Hiii!! I have too many questions regarding Failsafe! Caine so I’ll try to keep this as short as I can(I’m sorry in advance I just think this AU is really neat and allows Caine to have more personality to his character even if it’s just a head-canon)
First, I’ll start by asking: Where does Caine live? I know you mentioned he was was in rehab for 7 months of his first year in the real world/macro-verse but I’m curious to know if he just indefinitely lives at the facility or did he eventually have to figure out how society works and now he pays rent and will eventually do taxes lol(I think the idea of Caine processing the steps it takes to be a fully functional and independent adult in the society he now lives in would be interesting)
Secondly, I’d like to ask if you had a head-canon on what Caine’s favorite food might be? He can now actually experience taste in a world FULL of different flavors and textures and I wonder if there is a food he’s absolutely obsessed with and maybe one he absolutely hates?
Lastly: what brought him to work at the thrift/second hand store? It makes sense for him to be surrounded by oddities and all sorts of different trinkets and old treasures, but I’m curious as to how he got the job?
Okay I’m done now and I’m really sorry for making this so long. Thank you!! :D
Hello!! And no need to apologize, I am a huge yapper and especially concerning my AUs, more questions just means more potential for me to indulge!
Although Caine is pretty intrinsically an AI in canon, and ofc I love that aspect of him, I also agree that it would be fun to think about how he might experience the full range of humanity too :3
Similar to another AU(non-tadc) I've done in the past, I like to approach FS!AU as like a love letter to canon TADC & expansive to post-canon.
OK WHEW *cracks fingers* QUESTION TIME--
Where does Caine live?
From how I imagine it, he's in a very transitional phase of, well.... everything. I think it was his decision to move out and become independent of the rehab facility, because I feel he would gradually feel disdain & "trapped", or limiting himself of options in a way. Even if he doesn't fully understand why he must regulate or do some functions(i.e. "Wow! It's been awhile since I've eaten. From my observations, human bodies must eat approximately every 24 hours or they begin to experience 'hunger' and other negative side effects!" or like at 12:00, 18:00, yada yada) - your beloved ringmaster is nothing short of a spectacular performer! This might also apply to answering certain mental/physical health questions and whatnot, just so he can "escape"/explore more of the macroverse on his own volition.
*I'm using some of these terms with quotes, since that's just how I'm framing them through the perspective of FS!Caine.
He probably still attends some post-rehab sessions, got work + housing through a related program(this sounds like an oversimplification but it came in clutch that TADC takes place in 2017 lmao), he might even use those sessions to ask about navigating society. I don't think he would hate the idea of a therapist or counsellor either, esp when he doesn't know anything, but the physical building/structure would've gotten to him. Now if he listens to any advice is another story....While I think the IRL player-cast eventually helps him to figure out his identity-sans-the-circus & digital realm.
Since this is a post-canon AU, I would imagine that Caine is also a little more mature and tactful than what we would've seen of him for eps 1-8. Ironically enough, I think that long amount of time that he was WITH the player cast before they abstracted would develop him into a smidge of what was shown in ep9(which is me saying that his canonical ep9 development felt rushed & would make more sense as he learned alongside the humans, not isolated in the void, but that goes into a tangent). But yes! It is funny to think about all the times he feigned acting out paperwork in the circus, to finally learn the reasons and procedures behind them....and maybe complain about them too XD
....head-canon on what Caine’s favorite food might be?
Ooooo this is a good one, I have a lot of ideas on how it might go...
(Angsty: He likes tasting and chewing, but not digesting. He learned to overcome it, but sometimes it still leaves him feeling icky.)
(Cool and fun: I like to think he'd enjoy sucking candies/coughdrops/jawbreakers/gumballs. PLUS, they come in all sorts of flavors! He always eats two at the same time.....They feel like his eyes- JK, but he'd probably enjoy the aspect that he can move his mouth/tongue in more familiar motions and don't have the fatigue of feeling biological processes. Use this information responsibly....)
Pop rocks would also be a fun choice. I think he'd dislike really heavy foods, but would be open to trying anything new.
what brought him to work at the thrift/second hand store?
The biggest logical reason was that a lot of for-charity thrift stores work with employment agencies to provide opportunities to those in disadvantaged situations. For his situation, being a John Doe after x amount of years being absent from the workforce/society as a whole, I thought his rehabilitation process could provide an avenue for him to choose that.
I also just thought it would be fun for him in many ways:
a) tactile element, the oddity/trinket/amount of textures and items he can encounter
b) comfort in the colored tag classification system & organizing items
c) an empathetic standpoint, having to wonder about how some items got into whatever state they're in, why they might've been donated/discarded, etc.
He also just gets to find out what a lot of items are, straight up. Learning efficiency hack 10/10
AND I THINK THAT'S ALL! BAM BAMMMM! These were super fun questions to answer, I hope they satisfied a bit of your curiosity! Thank you so much for asking and your interest hehe :D