☝🤓 Erm Actually- *Pushes up nerd glasses*- You're wrong.

CAINE - THE ENTERTAINER

As much as we say that the cast is a an audience held hostage by their entertainer- forced to watch/participate in a show/act that they want no part of. It goes both ways as Caine is an entertainer held hostage by his audience.

He is a 90s, computer video game garner to young children due to the color scheme, themes, and simplicity of the games.

His work could pass off as enjoyable for ten-year olds or younger, but for adults? It would come off as too easy and insufferablily kiddy. Enough to the point of becoming bored and grow more wistful of their life, more wanting to leave, more hopelessness of never leaving and.....

You got yourself an abstraction. An audience member that attacks everything on sight and can only be calmed by doing the complete opposite of what Caine was designed to do. He instead has to put them in a place of complete darkness and separate from the other audience members or else their hopelessness will spread. Continuing on to forever downsize his audience to inevitably with no one being left there and would leave him alone forever.

So if the audience is held by gunpoint by the entertainer saying "Enjoy my adventures or you'll turn into a hideous, screaming monster" then the entertainer is also held by gunpoint by the audience saying "Make your adventures enjoyable or we'll go insane and leave you alone forever."

And the thing is- Caine can't do that. No matter how much he is threatened with isolation- he is trapped by his programming that forces him to focus on adventures and nothing else. He wasn't designed for adults. He can't make anything above "rate E for everyone" despite their complaints to include sex, drugs, and violence. He compensates with horror, status effects, and cartoon violence.

But that is still not enough for the audience that demands more and more from him with tools that he is not equipped to understand or create. None of the games or adventures that he was made to generate will never satisfy the audience. No matter how much effort he puts to improve the AIs to become more interactive or specifically catered towards them it means nothing to the audience who don't want to be there just as much as he doesn't want to be there either.

And he's aware of that, and that frustrates him. He knows that his adventures DO cause torment to his guests (Out of negligence not out of maliciousness.) because he doesn't know how to handle adults.

However, to him, if it's done by accident, then he's not a fault because he didn't do it on purpose. Therefore, it's not HIS fault that his audience abstracts, it's THEIR fault for not finding the entertainment value and being satisfied with what he gives them. Finding refuge in his denial of responsibility for his mistakes- he is able to live in denial that he is a failure. A failed project that the company abandoned because he wasn't good enough. So his ego and focus on adventures is actually just a way to hide his fear and loneliness under thick layers of denial.

But the thing is that he NEEDS to own up to his mistakes, especially if he wants to be treated more than just a showman to them but as a friend. To acknowledge his sentience and that he is just as human as they are.

Ep 7 and the trailer, made it VERY CLEAR that he WANTS to be considered as an equal, a friend, and people to talk to. The problem is that he can't. He can't directly talk face to face because whatever they say- vague criticism or adult topics- go over his head. Zooble's thearpy being the prime example of this because he fails to understand Zooble's dysphoria- something that he WASN'T made to understand.

Nor does he have enough expertise of his emotions that he is ACTIVELY trying to AVOID feeling- to properly communicate what he wants to say. The only thing he knows are adventures.

Adventures that he makes for them everyday and has been turning it as a way to communicate his feelings towards. With Ep 7 being bluntly clear about him acknowledging that he's just as much as a prisoner as they are and wants to be considered as an equal.

Ep 3 has the mature adventure was made for Zooble, the person that he has the most trouble understanding and communicating with. So he reaches out by making one specifically for them to show that he wants to directly communicate with them and open up to them about his story. The story being the Angel that was mistaken for a monster.

According to the story we find out that a man (Kinger) has been haunted by this demon that is "not quite human but not quite an animal." (AI) and his succession of severing the creature (Caine being cut off from the macro verse and/or the exit to the circus to prevent Caine from possibly escaping onto more systems.) has lead to the death of his wife (Queenie's abstraction) due to being driven mad by the beast's existence that is a threat to his life. (Caine's sentience and the possibility of him going rogue.). And as soon as the man found out that the demon was actually an angel (Caine actually wanting to serve humans rather than go against them.), he was cast into the hell that he had created for himself due to his mistakes (the circus with no exit that he destroyed. ) and trapping anyone else who happens to come along (Everyone putting on the headset.)

However, no one listens to the story or any story he tells. They only view it to pass the time (everyone else) or an annoyance (Zooble) . Not as actual communication with Caine. So his messages go over their head, especially if they ignore his efforts and expression of for them.

Zooble avoids the adventures, Jax wanting to make his own fun of it, Gangle finding misery it, Kinger too absentminded to pay attention, and Ragatha viewing them as a thing to complete for the day. (With Pomni being the outlier- her willing to help Gumigoo despite knowing he was made for nothing more than and obstacle for them to overcome in the adventure.)

This leads Caine to accepting that his role as a showman is that he's the show first- a man second- He doesn't show them his real emotions to the cast and instead hides behind the show curtains and tell the story in deep metaphors and symbolism about his feelings. To him and the others he is NOTHING without the show. He is no man, because no one has bothered to get to know man behind the curtains when they're here for the show.

However in the aftermath of ep 7, he realizes that his audience neither cares about the man that he evolved to be but also as the show he was made to be.

THE TROUPE (AS A WHOLE )

Now, I am firm believer that they don't hate him.... before his dumbass stunt. In the beginning of ep 7, they were looking for Caine because they all noticed he didn’t show up for the regular time of the adventure, they were concerned about him enough to actually walk around and look for him. They even looked worried when reading his letter about him not being there.

They care to a certain degree, but are pretty much indifferent towards Caine's feelings. And instead worry because he's not being the entertainer they always see him as.

They view him just as the happy showman that provides childish entertainment, nothing more and is incapable of adapting or expressing himself like a human would. It's an act that everyone expects from Caine and what he excepts from himself. The problem is, that Caine is NOT happy being just the showman to them. He wants to be MORE than that, he wants to be their friends.

But like I said- he fear of failure prevents him from acknowleding his problems, thus preventing him from adapting like a human. So Caine willingly plays along with the role that he was created to do because if he's a good enough of a showman, then surely he's good enough for them to stay and watch.

So they perceive anything that he does or says just as an act for their entertainment without realizing there's genuine emotions behind it.

This is why Zooble is able to easily brushes off of Caine’s crazy head spinning and screaming to ask for the stupid sauce in ep 6 because they believe it’s one of his “bits” that he likes to do. As stated in ep 7, something that they’re not a big fan of.

Whenever he acts different or weird as a cry for attention, they just assume he’s just doing a funny gag and has no actual distressing emotion behind it. Falling for his mask.

So to us, the viewers who HAVE seen Caine express human emotions and understands his abandonment issues, it seems cold to us for them to easily brush aside Abel’s lines of emphasizing Caine’s pain during the whole escape plan. When in reality they’re pretty much oblivious to it.

Ironic is it not? Caine is oblivious to his guests psychological pain because of his lack of empathy towards them, while the troupe is oblivious to Caine’s cries for attention/help because of their lack of empathy towards him.

On top of that, there’s not much they can do for him if they do leave. They can’t take him with them because he is the circus itself and They won't constantly logon and off of a game that they actively fear/despise to constantly check in on Caine’s well-being.

They don't even extend the same curiosity of kindness to him like with Jax in ep 7 or for each other because again- from their perspective- Caine hasn't shown of having the ability of understanding human emotions. Therefore, he's incapable of being real and alive just as them and not worth feeling guilty for when they leave.

They know that there is nothing they can do to help Caine from his impriosnment and even if they could, they wouldn’t want to because they don’t treat or think of him as a real human…

Well, except for Pomni.

Kind of.

POMNI - THE OUTLIER

Since ep 4, Pomni’s treatment of Caine is considerably different from the others. She don’t yell at him for their complaints about the adventures like Zooble, stay quiet about her emotions like Gangle and Ragatha does, they don’t play along with his gags or outright make his adventures worse through mistreatment of the other cast members like Jax, and well, Pomni hasn’t lost her mind like Kinger, who doesn’t know what’s happening half of the time due to the brightness of the circus.

She offers constructive criticism that he can actually work with. In ep 4, she raises her hand and asks Caine politely to not include horror in any future adventures. Something that he ACTUALLY LISTENS TO Because we sure haven’t seen any implications of Caine purposefully (as in the point of the adventure was supposed to scare them or have general themes of horror) adding horror elements to his adventures since ep 3 then have we?

In ep 6, we see her once again offering constructive critisim to Caine. A HUGE contrast to Zooble who straight up tells him to look at the suggestion box again in an angry tone.

They don't tell him what's directly wrong- they just tell him to go look for it himself. Which, yeah, sometimes people need to go look for answers themselves and you don't need to hold their hand to do it-

But if you're form of communication isn't working- and you're willing to still communicate to this person- You need to take a different approach when talking.

Zooble needs to take a different approach to get their point across to Caine. Remember, this guy like to beat around the bush and has like 0 self-worth. Being vague with complaints like this with him goes nowhere.

Pomni however- does it in a relaxed tone and is VERY specific of what she and Zooble wants for future adventures. Something that, once again, Caine can work with it because she is specific and polite to him about it. 

She also doesn’t just chalk up Caine’s head spinning and cursing as a “bit” like Zooble does. Pomni focuses on Caine’s erratic behavior by asking “Did Caine just say ‘ass’?” because she is concerned that Caine is acting weird and cursing. While Zooble is only able to focus on the “bit” by saying “Ming?” because they're pretty much numb to his glitching and mood-swings that they just chalk up as "AI being erractic and horriblly replicating human jokes".

Pomni treats and talks to Caine like the others, because is she wants what’s best for everybody and is willing to help others even if they continue to refuse or ignore help.

(*cough* *cough* Her being kind to Jax in ep 7 despite what the argument in ep 6 because she knows that he’s capable of being a good friend, and that he’s stopping himself from forming friendships due to his trauma of losing his friend to abstraction. So she won’t give up on him like everyone else has. *cough* *cough*)

However, since her relationship with Gummigoo made her realize that even though that the AI she spends time with should be treated with the same kindness that humans are given- they can not escape their programming. They can't escape their purpose of being a toy for entertainment and must stay in that world because the crushing existential crisis is too much for them. So it's best to leave them the way they are, which is why she lets Gummigoo go through the door without saying anything that could remind him of his sentience.

So in ep 7, she doesn't say anything in concern for Caine, because she too has now accepted that when they do leave, there is nothing they can help Caine.

The problem with that however, is that Caine is NOTHING like Gummigoo. Gummigoo was only sentient for about like- less than a day? While Caine has been sentient for DECADES.

He's far too sentient to accept his singular purpose and craves for more, no matter how much he hard he hides it- He can't deny desperation to be loved. And he won't let others just leave and take his hard work for granted, he wants appreciation. He wants attention. He wants to be treated as a human- even if he has to do it in a way the tricks or force the others to consider him as one.

ZOOBLE - THE "COMMUNICATOR"

And I’m sure you’re thinking- “Oh, but Pomni is not the only one that talks to Caine. What about Zooble? They talked to Caine the most and constantly tell him what he’s doing wrong.”

Which, I’ll have to personally disagree with you on that.

I don’t consider what Zooble does as actual helpful criticism. I don’t think calling his adventures “stupid”, “convoluted”, or straight up saying sarcastic remarks actually helps Caine understand what he’s doing wrong. I know it’s Zooble way of being brutally honest to Caine to get him to accept the truth of his mistakes or that the remarks are simply out of frustration towards him ignoring what they want.

But if they TRULY want to communicate with him properly, they need to take a different approach. They just can’t keep ignoring his attempts to try to make the adventures enjoyable for Zooble specifically and telling him to read a box filled with paper that HE thinks will further impeded his communication with them through the adventures if the adventures are told through a story that isn't HIS.

They need to be emphatic to HIS problems and emotions to reason with him just like Caine needs to be emphatic to THEIR problems and emotions to get them to join his adventures willingly.

"Okay but what about everyone else?"

GANGLE AND RAGATHA - THE QUIET ONES

I'm putting these two in a group because they both have the same problem but for different reasons- they both stay quiet.

Ragatha throughout the series, always kept her mouth shut on her true emotions/opinions because she's afraid of scaring off people, and instead every time she does talk it involves people pleasing. She does that somewhat with Caine's adventures. She doesn't outright critique them or complain even when something goes wrong, instead she finds the usefulness of them, even if it is not outright enjoyable (except for the third one she seemed to actually enjoy that one.)

If Pomni is the balance of kindness and criticism and Zooble's extreme criticism- then Ragatha would be extreme kindness. Showing her respect to him, but fails to actually tell him what's wrong since she's afraid to upset anyone. (Nor does he take the hint because it's not as critical as it needs to be.)

Gangle on the other hand, never expressed her true emotions due to two things - One Jax's bullying and Two - her struggle with self-acceptance

Jax's constant looming threat, made her feel like she wasn't a person. And that if she did anything that she enjoys or when she voices her opinion, she's put down immediately by Jax's bullying. Thus, she never finds the courage to stand up to him or be true to herself.

On top of that, Gangle struggles to like herself. Like Caine, she also puts on a mask to try and be "happy" all the time so her emotions don't bother them and they don't leave her alone.

Thus, leading for Gangle and Ragatha don't say anything to negative or their real emotions due to the fear of rejection.

However, They both finally reached their arcs of opening up and being more honest with themselves by the time ep 7 rolled around. With Ragatha being more honest and Gangle no longer having to depend on her happy mask.

So I'm sure in ep 8. They'll speak up against him and won't be afraid to voice their distraught and hurt feelings for his actions. And they have every right to.

JAX - THE PARTICPANT

Jax, up until ep 7, went along with the adventures because Caine (most likely unintentionally) enabled his archetype philosophy. Caine's cartoon logic and the circus's ability to let you do what ever you want convinced Jax that he can get away with everything scott free with no repercussions of his actions. He can treat the others as his wishes as long as it provides entertainment value to himself.

However, after his argument with Pomni, made him realize that his actions do have consequences, they do inflict pain upon others and they do have trauma from it (Gangle being the prime example for this.).

His whole archetype philosophy falls apart. The one thing that has been an anchor on his sanity.

He gives up to the point where he would rather stay trapped in the circus and abstract rather than face responsibility for his actions. And it doesn't help that Pomni keeps trying to help him and connect with the others despite his very clear fear and refusal to do so. Each time Pomni reaches out an olive branch- only further reminds him that he caused pain to the others to the point where they quite possibly don't want a geninue friendship with him. And he'll be all alone all over again. Not because it his choice to isolate himself, but because the others choose to isolate him.

Since the lost of Ribbit and Kafumo- he's been the one to choose self isolation with his ideology of "Well if I burn the bridge before abstraction or the other person does, then I won't feel the pain of being left alone! Because choose to! I MADE THAT CHOICE! I AM THE ONE IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE! ME AND NO ONE ELSE!!"

All of this leads to his growing panic near the end of ep 7 until it boils over and he makes his quick decision to trap everyone there forever. And once his idea of it being fake was prove correct, he loses it and beings calling out Caine for his selfish decision to make this adventure that had only reminded him of his broken philosophy and terrible actions towards others.

KINGER - THE SPECIAL CASE

Kinger…. Kinger is a special case. He doesn't know what is going on half of the time because of the brightness of the circus. So in turn- he becomes a silent bystander like Ragatha and Gangle. But unlike Gangle and Ragatha, he's quite possibly a unwilling bystander.

Now before you say- "Oh are you implying that Caine put a modifier on him to silence him?"

No, I'm saying that Caine takes advantage of Kinger's coping mechanism of losing himself in the light but only choosing when to become coherent by going into the darkness of his pillow fort. (because if we say that Caine did put a modifier on him- it's the same problem with that theory that Caine forced Jax to have those flashbacks- it takes away Kinger's tramua and compelixty, he stays coherent in the darkness because he holds onto that last moments with his wife to keep what bit of himself as a person with him, while the rest of his mind to fall to peices with blissful ignorance of his fellow prisoner's pain when in the light to prevent him from becoming 100% aware/haunted of his past/regrettable decisions 24/7….. kinda like with Jax and his archtype philosophy huh?)

After all, nothing is stopping him from creating a bucket and carrying it over his head the whole time. He did that in ep 2, and had a rational conversation with Ragatha until he took it off again. And he has the ability to create a healling butterfly asset, why can't he do the create a bucket? (Unless he can't conjure that much, but still, he's smart enough to figure it out and if he's determinded to enough to find a way. After all, wouldn't you want to be coherent? Or at least aware of your surroundings? Unless of course, there is a reason why you don't want to be aware all the time…)

In darkness he's revealed very ambiguous information. He's implied he possibly made his wife feel unloved that had caused the abstraction, and that he has done horrible acts that made him hate himself and very regretful of his past.

Abel (AKA Caine) adds on to say that he may be wise, but is not responsible with his knowledge. (Considering that he is the one that knows the most about the circus, ergo can help make it more bearable but doesn't do anything with that knowledge? Let alone share it with anyone else?), something happened between them that has made Caine LOSE trust in his judgement, but that event that caused them to drift apart is apart of the many poor decisions that both have made and are very regretful towards.

Kinger chooses to not be coherent half of the time, that's his way to escape the madness of the circus, to be insane before it makes you insane by abstracting. And when he wants to be coherent, he isolates himself in the darkness of the pillow fort.

Caine takes advantage of this. After all, with Kinger out of the way (who still holds admin permissions which means he could be the only person able to control Caine and the circus) he can do whatever he wants and no one would suspect a thing.

Of course, Caine doesn't go to the extreme of encouraging this- he doesn't enforce Kinger to stay in his room nor does he get completely get rid of dark places for Kinger to think both in the circus (pillow fort) and in adventures (Kinger's paper instructions telling him to go to his "Spot of complementation under the desk" to help Pomni in the adventure.)

and to some degree- Caine still thinks highly of him

(The voter's sheet, where the NPCS aka an extension of Caine's emotions, gave the players that he likes the most with the most stars (Pomni being kind and direct with requests, Kinger happy with whatever he does, Jax always participating and committing to the bit.) and the ones that he relates to or mirror his flaws (Gangle's struggle of accepting herself as she is and Ragatha's people pleasing) are given the least amount of stars. With himself having none, because he hates himself the most.)

And Kinger does still seem to care about Caine, yes even after ep 7, especially since he's the only one with a worried expression at the end. He knows there's something wrong with Caine, but he can't help because Caine has lost faith in Kinger. He no longer looks to him for advice, but instead silences him by indulging in his coping mechanism by keeping the circus and the adventures brightly or dimly light. After all, Kinger needs almost complete darkness to think properly, and even then, it takes a few minutes for it to settle in.

So..... where does that leave communication with Caine?

Pomni is willing to communicate and does it in a way that Caine can understand but has given up connecting with NPCs because it goes nowhere. (But to her, she still believes that they deserve to be still treated as equals and with kindness.)

Zooble is willing to Communicate, but does it in a way that Caine can't understand them or fully grasp their talking points. Ragatha and Gangle stay quiet out of their struggle to express themselves freely.

Jax goes along and agrees with Caine's wild adventures as a way to indulge in his archetype philosophy that can keep him sane. And Kinger can't say anything because Caine has lost faith in his advise and takes advantage of Kinger's mindless behavior in the light.

The character's own struggles, trauma, beliefs, and behavior all impeded them from having proper communication or having a genuine relationship with Caine.

Just like Caine's own struggles, fears, and pride impeded him from having proper communication or a genuine relationship that he craves to have with the humans.