welcome welcome to the group, newcomers!
some of the fan games are quite well done. (if your childhood is fragile enough that a fangame is all it takes, then i have... bad news about the rest of the internet LOL) i quite like the one night at flumpty's ones for instance. i think they're very well done technically. then the joy of creation is so good it's almost a shame to note that it's a fan game really - the animations there are excellent. it's not a particular surprise to see other franchises in here - after all the game is built riffing on chuck e cheese and other animatronic kid's entertainment. though i do think the people that just use other franchises are missing out a bit on the potential for creativity - rather like how while i am sure toby fox's earthbound mod was great, but undertale was greater still.
i have to admit though i am a bit worried about FNAF
defining people's childhoods. the dubious influence of some youtubers aside, i think we can all agree that there's a level of gore and horror that makes the series not appropriate for children. (i'm sure there's some particular game over screens and such that if i posted them on chickensmoothie would see me promptly banned!) teens, sure, but i tend to get worried when i see eight-year-olds out there going crazy for FNAF. while i don't blame scott cawton for riding this particular cash cow as far as it'll take him, i do get worried of kids sneaking into this fandom. but part of that may be the distinctly and tiresomely American idea that blood, guts, gore is fine, but if the game doesn't have a nude pair of boobies in it, it must be suitable for kids lol...
i do think authorial intent is pretty clear though - at least in the later games - sister location especially is defined by the anxiety and horror coming through to the audience from the perspective of a parent. something happening to you is scary - something happening to your
kid is
terrifying (and what i think defines the entire series - after all, fredbear and the rest are children's mascots).
but i could go off on another digression here about how there's inherent tension in horror games because you've got to choose a protagonist who has agency enough to make a fun game, but lacks power enough that it's genuinely scary, so... okay right, i should NOT go off on another tangent
edit: i should probably have put in there that i don't expect we FNAF fans to fix this whole problem, mind you - but we can adopt an attitude of 'do no more additional harm'. stuff like keeping the fanart blood-free unless it's behind an age wall, making our cosplays relatively blood-and-gore free, and being willing to 'drop the mask' for scared kids. in short, do our best to not give the Tipper Gores of the world an excuse to come after FNAF and its fans.
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
