#rb carlo

[lies-of-fox]

[sangre]

you know the one

[vampimich]

BR Carlo and the Overture experience

(Please pretend this is a screenshot of RB Carlo :p)

----- LIES OF P - OVERTURE SPOILERS AHEAD -----

I’ve always thought the best moment to play the DLC is after completing the base game, especially after the Rise of P ending. At that point, P has connected the most with his humanity.

His heart is pounding; he has gone through emotional moments and experienced both pain and joy. He is familiar with Romeo now and understands they were once very close, so close that it triggered a deep physical change in him. He also learns about the Legendary Stalker and how she was somehow related to Carlo.

If that was not enough, allowing P to travel to the past after the events of the main game helps him see the depth and extent of the alchemists depravity and cruelty, something he barely scratches the surface of after Chapter 5.

For me, post-game Rise of P Pinocchio gets the most out of the Overture experience, so I would probably always choose this route. However, I was speaking to a friend the other day, and he mentioned he wished to go to Overture as RB Carlo.

Immediately, my mind started racing because how would RB Carlo experience all of that?

We know RB Carlo lacks any humanity. Perhaps because he could never truly connect with his human emotions (this may be how Geppetto got P to give him his heart  by making the most out of his vulnerable situation) or perhaps P decided to fully become Geppetto’s puppet, either for the love his father claimed to have for him, or as a coping mechanism. The point is that RB Carlo is capable of murdering everyone in the Hotel in cold blood, smiling while doing so, just because it would please his father.

But in the DLC, there is no Geppetto to tell him what to do, who to kill, or what to obtain. He is thrown into Krat alone.

And in past Krat, there are still many chances for him to connect with his humanity, but of course, there is also the chance that he simply does not. He can tell Goddard her canvas is white; he can choose to ignore Rosaura or deny her Ergo, among other things.

But there is one thing he does during the DLC, and that is to help both Lea and Romeo.

Unlike the base game, the DLC only has one ending, and our actions don’t affect the course of the main story. The way I interpret this is that P, or in this case RB Carlo, despite everything, will always choose to help them.

No one is telling him to be their hero. I mean, Gemini encourages him, but it’s not like Gemini has the same power over him as his father did. Yet, he chooses to chase after Lea. He could have killed her, or heck! Even decided to kill Romeo instead of saving him. After all, he would become the King of Puppets, and his father told him Romeo was an enemy, right?

But he doesn’t. He saves them both, he witnesses their story, and connects with them.

In the process, he also learns so much about his past, how he grew beyond his resentment, and how much he was actually loved: by Antonia, by Sophia, by his parents, by Rosaura, and of course by Romeo and Lea.

So what would this real boy feel, experiencing all this love and helping those he once loved after his heart had been numb for so long? What shock would his heart receive after understanding that he had become the total opposite of the person all these people once loved?

He became a murderer when he was actually such a caring person. He was totally obsessed with his father when he had actually learned to move on from that.

I like to imagine he actually connected with his feelings this time, and that all of this created a storm inside of him. After all, he has always had a heart; it was just lying dormant.

But it must have been hard. Shocking. World-turning. I haven’t yet decided what I headcanon he chose to do next. Because he could either:

A) Choose to ignore these feelings again just to cope. If he doesn’t process them, then they won’t hurt, right?

B) Really feel all of it. Carry the weight of his newfound humanity violently as he feels the weight of his sins. What if he resents Geppetto again, but this time for turning him into a murder machine? What if he becomes as hateful as the NP? What if instead he tries to do right from now on, even if he has to carry the infinite sadness of knowing he killed everyone who showed him kindness, and that he lost Sophia, the only one he might have been able to save an who could understand him?

I just find the idea of RB Carlo going through Overture very fascinating with all the implications it carries, and it gives me a lot of fic material. But well, this was just my deep dive!

It was a bit long, but I hope it was at least somewhat entertaining for anyone who read this! 😄

[lies-of-fox]

Holiday card trade with @veilnebuula 🎄💞

Some photos of it~