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

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.A NOTE REGARDING WIKIS AND LORE DOCS, Tumblr. June 10, 2024 (Accessed 6/12/2024)
==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===
==Fanart==
===Gallery===
File:Mulatto-macciato GITM.png|Comic page by mulatto-macchiato
File:Shadzytarts GITM.png|Sombra/Sunspot by shadzyarts
File:Toucheholland23 GITM.jpg|Misuta/Reader by toucheholland23
===Animation===
*[Animatic/DCA au/gitm] Ghostbusters!!!- meme by oobbbear
*i just want a boyfriend - animation (ghost in the machine)- meme by Soupdweller
*Ghost in the Machine Animatic [Love me More - Mitski]- animatic by Ohno-the-Sun
*animation by cookiiemancer
==References==
Category:Five Nights at Freddy's
Category:2023 Fanfiction
Category:2024 Fanfiction
Category:Reader Insert Fanfiction