#fnaf hereafter

[fnaf-hereafter]

ALRIGHTY

it has... taken me a while, but! through retouchings and work and the chaos of swapping jobs- I have finished designs for those I intended to make a reference for! I'll be making colored versions once I get more adjusted to my new job and a better handle on my time and... caught up... on chapters... but in the meantime! let's meet our cast~ (aside from Narrator)

First up, the man himself-

Henry Emily. Now 43, a little stressed, but doing his best. With everything that's happened, he's sadly going a little gray in the hair, but he's still going! He just... doesn't want to go with the company anymore. After losing his niece and daughter less than 4 years apart, and the first incident with missing or dead children, Henry's ready to retire early. His business isn't known for fun anymore, attracting more of the teenager crowd or the occasional paranormal investigators...

Next, long time friend and closest business partner-

Chester Hughes. He's been with Henry since the beginning and is a trusted friend, almost brother. He half runs the place now, making Henry's retirement and handover decision less of a hassle if he'll take the job of ownership. Chester sticks up for the workers, makes sure the animatronics are properly serviced at his location, and is generally the one to go to for advice or getting something done paperwork wise.

Another founding staff member-

If you need a robot built with quality, you turn to-

Viktor Takala. Head technician behind Chester, witty, and the team dad, so to speak. Viktor is usually called on for trainees, mainly for techs rather than guards, but he tends to pull shifts as both when needed. While... he may not look as old as his friends, Chester and Henry, everyone's learned to stop questioning if he was really around to play old 70s and 80s games or see the horror flicks from those eras...

Tessa Addams. She's sort of taken over most repairs, leaving Viktor and Chester to train new hires and help Henry stay afloat. Reliable and treated by the animatronic AIs as almost a big sister, Tessa is a big asset to the Hurricane location of Freddy's. Though, she does have a sharp tongue, and more than a few new techs and handlers have learned to not question her instructions when dealing with the animatronics.

While she's clearly an animatronic-

Leyla the Lynx is more often treated as a member of Freddy Fazbear's staff than just a robot. Even the children that still come to the restaurant seem to treat her more like a human in a suit than an animatronic. In recent years, she's slowly moved from a craft and activities to a more host position. Leyla helps with parties and keeping guests of all kinds out of places they shouldn't be. She also seems to be very protective of the other animatronics, especially when paranormal investigators drop by...

And someone who certainly seems investigative is-

Alec Pierce. He was hired on at the last location along with a friend of his, Des Viotto. But Des went missing under truly odd circumstances, and Alec has stuck around. He certainly seems to be interested in something at the restaurant, even if he's learned his job and does it well. Now if he could keep out of places he's been told to stay away from and stop asking such odd questions...

Not to mention he's always hanging around-

Ginny the Goat. She's only been active since about 1988, Ginny has become a staple at the Hurricane location, along with Leyla. Mostly for her laid back programming, teenagers tend to talk to her when dragged to Freddy's for an actual birthday celebration for their younger siblings. Alec's always talking with her for some reason, and she doesn't always act like an animatronic...

(I'd like to take a moment to say that Alec and Ginny are actually from my friend, @astraleventide and are used in this specific AU with her input, permission, and blessing! I also wanna thank her a ton for past and future help with proof reading and again for letting me include these two in my AU! The interactions with my OCs and interpretations of canon characters have been fun and inspired a few good chunks of what's to come! ^u^)

Now, Viktor trains new techs, but training new guards is left to-

Scott Pelter. Hired after the first incident with missing children, Scott prefers to train day guards in person and record messages for the night guards after meeting them. Most guards wind up knowing him more by his voice anyways, as he's the one making announcements for them over intercoms. He does take his job seriously, but his night shifts filling in for guards always seem to send the animatronics into a tizzy the day after...

While he doesn't make the animatronics uneasy anymore-

Dallas Marker is no longer their biggest fan. The Wyoming native was the unfortunate victim of their no longer used security systems, and the result of an ugly attack in mid 1987. But he definitely hasn't let it slow him down. Well, as much as he can. His left side has become near immobile, and between the initial injuries and loss of most (maybe all?) of his frontal lobe, his vision has been depleted, and he requires hearing aides to fully hear everything. Dallas has been offered a full retirement many times, but for some reason has refused, stating he'll keep working until he actually drops.

While he's been around for many years-

Vincent Baker has stayed in his technician and maintenance position since he joined the company in 1980. In fact, he's purposely retained his position, only accepting raises to keep up with the economy. He's especially gentle with the animatronics, even Leyla, and she can't seem to pinpoint why. Vincent tends to be on the quieter side, doing his job diligently and hanging in the background, ready to jump in when he's needed.

(the rest are coming up shortly in a reblog!)

[blood-and-pizza]

I've had this idea for a FNAF sequel stewing in my brain for the past few months.

Imagine Fazbear Entertainment built an actual horror attraction, as opposed to a virtual one? But instead of simply reiterating FNAF lore, they make light of it, and make various references to it, in a stereotypical “mystery mansion” scenario using Fazbear Entertainment characters as possible suspects.

And not only do we get the Fazbear Band as various mystery character archetypes, but each one has an alternate “Monster Form” that allows them to transform into far more frightening appearances, just to up the scare factor.

Okay, so Spring Bonnie happens to be one of the characters in this attraction. His “monster form” is Springtrap, and he's the programmed antagonist in this attraction who “infects” other characters and turns them into monsters, too. Think of it as working like the werewolf curse. Which honestly begs the question… who infected Spring Bonnie?

Fredbear is also in this attraction, and his “monster form” is Golden Freddy.

There are versions of Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Roxanne Wolf, and Montgomery Gator made specifically for this attraction. (Yes, there's Bonnie AND Spring Bonnie.) They all have monster forms that share similarities with both the Twisted animatronics, and the Nightmare animatronics. Collectively, this line is known as the Manor animatronics.

In this story, a young girl is being chased down by Vanny. She hides inside Fazbear Manor, a horror attraction, while it's still closed. She is discovered by the animatronics there, and she tells them an actual murderer is after them. The animatronics agree to protect the girl while they figure out what to do. They've never dealt with a real murderer before, and are not quite sure how to handle actual danger. One by one, Vanny infects each animatronic with Glitchtrap, including Manor Spring Bonnie/Monster Springtrap. The only one who does not get infected is Manor Bonnie/Monster Bonnie, who ends up being the girl's guardian.

Another idea I have is that Manor Spring Bonnie/Monster Springtrap (hereafter referred to as “Spring”) has the Funtime animatronics as his family. Ballora is his wife. Funtime Foxy, Circus Baby, and Funtime Freddy are his children. Bon Bon, despite having his own personality, is wirelessly linked to Spring Bonnie/Springtrap. This allows Spring to take control of Bon Bon whenever he wants, just like controlling a puppet. It also allows Spring to spy on people easily, and to communicate directly with Funtime Freddy. Funtime Freddy is Spring's favorite child, something that really upsets Circus Baby, who's all too eager to do anything to win her father's approval, even kill.

Spring's family also have various monster forms. Circus Baby's monster form is Scrap Baby. Funtime Freddy's monster form is Molten Freddy. Funtime Foxy and Ballora would have unique new designs as their monster forms; Ballora's would have nightmarish maternal themes, while Funtime Foxy's would make heavy-handed references to Michael Afton.

On that note, I should add that Manor Freddy, Manor Bonnie, Manor Chica, Manor Foxy, Manor Roxy, and Manor Monty are all Fredbear's family. Perhaps Manor Puppet should also be part of the cast. They could all be Manor Fredbear's children.

Anyway… by the end of the story, the human girl and Manor Bonnie/Monster Bonnie are the only survivors of Fazbear Manor, having set it on fire. In the epilogue after the credits, they run into Glamrock Freddy and Gregory while traveling the streets, and join forces! Making way for the next part…

As to what happens after that? More games where a human joins forces with an animatronic character until a team is formed, and they all join together to get rid of William Afton's reign of terror. Is it a cheesy idea? Yes, but I don't really care. I think it'd be funny and awesome.

[tlbodine]

The Horror Genius of Five Nights At Freddy’s

I’ve been playing FNAF: Help Wanted VR on my Oculus Quest lately (a birthday present to myself -- I know I’m late to that party!) and it’s reignited in me my old love of this series. I know Scott Cawthon’s politics aren’t great, but I don’t think there’s any malice in his heart beyond usual Christian conservative nonsense -- and I think he stepped down as graciously and magnanimously as possible when confronted about it. Time will judge Scott Cawthon’s politics, and that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I want to talk about what makes these games so damn special, from a horror, design, and marketing perspective. I think there’s really SO MUCH to be learned from studying these games and the wider influence they’ve had as intellectual property. 

What Is FNAF? 

In case you’ve somehow been living under a rock for the last seven years, Five Nights At Freddy’s (hereafter, FNAF) is a horror franchise spanning 17 games (10 main games + some spinoffs and troll games, we’ll get to that), 27 books, a movie deal, and a couple live-action attractions. 

But before it exploded into that kind of tremendous IP, it started out as a single indie pont-and-click game created entirely by one dude, Scott Cawthon. Cawthon had developed other games in the past without much fame or success, including some Christian children’s entertainment. He was working as a cashier at Dollar General and making games in his spare time -- and most of those games got panned. 

So he tried making something different. 

After being criticized that the characters in one of his children’s games looked like soulless, creepy animatronics, Cawthon had his lightbulb moment and created a horror game centered on....creepy animatronics! 

The rest, as they say, is history. 

The Genius of FNAF’s Horror Elements

In the first FNAF game, you play as a night security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a sort of ersatz Chuck-E-Cheese establishment. The animatronics are on free-roaming mode at night, but you don’t want to let them find you in your security room so you have to watch them move through the building on security camera monitors. If they get too close, you can slam your security room doors closed. But be careful, because this restaurant operates on a shoestring budget, and the power will go off if you keep the doors closed too long or flicker the lights too often. And once the lights go out, you’re helpless against the animatronics in the dark. 

Guiding you through your gameplay is a fellow employee, Phone Guy, who calls you each night with some helpful advice. Phone Guy is voiced by Cawthon himself, and listening to his tapes gives you some hints of the game’s underlying story as well as telling you how to play. A few newspaper clippings and other bits of scrap material help to fill in more details of the story. 

Over the next set of games, the story would be further developed, with each new game introducing new mechanics and variations on the theme -- in one, you don a mask to slip past the notice of animatronics; in another, you have to play sound cues to lure an animatronic away from you. By the fourth game, the setup was changed completely, now featuring a child with a flashlight hiding from the monsters outside his door -- nightmarish versions of the beloved child-friendly mascots. The mechanics change just enough between variations to keep things fresh while maintaining a consistent brand. 

There are so many things these games do well from a storytelling and horror perspective: 

Jump Scares: It’s easy to shrug these games off for relying heavily on jump scares, and they absolutely do have a lot of them. But they’re used strategically. In most games, the jump scares are a punishment (a controlled shock, if you will) -- if you play the game perfectly, you’ll never be jump-scared. This is an important design choice that a lot of other horror games don’t follow. 

Atmospheric Dread: These games absolutely deliver horror and tension through every element of design -- some more than others, admittedly. But a combination of sound cues, the overall texture and aesthetic of the world, the “things move when you’re not looking at them” mechanic, all of it works together to create a feeling of unease and paranoia. 

Paranoia: As in most survival horror games, you’re at a disadvantage. You can’t move or defend yourself, really -- all you can do is watch. And so watch you do. Except it’s a false sense of security, because flicking lights and checking cameras uses up precious resources, putting you at greater risk. So you have to balance your compulsive need to check, double-check, and make sure...with methodical resource conservation. The best way to survive these games is to remain calm and focused. It’s a brilliant design choice. 

Visceral Horror: The monster design of the animatronics is absolutely delightful, and there’s a whole range of them to choose from. The sheer size and weight of the creatures, the way they move and position themselves, their grunginess, the deadness of their eyes, the quantity and prominence of their teeth. They are simultaneously adorable and horrifying. 

Implicit Horror: One of the greatest strengths to FNAF as a franchise is that it never wears its story on its sleeve. Instead of outright telling you what’s going on, the story is delivered in bits and pieces that you have to put together yourself -- creating a puzzle for an engaged player to think about and theorize over and consider long after the game is done. But more than that, the nature of the horror itself is such that it becomes increasingly upsetting the more you think on it. The implications of what’s going on in the game world -- that there are decaying bodies tucked away inside mascots that continue to perform for children, that a man dressed in a costume is luring kids away into a private room to kill them, and so forth -- are the epitome of fridge horror. 

The FNAF lore does admittedly start to become fairly ridiculous and convoluted as the franchise wears on. But even ret-conned material manages to be pretty interesting in its own right (and there is nothing in the world keeping you from playing the first four games, or even the first six, and pretending none of the rest exist). 

Another thing I really appreciate about the FNAF franchise is that it’s quite funny, in a way that complements and underscores the horror rather than detracting from it. It’s something a lot of other properties utterly fail to do. 

The Genius of Scott Cawthon’s Marketing 

OK, so FNAF utilizes a multi-prong attack for creating horror and implements it well -- big deal. Why did it explode into a massive IP sensation when other indie horror games that are just as well-made barely made a blip on the radar? 

Well! That’s where the real genius comes in. This game was built and marketed in a way to maximize its franchisability. 

First, the story utilizes instantly identifiable, simple but effective character designs, and then generates more and more instantly identifiable unique characters with each iteration. Having a wealth of characters and clever, unique designs basically paves the way for merchandise and fan-works. (That they’re anthropomorphic animal designs also probably helped -- because that taps into the furry fandom as well without completely alienating non-furries). 

Speaking of fan-work, Scott Cawthon has always been very supportive of fandom, only taking action when people would try to profit off knock-off games and that sort of thing -- basically bad-faith copies. But as far as I know he’s always been super chill with fan-created content, even going so far as to engage directly with the fandom. Which brings me to....

These games were practically designed for streaming, and he took care to deliver them into the hands of influential streamers. Because the games are heavy on jump-scares and scale in difficulty (even including extra-challenging modes after the core game is beaten) they are extremely fun to watch people play. They’re short enough to be easily finished over the duration of a long stream, and they’re episodic -- lending themselves perfectly to a YouTube Lets Play format. One Night = One Video, and now the streamer has weeks of content from your game (but viewers can jump in at any time without really missing much). 

The games are kid-friendly but also genuinely frightening. Because the most disturbing parts of the game’s lore are hinted at rather than made explicit, younger players can easily engage with the game on a more basic surface level, and others can go as deep into the lore as they feel comfortable. There is no blood and gore and violence or even any explicitly stated death in the main game; all of the murder and death is portrayed obliquely by way of 8-bit mini games and tangential references. Making this game terrifying but accessible to youngsters, and then marketing it directly to younger viewers through popular streamers (and later, merchandising deals) is genius -- because it creates a very broad potential audience, and kids tend to spend 100% of their money (birthdays, allowances, etc.) and are most likely to tell their friends about this super scary game, etc. etc.

By creating a puzzle box of lore, and then interacting directly with the fandom -- dropping hints, trolling, essentially creating an ARG of his own lore through his website, in-game easter eggs, and tie-in materials -- Cawthon created a mystery for fandom to solve. And fans LOVE endlessly speculating over convoluted theories. 

Cawthon released these games FAST. He dropped FNAF 2 within months of the first game’s release, and kept up a pace of 1-2 games a year ever since. This steady output ensured the games never dropped out of public consciousness -- and introducing new puzzle pieces for the lore-hungry fans to pore over helped keep the discussion going. 

I think MatPat and The Game Theorists owe a tremendous amount of their own huge success to this game. I think Markiplier does, too, and other big streamers and YouTubers. It’s been fascinating watching the symbiotic relationship between these games and the people who make content about these games. Obviously that’s true for a lot of fandom -- but FNAF feels so special because it really did start so small. It’s a true rags-to-riches sleeper hit and luck absolutely played a role in its growth, but skill is a big part too. 

Take-Aways For Creatives 

I want to be very clear here: I do not think that every piece of media needs to be “IP,” franchisable, an extended universe, or a multimedia sensation. I think there is plenty to be said for creating art of all types, and sometimes that means a standalone story with a small audience. 

But if you do want a chance at real break-out, run-away success and forging a media empire of your own, I think there are some take-aways to be learned from the success of FNAF: 

Persistence. Scott Cawthon studied animation and game-design in the 1990s and released his first game in 2002. He released a bunch of stuff afterward. None of it stuck. It took 12 years to hit on the winning formula, and then another several years of incredibly hard work to push out more titles and stoke the fires before it really became a sensation. Wherever you’re at on your creative journey, don’t give up. You never know when your next thing will be The Thing that breaks you out. 

If you want to sell a lot of something, you have to make it widely appealing to a bunch of people. This means keeping your concept simple to understand (”security guard wards off creepy killer animatronics at a pizza parlor”) and appealing to as wide a segment of the market as you can (ie, a horror story that appeals to both kids and adults). The more hyper-specific your audience, the harder it’s gonna be to find them and the fewer copies of your thing you’ll be selling. 

Know your shit and put your best work out there. I think there’s an impulse to feel like “well, nobody reads this anyway, so why does it matter if it’s no good” (I certainly have fallen into that on multiple occasions) but that’s the wrong way to think about it. You never know when and where your break will come. Put your best work out there and keep on polishing your craft with better and better stuff because eventually one of those things you chuck out there is going to be The Thing. 

Figure out where your target audience hangs out, and who influences them, and then get your thing in the hands of those influencers. Streaming and YouTube were the secret to FNAF’s success. Maybe yours will be BookTube, or Instagram, or a secret cabal of free librarians. I don’t know. But you should try your best to figure out who would like the thing that you’re making, and then figure out how to reach those people, and put all of your energy into that instead of shotgun-blasting your marketing all willy nilly. 

You don’t have to put the whole story on the page. Audiences love puzzles. Fans love mysteries. You can actually leave a lot more unanswered than you think. There’s some value in keeping secrets and leaving things for others to fill in. Remember -- your art is only partly yours. The sandbox belongs to others to play in, too, and you have to let them do that. 

If in doubt, appealing to furries never hurts. 

Do I take all of this advice myself? Not by a long shot. But it’s definitely a lot to think about. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go beat The Curse of Dreadbear. 

[fnaf-hereafter]

anyone wanna see the cast designs for those being introduced in the FNAF 1 arc? 👀

[fnaf-hereafter]

Part 9, Chapter 4

A few new faces and names to make note of, hm? Oh, there’s quite the cast list for this particular production, and they’re not all to be met just yet. I’m sure you’ve seen the art post, however, so let’s see what Henry wants with Tessa? He certainly counts her as a close friend from the sound of it…

Tessa swallowed the tiny bit of nerves that tried to bubble up in her throat and sat down. Henry sat the folder he’d held up in front of her to let her start looking through it, “... this… is a copyright properties form…? Like, there’s a licensing agreement-” She stopped and looked up at him.

“Yes. For a specific part of the Freddy Fazbear IP. For An-” Tessa saw the briefest moment of him looking pained before he corrected himself, “For Leyla.”

“.... You’re… transferring her to me..? Like-”

“Her ownership, her concepts, her design. Licensing when the company wants to get her on merch or her own sets of merch. And those upgrades you’ve been in my ear about for her,” he nodded, “Don’t pretend that Chester didn’t immediately tell you and Viktor about my stepping down. I’ve pretended not to know about you three keeping each others’ backs safe over the years and being the knowers of all around here. I’ve just pretended I don’t see you three running the show, but I’m well aware. It’s why I know I’m making the right decision in handing care of Leyla over to you.” Henry nodded his head down at the papers in the folder.

Tessa looked down, scanning over the legalese and just what all he was really signing over to her. Rights, future upgrades or design iterations, merchandise… All would be up to her.

“So. That’s it? You’re… actually leaving the company?”

“... Yes. I’ve thought on it recently, and I’m… I’m not doing anyone any favors by sticking around when I haven’t gotten past Annora or Charlie. I was barely of use during the incidents in ‘85, and I’ve just… been going downhill since. It’s time I handed it over to someone else. Or, rather, those of you who know what you’re doing, and are still feeling… youthful enough to keep it going.”

Tessa didn’t comment on that. She really should work with Viktor on ways to make themselves look older… “Heh… You’re still sharp enough, Henry. But we’ll take care of the place. I want it to be back to the way it used to be. Fun, full of life.”

He nodded. That was what he had wanted, a place of life, joy, celebration, “I know you will. But I have to be serious with myself for your sakes and my own. So, consider this the start of me handing over the reins, officially.”

She paused, nothing needed to be signed immediately. She wanted to sign this, to make sure Annora, what was left of her, was in good hands. Her hands. But she also hadn’t expected it to be this easy. Henry said he’d noticed the three of them taking charge, taking over unofficially… It was just hard to see him actually leaving. Any member of the Emily family, really.

Tessa leaned back in here chair and crossed her arms, “Ya know… I thought this corporate thing was temporary,” she saw him start to say something but read it easily, “Ah- I’m not shit talking it, I’m talking in general. I’m not saying I don’t want this, because someone has to take care of things with Leyla that isn’t part of the company and the big corporate body. Plus,” she grinned, “You know how I like fucking with people who think they can stomp all over me.

“But… I can’t see you fully stepping out. And what about Jojo? Alex? Sammy I don’t think any of us expect to touch things again since he and Charlie were so close, but…?” An eyebrow raised at Henry, asking the question of how far he was taking his leave of the company.

And he clearly hadn’t thought that far yet. His expression changed a handful of times through worry, anger, regret, and anxiety before he finally shook his head, “That’s not my call to make. I won’t be my parents and try to control what my children do. Jojo and Alex have been doing their own healing over the years, and I’m proud of the young man Jojo has become. Alex is still young, she has time to figure out if she wants to stay involved with all this or not. Sammy…”

“I don’t think any of us expect him to come back to this place. He’s barely come to visit anymore since that day.”

“Mmhmm… But I’m only removing myself. I… can tell you now that Richard will still want to be involved. Believes this whole thing to be very… lucrative. A firm believer that even bad publicity is publicity and can be turned around.”

A shouted laugh came from her, “Now that has me worried. Chester better give you the answer he told us he was going to,” Henry’s mustache quirked up, “Yeah, yeah… You were right. He told us and we told him he should go through with it.”

“... I’ll admit that does make me feel better about going through with this. I can’t take the toll of this place anymore, but I know I can leave it in good hands. And… other things in capable hands?” Henry nodded at the legal documents still in front of Tessa.

Right. These should probably be done before the company signing over. She picked them up and gave them a last glance over them. Then, she held out her hand with a look at him, and he handed her a pen with a resigned smile. This pained him, she could tell, but it would pain him more to keep Leyla with him and not do anything with what he still saw as his niece's dream.

"Guess I should clear out some space in storage. I see some of her other design ideas in here?"

"... Yes. Annora… had plans for many things. I know Viktor prefers his programming and Chester's going to be taking over my role, but… I've also noticed you have an eye for design. Not the same as she did, but… all the same. I'm signing her old concepts over to you as well, they were listed as hers to begin with."

"Hen, I can't-"

"You can. They want this franchise to grow, and between you three, I don't want them to be able to kick you to the wayside and forget about the friends of mine that make me think this franchise can still go places. Viktor owns rights to any programs he's made and Chester still has founding stock in the company. Consider this a… safeguard of mine.

"I may have come from a family that didn't know much as far as business and corporations, but… William did teach me a few things here and there. I'm not having friends be put out because my dream franchise got a bad reputation." He motioned firmly to the papers.

"... Thank you. I do get it, I do," Tessa started rifling through and checking the lines she had to sign over, "I just… It feels odd. But I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

He nodded, "Good. And when you're done with that broken machine from earlier, check the archives. I want you to separate and catalogue everything that has her signature or name on it. Blueprints, photographs of parts or animatronics, names or just concepts, all of it. Make copies, make notes of it. Annora was a designer and I want her work passed on to someone who'll do something with it."

She paused, and smiled, "I'm glad you think so highly of me."

It took a few more minutes to get through it all, but everything seemed to be signed and dated as needed. Henry had taken the folder with the finger twisting pinkie promise that he'd be back with notarized and official copies and the originals to give them both backups before anyone tried anything. Which left Tessa with one broken animatronic and one filing job to finish after.

First, she had to find Alec. If she could, for the night shift, get him and Fritz to work on the broken bot, she could get Leyla's help with the blueprint filing. Or rather, get Annora's help in checking what they were finding was actually hers. She paused. He'd be affected by the turnover too… And wasn't 'Ginny' one of Annora's old designs? She was pretty sure, but she'd have to double check. And have to keep Alec from his friend for the night.

And there was still the matter of whether or not they'd turn everyone over if they knew everything. She and Viktor had kept an eye on the two investigators when they'd first shown up, and when Des had gone missing. Maybe they'd just gotten used to covertly talking to Annora since figuring out it was her in the lynx robot, but Alec constantly trying to meet up and discuss things with 'Ginny' was starting to cause rumors since Des was in the same boat as Annora. Stuck inside a robot until she passed on or found a new body.

A small lightbulb went off. If she wanted to let Alec and Des know about the changes coming up, and her obtaining of Ginny, and get the hint across that those two needed to work on being more hush-hush… She could drop hints and hope he was better at picking them up than he seemed to be at picking up tech jargon. Thinking back to earlier, she checked the security office first. Ginny and Leyla were having a conversation while a guard set up for the night, she couldn't see who past the two animatronics.

"Hey, is Alec already heading back towards Repairs?" Tessa asked them.

"Fritz came earlier to tell him he was needed," Leyla nodded, "I arrived at that time and saw them both leave."

"Yeah, something about a broken little bot?" Ginny leaned into one hip, "Kids break something again?"

Tessa… tried to ignore the dissonance between the two acting like animatronics. She had to remind herself Des didn't know she knew she was possessing the old suit, but she really wished Leyla would give some pointers on how to act a bit less… herself. If only around the other workers and the parents.

"Cool. You two try to make it a quiet night, and Leyla?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to need your help tomorrow. Miiiight need yours too, Ginny, but I don't know yet."

If the goat could raise an eyebrow, she would have, "Don't know?"

"I haven't started on the task I need help with. You'll hear from me tomorrow if we need you," Tessa waved as she went back towards Repairs, "Just keep an ear out, never know what you'll hear." It was a hint to Des as well as a request.

Finally back in the technician's area, Tessa turned on her radio to hear from Viktor and whoever was on security tonight, and looked at the two men trying to carefully arrange and organize the broken parts in front of them. Alec waved as she came in and Fritz looked up then back down.

"So, broken bot. Lots of bits. What's the plan?" Alec asked.

"Fritz, did you think ahead and get the old blueprint for it?" he tapped the paper sitting on a table right behind him, "Cool. Well, we follow that and fix what we can. Glue together the fiberglass, while wearing gloves, and save further restoration for an order from higher up or for whoever buys it because they want a piece of entertainment history."

"Gotcha. Well, we've got parts… mostly organized, but putting them back together is gonna take some time."

"Well, then let's plan snacks, get our tools, and get to work, boys." The two jokingly saluted and picked up some tools and rolled over a cart of spare parts. Time for the night shift to begin and hope it was quiet.

[fnaf-hereafter]

I decided to update his design. mostly because I have a lot of characters with chunky hair, so I may alter a few other designs, mostly in how their hair is drawn

[fnaf-hereafter]

I'm giving him his own individual post because he's meant to be a joke character who looks like the Michael Afton SFM model. But Vincent Baker was supposed to be a joke character too and now he's plot relevant;

So let's meet Micah Benedict Aston, a young man from one of the smaller towns outside Hurricane who loved Freddy's as a kid. Now that he's grown and out of electricians' trade school, he's working at his childhood favorite restaurant to help keep it's good reputation. What's left of it. He's picking up a few other skills along the way to make himself invaluable to the team-

But they can't help but wonder if he's also investigating the incident where his younger sibling went missing back in '85. Hopefully he stays smart and safe, but there's only so much they can do to stop him...

[fnaf-hereafter]

Part 9, Chapter 3

How can one man cause such pain for people he once seemed to care for, indeed? But these we’ve already met cannot be the only ones affected… Perhaps we can meet other sides of the dice, so to speak?

It was a few days later, the last of the day’s customers leaving with their tired children. Leyla waved them all goodbye from the doors and helped a few parents to rearrange how they were carrying the prizes or presents their kids had received. In the midst of the stragglers leaving, a middle-aged man hobbled his way in the door.

“Evening, Mr Marke-”

“Dallas, Leyla. I ain’t that old yet,” he corrected her, “And evenin’ to you too. Henry here?” He paused and leaned on the cane braced against his left arm.

“I believe he’s in his office, but Chester has the notes from the day,” the animatronic tilted her head, “You’re not finally thinking of retiring, are you?”

“Eeehhh, nah. I’ll be kicking til the day this old injury,” he raised his right hand slowly to point at the scarring on that side of his face, “Finally does me in. And that’s only taken 3 years so far!” While the right side of his mouth curved up in a smug grin, the left barely twitched in an attempt to match it.

“Of course… I’ll be cleaning up in the main party rooms, but if you nee- want any help with anything, you know where I am.” 

Dallas regained his balance with his canes and nodded. His hat tipped in a farewell gesture as he made his way back into Parts & Service to start his part of evening maintenance. At least his brace and canes didn’t seem to slow him down, but everyone assumed that was due to his stubbornness. He’d always been stubborn, mind, but after his incident with the toy animatronics at the last location, he’d bounced back and been even moreso.

Viktor and John waved as he passed them at the arcade’s prize counter, “Hey, Dallas! How are you holding up tonight?” John asked. 

“As sturdy as ever so far. I didn’t know you worked the toy counter, Vik.”

Viktor chuckled, holding up one of the signs meant to rotate through a few encouraging messages or notes of congratulation for kids as they picked out prizes, “I don’t, but as the man who knows best how to handle these, John asked for my help. Stupid thing seems to have busted itself though, it’s not wanting to display half of its pixels.”

“Eh, knock it on the counter a time or two. Sure that’ll get it runnin’ again,” Dallas joked.

The two men laughed. Viktor shook his head, “I don’t think percussive maintenance applies here. But I’ll make sure it’s working by tomorrow, John.” 

“Thanks, Vik. I gotta finish restocking and get out of here. Diane and I have a date tonight and I don’t want to be late,” John beamed as he pulled some candy boxes from behind the counter.

Viktor picked the sign up to give him room to set them down and started back to the technicians’ area, “Well, have fun. Don’t come in hungover!”

“Yeah, yeah… Have a good night yourself.”

Vik nodded and got the door for Dallas before they both disappeared into the back rooms of the restaurant. 

Across the arcade, Tessa and Fritz were checking on one of the smaller, simpler animatronics that just cycled through some voice lines to greet and cheer on the kids. It was meant to resemble Balloon Boy, but after one too many hits it was needing some serious repairs.

“Jeezus… how did kids manage this??” Fritz asked, picking up the left arm that had been ripped off, “Actually… don’t- don’t answer that. I’ve learned kids have a habit of breaking just about anything.”

She nodded, “Yep. Keeps us in business. Jeez, the fiberglass got cracked to pieces on him…This thing was supposed to last years!”

One of the maintenance crew rolled up with a trash cart, “That a crack at the materials or the design?” he joked, “And do you want this one in the trash or in repairs?”

“Funny, Vince. Honestly…?” she sighed and took another look at the cracked fiberglass and ripped out wires, “Put it in repairs. I guess this is what my night’s going to be. Wish I could say we can trash it, but there’s a base installed in the floor for it so it’s not easy to get rid of.”

"Eh, they break it again we take the base out and put something else there," Vince shrugged and started hefting the broken off pieces onto his cart, "Honestly between Leyla and Ginny, I don't see the point in these things, plus we have staff members over here."

Fritz got to work at the base of the robot, taking out bolts that kept it in the floor, "Mr Emily said he was trying to diversify the animatronics? Show that not all of the ones we make are so complex? I dunno, but I agree, these things are redundant."

Tessa groaned and stood up to pop her back, “Get the bits back to repairs and wait for a bit on standby. I’m going to talk to Henry about it since we only had these things at the last location because of corporate thinking they were durable. Alec should be back there working on one of the arcade cabinets.”

Vince blinked, “He was… talking to Ginny in front of the Security office last I saw him? As he usually does.”

Fritz and Tessa gave each other a look, and she rolled her eyes, “Yeah. I’ll go find him after I talk to Henry. Unless you run into him first, Fritz.” 

“Will do,” He waved his tool at her as she walked off, “Jeez. These things look ancient on the inside. This wiring structure is…”

“From the 80s? Yeah, as much as the three in charge have tried to update things, I think they’ve had their hands full with… other problems. So, if you’re planning on sticking around, try to lighten the load for them?” Vince’s expression seemed to hide a lot more weight to his words than he wanted to convey. He seemed to do that a lot, though.

Fritz nodded, serious. Whether either knew or not, they were taking those words seriously, “I know they have a lot on their plates. Tessa’s admitted that Mr Emily used to be a lot more involved In everything, but after what happened to…”

“Annora and Charlie. It hit him hard. He wasn’t prepared for the missing children after their deaths. It’s not talked about often, but… it’s the truth. He and William were both hit by personal tragedy and rapidly so. It’s why the three of them stepped up the way they did. Viktor and Chester were his friends from before this whole business started.”

“Right… You were working with them back then, right? And I guess through everything else that’s happened… It can’t be easy for any of you with those two kids who went missing recently,” Fritz flinched, “Sorry- I don’t mean to reopen any wounds or bring back bad memories or anything-” He quickly apologized, “That is, I mean-”

Vince patted his shoulder to stop him, “It’s fine. I was there for it, but… Well, I’m still here, aren’t I? I wasn’t in the thick of it, and maybe that’s why I refused promotions. I know they may not talk about it as much, but if you’re deeply curious, I won’t mind too much.”

“Heh… Thanks, Vince. It’s… odd sometimes. I feel like I came into a sort of culture I don’t fully understand yet, but I’m learning it because history… almost seems to be repeating itself. Or maybe not?”

“.... I hate that you might be right. But… I think you might be right. I just hope this time we catch whoever it is before there’s a whole trail of bodies.”

The younger man nodded solemnly. In silence, both went back to work. There wasn’t much they could do themselves at the moment. They could only help everyone else and keep an eye out for any clues. That didn’t stop Fritz from slightly eyeing Vince as he wheeled a full cart back into Parts & Service. The older man didn’t seem like he was the threat… But he had been at the past locations as well as this one…

He shook his head and readjusted his headphones. No, Tessa, Viktor, and Chester had reassured him. They’d checked Vince themselves. And after what he knew, he trusted their word immensely. No, if the person who’d committed the first string of murders was still here, it had to be someone else. 

If it was the same person to begin with…

But he didn’t have those answers. And he had to wait for Tessa to answer the question on what they were doing with this broken robot. With the base finally off, he lifted it up and groaned when he heard a few pieces and parts clink out onto the floor. This was what he’d signed up for, after all.

Meanwhile, Tessa was knocking at Henry’s office door, “Henry..?”

The man looked up from a stack of files, “Hm? Tessa, what can I do for you?”

“Yeah, uh… remember those little greeter bots we had in the arcade area?” She stepped in and went to a chair.

“Mmh?” Henry looked back at one of the papers, skimming over the writing one more time before jotting something down.

“The, uh… the kids broke one and… I was wondering if we could replace them or just… get rid of them?”

He looked up now, “Broke- Broke? How badly..?”

“Eehh… looks like they threw the footballs at it from that touchdown game. Hard. One arm was torn off and I’m pretty sure Fritz is cleaning up internal parts while Vincent’s wheeling what we can gather back to P&S…”

“You have got to be kidding me… Can you get in touch with Shawn in purchasing then?” Several papers were shoved aside and another grabbed and rapidly written on.

“Uh, sure- But what for?”

“Well, if one is damaged that badly, the other won’t be far behind. You can try to fix it for some collector or other, but I’ve been trying to replace those things with an extra change machine and extra ticket counter for months now. Take the other one down and put them both in storage when the broken one is fixed.”

“Huh… Yeah, I’ll let Shawn know. Fritz, Vince, and I will get the pieces back and get it put together for… hopefully a decent home. I’m sure there’s plenty of buyers nowadays.” Tessa stood and started to leave before Henry stopped her.

“Hold on. There’s something else I need to talk with you about. If you’ll sit down and maybe glance over this while I explain?” He held up a slim folder with a few papers peeking out, “Granted, I”m fairly certain it’s going to be a short explanation.”

[fnaf-hereafter]

:)

[fnaf-hereafter]

In case anyone is afraid this has been dropped- no, I'm just slowly getting back into steam with this AU. I'm not giving up on sharing this story yet!

[fnaf-hereafter]

Hi! You can refer to me and the character in the icon as Narrator! This is a Five Nights at Freddy's AU fanfic, character ask, and art account!

• Please be at least 16 before you follow this account. Due to the source material there will be heavier topics discussed and drawn. I'm serious.

• I myself am, as of this post, 26. However, this Tumblr is a sideblog and cannot follow back. I want to keep my main separate from this blog so I'm not purely known for FNAF stuff on there, even if it's what I've been posting mostly lately.

• As said in the bio, chapters will be posted out of timeline order. I'm writing this in the order the games released. It's my way of having a little fun telling the story and giving y'all something to potentially ask me about! (speaking of, the inbox is open! Feel free to toss myself/Narrator or the characters you've seen so far some questions!)

• Please do be respectful to others and me. These are my headcanons and it is an AU. We may not agree but given how scrambled the source material is, everyone in the fandom is entitled to their own interpretation.

• While I'm going to try to put out two chapters a month, I don't know how successful I'll be with that between work, art, and trying to prevent burnout. I'm a singular person running this entire thing for fun, in my free time. I will fall behind at some points. Please be patient and know that I want to write this out to share with you all!

• Most importantly, I hope everyone who reads my little AU enjoys it to some extent and has fun in general. I'm here to interact with other creators, enjoy the FNAF fandom, and just in general enjoy one of my hobbies!

• Remember to take care of yourselves, rest well, eat when you need to, stay hydrated, and be yourself!

[fnaf-hereafter]

New blog added to the accounts list!

Hey all! I know I already have a handful of accounts for this AU/Fanfic, but I wanted one more backup place to actually post the chapters. I now also have a PillowFort account for hosting chapters!

Just to keep up with all the blogs here;

This is the only and official Tumblr

Twitter;

Instagram; https://instagram.com/fnaf_hereafter?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

ArchiveOfOurOwn/AO3;

and PillowFort;

[fnaf-hereafter]

Part 9, Chapter 2

(find also at AO3; )

Such an intense start to this story, huh? And with this update you're all going to learn some more about this little group here. Henry isn't the one pulling the strings right now, but these aren't your puppeteers either. But I'll let them continue this version of our tale so you can hear it from them…

(Actual "Author" stepping in a moment to clarify in case there's confusion- There's one character referred to as both "Leyla" and "Annora". They are the same character, just going by two different names! As an explanation, she's a sentient/intelligent ghost haunting an animatronic that she initally designed and built! More will be explained in the chapter ^^)

The three stared at Chester after what he'd said. The lynx robot finally broke the silence, "He's… resigning..? Just leaving??" She stood back up, the eyes and ears moving to show anger and anxiety as best as they could, "H-He can't..! What's going to happen to us when he leaves? What's going to- to happen to me??" The bright teal eyes of the animatronic's face disappeared, turning to black voids with a white light, "Uncle Henry can't leave- We have to–"

A head came into her view and she stopped. Annora had started moving towards Chester and the desk unconsciously, and Viktor had stepped up to halt it before she had a bad glitch moment, "Easy, 'Nora… He'd make sure you're taken care of, you know that."

"Yeah! He kept you after… well, you died. But I don't think he'd take you with him." Tessa added.

The eyes of the animatronic didn't change, but the tear stains on her cheeks seemed to darken and get wet. She glanced between the three of them, the white pupils darting from Tessa, to Viktor, to Chester, "... Would… you…. keep… me….?" The words came out broken and static filled.

"Why wouldn't we?" Chester replied, "We've stuck by you since we figured out you were… you . Why would we give up on you and leave you behind?"

The ears relaxed, the posture of the frame changing back to a more neutral stance, and the animatronic's teal eyes returned. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Viktor stepped back, "For everyone's sake, please talk that over with Henry. If one of us has to buy rights or something-"

"I will," Tessa interjected, "I've become the main one to work on and with her. And… I have plans. But I need easy access to this and future frames for them." She looked pointedly at the two men. They both knew better than to argue.

"At what point do I start calling you her aunt?" Viktor teased.

"When I ask her to write up adoption papers…" Annora sat back down on the floor and looked up at Chester, "So… He's… he's really leaving though?" The other two looked at her then him, and took their seats again.

"... Yes. Henry wants to leave," he nodded and slumped back into his chair, crossing his arms, "But can we blame him? He lost you, then Charlie. He tried to be support for William after…. I don't think I need to say. And do I really need to go into the last 5 years?" No one answered his last point, "... So. Even now, I'm considering taking the position as owner."

"Please!"

"We wouldn't survive anyone else! And that's saying something!"

"Chess, you've gotta!"

He put his hands up, "Hold it- Just. Let me talk. Yes, I'm probably going to take the offer. It means I come into possession of company assets, but… we do still have corporate to deal with. Probably only less so . But I doubt we want the alternative."

Viktor leaned against the arm of the chair he was in, "Who  is the alternative…?"

"Matthew."

"Absolutely the hell not," Viktor agreed, "If you try to back down now I'll personally find some of whatever screwed up me and Tessa and make you join us."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr Dracula. But I said I'm probably going to take the job, threat of immortality not withstanding," Viktor relaxed and he continued, "But that means I'm going to rely on you three to help me make sure this place bounces back. Viktor, I'll need you to make sure our wiring and programming is all up to snuff. Tessa, same with the animatronics. Annora, if you could just… make sure there are as few issues with them as possible. And, I'm going to change your duties. You're still on your original frame and there's been talk of upgrading and updating it. If you would, I'd like to make that also a job change."

"Like… to hosting and serving..?" She perked up, "I  don't know that I could do any technician work-"

"You could!" Tessa interrupted. Everyone turned to look at her, "I've uh… I've been talking and planning with Henry… About, uh… that frame update. I actually already had the idea because he thinks her "AI" is super advanced somehow."

Annora blinked, the eyelids clicking, "So… I'd get to… work again? Actually help work on the tech stuff?" The excitement made the voice box crackle, "Maybe even repair the others and work on my old designs again and work on myself when I need repairs and-" 

"Slow… your roll, Annora… Working and helping with some of the technical work would have to involve discussions with the board. As for working on your old designs…" Chester gripped at his chin and sighed, "That's… That's a different story. Without passing them off to Tess or Vik, or even myself, it… would throw up flags for someone that you'd know so much about a dead woman's blueprints and animatronic concepts."

"Yeah, that'd get Henry's attention for sure… Maybe it could be like… her being our assistant?" Viktor offered, "Mine and Tess'? We can make the excuse that I upgraded the AI and I want to make sure it's running smoothly with the frame upgrade."

"... We'll see. Count our blessings that this place is known for being experimental. But we can't get carried away," Chester turned a stern look to each of them, "We need to go about this carefully and slowly. Remember the motto with anything corporate - Always CYA."

"We will," Annora nodded, "Promise."

There was a moment of quiet. The next few months wouldn't be easy. But they'd gone through a fire, 5 missing children, multiple staff deaths, William and Spencer. Dallas… They could get through this. They would get through this.

"Alright. We're done for now, before Michelle pops in here and yells at us for sitting down with guests in the place. Everyone play this by ear until we know more or Henry says something to any of us. And like always, keep this between us . We never know who'd rat us out or tell someone who doesn't need to know about this."

"Right," three heads nodded in response. 

"Alright, time for 'Miss Leyla' to finish her story." Annora stood and dusted at her legs.

"Which one were you telling them?" Tessa asked, joining her with a stretch.

"The one about the kittens and the snake. Unfortunately I left off as the snake got in the house, but I'm sure they'll be relieved to hear about the mother cat finding them in time."

"... If you were an actual AI, I'd be worried we needed to check your programming for morbidness. You have to pick more light hearted stories when this corporate takeover is done."

The arms of the animatronic moved slightly upwards in the best shrug she could manage, "When a kid complains it's too scary, I'll think of more light hearted stories for them. I haven't heard a complaint yet from kids or parents." If Tessa squinted, her expression looked like a smirk. She really wanted to work more expressiveness into the animatronics. All of them.

But, she shook her head and followed Annora out of the office, “You and your uncle are both menaces. At least he manages to channel his just into odd designs and character names…”

“He isn’t cooped up in here 24/7,” a heavy sigh left the voicebox and the entire animatronic frame sagged, “I really wish I could handle projecting myself long enough to walk around town again. I’d love to see how it’s changed and how it’s stayed the same.”

Tessa put a hand on her shoulder, “One day, Annora. I promise you , one day you will.”

She just nodded, and kept walking towards the main area of the restaurant. As soon as she was on the floor, kids could be seen crowding around her and gleefully pulling her towards the story corner. Maybe they liked the odd, and often darker, tones of her stories. They certainly seemed to love being around her. Tessa wondered if it was the more…. human nature of her interactions. 

She just wanted her to feel more herself again. Tessa could understand one part of Annora’s predicament - never aging, never truly dying. But Tessa could roam Hurricane. Utah. The world at large. Annora was stuck here. Keeping night guards company and playing ‘Miss Leyla’ for little kids.

That meant Tessa had to get working and get the others in on her plan. She squared her shoulders and went back to Parts & Service. 

Chester and Viktor hung back in the office, the former tapping a pen on the desk as he thought over the discussion. The latter leaned back in his chair, “So… If you’re going to be in charge… Does that make hiding me and Tess easier..? Hopefully.”

“It’s hard to hide the two of you. Between your personality and her attitude.”

“Chess… You know what I mean.”

The man sighed, sitting back to run a hand through his bangs, “Yeah, yeah I know what you mean, I just… I don’t know? I mean I’m pretty sure I can only do so much for editing databases, and you two are still… you’re learning what you can and can’t do. I don’t know if it’ll ever come to you two having to adopt new aliases or if corporate won’t even glance at it.”

He nodded, looking off at a picture frame on the desk. It was Chester, Henry, William, Viktor, Spencer, and a human Annora smiling excitedly as the ribbon was cut at the first location, Fredbear’s Family Diner. So much had changed since that day… He picked up the picture and looked it over again. 

“You think he ever regretted any of it? Ever had any remorse towards us? Henry? His own kids?” He glanced up.

“I don’t… I don’t know. How many kids did we figure? On purpose.”

Viktor counted on his fingers, “At least 5.”

“Probably not. If there was remorse involved, he would’ve stopped at 1. Why?”

Viktor set the photo back down and stood up, “Because after all the pain he caused, after the deaths that followed either his hands or his actions, after making Henry leave… I sincerely hope he’s as miserable as is inhumanly possible. And I want to mock him in Hell with all their voices.”

There was no reply as he left the office and went back to his own work. Chester still wished so hard that things would go back to normal one day. He glanced down at the photo Viktor had picked up. They’d all been so excited back then, excited for this new business venture.

“God… William, what did you do all this for? What was the point in causing all this madness?” He glared at him in the picture, “And why couldn’t you have answered for everything you did? You left us to pick up your damned mess, you…. you bastard .” He had half a mind to cut him out of the photo, or just to slam it down. But he didn't feel like picking up glass or having to take the photo out of the frame. 

And… There was likely something out in the restaurant for him to do instead. He settled for setting it face down on the desk and walking out, shutting the door behind him. There was no redoing the past, just a hope that they could make the future better. And eventually let the souls affected by William have true rest…

[fnaf-hereafter]

Part 9, Chapter 1

{For anyone who prefers the AO3 experience, go here!}

Now, now... this story's been told to you before, hasn't it? Quite a few times, as a matter of fact..! Oh, but I suppose it can't hurt to tell it to you again. But let's start at a beginning you saw, hm? Well, close to it. Every other story started at the beginning, so let's start a little closer to the middle...

Henry slumped further into his desk chair. What was it- 11:30? He glanced at the little cabinet that hid under a decorative plant near his desk. No... No, it was too early for that. And it would make everyone question if he was alright for work again. Henry didn't want to leave yet... He'd promised himself he would work on fixing that old music box where the puppet used to be. Or Anno- Leyla. He cursed at himself. She'd specifically asked for the name change when they'd updated her frame. And... as odd as it was for an animatronic to ask for such a thing... He felt compelled to listen.

His niece had been the one to program her, after all.

No. He had to get Annora out of his mind. There was too much paperwork that needed to be done. There was already a second missing child... Henry glanced down at the flyer the boy's parents had given him. Tobias Mitchell, 9 years old, and missing from his friend's birthday party. He'd want to up security again... Maybe he could convince his old friends to swap to a night shift or two while he worked on hiring more guards.

A knock at the door made him look up. One of said friends, Chester, was peeking in, "Hey, Hen. Wanted to check in on you."

Henry planted his face into his desk in answer, "Chess... What are we supposed to do..?" he looked back up and grabbed at the missing persons flyer, "It's the second one in 5 months! I thought we got rid of this... this psycho! When we moved locations?!"

Chester walked in and sat down, "I thought so too, Hen. We all did. But it's hard to say he's gone for good when they never caught him…"

"And why us?? Don't answer that," anything he was about to say was silenced by Henry's finger pointing at him, "I just... This… This wasn't my plan. My idea. This isn't what I dreamed for this place, Chess…" He leaned into his elbows and buried his face in his hands. One eye peeked out at two pictures he still had on his desk. Annora on the opening day of Fredbear's. She'd been so excited for the job… And Charlie on the last birthday before… before…

"Yeah…I don't think this is what any of us pictured… And unfortunately I don't know what to tell you in this case," Chester shook his head, "But… all we can do right now..? At least in my opinion. Spite him."

Henry's head came up, "Wha..?"

"Spite him! Make this place known for happy birthdays and parties and kids winning prizes at the arcade as they watch their favorite animatronic characters dance on stage! The stories An- Leyla tells the kids, and-" He looked half crazed, but enthused. Chester was never one to do things half way.

And maybe, Henry thought, That's what this place needs…

"You're right," he stood and walked around to the other side, motioning his friend to stand too, "This place, this whole business… was meant to make people happy," Chester nodded, "And… I am not… fit to bring that anymore."

"... Hen?"

"I'm asking you, my friend, and I know this is sudden. To take over for me. Be the owner in my stead."

"Hen… I-I'm not… I mean-?"

"You've been here since the beginning. You helped me power on when Annora was… And after Charlie's… death. You brought in Tessa after Circus Baby's shut down after the fire, you suggested we bring on Viktor, Scott, Dave…. I know it's a lot, I don't expect an immediate answer," Henry took a deep breath and let his shoulders sag, "But let's face things. I haven't been properly running this since my little accident in that newer suit. I barely upkeep any of the animatronics anymore, you, Tessa, and Viktor took over training new employees. At best I'm a face everyone forgot because I just… can't hang around here anymore."

"... It's a lot that you're asking, Hen. Even after signing on with corporate types to franchise the place."

"I know. Believe me, I know. Think on it, though. I'm very certain you could get this place to go back to our vision. Our dream. Does 4 days sound fair? Enough to weigh it all in your mind?"

"... Yeah. Yeah, that… sounds fair. But are you just…?"

"Up and leaving?" Another heaved sigh, "Yes. Between… my head and what happened to my body those few years ago… Maybe I should retire early. I'd be on my own at this point, anyways."

"... And you're just. Going to leave? What about everyone who came back?"

Henry glanced at his office's window. Outside he could see Leyla leading a group of kids in a dance routine, Viktor and Candice working on one of the arcade cabinets, Toby and Seline going over new recipes for the kitchen while they had a break, "If you all really want. But I'd rather leave without the pomp and circumstance. It just… doesn't feel like I deserve it. …. I'd rather not."

"... I'll tell em you want to quit without the fancy stuff. But if I say no..?"

"I've got a brother who's been wanting to join up with everything. Says he thinks it'd be lucrative. If you say yes? I'm sure he's got something lined up with the corporate people." A shrug was given as Henry moved back to his desk. He really should try and finish some of this paperwork before he turned in an ownership transfer. Matthew shouldn't have to worry about that if he took over, Chester either.

"..." The other man watched him for a moment. Then turned and left, "I'll get back to you in a day or two. I'll think on it, promise. I don't want more corporate busy bodies in here to ruin what fun is here. Even if he's your brother." Henry have a snort as Chester closed the door. He sighed heavily, then looked out across the restaurant. He caught the attention of Viktor and Leyla, then signaled to them to meet him once they could in the back. He didn't have to glance behind him to know they'd looked at each other with curiosity in their eyes. They'd show up when they had the time.

He kept walking back into the office behind Parts & Service. Tessa was there, as she tended to be, elbows deep in one of the extra animatronics' casing.

"You look enthused," she quipped.

"Yeah… Hey, when Viktor and Annora show up, I need you to join us in the office. There's uh… There's some shit about to happen. Major."

"Bullshit shit, or beaurocratic shit?"

"... Hard shit to deal with shit."

"Shit… Yeah, as soon as I see em both in there, I'll drop this and head in."

He only nodded in response as he went in and sat down at the desk. He slumped into the chair and let the air rush out of him, already tired and dreading the next few days. Henry wouldn't announce anything until it was official. Until he'd agreed he was simply… Mr Hughes; manager, senior technician, founding staff member. Simple but admirable. And now…? Well, nothing against Matthew, but he knew Henry's brother wasn't cut out to run this place, even with their help.

He'd have to take the new position. He'd have to. If he didn't, Freddy Fazbear's would be run into the ground and eventually closed forever with nothing but a bad reputation from what had started so happily. And after everything Henry had been through. Everything Annora, Tessa, Viktor had been through… After everything Chester himself and his family had been through… He wasn't letting that happen.

It was about 5 minutes before Viktor sauntered in, "Everything good..? Story time is finishing up, she'll be here soon."

Chester nodded, "Good. Tess is joining us too. And no. But I'm waiting until everyone is here to discuss it in full."

"Jeez… Why us…?"

"You'll know when they get here."

"That hush-hush with it?"

"No, it's that important."

Viktor put up his hands, "Alright. I'll sit in silent anticipation."

"You don't know how."

"... Touche. Hey, in better news, I think Annora's wanting to be booted up to a serving or host position. We could always convince corporate it's just a really advanced AI, and I bet customers would love her helping them. Might… even be a way to ease their concerns about the animatronics…?"

"We'll… see. This meeting needs to happen first, and I think-"

A lynx robot poked her head into the office room, "Sorry..! The kids made "Miss Leyla" promise to finish the story after they had pizza and cake."

"You're fine, Annora. Is Tessa -?"

"Right behind her. Annora, please move in?"

"Right, right- sorry!" First the animatronic then Tessa moved in and found seats.

"Now. You called a meeting with us, so this has to be important. What's going on, Chester?"

He let his head rest in his hands, his mouth covered until he spoke. And when he did, he kept his eyes closed, ".... Henry wants to retire as owner. And he's asked me if I'll take over."

[fnaf-hereafter]

A small thing for y'all to take a gander at, so you know I still have full intent to post things here- I'm making some sign designs for the different locations to put up for their respective chapters! Here's some WIPs of the ones for locations in FNAF 1-4;

[fnaf-hereafter]

Questions I'm answering before they're asked!

Will this blog follow me back?

No. I've stated in the bio that it's a side blog and cannot follow other blogs. I have enough accounts, I decided to utilize the sideblog feature for this one.

Is this account run by a minor/adult?

Adult. I'm doing this in my free time which means things will be slow, and also I'm one person. The only other human who has access to this blog is a friend I asked to help me proofread before I post chapters up. That being said, please follow Tumblr community guidelines... But do know this blog is Five Nights at Freddy's. It's an AU with OCs of mine. There will be gore warnings, injury warnings, death warnings, etc. Read this AU fic responsibly please.

Since this is a side blog, is there an account connected to it? Another blog? Is there a Discord server?

Technically yes, but I'm keeping my actual main blog off of this one for now. No, I'm not being secretive, I just don't want people to think I'm doing this for internet fame. I honestly don't expect this to get big. But I have a Twitter and Instagram I'm using to promote this blog, they're both under the "FNAF Hereafter" name, so they'll be easy to find.

As of writing and pinning this post I'm also waiting on an invitation to make another account to AO3 so the chapters can be posted there. Yes, I'm picking AO3 for the tagging system and filtering.

And for that last part... like I'm saying, I don't expect this to get big. I'm a huge nerd trying to share their excitement over a game they've loved since they were 18 but only just now developed a full AU for with other people. I'm a nerd sharing my OCs and headcanons and ideas. But if those who follow this blog decide they want a Discord server to easier see updates or something, I'm more than capable of I can get a small mod team on it.

Will there be art or just writing? And do you have designs for the canon characters?

Ahah, oh boy yes there will be. I've actually posted the lineart for several canon characters and OCs on my main Twitter before! And for any of my friends seeing this, you've seen the colored icons of the main cast. Eventually everyone, including all the background characters I'm naming, will have lineart designs at the least. There's a few scenes in my head that I really want to draw out, but they'll mostly be pencil and paper as that's what I'm still used to after 16 years of making art.

Is this blog just for posting the fic and art?

Actually it's going to be an ask blog as well! But one thing to keep in mind is the characters will be at different ages, levels of knowledge and experience, and stages of memory regarding events, depending on what chapter we're on! FNAF 1 versions will know different things than the FNAF 2 versions and so on. But once the first chapter is up, I'll make sure the ask box is open and y'all are free to ask away!

What do you mean when you say things are going to be out of order on purpose?

My version of the FNAF timeline is VERY skewed from what a lot of people think of it. I'm also interjecting some plot ideas in at different points (example; not all games are in my AU and not all characters have the same role or are even present!). But I'm writing the chapters out based on what game they came from and when that game released. So FNAF 1 is first, then 2, then 3, etc. But that won't be the official order of things due to how my timeline is set up. Eventually I will put out how my timeline is organized because I'm not Scott Cawthon and y'all aren't MatPat.

If we have questions for you specifically is there a character for that?

For one I have like, 5 personas that I use. For two I have a self insert who has a stand-in for this AU. For three, yeah, cause the idea of a narrator character that y'all can interact with is funny as hell to me.

That's all for now, this pinned post may be replaced or edited in the future, but be on the lookout for the first act and first chapters! They are currently in progress!