#yeah so i finally saw tadc

[lilacthebooklover]

do you ever think about how despite gangle's comedy mask breaking, the tragedy one always stays intact? it's hidden underneath the other because gangle wants to be happy- or, at least, to appear as such. the comedy mask forces her to be positive. but then, when it's destroyed, it exposes the absolute despair she feels at being trapped in the digital world hidden underneath. gangle's smile is quite literally a mask, a facade she displays. jax breaks it regularly and we see how miserable she really is as a result. the tragedy mask doesn't break because the tragedy mask is what she actually feels. gangle isn't happy, but she sure does like to pretend she is.

also, if we go by the idea that she fixes her own masks, it means she's been tirelessly remaking every one of her broken smiles and forcing them back over her tears. jax isn't one to pretend and doesn't seem to care about how she feels, so he pushes her over and shatters them, or further crushes them if already damaged. they're fragile, therefore meaning gangle's happiness is equally delicate. she's perpetually upset, and perpetually covers it up with the comedy mask. i wouldn't be surprised if it's another destruction of said mask that finally leads to her just giving up and abstracting.

it's like how ragatha acts like she's fine even when she's glitching all over the place. it's like how jax forces himself to be unbothered by the disturbing occurrences that they experience every day. it's like how zooble prefers to be angry or disinterested when bad things happen at the circus. it's like how kinger stays just sane enough to keep from abstracting himself. even pomni tries to delude herself into thinking this is a dream, but she fully showcases her anxiety and paranoia because she's new to the circus, and has not yet learned to be apathetic for the sake of her sanity. every one of the circus members is pretending they're okay, despite some (kinger especially) not doing so great at it.

besides, that's what caine wants. for them to pretend. this is a show, and they're the stars; they're supposed to perform. it doesn't matter if they're upset or don't want to be here, because they don't have a choice. caine wants them to be happy in the circus, even if that happiness isn't real. i do, however, find it interesting that he didn't repair gangle's mask in the pilot despite fixing up pomni's hand and ragatha's... everything. caine tends to ignore anything that poses a problem to his family-friendly circus, locking up the abstracted (out of sight, out of mind) and acting jovially in the face of pomni's initial crisis. acting/pretense is such a huge theme in the amazing digital circus, even down to the fact that caine lied about there not being any sort of exit door, and that his plans for the exit door he'd made was to give them hope it was real. he'd happily fool them all to make sure that they're happy, and it makes sense that gangle would try to fool herself.

i do think that perhaps jax breaking gangle's mask is perhaps more than just him wanting her to be sad. it could be a way to get her to stop trying to make light of their awful situation, to stop her from lying to herself and the rest of them, to stop acting like this isn't a big deal. jax too bears a smile to the world, but his is fixated on entirely. he even speaks through it- he's lying through his teeth, much like gangle is wearing a facade.

gangle's mask is a metaphor for just how much she's hiding her feelings at this whole predicament; she won't let herself feel sad if she can help it. and yet, the adventures go on day after day after day after day, and her mask breaks again and again and again and again, and there's no way out of it. for any of them.

[starlight-write]

Attention Seeker

A/N: First TADC tk fic! lmk if you have any suggestions/prompts cause my brain is about fried atp.

Summany: Ragatha's ignoring Jax for being a prick. It's only after he brings Pomni into their little spat that she decides to do something about it.

Characters: Ler!Ragatha, Switch!Pomni, Switch!Jax

Word Count: 2004

Warnings: This is a tickle fic! Scroll if that's not your thing.

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"Raaaags! Ragathaaaaa! Rags, talk to meeeeeee!" The rabbit whined pathetically as he flopped face first to the floor to add to his dramatics.

Ragatha crossed her arms and stared blankly in front of her. She'd be damned if she gave into his theatrics after the stunt he pulled yesterday.

Pomni tip-toed her way over to the doll, careful to gauge her mood before speaking up.

"You're- uh- still not talking to Jax, huh?" The jester tried.

To no one's surprise, Jax pulled some underhanded shit during yesterday's game. Thankfully, that game was more tame than the usual as Caine decided to make all of them play a rather distorted version of 'capture the flag', only the playing field was covered in thick black tar-like substance, which made the game slower and over all less fun but Caine did say he was experimenting with ideas.

Long story short, Ragatha had gotten the other team's flag and was about to win before Jax thought it'd be clever to use poor Gangle as a lasso and trip Ragatha by her ankle. Causing her to fall face first into the gooey substance.

So yeah, Ragatha understandably ignored the purple prick for the rest of the day and supposedly the silent treatment carried onto this morning.

Ragatha scoffed at the question. "I have nothing to say to that jerk. Whatever Caine has planned for us to do today, I'm not saying a word to him." She said making direct eye contact with said jerk. Pomni swore she saw his ears go down a bit.

They both knew that wouldn't last. If there's one thing anyone knew about Jax, is that he can't survive without attention. And Lord, was he the biggest attention seeker Pomni's ever seen. Jax would just dedicate the entire day to pushing Ragatha's buttons until she snapped, earning everyone's attention as well as winning whatever sick game he'd imagined in his head.

Caine appeared not two minutes later and the cast proceeded with their little theme song as usual and afterwards, the ringmaster explained the rules of today's little adventure.

Another safe one, thank God. Pomni thought. Perhaps the man was starting to notice how strung out everyone had become and decided to cut them some slack.

Today's game was a timed scavenger hunt throughout the circus, with two separate teams taking turns in the main room to find the mising items as quick as possible while the other team waited in the hallway for their turn. They were split up into two teams. Ragatha instantly grabbed Pomni's hand and not even a split second later, Jax flung himself at the doll and screamed for Caine to team them up together.

Gangle, Kinger, and Zooble's team went first, which meant the other three were poofed into a random hallway away from the action.

Awkward.

Pomni fidgeted due to the tense atmosphere. Jax of course, took his chance to bug the shit out of the other girl. First trying to make conversation, then teasing her, then poking, shaking, singing, yelling, joking, flopping round again, but nothing seemed to break the doll's focus. Ragatha rolled her eyes at his theatrics before shooting them over to Pomni.

"Sheesh, these games have been real tame and non life-threatening lately right, Pomni? Seems like Caine's finally decided to cut us all a break!" She forced a laugh as she nudged the other girl.

Pomni looked rather taken aback by the sudden conversations but decided to play along nonetheless. "O-oh. Right. I-uh, really enjoy not being in danger for once, yknow?" She laughed nervously.

The rabbit shot up as the two continued their bland conversation, annoyed that he was being ignored completely.

Pomni felt rather proud of herself when Ragatha laughed at one of her jokes, her victory was short-lived however, letting out a yelp as she was suddenly yanked in the air by her underarms.

"HEY!-" She panicked and squirmed, having to force down a rather embarrassing noise that threatened to come out of her throat.

"Whatcha two ladies talkin' about?"Jax had that stupid smug grin on he always wore when he thought he was being smart. Ragatha, obviously, was not amused but threw in the towel anyways as it wasn't fair to Pomni to get her any more involved with their little spat any more than she already was.

"Put her down, Jax." The doll demanded.

Pomni tried to grab at the rabbit's gloved hands as she kicked her feet in the air. "Whaaaaaat? We’re just having a little fun is all! Ain’t that right, Pomni?”

The jester grunted and allowed her limbs to go limp, it was obvious she wasn’t gonna get free by herself and didn’t want to risk entertaining the rabbit any further.

“This is not fun for me. Please put me doWN!!!-“

Pomni’s entire body went rigid as soon as that prick started wriggling his fingers under her arms.

She was able to keep her laughter in for all of maybe half a second before exploding in hysterical laughter. The awful sensation causing her to thrash almost twice as hard now.

“Why laugh if you’re not having any fun, Bug Eyes?” Jax laughed along with her, pleased with the strong reaction.

Ragatha was still stone-faced, however, sighing as she moved to release the other girl.

“Jeez you really can’t go five minutes without bullying someone can you?” The doll grunted as she wrestled with the rabbits long ass arms. Jumping in the air a few times when he decided to hold Pomni straight over his head.

Ragatha was getting increasingly annoyed, Pomni was getting more hysterical by the minute, and of course Jax looked like he was having the time of his life.

But you know what? Two can play at that game.

“Gohohod! You two are hilarious. Say Rags, this almost reminds me of the time Caine had you screaming in the air for saying- OOMF!”

The wind knocked out of Jax’s throat as he was full-on tackled to the floor.

Thankfully, this gave Pomni the chance to escape but was still on top of the rabbit’s hands as she tried to compose herself.

“What the &!$@%# Rags?! I was just messing around, there’s no reason to get all pis-“

“Hold his wrists, Pomni.”

That was all the warning they got before the doll’s hands latched onto Jax’s hips and began tickling him mercilessly.

The high pitch scream that tore from his throat probably would’ve made the jester fall into another fit of laughter if she weren’t so taken aback by it herself.

Thankfully she caught up to speed in time to get a hold of the rabbit’s hands that were desperately trying to free themselves.

“WAIT!!- WAIT WAHAHAHAIT!!!- RAGAHAHAHAHAAA-“

Oh my God he’s &!$@%# losing it. Pomni thought as she observed the poor guys reactions.

It was quite a sight to see fucking Jax of all people go berserk over something as simple as tickling. It was a little unnerving to be honest.

What was even scarier was Ragatha’s face hadn’t changed from the ice cold scowl she’s had on since Jax started all this shit.

She looked kinda angry.

“pleheheheAHAHAHA!!-“ Jax wheezed. “You cahAHAHAHAN’T- You cahahahahan’t just- BWAHAHAHAHAAA!!!-“

“Oh so it’s only fair for you to pick on people huh?” Ragatha spat. “Y'know I think everyone here’s had about enough of your &!$@%#, Jax. You wanted attention that bad? Well here you go! Let’s see how you like being bullied for once.”

Her hands migrated down to his upper thighs, the doll now settling her weight on his calves. Giving the rabbit just enough leeway to twist and buck his hips like crazy.

Though he seemed to be breathing a bit easier with the change in spots, didn’t mean he still wasn’t absolutely losing his mind here.

“ahh…ahahaHAHAHAHehe- ohkahahay! Okay! I’m sohohorry! Is that what you guys wanna hear?! I’ll bahahahack ohohoff. Juhuhust- JUST!!-“

“You sure all this is okay? He’s starting to seem a bit lightheaded.” Pomni asked, more than a little concerned at the guy’s state despite what he’d pulled earlier. She knew they didn’t technically need to breathe but that only means this situation must be really messing with him.

Ragatha looked up and stilled her hands before withdrawing them completely.

“Trust me, he’s fine. We’ve put his sorry ass through a lot worse. And he would’ve kept tormenting you until Caine came in to stop him so he deserves everything he gets.” She explained as she got up from her spot on Jax’s legs and made her way over to where Pomni was stationed over their victim’s head.

The brief intermission allowed Jax to gather his bearings and a bit of his audacity too it seemed like.

“Yohohou…*huff*… You two are going to regret this. D-Dohohohon’t think for a second that you won anything. After all there’s plenty of centipedes for me to-AAAAA!!!!”

That ungodly shriek was almost worse than the first one. The jerk didn’t even get to finish his little vow for revenge before Ragatha dropped back down to scribble, squeeze, and prob rapidly over her victim’s belly.

“I know you can’t fathom the feeling, Jax, but I was going to be nice and call it quits there. But you just don’t know when to. Shut. Your. TRAP!!”

Pomni couldn’t help herself from laughing this time. With nothing pinning the poor guy’s legs down, they were flying through the air in every direction while he screamed like a little girl.

Seriously, Pomni doubted even she could reach that kind of pitch.

The whole things was just ridiculous to watch. She was sure her ears were bleeding by now but she couldn’t help the full on belly laughter that forced its way out of her.

Ragatha looked over at her friend as she doubled over in laughter. It was at that point, Ragatha truly realized how ridiculous this entire situation was and that scowl she had permanently plastered on her face finally bloomed into a smile as she too began to laugh.

Another ear-piercing screech and they were both done.

The two of them simultaneously lost their hold on their victim as they fell to the floor, rolling and clutching their stomachs as bouts of laughter poured out of them.

Jax layed there for a while, absolutely mortified at this entire ordeal. He began plotting his revenge almost immediately, if only to keep himself sane while hearing those two &!$@%# laugh at him.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t fond of all the attention he received.

Just as the girl’s laughter was starting to die down, a voice boomed through the hallway.

“Terribly sorry for the wait, friends! It appears that there’s been a rather embarrassing oversight on my part! You see, I told the others that I’ve hidden five items but instead only hid four! The fifth one was in my POCKET!-“

Caine explained as he pulled a rubber duck out of his pocket. Stopping himself abruptly seeing the state his other three guests were in.

Was it that funny? The ringmaster asked himself at hearing the two girl’s laughter finally dying down. That was before he saw Jax, still sprawled out on the floor and decided he didn’t really want to know.

“Does this mean we forfeit?” Jax slurred lazily.

“Nonsense!” Caine announced, deciding to ignore the his guest’s disappointed groans. “This just means we have to start a new game! You all seemed to LOVE playing ‘Capture the Flag’ yesterday! So I thought, why not give it another GO-“

Ragatha threw her shoe at the ringmaster before he even finished his statement. Of course, this prompted another bout of laughter from both Pomni and Jax this time.

Unfortunately, Caine took all of that as enthusiasm and prepared their little field from yesterday.

Pomni wasn’t certain if those two were gonna bring their bad energy back on the field, not to mention Jax was no doubt itching for payback right about now.

One thing was for certain, though. Pomni was staying the &!$@%# out of it this time.

[newkatzkafe2023]

@lara-legomonkiekid

What if Y/N was like Jax from tadc!

(Lmk Wukong) Wukong thought that he was the king of pranks That was untill he met you. Your a rather Unusual looking rabbit demon. You're smiling constantly and you at wearing pink overalls. Not to mention it seems you are have very full curves. Look relatively harmless until Showed everyone that you're not. He was the main target of your pranks. Whether it be the candy apple that was actually an onion trick or the cookies filled with toothpaste, He was not pleased with what you do. And the final straw was that you once put a family of spiders in mk's bed. Then he went to confront you and before he could scold you. For your actions, you were like it's about time You came to see me. I was wondering win the king was gonna give little me some attention. Ok now Wukong is perplexed You mean to tell him that the reason you are doing? All this is because you want his attention. You couldn't just went up and talked to him. You finally responded with well. Where's the fun in that. This is the beginning of a rather interesting relationship.

(NR Wukong) Okay would you believe me if I said this all started with a bowling ball. You were over hear dropping balling balls on random demons and unfortunately that ended up being him. You quickly saw that that was the monkey king himself and boy did you run Like your life depended on it. The next day this dude somehow found you, He demanded to know why you hit him with a bowling ball effort. She was trying gonna play dumb to it. But it looks like he means business so you just told them that He wasn't your target. The exchange gets heated and he finally says that I hope You know that this means war. Oh he came to challenge you to a prank war Game on hot old man monkey.

(MK Reborn Wukong) You are the bain of this monkey's existence. This rabbit demon has been messing with him and his group for weeks. Fun fact you once Wrote the word nerd On master tang forehead. You put spicy peppers in pigsy's soup and feed a lemon to fruity. Yeah you are freaking menace and your relationship was a lot like tom and jerry. This man was always yelling and trying to fight you. But you would always quickly escape with your infinite stamina. This goes on for far too long to the point where master Tang decided, To just bring you along the journey to enlightenment and You told him that the only reason you're accepting is because of the hot Angry monkey who always tried to chase you. The look on his face was priceless

(HIB Wukong) You make this man so tired you are just to full of energy for him. And he tends to brush off your pranks. As little inconveniences which annoys you alot. You guys me On his travels to Hun Dun. You of course was flirting with him a little bit before offering your hand To introduce yourself with he did want to shake it he got shocked. You explained to him that you picked up static before making contact with him. He already knows that this is going to be a long day

(Netflix Wukong) Oh how you have made the world's most hilarious enemy. This guy would engage with a prank war with you with no problem. Weeks of onslaught pranks on each other, while sometimes getting people caught in the crossfire was quite thrilling. You guys decided to take a break and actually Talk to each other and found that. You guys have a lot more in common than you think. Not to mention he's quite cute to you. I guess you can always see what this adventure would take you two.

Feel Free to Reblog😇👍

[mistkisbiggestfan]

hey i kinda saw an opposite! tadc AU, i was wondering if you could do some general HC’s about how you think they would act and what dating them would be like?

have a great day or afternoon :D

Opposite AU! TADC Cast x Gn! Reader - Part 1

Tadc Cast x Gn! Reader

A/n: Hey guyssss, missed me? /j REQUESTS FOR TADC ARE OPEN!!

Summary: Opposite Au! TADC and how they are as lovers, part 1 Words: 1212 Request: Yes

HC for: Caine, Pomni, Jax, Gangle (Others will be in part 2)

Pomni —> Snarky, funny, very confident, flirty

Jax —> Anxious, panics a lot, 

Caine —> Out of it, doesn’t talk, a silent observer, creepish 

Ragatha —> Mean, not a people pleaser, 

Gangle —> You know those people in movies who are french, drink and smoke, and are basically depressed artists? Yeah, that’s her. She has two masks; a fiery, really angry one, and a fuck off, depressed one. 

Zooble —> Cares about others a lot, always helping

Kinger —> The most sane one, a father figure for others, very patient

✶ Caine ✶: 

Out of everyone, the worst partner, sorry. 

I mean the opposite! Caine just doesn’t understand real people. Like at all.

Can you even call it a romance? He learns a lot about humans through this relationship though.

This is basically a Character.Ai just worse. He doesn’t really talk, but is learning to do so, even though he is the ringmaster, and even after so many people have come and gone through the circus, it always seems like he just can’t grasp it. 

Takes a lot to calculate answers, especially when you try to make a move on him. 

Has a lot of already pre-made answers, like laughing at jokes. 

His code is made in a way that if it thinks something said is a joke, he laughs. 

“So Jax tripped and I said: You should learn how to walk again.” “✶Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha✶” 

Wally Darling type of laugh, very rhythmic, lacks emotion to it.

If he feels like he's falling for you, he’ll be gone for days, trying to see what’s wrong with his code. 

It goes on to the point that even the most uninterested person in the circus (Gangle) is mildly worried.

You’ll have to find him somehow, look at him and just let everything play out.

You stumbled across the digital land, looking for one person, well, AI, he was gone for almost a week already. This was weird, even weirder than him just hanging around you all, not a word escaping, just cold, calculating and all-seeing eyes. 

No member of the circus liked him that much. He just reminded them that with everyday that passes by, their humanity slips away more and more. But you, somehow, found him endearing, you got to know a side of him hid away, the one that was rather, nice? 

Finally, you saw a familiar figure, he sat, his legs dangling off the edge to the void, a big screen with lines of code, you cleared your throat. Not catching his attention, you decided to walk over and sit next to him.

The screen shut, yet he stayed silent, looking in front of him. A drop of sweat rolled down your face, you weren’t sure how it was possible but you’ll dwell on that later.

– …✶My Code, It Has To Be Broken✶…

– Why do you think so..?

– ✶ I Shouldn’t Be Feeling This, I Shouldn’t Be Feeling Anything, This Is New, New Code Should Be Impossible To Write Itself On Its Own✶”

– Well, there are always times for something new, right?

– ✶ I Don’t Understand✶…

– Let me help you do so, Caine. 

☆ Pomni ☆:

Extremely confident about herself.

Almost like normal Jax, almost, she’s just a bit better, and people actually like her.

The funniest person in the circus, the backbone of the community lmao.

When in a relationship she would be the flirtiest mf out there.

Is able to say the corniest and dumbest pickup line without feeling an ounce of shame.

Her ego is twice her size lmao.

She is snarky, sure, but still respects her friends and you, maybe except for Jax.

Really hates Jax for some reason (Because she sees him as a “weakling”)

WILL call you inappropriate names.

“I’m going to snap you in half Pomni.” “Kinky.” or “What if I like that?”

Has some soft moments, rarely, and will immediately act like nothing happened.

In reality she’s scared of messing up, but on the other hand how could she?

Almost too confident, having a heart to heart with her is HARD.

But it does happen!....Once or twice.

Invades your personal space, a personal space invader /ref

Sometimes when you show attraction to each other you just see opposite! Caine staring you two down.

She doesn’t care, and goes on to hit on you harder. 

Knows how to be mean just enough for you to still feel fine, that’s a true skill.

❀ Jax ❀:

Worse than normal! Pomni, he is panicking at all times.

A sweetheart when no one is shitting on him.

Like in normal Digital Circus everybody hates him, somehow they do so here too. 

You will have to reassure him a lot, like, a lot.

Since everybody puts him down and/or makes him panic.

A miracle that he’s not abstracted yet.

Yet.

Anyways, hold him, please he might die otherwise lmao.

And please, call him Jaxy, he will immediately do anything you say no questions asked.

Has keys to everyone's rooms out of safety reasons, really

Has a lot of fur, bro’s a walking plushy, instead of being a smooth bastard like normal! Jax.

A walking radiator, even though temperature is technically non-existent here.

If you fight he’s like: 

“My partner is mad at me…

…hope I die.”

If you’re really mad and don’t let him inside of your room, he will stay next to the door waiting, like a kicked puppy, won’t invade your space though, even with the keys to your room.

It’s only when you heard at least two people making fun of him for being pathetic that you let him in.

The little spoon while cuddling, or just nuzzles into you, even though he’s way taller than you. 

〹 Gangle 〹:

Living that “tormented, misunderstood artist” life. 

Has two masks: A semi depressed, apathetic, sassy one, and an all time angry one.

Breaks the angry mask while wearing it, is too focused on art and cares too little to fix it, nobody tries to fix it because they’re scared lmao.

Caine just spawns a new one after sometime, no clue why

Anyways very focused on her art, nobody can get in her studio,

Except for you, you have a free pass since you’re her s/o

Sometimes the relationship can get very toxic, if she’s painting or doing anything she won’t talk with anyone, get angry when they interrupt her, and will be gone from everything for up to a week. 

But it's those amazing highs of your romance that keep you two going.

She calls you her “muse”. 

Will say that you were created specifically as an artistic blessing for her, take that as you will. 

If you look at the definition of tired it has just a picture of opposite! Gangle.

Won’t ever tell you that but you’re the reason she didn’t abstract yet. 

Before you showed up she was going through a total burn out so you were truly a divine creature sent for her to study and capture as best as she can.

Is somehow able to smoke cigarettes? Where do they come from? How can she smoke with no lungs? How do those cigarettes light up? No clue. 

“Paint me like one of your french girls.” /ref

[destinygoldenstar]

My TADC Predictions

Okay, quick disclaimer here:

Everything I say in this post is purely speculation and is in no way being demanded to become canon. All of these are open to be incorrect upon future releases of the show’s episodes, and nobody should get upset over whatever that is said in this post being wrong. This is Gooseworx’s show, not mine. I am only a fan doing fan theories. Please harass no one.

Okay now that this is out of the way, what do I predict for this shows plot?

Well, I can safely say that I am not 100% sure on anything, as I do want to be surprised. I was with Episode 2 for sure. But the episode also gave me some ideas.

Let’s start with the episodes themselves:

Gooseworx confirmed that Episodes 3-6 are character centric episodes. They also said that this was NOT meant to be a mystery show but rather a character focused show.

So I think it is safe to say that we will, for the most part, have to WAIT for answers on the outside world and the mysteries of the circus itself. We won’t get answers for awhile.

As for what I think the answers are, more on this later.

So, at the very least, Episodes 3-6 are episodic adventures designed by the circus. Which while character development carries over (I would hope so), the adventures themselves are self contained. So we likely won’t be seeing the Candy Canyon Kingdom again.

Maybe Episode 7 is also in this category. Idk.

Due to the show being based off ‘I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream’, all of this would make a lot of sense.

And I will say it right now, from Episode 3-6, Pomni is taking a backseat.

She’s the main character. She’s been the main focus of the first two episodes, and she’ll undoubtedly be important for the last act of this show. But it makes sense to me that she takes a backseat role in these episodes and leave the focus character of these episodes as the main driving forces.

I’m NOT saying she’ll have absolutely nothing to do or get zero character development in these episodes. She could play a part in the other’s development in SOME cases, and it would suck if Episode 2’s ending became meaningless by having her not work on warming up to the others at all.

BUT other than that, yeah, these episodes are going to be primarily focused on the characters Gooseworx listed to be.

Maybe Pomni will finally see the monsters.

Or get zombie infected in Episode 3, who knows.

The side characters:

In a trailer, we saw more of these characters being revealed. And thanks to Episode 2, it’s far safer to assume that these guys are episodic characters, with a FEW exceptions.

While I think these characters are gonna play a bigger purpose when discussing NPC’s, they are episodic exclusive.

The only exceptions I can think of so far are Orbsman and GummiGoo.

Orbsman I think is making their debut in Episode 3. But I also think he’s going to be one of the biggest gag characters in the show. From how they market them as ‘everyone’s favorite character’.

Basically, I think they’re gonna be like that elf from Majorca’s Mask (I forgot his name). A gag character you always run into with a very out there concept.

As for GummiGoo, I don’t think he’s dead. Or dead as in ‘gone forever.’

Otherwise, why make a plushie of him?

(Or maybe they make plushies of dead characters all the time. Idk, I haven’t watched Murder Drones yet)

BUT I dont think he’s coming back in Episode 3. I actually think it’ll be awhile before this character comes back.

The most soon I can see his return coming is in Episode 7. And I think it will be anything but pretty.

There’s a theory that GummiGoo got his memories erased when Caine snapped him, which I do like in the sense that there are permanent consequences and to establish the harsh reality of the discrimination of the NPC’s. So yes, I do see this becoming entirely possible.

I think this characters memory erasure will be used for Pomni and Caine’s development respectively. I also see this character playing a role in the established world building that is the NPCs.

What we know about NPCs so far is that they are programs Caine created, to the point where they worship Caine as god (I’ll bring this up later). All of their backstories and memories are fake. As they are merely programmed obstacles created to be used for the human players sick enjoyment.

And Caine has trouble keeping track of who’s a human and who’s an NPC, so he segregated the two because ‘who knows what could happen’. (Again, more on that later)

This show really subverted me with its second episode, so I will still do that with this case. In most amnesia case scenarios, the character would eventually regain their memories as though they were never lost.

I don’t think this will happen to GummiGoo. I think he’s NEVER getting his memories back.

In that sense, it would be more so the case that GummiGoo himself is a tragedy.

I can also see that very tragedy being the awakening of an NPC rebellion, especially if the NPCs are prominent in future episodes. They snap and go ‘No Caine, NPCs are people too and deserve to have a life!’

Especially if the game was say, originally designed for advanced AI to live like people within the game.

It really depends if the other characters bond with NPCs on whether it’s all of them that agree to this, or just Pomni.

Anyway, the Episode 3 discussion:

Simply based on the teaser, it would make no sense for the ghost things to appear in a late episode unless they’re REALLY trolling us. (Which could totally be possible)

So maybe Episode 3 is this haunted mansion adventure as it’s episodic adventure.

Gooseworx also said this was their favorite episode. And that it was darker than the previous two. That speaks for itself.

As for what they’re possibly talking about… I don’t know. I’m actually stumped there.

But what we do know right now is that this is a pairing episode of Zooble and Kinger.

This does worry me, I’ll admit. Zooble is a character that gets rather little screen time already that pairing them with another character with more story potential in their episode sounds like admitting defeat.

I do hope I’m wrong though.

Zooble:

Zooble is the character so far that I am the most skeptical about. Mostly because if their lack of screen time thus far. And like I said, them sharing an episode with someone else does not help.

With that said, I do want to give the benefit of the doubt and say their lack of contribution to the plot thus far is intentional and there’s more going on than what meets the eye.

I do think, no matter what, Zooble is playing a role in this episodes adventure. And if they refuse, Caine will just throw them in. And they will play a very prominent role in that episode.

First off, I think this episode will be the confirmation of Zooble’s identity. As in, what pronouns they use. Because so far, it is all over the place in the show. Either way, I definitely feel like this character is supposed to be trans and/or gender-fluid.

Do I think this will be Zooble’s main focal point of characterization? Not really. Whether or not it’s trans rep, I like the idea of it just being a casual preference they have. It’s a great way to normalize trans-rights in this show without being preachy. While also being trans-rights because that’s something the world definitely needs. (Especially where I’m from)

The other thing is Zooble refusing to go on these adventures. The obvious reason could be characterization that ‘they’re lazy and a moody person who doesn’t like to contribute to anything involving peers’.

So if Zooble’s mental complication is dysphoria, if it’s not gender dysphoria it’s social dysphoria. Maybe it’s both.

(You’ll find that I am theorizing all the characters to be going through something)

It is a valid route to take for that character.

But I also think it’s the less interesting route.

There’s a theory that Zooble is a spy, as in, they know more about the circus than they let on and are self defending with that information. Which I do like, and could see being possible.

It would also somewhat justify the duo episode because it would give Zooble more of a role in the future. Whether that’s as an anti-hero type character or a jerk-ish ally.

So basically, they’d be the ‘heart of gold’ character everyone thought Jax was gonna be until Episode 2 crushed that.

Zooble could be someone who knows more about the circus than they originally let on, such as hacks or secrets to the maps, but they don’t share this information with anyone else because A) What would Caine do to them? B) While they do care about the others enough to set up a funeral for Kaufmo, they aren’t exactly open to letting people in their lives or asking for help.

You know, unless their own life is put in jeapordy.

Again, social dysphoria thing.

(There’s also the Pilot in terms of this discussion. They got eaten by the Gloink Queen but didn’t turn into a Gloink. So like, what if they used a hack code to save themselves? And/or what if they used that as an opportunity to learn what makes the NPCs tick?)

This would also make them a foil to Kinger in the episode, as Kinger would be the one who IS open to letting people in his life, but mentally cannot. And so far Zooble has seen Kinger as the least reliable out of everyone (He failed to save them from the Gloink Queen and they made a comment about how they thought Kinger would be next).

Speaking of Kinger:

Okay, so Kinger is definitely a plot important character. I think we can all agree with that.

In the previous two episodes there just wasn’t enough of Kinger that made me completely latch onto him. Which is why I haven’t made a post on him. But I do feel like Episode 3 will change that because…

Yeah we’re learning about him.

As for what I do think about him: He’s a good guy. He’s trying to help. He’s like the cooky old guy of the group that wants to be of assistance and is very knowledgeable but fails to due to his mental illness.

That mental illness likely being schizophrenia.

What this basically is is a disconnect from reality. You see things that aren’t there, you hear things that weren’t said, and vise versa.

It’s a mental disorder that is in need to be looked at by a professional because patients can be so disconnected from reality that they can’t function.

And Kinger has multiple of these symptoms as he hears things that weren’t said, forgets things almost instantly, and does irrational actions without much thought.

So basically, Kinger is psychotic.

A misinterpretation of that word is ‘dangerous and crazy’. But that is not what that word means at all. So NO, I’m not claiming Kinger is evil or crazy. He’s smart. He knows what he’s talking about. But he IS mentally ill.

That, or altzheimers. But I don’t think he’s old enough to get that.

Now, in some characters cases, it’s difficult to pinpoint if some characters obtained these illnesses from the circus or if they had them before the circus. Depending on the character it could vary.

I’m inclined to believe Kinger’s case is the former, as he has been here the longest, and Jax says specifically “That’s why he’s crazy”.

But what exactly drove him to be that way?

The first theory I have is HOW long exactly Kinger has been here.

And I said this theory in a post before.

But basically, Kinger was not only here the longest, but he was also one of the ORIGINAL tester players of the game.

Him, along with other people.

Again, in that other post, I said that Caine accidentally killed a human player and that’s why they’re programmed to segregate humans and NPCs.

This would require the Digital Circus to originally be designed to have advanced AI that interacted with the players. But because of this tragedy, they had to abandon the project and deem it as malicious software, or ‘malware’.

So not only did Kinger witness this exact event to one of his companions and co-workers, but he also witnessed the abstraction of that dead co-worker that caused the other players to never leave the circus.

From there, not only would Kinger suffer massive survivors guilt, but also be here FAR longer than we could imagine, and he had to witness ALL of his friends succumb to abstraction.

Including Queenie. Who in no doubt was THE closest to him. And I can totally imagine getting a Kinger flashback of him witnessing her abstraction.

I don’t know what exactly his relationship was with Queenie. People have suspected she may have been his wife or girlfriend, but Gooseworx had confirmed there was no romance in the show.

This could either be them stretching the truth and forgetting the ‘that you see on screen’ part.

Or they are very legit here. Which in that sense, she could just be his best friend. There doesn’t have to be romantic subtext to it.

Either way, we are definitely going to know more of Kinger’s backstory at some point.

There’s a theory that Kinger at some point will be the next one to abstract.

But… I think that would be way too obvious.

Yeah, he’s old and been here a long time. But if that’s the only reason he would have abstracted a long time ago.

There’s definitely SOMETHING in his brain that is preventing him from ‘the breaking point’.

Along with Jax, who I will talk about later, Kinger is ‘insane’. But that might not be defined as ‘the breaking point’ for him.

Ragatha described abstraction as ‘starting to question who you are and why you’re even alive’. Which makes abstraction sound and seem like it is portrayed as a ‘mental suicide’.

So Kinger’s insanity in particular is NOT plaguing him with suicidal thoughts. He already lost EVERYTHING at this point and in other circumstances would be abstracted. But instead he keeps going and keeps a hold of a reason to live.

What is that reason? We don’t know yet.

But it could also be a subconscious decision he makes to detach himself from the reality of his situation. He’s so disconnected from reality that he’s only living in fantasies now.

It’s… very tragic of a fate for him.

So I really DON’T see Kinger abstracting. I believe that would be a very predictable route to take this character.

If any character is gonna abstract, I feel it would be someone else. More on that character later.

Also he was a bug tester. I don’t think I need to explain that one. Everyone and their mothers made that theory already.

Gangle:

I will say, Gangle is the one I have the least to say about out of the six. As I think this character has the least amount of relevance to the main plot and whatever twist that comes.

That said, doesn’t mean she’s gonna be a bad character. At best, I can see her being a very solid, entertaining character with strong development that is blatant.

That said, Gangle is definitely the major focus of Episode 4 as it is the episode of the most character discovery for her.

I definitely want them to explore her two masks with this episode, as so far we’ve seen little to none of the comedy mask.

I don’t hate the running gag or anything, but I think they should build on it is all I’m saying. Otherwise it gets stale and the character just becomes the gag.

With the masks, I definitely see it as a visual for bipolar disorder.

If that is the case, then seeing more of her comedy mask is vital to get that point across.

Gangle is also characterized as a bit of a dork and a massive pushover in Episode 2. With the figurines and the ‘submissive and agreeable’ line. Which made me think ‘Wow, I might like this character far more than I thought I would’.

But that latter line gave me huge Angel Dust flashbacks. With both being Episode 4 and all that. But I don’t think Gangle’s past was THAT horrific.

Still, I heavily imagine Gangle is one of those characters who had a very rough life before the circus and even now is someone who can’t stand up for herself.

I can see a positive character arc for her where she grasps her mask concept better, figure out more about herself, and come out a better and more confident person.

Not the deepest arc in the world, I know, but it’s all in execution. And I can totally see that character development carry over to later episodes. Like, say, she stands up for herself against Jax and doesn’t put up with his bullying anymore. That’d be satisfying.

But that is all I’m really expecting of Gangle as of right now. Just a really solid side character.

Ragatha:

Okay now we’re talking!

I love Ragatha. She’s by far one of the sweetest characters in a world of such hopelessness. And yet her own struggles with connecting to the people around her is so real and so relatable to me. Despite being so sweet, she feels like a real person and doesn’t come across as naive.

With that said… yeah I don’t think she’s getting a happy ending.

No doubt I think they’re setting up a character arc for Ragatha. While yes she is very positive and reassuring all things considered, it’s those same traits that make her very pushy and not very understanding to what the people around her need.

There’s also the hint Gooseworx gave about the ‘evil Ragatha’.

From my understanding, this is due to the nightmare image of her in Pomni’s nightmare.

So two things I could imagine this being:

1: This is part of the Episode 5 Adventure that involves an Evil AI Clone of Ragatha. Making the episode about introspection on her end on who she could be if she doesn’t accept her more negative emotions.

Or 2: This is metaphorical and foreshadowing Ragatha being a traitor.

This is part of biblical text and symbolism MANY people have pointed out already. And I will do as well.

In text, Judas Iscariot is the figure that betrayed Jesus Christ. He betrayed him FIVE times actually. (Episode FIVE???)

If Zooble is a spy, then suspicion would fall onto them as a traitor among them. And Jax would be too obvious of a candidate.

But I think if this were to be the case, Ragatha would be influenced into this malicious role due to a negative character arc set up for her.

We all rave about how anxious Pomni is, but so is Ragatha, who is also suffering this very common mental illness. It’s just not as in your face. And if left untreated, she could start to make very irrational choices over a paranoia that she’d end up completely alone in the end.

So her betrayal may be having to do with them finding a potential answer that would help them leave the circus, but she destroys it because it would mean they’d leave her.

That, or she’d be possessed by Satan… who Im predicting would be Jax in this case. Idk who else it would be that’d influence her.

While I do not think this would happen in her focus episode, I do think that at some point in the latter half of the show, Ragatha abstracts.

Whether that’s out of guilt for her betrayal of the others, or just simply being unable to take it anymore as a failure of the job she set out to do (as a caring figure and the heart of the group), she is burying a LOT of trauma and negative emotions and sweeping them under the rug and bottling her up. That is definitely gonna bite her later.

So yeah, if any character is going to abstract, my bet is on her.

Would be this be a PERMANENT abstraction ‘death’?

It really depends if they find a way to undo abstraction after such. But that’s a huge 50/50 that’s even going to end up being possible. That could go either way.

And if Ragatha doesn’t abstract, she almost does, but then someone saves her before she can.

Jax:

Ah, here it is. The character everyone wants me to talk about…

And I have already.

So, my Jax take is pretty interesting compared to some other Internet folks I’ve seen so far.

I actually didn’t find him all that interesting in the Pilot. Hot take I know. He wasn’t bad or anything, I was just far more compelled by the world building and Pomni’s struggle at the time.

It was actually the second episode that hooked me on his character because “Holy sh*t this guy is a maniac and I am here for it!!”

I mean, Gooseworx already confirmed that Jax is the morally worst character in the show and there was nothing heroic about him. Idk what more you want me to say.

Now with that said, do I believe this and that he will, indeed, be a major driving force of conflict?

Yes.

Do I think he’s a one dimensional evil bastard?

No.

Hear me out.

While I don’t believe Jax will ever be ‘redeemed’ per say, I do believe an explanation for his behavior is warranted AND there are hints that there’s a bit more complexity to his mindset.

I mean, he didn’t show up to Kaufmo’s Funeral, but showed pity when it was mentioned.

As for what exactly this explanation is, it’s actually something I’ve heard a lot of people say before.

He’s aware this is a video game.

The NPCs are just that. They don’t have lives. This world is designed to have zero consequences. So you can do whatever you want in that context.

So Jax takes advantage of that.

We only don’t agree with him because we saw in Pomni’s POV that the NPCs are more than their design.

Everyone here has their own coping methods in a world like this and Jax is no different. It would be INSANE if he had no care.

There’s not enough evidence yet, but I believe he USED to care about the human players at the very least, (reaction to Kaufmo’s Funeral and all of that), but after several losses, decided to screw any sense of care he had.

His fault. But still.

I already made a post about Jax having low empathy (and y’all said I was crazy before Episode 2 came out) so I’ll be brief.

Jax cares about absolutely no one here and is perfectly willing to sacrifice them if it means amusement. The only reason he hasn’t terrorized the circus yet is because that would be boring if there was nobody to poke at.

While low empathy doesn’t equal ‘bad person’, in Jax’s case, he feels no care, but it’s his own actions that lead to sociopathy as a personality disorder.

Donny from Rise of the TMNT has low empathy but you don’t see him committing candyland genocide for the lols.

If I had to predict his past, I would say he was a malware publisher.

He has keys to everyone’s rooms after all. Maybe that’s symbolism that he hacks into peoples personal info with his viruses?

So basically, he was a terrible criminal in his human life and that carries over here. At least in the circus there’s no consequences.

His development might be a complete negative character arc. He’s the anti-Pomni.

Where Pomni learns to connect with the others and that she’s not alone, Jax shuts out everyone until he is truly alone and no one would ever support him.

As for what Jax’s ‘point of no return’ action is. It might have something to do with Ragatha if she becomes a traitor. Maybe he’s the one to persuade, maybe even force her to destroy their hope of an exit.

He’s Satan, then.

Cause it would be easy to say the action is a circus genocide or circus domination. But that would not work on getting the audience to hate Jax. Making a character hateable is making them do personal things that would offend both the characters and the audience. And forcing one of the nicest characters in the show to turn for the worst would be an example of that.

And I already made a post about why think the ‘Jax is an NPC’ theory is wrong. That was speculation that had been thrown around even before FilmTheory made their video, but my post so happened to come out around the same time so it was pretty perfect.

And if you’re curious about my thoughts on the recent video they made about Digital Circus? (Pomni being an NPC) To say that didn’t convince me is an understatement. You can literally contradict it with one basic fact: WE. SAW. HER. SPAWN.

ANYWAY,

I’m also calling that image of Jax becoming an abstraction hybrid is fake.

I mean come on. Why would a dead character get a focus episode after their death?

Either this is a nightmare, or he snaps and comes close but gets saved.

Because Episode 2 had the same thing as the former, I’m assuming the latter is more possible.

Either way, Jax is a surefire antagonist that will only get worse as the show goes on. There will be an explanation for his behavior at some point, Episode 6 even being a day in his POV, but none of it will in any way excuse his behavior or even make him remotely sympathetic.

But is he ‘the main villain’ of the show?

In my opinion, no.

Oh he’s still an antagonist. And a bad person. But final boss? No.

Actually, I don’t there there is a ‘main villain’ of the show:

At most, I see there being Episodic Villains like the Gloink Queen. And of course Jax being Jax. But in terms of a main villain that needs to be defeated, I don’t see this show pulling that off.

Unless they do.

This show works very well as a bunch of real people going through their emotional baggage’s. And if anything, the setting is the villain.

At most, you could argue Caine is the main villain. We all hate what he did to GummyGoo. But Gooseworx confirmed he’s not evil.

There’s a difference between an ‘antagonist’ and a ‘villain’. ‘Villain’ implies the character is evil.

It’s clear that Caine has certain beliefs, or rather, programmed to believe.

I said this theory before in a post so I’ll just state it.

I believe that Caine is an AI self insert of one of the two creators of the game.

And at most, if I am correct about Caine and Jax, then the closest thing to a ‘main villain’ would be C&A, the corporation behind the Digital Circus. That would include its employees, but I don’t think they’ll be actual ‘characters’ and would more so be ‘talking points’. Hell, I highly doubt we’re ever gonna see their faces, or any of the characters human selves.

I cracked a joke of ‘What if the humans were ACTUALLY live action?’ And it will be INSANE if that ends up happening.

There were two creators of the game, one who would make an AI self insert to be the host that would become Caine, and the other would be the first human player in the testing room, and that player would be named Abel.

The game was designed in the 1990s to be an interactive VR game that would be revolutionary for innovation, the AI both deciding the players avatars and making immersive NPCs to cooperate with the players.

When test players then came in, with one of them being Kinger, and so far, the game has been a success and been distributed. Kinda like that one virus disguised as a gorilla mascot.

(I DO NOT OWN THIS SCREENSHOT, NOR DID I BREAK ANY DEVICE)

That is until bitterness stirred from the two company owners. The one working the game from the outside became envious and got consumed by greed and spite towards the game not being exactly their imagining. The other one, the human player, then began to immerse themself with a different side to the game, a world where the NPCs began to act like real people, with real aspirations and shortcomings that of a person. And they realized that there was much more to what they were creating than they originally thought. So both in game and in real life, Abel tried to bond with the NPCs as though they were real players.

And of course that got more attention.

So in a bitter action of irrationality, the head used Caine to ‘delete’ Abel while he was in the game. Remove him from the server so he can’t mess up the project.

What ended up happening instead was not only that Abel died in real life to brain damage, but the player version of Abel ABSTRACTED upon the murder.

The abstraction caused a glitch in the program itself, making it so that any player that got in the game could NEVER leave.

Which is how Kinger and the other bug testers and players at the time got trapped there.

And well, the actual MURDER of one of the company heads and its employees suddenly being unable to leave a video game would NOT fly under the radar.

As just like the biblical text, the murderer would be punished. Both the A.I version of Caine, and the human version of Caine.

A.I Caine had to deal with the permanent consequences of the human players being trapped in the circus forever, with him trying and failing over and over and OVER again to save these players from abstraction. As they would begin to do so due to their mental instabilities in the unstable digital program, also killing them.

Human Caine would cause the entire company he built to be taken in a dark turn. They fired him, and he went to prison, and then the Digital Circus was from then on deemed negatively.

From then on, The Amazing Digital Circus would be deemed ‘Malware’. A dangerous virus where any user that got their hands on the program would be trapped in the game forever. As such, it was not only taken from shelves, but would fade into obscurity to the point where the 21st century barely heard of the game.

Of course, that didn’t stop some people from getting their hands on the malware and being too naive to see the warning signs.

Ragatha as, very likely, an older sister to a family or a teacher that tried to help a minor, relative or not. Jax as a virus creator himself who was just testing illegal malware for the lols. Gangle as a shy and closed off theater kid who just wanted a way to therapy without actually going. Zooble as a college dropout artist with dreams and ambitions and got lended the wrong hands. And Kaufmo. And every other player that fell for the trap of the malware.

I mean, you and I know malware is unsafe and no one should use it. But some people are either ignorant or stupid.

They all paid the price.

Obviously all these players got into the game at different times. We know this for certain. Kinger was one of the original players. Then it’s Ragatha, Jax, Gangle, Zooble, and you know who. Gooseworx confirmed this order.

But I mentioned that Kinger was a C&A Employee. There’s another character I strongly believe is one.

Pomni.

There’s a reason I claim the people from C&A are Kinger and Pomni and not anyone else.

It’s not just because of the evidence others have pointed out (Kinger mentioning bugs, his knowledge on how the place works, and Pomni looking as though she recognized the desk in the office scene, and her also knowing how the place works) , but it also has to do with their designs.

Notice how both of them are the only two who have a design theme that centers around royalty.

The King & The Jester.

And if Queenie was also an employee this drives the point even further home.

And since C&A created the game, that would make it the kingdom of this world. So of course the game would make them look like roles in royalty.

Anyway, Pomni. Whereas Kinger was a 90s employee at C&A, Pomni was a modern day employee.

We already mentioned biblical text. Caine being Caine the first murderer, Jax being Satan, Ragatha being the traitor… you know where I’m going with this.

Yes, there is the theory that the show uses biblical subtext and Pomni is this show’s equivalent of Jesus Christ. And it is HILARIOUS.

But I do have incredibly mixed feelings on it.

On the one hand, it does make sense in biblical context and for ‘I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream’ if you know the fate of the MC in that story.

On the other hand, it is a very risky direction to take. Not saying the writers can’t pull it off or I don’t trust them to pull it off. But if they go at it as though Pomni is a chosen one meant to save the others and the peak of moral hood in the shows lore, it would ruin her character.

I think Pomni works way better as a regular woman that is just as flawed and uneasy as the people around her, if not more so. But that’s my opinion.

As such, I feel like the show works way better as a character that is not a chosen one or doing all these good deeds for a purpose, but is just… a normal person.

So with C&A, 2023, we enter human Pomni. An accountant working at the C&A office for minimum wage. She doesnt have a life outside of her miserable job. No friends. No after work activities. No nothing. She just goes through the motions of life like there’s nothing else.

Maybe she has some college degree for game design, but no one recognized it, so it seemed pointless to pursue any dream in it.

She suffered major depression and generalized anxiety disorder her entire adult life, and by 25, she’s lost all hope that her existence means anything.

What’s her entire existence if it’s just working 9-5? (See what I did there?)

I also made a prediction in a previous post that the human that had Caine as a self insert is Pomni’s parent. So that adds another context to it whether it’s true or not.

And then on a slow day of browsing, she stumbled across information on ‘The Amazing Digital Circus’. Which was listed as a malware that’s killed several people as well as their devices.

She learns through her research that it was a project meant to take people into an immersion of another world of wonders and endless fun.

And as someone who got into games to immerse herself with fantasies and escape from reality as a kid with parental issues (If ‘human Caine’ is her dad), it was the exact thing she needed.

So late at night, Human Pomni snuck into the office to find the tech of the Digital Circus that got abandoned in the back long ago.

But rather than have any intent to fix it, she booted it up to put the headset on. Basically committing suicide.

Yes, I believe human Pomni had committed suicide when she put the headset on. I have a post about this.

She had no intention to save anyone in the game or to even live her normal life, but she was thrusted in a position where she didn’t expect her escape from reality to be so literal. And survival instinct got to her immediately as a result. She didn’t want to go through with the game anymore and tried to escape what she did, but couldn’t.

But for what we’ve seen so far, Pomni has grown to not only care decently about the others, but find a reason to live.

Since abstraction can be read as mental suicide, then it’s a fate Pomni could strive to avoid at all costs. While she can’t escape death, it wouldn’t be by her hand and there would people that’d save her if she tried.

And if that continues to be emphasized, then it goes to show that Pomni is and has always been just a normal person, regardless of her upbringing and circumstances.

So, with that said, what would an ending look like?

I actually don’t know what they could be going for. There’s a lot of possible routes they could take and two episodes is not enough info for an ending to possibly predict it.

That said, I do have two ending theories:

1: Caine gets redeemed

I believe that Caine will get a redemption arc.

Yes we all hate him for GummyGoo, but hear me out.

This character is an AI just programmed to carry certain beliefs. But Episode 2 proved that these AI are capable of questioning things and having beliefs like people would. Which means Caine is capable of maintaining his own beliefs. Which means those beliefs can be altered.

If Caine isn’t evil and is doing what he thinks is best for these players, then all he needs to do is see that his ways are only causing mental damage and he’ll be open to hearing out what would actually help.

So… maybe he’d let them go??

If that’s even possible. There’s still the barrier that is keeping them trapped in the circus that we don’t know about yet.

So basically Caine is like Inside Out’s Anxiety, a clear antagonist that is just doing what they think is best even when it’s not, but realizes the faulty ways of thinking and seizes control in the end.

2: Everyone BUT Pomni gets out

I dont think Pomni is gonna have a happy ending.

For two episodes now, she’s had a mental break of some sort, and while it may not be related to psychological trauma, it could happen again an Episode 3 as well. And so on until the end of the show.

Will she abstract? I’m not sure.

Unless you say, if my Abel theory is correct, her abstraction overrides his and allows the human players to leave the circus.

Why would her abstraction glitch be enough to do that and not the others? I’m not sure. Unless we’re talking about Jesus symbolism.

Which in that sense, I can see her pursuing the same path Abel did in treating the NPCs like people and allowing them chances to act as people. Within circus grounds I mean. Count that with the show suggesting bonding with the other human cast members, then I can see Pomni’s story arc mainly being about reconnecting with the real self she lost when she came to the circus. Maturing into an emotionally realized woman that wants to live and strive and also helps the people (NPC AND human) around her live and strive too.

I also got this idea from Oreo’s fan song “The Show That Never Ends”, and the bridge lyrics. (They also did Digital Hallucination… which, you know, fan song gold standard)

“I dont think I can go on” “Don’t wanna lose myself” “I’ll try putting a show on” “I’ll try biting my time, I’ll find a way out of here” “I’ll never stop, I’ll never give up on life, I’ll get out of this place tonight, or tomorrow, this horrible hell can’t hold me forever whenever I get the chance”

So, no, I don’t think she’s giving up on trying to leave. Think about it 24/7? No. But she isn’t giving up on the possibility, especially when a clue presents itself.

But please Glitch, do something with her character besides ‘me find exit door’ (Episode 2 comes out) oh wait, you did. Awesome.

But while I do see that character growth from Pomni and the others minus Jax, I do think in Pomni’s case specifically it will not be enough to save her from the damage Caine and the circus will do to her.

And when all’s said and done and the answer presents itself that the only way for anyone to escape the circus is with a sacrifice, Pomni breaks before anyone else can volunteer. She gets left behind in the game. She abstracts. She overrides Abel’s glitch and fixes the game so the humans can leave and the NPCs can carry out Abel’s wishes again.

And if her abstraction doesn’t do it, then it definitely would break Caine and get him to open his eyes. The damage he’s done that got them to that point, that the loss of Pomni has only himself to blame. And it causes him to turn for the better and save the others.

So yeah. Jesus sacrifice to save humanity. And NPCs. And Pomni is just in coding heaven I guess. (Maybe Ragatha is also there on the other side. Raise a glass to freedom (I’m sorry))

It would also be a contrast to the Pilot. Where at the start of the show, Pomni only thought about herself and was willing to leave by herself, she’d get everyone but herself out and think of them first.

Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble are characters I see very likely to leave the game in this scenario. So they’d get happy endings.

Jax is a maybe. Depends on if he doesn’t get a Disney villain death first. Otherwise it’d just be ‘Eh, fine, leave you jerk, you don’t deserve it.’

But maybe if he is a criminal in the human world it can be ‘Have fun in prison’

Ragatha. We talked about it.

But Pomni is one that is very likely to not get a happy ending.

And Caine is a different story because he’s an AI who can’t and has no interest in leaving. But in a redemption moment he’s a much more experienced and empathetic ringmaster for it and that’s enough. And failing Pomni would make him a bittersweet character, as while he’s better as a person for it, it came at the price of a character he mistreated.

And if any of my theories over this post were correct, then while Caine is not Pomni’s father, he is a creation of her father and a self insert of him. So take that what you will and how much harder that hits.

Daddy’s gonna look after you. Even when you’re in coding heaven.

So in conclusion…

Uh… everything I said in this post is total BS and is 90% sure to not happen at all.

And I don’t demand any of it to.

This was just me as a fan doing some silly speculation as a form of investment in the shows story. And I am not going to get upset at anything here getting proven wrong in future episodes.

I mean based on Gooseworx’s posts I think it’s a given that I’m gonna be thrown a curveball.

I’m gonna be SO OFF, and then when the episodes come out we can all go back to this posts and laugh at my face at how WRONG I was.

Please don’t take anything I say here like it’s already canon, cause it’s NOT. Just, have fun while it lasts I guess.

Maybe I shouldn’t become a theorist.

[chaifootsteps]

RE: https://www.tumblr.com/chaifootsteps/732288710156156928/so-i-finally-watched-tadc-and-its-really-good?source=share&ref=_tumblr

Ok, video game industry person here. As someone who has pulled crunch hours on extremely limited and barely functional code, this is an existential hell.

Imagine you've been testing on the same exact game/software build 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week, for months on end. Now add on top of that: the build only has one working level with a handful functional features, leaving the entire thing extremely buggy, frustrating, and worst of all boring because you've long since memorized everything and done all the possible work you can.

But you can't stop. Because the new build isn't in yet and you have to keep testing it until it comes in because the boss will not let you go home.

The game in TADC is an abandoned game. There will NEVER be a new build. And those levels aren't just their jobs, it's their entire lives.

No breaks, no sleep, no food, no alternative entertainment or socialization. You have the same body, same physical assets, same repetitive music and sfx that burrow themselves into your BRAIN forever.

You can be put through agonizing pain without dying (as we saw with Ragatha), lose parts of your body (and thus control over them like Zooble), oh and if you mentally crack you corrupt and turn into a monster who will either kill everyone or end up perma-locked in a dark basement full of other similar monsters.

Yeah, as someone who only went through the job part of that hellish existence? This is absolutely HORRIFYING

Hold me, I'm scared.

[candyheartedchy]

Y'know? Just saw the pilot for TADC and thought to myself "finally, now I understand why Chy is so infatuated with Jax and now I can tease her about it" the whole time LMAO It was very good btw, loved everything about it!! Glad you enjoyed it as well :Dc

You did!? :D Glad you enjoyed it too!!

And yeah, Jax is a cutie 👉👈

[asktadckrew]

Here is a lore dump on jess-

jess is nonbinary and aroace. they seem very guarded when you first meet them but they actually trust people really easily. they love hyping people up and is well known for their pep talks. but they also hate bullies, so when they found out pomni was dating jax they were like, “you could do so much better please break up with this man”. they’ve grown to accept him being a relationship with pomni even though he still doesn’t have their approval and he doesn’t know they exist. jess met pomni when they were in middle school. some kids were picking on pomni and Jess saw this. they got really mad and dumped water on the other kids then they dragged pomni away. after that they sort of became pomni’s bodyguard and thus pomni decided they were best friends. things were great for years until pomni got stuck in the digital circus. at the time, she and jess were living together and jess was put as pomni’s emergency contact, so they were the one that was called to be told that pomni was gone. jess was alone for ages because of it. they felt like it was their fault that pomni was gone because they didn’t protect her from whatever took her(they thought she had been kidnapped). every time they were in the apartment, they felt the absence of pomni everyday. finally they ended up moving to a different apartment in the same building so that they could still hold onto pomni in some capacity.

so now let’s go to when the tadc crew came back to the real world. they ended up in pomni and jess’s old apartment which has been abandoned since jess moved out. pomni immediately assumes her best friend is dead when in reality jess has just moved a few floors up into a smaller apartment. pomni refuses to tell anyone why she’s upset when they get back since she had been trying to get back the entire time she was in the circus and she should be happy to be back. pomni grieves for her friend in silence and then promises to jess’s sprit that she’ll live her best life like jess would have wanted her to.

things get settled and then one day, pomni is out getting the mail when all of a sudden she sees jess, getting their own mail. the two friends reunite and pomni blurts out that she thought jess was dead. jess explains that they just moved apartment, before admitting that they thought pomni was kidnapped. the two quickly slip back into their old friendship, except now there’s a catch.

no one else knows who jess is or that they exist at all. pomni does want to introduce jess to everyone but she likes having them to herself. plus she slightly paranoid that jess will end up cussing out jax cause of the way he treats gangle. and anyway, jess’s apartment has become her safe place for when things get too crazy. but now whenever pomni leaves the apartment to see jess, she doesn’t tell anyone that she’s leaving so everyone thinks she’s been kidnapped. once she spent the night at jess’s and everyone thought jax had locked her in their room. jax was very offended by this.

but yeah, that’s what i got so far, i have a very basic idea on how everyone meets jess but that will happen later. thank you for listening to the lore dump, heheh

Yasss slay

[powkaboomslash]

A DREAM I HAD warning very long

i had a dream where one of my friends got like an injury involving the forehead and jaw, but for some reason I was the one to get sent to the hospital? and i hated it, there was some weird device attached to my ear and every now and then it would play a loud beep and it really made me angry and mad, and they also implanted some sort of like metal invisalign (idk the name for it) on my lower jaw? and it was hard for me to talk since it made my talking super muffled. i also turned into Ukrainian countryball for whatever reason. i took a nap in the hospital bed which looked a lot like the bed in my room that i sleep on, and then when i woke up there was a person holding the door open, he looked a lot like Jax from tadc. there was also someone else there but i forgot what he looked like. each of them said something to me like "its time to go!" and i told each of them to repeat what they said for whatever reason and they did, so they took me to this big mall lobby thing of some sort, i was walking around and talking to the professionals and then Caine from tadc put his hand on my head and was doing something to me and i didnt know what, i kept turning my head and looking at him like "bro what are you doing ☠️" and i think he took the device off my ear. then i went to school and we were assigned some special after-school classes and i was in the room where we would get called when we were ready to go to our classes, and the class I was in was all 8th grade girls (right now I identify as transmasculine but i counted myself as one of the 'girls' since I look like one) and i was confused so i looked all around the room and saw that there were no more 8th grade girls so i said "oh it must be my class now!" i signed up for some Five Nights at Freddy's thing bro idk ☠️ and I was walking down the school hallway which looked a little different from the school hallway im used to, i also saw some people sitting outside their classes and had some cool LED light things, and the hallways were dark so the LED lights looked really cool, and i also saw some of the 8th grade girls walking to the class im going to, and i finally arrived at the art class thingy. it was my art Room. but we didnt do any art at all instead we were given worksheets about 4 dreams i had (still in my dream btw) and one of them was the previous dream i had where i mistakenly got sent to the hospital and Caine touched me, and the worksheet said stuff that was VERY similar but not fully to my dream, i cant remember what it said but it did say something like "The burger ringmaster" and like yeah i saw a ringmaster but it was a teeth guy not a burger ☠️ and then i got kinda lost during the assignment and we were talking about another one of the 4 dreams we had, which i DIDNT have, and during the assignment while the teacher was talking my mind teleported me to this weird highway thingy, i could see mountains in the background and the highway had REALLY high metal fences and stuff, and i like was flung into the air, saw something like a tire, maybe I was the tire idk, and i looked down and saw one of those ruffle PFP mask thingies, and bounced off that and felt really weird, and after that i saw another PFP mask one except it was the blurry thingy, it also had something blue and a little bit of purple in it but i couldnt remember what it was, and i bounced off that too and after that i cant remember anything else. so uhhh wow what a dream

[flippythedoodle]

GLOINKSS AMBIGRAM WHATT

omg no way

this one's a spicy little meatball, it's a chain rotational! meaning it doesnt flip as the entire word but rather loops around and flips (you'll see, it says gloinks/inksglo) but yeah tadc and all that jazz. might make ambigrams of some of the characters idk but we will see ! also i know the l is too long dont judge me

drafts below the see more:

first draft, saw the o/o, went for it. i immediately jumped for chain bc that o in the middle of "gloinks" is not matching with either the g or s normally, and the balance if it went o/owouldve been too much, so i did easy peasy l/i, medium g/n, and k/s which is where i stopped bc its alr so to speak but i kinda wanted a more simple vibe for the glyphs to match the gloinks simplicity

here i decided on o/c and ink/ink, which is fine, but the balance on the s/o was just throwing me off asf. also, gl/gl which has a very big problem of the L looking like a Jto make the G's hood. it was mid overall

final, i love the shapes here a bit more than what i did in the actual thing but it seemed a bit too formal for that of a gloink. started with g/o and l/l, and inks/inks which i think i did pretty, okayly, the s seemed kinda more balanced, and there wernet that much misreads (that i could foresee) so yea :3 tadc

[mistkisbiggestfan]

Omg the Pomni x Fem jester was so cute! Would you mind writing more of it? (If you can or want to)

Pomni, romantic / Jester! Fem! Reader - Part 2

Pomni (romantic) / Jester! Fem! Reader Hc + Small fic

A/n: Finally writing $h!t in my inbox?? Rare Jules moment, like actually I don’t know what’s happening (I’m gonna write those Tf2 and Voltron requests too, promise) REQUESTS FOR TADC ARE OPEN!!

Summary: Part 2 of being a silly jester couple Words: 1539 Rquest: Yeah!

She was kind of insecure because of you.

After she settled and realized it’s her life now, tho

You were well, everything she wasn’t; tall, well-built, at least your avatar was, and not to mention Pomni hated to admit that your digital avatar was quite attractive. 

And worst of all, you were an actual circus performer. 

But that has its downsides, of course, when she realized you were closer in behavior to Kinger than Jax or Ragatha? $h!t man. 

She tried to avoid you all day (events before the end of the pilot: the digital feast).

But on the other hand, whenever she saw you, a lightbulb kinda flickered in her brain. 

She’s such a girl failure, didn’t even know you for a day and still fell for you.

The jester was very much confused: “Am I attracted to this…?” 

Yeah she is. This freaks her out. Why is she attracted to a crazy girl?  

Your first meeting was a bit rough, duh, but in between her panicking and having a freak out, she couldn’t help but note your good looks. 

After that she didn’t see you much because you stayed behind with Kinger and Gangle.

– You’re sure this is a good idea? – Ragatha said before turning around, looking at you, Kinger and Gangle. You were laughing about something, Gangle was crying, and Kinger was doing his usual stuff. – Of course, they’re the most mentally stable trio in the whole circus! – Jax snickered before walking along the halls. – Come on ladies, let’s go harass the clown. 

During the time when abstracted Kaufmo ran around, chasing Pomni, at one point you came out of nowhere and scooped her up, bringing her to safety.

Then you kind of fu(/#d off to let abstraction of your dear friend sink in, Ragatha was very worried when she saw you not attending the digital feast at the end of the day.

The loop of never-ending exits and the void left Pomni really fu(/#d, but none really cared (expect for maybe Gangle and Ragatha) because it was her first day.

She didn’t even realize when her legs led her to the digital lake. Like someone else brought her there.

Just as she was about to sit down and relax she heard the deep and loud voice that scared her, the feminine, in other circumstances soothing voice was terrifying, she looked up and saw the Moon talking to someone.

Oh yeah, she almost forgot that Sun and Moon were AI people here. 

“That was great dear, you should show that trick to Caine sometime.” She was talking with someone? But who?

And then, she saw your (in comparison) small figure looking up, with something that imitated fire, more like digital-fire but a flame nonetheless. 

That made her feel worse, it was all superficial, all being nothing more than lines of code. Just like the talking Sun and Moon – not giving off any heat or cold.

Pomni felt herself losing it again as she saw you talking with the Moon above. 

Feeling weird was an understatement. 

Before she could go away, because she was standing awfully close to you two, she heard the loud voice of the Moon again.

Pomni finally snapped out of whatever she was in, her shoes touching the smooth, untextured grass under her. She didn’t know when or how she got here but she had to roll with the punches in this new place she was forced to call “home”. She saw the lake’s water before her before hearing a deep and loud voice of someone seemingly echoing and coming from every possible direction. She looked up.

The moon, or rather, Moon, was talking to someone. She almost forgot it– she? Moon. She almost forgot Moon could talk here, probably being some kind of AI too, like Caine. 

But, Moon was talking with someone and she could tell it wasn’t Caine. – That was great dear, you should show that trick to Caine sometime. – She heard Moon’s voice again. 

And with that, Pomni found herself walking closer to the direction Moon was talking too. How could Moon be seemingly high above, be seen from all directions and 2d like? She sighed, deciding to ponder on the perspective and basic rules that reigned this world sometime later. 

Finally, she saw a small in comparison figure standing and holding a large stick or something like that, which ended with fire on both ends, the flame made her shiver, ironic. She looked as the fire danced, looking more animated than anything else, the thought that it was nothing more than lines of code wasn’t the best. 

As she looked more closely at the figure talking with Moon, she couldn’t make out the words. And she realized, it was you, well now that was obvious, you were the only person dressed like a jester other than herself.

Before she could turn around, walk away, forget about this, she heard Moon’s voice again. – I think you should get yourself going dear, it seems like someone’s waiting for you. – Pomni’s eyes widened as she saw Moon looking at her, and she saw your head whip around to look at the person who was waiting. 

Oh h#|! – She thought, and now she contemplated turning and running away, but before she could do so, you already stood in front of her. And you didn’t look quite as cheerful under the moonlight. 

Now she could notice you had makeup on, well that’s probably just a permanent characteristic of your digital skin. You were quite different from her, that was rather obvious since you were basically towering over her. But one thing was similar, both of you had a $h!t tons of bells on you, how could she haven't noticed you going here? You were basically a walking “hey! I’m here! Can’t you hear me? Oh yeah you can”

You seemed more worried about her now, she didn’t notice, somehow, still, basically checking you out. – Are you alright? – Your voice snapped her out of a staring contest with her and your lean body. 

– What? Oh, oh! – She looked up at you, as you leaned in to hear her better. – I’m not that short – She thought to herself. 

– Is there something you need? – You said now starting to walk along, towards the entrance of the main area. She shook herself and ran to catch up, you started juggling as she looked at you weirdly for a second, were those balloons? How the fu(/# can you juggle balloons?

– I just wanted to thank you, for, eh when you saved me from that monster. – She said, not looking up at you, but she heard a laugh, snicker, whatever, it seemed more nervous than cheery though.

– Kaufmo.

– What?

– That wasn’t a monster. It was Kaufmo. – You said, still juggling, she seemed to catch on with your thought process. 

– Right. Sorry – She apologized quietly, both of you being now in the hallway leading to your rooms. But you laughed it off, catching all the balloons and popping them, like Caine did with Bubble, with funny sounding “pop”. Only now she realized you were standing still now, not walking anymore. 

– Don’t beat yourself over it, sweetheart. – You laughed, not mockingly, somehow it sounded lovely. Amd Pomni froze – her face red. Oh god she if she didn’t want to hit herself then, she definitely wants to after this. Once she realized what happened your laughing disappeared a long time ago. She looked around and found out you left her off in front of her new room. – Wow… – She breathed out. 

At first you were not a big fan, but your behavior was always the same, you really kept almost everything to yourself, but you have to admit she was a little cutie.

Ever since you always tried to make her flustered, and it always works.

She tried to make you flustered on more than one occasions but you seem to not be able to feel flustered or embarrassed, your face just goes from “:D” to “(´ ꒳` )” 

You’re actually the boldest mf out there, even bolder than Jax. 

Jax probably gave up on trying to prank you after that “staring at your soul” thing.

But Pomni is a brand new target, so you protect her. And it makes her flustered, but on the other hand, what doesn’t make her flustered?

She might have called you mommy by accident. She was burning, but to her shock. That seemed to make you flustered, but just for a second, before you laughed sweetly at the mess before you.

“That was great, cutie.” “Thanks mommy.” “...” “...”

She should be glad Jax didn’t overhear that, or did he?

He did. It’s over for her. 

She was walking through the hallway towards your room and looked up to see him, looking down at his nails, even though they were covered with his gloves. “Pomni, remember that calling the jester mommy isn’t very PG 13.” He smirked before the situation resolved to a harmless fistfight.

Caine doesn’t bat an eye, maybe says something to Pomni but that’s all. (You’re his and Moon’s favourite so it’s understandable, don’t let the others know though.)

Favouritism is real.

Overall very cute, two jesters are always better than one.