#tdac zooble

[snow-calypso]

New TADC Theory: Caine's Losing Control

Warning: Contains spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus episodes 3 and 4.

Just watched episode 4 of The Amazing Digital Circus, and going in, I honestly expected this episode to end with Gangle's abstraction, to the point that I was honestly surprised that it didn't. It honestly seemed like the whole episode was building up to this, what with her going in with hopes of finally enjoying an adventure, then gradually being whittled down both by the stressful job and the other characters demeaning her. The fact that she only seemed to get actual satisfaction from tormenting Jax like he did to her only seemed to solidify this fact. After the isekai fakeout, I was legitimately scared that she would receive the punishment she suggested for Jax, and that would be what pushed her over the edge.

But it wasn't. Caine gave her the same grade as everyone else (except Kinger) and let her go.

Then he starts glitching out.

It wasn't until I was talking to a friend about this that I had the realization.

Gangle isn't going to abstract.

Caine is.

We've seen already in his therapy session with Zooble just how fragile his mental state can be. He begins to question his existence and the environment around the circus immediately starts to glitch out. This happens just from him having to reckon with the fact that he might not be that good at making adventures.

And what happens at the beginning of this episode?

They reject the first adventure he brings up.

As soon as Gangle leaves the room, he begins to glitch unprompted. This has only ever happened to him before during his therapy session with Zooble when he began to question his purpose.

Something is eating away at his mental state, and none of the characters know.

Granted, it isn't yet clear whether or not NPCs can abstract. But what we do know about abstraction is that it happens when someone in the Digital Circus completely loses their sense of self. Personally, I'd say that Caine is close enough to sentient for this to be a legitimate risk, and his entire identity is centered around making adventures for the characters. Adventures that they hate and are gradually starting to push back against.

What truly solidified this for me was the fact that every single other character has something keeping themselves from abstracting.

Everyone else has each other.

This has already been shown with both Pomni and Gangle. After Gummigoo's death, Ragatha stepped in to comfort Pomi and invite her to Kaufmo's funeral. After Pomni was possessed, Kinger helped calm her down and offered a solution. When Gangle was cracking under the pressure of being a manager and thought nobody liked her, Pomni offered to close so she could leave, and Zooble reassured her that they'd still be there for her.

Caine has nobody.

None of the characters in the Digital Circus even like Caine enough to check in on him like they do with each other. Given how much they've gotten used to his zaniness, they might not even know something's wrong with him until he starts growing extra eyes.

I predict that at the end of the series, Caine will fully abstract, turning the Circus into a glitching hellscape, and the characters will be faced with a choice: Leave and condemn the AI to self-destruction, or find some way to calm down their tormentor.

But hey, that's just a theory!

Do you guys have any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear them!

[batsnake--113]

"Catch ya' on the fall"

I can't begin to explain how much I loved these episode, while the pilot was mostly just setting up without focusing on anyone or anything in particular and with surface level weirdness this one went all out on everything.

I love the exploration of existential dread and finding comfort that there's ppl who care about you, I loved the character exploration, I LOVE GUMMIGOO, and I'm so interested in seeing what's gonna happen with Jax.

Have them individuals.

(Was tired once I got to Zooble)

[maths-is-answer]

I have nothing against Caine's shapes, but I have a couple of ideas...

[vvickydisc]

i never touched a weed

[obamerzslop]

Wuguh???? Not crackship content???? Impossible! some other slop for once

[faceless-crowd]

“Goodnight”

[the-amazing-wonder-land-circus]

welcome!! Dear visitor to

Story: Is a normal day of work in 1950 a russian 25 years old woman was so tired that she decided to smoke a bit ,when she was smoking solemne trow her violently a microcospe she got scared and say what 's you r ploblem ,but anyways she gran the microcospe and look when she fall accidentally in Wonder-land

Can Whe Do Other Ships?: Of Course Silly You Can Ship Everyone You Want But Remember The Canons Ships Are (Bunnydoll, Showtime, Gangle x Zooble

can whe do ns#f ?: that one rule internet. soo ye but not show in public places

can whe do ocs?: Of course !!! You can but remember is not canon in my au

Can whe asks the characters?: yes, but use the names to ask them something

Can whe make fanarts/headcanonc/fankids: of course i will love to see your love in the fanarts!

This is a Alice in wonderland au?: No, i just use the name but in reality is call the amazing land of trough

[theskullkid]

me when gangle episodes 1-3: chat she is so me

me when gangle episode 4: FUCK CHAT SHE’S MORE ME THAN I INITIALLY CALCULATED ABORT ABORT ABORT

[saelrum]

IMAGINE

WHat if - TADC characters

But they are biblically accurate angels

[disarraydoodlez]

Some TADC chibis! We had an absolute blast making these and putting a lil bit of personality into all of them! Please tell us your favorite and why!

Looking into making merch soon, so y'all potentially might see some of these guys as keychains and such! We're gonna be trying to post more after all the disaster that was twitter being twitter, so please remember to support your local artists.

Ask box is open for doodle ideas and our bluesky has funny alt text for most all our artwork. Please stay safe out there y'all

[roachiroodle]

Yet another one! A bit rough but just felt like drawing another one of these ^^

Poor Zooble, being ticklish and have detachable limbs may be a blessing and a curse~

[cr1nge09]

I had to

I just had to

[nightixx]

okay okay, after 8 hours and almost 300 layers, I'm finally done, and my ibis paint is done too but I'm gonna ignore that

Eeeeh- I wanted to add kinger, pomni and gangle as well but I was really done and tired so- anyways, that's all for me

[tinyowlthoughts]

Been rewatching The Amazing Digital Circus and began to wonder, who helps Caine with all the assets and metadata? Well, wonder no longer! It's Biblia!

Small, loud, and possibly narcoleptic, this tiny owl is charge of the TADC Asset Library. It's her job to keep track of all the files Caine uses in his adventures, and to find them when needed. Of course, she and Caine have very different ideas of how the files should be organized...

No matter! She's the librarian, she'll just put it all back together after Caine messes it up again. No worries. It's not like she has a million other things to do, like upgrading and updating the files while they're dormant to make sure they're not degrading in storage. Speaking of, she pulled this one crocodile - alligator? - NPC for the fast food adventure, and something is a bit off with his code...

No need to worry. It's not like he can abstract, or spontaneously gain sentience and sapience, being an NPC, right? She'll just tuck him back in the card catalog and hopefully nothing will ever come of this little quirk! Besides, she has to make sure Jax hasn't made off with all the centipedes again...

Despite being a resident of the circus, Biblia wouldn't consider herself a 'friend' of the players. She's happy to assist them and speak with them when they come to her library (barring Jax, who has a permanent ban he ignores), but is far happier in her own company, or at her weekly tea with Bubble. As a program, she doesn't feel the same need for socializing the players do. (She's terribly fond of them, but refuses to admit getting attached. It just makes the abstractions harder...)

After first being created, she did question Caine about his choice of form - she is neither a toy nor a circus act. He waxed poetic about the long history in Western culture of owls being associate with wisdom, libraries and learning institutions. That made sense (in an odd-ball, Caine-like way). When asked about the size, Caine shrugged and called her travel-sized.

She didn't speak to him for a week.

Despite having access to her own metadata, thus the ability to change her form, Biblia has learned to be happy with her size, as it lets her be quick, quiet, and sneaky - all necessary things for the TADC Asset Librarian. Besides, Caine would be sad if she changed. And there are much more...educational things she can do with the metadata. Things that remind Jax why he needs to stay out of her library.

Maybe one day they'll get along, but I'm not holding my breath.

(My first time drawing the TADC cast - so much fun, and such a challenge! Loved figuring out Zooble for her picture.)

For my Master's in Library Science, in one class we had to create a classification for a specific collection (I did horror novels), as well as figure out parts of the metadata that would be used in an ILS (Integrated Library System). It was my favorite project, along with my metadata classes, so when I was thinking of what a TDAC OC would look like, the asset librarian came to mind! I hope you like her - or at least think her and Jax torturing each other is a little funny.

Cheers!

[scarletsartwork-and-submissons]

HERE'S AN EDIT BECAUSE I'M EMOTIONAL

[obamerzslop]

Priest & Devil AU Cast! Info cards about each character coming soon :]