maer!!

I think Wally was made specifically for the Welcome Home show, and was never meant to be a real person to begin with. That's why he's so intent on being known as a puppet and "your best friend", because that is literally what he is within this context: he's the audience companion, he has to take your hand and guide you throughout Home, whether that is through the show and the everyday situations the neighbors get up to, or the hidden videos and audios that show you the truth of what's going on behind the scenes.

His character page says little information is ever told about him despite him being the main focus, because him having a backstory is unneeded: he has only ever lived in Home and has never been anywhere else. He learns things you would learn as a child, (colors, emotions, laughing, drawing and painting, the meaning of Christmas) as an adult, because he is first and foremost a character that was made to learn things in the show: so the fact it would be kind of impossible for him to live to being in his 20s without already knowing some of these things is completely irrelevant.

He does not know morse code despite that being the only way for him to talk to his own house because the show does not need him to know this nor for them to talk. (May be the same reason why Frank states he was the one to teach Home as well— the show did not need Home to know it either, so it didn't teach him.) He is ambidextrous (seen using both of his hands for different things in different illustrations) because it is more practical for him as the main character to be able to use both hands, and thus he is able to. He is the shortest out of the neighborhood because being 3 feet puts him roughly at the same height as the child audience the show would have, and thus makes him more approachable.

His voice corrupts in the hidden audios while staying normal in the storybooks, because while the storybooks are a part of the show and its context, the secret stuff are unintended and are thus removed from it. The Echo/Specimen E video has Wally react to Frank trying to leave in a strange way because this situation was unintended and thus he literally does not know how to react to it (→ him using his catchphrase, "wouldn't that be the most?" despite the fact he actually rarely uses it in general → Wally using more strength than is usual for him → not outright telling Frank not to leave, nor why he shouldn't, but rather telling him to stay for the party's sake.)

If you remember back to posts from Clown's blog, (which yes I know Clown said not to use the posts but hear me out), this also tracks with some of the things he's said. Wally is most comfortable smiling because that's what's most convenient for the show. Wally has an "interesting relationship" to food and eats with his eyes because the show does not need him to eat (real life puppets cannot eat, after all), and thus he is not made to know the "proper" way to eat (with one's mouth). Wally understood art after he came to the neighborhood because he was always intended to learn it through the show.

I think the fact that he is able to see the hidden videos, access the website, call us and W on the phone, etc... shows that he is indeed a person, he's not "fake", he could get out of this context. (And well, there has to be some reason why he's reaching out to us; and if you believe him to be the WHRP's mystery collaborator, why he is trying to have us find the show.)

and then he was killed (mostly) by a non sorcerer who relied solely on his own physical strength, dexterity and tactical intelligence.

and now in the future/present, for a pretty large portion of the manga, we see him mostly using actual martial arts in combat, and while he still leans on infinity to bolster his defense, he’s also made himself difficult to hit by just how fast he is. red comes around when he feels like showing off, purple when he wants to play rough, but beyond that it’s just pure unbridled mma. that 15 hit wing chun combo he delivered to miguel? he never would’ve done something like that as a teenager. he uses blue a bit in an offensive capacity during the fight with hanami and jogo, but when domain amplification comes into play, he switches pretty seamlessly to hand to hand and doesn’t give either of them anything even resembling a fighting chance; he only uses domain expansion when he realizes how outnumbered he is, and EVEN THEN it’s for less than a second, the rest of that fight is, again, pure hands. it isn’t until the fight with sukuna that he really starts to lean again on his jujutsu; even in that fight he had Sukuna outclassed with his skill in martial arts. Bro went from not bothering to get his hands dirty to being inarguably the greatest hand to hand combatant in the verse, second only (maybe) to Maki. 

“Now, Merlin,” Arthur drawls, fingers clenched around the bones of Merlin’s shoulder, his other hand clutching a bedsheet to his waist, “what is this?”

Merlin stares at the slab of hardwood, and is forced to wonder whether all of Arthur’s head injuries are finally catching up to him at once. “It’s… a door, sire.”

“Very good,” grunts Arthur, his grip tightening; Merlin’s arm is starting to hurt, a bit. “And what is it, exactly, that we do with doors?”

Merlin blinks. Arthur doesn’t move. The door offers no extenuation. “We… open them?”

“No,” says Arthur, pressing himself forward, so that his bare chest is flush with Merlin’s back. Merlin has the distinct sense that if Arthur had a knife, he’d use it; but he does not, so most of Merlin’s blood is staying where it is. “We knock,” Arthur mutters, into the shell of Merlin’s ear, “and then we open it.”

Several pieces fall into place at once, and it becomes immediately clear to Merlin just what sort of scene he has so blithely interrupted. He shuffles backwards, in search of proof, but Arthur steps away. 

“I’m not sure I understand, sire,” Merlin offers, fluttering his lashes in a manner he has been told looks quite innocent. “Perhaps you could show me?”

Arthur grits his teeth, but reaches a broad arm around the side of Merlin’s ribs, grabbing his hand and curling the fingers into a fist. Then, slowly, roughly, he drags it up to rap rap rap against the panel of the door.

“I see,” Merlin muses, biting at his lip, as Arthur drops his wrist again with haste. “And how do you prefer it, sire? Should I be gentle, or really give it a good pounding?”

He twists around just in time to watch Arthur’s neck flush very slightly red.

“I don’t care,” Arthur grates, though he wrenches a second layer of the sheet towards his lap. “So long as you do it.”

“It’s only that I wouldn’t want to tire out my hand,” Merlin explains. “It would be difficult to service you without it. And your royal wood just seems so hard.”

Arthur’s ears change color, and a strange sound escapes his throat. “Well,” he coughs, inching himself sideways, though Merlin turns as well, in sync. They circle one another until Arthur backs into the door; his eyes are very dark, cheeks red. “See that you learn quickly. As I won’t teach you again.”

Merlin sighs, and shrugs, and Arthur shifts, making the hinge pins rattle in their shafts.

“No,” Merlin decides, “I’m just not sure that knocking is for me. Though I can think of another way to use a door. So that you’ll know exactly when I’m coming.”

Arthur’s gaze meets Merlin’s own, and his tongue darts out to lick his lip. “Oh?”