd bought recently, to make the secondhand sofa feel more like theirs. It wasn't a cold night, by any means. She just wanted something around her. She had the volume nearly all the way down, and subtitles on, because it was late and the walls were thin. Because Gregory was asleep for school tomorrow. Because his room was right next to the living room.

… Because the walls were thin, she could hear the sharp gasp, the creaking of springs under him, and his quiet footsteps, before she saw him open his door and stick his head out.

“Hey kiddo. Sorry, did I wake you up?” She asked. He shook his head. Looking at him, while he looked down at the ground, she could see him shaking but trying to hide it.

She hadn’t known him for long, but she did know him. He was still… hesitant around her sometimes. The best way for her to describe what she’d noticed about him was he prefers to approach on his own terms. Which she understood- after a night of being chased by her (and her evil alter ego), it made sense to want some control back.

Besides- theyd been strangers not too long ago.

Because of this, she knew that asking him about it would probably just get an ‘I’m fine’ out of him, before he’d retreat back to his room.

So she didn't say anything, and focused her gaze back on the tv. Keeping an eye out for him with her peripheral vision.

After a bit, she could see him coming over to stand by the couch, and look at the tv. “What are you watching?” He asked.

“Just something I used to watch as a kid. Plenty of room, if you want to watch too.”

After a few seconds, she felt the couch shift a bit, and could see him up the other end. Sitting cross legged, watching intently. Like usual.

He would shiver occasionally. Which wasn’t usual. The night was too warm for that. She grabbed the longer edge of her blanket, and pushed it over, closer to him. After a few seconds, he took it, and pulled it over his lap.

The cartoon went on for a while, as they sat in silence. There was a song at the very end, about how ‘you are a princess, too.’ And then it rolled to credits. She could hear Gregory scoff at that line. And she had to stifle a giggle at his reaction.

Vanessa didn't want to get up. But she also didn't want to go to bed. It was quarter to twelve. But the credits ended, going back to the main menu. And the main menu of this release had a very short loop of music that drove her batty.

So she forced herself up from the couch, narrowly avoiding taking the blanket with her, and popped the dvd out of the player.

“Anything you'd like to request?” She asked him, looking back at him while she put the dvd away in the racks.

“I dunno, something a little less girly and saccharine?” He said, holding up his fingers to show what he meant by ‘a little’.

“Huh. I thought you liked sweet things.” She joked.

“There’s a difference between sweet and saccharine.” He said, before grinning and crossing his arms. “I guess you wouldn't understand, Princess Of Bad Taste.”

“Wow, okay. Rude much?” she jabbed back. “Keep that up, and I'll be the Princess Of Sending You Back To Bed.”

He fought back a laugh, and leant against a cushion, uncrossing his legs under the blanket. “That’s sad. You'll need a new title now. How about… Princess No Fun?”

Now she couldn't help grinning. “You're giving me a new title? Before you even have one of your own? How about, Prince Of Melting My Spatula While Cooking Last Week?”

He sat up properly. “Hey! I only left it in the pan for ten seconds! I don’t care what you say- it was not made of silicon.”

“Sure, buddy. It was totally the spatula’s fault that the omelets were ruined.”

He rolled his eyes, before pulling the blanket completely up over himself. Only his face and a little bit of hair was visible, in the strange little nest he had created for himself. “Geez, Can’t believe you’re doing this to me. Giving me grief about a spatula? After a nightmare? You’re the worst!” He grumbled.

That could've been a legit complaint, except that she knew him. If he was really angry at her, he would’ve cussed her out already and gone back to his room, slamming the door on the way through. He was just doing a bit.

She got the feeling he was messing around, to distract himself from something bigger. Or maybe she was just projecting.

Either way, she didn’t feel guilty about continuing the bit.

“Maybe I am the worst… or maybe, those are the words of some kid who can dish it, but can’t take it.”

His eyes were wide, and he didn't respond for a bit, before sticking his tongue out at her. “Yep! You really are the worst!”

She couldn't hold it back anymore. Even though it was late, and the walls were thin. She burst out laughing, and she could hear him groan and pull the blanket over his eyes, before mumbling “It’s not funny.”

Playtime was over. Maybe she was being too complacent?

She cut her laughter off. “Sorry, Gregory. I thought we were still goofing around.” she remembered what she’d originally been doing, and tried looking for a dvd that was neither ‘too girly’, or ‘too saccharine’. Which wasn't easy- most of these dvds were from when she was a little girl. And when she was little, she loved all that stuff.

While she was searching, Gregory spoke up. “We were, it's just- tonight hasn't been very good. And Freddy needs all the charge he can get. So I can't talk to him right now…” She knew why- they'd only just managed to build up a body for him, so he could help them with… their problem under the pizzaplex. “... Sorry for kinda ruining the mood. What movie are you thinking?”

“Hey, don't apologize. It’s all good. I’m a little tense too, to be honest.” She grabbed one. Possibly saccharine. Probably less girly. An old Rugrats Movie that her Mom had watched when she was little. And then shown to Vanessa when she was little. Maybe when she was three? She turned back to Gregory with it- seeing he now had his face out of the blanket again.

She showed it to him. “I've never seen that one before. What's it like?” He asked.

“It’s a pretty good movie. I can't remember much about it, but don’t worry- it shouldn't be too girly or anything.”

He tilted his head, but didn’t object.

So she put the dvd in. Letting it load, while she made her way back to the couch. She sat down and absentmindedly reached for where she’d left her side of the blanket… which was no longer there. Because of Gregory’s nest. He chuckled as she turned to him with her hands on her hips. “You gonna share my blanket with me at all?”

He put his arms outside his nest, and pulled the blankets closer to him. Almost possessively, with a cheeky grin on his face. “I dunno... finders keepers Nessa.”

She grabbed the nearby cushion and threw it at his head. He caught it easily.

“Sweet- an extra pillow! Thanks Ness!” he tucked it beside him, on top of the previous pillow, before laying on his side.

She rolled her eyes. “Consider it an early Christmas present- and don't expect anything else!” It was an empty threat, and she knew that Gregory knew it. Otherwise he would tell her off.

They probably would've kept chatting and making light, except the movie started. And it caught both of their attentions pretty fast.

Vanessa hadn’t remembered just how sad this one could get. She’d only partially remembered the hijinks, really.

So the scene where Chuckie didn't have a mom to dance with, really got to her. And she felt a little pathetic. For shivering. For wishing she had that blanket back. For holding herself tightly. For wishing she had her mom to talk to, right now. About everything that happened to her. About everything that could happen to her. About saturday- two days- no, one day away now-

I don’t want to die.

…

She was supposed to be an adult. So why was she feeling so childish?

She was jolted out of this trail of thought, by feeling a soft weight against her side. A warm weight, with a pulse and heartbeat she could feel against her. Gregory- now leaning against her, and trying to wrap the blanket around them both. He looked up, realizing she had started looking at him. “You looked cold. So…”

He looked so tired up close, with bags under his eyes. And honestly? A little miserable, too.

“... Is this scene getting to you too?” She asked.

He shrugged.

… He had never really talked about his parents with her before.

It was probably a touchy topic. Because if it wasn’t, he’d be living with them. Instead of with his previously possessed potential murderer.

She didn't know what to say. And she wasn't even sure what to do.

All she knew was that she could feel him shivering, too.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, drawing him in a little closer.

And for a second, she thought she had messed up- because he tensed up beside her.

Before she could move or apologize, he sighed and relaxed, closing his eyes.

“I like Freddys hugs more, but they’re not warm.” He whispered.

They were silent for a while.

What was there to say?

Gregory opened his eyes back up after a bit, and watched the movie again. So she did too. The clock ticked onward, until it was nearly twelve-thirty.

She could feel him shift slightly against her, and looked down at him. “I… I had a bad dream.” He whispered. Eyes wide, looking down at his lap. “It should've been a nice dream- my friends were all there. It was my birthday. I turned fifteen. Mom brought out a cake, and everyone cheered. Dad hugged me tight, then brought out presents-” he choked up, and couldn't finish the sentence.

…

They’d had his fifteenth birthday not too long ago. Her and Freddy had thrown it. There were no other guests. She and Gregory had worked together to make a (somewhat dodgy looking) Freddy face cake. And Freddy had suggested some presents to buy, while Gregory was out at school one day. He’d looked happy enough, at his little party. Had a smile on his face. But it hadn’t reached his eyes. She’d theorized on why, but now she knew it.

And he still couldn't say what he wanted to say.

“Hey, it's okay if you can't talk about it right now. We can try again in the morni-”

“No.” He shook his head, for emphasis. “I just. I just need to get the words off my tongue.” So she waited. And paused the movie- no one was watching it anymore. She didn't want to distract him.

It looked like he was trying not to cry. “Maybe you don't get them, but I've had these dreams before. Dreams where people I've… lost, are okay again. And everything’s great again! And they’re weird dreams- because I know they’re dreams. But it’s like I… choose to forget that? And that's when they become nightmares- Because when I wake up, for a moment I still think it’s real.” His voice cracked at the last bit. And she could see his eyes get shiny, with tears, before he turned to her, and buried his face into her shoulder.

She thought she knew him.

But the Gregory she knew wouldn’t cling to her and cry quietly against her shoulder. Because he was too independent for that.

Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought.

She still had one arm wrapped around his shoulders. He looked like he needed a hug. A real one- not just a sideways one. So she shifted, until she was twisted enough to face him. And she held him tight, while they sat on the couch. She could feel the shoulder of her sleepshirt getting a little damp. She ran her fingers through his hair- her mom had done that for her, years ago. And she tried to sooth him. Not very well- she wasn't nearly as good at this as Freddy was.

“I think I get what you mean. I’ve had some dreams like that, too.” Dreams where she was doing something mundane with her mom and dad, who still loved each other… even household chores felt special in those dreams. “It's okay, it’s okay…”

He shook his head. “No, it’s really not.”

Pulling away from her, he wiped his eyes quickly with his sleeves. And looked up at her. With eyes that were trying to look determined.

He couldn't hide the fear in them.

“No matter what- no matter what- it won’t get me again? Right? Because I’m fast, and older, and I know it’s tricks now.”

… She got what he was really trying to ask.

You won’t let it get me again? Right? I won’t be it’s puppet again? Right? You won’t let me be him again? Right?!

…

She made a promise she desperately hoped she could keep.

“I promise it won’t get you again. Or me. We’re gonna trap it for good, so it can’t hurt anyone else. Just like we planned.”

She squeezed him tightly, and he practically melted into her hug. Sighing, and just thinking for a while.

She could slowly feel his heartbeat slow down, back to its normal pace. Could hear his breathing get a little easier. Could feel the wet patch on her shoulder slowly dry.

When she next checked the clock, it was nearly one am.

And when she turned back to him, he was looking up at her. She could practically see the gears turning in his brain.

As he loosened himself from the hug slightly. Staring up with big puppy dog eyes. “So, I did that thing Freddy tells me to do...”

Sometimes, she can hear Freddy telling Gregory that he needs to ‘Open up to people.’ and ‘Not bottle up your feelings, Superstar.’ Because the walls were thin, and Freddy couldn't be quiet if you paid him.

“... So you won’t send me to school tomorrow, right?”

Back to the usual Gregory, for the most part. Two can play at that game.

She hemmed and hummed over it, exaggerating it for the bit. “Well… I could keep you home… but then you might miss math! And english! And P.E! The wonderful class of physical education- isn’t it baseball season right now?” She sighed, and shook her head, while he groaned. “What kind of a guardian would I be if I let you miss out on such a fun day at school?”

He thought for a moment, a cheeky grin on his face. His eyes were still a bit red, but he was starting to feel a bit better, clearly. (She hoped.) “You’d be the best kind of guardian?”

“Really?” He nodded. “Because a little birdie told me earlier… that I was the worst!”

She quickly ruffled his hair, somehow making it look neater than it usually looked. In response he squeaked out a “Nessa!”, and tried to shake it back out.

“And another little birdie also told me… that I was Princess No Fun!” she jabbed him in the ribs with her fingers, making him squeal with laughter.

“Wha- what If I told you those birdies were liars?” he wheezed out after the giggle fit, clutching his ribs.

She pretended to be deep in thought about it. “Hmmm, well… if the little birdies were lying… I might consider it. But if they were lying… then what’s the truth?”

“The truth is… you’re the Princess Of Warm Hugs.” He whispered, before flushing red with embarrassment and stammering out- “Wait, that’s saccharine! I take it back! Umm- you’re the Princess Of Being A Pain!”

“Aww- see! I knew you could be sweet if you tried!” She joked. Holding him close again, as he tried to squirm away. “No take-backsies- I’m the Princess Of Warm Hugs now.”

“No you’re not-” He whined. And they probably would’ve continued- if an angry neighbor didn't slam something heavy against the nearby wall.

“Would you two shut up?! Some of us have work in the morning!” Their voice came through, loud and clear. Because it was late, and the walls were thin.

“Sorry! We will!” she said, fighting for her life not to burst out laughing. While Gregory flipped off the wall.

“... I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that.” She whispered at him.

He just grinned. And whispered his original question- “So, can I have the day off tomorrow? Please?”

She kept him in suspense for a few seconds, before responding- “Okay. But only because you used the magic word.”

In response, he flipped her off. She flicked his ear. “Andddd, that’s your cue to go to bed, you little ratbag.” Because despite the cheeky grin, he had huge bags under his eyes. And because she felt exhausted- she wasn't going to be able to stay up much longer- which meant he needed to be in bed before she started turning off the lights.

She pushed him away from her, and towards his room, getting up from the couch to follow him. The blanket fell down to the floor, and they both barely avoided tripping on it. “Shoo! Scram! Get going! Before I change my mind about school!”

And he did shoo, scram, and get going. At least until he got to his bedroom door, snickering and grinning at her. He turned completely, and saluted her- “Ma’am, yes ma’am!” He opened up the door, while she rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Princess Drill Instructor.” He whispered, before running off to bed, leaving the door open.

Like usual- well, except for the ‘drill instructor’ comment. She knew what to do now.

She stood in the doorway, and saw Gregory sitting in bed, pulling up the covers. Freddy was standing nearby. Still on charge- except now with his eyes open. He must’ve woken up, hearing Gregory go back to bed.

Freddy looked out the window through a gap in the curtain. “Hmm, Superstar. It is still very dark outside. Is everything okay?”

He turned, and looked over at Freddy. “Should be now, I think. Sorry for waking you up, Freddy.”

She could feel Freddy's eyes meet hers.

Now that she was here, it felt like she was intruding- this was usually Freddy’s job.

But she needed to know that he'd be okay overnight.

“Hey, you feeling a bit better now?” she asked Gregory.

He turned back to her and nodded, before continuing. “But if I’m not, can I come wake you up?”

“Yeah, of course. Though, it’ll probably be Fairytopia on next time. So be prepared for the most girly and saccharine thing you've ever seen.” she joked.

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll make sure to bring a bucket then.” he joked back, before laying down, facing Freddy.

”I’m going to start getting ready for bed- I'll see you in the morning, okay?” She said, turning off the light and grabbing his door.

She went to shut it, until he interrupted her- “Hey, Ness?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

She could see him glance at her before looking away, in the light still coming through the open door. “... Thanks for listening. And being there.”

With the warmth she felt in her chest, it was almost like she was still hugging him. “You too, Gregory. Goodnight.”

She shut the door and backed away, hearing him saying “‘Night.” back to her. If she hadn't, she would've been there all night. And she couldn’t. She was too exhausted.

Instead, she went back to the couch. She needed to turn off the tv and dvd player, as well as grab her blanket off the floor. She’d need that, shortly.

With her blanket back, she turned off the living room light, the room now only illuminated by the crack of light through her bedroom door.

When she got back to bed, and snuggled into her pillow, she could hear faint and unintelligible words from Freddy. Because he couldn’t be quiet if you paid him. So they were chatting together.

But she couldn't hear crying, or the creak of springs. Even though it was late, and the walls were thin. She couldn't see his face peering in and asking if she was asleep yet.

So, they were probably just chatting.

She rolled onto her side, and held herself close. She was still scared, about how they’d go with their problem under the Pizzaplex.

But, she also felt braver about it too. She had to be braver- she had someone else counting on her.

And as she heard Freddy fall silent, she knew she could be brave.

She would be keeping that promise, if it was the last thing she did.

********

Authors note- Gregory’s just chilling in the Bad Opinion Zone in this fic lol. (Princess Promenade is great fight me.)

Also, Gregory’s right about the spatula lol. Melting point is WAY too high for a silicone utensil to melt. Vanessa just didn't realize she had a placcy one. (If she had, she would’ve felt ripped off.)

Didn’t manage to keep this under 3000 words, but did keep it under 4000- brevity won! Maybe? Whoo!

[ifihadtopickadad]

you've made a mistake by telling me to go read up on the au- (/j)

anyway. susan refers to nessa and gregory as her children, so i assume this means she adopted nessa?? either legally or just emotionally, and considering she was homeless before henry gave them the afton house i am going to assume the us legal system wouldnt give her custody of nessa at all so its the latter.

WILLIAM FINDING REMNANT AS A TEENAGER IS SUCH A COOL CONCEPT ?!?!? like. him finding it post cc (i love how you call him benny btw. really cool name) or charlie's death is interesting, but the idea that he experimented using animals (AND HIS OWN FAMILY DAMN) and then moved onto children/humans once he- presumeably- did everything he could with being that didnt have the same level of sentience?? amazing. very evil-scientist core. love it.

remnant working similar to radiation is also an interesting idea, having to be stored carefully or it will 'possess' the objects around it. (imagine william tried to store it in a bucket one time and the bucket just. got possessed. what do you even do in that situation-) are there some materials that remenant is physcially unable to uh. meld itself into i guess?? like some resources are just remnant resistant??

will susan tell the kids about remnant? about everything (or even just some things) the aftons had going on? or is she going to try protect them from the truth?? DOES SHE FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO MIKE POST-SISTER LOCATION?? is the scoop canon to this au?? (if so my next question is how did faz ent get the sperm of a corpse but its faz ent. theyll find a way.)

the au seems great so far !! definately really interesting, will be Rotating It in my mind for the next several days and going mental any time you post something new for it lol

take care !! <3

It Twasn't a mistake. Twas a calculated risk.

I love people asking about the stuff I make. I'm out here stimming from excitement, you got me smiling so hard that my dimples are showing.

Emotionally and illegally. If there's one thing the lore has shown us about Henry beyond what we already know, it's that after William's bull-fuckery Henry had to be just as shady to bring the musty dusty purple Pringle down so paying someone to forge adoption papers was easy(I like to think he fnaf!Neil Caffrey to do it)

The concept of William discovering Remnant post-CC is nice but it never lined up quite right to me, I know way too much about how famous historical scientists studied the way stuff worked extensively to even begin experimenting with it to think that he discovered Remnant, and immediately started killing people to get results. William isn't on the Anti Social Personality Spectrum but he is an undiagnosed Narcissist with a God-Complex. So, William discovers Remnant as a teen and does smaller experiments to figure out how it works (this is one of my fnaf theories specifically around William's relationship to Remnant)

All the discourse about Remnant is actually what inspired the Radiation thing. Everyone, everywhere, was losing their minds over the insanity that is Remnant and I had a throwaway thought about how we've seen all this in fiction where Radiation is the given cause: the mutates in every Fallout game ever and the TV show, Spiderman, The Hulk, Corpse Mikey would fit right in in the Fallout-verse, etc. All fnaf does is take all of those concepts and shove them into one place and I love that. The only thing it doesn't do is bring you back to life and I think that's because you need internal organs for that. Mike lost his organs but not his brain so Remnant kept brain activity going.

The bucket thing did happen. It wasn't a bucket thought. It was one of those plain lunch boxes. He had one already but, he bought an extra to store the Remnant in. Long story short, it's early morning, and he's practically brain-dead as he gets ready for school so he grabs one of the lunch boxes without. Lunch in the cafeteria was legendary that day. The lunch box screeched, and he made up a half-lie about trying to invent a musical lunch box but grabbing the wrong one. He invented an actual musical lunch box that was fairly popular in UK for a while.

Yes! Funny enough Radiated materials are the only things Remnant can't meld itself to. He could never figure out why but, William's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He bought and repurposed multiple microwaves to act as radiated containers.

By the time they get to the house Gregory and Nessa are 10 and 14 respectively so she does tell them, they're also Geniuses ala Afton Genetics and they're also Peak Gremlins™️ so they'd find out anyway.

Everyone knows Michael Afton(legal name Mike Schmidt) as a Missing Person's case that's gone unsolved for decades by this point. The footage of him getting scooped was scrubbed as was his being worn like a meat suit. But there is footage of 'Mike' forcing himself up and to the Elevator. His organs were all gone by the time the Police got there but the blood muscle and other bodily fluids were still there. It's believed that Mike was lured to the scooping room through abuse and manipulation a fact further compounded by the bodies of the technicians being found hanging by police.

The general belief is that he died out in the wilderness but, his body was never found hence the Missing Presumed Dead thing. This all happened in 1986 when he was 17. Afton Robotics and Fazent shut down Circus Baby's officially and stopped renting out the Funtimes after this because they weren't fast enough to cover it up like with the Missing Children's Incident and the Bite of '83. And so began the downfall of Fazbear Entertainment and Afton Robotics.

So yeah, the scoop happened here, and since Remnant works with what's already there and Mike's practically made of the stuff because he grew up eating it, his sperm was kept intact ala Remnant(I mean he didn't lose his penis to the scoop.)

As for the name. I was watching the sandlot when I came up with it. (His middle name is Garret) I'm glad you like it.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Okay but to be fair..

Gregory is ABSOLUTELY NOT EVIL. Not in any way. But personally I DO think he tows the line into jerkass territory a bit.

I mean, Freddy tells the kid that these are his friends and theres something wrong with how they're acting, and Gregory IMMEDIATELY scraps those friends without a single thought of "maybe we can get them back to normal", because its "what they deserve" for going after him. And then he takes it a step farther by cannibalizing the people that Freddy clearly cares about, to upgrade Freddy for no clearly established reason when Freddy is little more than willing, only to dance around/avoid telling the truth to the ONE PERSON he trusts and cares about.

Like dont get me wrong, I do NOT hate Gregory or think he should be considered evil. The kid's clearly had a hard time of it and they all WERE after him with the intent of harm.

But I also think Gregory could have been explained or developed a little better, cuz frankly he's kind of a dick

GREGORY IS TWELVE!!!!

I hate that I really keep having to say this to people. Gregory is fairly average in terms of what a middleschooler is like... Everyone forgets what it's like being that age, and Gregory really has no guidance other then Freddy, who can only help him to a certain extent.

I don't think Gregory needs a complex motive for what he does. What do we know about Gregory's motives?

According to cut lines from Vanny, he's here looking for his friends.

Him being trapped in the pizzaplex and homeless and squatting in is also a motive enough... Like Gregory HAS NO PARENTS OR GUARDIANS OTHER THAN FREDDY to really tell him what's right from wrong here. And Freddy doesn't really help that much other than going "These are my friends..." and "I could open this gate if I had monty's claws" "if I had chicas voice box i could open this door" and... oh yeah "Maybe you'll find a way to deal with Roxy when you are there" We don't have evidence that any other of the animatronics besides Freddy are sentient.

Gregory NOT listening to Freddy is often beneficial at points. Freddy is the only one Gregory has, while Gregory sees him as a safe place, it has been SUPER consistent in that game that Gregory doesn't really listen to Freddy when it matters. Sure, Gregory will listen to Freddy on things like, how to navigate areas of the pizzaplex, tips for where Exits are, where to go next, how the Security Badges work, because it's all unfamiliar to Gregory and he is lost and needs the guidance But in other instances... if Gregory REALLY wants to do something. He'll do it. Like every average middle schooler. And often times, Gregory not listening is beneficial. LIKE LITERALLY if the Princess Quest Ending is canon in any AU like mine is, the Princess Quest ending ONLY occurs when Gregory DIRECTLY goes against Freddy's wishes and doesn't listen to him. Freddy wants you to turn the bots against Vanny..... but if you DON'T listen to Freddy and play the last princess quest game, you free Vanessa's soul and stop the glitch.... Which people often call the "best" ending since you free Her and the plex. Oh yeah, and other endings like the Car ending... Gregory doesn't listen to Freddy again, and takes Freddy with him rather then leave him behind and Freddy usually turns out okay. PLUS GREGORY WOULD HAVE NEVER MET FREDDY IF HE WENT INTO THE UNSAFE PLAY AREA OF HIS STOMACH HATCH WHEN HE WAS PASSED OUT TO HIDE FROM VANESSA IN THE FIRST PLACE. I think Gregory does the right balance of listening and not listening to Freddy. He actually behaves like an actual child! And I actually Like that Gregory takes initiative to decommission the animatronics that are chasing him and are super aggressive.

The Glamrocks have legit killed other children and employees. Possibly even Gregory's friends that he's looking for...

There is an entire wall in the "Sister Location Room" that gives explicit instructions on how to run and jump and shoot and avoid the animatronics.

Yes, while... Gregory did not need to go out of his way to Decommission all of them (especially chica or monty depending on your run through if you stay after 6am and decommission all three) And yes... Gregory COULD have theoretically stayed in Freddy's room all night after he retrieves him from Parts and Service.... but then we wouldn't have a videogame. Well, we could, but it would mean half of the game would be open world, then the other half would default to fnaf1 gameplay. Like he could have stayed in the Daycare or in Freddy's room, but he probably would have been found by Vanessa or someone eventually, and I don't think it would make for an interesting videogame to play.

Like, I love the fandom, and I love how so much of us have humanized the animatrioncs.

BUT FROM GREGORY'S POINT OF VIEW...

There is no evidence that any one of the animatronics other then Freddy are sentient. Like take off your "I love robots" and/or "I love the animatronics" and/or "Im a furry" glasses bias for FIVE seconds... and pretend you're... neutral on them... I'm sure Gregory isn't thinking of "how can I stop them without hurting them" .... like... at all.

And even if the animatronics ARE sentient and are killing children and employees against their will...

THEY ARE STILL KILLING PEOPLE.

And they have killed people, and they are hunting him. And will continue to hurt other people if Gregory doesn't do something. Which we learn is one of Gregory's motivations in the game in general

"If I leave now nothing will change will it, they'll be more disappearances"

I honestly feel that this line makes the "they get what they deserve" a little more justified in my eyes. And even up till that point... all of them have been super aggressive and chasing him all over the place.

Plus Empathy is a learned trait, and it's hard to develop empathy for something that is actively hunting you and is basically, a cold unfeeling murderous robots in his eyes that are aggressively chasing him all night.

Especially with how Gregory talks to Freddy about Decommissioning his friends.

(but it's not like Freddy tries to talk to his friends when you get close to them inside of Freddy like "hey, why are you hunting this kid?" or... "hey what is up bandmates... can't wait to get gregory" )

Do I feel like the animatronics "Get what they deserve" ? Like Gregory says?

No, I don't.

(my rl friend does tho who i introduced to sb this week looooooool)

But From Gregory's point of view, I think he is justified, and in Twin Animatronics... Gregory does have character development in the background to understand that "hey, the other animatronics are actually people and maybe I should start treating them better rather then just pieces of parts for Freddy"

I'm sick of these two polar extremes where "Gregory did nothing wrong" or "Gregory did some things wrong"

...I honestly think. With the knowledge the that Gregory knows... and being 12 and doing his best to survive...

He did the absolute best that he could given the circumstances.

And I'll just share a little of @witchysolfan 's thoughts on the matter.

I know I repeat a lot of myself here. I just had to get this all out.

Anyway. Love Gregory.

I do not think he's a uwu baby who did nothing wrong... But for all the information Gregory had at the time, and the age range he is, he made the correct choice based on all the information he knew at the time.... And in Twins... He'll learn more, and maybe possibly talk and apologize to the Glamrocks he broke (if all the Glamrocks weren't avoiding him like the plague right now due to trauma)