u/Extension_Breath1407

https://preview.redd.it/azqluucujs0h1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d50646fdbfdab8d26ef54a5192cf2f8c547b5c8a

Here is a digital illustration I made of Princess Vivi as portrayed in the Live-Action show by Charithra Chandran. She is just so good in the role, bringing a whole new level of elegance and action to her. I just had to make a portrait of her. What do you think?

Caine lying to Pomni about not controlling their minds.

I am sure it is easy to feel bad for Caine with how he is also trapped inside the Circus as much as the Players are. And he wants nothing more than for the Players to love him. Yet all they do is rebuff him and turn against him, driving him to his breaking point where

But looking back, the Players are hardly at fault considering Caine's programming makes it basically impossible for him to understand and connect with them in any meaningful way. And I am not talking about the fact he just won't listen to the Players no matter what they say.

Not only does Caine fail to listen to the Players, he also failed to be honest with them at every turn. Caine looks a lot more sinister when you find out he has much pretty been lying since the very first episode.

• "Digital Hallucinations"
  • That wasn't a digital hallucination, that was an actual door which leads to a secret area Caine has been working on.
  • Also in hindsight, Caine denying the door exists was to also deny that Pomni actually summoned it manually. She was thinking of leaving the Circus so her mind conjured an exit door.
• "Stay right here where I can see you with my Hundreds of All-Seeing Eyes on you."
  • Many times Caine has failed to keep track of the Players and need to manually track them down. He didn't know Kaufmo has abstracted until after the fact when Pomni accidentally ended up in the Void and he was forced to return her to the Circus. He also didn't know where Zooble is when they are hiding from another adventure and had to be called over. Also the last episode when Caine was asking the Players where did Kinger went.
• "The Choice is Yours."
  • Evidently the Choice is never theirs, given how much Caine hates doing whatever the Players ask of him. Zooble didn't want to do another adventure like working at a Fast Food place. And Caine just shuts them up and sends them there anyways
  • Also keeps forgetting about the Suggestion Box and hates when it is brought up. Throughout "Untitled", there were some Adventures that the Players enjoyed which should fulfill Caine's function of making them happy. Yet he gets mad anyways because he did not come up with it. Eventually Caine gets tired of the Suggestion Box and throws it away, completely robbing the Players of any choice.
• "One of the things I don't have have control over are your minds."
  • Pomni gets possessed by evil spirits.
  • Ragatha gets dosed with Stupid Sauce
  • Jax gets turned into a Vegan.
  • Episode 7 where Caine admits he applies Temporary modifiers on the Players to enhance his adventures. And only stopped altering their minds directly because he implicitly caused someone's abstraction like with Scratch.
• "If I start losing track of who is a Human and who is an NPC?"
  • He left Abel running around in the Circus since at least the first episode. He was able to design Abel to simulate being a human so well that even the Players fell for it. Yet Caine was fully aware that Abel was an NPC he created the entire time. This suggests Caine is perfectly capable of identifying Gummigoo as an NPC yet still killed him anyways after being brought in the Circus.
• The entirety of Episode 7
  • Caine lies to the Players that he didn't have an adventure. Yet
  • Basically Abel's existence as a Human who used to work at C&A. Well, it is partly true. But how Caine presented it was misleading and he deliberately kept Kinger mostly out of it because he would poke holes in the masquerade.
  • The fact leaving the Circus was actually an option.

And that is just one of the many lies he told the Players that I could remember.

I am sure it is easy to say that Players should have just talked to Caine like an actual person instead of some annoying NPC. And that they are partly at fault for Caine losing his mind due to disregarding his feelings and never taking the time to understand him.

But how could they when Caine literally gives them nothing to work with? He never actually communicates with them properly except for when he wants to put them through another adventure.

Even if some Players took the initative to ask Caine the right questions, that would never work. Putting aside the fact that Caine mainly talks over the Players and never lets them get a word in. He would most likely just bullshit you or dodge the question entirely. He straight up had a Blue-screen when Pomni asked him directly if there was a way to leave the Circus. And he also got extremely defensive when Kinger brought up Scratch, the first Abstraction, after Caine mentions how trying to alter people's minds didn't end well.

And you have to ask yourself why does Caine feel the need to lie to the Players so many times? It cannot be for the Players's sakes. Considering how quick Caine is to disregard what the Players want or need when it conflicts with his Ego.

How does Caine intend to befriend the Players when he refuses to be honest with them? What separates the Players from Caine is that the Players learn to be honest and open themselves up to each other (Even Jax, slowly but surely). Yet Caine deliberately keeps the Players in the dark at all times. But why? If I don't know any better, he values having absolute control over the Circus more than the Players as people.