There’s a lot of artists that spend their time drawing ideas for alternate universe (AU) versions of characters, describing what they are or what they could be. Some take this further by taking the same characters of different AUs and having them meet, detailing their interactions and pointing out similarities and differences in the characters.

A select few, however, take this further still, creating many different versions of the same character and throwing them together as a whole new set of characters. A popular example of this phenomenon is the SansVerse, where AU versions of Sans from video game Undertale interact with each other. This genre of art has gain criticism for being childish and strange, being described as self-indulgent wishfufillment.

I have, admittedly, indulged in this type of art, albeit with a rather strange character. Over my years of exposure to the Five Nights At Freddy’s (FNAF) fan game fandom, I have created my own AUs of the characters, pulling them from the source material and placing them in urban society, where anthropomorphic animals populate the world. Years of writing and rewriting the AUs have spawned in quite a few different versions of the same few characters, each of which are similar yet different in their own unique ways.

Candy The Cat, mascot of FNAF fan game series Five Nights At Candy’s (FNAC). A running theme I designated to this character is the intrigue with how the universe works. This culminates in him somehow finding a way to exit his universe and enter the Mindscape, the hallway of AUs. Given that all Candys have this intrigue and eventual fate, it is no surprise that eventually they would meet with alternate versions of themselves. This gave life to the concept of the CandyVerse, a gathering of six Candys meeting together outside of their home universes, becoming close friends. When not needed in their separate lives, they exit their universes and meet with each other, discussing their lives in a place where no one else has the same life.

All the Candys have similar features. They are all blue cats sporting blushed cheeks, with five of them sharing the same coloured fur. Their clothing all have the same colours, and they all wear the same badge that allows them to summon portals to exit their universe.

The characters are: (left to right, top to bottom).

• Candy The Cat. Robot cat mascot of Candy’s Burgers And Fries. Is possessed by the soul of a boy who fell into the robot assembly machine. Is sometimes childlike, sometimes mature. His AU is the closest to the original source material.
• Candy R. Cat. Gaming Live-streamer going under the username ‘Candied_Claws’ , known for being best friends with famous rockstar Gabriel ‘Freddy’ Fazbear and his somewhat ‘smart-alec’ demeanour. Outside of streaming, he’s an inventor who hopes to create something that can change the world. He created the badges that the rest wear.
• Candy Bobcat. Set builder and stagehand at the local theatre. Is roommates with his best friend, small-time band frontman Freddy G. Fazbear. Suffering from anxiety and is sensitive to loud noises. He’s meek, wary and struggles to interact with others. Is considered a ‘scaredy-cat’ by his peers, and appears to be disturbed by the idea of a romance with girls.
• Candy Cat Cookie. Full name Blue Mint Candy Cat Cookie. Cookie version of Candy Bobcat. Similar in personality. Still hasn’t fully processed that cookies were made to be eaten. Outside of part-timing with the local theatre, he is applying for a job at the Time Balance Department (TBD) to help pay rent for the apartment he shares with his best friend, Biscuit Bear Cookie.
• Blue Cat Cookie. Full name Blueberry Cotton Candy Cat Cookie. Technically cookie version of Candy R. Cat, but more vengeful and violent. An accident with a time travelling machine threw him into the Mindscape and fused him with metals scraps. Became vengeful when he came back and discovered that no one missed him and tried to exact revenge. Was defeated and thrown out of the universe for good. Is now on the run from the TBD and lives full-time in the Mindscape. He was the chronological first to exit his universe.
• Candy Emil ‘Ace’ Cat. The first Candy created in the first AU. His universe disintegrated and he was thrown into an unrelated Battle Cats AU, losing his memories in the process. Over time, became a captain and used Cat technology to access the Mindscape. Is stoic and distant from the other Candys, as he doesn’t know where his friends went after their universe disintergrated.

Is the CandyVerse self-indulgent? Of course. But in creating it, I realised that something being self indulgent is not inherently a bad thing. In creating these two drawings, I finally accepted that I enjoy creating scenarios for this group of characters, and I’m not afraid to make it as blatant as I want.