Five Prinnies Down

Yes it’s very cute and very sad but that’s not the point.

the point is that Jax is noticeably smaller

abstractions are usually massive even in a sleeping lump, however this in this photo Jax is only just a bit taller then Pomni.

More pirates i fucking love pirates I LOVE PIRATES!!!!!

i’m a man with a mission… a boy with a gun

i got a picture in my pocket of the lucky one…

who doesn’t know….

I’ve seen a lot of people complain that Pink’s placement as a secret boss in chapter 5 is disconnected or unfitting. but i think she's actually perfect for the last secret boss, especially if secret bosses are meant to symbolize a desire for freedom. Now i will yap about it for several paragraphs

several parallels are built between Spamton and Pink during her fight, which make it clear they’re meant to be compared. their designs both feature pink and gold, they both steal a body that isn’t theirs, they’re both involved with green strings, they both feature Mad Dummy in their boss fight/theme, are both puppets related to cats, and they both have odd connections to the weird route (as evidenced by the translation of Cutie Mew Mew Magic). in almost every other way however, Spamton and Pink are opposites. Spamton’s story is a tragedy; from the start, his rainbow-colored peers don’t accept him as their own and see him as lesser for being different and less capable. he’s a broken and decrepit doll who’s had life screw him over every step of the way, he’s been abandoned by everyone he ever loved and cared about, his body has been marred beyond recognition, he’s treated as a living puppet with no autonomy or freedom, and he doesn’t get to keep his dream body or ‘fuse with his chosen vessel'. Even after being defeated by the fun gang, none of his problems are fixed; he has no choice but to accept his status as a simple puppet. Spamton is Kris’ worst case scenario. they are terrified this is going to be their own future, they’re visibly shaken by Spamton’s fight unlike any other in the entire game.  i think the reason Chapter 2 in particular features a character which symbolizes such a depressing future for Kris is because Chapter 2’s dark fountain is created by the Roaring Knight. a character which Kris is very heavily implied to have some kind of partnership with, one where the Knight holds power and control over Kris (as evidenced by the knighting scene after their fight, and the high probability that the Knight is the person who talks to Kris on the phone and sends them orders). the dynamic Kris has with the Knight can be compared to the relationship Spamton had with his benefactor, where he must follow orders from a mysterious voice on the phone lest he be punished (and punished he was).  by this point in the story, Kris is both being metaphorically puppeted by the Knight, and literally puppeted by the player, leaving them feeling a complete loss of autonomy. this situation is opening way to Kris’ worst future. one where they are abandoned by everyone and thrown aside like an unwanted puppet. like Spamton. in Chapter 5 however, the dark fountain is created by Kris instead. though the creation of the fountain was clearly premeditated (likely to get time for the Knight to kidnap Asgore), i don’t think it’s crazy to say that part of the reason they created it in the moment was to distract Susie from the Rudy situation. to keep Susie happy, because they don’t want her best day ever being ruined by the news. Kris cares about Susie so, so much, and it’s clear she’s a huge part of the reason Kris can now see a future for themself where things aren’t so bad. this hope manifests as Pink.  Pink is present in Kris’ subconscious before Chapter 5 even begins. Kris plays Shop 3 on the piano in Noelle’s house, a song which is later present in the shop owned by Pink. Shop 3 shows a more somber side to Pink’s character, as she simply watches the sunset, captivated by how freeing it feels to be able to do so in her dream body.  Pink herself, of course, is very much a parallel to Kris, being a Darkner and a Lightner both using the same body, who struggle with differing wants and desires and must ultimately learn to cooperate with each other despite that (which may hint towards the idea that Kris' ideal ending would be them and the player learning to understand each other, rather than one or the other being banished for good).

even though Pink isn’t really a flower, when she pretends to be one, HER rainbow-colored peers all see her as one of them and accept her with open arms, uncaring of her strange circumstances. In the end, Pink gets to keep her dream body and watch the sunset with her best friend. All things Spamton desperately wanted and never got to have, and all things Kris hopes to have. Pink is Kris’ best case scenario, their subconscious manifesting a future for them where everything ends up fine, even if just for a little while.

All this said, the only thing I wish could have been explored was a way to save those who had been abstracted. Tho it was so sweet to see Jax in a pillow fort and them all living more freely in a digital aquarium in the end.

But, me being me, I did come up with an idea on how to save them all. And I just gotta throw it out there

Ok so,

We see Kinger in the aquarium visiting his wife and friends and I cannot help but think he has not given up on a way to save them. He now has Caine on his side, who is happy to be of any help he can possibly be now that he understands empathy and responsibility.

But, the digital reality is, it’s still not enough. Kinger needs to make constant notes not just for the project, but to remind himself of what he might forget due to his still unstable mind. Caine gives him access to the internet to help, and it’s has proven to be an excellent tool. He’s learned all the new research and computer sciences that he had missed in the 30+ years he’s been in the Circus.

He also has accesses to social media, where he can see his wife’s human counterpart and their daughters living their happy lives. The temptation to contact them is always there. But he knows better and holds himself back from taking that step.

Caine sees this. And he wants to help so badly. So the ringleader takes the lead and contacts Kingers human self, Grant Best.

Grant had not heard from C&A since his cofounder and friend Mikes’ death in 1998. They could never get the brain scans of the team Mike had made to work within the ai, and without him there to lead them, the company shut its doors in early 1999.

So Grant was surprised to find an email in his inbox from C&A offices. He at first thinks this might be some kind of joke or trick, until he opens the email to find eye blinding bright and glittery graphics bordering the email (Thank you Gangle), and an attached video from… Caine??

Caine give an entire theatrical break down of what’s happened since Grant left, not shying away from Caine’s mistakes and faults. He asks his co-creator for help saving those Caine failed. Caine of course ends the video in a montage of the gang and their happy moments together, very similar to the end of the show. Including Kinger looking out into the aquarium darkness at his abstracted wife Queenie.

Grant, of course, immediately shows Destiny and asks her what she thinks of this. She’s not a computer scientist like her husband, but she did participate in C&A’s test plays and brain scans in support of her then fiancée/husband and their late friend Mikes dream project. She might not know the code, but she was there and had a front row seat to Mikes death and the companies collapse.

She knows how much Mikes death affected Grant and their friends. They had gotten married so quickly after Grant proposed so that Mike could still be there to be Grants best man. They still are in contact with most of their friends from that time too, sending well wishes and congratulations on occasions over social media at least.

The facts are, there is a version of their late friend Mike, or Scratch as Caine called him, who still lives in this ai world. Who Grant has the chance to save.

More than that, to Destiny, there is a version of her husband in this world, Kinger, who currently sits alone and longs to reunite with his lost Queenie again.

So yes, she absolutely supports Grant helping his evolved AI son restore his abstracted friends. Both for the closure it could bring them, and to reunite her other self with her other husband 💕

Additional ideas:

Ragatha’s human self, Suzie J Ackermen, technically owns the land that C&A office is currently still standing on. She had been doing a walk through of the building after the purchase when she saw the head set and put it on. She has been trying to decide what to do with the land, and has been fending of developers from wanting to buy it and turn it into over expensive condos, or worse, modern ai server data centers. She cares so much about helping the community and supporting accessible infrastructure (being a rich girl who takes the public bus)

Jax human self now goes by Lee and she’s in the middle stage of the transgender Pokemon evolution. Out socially with friends and exploring more ways to express herself. She enjoys watching YouTube and reading web comics on her breaks between delivering packages, and sees the bartender/owner of her favorite queer bar, Riley, as becoming a bit of a mentor and a friend. Lee remembers the time she was sleeping in that abandoned office building as the darkest time of her life. She has come so far from that place since then with the help of her friends and community.

Now, if Caine gave Kinger access to the internet, he’d absolutely give it to the others as well. So now Gangle can read up on everything her human self Zoey has posted of their web comic. So, from Zoey’s perspective, she gets a devoted fan who is invested in her characters and art overnight. Gangle (and Caine) are fandom nerd who would make a profile to engage with Zoey’s comic and readers. The two become online penpals. Gangle is so proud of Zoey and gives her support, she might even share her ‘headcanons’ about Zoey’s characters with her which ignites that spark to inspire Zoey to incorporate the idea into the comic itself, to Gangles fangirling delight.

I could see the gang watching Abigail’s YouTube channel in the movie theater setting. It’s a bit weird for Pomni, but in a good way as she sees her other self explore weird places with friends and showing off her cinematography skills she picked up. Watching the video of her finding the abandoned C&A office building and trying on the headset was Very Trippy tho. Possibly even heartbreaking if Abigail found any signs of the others visiting before her. I could see Lee vandalizing a room for fun, or Zoey leaving drawings behind.

Now, plot wise

They discover, to stabilized those that have been abstracted, they need to do a secondary brain scan of their human counterparts. Which, while it’s possible for Queenie, Jax, and the others, it’s not possible for Scratch. Because Mike has been dead for over 20 years.

Grant is devastated that he can’t meet Scratch, but commits to continuing the project to save the rest. Which means contacting the human counterparts of those that abstracted and getting access to the old C&A office building through Suzie.

Caine sees an opportunity for fun and decides to contact Everyone who ever had their brain scan.

Shenanigans ensue like:

The entire circus crew all either lowkey or highkey trying to wingman Riley and Zoey to get together. Gangle has mixed feelings about Lee being her one human ally in this cause who is also apparently a genuine fan of her magical girl web comic???

(It’s a very queer story with themes of transformation and self acceptance. Something Lee appreciated as she grew into herself, and Jax’s fully fucking rejected and mocked in his vicious self denial)

At some point the human gang all put on VR headsets to interact directly with their other selves for plot reasons. When deciding how to design the forms they take Caine gets VERY EXCITED. He insist they give him an hour to ‘get all the details right’.

When the humans log on the circus gang is annoyed that all that waiting seemed to be for nothing since Caine just recycled the ‘Evil Team’ designs from the Softball adventure.

But that’s not entirely true, Gangle didn’t have a ‘Evil’ counter part when they played. So Caine took this opportunity and designed Zoey to have the body of her Web Comics main character! Magical girl transformation ability and powers included!!

Gangle and Caine are so proud of their hard work bringing the character to life for Zoey. While Lee is only now realizing that Zoey is the artist/author of one of her fav webcomics and is doubling her efforts to wingwoman for Riley and befriend Zoey.

Gangle mixed feelings getting justifiably heavier and angrier at seeing the person Jax Could Have Been if they hadn’t been such an asshole.

Riley buffering for Lee, and Lee becoming very concerned about what Jax had done. Cause Lee was Jax at one point. She remembers being the person they describe.

At some point Pomni takes Lee to meet abstracted Jax in her big pillow fort.

(Caine had tried to introduce Jax into the aquarium with the other abstracted people, but she had lashed out and refused, seeming to prefer being in her tent. Pomni had warned Caine this would happen. She knows Jax still blames herself for the others abstractions)

Pomni is a regular visitor for Jax, often bringing sandwiches and cocoa. Sparks of Jax personality still show at time, and she’s gotten more comfortable with Pomni there. However, when the form of ‘Evil!Jax’ appears Jax immediately starts growling and getting all spiky. It talks Lee sassing back at her for Jax to recognized this isn’t the embodiment of her insecurities, but something else... Someone else.

When Jax is restored to her bunny self, but perhaps with a few abstracting scars, one of the first questions she ask Lee is what happened to their mom. She assures that, yes, her mother is ok. They have spoken a few times since she ran away, but the relationship is still incredibly strained. Her mother did start going to therapy recently tho.

They originally believe that there is no way to restore Scratch. It’s only through the combined knowledge and effort of both the digital and physical human efforts that they are able to stabilize Scratch by using the built upon data from restoring everyone else.

In the end, the circus tent is full once again, Kinger and Queenie are reunited, and Jax begins making her amends to those she hurt with Pomni’s support.

Meanwhile, in the physical world, the counter parts to the circus crew all become friends. Together they come up with the idea on what Suzie can do with the old offices, becoming both a community center for learning and support, and to protect the server banks where the Digital Circus resides.

Magic air fryer

This is why magic is a trade secret