tadc-harlequin-au

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With Chapter 2 of The Marvelous Mechanical Harlequin story out, I think it's time we tackle about the "void saplings" :3

When Pomni dies and wakes up in the Void, she'll find golden shards scattered throughout the endless realm. After picking it up, a sapling with sparkling golden leaves sprouts out. And every visit that Pomni does, she'll actually see the progress of the growth of the sapling.

What are these golden shards? It's a surprise tool that will helps us out later ;)

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Sorry guys I'm not actually the EVIL demon Specter who wants to take over the world and burn orphanages I'm actually just Ziku and this is the biggest lie I have been carrying in my entire life....... 😔😔

Hey Ziku! Sorry about the Google Docs thing, nooo idea how it got shared to you but I'm glad it was you and not some weirdo! Thanks for letting us know, I've restricted that doc just in case but lemme know if something like that happens again. Many many thanks!

Nahhh don't apologize, it ain't yours or Waffle's fault. Such a mystery on how it happened though.

Does reminds me, I should probably restrict my own docs to me and the writers and change my password just in case of a data breach (you should probably do that too)

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Hey Ziku! Sorry about the Google Docs thing, nooo idea how it got shared to you but I'm glad it was you and not some weirdo! Thanks for letting us know, I've restricted that doc just in case but lemme know if something like that happens again. Many many thanks!

Nahhh don't apologize, it ain't yours or Waffle's fault. Such a mystery on how it happened though.

Does reminds me, I should probably restrict my own docs to me and the writers and change my password just in case of a data breach (you should probably do that too)

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Chapter 3 already going great lol

Btw, this is the first chapter that @just-mary-ann is going to help writing for, in case everyone hasn't caught up yet!

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Probably my favorite NPC joke is Ming because it perfectly goes full circle with the whole;

"You know what they say about "assuming"! It makes an 'ASS', out of 'U', and 'MING'! :D" -Caine, episode 6

ep 6 fucking broke me

Case A) ragtha and kinger's talk in the loser room "do you hate yourself? i used to hate myself too" STOP IT.

Case B) Jax crashout scene against pomni and him telling her that if she abstracted he would move on and forget abt her bitch you havent even recovered from like ribbit or shit and

also the panic attack in the bathroom

Case C) gangle and zooble talking and zooble telling her to embrace the human parts of themselves or something and gangle like shooting a tommygun at people

Case D) Ming

a) Pathetic I still hate myself, get on my level LOSER /j

b) Yeah I don't think he recovered from both Kaufmo AND Ribbit like bro..... YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE SAYING THOSE THANGS DAWG!!!!!!!! THE WAY HE LOOKS AT BOTH THEIR DOORS!!!!!!!! THIS GAY ASS RABBIT MAN HAS SO MANY ISSUES!!!!!

c) Pretty sure this whole episode is the epitome of "practice what you preach", to which you have:

Kinger, who actually practices what he preaches to Ragatha. (Pewpew)

Zooble, who preaches to Gangle to love what makes herself her, but is unable to accept themselves. (Unmasked)

Jax, who preaches about everyone's "designated" archetypes, only for both parties to know deep down that that's entirely bullshit. But doesn't matter, since it's the only thing Jax thinks he's got in this world. (Bad Guys)

d) MING WINNING THE FAVORITE CHARACTER AWARDS WAS SO FUCKING FUNNY LIKJE THEY REALLY PULLED US WITH THE WHOLE "Oh Caine's gonna rig the whole thing to vote for himself" ONLY FOR MING TO COME OUT ON TOP HAHHAHAHHAHAHAH

[tadc-harlequin-au]

ep 6 fucking broke me

Case A) ragtha and kinger's talk in the loser room "do you hate yourself? i used to hate myself too" STOP IT.

Case B) Jax crashout scene against pomni and him telling her that if she abstracted he would move on and forget abt her bitch you havent even recovered from like ribbit or shit and

also the panic attack in the bathroom

Case C) gangle and zooble talking and zooble telling her to embrace the human parts of themselves or something and gangle like shooting a tommygun at people

Case D) Ming

a) Pathetic I still hate myself, get on my level LOSER /j

b) Yeah I don't think he recovered from both Kaufmo AND Ribbit like bro..... YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE SAYING THOSE THANGS DAWG!!!!!!!! THE WAY HE LOOKS AT BOTH THEIR DOORS!!!!!!!! THIS GAY ASS RABBIT MAN HAS SO MANY ISSUES!!!!!

c) Pretty sure this whole episode is the epitome of "practice what you preach", to which you have:

Kinger, who actually practices what he preaches to Ragatha. (Pewpew)

Zooble, who preaches to Gangle to love what makes herself her, but is unable to accept themselves. (Unmasked)

Jax, who preaches about everyone's "designated" archetypes, only for both parties to know deep down that that's entirely bullshit. But doesn't matter, since it's the only thing Jax thinks he's got in this world. (Bad Guys)

d) MING WINNING THE FAVORITE CHARACTER AWARDS WAS SO FUCKING FUNNY LIKJE THEY REALLY PULLED US WITH THE WHOLE "Oh Caine's gonna rig the whole thing to vote for himself" ONLY FOR MING TO COME OUT ON TOP HAHHAHAHHAHAHAH

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Oh yeah, and I also had a silly dream where I was roleplaying as Harlequin Caine for the blog, recalling the horrors with a spin-off story that my dream titled as "Rise of the Puppetmaster"

How very sillayyyyyy

[tadc-harlequin-au]

I think one of the most surprising "predictions" I've made is Jax's inability to move on, him using terrible jokes and embracing his "role" to cope with his situation.

Like, in this AU it's so much more obvious because I've given Jax a keepsake (the stuffed toy) to represent that, but I'm still flabbergasted to see his character follow the same way my AU did; even though this was initially a completely made up thing to give a reasoning for his actions here early on.

Before all this revelation with episode 5&6, I only viewed Jax as someone who was playing with the Digital Circus "the way a griefer would", and did not allow himself to connect with people so that it'd hurt less when they abstracted. I mean that's still the case, but there's a whole lot more to it than just that-

Although, I will say Jax here has a lot more potential for redemption as much as he does falling into villainy.

[tadc-harlequin-au]

⚙️ As thanks for 3k followers, Chapter 2: "The Lady of Forgotten Memories" is now out early on ao3! ⚙️

Previous || Next (soon)

Word count: 4.7k words

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⚙️⚠️ Now, as always; please read the chapter warnings before proceeding! ⚠️⚙️

I initially didn't want to cut it off so short when it came to this chapter, but I didn't want to write so much stuff yet since we're just at the beginning. Plus, I wanted special intro chapters for each boss.

So I decided to cut it down halfway through, and let the chapter carry what information it needs to carry before moving onto the more action-packed scenes.

With that being said, I do hope you all enjoy. :)

[tadc-harlequin-au]

HELLOOO???? HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD. YES. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS HAHAHAHHAHAHAHH SO WINNING TODAY YEAHHHHHHHHHHH I FUCKING LOVE THIS THIS IS AMAZING LOOKING!!!!!!

I DID NOT EXPECT TO FIND THIS IN THE WILD WHILE SCROLLING THROUGH THE SHOWTIME TAG BUT AUGH I'M SO GLAD I DID

This is so true.... to me.....

Yeah Pomni his ass is yours.

It’s The Marvelous Mechanical Harlequin AU made by Iamespecter!Love this harlequin AU and art so much!! I’m addicted to showtime now ahhh (And sorry if this post hurt your eyes 🥀💥)

Just found this reference picture on Pinterest LOL i thought it might suit them⬇️

Bye guys!

[tadc-harlequin-au]

OH, AND HOW COULD I FORGET...... WE GOT CANON CATGIRL GANGLE

CATGIRL GANGLE TRUTHERS RISE UP!!!!!

[tadc-harlequin-au]

I'm so incredibly delusional and brainrotted so I saved today's ask for anything that could've been said during the recent episode that would've reminded me of this AU,,,

SPOILERS BELOW FOR DIALOGUE SPOKEN IN EPISODE 6, scroll at your own risk, abandon this ask, YADDA YADDA,,,

Jax, to Pomni: "Look, I know what it's like. One day you're somebody in the real world, doing important things and then the next, you're just a weird little cartoon ... jester. You want to hold on to that part of you that still thinks it's part of that world. But in the end, what does it get you?"

You mentioned before that Jax could bring out the worst in Pomni when paired together and I can just picture this scene with a few words replaced, such as "weird little cartoon jester" being more about her being a mass produced machine/weapon. Or him more so just criticizing Caine's whole rehabilitation schtick to get under her stick while inadvertently poking at her own insecurities with her own issues deep down,,, Essentially chiseling away at some of the progress Caine's made or making her momentarily second guess it,,, in my silly, funky brain, it fit so well in the moment. K anyway, happy TADC day and congrats again on the follower milestone!✨

One thing I looooove so much when it comes to writing/brainstorming about the Harlequin AU, is when I plan things in advance, I have this feeling that maybe, I'm taking things too far with the concepts I think up for them/it's too out of character even with the canon divergent aspect.

Only for future episodes to help give me more ammunition to solidify the plans I had initially doubted >:)

[tadc-harlequin-au]

OH SHIT????? OH SHIT WOAH NOW THANK YOU???? WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I don't know what to do for a 3k milestone celebration though, should I release the 2nd chapter early? 😭😭

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Okay, I wasn't happy with this at first, but looking back on this again after a few months I am actually kinda digging her design now??

Like, I thought it was too "spider-like", but since I have plans to make Ms. Lalu into a cult leader, the thing about her being a spider actually works well chat,,,,,

Also her voice claim is unfortunately Mommy Long Legs from.... P--P-P-Poppy.... 🤢🤢🤢 Playtime..... 🤮🤮🤮🤮

[tadc-harlequin-au]

I got a question regarding Jax and Pomni in this AU Since episode 6 is releasing in like A DAY... what are your thoughts about their friendship and will this be implemented in your AU? I feel like they'd both make a great team if Pomni somehow had an interaction with Jax that didn't want to make her strangle him. (sorry if someone asked something like this already, I haven't gotten the chance to read through ALL the lore asks, yet)

Personally speaking, I rather dislike Jax and Pomni forming a friendship. Not only has Jax proven time and time again to selfishly put himself above others--even at his lowest-- but so far with what we've been shown, it really seems that he's not just a bad influence, he's a terrible influence to keep around. Like I HATE TO PUT IT ON THE TABLE BUT-- MAYBE RIBBIT ABSTRACTING SHOULD RAISE CONCERNS?? 😭

His and Pomni's friendship strikes me as someone who only keeps the other around, since the other provides something that he likes. Hell, he began "befriending" Pomni to tick off Ragatha. Like, that is some next-level trolling shit lol.

Again, while he may genuinely view Pomni as a friend and vice versa for Pomni, there is still the fact that Jax IS selfish, and uses others for personal gain and it has been shown to us-- time and time again, episode after episode.

"oh but it's his coping mechanism!!!!" and yes I agree!!! But.... again. I am speaking from personal feelings, as well as the fact that Gooseworx said Jax is the most deserving person to be trapped in the circus. Which, if that isn't telling, I don't know what is anymore.

It doesn't help that my view of Jax is literally that of a toxic COD player, and I'm kinda sure if the circus didn't have censors, he'd be throwing slurs left and right lmao.

As for the other question of whether this would apply to the AU, yeah actually. Pomni and Jax's friendship improves over time here, in a... healthier way than canon, surprisingly. I actually see them as siblings a bit in here; always getting into fights, but when the need arises, they will team up.

[tadc-harlequin-au]

I just want you to know that it thoroughly irks me that Caine's ring was in the apartment, where Pomni then found it later and tried to trade, and not with him. I guess it could imply some things like him potentially trying to move on (a reach considering the aftermath with the drinking), maybe that his relationship with the catalyst had been a secret (perhaps another reach and a half) or maybe just the fact that he wasn't wearing it at the time of the NOW SUPPOSED "heart attack". Squinting at you.

Not technically an ask, but a rhetorical "damn, what's with that?" /silly

An idle ramble considering you so graciously handed me the plain cornflakes answer yesterday 😌

Putting my hand on your shoulders and shaking my head up and down when I say,

"You should reread Morning Routines". You'll find your clues there if you ignore the comedic aspects. :3c

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Soooo for roleswap, i noticed a little thing you said about it ages ago(?) and ... the paragraph about caine — "Even goes to the extent that he knows the ins and outs of a Puppet body like an expert surgeon would with the body of their patient, which... Pomni finds quite interesting because as far as she knows, there's only one person in her eyes who could be a natural at something like that."

Would this mean that pomni does NOT know that caine's ... well, used to be her husband(?) before they became puppets yet? And assumes it's just a coincidence?

Oh yeah I haven't finished the "stalemate" equivalent of Roleswap uhhh

Here's a snippet

C.A.I.N.E. stands for "Calculative Artificial Intelligence Networking Entity"