Gumdrop Angel | Sergio's Lucky Day | What We Found
They're just gonna eat you up.
"She's not my sister! She's your daughter, and she's a thief. She stole what should have been mine. She stole my mother, and she's stealing my future. It isn't fair!"
Angel and her mom were poor and struggling up until her mother married Myron, a wealthy man who adores his new wife... Angel, not so much. He and Bianca lavish all their attention on Myron's five-year-old daughter, Ophelia, who always gets everything she wants, whether it be an expensive off-theme birthday party at Freddy's or a freakin' pony. As for Angel, she can't even get the funds to go to the prestigious acting school she's already been accepted into. When her loan is denied because she's under Myron's roof, she snaps and steals Ophelia's most recent treasure, the nose of the Birthday Gummy from her party at Freddy's. Little does she know that this was a deadly mistake.
The twenty-second Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights story, and the first of the eighth book.
Tropes related to “Gumdrop Angel”:
- Abusive Parents: Myron is never physical with Angel, but it's clear that he couldn't give a damn what happens to her. He and Bianca constantly berate her, compare her to Ophelia, refuse to listen to her, and push her to move out even though they won't be paying for her college. Myron may have gotten physical had he been able to open Angel's door after she stole the gumdrop, but it's unclear.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Ophelia has an obsession with horses, enough that Myron paid extra for the Freddy's party to be horse-themed instead of Freddy-themed. To Angel's horror, they then drive to a barn, where it's revealed that Myron has bought her a horse and a pony, and weekly riding lessons, which will be thousands of dollars a year. Angel got suitcases for her birthday, in anticipation of moving out.
- Ambiguously Evil: Dominic. The story drops hints that he knows what effect the gumdrop would have had if Ophelia had eaten it, but it's left ambiguous. He's also clearly horrified and distraught that Angel ate it… though that notably doesn't stop him from loading her into a box to be eaten as the next Birthday Gummy.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's actually unclear if the gumdrop is what is turning Angel, or if it was was whatever Dominic sprayed in her hair. It would make more sense to target reclusive, unloved Angel than the star of an expensive birthday party. But still, Dominic seemed at first confused that Angel was transforming, so it may not have been his idea.
- Ambiguous Time Period: It's unclear where exactly in the timeline this takes place. Angel gives Dominic her home phone number rather than a cell phone, so it may be pre-2000s. Then again, Myron doesn't seem the type to buy her a phone.
- And I Must Scream: Once transformed, the Birthday Gummy cannot speak, and can only writhe around in confusion and possibly pain as they're eaten alive.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Though Angel does refuse to even call Ophelia her sister.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Angel definitely looks like the standard European angel.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: Angel's got a really good voice... good enough that her mom tells her not to sing loud during Ophelia's party, in case she takes attention away from her stepsister.
- Beauty Is Bad: Bianca is supposedly very pretty, and very shallow.
- Black Sheep: Angel becomes this just by being a teenager in a family that doesn't give a crap about her.
- Body Horror: Angel develops a mysterious red and squishy rash that quickly spreads over her body, and she can't find a successful treatment. She goes on to describe herself as looking like a red lizard with gooey blotchy scales. During her drive to Freddy's, her body and limbs become floppy and pliable. Although it's never outright stated (but it's obvious on the cover), she's transformed into a figure of candy, and is eaten by ravenous children.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Myron is absolutely furious that Angel gave a boy the family phone number and continuously shouts at him that he's not allowed to take Angel out due to Myron not knowing him. Whether he actually has good intentions, or if this is another shade of him denying Angel any happiness in life, is unclear.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Angel calls out both her mother and stepfather for their blatant favoritism and mistreatment of her, but neither of them seem to care enough to listen.
- Cheerful Child: Ophelia is almost always incredibly happy. The only times we see her upset are when Angel does something to her.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Angel is slowly turned into a walking piece of candy, and Forced to Watch as she's slowly eaten alive.
- Disappeared Dad: Angel's father left the family before she even learned to walk.
- Downer Ending: After spending sixty pages explaining just how much Angel's life sucks, we get to watch her be eaten alive. Fun!
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Angel and Bianca are both blonde, and seen as highly attractive for this trait.
- Foreshadowing:
- Angel feels disgusted watching the gummy be eaten, saying she doesn't like that it looks alive. She later also mentions that she's a vegetarian.
- Angel's favorite drama teacher, handing her an application for a performing arts school, tells her that audiences "are just going to eat you up."
- When Bianca tells Angel that she's happy, Angel snarkily replies that she herself is a piñata.
- On the way to Freddy's, a catcaller calls Angel "honey."
- Gold Digger: Bianca has been stated to always be like this, and now that she's successfully married wealthy, she's happy to throw her daughter under the bus.
- Green-Eyed Monster: When bemoaning her woes, Angel fixates on the fact that Ophelia always gets what she wants, and Angel gets nothing. It's her jealousy of her stepsister that drives her to eat the gummy.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Angel and her mother are light blondes, while Myron and Ophelia are brunette.
- Hate Sink: Myron and Bianca are written to be unrealistically irredeemably cruel to Angel.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: As Myron is screaming at her, Angel simply puts on headphones and turns her music up.
- Humanoid Abomination: The Birthday Gummy is seen as this by Angel, and she feels sick when looking at it. Eventually Angel herself becomes this trope when she turns into the next Birthday Gummy.
- Idle Rich: It's never really explained what Myron does for a living, only that he's obscenely rich.
- I'm a Humanitarian: The children at Ophelia and Julie's birthday parties unintentionally become this (in a way) with the revelation that the Birthday Gummies are actual people turned into candy.
- In Medias Res: The story starts with Angel already twisting in her box, then flashes back to Ophelia's party.
- Intrafamilial Class Conflict: Angel and Bianca were poor before marrying Myron, so Angel qualified for student loans for college. She then gets a letter saying they've updated their system and she no longer qualifies, as she's Myron's stepdaughter now, and Myron is extremely rich. Myron snidely tells her that he won't pay for art school.
- Ironic Name: Angel likes to comment that Ophelia was a tragic character from Theatre/Hamlet who dies in madness, and she can't see why anyone would name their beloved daughter that.
- Angel also has a very decidedly un-angelic fate.
- Karma Houdini: Myron and Bianca get away scott-free with how they treated Angel, and in fact will get what they wanted now that she's disappeared without a trace.
- Kick the Dog: Myron has two moments: one, when Angel recounts that for her birthday, they went to a burger place that Ophelia wanted to go to (Angel's a vegetarian), and two, when Angel begs him to pay for her college, and he tells her he won't waste money on something that won't help her in life... immediately after buying his five-year-old two horses.
- Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: Bianca had a string of boyfriends before she settled with Myron, who's not exactly the nicest guy.
- Misplaced Retribution: Ophelia may have been spoiled by her father, but she didn’t act like it. She never threw any tantrums and wanted to include her stepsister Angel, but Angel was so jealous of Myron giving her anything she wanted that she took her anger out on Ophelia for getting positive attention, when Myron and her mom were the ones who were favoring Ophelia over her. Her misplaced retribution towards Ophelia for Myron’s cruelty is what sets off her demise later on.
- Never My Fault: Angel has shades of this, though with her family, she's right a good chunk of the time.
- No Full Name Given: On anyone in the story.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Though she may never know it, Bianca gets to outlive the daughter she treated so poorly.
- Parental Favoritism: It's made clear to anyone with eyes that Myron and Bianca vastly prefer cute little Ophelia to sulky Angel. Exemplified when Angel explains to Tammy how big Ophelia's party was, and then tells her that for her party they went to a burger place Ophelia wanted to go to (Angel's a vegetarian) and bought her suitcases to move out.
- Performance Artist: Angel is a huge theater kid and aspiring actress.
- Plot Parallel: It's something to note that Angel basically has the life that Lonely Freddy's Alec thought he had; while his parents were loving but strained and in over their heads, and his sister actually a sweet kid trying her best to relate to her brother, Angel's mother and stepfather treat her like a gumdrop under their shoe, or a free chauffeur at best. Ophelia seems to be genuinely nice, but she's also spoiled beyond belief, and actually the obvious favorite child.
- Rich Bitch: Not just Myron; now that Bianca's wealthy, she's fallen right into the idea that she deserves everything, and makes her own daughter chauffeur her around just for kicks.
- The Scapegoat: Anytime something's wrong with Ophelia's special day, it's placed on Angel.
- Small Town Boredom: Angel wants to get out of this town as fast as possible, and start living in the city.
- Spoiled Sweet: Despite being the most pampered five-year-old imaginable, Ophelia is always cheerful and kind, and is trying to get Angel to hang out with her because she genuinely likes her new sister.
- Troubled Teen: Angel went from a life with a poor, neglectful mother to a mansion where everyone inside either hates her or is too young to do anything about the abuse.
- Twist Villain: It seems like Dominic is an innocent employee who just wants to take Angel out on a date. Then he sets her up in a box to be eaten alive.
- The Un Favourite: Angel, big time. Ophelia gets anything she wants, and Angel can't even get the education she wants.
- Wicked Stepfather: Myron doesn't care about Angel, only that she's upsetting his own daughter. Bianca just goes along with whatever he says.
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The Woobie: This story is basically just the reader feeling bad for Angel, watching her life get worse and worse, and then watching her die horribly.
