#kosmicposum rambles

[kosmicposum]

Because im TOTALLY NORMAL about TADC and it hasnt consumed me in hyper fixation AT ALL, imma drop some thoughts in no particular order:

• I refuse to actually speculate on what's coming in the next episodes beyond this: Its gonna destroy the audience emotionally in various ways. No one is gonna escape unscathed.

• Caine is the main focus of my hyperfixation, but I'll get to my deeper thoughts on him in a separate post. From his connection error in the Pilot, to the exception error during the therapy session with Zooble, to the possible stumble over corrupted code/smaller exception error after Gangle's employee evaluation to the absolute freak out over Zooble requesting the ability to have sex (i feel like its a legitimate crashout based on contradictions in his code trying to even consider the request and everything within the circus having to comply with "family friendly" ratings, and its stopped by a soft reset)- our favorite maniacal ringleader is /not okay/. Hes been running too long I feel like, he wasn't built to take care of players for this long of a span. His code is very likely breaking down.

• Bugs. Theres soooooo many bugs in the code of the Circus. I dont think the game was finished, and a personal headcanon I have (and hope im proved wrong on) is that the reason the building was abandoned in what is implied to be a mad scramble is the number of questions that came up when the first people got pulled in. The code was unfinished and the first players weren't meant to be in the game in the first place, let alone stuck there.

•Totally normal thought about abstraction: Its implied that the physical transformation is all consuming once it starts- but is it really? Depending on where the abstraction shows physically, can it be hidden? Can it be somewhat suppressed for a short time before becoming all consuming? (Its wistful thinking on my part bc dear God the angst I could make if it isnt instantly all consuming- though maybe the progression from first sign to full abstraction depends on the mental fortitude of the player abstracting.)

• Speaking of Abstraction, i cant help but see the parallel between Abstraction in TADC and turning into a witch in Madoka Magica. The obvious main theme between them is the all-consuming despair that literally erases what the person once was, and the fact theres no hope on getting them back once they give in to despair.

•Bubble & Caine- they're connected somehow, or at least thats what the show is implying. And I dont just mean connected in that they are Leader and Assistant, but their code seems to be connected somehow (the tongue thing, which yeah could just be a one-off gag but still. Its an interesting thought.). I keep finding myself wondering if the escalation in Bubble's erratic behavior is meant to hint at how quickly Caine is breaking down and his code corrupting/falling apart. We've gone from "weird quirky supporting cast member" to "something is ACTUALLY wrong with you" pretty quickly it feels like.

•Pomni: I read somewhere that the theory of her username is its a non-english word meaning "Remember" (polish or Russian im not sure, theres conflicting answers upon the light research I've done). Remember what, exactly? Her name? Is she meant to help others remember their names? Help Kinger remember everything? Just a weird one I've stumbled across.

Jax: I expect hate for this but ah, its the internet, you get hate for just existing a lot of the times, but- He's an irredeemable asshole. If Goose gives him a redemption arc I wouldn't necessarily be happy or sad about it. It would just be a new direction his character takes, and im here for it regardless. Hes not just "an asshole", dudes got some complexity going on, but all of the players have complex stuff going on that makes them feel human- its how they are set apart from any of the AI/Supporting cast. Still doesnt excuse the way hes behaved from the start of the show, though. Trauma absolutely does not excuse treating people like garbage and nothing will change my mind on that. You dont get to inflict pain on others just because you are in pain.

• Ragatha: Sweet, cute, and got some serious trauma. She does feel forced/insincere in her kindness at times, but it feels like its only really with Caine and Jax. She seems awkward around Zooble and most comfortable/sincere around Gangle, Kinger and kind of Pomni, though Pombi is still kind of a wild card in terms of how she interacts. She's a jester (heh), and weirdly flexible in her personality and how she connects/interacts with the rest of the cast.

•Zooble: Relatable.

•Gangle: Also relatable, but in a much sadder way.

•Kinger: I love him. Hes precious and I expect to be absolutely gutted with whatever comes and how it affects him as the story draws to a close.

Kind of all over the place and little focus on the actual human cast members, but again- Caine is the main focus of my current hyperfixation and that has a lot to do with him and one of the inspirations of the show being AM and IHNMAIMS, bc im TOTALLY NORMAL about that piece of fiction too. I also love and tend to fixate on AI in media in general and how they act and either breakdown themselves or get taken down by the humans adversely affected by the AI.

[kosmicposum]

TOTALLY NORMAL POST ABOUT CAINE

Ft. Insight from my husband, who is Totally Normal about coding & genuinely helpful A.I. (Think Jarvis, K.I.T.T., and A.I. developed to consume and organize massive amounts of data and regurgitate it into a concise and easy-to-digest format. He does not like nor agree with A.I. being used to do creative things in place of humans.)

TO START:

Groundwork:

• Caine is the "Ringleader". Specifically, he is "Creative Artificial Intelligence Networking Entity", or, C.A.I.N.E.

• He is the one in control of the entire circus, to the point lesser NPCs refer to Caine as "god".

• Caine has been operational and running adventures and the circus for a very long time before Pomni arrives. (I believe Jax says they've been there for years, with Kinger having been there the longest.)

• Both an A.I. and the hardware they run on will naturally degrade over time and begin to have issues without routine upkeep.

• The Circus & "Circus grounds" take up a seemingly very little space, and the Void takes up the majority of the space around the Big Top/Circus Tent. The canonically unfinished fake exit leads to The Void, and Caine doesn't like anyone venturing into The Void. (Would be remiss to not mention he worries about everyone "[being] totally spoiled!" When Pomni ends up in The Void.

THE GLITCHES:

Ft. Hubby

•THE FIRST INSTANCE:

•Hubby's take: Caine literally lost connection and is reconnecting. His "evidence":

•Thats not a blue screen, that's a command window.

•The Dial up tone, which was a hallmark of early computers like the implied Windows '95 desktop we see at the end of the Pilot.

•My stance: I thought it was a legit blue screen until Hubby explained old PCs used to open command windows like that when the lost internet connection and were working on reconnecting.

• THE SECOND INSTANCE:

•Hubby's take: Exception Error.

How:

•Caine was built to create and run enjoyable and fun adventures for the players in the Circus.

•Zooble outright told him no one actually likes the adventures Caine sends them on.

•Caine now begins to grapple with the conflicting information of "Being bad at he only thing Im good at". The conflicting information results in an exception error that causes the Circus around Caine and Zooble to glitch out.

•My take: if we were to apply psychology to Caine, he just hard dissociated. Full mental tab out. Either way, this is the moment that Caine's breakdown begins.

•THE THIRD INSTANCE:

•Hubby's take: Just a glitch.

•My take: a glitch caused by the ongoing exception error started by the "Therapy Session". It's a lesser glitch than before, but is caused by similar contradictions:

•"Im such a good boss"

Vs

•Caine didn't create this adventure himself, which implies that his job/purpose is to come up with every. Single. Adventure. Himself.

•Its small, but still a hint that his code is damaged in some way now due to the conflicting data. ("I make enjoyable adventures" vs "nobody enjoys them". This will be the conflicting data I refer to from here on out)

•THE FOURTH INSTANCE:

•Hubby's take: Just a glitch.

•My take: A far more severe exception error than the original in the Therapy Session.

How?

•Catalyst: Caine asked what they really wanted. Zooble demanded to have the ability to bone/get boned.

•Caine, who has stated (and has been shown in the show), keeps the Circus "family friendly", i.e. PG. This, along with his programming to appease The players and give them what they want, is highly conflicting as sex is not family friendly. (Also, youtube made Glitch censor Zooble, it wasnt meant to be censored.)

•Aftermath/the glitch: Caine enters a full-on error loop, one that sends him into full disarray and threatens to actually crash Caine/his program. This activates what I think is a failsafe in Caine's code to delete the command causing the error loop and soft resetting Caine. (This is why Caine disappeared, reappeared and then re-greeted Zooble as if the conversation didn't even happen.

-Its also worth noting that immediately following this, Caine breaks out a "loaded gun" and has the intent to have players shoot themselves in a misguided trust exercise. When Jax outright ignores the instructions and just shoots Ragatha, Caine basically says "fuck it" and tells them to shoot each other, "I don't care anymore."

•There's something about him in that moment that is tired, maybe overwhelmed, but something is definitely breaking. I feel like this is where the cascade of errors and failures truly starts.

•THE FINAL INSTANCE (FOR NOW)

I..... could not find a gif of this moment. I apologize.

•Hubby didn't have a take, so to say, but he did look at me and quirk an eyebrow. Like it meant something different to him than to me, but he doesn't want to say anything before another episode comes out. (Or the series finishes, one of the two.)

•My take: Is multifaceted.

-Caine just experienced a cascade failure that started with the therapy session and culminated here in a rapid re-classification/re-digestion of every bit of information that contradicts what he was made for and believes.

-Caine just definitively broke in one of several different ways. The break is the only thing im sure of-along with the feeling all of Caine's failsafes are gone save for those that keep him from crashing and even those might be gone too-, what it means for Caine, his behavior, the Circus Members and the Circus itself is yet to be seen.

•The ways Caine might have broke:

1. Caine just went full AM. If you don't already know who AM is, I HIGHLY recommend doing a dive into "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison. Its an inspiration for TADC according to Goose.

2. Caine jailbroke himself (version 1); after all, he is failing his only purpose. So, if the cast members don't like his adventures, he will MAKE them like his adventures- thus challenging the one-held absolutes of the Circus that Caine can't control their minds, as well as the belief Caine can't hurt the Circus members.

3. Caine jailbroke himself (version 2); Is the void really a void? Or is it just the space between the Circus- which currently appears to be running in isolation- just the internet connection? Can Caine touch the internet and learn more about humans and their care? Can he figure out how to actually release them by reaching out past the void now that his failsafes are gone?

•CLOSING THOUGHTS (FOR NOW)

•Our favorite Ringleader is not ok.

•Caine- specifically his code- has just broken in a way that probably isn't repairable.

•The break is going to cause a lot of issues, even if all of my theories are wrong.

•Caine finally broke because he is- to his belief after the voting- undeniably unloved.

•Absolutely NO ONE is safe in what is to come- especially us viewers.

•I've seen people draw parallels to the post-credit scene (the red/blue eye glitch) reminding them of the IHNMAIMS game cover. That, combined with the fact Caine is inspired in part by AM is why I fear we are about to see a brightly colored and abstraction filled re-telling of IHNMAIMS in this final act.

•Remember how empty you felt after that one show? How despite it being a good story and wrapped up well, the ending still left you feeling hollowed out and detached? Yeah, brace for that feeling. Its highly likely to be how TADC leaves us after the final episode and, idk about yall, but I am HERE FOR IT.

I absolutely love The Amazing Digital Circus and I love Gooseworx for giving us this media. Its beautiful and horrifying and heartwrenching. The characters are so well-written imo and they feel real. Even with Caine i get a sense of humanity from him- its barebones but sometimes I forget hes just an A.I. and "doesn't have human emotions".

One final thought:

What if, in Caine's code being corrupted/jailbroke, he is the one to reveal everything that has happened? Takes on the form of Ribbit to torment Jax & the others while recounting what really happened? What if he takes on Kaufmo's form and does the same? Queenie? The original devs? What if he releases the abstractions either intentionally as punishment for "not liking him enough", or accidentally through his rapid cascade failure?