#some envious bitterness toward the person who WAS actually there for carlo

[wrenhavenriver]

the way that a P who’s gained a significant amount of humanity will actually physically change to look like a young man old enough to have graduated rather than the more childish waif-like appearance he has at the start of the game makes me think that Geppetto, whether consciously or not, modeled him after Carlo when he was an age before their family relationship had been irreparably soured.

like, comparing the flashbacks we see of Carlo’s life, when he’s left at the Monad House as a young child he’s upset and anxious to know when Geppetto will return, but by the time we jump ahead several years to him telling Romeo that Geppetto missed his graduation he’s undeniably hurt but also much more bitter and (at least putting up a front of being) callous about it, remarking that he wouldn’t even care if Geppetto had kicked the bucket while he was away. i think P’s early game appearance probably comes from how Carlo looked during those years somewhere in between—a time when Carlo was less “difficult” about Geppetto’s neglect, perhaps, because Geppetto’s urge to bring Carlo back seems to be much less about him missing who Carlo was and more about trying to avoid/rewrite the truth of his own failures as a father.

maybe while Carlo was alive Geppetto had thought that he’d have time to fix things between them or that Carlo would eventually grow up to “understand” why Geppetto was always away—but then Carlo died tragically young, and he died resenting him. for Geppetto the only thing worse than this grievous loss would be acknowledging that Carlo was right to resent him. much easier to model this temporary replacement vessel after the Carlo from a time before he had given up on Geppetto as a father; much easier than confronting the fact that Geppetto was a father worth giving up on.

it’s fitting that the “Carlo” we see in the “Real Boy” ending seems far less human than P ever does, because he was never meant to be an accurate portrayal/resurrection of the young man Carlo was—rather, he’s compliant, and happy to see Geppetto, and ever so much more convenient than the real son who’d been so disappointed by his father.