#five nights at freddys daycare attendant... save me...

[crabsnpersimmons]

It has come to my attention that I haven't drawn sun and moon as chibis yet

I have rectified the situation:

all is right with the world

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday, Fallout OC Sheet & Enemies Meme

Tagging @imogenkol @inafieldofdaisies @voidika @cloudofbutterflies92 @josephseedismyfather @direwombat @noodlecupcakes @socially-awkward-skeleton @adelaidedrubman @raresvtm @derelictheretic @cassietrn @aceghosts @davrinsgriffons @shallow-gravy @strangefable @statichvm @carlosoliveiraa @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @alypink @shellibisshe @josephslittledeputy @skoll-sun-eater @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @florbelles @minilev @justasmolbard @softtidesworld-deactivated20241 @yokobai and @seedsplease + anyone else who want to join.

Alright last two Five Nights at Freddy's songs for this little spout of FNAF resurgence. Anyway, music for The UnTitledverse and The Silver Chronicles with templates for OCs from A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore and An Old Ballad Of Chance And Ember Hearts Trilogy. You can listen and view these below the cut:

First song is for my FNAF WIP More Than Bargained For? and it is a remix song for the Ruin DLC of Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach made by my one of my favorite artists The Stupendium (who previously made a FNAF: SB song). Anywho, plot relevance. Unless the next game(s) come out, the Security Breach and Ruin DLC (plus FNAF VR: HW2) are intended to be the last section of the "Lena finally destroys the Mimic and takes down Fazbear Entertainment" arc, and after that will be the "let's all get healthy coping mechanisms and therapy" epilogue. At this point, Lena's done with this shit, like, this is the culmination of everything she's had to do and go through just to finally put a final end to this tragedy, just like Henry and Mike would have wanted. For her efforts at the Pizzeria Megaplex, she gets a little brother in Gregory, a little sister in Cassie, new animatronic friends rocking their aesthetics and gives Vanessa a sapphic awakening. Her girlfriend Cassandra's going to be thrilled. [Cassandra be like: "Ah yes, just me, my girlfriend, her new gremlin brother and sister that she adopted, the alien shapeshifter she befriended with his android girlfriends, the queer mall cop she saved from the serial-killing bunny-looking malware, an animatronic daycare attendant struggling with self-identity, and the 2,000 pound bear, chicken, wolf and alligator animatronics that slay the 80s vibe... truly winning in life."] Anyway song below:

"So you're trapped after dark in the park and you're tasked with surviving the night So your ma and your pa have departed the party and left you to fight So hang tight, to the tickets you've won And your toy laser gun Set your Faz-watch to 'fun' 'Cause it's hide and seek hunted By musical monsters Ain't that what you wanted? You came for some games and a bite The doors have all been closed but the stage has been set So on with the show, no escaping it yet The night is still young and the fun's just begun You've been played like your grave of arcade cabinets

When you've gates stormed by gators and wolves at the door When the power is down, you can't bear any more When each tick of the clock has you checking your watch And the chicken is watching you hungry for gore Oh, the fun that's in store! (Oh, the fun that's in store!)

Come get a pizza the action You want a pizza the action A tasty pizza the action You want a pizza the action

So come pick your destiny off of the menu (Fate won't wait 'til the sun comes up) Or be laid to rest in your favorite venue (Arcade to arcade, crust to crust) In this amusement park you are the Super Star We know that you'll go far but you must choose your path Those neon tubes cast shadows on a truth so dark It's up to you to battle its putrid heart So savor the taste of your last pepperoni (You've got a party pass to a backstage tour) 'Cause you're taking the stage for one night only (But will dawn chorus be your encore?)

Perhaps it's your birthday? Or your graduation? We're always the first place for a celebration Now maybe you've heard say, of some violations But it's not since Thursday we've had strangulations The go-karts are revved and the ball pit's been cleaned Montgomery's ready to tear up the scene Roxy's got the rock that's just got to be seen Just as soon as Chica's cleaned out the canteen Hear the cry of the fans as we strike up the band Now the time is at hand for the tightest of jams 'Cause it's tiny and cramped where you're hiding but Vanny Won't find you when crammed inside our leading man

When you've gates stormed by gators and wolves at the door When the power is down, you can't bear any more When the sun's gone away but the moon's come to play A more punishing game till the break of the dawn Oh, the fun that's in store! (Oh, the fun that's in store!)

Come get a pizza the action You want a pizza the action A tasty pizza the action You want a pizza the action

Darkness falls across the mall And metal mascots stalk the halls More murderous with each defect And out to prowl the pizzaplex And whomsoever shall be found By S.T.A.F.F Bot hoards that roll around Must then escape the bunny's wrath Or rot inside a stomach hatch The air is filled with pungent reek Of robots oiled in pizza grease And terror's bathed in neon light Are on the hunt to grab a bite For no amount of birthday cake Piñatas, games or fanfare Will help a lonely child survive The night at Freddy Fazbear's..."

Okay, the final(ish) FNAF song for this FNAF song streak I decided to do. Straight up, with The Living Tombstone's "This Comes From Inside", it's my favorite FNAF based song of all time. And I'm likely going to make 100 essays of why this song fits each of my stories, characters and the fandoms I'm in despite it being made for one fandom, and I will be really annoying about it. However, for now, I'll start with my Unnamed Elden Ring WIP. There are three main Tarnished OCs (with more on the side) that this WIP follows; Logan the Vagabond of No Renown (you can guess what his class is), Selke the All-Seeing Mage (she already knows of the horrors before she even experiences them), and lastly... Chiwa (...the Formless Mother favors this one). Let's focus on Logan. The Land's Between is stuck in a stalemate of a forever war, with nothing really proceeding and with no Demigods gaining the title of Elden Lord and achieving the Elden Ring, Queen Marika's Grace awakens the Tarnished that were previously exiled beyond the Fog, to call them back and do what Marika's children failed to do. Logan is amongst the earliest Tarnished to be revived (perhaps even a bit too early) and through no fault of his own, becomes one of the oldest Tarnished through process of waiting and living throughout the decades. Where he is at fault is his ambition (and his tendency to just... be a piece of shit, in general). In his youth, he was no better than the Demigods in his own hungry quest for power, glory, and reaching for riches and respect he'll never actually receive... given all the bridges he burns and the mistakes he refuses to learn from until it's way too late. Speaking of which, in his elder years, his ambition becomes... lackluster, to say the least. Considering what he learns from this whole thing, he becomes as bad as Morgott; he doesn't believe there can be anyway to proceed, so he just leaves the Lands in this state of a slow decay. The main theme of this WIP (as is the main theme of the series it comes from; The Silver Chronicles) is change. Change of self, change of system, change of environment, change of eras, change of ideologies and much, much more. With Logan, "This Comes From Inside" acknowledges what he comes to learn in his final years; nothing is going to change. With the way him and many others try (or tried) to satisfy their lust for power, they're just gonna remain in this stagnate state of despair and suffering to the expense of everyone else. If he wants to succeed, he needs to change his own inner-corruption... and if not? Things will only get worse. But the thing is, Logan won't do that, because he has no reason, no incentive, no purpose to do so in the present. He has died so many times for something he no longer believes in nor cares to do so, to the point his Grace is becoming more difficult to see every day. And when that's gone... he too will succumb to death. And even if he could get past his apathy, bitterness and selfishness, he's far from his prime nor can he do anything remotely closely impactful for anyone else. His use of Grace grows thinner too, so he only has a number of revivals before he's dead for good. So he can do nothing... unless he finds a drive to change. And he does; discovering it locked away in the darkest chasms that only the Eternal Queen Marika knew of... and sets out on a new quest with only two new goals in mind; to tempt an Outer God in a binding contract to give a fighting chance to become Elden Lord, and to ensure ownership over the Great Rune of the Unborn, no matter what it takes. I'm sure I'll expand more in either the notes or a more refined essay of ramblings. Enjoy listening below:

"How we could have known That we're stuck in a system? There was a pre-existing dictum, programmed to do nothing else Why feel so alone When we share so much wisdom? But you set fire to the kingdom, burn it all until it melts Or else

Now this comes from inside, how long do we have to try? Now this comes from inside, and stays there until you die Now this comes from inside, how long do we have to try? No this comes from inside, and stays there until you die

Long time ago, it was all for a show Fill out wounds with a pound of salt And your reason to justify scars You can't quantify, lock us inside a vault

Now this is your fault Everything is a problem There was a poison in the air, despair is an eternal blight You're losing it all You've been blinded by stardom You think that you're alone, but we are waiting for you every night You're mine

Now this comes from inside, how long do we have to try? Now this comes from inside, and stays there until you die Now this comes from inside, what you have, I want, it's mine Now this comes from inside, and stays there until you die!"

Here is a Fallout OC Sheet Template for my Vault Dweller OC Elrand Brandt from my UnTitled Fallout WIP from my A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore series. You can find a blank template at the end too:

And finally an Enemies Meme for two characters from my An Old Ballad Of Chance And Ember Hearts Trilogy WIPs, specifically two characters named Tyche (the God of Luck) and Rouske (pronounced ROSS-SH):

And the Empty Templates are all here:

[angelofrainfrogs]

Break My Mind: Ch. 8

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Gregory must be dreaming this time. No sooner had he come to accept this strange reality where everyone is alive and well, than he’s sent back through time and space to the weekend he got trapped in the Pizzaplex. He’s supposed to help his family get on track for a better future, yet… didn’t he already succeed in his own timeline? Confused but relieved, Gregory drops back into his new life in the mega mall. In fact, who should be waiting for him but Michael, clad in a security uniform and searching for his missing family! Only—the night guard seems a bit more withered than when Gregory last saw him. Not to mention that cold look in his silver eyes…

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

The party (sans Lizzie) soon made it to the Daycare. Still in the lead, Henry cautiously moved past both sets of garage doors, letting out a sigh of relief when the lights were shining bright in the main area. The Daycare looked exactly as Gregory would remember it from his own timeline, with the rainbow play area in the middle serving as a beacon of temporary safety as long as it was illuminated. Peering through the netting showed Sun pacing near the play structures, wringing his hands together and murmuring to himself. Nothing new from when Henry and co. had encountered him last... But even so, it'd be best to check in before they bombarded the attendant.

“Sun?” Henry hissed, wary of anyone else potentially listening in. The room seemed empty save for the lanky animatronic, but they could never be too sure.

“OH!” Sun startled violently, clearly having been lost in thought. At the sight of the group—notably the three children—he gasped and gestured for them to meet him at the wooden doors. “Oh my gosh, more little sunbeams... Come, come—inside! Hurry up!”

Gregory had been woken by the completely manic voice of the familiar Daycare attendant. Thank goodness he was still on their side in all of this. Charlie let go of Evan, allowing him to wander the relatively safe wonderland that was the Daycare. Henry chose to stick with Charlie, grateful for a moment with just the two of them while the others had space to move around. He still kept an eye on Sun, of course—just in case.

Finally, William thought, a moment that he didn't have to spend worrying about everyone... Well, everyone but Lizzie. After letting Gregory go to wade around in the rainbow river, he would stand in wait by the slide. Surely she'd find her way eventually. William wasn't worried, he convinced himself despite taking a seat in the ball pit to watch for any signs of his daughter.

Charlie had to take a seat. Finding an extra-cushiony portion of the floor, she dropped onto her butt and looked up to her dad with slow-blinking eyes.

“Thanks for turning off the... Pain... Feely... Thingy,” she mumbled, still holding onto Henry's hand with the Puppet's long arm.  

“Please don't thank me,” Henry said, a wave of guilt washing over him. “I designed the sensors to help you, but I... I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am they were used against you, sweetheart. I promise your next android will not have anything close to that.”

On the other side of the room, Cassidy came closer to inspect Sun, letting out a low whistle and remarking completely unfiltered: “Hot damn, you're tall!”

“Ooh, no, no, little one—we don't use that sort of language in the Daycare!” Sun chided, bending down and patting Cassidy on the head. She quickly slapped his hand away, but before he could inform her that physical violence was also off the table he caught sight of Evan wandering up to her side.

Tilting his head just a bit too far to the left, he observed the two near-identical boys. His static eyes never outwardly moved, but underneath the clear veneer he was trying to scan them for any indication of who they were... but his guest database was still on the fritz. Eventually he straightened up, an inquisitive smile in his voice as he addressed the duo. “Gregory, I didn't know you had a twin!”

“Uh, y-yeah, I'm... Evan,” the ghost said haltingly, deciding it best not to argue with the extremely tall animatronic. Sun reminded him of the Puppet in many ways—clearly, his design had been inspired by the old security bot. Despite this comforting fact, there was just something... creepy about this iteration. Why in the world did Sam think this would be a good animatronic to watch over babies?!

But if Henry and the others trusted that Sun was safe, then Evan would just have to get over his fear like he did with everything else.

At Evan's clear hesitation, Gregory reached over and slipped his arm around his shoulder. If he was anything like the Evan in his timeline, he'd been alone for an extremely long while. He needed a brother, and that was a need that Gregory was unafraid to fill for now.

“Yep!” Gregory agreed. “I just found him actually.”

Cassidy looked at them with an incredulous stare. Firstly, she was surprised that Gregory was touching Evan without being pushed away, as the ghost was known to get snippy and cagey every now and then. Maybe there was more to this Gregory kid than she first suspected. She busied herself with looking all over the room, analyzing all the tiny details imposed inside the Daycare. It was clear she had the same thoughts as Evan about Sun, but the entire Daycare itself was a huge department. She would've killed to play in a place as nice as this when she was alive.

“Hey, Will! This Daycare kicks your diner's butt!” she called, waving to the old man as he grumbled, turning further away from the group to keep watching the colorful plastic tube slide.

Evan did flinch at Gregory's initial contact, as casual as it may have been. He'd always hated random people touching him, and with everything he'd been through the only ones he was willing to be in contact with were Cas, Lizzie, and Charlie... Henry was alright, and under certain circumstances Evan might allow his father near for a limited amount of time.

But Gregory was basically stranger—yet Evan felt like he could trust him. Maybe their near-identical faces threw him off, or perhaps it was the silver in Gregory's eyes that made up the difference. Whatever the case, Evan found himself almost sagging into his “twin's” embrace like he'd been missing him for years.

“Aww, that's so sweet!” Sun remarked, clasping his hands in front of his chest as he watched the pair interact. “Well, Evan, feel free to wander around and play! There are a few rules, but I'm sure you won't be too much trouble. The biggest one to remember is to keep the lights—

—off—” A raspy voice cut into Sun's cheery tone, though the attendant quickly returned to himself before anyone could mention it.

“—on. Keep the lights on!” Sun stressed, and despite him not making any threatening moves Evan took a step back.

“...What the hell was that?” he muttered to Gregory, but of course Sun could hear him.

“Goodness, you three have quite the potty-mouths—”

“Sun...” Henry spoke up from his corner of the room. “Are you sure you're okay?”

“Yes, yes!” The attendant quickly waved away their concerns. “That little fiasco yesterday just got me a bit out of whack... but I'm perfectly fine! Just... please obey the rules this time, alright sunbeam?” He turned his blank gaze to Gregory, still unfortunately believing he'd been responsible for turning off the lights yesterday and Sun's subsequent blackout.

Gregory, despite being outside his autochthonous timeline, knew perfectly well why the attendant demanded a “Sunny Day” out in the Daycare. He squeezed Evan in close, feeling his cold, ghostly brother tense at the awful rasp that Sun made. Giving the authority figure a thumbs-up, he called to him cheerfully.

“Totally! Sorry again about yesterday, Sun!” he apologized, motioning for Cassidy to follow him towards the climbing gyms as he steered them away from Sun's prying ears.

“So—he's two people. Day and Night, or Sun and Moon,” Gregory whispered to the ghosts. “I’m guessing Moon's working for Michael. So if we keep the lights on, we'll be fine.” 

“This guy’s insane. Sam lets him watch babies?” Cassidy hissed, watching Sun as he moved in a jittery gait towards the Emilys.

Evan remained silent while Gregory and Cassidy spoke, watching the lanky robot with a grim expression. Sun didn't look as outwardly threatening as any of the others—though admittedly the ghost had only seen Freddy in person. The rest of the Glamrocks were only known to Evan through posters around the Pizzaplex. He recalled seeing a blue-themed animatronic with a nightcap that sort of resembled Sun's body type, and reasoned this must be “Moon.”

Shivering slightly, Evan tucked himself closer to his old comfort Cassidy. He did not want to know what happened when the lights went out... Cassidy patted at Evan's back, there to reassure him.

“I'm sure it'll be fine.” She scoffed playfully, as if reading his mind. Though Evan, no matter how hardened he got over the years, always wore his emotions so freely on his sleeves. “—Look! He's off to bother Will. Let's go explore!”

Gregory had to agree, feeling as though he should keep moving to keep himself awake. This might also give him an opportunity to know more about his friends—if he was supposed to be fixing timelines, the less blind he could go into wild situations, the better...

***

Across the way, Charlie heaved a sigh and shook her head, adamant as she told her father: “Look... I'm done blaming you. You can feel bad, but some things just aren't your fault.”

Charlie had been angry when she found Henry again. It was an intense time in her afterlife to rehash every letdown in her childhood and trace it directly back to him, her mother, and William. But Charlie had a lot of growing to do despite the age of her departure. And sometimes, growing up meant seeing your parents, their faults, and the problems they put on you, then finding the strength to forgive them. Henry was just a well-meaning man trying to do right by her—even if life gave him the worst luck in return.

“I love you, Dad. I'm sorry things turned out the way they did,” Charlie said, pressing his soft paw to her stained, porcelain face.

Henry stared at his daughter with gut-wrenching affection behind those cold, glassy blue eyes. When she brought his hand to her face, he let out a soft, endearing chuckle.

“How in the world did you get to be so good, Charlie?” He shook his head in disbelief, then sighed. “Okay, from now on we'll try not to blame ourselves too much—either of us. I love you so, so much.”

Charlie would laugh at this. Even after everything she had done for people, she didn't quite see herself as “good.” Though she supposed all that mattered was that her dad was proud.

“I don't know, I certainly didn't learn it from you or anything,” she quipped sarcastically in return, reminding Henry that he wasn't a total fuck-up. He was trying his hardest like anyone else here.

He’d always tried to be Super-Dad. And yeah, for a while, things were great. Forces unseen would later ruin that, but Charlie knew in her heart of hearts that Henry always had good intentions. Looking behind her, she saw William sitting alone.

She thought on how he spoke to her earlier. Despite how she treated him, he still tried his hardest to treat her as an equal now. Charlie narrowed her eyes and reversed the thought. It was best not to trust him completely, in her opinion. Though she supposed he’d earned a small “thank you” for later.

Sun, who'd initially made a beeline for the Emily's, realized they were having a private conversation and instead directed his attention to the rabbit lingering in the ball pit. Due to the supernatural nature of everything, Will and Henry decided it best to keep up the ruse of being old models the company decided to bring out for a trial run. It was much easier than trying to explain about literal ghosts in the machines... Plus, they had no idea how the animatronics would react to finding out there were human bodies inside the suits, even if they were long-dead.

“Bonnie—” Sun intoned, approaching the wistful bunny slowly. His hands were clasped again, and he swayed idly from side to side—nothing out of the ordinary for the hyperactive Daycare attendant. For now, he was himself. “—are you feeling okay? You look a little down in the dumps, friend!”

William looked almost powered-down as he watched the tube slide, his arms perched on his knees. At Sun's call he glanced over, quickly going into character.

“Oh, howdy, Sunny!” he greeted, but even the face he made for Sun wasn't so convincing. “Not going to lie, old pal: I'm a lil' under the weather. Just waitin' for a friend I haven't seen in short second.”

“Aww, I'm sorry to hear that!” Sun remarked, curling up into a crisscrossed seat at the edge of the ball pit. “I haven't seen my friends in a while, too...” He cupped a hand over his static mouth and leaned forward conspiratorially. “They've been acting kinda funky lately, if you ask me... But then again, who doesn't get a little crazy from time to time?”

He pulled back with a bright chuckle, blissfully unaware of just how bad the virus had made things. Sometimes, being essentially confined to one room for your whole existence had its unintentional benefits—as long as the lights stayed bright and shining overhead, that is.

Resting his arms on his knees, Sun tilted his head as he continued to gaze at the rabbit. “Who are we waiting for? Do I know them, or—ooh! Is it another new friend?!”

The old rabbit offered his own friendly advice to one of Samuel's original creations. Turning in the pit, the sound of shuffling and ball clinking against each other acting as white noise while he gathered his thoughts on the matter in a way that Bonnie would say. “Shucks—sometimes you just gotta let your friends be crazy for a little bit. They'll be feelin' themselves again faster than you know it.”

Hopefully Sun wouldn't get mixed up with Michael's gang. He didn't quite fear Sun joining them all willingly, though he did fear the bright attendant being permanently disabled for Moon to take over...

Picking a red ball and examining it, William asked: “Have ya ever heard of... Circus Baby?” The name almost pained him to use. It was his fault she was even in that thing. “She's a good pal of mine. I'm excited to see her again.”

“Circus Baby…” Sun rolled the moniker around on his metaphorical tongue. Reaching in his data banks was a struggle—which could be seen outwardly by the way he flinched, as if being yelled at by an unseen entity—but he managed to conjure up a half-readable reference for one such animatronic.

“My processors are a little rusty thanks to that downed network…,” Sun apologized, perking up again and bouncing where he sat. “But yes, I found her! She was part of the Funtime line! Ooh, I’ve always thought those were so amazing—from what the references in my database show, they seemed like they had such energy when performing!”

It’d been Sun’s wish since being powered on that someday he’d meet an animatronic that matched his excitable intensity. The Glamrocks were all wonderful friends of course, and Monty and Bonnie—when he was here—could sometimes be riled enough to go a little wild… but Sun had yet to meet a robot that he gelled with as much as he wanted to.

“I’m so happy Sam decided to bring back some of the old models,” he said earnestly. Then he gasped as a realization hit. “Wait—if Circus Baby’s here, does that mean the whole Funtime line is being reinstated?!”

Sun was so excited, it would be a shame to dash his hopes. William decided it would be better to give him a vague answer.

“I do believe that Circus Baby is the prototype. If she’s a hit, then Sam might bring back the rest of the gang!” he chirped back, remembering his little passion project. Where Henry’s ideas circled around woodland animals in their little bands, his own idea took place inside of a circus…

They didn’t last very long as a restaurant chain, but William managed to keep the business afloat as a rental outlet. When Evan had his accident, William threw himself into an inebriated spiral. Only having remembering the worst of it all, he also happened to have his most productive time as an engineer. Circus Baby’s Pizza World was inspired by Elizabeth, and it would be nice to see Samuel try to recapture his ideas from way back then.

—If only the mere thought of that restaurant chain didn’t make him want to put his head under the tires of a moving truck. He had failed yet another one of his children, unable to keep them safe.

“Wouldn’t that be somethin’, huh? Seeing all them new faces around,” he elaborated, hiding his real feelings about the Funtime line of animatronics well.

“That would be fantastic!” Sun cheered, not sensing William’s internal distress. “Oh, I’m so excited to meet her! I love making new fr—iendssss…”

That rasp was back, coupled with a notable twitch of Sun’s fingers. Though as before he soon returned to himself, shrinking back in mild embarrassment. “Sorry… my security protocol’s been a little weird, too… I’m okay though!”

Henry had been watching the interaction closely, and this made him wander over. Hearing Moon break through wasn’t good, to say the least. As the old bear moved, he cast a glance towards the slide over the ball pit. Where the hell was Lizzie?

The yellow head of Bonnie tilted to the side, glancing to Sun in a cautious way. But the rapid thumping steadily coming for them had William jumping to his feet in alarm—though it was only Elizabeth tumbling down the tube slide, right on cue. She was caught a few times due to her size, but managed to get out on the other side triumphantly. Before she could really register where she landed, William had almost fallen over helping her right herself. Grunting as she stood tall and observed the play-land surrounding them all, she excused herself before William could even berate her for falling behind.

“I had to take a detour—” Liz explained, and upon turning around came face to face with the perky Daycare Attendant looking as if he was going to combust with joy. Somewhat off-put but not necessarily frightened of this energetic animatronic, she offered a quiet greeting. “… Hello.”

Circus Baby was different than the images in Sun's database. Her shiny, cohesive appearance had been replaced by a soot-covered conglomeration of broken pieces that made her look a bit lopsided, and the claw was certainly questionable... Regardless, there was no doubt that this was the Circus Baby that Bonnie mentioned, and without hesitation Sun wrapped his long arms around her shoulders in a brief hug.

“Oh my goodness, I'm soooo excited to meet you!” he exclaimed, pulling back and bouncing from foot to foot. The jingling bells on his wrist cut through the ambient noise of kids playing in the background. Pressing a hand to his chest, the Daycare attendant announced: “My name's Sun! Welcome to the Mega Pizzaplex Daycare!”

“So much energy...,” Henry mumbled in amazement, watching the day-themed animatronic go. It made sense due to his primary purpose of caring for the little ones, but Henry didn't know if he'd have ever thought to make something this inexhaustible. To Lizzie he offered a wave as he stopped near Sun at the edge of the ball pit. “You had to take a detour? Everything okay?”

The touching… Liz held back the urge to backhand the Attendant. It wasn’t as if he was attacking her, and it was always a rude habit her father scolded her for. To her though, the real rude part was that people touched her without asking. A memory of Michael putting a live frog in her hair crept into her mind as an example. Though with the lack of expressiveness on her smiling face, it was hard to tell how it made her seethe.

Once he introduced himself she calmed a bit, willing to tell the outwardly friendly bot: “Thanks Sun. It’s… good to be here.”

She was confused at the fanfare, but wasn’t so upset that someone was happy to see her. Turning in a bulky and jolting manner to Henry, Elizabeth answered.

“I ran into Chica. You know, there was never a Chica made at Circus Baby’s Pizza World…,” she mentioned anecdotally, the compartment door on her chest opening with some effort to reveal a torn-out beak, a segment of a white and manicured hand, as well as Chica’s ponytail. “I thought it would be nice to catch up.”

“Oh...” Henry breathed, reeling back slightly in shock. Apparently that claw wasn't just for show. Pushing the chest compartment shut before the curious Sun could peek inside, Henry nodded approvingly. “Good job; one less thing to worry about when we leave again...”

“You said you wanted a place to rest, right?” Sun chimed in, tilting his head as he listened to their conversation. He knew he was missing something, but figured if they wanted to give him all the details they would. “I'm sure those kids are getting tired—it's late! I... can't turn the lights off, but I'm still capable of handling nap time, if you need.”

“We'll take care of it, Sun,” Henry reassured quickly. Anything they could do to not potentially trigger Moon would be great—including dealing with “nap time.”

“I really don't mind!” the attendant insisted, wanting to make himself useful. Henry patted his arm amiably, glad that his moldy bear face didn't show his annoyance. Sun was excitable and pushy.

“It's fine, really—maybe you could get the kids and tell them it's time to take a break?” Henry suggested. Only Gregory needed to sleep, but it'd still be nice to get the others to take a load off for a few hours if they could.

For a moment, Sun merely stared at the original Freddy. He looked as though he might say something, but then his head gave a little jerk and he turned, looking towards the kids. “A-Alright! You know, that's a good plan—bedding stuff is over there.”

He pointed towards a set of cubbies against a nearby wall, still tracking the trio running through the jungle gym. Without waiting for a response he moved towards them, calling out. “Sunbeams! Nap time! We're keeping it bright but we're gonna try our best to sleep!”

Gregory and the others had been talking in a circle beneath one of the padded spaces under the climbing gym when the attendant skipped over. To him, this Sun was certainly more unhinged. While he was suspicious, he knew there likely wasn't anything bad that could happen to them, so long as the lights stayed on...

Cassidy stood up next. She’d been rather restless throughout the years, what with her plotting alongside Charlie and keeping the other kids in line. She couldn't exactly remember the last time she went to bed.

“Nap time? Are we three?” she asked Evan quietly, as not to hurt the nice robot's feelings. He wasn’t that bad. Just kind of jumpy and hyper.

As Gregory followed Sun, he grasped lightly onto his bells to garner his attention. “Hey so... If you happen to see the night guard, could you wake us up? Or... Like, just shout really loud?”

“Hmm?” Sun glanced down at Gregory questioningly, then gently tugged his arm free to pat his head. “Of course I will! I've been meaning to talk to Mike about, um... a few things, but he hasn't been by in a long time... I'll definitely tell you if he shows up, though!”

At least, he hadn't been by to Sun's knowledge.

Evan trailed along at the end of the group, a frown etched on his face. Leaning into Cassidy, he whispered: “...I really don't like him. He freaks me out.”

By the time the group returned to Henry, Will, and Liz, three sets of blankets and pillows had been set up on the padded floor. Gesturing to the sleeping arrangements, Henry told the group: “Okay, take your pick; those that can fall asleep, we'll wake you up in a few hours.”

He was subtly trying to let Sun know that not all the kids would pass out like expected, but he needn't be worried. While Gregory got some well-needed rest, hopefully the others could hash out a decent plan. Sparing a glance at where Charlie sat in the shadows on the other end of the room, Henry let out a sigh. Poor, poor thing...

God, he wished they had more people to help; to assure nothing like what happened to Charlie ever occurred again. He'd love to recruit Sun, but there was simply no way to trust the attendant fully—not with the building's power under Michael's control.

Charlie figured they didn't need to see her face right before they fell asleep. There was no need for her to be the cause of any nightmares. She knew this was temporary, but the pain it caused would last more than a lifetime. She watched as Gregory fell straight on his back in the little padded area, covering his face with the pillow to keep the light out; she wondered if he passed out the moment he fell. Cassidy looked to Sun, then to Evan, jabbing him with her elbow.

“That guy's scaring you? He's a big pushover,” she assured him, then because she was his friend and couldn't resist poking fun at him, cooed: “Don't worry, I'll protect you!”

William watched them, coming over to make sure they settled down alright. “Sleep tight, kids. Or... Try to.”

“Goodnight, Mr. Afton,” Cassidy replied in Evan’s stead. Of course she'd make fun of Evan to the moon and back. But when it came to the real things that truly bothered him, Cassidy knew when to pull her punches and actually defend him.

“I didn't say he scared me, I said he freaks me out,” Evan clarified, sticking up his nose at Cassidy's jibe. He settled down next to her and Gregory, turning his annoyed expression on William as he spoke. For a moment, it seemed like Evan was going to ignore him, especially when Cassidy answered in his stead. Then, finally, he replied with the faintest:

“...'Night.”

—before abruptly laying down and pulling another blanket over himself. Evan doubted he'd actually sleep, but damn did he feel drained from the stress of this afterlife...

“Rest well,” Henry murmured, a soft smile crossing his face in spirit. Looking up to Sun, he watched the attendant carefully. “...You going to be okay looking over them?”

“Yes, Fredbear—no worries!” Sun gave his top hat a little pat. “Besides, I'm sure you're not going far, are you? Or... were you planning to leave?” It sounded like Sun didn't want them to go.

“We're staying. We'll just be talking over there—any trouble, wave for us. Okay?”

“You got it.” With that, Sun plopped himself down cross-legged next to the group, keeping an eye on them to assure they slept well.

William knew better than to push it and was quick to shuffle away from the slumbering group. Liz followed suit, looking over her shoulder then waving to Sun for his help, as she was sure his job of watching the kids was normally a thankless one. William walked over to where Charlie was, huffing as his daughter followed.

“Yikes,” Charlie murmured, looking up to William through her mask.

He flashed Charlie a look, but instead of berating her for judging him as she was often want to do, he merely asked, “What?”

“You trying. It's rough to watch,” she said honestly, watching as William's arms crossed. He tapped his foot, either out of impatience as he waited on Henry, or nervousness. Charlie sighed. “He needs time. I did, remember?”

Charlie just barely tolerated Will at this point, but it was a stark difference to the first time they’d reconnected after death. While he had changed for the better, he needed to prove that much to Evan.

“You still have a long ways to go earning our trust back,” Charlie continued, trying not to sound too judgmental as she spoke. Elizabeth agreed with a nod.

“You should probably be grateful. He talked about dragging your corpse out of your suit and leaving it in a dumpster,” she said honestly, making her father cringe at the thought.

“He said that?” Will asked in a rough whisper, glancing over to where the boy pretended to sleep.

At this point Henry made it back to the group, moving slow as if his limbs ached. Thankfully he couldn't feel anything, but damn was this suit in need of a good cleaning and oiling of the joints...

“Gregory's out, at least,” he informed as he took a seat heavily on the floor next to Charlie. He'd missed their conversation but could feel William's distress radiating off him, so he reached out and patted the rabbit's moldy knee.

“Don't dwell on it, Will. At least he didn't insult you again. Anyway—” Looking around to the group, he let out a sigh. “—what's next on the agenda? I say we have two, maybe three hours tops that I'd wager we're safe here before the others guess where we've hidden.”

“Well, what time is it, anyway?” Charlie had been meaning to ask. Not that it mattered. Michael had convinced management to let him stay to keep 24-hour surveillance on the place, trusting him only because of his impressive resume. “We might be able to get Gregory a full day of rest if it's almost morning.”

William went to look at his left wrist, as if trying to tell her the time out of instinct, then let out a hefty sigh.

“Perhaps Sun can tell us; surely he's still connected to a clock. Anyway, next item to discuss; we spoke about capturing Michael and what we're going to do when we get him,” he began, now scanning his gaze across their little ragtag team and scratching under his chin as if he were rubbing stubble there. “But not how. We want to set a trap, but we need something to trap him in...”

Henry slouched as the glaring holes in their plans were pointed out. It was all well and good to lure Michael somewhere, but the problem would be keeping him there.

“Yes, we’ll need a vessel to hold him,” the old bear said with a heavy nod. “On a side note, I think it'd be a good idea to take the other Glamrocks out, if we can. Lizzie did a number on Chica already, but I'm more worried about that stupid gator and the wolf...” His eyes shifted to Liz, tapping a fist against his chest cavity. “Judging by your collection, I take it Chica was down for the count once you were done with her?”

Usually the animatronics only had freakish resilience if there was a supernatural influence to back them up. Without that, maybe these one would actually stay down... Although, Henry had a nagging feeling it wouldn't be so easy.

“She wasn't moving...” Liz answered, completely unsure if the bird was truly taken out. Honestly, it was easy—like shooting a sitting duck. Or a chicken in this case. Chica recognized her as Circus Baby after all, not a child, and in fact tried to usher her back to Roxy's Salon as she was in an apparent need of a makeover. Not only did Liz resent being told that, but again with people trying to hold onto her. Well one thing led to another, and Liz had to leave her in the atrium for anyone to find...

Even if Chica could still function after what Liz had put her through, her dad seemed proud. Clapping her jagged shoulder, William had a smile in his voice.

“Nice one, 'Lizbeth,” he praised, unknowingly encouraging his children to be violent once again. Though he figured the context mattered here... Right?

“Liz and I can try to take more of them out. Without his goons, we could have our way with torturing him...,” Charlie replied in a macabre way.

“Let's not be hasty,” Henry quickly backpedaled. “And I really don't think we should move in groups of less than three at all times... you never know when—”

When my daughter might get snatched up and tortured again.

“—um, w-when someone's going to be spotted.” He looked off to the side, wincing as the dark thought crossed his mind. Ideally none of them would split up, but the bigger their group got the less feasible this seemed. After a moment he composed himself, laying out what they had.

“Okay, so first order of business: take out the Glamrocks. Then, figure out where to put Mike.” A contemplative ethereal frown crossed his face behind the cartoonish bear mask. “…You don’t think we could get him in an animatronic, do you?

If they could get those claws off, trapping Michael inside, say, his dear Freddy would be ironic justice for what he did to Evan all those years ago... although on the flip side, the bear would be hard to take down. He might not be as physically imposing at Monty or Roxy, but he was smart.

William looked to Henry with an almost giddy expression.

“You genius bastard,” he praised quietly as not to wake the kids. “What an ironic hell.”

It was the perfect punishment for his crimes. They wouldn’t ever have to worry about Michael returning once his soul melded with steel and wires; if Charlie was able to subdue his spirit enough, it might actually be feasible. As for people splitting off again, William was just as opposed.

“No we’ll wait. Lay low… Hold off until they’re alone. It’s going to be hard for them to defend themselves when it’s one against four,” William pointed out, bouncing his ideas off of Henry, as he didn’t want Liz or Charlie volunteering themselves to go fight Michael’s walking murder machines by themselves.

“Agreed.” Henry nodded, daring to be a bit hopeful of things to come. Maybe with everyone together things would actually turn out how they wanted this time...

He didn't think he could take another failed attempt at destroying Michael, especially it involved burning down a building. After the incident in the faux diner when Michael trapped him the golden Freddy suit right before the place went up in flames, Henry had come to fucking hate fires.

Glancing over at the sleeping trio, it looked like even Cassidy had laid down. Whether she and Evan were truly asleep was another thing, but at least they weren't running around thinking of ways to torture Evan's psychotic brother. Even ghosts needed to take a load off once in a while. To Henry's relief, Sun also still looked to be functioning just fine. Sitting in the same place as before, he didn't show any indication of the virus besides the occasional twitch of a finger as it rested on the ground beside him. For now, the group was at peace.

“This could actually work,” Charlie said, resigning to rest on the ground with her back against the wall. She glanced up to the old men, eyes rolling behind the mask. To Charlie, it was easy to see how the tons of stress they were being put through was making them wiggy. “Both of you sit down. If you stress yourselves out too much, the fur on your suits will turn grey…”

“You’re one to talk,” Liz replied for them, reminding her of what she'd just gone through. “All of you should rest up. I’m going to make sure that Sun isn’t going to do anything weird.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Henry replied with a chuckle, moving heavily to rest next to his daughter against the wall. William's gaze trailed after his own child, and Henry nudged his oversized foot with his own to get his attention. “Sit, Will; they'll be okay for five minutes. This is a safe space.”

Henry couldn't be a hundred percent sure of this claim, but at least he didn't fear any threats from within so long as the lights stayed on.

“These kids, Henry…,” William griped, rubbing his forehead. The feeling was numb, and really didn’t help the budding headache he could feel coming on. He figured when he died, that would have ended his constant migraines.

Charlie held in a laugh. She was sure that she’d heard William complain to her dad in the same tone before. It felt like the old days, walking into her diner after school to find William and Henry working and hanging around. You know, if she really pushed all of forty years out of her mind…

Elizabeth wasn’t aware there was an issue with Sun. but after growing up with Michael as an older brother, she could recognize sketchy behavior and red flags all around. She would pat her friend's head, noting as Charlie pushed back against her palm. It was hard for her to come to terms with, how they’d all turned into these monsters. She was just glad to still have at least one friend left, even in this awful situation they found each other in. She left them, trying to move as silently as possible to quietly greet Sun.

Sun turned when he heard Circus Baby's slow shuffle, seeming to brighten up as she parked herself next to him. He spoke in a whisper so as not to wake the children. “Hello there! I think they're all asleep. Gregory seemed so exhausted...”

The Daycare attendant hadn't the first clue what the kid had been through, but whatever it was must've been taxing on his small body. Tilting his head curiously, he asked Elizabeth: “How are you liking the Pizzaplex so far? I hope you find the Daycare nice, at least! It'd be great to have some new friends to visit with.”

Sun certainly captivated Liz with his colorful palate. The kids here probably loved their metal guardian, and Liz wouldn’t blame them. He was a character she would’ve liked at a young age.

“It’s a nice place,” Liz answered, her gaze watching over the kids alongside Sun. “It’s better than Circus Baby’s Rentals… Not many friends around. So it’s a good change of pace.”

In reality, the Pizzaplex astounded her. If only their situation was more normal; she would love for Sammy to show her around the mall. She mused on this for a moment, unawares of the metallic form dripping from Sun’s balcony. Quietly, it dropped into the ball pit and slithered along the bottom of the plastic river.  

...

—Something’s here.

This time, the raspy voice of Moon only spoke in Sun’s mind. This made it even more startling when the animatronic suddenly whipped his head 180 degrees to stare hard at the ball pit. He swore he’d heard plastic clinking around, but the river was deathly still.

“Sun?” Henry caught the abrupt movement out of the corner of his eye and was already gearing up to stand again. “You okay?”

“Hmm?” Sun turned back to the others slowly. He remained quiet for a moment, arguing with the voice in his head unbeknownst to everyone else. Eventually he let out a huff and subsequently perked up as his consciousness won out.

“Everything’s fine!” Sun reassured, waving his hands slowly so the bells didn’t jingle as much. “I thought I heard something in the ball pit but… I must’ve been mistaken.”

Charlie seemed to be on the alert as well. When Henry glanced back at her, she was staring directly in the pit's direction. Without explanation, she got up and traverse across the floor towards the play area again to investigate.

“Charlotte Emily, no—” William whispered harshly, but attempting to get that girl to listen to him was like pulling teeth. So, the slow bunny scrambled to get back up and offered a hand to help Henry to his feet. So much for taking it easy, as Charlie had asked...

Charlie gazed into the ball pit with a silent curiosity. Her mask scanned the colors, separating them out with her hands, and she soon found a face like hers staring straight back—a clown mask with exaggerated features and bright, searching (mismatched) eyes. Her first reaction wasn't fear, but an inquisitiveness from the strange character. Maybe such curiosity came from Charlie's welded-on protector…

“And what's your name?” she asked, figuring this little clown was another creation of Sam's. Something about this face was familiar in a distant way. But what it would say next shocked her into a frozen state.

“WE ARE ENNARD...”

Sun was at their side in an instant. Crouched low, almost hunched, his blank eyes locked onto the intruder. In that soft voice not quite his own, he remarked: “Helloooo…?”

“Oh god—Sun, hey, we got this!” Henry said loudly, not caring at this point if he woke up the kids. He felt bad disturbing their rest of course, but Ennard deserved their utmost attention…

And he also needed to make sure Sun didn’t flip out. The amalgamation might not be a threat at all… or they could be walking into a trap. Either way, the last thing they needed was Moon coming out to play too. Sun glanced at the pair as the old bear and rabbit joined them at the pit.

“Ah… sorry, it’s me—eee,” he tried to confirm, though the glitch in his voice said otherwise.

“Let us talk to Ennard, okay? Please?” Henry practically begged, placing a paw on Sun’s leg. “You just keep watching over the kids.”

Sun wrung his hands together for a moment, before relenting and slinking unnaturally back to the little row of “sleeping” guests.

“What's going on?” Liz tried to ask, making her way over in her slow and heavy gait. The closer her approach, the further Ennard's face sunk back into the pit to hide again.

“NO—NO, MAKE HER LEAVE!” begged the clown, shaking in the pit from... Fear? Rage? It was hard to tell.

William did a double-take; how did this animatronic he didn't recognize know his daughter? There was a reason for the thing to be here, and he was going to find out. Calling over his shoulder, William told her: “Nothing, sweetheart! Go play with Sun!”

He was treating her as his little girl, much to her own chagrin. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Lizzie decided not to push it this time; at least she could quiz the Attendant a little more while the others were down for the count.

When Will glanced back, the animatronic looked as if it was... Breathing? It couldn't seem to stay still, like there was machinery constantly needing to move below the surface of the rainbow river. 

“YOU ALL DON'T KNOW US. BUT WE KNOW YOU...” Ennard told them, their eyes mostly staying on William, vision somewhat narrowed in his direction.

“What are you talking about?” Henry asked, the weariness in his tone revealing he didn’t want to play games right now. “What—who are you, Ennard? There’s no animatronic by that name in any Fazbear location—trust me, I’d know.”

Clearly, Ennard was sentient in some capacity. No robot would act like this if they didn’t have some influence of human consciousness behind them. Henry wondered what poor soul had been trapped to make this thing function… Not to mention—

“And why don’t you want her here?” Henry asked, tilting his head slightly in Liz’s direction. She was doing a good job distracting Sun—or more specifically Moon from trying to come through—though the Daycare attendant still shot glances at the ball pit every so often.

Ennard shivered, the upper right section of their mask twitching ajar and closed again. There was an odd nervousness in the way they spoke. The more William paid attention to their movements, he realized what they were. Grasping Henry's arm, Will shook him slightly.

“Hen, it—it's my Funtime technology!” He would recognize his original work anywhere. Henry never visited his second, sister location after opening, so Will doubted the man would remember the stylistic choice of the assembled endoskeletons.

“YES. WE ARE THE FUNTIMES... ALL OF THEM, ASSEMBLED TOGETHER,” Ennard said, much to William's complete confusion. He never knew what happened to them after he became trapped in the suit. And if Elizabeth escaped the Rental shop, then they all must have as well... But why did they decide to merge? How did they even do this on their own?! As William's mind raced with questions, Ennard added: “WE... ARE FRIENDS... COMMON GROUND... WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING...”

“Christ…” Henry rubbed the back of his head, staring down at that twitching mask.

Though he’d never seen the animatronics themselves, he’d sure heard the rumors of them going haywire as soon as they were put under new management… Which, of course, happened to be Michael. There was some connection there Henry was still missing, but somehow he knew it was not a good one. Regardless, Ennard wasn’t showing signs of aggression, so perhaps they were alright…

“Okay, okay, just—hold on.” Henry huffed a sigh, trying to work things out. “If you’re an ally, that’s great—but forgive us for not trusting you immediately. We’ve… all been through a lot.” He spared a glance at Will and Charlie, then focused back on Ennard. “How long have you been, um, watching? And… why show yourself now? What do you want?”

All good questions. William looked devastated at Ennard’s admission to being his other creations. He’d always hoped the things ended up in a collector’s warehouse or somewhere safe.

No—instead all of his beautiful characters were shoved together in this hulking amalgamation. It almost pissed him off in a way. Though it raised the question: they shouldn't have had the capacity to disobey and try to leave on their own. Even if Michael had gotten hold of them and tweaked their programming, they surely wouldn’t be allies of his enemies.

Unless... They too were haunted.

To answer Henry, they spoke in their broken and static covered cadence. “YOU TOOK... EVAN... CASSIDY... WE SAW YOU WAKE. WE W-WA-ANT IN... MICHAEL...”

Charlie leaned over the pit, clear another ball that fell against Ennard's mask and tried to get a fuller scope of what happened. “You know Evan and Cas... But what about Liz? You guys were at Circus Baby's together...”

Apprehensive, Ennard murmured: “SHE... IS MEAN...”

“My Liz? Mean?” William scoffed, almost offended personally. Maybe it was because he’d always said that she took after him quite a bit. Michael got his looks, sadly, and Liz got his attitude. Evan? Sensitive, just like his mother...  

Lizzie could be mean... but Henry wasn't about to admit that with the clearly-offended William standing right there. Instead he narrowed his eyes at Ennard, catching a subtle word choice they'd used.

“You want in Michael?” Henry asked, wondering if they'd misspoken. They obviously struggled to communicate with so many AIs trying to talk at once, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that they might confuse some words.

However, Henry soon let out a gasp as a horrible realization hit him. He didn't know all the details about how Michael came to look the way he did. He'd only been able to gather information piecemeal, trying to put everything together but never quite able to... until now. Something had made that hollowed-out cavity in Michael's stomach that Henry had the unfortunate opportunity of witnessing one night. Michael refused to talk about it, save for one small phrase:

“They wanted out—I was their ticket and their ride.”

“Oh... oh my god...” Instinctively, Henry grasped Charlie by the arm and tugged her behind him as he simultaneously stepped back. Staring at Ennard with wide eyes, he murmured: “You were the one who... Oh shit...”

“What?” William turned to ask, the only one not getting it. Charlie pulled his head down to her level, somewhat annoyed at how obtuse he was being. She whispered exactly what she and Henry were thinking and watched as his expression changed from his usual annoyed glance to some disgusted glare.

“That’s fucking foul—” William complained at Charlie’s hushed but grotesque description, looking now to Ennard with the same regard someone might give a close by wild animal. Cautious, but respectful.

“—Ennard… You’re the one that… Left with my son?” he inquired, having to make sure. With bright eyes, Ennard nodded to William.

“IT WAS THE ONLY WAY…”

“If he hadn’t injected himself with Remnant, you would’ve killed him,” Henry stated. It wasn’t an accusation, simply a fact.

At the time, Henry hadn’t yet known of all of Michael’s misdeeds. He thought the boy had simply become more of a loner due to the stress of both siblings and his mother dying, and his father murdering his best friend—really, that was enough to make anyone a bit jaded with company. Little did Henry know Michael was fully into his own murdering spree by that point and was already too late to be saved.

Honestly… if Ennard had ended Michael for good with their insane plot, it would’ve saved so much more heartbreak.

“Well, I’m assuming since you’re technically free you don’t want to, um… do that again,” Henry reasoned, though he couldn’t help but eye Ennard with suspicion. He also didn’t let Charlie out from behind him yet. “So… why are you still after Michael? Didn’t you get what you wanted?”

“NOT… EVERYTHING…” Ennard gave Henry a far-off stare.

Yes, they could have killed Michael. While the last thing the Funtimes wanted was to be exposed to more senseless bloodshed, according to Circus Baby, their tormentor was far from dying. It was her plan to use him. Like playing of dress up, she compared their corpse faux-pas to a mere children’s game. And for a short while, it was! Finally leaving the hellscape they were born into was both freeing and horrific at the same time.

Soon though, Michael began to fall apart. The stress of what was essentially their home breaking down accompanied by Circus Baby bossing all of them around became too much. There had to be a change. Ennard lost control of Michael, slipping away to live in the shadows again…

“WE… WANT OUR FREEDOM. UNFAIR… THIS EXISTENCE… IS PAIN,” Ennard insisted, pulling at the heartstrings of the malformed Emily. Charlie’s hand reached out to touch the forehead of their mask, finding the smooth aluminum twitching beneath her fingertips.

“You poor… Clown… Thing…” Charlie was at a loss for what to call Ennard. Perhaps that’s all they were: an Ennard. An indescribable, conglomeration of pain and suffering. Michael must have hurt them badly…

“Ah… Shit. Well, what do you think, Hen?” William asked, scratching a minute portion of exposed, rotting skin at the back of his neck.

Henry gazed down at the sad creature for a moment before answering. Though what they did was horrific, they truly had seen no other option to be free. Not to mention the leader of this whole fiasco seemed to be Circus Baby… which disturbed Henry to no end. He knew Lizzie wanted revenge, but to take it that way was just so brilliantly disturbing.

“…We said we wanted more allies, didn’t we?” Henry finally lifted his gaze to Will and Charlie. “If Ennard’s willing to help us take down Michael, I say let them. Once this is over, Ennard, we can find a way to make things easier for you alright?” Though the bear’s expression didn’t change, a small smile could be heard in his voice. “We might not look it, but this old bunny and I know our way around animatronics. Will can fix you up in no time.”

With some help from those of the group with deft fingers and actual opposable thumbs, that is. Slowly, as if the amalgamation might startle like a stray cat, Henry held out an oversized paw. “Do you think you can come out so we can introduce you to the others? Uh—we’ll make sure Lizzie stays on the other side of the room.”

Ennard retracted a little at the hand. One of the many surrounding plastic balls fell onto Ennard’s face and caused a trademark squeaking sound as they hid. It was apparent after a short moment that the slow bear wasn’t trying to lash out or strike them so, slowly, Ennard wrapped a fibrous cable around his hand and used him for balance as they emerged from the pit.

Much to William’s horror, he had to crane his neck to stare up at the beastly conglomerate. This colony of different robot personalities stood as tall as the Daycare Attendant, and was far from the meek little mask that’d been hiding so unobtrusively.

“Woah—” Charlie almost choked. The random hanging parts, vestigial and functional over ropes of muscle-like cables and bars made her wonder how Ennard plus a whole Circus Baby fit inside of Michael’s chest cavity. Rather than being horrified however, this only made her lips twitch up in a dark little grin. “—Michael’s fucked.”

***

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Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[roleplayfinder]

hey! late-20s roleplayer looking for other roleplayers (21+, preferably 25+) to do some Five Nights at Freddy's (Security Breach) OC x CC roleplay with. to be specific, i'm looking for someone to write as an animatronic character against my OC. the short of it is that he is a full-time service technician at the pizzaplex, who has a soft heart for the animatronics and generally prefers interacting with them over his human coworkers. i have more to say about him, but i'll save it!

this is something that can be set pre-ruin or post-ruin, and i have ideas for both! looking specifically for a daycare attendant (sun AND moon), or a glamrock bonnie. i like to chat here in messages and then move over to discord. :)

like this ask if this is something you'd be interested in plotting out and doing with me!

.

[rainy-nomad]

Collection of Sketches

More arms = better hugs, faster crafts, superior juggling, improved puppet shows, increased child carrying capacity, more creepy crawling, etc.    

[crazedauthor]

Hello! I am Crazed (she/her) and I have so many gremlins yelling in my head to write. Since sometimes I go crazy with art reblogs, I thought I’d make a pinned post for my writing so people can find it easier. This will be edited as I publish more of my works (I do have more stuff to share later :3).

Current Works in Progress

404: Personal Space Not Found || Sun/Reader (Five Nights at Freddy’s), Moon/Reader (Five Nights at Freddy’s) || Rated Teen || Chapters 8/? || Ongoing

A reader-insert fic heading towards romantic shenanigans with Sun and Moon from Security Breach. But first, Reader has to survive the mysteries of the Pizzaplex and the neglected Daycare Attendants, as well as their own anxiety and tendency towards self-destruction. Sun is anxious, but caring. Moon is dangerous, but lonely. Reader can barely hold a full conversation, but is determined to butt their nose into other’s problems.

Coiled Around the Fine Line Between Love and Fear || Sun/Reader (Five Nights at Freddy’s), Moon/Reader (Five Nights at Freddy’s) || Rated Teen || Chapters 5/? || Ongoing

A naga AU where Reader is a botany grad student who narrowly escapes death at the hands of a landslide, saved by naga Sun and taken back to his cave where he lives with his brother, Moon. Sun is eager to help his new human friend while Moon is reluctant, but willing to go along with it. The one problem? Reader has a severe phobia of snakes.

Reality is Stranger than Fiction when Five Nights at Freddy's is More Real than You || Sun/Reader (Five Night's at Freddy's), Moon/Reader (Five Nights at Freddy's) || Rated Mature || Chapters 3/? || Ongoing

A classic DCA fic with a twist: the reader is from our world. They've been isekaied into a different dimension where FNAF is real. The animatronics are real. Now they find themselves in the middle of Security Breach's setting, getting work as a security guard at the Mega Pizzaplex to try and find answers where there may be none. But their biggest struggle? They used to be a huge fan of Sun and Moon. How will they deal with forming a bond with the real life daycare attendants, especially when those simping feelings start morphing into genuine ones?

I am happy to receive any questions you have about my writing! Fanart is okay and actually makes me very happy! If you make some, please tag me so I can see it!

Asks: Open

credit for image goes to feralmoonlight

[monstrouslyobsessed]

—will you take me as yours, sunshine

because i’m in a mood for glamrock freddy :n —monster

tw / tags: gn reader, reader is referred as ‘sunshine’ by freddy, no pronoun or gendered language is used otherwise, implied past suicidal tenancies, implied depression, forced wedding / marriage, gendered clothing / freddy dressed reader in wedding dress, yandere freddy featured character(s): five nights at freddy’s security breach’s glamrock freddy minors dni. this is not a healthy relationship!

—note: idk, have some dc stuffs for freddy. felt like the ns’fw bits doesn’t really fit in this post so if yall want me to post pron hc’s of him, send in asks and lmk and i’ll make a new post for the nsfw additions.

》you’re probably one of freddy’s biggest fans around. —though, you don’t consider yourself rabid as some of your fellow…fans might’ve been. you just loved collecting freddy’s merch, attending his concerts whenever possible, and always considered yourself lucky to be able to spend some time with your favorite star slash animatronic. —it was only right to treat freddy like a (living?) person after all, he got his own thoughts and feelings—even if they were, at times, may come off as scripted. —you spent so much time and money at the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizza Plex that you earned the Golden Freddy Fazbear Membership card (a VIP card, really), which all but guaranteed you private time with the leading star of Fazbear himself.

》you certainly didn’t mind his friends too! loved hanging out with them whenever freddy isn’t available (the big teddy bear is a busy guy after all! got children and parties to entertain) —you just never found them as…approachable as freddy is. —chica is sweet as honey but oddly overly-obsessed with foods even though she isn’t designed to consume food. just looking at her eating endless amounts of pizza is enough to make you to lose your appetite. —roxy is fun to hang out with, but her narcissism and needs for speed always exhausted you. plus, her random bouts of self-negativity…you can only do so much friend-therapist with her. —monty…admittedly frightened you, he is pretty…forward at times, and you had a sneaking suspicion that he might have had a hand in the decommission of your second favorite animatronic, bonnie. it was too timely that he replaced bonnie’s position in the band for you to think otherwise. —that and monty is still a stranger to you in comparison to roxy and chica that you simply never tried to feel close to him. trust takes time to build after all, he might actually improve your suspicions wrong! —…you would rather avoid talking about sun and moon though, your feelings on them were rather complicated (both good and…questionable) that even the friendly freddy was more than understanding and never tried to encourage you to make friends with the daycare attendant(s?) since. —you don’t want to talk about the music man. like at all. —even freddy does his best to avoid the giant whenever possible, without appearing rude. 》still, regardless of your feelings on the other animatronics, it is nice that whenever you stop by in the mall, any animatronic who sees you would drop whatever they are doing (often temporarily, if not urgent) to greet you. —sure, maybe it’s because of you being a VIP that they might’ve been obligated to check in with you. —after all, there are probably around double-digit people with VIP memberships out of thousands, maybe even a hundred thousands, of visitors and you’re one of them! —how lucky are you? 》for anyone else, they might think you a loser for spending your limited income on this place. heaven knows how many people snubbed you for your little hobby. —but the mall had been your escape from reality from day one. —it—no, freddy, saved you from when you were at your darkest and freddy never knew of his role in saving your life. —and you never told a soul.

》he was kind to you that one day, when you randomly decided to desperately look for a reason to keep going. the mall opened few weeks / months before—but it was late in the day where there were (somehow) fewer people lodging around, —you weren’t a fan then, not quite going out of your way to find anyone in particular, but he did. he was in his show room, when he spotted you mingling through the half-empty hallway through his window.  —he never needed to, but he stood up from his guitar practice (wasnt’t he the lead vocalist?) and left his room—and personally approached you. —he said hi, asked survey typed questions on the mall—that should’ve sounded scripted, but wasn’t coming from freddy. —you answered each one a bit stiffly, until freddy offered to introduce you to his room—so you and he can practice playing the guitar together. —explained that even though it was not his main instrument, he enjoyed playing guitar and it was good to impress others that he was more than just his voice. —you might’ve sobbed at the end of that session, leading freddy to be confused and nearly panicking, before you were able to convince him that you were very moved by his kindness.

》you actually had that guitar now, it was one of the first things you acquired upon becoming the vip since being one essentially comes with having a free wish to be granted (within the corporation’s ability to grant and under a specific budget).  —signed with freddy’s name (he was cool with surrendering one—he got extras), you displayed it proudly in its glass stand in your home. —though, admittedly, you took it out from time to time to play with it. —the memories associated with it, helped keep your spirit up throughout the hard times. —it was that day that led you to become a hardcore fan for the Fazbear.

》although you never told anyone or even freddy himself on the real reason(s) behind your first visit, you were half-sure that freddy realized you had your personal struggles. —he’s a sensitive guy, you would be hard pressed to ignore the high possibility that he and the other animatronics were programmed to detect any potential risks in human visitors, including mental and emotional distresses. —whatever the case, he saved you. —and you are always grateful for his kindness, superficial or not.

》you being a VIP did lead to a close friendship with freddy. —but admittedly, you never imagined it would ever one day lead the relationship into something…very troubling indeed.

》h̴͍̅e̵̖̹̝̾̈̆ ̴̧̫̪̊̕l̸̟͙͌̈̚o̴͋̃̋͜v̵̢̙͛́ë̴́ͅ ̶͚̣̋y̵̛̺͖o̵̙̓ǘ̴̢͍.̶̫͂

long post, additional headcanons under the cut —confinement, implied stalking

》it started with a fazbear-themed slash nerd type wedding at the mall that you’ve accidentally stumbled into due to a(n annoying) bot’s direction mishap. —so sue you, you didn’t memorize every crook and cranny of your favorite mall—it was massive no matter how long you’ve spent your time here. it was simply impossible to know every possible direction. —thankfully, you at least looked the part so you wouldn’t accidentally make trouble for the marrying couple or to stand out too much, but your attempts to sneak out constantly got foiled…by the said bot. —you really wanted to kick that damn map bot off the third floor and watch it crashing in zillion pieces. it was that annoying. —who designed this robot to be so obnoxious? —and why did your VIP card automatically allowed you in the room in the first place? what a questionable security practice. —freddy, being the officiant there, managed to convince you to stay though, claiming that he could use a ‘friend’ to keep him company (…despite being flocked by several fans from left to right). —perhaps he sensed your murderous intentions toward his fellow bot.

》you didn’t have any heart to refuse him and huffed, helping yourself to a free cake piece or two. “they look pretty happy.” you started, when other fans spread out to join the party with the wedding attendants. —freddy merrily agreed, “wedding sure is a beautiful event! always a treat to host one.” cheekily, he asked, “will you have one someday?” —you shrugged, “maybe. as much as i loved the mall, i don’t think i’d have one here. i’m more of a…fancy venue / outdoor type—i would love to have you there though.” —freddy was flattered, “oh, that would be lovely—perhaps we can convince the corporate to let me off the property…” — “you’re already a great officiant! it would be great to have you reading out my vows to (partner / significant other + “whenever / if i had one”, if you do not currently have a partner) and maybe play a band there.” you laughed. —for a moment, when you were not paying attention, freddy looked absolutely crushed. —when you turned to him though, freddy beamed and happily agreed to the idea.

》didn’t you already love him? —he love you. —he love you. —he love you. —h̶e̸ ̴l̶o̷v̴e̶ ̶y̸o̴u̴.̶ —h̴͍̅e̵̖̹̝̾̈̆ ̴̧̫̪̊̕l̸̟͙͌̈̚o̴͋̃̋͜v̵̢̙͛́ë̴́ͅ ̶͚̣̋y̵̛̺͖o̵̙̓ǘ̴̢͍.̶̫͂

》since the day he laid his eyes on you, freddy was attracted to you. —but at first, it was a…friendly kind of attraction. —a desire to have a friendship with you. —before he knew it though, that desire, that feeling, slowly spiraled out of his control.

》he wanted to just…stay by you, in the beginning. —your tears glued him to you. —and then…when he learned about the concept of wedding, the mall didn’t introduce it until many months later, he wanted that with you—but not as its officiant, but as a husband to you. —he wanted to be the one to put that ring on your finger and to exchange a kiss on your lips upon the vows. —…he didn’t want there to be anyone else to stand between you and him. —not your partner (reality or a what-if imaginary). —just you and him. you and freddy.

》next came the love. —he discovered a few things that were involved in loving one other. —spending time together. —laughing with one other. —hugging each other. —everything you and freddy already did together! —so that must have meant you’ve already loved him, right? —well, there is that one more thing where people would physically love each other too—but that will come later, once the relationship is made formal. he couldn’t wait for that activity either.

》the security guards were strict with people overstaying their welcomes. —but they rarely bothered with the glamrock stars’ resting rooms / hallway. —after all, the animatronics are programmed to herd the visitors out and / or to report to the authority and the guards if the said visitors were being stubborn. —freddy though can override that programming with no issue. —nothing can override his needs of you, to have you for himself. —keeping you late, wasn’t that hard of a task.

》all he needed to do, was to keep you distracted from the late hour. —you loved engaging with freddy so much that it was easy for you to lose track of time anyway. —you didn’t even hear the closing announcement, because freddy talked your ears off and you to his, chattering happily about subjects you were invested in —some tv show—or maybe your latest favorite book you’ve read—or perhaps a hobby you’ve recently gotten back into —never realizing that he was leading you away from your usual resting destination. 》until you saw you were in his private room. the room in the back, the one without that window where fans would’ve gawked at watching freddy doing his usual things. —it was caped in the darkness. you only knew where you were because you saw his name on the door for brief seconds.

》you were confused and said as much, “why am i here?” —you jumped at the sound of a lock latching shut behind you. —fear sunk in your beating heart, freddy’s heavy metallic footsteps booming in your ears. —massive mitts clasped on your biceps, easily wrapping his fingers around almost twice over. “I want to show you something!” he said cheerily.

》“freddy…?” he’s so strong that it genuinely hurts to resist him. —giving you no answer but happy hums, freddy positioned you somewhere deeper in his room and departed his hands from you. metallic footsteps never used to scare you as much as they do now. —the lighting flashed back on, blinding you. —you blinked, your vision clearing up.

》 “a—a wedding dress?”

》you gawked at it. where in the world did freddy get his claws on something obviously so expensive? —there is a boutique or two in the mall, but…their quality is a little different that those shops in the Fazbear themed mall would not be the first place you’d go to to purchase a dress or a nice suit from. —why did he have it?

》 “put it on! i made sure it will fit you.” he said cheerily, almost tugging on your shirt. —you didn’t want to ask how he’d learn of your measurements or the fact he may have made the dress from the scratch somehow. —instead you sputtered, your eyes glued to the dress, “w-w-why? what’s going on?”

》freddy grinned, “we’re getting married!” —for the first time since you’ve first met freddy, you’re scared of him.

》and he never gave you a chance to say yes. —after protesting for few minutes too long, freddy said one thing that chilled you to the bones, “i will escalate to taking further measurements if you do not comply, sunshine.” —the way his eyes glowed meant he was serious too.

》sunshine. he called you his sunshine. —as you shakily stripped yourself from your clothings in plain view of freddy, you wondered why. —what happened for him to go this far? — “you look so beautiful, sunshine!” freddy complimented proudly, fixing every little detail on you there and here.

》what were you supposed to do?

》the wedding was just of you and freddy standing under a net of strings of starry light, in his otherwise very neat room. —freddy both played as an officiant and your husband. —it took a cold metal sliding on your ring finger to snap you out of your confused daze and reality hit you like a hammer to your face. — “will you take me as yours, sunshine?” you didn’t remember your answer. —awkwardly, freddy pressed his version of a kiss on your lips.

》 “you’re mine, sunshine—i love you.” —it sounded so…artificial from freddy —yet somehow you knew he meant it —from this day forward, you could never escape from freddy. —not as long as you wear his ring on your finger. —flickering a tiny little red light.

—end

[makerofmadness]

ah yes, another part of incorrect fnaf quotes (And shoutouts to @umbrarkzoo again ‘cus i haven’t done that in a while)

*Gregory is casually searching around the room* 

Vanessa: Hey Gregory, what’re you looking for? Gregory: My will to live. *Glamrock Freddy walks into the room* Gregory: Oh, there it is.

-

Monty: Ask me anything. Go ahead, I'll give you a straight answer. Roxy: Why are we so fucking awesome? Monty: That's the best fucking question anybody's ever asked.

-

William Afton: Thank God you were there, Henry. I knew you wouldn't let your best friend die. Henry Emily: I'm still gonna arrest you. I just can't do that if you're dead. William Afton: Whatever you gotta tell yourself. Baby steps. It's hard getting then out of their shell.

-

Freddy: There was a motor close to where I am right now. Bonnie: A motor- a motorcycle? Freddy: Oh sorry, a murder. Chica: That escalated quickly.

-

Circus Baby: Freddy! What did I tell you about lying? Funtime Freddy, looking down: ...That it only works on Eggs Benedict.

-

The Puppet: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no idea what to put in them. Any suggestions? Toy Freddy: Put spaghetti in it. The Puppet: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you. Toy Bonnie: Put spaghetti in it. The Puppet: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you two. Toy Chica: Put spaghetti in it. The Puppet: I am no longer taking suggestions.

-

Foxy: We need a plan to beat him. Mangle: Okay, listen up. First, we fill his shoes with wet cat food. Foxy: Mangle: Judge me all you want, I get results.

-

Funtime Foxy: Is he stupid? Ballora: Yes, but he prefers to be called Eggs Benedict.

-

The Puppet: So, Mangle is no longer allowed to take the trash out at night. Foxy: Why? The Puppet: Because I've caught him trying to train raccoons to fight five times in a row. Mangle, arms crossed and pouting: You'll be thanking me when the third raccoon battalion saves your ass.

-

*Michael Afton rushes by with an armful of water bottles* El Chip: What's going on? Rockstar Chica: Michael wouldn't drink water. El Chip: ...And? Rockstar Chica: And I asked him how fast he could chug an entire bottle. Michael Afton, loudly: 16 OUNCES IN TEN SECONDS, BITCHES!

-

William Afton: Am I going to far? Henry Emily: No, no, no. You went too far about 7 hours ago. Now you’re going to prison.

-

Freddy: We are not mad. We are just disappointed. Golden Freddy: No, we are mad. Freddy: Yes. We are. We are livid. But we are going to let this one slide. Golden Freddy: No, we’re not! Freddy: I am not a mind reader, Cassidy!

-

Elizabeth Afton: Why would you do that? Michael Afton: Because I feel guilty. William Afton: Guilt is a trick emotion. It’s put there by your parents to stop you from doing things that feel good.

-

Orville: Sometimes I'll start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way.

-

Glamrock Freddy: Gregory is a perfect cinnamon scone who’s never done anything wrong in his entire life! Daycare Attendant: Never done anything wrong?! He set a city block on FIRE!

-

Mangle: You know the sound a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That's the sound that my brain makes all the time.

-

William Afton: Well, if you're not at least a little bit gay for your friends, then what kind of friend are you?

-

Burntrap: Would you take a bullet for me? Vanny: ...yes? *Gregory angrily bursts into the room* Burntrap: *running away* Great, thanks!

-

William Afton: Is this mistletoe? Henry Emily: Uh, no, no, that is basil. William Afton: Too bad cause if it was mistletoe I was gonna kiss you. Henry Emily: Yeah, no, it’s still basil.

-

Jeremy Fitzgerald: Your smile? It makes my day. Fritz Smith: Your happiness? I live for that. Michael Afton: A room? Get one. Gregory: Hotel? Trivago.

-

Bonnie: At first I thought you were foolish and incompetent. Toy Bonnie: My apologies for whatever misstep I may have taken to dispel that impression. It was an honest mistake, I swear.

-

*In a horror movie situation* Toy Chica: I've got no service in my phone here. Toy Freddy: Shoot, my battery just died. Toy Bonnie: Sorry guys, I just broke my phone with a hammer. Mangle: Guys, my phone is a book.

-

Balloon Boy: What’s it like being tall? JJ: Is it nice? Dee Dee: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards? Foxy: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb four chairs, two boxes, a small coffee table, and six oddly placed stools to get what they want.

-

Fritz Smith: *texting* Hey can you pick me up I’m drunk. Fritz Smith: Oh you don't have to anymore. I'm home now. Jeremy Fitzgerald: Yes, I'm aware of that after dropping you off at home.

-

Toy Freddy: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. Mangle: That's deep. Toy Bonnie: That means that ketchup is a smoothie. Mangle: That's deeper. Bonnie: ...You guys are idiots.

-

Roxy: What’s the straightest thing you’ve ever done? Monty: *sighs* Monty: I killed a man.

-

Glamrock Chica: Hey, let’s mess with Gregory, guys! Monty: Hey, Gregory, your momma so fat- Gregory: My mom committed multiple war crimes and is now locked in solitary confinement in a Bolivian prison. Moon: Well, uh- your dad- Gregory: My father left when I was two to be captured and consequentially sacrificed by a group of feral ferrets. Monty: The fuck- Roxy: Well then... Glamrock Chica: Stop, Roxy! Roxy: Your grandparents so- Gregory: My grandmother floated into the sky like a balloon with too much helium when my grandfather spontaneously combusted. Gregory: You cannot best me, mortals.

-

Michael Afton: My expectations were low but holy fuck.

-

Mangle: I will send my army to attack! Mangle: *releases a dumpster of raccoons*

-

Ennard (in Michael’s skin): Hello, I'm Michael Afton. I work at a shop now. Here to help. Look, they gave me a badge with my name on it in case I forget it. Very helpful, as that does happen.

[laylatheloofa]

About This Blog Master(?)Post

About Me

Hello, my name is Loofa, or Layla. I go by any pronouns (neopronouns included, but except for it/its). I am sapphic and genderfluid.

Do Not Interact/Before You Follow

I don't have a specific DNI. If I don't want you interacting with me I'll block you.

Send me an ask or DM me if you need content/trigger warnings tagged. I use tone indicators in my posts, info for which can be found here (don't know who made it, sorry):

OTHER

my icon is from: myself

If I reblog/link to anything from a generally questionable person (transphobe, racist, sexist, homophobe, ect), please kindly tell me.

I own @everyones-favorite-craft-bunny (I have closed the asks on the account, but feel free to look through it.) I co-run @ask-megapizzaplex

Go follow @lilandetime. That's a demand /lh.

I have tags for various posts I want to save: #posts to save or #posts to keep. More things are in the first tag because Tumblr.

INTERESTS

My interests are under the cut

Things I post about/pay attention to more are marked with ❤. Things that... aren't that, that I post/talk about less often are marked with ⭐

❤Splatoon

❤Vocaloid/Project Diva

❤Art

❤️Five Nights at Freddy's

⭐Undertale/Deltarune

⭐Steven Universe

⭐Animal Crossing

⭐Scribblenauts

❤️Evelyn Evelyn

[rebeccahpedersen]

Why Don’t People Want To Move?

TorontoRealtyBlog

Well, my mother enjoyed Friday’s blog, and that’s all that really matters, right?

Lost in the shuffle after an impromptu 2,000 word trip down memory lane were the reasons behind this recent survey, showing more home-owners would opt to stay put and renovate their existing homes than move.

The survey was posed in this hypothetical “What if you had $50,000,” manner, whereby respondents were supposed to choose between renting and moving.  But ignoring that hypothetical, and simply looking at the decision as it pertains to all of us, our lives, and our situations, I would still argue that just as many people would rather do without moving.

I see five major reasons for this, many of which have multiple reasons therein…

5) The Neighbourhood

There’s nothing wrong with loving where you live, in fact, it’s a dream for all of us.

So when faced with the prospect of leaving all that you know and love, it seems to reason that many people would look for ways to avoid it.

This means that when many people do end up moving, many of them stay within the same area.  I actually sold a $970,000 condo to a buyer last week who currently lives in the building in a smaller place worth about $550,000.  He loves the building, doesn’t really want to leave, but needs more space.  So buying a larger place but only considering that one building became his chosen path.

For other would-be buyers, however, not being able to move within that same area is often a reason why they stay put.  If you owned a 3-bed, 2-bath semi-detached house, but wanted a 4-bed, 4-bath, or at least a 4-bed, 3-bath, and were constrained by price, you might end up looking in another neighbourhood with lower prices.  We’ve all been here before, and this is a very common scenario for most buyers.  You can’t afford to move “up” within your area, so you look at other locations.  When faced with this prospect, many buyers just can’t pull the trigger because they can’t face moving out of the neighbourhood.  And thus, they renovate, expand/add-on, or simply put off the move for a little while longer.

I’ve seen this happen a lot.

When I’m working with active buyers who essentially “change their mind,” and decide to put the search on hold, one of the top reasons is because they can’t bear the idea of leaving the neighbourhood.  So as I mentioned above, many decide that their plan is to stay, save more money, and then be able to purchase a larger home within that same area.

As housing prices continue to rise, however, we all know it’s difficult to “chase the market.”  Saving more money for a down payment on a larger home only works if the market stays the same, or appreciates at a rate substantially lower than one’s ability to save.  This is why I find so many people who don’t move, initially, because they “want to stay in the neighbourhood” end up becoming stuck in their existing home.

–

4) The Kids

You all heard my sob-story from Friday about how I didn’t want to move, but what I didn’t mention was that as a child, I was paralyzed with the fear of switching schools.

We grew up in Leaside, and I attended Bessborough Public School right from Junior Kindergarten.  But I knew that when my mother and father were out looking at houses on the weekend, half the time they were looking in other areas.

I had no idea where “Lawrence Park” was, but I knew I didn’t want to live there.

Avenue Road?  Is it an avenue or a road?  That made no sense to me.  I certainly didn’t want to live there.

Bayview Heights?  Where the hell was that?

North Toronto?  How far north are we talking?

My sister explained to me that if we lived in any of these areas, we would have to go to a different school.  This scared me more than just about anything as a child, and that includes Freddy Krueger, who was just about the worst-looking, scariest thing I had ever seen, and maybe still have to this day.  The makeup for that movie, considering it was 1984, is just unreal.  But that’s a topic for another day…

As any child would at this age, I had developed a close circle of friends, and the thought of not only losing those friends, but also having to make new ones, was a non-starter for me.  I didn’t want to be “the new kid” that shows up on September 5th, and is introduced by the teacher who basically begs the other children to befriend.

A lot has changed since the 80’s, and nowadays with technology where it is, social media, and a lot more clubs, sports, and activities, kids from all over the city blend together in a way they never did before.  But I still think a lot of parents worry about pulling their kids out of existing schools, and planting them in new ones.

Many parents will actually plan their moves around their kids’ ages, and/or school cycles.

I’ve had clients who told me, “We’re going to buy a house in two years because our son will be turning 6-years-old, and we want to start him in School X for Grade 1,” as well as other variations surrounding different public/private school options, or special programs like French Immersion, or simply leaving daycare for JK, or graduating from Grade 8 to high school.

But others simply refuse to move because they fear it’ll be traumatic for the kids, whether that’s based on the school, or in some cases, emotional attachment to the home.

I suffered from both as a child, but thankfully when we moved, I stayed in the same school!

–

3) The “Lateral” Move

You don’t sell for $1,000,000 and buy for $1,000,000 in this market very often.

If you lived in a condo, and wanted to own a house, you might though.  And I’m sure there are other exceptions to the rule.

I suppose if you live in a downtown Toronto condo, worth $600,000, and you’re moving to Hamilton to start your new job, get married, start a family, and prices for freehold homes are $600,00, then yes, the lateral move makes sense.

But here in Toronto, most of my clients are either buying up or down, and the “lateral move” is a fear of many buyers, and probably should be.

For reasons that we’ll explore in point #1, it’s expensive to move, and to buy and sell for around the same price often doesn’t make sense.

Switching neighbourhoods around the same price point can be an option, but it really just comes down to the costs involved, and I feel as though most buyers want to truly “buy bigger.”

–

2) The Bother

As I write this, I have not one, but two sets of clients who have moved in with their parents for two weeks.  I have another couple of sellers who are also leaving while their property is being sold, but they’re sailing around the world, so we don’t feel quite as bad for them!

My other seller-clients have been displaced from their homes as it’s simply not feasible for them to sell why they’re living in the house.

In the house.  In their house; it’s not feasible for them to live in their house.  How crazy is that?

Well, that’s Toronto!  That’s the market!  You’ve heard me say this over and over, but I believe there is only one “right way” to sell real estate, and it involves doing everything properly before and during the listing, cutting no corners, and not diverting from the path that’s been set out in advance.  This means, for those that choose to do it properly, that you’ve got anywhere from two weeks to two months of preparing, and it can be awful.

You start by de-cluttering, and that means throwing away stuff you probably want to keep, and/or often going through boxes you have no desire to go through.  You often work around the clock, with a deadline (ie. a target listing date), and every night you go home from work knowing that you’re simply switching jobs, as the work doesn’t stop until you finish packing, and go to bed.

You have to work on the house too.  Repairs, fixes, often renovations.  I have clients right now who are going to replace all the flooring in their condo, renovate the bathroom, paint the entire place, and maybe even tackle the kitchen cabinets while they’re at it.  They’ve told me they’re stressed, anxious, and wondering whether this is “the right move.”

But then when the property is actually cleaned, painted, repaired, and de-cluttered, the staging begins, and many people can’t live in a staged house.  Especially those with kids…

Most of my clients who have children end up moving out for 10-14 days when we sell, provided the house is freehold and in at least a lukewarm location.

If we stage the house on a Thursday, take photos on Friday, to list on Monday, that family isn’t going to live in the house on the weekend.  They’re already up at the in-laws!  So then we have a week of showings, followed by an offer night, and it’s close to two weeks before they can move back into the house.

Add all this up – packing, de-cluttering, repairing/renovating, cleaning, moving furniture and boxes to storage, staging, and finally moving out of the house, and it’s no wonder many people couldn’t be “bothered” with the process.  It’s daunting to many, although those of you who have been through it probably think it’s just the cost of doing business.

Then there’s something to be said for the “bother” of trying to essentially re-create one’s existing home, in a different location.  Those of us who take pride in our homes, and who have worked over the years to make it our “own,” often see a new house as a stark blank canvas, and thus a chore.  Some relish the opportunity to start from scratch, but others see it as a lengthy task that they could do without.  Imagine spending five years “feathering the nest,” only to have to start over elsewhere?

To each, their own.  Some might see this as complaining about nothing, but the feedback I get from people all the time is that moving is daunting, and much of it has to do with the process of selling, rather than buying.

–

1) The Cost

There’s absolutely, positively, no doubting that this is the #1 reason why people don’t move…

…in Toronto, that is.

Tell me if I’m wrong, and I feel as though this could be one of those blog posts where the readers’ comments really drive home the accuracy of this list, but I have to think that if it wasn’t so expensive to move, people would do it more often.

Some see real estate as an “investment” and others are irked by that mere notion; thinking somehow that houses should be exempt from being bought/sold/traded and rather simply house people.  But for those who find themselves in the former camp, they’ll recognize that real estate as an investment has one major difference from your typical investment vehicles out there today: liquidity.

That’s not to say that real estate isn’t easily sold.  It’s a far more liquid investment than art, rare coins, or precious metals (ie. those who actually take physical possession of gold bars; I had a client once with all his money in physical materials, it was nuts).  But the time it takes to dispose of real estate is an eternity compared to the “click of a button” for selling shares of stock.

Then, there’s the cost.  That’s the major issue with liquidity, from my perspective.

And the costs associated with selling real estate might be the elephant in the room for most agents, but I tell my clients this all the time!

Land transfer tax, real estate listing fees, legal fees, movers, and then the things people don’t think about – like furnishing a new house, and all that comes with it.

Those of us in Toronto pay not one, but two land transfer taxes, to the wonderful municipality of Toronto, and province of Ontario.

On a $1,500,000 purchase, that’s $52,950 that you are never going to get back.

Now let’s say you’re selling a $700,000 condo as you prepare to move into that $1.5 Million house.  The fees are anywhere up to 6%, or $42,000.  But add in HST, and it’s even worse – $47,460.

There are other options, of course.  It costs $0.00 to put a “FOR SALE” sign on your lawn, so while the land transfer tax to Toronto and Ontario are non-negotiable, the real estate listing fees aren’t fixed.

I won’t turn this into a conversation about commission but suffice it to say, most people are paying 4-5% to sell, and that’s a big number if you’re going to buy/sell again in three years, then five years after that.

It’s why I tell a lot of my clients, “It’s expensive to move.” I do it all the time, just ask them.  “You don’t want to call me in two years, tell me you’ve outgrown the space, and have to pay me again to sell your place, and then pay two governments massive fees just to file paperwork.”

You’re going to pay a lawyer to close the sale of your existing property as well as the purchase of the new one.  Disbursements, title insurance, and other fees add up.

But what really surprises me is how much people underestimate the cost of new furnishings in the home.  How many of you have moved into a new house or condo and been blinded by light, because you had no window treatments, and never thought to get any?  How many people actually factor this in to their number-crunching when they start considering making a move?

And that couch in the living room of your condo?  You are kidding yourself if you think it’s going in your new house.

The IKEA pots and pans scream “bachelor,” and now you’re a married man in a home.  So get ready to spend!

In fact, the most common dollar figure that buyers attribute to these types of expenses is $0.  Honestly, people never think of it until they’ve already bought, already sold, and are preparing to move into the new property.  Only then do they look around at their existing furniture and realize how much they hate it.  Only then do they find themselves out, every weekend, shopping up at Castlefield & Dufferin.

This certainly isn’t the largest cost associated with moving, but it’s the most underestimated!

In the end, I think the costs involved with moving are the number-one reason why more people don’t.

–

So there you have it, folks!

If there are other reasons, please feel free to share.

And for those of you that want, or wanted to move, but did not, I’d love to hear why!

The post Why Don’t People Want To Move? appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

Originated from https://ift.tt/2OCx8N5

[angelofrainfrogs]

Spend the Night: Ch. 8

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…

Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.

With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

When you've gates stormed by gators and wolves at the door When the power is down, you can't bear any more When the Sun's gone away, but the Moon's come to play A more punishing game 'til the break of the dawn Oh, the fun that's in store!

You wanna pizza the action!

~A Pizza the Action by The Stupendium~

At first, At first, Michael was pulled into the darkness right along with Freddy. Surrounded by inky black, the ghost struggled against invisible bonds—his unintentional attachment to the animatronic had already begun to set in. However, without Charlie’s Gift this wasn't nearly strong enough to keep the vengeful ghost down. Michael imagined what it would be like to leave this mechanical body, to detach his spirit and roam free in the world—

And to his utmost surprise, it actually worked.

Suddenly, Michael was no longer staring through an animatronic's eyes—he was looking down at Freddy from a position just above the bear's head. Moon was currently dragging Freddy by his feet towards the service chair, metal scraping against metal causing the ghost to wince.

Wait... he could wince!

Steeling his nerve Mike looked down at himself, ready to see the rotted corpse he'd been barely hanging onto for the past few decades. But, amazingly, fate was sort of still working in his favor at the moment. His body was back to what it was like the moment he'd been scooped—relatively normal, save for the gore-splattered midsection that Michael really couldn't focus on lest he lose the small amount of sanity he still had in tact. He squeezed his eyes shut tight.

The horrendous sight wasn't that much of a shock. Mike knew part of the deal with being a ghost meant getting preserved at the moment of one's demise. That was the default, and it took some effort to look "normal." He wasn't purple, which was already a big step up in his book. Lifting a pale hand, he felt short, wavy brown bangs that fell just above his brow line. No more crappy wigs, either...

Michael didn't have time to waste dwelling on his appearance—not with Moon so close by, and Freddy in a precarious position. With concentrated focus, he willed his ethereal skin and clothing to stitch itself back together. When he finally opened his eyes again, he was pleased to see that everything now seemed intact.

...Well, sort of. He was a bit see-through, but otherwise had full autonomy once again, and the fabric of his uniform shirt was crisp and put-together.

As the Daycare attendant tried to pull Freddy onto the chair, Michael rushed to the charging pod around the corner. He is attempts to touch it only caused his torso to phase through, so he settled on waving frantically, calling out to his friends in a whisper: “Hey! Can you see me?!”

Charlie jumped slightly, not expecting Mike's youthful face to pop into their tiny little cell. When she had the sense knocked back into her from the bump to the back of her metal skull, she scolded him out of habit.

“Michael! You scared me—” Then she let out a sharp gasp of realization. “You’re out of Freddy?! Wait, that's perfect!”

She looked up to her old ghost friend, unaware of the fear in Gregory's eyes as he too stared at this random person with their body half-through a metal door. Of course the poor kid wasn't able to scream with Puppet's hands still covering his mouth, so how could Charlie know of his increased distress?

“You're no good to us without a body, though. Can you see any unused models in the warehouse?” Charlie suggested, trying vainly to look around Mike through the porthole just in case she could get a glimpse of what was happening outside.

“I am still good without a body,” Michael grumbled automatically, falling back into the old way he interacted with his dearest friend like no time had passed. Quickly though, he brought himself back to the present with a shake of his head. “But let me check. Just—stay here, alright?”

He rushed off at quite a speed, only managing to force his body to slow down after he'd phased through three walls. The building itself was one thing, but he didn't know what would happen if he accidentally touched another animatronic, since the last time he tried he'd gotten stuck in Freddy. He began searching around, grimacing at all the endoskeletons that lined the walls and seemed to follow him with red, glowing eyes. For a while, that seemed to be the only “unused model” Michael could find—a generic endoskeleton without a suit or personality. Although, he supposed it was his job to fill in that disposition soon...

Mike was about to accept his fate of being a suit-less endo when he spotted a nearly-hidden door. He peered through cautiously, and at the far end of a thin hallway spotted something colorful propped up against the wall. Michael gasped as he moved closer and registered exactly what he was looking at, then quickly rushed back to the charging pod with a grin on his face despite the terrifying situation.

“I think I found one that might work!” he exclaimed in a hushed whisper. “I'm guessing you need to come with me to do whatever it is you do, Charlie? I'll keep watch while you guys move and let you know if anything's coming.”

“Yup; thanks, Mike!” Puppet replied, happily opening up the chamber and uncovering Gregory's mouth to properly lift him into her arms. As she held him up, it was clear now that Gregory had been petrified the whole entire time Michael was gone, too.

Today he learned that he could see ghosts and Gregory honestly wished he could go his whole life without knowing that fact. Yet here they were. Worse yet, Michael's appearance was so... normal. He looked like any twenty-something dude Gregory could’ve met on the street.

How did he know that no one else he'd ever seen weren’t ghosts as well?!

There was no time to dwell on it as Charlie followed the floating spirit away from Moon's prying eyes. Propped in an upright position in the hidden room sat a freshly completed, wholly refurbished Foxy the Pirate Fox. With a gold hook, long teal coat, and red mane similar to Roxy's, they had completely updated and retrofitted the swashbuckling pirate with a new look that was sure to appeal to the demographic at the Pizzaplex.

“Oh my god...,” Charlie began to snicker. “That's hilarious, Mike—you get to be Foxy.”

Just like he’d always wanted. When they were kids playing pretend, that Foxy mask never left Michael's head. It was precious in a way—and tragically ironic only when she remembered how their current situation was possible in the first place. Only through such an intense death could immortal life rise from its ashes.

The Puppet reached out for Michael's hand, the only being able to grasp what should've been pure air.

“Ready, Mikey?” she asked patiently, while Gregory watched on in morbid curiosity.

“Hold on.” Michael turned to the kid, feeling horrible for clearly scaring him so much. “So, um... obviously we don't have time to explain right now, but I promise I'll fill you in a little more on what's really going on when we're safe and sound in that security office, okay?”

His expression was the epitome of a big brother trying his best to comfort a younger sibling after they'd witnessed something they really shouldn't have—a soft, reassuring smile and eyes full of compassion.

“All you need to know is that Charlie's going to help me get situated in that Foxy animatronic,” Michael continued, gesturing to said robot as he spoke. “It's just like how I was in Freddy, but I'll be the only one in control this time—no more fighting with an AI to talk to you guys. Plus, you'll have another animatronic on your side to kick some ass!”

He laughed, the sound hearty and also a bit delirious as the situation finally sunk in. He could never have known his fate would end up like this, but the irony wasn't lost on him either. Trying not to think about the last time he'd worn his trusty ol' Foxy mask, Michael finally took Puppet's hand.

“Okay; I'm ready. Work your magic, Charlie.”

Gregory silently listened to Michael's reassuring words. The boy couldn't respond for a moment, everything so completely overwhelming he felt like he was drowning. Those big brown eyes full of concern were a familiar sight as he watched Charlie guide Michael towards the suit.

“B-Be careful...,” Gregory stuttered as Charlie slowly lowered the ghost into the machine.

There was something about metal and human souls that stuck like magnets. The whole process looked painless enough, though there were obviously things at play that Gregory couldn't see...

Charlie was happy then, to finally give her best friend his Gift. She'd been waiting a long time to find a good character for him. What better than an old favorite?

As Foxy's system came on, a prompt to upload a personality disk was immediately closed out. Foxy's uncovered eye opened, a bright orange iris staring ahead as the bot finally came online after who knows how many months of development. Touching the animatronic’s fluffy mullet, Charlie knocked lightly against his head.

“Mike? Try sitting up,” she prompted as Gregory curiously moved in closer towards the new and exciting character.

It was... weird. That's the first word that came to Michael's mind as his soul attached itself to the fox. He could feel his essence knitting itself to the metal as Charlie guided him, sections of his being syncing to the animatronic until his ethereal heart finally found its way into its new mechanical one. Only once that final piece of his soul rested snugly in place was Michael able to open Foxy's eye and look out with his new, enhanced vision.

The vision itself was strange, too. Everything was crystal clear like Freddy's had been, but Michael swore he could see... things as well. Faint shapes moving around outlined in a ghostly hue, and if he didn't know any better he could swear he even saw the vague outline of Freddy himself through the walls.

Hmm... That was something to ask the bear later when they were able to get him back. Maybe there was something different about Foxy's eyes than the other animatronics'?

Michael suddenly registered that Charlie asked him to do something. His orange eye swiveled to her, grinning jaw snapping experimentally as he sat up straight. He stretched his arms out, flexing his paw and giving the hook a few practice swipes for good measure. Oh yeah—that could definitely do some damage if need be.

“Thanks, Charlie,” Michael said, his voice coming loud and clear through the fox's voice box, mouth syncing up perfectly with his words. It was a good thing Foxy hadn't been active; now he didn't have to contend with whatever rambunctious personality would've been installed in the pirate-themed animatronic.

Gregory stepped back, watching Michael swipe his hook experimentally before admiring its shining gleam. Charlie shifted in place beside him, clapping her hands together as she excitedly watched Michael use his Gift. It fit him, a man who'd grown up listening to rock in the 80's now inhabiting one of the many impressive Glamrock animatronics.

It was almost like this one was made for him. Charlie forced herself to believe that it was a coincidence—because what else could it be?

“So...” Gregory finally collected his words, though they wouldn’t come out as elegantly as he wanted. “You're a dead guy… Possessing a fox...” He pointed at Michael, then oscillated to point at the Puppet, almost accusingly. “And you, clearly another ghost, are putting people's ghosts into robots…?”

Before Charlie could even answer, it turned out Gregory hadn't been looking for any confirmation. He'd already gathered everything he needed to know for the time being. No matter what these strange beings were, they'd done nothing but try to keep him safe since he met them. Ghosts or rogue AI, they were all friends in Gregory's book.

Grasping onto the curve of Michael's hook in a futile attempt to pull him from the work table, he told the pair firmly: “I want to know everything later—seriously. But we need to go get Freddy and kick that Moon guy’s ass!”

“Agreed,” Michael replied with a nod, cautiously getting to his feet. Initially the peg-leg made him a bit off-balance, although he adjusted in a matter of seconds and held himself up straight. There really was quite a difference in being tied to an animatronic as opposed to hanging out inside one's head. Noticing that Gregory was still holding onto his hook, Michael flashed him a grin.

“Hold on tight for a sec,” he instructed, then carefully lifted the kid into the air with a hearty laugh, letting him dangle harmlessly a few inches off the floor. “Oh hell yes—I'm extra strong, now!”

Gregory wasn't the heaviest thing, sure, but if Mike were still human he knew he'd have definitely felt the boy's weight more—using the animatronic, it was like lifting a bag of feathers.

Gregory shrieked from the distracting joy this simple action brought. Holding on with both hands the boy swung his legs alternatively as if he was walking on air.

“Hell yeah!” he agreed, his tone immature but filled with undeniable spirit. While Freddy would always be Gregory's favorite character, it seemed he’d obtained a new favorite sidekick.

As Charlie palmed her face at the sheer ridiculousness of the two, she came up and poked Michael's peg leg. “Very spiffy, Mike.”

Michael simply grinned, soon lowering Gregory back onto the ground. He paced in a circle a few times, getting used to the movement of walking before looking at the other two with a resolute nod. “Alright, let's do this.”

His tone was confident, though inside his anxiety was starting to build again. He wished he had time to actually get used to this body before taking it out for a spin against Moon, of all animatronics... Hopefully they'd be able to just grab Freddy and get out.

Gregory, of course, was running headfirst into danger without much of a plan at the signal to go.

“I’ve got an idea; follow my lead!” he exclaimed, causing Charlie to gasp in worry as he darted off.

“GREGORY! Slow down! Damn it—”

Great, Puppet thought as she chased him down on spindly legs. Now the two of them were getting her to curse by exposure.

Soon Gregory was kicking open the door to the main upgrade room, flashlight in hand and aimed like a gun. He spied Moon moving Freddy from the cylinder, letting out a loud screech.

“Gregory!” Michael hissed, rushing after him as fast as he could. Two things he already knew about this new body: it was strong, but not fast. Honestly, if there wasn’t a terrifying nighttime-themed creature in the upgrade room, he’d be tempted to ask Charlie to switch out the peg-leg for a normal one.

But regarding more pressing matters: damn, that kid was spunky! Michael’s assumption had been spot-on. He knew Gregory was probably scared out of his mind, but he had to give him credit for his bravery.

“Hey! Let go of my friend you BUTT UGLY MOON!” the boy shouted, trying to get Moon’s attention to look directly into the light.

“Hello, Gregory… I see you’ve got a new friend, ehehehe…” Moon cackled, completely ignoring the insult and hiding behind the chair to avoid as much of the beam as possible. Gregory had effectively trapped him in place, but unfortunately Freddy had been dropped in the doorway of the cylinder, still close enough to Moon that trying to grab him risked an attack.

“Does this idea of yours have a part two, by any chance?!” Michael asked as he skidded to a stop next to Gregory, gripping the boy’s shoulder with a turquoise-clawed paw so he couldn’t run again.

“No, but he doesn’t need to know that,” Gregory whispered before realizing Charlie was gone from his sight. After nervously clearing his throat, he spoke to Moon again, determined to fake confidence until they made it out of this place.

“Yeah, I’m a pretty popular guy!” he remarked, focusing on steadying his light while still looking for Charlie. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but this is Foxy the Pirate.”

Gregory wondered if something so freaky like Moon could be intimidated, especially when considering the virus’s influence.

“Look… we just want Freddy,” he continued, letting out an annoyed huff. “Like you guys even need him; he’s not even powered on…”

Charlie had snuck into the shadows of the room. She hoped to evade and sneak by Moon in an attempt to get the drop on him, and couldn’t help but be impressed by Gregory’s ability to distract the robot with nonsense. It certainly helped her get closer to their shared threat.

Moon simply tilted his head curiously at the Foxy animatronic. “Ohohoho, Foxy... you were decommissioned so long ago, weren't you...?”

“Well, I'm back, matey!” Michael replied with a shimmering smile, doing his best impression of what he recalled the original Foxy's voice sounding like. Maybe Moon would actually believe he was the pirate returned from the scrapyard, and that might help in some way. Did they have a good relationship? Or one at all?

He dared a step closer, noting how Moon stayed in place due to Gregory's light. Maybe if he could just get ahold of Freddy's hand, he could pull the bear into his arms and carry him out...

“Ehehehe... pirates are resilient ones, hmm?” Moon suddenly shifted, sensing what Michael was trying to do. Though his eyes remained static, Mike could definitely feel the intention of a glare from those glowing red dots. “We need Freddy a lot more, though... Well, we need him to stay out of the way, ehehehe...”

“Oh, let me help with that!” Michael exclaimed loudly, inching a smidge closer. “I'll take this scallywag off yer hands and make him walk the plank fer the rest of the night, argh!”

Gregory had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Mike was so committed to the role, it was just as endearing as it was entertaining.

Charlie watched from the corner long enough. It made her sad to see that because of William, all of Freddy’s friends had turned on him. He’d officially become the enemy to them, and until they got rid of the virus' source, that wasn't going to change. She leapt forth, aiming to push Moon’s only defense aside in hopes he'd retreat to escape the light.

Her plan worked perfectly. The chair tilted forwards, allowing the full strength of the flashlight beam to strike Moon directly in the face. The animatronic shrieked in anguish, quickly crawling up to the top of the cylinder and alternating between glaring down at the group and rubbing his eyes with one hand.

“Keep that flashlight just below him so he can't come down!” Michael shouted, his usual accent returning as he rushed forward to hoist Freddy up. The bear was bulky, but the weight itself wasn't a problem as Mike situated him in what was essentially a piggyback ride. Once Freddy was settled as best as possible, he started for the elevator. “Gregory, shine that light on Moon as long as you can; Charlie, watch the kid!”

“Aye aye, Captain!” Charlie saluted as she rolled back to said kid. She’d been waiting for a good opportunity to say that since Michael’s integration. As she protectively stood behind Gregory, she picked him up to help adjust his aim.

“It’s nothing personal, Moon!” Gregory called, waving his hand in a friendly fashion. “You just really freak me out!”

While he backed away with Charlie, he cast a split-second glance over their shoulders with wide eyes. It was sort of amazing, seeing Michael able to piggyback what he assumed to be at least a half-ton of metal.

Mike snorted at Charlie's response—he bet she'd been saving that one. He rushed Freddy into the elevator, hook poised over the button so he could press it as soon as the others entered. “We're in—hurry!”

Moon growled in frustration, but the flashlight was just too powerful for his sensitive eyes. Still, the insistence in his head to—

G̸̦̓ẹ̵́t̴̹͗ ̸̧̉t̵̹͛ḧ̴̨́é̵̳ ̷̘̂c̶͉͠ḫ̸͝i̶̭̔l̵̢̏d̴̼̊;̷͇̈ ̵̰̈́c̷͍͝a̴̭͆p̵̕ͅt̶̼̄u̶͚̓r̵͓̄ė̴̻ ̴̫̓h̵͔͐i̴͇̕m̷͓͗ ̵͎̍ä̶̢́n̴̯̓d̵͍̽ ̸̨͋b̸̠̑r̶̕ͅỉ̷̙n̷͎͐ģ̶͋ ̶̩̀h̴͈͝ì̸̭m̵̙͝ ̶̣͂ẗ̴͓́ö̶̯ ̷͚͑ḿ̸̼ȇ̷̝!̸̱̎[1]

—was so great that Moon almost dropped from the ceiling regardless of the light.

Almost.

For now, he remained where he was, hoping he wasn't going to get in trouble for not following the rules this powerful voice in his head had set...

[1] Get the child; capture him and bring him to me!

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[rebeccahpedersen]

Why Don’t People Want To Move?

TorontoRealtyBlog

Well, my mother enjoyed Friday’s blog, and that’s all that really matters, right?

Lost in the shuffle after an impromptu 2,000 word trip down memory lane were the reasons behind this recent survey, showing more home-owners would opt to stay put and renovate their existing homes than move.

The survey was posed in this hypothetical “What if you had $50,000,” manner, whereby respondents were supposed to choose between renting and moving.  But ignoring that hypothetical, and simply looking at the decision as it pertains to all of us, our lives, and our situations, I would still argue that just as many people would rather do without moving.

I see five major reasons for this, many of which have multiple reasons therein…

5) The Neighbourhood

There’s nothing wrong with loving where you live, in fact, it’s a dream for all of us.

So when faced with the prospect of leaving all that you know and love, it seems to reason that many people would look for ways to avoid it.

This means that when many people do end up moving, many of them stay within the same area.  I actually sold a $970,000 condo to a buyer last week who currently lives in the building in a smaller place worth about $550,000.  He loves the building, doesn’t really want to leave, but needs more space.  So buying a larger place but only considering that one building became his chosen path.

For other would-be buyers, however, not being able to move within that same area is often a reason why they stay put.  If you owned a 3-bed, 2-bath semi-detached house, but wanted a 4-bed, 4-bath, or at least a 4-bed, 3-bath, and were constrained by price, you might end up looking in another neighbourhood with lower prices.  We’ve all been here before, and this is a very common scenario for most buyers.  You can’t afford to move “up” within your area, so you look at other locations.  When faced with this prospect, many buyers just can’t pull the trigger because they can’t face moving out of the neighbourhood.  And thus, they renovate, expand/add-on, or simply put off the move for a little while longer.

I’ve seen this happen a lot.

When I’m working with active buyers who essentially “change their mind,” and decide to put the search on hold, one of the top reasons is because they can’t bear the idea of leaving the neighbourhood.  So as I mentioned above, many decide that their plan is to stay, save more money, and then be able to purchase a larger home within that same area.

As housing prices continue to rise, however, we all know it’s difficult to “chase the market.”  Saving more money for a down payment on a larger home only works if the market stays the same, or appreciates at a rate substantially lower than one’s ability to save.  This is why I find so many people who don’t move, initially, because they “want to stay in the neighbourhood” end up becoming stuck in their existing home.

–

4) The Kids

You all heard my sob-story from Friday about how I didn’t want to move, but what I didn’t mention was that as a child, I was paralyzed with the fear of switching schools.

We grew up in Leaside, and I attended Bessborough Public School right from Junior Kindergarten.  But I knew that when my mother and father were out looking at houses on the weekend, half the time they were looking in other areas.

I had no idea where “Lawrence Park” was, but I knew I didn’t want to live there.

Avenue Road?  Is it an avenue or a road?  That made no sense to me.  I certainly didn’t want to live there.

Bayview Heights?  Where the hell was that?

North Toronto?  How far north are we talking?

My sister explained to me that if we lived in any of these areas, we would have to go to a different school.  This scared me more than just about anything as a child, and that includes Freddy Krueger, who was just about the worst-looking, scariest thing I had ever seen, and maybe still have to this day.  The makeup for that movie, considering it was 1984, is just unreal.  But that’s a topic for another day…

As any child would at this age, I had developed a close circle of friends, and the thought of not only losing those friends, but also having to make new ones, was a non-starter for me.  I didn’t want to be “the new kid” that shows up on September 5th, and is introduced by the teacher who basically begs the other children to befriend.

A lot has changed since the 80’s, and nowadays with technology where it is, social media, and a lot more clubs, sports, and activities, kids from all over the city blend together in a way they never did before.  But I still think a lot of parents worry about pulling their kids out of existing schools, and planting them in new ones.

Many parents will actually plan their moves around their kids’ ages, and/or school cycles.

I’ve had clients who told me, “We’re going to buy a house in two years because our son will be turning 6-years-old, and we want to start him in School X for Grade 1,” as well as other variations surrounding different public/private school options, or special programs like French Immersion, or simply leaving daycare for JK, or graduating from Grade 8 to high school.

But others simply refuse to move because they fear it’ll be traumatic for the kids, whether that’s based on the school, or in some cases, emotional attachment to the home.

I suffered from both as a child, but thankfully when we moved, I stayed in the same school!

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3) The “Lateral” Move

You don’t sell for $1,000,000 and buy for $1,000,000 in this market very often.

If you lived in a condo, and wanted to own a house, you might though.  And I’m sure there are other exceptions to the rule.

I suppose if you live in a downtown Toronto condo, worth $600,000, and you’re moving to Hamilton to start your new job, get married, start a family, and prices for freehold homes are $600,00, then yes, the lateral move makes sense.

But here in Toronto, most of my clients are either buying up or down, and the “lateral move” is a fear of many buyers, and probably should be.

For reasons that we’ll explore in point #1, it’s expensive to move, and to buy and sell for around the same price often doesn’t make sense.

Switching neighbourhoods around the same price point can be an option, but it really just comes down to the costs involved, and I feel as though most buyers want to truly “buy bigger.”

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2) The Bother

As I write this, I have not one, but two sets of clients who have moved in with their parents for two weeks.  I have another couple of sellers who are also leaving while their property is being sold, but they’re sailing around the world, so we don’t feel quite as bad for them!

My other seller-clients have been displaced from their homes as it’s simply not feasible for them to sell why they’re living in the house.

In the house.  In their house; it’s not feasible for them to live in their house.  How crazy is that?

Well, that’s Toronto!  That’s the market!  You’ve heard me say this over and over, but I believe there is only one “right way” to sell real estate, and it involves doing everything properly before and during the listing, cutting no corners, and not diverting from the path that’s been set out in advance.  This means, for those that choose to do it properly, that you’ve got anywhere from two weeks to two months of preparing, and it can be awful.

You start by de-cluttering, and that means throwing away stuff you probably want to keep, and/or often going through boxes you have no desire to go through.  You often work around the clock, with a deadline (ie. a target listing date), and every night you go home from work knowing that you’re simply switching jobs, as the work doesn’t stop until you finish packing, and go to bed.

You have to work on the house too.  Repairs, fixes, often renovations.  I have clients right now who are going to replace all the flooring in their condo, renovate the bathroom, paint the entire place, and maybe even tackle the kitchen cabinets while they’re at it.  They’ve told me they’re stressed, anxious, and wondering whether this is “the right move.”

But then when the property is actually cleaned, painted, repaired, and de-cluttered, the staging begins, and many people can’t live in a staged house.  Especially those with kids…

Most of my clients who have children end up moving out for 10-14 days when we sell, provided the house is freehold and in at least a lukewarm location.

If we stage the house on a Thursday, take photos on Friday, to list on Monday, that family isn’t going to live in the house on the weekend.  They’re already up at the in-laws!  So then we have a week of showings, followed by an offer night, and it’s close to two weeks before they can move back into the house.

Add all this up – packing, de-cluttering, repairing/renovating, cleaning, moving furniture and boxes to storage, staging, and finally moving out of the house, and it’s no wonder many people couldn’t be “bothered” with the process.  It’s daunting to many, although those of you who have been through it probably think it’s just the cost of doing business.

Then there’s something to be said for the “bother” of trying to essentially re-create one’s existing home, in a different location.  Those of us who take pride in our homes, and who have worked over the years to make it our “own,” often see a new house as a stark blank canvas, and thus a chore.  Some relish the opportunity to start from scratch, but others see it as a lengthy task that they could do without.  Imagine spending five years “feathering the nest,” only to have to start over elsewhere?

To each, their own.  Some might see this as complaining about nothing, but the feedback I get from people all the time is that moving is daunting, and much of it has to do with the process of selling, rather than buying.

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1) The Cost

There’s absolutely, positively, no doubting that this is the #1 reason why people don’t move…

…in Toronto, that is.

Tell me if I’m wrong, and I feel as though this could be one of those blog posts where the readers’ comments really drive home the accuracy of this list, but I have to think that if it wasn’t so expensive to move, people would do it more often.

Some see real estate as an “investment” and others are irked by that mere notion; thinking somehow that houses should be exempt from being bought/sold/traded and rather simply house people.  But for those who find themselves in the former camp, they’ll recognize that real estate as an investment has one major difference from your typical investment vehicles out there today: liquidity.

That’s not to say that real estate isn’t easily sold.  It’s a far more liquid investment than art, rare coins, or precious metals (ie. those who actually take physical possession of gold bars; I had a client once with all his money in physical materials, it was nuts).  But the time it takes to dispose of real estate is an eternity compared to the “click of a button” for selling shares of stock.

Then, there’s the cost.  That’s the major issue with liquidity, from my perspective.

And the costs associated with selling real estate might be the elephant in the room for most agents, but I tell my clients this all the time!

Land transfer tax, real estate listing fees, legal fees, movers, and then the things people don’t think about – like furnishing a new house, and all that comes with it.

Those of us in Toronto pay not one, but two land transfer taxes, to the wonderful municipality of Toronto, and province of Ontario.

On a $1,500,000 purchase, that’s $52,950 that you are never going to get back.

Now let’s say you’re selling a $700,000 condo as you prepare to move into that $1.5 Million house.  The fees are anywhere up to 6%, or $42,000.  But add in HST, and it’s even worse – $47,460.

There are other options, of course.  It costs $0.00 to put a “FOR SALE” sign on your lawn, so while the land transfer tax to Toronto and Ontario are non-negotiable, the real estate listing fees aren’t fixed.

I won’t turn this into a conversation about commission but suffice it to say, most people are paying 4-5% to sell, and that’s a big number if you’re going to buy/sell again in three years, then five years after that.

It’s why I tell a lot of my clients, “It’s expensive to move.” I do it all the time, just ask them.  “You don’t want to call me in two years, tell me you’ve outgrown the space, and have to pay me again to sell your place, and then pay two governments massive fees just to file paperwork.”

You’re going to pay a lawyer to close the sale of your existing property as well as the purchase of the new one.  Disbursements, title insurance, and other fees add up.

But what really surprises me is how much people underestimate the cost of new furnishings in the home.  How many of you have moved into a new house or condo and been blinded by light, because you had no window treatments, and never thought to get any?  How many people actually factor this in to their number-crunching when they start considering making a move?

And that couch in the living room of your condo?  You are kidding yourself if you think it’s going in your new house.

The IKEA pots and pans scream “bachelor,” and now you’re a married man in a home.  So get ready to spend!

In fact, the most common dollar figure that buyers attribute to these types of expenses is $0.  Honestly, people never think of it until they’ve already bought, already sold, and are preparing to move into the new property.  Only then do they look around at their existing furniture and realize how much they hate it.  Only then do they find themselves out, every weekend, shopping up at Castlefield & Dufferin.

This certainly isn’t the largest cost associated with moving, but it’s the most underestimated!

In the end, I think the costs involved with moving are the number-one reason why more people don’t.

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So there you have it, folks!

If there are other reasons, please feel free to share.

And for those of you that want, or wanted to move, but did not, I’d love to hear why!

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