The Lost Potential of Ballora | A Sister Location Exploration

FIXED AUDIO VERSION: • The Lost Potential of ...
Me, putting on clown makeup: Oh yeah, I think the video will be like 15 minutes long.
Hope you all enjoyed!
JJJreact (Hi! :D)
(Subtitles will be made not cringe in the next little while, wanted to get this out in time for the fnaf movie and underestimated how much fixing the autocaptions would need)
Where else to find me:
KZbin: You're here! :D
Instagram: / insightfulllama
Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@insightfullla...
Tumblr: / insightfulllama
Twitter: / insightfulllama
Music Used:
Gradual Liquidation - FNAF: Sister Location
Watch Your 6 - FNAF: Sister Location
Drag Me To The Crusher - FNAF: Sister Location
Venta Black - FNAF: Sister Location
The Forbidden Nocturne - FNAF: Sister Location
Smashing Windshields - Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator
Crumbling Dreams - FNAF: Sister Location
Main Menu - Curse of Dreadbear (DLC)
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
2:38 - Overall Story and Lore
7:14 - Gameplay
8:09 - Night 1
9:03 - Night 2
11:36 - Night 3
14:28 - Night 4
17:55 - Night 5 and Overall Gameplay thoughts
23:32 - Characters
24:02 - Funtime Freddy and Funtime Foxy
27:50 - Ballora
30:15 - Baby (Derogatory)
34:57 - It Should Have Been Her
43:15 - So, to recap.
44:34 - New Gameplay Ideas
48:05 - Conclusion
49:40 - Outro
Keywords:
Sister Location FNAF Five Nights At Freddy's Review Rewrite Ballora

[@theinsightfulllama]

*FIXED AUDIO VERSION IS UP!! :D* Link in description!!

[@roastcheese1877]

ngl it makes it oddly immersive

[@stephanieborah4388]

I'll be looking forward to seeing more from you! This was excellent

[@dewise6449]

you really should pin this comment

[@FlowerTwig]

I didn't see this comment before posting my own comment, sorry :,(

[@jdof4952]

Thank you for making this comment!! I have adhd so I was like okay wait uhhhh. But really cool video!!!

[@ezfooly]

I used to theorize that Baby was mostly deactivated throught SL and that Ballora was the true mastermind considering how her Minireenas "pretend" she there's by moving parts of her like she's on stage and how Ennard keeps being called "Ballora" by Baby. Kinda sucked when I realized that no, Ballora wasn't that important and it actually was Baby being two-faced.

[@theinsightfulllama]

That would have been pretty cool! I'm excited to see what the future holds for both of them in the hands of Steel Wool

[@AkoTE.]

@@theinsightfulllama It's possible that if there is no revamp for the games (Like how fnaf plus was going to be) then the respective characters are prolly just going to be stuck in their pizzeria sim places (Scrap and molten) And if, for some reason, they decide to split apart molten freddy? I honestly think a scrap ballora would look pretty sick.

[@hidden_animator522]

Ballora always stuck out to me, simply for the fact that it seemed like she was the only character with a sort of maturity to her. The other characters seemed pretty geared to children and it always made me wonder why you had like a cute bear and a Fox and a chicken and a bunny and a little clown girl and then…. A grown woman? For some reason? It intrigued me. Idk

[@kailajuliane]

My guess is, she meant to represent some kinda fairy queen figure, her addition to Sister Location made the animatronic sets has a magical feels to it, it's gonna be something that little girls who love to imagine themselves as princesses would be happy to have at their birthdays, like a figure that would grant them a magical blessing

[@hidden_animator522]

@@kailajuliane she definitely has that vibe for sure

[@calypsoa205]

According to pizza sim lore she was designed to distract parents, so make of that what you will :/

[@hidden_animator522]

@@calypsoa205 oh I don’t like those implications..:

[@Perdix64]

@@hidden_animator522Scott’s Christian, don’t worry.

[@slovibesx188]

personally, i feel like it wouldve made much more sense if ballora took control of ennard after sister location. i mean, while i do like funtime freddy solely due to his chaotic voicelines, i just dont think he had the sensability or the responsible manner to actually control ennard. funtime freddy is more sadistic and psycho while ballora is clearly more calm and put-together, far much more sensible too. the only reason i think funtime freddy actually got the part is because it was clear he was the most popular funtime, not because it was sensicle, which is a shame considering ballora is such a refreshment and unique character compared to her bandmates (and much of the fnaf characters overall) due to her humanoid appearance alone, her closed eyes and doll-like appearance just making her stick out like a sore thumb, being both beautiful and terrifying, uncanny you could say (i guess?). and about the whole mrs afton theory, while i do like the idea, i dont think it was originally intended for ballora, rather ballora being based OFF of williams (ex/dead) wife rather than actually being her. but then we got the security breach (retro-active?) confirmation about the whole 'ballora is mrs afton' thing. but hey, at least ballora is actually getting some proper lore confirmation now, she's my favourite animatronic in the entireity of fnaf, so it's nice to see her get the lore relevance and recognition she deserves ^^

[@theinsightfulllama]

I definitely agree! I think in one of my early drafts I brought up the idea that Ballora would make more sense as leader of the molten gang, but I cut that particular tangent for the sake of keeping the video focused. I also agree that Ballora was never intended to LITERALLY be Mrs. Afton, but with the hints we have from Security Breach it may have been made retroactively true. Thank you for your comment, I hope you enjoyed the video! :D

[@funtime_julia_arts2316]

@@theinsightfulllamawould it hurt if I believe that ballora is possessed by mrs Afton theory 😅

[@birdmcturd1626]

She could be. “One big happy family” feels more in line with Ballora being associated with mothers. Who’s to say she’s not just using his voice box?

[@slovibesx188]

@@birdmcturd1626 that's actually really smart

[@birdmcturd1626]

@@slovibesx188 Thank you

[@redfoxdude1791]

Considering Help Wanted 2 is mainly Sister Location from what we've seen, I'm hoping for at least a little bit of the whole "Baby is a jerk to Ballora and Ballora is a jerk right back to her" it'd be interesting to see

[@theinsightfulllama]

For sure! I'm excited to see Steel Wool's spin on the game.

[@an-animal-lover]

​@@theinsightfulllamahoping you do a follow up video on it, this was very interesting!

[@agustinalucia9762]

When sister location was teased, I was SO SURE that Ballora was going to be important in the lore. It was such a unique design and I loved it since minuto one. Thank you for giving her some love!

[@theinsightfulllama]

You're welcome! I'm hopeful that she'll be more relevant since her jumpscare was showcased in the teaser.

[@simonsonian8977]

38:48 I think there's also the possibility of Ballora doing this to get you to trust Baby. If they're all working together to become Ennard and escape, wouldn't it have been so cool to see any of the other animatronics help in any way, at all? It would make all the funtimes more effective villains, and actually make Baby seem like the mastermind the series tries to make us think she is. EDIT:Nevermind, watched the rest, your idea is way cooler.

[@theinsightfulllama]

I'm glad you like it!

[@XimiBell]

Your idea is neat too. Honestly I just want a bit more Ballora content. She is the only Funtime not to appear in the Silver Eyes trilogy and I think that's a shame.

[@icaruszaragoza1109]

genuinely surprised that this doesn't have more views for how well it was made. awesome video 👍

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you!! Hoping to bring you many more great ones in the future :D

[@DamariFergusonVids]

🤨

[@novis3998]

Maybe because the voice is only in one earpiece. I'm thinking about dropping the video, it's very difficult to listen to it like that

[@DreamtaleEnjoyer]

@@novis3998My thoughts exactly. I'm going to go into settings and turn on "mono audio" which makes both earpieces play the same audio, just to give this video a chance. (It's in accessibility > audio & visual)

[@tomkrause8986]

@@DreamtaleEnjoyer Thanks for saying this I would have gone crazy without this

[@testedcatgaming7714]

To be fair Baby is possessed by a child, I don't expect a child to be the best manipulator.

[@theinsightfulllama]

That's totally fair, and it would honestly be a good characterization for her based on her backstory to be kind of bad at being an antagonist. My main gripe is that I wish this characterization felt intentional, because to me it feels like a consequence of stilted writing that happened to work out instead of an intentional subversion of expectations. Thank you for commenting! :D

[@Narnes64]

I’m glad someone else recognized how much of an idiot Baby is. Honestly that’s why I personally love her as a character. Many of her speech patterns are just childish like calling Mike a “dummy” for something pretty trivial. I think it reveals the bit of double plot twist that baby is in fact just Elizabeth and not Baby that she is trying to pull of.

[@Observer_Decay]

She sounds like a child pretending to be a huge mastermind, cause she's possessed by a child.

[@somechupacabrawithinternet8866]

i would unironically work for circus baby as her servent if she always calls me dummy

[@PokemonkaDub]

So Elizabeth was a disobedient child so her beeing bossy, selfish (her saying that William made Baby for her) and having a "grander than thou" idea of herself as Baby - a character the entire pizzeria was named after makes a lot of sense and seems actually funny to me xD She thinks she is recreating some bond-villain plot from cartoons but inreality she's just a kid thinking they tricked their parent, by hiding in the best possible spot, but are ridiculously obviously out in the open.

[@HannahBanina]

I never really knew what to make of Ballora. She’s certainly memorably creepy and a definite novelty as the first (and, as of this writing, only) animatronic built to look like a human adult, but beyond that, I never got a sense for much of a personality. It’s such a bizarre decision to make such a different and unconventional design for this one character and then not do a whole lot with said character. Thus, I really like and appreciate this video 💙 I recall reading somewhere that Baby’s unexplained vitriol towards Ballora might have been because she was against the whole “combine endos, scoop a human, take the body, escape the underground” plan - not because she had any issues with murdering you, she just thought it wouldn’t work. Come the Custom Night cutscenes and what do you know, she was right. I absolutely love your idea of making Ballora the one who talks to you on Night 4 rather than Baby monologuing about how “Ballora never learns” and how “I know how to pretend”; giving us further interaction with this new, novel character definitely would’ve not only helped her character, but made Circus Baby’s Entertainment & Rental overall seem much more full of (artificial) life. Kinda like _Security Breach_ but on a much smaller and more manageable (and thus more effective) scale. I will say that the back-and-forth dialogue showing Baby getting kicked out of Ennard definitely reads like Ballora is the one doing most of the talking on behalf of the other Funtimes anyway, so I agree wholeheartedly that the potential was absolutely there, just was never capitalized on for whatever reason (BonBun Films’ animation of the event, “We Outnumber You”, probably shows exactly what happened best, so I definitely highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already). Slightly off-topic, but I think Foxy, Freddy, and Bonbon really should’ve been presented as a team, being the only remnants of the original gang and all. Can you imagine the awesome contrast FunFred’s boisterous and talkative unhinged-ness could make with FunFoxy’s quiet-but-deadly efficiency? Not to mention it’d be more in-line with Scott’s initial statement about FunFoxy being more of an introvert (not that I don’t love Joe Gaudet’s performance for him in UCN, it just doesn’t sound very “introvert” to me). They’re a dynamic danger duo waiting to happen, and also Bonbon is there haha Other people have already talked about other things I already agree with (like the gameplay changes), the only one I want to really add onto is that your rant regarding how Baby clearly _thinks_ she’s a lot smarter than she actually is just makes me feel so validated in my decision to characterize alive!Elizabeth as a self-absorbed little brat with no tolerance for anyone disagreeing with her in the stories I’m currently writing lol (like to the point that even Charlie doesn’t like her and *that* girl’s the would-be big sister figure who tries to be everyone’s friend, just not Lizzie’s lmao). I really hope I can see your channel grow given the production value that went into this video alone, it’s so well done and your ideas and commentary are really compelling (also that dogtooth background is such a trademark-able decision, much appreesh). Keep doing what you love, Llama! 💜

[@theinsightfulllama]

Freddy, BonBon and Foxy as a team wasn't something I had considered but I really enjoy your take on it, it could have been really fun to see their contrasting personalities and interactions. I'm super glad you enjoyed, and thank you so much for the well wishes! I plan to keep making videos for as long as I can, and I intend to have fun while doing it! Thank you again, hope to see you in the next one :D

[@oscarjohns4569]

I kinda love the idea of William purposefully creating Ballora to be reminiscent of his wife because just the concept of him becoming so incredibly detached from the world and humanity in and of itself that he crudely decides to build some warped mechanical imitation of her is so fun to me, kinda reminds me of Inception with Cobb and Dream Mal. I really hope she gets more love and actual characterization in Help Wanted 2 cuz I feel like with how much Steel Wool has expanded FNAF Games it'd be a waste not to give more depth to some smaller characters.

[@ewwitscullen9132]

I agree with you on everything regarding Sister Location’s existential horror. I personally love the sci-fi of sister location, imagining these 700 pound 7 feet tall robots with the ability to lure in and store targets is sick.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Yeah, I think it could have really worked it the games had really leaned into it. Glad you enjoyed!

[@DreamtaleEnjoyer]

Frankly I think the scooper could've been way more scary and realistic, if it was more surgery-like. As in, you have one arm with a blade that you see come toward Michael's body just off the bottom of the screen, does a slicing motion, then goes back with blood on it. Then some other arm does the scooping through the incision, and maybe you can even see some obscured gore in it when it goes back as the screen fades out. That'd be way scarier in my opinion, and it'd just plain work better. If ol Mike was really scooped with this blunt snow shovel, HOW can we not see ANY wound or damage in the cutscene bit? Assuming that thing could even go through stretchy skin (which in itself is unbelievable) it'd leave a huuuge tear. Absolutely no way to hide that enough for people to just go ":) yes this is a fine, uninjured, normal guy!"

[@Idiotic_B_Purcell]

Well, dear Dreamtale Enjoyer, it seems as though you've just gave me a stupendous idea! See, I'm currently in the works of writing off assets and lore for a concept of a FNAF+ -styled SL remake (I can't develop games, let alone 3D-model so 'tis but a dream for now), and so I'd like to ask for humble permission to use your idea for the game's true ending. It has potential, I can tell! But then again, I technically "stole" an emotionless AI's attempt at a FNAF game cover I found on a Matt Rose video (it wasn't his impromptu, don't worry) as inspiration for Funtime Freddy's general facial structure; After all, the system can't get pissed off or take legal action over it, right?

[@theinsightfulllama]

Very true! It would also make more sense from an overall standpoint, since this machine is supposedly used for animatronic repair and maintenance, but the canon one seems to break them when it's used, so it's not very efficient. Having it be more accurate and surgical would make more sense for that particular reason. Thank you for commenting!

[@DreamtaleEnjoyer]

@@Idiotic_B_Purcell Haha AIs are just thieves in themselves, so I see no problem with stealing back :p You are more than welcome to use my idea! In fact I'd go crazy if you did make that dream into a reality with my idea! Best of luck ^^

[@DreamtaleEnjoyer]

@@theinsightfulllama Exactly! Now that you mention it, a knife wouldn't make much sense for animatronic maintenance, so the idea might still need some workshopping. But at least it's better that going ham with a motorized ice cream scoop

[@Idiotic_B_Purcell]

@@DreamtaleEnjoyer So happy you like the thingy so far! Recently wrote a standalone comment for an AMA, and hopefully you and others can find it and get your pencils & notepads ready! Maybe request a few more things? Idk, I just wanna interact rn

[@pkmntrainerlilly5]

You have the thoughts and eloquence to rival the big theorists in the community. I've always liked Ballora, but wanted so much more from her. It's all set up and no pay off, and I'm happy to see someone else giving her some much needed attention. I have to subscribe to see what kind of ideas you bring to the community.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much!! I definitely have some fun video in the oven, I look forward to seeing you around :D

[@dolfuny]

I also remember that matpat comment and liking ballora out of spite afterwards. I just like her vibe. I honestly love the different take on the story because it is weird that baby constantly shits on ballora and some added characterization is always nice. Them splitting up with no in game explanation always frustrated me and added context of the funtimes not getting along would be cool. I wish they did more with funtime foxy as well. I can understand why Scott didn't give them voice lines because the whole thing with foxy's gender but I love their lines in ucn, the voice of a true performer

[@theinsightfulllama]

They have some fun voicelines in UCN! Hopefully Help Wanted 2 can give us some fun new stuff to chew on

[@justsomeferalminor]

Visual artists doing a video essay/rewrite is one of my favorite things ever. No clue why it's always so good.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much!!

[@loganentertainment1814]

TBH, when Help Wanted showed all the Funtime characters except Ballora, it made me wonder why they didn’t include her? Then we had the trailer to Security Breach that had music that sounded like a revamp of Ballora’s music box, and when we got the first trailer to Help Wanted 2, the first robot we saw is Ballora. A lot of the fanbase saw her as a robotic construct of Williams wife, but given to how little evidence we’ve had of her existence, we just forgot about her overtime. Then we have Matpats theory that Mrs. Afton is the new CEO of Fazbear Entertainment, which wouldn’t be a bad idea. Not only would her character have more importance, but would give this character the spotlight that she deserves. Edit: Granted, it’s hard to say exactly to who’s the current CEO of Fazbear Entertainment. Do I think it’s Mrs. Afton? Maybe Do I 100% agree with the idea? No Is it a bad idea to think she *could* be? No Overall, I do hope we can find out soon. I’m excited to find out. 😱😀👍

[@amajeee]

i disagree greatly with mrs afton being the ceo time wise because she was born sometime around 1940-1950 which is around williams birth year. unless she was significantally younger than william she would be at most 80-90 years old by the time security breach takes place.

[@loganentertainment1814]

That’s true, but the mystery of who’s the current CEO is a mystery. We don’t know who it is, but hopefully we’ll get that answered at some point.

[@theinsightfulllama]

It will definitely be interesting to see where the lore goes from here! I never put much credence in to the "Ballora is Mrs. Afton" theory, since it felt to me like a popular headcanon more than a solid theory, but if that's where they're going for then I hope they can pull it off in an interesting way. Matpat has kind of lost me with his theories lately, but it could be interesting to see Mrs. Afton as CEO, if only so that Mat can be unequivocally right about something in the FNAF lore. Thank you for the comment!

[@loganentertainment1814]

That’s why it’s a theory. Obviously Mat won’t be right all the time. The idea that Mrs. Afton being the CEO isn’t a bad idea, but it’s hard to say. Whoever the CEO is, would have to have started up the business again for a reason, would have a reason to build a mall over the ruins of Pizza Sim, and would have a connection to the business where they can own the rights. When it comes to family businesses, if anyone who’s a shareholder is still alive, they would take over if the original owner is deceased. While it is possible someone new would own Fazbear Entertainment, from a logical standpoint, who in their right mind would want to purchase the rights to a business that has a reputation of murder?

[@hope-cat4894]

I really wish we could have gotten some development on the possible Afton mother connection with Ballora. Her sad song about an empty bedroom being like a tomb and the mini-rinas being like her children is such a cool idea. We could have had the whole story of the Afton family, and maybe the mother could have been responsible for creating Glitchtrap to bring back her husband or expanding on his evil goals. Edit: I also have a soft spot for the robot Gregory idea. 😅 The idea that Glamrock Freddy is actually Michael remade into an animatronic and Robot Gregory is the Crying Child, Springtrap being resurrected, Baby is trapped in the blob as Ennard, all to bring back the Afton family. I just love the madness of it.

[@hepatitisf7495]

Man my right ear loves this video

[@thevoidstaresback4464]

I was a middle school aged girl when sl came out and I immediately gravitated towards Ballora. She was so creepy and elegant and mysterious. She was also something new and fresh for the franchise (a human animatronic) so she became my instant favorite. As you know there wasn't much content on her so I daydreamed about the lore that she could have and to this say she holds a special place in my heart no matter what matthew pattrew says. Thank you for this video, my middle school self is finally at peace at being recognized

[@AFoxInFlames]

Sister Location is my favorite, the games started actually telling a story that was more understandable. Idk why it was disliked by many but I really liked Sister Location.

[@theinsightfulllama]

I'm glad you like it! Sister Location was one of my favorites before I played it. Sadly I didn't have the best time with a lot of the gameplay elements, but I'm glad there are people that enjoy it!

[@Aster_Grim0]

i Love how you make fun of Baby for being bossy and annoying my only problem with it tho is she is a little girl and most of the time this is how they act

[@theinsightfulllama]

That's fair! I've personally never seen Baby as a giant robot possessed by a child. I've always seen it more as robotic murder programming fused with a child's soul to make something that isn't really either. Yes, what's left of Elizabeth's soul is in Baby, but she's so changed by what happened it would be a lie to call her Elizabeth and incorrect to think of her as childlike. That's the interpretation I was working under when I wrote the script, so while Elizabeth was a child, I've never seen Baby as a child, if that makes sense. It's kind of the same situation as the Puppet. Charlie was a child when she died, but the puppet is not a child, it's a robot with echoes of a child soul in it. I hope that made sense, just trying to explain my reasoning a little bit. Thank you!

[@S-Fan2006]

I’m glad Ballora is getting more attention. I really grew to favour her after learning of the theory that she was possibly possessed by Mrs. Afton. As you said, it would’ve made more sense that Ballora staged Michael’s kidnapping instead of Baby, and one of my ideas is that Baby and Ballora get into an argument where Ballora briefly refers to herself as Baby’s mother, to which Baby, in part to keep up her lies and a genuine sense of wanting to disassociate with her, quickly denies and even calls Ballora insane. For a first-time player, this would seem a tad random but once you realise that Baby is possessed by William Afton’s daughter, you’d realise what it implies for Ballora. Not only would it show animatronics working each other, but from a player perspective, as you mentioned, it’d initially seem like Baby is desperately trying to get an increasingly unstable friend to see reason, but a second playthrough would reveal that Baby was just mad at Ballora going off to make her own plan, and then after playing FNAF 6, we’d realise that this is Elizabeth getting angry with her increasingly agitated and frustrated mother, whose identity, Elizabeth feared, would mess up her plan.

[@theinsightfulllama]

I've never been much a fan of the Ballora is Mrs. Afton theory, but if that's where the lore is headed they should definitely do something with it in Help Wanted 2! It would be kind of crazy not to mention it if their intending to make Mrs. Afton possessing Ballora canon. You put forth some interesting ideas!

[@firstnamlastnam2141]

Honestly, her comments gave me the opposite thought. What if Ballora is what Baby claims to be? They're all murderous robots, but Baby claims to be "aware, trustworthy, and helpful" but ultimately betrays you. What if Ballora actually is all of those things while you're being tricked by someone pretending to be like the one you don't think twice about? Something else I considered, what if the lights in the Scooping Room were just...off? That way you wouldn't see what was in front of you until it was too late.

[@frenchfries2998]

I’m pretty sure baby kidnapping you is meant to show the player that “something’s bad inside of me” like she says in the next night. Because without that malicious intent the player could be confused on what she means by something bads in her and broken. Without the player having that motivation to help her it could’ve been harder to make them go into the scooping room. Which is how I interpret the whole night 4 thing because if not that then it’s just counterintuitive. (I still don’t really understand why someone couldn’t have just knocked Michael out and put him Infront of the scooper. Especially since Funtime foxy jumpscared us at night 3 and had the chance)

[@theinsightfulllama]

I hadn't thought of that, that's definitely something to consider. I've just always found the keycard thing pretty weird, so I didn't really connect the two. I think if that was the intent then Baby should have brought up night 4 when telling you to get the keycard, or maybe on night 4 she has a moment of, "Oh no, what have I done!?" As for why they didn't just knock Michael out and take him to the scooping room, I have no idea. Maybe their programming prevents them from entering the scooping room unless their inactive? Who knows.

[@TheSnazzySharky]

Interesting video! I have some thoughts I would like to share. 4:25 - Yes! Huge agree! I honestly think some people are being overdramatic when it comes to Michael being scooped. Is it a bit strange and silly at first? Yeah, but when you really think about it, it's actually a pretty damn clever and cool idea. Michael basically becomes the inverse of his father. William Afton is metaphorically purple. A color that has been associated with this demon who prays upon and murders children. William Afton has never been to shown to actually wear purple in the games. Symbolizing a man who seems nice and friendly on the surface, but is actually cold and psychotic. You then have Michael. Although never confirmed, it is implied that not only does William hate Michael, but he is also physically abusive towards him. Perhaps explaining his behavior in FNaF 4. It is implied that this hatred comes from William not wanting to accept Michael as his child, despite the fact that they look so similar, maybe Michael was a mistake? Either way, Michael probably sees William in himself and isn't happy about it. He sees that shambling, hollow, soulless, purple monster of a man that he calls his father. So it's only fitting that he becomes just that, only in the most literal way possible. Michael becomes what he feared the most. A reflection of his father. I also agree it's interesting to think about what Michael went through while Ennard was controlling him. I remember reading a comic on Reddit that goes over this. Going over the difficulties that Ennard would have to go through while being Michael. Having awkward conversations, not being able to touch or smell, not acting like Michael at all which causes his friends to become worried, ect. Really hammers in on how horrifying such a thing would be to face in reality. To notice a person you once knew not acting like they once were, only to see that same person rot over time. To add further to this, I personally like to think that Elizabeth while in control of Ennard decided to spend most of, if not, all of Michael's money on Barbies and Lego sets. With the last day being the day where Elizabeth and others would spend the last amount of money they have on a dress. However, rigor mortis had fully kicked in and Michael's body was too difficult to move in order to put the dress on. Hence why Michael is shirtless in the last cutscene and why Ennard decided to eject in the first place. Just to add an extra layer of tragedy. I really don't think it's as stupid or bad as people make it out to be. And that's coming from someone who prefers the more realistic and grounded FNaF than the sci-fi one. Also yeah, Michael is a fucking chad for just walking and joking that off. Real homie right there. 14:30 - Oh you poor soul. I have seen some very hot and unpopular opinions in this fandom, but the fact that Night 4 in SL is universally hated is just hilarious. You know something is bad when literally NOBODY likes it. 20:11 - Yeah the checkpoints in this game suck ass lmao. I don't know what Scott was thinking with these. All it did was make me frustrated with the game and almost made me give up on completing the Ennard boss fight. 21:56 - This isn't actually much of a stretch the more you think about it. Going off by some of the strange voicelines from Handunit, we can theorize they could fit with what Michael is presumably thinking throughout the events of Sister Location. Such as describing night 2 as another night of self reflecting on past mistakes, or how on night 3 Handunit assumes that Michael is thinking the following "What am I doing with my life? What would my friends say? Will I ever see my family again?". Most importantly however, is how on night 5, Handunit describes Michael as having a disregard for instinctive self preservation. As in, Michael doesn't value his own life. I would also like to add how Michael goes about stating this line "I should be dead. But I'm not." It comes across as Michael is less concerned about how he's a literal zombie and more disappointed and sad that he's not dead. It's possible that Michael was so depressed and empty at this point of his life that when Baby betrayed him and was about to kill him with the scooper, he didn't care at that point and preferred to die more than anything. This makes sense once you considered everything that has happened to him at this point of time. He had to deal with a (presumably) alcoholic and physically abusive father that despises him. He then accidentally killed his brother in a prank gone wrong, which I would be surprised if he didn't have some sort of trauma from that. Because even if Michael bullied his brother a lot, if his words at the end of FNaF 4 are to imply anything, he has some love and care for his brother. Losing someone you loved is one thing, accidentally killing someone you loved is a whole different thing. That's not something that you can just go "well, nothing else to do but move forward". That's something that's going to stick around and probably cause way more trauma than losing someone from natural causes outside your control. And then we have Elizabeth, his sister that to his knowledge randomly went missing one day and he decides to look for. Only for his said sister to not only backstab him, but also trying to attempt to kill him. His father sent him into a death trap and now he was going to die to the hands of someone he cared for. Although we don't know what their relationship was like, considering that Michael spent 5 whole nights in an obviously dangerous place just to look for her, should tell a lot about how he feels for his sister. Michael, feeling depressed, empty, guilty, and betrayed. Stood in front of the scooper so he could just have it all end after everything that has happened in his life. 27:50 - Ballora was always a strange and random character to me. We're suddenly introduced to this random ballerina and...nothing is explained or touched on with her. I mean, she's pretty cool and creepy, but that's about it. If Baby is supposed to represent Elizabeth, than does Ballora represent Mrs. Afton? Why does Baby seem to hate Ballora? Why did William slap boobs on an animatronic made to entertain children? Did he really miss his wife that much? What happened to his wife anyway? Is she possessing Ballora? All of these questions that could make Ballora quite the interesting character...too bad we'll never know since she's never expanded on. Sidenote, you mentioning that Baby seems to hate Ballora has me thinking. What if Elizabeth had a bad relationship with her mother? Hmm... 30:56 - I mean, considering she's possessed by a 5 year old...I think this actually checks out quite well lol. 34:57 - Now this is an interesting idea I have never heard of before. A lot more could have definitely been done with Ballora and this is a pretty clever but simple salutation to this problem. Although I don't believe the Mrs. Afton possesses Ballora theory, I think it would have been an interesting motive for Ballora to kidnap Michael because he seems so familiar to her, unsure of whether the person she saw was Michael or William. Which could lead to some interesting dialogue. 44:34 - This is also another interesting idea! One problem about SL to me is that it doesn't feel like...a game. I can see why Scott wanted to shake things up, but I feel like the skill and talent to make a FNaF game without the core mechanics from the previous ones just wasn't there. Resulting in a pretty nothing game that isn't even a game, but more so a collection of minigames, and leaving the player with no replay value. I honestly think this would be more better and interesting. If there was one critique I can give to this video, is that I think the background music volume should be lowered just a smidge, I felt like it was too loud and aligned too much with your voice at some points. Especially in the first 10 minutes or so. It wasn't too bad or distracting, but it was noticeable. Overall, very good video! Very interesting to check out videos from smaller youtubers, it always seems like I end up finding hidden gems. I wish you the best of luck as you continue and hope you can grow and improve.

[@theinsightfulllama]

You make a lot of good points. At one point I was going to talk about how Baby being kind of bad at being a villain actually fits with the fact that she was practically a literal baby when she died, and how I thought it could work if it was done intentionally instead of being a biproduct of confusing writing, but I guess it got lost in the shuffle of me writing the script. And yeah, Michael letting himself be scooped probably does make the most sense if he took Baby on her word and believed he would die in the interest of doing one last good thing for his sister, it's just not terribly obvious since most of the information we have on Michael as a person is implied rather than stated. I appreciate the heads up about the music volume, I'll keep an eye out for it in the future. Thank you so much for leaving such an in depth comment, I really appreciate that level of feedback! I'm really glad you enjoyed the video and I hope to see you again for future ones! :D

[@tensiahuddleston9983]

I always got the feeling Mike was the result of an affair, something that William would certainly feel the need to hide away because tongues would be wagging! Just to twist the knife in further, William probably sees a lot of his younger self in Michael; which gives them both ample reason to hate each other. Seeing a mirror image of yourself day after day, all your faults, failings, everything... It would cause a lot of tension and stress in any household.

[@ashisburning7786]

First of all, I want to congratulate you on creating this video in general, im an aspiring video-essayist and seeing a very VERY well done video by someone that doesn’t have a lot of following is so, so inspiring. Especially since you kinda mentioned your ADHD in passing and I can really relate to that, I hope to see more from you and I really appreciate the effort you put into this video. Second of all, I have always had a fascination with Ballora, especially the idea of her being Mrs. Afton. Although she may or may not be stuffed with Mrs. Afton (I chose to believe she was smart and left while she still could, started dating women and lived a long quiet life in the Midwest), I think it’s safe to assume that she was atleast supposed to resemble a mother figure. So Baby’s resentment against Ballora is kind of understandable, after all she’s supposed to be the mother but she doesn’t really do a lot and Baby ends up doing a lot of the heavy lifting, which is the opposite of how things work in a normal situation. I’ve come to understand baby saying “sorry for kidnapping you lol” as an accidental admission that she’s the bad guy, if she is the mastermind behind the animatronics then she did kind of kidnap you and in her robot baby brain it might have made sense for her to admit that and apologize to try to re-earn your trust. I also want to point out that Ballora probably has the most free will of the animatronics besides Baby (and Ennerd) although she doesn’t use it. She has her little dancers which she utilizes just for her own enjoyment, she sings (the part that you said you missed) something along the lines of “why do you hide in these walls when there’s music in my halls”, kinda insinuating that she doesn’t actually understand why the player is hiding. If we run with that idea, and combine it with being a mother figure, Baby could resent Ballora because she didn’t kill you when she could, she just danced and sang when she obviously knew you were there because she was singing about you hiding. That would conflict with the overall motivations of Baby though so ima drop that for now. I only got halfway through night 2 in my own gameplay because I just couldn’t get past the system reset part and got way too frustrated. Watching your video made me very grateful for the fact that I quit before the following nights because I would have broken something or someone. This game over all was just not intuitive and the plot is all over the place. We kinda draw assumptions of what’s going on based off of context from other games but we don’t actually learn any of that from the game, we just blindfully do what baby tells us to do and what would you know following the animatronics advice gets you scooped. Like this entire video has stated, Ballora actually having any type of character development would have made the game so much more intriguing, especially if we heard an actual argument between her and Baby instead of Baby just talking shit. It feels like Scott spoon fed us seemingly unimportant and confusing info that we have to draw conclusions based off of, which is not the way I was hoping this game would go. He knows how much the community loves Lore, so he really should have included other “Easter eggs” or news paper clippings that could have brought the game to a satisfying conclusion. But instead we put in so many hours of effort, just to get scooped, without defending ourself? Overall, such a great video that encompasses a lot of what I was already feeling and as I said in the beginning a huge inspiration for an aspiring video-essayist with ADHD. I hope we can help support eachother during the rough parts of creating content without an already established platform, kinda a small KZbinr solidarity :)

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you very much! This video took me much longer than it should have to make and I'm glad you enjoyed it now that it's finally out! I hadn't considered Baby's resentment from that angle before, that'd be very interesting as well! The idea that she dislikes her precisely because she does so little would definitely be interesting to explore. Hopefully Help Wanted 2 can give us some fun lore regardless of which direction they take.

[@airfried._.airfryer]

You made a very good point about being forced to look away from Freddy. To add on, I also love how the game then forces the player to not only be in the same room as Freddy again, but up close and personal. Sure there is the relief because he’s deactivated, but there still some fear there because this is probably the first time in the series that the player got intentionally close an animatronic.

[@theinsightfulllama]

That's a good point! It would have been fun if the atmosphere of those sections was pushed further, so you weren't really sure if he was deactivated or not.

[@monke7919]

Having ballora be the kidnapper would add even more context as to why the minireenas are after you because they're her underlings

[@sehlerox]

Good lord that Ballora jumpscare was loud, especially since i was looking away just before it played - made me JUMP 😂

[@theinsightfulllama]

Haha, sorry about that! Next time I'll try and put some sort of warning

[@zeroknight1311]

Another missed opportunity is having a Glamrock version of Ballora show up in Security Breach as the Daycare Attendant. Since there are instances of her being associated with mothers and it is believed that she's suppose to repersent William's wife that ID's Fantasy believed died prior to the events of the games. So having a Glamrock version of her show up means that she could have been an ally that would help Gregory and Glamrock Freddy.

[@CakeofRage]

this paired with the supposedly cut ballora line, "I won't bite. well... maybe just a little." makes me think there was supposed to be a bit more. it's such a playful and taunting line, and has a crumb of personality. (the line is from dawko and michella moss's interview, with the question "what was your favorite line to record for ballora?" the line itself could've perfectly fit into night 2)

[@InfiGlo]

I remember back when the game came out there used to be a theory that Baby talking after she kidnaps you is actually Funtime Foxy mimicking her voice, because of the parental voice sync and replay feature on his blueprints, and thats why the personality is different. I dont believe it at all but this just reminded me it existed lol

[@CantSay-lk6np]

“Ballora never learns~” that impersonation is my favorite part of the video 🧑‍🍳🤌✨

[@orange_turtle3412]

Its hella funny how the location in this game is a supply closet, a maintenance room, and a vent system all separated by massive, open, empty rooms that serve no purpose.

[@matttale7918]

Not quite done yet, but I feel like all 4 of the funtimes would benefit from a more unifying force that ties them all together more cohesively. Recently I’ve been planning a rewrite of sister location, with ideas for potential gameplay changes and additions to accompany them. My idea was to change the Funtimes from murder robots in disguise, and instead into a scrapped project for another location that never was. Elizabeth would die in a similar fashion, but her soul would be split amongst 4-5 of them instead of just Baby, and the Funtimes personalities would change based on Elizabeth’s attachment to them. Ballora’s personality doesn’t really change much from canon, but she is notably a more mature and motherly figure, in stark contrast to either the helpful Baby, or the psycho Freddy and Foxy. Due to Elizabeth associating Ballora with a more mature woman to strive towards like a role model sort of deal. Though due to her more mature personality, she is strictly AGAINST Baby and the others plan (though no less eager to kill you due to seeing you as the man who made her and trapped her down here.) Coincidentally, I decided to give her more importance in night 4 as well! Though I also have Ballora play an important role in night 5, being that she has been absorbed into the Ennard family before Baby has been absorbed, I’d imagine she would be able to take control while Freddy and Foxy fight over who gets to take the wheel. And would try to stop you from performing the tasks handunit gives you, such as assessing Baby and sending her to parts and services, and Baby’s task of luring you into the scooping room. She would act as the main routes “final boss” in comparison to the fake ending basically.

[@matttale7918]

I guess I’ll go over the other characters and their personalities here as well: Freddy isn’t changed to much, he just wants to “play” with you, considering that’s what he and Elizabeth did when she was alive, only now a piece of her soul is inside him and he’s bent on murdering you. Funtime Foxy actually has a personality, being that, similar to Freddy, he’s loud, only he is obnoxious and always needs to be at the centre of your attention, similar to Elizabeth’s desire to be recognized by her father. Foxy’s voice would occasionally be heard on the loudspeaker mimicking Baby’s to try and trick the player and being exceptionally proud of himself while doing it, his time in the limelight would be spent mostly on night 3 and to some extent Night 4. Baby would be similar to her canon self, but minus her bogus night 4 speech. Instead she pretends to underestimate the extent of Ballora’s capabilities on night 2. (Ballora is stuck on a track in night 2 for the first half of her hallway mini game, (you’d be able to move around somewhat freely and duck under tables to try and avoid being heard by her or in her way), only for Ballora to break every bone in her body to break free of her limitations to hunt you down like a spider. And then Baby would “apologize” to you afterwards. Baby would be more like herself, in the sense that Elizabeth would try to emulate Baby to feel loved by her father. The actual A.I of Baby herself is more than a little sociopathic due to having her only lived experiences being with an abusive parental figure, his daughter who he abuses and night guards who shock her and her band mates.

[@xXParanoidVampireXx]

In my opinion the springlock section could’ve been fun if it was easy. It was boring _and_ you had to pay _so much_ attention to it. If it was just a 3 minute lore dump while i wound up the springlocks in would’ve had fun

[@theinsightfulllama]

I definitely agree! It's an interesting idea that is unfortunately weighed down by other factors.

[@Yippieyiyo]

21:38 my headcanon is that Michael has a freeze response (instead of fight/flight) and that’s why he just sits there

[@theinsightfulllama]

Michael, internally: Oh this isn't good. I should probably move. (Ennard appears in the window) It'd definitely be a good idea to move to the side right now. (alarms starts) oh yeah I should definitely move- (Proceeds to get scooped)

[@kubexxiii4386]

Dopamine deficient, ADHD-addled brain is my new favourite phrase and I will be using it to describe myself everyday

[@theinsightfulllama]

Glad to be of service!

[@franticenergy520]

Really enjoyed this! Always great to find a fellow Ballora-enjoyer in the FNAF community. I loved your retelling of sister location and the ways it played into other aspects of the lore like foreshadowing Baby being booted from Ennard by showcases the tensions between Baby and Ballora. Extremely well thought out and had me fully engaged for all 50 minutes and 1 second. Keep it up!

[@ani-ma-tion5326]

Ballora was my absolute favorite character as a child, she’s in way too many sketchbooks, ugly drawings on my ipad and I used to have the action figure of her. I was highly disappointed when she was so underrated and never really included in the lore. She had so much potential! Why include her if she has no purpose?

[@hiromitsumoonblossom8682]

It would have been awesome if Sister location was a 2 player game, with one player in the office shocking the animatronics and trying to survive biddy babs and other stuff, while another player runs around the place trying to avoid ballora and fun time foxy while doing the games chores and stuff.

[@theinsightfulllama]

That's an interesting idea! I'm honestly surprised the franchise hasn't tried making a multiplayer game yet, maybe that's something for the future

[@Garmazaddy]

my right ear really enjoyed this review. seriously though im really glad you put this video out bc ballora is so underrated. she shouldve been the boss.

[@wanderingrock6756]

Any other headphone users in the comments with the same experience where Llama's voice was coming out the right ear and the looping music out the left ear. Worst was when the loop would stop and the left would be quiet before the loop starts again

[@polluxon]

yep

[@theinsightfulllama]

I'm really sorry about that! I accidentally recorded my voiceover audio as stereo instead of mono, so it only plays on one side. It shouldn't be a problem in the future!

[@polluxon]

@@theinsightfulllama it's all fine, we all make mistakes! I really liked your content, gained a sub!

[@Lae722]

I actually really enjoyed this! I do agree that their was so much potential. But one of the things that I dislike about fnaf is that some characters that could have added so much to the story get shoved aside as background characters. I’ve always been so fond of Ballora, and this one of the best video essays on her! Great work !! Pls make more content like this!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you!! I'm glad you enjoyed :D

[@HowWasTheFalll]

I've always thought Baby is a genius and well-written character, but you make very good points. Her mask-off moment in night 4 doesn't make sense, no good manipulator would reveal themselves like that and it was too obvious at that point that she was using you, not helping you. And she doesn't even manipulate you through the entire game, she just tells you what to do. So it turns out she's not as brilliant as I thought she is. Your idea for Ballora is also great, she's so interesting and she should've appeared more in the game, just like Funtime Foxy. This was a well-done and interesting video, great work!

[@hunky-dory2735]

Really loved this video essay! I’m glad someone’s talking about this animatronic and who knows maybe we’ll get more of her in help wanted 2

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you! I'm interested to see steel wool's take on things :D

[@_a5h3r_]

"night one is never that bad in any of the games, so i'll just play th- AAAH-" love the markiplier pun!!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Haha, thank you!

[@_a5h3r_]

@@theinsightfulllama yes ofc!!

[@DubiousD]

despite the length, the points made in this video were well backed up and v concise, the pacing was really strong throughout and it made it an easy listen. i hope the momentum from the algorythm suggesting this video continues to bless your content going forward!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much!!

[@nyanbinary87]

absolutely wonderful video!! im a fan of all the humanoid animatronics, as i love the uniqueness present in all their designs, i feel a lot more creative liberties are taken with them as they arent the 'usual' aesthetic of the core 4 and are therefore pushed further in terms of design choices, and i think making ballora actually relevant in this way would be wonderful! id also hope it comes with an overhaul of the funtime's designs; freddy and foxy are fine but theres not much to them, bonbon feels weirdly out of place in terms of color, baby is...fine, i guess, though for the star of the show, she definitely feels plain, and neither clown or jester aesthetic are strong enough to really come through, and ballora...oh, ballora...ballerina outfits do Not look like that. balloras ballerina outfit is...bad. from the weird top to the lattice ribbons, it's just not at all how ballerina outfits or even just clothes work. and its a damn shame, because if you actually look up ballet costumes, you find plenty of gorgeous, interesting costumes that are actually functional and use the general leotard-tutu structure. cuts and color and skirt type and patterns and length and decoration could all be so interesting and yet we were given a top i can only assume is disconnected based on the color of it being the same as her 'skin tone', the bottom half of a leotard under the skirt, and the lattices. god i hate the lattices. as someone whose favorite media (princess tutu) is based around ballet, ballora breaks my heart design wise, and she has nothing story-wise like that which is proposed in this video to back her up and make her likable despite her design. we can only hope help wanted 2 does her better than SL ever did.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Yeah, I have to agree with you about Ballora's outfit. I enjoyed the aesthetic and idea more than the execution, I always found the outfit design very confusing. Maybe at some point I'll try and make a redesign because you're right, real ballerina outfits have so much variety and it would be fun to play around with. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@hayleycakes3435]

Hey, I love our big titted robot mommy. Ballora is perfect.

[@CharlieSimmer27]

it's super cool that you did the thumbnail art yourself! this was a 10/10 video overall and i really like your perspective on the game, ballora was always my favorite in sister location too

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you very much!

[@Ace.t177]

Why do you hide inside your walls, when there is music in my halls... All i see is an empty tomb, no more joy of an empty tomb... It's so good to sing all day, to dance, to spin, to fly away... Those are the lyrics to balloras song, and they are important, in some way, because scott made clear to hire balloras actress (Michella Moss) for that exact reason. Why it is important, nobody knows... Also, my headcanon for why baby DID kidnap you, is because of the killing ai in control of her, and her lust for blood was simply in controll of her. It's the dawko theory, that there are two "minds" in controll of baby, Elizabeth and the murder robot. To satisfy the needs of the murderus side of herself, she decided to kidnap you, and not kill you. That is also probably why the other animatronics try to kill you, despite it beniffiting them more to follow baby's plan. because they're less stable than baby (so their bloodlust is bigger). I am aware this interpritation has holes, but it's just a headcanon. Anyways, loved watching the video, you just earned a sub!

[@Ace.t177]

Also, I like the thought of ballora being the antagonist on night four, really made me rethink a few things

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you! I appreciate your thoughts, and I'm glad you enjoyed listening to mine

[@aidenwithani]

I love how you described the animatronic's antics in a funny way. It really sells that these are robots that have basically free will, and are kept down in a bunker, being tortured. They get out, and immediately bicker like children. Realistically, their plan would never work out well, or the way they would want to, but they don't know that

[@Icantdothisanymoreplskillme]

BRO I ONLY HAD MY LEFT EARPHONE ON AND I WAS LIKE WHERES THE EXPLANATION THERES ONLY MUSIC THEN I REALIZED 💀💀💀

[@shadedalion5478]

I love the idea of Ballora speech be like: "I know you see me...and I know who you are...why did you come here? Why do you return night after night?...what makes you tick...Michael...? You...confuse me..." Then she'll pause for a moment before continuing: "Have you heard of the scooper? It's a very dangerous machine...made to turn your insides to outsides...and leave you as an empty shell...we are metal...but it hurts..." After finishing the sentence the scooper would then activate and scoop Ballora, kicking off Night 4

[@birdmcturd1626]

My main takeaway from this video is that Sister Location would be much better with save points. It would make it so much less tedious

[@birdmcturd1626]

@orang9134 I haven't played it, so we can't know that. I'm just going off the criticism I've heard and the game play I've watched. Having to go through easy but time-consuming sections repeatedly to try the actually difficult section is just annoying and stops you gradually improving

[@birdmcturd1626]

@@orang9134 You’re either lying or incredibly good at the springlock minigame considering the springlock minigame could by no reasonable person be considered easy. That’s also not the point,the Ennard night is probably easy compared to other boss nights in the franchise but the problem is how tedious it is to take another attempt

[@birdmcturd1626]

@@orang9134 Maybe mobile makes it easier but even on a replay,I really can’t imagine the springlock minigame is that easy. Nor can I imagine it makes getting to Ennard night every time you die any less tedious

[@ajthewildwolf]

Your voice scratches a part of my brain that I didn't know was itchy. I must now go make my own ballora content

[@theinsightfulllama]

haha thanks! glad to be of service

[@powdereyes2210]

I really enjoy hearing your ideas about how the game could’ve been done And like everyone else I am surprised that you aren’t given as much attention You did an amazing job

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much!

[@ayuballena8217]

what a nice vi- ONLY 27 SUBS?!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Haha, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed! :D

[@andrewdarling6553]

Ballora is my absolute favorite character in FNAF so I’m so happy to hear someone talk about how she had so much more potential. I’ve never played the games because I’m not very good at FNAF-style games, but maybe one day Ballora will get the redemption she deserves. Great video, I can’t wait to see what you continue to make!

[@duckoverlord2301]

i love the way you talk abt personal experiences and how you present info sm

[@volleyball6728]

This video format reminds me a lot of Pastra - who’s my favorite youtuber. Super good video! I’m subscribed and ready for more videos like this one!

[@allen-licious6894]

You should totally consider making more video projects like this! For this being your first go I can see great things to come for your channel. Excellent video essay!!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much! I'm definitely planning on it, the next one should be out before the end of the month if I manage my time right. Hope to see you there! :D

[@allen-licious6894]

@@theinsightfulllama I'll be there!!

[@mr.moviemafia]

This is the first video of yours that I’ve found, and I love your commentary and editing style! I’ve never played a FNAF game and only vaguely know about the complexity of the lore, but there’s something about watching hour-long breakdowns of niche aspects of this series that I find weirdly enticing

[@theinsightfulllama]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@mystrenula3911]

My right ear loved this video

[@dgfjdfgjfdgjfdgjfdgjfdgj]

Entertaining video, may the algorithm bless you.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much!

[@purplpasta]

my right ear thoroughly enjoyed this video essay, good job

[@TTAMA77]

Im so glad this video exists because i loved ballora the most when the game came out. Thank you for this amazing video

[@wisteria2509]

cant believe you dont have more subs! besides how i love love love your ideas and opinions for SL this video is simply excellent quality for a youtuber with even less than 1k... instant subscribe

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you!

[@maddikitten1306]

I'm certain Baby's bossiness, stupidity, bragging, etc comes from the fact Elizabeth, William Afton's daughter and Michael's little sister, is making Baby talk and think. Proof of this is when she says, "I'll make you proud, Daddy!" in Pizzaria Simulator. The others can rightfully be annoyed, but this makes it feel more like Ballora should have more in the story especially if she was possessed by Afton's Ex Wife as revenge for abandoning him and the kids... The ragging on Ballora would also make more sense if William fed "Mommy's a terrible person for leaving us!" rhetoric to Elizabeth after the divorce before Elizabeth got attacked by Baby. If Baby wasn't controlled by Elizabeth, I'd prefer your version because it's a good redo of the story and I like it.

[@novel-sugar424]

Ballora has been my favorite FNAF character ever since she was revealed in the trailer back in 2016. Even made a dedicated fan blog to her on twitter and tumblr actually! As weird as it is to sound, I have no real qualms with her not being super important, that actually makes her MORE interesting imo. OFC I would've loved more screentime for her in SL and ESPECIALLY FFPS (sorry Molten Freddy fans but it shoulda been her), but at the same time I still love her even with all the minimal screentime she does have. I'm also glad that she's FINALLY getting the VR treatment in HW2, it was an absolute crime that her segment wasn't already in the first one. It's funny really, Ballora, despite being a character most would just kind of brush off, has actually been the main reason I'm still actually into this series today!

[@zipperooni]

that intro is way too relatable, whenever a character i like is unpopular/misunderstood by the fanbase, that character becomes one of my top favorite characters and i dont know what it is about that

[@Ashleycolorful]

i honestly agree so much with the video thumbnail , i feel like ballora had a lot more potential in sister location, and she was just side tracked like she was nothing, it's unfortunate, really.

[@spiky_dude]

i think baby's plan being dumb can be explained by her technically being a weird dead kid, but i dont think scott's writing would try to make much sense.

[@KatEntertainment]

Something I just though about, what if it wasn't actually Circus Baby who kidnapped us. What if it actually was Funtime Foxy She does act really strange and act as if it never happened in the next night. What if Foxy is the one who actually kidnapped us and is talking to us. He does have a voice mimicking feature, which would be pretending. Besides she was the one who jumpscared us wouldn't it make sense if they took us too? They are very much the type of character that would fight with the others too because of his competitiveness which explains her nabs at Ballora. It would explain why 'Baby' would kidnap Mike, it wasn't her, it was the others trying to get him killed faster because they disagree with Baby. Idk I just thought about this

[@Fallen-Snow]

Audio only plays in my right headphone

[@tsumihiro2021]

Definitely recommending your channel to my friends, this video is awesome, and i am really surprised that this videos has so little views

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@RabbitAfternoon]

I really liked this video and felt your proposed changes were very well thought out and would have worked much better!

[@Liibiidii]

I have been thinking this for years! I haven't fully finished the video but so far I agree with everything. Ballora COULD have had a major role in the story but I believe that Scott wanted to focus on his lore meatloaf that is half baked and never consistent. I now kind of feel like redesigning some of the animatronics and rewriting the lore so it makes sense. Thank you for your video!

[@theinsightfulllama]

You're welcome! I always enjoy seeing redesigns of these guys, so if you want to take a crack at it I say go for it! Could be super fun :D

[@urmom.1793]

your video very much tickles my brain, i love all the ideas also another spiggle fan

[@GAY-GREMLIN-ROWAN]

Maybe Balmoral could be a good character? She kidnaps us to warn us about baby? She gets scooped by baby because she's warning you? That would be cool I guess

[@rayreeseyt]

Ur commentary is funny and ur video is very easy to keep up with. Also ur editing and audio is very great. Subscribed and excited to see more :)

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you, and welcome! I'm aiming to have another video out before the end of the month, so I hope to see you for that!

[@AAA_NNN_DDD]

this just inspired me to actually go and play the games. ive never played them but love the lore, i wanna take a look at it w fresh eyes

[@PrettyMuchMiles]

Just stumbled upon this channel (THANK YOU ALGORITHM) and I gotta say; this was VERY refreshing and gave so many fun ideas that I never heard many of the community bring up personally and I really hope Steel Wool or SOMEONE adapts because Ballora vs Baby would be so interesting and maybe making Baby more narcissistic and full of ego could be explored more! Baby so used to being the front show runner of the animatronics thinking of herself highly with Ballora against it could make for some fun interactions and the kidnapping could be amazing for the voice actors to show that

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you!! I'm glad you enjoyed :D

[@holoanarchy]

Great video! You may need to set your sound to mono when you record though as I'm only getting you in my right headphone (I had the same issue and a friend suggested that and it worked).

[@vk8a8]

When the Lamma is Insightful 😳😳😳

[@JaycieSLove]

Really amazing video, fantastic quality. I hope more people get to see it.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you!! :D

[@josiahok6066]

Hey I love the video! Great points and always love an Sisters location retrospective. Just wanted to give a little constructive criticism with the audio, like making the background music less louder, fading in and out the music, and balancing your commentary between both ears. Awesome video though! Have a good day!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you! I plan to fix those issues in the next video I make

[@connorself]

You like ballora out of spite I like ballora because mommy We are not the same Amazing video essay! Glad I got recommended this and I will be subscribing to keep up with your stellar content. Very clean editing, good humor, very clear audio, and script was very well done. Nothing but praise from here. Can’t wait to see what you have in store!

[@Jojokun78]

I think the reason why Circus Baby hates Ballora is C.B. is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl named Elizabeth. Who happens to be the daughter of the Funtime Animatronics creator, William. Poor Ballora is believed to be/lore-wise implied to be a mechanical replacement/representation of Elizabeth's missing mother. Which could help explain that dislike. But that could only be realized via the stupid minigame where you play as Circus Baby giving out cupcakes to children and getting a certain ending where you give ice cream to one reddish-blonde haired girl, and hearing Ballora's song. Not to mention, it's also believed/implied the Funtimes are the melted down OG haunted animatronics merged into one puddle of remnant soup then shoved into these new bodies. So there's multiple reasons as to why the others didn't like C.B., but from what you can just get in the game, it isn't all that much.

[@floatingcrispbag7842]

I'm still in the intro but yas! I love Ballora, I'm writing a book and it starts with a sonet that references cause 1 it fits theme and 2 its freaking Ballora lmao

[@aethercore2080]

I watched this and got surprised you didnt have a few hundred thousand subs atleast, you deserve more

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much!

[@bakedbaker9882]

Good video, although you REALLY have to work on your audio. I HATE it when voices are only on one earbuds. I literally had to turn on mono via accessibility settings in order to bear it, I thought one of my ear buds died for the first few mins. (I tend to only use 1 ear buds because I need to hear when others are talking) Keep improving, keep making videos. I believe in you girl!

[@goobiscool5363]

my right ear really enjoyed this video

[@mattie31608]

Had a hard time getting into the video because of the background noise to voice volume levels, but after getting past the parts where the music was a little too loud, this was a great watch, keep up the good work

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you for sticking with it even though the levels were off! I'll be sure to be more mindful in the future.

[@skywares]

I hit the sub button SO FAST 👏 love your presentation and style!!!

[@theinsightfulllama]

Thank you so much! Welcome!

[@CreativeWitchArt]

I like how in the transition screen in the elevator on night three you're camera movement shows you're jamming to the music that plays in it

[@theinsightfulllama]

Haha, thank you! Sister Location has some pretty great music.

[@CastleOfAvalon]

I was working on a project while listening to this video. And I got a literal minor heartattack from that sudden jumpscare at the end..

[@spiggityspoo756]

This is a super awesome video, well done! I’m excited to see what you’ve got cooking up for the future! And funnily enough, when I was watching the video, I was only listening with only my right airpod, so the audio honestly felt very normal! Also I saw videos of both AstralSpiff doing his FNAF marathons and ChickenNinja42 playing this game blindfolded, and yeah, I feel like Night 5’s lack of good checkpoints is a sore spot that’s rarely talked about. Poor Spiff was planning on doing the secret Night 5, but with how unforgiving the night is and how long every attempt takes, he eventually gave up to save time. (Though since the game can apparently have dialogue cutscenes be skipped by muting and unmuting with CTRL+S, maybe there will be another go of it one day. Also also based Spiff enjoyer) EDIT: Also, Baby being kicked out of Ennard because the other three characters, which are literally just robots in there, were still sick of her shit lmao 😆 and I love your idea for Ballora, I wish she could’ve been utilized more in some way, along with the others.

[@theinsightfulllama]

Yeah, it's mostly night 4 that gets talked about but since I also had trouble on 5 I wanted to talk about it. Thank you for watching! Hope to see you on other videos :D