A little bit of everything

Hi there everyone. In this blog you'll find a bit of everything I like: videogames, anime and some random stuff.// Hola mundo. En este blog podrán encontrar algunas imágenes o frases sobre cosas que me gustan que a ustedes también les pueda gustar, como: videojuegos, anime o cosas al azar que encuentre por allí.

[vampimich]

About Frankenstein and Lies of P

---- SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE 2025 GDT FRANKESTEIN MOVIE AND LIES OF P ----

So I recently watched the new Frankenstein movie, and I’ve gotta say I did not expect to get that sad.

I think it’s a beautifully written story about how deeply parents can fuck us up, but also how, once we recognize that, we can choose to move forward despite the pain and trauma; how we can forgive, not for others, but for ourselves; and how we learn to love ourselves as we are: with all the baggage we carry, with our resilience, and with the choices we make each day.

As I was letting all those feelings sink and translating them into my own traumas and experiences, I found myself making a lot of connections and parallels with Lies of P. Here are some of them.

The “creators”:

Both Victor and Geppetto are considered geniuses in their craft, and both create life (and play God) out of sorrow. Victor from losing his mother, and Geppetto from losing his son. Of course he lost Camille as well but he finally snapped into action once he lost Carlo as well

Both were obsessed with “Can I?” instead of “Should I?” Neither truly wanted to be fathers. Victor had no idea what to do with his creation once it was alive, while Geppetto only ever wanted P as a tool to revive Carlo and screw up the alchemists. Even when he did bring Carlo back, he went out for cigarettes and milk and abandoned newly-revived Carlo immediately.

Both men obsessed over controlling their sons and became violent when they didn’t obey.

Victor pressured the creature relentlessly to speak and prove intelligence on his terms, keeping him locked away and only allowing him the “life” Victor curated.

Geppetto used P as a weapon and full obedience was the only path acceptable for him. Once P stopped being the perfect tool, Geppetto completely snapped trying to get him killed.

Both fathers only truly recognized their sons at death’s door, finally understanding that the beings they created were people in their own right, with hearts, wills, and feelings; perhaps even more human than they were at that point.

As for P and the creature:

Both were created and thrown into a cruel world without proper care, love, or guidance.

Both suffered from violence and prejudice: one for being a “monster,” the other for being a puppet. But both still found love and acceptance from others.

The creature had Elizabeth, the blind man, and maybe even acknowledgment from the captain in the end.

P had Sophia, and later, friends and allies who believed in him.

Both suffered a devastating loss: P lost Sophia, and the creature lost Elizabeth.

Both sought to experience humanity and hoped for love from their fathers. They craved understanding, belonging, and, at one point, simply wanted to make their fathers proud.

Both eventually rebelled against their creators.

The creature bore immense emotional trauma: mistreatment, physical abuse, and even being left to die in the fire that Victor created.

P was used by Geppetto over and over, only to be discarded when he was no longer “useful.”

Despite everything, both were able to forgive, because they still loved their creators. The pain would never fade, but in order to avoid drowning in bitterness and to keep moving toward the future, they gave their fathers peace in their final moments.

Both learned the truth of who they were and what they represented, and accepted it. They repurposed their identities on their own terms. They became “human” in ways defined by their choices, not their creators’, and certainly not by the grim circumstances they were brought into the world.

There are probably more parallels I’m forgetting at the moment :p

But anyway, I love Lies of P, and I really enjoyed Frankenstein. It fascinates me how these two very different pieces of media had a lot of common ground.

I think both narratives are deeply cathartic. Among other things, they can be seen as stories about healing, learning to accept ourselves as we are, confronting our demons, and reshaping our own paths so we can learn to love ourselves, even when we feel unworthy because of trauma or past mistakes, or even how we perceive ourselves. And by embracing this, and accepting who we are is how we can continue to face the dawn of each day, even looking forward to the future. :)

But anyways, would love to hear your thoughts on the movie if you have watched it!

[vampimich]

A small thought on Murphy

I was watching a friend play boss rematch against Murphy, and as he went through it, I started paying attention to the Watchman’s voice lines.

The one that really caught my attention this time was: “Adults… selfish, kicked out… my friends.”

And for a moment, I considered the possibility that the Scrapped Watchman might actually have the ergo of a child.

(Of course, this is just thinking about the possibilities; I’m not saying there’s no chance Murphy couldn’t also be a gentle, playful adult!)

The thought crossed my mind because of how he speaks about “adults” as if he isn’t one of them. What if he was another kid Krat failed? Maybe a slightly older child, or even a teenager, who felt the need to protect younger kids?

That could explain why children were drawn to him, why they felt safe with him, and why they might have played with him so naturally. And if he was playful back, maybe it was because (as a fellow young one) he really enjoyed playing too.

I know Murphy’s failure was officially due to his size and battery issues, but I like to headcanon that another reason he was discarded was because he was too gentle, which would line up with the idea of a younger ergo. Sure, he had the power and potential to be ferocious (and we can definitely see how strong he is), but maybe he always held back back in his first days as an “officer”.

It wasn’t until resentment toward the adults who harmed children, since they drove them away and left them to die, and ultimately the Puppet Frenzy itself, that he finally unleashed all that power; letting grief and rage consume him.

But anyway, this is just a small theory that popped into my head! I haven’t played Lies of P since Silksong came out, but it was great to watch a friend play and catch this little detail that immediately set my brain into writing mode again.

I just love this game so much. it always sparks the writer and analyzer in me. But well, as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! ^^

[vampimich]

I was wondering if have you seen the movie “I, Robot?” The one with will smith, I’m watching it right now and the robot’s name is Sonny. I started thinking about P, we know in the game he’s never called Pinocchio. But if somehow Romeo was alive I wonder what he would call him.

I think P would say something like “my father calls me son”

and Romeo would jokingly call him “Sonny”

but idk just a random thought and I wanted your opinion😅

I haven’t seen the movie, but I know a few scenes from it!

Honestly I have no idea what Romeo would call him, but my headcanon is that he would ask P what he would like and then he would propose to call him like one of the characters from the wooden puppet book, just as his nickname is lampwick.

As for the Sonny name, honestly that would be hilarious and I think that could very much happen! With Romeo always teasing Carlo, and then P by extension, he would surely add call him all sorts of variations of son, Sonny included!

It would also be a very cool nod to the movie! 🤣🤭

[vampimich]

A bit on Giangio and Simon

----- LIES OF P & OVERTURE SPOILERS -----

This is just a little theory that came to me while I was going through all the lore items in the game. I noticed that the Great Master’s Letter of Excommunication shares the same wax seal and flower motif as the Letter of the Eternal.

That got me thinking: this is a letter Giangio, P.P., or Guillaume (I’ll post another theory/analysis on that soon) sent to Valentinus, which would make him not only the Grand Master and leader of the Order, but also Valentinus’s former master.

The line that stood out to me the most was: “I’ve heard my sea monster is on the move, and he is headed your way.” And since I’m very smart and not dumb at all 🤪😅, I thought immediately of Simon (and not that ugly shark boss).

When I realized he wasn’t talking about any fish enemies, I remembered that Simon’s middle name is Pistris, which of course refers to sea monster. From this line, it seems like Giangio was fully on board with everything Simon was doing. He doesn’t just call him Simon, he calls him MY sea monster. Almost as if he was proud of the monster Simon had become, and that he still had him in the palm of his hand.

Of course, in the end they were all pawns in the “Krat experiment,” but it looks like Giangio endorsed Simon’s atrocities because they aligned with his idea of “evolution.”

I don’t know what kind of relationship Simon and our pale, gray man really had. I’ve seen theories about Giangio possibly being Simon’s father, which would make Simon’s actions a way of trying to impress him. But even if that’s not the case, it seems clear Simon was on the Grand Master’s good side.

Meanwhile, this same Grand Master was already disappointed with Valentinus, first for straying from “the path”, for holding onto his human heart. But what broke it all was giving away the Arm of God (probably to Geppetto, and probably out of guilt after EVERYTHING the alchemists did to his family). That’s when he ordered Valentinus’s excommunication.

He didn’t exactly order Simon to go after him, though. My guess is he just wanted to deliver the excommunication decree and the “cure”, and when he learned Simon got involved, it was more like: “Well, I tried, but your fate is sealed.” 

It was the rest of the Order who commanded Simon, and of course Simon jumped at the chance. He needed Valentinus out of the way to secure absolute power over the alchemists; he lusted over Sophia and her abilities; and he needed massive amounts of ergo for trying to swallow God.

And again, Giangio didn’t care. Human lives meant nothing to him, and while Simon wasn’t exempt from that indifference, unlike Valentinus he represented “results” for the experiment.

I just wanted to share that connection, since I didn’t realize it myself until I had all the lore items laid out in my inventory and when I was able to read everything in one go instead of random moments throughout the game. 

I’d still love more information on Giangio’s relationship with Simon, and also with Valentinus, because it really does seem like Valentinus was once a valuable apprentice.

But well, they won’t give us answers, so here we are: analyzing and overanalyzing everything we can.

And as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! 😄😄

[vampimich]

Long story short I’m doing a list of LOP fanart and I finally have WIP of a Sophia painting I want to do. In honor your recent fanfic I thought you might appreciate seeing it even if it’s not done yet.

Omg!!! This is so pretty!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 I love her clothes and her soft expression!!

Of course I do appreciate it! And I think everyone else should! What a nice illustration! And I can’t wait to see it finished 🤩

(Also sorry for the late response, adulting was hard today 😪) but thanks for sharing this gorgeous art! ✨✨

[vmpmch-writes]

A tale of two sisters - Chapter I

Read on AO3 here!

Hi everyone! I still have no self-control, so the Lies of P brainrot is still possessing me. This time I am working on a fic related to the Monad sisters, because I needed so much more of their relationship and neowiz gave us nothing :')

Anyways I hope you like it! And if you do, please give it a like and share! ^^

[vampimich]

Hiii, I just did something for the monad sisters, because I really need more content on them!

[vampimich]

Geppetto and the KoP

----- Lies of P spoilers -----

What do you think was going through Geppetto’s mind when he made Romeo the King of Puppets?

We know Geppetto needed the Puppet Frenzy to happen so he could harvest ergo, deal with the carcasses and those infected with the Petrification Disease, and sabotage the Alchemists. He also needed the King of Puppets as a scapegoat so he had someone to blame for all the horrors he committed so he could come out looking clean.

So the KoP role was essential to his plans. But why Romeo? Why not just another random citizen?

My theory is that he really hated Romeo. Let’s imagine for a moment this account is not into Carmeo and that Carlo and Romeo were just very close best friends. Even then, both boys shared a deep bond. And if we go by Pinocchio lore, Lampwick was always portrayed as a bad influence on Pinocchio.

So even if Geppetto was absent for most of his son’s life, he very audaciously still resented Romeo (and Lea) for leading Carlo into danger, into the life of a Stalker. In his mind, they, along with the Alchemists, would have to pay for what happened to him.

From a practical standpoint, Geppetto also needed someone strong for the role. But he couldn’t pick the strongest (which would be Lea) because if she awoke her ego she would be very difficult to handle. Romeo, while formidable, was weaker in Geppetto’s eyes, and thus the safer choice.

Part of me once wondered if Geppetto chose Romeo because of his closeness to Carlo, maybe to help Carlo adapt in his new life. But if that had been the plan, why didn’t he give Romeo the ability to communicate with humans? Why did he gave Romeo a huge armor to keep his true face hidden, when he went ahead and made him look just as he did when he was human? Why make him so disposable from the start?

I think P’s lack of Carlo’s memories was a blessing in disguise for Geppetto. It gave him the perfect opportunity to mold his son into exactly what he wanted, and to erase Romeo in the process. What greater satisfaction could he get than watching his son kill someone who had once been so important to him (someone whom Geppetto hated), especially when Romeo could still recognize him and suffer through it?

I think Geppetto enjoyed it. He felt his vengeance fulfilled. He even seemed a little spiteful right after the fight, when he spoke to P outside the Opera House and said something like: “Unlike a real king, the King of Puppets left no heir.” To me, that sounded like mockery.

How dare he even mention that. He made Romeo a King and forced him into that role, one he never wanted.

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I genuinely think Geppetto deliberately chose Romeo to make him suffer. To use him, then discard him.

If P ever regained Carlo’s memories and asked, I imagine Geppetto being like: “Aren’t I the best father? I brought your best friend into your new life!” (Just like he wanted RB Carlo to kill everyone in Hotel Krat and turn them into puppets.) 

But when Romeo’s ego awakened, Geppetto’s attitude would have shifted to: “Well, that’s your fault, not mine. Time to activate Plan Scapegoat and get rid of you!” Since he is very much a threat to his plans of control both over Krat and over his own son.

But that’s just my theory. What do you think? Why did Geppetto make Romeo the King of Puppets? I’d love to hear the theories!.

[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! 😄

[vampimich]

Enjoy!

P!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

He is so nice in your style!! And the colors be texture from the clothes seem so soft! Thank you so much kind one! And please everyone look at this amazing doodle by @azm0n !!!! 🎉

[vampimich]

lol I just finish making this last night, I’ll make your sketch but you have this as place holder for now!

OMG P!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

This is such a nice piece! The pose! The legion arm! And P characteristic soft expression!! I love this! 💕💕

[vampimich]

I hope the move wasn’t too stressful and you’re adjusting to your new place! I was wondering if you’d be interested in a free LOP doodle of a character of your choice 😅 I like giving art I make to people I think are cool so it’s no trouble on my end.

Hi friend! It’s very sweet of you to ask!

The moving was hard! The moving company lost and broke some of my furniture 🥺, so I’m still dealing with the aftermath of that. But at least the new place is great! I love it here and my cat liked the place as well!

And OMG? Really??? I’m so flattered you considered me for this! 🫶🏻🙈

If it’s really not too much trouble a doodle of P would be nice. I love that boi so much and if I could I would adopt him and protect him from all the horrors of Krat 🥹

Thank you so much both for the message and the proposal! 💕

[vampimich]

Sophia and her reaction to seeing Gemini with P

Hi all! I'm already in my new place but I still have so much to unpack, and organize, but I still wanted to take some time to write something about the game, so here we are!

I’ve been thinking about the Monad sisters a lot (I’m even making a fic about them), and I started wondering what Sophia must have thought when she first saw that P had Gemini.

Gemini is “The Monad’s Lamp.” Whether he was created in this generation or a past one, he’s clearly been with the Monad family for a long time.

And more than that, we know the last bearer of the lamp was her sister, Lea.

We don’t know what their relationship was like after Lea cut ties with the Monads, but they probably grew apart, mostly because of the distance. Then, after the Rose Estate Tragedy happened and Sophia was taken prisoner by Simon, she completely lost contact with her sister.

Sophia knew their parents were killed, but how could she possibly know what happened to her dear Lea?

I imagine that as she searched for anyone who could help her, she must have desperately looked for her too. But she never found anything; not her body, not her ergo, not even a puppet resembling her.

No one spoke of Lea again. And while Sophia probably understood what that silence could mean… I don’t think she ever truly lost hope.

So when P came to her and she saw Gemini at his side, and in such a battered state, what could she have thought?

This lamp had been Lea’s, just like the Rose Sword. Two possessions she had kept close even after cutting ties with the Monads. And now Gemini was here, broken and barely functioning.

Who had done this? What had happened to her sister? Was she really gone? And if so… what exactly had occurred?

Her sister was the strongest person she knew. Sophia must have prayed that if Lea had died, it had been a peaceful passing.

But given the circumstances? That hope must have completely disappeared.

I think when she saw P, she was horrified and hurt, but she couldn’t let it show. P, who looked so much like dear Carlo Geppetto, had no memories and barely understood the world around him. What good would it do to burden him with her distress?

Not that he could have understood her pain anyway, not at first, at least.

It’s also worth noting that Sophia is the one who sends us to Geppetto early in the game, saying we might have questions and that he might have answers. I wonder if, deep down, she was also hoping to learn something about Lea, and about how he had come into possession of Gemini (oh gods, if she only knew).

But as much as she might have wanted to know her sister’s fate, the truth was… she had to focus on herself.

She was agonizing, dying,  and painfully so. She needed the puppet’s help. If Lea was truly gone, Sophia knew she wouldn’t be far behind. Maybe they could finally both be at peace, free of burdens.

So even if she wanted to cry when she saw Gemini, she kept her composure. And maybe she even thought it best for him to remain with P. Carlo was gone too, but his ergo lived on, so of course his spiritual successor was the best one to carry the Monad’s lamp, the companion that had once been Lea’s now watching over her dear apprentice.

And with that, the shock turned into acceptance. From then on, she could see Gemini — and P — as her sister’s legacy, still living on.

But anyway, that’s just my interpretation from trying to flesh out the relationship between the sisters, since Neowiz barely gave us anything about them 🫠

And as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

[vampimich]

A thank you post!

Hi all!!! I haven’t been posting anything else for Lies of P these days, but I’m moving, and the process is consuming ALL my time 🥺,

But I at least wanted to post a thank you to all of you! Thanks for reading my posts, for liking them, and interacting with them!! 🥰🥰

Everyone in this fandom has been very kind and it’s honestly so incredible to see all your responses through tags!

You’re all so incredible,

Just thanks again! And I hope I can continue writing here soon! 😄😄

[vampimich]

Hi I was wondering if I could get your opinion on Carlo and P(ino.) I keep going back and forth on if Pino is his own person or if he becomes Carlo. There’s a lot of other stories I’ve seen over the years about a character who died and “became a robot” Astro Boy, Nick Valentine, the replicates from the Blade Runner Universe, not robots but have memories of people, which go into the they’re their own person stuck with someone else’s memories. But in the game people like Lea refer to P as Carlo, even in the true ending Geppetto calls him son, Arelcchino is the first one to refer to him as human (I think) another is when P revives Sophia into puppet I think it’s her she’s just been placed into a puppet. But this why I go back and forth 😅

Hi hi! 👋

Sure! I’m always happy to discuss and talk about Lies of P!

For me it is hard for me to separate P from Carlo, but at the same time I don’t think P is tied to just be Carlo. P is his own experience. He has his own memories, his own understanding with the world, his own relationships with people Carlo met. P has his own story, and is his own person.

But this is where Carlo gets intertwined! Because after all, P has Carlo’s ergo. We hear from Geppetto that P inherited his personality and maybe I would be extrapolating here, but I believe both Antonia and Lea give their own nods on how they feel P’s behavior is very similar to Carlo’s.

So yeah, certainly P has a lot of traits and characteristics that Carlo had, but I would say that is where the line is drawn.

P would never be Carlo, because Carlo himself was a whole set of memories, experiences and feelings to which P don’t have access to. And even if he at any moment recovered Carlo’s memories, if he got to feel and reenact any of those experiences from his past life, that would never erase all the moments that P has already lived by himself. Like there would be no overriding of his personality at all.

On the other hand, P would represent another stage in both their lives. A combination of both, but the truth is he cannot be Carlo anymore. He’s matured, grown, taken his own path.

Carlo represented his human life and what it entailed, while P is the next stage in his existence. His heart persisted, but it’s time to walk on another path. But again, this would also not just completely erase who Carlo was. After all he is the base of who P is, he would just be in a more matured headspace to know it’s time to continue with life.

As for the people who call P Carlo like Lea for example, I think it’s just the fact that she doesn’t have any other way to call him! 😄 she just saw his cherished apprentice face and I doubt she would really be familiar with ergo phenomenons like this, so Carlo it is!

Same for Romeo when he calls us Carlo. He thinks his friends ego awoke with memories and then he realized the memories were still locked, but in my eyes he was calling the ergo directly hence why he mentions Carlo’s name. Also he doesn’t know what else to call him!

As for Geppetto I think during the whole game is more of a manipulation thing and to keep appearances with the people from the hotel, sadly only understanding that even without his memories, P loved him as much as Carlo did and that he rightfully was his son to, being a mix of Carlo and just by himself.

And yeah! For Sophia, she clearly remembers who she was before dying to in her case it would be a very direct continuation of who she was, but at the same, ready to move into a next step into her existan existence, as human Sophia is gone and she would never get to experience life just as she did in the past.

Anyways, I think I overextended a bit 😅, but I hope I was able to provide a good perspective on this! And I feel you, I’ve also been comparing P’s situations to others we see from other media! It certainly raises a lot of questions!

But yeah, for me P deserves to be treated as his own person! (While holding with him Carlo’s personality and sleeping memories with him 🥹)

And also thanks for asking!

[vampimich]

About fathers and children (Carlo and Simon)

----- Lies of P Spoilers? -----

We know that Lies of P has a lot of themes running through it, but the one I wanted to touch on today is the relationship between fathers and children, and how that relationship shapes the characters.

There are quite a few father-child relationships in the game that leave a mark on the characters, but this time I just want to focus on two: Geppetto and Carlo, and Simon and his dad (Giangio - P.P., maybe? 🤭). These two relationships feel like the core of the story and really push the whole narrative forward.

Both Carlo and Simon start from a somewhat similar place in terms of their fathers, and we’ll use Simon’s confession to start things off:

“A father is like God to his son.” “You’re a failure too.” Being abandoned in front of God meant the world’s destruction.

This was Simon’s experience as a child. He idolized his father, but was deemed a failure and then abandoned. That broke him.

And while the circumstances were different, the same essentially happened to Carlo.

Carlo loved his father deeply, maybe even idolized him as well. And while Geppetto didn’t outright call him a failure, he did abandon him at his most vulnerable moment. After losing his mother, his father left without explanation. Who knows what thoughts went through Carlo’s mind?

Maybe he believed his father no longer loved him. Maybe he thought he’d done something wrong. Maybe he felt he wasn't enough.

Maybe… he thought he was a failure too.

Carlo and Simon are two sides of the same coin, and their juxtaposition adds incredible depth to Lies of P. (Look at me using fancy words)

Both were abandoned by the figure they revered most, the only parent they had left. Both became bitter and emotionally scarred. But they walked very different paths. Carlo had every chance to end up like Simon. And given how truly awful Geppetto is (a narcissist, a manipulator, and a genocidal murderer) it wouldn’t be surprising if some of those traits could've passed on. (Of course, I'm not saying Carlo was doomed by his blood or destined to repeat Geppetto’s sins. 😣 That’s not what I mean!)

I just mean that, with a father like that, it would’ve been easy for Carlo to fall into darkness.

He was emotional and intense; a feisty, determined child. Someone like that, deeply hurt and passionate, could have easily let those emotions spiral into hatred. But unlike Simon, Carlo chose love.

He wanted to protect others, so much that he wanted to become a Stalker. He didn’t want to serve the Old Families or align with the Alchemists—he wanted to walk a righteous path. That’s why he and Romeo turned to Lea instead. They admired her integrity, not power.

He also learned to forgive. He didn’t let his anger over Geppetto's abandonment define him. Sure, he was hurt. And when he said he wouldn’t care if Geppetto “kicked the bucket,” it was just the emotion talking. He didn’t really wish him harm. He just wasn’t willing to burn the world over it.

Instead, he found family in others. He found joy in music, in being a Stalker, in simple moments with Lea, Romeo, Antonia, Rosaura, and the people at the Monads Charity House.

Carlo had walked through darkness, but he chose healing. He chose love. He chose life. Carlo was good. He was kind. He was always a good boy.

Simon, on the other hand, embraced self-destruction and hatred. I don’t know how he was as a child, but growing up in the Alchemists’ Order must have been traumatizing.

Unlike Carlo, Simon probably never knew love. And yes, that likely played a big part in who he became.

I do feel sympathy for child Simon. And I don’t want to excuse his horrific actions. But I understand—his pain, his isolation, and especially his mind-reading ability must have been unbearable. This, for child Simon only.

But then, he became a grown man now. He had time to grow, to change, to choose better. And yes, most of the Alchemists are awful people, but have seen even some alchemists have good in them.

Valentinus, for example, he too was driven by with looking for evolution, ascension, but he learned love. He tried to atone. His crimes didn’t vanish, but he sought to walk on a better path. That’s something Simon never even attempted.

I don’t know if Simon and Valentinus had the same upbringing, but they were both shaped by the same organization. But I do think that once Valentinus entered his life, he must have finally experienced some form of kindness. It clearly took a lot for Valentinus to eventually turn against him, so I like to believe that at some point, he supported Simon, maybe even encouraged him and treated him like a protégé.

So Simon did have some kindness in his life, but he still chose to abandon his humanity. He preyed on a young girl, obsessed over her, manipulated her, hurt her deeply and made her suffer so so much. Even if she represented kindness in his life, he still choose to hurt her.

In the end, Simon chose to be selfish. Carlo chose to be selfless.

And then we also have P.

P, too, was lied to. He was considered a defect. In a way, he was abandoned by Geppetto. Yet P, just like Carlo, chose love. He chose kindness, forgiveness, and protection over hatred and destruction.

Both P and Carlo show us that even when we're deeply wounded by those who are supposed to care for us, even when we come from pain, we can choose to heal. To do better. To love.

Something Simon never did.

And that’s basically it. It was a bit long, but I really wanted to ramble about this 🤪

[vmpmch-writes]

Toward the future we deserve

Read on AO3 here!

Hi everyone!!!! I'm bringing more Lies of P to the feed today!

I am incredibly excited because I commissioned this beautiful piece of art from the very talented @cinnapiss !! We actually brainstormed a lot of this story together and I'm just so happy I can finally share with the world this collaboration!

This is a post canon fix it fic just because I wanted to give everyone a better and more hopeful ending, so I hope you enjoy! And if you haven't gone and given cinnapiss your love this day, please go and do so!!!!

[vampimich]

Hi everyone! I made another fic! And I commissioned cinnapiss for the amazing image that will accompany this work! Please give him lots of love for this incredible illustration!!!

[vampimich]

Theory time! Grave at Path of the Pilgrim

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

(Image is from the precise moment we come back from the DLC, P hasn't moved one inch)

This is just a theory, so I might be getting some things wrong, but I really think the grave on the Path of the Pilgrim (the one that is right before the DLC stargazer, the one with the Smiling Bunny Mark ) is Carlo’s grave.

Back during the base game days, I thought maybe it belonged to a fifth sibling from the Black Rabbit Brotherhood. We find the Smiling Bunny Mark there, and the BRB clearly loved each other a lot, so it made sense that a beloved family member might rest there.

I gave it some thought back then but landed on nothing concrete.

But now, after finishing the DLC, something clicked. When P is transported back to the present, he wakes up right there in the graveyard. Sure, it makes sense since the DLC stargazer is there, but it’s very interesting how they chose to position him.

P is standing there, with the stream of white butterflies guiding him, and to the right, directly in our field of view, there it is: the white glowing thingy on that grave. It’s right there, basically begging to be interacted with.

So I interacted with it. I couldn’t quite remember what the message said at that moment, but with it being placed so obviously after the DLC, I thought maybe it had changed or was now more relevant.

It hadn’t changed. But I could see what the message said again:

“A child who was a blessing to his family lies here. May he rest in peace.”

And you know who was a blessing to his family, his found family? You know who died while still considered a child? Carlo.

To me, it felt symbolic; coming back to the present from a time where P could fulfill both Lea’s and Carlo’s wishes, and waking up in the place where Carlo could very well be buried.

There are so many spots around the stargazer where P could’ve woken up — but the devs put us there, with that view. On purpose.

So here’s where I start theorizing a bit further.

I believe Lea and Romeo were the ones who handled Carlo’s funeral. And by “funeral,” I mean just the burial part at least. Lea had cut ties with the Monad family, so she likely had no funding for anything grand. And she certainly wouldn’t lay her beloved apprentice to rest in any cemetery connected to Valentinus or the Rose Estate.

I don’t know what the post-mortem situation was for Petrification Disease victims, but considering how those afflicted were quarantined, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was resistance to burying infected bodies in standard cemeteries.

By the time Antonia found out, maybe Lea and Romeo had already taken care of everything, and she just went and visited. As for Geppetto, I like to think he attended the funeral, but I don’t think he ever tried to take his son’s body elsewhere.

Why?

First, where would he bury him? In his garden? I doubt he was ever given Camille’s body back. The Alchemists probably used it for twisted experimentation, just like her Ergo. So why bother?

Second, he intended to exhume the body. And what better way to do that discreetly than to bury Carlo somewhere in the slums, where no one would see, and even if they did, no one would say anything?

Even if Geppetto hated the idea of Lea and Romeo arranging the burial, it didn’t matter. He planned to bring Carlo back, and in his mind, wouldn’t need the grave anymore.

The inscription on that grave  “a blessing to his family” obviously meant that he was a blessing to  Lea, Romeo, and maybe Antonia and Sophia.

Because that was his family.

Just like Romeo had engraved in his locket, they were a family. And Carlo was deeply loved by them. So yes, he would be a child who was a blessing to his family.

Now, this part might be a stretch, but while talking about this theory with a friend, he suggested something else:

Maybe the graves next to him belonged to Lea and Romeo.

We know Geppetto got both of them. I don’t know what happened to Lea, maybe she was turned into a puppet we never see, but unlike with Carlo, Geppetto didn’t need their bodies. Just their Ergos.

So he likely extracted them and disposed of the remains.

But maybe, just maybe, as a final act of twisted kindness, Geppetto laid their bodies to rest next to Carlo’s burial place because even he couldn’t deny that they had made Carlo happy.

Maybe, out of gratitude or guilt, he placed them there in unnamed graves. A final resting place for this little “family.”

As for the Smiling Bunny Mark, I have three possible explanations:

One of the BRB siblings just dropped it while passing through. One of them is known for losing stuff all the time, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he lost something important like this somewhere near Malum District or Path of the Pilgrim.

Maybe Carlo had it with him, and that’s how he and Romeo got into the Malum District (assuming they physically there when they wrote on the painting at the Red Lobster Inn). After his death, Lea, who disliked the BRB just as Gemini, might’ve just left the mark there. (I like this theory the least.)

It’s just a breadcrumb. I think the devs placed it there to draw attention to an important piece of lore.

I’ve heard from several players that they missed the Smiling Bunny Mark and the stargazer altogether on their first playthrough (and with this, the grave as well).

Now imagine if there would have been no item there to pick up. The message would have been even harder to spot or missed completely.

So maybe the Smiling Bunny Mark wasn’t there to deepen BRB or Malum District lore, but rather to highlight Carlo’s grave, which gains much more meaning after the DLC. It fits the DLC’s purpose, as the director said: Overture is basically a “director’s cut”, content that was always meant to be part of the game but needed more time to be completed.

So if this one item was meant to guide players toward Carlo’s grave, now full of significance post-DLC, that would make a lot of sense.

Anyway… that was just me theorizing. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!