Hello, I know you’re probably not focusing on Fnaf a whole lot as of now, but I’ve been looking at your cartoon au and I really love it! Idk what to say but it gives me Saturday morning cartoon vibes with just the artstyle and colours, and I am obsessed with the info and lore.
Just a silly question, but how would the cartoon versions of the SB characters react to/feel about their animatronic counterparts (and maybe Gregory)? No sketch or anything like that is needed. I’m fine with just a reply :)
@rag-doggy
Thank you!! It makes me so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying it so far! As for me focusing on FNaF, I’m ALWAYS focusing on FNaF LMAO I just don’t talk about my AUs as much as I’d like to because I’m very particular about wanting everything to sound perfect when I post about it (which I struggle with considering I’m always changing and working on things in my AU. Especially the Cartoon AU!) I fear my lore and things becoming too cluttered and overwhelming with how often I change things.
So, this is a really interesting question since the cartoon versions of the characters would likely never even know of their animatronic counterparts/the Pizzaplex/or Gregory at all since the Cartoon AU is the in-universe media made by Fazbear Entertainment to promote the Plex and it’s attractions. The animatronics actually do know about their cartoon counterparts though since that’s what they’re designed to be based off of and because the show is kind of EVERYWHERE in the Plex since that’s what’s supposed to draw in the customers! (Pretty much like your typical licensed theme park being based off of a popular franchise/movie/or show).
However, if the Cartoon AU characters ever were to find out about their animatronic counterparts, I feel like it would be very uncanny for them and they’d probably be very curious about them. Surprisingly, the cartoon characters and the animatronics are still really similar to each other despite the virus affecting the Plex. A lot of things that happen in the Cartoon AU are meant to foreshadow or reflect some of the things going on at the Pizzaplex, including things with the virus. Though this was NOT something that FazEnt intentionally wrote into their media. It’s something the company would likely insist is simply a coincidence but, for the most part, they probably never even noticed because they don’t care enough about the franchise to be worried about some cartoon. The similarities do tie to the Storyteller though since FazEnt uses the Storyteller and it’s programming to write the stories for the Plex and its characters. So these “coincidences” are more of M2 telling stories of how it sees the characters and some of the events going on around it. Kind of like M2/The Storyteller is projecting into some of its stories (which it does a lot).
Individually, I’d say:
Roxy would actually get along with her animatronic. I think she would relate with her a lot (of course) and would want to help her boost her confidence in herself. She would probably also want to give her some tips on how to take care of whatever material her hair is made from or suggest what colors would go best for her makeup. She wouldn’t like to see animatronic Roxy get upset and would encourage her that she CAN be the best. Cartoon Roxy would also try to be the voice of reason when Roxy gets into her frustrated moods from the virus (similar to the Roxy Talky complimenting her in Help Wanted 2 to calm her down).
Monty would be terribly influenced by his animatronic. He would be envious of him, especially him becoming a main part of the band and “maybe even more popular than Bonnie someday” (as the staff say). He might even get a bit mad that his animatronic tends to hide away and take breaks when he has the opportunity to bask in the spotlight. I think he would get really bad ideas against Freddy, especially since Freddy’s animatronic is seen as a potential traitor by the virus for helping Gregory, which I think he would start to assume of cartoon Freddy. (I say “potential” due to Vanessa and the others being unable to prove Freddy is working with Gregory). However, I think cartoon Monty would actually be kind of scared of how aggressive and violent his animatronic can be. While the cartoon Monty is also destructive and short-tempered, he doesn’t usually do this on purpose (he actually feels kind of bad about it because it makes others avoid or dislike him and he doesn’t really understand it. He just gets mad and has trouble with controlling it). He also would never escalate to the extent the virus makes his animatronic go. He would be put off if he ever found out what his animatronic did to Bonnie (and what he plans to do to Freddy). Even if he’s easily jealous, especially towards Bonnie and Freddy, his cartoon self would never have it in him to willingly hurt them like that. That’s something the virus amplified about his personality with it affecting his character’s anger. I think, at first, he would admire his animatronic and slowly begin to fear him and what he’s become.
I’m not entirely sure how Chica would react since I’m still working on a lot of her character and story. As of right now, I think she would be besties with her animatronic. Though I do think she would try to encourage her to eat healthier and take better care of herself. Anything but eating literal garbage would make her happy to see. I also think she would feel bad once she found out about the virus and how it’s been affecting the glamrocks. Chica is very considerate of her friends and is always checking in on them and watching them (like in the SB intro cutscene with Freddy). I think she would notice something was definitely up with the Plex and I think she would want to help stop it.
Sun/Moon are already very similar to their animatronic counterpart. However, like the others, the Daycare Attendant is much more extreme in comparison to their cartoon counterpart (much less so than the other glamrocks though). Sun’s cartoon self is a character who hides his anxieties and fears behind a friendly mask of always trying to make sure everyone is safe, trying to make it seem like he’s totally in control, and reassuring everyone that nothing bad will happen. His animatronic is the same but is much, much closer to mentally breaking down and having frequent panic attacks. He’s extremely on edge compared to his already nervous character. This is mostly because Moon’s animatronic is much more of a threat compared to his cartoon variant (which is actually saying a lot). Unlike in the cartoon, Moon’s animatronic is deadly and has hurt people and none of that can be fixed with cartoon logic. Sun is aware of this and it terrifies him and makes him feel incapable of keeping others around himself safe. It’s very obvious this has a super negative impact on their animatronic self. It doesn’t help that they were not meant to be a daycare attendant and are in a stressful environment they’re not familiar with, which only adds to Sun’s frustrations. While Sun’s cartoon self is able to get better due to Freddy and his friends keeping Moon at bay, Sun’s animatronic self only continues to get worse since the virus caters towards Moon so it can use him, leaving Sun to deal with the weight of the consequences. Both versions deal with insomnia-like symptoms from trying to keep themselves awake so Moon won’t wake up. I feel like cartoon Sun would fully understand the struggle of his animatronic counterpart and, while not a great help at calming down, would appreciate knowing they aren’t alone.
Moon’s cartoon self would honestly be pretty neutral towards his animatronic self. If anything, they’re nearly identical with the exception that Moon’s wickedness can’t be fully expressed in a show aimed at children, just implied. This is the main difference between Sun/Moon’s cartoon and animatronic selves. The show can only dive so deeply into them. The biggest difference between Moon’s cartoon and animatronic is that Moon’s animatronic will blind some of its victims to punish them (which his cartoon self likely wouldn’t do). This is an example of his personality being amplified by the virus. (It’s also due to him being based on a sandman in my AU and some stories say that the sandman would come to punish bad kids who didn’t go to sleep by blinding them with sand and plucking their eyes). Another difference is Moon’s cartoon self has potential to be redeemed. His animatronic is stuck in the mindset of always being the villain of the Plex’s theater shows.
DJMM would enjoy the presence of his animatronic counterpart. They’d probably jam out together and make up cool, new beats. They’d definitely throw a great party!
I saved Freddy for last because I feel he’s the most interesting for this question. Freddy and his animatronic are actually the most identical of all. In fact, I’d say they’re exactly the same. I think this fact would actually upset and scare both of them. Freddy’s biggest fear and insecurity is the possibility of him not being himself or not being “original”. The idea of multiple versions of himself existing and all being the same really scares him. In the Cartoon AU, Freddy is a clone made to replace the original after his death. This is a big thing with him and trying to find out who he really is or if he really is just a “copy”. Freddy’s animatronic also struggles with this concept and the idea of being “easily replaceable” due to him being a company’s mascot with multiple locations. This is made worse considering he is aware of incidents with “older models” and insists that was not him and that he would never hurt anyone like that. He’s very afraid of that. Freddy doesn’t want to be seen as a dangerous monster, both his cartoon and animatronic self. I think if these two were to meet or learn of eachother, they’d be extremely curious how each one feels and thinks but terrified of how similar they are. It would likely cause them an existential crisis. Apart from that, I think they would be very friendly with eachother.
As for the cartoons reacting to Gregory? He doesn’t exist in the Cartoon AU at all. The closest thing to Gregory in the Cartoon AU is Freddy’s son, Junior. Animatronic Freddy’s attachment to Gregory is due to him viewing Gregory similarly to Junior. It’s possible this happened since no animatronic of Freddy’s son ever came to existence, so that fatherly part of his character attached to Gregory, hence why he treats Gregory like his son.