#fnaf stands for disregard canon

[lil-dragon-rawr]

Y'all what if FNaF and DC were in the same universe can you imagine the chaos

Michael: *applies for a security job at WE because go big or go home amirite)

Tim, doing the interview because everyone else was freaked out by Michael: so, uh. What's your work experience

Michael: oh! I was a security officer for a bunch of places. Only for like a week at a time though cause I was only working there to set them on fire

Tim, now deeply concerned: um. So uh. That's a crime

Michael, realizing he made a Mistake™ and attempting to defend himself: hey, with the last gig it was literally in my contract that I had to burn the place down

Tim, contemplating insurance fraud:

Michael: also I'm great with lawsuits

Michael: *is living in Crime Alley because of course he is*

Michael: *gets shot while interrupting a gang war*

Michael, staring at the bullet in his chest: oh cool! My first souvenir from the east coast!

Red Hood, trying to get the obvious civilian out of the way: uhh hey buddy, are you good?

Michael "Allergic To Dying" Afton: yeah I'm good! Check out this bullet!

Red Hood, deeply concerned: what the [REDACTED]

Michael, remembering most people die when they're shot: oh don't worry, ever since I got scooped I can't die!

Red Hood, deeply concerned and regretting this conversation: uh. Scooped?

Michael, excited to talk about his trauma: yeah! My dead sister tricked me into getting my insides scooped out so she and her friends could wear my skin as a disguise to escape their prison

Red Hood:

Michael, working at WE and high on fear gas thanks to Scarecrow: oh, the nightmares are back!

Michael: *ignores them and keeps flipping through the cameras to see where Scarecrow went*

Red Robin, trying to help his employees: sir, you need to evacuate the building. Also, here's an antidote to the fear toxin-

Michael, annoyed: hey can you get out of my face? You're blocking the bestest boi

Red Robin: you're on fear toxin, whatever you're seeing isn't real

Michael: yeah and it wasn't real the first four years either but nightmare foxy is back and I'm never letting him go, he's the only one I like

Red Robin: sir please

Tim: *checks in on Michael and sees a little robotic bear reading an official-looking paper*

Tim, incredibly confused and praying that's not confidential WE info: hey Mike, whatcha got there

Michael, scooping up Helpy to present him like it's his favorite child: this is Helpy! He's the best and is so helpful. He also cuddles really nicely!

Michael, getting flashbacks: unlike SOME animatronics

Tim: what's he. What's he holding

Michael, with the energy of a parent excited to show off his kid's latest project: oh it's a lawsuit!

Michael, having a Conversation™ with Red Hood: wait you're dead too!

Red Hood: uhh yeah?

Michael: but why aren't you purple? Are you an animatronic?

Red Hood, incredibly confused: ...why would I be an animatronic?

Michael: cause you aren't decaying like me???

Red Hood: ok cool new question

Red Hood: HOW would I be an animatronic?

Michael: what, like it's difficult?

Michael: I mean, my little brother got rebuilt into an animatronic when he died so it's not that much of a stretch

Red Hood, realizing this is karma for every joke he made about his own death:

Michael: and there was that time a pile of robot spaghetti wore my skin so they could be a real person

Red Hood: would you pLEASE stop talking about that

Michael, ignoring him: didn't stop me from decaying though. Hm

WE: *gets shut out of their systems by an unknown hacker with a robot fox face*

Michael: don't worry guys I got this!

Tim, severely concerned that Batfam stuff is going to get leaked: but you're a security guard?? How-

Michael, typing in LOL: yeah don't worry it's just Lolbit! They like to cause problems on purpose from time to time

Tim: Lol...bit? Causes problems on purpose?

Michael: it's like enrichment

*Batfam realizes they have to start investigating Michael*

Red Hood: I mean, we could just ask him

Red Hood: the first time we met he told me exactly how he died in great detail

Red Hood, reminiscing (read: war flashbacks): he had a twenty-four slide powerpoint

Red Robin, realizing Michael's purple and smells bad for a reason other than "classic Gotham chemicals": he's dead???

Red Hood, desensitized: yeah, he didn't tell you?

Red Robin: *approaches Michael outside of work*

Michael, no longer high on fear toxin: oh hiya boss!

Red Robin, panicking: uhh what

Michael "FoxyBro" Afton: is there a reason you're talking to me outside of business hours? Am I in trouble?

Red Robin, wondering how he was going to explain this to Batman: uhhhhhh

Batman: please explain your previous jobs. For the investigation

Michael: oh! Well it all began when I tried to play a prank on my brother, shoved him into Fredbear's mouth, and got him killed-

Michael: then the nightmares started, which I later found out was partially due to my dad running experiments on me every night-

Michael: eventually he died but not really,

Michael: oh! And my sister got eaten by Baby-

Batman, lost at "shoved him into Fredbear's mouth":

*Batfam arrives at the Pizzaplex to try and figure out what the heck is going on*

Michael, there because he's visiting his siblings, standing next to Baby, Golden Freddy, and Gregory (on Glamrock Freddy's shoulders): oh hi guys!

Red Robin, who read the Funtime schematics: Michael what the [404 SWEAR NOT FOUND]

Red Hood: there's a child?? Why is there a child???

Michael: didn't I tell you about him? Anyways this is Gregory, he's the robot version of my dead brother!

Michael, gesturing to Golden Freddy: and this is my dead brother

Michael: though technically that's also another kid who lowkey kinda scares me

Michael, moving on: and this is my sister!

Michael: y'know, the one who tricked me into getting my insides scooped so she and her friends could wear my skin as a disguise?

Red Hood: can you PLEASE stop talking about that

Baby: I told you you wouldn't die!

Michael, looking at the Batfam like they're cameras from The Office: and she wonders why she's not my favorite sibling

Nightwing, having a moment but still trying to get information: who's. Who's the other bot

Michael, patting Glamrock Freddy: oh that's me!

Michael: a piece of me anyways

Nightwing: I have so many more questions

Signal, who can see the ghosts: please do not ask for answers.

Michael, showing the Batfam around the Pizzaplex: do you want to see my favorite ride?

Red Hood: ...sure

Michael: it's Foxy's log ride! Foxy is my favorite, I'm so upset he got replaced with Roxy but at least he's still around! Y'know when I was a kid I used to wear a Foxy mask, which is coincidentally the mask I wore when I got my brother killed-

Michael: *goes on a whole rant of the evolutions of Foxy and why OG Foxy is his favorite*

Red Hood: *starts taking notes*

Roxy, storming through the Pizzaplex: Gregory, you lawless RAT, how DARE you replace my HAIRBRUSH with a pORCUPINE-

Gregory: *running to hide behind Spoiler because he associates purple with Michael*

Spoiler: *as Roxy runs up* oh uhh hi there. Roxy right?

Roxy:

Roxy: you're not Gregory

Spoiler: haha nope! No Gregory here!

Roxy: oh. Sorry

Roxy: love your outfit though!

Spoiler: thanks, love your makeup!

Roxy: I know, right? I'm gorgeous!

Spoiler:

Roxy: ...wanna have a girl's night with me and Glamrock Chica where we get dressed up and make Sun swear in binary?

Spoiler: did you even need to ask?

Robin, in a corner vibing with Mangle: *petting Mangle*

Mangle, also vibing: ._.(^w^)

Batman:

Puppet:

Batman:

Puppet:

Red Hood, realizing this is a staring contest: *goes halfway across the Pizzaplex to get popcorn and comes back to them in the exact same positions* ooh. Getting interesting

Nightwing: *argues with Circus Baby about clown etiquette*

Signal, overwhelmed by all the ghosts: man sure wish I had my lofi beats to study and relax to right now

DJ Music Man: *climbs out of the wall*

Signal: *unholy screeching* HOLY M- wait you're chill aren't you

DJ: *starts playing his version of lofi beats to study and relax to*

Signal: ...huh

Black Bat: *disappeared, found Ballora, and is now dancing with her* (^ ^)

Red Robin, recognizing the fox face from the WE hack: yOU

Funtime Foxy: I appreciate the enthusiasm for performing arts, but you must be thinking of my sibling!

Red Robin, who didn't find Lolbit's blueprints: your what

Lolbit, appearing out of nowhere: he means me!

Red Robin, with newly energized fury: YOU!

Lolbit: ...LOL!

[an-archaic-archivist]

I don't think Vanny was ever intended to be anything special by SteelWool

"But the teaser trailer had her talking in it!" It's very common for trailers to have dialogue made specifically for them. Hell, both Ruin and Help Wanted 2 did this in their trailers. They summarize the plot of the game. The original SB teaser did the same. Just less openly. Kid is trapped in the Pizzaplex and is being hunted with Freddy protecting him. I don't think the plot of SB changed as much as a lot of people think it did. It was just being formed slowly and shown to us in an abstract and arguably deceitful way. "But what about all of Vanny's unused animations?" Most of those are alternative walking and running animations. The only stand out is the one that depicts her crawling.

I guess this could have been used, but it was likely replace by the mini music men to add to the claustrophobic nature of the vents. "But what about that Glitchtrap voice at the start of the "Gameplay" trailer?" Again, that sort of thing is very common for trailers. To have audio specifically made to entice the audience. That's what a trailer is for. To make the product it's advertising look as good as possible. Disregarding the hype surrounding Vanny, A new trailer will almost always put a new character front and center. That's just basic marketing. To push the shiny new thing as hard as it can. The trailer audio didn't give us much new info anyway. It was just doubling down on what we already knew. That Glitchtrap was manipulating Vanny. Neither of them were ever meant to have that many voice lines. Hell, there's even an unused voice line of Gregory making fun of her catchphrase because of just how much she says it.

You ever notice how most of the shots that feature Vanny in those two "gameplay" trailers are long, straight and mostly featureless corridors aside from some bright red lights?

That's because they were made just for the trailers. They were made to show Vanny off and nothing more. They were never meant to be in the final game. It seems like for whatever reason, Fnaf wants nothing to do with her. Ruin canonizes an ending where she's less likely to be an antagonistic force in any potential future appearances, Tales from the Pizzaplex doesn't even mention her, and Help Wanted 2 seems to double down on her not being around anymore by showing her literally waving goodbye to the player.

I'm half convinced that the only reason the PQ ending was picked as the canon one over the clearly originally canon Burntrap ending was just so they could write Vanessa/Vanny out of the story.

Not only is the tone from the PQ ending very upbeat compared to Ruin, while the Burntrap ending would feel like a much more natural continuation going into Ruin given that we straight up see part of the Pizzaplex collapsing. Plus, part of why the PQ ending is the happiest is that all the animatronics are freed from Glitchtrap, but what did freeing them actually accomplish? All of them except for Roxy have completely lost themselves and gone insane. All Chica can think about is food even after she gets her voice back, Eclipse doesn't even recognize Cassie and thinks the abandoned Pizzaplex will be "flooded with kids," and Monty has gone feral.

So yeah. The only real hope I have left of Vanny making a come back is her somehow showing up in the fnaf movie or that Vanny graffiti in Ruin meaning that she's gonna come back, but otherwise, I'm just not having a good time man.

[300iqprower]

The problem nowadays is that nobody wants to figure things out except for very few fandoms. Undertale and Deltarune are honestly rarities simply because they're full of people who prefer to find out the mysteries of the game for themselves. Kirby has been like that for years. Other series see an easier route in the model fnaf and dark souls laid out and it works out just as well so that's why most other series go that road.

IMO it's half people wanting everything spelled out, which has always been an issue, but now in addition the new problem of people thinking anything NOT spelled out is "inaccurate" or "misinterpreting" even when it's something that explicitly meant to be interpretive. People have no just become too lazy to read into something themselves, but obsessed with the idea of concrete answers and direct validation. With Dark Souls it's the fault of those around it, not the series itself, but with FNAF it's totally its own fault.

Dark Souls has a masterful balance of implicit storytelling with text and then showing over telling when it gives its concrete info. The facts are there, but they're presented in an interpretive medium, and the series has gone out of its way to distance itself from fan theory. It has a story but it's not afraid of its audience devising their own take on it. The format works best with Bloodborne because as a brilliant post put: It's wet. It's something alive, changing, and in many ways unknowable, and all of that plays off the format. It has some of the most straightforward storytelling and yet several years later people are piecing new things together. Dark Souls meanwhile pretty much collapsed under its own weight when it came to creating a resolution. I don't think it failed per se let alone is bad but Dark Souls 3 was unfinished, and it really really really showed with the ripple effect that had on both gameplay and story. But that's going on tangents.

FNAF meanwhile is just bad. I think I've made clear i fucking hate that franchise in the past but even disregarding my personal feelings towards both the series' gameplay quality and the ethics of its creator, IT'S A FUCKING MESS. I watched the Game Theory vids like every other teenager online did, and it was only years later I realized I had a completely different mindset in enjoying them: I saw the fun as being the speculation, not because you were "getting answers" but the series itself decided to take that approach with all this cryptic bullshit and the series' creator egging on the theories himself and directly saying there WERE concrete answers to everything. It was certainly good marketing but it was shit storytelling and in the long term obliterated the storytelling process for such games, FNAF itself included; everything after the third one I'd say but I'm generalizing since I know there's like 2 or 3 between where I lost interest and where I checked in on the new one just to laugh at the dumpster fire I'd heard so much about. Either way my point stands that when the more it tried to elaborate on itself the less coherent it became, and in the general indie space now everything has to have speculation not for the sake of your own for fun elaboration, but just to piece together any canon at all.

TLDR, the point of speculation shouldn't be to have any plot at all, it should be a for-fun exercise to extract more personal investment from the plot. People copy Dark Souls's approach without understanding any of its nuance, and FNAF has created this idea that everything has a concrete answer that can be spelled out and if it isnt spelled out then it's "wrong" when narrative speculation and interpretation shouldnt be something that's "right or wrong" to begin with. And Toby Fox absolutely gets that, it's exactly why his narratives can be so multilayered and meta without becoming convoluted or losing meaning if you just experience it as is. And the series that inspired it like Kirby and Mother are much the same, thought I'd say Toby's work is easily the most emotionally gripping for me personally.