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#but i still want to write so I'll be on Pomni and Jax for the meanwhile if anyone would still like to write ♥️
xluciifer · 2 months
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impishjesters · 11 months
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Pomni, Kinger, Caine & Jax's reaction to their s/o abstracting
warning(s): angst, hurt no comfort, self-blame, "death" of the reader, implied "death"/abstraction of another character (spoiler: Kinger), hopeful outcome note(s): There's nothing incredibly heavy or detailed, just tread carefully if "death" is something you are sensitive to, please. The "hopeful outcome" implies that Caine will at some point in time be able to fix those who've abstracted. A/N: I was feeling particularly cruel and wanted to write some angst, this came to mind and I'll be honest. I made myself a little sad.
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Pomni
She never saw it coming, of course, you were acting different lately but she didn’t think it would… lead to you abstracting…
It took forever for things to get some semblance of normalcy, and you being with her was a major part of it.
Sure the relationship in a place like this was a bit, weird, but you cared about her, and she cared about you.
You kept her sane and grounded, so when you were found abstracted? It felt like she failed you.
Ragatha tries to assure her that you aren’t completely gone. Like Kaufmo you’re being kept in the cellar. Caine claims the abstracted are being kept there until he can find a way to “fix” them. (Whether he’s genuine or not though, none of them know.)
It’s all empty promises though, she still feels like she failed you.
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Kinger
Not again…
Kinger silently promised himself not again, he was fine being friendly with everyone else that fell into the circus, but he had no intentions of being more than that.
But then you happened, and while he was still in shambles from the time and the insanity spent here, you were there beside him. Like a knight in shining armor.
He hadn’t been around when you abstracted, in fact, he didn’t know you abstracted until there was yelling, and boom an abstraction was causing chaos.
Kinger didn’t know who it was until it was sent off to the cellar, actually, he didn’t know who it was until he realized everyone was present except you.
There’s a high probability that losing someone again, losing you, is what ends up being his own downfall. The other’s (not including Jax) try their all to get him to calm down but it’s not enough, it’s too late…
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Caine
Of all the humans to be pulled in he never once got attached.
This was never supposed to happen, he’s incapable of love.
Caine does his best to keep the humans from abstracting, and as many eyes as he has over the place, there are always ones that slip through his grasp.
Of course, he’s not around when you abstract, it takes a bunch of hooting and hollering from everyone before he shows up and oh hey an abstraction.
At an immediate glance, he knows it’s you, abstractions never remotely look like the person they were before but he knows it’s you. You don’t recognize him as you lash out, of course you don’t, you can’t.
He’s unsure about tossing you with the others in the cellar, there’s nowhere else he can truthfully keep you without causing problems. So into the cellar, you go.
Caine visits you though, not for long but he does check in on you. Not that anything changes, but out of all the abstractions down there, he knows exactly which one is you.
You’ll be the first human he fixes as soon as he’s able to.
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Jax
His s/o abstracted? Nice joke, though it’s in poor taste. You’re completely fine, he just saw you earlier.
Jax doesn’t believe it until he sees it, and seeing it absolutely ruins him. He’s seen countless others get abstracted and thrown into the cellar, but why, why does it have to be you?
Why couldn’t it have been literally anyone else? He didn’t give a shit about anyone else, the one person he cared for, and you…
Similarly to Pomni, he feels it’s his fault like he could’ve, no should’ve done more. Was he so wrapped up in everything else that he didn’t notice the signs? Why didn’t you talk to him? You didn’t, didn’t do that on purpose, did you?
For the first time ever, the others are genuinely worried about Jax, they all saw/know how much you meant to him. The two of you even spoke fondly about what the two of you would do if you got out of the circus.
For a while Jax becomes even more irrational and unhinged, they try not to hold it against him too badly, even when he oversteps. He’s grieving and none of them know just how long that’ll go on.
Jax isn’t quite the same afterward, but he makes sure that nobody else tries to worm their way into his heart.
If it’s possible, he’ll make sure Caine fixes you the second he’s able to. Even if Caine can fix only one person, it’s going to be you.
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cjonesjr · 1 year
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・﹒・﹒・ why are ya avoiding me? [1]
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Summary: You avoided him at all costs because frankly, he was an asshole, doesn't mean he avoided you though. He constantly flirts with you but you just take it as him trying to anger you. It works, but you start to feel like he's being serious, and you have butterflies in your stomach just thinking about him. However, he finally confronts you one day, and you don't know what to do.
Warnings: 15+, suggestive remarks, pet names
Pairing: Jax x GN!reader
Series: Part 2
Notes: I'm not proud of this writing at all, but I'll keep it as it is for you guys!
It was a normal day at the digital circus, as normal as one day can be in this wacky place. The adventure-of-the-day just finished up and you purposely made it so you weren't close to Jax at all, but he kept slithering into your personal space like you haven't set clear boundaries. You hate him, simple as that, regardless of how many times Ragetha claims that you must have a crush on him. The audacity. Jax is a bitch, asshole, shithead, he was terrible to everyone, who could like someone like that?
Well, despite making your status clear on the relationship between you to, he didn't get the memo- no, no, he just didn't care. At every single chance he got, that bitchass rabbit would flirt with you. It frustrated you to no ends because he obviously was just doing it to get a rise out of you and it was working. Every time you got upset, he would smirk and call you "cute", it set you off even more. Even though his body (and everyone else's including your's) was just a fake, digital avatar, you still found him somewhat attractive.
I mean who could deny that he was cute? His voice didn't do him any favors either, but it didn't get rid of the fact that he was a bitch. Every time you blushed at his flirting (which was shamefully more than what you would have liked), he would get closer and tease you about it. Pomni made it abundantly clear that you two acted like a married couple, which is so far from the truth.
So why did it feel different this time? Zooble was talking to you about how they never liked going on Caine's "adventures" because they were stupid, which is fair considering he only did it just to keep us from going insane from boredom and abstracting, they always felt like something that would be in a game for little kids. You tried to pay attention to her, truly you did, but your gaze kept moving over to Jax as he was conversing with Pomni about something you couldn't hear. You shouldn't be staring at him so much, why were you?
"You gonna tell him?" Her question caught you off guard. Tell who what? You knew exactly what she was talking about, however you chose to play dumb even though it won't work.
"Uh what do you mean?" You ask, head turning to her, feigning innocence as she sighed and rubbed her nonexistent temple, grumbling.
"Don't be dumb Galka, you like him even though you say you hate him. Everyone knows, I mean you look at him like you love him" Love him? As if! Far from it, you hate him.
"But I uh...I don't! He really gets my nerves Zooble! He wants to piss me off because its fun! That's why he flirts so muuuuch!" You whine as you look over to the one in question, but this time he stared back at you. Eyes widening, you quickly turn back to Zooble, however, its too late as he's already saunter over here like he owns the place with his shit eating grin loud and clear on his stupid face.
"Well hello there Galka, looking adorable as always" Immediately, you felt your face warm he flirts with you yet again, refusing to look back at him.
"Leave me alone @@#@$, what part of "don't come near me" is hard to understand?"
"Oh I understand fully. I just wanna know oooone thing" His voice pissed you off, especially when he spoke in that tone, one that reeked of smugness. Yet, butterflies erupted in your stomach as he spoke, his presence made you flustered, why? Out of annoyance most likely, only reason.
"Why are ya avoiding me, Cutie?" There it is, the elephant in the room that you refused to address and that stupidly cliche nickname that you loved from him out of his dumbass mouth.
"I'm not avoiding you, I'm just...coincidentally not around when you are" Shamefully looking down at the floor so he didn't see your face, you knew it was a weak excuse but it was better than accepting fate and saying nothing. That didn't deter him in any way as his feet popped into your field of vision. Shit, he is right in front of you. His arm came into view as his hand sat under your chin, soon lifting it up to meet his gaze, smirk ever present.
"Yeah, sure, likely story. Wanna explain why you look like you're having very dirty thoughts right now? Are they about me?" His statement made you scoff and step back, waving your hands to separate from him. The AUDACITY, again why was everyone claiming you liked him? How could you want to be with this person when he said shit like that?
"Oh please! In your dreams #%#@$head" Turning around, you started to make your way to your room, it was a bit of a walk but you didn't mind it. Plans sometimes were never made to be followed through as Jax appeared yet again in front of you.
"C'mon let me walk you to ya room at least" How did he know you were heading there? God he never fails to ask to be punched in the grion.
"I don't think anything here is going to put me in any danger #%@$ Bunny, leave me alone" You spoke firmly, not wanting any slips to happen, voice strong as you walked with a purpose, pushing past him to the one place that Jax isn't present. Well...physically at least. Ok maybe you did have a feeeeww pictures of the rabbit in there, but it was to remind you how much you hate him, yeah that's it. Nobody else knew because you never let anyone enter and since nobody else had a key, it worked out.
"Oh are you sure sweet thing? Don't worry your secret is safe with me of-" He holds your shoulder to stop you before leaning in close your head "all those pictures you have of me"
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jester089 · 11 months
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Hey, hey! Listen, I had an idea.
have a theory in my head that all the characters are alive in the real life, which means they have a chance to get out. so, what would happen if the reader, for example, died in the real life (for example, put on a headset and... I don't know, shot themself..?Like, their body died, but their consciousness managed to end up in the circus), which means that they couldn't refuse the digital circus, because they simply don't have a physical body in the real world.
how would characters react(everyone decided to run away, but I would like to see the reaction of kinger , jax and pomni) if they managed to find a way out (exit), and when they were about to leave, their s/o said that they can't leave it and they have to stay here forever... like, just stay alone in an unknown place forever. but the reader says that everything is fine, and they will love and remember them all all the time? I just want it look little angst yk🫢 ( I prefer romantic)
I can't speak English good, so sorry for translating Ad I done this with translations
Thank you!!
Left behind
I was going to go to bed but then I saw this request. And I just can't keep my lovely readers waiting. Thank you for the request! And don't worry about your English it was perfectly legible. Plus my friend on discord have made me good at deciphering the most unreadable of things. So while reading your request I had some personal ideas/additions. So I'll, write what you wanted with a little of my ideas. You requested from me so I'm going to put my spin on it.
Kinger
You had grown close with Kinger bonding over both being borderline insane, but not abstracted. When a way out was found he didn't want to leave you behind. NO, he wouldn't leave you behind. You had to force him out of the digital realm so that he could live his life. And it hurt, being trapped in this hollow and ghostly version of the place you knew so well. But at least he could move on with his life. Even if it's without you. When the way out was found Caine disappeared for some unknown reason. So you are well and truly alone. No way of escaping, or dying. The only real way to get away from it all is to lose your mind to the point where you basically aren't human anymore. Kinger missed you back in the real world. He tried to move on but it was hard, knowing that your still trapped in that circus. So he went back to put the headset on again. If their's a set way out now he could visit you! But it didn't work. The pc, the vr goggles, the headset. They were gone... You were gone. So no one's coming to help you.
Jax
When the exit was found he tried so hard to just force you through it. (Like that scene from wreck it ralph where he tries to get Penelope out.) But as to be expected it didn't work. He was so stressed, his mind going over so many different outcomes. "If I leave will they still be here?", "I can't just leave them. After all we've been through. Fuck that. HOLY SHIT! I CAN CURSE AGAIN!!." Surprisingly he stayed with you. He stayed for around a month. But the ghost town of a circus clearly started to get to you two. And after that amount of time he started to care less and less. So he left you a note, then left. Didn't even say it to your face. And back in the real world he'll think about you every now and again. But he made it out of that hell. It's not his fault you didn't.
Pomni
Their is a 100% chance she's going to have a breakdown. She stayed determined to find an exit the entire time she was there. And you supported her every step of the way! And she did it! SHE FOUND AN EXIT! And exit... you can't use... She would freak out and be torn between leaving and staying. She gives you one more hug and kiss and promises she'll be back for you. She'll find a way to get you out from the outside! You hold out hope knowing your lovely is going to get you out of this place. You start writing down the days you've lived in a diary till your S/O gets you out. First 6 months are boring but you hold out hope. You know she'll get you out. You trust her. It's been a year. Maybe time works differently in the digital circus and the real world. Two Years now. Still not gonna give up on her cause she isn't going to give up on me!
ˢʰᵉ'ˢ ⁿᵒᵗ ᶜᵒᵐⁱⁿᵍ ᵇᵃᶜᵏ
ᴵˢ ˢʰᵉ
(Sorry this is so short. I couldn't come up with much and I'm really tired. But I feel like I made at least some 5/10 angst. Hope you enjoyed it!)
xoxo, Jester
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estro-gem · 11 months
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Jax x Ragatha: The snake and the water spring
The Amazing Digital Circus AU: Oasis.
Author's note: I found this show by chance and I took a great liking to it! So now I did a thing, instead of studying for upcoming exams, because I love making things difficult for myself, apparently.
I have no idea what the fandom is like, but I'm playing it safe just to be... well... safe. I just loved the concept of this show so much that I couldn't help but be inspired by it! It got me thinking and I let it all out in this... thing.
I want to write more one-shot fics about the other characters and how they fit into this au too, but I don't know when I'll be able to.
WARNING! None of these characters are mine and everything mentioned and described is purely made-up fiction; inspired by works that are not my own. Nothing should be considered canon or taken seriously - we are all here to have some harmless fun! No age restrictions. I think this might be appropriate for all ages...?
Please show some love and support for Gooseworx; the creator of The Amazing Digital Circus!
I definitely butchered Gooseworx's characters by adding unnecessary 'relationship dynamics' and deviating from their original personalities. I promise that the actual show and characters are so much better than they are in my false portrayal of them.
SUMMARY:
A fanmade take on the events following Pomni's arrival and after the crew had dinner together. This is focused on Jax's point of view, but still written in the third person.
Jax confronts Ragatha after the pilot episode's 'dinner' and does his best to comfort her in a way that works for them. That's it.
Please enjoy!
THE SNAKE AND THE WATER SPRING
Jax was a desert snake.
Nothing but a cold-blooded pest that lived to find his next meal.
When one is left to die under the scorching sun, you can’t stomp on the sun for creating a desert, but you could stomp on the desert snake if it added to the pain of surviving in said desert. The Digital Realm was nothing but a desert sun – a cage with no exit and an evil with no target.
It was no secret why so many had lost their minds here.
Jax took on the role of being the snake. It was never announced or planned, but it was deemed necessary by all who came to know the realm. The inhabitants of The Amazing Digital Circus craved any sense of control; something they could hold accountable for their torment – something they could punish. A menace, parasite.
Evil with a target: Jax.
It was fun to act out while everybody went about their lives. He could unapologetically be the worst being known to man and thrive on the rage and hatred of all he had affected. If they hated him, he was fulfilling his role perfectly… and that meant they could stay sane and do their parts as he did his. Less people would be lost to insanity… and the group would grow stronger.
Everyone had a role in their system – an oasis was established, with Ragatha as the heart of the oasis; their very own water spring.
But when a new invading creature bursts into the oasis with no knowledge of this system, their system would be doomed. Pomni happened to be that invader. Everyone could collectively, yet silently agree that she was acting by her own careless devices since she arrived a few hours ago. She greedily soaked up their water source and left it barren, dry, and suffering.
Granted, Pomni didn’t know how their oasis worked, but it didn’t change the fact that she disrupted everything by showing up. She would have to catch on quickly and prove herself useful, before anyone else loses their minds.
They lost one of their own already… and they almost lost their beloved Ragatha; Jax’s equal and opposite.
Their precious water source.
Snakes offered venom, while water springs offered hope of life. They all desperately needed Ragatha to survive. While most would assume her to be fine after being fixed by Caine, Jax knew better than that. He saw her reluctantly stand aside Pomni to support her – beautifully acting within her role as she always would, but it was clear that Pomni still didn’t understand how scarce the water was by then. Rags was spread thin enough by handling the extra stress and enduring the continuous pain of being corrupted by the abstraction, but that didn’t stop Pomni from practically having a mental breakdown at the dinner table.
Jax saw that coming from a mile away. Thank goodness he silently took the open seat next to Pomni, silent in his insistence that the ragdoll should keep her distance for the time being. He’d give anything to destroy the little jester for abusing his doll. Ragatha was acting perfectly normal at the time – her masked smile perfectly set on her face – until it was time for them all to retire to their respective bedrooms.
Jax wished that he would’ve just dragged her after him when he booked it from the abstraction earlier today. Pomni would have been the perfect distraction for them to escape and get Caine.
He stood at Ragatha’s door after dinner.
Jax made a point to ring the doorbell this time. Usually, he’d just pluck out a key and saunter in like he owns the place, but with what happened today, he’d make an exception. Everyone has their limit – and someone has already reached their limit today. They couldn’t risk losing another one. Especially not Raggs. They all really needed her.
When she didn’t open, he tried the bell again. Nothing.
Well, time for the key, then.
He shoved his hand down his front pocket and fished out the doll’s room key. The bunny didn’t waste time opening the door. He wanted to see what state the girl was in, despite dreading the possibility of finding an abstracted amalgamation on the other side.
Silence.
Not even a creak was heard from the hallway. The room was lit up as it usually was, so that was a good sign, at least. Jax couldn’t see an obvious black body of eyes – another win. But where was Ragatha? He did see her walk into her room, so she had to be here.
He walked around, keeping his cool, casual composure fixed, despite no one being around. It was effortless at this point. It became a way for him to focus on what he could control in this crazy digital prison; himself.
He couldn’t, however, control his ability to spot a blasted ragdoll, it would seem. He scanned the room again, until his eyes fell on her ¾ bed. Could she-?
The bunny rolled his eyes at himself as he lowered himself onto his knees – maybe he could convince himself that he was not phased by the situation. Bending down, he peered beneath the bed frame.
Jax sighed in exasperation. Or was it relief? Both?
Ragatha was in the state she was in before retiring to her room. No gliching, no extra eyes.
Just Raggs.
She didn’t look good, though. The doll was curled up beneath her bed and blindly staring ahead of her. It didn’t look like she was breathing – not that they needed to anyway, but it was uncanny to see Rags like this. She was their voice of reason. She was a water spring in this desert.
If she dried up, their desert would be doomed.
Jax silently stood up and walked back to the open door again. No need to make a fuss over this. He took hold of the door handle and shut it from the inside. Key in hand, he locked the door and nodded to himself. Ragatha needed a raincloud… and he’d have to fill that role now. It’s the least he could do after leaving her to fend for herself when they found the abstraction today.
Why didn’t she run with him? Why did think she could fix someone whose mind was broken beyond repair? Why didn’t she just leave the rookie as bait?
Because that just wasn’t her role, was it?
If it weren’t for her nature – her role – none of them would have made it this far. It dawned on Jax, once again, how close they were to losing their beloved doll. How close they were to being stuck with an invader who knew nothing about what it took to survive in this hell hole.
Enough.
Back to the bed, crouched down and silent Jax positioned himself to lay down and simply look over the red head from a relative distance. There was enough space for the doll to crawl out of hiding without having to touch him. The bunny still hadn’t said a word. It’d be stupid to talk, and he didn’t feel like making the effort. He just wanted things back to normal again – well… as normal as it could have been.
Now Kaufmo is gone, a new creature was invading their home, tearing it up from the roots and tipping the delicate scales of the balance they worked very hard on creating. All because of a lunatic ringmaster having the bright idea of creating a fake exit-door. Someone better get that jester on a tight leash to get her to fall in line, like the rest of them were forced to.
He knew he, for one, wouldn’t mind roughing her up a bit. It was his specialty – his role. The parasite. The menace. The instigator.
Evil with an actual target.
The sound of shifting and movement had Jax blink out of his own head. Ragatha was slowly and dumbly making her way out from under her bed. Her eyes were still fogged over and her face still eerily blank, but at least she came out of hiding out of her own will. In a matter of seconds, the doll was out from her hiding place and settled on the floor beside Jax. She was staring him in the eyes now, waiting for the bunny, silently pleading.
Jax hadn’t had his aloof-douchebag persona engaged since he locked Ragatha’s door. She didn’t need a menace now – she needed to be grounded; revitalized. She needed a dark raincloud to fill up the water spring they all needed.
He didn’t look forward to what needed to be done, but he wouldn’t allow anyone else to do it.
He moved to stand up and held out a hand to help her up. He took note of the way her hand was shaking when she took his and gently guided her to the bed. The red head was the first to sit, then moved to lay down on her back and numbly stare at the ceiling. With a deep breath, Jax gathered himself mentally and cautiously crept onto the bed and positioned himself to briefly hover over her, before lowering his full weight onto Ragatha.
He had his head in the crook of her neck, on the left shoulder with his ears folding back to floppily droop to his upper back… with his left hand resting on the opposite shoulder. His body, although slim, enveloped hers and caused her to sink slightly into the mattress. His legs just loosely laid over and aside the ragdoll’s. It was more important to have his weight resting on her torso anyway.
For a long moment, they just motionlessly laid on the bed like this. To an outsider, it would look like they fell asleep atop each other or simply cuddled together very closely.
An outsider wouldn’t see that Jax was focused on the slow process of Ragatha’s body relaxing under his weight and her breathing slowing to a regular rhythm. An outsider wouldn’t have known that this was hardly the first time they’d done this – how long it took Jax to learn that this make-shift deep-pressure therapy was the most effective grounding technique for Ragatha to collect herself again.
They wouldn’t understand that Jax didn’t do this out of wanting to, but rather out of necessity.
Jax didn’t like to be touched. If anything, he was very capable of merely tolerating it. Everyone in the circus knew that he was touch-averse; some even used that as leverage to mess with him if the situation called for it. It was a necessity that he endured to keep his doll sane – to keep anyone of importance here in the circus, sane. Their whole lives revolved around mental strength. It was all just a matter of staying sane.
The laid there for what felt like a lifetime.
Slight shifting beside Jax alerted him that the doll was moving her arms – previously stiffly pinned to her sides. This was good, she felt comfortable enough to move around now!
Her left hand gently snaked up to the bunny’s head and slowly, softly petted his ears in a longitude motion. Her right hand wrapped loosely around his middle-to-lower back – motionless. This was bad, Jax did not like being touched like that!
While he was fine with the rhythmic touches of Ragatha’s left hand, he despised the idle position of the right hand resting on his back. He couldn’t prevent himself from tensing up in discomfort.
Bad touch, bad touch, bad-
This caused the ragdoll to tense up and rip her hands off him as if he burned her.
Oh no you don’t! We are not starting all over again.
He slowly pulls away and propped up unto his elbows, hearing Ragatha’s breathing pick up as she presumably spirals into her own thoughts on how he was going to leave her like this. Jax cast down a disapproving look. He broke his gaze to unceremoniously take her right hand – now clutched close to her chest – and intertwined their fingers, before resting his head on her left shoulder once again. He close eyes as he use his free hand to put her left hand on his head again, waiting for her to resume her petting.
Good touch; this was a good touch. Please understand.
Thankfully, Ragatha relaxed… and continued her previous slow, rhythmic motions. Slowly, Jax felt her relax once again and he indulged into her need for touch by stroking his thumb over hers occasionally.
Soon they fell into a rhythm; Ragatha would pet Jax’s ears 3 times, then it was his turn to stroke his thumb over hers. Then they would repeat the routine. This also helped Jax cope with the touching; the routine. The rhythm.
It felt like hours ticked by as the two just practiced their little unspoken routine. Jax grew used to it after a while, almost forgetting that his new mattress was now a sentient ragdoll and completely tuned into their rhythm of touches.
Pet… pet… pet… thumb. Pet… pet… pet… thumb.
Jax didn’t like touch, but he loved routine.
The doll and the bunny’s time together, once nothing but grounding techniques, grew to become an intimate exchange of touches and caresses – all wrapped in a routine, like a dance. Jax felt warm and fuzzy inside; for once he basked in the moment of enjoying his dolly. He lazily wondered if Ragatha felt the same. He shifted his head to look at her.
The doll looked down to meet his eyes when she felt him move. He could swear that she looked at peace, basking in the bliss of their closeness. For some reason, she looked like an angel. They all saw her as their angel. Had he successfully pinned a heavenly body beneath him?
Her gentle, longing gaze made a kaleidoscope of butterflies erupt from his core.
This wasn’t the first time this feeling invaded his being when they did this – as rare as these moments were. He wasn’t sure when he started experiencing such feelings during these rare encounters, but as months crawled by, he felt drawn to his dolly more and more. Based on how she looked at him, he could only assume that she felt it too.
Something so foreign, yet so familiar.
He didn’t fail to spot the warmth rushing to her cheeks when their eyes met. She looked so ethereal beneath him, especially when her breathing picked up under his firm gaze. Her lips were parted, and her eyes were lidded. This time, it wasn’t fear or overstimulation. It was anticipation. It was desire.
Jax internally flinched at the tingly sensation when he smoothly burrowed his face into Ragatha’s neck. She shivered at the breath he let out against her skin. He could tolerate the touching a little longer, as long as he could see her crumble again. He wanted to see her walls crumble again.
“Jax- ”
Oh… he had to hear her again. More clearly, next time. This was torture, but she made him into her own personal masochist. His skin crawled at the sensation of her skin shivering against him, but he needed more. He could take it. Just a little longer – he just had to stand these sensations a little longer. He looked at her again.
Ragatha was reverting to a helpless puddle. The doll’s arms were gripping at the covers beneath her, successfully eliminating the bother of excessive contact that he despised. Jax didn’t know if she did it with that intension or without thinking, but either way, he was thankful. He really wanted more.
Why couldn’t he just be normal?
He lifted onto his elbows again and – dare one say – lovingly looked at her face. She could only peek back at him, breathing slightly faster than usual. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shaky hand rise from the covers and hover next to his cheek, while her eyes pleaded for his mercy. He hesitated but bit the bullet to comply; leaning into her touch while desperately trying to ignore the odd tingles. Jax convinced himself to kiss her wrist and drowned himself in the pleasure of hearing her softly call his name.
He only heard it because he was listening so closely for it.
Yes.
DING DONG
In a flash, Jax braced himself up into a crouch and slammed his foot down with a mighty THUMP upon hearing Ragatha startle into a fit when the doorbell chimed. His hair on his back stood on end and his claws ripped through his gloves, leaving gouges in the covers beside the doll’s head.
His precious doll was disturbed again!
He heard her soft cry of fear and his blood boiled with a thirst for vengeance. Only he can make her cry out. He’ll skin the soul that dared to-
“Ragatha…? Can we talk?”
That DAMN jester!
“Jax?” a quiet voice trembled in his ear from beneath him. Jax stopped glaring at the door to softly glance down and see what his little doll wanted.
“Don’t…” Raggs sounded like she was begging while being held at gunpoint, whispering despite their rooms being enchanted to not hear anything from the outside when the door is shut.
Jax wouldn’t dare let that thing inside. Raggs was upset enough as it is.
“Look, I know it probably wouldn’t make a difference…” Pomni’s voice came from the other side door again, “…but I’m so sorry for running off… Again… I saw that exit and I had to see if it was real. No one else believed me and I started to think that I was losing my mind. You understand that, right?”
Jax placed both his hands down on the mattress, blocking the doll’s view of the door as if it could block the sound of the voice from reaching the Raggs’s ears, still hovering over her. He knew that his dolly didn’t want to hear anything the harlequin had to say now – he had half the mind to get up and bash the newbie’s head in.
“I hope we can talk about this some time. You are probably tired after such a long, crazy day.” Pomni’s voice died down near the end, “It feels like you’re the only good person here.”
She really is, but she’s too good for you. Selfish leech.
Jax looks down to the girl, still stiff as a board beneath him. Her eye was shiny with the swell of tears. He melted at the sight – anger simmering down. She was just a sweet little rag dolly, she didn’t deserve any of this, but oh, he was so happy to see Ragatha finally emote something again. She was OK again. Their water source was filled once again, now threatening to spill over. He’d happily welcome the flood.
He needed her.
The sound of fading footsteps causes Jax to rip his eyes to the direction of the door. His hearing was better than the dolls, probably thanks to being a rabbit.
Good riddance.
Ragatha seemed to relax at the sight of Jax deflating his stance, reading that Pomni probably left her door. She hesitantly reached up to cup Jax’s cheek. Jax followed her hand’s motion and scoffed, cringing at the invasion. He’s had enough touching for a week. It sucked to leave his doll so soon after being distressed again, but he couldn’t bring himself stand any more of this. He quickly got up and smoothed out his clothes, but not without missing the flash of hurt in the doll’s eyes. He felt bad, but he had to be strong with the new girl around, so straining himself now would only make matters worse and mess up the whole system.
Still, seemingly bored, Jax stood in his spot while rocking on his heels and looking off to the side, only sparing her a glance. Raggs sat up by then. She looked a little worse for wear, but it’s an improvement from hiding under her bed. She rested her elbows on her knees with her chin in her hands. The hurt in her eyes was long gone, but she looked tired. Poor thing, Jax shared the sentiment.
He felt her eye bore into the side of his face and the bunny couldn’t stop himself before he rolled his eyes and looked to her again. He could’ve choked on air when he saw her face, but the years of steeling his demeanor left no trace of his inner turmoil.
Raggs sported that longing look in her eyes again.
They were so close this time – closer than they’ve ever been before. Each time they spent together on nights like this, although few and far between, they grew closer… and hungrier. Neither understood what it was, but they never had the chance to just collapse into it, tonight being the closest to that.
But there was always something, right?
Jax allowed gaze to soften. His doll offered a small smile that almost ripped his heart out if his chest. It was drenched with melancholy of something she knew they could never have.
Because their roles in their little ecosystem didn’t allow for it to ever be theirs. It would never work.
This was survival.
The rabbit steeled his demeanor once again, but this time, his doll’s face didn’t fall.
Good, as it should be.
Jax walked to the door and fished out the key from his front pocket. He didn’t bother looking back. If he did, he wouldn’t have the will to leave anymore. When he opened the door, though, he couldn’t help but mumble out teasingly.
“See yah later, Doll~!”
He wished that he could shout his affections for her out into the void instead.
“I’m not your doll.” Ragatha responded, voice still wobbly and tired, but perky regardless. She knew just how to indulge him.
Yes, she is… she always will be.
Fanart: Evil with a target
Oasis: TADC AU list
Masterlist
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the-s1lly-corner · 9 months
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Waking them up w/ a morning kiss! (TADC edition)
slowly but surely i am approaching the end of my tycoon... and yet despite the exhaustion creeping and making a home in my bones, i do not feel the desire to go to bed. perhaps its self destruction or carelessness, i'll be damned that this is the most productive ive been writing wise in a hot minute anyways requests are open
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CAINE:
well this is assuming he sleeps... which personally, while i think the others CAN sleep (although they dont need to), i dont think.. caine can.. i think when he falls asleep its akin to how computers to. but one little tap is enough to snap him right back... so you may get startled when he snaps his jaws open the second your lips make contact with his teeth... but dont be alarmed...! hes not upset.. actually i think if anything he might be a little shocked at the gesture... oh he should have done it to you, damn it! definitely going to try to one up you that day, no one gets the jump on # 1 reader simp, Caine!!! 8/10 hes still very giddy and happy about it and hes in a good mood for the entire day
POMNI:
i think she might be a little too groggy to realize youve kissed her, but will flutter her eyes open if you give her another kiss. gets really red in the face before pushing herself deeper under the covers... i think shes generally like that with random gestures of affection and love, so please dont take this as her not enjoying the act! i promise she does like it, its just between this being standard reaction for her and just waking up shes a little... more bashful than she normally would be.. i think she would try to do the same to you the following day.. or maybe do a surprise gesture for you in return to even out the score! 7/10 very cute
RAGATHA:
as time passes i find myself making ragatha more and more of a sap, and honestly i dont hate the direction im going in. i think if you woke her up with a kiss, she would be smiling throughout the day and like caine, be in a more upbeat mood! its such a small thing to wake up to, but it means the world to her, you know? know these are starting to sound samesy with the 'returning the favor' thing but i think ragatha would at least double what you did for her.. you better incorporate the morning kisses into your routine because small stuff like that goes a long way for ragatha! 8/10
JAX:
i think he might just look at you before flipping over to face the other way and try to go back to sleep. its not totally to be mean to you and him being 'eeeewww affection' but mostly because hes not really.... a morning person. he never will be. kiss him all you want, hes not going to wake up... if he doesnt turn over, hes probably going to tug you to his chest and hold you still. probably grumbles at you to stop because he wants to sleep in that morning... but hey, look at it this way, you got some cuddling now! so hey at least theres some side of trade 5/10
KINGER:
i think he might nuzzle into your cheek and try to give you a 'kiss' back when he realizes what youre doing. pulls you to his chest, but he has full intent (unlike jax who mostly just wanted to keep you put and to make you stop moving around)... he may not have arms, but hes going to try his damndest to use his hands to keep you close... tries to push off the beginning of the day for a while longer... despite kinger actually being a morning person. leads to the two of you having a mumbled conversation about your dreams... very nice very sweet 8/10
ZOOBLE:
oh zooble is very much NOT a morning person, but i dont think they would be as mean as jax... they might mumble and tell you to hold back, but once theyre fully awake theyre going to set down some boundaries and apologize if they had upset you. they just dont like being woken up, no matter how sweetly... unless theres an emergency, they dont want to be woken up... though even then they might still be a little irritated... i think in this case swapping out morning kisses for something else that works better for both of you is the best course of action here 6/10
GANGLE:
i think she would lean right into it... maybe she wraps herself around you, if she hadnt already done that in her sleep... her mask is a little cold, so it might shock you a little and wake you up a lot more than you were expecting... oh i think gangle would feel bad about that... she didnt mean to make you uncomfortable (even though ultimately, youre not)...i think throughout the day she might be more happy and bubbly, perhaps even putting herself out more than she normally would. definitely a confidence boost for her! she even doesnt seem as sad or upset when her comedy mask breaks... i mean shes still... upset.. but not as much as she normally would be 7/10 very cute
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clemblog · 5 months
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Caine’s Lesson - Part 8
A few days had passed, Gummigoo having spent said days slowly chipping away at a pistol for Poms! It was sleek and a lot smaller than what he was used to, perfectly weighted to the sizing of Poms hands! He grinned as he gave it a final check over.
"Nice one Gummi, another perfect piece, just like Pa taught you!" He hummed happily to himself, leaning to pick up a paint brush from his tool kit to write Poms name on it. That way anyone would know from a first glance that it was hers.
He took a few moments to careful write 'Pommy' in curly writing to go along with the rest of the style of the weapon.
Now, all he had to do was go pester his Ma and see if she had any spare holsters lying around!
"Maaaaaa?"
"Yes Gummigoo?"
"Ya got any old holsters lying around?"
"I'm not sure, we might! If you come stir this pot of soup for me, I can take a look!"
Gummigoo hummed at this, walking into the kitchen. He handed over the pistol to his Ma as he took the ladle from her.
"Ooh! What a beauty, my boy." She cooed, softly as she looked it over. "I'm sure we have a perfect holster for your friend Poms."
"Thanks Ma." Chuckled Gummigoo, stirring the soup his Ma was working on. If he had to guess it was most likely a gummy fish based stew.
A few moments later Ma walked back into the room, holding a ruby red leather holster in her hand.
"Oh! Ma, are you sure?" Spoke Gummigoo, eyes widening slightly.
"You know I don't shoot anymore Gum, besides I trust Poms. She seems like a fine young lady." Nodded Ma, gently placing the holstered pistol in his hands. "Now shoo! Out my kitchen, I got meals to cook."
Pomni was just relaxing in the barn, it was hot day today, so she didn't exactly feel like being out in the sun. She looked up when Gummigoo entered the barn, hands behind his back.
"O-Oh! Hey Gummigoo, what's that?"
"It's a surprise, for you Pommy~" He grinned. "Made it myself."
Pomni's eyes widened slightly as she looked over the item, taking it slowly from his hands.
"W-Wow- Gummigoo- I don't know what to say-" She eeked, slowly.
"How about whether or not you'll be joining me and the lads on our trip tomorrow~?"
"O-Oh absolutely!"
"Snazzy, I'll get Max and Chad to get you a ride before tomorrow-"
"Wait- Gummigoo, do you mean a horse-"
"So, Ragatha, you feeling any better?" Hummed Zooble, curiously.
"A little!" Smiled Ragatha, sheepishly. "I'm not really thinking of Pomni so much anymore- I'm still worried about her- But it's not like taking over my life- Like I’m still worried but I can do other things-“
“We got it Rags, don’t worry.” Mused Zooble.
“Y-Yeah! It’s nice to hear you’re feeling better.” Nodded Gangle in agreement. She was still drawing, but was now drawing things for herself or what she wanted to make or plan out. Apparently it was a break, but Ragatha didn’t really see that as a break in her honest opinion- Gangle was happy though, so she left it be!
It just meant she could start to theorise on what to make Gangle as a present!!
Truth be told, with everyone sat talking together, Caine having been absent from the circus for a week now. Jax was feeling rather… lonely. Even [————-] got lonely- But that was the downside of being, well an [—-]. Nobody stuck around much in situations like this.
So, he’d decided to get even more familiar with the circus, see if their where anymore secrets to find! They might be useful! You never know- You can never do enough slinking around!
He’d been walking around for a few minutes when he found a door he’d never seen before, it looked old and untouched. Except for the disturbed dust on the floor, indicating the door could in fact open.
“Hello door! You don’t mind if I-“ He hummed, opening it and stepping inside.
What Jax wasn’t expecting to find was Caine, however.
“Uh- Caine, buddy? I didn’t realise this was how I got to you-“
“JAX!” Exclaimed Caine with a large grin. “You made it just in time to go on your next adventure!”
“Oh an adventure? Finally~ Let me go get the others-“
“Nono, theirs no time! Off you go!”
Jax found himself being engulfed by a portal before he could get another word on.
“CAINE- HANG ON A [—————] SECOND-“
“I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR SOLO ADVENTURE JAX! PERFECTLY CURATED BY YOURS TRULY- NOW I MUST GO HYDRATE, YOU’VE GOTTA GO DO THAT MULTIPLE TIMES Y’KNOW-“
“Uh… Max- Chad- I don’t really know how to ride a horse-“
“Don’t worry! It’s easy as riding a bike!”
“Exactly!”
“Uhm… Okay-“
“You’ve got this!”
Max then proceeded to slap the butt of the horse, causing it to charge off with Pomni sat in the saddle.
“OH GOD- MAX- CHAD! HELP ME- STOP STOP STOP- SORRY- SORRY- HORSIE- PLEASE- SLOW DOWN- I DON’T KNOW HOW TO STEER YOU- IVE NEVER DRIVEN A HORSE BEFORE- UH- GUMMIGOO?! LOU?! MA?! ANYONE? MAXXXXX I DONT KNOW HOW TO STOP- CHAD PLEASE- PLEASEEEEEE- YOU GUYS ARE. THE. WORST. GUMMIGOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
That’s to say Gummigoo wouldn’t be leaving Pomni alone with Max and Chad again anytime soon. He took over Pomni’s riding lessons, and after a few laps of the field, Pomni was feeling a lot more confident with her new mare! She decided on naming her jingles. She was a very sweet blue and pink coloured gummy horse. The sweet girl was anxious just like her but she could run fast! Pomni had no doubt that the horse could help her travel and keep up with the trio of bandits on their next adventures!
This was nice, building up a home, some skills and a form of transportation. It helped make her feel more human.
Part 9
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holly-opal · 6 months
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🎪The opposite digital circus 🎪
So I thought a thought and i made tadc swap au. Except they swap personalities and are the opposite of themselves.
Pomni
Instead of being anxious and wanting to find an exit, Pomni is over the moon and is very happy to be here. She has always wanted to be in a happier world when she was in the real world, and now she is! Pomni has made friends with everyone! Sometimes she sings songs out of nowhere like a Disney princess with music no one else can hear, she talks to imaginary animal friends, and she makes jokes even at the most inappropriate times. She would honestly get along with Kaufmo.
Jax
Instead of being mean and egoistical, he's more shy and quiet, often staying out of the way of conflict. He likes to make his own movies in the tadc version of Windows Movie Maker (inspired by @sm-baby) and occasionally make pillows forts with Kinger and Zooble. He is relentlessly bullied by Gangle and sometimes gets yelled at by Ragatha, but he still sees the good side of people. He's the type of person to give people a second chance even after they've already broken every chance they've got. He gets along with Kinger and Zooble the best, and he has a bit of a crush on Pomni. He used to make comedy movies with Kaufmo.... But we all know how that turned out.
Ragatha
Instead of being optimistic and caring, she's pessimistic and is very dead inside. She doesn't like to be around people and is more often in her room when not on adventures. She is very depressed and is prone to lash out to others, she doesn't really mean it tho. She finds it hard to cope in the digital realm, she's practically stopped cleaning her room. She and Gangle fight a lot, she finds it hard to relate to Zooble and Jax, Kinger is very naggy, and Pomni is... Well Pomni. She was good friends with Kaufmo though...
Zooble
Instead of being moody and avoidant, they're very carefree and adventurous. They love being around people and experimenting with creative projects like sculpting, lego building, etc. They still have an identity crisis and smoke a lot though. They sometimes try to get Jax into drugs, Kinger scolds them alot about that lmao. They used to smoke a lot with Kaufmo.
Gangle
Instead of being sad and kind, she is a BITCH- Jk but she is mean tho. She takes out her anger about being stuck in a digital hell out of people, particularly Jax cause he's the weakest. Her sad mask is replaced with her angry mask, which makes her yell and harm everyone in her path. Gangle still has the happy mask, but it's more passive aggressive and fake now. She still writes fanfiction and watches anime tho. She sometimes forced Kaufmo to watch an anime.
Kinger
Instead of being..... Well very kooky, he's more logical and stable. He acts like a father figure to most of the inhabitants in the circus. He likes to research bugs and capture them, he sometimes captures the centipedes for Ragatha. He has a very low tolerance for anyone's bullshit, especially Gangle's or Ragatha's. He's usually very sweet, but can be VERY scary when he's mad. Besides Gangle and Ragatha, he's good friends with everyone else, he even had a crush on a certain ringleader (Wink wink 😉) Kaufmo supported him having a crush on the AI.
Caine
What was once an enthusiastic and happy ringleader, became depressed and apathetic to it all. After watching players abstract day after day after day after day, he became less of himself. Eventually becoming more sad and unmotivated, only doing the adventures cause it's the only thing to do nowadays. Although he doesn't see the point in it, he's still good friends with the inhabitants, but he keeps his distance. He truly does love the chess king, but he knows it's only a matter of time before he abstracts. Hell, Kaufmo already did.
And that's everyone! I'll do more with this au, such as making everyone's designs, make comics, and other stuff. Here are some drawings of them
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astrowaffle · 10 months
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Wow you guys really seemed to like the steampunk AU, that post got way more attention than I was expecting, so here's some more information and stuff:
-The world is still like a videogame that they got trapped in but now it’s a steampunk adventure-y type game with circus elements 
-The adventures are probably a bit different
-They’re probably more like, fantasy adventure video game style things with like puzzles and fighting? Idk I'm not a big gamer I've never actually played any steampunk video games. What are those like?
-Instead of circus tent, there is a big wagon thingy that I'll draw eventually
-there's still not much of a story and I'm not sure If there'll ever be
-I'd also kinda want to make some mini comics for this au but I suck at coming up with ideas :/
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Pomni:  
-She likes to craft things
-friends with Gangle and Ragatha
-still very anxious but less anxious then normal Pomni?
-has a very logical mind and is good at puzzling things together but also doesn’t do well under pressure and typically panics in stressful moments where these skills might be useful
-She can play the flute because flutes are good, they are the best instrument. (I am totally not biased just because I play the flute in marching band)
-My headcanon for regular Pomni is that she’s less anxious than she initially is in the pilot after getting used to things, like, beyond the anxiety, her actual personality is very cheery and friendly, also very logical, because idk it just fits her somehow? So yea, that headcanon also applies to this au 
-but of course she is still an absolute nervous wreck because yes
-How else is she supposed to react in this situation
-also look at those fingerless gloves I want those
-the gears in her eyes turn when she is thinking
Gangle:
-Also likes crafting things
-friends with Pomni, Zooble, and Kinger
-she often borrows  sewing needles from Ragatha to sew her comedy mask back together when it’s torn, and also constantly tries to craft new ones
-She really likes her boots
-I don’t blame her those are some nice boots
-Ok wait a minute what if that little wing bow thingy on her head is actually a pen/quill that she can use to write stuff?
-ooooooh yes I like that
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Caine: 
-✨monocle✨
-He can control the time of day with the clock that’s on his hat
-It’s a lot harder for him to heal injuries in this world, he can’t just instantly fix anything anymore it requires a bit more effort
-I’m doing this because I like when injury and pain and suffering
Bubble: um- idk it’s just bubble but now they’re a robot I guess
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Kinger:
-ok but what if he had a collection of mechanical insects? Omg designing mechanical insects would be so fun-
-The clock that he wears is broken but he doesn’t notice. And Time is irrelevant anyways
-damn those gloves are fancy
-they probably feel really silky
-and his robe is also very silky because mmm good texture
Zooble:
-They are a robot now
-also a mechanic/inventor because nobody else is and somebody had to learn how to make new robot parts
-their right arm can go s t r e t c h
-bonds with Gangle over their hatred of Jax
-they’re also kinda protective over her
-I lowkey ship them (this ship is so underrated)
-No but seriously why do see zero art of this ship
- Zoob’s in denial about their feelings and still pretends not to care because they’ve had such a “I don’t give a shit about anything” attitude that suddenly developing feelings for someone has caught them off guard cause they suddenly are giving a shit about something and they don’t know how to handle it, But if Jax does anything to Gangle they will rush in to protect her in a heartbeat and just try to play it off as it just being because they don’t like Jax BUT WE ALL KNOW THE TRUTH ZOOBLE JUST CONFESS ALREADY-
-ok that got way too rambly let's just move on now
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Jax:
-MY FAVORITE
-he likes shiny things
-He will collect those shiny things
-He also very fast because look at those LANKY RABBIT LEGS
-I mean technically that’s already cannon, did you see how fast he ran away after seeing abstracted kaufmo? He just z o o m e d outta there
-those keys on the chain are only a small portion of his collection
-his room is definitely full of weird steampunk knick knacks because yes
-He uses them to prank people
-the centipedes he has to scare/annoy Ragatha are mechanical
-I’m so excited to design mechanical centipedes I love bugs so much guys you have no idea I finally have an excuse to draw insects and maybe people will actually care because it’s fandom related now
-He does not like getting wet. At all. (this is also just a general headcanon for him but especially in this au)
-floofy
Ragatha:
-the seams of her fabric are prone to tearing so she always carries a needle and thread to sew herself back together. she's good at sewing
-My main headcannon for normal Ragatha is that her button eye is a parallel to an eye injury she had in real life before joining the circus, but in this AU she probably acquired the injury in this universe.
-she’s good at using tools and weapons but not in like, a mechanic sorta way like Zooble but in a defense sorta way
-like, she’s very kind and caring but also sorta tough and even though her body is good at falling apart, she knows how to use strategy to fight and um wait what would they even be fighting-
-idk I haven’t thought about that yet
-Gloinks?????
-do those exist in this au???
-wait it’s my au why am I asking this
-overall she is very, “tries to help everyone else and seems very tough on the outside but is prone to falling apart both physically and mentally but just gets good at quickly patching it up and ignoring it until it become too much for her to bear”
-pls help her she needs therapy
-they all need therapy
-I’m pretty sure we’ve all established that at this point
-but I’m just making sure you know that it’s still a consistent factor in this au
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mariquss · 4 months
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Exams are destroying my ass rn, but I'm still writing TADC/Funnybunny fanfiction. I hope I'll be able to post first chapter soon;DD
Anyways, I would like to show at least summary of the story, so maybe someone can decide if it's something for them.
Keep in mind that English isn't my first language, (sorry in advance for any mistakes) and I would like to stay AS CLOSE to canon as possible. Jax will be VERY difficult here.
I was also inspired by the concept of Pomni and Jax being the last survivors after everyone's abstracted, so this story will be quite dark too.
~~~
"Lonely Together" (title may be changed later)
After losing friends that Pomni made in the digital circus, the distressed jester has no choice but to quickly adapt to the new conditions in her colorful prison. To make matters worse, the game, which has been glitching heavily from the very beginning, started to do so more and more often. Actually, AI ​​controlling them is becoming less and less stable too. If she wants to survive, she needs to understand what is happening and somehow try to manage the ongoing destruction.
However, saving digital world is NOT very easy when your only companion is also your greatest enemy...
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ilovescaredysquirrel2 · 7 months
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Why I haven't been posting + thoughts on upcoming movies
Okay, so I mostly am gonna still spam reblog about the KOSA bill until we can finally stop it but I want to still use Tumblr for what it was meant to be for all along; to have fun! I just will take a short break on posting cartoons but I'm still active here every night! Tumblr's honestly the only place I feel like I can truly be myself right now...
Okay, let's put the stupid bill aside for the moment and talk about my thoughts on some upcoming movies and shows right now. Disney's really been p*ssing me off lately with their sequels. Like, I feel they're only making sequels of Moana and Inside Out to impress the hardcore Disney fans, because their "new original ideas" failed (like Wish, but it failed because they used A.I to write the story). The Inside Out sequel looks cute from what I seen, but I still have trust issues when it comes to Disney. And before you go blabbing "It's Pixar", let me inform you that they're not the same and Pixar is literally just Disney with a better animation studio. Like, it's literally part of Disney! Like, I feel like I trust the Inside Out sequel a little more than the forced Moana sequel but still... I don't trust them. The worst is the Moana sequel though. I heard they originally planned for it to be a Disney plus show but instead they're making it a sequel on a super low budget and the animation is gonna be done overseas. No joke! I honestly think Disney needs to take a break on making movies for a while and focus on stuff like Kiff. Kiff is the only thing from Disney right now that's keeping me from leaving them all together. And when Kiff ends after season 2, I'm done with them forever! I honestly think they should let Kiff run a little longer than 2 seasons, look how long Kick Buttoski ran (that was a weird show, let's face it). Anyway, that's my thoughts on Disney right now.
I haven't posted my review on Orion and the Dark yet but I think I will soon. Like I said, I been really terrified after hearing about the KOSA bill and will continue to spam reblog until I get justice! Long story short, Orion and the Dark was better than DreamWorks's other recent movies. I haven't seen Kung Fu Panda 4 yet but I'm sure Orion was better. I mostly only like the first two Kung Fu Panda movies. Orion and the Dark was better than Trolls 3, though. I don't think Chicken Run 2 Dawn of the nugget counts as being DreamWorks (the first Chicken Run will always be a DreamWorks movie whether you like it or not) but Orion and the Dark was better! Maybe I can post my review on it soon...
Okay, let's talk about The Amazing Digital Circus now! We all love that, don't we? I hope TADC episode 2 makes more money than Disney on their forced sequels. I'm really excited about episode 2, although I really really don't want to see any of the main cast get abstracted. Like, every character fits in with the show so well and makes it worth watching. Ragatha, Gangle, Pomni, and Kinger are my favorites, but I don't want anyone to get abstracted because they all fit in together perfectly. You have Pomni the new girl, Ragatha the supportive friend and optimistic "peace maker" of the group, Jax the sassy trouble maker, Gangle the emotional one who doesn't stick up for herself, Kinger who's upbeat and crazy and childish, and Zooble who's also kind of sassy and doesn't really care much. Plus, there's Caine and Bubble who are hilarious as well. Like, I just don't want any of the main characters to get abstracted so soon. I'm just way too attached to all of those characters! However, I'm still a huge fan of the show and hoping that episode 2 will make more money than Disney! And if there's anyone here in the comments who's also a TADC fan and wants to see my sketches that I'll never post on tumblr, I'll dm them to you!
PLEASE DON'T IGNORE ME, I DON'T BITE! CHAT WITH ME PLEASE!!!! Just please chat with me in the comments, I'll be nice!
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dragon-creates · 10 months
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5+1 AU Characters as Taylor Swift Songs
I got bored yesterday and my ADHD + my swiftie brain decided to put together what says would go together with the characters of my fic. This was mostly done for fun but if you know the meanings behind these songs, I'm going to enjoy feasting on your suffering 😈
Here's the link to my fic here if you haven't read it yet.
Pomni/Penny: Mirrorball
And I'm still a believer, but I don't know why. I've never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try
I thought this song best fit Pomni/Penny due to her complicated relationship with her dad and how that affected her as a person, always trying to do her best despite what's thrown at her, even if it hurts her in the process and she doesn't know why.
Jax/Jack: This Is Me Trying
Could've followed my fears all the way down And maybe I don't quite know what to say. But I'm here in your doorway I just wanted you to know. That this is me trying
I mean, I think its kinda obvious (cough cough chapter 5 cough cough). Jax/Jack went through a lot as a kid before he moved in with Winter and the Alvarez's and yes while he's hurting, he wants to heal but as ya'll know, relapses happen. But he'll always keep trying.
Riley: Karma
Karma's gonna track you down. Step by step, from town to town. Sweet like justice, karma is a queen
I had fun with this one. As ya'll know, Riley is quite protective over those she cares about (she's also an FBI agent so if you hurt Penny you probably won't be seen the next day). Riley is always gonna make sure that those who decide to fuck around are gonna find out. After all, karma is a bitch.
Winter: 22
You don't know about me but I'll bet you want to. Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22
Ah Winter, my sassy lesbian queen. Winter has always been fun to write due to how positive and fun she is. Teasing Jack, being lovey dovey with Riley and hyping up Penny as well. She would be one of those people who throw the wildest parties and dread cleaning up the next day, but doesn't care as long as she and others are having fun.
Amber: Tolerate It
Lay the table with the fancy shit. And watch you tolerate it
Amber, mother of two and the ex of the man that everyone in discord wants dead. This reflects what her marriage to David was like and her releasing how awful he was after they divorced. Amber is a strong and protective mother bear, but she was hurt first emotionally to become that strong. Sometimes there will be moments will break, but she always picks herself back up for her girls, David forgotten at the back of her mind for their sake.
~okay let's focus on some duo/trio songs~
Pomni/Penny & Jax/Jack: Wildest Dreams
Say you'll remember me. Standin' in a nice dress. Starin' at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks. Say you'll see me again. Even if it's just in your wildest dreams
Come on, are you really surprised? It's the title of the last chapter and basically this fic's theme! Even if they don't realise who each other are, there memories stay in their dreams and their shown just how beautiful their love was!!!!
Riley & Winter: Paper Rings
I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings. Uh-huh, that's right. Darling, you're the one I want
Let's go! Let's go lesbians let's go!!! The yuri deserve a nice lovey dovey song. These two are just so sweet with one another and the reason why Jack and Penny got together (much to Riley's disappointment lol) and they deserve all the happiness. And yes this song was in their wedding playlist.
Pomni/Penny & Riley: Safe and Sound
No one can hurt you now. Come morning light. You and I'll be safe and sound
This song is definitely a parallel of Penny and Riley's sisterhood, especially growing up with David still in the picture. Riley doing her job as an older sister, shielding her little sister whenever David wanted to target her with his verbal abuse. Riley hates every fibre of her father's being, it only got worse after he involved Penny in the car accident. No matter what, even as adults, Riley will always protect her baby sister from everything...until the day she couldn't.
Winter & Jax/Jack: The Best Day
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out. He's better than I am I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run. And I had the best days with you
This was how Winter viewed her and Jack when he moved in with her family. Jack is and always will be her little brother, even if they aren't blood related. She and her family give him the life he didn't and the space to thrive, and neither she or Jack would trade it for the world even after all these years.
Pomni/Penny & Amber: Bigger Than The Whole Sky
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. You were bigger than the whole sky
Hehe ya'll gonna hate me for this one. But yeah, after Penny went missing, it hit Amber like a freight train. Penny was her baby, she watched her daughter go through hell and back, and helped with her healing, watched her fall in love, comforted her through her heartbreak and the next day she disappeared, and no one can find her. She grieves her daughter every day, as though she truly passed away. She and Penny had a relationship like no other, there's nothing stronger than a mother's love for her child.
Riley & Amber: Dear Reader
The greatest of luxuries is your secrets. Dear reader, when you aim at the devil make sure you don't miss. Never take advice from someone who's falling apart
While Amber loves Penny, never once did she neglect Riley or see her problems as inferior. She loves both her babies more than anything. But she can tell that Riley has gone through a lot, watching her father grow apart from her and seeing her little sister get hurt over and over again. This song is kinda reminiscent of chapter 3 (with Amber reassuring Riley that she's not wrong to feel upset with her dad), but also Amber teaching Riley what she knows and so she doesn't make the same mistakes as she did.
Amber & Riley & Pomni/Penny: Never Grow Up
Oh, darlin', don't you ever grow up. Don't you ever grow up. Just stay this little. Oh, darlin', don't you ever grow up. Don't you ever grow up. It could stay this simple
Let's end it off bittersweet with our three girls. This is reminiscing over her daughters, more so the good moments of their childhood (David isn't in these memories which isn't a surprise). It kind of hits Amber when she sees her girls all grown up and living their own lives, just how far they've come since they were kids. She gave birth to them, helped them take their first steps, cried at their first words, dropped them off both at their first days at school, teasing Riley over her first crush on a girl, comforting and spending each day Penny was in hospital after the accident, letting them cry in her shoulder over David leaving, reassured Riley that she wasn't abandoning Penny once the older of the two left for college, helped Penny overcome her eating habits, watched her girls fall in love. It leaves her tearful and proud of how much they've grown.
I hope you guys enjoyed this, and keep an eye out for my next funnybunny fic on ao3 and tumblr called 'Royally Screwed'. It's a royal AU based on the ideas and art of one of my friends on discord and I hope ya'll like it when it comes out!
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tadcccallmyocs · 7 months
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Bring back Tether Part 1
Everyone is more calm after Storky confirmed that Tether code is no longer abstracting, and Zooble with Gangle hug happy to hear that Asrani saved their child.
Caine “well the multiplayer feature Is charged already so it is time to bring your child back! T-- and that should be good enough!” he pressed enter after the first letter but something strange happens, someone else comes out of the portal. A giant cloth weasel-thing lands in a heap where Tether should have spawned in.
Totes “what the heck? Am I-- nope, still in the game. Why I'm here?”
Cathin “hey, I don't want to be captain obvious but… that is not Tether” she said sarcastically.
Totes: "And who are you?" Totes asked, rising to their feet and fully taking in the crowd, "I only recognize half of you: Pomni and Ragatha and Zooble and the dumb bunny and-- are those kids? I know this game is "family friendly" but yiiiikes."
Storky “Caine you just pull a random person from another server, what is your name?”
Totes “Totes why?”
Storky “Caine you know you have to be specific with the search system, now we have to try again…”
Totes “I understand that you are searching for someone in the multiplayer… from your server… Does this thing have a Last function?” everyone looks at them puzzled “you know like an history of who enter and who left. Like on a TV remote?
Everyone looks at Caine and he does a little glitch with his eye and nod, Zooble began to kick and punch the AI. While that goes on, the giant orange ferret takes a look at the control panel.
Totes "Ah, it's two prompts: reopen and recall. Hey can somebody describe to me what this "Tether" person looks like?"
Zooble is still wailing on Caine and Gangle is a bit nervous to answer this stranger's questions about her child, but Harley doesn't care and steps forward.
Harley "S-she's a kid, like me... with pink and red hair, a white mask-face, yellow plastic hands, and a red ribbon wrapping for clothes."
Then Harley did something that surprised everone: she hugged the side of this stuffed-animal stranger, tears welling up in her button eyes.
Ragatha "Harley, what are you--" Harley mama tried to pull her daughter away, but was momentarily stopped by her pleas.
Harley "Please-- Tether's my bestest friend in the multiverse. We gotta do something before she starts abstracting again!"
Totes eyes widened at the mention of abstraction, and she punched in the r-open button. Once for home, then again for what they hoped was the right dimension.
Totes "This is probably going to undo my way back but whatever-- I'll bring your friend back, Scout's Honor."
Harley didn't know what that meant, but as the portal re-opened the ferretoid stepped away to face it.
Totes "Give me ten minutes, then press that recall button. If I'm right about how this machine-- and my own gut-- works, we'll both be back soon enough."
Pomni "What do you mean, how your gut works?!" She asked, but before they could answer the ferret dropped to all fours and lined themself up with the portals still-tiny entry way.
Totes "One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and here. We. GO!"
Totes got a galloping start at the portal, sliding through it on their belly seconds before it closed. After a moment of silence, Jax spoke up.
Jax "Jeez, what a weirdo..."
Cathin "say the purple rabbit"
Zooble "Can it rabbit, that weirdo's at least trying to help!" They huffed, taking a break from beating up Caine, "we'll see if they do a better job than IA can."
Martin "He's silly!" chirped in an approving tone.
Harley "Just silly enough to work." She added, hopeful.
[totes and the writing by @enby-denby]
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kaufmo-is-alive · 9 months
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WELCOME TO A VERY STRANGE BLOG!!!
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No, but for real, welcome to the nine millionth damn digital circus ask blog on this site! I'm honored that out of all of them, you chose to look at this one. I'm Mod Badger, my main is @badgerotter but I basically never post anything lel
This blog does have a bit of lore, the most obvious being that Kaufmo is... alive. In this AU, Pomni isn't here yet (ME WHEN I LIE HAHAHA), and Kaufmo's silly ass is here still! But also, I did create a bit of an exposition comic, which you can find here (the style is pretty old in it just ignore how bad it is). Though, if you don't want to read it, the rundown is that Kaufmo was given a laptop that only has access to Tumblr, chaos ensues.
If you want to read the blog posts in chronological order, click here!
Rules for asks are pretty simple. No NSFW please (I don't want to hear about Jax's cock), don't say anything offensive that'll get me banned, all that jazz. Besides that, send in whatever! You all are crazy and I love you for that!
Asks are greatly encouraged, unless the ask box is closed for some reason (as it stands, I'm not getting very many).
If I leave any ooc notes below a post, they'll be italicized. All the asks are tagged with the generic #ask tag, of course. A couple of them are meant to be the characters actually posting stuff on Tumblr itself, which are tagged as #performer rambles.
Again, whether you just happened to find this post randomly or if you're a long-time follower, thank you from the bottom of my heart for even looking at this post, or any other post on here. My art may not be the best, and I may not be the best at writing dialogue, but I'll be damned if I give up after so long, so I doubt this blog will be dying soon!
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maskymoo · 10 months
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Ok... so I adore both the ships for Ragatha being with Pomni and Jax. However, because I can't let characters I like be happy, here's a lil headcanon that I may or may not expand on in the future.
So here's the idea, like what is depicted in the show already, Ragatha tries to act as the peacekeeper of the group. However, everyone seems to keep each other at arms length, possibly from getting attached out of fear of losing someone they care about. Of course, that also means her actions are often ignored, not by malice, but by fear growing affection to her good actions. In turn, Ragatha feels ignored though she wouldn't say that. However, Jax only gives her attention through his pranks and often points out how her actions tend to fail. However, it's attention and she will take advantage of that.
The two have a complicated relationship, both having genuine feelings for the other but they need to work on themselves first for their relationship not to fall into total codependency. The relationship is secret and no one really knows. Ragatha wants Jax, but he too keeps just at a distance despite the two establishing their feeling being mutual.
Then, Pomni shows up. She's someone new and even with a rocky start, she and Ragatha get along. Ragatha gains a genuine friend, someone who actually gives her attention. Their friendship means a lot to her, so when she does develop feelings, Ragatha feels conflicted. She likes Jax, but their relationship is already complicated, and she feels unsatisfied in the relationship with the lack of attention or affection given, though she also feels guilty that she has begun to feel romantic attraction to a new person.
In the end, she and Jax go their separate ways as she decides to pursue a relationship with Pomni, who to her surprise, also reciprocates her feelings. But their relationship isn't exactly better than the previous one. Pomni wants Ragatha to stand up for herself and voice her true feelings, something Ragatha still denies even deep into her friendship/now relationship. Conflict between to grow between the two and resentment grows.
Anyway, thank you for listening to my very angsty headcanon. When I have free time, I'll probably write about this lol. Or at least make art of it... only time will see how evil I feel.
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estro-gem · 9 months
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Ragatha x Pomni (Platonic): Charting the Landscape
The Amazing Digital Circus AU: Oasis
Author's note:
I'm not dead! I'm sorry for not posting as much; life has me in a chokehold and you all know how things can get this time of the year.
Excuses, excuses, right?
This is exposition of the 'Oasis Lore.' Although this is an event in which Pomni and Ragatha tries to figure each other out, this is centered around Pomni's slow start to working her way into fitting into the Oasis. These two are having 'the talk,' as it's loosely mentioned by Jax in the story 'Anywhere the wind blows.'
Unfortunately, this is not really a ship-fic, but there are more of those coming in the future, though!
I don't think this one will do so well, but eh, I'll keep writing regardless...
I'm keen to bring in some more angst into this AU. Things are too happy in these works for my liking. I want to go into just how messed up Oasis can be, since it's a very unhealthy system they've got going on.
Warnings: Nothing too serious.
Little angst and very little fluff (like, a literal speck)
Frustration (For the characters involved, as well as you poor readers)
Unhealthy coping mechanisms
SUMMARY:
After Pomni had a strange encounter with Kinger, she was struck with the need to work about developing her status to something more positive among the other Circus members. She decides to start by approaching Ragatha, who ends up giving her the friendliest reality-check she could ask for. Pomni was in more trouble than she thought.
CHARTING THE LANDSCAPE
Pushing on.
That was what drove the jester this far.
That was the only thing that she was certain of. It didn’t matter that she didn’t see what the future held or what size and difficulty the obstacle was. It didn’t matter how impossible it seemed and it didn't matter how far she was forced to push herself.
She was a wreck, but she was just as stubborn.
The past few weeks have been tough. Her first day in the Digital Circus was apparently one of the worst that Kinger had ever witnessed for a newcomer to brave through. Her effort to push her mind through Caine’s demented joke of an exit – an unfinished, never-ending maze of a project (as his unfinished work usually was), was ‘admirable,’ as the chess piece called it.
He said she reminded him of his younger self.
Kinger glanced at Pomni to briefly meet her eyes, as if he was checking that she was still paying attention, before falling into a trans-like state. Disappointment tugged at her thoughts upon the realization that the most comforting moment that the little jester had had since she got damned to this digital plain, slipped away with the mere echo of the King’s words. When he suddenly jolted into animation again, she saw the sobriety reigned back and her heart lifted at the chess piece’s effort to force away the fog from his mind.
The fool witnessed the tug of war in Kinger's eyes; the clouded haze of nothingness as empty as death was straining to smother the powerful, but saddened twinkle of clarity. Despite the struggle, he spoke with ease – saying that the digital circus was not a fate to be faced by one alone, but instead, to be experienced by many in collaboration.
“You need to share you use.” He said, blinking rapidly as if looking through fog, “If you share, you are safe. If you are selfish, you will be left-”
Silence.
The king piece was frozen in place and his eyes fogged over. Whatever he was trying to say, died with the ember of hope that the girl had built up for his encouragement. He was gone.
Sudden hysterical laughter ripped the little’s fool’s thoughts from her head as she jumped in fright. After catching her breath, Pomni spotted Jax crawling on the floor as he wheezed with laughter, while she heard Ragatha’s bright voice chime in with near-manic cackles. She had half the mind to pursue the curiosity of knowing the context of their situation, but Kinger’s words haunted her mind.
Pomni was still starstruck by the white king’s clear, sober words. She didn’t think to interrupt him or break the apparent spell that was befell upon the one she first thought of, as the group’s loon. At the time, she was silent and eager to just listen to Kinger’s praise, but ever since she had some time to digest his words, they brought an icy sting of fear with their implication.
If she was like him, did that mean that they shared the same fate?
On that day, from then on, Kinger was the epitome of the loon she that grown to recognize, ever since she was casted into The Amazing Digital Circus. Despite her hopes of having another special moment with the King, she was only met with vague commentary and silly ramblings.
At least it was nothing she wasn’t familiar with.
'You need to share your use.'
Kinger said she had use… and that she needed to share it. Pomni didn’t know what use she had, but that wasn’t the part that she was concerned about. Sharing would imply that she had to have someone that would be willing to accept something from her. While Pomni wasn’t familiar with her new prison, she was far from stupid. Stubborn, yes, but not stupid.
She knew that she had no one.
The unfortunate aftermath of her first day and her decisions she made at the time, labelled her as a reckless, cowardly renegade. No loyalty. No sense of dignity.
Selfish.
Something Kinger warned her against.
Although it was never spoken aloud, Pomni was made aware that she was cast aside. She ran for an exit instead of helping a possible friend. She was ignored by Jax for a reason unknown to her. She was avoided by Zooble for making their partner uncomfortable. She was estranged by Gangle for being too eager – too interested – in the beauty that was the strange, sentient ribbon. She was abandoned by Kinger’s unreliable state of sanity.
She left Ragatha for dead.
And yet...
The ragdoll was Pomni’s only chance. If she was going to get her foot in the door, she was going to have to do everything in her power to get through to that doll. Ragatha was the only one who spared her a glance, aside from Kinger. She even stood aside the jester after she was abandoned by Pomni. It was a clear as day that Ragatha was either crazy, or too good for this world… and the fool was going to bet on the latter. It had to be the latter.
The doll was kind, sweet and reassuring. She constantly provided the little fool with a calm, cool image that Pomni couldn’t help but mirror; like the doll was a surface of a still pool in the dry earth. Ragatha acted like a human. Ragatha also looked mostly like a human. It was something the jester clung to on her first day – someone was still human in the digital world.
After the events of this previous day, she counted Kinger as a weird technicality.
Presently, Pomni was slowly creeping towards a lone, plush couch in the main area with a doll seated comfortably onto it. She was engrossed in the needle and thread piercing though the blue fabric that matched the colour of her dress. From what Pomni could tell, Ragatha was working on something smaller and finer than an article of clothing, but the jester didn’t bother to focus on it too much.
How was she going to start this conversation?
“Hi, it’s me again! You know, the girl who ditched you at the first sight of an amalgamation, came back to give you false hope, then ditched you again, when I saw the first thing resembling an exit. Wanna be friends?”
No, that wasn’t going to cut it.
Pomni didn’t have much to offer aside from her will to make this work, but if that was what she had, she would use it. She wouldn’t make it through another day alone – she wouldn’t! She wasn’t driven to insanity just yet; and be as it may – this digital realm would have to swallow her whole as she fought, thrashed, clawed, and screeched all the way down in her decent.
Pushing. On.
“Oh, hello Pomni!” Ragatha’s voice seeped through her mind from very close by.
That was sudden…
“Hey! Um- what are you making there?” Pomni stumbled through her words. She silently cursed herself for dissociating to the point where she forgot that she was approaching the doll with purpose.
“This?” Ragatha made a lack-luster attempt to gesture to the blue cloth on her lap, “I was just making a little dress for the ragdoll I made. I always find it so awkward to make these tiny clothes. There’s not much room to work with!”
The jester fixed her eyes on the sowing project, using it as an excuse to only glance in attempt to meet the doll’s eyes every now and again. She saw Ragatha scoot herself against one side of the couch before patting the space beside her in invitation for Pomni to take a seat. The ragdoll looked unbothered by her presence, but Pomni didn’t trust the performance.
Gangle wasn’t the only one in the Circus who wore a mask – the ribbon’s mask just happened to be physical.
“I saw you chatting with Kinger the other day.” The doll spoke again, nonchalantly, “Interesting choice in friends you have! But who am I to judge? I’d like to think I’m friends with everyone here, but between you and me, I’m pretty sure that we are all one minor inconvenience away from losing it. Power to Kinger for holding out for so long!”
The gentle easiness of Ragatha’s chatter, while undeniably comforting, felt… well… off – in a sense. It was senseless chatter, but hardly babbling, like small talk. Very well done and maintained by the Ragdoll, who was idly sowing the little dress skirt to the waist of the dress top.
But Pomni realized that that was just it.
The Ragdoll’s words felt like they were rehearsed… and Pomni was just part of a play that she wasn’t aware of. It wouldn’t make sense for Ragatha to be acting so unbothered and calm unless this was staged or practiced. While Pomni wanted to melt into the seemingly normal conversation that Ragatha was trying to coax her into, a deep, primal instinct was screaming for her to remain wary.
She wished for it to just quiet down for once.
“He’s quite the character.” Pomni said with a nervous cackle, to which the doll seemed to beam at. Taking it as a chance to keep the conversation alive, Pomni opted to find answers, “He was acting weird on that day.” That was too vague, Kinger always acted weird, “But like, weirder than normal. But not because he was weirder than normal – it was because he was acting normal.” What was she even saying…? “Well, I mean… normal for Kinger’s standard, which is weird because that is not normal. For him.” She wasn’t making sense! “I MEAN-”
“Whoa! Whoa, easy girl!” Ragatha flagged Pomni down with a easy chuckle, “I understand what you are saying, don’t worry.”
The jester felt the burn of desire to explain herself in the back of her throat, but obliged to the doll’s clear attempt to quiet her down. Instead, she reluctantly awaited Ragatha’s response.
“It sounds like you were describing one of his little ‘resets’ as we like to call them.” The doll explained, calmly and inviting as ever, “It’s like a moment of clarity that he gets occasionally. You’re lucky to have been there for it!”
Pomni decided to let her self-explanation die in her throat, even though she still felt the urge to do so. The doll’s description was good enough for Pomni to push on, “So he’s not completely insane?”
“What? No! None of us are – I think…” Ragatha reassured, while admittedly fading off into her own thoughts as she ended her sentence.
Pomni would think about those things later.
“So… what he told me wasn’t just crazy rambling, then?” she hesitantly asked, looking up to the doll with a fixed gaze for the first time since their encounter had started.
“Likely not!” Ragatha almost cheered, before glancing around and leaning closer to whisper to Pomni, “What exactly did he say?”
The jester paused, wondering what to do and what she could share. From how Ragatha was acting, the things Kinger shared during his ‘resets’ wasn’t something spoken about so casually. If Pomni had an advantaged by knowing something that no one else did, wouldn’t that mean that she had the upper hand in this scenario?
“Come on, Pomni!” Ragatha asked, leaning in even closer, now seeming eager as ever to hear what had the little fool so hesitant to speak, “What did he say?”
Kinger’s warning of selfishness rang in her mind again, causing the ideology of lying to appear less attractive than it was before, but stubbornly, the jester settled on a half-truth instead, “He just told me that I basically need friends.” She laughed in a bitter tone, “A bit of a slap in the face, but I guess he’s right in a sense.”
“Oh!” Ragatha, leaned back to resume her position as she huffed a little laugh, “Well, having friends is healthy! And lucky for you, we are not going anywhere, so you can take your time when warming up to us. No rush – we’ve all been where you are now.”
“That’s a bit hard to believe.” Pomni sighed, causing the doll to look at her in pity as she continued, “You all seem so… happy? No. Adjusted? Everyone is just doing their own thing and minding their own business like it’s nothing.”
“I wouldn’t say that we 'keep to ourselves' and 'mind our own business' as much as you think.” Ragatha spoke, taking the calm and cool, but hardly uninviting demeanor, “We are actually all up in each other’s business. We look out for each other…”
“You call Jax being the spawn of Satan to everyone around him, as him just ‘looking out for you?’ I don’t think that’s a ‘healthy’ relationship, Ragatha.”
“Oh, Jax shows that he cares in his own special little ways.” Ragatha dismissed too easily for Pomni’s liking, “It’s when he ignores you, that you should be worried. It usually means that he couldn’t care less – that he considers you… well… for a lack of a better way to say this; he maybe considers you… kind of… a bit of a, um, waste of his time…?”
Pomni allowed the poor attempt of the doll trying to soften the delivery of the news, to sink in. She reflected on the fact that Jax barely spared her a glance and even acted like she didn’t exist at times. As much as she despised the person that he chose to be towards his fellow Circus-members, it disturbed her just how much he was avoiding her, while he practically tormented the others. If his sick pranks, harmful jokes, and twisted taunting really was more than him just satiating some sadistic fantasy… and if what Ragatha said about him ignoring someone held any form of truth…
Then Ragatha’s words were a warning.
Ice clawed its way up Pomni’s spine. She wasn’t ready to consider that she was already a lost cause – deserted by everyone and only humored by the ragdoll out of common curtesy or pity. Logical reason cried out for the little fool to remember that Jax was still a bad person and that it may be a blessing not to be involved with someone as harmful as he was, but the fact that he looked right through her, while deliberately being a menace to everyone else, had the jester beginning to believe that there was a method to Jax’s madness after all.
The others had been trapped in the Digital Circus for years. Years. If he was really that bad of a person, would the others have made it this far? Clearly there was something that she was missing. Clearly there was something bigger than the bunny being a borderline sadist and the ragdoll being an unconditional saint.
If only she could figure out what it was.
“You drift into your own head a lot.” Ragatha commented with no real thought behind her words, “I can tell that by now. You go quiet when you start thinking. I suggest for you to be careful though – thinking too much is dangerous here.”
“Oh, uh, noted!” Pomni smiled sheepishly, “Thanks, I guess.”
“It’s nothing, maybe I spoke too soon, right?” the doll huffed brightly, “Maybe you are like Gangle… I swear that girl hosts entire conferences in her head. She might be the only one I know of, that’s able to do that without losing it. Trust me, I would know! I’ve been here long enough, second to Kinger, of course.”
Pomni struggled to keep up with the load of information that was being poured onto her.
Jax was a menace, but apparently there was a good reason for it, and he only acted that way with those he regarded. Pomni was being shunned by him, evident by the fact that he ignored her. Kinger was here the longest, followed by Ragatha. Pomni should refrain from thinking too much. Gangle was known for being the thinker or the group.
Her gut was screaming at her mind: everything said, was important – even if she didn’t know why.
But things needed to slow down.
“Gangle is the thinker, huh?” Pomni jumped in before Ragatha could speak again, “So that means she isn’t avoiding me too, right? At least there’s that-”
Ragatha cut her short, although it didn’t seem to be malicious, “What makes you think Gangle is avoiding you?”
“Oh! The other day, she came to talk to me… but things got weird – I made things weird.” Pomni nervously fidgeted as she briefly weighed her limited options to embarrass herself or leave the statement as it was.
She decided on the former, as embarrassment is a small price to pay for survival, “I think I came on too strong? We’re all human, but our bodies are not. She looks so weird, but strangely… I think she’s beautiful. I tried to tell her that, but she backed away very quickly. Her excuse was something about checking in on Zooble and Jax. She’s been walking wide circles to avoid me ever since…”
Pomni looked over to the doll with the intention of seeing just how much she made her cringe with second-hand embarrassment, but she was surprised to find something different.
Something unsettling.
Ragatha was staring ahead with an unfocused expression. Her face was struck with something akin to dread... and although she didn’t have a human body, she appeared as pale and a sheet. Pomni had half the mind to ask if the ragdoll had seen a ghost, but Ragatha’s slow movement to turn her head towards the jester, caused the words to die in her throat.
“Gangle and Zooble are romantically involved.” Ragatha said, any previous cheer from her voice vaporized to nothing but cut-throat, blunt indifference. From what the jester could tell, the doll was done playing coy and dancing around the elephant in the room.
No more games.
“I figured that one out after Jax’s comments about being grossed out by them making out in public.” Pomni shrugged, hoping to ease the atmosphere.
Ragatha refused to deflate, “He was making it clear for you to back off. You- y- you’re in a worse position than I thought, Pomni. No wonder Kinger took pity on you…”
“What do you mean? What are you saying?”
Ragatha finally tore her gaze away from Pomni with a huffed sigh, looking as stressed as she was on the day of Pomni’s arrival, “You need to get your foot in the door. If you don’t get you act together, it will only be a matter of time before they refuse to let me talk to you. Heaven knows how protective they can be at times-”
“Ragatha, I don’t know what you are trying to tell me. Who’re ‘they?’ Why do ‘they’ force you to do anything you don’t want to do?” Pomni asked as confused as she was becoming frantic.
“Pomni, listen. Focus. This is important, okay?” Ragatha turned her whole body to face Pomni, reaching out to rest her hands onto the little fool’s shoulders, only to pull away upon seeing a very familiar look of discomfort in anticipation to the doll’s touch – something she recognized in Jax.
That was something to unpack later.
“Pomni, you have Jax AND Gangle against you now. And you are well on your way to having Zooble reject you too. Do you understand that?”
Pomni nodded, hesitant, but silent.
“If it was just Jax, you could’ve had Gangle to get through to him, but now Gangle is avoiding you too, only leaving Zooble open – and that’s a very generous statement, considering that you were practically flirting with their partner.
“If you can get to Zooble, you’ll get to Gangle. Don’t worry about Jax for now, I’ll handle him. You need to win Zooble over. This is the only way you can win Gangle over. If Gangle shuns you, you are done for. Do you understand?”
Pomni’s head was spinning, but she got the gist of it down.
For some reason, it was important to be in Gangle’s good books. Apparently, the only way to do that, was to befriend the abomination she came to know as Zooble, Gangle’s partner. It made sense that someone would choose to get along with your partner’s friends rather than to resent them, but what didn’t make sense was why it was so important.
And what was that about being shunned?
“Listen, I get it – the ‘getting along with Zooble’ thing, but honestly, what does it matter? There’s people who doesn’t like me and that’s all there is to it, isn’t it?” Pomni desperately pried.
“Not here it’s not.” Ragatha shut her down, “Things are different around here… and here we all need each other. Especially when it comes to Gangle and the role she plays; the roles we all need to play to survive here. I can’t explain everything now, but please… do whatever you have to do to befriend Zooble. It’s the only chance you have for you to be accepted.”
“Fine, I’ll do it! Just calm down!” Pomni exclaimed as she was disturbed, “I don’t get it, but if this cult-thing will make things easier, then so be it. I’ll get Zooble to like me or whatever.”
Ragatha looked defeated as she flopped back to rest her back to the couch, “I know it hard to understand it now, but you will in time. Just focus on Zooble for now.”
“Ok! Ok! I got it, ok?”
Finally… silence…
There was a moment of silence for Pomni to digest the whole encounter. She didn’t understand what she was getting herself into, but she would just play along for the time being. It wasn’t until now that the jester realized how much she craved to have a normal conversation, an argument… hell, she craved to just be mad for a reason other than for things she couldn’t control.
While it was cathartic to engage in the encounter with Ragatha, she couldn’t help but feel hopeless and frustrated with her lack of understanding.
The doll’s voice was soft as it beckoned for Pomni’s attention yet again.
“About Zooble... They like fashion and abstract art. They also prefer to be alone most of the time, so try to catch them when they venture out to start a conversation with someone like me or Kinger. That way, you won’t be a bother.”
Pomni listened keenly as Ragatha continued to give her pointers, “Try to keep anything about you and your thoughts or feelings under wraps to maintain that factor of mystery. Believe it or not, everyone here is still very curious about you, even if they don’t show it – they are just trying to protect themselves from getting involved with someone who might cause them harm. Trust me, you are the talk of the town – use that. Not even Zooble is immune to gossip, as aloof and unbothered as they might seem.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” the jester affirmed.
Pomni slowly stood from her seat and stretched briefly, “Thank you. You actually… might have helped me a lot.”
“Honey, as it stands, you need all the help you can get.” Ragatha quipped without missing a beat. It earned a little chuckle from the fool.
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for the reminder.”
Pomni missed the little, tired smile that crept up the ragdoll’s face as she turned away. Pomni wanted to walk around outside. She wanted to clear her head and regain her strength before she braved an encounter with the Zolo-being. Just before Pomni could walk a few steps too far, she stopped in thought, turning around to face the doll once again.
“Hey Ragatha, why exactly are you helping me? Even after everything I put you through?”
“Don’t sweat it, New Stuff.” Ragatha scoffed with no real bite.
Pomni felt a real smile creep its way up her face for the first time since she was trapped in the Circus, “You really are too good for this place... you know that, right?”
Looking over to the doll once again, Pomni saw Ragatha’s face sporting an unreadable expression. It was almost as devoid of emotion and robotic as her voice was, when she spoke words with far too much weight for Pomni’s liking;
“I just do what I have to do.”
Oasis: TADC AU list
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