#Flute the Probably-Human | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ch6sos · 6 months ago

Text

✧.* nanami headcanons <3

He hums/sings while showering and feels embarrassed when confronted about it.

When someone he enjoys talking to speaks to him, he usually appears serious, but his expression is always unreadable. The expression conveys pure fondness for the person!! He enjoys hearing them ramble about their day, their lives, etc. He gives them a warm look.

Definitely a listener more than a rambler. He listens to people all the time, and remembers the small details about them. He tends to bring them up sometimes, which surprises the other person. But, he is extremely attentive to detail and loves getting to know people.

You know how in Korean dramas, the male lead is always a jack of all trades or something? Nanami is exactly that guy. Need assistance with your plumbing? He is there. Do you need to fix a lightbulb? He is there. Need help building a house? He is there.

He plays an instrument. He would play either the piano, violin, or flute.

He definitely enjoys watching movies in his spare time. When he is not doing anything, he enjoys watching movies. If he existed in the modern world, he would for sure have a Letterboxd account.

In a Modern AU, Nanami would undoubtedly be an English/History major. I do not care what anyone says. Maybe philosophy or business. But he would be one of those fine humanities majors you notice and immediately fall for.

Books are his specialty. He probably has several places where he goes to relax and read a book he recently purchased.

Speaking of books, if he gets a partner, he will read to them. He would cuddle them in bed, holding them in his arms while he read silently to them, pressing his lips against their ear, the soft, deep tone of his voice sounding like a musical masterpiece in their ear.

Pottery!! He enjoys pottery so much. He probably went to a pottery event/class when he was bored (he failed, the bowl looked like a deformed apple) but he really enjoyed the process. He definitely began to watch more videos on pottery and probably got himself a pottery wheel.

He is definitely an animal lover. he doesn't look like it, but he loves, LOVES, LOVES animals. If he sees a dog, his heart flutters but he doesn't touch it just in case. But, he's an animal attractor of course. The dogs are all over him at the dog park, and he smiles a little while petting them.

Speaking of animals, he probably has a cat. The cat is named after a food for sure. It is most definitely a type of bread or sandwich or a nut. For example, Pistachio or Baguette.

Super gentle with children. He genuinely enjoys being around them. Ask him about having children He will Be On Board.

HE WOULD NOT BE MEAN. The amount of people I have seen mischaracterize him by making him mean just because he's serious. No. He is just introverted and serious and needs to be comfortable around a person.

During relationships, he genuinely enjoys checking in on the person he is dating. He is always there for them, comforting, cherishing, and listening. He tries to get off work as soon as possible so that he can spend time with his significant other.

If he is shown too much affection, he does not snap or become angry with the person. He just blushes. He just lets out a soft "hm" and pretends to be serious, but his heart is racing, and his cheeks, ears, and neck indicate otherwise. He also gives them a slightly surprised look that quickly turns to his stoic look.

He definitely bought baby shoes at a store just because he thought they were so cute. Mans just wants a baby.

He would be both a girl and a boy dad. I do not care what anyone says; he loves both. If he has a son, he will do everything in his power to raise him as a gentleman while also showing him a lot of love and affection. If he has a daughter, he will be so gentle with her while also raising her to be a sophisticated, strong young woman.

Genuinely would be the grandpa of the friend group. Come on. Just look at him.

As a teenager, he probably would do the emo hair flip thing because his fringe kept getting onto his eye. Gojo probably laughed his ass off.

Secretly really touch-starved. People think he is not affectionate, but he is, just not in public. He would most likely grab his significant other while they were doing something and attack them with kisses. He probably likes being a little spoon sometimes even though he looks like an old man. He is clingy, okay? But not overly clingy. Sometimes he needs his own space.

Loves kissing their partner's beauty moles. The ones under their nose, the ones on their ear, the ones on scattered around their face, the ones in other areas... Wherever they are located, he will kiss them.

Sometimes he needs to be reassured. He needs to know if he is doing okay, if he is treating a person well. It looks like he does not need it, but he genuinely sometimes gets insecure about how others perceive him or how well he treats them. He worries about hurting someone's feelings.

Loves to try and hype up his partner with extreme amount of compliments. He is truly the number one simp and hype man.

I am a strong advocate for the fact that Nanami loves people of color. Like he will date a person of color. I don't CARE. I am Afro-Latina let me have my headcanon in peace : (

Once again. He is NOT mean. He will not yell. If he is angry, he is calm. He does not yell and if he does it is extremely rare. But he would never in his life yell at his partner or children if he has any. The only way he shows disappointment is by staying calm.

Speaking of being angry, he is not the type to show silent treatment. He would much rather talk rather than give a cold shoulder. He is a grown man. He knows how to communicate, people.

Old-fashioned nicknames. That is all. My love. Darling. Sweetheart.

He is probably fluent in several languages. I understand he is overly perfect, but he is perfect in my eyes. He probably takes the time to learn languages so that people feel included. Plus, he genuinely enjoys learning about different cultures.

Owned a bakery or worked as a chef at some point in his life. Maybe even a barista.

Helps old ladies cross the street, assists people with heavy bags, is courteous to his neighbors, and is the grandson of every old neighbor ever.

Probably is the type of guy to sit down on the couch and not try at Just Dance, and ends up winning.

Despite being serious, he would genuinely be bad at the game Among Us. This is so random but hear me out.

Favorite ice cream flavor is probably coffee or pistachio. Maybe even basic vanilla. He is not a big fan anyway.

Jazz music, classical music, old music is his speciality. In high school during his emo hair era he more so listened to 90s rock/punk rock.

His most used app(s) on his Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is WhatsApp and Candy Crush.

Definitely has a whole closet of clothing and browses through them every night to see what suit he wants to wear for the next day.

When he shops or gets food, he goes to local family owned shops. He does not go to Starbucks for his coffee. He goes to the local family owned coffee shop.

Dry texter but if he gets a partner who is not a dry texter, he genuinely begins to pick up their habits. If they type with emojis he begins using emojis. I apologize but he'd unironically use the laughing crying emoji. "Haha! 😂". Okay but genuinely, he would actually keyboard slam at some point. He sends them a photo, they go like "jshekehdkehdjdlsjdl" and one time they did the same thing and he was like:

"....Kshskshdjxbsnab." You know?

He is low key sassy. He was affected by sassy man apocalypse. He hides it in that serious exterior of his but he gives the biggest side eyes sometimes, crosses his legs too.

Snores like a dad. Bro was probably recorded by Haibara while he was in the dorms and bro was snoring like a regular ol dad. Drooling too. What a silly guy.

Anyway...

Overall, the best man ever. He is the man ever and that is why he is not real. Unfortunately.

forever angel <33

786 notes · View notes

sillygoofyqueer · 4 months ago

Text

I like to think about the white robed cultivators introducing their husbands (I know Shen Qingqiu wears green robes, but go with it). Xie Lian would be like, "this is my husband, he's a ghost king who searched for me for over eight hundred years and sacrificed himself three times for me, and all of heaven fears him" and there's Hua Cheng in the background, looking sexy and mysterious, probably sculpting a statue of Xie Lian because he's bored. Shen Qingqiu would then be like, "this is MY husband, he's half heavenly demon and emperor of the demon realm who almost ruled both realms but stopped because he only wanted me" and Luo Binghe is in the background, ominous and yet undeniably handsome as he cooks Shen Qingqiu some of the most delicious looking food ever. Then there's Lan Wangji. "Oh, this is my husband. He's a human cultivator who plays the flute so well that even the dead come back to listen to it" and it cuts to Wei Wuxian, who is clinging to a tree and screaming as a dog tries to bite his robes.

807 notes · View notes

yeloenk · 2 months ago

Text

grins mischievously and rubs my hands together like a fly

i think human ink would frequently get bored of his hair color and hair style, trying out lots of different things!! he would definitely forget to maintain the dyejob tho so his white roots get REALLY bad until he dyes it again LMAO

while his dads aren't japanese (zephyr is french and idrk about undertop), they enjoy ink showing them japanese culture and participating in traditions and such :-)

ink, since they're immortal, decided he would dedicate his freetime into learning a bunch of different cultures and languages! this always tends to surprise others, since ink's short-term memory is absolute garbage. nobody understands how he remembers EVERYTHING about EVERY culture 😭😭🙏 you CANNOT keep a secret from this mofo no matter what language you speak

i think they would keep a digital diary with a camera! he records important events/moments so they can always look back at them, since he forgets a lot. his camera is mostly filled up with memories with their dads 🫶

ink LOVESS to bake!! he enjoys trying out different recepies and pastries from all around the world, but his favorites are macarons. he enjoys cooking as well, but moreso appreciates baking because of the exact instructions/measurements. (he is autistic like me and needs clear instructions or he will combust real and true trust me on this)

he has WAY too many hobbies for a normal person to keep up with. flute, baking, drawing, painting, writing, dancing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, singing, gardening, you NAME it. any form of art, they know how to do and are surprisingly good at it

ink struggles with keeping up with his own very very busy mind. they have so many projects he wants to execute, but can only push out a few at a time. he hates having unfinished projects, and will stick with something until the end—for better or for worse.

he loves to paint over his vitiligo spots, or just painting on himself in general. they think it's fun & interesting to see how the spots shift and change on his skin, never growing bored of them.

-> his spots shift whenever code for a new AU is created, soo it's never really consistent LOL

he loves all forms of music, but holds a special place in his heart for songs that include lots of different classic instrumentals, like violin. he loves artists like fish in a birdcage and sparkbird (yes im projecting and you can't stop me)

he sometimes will drink paint out of the blue in front of others just for their reactions. they are priceless to ink and ALWAYS make him crack up so bad.. and then he has to explain that "nonono my paint specifically is okay for me to drink guys im not gonna die dw" ☠️☠️

ANNDDD i should probably stop there.. this post is so long LMFAO 😭😭 honestly most of these are just my normal ink headcanons, human or not, so take these as you will 🗣️🗣️

#utmv #undertale #undertale au #ink sans #inkblott #inkblottrambles #ink sans headcanons #human ink sans #hes so silly silly #i love ink if you couldnt tell #grins mischievously

200 notes · View notes

kotias · 8 months ago

Text

Ineffable Rockstars

Time to properly become creatively feral about the Ineffable Rockstars project with @vavoom-sorted-art, @searchingforakeythatdoesntexist , @daneecastle, @moonyinpisces and Stitcherydoo!

Summary of the story: human!AU, Crowley and Aziraphale are rockstars in their respective groups, Celestial Harmonies and Hell's Rebuke. Word is out that those two groups have bad history together, and therefore the two of them, while shamelessly talking to each other any festival they get to meet at, do have to be careful about being seen together by their own bands.

Summary of this excerpt: Aziraphale explains the story of the two bands to Crowley, who has arrived after everything went down and was kept in the dark by his mates.

Lyrics: written for the purpose of this fic.

Word count of the excerpt: 872 words

Excerpt:

Crowley sat down next to Aziraphale, whose eyes laid probably a second too long on those long fingers, on this chest showing so proudly from behind his open shirt- He coughed and drank a large gulp from the flute, clutching at the glass like a lifeline.

“It’s- it’s alright. Are you feeling comfortable? How was the concert?”

“Hah, acting like I didn’t see you in the audience, are ya?” Crowley asked with a smirk, and Aziraphale looked away, feeling the heat building up on his face.

“Well, we do need to keep it silent, don’t we?” he answered nonetheless with a coy smile, sipping on his drink.

“Why, though? It’s completely beyond me; Bee recruited me right after the split between Celestial Harmonies and Hell’s Rebuke, but there’s always been… you know, a feeling that it didn’t happen for no reason.”

“They haven’t explained it to you?” Crowley shook his head, and Aziraphale sighed. “No wonder you’re lost. Well, to put it simply… Hell’s Rebuke’s members were part of Celestial Harmonies, a few years ago.”

“Yes, I know that-”

“Let me talk, please; I would like to make sure we work with the same information.”

As he began explaining the official history of the two bands, he was cut by a thunder of clapping as the concert was coming to an end, and he and his counterpart felt compelled to stand up and join the applause.

When you reached Summer,

You lost sight of the star lights,

Questions died in your throat,

Cursing a future that is naught

And the night falling upon you

Left you laying awake with open eyes.

After two encore songs and enough clapping to make their hands and wrists sore, Crowley and Aziraphale walked towards another scene and stayed in relative distance, ensuring that they would hear each other. “So, you were saying, Hell’s Rebuke and Celestial Harmonies.”

“Ah! Yes; so, this is fairly public knowledge.” Crowley nodded impatiently. “At least, it is not something that we are actively hiding, neither of the two groups; somebody who knows how to Google us would be able to find this information.” Aziraphale frowned, crossing his arms. “Honestly, that is why it concerns me a little that you have not been informed of this; it is a fairly common question that people are trying out on us, asking about the other group to see how we react. Anyways-”

The vendors just a few metres from them had started cooking a few crepes, and Crowley did not miss the eyes darting towards them. “Want some? C’me on, it’s my treat,” he insisted as Aziraphale’s eyebrows raised -and it was obvious that he wasn’t going to refuse such an offer.

“Well, if you insist,” he answered, the corners of his lips curling up and his eyelashes fluttering; Crowley’s heart missed a beat, his fingers pressed against his flute, and he barely managed to keep a groan from reaching out of his mouth.

“You do have to tell me more, though; ‘specially if you think my ignorance could bite me in the ass.”

“Yes, of course.” Aziraphale’s voice dropped as they reached the line, keeping it to the level of a private conversation. “Bee and Gabriel were… an item.”

“Oh, excellent start. If that’s only the beginning, I might have to stock up on popcorn with that crepe of yours.”

“Heh, well, it might be one of the more interesting aspects of this entire story, so do not keep your expectations too high.”

“No, no, don't kill my hopes, now. Go on, tell me everything, I’m sure it will be full of riveting details, Bee’s never been good at keeping things tidy anyways.”

Aziraphale groaned. “Oh, you should see Gabriel when he gets involved… Ah- one crepe with sugar, thank you,” he said with a bright smile to the vendor. “Alright, so- long story short, the band was originally founded by the two of them; excellent musicians those two are, and the band did have quite the promising future before it. We started having a fairly good reputation.”

“Black coffee and a serving of fries. The name’s been around for a while now, that’s right- I remember seeing it ten years ago on some festival announcements in my city. Cash, thanks.”

“We have, yes. We were very local for a long while, but…”

“What changed?”

“Gabriel and the others were wishing to go professional; Bee and who are now Hell’s Rebuke were not willing to do that.”

“Ah, I see. Well, they didn't change much in that aspect,” Crowley mumbled sourly, extending his arms to grab the crepe and coffee. He gave the dessert over, then took his serving of fries, and they left the vendor’s stand. “Wait, where did you stand? You stayed with Celestial Harmonies, after all.”

“Hm, well…”

That did not sound like somebody who was fully happy to have stayed, Crowley thought, and he crept closer to Aziraphale, nudging him with his elbow. “Come on, spill the beans! Honestly, I’m looking to go in that direction, if there’s anything I should be aware of…”

“Being professional was, and still is, something that I hold dear,” Aziraphale explained, his slow speech feeling heavy, like he was choosing every word carefully.

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #crowley x aziraphale #aziraphale x crowley #ineffable rockstars #human AU #fanfiction

269 notes · View notes

demonsword586 · 6 months ago

Text

Tartaros pp headcanons! (Just the nobles)

Bimet

- I imagine he is one of the few normal sized pp owners amongst devils. (Still,they are naturally larger than humans,so normal for a devil is still pretty impressive for a human.)

-Anyway I belive he is around 15 cm in lenght .

-You see the charm about this man's shlong is not in size like most people think but in it's shape.

- You see his tip is sharp. This man is a whore. With enough money,you could probably buy a night with him. And as a proper gold digger....he needs a sharp tool for the job.

-You ever saw the part of a flute in which you blow? Yea that's his tip

-Not only is his tip pointy but somewhere in the middle of his shaft he has tiny bumps. They're small and there's not a lot of them...but just enough for you to feel it when he ravages your insides.

-He thought about dipping his pp in gold like he does to his feet but immediatelly stopped after the first try. Mostly because the gold was dropping down way too quickly because of the higher temperature.

-He settled on just wearing a few thin golden cock rings. Also has a simple prince albert piercing

-From all the gold in the air,I woudn't be suprised if he eats it too. After a few years of chewing on metal,his cum got a certain yellowish color to it.

-I do think he cums a lot tho and it's watery...very watery.

-He keeps himself groomed most of the time. If you're serving the richest man in hell as his right hand,you gotta keep a certain level of proper hygene and looks to match.

- Also yes his pp does smell like pennies.

Valefor

- I think he's pretty similar to Mammon. He already works hard to have a body like his. I woudn't be suprised if that applies to his dick as well.

-As you can imagine....big. Not as big as Mammon's meat srick but very similar. Thick,long and hard as a brick. He should register is as a lethal weapon. In and put of the bedroom.

-At least he is aware of his own size,comparred to some other careless nobles. He knows he could actually hurt you and does everything in his might to prevent that,even if it means sacrificing his own pleasure for yours.

-Speaking of pleasure and cumming,he's another one of those breeding bulls. His cum is a bit thick but actually tastes pretty good. The most similar thing to it is a lemon tart.

-Back to his cock. It's a bit more normal whrn it comes to the shape. It's the kind of a penis that is pretty to look at but also scares you with just how big it is. In other words,a teddy bear kind of pp.

-He keeps his pubic hair growing. Of course,he does shave it off every once in awhile. But only when it gets so unruly it iches. But every other time? He just let's it grow. He just doesn't pay too much attention to his hair when he has to put so much work into growing out his muscles.

-But somehow has one of the healthiest hygene routines? Has like 12 diffrent products,all for a specific thing on his body. He's a good boy who takes care of himself properly.

-He does work out a lot tho,so he can't always be smelling like sunshines and manly chemicals. Even after many showers,there is still a small sprinkle of the sweaty smell on him. He is trying to get rid of it since he knows humans are a bit more sensitive about bad smells compared to devils

Eligos

- Small...the smallest penis owner in Tartaros nobility and he is damn proud of it!!!

-He's actually really happy with his size since smaller pps are way cuter than those muscular-looking dicks. It gives him a very cute bulge too!

- It's size is 11 cm.

- Some of his coworkers suggested he starts wearing some more gold but he refuses. After all,ribbons are way cuter than gold and very flexible in their usage too! He can wrap them everywhere even on his dick.

-Has a collection of diffrent types of ribbon fabric,each for a specific part on his body. There is so many pretty fabrics after all but not every one fits more intimate areas. For down there he uses a very soft,silk ribbon.

- Has a very good hygene too. Probably owns a whole cabinet of showering items. My man knows his stuff. He follows Orias's social media and they even give each other beauty tips in DMs. Paimon joins in on some conversations as well.

- Anyway back to his pp! We already got out of the way that it's small. Well it's also really sensitive! Especially on the underside of his shaft and the point where his tip is the sharpest. If you rub or touch him there,he becomes quite vocal. I don't mean those little whimpers but full on moans. When Mammon first heard him,he had to ask later if he was okay and if he needed a headpat. Poor man probably thought Eligos hit his balls or something.

-Speaking of balls,his are pretty small and round. His ballsack is a bit tight which makes his balls appear very adorable,like little marbles. They fit perfectlly in your palm too! Ah,but don't squeeze them,he'll push you away and cover them for a few weeks if he sees you.

-Man waxes. You see those shiny thighs? Yea he wants all of his assets to be like that. Smooth like an infant. He actually does the whole process by himself. Unless there is a place he cannot reach *cough* his ass *cough*

-Overall,a very cute little thing and slightly squishy. The color of it is just as his skin with his tip being a paler pink.

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb bimet #whb eligos #whb valefor

196 notes · View notes

blueiscoool · 9 months ago

Text

A Major Tomb With Gold and Ceramic Artifacts Discovered in Panama

In an archaeological find in the El Caño Archaeological Park, located in the district of Natá, province of Coclé, in Panama, a tomb has been discovered that sheds light on the sophisticated Coclé society of pre-Hispanic times.

The tomb thought to belong to a Coclé lord and dating back to 750 CE, was found to contain a wealth of funerary offerings, including ceramic and gold artifacts.

The El Caño Archaeological Park is well-known for its necropolis of tombs and stone monoliths that date back to 700–1000 CE. American explorer Hyatt Verrill first realized the importance of the site in 1925 when he discovered ancient monoliths beside the Rio Grande River.

Linette Montenegro, National Heritage Director of the Ministry of Culture (MiCultura), explained that this discovery is part of the ongoing archeological project in the park.

The project, started in 2022 and financed through a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the El Caño Foundation, aims to thoroughly explore Tomb No. 9 during the 2021-2024 campaigns.

The tomb’s contents, consisting of 5 pectorals, 2 belts of gold beads, 4 bracelets, 2 earrings in the shape of human figures, an earring in the shape of a double crocodile, 1 necklace of circular beads, two bells, bracelets, and a skirt made with dog teeth, and a set of bone flutes, is testimony to the cultural and social wealth of the Coclé society.

Dr. Julia Mayo, director of the El Caño Foundation and leader of the archaeological project since its inception in 2008, highlighted the importance of this discovery.

The collection, which probably belonged to a high-status adult male, represents a window into life and death in the Rio Grande chiefdom. The tomb, built around 750 A.D., is especially intriguing due to the presence of sacrificial attendants buried alongside the lord, indicating multiple and simultaneous burial practices.

Dr. Mayo noted that the excavation process is ongoing, making it difficult to determine the exact number of individuals buried within the tomb. She said that this type of burial, known for burying a variable number of people in the same tomb, provides valuable information about the beliefs and funerary rituals of the Cocle society.

Dr. Mayo explained that the Coclé lord was buried in a face-down position, a customary practice in this culture, often atop the remains of a woman.

El Caño Archaeological Park, built around 700 A.D. and abandoned around 1000 A.D., has yielded significant archaeological discoveries. In addition to the known monoliths, the site includes a cemetery and a ceremonial area with wooden structures. This discovery stands out for its uniqueness and the insight it provides into Cocle society’s funerary practices.

By Oguz Buyukyildirim.

#A Major Tomb With Gold and Ceramic Artifacts Discovered in Panama #El Caño Archaeological Park #Coclé lord #ancient tomb #ancient grave #ancient necropolis #ancient artifacts #gold #gold artifacts #treasure #archaeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #Coclé society #pre-Hispanic times

203 notes · View notes

doodle-pops · 1 month ago

Text

Celebrating Autumn with the Lords of Gondolin

Synopsis: In which you introduce the Lords (and Turgon) to partake in many festive fall activities.

Hosting an autumn-themed party in Gondolin had been your idea, and somehow you managed to get King Turgon and all his Lords on board. The courtyard of Gondolin was dressed in golds, reds, oranges, with wreaths of autumn leaves hanging from pillars and pumpkins scattered around. The air was crisp, and everything had a touch of warmth, from the fire pits dotting the grounds to the hot spiced cider ready for everyone to try.

It wasn’t easy—throwing modern human ideas into elven culture wasn’t exactly the most natural thing—but you made it work. And now, Gondolin’s lords were about to see what a true autumn celebration looked like.

Glorfindel was the first to arrive, grinning as he eyed the pumpkin-carving station you had set up. You told him it was a classic autumn tradition, and he had jumped in without hesitation, picking up a knife and carving some elaborate design that looked like it belonged in a museum. “Let’s see if the others can keep up,” he said, obviously too proud of his creation already. You just laughed.

Egalmoth, with his flair for all things colourful, was immediately drawn to the garlands of autumn leaves you’d hung around. “You have a talent for decoration,” he remarked, already considering how he could replicate this in his own house. You had to stop him from adding more feathers to the mix. “Keep your peacock tendencies in check, Egalmoth. This is autumn, not a bird festival.”

Rog and Galdor rolled in together, both eyeing the apple-bobbing station you’d set up. Rog, ever the competitive one, looked ready to dive in face-first. Galdor, on the other hand, seemed more hesitant, probably thinking about how undignified it would look to dunk his head in a bucket. “Come on, Galdor,” you teased, “I’ve seen you charge into battle with trolls. Surely a few apples won’t scare you.” That earned a hearty laugh from Rog, who immediately took up the challenge.

Ecthelion was, unsurprisingly, more interested in the autumn music you’d selected. The harps and flutes blended with the sounds of crackling fires and rustling leaves, setting the perfect mood. He wandered over to the musicians, offering a few pointers. “Of course, Ecthelion’s turning it into a concert,” Glorfindel whispered to you, shaking his head in amusement.

Then, Maeglin showed up—late—already brooding before he even stepped foot in the courtyard. He looked around, unimpressed, until his eyes fell on the pumpkin-carving station. “What is this?” he asked, genuinely confused. You handed him a carving knife and gestured toward the pumpkins. “Carve something. It’s therapeutic.”

Turgon, ever the picture of regal composure, made his entrance just as Maeglin started slicing away. “I trust this...activity is appropriate?” the king asked, giving you a look that said he was still uncertain about the whole idea. You just grinned. “Trust me, Turgon. If nothing else, watching your nephew stab a pumpkin will be the highlight of your evening.”

The apple-bobbing contest kicked off with Glorfindel joining Rog and going head-to-head. Both were elbowing each other out of the way in a very un-lordly manner, while the rest of the group gathered around to cheer or laugh at their antics. Maeglin, as expected, looked sceptical by the whole thing, but even he couldn’t resist glancing over occasionally to see who was winning.

Egalmoth, being Egalmoth, had somehow found a way to tie autumn-coloured ribbons into his hair, showing them off to anyone who would listen. He tried to convince Ecthelion to do the same, but the captain of the fountains was far too dignified to humour him.

Meanwhile, Turgon had finally warmed up to the idea of an autumn feast, especially once the pumpkin-spiced everything made its way to the table. You weren’t sure if he loved or hated it, but he certainly looked intrigued. “This is...different,” he commented, taking a cautious sip of pumpkin ale.

The pumpkin-spiced food was a hit—or at least, it became the subject of much discussion. Galdor wasn’t sure about the pumpkin bread but enjoyed the roasted chestnuts, while Glorfindel happily inhaled anything remotely edible. Ecthelion, ever the refined one, sipped his pumpkin ale with an arched brow, considering it more thoughtfully than anyone else.

As the night wore on, Glorfindel and Galdor started a friendly archery competition, using pumpkins as targets. Maeglin actually got involved, managing to hit a target dead centre without even trying. “I hate how good he is at everything,” Glorfindel muttered, shaking his head as Maeglin smirked and walked away.

The hay-bale toss turned into an unexpected competition between Glorfindel, Rog, and Maeglin. You watched as they tried to outdo each other, tossing the heavy bales farther and farther until Maeglin, ever the silent competitor, sent one soaring well past the others. “I should’ve known the smith would win this...again,” Glorfindel said, shaking his head with a laugh.

Once the bonfire was lit, the atmosphere became more relaxed. The lords gathered around the flames, drinking and laughing as the night grew darker. You introduced the concept of roasting marshmallows, and though Rog seemed confused at first, he ended up liking the sweet treat more than he’d admit.

As the night continued, you convinced the group to participate in a scavenger hunt you had prepared earlier in the day. You’d hidden little tokens all around the courtyard, each representing something from the autumn season—acorns, tiny pumpkins, golden leaves—and you split the group into teams. Glorfindel teamed up with Ecthelion, while Turgon, much to your surprise, paired with Rog. Watching the elven lords of Gondolin running around in search of hidden trinkets had you stifling laughs for the rest of the night.

By the time the bonfire was lit, everyone was in high spirits. Rog and Galdor were still trading jabs about who won the apple-bobbing contest, while Egalmoth was already planning next year’s party. Ecthelion had taken over the music, adding a dramatic flair to the entire evening with his harp, while Glorfindel tried (and failed) to convince Maeglin to at least smile once before the night ended.

The final event of the evening was a storytelling session around the bonfire. Ecthelion, naturally, volunteered to go first, spinning a dramatic tale about a haunted forest. Glorfindel, of course, made it funnier than it needed to be by making shadow puppets in the firelight, causing the others to groan in mock frustration.

Maeglin stayed quiet through most of the stories, but you caught him smirking a few times, especially when Rog told a tale about a prank gone wrong. Even Turgon, ever serious, seemed to relax in the warmth of the fire and the company of his closest friends.

As for you, you stood back, watching as the lords of Gondolin—so used to battles and council meetings—embraced the ridiculousness of an autumn celebration. Turgon caught your eye from across the fire, giving you a nod of approval. Maybe hosting a party wasn’t the worst idea you’d ever had.

Masterlist

Taglist: @lilmelily @ranhanabi777 @rain-on-my-umbrella @mysticmoomin @asianbutnotjapanese @batsyforyou @aconstructofamind @stormchaser819 @involuntaryspasms @addaigio @lamemaster @elficially-done-with-life @eunoiaastralwings @mcwentfandomtraveling @hermaeuswhora @zheiya

If you wish to be added, click the Taglist Link to join.

78 notes · View notes

kiame-sama · 2 months ago

Note

Twisted Wonderland Monsterverse AU?

What monsters do you think each of the characters would be? (With the exception of the Beastmen, Mermen and Fae Characters since they’re technically monsters already)

These are a few ideas on what I think some of the characters might be (You can change these, since I’m mainly guessing)

I can definitely see Jamil as a Naga

Kalim makes me think of an Otter (So cute and adorable that you can forget that Otters are dangerous)

I feel like Vil would probably be a Harpy, specifically a Peacock Harpy (Very pretty, confident and can be aggressive)

Rook would probably also be a Harpy, specifically one of the Birds of Prey (He’s a Hunter after all) like a Peregrine Falcon or a species of Eagle

Idia would a God of Death, the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld and Ortho either being a Soul or Cerberus(?)

I feel like Silver would either be Human, Bear or a Bird, like a Barn Owl (They’re very cute)

Did most characters, some are more than a little obvious (given they are already creatures in Twisted Wonderland anyway).

Divus is a Selkie and is very protective over his fur.

Sam is a Shadow man (we all saw that coming).

Vargas is a minotaur.

Trein is a sphinx.

Crowley is a Crow Fae (obviously).

Ace is a Satyr and thinks playing the pan flute is dumb.

Deuce is a Faun- basically a Satyr with better horns and a stronger sense of justice, known for helping lost travelers.

Cater is a water nymph and is often seen bothering Trey while he is resting in the waters of the lake of Heartslabyul.

Che'nya is a Bakeneko- cat creature that typically symbolizes bad luck. I think he would have two tails or a forked tail.

Trey is a Kelpie centaur and often seen with Riddle as they are good friends, or Cater riding around on his back despite the usual warning that comes with trying to ride a Kelpie.

Riddle is a unicorn centaur and he hates that so many tease him about being a 'girly' creature. Very gifted with magic and extremely proud, his mother was very strict about Riddle being the perfect unicorn growing up.

Jack is a Werewolf.

Ruggie is a Gnoll.

Leona is a Nemean Lion.

Azul is a Cecaelia- basically what he is now, an octo-merman.

Jade and Floyd are Eel Mermen (predictably).

Kalim is a Genie that genuinely wants to help people and grant wishes but always winds up granting wishes that have unfortunate unforseen consequences.

Jamil is definitely a Naga, but he is the Naga that protects Kalim's lamp and treasure since Kalim is a Genie from a long line of powerful Genies.

I agree that Vil is a Peacock Harpy. He loves to preen and make a show of fanning out his tail-feathers, very proud and wickedly smart.

Neige is a mourning dove Harpy.

Rook is a Drider- spider centaur- specifically a Huntsman-Spider Drider who is a master of spinning web traps and even hunting down his prey, as Huntsman-spiders (usually the males) are voracious wandering predators. (I headcannon all Driders can spin webs)

Epel is a wood nymph, specifically of the Apple tree variety.

Idia is a Shinigami. Technically still a death-god and likely a high ranking death-god given he is already descendant of a high ranking family.

Ortho is also a Shinigami, he is still the little brother of Idia despite what happened to him, so I'm saying he is still a Shinigami.

Silver is a Cervitaur- a Deer centaur- and is just starting to get more prongs on his horns, which Lilia is absolutely thrilled with and often teases Silver about.

Lilia is a Bat Fae.

Malleus is Dragon Fae.

Sebek is a Raiju Fae.

Rollo is a Fire Nymph.

#kiame-sama #monster twisted wonderland #yandere monster #monster au #yandere #x reader #yandere x reader #tw yandere #humans are extinct TWST AU

78 notes · View notes

princesssarisa · 3 months ago

Text

That post about all the different possible interpretations of Frankenstein, and my response post about the different interpretations of Little Women, have made me think of all the different ways that other stories can be interpreted.

For example, the opera The Magic Flute. Some people wonder why I never get tired of that particular opera. Well, one reason is that no two productions feel exactly the same, because it can be looked at in so many different ways.

Here's a list of different interpretations I've read. This is probably just scratching the surface of possible perspectives, though.

Nor are these readings mutually exclusive: several can be and have been combined with each other.

*The Magic Flute is about the Age of Enlightenment. The Queen of the Night represents the Baroque era (hence the pseudo-Baroque style of her music), with its powerful Catholic church and ancien régime: luxuriantly beautiful and captivating, but decadent, manipulative and ruthless. Sarastro and his priests represent the Enlightenment, and in particular the Freemasons, with progressive values of reason, mercy, fraternity, self-control, etc. The Queen's ultimate downfall and Sarastro's rise in her place represents the social, cultural and philosophical changes that swept the Western world in the 18th century, leading to the American and French Revolutions, among other reforms. (As for why the progressive men still oppress women and own slaves... well, just look at real life.) Tamino and Pamina are an idealized young everyman and everywoman, who learn to embrace Enlightenment values and will carry them into the future.

*The Magic Flute is a socio-political and Masonic allegory focused expressly on Austria. All the sentiments above still apply, but the Queen specifically represents the staunchly Catholic Empress Maria Theresa, Tamino her more progressive son Emperor Joseph II, Sarastro the prominent Masonic leader Ignaz von Born, and Pamina the country of Austria itself, whose soul they struggle for.

*The Magic Flute is about Freemasonry as religion, namely as an offshoot of Christianity. Pamina's late father, who bequeathed his power to Sarastro, represents Jesus Christ himself. His widow the Queen of the Night, who sees herself as his rightful heir, expressly represents the dazzling yet corrupt Catholic church, the so-called "Bride of Christ." Sarastro and his priests, again, represent the Freemasons, who are portrayed as the true heirs of Christ, faithful to His teachings of mercy, brotherhood, endurance, and forgiveness. Tamino and Pamina learn which religion is false and which is true, then prove their worthiness to be initiated into the true religion.

*The Magic Flute is about the progress from nature to civilization. The Queen of the Night is a matriarchal nature goddess who reigns in a realm of stars, rocks, birds, and animals, where there is no law, only emotion, intuition, and personal will. Sarastro, by contrast, rules a patriarchal city and religious order, where laws, rituals, collectivism, and codes of virtue reign supreme. The opera celebrates the progress from the former to the latter, which has occurred in every country since recorded history began. Yet because humans need emotion and intuition as well as law and order, Sarastro's world keeps the best aspects of the Queen's world: her daughter Pamina, the Three Boys, and the magic flute and bells.

*The Magic Flute is about man vs. woman. Sarastro and his followers define all their values as "manly," while all things "womanly" are associated with the Queen of the Night. "Manhood" equals strength, reason, self-control, steadfastness, and light, while "womanhood" equals passion, intuition, vulnerability, manipulation, and darkness. The entire struggle between the Queen and Sarastro, which Tamino, Pamina, and Papageno are caught up in, embodies the tension between the sexes and all the principles associated with them. As for the resolution, there are two ways of viewing it:

**(a) The story is entirely pro-man and anti-woman. Masculinity triumphs, femininity is defeated. An individual woman (Pamina) can only redeem herself by renouncing her femininity (her bond with her mother the Queen) and aligning herself with masculine principles (joining Tamino in his trials and being initiated into Sarastro's order).

**(b) While the male characters think the solution will be the triumph of man over woman, they're wrong: the true solution is for man and woman to reconcile. The conflict is resolved not by the Queen's defeat (which is almost an afterthought), but by the union of the sexes through Tamino and Pamina. Both the hysterical Queen and the stern Sarastro are too extreme in their feminine and masculine principles, so they can never reconcile, but Tamino and Pamina succeed by loving each other and by balancing the feminine with the masculine (using the Queen's magic flute to survive Sarastro's trials).

*The Magic Flute is about growing up. It's a fantastical version of a Bildungsroman. The Queen of the Night represents the mother, nurturing and indulgent, but smothering if the child stays in her care too long, as personified by Jung's "devouring mother" archetype. Sarastro represents the disciplinarian father, who teaches the child right from wrong and trains him to be an adult. Tamino and Pamina are symbolic children: they start out in the Queen's thrall, like a baby attached to its mother, but then switch to Sarastro and undergo his trials, like an older child who outgrows his mother's apron strings and switches his focus to earning his father's respect. In the end, they achieve a synthesis of both parents, using the Queen's flute to succeed in Sarastro's trials, and are initiated into adulthood.

*The Magic Flute, contrary to popular belief, is a post-Enlightenment work of early Romanticism, which revolves around spirituality. Sarastro and his brotherhood are priests, after all, not scientific philosophers or politicians. Tamino and Pamina's journey involves rejecting not only "nature" (i.e. base instinct, which reigns supreme in the Queen of the Night's realm), but cold, worldly reason too. They learn to "renounce the world," transcend earthly fears and temptations, and achieve unity with the divine. Central to this journey is their love for each other, which transcends mere mating instinct in favor of a mutually inspiring spiritual bond, and the spiritual power of music via the magic flute and bells. The Queen of the Night's downfall is that she seeks worldly power. But Sarastro leads Tamino and Pamina down a more godly path instead.

*The Magic Flute is about the search for love. It revolves around three lonely young protagonists, Tamino, Pamina, and Papageno, whose deepest desire is to love and be loved. At first they look to the Queen of the Night to grant them love, and then to Sarastro. But neither the Queen nor Sarastro can do so, because they're both too detached from love – the Queen in her hatred, Sarastro in his noble yet chilly ideals – and use the young people as pawns in their battle against each other. Yet with help from the ethereal Three Boys, the story's purest embodiments of goodness, they find love in the end. Tamino and Pamina unite and save each other, Papageno finds Papagena despite not having "earned" her, and love conquers all.

**For a more sympathetic view of both Sarastro and the Queen, we can argue that they're both seekers of love too. The Queen loves her daughter and is desperate to get her back, but fails because her love is possessive and selfish. Sarastro's love is an idealistic, detached, universal love for all mankind, which is admirable, yet cold in a way. Tamino and Pamina strike a balance between the two by loving each other in a personal yet generous and unselfish partnership.

*The Magic Flute is a symbolic, proto-Jungian or -Freudian journey through the psyche of Tamino, a young everyman. Pamina is his soul, or his self, whom he needs to find and unite with to be complete. The Queen of the Night is his "feminine" unconscious, who embodies all his powerful and dangerous emotions, which he learns to resist... yet not discard completely, as symbolized by the fact that his soul, Pamina, is her daughter. Sarastro embodies his moral conscience and his noblest ideals and aspirations, which he learns to embrace as his ultimate guides. Meanwhile, Papageno represents his base, "animal" side that cares only for bodily safety and pleasure, which needs to be kept in check (hence Papageno can't be initiated), yet still honored (hence he does find joy with Papagena). And Monostatos represents his darkest and most selfish urges, which his nobler self (Sarastro) must suppress. Tamino's journey with all these aspects of himself represents the process of self-actualization that we all go through.

**With a few small tweaks to this outline, it can also be read as a more gender-neutral journey through the human psyche, with Tamino and Pamina as co-protagonists who represent two halves of one person seeking to unite.

*The Magic Flute is specifically a journey through Mozart's psyche. Tamino and Papageno each reflect aspects of Mozart – his "higher" and "lower" selves, respectively – while Pamina and Papagena likewise reflect his beloved wife Constanze. The Queen of the Night can be viewed as a caricature either of his difficult mother-in-law Cäcilia Weber (as Amadeus indicates) or of her daughter Aloysia Weber, Constanze's sister, whom Mozart once loved and who rejected him. (Make what you will of the fact that the soprano who first sang the role was Constanze and Aloysia's other sister and Cäcilia's daughter.) The trials of initiation into Sarastro's brotherhood reflect Mozart's relationship with Freemasonry, and possibly also his efforts to please his difficult father Leopold. While of course Mozart didn't write the libretto, he put his soul into the music, and he may have influenced Schikaneder enough to infiltrate the libretto too.

*The Magic Flute is just a classic fairy tale of good vs. evil, with some Masonic overtones, which Mozart and Schikaneder wrote as a crowd-pleasing, moneymaking spectacle.

Some of these interpretations I like better than others, but none of them are necessarily wrong.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @leporellian, @tuttocenere, @cjbolan

#opera #the magic flute #die zauberflöte #interpretations

61 notes · View notes

frostgears · 6 months ago

Text

We Who Will Not Bow

It had been a difficult night.

"You're not an Academy mage. You're her," the injured guard said, defiant. "Bree the Bodiless. Bree the Banished. Bree the Bloody… go on, then. Kill me. Get it over with."

"And what purpose," she said, frustrated, "would that serve? Gods, they've been telling tales about me in my absence, I see. Hold still, I think I can fix this."

She opened a module drawer on her left arm, pulled out a silvery metal module marked with a quincunx of green jade inlay, snapped it into the socket on her left palm. Thin tentacles ventured out from an aperture, tasting the air, dripping with orange ooze. The guard shrank back against the side of the checkpoint tower.

"What are you going to do to me? What is that— aaaahh!"

Bree clasped her hand over the bolt wound on the injured guard's arm. Tentacles sank into flesh, writhing between her jointed porcelain fingers, probing under skin.

"Don't squirm, that's a burrowing bolt head, we don't want it burrowing any deeper. And these are preserved regeneration glands from a nesting bog kraken. They guard their eggs, did you know that? For up to two months. But the Great Bog is a miserable environment. There's parasites, and fungi, and necrotic plague, and so the damn things evolved these organs to channel mana into their eggs and young, almost like healing spells, to give them a fighting chance. Not against me, though. I killed this one and took its regeneration glands and doomed its clutch, just to get back one more thing I used to be able to do before that fucking archon took everything away from me… okay, wiggle your fingers…"

The guard's fingers moved. Bree took her hand away, satisfied. The tentacles retracted into her palm. She held an evil-looking bit of spiraled and fluted black metal between thumb and forefinger, rotated her wrist with a series of clicks, turning it around to inspect.

"Got it. All of it. Regrowth forced it out."

Her chest plate slid open. A lurid orange glow splashed across the burrowing bolt head, the hand holding it, and the face of the guard. She squeezed the bolt head, and it crumbled, not bending as mundane metal might, but falling to dust. The glow flared brighter.

"Gotta feed the furnace. Saved your arm, paid the cost; let's go, sweetheart, I need all the help I can get. Pick up your crossbow and follow me."

Her chest plate clacked shut.

"I'm not following you anywhere, traitor!"

Bree shrugged, then held out a hand. Her other one. No disembodied organs in the right hand, although anyone who'd actually seen what she could do with the thing built into its palm would no doubt prefer to hold the left.

"The bastards who killed your mates were Crimson Vanguard, the Crimson Pact's commandos. Real dickheads even by Pact standards. Drink to your squad's memory tomorrow that you all gave nearly as good as you got, because they don't normally leave any survivors. Plus, the Vanguard always sends a backup team. So, way I see it, either you come with me, and you might live, or you run and you probably don't, and really, which one of us is the traitor then, right?"

The guard glared at her through narrowed eyes, but took her hand. Bree hauled her to her feet. And then the guard ran for it.

"It's you! You're the traitor!" Bree yelled at the guard's rapidly receding back. "In case it wasn't clear from context!"

Her voice in this body was beautifully clear and melodic, but not particularly loud; it hadn't been built for yelling, and it didn't satisfy. Not that it would stop her from trying.

Something twanged behind her. A projectile of some kind bounced off her back.

"Nice try," she said, spinning around and folding her right hand down to reveal a hand-length metal spike nestled in a cavity in the mechanism of her arm, "my turn now." An internal spring released. The spike shot out, and did what it might be expected to do to a human skull.

She wiped fresh blood off her faceplate, afterward; tasted the crimson spatter with the tip of an intricately jointed porcelain tongue. It didn't taste like anything. It never did. Nothing did.

"You didn't have to come here," she said to the headless Vanguard commando at her feet. "Any other town. Or better yet, stay home, and don't murder anyone, and I could return the favor. But you came here armed, and it lives here, and I have this little compulsion to take care of it, yeah? 'HER TASK FOR THE TIME BEING SHALL BE TO SAFEGUARD AND PROTECT HER MOST RECENT VICTIM, UNTIL AND UNLESS SAID VICTIM MAY RELEASE HER FROM SERVICE, SATISFIED'," she said, in a low, mocking tone. "Lyric's horrified to even look at me, so I doubt satisfaction and release are on the table any time soon, right?"

No answer was forthcoming.

"Well, fuck you too, buddy. Time to go find your friends."

She sped along the main road, each step a leap, her torn and patched Academy cape flapping behind her. Everyone trying to get into the town had fled when the first Vanguard team set fire to the checkpoint, with their wagons if they could, on foot if they had to. She passed several wagons that stood abandoned, stopped briefly at another to shatter a yoke with her fist and free two terrified oxen.

Then she saw what she was looking for: you'd have to be an idiot to keep driving your wagon towards a burning guard tower, unless you were the rest of the second Vanguard team, with a wagon full of bad news.

Bree knelt in a ditch by the side of the road, screened from view by a thicket, and swapped out the regeneration gland module with another set of pickled arcane beast parts in a can, which did another thing she'd been able to do on her own before her body had been taken away.

The wagon was almost to her, close enough that her upgraded senses could clearly see the outline of a crossbow beneath the driver's plain black cloak. She tickled the stolen sun-serpent pyrosis organ with an internal actuator, and flame bloomed in the night again.

They came scrambling out, firing back, the snap of bows audible over the screaming of the horses. Disciplined, she had to give them that. Bolts hit her in the face and chest.

Not to much effect, of course. She'd once been Lyric's twin, an almost peerless servant automaton frame, built by her old business partner to last, but fundamentally also built to serve tea and look good in a maid outfit. It wasn't enough. It wasn't her. She'd made Coda upgrade her again and again, until Coda's own restorative compulsion had hit its limits, and the artificer told her there was nothing more she knew how to do. By then, she was strong. From there, she'd upgraded herself.

Three of them rushed her with swords. Close enough, Bree thought; she raised her right hand, opening the palm shutter, and whispered, "Nis zerat volut, ghran."

Her soulcatcher, the glowing point of twisted light in her right palm, was, in some sense, the reason she was here, stuck in this patchwork body with its almost nil astral presence. It was an instrument of more subtlety than power and it still worked for her when the rest of her magic had died. She'd upgraded it too. Now it didn't need a soul to be loosened from its mortal shell first.

Ghostly purple light streamed over them, and a moment later, they were down. She fed their torn-off souls to her furnace. Apparent time slowed to a crawl, the high ticking of her main escapement dropping to a steady thud, thud, thud. She snapped blades, broke bones, ripped through the remaining commandos with accelerated fury. The details were messy and irrelevant, forgotten as quickly as they came. The last two Vanguard were carrying a box. She took it from them and opened the lid.

The shock broke her concentration; her time sped up again. "Titan voidwasp larvae," she said, almost reverently. They'd been covered at the Academy, briefly, not something anyone was expected to encounter. The shiny purple-black grubs were from somewhere far, far away, and their eventual monstrous metamorphosis drank souls, just like she did now, but on a colossal scale. They were city killers.

"Here's the thing, little guys, even I don't trust myself with shit like you. Sorry. Protect and safeguard, you know how it is."

She fired her spike, retracted its cable, fired again, into each one in turn, until nothing was left but ichor and chitin splinters. Then she teased a last fractional burst out of her pyrosis module, playing a jet of flame across the mess, just in case.

That was it. There didn't seem to be much else to do. She checked for Vanguard survivors. One of them wasn't quite gone.

"Who… what… the fuck… are you?"

"Just somebody's discarded doll," Bree told him. "When the Pact interrogates your ghost, tell them Bree said not to come back." She dispatched him, as cleanly as she could.

For an indefinite time, there was no motion on the bloodied road, except for the dying flames, and the wind teasing her cape and her hair.

Silver radiance kindled beside her.

"Oh no, not you, don't you fucking start with me—"

"JUSTICE."

"—can piss up a rope!"

She ramped up her speed again and tried to strike the figure of a burning haloed skeleton with fire and the soulcatcher, both at once, but hit nothing but empty air. The archon was only as tangible as it wanted to be. She'd find a way to get at it someday, but it seemed today wasn't going to be that day.

"CEASE THIS."

"Get fucked."

"IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT THE SUMMONING OF THE CHOSEN HERO HAS YET AGAIN FAILED."

"Not my fault the archmages can't get it up."

"THE HERO IS SUMMONED TO SAFEGUARD THE KINGDOM. THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE RITUAL. THE INVOCATIONS BESEECH THE DIVINE TO FILL A NEED AND PROVIDE A PROTECTOR IN THE TIME OF CRISIS."

"Okay, I don't care."

"IF A PROTECTOR IS ALREADY INCARNATE, THE DIVINE FEEL THEIR DUTY IS DONE. EVEN IF THE HERO IS UNAWARE OF THEIR ROLE."

"I jacked the Chosen Hero's soul and sold it to Coda and put it in a doll, right, I was there. So what, you're saying they can't do it again because Lyric's already here, even if it's a doll maid and not a hero? Tough shit, I guess. You met it, you know it isn't exactly hero material."

"YOUR ASSESSMENT IS CRUDE BUT CORRECT. IT IS NOT, AND IT WILL NOT BE. IT IS CONTENT TO SERVE AND TO ENJOY ITS NEW FORM. AND YET A HERO EXISTS. SOMEONE PROTECTS THE KINGDOM ALREADY, ALTHOUGH THEY DO NOT THINK OF IT IN SUCH TERMS. THEY DID SO AGAIN, THIS NIGHT."

"Wait."

"YOUR ACTIONS PRODUCED A HERO."

"Oh gods no."

"THE GODS WATCH. THE SKEIN OF DESTINY IS RE-COILED, A TANGLE REMOVED."

"I can't be—"

"JUSTICE MAY YET BE DONE. GOOD LUCK TO YOU."

Bree roundly cursed the archon in her annoyingly pleasant and musical voice, until it disappeared, and then another fifteen minutes for good measure, in case it felt like coming back. When it didn't, she started walking.

She looked back, once, to see the lights of the town. Somewhere back there, Coda and Lyric lived in their little shop. Lyric didn't sleep any more than Bree did. Maybe her once-twin was leaning out the window, one of its cute dresses ruffled by the night breeze. Maybe it was even looking this way.

"Well, let's face it, Bree," she said to herself, resigned. "You wouldn't have been a very good maid." □

---

prev: We Who Serve

next: We Who Are Far From Home, ch. 1: Bree 1

#dollposting #microfiction #we who

133 notes · View notes

the-uninformed-zennial · 4 months ago

Note

sooo bound band au when

Who said it was gonna be an au

Honestly though, most of the bound characters are giving me orchestra energy, so I feel like a Band AU would be like… a band kid AU if yk what I mean. Like, everyone would be in high school with braces and hormones and trying to find a course to fill their art requirement that wouldn’t absolutely bore them. Yk?

So that being said, here’s the instruments I’d think each Bound character would play and why;

Armor - Vocals <redacted>

Ashril - Funky Roadrunner guy is giving me either some random instrument no one has ever heard of before or keyboard and there is no in between for me personally.

Avalon - Drums. I know I always give the stabby people percussion instruments, but they’re just really good for helping to work out negative emotions okay??

Cosie - flute

Elwood - Canon Elwood would not learn an instrument unless Mojave somehow gaslit him into thinking it would be useful. So fanon Elwood would know piano, cause it’s a classical instrument so it fits the vibes and it’s also one of the most versatile so I think we wouldn’t have to bend Elwood’s character too much to make it fit.

Erin - Erin gives me cello vibes. I feel like the Avicane in general ooze kinda classical instruments, and Erin feels like someone who would want something like a bass but a little lighter and more based on melody. So Cello.

Gaverin - Singer. That bird gives me lead singer vibes so hard. If she isn’t in the front of the stage strutting his newest designs and singing their little heart out like a bird version of Chappel Roan, what exactly are they doing?

Marcel - Viola. It’s just- mmmm. Slightly deeper violin that fits the human range really well… it just screams Marcel to me idk.

Mojave - lead singer/rhythm guitar/songwriter. This is just canon lol

Pietro - Percussion. Not drums like Ava, but specifically like orchestral percussion. I’m talking everything from the huge bass drums to the triangle. I think while Virgil was learning violin Pietro signed up for orchestra too and the director was just like, “here kid, hit this” and Pietro went wild. They’re probably the best percussionist anyone’s seen in a really long time, but she doesn’t really talk about it/show off that much cause they want Virgil to be able to shine. (Guys I’m normal about the birdthers I swear)

Rune - I feel like Rune’s a guitar guy. Like, their vibes are chill and laid back enough to fit it, plus I feel like they’d have a really fun time inventing like pedals and stuff to make the guitar sound different depending on the song and stuff.

Sylph - Triangle. And Kazoo. And singing (badly) /lh

Taliesin - Okay, okay, my thought for Taliesin is that whenever someone asks if they play an instrument they always say something that like no one knows how to play, like Basoon or the Oboe. And then if someone ever asks her to, he’s just like “oh no, sorry, the stars aren’t in the right alignment you see”. And it’s cause they don’t actually know how to play any instruments cause they’re a lyin’ cheatin’ little— anyway (/j we love Tal in this house and they probably play something that’s totally against their aesthetic but easy to learn like Uke or smth)

Vast - Vast plays Clarinet. It’s classic, it’s breathy, it’s something the symphony I mean Avicane would teach. It just feels and sounds right for him. Bonus idea: his sister played the flute and he picked up Clarinet cause he wanted to be in the same section as her

Virgil - Violin. Again, this is just canon. But I feel like Virgil wouldn’t be like the best violinist ngl. In my head he’s like 3rd chair but Pietro always comes up to him after concerts and is like “THATS MY BROTHER!!” And like glares at people until they applaud for him. Virgil knows this. And is incredibly embarrassed by the whole thing, but it’s still kinda endearing.

So yeah, those are my instrument/Band AU thoughts. Do with them what you will

#bound smp #skybound smp #band au

65 notes · View notes

deathmetalunicorn1 · 1 year ago

Note

Hello, Can I request RoR x Pokemon? Romantic or Platonic

Human Reader as guardian (or adventurer/ hero/saint/other) figure or similar to the sages (Buddha, Jesus, Confucius, Socrates), for Pokemon Pantheon …

Known for selfless, pure-hearted, friendly, and brave. Can be passive-aggressive or serious when something dangerous happens with Pokemon or closed ones…

You can add this, if you want.

(Reader Has abilities/powers, that she's born w/ or received, and they are;

Pokemon communication/empathy;

psychic/aura-like powers (or similar to the characters from the movies/animes; like, Baraz & Meray's, Damos & Sheena's, Aura Guardian Riley's, and/or others…)

knows to Sing/Play instruments of the songs of the legendary Pokemon; like Lugia's song, Oración, May's Lullaby in Jirachi Movie, Relic song…

has the Legendary artifacts/items, some that summons the legendary pokemon. (ex. Arceus-Azure flute/other.) and some are needed to be guarded. (ex. Eon Duo-Soul dew/other)

Reader's as the one who 1st discover and the gimmicks, such as, Mega Evolution, Z-crystals/Moves, Gigan/dyna -max, Terrasteral/others…)

Whenever Legendary pokemon wants to go out to explore places outside/inside of their region, They want Reader to join them as an escort/guard, they also enjoy each others company, and if they encounter trainer/s that wanted to battle the legendary pokemon, They told Reader to go battle with trainer/s to see if they're okay to battle them, Mostly Reader wons or just they finish it swiftly and disappear…

Whenever a challenger or a threat meet Reader and they explain their reasons (lies and/or honest) and/or challenge Reader to get/met Legendary pokemon, then Reader challenge them to a battle, and Reader always won…

however, if its someone's a bigger threat (ex: Volo, team villains, others), and probably uses force/trick (ex. Ambush/other) to get to the Legendary…

until someone's who are truly worthy (Player, Champions, or others) to challenge Legendary pokemon, they Battle reader and they won then Reader take them to the Legendary pokemon's summoning place but they accept it of couldn't capture it…

What are the reactions/interactions of Reader w/ RoR Characters?

-The Pokemon Pantheon was a relatively new Pantheon, compared to many of the others, but instead of being full of people who earned their place, it was mostly full of Pokemon, all types from normal to legendary Pokemon.

-There were a few humans, trainers and partners of the past who earned their place alongside their partner Pokemon, but the one who oversaw it was a young-looking maiden named Y/N.

-You watched over the Pokemon with gentle kindness but also stern rules, like no attacking others and battles were to be done only on the battlefields you had created for them to burn off energy, as you didn’t want to deal with anymore property damage.

-The Pokemon obeyed your rules, so you didn’t have many problems, just with the new arrivals who were quick to learn.

-You didn’t really interact with the other pantheons, only when you had to, you preferred to be with Pokemon rather than people, as Pokemon wouldn’t betray you, not like your fellow humans.

-You had died young, betrayed by those you had trusted, and you became the patron, as you had died protecting your Pokemon, and the Pokemon look to you as their leader, including the legendary ones, they see you as the boss.

-Your partner Pokemon, who was a Munchlax when you died, but he evolved into a Snorlax, fighting hard to avenge you, but ultimately fell and he arrived shortly after you, was the one who came with you everywhere, following you, protecting you, and comforting you whenever you needed to be comforted.

-All of the tools the trainers have come across on earth were thanks to you- giving them to those you deem worthy, like MC, who in turn uses them to help Pokemon themselves. Then once the mission is done, you retrieve the tools.

-You watch over the legendary Pokemon, the ones who can travel between earth and Valhalla, escorting them down so they can run around and play on earth, and if trainers wish to battle them, for a chance to capture them, they must first defeat you.

-You have thousands of years under your belt, so you are not to be underestimated by any means, especially your partner, who is way more active compared to normal Snorlax, he’s way stronger and way faster.

-If a trainer managed to best you, then you would allow them to approach the legendary, but it was the Pokemon who made the decision, and if they refused, then you would do nothing to sway their mind.

-If one was worthy, you would bid your friend goodbye, but you knew that you would see them again soon, once the trainer who caught them passed on themselves.

-In Valhalla, you welcomed visitors to your pantheon, gods and humans alike, allowing them to befriend and train alongside Pokemon, and all obeyed your rules, mainly of no violence and no trying to take any of your Pokemon if they didn’t want to go.

-People would find Pokemon all over Valhalla, as they could wander, but they always came back home to you at the end of the day.

-You had seen friendships formed between the citizens of Valhalla and your Pokemon, seeing the partnerships that always warmed your heart.

-However, if any were to try to harm your Pokemon, there would be no holding back- many had learned this lesson the hard way. Snorlax quite enjoyed eating popcorn alongside Buddha as you used double slap on several young cocky gods that tried to attack Totodile under your care.

-Many gods used your pantheon as a means to escape from their duties. Poseidon would spend hours in your ocean, swimming in the clear water amongst the Pokemon who were always happy to see him, except for one cranky Quillfish, but he was like that with everyone.

-Buddha loved the vibe of your pantheon, it was so relaxing, he could just nap in the fields amongst the grass types who would sleep around him and cover him with flowers, something that would always make you laugh, seeing him coming up to you, covered in flowers.

-Shiva, Hercules, Thor, Lu Bu, and Raiden all loved training with your fighting types, sparring with them, as their unpredictability always made for good fun.

-Ares, when he needed comfort, when he was feeling sad or just needed to be alone, your fairy types were always quick to swarm him, cuddling all around him, making him feel so loved.

-You loved your Pokemon, all of them, seeing them running around, flying, swimming, having fun, enjoying their peaceful lives from your perch on Snorlax’s stomach, laying on top of him as he slept. This truly was a paradise.

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror poseidon #ror buddha #ror shiva #ror heracles #ror thor #ror lu bu #ror raiden #ror ares

149 notes · View notes

ideas-on-paper · 10 months ago

Text

The mystery of P's skin

If there's one thing the entire Lies of P community can agree upon, it's probably that Pinocchio looks very, very handsome. Many people - including me - were enamored by his looks from the moment they first saw him in the trailers, by his soft locks, sweet freckles and big blue eyes.

However, even early on, I couldn't help but feel like there was something... odd about his features - more specifically, his skin. For a puppet whose outer shell usually consists of porcelain, wood, or some other artificial material, it looked almost too realistic.

Of course, it could just be very realistic looking faux skin (which, given Lies of P's 19th-century technology, would be kind of impressive), but after some careful observations, I get the feeling there actually might be more to it. And given some of the things I learned in my research about real-life automata, there might be a grisly, sinister secret behind P's innocent face.

[Massive spoilers for Lies of P]

[CW: skinning, violence to children]

The Lies of P character cards

The first time I noticed there was something strange about P's skin was when I was looking at the character cards Neowiz released back in 2022, as promotional material for Gamescom.

These cards feature high-resolution renders of the main characters, showing a lot of structural details of clothing, hair, and skin.

As for P's render, it looks like this:

One thing that confused me from the start was just how perfectly normal his skin looks. Most of the other puppets have porcelain skin, which creates a very distinct reflection when light falls onto it, as we can see with Polendina:

For P, however, we see no such effect, implying that his outer shell is not made of porcelain. Also, seeing how he occasionally squints his eyes on the character screen and how his skin squishes and stretches as a result, I think it most definitely consists of something else - because if I know one thing, it's that porcelain does not physically behave that way.

Instead, a lot of people (particularly fanfic writers) have come up with the headcanon that P has really realistic-looking faux skin. However, if that were the case, I would find it really puzzling just how many small impurities there are on his face. You would probably expect synthetically manufactured skin to look very smooth and clean, but in case of P, if you pay close attention, you can spot tiny irregularities giving the impression of skin pores, and even a bump above his left eye.

In comparison, P's skin actually looks surprisingly similar to that of the human characters from the game. For reference, here are the portraits of Sophia, Venigni and Eugénie:

See what I mean? There is virtually no distinction between the structure of P's skin and that of the human characters (to be fair, Eugénie's even looks a lot cleaner). Adding to this, these close-ups of P's face during the ending cutscene make it apparent that these small blemishes certainly, most definitely are skin pores.

Considering all of this, I've come up with a somewhat eccentric theory - that P's skin is neither made from porcelain nor some other kind of faux material, but real, actual skin.

Automata with animal skin and Vaucanson's "Flute Player"

Some of you may wonder: "But P is a puppet! How could he possibly have real, human skin?"

Well... this is where the disturbing part begins.

First off, we have to take a quick dive into the history of automata, the real-life clockwork machines providing the basis of Lies of P's lore. Originally, clockwork mechanisms took up an enormous amount of space, being used for huge clock towers in cities and large-scale moving sculptures. Over the centuries, the mechanical components became smaller, enabling clockmakers and artisans to produce more intricate crafts, including miniature reproductions of people and animals.

Clocks and music boxes featuring birds with real feathers were extremely popular, but there were also other automata coated with real animal skin: As early as the 17th century, we have a drumming bear with actual bear fur (located in the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, Dresden) and a pair of lion table clocks (located in Skokloster Castle, Sweden) coated in the hide of lambs. From the 19th century, we know of a toy mouse by Gustave Vichy as well as a toy rabbit by Nicolas Théroude, both covered in real animal fur. In addition, there were various 19th-century dolls with leather bodies, and the company Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy even produced a miniature ensemble of monkey musicians with heads covered in soft leather, which could move their lips to show their teeth.

However, we don't have any accounts that skin was used for human automata - except for one extraordinary case from the 18th century.

In 1738, the French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson presented an automaton called "The Flute Player". It was the size of a real-life human, and in contrast to all other automata of the time, it didn't use some kind of sound box to produce its music, but actual air flow. The inner mechanism consisted of a system of nine bellows, divided into sets of three, which were each controlled by a weight to regulate air pressure. Each set was attached to a pipe, three in total, which all joined up into a single one, similar to a trachea. This singular pipe continued up the throat, widening at the top to form the mouth cavity where the air flowed out. To correctly play the flute, the automaton was equipped with lips which could not only open and close, but also move back and forward to cover the holes. To better control the air flow and create pauses between notes, the automaton even possessed a movable, silver tongue.

Despite this virtually perfect imitation of the action of flute playing, Vaucanson had to realize that the automaton's metal fingers weren't pliable enough to cover the holes of the instrument correctly - so, for the automaton to be able to execute its task, Vaucanson had to glove the hands in real, actual skin.

It's speculated it was human skin, although I couldn't find any source decisively confirming this. Either way, despite Vaucanson being a quite controversial figure among his contemporaries, he was a fascinating personality: He was one of the first to construct automata that were not meant to serve as mere toys, but which could do labor, being credited with the invention of what we today would call household androids back in 1727(!), and chances are he was neurodivergent as well (coming from my own observations as a neurodivergent person).

However, as much as I'd love to write an entire essay about Vaucanson right now, let's get back to our actual topic.

The procedure

To put it bluntly, what I think actually happened is this:

Geppetto took the skin of a dead boy, treated it in some way so it wouldn't rot, and then draped the skin over a wooden puppet frame.

I think from a moral standpoint, Geppetto would definitely be able to do this - however, it would require him to have a good deal of experience with human anatomy. As someone who builds humanoid puppets, I think he would at least have a theoretical understanding of it, but still, he's an engineer, not a doctor.

There is, however, one group with excellent medical knowledge who certainly wouldn't shy away from dissecting a human being: the Alchemists. Although Geppetto's dislike of the Alchemists is well known, he himself admitted that "in desperate times, I broke my own rule" after the disaster at the Grand Exhibition, and I assume Carlo's resurrection would be more than good a reason for that as well. Basically, my suspicion is that Geppetto had help from the Alchemists - maybe even from Simon Manus himself. If this was the case, I imagine Simon probably demanded some kind of favor in return - perhaps Geppetto and Simon struck a deal, with the Alchemists giving Geppetto free rein to execute his little experiment with the Puppet Frenzy, while he agreed not to interfere with their own. This would support the Mad Donkey's statement that Geppetto and the Alchemists were "scheming together". (Also, if they were actually working together, I think things already started with the Nameless Puppet, Geppetto's first attempt at resurrecting Carlo. In the cutscene before the fight against the Nameless Puppet, we can see that Geppetto's left hand has been fitted with implants, having the same bluish complexion that is typical of people who have been "enhanced" by the Alchemists.) However, I don't think Geppetto ever really trusted the Alchemists, so he probably planned to betray them at some point - at the same time, I think Simon knew Geppetto was deceiving him (reading thoughts is such an op skill), so he didn't fully rely on him either.

Regardless whether Geppetto had assistance or not, completely skinning a human without damaging the skin requires an immense amount of care. Looking at P's skin (or at least what we can see of it), there are no visible seams anywhere, which would mean Geppetto did his best to keep it intact, probably including the hair as well. (As we all know, P's hair looks very soft and natural, and you can't see any outlines where it was glued on; therefore, I believe it was left rooted in the skin.) Nevertheless, if you want to skin a body, you have to make a cut somewhere. One possible option would be the hole in P's chest (where the P-Organ is inserted), as there would later be an opening anyway; also, given that the Legion Arm would later replace the left one, there would naturally have to be a cut at the left upper arm. However, both of these openings would most likely be too small to completely remove the skin. Due to this, my suspicion is that Geppetto made a third, larger cut down P's back. It would be big enough to take the complete skin off, and it would also be convenient if P had something like a cam storage in his back, similar to the Jaquet-Droz automata. (This has been a headcanon of mine for a long time, since these cam discs act as an analogue storage for a clockwork automaton's movements, which are engraved into the edge. Given that P's combat moves are quite complex, he'd need a lot of space for those; btw, my theory is that the amulets from the game are actually interchangeable cams, because they have "information and memories that are useful for movement" imprinted on them.) I would assume both the openings at the front and at the back are usually covered with skin, with a small seam being visible where the original cut was. Whenever Geppetto needs to do maintenance, the skin would be peeled back to give him free access.

As for the rest of the process, I suppose it would be kind of similar to taxidermy. As it happens, the Victorian era (which is around the same time period the game is set in) was actually the golden age of taxidermy, when mounted animals started to become more lifelike - there was even a trend among pet owners to let their deceased pets be stuffed, as a way to "resurrect" them. (Just why do I always manage to stumble upon the most cursed parallels?) Once the skin had been taken off, any remains of fat and muscle tissue would be removed, after which it would be either tanned or treated with preserving chemicals. Following this, the skin would be mounted on a mannequin, in P's case probably a standard puppet frame made from wood and metal. Of course, you need to take precise measurements of the original body beforehand, and since this is about his darling son, I imagine Geppetto would put extra care into the modeling. At the end, all you'd have to do is add glass eyes - and well, there you have it: a perfect, biomechanical imitation of a human being.

However, we do know there were some unexpected changes in P, even physical ones like his hair growing. Presuming that he indeed does have real skin, I wonder if this may be due to the Ergo "recognizing" the organic material in some way, causing these lifelike reactions. I could imagine a puppet with human skin is quite unprecedented, so this would likely be a first time occurrence - in that case, it might potentially give a whole new meaning to Sophia's statement that P is a "special puppet". (I could go into even more detail regarding my theories about Ergo and P's transformation into "another kind of human" here, but frankly, I think this topic deserves its own post.)

I think P is far from Geppetto's first attempt, however: We do know from the description of the Nameless Puppet's Ergo that the Nameless Puppet (which presumably is a Frankenstein version of Carlo) was the first to be equipped with a P-Organ, but after it turned out to be unstable, it was left abandoned and locked away. In that sense, I imagine Romeo was something like a "field test" - I don't think turning Romeo into a puppet was something Geppetto planned from the start, but when he came and asked him, he presented Geppetto with too good of an opportunity to pass up. When the transferring of Romeo into his puppet body, all memories and personality intact, turned out to be a success, Geppetto decided to take the next step with P. I assume he designed multiple versions of P until he was satisfied, which might mean that the broken puppet in the swamp (which also seems to possess a P-Organ and isn't bound to the Grand Covenant) is actually one of P's predecessors.

Still, as interesting and disturbing all of these speculations are, there is one question that remains: If P really does possess real human skin, who was the original owner of it?

The origin of P's skin

The first, most logical assumption would probably be that Geppetto used the skin of Carlo. Back in 2022, when everyone hypothesized Geppetto had a son but no one could confirm it, I also assumed he took the skin of his deceased son.

Now that we know the game's story though, we have a bit more information. First off, it's heavily implied that the Nameless Puppet is actually a Frankenstein version of Carlo, which would mean that the weird organic-looking parts - specifically the upper body, right arm and face - originally belonged to Carlo's body.

Given that they have the appearance of decaying tissue, it seems like Geppetto did his best to save as much of Carlo's body at first, but ultimately was unsuccessful in bringing him back to life. Considering this, it seems quite unlikely that Geppetto would remove the skin from his son's body if he intended to preserve it. Also, you can actually see a nipple on the right side of the chest, which probably wouldn't be there if the skin was taken off.

There's another thing that doesn't quite fit into this: When looking at Carlo's portrait in the game, he looks strikingly similar to P at the first glance (so much, in fact, that I was afraid my wild fan theory might turn out to be true after all). However, upon closer inspection, one can make out a few subtle differences in Carlo's and P's appearances: Carlo lacks P's trademark freckles, and instead of Carlo's doe-brown eyes, P possesses light blue ones.

Granted, Carlo could've gotten the freckles later during his life, and the blue eyes might be due to the Ergo's influence (which I also assume to be the reason for Sophia's blue colored hair). However, when Carlo gets revived during the Real Boy ending, the differences are still there, as his outward appearance is not identical to P's:

If the Arm of God has the ability to restore things to their original state (which is how I interpreted it), that would mean Carlo looked different from P at the point of his death, meaning that P's skin can't be Carlo's.

Of course, if Geppetto did use human skin for P, but not Carlo's, that would make things quite complicated, as it would be extremely difficult to find someone who looks almost exactly like Carlo. Nevertheless, there's one fan theory I'd still like to talk about: Someone on Reddit actually proposed that Carlo might have had a twin brother once, whose soul got transferred into the lamp by Sophia.

I actually had a similar theory about Gemini before the game came out, although I never shared it publicly because I couldn't find any support for it other than Gemini's name and his death in the original book. Basically, the gist of it was that Gemini is the soul of Geppetto's dead son, which got separated from its body and somehow encased in the lamp.

Although this assumption is definitely outdated since we now know that Carlo is Geppetto's son, we do have many left-over questions about Gemini. (Some character development for Gemini is actually one of the things at the top of my wish list for the DLC; as far as characters go, I felt like Gemini was the game's single weak point, and I wish they would've utilized him more.) In fact, it almost seems like there was originally going to be an amnesia subplot for Gemini, judging by some of his comments. For example, we've got the remark about the fairy tale book at the Hotel, but despite remembering there was a person who particularly adored it, Gemini can't recall who it was. Then, we have this very interesting comment down at the Relic of Trismegistus where Gemini remembers that "someone was dragged away from here", but again can't tell precisely who.

Unfortunately, the game never builds upon these comments, and they're pretty much left standing as they are. In fact, I can't help the impression that this might be part of a cut storyline - even Sophia says that Gemini is "unique" and "more than just a guide", and Gemini himself states that he's a friend of Sophia's, and that she "woke him up the last time she was there" - although, once again, he doesn't remember the exact circumstances.

Now, I've noticed that "P is Carlo's twin brother" AUs are quite popular in the fandom, but I'd like to mention there's nothing from the game that hints at Carlo having a twin brother (at least, to my knowledge). Still, it is quite an interesting theory - if the assumption that it was Carlo who particularly loved the fairy tale about the wooden puppet is true (based on Geppetto's comment during the fight with the Nameless Puppet that he should've taken more time to read him from his "favorite book"), it would explain why Gemini, his former twin brother, knows about it. However, if it really was Sophia who transferred Gemini's soul into the lamp, it prompts the question of the exact circumstances of his death. Given that Geppetto was willing to murder an entire city just for Carlo's revival, I wouldn't put it past him to sacrifice his other, perhaps not-so-favorite son for his endeavor - perhaps that's why P looks very similar, but not identical to Carlo.

Still, it's probably best if you take all of this with a grain of salt, as even compared to my original theory that P might have human skin, it's pretty exotic at best. Also, given that Gemini is directly mentioned in a memory scene that presumably takes place at the Monad Charity House makes this even more questionable. At least, I think it's highly unlikely that Gemini is Carlo's twin brother if he accompanied the mysterious Stalker - on the other hand, it seems a bit strange that Gemini would know about Carlo's favorite book if they only knew each other what appears to be such a short amount of time, especially when their relationship didn't start on good terms. Again, nothing is for certain, as we don't see Gemini physically appear in the memory scene - the only thing that seems to be confirmed is that Gemini also was a human once (at least I can't imagine what a cricket lamp is supposed to do against two unruly school boys).

Other possible alternatives

So, let's say Geppetto didn't actually use human skin for Pinocchio (which, to be honest, would be a relief) - why would he decide to make P look slightly different from Carlo?

One reason I can think of is that he designed P as a kind of "idealized" version of Carlo - judging by his comment before the final battle, Geppetto seems to have been discontent with Carlo's "mischievous" behavior, so maybe he used that opportunity to make him the "picture-perfect son" he always wanted.

Then again, given how rarely Geppetto saw him, I wonder if he even knew what Carlo looked like at the point of his graduation. When he retrieved his dead body, perhaps Carlo's face was disfigured beyond recognition, and all Geppetto had to work with were some old pictures/photos and his own memory.

If that was the case, it would make sense that P's outer appearance slightly differs from Carlo. Still, Geppetto was confident his plan would work out, that the resemblance would be enough to trigger Carlo's memories - but for whatever reason, it didn't, be that because of physical discrepancies or because Carlo was already gone.

Conclusion

In the end, no matter what Geppetto did, the fact remains that it was an insult - not only to Carlo, but also to P.

From the moment he first opened his eyes, P was forced to live in another person's skin (perhaps even literally), with no other choice being offered to him. His entire existence is essentially a lie, being expected to fill the role of someone he just isn't. Moreover, in trying to revive Carlo, what Geppetto actually did was soiling his memory - the mere notion that a living person can be replaced is beyond disrespectful, and to let innocents die in pursuit of this madness is an atrocity I have no words for. Even if Geppetto did all of this out of regret for having neglected Carlo and not spending more time with him, let me spell out one thing Nick Carraway already said in The Great Gatsby: You can't repeat the past.

However, what was given to you at birth is not everything you have to be, and what others expect from you is not what you have to become. In my own way, I love Pinocchio very dearly, but that love extends far beyond pretty looks. I relate to his struggle, and I would do anything to aid him in becoming his own person. Whatever choice he makes for himself, I will support it, and no matter if human or puppet, I'm going to love him just the way he is.

Resources:

Anette Beyer's "Faszinierende Welt der Automaten - Uhren, Puppen, Spielereien" ("Fascinating world of automata - clocks, dolls, playthings")

About Jacques de Vaucanson

On clockwork automata in general

#lies of p #lies of p lore #lore theories #lies of p pinocchio #lies of p carlo #lies of p geppetto #automaton #I feel dirty just writing about this #but I had this fan theory for AGES and finally had to get it off my chest #then again it's just Geppetto being an obsessive creep so nothing new under the sun

114 notes · View notes