#puppet history fanfic

[biographydivider]

Jellybean

For @acewithapaintbrush​, who was disappointed that the baby sibling in the background isn’t canon.

“Welcome one and all to Puppet History --!”

“Professor, keep it down. Sensitive ears, remember?”

“Oh - oh, right, yeah, sorry Mom. Okay. Today,” The Professor whispered, resting his tiny (but not as tiny as it had once been) nose on the crib’s railing, “we’ll be taking an ever-winding look at yet another chapter in the heavy heavy book we call history, while our guests ruthlessly compete for the coveted cup, and the title of History Master. I am, of course, your beloved host and big brother, The Professor!”

He held for applause that never arrived. Instead, someone blew a raspberry. He wasn’t sure who it was, but assumed it was Ryan and mentally took off a History Point, just to be safe.

“Uncle Ryan, are you ready?!”

“Not quite sure how you roped me into this,” Ryan said from the other side of the crib, idly spinning a teething ring around one finger, “but yeah. Sure.”

“Special guest and baby puppet/dinosaur hybrid Jellybean, are you ready?!”

Lying in the crib on her back - holding her tiny, fuzzy, orange feet in her tiny, fuzzy, orange claws - The Professor’s baby sister gazed up into his eyes with all the love and innocence in the world, and farted.

“Then let’s crack in! Dun Duuunnn!” The Professor flailed his arms, and Jellybean giggled.

A baby sister had been a...surprise. But it wasn’t like The Professor’s life could get much weirder. He knew his parents had a, uh, robust romantic life. But he really wasn’t expecting to come home from filming one day to find them waiting for him at the door, giving each other goo-goo eyes and talking about something very, very important they had to show him in the spare room.

“Now that asteroidation isn’t an issue,” his dad had said, “your mother and I wanted to make the family a little bigger.”

“Plus, you weren’t exactly a normal birth, baby,” his Mom had added. “I wanted to experience the full, natural journey to motherhood; from a night of loving, mindless passion with your father right the way through incubation, ending with a brand new baby to care for.”

“And we always thought you’d make a wonderful big brother.”

“You...you thought that about me?” The Professor asked, gazing at the egg sitting in a pile of cut grass his Mom had hoarded just the week before - payment for Dad running the lawnmower over Ryan’s mom’s lawn in readiness for Too Many Spirits 2023. The Professor had asked her what she was doing, and she’d just chuckled at him and told him he didn’t need to know. Which was dumb - he was The Professor! He needed to know everything.

“Of course we did, baby!” his mother said, wrapping him up in a big hug. “You’re so intelligent and creative - and so cute - what better role model could a lil’ dino baby ask for?”

“Aw, guuuuuuys...”

Her name was Scout. But even before she’d hatched, her big brother had always called her Jellybean.

“Now,” The Professor began, “do either of you have any experience with teddy bears?”

“Actually,” Ryan piped up, “I have a real cute story about this bear that my grandpa --”

“Gahbaghabababa!” Jellybean squealed, her tail thumping against the mattress of the crib as she made a grab for the copy of Quantum Theory For Babies that The Professor had bought her when she was born. She liked to chew on it while she thought.

“That’s a really good point,” The Professor cried. “You know, I hadn’t thought about that! A jellybean for the baby sister!”

“Beeee!”

“That’s right; a bean! You’re so smart.”

“Hey!” Ryan complained, picking up a blankie and lobbing it over the top of the crib at his friend. “I thought we were leaving favouritism behind us, Professor?”

“We are!” The Professor insisted, dodging the projectile with ease. “She just made a really good point.”

“Sure she did.”

“Anyway; our story today is about a President, a defenseless cub, and how capitalism really just can’t just leave things alone. This is the story of the very first teddy bear!”

“Of course,” Ryan grumbled, “when it’s for the channel it’s cannibalism and propeller butchery; but she gets literal softball topics...”

“She’s a fuckin’ baby, dude - what do you expect?”

“Language, son!” came a call from the living room. “You can play with the baby as long as you behave.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry, Dad.”

The Professor looked down into the crib at his sister, who smiled back up at him. There was a glint in her eye that he knew very, very well. A chaotic, fun-loving, too-clever-for-their-own-good sparkle. He had a feeling that, between them, there would be a lot of time for mischief when she got a bit bigger. As well as a lot of learning.

“So, anyway, our story begins...”

[eclipsewarrior101]

A Tale of Two Brothers: A Puppet History Au Story

Made by me and @moth-yknowtheartist

(this fanfic is a fan season 6. TW: future abuse, manipulation, blood and body horror) 

Chapter 1: A dark Night

(In an unknown location….)

A small figure made his way into the abandoned building. He was hidden by a long cloak but his red eyes shined under the hood. He made his way into the room where a figure is seen on a chair, like a throne. He was shrouded in darkness as well but a purple aura. The smaller figure wore a deer skull mask and bowed to the bigger figure

“Your Late.”

The figure looked up with amusement

“Heh, you mean fashionably late”

The figure growls but rolls his eyes “did you get the item”

The figure showed the book with a hidden smirk “ don't i always master”

The Master smiles evilly and takes the book. He pets the smaller figure “good work my apprentice. Now, we can go to phase two of our plan….you know your role correct”

The smaller figure laughs “of course. Get in, gain their trust, then watch them burn…the perfect plan…”

“Yes. the perfect plan. Ill get my debt paid and you…”

The figures voice got deep and cruel “will get my revenge….finally”

The master laughs evilly and he gives the apprentice another book. He orders him to go and as the smaller figure leaves, a bunch of strange shadows follow the figure menacingly.

 (this was short on purpose just an intro. enjoy)

[couchpotato1206]

Ehehehheheh read this yawl :3

They worked hard on this and they better get the appreciation they deserve!! 😤😤

— Love Soldier, I Want Closure —

One day, the Professor realized they have feelings for Ryan Bergara. They weren’t the kind he was craving for though.

SURPRISE!!! Yeah it’s the Ryan x Professor (aka Beefbuds) fic that I’ve been “hinting” at since last month. I was actually gonna rewrite segments of it, but then I noticed that

If I published the fic now, this fic will be the 69th fic in the Puppet History AO3 tag. Hehe, nice.

Today is Aromantic Visibility Day! Aka the most “funny on the surface level but actually extremely fitting once you read it” day I can publish this fic

So SCREW EDITING IT'S OUT NOW

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

Besides I cooked with this fic. It needs no further editing (/hyperbole), so if you wanna read a Puppet History fic that includes

A one-sided but genuine exploration of the Ryan/Professor ship that isn't just crack or sexy times

The Professor screaming and crying and throwing up

Detailed descriptions depicting Ryan's ribosome rizz (do not look up what ribosome is)

Wholesome family bonding with both his dino parents and Shane Madej

Aromanticism. That's it that's the line.

Then this fic is for you. Support your local aroace today and support aro people forever or else. Anyways have a good day! ^^

[crypt1dzday0ff]

sooooo...... i got distracted and im writing a fanfic and am making a whole vid 4 it....

the only thing I can share, hope u guys like breakcore and horror and stupid crack fics

[gaydreaming-ao3]

The people said Monday and Friday, so Monday and Friday it shall be (with possibly some short Guardians one-shots in between). 

Feeling disconnected from his old pal, Ryan Bergara, the Professor plans a trip to New York for some bonding time with the Beef Boy. Of course, because the Professor is still the Professor, their vacation includes a trip to the American Museum of Natural History, where they accidentally get locked in overnight.

[piratemousey]

Laszlo Cravensworth watching Ru Paul's Drag Race: "This Ru Paul dominatrix has stolen my signature eloqution and my style, which I call "sexual debotury" I will not staaand for this insult and I will challenge her to a cock off."

Colin Robinson: "I thought that the cock-off was going to be one of Laszlo's usual Friday night circle jerks. But apparently a cock-off is a complex event which ranges from religious experience, foot race, philosophy debates, competing lemonade stands, to, in fact, a lip sync battle sword fight where the swords are replaced with a cock."

(Cut to old sketches, the last one is two roosters being shoved together awkwardly by two people dressed like high fashion foxes)

Colin Robinson continues: "The funny thing about swords is that they're often used as a symbol of virility and the phallus. The once mighty ronin Miyamoto Masashi, a famous tactician from the early edo period, believed the duel began when a challenge was laid. Now..."

Nadja doll: "Shut the fuck up Colin Robinson!!"

My good lady wife Nadja: "No one wants to listen to your dick-tales, Colin Robinson!"

Camera zooms in on Guillermo's embarrassed expression.

Scene

[cadmuslabs777]

Shane and The Devil making a deal so the Puppet History can continue after The Professor's death:

Shane: Ok. So. *grabs his pen* What do you want?

Devil: I'll be frank, Shane. (here Shane considers saying 'Hi, Frank!', but decides to keep it professional) I want Ryan's soul. That man's got a good fight of good and evil in him. More evil than good. Would look great in my collection.

Shane: Wha-? But I'm the one making this deal! Why not mine?! Besides, I know I can't deal someone else's soul.

Devil: You are not as evil as you think. Your soul is not or great interest. As for his soul, you don't have to offer it to me, just agree to help me acquire it. I have other ways.

Shane: No! I will not doom my friend's soul to hell!

Devil: Fine. So, no deal.

Shane: *sighs and pauses* Ok. So... How about you take both our souls? Mine and Ryan's. Package deal.

Devil: What. Are- Are you offering your soul for free?

Shane: Yeah, sure! :) If my best pal needs to go to hell, then I might as well go with him! He will need a friend! Besides, the more the merrier to you, right?! You can't say no to that.

Devil:

Devil: Deal.

Devil: I really can't decide if you belong in hell.

[thatonegeekygirl]

oh btw i have an ao3 account now if ya'll are interested: ghost_of_the_past

as of today i've got two bbc merlin fanfics up and there WILL be more fun stuff in the future :)

[wagstheturtle]

For someone who cannot draw nor be able to tell a story based on other people’s characters fandom is hard for me because I want to contribute. With that in mind I will leave excessive tags talking about the things your art made me feel and what I love about it even if it is nonsensical. All you artists are so amazing and incredible and those who take media and write a story based off of it. I love you all platonically lol

[innytoes]

Slow dancing in the kitchen instead of doing the dishes after a holiday party for Rulie please?

Sunset Curve had a Reputation for being those kind of rowdy, break-hotel-rooms rock stars of yore. Reggie figured it mostly had to do with vibes, the way they dressed, and the fact that Bobby never turned on the lights to go to the bathroom at night and then tripped over stuff and Reggie was just clumsy. (They always apologised and told the hotel to bill them for stuff they broke.)

There were always stories in the tabloids about the wild parties they threw at their house, but they were never true. Mostly because their security was very good and they always invited and/or bribed the neighbours with Willie's signature cupcakes.

So no paparazzi knew that besides the loud music, their parties were usually the opposite of a wild sex-drugs-rock-and-roll party. Not just because Luke and Bobby didn't really do sex, or that Reggie didn't like drugs (or even certain triggering alcohols) in the house. It was just way more fun to throw a ‘lame’ themed party and go all out than it was to throw a ‘normal’ party.

There had been the giant paint-covered twister party. That time they'd rented a bounce-house obstacle court and several other inflatable monstrosities. They'd had to stop hosting Scrabble nights, because Alex was way too cutthroat and they were starting to lose friends over it (who knew the guys from Demon Breath were such sore losers?).

For their New Year’s party that year, they'd decided to go all out. A giant Settlers of Catan board game night, with themed snacks, mocktails, and an Emcee slash referee (Willie's Uncle Caleb, who could make anything sound dramatic).

They'd invited all their favourite industry friends. Dirty Candi was there (Carrie was the second reason they'd had to stop Scrabble night), and some of Willie's Skater buddies. The Puppet History people, after Reggie got to be on their pandemic season (the tiny cup proudly displayed next to their Grammy on the mantle). And of course, Double Trouble.

The media had tried to make his and Julie’s relationship a big deal, but they were just... too boring, Reggie guessed. Too in love, not enough drama, the best they could come up with was every six months or so there’d be speculating if Julie was maybe pregnant. They had totally trolled the media for weeks leading up to them adopting a puppy together, hinting at a new addition to the family, talking about godfathers in public (obviously Alex and Bobby, the only two people who could be trusted not to feed an entire Happy Meal to a dog).

The game night was over the top as always, with an hour break to count down and watch the fireworks. It ended in a showdown between Alex, Carrie, Ryan Bergara, and Tony Hawk. Carrie of course trounced everyone, and Caleb handed her the ridiculous trophy they’d had made for the occasion.

After everyone had been sent home, Caleb had been graciously thanked and paid (with Willie’s signature cupcakes, topped with some extra sparkly sprinkles), and most of the band had wandered off to their rooms, Reggie wandered around the living room, absentmindedly straightening up.

He always had trouble going to bed right after a party. He needed the quiet to come back to himself, to unwind, before he went to sleep, otherwise his dreams would be chaotic and exhausting. So he made sure all the Catan games were complete, pushed in chairs, snacked on leftovers as he either put them away or trashed them, and collected dishes.

He was just starting on the pile of dishes when two arms wrapped around his waist, a forehead pressing into his shoulder. “Come to bed,” Julie whined. He turned in her arms, smiling to see she’d already changed into her pajamas: an oversized Sunset Curve tour shirt and a pair of Reggie’s plaid boxers.

“In a minute,” he soothed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Her nose crinkled a little as she smiled, and he almost relented right then and there. 

“You’re not seriously going to do all the dishes, right?” Julie asked, sliding her hands over his back, to his front, and snaking her arms around his neck. “You’re literally paying the cleaning service double to come tomorrow morning.”

“I just need to clear my head a little,” Reggie said, wrapping his arms around her waist. He started rocking her, swaying with her. Julie smiled a sleepy smile at him and started to hum. This was much better than doing the dishes, he had to admit.

They swayed through two songs together, Julie laying her cheek on Reggie’s shoulder as he buried his nose in her hair. He could feel her getting heavier in his arms, and when he pulled back a little, she moved with him. “Alright, moonbeam, let’s go to bed,” he said, crouching a bit to pick her up. She gave a little giggly whoop, and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck as he walked them to their bedroom.

He laid her down gently on the bed, quickly changing into his own pajamas, giving Ellie a kiss on her fuzzy little head, and crawling into bed with her. She immediately slung an arm and a leg over him, and he smiled. Julie was like the world’s cutest, warmest weighted blanket. But it worked. His brain was calm, his body wasn’t buzzing with nervous energy anymore. He fell asleep in Julie’s arms and dreamed of dancing on the moon.

[girlhelpicf]

first diy alert. making the puppet history theater

[whimswept]

I made this. A nerd fight blows up. This week, the Professor presents the Bone Wars to Ryan Bergara and an eccentric candy maker.

[the-proofreader]

"We have a new sponsor this week," Shane announced as he walked into the prep meeting with Ryan, the Professor, and the crew. "A start up. A piping hot opportunity, per their email."

Ryan didn't even look up from his NBA fantasy roster that he was rearranging for the seventh time that day. "This isn't going to be another Highland Titles thing, is it?"

"No, there's no land or legal titles. It's an educational materials subscription service."

The Professor set aside his juice. "We already plug Wondrium. Like, a lot. They're good pals of ours!"

"No, no, this is physical materials. Not videos. And if you want to earn some money, you can help them sell the product and get a percentage back, and recruit a team to help you and earn even more-"

"Shane!" Ryan all but dropped his phone. "That- that's a pyramid scheme, or an MLM! We can't go with that! What are they even called?"

Shane looked down at the documents in his folder, pausing to flip through a few, before speaking again. "...huh. Would you look at that. It pretty much is multi-level marketing. I'll have to tell Connie-"

"Wait. Connie? Not that Connie, Shane." As Shane nodded, Ryan spun his chair around in frustration. "For fuck's sake, Shane, this is the third scam he's tried to run!!"

"This one looked more legitimate this time!"

"Just block his number already," the Professor added. "And his email, for good measure. That rotten jelly bean will never figure out how to do something the right way."

Shane tossed the folder into the air, papers with badly drawn graphs and charts in what appeared to be dumpster juice fluttering down around him. "All right, I get it! I'm going to go see if the cups have finally come in. Ryan, see if Scentbird will come through for us."

Ryan picked his phone back up, resuming his scrolling through basketball stats. "Sure thing, boss."

I want The Substitute to stay but not have a redemption arc. Just be a feral asshole who hangs around the set sometimes and hates Ryan while constantly trying to fistfight him

[ideas-on-paper]

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

[melody-everbelle]

I Won’t Say I’m In Love (Wally Darling x Reader)

Title: I Won’t Say I’m In Love

Pairing: Wally Darling x gender neutral!reader

Word count: 593

Featured character(s): Julie Joyful, Sally Starlet, and Poppy Partridge

Warning(s): Denial, persuasion, and fluff :3

Summary: You try to convince yourself that falling in love with Wally is a bad idea. However, your neighbors think the opposite. 😉

Author's Note: Another Wally Darling fanfic! 🎉

I based this fanfic off of the aforementioned scene from Disney’s Hercules, so I hope you enjoy musical fanfics 🥰

***

You were out on a date with Wally Darling. During the event, Wally picked out your favorite flower and handed it to you. Before the date was over, he kissed your cheek and wished you goodnight.

As the night went on, you sat alone in the garden, admiring the flower that Wally gave you. Moments of you and him together crossed your mind, causing your heart to slightly flutter, and your cheeks to glow pink.

"Oh, Y/N," you said to yourself. "To think you have feelings for him."

After looking around to make sure that no one was around, you began to sing out loud.

(Y/N) If there's a prize for rotten judgement, I guess I've already won that No puppet's worth the aggravation That's ancient history, been there, done that

To your surprise, your friends, Julie Joyful, Sally Starlet, and Poppy Partridge tagged along. You tossed the flower away, only for Julie to catch it.

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) Who d'you think you're kidding? He's the earth and heaven to you Try to keep it hidden, Honey we can see right through you Girl/boy/hon, you can't conceal it We know how you're feeling Who you're thinking of

Julie walked over to return the flower to you, but you rejected it to her dismay.

(Y/N) No chance, no way, I won't say it, no no

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) You swoon, you sigh, why deny it? Oh oh

(Y/N) It's too... cliche I won't say I'm in love

You walked away from the trio to give yourself a break. As you continued touring around the garden, you couldn't help but mentally visualize romantic scenarios.

(Y/N) I thought my heart had learned its lesson It feels so good when you start out My head is screaming "Get a grip girl/boy/hon" Unless you're dying to cry your heart out

Julie, Sally, and Poppy followed along.

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) You keep on denying Who you are and how you're feeling Baby we're not buying Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling Face it like a grown-up When you gonna own up that you got, got, got it bad?

Eventually, you walked around an area of the garden where there were statues of the residents of the Neighborhood.

(Y/N) No chance no way I won't say it, no no

You accidentally bumped into a statue of Wally, causing you to grin and blush.

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love

Embarrassed, you recoiled from the statue.

(Y/N) This scene won't play, I won't say I'm in love

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) You're doing flips, read our lips: you're in love!

(Y/N) You're way off base, I won't say it

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) She/he/they won't say it, no

You eventually returned to the spot where Wally kissed your cheek.

(Y/N) Get off my case, I won't say it

Altogether, Julie, Sally, and Poppy place the flower next to you.

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) Girl/boy/hon, don't be proud, it's okay you're in love

Recognizing the flower, you brought it close to your face. You finally realized that your love for Wally was valid.

(Y/N) Ooh, at least out loud, I won't say I'm in love

While singing the last word, you leaned back towards a large, gnarled tree and fell asleep shortly after.

(Julie, Sally, and Poppy) Shoo-loo, shoo-loo, shoo-loo sha-la-la-la-la-la, ahh 💖

[3rosx]

Fic Idea! DNI [?] if you don't like these kind of things: Canon Divergence - No actual relation to the canon plot, just my silly imagination. TW: Obsession, grooming (?), manipulation, this is just a drabble I’m not sure if I have the energy or patience to write this as a fully written out fanfic.

This is something that won’t leave my head, a fanfic where what if Neuvillette is the original Hydro Dragon Sovereign. Since we know from the lore that he’s a reincarnation, and that it was Focalores who brought him to the Court of Fontaine. I just had the urge to make a fanfic where the situation is reversed.

In the scenario that Neuvi is the original dragon, he would be a lot older than 500. But let's say that he's very vengeful against the descenders and Celestia since he lost his powers, but is unable to retaliate and take back his authority from Egeria because of some agreement he has with the Heavenly Principles. I see a lot of plots that are like "The winners get to rewrite history in their favor and the losers are spoils of war" so when Neuvillette (and maybe the other dragons too?) lost his authority, the Heavenly Principles wouldn't be stupid enough to let him live without some assurance that he wouldn't try to take his powers back and rise against them. But that agreement only included ‘Hydro Archon Egeria’ because no one foresaw that Egeria would go against the Heavenly Principles to make the Oceanids into Fontaine Humans. And so, Egeria is out of the picture.

Something happens when the power was passed over to Focalores, causing her to lose her memories. Neuvillette picks her up and ‘helps’ her to recover, when really he was discreetly trying to get his powers back without the heavens knowing. Because Focalores lost her memory and Neuvillette was the one who found her, the scenario where Focalores comes up with the idea to split her body and divinity won’t happen. Neuvillette is the one who names her ‘Furina’ since she can’t remember being ‘Focalores’ in the first place, prefers a new name that can be her own.

She becomes attached, but Neuvillette is only using her as a puppet to rule Fontaine while he is the one who really runs things behind the scenes. In case Neuvillette isn’t successful in taking back his power, he can always keep the Archon dependent on him. Neuvillette is the one who nurtures her, teaches her everything she needs to know, and tells her things like how he’s her most trusted companion and that she shouldn’t trust anyone other than him. Furina, not knowing anything beyond him would obviously never question his judgement and reasoning.

Over time, 500 years is a long time to spend with someone, and somewhere in the middle. Neuvillette starts to realize that it isn’t about the power anymore, he doesn’t know when it started but he started looking forward to the days where he gets to spend time with Furina. The darling goddess he raised to be a careless, spoiled brat so that she wouldn’t have any real interest in the Court. The one who knows his preferences and tries so hard to please him and be good, he has become possessive over her.