Saints Ghost

Back with another FNAF illustration, as the muse remains with me, hehe.

I've been thinking a lot about Michael's fate at the end of the series lately. It was a story moment I wanted to keep in my AU, but I really wrestled with making it feel thematically consistent and narratively sound. Something about how it is in the "canon" narrative (however you can define that) always bugged me. I think it's fine for there to be an element of tragedy to it--even if Mike's at peace with dying, he has still, like the other children, had every other possibility stolen from him by his father--but I don't like that the death itself is framed as the "atonement" or "redemption." I think it's the actions and efforts that matter more, and should be the focus of the victory. Mike's death isn't what "redeems" him, it's all the effort he put into becoming a guardian against his father's machinations, and that allows him to be at peace with himself when death does come for him--not as a sacrifice, but as a determined spirit that finally completed its task.

*Coughs*...anyway, I have some big feelings about this sort of thing, and those will be explored further in the fic haha. But I wanted to explore some of those ideas visually as well. "They are all our children" after all--a fitting idea for a story where so many problems come from closing yourself off to others.

This piece was fun! I also had fun including some references hehe :) "grow old, listening to the laughter" is a reference to the same kind of line from Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, which I love dearly. The original line is "you don't die here. You just grow old, listening to the laughter." Please read it, it's very good!! I think Mike and Susan would get along. Well, "get along" after a fashion haha.

The other reference is in the picture itself. Are you familiar with The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya? It's one of my favorite movies I can never recommend because its full impact requires two seasons of television as initial viewing hahaha. I can certainly recommend the soundtrack though, and this track in particular: