"Y'know what? Fų̵̨̛̛̯̞̱͚͓̀̓̿͂̎̒͋͊̊̂́̽̉̓̕ͅͅc̶̡̡̛̻̠̯̰̦̻̬̱͕̙̄͑̄̈̽͌̈̄͋͐̉͂͆̀̎̋́́͋̈̚k̵͍͖̰̈́̒͝ Caine, fȕ̶̧̨̙͐͌̎̄̃͊͂̑̅̌͋͌͐̀͒̉͠͠č̷̛̟̣̣̾̈ͅk̴̛̬͉͉̱̰̯̞̙̮͖̖͉̱̲̳͌̏̾̏̉̔̀̒̔̈̉͜ the circus and fư̶̢̢̡̧̢̧̲͖̱̘̩̫͕͖̬̥͖̞̲̱͈̳̹̘͍͓̼̗̟̻͓̭̮̙̬͖̊͐̀̀͊̋̐̊́̊̆́͊̔̄͑́̕č̸̨̛̛̛̳̦̣̝͈͕͓̲̅̔͌̿̋̚k̷̢͙̯͙̱̠̥̘̝̠̣̫̱̟̼̙̝̘̲̟̳͓͔͆̌̎̉̓̅̾̏̂͑̈͗̿̑͐͊͆̓͘͠͝͠ all of you."
i lied, i didn't go to bed. closeups under read more!
When your avatar is influenced by your mind file going through therapy is an interesting experience to say the least. (Colouring on my phone limits my options but tumblr editing made it a bit more fun!)
This is my copium, let my girls heeeaaaalllll. And Kaufmo too xD calling it the TADC Epilogue AU in case I ever draw more.
Thoughts on this below!
A little insight into their bodies and feelings about the whole un-abstraction process.
Jax: still getting used to only having two legs, this is not helped by having a longer torso and legs designed for walking on more limbs but she's determined to work it out, she already had issues with her appearance before and would sooner go back to that than deal with too many limbs and eyes. It was a team effort to get her to accept the walking stick though. Her colour pallet shifts now and then according to mood which she's impatient to have fixed along with her tail, however she doesn't want to admit that she'd rather keep her ears the way they are now even if that means a few extra eyes. (Everyone can tell she likes her ears because of how much she accessorises them and does sassy little hair flips)
Ribbit: she's a little back and forth on the whole mer-frog situation, on the one hand she likes being able to chill in the aquarium with the other full abstractions plus they can anyways create a wheelchair for her to use or take her to a world where she can float, on the other it feels unnatural in a way her first avatar didn't. There are more eyes on her back along with a slight spiked texture down her tail, she tries her best to keep those eyes closed. Discovering the truth of the circus was actually a little relieving since there's a her out there who can make the choice of what to do about her parents allowing her to let go of that burden even if she will always miss them a bit.
Kaufmo: has a hard time staying in one consistent shape, sometimes his feet disappear and he has to bounce around or roll, his hat and face stretch up sometimes and his eyes are always looking in different directions. He at times likes it because it's sort of funny but more often really hates it to the point he gets irritable. A big hurdle for him is accepting there is no exit and trying to work out if he'd rather remain fully abstracted in the aquarium where he doesn't have to think about it or join the others in making the digital world his new home, he's at least sticking around until his friends are in a better place before deciding.
Queenie: is Kinger's big beautiful wife who's hoping to keep her extra bug like legs, shifting between having four or six. Having spent a long time abstracted and still struggling with the regrets that led her there she has long periods of being nonverbal and needing to nap in the pillow fort. It can be difficult at times for her when she both needs her husband around not to feel lonely but also really needs space from him because there's too many emotions involved, this has led to her and Jax sharing nap times together so they can be alone without being lonely. She's not in a rush to get any smaller.
Some extra thoughts:
It would take a long time before Jax, Ribbit and Kaufmo were ready to be in the same room as each other, it would actually be a bit unsafe otherwise. Ribbit and Kuafmo get there a lot sooner though things are a bit awkward and they can't touch for a while as it causes glitching, having each other to talk to helps a lot when they start a kind of pen pal system with Jax that eventually leads to in person meet ups. I think it would take a few years before they all feel comfortable with everything enough to hang out like before.
Jax spends most of the first part healing with people who weren't around before her abstraction with the addition of Pomni and Kinger who is often hanging with his wife anyway. Because the others are also struggling to remember themselves and come to terms with everything it makes coming out as a woman less daunting though she doesn't come out to the rest until a few other issues have been sorted out between them.
When Queenie is feeling less of a person she'll sometimes pick up Jax like a kitten and take her to their napping spot, Jax has decided to just go with it even if she gets interrupted mid-conversation. She does the same with her husband often enough too, though on rare occasions she'll pick up someone else which is a bit awkward for Jax sometimes if she's already in the fort. Whenever Kinger is going elsewhere to hangout with the others or give her space he makes a bug to leave with her, she finds this very cute though sometimes she spots an inaccuracy and has to debate with herself whether it needs correcting or counts as a new kind of bug.
Also here's an edit that accidentally ended up trans flag themed that hopefully toned down enough not to hurt eyes too much:
