Ghost in the Machine (Five Nights at Freddy's fanfic)

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Fanfiction
Title: Ghost in the Machine
Author(s): venomous-qwille "Qwille"
Date(s): August 5, 2023 - present
Length: 190k+
Genre(s): Reader-Insert
Fandom(s): Five Nights at Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, Daycare Attendant/Reader
Relationship(s):
External Links:

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Ghost in the Machine (GITM) is a reader-insert fanfic for the Daycare Attendant (DCA) from Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, written by venomous-qwille. There are several alternate universe versions of this AU, located within the Discord for the fic.

The author has expressed they do not want public online documents or wikis created for GITM fan theories, Discord comments, or its headcanons/world building (for example, "Fool's favorite song"), because they wish to create a wiki website for it in the future.[1]

Plot

GITM is an AU fanfic which plays upon the canon that there have been multiple locations of Fazbear properties, each which would have their own versions of the Fazbear animatronics including the DCA. The setting is decades after Fazbear Entertainment went bankrupt, and synthetic people are common and have some rights. Additionally, ghosts and psychic abilities play a large role in the plot, as the reader has a form of "Sight" that causes them to see ghosts and unwillingly see the past of a person or object by touching them.

The reader moves into their estranged great uncle's island mill as a technician to fix a busted DCA animatronic which he has bought for his collection. Upon arrival, they discover there are other DCA models living in the mill, including a bootlegged ren-faire Eclipse (Fool), a humanoid Sun (Sunspot "Spot"), a French Sun attendant (Soleil "Sol"), and a Japanese showbot Moon (Misuta). They also discover that their great uncle has fallen ill and been transported to a hospital, leaving them to settle in and adjust to the mill filled with robots on their own. As they spend their days interacting with the various bots and beginning to fix the new, damaged bot ("Ruin"), they meet a ghost named Clip. Mysteriously, when they are not interacting with Clip they are unable to remember him, and Clip becomes determined to find out why, even more so as trying to remember causes the reader to have migraines and nose bleeds.

The author, venomous-qwille, posts early snippets of chapters, as well as drawings and fanart of character which have yet to appear, on their Tumblr and Discord. The non-exhaustive roster of their fan characters that will appear in GITM are:

  • Clip.exe "Clip" - Eclipse, ghost
  • Fool - Off brand Eclipse, United Kingdom
  • Harvest Moon "Harvest" - Moon
  • Misuta - Moon, Japanese theaterbot
  • Mr.Sandman "Sandman" - Moon
  • New Moon "Noon" - Moon
  • Nova - Sun, Floridan
  • Ruin - Original DCA, stuck as Eclipse
  • Sanii - Sun, Japanese theaterbot
  • Sideshow - Moon
  • Soilel "Sol" - Sun, French-Canadian attendant
  • Sombra - Eclipse, Portuguese
  • Sunflower - Sun
  • Sunspot mk1 "Spot" - Sun, American attendant

Reception and Fandom

GITM is well received, particularly on Tumblr and AO3. As of April 2024, it has 55k hits, 1,3k comments, and 1,9k kudos. On Tumblr it has garnered a large amount of fanart, including animations. Additionally, some fans create spin off fanfiction which the author compiles in an archive on Archive of Our Own. Fans ship some of the DCA characters in the fic together, most notably Fool/Misuta (Misool), Fool/Noon (Cosmic Joke), Sombra/Sunspot (Somspot), and Sunflower/Sandman. While Misool is canon, other ships either have not been confirmed or are only fanon.

GITM has a dedicated Discord with 600+ members. The Discord hosts a Magma board where members draw fanart together, and there are days set aside to focus on fanart of specific characters, for example "Soleil Day" on October 8th.

Commentary

OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! COHERENT THOUGHTS ARE NOT BEING MADE! I can't wait for all the drabbles to tie together! It's going to be like a little scavenger hunt! (╭^▽^)╭ Hahaha I'm so excited!

Nicmares404, chapter 1, Aug 5, 2023[2]

Ohh man everyone is going through it this chapter! I can’t stop thinking about Sunspot and Cricket, hopefully they’ll be able to talk about th previous chapter and work through it! And ughhh my heart goes out to Sol!! He was looking forward to baking with Cricket but because of their seizure and the amount of blood he doesn’t want to anymore! Like I have so many mixed feelings about Sol, but he was happy last chapter!! He was excited! But Cricket is stubborn so I’m sure they’ll get him to bake eventually. And the part with Elias?!???? I can’t wait to learn more about him, like what kind of Sight does he have? What is a Journeyman? How exactly does one train the Sight?? And how does he hide from other seers like Cricket??

And now I’m pretty sure that Harry wasn’t the one to curse Cricket because in the beginning he said that their Sight was weak as a kid, so why would he feel the need to curse them?? I know he locked Clip away but I doubt that extended to Cricket beyond just forgetting him. And he seems smart when it comes to witchcraft and the Sight so I doubt he would mess up when doing that and then accidentally cursing Cricket too and then go and call them back to the mill without trying to fix it. Idk lots to think about when I reread and analyze everything because oh my gosh every chapter has so much in it that I need to read like 7 times to truly understand and theorize!!

Lovely chapter as always and I can’t wait for the next one!!! I’m excited to see what Clip, Fool, and Misuta are doing/feeling after last chapter

celpi, chapter 17, June 1, 2024.[3]

I need Sol in a way that I cannot explain to any you. not because its explicit but because there's so much that I would need to lay down for you to even begin understanding. qwille when I get you qwille

zerogutzz, Tumblr, June 11, 2024.[4]

TIME FOR PRETTY BOYFREN!!!! /silly. We know next to nothing about Sunflower but she's already absolutely interesting! such a pretty outfit, too ;w; Sunflower is from @venomous-qwille 's Ghost in the Machine DCA AU

craykaycee, Tumblr, Aril 9, 2024.[5]

Fanart

Gallery

Animation

References

  1. ^ A NOTE REGARDING WIKIS AND LORE DOCS, Tumblr. June 10, 2024 (Accessed 6/12/2024)
  2. ^ Archive of Our Own, Ghost in the Machine, chapter 1. Aug 5, 2023 (Accessed 6/15/2024)
  3. ^ Archive of Our Own, Ghost in the Machine, chapter 17. Jun 1, 2024 (Accessed 6/15/2024)
  4. ^ I need Sol in a way that I cannot explain to any you., Tumblr. Jun 11, 2024 (Accessed 6/15/2024)
  5. ^ TIME FOR PRETTY BOYFREN!!!! /silly., Tumblr. April 9, 2024 (Accessed 6/15/2024)
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