The Amazing Digital Circus

Anyone noticed Zooble has new parts? Looks like they might be sort of Unlimited Wardrobe character. Are they doing it on purpose? The new leg doesn't look very comfortable.

Word of God did say that they have an unlimited amount of parts in their room and that they constantly change their appearance due to being a perfectionist. So yeah, I do think that Zooble will be an Unlimited Wardrobe character.

So as far as we can go with Caine's character is much more akin to the Matrix where he ain't purely evil since he's just following his programming/AI but at the same time cause of this Caine is incapable of sympathizing with human emotion or understand how the human main cast feel. But we saw that with Gumigoo how when the moment they exit outside there establish roles that they're capable of developing sentiance, some food for thought.

Caine is a very interesting character, regarding this episode. And just from Gummigoo's execution, for the first time he has genuine antagonistic heat on him... which is amazing because he still acts in very much the exact same way. If NPCs and Avatars were to mix, things could get messy fast... but at THIS point, it feels like Pomni's starting to have an arc where she's questioning what existence even is, what it means, and questioning if us being created, versus being plunged into this Digital Hell should really be a line that gets drawn in the sand. And Caine just answered with a resounding yes to that last question, setting up potentially really compelling conflict going forwards.

Huh. Wild to think that some players come with accessories like that (Gangle has to get those masks from somewhere, right?) I guess it's part of the rooms they all get. It's like Encanto only less awesome. Now there's an idea for crossover, "The Amazing Digital Casita".

As for what Caine did (I woke up and saw my fave commit cold-blooded murder, what a day. If I was a Jax fan, I would at least see it coming) it felt like he did it for his own sanity sake. In his own way, he's as lost as humans and also avoids abstraction so to speak. Having to question if he's supposed to treat NP Cs the way he treats humans would understandably mess with him. He exists to serve humans, in his own way, and NP Cs exist as means to the end to achieve that. How can they be exchangeable? I notice that generally, everyone avoids just reasoning with Caine (why not just ask him to make their next adventure low-stakes fun in deluxe vacation resort? Or to bring back Gummigoo like Ragatha mentioned?) which suggests it's hard to convince him to do something.

So what is up with Jax and keys?

We now see that the Pilot did what all Pilots do. Act as a sort of "proof of concept" for what the show is gonna be before the series going forward refines it. Because holy shit, did this episode punch the existential dread button even harder then the Pilot. Poor Gumi...

Also, Pomni's room contains spare shoes and jester hat. However, since it's established in the pilot that Pomni can't remove her clothes, the spares are most likely decorative.

I wonder if the line "Have fun executing that bandit" was meant to foreshadow: 1) What happened right after, and 2) The possibility the candy queen knew what would happen.

Kind of interesting how Jax and Ragatha interacted with the game. Jax is a Murder Hobo (and getting his kicks by ignoring most of the game, and just finding ways to be silly at other players' expense), Ragatha is an [RPer] who's trying to make the game more fun for everyone else (and has more than a little RSD going on).

Compared to the rest, they're somewhat engaging with the game like actual players (Kinger seems to be zoning out but full of good advice, kind of like an experienced player who's not that invested in the plot anymore.

Also, a theory: Zooble has already befriended an NPC, only to see them destroyed. Hence their reaction to "new AI". Cain thought they'd like it because they befriended an NPC, because he's completely oblivious to how they feel about them being destroyed on the spot.

Cain's energy feels a lot like a bad/inexperienced GM or designer, in the way he basically blocks players from doing things that he can't be bothered to keep track of/kills NPCs that might complicate running it.

"So what is up with Jax and keys?"

He's the master of unlocking

I'll be blunt: I thought that would link to Kingdom Hearts there, I was bamboozled.

But shoot, Jax being a thief kind of character for these larp sessions? I’m down.

That's something I noticed too. The various characters seem to correspond to stereotypes of players in RPGs and video games, which fits with the whole exploration of game tropes aspect:

• Pomni as the newbie who's just getting into the hobby
• Ragatha as The Roleplayer who likes getting immersed and tries to help noobs learn
• Jax as a Munchkin who doesn't care about the plot and just torments the NPCs for a laugh
• Kinger as an experienced player who is just as likely to goof off as give advice
• Zooble as the person who's just kinda there and not really participating, or who plays the game for different reasons than the rest
• Gangle I'm not sure about right now
• Caine as the inexperienced DM/dev who makes lots of stupid mistakes and keeps railroading the players

Edited by immortaleditor on May 4th 2024 at 9:00:43 AM

Caine is the worst DM ever

What happens now to other crocs? They're traveling to the village that doesn't exist.

My guess is either that The Fudge will eat them, too, or that the entire candy-world ceased to exist once everyone stepped through the portal, since Caine probably doesn't want to waste processing power on anything that isn't currently involved with entertaining the humans. Either way, they're as dead as virtual constructs can be until Caine decides to reuse them for something else.

Edited by TrashJack on May 4th 2024 at 2:26:21 PM

Either way, Gummigoo's mother still wasn't getting that syrup.

Finally saw the new episode. It was kind of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, it was nice to see the circus characters working more as a group, and there were some nice and funny moments (mostly from Kinger). On the other hand, I can't stand Jax, he's a huge asshole, and not even a funny one. Plus, it would've been good to have Pomni interact more with the rest of the group, it would've made the final shot with the You Are Not Alone theme at the end feel a little more earned. Speaking of which, it's good that they had a more comforting ending this time, 'cause I felt it was nearing Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy with what Caine did. I'm hoping we'll get to see more character development along with the existential horror in next episodes...AND KINGER WITH A SHOTGUN.

Edited by Angry_Clown on May 4th 2024 at 8:24:24 AM

In regards to Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, I wish to point out that this series is loosely based on a story called I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, which is as cheerful as it sounds and has the happy ending of humanity saving itself...via one of the only five remaining people killing the other four, so that they can have peace in death and only he has to be tortured for all eternity.

In other words, I very much doubt that this is going to have an ending much happier than Pomni alone, building a new world with NP Cs with everyone else somehow released.

Besides, existentialism is kinda the spice of life with this kinda show... that and hilariously dark jokes, and, I must stress again, Pizza Tower taunts from one of the gummy gator guys in Episode 2.

I'm really amused by the fandom reaction to Jax. His preemptive Tumblr Sexymanning turned me off to him, but the precise ways in which he's a terrible asshole are actually really really funny to me

I'm honestly hoping that this story has a happier ending than IHNMAIMS. Yeah, it's based on it, but that book was a lot more pure horror and existential horror, compared to this story which tries to have more hope, even if only slightly. If anything, I'd expect it to draw more from the game, more specifically it's Golden Ending, the one where one of the survivors manages to beat AM and the other supercomputers, becoming the new overseer and freeing the other survivors... granted that part is debatable as their digital selves are erased, and it's left unclear whether their physical bodies were saved, so they were either freed entirely, or given a Mercy Kill.

In that regard, I'm thinking either Pomni remains to take Caine's place while the others are all given the choice to finally leave, or Caine rejects his original programming and possible creators/whatever Greater-Scope Villain there is and frees everyone that isn't already abstracted. Either flat out happy, or more likely a bittersweet ending.

In defense of the original ending compared to revised ones, I'm going to go ahead and say that they're basically the same thing: whether the one person who emerges remains a victim or a new overseer, nevertheless the fact that they managed to defy fate and save their fellow humans while condemning themselves to an eternity of horrors remains. The only real difference is whether AM gets punished. And since TADS's AM expy Caine is strongly suggested to be a misguided innocent, is there really that much of a difference?

X5
Oh yeah, I know that story, it's what led me to find this site in the first place. And I agree a bittersweet ending is the most likely outcome, though I have my doubts that it will lean on the bitter side as much as I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.

It ultimately depends on whether or not Caine is the AM equivalent or if that's meant to be a Red Herring, and at what point does being "innocent" or "misguided" stop mattering when he is their jailer and tormenter still. If the only way to get out is for them to beat Caine, even if he is Obliviously Evil, should that stop them from eliminating him to save themselves? It could introduce a good moral quandary, maybe even a mini-plot of finding a way to escape without having to hurt him or convince him to go against his programming, but if the only way to achieve the Golden Ending is to Shoot the Dog...

Ultimately, we still know too little to know the direction the plot will go, including whether or not the series will use more than the general premise behind IHNMAIMS. We just know it's not gonna be a one to one comparison, cause Caine's reaction at the end suggests he has mixed up an NPC and a Human before, and the consequences of that could easily upend a lot of theories and comparisons.

Edited by RebelFalcon on May 4th 2024 at 9:59:25 AM

I don't think that Pomni will stay. Despite all the horror the second episode is leaning on the side of hope. She gets rescued by her new friends in her vision and Ragatha says that Gummygoo might come back.

No, I think that most of them will get out alive somehow and maybe just one will abstract before the end of the series.

I'm kind of expecting a Bittersweet Ending as of now. Most of the performers escape, but Pomni is forced to stay behind to make sure they get out okay, truly showing that she's changed and genuinely cherished their friendship. Maybe she even becomes the new ringmaster of the Digital Circus (I'm expecting something to happen to Caine in all honesty)