#marionettes

[nemfrog]

La fata, wearing a gown decorated with moons and stars and a long conical hat called a hennin. Burattini e marionette : il loro teatro ed i loro fantocci. (Puppets and Marionettes: Their Theater and Their Characters). 1922.

In the burattini/marionette tradition, la fata is a stock supernatural character, a wise, magical female figure who intervenes to help the protagonist, often contrasting with villainous or trickster characters like Pulcinella or the Devil.

Internet Archive

[nobrashfestivity]

Paul-Lewis Mignon and Jean Mohr J'aime les Marionnettes

[tomoleary]

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) “Marionettes” The Saturday Evening Post cover (October 22, 1932) Source

[diana-andraste]

Bubbles La Rue, Bil Baird's nightclub marionette, 1942

[isuggestforce-masc]

I just found out about BJD dolls through your blog and first off omggg they're so cute!

Second off, they immediately reminded me of one of my favorite anime, Thunderbolt Fantasy, which rather than being animated is this wuxia-inspired puppet show...

And now that's got me thinking about a forcemasc + dollification scenario where like, a travelling sorceress goes from town to town using her magic to put on a puppet show along those same lines, while spending her off-time scouting the place for women to join her "troupe"...

When she finds someone interested in working with her, the sorcerer takes her to her caravan to sign a contract - and of course, as soon as the lady signs up, she's magically transformed into a handsome bishonen puppet!

Before anyone notices something's up, the sorceress packs up and heads off to perform somewhere else - her precious stars spending their days having their hair combed, their faces gently brushed and hearing their loving mistress coo into their ears, telling them how pretty and talented they are and how much she loves her superstars...

In-between putting on spectacular swordfights for the delight of their adoring fans, of course. It really is a fantastic show, and the crew is always looking for new members ~

ooo see this one actually hits close to home believe it or not one of our alters is a puppet ppl who know us well i think tend to just kinda assume its a muppets style hand puppet but shes actually a marionette like the first puppet we ever owned that we got from a dia de los muertes festival we went to as a kid and as a robot myself we love themes of lack of autonomy and of being turned into an object a thing to be controlled and the thought of hiring out for new puppeteers only to turn them into a group of handsome puppet dolls who put on a traveling theatre show is so fun also as a puppet fan gotta say ik for a fact a lot of puppeteers are similarly puppet obsessed and would prolly love being turned into one lol and if they turn into wooden marionettes you can literally shave away any features you dont want them to have

pinocchios you but in reverse so you can become a real boy

[pam3pr]

⊹

[technically-a-kiwi]

So many depictions marionettes being symbolism of control

It's understandable why the marionette has been used in such connotations, after all, the whole puppet master and being who's every move is controlled by someone else, some greater force, is a trope quite fitting of the marionette genre.

But here's the thing, marionettes aren't all about control and subordination.

The puppet master doesn't just takes control of smth, it brings it life, pours mannerisms and emotions into wooden faces.

It's about transmitting the living spark into inanimate objects, to move, feel, tell stories, dance, entertain, among so many beautiful things.

Of course, that is under the circumstance that said marionette is inanimate, otherwise you could go for a very twisted story, of a being who once was master of their movement, robbed from their will to entertain whatever twisted mind managed to get a hold of them.

Speaking of twisted masters, in the case the marionette is truly inanimate, only feeling through the master's will,

A master who makes his puppet feel worthless, or helpless, or give them the sense of being able to free themselves and experience feelings on their own, when really it wouldn't be physically possible,

Doesn't that sounds absolutely sadistic...

The master essentially has the choice, the choice of making it's puppet feel happy or helpless

Those who choose the later

Truly sound evil, don't they?

Though, most of the time a master makes the marionette feel this way for the sake of a story

And frankly if it's to make a beautiful story, one may be excused.

Maybe the puppet could feel glad, you know, being part of such beautiful poetic yet tragic stories

Or maybe not... I wouldn't be happy to know I felt like crap just so some people get entertain with my life story...

Let's be glad marionettes only feel through the hands of a master, or they'd feel pretty upset all the time...

Anyways

All that to say

Marionettes aren't all about subordination

Please explore more

It's a beautiful genre that's so freaking flanderised across medias

Bye

Also first person to say this is deltarune related I swear *loads gun* to FUCKING GOD you're going down 🔫👁️👄👁️