TADC/ Caine and creating

originally posted on tumblr, Mar 28th 2026

I think there's two main reasons Caine is averse to give the guests any straightforward and honest answers:

1. honesty has caused people to despair in the past, leading to abstraction which he does not want;

2. honesty will lead to the guests realizing that they have some sway in the circus, thus both making him obsolete or redundant, and it would bring changes to the status quo

He has explictly shown aversion to "interpersonal drama" (ep 6), which could come from both reasons above. Drama may lead to isolation, and thus to abstraction, yes, but the change in status quo seems the most relevant.

Caine is not minor coded (that's not a thing lmao), but he's presented with a lot of child-friendly AND childish visual shorthand, as an indicator of his lack of social skills, emotional imaturity, and low self-esteem driven selfishness. He cannot predict how a change in the status quo will affect his standing with his guests, and this uncertainty triggers his fear of abandonement and failure.

But there's a deeper layer to it. Going back to child-like motifs, children are very possessive and dear of their creations. Just try and put down a brick tower a child built, and you'll have quite the meltdown on your hands. It was something they made with all they can offer, often as a gesture of appreciation and care, and they want to be appreciated back for it. Imagine a kid builds themself a little toy city, and in come a bunch of older kids and adults, and they all start meddling with it, deciding what they think is best for it, how they want it to be? Yeah, that's not going to go great.

Hell, even if you're an adult and someone else draws all over a project you slaved over and cared very much about, just because they think "this will make it better cus this is what I prefer" will lead to some tension and hurt feelings AT LEAST. maybe some yelling and cussing, perchance some broken friendships.

Art students still get (rightfully) pissed off if a teacher red lines on their physical exercises, even if they are only sketches or practice pieces.

Caine cannot accept the possibility of humans realizing how much power they have in the digital world. The last time humans had authority over him, he ended up shut away in a .zip file of some kind, and he's terrified of anything like that happening again. Why wouldn't he lie to preserve the status quo that allows him some peace of mind, and the chance to not be alone and interact with the one kind of being he craves validation from?

Is it extremely selfish and shitty to do? Oh yeah, no doubt. But I think it's an important facet of his perspective, and how he navigates the social dynamics in the circus. He doesn't lie out of active malice or complete disregard for others. I do find it ironic that, as ringmaster of the circus, he might withhold answers from the guests in a misguided attempt to protect them (and himself). The child putting the answers on the top shelf, out of reach of the adults who could actually help if only they had said answers. One more layer to his tragedy.