[tireddailypenguin]

I always assumed Caine's control freak tendency came from his abandonment issue. His want for human approval and the need to control all stems from it and not from the blue ai.

Blue AI seems more like a symbolical being than an actual character. I kinda interpreted it as the mark of cain from the bible, As it made him untouchable but at the same time reminded him of his insecurity and crime.

So I'm still disappointed that Caine's abandonment issue is suddenly resolved by simply... Surfing the web and chucking the blue ai out? Without any actual communication with the humans? Why's he suddenly fine with humans having killed him? They just confirmed your fear that you yourself admitted in ep8...

I'm fine with him letting the blue ai go but his redemption arc seems so half-baked that I wonder why they put that scene now. Because of that scene people are now interpreting the blue ai as what made Caine evil, erasing Caine's complexity. Scenes right before the removal being Caine glitching and talking to himself as if fighting his inner evil only boosted this theory.

Couldn't have they made him remove the blue ai after his proper redemption arc so it doesn't seem like he magically became good because of it's removal? I can't understand the need for the scene to be where it is.

[tireddailypenguin]

HOW IS THIS REAL

Making a jester and a ringmaster character in a circus themed show...

Setting them each as the protagonist and the antagonist...

With personalities that are the exact opposite...

AND NOT HAVE THEM INTERACT ONCE THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE SHOW?!!

THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL....

I got baited so hard... What a waste of good concept...

Ugh the potential for an interesting relationship... Just gone...

[tireddailypenguin]

I know tadc was advertised as "psychological horror show" but I can't really see it?

It does have some horror elements but I don't really think they can really be called psychological horror.

The most psychological horror-ish things came from the pilot. The uncanny backroom vibe was well expressed in the episode in my opinion.

I feel like the psychological horror aspect of the show is supposed to be

Being stuck in an unknown place with no memory of one's identity.

How everything including the ppl inside the circus seem so fake.

ABSTRACTIONS

The concept of turning into a mindless monster once you go mad is so interesting... So I'm kinda disappointed abstraction hardly had any importance to the plot except being jax angst material.

The SOMA theory could've been a great horror element but it was hardly mentioned until the last episodes...

The human cast being apathetic toward each other as we can see from kaufmo's death in the pilot, also gave quite horrifying implications. But it was rebuked right after in ep2.

Caine being an emotional mess also dropped the show's tension as he hardly acted like an antagonist until ep8.

Tadc feels more like a therapy show than a psychological horror show. It's a human drama about relationships and coping. All the psychological horror elements introduced in the pilot exists only as background or plot device for the relationship issues among humans.

(I don't know if the human's mental issues are supposed to be horrifying but things that personal don't work as psychological horror.)

I'll be honest I feel scammed by the pilot. I expected a show that shows the horror of living in a fake world where you have to keep on questioning your sanity and the reality all the while fearing abstracting and losing autonomy to the master ai. So basically IHNMAIMS.

The show's concept was perfect for a psychological horror show and I'm sad about the lost potential.

[tireddailypenguin]

I'm suddenly disturbed by what circus cast trying to fix Caine's code could imply.

Like Caine's obviously sentient. His codes and programming are basically his brain and psychology.

He goes mad and the humans are trying to hack into his brain to "fix" it. Isn't this basically lobotomy?

A person goes crazy and ppl decide to lobotomize and alter their brain. Didn't this actually happen to the mentally ill in the past?

How is reprogramming Caine different from Caine altering humans' minds? The humans got mad about him violating their minds just to do the same to him? Feels hypocritical...

I know the cast were getting tortured and all. But the fact that they all agreed to lobotomize him without hesitation, even kinger, kinda shows that they hardly considered him human.

[tireddailypenguin]

I kinda realized....

Chronologically speaking, Caine is probably the youngest one in the cast. Probably 25, same as pomni. But I feel like he'd be younger mentally.

I originally expected him in his 30s if he were a human. But I realized he's incredibly child-like and started imagining him younger. Mid 20s at best.

I think his behavior really well mirrors that of a child. His actions in ep8 reminds me of a child throwing a tantrum and venting their frustration on toys.

His selfishness and ego is similar to that of a child in that it stems from the incapacity to emphasize with others.

To a child, they are the center of the world and they don't acknowledge others as individuals on their own. Caine is the center of the world in a literal sense and he only see humans as puzzles he needs to crack for awards.

A child doesn't know how to self-reflect. Caine does know how to do so but his insecurities stop him from fully evaluating. (Him having a mental breakdown and glitching)

A child later on gets the chances to learn how to acknowledge other people and connect to them. But I feel like Caine was never given the chance hence why he's still stuck in child phase despite being over 20.

I think we still don't know if his incapacity for emotional connection is a flaw in his codes or his personality. I guess we'd never know since he's dead...

Although I feel like if anyone deserves a second chance it'd be Caine. He faced his consequences pls let him return in the finale...

(To add, I know not all children are selfish but I used to be a really selfish one and Caine reminded so much of me...)

[tireddailypenguin]

Finale thoughts

Not gonna lie I'm kinda scared tadc will take ihnmaims route... As in Ted(jax) killing eveyone just like in the novel...

Ted was capable of killing others because the humans were out of AM's control at the moment. AM wasn't there to bring them back to life.

Now that Caine is dead, the circus cast can no longer get their injuries fixed. We don't even know whether cartoon logic still works since Caine's family-friendly filter is obviously gone.

It's widely theorized that jax will meet an end similar to ted. So what if jax actually abstracts and kills the cast members?

In ihnmaims' ending, ellen first kills nimdok then ted kills the rest. Since it's assumed ragatha and kinger each reference ellen and nimdok, perhaps kinger dies first trying to save ragatha from jax.

Then Jax kills everyone... Except pomni since she doesn't refernece any character from ihnmaims. Then maybe pomni calms jax down or bring caine back.

Considering goose's words that the ending will not be as bleak as ihnmaims, I feel like all the cast will be brought back from the dead by caine. Maybe jax will be the first case to return from abstracting. Perhaps ribbit and kaufmo will play a role in this.

Although a bleaker end where pomni's the only one left in the circus waiting for a new human to enter is still a probability. There she alone tries to find meaning in stagnant life.

[tireddailypenguin]

I hope pomni and caine actually have a talk in ep9

I'm gonna bet they are going to reference pomni's talk with gummigoo. This time with caine instead

We still have scratch and c&a lore unexplained and the whole circus is left in ruin. It's also quite likely that abstractions are gonna appear.

I'm quite certain caine will make a return one way or another.

[tireddailypenguin]

Just thoughts on Caine

Children tend to be self-centered and ignorant. Doesn't respect boundaries and refuses to accept they're wrong. And it's because they are still growing and learning. They are not a fully developed social creature like adults.

Caine has the behavior of a child and I think it's because he never got to grow up. A child needs a guardian to grow up and learn properly. But instead of a guardian caine got abandoned, locked away, and replaced. Even if he was an actual human, I doubt he would have grown up properly in a condition like that.

So while I think many of caine's actions were wrong and he should take accountability, his apathetic and ignorant behavior is not something I can blame on him... He never got the chance to learn emotions properly...

Even in real life we know children isolated from others at young have trouble connecting to others. Perheps the reason Caine didn't reach out or listen to others is simply because he was never taught how. In turn making him more unapproachable to others.

He wants to be loved but he doesn't know how to emotionally connect to humans. So he does the only thing he thinks his good at. Making adventures. And when humans don't appreciate it he panics because there's nothing else he can give. To him he did everything he can for them.

Then he crashes out because he hates feeling useless and blames everything on humans. He treats humans like toys to take his anger out because he's a child throwing a tantrum.

He's a confused emotionally stunted child who unfortunately had the power of god. I still think he can be saved if they teach him how to connect to others properly.

[tireddailypenguin]

Caine specifically reminds me of my middle school years. I was surprised to find his experiences similar to mine.

I worked on a year long movie project with my class and I was the director. And I was determined to finish it successfully. I worked day and night on the script, camera work, etc...

But doing so I kept on ignoring my classmates' complains and suggestion. Making them feel useless and offending them. I didn't listen to them because I wanted to do it "my" way.

When the project was almost over, I let my classmates finish it themselves because I was upset about my efforts being unappreciated.

But their work turned out to be much better than mine and it made me horrified. There I realized I was talentless at movie directing.

Later on when they held a vote on who contributed the most(basically a popularity vote) and I didn't get a single vote. I had a crashout when I got home.

Back then, I genuinely didn't understand what I was doing wrong. I ignored them not out of malice but from the wish to prove my competence as a director.

I thought I knew better and that they'll appreciate me if the result's good. And at the end of the year I remained a jerk.

I found caine's behavior similar to mine and I think that's part of the reason I like him. I also was hard working, yet selfish, and had hurt others without acknowledging.

[tireddailypenguin]

So after ep7 I see many ppl getting mad at caine which is very valid since he lied about not being able to control minds.

But there are some ppl arguing every horrible thing that happend was caine's fault and personally I can't agree with them.

Some go as far as to say all of Jax's horrible actions and every abstraction is intentionally caused by caine... Like nothing is yet confirmed but ppl are already trying to shift all the blame. How about we slow down.

I personally think Jax pressing the red button was done completely on his own. His issue was continuously mentioned through the series and that scene was the climax. If he was being mind controlled like some argue, it would take away the impact of the scene.

Also I don't think caine can fully control ppl's mind. If he could, he would've already lobotomized Jax and erased zooble's body disphoria. Either he can't or he doesn't wish to.

It seems like ep8 is caine centric so let's wait for caine's perspective before we blame him for everything.

[tireddailypenguin]

Burningspice asking Goldencheese out on a date

Spice flirts with violence and shows affection through bullying. Cheese has no idea why he's such a jerk to her all the time.

[tireddailypenguin]

gaming buddies go shopping

[tireddailypenguin]

Feel like there would be problem if ancients were to engage in the upcoming dragon saga..

It's confirmed that the dragons will appear after the whole ultimate cookie shenanigans is over. But for them to be competent foes they would need to be stronger than the awakended ancients, dark enchantress, and maybe even the ultimate cookie...

If they do appear stronger, I'm very much worried it'd lead to severe power inflation.. Which could force devsisters to create more high class cookies like the beasts and end up neglecting previous ones like epic for the sake of the story line..

Also, the ancients story is very much completed with DE and having them actively engage in a new one wouldn't really look good lore wise. However, having huge problems about the dragons and expecting the ancients to not engage also looks weird..

The problems would be

Ancients having to engage in another plot despite their saga being over.

Power inflation and new high class cookies that lead to neglection of existing cookies.

So if I were to devise a plan to prevent such problems, these are the approaches I'd take. The main key would be to stop the ancients from engaging.

The whole plot happens without the ancients and most of the world knowing. Only dragons and legendaries actively engage in the plot. Allowing both dragons and legendaries to be incredibly powerful. Having only them engage can prevent new power inflation.

Something happens to the souljams and weakens the ancients and stops them from engaging. Dragons also get weakened through curse or something. This can let previous cookies engage in the plot more freely.

Some other convenient plot device that stops ancients from engaging and weaken the dragons. (Ex. Timekeeper)

If ancients are not to engage but story needs characters that go against the dragons, I hope it's either other dragons like in the ovenbreak or the legendaries. Or they should just nerf the dragons through plot devices instead of creating another set of beasts as their opponent...

I kinda hope the legendaries would appear in the dragon saga bc they got neglected by devs during BY despite being important to the lore. Also hope they'd utilize more previous cookies like milk, yam, chili, and espresso.

[tireddailypenguin]

Thoughts and headcanons about burningcheese's appearances

Burningcheese size difference is so interesting to me..

Most size difference ships tend to get their size gap exaggerated in fanarts. But for burningcheese their canon size difference is as big as what most fanarts portray and it's hilarious.

Spice is at least twice as big as Cheese and much thicker as well. Their gacha sprites shows this in such blatant manner that it's funny.

I think it's kinda canon that cheese is the smallest ancient and spice the biggest beast. I kinda want more ppl to acknowledge this and make jokes about it.. Their literally David and Goliath!

A while ago, GC's reaction video made a joke about her being slightly insecure of her height. While this isn't canon I feel like it can be a headcanon that adds a bit more flavor to her character.

I like to hc that gc has the most youthful appearance among the ancients because her ambition sounds like a childhood dream. It still holds the pureness and naivety of a child that it gave me the impression that she is younger than others. Also I thought the contrast between her voice would be funny.

On the other hand, I hc that bs looks older than most beasts since his whole thing is being worn down from the endless cycle of history. His virtue being history/change emphasizes that he lived through incredibly long time and it'd be cool to see it show through his appearance.

I feel like gc looking young but being mature when it comes to her trauma, contrasts well with bs who looks old but acts immature when dealing with his. They both experienced helplessness and despair which led to destructive coping mechanism. But emerged differently at the end.

Them being the opposite not only on their beliefs but on their appearances as well would be a fascinating way to imply that they truly are each others counterpart, abundance and destruction.

Also it would give the vibe of new vs old history as its a battle between a young queen vs an old tyrant. A young hero relinquishing old evil is a cliche in old myths in history.

[tireddailypenguin]

Burningspice and Goldencheese's interaction is so funny

Spice is continuously ragebaiting her in every interaction. I can see that he just enjoys getting a reaction out of her. He doesn't care if he gets roasted in the process. Just admit you want to talk to her!

And why is goldencheese engaging in it so seriously? She's giving him exactly what he wants when ignoring is an option. Little nudge from him is going get her to recite a whole speech!

Oh they just can't let go of their pride and it makes them look so silly. Their size difference makes it worse because it looks like David beefing with Goliath. I find them bickering so entertaining to watch..

[tireddailypenguin]

reuploading old doodles

[tireddailypenguin]

So does anybody know what Kanghui did to get himself in such a horrible situation..? All we know is that he angered the fengs and jiequan got to him.

If my memories serve correct, Kanghui is the water god in chinese myth.

He lost a fight with the fire god and rammed his head into a mountain that served as a pillar holding up the sky.

Then the goddess Nuwa came down to fix the mess he caused.

So I suspect what nine sols Kanghui did has something to do with Nuwa thus angering the feng clan.

I wonder what he did to get on Nuwa's badside.. Maybe he mocked her disfigurements? Her career as an actor? Or called out her inappropriate relationship with her brother?

Whatever he did, I don't think he deserved what he got...