TADC/ Kinger and Caine

originally posted on tumblr, Mar 27th 2026

so i have a thought

on ep8 we get lore drops that Kinger was alone in the Circus for quite some time (maybe years), but we don't see him going on adventures. in fact it's quite a notable thing that when Caine addresses him, Kinger seems to have even forgotten that's his name. it could imply the beginnings of his memory issues, but given the entire interaction, i took it to imply that he hasn't interacted with anyone for a long, long time, Caine included.

which would be odd, if he was going on adventures that Caine seem so relentless to push the cast into, right? or if he had any basic, consistent social interactions at all. so my theory is that, prior to Ragatha, there were no adventures at all and the Circus was all that the cast had to interact and stay sane with. but then Ragatha shows up, and then others, people who have no context for the circus or Caine and the project C&A was developing. they think this is some kid's game and Caine is a character for it, and the AI has no reason to deny them. he gives them what they want, after all, and if believing this is a game helps them not abstract for longer, then why would he not do it?

so maybe they ask to see more of the game, where are the other maps, where is the actual gameplay, and of course, Caine obliges. finds a sense of meaning in creating these little quests for his guests. this is what they want, right? this is his purpose, this is how he can make them happy and prove he's worth keeping and cherishing. he can make this work! and eventually he decides to box himself into seeing these adventures as the one thing he can provide for them that both fulfills his purpose (to create) and to reassure his own insecurities (make humans happy so they love and welcome him at last).