Oh yeah, I drew this a while ago and finished it recently. Just Bill with his puppet introducing you to Weirdmaggedon.
Looking at this drawing now led to some thoughts about why Bill possesses Jax. Y'all can read under the cut if you want.
Thanks to The Book of Bill and watching/reading others analyze Bill as a character, I think he's easier to understand than Jax. TADC is still pretty new, and only two episodes have come out far, so most of what I have on Jax is mostly speculation. We don't know if he's a sympathetic character or was born a jerk and we only know small tidbits like him being scared of corn for some reason. Thankfully @gooseworx has stated that we'll have an episode that'll flesh out Jax's character more, but for now we'll just have to speculate until then.
Since we don't know much about what Jax is thinking at any given time other than that he enjoys causing chaos for his own amusement so far, I'm not entirely sure if he would willingly allow Bill to puppet his body. Chances are he doesn't, at least not at first, and Jax is clever enough to know that Bill's hiding something.
As for how Bill even got into the circus in the first place, he is a dream demon. One that can enter the dreams of any living creature. While you might think that the cast members don't sleep or that Bill can't get to them since they're stuck in a digital hellscape, they are ultimately human. Ep. 2 of TADC even opens with Pomni having and waking up from a scary dream, so it's not that farfetched to say that Bill could reach the cast members.
But there's also the issue of why Bill would even be in the Digital Circus. Is it cause he's intrigued? Bored? Just stumbled on it and got curious? Any one of these reasons seems plausible so we'll leave that up to the imagination. There's also the question of even if Bill could posses someone in the circus, why would he? The cast is stuck there with no way out. There's different ways to go about it. One idea is to have the circus be a forgotten game, but still accessible on the Internet. You could still play it, but why would you if you never heard of C&A and all merchandise and marketing was pulled off of store shelves? Maybe the cast members were employees that were silenced or something of that nature.
The only way I see Bill wanting to take over the circus is if the circus itself is an entirely different reality than the real world the cast members used to live in. Bill already likes it weird and thanks to Caine there's no shortage of wacky shenanigans ready to be experienced. Honestly, that might mean that Bill would try to possess Caine, but he can't cause Caine's an AI. An advanced one to be sure, but still an AI.
I imagine Bill would either stay away from Pomni, get rid of her or potentially be a little fond of her. We know thanks to The Book of Bill that the guy's parents were red and blue triangles and frequently draws them during arts and crafts while in The Theraprism. Pomni would definitely remind Bill of his parents and what he did to them, that's why I'm not entirely sure if he would be okay with her around. Honestly though if it weren't for her colors then she'd actually be the first person Bill would make a deal with. She's smart and determined, but also desperate. Perfect for a deal if it weren't for lingering regrets Bill refuses to deal with.
Ragatha's a completely different story. She's gentle and kind, bordering on condescending, but she truly means well. Bill would probably find her boring and be uninterested with what happens to her. I think Bill might consider Ragatha a pawn at best because of her passivity.
Zooble we don't have much info about, but we do know that they're uninterested with whatever Caine offers and does her own thing most of the time. This'll probably change down the line, but for now I'm gonna say that Bill would find their "take apart, put back together" body interesting for a while and consider making a fidget toy out of Zooble.
Gangle's very emotional and the comedy/tragedy mask alters her personality which makes her a bit unpredictable. Otherwise, I don't see Bill being too interested in her and might not even care enough to bully her. If anything, I think he'd consider her "figurine thing" concerning.
Kinger's kinda kooky already and I think Bill would find him hilarious. At the very least Bill's gonna laugh at the tragedy that Kinger represents within the circus. Beyond that though, Kinger's mind is just too broken for him to make a deal with Bill.
Finally we have Jax. Like Pomni, Jax is smart and capable. He's confident and is really good at getting into places where he shouldn't. This is why I think Bill would offer up a deal with Jax, even if Jax turns him down at first. I think Bill would follow Jax around, revel in the rabbits chaos and offer up small ways to make it "more interesting." At first, Jax disregards Bill and his tips but eventually he gives it a try. Whether through curiosity or sheer boredom, Jax follows Bill's advice and has a great time. The more fun Jax has, the more he trusts Bill, leading to Bill's final trick.
However, something goes wrong. Bill starts to connect with Jax. They bond more and more over chaos and their desire for control. As time goes on, both Bill and Jax develop a genuine friendship. (A chaotic and arguably toxic friendship, but still a friendship nonetheless). Soon enough, the two make a deal, one that gave Jax endless entertainment at the cost of his digital body.
I'll leave it at that for now. If you made it to the end, thanks a lot! There's still plenty more to think about when it comes to these goobers so if anybody wants to add more to this I'd like to hear it.
Poor BubbleðŸ˜
If your Able never got abstracted then I think him and my Abel could be pals. My version of Caine would definitely like him and be WAY more accepting of your Caine.
The Amazing Digital Circus finally got to me....
With that said, allow me to introduce you to the circus's very own...
Animal Tamer!!
Abel!
Aka, my own personal take on the speculation surrounding C&A.
There's biblical imagery in TADC if you look for it, especially when it comes to our beloved Ringmaster himself, Caine, who's believed to be named after the first murderer in the bible. That paired with the C&A logo that briefly shows up has led people to believe that Caine had a brother named Abel.
This is just what I think Abel would look like if he does show up in the future or at all. I imagine Abel's an AI, like Caine, but is surprisingly emotionally intelligent and ran the program that allowed humans to leave the circus. (Slight reference to @fannele's version of Able) If we follow the pilot, then something happened to him, but since Caine was described to be a silly guy by @gooseworx themselves, I don't think he had anything to do with it. (If he did it might've been an accident.) The programmers might have potentially removed Abel or accidentally deleted him for some reason, we can't know for sure.
Those are just my thoughts on Abel and whether it's right or wrong, I don't really care. I just like how this guy came out! I'll be honest though, I probably should've chosen a better pose that convey's Abel's personality a bit more. That and he just generally looks like Caine but with a different outfit and a different head. He low-key looks like if Caine wanted a to wear a very slight Sonic themed outfit.
Idk, I guess I just subconsciously wanted Caine and Abel to be twins. (Darn it ninja turtles you have invaded my brain even now!!).
Anyways. That's just my take, hope you like!
Had this doodle for a while and there's more but I wanna draw some of them digitally so it'll be a while.
Yes that smug expression was inspired by @aspergerasparagus
Her characterization of the cast of Finding Frankie is super funny. Especially the Lucky Contestant (lovingly called Lucky for short).
She also writes short stories too if you wanna read. Just remember to read the tags and warnings before you get into it so you don't read something that makes you uncomfortable.
When I first brought up this au, I toyed with the idea that Zero was based on Roll and Protoman, I've been thinking about it a lot lately and drew up a few doodles of Roll using Zero's sprites as a reference. The irony isn't lost on me but I like em so much I just had to share.
If you're wondering why her skirt's missing, it's because Roll has her game face on in these doodles. The skirt is removable and in this au, Roll throws it off when she locks in. So far I haven't thought of when she does this, probably after Wily gets away one too many times or she's just had it with his schemes. Maybe it could be a callback to when Rock was contemplating killing Wily that one time? Only difference is putting Roll in Rock's place.
Idk some food for thought.
Anyways, I'll leave off with two photos the twins took while visiting their little brothers at work.
Did Fefnir do something dumb and drop flour on the floor they just helped Rock and Roll clean, or did they commit a crime?
Guess you'll never know.
Y'all know about the power the Rise boys get once they unlock their ninpo. But in Mutant Mashup, the 2012 boys get some powers too (Draxum Clutch Tm).
Large bodies of text ahead, be warned!
At the moment, the Rise fam retains the same ninpo abilities as in canon (Red: holographic constructs, Purple: mystic tech, Blue: portals, Orange: mystic chains). If you watched the show you know that Orange (Rise Mikey) gets mystic chains and fire, but in the Au he only has his chains. A small but important change.
The 2012 boys are the Rise fam's cousins so they get ninpo too, which is more geared towards the elements. I think I'd be fun if their mystic weapon's amplified their mystic powers to dangerous levels. Draxum likely kept the weapons locked up as they were "too destructive" when compared to the Rise fam's weapons.
DaVinci's ninpo is water/air. When using his mystic weapon (a pair of tekko-kagi claws), Vin can create violent whirlwinds that can throw enemies around. These winds don't affect Vin's family unless he is trying to catch them or himself. The claws grow or shrink depending on how Vin is feeling so if he feels super angry then the claws sharpen and grow longer. Once the claws are destroyed by Shredder, Vin unlocks another aspect of his ninpo which is basically water bending. He can pressurize the water to the point it can cut through anything. When Vin combines both powers he goes full typhoon mode.
Sanzio's ninpo is fire. His mystic weapon are a pair of gauntlets and can shoot fire from his fists or even breathe fire. These flames can be all consuming and Zio can't always control them once lit, but he learns how to temper them over time. Sometimes the flames burn his family so Zio isn't too keen on using them at first, but that changes once the gauntlets are broken. After the gauntlets break, Sanzio can set himself on fire for a limited time, his tolerance builds up as he ages. More importantly, Zio has more control over what his flames burn and how strongly they do burn. (Yoshi doesn't like his ninpo unfortunately, it reminds him too much of what happened to Miwa and Tang Shen)
Niccolo's ninpo is earth. His weapon is a two sided battle axe that can "shatter the earth." (Nico tried using the mystic weapon Purple was supposed to get but it didn't work for whatever reason). If Nico hits the ground, everything starts shaking, kinda like a mini earthquake. This kicks up a lot of spikey rocks that Nico can send over to the enemy, a bit like his family's ninja stars. Due to the near permanent results of his ninpo, Nico doesn't use it all too much which irritates him. Once the axe breaks, Nico can finally do what he always does, create something new. He can still cause earthquakes and force large rocks to jutt out of the ground, but he can also reshape the earth into whatever he needs and even walk through magma, though only for a limited time and with proper mental preparation. Nico starts off by making small lab assists but as he grows, he can create huge Kaiju sized golems.
Simoni's ninpo is electricity. His mystic weapon is a scorpion chain that helps him electrocute baddies from a distance. The first time Simon used his ninpo he took out the entire city's power grid. It was fixed really quick but Simoni's electric current was way too strong to be used around machines (Nico and Purple were paranoid for weeks). Thankfully, Simon got more control over the power output once the his weapon broke. Simon can now use his ninpo to tether things together and keep them in place, a little like a spider web (Big Mama absolutely loves this). The things Simon can do are simple but versatile like creating electric ropes only he can walk on or dangle from. His ninpo can give him a little burst of speed which he exploits a lot when running away from his bros. Maybe Simon can sense things a lot faster then everyone, probably because he can feel the electricity in the air or something.
I wanted to take a nap but couldn't because I don't want to screw up my already skewed sleep schedule
Does anybody headcanon that Mikey or Leo from ROTTMNT sometimes mix up their words or just forget specific words that they have to then translate to Raph and Donnie what the word is?
Like Leo will ask for Raph to pass over the syrup but can't remember the name so he calls it, "waffle water." Or when Mikey hands Donnie his mug he forgets the word coffee and ends up calling it "bean juice."
Y'all know the cardboard cutouts in Poppy Playtime?
I like to think that they're a small glimpse in those characters personalities, and what they would've been like if we'd been able to interact with them in-game. The cutouts also seem to indicate the sanity level of each Smiling Critter.
This'll be a long one, I'll see you at the end of you wanna read!
Spoilers:
Anyway, that means Bubba Bubbafant would've been outwardly friendly, yet still resentful of the player. He also might've been losing his sanity quickly, probably due to CatNap's gas.
"Hey! I remember you!.....An elephant always remembers!.......Want to know what I remember about you?........*Devolves into hysterical laughter/screams/glitches.*"
Had he been in the game as a Bigger Body experiment, I doubt he would go out of his way to help. He might've just hidden himself away like Kissy and Poppy, or fully lost it before he could try to help the player and got killed off.
Next is Kickin' Chicken. He's different in that he seems like he would've provided encouragement to the player, maybe even try and protect them.
"Wanna go outside and hang out?.... I've never been outside before.........Will you come with me? I'm scared.......Here, I'll step out first......*screams/glitches.*"
He also seems to have been killed off early, maybe he was even the first Critter to be killed. (He's embracing his inner Chica now-). I say this because, aside from DogDay, Kickin' Chicken seems the most sane in comparison to all the Critters.
CatNap's cut out doesn't have much other than breathing noises and snores that devolve into glitches.
Picky Piggy sounds sane, but I think she probably ate some of the other Critters. Probably Bubba Bubbafant, Kickin' Chicken, and Crafty Corn. If she could interact with the player, I think she'd be friendly at first before showing her true colors.
"Roast beef? Delicious!......Grilled chicken? Down the hatch!......Seared Elephant! Yum!......Flayed Unicorn? Mmmmm!.......Still hungry.....Hey, what do ya say you and I be friends?"
She definitely wouldn't have been helpful, and would've absolutely tried to eat the player.
I think Hoppy Hopscotch could've tried to help as a Bigger Body experiment, maybe a little pushy and impatient towards the player. Probably because she's desperate to escape.
"Wanna try hopping to the moon with me?.....On three with me!....1, 2, 3!...Heh, didn't get very far, did we?.....Listen, this won't stop until we make it to the moon!.....1, 2- No,no, don't look at your feet! None of that matters! Again! Again!.....Jump! JUUUU- *glitches out*"
She seemed to have a good heart and wanted to help but was likely taken out while escaping. I'd call her sane enough to be trusted, just desperate.
DogDay is certified best boy and definitely would've wanted to help you, even at the cost of his life/freedom. He knows this is a terrible place to be in and wants the player to leave as soon as possible.
"Go, go! As far as you can!......Why are you just standing there?.....You can't be here, you can't stay......*screams/glitches.*"
He knows he can't leave and encouraged the player go. He sounds sad when he speaks. Would likely be the last Critter to stick by the players side no matter what.
Crafty Corn up next! She seems very focused on painting and almost definitely killed someone because she was out of red.
"Pass me the blue please!.....Thanks! Now can you give me some red?.....Out? But we can't be out..... You're hiding more red from me......I know you are.....GIVE IT HERE *glitchy screams*
Yeah, I wouldn't really trust her. She'd be fine by herself or if the player gives her all the materials she asks for, but Crafty would've probably gotten agitated and attacked quickly.
Finally, Bobby Bearhug! She comes across as super loving, but also clingy and desperate for an escape. Sounding a little unhinged at times. If the player could've interacted with her, she might've clung to them, possibly even protected them if they convinced her that she could go with them.
"I love you to the moon and back!..... I'm crazy about you!.....I'm lost without you.....I've been lost a long time......Please, take me with you this time?.....You won't leave me, will you?!."
She sounds like she's lonely and craves companionship. Her cutout is actually the only one that doesn't end in glitches or screams so I think the player could've trusted her. She might've had a fragile mental state, but I don't think she would've tried to kill you.
Thanks for reading til the end! Stay safe!
Funnily enough I’ve been kinda curious about Mighty No. 9 lately, and the fanart you posted is strengthening my desire to check it out 👀
Oh yeah, go right ahead! I loved the characters voices, they're just super funny to me for some reason. The bosses especially were very quirky both as bosses and as helpers. Which yeah, another thing I like about the game. Unlike Megaman, which MN9 is meant to be a spiritual successor of, you actually get more screentime of all of the bosses and get a chance to know them beyond just fighting them for their weapons. I love that kinda thing since the bosses are related to the player character named Beck. I think it's super sweet that they help out their youngest sibling out but still let him fight his own battles.
With that being said though, I do gotta let you know that the gameplay has a couple problems. From what I hear the game bugs out and barely runs at 60 fps. Even if things run smoothly, some people really hate the enemy placement and consider it unfair. Using the playable character's weapons is also kinda weird and not like Megaman at all which can be kinda frustrating.
I thought what if MMZ in MN9 and then it snowballed into this. I like how his design came out but don't expect anything digital just yet. I've still got stuff to do.
i like a lot of things. fair warning, I have very sporadic updates. worry not, I'm not dead.
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