my two favourite AUs for TADC atm are probably #ctrl+c and #ctrl+alt+del
(i dont think that will tag properly, is it possible to tag multi-word tags in text post form? like using quotes or brackets or smth in some weird way?)
CAD is the first one I came across and I'm quite a big fan. It has a few chapters surrounding it by its aptly named creator blog: @ctrl-alt-del-au (no credit to a parent blog on it so I assume they aren't seeking credit beyond that). Their original premise and exploration of it along with the numerous fan comics and such I've seen of it are great, positioned directly following episode 8 where Caine's deletion appears to have factory-reset the circus in some way where Caine is now placed as a "player" who has just entered the circus shortly following Pomni's appearance. I'm not sure where the timeline is lined up but I think it lands after Pomni's second adventure (Candy Carrier Chaos, with Gummigoo). However, the twist is Caine appears to have been written out of the narrative, with Bubble leading as the ringmaster with no one- not even Bubble or Kinger, recognising him.
Caine decides to pass off as a human while he figures out what's going on. We have not seen very much in terms of the main progression of the story from the official blog, but its still quite good and there's a lot of really fun exploration of the idea from other people, such as tackling claustrophobia from being locked in the box (intro to episode 8), or his room representing the same thing. Or conversations in episode 5 about being "abandoned for not being good enough and replaced" before "attempted murder from his own father". I personally really like the approaches to his room, this one especially.
I love the way it explores Caine's humanity and frequently recontextualises both his own personal experiences through a human lens as he opens up to the others while keeping his nature hidden, but also allows him to understand why things are so hard from them. And now that he's quite literally on the same level as them now that he's less powerful and joining them on adventures, we get some juicy juicy drama as he's able to have actual one-on-one conversations with them, I quite like this episode 4 comic where he is interrogating Pomni's attachment to Gummigoo despite understanding NPCs on a technical level, feeling insulted that his creation received the love he never did but being unable to voice this.
I also quite like all the doodles and such with him having to use his cane to get around as he's used to flying, there's just a lot of fun stuff about it
I actually thought this was a funny AU about "What if Suzie (irl Ragatha) came back years later and accidentally got scanned again" (which btw is a really funny premise that should be explored if it hasn't already been), but it's actually about a newcomer to the circus and a flaw in Caine's Body-Program that, as a result of the limited scope of parameters it goes over + having lead a very similar life to Ragatha causing it to give them an exact identical body. I love how on the same wavelength they are in reacting similarly to situations while still clearly being very distinct people. I love the degrading way Caine wants to name her "Ragatha_2" considering Ragatha's survival thus far as being a result of her mind-body-name combo keeping her going all this time, and only barely being swayed into naming this newcomer "Annabelle" based off of Ragatha's very impromptu suggestion in order to save her comrade in arms. And I love the little 2 above her head denoting her as the imitation, Player 2, fitting well with Caine fixing the identical-body confusion by just giving her a palette swap (there are a few amusing ideas to be had, such as when the Evil Big Tops are introduced, or figuring out her breath-holding gag has a slight glitch)
I find it quite charming, and here is what the creator has to say about it in her own words:
Kinda based on the trans experience of being seen not as an actual person, but some imitation/copy of women. But made very very literal.
And being shoved into roles that you don’t fit into based on what people want you to be, rather than what you are.
But also made very literal
When I started writing out this post (right after discovering CTRL+C), I thought it was about a later-in-life Ragatha revisiting the abandoned building and getting scanned a second time, which would have been a very very juicy experience- the idea of the literal same person twice, providing a real good exploration of the existential horror that is how trivially it appears people can be scanned into the circus, and while I would like to see a story about that, I also really like the actual premise which I discovered while looking into it a bit more in order to write this post.
Both of these AUs are very cool and grounded, I'm personally not as invested in AUs that radically switch things up since I feel at that point there's no real reason for the story to be tied down TADC- though I will admit Backup AU stuff is quite neat, but it has not captured my heart like these two have.
I would recommend keeping an eye out for more from these blogs and other blogs making stuff about them!
