Frying Pan beans are very small, so their life span is very Short compared to other Beans, which are like the horror stories of hamsters. If not careful, they can die from being stepped on, falling from a high place, getting into somewhere they are not supposed to be, eating something poisonous, internal combustion, Rocks or heavy objects falling on them, and my favorite, falling on their face too hard.
Frying Pan beans can be found either in flowers or underground in buros, tree stumps, and fox or spider buros. FP are social creatures and are great companions for you and your domestic beans
Frying Pan bean will try to make packs with larger beans to gain protection from pry in return, they help hunt for food in small or hard-to-reach places
Frying Pan bean doesn't have a natural predator among the Phighting Beans, since they are too small for the effort to kill, but that doesn't exclude others like spider snakes and birds of prey.
But they will be used as practice for Phighting Beans cubs to hunt, most will sustain suver ingery form the cubs' pounces and will die from them
Frying Pan bean will try to use intimidating tactics to prevent them from becoming a prectic dummy
Frying Pan beans are armed with fangs that can cause internal bleeding if bitten, but they don't do it often unless under stress.
FP Beans can out-eat the Banhamer Bean in a food contest.
If a firebrand nest was abandoned, you might find a small or large group of FP Beans in the nest. They naturally seek warmth, and predators' cubs won't come near because of the scent of a larger bean
If you find a Thieves' Den pack, you might spot a Frying Pan bean tagging along.
You still have acces to characters! ...by possessing them. 👻
PART 2 (you're here!) / Part 1
All art by me! :] leave me a iced coffee?? :0
HEY!! REALLY QUICK PLEASE READ!
STOP tagging my posts as "Yandere Sagau", "Sagau Cult AU", "Sagau Imposter AU" or other related dark content tags.
I'm sick of seeing reblogs that tag my work as dark content, when I'm specifically trying to LIGHTEN UP THE SAGAU TAG 😭😭??
Please be more respectful of this. Actually read the work before you just tag it incorrectly. Tags do matter.
/nm /gen
☆
Sun: Gender Neutral Reader (they/them)
Planet: Misc. Genshin AUs
Orbit: Headcanons, Scenarios
Stars: Tighnari ft. Cyno, Alhaitham, Collei
Comets & Meteors:
Content Warnings: Mild violence (bandit attacks/non-graphic), Reader/you possess people non-consent (mild/consent given eventually)
& Trigger Warnings: Reader/"you" possess people non-consenually for short times, but given consent eventually.
(pls comment if any more!)
Edit 9/7/23: 1,000+ NOTES?? WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY- THANK YOU???
Edit 12/24/23 + 4/5/24:
☆
My goofy ass forgot to put this here .-.
Anyway this is a full length fanfic now ;)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
…mistakes were made.
bad decisions were had, and okay, mayyybbbeee you could’ve taken more precautions against people finding out you were “real”.
afterall, you did see the Eremites reaction, even if it was only two guys (one from each camp) that you possessed :/
word spreads quickly amongst the Eremites groups, you guess, bc next thing you knew, after you’d moved closer to floating around Gandharva Ville,
they’d called that entire bit of forest haunted.
BUT IN YOUR DEFENSE-!! how were you supposed to know they’d blab to the whole camp they didn’t remember the past 20 minutes after you unpossessed them?? and immediately be on guard and jump to possession?? (Irminsul works hard but eremites/sumeru people work harder u guess)
And by the time you were happily patrolling with Collei, the forest rangers were just so chill you didn’t really expect anybody would think a ghost was possessing them (or whatever you were now… maybe,, just code?? it’s unclear)
so when u start to see Tighnari squint at people who’ve technically just “woken up” after you possessed them, mumbling under his breath more and more as a file he carries around gets thicker and thicker-
you start to think,,, maybe.
okay, mayyybbbeee,
you’ve fucked up.
◇
You really can’t help it, first it was making sure Collei got back safely from patrols (she’s ur skrunkly okay, you can’t help it, you’re still aware she’s capable but- the urge to skrunkle overpowers you- )
but then-!! You managed to spot Cyno! :D its ur boy!! ur little meow meow, who can throw people over his shoulder!! He really doesn’t need you, hovering around, but eh ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
what could it hurt! …it’s not like he can see, hear, or feel you anyway…
(unless u possess some animal/machine he thinks is friendly, which. sumeru is not exactly known for cuddly creatures. you don’t feel like experiencing death when possessing stuff just yet-)
imagine ur panic and shock as the General Mahamatra takes on a camp of criminals on the run, only for one of the old ruin machines (the ones that are just LEG and DEATH)
to hear the ruckus and come stomping around a thick patch of trees, it launched missiles!! You can’t warn Cyno, he can’t hear you!! No one can!!! The criminals are unconscious, there’s no other wildlife nearby they all ran off!!! FUCK-
You look at him and try to imagine his perspective as vividly as you can, he’s looking over the criminals, but now he’s turning, so people passed out and the tree-line got it-
Congratulations! You’ve possessed Cyno. 💀
It completely disorients you for a second, but then the panic of dodging the missiles comes back in time for you to make his body dive and roll off to the side, for as long as you can manage a roll too since you remember that’s the best way to dodge missiles in the game
…which works really well! bc he’s so fit and agile tbh
It was weird to finally run again after so long (two months now in teyvat?? wow)
with your feet suddenly in sandals, and feeling the breeze chilling your bare chest (Cyno’s chest??)
yeah its a shock considering most of the ppl you’ve possessed lately have been fully clothed rangers lol
you quickly imagine your ghostly form again, and just like that you’re drifting out of Cyno in ur “ghosty” form, having floated out and away from his back
Poor guy looks so fucking confused, and immediately is wielding his spear again, and is about to get out the crouch you put him in behind the dilapidated stone wall (dammit he better not waste ur efforts to keep him alive-)
until missiles slam and explode against it, he ducks back down (thank fuck) and Cyno just looks around one last time before hopping the wall and running to fight the thing
you notice that when the electro user goes to use his powers, they seem stronger than they were in his fight with the goons??
Maybe he was just going easier on them, since they are only human?
…so why does even Cyno look surprised when he goes to make a simple swipe with his charged spear and a bolt of lightning cracks out from his spear instead…?
…weird.
◇
Tighnari knows you’re here.
You figure he must have collected the reports of people “blacking out” or “sleep-walking” or whatever else and begun to suspect the worst.
…to be honest, you’re not sure what to do.
on one hand, it would be great to have someone know you actually exist, as yourself,
but on the other…
What would Tighnari think?
Of you possessing his rangers?? Temporarily taking ownership of someone without permission??? You’re afraid he’d think the worst of you…
tho u didn’t do so often, as u realized how messed up this could be, and u never did more than make them walk or talk normally for a few minutes before leaving them alone!
… afterall, you missed interacting with people. You were honestly a little worried abt going crazy, which is the only reason u were desperate enough to possess human people in the first place and continue doing so, just to talk to someone and have them look you in the face again like you really did exist as a person here-
(u thought u remember reading somewhere back on Earth that someone can only last 3 days of no other human contact until they start to lose it? but even if that’s not true, at the very least, u dont think talking one-sidedly to yourself all the time is healthy…)
so when Tighnari seems to get that file you’ve seen him adding onto, and gather up supplies, mentioning a day trip to Collei and the others to Sumeru City for some
“further research into these ‘blackouts’, and also contacting some of my colleagues who might know something…”
there’s no way you’re not going with him.
you feel increasingly anxious all day, and at one point when you were sure Tighnari was walled-in by books at the House of Daena, decide to go blow off the anxious energy by possessing an animal to get some food!
…you’re not really feeling comfortable enough to possess a living being into eating yet, that seems hella nonconsensual, and u kinda would be taking the joy of the meal from them tbh-
so u possess a cat!
a ginger cat, bc u like to think if u do anything weird, that ppl in Teyvat have the same type of cats back on Earth and excuse it as just:
“unhinged ginger cats being unhinged ginger cats yep makes sense” lol
you’d managed to be really cute (and wasn’t that weird, having to mimic animal behaviors like rubbing ur side against a person’s legs..)
and convince one of the cooks of Lambad’s Tavern to give u some leftovers, and been about to go off to try out sunbathing before the chore boy, little shit he is, tried to chase you off with a broom!! >:( the audacity!! you clearly have a little plate and everything!!
luckily, you’d finished eating, but still! Ouch!! those bristles fucking hurt-!!!
…you look and see a Sumeru-ified version of a skateboard, and u just know ur little cat face is just ✨v✨
and u steal the little shit’s skateboard as revenge! HAHA thats what you get animal abuser!!!
The kid’s yelling at you as you speedily skate away with ur little cat paws (LMAOO), but the cooks are calling him back in so he can’t pursue, (oh good u hear them get onto him for chasing u off)
and as u slow down to coast along the Sumeru streets,
you feel someone’s eyes staring you down.
You assume it’s just people being amused at a cat skateboarding, obv
but when you look just ahead of you to see a smiling Sumeru citizen or eremite-
Oh. It’s Alhaitham.
and he’s just… watching you.
he’s stopped reading whatever he’s got in his hand, and is slowlyyyy turning his head as you pass by…
You decide to just keep skating away. LMAO
◇
it’s already sunset by the you’re accompanying Tighnari back from Sumeru City, floating along behind him
and you’d been expecting a calm walk back, tbh you’d been feeling a little better bc the ranger hadn’t found much to identify you, yet, luckily-
but bc u can never catch a break:
Tighnari didn’t see the bandits dropping from the goddamn trees BEHIND HIM- and they had like claymores out- those were definitely gonna be killing blows-!!
so yeah.
You possessed Tighnari.
turns out ur pretty good at dodging bc this is second time now you’ve helped dive away for someone in an ambush, ur kinda proud of urself tbh💀
and as you make him take a few leaps back, ur ears twitch in the wind as you duck behind a tree, then float away and out of his body
The poor hybrid ranger visibly sways, then shakes his head out of it, and he flicks his ears in different directions, squinting into the woods, he’s pulled out his bow, so you’re at least reassured he’s aware there are enemies
Like Cyno last week, he too gives up and rolls for the next tree for cover and begins to shoot and take down the bandits
the rest of the week is kinda a blur after that, bc it’s mostly filled with Tighnari running in circles around the camp checking for blackouts, writing letters to Alhaitham and Cyno apparently, and you not possessing anybody out of paranoia :/
Most notably however,
you’ve unfortunately discovered one of the few drawbacks of ur possessions
(y’know, besides not existing essentially, what with no one being able to sense u outside of possessions)
apparently, if someone walks thru you, they accidentally force you to possess them 💀??
while it’d already happened once with a random ranger that you didnt notice was walking up behind you,
you didn’t want to test it again just yet bc it kinda made YOU nauseous and incredibly dizzy when this happened
(as in, u stumbled like a drunk after this poor ranger woman ran thru u, until you were so dizzy and the world spun sm u had to make her sit on the literal ground, luckily she just thought she was just really dehydrated when she came back into herself 😭)
so obviously, you’ve avoided crowds to keep this forced possession thingy from happening all the time
like at the Forest Rangers meetings or something, ur watching off to the side, instead of standing with them or beside them
so needless to say, after about a week and half since possessing Tighnari,
you definitely did not mean to possess Collei.
She’d been in her wheelchair today, the Eleazar flaring up and tiring her body out
so her wheels had been entirely silent when she rolled up to where you and Tighnari were leaning over some strange experiments of his- you were just trying to figure out what all these mirrors were for, didn’t he do plants more-?
you didn’t even know what the hell happened, you just felt that familiar dropping sensation, like a small drop on a rollarcoaster, blinked, and then suddenly you were sitting instead of standing/floating???
Oh god-
before you could even begin to process that Tighnari was in front of you instead of beside you, the world was shorter,
The fox-eared ranger yelled in triumph, grinning with sharp fangs and spinning around to look at you (Collei)-
“Ah-ha! It worked! Finally, I saw you! I saw you, I-?? Oh gods, Collei, NO-!”
And with quick reflexes, Tighnari’s summoned his bow, but he’s clearly confused on what to do about this situation, taking aim, but also holding the air glowing with dendro not as taunt as you’d seen him in the battle with the bandits
You scramble to raise your hands up, brown poofy sleeves rise to your command, light green hair you can feel on your shoulders, everything is familiar, but not-
“WAIT! I’m sorry!! This was an accident, I promise! I don’t intend to hurt Collei, or you!! Please, just, don’t shoot me, I think you’ll just hurt Collei instead…”
You talk him down and decide, that if he’s put this much effort into finding out about your existence, is an incredible leader and friend to everyone around him, and was able to accept the traveler and many other strange things that’ve (probably? maybe?) already happened in Sumeru (god fuck u dont even know where in the timeline you are)
that you can probably trust Tighnari with your existence, and your powers.
…He nearly passes out.
◇
Life has gotten a lot funnier, and happier, since you told Tighnari (and some of the more trustworthy rangers and Collei by proxy) about ur existence (or really, confirmed it)
He’d been wary at first, appropiately cautious and demanding answers, of which you were happy to give and explain yourself
luckily, after a whole lot of “hmm, I see, no, I think I’m understanding-” , finger on his chin and everything
he’s said it’s okay to hang around the rangers, so long as you don’t possess anyone anymore without them knowing about you/with permission (outside of emergency situations that is)
tho he did seem surprisingly understanding and accepting of you doing it before after you explained how u were just unbelievably lonely and were lowkey paranoid of going crazy-
The rangers seem to believe you’re some kind of god/spirit thing, as you had no explanation yourself as to what you were ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
Tighnari’s also given you the rule to help out around here if you’re going to “ghost-laze around”, as he puts it lol
you’ve redirected ruin machines/feral animals away from rangers many times by now, to the many thanks and gratefulness of the rangers
you’ve even managed to even figure out how to push Collei’s wheelchair around when she uses it!
mostly by possessing tree after tree and using vines, or occasionally a fungi that can fly so you can nudge her along
she has insisted that you possess a ruin guard and carry her just to try it… however, Tighnari overheard her talking to the forest rangers’ dog (you) and immediately knew shit was up and banned you from doing it (at least not yet)
While most rangers are okay with you possessing them for a few minutes (and they’ve developed this bandana wrapped around their upper arms policy of “red = no possess, green = go ahead”)
Collei is the most okay with it and for longer, so you “won’t be that lonely ever again!” :’)
Tighnari is busy with stuff, so you can’t possess him as often, but the ranger has developed a theory that the more you possess someone, the more they can sense your feelings during possession/while floating around in ghost form too,
so he’ll occasionally feel you in the room with him, and start talking out loud in some one-sided convo to make you feel more included to make up for not being able to interact with him sometimes :)
(after taking you off his list of worries he’s still pretty swamped, not that he’ll tell you that, as he’s still not quite sure why he’s so, warm and safe feeling when you’re around, so willing to trust you so naturally, that it makes him want to at leats pretend to be worried abt a possessing ghost god/thing hanging out with the rangers now)
◇
basically everything is great!
the rangers are okay with you, they got a system to interact with you consensually, Tighnari and Collei are fond of you, you get to finally have something to do instead of floating around all the time (joining ranger missions)
and look!! they’ve even been kind enough to build you a little shrine or altar of sorts! Notes about Sumeru life, recipes for you to try, occasionally some books for you to read, and even some snacks/desserts for you to try out the next time someone possesses you and gives consent! (you leave them a little note stuck on their hand with your question for specific actions like that, if there isn’t another ranger there to ask for you when you unpossess them)
and everything is so cool, and everyone is so sweet and accepting
…Until Alhaitham shows up in Gandharva Ville, knocking on Tighnari’s door.
☆
AHHHH idk if this is any good! sorry it took so long, it was mostly the art 😭😭
anyway its not the best (the writing or the art) but i hope it’s at least some content to look at and be entertained for a minute!
also figured it was a good day to post what with the attack on our beloved Ao3 (tho i think it’s back up now?)
anyway, feel free to leave critiques on this one! (which I’ll probably turn this into a real fic one day soon, but not sure what to do with the plot/do a diff setup than this or what)
☆
sorry abt the radio silence! I just needed to close my mailbox bc i had a lot of stuff to answer, ur welcome to send submissions to chat/non-requests!
and also this took time to make (once again, mostly the art, bc thats how it always is with art isnt it 😭)
Ive been thinking about this trend but instead of metaphorical items and junk its just me attempting diff artstyles
(btw thanks for @desklamper for compiling this)
(Artists: @bamsara @runningwithscizzorz @konjkitkatty @donutfloats @acis-arts @aveloka @lambment @unwri-ten @stychu-stych @dogiperson + me at the end)
You can still use your characters! ... as in possessing them 👻
(all art by me down below, hope its decent lol - did it for u guys and myself i mean what )
So.
You got sucked into a video game.
Crazy, but it happens ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
yknow how it issss
...you very quickly discover that unfortunately video game rules still apply...
which wouldn't normally be an issue! like, needing to use the bathroom in the middle of a fight? Nope! minor cuts and bruises like papercuts, only actual enemies or fall damage counting? hell yeah that'd be great (theoretically no chronic pains if you got that?? hmmmm unsure)
see the issue comes when you realize, you as a player, don't have a "character" that's all your own
there's aether/lumine yeah.. but bc the game's real now, they're their own people, and you didn't wake up to find yourself as a blonde twin...
the closest you can describe your form as is .. like a seelie?
or like the way ghosts look in game?
but a lot more "starry"
like your specterlike, but you look like you got filled up with stars and the milky way, maybe a reference of you being from another universe/world? (aether/lumine/dainsleif/khaenriah star symbol reference secret thEORY-)
but yah.
you also got just, white eyes.
like, not iris, not pupil. like your pupil and iris got erased
you gotta admit, at least you look really aesthetic now.
(u also got a little cape and hood on at all times, and you cant take it off to see your starrified hair >:/ ,very Blue Diamond-esque, look up Steven Universe, Blue Diamond if you dont know who im talking about)
so needless to say, as soon as you sort of glitched your way into existence you were HYPE
i mean ur ACTUALLY IN TEYVAT WITH THE BOYSSSS
...then you realize your a spooky-no-character-to-pilot-around-thus-no-character-model-body-for-you thingy
and that you cant touch stuff!! >:(
like wth!!!
thats just downright unfair.
so, you figure if you got no body to be.... you gotta find a new "character" to pilot >:)
...
I choose you, yellow fungi!
...
....
you're in the fucking woods (Sumeru somewhere obv, u knew that the moment you opened ur eyes),
what'd you expect?? an archon??
..wait a minute. can you possess an archon-
these kinda thoughts plague your first few days of irl genshin impact playing
a rishabold tiger? yep.
a sumpter beast? kinda slow and heavy feeling but yeah.
...you also try a ruin machine LOL
by far, the fungi and ruin machines are the best to possess, mostly because you can remain upright with those
(tho u did find some type of flying monkey that wasnt in game, but its like,, a real world and jungle now so that makes sense there'd be more complexity + stuff)
you do eventually think you should try and possess a person at this point... but ur kinda nervous 👉👈
its ur first time doin this okay nobody explained the basics to you youve been winging for a week now!
will your mind be replaced with theirs? it hasn't been so far with the creatures/bots
and as far as you can tell, they kinda just-
forget what happened or "wake up" after you possess them
(the tiger you were for a day looked confused as hell when it realized that there was a new pile of fruit next to it when it "woke up", it was your way of saying thank you to the animals of the jungle, u left them little piles of food you collected running around as them)
so THEORHETICALLY-
you should be good to go and possess a random poor eremite
... you figure you want to possess something human-like eventually even if you get a puppet body like wanderer/raiden so...
here goes nothing...
♤
so it's been 2 weeks since you've been forcefully yanked into teyvat, and by the second week, you were trying to possess eremites
which! worked out!
mostly..!
you kinda convinced the entirety of two eremite camps that a certain part one of sumeru's forests is hella haunted bc ppl keep "blacking out" and doing things they don't remember doing, yknow... like possesssion LMAO
they kinda ran off to escape you but, hey!
experiment #2: people possession, success!!
now you were kinda convinced of this when you realized no matter the angle the animals and machines of sumeru didnt react to you getting super close to them (you dont have to touch something to posses it, just look at it really, but you wanted to test limits, so you walked up to sumpter beasts and fungi and ruin machines)
but no one can see you.
you don't have a "character" most of the time, you can float and glide around the ground like scaramouche lol
you cant touch stuff bc of this, you cant smell stuff (u saw the eremites campfires & couldnt smell the smoke until you were them)
you cant eat stuff w/o a body, so.. it makes sense that the eremites and passing merchants, cant see you when you float around, trying to reorient yourself after 2 weeks of experimenting
:( ur only a lil sad about it... but mostly not bc lol u got possession powers so trade off u guess
the first time you see a vision-bearer you literally scream
LMAO
ur so lucky u cant be seen or heard
bc Collei would have def screamed back lol
needless to say u stalk the forest ranger- ALL DAY.
Collei goes on patrol around the woods? you go on a patrol.
collei goes to visit other forest rangers? you "visit" other forest rangers at base (lol u def possess a guy who was asleep on a bench nearby & wake up to go talk to Collei "in-person", poor guy was so worried he sleep walked/talked so hard he went to see Tighnari an hour later lmao)
welp, you decide this is your life now, follow Collei everywhere, talk one-sided to Collei until you can possess a forest ranger w/o it being suspicious (dont wanna turn the poor rangers into the terrified eremites from a week or two ago...)
then, after you get the courage and erase the paranoia that tighnari can just... somehow hear your ghostly bullshit-
u do the same to Tighnari (then Cyno when he visits! no u didnt squeal, so what, nobody can hear you- )
♧
Tighnari begins to get suspicious about 3 weeks into this routine.
he's been starting to collect and start a file on all the rangers or nearby villagers that've started randomly "blacking out/sleep walking" in the evenings usually
(u possess as close to nighttime as u can so it seems like sleepwalking)
So when Cyno comes back from a mission gone wrong,
having nearly been decapitated by a rogue flying ruin machine, only to black out and come to standing calmly 10 feet further than he remembered being 1 minute ago...
Tighnari's suspicions are confirmed, and he launches into researching this phenomenon.
his first thought is something like the aranara, but that doesn't account for the effect this thing is having on people
after all, what little forest spirit is strong enough to-
-control humans??
Tighnari begins to get the sense he's in over his head after he finds himself pushed into going into Sumeru City in order to collect more library books or ask around if the blackouts have spread to the city people
he answer is negative, on both accounts.
and he spends about one half of the day walking around, and the other reading up all he can on mythical creatures or ailments
Tighnari gives up for the day, and as he makes his way back to Ghandarvaville, he almost gets ambushed by some particularly nasty muggers
...and then he wakes up 20 feet away, his denro vision thrumming with power, full of worry and fondness for himself??, (just like Cyno said he felt happen to him..)
...Tighnari decides he needs reinforcements.
YOU GUYS-
UR LOCAL ZODIAC SIGN OBSESSED W/GENSHIN HIT A CHARACTER LIMIT ON A POST FINALLY. 😦
??? THIS WOULDVE BEEN LONGER BUT I BARELY GOT SPACE FOR THIS- I- EVEN THE QIQI POST DIDNT HIT LIMIT-
(Sorry about the late tag! I forgot to update my taglist before i posted this 💀 my bad guys)
Also if the people who got put there who i couldnt find a blog for see this, idk what went wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - maybe check and see if ur setting for "being able to be searched/looked up" is turned on?? Idk man
Also works for most of those news sites like WSJ or NYT that only let you read a little bit, or block adblockers. Also some disable the scroll bar but if you go to the right side of the console after hitting F12 and look for the CSS element “overflow” and change it from “hidden” to “visible” then you can continue scrolling for free. Might have to click around on different parts of the page to find it, but it should work.
There’s also a Firefox/Chrome extension called Behind The Overlay that does all that with one mouse click. Used it for years; what a time saver.
And if you encounter a true paywall, use Archive.Today to bypass it. Just paste the paywalled url into the blue “search archived snapshots” box near the bottom:
havin a little fun with the lamb and potential tentacle body horror because i think sometimes they should be gross. why SHOULDN'T these God creatures be an affront to the nature of creation
Descriptions of a plague sickness, death, sad sad times and blood.
Part 1/2
─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────
The ticking clockwork echoes in the stillness of Gepettos workshop. Automated gears singing a ticking tune, keeping its pace, never faltering.
Little Carlo plays with a small ball jointed doll, black hair almost covering his face while resuming on posing the doll how he wanted.
A small smile painted his lips, cobalt blue iris keeping its figure as he sets the doll standing.
Taking a note pad, he gently lines every detail of it, soon, it takes shape.
Hair, eyes, clothes, everything in his imagination, coming to life in a single sketch of how he wanted to shape this plain doll.
Showing his father his sketchpad, the puppet maker quickly got to work.
Moulding the exact proportions his son drew, Carlo watching every second of his father's work.
Once the puppet was finished, it was the same size as the boy, Ergo rushed through its wiring, newly obtained and springing to life.
Carlo talked with it, watching as it clung to every word he spoke.
Geppetto's son now has a friend.
And Geppetto can peacefully get back to work.
_____________
He never expected this to happen.
The puppet that kept Carlo company, listened and stayed by his side...
Started to grow.
Not just physically, but mentally. It's mind shaped ideas, concepts, and jokes. Carlo laughed at every single one of them.
At first, he had only made the doll-like puppet to just be a toy for his son to keep him busy while he worked...
It was an interesting sight indeed.
Its hair grew longer... And it even explained that it could... Quite possibly a dream.
It was no longer an IT anymore.
But it was doing no harm... So the Puppet maker paid no mind.
___________
As both of them grew, Carlo grew more distant towards his father. You stayed by his side, talking with the boy from day in, to day out.
It was never a boring day for the two, even as Carlo started going to school... You would wait for him.
Till one day, he brought over another boy. Around the same age, blond hair cut into a short bob. From what you could tell, he was from the same boarding school as Carlo, from the matching uniform.
Carlo introduced you first, calling your name.
"This is Romeo, Romeo, this is my friend,"
"A puppet?"
"Yeah- please don't call me that... My name is fine."
You corrected quickly, a smile gentle on your face as you reach out a hand, the wiring of gears still being heard with every move.
Romeo carefully, and hesitantly took your hand.
Eyes widening only a tad, looking at Carlo, then snapped back to you dumbly.
"Your hands are soft. And warm."
That caught something in your gears, laughing a bit when the boy blushed in embarrassment as Carlo too started to laugh at the absurdity.
"They've always been warm and soft!" Carlo laughed.
"I didn't know! Automations are usually cold and hard! Like metal!"
Romeo clapped back, straightening up and grossing his arms, grumbling in his defense.
This started the friendship between the three of you. The hardships that would happen between Carlo and his father would slip into silence, a somber sad silence whenever Carlo would ask for a bit of his father's time... Only to be told later.
Lies that the boy hated.
And you could only watch, the sinking feeling only growing worse as the years went by.
_____________
"Go to school? With you?"
You asked, as if the very idea was a grueling puzzle. How could a puppet like yourself need school?
"Why not? Have you ever wondered what you could learn?"
Carlo asked, insistent on the idea. His graduation was next year... And he wanted to share that with you.
And he had hope his own father would be there, he'd have to! It's his own son's graduation for God's sake!
You thought for a moment, you've always stayed in the vicinity of the workshop, not a rhyme or reason other than to be close to the only person who could fix a couple of loose bolts if something were amiss.
But it was only Krat city, surely it's safe enough for any Puppet, right?
What could hurt?
____________
You were given odd looks down Krat city hall, you looked nothing like the usual puppets that Geppetto has created, fresh gears turning and auto generated voice lines from newer puppets, little to no life in their eyes.
The spare uniform that you had borrowed from Carlo fit nicely on you, considering that your proportions almost matched the smiling boy beside you, none the wiser with the questioning looks of others.
Making it, the both of you entered, you immediately saw a familiar head of blond hair, sitting next to two empty seats.
Carlo takes your hand and takes you towards the boy.
Romeo, was suffice to say, shocked to see you, in school, in a uniform no less.
"Is this even allowed?"
He whispered, glancing at the raven haired boy, who gave a cheeky smirk.
"I may have pulled a ...few strings." Carlo smiled, sitting down and looking uncharacteristically poised.
"What does THAT mean??" Romeo asked, accusatory suspicion heavy in his voice.
Watching you sit down next to Carlo, fidgeting, like you were nervous.
And he couldn't blame you, the eyes that trailed your figure were more curious and confused.
Some had to do a double take when they entered class.
You could hear the talk, surrounding your table, the clicking of your fingers stopped when a teacher had finally entered the room.
A broad smile graced his face as he took a seat when everyone went quiet.
Class would start with you questioning why you're here.
And it would end with you wanting to learn more.
________
When you were "asleep", your body
was usually stiff as a board.
Standing in your designated area while your body shuts down. But lately, you haven't been able to get comfortable.
Why would a puppet like yourself need to get comfortable?
It caused you to shift, to the point of settling on sitting down on a chair.
It was acceptable. For now.
But you kept on waking up with clear pictures in your mind, horrid pictures of burning buildings... An unfinished film hidden in your wiring that had made no sense... You had thought initially that these were human dreams.
But they just kept coming back, more excruciatingly detailed than the last...
It didn't help that they only had gotten worse when Carlo had to stay at the school due to his father not being able to take care of the poor boy...
Yet, he still held hope that he would be there for his son, on his special day.
Even when news about a suspicious murder that happened just weeks ago.. something in your gears telling you to do... The most absurd things.
Like grabbing something... Blunt, and hitting someone over the head.
Morbid thoughts that wanted to break your working wires and rework them into something less...
Human.
You then felt a gentle shake, your eyes slotting open to find the Geppetto boy, clad in his uniform, but what was amiss
Was the usual framed smile that he wore every time he was with you.
Your brows knitted, he looked tired, eyes puffy, red from either crying or lack of sleep.
Or both.
He had come home in the early morning to see you.
"Why are you back this early? You'll get in trouble for leaving your dorm room."
You saw his face sour, not expecting to be scolded.
But felt his frame lax when you pulled him into a hug.
"It's good to see you, Carlo."
"Me too,"
Your name passed his lips lightly, letting go of the hug after a while, warming your body in a way that caused you to melt.
But getting a better look at him, you saw scrapes and cuts littering his cheeks and arms. Suddenly alarmed, you rest your fingers against a gash against the top of his head.
"Carlo, What on earth happened?"
The boy quickly took your fingers in his palm and held it to his chest.
"I'm okay, me and Romeo were just training. Romeo got me good... But I knocked him down too!"
The boys obsession to be a Stalker nearly made you question if they were insane, few bolts loose perhaps?
But it was unfruitful when they hadn't changed their minds on their 18th birthdays. So much has happened, and so little time has gone by.
Carlo had become a young man so quickly that you almost felt left out.
You too, should be in the same age range as the two boys, but something blocked you from truly being grown.
And you knew.
And it hurt so much.
__________
Today was the day, you wore something quiet fitting for a day like this.
A year had passed by extremely quickly, it shocked you.
Walking down to the workshop, you knocked.
A muffled "yes?" Answered. Promptly causing you to enter.
"Mr. Geppetto? It's me. Do you know what today is?"
The man had paused, bringing his glasses up to check the calendar next to the many boxes of puppet parts that were left to be used later.
"Ah. I don't think I do? Please, enlighten me."
"It's your son's graduation from the academy."
The puppet maker winced at the tone you held.
Turning to the clock that hung from the ceiling.
"I... I simply do not have time..."
He finally answered. Lowering his eyes from your burning ones.
"Carlo... Carlo has been looking forward to this...! You can't just NOT go!"
"I need to get this done.. perhaps if I finish quickly, I'll be able to go..."
You stepped forward, fists locking hard against your sides.
"You've said that all your life! Carlo needs this!"
"Watch your tone..."
"HE'S YOUR SON!-"
"QUIET, THAT'S AN ORDER PUPPET."
You felt your jaw automatically lock.
Body stiffening against the restraints... He's... Never given an order to you before.
It felt uncomfortable, unnatural.
But your body stayed planted to the ground, as Geppetto walked towards you, gripped your shoulders and looked you at eye level.
And gave you orders.
"You will go in my place. Be there for him, congratulate him, and tell him that I love him, and that I am proud."
Orders that you must follow.
__________
You sat in the rows of seats, waiting for Carlo's name to be said, congratulating him for his hard work.
Romeo's name was called, looking over, he sees you waving, excitedly waving with a big smile.
You waved as well, yelling congratulations to the blond boy.
Looking behind him, was the familiar fluff of black hair, and icy blues that peaked at the crowd.
He looked around expectantly, smiling first when he locked eyes with you, and feeling his face flush when you screamed a congratulations to him.
But, felt his face fall when seeing the empty seat next to you.
Reserved for the only man he wanted to be there.
You instantly saw how his face formed a small frown, eyes cast down into sadness.
It grinded your gears, almost painfully so. Right where your stomach and heart should've been.
It should've been his father here.
Not you.
__________
After the ceremony, you, Carlo and Romeo stayed past leaving hours.
Sitting down in front of the school, both boys still in their ceremony gowns, caps thrown somewhere in the hall.
Both were in conversation while you just stared point blank at the busy street.
It wasn't until you felt a hand that had been placed on your back
Turning slightly, to see both boys staring at your brooding.
It felt... Consoling.
"I'm sorry that your father didn't come... I tried to convince him, but... It didn't work out."
You sighed, if only you had tried hard enough, broken free from those commands... Maybe, possibly, he could have been here.
Carlo's fingers twitched against your back.
"Don't."
You looked up quickly, seeing Carlo's face shift with anger. Bubbling in his gut was something you've never seen before.
"I wouldn't care if he'd died right here and now. So don't think it was your fault for his damn actions."
Looking back at Romeo, he dug into his shirt, feeling around till he held out a necklace.
Pulling it from his neck, he handed it to the boy next to him.
"Here, Romeo. To break my bonds to him, and to solidify our friendship and my admiration to you, till the very end."
Romeo gently took the relic in his hands, gripping it to his chest and nodding, a look of finality showing past his face.
Carlo finally looked at you, pulling out something from his pocket, it was a ring. Imbued with Ergo, the blue material shaped to look like a cut diamond.
A look of shock graced your face, holding the precious item in your palm.
"I made this... To show how much I care for you. You've been by my side when my father hasn't. And I want you by my side forever more. You were never just a puppet to me,"
He had slipped on the ring for you, watching as the band glided against your ring finger.
Having him hold your hand tightly against his, warm and secure.
"You are my everything."
That made you shortcircuit-
Unable to completely say the words, Romeo just laughed hysterically at the look of your face.
Causing you to leap up and bonk the blond on the head with a closed fist.
"Ow!!! That hurt! You're made of metal!"
Yeah.. you could get used to this.
_________
"I want to see them..!"
Carlo cried, throat dry and burning.
His fingers were completely solid against the hard shell that had encased half of his body already.
His skin turned almost deathly pale from loss of blood circulation and blue blood.
He couldn't move, but that didn't stop him from using his strength on the last bit of voice he still had left.
He called out to both you and Romeo, daily.
Geppetto couldn't see his son like this... In pain both physically and mentally.
When the puppet frenzy had started, you had disappeared.
Out in the dead of night, possibly killing humans, or already dead by the many makes shift weapons that the people of Krat had made themselves.
Carlo, having contracted the petrification disease.
"You can't see them right now son..."
"Why can't I?! They're my.. my.."
Carlo felt something bubble from his lips, spitting out a slurry of blue blood.
Coughing harshly against the tightness against his chest.
The crystals forming around his face surely didn't help either.
Cold, cold was another horrid feeling he felt.
Is this what you felt on a daily basis without the warmth of his hands?
It was unbearable.
"Carlo... Please get some rest."
His father pleated, using a rag to wipe his son's mouth from the putred stuff.
Carlo became deathly quiet, aside from his rugged breathing, he had kept his eyes up and buggy.
Hoping, pleading that you'd come back.
Just like you've always had.
__________
Blood dripped from the crevice of your hands, even getting between the grooves of your ring.
You had only one thing in your mind.
Kill
Kill
KILL
Anything that moves, breaths, or twitches, kill it.
But you never remembered finding yourself scaling an entire mansion and breaking open a window that felt so familiar to you.
Your body janked to one side of the room to the next, stumbling blindly, trying to search for anything that you could grasp on.
Your body stopped completely when you heard a groan.
A very tired groan coming from the other side of the room.
Slowly but steady, you reached your hands out, ready to break whatever neck you could feel...
You suddenly felt warm.
"You... You came back.."
You heard your name, come from the weak lips of someone you were close with.
His frighteningly cold hands reached to hold your broken face.
Your voice wasn't the same anymore, voice box crackled with broken wires and flood of oil and Ergo. But he still smiled against his cracked and bloody lips. Reminisce of the Puppet language hard in your voice.
Your fingers were still itching, getting closer to his neck, really wanting to put him out of this painful reality, you fought instead to scoop him up against your arms.
Holding the dying boy you had grown to love.
He felt so heavy against you.. and he only grew heavier when he laid his head against your hard shoulder.
Feeling a long your hand with his, crystal-like fingers staining with the blood against your caked ones.
Feeling the band against your finger.
"You.. are my... everything."
He went deathly silent.
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This is my first time sharing my writings with Tumbler, hope ya like it ✨
