The Man (Puppet Boy Prequel)

Answers

Hi guys! :) Thank you guys for asking questions!

THE MAN (Prequel):

Why does Tommy think that the audience is alive? Was he hallucinating? Is Julie actually dead?

Yes, Tommy was hallucinating. And yes, Julie is dead! With the way his father brainwashed Tommy to believe all those years that dead people/actual wooden puppets were alive and that alive people were puppets, Tommy began to think the same way his father did.  They are both obviously psychologically ill.

Did Julie really love Thomas?

Sadly, no. I mean if you want to interpret that she did actually love him, that's totally fine, but I did not write her with the intentions of actually loving him. She was saying what she could to get out of there, and only felt bad for him as a child. :(

Where did Tommy's dad take him for the Puppet Show?

An old theatre. The reader's not supposed to know this since it's in third-limited in Tommy's POV and he has no idea where he is but whatever lol. Now you know!

Is Tommy's father actually his father?

Thank you for asking this question! Because no, he is not! I can not believe that someone figured that out! I tried to make it so subtle, maybe it was a little too subtle because it was seriously hard to ever think that. But nope, Tommy's dad is not his actual father. Tommy is the product of his mother's cheating, which is why Tommy's father does not genuinely think of him as a son after walking in on his mother. This would explain the anger in Tommy's "father" when Tommy hit puberty, and also the way Tommy does not resemble his "father" in any way. Also the way his creator would beat him relentlessly, at some points for no reason. It's very, very understated, so I understand if it was difficult to pick up on that. But thank you for this wonderful question! I think that you are the only person that had ever brought that up, which I am extremely happy you did :)

What killed Tommy's mom? Did Tommy's dad become that way because she cheated?

His dad killed her. He saw her cheating, and lost his mind, but told Tommy that it was because of cancer. He had her held in the basement for a while, starving her and treating her like he would any victim, hence Tommy being in there with her unknowingly. The whole situation is supposed to be confusing, because the reader is supposed to be in Tommy's position! And reading, for me anyway is about interpretation and detail. There's a few things that I don't just give to the reader

Why is Tommy's dad obsessed with puppets?

He just is. He feels that puppets will never leave him the way that people do, and he likes to create them as his own. Except he takes it a little too far lol

Why didn't Tommy ever run away? Didn't anybody ever notice him at school?

Tommy did not run away in the beginning because he was a terrified child, and because it was his father and he trusted him. He didn't know any better. And nope, nobody really paid close attention to him at all because of the way he looked. He was different, so nobody, even teachers sadly, really tried to figure out what was going on. It's supposed to be set a long time ago, like the 60's or 70's, so obviously stuff like that would be detected and treated now.

Puppet Boy:
(IMPORTANT: Please do not read further if you have not read Puppet Boy but intend to)

How did The Man know Emily's information beforehand?

He stalks his victims before he captures them, so he can know what/who they were before. This way he has the disgusting satisfaction of taking who they were beforehand away.

What's Tyler's backstory?

He was going to school to become a medical student, yet he had not yet graduated high school. (Him and Emily are both supposed to be around eighteen) He was athletic and popular, which is another reason why The Man targeted him. Out of jealousy and also the intention of making him into a puppet so he would not use his good looks for bad purposes. Also, Tyler and Emily did not know each other AT ALL, btw, so there's no real connection between their abduction besides their attractiveness.

Is The Man gay?

This is asked SO MANY times!! I did not intend for The Man to be gay or bisexual, but if you want him to be, you can imagine him as bisexual if you'd like lol. Since he obviously is attracted physically to Emily. He touches Tyler a lot as a way to show his twisted love for him. He has no idea how to show love without being strangely intimate.

Why does The Man target Tyler, and why doesn't he hurt Emily as much?

Somebody who has not read The Man may not know or understand this, but The Man sees himself in Tyler and Julie in Emily. With his female victims, he mostly gets sexually intimate with them, because he is taking out his "frustrations" I guess if you want to call it that, on them. The Man, being a former "Puppet Boy", his father abused him constantly to discipline him. So he just associates that with being more physically abusive towards his male victims. Also, Emily is really only an accessory for the "puppet show" as well as mostly there for "the Puppet Boy's pleasure", so most of the focus is on Tyler.

Does The Man get caught after Emily and Tyler?

I imagine that he does. If you're asking me personally what happens after, he gets caught right after the puppet show with them, which is sort of why they were the two written about even when he had years of all different victims. Because Emily and Tyler were his last. But that's just my take on it of course, you can imagine whatever happens next however you'd like.

Did you want to kill off Tyler and Emily?

NO! Of course not. I loved them. It was originally going to be a totally different ending, but I really wanted to leave people wondering what the hell they just read, rather than making it predictable. I wanted readers to say at the start of the book, "they're obviously going to escape/get rescued at the end, so i'm not even worried" only to find out that they don't. Sorry, I'm mean. :(

What ever happened with Andrew (Emily's little brother?)

Nothing, don't worry! The Man was just bluffing, he wouldn't take a young child. He has SOME morals... lmao.

Why does The Man sometimes show remorse throughout the story? Is he Bipolar?

The Man basically has two personalities: The one that his creator made him, and the one that he was before his past. For example, when he is whipping Tyler, he is acting like his father because he is laughing and allows Tyler's pain to only encourage him. After, he starts crying, because again, he sees himself in Tyler and remembers when he was in that situation. He's mentally ill, but he's not a complete sociopath like his father.

Other Questions:

Will there be any more stories related to The Man or Puppet Boy at all?

Not that I know of. I think that if I write any more stories related to the books, it might be dragging it out. But I'm not ruling the possibility out completely, because you never know :) But as of right now, I don't think so. :(

Will you write more stories?

Sure :)

Where did you get your inspiration for these books?

Dead Silence was a huge inspiration for me. Puppet Boy was supposed to be totally different and then suddenly a completely different idea struck me and I just stemmed off from there and tried my best to create the story as I went.
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And no, I am not insane for writing stories like these, which I have seen a few people assume LOL I don't know why though! Just because I like to write about creepy things, doesn't mean I'm promoting it or that I agree with it!!!

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Thank you all so much for being SO AMAZING with these books! I am in love with all of you!!!! I hope I answered your questions clearly. Sorry it's unnecessarily long too, I wanted to make sure everything was cleared up. :)

If I did not answer your question, personal message me or comment below and I will be sure to answer it!