#Also?? Pomni acknowledging Ragathas worry??

[grrrechka]

I RUSHED TO DRAW NEW EP

The grandpa and granddaughter dynamic between Pomni and Kinger is so cute 😔

[ask-pomni-blog]

Ok this may seem like im grasping at straws here but i need you guys to let me cook for a sec-

HUGE TADC EPISODE 2 SPOILERS

We start off the episode with Pomni’s nightmare, which is a reflection of Pomni’s fears and feelings that are going to be expanded upon throughout the episode. Her main fear isn’t abstracting here, it's the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of not mattering to anybody in the circus. This is seen clearly when Ragatha, Jax, and Caine are shown above the cellar, basically saying “good riddance” upon witnessing Pomni abstract.

And it makes complete sense that Pomni would feel this way once you look back at the circus’ reaction to Kaufmo abstracting (before the second episode). He doesn’t get acknowledged as someone who has just passed away, he doesn’t even get a moment of silence. Pomni notices this, and after she wakes up from her nightmare, she seems almost reluctant to bond with the rest of the circus members because this fear is still on her mind.

This is seen particularly when Pomni is speaking to Ragatha. Ragatha attempts to be helpful at any given chance, but most of the time Pomni is lost in her thoughts. Pomni doesn't seem very open to conversate with Ragatha because of her fears. But this isn't unwarranted, Ragatha literally calls the situation from the day before a “doozy” which brings up the fact that Ragatha constantly dismisses important issues, saying that they should just forget about the situation that happened the day before when Pomni left her for the exit. I understand that she’s trying to ease the tension between them, but I fear she might be making it even worse. Additionally, Ragatha dismissing a very important issue like that makes Pomni’s fears stronger, it may seem to Pomni that Ragatha doesn’t care…

When it’s actually the opposite! The whole episode she tries her best to motivate Pomni (“look, Pomni. We’re already friends with the princess!”, “So, Pomni, I’m sure there’s some way you could help out here.”)

and she’s also very concerned for Pomni when she’s gone (“...Pomni’s still on board!”, “Oh man, Poor Pomni. I hope she's alright.”, “I’m more worried she’s having another horrible experience.”, “Pomni! Are you okay?”)

However, all these remarks could be seen as condescending from Pomni’s perspective… And on the other hand, Ragatha feels like Pomni blames her for the situation, and that Pomni dislikes her. 

Returning to the topic of Pomni’s fears, a lot of this is also reflected in her conversation with Gummigoo:

—

G:“I don’t matter in the slightest. I’m nothing. My life, my memories… my friends… it’s all fake.” 

P:“...I think I know the feeling.”

P:“...I guess I just don't want you to feel like you’re nothing. I don’t want anyone to feel like that.”

G:“But I'm not even a real person. Would I even belong?”

P:“I’m sure you wouldn’t belong any less than me.”

—

Pomni relates to Gummigoo’s fears!! And Pomni is so compassionate and understanding too! …sadly their friendship didn’t last very long… and that brings us back to Ragatha and Pomni. Ragatha tries her best to be reassuring… unfortunately that didn’t work either. AND THIS WHOLE INTERACTION IS JUST- OH MY GOD... LET ME PUT A HUGE EMPHASIS ON THEIR BODY LANGUAGE HERE:

Also the WORDING HERE:

and this scene ooohhhhhhh,,,,,,,, this scene...!!

POMNI IS REASSURED ONCE SHE SEES THAT THE CIRCUS MEMBERS DO CARE. THEY WOULD CARE. HER FEARS DISSAPEAR AND AND- ohhhhmy god this is so sick and twisted.. this ep was.. soooooo good. holy smokes. anyways thank you for listening to my TED talk.

[cinnamon-stixs]

TADC EPISODE 3 HAS DRIVEN ME INSANE SO HERES A REALLY LONG RANT ABOUT ALL THE THINGS I NOTICED!!

-The horror visuals fucking SLAYED. SLAY.

-I LOVE that Ragatha loves horror and Pomni HATES it.

-"Zooble turns straight" 10/10 line.

-2 new points of evidence for the NPC!Jax theory: He acknowledges the audience directly, and refuses to share what happens when he holds his breath. This could be shown as a similar clue to him not having a visible room on his enamel pin art.

-Caine made a scary adventure just to get zooble interesteddd 😭❤️

-Gangle's comedy mask can just be ripped off of her face??

-Ragatha's face, I love her

-Caine has a fundamental inability to understand other people's emotions and empathize. Neurodivergent coded king I love him

-Kinger says "I'm starting to think" when they first enter the scary room, and not only is it funny as hell, IT WAS ALSO FORESHADOWING?!

-Kinger is VERY aware of the game mechanics in the world around him

Oh how I love you, Pomni.

-I LOVE THE LITTLE 2D ANIMATED SECTION OF THE EYES

"You look beautiful honey.." KILLING MYSELF. AUGH. POOR BABY..

-"Any torture I inflict is 100% accidental! like any good war criminal!"

-Zooble's trans/dysphoria allegory with their digital body has my whole heart

THEY DID NOT DESERVE THIS.

"What you're saying could imply that I'm bad at.. they only thing I'm good at..." HE IS SO ME FR WHAT THE FUCK. I THINK I KIN HIM WHOOPSIES

-I think Mr. Mildenhall's story reflects kinger's more than we think.

-Living for Pomni and Kinger's father-daughter dynamic

She's hot.

Kinky! (looks like something Amy would do to him)

-THE POSSESSION SCENE WAS SO COOL?

-So he was hitting pomni! I remember a lot of debate about that.

-Kinger and Queenie were canonically married

-Kinger took 7 years of computer science

-Kinger has a SURPRISING amount of emotional intelligence.

-BEING IN THE DARK REMINDS OF HIM OF HIS LAST MOMENT WITH HIS WIFE I'M FUCKING CRYINGGG

-Kinger hated bugs, but now he loves them because they're a subconscious reminder of his entomology loving wife.

-The line "In this world, the worst thing you can do I make someone feel like they're not wanted or loved" paired with Mr. Mildenhall's story of mistaking his wife for the monster and killing her makes me think Kinger caused Queenie to abstract somehow.

"Don't worry about me. As long as you remember, things will be okay. You're very strong pomni." ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Pomni canonically hates physical tough, but felt trusting and comfortable enough with Kinger to hold his hand.

Fucking sapphics

"FUCK-"

-Caine turning Zooble's therapy session into his own is so him omg

-"Welcome back my meowing milkmaids!" CRAZY.

-Kinger's new side wasn't actually all that surprising. Neither was him being the 'supportive dad' type. but i LOVE it

-KINGER VINYL FIGURE AHH NEED!!

This is my fave episode so far!! I love this show augh

[snowypolaroid]

in stitches

summary: pomni helps ragatha stich herself up after an accident. surely this ends completely normally !!!

characters: ler!pomni, lee!ragatha [ mentioned: caine, jax ]

w/c: 2,042

a/n: eerrrmmm theres not much to say except i had fun writing this heeehehe ... if this is like ooc or anything no it isnt Ignore It <3 also the title is really funny guys get it because in stitches is a way to say laughing and shes doll who needs to be stitched up and

warnings: needles, but other than that, none!

this is a tickle fic! if you dont like that, run along! <3

[ sfw interaction ONLY !! ]

~~~~~

“does it.. hurt?” 

ragatha looked down as the jester asked the question, who was pointing at the open ‘wound’ in where ragatha’s abdomen would be. but instead of blood or guts pouring out, soft white stuffing poked out of the tear and trailed along the floor behind the two as they made their way down the hallway.

“well.. yes and no. it’s happened so many times that i sort of.. got used to it? i mean, the shock and initial pain never really stops, but..” ragatha trails off. she sighs. “b-but it’s fine. once i get myself all sewn up i can forget that it happened. it’s more of a ‘oh god not this again’ situation, i guess.”

pomni looks down as they continue to walk side by side. despite the gaping hole in ragatha’s middle, she still continued to saunter as elegantly as ever, pomni noticed, and it saddened her how often ragatha claims she gets injured this way. but then again, she’s glad it’s easy to fix her up. not everyone can just stick a needle and thread in them to patch up their wounds. well, not without proper medical care, anyway.

but i digress. the duo reached ragatha’s room, and as pomni looked behind her to see the uncomfortably long trail of stuffing down the halway, she cringed. “yikes.. uh, why don’t you go get yourself seated and i’ll gather up that.. stuff?”

ragatha shook her head. “don’t worry about it, i have extra in my room. we’ll just ask caine to clear it up later..”

“does he usually?” pomni questioned as she closed the door behind her. ragatha hummed in response. “yeah, he does it with pretty much any mess. or, well, bubble sometimes cleans it up. and seeing what’s essentially your insides get licked up by a floating bubble is..”

pomni cringed again. “right..”

“but that aside..” ragatha settled herself down on her bed, slouching a little from cotton loss. “the sewing kit is in that drawer over there. i think the stuffing is too? i don’t remember the last time i needed to fix myself up this badly..”

pomni hummed in acknowledgement and headed over, rummaging through said drawer. she was surprised at how much you could fit in there, but then again, this was a circus run by a crazy ai, so she probably shouldn’t be too perplexed. 

“is it this?” pomni held up a little light blue sewing box adorned with colourful stickers. ragatha nodded to her question. “yes, that’s the one!”

she brought the box over to ragatha, setting it down on the bed before going back to look for stuffing. while she did that, ragatha took out a needle and poked a piece of blue thread through the hole, taking her a few tries to get right. a lack of fingers can be a pretty big disadvantage sometimes.

“uhh.. how much of this stuff do you need?” pomni turned around. ragatha perked up, humming. “oh, uh.. i don’t really know. bring as much as you can carry? we can just put the rest back.”

“good idea..” pomni plunged her hands into the drawer full of cotton wool and scooped out a load of it in her arms. she waddled over to the bed and dropped it on the mattress, then held her hand out to be given the needle. “i’m not even sure if i know how to sew, but..”

“it’s alright. i appreciate the sentiment.” ragatha smiled sweetly, which made pomni avert her gaze in slight embarrassment. “y-yeah, ‘course..”

pomni looked down at the hole in ragatha’s middle, wincing a little, which made ragatha glance away. “sorry, it’s not a pretty sight, is it?”

pomni quickly shook her head, waving her hands around in a slight panic. “n-no! no, i-it’s fine.. i’ve just.. never really seen anything like this before. i mean, life sized and sentient, anyway.”

“ahah.. i get it.” ragatha responded, watching as pomni placed the needle on the mattress to gather up some of the fluffy white stuffing and holding it up to where the doll’s abdomen would be. “so.. do i just..?”

“oh! you might want to sew my back up first. yknow, so none of it falls out the other side.” ragatha shifted her position on the bed so that she faced away from the jester. her movement was slightly floppy, but she managed. “yeah.. good idea.” she agreed, using one of her hands to adjust the dolls position before picking up the sewing needle and poking it through the fabric to carefully begin sewing the gap shut.

“sorry, it probably feels really weird..” pomni muttered, sticking her tongue out as she worked. ragatha stifled a chuckle so as to not mess her up. “it’s alright, i just don’t usually get sewn up back there. besides the time i got impaled in the candy canyon kingdom, i don’t really need to fix myself up in that spot.”

“huh.” was all pomni said in response, cutting the thread once she was done. she stared at her work, uncertain. “does it feel alright?” she asked, tracing over the stitches with her fingertips. ragatha shuddered slightly at the contact. “y-yeah, it feels fine..!” she quickly addressed, turning around. pomni raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more as she gathered up some cotton in her hand. “alright, well, i should probably..”

“oh, right.” ragatha responds, narrowing her eye at the stuffing. “just.. put as much in as you can, i guess?” 

pomni hummed, unsure, but obeyed regardless. she gently let her fingers trace the rim of the tear, and carefully slipped some cotton in. with how cautious she was as to not hurt the doll, she never took into account that it might feel completely different.

realistically, neither did ragatha.

pomni took very little notice of the way ragatha’s expression shifted to one of nerves, smiling uncontrollably as she tried desperately not to laugh. the jester was so gentle, her touch light as a feather, but god, she’d be lying if she said it didn’t tickle like hell.

as she lifted a hand to cover her mouth, pomni looked up in slight worry. “a-am i hurting you..?” she asked, retracting her hands from the doll’s middle. ragatha shook her head. “no!- no, i-it’s fine, just.. continue.” she responded, avoiding eye contact. pomni didn’t seem to believe her, her eyebrows knitted together with uncertainty. “are you sure? am i not being gentle enough? you can tell me if i-”

“i said it’s fine, j-just keep going.” ragatha insisted. pomni looked back at the tear, then eyed the dolls nervous expression. the way her lips twitched and her face reddened.. that’s when it clicked.

she wasn’t sure if it would be too forward to ask, so she decided to experiment instead. she picked up a handful of the snow-white fluff and let it fall into the tear, but not without moving it around as a way to ‘position’ it. instead this time she carefully watched ragathas reaction, who in turn looked away as her shoulders shook, and pomnis eyes sparkled.

“ragatha?” she began, and she practically saw the colour drain from the doll’s face as she turned her attention to her. “y-yes, pomni?”

“sorry if this is intrusive but..” she rubbed the rim of the open ‘wound’ in ragatha’s middle, resulting in her breath hitching despite not actually needing to breathe. “are you ticklish?”

“uh-” ragatha couldn’t hold back the nervous grin. “well, i-i mean.. isn’t everyone..?”

the response made pomni raise an eyebrow, and ragatha let out a quiet chuckle. “s-so..”

pomni poked a finger into the opening, making ragatha squeak. the ragdoll immediately covered her mouth with her hands, and pomni couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“alright, alright.. i’ll get back to work. just.. try not to laugh too much, it’ll mess me up.” pomni spoke, picking up the soft white cotton again. ragatha nodded quickly as the jester then began carefully inserting the fluff back into where it belonged. and now that ragatha knew she didn’t need to hold it in that much, she let herself giggle at the unusual, tingly sensation in her middle, and pomni would be lying if she said the sound didn’t make her blush a little. 

the jester couldn’t help but play around a little, messily - but still cautious enough not to cause harm - stuffing the cotton into the opening as ragatha let out all kinds of squeaks and giggles. “p-pomnihihii! you’re dohoing that on puhuhurpose!!”

“i don’t know what you’re talking about.” pomni said with a little grin, messing around with the fluff a little more and drawing out a squeal from the other. “pohOMNI-!”

pomni giggled. “you know.. it’s kind of endearing.” she commented, retracting her hand. “yknow, that it tickles? i was worried it would be an uncomfortable experience, but.. it seems quite the opposite.” 

it was then ragatha realised she hadn’t protested in the slightest. “ahahah.. i guess so..” she looked away. “you don’t.. find it weird?”

“w.. why would i?” pomni looked up at ragatha. “i think it’s cute..”

“...oh.” ragatha blushed. “i-.. it is..?”

pomni stopped responding for a moment. “y-yeah, um.. i- i don’t know, i guess it’s the way it makes you smile and laugh that i really like, and, um..”

ragatha found herself chuckling. “aw, pomni.. that’s so sweet..!”

the jester was quiet for a moment. “you’re sweet.” she retaliated, and without warning, began ruffling around the white cotton fluff again and eliciting a yelp from ragatha, who nearly fell off the bed at how hard she jumped. “noHO WAIT-! POHOHOMNI!”

“whoops,” she smirked, using her other hand to keep her in place. “hold still! i need to readjust the stuffing!”

“no you doHOHON’T-!” ragatha squealed, kicking her legs against the side of the bed. “yes i do!” pomni retorted, continuing to mess with the cotton filling. for ragatha, when it came to tickling - or any contact like this for that matter - it never lasted any longer than a few seconds. this was a new experience for her, and it wasn’t unpleasant.

“while i am sure you’re both having fun—” the sudden voice made both girls jump, pomni pulling her hand away (with a bit of stuffing following along) and ragatha covering her mouth with her hands. “—i do have to ask you two to be quick! the adventure can’t wait!”

“ever heard of KNOCKING?” pomni hissed, completely disregarding caine’s sentence. but caine had already vanished away in a puff of smoke. the jester grumbled something under her breath, the obnoxious censor popping up over her mouth in the middle of it. ragatha giggled. “it’s okay, he’s sort of right.. we should probably get this done.”

“yeah yeah.. teethy f#$!er.” pomni muttered, earning another laugh from ragatha. “okay, hold still..” she said, before she continued to fill the opening with the fluffy white cotton as ragatha struggled not to squirm. pomni couldn’t help but smile. “sorry, sorry.” and ragatha could only shake her head, for if she spoke then the dam would break and the giggles wouldn’t stop flowing.

but finally, the job was done, and the two were finally able to attend the adventure. as pomni opened the door, ragatha spoke up, her voice almost a whisper. “um- yknow.. a-after the adventure..” she coughed, “we could.. um.. d-do this.. normally..? i-i mean, if you don’t want to that’s fine, i- just- um-”

pomni gazed at her with amusement, having figured out what the ragdoll meant. “yeah, i think that would be fun.” and ragatha nearly passed out at that answer. “r-right..! let’s- let’s go now.” 

“jeez, what took you guys so long?” was the anticipated question once the women had joined the rest. jax had his hand on his hip, his smile as smug as ever. “were you two—” but he was cut off as caine began to loudly explain the rules of todays adventure. 

pomni glared at the rabbit, but said nothing as ragatha lightly nudged her arm, and the jester sighed as she met her gaze with a typical tired smile. 

well, even if the adventure sounded just as ridiculous as every other event caine hosted, at least the two had a way to wind down after another wild day, huh?

[subwayfloorlicker1978]

gonna be completely honest and say that i'm not a fan of the ragapom interactions in episode 3. i think it's good that pomni is appreciative of ragatha and learns that from her experience with kinger, and even though i don't think the ending scene w those two COMPLETELY IGNORES ragatha's ongoing problem of treating pomni like a child, it certainly doesn't acknowledge it enough. which is. erm. worrying!

i think zooble's gender dysphoria b plot shouldn't have been in this episode either- that time would've been PERFECT for ragatha to talk about her problems with pomni to the other castmates and come to the conclusion that she's doing a few things wrong. zooble's problem is clearly too deep to have this little coverage in one episode and this format would also acknowledge both sides with ragapom's weird tension for the past few episodes. and it would definitely be a lot more effective too if ragatha was LITTLE more overbearing in episode 2 as well.

however that's if you want to resolve their dynamic within 3 episodes. which honestly i don't like the idea of, bc ragatha's treatment of pomni is connected to her desire to be the mom friend/depended on (and continuous failure to do so), and said desire ALSO causes multiple other problems for her too (cough toxic positivity and also her interactions with jax but thats a conversation for later).

which is why i don't like the "every character gets a dedicated episode" format, and it doesn't work for the majority of the cast. it DOES work for kinger because his spotlight in episode 3 was mostly supposed to be a deepdive into his past, he's clearly not meant to be a character with an arc... and also he's literally just going to forget everything anyway. ragatha is clearly a lot more complex and her complexity/progression of character literally depends on how she interacts with others. like sorry but it would be infinitely more interesting for the show to convey it in a more longterm way and unfortunately i think it might go in the opposite direction.