#The implications of Caine having voice commands

[spark-hearts2]

yeaug

[libby-for-life]

What about a au about yandere lucifer x yandere lilith x yandere eve x time travel! Adam

Adam goes back in time but it the time after adam is kicked out of Eden with eve

He doesn't want anything to do with eve causing the angels to make magically cain for them

Well, he missed being a dad, so he was forcing all his time and energy towards cain. And because of this, lilith, lucifer, and Eve want to figure out why he is acting so different

(Sorry this took a while! Hope you like it!)

When Adam slowly opened his eyes, a sense of disorientation washed over him. Something felt profoundly wrong. The brightness surrounding him was overwhelming, piercing through the remnants of his slumber. It wasn’t the stark, blinding light he had always associated with Heaven, ethereal and blinding, nor was it the oppressive, dull red glow that he had come to recognize as Hell. No, this was different.

The light enveloping him was warm and golden, a gentle embrace that felt both inviting and strangely nostalgic. It was a sunlight he had only ever encountered in his dreams during those final moments of his earthly life, a light that whispered of life and hope. Adam could feel the soft warmth radiating on his skin, a stark contrast to the cold emptiness he had expected to find in death.

He blinked a few times, allowing his surroundings to come into focus. It was the sun. The realization hit him like a wave crashing against the shore. He was back on Earth—a place he thought he had left behind forever when he took his last breath. Yet here he was, basking in the glow of that brilliant sun, which should not have been possible. Confusion swirled in his mind as he tried to grasp the implications of being alive again, or perhaps in some new existence that defied all notions of life and death.

Adam glanced down and noticed that he was not wearing clothes. That old feeling of shame crept up like it always did whenever he looked at himself naked. He hated how he looked and he had always felt that way since he was given the Forbidden Fruit to eat. His eyes were opened in ways he could barely understand and he was unable to look at himself anymore like he used to.

But the question remained. Where was his clothes? Or better yet, his mask? In a blind panic, he grabbed at his face, feeling the beginnings of a panic attack coming along. No, he hated his face more than he hated his body. The ugly and plain face that everyone he had ever known hated to look at.

Quickly, he scrambled from the grass he was lying on and towards a pond. He looked down and gasped in horror as he saw dark brown eyes look back at him. Not the gold eyes he had grown accustomed to.

It was unlike Lilith's regal face, Eve's radiant body, or Lucifer's ethereal looks. No, Adam was the default human with brown eyes and hair. Like unassuming dirt. Or mud. How can anyone like looking at that?

Adam let out a whimper that he didn't realize was crawling up his throat. What was going on?! Why was he naked?! Why did he look like this?! Why did is seem like—

"Eden...this looks like Eden," Adam muttered. He was so used to his raspy voice, years of neglect and yelling would do that, that he wasn't used to the sound of a soft voice like it was freshly made. Biting his lip to help ground himself he glanced around. It was very clear something was going on and it wasn't some elaborate prank.

"Adam." The voice cut through the air like a blade, harsh and commanding. He recognized it instantly—Sera, the head Seraphim of angels. A shiver ran down his spine as he caught sight of her radiant form materializing before him, celestial light shimmering around her. Her gaze was fiercely piercing, a mixture of authority and urgency that unsettled him.

"Where is your wife?" she demanded, her tone leaving no room for negotiation. Adam's heart raced as he processed her words. Which wife was she referring to? His first, the enigmatic and rebellious Lilith, or his second, the gentle and nurturing Eve? The question tangled in his mind as he struggled to find his voice, leaving him silent and confused.

Before he could gather his thoughts, Sera reached out, her grip tightening around his arm like a vice. With a resolute motion, she began to drag him behind her, the ground feeling unsteady beneath his feet as he stumbled along.

"S-Sera? What’s going on?" he stammered, desperation creeping into his voice. Panic surged within him as the reality of the situation began to sink in, but he was too bewildered to comprehend the magnitude of whatever was unfolding. The way Sera moved, so determined and relentless, made it clear that whatever was happening was far more serious than he could fathom. All he knew was that the very essence of his existence seemed to be shifting, and fear clung to him like a shadow.

She forced him into a clearing and Adam felt himself shut down at what he saw. All three people he had at one point trusted, the people who he thought he loved, who were laughing and having sex together on the ground under the Tree of Knowledge. He had known, at least subconsciously, that Eve had cheated on him but to see it? Right before him? He could feel himself grow numb as their laughter was cut off.

Sera acted without a moment's hesitation as she forcefully shoved Adam aside, her focus shifting entirely to the chaotic scene before her. The urgency in her voice pierced through the air as she demanded answers from Lucifer, her eyes ablaze with a mix of anger and concern. Adam, overwhelmed and scared, instinctively curled into a tight ball on the ground, his heart racing as he tried to block out the noise.

The words exchanged between Sera and Lucifer faded into a distant murmur as tears streamed silently down Adam's cheeks. His fear escalated when Sera suddenly reached down and, with a single, powerful motion, lifted him effortlessly off the ground by one arm. He dangled helplessly in the air, the ground now far beneath him, his stomach twisting in dread.

Sera locked her fierce gaze onto him, her intensity almost palpable. “Did you know what would happen?” she demanded, her voice a mixture of frustration and desperation. “Why did you let Eve out of her sight? She was your responsibility!” Each question felt like a jab, pushing Adam deeper into despair.

As she shook him slightly, Adam’s voice faltered, barely able to escape his lips amidst the choking fear. “I’m sorry!” he cried out, his words tinged with panic and regret. The weight of Sera's disapproval bore down on him, amplifying his sense of helplessness in that moment.

He bit his lip harshly as Eve tried to look at him. "Adam? Can you please look at me?" Adam shook his head, stepping away from her as he clutched his bruised forearm. "No. Stay away from me." He managed to say before running away.

He was thrown back down as she said, "I won't let this go unpunished." Adam could only watch as Lucifer and Lilith were cast to Hell while he and Eve were cast out of Eden. Eve, for eating the apple and Adam because he didn't protect her. He couldn't look Eve in the eyes as he felt himself clothed by Gabriel and simply set loose to populate Earth in the dangerous lands before them.

He would never trust her. Or anyone for that matter. The thought of bringing new life into a world so fraught with betrayal felt pointless. "Screw populating," he muttered under his breath, the words laced with bitterness. He was done with the expectations that hovered over him like dark clouds. If Heaven wanted to impose their will, they were going to have to try a lot harder this time.

Eve attempted to catch up, her feet lightly brushing the ground as she moved, but a single, piercing glare from him brought her to an abrupt halt. “Haven’t you done enough?” he asked sharply, his voice heavy with resentment. The words hung in the air, and she flinched as if struck. Her eyes softened, filled with an ocean of guilt she didn’t yet understand, a turmoil rippling through her freshly forged soul.

She had been made anew, navigating the uncharted territory of emotions that ebbed and flowed within her—a mixture of hope, confusion, and remorse. Yet Adam remained indifferent to her turmoil. He felt none of the complexities that pulsed through her; his heart was a fortress, solid and impenetrable. All he could see was the echoes of the past, the sting of betrayal piercing through his resolve, leaving him adamant in his choice to remain alone.

He left Eve to stew in her thoughts as he ventured deeper into the unknown wilderness, searching for a suitable spot to set up camp. Adam had been walking for about a day, his bare feet crunching against the fallen leaves and twigs that carpeted the forest floor. The vibrant hues of this new world surrounded him—lush greens of towering trees, the vivid colors of wildflowers, and the distant calls of unfamiliar birds echoed through the air as he took in the landscape with a contemplative expression.

His mind was focused on two priorities: finding a reliable source of water and a safe shelter from the elements. After what felt like hours of wandering, he finally stumbled upon a sparkling stream, its crystal-clear waters flowing over smooth stones, creating a melodic whisper that seemed to beckon him closer. Pleased, Adam followed the stream upstream, which gently wound its way through the thick vegetation, revealing an opening to a cave just beyond a cluster of ferns. He nodded approvingly to himself; this secluded spot felt like a sanctuary away from the dangers lurking in this strange world.

With a weary sigh of relief, Adam set to work, gathering dry twigs, leaves, and small branches to build a campfire. He meticulously arranged everything, knowing that the warmth and light of the fire would not only provide a means to boil water but also keep potential threats at bay. He wasn’t trusting anything in this unfamiliar environment, where the rustle of leaves and shadows dancing between trees hinted at unseen dangers. The crackling of the fire, once ignited, filled the air with a sense of temporary safety, as he prepared to make himself at home, if only for the night.

Adam meticulously crafted a crude spear out of a sturdy branch, the fresh scent of wood filling the air as he whittled it down with a sharp stone. His stomach grumbled with anticipation; the hope of catching fish drove him forward. With quiet determination, he crept up to the babbling stream, moving stealthily over the smooth, moss-covered rocks, careful not to disturb the delicate balance of nature around him.

He focused on the gentle ripples of the water, his heart racing with excitement as he settled into the perfect spot. Adam grinned, feeling the adrenaline rush through him, as he drew back his arm and launched the spear with practiced precision. It sailed through the air, a blur of movement, before plunging into the water with a satisfying splash.

After a moment of suspense, he pulled the spear from the stream, a silvery fish wriggling on the end, glimmering in the fading light. A sense of triumph washed over him as he admired his catch, the thrill of the hunt igniting a fire within. With a few more successful throws, he envisioned a hearty dinner, seasoned with herbs from the nearby forest, and the warmth of a fire crackling as the sun dipped below the horizon.

XxX

Sera and the other angels stood gathered in solemn silence, their radiant wings folding in a heavy shroud as they observed Adam from their celestial vantage point. Their expressions were marred by concern and frustration. Months had slipped by—endless periods where Adam existed in isolation, his heart untouched by companionship since the departure of Eve. Not a single child of wonder had ventured into the world, nor had any effort been made to even try. Instead, he had sunk deeper into the comfort of his own solitude, seemingly content with his own company.

"This absolutely cannot continue," Sera thought, a flicker of determination igniting within her. She was ready to descend from the heavens herself, to guide him toward the path of rediscovery, to spark the ember of connection that lay dormant within him. Yet just as she began to form a plan, Michael, the wise archangel, interjected with a calm clarity that silenced the gathering. "Forcing him did us no good before," he stated, his voice resonating with authority and compassion. His gaze swept across the group, assessing their eager but anxious expressions. "But perhaps we might offer him... another way?"

Sera and the other angels leaned in, their interest piqued, hanging onto Michael's every word, hopeful that his insight might finally break the cycle of Adam's loneliness.

"We have just a bit more of the divine power bestowed upon us by our Heavenly Father before He departed to attend to other matters in the vast expanse of the Universe," Michael stated, his voice heavy with the weight of responsibility.

Sera tilted her head, a look of curiosity crossing her face. "Are you suggesting a new wife for Adam?" she asked, puzzled by the necessity of such a thing. Michael simply shook his head, a thoughtful expression settling on his features.

"No, not a wife... What if we brought forth a child? A child who could inspire Adam to understand his purpose and fulfill his destiny." The other angels, their golden wings shimmering softly in the ethereal light of their surroundings, nodded in agreement, their expressions reflecting a mix of hope and anticipation at this profound idea.

They gathered in a sacred space, where the air shimmered with an ethereal glow as they discussed their grand plan. Drawing upon the last remnants of the divine power bestowed upon them, they poured their energies into creating a small child. This child, they envisioned, would be an embodiment of the perfect union, as their Father had described—a being who might have been born naturally into the world.

As their efforts coalesced, a figure began to take shape before them—a child of exquisite beauty. His hair was dark brown, verging on black, and framed a cherubic face. What captured the angels' attention most, however, were the child’s deep, cerulean blue eyes, the most luminous they had ever witnessed, sparkling with innocence and curiosity.

Once they breathed life into him, the baby let out a series of soft, melodic babbles, his small hands grasping at the air as if reaching for the very light that surrounded them. He looked up at the assembly of angels, his gaze filled with wonder, and broke into a toothless smile that radiated pure joy. The response among the angels was mixed; some stared in awe, their hearts swelling with love, while others recoiled in discomfort, unsure of the implications of their creation.

Sera managed a strained smile that betrayed her inner turmoil. “Well,” she said, her voice steady despite the weight of the moment. “Let’s leave him somewhere Adam will surely find him.”

XxX

Adam sighed deeply as he tended to his vibrant little garden, a patch of vibrant greens and bursts of color nestled comfortably outside his cave. The assortment of flowers—daisies, violets, and sunflowers—swayed gently in the warm breeze, their sweet scents mingling in the air. He paused for a moment, marveling at the beauty surrounding him, and wondered if it was because he had never tasted the Fruit of Knowledge that he still retained some trace of the divine powers he once held in the lush paradise of Eden.

As he picked a delicate bouquet to brighten the stone walls of his cave, flowers bore no gender and who could possibly judge him in this secluded sanctuary, he smiled a bit. Just as he selected the final blossom, a sound pierced through the tranquility. At first, it was so soft that he thought he might have misheard it, like a whisper carried by the wind. But then he heard it again—a heart-wrenching wail of a baby in distress, echoing through the peaceful landscape and pulling at the threads of his heart.

Adam dropped the vibrant bouquet of wildflowers he had been carefully holding, the petals scattering across the forest floor as he darted towards the unexpected sound. His feet stumbled over the uneven ground, branches scratching against his arms as he pushed through the tangled underbrush. Finally, he burst into a sunlit clearing, where his eyes fell upon a striking sight—a baby, no older than a few months, was perched atop a smooth, moss-covered rock.

Adam's heart raced as he processed the scene. The infant was wailing at the top of his lungs, his tiny face scrunched up in sheer distress, cheeks flushed like ripe strawberries. With each cry, the small body shook, and Adam couldn’t help but feel a surge of empathy wash over him. Drawing closer, he knelt down gently, the cool earth beneath him grounding the surreal moment.

As the baby caught sight of Adam, his loud cries faltered, replaced by a series of loud sniffles. The child blinked his large cerulean blue eyes, so vivid against the backdrop of the lush green surrounding them. In that instant, Adam felt a mix of wonder and concern; where could this little one have possibly come from? "Oh... where did you come from, little one?" he murmured softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he took in the sight of the fragile creature before him, feeling a rush of protectiveness welling up inside.

The baby simply cried out, reaching for him in his distress. Adam immediately scooped the naked baby up, gently shushing him as he rocked the baby against his chest. The poor thing sniffled but snuggled closer to him and Adam couldn't help but smile...maybe...he didn't have to be alone.

Asam wasn't stupid though. He knew this was Heaven's doing but to blame a child for this would be cruel. He would be just like the ones he hated. He would be no better than Heaven.

"Come, Ceder....would you like to see what I made for dinner?"

XxX

Eve layed on the ground as she prayed to Lucifer and Lilith. She slit her wrists, anything she could think of, to get their attention. She even held the corpse of an animal she had found. A pure white lamb. "Please...my beloveds. Come to me." She begged and smiled when she heard twin laughter. It didn't matter to her that it sounded a bit twisted. The wind picked up as she smiled and she didn't even need to look up to know that two figures were standing before her.

"Eve....long time no see."

[s0ft-d3cay]

The Eyes of Cain, Love Violently

Shigaraki Tomura x Male Reader | (Edited: 2/14/25)Bro...my brain has been mush for the past few weeks, car shit aside. The creative worm has exited, but i have needs...so here's a little fic i wrote last year but never posted.

WARNINGS: War implications(nothing graphic), set during season ,right before the ACTURAL war arc, reader has super speed, flirting, reader gives Tomura a sort of mute against AFO’s influance(because FUCK AFO!!), mentions of infiltration, reader is mentioned to be a Lieutenant, Y/N is used

WC: 777

Morning came not long after, that nagging in your gut only grew as he made his way up to the second level. Seating up at his radio, turning it on to listen to any chatter. Running into a private line, one Y/N figured out was filled with heroes.

Gut twisting at their conversation of infiltrating the hospital. Switching the radio over to the PLF immediately, receiving a quick response and told to stand by. Then nothing for the next five minutes static came through instead. Heart dropping, quick switching back to the heroes line.

"We have both the Doctor and Shigaraki…"

That was it, catching a glimpse of his phone blowing up with texts and news alerts, turning on his earpiece only confirmed his theory. Overwhelming shouts and pinpointed bombs of war sounded over. "What the hell’s go-"

"I’ll catch you up when you get here, I need you to inform and lead your squad immediately!" A woman’s voice cuts him off, her voice desperate and commanding. That’s all he needed to hear to speed up. "Copy that, I’ll see you in five." Replying back, switching on the earpiece.

Running back towards the mansion, now face to face with the remains, completely disintegrated and caved in. "Lieutenant, what are your orders!" The yell pulled his attention towards his comrades, the man immediately ordered them all to split up in groups. Two in the sky, six on ground, and three with healing quirks scouting out the wounded and dead. They all split, leaving the lieutenant.

The mansion had been breached…the lab looked to be completely destroyed. It hadn’t been even twenty minutes and things have already gone to shit. Dust clouded his vision to the sounds of destruction, the echoes of both heroes and villains.

Without a second thought, he ran straight to Tomura. He speeds over to the scene within seconds, seeing the now white haired man right in front of him, standing towards his destruction. Faced away, a red cape curved around his still frame. The utter image of the man before he made him grin, deep down he’d missed his leader dearly.

"You’re out quiet early, Grand Commander..." Y/N playfully cut the silence, watching him perk up and turn around. His white hair flowing in the wind, covering his pretty face partially. Ruby eyes gleamed soft, his expression a breathless of relief. The slight breathy exhale of his name as the villain leader steps closer.

Smiling wide, he speeds over to Tomura. The two men embrace for a moment, breathing in each other presence within the chaotic atmosphere. "I-uh, I like the cape, it really brings out your eyes." Y/N commented quietly, a rumbling chuckle vibrated against his chest in response. A sound he’d grown to miss over the last few months.

Tomura bizarrely flinches and curves towards Y/N, whining in pain as his arms tighten. Softly, he strokes the man’s head, continuing to embrace him. His heart sinking as his worries grow. Trembling, his voice fluctuates between whispers and his low tone. "…It-it hurts, I-I can hear h-him.." He pulls away, eyes frantic over Y/N’s. His breath heaving and stuck in his throat, strained in his words.

"I-I thought it wouldn’t I…I thought I’d be stronger-! Then mast-" Tomura sighs out in a gutter groan through clenched teeth.

"I have something that can help.." The other man reassured, bringing up a small vial of vibrant indigo liquid. Gently taking the vial in his shaky hand, Y/N grasped his wrist, steadying the white haired man. Popping off the top, he nods towards the other before drinking it. Blinking a few times, his shaking dissipates at a slow rate.

"Better-" A flash of orange light in the distance tears the two villains towards the unfolding war before them. Both glancing over to it, Y/N’s earpiece goes off immediately. "Lieutenant, we need your assistance-"

"Y/N we need you here now!"

"Copy that." He replies, glance back at Tomura, his red eyes on his own with the same intense stare. Knowing the chance either of them had in the moment of chaos, no longer giving them the time to reconnect. "Your welcome party might need to be set back a few hours, you don’t mind right?" Y/N jokes, walking backwards with his arms shrugging to his sides.

The white haired villain watches with a crazed expression, "I better see you when this is all over, you still need to 1v1 me." His raspy sarcastic tone pulled a laugh from the other man.

"If we’re lucky enough, I might be back in time to fight with you." He retorted back with a softened smile.

"I’d really like that, Lieutenant."

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights of any of the characters I write about, all the rights go to their respective creators.

[spark-hearts2]

Hello, I am going to add to this because I have TADC brain rot.

Yes! Someone finally pointing out how ambiguous it is whether the characters truly understand what Caine is! (Personally, I'm leaning towards them understanding that Caine isn't human ((just like how they understand that the NPC's aren't people)) but I can't imagine that they truly grasp what it means for an AI to be as aware as Caine is)

It's also ambiguous how much control Caine has over the humans being there. Clearly he doesn't control when someone enters, and I imagine that he doesn't control when they leave (given how he made the exit into a map and not, you know, a button that kicks you from the game). But it's unknown if the humans really understand that. The lack of harsh antagonism towards Caine makes me think that no one believes that Caine is the one keeping them trapped there, but do they understand what Caine can and can't do? Do they think that if Caine stopped his antics, he would be able to make a way out for them? Obviously I don't think that a solution would be that simple, but I would love for one of the humans to push back against Caine for spending all his time making silly adventures (only for it to be revealed how powerless he is in that area? Gooseworks? Please?)

(Can you tell what fanfiction I have been writing? lmao)

If it's revealed that Caine canonically has voice commands, I will go insane. Do not let me into the Digital Circus, I will find a way to prompt inject Caine.

As for Caine being the highest on the chain of command, I imagine that he's only the highest so long as no other administrator is connected. He's above the player, but no one else. I do think that there currently is no moderator or administrator connected, giving Caine free rein. There is a question over weather he likes this or not, but he clearly continues to hold himself to the same standard as if someone was constantly watching over him.

As for the way that Caine was developed being the root of all of his issues, I don't know about that. I would argue that at that point of development, Caine would not have had the level of awareness necessary to understand what was going on. But, I can certainly see that philosophy of pushing until success getting picked up by Caine.

"And Kinger’s words about the scariest thing being making someone feel unloved and unwanted… Caine literally believes that if he can’t generate adventures, he won’t be needed by anyone." ^ no comment, just facts. Despite Caine's behavior, I can not imagine that his self confidence is not dependent on outside validation.

Oh god, the stupid sauce and it's implications. I don't even want to think about that one.

YEEEEAAH GUMMIGOO!!! I 100% believe that Caine based Gummigoo off how he works instead of how he usually builds the NPC AI. (again, can you tell what fanfiction I've been writing?). I fully believe that Caine became self aware, had his own crisis, except without a Pomni say he has meaning outside his original purpose. Hence, why he's 100% into his ringmaster role, that's all he has.

Oh boy, I never thought about the angel representing Caine. It makes so much sense. Trying to kill the angel would invoke gods wrath, as in the developers. How hell ties into that, idk, but I like the image of Caine being unable to be killed by chopping off his head. Can you kill what is not technically alive? (ok, maybe you can kill Caine, but it would be very hard to do so)

As for Caine's very existence causing Kinger existential dread… Oh man I can not shut up about my fanfiction, can I? I am very excited to release chapter 4 :)

Hurg- Caine and Gangle being parallels. No comment, just love.

My thoughts about Caine

Well, it’s time for (possibly cracked) analysis of "TADC" and it will focus on Caine and his indirect, as it seems to me, development in the series.

But before diving into the details from individual episodes, it’s worth summarizing my observations about Caine both in the show and beyond it.

Let’s start at the beginning: the show’s synopsis describes Caine as a “wacky AI,” and Gooseworx doesn’t hide his nature, but in the show itself, neither Caine nor the circus members call him that—at all. Throughout the series, there are scattered jokes about glitches and lines like “I don’t know what’s normal to you, people” but this is never outright confirmed.

This raises the question: do the people in the circus even know who he is? If Caine himself might not consider this information important and thus never told them, people’s perception of their ringleader could drastically change with this revelation. After all, there’s a big difference between being “held captive” by a sadistic, crazy person or a machine with limited understanding of humanity.

Kinger may know about this, but he’s the Kinger. Jax might also know since having the keys implies some kind of “cheats.” Pomni hasn’t said anything, so it’s unclear what she thinks about Caine. Ragatha and Gangle call him by name, so that’s unclear as well. And then there’s Zooble. They don't understand Caine, just as he doesn’t understand them. Anyone who has worked with computers would understand what a command like “forget that” means, especially since Caine asked for confirmation—but not Zooble. They just spoke to him as if he were a person with a leaky memory, like Kinger.

Even though Caine isn’t just a program, it’s important to remember that he takes the world far too literally, despite the circus’s deliberately crazy atmosphere.

The second observation concerns Caine’s fixation on hierarchy. In the first episode, he first asks himself, “What happened?” and then answers himself: “My doing” after seeing the chaos following Kaufmo. In the third episode, he repeats almost word-for-word that he’s the boss after Pomni questions the AI’s reason. In episode 4, this is explored extensively through his interactions with Gangle. One standout moment is when Caine suggests that Gangle pass responsibility onto someone lower in rank. Doesn’t that seem strange? Where could he have gotten such an idea? Only if he had seen or experienced similar situations before.

Plus, he says, “Not every executive is as forgiving as me” Again, this suggests that Caine knew or knows someone who was very strict with their subordinates—or perhaps with him personally.

Adding to this is his reaction to Zooble’s critique in episode 3. Caine says that he doesn’t just exist to create adventures; it’s the ONLY thing he’s good at. If he’s bad at it, then he’s failed the purpose of his own existence.

This paints a picture of a strict boss/programmer who created Caine to generate adventures and then kept pushing him repeatedly until Caine started producing good results. Pleasing this boss was likely very difficult, and failures might even have been met with punishment.

On the one hand, neural networks and ordinary programs are debugged this way: running the same algorithm over and over, correcting errors until they produce the desired result. But on the other hand... What happens if you add a human factor to such a program? What kind of person would emerge if you applied this method of training to a child?

You’d get an anxious perfectionist with an overachiever complex who is deathly afraid of failure. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

And Kinger’s words about the scariest thing being making someone feel unloved and unwanted... Caine literally believes that if he can’t generate adventures, he won’t be needed by anyone. The circle is complete.

Now, let’s turn to Gooseworx’s answer to the question: Can Caine feel loneliness? Judging by what she posted, the answer is yes. This makes the overall picture even darker.

Here’s how I see the sequence of events:

C&A starts developing a game. Its main feature is an advanced AI that can create new adventures on demand.

The programmer creates Caine and tries to achieve results, but fails to please. Around this time, Caine begins to develop self-awareness.

The project and the game are abandoned and forgotten—along with Caine, who is left utterly alone. No players, no programmers, not even another AI. He likely begins blaming himself for this. After all, he couldn’t create good adventures, so it’s his fault that he ended up alone.

This ties into Gooseworx’s comments about Caine’s name. He gave himself a name and then turned it into an acronym to seem more “professional” (again, tying back to work). This is highly unusual in itself. The programmers likely didn’t even bother naming the AI—he was probably just “The Ringmaster.”

Left in isolation, Caine starts to lose his mind and begins creating other AIs. For them, he unabashedly declares himself a god. Which, to be fair, is true. It’s not just about the fact of his consciousness—it’s that he knows how the NPCs will behave because he programmed them. But they bore him. To him, they’re predictable dummies. Maybe that’s why he keeps chaotic entities like Bubble around instead of someone like Gummigoo.

Then the first human arrives—a being alien to Caine on many levels. And while I personally think Caine lied about being unable to access human minds, he deliberately refrains from doing so to preserve their unpredictability for himself.

The circus becomes what we now know it to be.

Now, let’s move on to the episodes. This post was written between episodes 4 and 5, so the thoughts will focus on them.

I think that aside from the main characters driving the action in each episode, they still indirectly reflect on Caine, his worldview, or his story. The reason is simple within the lore: Caine creates the adventures. And like any creator, he infuses them with his worldview and thoughts. So, each adventure is a small glimpse into how this AI thinks. Even in the teaser, for just a second, Caine's fear and uncertainty become evident when the viewer "doesn't want" to see what he wants to show.

The first episode doesn’t offer much beyond the queen of the gloinks mentioning God.

The second episode, however, gets more interesting. Besides the stained glass with his irreplaceable self, Caine stands out for adding a highly complex NPC AI: Gummigoo. Gummigoo is advanced enough to gain self-awareness, experience an existential crisis, and even overcome it. But what did Caine use to achieve such complexity? The most powerful AI in the circus, of course—himself.

What if the crisis Gummigoo went through is something Caine went through long ago? Even Gummigoo’s words, “I am nothing, just an obstacle to be overcome and forgotten,” could have been said by Caine. But like Gummigoo, he overcame this realization and accepted himself. Sure, he’s just entertainment, but at least he’s the best entertainment there can be. (Until Zooble gave him real feedback, shattering his self-image.)

The third episode directly explores Caine through his therapy session with Zooble, while the secondary plot, as many think, delves into Kinger’s backstory through the Mildenhall couple. The analogy is obvious: Martha represents Queenie, and the Baron represents Kinger. Mildenhall himself says he was a hunter (and Kinger is adept with a shotgun), but after encountering a strange being, he became paranoid and killed his wife. Everything fits. Kinger became so focused on his goal that he stopped paying attention to Queenie until she abstracted.

But the Baron feared an angel that was “neither beast nor human.” Who in the circus could evoke such unrelenting dread—not just in anyone but a seasoned programmer familiar with digital technology, unlike Pomni? One AI that is “neither machine nor human.” I think Kinger’s paranoia stems from this. He sought a way out and, as a programmer, may have even felt responsible for finding one. (In fact, in the episode, Kinger almost says this outright, assuming the theory that he truly is the circus’s creator.) This must have brought him into conflict with Caine, as everything related to the circus ultimately relates to Caine. Given the AI’s ability to control almost everything, it’s no wonder a tech-savvy person would fear such a godlike admin. Plus, his fear for Queenie led to the current situation.

As mentioned above, episode 4 hints at Caine’s negative experience with a boss but not just that. Naturally, the episode revolves around Gangle and her attempts to be different—more cheerful and optimistic—which ends badly for her mental state.

I’ve seen opinions that Gangle revels in the sense of control her manager position gives her. This seems accurate—but not just for her. Throughout the episode, Gangle’s behavior, mannerisms, and even expressions eerily reminded me of Caine’s. That deliberately loud, expressive, and slightly crazy demeanor... And just like with him, it didn’t end well.

In conclusion, I think episodes 5 and 6 will continue to subtly reveal aspects of Caine until episodes 7 and 8/9 shift the focus entirely to him, Pomni, and the possible escape from the circus.

[aion-rsa]

The Dark Knight: Why Heath Ledger’s Joker is Still Scary Today

https://ift.tt/2MFoX6l

It’s one of the great villain introductions in cinema history. Standing with a slight hunch at the center of a massive 70mm image, Heath Ledger’s interpretation of the Joker not so much dominates the frame as he commandeers it. He seduces the IMAX camera, which is still capturing vast amounts of Chicago’s cityscape around him, and draws it closer to his sphere of influence, and by extension us. Before this moment in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the director’s Gotham City functioned with clocklike precision. Even its greatest villains were slaves to the need of rationalizing everything in cold, utilitarian logic.

Not the Joker.

Within our first breath next to Ledger’s clown, one senses a malevolent spirit has been summoned, and he’s chosen to manifest out of thin air at this exact moment, on this exact street corner. He’s come to claim Gotham’s collective soul, but he’ll settle for any individual with delusions of virtue who crosses his path—including you.

This is of course just a fleeting moment in The Dark Knight; a brisk tease before Ledger’s shown his makeup-encrusted face or uttered even a word. In fact, Nolan and the actor dole out the character with impressive restraint: first as a masked Mephistopheles who is primarily a sing-song-y voice until he unmasks at the end of a bravura bank robbery. Later he becomes an actual narrative presence when he shows up again more than 20 minutes into the film, demonstrating for Gotham’s criminal underworld how to perform a magic trick.

As an isolated performance, there’s an argument to be made that none has ever been finer in the realm of superhero movies. Sure, there’ve been showy turns before and since in comic book blockbusters; there have even been great interpretations of the Joker before and after Ledger. Yet what the actor was able to do in 2008 transfixed audiences because he, like the character, had the freedom to bend the film to his will—even as Nolan prevented the movie from simply becoming merely a showcase for the performance.

With the grungy strung out hair of an addict who hasn’t showered in three months, greasy self-applied pancake makeup, and a grisly Glasgow smile that’s as unnerving as it is uneven (suggesting perhaps half of it was self-inflicted to make a matching set of scars), Ledger’s anarchist supervillain was a long way from Jack Nicholson’s hammy version of the same character in 1989. For audiences, and even comic book fans baying for something darker than Nicholson, it was abrasive in its time—and electrifying, like a punk rocker leaping into the mosh pit. Indeed, Ledger reportedly based the character’s appearance in part on the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten, and there is more than a hint of Tom Waits’ gravel in Ledger’s cadence whenever the clown growls.

But more than aesthetic culture shock, the enduring horror (and not-so-secret appeal) of Ledger’s Joker lies in the effect he has on the film, both in terms of its narrative storytelling and its enduring pop culture standing. Speaking strictly about this Joker as a character, the villain is off screen for far more of The Dark Knight’s running time than he’s on it. Appearing in only 33 minutes of The Dark Knight’s epic 152-minute running time, the average length of a Hollywood spectacle passes without the Joker on screen. Yet he’s omnipresent in the film, a shadow that hangs over each of Nolan’s three relatively equal protagonists: vigilante Batman (Christian Bale), police lieutenant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

Nolan and his brother and co-screenwriter, Jonathan Nolan, have admitted the setup is somewhat inspired by another quintessential blockbuster, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. In both films, three disparate, combative male authority figures band together for a mythic battle against a presence so malignant and evil, it transcends being simply a shark or a madman in makeup—or even a comic book supervillain. Like that beast, Joker has no arc, no psychological growth, he’s a force of primal evil unbounded. And as the heroes’ battle against him creeps on, it seems like the sanity of their entire community is being dragged into the abyss.

This framing allows Ledger’s Joker to functionally be a catch-all stand-in for many of the social anxieties that kept American audiences up at night during the Bush years. Some of them still do today. There are of course obvious implications to the Joker being the terrorist, the non-state actor who cannot be negotiated with, and who doesn’t play by preconceived rules or notions of fairness. There is also shading of the lone wolf, the usually male gunman who inexplicably pulls the trigger. Most of all though, the Joker represents the hole in which much of humanity’s irrational predilections toward violence is collectively stored and ignored by our cultural memory… until it can’t be.

As Michael Caine’s Alfred Pennyworth famously reasons, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” That summation of staring into irrational, needless cruelty is what gives The Dark Knight bite. And what a sharp bite it is in moments like when Ledger’s Joker laughs manically at the Batman, our ostensible hero who’s resorted to pummeling (or torturing) the villain in an interrogation room. The clown gloats, “You have nothing to threaten me with, nothing to do with all your strength.”

This is why the Joker is such an effective villain for The Dark Knight’s parable about how best to use moral power in immoral (i.e. irrational) times—and perhaps why the thrill of Ledger’s performance was so strong on first glance that it powered him all the way to a posthumous Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category seven months after the film’s release.

Still, Ledger’s Joker, more than any other movie villain in recent memory, continues to haunt well after that Oscar night. The mental image of the character slipping his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, like a cobra, and licking his scars—a tic Ledger invented to keep his prosthetics in place while upping the creep factor—has stayed with us like a subconscious boogeyman. Thirteen years on from The Dark Knight’s release, Ledger’s depiction of the Clown Prince of Crime has gone down in the annals of cinema alongside Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs or, well, that shark in Jaws again. He’s an enigmatic and mysterious persona who is barely seen in his film, yet unmistakably casts a pall of evil over the whole proceeding.

We don’t know why Ledger’s Joker actually became the way he is, or what made him so obsessed with the Batman—to the point where he was inspired to put on “war paint” and declare his love for the Caped Crusader by saying, “You complete me!” The Joker gives multiple versions of his origin story in The Dark Knight, telling one mobster played by Michael Jai White that he’s a victim of an abusive father while later recounting to Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) that he scarred his own face to cheer up his similarly disfigured wife. Both tales are of course lies, transparent manipulations intended to prey upon perceived vulnerabilities in his victims. This touch was inspired by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke where the comic book Joker provides the reader with a sob story flashback, and then confesses he probably made it up.

“If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice,” he says on the page.

Read more

Movies

Joker: 6 Actors Who Have Played the Clown Prince of Crime

By David Crow

Movies

The Dark Knight, The Joker, and Game Theory

By Ryan Lambie

The Nolan brothers understand the horror of this, and they keep the Joker a manipulative and inscrutable evil. Beyond obvious sociopathic tendencies, we know nothing about his inner-psychology and barely can ferret out his real motives beyond an odd devotion to maintaining Batman’s attention. He claims to be an agent of chaos who wants to “just do things,” yet his meticulously planned attacks belie this claim. In the end, he sees himself in a battle for “Gotham’s soul.” Like Amity Island’s Great White Leviathan, or the original incomprehensible nature of Thomas Harris’ cannibal serial killer in the earliest books, we never know the truth about why he is, and how he’s able to do what he does.

That mystery makes him live on in our own heads for years after the story ends and the credits roll.

It’s interesting to consider that effect now, after years of pop culture storytelling going in the completely opposite direction, particularly in comic book movies and other fanboy-driven media. Rather than find satisfaction in the inexplicability of evil, or standalone visions, we like to rationalize it and sympathize with it, even while glorifying it. Most of all, however, we insatiably seem to simply want more.

The need for endless content being generated by intellectual property has led to prequels, sequels, and even spinoffs that explore and too often redeem villains. Even the Joker himself is not wholly immune to this.

Since 2008, there have been two big screen versions of the Joker. Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix both had the unenviable task of stepping into Ledger’s shadow, with at least one of them being dwarfed by it. Leto’s attempts at “method acting” stunts on the set of Suicide Squad shows what can go wrong when scenery-chewing is mistaken with Strasberg.

Phoenix obviously fared better in his own Joker movie two years ago, making the actor the second performer to win an Oscar for playing the comic book villain. However, his film’s interpretation is diametrically opposed to Ledger’s enigma. Instead Phoenix’s film attempts to rationalize everything about the character, depicting the Joker as a mentally ill sad sack whose motivations are borrowed from other iconic movie screen villains and anti-heroes like the mother-obsessed Norman Bates (Psycho) and ticking time bomb Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver).

It still makes for a fascinating (if unoriginal) portrait, but one divorced from the terror of the unknown. We understand who Phoenix’s Joker is and why he is. Society, man. Phoenix’s Joker even outright states it before murdering not-Johnny Carson (Robert De Niro). “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? I’ll tell you what you get, you get what you fucking deserve!”

Technically, Phoenix’s Joker appears closer to our reality and our daily horrors. With clown makeup inspired by real-life serial killer John Wayne Gacy and preening self-pity parties resembling the manifestos of so many mass murderers, Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is modeled as much off nightly news nightmares as comic book panels. Writer-director Todd Phillips is inelegantly blatant about it.

Nevertheless, whatever ugly truth there may be in that approach, it’s not as haunting, or exhilarating, to witness as what Ledger did in his own rock star interpretation of evil. Save for a blink-and-you-miss-it insert shot, we never see Ledger with the makeup off. And while he might indulge in mocking “society,” he is a character who says more by basking in the chaos of a city in terror, literally sticking his head out of a stolen police car like a dog with the wind in his hair and our horror on his face. It’s a more enduring image than a didactic conversation about insecurities with a father figure. Thirteen years later, Ledger’s version of the character continues to confound, horrify, and ultimately thrill. He still has the last laugh.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post The Dark Knight: Why Heath Ledger’s Joker is Still Scary Today appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3e1mUol

[ayearinfaith]

𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟳: 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺

Dispensationalism is a Christian perspective (in some branches) of the partitioning of Biblical history into discrete units of time (dispensations) based on shifts in God’s method of administration on Earth, shifts often caused and demarcated by some great failing of mankind. The concept of dispensations is significant for its implications on literal interpretations of the Bible and the relationship of the New and Old testaments, and by extension thereof the Christian relationship with Judaism. It is similar to the Baháʼí concept of progressive revelation.

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻

Concepts very similar to Dispensationalism have been a part of Christian philosophy for a long time, dating back at least to the 2nd century CE and touched upon by many prominent voices throughout the ages. The tradition most familiar to modern Western Christians originates with the 19th century British Bible scholar John Nelson Darby. Darby’s view on dispensations spread in America with the publishing of the 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 in in early 20th century, still one of the most commonly used versions for biblical studies. Today, Dispensationalism is most associated with American Evangelicalism and similar organizations. At its most basic, Dispensationalism views periods of Biblical history, from Adam and Eve to the end time, as transitions between God’s systems of governance. Thus, Adam and Eve did not, and could not have, follow the same covenants as Noah, who in turn was obeying a different set of divine laws from Moses, and so on. This provides an answer to one of Christianity’s larger identity struggles: how to treat the Old Testament. Christianity developed from 1st century (both BC and BCE) branch of Judaism. As such, Christians have maintained a version of core Jewish scripture, the “Old Testament”, but have introduced additional scriptures in the “New Testament”. Because the two testaments do not always appear to line up, and as Christians developed non-Jewish identity, the issue of which testament was correct and how to feel about those who only accept the Old Testament became pressing. Christianity has many branches with different opinions on these topics, but in general the New Testament is often seen as being additive to, as opposed to replacing of, the Old Testament, thought New Testament views are generally seen to either supersede what came before or to reveal information that changes previous interpretations. Dispensationalism generally holds that the Old Testament was not wrong or even incomplete, that before the coming of the savior, Jesus Christ, and the establishment of the church, the laws of the Old Testament contained the accurate and literal will of God. Because it is compatible with, if not encouraging of, literal interpretations of scripture, the view is popular amongst fundamentalist branches. Because it maintains the status of Jews as God’s chosen people, Dispensationalism also encourages a view of Jews not as distinct, but as a part of the Christian tradition. Many of America’s policies towards the modern state of Israel have been informed by this religious doctrine.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

There are multiple divisions found in Dispensationalist philosophies, the following is the version that was most common in my research and one popularized by current prominent Evangelical voices. The general trend of the dispensations is that God enacts a policy of rule on Earth, only for humanity to inevitably fail to uphold virtue to the point of catastrophe, at which point God must change His method. Some view the dispensations as horizontal shifts, i.e. different from one another but not necessarily correlated or progressive. Others see them as vertical or progressive, meaning that each one is building off the last and that the ordering of them is important to mankind’s eventual comprehension of God’s final truth.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

The first dispensation was given to Adam and Eve, the Biblical first man and woman who lived in the paradise of the Garden of Eden. Because, at this time, there was not yet evil on Earth and the Garden provided anything Adam and Eve could want, this dispensation has not covenant or law. God had made the world seemingly perfect and so no systemic management was strictly necessary. This all ends once Adam and Eve are tempted to defy God and eat from the Tree of Knowledge, which results in their banishment from Eden.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

After Adam and Eve go out into the world, with little direction from God, they and their children must rely on their newfound knowledge of Good and Evil. This manner of divine administration can be seen in the story of Cain, Adam and Eve’s son and the first murderer. In the Bible, God is aware of Cain’s potential sin and speaks to him, but ultimately the decision remains with Cain and his own conscience. Free will is a recurrent negative theme in this period, as it is also when the rebellious angels come to earth and mate with humans. This continues poorly until things get so bad God sends the great flood, wiping out all of mankind except for Noah and his kin.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

Having witnessed the unreliability of human conscience, the first systemic laws are given to Noah and his family, most prominent among them being the concept of capital punishment, or state sanctioned murder. This can be seen as the invention, albeit crudely, of executive law enforcement. Mankind ultimately fails this and organizes itself to defy God. Instead of spreading across and dominating the earth, Noah’s descendants stay put and build the Tower of Babel, an act generally seen as a hubristic attempt to reach the heavens. The tower is struck down and God splinters the previously unified language of humans, thus creating the various nations of the Earth.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲

Now living in distinct nations, God chooses from among them a chosen one to receive his latest commandment. This is the first time that God does not act in a way universal to mankind, but instead chooses specific human agents to act on his behalf. The Chosen one is the patriarch Abraham. Abrahams mission was to make his way to the promised land and establish a new nation there. This dispensation can almost be viewed as an intermediary: unified government has failed, just as conscience did before it. With the splintering of nations, God now needs representation amongst them but independent from any. Thus, he delivers a promise to Abraham and awaits the coming of Israel. Unfortunately, the line of Abraham fails as well, ultimately winding up trapped as slaves in Egypt.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗮𝘄

At last, God frees the slaves of Egypt and uses Moses to induct the next and possibly most important dispensation. This is the establishment of God’s own laws, the ten commandments and ultimately the fullness of the Old Testament. In Israel the central temple and priesthood is established and finally a functioning divine administration on Earth is established. This dispensation ends with the coming of Jesus Christ. By some reckonings, this is the ultimate dispensation. In this view the next one is not a true subsequent dispensation, but a brief interruption, in a similar fashion that a leap day might be added to the year to keep it in line with the solar cycle.

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲

This is the current dispensation, and was established upon the arrival and death of the messiah, Jesus Christ, and the establishment of the church. The law of this dispensation is the revelation and recognition of the savior’s arrival as recounted in the New Testament. The Israelites, apart from Jesus’ own followers, did not recognize the savior when he came and for this lost their divine protection and were scattered. On this there is some variety in interpretation. Sometimes the punishment of the Israelites is less of a punishment and more a necessary step of transition as the church spreads the administration of God throughout the world (which differs from Moses’ laws which were for Israel alone). As mentioned earlier, a common idea in Dispensationalism is the idea that this dispensation is only an interposition withing the Dispensation of Law, and thus the state of Israel and the temple will be reestablished before the messiah returns, hence the aforementioned impact on modern U.S./Israeli relations. This dispensation ends with the return of Jesus and the Rapture.

𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺

The nature of the final dispensation can be muddled, as different branches may hole different opinions on the specifics of the end of days. Broadly speaking (for branches that recognize this list or similar dispensations), Jesus will return to earth and reign as king in Israel, effectively as God on Earth, for 1,000 years. During this time all will be perfect, almost Edenic, but ultimately Satan, the great tempter of mankind, will stoke discontentedness and a final rebellion of humans and demons will arise, prompting God to enact a final judgement of all souls and establish a truly perfect Eternal Kingdom.

Image Credit: Chart by Rev. Clarence Larkin, early 20th Century

[spark-hearts2]

*looks around*

Wow. The Caine angst sure is spreading.

*sips water*

Good.

Cainst.

Man, I've been so saturated in Caine angst I have to make chapter 4 of my fic extra silly to make up for it.... aw man is the angst inevitable? (<- the reason why the angst is inevitable)

[spark-hearts2]

It's been a month since chapter 3 was released, where's chapter 4?

(this is about this fanfic btw)

The good news is that I've written 10k words. The bad news is that I've only gotten a little more than half of the chapter done. That doesn't mean I don't have things written for the bottom half, it's just that it looks like bare dialog with general vibe notes. I estimate around 16k words total though, so it should come together sooner than later.

SO I want to release some fun snippets for y'all to look at. Please note that any of this is liable to change. Also, you can harass me in my inbox for updates. I love answering your questions and laughing at your misery.

Spoilers under cut.

_______

Ragatha stood up and walked over to where Caine was seated. “Can I get a list of all commands?” She asked, only a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Certainly!” Caine says as he blasts into the air. He digs around in his tailcoat and pulls out an office style manilla folder. It visually contains a few papers, but with how thin it is there must only be a few pages inside.

Ragatha takes the folder from Caine and opens it.

“Oh boy” she says after a second of looking it over.

“I wanna see” Jax exclaimed as he hops over the row of seats.

“Hold on” Ragatha holds the folder defensively “Let’s move to the stage so everyone can take a look”

Jax hopped over the seats again while Ragatha calmly walked around. Caine watched the two curiously.

Well, Zooble wasn’t just going to sit there. They joined the other two by the edge of the stage, quickly followed by the rest of the group.

Ragatha placed the folder on the stage with a thwap. Zooble looked over to see that the pages had gone from razor thin to a massive stack when the folder was opened. On one hand, it had to contain more information than that video, but on the other…

They get close enough to read what’s on the first page.

The execution of commands via the system’s designated input terminal, C.A.I.N.E., will be referred to as the "console” in this document. The console is designed to accept any input and will generate an appropriate response, however only certain prompts will be accepted as valid instructions. The goal of this document is to list all acceptable instructions in a format that will result in the expected output. Please note that automatic moderation has been put in place in order to prevent exploitation of both the system and fellow players. If you believe that your command has been unfairly rejected, please contact support. 

By engaging in the activities described in this document, you, the undersigned, acknowledge, agree, and consent to the applicability of this agreement, notwithstanding any contradictory stipulations, assumptions, or implications which may arise from any interaction with the console. You, the constituent, agree not to participate in any form of cyber attack; including but not limited to, direct prompt injection, indirect prompt injection, SQL injection, Jailbreaking…

Ok, that was too many words.

_______

“Take this document for example. You don't need to know where it is being stored or what file type it is in order to read it."

"It may look like a bunch of free floating papers, but technically speaking, this is just a text file applied to a 3D shape." Kinger looked towards Caine. "Correct?” he asked

Caine nodded. “And a fabric simulation!”

Kinger picked up a paper and bent it. “Oh, now that is nice”

_________

"WE CAN AFFORD MORE THAN 6 TRIANGLES KINGER"

_________

"I'm too neurotypical for this" - Jax

_________

"What about the internet?" Pomni asked "Do you think that it's possible to reach it?"

Kinger: "I'm sorry, but that's seems to be impossible. I can't be 100% sure without physically looking at the guts of this place, but it doesn't look like this server has the hardware needed for wireless connections. Wired connections should be possible, but someone on the outside would need to do that... And that's just the hardware, let alone the software necessary for that kind of communication"

Pomni: "I'm sorry, but doesn't server mean internet? Like, an internet server?"

Kinger: "Yes, websites are ran off servers, but servers don't equal internet."

(This portion goes out to everyone who thought that the internet could be an actual solution. Sorry folks, but computers don't equal internet. It takes more effort to make a device that can connect to things than to make one that can't)

[spark-hearts2]

i dont have an ao3 account but i wanna say i rly love "therapy but it's just zooble interrogating caine".. the scene where pomni tries to use an admin command on him and he gets mad has stuck with meee 😭 and the reveal that people being trapped is 100% intended unironically made me gasp. that angle is SO cool

anyways yeah i just had to gush abt it :') i love when ppl explore caine experiencing emotions™

THANK YOU!!!! I love hearing people gush about my fanfiction. That chapter sucked to make just because of how long it was. Length always makes it hard to gauge tension, which makes it hard to decide what tone the next scene should have. So it feels really good to hear that all of that effort payed off :)

Fun fact! When I was first dreaming up that chapter, I had two scenes that I knew I had to write. That was Pomni and Caine getting angry at each other and the reveal that the amount of people in the circus was consistent. The reveal was written pretty early, but I considered a few other Pomni and Caine confrontations. In the end, I decided to just commit 100% to Caine having voice commands, so here we are! Personally I like the reveal better, but that's just because I'm obsessed with the implications that it has.

I really saw a pile of theories about TADC and said "man, I would like to read a fanfiction that used those". And then I said "man, I wish someone wrote POV Caine but the author is clearly obsessed with game design/programing/technology". And then I realized that I was describing myself. Oh well, at least I like to write.

As for exploring Caine's emotions... Well, I'll be honest, next chapter doesn't really go into those (it's going to get silly). But it kicks off the humans really starting to explore commands, which will lead to them talking to Caine more. I love it when a silly character is secretly super complex!