Okay, what is Poppy?
Throughout the Omega Timeline: Poppy's Story AU, I've realized that, beyond Poppy's origin, and her acquiring her SOUL, I've never truly delved into what Poppy is exactly. Though her """species""" is generously described as a "Ostensibly, Paper Human", that's not really true. Paper Frisk is unquestionably a paper human, so really, Poppy's true nature hasn't really been explained up until now. Though 4 years late, I've written up an entire post going over some things I've jotted down over the years of how she works.
Any addendums I may make will be listed at the bottom of the page.
What species is she?
I don't know
What is she, then?
(as seen in the Poppy's Origin comic)
Poppy was originally a drawing by a Chara, brought to life by Ink Frisk- whose magic specializes in bringing things to life through art. Though useful in a pinch, they would have never expected something like Poppy to come out of it. In this form, Poppy was essentially moving through the motions, doing as told. Though having some semblance of understanding of what was told to her, she lacked any means of communicating it.
Of course, this wasn't going to last forever, even if Core fed her magic food, the spell would eventually run its course. Thus, they resorted to one of the recently-rescued scientists: (a) W.D. Gaster. But everyone calls him Fling Ding.
(as seen in The Quality of You)
Through Fling Ding's efforts, Poppy was given an artificial SOUL, and was thus born anew. The SOUL inherited all of the body's thoughts and loose memories, and has thus become what Poppy is. This generally implies that Poppy IS the soul, that pilots a paper body. ... But, of course, it's a bit more complicated like that.
How is she 3D, if she's made out of paper?
(Core doesn't naturally have magic, they have to pull it out of a jar every time..)
This is achieved through an obscure spell that Core's learned of through their eternal omnipresence. This spell provides Poppy with all the perks of 3D. Though, of course, it also takes magic to uphold.
When young, Poppy would often be tired from attempting to uphold this spell. When she fell asleep, she would do so as 2D, then core would have to cast the spell at her in the morning. As years went by and her SOUL grew stronger however, she's rarely ever seen in 2D, even when sleeping.
Not to say she doesn't have days where she simply... Can't turn 3D at all. But they're few and far between. As long as she eats healthily, and has a good sleep schedule, it usually doesn't happen.
What does she eat?
Her diet consists of magic food, mostly. Given she does not have any digestive system, any physical food she may try to eat, sort of... Lounges in her mouth until she spits it out. She can taste it, but no one likes to chew on food for longer than needed. She also drinks regular water and whatnot.
Wait, but is she waterproof? Is water going to kill her? How can she drink?
I've pondered myself this many times. But, ultimately, I feel like Core wouldn't just... make her live a life where she is constantly afraid of the weather, or even washing dishes. So I believe she has some waterproof magic going on.
As for how drinking water or any non-magic liquid works for her, I'm not sure. Maybe her body just, naturally fizzles out the water with the magic.
Okay, how does she grow up?
Very good question! Poppy's bodies are drawings on paper after all. You would think that maybe, the body magically ages up. But, at least for this Poppy, it doesn't work like that.
Poppy's bodies are custom-drawn by the Chara who drew her originally (who doesn't really ask why core would need a life-size drawing of their character, they pay very good money) at every stage of her life. And it's not just one body per stage, no. Poppy is a slightly reckless person, so she's had her fair share of accidentally hurting herself.
So now to the gut of the question, how does she go from body to body? It's a fairly simple task, actually!
Whenever she jumps on a similar looking body, the process is quite seamless, but when she jumps onto a taller body— or, really, a body that's drastically different than her current one, it takes some readjusting.
"So that's not my left arm..."
However, after some time adjusting, she's up and ready to go again.
As for what happens with the previous bodies, however...
Core keeps them safely stored somewhere unknown.
Wait, hold on, could she possess any drawing? Even something baseless and meaningless like a scribble?
She could. But it's not exactly pleasant for her. It's like trying to steer a car that's a block of wood. But yes, besides those types of drawings, she could feasibly look like anyone or anything given enough time. Her voice would be a dead giveaway however.
How can she change clothes? Or cut her hair without damaging the paper? How can she speak without vocal cords? How can her body know what's under the clothes when it's drawn with clothes?
Magic. ... Honestly, magic. I just don't have a better explanation. But I would imagine that if, for example, you tried to cut her hair in 2D, that would lead to less-than-desirable results.
How much does she feel? Does she see the world differently?
Another excellent question, hypothetical reader. As I had written it originally in the askblog, I sort of liked the idea that Poppy had a very limited perception of the world. She couldn't feel anything touching or burning her, she could barely taste, she could barely smell. And she can hardly be aware of anything outside of her view (she doesn't have the gut feeling of feeling she has intimidating people next to her, for instance).
But with Core teaching her that everyone's not always as bad as they seem (especially with her found family choices), it's not like this last aspect has changed much.
But, as years went by, I had a very different idea. What I've said would remain true... through more or less the first few months or so of Poppy being in a new body. As her SOUL attuned to the body, she would slowly build more human-esque senses. And perhaps even more human characteristics as well such as sweating. These being rooted in Poppy's understanding of humans... so, mostly Dusted, Core, and Mon for a good while.
As for eyesight, I've had the idea she does see things different than you and I, but I'm just not sure how to convey it through drawing or writing, so it's generally remained shelved for the time being.
... And that's all she wrote! If anything needs adding, it will be done under this. For now, consider yourself a Poppy-ologist.
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