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shebrakesforrainbows · 4 months

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What if I told you that Tony's fate isn't as ambiguous as we thought? What if I told you that we know exactly what happened to him?

And what if I told you we've seen it before?

Throughout the events of GGY, we're illuminated to the life and times of Tony Becker, a snarky and unpopular preteen boy obsessed with uncovering the truth in every story he runs into despite the consequences it may have on his real life and surroundings. Plagued by unresolved feelings of anger and denial from his father's imprisonment due to federal charges, Tony has developed somewhat of a "main character" complex. He believes that the world should attest to his discoveries, going so far as to resort to petty crimes in order to maintain a steady flow of evidence for his focal research points.

As we follow Tony's misadventures in trying to uncover the identity of the mysterious Pizzaplex hacker "GGY", we gleam the fact that he's not quite popular amongst his peers, and is in fact seen as "nerdy" or "weird" by them. His only companions are Ellis, known as "Boots", a long-standing childhood friend, and Greg, aka "Dr. Rabbit" or "Rab", a boy adopted into the friendship-turned-trio some months prior to the events of the story. Tony believes he's "outgrowing" Ellis, and theorizes that in time, he may only find interest in Greg (or Gregory as he's more commonly known as, which I'll be referring to him as for the remainder of the post to avoid confusion).

"Over the summer, Tony had started feeling a little impatient with his best friend, Boots. It felt like Tony was starting to grow up, but his longtime friend was content to stay a little boy." "Tony had a feeling that Rab had layers that Boots would never have. Tony had a terrible feeling that he was outgrowing Boots and might soon just want to hang out with Rab. That would be awkward in the extreme."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.8)

So off the bat we're shown that Tony doesn't seem to have much of an interest in developing meaningful relationships with other people, only those who he deems as "complex" as him. Whether that be out of a social awkwardness or any other insecurity is kind of left hanging in the air for debate.

However, he does take a notable interest in Gregory. This is mentioned multiple times in the first few pages of the story alone.

""Rab" was a relatively new friend. Spotting the unfamiliar kid who'd looked a little lost at the start of the school year a couple months before, Tony had introduced himself just to be friendly. He and "the new guy" had hit it off, and Tony invited him to work with him―and Boots―when they'd gotten their first creative writing assignment."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.7)

"More than once, Tony had caught Rab with a rigid expression on his face, as if he was contemplating something intense."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.8)

The story makes a point to repeatedly let the readers know that Tony is "different" from the average kid; that he's misunderstood and others simply don't get him. This, in fact, is arguably one of the main character traits we get from him throughout the events.

"Kids like Boots and Rab, who came from well-off families, didn't understand yet what kind of worries and struggles most people had to carry around. Life came easy to kids like Tony's friends (and most of his classmates), but Tony knew that many kids, and most adults, got beaten down by life."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.14)

So in essence, we have a smarmy young brunette kid with a missing father who's unpopular amongst his peers, has an affinity for nonfiction handwritten literature, and feels like nobody gets him except for one person, and is left with a seemingly ambiguous fate.

A character we've seen before this. Long before this.

Tony's general description matches that of prior Fazbear Frights protagonist Millie Fitzsimmons essentially to a T. Of course at first that does seem like a bit of an obvious comparison― "well yeah, all the Fazbear novel kids are gonna be similar in one way or another, they're kids". Which is fair argument to make, but the rabbithole goes much deeper than just that of the general personality comparisons.

Count The Ways shows Millie being trapped in the stomach hatch of a salvaged Funtime Freddy, who is notably missing a hand. Whilst stuck within, Funtime Freddy gives Millie the decision of how he will kill her. Dehydration, starvation, hypothermia, impalement, electrocution, or decapitation.

He gives her a list with 6 items. A number that perfectly matches the amount of (legitimate) high scores we see mentioned throughout the events of GGY.

PBD ABC KXT CRF RAE TRE

Sure, that can be chalked up to another coincidence as well. It's a stretch, and not really a strong connection, especially given they don't have much to do with each other. But those two points aren't where the similarities end.

It's worth mentioning, however, that both Tony and Millie have been separated from their fathers, with Tony's in prison for embezzlement and Millie's teaching in Saudi Arabia, and as a result both have moved in with a grandparent.

Throughout his investigation, Tony is notably stalked by Glamrock Freddy. This isn't just implied by Tony's sway on the narration, but full-on confirmed.

"After just a couple steps, though, a flash of glowing white caught Tony's eye. He looked to the left, and his feet faltered. He was being watched... by one of the animatronics. Tony looked up into the gleaming white eyes of the big orange animatronic bear with the red, armored shoulder pads and the black top hat―Glamrock Freddy. Thinking that Freddy was just being friendly, the way the animatronics were during their Sunday stroll around, Tony lifted a hand and waved at the bear. Freddy, however, didn't return the gesture. He just kept his intense gaze on Tony, as if sizing Tony up. Suddenly chilled for reasons he didn't understand at all, Tony looked away from Freddy and hurried on. After a few more steps, Tony glanced over his shoulder. Glamrock Freddy was still watching him. Goose bumps popped up on Tony's bare arms as he practically ran out of the Fazcade."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.33)

"Remembering what had happened the last time he'd seen the bit of luminous white, Tony barely turned his head and used his peripheral vision to check out what had gotten his attention. And as he'd expected, he spotted Glamrock Freddy. The animatronic was pacing Tony, three feet or so behind Tony's right shoulder. It looked like Glamrock Freddy was shadowing Tony. But why? (...) Maybe it was just a coincidence that Glamrock Freddy was walking in the same direction Tony was going, just a few feet from Tony. Tony risked another glance at the animatronic. He quickly looked straight forward again. Nope. Not a coincidence. Freddy was clearly focused on Tony."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.41)

It goes without saying that Count The Ways' main antagonist is Funtime Freddy. Glamrock Freddy, and Funtime Freddy. Both notably variants of the original top-hatted troubadour.

Both notably missing their hand(s) at one point or another.

The duration of Millie's torment takes place inside of Funtime Freddy's stomach hatch. Again, something we see reflected in Glamrock Freddy's mechanics and design throughout multiple installments.

Whilst GGY doesn't necessarily have its own central antagonist, the closest thing to an actual threat that Tony seems to encounter is Glamrock Freddy. The two Freddy variants who are explicitly known for their intense shift in the expected behavior of a Freddy, and who were built with some kind of hollow opening in their stomach small enough to host children.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

But that's not everything. Throughout Count The Ways, Millie takes interest in a boy named Dylan who shares her hobbies and interests. Dylan, she feels, is the only one who understands her, and despite their meeting being very recent, she falls for him.

The bell rang, signaling that lunch period was about to end. Dylan leaned toward Millie and half whispered, “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.” “It tolls for thee,” Millie finished. Where had this guy come from? Toledo, sure, but how was he so sophisticated and knowledgeable? She had never met anyone like him. Dylan stood up. “Millie, it’s been a rare pleasure. Would you and your imaginary friend mind very much if I joined you two at lunch tomorrow?” Millie felt the corners of her mouth twitch in an unfamiliar way. “We wouldn’t mind at all,” she said.

― Into The Pit, "Count The Ways" (p.93)

Dylan, obviously, is a stand-in for Gregory in this scenario. Whilst we don't see much interaction directly between Tony and Gregory, we do see a lot of bonding between Ellis and Gregory. Throughout the chapter the two of them are shown to be much closer to each other than they seem to be with Tony. I believe Ellis is reflected in Count The Ways through the character of Brooke, Dylan's girlfriend.

“Like Brooke?” Millie’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “What, you don’t approve of Brooke?” Dylan said. “She’s blonde and basic,” Millie said. No need to mince words. The truth was the truth. “Have you ever had a conversation with her?” Dylan asked. “Do you even know what she’s like?” Had Millie ever heard Brooke say anything? She was quiet in U.S. government class, Millie assumed, because she had nothing interesting or important to say. “I’ve never talked to her,” Millie said. “I don’t talk to just anyone.” Dylan shook his head. “Well, Brooke isn’t just anyone. She’s smart and well-read and nice. She wants to be a veterinarian. Why does it matter what color her hair is?” Dylan looked at her so hard it was like he was looking through her. “Millie, I’m disappointed in you. You, of all people, with your black wardrobe and black eyeliner and black nail polish. It seems like you’d know better than to judge a person based on her appearance. You don’t like when people do it to you, and yet you’re guilty of the very same crime. I’m pretty sure that’s called hypocrisy.” He stood up. “I think this conversation is over.”

― Into The Pit, "Count The Ways" (p.104)

Tony rather harshly judges Ellis for being "childish" the same way Millie labels Brooke as "basic", in spite of Gregory/Dylan showing interest in them. I'm not going to say this is a hint towards Tony's true feelings towards Gregory or anything, but...

But I digress; this is simply all buildup, evidence to what I intend to properly prove― Tony's seemingly ambiguous fate, and how this all ties into Millie's experience. At the end of the story, Gregory invites Tony to the Pizzaplex with him under the guise of cheering him up.

Greg stopped and took a step back toward Tony. "Listen," Greg said, "how about you meet me at the Pizzaplex when you get out of here. In an hour or so? I have some people I want you to meet. We'll have some fun, and you'll forget all about the story and getting detention." Tony wasn't all that keen on going back to the Pizzaplex. He couldn't be in the place now without thinking of GGY and the modified animatronics. "Come on," Greg pressed. "Say yes. We'll get you cheered up."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.69)

Most people assume that the "people" Gregory wanted to introduce Tony to were the animatronics, ready to snuff him out for knowing too much and sticking his nose in places it shouldn't be in. Though, what if I proposed the idea that these aren't people at all― but rather concepts?

Everybody knows the popular phrase “Say hello to my little friend!”, coined by Al Pachino in the 1983 cult classic Scarface. Obviously, he's not referring to a real person or any kind of cuddly animal. This "friend" refers to the grenade launcher in his hands, that he uses to blow away the five men standing before him.

It's not likely, but perhaps the "people" Gregory mentioned were instead torturous instruments or concepts, in the form of the six options Millie had been given.

Dehydration, starvation, hypothermia, impalement, electrocution, or decapitation. All potential options to be done to Tony by Gregory's little friend.

The little friend that had been lurking in the background the entire time, privy to the things Tony had been getting into.

The little friend so loyal to Gregory that his own programming would bug out, and he'd betray the virus living inside of his own systems just to keep safe in a twist that even Gregory himself, who once worked closely with the animatronics under the control of Glitchtrap, cannot explain.

Of course, Millie's fate is also left ambiguous at the end of Count The Ways. However, that only brings the theory full circle in terms of comparisons to make between the two stories' protagonists. We can be lead to believe that both escaped their seemingly grim fates... but at the same time, we're also given the implication that they did not.

At the very least, I believe Count The Ways is supposed to represent what Tony experiences after the events of the story come to an end. Given all the glaring similarities of both kids that fall into place when lined up, there's no doubt that at least a little bit of Tony's journey is meant to be reflected upon through Millie's.

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