Felix the Shark | The Scoop | You're the Band
"Aw, how cute! Now take that mask off and stop talking to the mysterious shadow."
“A lot of the time he seems like a different person. He’ll talk about things he couldn’t possibly have experienced like they’re in the present day. It’s like he’s two different people: the Timmy I’ve always known and then some kid I don’t know. The worst thing is... sometimes I feel like the Timmy I know is disappearing and being replaced by this other kid.”
Ever since Sylvia bought her son a Freddy Fazbear mask, he's been acting strange. He starts talking as if he was actually at Freddy's when the horrible incident happened... despite him being born in the 2000s, and the incident happening back when Sylvia was a child in the 80s. He's got some strange personality changes, too, and then Sylvia starts seeing a mysterious man lurking in the bushes by her house. She's not sure what to do, only that whatever's happening is absolutely terrifying her.
The thirty-sixth and final Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights story, and the last of the eleventh book, Felix the Shark. This short is only ambiguously canon, as it is an unfinished, scrapped story released as part of a bonus book with the series boxset.
Tropes related to “You're the Band”:
- Abandoned Area: The old Freddy Fazbear's where Mike works. Someone broke in and stole a bunch of stuff, which he's trying to collect before it can hurt anyone.
- All Therapists Are Muggles: Dr. Monroe thinks that Timmy is just going through some kind of disassociation, rather than being, you know, possessed by a haunted bear mask. She genuinely cares about Timmy, though, and legitimately believes her own diagnosis.
- Alternate Continuity: Somewhat book-ending the series, Timmy confirms the same incident as "Into the Pit" is the canon one in this universe: that instead of going missing, six children were found murdered and propped up in a Freddy's backroom.
- Ambiguously Evil: It's unclear if the thing possessing Timmy was malevolent or just a bit confused at where it was, if the shadow was trying to kill Timmy or just return the spirit, and if the Puppet intended Sylvia harm should she interrupt Timmy's dispossession.
- Brutal Honesty: Gotta give it to the entity possessing Timmy: it's not at all hiding the fact it's a ghost from the 80s. It directly tells Sylvia that it was at Freddy's when stuff happened, refers to the events consistently, and also tells her that it won't kill her because she's nice.
- Canon Character All Along: Also functioning as an
Unexpected Character, the mysterious lurker is Mike the Security Guard. This makes him most likely the first game's Mike Schmidt, and possibly Michael Afton. - Cassandra Bystander: When Mike tells Timmy and Sylvia that they'll have to keep this whole thing secret, Sylvia laughs and says that nobody would believe her anyway.
- Cheerful Child: When not possessed, Timmy is incredibly bubbly and happy.
- Children Are Innocent: Little Timmy is sweet, kind, and once unpossessed, oblivious to what just went down.
- Creepy Child: Timmy becomes this once he gets possessed. If whatever's possessing him was one of the missing kids, they also qualify.
- Demonic Possession: Something sure started possessing Timmy.
- Determinator: Mike, in-keeping with his character if he is Michael Afton.
- Disappeared Dad: Timmy's father died in a construction accident not long before his birth.
- Doting Grandparent: Sylvia's parents absolutely adore Timmy, and even after he attacks his grandfather, they understand it's just because he's not in his right mind.
- Evil Mask: Once he puts on the haunted Freddy's mask, Timmy begins becoming more and more possessed by whatever was in it. At one point, he starts eerily talking to it at night.
- Fanboy: Timmy is a huge fan of all things Freddy's, including the more disturbing conspiracies around the location. He begs for a Freddy's-themed party, and is overjoyed to get a Freddy mask as a present.
- Featureless Protagonist: Possibly as a reference to Mike's original game having a nondescript protagonist, or to the theory that Michael Afton used illusion discs post-scooping, Sylvia is unable to make out any facial features on Mike when she sees him in her yard at night, only able to say he's a somewhat average white male.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: According to Maria, whatever was possessing Timmy was very confused at iPads and game consoles.
- Good All Along: Turns out the creepy guy trespassing on Sylvia's land was just trying to stop the Demonic Possession that befell her son, and is able to help them at the end.
- Good Parents: Both Sylvia and her parents are very caring towards their family and will do anything for them.
- Happy Ending: After Mike and the Puppet help un-possess him, Timmy gets to go home with his Mom, both of them safe and sound.
- Iconic Outfit: Timmy only wants to wear an old Freddy Fazbear t-shirt that his mom found at a thrift store.
- In Medias Res: The short begins with Sylvia already in the counselor's office, then flashing back to when Timmy's behavior started.
- The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: The seller who sold Sylvia a haunted Freddy Fazbear mask at an online auction disappeared without a trace the next day.
- Living Shadow: Some kind of shadow creature stalks Timmy and eventually leads him back to Freddy's.
- Meaningful Name: "Mike" is short for "Michael," which could refer to the Archangel Michael, a protective entity.
- Monster of the Week: Whatever was haunting the Freddy mask. It's possibly Gabriel, the Missing Child who ended up possessing Freddy, which would explain his more childish behavior and insistence on "protecting the others" from a man with a knife, however despite his Brutal Honesty, he never claims to have been a victim of the incident, only saying that he was there when it happened. The shadow that follows him is never identified either, possibly implying this has something to do with Eleanor or some other Agony creature; the Shadow could also have possibly been the Puppet or Shadow Freddy. With the mask needing to be returned to solve the haunting, it's also possible that the spirit is somehow the Freddy animatronic itself.
- Mysterious Past: It's unknown if Mike is this universe's Mike Schmidt, and/or this universe's Michael Afton. He seems knowledgeable of what's going on at Freddy's and how the hauntings work, but is also surprised by the Puppet's appearance. Sylvia lists him as looking like he's in his early twenties, which would be impossible for Michael as he was a teenager in the 1980s, unless his post-scoop disguise was working really well.
- Mysterious Stranger: Mike first appears, claiming to have lost his dog, but Sylvia sees through this lie as he has no dog-walking equipment with him. He then pokes around and scares her enough to take Timmy to her parents' house. Turns out he's benevolent, just working with some ghostly business.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: While at the therapist's office, Timmy starts drawing eerily accurate drawings of the Freddy's animatronics.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Mike is much more used to the unnerving things happening at Freddy's than Sylvia, and much more comfortable dealing with the more paranormal stuff. Not that certain things don't surprise him– such as the Puppet's tentacles restraining Sylvia.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Timmy's new change in behavior unnerves everyone, including the friends his age.
- Stalker without a Crush: Mike has good intentions as he sneaks around Sylvia's neighborhood, trying to find the mask. Doesn't stop her from getting rightfully freaked out.
- Struggling Single Mother: Sylvia is doing alright financially, but she still feels a lot of pressure once things start going wrong with Timmy, as she feels she can't handle it alone. She tells Maria that she feels like she works twice as hard and only does half as good a job.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Possibly a reason this short was canned was that it had a lot of similarities to a famous story in Goosebumps.
- Title Drop: "'Look at you!' Sylvia said. 'You're the band!'"
- Trademark Favorite Food: Whatever is possessing Timmy will cut a bitch if he doesn't get his spaghetti wheels. He also loves strawberry ice cream and hates salad.
- Tree Cover: At least twice, Mike hides in the bushes in order to spy on Sylvia and Timmy. The second time, he drags Sylvia in with him to explain what's going on with Timmy.
- Trespassing Hero: Upon realizing the mask is the problem, Sylvia tells Mike to take it. He awkwardly admits that he already did, having broken into her house while she was gone. It's also likely he was poking around her house even earlier, as she heard strange noises in the yard and attic.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Sylvia, upon buying her son a Freddy mask online, not knowing that it's stolen and haunted.
