Do you ever think about how if they escape the circus, they wonât be used to reality for a while? LOTS OF TRIGGER WARNINGS (ALL IN THE TAGS)
⢠They canât feel pain in circus so are more reckless with themselves and each other. After the circus theyâre probably quite rough with others forgetting they can be hurt. That and they themselves are likely covered in bruises, cuts, getting sick, breaking bones etc because they keep forgetting that they can be hurt. What if they pinch themselves (or worse) because theyâre happy to have such a human sensation again, even if itâs pain.
⢠Nutrition. Hunger and thirst donât exist either in the circus. Outside of it, they probably arenât used to those sensations and forget that they need to eat and drink. Theyâll often be dehydrated or shaky from lack of energy. They probably gorge themselves at times because they missed the flavours. They probably make themselves sick from under and over eating.
⢠De-personalisation. They might naturally slip into their circus personas because they canât really remember who they used to be. Itâs like trying to be who were as a teenager when youâre 30, or trying to act like an old friend you barely remember. They might experience disassociation, de-realisation, and de-personalisation. Any pre-existing mental health issues would likely be made 10x worse. Do they have any blanks in their memories of their time before/in the circus. Any forms of amnesia? Brain fog?
⢠Dysmorphia. Along a similar vein, they probably feel weird about their human bodies. Theyâre so happy to be human but occasionally Zooble will try to take off their arm for a new one without thinking. Gangle isnât made of ribbons so probably struggles with flexibility and conceptualising that sheâs one solid piece. Kinger has to get used to legs and arms again, his hands canât just float wherever he wants them too.
⢠Physics and logic. Completely out the window while in the circus. But in the real world? You have gravity, you have solid ground without a map to fall through. Theyâre paranoid about Cain popping out of nowhere, but he canât do that anymore. No more holding your breath until something funny happens or putting your finger in a gun to shoot it backwards.
⢠No adventures. Boredom. Waiting for the next ball to drop when there isnât one. Life is now too mundane. Theyâre so happy they never need to go on an adventure again. Theyâre all stuck between the two frames of mind.
⢠They can swear. They can have sex. They arenât censored anymore. Each character would be different on this.
⢠Grief. Survivors guilt. They mourn everyone who abstracted or otherwise didnât make it out. They hate that they did. NPCs (Looking at Gummigoo and Pomni). Especially Kinger, Jax, and Ragatha.
⢠Time. It exists now. They all experience time blindness and struggle to create sleep schedules. They have to get used to real sunlight again, especially their eyes. They have to deal with being wide awake yet exhausted every night.
⢠Culture shock. Obvious this will be worse for those in the circus the longest. But theyâve all missed stuff. They help each other fill in blanks and learn whatâs new to all of them so they can learn together.
⢠Relationships. Their family and friends. Did they look for them? Did they even notice? Did any of them have partners (minus Kinger and Queenie)? I doubt any of them had children but it might be possible. Some, if not all, of them had jobs. What about their bosses, their coworkers? What about tax? What about any pets?
ALSO! Add anything in a reblog or the comments! Character specifics, anything you think I missed, a detailed breakdown of a point I made, a disagreement with any points, anything!
(If anyone is inspired to write a fic, please send it to me. If there are already fics out there that covers these in any way, please send them me) đđđ