It's going to be so freaking funny if they find Caine just pouting in a little plastic recycling bin out in the middle of the void next episode... I know it probably won't happen, but still.
For those of you who don't know, Custom Robo is a franchise where you solve every issue with tiny, psychic robot wars. I've recently been replaying the GameCube game for nostalgia reasons, and the gameplay is fun, but honestly my favorite part is talking to random NPCs because they are just delightfully odd.
For example, there's a park in the game you can visit, and on a bench you'll see a cute couple who spend all their time fawning over one another. You can visit the park pretty much every day, and they're almost always there. At first you assume they just go there a lot, but on the third day the girl admits they've just been sitting on the same bench for three straight days and she's hungry. THEN THEY'RE THERE THE NEXT DAY!
The only time you see them outside of the park is when they join a 2v2 tournament. Only to lose horribly since they can't stop acting all lovey-dovey long enough to put up a fight. Speaking of the tournament, there's a bracket made up entirely of nameless, generic, male NPCs, totally identical, and as you talk to them throughout the tournament, it becomes increasingly obvious that they can't tell each other apart and no one knows who's actually fighting whom. You can even chat with some of them before the tournament, and all they'll have to say is something along the lines of, "Sorry I don't have a name or really anything to say. They just put me here for atmosphere…"
There's also one of my favorite little weirdos in the game I want to talk about. As you progress through the game, plot stuff happens that increasingly involves the city's police squad. That means you'll probably see random officers around the place as the story goes on. One of them you meet at a testing facility trying to get his Class-D license! Except, officers in Custom Robo require a Class-A license just to join the police squad…
Your character will ask him about that, and the guy will just say, "Yeah, I'm not a police officer. I just think they're cool, so I made this outfit at home." MAN IS JUST STRAIGHT UP LARPING! Even funnier, you can keep visiting the testing facility to chat with him as he tries and fails to obtain a license, and eventually he'll start just cheering on the evil organization terrorizing the city since he thinks if they become a big problem, they'll lower the police squad's standards enough for him to join. Not even subtly, he's just outright cheering them on, just yelling stuff like, "HECK YEAH! GO ROBO MAFIA!"
Anyway... Custom Robo is fun and people should play it. Bye! 👋
It's going to be so freaking funny if they find Caine just pouting in a little plastic recycling bin out in the middle of the void next episode... I know it probably won't happen, but still.
Now that I had time to process all... that. I have something to ask...
⚠️ spoilers for TADC Ep. 8 ⚠️
So did Caine like... preform the AI equivalent of eating his twin brother in the womb? Is that what was going on in the beginning. Because that's what it looked like.
Playing Skyward Sword for the first time and I've been having fun.
However, it certainly is a design choice to have Groose give you literally a dozen text boxes of dialogue right before the second imprisoned fight. Then followed by nine more text boxes after the cutscene of the imprisoned escaping...
Playing Skyward Sword for the first time and I've been having fun.
However, it certainly is a design choice to have Groose give you literally a dozen text boxes of dialogue right before the second imprisoned fight. Then followed by nine more text boxes after the cutscene of the imprisoned escaping...
With episode eight of TADC coming up soon I figured we're pretty close to the end, so I just wanted to post some random theories I had before then.
⚠️ Warning ⚠️: There might be some spoilers for the first seven episodes below… and typos.
KINGER'S MODEL
Kinger's model looks the way it does because it was one of the first added to the circus.
Everyone else seems to have a generally humanoid shape, except Kinger. His avatar is essentially just a pair of eyes and some floating hands on a chess piece. I personally think this is because the circus was originally a much more normal VR experience, with a headset and two motion controllers.
KINGER'S WIFE
Kinger feels responsible for his wife's abstraction.
In the third episode Kinger talks about how you should cherish time with those you love and how the worst thing you can do is make someone feel unwanted. This makes me think that early on Kinger became really obsessed with finding a way out, while slowly ignoring his wife in pursuit of his goal.
A few possibilities come to mind…
1.) The growing rift between them led to an argument, and Kinger's wife abstracted before he could make amends.
2.) His wife wasn't a developer like Kinger was and felt useless in the circus. Then she either abstracted trying to help him or because she felt like a deadweight holding him back.
3.) Kinger's wife began to become more withdrawn over time, eventually abstracting in her room like Kaufmo did. He was so focused on trying to escape that it took several days for him to realize she was gone.
GANGLE'S MASK
Gangle's mask was foreshadowing Caine's ability to manipulate minds.
I think Gangle became depressed after first getting trapped in the circus and became a shut in (probably not helped by Jax's bullying.) Then Caine did what he did to Zooble and gave her one-on-one "therapy" to get her to finally participate in the adventures. Eventually, he gave her the mask, as a band-aid solution.
P.S. I think Gangle's comedy mask doesn't actually make her any happier. It just helps numb her emotions, so that she's not too depressed to go on adventures. Which would explain why she seemed happier under the mask when it broke during the gun episode.
JAX'S BACKSTORY
Jax was homeless before entering the circus.
When talking to Pomni in episode five Jax seems weirded out with the idea of someone showing him consistent love and appreciation. Then there's his reaction when Zooble asks if he has someone waiting for him outside implying that he doesn't. He also seems pretty averse to physical affection, shoving Pomni when she hugs him. Finally, the flashbacks Jax had in episode seven show him outside a house in the middle of the night and then him driving somewhere. I personally think this is implying he was either kicked out of his house or ran away from home.
CAINE'S MENTAL STATE
Caine has been on for far to long.
In episode five, Caine brings up the fact that leaving smart AIs on for too long isn't a good thing. He doesn't even make a distinction between himself and them, calling them the "other intelligent AIs." I think that Caine is a "load bearing" AI, and while he may have safeguards in place, several years of constant running have finally taken their toll on him.
I think he's either becoming too human…
developing hopes and dream
craving validation
finally self-reflecting on his existence trapped in the circus
Or rapidly unraveling…
moodswings
violent outbursts
memory loss
and that thing where he glitched out during Zoobles therapy session
AND FINALLY BUBBLE'S SECRET IDENTITY!
Bubble is Able.
They are Caine and "A Bubble" I have no evidence for this. I just think it would be funny.
CONCLUSION
I honestly just wanted to have a little fun and take a couple swings in the dark. Anyway, feel free to tell me whether or not I end up taking Apollo's balls to my face.
P.S. Sorry for any typos. I wrote this out on my phone.
So I recently watched TADC last week and I absolutely LOVED IT! ❤️ It really is an awesome show and I kind of wished I watched it sooner.
Anyway, with the bombshell that was episode seven, I'm almost certain episode eight will involve the group finally talking to each other about how they got into the circus while trying to piece together what the heck is going on. I figured it would be fun to make guesses before they reveal anything, so down below are my personal theories. Enjoy!
- Kinger was a developer for C&A who helped to build the circus. (I'm pretty sure this is just canon by now...)
- Ragatha was a real-estate agent looking over the recently abandoned C&A building.
- Jax was homeless and broke into the building for shelter.
- Pomni is a an urban explore who decided to check out the building for a thrill. (This is just canon.)
- Zooble got in the same way Pomni did.
- Gangle... Sword Art Online cosplay gone terribly wrong.
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